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OVERLAND PARK, KS -- Two more lives have been saved at clubs in recent weeks, both in the state of New York.
At Mount Kisco Athletic Club in Mount Kisco, NY, staff there helped save the life of a 64-year-old man who suffered a heart attack while working out on a treadmill in mid-July. Kathy Margiasso, the club's fitness director, and personal trainer Val Yasovic revived the man with an automated external defibrillator (AED) and by performing CPR. They also told club manager Tom Brady to call 911.
"They responded amazingly, professionally and quickly," Rick Beusman, the president of Saw Mill Sports Management, which operates the Mount Kisco Athletic Club, says of Margiasso and Yasovic. "By the time the EMT showed up, [the man] was breathing, although not conscious. The EMS [people] basically said, 'Your people here have saved this man's life.'"
Beusman says the man, an amateur mixed martial arts competitor, underwent triple bypass surgery.
"We got an e-mail from him," Beusman says. "He didn't realize that we had saved his life. He didn't even know that he passed out on a treadmill. All he knew was that he was having a triple bypass. But he wants to come back to the club. He said, 'I have a treadmill at home. If I hadn't been at the club and been doing this at home, I'd be dead.'"
The Mount Kisco club was developed by Beusman and his father, Curt Beusman, who will receive Club Industry's Lifetime Achievement Award this October. Rick Beusman said the Mount Kisco Athletic Club is expected to move from its current location and expand from 13,000 square feet to 42,000 square feet by the first of the year.
This past May, the staff at Island Health and Fitness in Ithaca, NY, helped save the life of a 47-year-old triathlete who was swimming with his fellow athletes at the club's pool when he was found unresponsive in the water.
Club general manager John Comereski says the man's friends got him to the side of the pool and up onto the pool deck. The lifeguard on duty activated the club's emergency response system, and staff immediately brought over an emergency bag and an AED.
After three shocks with the AED, there was no change in the man's condition. CPR continued until the arrival of an ambulance and paramedics, who shocked the man more times before he finally showed signs of regaining consciousness.
Comereski says the ambulance crew credited the Island Health and Fitness staff for saving the man's life as indicated by the EKG report from the AED, which showed no effect from the shock and that the victim had been in ventricular fibrillation the entire time. The man is now doing well, Comereski adds.
"Having our entire staff up-to-date with CPR certification, along with a great emergency response system, led us to alleviate a death in our facility," Comereski says. "Knowing what to do is one thing, but actually doing it is another."
Club Industry reported on two near drownings earlier this month that resulted in both clubs saving each member's life.


text:
By an anonymous SQL user (a guest blogger)
1. SQL is too complicated!
When I have multiple values in my columns, like "JAN,FEB,MAR" or "15,84,22" , SQL Server just doesn't get it. It's almost impossible to write SQL statements on tables like that! If I can manage to get any data out at all, it ends up being a 500 line SELECT statement!! What is up with that? And it also takes an act of God to successfully delete a value from those lists. Why does MS make things so complicated?
2. Datatype conversions!
What is the deal with data types? I just use...
posted @ Tuesday, May 24, 2005 1:27 PM | Feedback (193) |
Filed Under [
Jumping back a bit, I thought I'd also post a bit of code for those still using good old ASP and/or ADO. This is a function writen in VBScript that works much in the same way as the GetRows() method of an ADO recordset -- it returns the entire contents of the recordset in a 2-dimensional array. The difference with this one, of course, is that it will also do a pivot for you.
posted @ Sunday, May 15, 2005 9:26 PM | Feedback (4) |
Filed Under [
CrossTabs / Pivoting Data
As promised in my last post, here is some performance testing to help you determine the performance benefits (if any) of performing your crosstabs at the presentation or code layer, as opposed to forcing SQL Server to do this.
read more...
posted @ Thursday, May 12, 2005 10:01 AM | Feedback (7) |
Filed Under [
CrossTabs / Pivoting Data
Report Writing
Code Library - C# / VB.NET
In my last post, I spoke briefly about how I felt that in general crosstabbing data is something that a presentation layer should do and not the database. Consider the result of a crosstab operation -- the columns returned will vary depending on the data. There is pretty much no further manipulation you can do with that result in T-SQL; in the relational database world, the column names of our database objects should be constants and not continually changing as the data changes. Also, in T-SQL there is no easy way to dynamically pivot data, and even doing it with...
posted @ Wednesday, May 11, 2005 3:49 PM | Feedback (23) |
Filed Under [
CrossTabs / Pivoting Data
Code Library - C# / VB.NET
First off, before going any further make sure you have read the hall of fame SQLTeam article by Rob Volk on generating crosstab results using a flexible, dynamic stored procedure that has been viewed over 100,000 times! read more...
posted @ Monday, May 02, 2005 2:00 PM | Feedback (60) |
Filed Under [
CrossTabs / Pivoting Data
Code Library - SQL
Powered by:
Copyright © Jeff Smith

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Next Meetup
What we're about
This meetup group is here to connect and match up with other tennis players that play on a similar skill level and live close enough to get a match, class/clinic, or tennis related gathering to get some good tennis play in.
*Feel Free to post tennis events and meetings, but please include skill level and location. Be communicative and clear with players and change reservations accordingly should plans change. Be responsible and courteous to members in our group.you See you on the courts!
Skill Levels:
1.0: This player is Just starting to play tennis.
1.5: Has limited experience and is still working primarily on getting the ball into play.
2.0: Has obvious stroke weaknesses but is familiar with basic positions for singles and doubles play.
2.5: Can sustain a short rally of slow pace with other players of the same ability.
3.0: Fairly consistent when hitting medium-paced shots, but is not comfortable with all strokes and lacks execution when trying for directional control, depth or power.
3.5: Has achieved improved stroke dependability with directional control on moderate shots, but still lacks depth and variety. Starting to exhibit more aggressive net play.
4.0: Has dependable strokes, including directional control and depth on both forehand and backhand sides on moderate shots, plus the ability to use lobs, overheads, approach shots and volleys with some success.
4.5:Starting to master the use of power and spins and beginning to handle pace, has sound footwork, can control depth of shots and is beginning to vary game plan according to opponents.
5.0: Has good shot anticipation and frequently has an outstanding shot or exceptional consistency around which a game may be structured.
5.5: Can vary strategies and styles of play in a competitive situation and hit dependable shots in a stress situation.
6.0: has obtained a sectional and /or national ranking.
6.5: has extensive satellite tournament experience.
7.0: makes his living from tournament prize money.


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Sónar Festival 2012 | Native Instruments Presents Mostly Robot
Sónar 2012
Sónar 14.15.16 June
Barcelona's 19th International Festival of Advanced Music and New Media Art
Sónar is a three-day long music and visual arts festival that takes place in Barcelona, Spain every year. It is described officially as a festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art. Music is by far the main aspect of the festival. The festival runs for three days and nights, starting this Thursday with an expected 80,000 visitors.
Three days and three nights in touch with the most up-to-date developments. Featuring the most relevant national and international artists and professionals from the sectors of music and modern arts.
Native Instruments Presents:
Mostly Robot
Mostly Robot is set to deliver one of the most unique events of the Sónar by Day program (Thursday 14th, SónarHall, 19:00). Five well-known musicians will join forces alongside innovative visual artists for a world premiere performance.
Conceived by Native Instruments, Mostly Robot will utilize an advanced array on NI hardware and software, pioneering a creative interplay between technology and cutting-edge artists from diverse musical backgrounds.
Placing themselves in the tradition of inspiring Jazz concerts, Mostly Robot draw their magic from bringing highly skilled individuals together, creating a unique momentum. What's more, the Sónar showcase is a rare moment to catch a glimpse of yet unreleased song material from individual band members.
Truly 'live', each musician will play independently of another - instruments are synced only by the human element, with no MIDI clock or prepared grid obstructing their creativity - and will be accompanied by an inventive visual concept from Berlin's extraordinary Pfadfinderei.
Using the note events, controller data and audio material created by the playing of the Native Instruments controllers, visual elements are developed and interpreted in real time on screen - allowing the audience to follow the virtuosity of each musician.
The Artists:
Jamie Lidell / Frontman & Singer
DJ Shiftee / Cuts & Turntablism
Tim Exile / Effects & Sound Mangling
Mr Jimmy / Harmonies & Keys
Jeremy Ellis / Finger-drumming & Percussion
Pfadfinderei / Visuals
DJ Shiftee speaks about the Native Instruments F1
Jeremy Ellis on the Maschine Mikro
Radio 1 will be returning to Sónar this year with an Extended Essential Mix on Friday 15th June, bringing you exclusive sets from across the weekend, interviews with some of the biggest DJ's in the dance world and more.
Radio 1 Presents:
- Simian Mobile Disco
- Jack beats
- Annie Mac
- Brodinski vs Gesaffelstein
Also appearing at Sónar this year...
Sónar have announced that The USA's Flying Lotus who will be performing 2 shows, Trust, the dark synthpop duo from Canada, the Russian techno DJ and producer Nina Kraviz will join the bill.
More Festivals, More Artists and More Gear
- The 2 Bears, Hot Chip and Genelec.
- Friendly Fires with Universal Audio. These guys will also be at Beach Break too!
Isle of Wight Festival
- Example on stage with the Moog Little Phatty.
Radio 1 Hackney Weekend/Wireless fest
T in the Park
- Happy Mondays on stage with the Arturia Analogue Experience 49 Keyboard.
Artists at Sónar 2012
- Amon Tobin - ISAM
- Andrea Balency
- Annie Mac
- Arbol
- Austra
- Azari & III
- Blastto
- Brenmar
- Brodinski vs Gesaffelstein
- Chico Unicornio
- Clip!
- Club Cheval featuring Canblaster, Myd, Panteros 666 & Sam Tiba
- Cooly G
- Cornelius presents salyu x salyu
- Coyu
- d.Forma
- Daedelus Archimedes Show
- Dago
- Daniel Miller
- Darkside
- deadmau5
- Diamond Version + Atsuhiro Ito
- Die Antwoord
- Diego Armando vs. Guillamino
- Discodromo
- DJ Amable
- DJ Harvey
- DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad
- Doc Daneeka
- Eduardo de la Calle
- El Txef A
- Eltron John
- Esperanza
- Esperit!
- Exeter
- Fábel
- Fatboy Slim
- Flying Lotus
- Flying Lotus
- Friendly Fires
- Hot Chip
- Igor Marijuán
- Ital
- Jack Beats
- Jacques Greene
- Jacques Lu Cont
- James Blake DJ
- James Murphy
- Jeremiah Jae
- Jesse Boykins III
- John Talabot
- Julio Bashmore
- Keys N Krates
- Kode9
- Koulomek
- Kutmah
- LA Vampires
- Lana Del Rey
- Lapalux
- Laurent Garnier presents L.B.S.
- Lenticular Clouds
- Logical Nonsense
- Lolo & Sosaku
- Luciano
- Machine Beats
- Madeon
- Magic Touch
- Maria Minerva
- Mary Anne Hobbs b2b Blawan
- Masaki Batoh - Brain Pulse Music
- Maya Jane Coles
- Metronomy
- Microfeel
- Modeselektor
- Monki Valley
- Mostly Robot
- Mouse on Mars
- Nehuen
- New Order
- Nguzunguzu
- Nicolas Jaar
- Nightwave
- Nina Kraviz
- Nina Kraviz
- Om Unit
- Peaking Lights
- Pegasvs
- Plapla Pinky
- Pretty Lights
- Psilosamples
- Radiorifle
- Raisa K
- Ricardo Donoso
- Richie Hawtin
- Salva
- Santiago Latorre
- Simian Mobile Disco
- Sinjin Hawke vs. Zora Jones
- Sizarr
- Squarepusher
- Stand Up Against Heart Crime
- Star Slinger
- Supersilent feat. John Paul Jones
- The 2 Bears
- The Roots
- The Suicide Of Western Culture
- Thundercat
- Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
- Trevor Jackson
- Trust
- Untold
- When Saints Go Machine
- xxxy
- Yall DJs
- Yosi Horikawa
Related Products
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Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol F1 Dj controller includes 4GB of premium grade sound, pre-loaded as remix sets and spans ten music genres including; house, techno, dubstep, hip hop, tech house and Drum N Bass - perfect for jamming and live mixing! You can import your own samples, capture loops and sounds live and gain full sonic access to the Remix…
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text:
RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA -- In '06 I came late to the game, bought a low-mileage (17k) '04 6.0L super duty F350 dually long bed, full double cab & great ground-effects and interior upgrade CENTURION package. Beautiful truck. My biggest mistake was to have the FORD dealer in Riverside CA install a KELDERMAN airbag system on all 4 corners seeking a softer ride when empty.
The KELDERMAN system is excellent, but the installation and service was a nightmare, failed in 3 months. $4K for system, $2K to install, $750 for a 3-month in repair, which turned out to be a failed relay at the compressor (They installed it upside down & water fouled the relay connector).
Soon, both front tires of low mileage had catastrophic failures 3 months apart, major downtime for body damage & repairs to wiring & sensors, twice. $500 deductible twice, 4 months with no truck. Ride quality remained very rough throughout, which, in frustration, I cured myself with 4 adjustable RANCHO shocks. I removed all tires of that brand & invested in 7 brand new MICHELIN top of the line 80k mile warranty tires - $1500.
This improved things, but only long enough to get me out in the middle of a long highway in Nevada with a fully loaded 18' box trailer. That's when I discovered that the dealer tech had routed the wiring and the air lines to the front end directly above the turbocharger.
While tie-wrapping to the underside of the factory wiring device that routes the OEM wiring around the turbo, he caused the mounting to become loose so that the entire wiring loom sagged and rested directly on the turbocharger unit. I became aware of the situation when the air lines included with the wiring melted through and blew out, leaving my front airbags flat.
It took quite a while, but I was able to re-route some lines to get all bags on one system and get off the desert. I returned it again to the dealer & after 4 days I got the call that it was ready. I looked under the hood and discovered that the tech had simply taped the melted wiring, again tie-wrapped it under the OEM wiring harness, and the whole thing was still resting directly on the turbocharger!
The manager I had been working with refused to get up and go even look at the issue until I sat in his office and informed him I would not leave until he did. I then got 1 bolt in the OEM harness support, raising it up off the turbo, and the same taped melted wire, but at least they put it over the top of the support at my insistence.
I have moved too far from Riverside CA to take it back to the dealer again, but at 85k vehicle miles I have replaced both front tires 3 times, worn to the steel mesh on the inner edge, almost new on the outer edge. When I had it in for alignment the last time, they came out and got me & demonstrated how badly gone all 4 front ball joints are - impossible to properly align.
They also pointed out that when the dealer installed the airbag system, he had seen - called off all but 1 leaf of the front springs, and had severely cut into the one remaining leaf with the saw-all, both in front of and behind the U-bolts. The one remaining damaged spring leaf is now in an upside-down smile (frown) shape, on both sides of the front end. This caused the axle to impact the cross-member frame support under the engine, which they cured by cutting-torch - removed most of the center of the cross-member support.
Now the front axle doesn't hit the support, but it comes very close to the oil pan. I also discovered that the rear leaf springs had been cut so the leaf could not contact the over-load stop, rather than raising the position of the stop.
After all the money invested in this truck's suspension, I have now been advised by 2 different FORD specialists not to drive this vehicle because it is extremely dangerous to myself and others on the roadway. I have also had to become a pseudo diesel mechanic by default due to the extreme expense of keeping this thing running. When it first failed to start while a long way from home, it cost me a new FICM + installation and 4 extra days off work.
I then began reading the horror stories online while researching cures for the multiple issues that began to deteriorate both the ability to reliably start the engine, even in warm weather, and the lack of power until FULLY warmed up.
To date, in addition to the frustration and expense of the suspension nightmare, I have replaced the ICP sensor, conveniently made of plastic and placed directly under the TURBO on the rear of the engine ($650), the FICM, all 8 glow plugs, and invested $350 in a computer-based diagnostic tool in an attempt to keep up with the maintenance requirements of this truck.
Many expensive oil changes, a variety of costly fuel and oil additives constantly, fuel from the high-end stations or truck stops and hundreds of hours scouring the internet, watching the videos, getting professional diagnostics and lots of friendly advice from the best pros I can find, and the best prospect of ever even hoping to have a reasonably reliable vehicle comes down to some form of the "bullet-proofing" process, which will run me from $2500 if I do all the work, up to 5 or 6 times that to have it done under warranty by professionals. That does not include the suspension replacement I am now faced with.
What was FORD thinking?? Maybe they were just tired of having return customers and needed a lot of negative word of mouth help in that effort. At this time, it takes me a minimum of ½ hour to leave the parking lot after work on a warm summer day, double that in colder (anything below 70) weather.
The routine involves hundreds of key on, key off, key on/key offs to force the glow plugs to warm up the engine cylinders enough to fire the fuel. Then when it does fire it won't idle on its own without holding the pedal to the floor until it quits popping, sputtering & belching clouds of black smoke while misfiring violently for up to 5 minutes before it dies.
After an average of 3 of these sessions, it has warmed up just enough that it will idle at WOT anywhere from 400 - 2200 rpm until it gets warm enough for the PCM to try to reinstate a few more of the injectors, and the turbo to decide it will function to add some Oxygen to the mix. I guess my question is, does FORD really give a ** about any of our lives, and will it be closer to $20k or more like $30k to get this thing road-worthy?
APPLETON, WISCONSIN -- My Ford diesel quit running with 70,000 miles. It said cleaning exhaust filter and then stop safely now and died. Took to L & S Truck Center in Appleton, WI where they changed exhaust sensor. Vehicle ran after but L & S stated another code showed that exhaust temp was at 1700 degrees, but still ran. Ford reps told them to take motor apart.
After two and a half weeks Ford stated that they wouldn't warranty. Even though L & S is heard on my voicemail stating that it's warranty issue, because we run a premium oil Ford won't warranty the motor. I never gave authorization to tear down motor nor do they have anything in writing. They want $24,500 to repair my truck. It has been three weeks today and my truck is still in pieces. Ford won't speak with me about issue.
My husband was 150 miles away from his truck with the keys in his pocket when he received a call that his truck was trying to crank itself. Because of this weird incident it burned the starter up, so there goes 200+dollars to get just the part. When my husband got back into town, he opened the truck door and the radio was blaring and no key in the ignition so what the heck??? We called Ford and they act like they have no idea what could have happened or offer no assistance in telling us what we need to do. I am so fed up with Ford!
WHITE MARSH, MARYLAND -- I have a Ford F350 which is now 2 years old with 20,000 miles and I have taken great care of it. Recently when washing it I noticed that the two passenger doors are rusting from under the paint. When I took it back to AL Packer for the warranty to make repairs on it, they said that it is not covered.
I do not understand if Ford has bad workmanship on their vehicles that it would not be covered. The dealership said I have a paint and rust warranty; however, it would need to rust all the way through. This does not make any sense to me knowing that I have paid 40,000 dollars for a truck which is rusting away! The dealership thinks that's OK. I beg to differ.
KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA -- Beware of the Ford 6.0 diesel engines and stay away from Ford's in general. I have had several problems with Ford over the last 30 years but one expects some problems with American cars right? I started having engine problems after 47000 miles in June of 08. The dealer kept the truck for over 11 weeks. During which they called and said it was ready only to find out when I got there it was not. The second time the engine started acting up was February of this year (09).
I was in Dallas TX working and took it to the dealer there. They replaced an injector per the report although I was there during the work and the service manager did not mention the injector. The 3rd time was June 10th 09. The dealer in Kissimmee FL Mullinax Ford said they replaced the same #6 injector as well as the # 8 injector and an egt valve.
That afternoon when I picked it up it ran poorly. The tech. said to bring it back and when I did they found that the #6 cylinder and some kind of bolt in it and they denied the claim with 60000 miles on the truck. This is the reason the American auto industry is soon to be no more. GOODBYE, I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ONE!
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- I paid 36,000 for a pick up that runs most of the time. The dealer can't find the problem, my diesel mechanic doesn't even want to look at it anymore. Sometimes it runs fine and when you least expect it you're stuck on the side of the road. The dealer just says its bad fuel, but the same fuel goes in my other diesels. When will Detroit learn that they can't keep turning out poor quality? When will we learn that we can't buy from Detroit? Hate to say it but this is my last American Truck.
HOOD COUNTY, TEXAS -- Clay Ford should have to listen to alarms in his office, all day long, every day. The annoying "key in the ignition" alarm and the "put on your seatbelt alarm". They should go off at regular intervals, interrupt his cell phone calls, business calls, and annoy his peers as well. Only then will he realize how annoying it really is to actually use a truck on a farm, totally away from civilization, behind lock gates in pastures and fields.
I have listened to it for a year and a half now. The dealers claim there is absolutely nothing that can be done about these things since "it's in the chip." Hence, FIRE the idiot designer who did this, then let me tar and feather him. People who actually use their trucks to do work should design them. Not some designer who lives on pavement and never sees a pasture.
Never. NEVER again, will I drive off of a car lot with a vehicle that has audible alarms again, unless they are disabled. The dealer won't even tell me how to get to the speaker to cut the wires. There is no longer a door switch to tape shut. The sensors are somehow located internally inside the door at the latch.
Mr. Ford should also try to complain. Call his own company and listen to a whole laundry list of recordings and punch buttons only to find out that the office is closed anyway. Take off of work and call the next day during "normal business hours" only to find out that the call is useless anyway. His designers obviously live in cities, on paved streets, and have never spent hours in pastures. Fire them all.
FORD COMPANY -- Since I bought this truck, I only drove it 1500 miles when it start leaking oil, then when I reached 3000 miles check engine light went off, and a lot of noise start coming out the trans. And the dealer didn't find anything wrong with it (that's what they said). They said it was part of the noise that diesel vehicle make. Then it reached 4000 miles, check engine light went off and the same noise start coming out of the transmission or the shaft. But every time I take this vehicle to the dealer, they hold it from 2 to 4 days and lose days of work because my job depends on my truck and I lose money.


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Reading the forum on your cell phone? There's an easier way. We've enabled a Tapatalk app that makes browsing the forum a whole lot easier. Check it out in the iPhone or Android store if you don't own it already.
My longest day of continuous climbing was one week ago. My son and I did the regular route on Halfdome, but hauling the pack, which got stuck continuously, and certain delays, due to many teams on the route, and my old age status, resulted in 21 hours of climbing. Never climbed with headlamps- it was kind of cool.
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Moon Beer? Brewing Experiment Short-Listed for Indian Lunar Lander
By Leonard David,
UCSD brewmasters Johnny Koo, Jared Buchanan, Han Lu Ling, Neeki Ashari, Srivaths Kalyan and Tavish Traut.
Credit: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications
There could soon be a whole new definition of the term "moonshine."
A team of University of California San Diego (UCSD) engineering students is in a ferment, all hopped up to see if beer can be brewed on the moon.
Their experiment is designed to test the viability of yeast on the moon. The potential brewmasters hail from UCSDs Jacobs School of Engineering, and call themselves "Team Original Gravity."
They are 1 of 25 teams selected from a pool of several thousand entries to compete for a spot aboard a moon lander/rover that's scheduled to launch on Dec. 28, 2017.
Team Indus
The spacecraft is owned by the Indian startup Team Indus, a participant in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition. To win the $20 million grand prize, a privately funded team must successfully place a robot on the moon that explores at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) and transmits high-definition video and images back to Earth. (The second team to accomplish all of this will get $5 million; an additional $5 million is available for various special accomplishments, bringing the total purse to $30 million.)
Team Indus has secured a launch contract from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for a booster flight.
Team Indus invited researchers who were under 25 years of age to imagine, design and build an experiment that would help humankind develop a sustainable settlement on the moon.
Short-listed experiments
In Phase 1 of this "Lab2Moon" challenge, participants were asked to send in a concept note and video of their idea. That call generated 3,000 entries from 15 countries and more than 300 cities across the globe.


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Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy: Q&A
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie announced on Tuesday that she had a preventative mastectomy after learning she had a gene that significantly raised her risk of breast cancer. Here's a crash course in the procedure Jolie had and why.
Q: What kind of surgery did Jolie have?
A: Jolie had a preventative double mastectomy, meaning she chose to have both her breasts removed even though she had not been diagnosed with cancer.
Q: Why did she have the mastectomies?
A: Jolie says that she has a "faulty" version of the BRCA1 gene that means she has an 87 percent chance of getting breast cancer. By having both breasts removed as preventive measure, she said her breast cancer risk drops to 5 percent.
Q: How many women have this faulty gene?
A: Only a small percentage of women have this same faulty gene, or a similar mutated version of a related gene, BRCA 2. These mutations are most commonly found in women of Eastern European Jewish descent; one study found 2.3 percent of women in that group had the mutations — about five times higher than in the general population. Other ethnic groups, including the Norwegian, Dutch and Icelandic people, also have slightly higher rates of these mutations.
Q: How do these genes increase a woman's risk of breast cancer?
A: The average woman has a 12 percent risk of developing breast cancer sometime during her life. In comparison, women who have inherited a faulty version of a breast cancer gene are about five times more likely to get breast cancer. In the U.S., about 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers are thought to be linked to harmful versions of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
Q: How can women find out if they have these gene mutations?
A: A genetic test using a blood test can usually detect these genes. In the U.S., there are no standard guidelines recommending women for BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic testing. The tests usually cost at least several hundred dollars.
Source and Image : AP


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About this BPSO:
When the doors to Guelph General Hospital were opened on August 16, 1875, the hospital had 12 beds, a small infectious room and a dispensary. A superintendent and two nurses provided care, as well as working in the kitchen, housekeeping, switchboard and laundry.
Today, GGH is a dynamic, comprehensive acute care facility providing a full range of services to the residents of Guelph and Wellington County. Services include 24-hour emergency coverage, advanced technology and diagnostic support, and specialty programs such as surgery, orthopaedics, cardiac care, obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics.


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Meditation - OCD
Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:12 am
Hi, this is a rather strange question involving meditation. I have OCD, and when I meditate I get the impression it is more difficult to focus than it would be for those without OCD. Basically, when I meditate, I can see objects moving in symetrical patterns, and my object is moving all over the place in a rythemic motion. Its very hard to describe actually. I was wondering if anyone on here suffers from OCD and has found that it interferes with their medidation. If so, do you have any advice. For now I am just patient, and if my OCD wants to play tricks, I accept its presence....if I fight it will only get worse.
Steve X
Steve X


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On 2 February 2011, the "Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity" was opened for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Many years of discussions and around eight years of negotiations had passed to agree on an "international regime" on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (CBD COP10), which took place last October in Nagoya, Japan, approved at the very last plenary something which seemed elusive until the last day of the COP and the intense negotiations that preceded it. On October 29 2010, the compromise text put forward by the Japanese presidency was finally adopted.
Criticized by many because of the ambiguity and generality of many of its provisions, the deletion of contentious references and the use of vague terminology, the Nagoya ABS Protocol provides nonetheless a very solid framework to regulate access and benefit sharing at the national level. If left for further negotiation, its adoption would not probably have taken place.
The Protocol aims at ensuring legal certainty for both providers (mostly biodiversity-rich countries) and users (pharmaceuticals, bio-prospecting companies and research institutions mostly in the developed world) of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. No doubt that reaching a compromise agreement in Nagoya is a major step forward in responding to the third objective of the Convention, the "fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources" and the implementation of the Convention itself.
The Nagoya Protocol will enter into force 90 days after the fiftieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession has been deposited. The eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, which will be held in India from 8 to 19 October 2012, is the target for convening the first meeting of the Parties to the Protocol. For that to happen, the Nagoya Protocol must enter into force no later than 8 October 2012, with the fifty ratifications deposited by 10 July 2012. The UN Secretary General and the Executive Secretary of the CBD have called on Parties to expedite the process of ratification of the Protocol and highlighted its important contribution to sustainable development, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.


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While the globe warms and people swelter, Alaska is chilling | Alaska Dispatch.
Alaska is going rogue on climate change.
Defiant as ever, the state that gave rise to Sarah Palin is bucking the mainstream yet again: While global temperatures surge hotter and the ice-cap crumbles, the nation's icebox is getting even icier.
That may not be news to Alaskans coping with another round of 50-below during the coldest winter in two decades, or to the mariners locked out of the Bering Sea this spring by record ice growth.


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OCHA Annual Report 2011
2011 was an important year for the humanitarian community and for OCHA. There was barely a moment when our community was not faced with a relentless series of natural disasters, political crises and chronic emergencies.
But in the midst of this, we achieved something quite remarkable. At the end of December, humanitarian response partners, UN agencies, NGOs and the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement agreed on a series of reforms that focused on making our response efforts faster and more effective.
The timing was right. 2011 marked the twentieth anniversary of General Assembly resolution 46/182, which created the modern humanitarian system.
It was also a period of significant international change. Many of our traditional donor countries were affected by the global economic crisis. Political protests evolved into a year-long, region-wide series of uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, with significant humanitarian consequences in Libya, Yemen and Syria. And persistent conflict continued in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and elsewhere, affecting millions of people.
This report shows how OCHA responded to these significant challenges. We sought to establish stronger leadership more quickly. We worked with new partners, and stronger relationships were built worldwide between international agencies and national and regional authorities, which are increasingly taking the lead in preparedness-and-response efforts.
The progress made in 2011, and OCHA's continued internal reforms, offer hope that the goal of a rational, coordinated and effective aid system is within our reach.
Valerie Amos
Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator


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My Winter Wedding Color Palette: Colors from Nature
When I was engaged, my biggest pet peeve was getting the question, "What are your wedding colors?" I'm not a person who wants to be stuck with one color theme in life, so the idea of a wedding being defined by a color of the moment seemed passé. Instead, I chose to go with what I considered a non-existent color palette.
My response to this harmless question was always that my color was grey, and I got a lot of raised eyebrows. I suppose coral, yellow, and turquoise were what these well-meaning friends wanted to hear as the answer. But a winter wedding is not an affair that necessarily calls for bright colors, especially since I got married in the snowy mountains of Colorado. I really wanted to focus on the natural elements and pull colors from nature to incorporate into my big day.
You can see my mood board for the wedding inspiration in image #2, and it shows you where I started and what I ended up with. I recommend doing a mood board for any big soiree that you might be planning out the decor for. Here are a few key pieces that helped create a cohesive look for the wedding:
- Burlap table cloths
- Zinc table numbers
- Mercury glass votives and flower vessels
- All white flowers
In the end, I did have a color palette, but it was a loose one mixed with various shades of white, grey, silver, green, and all-natural burlap. I'm not claiming that this won't look overdone and trendy in twenty years, but I was happy with how things turned out and in the end that is really all that matters.
(Images: Figge Photography)


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Havelock's Derrell Scott took a handoff and ran to the left. Turning the corner, he saw the left side of the offensive line sealing the edge and he knew what he had to do.
Havelock's Derrell Scott took a handoff and ran to the left. Turning the corner, he saw the left side of the offensive line sealing the edge and he knew what he had to do.
"I just ran," he said. "I just ran as fast as I could and hoped I wouldn't get caught."
He didn't and he ran all the way into Havelock High record book.
Scott's 96-yard touchdown run was the first of his four scores as Havelock dominated D.H. Conley 41-14 Friday at Havelock High.
The junior's 96-yarder broke the school record of 95 yards set by Marvin Frazier against Clinton in 1979.
"I'm just blessed and thankful that the Lord gave me the ability to do that," Scott said.
He added touchdown runs of 5 yards in the first quarter, 13 yards in the second and 72 yards early in the fourth, capping a 205-yard rushing effort on just 14 carries.
"My offensive line just made it happen for me," Scott said. "I just ran to the outside and tried to make somebody miss and run as fast as I can."
The Rams jumped out to a 28-0 lead at halftime behind Scott's three scores and a 54-yard scrambling touchdown run by quarterback Pharoh Cooper.
"He's a special player," Havelock coach Jim Bob Bryant said of Scott. "A kid like him comes along once in a lifetime."
The Rams totaled 408 yards of total offense in the first half, while the Havelock defense limited D.H. Conley to 51.
"The coaches wanted me to jam the tight end and wanted everybody to read the pulling guards," said defensive lineman Kendall Vickers, who had a sack during the contest. "D.H. Conley runs a lot of trap plays, so we had to read the guards and make plays."
The Vikings (5-1, 1-1) got a 23-yard touchdown run from Walker Cummings to to start the third quarter, but Havelock responded with Cooper's 19-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Lindsey.
Cooper was 12 of 23 for 167 yards and an interception through the air, but he also did damage on the ground, rushing for 142 yards on 10 carries. The Rams rushed for 386 yards as a team.
"It was the offensive line and the receivers blocking down the field," Bryant said. "On our outside runs, I thought our receivers did a good job blocking in the secondary, and our offensive line did a good job opening up holes."
Cummings scored from 11 yards out to start the fourth quarter, but on Havelock's first play, Scott went around the left end for a 72-yard touchdown run, sealing the 41-14 triumph.
"Once Derrell gets the ball in the open field, there's not many guys who can catch him," Bryant said. "Once he hit the sideline, we knew he was gone."
The Rams did have three touchdowns called back on penalties, and totaled 116 yards on 11 flags. But Havelock's defense got sacks from Vickers and Harry Caldwell, and an interception from Jordan Cuthbertson in limiting the Vikings to 226 total yards.
"Andrew Vanover stepped in at linebacker, and he's a sophomore, and I thought he did a great job," Bryant said. "I thought our defensive line got a good push up front, so their guards couldn't get out on us, and our defensive coaching staff did a great job getting us ready for those guys."
The victory gives the Rams (5-1, 2-0) a head start toward another Coastal 3A Conference championship.
"It was big," Bryant said. "D.H. Conley is a very good football team, and (coach) Brian Paschal does a great job. It was a good team win for us, and to open up the conference 2-0 against a team that was 5-0 and hadn't had a close game, it's a big win for our guys."
Havelock is scheduled to play next week at 7 p.m. at Washington.
Hav 14 14 6 7 -41
First Quarter
H - Derrell Scott, 96-yard run, Dylan Baker kick, 7:16
H - Scott, 5-yard run, Baker kick, 2:55
Second Quarter
H - Scott, 13-yard run, Baker kick, 9:30
H - Pharoh Cooper, 54-yard run, Baker kick, 4:57
Third Quarter
DHC - Walker Cummings, 23-yard run, Josh Walston kick, 11:04
H - C.J. Lindsey, 19-yard pass from Cooper, kick failed, 6:59
Fourth Quarter
DHC - Cummings, 11-yard run, Walston kick, 10:37
H - Scott, 72-yard run, Baker kick, 10:22
Rushes-yards 35-386 48-160
Passing 167 66
Comp-att-int 12-23-1 4-15-1
Penalties-yards 11-116 9-81
Individual statistics
Rushing - H: Scott 14-205, Cooper 10-142, Taylor Woods 4-30, London Duvall 3-10, Donte Stackhouse 3-10, Aron Rossi 1-(-11). DHC: Maleek Gorham 11-58, Cummings 19-57, Johnathan Shrock 2-26, Everett Paschal 6-19, Jamari Cook 4-16, Shemik Strickland 1-8, Bam Saton 1-(-3), Davis Kirkpatrick 4-(-21).
Passing - H: Cooper 12-23-167-1-1, Aron Rossi 0-1-0-0. DHC: Kirkpatrick 4-15-66-1-0
Receving - H: Rossi 5-97, C.J. Lindsey 3-51, Michael Bowman 2-18, Woods 2-6, Scott 1 -(-5). DHC: Shemik Strickland 3-53, Bryant Beaulieu 1-13.


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A comic for the latest issue of The Stool Pigeon, a cool music newspaper which can be picked up around the UK for free. Seek out your copy now! Click for bigger view!
Labels: comics
Labels: comics
haha i love the falling seat panel.
Yeah, I like using falling as an illustration for that feeling.
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Engineering Dissertation
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Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I'm a big fan.
Yours truly,
Julian (a friend of Sakelaropolus)
Lol man I have plenty of pretentious asshead friends like the hipster w/ the 'stache. It's so painful when you find yourself giving into their meaningless conversation. It's good to see someone out there feels like I do. I really appreciate it!!
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Woow great picture story I have found here.
Haha, great comic!
I make hipster comics, too: http://www.hipsters-comic.com/
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I am a first time mom and of course I question how I am "suppose" to do things and my question today is at what age did you Transition your child into a Toddler bed? I am thinking of doing this with my son who is 16 months and I am looking for advice and tips on how and when you think would be a good time.
also check out my blog and I will check yours out!
Its about me raising my son learning to be a good mom and dealing with a husband who has manic depressant anxiety disorder. Enjoy.
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DUBLIN — Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny says anti-abortion activists in his predominantly Roman Catholic country are inundating his office with threatening packages and letters condemning him as a baby-killer, some written in blood.
"I am now being branded ... around the country as a murderer, that I'm going to have on my soul the death of 20 million babies," Kenny said Wednesday as he described a mass campaign to flood his post box and telephone switchboard with anti-abortion messages.
But Kenny told lawmakers his 2-year-old government was determined to reform Ireland's blanket ban on abortion in a bill being published Wednesday night following months of backroom haggling.
The proposed law would strengthen the ability of doctors to perform abortions only in rare cases where the woman's life was endangered from continued pregnancy, including her own threat to commit suicide if denied a termination.
An opinion poll being published Thursday in The Irish Times found strong public support for wider abortion rights than that proposed in the bill. But it recorded substantial opposition to suicide threats as justifiable grounds.
Ireland's lawmakers have dithered for two decades on the issue, reflecting the unpopularity of tackling a potentially vote-losing issue. They have been spurred to act following the death in a hospital last year of a woman who contracted blood poisoning during an unusually protracted miscarriage.
Kenny hopes to have the bill passed by July and is threatening to expel any of his party's lawmakers from the parliamentary bloc if they oppose him.
Kenny has presided over an unprecedented cooling of church-state relations in a country that through most of its 20th-century independence handed over control of many social services, schools and hospitals to the church.
He previously has accused Catholic leaders in Rome of directing a cover-up of child sexual abuse in Irish church ranks and shut Ireland's embassy to the Vatican in what he insisted was a cost-cutting move.
Kenny said anti-abortion lobbyists expected him to preserve overtly Catholic teachings in Irish state law. But using the Gaelic title for his office, "Taoiseach," Kenny said those days in Ireland were dying as the population increasingly followed multiple faiths or none.
"I am proud to stand here as a public representative, as a Taoiseach who happens to be a Catholic, but not a Catholic Taoiseach. I'm a Taoiseach for all the people. That's my job while I have it," he said in remarks that won spontaneous applause not only from his own party, the socially conservative Fine Gael, but also from left-wing opposition lawmakers.
Kenny said many letters addressed to him contained plastic fetuses or Catholic symbols of pilgrimage and devotion, including so-called "miraculous medals" depicting the Virgin Mary and designed to provide the bearer an opportunity at last-minute salvation. He said other government lawmakers were getting similar objects and messages.
On Tuesday, Ireland's Catholic bishops issued a joint statement denouncing the government's Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill as a monstrous lie that would facilitate the gradual spread of widespread abortion in Ireland. They called on lawmakers to defy Kenny's whip and insisted that Ireland's existing legal system gave doctors enough leeway to perform life-saving abortions.
That's not a view shared by many of Ireland's leading obstetricians, who argue that most women in life-threatening medical circumstances find it far easier to travel for abortions to neighboring England, where the practice was legalized in 1967.
That issue has been in legal limbo since 1992, when Ireland's Supreme Court ruled that abortions should be legal in Ireland to protect the woman's life — including from a risk of death caused by her threat to kill herself. The case concerned a 14-year-old girl who had been raped by a family friend and been blocked by the government from traveling to England for an abortion.
The Irish bill would permit such abortions only if three doctors, including two psychiatrists, ruled that the woman's threat was severe.
The Irish Times opinion poll found that 89 percent want abortions to be granted in cases where a woman's life is endangered from medical complications caused by pregnancy.
Some 83 percent also wanted abortion legalized in cases where the fetus could not survive at birth, 81 percent for cases of pregnancy caused by rape or abuse, and 78 percent where a woman's health — not simply her life — was undermined by pregnancy. The government bill excludes those three scenarios.
But the poll of 1,000 people earlier this week across this country of 4.6 million found only 52 percent support for granting abortions to women who threaten suicide, a key part of the bill, while 29 percent were opposed. And 39 percent thought abortion should be provided on demand, while 46 percent rejected this. The survey had an error margin of 3 percentage points.
The view that some Irish hospitals delay granting abortions to seriously ill women on religious grounds was highlighted by the October death of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist who was 17 weeks pregnant with her first child when her uterus ruptured, dooming the fetus.
A coroner's inquest has already determined that she died six days after requesting an abortion, during which time she contracted septicemia that ultimately ruined her organs, sent her into a coma, and ended in a lethal heart attack. Witnesses confirmed that her requests to end her miscarriage were rejected because the dying fetus still had a heartbeat. It died four days before her own death.
Her case became public only because her widower publicly denounced her care and said a nurse had told him his wife's miscarriage could not be accelerated because Ireland is a Catholic country.
A government-commissioned experts' report on the Halappanavar death is being published Thursday.
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NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus has imposed limits on money transfers and hired extra security guards as it prepares for the planned reopening Thursday of its banks, which have been closed for almost two weeks to avoid a run during the country's financial drama.
A banking official said Wednesday that new controls will include restrictions on large-scale transfers from the country's two largest and most troubled lenders, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki, when they reopen Thursday. Both are being restructured and big depositors face losses of as much as 40 percent.
Authorities are looking to increase the daily withdrawal limit from 100 euros to 300 euros (from $130 to $386), while payroll payments will be allowed in order to help businesses, which have taken a huge hit as people cut down on their spending amid the uncertainty swirling about the banks.
The restrictions will be kept for at least a week until the situation stabilizes, said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the measures have yet to be officially announced.
Meanwhile, private security firm G4S will dispatch 180 of its staff to all bank branches across the island to keep a lid on any possible trouble, said John Argyrou, managing director of the firm's Cypriot arm.
"Our presence there will be for the comfort of both bank staff and clients, but police will also be present," he said.
Argyrou said he doesn't foresee any serious trouble unfolding once banks open their doors because people had time to "digest" what has transpired.
"There may be some isolated incidents, but it's in our culture to be civil and patient, so I don't expect anything serious."
Another 120 staff from G4S would be assigned money transportation duties.
Banks were closed on March 16 as politicians scrambled to come up with a plan to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) that would qualify the country for 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in bailout loans from fellow eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund.
Under the deal clinched in Brussels early Monday, Cyprus agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on large Laiki and Bank of Cyprus depositors.
Laiki is to be restructured, with its healthy assets going into a "good bank" and its nonperforming loans and toxic assets going into a "bad bank," officials have said. The healthy side will be absorbed into the Bank of Cyprus.
The board of directors of both banks has been fired and administrators appointed to handle the restructuring and absorption, the banking official said.
Bank of Cyprus CEO Yiannis Kypris issued a statement saying the Central Bank governor had asked him verbally Wednesday to resign.
"These are very difficult times for everyone. The Bank of Cyprus was and must remain the basic support of the economy and our society in the effort to deal with the crisis our country is going through," Kypris said. "I hope that the handling of this transition phase will respect the workers, shareholders and customers of the Bank of Cyprus."
Cypriot officials said the deal would mean the country would shift its focus away from being an international center of financial services. That is expected to cost jobs, adding to the unemployment rate which now stands at around 14 percent.
Business leaders and cabinet ministers were meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades on Wednesday to find ways to get the economy going again.
To give consumers a break, electricity prices will drop 5.75 percent next month. Over the next couple of weeks, authorities will look into how they can reduce them by another 3 percent, said Commerce Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis.
Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos said his ministry is looking to cut red tape in order to attract foreign investment. He said Chinese investors have shown increasing interest in property sales, adding that a single real estate office has sold some 400 residences to Chinese buyers.
"There has always been interest from foreign investors," said Hasikos. "The question is how we as the government, as Cyprus, can convince all these investors …that the environment is secure, that whatever happened has now passed and that they can continue securely investing in Cyprus."


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Casey Kasem Dead at 82 - Radio Legend Passes on Father's Day
Casey Kasem died on Sunday morning (June 15), according to his daughter Kerri's Facebook page.
The American Top 40 radio legend long suffered from advanced Parkinson's Disease and dementia.
"Early this Father's Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends," Kerri wrote. "Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. The world will miss Casey Kasem, an incredible talent and humanitarian; we will miss our Dad. With love, Kerri, Mike and Julie."
Casey was best known as the host of American Top 40 for over 20 years until Ryan Seacrest took his place in 2004. He also lent his voice for the famous role of Shaggy on Scooby-Doo.


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The Philips Fidelio M1 on-ear headphones are the perfect present for anyone who loves music. The headsets have a fairly slick and lightweight design offering the perfect blend of style and class, modern-looking enough to appeal to younger buyers. The frame of the M1s is metal and much of it is covered by leather-effect padding. Philips appears to have used a mixture of real leather and synthetic stuff in these on-ear headphones. However, their fake leather is so high-grade that it's hard to tell the difference. Additionally, the headband is easy to adjust while each earcup rotates horizontally by around 90 degrees, so the Philips Fidelio M1s are capable of fitting on the most massive of heads. The leather cups also create a comfortable seal around your ears, keeping sound out and keeping your audio in. They help block out noise across the frequency spectrum very effectively, dealing with noisy streets and trains like a pro. Apart from the excellent noise isolation, the well-designed Philips Fidelio M1 on-ear headphones come with a thick, fabric-covered cable that is removable. It doesn't detach at the cup, rather around 10cm down, so you can switch to a longer cable if you want to use them at home. The cable is complete with its in-line remote which is a one button affair. You can play and pause with one press, move forward with a double tap or backwards with three taps. The Philips Fidelio M1 on-ear headphones are available for $119.99.
The Philips Fidelio M1 on-ear headphones have a slightly retro look to them, courtesy of a stylish speaker grill and angular brushed metal details, along with the understated black leather headband.
The Philips Fidelio M1s feel good in your hands and your ears. The fine leather earpads feature memory foam and a fabric covering in the centre, aiming at creating a decent seal without the cans feeling too tight on your bonce.
Specifically designed for mobile use, the devices have an inline one-button remote/microphone for making cell phone calls.
The M1s, which retail for $119.99, feature the ridged 40mm neodymium drivers like their predecessor - the Philips Fidelio L1s.
The sponge-padded headphone fits snugly on your ears, acting to both cushion and reduce noise.
Read more:
» Phiaton Moderna MS 200 in-ear headphones review
» Yamaha PRO 500 headphones review


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Hi, I'm trying to modify my android ROM. I have working scripts to unpack android image and then unpack boot.img (for apk and initramfs modifications). I wonder if someone did this before, because I'm having trouble repacking boot.img back (script for repacking whole ROM works fine). When I unpack and repack initramfs using cpio, it has few hundred bytes less than before.
Does anyone have working boot.img (initramfs) repacking script ? (preferably bash)
Thanks !


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User Story Estimation Techniques
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One of the great things about working as a consultant is the ability to try out many different ideas and adapting your personal favorite process to include things that work. This article gives the details about user story estimation techniques that I've found effective.
Powers of two
Originally I estimated stories as one, two, three, four or as small, medium, large, extra-large. It was always meant to be understood that a medium was twice the size of a small and a large was twice the size of a medium (and so on), but that never seemed to translate well when it came to planning. Then someone recommended to me that I try powers of two. Suddenly we were speaking a language that the business could understand. They knew that an 8 was significantly bigger than a 1. I believe the sizes one, two, four, eight are also much more appropriate. As stories get larger they almost always contain more unknown and risk. A powers of two scale emphasizes the risk associated with large stories.
Use four values
I was once on a project that started with 1, 2, 4, 8 as their estimation values. After the first two estimation sessions less than 5% of the stories were ones and about 30% of the stories were twos. The project manager decided to get rid of the one value because it made his life easier. An interesting thing happened at each subsequent estimation meeting, suddenly only 5% of the stories were twos and many more stories had become fours. I don't think that the developers consciously changed their scale, but developers are conditioned to be skeptical. Few developers are willing to say with certainty that any given story will be as easy as the scale allows. After witnessing this type of behavior on a few different projects, I prefer a minimum of four point values. I also prefer a maximum of 4 point values. After all, it's nothing more than an estimate. If you try to give too much precision to an estimate you'll end up having to account for why you missed the mark. The idea is to get a rough idea, not a rigid plan to live off of.
No averages or numbers not on the scale
Four values allow you to get a rough estimate without spending unnecessary time focusing on precision. Sometimes a story feels larger than a two but smaller than a four. The story should not be estimated as a three. There's really no reason to use a three. The story carries enough risk or unknowns that it is not a two; therefore, it's very likely that it will actually be a four. Using an average or an off scale number can briefly (and unnecessarily) confuse a team member or stakeholder. Also, in the big picture of the project, the occasional uncommon estimate isn't likely to make much of a difference. Keep it simple, stick to the scale.
Vote independently
It's human nature to be influenced by other people. If a technical leader says a story is a two, it's likely that the rest of the team will follow his lead. For this reason I prefer an estimation process that lets each team member vote independently. This can be done by using sheets of paper that no one reveals until everyone is ready. Another option (that I prefer) is to give your estimation rock-paper-scissors (RPS) style. In our estimation meetings we talk about a story until we are ready to estimate then we all "throw" our estimations the same as you would "throw" rock, paper, or scissors. What I mean by "throw our estimation" is that if we think it's a 1 we point 1 finger. Likewise a 2 is two fingers and 4 is four fingers. If you need to throw an 8, you can use both hands.
Take the largest estimate
Even when reminded, developers seem to have a hard time estimating with a team in mind. If a developer thinks they can do the story in 1 day, they throw 1 finger. Unfortunately, that developer may not be available to do the story, and then some other team member is stuck working on a story that they thought was a 2 or even a 4. I prefer to always take the largest estimate thrown by any team member. You may consider this to be sandbagging, but in reality it's likely that each team member has identified different risks and the team member with the largest estimate has probably correctly identified that there is more risk than the other members have thought of.
Taking the largest estimate has additional benefits. If you must agree on a lower estimate then the team member with the larger estimate will need to discuss why they chose a larger value. This discussion can be uncomfortable for developers who are less senior on the team. They may not know how to do something as quickly, based on limited experience with the language or tools. Their concerns are often justified by their skill level, and it would be unfortunate if they felt uncomfortable giving their true estimate because they were afraid to discuss why it was higher.
Any discussion around taking a higher or lower value may lead to the entire team raising their value, or it may lead to that developer uncomfortably lowering their estimate. Either way, you'll need to spend more time talking and you wont have gained--in the end it's consistency that matters. You always know how many stories you expect to get done in an iteration by tracking velocity*. Therefore, even if your estimates are "bloated" so will your velocity be, thus it has no effect on planning.
Finally, taking the largest estimate can help save time in an estimation meeting. If any member of the team believes the story is an 8 he can speak up at any time while discussing the story and announce that he is going to throw an eight. Unless someone else believes that there is a large estimation gap among team members, there's no reason to continue talking about the story since it will ultimately become an eight anyway.
Large estimate gaps
When estimating it's usually the exception that the entire team agrees on the size of a story. Like I previously said, I like to handle the mismatch by always taking the larger estimate. However, sometimes a large gap represents a misunderstanding. For this reason any time there is a two value gap in estimation, additional conversation always occurs (e.g. if a team member throws a 1 and another throws a 4, some clarification needs to occur). Discussing large gaps also ensures that taking the largest estimate has less chance of being abused.
Insufficient information
On occasion a story may need leave the meeting unestimated. It's better to ask for more information than to give an estimate that you are uncomfortable with. An estimate of 8 implies that it's a large story, but you expect it to take twice as long as a 4. Therefore, don't simply estimate ill-defined stories as eights, because you will likely be expected to get it done in the same amount of time as it takes to get two stories estimated as fours completed. The goal of an estimation meeting isn't to estimate all the stories, it's to provide estimates on the stories that provide sufficient information.
Required involvement
No one enjoys estimation meetings (okay, no one I know). In my past projects the fastest reader would read the story aloud, the developers would ask the domain experts questions, and then they would estimate. When the developers weren't asking the domain experts questions, the domain experts usually did other things on their laptops. At first glance I thought this was a good use of their time, but things got missed. Later I joined a project where the manager insisted that we go around the room and make everyone read a story when it was their turn. Suddenly the domain experts were engaged because they were worried about looking silly when it was their turn to read. The meetings became much more valuable due to everyone's involvement.
Pigs and Chickens
In a ham-and-eggs restaurant, the pig is committed but the chicken is simply involved.
I often hear that the business shouldn't influence developer estimates because developers are pigs and the business is full of chickens. I actually think this is a bad analogy. It's more likely that a bad product will get the business team fired than the technology team. I'm sure the business feels just as committed as the developers. However, it is a conflict of interest to let the business interfere with estimates.
It's as simple as this, the business wants to know what functionality they can get in the next iteration. To know what to expect they need estimates. Since the business will not be writing the code, they cannot contribute proper estimates. The more they are involved (in the actual estimation), the less likely it is that they will receive realistic estimates. The best domain experts answer questions in meetings, but never assert in any way the level of effort it will take to complete any given story.
Estimation group size
Teams come in many different sizes. On smaller teams (6 or less) I suggest the entire team attend the estimation session. The many points of view are likely to solidify vision and positively contribute to an estimate. However, I believe there is a point of diminishing returns. Not everyone on a large team needs to be part of estimating each story. Additionally, it's an estimate, 6 people should be just as accurate as 15 people would be. If your team is larger than 6 people I suggest breaking into smaller groups for estimation. In general I like to get at least 3 people to estimate any given story, but no more than 6.
New stories
New stories come in two forms: new feature requests and stories that split. I generally wait to estimate new stories based on their priority. If a story needs to be done in the next iteration, it generally requires an immediate estimate. However, if the new stories aren't going to be played for several iterations it can make sense to hold off until you have enough stories to justify an estimation meeting. I find estimates from estimation meetings to be more reliable, since they come from an environment where everyone is focused solely on estimation. Stories resulting from a split provide an additional complication: they likely already have an estimate. I strongly suggest that the new stories be estimated without taking into consideration the previous estimate. If a story carried enough risk or uncertainty that it required splitting, it's not likely that the estimate is realistic--ignore the original estimate.
No laptops
At least no laptops for developers. Print the story list for everyone, or project the list on the screen, but don't ask the developers to read the story list from their laptops. Laptops almost always find ways to distract developers, thus taking away from the goal of the meeting: Getting valuable estimates.
Required participation
This suggestion is a very important one. In theory, no developer from outside the team should be attending an estimation session. That means that every developer that attends an estimation session will potentially be tasked with working on a story that's being estimated. If a developer is not comfortable estimating a story, then I'm not comfortable with them working on the story. Of course, there are exceptions. I generally give new team members one week to come up to speed before I ask that they participate in an estimation session. But, in general, a developer who refuses to participate in estimation should signal that there's a bigger issue that needs to be resolved.
Stale estimations
Teams change, projects change, and random events occur. Whatever the reason, estimations can get stale. Stale estimations don't help anyone. The development team feels pressure to deliver to stale estimates and the business expects stories to be completed according to projected velocity. It doesn't matter why estimates get stale, what matters is that the estimates are no longer realistic and the plan is no longer reliable. I've never been part of a project where the estimates didn't go stale within 12-24 weeks. It's better to admit that an estimation is stale than it is to plan with inaccurate information. For this reason, I suggest revisiting any estimation that was given more than 12 weeks ago. The estimation will hopefully still be good, but giving the developers an opportunity to speak up given new information is nothing but helpful to the business.
This is the easiest suggestion of all: Bring high quality snacks to all estimation meetings. Sugar has been scientifically linked to happiness, and happiness leads to collaboration. It's the simplest and cheapest possible way to make an estimation meeting something to look forward to. Keep in mind though, high quality is the key. If you bring the same snacks that are already sitting in the team room, it's not very exciting. On my last project I went to the bakery and got fresh baked assorted cookies every time I remembered there was a meeting.
I'd like to give special thanks to Brent Cryder, Dennis Byrne, Fred George, Joe Zenevitch, Mike Ward, and Sean Doran for helping me solidify and evolve these ideas. Just like every other list of people, mine surely leaves out other contributors, please forgive me for leaving you off.
About the author
Jay Fields is a software developer and consultant at ThoughtWorks. He has a passion for discovering and maturing innovative solutions. His most recent work has been in the Domain Specific Language space where he has delivered applications that empowered domain experts to author domain logic. He is also very interested in maturing software design through developer testing and software testing in general.
*Velocity: The number of points you've completed over the life of the project divided by the number of iterations. E.g. If you've completed 20 points over 5 iterations, your velocity is 4. With a velocity of 4 you can expect to get as many stories done in an iteration where their estimates total 4 (e.g. 1 story estimated as a 4, 2 stories estimated as twos, 4 stories estimated as ones, etc)
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Good job
Al Tenhundfeld
They're all good suggestions, but if you're trying to introduce this practice to a new team and are feeling overwhelmed by the list of things to remember, I recommend the first two and last suggestions: use 4 powers of 2 for estimates and bribe the team with treats.
Spot On
dale moody
Estimation fatigue results in people switching off. To hide this fact devs tend towards the middle estimate as it reduces the chance they will be forced into a conversation about the story.
If you see anyone wilting call a halt - they probably aren't the only person struggling. I find a short break only results in a short boost, best to come back tomorrow when everyone is fresh.
On the other hand - if estimation is taking too long perhaps you're estimating too far ahead or your domain expert/BA/PM hasn't properly prepared.
RE: vote independently
Arnon Rotem-Gal-Oz
Thanks for sharing, thought i would share our story estimation technique
keith gardner
I have done the poker planning at our estimation sessions with cards with some success, in my previous company, although we seemed to face the following challenges:
• Getting everyone to show their cards at the same time (showing cards, all at once, is a lot more challenging then one would think).
• Seeing all the cards to determine high/low.
• Making sure that everyone is focusing on the story at hand.
• When someone was remote (seems like there are always someone), trying to get them to be able to participate (let them say their number after everyone in the room is ready with card in hand, then show everyone else's in the room. Making sure that they had all the details for the story and could hear the conversations, and follow where the team was)
I recently found a free poker planning tool that I really like:
• www.planningpoker.com/ (From Mountain Goat Software)
We also use Rally to manage our user stories:
• www.rallydev.com/
Our estimating sessions go like the following:
• In prep: A day or two before the planning session the product owner and scrum master get the user stories cleaned up (adding conditions of satisfaction, making sure there is enough detail, and prioritizing).
• In prep: A few hours before the planning session, scrum master exports the user stories from rally into the planning poker tool. I arrange by priority, because we time box our meeting to an hour and make it though as many stories as we can. We then have follow up meetings (if needed) to get through more. If we got through the higher priority ones (and any other expected to be picked up by the team) we can then go into a planning session and prioritize before next sprint.
• We use a conference call (meet me) and all have the planning poker session up and rally (we have also used web ex to allow everyone to see the same information but seems better to have everyone drive what they need to see to be effective).
• The tool facilitates and enforces showing of cards for everyone. This works great, removes a lot of the problems. (additionally the admin (scrum master), can enter in the final estimate)
• The tool also shows only the story at hand, along with the cards.
• As we flush out the user stories, questions and clarification for stories are brought someone on the team updates rally. An effective scrum master will make sure that everyone has a chance to add some clarity and keep people on there toes as discussion is facilitated.
• We do a few hands of cards until we are close to agreement, with discussion for outliers (usually high and low, but not always).
• The tool keeps track of all the estimations for the whole session.
• After: Then we plug the numbers back into rally.
I really like the way this works, and in my opinion is better then using cards in person.
Voting on estimation
George White
Different values and gaps management
Andrea Maietta
We choose Fibonacci numbers for our estimates, as suggested by Mike Cohn, and we find them very useful. We also have 0 and 20 cards, but we seldom go 13 (that leaves us on a five values scale) and we practically never use them.
About the tool: we went agile, took a colored paper sheet and cut it in regular pieces, upon which we scribbled our numbers. There you go planning poker! Outdated visiting tickets can be effective too, and they also have the advantage that they spare you the cutting.
I think cutting the estimating of a story picking the greatest value can be really time effective, but for small teams I still think that a (brief) discussion about the chosen values (and the hidden risks) would improve the global understanding of the project.
Re: Different values and gaps management
Dave Rooney
I think cutting the estimating of a story picking the greatest value can be really time effective, but for small teams I still think that a (brief) discussion about the chosen values (and the hidden risks) would improve the global understanding of the project.
When using Planning Poker with larger groups, I've observed that you have a couple of low estimates, a couple of high ones, and then a cluster of estimates somewhere in the middle. I generally ask the high & low estimate providers to explain their reasoning in case there is something that the other people didn't take into account. Most often, though, the estimate used isn't necessarily the highest but rather the one from the cluster.
Dave Rooney
Mayford Technologies
Re: Different values and gaps management
Vladimir POPOV
I'd like to share an observation regarding power of 2 versus Fibonacci numbers. We have used power of 2 for our estimates, but found it to be a bit to "flat" at the project level. So we changed to the power of e. Interesting thing is that odd positions in Fibonacci sequence are very close to power of e. I.e. 1, 3, 8, 21, 55... In real life complexity level 1 to 5 is used. The last grade is used to filter stories which need to be re-estimated.
Re: Different values and gaps management
Jay Fields
Consistency is the most important thing. If you always take the middle of the road, that's almost as good, imo. Discussing it further might be helpful, but here's 2 things to think about. For one, you might get more information, but is it really valuable at that point? I've found that usually any discussion leads to going middle of road anyway, and the extra discussion usually brings out more info, but not info that the entire team actually needs. Not everyone needs every detail. Two, you don't want to discourage large estimates. Sometimes people just get a feeling that something is bigger, and that feeling is usually correct. If you force them to explain, they might give lower estimates, despite their feelings. Of course, if someone always over estimates, that's not a big deal, because we are back to consistency.
I think you're good either way truthfully, but I find taking the largest estimate to be the most efficient and participant friendly.
Cheers, Jay
Re: Different values and gaps management
Dave Rooney
Consistency is the most important thing.
Absolutely - I couldn't agree more. As I said, when I encounter an estimate that's larger than those in the "cluster", I ask how the person arrived at the estimate. If the answer confirms that there is more to the story than people thought, then of course we go with the higher estimate.
However, I sometimes receive answers like, "I don't have experience with the technology" or "I don't really understand the requirement". For the former, it makes sense to go with a lower estimate. If the person who gave the high estimate works on that story, they can pair with someone who does know the technology. For the latter, it's strictly a case where the person didn't ask enough questions in order to gain the understanding required to provide an estimate.
So, in both of these cases, I would recommend going with a lower estimate from the "cluster", but I agree that generally the "highest estimate wins"!
Dave Rooney
Mayford Technologies
Delphi Technique
Maurice Hagar
Fibonacci & Faites vos jeux
Martien van Steenbergen
While reading it, the wish to use Fibonacci numbers (a favourite I use a lot) came up. To my delight some others suggest this as well and Planning Poker uses Fib as well. Great! I'll stick to that than.
Regarding prioritizing stories by business: I use "faites vos jeux". Another poker-inspired practice.
Each business stakeholder (those who make decisions and have budget power and/or users) is given ten or twenty poker chips (fiches), say. All chips have the same value. Next, they distibute their chips over the available stories for the next two sprint as they see fit:
- Does it feel good (in my heart)?
- Does it make sense (rationally)?
- Does it work (can it be implemented)?
Et voilà, all stories for the next two sprint are prioritized based on their VALUE.
Have the stories picked up by developers until you meet your team's velocity.
Re: Fibonacci & Faites vos jeux
Jay Fields
The fact that you are already using fibonacci tells me that you are on the right track, but you might want to try powers of 2 sometime. Or if you perfer to stick with fibonacci, do so exclusively -- if you use your cell phone (like Arnon Rotem-Gal-Oz recommended), you can throw any number you want.
* by throw I mean, show -- in rock, paper, scissors style.
Thanks for the comments, Jay
How do short estimation meetings relate to the Sprint Planning meeting?
Fred Scefi
Too many questions I know, but I really want to make Scrum work better for us.
Re: Thanks for sharing, thought i would share our story estimation techniqu
Rick Leandri
How do you load the stories into the Planning Poker tool? We use Version One. I tried using the copy/paste method directly into the tool from Excel, but the data is jumbled. Is there some sort of template to map the data into the tool? I can't find any help on the Mountain Goat site.
Is there nothing about design?
Wang Hongtao
Should entire team be involved in Effort estimation?
Rupesh Dubey