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A documentary about Bob Marley executive-produced by his son Ziggy sounds guaranteed to be pious, respectful, and dull. Families tend to overcurate the image of their deceased loved ones even when they aren't world-famous figures, and Marley, a magnetic, impossibly handsome, supremely gifted singer and songwriter who died of cancer at 36 just as his star was rising internationally, makes an irresistible candidate for dreamy-eyed idealization. This meticulously researched tribute from Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void) doesn't wholly sidestep the pitfalls of the authorized musical biography. Macdonald is indisputably seduced by the singer's charisma and dazzled by the natural beauty and cultural richness of his native Jamaica. But the director also doesn't gloss over what he learns about the driven, insecure, and sometimes heartless man behind the legend—even if both the good and the bad Marley remain enigmatic enough to seem always just out of our reach.
Marley might be best described as an oral history rather than a documentary. Chronologically organized and voiceover-free, the movie is a 145-minute patchwork of old concert footage and talking-head interviews—lots and lots of them—from people who knew, loved, and worked with the reggae giant. We hear from Bob's first schoolteacher, who remembers teaching the already musically inclined little boy his earliest songs—she offers a charming a capella rendition of his favorite, a little ditty about a donkey eating a thistle. Then there's Marley's mother, who recalls being 16 when she hooked up with Norval Marley, a sixtysomething white Jamaican and member of the English army, who would father her illegitimate child. Because of his biracial heritage, the young Bob was socially shunned both by his mother's extended family and the wife and children of his father, whom Bob only saw a few times in his life.
It wasn't until Bob and his mother moved to the impoverished Kingstown slum of Trenchtown when he was 12 that he began to find his people—musicians like Desmond Dekker, with whom Bob first began playing the shuffling, rock-and-blues-influenced dance music then called "ska." The interviews about this period, given by collaborators like Marley's bandmate Bunny "Wailer" Livingston and the owner of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, are among the movie's best, with Bunny offering a rhythmic breakdown of the one-two-three-four beat that gives both ska and reggae their characteristic loping bounce. Back-to-back clips of Dion and the Belmonts crooning "Teenager in Love" and Bob and his friends' ska-inflected "do-over" of the same song illustrate how carefully Marley was listening to the American pop of the time, and how consciously he was trying to synthesize that sound with Jamaican musical styles.
It's also in the Trenchtown scenes that we begin to get a sense of Marley's boundless ambition—he quit high school to devote himself full-time to writing and playing music, and encouraged the college-bound Bunny to do the same—and his near-fanatical devotion to the Rastafari faith, to which he converted in early adulthood. Macdonald's movie makes time for an unhurried and fascinating digression on the significance of Rastafarianism to post-colonial Jamaica, including some black-and-white clips from the 1966 visit to Jamaica by the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I, whom Rastafarians worship as the second coming of the Messiah. (Selassie's aide recalls how, upon stepping off the plane to glimpse the vast, roaring, ganja-smoking crowd, the emperor got back in the plane and had to be persuaded that it was safe to disembark.)
In Trenchtown, Bob would meet Rita, the woman who would become his wife, singing partner and, as she wryly puts it, "guardian angel"—a job whose requirements involved shooing overzealous groupies out of Marley's dressing room, as well as looking the other way while, as his stardom in Jamaica grew, he helped himself to whatever woman he wanted. In all, Marley would father 11 children with seven different women. A few of his former dalliances are interviewed here, including Cindy Breakspeare, the earthily frank Miss World 1976, and a lady identified as "Pat Williams, baby mother." Williams, asked why so many women threw themselves at the notoriously shy Marley, fixes her off-camera interviewer with a deadpan gaze and says, "Oh my God. You don't know Bob? That is a handsome guy."
It's in the portrait of Marley as family man that this generally laudatory documentary is at its harshest. Ziggy Marley, a reggae star in his own right, recalls his childhood with a beatific smile that contrasts with his less-than-warm memories: "He wasn't that daddy who would say 'oh, be careful, son.' Him was a rough man, you know? Rough, rough, rough." A more overtly ambivalent daughter, Cedella, remembers how most of the children's games with their father took the form of fierce, no-holds-barred competitions: "It was always about racing to see who could beat him."
Marley's drive to be the best at whatever he did—which, the film implies, derived not only from his origins in poverty, but from a lifelong sense of insecurity about paternity and racial belonging—would eventually be a factor in his death. When a malignant melanoma was found on his toe, Bob refused to amputate the toe for fear he would no longer be able to play in his beloved mid-rehearsal soccer games. A few years later, he would collapse after a concert and return to the doctor to discover that the cancer had spread to virtually every organ in his body.
The end of Marley's short life was unbearably sad, as is the last half-hour of this film, in which we see snapshots of a wizened Bob bundled against the snow at the remote Bavarian clinic where he spent the winter of 1980 in a last-ditch grasp at an alternative cure. Eventually he would be flown back to Miami to die, without ever making it back to his beloved compound on Hope Road in Kingston.
The thoughtful and leisurely paced Marley is an exemplary music documentary in almost every way—but the area in which it falls short is an important one. Like a surprisingly large number of films about musicians (whether biopic or documentary), this one is curiously resistant to letting the audience hear its subject's songs in their entirety. One of the rare exceptions—a gospel-style demo of "No Woman, No Cry" with Peter Tosh playing piano, which Macdonald allows to play at length over an aerial shot of Jamaica's green mountains—is breathtaking. Otherwise, Marley's music tends to be heard in frustratingly brief bursts, either to illustrate points the interviewees are making or to provide ambient background sound under their voices.
Only during the exhilarating final credits, in which people from all over the world—India, Turkey, Brazil, Japan—sing and dance to their own improvised versions of "Get Up, Stand Up" and "One Love," does the audience get a chance to really experience the lasting power of Marley's music. In the 31 years since their creator's premature death, we suddenly realize, those serious songs about joy and joyous songs about pain have become a part of the world's cultural patrimony.


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DIY Craft Ideas for Kids: Make Halloween Decorations using Paper
Halloween is coming! We have about a month to prepare so let's get to work! My kids love to spend time working on our decorations, mostly the ones we leave outside, because they're always afraid the other kids need a sign to understand that we have candy inside. Inside or out, get decorating with these paper crafts.
1. Halloween Book Covers, Better Homes and Gardens.
2. Paper candlesticks, Design Sprinkle.
3. Paper Plate Lantern, My Chinet.
4. Paper Tree Backdrop, Tikkido.
5. Spooky Scary Windows, Samuel's Family Frenzy.
6. Paper Haunted House, Design Sprinkle.
7. Spooky Contact Paper Silhouettes, Honey & Fitz.
8. Spooky Halloween Garland, Paper Crave.
9. Paper Packets, Baby Center Blog.
10. Black Paper Crepe Flowers, Country Living.
(Images: as linked above)

subset: commoncrawl


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Job opportunities for law students at CALI
The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) is seeking 2 students to work 10-15 hours per week on various projects. Tasks to be performed include research and review of computer-based learning techniques, adminstrative duties, surveys and data entry. Standard student pay rates apply. Some of the work may be performed at home. Hours are extremely flexible.
If you are interested, please contact John Mayer at 312-906-5307 or via e-mail (email@example.com)
Special information session for all 1L day students and 1L and 2L evening students interested in specializing in environmental, employment, or international law
Attend an informational open-house about Chicago-Kent's certificate programs in environmental and energy law, labor and employment law, and international and comparative law. At this session, you will learn about the features and requirements of each program, and you can talk with faculty members and students participating in these certificate programs.
Pizza and soda will be served.
Human Resources hours at the Downtown Campus
A Human Resources staff member is available at the following times in room 447 of the Downtown Campus:


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The Planning Poker Prevents Fallacies in Effort Estimates
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In his recent blog posting "Planning Poker: Avoiding Fallacies in Effort Estimates" Hayim Makabee discusses a common problem of effort estimation called planning fallacy and why planning poker helps to avoid it.
Effort estimation might be one of the most challenging activities in software development for managers and engineers. One common problem in this context is effort underestimation caused by planning fallacy. Wikipedia defines planning fallacy as
a tendency for people and organizations to underestimate how long they will need to complete a task, even when they have experience of similar tasks over-running.
To illustrate possible characteristics of this problem, Makabee quotes Daniel Kahnemann, nobel laureate and author of "Thinking, Fast and Slow". Many plans and and forecasts are unrealistically close to best-case scenarios, and they could be improved by checking the statistics of similar scenarios.
Makabee thinks that in software engineering there might be two major reasons for the planning fallacy:
- If the manager is the one doing the estimates, he has an interest to make them hard to achieve, in order to push people to work more productively. Managers always want to see the work completed as fast as possible.
- If the worker is the one doing the estimates, he will be ashamed to assign too much time to himself. People are afraid of doing pessimistic estimates for their own tasks, because they may appear to be lazy or inefficient.
Thus, additional people should participate in the planning who do not have a personal interest in the task.
This is why, according to the author, the Scrum planning poker is helpful. It enforces independent and consensus-oriented effort estimation by multiple participants. In the planning poker each participant gets a set of cards with numbers and chooses one of the cards to estimate the effort for a specific task. The cards are "simultaneously shown and people can compare and discuss their estimates". Makabee proposes to leverage planning poker in order to avoid the planning fallacy, because many people are estimating in the planning poker including those not responsible for the task. In addition, participants make their own independent estimates and need to explain their estimates, especially when they are very low or high.
A couple of readers commented to the article.
Putcha V. Narasimham thinks, the planning poker is really helpful:
Recently I came across Planning Fallacy but I did not know that Agile has a remedy for it through Planning Poker. In deed it is a great and practical trick. A rare sensible thing I have seen in Agile Method.
Kirschilan adds:
In addition to all said above, it should be noted that estimating using planning poker is one aspect of this. Another is using real empirical data to fit scope to the plan. In agile this concept is called velocity.
The idea is that, assuming our estimation model is rather stable, regardless of optimism, we can use these numbers to figure out how much did we really fit in in previous periods, in order to plan the upcoming one.
Using these data over time helps the team "consult the statistics of similar cases" in their own recent history.
Here is a post referring to using empirical data to to continuous planning, rather than plan once up front:
Another reader, Pavel Bekkerman believes that effort underestimation by managers is the worst practice ever, caused by absence of adequate training. In addition, he says:
In absence of methodology we have individuals and teams largerly desynchronized in their work and not aligned with master plans. We have managers struggling to find their place in a chaos, and not providing any impact. And now the bottom-line question:
Do you REALLY think that with such a legacy, it is possible to expect anybody to learn from previous experience and provide adequate estimates on any task longer than 1-2 workdays?
… to which Makabee responds
[…] However, I do think that some companies are in much better shape than others. In particular, I've seen how the adoption of Agile methods has improved the situation in practice. [...]
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Again, ill informed agilists throw baby out with bathwater
Ethar Alali
Back in the old days, the practise of estimating for best, most likely and worst case scenarios was taught to every student of software engineering. This is also taught to students of management and forms the basis of the PERT and Six-sigma estimation mechanisms.
Agile methods aim to do something similar to the above, but instead of statistically aggregating the time estimates of 'best', 'most likely' and 'worst' by the individuals doing the job, the planning poker often degenerates into a group think process.
When differing opinions are not encouraged or there is a social penalty for doing so (like explaining their stance, which is not for everyone if the members of the team include more introverted members), or the safety factor is not there (the safety check is only part a retro process normally) then estimates will align to the views of any capable team members, those who shout loudest, have the greatest perceived respect or will even cause members to conform to avoid explaining their individual score, especially if they have had to grudgingly change it in the past. This leads to a group think process where estimates converge to a value which is not necessarily more accurate than before, just more predictable (same means as estimates before, but the standard deviations are narrower).
Additionally, most teams do not monitor how well their actual delivered work (velocity) matches their estimates. Some of the 'toy tools' out there that teams use on the premise it aid teams, completely fail to provide accuracy estimates. As a result teams have no idea how well they are doing.
That said, the breaking down of tasks into smaller atomic tasks is a really good idea. We humans are hopeless at estimating the size of things as they get bigger. For proof, just ask someone to draw a one inch line. Then ask them to draw a yard line. Measure them both and compare the differences between the drawn lines and the actual distances and you will see what I mean. So making the tasks small and trivial will help control the variance a lot!
I would nudge people in the direction of Joel Spolski (Joel on Software) who has a good section of his site on how you can adjust estimates over time to reduce the variance in dev estimates. Most devs will either find it way over their head or have no interest in it. So Scrum masters and project managers may want to shoulder that responsibility as part of their process improvement responsibilities.
Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Adam Nemeth
Plans needs "moderately big" upfront design. It actually needs a pretty correct design, which shows realities well, and is based on previous data.
Now, this is documentation, BUFD, and "waste". None of these works in coder-oriented methodologies like Agile.
However, if you switch back to old methodologies, suddenly, you can calculate with ease: using a model-based estimation like FPA, and some good software design skills based on a few projects' practice RUP or Iconix or whatever, you can create dead-preciese estimations.
So, it's not that estimation doesn't work, it's just that if you have actually serious deadlines, forget Agile.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Ethar Alali
Lean can be based upon actual statistical analysis of the delivery of software by that team over time gone by (after all, the manufacturing roots do it all the time), in a similar way that function pointed methods (e.g. FPA and Weighted MPA) can be used. After all, if lean is done properly, then things like lead times become a major factor in improving delivery and so should be a metric in any lean continuous improvement cycle. This is why my comment started with 'the baby... bathwater' comment as I am pretty sure that once data is collected then these methods can equally well apply to them in an agile environment. Note, the 'time gone by' bit, as you are quite right, if you have not done a project as a team before you can't estimate and it just becomes a guess.
IMO, It is that people do lean wrong in software. Any attempt to get them to do it right is seen as 'enforcing a process' and suddenly it becomes BUFD/BDUF, documentation and waste which is a convenient argument to not do it, despite the ironic use of 'tools' [*nod* and *wink* at the agile manifesto... then a *shake of the head*] such as LeanKit which, in my experience, is used like a toy and doesn't contain any decent statistical analysis tools to aid prediction, improvement or correlation of practise changes with effects. Such basic tools deliver meaningless statistics for 'cumulative flow' which gives no better probability of success than guesswork, which is really what you are saying.
Hence your point of view, when seen from this perspective, I wholly agree with!
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Dave Nicolette
I might suggest that if you have serious deadlines, the thing to forget is fine-grained estimation. If you have time-to-market pressure, do you have time to do the BDUF required to support FPA as an estimation tool? Is your customer asking for estimates or for results? Regarding planning poker, even that may introduce too much overhead if you have "serious" deadlines (I'm taking the word "serious" seriously.)
Instead, you might want to consider a highly streamlined approach that just knocks out work items one by one in priority order without analyzing them to death first. It's only software, after all. The difference in effort won't amount to years vs. minutes. It will be more like x weeks vs. y weeks. The investment in up-front estimation might not be repaid if we're on a tight schedule. Besides, no one will really care if your estimates were accurate. They will only care that the maximum possible amount of high-value functionality was delivered in time to matter to the business.
See davenicolette.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/choosing... for one POV. (That's not strictly about estimation, but it's related to the idea of dropping back to traditional methods when we are facing a tight delivery schedule.)
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Dave Nicolette
Sorry to be repetitive, but I just noticed your comment seems to be based partly on a misconception that there are some delivery methods that don't have plans. There's always a plan. With some methods, a detailed plan is created in advance and then progress is assessed by comparing actual results with that plan. This appears to be the only planning approach you're aware of. Other methods have plans, as well. Adaptive methods proceed based on less-detailed plans and evolve their plans based on lessons learned along the way. With adaptive methods, progressed is assessed by looking forward, toward a range of likely outcomes, rather than backward, toward a comprehensive plan created at a point in time in the past. With both traditional and adaptive approaches, however, there is always a plan.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Adam Nemeth
but I just noticed your comment seems to be based partly on a misconception that there are some delivery methods that don't have plans. There's always a plan. With some methods, a detailed plan is created in advance and then progress is assessed by comparing actual results with that plan. This appears to be the only planning approach you're aware of.
Beg your pardon?
Trying not to be tongue in cheek, but:
1) There's no plan always. Look at Lean Startups: they don't plan beforehand, that wouldn't be Lean. Brain-dead, stupid? Guess so, at least, to apply this generally. Unfortunately, noone died in IT for participating in a failing project with faulty ideas, so they'll go on to the next project to have the same stupid ideas.
2) It seems that Agile and Waterfall are the only methods you're aware of. Sorry, between them, there are lots of design-oriented methodologies. Now you have to understand two things about design: design differs from the real thing in that it has a restricted set of concerns (viewpoint) and it has a restricted resolution. An executable program is not really a design, since it encompasses all the viewpoints and it can be extracted to 1-1 resolution.
3) Since design differs in resolution, you can have either a big design of low resolution or a small design of high resolution. Or you could do implementation, which is creating a big design in high resolution...
4) Concerns are separatable to unknowns and knowns in case you care about it. With Agile Planning Poker, you don't untangle stuff. With FPA, you do. There are knowns and unknowns.
5) It might be surprising, but if you do untangle these, and measure them through the project, you'll see that the time it takes to do a single "known" or "unknown" part both fall within a bell-curve given that the team and the techonology is the same. That is, you can expect that a project consisting of 5 input forms, 2 display pages, 3 datatables and an external API will take a certain amount of time, +-10%, because you know for each part, that it'll take about that time.
6) RUP does high-level design while the low-level implementation of the first parts is already underway. This way, we'll have precision control on two levels: how much a 'big block' costs and how much 'small blocks' cost. In theory, there's low level planning in Agile, with daily stand-ups and commitments, in practice, I'm yet to see if failing a daily (and sometimes: sprint) commitment actually had any effect in any companies. Usually all the benefit it had that it moved the air molecules a bit while the person was speaking, and when the soundwave rippled off, so did the promise.
7) The planning abilities with user stories and planning poker is about that of a bad joke. With FPA I did have numbers, and I did have +-10% runoffs at most at the second project of the same team. But that needed careful understanding through design of what we're doing, and since that is not really found in Agile (the lightweight design methods proposed by Agile are like toys based on anecdotal success compared to some older desgn methods, or those used by other communities)
8) Of course, you have to understand sometimes you need to make changes as sometimes things don't go according to the plan; if it doesn't matter, you could change the plan as well, but removing obstacles while keeping the plans would be a much more benefical way. It seems Agile people love their obstacles better than their plans, but when they tell the customer that because of this, he has to drop his plans, it's a bad joke. Work on removing the obstacles, and forget your Agile playground - if a tool doesn't work well, get another one or throw it out, if a method doesn't work well, get another one or get a tool to do it instead, if a team doesn't work well, restructure it.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Adam Nemeth
I might suggest that if you have serious deadlines, the thing to forget is fine-grained estimation. If you have time-to-market pressure, do you have time to do the BDUF required to support FPA as an estimation tool? Is your customer asking for estimates or for results?
I don't know about your customers, but mine usually ask for both. And I don't know about you, but if I have a serious deadline, the first thing I throw out of the team are the coding cowboys, those who don't plan just code. Those who can't think straight when there's a deadline, and refuse to do so when there's a deadline are in panic mode, and shouldn't be employed on places where the deadlines are short. When I didn't have these, we always succeeded. When I'm required to keep those I try to assign non-essential tasks to them, like coloring all the buttons red or such.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Adam Nemeth
IMO, It is that people do lean wrong in software. Any attempt to get them to do it right is seen as 'enforcing a process' and suddenly it becomes BUFD/BDUF, documentation and waste which is a convenient argument to not do it, despite the ironic use of 'tools' [*nod* and *wink* at the agile manifesto... then a *shake of the head*] such as LeanKit which, in my experience, is used like a toy and doesn't contain any decent statistical analysis tools to aid prediction, improvement or correlation of practise changes with effects. Such basic tools deliver meaningless statistics for 'cumulative flow' which gives no better probability of success than guesswork, which is really what you are saying.
I'm slowly accepting the fact that development became a playground: Agile and Lean isn't about what they're called, they're about kids not wanting to grow up, and fascinated by shiny interfaces, and refusing to work on schedule, or do serious thinking which doesn't involve playing with a beloved concept (like, TDD, or role-playing of Scrum... oh, how I hate gamified retrospectives!) or tools.
All pen-and-paper technologies we had are lost, well, except for the post-it-on-whiteboard thingy, for which I find a decent project management tool and a plasma screen to be much more effective. I loved going physically to a different office in order to put a sticker physically to a board in order to make them do it in that sprint.
Not to mention that a huge amount of developers are socially impotent, and can't talk to customers and especially in a way in which they provide respect for them. Words like "luzers" for users are all-too-common. They can't understand that someone just wants a task to be done. They could be gorgeous girls who could cook really well and perhaps at home they're also interested in Manga or whatever, it's just they don't want to cram through an interface made up by someone who knows too much about computers.
The net result of this is that design activities are completely taken out from the hands of the developers: they can argue about CouchDB vs MongoDB, or how many cloud instances should the system have exactly, and the real design is done at the UX departments: Grab a UX book, or watch an enterprise UX team: they'll define all the algorhythms, all the data structures for you besides all the screens to the user, and they won't even provide you with an explanation on how it should be done. And they won't respect you: for them, you're a monkey, a kid, who could never grow up and can't do the essential stuff: the code monkeys.
Look at any UX book (About Face, Interaction Design beyond, The Inmates Are Running The Asylium (just the title is enough: those inmates are called developers) to see how UXes think of development: it's just implementation, and they're right: if they'd care to make their output more MVC-like, programming average applications would be a typing lesson. Fortunately, they're a lazy artistic bunch, who also like to have their own shiny toys (drag-n-drop for the masses! Don't care that it has no affordance nor visibility, that all your textbooks tell you it's unusable, if you do it often enough, people will learn it for sure! Yeeez...), so the fights will continue for some time...
But we aren't winning in that right now. Perhaps for tomorrow on, UX will take on planning as well.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Dave Nicolette
Yes, I perceived your misconception the first time.
"It seems that Agile and Waterfall are the only methods you're aware of."
Really? You must have me confused with someone else. I don't even care for the words "agile" and "waterfall" because they are subject to so much subjective interpretation...such as your own.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Dave Nicolette
Well, if that's the root cause of schedule slippage, then we can all save a great deal of time by not bothering with any root cause analysis. Just blame the team members. Easy-cheesy.
In general, your comments serve as a description of The Problem with software delivery. I don't know if you're expressing this point of view as a sort of devil's advocate, or if you really believe the things you say. If the former, then congratulations - you got me!
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Ethar Alali
You are right in that there is always a 'plan', or as I prefer to put it in agile, a 'vague' strategy. The question I ask of the industry is how do they improve upon them. Adam has offered a reasoned argument and all that I have seen in response is "you can't believe in God because you are not religious". As someone with a heavy empirical as well as theoretical bias, I would need to see strong evidence that teams do this and deliver on this. RUP and it's planning allowed me to deliver almost every time on time and in budget. Agile I have had less success with. So I know what I prefer, though am certainly not averse to lean agile when done properly.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Adam Nemeth
Personally, I've always delivered on predicted time with RUP, or at most reasonably on time (my largest slippage was less than a week, of a 3 month long process compared to the prediction, but in these cases usually we build in safety margins anyway, so it didn't hurt anyone)
And I've seen the "perfect" Agile company in motion (they make mobile phones). They can easily slip by multiple hundreds of percents. "Oh, Mobile World Congress is coming, are we ready yet?" "Nah, just don't show this feature" "OK, MWC has gone by, but next quarter there'll be CES. What about that?" "Ah, we aren't ready yet" - and then, "Cr.p, Google released a similar app compared to what we've been doing for months!" "OK, we'll bring something out quickly", and the one and half a month (3 sprints) passes, and then they'll show something. Everyone thinks they copied Google. Nope.
If NASA had used Agile, we wouldn't had people on the Moon.
Sometimes I bring up the fact that the demise of this company coincidentally started when they introduced company-wide Agile, but there are just so many believers on this developer-centric approach that everyone will just quickly dismiss this claim, as not having deadlines is fun.
And they do Agile perfectly right: they have these personal improvement stuff, they have these retrospective meetings, and they literally spend billions of Euros to make sure that they do Agile right. You can't find a single book according to which they don't do Agile right. They have people whose sole job is to do Agile Oversight.
In case you think there's always a plan, look at this, "We don't know the problem" - or this. Industrial Logic is a funny bunch in the sense that what they say is pretty cool until you try out their product. It's a startup producing worse-than-enterprise quality applications, which I thought it was the lowest quality possible.
I don't think that we should have applications on the quality level of IL, and I think IL and this mobile company are the perfect examples of that no matter how much you do TDD or Lean or Agile, your product can be still a mess beyond all belief. So, in general, Lean is even worse than Agile.
I'm dead serious that there are people out there in this industry who don't want to do upfront planning even on what's possible. I'm dead serious that I don't really want to work with them and I don't want to use their products.
Every single year, it becomes harder and harder to explain to students and young software engineers, that yes, they could still estimate, yes, it is still possible, yes, applications can be designed, as they come from crappy environments where being late is the normal way of life. They say: "this is software. This is always new stuff. So we're entitled to be always late."
Every single year I have to look for younger and younger people who don't have this expectation.
Every single year it gets harder to explain complex stuff to programmers, as they're unused to complexity anymore. If the complexity is just a bit over what could be easily handled by their framework-of-choice, they're lost. I remember, when designing a map application, I had to explain trigonometry. I don't even try to show complex algos, but tell them instead: look, you'll have a function to call. Call this when the user presses the button A, ok? In one instance, I was going back to a point where I simply asked for write access to their source repository....
When I work alone, customers are surprised... suddenly, everything is clear, suddenly, deadlines are matched, suddenly, they see what's important to them first, then I excuse myself for about a week, come back with a rough prototype they can test, we speak about it, and about a month later, on the day of the deadline, they have a perfectly working application, for which they had continous input, daily in most part of the process. They just plug it in and it works. Agile can't deliver that, RUP can.
It's not that other developers couldn't do this: the craziest part is that they're not even interested in it! When I tell them, that: "you see, with just a spoonful of design, you can match deadlines effortlessly" to which the answer was: "a software is ready when it's ready. And it's always late". They're interested in the tribal wars of Spring vs Ruby on Rails, they're interested in "how to bring this to the cloud", they're interested in technology muslings.
So, as I said, as things stand, developers will become more and more unreliable, and they'll be more and more degraded to the role of a monkey. While Agile brought freedom, the way developers became the kings of IT (as no matter what, code has to be written), the way developers exploit this freedom will be their demise soon.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Adam Nemeth
Well, if that's the root cause of schedule slippage, then we can all save a great deal of time by not bothering with any root cause analysis. Just blame the team members. Easy-cheesy.
You misunderstood me. I don't blame anyone. I fire them and deliver on schedule, with full functionality. I'm an architect. An architect is fully responsible for the result. I can't blame PMs, I can't blame team members, I can't blame the customer, I can't blame anyone, I can't blame even Agile, or industry situation in general. I promised X functionality to be ready for day Y, and either it's ready or not.
But it'll be only ready if I leave the Agile-priests behind. There are plenty of other teams when they can enjoy their own way.
I have the root cause. Software is about people, and their way of thinking. It's only it's a bitter root cause that Agile thinking hurts the industry, and there are only a few people willing to swallow it.
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Ethar Alali
As for the links you put up Adam, I think agilists in the industry have missed the point when they say they don't know the problem. There are two ways to look at development. The first is the foresight way, where you look ahead into the distance and either plan all the steps to get there (or look into the distance and adjust as necessary, which even Beck's work on XP encourages us to do) or alternatively, work completely reactively, assuming everything will go wrong, so you plan to put things in place to mitigate the risks when they do. All these methods require some foresight, even the latter 'defensive' approach (harking back to the days of defensive programming, admittedly which TDD is a form of, believe it or not).
You are absolutely right about the quality of graduates nowadays. They are absolutely abysmal when it comes to say, optimisation problems (which are the sorts of things engineers truly do, remembering that optimising teams is the same class of problem). In the UK, the number of grads with experience who can't do the basics is astounding and getting worse. XP was designed to get improvements out of 'developers of average ability' and that is what they are getting. Obviously the smart developers/architects are vastly outnumbered by developers of lesser ability by maybe 50 to 1.
So when ideas advocated in XP 1st edition take hold (whether done well or badly is immaterial), it will be very difficult to shift. You just have to improve on it, presenting it in ways that cater for the average staff you are trying to convince, since the other option would be to wait until the 1 in 50 comes along and given the way agile is killing the roles and need for that proportion of the populous (i.e. these odds will get worse) then you could be waiting a long time, potentially risking longer term business and projects.
Adam, I am with you and if I had my way and the world was perfect, scheming wouldn't be needed. After all, there is almost no fault in reason or logic, but the reality is human beings get in the way :-D
Re: Agile or Lean shouldn't be used where estimation is needed
Dave Nicolette
Ethar: Like you, I also have not seen many teams that practice ongoing process improvement effectively. This has nothing to do with the topic of the original article. While the observation is accurate, it is not connected with any particular methods or practices those teams use. It has more to do with the fact that most people tend to want to follow a method by rote and not apply critical thinking in their work. That's an important topic in its own right, but not the topic of this article.
Ethar: Plans in "agile" methods are not "vague." The comment demonstrates limited practical experience with these methods on your part; nothing more. As in many walks of life, the important thing is the planning activity, not the specific point-in-time plans that come and go over time.
On those occasions when you wanted to apply "agile" methods, perhaps you were unable to come up with anything better than a "vague strategy." That's unfortunate. You probably did it wrong. Yes, I know that's a stereotypical response, but bear in mind that when any of us tries to do something for the first time, we're likely to make mistakes. Search your memory for the first time you tried to use the methods you now depend on. Didn't it take some practice for you to master those methods?
Ethar: Your "religious" comment is pure, unadulterated bullshit. I am the least "religious" person with regard to software development methods whom you will ever meet. Ever. Different methods are useful under different circumstances. The key is to understand what those circumstances are and which methods are called for. It is you, and Adam, who seem to be looking for a Single Best Way, and "religiously" discarding anything that doesn't correspond with your personal experiences. Good luck with that.
FWIW, I'm not disputing the validity of your experiences. Based on your own comments, I do wonder about the range of different experiences you may have had, though. All the things you and Adam say have worked for you have also worked for me at times. All the things you and Adam insist cannot possibly work have also worked for me at times. Over the years I've been learning how to tell when a given approach is applicable. You can learn from that or you can just repeat "religious!" "religious!" mindlessly. Your choice.
Adam: When I have seen people delivering in line with their estimates time after time, it has been in situations when the work is somewhat consistent from one project to the next. Once we have delivered a couple of projects pertaining to the same business domain and using the same general set of tools, it is certainly feasible to estimate the third, fourth, fifth, etc. projects that have the same general scope and overall characteristics. This is not the sweet spot for "agile" methods. If you attempted to use "agile" methods in that sort of situation, then I would expect you did not obtain value in return for the process-related overhead of incremental delivery, iterative planning, and customer feedback loops. When we are in a situation that calls for collaborative exploration of the solution space, then methods that include those sorts of activities can yield benefit. When the solution is largely predictable, then the cost of the overhead of "agile" methods is not repaid.
Adam: You don't blame people, you just fire them. That says everything anyone needs to know about your professionalism as a manager.


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Fans of "The Simpsons" are in mourning over the death of a woman most of them never met: series co-creator Matt Groening's mother, Margaret Groening. For most, she will be forever linked with Marge Simpson, her animated namesake.
A paid obituary appearing in Monday's Oregonian newspaper stated the 94-year-old Groening died peacefully in her sleep at home in Portland on April 22. A spokesperson for "The Simpsons" confirmed the obituary and that her son had declined any public comment.
She was a former high school English teacher whose maiden name was Wiggum, another name familiar with fans of "The Simpsons." Though the accompanying Oregonian story points out that Margaret never went by the nickname "Marge."
'The Simpsons': Remembering 23 seasons
The guest log for the obit is filled with comments from around the world, friends of the family mixed with people who were simply great fans of her son Matt's creation.
"Obviously, I never met Margaret," wrote Brian Nearing of Albany, N.Y. "But thanks to the life that she and Homer built, and the son and family that they produced, and the vivid, wonderful, funny and sweet Simpson family that son created, I feel like I knew her, and I mourn her loss."
PHOTOS: Notable deaths of 2013
Matt Groening has admitted that he drew heavily on family names when creating his animated family in the 1980s. He has two sisters named Lisa and Maggie and his father was named Homer. The real life Homer Simpson (Margaret's husband) passed away in 1996. Another sister, Patty, who inspired the name for Aunt Patty, died in January.
"The Simpsons" is the longest-running prime-time scripted show on television. In the fall it will begin its 25th season.
Farewell party at 'The Office' after 9 years
After 25 years at Fox, 'Cops' moves to Spike
'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' returns in July with a wedding?
PHOTOS: TV shows and their spinoffs
Overrated/Underrated 2014
PHOTOS: 101 best-written TV shows of all time


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New Mumps Laboratory Recommendations
Indiana Epidemiology Newsletter
November 2006
Wayne Staggs, MS
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued modified laboratory recommendations for testing of persons suspected of having mumps. These recommendations were published in the MMWR on October 27, 2006. The changes in the recommendations are excerpted from the article as follows:
"Health-care providers should continue to remain alert for suspected mumps cases, conduct appropriate diagnostic testing, and report these cases to local or state health departments. At the initial visit, recommended specimens for laboratory testing include serum to test for mumps immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies and a swab from the parotid duct or other affected salivary gland ducts for viral isolation, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction testing, or both. Parotid duct swab is the preferred viral sample for mumps; urine samples are no longer recommended. The first (acute) serum specimen should be collected within 5 days of illness onset. If the IgM antibody titer is negative, a second (convalescent) serum specimen for IgM antibodies is recommended 2-3 weeks after onset of signs (e.g., parotitis) or symptoms; a delayed IgM response has been observed in patients with confirmed cases of mumps, especially in vaccinated persons. The paired serum specimens also can be used to detect a significant rise (as defined by the testing kit instructions) in immunoglobulin G (IgG seroconversion) if measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or a fourfold rise in titer if measured using plaque-reduction neutralization assays or similar quantitative assay."
The entire MMWR article entitled "Brief Report: Update: Mumps Activity - United States, January 1-October 7, 2006" is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5542a3.htm.
Effective immediately, the ISDH will implement these recommendations. In addition to the above recommendations regarding serologic analysis, the ISDH encourages convalescent specimens on all patients even if the acute specimen result is positive. The recommendations from the ISDH are summarized as follows:
- Oral fluid from the parotid duct or other affected salivary gland ducts (buccal swabs) are the preferred specimen for viral isolation and PCR testing of mumps. Urine specimens should no longer be collected.
- Acute and convalescent serologic specimens should be collected on patients suspected of having mumps. The acute specimen should be collected within 5 days of onset of symptoms, and the convalescent should be collected 2-3 weeks following onset of symptoms.
- Specimens should be submitted to the ISDH Laboratory. Detailed instructions for collection, handling and shipping of specimens are available at the Indiana State Department of Health Web site, http://www.in.gov/isdh/. Click on Health Professionals and then Disease Information.
These new recommendations are posted on the ISDH Web site (same address as above) and are included below so you will have immediate access to them.
Mumps Specimen Collection and Analysis: For laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis of mumps, the ISDH recommends that health care providers collect buccal swabs for viral culture/PCR testing and paired sera for immunologic analysis.
Indiana State Department of Health Laboratory Testing Services
Clinical Specimens
Clinical specimens should be collected from all suspected cases. Clinical specimens (buccal swab and throat swab) should be obtained for viral isolation in cell culture within 1-4 days after onset of symptoms if possible. However, specimens collected up to 9 days post-onset may be acceptable. Keep the samples cold (4C) or frozen (-70C). Avoid freeze-thaw cycles.
Parotid gland/buccal swabs of oral secretions may provide the best viral samples (urine specimens are no longer recommended). Use a plastic shaft/Dacron tip swab for collecting swab samples. Massage the parotid gland area (the space between the cheek and teeth just below the ear) for about 30 seconds prior to collection of the buccal secretions. The parotid duct (Stensen's duct) drains in this space near the upper rear molars. A throat swab (oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal swab with a wire shaft/Dacron tip) can also be collected and added with the buccal swab. Place swab(s) in a tube containing 2-3 mls of viral transport medium (VTM) or other sterile isotonic solution (phosphate buffered saline or cell culture medium). Swabs can be frozen at -70C or held at 4C until shipment.
The Virology/Immunology Request Form, State Form 35212 (R3/5-03), available at http://www.IN.gov/isdh/healthinfo/westnile/35212.pdf, should be completed and sent with the specimens. Please complete a separate form for each specimen. Specimens should be shipped in an insulated container using ice packs or dry ice. If clinical specimens for viral isolation will be delivered via courier, pack specimens according to the shipping requirements for Category B Infectious Substances and route to:
Indiana State Department of Health Laboratories
Attn: Virology Lab
7230 Western Select Drive
Indianapolis, Indiana 46219
If specimens will be delivered via U.S. Postal Service, pack specimens according to U.S. Postal Service shipping requirements for diagnostic/clinical specimens and route to:
Indiana State Department of Health Laboratories
Attn: Virology Lab
P.O. Box 7203
Indianapolis, Indiana 46207-7203
Serologic Specimens
Acute and convalescent serologic specimens should be collected on patients suspected of having mumps. The acute specimen should be collected as soon as possible after onset of symptoms (within 5 days is preferred) and submitted to the ISDH Laboratory after collection for initial IgM and IgG analysis. The convalescent serum specimen should be obtained 2-3 weeks after onset. For both specimens, submit at least 3 ml of serum in the plastic screw-capped vial provided in the mailing container (ISDH type 9A). Store and ship specimens cold (4C) (using ice packs). Serum specimens may be shipped without refrigeration in a suitable mailing container (e.g., ISDH type 9A). Serum is the preferred specimen, but 5-10 ml of whole blood is acceptable.
The Virology/Immunology Request Form, State Form 35212 (R3/5-03), available at http://www.IN.gov/isdh/healthinfo/westnile/35212.pdf, should be completed and sent with serologic specimens. If specimens will be delivered via U.S. Postal Service, route to:
Indiana State Department of Health
P.O. Box 7203
Indianapolis, Indiana 46207-7203
If specimens will be delivered via courier/drop off, route to:
Indiana State Department of Health
635 North Barnhill Drive, Room MS2023
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
ISDH type 9A mailing containers and Virology/Immunology Request Forms can be obtained from the ISDH Laboratories by telephone at 317.233.8105 or by e-mail at
email@example.com. For questions, please contact the ISDH Laboratories at 317.233.8000.


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Oct 02,2006
OSU and ODA Examine Potential for Canola as an Oil Crop
by Bend Weekly News Sources
The state's Department of Agriculture is working to identify funding options to assist the OSU research and extension efforts to examine the potential for canola and other alternative crops for biofuels.
A preliminary fact sheet based on findings from both new and long-term research by researchers from OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences outlines some of the potential advantages and challenges, as well as areas where more information is needed related to producing canola for biofuel. The fact sheet is available on the college's website (http://agsci.oregonstate.edu/research/information.html).
Canola plant Interest in growing canola for biofuel is increasing rapidly in Oregon, as is the nationwide interest in alternative fuels. As Oregonians search for home-grown sources of energy, canola offers potential as a high-producing oilseed for biofuel and as a crop well-suited to growing in Oregon. However, without safeguards in place, canola may also pose potential risk to established and relatively high-value specialty seed and vegetable production industries in some parts of Oregon.
For several years OSU researchers at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center in Pendleton have studied cultivars of canola and methods of growing them in eastern Oregon, particularly as a rotation crop with wheat. Breeding studies are ongoing in collaboration with the University of Idaho.
In addition, OSU researchers have conducted limited cultivar trials of canola and other types of oilseed crops at OSU's Hyslop Research Farm in Corvallis and at the Central Oregon Research and Extension Center near Madras. These studies accompany a large body of research on many other crops undertaken by researchers in OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Experiment Station, and Extension.
Oregon growers in the Columbia Basin have been growing canola as a rotational crop with dryland wheat for many years. There are about 3,000 acres of canola grown in eastern Oregon, most used for oil or foundation seed stocks for Canada. Willamette Valley growers produce canola on a small scale (about 30 acres) for foundation seed.
According to the Oregon Department of Agriculture, growing canola for oil on large acreages in areas with existing vegetable and seed production requires particular attention to avoiding potential risks to those industries. Therefore in 2005, the ODA established protected districts where canola production is prohibited except under special permit, in order to minimize undesirable cross-pollination, disease and pest buildup, and establishment of volunteers.
Protected districts include the Willamette Valley, parts of Central Oregon, parts of northeastern Oregon, and a three-mile strip along the Idaho border in Malheur County.
ODA's restrictions in protected districts will be reviewed in 2007. Until then, OSU will continue to provide ODA with scientific information about canola and other oilseed and biofuel options in Oregon.
For more information on the collaboration, contact OSU's Russ Karow (541-737-2821) or Jan Auyong (541-737-1915) of the College of Agricultural Sciences, or the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Brent Searle, a policy analyst, (503-986-4558) or Dan Hilburn, plant division administrator (503-986-4663).


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Jennifer Connelly named the face of Shiseido (AGAIN) after first appearing in their ads 25 years ago!
Jennifer Connelly has been signed as the first global spokesperson for Shiseido – but this isn't her first time representing the brand.
"I've had a long relationship with Shiseido – I worked with them in the Eighties on an ad campaign, and have been using their products ever since," the Academy Award-winning actress told WWD. "It's nice to reconnect with them after so many years."
Here's more from the press release!
As Shiseido Co., Ltd. celebrates its 140th anniversary, the company announced that it has signed Academy Award-winning actress, Jennifer Connelly, who previously represented the company in Asia. Connelly will be the namesake brand's global spokesperson and face of its highly acclaimed premium skincare line Future Solution LX. Connelly's first advertising campaign as global spokesperson will debut this fall.
"I am honored to be working with Shiseido again and to be representing the Future Solution LX line globally," said Jennifer Connelly. "Like Shiseido, I believe it is important to prepare now for our future well being. I look forward to sharing my journey with Future Solution LX with women worldwide."
While this marks the first time the brand will be working with a global spokesperson, this will not be the first time Shiseido has worked with the classic beauty; more than two decades ago, Connelly appeared in an advertising campaign for a Shiseido makeup brand that was distributed in Japan.
"We are thrilled to welcome Jennifer back to our family as we celebrate our 140th anniversary," stated Hiroshi Maruyama, General Manager of the International Marketing Department at Shiseido Co., Ltd. "Jennifer's genuine personality, commitment to her family and approach to living a beautiful life embodies the core values of our company, and match those of the Shiseido customer. We believe that she portrays the essence of the Future Solution LX line perfectly and that her inner and outer beauty will inspire our customers."
This spring, Connelly is appearing in her latest feature film "Virginia." She has also starred in acclaimed movies including, "A Beautiful Mind," for which she won an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, "Reservation Road", "Blood Diamond", "Requiem for a Dream" and "The House of Sand and Fog."
Love her, she's so beautiful! Perfect for this line!


text:
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Budget trips: 20 of the cheapest places to travel
That ever-growing travel wish list might be putting some pressure on your pocket – but there are plenty of destinations where you'll get more bang for your b…
A shimmering expanse of water riven by islets and ridges, the PRÉSPA LAKES are one of the Balkans' most important wildlife sanctuaries. Though not postcard-pretty, the basin, in the far northwest of Macedonia, has an eerie beauty that grows on you with further acquaintance. It also has a surprisingly turbulent history as a place of exile for troublesome noblemen during the Byzantine era and the scene of vicious local battles during the 1947–49 Greek civil war.
Mikrí Préspa, the southerly lake, is mostly shallow (9m maximum depth) and reedy, with a narrow fjord curling west and just penetrating Albanian territory. The borders of Greece, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia meet in the middle of deeper Megáli Préspa and, especially during the early 1990s, it became a major exit corridor into Greece for Albanian refugees, who found work as illegal agricultural workers in the local bean and hay industry.
The core of the national park, established in 1971, barely encompasses Mikrí Préspa and its shores, but the peripheral zone extends well into the surrounding mountains, affording protection of sorts to foxes, wolves and even bears, which inhabit the area. The lakes have a dozen resident fish species, including tsiróni, a sort of freshwater sardine, and grivádhi, a kind of carp, but it's birdlife for which the Préspa basin is most famous.
MIKROLÍMNI, 5km up a side road off the main route into the valley, is an extremely sleepy hamlet that might be your first conceivable stop. In the evening, you can look towards sunsets over reedbeds and the snake-infested Vidhronísi (or Vitrinítsi) islet, though swimming isn't good here, or anywhere else on Mikrí Préspa for that matter.
Return to the main road, which reaches a T-junction 16km from the main Flórina–Kastoriá highway, on the spit which separates the larger and smaller lakes. It's probable that at one time there was just one lake here, but now there's a 4m elevation difference. Bearing right at the junction leads within 4km to Áyios Yermanós; the left option splits again at the west end of the spit, bearing south towards the islet of Áyios Ahíllios or northwest towards the hamlet of Psarádhes.
ÁYIOS YERMANÓS, 4km to the right at the T-junction when the main road reaches Megáli Préspa, is a large village of tile-roofed houses, overlooking a patch of the lake in the distance and adjoining the hamlet of Lemós. It's worth making the trip up just to see two tiny late Byzantine churches, whose frescoes, dating from the time when the place belonged to the bishopric of Ohrid, display a marked Macedonian influence. Inside the lower church, Áyios Athanásios, seldom open, you can glimpse a dog-faced St Christopher among a line of saints opposite the door. Far more impressive, however, is the tiny, eleventh-century parish church of Áyios Yermanós up on the square, hidden behind a new monster awkwardly tacked onto it in 1882. The Byzantine structure has its own entrance, and the frescoes, skilfully retouched in 1743, can be lit; the switch is hidden in the narthex.
At the far end of the wide causeway dividing the two lakes, 4km to the left from the T-junction, is Koúla beach, a motley cluster of what passes for tourist development hereabouts: a patch of reed-free sand from where you can swim in Megáli Préspa; a free but basic camping area, now bereft of its water tap; plus an army post.
Reached by 6km of panoramic corniche road from a signposted turning near Koúla beach, the rickety village of PSARÁDHES makes for a pleasant stroll. Unfortunately, the wonderful old houses lining the lanes are increasingly derelict. It is sometimes possible to take a short boat excursion out onto the lake to see some of the lakeside monuments and churches, but this is not the best way to spot birdlife; there is no fixed schedule, so ask around.
Two kilometres directly south of Koúla beach, the road soon brings you to a floating footbridge, 1500m in length, which leads across to the islet of Áyios Ahíllios and its impoverished, almost deserted hamlet. A five-minute walk from the footbridge is the ruined Byzantine basilica of Áyios Ahíllios, while another ruin, a sixteenth-century monastery, Panayía Porfaras, lies at the southern end of the islet. For unrivalled views of Mikrí Préspa climb up to the summit of the islet's hill.
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Oct. 1, 2009
UCSB's soccer class of 2004 would do anything to get onto the field, even if it required an ambulance ride.
All-America goalkeeper Danny Kennedy once had to be cut out of his wrecked automobile before he could make it to Harder Stadium, the victim of a drunken, wrong-way freeway driver who had hit him head-on.
"I was about 10 minutes behind him, and when I drove up they still hadn't gotten Danny out of the car," said Drew McAthy, the Gauchos' All-America forward. "Danny told me later, 'Look, I'm going to have to tape up my hands because I still have glass in them ... I'll have to see how they feel during warmups. But I can move a little bit.'
"I knew right then that he'd be ready to go."
The bruised and bloody keeper of the faith led his team past the University of New Mexico just a few hours later.
If you want to understand how UCSB's now 11th-ranked program made it onto the soccer map, you must retrace Kennedy's route. It began for him in 2001 as one of seven freshman starters and ended with a penalty-kick shootout loss to Indiana in the 2004 NCAA final at the Home Depot Center.
And with only a brief stop on U.S. 101.
"I think all the time about those two games in the College Cup," said Kennedy, now a goalkeeper for Chivas USA. "It's hard not to be reminded of them, working out now at the Home Depot Center.
"But the biggest feeling that comes back to me is just the experience of being with that group of guys. We all became so very close during those years in Santa Barbara, and we still are."
And so nothing will keep him from rejoining most of those teammates on Friday at 8 p.m. for UCSB's nationally televised rematch with No. 9 Indiana.
The 2004 club will be honored with both a pregame reception and halftime ceremony.
Neil Jones, an All-Big West Conference forward in 2004 and now a UCSB assistant coach, said head coach Tim Vom Steeg wants the current Gauchos to think about 2004 as often as Kennedy does.
"He's referred to that team a lot to the guys, even during our first meeting way back in August," Jones said. "He said they're the team he wanted the 2009 Gauchos to try to identify with.
"He obviously has fond memories of that group, and he's been trying to instill parts of their attitude and work rate in this team."
The 2004 Gauchos played soccer with a chip on their shoulder. It was put there during their freshman year when they were denied an NCAA Tournament berth despite an 11-5-3 record and Big West Conference championship.
"Soccer was new to the Big West then and we didn't get an automatic berth like we do now," Jones said. "We were the only champion out of 24 conferences that didn't get into the playoffs."
The snub carried into UCSB's workouts for the next three years.
"Every training session was a war, which is a little different than what I've seen since I've been here as a coach," Jones said. "We trained as if it were a game, and every drill a competition, and that translated to the field in the games."
The Gauchos often brawled with each other during these sessions, as brothers often do.
"I once even got into it with Rob Friend, and he was my roommate," Jones said. "We didn't talk to each other for two days."
The Gauchos were even perceived in some circles as soccer bullies. It became a national conversation after they beat Indiana during a midseason tournament, ending the Hoosiers' 23-game unbeaten streak and earning UCSB a No. 1 national ranking for the next nine weeks.
Soccer America soon ran an article that quoted Indiana coach Mike Freitag as saying, "It's just a shame that a team like that is ranked No. 1."
"It's not the physical stuff that bothers me," Freitag continued. "It's the stuff off the ball, there's a lack of class. Every time there's a foul, kicking the ball away . . . They come with an attitude."
Jones admits that the 2004 Gauchos carried themselves in a different way than most teams.
"We definitely had an attitude, and everyone hated us for the way we played, but we couldn't stop it," he said. "We might not have been most skilled team in the country that year, but we were by far the most hard-working and the toughest.
"In all honesty, we just played a way that they couldn't play against."
Two weeks after the article was published, UCSB received only a No. 9 seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
"We actually enjoyed that," Jones said. "It gave us more anger and ammunition to show how good we really were."
But the Gauchos' reputation preceeded them in a negative way for their Sweet 16 match at North Carolina-Greensboro. The referee ejected Jones with two yellow cards during the first six minutes after he twice collided with the goalkeeper while attempting a header.
"I think the ref was told about our style and was looking to call it," Jones said. "I thought they were bad calls."
Despite playing with one less man, UCSB battled the highest-scoring offense in the country to a scoreless draw until the Gauchos' Matt Bly netted a golden goal during the fourth minute of overtime.
"He stepped up and saved my life," Jones said. "I had visions of the plane ride home and everyone blaming me for ending our season.
"I actually live with Matt now, and I'm constantly thanking him for saving my life."
The ejection meant that Jones would also have to sit out the NCAA quarterfinal against Virginia Commonwealth. But he knew his teammates wouldn't need much help while watching a school-record 11,214 fans surge into Harder Stadium - a mark they hope to break on Friday.
"I had no doubts at that point about our going to the Final Four," he said.
McAthy didn't realize how large the crowd had become until midway through the first half.
"I remember looking up and seeing all those people, and how surreal it all felt," he said. "But it didn't really hit me until the final whistle blew and they all rushed the field. It was actually kind of scary.
"I couldn't even find my own teammates. I just got lost in the melee."
UCSB fans also packed into the Home Depot Center for the College Cup, inspiring the Gauchos to a 5-0 rout of Duke in the semifinals.
"The NCAA games leading up to that were so stressful, we were scoring goals in overtime just to advance," Kennedy said. "Sometimes there is so much anxiety that you can't really enjoy it.
"But I remember standing back there in the Duke game, with everything going our way, and just taking in as much as I could. That still flashes back into my mind."
Indiana had played a double-overtime semifinal against Maryland and was wearing down late in its final against UCSB. The Hoosiers began holding on for dear life after McAthy, the College Cup's Most Outstanding Offensive Player, tied the match at 1 by scoring with nine minutes to go.
"You could tell they were hunkering down, getting everybody behind the ball, saying, 'Let's just hold on until we get to PKs,' " Jones said.
When the match came down to the shootout, Kennedy learned that his college career was already over. The Gauchos decided to go with backup Kyle Reynish, who at 6-foot-4 was three inches taller than his All-College Cup teammate.
"All the air went out of me, literally - I couldn't believe it," Kennedy said. "I kept running back and forth between the goalkeeper coach and the head coach, trying to negotiate my way back out there."
Reynish actually stopped two of Indiana's shots, but UCSB still lost the shootout, 3-2.
"You can't miss three PKs and expect to win a shootout," Jones said.
It was a tearful end to many of their college careers.
McAthy played two years of pro soccer, the last one for the Portland Timbers, before deciding to hang up his cleats for good and take a job in San Francisco.
But soon after his move, while sitting in his Bay Area apartment, McAthy realized that they'd left something enduring on the field. It hit him as he watched the telecast of UCSB's victory over UCLA in St. Louis for the 2006 NCAA championship.
"I knew a decent amount of the guys on that team, had played with several of them," he said. "And there was no question that we had paved the way for them."
Sometimes it can be all about the journey, crashes and all.
Mark Patton's column appears on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Air Force 1
When Bruce Kilgore designed the Nike Air Force 1 Shoes in 1982, nobody knew that it would become such an icon within sneaker history. Also known as AF1, Uptowns, Forces, White-on-Whites, Flavs, or simply Air Force Ones, they were the first Nike basketball shoes to use Nike Air technology. Since then, they've become the go-to sneaker for a casual, clean-cut, and customizable look. It's no wonder Air Force 1's are as popular today as they were in 1982.


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Public Comment
Berkeley Says No to Clean Air
" Weak." "Embarrassing." "A joke."
Not my words. I got on the phone after looking at competing proposals from the Health Department and the Rent Stabilization Board regarding smoking regulations in multi-unit housing, and asked some of the public health advocates I know for their opinions. It wasn't pretty.
With Richmond's 100% smokefree law as the gold standard and Berkeley D-rated status quo as one of the worst, the new proposal manages to look even more egregious than leaving things as they are, which is hard to do.
Just an example: the proposal does not recommend insisting that all new lease agreements be smokefree on the grounds that that would only protect a few people, rather than everyone.
Did you notice how that made no sense? Protecting all tenants in new housing may not protect those who don't live there, but it protects the tenants who do live there! And it eliminates the thorny issue the proposal creates in other ways by allowing some people in existing multi-unit housing to smoke indoors while requiring others to refrain, creating sheer policy nonsense, an enforcement nightmare, and completely subverting the health policy goal of having clean, breathable air for everyone.
Air circulates within a building with shared walls. All you need is one smoker per building to create 100% toxic air for everyone, since there is no safe dose of secondhand smoke. Berkeley's current proposal doesn't call it "grandfathering", but that's what it is, and it makes the policy goal, clean air, a smoldering pile of ruins.
I know what you're asking. Why would Berkeley, of all places, insist on allowing smokers in multi-unit housing to continue to smoke indoors?
Because of rent control, they answer. Most people drop their groceries right there at the door and run after hearing this, assuming that things are about to get boring, or legal, or both. But I'd seen this move before, years ago, when several commissions recommending a 100% smokefree proposal to the council were sandbagged by that same phrase from the Rent Board. I really wanted the detail this time, because, after all, somebody must understand what it means, and I wanted to know.
So I stayed and listened to the very few middle-of-the-day meetings the subcommittee had where the most experienced advocates often were required to sit on the sidelines watching Rent Stabilization Board subcommittee members talk about anything but health policy with an ignorance so vast it was perilous to describe and difficult to address. Nobody laughed in their faces, but the temptation was great.
Almost all of them seemed to think that a successful outcome of a smoking regulation would require everyone to quit smoking.
Did you notice how that made no sense? The laws against smoking in workplaces, restaurants, and bars didn't require anyone to quit. It did in fact help some people quit just by the insertion of the minor inconvenience of strolling outside, but nobody had to quit to make the law the ringing success it continues to be for public health.
Nonsmoking workers in a smoke-filled workplace continue to have their health sacrificed to the tobacco industry's profits in many states and many workplaces in California such as theaters and casinos, and nonsmoking apartment or condominium dwellers are in the same boat. Their kids die of SIDS, live with asthma, heart disease, and more than 36,000 die every year in California from secondhand smoke.
It was Councilmember Kriss Worthington's and Councilmember Max Anderson's great idea about a year ago to require that the Rent Stabilization Board and the Commission on Community Health get a joint commission together to work out a proposal on smoking in housing with shared walls, the idea being that finally the Rent Board commissioners would encounter, and perhaps be moved by, public health concerns.
But it didn't work that way. The Rent Board's deepest concern is not for the mother whose toddlers are breathing secondhand smoke night and day because of neighbors who smoke, but the possibility of the smoking neighbor getting evicted from his or her home if a smoking regulation is passed and the neighbor refuses refuse to comply. They know that no rash of evictions of smokers has ever taken place in any state or town nationwide, but because they're afraid it might start here in Berkeley, they're willing to sacrifice 100% of the public health goal to make sure smokers can go on poisoning their neighbors.
The smoking apartment dwellers are low-income, the argument goes, and can't afford to move. But so are the nonsmoking tenants, we pointed out as best we could to the subcommittee. I live next to two chain-smokers of both pot and tobacco. The woman upstairs from their apartment just died of heart failure. The woman across the hall died of cancer a couple of years ago. Another woman died of breast cancer upstairs on the other side of their apartment only a few years before that, and I was just diagnosed with breast cancer. On the other side of their apartment is a family with two toddlers.
If Berkeley passes what is currently being proposed, tenants in buildings with smokers will get no relief, even though the few who still smoke in Alameda County already tend to step outside to do so.
What makes this proposal worse than doing nothing at all is that once this proposal passes, the interest in the subject will fade. On average, it takes seventeen years to undo a bad law. Seventeen years is another generation subjected to involuntary death and disease.
The most convincing argument the Rent Board makes on behalf of their weak proposal is that Berkeley's Rent control law does not allow changes to a lease. But all tenants have the right to the "peaceful enjoyment" of their units, a right which the City of Berkeley admits is abrogated by a barking dog, which the city designates a nuisance. Secondhand smoke, under this proposal, is considered legally less harmful than a barking dog.
No one who created a lease allowing one tenant to shoot an automatic weapon through the shared wall would have that lease upheld by a court of law. Yet that's essentially what smokers do when they light up indoors. You may or may not hit the neighbor next door with the bullets of your automatic weapon or kill them with your secondhand smoke, but the risk is equally serious. It's just the Rent Board and the police will react in the first case, and blow you off in the second.
If the City of Berkeley and the Rent Board had any courage, it would make this argument about secondhand smoke pointing to decades of corroborating research and make sure the citizens of Berkeley are protected from the single most preventable cause of death and disease we know.
Richmond did it; 100% smokefree with no grandfathering. San Raphael did it. Berkeley can only hide behind "rent control" so long as an excuse for inaction. In the meantime, many of us organize our lives around debilitating surgery and treatments.
When the proposal comes up in April, we can only cross our fingers and hope for the sake of our health that the Berkeley City Council shows more common sense and courage than the Rent Board.


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My son a few years ago. I told him to kiss the fish...
My wife and I took the aerial tram into the Wallowa Mts. in North East Oregon and walked around
From 2009
Myself, my wife, my son, and my son's girl friend on 24 Dec 09
The thing about traveling is, you never want it to end and you can't wait to get home.
I answer to Roy, Chief, or Sarg.
04 R-1150-RT current bike. 94 R-1100-RS74,383, Sold, 78 R-80/7, K.I.A by a D.U.I
My lovely daughter...taken with a Canon D10 waterproof today
some of the crew in Daytona...
Lifes too short to ride an ugly Motorcycle
Taken in 1986, Patty RIP 1940-2008
Love you Always, Bob
'If life throws you a curve, lean into it!'
Bob Bryant
Thought I should keep this motorcycle related a bit. Here's a photo of my son at 10 months.
I think he's wishing he was on that nice blue bike.
Here he is (at 2.5) with his new costume for halloween
Jeff in W.C.
1988 R100 RT (the other woman)
"I got my motorcycle jacket but I'm walking all the time." Joe Strummer
The love of my life, on Engineer Pass road, SW Colorado, taken in late August, 2010. She is standing on the door frame of the jeep we were using.
For those of you who don't know me, I married up, way up.
Ride Well
Lisa & Buddy
Mom's graduation day with son Graham at 11 yrs.
Last edited by 26667; 10-17-2010 at 06:18 PM. Reason: why not
We might as well walk. ~ Adam Guettel The Light In The Piazza
used to own: 1982 R100T, 1984 R65, 1986K75C, 1997 R1100RT, R850R, K75S, 1978 R100RS... what was I thinking?
Here is a couple recent pictures of Gavin (4 years) and Ryan (3 years) and the New to me K75S.
And here is Robin working at one of her hobbies.
Mike & Robin Fifer http://www.n-scale-model-trains.com/ 2002 R1150RT Current
1995 K75S Sold
1996 R1100RT sold
My Silver Twin and my Twins Nick and Alex.
We drove all this way for a DEAD END ! My son!!!
02 Silver RT1150 My 1st BMW Bike ...Totaled 2/23/16
13 Black R1200RT 90th Annv


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Many years later when I was in middle school I had a similar experience. A couple of girls a few grades older passed me on the sidewalk and threatened to hurt me. That incident occurred just after school somewhere east of the Post Office on First North, as I recall. I barely knew those older girls, nor why they took cause to scare me. I'm pretty sure they got some sick satisfaction at bullying me. Again I got away as fast as I could. I will never forgot those girls, and to this day I avoid one of them who still lives in Moab. But I would bet that while I'll never forget the event, she probably doesn't remember it at all.
I experienced a third and similar occurrence years later in college when I got sideways with a dorm-mate who I suspected of stealing something from me. I spent the last weeks before summer looking over my shoulder to make sure her threats of bodily damage and death didn't come true.
That fear, of one person's harm on another, is unfortunately alive and well these many years later. Most school districts, including ours, have had anti-bullying programs in place for many years in an effort to stem the tide of fear among students. It is heartening to know that it is acceptable and even mandatory to report activities that constitute bullying. But more can be done.
An assembly at Grand County High School last week featured several students who spoke openly about the fears they had faced because they were bullied by others. Self-mutilation, thoughts of suicide, eating disorders and other maladies were identified as behaviors that were caused by their emotional trauma. Now this week, local high-schoolers are further traumatized knowing that two local 16-year-olds are being charged as adults in connection with the murder of a 33-year-old man.
This is a small town. There is talk in every circle about how this could happen, and there is sorrow for the families of the victims and the families of the suspects. There is sorrow even for the suspects. This stuff is about as heavy as it gets for any human being to take in, let alone young people who are challenged by the complexities of just being young.
Faculty members are wading through their own emotions in the wake of these events, and many are finding that their jobs as educators are sometimes expanded into being counselors and advisors.
These are difficult times for our youth. Growing up doesn't seem to be getting any easier despite our efforts to keep kids feeling safe and sound. I'm pretty sure that when I was little I didn't tell my parents I had been chased down the street. Why not then? Why not now? I hope there is more we can do as a community to listen to the hearts and words of our youth, and I appreciate the effort our educators have taken to make our schools safer.
This is a strange time in our community. Let's take many moments to listen to our kids, and offer solutions and comfort where possible.


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Message Board
Barbara J. Robinson Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Robinson has written!
Author Robinson's Book Reviews
Magnolia: A Wilting Flower
The main character, Magnolia, learns life's lessons through the school of hard knocks and must learn to deal with losing her father to death, a stepfather, loss of dearly loved pets, disappointment, pain, heartache, hard work, the importance of reading and writing skills and obtaining a good education, as well as the negative aspects of cigarette smoking, and dealing with peer pressure. ...


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Celebrate the Koshland Science Museum's new Food for Thought exhibit with special events and festivities, including hands-on science activities, games, raffles, ribbon-tying demonstrations, and holiday decorations.
In the new exhibit, explore the science of healthy eating throughout your life:
- Shop a grocery store to make decisions about the best choices for you and your family
- Play a high school cafeteria game to balance healthy plate guidelines and stay within budget
- Explore nutrition requirements at every stage of life and see how what your body requires changes over time
- Test your knowledge about dietary supplements
At the hands-on science activity stations, test your memory and get tips to improve your memory through a few simple strategies. Then, compare the sugar levels in many common beverages and decide which drinks are healthiest. What you learn may surprise you.
A special game lounge will feature five different logic and strategy games. Play on your own or compete with friends and family. Who can use critical thinking and deductive reasoning to plan ahead and beat their opponent? Exercise your mind and your body with Wii brain challenges that test logic, math, memory, and visual thinking skills.
Raffled items include delicious chocolate gift bags donated by Co Co. Sala Restaurant and Chocolate Boutique (Washington, DC), a beautiful holiday floral arrangement donated by Jack H. Lucky Floral Designs (Arlington, VA) and a tasty gift basket donated by Design Cuisine (Arlington, VA).
Activities are recommended for ages 10 and above and are included at no additional charge with regular admission.
Contact the Koshland Science Museum at email@example.com or 202-334-1201 with questions.


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The New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University presents the Foundation Student Exhibition, featuring the work of first-year students.
The Foundation program is designed to equip students with the fundamentals of visual thinking and communication, and this exhibit of their artwork demonstrates what they have absorbed.
The exhibit is on display from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Thursday, April 4, at the Suffolk University Gallery, 75 Arlington St., Boston. The gallery is on the second floor.
Upcoming undergraduate exhibits include:
Graphic DesignApril 8 - 18
Reception: 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 12
Fine ArtsApril 22 - May 1, 2013
Reception: 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 26
Interior DesignMay 6 - 19, 2013
Reception: 5-7 p.m. Friday, May 10


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Preserved Seaside Wreath 16"
We are sorry, the product you have selected is not available. Please select from the list of products below or click "more like this" to continue shopping.
One look at this preserved seaside wreath and they'll be feeling the sun in their hair and the sand between their toes. Handcrafted from preserved green leaf, preserved turquoise grass and more, it features an assortment of natural seashells and white starfish to bring the serene beauty of the beach into their home.
These beautiful dried wreaths are selected from only premium preserved and dried floral decorations. Our designers are regarded by many as the "Best in the Business" for creating one-of-a-kind arrangements, including centerpieces and wall décor.
Each wreath is crafted using floral found on farms with acres of beautiful flower fields, located in the wine country of Baja California. They're decorated with only the highest quality floral elements, for a unique product that exceeds your expectations every time.


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Find out more about famous Australian people, whose achievements are spread across categories as diverse as film, sport, music, art, science, literature, politics, invention and exploration. Following is an overview of high-achieving and famous Australians, from 'The Don' of Australian cricket, Sir Don Bradman, to the Aboriginal artist Queenie McKenzie. Learn about some of the Australian actors who have made it on the world stage, our acclaimed and best-selling Australian writers and the Australian scientists who are Nobel Laureates. Remember this is an introduction, but not an exhaustive list of famous Australians.
Famous Australian actors
A number of Australian actors have found international success, including the Academy-winning Geoffrey Rush, star of Shine and The King's Speech. Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett have also claimed the Best Actor honour. Action hero Hugh Jackman is also a Tony Award-winning singer and dancer. Other famous Australian actors include Naomi Watts, whose cut-through role was in Mulholland Drive, and Heath Ledger, who won a posthumous Oscar for his performance in The Dark Knight. Australian actors of international fame include Guy Pearce, Eric Bana, Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths and Paul Hogan. Errol Flynn was famous for romantic swashbuckling roles in the 1930s and 1940s.
Famous Australian sportspeople
Sport is a huge part of Australian culture and the nation has produced many sporting greats. Our cricketing heroes include Sir Donald Bradman, Ritchie Benaud, Allan Border, the Waugh brothers, Shane Warne and Glen McGrath. Famous Australian swimmers include Dawn Fraser, Shane Gould, Kieren Perkins and Ian Thorpe. Our most famous runner is Cathy Freeman, who lit the Olympic flame and claimed gold in the 400m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Other lauded runners include Betty Cuthbert, Herb Elliot and John Landy, famous for his sportsmanship at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Australian tennis stars include Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Pat Cash, Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Famous Australian singers and songwriters
There are famous Australian singers across every musical genre. Our greatest opera singers were Dame Nellie Melba and Dame Joan Sutherland. Australian country music stars have included Smoky Dawson and Slim Dusty, and more recently John Williamson, James Blundell, Kasey Chambers, and Keith Urban. Pop princess Kylie Minogue hit the international charts many years after Grease star Olivia Newton John and icon John Farnham. Jimmy Barnes, Peter Garret, Michael Hutchence and Daniel Johns claimed fame as lead singers in rock bands. Famous Aboriginal singers include Jimmy Little, Christine Anu, Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter and Geoffrey Gurrumul. Songwriter and entertainer Peter Allen has been immortalized in a stage musical.
Famous Australian artists
Our famous Australian artists include the late avant-garde painter Brett Whitely, landscape painter John Olson and photographers Bill Henson and Tracey Moffat. Ken Done has also won worldwide fame for his colourful paintings and designs. Famous Aboriginal artists of the last century include Albert Namatjira, David Malangi, Rover Thomas, Queenie McKenzie and Emily Kngwarreye. Painters Florence Rodway, Grace Cossington Smith and Margaret Preston were at the vanguard of the modernist movement, while painter Norman Lindsay attracted controversy for his nudes. Other famous Australian artists have included painter Pro Hart, modernist photographer Max Dupain, Heidelberg painters such as Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton and surrealists Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd and Albert Tucker.
Famous Australian writers
Famous Australian writers include Bryce Courtenay, our top-selling novelist, and Colleen McCullough. Patrick White won the 1973 Nobel Prize for literature and the Man Booker Prize has been awarded to Thomas Keneally, Peter Carey (twice) and DBC Pierre. Other acclaimed contemporary writers include David Malouf, Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Helen Garner, Christopher Koch, playwright David Williamson and Geraldine Brooks, who won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Australia's notable expatriate writers include Clive James, Robert Hughes, Geoffrey Robertson and feminist writer Germaine Greer. Important names in Australia's literary history include the bush poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson and novelists Henry Handel Richardson, Miles Franklin, Christina Stead and Marcus Clarke.
Famous Australian politicians
Sir Henry Parkes was the earliest advocate for federal government. Edmund Barton was Australia's first Prime Minister, followed by Alfred Deakin, who presided over three governments. Billy Hughes, Australia's seventh Prime Minister, changed parties five times over his 51-year parliamentary career. Robert Menzies was the country's twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister and founder of the Australian Liberal Party. Early Labor Prime Ministers include John Curtin, who led Australia through World War II, and Ben Chifley, who established Australian citizenship. Gough Whitlam is remembered for his progressive reforms and dramatic dismissal. Australia's more recent prime ministers include Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
Famous Australians scientists
Pharmacologist and pathologist Howard Florey shared a Nobel Prize in 1945 for his work extracting penicillin. Other Australian scientists who are Nobel Laureates include William Bragg, John Warcup Cornforth, John Eccles, Bernard Katz, Peter Doherty and Elizabeth Blackburn. Geologist Dorothy Hill was the first female professor in an Australian university. Other famous Australian scientists include immunology and virology pioneer Frank Macfarlane Burnet, magnetism specialist Robert Street, theoretical chemist David Craig and climate change expert Tim Flannery. Brian Anderson, Richard Stanton and Patricia Woolley have also made significant contributions in their various fields.
Famous Australian inventors and famous Australian inventions
Australia's Aboriginal people invented the aerodynamic boomerang and a spear thrower called the woomera. Famous Australian inventors include Alfred Traeger, who built a radio for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in 1929, and David Ronald de Mey Warren, who invented the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. Professor Ian Frazer 2006, Australian of the Year, invented a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. Other famous Australian inventions include notepads (1902), the surf lifesaving reel (1906), aspirin (1915), the pacemaker (1926), penicillin (1940) the Hills Hoist clothesline (1946), the plastic disposable syringe (1949), the wine cask (1965), the bionic ear (1978), dual-flush toilet flush (1980)anti-counterfeiting technology for banknotes (1992) and long-wearing contact lenses (1999).
Famous Australian explorers
Following Captain Cook's 1770 landing, and the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 a number of early explorers set out to discover Australia. These included the duos Bass and Flinders, who chartedTasmania, the ill-fated Burke and Wills, and Hume and Hovel, who walked from Sydney to the Victorian coastline. Ernest Giles trekked through Australia's harsh western deserts on camelback and George Evans discovered the Lachlan River Valley region of central New South Wales. Other early famous Australian explorers include Thomas Mitchell and John Oxley. In the 20th century Sir Douglas Mawson led a series of important scientific expeditions to Antarctica.
Other famous people of Australia
Australia's famous people include cardiac surgeon Victor Chang, who pioneered an artificial heart valve and ophthalmologist Fred Hollows who helped to restore eyesight in more than a million people across the world. Famous Australian businesspeople include media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the late Robert Holmes a Court, Kerry Packer and Richard Pratt. Famous Australian film directors include Bruce Beresford, Baz Lurhmann, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Phillip Noyce, Fred Schepsi and Peter Weir. Famous Australian engineers include John Bradfield and Sir John Monash. Ben Hall and folk hero Ned Kelly were both famous Australian bushrangers. Other famous Australians include aviator Charles Kingsford-Smith, performer Barry Humphries and social reformer Eddie Mabo.


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Greetings all,
I am organizing a Peacock Bass trip to the Amazon River near Manaus, Brazil from November 8-17, 2013. The trip is with Amazon Outreach, a Dallas-based mission organization. Our team will fly to Manaus, Brazil, then board a sea plane to meet up with the river boat where our crew and guides await. Food and laundry service provided by crew. 2 to 1 ration of anglers to guides. You can find more information at http://www.amazonoutreach.org/, click on "Fishin' Mission".
Fishing for 20-lb Peacock Bass while serving others...what an experience! If interested, contact me for more details here on the forum, or by e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Robert Drozd
Peacock Bass - Fishn' Mission - Manaus, Brazil Nov 2013
Non-Trout pursuits
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