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Tantum Ergo
Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail;
Lo! o'er ancient forms departing,
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.
To the everlasting Father,
And the Son who reigns on high,
With the Holy Spirit proceeding
Forth from each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty. Amen.
V. You have given them bread from heaven,
R. Having all delight within it.
Let us pray.
O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament
left us a memorial of your Passion:
grant, we implore you,
that we may so venerate
the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood,
as always to be conscious of the fruit of your Redemption.
You who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.


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If more "Debz OG" rap music is what you are yearning for (and, honestly, why wouldn't it be?) you're in luck!
Debz OG (aka former Teen Mom OG star Debra Danielsen) says she's been tuning up her pipes in order to get ready for the release of some new music.
"I've been taking vocal lessons and I'm releasing three new songs this year and hopefully three new music videos," Debra told The Ashley in an exclusive interview. "The first two songs are hip hop/rap combos, and the third song is more like a Cardi B-style rap! I've been writing my own songs and original scores, and we're doing everything from scratch on my music."
Debra—- who, as 'Teen Mom' fans will remember released some Debz OG raps several years ago—- said she even teamed up with some of her old MTV people to film the music video for one of her new songs.
"We filmed some right here in my house in Iowa," she said. "It's been good working with some of the old MTV people. It makes you feel more comfortable."
Debra said she's hopeful that her music will help to land her a spot on a new MTV reality show, possibly alongside her daughter Farrah Abraham (who, years ago, released some ear-numbing music herself), and granddaughter Sophia Abraham.
"MTV has this new program about musical families that sing together, and Sophia and I have been practicing my songs and raps with my vocal coach," Debra said. "I said to Farrah it would be fun if we got together and did a couple of songs together and released them. One of the reality TV networks reached out to me and is waiting for us to do a song together.
"Sophia has a beautiful voice and is super-good at rapping," Debra added. "She can do a Cardi B rap. We've been practicing a lot of Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande."
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Farrah has made it no secret that she hopes Sophia will get her mug back on TV at some point.
"Sophia wants to have an entertainment career and I said to her, 'That's good because so does Grandma!'" Debra said, adding that she is still upset that Farrah (and her family) are no longer a part of 'Teen Mom OG.'
"I miss being on TV, especially MTV. I miss all the 'Teen Mom' girls," Debra said. "I just feel badly that the show isn't covering our story anymore. We have people constantly telling us they wish we were back on TV. A lot of people want [Farrah, Sophia and I] to do our own show. To me, that's very comforting. People DM me and tell me that the show is boring without us.
For now, though, Debra says she's working a regular job at a mobile phone store in between auditions.
"People come into the store and stare at me, or take a picture with me," she said. "Other people ask me, 'Why are you here?' I tell them because I'm making a living and being a productive citizen!"
Still, though, she says she has her sights set on more fame.
"I don't want to have a job like a regular person," she said. "I would rather be back on TV, but I'm working on myself right now, and trying to fine-tune my skill set. I'm really looking forward to releasing this music."
Debra– who got married in 2017 and rapped at her wedding, naturally– said that things with her husband, Dr. David Merz, are going well.
"He's 150 percent supportive of my music and all of my stuff," she said. "He does everything in his power to help me be happy and successful. David just wants me to be happy."
Debra says that her relationship with her daughter Farrah– who she was estranged from for a while– and granddaughter Sophia is in a better place now than it was a year ago, when she told The Ashley she feared for Sophia's safety.
"I think our relationship is much better," Debra said. "Sophia recently came and stayed with me for 10 days and I got to help her with her homeschooling. I was very impressed with the curriculum that Sophia has. It's advanced for the grade she's in. We did 10 lessons a day, and it took eight hours to get those 10 lessons done.
Debra says she still worries about Farrah and Sophia, though.
"I pretty much helped raise Sophia so I can't help but miss them when they're not here," Debra said. "When I'm not with them I worry about them both. I'm concerned when Farrah works long hours and works hard, and I would rather Sophia not be around people I don't know. But I think that's just normal. I'm still a mom and grandma!"
Watch the video below to re-live a "Debz OG" rap moment from the past!
RELATED STORY: EXCLUSIVE! Former 'Teen Mom OG' Grandma Debra Danielsen Addresses Prostitution Rumors Surrounding Her Daughter Farrah Abraham

subset: commoncrawl


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Diocese Named in Another Suit over Alleged Clergy Abuse
By Kevin Sweeney The Journal November 19, 2013 http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/547313/Diocese-named--in-another-suit-over-alleged-clergy-abuse.html?nav=5009 The Diocese of New Ulm has been named as a defendant in a second lawsuit that accuses the diocese of failing to protect parishioners from sexual abuse from a priest that it should have known was a sexual predator. The lawsuit was filed in Ramsey County Monday on behalf of a defendant identified as John Doe 107, now an adult residing in Colorado. The suit names the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of New Ulm. The lawsuit claims the plaintiff was sexually abused by the Rev. William J. Marks, who was a priest in the two dioceses from 1948 to 1979. Marks, who died in November 1979, was assigned to parishes including St. Dionysus in Tyler, St. John's Catholic Church in Hector, and St. Clotilde in Green Valley. All were located within the Archdiocese until 1959, when the Diocese of New Ulm was formed. The suit alleges that the plaintiff was abused by Fr. Marks from 1957 to 1960, when he was 10 to 14 years old and served as an altar boy at St. John's in Hector. The plaintiff said Marks would hug the boy hard, and slide his hands into and over the boy's pants, usually before and after mass when the boy was changing into or out of his altar boy robes. The Diocese of New Ulm issued a statement Monday saying it will be investigating the claims in the new lawsuit but has no facts to report about the claims at this time. "The Diocese of New Ulm deeply regrets the long-lasting and devastating effects of sexual misconduct on the part of clergy," the statement said. "Such misconduct requires positive action on our part, and we have been strengthening our systems and procedures in order to address this grave issue by following the U.S. bishops' "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," established in June 2002." The lawsuit claims that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and later the Diocese of New Ulm should have been aware of Marks' "sexual misconduct, impulses and behavior," and failed to protect the plaintiff and other potential victims, from harm. The suit seeks monetary damages in excess of $50,000 Patrick Noacker, attorney with the Noacker Law Firm in Minnetonka that filed the suit, said he did not have information indicating whether there had been previous complaints about Marks that would have given the diocese knowledge of Marks' activities. Noacker is the same attorney that filed a suit in June 2013 naming the diocese as a defendant for abuse allegedly committed by another priest, the Rev. Francis Markey, when he was pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in Henderson in 1982. In its statement, the Diocese of New Ulm said it has been "diligent in its efforts to establish a safe environment program that educates clergy, teachers, parents, and students, and that helps them identify and prevent sexual misconduct. We are committed to offering help and healing to anyone who has been a victim of sexual misconduct and to preventing this terrible crime from occurring in the diocese." The diocese asks anyone who has suffered sexual abuse, exploitation, or harassment by a priest, deacon, pastor, or pastoral administrator of the Diocese of New Ulm to report the misconduct to the Victim Assistance Coordinator or the Bishop's Delegate in Matters Pertaining to Sexual Misconduct, 1400 6th Street North, New Ulm, MN 56073; phone: 507-359-2966.


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Unspeak literally beamed into your eyes
September 26, 2013 1 comment
Unspeak now exists as an "interactive documentary" made in collaboration with SubmarineChannel. There are six video episodes written and narrated by me, each with a different director, plus some cool data-visualization toys. It has been nominated for a 2013 Prix Europa award.
Meanwhile more observations on language, in Unspeak and other modes, will henceforth be found in a semi-regular slot at the Guardian, eg most recently the Unspeak of privatization, and Steven Pinker's trouble with "scientism". Thanks for reading!


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Credit Repair: The Truth About What Can and Cannot be Done
Contrary to what the credit bureaus would like you to believe, credit repair does work and can work for 100% of people in most circumstances. This is, of course, provided you are getting the best advice and have an experienced professional working on your case.
Any one with a credit score below 720 can benefit long-term from the advice and information provided through credit repair; however, there are times when your own limitations make adhering to this advice impossible.
The two limiting factors are: (1) your financial situation and (2) the time frame within you need to reach your results. It is possible to remove anything from a credit report, even accurate items, if the creditor does not adhere to the law the outlines what needs to be done and by when.
Just because you have a certain type of account removed at one time does not mean other, similar items are going to be able to be removed, even with the same circumstances. A hit-or-miss aspect exists in credit repair, because credit repair relies not only on the strategies of the person attempting to repair the credit, but also on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the creditors and credit bureaus in adhering to the laws. Sometimes you want the credit bureaus and credit bureaus to follow the law, sometimes you don't-it all depends on your particular situation.
The reason credit repair has received such a bad name is due to the abundance of scam artists who flock to the easy money made available by people desperate for this type of service. This unfortunate reality leads the credit bureaus and the FTC to make blanket, untrue statements such as, "Credit repair does not work ever and there is nothing a credit repair company can do for you that you can't do for yourself." Given that more than 90% of credit repair companies are scam artists, promising the world and then disappearing when you pay, the credit bureaus and the FTC are forced to make such bold statements. It would be impossible for them to explain the truth to consumers without causing them to make a bad choice that would result in the getting scammed. As a result, the credit bureaus and the FTC must adhere to the "credit repair does not work" position.
As I have stated, credit repair does work, but... don't let anyone tell you that credit repair is effective every time. Its success varies with the number of players in the game, some of whom never perform consistently. Even if you have a true master of credit repair on your side, you have to take into account that sometimes the other players perform in a way that throws your master of his game. Take Shaquille O'Neal. Although he has the ability to win every game for his team, there are going to be times when the other team has a formation that takes him off his game and causes his results to be less than optimal. Given that fact, you still cannot predict to any level of certainty whether or not he will perform well or poorly the next time he faces that team. Credit repair is similar. Sometimes the opposing side shows up strong, other times they don't. Even if you follow the same approach with every situation that arises when doing credit repair, your results will still vary due to the other players involved. So the next time someone tells you they can get everything repaired on your credit, run the other way, because, at best, the pendulum will swing widely both ways for the same situation.
Credit repair limitations occur almost 100% of the time under the following situations. These situations make it nearly impossible for credit repair to help someone needing results within six months to a year. Please keep in mind even when you can't be helped in the short term, the advice that can be given now, if coming from a professional, can prevent you from making a mistake in the near future that may worsen your situation. Here are examples of situations where not much can be done with-in a six to twelve month period.
1. If more than 50% of the negative accounts showing on the credit report appear as unpaid collections, charge-offs, repossessions, or foreclosures and you do not have the money to either pay the accounts in full or settle them. Due to the negative accounts remaining unpaid, these items will simply reappear on your report once removed. Any negatives, even unpaid accounts, can be removed-but, unless the negative account is current, paid or settled, it will simply reappear in 10-90 days.
The only way to prevent this is to bring the account current by paying the past due amount, or, in the case of a collection, charge-off, repossession, or foreclosure, pay the balance in full or settle it for pennies on the dollar. Unpaid accounts that do not have collection, charge-off, repossession or foreclosure status require only that the past due balance be paid to be considered current. Unless the negative account is a public record, the only way to keep it from being re-reported is to make sure the status is "current, paid, settled, transferred or sold." In other words, if deleted, any negative account that does not show one of those five statuses will most likely get re-reported, unless the account is a public record.
Public records are the only negative items that do not need to be paid to prevent re-reporting. Because they are only reported once, public records, such as unpaid judgments and tax liens, can remain unpaid and yet will not reappear once they are removed. In fact, the only time they reappear is when the initial reason for removal was the public record agency failing to respond the credit bureaus' verification request with-in the 30 day period outlined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, in which case the credit bureau would reinsert the public record if and when the public record agency responds to the credit bureaus after that 30 day period.
2. Credit repair is nearly impossible if you can't pay your minimum monthly payments and you keep adding new late payments to your report. This is a "spinning wheels" scenario that rarely yields much improvement to your credit score.
In conclusion, you can repair your credit if you hire a pro and listen to his or her professional advice. The effectiveness of the credit repair depends not only on the skill of the professional you hire and your ability to cooperate with his or her advice, but also, a little luck.
Don't get scammed by credit repair companies that take your money and just do a letter writing campaign. Hire a professional credit improvement coach that helps you work on the good, the bad and the ugly.
For more information contact StrategicCreditCoach.com at (877) 825-7885
Mission: We educate and coach people looking to improve their credit score and overall financial health so they are able to learn financial disciplines and achieve a more secure future.
Vision: To raise the standard of living for all people and inspire them to live their passions and dreams and have piece of mind.


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Shark Dinner Party!
Turquoise + Shark Dinner Party
It's SHARK WEEK! So, we thought it fitting to share this humorous outdoor dinner party! Bright turquoise and white striped fabric made the perfect tablecloth for this sea-themed dinner. Of course, the star of the dinner was the centerpiece shark filled with fresh cocktail shrimp and sauce. We surprisingly found this shark at a local pet supply store in the aquarium section! We filled a crystal centerpiece bowl with ice and topped with the shark and fresh cocktail shrimp. It made for a touch of humor and lots of laughs perfect for shark week!
So host a shark dinner party and turn on Discovery!
Want another tip for your ocean themed dinner? Use a cookie cutter to shape cornbread into fish shapes (seen above). Simple fish-shaped ice packs kept bowls cool for lemon freeze dessert!
1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon horseradish
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Mix all ingredients thoroughly and chill overnight. This sauce is extremely easy to make and everybody loves it! Yields 1 cup.
Design: Phronsie Dial | Photography: Courtney Dial


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I was planning this post yesterday, but other events intervened[1]. I woke up this morning to see that Corey had already written my post, but with the opposite conclusion. Corey's 1905 analogy is a good one. Obama is not a "good father standing above the fray", but the ruler who gives orders to Cossacks like Carmen M. Ortiz. The vindictive pursuit of Aaron Swartz is of a piece with the Obama Administration's whole approach to the security state, from drone assassinations to the persecution of whistleblowers (Obama is worse even than Bush in some aspects of his civil liberties record).
But the Czar had choices[2], and so does Obama. Under current procedures, the White House must respond to a petition with 25 000 signatures, and the answer in this case must be "Yes" or "No'. So, this is one of the very few ways that Obama can be pushed to take an explicit stand one way or the another on an issue he prefers to address through leaks and ambiguities.
A pardon for Swartz, however qualified, would undercut the case for severe punishment (including, possibly, the death penalty) of Bradley Manning and others. It would amount to an acceptance that Swartz' motivation in seeking the free distribution of information was a noble one, and that his offences should have been judged in that light. Perhaps some people would see it as exonerating the state, but I think more would see it as a signal of a new direction, and a precedent to be followed.
A refusal or evasion would serve the same function as the Czar's orders to his Cossacks in 1905. Those who still believe Obama's pledge to run the most transparent administration in history would see the reality, and might be moved to protest a bit more.
fn1. Among them, a stoush with a silly Oz politician
fn2. I don't want to refight the whole "individual in history" debate, but Nicholas could have chosen to meet Father Gapon, could have promised reforms and could have delivered at least some of them. And, in the light of subsequent events, it would have been far better for him, his family, his class, and just about everyone else in Russia had he done so.


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We strive to give excellent customer service along with irresistible products for your bird feeding needs. We offer wax worms, mealworms, crickets and bluebird houses. Nature's Way offers varied sizes of mealworms; minis, smalls, mediums and large. Call us with your member/license number if you are a member of an organization (such as NABS) or rehabilitate birds and you will be eligible for a discounted price. We ship across the United States and guarantee live product upon retrieval. Fed Ex and UPS offer 1-3 day shipping but most orders are sent via the USPS. Our standard shipping days are Monday-Thursday. Our office is open Monday-Friday but you may leave a voicemail or e-mail us with your order at any time.


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Big data is data that exceeds the processing capacity of conventional database systems. The data is too big, moves too fast, or doesn't fit the strictures of your database architectures. To gain value from this data, you must choose an alternative way to process it.
The hot IT buzzword of 2012, big data has become viable as cost-effective approaches have emerged to tame the volume, velocity and variability of massive data. Within this data lie valuable patterns and information, previously hidden because of the amount of work required to extract them. To leading corporations, such as Walmart or Google, this power has been in reach for some time, but at fantastic cost. Today's commodity hardware, cloud architectures and open source software bring big data processing into the reach of the less well-resourced. Big data processing is eminently feasible for even the small garage startups, who can cheaply rent server time in the cloud.
The value of big data to an organization falls into two categories: analytical use, and enabling new products. Big data analytics can reveal insights hidden previously by data too costly to process, such as peer influence among customers, revealed by analyzing shoppers' transactions, social and geographical data. Being able to process every item of data in reasonable time removes the troublesome need for sampling and promotes an investigative approach to data, in contrast to the somewhat static nature of running predetermined reports.
The past decade's successful web startups are prime examples of big data used as an enabler of new products and services. For example, by combining a large number of signals from a user's actions and those of their friends, Facebook has been able to craft a highly personalized user experience and create a new kind of advertising business. It's no coincidence that the lion's share of ideas and tools underpinning big data have emerged from Google, Yahoo, Amazon and Facebook.
The emergence of big data into the enterprise brings with it a necessary counterpart: agility. Successfully exploiting the value in big data requires experimentation and exploration. Whether creating new products or looking for ways to gain competitive advantage, the job calls for curiosity and an entrepreneurial outlook.
What does big data look like?
As a catch-all term, "big data" can be pretty nebulous, in the same way that the term "cloud" covers diverse technologies. Input data to big data systems could be chatter from social networks, web server logs, traffic flow sensors, satellite imagery, broadcast audio streams, banking transactions, MP3s of rock music, the content of web pages, scans of government documents, GPS trails, telemetry from automobiles, financial market data, the list goes on. Are these all really the same thing?
To clarify matters, the three Vs of volume, velocity and variety are commonly used to characterize different aspects of big data. They're a helpful lens through which to view and understand the nature of the data and the software platforms available to exploit them. Most probably you will contend with each of the Vs to one degree or another.
The benefit gained from the ability to process large amounts of information is the main attraction of big data analytics. Having more data beats out having better models: simple bits of math can be unreasonably effective given large amounts of data. If you could run that forecast taking into account 300 factors rather than 6, could you predict demand better?
This volume presents the most immediate challenge to conventional IT structures. It calls for scalable storage, and a distributed approach to querying. Many companies already have large amounts of archived data, perhaps in the form of logs, but not the capacity to process it.
Assuming that the volumes of data are larger than those conventional relational database infrastructures can cope with, processing options break down broadly into a choice between massively parallel processing architectures — data warehouses or databases such as Greenplum — and Apache Hadoop-based solutions. This choice is often informed by the degree to which the one of the other "Vs" — variety — comes into play. Typically, data warehousing approaches involve predetermined schemas, suiting a regular and slowly evolving dataset. Apache Hadoop, on the other hand, places no conditions on the structure of the data it can process.
At its core, Hadoop is a platform for distributing computing problems across a number of servers. First developed and released as open source by Yahoo, it implements the MapReduce approach pioneered by Google in compiling its search indexes. Hadoop's MapReduce involves distributing a dataset among multiple servers and operating on the data: the "map" stage. The partial results are then recombined: the "reduce" stage.
To store data, Hadoop utilizes its own distributed filesystem, HDFS, which makes data available to multiple computing nodes. A typical Hadoop usage pattern involves three stages:
- loading data into HDFS,
- MapReduce operations, and
- retrieving results from HDFS.
This process is by nature a batch operation, suited for analytical or non-interactive computing tasks. Because of this, Hadoop is not itself a database or data warehouse solution, but can act as an analytical adjunct to one.
One of the most well-known Hadoop users is Facebook, whose model follows this pattern. A MySQL database stores the core data. This is then reflected into Hadoop, where computations occur, such as creating recommendations for you based on your friends' interests. Facebook then transfers the results back into MySQL, for use in pages served to users.
The importance of data's velocity — the increasing rate at which data flows into an organization — has followed a similar pattern to that of volume. Problems previously restricted to segments of industry are now presenting themselves in a much broader setting. Specialized companies such as financial traders have long turned systems that cope with fast moving data to their advantage. Now it's our turn.
Why is that so? The Internet and mobile era means that the way we deliver and consume products and services is increasingly instrumented, generating a data flow back to the provider. Online retailers are able to compile large histories of customers' every click and interaction: not just the final sales. Those who are able to quickly utilize that information, by recommending additional purchases, for instance, gain competitive advantage. The smartphone era increases again the rate of data inflow, as consumers carry with them a streaming source of geolocated imagery and audio data.
It's not just the velocity of the incoming data that's the issue: it's possible to stream fast-moving data into bulk storage for later batch processing, for example. The importance lies in the speed of the feedback loop, taking data from input through to decision. A commercial from IBM makes the point that you wouldn't cross the road if all you had was a five-minute old snapshot of traffic location. There are times when you simply won't be able to wait for a report to run or a Hadoop job to complete.
Industry terminology for such fast-moving data tends to be either "streaming data," or "complex event processing." This latter term was more established in product categories before streaming processing data gained more widespread relevance, and seems likely to diminish in favor of streaming.
There are two main reasons to consider streaming processing. The first is when the input data are too fast to store in their entirety: in order to keep storage requirements practical some level of analysis must occur as the data streams in. At the extreme end of the scale, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN generates so much data that scientists must discard the overwhelming majority of it — hoping hard they've not thrown away anything useful. The second reason to consider streaming is where the application mandates immediate response to the data. Thanks to the rise of mobile applications and online gaming this is an increasingly common situation.
Product categories for handling streaming data divide into established proprietary products such as IBM's InfoSphere Streams, and the less-polished and still emergent open source frameworks originating in the web industry: Twitter's Storm, and Yahoo S4.
As mentioned above, it's not just about input data. The velocity of a system's outputs can matter too. The tighter the feedback loop, the greater the competitive advantage. The results might go directly into a product, such as Facebook's recommendations, or into dashboards used to drive decision-making.
It's this need for speed, particularly on the web, that has driven the development of key-value stores and columnar databases, optimized for the fast retrieval of precomputed information. These databases form part of an umbrella category known as NoSQL, used when relational models aren't the right fit.
Rarely does data present itself in a form perfectly ordered and ready for processing. A common theme in big data systems is that the source data is diverse, and doesn't fall into neat relational structures. It could be text from social networks, image data, a raw feed directly from a sensor source. None of these things come ready for integration into an application.
Even on the web, where computer-to-computer communication ought to bring some guarantees, the reality of data is messy. Different browsers send different data, users withhold information, they may be using differing software versions or vendors to communicate with you. And you can bet that if part of the process involves a human, there will be error and inconsistency.
A common use of big data processing is to take unstructured data and extract ordered meaning, for consumption either by humans or as a structured input to an application. One such example is entity resolution, the process of determining exactly what a name refers to. Is this city London, England, or London, Texas? By the time your business logic gets to it, you don't want to be guessing.
The process of moving from source data to processed application data involves the loss of information. When you tidy up, you end up throwing stuff away. This underlines a principle of big data: when you can, keep everything. There may well be useful signals in the bits you throw away. If you lose the source data, there's no going back.
Despite the popularity and well understood nature of relational databases, it is not the case that they should always be the destination for data, even when tidied up. Certain data types suit certain classes of database better. For instance, documents encoded as XML are most versatile when stored in a dedicated XML store such as MarkLogic. Social network relations are graphs by nature, and graph databases such as Neo4J make operations on them simpler and more efficient.
Even where there's not a radical data type mismatch, a disadvantage of the relational database is the static nature of its schemas. In an agile, exploratory environment, the results of computations will evolve with the detection and extraction of more signals. Semi-structured NoSQL databases meet this need for flexibility: they provide enough structure to organize data, but do not require the exact schema of the data before storing it.
In practice
We have explored the nature of big data, and surveyed the landscape of big data from a high level. As usual, when it comes to deployment there are dimensions to consider over and above tool selection.
Cloud or in-house?
The majority of big data solutions are now provided in three forms: software-only, as an appliance or cloud-based. Decisions between which route to take will depend, among other things, on issues of data locality, privacy and regulation, human resources and project requirements. Many organizations opt for a hybrid solution: using on-demand cloud resources to supplement in-house deployments.
Big data is big
It is a fundamental fact that data that is too big to process conventionally is also too big to transport anywhere. IT is undergoing an inversion of priorities: it's the program that needs to move, not the data. If you want to analyze data from the U.S. Census, it's a lot easier to run your code on Amazon's web services platform, which hosts such data locally, and won't cost you time or money to transfer it.
Even if the data isn't too big to move, locality can still be an issue, especially with rapidly updating data. Financial trading systems crowd into data centers to get the fastest connection to source data, because that millisecond difference in processing time equates to competitive advantage.
Big data is messy
It's not all about infrastructure. Big data practitioners consistently report that 80% of the effort involved in dealing with data is cleaning it up in the first place, as Pete Warden observes in his Big Data Glossary: "I probably spend more time turning messy source data into something usable than I do on the rest of the data analysis process combined."
Because of the high cost of data acquisition and cleaning, it's worth considering what you actually need to source yourself. Data marketplaces are a means of obtaining common data, and you are often able to contribute improvements back. Quality can of course be variable, but will increasingly be a benchmark on which data marketplaces compete.
The phenomenon of big data is closely tied to the emergence of data science, a discipline that combines math, programming and scientific instinct. Benefiting from big data means investing in teams with this skillset, and surrounding them with an organizational willingness to understand and use data for advantage.
In his report, "Building Data Science Teams," D.J. Patil characterizes data scientists as having the following qualities:
- Technical expertise: the best data scientists typically have deep expertise in some scientific discipline.
- Curiosity: a desire to go beneath the surface and discover and distill a problem down into a very clear set of hypotheses that can be tested.
- Storytelling: the ability to use data to tell a story and to be able to communicate it effectively.
- Cleverness: the ability to look at a problem in different, creative ways.
The far-reaching nature of big data analytics projects can have uncomfortable aspects: data must be broken out of silos in order to be mined, and the organization must learn how to communicate and interpet the results of analysis.
Those skills of storytelling and cleverness are the gateway factors that ultimately dictate whether the benefits of analytical labors are absorbed by an organization. The art and practice of visualizing data is becoming ever more important in bridging the human-computer gap to mediate analytical insight in a meaningful way.
Know where you want to go
Finally, remember that big data is no panacea. You can find patterns and clues in your data, but then what? Christer Johnson, IBM's leader for advanced analytics in North America, gives this advice to businesses starting out with big data: first, decide what problem you want to solve.
If you pick a real business problem, such as how you can change your advertising strategy to increase spend per customer, it will guide your implementation. While big data work benefits from an enterprising spirit, it also benefits strongly from a concrete goal.


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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Announcing The Shelf Discovery Challenge
As a mother of a middle grade daughter, a member of a mother-daughter book club, and a lover of middle-grade and young adult fiction, I was just thrilled when I "discovered" a new book by Lizzie Skurnick called SHELF DISCOVERY: THE TEEN CLASSICS WE NEVER STOPPED READING. If you haven't seen this book yet, then you are definitely missing out because it's a wonderful read. SHELF DISCOVERY is a book that takes me back to my childhood because it features many of the books that I loved as a young girl -- you know, those books and authors that defined our youth such Judy Blume, Laura Ingalls Wilder, etc.
SHELF DISCOVERY is a "reading memoir" which features over 70 MG and YA classics with Ms. Skurnick's unique impressions. There are also essays about these classics written by current women writers including Meg Cabot, Laura Lippman, Cecily von Ziegesar, and Jennifer Weiner.
From Publishers Weekly:
Launched from her regular feature column Fines Lines for Jezebel.com, this spastically composed, frequently hilarious omnibus of meditations on favorite YA novels dwells mostly among the old-school titles from the late '60s to the early '80s much beloved by now grown-up ladies. This was the era, notes the bibliomaniacal Skurnick in her brief introduction, when books for young girls moved from being wholesome and entertaining (e.g., The Secret Garden and the Nancy Drew series) to dealing with real-life, painful issues affecting adolescence as depicted by Beverly Cleary, Lois Duncan, Judy Blume, Madeleine L'Engle and Norma Klein. Skurnick groups her eruptive essays around themes, for example, books that feature a particularly memorable, fun or challenging narrator (e.g., Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy); girls on the verge, such as Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret or danger girls such as Duncan's Daughters of Eve; novels that deal with dying protagonists and other tragedies like child abuse (Willo Davis Roberts's Don't Hurt Laurie!); and, unavoidably, heroines gifted with a paranormal penchant, among other categories. Skurnick is particularly effective at spotlighting an undervalued classic (e.g., Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase) and offers titles featuring troubled boys as well. Her suggestions will prove superhelpful (not to mention wildly entertaining) for educators, librarians and parents.
As I read this book, I fondly remembered many of the books that I read years ago -- often times, over and over again -- such as FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER, BLUBBER, THE WESTING GAME, THE GROUNDING OF GROUP SIX, and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE to name just a few. I also realized that there were a lot of books that I missed out on and would love to read now -- like a WRINKLE IN TIME. There are just so many wonderful classics for teens that are featured in the pages of this book -- I hardly know where to start!
So, that's why I think the Shelf Discovery Challenge will be so fun! By participating in this challenge, you can revisit some of your childhood favorites while also having the chance to read some of these classics for the very first time. And even if you've read some of these books over and over again as a young girl (like me), I think that by re-reading them now we will appreciate them for entirely different reasons.
The Shelf Discovery Challenge will run for six months (November 1, 2009 - April 30, 2010). To join me in this challenge, all you need to do is grab a copy of SHELF DISCOVERY and pick out what six books you want to read (of course, you can read more than six!) Then, after you read a book, just write a "book report" to share your thoughts with others!
Sign Up:
Grab the challenge button at the top of this page and write a post detailing what six Shelf Discovery books you are going to read within the next six months (you always have the option to change your original list -- I'm flexible like that!) If you don't already have the book, you can browse the table of contents here. Once you have posted your Shelf Discovery challenge post, come back to this post and click on Mr. Linky. Please leave your name and link directly to your introductory post (not just to your blog's home page.) If you don't have a blog, no worries -- you can just leave a comment on this post telling me you want to participate.
On November 1st, 2009 I will place a Shelf Discovery Challenge button in the upper right hand corner of my blog. When you click on this button, you will see a post where all the participants are listed as well as the links to your Shelf Discovery updates and "book reports." So, every time you have a post relating to the Shelf Discovery Challenge (with the exception of your first sign-up post) you should leave a comment there with a link to your post.
Spread the word:
Besides your initial challenge post, I'm also asking for your help on spreading the word via Twitter. My Twitter ID is @bookingmama and I will be using the hashtag #shelfdiscovery to discuss the challenge and books that we are reading. Please make sure to follow me on Twitter for updates and additional information.
Depending on the interest in this challenge, I am also interested in having some Mini-Challenges as part of the Shelf Discovery Challenge! Right now I have a few ideas like a Judy Blume Mini-Challenge, a What Book is Missing? Challenge, and BlogTalk Radio Show/Shelf Discovery Challenge (this one will make more sense if you listen to the BTR Library Love Fest show with Lizzie Skurnick and Nancy Pearl.) Please let me know if the comment section if you are interesting in hosting a mini-challenge -- either one I mentioned above or an entirely new one!)
And, since everyone loves prizes.....
I have 10 copies of SHELF DISCOVERY courtesy of Avon Book, Harper Collins to giveaway! To be eligible to win, all you have to do is sign up for the Shelf Discovery Challenge and leave a comment with a valid email address! I will select (and notify) the winners on November 1st!
There will be other prizes given away during the challenge period! I'm not entirely sure what they are yet, but I'm working on it!
79 comments:
- Florinda said...
I read Shelf Discovery last month and LOVED it, so I won't be entering your giveaway :-). The challenge sounds like fun, definitely!
- October 21, 2009 at 3:31 PM
- bermudaonion said...
I'm excited about this challenge! Don't enter me since I already have the book.
- October 21, 2009 at 3:59 PM
- Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...
OK, I'm in for the challenge. I have the book (must pull it off my 13-yr-old's bookcase!) and will select my 6 books this weekend.
Thanks for hosting! - October 21, 2009 at 4:42 PM
- Pam said...
This sounds like a book I need to check out. i have too many challenges going on right now but I'll definitely check up on yours! I loved FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER, THE WESTING GAME,and Wrinkle in Time.
- October 21, 2009 at 5:40 PM
- A Bookshelf Monstrosity said...
Oh, poo! Looks like I must enter yet another challenge. I simply can't pass this one up. Love it!
- October 21, 2009 at 6:04 PM
- rhapsodyinbooks said...
I would like to be in, but can't get a list to you until I can see a list of books (or can copy off of other people's!)
nbmars AT yahoo DOT com - October 21, 2009 at 6:20 PM
- Laura said...
This looks like fun and I've never done anything like it before. Honest! I can't wait!!!
- October 21, 2009 at 6:42 PM
- Raspberry said...
I'm still deciding which ones to read. :) rae_sunshine4(At)yahoo.com
- October 21, 2009 at 6:47 PM
- Book Club Girl said...
I can't wait to pick my six books! I'm in! (but not for the giveaway LOL ;)
- October 21, 2009 at 8:11 PM
- Jess - A Book Hoarder said...
This is my first challenge. I am so excited!!
msjessicamae(at)gmail(dot)com - October 21, 2009 at 8:24 PM
- Mrs. Melissa said...
I've never done a challenge but I've been curious about this book for a while now - please enter me
wlcgrad at yahoo dot com - October 21, 2009 at 9:31 PM
- Melissa said...
Oh, I am definitely in for this one ... how can I resist?! Great idea for a challenge. Thanks for entering me for the book!
- October 21, 2009 at 10:03 PM
- Nicole (Linus's Blanket) said...
I am so excited by this. I got this at the Harper Party and loved it. Thought about doing a personal challenge by reading all of the books- so this is great. I would love to host mini-challenges or help out in any way you need. I have to think about my books.
- October 21, 2009 at 11:30 PM
- Future Libraian said...
I would love to win a copy! I linked my [brand-spanking-new] blog to this post. Can't wait to read some new titles and reread some favorites with a new perspective. Oh, how I love children's literature!
- October 22, 2009 at 12:57 AM
- Beth Kephart said...
I was just looking longingly at this book in the bookstore. While I can never make promises in challenges, with the craziness of my schedule, I LOVE the sound of this one. So kudos to you for coming up with it, and for hosting such a perfect challenge. Very well done.
- October 22, 2009 at 7:36 AM
Okay, I'm in. I don't have the book though,so will see what books others are picking before I make my choice. Hopefully I'll have my post up soon.
- October 22, 2009 at 1:30 PM
- Kate S. said...
I'm in the midst of a major reread of childhood favourites, so this is perfect for me. I haven't read Shelf Discovery but I read many of the Jezebel columns it grew out of, so I'm confident that there's plenty of overlap! Please enter my name for the book draw too. Thanks!
- October 22, 2009 at 8:33 PM
- Karlie said...
Alright, I'm going to do my first challenge. Sounds like fun!
- October 23, 2009 at 12:51 PM
My post is up. Thanks for sending me that link. I'm excited and planning on sharing the books with my daughter.
carolsnotebook at yahoo dot com - October 23, 2009 at 1:21 PM
- Karlie said...
Since I don't have a blog, here are the books I am going to read:
A Wrinkle in Time
Are You There God?, It's Me Margaret
I am the Cheese
Bridge to Terabithia
Go Ask Alice
The Secret Garden - October 23, 2009 at 1:25 PM
- Erica said...
No need to enter me to win a copy since I work at harper, but we'd definitely like to host a mini-challenge over at the olive reader (the harper perennial blog.) I LOVE this book and rereading old favorites.
- October 23, 2009 at 2:43 PM
- Mimi said...
I also own a copy so will not enter the drawing, but I agree - what a great challenge!
- October 23, 2009 at 4:16 PM
- Allison said...
I would love to enter the book giveaway plz!! Don't have one..but will look at what others put on there list and choose..or run to bookstore and 'look' at one of the books to choose!!! And as you said..I can always change my choices later too!!!
Thanks!! signing up for challenge now! - October 24, 2009 at 1:46 AM
- Darlene said...
I would love to enter the book giveaway please. I also want to try the challenge. This will be my first one! But it sounds interesting. Thanks, Darlene
email@example.com - October 24, 2009 at 7:02 AM
- Darlene said...
I don't have a blog. So , I'm listing my six here:
A Wrinkle in Time
A Gift of Magic
Jacob,Have I Loved
The Pigman
Summer Of My German Soldier
Summer of Fear
email@example.com - October 24, 2009 at 8:04 AM
- Carrie said...
The shelf discovery challenge sounds like a lot of fun!
ca_straka at yahoo dot com - October 24, 2009 at 11:12 AM
- Ramona said...
This is so fun! These are the books that always stay with you and reading them again is like comfort food!
- October 24, 2009 at 11:56 AM
- Beth F said...
I'm in1 I'll put up my post and link up with Mr. Linky this week. Er, um, I'll need to enter to win the book (I gave my copy away -- LOL!!!!!)
- October 25, 2009 at 10:33 AM
- Mel (He Followed Me Home) said...
I hadn't heard about this but had tears in my eyes from all the memories readinf the book titles! I'vd love to be entered to win a copy & would love to jump in on the challenge (My 1st!!)
hefollowedme AT gmail DOT com
Mel - October 25, 2009 at 3:32 PM
- Jackie said...
Sounds like a great challenge. Lots of time to get it done too, so I'm in, for sure!
My email for contest entry is : everexpandinglibrary AT gmail DOT com - October 25, 2009 at 3:59 PM
- Jen - Devourer of Books said...
Okay, I'm going to be signing up, I just have to get this book from the library so I can pick my reads.
- October 25, 2009 at 4:27 PM
I've been following Lizzie's Fine Lines feature at Jezebel and was so excited when it was made into a book. I was planning on reading (or in some case, rereading) all of titles on Shelf Discovery so this would be the perfect opportunity to help me complete my own challenge. Since I don't have a blog I'll list my selection here:
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Summer of My German Soldier
Harriet the Spy
The Secret Garden
The Westing Game
Forever - October 25, 2009 at 7:07 PM
- Susan Helene Gottfried said...
My kids are the right age for this, so maybe I'll join and we'll read together. I'm on the fence.
Anyway, I've posted about this at Win a Book. I love it! Thanks for thinking to ask us to list it there. - October 26, 2009 at 11:21 AM
- JoLynnF said...
This sounds like great fun! A Wrinkle in Time will definitely be part of my list. Thinking about the rest.
firstname.lastname@example.com - October 26, 2009 at 5:16 PM
- Laurie Schneider said...
Can't resist any excuse to revisit my shelves. Please enter me, too!
- October 27, 2009 at 11:57 AM
- Laura at Library of Clean Reads said...
This is my first challenge and I know it will be fun. Would love to win the book too.
laura(at)laurafabiani(dot)com - October 27, 2009 at 2:42 PM
- Sherrie said...
I would love to do this challenge. I have my list of books and linked back to you posted at my place, Just Books. Have a great day!!
Sherrie - October 27, 2009 at 7:07 PM
- Jennifer Gibbons said...
Okay, I'm in too. Here's my blog about the challenge...
http://www.redroom.com/blog/jenniferkate/im-not-going-disneyland-i-am-going-write-a-novel-and-read-beverly-cleary - October 27, 2009 at 7:13 PM
- Andrea said...
Great challenge! I'm looking forward to it.
- October 28, 2009 at 3:22 PM
- Book Club Girl said...
My post is going up! http://www.bookclubgirl.com/book_club_girl/2009/10/join-booking-mamas-shelf-discovery-challenge.html.html
- October 28, 2009 at 10:53 PM
- Ash said...
This is so crazy because I just today made a post about how my tastes in books haven't changed from when I was a kid, and then I found out about this today.
ashbrux(at)yahoo(dot)com - October 28, 2009 at 11:06 PM
- Rachel said...
I'm in and I would love to win a copy of the book. This is going to fun!
mcelhra1(at)yahoo.com - October 28, 2009 at 11:27 PM
- Gayle said...
I've never done a reading challenge before, but I think I will do this one! Great idea. I will link back tomorrow with my picks.
- October 29, 2009 at 1:25 AM
- Kerry said...
I've never done a challenge before but this sounds intriguing... sign me up! Off to select my six books!
- October 29, 2009 at 8:34 AM
- Cop's Wife said...
Linked here from Rachel at Chaos is a Friend of Mine. This is right up my alley!
- October 29, 2009 at 10:11 AM
- Cop's Wife said...
Seeing the title "Grounding of Group Six" (which I loved) reminds me that I have been trying to think of the name of a book I read years ago about all the adults of the world dying off from some illness and the children having to build a fortress at an old school to protect themselves from other harmful kids. Does this ring a bell with anyone?
- October 29, 2009 at 10:16 AM
How FUN...I haven't picked my books yet but this sounds fabulous!
- October 29, 2009 at 10:36 AM
- Britt said...
I'm totally signing up, but I want to look at the Shelf Discovery book before I pick my books! I've never heard of some of them!
(Would love to win a copy, but if not, the library has it.) ;)
schriftstellarin (at) hotmail.com - October 29, 2009 at 2:23 PM
- Gayle said...
I'm in! MY first challenge ever! (I don't need the book). Thanks for hosting!
- October 29, 2009 at 3:55 PM
- Vasilly said...
I finally posted my picks! I would love to win a copy!
- October 29, 2009 at 4:21 PM
- Heather (BookobsessedGrl said...
Thank you for the contest and the information earlier!
Here's my email address:
bookobsessed (at) comcast.net - October 29, 2009 at 5:21 PM
- mynameiskate said...
Coincidentally, I just discovered this book on Amazon. Even just reading the blurb from the book really takes me back - I LOVED the Westing Game.
Thanks for hosting this challenge!! - October 30, 2009 at 2:22 PM
- Irene Da Costa said...
I'm so excited to participate in this challenge! Thanks for hosting! I'd really love to read Shelf Discover too! Please enter me!
Irene (Lovegoodlit.blogspot.com)
email@example.com - October 30, 2009 at 3:33 PM
- Kim said...
I'm in too and I'm sending out positive energy to win this book. I would love to read it and I have my doubts that my little library will get it. Thanks for a great challenge.
cleanbooksgal(at)gmail(dot)com - October 30, 2009 at 10:58 PM
- Sharla said...
Yay! This is my first challenge. It sounds so fun. I can't wait to get started.
- October 30, 2009 at 11:20 PM
Count me in for the challenge and the draw! I'll post my six picks soon!
- October 31, 2009 at 1:34 AM
Alright, got my picks:
Stranger with My Face
In Summer Light
Summer of Fear
firstname.lastname@example.com - October 31, 2009 at 2:03 AM
- Christy said...
Okay, my blog has been dormant for a long time but this is just too good to pass up. I'm in. Thanks for hosting. This is awesome!
- October 31, 2009 at 9:42 AM
- Elizabeth said...
This sounds like so much fun! I'm in - of course my list is way too long, but I couldn't help myself! =)
- October 31, 2009 at 6:59 PM
Just finished my post for the challenge. Looking forward to the challenge! http://wp.me/pxbxW-5W
- November 1, 2009 at 10:48 AM
- Christy said...
I posted my selections on my blog. Thanks for hosting the challenge and for entering me in the drawing.
I came out of a 14 month blogging hiatus to join the challenge!
http://michelleandchristy.typepad.com/rainbow_chills/2009/11/shelf-discovery.html.html - November 1, 2009 at 1:48 PM
- Renee J said...
Count me in!
rmj8373(at)gmail(dot)com - November 1, 2009 at 9:41 PM
- mynameiskate said...
Just got my post up!
Can't wait to re-read some of these! - November 1, 2009 at 10:19 PM
- Cindy said...
oops I forgot to sign up but I am SO doing this! tuckersmom432 at gmail dot com
- November 2, 2009 at 8:44 PM
- the heart is a lonely reader said...
Fantastic! I'm in. This sounds like the right challenge for me.
You can check out my intro at www.theheartisalonelyreader.blogspot.com
No need for me to win the book - I was lucky enough to be given a galley last Spring. - November 2, 2009 at 9:41 PM
- Meg Anastasi said...
Please count me in! Just got my copy and am choosing my books now. Can't wait to start reading!
meg.anastasi @ gmail.com
my blog:
http://boysbooksandbeaches.blogspot.com/ - November 3, 2009 at 9:56 AM
- Unknown said...
It is so funny how everything is connected.
I just finished the Wrinkle in Time series for my book club meeting next week because we wanted to read something that we read as young people that is on the Banned Book List.
So now I just have to pick five more.
Happy Reading
Trace - November 3, 2009 at 4:03 PM
I am joining in - I am going to read (again) the 'Little House'series - all 7 books.
I have the details on my challenge blog:
http://sally906readingchallanges.wordpress.com/ - November 5, 2009 at 5:48 PM
- beth said...
I'm in!
I tried to grab one book from each chapter, so I have two extras, which will be extra credit. - November 11, 2009 at 4:04 AM
- jayme said...
love it.
love it.
lurrrrvvvee it.
i'm in. eeek! - November 11, 2009 at 7:38 PM
- andrea jean said...
Ooh, I'm totally in! I'm Andrea Jean, my blog is Mode a la Pie, and here is a link to my post:
http://modealapie.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-can-totally-do-this.html - November 14, 2009 at 10:41 PM
- Contemplations of Reader said...
I could have sworn I signed up for this. Oh well. Oddly enough, I just got this book at the library and was amazed to realize just how many classics I missed out on. So now I'm looking forward to catching up. This will be fun!!
- November 15, 2009 at 7:56 PM
- Schatzi said...
Since I don't see a Linky anywhere, I'll just sign up here: http://mealibris.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/shelf-discovery-challenge/
- December 3, 2009 at 5:32 AM
- Cop's Wife said...
I am all over this challenge.
Thanks! - December 17, 2009 at 9:39 AM
I just got Shelf Discovery as my Book Blogger Holiday Swap gift, so I am excited to participate in this challenge! I don't see a Linky link so here's my intro post: http://ya4oa.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/shelf-discovery/
- January 18, 2010 at 2:44 AM
- Carin Siegfried said...
I would also like to participate even though it's late. Here's my blog post:http://carolinebookbinder.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-more-reading-challenge-shelf.html
My six books are:
A Wrinkle in Time
A Little Princess
Island of the Blue Dolphins
In Summer Light
Love is One of the Choices
Farmer Boy
These are all rereads. I have read 3 already (in December) so I may do more than 6. I Loved SD! - January 18, 2010 at 6:47 PM
- Buried In Print said...
I'm late officially joining, but I ordered the book shortly after you mentioned it and I have been happily reading since: thanks for the challenge! My full list is here and 6 of my picks are:
Harriet the Spy
Island of the Blue Dolphins
The Little Princess
The Long Winter
A Wrinkle in Time
Clan of the Cave Bear
Here's to Shelf-Discovering! - January 31, 2010 at 3:52 PM
- https://booksthoughtsadventures.com said...
I love the idea of this comment and I will post my books on my blog...thanks for the challenge!!!
- March 4, 2010 at 1:59 PM
- Carin Siegfried said...
I would love if this were an annual challenge! Any chance you'd do it again for 2011?
- December 13, 2010 at 1:23 PM


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A Citrus Blackfly Parasitoid, Amitus hesperidum Silvestri (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Platygastridae)
The Featured Creatures collection provides in-depth profiles of insects, nematodes, arachnids and other organisms relevant to Florida. These profiles are intended for the use of interested laypersons with some knowledge of biology as well as academic audiences.
Amitus hesperidum Silvestri is one of the most effective parasites of the citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby. This parasite was described by Silvestri in 1927 from Aleurocanthus citriperdus in Hong Kong and Singapore (Silvestri 1927). It was collected in India and introduced into Mexico for controlling citrus blackfly (Smith et al. 1964). Because of the success in Mexico, it was imported into Texas (Summy et al. 1983) and Florida (Hart et al. 1978) to suppress the population of citrus blackfly in these states.
Amitus hesperidum has been reported as native to Asia. It is found in Sri Lanka, China (Hong Kong, Szechuen), India, Java, Malaya, Pakistan, and has been introduced into Guam, Venezuela, Mexico, and the United States (Florida and Texas) to control citrus blackfly (Silvestri 1927, Smith et al. 1964, Flanders 1969). In Florida, it was released in Brevard, Broward, Collier, Dade, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Sarasota, and St. Lucie Counties.
The female is shiny black and tiny (0.75 mm long). The female's antenna is 0.65 mm long and 10-segmented, with the last three segments closely united and forming a club. The wings are shiny. The hind tarsus is 5-segmented. The male is similar to the female, with the antenna ten-segmented and filiform. The scape is curved, with all flagellar joints longer than wide and covered with short erect hairs (Silvestri 1927).
This species is non-polyembryonic and biparental in reproduction with a sex ratio of 1:1. It lays eggs in all three larval stages of the host, with a preference for the first stage. A female of the citrus blackfly usually produces two, three or occasionally four adult parasites, whereas a male host pupa produces only one. Both male and female parasites can be produced from a female of the citrus blackfly pupa. Amitus hesperidum females have a life span of four to five days, and males live three to four days. Life cycle from egg to adult varies from 45 to 60 days under laboratory condition (T=27°C).
In the field, A. hesperidum is well synchronized with the host and has a high rate of reproduction. A female can produce more than 60 offspring. This parasitoid is very effective with the high density of the citrus blackfly in Florida. However, the female has a poor searching capability and survives only four to five days under field conditions. The parasite population will die out soon after suppressing A. woglumi populations (Flander 1969; Nguyen et al. 1983).
Aleurocanthus citriperdus Quaintance and Baker, A. spiniferus (Quaintance), and A. woglumi Ashby are reported as hosts (Silvestri 1927; Smith et al. 1964).
Selected References
Flanders SE. 1969. Herbert D. Smith's observations on citrus blackfly parasites in India and Mexico and the correlated circumstances. Canadian Entomologist 101: 467–480.
Hart WG, Selhime A, Harlan DP, Ingle SJ, Sanchez RM, Rhode RH, Garcia CA, Caballero J, Garcia RL. 1978. The introduction and establishment of parasites of citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi in Florida (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Entomophaga 23: 361–366.
Nguyen Ru, Brazzel JR, Poucher C. 1983. Population density of the citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), and its parasites in urban Florida in 1979-81. Environmental Entomology 12: 878–884.
Silvestri F. 1927. Contribuzione alla conoscenza degli Aleurodidae (Insecta: Hemiptera) viventi su citrus in Estremo Oriente e dei loro parassiti. Boll. Lab. Zool. Portici. 21: 1–60.
Smith HD, Maltby HL, Jimenez EJ. 1964. Biological control of the citrus blackfly in Mexico. U.S. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1311: 1–30.
Summy KR, Gilstrap FE, Hart WG, Caballero JM, Saenz I. 1983. Biological control of citrus blackfly (Homoptera: Aleyrodide) in Texas. Environmental Entomology 12: 782–796.


text:
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The information we collect in this manner may include IP address, unique device identifier, browser characteristics, device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, information on actions taken, and dates and times of activity. We may link certain data elements we have collected through automated means, such as your browser information, with other information we have obtained about you to let us know, for example, whether you have opened an email we sent to you. We also may use third-party analytics tools that collect information about visitor traffic on our websites or apps.
Your browser may tell you how to be notified when you receive certain types of cookies or how to restrict or disable certain types of cookies. Please note, however, that without cookies you may not be able to use all the features of our websites or apps. Both we and others (such as our advertising networks) may collect personal information about our visitors' online activities, over time and across third-party websites, when using our websites and apps.
How We Use the Personal Information We Collect
We may use information that we collect to:
- Establish and manage your Arthritis Foundation membership.
- Receive and process donations.
- Fulfill requests for volunteer opportunities.
- Coordinate gift memberships, including contacting recipients of gift memberships.
- Communicate with you about fundraising or volunteer opportunities or initiatives and share news and updates with you.
- Distribute and process voluntary surveys seeking feedback for quality and service improvement purposes.
- Communicate about, and administer your participation in, special events, programs, surveys and contests.
- Invite you to participate in programs (e.g., contests, sweepstakes, or promotions) that are sponsored by or co-branded with identified third parties.
- Enable you to post on our blogs and interact with the Arthritis Foundation through social media.
- Operate, evaluate and improve our organization (including developing new products and services; managing our communications; determining the effectiveness of our fundraising, marketing and advertising; analyzing and enhancing our products, services, websites and apps; protecting the security of our networks and information systems; performing accounting, auditing, invoicing and reconciliation activities; and improving and maintaining the quality of our customer service activities).
- Perform data analyses (including market research and analytics, trend analysis and profiling, financial analysis and anonymization of personal information).
- Protect against, identify and prevent fraud and other prohibited or illegal activity, claims and other liabilities.
- Comply with applicable laws and our policies.
We use information collected online through automated means for purposes such as (i) customizing our users' visits to our Sites, (ii) delivering content (including advertising) tailored to our users' interests and the manner in which our users browse our Sites, and (iii) managing our business. We may supplement data we collect through automated means with information about your location to provide you with content that may be of interest to you.
We also use this information to help diagnose technical and service problems, administer our Sites, identify users of our Sites, and gather demographic information about our users. We use clickstream data to determine usage patterns and how we may tailor our websites and apps to better meet the needs of our users.
Please note that our Sites are not designed to respond to "do not track" requests from browsers.
Disclosure of Personal Information
We do not share personal information about you with third parties except as described in this Privacy Notice.
- From time to time, the Arthritis Foundation may make personal information available to other nonprofit and commercial organizations whose services may be of interest to our supporters. Your name and address is only made available to these carefully screened organizations through third-party mailing agents for a limited use. Our agreements with these organizations do not permit them to have continued access to your name and address unless you choose to respond to their initial mailing.
- We share personal information with third parties who perform services on our behalf. These third parties are not authorized by us to use or disclose the information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements.
- We also may disclose information about you (i) if we are required to do so by law, regulation or legal process (such as a court order or subpoena), (ii) in response to requests by government agencies, such as law enforcement authorities, or (iii) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity.
- We reserve the right to transfer any information we have about you in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our organization or assets to a third party (including in the event of a reorganization, dissolution or liquidation).
Interest-Based Advertising
We may collect information on our Sites about your online activities for use in providing you with advertising about Arthritis Foundation events, activities and fundraising efforts tailored to your individual interests.
You may see certain ads on other websites because we participate in advertising networks. Ad networks allow us to target our messaging to users through demographic, interest-based and contextual means. These networks track your online activities over time by collecting information through automated means. The networks use this information to show you advertisements that may be tailored to your individual interests. The information our ad networks may collect includes information about your visits to websites that participate in the relevant advertising networks, such as the pages or advertisements you view and the actions you take on the websites. This data collection takes place both on our websites and on third-party websites that participate in the ad networks. This process also helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts. To learn how to opt out of this ad network interest-based advertising, see the section How to Contact Us below.
The Arthritis Foundation follows the online Privacy Guidelines and the Guidelines on Ethical Business Practice of The Direct Marketing Association (DMA). For more information on these guidelines, visit the DMA at http://the-dma.org.
How We Secure Your Data
We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information you provide against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized access, disclosure or use. Although we have measures in place reasonably designed to protect against unauthorized access, the safety and security of your information also depends on you. We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the Sites and to refrain from providing any of the information necessary to access your membership to any other person.
Your Choices About How We Use and Share Your Information
You can opt out from receiving communications from us for promotional or fundraising purposes or limit the types of promotional or fundraising communications we send by visiting our Privacy Preference Form.
You can also opt out from information sharing we conduct with other non-profit organizations for their own promotional or other purposes on our Privacy Preference Form.
In addition, all Arthritis Foundation e-newsletters and direct email communications for promotional or fundraising purposes have easy-to-follow unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each communication.
Children Online
Information Collected
The Arthritis Foundation produces a website section that is intended for use by children, including those under the age of 13 years. Protecting the privacy of children is especially important, and for this reason we have adopted certain policies and procedures. We do not collect any more personal information than reasonably necessary to enable children to participate in the activities we offer at our website.
As described in this Privacy Notice, we directly collect personally identifiable information from a child when a user submits a form through our website. This information may include the child's name, age, and gender. We also request a name, email address, mailing address and telephone number of the child's parent or guardian so that we may seek parental permission to post personal stories submitted by the child.
Please note that parents may consent to the above collection and use without necessarily consenting to the disclosure of personal information to third parties.
We do not have any agreements with outside organizations to collect personal information at our site.
Use and Sharing of Information
The information we collect from children is compiled personal stories that may be published only after obtaining parental permission.
We do not share children's personal information with anyone other than those who provide support for the internal operations of the website and our agents (e.g., contractors who provide fulfillment services or technical support to the website).
All third parties with whom we share information have agreed to maintain security and integrity of personal information.
Parental Review
Parents can review the information that we have collected from their children online, prevent the further use or maintenance of such information, or direct the deletion of their children's personal information by calling us at the telephone number provided above, emailing us at the above address and/or writing to us at the above address.
Links to Other Sites
The Sites provide links to other websites where you can find out more about our sponsors or products. The Foundation is not responsible for the information practices or content of such sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy or notice of each third-party site you visit.
How to Contact Us
Questions or Concerns
If or concerns, or would like to contact us for any other reason relating to you have any questions our personal information practices, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or write to:
Arthritis Foundation
c/o Privacy Requests / Marketing Department
1355 Peachtree St NE
6th Floor
Atlanta, GA 30309
Access & Correction
You may update certain personal information by accessing your profile at arthritis.org.
Upon request, we will also provide you with the Contact Information that we maintain about you. The description will be sent via postal mail which we believe is the most secure method of communication. Further, we will respond to requests for updates or changes to your personal information. Contact us by email or in writing at the contact information listed above. To protect your privacy and security, we may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before providing information or making corrections.
California Residents
Users who reside in California and have provided personal information to us may request information about our disclosure of certain categories of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. Such requests must be submitted to us at the following address: Arthritis Foundation, Attn: Privacy Requests / Marketing Department, 1355 Peachtree Street NE, 6th Floor, Atlanta, GA 30309. Within thirty days of receiving such a request, we will provide a list of the categories of personal information disclosed to third parties for third-party direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year, along with the names and addresses of the third parties that received the personal information.
Changes to this Privacy Notice
We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Notice. We encourage you to review our Privacy Notice from time to time.
Effective Date: July 31, 2019.


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Why book with us
- Bringing you the best fares from all airlines
- Expert assistance from booking to departure
- Online destinations for planning your travels
Flight Route | Airline | Trip Type | Travel Dates | Searched | Price From |
Beating all other European airlines, Ryanair retains its number one spot for on-time performance. Together with their expert management and efficient staff, you can relax into your flight, knowing that you'll arrive at your destination on time.
With an average aircraft age of 6.5 years, Ryanair's growing young fleet is engineered to be environmentally friendly. They are said to consume two-thirds less fuel per passenger than some of their competitors!
Ryanair operates daily flights to over 200 airports in 33 countries around the world. A major player in the European market, the airline also expands its routes to North Africa and the Middle East.
Since its first flight taking off in July 1985, Ryanair has expanded into a household name throughout Europe, carrying an average of 129 million passengers to over 200 destinations per year! This Irish low-cost airline is considered an industry leader for its impeccable safety standards and on-time performance.
From its two hub airports in London-Stansted and Dublin, Ryanair operates flights to 33 countries across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Its eco-friendly fleet of 400 Boeing 737s is rated the cleanest and most fuel-efficient among its competitors. So, rest assured, not only are you likely to land at your destination right on time, but you can feel less guilty about the light carbon emissions along the way!
Book Ryanair flights to London, Dublin, Barcelona and other exciting places!
Passengers who have not purchased a Priority & 2 Cabin Bags ticket are only allowed to carry one small bag on board. If you have a second bag under 10kg, this will be tagged as checked luggage, free of charge. The first bag may not exceed 35x20x20 cm, while the second bag's dimensions may not exceed 55x40x20 cm.
If you require 2 cabin bags on board, you'll need to purchase a Priority & 2 Cabin Bags ticket, which not only guarantees you 2 pieces of carry-on luggage, but also priority access on board.
Family Plus ticket holders have a 2x20kg checked baggage allowance, as well as 2 cabin bags.
Flexi Plus ticket holders are permitted 1 checked bag of 20kg, as well as 2 cabin bags.
Priority & 2 Cabin Bags add-ons may be purchased via the Ryanair App up to 30 minutes before flight departure.
Ryanair does not have an airport check-in facility. Passengers are required to check in online. If you do not present your boarding pass at the airport, you will be charged a re-issuing fee.
Online check-in with Ryanair is really simple with their step-by-step guide. Check-in is available from 4 days to 2 hours before departure; if you have a reserved seat you can check in 30 days ahead of time.
If you have 2 flights with Ryanair 15 days apart, you can check in for both flights at the same time.
Alternatively, you can download the Ryanair App and check in from wherever you are.
Travellers can reserve their favourite seats online. Choose between extra legroom seats (from £15), front priority seats (from £13), or standard seats (from £2).
Parents travelling with children are eligible for free reserved seats for up to 4 children, aged between 2 and 12 years old.
The Plus package is a value-for-money option, offering passengers a reserved standard seat, Priority & 2 Cabin Bags pass, as well as one 20kg checked bag.
If you're feeling peckish, Ryanair has a wide range of light meals and refreshments, including beers, wines and spirits. These are all available for purchase on board. Meals can be pre-booked no later than 48 hours before scheduled flight departure. Ryanair does allow passengers to bring their own food on board, except for hot drinks and alcohol.
Passengers may use their own electronic items, like tablets, E-readers, and MP3 players, during the flight.
Ryanair's route network spans the whole of Europe and the UK, including:
• Linz
• Brussels
• Zadar
• Paphos
• Prague
• Copenhagen
• Budapest
• Oslo
• Riga
• Luxembourg City
• Malta
• Basel
• Aberdeen
The airline also flies to multiple cities in Morocco, and Tel Aviv and Eilat in Israel.
IATA code: | FR |
Hub airport: | Dublin Airport |
Loyalty program: | myRyanair |
Inflight magazine: | Runway Retail |
The information on this page is correct as of date of publishing. While every effort is made to keep information as fresh as possible, Travelstart takes no responsibility for any of the information being out of date or incorrectly noted.
Explore our Hotel listings:
Need help with your booking? Contact our expert Travelstart Live agents for guidance and booking assistance.


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Teardrops for murders. Spider webs for prison time. Penal code numbers for crimes committed.
Criminals have long used tattoos as indelible ink on their own bodily rap sheet. And for just as long, police have used them as a way to identify suspects, a distinguishing characteristic to jog a memory or catch the public's eye.
But only rarely does body art play a pivotal role as evidence posited as proof of wrongdoing.
Prosecutors trying to convict former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez in a pair of homicide cases could try to use the one-time football star's tattoos against him: They are seeking the artists who worked on Hernandez, saying they could be witnesses.
Criminal justice experts, however, say it's hard for law enforcement to determine whether someone with a tattoo linked to a kind of crime actually did the deed. As Todd Bettencourt, a tattoo artist in North Attleborough, Massachusetts — the town where Hernandez was living at the time of the killings — said, ''some people just get it because it's cool.''
Much of Hernandez's upper body is covered in tattoos: The open-mouthed face of a lion sits atop his right bicep, ringed by the words ''It's about the fight in you;'' ''1989,'' his birth year, spans the fingers of his left hand and a 10-word phrase favored by his father, ''If it is to be it is up to me,'' runs down his left forearm.
It is Hernandez's right forearm that has piqued the interest of investigators, though they will not specify which design they have focused on.
Hernandez is accused of fatally shooting two men — Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado — and wounding a third in Boston in July 2012. He also is charged in last year's killing of Odin Lloyd, whose body was found near Hernandez's home. And he is being sued by an associate who says Hernandez shot him in the eye in Miami last year.
Photos of Hernandez show he has had five stars and other tattoo work added to his right forearm over the past few years. While many star tattoos have nothing to do with crime, they can sometimes be used to represent killings, said Kevin Waters, a criminal justice professor at Northern Michigan University and former agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
''I would say the cops probably see the stars and know in some circles that a star does represent a kill and want a tattoo artist to come in and see if he (Hernandez) said anything about that,'' Waters said.
Every once in a while, criminal investigators do hit the jackpot. That was the case with Southern California gang member Anthony Garcia, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to 65 years in prison in 2011 after a homicide investigator discovered that Garcia had the scene of an unsolved 2004 murder inked on his chest.
In April, an Indiana judge ordered William Clyde Gibson to grow out his hair to cover a new tattoo — ''Death Row X 3'' — before the twice-convicted murderer went on trial for allegedly killing a third person. That same month in Kansas, Jeffrey Chapman was given permission to wear a turtleneck to cover a tattoo of the word ''murder'' spelled backward on his neck, amid concerns it would prejudice the jury at his upcoming murder trial.
In Hernandez's case, officials said they have received several responses to their plea for information for tattoo artists who worked on him, but they wouldn't elaborate. Boston police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said the artists would be considered witnesses and are not accused of any wrongdoing.
Even if investigators do find the artists who created the tattoos they are interested in, it's not clear they would talk. Artists say clients do often share personal information, but there is a split within the tattoo community about whether there is artist-client confidentiality.
Bettencourt, who said he never worked on Hernandez, said there are no clear rules and, besides, the stars on Hernandez's arm could have been added just as part of a design to make the tattoo work appear fuller.
But Joe Capobianco, a tattoo artist in New Haven, Connecticut, and a judge on the Oxygen Network television show ''Best Ink,'' said there is definitely ''an unwritten code.''
Although he's never been put in such a position — he has a personal policy of not doing gang tattoos or designs that represent crimes — the code is clear.
''One does not ... rat on one's clients,'' he said.
Julio Rodriguez, an artist in Capobianco's shop, agreed.
''The stories I'm told are confidential and told to me in confidence, and that goes for even the cops I tattoo too!'' he said in an email. ''I hear both sides of the coin good and bad.''
Messages seeking comment were left for Hernandez's lawyers. They have said Hernandez looks forward to proving his innocence.
Hernandez has said all his tattoos have personal meaning. The stars on his right forearm surround a tattoo depicting being in God's hands, which he told USA Today in 2009 was meant as a nod to his older brother and late father.
The motto frequently used by his father, ''If it is to be it is up to me,'' holds special meaning, he told WBZ-TV in Boston.
''It's basically saying my life's in my hands, and whatever I want my life to be it's up to me to make it out that way,'' he said.


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Louis Armstrong is, over 40 years after his death, one of the most famous names of 20th Century music. Born in New Orleans in 1901, his distinctive trumpet and vocal styles made an indelible mark on music. His small group recordings for Okeh in the late 20s with his Hot Five and Hot Seven defined jazz as a solo-led music and provided the world with an extensive set of classics. Whilst his work over the next few decades was never as revolutionary, it was just as important. Hit after hit followed and even as late as the 1960s he had UK and US #1s and recorded a James Bond theme.
In 1970, as he approached his 70th birthday, Flying Dutchman Records' Bob Thiele convinced him to make a celebratory album. Friends were gathered for a party on the day 'We Shall Overcome' was recorded and the vocal chorus features Miles Davis, Chico Hamilton and Ornette Coleman and others. The rest of the album found Armstrong, his voice as wondrous as ever, performing typical material alongside unusual choices such as Leon Thomas' 'The Creator Has A Master Plan' and John Lennon's 'Give Peace A Chance'. The fine album was to be his final jazz recording.
By Dean Rudland


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- Made in Italy
- Life-like and sturdy
- Perfect for families!
- Fontanini 59809
8 in stock
Categories: Advent and Christmas, Nativity ScenesTags: warehouse
Add this villager to your nativity scene!
Fontanini collectors have followed the development of the popular 5″ line, adding new pieces to their sets year after year. These unbreakable, polymer figures are hand-painted in Italy and packaged in gift boxes. A fictional story card, depicting the life of the character during the time of Christ's birth, accompanies each 5″ figure. These stories explain how each figure was touched by the arrival of the newborn king and make it possible for families to instill the true meaning of Christmas in their children. Each figure is designed to coordinate with new and existing accessories, village buildings and stables.


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Moscow's 800th birthday party in 1947: Robert Capa captures a poignant moment
Monday, December 31st, 2012Slavic scholar Grisha Freidin is a child of Moscow – he and his family emigrated to the U.S. when he was teenager. So that means he recalls the city's 800th birthday party on September 7, 1947. "I remember playing with the colorful commemorative insignia (few things were colorful then) and hearing my parents, probably in answer to my questions, refer to the celebrations with uncharacteristic ebullience. Clearly it was a major landmark of the post-war years in Stalin's Russia."
The era's most famous war photographer, Robert Capa, was on hand to document the event with John Steinbeck – and add a little nuance to the official party line of a a people looking inexorably forward to a glorious future. Grisha looked up Capa's photos, and has a compelling essay over at his blog, The Noise of Time:
And yet, whatever the restrictions, this war photographer was able to convey the atmosphere of the 1947 Moscow. Indeed, many images are composed to give expression to the wrenching tension between the ordinary folks' desire to cash in a little of that great WWII victory – to ease gently into the long-deferred private life – and the unspoken command shouting at them from every poster: "Attention! To the Glory of the Empire, March!"
Capa's and Steinbeck's work were serialized in The New York Herald Tribune, later published as A Russian Journal, with Photographs by Robert Capa, a book which is still in print. I'm not sure even Steinbeck could top Grisha's observations on the photograph above. From his blog:
The woman facing the camera is wearing a thick shawl and a heavy coat, the other is in a light dress, epitomizing the two sides of the Russian "Indian summer" and, perhaps also, the desire to use hope to trump the cold reality, for "it was a brilliant cold day," as Steinbeck noted in his Journal. Both women are young and beautiful and strikingly dignified. But their faces suggest a more complicated story. The furrowed brow, the lines around the mouth, the alarm in the eyes of the woman facing the camera – what is behind them? And what about her dancing partner? Alone in the frame in a white flowery dress, her hair beautifully arranged, but her gaze is fixed on a point in infinity and her profile is frozen into a classical tragic mask. Her right arm, bare and vulnerable, is gracefully stretched out, and the slight curve of her back is protected by the hand of her partner, apparently, stronger and more practically dressed. The tension is palpable. Were the music to stop at that moment, one of them and perhaps both would hunch over and burst out crying. To make sure your are not imagining all of this emotional dynamite, you check their expressions and posture against the other two female couples in the background: they, too, look tentative, dispirited, and forlorn, though lacking in grace and dignity compared to the couple in the foreground. The out-of-focus smiling faces to the right of the dancers only amplify the grotesque contrast between the intended mood of the festivities and the pain of the city's post-war life. So much sadness fills this instant captured by Capa that it can never be effaced or redeemed.
Read the rest of Grisha's post, which includes a dicussion of Henri Cartier-Bresson's photos of the city a few years later, is here.


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Podium Arm Left
Availability: | On backorder |
Delivery time: | 2-3 weeks |
The Podium Modular Collection is an adaptable seating system that brings modern elegance and luxurious comfort to any space. The Podium features seven core components (Right Arm, Left Arm, Armless, Corner, Ottoman, Left Lounge and Right Lounge) that can be arranged in unlimited configurations to suit any vision or layout. Components can then be easily reconfigured or added later to adapt to your evolving lifestyle. Each component showcases a relaxed silhouette inspired by 1970's Modernism: a low and deep sit created by plush seat and back cushions (filled with eco-friendly synthetic down derived from recycled water bottles), and an attractive, subtly angled, chamfered base. The frames are constructed with kiln-dried 100% FSC®-Certified hardwood in support of responsible forest management.


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Add border punches to any scrapbook page, rubber stamp and paper craft project. The easy alignment feature allows you to create a perfect, continuous border for a personalized touch. Works on any size paper and the oversized lever is easy to depress, making an ideal border punch for all ages.
Mfr: Fiskars FBP2336