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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Interview - Elana Johnson
So as well all know by now Control Issues is due out in Summer 2011, could you give us a little insight on what the book is about?
CI is about a girl who wants to make her own choices, living in a society where that simply isn't done. Oh, and a hawt guy. There's always a cute guy, right? I mean, it is YA.
I love a great story with a hot guy, don't you?!
Which character did you have the most fun writing?
CI is written in first person, so I only wrote one character—Vi—and she's frawesome. At least I think so, but it's not like I'm biased or anything. No…
Anyone who can have a cool nickname like Vi would be super awesome... or frawesome!
What were you doing when you first came up with the idea… if you remember; Were you washing dishes, eating dinner, modeling?
Yes, modeling. ROTFL! Since I do that in my spare time. I'm not entirely sure I remember where I was, but I do know I'd been thinking a lot about choices and what life would be like if my ability to make my own decisions was taken away.
What a thought! I am excited to see how you imagined the world would turn out!
Are you a panster or an outliner?
Pantser in the extreme.
Just like myself!
How long did it take you to finish your first draft?
17 days.
Holy Toledo Batman! Here I thought 5 weeks was good, but 17 days that's insane! You really are a panster! I think you've earned yourself a badge!
How many sets of revisions did you go through?
So many I want to cry (and I have no idea, because I've lost count). That's the life of a pantser – at least one like me. I wrote 90K in 17 days, and proceeded to spend the next 17 MONTHS trying to get it right. Sometimes I really really wish I could outline. It would make cleaning up the word vomit so much easier. Good thing there's a process for each of us!
At least I know I'm not alone in the crazy world of revisions!
What were the emotions you felt after finishing that first draft? Or any draft that you've ever finished? Cry, Laugh, Scream, Hug a rhino?
There's always a huge high when you finish a draft. For me, it's short-lived, because I know I have to go all rhino and go back in there to salvage the book.
I think we have all experienced this feeling!
Are you part of a critique group? Online or in your area?
Both. I have a live group I've been in for over 2 years, and I have an online group that operates on and off based on when we have material to crit. I have betas who read for me on whims, so that's nice too.
Definitely have a team to back you up! That's fantastic!
Do you have any other published pieces, or any other pieces you are currently working on?
Nothing else published, and multiple things I'm working on. I've sent in my second book to my agent and am currently writing another novel. I wish I knew what it was about, so stay tuned for that!
I know we'll be excited to hear about your second book!
How was the querying process for an expert like yourself? Did you send out several?
Several? *rolls with laughter* Several? *laughter turns maniacal*
Ahem, yeah. I sent out "several." Over the course of 8 months. So let's face it, I sent out more than several. About 180 more than several.
The querying process was the longest, horriblest (yes, it's a word), most ledge-worthy activity I've ever done in my life. Basically, it was hell.
But I survived. (That seventh rung down there is d-i-r-t-y.) And you will too.
So basically you're saying it's going to be tough. Got it.
Were you ever discouraged at any point in the writing process?
Um, yeah. See above. I feel like quitting on a near-daily basis, even now.
How did you decide what agencies to send your work to?
Interviews, agent blogs, websites, agent query profiles, information on Publisher's Marketplace, etc. I researched my brains out on each and every agent.
I sent my query to anyone I thought would be a good match. After I had about 20 submissions out there, I did sort of go crazy and query the planet… Yeah, sometimes desperation took me over.
Desperation and craziness paid off it seems!!
What does a day in the life of Elana look like?
Depends on the day/season. It's summer right now, so I pretty much do whatever I want all the time. But really, I get up, go to work, take care of my family, watch copious amounts of reality TV and then end my day with writing. Blogs all get written on the weekend. Books read from 3 – 4 PM or in bed from 11 – midnight.
Oh, and soda. There is always soda.
A girl after my own heart! Reality TV, Blog post written on weekends... and soda, always soda!
What is your favorite weather to write in? Sunshine, snow falling, raining?
Rain. I absolutely hate the feel of rain on my skin, but I love the way it smells and hears. And it's a sad sound, and I sort of have to be in that frame of mind to write in a brainwashing setting. So I love writing in the rain.
Rain and writing is the best mix to a wonderful day!
Do you have a favorite book, or favorites?
Every book I read becomes my new favorite. Just ask my husband. I do the same thing with foods and songs.
I suppose you'd be every authors favorite customer!
Who is your all time favorite character in what I'm sure is a substantial amount of reading you do?
Harry Potter. (Cop-out? Whatev.)
Harry Potter rocks! Cop-out? I think not.
Any advice to aspiring writers?
Work Hard.
Don't Give Up.
Finish Strong.
Pay It Forward.
Best advice a writer/author could give!
Now for random questions... Ready... Set... Go!
Favorite song: (right now) Whattya Want From Me by Adam Lambert
Favorite writing spot: In my blue chair
computer or notepad: Both – paper when the words won't flow, computer when they will
sweet or salty: Both – at the same time. Can you say, "Pretzel M&M's?"
snow or rain: Rain. My car slides off the road in snow.
bicycle or rollerblades: Bicycle. I am balance-challenged.
chick flick or horror: Chick flicks. I cannot stomach horror – I have nightmares. True that.
favorite ice cream: Anything with peanut-butter cups and caramel
What book are you currently reading: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
What's your favorite treat while writing?
It varies (see the whole favorite thing up there *grins*). Sometimes it's Red Vines – the superior Twizzler. Sometimes Sour Patch Kids. Right now, it's Pretzel M&M's, but I've been known to chow down those French fried onion things that are supposed to be a garnish…but you know.
Yum I love your list and garnish or not those rock!
What's your favorite writing book?
Uh…I don't really read non-fiction or anything with real substance. Yeah, I'm that shallow. I've tried reading writing books before, but I just don't find them that interesting. *ducks* The one that helped me the most, and I only read a couple of chapters, is "Stein on Writing" by Sol Stein, so let's go with that one.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that hasn't found them interesting. I think I'll give Stein on Writing a chance though!
Do you have a favorite series?
Okay, I'm not a huge series fan. (Don't throw Coke cans!) I'm usually burnt out after two books, but I will finish a trilogy if I'm really into it. But I have read and will read again, the Harry Potter books.
Woohoo!!! 10+ for Harry Potter!
Do you have another job outside writing?
Yes, I teach elementary school computers (K-6). I'm basically a glorified typing instructor – but it gives me a lot of time to check email and read blogs!
So there you have it! Isn't she great?! So again if you are not following her you must! She is great and always has the best posts!! Have a wonderful Wednesday!!
50 comments:
- Aubrie said...
Great interview! I love Elana. :)
I almost fell off of my chair when I read 17 days! Wow.
This book sounds awesome and I'm buying it when it comes out. - Wed Jun 09, 06:35:00 AM
- Jessica Bell said...
Awesome interview. Thanks both of you! Nice to know a little more nitty gritty about the fab Elana. ;-)
- Wed Jun 09, 06:41:00 AM
- Matthew MacNish said...
Elana is pretty much the very best ever, but you are pretty darn awesome yourself Jen!
Thanks so much you two, what a great interview. - Wed Jun 09, 07:06:00 AM
- Crystal Cook said...
Love it, love it, LOVE it Jen and Elana! You both rock and I love reading about her process. I almost picked up a bag of pretzel M & M's and then put them back the other day! (I'm trying to be good!) but now I'm gonna go get them :)
10+ for Harry Potter!!! - Wed Jun 09, 07:12:00 AM
- Vicki Rocho said...
Great job, both of you!
- Wed Jun 09, 07:24:00 AM
- Bernadine said...
I love these posts. Gives you a better insight into people's lives.
Great interview both of you!!! :) - Wed Jun 09, 07:25:00 AM
- Laura Pauling said...
Great interview! Thanks.
- Wed Jun 09, 07:29:00 AM
- Candyland said...
Starting my day with Elana, my love, is like getting presents for no reason.
- Wed Jun 09, 07:32:00 AM
- JE said...
Frawesome - lol. I love Elana's new words! Freaking awesome, I assume? LOVE. IT.
Thanks for this interview, Jen. It's pretty simple:
I <3 Elana.
I love the advice she gives to other aspiring writers. She's the frawesomesauce. ;-)
~JD - Wed Jun 09, 07:43:00 AM
- Karen Roderick said...
Brilliant interview Jen, it's so invigorating to read about other writers and acknowledge their pain, it gives you the will to carry on xx
- Wed Jun 09, 07:52:00 AM
- Joanne said...
Great interview ladies! Thanks for an insider's view on writing :)
- Wed Jun 09, 08:19:00 AM
- Jaydee Morgan said...
Great interview! Good job to both of you :)
I always find these so inspiring and this one was no exception! - Wed Jun 09, 08:19:00 AM
- Stina said...
I can't wait to get my hands on Control Issues. I fell in love with it when I first saw the query.
Great interview, girls! - Wed Jun 09, 08:38:00 AM
- Creepy Query Girl said...
what an awesome awesome interview! Thanks Elana for sharing a little insight into your life and journey. Great questions Jen! Thanks!
- Wed Jun 09, 08:56:00 AM
- Melissa said...
What an excellent interview, I really like how you mixed the deep questions with some lighter ones at the end. I love her answers - especially how Harry Potter is the best character ever (cmon, we all know it's true.)
The rain. It was raining last night and I could hear it outside my window - it kept me from sleeping because it stimulated my characters ( who then forced me to write ). Writing with the sound of rain is amazing.
My favorite part? The little comments you made after each of her response, I was chuckling like crazy! - Wed Jun 09, 09:16:00 AM
- Tahereh said...
fabulous interview! Elana is all kinds of awesome!!
can't wait for her book :D :D - Wed Jun 09, 09:24:00 AM
- Summer Frey said...
Great interview!
Pretzel M&M's??? I MUST find these! - Wed Jun 09, 09:45:00 AM
- Lola Sharp said...
A fun interview, Jen. Well done. :)
I love me some Elana!
(I'm excited for you, E!)
Can't wait to buy and read CI.
Happy Humpday!
Lola - Wed Jun 09, 09:47:00 AM
- Elana Johnson said...
Thanks, Jen! You are a fabu host -- and thanks everyone! You know how to make a girl feel loved.
<3 <3 <3 - Wed Jun 09, 09:51:00 AM
Great interview!!
LOVE! - Wed Jun 09, 09:55:00 AM
- Jennifer Shirk said...
Dang, I would hope she had to go thru a lot of revisions in a 17 day first draft--otherwise I was REALLY going to be jealous! LOL!
- Wed Jun 09, 10:00:00 AM
- j.leigh.bailey said...
This was great, Jen. Elana is a truly awesome (and entertaining and inspiring, and educating...the list goes on) individual. Thank you, ladies!
- Wed Jun 09, 10:03:00 AM
- Erica Mitchell said...
My jaw literally dropped on 17 days, wow! True pantser and Elana you are super frawesome. This was such a great interview :) I can't wait to read more of your stuff, Ha my verfication word kinda sums you up (missing a vowel or two) suprstr! Loved the interview great questions and great advice/insight.
- Wed Jun 09, 10:10:00 AM
- Theresa Milstein said...
Okay, Elana is officially my writing soul mate. I'm a panster who writes in about five weeks (because I'm not as frawesome) and then spend forever fixing. I should learn from her because until recently, I only queried editors - not agents. And I gave up after 20 or 40 tries. Then the bug to write something new took over.
She worked hard and it's paying off. Congratulations!
I love Elana's blog. - Wed Jun 09, 10:16:00 AM
- PJ Hoover said...
Great interview! And OMG, my current project first draft was 17 days, too! how bizarre is that!
- Wed Jun 09, 10:36:00 AM
- Moll said...
Oh my god. I almost cried when I read about 90k words in 17 days. I think I swallowed my gum. I am six months in and still can't see the finish line!
- Wed Jun 09, 10:51:00 AM
- Patti said...
17 days is crazy fast. Great interview. It always gives me hope when I hear other people sent out a lot of queries before getting picked up.
- Wed Jun 09, 11:21:00 AM
- Unknown said...
Jen, this was a great interview. I don't know what you were worried about! And hugging rhinos? *lol* I need to find a way to hang with you, girl. Something tells me you know how to have fun!
- Wed Jun 09, 12:15:00 PM
- Lindsay said...
Yay. Awesome interview Jen. 17 days! I thought my month writing my first draft was fast. lol. :)
- Wed Jun 09, 01:32:00 PM
- Portia said...
That was an awesome interview. I have to admit, I choked when I read 17 days. Wowser! There's fast and there's Elana fast!!!!
- Wed Jun 09, 01:37:00 PM
- Samantha said...
What a great interview! Helpful, insightful and funny. :) It's great to find other authors who are just getting started or going through the trials and tribulations of the writing world. It's comforting as a wannabe author myself. Thanks!
- Wed Jun 09, 02:02:00 PM
- Stephanie said...
GREAT interview!!! I love learning tidbits about writers!
- Wed Jun 09, 02:23:00 PM
- Shannon said...
Great interview. Elana is the bestest. :)
Elana, I loved "most ledge-worthy activity." *grins* - Wed Jun 09, 02:25:00 PM
- Talli Roland said...
What a great interview - thanks, Jen and Elana! Wow, 180 queries. That's a great reminder not to give up.
I can't wait to read her book! - Wed Jun 09, 02:55:00 PM
- Laura S. said...
Super interview, Jen and Elana! I love the random questions at the end. It's fun learning about other bloggers'/authors' favorite things! :)
- Wed Jun 09, 03:23:00 PM
- Tina Laurel Lee said...
Great interview you two!! That Elana is so refreshingly real! And although she is amazing prolific with the words, she never tell us it is easy. It is so reassuring. I really love that about this interview. And of course her word vomit term
- Wed Jun 09, 03:50:00 PM
- Carolyn V. said...
Jen! Great interview! Elana is amazing and I love that she kept going and can tell us to keep on keeping on!
- Wed Jun 09, 03:55:00 PM
- Jemi Fraser said...
Terrific interview!!
17 days! Wow. I thought NaNo was nuts for me! :)
It's so nice to hear of a successful pantster - it sometimes makes me feel guilty not being an outliner! - Wed Jun 09, 05:10:00 PM
- Leigh Hutchens Burch said...
Elana is the best.
I can't wait to buy her book next year!
Great interview, Jen. It was fun to get to know her better. Now, I'm going to google pretzel m&m's. Why do those exist without me knowing about them? :) - Wed Jun 09, 05:41:00 PM
- Melissa Hurst said...
Awesome interview Jen! I cannot believe Elana wrote her first draft in 17 days! That puts me to shame!
- Wed Jun 09, 07:26:00 PM
- Susan Fields said...
That was an awesome interview - really interesting and fun to read! 180 queries and now she's getting her book published - that makes me feel better. :)
- Wed Jun 09, 07:41:00 PM
- DL Hammons said...
You handled that like a PRO! Excellent job and learning more about Elana is always fun. :)
- Wed Jun 09, 08:36:00 PM
- Sharon K. Mayhew said...
Great interview! I can't believe 17 days to write your first draft. Wow!
- Wed Jun 09, 08:57:00 PM
- Roxane B. Salonen said...
Jen, so this is the first time I visit your blog and you are feature Elana? Wowzers. I'm already impressed. And still, you found time to stop by my humble peace garden today. Thank you kindly. It was great to see a new face there! I'll follow back. Enjoy the journey!
- Wed Jun 09, 09:12:00 PM
- Roxane B. Salonen said...
Oops. Should be, "you feature." Gotta love the evening typos. :)
- Wed Jun 09, 09:13:00 PM
Great interview, Jen and Elana. A typing instructor sounds like such a fabulous job (and hooray for Harry Potter!).
- Wed Jun 09, 09:22:00 PM
- Kimberly Franklin said...
Great interview, girls. I'm really looking forward to reading Elana's book. :)
- Wed Jun 09, 09:46:00 PM
- Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...
So cool to learn more about Elana. She's rocking awesome and Control Issues sounds amazing!! Thanks for hosting her, Jen!
- Wed Jun 09, 11:15:00 PM
- Elana Johnson said...
Thanks, everyone. Trust me 17 was crazy-fast, and I've never done that again. Number one, my husband would KILL me dead. Number two, I'm not nearly as creative anymore. Sad, but true.
- Thu Jun 10, 10:56:00 AM
- TerryLynnJohnson said...
17 days? WOW!
Seriously brilliant interview. - Fri Jun 11, 06:51:00 AM


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Spring Break!!
11:41:00 AMPaulIan and I are taking a small break until sometime in May (2012). We are going to restructure, refocus, and work on some new material in the later part of the month. Look forward to the return of Ask and Clemente, Evil Shero will be doing hockey related humor, Ian will be live blogging from a cat circus (yes a cat circus), and we will be filming Lobster Lobby Season 2 at the end of May. If you have any suggestions, hate mail, or cat related material please contact us on twitter @construxnunchux. Until then dig around our site. We have hundreds of pieces of material - all funny to just Ian and I.
cXnX MgMt
Uncle Phil, you so cray! |

subset: commoncrawl


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VI. APPENDICESThe Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund was established on January 1, 1940 as a separate account in the United States Treasury. The Federal Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, another separate account in the United States Treasury, was established on August 1, 1956. These funds conduct the financial operations of the OASI and DI programs. The Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing the financial operations of these funds. The following paragraphs describe the various components of trust fund income and outgo. Following this description, tables VI.A1 and VI.A2 present the historical operations of the separate trust funds since their inception, and table VI.A3 presents the operations of the combined trust funds during the period when they have co-existed.The primary receipts of these two funds are amounts appropriated under permanent authority on the basis of payroll tax contributions. Federal law requires that all employees who work in OASDI covered employment, and their employers, make payroll tax contributions on their wages. Employees and their employers must also make payroll tax contributions on monthly cash tips if such tips are at least $20. Self-employed persons must make payroll tax contributions on their covered net earnings from self-employment. The Federal Government pays amounts equivalent to the combined employer and employee contributions that would be paid on deemed wage credits attributable to military service performed between 1957 and 2001, if such wage credits were covered wages.Income also includes various reimbursements from the General Fund of the Treasury, such as: (1) the cost of noncontributory wage credits for military service before 1957, and periodic adjustments to previous determinations of this cost; (2) the cost in 1971-82 of deemed wage credits for military service performed after 1956; (3) the cost of benefits to certain uninsured persons who attained age 72 before 1968; (4) the cost of payroll tax credits provided to employees in 1984 and self-employed persons in 1984-89 by Public Law 98-21; (5) the cost in 2009-17 of excluding certain self-employment earnings from SECA taxes under Public Law 110-246; and (6) payroll tax revenue forgone under the provisions of Public Laws 111-147 and 111-312.Beginning in 1984, Federal law subjected up to 50 percent of an individual's or couple's OASDI benefits to Federal income taxation under certain circumstances. Effective for taxable years beginning after 1993, the law increased the maximum percentage from 50 percent to 85 percent. Treasury credits the proceeds from this taxation of up to 50 percent of benefits to the OASI and DI Trust Funds in advance, on an estimated basis, at the beginning of each calendar quarter, with no reimbursement to the general fund for interest costs attributable to the advance transfers.a Treasury makes subsequent adjustments based on the actual amounts shown on annual income tax records. Each of the OASI and DI Trust Funds receives the income taxes paid on the benefits from that trust fund.2Another source of income to the trust funds is interest received on investments held by the trust funds. On a daily basis, Treasury invests trust fund income not required to meet current operating expenses, primarily in interest-bearing obligations of the U.S. Government. These investments include the special public-debt obligations described in the next paragraph. The Social Security Act also authorizes the trust funds to hold obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United States. The act therefore permits the trust funds to hold certain Federally sponsored agency obligations and marketable obligations.3 The trust funds may acquire any of these obligations on original issue at the issue price or by purchase of outstanding obligations at their market price.The Social Security Act authorizes the issuance of special public-debt obligations for purchase exclusively by the trust funds. The act provides that the interest rate for special obligations newly issued in any month is the average market yield, as of the last business day of the prior month, on all of the outstanding marketable U.S. obligations that are due or callable more than 4 years in the future. This rate is rounded to the nearest one-eighth of one percent. Beginning January 1999, in calculating the average market yield rate for this purpose, the Treasury incorporates the yield to the call date when a callable bond's market price is above par.Although the Social Security Act does not authorize the purchase or sale of special issues in the open market, the Treasury may redeem them at any time at par value. In practice, the Treasury redeems special issues prior to maturity only when needed to meet current operating expenses. Given this separation from market-based valuations, changes in market yield rates do not cause fluctuations in principal value. As is true for marketable Treasury securities held by the public, the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government backs all of the investments held by the trust funds.The primary expenditures of the OASI and DI Trust Funds are: (1) OASDI benefit payments, net of any reimbursements from the General Fund of the Treasury for unnegotiated benefit checks; and (2) expenses incurred by the Social Security Administration and the Department of the Treasury in administering the OASDI program and the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to the collection of contributions. Such administrative expenses include expenditures for construction, rental and lease, or purchase of office buildings and related facilities for the Social Security Administration. The Social Security Act prohibits expenditures from the OASI and DI Trust Funds for any purpose not related to the payment of benefits or administrative costs for the OASDI program.The expenditures of the trust funds also include: (1) the costs of vocational rehabilitation services furnished to disabled persons receiving cash benefits because of their disabilities, where such services contributed to their successful rehabilitation; and (2) net costs of the provisions of the Railroad Retirement Act that provide for a system of coordination and financial interchange between the Railroad Retirement program and the Social Security program. Under the financial interchange provisions, the Railroad Retirement program's Social Security Equivalent Benefit Account and the trust funds interchange amounts on an annual basis so that each trust fund is in the same position it would have been had railroad employment always been covered under Social Security.The statements of the operations of the trust funds in this report do not include the net worth of facilities and other fixed capital assets because the value of fixed capital assets is not available in the form of a financial asset redeemable for the payment of benefits or administrative expenditures. As a result of this unavailability, the actuarial status of the trust funds does not take these assets into account.
year 1937e g .6 g$ 8.7 g 3.2
Includes reimbursements from the General Fund of the Treasury to the OASI Trust Fund for: (1) the cost of noncontributory wage credits for military service before 1957; (2) the cost in 1971-82 of deemed wage credits for military service performed after 1956; (3) the cost of benefits to certain uninsured persons who attained age 72 before 1968; (4) the cost of payroll tax credits provided to employees in 1984 and self-employed persons in 1984-89 by Public Law 98-21; (5) the cost in 2009-17 of excluding certain self-employment earnings from SECA taxes under Public Law 110-246; and (6) payroll tax revenue forgone under the provisions of Public Laws 111-147 and 111-312.
Net interest includes net profits or losses on marketable investments. Beginning in 1967, the trust fund pays administrative expenses on an estimated basis, with a final adjustment including interest made in the following fiscal year. Net interest includes the amounts of these interest adjustments. The 1970 report describes the accounting for administrative expenses for years prior to 1967. Beginning in October 1973, figures include relatively small amounts of gifts to the fund. Net interest for 1983-86 reflects payments for interest on amounts owed under the interfund borrowing provisions. During 1983-90, net interest reflects interest reimbursements paid from the trust fund to the general fund on advance tax transfers.
Beginning in 1966, includes payments for vocational rehabilitation services furnished to disabled persons receiving benefits because of their disabilities. Beginning in 1983, net benefit amounts include reimbursements paid from the general fund to the trust fund for unnegotiated benefit checks.
The "Trust fund ratio" column represents assets at the beginning of a year as a percentage of expenditures during the year. The table shows no ratio for 1937 because no assets existed at the beginning of the year. For years 1984-90, assets at the beginning of a year include January advance tax transfers.
Operations prior to 1940 are for the Old-Age Reserve Account established by the original Social Security Act. The 1939 Amendments transferred the assets of the Account to the OASI Trust Fund effective January 1, 1940.
Between -$50 million and $50 million.
Reflects interfund borrowing and subsequent repayment of loans. The OASI Trust Fund borrowed $17.5 billion from the DI and HI Trust Funds in 1982 and repaid the loans in 1985 ($4.4 billion) and 1986 ($13.2 billion).


text:
The Giveaway of the Day
This giveaway is now closed!This mini book is your giveaway of the day for the I Love It All blogaversary celebration. There are just a few left, so if you don't win you might still be able to snag one!
Enter to Win
Comments for this and every giveaway, except Tuesday's blog hop with The Twinery, will remain open until 8pm Saturday, June 23, 2012 when the winners of each day's giveaways will be posted at one time.


text:
Mean and Median
Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff
The arithmetic mean, also called the average, of a series of quantities is obtained by finding the sum of the quantities and dividing it by the number of quantities. In the series 1, 3, 5, 18, 19, 20, 25, the mean or average is 13—in other words, 91 divided by 7.
The median of a series is that point which so divides it that half the quantities are on one side, half on the other. In the above series, the median is 18.
The median often better expresses the common-run, since it is not, as is the mean, affected by an excessively high or low figure. In the series 1, 3, 4, 7, 55, the median of 4 is a truer expression of the common-run than is the mean of 14.
See also:


text:
This is a fun activity which encourages learners to use IT vocabulary to identify common devices, emojis and icons. It includes a link to an on-screen Wordwall activity where they can test what they already know about devices and common computing icons.
Editor's note
Set of two resources PowerPoint Straightforward but very useful introduction to computers for preEntry and Entry 1 students. Ideal to use before playing the accompanying bingo game. Bingo Eight different boards. Call out the name of the part (or write on the class whiteboard for a literacy group). First to complete a line wins (use counters to cover, or laminate and cross off with a dry wipe pen).


text:
Dear Mexican: Why do beaners or gabachos deliberately try to ignore white people and act like they're not there, or when you're walking by, the lady beaners laugh so hard with a repulsive fake laugh that makes you want to just punch them? Not only I have noticed this, but a lot of other people say the same thing. Is it their secret way of saying, "Hey notice me, I can have fun too!" It's just plain, right-out rude, and I wish these gabachos or beaner girls would stop already with that extra-loud fake irritating laughs. Why do you think they do this all the time? Please help!
Too Outraged Near the Ocean
Dear TONTO: You know why the ladies laugh at you? Because you don't know the difference between a beaner and a gabacho. Shit, even Lou Dobbs knows the difference, and he's about as sharp as the edge of a tortilla.
I've recently been told that I am scary — not once but multiple times by different gabachos. The thing is, I've never considered myself intimidating but have found that I need to be very confident in what I say in order to just get people to listen to what I have to say. Maybe a little background will help: I recently received a doctorate in molecular biology, and I was the only Mexican in the program. To date I'm number two to come into the program in the past six years. Anyway, I was a little unsure of myself and always looking for approval from my thesis committee. When I stopped seeking their approval and started to challenge them on everything they said, I started earning their respect. Now when I interact with others in my work place, I'm confident and exacting in my questioning, but somehow this has translated into people being intimidated by me. I have to wonder — is it the brown skin that scares them more? I see others that are no different than me acting the same way and not having this problem. So, my question to you is this: Since you put gabachos in their place on a daily basis by calling them on what they say and hitting them with facts that are hard to argue with, are you considered intimidating by your brethren gabachos in the press room?
El Einstein
Dear Wab: The current batch of gabachos around me? They're my pasty hermanos. The previous bola? Gotta comprar my bio, Orange County: A Personal History, for all the chisme. But basta con Lou Dobbs — err, me. Actually, sí: bastadobbs.com for more info on the campaign to tell CNN that the alternately hilarious/cringe-inducing Latinos in America was a mere quota fulfiller that allows them to justify keeping that lying gas bag on the air. On to usted: I'm not sure que piensas lo que your problem is. You're not alleging discrimination but rather that you think you intimidate others. What's the problem with that? Yes, you're as rare in your field as the truth on Lou Dobbs Tonight, but get over that: You made it. Camina proud. Take the nervousness of colleagues as proof of your chingón-ness, and leave the whining to Dobbs.
Don Hernando de Alvarado Tezozómoc was the grandson of Montezuma and the author of Crónica Mexicayotl. My question is: Are there any living pretenders to the Tenochtitlan throne who can credibly document their ancestry to Montezuma?
Royally Intrigued
Dear Gabacho: None that I know of, and even if there was, they're wrong: The last true, non-conquistador puppet tlatoani of the Aztec empire was Cuauhtémoc, and he left no verifiable descendants. The grand martyr of the Mexica, however, did leave a message to future generations: "¡BASTADOBBS.COM!"
Get all your Mexican fun at myspace.com/ocwab, youtube.com/askamexicano, or send your questions to firstname.lastname@example.com!


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eVideo Kanopy
Tales of The Night
From renowned animator and storyteller Michel Ocelot comes a dazzling and magical new film that is certain to delight children, families and animation fans of all ages. Silhouetted characters set off against exquisitely detailed backgrounds bursting with color and kaleidoscopic patterns, as the film weaves together six exotic fables each unfolding in a unique locale, from Tibet, to medieval Europe, an Aztec kingdom, the African plains, and even the Land of the Dead. In Ocelot's storytelling, history blends with fairytale as viewers are whisked off to enchanted lands full of dragons, werewolves, captive princesses, sorcerers, and enormous talking bees – and each fable ends with its own ironic twist. A **New York Times** Critics' Pick. Special Award Winner at the **Annecy International Animated Film Festival** and Nominated for Golden Berlin Bear at the **Berlin International Film Festival** *"The film is a marvel, and everybody with any affection for animation is duty-bound to see it." - Tim Brayton, **Alternate Ending*** *"Michel Ocelot's ravishing animation and magical storytelling are a delight from start to finish." - **Empire***


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Sunday, August 30, 2015
Monday Making
I like to keep busy.
Knitting these little dishcloths is the perfect little project.
It MOVES with me.
I don't need to keep a pattern nearby.
When I DO try the more difficult knitting projects....
My pattern and notes are SO HARD to keep track of!
I've also been picking lots of vegetables....
and cooking it!
We're all enjoying the fruit of my husband's LABOR!
What are you up to this week?
This is a weekly linky party.
It's always FUN to see what you CREATIVE people are making!
monday making
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Weeks ago, I did a post where I analyzed a work of art that depicted sewing — specifically a woman sewing by a window with a child nearby. I said within that post that I would return to the overall concept in the future, and the art geek in me is so drawn to the process that a return visit to the strategy is coming your way now!
The work now being analyzed: Embroidery: The Artist's Mother
The artist: Georges Seurat
The medium: Conté crayon on Michallet paper
Years Created: 1882-1883
This is supposed to be "tranquil portrait of the artist's mother" with "a serene ambiance of quiet domesticity," but to be honest, I don't quite see it. Of course, art is open to interpretation, but if Seurat intended to create a piece that represented any kind of peaceful or happy sensations, for me, he missed the mark.
But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself! Perhaps we should scale it back and cover the piece's details before we dive into what those pieces mean.
On my earlier post, I mentioned the concept of triangular configuration, meaning a triangle — or pyramid — could be drawn generally around the central figures of the work to bring the viewer's focus to that section. With this drawing, most definitely that concept is employed, but it's in a much different way than what was seen in the painting that was previously analyzed. For that earlier work, there were a number of other elements at play that surrounded the pyramid. For Seruat's work that's now being addressed, just about the whole thing can be fitted into the focal pyramid.
Beyond that factor, the most notable detail of this work is potentially how dark it is. There's very little light in Embroidery — so little, in fact, that there are only a small number of areas that are bright enough to fully be differentiated. Consider what's going on behind the woman sewing, on her left side. The work gets brighter, then darker, as if something is there that changes the light in that area. Maybe it's a bend in the wall because she's working by a hallway, or perhaps it's some kind of drapery that's hanging there. The point is that the viewer can't know why the difference is there. He or she can only note that it is there.
There's a vagueness in that detail, and it's mirrored in the blurred features of the woman herself as she sews by hand in a room that seems to be incredibly dark. In truth, without the visual proving that she's using her hands, the viewer could easily conclude that the woman in the work has fallen asleep while sitting up. There's no indication that her eyes are open, and a person can barely discern the woman's mouth to know what's happening there. Without the image of the actual sewing, the viewer could let his or her imagination run wild to decide she's asleep and drooling, or frowning through a nightmare. The piece simply looks too vague to know from the facial expression alone.
So what we perceive is a woman who is sitting in what can barely be distinguished as a chair, and the only indication to us that she is sewing is we can see the material hanging from her curved hands.
If I put all of that together, I just can't arrive at a peaceful meaning. To me, the darkness shows a sadness that's mirrored in the idea that there's nothing of sincere noteworthiness happening around the woman aside from the sewing. Since that sewing itself is inches below the lightest part of the painting, brightness isn't a logical label to give to that activity either in order to offer a pleasantry to her task — and, by extension, the whole image. To me, this feels more like a rendering of a woman who is almost a drone — thus, her faded features — tending to a task that leaves her so unhappy that she's sitting in darkness and perhaps nearly dozing in her efforts.
This, to me, is not a good representation of sewing! I suppose by applying the description of the work, I can rationalize that it wasn't the artist's intent to create a piece that so drearily portrays the process of sewing. The site even acknowledges a positive comment that's been given to the work, so it could be that I'm the only one who comes to these kinds of conclusions. Still, if I was going to direct someone to an art piece that I feel showcases the mood of sewing, this might not be my choice!


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Most fruit trees are easy to care for: all you need to do is protect them from pests and diseases, prune them once a year, and give them supplementary nutrients once in a while. You can find everything you need to look after yours in the fruit tree sundries range here at.
The first few weeks after planting are the most critical stage in the life of a tree. Fruit trees stakes are essential to a good start, and our fruit tree planting kits comprise of stakes and rubber ties to provide support while the roots take hold.
To further promote the health of your tree root system, we recommend treatment with mycorhizal, a naturally occurring beneficial fungus that helps protect roots from disease and take up plant feed more effectively.
We also stock garden equipment and a selection of pots that will help you get the most from your apple trees, cherry trees, dwarf fruit trees and more. Place your order online today and enjoy the convenience of delivery to your door!


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What is it, exactly? It's so breathlessly new that I'm not entirely certain what it is. But it can't be good. You can certainly learn more if you register for this webcast to take place February 5, produced by Medical Marketing & Media magazine and sponsored by HealthGrades. Here's how they describe the event:
The point at which a patient plans and schedules a visit to their doctor represents a significant window of opportunity for promoting treatment options and maximizing the growth of specific brands. Experts in patient engagement and marketing from the pharmaceutical, agency and media fields discuss pharma's role in priming the pre-visit patient for a more beneficial dialogue with their physician.
Featured speakers:
Jan R. Rutherford, Jr., Senior Vice President, Sponsorship and Advertising, HealthGrades
Robert Palmer, Managing Partner, S&H Digital, Sudler & Hennessey Company"
I'm guessing this is a scheme cooked up by HealthGrades to convince more drug companies to advertise on their site. I just went to the HealthGrades page evaluating me as a doctor, and noticed a banner ad for Concerta. I assume Mr. Rutherford will entice companies to use HealthGrades to prime "pre-visit patients" and encourage them to demand specific brands from their physician. Yes, this is just another version of direct-to-consumer advertising, but the Orwellian language makes it all sound particularly insidious.


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I hesitated when asked to review Unfinished . It wasn't the book description. After all, who wouldn't be intrigued by this:
This is a true story of a woman who experienced such a profound awakening that she could no longer live the same way, the same life she was just one week before. She could no longer ignore the woman who was screaming to be set free from the ties that bind her to a life she no longer desired or recognized. The transformation to become the woman she really wanted to be has propelled her upon the most remarkable self-discovery journey of her life. She sold her home, gave up her career, kissed her children, grandchildren and friend's good bye, got into her vehicle and just drove away…ALONE. Where was she going? 30,000km later she finds herself in the most unlikely place to try to piece her life together, trying to make sense of the constant feeling of being UNFINISHED.
Even Suzanne's bio sounded intriguing:
Suzanne Gravelle is 49 Years old and has 3 children, 2 grandchildren who live in Nova Scotia. At the time this book goes to print she is single and homeless by choice, still travelling, seeking that place of comfort she will eventually call home.
She spent most of her life living in Nova Scotia but her formidable years aged 10-25, were spent living on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She resigned as a Real Estate Agent in Nova Scotia, to embark upon this most incredible journey, driving, exploring Canada and writing this book. To read Suzanne's extended bio, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2011/11/10/suzanne-gravelle-bio/
The Universe, however, has a way of bringing things into our lives just when they are needed. So it was with this book. As I started to read, I could hear Suzanne's voice, as though she were sitting across the kitchen table from me. Her writing flows so naturally you know that she speaks and writes in the same voice. This is a rare thing. Many authors strive for a conversational tone, Suzanne just comes by it naturally. She simply tells you her story, holding nothing back. Her emotions flow freely throughout the pages, whether that emotion is relief, pain, wonder or confusion--or a myriad of others that make their appearance.
As I read, I felt something inside changing, a spiritual uplifting that took away the cloud of confusion that had settled in over the past year. I began to see clearly where I must travel next n m road. No, I won't be hopping in a car and leaving everything behind, that is Ms. Gravelle's journey, not mine. Suzanne's story, however, was a catalyst that allowed my own mind and heart to open up and receive directions from within my own soul. Will this be the experience of every reader? I can't promise that.
What I can promise is that this book will be one readers will want to keep handy and re-read again and again. Much like the beloved stories we heard on our grandparent's knees, it will become a favorite source of comfort. This is an absolute must-read for anyone who has reached a stage in life where they have realized that so much of their lives have been lived for others that they now don't have a clue about how to start living for themselves.
I won't give Unfinished a Rainbow Rating. It impossible for me to put a value on a book that has literally changed my life. My suggestion, however, is to seek out more information about this book and review how others have seen it.
For more information about Unfinished by Suzanne Gravelle, visit http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Suzanne-Gravelledp/192700506X and you can follow her journey on her blog – http://ontourwithsuzanne.blogspot.com.
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Debian Social Contract
Version 1.2 ratified on October 1st, 2022.
Supersedes Version 1.1 ratified on April 26th, 2004, and Version 1.0 ratified on July 5, 1997.
Debian, the producers of the Debian system, have created the Debian Social Contract. The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) part of the contract, initially designed as a set of commitments that we agree to abide by, has been adopted by the free software community as the basis of the Open Source Definition.
Social Contract
with the Free Software Community
Debian will remain 100% free
We provide the guidelines that we use to determine if a work is
in the document entitledThe Debian Free Software Guidelines
. We promise that the Debian system and all its components will be free according to these guidelines. We will support people who create or use both free and non-free works on Debian. We will never make the system require the use of a non-free component. - We will give back to the free software community
When we write new components of the Debian system, we will license them in a manner consistent with the Debian Free Software Guidelines. We will make the best system we can, so that free works will be widely distributed and used. We will communicate things such as bug fixes, improvements and user requests to the
authors of works included in our system. - We will not hide problems
We will keep our entire bug report database open for public view at all times. Reports that people file online will promptly become visible to others.
- Our priorities are our users and free software
We will be guided by the needs of our users and the free software community. We will place their interests first in our priorities. We will support the needs of our users for operation in many different kinds of computing environments. We will not object to non-free works that are intended to be used on Debian systems, or attempt to charge a fee to people who create or use such works. We will allow others to create distributions containing both the Debian system and other works, without any fee from us. In furtherance of these goals, we will provide an integrated system of high-quality materials with no legal restrictions that would prevent such uses of the system.
- Works that do not meet our free software standards
We acknowledge that some of our users require the use of works that do not conform to the Debian Free Software Guidelines. We have created
areas in our archive for these works. The packages in these areas are not part of the Debian system, although they have been configured for use with Debian. We encourage CD manufacturers to read the licenses of the packages in these areas and determine if they can distribute the packages on their CDs. Thus, although non-free works are not a part of Debian, we support their use and provide infrastructure for non-free packages (such as our bug tracking system and mailing lists). The Debian official media may include firmware that is otherwise not part of the Debian system to enable use of Debian with hardware that requires such firmware.non-free
The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG)
Free Redistribution
The license of a Debian component may not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license may not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
Source Code
The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form.
Derived Works
The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
Integrity of The Author's Source Code
The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of
patch files
with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software. (This is a compromise. The Debian group encourages all authors not to restrict any files, source or binary, from being modified.)No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.
No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.
Distribution of License
The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
License Must Not Be Specific to Debian
The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a Debian system. If the program is extracted from Debian and used or distributed without Debian but otherwise within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the Debian system.
License Must Not Contaminate Other Software
The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be free software.
Example Licenses
, andArtistic
licenses are examples of licenses that we considerfree
The concept of stating our social contract with the free
software community
was suggested by Ean Schuessler. This document
was drafted by Bruce Perens, refined by the other Debian developers
during a month-long e-mail conference in June 1997, and then
accepted as the publicly stated policy of the Debian Project.
Bruce Perens later removed the Debian-specific references from the
Debian Free Software Guidelines to create
The Open
Source Definition
Other organizations may derive from and build on this document. Please give credit to the Debian project if you do.


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Product Description
E-Prime 3.0 Single-User License ships with a USB License Key (required; PST-101705), instructions for digital download, and three years of Silver Support (PST-101496).
Permits experiment creation and data analysis on one computer at a time. Up to twenty-five (25) machines within the licensee's lab may be used to collect data simultaneously with the use of E-Run and the Subject Station installation option (included).
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Sorry Maneschevitz, but I see no reason to make matzo balls from a mix — they're pretty simple to make from scratch. I also think that the whole search for the perfect matzo ball recipe is a bit overrated. Matzo (matzah) balls are basically matzo meal mixed with egg, and everything else is simply a matter of taste. Maybe I'm saying this because I haven't tried the world's best matzo ball yet, but until that time comes, I'm happy with my own modest version.
Since there's no chicken in our kitchen, this soup's flavor had to come from something else. I put a bit of hot paprika in my matzo balls, and made a vegetable-intensive soup with Middle Eastern spices to go with them. There's something to be said for matzo balls with a spicy kick.
This matzo-egg ratio, coupled with the oil and water, gives a soft, slightly dense matzo ball. The turmeric adds color, while the other spices add flavor. This batter is a little too liquid to shape into balls with your hands, so I use an ice cream scoop and drop it straight into the boiling water. You could use a regular spoon, but your matzo balls might become free-form creations.
For 12-14 matzo balls:
1 cup matzo meal
5 medium sized eggs
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
pinch hot paprika
pinch black pepper
Lightly beat the eggs, and mix with all the other ingredients. Let sit for a few minutes, so that the matzo meal absorbs the liquid.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Using an ice cream scoop, drop spoonfuls of batter into the water (my scoop holds 3 tablespoons, and I filled it halfway or a little more). Let cook until the balls inflate.
Remove from the boiling water, and serve with the soup, or store.
For the broth (you can use any of the following vegetables, or other vegetables of your choosing; also, some Ashkenazi rabbinic authorities consider cumin to be kitniyot; if yours does, then don't use it in the broth):
1 purple onion
2 carrots
4 garlic cloves
1 zucchini
1/2 bunch of celery (6-8 stalks, depending on the size)
2-3 fennel stalks
bunch of parsley
bay leaves
pinch of cloves
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t hot paprika
black pepper
Chop and fry the onions, carrot, zucchini, celery and fennel in a small amount of oil in a thick-bottomed pot. Add the garlic after the other vegetables, so it won't burn. Cover the vegetables in water (I used the cooking water from my beet salad as a broth), add all the spices except for the parsley, and bring the pot to a boil. When the vegetables are soft, add the parsley, chopped. Turn off the flame.
Ladle the soup into bowls, and add matzo balls.


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Check Out This, "Moms Know a Lot But Grandmas Know Everything" Chic-Styled Honey Dew Gifts Flour Sack Hand Towel, Measuring 27 x 27 Inches, Made of 100% Cotton, Multi-Purpose Kitchen Dish Towel. Our Kitchen Hand Towels are Funny, Cute & All-Purpose Durable Making the Perfect Gift. Made in the USA. Free Shipping On All Orders!
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If you are a THX Certified Video Calibrator and not on this list....Please post your info http://www.lionavtech.com/forum/show...listed-by-Area
Remember that a THX Certified Video Calibrator that is performing a THX Certified Video Calibration will be submitting the calibration results to THX Ltd. for certification and you will be receiving a THX Calibrated Video plaque from the calibrator.
THX Certified Video Calibrators - Listed by Country and State
Stephen Roach at hdtv-calibration.com - Southern Arizona
Lee Gallagher at Advanced Audio Visual - Arizona (Occassional tours of the southwest)
Ray Coronado at SoCal HT Southern California
Vince Mastrosimone at HD Calibrations - So Cal's San Gabriel Valley, Inland Empire and Orange County
David Voncannon at D & E Associates - Southern California
David Abrams at Avical - Based in SoCal but travel throughout US
Chuck Williams at Lion AV - San Francisco and Northern CA
Larry Ligon at Home Theater Calibration - Sonoma County, California
Helmut Kaczmarek at FinalTouch AV - Southern California
Chris Cormeau at Accent Automation - Los Angeles, CA
Zayd Bhimla at Mr Home Theater - Northern California, specifically the greater SF bay area
Chris Long at Veracity AV - Southern CA; Yuma, AZ
Doug Blackburn at db Theatrical - San Francisco East Bay and surrounding areas
Robert Heron at Heron Fidelity - Bay Area, California
G. Alan Brown at Cinema Quest inc. - Denver Metro
Greg Erianne at All High Def LLC - CT, MA, NJ
Stephen Cooper at Digital Video Calibrations - Jacksonville Florida and the surrounding areas
Don McLaughlin at Precision Video Calibrations - Florida
Buzz Schranz at Naples Display Calibration - Southwest Florida and Central Wisconsin
Adam Pelz at Bespoke Cinemas - Georgia, Southeast
Charles Cooper at Cinetune - Greater metropolitan Atlanta Georgia
Scott Britt at Interlaced Productions - North Georgia/Metro Atlanta
Doug Weil at Clearly Resolved - IL, MO, AR, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, NC, ND, OH, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX
Jon Gosling at Classified Concepts - Chicago, IL
Jim Crilly at Empirical A/V - Chicagoland, Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin
Shawn Byrne at Sound Advice HT - Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Eastern North Dakota and Eastern South Dakota.
Gregg Loewen at Lion AV - New England and Eastern Seaboard down to the greater DC area, Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Zygmunt Wojewoda at Perfect Home Theater - MA, RI, NH, VT
Michael Wright at Speedy Techs - Michigan/Northern Ohio
Luke Kampschmidt at HD Purity - Missouri, Kansas
Sam Sanders at Custom Audio Video, LLC. - S.W. Montana
Keith W. Harrison at Total Home Technologies - New Jersey and parts of New York
Ed Johnson at EJ Video Calibration LLC - NY, NJ
Marcus Lebeau at United Radio - Upstate New York & Syracuse
Louie Sumien at Advanced Cinema Calibration - New York Metropolitan area and Long Island
Chad Billheimer at HDTV by Chad B - OH, IN, MI, IL, WV, VA, MD, PA, KY and others during occasional tours
Dave Horoschak at deciBel Productions - Eastern PA, NJ, NY Metro
Jeff Robeson at Optimized Audio and Video Systems, LLC - Pennsylvania (entire state), Maryland, Deleware, Virgina, California
Fred Dietzel at Enhanced Audio & Video - PA
Anthony Lester at Clearpoint ISF - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Surrounding States
Darren Orta at Audio Video Calibrations - Houston/Southeast Texas
Sonny DiFranco at Home Theatre Guru - Austin and Central Texas
Jonathan Law at REAL Audio Video - Utah
Lyle Corbin at Crystal Clear Home Theater - Seattle and Eastside Metropolitan Areas
Tyler Pruitt at Bionic AV - Seattle & Western Washington
David Hutter at Hutter Home Theater - Seattle, Wa
Michael Chen at The Laser Video Experience - Calgary & Edmonton and Central / Southern Alberta, BC, Regina, Winnipeg, GTA, Ottawa, Montreal, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana
Mike Osadciw at Highest Fidelity Calibrations - Ontario (All: South, Central, East, North) through and surrounding Windsor, GTA, Ottawa, Sudbury. Tours: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Newfoundland & Labrador, Yukon & N.W.T., Nunavut
Mark Kaye at AV Fusion - Ottawa, Montreal, GTA
Marius Bleier at b-tronics - British Columbia, Canada
Corey Robb at West Coast Home Theatres - Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Cameron Morrison at Architronics - GTA, Southern & Central Ontario, Halifax NS, Caribbean
Greg Donn at Quantum Vision Calibrations - Greater Toronto Area
Jeff Wolstenholme at EVS - Calgary & Southern Alberta
Craig Ring at Picture Perfection - Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
Holden Breau at Pure Video - Ontario, quebec, new brunswick, nova scotia, pei, newfoundland & labrador
Desmond Chow at Chilli Media - Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen (China)
Peter Smak at Smak Video Tech - Czech Republic / Slovakia
Jonas Heilesen at Hi-Fi Klubben - Denmark, based in Aarhus
Walter Heitz at videosound.fr - Bourges, France - Brussels Belgium
Sylvain Bartoli at video-hc-concept-calibration - France
Thomas Mochalski at mgr international gmbh - Germany
Thomas Riepe at mgr international gmbh - Germany
Mohammed Vasif at Audisee - Coimbatore and surrounding areas
Jonathan David Adair at Home Cinema AV - Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe
Simon Dagostino at Doneo Co, Ltd - Hamrun
Gøran Rønne at AV calibration - Based in Oslo, but will travel on request
Gorm Sorensen at ProCal - Norway
Nam Sik Choi at RealHD - South Korea
Antonio Nuñez at HomeFUTURA - Spain
David Valencia at DIGITAL LUXE - Spain
Chen Chih Wei at WEIAVSHOP - Taiwan
Wichai Pawitwatana at Deco 2000 Co.,Ltd. - Thailand
Dr Julian Scott at DisplayCalibration.co.uk - Midlands & surrounding
Dean Morris at AV Aficionado - London & Surrounding
Ricky Jennings at ChromaPure UK/Kalibrate Limited - South-East & Surrounding (UK)
Mark Hodgkinson at AVForums.com - Northern England (UK)
Steve Withers at Storm Front - South West England (UK)
Mark Cheffins at CalibrateAV - UK


text:
The power of cryptography
In this article, we will focus on a single such breakthrough: efficient secure threshold signatures (TSS).
MPC and the threshold signature scheme (TSS)
Multi-party computation (MPC) is a branch of cryptography that started with the seminal work of Andrew C. Yao, almost 40 years ago. In MPC, a set of parties that do not trust each other try to jointly compute a function over their inputs while keeping those inputs private.
The two main properties of MPC are correctness and privacy:
Correctness: the output produced by an algorithm is correct (as expected).
Privacy: the secret input data that a party holds would not leak to the other parties.
We will use MPC to compute a digital signature in a distributed way. Let's see how the above properties can be applied to signatures. Recall that, for signatures, we have three steps:
Key Generation: the first step is also the most complex. We need to generate a key which will be public and used to verify future signatures. But, we also need to generate an individual secret for each party, which we will call a secret share. In terms of correctness and privacy we say that the function will output the same public key to all parties, and a different secret share for each such that: (1) privacy: no secret shares data is leaked between the parties, and (2) correctness: the public key is a function of the secret shares.
Signing: this step involves a signature generation function. The input of each party will be its secret share, created as output of the previous step (distributed key generation). There is also public input known to all, which is the message to be signed. The output will be a digital signature, and the property of privacy ensures that no leakage of secret shares occurred during the computation.
- Verification: the verification algorithm remains as it is in the classical setting. To be compatible with single key signatures, everyone with knowledge of the public key should be able to verify and validate the signatures. This is exactly what blockchain validating nodes do.
Threshold signature scheme (TSS) is the name we give to this composition of distributed key generation (DKG) and distributed signing a threshold signature scheme.
Combining TSS with blockchains
To explain it in more detail, we start by describing briefly how new addresses are created on the classical blockchain design. Simply put, we can create a new address by generating a private key, and then computing the public key from the private key. Finally, the blockchain address is derived out of the public key.
Now, using TSS, we would have a set of n parties jointly computing the public key, each holding a secret share of the private key (the individual shares are not revealed to the other parties). From the public key, we can derive the address in the same way as in the traditional system, making the blockchain agnostic to how the address is generated. The advantage is that the private key is not a single point of failure anymore because each party holds just one part of it.
The same can be done when signing transactions. In this case, instead of a single party signing with their private key, we run a distributed signature generation between multiple parties. So each party can produce a valid signature as long as enough of them are acting honestly. Again we moved from local computation (single point of failure) to an interactive one.
It is important to mention that the distributed key generation can be done in a way that allows different types of access structures: the general "t out of n" setting will be able to withstand up to t arbitrary failures in private key related operations, without compromising security.
TSS vs. Multisig
Put differently, both multisig and TSS are essentially trying to achieve similar goals, but TSS is using cryptography off-chain, while multisig happens on-chain. However, the blockchain needs a way to encode multisig, which might harm privacy because the access structure (number of signers) is exposed on the blockchain. The cost of a multisig transaction is higher because the information on the different signers also needs to be communicated on the blockchain.
In TSS, the signers' details are folded into a regular looking transaction, reducing cost and maintaining privacy. On the other hand, multisig can be non-interactive, which saves the trouble of running a complex communication layer between the different signers.
TSS vs. Shamir secret sharing scheme
The Shamir secret sharing scheme (SSSS) provides a way to store the private key in a distributed manner such that while the private key is at rest, it is stored in multiple locations. There are two differences between SSSS and TSS:
Key Generation: in SSSS, there is a single party called "the dealer" that is in charge of generating the private key secret shares. It means that at time of Key Generation, the private key is generated at a single location and then distributed by the dealer to the different locations. In TSS, there is no dealer as its role is distributed such that the full private key is never at a single location.
Signing: in SSSS, the parties must reconstruct the full private key in order to sign, which again results in a single point of failure each time a signature is needed. In TSS, the signing is done in a distributed way without ever reconstructing the secret shares.
As we can see, in TSS the private key (which represents the security of the system) is never at a single location throughout its entire lifetime.
Threshold wallets
In a threshold wallet, things are more complex. Although it is possible to generate an HD structure, its generation must be computed in a distributed manner, as another MPC protocol. The parties need to jointly decide on what is the next key to be used. In other words, each party will have a seed phrase of its own. The seed phrases are generated separately and never combined so that one party alone can't derive the private keys from its seed.
TSS-based wallets, also have a nice security feature, which is enabling of private key rotation without changing the corresponding public key and blockchain address. Private key rotation, also known as proactive secret sharing, is yet another MPC protocol that takes the secret shares as input, and outputs a new set of secret shares. The old secret shares can be deleted and the new ones can be used in the same way.
Such a structure adds a time dimension to the security, which means an attacker must be at multiple locations at the same time to attack a threshold wallet. Combining secret shares before rotation and after the rotation will give the attacker no extra power if they want to forge a signature.
A downside of this type of wallet is that the lack of a seed phrase makes it incompatible with single-key wallet systems. So it's important to consider which parties will hold the secret shares.
There are a few possible architectures:
Outsourcing TSS: the user will let "n" servers run the computation on their behalf. Effectively outsourcing the key generation, management and signing to service providers who are not the owners of the assets but provide a security layer in return to some incentive.
Using multiple devices: The user will run the TSS between the devices they own. For example - one party will be some IoT device, another party will be the user mobile, another party their laptop, and so on.
Hybrid: TSS will run such that some parties are controlled by outside service providers and some parties run on user-owned devices.
The first method offloads the heavy TSS computation from the user client side. On the other hand, the service providers can collude (we assume enough of them are not attacked at the same time, but in practice, they might) and steal the assets of the user.
The second method gives the user full control but makes it cumbersome to conduct transactions as you need multiple devices to go online and engage with the TSS computation.
The third option is considered the best of both worlds as it gives the user an easy and fast way to conduct transactions but without compromising on having transactions done without the user authorization.
TSS and smart contracts
On the positive side, existing and new implementations are becoming stronger due to an increase in quality contributions, peer reviews, audits, and algorithmic performance improvements.
Closing thoughts
In this article, we introduced the basics of the threshold signature scheme (TSS), which is a fascinating cryptographic primitive that has the potential to change significantly the way we use blockchain.
Further reading:


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