text:
Giant pitchers silence Angels-in-waiting
Jonathan Sanchez had another solid spring outing and the Giants posted another win, shutting out the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 on Thursday.
With the win, the Giants improved to 17-5 in the spring.
Sanchez gave up just one hit and one walk in six innings. He struck out five.
Four pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout. So while the effort added to the Giants' impressive spring pitching, it must be taken with a grain of salt.
The lineup the Angels ran out against the Giants was devoid of regular starters. Center fielder Peter Bourjos was the only Angels regular in the lineup.
Pablo Sandoval was 2 for 4 with a double, run and RBI. Pat Burrell had a double in three at-bats.
The Giants scored three runs in the fourth inning off Angels starter Dan Haren.
After Andres Torres was hit by a pitch, Torres scored on Sandoval's double. Miguel Tejada singled Sandoval home, and Tejada scored on Burrell's double.


text:
This page is dedicated to collecting abstracts for talks and tutorials on EclipseLink. These abstracts are developed collaboratively by interested speakers and used to propose talks at upcoming conferences. Upcoming and past presentation information is available here.
- 1 General Talks
- 2 JPA Talks
- 3 MOXy Talks
General Talks
Introducing EclipseLink--the Eclipse Persistence Services Project
Full Abstract
The creation of EclipseLink, the Eclipse Persistence Services Project, signals the inauguration of a new generation of Java persistence where all of the dominant persistence standards are implemented and accessible from a single source. EclipseLink is composed of a set of separate runtime components that can be used in both clients and servers, and is the first open source project to offer a full suite of persistence technologies. By supporting all of the popular standards, including object-relational mapping using the Java Persistence API (JPA), object-to-XML mapping through the Java API for XML Binding (JAXB), and loosely bound Service Data Objects (SDO) that bridge the relational and XML worlds, EclipseLink will provide the most comprehensive persistence platform available. Equally compelling is the fact that these technologies are offered with a rich array of feature extensions and high-end performance options.
In this session, attendees will learn what EclipseLink is, the standard technologies it implements, and how these technologies can be used separately or together to meet advanced and diverse application requirements. We will show examples of how to use EclipseLink to map Java objects in object-relational and object-XML contexts, and how it can be used in any runtime environment, including Eclipse RCP, Java SE, Java EE, Spring and Tomcat.
Short Abstract
EclipseLink, the Eclipse Persistence Services Project, provides a comprehensive set of persistence technologies including Java Persistence API (JPA), Java API for XML Binding (JAXB), and Service Data Objects (SDO). This session will introduce EclipseLink, the technologies it implements, and how these technologies can be used in various environments including Eclipse RCP, OSGi, Spring, and Tomcat.
EclipseLink JPA
For over a decade now, Oracle TopLink has delivered a premiere Java persistence solution. With the open sourcing of the complete TopLink product in the Eclipse Persistence Services ('EclipseLink') Project, a new era has begun. EclipseLink delivers a comprehensive set of persistence services addressing relational, XML and non-relational data stores through standard interfaces including JPA, JAXB, SDO and JCA. In this session, we will introduce the EclipseLink project and its various persistence services, with a focus on its object-relational JPA implementation including a demonstration of how it can be used within various Java containers.
Developing with JPA and JAXB
Full Abstract
Two important Java persistence standards that are relevant in modern enterprise applications are the Java Persistence API (JPA), which is part of Java EE, and the Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB), available separately in Java SE 5 and included within Java SE 6. Each of these standards has solved a similar problem that exists in different data domains. JPA offers developers a standard persistence solution for mapping and accessing relational data within a Java object model. JAXB offers them the ability to bind their Java model to XML documents based on XML schema mappings. Both of these solutions enable using Java domain objects to define and maintain business logic. Combining JPA usage with JAXB is an important domain-driven design solution where the mapping to an underlying relational schema and the ability to render the model in XML is very natural for today's service-based development.
This session will demonstrate how these two persistence standards can be combined effectively to leverage a common domain model, while still offering the flexibility necessary to handle diverse data representation requirements. The shared domain model and the flexible mapping solutions eliminate costly transformation logic and embrace the rich domain model where application state and behaviour can be developed and shared across multiple application components and services.
Short Abstract
The Java Persistence API (JPA) offers a standard for mapping and accessing relational data within a Java object model while the Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) offers the ability to bind Java models to XML. This session will demonstrate how these two persistence standards can be combined in a common domain model while offering the flexibility to handle diverse data requirements.
JPA Talks
Eclipse JPA: EclipseLink and Dali
Full Abstract
Eclipse has lived most of its life as an IDE, and most will agree that it has achieved a great deal of success along the way. However, Eclipse is now all grown up and has decided to establish itself in runtime-land as well. Counted in its runtime component arsenal is its Equinox OSGi layer, its Rich Client Platform (RCP) API, and now a full Java Persistence Platform that includes a deluxe Java Persistence API (JPA) implementation. In this talk we will learn how to use the Eclipse JPA runtime layer both inside and outside Eclipse. We will see how the Eclipse Dali tooling assists in developing a JPA application, and also see what configuration metadata might be needed to get the application running. As part of the discussion we will examine the difference between writing applications targeted for a full Java EE 5 container and those built to run in a standalone Java SE environment.
Attendees are not required to have experience with JPA, but having some kind of Java persistence knowledge or object-relational mapping experience will help.
Short Abstract
Although well know for it's Java IDE, the Eclipse Foundation is also the home of a number of runtime frameworks including Equinox (OSGi), Rich Client Platform, and now the Eclipse Persistence Services Project (EclipseLink). In this session attendees will learn how to use the open source Eclipse JPA runtime and the Eclipse Dali project's tooling for building and deploying JPA applications.
Building JPA Applications with EclipseLink and Dali
With the release of Dali JPA Tools 1.0 and the availability of Eclipse JPA from the EclipseLink project, a complete JPA development platform and runtime environment are now available from Eclipse. In this talk we'll learn how to use the Eclipse JPA runtime but also see how the Dali tooling provides a platform for developing portable persistence applications across all compliant JPA providers. We'll look at JPA object-relational mappings and what configuration metadata is needed to get an application up and running. As part of the discussion we'll examine the difference between writing applications targeted for a full Java EE 5 container and those built to run in a standalone Java SE environment and how Dali's integration with the Web Tools Platform supports development for a variety of runtime environments.
TUTORIAL: JPA Development with Dali and EclipseLink
With the release of Dali Java Persistence Tools 1.0 and the availability of Eclipse Java Persistence API (JPA) implementation from the EclipseLink project, a complete JPA development platform and runtime environment are now available from Eclipse. In this tutorial attendees will learn how to productively develop and maintain high performance Java applications leveraging a relational database. Project Dali's JPA tooling included in WTP (Europa) offers an excellent environment for defining and managed the object-relational mappings and additional runtime metadata. This rich development environment coupled with the Eclipse Persistence Services Project (EclipseLink)'s JPA implementation and rich extensions to address performance, scalability, legacy databases, and leverage advanced features of the underlying database gives developers a winning combination.
This tutorial will walk through the development of a sample application illustrating the design-time features of Dali and the runtime capabilities of EclipseLink. Attendees will leave with a fully functioning example they can use to better understand these important technologies.
Developing JPA Applications with NetBeans and EclipseLink
The NetBeans IDE offers developers a productive and feature-rich development environment for developing and maintaining enterprise Java applications and includes support for developing with the Java Persistence API (JPA). The Eclipse Persistence Services Project (EclipseLink) is a comprehensive open-source persistence solution including implementations of the Java Persistence API (JPA), Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB), and Service Data Objects (SDO)--all built on a common core infrastructure. Bringing together a powerful runtime solution with a productive development environment enables developers to rapidly build and maintain their applications and services. This session will introduce developers to standard JPA development techniques and the ability to leverage provider specific extensions as illustrated through demonstrations using NetBeans.
Understanding your JPA provider's solution with respect to mapping, caching, querying, and transaction optimizations in a single node and a cluster is critical to harnessing its full capabilities. The many advanced capabilities of EclipseLink JPA will be discussed giving concrete examples of how these can be applied to address performance, scalability, and flexibility concerns. The ability to build and test EclipseLink JPA solutions in a variety of Java architectures (Java EE, Java SE, Web Containers, and Spring) will also be discussed along with their corresponding usage within the NetBeans environment.
Attendees are not required to have experience with JPA, but some knowledge of Java persistence or experience with object-relational mapping will be beneficial.
MOXy Talks
EclipseLink MOXy: The Power of XML Binding
Full Abstract
The use of XML in Java applications is extensive and continues to grow. It's used everywhere from configuration files, JMS messaging, Web Services, and Ajax applications. Developers are faced with a number of options when dealing with XML in their Java applications. The most important question is whether to work directly with the XML DOM or to use Object-XML Mapping (OXM, a.k.a. XML Binding). Mapping XML to a domain object model simplifies Java development by allowing developers to work with rich objects instead of generic DOM elements. OXM is gaining popularity in the Java community but not all OXM frameworks are equal. When selecting an OXM framework for a project it is important to consider performance, standards compliance, usability and flexibility. In this session attendees will be introduced to OXM and to how these issues are addressed by EclipseLink MOXy, a component of the the Eclipse Java Persistence Platform. EclipseLink provides a rich OXM solution that addresses a wide range of application requirements while also providing the benefit of integration with other EclipseLink persistence capabilities.
Short Abstract
The use of XML in Java applications is extensive and continues to grow. It's used everywhere from configuration files, JMS messaging, Web Services, and Ajax applications. In this session attendees will be introduced EclipseLink MOXy, a component of the Eclipse Java Persistence Platform, that provides a rich, standards based, and high performance XML binding solution.

subset: commoncrawl


text: A major portion of woodworking depends on woodturning. Most wood turners do not pay much attention about this process. Your only concern is the wood turning. Well, there are reasons for such a mindset of wood workers. First of all, to learn the art of wood turning, you need to http://twitdoc.com/9WAI


text:
New to MCBC
What To Expect On Sunday Mornings
Mississauga City Baptist Church is a diverse congregation of about 300 active members coming from some 40 different nations around our globe. Our worship blends both traditional and contemporary expressions. We are intentionally multi-cultural and multi-generational.
When Do I Come?
We begin our Sunday morning services at 9:00am and 11:00am. Parking is located in the back at 3434 Cawthra Road, Mississauga Ontario just south of Burnhamthorpe with access to public transit nearby.
What Do I Bring?
If you have a Bible, bring it! Our Pastors provide Biblically based teaching each Sunday, and bringing your own Bible will help you follow along. Don't have one? That's alright - we also put the passages referred to on our projection screens, as well as provide a limited number of Bibles in the seating area as well.
What Do I Wear?
Dress comfortably. While some attendees do wear their "Sunday best", most folks wear casual and comfortable clothes on Sunday morning. Don't worry about what you wear - just come expecting a great experience!
Where Do I Go Once I'm Inside?
Our sanctuary is located just to the right as you enter the main entrance. Once inside the sanctuary, you may find a seat wherever you feel comfortable.
Where Do My Kids Go?
There is supervised nursery care for babies up to 2 years and a Toddlers' class for 2 to 4 years. Both are on the main floor, to the left of the foyer. Children in JK to Grade 5 will be dismissed after worship to Promiseland, our Children's ministry, and be well cared for in age-appropriate settings. Kindergarten through Grade 4 kids will experience both a small group setting as well as a large group worship and learning experience. Ask any leader in Promiseland for more information! Your kids will be registered and matched up with you at the end of the service.
Middle School Students (Grades 6-8): your student will go to Jr. High, a learning environment designed specifically for kids of that age group.
What About Security?
We take security very seriously. Children: Each child must be registered before entering a Promiseland small group room. Adults: We have a dedicated security team that will respond in the case of emergencies, security or health-related incidents. All of our leaders working with children have completed police checks, as required by the government. We do our best to ensure our environment is safe for you and your family!
Still have questions?
Give our office a call at (905) 275-2189 and we'd be happy to answer any additional questions.


text:
Did your grandparents save everything? Did your aunt give you a savings bond every year for your birthday? What about that cousin who uses an app to transfer money whenever he needs to pay rent to his roommate?
Every generation has unique money habits, but think twice before you roll your eyes! There's some valuable advice to be had.
The Greatest Generation: Thrift
Perhaps you have parents or grandparents who were born between 1901 to 1924 (commonly dubbed the "Greatest Generation"). The most common money habit associated with this generation? Thrift. Many lived through times of hardship and deprivation, and as a result they were careful with their finances, often carefully balancing their checkbooks daily, saving as much as they could, and not buying a new appliance or car if the old one could be fixed.
The money habit you should steal? Frugality! According to a recent survey, 69 percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. You can almost always find ways to cut back on spending, such as your cable or phone data. And put away that extra cash; every little bit adds up, and it can give you that extra peace of mind that comes with knowing you have emergency savings stashed away.
Baby Boomers: Plan for Retirement
Granted, baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) are probably thinking harder about retirement right now than younger generations. But they're planning ahead! Eighty percent of eligible baby boomers contribute to their workplace retirement plans, like 401(k)s. Still, many are concerned that they just don't have enough saved.
The money habit takeaway here? Keep saving for retirement! The younger you are, the more time you have to allow your contributions to accrue, which means more income when you retire.
How Much Should You Save for Retirement?
Generation X: Do Your Research
Generation X (the generation born between 1961 and 1981) gets a lot of credit for keeping themselves informed on their investment options. They're more likely to do their own research and give themselves more control over their financial decisions.
What money habits can you learn from Gen X? Do your homework! Research different investment options, and make sure you understand everything you can about fees and what your eventual investment goal will be. By keeping yourself informed, you'll be able to take charge of your own financial future!
Millennials: Plastic Isn't Fantastic
Say what you will about millennials (typically those born between 1980 and 2000), but they tend to be much more suspicious of credit card debt than previous generations. A recent study shows that up to 63 percent of millennials don't have a credit card at all.
What's the takeaway from the millennials? Having a credit card is actually an important way to build credit, but be wary of debt! Interest rates on credit cards can be high, so paying off your balance monthly is great step towards building your credit score without getting into financial trouble. When used wisely, credit cards are a great tool, but if you're worried about carrying a balance, stick with a debit card.
Coverage for All Generations
Need a little extra guidance about reaching your goals? Whatever generation you belong to, Farm Bureau can help protect what matters most to you. Talk to your local Farm Bureau agent today to learn about how you can protect your world.


text:
The Orioles will keep six pitchers in their starting rotation through this week, but manager Buck Showalter said that won't continue when play resumes after the until the All-Star break.
Left-hander Zach Britton will start Tuesday against the Rangers on regular rest, allowing left-hander Wei-Yin Chen to get an extra day of rest before starting Wednesday's game in his first outing off the disabled list.
"I guess it is on paper," Showalter said when asked of the six-man rotation. "We're trying to give everybody a little extra rest and we can make some adjustments depending on what we do with our bullpen. We don't want guys to get too far away but not get the benefit. Because of the four days [on All-Star break], it allows us to do whatever we want to do post-break. Everyone will have had [the] rest to put them in the mix."
That allows the rest of pitchers in the the rotation, Miguel Gonzalez (Thursday), Chris Tillman (Friday), Jason Hammel (Saturday) and Scott Feldman (Sunday), to each make their next start with an extra day rest going into the all-star break.
Asked he is considering sending a starter to the minors to pitch to prevent a long layoff, Showater said he is considering it. Last season, the Orioles sent Chris Tillman to make a minor-league start at Double-A Bowie during the break.
"We've talked about it," Showalter said. "It's a possibility. …It depends on what the need of our bullpen is between now and then, whether they can benefit from it and where they slot out in the second half. There are some days and mathematics involved there that you have to keep in mind."
The Orioles have to make a roster move to activate Chen before Wednesday's game. Conceivably, the club could option Britton following his start Tuesday, have him pitch in the minors on schedule Sunday and be eligible to return next Friday when the Orioles open the second half in Texas.
"I know I'm giving the team an opportunity to win whether it's getting in the rotation or the bullpen," said Britton, who said he was told Monday he was going to start Tuesday. "I know I can help the team win, it's just a matter of finding a role and there might not be one unfortunately. I do have one option left and that can kind of be used against you sometimes but it's not something I'm going to try to worry about too much. I'm pitching well I know good things are going to happen."
Showalter said after the break he will evaluate matchups in resetting the rotation for the second half, but added that he'd likely have to revert to a traditional five-man rotation so the bullpen wasn't a man down.
"We have a lot of different ways to go, but after we got through with the New York series, we kind of did pretty well if you look at everybody, not only how they fit against the teams they're pitching against, but also ... getting the benefit of an extra day here and there," Showalter said. "It's not going to be there shortly. It's obvious we're not going to be able to carry six starters in the second half. But we can talk about it for an hour the different factors that figured into it. But when it was all said and done, we thought it was pretty clear cut."
Also of note:
-- Asked to pick his favorite Manny Machado defensive play, Showalter said he hopes it is yet to happen. He said he'd like for it to be when Machado catches the final out to win the World Series.
-- Showalter said the soreness in Steve Pearce's wrists is almost gone and he's expected to resume hitting tomorrow.
-- Right-hander Steve Johnson, on rehab with a left oblique strain, threw 35 pitches from a mound Monday.
Here are tonight's starting lineups:
Nick Markakis RF
Manny Machado 3B
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters C
JJ Hardy SS
Nate McLouth LF
Brian Roberts DH
Alexi Casilla 2B
Scott Feldman RHP
Ian Kinsler 2B
David Murphe LF
Nelson Cruz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
A.J. Pierzynski C
Mitch Moreland 1B
Elvis Andrus SS
Engle Beltre CF
Leonys Martin RF
Derek Holland LHP


text:
URBANA – Widespread drought conditions continue to reduce the 2012 U.S. corn and soybean yield potential. Yields are now expected to be well below trend value, so that this year's production will qualify as "short crops," according to University of Illinois agricultural economist Darrel Good.
"It is widely anticipated that corn and soybean prices will reach a peak early, sometime in a relatively wide window around harvest time, and then decline as the marketing year progresses," Good said. "The anticipated pattern is generally described by the adage that 'short crops have long tails.' At this juncture of the 2012 season, it appears likely that the corn and soybean price pattern will follow a more or less typical short crop price pattern, at least in terms of the timing of the price peak.
"Based on historical patterns, however, the timing of the price peak could range from the current month until after harvest. With an early harvest, a price peak by September seems most likely, assuming that prices go high enough to slow the pace of consumption sufficiently. Prices are probably not yet high enough for either crop to accomplish that objective," Good said.
According to Good, for both corn and soybeans there is considerable risk that the U.S. average yield will be lower than now anticipated. For soybeans, demand is also very strong due to the shortfall in the 2012 South American crop and ongoing large purchases of U.S. soybeans by China.
Good explained that for producers with substantial quantities of 2012 crop corn and soybeans to sell, the window for the best price opportunities may be open for a while, but it is not possible to predict the timing and magnitude of the price peak. A strategy of spreading sales over the next several weeks may be prudent. For producers with little or no crop to sell, the major focus may be on maximizing crop insurance payments.
For those with insurance products that include a harvest (October) price guarantee, Good said there may be concern that the price peak will come and go before October. "In that case, some are considering hedging the insurance payment on their production shortfall by selling futures contracts at prices higher than expected to exist in October," he said. "There are obvious risks with that strategy because prices above the selling price would result in margin payments and foregone income. Those who are considering hedging insurance payments may also want to consider an averaging strategy and/or the use of options to manage the risk."
Good explained more about the logic of this expected price pattern. He said it is based on three tenets. First, prices need to move sharply higher in a relatively short time frame so that consumption becomes unprofitable to some end users and the overall pace of consumption is reduced to be in line with expected supplies. Second, a short crop is expected to be followed by much larger production in the following year as weather conditions return to normal and producers respond to the incentives of high prices. Third, once prices peak and start to move lower, an extended period of declining prices is required to re-build the pace of consumption to the level of subsequent production. The timing and magnitude of the price peak and the speed and magnitude of the subsequent price decline are determined by the magnitude of the production shortfall, the timing of the recognition of the shortfall, the strength of demand for the crops, and the production response (domestic and foreign) in the following year.
"There isn't a universally accepted definition of a short crop, but it is generally defined in terms of a U.S. average yield that falls below trend value by some threshold double-digit percentage," Good said.
For corn, there have been 10 other years since 1970 in which the crop could be classified as short. These include 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2002, and 2011. The price pattern in those years generally followed the expected pattern described earlier but with some exceptions, Good said. In particular, the timing of the price peak varied considerably in those years.
The price peak occurred early in 6 of those years (1970, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1988, and 2002) but ranged in timing from June to November. Prices did not peak in the same month in any 2 of those 6 years. In addition, the price peak occurred in January following the 1993 harvest and in July following the 1995 harvest. For the 1991 and 2011 crops, the price peaked in August before harvest and again later in the marketing year.
For soybeans, 8 previous years might be described as short crop years. These include 1974, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1993, and 2003. Like corn, the timing of the price peak varied in those years. Prices peaked early, ranging from June to November, in 5 years; had a double peak in 1993-94 (July before harvest and June after harvest); peaked in April following the 1976 harvest; and peaked in March following the 2003 harvest.


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* [http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1994/11/newitz.html Bad Subjects: It's Fun...But It Takes Courage: Remembering Frank Capra's America]
* [http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1994/11/newitz.html Bad Subjects: It's Fun...But It Takes Courage: Remembering Frank Capra's America]
* [http://
* [http://dapcentral.org/ Digital Archive Project]
* [http://www.indiecentre.com/index.cfm indiecentre - an independent label information site]
* [http://www.indiecentre.com/index.cfm indiecentre - an independent label information site]
Revision as of 20:50, 11 January 2014
|Common Sense!
|I have always regarded Paine as one of the greatest of all Americans. Never have we had a sounder intelligence in this republic… It was my good fortune to encounter Thomas Paine's works in my boyhood… it was, indeed, a revelation to me to read that great thinker's views on political and theological subjects. Paine educated me then about many matters of which I had never before thought. I remember very vividly the flash of enlightenment that shone from Paine's writings and I recall thinking at that time, 'What a pity these works are not today the schoolbooks for all children!' My interest in Paine was not satisfied by my first reading of his works. I went back to them time and again, just as I have done since my boyhood days..- Thomas Alva Edison
Anyone reading this, Konnichiwa, I'm Mike.......... (feel free to call me such, and leave a message on my talk page)
- 1 About Me
- 1.1 "Mike Nobody" (Bass / Guitar / Vocals / Plunderphonics & Noise / Creator)
- 1.2 Stats
- 1.3 Some Recommend Reading;
- 1.4 Favorite Quotes
- 1.5 Frequent Stops
- 1.6 Aum Mani Padme Hum
- 1.7 If You Build It, They Will Come
- 1.8 Art and Stuff
- 1.9 Patriotism - The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel
- 1.10 Detroit Bloggers and Points of Interest
About Me
|Mike Nobody
|September 15, 1973
|Detroit, Michigan
|Pet Peeves:
|"I don't have pet peeves. I have psychotic f**king hatreds" - George Carlin
|Least favorite foods:
|Eggs, Cheese, Pasta
|Favorite foods:
|French Fries, Curry Chicken, Chicken Chow-Mein
|We Make Zines
|MikeDamnNobody @ Facebook
|Mike Nobody & The Island of Misfit Noise @ Facebook
|Band And Gig
|Mike Damn Nobody @ Blogspot
|Mike Nobody @ Blogspot
|Deviant Art
|Musician Cafe
|Squat The Planet
|Indie On The Move
|Indie Castle
|Big Cartel
"Mike Nobody"
(Bass / Guitar / Vocals / Plunderphonics & Noise / Creator)
"I had not really set out to create a zine. It just sort of happened that way. I was writing & recording some music, and considering how I want to release it. Then, I got to thinking about Compact Discs and how finding CD storage / carrying cases is getting increasingly difficult. No one makes them anymore, just CD wallets...ugh! What are people doing with their jewel cases? It seems like everyone takes better care of their comic books. So, I thought, "Why not package it in a comic book?" From there I gradually stumbled into zineworld. But, I wanted to make mine more like the mail-art packages I had made for my friends as a teenager, a big...weird..."box of stuff." But, everyone likes to browse. So, being able to skim through the pages is still important. I figured that I could glue an envelope to the back and stuff all of the goodies inside there. Is it still a zine? A book? An album? Something else? I don't know. I may continue to experiment with it as I go along. Content-wise there is really is no overall theme; personal stories, comix, activities, found objects, et cetera. It is an odd mix of miscellaneous contents. But, my music can be like that sometimes too. So, it all works out."
- Writer for The Jam Rag (metro Detroit area music paper) 1988-1996
- Guitarist & roommate of "The Impaler", Detroit's vampire poet 1997-1998
- Keyboardist, guitarist, and noisemaker for the noise groups Bionics and Edible Audio 1996-1998
- Friend & roadie for time STEREO label artists like Princess Dragon-mom and Mog Stunt Team (also of Amphetamine Reptile Records)
- Contributor to the "John Tesh is an alien" propaganda of the mid-1990s
- Briefly performed with Wesley Willis, M.S.B.R., Monster Island, Monster Bait, and His Name Is Alive
Some Recommend Reading;
- "Stolen Sharpie Revolution: A DIY Resource for Zines and Zine Culture" by Alex Wrekk.
- "Zines!" (Vol. 1 & 2) by V. Vale
- "Making Stuff & Doing Things: A Collection of DIY Guides To Doing Just About Everything" by Kyle Bravo
- "The Tao of Physics" by Fritjof Capra
- "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig
- "Hardcore Zen" by Brad Warner
- "Myths to Live By" by Joseph Campbell
- "Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist" by Paul Arthur Schilpp
- "Understanding Stupidity" by James F. Welles, Ph.D.
- "The Story of Stupidity" by James F. Welles, Ph.D.
- "Dispatches From the Culture Wars: How the Left Lost Teen Spirit" by Danny Goldberg
- "Wealth and Democracy" by Kevin Phillips
- "The Physics of Star Trek" by [[Lawrence M. Krauss
- "The Ethics of Star Trek by Judith Barad, Ph.D., with Ed Robertson
- "Make It So: Leadership Lessons From 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'" by Wess Roberts, Ph.D. and Bill Ross
- "Boldly Live as You've Never Lived Before: Life Lessons From Star Trek" by Richard Raben and Hiyaguha Cohen
- "The Fourth Turning" by William Strauss and Neil Howe
Favorite Quotes
- "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
- "American civilization? I think that would be a good idea! - Mahatma Gandhi
- "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
- "Rights are not inherent or granted, they are fought for and earned. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free." - Howard Zinn
- "I think technology will save us. And I think our own goodness will save us, basic human decency."..."Money is a terrible thing. Why do people work at jobs in Star Trek? Why does someone become a baker? Because the family is going to starve to death? No. People become bakers because certain people love the smell of things baking and certain people take pride--we all have a little pride--in something. 'Let me give this to you because it's delicious and you will love it, and I made it, and this is my recipe'. All things will be taken care of."~~Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek) "The Last Conversation"
- "The revolution will not be televised. but it WILL be wikified" - Kingturtle
- "There IS such a thing as a free lunch. You just have to offer it." - Kingturtle
- "All this was inspired by the principle - which is quite true in itself - that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes. ... " – Adolf Hitler "Mein Kampf" 1925 (James Murphy translation, page 134)
- Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automatically removes normal barriers to killing others. Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labelled only by a difference of inherited tradition. And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal criticism. Let's now stop being so damned respectful! - Richard Dawkins
- "In your own words....I use the same words as everybody else. In my own words it comes out as, 'Oop vlap lillip FLOOOM!'." - George Carlin
Frequent Stops
Aum Mani Padme Hum
If You Build It, They Will Come
- Transparency - An extensive site, maintained by Ken Sanes, devoted to the critical analysis of media images, including those in television, movies, advertising, politics, and popular culture
Art and Stuff
- "The Kings Are Dead, Long Live The Kings: Andy Kaufman, Bill Hicks, Elvis Presley, and the Unknown Tongues" by Jesse Jarnow
Patriotism - The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel
Detroit Bloggers and Points of Interest
- DetroitYES - Uniting the International Family of Communities surrounding the Straits of Detroit (Visit the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit)


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CW's vampires, gossips, superheroes join Xfinity on demand
Starting Thursday, episodes of CW's "Vampire Diaries," "Gossip Girl," "Supernatural," "Arrow" and other series will be available on demand to Comcast Xfinity customers. A new deal between Comcast and the CW marks the first time the CW has made its shows available on video on demand.
The four most-recent episodes from each CW series, beginning the day after the episode airs on live TV, will be on Xfinity On Demand at no additional charge. They'll be up in standard and high-definition formats.
The CW has been a hold out for its six years of existence, while the other, larger networks have routinely made their primetime shows available on demand.


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Brewed by Anthem Cider
Fruit Cider6.0% ABV
Complex, tart, piney, crisp wine-like aromas/tastes; light, delicate; off-dry finish. Blend of Newtown Pippin and
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Our bold cider makers skillfully blend New Zealand Pears and local apples from the Blue Ridge Mountains to create Bold Rock Pear. This refreshingly delicious pear cider is interestingly complex and superbly drinkable.
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A well balanced hard cider made with freshly pressed apples.


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How to effectively manage metropolitan areas?
These metropolitan areas face a common challenge: effectively coordinating planning, infrastructure development, and service delivery across multiple jurisdictions. This is particularly difficult in developing countries, which often lack the necessary legal, institutional, and governance apparatus to undertake such coordination. The New Urban Agenda issued by the Habitat III conference in 2016 identified
Fortunately, To help spread existing good practice and co-create new solutions, the World Bank has been supporting a community of practice (CoP) on metropolitan governance, or MetroLab, which brings together officials from metropolitan areas in both developing and developed countries for peer-peer knowledge and experience sharing. Since its launch in 2013, MetroLab has held eight meetings in various cities, including Bangkok, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and Seoul.
The most recent meeting took place in Tokyo from January 30 through February 2. Organized by the World Bank's Tokyo Development Learning Center, the Tokyo MetroLab brought together mayors, city planners, and finance officials from nine developing cities. They were joined by experts from the World Bank, New York's Regional Plan Association, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Advancity—Paris' Smart Metropolis Hub.
In this video, Lydia Sackey-Addy, one of the participating officials from Accra, Ghana, as well as the World Bank's Senior Director Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez (@Ede_WBG) and Lead Urban Economist Maria Angelica Sotomayor (@masotomayor) tell us how they are working together to make the Accra metropolitan area more resilient and sustainable for its residents.


text: We each seem to know someone caught on Google's Street View – even I can be found in my driveway on the online map. While its surreal finding a part of real life online for anyone to see, artist Paolo Cirio brings it back to real life again with his series Street Ghosts. Cirio finds images of people in Google Street View and prints life size posters of them. He then wheat pastes each person in the physical location he found them on Street View. Cirio makes a point of mentioning that the wheat pastes were printed and posted without authorization. This underscores that these images of various were acquired without permission to begin with. The series raises questions and concerns in regards to salvaging privacy in an increasing technological and commercial world.


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Air Force Airman Steffanee C. Davis graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Davis is the daughter of Shirley Davis of Lehigh.
She is a 2011 graduate of North Fort Myers High School.


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What happened on January 11, 1993? The first episode of Monday Night Raw aired from the Manhattan Center. Since that inaugural episode, 1,023 episodes of Raw have followed with 87 different WWE Champion title reigns alone. What started as a one-hour show has transformed into a three-hour weekly extravaganza including a tumultuous five-plus year battle with WCW over who would dominate the world of professional wrestling.
For many of us, the debut of Monday Night Raw was really the beginning of a lifelong relationship with professional wrestling. Although Kofi Kingston was a fan of wrestling before Raw first aired, it certainly helped to strengthen his adoration of the business.
What was Kofi doing back then? He was in middle school. It may have been 20 years ago, but Kingston remembers being very excited to hear the news of this new wrestling program on television.
"I used to watch Saturday morning shows all the time," Kingston told SLAM! Wrestling. "I was never able to afford pay-per-views so I was really happy that there was going to be a whole other night of wrestling shows."
But just because the WWE had a new show, it didn't mean Kingston could simply tune in for it.
"I had to fight my parents to stay up late to watch it," he admitted. "They always wanted me to go to sleep early. I rebelled, I stayed up and I got a TV in my room to watch Raw. It was great."
Growing up watching Raw, Kingston saw his share of past champions. But since he has already held the WWE tag team titles as well as the Intercontinental and U.S. titles, which champions of the past 20 years would Kingston like to face in a dream match?
While he wouldn't specify which of his three tag team champion partners he'd like to have in his corner, Kingston had no shortage of words when it came to potential opponents he'd love to face. The top team on his list might surprise you: Road Warriors, or as they were known on Raw, The Legion of Doom.
"They had so much hype," Kingston said. "Every time they came into the ring you just knew someone was going to get beat up. You knew they were going to dominate somebody. They came out with the spiked shoulder pads. I just thought they were so cool to watch. To go up against them would be great. I know they liked to beat people up so maybe it wouldn't be so much fun, but it definitely would be a dream for me."
When it comes to prestigious singles titles, not many compare to the Intercontinental title. While marquee wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and John Cena never claimed the IC belt, you know it's certainly a special honor when you do win this title. For Kingston, his dream match opponent shouldn't surprise too many people: Shawn Michaels.
"In my mind, he's one of the greatest of all time if not THE greatest," Kingston said. "I just think he and I would have a great match. It would be an honor and a pleasure and certainly a dream come true."
With the athleticism of both Kingston and HBK, is there a special type of match he'd like to have with the Hall of Famer?
"If it was one-on-one for one minute or for a half hour, it really doesn't matter to me," he said. "If I was able to get in the ring with Shawn and go toe-to-toe with the greatest of all-time, I'd be happy. It wouldn't even matter what the stipulation was. Any ring time with him would be top-notch and awesome."
While Kingston still has a long way to go before he can duplicate the accolades of the Heartbreak Kid, in just a few weeks he has the chance to knock one of those distinctions off his list: win the 2013 Royal Rumble.


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Pro bike: Christian Vande Velde's Garmin-Chipotle Felt DA
Vande Velde's time trial weapon
After a long career selflessly working for riders like Lance Armstrong, Carlos Sastre and Fränk Schleck, a move to Garmin-Chipotle (then called Slipstream-Chipotle) for this season has given Christian Vande Velde's career a completely new direction. The 32-year-old from Lemont, Illinois was first to cross the line as the boys in argyle won the opening team time trial in this year's Giro d'Italia.
As a result, Vande Velde also wore the first maglia rosa of the race and became the first American to do so since Andy Hampsten. Although he finished the Giro in 52nd place, a strong fifth place in the closing time trial confirmed his metamorphosis from super-domestique to stage race contender.
That valuable experience at the Giro d'Italia – and the confidence of his team – brought Vande Velde to this year's Tour de France as a genuine GC hope. Indeed, Vande Velde put in a brilliant performance in the first time trial and sat within a minute of the maillot jaune through the entire second week, briefly occupying as high as third place overall.
Unfortunately, a crash on the descent of the Cime de la Bonnette-Restefond on stage 16 cost him more than two and a half minutes on the rest of the favourites, effectively seeing an end to his bid for overall victory.
Felt designed the slippery-looking frame using a mix of aerodynamic profiles developed by the US National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, powerful computational fluid dynamics software and good old fashioned wind tunnel time. The result is a shape that Felt naturally claims is one of the fastest around.
The huge aero-section down tube is sculpted to closely hug the front wheel.
The DA bears the usual aero-profile down tube, seat stays and seatpost, and a deep cutout on the seat tube that closely follows the rear wheel. However, Felt also adds a similar cutout to the dropped down tube to help smooth airflow off of the front wheel. Conversely, the top tube is dead-level and relatively slender for minimal frontal area.
Felt's Bayonet steering system is the real departure from the norm though, as the exceptionally deep fork legs blend into an extension that completely shields the head tube. The resultant combination effectively gives the front of the bike an aerodynamic 6:1 aspect ratio and cleverly skirts around the UCI-mandated 3:1dimension for an individual frame member. The 1"-diameter steerer tube keeps things especially narrow up front, too, while an adjustable stem is on hand to accommodate Vande Velde's aggressive position.
Other clever details include a rear brake that is well concealed behind and above the bottom bracket area and well thought-out cable routing. Housings for the rear brake and both derailleurs enter the top of the frame behind the stem – where the air is already turbulent – and then exit as close to their final destination as possible to maintain the frame's clean lines.
Garmin-Chipotle uses Zipp wheels throughout and its time trial machines are fitted with the fastest ones available from the Indianapolis, Indiana-based company. The Sub9 rear disc is claimed to be the first wheel to record positive drag in the wind tunnel while the 1080 front wheel wears an incredibly deep 108mm profile. In keeping with the team's aesthetic theme, even the wheels are decorated in Garmin-Chipotle's trademark argyle. Both wheels are fitted with 20mm-wide Vittoria Crono EVO-CS tubular slicks.
Garmin-Chipotle had Zipp make some special edition argyle decals for its wheels.
Vande Velde's Oval Concepts A911 handlebar setup is also among the most radical around with their innovative JetStream technology. According to Oval, the twin airfoil design reduces drag by 4-6 percent over a single element design and the dropped grips are set very low on each side to keep Vande Velde low even when he's on the brakes. Vande Velde apparently prefers double bend extensions which, along with the rearwardly set elbow pads, are set decidedly narrow to cut through the wind.
The entirely Shimano Dura-Ace groupset (aside from the Oval A900 carbon brake levers) includes a 175mm chainset with 55 and 44-tooth rings for the predominantly flat courses of this year's Tour. An 11-21-tooth cassette is all that's needed for the high speeds expected, and the Shimano theme continues with a pair of SPD-SL pedals.
Complete bicycle specifications
- Frame: Felt DA, 56cm
- Fork: Felt Bayonet
- Headset: 1″ integrated
- Stem: Felt Bayonet integrated adjustable
- Handlebars: Oval Concepts A911 Jetstream Custom Aero Bar with A900 Carbon Double Bend extensions, 38cm (c-c)
- Tape/grips: None
- Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-7800 with SwissStop Yellow King pads
- Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-7800 with SwissStop Yellow King pads
- Brake levers: Oval Concepts A900 Carbon Upgrade levers
- Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace FD-7800
- Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace RD-7800-SS
- Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace bar end SL-BS78
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7800, 11-21T
- Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-7801
- Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace FD-7800, 175mm, 55/44T
- Bottom bracket: Shimano Dura-Ace SM-FC7800
- Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace SPD-SL PD-7810
- Front wheel: Zipp 1080
- Rear wheel: Zipp Sub9 Disc with Powertap hub
- Front tyre: Vittoria Crono Evo-CS tubular, 20mm
- Rear tyre: Vittoria Crono Evo-CS tubular, 20mm
- Saddle: fi:zi'k Chrono
- Seat post: Felt 3.1 Carbon Aero
- Computer: Garmin Edge 705
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 180cm (5′ 11″)
- Rider's weight: 69kg (150lb)
- Seat tube length, c-c: 508mm
- Seat tube length, c-t: 560mm
- Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 789mm
- Tip of saddle nose to C of bars (next to stem): 632mm
- C of front wheel to top of bars (next to stem): 486mm
- Top tube length: 557mm
- Total bicycle weight: 8.15kg (17.97lb)


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Making a difference in the lives of teachers and students every day.
Introducing the newest capabilities in Blackboard Learn 9.1.
The latest release includes a new look and feel that will improve the experience for students, instructors, and administrators.
Click on the video to see an overview of the latest release
of Blackboard Learn™ 9.1
Explore What's New:
All New User Experience
I love the new features in SP8, especially the new look and feel. It is much cleaner
and is really the next step for Blackboard. Great job and thanks for listening to your customers.
Rene J. Aube,
Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick
Making Things Easier For Educators
I really like the new features I have seen in SP8, especially the automatic regrading of tests. This will save a lot of by hand and manual calculations and the instructor can do this without tech support! This will be on our test server ASAP!
I am very excited to try it out and kick the tires.
Amanda Bird,
Ottawa University
Empowering Administrators
I am most looking forward to the GUI updates, such as snapshot and authentication, in SP8. It is just easier than the command line option. I also like the course merge feature. We have a lot of course merges so anything that improves this process will help us. Finally, the improved look and feel will also create more engagement from users.
David Callaghan,
Edge Hill University
Improving Insight Into Education
This data is vital for our institutional efforts to increase student retention rates, increase student outcomes, and become a learning-centered university. It also helps instructors identify 'at risk' students and better understand how all students are interacting with course content and each other."
Carey Smouse,
Jacksonville State University
Increased Commitment to Openness
Upgrade Cohort Program
Designed to Help Plan and Execute Your Upgrade.
The Upgrade Cohort Programs are a free series of virtual meetings designed to help you plan and execute your upgrade with Blackboard Learn™. Whether you are moving from another LMS, like CE/Vista or ANGEL, or just looking to install the latest Service Pack, we have a program designed specifically for you.
90% of participants feel better prepared for their upgrade as a direct result of the Upgrade Cohort Program.
Each week of your program, we focus on a different upgrade planning topic, presented by Blackboard experts or your peers, to help guide you through the process.
Through your participation, you will have the opportunity to:
- Access exclusive resources, Blackboard engineers and guided step-by-step support at each stage of the upgrade planning path.
- Network with peers moving along a similar path.
- Hear stories and best practices from other institutions that have already upgraded.
Join a cohort todayNot on Learn 9.1?
Register Today > Already on Learn 9.1?
Register Today >
As you make your plans and consider the options, take advantage of the free tools and resources made available to help you through the upgrade steps.
Blackboard Learn 9.1 Webinars
Attend a webinar and learn about the newest functionality offered in Release 9.1. Choose the webinar specific to your role and hear what Release 9.1 has to offer you.View a schedule of webinars > Watch a pre-recorded webinar >
Upgrade Center
This website offers a comprehensive combination of tools and resources to ease the change management process and facilitate adoption. You'll find documentation, webinars, preview tools, free tutorials and more, all customized and organized by license type and hosting scenario.Visit this site >
Upgrade Readiness Tool
Assess your institution's readiness to move to Blackboard Learn 9.1. Follow the Upgrade Readiness Tool's 3 easy steps to get a Release 9.1 upgrade time estimate, activities checklist and recommended resources.Visit this site >


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Attorneys hope to use investigation to discredit Dominic Fornal as a witness
At the accident scene that cost him his job, former Deputy Dominic Fornal allegedly poured a bottle of liquor into a woman's purse and then dumped the remainder of the bottle onto the floorboards of her van.
Minutes later, Fornal allegedly described one of his coworkers, Deputy James Kathman, as a "dumb ass" to a state trooper.
Confronted with these and other allegations contained in an internal affairs investigation, Fornal opted to resign Wednesday from the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office rather than answer to the charges.
"I hereby resign effective immediately for personal reasons," he wrote in his one-sentence resignation letter to Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight.
The internal affairs report, only partially completed since Fornal was never interviewed about some of the allegations, is now being scrutinized by defense attorneys who are scrambling to use it to discredit Fornal if the State Attorney's Office calls him as a civilian witness.
Fornal was an active deputy who left dozens of open cases, including many DUI arrests. No one yet knows exactly how many of those pending cases may be affected by his sudden departure.
"Unfortunately we do not have a way to track that information," Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Wendy Rose said in an email.
The State Attorney's Office is scrambling a bit, too.
"We are examining every case he's involved in — pending cases — and deciding how to proceed on each one," said Chief Assistant State Attorney Craig Schaeffer.
Prosecutors are showing no signs of offering any deals in cases involving Fornal.
They sent out at least one Motion in Limine Friday — a legal maneuver that asks the court to bar defense attorneys from raising Fornal's past stops or from introducing newspaper accounts of his activities. While the motions for Fornal have been somewhat formulaic, the new version seeks to bar attorneys from mentioning "former officers."
There are a number of incidents prosecutors will likely seek to bar from jurors.
Fornal said he stopped a car last May because he could smell raw marijuana coming from a vehicle while following it at 35 mph with his windows rolled up. No raw marijuana was ever found.
Another driver, whom Fornal stopped for speeding last July, performed near-perfect field sobriety tests. A video showed him displaying good balance and speaking in a clear voice with perfect diction. Despite that, Fornal arrested him on DUI charges. Fornal said in his report that the driver spoke with a "slurred, thick-tongued speech" and that he was swaying back and forth.
Fornal began working in the sheriff's corrections department in 2007 and transferred to patrol in 2009.
He was praised in some of his early performance evaluations.
Recent reviews, however, indicated he had "shown a lack of utilizing good, sound decision making skills."
One of his last supervisors was given unsolicited reports from other deputies that Fornal "escalates possible confrontational and hostile situations instead of using sound judgment and professionalism to de-escalate the situation."
The Public Defender's office has more than two dozen cases still active that involve the former deputy. Private law firms have his cases, too.
Sarasota defense attorney Brandon Daniels has four open cases stemming from Fornal's arrests.
Daniels, himself a former police officer, questions Fornal's motives if he now takes the stand as a witness.
"If he testifies as an unpaid civilian — especially after all these allegations of conduct unbecoming — it goes to show further bias," Daniels said. "What incentive does he have for testifying other than further persecuting these people he arrested, or possibly falsely arrested."
Attorney AnneMarie Rizzo estimates her firm has more than a dozen cases involving Fornal. She hopes the State Attorney's Office makes an offer to settle them without forcing the defendants to go to trial, and putting Fornal on the witness stand.
"If they do that, we should be allowed to cross examine him on his credibility," she said. "The state should not use motions to prevent this information from reaching the jury."


text:
Chesterton Tribune
Chicago parking meters to charge $6.50 an hour
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago soon will have the most expensive downtown parking
meters in the nation.
On New Year's Day, meters in the city's downtown Loop area will charge $6.50
an hour — an increase from the current rate of $5.75.
A report from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says the
rate change will make Chicago the city with the most expensive metered
The company that operates the meters plans to have all machines set to new
rates by the end of February. Drivers don't have to pay the new rates until
the machine they're using has been reset.
Former Mayor Richard Daley got the City Council to approve the 75-year
contract that gave the company control of the meters. In return, the city
got a one-time payment of $1.1 billion.


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text:
By ZenWind
I wrote this a while back for people requesting to know how to rig and trim their kites for maximum performance. I decided to post it here because I have been reading posts where people seem to be depending on manufacturer's knot settings to determine whether they are getting the most out of their kites or not. It is good thing to have the basic starting point information as far as which knots to attach your flying lines to, and thank you to the manufacturers for that, but kiters should really understand how to rig and trim their kites for optimum performance. Below is Kite Rigging & Trimming For Maximum Performance. I hope it helps.
Disclaimer: All that is written here is based on my experience kiting for many years, and I am only suggesting alternative methods of rigging and trimming your kite. You need to decide whether they are safe for your circumstances, ability, and conditions. If you use these methods you are taking total responsibility for your actions. Kiteboarding can be very dangerous and can cause injury or death to you or a bystander, so don't try any of these techniques unless you take full responsibility for your actions and are doing it willfully knowing the risks involved of injury and death. The best approach is to take lessons from a qualified instructor, and keep 300 feet or more distance away from any object including other people or hard objects. All that said have fun kiteboarding responsibly.
Changing the knot positions at the kite or the bar is not magic for whatever kite brand you have or mysterious. Whether you are changing knot positions at the kite pigtails (front or rear) or you change knot positions at the bar, bottom-line is all you are doing is making the front or rear lines longer or shorter. You are changing the ability to power up and depower the kite within the movement of the bar up and down the chicken loop line. You are changing your ability to move the angle of attack (AOA) of the kite, which simply means tilting the kite forward (Leading Edge down), or tilting it back (LE up). Most people are aware of this but somehow they don't always make the connection in how to determine what the optimal AOA is for the particular kite they are flying and the wind conditions present. Some just go by the knot position given to them by the manufacturer not realizing that you can find out what the optimal performance is from any kite you fly, and what the correct trim should be when flying it. There is also the variable of bar position; meaning how far away from your body do you like to have the bar when you are riding? Some like it close and some like it far away, so from the factory the setting may not be correct for your style or preference. Below is an explanation of how to rig and find the limits of performance for your particular kite.
First off if the wind is strong and you are rigging a new kite to fly for the first time it is better to error on the side of allowing yourself to have too much depowering ability and not enough powering up ability. It is actually better to tune your kite correctly, but it can take a couple of runs on the water to determine what corrections you need to make to rig your kite correctly, so if the wind is strong you do want the ability to depower the kite to its full potential.
OK so how do you error on making sure you will have enough depowering? Basically to depower the kite it has to tilt forward a little, nose down. How would you increase ability for it to depower? You would either make your front lines shorter, or make your back lines longer. Either one will accomplish the task of tilting the kite forward more. In case you don't know the front lines are the lines attached to the chicken loop and are also attached to the front leading edge pigtails on the kite, and the rear lines are attached to the ends of the bar and attach to the rear trailing edge pigtails on the kite.
How do you depower the kite more when rigging your kite? So the idea is to tilt the kite forward right? OK so how would you do that only using the front lines? You would either attach your front flying lines using a knot closer to the kite on the front pigtails, (if your particular kite has that option), or you will need to shorten your front lines where they attach at the bar (if your particular brand has that option), or do both if you really need to make that much adjustment. If you do not have the option to shorten the front lines enough by making these adjustments you will have to lengthen the rear lines. You can lengthen the rear lines at the kite by choosing to attach your rear lines to a knot on the rear pigtail further away from the kite, or by reattaching your rear lines where they attach to the rear leader lines. There are usually a few knots made in the leader lines where the rear lines attach for the purpose of adjustment. To depower the kite more by making the rear lines longer you would want to choose a knot on the leader lines further away from the bar, thus lengthening the rear lines.
To gain more ability to power up the kite you need to do just the opposite of what was discussed above. You need to either lengthen your front lines or shorten the rear lines, or do both if you need that much change. You can also tie a knot closer to the kite on the rear pigtails of the kite so you can attach your rear lines closer to the kite, thus shortening the rear lines.
So all that adjustment technique said, how do you know when a kite is trimmed correctly? Well you have to fly it and see how it reacts to both extremes of completely depowered and completely powered up for the wind conditions present. You need to find what the kite's ability or limits are to depower and power up. There are limits to both extremes for each kite, so you basically need to go past the extreme edge of its ability to power up, and past the extreme edge of depowering so you know where the limits are.
How do you find the limit of a kite's ability to depower? Judging a kite's limit to depower is often times easier than judging its limit to power up. It all depends on the kite. To find a kite's limit to depower do this. First you do need to be able to achieve a state where the rear lines can go extremely slack when you let the bar out to depower the kite by an arms length with the adjusting strap pulled all the way in to full depowered. The rear lines need to be able to go very slack so that you see a big bow in the rear lines as the wind hits them, and you loose quite a bit of steering input. The rear lines should be so slack that it will take a great deal of bar movement in order for you to even initiate a slight turn with the kite. If you can't achieve this level of rear line slack then put the kite down and re-rig the kite with shorter front lines and/or longer rear lines.
Before launching the kite don't fully depower it or you will have trouble steering the kite. Now put your kite in the air and fly it statically at about a 45-degree angle to the ground. Pull in on your depowering strap to depower the kite once in the air. Pull it in enough so that when you let out the bar all the way the rear lines will go so slack that you can almost not steer the kite anymore. To keep control of your kite pull in on the bar when trying to steer it so that you still have some steering input. Now get a feel for where the maximum useable depowered state of your kite is by slowly letting the bar out further and further, and steering the kite up and down a bit. The maximum useable depowered state of your kite is when your kite is almost fully depowered, but you still retain enough steering input to control the kite and ride comfortably in control. Even though the kite can depower past this point, it isn't very useful unless you decide to ride in a straight line fully depowered (sheeted out) with the bar all the way out, and then pull the bar all the way in to turn the kite. This approach can be used if you want the ability to let go of the bar in an emergency and not have the kite pull you very hard, even if it flies through the wind window. If you decide you want that ability then a very long chicken loop line throw is recommended, so that you can still steer the kite OK once the bar is pulled in towards your body. Keep in mind you always want to allow yourself some level of depower-ability. If you understand where the depower limit is of your particular kite and size, then you will need to change to a smaller kite size if you have no more room to depower the kite for the conditions present.
Ok how do you find the limit of how powered up your kite can be? This is done on the water while riding the board. The first step though is to rig your kite correctly so you can achieve maximum power.
Keep in mind that most all kites are designed to achieve maximum power when the front and rear lines are even, or when the front lines are about 1-3 inches longer than the rear lines. You want to be able to achieve full power when the bar is in the position away from your body that you normally like to ride in. So if you normally like the to ride with the bar 6 inches away from your body, look at what distance the chicken loop is away from the bar when you hold the bar away from your body while hooked in. You may like the bar 6 inches away from your body, but that can equate to the chicken loop only being 3 inches away from touching the bar. So hook into the chicken loop, put the bar where you like to normally ride with it away from your body, and you look down and see what distance the chicken loop is away from touching the bar while there is tension on the lines. For this example lets say that the chicken loop is 3 inches away from the bar. You need to make whatever changes necessary for your lines to be even when the chicken loop is 3 inches away from the bar, with the adjusting strap all the way out fully powered up. If you find your kite achieves full power with the front lines 1-3 inches longer than the rear lines, then make the front lines longer by that much when the chicken loop is 3 inches away from touching the bar. This setup will get you in the ballpark.
So you now have the kite rigged in the ballpark of being able to fully power it up. Once you are out on the water you are going to play with powering your kite up too much by pulling the bar all the way in towards your body, and then letting it out a bit to depower it. You will be trying to get a feel for where maximum power is for the wind conditions at hand. The wind conditions are important because it will be a little different in light wind as opposed to medium to high wind. You are going to want to let the adjusting strap all the way out, fully powered up for this exercise, but make sure you are within your limits. Don't attempt this in high winds especially if you are inexperienced.
You will be able to tell when a kite it too powered up by a couple of indicators. Once is that some kites are sensitive to stalling. If you give them too much power for the wind present they will actually slow way down and almost stall out. These types of kites are pretty easy to find where their limit is because they stall if powered up too much, so you depower the kite until it doesn't stall or lose too much speed. That will be your maximum powered up state for those kites. A lot of newer kites are designed not to stall even with a lot of rear line tension, or being over powered up (sheeted in). With these kites there will be a balance point between kite speed, and wind speed. A kite usually develops more power as it goes faster through the wind window (apparent wind). If the kite slows down through the wind window it looses power. Depending on wind speed there is a balance between how much you can power up the kite (sheet in) and how much that powering up slows down the kite. At a given kite speed or wind speed there will be a point where you can pull in and power up the kite more, but it makes no change in the power of the kite. At this point you are right at the limit of how much you can usably power up the kite. If you continue to power the kite up even further you will experience the kite actually slowing and loosing power. So play with this powering up the kite past the point of usability and then depowering it slowly until you gain a sense of where the limit is for the conditions present.
If you follow these suggestions for rigging your kite and finding the limits of how much you can power your kite up (sheet it in) and how much you can depower it (sheet it out) you will be a better kiter for it, and you will no longer need to depend on manufacturer's suggested knot settings to determine whether your kite is trimmed for maximum performance or not. You will not wonder if you are getting all the performance out of the kite, you will know it.
Short list on how to tune your kite as requested
Knot position on the kite pigtails, or at the bar and lines do nothing more than adjust your flying lines to make them longer or shorter.
To find the limit of your kite's depowering ability, depower the kite until the rear lines are so slack that you loose almost all your steering ability. Then power the kite up just enough to gain an acceptable level of steering input to ride with. You have just found your kite's usable depowering ability.
To find the limit of your kite's ability to power up adjust your lines so that you can over power up the kite (over sheet in). This equates to longer front lines and or shorter rear lines. Over power up the kite while riding until the kite stalls or looses enough forward speed so that you actually loose power. Now depower the kite a little until you gain maximum power back. You have just found the power up limit to your kite.
Adjust your lines (front and rear) to be able to achieve both your usable powered up and depowering limits. Remember you always have the use of your adjusting strap to depower the kite more if the throw on your chicken loop line is too short to hit both power and depower limits, so adjust your lines with that in mind.
Make your line adjustments so that you can ride with the bar in the position you like away from your body and still be able to power up and depower the kite.


text: would creating a cron job for each of the nodes to where only one is workign on the files on the head node? On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 2:11 AM, <madskaddie at gmail.com> wrote: > Greetings, > > > I relatively new to cluster environments and I was given a small > (7nodes+1head) cluster to admin. So far I only had to maintain what > was already installed so few problems to solve (and to think on). But > new (diferent: amd opteron vs intel xeon) machines came and I have to > expand the cluster (think and solve problems). The (old) cluster is > semi-diskless (all machines do have disks but they boot from a single > image on a central server) with nfs for filesystem sharing. The main > problems I had were: > * if the /var filesystem is shared, race conditions happen (all nodes > want to write on the same files). I had this problem and moved to a > local /var filesystem. > * if /var is local (which it may because the disks do exist), the > whole point of central point for easy admin vanishes, because I would > had to create all the /var structure that packages need to work, on > each node (would be easier to do: "for $node; ssh $install_cmd; done", > than guessing which dirs I need to create or files to copy). > * if /var is tmpfs all forensics are certainly gone after failure > (Murphy told me this one ;). > > Everything I read on the subject do underline the advantages of > diskless approaches but miss to alert to this problem and/or to solve > it. On the other side, the distributed approach tools (where every > node is autonomous) seem to be halted (as systemimager - which is used > in the Oscar project) or discontinued, or truly overblown for my > reference scale (IBM's xCat); so it really seems that I'm missing > something. > > The question is what you do about this ? > > Gil Brandao > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin Computing > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > -- Jonathan Aquilina -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://www.beowulf.org/pipermail/beowulf/attachments/20090828/bfce5552/attachment.html>


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text:
Salman faces 10 years in jail for hit-and-run
A Mumbai court today framed charges against Bollywood actor Salman Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case, charging him with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and setting the stage for start of trial in the case.bollywood Updated: Jul 25, 2013 01:17 IST
A sessions court in Mumbai on Wednesday framed charges against Bollywood actor Salman Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case, charging him with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and setting the stage for start of trial in the highly-publicised case.
If convicted, the actor faces jail term of upto ten years.
The actor has been charged under sections Section 304(2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 279 (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by an act), 338 (causing grievous hurt), 427 (causing damage or mischief to property) of IPC, and provisions of Motor Vehicles Act and Bombay Prohibition Act.
Abha Singh, a lawyer involved in the case, said the court on Wednesday also charged Khan with negligent driving.
Khan pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Clad in a grey shirt and black trousers, Salman appeared before sessions judge UB Hejib, who had on July 19 summoned him on Wednesday for framing of charges for starting afresh the trial in the 11-year-old case.
The actor moved an application seeking exemption from personal appearance during the trial which was granted.
One person was killed and four others, sleeping on a pavement in Bandra, were injured when Khan's Toyota Land Cruiser allegedly rammed into a bakery on the night of September 28, 2002.
Meanwhile, the judge who has been hearing the case has been transferred and trial would be conducted by another judge.
He was, however, directed to be present before the court whenever required.
At the beginning of the proceedings, the judge expressed his inability to take up the case for framing the charges as he has been transferred.
However, prosecutor Shankar Erande pleaded that charges should be framed today itself as the actor was going abroad for two months which could further delay the trial.
At his request, the judge read out the charges to Salman, who pleaded not guilty to all.
One person was killed and four others were injured when the Land Cruiser, allegedly driven by Salman Khan, crushed a group of people sleeping on the pavement outside a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002.
Salman's lawyer Srikant Shivade urged the court to direct the media to observe restraint as too much publicity was being given to the case and also the proceedings were not correctly reported.
The Judge asked the media to observe restraint in coverage and report correctly the proceedings of the case.
The Sessions Court had on June 24 upheld a magistrate's order that the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was made out against the 47-year-old superstar and dismissed his appeal against the verdict.
The actor had earlier been tried by a metropolitan magistrate for a lesser offence of causing death by negligence (Section 304 A of IPC), which provides for a maximum sentence of two years.
(With HTC, PTI and AP inputs)
First Published: Jul 24, 2013 12:17 IST


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text: Hi James, James Cownie wrote: > As someone who was on the MPI Forum, and sat through an awful lot of > meetings, I'd like to provide some justification for _why_ we didn't try > to make a binary standard. No, I imagine the context was very different 10 years ago. I just don't understand why dynamic spawning, one-sided communications and MPI-IO were added to the Standard, but nobody wanted to address the mpi.h header compatibility issue. By that time, people knew that it was a problem. no ? > You seem to think (maybe subconsciously) that the MPI forum added > features the standard just to make life hard for implementors and > to kill performance ;-) Well, it was the right thing to be as exhaustive as possible to insure the wide adoption of the standard. It was expert friendly, but easy for the application folks to miss the points or take shortcuts. That's the cose of success. Now, I would hate to see a shared memory paradigm emerge to progressively replace MPI because existing applications don't really try to leverage the message passing paradigm capabilities. Some believe it will never happen, I am not so sure. > If you _really_ believe that there is so much performance benefit for > your customers in having an MPI-light with the restrictions you outlined > which only runs on your hardware, then no-one's stopping you from > providing it. This discussion is a beginning. It will only happen if all/most MPI implementators reach a point where it's clear that to move forward, some semantic has to be avoided and some ambiguities cleared, and that can only be done at the API level. I would prefer that the MPI forum focus on improving the core message passing functionalities instead of adding yet another vertical dimension (what's left for MPI-3 ?). The urgent thing however is the ABI. Can we do that ? Patrick -- Patrick Geoffray Myricom, Inc. http://www.myri.com


text: In Idaho track & field's tradition of great throwers, one stands firmly above the rest. Joachim Olsen earned eight All-America honors at Idaho from 1999-02, including a 2000 NCAA shot put title. In six career NCAA shot put competitions, Olsen never finished worse than third. He also added a pair of sixth-place finishes in the discus. Olsen also won six Big West outdoor titles in his career. He established school records in both indoor and outdoor shot put and discus that nobody has come close to yet. His outdoor best shot put of 70-9¼ in 2002 is a Big West all-time record. On the world stage, Olsen is one of the top performers in the shot put. He was a 2004 Olympic Bronze Medalist and a 2004 and 2006 world championships bronze medalist in the event. He holds three national records for his native country of Denmark in the shot put and discus. He has finished in the top 10 in the world in the shot put every year since 2004 and was the top-ranked shot putter in the world in 2004.


text: (15) Wed Jan 03 2007 20:59: After a wild four months preparing nearly thirty job applications, sending Dave to interview at six universities, and weighing three offers, we have made a final decision. We have accepted an assistant professor appointment in the Reubin O'D. Askew School of Public Adminstration and Policy at Florida State University. Yay, Dave! Way to go! It really is a fabulous opportunity. I am very pleased. Tallahassee, here we come!


text:
PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets' starting pitchers are dropping like flies, but David Wright managed to get through another step in his rehab unscathed.
Wright got his first game action since suffering an intercostal injury during the World Baseball Classic. While he didn't play third base, he got one hit in five at-bats serving as DH in a pair of minor league games, and said he felt good.
"Having played a couple of weeks ago, I felt the timing was OK," said Wright, who was trying to get as many at-bats as possible.
He continues to hold out hope for the season opener.
"I've been optimistic about Opening Day since I came back to [Port] St. Lucie and talked to the doctors and trainers about the diagnosis," Wright said about avoiding the disabled list. "I'm another step closer. I'm still very optimistic … I don't want to start the year on the DL, obviously, [but] that's the worst case scenario and you'd want it to be five days instead of [15], but hopefully that's not a discussion."
Manager Terry Collins was positive, as well.
"I would not be surprised if David Wright is there Opening Day," Collins said. "There will be a lot of things considered here on Thursday or Friday — a lot. We'll just have to wait and see because we have to take the cold into consideration and a few other things."
Wright would like to play third base in a game before the regular season, but that's not essential.
"The best thing for me, as far as action at third base [is concerned], is with Tim Teufel on the field, doing a game-like situation drill," Wright said. "I get more out of that than a game."
Wright reached on an error in his first at-bat, then flied out to center, grounded to short and popped to right before hitting a single up the middle and later scoring from second.
"It was better toward the fifth at-bat," Wright said. "The first couple of at-bats, I just wanted to see pitches. The third, fourth and fifth at-bats I was up there not just to see pitches, but to see some results."
Wright didn't expect to play anywhere today and just work out, while getting more minor league game action tomorrow.
Lucas Duda continued his resurgence at the plate with three more hits against the Cardinals yesterday, including a double and a homer in the Mets' 11-4 loss.
Minor leaguer Randy Fontanez was summoned after Jeremy Hefner was hit by Carlos Beltran's comebacker. He faced seven batters and all of them reached base, including Pete Kozma, who hit a grand slam.
Jon Niese gets his final tune-up before starting the season opener. He goes against the Astros tonight at 6:10 in Port St. Lucie.
Mike Baxter made a lunging grab of a fly ball in right field in the seventh yesterday — not quite like his catch in left during Johan Santana's no-hitter last year, but Baxter didn't crash into the fence and injure himself, either.


text:
The deadline for Medicare's open enrollment is three weeks earlier this year that 2011, so boomers need to gather all the necessary information regarding changes and updates to care now to make the best decisions for the health and finances.
Continue Reading Below
The deadline of Dec. 7 is right around the corner and the more information boomers have about the plans, the better off they will be now and down the road.
A new federal ruling could transform the way that Medicare covers long-term care and allows more patients to receive home health care services.
I sat down with Robert Quinlan, an independent insurance agent/broker since 1986 in New Windsor, N.Y. and had him review the following:
Boomer: Please explain how a recent court decision on Medicare services could impact boomers now and in the future.
Quinlan: The federal case in Vermont called Jimmo vs Sebelius was decided last month and expands Medicare's skilled care services to people who needed care to maintain their health or prevent or slow further deterioration.
Prior to this decision, Medicare would not approve skilled care services to those who had no prospects for improvement in their health like people with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or patients that have had a stroke.
The potential for more Medicare paid services will be limited to skilled care, which is care provided by licensed professionals like physical therapy, respiratory therapy, speech therapy or care from registered nurses. There will be no restrictions on the types of diseases that will be covered.
The lawsuit was brought by a class of individuals receiving Medicare services and other organizational plaintiffs like the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. The case's defendant was Kathleen Sebulius, U.S. Secretary of Health, and Human Services who represents the federal government's Medicare program.
The ruling will not expand other Medicare services today. For example, nursing home coverage will still be limited to 100 days. Medicare costs for skilled care services are expected to rise in the short term, but longer-term costs for nursing homes and hospitals could be lower if more people receive better care at home and avoid more costly care later.
Why does this case matter? People with chronic illnesses and accidents have been denied skilled care under Medicare because their condition was not improving. Now there is the likelihood that these people will receive more robust care that has eluded them in the past.
The final settlement of the case must be approved by the court which is expected to take several more weeks. Stay tuned!
Boomer: Are there tax benefits available for small business owners who want to buy long-term care insurance?
Quinlan: Yes, there are federal tax benefits when you purchase long term care insurance (LTCI) as a business owner. If you are:
- Self employed: you can deduct 100% of your long-term care insurance premiums up to the IRS's "Eligible Premium" amounts. For example, the 2012 tax deduction limit is $350 starting at age 40 or less, going to $3,500 if you are age 61 but not yet age 71 and $4,370 for people age 71 and older.
- Partnership, LLC or subchapter S corporation: The partnership, LLC or Subchapter S pays the LTCI premium. You may deduct up to 100% of the age-based Eligible Premium like the self employed person with no age criteria.
- Subchapter C corporation – entitled to a 100% deduction of the LTCI premium as a business expense on the total premium paid. The deduction is not limited to the "Eligible Premium" schedule.
- Individuals: LTCI premiums are considered medical expenses for individuals . For a person who itemizes tax deductions, medical expenses are tax deductible if they exceed 7.5% of the person's adjusted gross income in tax year 2012. The amount that can be deducted as a medical expense is limited to the IRS's "Eligible Premium" that is referred in the above "Self Employed" section.
In addition to these federal tax benefits, your state may also have a tax benefit for LTCI premiums. For example, New York State permits tax payers to take a 20% tax credit (better than a tax deduction) on the LTCI premiums with no 7.5% adjusted gross income rule or age threshold. For example, if you paid an annual premium of $4,000 for your long term care insurance, you would receive $800 tax credit ($4,000 times 20%) on your NYS tax bill.
The above information is only intended as general information. As in all tax matters, check with your own tax/financial advisor before taking action.
Boomer: I have seen many ads about Medicare insurance plans since September, and I have noticed that some Medicare insurance plans offered by private insurance companies have zero or low premiums, namely Medicare Advantage plans (Part C). How is that possible? Do these plans offer comprehensive coverage like coverage in original Medicare Parts A and B?
Quinlan: Medicare Advantage plans are provided by private insurance companies that are required by law to have comparable services as the original Medicare Parts A (hospital insurance) and B (medical insurance). Plus they also offer additional services like prescription drug coverage and vision care. Some plans will also pay for membership in gyms. The premiums for these Medicare Advantage plans are often low premiums or no premiums (not a misprint). How is this possible? The federal government pays the private insurance companies to offer these services to local communities across the US. About 25% of Medicare eligible Americans are covered by these plans today.
Your doctors and hospitals must be part of the network in your Medicare Advantage plan. You will pay more money for out of network services. Insurance companies may not offer these plans in every county in your state. Check with your local insurance company or insurance agent/broker if these plans are offered in your county. You must also be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B to enroll in these Medicare Advantage plans. You will not need to purchase a Medicare supplement plan.
Now until December 7, 2012 is a good time to review your current Medicare coverage to make any plan changes during this year's Medicare open enrollment period. New plan coverage will become effective January 1, 2013.
"The Boomer" is a column written for adults nearing retirement age and those already in their "golden years." It will also promote reader interaction by posting e-mail responses and answering reader questions. E-mail your questions or topic ideas to email@example.com.