text:
May 1, 2008
BoredatVassar Taken Offline
Boredatvassar.net has been taken offline by the Boredat monitors. The page now redirects to this message:
A few bad eggs
Dear Friends at Vassar,
The administration has insisted that we take down boredatvassar.net because of slander and gossip coming from a few bad eggs in your community. This is pretty frustrating considering that postings have been significantly less malicious within the past week. We've been working around the clock answering emails, moderating flagged posts, and built new tools to help the community moderate itself (which is ideal). Now, if enough people click "trash" on a post, its removed immediately.
Mads has been reading the Boredat pages for other schools long before Vassar developed its own page a few weeks ago. The posters at these other schools use the site to connect with peers. We were one of the only schools to use it to write malicious and hurtful comments about others.
The site was addressed at Sunday night's VSA Council Meeting, sources tell Mads. Cappy also addressed the site in her convocation speech yesterday. A rep for CIS claims that it is possible to track the authors of inappropriate comments, as one must be on the Vassar network to post on the site.
If the site does come back up, we hope people will no longer abuse their anonymity.
51 comments:
- Anonymous said...
that site was horrible, and the people who bashed other people anonymously were cowards. I'm glad our branch of the site has been taken down.
- Anonymous said...
taking it down won't solve much. if people want to bash each other, they'll find or make another site to do it on. talk to the juniors-- this isn't the first time there's been a campus gossip server. what we should be doing is trying to figure out when our community became so malicious and underhanded.
- Anonymous said...
Cappy and CIS did the right thing in pressuring the removal of this site. It looks bad for the College that so many inarticulate, childish and hateful words come from members of our community. Now at least prospective students won't be able to see that side of Vassar.
- Anonymous said...
until they're safely here and paying tuition at least...
- Anonymous said...
exactly. we need to always be mindful of what outsiders can see. if there's ugliness in our community, which is true of every community, we have to be careful that we don't get into any media scandals or else we won't get as many awesome applicants from good high schools
- tickytacky said...
the fact is that gossip servers at Vassar have a long history spanning back at least 5 years, maybe even longer. This is probably why many students used it to post gossip and malicious statements, and furthermore why Vassar was one of the only schools to do so.
I'd like to point out that not everything on the website was gossip or trash, despite what Cappy and others would have you believe. Within the past few weeks malicious posts have been kept to a minimum, and there are now tools to allow the community to moderate threads by flagging and deleting them.
With these tools personal gossip and slander are a very small problem, as they are often deleted within a few minutes. Cappy herself cited the example of Wikipedia. Incorrect information of obscenities in articles are quickly deleted by community members of Wikipedia so that they are no longer a problem. However, her oversight was that tools for this type of fast moderation are available to the community on boredat and have been utilized within the past few days.
With this out of the way, the website might have reached its potential as a community forum for interacting with students from Vassar and other college, or for discussing anything, so long as it does not infringe upon the privacy or personal standing of others. Unfortunately, this may never achieve fruition as it has been crushed under a misunderstanding, reactionary, and authoritarian fist.
Cappy's convocation speech treated us like children, and so does this decision. It also further illustrates the administration's lack of student input. If this is such a controversial problem, then why didn't they open the discussion for it rather than bypassing the opinions of students? Seeing as they called a mandatory house meeting for a "racist symbol" of questionable intent, a matter of this magnitude could have been dealt with in a community forum rather than by a decision by the administration to close down a third-party website.
While I appreciate Cappy's concern for student privacy and personal standing, I ultimately think that this was reactionary and an nonconstructive action.
- Anonymous said...
The juniors weren't here when the gossip server existed!
Question for people:
Would you really be deterred from going to Vassar if you read the gossip server?
- Anonymous said...
Also, slanderous things had been appearing on boredat for a very long time. Why didn't the Administration think to address this before? Why did Cappy have to wait until Convocation?
- Anonymous said...
6:02 nailed it. just goes to prove that yet again vassar cares more about image--specifically how we present ourselves to prospectives-- than substance, just as they have done in their dealings with Barnes and Nobles their after=school special meetings on racism in the community.
the question is, how and on what fronts do we begin to challenge it?
- Anonymous said...
"their after-school special meetings on racism in the community."
hahahahhahaha WORD.
Also, by shutting down boredat the Administration is silencing quite a few dissenting voices, for whom outlets for expression are otherwise limited.
- Anonymous said...
why shouldn't the administration silence a bunch of children saying childish and inappropriate things?
The site not only defamed students and faculty members in our community, but also makes it seem as if Vassar is dominated by privileged assholes. Despite this inane site, the people at Vassar are on the whole wonderful, kind and thoughtful. I would hate for a prospective student to read boredatvassar and think that the posts there are somehow indicative of the general level of intelligence of Vassar students.
- Anonymous said...
I really wonder what they hoped to achieve with this. I noticed that there were so many posts on Boredat expressing really deep and serious unhappiness with the school, and a lot of replies to those posts acknowledging how hard it is to say those things when names were attached to them. As someone who is quite unhappy with Vassar, I felt comforted by the knowledge that I wasn't suffering alone- and I felt even better that I had the chance to say something, and engage in some form of dialogue, about my unhappiness.
Now I find myself wondering how I'll be able to do that again. What resources do the administration provide for people who are only united by their dissatisfaction with the school? Metcalf? Please. Knowing that I had peers here who were just as, if not more, unhappy than I was was important to me. I get that all they saw were comments on Vassar's better known students, but Boredat was the ONLY outlet for people like me. What do we do now?
- Anonymous said...
Someone who talks to Cappy must have been bashed on the site and asked for it to be taken down. Also, it was the seniors that were around for the gossip server.
- Mina said...
i don't buy that getting rid of this site "silences" people. if you have something to say, why not just say it and not be cowardly about it? what's the point of posting ANY nasty or vicious comment about a fellow vassar student on some blog? why not tell them to the person what you think to their face?
i think people abuse the ability to be anonymous. people need to be more responsible with the things they say, which is why i sign my name to everything i post here. you actually have to think if your name gets attached. people don't realize that words can hurt. they'll hurt more than vassar's reputation. they'll hurt our ability to be a community and make people feel like they don't belong if they get gossiped about in such a public manner.
gossip always has and always will exist, but we don't have to post vicious things about fellow students for the whole campus to read. if you want to talk about people so badly do it with friends in private. or have the balls to say what you want to someone's face.
- Anonymous said...
6:29 here, I stand by my comment that the admin is silencing potentially DISSENTING voices: "Dissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to an idea (eg. a government's policies) or an entity (eg. an individual or political party which supports such policies)."
Please be aware of the distinction. Slander/libel/cruelty SHOULD be silenced, but not at the expense of meaningful attempts to get at issues.
- Anonymous said...
5:52- when it comes to addressing "ugliness" in our community i think our last concern should be "outsiders." what about the students--our fellow students and FRIENDS--whose self esteem suffered from hurtful comments made about them? what about the fact that a lot of the comments made were maliciously motivated by racism, sexism, and a general hateful fuel? sholudn't our concern be the fact that people WITHIN our community feel this is an acceptable thing to do?? fuck the outsiders, and fuck media scandals. honestly i hope this blows up in the face of the students who hid behind this site to take cowardly shots at strangers, or even classmates.
and to tickytack, Cappy "treated us like children" because members of the student body acted in ways below even middle school maturity levels. our peers' behavior warrants the response. i'm just sorry the seniors and juniors had to have their convocation marked by this.
as to your forum idea- the question you always have to ask is, who would come? certainly not those who are guilty. i do agree, however, that this shouldn't just be deleted and dropped from any discussion. what does it say about a community that fosters such blatant animosity towards others? is it the small size, the insular nature of social life here? why did this happen at vassar?
sorry for all the redundant questions. i'm just pissed off, but mostly really, really confused.
how do we explain this?
- Mina said...
anonymous 6:45, if you are so unhappy with the school i suggest these things:
1) talk to a student officer. ANY student officer. i know a vast majority of them and they are always happy to talk to students about why they're unhappy.
2) if you're unhappy because of some sort of mental issue (not being snide. it may be a possibility) i actually DO suggest going to metcalf because they can refer you to someone off-campus you can talk to about depression or other issues if you don't like the counselors at metcalf.
3) if you think you can't do either of those, then transfer. life is too short to be someplace that makes you unhappy.
again, not trying to be snide, but you shouldn't complain if you won't take action. i think that will only make you bitter and/or resentful. TRY to get your voice heard. if there are so many things you dislike about vassar. then you should evaluate if being here is right for you. seriously.
and i was here for the gossip server. it was really tasteless and unnecessarily nasty. i was glad when they took it down.
- Anonymous said...
whoa ramina, i don't think you're entitled to tell someone any of those things except #1, and even then i question how effective that might be. uh... am i supposed to email sam charner if i think this place is too white normative?
how can someone "TRY to get [their] voice heard" when there are no mechanisms in place for this to happen? what if someone feels like their thoughts are so marginalized/dissenting that they feel like they can't voice them? does that mean they should leave? hell no. it means something about the way things are working is very very very wrong--and that things need to change.
also, i don't think you're in a position to say "if there are so many things you dislike about vassar. then you should evaluate if being here is right for you. seriously." - how about trying to institute change rather than abandon this place?
i think we haven't been given the tools to change things... have we had any town halls this year about issues we care about? no. have i spoken with student leaders? yes. what have i been told? go talk to this and that committee. what do these committees do? who knows??????? what's with all the obfuscation?
- Anonymous said...
man i had stopped reading mads' political bs - boredatvassar was all i ever needed - good old-fashioned dirty slander... and now what back to knowing whether obama had beans for lunch...
- Anonymous said...
mina, OP here- I definitely don't think you come from a place where you understand- or are equipped to dispense advice on- my dissatisfaction with Vassar. the fact of the matter is, it's things like what you said that make me and others unwilling to say what they want to with their names attached to their words- your attitude that unhappy people don't belong here and should just leave. that sense of thinly veiled- and yes, snide- contempt for people who aren't happy here is pervasive at vassar, so I don't want to single you out, but you said something to me so I feel I should respond.
for the record, I did apply to transfer. but of course that was my decision to make and had nothing to do with how other people thought I should live. if I had chosen to stay, my choice would have been no less valid- and no more an indication of my lack of personal agency- than my decision to stay here.
boredat made me feel not alone in my unhappiness for one of the first times in my stay here at vassar. for that alone, I'm willing to overlook its misuse.
- Anonymous said...
*um, "than my decision to try to leave" obviously. I'm dim.
- Anonymous said...
7:15, go read bathroom walls since it's all your mind can possibly handle
- tickytacky said...
6:57 -
You say that Cappy treated us like children because the behavior of our peers warranted that response. What I am questioning, therefore, is her decision to treat us all like children, based upon the behaviors of a minority, especially at a time marked by our ascent into the "real world" where we should be treated as adults. I think the administration could have dealt with this in a more effective way than a convocation speech.
- tickytacky said...
as for the forum idea, I'm not suggesting that it would have been the solution, but it seems to be the administration's solution to other questionable student behaviors and thus I wonder why they did not take that action this time
- Mina said...
i don't think "unhealthy people shouldn't be at vassar." that's why we have metcalf which is a resource i have utilized myself.
and when i've been unhappy with something here, i've made sure people in charge knew it. i didn't post it anonymously on a board. that's what i mean by trying to get your voice heard. i don't know what year you guys are, but i believe my sophomore year students were unhappy with the treatment of workers on campus, so they staged a protest. in vassar's past students have taken over main building when they thought their concerns were being ignored. i just think if something is so bad, you should do what it takes to fix it. talk to people. any people. all the time.
and no, i don't think people should abandon the place instead of trying to change it, but it's a fact of life that not all people will be happy here despite what changes. vassar isn't the right place for everyone. and i think anyone who is unhappy here should look at the reasons why and decide if they're willing to put with them and stay or leave. i did the same thing during my freshman and sophomore year, and realized what i was unhappy with could be changed if i did something about it instead of complaining.
and you're right anonymous OP, i don't know anything about you or why you're unhappy here, but you were obviously unhappy enough to want to leave. and that's fine. since i don't know what you disliked about campus, i don't know if it's even something that CAN be changed. but i DO think it's better for people to be somewhere that will be healthier for them. and if that place isn't vassar, then so be it. but you shouldn't hide behind anonymous posts to feel better.
everyone on this campus should question the administration and their fellow students, but i don't think anonymous gossip will change anything. put a face to your complaints and they can't really ignore you. especially if you persist. if every student who was unhappy with something about vassar got together in a CONSTRUCTIVE way to change things, i bet a lot more would happen. but bureaucracy doesn't respond to nastiness and anonymous blogs. and vassar has a shit-ton of bureaucratic systems, like most colleges. but i also know that the higher ups are willing to listen to logical, well thought out critiques of things about this campus presented to them in an adult manner.
/long windedness
- Anonymous said...
I am glad that this website was taken down. There is no need for it- if you want to do something besides trash someone, there's no reason to do it anonymously. No one who is worth caring about will think less of you for voicing your opinions about the new bookstore, as an example someone else cited, with your name attached. If you want to talk about real issues, you need to man up and be willing to stick to your opinions. If they don't mean enough to you that you're willing to risk a little embaressment or negative attention, then they don't mean enough to be brought up at all. This website was doing NOTHING constructive and it was deeply hurting many innocent people. I am appalled that so many people at Vassar are capable of being so malicious, especially when this boredat site is compared to other school's much more mild boredat site's. We are not children anymore, and in the real world, if you want to state your opinion, you have to be willing to do it publicly and deal with the consequences. I didn't think going to Vassar would be like going back to middle school. I am MORE scared to engage in campus-wide discourse now for the fear that someone will then trash what I say on an anonymous message board- this can only hurt freedom of speech, not help it.
- Anonymous said...
People who are posting about why they need to be yelled at for the actions of a few are fucking terrible people.
If people are being told they are any of the terrible words i saw on that fucking site - and being NAMED - then who the fuck are you to feel bad that it was shut down?
That's like saying that just because a lot of people are murdered by hand-guns doesn't mean you shouldnt have the right to it.
If people are feeling threatened on this campus you should fucking care. And if its as easy as taking down a website that calls someone a "FUCKING N***ER," I think we should do it.
I don't understand how Vassar students are so blind to how fucked up the argument is that I see them use on this board every two seconds. It's like nobody cares about Anyone other than themselves and when someone's life is actually in danger (believe me, mine sure as fuck has been in danger many times on this campus), they say - fuck you, either kill yourself, shut the fuck up or leave.
Wow - what a school. I wish I didn't choose to go here, you fuckups.
- Anonymous said...
Ok, seriously, the administration didn't force boredat to close their Vassar site. That's simply ridiculous. The administration asked that they don't allow slanderous and disgusting postings and do their part to run their site. If they can't handle the job of moderating their site, then they shouldn't be in the business of running a site.
Also, Cappy didn't say that everyone was being mean. What she did say, though, was that we have a responsibility to look out of each other just as those in the Wikipedia community keep a constant lookout for trolls trashing their site. This isn't just about boredat. Think about the vandalism all over our campus. Think about the comments made on this blog about the people who live in the local community. There is an vocal anonymous minority that puts themselves before anybody else, and we all suffer as a result.
A major point of what Cappy said, which some here seem to have missed, is that there are some (many?) who feel excluded from the Vassar community. It is our collective responsibility to include everyone. No student should feel like they have to post on an anonymous website to voice their concerns. We need to move on from there as a community.
And we can't come together on blogs and sites like boredat. So when you get an email to come to an event to talk about stuff, show up and say something! When you have an issue, send an email or set up a meeting! Empower yourself to make Vassar better.
- Dana Cass '11 said...
I am inexpressibly glad that this site is gone. For those of you who are saying that this is an outlet of your free speech taken away - try being one of the people who was targeted on this website. Over the few weeks that it was online, I got to watch people call me a "cunt," say that I was "uber annoying" and a "know-it-all" and discuss in great detail my body and what they wanted to do with it. And I had absolutely no way to stop it. Yes, there was a "flag" option, but that didn't always get rid of things, and it rarely did immediately. And I'm a pretty unassuming character here at Vassar - I don't even know what I did in the first place to be targeted.
This site shows up on Google. My mom thinks it's fun to Google our family every once in awhile. I can't imagine what she would have done had she come across those posts about me. And as we've all been told a million times in the past few years, prospective employers use Google. Do you think companies really want to hire a girl whose Internet qualifications were written by an overly hormonal anonymous college boy?
And I didn't even get the worst of it. There were people on there discussing other people's sexual proclivities; for God's sake, someone accused a kid of having AIDS. I don't know who these people are who post horrific things about others, but why do they think they have the right to judge? And WHY do they think it's okay to post such vulgarities on a public Internet forum?
I'm glad it's gone. If there's anyone else out there who wants to insult me, you can do it to my face. Come up to me on the sidewalk and call me a cunt - I dare you.
- Anonymous said...
I care.
- Anonymous said...
Why are so many people bitching about Vassar? That's fucked up. What is it exactly that you don't like? The swimming pool? The tennis courts? The thousand+ classes to choose from? The brilliant professors? The arboretum? The interesting students?
If you are not happy here at one of the greatest colleges on earth, you should consider whether you will ever be happy anywhere. Don't blame the school for your own personal issues.
- Anonymous said...
8:21, try again. only this time be sensitive to the idea that maybe material expressions of prestige and wealth don't have the same cachet with others that they clearly do with you.
some of us are here for the education and the education alone. whether or not someone is happy here says NOTHING about their capacity to be happy, or whether or not they have personal issues. it's people like you, who think the way you do, who make vassar so much worse than it has to be for people.
- Anonymous said...
8:42, no one is saying that everyone should fall in love with Vassar simply because the campus is beautiful (which it is) or because the people are brilliant (which they are). But if you are not happy, you should, without doubt, be able to find the resources here on campus to either a) affect change or b) make yourself happy.
In no particular order, we have pre-major advisors, major advisor, student fellows, house teams, house advisors, house fellows, an influential student government, Baldwin, Metcalf, the ALAANA Center, Blegen, Bayit, the Women's Center, an office full of sympathetic and kind deans.
In all of these resources, can people really not find the guidance or help that they need to either find coping mechanisms or try to work with our administration and student government to change whatever problems they're experiencing?
I'm not saying Vassar's perfect, it certainly isn't. But I am saying that students have more resources within walking distance of their beds at this school than they will likely have for the rest of their lives.
The bottom line: don't anonymously bitch and complain about how awful and terrible Vassar is, and certainly done post hateful things about your peers to make yourself feel better. instead, pick any one of those dozens of resources I named above and make use of them.
- Anonymous said...
8:59- Don't conflate every anon into a single virulent entity. It's not the case. I didn't go on boredat to write hateful things about me but I did go on it to talk about how unhappy I was here. I never said Vassar was awful; I spoke of my own unhappiness with the school. There's a big difference between the two, and if you don't know what it is then it's time for you to grow up and learn what it is.
And, let me put it as simply as I possibly can: who the hell are you to tell me I haven't made use of the resources that are supposedly "available" to me? Trust me when I say that a lot of the people I know who are unhappy here have done a whole lot more than you think they have in trying to convince themselves to be happy with Vassar. I'm not lazy; I don't wallow in my own misery here as you seem to think I do. I go to class. I work hard. I get decent grades and I occupy my time with as much as I possibly can- and that doesn't mean "sitting around on boredat or on Mads", that means doing everything that a "typical" Vassar student is supposed to do to feel fulfilled and satisfied with their time here. It doesn't work. Sometimes- for some people- it just doesn't work.
You love it here, apparently. That means you've probably never had to actually take any of your own advice- which means you don't have any idea that your advice just doesn't work. If you ever find yourself in a situation like the one I- and others- find myself in here at Vassar, I can only hope that people aren't as callow to you as they were to me.
- Anonymous said...
all i know is that a friend of mine was bashed on that site and it really really hurt her feelings.
boredat might seem okay in theory but apparently people aren't mature enough to handle it.
- Anonymous said...
someone posted this on the boredat discussion and i thought it adressed an important issue of transparency in administration:
Admin isn't doing this because they think people's feelings are getting hurt -they are doing this for admissions and the reputation of the school. They are trying to shield perspective students and college rankers from the shallowness and bitchiness of our student body. But this happens at every college and university, often to a much greater and more harmful extent. Although I am not proud to be associated with many of the posts on this blog, this is just typical of what is happening on Vassar campus right now and will be happening in the near future. Tear down the local joint and build a barnes and nobles. Cut down on the unique aspects of the college to up the ranking and save money. Pave paradise and put up a parking lot. I came to Vassar four years ago because I thought it was different than Williams and Amherst. While this gossip server isn't exactly something to be proud of, the administration should at least be honest about why they are so opposed to it.
anyone else think its ironic that cappy's e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com?
- Anonymous said...
if all this college is worried about is rankings, why did cappy co-sign a letter with all other presidents saying that the way rankings are currently made take into account too much bias and efforts should be made to make all data that goes into them more transparent?
listen, that site came down because people on our campus we're being hurt. this had nothing to with prospective students, but instead with people who were being slandered and defamed, with no agency to change that. anonymous postings of hate are not, and will never be, acceptable at this school and i commend the administration for taking such bold action.
- Anonymous said...
if any of you have ever met or had a conversation with cappy, you would know that she is not AT ALL interested in just glorifying the college's reputation and admissions statistics. when i met her for an athletics event a few months ago, i found her to be incredibly warm and compassionate. she has pushed for expansions of vassar's financial aid and inclusion that our former president NEVER would have.
i know it's easy to paint these simplistic pictures. but you'll quickly find that most of those pictures either misrepresent the truth or are entirely false:
"vassar is killing the poor locals and building a bookstore"
- actually, the plan to move the bookstore there (which has been a b&n for five years) was ENDORSED by the arlington business district and is widely supported in the community
"the president is destroying the unique aspects of vassar"
- what does that even mean? no one is destroying anything, except a gossip server.
"the evil administration is destroying free speech!"
- actually, the administration tried and succeeded in removing malicious gossip off of a childish website. as she said in her convocation remarks, there is no tenet of free speech that justifies hateful gossip directed at our peers.
- Anonymous said...
6:04 umm...no, the juniors were here too for the gossip server.
- Anonymous said...
If you hate vassar so much, either affect change in the community (which you're more than welcomed to do) or transfer. you really don't need to be so complicated and angsty. if you sit around on anonymous gossip servers complaining, i promise you your life won't get any better.
So if you hate Vassar this much after a year of being here, you should consider two choices: go to all of the resources that above posters have mentioned and try to change the community/get assistance OR start looking at other schools. Any school like vassar would offer similar financial aid and similar resources. It's really very simple.
- Anonymous said...
What I want to know is why people don't seem to care that we have so many hateful people on campus. Like someone else said before, the other boredats worked just fine. Why is everyone willing to just sweep them under the rug and let them fume in their private lives? There has to be a reason why so many a-holes come to vassar but nobody wants to address it.
- Anonymous said...
This is the most sensitive thing Vassar administration has done in years. THANK GOD!
- Mina said...
i think i have one more thing to say, specifically to the people who were using boredat to complain about vassar and not to bash people.
i sympathize. i really do. i spent two years of my childhood in a place i despised. i tried to make it work. i went to counselors. i talked to teachers. i did the whole thing. but i was still unhappy, and since i had the option to move to a new state i got out of the situation, and that was best. my first at vassar i was miserable. i missed home and my friends and sunshine. i thought i wasn't gonna make it. i started looking into transferring, but i went to metcalf and talked to my friends and my adviser and realized i was just feeling culture shock and stayed. and that was a good decision for me.
that said, if you've really done all you can, then vassar just may not be the place for you. and that doesn't mean people hate you or think you should die, but not everyone can fit in every place. vassar isn't right for all people.
and 11:05 is right. i hope that something is done to make sure people know that personal attacks on members of the community and fellow vassarites are punished. there is no reason for malice on our campus. we're all smart, and i really think we're all decent folks. there's no need to be hurtful.
and to dana: i'm sorry that happened to you. it's unfair, and i hope whoever said those things faces consequences.
- Anonymous said...
amen 10:01
- zack miller '10 said...
It's incredibly horrible that you were subjected to such vicious insults from sources that you can't even identify. The only thing said about me on boredatvassar was that I was a bad hookup (probably true) and that I verbally suck Mads' cock (homophobic and, taken in its context, still untrue). It still felt insulting because I had no way to respond to these posts, and the insults that you faced were far worse and more pervasive. I sympathize with people who are dissatisfied here, but I hope they can understand that effective change and response to the disaffected can't come about amidst genuine slander and serious harassment. Most of all, I hope you can come away from such an unfair ordeal without thinking too poorly of the community at large - in your position, I'm not sure I could.
I want to offer a preemptive response to the people who make fun of the vocabulary that I use here - fuck off. I don't need to dumb myself down just because I'm online.
- Anonymous said...
Good riddance. That site did way more harm than good. Freedom of speech comes with responsibility, if you're going to completely target and insult individuals and not man up and put your name on it, don't write it.
- Anonymous said...
oh dear god its back on.
- Anonymous said...
it's back!!
- Anonymous said...
- Anonymous said...
boredatvassar is back up
- Anonymous said...
Read the note- this could be a good thing


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Machete Ridge traverse (Old Original) Climber's Log
mattleonard - Apr 25, 2011 5:20 pm Date Climbed: Apr 24, 2011ACCURATE Beta
This is truly more of an "adventure" that a traditional rock climb. Not much of it is vertical, not a whole lot is 5th class, but it's all quite fun, and very beautiful. Route-finding was definitely the challenge of the day – both on the approach, as well as throughout the route. I printed out a slew of trip reports/beta from various websites and we still stumbled around a bit to find our way. Various reports rate this 5.3-5.7 – I felt there was definitely not a move harder than 5.5. Hopefully this beta will be some of the better stuff out there – and help get you spending more time on the route, and less time trying to find it.
We did this in a team of 4 (with 2 ropes), and had 1 person tie in short on the 2nd rope. We simul-rappeled a few times to speed things up – generally the rappel stations were bomber and modern. (if simul-rapping, please be aware of the added risks and concerns). We left the parking lot at noon, and were back to the car by 6, including a fair amount of time wandering around on the approach semi-lost, casual climbing (with 2 folks who had minimal experience outdoors), and a nice lunch up on top. Pack layers – it can be alternately windy/cold/shady/hot based on where you are along the route.
I would highly encourage carrying two ropes (we brought 2x 60m). We passed a lot of intermediate belay stations that likely would have allowed for a single-rope raps, but 2 ropes gave us a lot more options, and sped things up. There were a few places where shorter rope might have gotten you to a decent spot, but longer ropes allowed us to get on the most secure ground possible.
Everything is bolted – so a half dozen draws should suffice – we brought a few pieces that never left the pack and just added weight. There were very few spots for other protection anyway, just be prepared for easy but runout terrai. If you wanted to climb Middle Tower, a couple medium pieces to anchor a better below wouldn't hurt.
Follow the directions on the main page to west side of the park – taking Hwy 146 from Soledad. Jump on the Balconies Trail from the picnic/parking area, and walk about a half mile, passing most of the west face of Machete Ridge. There is a big obvious sign that says "Machete Ridge climbing access" to the right, just before a footbridge (maybe the 3rd or 4th bridge).
Follow this trail up to the base, and head right (moving south), doubling back the way you came along the base. Continue to follow this trail ALL the way around the south side of Machete Ridge, and then back up around the back side (east) of the rocks. We had a hard time finding this – because we kept thinking we had gone too far. It feels like you almost do a complete lap around of the ridge – but after passing much of the east face, you'll see two large pine trees up to the left between a saddle. There wasn't much of a trail, and you pass lots of confusing trees along the way – but these are 2 pines that are pretty much on their own, right up in the notch.
Alternately – you could hike in from the east side of the park, meeting up with the Balconies Trail. Haven't done this – but should be possible, and would take a few hours.
Pitch 1 - 5.3:
From the notch with the pine trees, scramble up the rock just before the 2nd pine. You will find a grassy ledge about 50 feet up, with a small pine tree on the north end. Just left of the tree you can see a small patch of bush/grass about 15' feet up on the left – with your first (fairly high) bolt just above that. Head up and left to that bolt, then move right to a 2nd bolt at your feet. Just above this you'll fine 2 bolts at eye-level for the belay. Very short pitch.
Pitch 2 – walk (3rd/4th class):
You can walk about 30 feet to a small notch on your right (before the tree). Don't climb down the notch – but hop up on the ridge to the right of the notch, doubling-back the way you came but on higher ground. Follow the exposed ridge down, with few (if any) options for protection. It might be possible to belay someone from the top of P1 bolts – but you wouldn't be able to see/hear each other well (the rope would start below the ridge, and go up and over the other side). We walked it – but it is exposed, and you have to down climb a bit on the last 25 feet to get to a gully, which is the start of Pitch 3.
Pitch 3 – 5.5
There is a notch here with 3 bolts – 2 newer solid ones, and a 3rd on an old/homemade hanger. This pitch involves a few short exposed moves moving right around a bulge. You can see the first bolt from the belay. Once you get around the bulge, you have a crouching traverse (at least for tall folks like me), past a 2nd bolt at your feet. It's an easy walk past the 2nd bolt, but I stayed roped in. 40 feet later the ridge flattens out, and you can climb an easy 8' notch up to the obvious grassy area with a few small Manzanita trees. I belayed from here off a manzanita (and we ate lunch).
Pitch 4 – walk (3rd/4th class):
From the manzanitas – walk up and over the ridge to your right, following the ridge down to nice set of chains. It's an easy walk, but once again very airy and exposed. If you are concerned, you could belay from the Manzanita – but it would be mighty runout, and no real protection along the way.
Pitch 5 - rappel
From these chains, we did did a double rope (60m each) rap to the NW gully below. It's a low-angle rappel on class 3 and 4rock (could be downclimbed easily) for most of it, but the last 30' or so are overhanging and a free rappel. We passed 2 intermediate rap stations that I would assume would allow for a single rope rappel.
Pitch 6 – scramble/rappel
From the gully, you can either walk around right, or scramble over to another obvious gully. You'll see a U-shaped notch (not the W-shaped notch to the right). You can climb the notch (easy 5th class – but not 3rd class the way some guides state) Find a single bolt in the notch (left hand side), and either rap down, or downclimb the lichen-covered rock to a protected gully. You can scramble out of the gully, and over to the base of Middle Tower – where there is another rap station that ends the route.
This is the "official" end of the route, but Middle Tower can be climbed as a side-excursion (2-bolt 5.5), or possibly traverse farther out towards the other towers.
The descent isn't hard – but it does take some time. From the final bolts at the base of Middle Tower – rap down the eastern gully (NOT the west face towards Balconies – there has been at least one death from this attempt). The gully (and the face) can be fairly wet and lichen-covered. You could downclimb most of the gully but if you want to avoid slippery lichen and poison oak – rapping is MUCH faster, and more enjoyable. With 2 60m ropes – we were able to rap most of it, just scrambling a final 40' or so to a small tree with some slings and a rap ring. A single rope rap here dropped us to a big grassy area overlooking the Balconies Cave area, and a much larger tree with more slings and a rap ring. Another double-rope rap took us down the grassy area, over another lichen-covered wall, and to the "Ground" below. A short scramble through some talus dropped us into the Balconies Caves, and back to the trail. Most of this could be downclimbed –but rapping it felt MUCH safer, and much faster – especially in wet conditions.
justing - May 31, 2010 3:12 pm Date Climbed: May 29, 2010Had a blast
This route was a ton of fun. Very cool formation, good exposure, all in all a neat little adventure. Watch out for the poison oak on the descent though.
gomez13 - Apr 12, 2009 12:22 am Date Climbed: Oct 12, 2008Derenger Option
Climbed the three pitch route Deringer to the left of the normal start of The Old Original to add a bit more climbing to the route. 5.5-5.7 depending on your route finding. Great day out with just enough exposure to make it exciting. Will do again for sure!
requiem - Feb 20, 2008 2:23 am Date Climbed: Feb 17, 2008woo hoo!
an exhilarating adventure! the exposure was top-notch and i was happier than a bee in spring to walk the ridge roped up. the guidebook Squishy mentioned is written by Brad Young, who walked up on our camp the day after we did the traverse and pimped his book. i respect his gusto, and he DID produce a good guidebook.
cdog - Jan 8, 2008 1:45 am Date Climbed: Dec 27, 2007fun on winter vacation
climbed this classic with friends Chad and Dave. We began at first light, and it was actually cold. Probably 25deg at the trailhead. After some hiking and bushwacking (apparently through some leaf-less poison oak), we arrived at the base just as the sun was rising. We spent a few hours on the route. I found it pretty well-protected, especially the 'crux' traverse around the knob. We ended up making more rappels than expected to avoid seemingly treacherous 4th class downclimbing on mossing choss. The last rap put us at the entrance to the balcony caves, a quick trip through led us to the main trail and the truck. Great day out, pretty easy but fun and highly exposed climbing. Anyone would enjoy the walk on the sidewalk in the sky.
soslaw - Sep 24, 2007 2:21 pm Date Climbed: Sep 9, 2006Machete Ridge
Climbed with Andre. An eventful long day due to mistaken descent route.
asmrz - Dec 7, 2006 2:29 am Date Climbed: Oct 10, 1976Good climbing and a good company
Bill Bragg, the wonderful American legend Nick Clinch and I climbed the Machete Ridge in October of 1976. The 1st pitch with the bolt half way up was my first ever lead in the US. We also climbed the Hand, Photographer's Delight and several other climbs who's names escape me. Great place to climb, great company to be in.


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Investors ditched junk bonds for the fourth week in a row, apparently spooked by the European debt crisis and signs of more sluggish economic growth in the U.S.
High-yield bond mutual funds and ETFs lost $2.9 billion in the week ending June 6, according to fund researcher Lipper. The bulk of that, $2.1 billion, was pulled out of mutual funds — which are mainly used by retail investors — making it the third highest weekly outflow ever for the category.
Investors are worried about lackluster job growth in the U.S. following May's disappointing jobs report, advisers say. They are also closely watching the crisis in Europe, concerned that Greece could exit the euro zone after its election later this month. The turn away from high yield may have also be a sign investors are still shaken by a large move from an institutional investor last month that led to outflows for all high-yield ETFs for the week, analysts say.
To be sure, high-yield funds are better equipped to handle large moves because they're bigger than they were in recent years. There are $26 billion in high-yield ETFs, close to an all time high of $29 billion reached in early May, according to Lipper. Still, "these moves are rare," says Brad Durham, managing director at EPFR Global, a fund research firm.
In the week ending May 16, one institutional investor pulled $788 million out of the $10.5 billion SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond fund (JNK)– enough to lead to net outflow of $917 million for all high-yield bond ETFs, according to fund tracking firm Lipper. That move reminded investors the degree to which institutional players can impact markets with large trades, says Jeff Tjornehoj, a senior research analyst at Lipper. Prior to that move, high-yield ETFs had only one week of outflows for the year.
Experts say the redemption that scared off investors wasn't a true outflow from the fund. Instead, the institutional investor redeemed its ETF shares in exchange for the bonds it invested in. Certain institutional investors, so-called "authorized participants," can create and redeem ETF shares when they own bonds that track the appropriate index. The practice happens on a daily basis, but investors get concerned when they see such large moves from a single institutional player, says Tjornehoj. "There's always been a concern that your Main Street investor is at a disadvantage relative to the Wall Street investor," he says. "Some people watch those activities believing that the 'smart money' knows something that they don't."


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Tom Sargent finally speaks out; see here: The Slogans Stop Here.
In a telephone interview last week, Professor Sargent said he felt insulted by people who called him "non-Keynesian" or "right wing," terms that, he said, are based on a misunderstanding of his thinking. And he rejected attempts to categorize his views in simple slogans.I like this guy. He should start a blog. I've got the perfect name: Conscience of a Scientist.
Fundamentally, he said, "What I really don't like is oversimplification." He tries to think things through, he said, and avoid having "one slogan fighting another."


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The three candidates vying for two seats on the La Cañada Flintridge City Council all vowed Wednesday night to decrease crime, support local businesses and stop a freeway extension.
In the first public debate before the March 5 election, candidates agreed on many topics raised by audience-generated questions.
The La Cañada Flintridge Coordinating Council and the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada sponsored the event, which was held at the Flintridge Preparatory School auditorium.
Incumbent Dave Spence touted his experience as both a council member and mayor of the city, while Planning Commissioner Jon Curtis pointed out his long list of endorsements from community members and elected officials.
Newcomer Joe Layton, a 24-year-old accountant and financial analyst who has lived in the city with his family over the past eight years, promised a fresh approach to issues and improvements to digital communication, if elected.
Layton called the recent makeover of the city's website a "wonderful first step" but said he would go even further to reach out to tech-savvy residents and create Twitter and Facebook accounts.
"Many youth, my generation and younger, operate mainly on the Internet," he said.
All three candidates showed hesitation to support restricting single-use shopping bags even though neighboring cities have recently adopted such proposals.
Curtis and Spence both said they would want to study the issue. Layton said he would support a restriction if the majority of residents really wanted it.
All candidates opposed a controversial plan to extend the Long Beach (710 ) Freeway.
Spence was the only one to offer alternative solutions to curb increased traffic on the freeway, such as a light rail system or a direct bus line.
The spike in residential burglaries and crime over the past year was a hot topic during the forum.
Curtis and Spence cited neighborhood watch programs and special task forces as possible ways to reduce incidents. Layton repeatedly mentioned a close working relationship with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.
"This is a tough community to keep an eye on," said Spence, adding that neighbors need to look out for each other and remove evidence that someone is on vacation, like stacks of newspapers and mail.
A question asking the candidates if they were pleased with the traffic light system around the Town Center generated chuckles from the audience.
Spence admitted that the system wasn't perfect. "I was sitting there tonight, and thought, 'Man, I'm going to be late!'" he said.
But he was confident that the city could fix it.
"I think we can mitigate the issue and resolve it very shortly," he said.
Curtis was worried that drivers are avoiding the intersection, causing traffic to spill out onto residential streets.
"A lot of people avoid Foothill because the traffic light issue," he said. "People should be taking Foothill so they see the businesses and shop the businesses, so hopefully we can fix it."
Layton hammered for a stronger relationship with the school board. He also said he wants to reintegrate the western section of the city, known as the Sagebrush area, into the district, despite the fact that the Glendale Unified School District has successfully kept the Sagebrush schools in its system, winning all legal challenges to date.
The La Cañada Flintridge City Council doesn't have much authority over the school system. But Layton said building up the school system should be a priority for the council.
"One of the main reasons people that people live in the area is because of the top-ranked schools and that helps our property values," he said. "If our schools began to suffer, our property values would go down."
Follow Tiffany Kelly on Google+ and on Twitter: @LATiffanyKelly.


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I love everything about black-eyed peas: that rakish, rebellious look (ever wonder where each one of them got a black eye?), the fact that they look like beans but are called peas, the robust and distinctive taste that sets them apart from other beans…need I go on?
I'm always looking out for special recipes to cook up these special little guys, and last month, browsing through Meera's wonderful Web site, Enjoy Indian Food, I found one that made me hit the bookmark button. (In fact, all her recipes make me want to do that.)
But it was only this week that I got around to finally making this delicious curry, and believe me, it was worth the wait.
This curry uses few spices, but delivers a taste wallop. As Meera suggested, I sprouted the beans first, which always sends their nutritive value soaring into the stratosphere. Sprouting also helps make cooking the beans to tenderness a far quicker process than if you were to use them straight out of the bag.
The curry was very easy to put together, and I didn't deviate one bit from Meera's instructions: hey, why mess around with perfection, right? So I won't post the recipe again, although you can see it on Meera's blog right here.
Here are the pictures, though. Trust me, you cannot go wrong with this one.


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Bento 4 for iPad is the redesigned, reinvented and revolutionary new version of the leading personal database app for iPad
Bento 4 for iPad - Personal Database
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Bento 4 for iPad is the redesigned, reinvented and revolutionary new version of the leading personal database app for iPad. Organise contacts, track projects, plan events and manage lists – the fast and easy way!
App Store Description
Bento 4 for iPad is the redesigned, reinvented and revolutionary new version of the leading personal database app for iPad. Organise contacts, track projects, plan events and manage lists – the fast and easy way!
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- Use as a standalone app or synchronise with Bento 4.1 (Mac), sold separately at http://store.filemaker.com and the Mac App Store. If you're already using Bento (Mac), download the free update to Bento 4.1 (Mac) at www.filemaker.com/support/downloads
- Bento 4 for iPad requires iOS 5.
- Synchronisation with Bento (Mac) desktop software requires Bento 4.1 (Mac), and a Wi-Fi wireless connection.
- Data stored in Bento 1 for iPad is moved to Bento 4 for iPad.
- iPad Contacts app data and/or Mac OS X Address Book data will be imported into a Bento Contacts library and disconnected from the source application.
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- Events and tasks from iCal are not accessible in Bento 4 for iPad.
- Images from iPhoto are not accessible in Bento 4 for iPad library but are accessible via Bento Media fields.
- Bento for iPad may not support large databases created in Bento (Mac) due to device memory limitations. Please see details at http://www.filemaker.com/bikb.
- Bento for iPad runs in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Simplified Chinese and Japanese.
- Bento is also available for the iPhone and Mac. Search on "Bento" to learn more.
If you have any questions, please post a message to the Bento forum for quick answers, tips, and tricks at: http://forums.filemaker.com
AppAdvice does not own this application and only provides images and links contained in the iTunes Search API, to help our users find the best apps to download. If you are the developer of this app and would like your information removed, please send a request to [email protected] and your information will be removed.


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Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who has successfully achieved what he dreamed of, says he will work till people want to see him on screen.
"I feel I was in the industry at the right time and I am very proud and thrilled that lot of things are changing with the films," Shah Rukh, 47, said during a press conference of Nerolac Paints, where he launched its new initiative "Change The Paint".
"When I came in (Mumbai) that time it was only about romantic films. Now things are changing and the journey has been great. I will keep working till people want to see me," he added.
In a career spanning two decades, the actor has achieved whatever he dreamed of. He says an individual should keep dreaming, but at the same time shouldn`t move away from reality.
"Everyday a new dream is born. It is nice to keep on dreaming. I dream to make different films, I want to see my kids healthy. But I feel you have to be rooted in reality before dreaming. Believe in reality at the first place and get your education first," he said.
"Right now I am in a position where I can afford to do anything but when I just started off that time my dream was to have a house, car and everything," he added.


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BSU Catalog Home | Graduate Biology Course Descriptions
Dr. Elizabeth Rave (Chair; email@example.com), Dr. Mark Fulton (Graduate Coordinator; firstname.lastname@example.com), Dr. Don Cloutman, Dr. Debbie Guelda, Dr. Michael Hamann, Dr. Carrie Ketel, Dr. Richard Koch, Dr. Kerry Openshaw
The Master of Science is the highest degree awarded by the Biology Department. It reflects the range and depth of biology sub-disciplines and broadens students' horizons through both course work and original scientific research. The research culminates in an original thesis or completion of an exhaustive work of a scholarly nature. Students must consult with their graduate academic advisor in biology before developing their program.
Undergraduate major in biology.
Minimum 24 undergraduate semester credits in biology.
Minimum GPA of 3.00 in the sciences and mathematics strongly recommended.
GRE general exam required.
See Section IV. Policies and Procedures for degree requirements.
A one-page letter of intent stating research interests and future career goals is required of all applicants.
In completing the M.S. degree in Biology, please note that at least 50 percent of the course credits, outside of Thesis (BIOL 6990) and Graduate Research Paper (BIOL 6980), must be at the 6000 level.
Students may be required by the advisor to take additional courses to offset weaknesses in subject areas.
BIOL 6010 Advanced Topics in Biology (1 credit)
BIOL 6894 Advanced Graduate Laboratory Projects I (3 credits)
or BIOL 6896 Advanced Graduate Field Projects I (3 credits)
BIOL 6895 Advanced Graduate Laboratory Projects II (3 credits)
or BIOL 6897 Advanced Graduate Field Projects II (3 credits)
BIOL 6920 Directed Group Study (Seminar) (1,1) (2 credits)
SCI 6350 Computer Applications in Statistics (3 credits)
Subtotal 12 Credits
Subtotal 12 Credits
Select one of the following:
A. Thesis OptionBIOL 6990 Thesis (6 credits)
B. Research Paper OptionBIOL 6980 Graduate Research Paper (2 credits)
Select with the consent of the advisor an additional 4 semester credits of graduate-level course work in Biology, with at least 2 credits at the 6000 level. (4 credits)
Subtotal 6 Credits
Statistics: A working knowledge of applied statistics. This requirement may be satisfied by successfully completing SCI 6350 Advanced Computer Applications in Statistics.


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If "Saturday Night Live's" musical guest and host this week Justin Timberlake didn't enjoy his time on the show, he's an even better actor than anyone knows. Timberlake and his mega-watt smile reprised old roles and added a few new characters to his catalog, including a dancing vegan restaurant mascot and a bailiff on a Maine court show.
"SNL" began with C-Span coverage of Hugo Chavez's "funeral." After a short eulogy by acting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Fred Armensen), Elton John (Timberlake) continued the services by singing a new version of "Candle in the Wind." His version referenced some of the former president's much publicized comments like calling George W. Bush "the devil" and having once said capitalism may have killed life on Mars.
"Goodbye Hugo C," Sir Elton sang. "You had great style and panache; you were a man of the people and you liked to wear a sash. You called George Bush the devil when you spoke at the U.N. You said he smelt like sulfur. And you called him Mr. Danger. And it seems to me, you lived your life, like a candle in the wind. If a candle could pull out two pistols, during a press conference."
The show was star-studded. "SNL" original Dan Akroyd was in the opening monologue, as well as Steve Martin, (Akroyd and Martin also appeared in another sketch reprising their "Two Wild and Crazy Guys" routine) Chevy Chase, Candice Bergen, Tom Hanks, Martin Short, Alec Baldwin and singer Paul Simon. A joining of the "Five Timers Club," for people who have hosted "SNL" five times or more, Timberlake too was inducted into the legendary group, but was a bit confused as to why Akroyd was merely a bartender there.
"He was an original cast member," he said. "Surely that means something, right?"
Martin was quick to tell Timberlake the way things work in the club.
"You're adorable," Martin said sarcastically, with a chuckle. Martin then gave Akroyd the last dollar bill in his pocket for a tip. The rest of his wallet contained only 100 dollar bills, he said.
Another former "SNL" star, Andy Samberg, who left the show in 2010, also appeared in a few sketches.
Weekend Update with Seth Meyers, like the opening sketch, touched on the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"Leaders from around the world, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Cuba's Raul Castro on Friday attended the funeral," Meyers said. "On an island, I'm guessing, that was shaped like a skull."
On Friday Kentucky Republican Rand Paul's near 13-hour Senate filibuster garnered headlines as one of the longest in history. Meyers felt Rand deserved some respect for his rant, one where Rand reportedly said the word "drone" over 200 times.
"I applaud Rand Paul for taking a stand for his beliefs," Meyers said. "I've only talked for 13 hours straight once in my life. And my girlfriend still broke up with me."
With the conclave nearing, the Vatican should have a new pope sometime soon. NBC News reported on Saturday that no conclave has lasted for more than five days. That's not fast enough for Meyers.
"Go ahead, take your time," he said. "It's not like you're all 80."
During his musical segments, Timberlake performed his new single, "Suit & Tie," which featured rap legend Jay-Z, and "Mirrors."


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Diet/Food & Feeding Habits
Wikipedia Related Link
Follow the above recommendations and you should have a joyful Black phantom tetra experience. Send any questions, comments or pictures to Ask An Expert If you are interested in helping out visit our contributions page.
Berra, T. M. 2001. Freshwater Fish Distribution. Academic Press. San Diego, CA
Gery, J. 1977 Characoids of the World. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ. 672 pp.
Hubbs, C. L. and K. F. Lagler. 1947 (and other editions). Fishes of the Great Lakes Region. Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bulletin No. 26.
Moyle, P.B. and J. J. Cech, Jr. 2000. Fishes: An Introduction To Ichthyology, 4th Edition. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Myers, G.S. 1972 The Piranha Book: an account of the ill-famed piranha fishes of the rivers of tropical South America. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ. 128 pp.
Nelson, J. S. 1994. Fishes of the World, 3rd edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, New York.
Page, L. M. and B. M. Burr. 1991. Peterson Field Guides: Freshwater Fishes. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.
Paxton, J. R. and W. N. Eschmeyer. 1998. Encyclopedia of Fishes. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
Shulte, W. 1988 Piranhas in the Aquarium. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ. 128 pp.


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Interactivity, Augmented Reality and Human-Computer Interaction
Igalia Interactivity specializes in the development of innovative ways of interacting with technology. We create immersive and engaging experiences by combining touchless, gestural and multiuser interfaces with advanced visuals and audio. The solutions we provide cover areas like art/multimedia installations, multisensorial stimulation rooms and augmented reality applications.
Technology is all around us, deeply integrated into our daily lives. However, our interaction with it is not always as natural as we would like it to be. Users are normally expected to learn how to use new technologies and adapt to them. In this scenario, we believe that the demand for simpler, more intuitive and natural interfaces will increase and accelerate in the future.
The Interactivity team at Igalia aims to help building a new generation of applications that feel more natural and fun to use. This also includes taking technology out to the physical space, the surroundings that people already inhabit. We believe technology can and should integrate nicely and respectfully with our environment.
Current implementations and installations of the interactivity area rely in two software components specifically developed for this realm: SkelTrack and GFreenect.
SkelTrack is a Free and Open Source Software library whose goal is to provide easy to use human skeleton tracking while GFreenect is a wrapper for the Freenect library that allows controlling a Kinect device. It is written using Glib in order to ease the integration with GNOME technologies.
We are ready to hear about your specific needs, but here are some examples of how our team could help you in different scenarios:
- Augmented Reality
- Human Computer Interaction
- Products & Installations
- Skeltrack
- GFreenect
- Kinect
- OpenCV
- Clutter


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Reported Dell Deal Math Points to High Leverage Post Buyout
If the Dell buyout terms shake out the way CNBC is reporting them, the debt backing the deal could prove expensive. Deal-hungry fund managers are eager for new supply, but if the leverage on the buyout is too high–as this report indicates it may be–they will demand a high yield.
According to CNBC, private-equity investors are proposing to buy the company for as much as $14 per share with $2 billion of their own money, stock and other funds contributed by founder Michael Dell, and new debt. The stock purchase price would value Dell at $24.3 billion and after accounting for Mr. Dell's stake – worth $3.8 billion at that price – and their group's contribution, the buyout investors would need to raise an additional $18.5 billion. (Any additional cash from Mr. Dell is a question mark at this point.)
A $6 billion equity contribution would comprise about 24% of the purchase price, well below the 33% average for buyout deals lately.
Part of the $18.5 billion could come from Dell's $11 billion cash pile. Much of that is held abroad and could be subject to a 38% tax upon repatriation. Assuming private-equity buyers want the business to have some liquidity on balance sheet when they take over, say $5 billion, they could get around $3.5 billion of Dell's cash, after taxes, for the purchase.


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While social media marketing is generally free, it can be time-consuming; and the same goes for blogging. But traditional print advertising, as well as digital advertising, can be expensive. Americans spend one out of every seven minutes on social media, providing a huge opportunity for small business owners to build a relationship with fans by sharing relevant content and interacting by commenting and liking fans" comments. Email marketing is great for engaging customers, but you"re really limiting its potential if you keep it in a silo," says Ron Cates, director, Digital Marketing Education, Constant Contact.
"Webcast experts say some webinars see a 70 percent rebound effect comprising those who viewed the live broadcast as well as new individuals," she says. Older customers are more likely to prefer email – but not the unsolicited kind. Search engine optimisation, or SEO, means making sure your website ranks well in search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo and others. Although you can get great digital marketing results with effort and time, sometimes it"s worth paying to get a quick result. Valuable content includes everything from engaging website copy and useful blog articles to eye catching infographics and insightful videos.
Why Should An Online Marketing For Small Businesses in Cedar Landing, Florida be considered?
Google prefers in-depth content and has indicated that longer posts of 1,500 to 2,000 word length are rewarded accordingly. Before you embark on your digital learning journey you might want to test your own digital skills. After years of successfully connecting with customers, what started off as a small electronics store ended up being bought out by Best Buy for $87 million. Keep in mind, 51 percent of website traffic comes from organic search. As of March 9, 2009, Google began showing local results for generic queries, meaning that Internet users no longer need to include any city or geographic terms in their search to be shown results that are local to their location.
When it comes to digital or any other kind of marketing in Saint Johns County, Florida, my three rules are: Keep it simple, be consistent, and always respond to feedback immediately. Organic search engine optimization and social media posts will only take you so far. Start with one or two that you think fit your target market, build your audience, perfect your engagement on those sites, and then start adding other networks, but make sure not to add more than you can handle with your resources. However, many small business owners believe that online marketing is ineffective and useless.
How can a small business in Cedar Landing, Florida benefit from online marketing?
Online marketing in Saint Johns County, Florida is essential for small businesses today and is a cost-effective way to increase revenue, customers, and brand presence. By contributing to relevant blogs with useful content, you can expand your reach and show off your knowledge. "For goods and services specifically targeting women ages 18 to 65, [we] recommend companies utilize Pinterest," says Ria Romano, partner, RPR Public Relations. Start with uber-targeted keywords, paying close attention to keyword match types, negative keywords and search query results to eliminate irrelevant visitors, like people looking for jobs.
In addition, the cost of posting a press release via a wire service is relatively inexpensive, typically $200 to $300, with releases being picked up by the major search engines and thousands of websites. This is where you send information about new offers to a customer without a specific request from them. A viral marketing campaign is where a small marketing project spreads far further than its intended audience. These days, if you try 'keyword stuffing" on your site it will probably be penalised or removed from listings altogether. Another great common mistake among small businesses is the fact that they're not capturing leads or enough leads through their website.
Find an online marketing expert near you:
- Fort Matanzas
- Summer Haven
- Beachwood Trailer Park
- Crescent Beach
- Dupont Center
- Marineland
- Butler Beach
- Saybrook
- Saint Augustine Shores
- Moultrie Oaks Mobile Home Park
- Breezy Brae Mobile Home Park
Is Cedar Landing, Florida online marketing expensive?
Article marketing is effective for small retail businesses and if you, or one of your employees has the time, don't neglect it. It can be more time and money to market offline, but the offline buzz will usually convert into online searches and web interaction, which can convert into social shares, leads, conversions, and even natural links. Building your brand offline and online will be a key to your marketing success. Facebook is one of the most important marketing tools for any business to use, especially a small business. We"ve seen from our customers that upwards of 25 percent of all sales of coupons and deals can be attributed to reminder emails.
In addition, or instead of Google AdWords, Waterman recommends small and midsized business owners check out Bing PPC advertising. One of the best ways to start is by looking at the digital marketing strategies in Cedar Landing, Florida of companies that are already doing well, to see what you can learn. Either way it"s a useful digital marketing tool because it offers a personal insight into your business, making it feel more human and approachable. It can also provide a platform for feedback from your customers, helping them feel more emotionally engaged.


text: stephen mulcahy wrote: > Hi, > > Do people here normally use KVMs for management of compute nodes or > forego those and either have a grad student with a keyboard+monitor on a > trolley or rely entirely on remote management cards and/or IPMI? > IPMI 2.0 with kvm over IP whenever possible. Crash cart when not possible. > For those of you that use KVMs, what ones do you normally use? We have used Raritan, Trendnet, Belkin, and others. Won't use Belkin again. > > I'm taking a look around at the moment and for 40+ nodes, KVMs look like > quite an expensive option. It's not clear either how well or which KVMs > can be operated remotely. > > The scenario I have is that I have ~40 nodes in a room and I would like > to hook a KVM switch to all of these and be able to connect to the > switch from other parts of the building. I see Avocent (for example) > have some switches that kinda fit this model - but its not clear whether > the Avocents can be accessed over a standard Ethernet LAN, or whether > you have to run a dedicated CAT5 cable around your building specifically > to connect to the KVM switch. The KVM signals aren't usually ethernet, so you do need to run cabling to the nodes. From the KVM switch to the display, for kvm over IP, this is over gigabit. Works fine. > > Any experience from others on this welcome, I've mostly relied on > post-boot remote access, remote management cards and IPMI up to now. You can go cheap or good, or mixtures of these. I find the kvm over ip to be one of the best solutions. The crash cart is for "emergencies". The Raritan and other solutions offer some cool capabilities, albeit over a Java based console (or some of the really cheap units do it entirely over a windows based client). This causes problems, as Java sorta-kinda works on 64 bit machines, and not so much as a browser plugin on 64 bit machines (yeah, I know they released it ... does a good job of crashing browsers ...). Trendnet has a 1 port kvm over ip box that plugs into their daisy chainable other units. Mostly works, though has limits, and again, being a client-ized java app that likes to talk over many ports, doesn't do so well at remote sites without a full-on network to network routing VPN ... a point to point VPN doesn't work with it. Several others do similar things. > > Thanks, > > -stephen > -- Joseph Landman, Ph.D Founder and CEO Scalable Informatics LLC, email: landman at scalableinformatics.com web : http://www.scalableinformatics.com http://jackrabbit.scalableinformatics.com phone: +1 734 786 8423 x121 fax : +1 866 888 3112 cell : +1 734 612 4615


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Joe Budden Interview On WPRK 91.5 (Talks About Prodigy Diss, Upcoming Album & Big Mike Tape, & Much More) (Audio)
Joe Budden Interview on WPRK 91.5's The Backstage Pass with Jessie Maguire and DJ Skream.
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Brussels, 22 October 2009
Consumers: 60% of cross border internet shopping orders are refused, says new EU study
There are widespread problems with refusals of orders for EU consumers trying to purchase goods online in another Member state, according to a new European Commission report on cross border consumer e-commerce published today. An extensive independent mystery shopping exercise was carried out for the Commission where shoppers across the EU tried to purchase a list of 100 popular products –for example cameras, CDs, books, clothes - from a cross border provider. Over 11,000 test orders were carried out. The research found that 60% of cross border transactions could not be completed by consumers because the trader did not ship the product to their country or did not offer adequate means for cross border payment. Latvia, Belgium, Romania and Bulgaria are the countries where consumers are least able to buy cross border (for full list of EU-27 countries ranked see MEMO/09/475 ). But in all but two countries the odds of succeeding in a cross border purchase are lower than 50%. The foregone benefits to citizens are also very clear. In more than half of Member States, 50% or more or the products could be found 10% cheaper (transport costs included) from a website in another country. And 50% of products searched could not be found in national sites and were only offered by another Member State trader. The Communication presents a series of measures to be taken to reduce the complex regulatory environment which is acting as a disincentive for businesses to serve consumers in other Member States. In addition and to boost confidence in online trading, the problems regarding the collection of commercial data and its use to profile and target consumers will be analyzed in a stakeholders forum.
Commissioner Kuneva said: "The results of this research are very striking, we now have concrete facts and figures showing the extent to which the European single market for consumers is just not happening in online retail. Better deals and greater product choice for consumers on our vast European market could be just a click of a mouse away. But in reality online shoppers are still largely confined within national borders. Europe's consumers are being denied better choice and value for money. They deserve better. We must simplify the legal maze that is preventing online traders from offering their goods in other countries".
"Achieving a Digital Single Market is a top priority for Europe", said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media. "We won't have a real Digital Economy until we remove all barriers to online transactions, also for end-consumers. This must be on top of the list of all policy initiatives to re-launch the single market project."
The e-commerce market
The European e-commerce market was estimated to be worth 106 billion euros in 2006. The internet is the fastest growing retail channel. In 2008, 51% of EU retailers sold online.
But the gap between domestic and cross-border e-commerce is widening as a result of barriers to online trade. While the share of EU consumers who shop online grew from 27% to 33% in two years (2006-08), the share of those who bought anything online from another EU country was stagnant (6% to 7%). And only 21% of traders currently sell at a distance across borders.
Yet the potential is clearly there. One third of EU consumers say that they would consider shopping online from another EU country if the product was cheaper or better, and a third are willing to buy in another language. 59% of retailers are prepared to trade in more than one language.
The m ystery shopping: findings
An online test conducted on behalf of the European Commission set out to check the opportunities and barriers for consumers shopping online across borders in the EU by going through the shopping process. Testers in all EU countries searched for 100 popular products (ranging from CDs, to computers, digital cameras and washing machines) on the internet, checking what savings can be made when buying across borders and how difficult it is to buy online from another EU country. In total, close to 11,000 test transactions were carried out. The main findings are:
The barriers to e-commerce
The communication published today presents a strategy for tackling the barriers to cross-border online trade. Some of the priority areas for action are:
More details in: MEMO/09/475
Full text of the communication:
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Formation and Education for the Life of the Church
In photography, light is everything. Without light, a picture
cannot be made. In the majority of November's photographs, light
sets the mood and creates a feeling. From spooky and mysterious in
the fog, candle and procession photos, to the feeling of the start
of a new day in the bell-ringing photo, light is what makes the
pictures so appealing.
November was an extremely visual month with All Saints and All
Souls days and the thick fog that hung around the Hill on Nov. 8.
Special occasions often lead to nice images, but it's important not
to forget about the beauty in everyday life.
Photographs were taken by seminarian Doug Hunter and me.
Do you have a reflection on Christian faith or spirituality you would like to share? Click here to learn how to become a contributor to Echoes from the Bell Tower.
Echoes from the Bell Tower is a blog
devoted to observations on Christian faith, spirituality and
everyday events, by authors with a connection to the Benedictine
values found at Saint Meinrad Archabbey and its Seminary and School
of Theology. Contributors include students, permanent deacons,
Benedictine oblates and Saint Meinrad monks. Their stories,
thoughts and ideas highlight the mission and vision that ring out
from the bell towers on this Hill in southern Indiana.
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© Saint Meinrad Seminary & School of Theology 2019


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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII) prohibits harassment of an employee based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits harassment of employees who are 40 or older on the basis of age, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits harassment based on disability, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) prohibits harassment of an employee based on genetic information. All of the anti-discrimination statutes enforced by the EEOC prohibit retaliation for complaining of discrimination or participating in complaint proceedings.The Supreme Court issued two major decisions in June of 1998 that explained when employers will be held legally responsible for unlawful harassment by supervisors. The EEOC's Guidance on Employer Liability for Harassment by Supervisors examines those decisions and provides practical guidance regarding the duty of employers to prevent and correct harassment and the duty of employees to avoid harassment by using their employers' complaint procedures.
Further guidance on harassment can be found in the 1999 Guidance on Employer Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors; the 1980 Guidelines on Sexual Harassment; the 1990 Policy Statement on Current Issues in Sexual Harassment; the 1990 Policy Statement on Sexual Favoritism; and the 1994 Enforcement Guidance on Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc.. These can all be found on EEOC's web site https://www.eeoc.gov. They are also available by calling the EEOC's Publications Distribution Center (800-669-3362 or TTY 800-800-3302), or send inquiries to:
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs
131 M Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20507
This page was last modified on April 1, 2010.
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Latest News
Undocumented children and the myths of illegal immigration
What if the Irish potato famine had happened today?
It's something to think about, in light of Massachusetts' current role in the immigration debate, when appeals for compassion collide with pronouncements about the law. Here's where we stand: Governor Deval Patrick makes a passionate pitch for sheltering undocumented children who fled violence in Central America. Four major gubernatorial candidates rush to agree, which says something about Massachusetts character.
But public sentiment is split, resistance is vocal and strong, and the language the opponents use is telling. In the 19th century, Irish immigrants were called many of the things you hear hurled at Central American immigrants today: a scourge on public health, a drain on the economy, a threat to American culture.
One thing they weren't called, though, was"illegal," because that term hadn't been conceived yet.
"People are shocked when I say before World War I, there were no green cards, no visas, no quotas, no passports, even. Really, you just showed up. And if you could walk without a limp, and you had $30 in your pocket, you walked right in," said Mae Ngai, a legal and political historian at Columbia University, whose studies focus on immigration.
It's worth remembering how malleable the rules of immigration have been, as each successive wave of foreigners has come across the border, drawing resistance from those who came before. And that mid-19th-century wave is especially noteworthy, because of the role Massachusetts played.
At the time, white Protestants made up the local majority, said Mark Hubbard, a historian at Eastern Illinois University who wrote a book about Massachusetts nativism. After 1845, a huge wave of Irish came in, fleeing the famine. So did a wave of Germans, escaping political unrest.
These newcomers were Catholic, sparking fears about allegiance to a foreign pope. Their culture of drinking collided with the Yankees' Puritan strain. They arrived at a time of economic unrest, as artisans were losing their jobs to mass production, while immigrants were willing to work hard, for little money, in the factories.
That these Irish were "more than desperate," Hubbard said, barely mattered to the public at large.
"They are fleeing a terrible situation. But there just wasn't much empathy for that," he said."It was more about how this wave of foreigners is going to irrevocably change America."
And yet they could come — with no paperwork issues or quotas or restrictions or immigration courts. Political backlash followed, in the from of secret societies that coalesced into the Know Nothing Party. The Know Nothings grew so popular that, in 1854, they overwhelmingly took over the Massachusetts Legislature — where they pushed for prohibition laws, aimed squarely at Irish and German culture.
They also supported an effort to extend the naturalization period to 21 years. At the time, the debate centered not on sending immigrants back, but on denying them the right to vote.
The Know Nothings disintegrated almost as quickly as they formed, their national wings divided on the issue of slavery. Before long, the country was distracted by the Civil War, which helped the Irish and Germans assimilate.
But other immigration laws would come, driven by economic forces, buoyed by racial stereotypes. In the late 19th century, Congress passed "moral turpitude" laws aimed at Chinese immigrants on the West Coast. In 1924, Congress passed the National Origins Act, which imposed country-by-country limits, based on immigration patterns in the past. In 1965, Congress changed those rules to allow an equal number of visas from every country — which means, as Ngai points out, that Mexico gets the same number of visas as Belgium, and that there are absurd discrepancies in the length of the oft-cited "line" to enter America legally.
The law can change again. It probably will. Today polls suggest that the majority of Americans support a path to amnesty. But we also need a history lesson. Some of us more than others.
"These people don't have the same culture we have here in Bourne, and we have to protect our children," someone recently said at a public forum on the Cape, regarding Patrick's plan to shelter those immigrant kids.
The question of who "our children" are — and the gravity of their lawbreaking — depends on when you start the clock.
Joanna Weiss can be reached at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaWeiss.
© 2013 The Boston Globe