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The stunning star talks about what's on her hair wish list -- including a super-short pixie
Courtesy InStyle
Zoë Saldana's close with her longtime hairdresser, Mara Roszak, but her confession in the latest issue of InStyle Hair may be enough to give Roszak nightmares.
"If I want to chop off my hair, I'll take scissors and do one side before I even go to the hairdresser," she says. "It's all about trusting my instincts. Plus, that way I can't change my mind!"
And what's the likelihood that we'll see the perpetually stylish star with Hollywood's hottest hairstyle, the pixie, sometime soon? "At some point I might just want to chop it all off and go really short," she says. "I'll just wake up in the morning and, well … you know."
RELATED PHOTOS: Vote on more star hair cuts and colors here!
Also on Saldana's tress wish list: To return to her naturally curly texture. "It's been eight months since my last straightening treatment, and I'm going to let it all grow out," she tells the magazine (see her changing looks here). "It's been a long time since I've woken up with my hair looking like an Afro. I can't wait to have that again."
For lots more hair and beauty talk from the stunning star (including the red lipsticks she can't live without), pick up InStyle Hair, on stands April 5, watch exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and try on her hairstyles through the years here!
Then tell us: Would you rather see Saldana with curly hair or a super-short cut?
–Alex Apatoff


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Carell & Gosling's "Crazy Stupid Love" Trailer Arrives
Steve Carell stars as a man reeling from his wife's infidelity. As luck would have it, he meets Ryan Gosling's unrepentent ladies man, who teaches him how to score with women. The romcom co-stars Emma Stone, Julianne Moore & Marisa Tomei, and opens July 29.
We don't waste our time on anything not worth your time. We celebrate the best of what's coming on film and TV. We cheer when our expectations are met and criticize when we're let down.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Washington Redskins' 28-18 victory over the Dallas Cowboys determined the NFC East champion and finalized next week's NFL playoff schedule.
(All times Eastern)
4:30 p.m.: Bengals at Texans (NBC)
8 p.m.: Vikings at Packers (NBC)
1 p.m.: Colts at Ravens (CBS)
4:30 p.m.: Seahawks at Redskins (Fox)
Divisional Playoffs schedule
(All times Eastern)
Saturday, Jan. 12
4:30 p.m.: Ravens/ Colts/ Bengals at Broncos (CBS)
8 p.m.: Packers/ Redskins/ Seahawks at 49ers (Fox)
Sunday, Jan. 13
1 p.m.: Redskins/ Seahawks/ Vikings at Falcons (Fox)
4:30 p.m.: Texans/ Ravens/ Colts at Patriots (CBS)
In a rematch of last season's AFC Wild-Card Game, NBC will broadcast the Cincinnati Bengals heading to Houston to face the Texans on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET. This time around, the Texans are limping into the playoffs.
Another rematch will air in prime time Saturday night. Adrian Peterson's Vikings will head to Lambeau Field for a rubber match against the Green Bay Packers at 8 p.m. ET. If it's anything like Sunday's instant classic, we are in for a treat.
Sunday's schedule will start in Baltimore. Chuck Pagano will bring his Indianapolis Colts in to face his former employers, the Ravens, at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. It has been a ridiculous ride for Pagano and rookie quarterback Andrew Luck. The Colts showed Sunday against Houston that they're ready to beat playoff competition.
The final game of the weekend will feature the NFC East champ Redskins hosting the Seattle Seahawks at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Pretty sweet slate.
The NFL also announced the times of the divisional-round games. On Saturday, Jan. 12, the Denver Broncos will host the lowest remaining AFC seed at 4:30 p.m. ET, and the San Francisco 49ers will start their playoff adventure at 8 p.m. ET on the same day.
The Atlanta Falcons will try to avoid going one-and-done again at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 13. The AFC's No. 2 seed, the New England Patriots, will finish the weekend at 4:30 p.m. on the same day.
Saturday can't get here soon enough.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.


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Book Details :
Language : Bengali
Kaler Shahar Kolkata
|Kaler Shahar Kolkata ( HB )
Publisher : Ananda Publishers Pvt Ltd
Price : Rs.400
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School in the Forest – Educating the Young at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary
Number 20 - July 2000
S. Seshan
Every year around 2000 people walk up the 3 km of dirt road, in rain and sun, to visit the gardens at the Sanctuary. Around 80% of these are local and regional folks namely families on an outing, schools, youth groups, nature clubs, botany students, seminarians, tribes people, farmers, women's groups and so on. All are given a tour by one of the Sanctuary staff or residents. They are taken around the main garden areas which host an attractive and comprehensive collection of native and exotic plants, arranged in taxonomic order and also landscaped under the natural forest canopy. For these casual visitors it is a chance to satisfy their curiosity and see something quite different. It is also an occasion to learn a little about plants, the importance of conservation and regional efforts to maintain and protect biodiversity. Most are quite surprised and delighted, and many fall under the spell of a colourful and bounteous tropical world, full of unusual and fascinating beings. Often these casual passers-by return with other friends, colleagues or associated for a more detailed and slow exploration of the tropical microcosm that is the Sanctuary.
There are the individuals and groups that come out of more specific concerns or interests. They want to learn horticultural techniques, study the botany and taxonomy of the various groups of plants, see ecology in action, do bird watching, explore possibilities in restoration, conservation, and integrated land use. Some of them come several times over the years and become friends. They are from all over the south; scientists, environmentalists, educators and students. They bring with them wisdom, knowledge, techniques and insights and their visits are a chance for us to explore issues of common concern with a very wide network of individuals.
Workshops Focusing on Conservation and Sustainability
Yet another category of day visitors come as part of a workshop, where a range of activities, tours and discussions are woven around the central theme of conservation and sustainable living. We provide tea and biscuits, they bring a picnic lunch and there is a lot of intense exchange. There are increasing numbers of organic farmers and groups working with farmers who visit us as farming and self sufficiency are among the primary concerns at the Sanctuary. We try to farm the 'natural systems' way where the forest is the model and our lessons from forest ecology and plant biology are applied to food crops. The goal is to maximise diversity and productivity using successional and seasonal dynamics. Such workshops are very practical and involve detailed discussions on farming, agro-ecology, plant diseases and the economics of it all.
There are workshop type engagements with large school groups as well. A number of NGOs are working regionally with environmental science for school kids. We collaborate with them and use the land, plants and animals to demonstrate and explore questions in ecology with the very young.
Most of these children would have grown up in a similar landscape and have intuitive and experiential knowledge of different crop plants, soils, wildlife and the climate. However, for a large number it is still a first time contact with the primary ecosystem of the place. Our local kids are very comfortable with the outdoor environment and yet their eyes are conditioned to lemon grass hills, tea plantations, and increasingly few traditional home farms. Their familiarity with local regional environmental issues brings a kind of schizophrenic element; they know very well the problems of soil erosion and water loss, the dangers of chemical intensive farming, the heating up of the environment, and on the other hand they are vulnerable to the burgeoning mindset that values the so called benefits of modern development and cash economies, which are intolerant of native cultures and ecosystems. To these children the forest looks messy, wild and dense, and full of dangerous animals like leeches and elephants! (something you could nicely replace with orderly tea slopes and areca nut plantations).
Thus a great deal of time, during local schools' visits, is spent in looking at and discussing the forest world and exploring the feelings and impressions it arouses in their minds. And this is done through a playful exploration of plants, an excited and eager rediscovery of their native landscape and wild community. Common themes that come up include: beauty, gardening with nature, uses of plants, and the role of wildlife.
Working in Partnership with Neighbours
The Sanctuary's intertwined relationship with the neighbourhood allows for an exchange or flow at many levels constantly (labour, services and support). Virtually all the older people in the neighbourhood have at some point or the other worked at the Sanctuary over the last twenty years and this makes the work very locally rooted. Most significantly, the main garden staff for over ten years have been directed and trained by two remarkable young women who have themselves grown into inspired conservationists and highly competent gardeners. They are from the very immediate locality and are part of the core team that shares responsibility for the place. In addition we hold annual festivities which involve the whole neighbourhood. These ritually honour the forest, the earth and the elements followed by a feast for all which is a kind of a remembrance and thank you to powers and forces that have sustained the human community.
Residential Programmes with Regional Schools
I will now focus upon our residential programmes with regional schools, significantly one or two schools with whom we have jointly developed the whole concept of 'School in the Forest'. This term is in part derived from the title 'Gurukula' and is very much the original inspiration under which the place was founded, as a forest retreat and a place of learning.
In ancient India students went to live in the homes of their teachers which were usually in remote quiet places, perhaps in the woods. In this quiet and conducive natural setting, significant disciplines were explored through the act of living and learning together. In our case the Gurukula, or the 'house of the teacher', includes the forest, the garden with its colourful assemblage of plants and animals, the river, the monsoon climate and also the community of humans in which children and adults can live, participate and share responsibilities for varying lengths of time. Thus, community life at the Sanctuary involves the daily care of other living beings and a consistent and playful enquiry about the wild natural community of which people are a part. Children have come to the Sanctuary and made the place their home and a very critical aspect of all this is that they learn to listen and look and take great interest in the various creatures they share their daily space with.
The main intent of 'The School in the Forest' programmes is to provide a diverse and challenging exposure to a way of life that is intimate with nature and natural processes. The stay at the Sanctuary involves a number of different and complementary aspects. Attention is given to the quality of the whole day, from dawn to dusk, rhythms of other living beings, chores and jobs around the garden and kitchen, quiet contemplative moments, health and physical activity (swimming, tree climbing, outdoor forest games etc), investigation and discussion. Usually, children join in with little or no resistance, especially on their second or third visits by which time they have overcome their initial inhibitions with nature and also established a rapport with the residents and the place itself.
One reason why we have welcomed these residential programmes is that working, functioning and living in nature demand an alertness of the senses and the ability to look continually and afresh at what is going on around one. We feel it is of critical importance for youngsters to develop a different relationship with the natural world and this process requires time. Nature moves in unpredictable ways, never static, always new, revealing deeper patterns and principles. To engage fully with this invites looking and listening, an agile body and a quiet, non-judgemental and yet intensely alert mind. This takes time to develop and most kids, whatever their background, come upon this slowly if given time, some playful guidance and space. All of this is of value, wherever one is; in manual work, play, academic study, human relationship or travel. Our thesis is this; that the loss of such qualities is part of the severance of the connection between humanity and wild nature.
Creating a Space for Learning and Discovery
We have been wondering if it is possible to draw out young people's inherent sensitivity and readiness to look and learn through observation of, and participation in, nature. Awakening the most primary mode of learning (i.e. direct experience and first hand awareness) is too often ignored in education, especially as the child grows older. Contact with the primary gets progressively shaded out as abstract learning takes over, too early in our opinion and often with detrimental results. This may be one factor leading to disconnected, disoriented uprooted youngsters with no sympathy for their immediate environment or for things and people. We thus attempt to create a space for learning that allows for the discovery of something new and fresh, of spontaneous perception, engagement and enquiry as can indeed happen when immersed in nature and natural processes, even for short periods of time. We don't begin by giving them lots of knowledge and information, rather we take them out first and then let perception and understanding blossom into compassion, action and applicable knowledge.
This 'back to nature' form of learning has a second component that is of great relevance too. Making sense of the world around, communication, raising questions and articulating one's observations and concerns are all critical aspects of learning. Seeing connections and reflecting upon them, expanding the capacity of the brain by allowing its very different intelligences to flower all help to generate a connection to the earth. There are so many fascinating dimensions to explore with the children as their own windows open: heightened awareness, body-kinaesthetic abilities, interpersonal skills, linguistic and intellectual abilities, as well as aesthetic and artistic sensibilities.
If direct experience is woven together with sharing and reflecting and enquiry it brings about good science. This is really to do with being very close to your subject, so close that you suspend your own judgement and watch, free of ideation and pre-conceived assumptions of the subject (be it the river habitat, or the bird community, or the plant) until it tells you its story. This becomes extraordinarily intimate, if given time and space, and this intimacy with creation in its vaster aspects or its more minute details has the possibility to bring about a truer and more active compassion.
If you add to this the incentive that children feel when they are active participants in research, (they are assisting and enabling the work of the Sanctuary to continue by bringing in their observations and questions), then the zest for nature study doubles. They are not to be underestimated in their acuity of perception or in their abilities. So, if you want to undertake a study of ants or birds for example, just invite a whole bunch of kids to help you widen and deepen the pool of knowledge of local natural history. The kids become your extended eyes and ears, assistants and junior scientists in a joint exploration and discovery of the natural world.
Thus, the understanding of nature needs a direct involvement, in whatever way, and it can happen in city parks, within a home garden, or trips out to the wilderness. But what is essential is the building up of care, involvement, curiosity, activity and responsibility over time, which begins with a slow tuning in to the cycles and rhythms of the natural world.
Does observation really bring about learning? People differ in their opinions about this, especially about the usefulness of such learning and especially in a world that is dominated by the intellect and where individuals, even in rural areas, are subject to bits of information that trickle down to them third hand and bear no relevance to their immediate world. We believe we have not even touched upon the potential of direct observation, which we suspect is vast, especially for the very young. The trend is to fill them up with colourful books and hi-tech films on nature very quickly and the electronic, virtual or printed media becomes the only gateway to the vital, dynamic, rich and beautiful world. Rather, can the young mind be awakened to the muse of the forest, the incredible complexity of tropical life, the fragility of this ancient ecosystem and the fact that there is no separation between humans and nature? And, once initiated can this connection be sustained?
By observation so far I have been including the action and involvement of all the senses. The senses are a fundamental component to our earth bound existence and to us as physical beings. It is through the senses that we relate to the world at large. Looking, listening, touching, tasting, smelling - by bringing these together through games, activities, explorations it opens the doorway into a different and more integrated mode of functioning. This seems to give children a degree of self confidence, self awareness and also a boost to their natural liveliness and spontaneity.
Our main focus has always been on the local outreach programmes and so our residential programmes grew quite organically - slowly, bit by bit, over time. We never had the idea that it could build into anything significant as most schools are ready to send their kids away on trips for a few days at the most, and at best so far as we have seen this turns out to be an enjoyable experience.
Taking the Initiative
However, one school took the initiative because a few of the teachers were very struck by the beauty of the forest and the possibility that children could develop a more caring relationship with the environment. In 1993, the Centre for Learning asked if they could send some 10 students, around 13 years of age, to the Sanctuary for three weeks. They came along with books, teachers and homework, so that they wouldn't miss out on their regular curriculum and we essentially provided a kind of a physical support structure and took them on walks and gave small garden projects to the interested ones. At first we had to deal with quite a lot of reluctance and fear; the leeches, the immersion in wildness, the lack of physical conveniences (we have no electricity or television) and the sheer overpowering effect of it all. Still it went reasonably well, so they came again the next year.
This time all their old inhibitions were gone and they were much more active around the place. They started taking responsibility, becoming easily involved in kitchen and garden chores. The third time round, we decided to run a pilot project with them. This focussed on sense-based learning and the students took to it well. Each had a specific topic they wished to study: one chap followed a colony of red ants, another looked at purple sunbirds, a third looked at one tree and all the animals and birds that came around to the tree, a fourth compared different spots in the river and a fifth investigated rhythms of activity in the main garden area and so on. They were out looking and watching for several hours a day. From the programme some lovely documents were developed: log books, stories, caricatures, tables, and illustrations. These were very different representations of natural phenomena, but all valid and rooted in the perceived and perceptual field.
This was so exciting that the school sent its 11 years olds the following year for a one month stay and we studied the bird life of the Sanctuary. The same process ensued. On another visit fifteen year olds came and looked at ants. We took their work into the entomology lab of Centre for Ecological Sciences in Bangalore and were told that this was excellent science and that all observations were valid and relevant and the only thing we had to ensure was that we didn't mix up species, which is quite difficult to do with ants! This led to further projects on insects in general: the different orders, their peculiar life habits and cycles, habitats, movements and so on.
Finally the oldest students at the school were sent for a three month immersion in simple living. They built their own thatch hut, managed and took care of a piece of land, did lots of natural history observations and some craft work (as they made their own mats and tools and ladles). Into this physical land based natural context, were woven daily lessons in ecology, globalisation, environmental and personal health, questions in careers and sustainable livelihood, the relationship between self and society, energy issues and farming.
The Commitment Spreads
Lest you assume that all this is happening with only one school, I'd like to add that although it took one school to develop the whole programme of nature education to such a comprehensive and sustained depth, the relevance of it has been picked up by other schools who are now ready to send their children on similar programmes. In the last year, four other schools so far have participated in our residential 'School in the Forest' programmes. This year a school for children with disabilities has asked to come, as well as an NGO working with village youth and a rural school. Being small we can handle only certain numbers. In addition, as the programmes are so intensive they can only really be conducted with a maximum of 10 -15 kids at a time. However, it is very encouraging that increasingly, schools in south India are seeing the relevance of this kind of learning, particularly as they are able to use it back home in different ways; especially schools that are really serious about the environmental crisis. The relevance they see is that in such a learning situation conservation is not an abstract idea, but rather a daily living reality through the care and interaction with other life forms and that this brings about a dynamic involvement with the environment.
Working with all these different individuals and groups (local, regional, young, old, on day visits or longer stays) through all these years has brought about an enthusiastic and creative spirit of learning, care and common ownership of the Sanctuary. Children turn up on holidays with parents and friends in tow and introduce them to environmental issues. There is a slow but definite multiplier effect. Young gardeners and budding ecologists, teachers, farmers and travellers, not only take away with them this sense of a marvellous, beautiful and vital world needing care and responsible participation from its human members, but they also bring with them a joy and enthusiasm that nourishes the place itself. In a world that is otherwise directed by the intellect and subject to unnatural and unsustainable pressures of being, there are few opportunities to explore a more basic and spontaneous mode of living. This tragically and inexorably leads to separation from other people, the environment, society and even oneself. It is this fragmentation and separation that we seek to address through the work with nature and young people at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary.
L'École Dans la Forêts - Education des Jeunes à la Réserve Botanique de Gurukula
La Réserve Botanique de Gurukula (GBS) est un petit jardin botanique isolé dans la forêt tropicale humide du Kerala, en Inde, dont la mission est la conservation et l'éducation. Elle travaille principalement avec des espèces locales, des moyens techniques simples et les populations locales. Son objectif est de générer et de soutenir un mode de vie sensible à l'environnement naturel. Environ 2000 visiteurs sont accueillis chaque année, surtout originaires de la région. Le GBS, avec sa flore colorée et ses hôtes animaux, est une excellente ressource pour l'éducation des enfants et mais aussi des adultes sur la biodiversité de leur région et la nécessité urgente de la conserver. A travers des études, des jeux et des animations, aussi bien que des activités mettant en jeu les 5 sens, on espère que le jeune public développe un plus grand intérêt et se sente concerné par la forêt et ses habitants. Ainsi, la conservation n'est pas une idée abstraite dans la mesure où il est possible de vivre et de ressentir les rapports entre les différents organismes et leur environnement comme une réalité vivante quotidienne.
Aula en el Bosque – Educando a Los Jovenes en el Santuario Botánico de Gurukula
El Santuario Botánico de Gurukula (SBG) es un pequeño y remoto jardín botánico dentro de los bosques humedos tropicales de Karala, India, que está dedicado a la conservación y a la educación. En la mayor parte se trabaja con especies autóctonas, baja tecnología y con la población local; el énfasis es el generar y sostener una forma de vida que es sensible a la naturaleza. Varios miles de personas visitan el jardín al año, la mayoría procedentes del entorno. El SBG con sus variados habitantes vegetales y animales, es un excelente recurso para educar, tanto a niños como adultos, sobre la biodiversidad de la región y la urgente necesidad de conservarla. A través del estudio, el juego y la participación, y de actividades que utilizan todos los sentidos, se espera que los jovenes desarrollen un interés mas profundo y una preocupación por el bosque y sus comunidades naturales. La conservación no es una idea abstracta en esta situación donde es posible sentir y disfrutar de la conección entre los diferentes seres vivos y su medio ambiente como una realidad viva diaria.


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SamGold needed a new stationery design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 58 designs submitted by 16 freelance designers.
Gold Recruitment Pty Ltd - http://www.recruit4gold.com
We are fast becoming one of Australia's leading Recruitment company's - our brand is strong, trusting, hardworking and professional. We are also not boring, and so I want to see something that if it is sitting on someone 's desk, it will make people want to pick it up... A few things about our brand that I feel people respond well to. The faded Kangaroo, this very Australian and familar, so it has the feeling the company has been around for a long time. The name GOLD is also a feeling of security , success and money. the other thing is the greenish colour used in our logo.. it is very close to the the "army" green in Australia - which also has a familar trusting feel about. So I think these colours need to really stand out. But this is just my thoughts, maybe you will see something else that I dont. Our website is http://www.recruit4gold.com
Professionals in HR is one audience as they are are clients, so this needs to be very professional. Our other audience is our candidates, and they are mostly men, so it needs to be sharp, strong and to the point. The final thing about our market, is that they are all very busy people, so the it needs to be really simple and easy, if it looks too busy - it will have the perception that the document will take too long to read. So strong and simple I feel.
I need 3 things - 1) a template that we can place various forms into, the type of form will include Terms of Business, Performance Reviews, and general company forms .. and so on. 2) I need a simple letterhead page 3) A On-Hire Casual Employee Handbook is the title of the handbook , so for this I need a front cover, and a template for the handbook ie: 1 front cover, and the rest of the pages to have just header and footer. They will need to be provided in Word format, so we can work with them. They will need to have bleeds on them for printing purposes.


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Hand Dyed Jobelan - Sandstone
DYED TO ORDER: Please allow up to 4 weeks to ship.
Hand dyed evenweave fabric by Colour and Cotton.
Please be aware that fabric cuts shrink during the dyeing process, but the stitch count remains the same.
Colorfast and lightfast. Your fabric arrives pressed and serged with finished edges.
Every effort is made to accurately represent the actual color of the fabric, but different monitors may show variations in color. Each piece of fabric is unique and mottling may from the photo shown.
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text:
ONS Geography produces two key postcode products – National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL) and the ONS Postcode Directory (ONSPD) - that are used by a variety of customers, including central and local government, private industry and academia.
National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL)
The NSPL should be used by producers of National Statistics to allocate their source statistics at postcode level to a wide range of higher geographies.
The NSPL does this by allocating UK postcodes to output areas (OA) using the same methodology as that for the ONSPD. These OAs are then referenced to a wide range of higher geographies, for example local authorities, by a best-fit methodology that uses census population data.
Two NSPL versions are currently available - one based on 2001 Census output areas and one based on 2011 Census output areas. Both are included in the NSPL download.
The methodology used within the NSPL to allocate postcodes to higher geographies is different from that used in the ONSPD. For further information see 'Which postcode product should I use?' section further down the page.
This product supports the Geography Policy for National Statistics, see 'Downloads' section for more details
ONS Postcode Directory (ONSPD)
The ONSPD is a key ONS Geography product and is used by a variety of customers, including central and local government, private industry and academia
The ONSPD is a Gridlink® branded product that pulls together data from members of the Gridlink® Consortium (Royal Mail, Ordnance Survey, National Records of Scotland, Land & Property Services (Northern Ireland) and ONS).
It links all current and terminated UK postcodes to the administrative, health and other geographic areas in which each postcode falls.
Users should note that postcodes that straddle two geographic areas will be assigned to the area where the mean grid reference of all the addresses within the postcode falls.
Which postcode product should I use?
An explanation of the differences between the NSPL / ONSPD to assist with deciding which product suits your requirements.
Product details
The ONSPD and NSPL are available with grid references at 1 metre resolution with UK coverage.
Information on the latest postcode changes is available on the Royal Mail website.
Postcode products are released quarterly in February, May, August and November and are available to download, free of charge, from the Open Geography portal.
For licensing details please see 'Related Links'
Postcode products are provided in all the following formats: TXT, CSV DBF, MDB and multi-csv.
TXT - fixed record length with no text qualifiers.
CSV - Variable record length with data items delimited by commas and qualified with double quotes.
DBF - Dbase IV format data, with column headings
MDB - MS Access 2000
Multi-csv - one file per postcode area (for ease of use in commercial spreadsheet packages)
Version Notes and a User Guide provides comprehensive information about the products and are included with the data.
Availability and cost
Products are available as a zipped download free of charge, or by special request on disk at a cost of £50 + VAT per CD / DVD in line with the ONS charging policy.


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These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.
Are Women Really Less Corrupt Than Men?
"Will electing more women to office make governments less corrupt? One new paper suggests in might—but the reason for that is not necessarily encouraging.
Previous research has suggested an association between a politician's gender and their likelihood to engage in corrupt behavior. A World Bank study from 2001, for instance, found that "one standard deviation increase in [female participation in government] will result in a decline in corruption... of 20 percent of a standard deviation". This perception has been behind some well-publicized campaigns, such as Mexico City's plan to employ all-female traffic cops in some areas." READ MORE
Freedom Eludes African Media
Al Jazeera
"The African Media Forum organised by the African Media Initiative concluded this week in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The event brought together prominent journalists, media managers and owners from across the continent. Yet at a time, cases of media rights violations are on the increase in Eastern Africa, press freedom was not on top of the conference agenda.
Instead the gathering's core focus was on business development, technology innovation and leadership and ethics." READ MORE
2013 Awards Dinner
International Center for Journalists
"On Nov. 7, nearly 600 people gathered for ICFJ's annual Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C., with Wolf Blitzer, CNN lead political anchor, as master of ceremonies.
New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof said investing in international reporting is one of the most "cost-effective and reliable ways" to bring good governance "to countries that desperately need it," in the evening's keynote address. Watch the video." READ MORE
What works in development finance: a new blog series invites cutting edge commentary
Development Progress
"The debate is hotting up on what, exactly, will follow the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But one thing is certain about the future post-2015 goals – without money they will remain just words on paper.
After the declaration of the MDGs in the historic Millennium Summit, countries gathered in Monterrey in 2002 to agree a financing consensus that was impressive in the range of issues it tried to tackle, emphasising the need to move well 'beyond aid'. It covered areas as diverse as domestic financial resources, foreign direct investment, international trade, external debt and systemic issues in the international monetary, financial and trading systems and touched on the now commonly recognised problems of tax evasion and illicit capital flight." READ MORE
A local democratic deficit – SMS polling to the rescue?
Europe and CIS
"Armenian public decision-making has typically been marked by distrust and low engagement, despite having access to the necessary legal framework and institutions.
Recently, though, there have been signs of greater civic activism and trust in local authorities.
According to data from the Caucasus Barometer, local governments had the third highest public trust rating in 2012 (after religious institutions and the army), whereas they were rated 14th in 2011." READ MORE
African tech startups aim to power growing economies
"When Abasiama Idaresit started a digital marketing firm in Nigeria's bustling economic capital three years ago, he quickly learned how brutal life can be in a market where tech startups are in their infancy.
No-one would lend him money to hire staff or pay for office space, so Idaresit spent eight months hustling the streets of Lagos, trying to convince clients his plan to help them develop online campaigns was a winner." READ MORE
Follow PublicSphereWB on Twitter
Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomite


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Monday, June 25, 2018
The Sattalites @ The Orbit Room, Toronto, ON - Tues June 26th!
The Sattalites are Toronto Reggae Legends. They came together over twenty years ago in Toronto, Ontario as a music school; from then they have flourished across Canada as a very influential reggae group. The worldly vibe that they emit comes from a wide variety of instruments and vocals and their peaceful attitude towards life. The Sattalites are a very well-rounded musical group instrumentally. There are seven members who are almost all multi-instrumentalists, working together to create the smooth and unique sound for which they are known.
Cover: $10.00
Location: The Orbit Room, 580A College St., Toronto, ON
Time: 10p
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by Reinel Campa, MAOM Student + Video Producer
In the video below, an amazing East Coast indie she-musician goddess, Joan Wasser, talks about her creative process. Joan as Police Woman (as she calls herself) is an inspiration, a muse, a mentor. Her cool style and relaxed demeanor are interesting and familiar. In the video she describes how she directs her musical project to a certain point and then lets the 'experts' she trusts be themselves with it. She doesn't even let her musicians hear her work beforehand. She's not controlling them, she is trusting them.
I see the way I work represented in her style. As a video producer, I always accepted that I wasn't strong in all areas and tried to work with others to my advantage. I still want that — to be able to do just one thing strongly and work collaboratively with others. I like when no one feels controlled; we all trust one another.
This reminds me of one actual experience: the making of "Billionaire Pleasures." We thought this 24-hour film contest at work was intended to help certain individuals get along, but it turned into a revelation. We actually worked well together when we wanted to! (AND MADE AWESOME VIDEOS!)
Our team won that day. Credit is due to the hilarious and daring script by Scott Chema, but ultimately, I think our team won because we trusted each other and collaborated.
- With that team, I took risks: I did a 'sexy' scene with Scott, even though I was hesitant. Actually, everyone took a risk by sharing roles. For each scene, one person would act, one person would shoot, and one person direct, and then we would switch. It could've gone terribly wrong, but… it didn't. Not at all.
- I trusted my gut: After our first meeting, we had a lot to do, so I assigned tasks to everyone. An hour later, we had props, locations, cast assignments, and a typed-out script, scene by scene. From then on, anything anyone suggested was a good enough option for me!
- And I was myself: I was suddenly empowered by my team to think about the stuff I was good at and cared about because they were there to pick up the slack. I was being creative.
I think finding these 'key players' in your life is an essential goal. We look for these people in our personal lives, our work lives… the better you are at it, I think the more success, happiness, and well being you will have.
In the last couple of years I have been working on creating that dynamic with my family because, well, family stays family. Now that it's time to find a career, identifying my key players for work is a must. Because if I can recreate the feeling that "Billionaire Pleasures" gave me, I will feel that I have made it "there."
Guest Blogger Reinel Campa is a student in the M.A. in Organizational Management program at Antioch University Los Angeles. For the last five years she has produced video content for live music performances, behind the scenes coverage, red carpet premieres, and original show concepts. You can read more of Reinel's work on her blog, Night and Rei.


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Graveside services for J. R. Sims, Jr., age 84 of Mount Vernon, were at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010 at Smyna Cemetery with Bro. Jim Crittenden officiating.
Mr. Sims was born Sept. 11, 1926 in Windom, Tex., to John R. Sims and Noreen Ford. He was married to Ruthie Ann Sims. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the Merchant Marines and during the Korean War. He served in the U. S. Air Force and previously owned a cattle sale barn in Mount Vernon and an auto auction in Sulphur Springs. He was a retired cattle buyer and a member of the Cornerstone Church in Mount Vernon.
He died Saturday, Oct. 9 in Mount Vernon. He was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his wife, Ann Sims of Mount Vernon; a son, Rex Winkle and his wife, Cindy of Winnsboro; a daughter, Kim Scott of Winnsboro; six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.


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Seattle Favorite Mealfrog to Perform at Poverty Bay Wine Festival March 2
Our friends at the Poverty Bay Wine Festival tell us they are "thrilled" to have Seattle based band Mealfrog perform on Saturday, March 2nd at 4:30 p.m. at the Landmark on the Sound Event Center in Des Moines.
Mealfrog is a six member band formed in 2008 The band explores many genres in their music from reggae, rock, folk, funk, to acoustic.
During an recent interview in August 2012 with Nicolas Mirabelli, a writer for Chic Galleria, an online Fashion and Lifestyle magazine, the band was asked if the Seattle Music Scene inspired their music. Band lead Jason Riemath replied:
"Absolutely, it's impossible for it not too. Living here our whole lives, we have been hearing about the grunge scene, Jimmy, the EMP right next to the Space Needle to remind everyone about the music scene that really made Seattle the place for music. Venues like the Crocodile, Tractor, The Comet, Neumos, The Paramount, Showbox, Danny's Pup, The Vogue…another list that could go on and on where you could see bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, and Mudhoney."
Mealfrog is also inspired through a joint love for bands like Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, The Zac Brown Band and many others. This certainly rings true when you listen to their albums or hear them perform live.
The group's passion for music is evident. When asked about their love for music, Riemath stated:
"I think we all have always had that inner tractor beam pulling us to music. I know that's a typical answer but you just are. It's that weird tingly feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, like an athlete gets when they watch an amazing documentary on sports, or how a new doctor gets excited while watching a complicated surgery. You have that inner feeling that just says, "I have to do this", "I don't care what it takes", and "I will make this happen". When you get that feeling, don't ignore it, embrace it and it will lead you to some amazing discoveries about yourself."
The band recently released a new music video entitled "Hey Girl" which can be viewed below.
With Mealfrogs faithful fan-base rapidly expanding and the group's resume continuing to build, the buzz for this band is tangible in the northwest and primed to grow into something special. Come see for yourself.
The complete entertainment line up can be found on http://www.dmrotary.org/winefestival.php.
Tickets for the Poverty Bay Wine Festival are on sale now – $25.00 in advance and $30.00 at the door. Major Sponsors of the event are Powell Homes, Landmark on the Sound Event Center, The Waterland Blog, Warm 106.9 and Click 98.9.
To purchase tickets please visit www.dmrotary.org.


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Made to perfectly fit our Montego lounge chair, these outdoor cushions add color and comfort. A water-repellent wrap around the high-resiliency foam seat and fiber-filled back helps keep cushions drier in rainy conditions. Plus, the zippered Sunbrella® covers resist fading and stains and are machine washable.See the full Montego collection
Details of Montego Cushions for 32" Lounge Chair
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- Fabric Description: With a smooth, tight weave, Sunbrella® Canvas is the perfect backdrop for a wide range of striking colors. Solution-dyed acrylic yarns make this fabric easy to clean and fade-resistant. A great solution for outdoor spaces, kids' rooms and family-friendly furniture.
- Fabric: Sunbrella® Canvas charcoal
- Fabric Content: 100% Sunbrella acrylic
- Colors may vary depending on your monitor and printer. For color accuracy, request a swatch.
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"My goal with this project is to create striking juxtapositions between the ruins of modern civilization and a futuristic ecological utopia."
Brooklyn-based artist/illustrator Nick Pedersen -whom we featured in the 6th installment of our limited edition book series– recently finished a new batch of work entitled Ultima. The loosely narrative series depicts a post-apocalyptic environment in which conflicts between modern and early cultures, and man and the natural world are given prominent attention. In the world that Pedersen has conjured, overgrown cities (though absent of their typical, busy inhabitants) are full of life. The lush, green environments project a vibrancy that's really appealing. But the digital works have their quiet aspects too- deer slowly pick their way through the brush; and stoic, masked tribesmen explore their bizarre surroundings. Check out more images from Ultima after the jump.


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In the U.S., the discussion on climate change has been slow in coming, with most folks all the way up to President George W. Bush saying that hotter summers, colder winters and harsher hurricane seasons are part of the planet's natural cycle.
In Europe, however, the last couple of years have seen the discussion of climate change go from the scientists' realm to everyday conversation at the dinner table. And now in the United Kingdom (UK), tackling climate change is a topic as important to the agricultural community as feed and equipment prices.
In December, the UK's National Farmers Union (NFU) teamed up with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to survey 385 of its members on their views about climate change. Astonishingly, 60% of farmers surveyed said climate change was already affecting them and 70% said climate change would affect them in the next 10 years.
The question then became: So what do we do about it?
To raise awareness, NFU and various partners got together to educate farmers and producers on climate change. They've published 14 fact sheets that explain everything from the basics of climate change to how it will affect weather patterns; from how climate change will affect agriculture directly to suggestions for individual operations — from beef producers to dairy farmers, horticulturalists to cereal farmers.
Of those surveyed, more than 60% say climate change will create opportunities for their operations and 72% claim to already be taking steps to combat climate change on heir farm.
"It's not just global warming that's having an impact. It's a whole range of climate issues — from water availability to temperature variances — that will have an impact on productivity of all agriculture," says NFU livestock advisor Alastair Johnston.
Climate change and you
In the UK, agriculture accounts for 7% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, which are said to be the leading cause of climate change. Most of the talk outside the agricultural sphere is about carbon emissions, something most commonly associated with cars. That's what has led to the sudden introduction of biofuels and flex-fuel cars, trucks and buses and booming ethanol production in the midwestern U.S.
But agriculture's impacts on climate change are different. Rather than carbon emissions, it's methane and nitrous oxide that bear watching. In fact, the NFU says UK agriculture accounts for 39% of the country's methane emissions and 57% of its nitrous oxide emissions, but only 1% of its carbon emissions.
"In mainstream media and among government spokespeople, there's no hesitation in pointing the finger at ruminants as greenhouse gas emitters," says Duncan Pullar, cattle and sheep industry development manager at UK's Meat and Livestock commission (MLC). MLC works with the British meat and livestock industry to improve its efficiency, competitive position and marketing prospects. Its work is funded through checkoffs collected on sheep, pigs and cattle slaughtered for human consumption or exported live.
He adds that methane emissions per kilogram of beef produced has come down significantly over the last 20-30 years, and by 15% in just the last 10 years. Now MLC is undertaking a major study exploring the "life-cycle analysis" of beef production in the UK. It's looking to see how much carbon and other greenhouse gases are released into the air for every kilogram of beef produced. It will compare UK emissions from beef production to their South American and North American counterparts.
Johnston says "food miles," or how far a product has traveled from where it's grown to where it's consumed, is becoming a major issue. It may be cheaper to buy beef from Brazil, but the distance the beef has traveled from the farm to the plate can be measured in the carbon released into the atmosphere during the journey.
"It may be more expensive to buy beef from someone down the road, but it's obviously better for the environment in terms of food miles," he says.
NFU fact sheets on climate change explain how average temps will rise 1.5 to 5°C. over the next century, depending on what greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere in the next few years. Warmer temps aren't necessarily bad, but producers need to be aware of what it means — hotter, drier summers and colder, wetter winters, more droughts, fewer frosts or cold spells, and more extreme weather.
For farmers and producers, it generally means longer growing periods. In the UK, growing periods by the year 2080 will increase by at least 30 days in the north near Scotland and may increase by as much as 90 days in the south, around Cornwall and Kent. Longer growing periods could mean more cropping, so lower feed costs. Feed costs will also go down as more farmers switch to producing biodiesel from canola, meaning much more meal on the market.
Longer growing seasons also mean more grass availability and longer grazing periods, but there's also the question of how to manage water. Even now, cities in the UK have to ration water as early as March, a practice that likely will spread to rural areas as the years go on.
"This year in the UK, there was a lot of rain and now warmer weather, so there's a lot of grass. That's good for feed costs, but then there's the question of finding rentable grazing areas as well as the impact on your food miles," Johnston says.
Water availability may affect what animal producers raise in the future as well, he says. For example, since sheep consume most of their water from the plants they eat, they will be a better fit for areas of less water availability than a cow-calf pair. If that becomes the case, it will then be up to producers to explain to consumers how raising lamb is better for the local environment than beef.
Hotter summers and colder winters may also mean that forage species will change. If producers aren't paying close enough attention to the feed mix in their own pastures, they may find their herds aren't getting the protein or mineral content they assumed they were. By closely monitoring grazing areas on a summer-by-summer basis, the NFU suggests producers will be better able to supplement their herds before health issues arise or productivity decreases. In areas where summers are getting hotter, monitoring animals for heat stress may also be necessary.
Take at look at your genetics as well, because NFU says producers may need to introduce breeds better able to adjust to extreme weather changes or more suitable for hotter, drier areas. NFU has even gone so far as to suggest looking at breeds that produce less methane so your herd's direct impact on climate change itself is reduced.
Johnston says consumer demand may also change with warming. In warmer climates, the demand for red meat is lower, while demand for white meat and fish goes up. The reverse can be said for places where the weather gets cooler. What's important, he says, is making sure the industry stays at a critical mass so it can adjust to consumer demand.
Carefully analyzing your feed mix could also go a long way to reducing methane as well. Pullar says the MLC has commissioned a study on nutritional management to determine which animal diets produce less methane.
As once-dry areas become wet, and colder areas become hotter, pests and diseases will adapt, as well — probably more quickly than herds or managers can keep up. Pullar cites a perfect example of last year's outbreak of bluetongue virus in the Netherlands. The disease traditionally is only found in the Mediterranean region, but as global temps rise and regions warm, these kinds of new outbreaks are more likely to happen.
"We've been debating climate change internally for about two years, and first commissioned related work about a year ago. Tackling climate change is now a recognized part of MLC policy. It's in the consciousness now and is a recognized thought process in everything we do," Pullar says.
Meghan Sapp is an American freelance writer based in Brussels, Belgium.
The UK handbook
Here are some effects of warming temperatures on UK cattle production, and some remedies, as provided by Farming Futures (www.farmingfutures.org.uk) is a collaboration between the National Farmers Union, Country Land and Business Association and the Applied Research Forum (representing the agricultural and horticultural checkoff boards).
Reduced appetite due to heat stress may limit performance (e.g., reduced body condition and fertility problems).
Changes in grassland species may change forage plant communities.
Potential increase in the length of disease seasons and introduction of new pests and diseases may increase veterinary and medicine costs.
Feed composition may need altering to meet changing nutritional requirements if appetites are reduced due to hot weather.
Potentially less forage available in some regions due to limited water and heat stress on plants.
Improve grazing management to reduce soil erosion. Protect vegetation to maintain carbon storage capacity by ensuring constant ground cover with productive grass or forage.
Selective animal breeding for disease resistance, methane emissions and production efficiency (e.g., growth rates and carcass traits).
Select animals better suited to changing climates, while maintaining production levels and optimizing feed costs.
Collect rainwater for use as animal drinking water during dry periods.


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UPDATED – Lip Swatches added!
So I mentioned the other day that in a pool of misery I made a trip to Chanel. Here are the shades of the Rouge Allure Laque Lip Glosses which are supposed to last like lipticks:
I got ming and mandarin.
These are lovely but sooooooo expensive ; £22.50!!!
I'm not so keen on the black packaging as it gets finger marks on it easily and also, you can't see the colour. the clear tubes you get with the testers is better I think:
Ming is the light pink and is just STUNNING STUNNING STUNNING. A perfect lip colour and I love it.
The colours are very pigmented and thick – yes you can wear them sheer though so it's not too scary but they certainly aren't sheer glosses.
As for how well they last – the answer is better than your average gloss but not as long as 8 hours or a proper lipstick. It didn't survive a meal (it left a light stain) I would say it would look good for 4 hours if you ate and drank nothing. Nevertheless it's a really nice product typical of Chanel. Ming is a must have I tell ya – its stunning!
The lady gave me a card too with the Chanel No. 5 scent on it:
I tell ya, I have never got Chanel No.5 I always thought it smelt old and overly strong. But as I've been carrying this card around, having a soft waft of no.5 I suddenly got it – the soft frangrance, the soft smell of meadows, the elegance. I just got it. Now, I want it.


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The April 28 to May 5 Newport Beach Film Festival promises to be the biggest in the event's 12-year history, drawing some 400 films from 47 countries.
And because of construction in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa will for the first time play a leading role.
Due to the remodeling of Edwards Island Cinemas, about 70% to 80% of the festival's screenings will take place at the Starlight Triangle Square Cinemas, Todd Quartararo, the festival co-founder, said Thursday.
"It's still the same great program and the same great offering of 400-plus films," Quartararo said, adding that more of the festival's post-events will be at Fashion Island and Lido Village to keep the focus on Newport Beach.
Though screenings have taken place at Regency South Coast Village Theatres across Costa Mesa city limits in Santa Ana, this will be the first time Costa Mesa theaters participate in earnest.
In addition to Triangle Square, screenings will also be at Edwards Big Newport Cinemas, the Regency Lido Theatre and Sage Hill School in Newport Coast.
The world premier of "East Fifth Bliss," a comedy starring Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu, Peter Fonda, Chris Messina, Brie Larson, Brad William Henke and Sarah Shahi, will serve as the opening night premiere at the 1,000-seat Big Newport. In the film, Hall plays an aimless man in his mid-30s with dreams of traveling but not job to make it happen.
The festival's Opening Night Gala will be staged at Fashion Island, as it was last year, in the Bloomingdale's courtyard.
The festival will close, perhaps aptly because of the title, on May 5 with "A Beginner's Guide to Endings," starring Harvey Keitel, Scott Caan and J.K. Simmons, at the Lido. The film about a man who is more interested in gambling than fatherhood premiered in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. The screening will be followed by the closing night gala at Lido Village.
There are plans to transform sections of Lido Village into a retail destination tied to the festival with temporary stores. Organizers hope to provide a boost to a retail area that has struggled.
Tickets go on sale Friday, when the entire lineup will be announced online. Organizers said their event is growing in stature, mixing a desirable location, good hotels and shopping, and proximity to Hollywood.
Many of the films on this year's slate could qualify as premieres at many of the world's film festivals, said Gregg Schwenk, festival executive officer and executive director.
"As far as the line-up reflecting the community, we truly have an incredibly strong line-up of films," he said.
Though certainly a theme in past years, this year will also be the first time that a formal music series will be added to the program, Quartararo said.
Six films were chosen from "an incredible inventory," Quartararo said.
Documentaries follow the stories of music notables, such as the Beatles, "Peanuts" composer Vince Guaraldi and punk-rock vocalist Marian Anderson of the Insaints.
The popular action sports series will continue. There will also be a strong international showing, including a series tied to Japan O.C., and spotlights on Asian, Latino, Swedish, French, Irish and Italian films.
More than 51,000 people attended the festival last year with 2,500 booked hotel nights within the city of Newport Beach, Erik Forssell, festival director of programming, confirmed Thursday.
About the same number of moviegoers are expected this year, Quartararo said.
While Quartararo said that the festival will return to the Edward Island Cinemas next year as its main venue, he and the other organizers will continue to consider venues outside the city, including Triangle Square, as the festival grows.
"It's a luxury problem," Quartararo said. "The festival has grown so large that that it has utilized all available venues in Newport Beach. As we continue to grow, we will consider options outside the city limits, but the focus will remain on our home-base, which is Newport Beach."
There are no formal economic impact analysis for this year's festival, but it is believed that it will be a boon to shops, restaurants and hotels.
The average age of festival attendees in the past was 34 with a median household income of $125,000, organizers said.
"There is a significant impact on our community," Quartararo said, "especially with the way our economy is right now."
Tickets start at $12 and $10 for senior and students. To buy tickets and to view the complete festival line-up, visit www. NewportBeachFilmFest.com.


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ROCHESTER, New York -- January 9, 2013 -- Ambrosia Software, Inc. today announced the release of iToner 3, a ground-up rewrite of our popular iToner ringtone & text tone product for the Mac. For a limited time only, it's available exclusively in the Mac App Store for just $4.99 (regular price $9.99).
The changes are as follows:
More information on iToner 3 can be found here:
...or you can grab it immediately from the Mac App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/itoner/id493410663?mt=12
ROCHESTER, New York -- July 23, 2012 -- Ambrosia Software, Inc. today announced the release of EasyEnvelopes for Mac! If you've ever had the pleasure of sending out baby shower, wedding, or party invites, you know how easy it is to print custom envelopes. It's not! That is, until now!
We've taken the key features of our much acclaimed EasyEnvelopes Widget and rolled them into the best envelope application for your OS X, now available in the Mac App Store!
The coding boffins at Ambrosia Software, Inc. have been hard at work on a brand new version of iToner. It's actually not just a new version of iToner, it's a complete rewrite and redesign of the product.
If the gatekeepers at the Mac App Store are agreeable, it'll be available soon. But we could use some beta testers, too!
To all the fans of our franticly mesmerizing game Hypnoblocks for iPad, the addiction has now made it's way to your pocket sized iOS devices! That's right, we are extremely pleased to announce that iPhone and iPod touch users will now have the chance to play our fast action strategy game Hypnoblocks!
"If you like the kinds of mindless games that have you wondering what happened to the last few hours once you start playing, this is an excellent game to try!" -padagadget.com
"I'd bet you it was created for the sole purpose to take advantage of my short attention span and drive to be competitive." - MacStories.net
The universal version is now available on the App Store for the low price of $1.99!
Match blocks as fast as you can for mesmerizing, addictive fun! Use Multi-Touch™ to rotate the gorgeous 3D game field, and tap multiple blocks for combo bonuses. The non-stop action will leave you in a trance!
Full GameCenter™ integration allows you to collect achievements, and compete with other Hypnoblocks players around the world for high scores!
To learn more please visit:
...or you can grab it immediately from the iTunes App Store:
ROCHESTER, New York -- September 9, 2011 -- Ambrosia Software, Inc. today announced the release of Soundboard for iPad, mobile sound cart and mash-up software for your iPad! Soundboard for iPad provides a quick way to enhance your live events, podcasts, or broadcasts with sound clips, effects, or musical accompaniment. Bring your production studio with you on your iPad, just plug it in, and tap away for instant access to all of your audio assets!
Soundboard was designed for live performances - the interface is intuitive at a glance, and in no time triggering your favorite sound effects will be automatic. You have control over each individual sound's volume, as well as master volume and ducking controls at your fingertips.
Check out Soundboard for iPad:
...or you can grab it immediately from the iTunes App Store:
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It took me about four months to get onto five Pearl Harbor rooftops to photograph new SolarWorld arrays there. I wanted our photographer, Fred Joe, to document the installations, partly because I count them among a series of iconic solar projects this year that, to me, herald a dawning solar prime time.
The combined Navy and Air Force Base, now called Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, remains critically strategic in the U.S. military's Pacific theater, and so its public-affairs office seldom permits photos. In fact, the office denied my permit application. In the end, I reached a compromise: A patient public affairs officer would shoot pictures using her camera in consultation with Fred, then screen the shots for security concerns before releasing them to us.
After all the to and fro, I was a little anxious whether, visually, the arrays would warrant all the trouble.
Since visiting the base this spring, however, I don't know why I stressed. The installations total 2.4 megawatts – among the biggest projects on federal property – and blanket several key buildings on one of the nation's most historic sites. Over Memorial Day weekend, I caught a couple of movies depicting the Pearl Harbor attacks. Even with all the pyrotechnics, I know they fall well short of portraying the grievous shock and loss that befell the nation on Dec. 7, 1941.
Considering the scale of the two-wave onslaught, it's a marvel that the original Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) survived unscathed, especially if you consider that the three-story complex is centrally located quite near the shipyards. Also called Paquet Hall, Building 654, (see image at left) the barracks building bears signs that seem to proclaim its defiance: "The first and still the Finest Berthing at Pearl Harbor."
Built in 1927, the U-shaped building (pictured below) embraces a palmed courtyard featuring a swimming pool. In my mind, the park-like serenity contrasted poignantly with the historical backdrop. I could not help imagining the chilling rumble of young soldiers' frantic footfalls on that early Sunday morning in 1941 as they flew down stairwells to try to register what was happening and what to do.
Today, some 1,064 SolarWorld modules cover much of the BEQ in an installation of modern technology that provides another counterpoint to history. Yet, the BEQ project, along with another atop an admiral's headquarters building, are the two smallest new systems.
The Navy Exchange and Navy Commissary – two adjoining but separate buildings that jointly serve as the equivalent of an extra-big-box shopping center – bear systems totaling some 7,100 solar panels. The flat-mounted arrays create light-addled panoramas of converging parallel lines. No single conventional still photograph from the rooftop could capture the impression of the solar latticework.
The rooftops and their parapets are awash in white paint, seeming to concentrate the brilliance. During my visit, the skies were partly cloudy, the sun not yet particularly high in the sky and the temperature only warm, not hot. Yet, the light's intensity was blinding, oppressive. More than at any other solar project I have seen, I had a visceral sense of confronting a technology that was directly harvesting a mother lode of energy. It was not unlike the sense I might have, I think, if I were doing the backstroke in a deep river forcing its way into the turbines of a hydroelectric dam.
The rush of history, the expanse of solar, the wash of sunlight combined to leave me with an impression laden with pride and gratitude – for the U.S. soldiers, yes, but also for the solar pioneers and far-seeing military planners who helped usher us to this project's point at the cusp of a new U.S. energy era.
Fred, who knows from light, also was struck by the overbearing radiance – as well as the sense of time's compression.
"When you're there on the ground, you imagine these quarters and buildings as they were, and it doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to step back in time," Fred says. "Then, when you go straight up a ladder 25 feet onto the roof, it's like stepping into the future."
The photos surely do not do justice to these impressions. But I hope you appreciate them. Several of us took pains to get them.
Read the news release.


text: Dear List, I'm turning to you for some top quality advice as I have so often in the past. I'm helping assemble a grant proposal that involves a grid-style cluster with very large scale storage requirements. Specifically, it needs to be able to scale into the 100's of TB in "central disk store" (whatever that means:-) in addition to commensurate amounts of tape backup. The tape backup is relatively straightforward -- there is a 100 TB library available to the project already that will hold 200 TB after an LTO1->LTO2 upgrade, and while tapes aren't exactly cheap, they are vastly cheaper than disk in these quantities. The disk is a real problem. Raw disk these days is less than $1/GB for SATA in 200-300 GB sizes, a bit more for 400 GB sizes, so a TB of disk per se costs in the ballpark of $1000. However, HOUSING the disk in reliable (dual power, hot swap) enclosures is not cheap, adding RAID is not cheap, and building a scalable arrangement of servers to provide access with some controllable degree of latency and bandwidth for access is also not cheap. Management requirements include 3 year onsite service for the primary server array -- same day for critical components, next day at the latest for e.g. disks or power supplies that we can shelve and deal with ourselves in the short run. The solution we adopt will also need to be scalable as far as administration is concerned -- we are not interested in "DIY" solutions where we just buy an enclosure and hang it on an over the counter server and run MD raid, not because this isn't reliable and workable for a departmental or even a cluster RAID in the 1-8 TB range (a couple of servers) it isn't at all clear how it will scale to the 10-80 TB range, when 10's of servers would be required. Management of the actual spaces thus provided is not trivial -- there are certain TB-scale limits in linux to cope with (likely to soon be resolved if they aren't already in the latest kernels, but there in many of the working versions of linux still in use) and with an array of partitions and servers to deal with, just being able to index, store and retrieve files generated by the compute component of the grid will be a major issue. SO, what I want to know is: a) What are listvolken who have 10+ TB requirements doing to satisfy them? b) What did their solution(s) cost, both to set up as a base system (in the case of e.g. a network appliance) and c) incremental costs (e.g. filled racks)? d) How does their solution scale, both costwise (partly answered in b and c) and in terms of management and performance? e) What software tools are required to make their solution work, and are they open source or proprietary? f) Along the same lines, to what extent is the hardware base of their solution commodity (defined here as having a choice of multiple vendors for a component at a point of standardized attachment such as a fiber channel port or SCSI port) or proprietary (defined as if you buy this solution THIS part will always need to be purchased from the original vendor at a price "above market" as the solution is scaled up). Rules: Vendors reply directly to me only, not the list. I'm in the market for this, most of the list is not. Note also that I've already gotten a decent picture of at least two or three solutions offered by tier 1 cluster vendors or dedicated network storage vendors although I'm happy to get more. However, I think that beowulf administrators, engineers, and users should likely answer on list as the real-world experiences are likely to be of interest to lots of people and therefore would be of value in the archives. I'm hoping that some of you bioinformatics people have experience here, as well as maybe even people like movie makers. FWIW, the actual application is likely to be Monte Carlo used to generate huge data sets (per node) and cook them down to smaller (but still multiGB) data sets, and hand them back to the central disk store for aggregation and indexed/retrievable intermediate term storage, with migration to the tape store on some as yet undetermined criterion for frequency of access and so forth. Other uses will likely emerge, but this is what we know for now. I'd guess that bioinformatics and movie generation (especially the latter) are VERY similar in the actual data flow component and also require multiTB central stores and am hoping that you have useful information to share. Thanks in advance, rgb -- Robert G. Brown http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/ Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305 Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 Phone: 1-919-660-2567 Fax: 919-660-2525 email:rgb at phy.duke.edu


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What if a certain army or elite detail only allowed those that could grow a full beard. Those that were otherwise qualified but were not given the ability to grow a nice full beard (I personally can only grow a goatee and that only after months, even then it is a sparse embarrassing little thing) so they are not able to "protect the throne" or whatever.
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text: To enable client applications to create broker connections, add a connection factory administered object for the type of connection to be created: a queue connection factory or a topic connection factory, as the case may be. Example 11–1 shows a command to add a queue connection factory (administered object type qf) to an LDAP object store. The object has lookup name cn=myQCF and connects to a broker running on host myHost at port number 7272, using the jms connection service.


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Skillet Suppers: Easy Pork Chops with Fig and Arugula Salad
Get the Recipe
Pork chops are an easy and delicious dinner, not only because they taste good but also because it's super simple to make a tasty sauce from the brown bits left over in the pan. Simply add some shallots, broth, wine, and other seasonings that you like, and, bingo bango, you've got a rich and flavorful sauce to top your chop with. Plus, it gives the pork chops a chance to rest while the sauce is being made and everyone wins.
Figs (which I love) are in season right now and I also happen to be a fan of salads, especially for rounding out a meal like this one. The sweetness of the figs contrasts nicely with the tanginess of the dressing and the creaminess of the cheese. If figs aren't available, you could substitute in pears, citrus segments, or even dried fruit.
Note: Make sure to remove the chops from the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before cooking them so they aren't cold, and pat them dry so that they get a nice sear on them.
About the Author: Yasmin Fahr is a food lover, writer, and cook. Follow her @yasminfahr for more updates on her eating adventures and discoveries, which will most likely include tomatoes. And probably feta. Happy eating!
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Posed with the question as to the legacy of the great Stu Hart, most fans of modern professional wrestling would no doubt suggest that it is his role as the patriarch of the Hart family -- which produced eight sons who all wrestled, and four daughters who all married wrestlers -- that stands out as his greatest achievement.
A proud family man, that's a thought that was shared by Hart himself, but it is likewise the case that the life and career of the the former Canadian Navy enlistee stands up in its own right, even if his sons Bret and Owen are the most famous to bear the family name.
Attempting to shed some more light on the man himself is a new documentary entitled Surviving The Dungeon: The Legacy of Stu Hart, a DVD release conceived by long-time wrestling fan Blake Norton, who has also dabbled in almost every other aspect of the business, from promoting to commentating to training. The two-disc set goes beyond the doors of the Hart House, allowing the viewer to get to know Stu through his own anecdotes, some of the last "stretching" he ever performed on the mat, and the words of those who knew him best, such as his wife Helen, sons Bruce and Ross, and daughter Georgia.
The footage was shot mostly in 2000, on the second of three trips that Norton -- who now resides in Ireland -- made to the family home in Calgary. Recorded on a Mini-DV camcorder, some of the footage is well below DVD standard, but as Ross Hart himself pointed out to the filmmaker, that only adds to the intimate, "home movie" feel of the production. For any moments where the audio isn't as clear as you might expect, subtitles are provided, so there's no straining at those hard-to-hear moments.
Despite the problems with some of this interview footage, amends are somewhat made with the excellent clips from the Stampede Wrestling archives, not to mention such fabulous photos from the quite incredible collection of Bob Leonard. Much like the Forever Hardcore documentary as opposed to the WWE's Rise and Fall of ECW, Surviving The Dungeon actually benefits from the still photo approach, giving the piece a wonderful sense of history of not only Hart, but the Stampede territory that he ran as well.
The content itself finds Stu in excellent humour, but also in good memory. He certainly has not forgotten the holds for which he became famous -- it's often been said that to shake Stu's hand was a mere invitation for him to stretch you -- and takes the opportunity to utilize them on Norton, who despite the pain, describes it as great experience because he got to learn the way that Stu himself learned. As it happens, there's enough of a look at those holds to give some brief lessons in catch wrestling techniques, which may even be adaptable to MMA.
Showing the softer side of the man, the charming tale of Stu and Helen's courtship is told, but the sentimentality inevitably takes a back seat instead to document Hart's love of wrestling. Of particular note is his pride at teaching his sons, and those other competitors that he saw become greats in the business, like Brian Pillman and Chris Benoit.
The manner in which he taught second-eldest son Bruce -- and how the legend of training in the Dungeon has continued to live on -- takes precedence towards the end of the documentary, with a great music video of several students training in that unlikely setting. It's a real eye-opener to the uninitiated as to how difficult the art of professional wrestling really is to perform, although admittedly, the DVD does include the extra of mid-teens Harry Smith and TJ Wilson (now Tyson Kidd) making it look much easier than any of the other students.
Within that same extras discs are added anecdotes -- including the odd-sounding Stu Hart tale of the tiger and the water buffalo -- and several matches including Bruce Hart vs The Dynamite Kid (1980) and Lance Storm vs Christopher Daniels (2001). With this mix of wrestling, training footage, and interview footage of the man and those who knew him best, Surviving The Dungeon makes excellent viewing for anyone who's interested in the life of Stu Hart, his own legacy in the wrestling business, or how the competitors that he influenced over the course of his illustrious 88 years.
EDITOR'S NOTE: We'll have an interview with Blake Norton in the coming weeks.


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IUCN, the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) and RARE facilitated a 'bright spot' exchange that showcased successful island conservation and sustainable livelihoods initiatives from across the globe and in European Overseas entities during the 3rd International Marine Protected Areas Congress in Marseille.
The event brought together representatives of government, officials and MPA actors to focus on a selection of island MPA management bright spots – examples of success stories from different regions including the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean.
The workshop was organised during the third International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC3) and was chaired by H.E. Ronny Jumeau, Chair of the GLISPA Steering Committee and Seychelles Ambassador for Climate change and Small Island Developing State Issues.
During the week, Mr. Ronny Jumeau said: "For islands and coastal states oceans are a development issue. Protecting the environment is part of the solution. For islands, oceans are our backyards, they are our homes and we must all protect them because they provide for all of us."
The workshop used participatory facilitation techniques to engage participants in discussion around opportunities to help scale up conservation and sustainable development initiatives in order to achieve even greater impact. The discussions demonstrated that change is possible and that bright spots can be built on to achieve the marine Aichi Biodiversity targets.
The event focused on bright spots in relation to:
· Changing behaviour of fishers for MPA compliance
· Spatial mapping & designing zoning for MPAs
· Participatory patrol, surveillance & enforcement methods for MPAs
· Monitoring for management in MPAs
· Mobilizing leadership in the Blue Economy
Pre-selected bright spots were examined during the meeting and representatives were invited to share their work, results achieved, and key elements of their success that could be replicated. Two examples of bright spots that have benefited European overseas entities included the Caribbean Challenge Initiative and the Man of War Shoal MPA in St. Maarten.
In line with this workshop, IUCN, GLISPA and RARE also organised an evening reception celebrating some of the best island initiatives and Bright Spots that are championing the marine Aichi targets of the CBD including the European BEST Initiative for Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in the EU Overseas which has been acknowledged by the CBD decision XI/15. Special guests, the Permanent Secretary of the British Virgin Islands Mr. Ronald Smith-Berkeley, gave a further address on the successes of the Caribbean Challenge Initiative; Mr. Ronny Jumeau gave a vibrant tribute on the critical and key role of islands for the future of our oceans; and Fotios Papoulias of the European Commission (DG ENV) presented promising BEST marine projects.
The workshop and the evening receptin have been important opportunities for highlighting the major steps taken by EU Overseas and have showcased their leadership in marine conservation and sustainable development: Sint Maarten presented their exemplary management of the marine ecosystem; Pitcairn gave an address on their project to create what could be the biggest marine reserve in the world; and New Caledonia gave insight into their management of a marine world heritage site and the regional leadership for an integrated management of the coral sea.
Sister Site agreement signed between New Caledonia and Cook islands
At the Evening event, the governments of New Caledonia and of the Cook Islands officially signed a sister-sites agreement, that will in essence mean for a coordinated effort between the two countries in terms of the sustainable management of their 2.5 million km2 of marine waters. This agreement is an encouraging development that show cases both island's active role in strengthening regional cooperation in the Pacific and in April 2014, New-Caledonia will host an OCEANIA 21 meeting that aims to foster dialogue and experience exchanges on sustainable development in Oceania.
European Overseas critical role underlined in Ajaccio Ministerial Conference
Immediately after 5 days of debates in Marseille, Mr. Philippe Martin, French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, gathered in Ajaccio 19 ministers of nations representing the world's oceans.
This Ministerial Conference, held in the presence of numerous representatives of governments, including representatives of the Government of New-Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, international institutions and NGOs, was structured around three roundtables, on the following subjects: the benefits and urgency of conserving the oceans, promoting the regional scale as the appropriate framework for effective action, and international initiatives needed to protect the high seas.
Exchanges paved the way for a common declaration, based on the outcomes delivered by experts who met in Marseille over the course five days. Its signatories reaffirmed their determination to reach the target of covering 10 percent of the oceans with marine protected areas by 2020 (Aichi 11). Today, only 3 percent are protected.The ministers also committed to leveraging the means necessary to do so.
The Government of New-Caledonia announced the creation of a marine park in the New-Caledonia EEZ as well as the organization of the above mentioned Oceania 21 meeting next April and the French Polynesia announced the creation of a large marine protected area in the Marquesas islands archipelagoes. The representative of Seychelles, Mr Ronny Jumeau, invited all the EU Overseas to join GLISPA as they constitute one of the first marine territories of the world and are thus key actors of oceans governance.
New significant French Initiatives in Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean
On October 26, the French Minister of Ecology announced several significant environmental initiatives at the Ajaccio Ministerial Conference for Ocean Conservation.
Mr. Martin provided details on the financial commitments of France to marine-conservation projects worldwide. Over the next two years, they will receive more than 20 million Euros from the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD), with the Mediterranean receiving € 3 million, West Africa € 3.7 million, the Indian Ocean € 5.5 million, the Caribbean € 1 million and the Pacific € 6.5 million.
For more news on IMPAC3 click here
For more information on the agenda of the IMPAC3 conference click here
For more information on the event please contact either Carole Martinez [email protected] or Chris Carroll [email protected]


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Niche film fans of all nations and genres can rejoice with the release of three borderline hysterical (in all senses of the word) Andrzej Zulawksi films onto DVD, via the amazing Mondo Vision. The first of them I've seen is 1985's L'AMOUR BRAQUE, an insane, coked-up little miracle which prefigures the anarchic Joker scenes in LE CHEVALIER NOIR (below), including the maniacal burning of mass amounts of money and gleefully lysergic/anarchic assaults on the conventions of the bourgeoisie and capitalism! Did Chris Nolan and Heath Ledger see this movie? Or are they and Braque's director Andrzej Zulawski birds of a feather? Or is Zulawski more like a slavering psychedelic poet, post-Panic Movement/post-gialli post-Godardian in his heedless kineticism, surfeit de style and spastic physicality? Or did someone just dump LSD into the Parisian water supply? Any way you slice it, what a real treat to find an underseen auteur of his maniac caliber presented so lushly-- with a whole catalog of awesome films few of us have ever seen (Mondo Vision plans to release nine in all) coming our way on beautiful DVDs.
Though L'AMOUR BRAQUE mimics a 1985 French action movie in its gloss-punk style, with the violent 80s nocturnal neon decor of films you might know like SUBWAY or LA FEMME NIKITA (with which it shares the amazing Tcheky Karyo) it's actually an art film, or a drug film, Brecht-fast style. Those cheesy 80s synth stabs just makes the content that much more palatable in its nonstop weirdness and Mondo Vision's subtitles keep up brilliantly with Zulawski's poetic post-structural dialogue in a way that echoes the accidental poetry of old HK movie subtitles. BRAQUE looks on the surface enough like a normal 80s French action movie movie that without subtitles it would probably weird out a whole room of relatively un-intoxicated bros expecting Luc Besson-ish linearity in addition to the Luc Besson-ish glamor. And action fans who wondered--as I did--if Karyo was just a dud actor with his stone-faced performance in NIKITA can now know for sure, as his character in BRAQUE is wayyy out there. Not even the same guy!
Zulawski has a weird way of feeding you his movie plots subliminally. Somehow or other, as you're pulled along by the scruff of your neck, with no time to get your bearings, you realize that, if you don't think about it too much, you know just what's happening: A down-for-whatever Czech refugee Leon (Francis Huster) is spontaneously adopted by the drunken (coked up?) Mickey (Karyo) and his gang of laughing, joking, Nietzsche-quoting Arab terrorists. The beautiful Sophie Marceau shows up as Mickey's--and soon Leon's--obsession, a perennial 'lost soul" rich girl using Micky and his terrorist friends as dupes. Acting coy and lost and doomed so they fight over themselves to wipe out her enemies, she also decides to come between Leon and Mickey, cockblocking and seducing right and left. They chase and are chased and adore each other and then there's Leon's hot cousin Aglae (Christiane Jean, below) who competes for his attention while performing in a version of Chekhov's "The Seagull".
Meanwhile, a strange cop follows the gang around, and in one sun-dappled grilling scene, notes that Mickey and company carry on with the "luxury of desperate gamblers", a telling phrase I bothered to write down and thought a most clever title, because it describes most of the film--indeed most of Zulawski's output based on what I've seen. There's very little stopping to regroup or fortify positions here, the way someone on a manic high knows that if they stop to go to sleep or nurture negative thinking, their luck will change and their whole holy mindset will crash into nothingness and despair, so they keep on drinking, gambling and laughing like maniacs, terrified that if they fall asleep it will all be just a dream when they wake up.
If things get rough with this film, may I suggest good way to get through the weirdness of the onscreen action (if you're not going to 'roll' along, as the slangin' goes--which would be the best way) is to ground them in other movies you may be more familiar with, like bizarro world remakes in a vein of post-modern ultra-violence satire we Americans have hardly seen except for Kathryn Bigelow. When you see the robbers in their Disney masks knocking off a bank in the opening sequence you might think of POINT BREAK, but when you see them horsing through an impromptu number on their getaway route, they're like a dozen Harpo Marxes on a blood bender or the Groucho-guerrillas in the films of Emir Kusturica. But these names just locate the onscreen insanity in some kind of loose contextual framework, because otherwise, goddamn it, this stuff is so fucked-up in its mad play on action genre and bourgeoisie art film expectations and modernist subversions that it can be hard to know where to set your bearings... I mean, unless you are first "experienced" or have spent time in a lunatic theater company, or seen a lot of Bergman movies about lunatic theater companies.
One of my biggest regrets as an actor/filmmaker was in QUEEN OF DISKS (2007), when a Clare Horgan as the Queen of Disks stuck a knife to my throat as I was drinking coffee I missed a chance to do a spit take! My innate decency and worry about spilling coffee on my ratty jeans stopped me from doing one and/or dropping the coffee cup, just letting it spill all over me and crash to the floor and break. You know how impossible those things can be to do intentionally? Like when someone pays you to pee in your pants, and you just can't do it, no matter how hard you try?
These guys in this film? They don't have that problem.
They crowd surf into total candy-coated confusion; they roll around on tables laden with food and the waiters don't bat an eyelash; they spazz out and sing at the top of their lungs while being chased by cops in riot gear; and it would all just be posturing if Zulawski didn't capture a realistic sense of Parisian hustle and bustle like he's a freakin' Oscar-hungry auteur riche. When you're wading deep into a well-crafted, lit, Parisian streetcorner, man, you're into some fucked up architecture if you're seeing it on a good HD screen, you can see right up into the cobwebbed corners between the gargoyles.
It all makes you realize that while someone like Godard's a great one for deconstructing genre, he's a bad one at capturing the momentum of genre itself-- poor Jean Pierre Leaud or Belmondo, for example, always seemed to carry an inherent decency that stops them from peeing on people's trousers or throwing grenades into dining rooms or dropping coffee cups full of coffee on themselves and letting the cup shatter on the linoleum floor. If they did, it was often just to a picture of a comic book "Bang!" or riot footage that exploded. Not in this film, baby. That's action like Van Damme! Zoot alors! A+
PS - Speaking of Godard and watching things 2 or 3 times to get all the details, I highly recommend checking in with Drew at the Blue Vial, whose been on a Godard marathon bender, and, neatest of all, actually lists the numbers of times he's seen each film and skewers the review towards how his thought this time around differ from his earlier thoughts on the same film. It's a very steady and interesting project, and you can't help but marvel at his attention span, considering all the long, tedious stationary shots of girls being interviewed by condescending pretty boy trust fund Marxists. I ask you this: in a Marxist society would we have such cool DVDs of L'AMOR BRAQUE? Non? Then to hell with Marx!