text:
I ALWAYS LOVE veteran author and publisher Joe Esposito's thoughts. He is a witty and astute observer with the valuable eye of an experienced and passionate participant in research and scholarly publishing.
This year Joe has done a lot of work looking at society publishing, which is all well worth reading. The extent to which a professional or scientific society relies on publishing as a way of fulfilling its mission can vary greatly; some societies see their journals and books as the very core of their offering, whereas for others they are cash cows to support other member activity. Either way there are a bewildering range of options and new challenges thrown up by the digital shift. Commercial publishers have a lot to offer.
In this article Joe describes neatly what commercial publishers can and do offer societies (in addition to the obvious: sometimes enormous sums of money).
Looking at this from the publisher's point of view, there are also untapped benefits (as well as the obvious financial return, "bulking up" and niche domination) from associating with societies. These include acquiring credibility, access to domain expertise, the creation or strengthening of communities or networks of authors, and perhaps strategic growth into new geographies and subject areas.
Of course there is also a very human side of this. Staff in publishing companies often come from academic backgrounds and look for the personal validation that comes from rubbing shoulders with society grandees. For a while I was, though a pretty humble physics grad, the publisher of the outstanding Landau and Lifshitz series of textbooks – The Course of Theoretical Physics. It makes me proud still, though all I did was keep them in print for a few years.
Club Elsevier, as mentioned at the end of Joe's blog post, is much more fun when the disco floor is full of big-name society people and famous authors.
Did you know that, as an SME business, you could be eligible for Growth Accelerator match funding up to £2,000 to meet your Leadership Development needs within the business? APPLY NOW – funds are limited and we'd be delighted to help you meet your business ambitions.
Posts Tagged 'publishers'
The Arms Race in Journals Publishing Heats UpPublished 02/10/2014 LeaderShape News Leave a Comment
Tags: ambitious business, BoardDevelopment, business coaching, coaching, commercial publishing, Development, effective leadership, EffectiveLeadership, EthicalLeadership, executive coaching, Facilitation, growth accelerator, Joe Esposito, Leaders, LeaderShape, Leadership, LeadershipBehaviour, match funding, match fundng, OrganisationalLeadership, printed book, publisher, publishers, publishing, publishing industry, TranspersonalLeadership
Amazon, Publishers and UsPublished 01/06/2014 LeaderShape News 1 Comment
Tags: amazon, BehaviouralChange, Bezos, bookseller, EffectiveLeadership, EmotionalIntelligence, EthicalLeadership, kogan page, LeaderShape, Leadership, myers briggs, New Yorker, OrganisationalLeadership, personalisation, publisher, publishers, publishing, transpersonal leadership
FIRST, LET'S AGREE – Amazon is not a bookseller, though that is how it began life. It is a multiple retailer, a Walmart of the web and an internet chainstore of everything.
Amazon is one of the dominant commercial powers of our age, though not consistently profitable it has the ability to be so at the flick of a switch. It can and does put competitors out of business. It has ambitions and has made forays into product development as well as retailing. It is a behemoth, straddling the world right now. But can it be a successful book publisher? A new article in the New Yorker discusses its progress in the world of books.


text:
By Kantele Franko
A spotted leopard that was among six creatures kept at an Ohio zoo after an exotic animal escape was euthanized after it was hit by a lowering door between two enclosures and suffered a severe spinal cord injury, officials said Monday.
The male leopard had been cared for at the Columbus zoo under a state-issued quarantine order along with two other leopards, two primates and a bear. Their owner committed suicide in October after releasing dozens of tigers, bears and other animals that were subsequently killed by authorities near Zanesville.
A keeper was moving the leopard between enclosures Sunday morning for routine feeding and cleaning when the animal unexpectedly reversed course as a door was being lowered, and it was struck on the neck, the zoo and the Ohio Department of Agriculture said. A zoo veterinarian tried to use chest compressions to restart the unresponsive animal's heart.
The state veterinarian was on-site and decided to euthanize the cat after further examination revealed its spinal cord had been irreversibly damaged and it could not breathe on its own, officials said.
An attorney for the owner's widow, Marian Thompson, said Monday he was withholding comment until they learn more about what happened. Thompson has appealed the quarantine order and requested a hearing on the matter, but no date has been set.
Thompson sought to reclaim the surviving animals in late October, but the Department of Agriculture ordered they be kept in quarantine. Ohio law allows the agriculture director to quarantine animals while investigating reports of potentially dangerous diseases.
Officials said they were concerned about reports that the animals lived in unsanitary conditions where they could be exposed to disease. The order prevents the zoo from releasing the animals until it's clear they're free of dangerous diseases, and it sets no deadline for medical testing to confirm that. More....

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Alumni Weekend
Dallas Green and Jeff Copper, two Delaware natives, two University of Delaware graduates and two long-time Phillies, were the highlights of this weekend's Phillies Alumni events.
Dallas was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame on Friday night during ceremonies that included past winners Robin Roberts (1978), Jim Bunning (1984), **** Allen (1994), Greg Luzinski (1998), Garry Maddox (2001), Tony Taylor (2002) and Bob Boone (2005).
Dallas, whose gray hair has turned white, joked that he didn't get in the Wall of Fame based on "my 20 wins….my career total." You are correct big guy. You got there because of the track record you and Paul Owens put together in building the dynasty of the 1970s and then managing the Phillies to their lone World Series championship in '80.
"The two biggest moments of my baseball career happened here, winning the World Series and this honor tonight."
Following the ceremonies, the Wall of Famers, friends and other Alumni dined in the Executive Dining Room and then watched the Phillies big win from Hall of Fame Club suites. Seated at a round table in the corner of the dining room were Bunning and Roberts and family members. Wow, 510 wins at that table…..490 more than Dallas!
Cooper has been in the Phillies organization as an athletic trainer since 1970. Like the players, he worked his way up through the minors before reaching the majors in 1976. He's been the Phillies head athletic trainer since 1982. He's the most respected athletic trainer in all of baseball.
Prior to tonight's game, Cooper, who is stepping down after the end of the season, was saluted as part of Alumni Night.
Surprises included a Cadillac SRX from the current players, a trip to Italy for Jeff and his wife from the Phillies, appearances by past and current contemporaries and a parade of 31 Phillies Alumni, from Allen to Vukovich, John, that is.
Among the Alumni was one of Coop's tormentors, **** Ruthven. Over the course of 162 games, dozens of plane rides and hotel lobbies, tormenting is needed to maintain sanity.
Vukovich tells the story: "I was riding with Jeff to the park in Clearwater early one morning and he had to stop at the grocery store. He came out with limburger cheese. 'Got to get even with "Rufus" (Ruthven's nickname),' Coop said. When we got to the park, Coop put the limburger cheese in Ruthven's hair dryer.
"After the workout, Coop grabbed me, 'Wanna hear something?' Rufus came out of the shower, dried himself and turned on his hair dryer.
"All of a sudden Ruthven screamed, 'DAM IT COOP!' Coop looked at me and dead-panned, 'seems as if Rufus has a mental problem.'"
Saturday's group filled the dining room. Dinner, stories and laughter filled an hour. Eventually the Alumni went to various suites to check out the action.
They'd watch intently, then reminisce. Cheer, then chat. Needle and laugh.
What has always amazed me in being around Alumni, they have the greatest memories from their playing days. Listening to them reminisce is priceless.


text:
MICROSOFT NEWS: 70-662 Exam Questions has been Updated Today! Get Latest 70-662 VCE and 70-662 PDF Instantly! Welcome to Download the Newest Braindump2go 70-662 VCE&70-662 PDF Dumps: http://www.braindump2go.com/70-662.html (507 Q&As)
Get Prepared with fully updated Microsoft 70-662 Real Exam Questions and Accurate Answers for 70-662 Exam Dumps. Braindump2go IT experts review the 70-662 newly added qustions and suggest Correct Microsoft 70-662 Exam Questions Answers in Real Time. 100% Pass easily!
Exam Code: 70-662
Exam Name TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring
Certification Provider: Microsoft
Corresponding Certifications: MCITP, MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator on Exchange 2010, MCTS, MCTS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring


text:
Wow site visitors with incredible animations. Cool Text lets you animate letters or words, control speed and stagger, create animation sequences and more. Simply enter your text and choose from 300s of ready-to-use animations.
Easily enter the text you'd like to animate
Customize the text colors, fonts, placements, even add a link
Choose from 300 ready-to-use animations
Adjust the style, direction, speed, delay and more


text:
San Francisco Airport (SFO) Limo & Car Service
- Where
- Mountain View Downtown, Mountain View , CA
- Call
- +1 888.580.8101
- Contact
- Web
- San Francisco Airport (SFO) Limo & Car Service Website
- Tags
- Transportation, Airport Shuttles, Limousines, Taxis
- Hours
Mon-Sun (6am-11pm)
|Claim this listing
From San Francisco Airport Limo Service to corporate event transportation, here at Chauffeur Adamo, LLC we believe that it is all about what our clients need. Using the latest technology to track flights into San Francisco Airport and manage client reservations, nothing will get overlooked. We have a well kept fleet of luxurious limousines that ensure your transportation experiences are pleasant and memorable. Your #1 source for reliable San Francisco Airport Limo Service!
A sampling of just some of our San Francisco Bay Area Limo services:
Special event transportation services for weddings, birthdays, concerts, etc
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) city transfers
Discounted Hotel Transportation at select Palo Alto & Santa Clara Hotels
Bay Area Corporate Transportation Specialists
Santa Clara Hyatt Hotel Limo Service to/from SFO Airport
Palo Alto Sheraton Hotel Limo Service to/from SFO Airport
Our San Francisco Airport Limo service goes above the standard for airport limousine services. Chauffeurs are always standing by at SFO Airport ready to give you a luxurious, private and safe ride to your San Francisco Bay Area destination of choice. We offer chauffeured hourly limo rental service and can accommodate all your transportation needs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Call 888-580-8101 to Reserve Now!
Our limousine service is based in Santa Clara California. With our dedicated staff of reservation managers, chauffeurs and disptachers, we are able to provide a professional and efficient means of limousine service throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Providing reliable San Francisco Limo Service, Palo Alto Limo Service, Santa Clara Limo Service, and limo service in all other cities located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Luxury airport transportation from Palo Alto to SFO, Santa Clara to SFO or from anywhere in the Bay Area to San Francisco International Airport. Our on-time guarantee and professional level of limo service is sure to accommodate all your ground transportation needs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Don't forget to inquire about our discount limousine & car service rates to and from Santa Clara Hyatt Hotel or the Palo Alto Sheraton Hotel.
licensed and insured in the state of California. TCP-26323P


text:
Listings in Collaboration, Search and Multi-channel Capture in Moorpark and Walnut Creek
ARC Technology Solutions, a Unit of Document Solutions
in Records Management, Process Services, Multi-channel Capture, Content Services, Collaboration, Archiving/Preservation
ARC offers mobile solutions for facilities, archiving and projects teams. ARC scans, captures and organizes building and facilities information, making it accessible anywhere, anytime, on any mobile device.
1981 North Broadway, Suite 385
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
United States
Electronic Image Designers, Inc.
in eSignatures, Taxonomy and Metadata, Search, Robotic Process Automation, Records Management, Process Services, Process Automation, Multi-channel Capture, Low Code Development Platforms, Information Governance, Document Management, Data Recognition and Extraction, Content Services, Content Integration and Migration, Consulting Services, Collaboration, Change Management, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Archiving/Preservation
EID, Inc. is a vendor-neutral Electronic Content Management consultant. We're subject matter experts in the full ECM project lifecycle including analysis, design, implementation, and oversight of vendors and/or integrators.
4361 Brookglen Street
Moorpark, CA 93021-3323
United States


text:
Driving School Melbourne
Category : driving instructor
Driving Lessons
Driving School Melbourne provides driving lessons in all suburbs, including tests at Vicroads Carlton, Broadmeadows, Bundoora, Burwood East, Dandenong, Heatherton, Frankston, South Yarra, Sunshine and Werribee.
- Vicroads Driving Test & Overseas licence Conversion
- Automatic & Manual driving lessons
- Save $$ package deals
- 7 days and same day driving lessons available
- Friendly, Professional and Patient local driving instructors
- Refresher driving lessons specific to your needs
- Male and Female driving instructors
- Driving test preparation – Vicroads Test route familiarisation
- Disabilities, interlock, O.T. assessments and senior driver lessons
- A valued Member of the Australian Driver Trainers Association and Vicroads approved and recommended
- All cars fitted with Dual Controls, safety features and comprehensively insured for your peace of mind
- All our driving instructors speak clear English and provide clear instruction
- Government approved driving instructors with Working with children and Police check certifications.
We have been awarded WOMO Best Driving School in Melbourne for the last 5 years – based on customer 5 star reviews!


text:
- Font:
- +
- -
Residents of Otero County in New Mexico have defeated a proposed tax increase to help build an inland spaceport that would serve as the launching ground for commercial spacecraft.
Reports from the field indicate that 52.3 percent voted against the tax on Tuesday.
While not impacting Spaceport America as far as moving forward, the Otero vote means there will be less money for operations. Officials have said the initial estimated cost to build the spaceport 45 miles (72.4 kilometers) north of Las Cruces, N.M., is about $198 million, with a cap set for $225 million.
Earlier, both Dona Ana County and Sierra County approved a tax increase, meaning that Spaceport America will proceed toward construction. The Otero tax increase would have raised some $2.3 million for the effort, with that county becoming part of a triad of support to build the facility.
"We will look for support from other local governments or New Mexico counties not currently in the district that have expressed interest in joining," Steve Landeene, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, said Wednesday in a news release.
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has tapped Spaceport America to serve as the launching ground for his Virgin Galactic spaceliners, a fleet of privately built suborbital spaceships that will launch passengers on space tourism treks for about $200,000 per seat. The air-launched SpaceShipTwo vehicles and their WhiteKnightTwo mothership are under construction at Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif.
The spaceport is expected to be home base for a separate venture to fly passengers aboard a new fleet of reusable, vertically launched rocket ships, at a cost of about $100,000 per ticket.
The new joint venture between Rocket Racing Inc. and Armadillo Aerospace of Mesquite, Texas, was announced last month at the Lunar Lander Challenge in Las Cruces, where the Armadillo team won $350,000 in the NASA-sponsored moon lander contest. Piloted flights of the bubblelike spacecraft are slated to begin in 2010.
While the Otero County vote may have failed to support Spaceport America, the project is still moving closer to reality, Landeene said. The Federal Aviation Administration is currently reviewing Spaceport America's license application.
This report was supplemented by Space.com staff and msnbc.com.
© 2013 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.


text:
When a food professional gives the thumbs up to the lowly hotdog, you pay attention.
"We cook them all the time," says Mike Ackison, sous-chef at Ottawa's ARC The Hotel. "For staff — not our guests," he hastens to add.
The hotel has a barbecue for staff meals, and wieners are high on the hit parade. "They're quick and easy for summer," says Ackison, who last ate a hotdog on Canada Day. "It was salty and delicious — everything I hoped it would be."
Ackison and company are hardly alone. In fact, between Memorial Day and Labour Day, Americans eat eight billion wieners annually, according to the United States' National Hot Dog & Sausage Council.
In some quarters, wieners are putting on the dog. The Buddha Dog restaurant in Picton, Ont., for example, showcases local ingredients in its franks and wraps them in artisanal buns. Its jalapeno tequila jelly dog sells for $2.50.
But what's the real skinny on this beloved food that Consumer Reports described in a 2007 study as "essentially tidy little bundles of sodium, additives, and fat"?
Well, good as they taste, they're not exactly good for you.
Schneider's Red Hots Original Style Wieners each contain 10 grams of fat or 15 per cent of the generally recommended daily fat intake. They also pack in 410 milligrams of sodium or 17 per cent of the 2,300 mg that Health Canada says is the daily upper limit for adults.
Wrap two of those dogs in sodium-rich buns, and even without garnishes, you're looking at about 1,500 mg, or 65 per cent of Health Canada's upper limit.
Too much sodium can cause high blood pressure and contribute to strokes, heart attacks and kidney disease.
A study by the Harvard School of Public Health published last year in the journal, Circulation, found that a 50-gram serving of processed meat each day — about one hotdog — was associated with a 42-per cent higher risk of heart disease and a 19-per cent higher risk of diabetes.
The American Meat Institute disputed the study.
Poultry wieners, by the way, aren't much better, especially when it comes to sodium. One Butterball Turkey Frank, for example, has 370 mg of sodium or 16 per cent of the total recommended daily intake.
There are hotdogs with lower fat and sodium, but they tend to be less tasty.
"Honestly, I usually tell my clients not to eat hotdogs at all," says Heather Barnes, a registered dietitian in Toronto. Sodium, calories, and fat levels all concern her. "And there's lots of additives, which they don't need."
Abandoning hotdogs entirely is definitely not on Joey Chestnut's to-do list. On July 4, the San Jose, California resident was proclaimed Men's Hotdog Eating World Champion after wolfing down 62 hotdogs and buns in 10 minutes at the annual Nathan's International Hot dog Eating Contest on Coney Island, New York.
It was Chestnut's fifth straight win, although he didn't break his own record of 68 hotdogs and buns set in 2009. Maybe he pulled back out of respect for folks in famine-plagued Somalia.
Contrary to advertisements, incidentally, hotdogs and children don't always mix.
According to The American Academy of Pediatrics, wieners pose the greatest food-related choking hazard to children. They can get wedged in a child's narrow airway, blocking the passage and causing death within minutes.
Consumer Reports suggests cutting hotdogs for young children into one-centimetre pieces.
It also warns that although hotdogs are precooked, they should be heated to an internal temperature of 73°C to avoid listeria and other food-borne illnesses.
As to the origin of the hotdog and its name, culinary historians are still battling it out.
The cities of Frankfurt, Germany and Vienna (Wien), Austria have both laid claim to being the food's birthplace (think frankfurter and wiener).
However, the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council says the North American hotdog was likely born when butchers from several European nations introduced hotdog-like sausages — which Europeans sometimes called "dachshund sausages" — in the 19th century.
Professor Gerald Cohen of the University of Missouri, with co-authors Barry Popik and the late David Shulman, has written a 300-page book, Origin of the Term 'Hot Dog.' In it, he says the term became popular at Yale University in the 1890s when students began riffing on the belief that the food contained dog meat.
In fact, says Cohen, sausages often did contain chunks of dog. Times have changed, and hotdogs now meet United States Department of Agriculture standards dictating ingredients, like beef, pork or poultry.


text:
Kidd Kraddick's Brown Bag Turkey Recipe
Thanksgiving is almost here and if you're still looking for that perfect way to cook your turkey, then look no further. We have for you Kidd Kraddick's famous Brown Bag Turkey recipe right here. Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Prep time= 30 mins | Total time= 4 hrs 30 min | Servings: 6-8
• 1 (18 -20 lb) whole turkey
• 2 stalks celery (roughly chopped)
• 1 carrots (roughly chopped)
• 1 onions (cut into quarters)
• 3 -4 crushed garlic cloves
• Olive oil
1. Take everything out of the turkey. There will be a giblet bag and some other stuff.
2. Next add vegetables to the inside of the turkey. You don't even have to peel anything. This is easy because the veggies are just for flavor — you are going to throw them away later.
3. Take the onion and cut it into quarters.
4. Chop a nice long carrot.
5. Do the same with a couple stalks of celery.
6. Add several cloves of garlic that you mash between a broad kitchen knife and the kitchen counter.
7. Throw it all inside the turkey.
8. Then rub the turkey all over with olive oil — not butter because butter usually has salt in it and salt is the enemy of a moist turkey. Make sure the whole bird is covered in olive oil.
9. Put the turkey in a roasting pan and cover it with a large brown paper bag.
10. Staple shut. If you have a huge turkey use two paper bags at each end. It wont stick to the bird because of the olive oil.
11. Sprinkle the bag all over with water.
12. Place into pre-heated 375 F oven. ON THE MIDDLE RACK.
13. The bag wont burn because paper burns at 451 and we're at 375 degrees.
14. The advantage of the brown paper bag over the Reynolds cooking bag is that the paper breathes so the turkey ROASTS. In the Reynolds bag the turkey STEAMS, giving it a different taste.
15. Roast for 13-15 minutes per pound.
16. When you think it's ready, shove a meat thermometer through the bag and into the turkey and give it a minute to register. Make sure it doesn't touch the bone.
17. The thermometer should register between 163-170 degrees.
18. Remove from oven, cut away the bag and remove the basting pan.
19. Do not throw out the drippings!
20. To make the gravy, strain the pan juices into a really big pot. Any juices that accumulate on the turkey platter get poured into the pot.
21. Add six oz. of boiling chicken broth and 1/8 cup of cornstarch to the gravy to thicken it up. Cook on low heat and stir and cook and stir.
22. If it seems it isn't going to be thick enough, add a little more cornstarch.
23. That's it! Happy Thanksgiving


text:
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Today's bull market is the fourth biggest since the 1929 crash after stocks have nearly tripled since the financial-crisis low set in early 2009.
But more than any modern bull market, this one stands alone in that it's squarely out of step with economic growth. It's being driven higher by just a few wealthy participants and traders who have tacitly, perhaps even unknowingly, agreed to drive prices higher.
The main reason for that is two-fold.
First, low interest rates have made other investments unattractive. The 10-year U.S. Treasury
Second, the investing public isn't really buying stocks. A study by the Pew Research Center, published in May, found stock ownership by households is shrinking, at 45%, down from more than 65% in 2002. Even with the Dow Jones Industrial Average
This series of circumstances is unique. Unlike central bankers' response to the Great Depression, the Federal Reserve has embraced Keynesian economics and flooded the economy with dollars on a scale never seen before. The Fed's balance sheet has more than quadrupled to $4.3 trillion since 2008.
In short, stocks have become more attractive not because of a surging economy or strengthening corporate profits, but because they are the last-place finishers in an ugly contest. That's a significant difference with boom markets of the past.
For instance, between 1935 and 1937, the stock market lagged an economic recovery. U.S. gross domestic product rose 10.8% in 1934 and 8.9% in 1935. But stocks only took off in that last year, eventually logging a 132% increase until 1937. In that last year, economic growth was robust, but it came crashing down in 1938. GDP contracted 3.3%, and deflation added to woes, with prices falling 2.8%.
The next long-term bull market occurred from 1942 to 1946, when stocks jumped more than 150%. That isn't a good comparison, given the nation's involvement in World War II. But there were some robust years economically. And once again, the market moved along with the economy: a 17.7% growth rate in 1941, followed by 18.9% in 1942, 17% in 1943 and 8% in 1944. Much of the growth was offset by inflation (9% in 1942), but at least investors had a reason to buy.
The first post-war bull market began in 1949 and lasted nearly seven years. Stocks rose more than two-fold as U.S. GDP grew at least 4.1% in each of those years, including an 8.7% growth rate in 1950. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finally passed its 1920s record high in 1954. Inflation was all over the map. Prices rose 8.7% in 1951, but increased at about 1% or lower between 1953 and 1956.
The mid-1980s bull market saw stocks, as measured by the S&P 500
Some describe the period from 1987 to 2002 as a bull market. Technically, it may be. It rose more than 500% during that span. But the real bull market of this era occurred between the start of 1995 until early 2000. Stocks in the S&P 500 rose 237% as GDP increased between 3.8% and 4.8% annually. Inflation was low, between 1.6% and 3%. Unemployment fell each year, starting at 5.6% and ending at 4%. Yes, some of this gain was fueled by unrealistic expectations about dot-com companies, but there was real economic growth underneath it too.
In all of those periods, the market reflected strong economic trends: solid growth, high or strengthening employment and stable inflation. Only the latter is present today. The unemployment rate is improving, but it's still a relatively high 6.1%. The best GDP rate produced since the financial crisis was 2.8%. That was in 2012, before the current bull market really took off.
Perhaps, as some suggest, this is a new normal. If so, it represents a disconnect between economic reality and market valuation. More likely, it's a warped market distorted by the extraordinary measures used to create an economic lift.
As market indexes touch new highs, investors should ask themselves if they're taking part in a history-making rally, or a rally that is ignoring history.
More from MarketWatch:
Why trading volume is tumbling, explained in 5 charts
Are these the dumbest investing ideas you've ever heard?


text:
Niamh, as you can see for yourself, I did discover we did have in fact Photoshop now on the computer and I could size the pic down properly. Thank you so much for the offer of help with that!
SW :heart::drink::heart::heart: NNN!!! for the first two and last two of the Sons of Fėanor


text:
Andrew and Frances Hilen Endowed Library Fund for 19th Century Americana
The purpose of the Endowment is to expand and improve the Hilen Collection of Nineteenth-Century Americana held in Libraries Special Collections
The endowment goals match the passions of Frances and Andrew Hilen, who met at the UW's first Rose Bowl game in 1937 and were married several years later.
Andrew taught English at the University of Washington for many years, and through his scholarly activities became an authority on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Fran's intense interest in literary women of 19th-century New England was fostered through hours of reading the correspondence and journals of little-known women in the Longfellow literary circle.


text:
"It is such a privilege to work with clients and their staff who are excited about growing their business and doing things with excellence! We are humbled by their praises."
For almost a decade, the City of Deming has contracted with Draker Cody on many community planning and development efforts. Rick is reliable in delivering products on time and within budget, and when Rick gives his word, he keeps it.
Richard McInturff City Administrator City of Deming, New Mexico (Retired) January 3, 2017
Outstanding Job!
Draker Cody did an outstanding job in working with the community in the preparation of a comprehensive plan that clearly identified the goals, objectives and the strategies which gave the Village the practical foundation that can be used towards implementation.
Lance Pyle County Manager Curry County January 3, 2017
Qualified Professionals
Our partnership with Draker Cody has been a win-win situation. They are a dedicated team of energetic professionals who have demonstrated time and again their understanding of our organization. They are reliable, qualified, professional, and hard-working.
Erica Landry President Southeast Community Alliance January 3, 2017
"Draker Cody worked with us to pinpoint key issues and the immeasurable assets of our community. They were able to diffuse potential conflict with professionalism, expertise in their field, and by truly listening to the needs of each community member."
Judy Horacek Project Manager Cibola County January 3, 2017
Process Management Experts
The Draker Cody team was able to pull together and analyze large quantities of diverse information, develop good working relationships with stakeholders, identify major gaps in the systems, conduct SWOT analyses, and present information in a concise, readable fashion.
Terry Reusser Chief Information Officer New Mexico Department of Health January 3, 2017
We have collaborated with Draker Cody on numerous comprehensive planning, asset management, and master plan update projects throughout New Mexico. With their input, communities can plan and develop growth, qualify for state or federal funding assistance, and are facilitated to achieve their goals.
Tappan Mahoney President & Chief Engineer Dennis Engineering Company January 3, 2017
Managing HR for a Small Organization
We are not large enough to have a full time HR staff. Thus for the past 10 years, Draker Cody has helped us with any complicated or risky employee issues. Having Sandy & Theressa on our team makes me feel safer, and like I am doing due diligence for my agency.
Steve Johnson Executive Director A New Day Youth and Family Services January 3, 2017
Expert Startup Assistance
Draker Cody ably assisted us with our startup; they wrote our application for nonprofit status, and they were the major consultant/writer on our business plan. They also provided excellent training on board responsibilities to our Board of Directors.
Elizabeth Burr Member, Board of Directors Collaboration to Help Assure No Child is Exposed to Substances (CHANCES) January 3, 2017
My company has used Rick Draker to manage critical aspects of many of our projects for over ten years. Without exception, we are pleased with his advice, his management skills and his ability to find and pursue solutions to problems.
William N Dickie Dickie Planning Group, Inc. London, Orlando, Canada January 3, 2017
Rick Draker has the professional credentials, depth of experience, integrity, and personal style needed to create solutions and handle problems. He also has the management skill to achieve an outstanding result.
James Taylor, P.Eng President Iceni Corporation January 3, 2017
Project Management Skills
I have worked with Rick for the last ten years, and have found Rick's Project Management skills to be his greatest work asset. Thorough communication with clients and peers has lead to the positive reputation Rick enjoys today.
Bill Veitch, P.Eng., C.E. MTE Consultants, Inc. London, Ontario, Canada January 3, 2017
Problem Solver
Sandy brings a complete skill set to our work. She has a keen awareness of what the underlying problem are and doesn't hesitate to partner in solving them.
Ellen Driber-Hassell Executive Director Webster University, Albuquerque Campus January 3, 2017
A Resource to All
The one word I would use to define Sandy is "Contributor." She is a resource to all that know her…whether as a consultant, teacher, board member, colleague, friend or mentor.
Sheryl Brown Owner and President Taking Care of Business, LLC January 3, 2017
I could comment on great lengths about quality of Sandy's work, but what impresses me most is her integrity. She does what she says she'll do.
Leslie Warren VP Employee Development American Baptist Homes of the West January 3, 2017
Dynamic Leader
Sandy is a dynamic leader who makes a difference in our community. She motivates peers, employees, and volunteers effectively. She is open and flexible. She leads by example. She is a focused, task-oriented manager. Sandy Cody is, indeed, a woman of influence.
Jean Gibson President Resource Interlink January 3, 2017
We LOOOOOOVE Tess! She has become "one of us" and her services are invaluable! Every department relies on her and looks forward to the days she is here.
Joan Costello Executive Director Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity January 3, 2017
Excellent HR Consultants
Sandy and Theressa serve as HR consultants to our organization, and they have truly become a trusted part of our staff here at BBBS-CNM. This is a testament to their commitment to excellence in everything they do.
Alan Wilson COO Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central New Mexico January 3, 2017
I love working with Theressa. She is thoughtful, professional, and an exceptional writer, which is great. She responded very well to my input and requests. I trust Theressa and am very comfortable planning our moves together.
Angela Reed Padilla CEO Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central New Mexico January 3, 2017
Friendly HR
I just wanted to let you know something…I have worked other places where the HR department was not so friendly. I feel like I can come talk to Roberta anytime about anything, and that makes me feel good.
Megan Fisk, M.A. LMHC Counselor All Faiths Human Resources January 3, 2017


text:
Browsing XML/XSLT with HTA/Scripting Runtime
The initial idea of this article was to bring you an simplistic example of using a Scripting Runtime Library, "click here and here, blah-blah-blah, thank you." I began to write because of the need to make my colleagues' and my scripts file-system-aware. This ability proved to be very useful for software prototyping purposes or for building some small utilities; of course, it shouldn't be used on the Web (due to security/privacy reasons I'll discuss later).
Back to the tool. Prior to writing it, I was deep in XML for several weeks, so what you see here is an XML/XSLT viewer/browser, enveloped in the form of an HTML Application. It helped me a lot when I was learning XML/XSL, now it aids <some other people> in rapid checking and bug tracking of large numbers of XSL templates; I hope it helps you too.
Of course, this little browser (I'll call it "Xbrowser" further on) is in no way a replacement for any enterprise-grade development tool. It is just:
- an interactive learning tool that illustrates the basics of XML handling with JScript/MSXML—for beginners in XML development; and, maybe
- an example of using Microsoft Scripting Runtime Object Library—for developers of office tools and solutions; and, of course
- a simple utility for validating XML documents and viewing XSLT output
A last-minute addition to this article was a JScript batch transformation tool that uses (most of) the techniques described here.
Before using either of these utilities, please read the disclaimers within the script files; by using these utilities, you agree with them.
For this piece of code to work properly, you'll need the following code packs:
- The Common Dialog ActiveX Control provides a standard set of dialog boxes for operations such as opening and saving files, setting print options, and selecting colors and fonts. It is shipped with MS Visual Basic and MS Office 2000/XP products, or can be downloaded from the Microsoft Web site.
- The Scripting Runtime Object Library is a Microsoft file system management solution, designed for use with scripting languages; it is an integral part of Microsoft Office 2000/XP. The library is also available for download at the Microsoft Web site.
- Microsoft XML Core Services and/or SDK (versions 3.0 or 4.0). This can be downloaded from the Microsoft Web site.
- To install some of the previously mentioned packages, you'll probably need a CAB Extraction utility. You can download it from a Microsoft site.
How Everything Works
If you look inside the attached archive, you'll see that "Xbrowser" is no more than an HTML form. You can see how to use it, and how the code works behind the scenes, step by step.
Folder browsing
Figure 1: Choose a folder where your XML files are located.
This part uses Shell object, specifically it's BrowseForFolder method.
function BrowseFolder() { // Accessing the Shell: var objShell = new ActiveXObject("Shell.Application"); // Calling the browser dialog: var objFolder = objShell.BrowseForFolder(0, "Select a folder:", 0); if (objFolder == null) return ""; // Accessing the folder through the FolderItem object: var objFolderItem = objFolder.Items().Item(); var objPath = objFolderItem.Path; var foldername = objPath; if (foldername.substr(foldername.length-1, 1) != "\\") foldername = foldername + "\\"; // foldername is the actual folder name. ... }
File browsing and enumeration
Figure 2: Choose a file.
There are two interesting things here:
- Scripting.FileSystemObject is the main point of access to the file system. In short:
FileSystemObject contains Drives collection
Folders collection
Files collection
GetDrive method (access a particular drive)
GetFolder method (access a particular folder)
GetFile method (access a particular file)
Drives collection contains Item property (use to access the drive)
Count property (number of drives in a system)
Folders collection contains Item property (use to access the folder)
Count property (number of folders in a collection)
Add method (create new folder)
Folder object contains SubFolders collection (subforders of a folder, including those with hidden and system file attributes set)
Files collection (access all files in a folder)
Files collection contains Item property (use to access the file)
Count property (number of files in a folder)
File object contains Name property (file name)
Size property (file size)
DateCreated property (file creation date and time)
FSO has lots of collections, methods, and properties; I've just pointed out the most commonly used.
- The Enumerator object is a simple iterator, used to cycle through the collection of objects:
|Enumerator object contains
|item method (returns a reference to the current object in a collection)
atEnd method (returns true if iterator has reached the end of collection)
moveFirst method (iterates to the first object in a collection)
moveNext method (iterates to next object in a collection)
var fc = new Enumerator(colFiles); for (; !fc.atEnd(); fc.moveNext()) { var objFile = fc.item(); ... }
Actual code:
// Here goes the Scripting Runtime, FileSystemObject object: var objFSO = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject"); // Accessing the folder: var objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(curXMLfolder); // Accessing the files: var colFiles = objFolder.Files; var xmlcount = 0, xslcount = 0; // Cycling through the files, one by one: var fc = new Enumerator(colFiles); if (fc.atEnd() != true) // If collection of files is not { // empty... for (; !fc.atEnd(); fc.moveNext()) // Iterating through the { // files var objFile = fc.item(); var ftext = objFile.Name; // Checking the extension: if ((ftext.substr(ftext.length-3, 3)=="xml") | (ftext.substr(ftext.length-3, 3)=="rdf")) { xmlcount = xmlcount + 1; // Opening the <SELECT> tag if any XML files exist: if (xmlcount == 1) xmlsel="<SELECT id='xmlselection' onchange='refresh()'>"; // Adding an option: xmlsel=xmlsel+"<OPTION value="+ftext+">"+ftext+ "</OPTION>"; // Closing the tag: if (fc.atEnd()) xmlsel=xmlsel+"</SELECT>"; } } }
Loading XML from a file
This is the MSXML's part.
// Creating the new empty DOM tree: var xml = new ActiveXObject("MSXML2.DOMDOCUMENT.4.0"); // No asynchronous load: xml.async = false; // Loading the file from disk: xml.load(curXMLfolder + xmlselection.value);
Doing the same for the stylesheet:
// Creating the new empty DOM tree: var xsl = new ActiveXObject("MSXML2.DOMDOCUMENT.4.0"); // No asynchronous load: xsl.async = false; // Loading the file from disk: xsl.load(curXSLfolder + xslselection.value);
Loading XML from a string
Loading XML data from a string is a bit different from loading a file. No files, no options; all you must do is to write a string that will contain your XML code. Then, you parse that string with a single call of the LoadXML method:
// Defining a string - default stylesheet: var defsheet="<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>"; ... defsheet=defsheet+"</xsl:stylesheet>"; // String -> DOM: xsl.loadXML(defsheet);
Here, LoadXML is used to load a default stylesheet (hardcoded in a string), used when no XSL files are found in the appropriate folder.
Validating XML document
Figure 3: Review validation result.
The actual validation takes place immediately after the XML document has finished loading:
... xml.load(curXMLfolder + xmlselection.value); // Document is already validated; 'xml.parseError.errorCode' // contains error code, if any. ...
So, everything you must do is to check:
if (xml.parseError.errorCode != 0) { // Handle error } else { // Proceed - XML is ok. }
Transforming XML with XSL stylesheet
Once the XML and XSL files are loaded into DOM trees, transforming XML data with a stylesheet is as easy as nothing:
resultCache = xml.transformNode(xsl.documentElement);
Saving the result of the transformation to a file
Figure 4: Save the XSLT output to a file.
There are two points of interest here: the "Save" dialog and the file creation process itself. For the "Save" dialog to work, you must register the following ActiveX component:
<object id="cmdlg" classid="clsid:F9043C85-F6F2-101A-A3C9-08002B2F49FB" codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/controls/vb6/ comdlg32.cab"> </object>
Then, you can use it:
function fileSave() { cmdlg.CancelError = false; cmdlg.FilterIndex = 1; cmdlg.DialogTitle = "Save file as"; cmdlg.Filter = "HTML file (*.html)|*.html|XML file (*.xml)|*.xml"; // Calling the dialog: cmdlg.ShowSave(); return cmdlg.FileName; }
Wanting to save XSLT output, you simply take resultCache and stream it down to a file. No need to check for any errors here, because you don't show a "Save..." button if either of two documents (XML or XSL) hasn't passed validation.
function Save() { // Asking for file name: var filename = fileSave(); if (filename != "") { // Creating the file: var objFSO = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject"); var objFile = objFSO.CreateTextFile(filename); // Writing the XSLT output: objFile.Write(resultCache); objFile.Close(); } }


text:
My guys: The <I>other</I> men in my life
Don't get me wrong, I adore my husband. Bill is funny, kind, smart, and sexy. At our wedding, we danced our first dance to a song he wrote. Every day, he gets up at dawn to pack lunches for our son and me. When I decide to diet, he's by my side– cooking the new light meals for us. This guy is a catch. At the end of the day, I don't want anyone else's size-12 Converses under my bed. And yet... I must confess that when I walked down the aisle, I never expected he'd be the only guy in my life. You can't have just one! So here's a toast to my "other men"– who make life easier, fuller, more exciting, and more fun.
The Safe Flirt
Carlos is the guy who takes my packages and overnight letters at the post office. Probably all of 23, he's tall and cute with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Hola, amiga! Where have you been? I've missed you." he shouts whenever I come in. I know he has no plans to make a move, and he knows I know. And so, as he's looking up zip codes for me, we flirt, happily but harmlessly.
Remember flirting? Blushing? Giggling? Involuntarily grinning like a Cheshire cat? I speak my bad high school Spanish ("¿Cómo está? Mí es buena"). He laughs at my accent, then bids me goodbye with a grin ("Adiós, chiquita!"). Okay, so I'm old enough to be his moth...um, older sister– but since when has a little banter become a crime? And besides, with Carlos waiting for me behind the counter, I haven't forgotten to mail a birthday present in three years!
My One-man Fan Club
"Are you losing weight? ...." You look really sexy today." "That was a great meal." Jeff is my husband's friend, and his wife is my good friend Joanna. Because I'm not his wife, he can be on his best behavior whenever we see each other. Whether it's my looks, my sense of humor, my cooking, or my career, he's always out to boost my ego, and I love it. (Joanna feels the same way about my husband, who is his most friendly and flattering self when in her presence.) Granted, Jeff doesn't have to think up compliments at 6am, when I arise from bed, my hair askew, drool stains on my schlubby pajamas, and my breath smelling like a toxic waste dump. But let's face it, for that, you'd have to give him combat pay.
The Computer Guy
"John, when I turn on my Mac, why do I get a blinking question mark?" "John, why is my e-mail merging all my letters into one document?" "John, the little thingy is doing that thing again. Can you come over right now?" John– may his name be forever listed among the exalted– is the neighborhood computer whiz, who is nice enough to share knowledge and parts (the computer's, not his). He'll be on my Christmas list until the day they pry my mouse out of my cold dead hands.
Blasts From the Past
My male friends from college are precious. They're nearly the only folks alive who remember me when I was young and stupid– and thin! No matter how old, fat, or battered by life we become, we'll always see each other as 20-year-olds, full of promise. (Though any sexual tension that once existed between us has vanished, along with most of their hair. And let's face it, if we weren't swept away back when we were awash in teenage hormones, we sure won't succumb now.) When we get together, it's like coming home: We reminisce, catch up, and laugh, never having to explain anything. They just get me. It's the comfort level I have with my husband– minus any wifely obligation to put on mascara and act like a grown-up.
My Smarty-Pants Brother
I'd never admit it to his face, but my brother is brilliant. He knows everything about everything. What he doesn't know, he convincingly makes up. He finishes the hardest crosswords, and he explains world events in a way I can almost grasp. And when my 11-year-old son asks me the kind of questions that make my head hurt– "Where do dreams come from?" "How does hydrogen stick to oxygen in water?"– I can say, "Let's call Uncle Jonny!" As he confabs with my kid, I finally forgive him for years of dinner-table torment.
Fantasy hunks
In no particular order: Colin Firth, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Hugh Jackman, Antonio Banderas. (OK, I'll admit it: Hugh Jackman comes first.) They're smart; they're sexy; and I don't have to deal with their quirks or pick up their dirty laundry. Best of all, when I'm done with them, I just hit Eject.
My Personal Shopper
"What did you pay for that? Why didn't you call me? I could've gotten you half off!" My husband and I are money morons. Enter Jerold, the dealmaker. Whatever I need– from long-distance plans to printer cartridges– he knows where to get it cheaper. He's so hyper, I vibrate just being around him. But I'll never complain, because he's my money savior– you wouldn't believe the deal he got for us on our heating oil!
The Bodyguard
Buddy has made it his mission to protect me from this dangerous world. He follows me loyally, throwing himself between me and anyone who seems slightly menacing. When I try to leave, he's devastated; sometimes he cries. Buddy is perfect for me... except that he's a dog. When not guarding me physically– from postal workers, squirrels, and apparently dangerous neighbors– he protects my state of mind. If I'm feeling blue, he slobbers me with kisses. And when I awaken at 3am with that world-is-ending anxiety, he curls up close, and his warmth puts me to sleep. That's what I call great in bed.
My Younger Man
When I learned I was having a son, I thought, a boy? What do I know about boys? It took me 31 years to find a good one to date! I made it my mission to study my child, so as to understand the male mind at all stages. Finally, the secrets of the universe revealed! (An example: You know how a guy says he isn't thinking about anything, even though he's been staring into space for hours and you're sure he's brooding? From Levi, I've learned the truth: He really isn't thinking about anything!) As my sociological scrutiny of the male species continues, Levi, now 11, is meanwhile surviving my cluelessness and turning out fairly normal. I'm confident he'll grow up to be a funny, sensitive, intelligent, unselfish man– the perfect mix of all the guys in my life!
Beth Levine's essays have appeared in Redbook, Woman's Day, Family Circle, the Chicago Tribune, USA Weekend, and Newsday. This one first appeared in Good Housekeeping.


text:
The Game Gives Full Reenactment Of The 40 Glocc Altercation , Shyne's Response To GKMC, Floyd & More!
"The Game drops by Flex to discuss the 40 Glocc altercation, Shyne's reaction to GKMC, 50 vs Floyd beef and his new album "Jesus Piece"." - Hot97
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
Prism is friendly
The article "Prism Schism" omits the other community-oriented activities that go on every week at the Prism: jam sessions, open mics, Festival of the Book, cultural fairs, and a children's radio show to name a few. Unfortunately, volunteers for such activities are difficult to come by, so Fred and Kenyon handle many of these situations short-handed or on their own.
Really all this boils down to one thing, Fred and Kenyon aren't running the Prism for personal gain. They're there to selflessly help the community. As for the comment in the article that the Prism needs to get back to a point where people feel it's a friendly place, I can't think of a friendlier place in the country.
Max Ludington


text:
Connecting at ContactCon
Last week, Douglas Rushkoff hosted ContactCon at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in the Lower East Side. This unconference model symposium, co-organized by Vanessa Miemis, aimed to put into action ideas that challenge censorship, corporate ownership, and other unfree aspects of internet technology. As Rushkoff explained to Alternet's Sarah Jaffe, the event hoped to "reify the 'net values of 1992 back up to 2012."
Douglas Rushkoff's Keynote at SXSW 2010
The event started with "provocations" from participants representing progressiving technology organizations like FreedomBox and Telecomix (videos), in addition to well known speakers like Eli Pariser and Laura Flanders. Afterward, participants organized into small groups discussing issues ranging from the highly technical — mesh networks and coownership of the physical layer — to a proposal to organize hacker spaces in libraries (which was well received by the audience, for, as Rushkoff pointed out, the idea is clear and actionable...
Snapshots of Occupy Wall Street
Reuters/Eduardo Munoz via The Atlantic In Focus
On a quiet night, Zuccotti Park feels more like a LARP than a demonstration. Everyone deep in character with a specific task. Extemporized librarians, scanning books. The media team inside a cat's cradle of crisscrossing wires, barricade by the discarded boxes of donated devices. The scent of detergent from a block away as the sanitation unit mops the pavement.
What should we be? "Tactical beekeepers!" my friend Melissa suggested; a joke on the state ban on face covering that police were enforcing, accounting for the absence of Guy Fawkes masks and bandanas. But actually my role there was as tourist, which anyone could tell whenever I checked my phone for text messages or turned the device horizontally for snapshots of witty posters.
In what would be the shadow of the World Trade Center, and at the heart of both a neighborhood traumatized and city district that represents financial power the world over; the psychogeography of Zuccotti Park will inspire theoretic naval gazing for years to come. But every Occupy Wall Street march in New York seems to poetically incorporate the history and semiotics of the city. Times Square marchers in Milton Glasner's "I (Heart) NY" t-shirts, waving sparklers in the air, singing show tunes along with a brass band behind the TKTS booth while tourists feverishly snapped photos, as they would any other urban spectacle. Another photo op: the wall of riot cops beneath the Washington Square arch, the Empire State Building gleaming directly north, lights piercing the night sky. After the General Assembly meeting disassembled for the midnight curfew, it seemed like anyone out on Bleecker Street that Saturday night could have been part of it.
This movement was built on unforgettable images.
Weekend Clicking
Posters from the May 1968 protests are collected in Beauty Is in the Street, via The Paris Review
- Watch a stuffed Wile E Coyote take a ride on a drone to the sounds of smooth jazz. Like the Grand Challenge for driverless vehicles, DARPA's UAVForge is crowdsourcing ideas for drone development. Many great concepts entered already to watch and comment on.
- 6 Wild Ideas from DARPA's Starship Conference (Popular Mechanics)
- JG Ballard Geocoded.
- "I'm Getting Arrested," an Android app for activists. Panic button for SMS-ing friends, family, and legal support.
- Directions to Last Visitor gives you directions to the last visitor
- Fatima Al Qadiri, "Vatican Vibes" directed by Tabor Robak.
- Adam Curtis writes about TV hugging.
- Nicola Twilley at Gel 2011 discussing sense of smell and scratch-and-sniff maps she made cataloguing preferences
- My son is on the autism spectrum and has a severe receptive and expressive language delay. He's four years old, and can read and spell words, and sing entire songs, but is more like an 18-month or two-year-old in normal conversation. He cannot use a telephone and has a hard time sitting still for video telephony. He has a thoroughly well-loved iPod Touch, filled with videos and apps that have helped him learn to speak and augment his ability to communicate... I bought my first iPhone when I broke my arm, because it let me use a computer with one hand. [When] I saw Apple's demo video for Siri, its new voice-command AI assistant — which ends with a blind woman using Siri to send and receive text messages — knowing that blindness has been the disability least well-served by the touchscreen revolution — I wept. - Tim Carmody
- The things they don't teach you in art school (Frieze)
- Astra Taylor reviews Christian Parenti's Tropic ...
Weekend Clicking
Still from Power Slave (1995) via FM Towns Marty
- [What] I find jarring about this formulation is the same thing that bothers me about the alarming trend of weddings in which the photographers and videographers have free reign, even during the ceremony, in order to get the best, most cinematic record of the event, at the expense of the event itself and everyone participating. It's a conflation of the record of the event with the event itself, or even a privileging of the record over what gives the record its meaning and power - Joe Moon on Facebook Timeline and Google's Dear Sophie video.
- "All of life has been utterly, profoundly changed thanks to Facebook's new features, and nothing will ever be the same, and all I can do is sit here and weep at the beauty and magic that Mark Zuckerberg has brought to this world"
- "The frontier is always the border of something, virgin territory where we can build new worlds, remake ourselves; always there's this obsession with remaking ourselves. So to dream of the frontier is also to desire immortality. But there is no such thing as new territory. There are always previous civilizations, societies, families, and cultures. So when we build new worlds, there will be violence." - Cathy Park Hong in the Paris Review
- olduse.net, a site updated in real time as it was thirty years ago.
- "Out-dazzled" by the launch of Kindle Fire, Amazon quietly kills a skeumorph. The tab dividers for navigation are no longer on the site.
- Ron Hanson (editor of White Fungus) interviews Taiwan artist Yao Jui-chung for Afterall. In 2010 Yao sparked a national debate with The Mosquito Project, a series of photographs and book documenting a multitude of idle public facilities scattered across Taiwan. Built purely ...
Chris Collins on WFMU Too Much Information
The most recent episode of WFMU's Too Much Information is on the topic of pseudonyms with guests like EFF's Jillian York, Carmela Ciuraru author of Nom de Plume, and Chris Collins, who talks about his epic post for The State, unraveling the mystery of several visually striking work-at-home images found on Craigslist attributed to "Luzy":
Each image I found was more thrilling than the previous one, and I was struck by their breadth and intensity as a body of work. Each one used stock imagery typical to this type of industry: images of sandy beaches, exotic locations, piles of money, and "cyber" looking backdrops. Yet each was constructed in a way that seemed alien to all traditional conventions of design. Imagery was stretched, enlarged and compressed in odd ways, and the text on the images made it clear that English was not the first language of the images' creator. They exploded with strange color choices. The compositions were unlike anything I'd ever seen. A graphic designer would look at them and call them horrendous. I found them bizarre, perplexing, and beautiful.


text:
It's Sunday morning. I read more rain will fall in Colorado today. It could affect rescue efforts and further soak the land that could result in more flash floods. I decide to write.
Last Thursday as the devastation was unfolding I wrote all day and evening. I ended the piece "Boulder Flooding" with these words: Will the death and devastation from this week's flood in Colorado simply pass us by as a mere spectacle?
There is now a sincere effort to understand what's happening. Last Thursday when Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle commented, "it is not your ordinary disaster," he said what he saw, but didn't apprehend the full scope of this catastrophic flood.
I'll share a bit about science first, and then open the subject up towards a socio-psychological analysis.
After "Boulder Flooding" was published on Friday, I received numerous comments from readers, including from several Coloradoans. One comment that many of them shared was this: The TV is certainly covering the event and showing the devastation, but no television journalist is raising the question if global warming played any part in causing (or amplifying) this flood. I don't have TV, but if their assertion is true then it'd be yet another example of the lack of critical analysis in American journalism.
In my last piece I had mentioned artists' role in addressing the climate crisis by discussing Mary Miss' 2007 outdoor installation "Connect the Dots" in Boulder. Working with scientists Mary had made visible the high water mark of a 500-year flood in the Boulder Creek. Last Thursday, based on rain data from the National Weather Service, Joe Pelle had said that the current deluge in Boulder is a 100-year flood.
A 100-year flood is defined as a flood that has a 1 percent probability of occurring in any given year. It is expressed in terms of flow rate: "Based on the expected 100-year flood flow rate in a given creek, river or surface water system, the flood water level can be mapped as an area of inundation," according to Wikipedia). Thinking in terms of the flow rate clears up the misconception that in a given century only once such a flood would take place in a particular river/creek.
We've come to know now that the flood in the Boulder Creek is instead -- a 1,000-year flood!
Andrew Freedman, senior science writer for Climate Central wrote an excellent article "Colorado's 'Biblical' Flood in Line with Climate Trends." Based on 1981-2010 average rainfall data, Freedman points out that Boulder "gets about 1.7 inches of rain during September." As of his writing Boulder had received 12.3 inches of rain. Based on that he had concluded that the current flood in Colorado qualifies "as a 1 in 1,000 year event." He also pointed out that the "average yearly rainfall in Boulder is 20.68 inches." As of this writing, more than 15 inches of rain has already fallen, and more is predicted for today. So it is no surprise that the National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini said, "This is clearly going to be a historic event."
There are two things to note in Freedman's analysis: the actual volume of rain that has fallen, and the timing. Month of September is not known for heavy rain in the American southwest.
Between March 2006 and December 2009, almost everyday, I walked in a five-mile radius around my home in the suburb of Santa Fe -- for the project Where I Live I Hope to Know. July and August are the two months when we used to get rain -- mostly in the afternoon. The summer rain is so significant for the desert ecology that I had done an entire series of photographs, "Often I Look Up at the Sky and Wish for Rain." September was never the month when heavy rain would fall in The Land of Little Rain.
So 15 inches of rain with still 15 more days to go in September is indeed "biblical," as the National Weather Service put it.
But why so much rain in a region that is in the midst of a long-term drought? Freedman points out that last year "was Colorado's second-driest on record, with the warmest spring and warmest summer on record." He then explains that a combination of an "active Southwest Monsoon" and "a broad area of low pressure at upper levels of the atmosphere" resulted in the historic Colorado deluge. He writes:
"It was this persistent low pressure area that helped pull the moisture out of the tropics and into Colorado. ... This tropical air mass, which is more typical of the Gulf Coast than the Rocky Mountains, has been forced to move slowly up and over the Front Range by light southeasterly winds. This lifting process, known as orographic lift, allowed the atmosphere to wring out this unusually bountiful stream of moist air, dumping torrents of rain on the Boulder area for days on end."
Freedman finally raises the question if climate change made the Boulder flood more likely. He writes that it will take scientists months to figure that out, but "the amount by which this event has exceeded past events [including the historic 1976 Big Thompson Canyon Flood] suggests that manmade warming may have played some role by making the event worse than it would have otherwise been." He continues, "Extreme rainfall events have become more frequent across the U.S. during the past several decades in part due to man-made global warming." Furthermore, the draft National Climate Assessment report that was released in January notes that "increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events are projected for most U.S. areas."
"Although the overall climate of the Southwest may become drier over the coming decades, a greater proportion of the rain that does fall could be in the form of heavy precipitation events," Freedman writes. And this finally may explain the "frequent, sharp swings between drought and flood" in the American southwest.
During my four years of walking in New Mexico, I had learned that the ecology of the desert needs -- slow, steady rain that gets soaked into the soil and the aquifer. Heavy downpour simply washes away. So the prediction of "heavy precipitation" is not good news for the desert ecology.
Freedman points out that while the National Weather Service was able to forecast heavy rainfall a week in advance "the magnitude of the rainfall and the repetitiveness of it in some critical areas was not pinpointed" ahead of time. In few recent instances, reality has surpassed scientific predictions. For example, the actual sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean in September of last year was lower than what the scientists (including from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder) had predicted just a few years ago. And, working with scientists, Mary Miss had presented an outdoor installation to make visible a 500-year flood in the Boulder Creek. The reality in Boulder is worse than that. Many contributing factors, combined with feedback loop in some cases, make it difficult (if not impossible) to predict precisely the severity of a particular extreme weather event.
From Connecting Dots to Repeated Assaults
How do we understand, and then communicate, the cause-and-consequence of extreme weather events in a globally warmed earth?
When an extreme weather event happens scientists try to understand it by comparing against historical data. They also do comparative analysis of similar recent events across other geographies. The latter approach is an example of connecting the dots, a phrase that has become a staple of climate change communication. We connect the dots not only across similar events across countries, but also across different events within a single country.
But what we have not yet looked at carefully is -- repeated assaults -- in a particular geography. Colorado would be a perfect example to study that concept.
In the last decade and a half Colorado (and its neighbor New Mexico) has gone through three major assaults -- massive tree deaths, massive wildfires, and now massive floods -- each in turn has been called "the worst natural disaster" the region has seen. Each in turn has also made the next one worse -- millions of dead trees made the wildfires worse, and we are now learning that the wildfires are making the floods worse.
Several species of bark beetles have ravaged forests all across the American West -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The black spruce, white spruce, ponderosa pine, lodglepole pine, whitebark pine, and piñon have all been devastated by recent bark beetles epidemic. When healthy trees become stressed from severe and sustained drought, they become subject to attack: the beetles drill into their bark, lay eggs along the way, and kill their host.
Colorado has been hit hard. If you go the Rocky Mountain National Park you'll see that large swaths of green landscapes have turned rusty brown -- the lodgepole pines are dead, millions of them. In 2010 Senator Mark Udall of Colorado had co-sponsored the National Forest Insect and Disease Emergency Act. At the time he wrote in his senate blog, "The infestation is a critical public health and safety issue for the people of Colorado and has been called the worst natural disaster our region has seen."
Alarmed by the region-wide forest deaths, scientists started to look at climate change induced forest mortality across the whole planet. In February 2010, the journal Forest Ecology and Management published an article "A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests" by twenty ecologists from thirteen countries. It is a perfect example of--connect the dots. The authors wrote:
"Greenhouse gas emissions have significantly altered global climate, and will continue to do so in the future. Increases in the frequency, duration, and/or severity of drought and heat stress associated with climate change could fundamentally alter the composition, structure, and biogeography of forests in many regions. Of particular concern are potential increases in tree mortality associated with climate induced physiological stress and interactions with other climate-mediated processes such as insect outbreaks and wildfire."
In his 2010 blog piece Senator Mark Udall made the connection between dead trees and the potential danger of wildfires. He wrote, "The Rocky Mountain West has been struggling for years to overcome a bark beetle infestation that has drastically altered the visual landscape of Colorado and increased the risk of wildfire." This summer the Black Forest fire in Colorado destroyed more than 500 homes, killed two people, and was called the most destructive fire in Colorado history. Also this summer the West Fork Complex fire in southern Colorado burned more than 100,000 acres. The Climate Central reported: "The West Fork Complex fire... was sparked by a lightning strike in an area of severe drought conditions. The fire was burning through stands of beetle-killed spruce trees." Senator Udall was correct in his assessment that dead trees do increase "the risk of wildfire." Whether beetle killed trees should be removed from the landscape, however, is a complex ecological subject that involves the well being of non-human communities. Some ecologists argue that "wholesale modification of forest structure [by removing dead trees] over large landscapes" could be ecologically damaging.
Wildfires make flooding worse. In an article, "Fire and Rain: The One-Two Punch of Flooding After Blazes," Sandra Postel, a National Geographic fellow wrote last year, "Besides the obvious threat they pose to people and wildlife, mountain forest fires often unleash a cascade of impacts that include flash flooding, mudslides, water pollution and sediment buildup in reservoirs--all of which can exact a big toll." The reason wildfires can lead to flash flooding, she points out is because "soils laid bare [from fires] cannot absorb the rainfall." Many fires have burned over the past few years in the Boulder County (the 2010 Fourmile Canyon fire and the 2012 Flagstaff fire) and likely contributed to the ongoing flash floods.
It's Sunday evening now. The rain through the day has hampered the rescue efforts. As of 10:20 p.m. MST, the Colorado Office of Emergency Management website states: 5 fatalities, 1253 people missing, 11,750 people evacuated, 1502 homes destroyed, 17494 homes damaged. For more information and to volunteer, the COEM website suggests using www.HelpColoradoNow.net.
As you can see Colorado has suffered repeated assaults -- all caused in part (or amplified) by climate change. In addition to the immediate deaths and physical devastation, repeated assaults also create deep psychological scars. Furthermore, the American culture is deeply amnesiac -- we forget a tragedy soon after the corporate media stops reporting on a particular catastrophe. But when a region is going through repeated assaults, before amnesia sets in, the next assault arrives. The time has come for us to do more than connect the dots through science. We also need to understand repeated assaults through socio-psychological studies and analysis, not just in Colorado, but wherever on earth it maybe taking place.
Subhankar Banerjee's latest book Arctic Voices: Resistance at the Tipping Point will be published in paperback on October 8 (Seven Stories Press).


text:
McCrory brokered meeting on contract for friend and campaign donor
From News & Observer/ By Joseph Neff
Last fall, Gov. Pat McCrory personally intervened on behalf of a friend and major political donor who wanted to renew $3 million in private prison contracts over the objections of McCrory's top prison officials, records and interviews show.
Graeme Keith Sr., a Charlotte developer and retired banker once known as "Billy Graham's banker," has aggressively pursued private maintenance contracts in state prisons since 1999. Keith's contracts at two prisons were set to expire Dec. 31, 2014; a third would have ended four months later.
The governor convened an October 2014 meeting in Charlotte, where, according to a Department of Public Safety memo, Keith told prison officials and McCrory that "he had been working on this project 'private prison maintenance' for over ten (10) years and during that time had given a lot of money to candidates running for public office and it was now time for him to get something in return."
After prison officials said they were uncomfortable with the tenor of the meeting, McCrory ended the meeting and referred the matter to his state budget director. Lee Roberts then worked out an 11th-hour extension that culminated in an exchange of testy text messages among the governor's top appointees the night of Dec. 30, one day before the contract was to expire.


text:
Check back soon for a digital copy of our monthly teen newsletter. It's filled with reviews on books, movies, music, games - whatever you want to give us an opinion on, you can.
Interested in writing a review? Either stop by your branch or fill out this form online. We'd love to hear from you!


text:
Stranger Than Fiction Remastered LP (Black) + Hoodie Bundle
$49.99 – $51.99
More Information
This bundle includes:
– Bad Religion – Stranger Than Fiction Remastered LP (Black)
– Bad Religion Brain Pullover Hoodie (Black)
Classic art from the newly remastered album, Stranger Than Fiction, printed on a standard-fitting black pullover hoodie.
• Screen Print
• 50% Cotton / 50% Polyester
• Standard Fit, Premium Quality Hoodie
• Machine wash cool, tumble dry low
Track list:
Side A
- Incomplete
- Leave Mine To Me
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Tiny Voices
- The Handshake
- Better Off Dead
- Infected
- Television
Side B
- Individual
- Hooray For Me…
- Slumber
- Marked
- Inner Logic
- What It Is
- 21st Century (Digital Boy)
This purchase includes a digital download of the album. You will be emailed a link to access your download shortly after purchase.


text:
Frequently Asked Questions about IMF Involvement in the Eurozone Debt Crisis
Description: On May 2, 2010, the Eurozone member states and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced an unprecedented €110 billion (about $145 billion) financial assistance package for Greece. The following week, on May 9, 2010, EU leaders announced that they would make an additional €500 billion (about $636 billion) in financial assistance available to vulnerable European countries, and suggested that the IMF could contribute up to an additional €220 billion to €250 billion (about $280 billion to $318 billion). This report answers frequently asked questions about IMF involvement in the Eurozone debt crisis.
Date: August 27, 2010
Creator: Nelson, Rebecca M.; Nanto, Dick K.; Sanford, Jonathan E. & Weiss, Martin A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department


text:
A balmy November afternoon to you, Arsians! It is I, The Dealmaster, and all month this month I will be coming at you twice a week, dropping savings all up in your grills like it ain't no thing! Our partners over at LogicBuy have dug deep and pulled out some fascinating finds, from which I have picked only the finest—and this week, among the deals is a totally swank Philippe Starck watch. I have it on good authority that if you wear this watch, women will want you, and men will want to be you. Unless you're a woman, in which case you should invert that, because otherwise it doesn't make much sense.
Also, we've got a pre-order deal for Halo 4 on Xbox 360 which will net you a $20 gift card, so if you were planning on picking it up, this is a good way to score some free stuff at the same time!
Top deal:
- Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180 Ultra Small Form Factor Desktop + Backlit Multimedia Remote for $299 with free shipping at Lenovo (normally $479 - use $180 coupon code: USPQ2W1101)
Other deals:
- Ending tonight! Pre-order Halo 4 (Xbox 360) for $59.99 and get Free $20 Gift Card + Free shipping at Dell (normally $59.99 without gift card)
- 14" HP Envy TouchSmart 4t-1100 Ultrabook w/Backlit Keyboard, Touchscreen, Win 8 for $749.99 with $9.99 shipping at HP (normally $799.99)
- 11.6" Asus Zenbook UX21E-ESL4 Laptop w/Core i5, 128GB SSD, 2.8 pounds for $699 with free shipping at Microsoft (normally $999)
- 23" Dell S2340T 1080p IPS Multi-touch Monitor w/ built-in Dock, USB 3.0, DisplayPort for $649.99 with free shipping at Dell (normally $699.99)
- Logitech K800 Wireless Illuminated Keyboard for $80.74 with free shipping at Dell (normally $94.99 - use coupon code: P83Q8GXNJK9Q0R)
- 1TB Western Digital My Passport USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive w/ 2-year warranty for $89.99 with free shipping at Dell (normally $99.99 - use 10% coupon code VJ7$295NPV28MN )
- Netgear Push2TV HD Wireless Display PC to TV Adapter (PTV3000) for $59.99 with free shipping (normally $69.99)
- 10.1" ASUS VivoTab TF600 32GB Windows RT Tablet for $581.95 with free shipping at B&H (normally $599.99)
- Philippe Starck Men's Digital Watch for $59 with free shipping at Ashford (normally $125)


text:
- 1 Start Bitcoin mining today!
- 1.1 Creditcard payments available.
Start Bitcoin mining today!
It's super simple — Your mining rigs are already set up and running.
As soon as you've set-up your account you can start to earn your first coins from our bitcoin cloud mining service!
Your hardware
is already running
Don't wrestle with rig assembly and hot, noisy miners at home. We have the fastest bitcoin mining hardware running for you already!
Mine alternative
You can mine any cryptocurrency available in our catalogue! Switch your mining power on the fly for all the coins using our bitcoin mining website
Get your first
You will get periodic mining rewards to your designated wallet. Try our bitcoin mining platform now!
Genesis Mining is one of the leading cloudmining companies and a trustworthy partner of ours. It's good to see that they are an honest cloudmining service which shows their farms openly to the public.
Leading Bitcoin Asic Manufacturing Company
Genesis Mining is one of our biggest clients and proven to be a reliable and trustworthy business partner. Their transparent mining sites and high quality software infrastructure together with our high end mining hardware result in a great and unique product and experience for everybody interested in mining!
Leading Scrypt Asic Manufacturing Company
As the world first 28nm BTC and LTC chip maker, Innosilicon selects Genesis Ming as partner in cloud mining industry business for its integrity, excellent customer oriented service and great user interface design. Genesis Mining is the best in class mining service that is supported by our technologically superior mining hardware. This unique synergy produces the best experience for those interested in mining and we look forward to having a long and prosperous relationship.
MinerEU is very happy to have Genesis Mining as our trustworthy partner. We have already recommended Genesis-Mining to thousands of our existing customers who are happy and satisfied with their excellent services and products.
Official Distribution Partner of Genesis Mining
Our videos
Creditcard payments available.
- MasterCard
- Visa
Try it now!
The ETF and You: What Bitcoin's Big News Means 07.03.2016.
The latest news in the Bitcoin space is one that has been in the making for four years: the Winklevoss' twins Bitcoin ETF will soon be accepted, or rejected, by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). This decision will leave ripples in Bitcoin's history, and it's the first step to legitimizing Bitcoin's acceptance with the general public.
Bitcoin: the Technology That Just Won't Die 17.01.2017.
Like most Bitcoin fans out there, I talk about Bitcoin a lot. From the person sitting next to me on the plane to the waiter serving my table drinks, every chance I get I end up talking about Bitcoin. This isn't something I intentionally force on people, it's something that just naturally ends up fitting into so many different conversations and every time a Bitcoin conversation starts, I eventually am asked the same question.
A New Year of Success In Mining! 04.01.2017.
Wow. What a year it's been! 2016 was full of exciting news in the world of cryptocurrency: we've seen continued innovation amidst the blockchain, we've seen a steady growth of Bitcoin and increasing global acceptance of the currency, and of course, we've seen a growth of Genesis Mining in both our bitcoin farm hardware and customer base.
The history of Bitcoin
Today, most people know about or at least have heard about cryptocurrency, but few know the true history of bitcoin. Learn about origins of bitcoin here!
How to mine Bitcoin
With bitcoin growing as a currency it is important to know how it works and how it is used. We explain how bitcoin mining works and how it is used here!


text:
Bongiovi Acoustics and Johnson Controls have teamed up to create the first 100% digital audio processing speakerless car system for Toyota cars, which is currently being shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Designed by music legend Tony Bongiovi, an audio engineer and record producer, the Bongiovi Acoustics Digital Power Station (DPS) is the latest in software technology, that will reassemble audio in real time for an optimal listening experience.
Johnson Controls make all parts of the car vibrate, thus producing sound and acting as speakers. The Bongiovi DPS with the digital signal processing of each car's unique acoustic environment and vibrations, provides a recording studio quality audio experience without the size and cost of other premium audio upgrades and extra hardware. For example, instead of having a subwoofer, the system uses the sheet metal beneath the seats, and having no speakers also provides more space and options on the doors.
The Bongiovi Acoustics Digital Power Station will be available fall 2011 starting at $280 for most current Toyota models.
Experience DPS technology with a free plug-in optimized for iTunes and Mac users at www.dpsplugin.com. A Windows version will be available shortly.


text:
Beef Porridge Balls
50g Porridge Oats
100ml beef stock (either water with half a stock cube or stock)
Boil the beef stock and then add the oats. Cook for 5 minutes stirring every now and then.
Cook until very stodgy.
Leave to cool.
Roll into bitesize balls and put in the freezer for a couple of hours.
Feed to your dog as a nice treat, especially in the summer months.


text:
Motorola and Nextel Mexico have unveiled a new Android based smartphone – the Motorola Titanium. The Titanium is similar to the Verizon's Droid Pro.
The Titanium sports a 3.1-inch screen with HVGA (320×480) resolution. The phone has a candy-bar form-factor, with a full QWERTY keyboard, up front. Other key features of the Titanium include a GPS with A-GPS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, FM Radio with RDS and a microSD card slot with an 8GB card pre-loaded.
At Motorola, we are proud to introduce Motorola TITANIUM, it is the first device in its class to integrate various communication types e-mail and the Internet, radio and telephony. That is precisely how our joint offer becomes smarter,said Vince GarcÃa, iDEN director, Motorola Mexico.
The back of the handset will pack a 5MP camera with autofocus, and LED flash. The Titanium runs on the out-dated Android 2.1 (Eclair), with Moto's BLUR UI on top of it. It also supports Nextel's email service and radio functionality. The handset is powered by a monstrous 1820mAh battery.
Sadly, Motorola and Nextel did not mention anything about the release date or pricing of the Titanium. However, the handset should be available to the end-user by September.


text:
Accepts gift cards
Accepts gift cards
{{item.start_date | date:'dd-MMM-yyyy'}} - {{item.end_date | date:'dd-MMM-yyyy'}}
Try a less specific search term, browse our website or call our centre on 0892503688 .
Browse all of our stores in alphabetical order or by category.
Midland Gate is open seven days a week with extended trading on Thursday nights.
Midland Gate is located at 274 Great Eastern Highway, Midland WA.
By clicking "Sign up" below, I acknowledge that I've read and agreed to the Privacy Policy.


text:
Contribute to ReadWriteThink / RSS / FAQs / Site Demonstrations / Contact Us / About Us
ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, videos, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Teacher Resources by Grade
|1st - 2nd
|3rd - 4th
|5th - 6th
|7th - 8th
|9th - 10th
|11th - 12th
Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan
Unwinding A Circular Plot: Prediction Strategies in Reading and Writing
|3 – 5
|Lesson Plan Type
|Standard Lesson
|Estimated Time
|Two 50-minute sessions
|Lesson Author
Urbana, Illinois
Circular stories follow a round patternthey begin and end in the same way. Like the cycle of seasons or the life cycle, circular stories follow a predictable series of events that returns to the starting point. Building on students' existing knowledge of plot structure and of cycles in other content areas, this lesson invites students to use a circle plot graphic organizer to explore the structure of this type of story. The cyclical nature of the stories is an excellent match for discussion of prediction and sequencing skills. After exploring the features of circular plot stories and reading a model story, such as Laura Joffe Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, students write their own stories individually or in small groups.
Circular or Cyclical Books: This sheet provides a list of circular stories that can be used as models before students write their own circular plot stories.
Circle Plot Story Rubric: Teachers can use this rubric to evaluate the plot, creativity, sentence structure, and conventions of students' circular stories.
Interactive Circle Plot Diagram: Using this online tool, students can label and describe the plot events of a circular story. Finished work can be printed.
In Literary Discussion in the Elementary School, Joy Moss explains that "Since prediction is an important strategy used in the reading process, the teacher can demonstrate this strategy by stopping at significant points [in the story] and asking, What do you think will happen next? As children internalize this question, they develop an anticipatory attitude toward print, making predictions as they read or listen to a text in order to generate meaning as the story unfolds" (67).
Circular and cyclical plot stories are excellent resources for introducing student prediction strategies because of their repetitive nature. This repetition encourages students to predict events with more success. By introducing and supporting prediction strategies, teachers encourage students to "learn to construct a working interpretation of the story based on the clues they gather and to revise or refine this interpretation as they find new information in and generate new meaning from the unfolding text" (Moss, 67). Eventually, students "internalize these strategies and use them on their own to make sense of texts they listen to or read independently" (Moss, 68).
Further Reading
Moss, Joy. 2002. Literary Discussion in the Elementary School. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Ray, Katie Wood. 1999. Wondrous Words: Writers and Writing in the Elementary Classroom. Urbana, IL: NCTE.