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Off-topic: Yuri Milner, Facebook's Zuckerberg, and Google's Brin launched a Life Sciences counterpart of the Milner Prize, the same money. Because it's about life sciences, the chairman of the foundation is the chairman of Apple.Ludwig Boltzmann was born on February 20th, 1844, in Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire. He hanged himself 62 years later, on September 5th, 1906, near Trieste, (then) also in the Austrian Empire, where he was on vacations with his wife Henriette von Aigentler and a daughter. They had 3 daughters and 2 sons; Boltzmann probably suffered from undiagnosed bipolar disorder.
I consider Boltzmann to be not only the #1 person behind classical statistical physics but also the latest "forefather" of quantum mechanics. His name appears in something like 100 TRF blog entries.
Fine. His grandfather was a clock manufacturer while his father Ludwig Georg Boltzmann (who died when his son-physicist was 15) was an IRS official. He got some good teachers such as Loschmidt and Stefan (yes, they share the Stefan-Boltzmann law) and was exposed to the contributions by 19th century giants such as Maxwell rather early on. He collaborated with Kirchhoff and Helmholtz, among others. On the contrary, he was later the adviser to Lise Meitner, Paul Ehrenfest, and many others.
Already when he was 20+ years old, he wrote a dissertation on kinetic theory of gases, the main subject he revolutionized. Graz, proper Austria's second largest city (an important one for Slovenes), was his most successful workplace.
All his major contributions to physics are linked to statistical mechanics – the microscopic "explanation" of the laws of thermodynamics. They include the Boltzmann [transport] equation for a probability distribution on the phase space\[
\frac{\partial f}{\partial t} + \frac{\mathbf{p}}{m}\cdot\nabla f + \mathbf{F}\cdot\frac{\partial f}{\partial \mathbf{p}} = \left(\frac{\partial f}{\partial t} \right)_\mathrm{collisions}
\] but also the Stefan-Boltzmann law for the total radiated energy (scaling as the fourth power of the absolute temperature; \(4\) is indeed generalized to the dimension of the spacetime if you change it)\[
j^{\star} = \sigma T^{4}.
\] and the Boltzmann distribution saying that Nature exponentially suppresses the likelihood that things jump to higher energy levels – the colder the temperature is, the more speedy the suppression becomes:\[
{N_i \over N} = {g_i e^{-E_i/(k_BT)} \over Z(T)}.
\] Most famously, his tomb offers the visitors his statistical interpretation of the entropy:
In this equation, \(S=k\cdot \log W\), and in many other equations, we see Boltzmann's constant \[
k=k_B= 1.38\times 10^{-23}\,{\rm J/K}.
\] This is the ultimate constant to convert between kelvins (temperature) and joules (energy per a degree of freedom such as an atomic one etc.). In other words, it's the conversion factor between statistical physics and thermodynamics; mature physicists set it equal to one, \(k=1\), much like in the case of \(c=\hbar=1\). The numerical value is small because people had only been familiar with the "thermodynamic limit" in which the number of atoms is very large, effectively infinite. In this \(N\to\infty\) limit, the thermal energy per atom becomes comparable to \(kT\) which is numerically about as small as \(k\) itself. A large number of atoms (or photons) form a "continuum" and the energy is smooth.
Let me mention that \(W\) in Boltzmann's tomb trademark equation looks simple but it stands for a rather complicated word, Wahrscheinlichkeit. That simply means "probability" although a more correct explanation is "frequency of occurrence of a macrostate: how many microstates correspond to it" (the natural probability of one particular microstate is the inverse of this number, so its logarithm is the same thing as the logarithm of the number with a minus sign).
You may also wonder why the entropy is denoted \(S\). Well, I can tell you something. The symbol as well as the word "entropy" were introduced by Clausius in 1865. The word "entropy" was deliberately chosen to be similar to "energy". The word "ἐνέργεια" i.e. "energeia" means "activity" or "operation" in Greek; similarly, "τροπη" i.e. "trope" is a transformation. The symbol \(S\) wasn't explained but given the fact that the front page of a major related article by Clausius mentioned Sadi Carnot as the ultimate guru in the theory of heat (he was in the first wave of proponents of entropy), it's likely that \(S\) actually stands for "Sadi".
Ludwig Boltzmann mastered lots of the combinatorial exercises we often learn in the context of the classical statistical physics (factorials to calculate the number of arrangements, and so on). But he has spent many years with efforts to prove the second law of thermodynamics. A particular proof of this sort was the proof of the H-theorem in 1872.
Controversies about the provability of the second law
Even though Boltzmann's proof of the H-theorem is obviously right and is a template to prove the second law of thermodynamics in any microscopic theory or any formalism (including quantum mechanics), it has been attacked by irrational criticisms from the very beginning. Poor Boltzmann spent a lot of energy and created lots of entropy by the defense of his important insight and I am sure that the crackpots who criticized him contributed to his decision to commit suicide.
The so-called Loschmidt irreversibility paradox is named after Boltzmann's former teacher, Johann Joseph Loschmidt (born in Carlsbad, Czech lands), and it is a deep misunderstanding of the origin of the second law of thermodynamics (and the arrow of time). The basic logic behind this "paradox" is that the microscopic laws are time-reversal-symmetric (or at least CPT-symmetric, if you discuss a generic Lorentz-invariant quantum field theory; the impact of the CPT symmetry is almost identical). So it shouldn't be possible to derive time-reversal-asymmetric conclusions such as the second law of thermodynamics (entropy is increasing with time but not decreasing with time).
Well, if you state it in this way, it looks tautologically impossible to prove the second law. However, what this argument completely misses is the fact that the second law of thermodynamics is a statement about statistical or probabilistic quantities such as the entropy. And to derive such statements, we actually need more than just the "microscopic dynamical laws" of physics; we also need the probability calculus. The probability calculus applied to statements about events in time is intrinsically time-reversal-asymmetric. And this asymmetry, the "logical arrow of time", is imprinted to time-reversal asymmetries in other contexts.
For example, Boltzmann's H-theorem proves that the thermodynamic arrow of time (the direction of time in which the entropy increases) is inevitably and provably aligned with the logical arrow of time.
Technically, the critics were attacking the assumption of molecular chaos and were claiming that it was the key assumption that made Boltzmann's proof vacuous or invalid or whatever they would say. But this is a complete misunderstanding of this assumption. Molecular chaos is just a technical assumption about the velocity of the gas molecules etc. – they're uncorrelated etc. in the initial state – which allows one to calculate certain things analytically.
But even if we introduced arbitrary correlations or other features of the initial probability distribution, it would still be guaranteed – up to negligible, exponentially supertiny probabilities – that the entropy is actually going to increase with time! If you want the entropy to decrease with time, it is not enough to start with an initial state that contains correlations between velocities. You need to start with some totally unnatural correlations between the positions and velocities that are exponentially unlikely and that happen to evolve in a way that reduces entropy for some time. The only way to "calculate" what the correlations required to start a decline of the entropy are is to actually evolve a desired low-entropy final state backwards in time. But this can't occur naturally.
The very fact that the entropy increases in the real world has nothing whatsoever to do with any details of the molecular chaos assumption. The actual reason why the second law – a maximally time-reversal-asymmetric fact about Nature – holds is that it is a claim of probabilistic character. And probability calculus has an inevitable, intrinsic, logical arrow of time. When you calculate the probabilities for a transition between macrostates \(A\to B\), you need to sum the probabilities over the possible final microstates \(B_j\), but you need to average (not sum) over the possible initial microstates \(A_i\). Think about the origin of this summing and averaging. They are unavoidable consequences of "pure logic". For the final (mutually exclusive) microstates, the probabilities are simply summed; for the initial states, the fixed "total prior probability" must be divided among many microstates.
Averaging and summing are different things. As explained in dozens of TRF posts, this difference is reflected by an extra factor of \(1/N_A\sim \exp(-S_A)\) and guarantees that\[
\frac{P(A\to B)}{P(B^*\to A^*)} \sim \exp[(S_B-S_A)/k].
\] The asterisks represent the time-reversal- or CPT-transformed states. (The signs of velocities/momenta etc. are reverted.)
Because the entropy difference \(S_B-S_A\) is typically incomparably larger than \(k\), Boltzmann's constant, and because the probabilities can't exceed one, it's clear that the right hand side above is either zero or infinity in the thermodynamic limit and only one of the probabilities from the numerator or denominator (the probability of the process where the entropy increases) may be nonzero. This is the actual reason why the second law of thermodynamics holds.
Glimpses of the quantum, Bohrian thinking about the world
Why was it so hard for the people to understand these things? And why it's so hard to some physicists – such as Brian Greene or Sean Carroll – even today, more than 100 after these discoveries were made? Well, I think that the reason is the same as the reason why certain physicists (including the two I have mentioned) can't understand the foundations of quantum mechanics. In fact, they face almost the same problem. Let me explain why.
Niels Bohr is the author of a quote that's been mentioned on this blog many times:
There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about nature...I have mentioned that this is the key psychological obstacle for many people in the context of quantum mechanics. They're permanently looking for a classical model. There is an objective reality, they believe, described by the values of some mathematical objects (functions): the mathematical functions and the objective reality are isomorphic to each other and observations are only passive reflections of this underlying reality.
As quoted in "The philosophy of Niels Bohr" by Aage Petersen, in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Vol. 19, No. 7 (September 1963); The Genius of Science: A Portrait Gallery (2000) by Abraham Pais, p. 24, and Niels Bohr: Reflections on Subject and Object (2001) by Paul McEvoy, p. 291
In quantum mechanics, things are different. The fundamental things are propositions that we can make about observables (properties of physical systems) at various moments. The laws of quantum mechanics relate the truth value (and, more generally, probability) of these propositions directly and there is no way to reduce them to a classical model or objective reality in between. Although all of us laughed when we were kids and we were told about philosophers who question the existence of objective reality, it's nevertheless true that at the fundamental level, objective reality doesn't exist. It is just an emergent, approximate concept.
But what I haven't emphasized sufficiently often is that Bohr's quote actually applies to classical statistical physics as well. Many people misunderstand the proposition-based character of physics in this context which leads them to invent lots of irrational criticisms against classical statistical physics, too. What's going on?
The critics are still imagining that Nature is found in a particular, deterministically evolving microstate, and they try to evaluate the second of law of thermodynamics from this viewpoint. In classical physics, it is tolerable to imagine that there is a particular, deterministically evolving microstate behind all the information about Nature; in quantum physics, it isn't tolerable, as Bohr's quote above pointed out.
However, even in classical statistical physics, the existence of such a particular, deterministically evolving microstate is completely irrelevant for the validity of the second law of thermodynamics. Why? Because the second law of thermodynamics isn't a statement about a particular microstate in the phase space (or Hilbert space) at all! It is an intrinsically statistical statement about a collection of such microstates or about a probability distribution and its evolution.
Let me give you an example. The second law says, for example, that...
...if you place a hot bowl of soup on a cold table and measure the soup-table temperature difference 20 minutes later, it's almost guaranteed that you will get a smaller number than you obtained at the beginning.Let's analyze it a little bit. The first thing to notice is that the sentence above is a proposition, not an object. It is a probabilistic proposition and quantitatively speaking, it is true because we may show that for the proposition to be wrong, the entropy would have to decrease but the probability of such a process is exponentially tiny, something like \(p\sim \exp(-10^{26})\). The smallness of this number is what we mean by "almost guaranteed".
Fine. How it is possible that such a time-reveral-asymmetric proposition follows from the time-reversal-symmetric microscopic dynamical laws in physics? To see the answer, we must realize that the proposition deals with macroscopic objects such as a hot bowl of soup and table. It's important to notice that these phrases don't represent any particular microstates – precise arrangements of atoms. It's very important to acknowledge that these phrases represent macrostates – statistical mixtures of microstates that look macroscopically (almost) indistinguishable. That's true for the soup in the initial state as well as the soup in the final state.
It is a technical detail whether these statistical mixtures are "uniform" (the same probability for all of the microstates) or not; that's just the difference between microcanonical and canonical or grand canonical ensembles. These mixtures don't have to be uniform. What matters is that there are many microstates that have comparably large probabilities to be realizations of the concepts such as a hot bowl of soup. That's why the proposition "soup will cool down" above is a proposition about a transition between an initial state and a final state. And it is a proposition that is appropriately "statistically averaged or summed" over the microstates.
As I have emphasized above (and in dozens of older TRF blog entries), the right way to statistically treat such combined propositions about many microstates or macrostates is to sum over the possible final microstates, but average over the possible initial microstates (with weights identified with some "prior probabilities" that depend on other subjective choices and knowledge, but you won't lose much if you assume that all initial microstates in a set are equally likely). When you sum-and-average these transition probabilities for microstates of the soup+table, you will get a result that is totally time-reversal-asymmetric. The entropy increases because the summing/averaging asymmetry favors a larger number of "fellow microstates" for the final state and a lower number of "fellow microstates" for the initial state.
It's the mathematical logic, pure probability calculus applied to propositions about things that occur at various moments of time, that is the source of the time-reversal asymmetry. One doesn't need any time-reversal asymmetry of the microscopic laws. Indeed, these laws are time-reversal-symmetric (or at least CPT-invariant in the case of quantum field theories but the CPT-invariance plays the same role).
There is nothing paradoxical about the validity of the claim "soup will cool down". Every sane person knows that it's true. And Nature doesn't need any time-reversal-asymmetric terms in the microscopic equations of motion for the elementary particles to cool down the damn soup! It just cools down because of basic statistical considerations.
Things would be different if we made a statement about a particular microstate of the hot bowl of soup. Would a particular microstate of soup (in contact with a cold table) evolve into a microstate that looks like hotter soup or colder soup? Now, this question isn't completely well-defined. You would have to tell me what microstate you are actually asking about. And by this comment, I really mean that you would have to tell me the \(10^{26}\) positions and velocities of elementary particles in the soup with amazing precision that I need to make the prediction.
No one ever does that in the real world and it isn't really needed because we know that with insanely unlikely exceptions, whatever the initial state of the soup is, the soup will just cool down within a second, after a minute, it will always cool down. A macroscopic decrease of the entropy is virtually impossible. It will never happen anywhere in the Universe during its lifetime (except for possibly super long timescales such as the Poincaré recurrence time).
What about the unlikely exceptions? Yes, a tiny fraction of the states, \(1/\exp[(S_B-S_A)/k]\) of them, will evolve in a way that decreases the entropy. But these exceptional states can't be isolated by any natural condition for their velocities that would only look what their values are "now" (in the initial state). The only way to define these special states is to say that these are the states that will just happen to evolve into low-entropy final states.
Indeed, if you define the initial state of the soup in this way (it is a microstate that evolves into a lower-entropy final state by the microscopic equations of motion), the right statement about its evolution will be that it will evolve into a lower-entropy final state. But this proposition will be an uninteresting tautology. What the actual second law of thermodynamics is concerned with is something entirely different: realizable initial states of hot soup and the phrase "soup" that is simply defined as a statistical mixture of these microstates which forces you to use statistical and probabilistic methods to evaluate the probabilities and truth values of propositions!
The critics are also entirely wrong that the same comments would apply to the final state. It is not true that the final microstate state of the soup is "generic". Instead, among the equally high-entropy states, it is an extremely special microstate because it has evolved from a lower-entropy initial state and there are just "few" of these low-entropy initial microstates. We are told that it has evolved; it is a part of the homework exercise we were supposed to solve!
When we discuss the evolution of a bowl of soup on the table, it would be totally incorrect to think that "bowl of soup" in the final state denotes an equal statistical mixture of all conceivable similar high-entropy microstates of the soup and the table. Indeed, the very formulation of the problem says that the bowl of soup was sitting on the table so the final soup did evolve from an initial state, and it must therefore be a special microstate.
The key difference between the initial state and the final state is that it is legitimate to assume that all the allowed microstates in the initial state are comparably likely; but it is not legitimate to assume that all the macroscopically similar final microstates are equally likely. The latter claim about the final state is illegitimate simply because we aren't allowed to choose the probabilities of the final microstates; they are – by the very definition of the adjective "final" or the noun "future" – determined from the probability distributions in the initial state and the properties of the initial state in general. The future evolves from the past, not vice versa!
On the other hand, the initial state evolved from some states at even earlier instants of time and the formulation of the problem says nothing about those. That's why it's allowed to organize our knowledge about the initial state as a statistical mixture of microstates of a certain kind – where all the microstates are comparably represented. That's right because the only thing that we know about the initial state is that it is a hot bowl of soup etc.; this state doesn't have any special "micro" properties. The final microstate does have some special "micro" properties (correlations) because – as the description of the very problem says – this final state evolved from an initial state that was also a soup. We can't revert this statement and say that the initial state evolved from the final state because – by definition of the words "initial" and "final", it just hasn't.
As you can see, the critics reach wrong conclusions because they're sloppy about what we know and what we do not know. But it's a part of their philosophy to be sloppy about "what we know" because they think that the knowledge is an irrelevant spiritual subjectivist solipsist stuff that has nothing to do with physics. So they behave as if they knew the exact microstate. But that's a complete fallacy. They do not know the exact microstate and if they assume that they do, and that the initial state is very special, they inevitably reach wrong conclusions that are easily falsified by observations. Statistical claims about the soup or any objects in thermodynamics are all about our knowledge and ignorance. It's very important to distinguish what we know and what we do not know and what we partially (probabilistically) know and what the probabilities are.
Classical statistical physics is about the careful derivations of true (or extremely likely) claims about systems with many degrees of freedom out of some other true (or extremely likely) assumptions that we were told to be valid. It is all about propositions. Quantum mechanics has upgraded this principle to a new level because it became impossible – even in principle – to assume that there is a particular "objective reality" (microstate at each moment) at all. Nevertheless, the feature – that physics is about making right propositions, not about mindlessly visualizing a "model of the precise thing" – was already present in classical statistical physics because even classical statistical physics tells us that interesting statements about Nature (or soup) are statements encoding partial and probabilistic knowledge of some features of Nature (or soup) and we should be very interested in how these statements are related to each other.
So the deluded folks who helped to drive Ludwig Boltzmann to suicide were direct predecessors of the contemporary anti-quantum zealots in the same sense in which Ludwig Boltzmann himself was a forefather of modern physics, a Niels Bohr prototype.
And that's the memo.


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"House" has been on the air for six years, and in that time actor Hugh Laurie has sacrificed quite a bit to play the title character and soak in all the money and adulation that comes with having made that role his own. Since he's in virtually every scene of every episode, he's on set at all hours. He spends half the year away from his family in London. He's openly admitted to suffering from severe clinical depression. It's enough to make you wonder: Just how long does he plan on keeping it up?
The answer may be: Not much longer. Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly says Laurie's contract is up at the end of next year, and Laurie won't commit on playing the character beyond that.
"I only hope we'll know when the time is right [to close up shop]. When people blunder on for five years after [they should have called it quits]… it gets taken out of your hands. Someone will say, 'That's it.'
"But for now," he adds, "I'm immensely proud of the things we did this season…"
Laurie maintains that the idea of hanging up House's stethoscope for good isn't something he's had time to dwell on — not yet, anyway. "This sounds like I'm trying to avoid [the question]. I'm not," he insists. "I have the brain of a hamster and I can't think beyond 5 o'clock this afternoon. I really am that stupid.
"I can only say," he continues, "I think we'll have a sense next year at some point" about whether to keep going.
It's hard to think of a TV more dependent on its leading man than "House" is on Hugh Laurie. Maybe Glenn Beck's show, but perhaps comedians-turned-apocalyptic-nutjobs are more common than you realize. Anyway, Laurie IS "House." The show suffers any time it veers too far away from its irascible scumbag addict doctor namesake. I heard people say this past season of "House" was uneven, but I don't really buy that. "House" is always "House," as long as Laurie is around. He walks in, insults everyone, then sees a playing card on the floor 50 minutes in and magically solves the diagnosis. It's edgy yet comforting all at once. I still happily watch it every week. Laurie always keeps it interesting.
Perhaps Laurie will suffer from burnout and choose to leave after next year. I don't think anyone would begrudge him that. Unlike some actors who are more defined by the role than how they defined it (Matt LeBlanc, take a bow), I don't think there's anyone who doesn't think Laurie could easily transition to new roles after "House" and be just as effective.
But I don't think he'll do that. Laurie has already been willing to put up with so much as the lead of that show. If he quits, the show ends. No one would be dumb enough to keep it alive without him. Something tells me the polite Englishman in him won't let people lose their jobs just because he's tired. Expect Laurie to re-up, and "House" to keep going for as long Fox will welcome it.
Now someone needs to tell me how the short bald doctor gets such lovely lasses to woo him.

subset: commoncrawl


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Author to Discuss '(re)Defining Borders' at Annual Luncheon
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Center for Western Studies at Augustana College will host its annual Members and Friends Christmas Luncheon at Noon on Saturday, Dec.11, in the Morrison Commons' 3-in-1 Room. The event will feature a program by Dr. Patrick Hicks, associate professor of English and Augustana's Writer-in-Residence, entitled "Harvesting Words, (re)Defining Borders and the Making of a Book."
The cost is $15. To reserve tickets, call 605.274.4007.
Dr. Hicks edited the first anthology of contemporary South Dakota poetry, A Harvest of Words, published this year by the Center for Western Studies. This volume, which establishes the poetry canon for South Dakota, is published in honor of Herbert Krause, Augustana's first Writer-in-Residence and founder of the Center for Western Studies.
Hicks is the author of five poetry collections, most recently Finding the Gossamer (Salmon, 2008) and This London (Salmon, 2010). His work has appeared in scores of international journals, including Utne Reader, Glimmer Train, Indiana Review, Christian Science Monitor, Natural Bridge, Commonweal, Tar River Poetry, Nimrod and many others. He has been nominated several times for the esteemed Pushcart Prize and recently won the Glimmer Train "Emerging Writer's Fiction Award."
Aside from being a Visiting Fellow at Oxford, Hicks is the recipient of numerous grants, including one from the Bush Foundation to support his first novel, a chronicle of Auschwitz. He has lived in Northern Ireland, England, Germany and Spain. When he's not writing, he enjoys watching thunderstorms roll across the prairie.
The Center for Western Studies is located in the Fantle Building at 2121 S. Summit Ave. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please call 605.274.4007 or visit www.augie.edu/cws.
During the month of December, visitors to the Center will receive a special 20 percent discount on everything in the CWS Book & Gift Shop.
Kelly Sprecher
Director of Communications & Media Relations


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By COLLEEN LEDDY
I have known for a long time that I must mend my evil ways, but that was driven home in a very horrible way a couple weeks ago when I flew to Miami to visit not just one, but both of my grandchildren.
October 12 was the earliest opportune time for me to visit my miracle grandson Ryland after he came home from the hospital, and, lucky me, Caroline would be there, too, since her dad had a conference in Miami and the whole family accompanied him.
It's been a whirlwind fall with a trip to Portland, Oregon, in early October to learn more about the pilot phase of the Pushing the Limits program that our library will participate in this winter, before zooming to Miami after recouping one day in Morenci to coordinate the Prime Time program.
On my way home from Portland, as I sat in the Salt Lake City airport surrounded by some pretty amazing treeless mountains, eating ridiculously high-priced frozen yogurt with four toppings while talking to David on the phone, I could feel the telltale tingle of a cold sore emerging on my upper lip.
I had successfully batted down that tingle in the days before the trip, so I was sure I would again. However, I was operating on four hours sleep after having had only two hours sleep each of the previous nights.
Blame it on reading. Before attending the workshop I was assigned two books, "When the Killing's Done" by T. C. Boyle and "Thunderstruck" by Erik Larson. I had creepy-crawled my way to the end of the Boyle book (rats figure in prominently) and was trying to finish "Thunderstruck" by Erik Larson before the 8:30 a.m. start of the workshop.
I slogged through "Thunderstruck" on the plane going out, in the airport during my layover in Seattle (before I discovered Fireworks, an incredibly fun store), and in the Rose Garden while my friend Sondra walked the gardens alone and visited the Japanese Garden.
Among the roses, I sat on a bench in the sun; finally absorbed in the book. More than 300 pages in and the excitement level finally picked up. It really is a fascinating book, but I felt like I was in college again, sitting in the hallway typing the tail end of a paper minutes before it was due. Wait. That wasn't me, but I witnessed a fellow student engaged in that desperate activity one day in Morrill Hall.
I am 54 now. It's been 32 years since I graduated from college. But there I was at 2, 3, and 4 in the morning, still reading, while Sondra snored on. Just so you know, if you participate in the Pushing the Limits program, it's OK if you haven't finished the book before you attend the discussion.
The discussion will be all the more fascinating if you do read the book in advance, but it's not required. Nobody will test you. You won't have to sit in the back of the room and slink down hoping the professor doesn't notice you. There will be two videos to watch which will generate ideas and give you gristle to gnaw on, food for thought. And you can just listen to what others have to say about the book. You'll get a lot out of the program just by showing up.
But I knew I wouldn't have that luxury. There would be no slinking; I had to finish the book. I was glad I did; I was able to follow along and participate in the discussion and contribute suggestions.
But, oy, at what expense! I didn't know it then, but the tendrils of that Herpes simplex virus were wending their way to the tips of my lip.
The sun, the lack of sleep, the stress of travel, of driving a rental car alone in the dark in a strange city with many bridges over a river that runs through it, the wanton consumption of decadent foods such as Voodoo Doughnuts ("The Magic is in the Hole") and Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Pepper ice cream from Salt & Straw.
All of it came to a literal head, bulging out first in a red bump and then the blister. I thought I was going to nip it in the bud, but it blossomed into a first rate cold sore. Ready to cancel the trip rather than expose my grandchildren to the virus, I checked in with Rosie. She didn't mind me being around Caroline; she and Taylor are also among the 70 percent of adults in whom the virus lies dormant.
I was staying two nights with them in a hotel and two nights at Ben and Sarah's. I figured as long as Rosie was OK with it I could visit with them and maybe the cold sore would be gone by the time I'd be shifting over to Ben and Sarah's.
Alas, the cold sore was too active to risk potential harm to Ryland. I could only look at that precious baby from afar, not hold, kiss, and nuzzle him up close. Oh, the pain—to be so close! I flew home early—and went to bed early.


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News Archives - 2010
Losing big at work
Eleven weeks ago these gentlemen were carrying around a bit more weight—the equivalent of a first-year college student, in fact. No, they weren't toting around any unruly students. As of today, they've lost a total of 118 pounds between the two of them, and they weren't drinking protein shakes or following the cabbage soup diet.
Through Augsburg's Weight Watchers At Work program, Bruce Bengry and Bob Peterson [L to R] of the Department of Public Safety have lost weight and are learning how to keep it off by following a healthy diet and working regular physical activity into their lives.
The two started Weight Watchers because Bengry said their uniforms didn't fit. "We were embarrassed at first because we were the only men," says Peterson. But quickly they became two of the meeting's stars, giving each other high fives after weighing in each week. Now their uniforms don't fit again, this time because the officers' waistlines are shrinking.
"The best part is that the program is so easy to do, and it's so easy to see success," Bengry says. "And because we're doing it at work, we see other people from the meeting and they hold us accountable."
Bengry and Peterson's weight loss combines with the other 18 members of Augsburg's group for a total loss of 328 pounds. The group is completing their program next week and will begin another session, as long as they can get 20 members, on June 16.
For more information on Weight Watchers At Work, contact the Human Resources department at 612-330-1058.
Building a healthy department
Losing weight is just one of the ways Augsburg's DPS staff is getting and staying healthy. Together they are going to Kennedy Center to lift weights and bike, and many officers are also participating in the Twin Cities Bike Walk Week, June 5-12.
Augsburg has a team competing in the commuter challenge and is encouraging people not only to bike, walk, or bus to work that week but to make alternative transportation a regular part of their routine.
On Thursday, June 10, bikers, walkers, and bus riders can take part in several events in our neighborhood including breakfast and happy hour specials at Bedlam Theatre, waffles at Freewheel Bikes, and half-price slices at Pizza Luce.
For more information, go to the Twin Cities Bike Walk site.
Inside Augsburg showcases the experiences of Augsburg College students, alumni, staff, and faculty. Send your story idea to email@example.com.


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We've all seen the video: The Man (in the form of local police) pepper spraying a long line of apparently peaceful "Occupy" protesters on the campus of University of California-Davis. Of course, you can always count on the usual suspects (in this case, Joy Behar and her Weird Sisters of The View) to leap to a grossly overstated moral equivalence:
"A lot of people watching are too young to remember Kent State in this country, where the police shot a couple of students," observed Behar. "It's outrageous, this type of behavior cannot be tolerated by the police!"
Right. Useful-idiot college kids who, in practicing their juvenile brand of civil disobedience, were warned they would be sprayed, consented to it, and then were shocked —shocked! — when it actually happened. But that was okay, because all of the news outlets picked up the video and made the kids look completely awesome!
With that in mind, I dedicate the following lyrics to Joy Behar (with absolutely no apology to Neil Young):


text:
Chocolate cookies
Bake a batch of our irresistible all-American chocolate chunk cookies to enjoy with your cuppa. These easy sweet treats are ideal for weekend baking.
Nutrition and extra info
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal381
- fat24g
- saturates10g
- carbs36g
- sugars27g
- fibre2g
- protein7g
- salt0.42g
- 300g plain chocolate (about 55% cocoa solids)
- 100g bar milk chocolate
Milk chocolatemill-k chok-lit
Milk chocolate is classically made from dark chocolate of low cocoa solid content and a higher…
- 100g light muscovado sugar
- 85g butter, at room temperature
Butter is a dairy product made from separating whole milk or cream into fat and…
- 100g peanut butter, crunchy is best
Peanut butterpee-nut butt-ah
Peanut butter starts with dry roasting peanuts, which concentrates and heightens their flavour…
- 1 medium egg
The ultimate convenience food, eggs are powerhouses of nutrition packed with protein and a…
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
The sun-dried seed pod of a type of climbing orchid, vanilla has an inimitable soft, sweet…
- 100g self-raising flour
- 100g large salted roasted peanuts
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C.Gather together and weigh all the ingredients.
Chop 200g/7oz of the plain chocolate into rough, irregular chunks. Chop the milk chocolate in the same way, but keep separate.
Break the remaining plain chocolate into a large heatproof mixing bowl. Melt in the microwave on medium for about 11⁄2 minutes (or over a pan of simmering water).
Stir the chocolate until melted, then tip in the sugar, butter, peanut butter, egg and vanilla and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Stir in the flour, all the milk chocolate chunks, the nuts (no need to chop) and half the plain chocolate chunks. The mixture will feel quite soft, and drop easily from the spoon if you shake it.
Drop big spoonfuls in 12 piles on to 2 or 3 baking sheets, leaving room for them to spread (you may need to bake in batches). Stick the remaining chunks into the cookies (2-3 pieces in each).
Bake for 10-12 minutes until they are tinged very slightly darker around the edges. The smell will let you know they are ready. They will be soft in the middle, but will crisp up as they cool. (Cook for longer and you'll have crisper cookies.) Let them cool and firm up for a few minutes on the baking sheet (they'll break if you move them while still hot), then lift off with a wide spatula on to a cooling rack. They will keep crisp in an airtight tin for 3-4 days.


text:
Goodstart Early Learning
1323 Ipswich Boonah Road, Peak Crossing QLD 4306
Goodstart was founded on a vision of giving children the best possible start in life through access to quality early learning.
As a social enterprise, Goodstart is a not-for-profit organisation that operates with strong business disciplines. We reinvest operating surpluses in our network, our people and our purpose - for the benefit of every child and their early learning.
Every day 13,500 Goodstart staff support over 60,000 families and the 71,500 children that attend our 643 childcare centres nation-wide.
Our vision is for Australia's children to have the best possible start in life.
Our purpose is to ensure children have the learning, development and wellbeing outcomes they need for school and life.
We're driven by three guiding principles:
- Children are central to everything we do
- Families are our primary partner
- Being a valued part of each unique community
Goodstart has set six strategic goals that drive our work:
- High Quality - Ensure all of our centres deliver high quality early learning and care in a safe environment.
- Inclusion - Enhance outcomes for children in vulnerable circumstances.
- Financial Sustainability - Generate a surplus to reinvest in our network, our people and our purpose.
- Great People - Build a capable, aligned and engaged workforce.
- Evidence - Embed evidence-informed practice and strengthen the Australia evidence base.
- Influence - Increase public commitment to quality early learning and care.
- While we consistently work to give children the best possible start in life through access to quality learning at each of our centres nation-wide.


text:
Show Me Some Skin
Posted by Chic Aeon in hair, new releases on Thursday, March 31, 2011
Feeling a little need for some sun lately? Well I certainly am. This new Blue Marrakesh Bikini from Gwen Carillon Designs is perfect for hanging out in sand and surf territory. It comes with a matching shell necklace and some final touch prim beads to connect the bikini top. All in all a great set.
I finally opened the Zoe "tan" skins from Tuli. Summer, here we come! Actually I will settle for Spring. Happily we can have any season we want in our virtual land. Another color of Amacci's Emilia hair is my only other adornment *wink*. This is the shorter version of the duo style.
Hair:Amacci Hair Emilia ~ Henna (new release)
Skin:[:T:] Zoe / tan :: 03 Discotheque
Clothing: GCD - Blue Marrakesh Bikini (new release)
Accessories: GCD - Marrakesh Shell Choker (Multil) (new release)
Poses by:Pffiou, DESIRE
PF - Paradisis - GNMO
Posted by Chic Aeon in new releases, poses on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
I am amending this post with a new lead photo :D. As I was changing this afternoon, I noted that I had missed a MAJOR part of the outfit -- the prim bandeau piece. It works well and looks great, so I took a quick trip back to Barbee to fix my omission. So THIS is the "fashion shot" as it should be. Still low arc and happily in the green, but of course meant for more fun activities that shopping -- well maybe.
This is one super looking clubbing outfit! And the top will work VERY nicely with the new satin pants just out. Dual duty. Works for me!
One of the last things Acha said to us at our photo shoot last weekend was, "get naked more often". Now she may have meant the comment in a more active way *wink*, but I am going to honor her request -- just a bit -- with this not really naked but definitely skimpy new release from Paradisis. Honestly I had to smile as I unpacked boxes of lovingly made attire; bright satiny ORANGE pants (very low) were among the bounty. So when orange comes around on that 52 week wheel, I will be set now. Yeah!.
I chose this outfit to show you first, partly because it was skimpy, but also because it is very low ARC (Avatar Rendering Cost). The Pose Fair opens soon with what seems like many more vendors. With all those pose stands in use, you can pretty much guarantee it will be laggy. So this is a fashionably attired public service announcement. Deprim; Descript -- and feel free to ALMOST go naked.
My attire here isn't the lowest I can go of course. I could toss off the bandanna and remove my oversized (but script free) earrings. Still, you get the idea.
There are many, many wonderful pose makers at the fair. Some of my favorites are there, some are not. As I was looking through poses last eve for my "banana mania" weekend color post, I was reminded how very important poses are to our world. I had a gorgeous new photo prop locale, a pretty new dress, great new hair. What I needed to make the photo shoot complete --- were the poses. After looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty, I found the ones that fit my mood. They made all the difference.
So in the spirit of celebrating ALL the pose makers, new, old, and departed, I chose some of my all time favorite poses and made a collage. I tried to choose "signature" poses, ones as bloggers and photographers you may have in your inventory. See if you can guess which pose goes with which pose maker.
Your choices are: LAP, BehaviorBody, Posemaster, Glitterati, Vain, Diesel Works. Answers below the photo -- no cheating! Click the photo for a larger view if you like.
And the answers are ---
Diesel Works, Glitterati, Vain, Behavior Body, LAP, Posemaster.
The top photos are taken with my Amacci Posh AO.
Hair: Amacci hair base - hazelnut
Skin: [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: 06 Brass
Clothing: PARADISIS Fever black (new release)
Accessories: *Ticky Tacky* Lick Me! Earrings - Black: ARC reducing bandana flex (NLA)
Posted by Chic Aeon in freebies, hair, new releases on Tuesday, March 29, 2011
I SO love this hair. Just out from Amacci, Emilia can be worn in two versions, this being the longer style. What makes this new release special is simple -- it works! How it works is pretty intriguing and I admit to being puzzled at first. The basic mid length style comes with a add on that attaches to your spine (Yes, really. How clever.) This may not be new news in the hair world, but it is the first I have seen of this ingenuity.
Emilia won't work with every outfit of course; some prim jackets will get in the way. What it does do beautifully is move with you -- and that is a true pleasure. Some of my favorite long hairs come from the Amacci store and this one is absolutely going to the top of my list. Lots of colors to choose from, of course.
I should add a caveat here. Since the longer section of this style attaches to the spine, you may have issues with wearablity with outfits that already contain a prim attached to the spine. This only for those of you on the older style viewer. Viewer 2 folks can simply stack those prims using the "Add" option.
My outfit of the day is a mix of more Phoenix - Firefall lucky chair bonanza and some old favorites. They blend nicely, I think. I took my new duds and my new hair over to The Mother Road. I never get tired of taking photos there.
Hair: Amacci Hair Emilia ~ Mocha (new release)
Skin: Poison Chinese Tattoo; [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: 02 Purity
Clothing: PD/Phoenix Destiny; WRONG - Faded Ripped Jeans
Shoes: [Lazy Places] Jax Boots
Accessories: PD/Phoenix Destiny;
Poses by:LAP, Diesel Works
Dolly Pink and Changes
Posted by Chic Aeon in hair, new releases
While I embrace the idea of the future, I sometimes find myself kicking and screaming on my way into it. And so it was last night when I discovered that many of my long time favorite programs will no longer work on my hopefully soon to arrive computer and Windows 7. So some changes are afoot. They will most likely be good ones, but bear with me while I sort out the intricacies of my new software. It seems pragmatic to work on the graphics learning curve before tackling the other challenges of a new system. In the end, it will be great I am sure and I will be able to do much more. But baby steps.
My Wake Me Up outfit of the wee morning hours includes lots of newness. First we have some creatively cute rag doll hair from *SoliDea FoliEs*. Definitely different. Definitely fun. And it is on special this week as part of a new $50L monthly group offering from Italian designers. Find it at the entrance to the store -- one week only. This month's theme is "dolly".
I chose a *JeSyLiLO*: skin with a young, fresh look and oh so pink lipstick. My clothes are not new ones, but my boots -- oh so cute boots -- are part of the new releases from lassitude & ennui. Find them VERY SOON at the Fantasy Faire.
The boots are filled with great details such as short lace along the top and "pull on" loops in the back. Still, I am so glad that I don't actually have to button the myriad of tiny buttons. Those poor Victorian ladies!
With lots of colors to choose from, there is bound to be a favorite among them. Black, rose, red, purple, gray, cream and brown. Be still my beating heart. These are pretty ladylike though, so I best iron some of my Steampunk and Victorian dresses.
As you can see, they can be added to more modern styles too. Eclectic is a wonderful thing. The boots come in Viewer 2 with alpha version and include sets with and without resizers.
One of the changes for The Blog will be an added category for New Releases. From now on it will be easy to tell if there is newness amidst my photos and ramblings. A new photo format is on the way too.
Hair: *SoliDea FoliEs* Doll Wool Hair
Skin: *JeSyLiLO*:::Gum:::*LightSkin*J3*BT ( Matte )
Clothing: +++BB+++ Valeria WG WHITE Pants ; Fierce**My Boyfriends shirt (Pink)
Shoes:lassitude & ennui Flora Boots red
Accessories:[BUKKA]COLOR-BELT PINK(M)
Poses by:Glitteratti, Sway's Balloon Bench [Love]
A Touch of Fantasy
From Saturday April 2nd to Sunday April 10th 2011, thousands of Second Life residents and creators are coming together to support the American Cancer Society's vision of a world without cancer. Friends Fighting Cancer (FFC) have transformed nine sims of Second Life into a fantasy wonderland: the Fantasy Faire 2011 to benefit Relay for Life of Second Life (RFL of SL).
lassitude & ennui styles that will be released at the fair. Jackal Ennu of lassitude & ennui (a name I have ALWAYS loved) is among the elderly of our designers. No, I don't mean OLD! I mean "seasoned", one of the pioneers -- and still here after 2133 days! I marvel at the dedication and continued creativeness of those born way before I hopped out of the pod. Some leave for awhile and often return making the design world once again richer.
I first visited the then tiny shop not long after my birth. I have no idea how I ended up there, but I did. Scupties were new back then and prim shoes still the norm. Actually -- a bit of trivia for you new kids to the world -- before prim shoes there were TEXTURE shoes. Difficult to imagine, but true. I found a few pair in freebie boxes back in the time when I was very naive and very broke *wink*. I did not save them as memorabilia :D.
The other styles which I hope to show you soon, include some ornate Persian style slippers (unisex) and some --- drum roll please -- Victorian, Steam, Dolly boots.
These Celtic boots are unisex and like the other new releases come in a wide variety of colors -- some including RFL special hues. These are Viewer 2 and include versions with and without resize scripts.
My very striking mask is new today from Solidea Folies. A statement making accessory, it would work for a variety of role play styles. An option for glow is built in. This lovely Antiope costume is free in the lucky chairs at Phoenix - Firefall. I have to smile as I have been checking in there from time to time and have pretty much won everything in the chairs EXCEPT for the Silver outfit that I originally went to watch for. I will keep checking, but I am very happy with the things I have won.
Hair: A&A Akira Hair Moonlight
Skin: MYNERVAPlatinum Drow Red Lips Black Eyeband
Clothing: **Firefall** Antiope (free LC)
Shoes: lassitude & ennui Celtic boots black
Accessories: *Solidea FoliEs* Mask/1
Poses by:snOok, LAP, homemade
Color Me Spring
Posted by Chic Aeon in shopping
Color and Spring just seem to go together. Daffodils bring imaginary sunshine to damp days, new buds emerge and remind us that warmth and gentle breezes are on their way. I lean towards neutrals, but from time to time the brighter hues call to me and this morning was one of those moments.
My fun and more brilliant than normal palette began with these new release painter pants from Gwen Carillon Designs. Artistically messy, torn and frayed, they are comfort in colorful form. Graffiti wanders over legs, paint dribbles mingle with marker pen; we know these jeans have seen many hours of work and play.
Topping off the cacophony of color is part of the Barbara set from *Solidea Little Folies* , a new modestly priced, everyday accessories line from *SoliDea Folies*. The set comes with tall bangles and an oversized, statement making ring. There are lots of wildly fun accessories and hair (or things to replace what you might think of as hair *wink*) at the shop. An outside of the box store that is definitely worth a look see.
I was happy to have another outfit for the new Indie Rose Chunky Heels. I really do love them all.
Hair: Amacci Hair Carletta ~ Hazelnut
Skin:[:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: 06 Brass w Terra lip tattoo
Clothing: !O: Basics Boyfriend Racerback [Blank]; GCD - G Jeans Messy Paint (new release)
Shoes: ~*INDIE ROSE*~ Strap Chunky Heels (new release)
Accessories: *Solidea Little Folies* Barbara II Hat; *SoliDea Little FoliEs* Barbara II Necklace (new release)
Poses by: Reasonable Desires, {.:exposeur:.}
The End of a Legend
Posted by Chic Aeon in comment on Sunday, March 27, 2011
Pixelate Truth
Posted by Chic Aeon in comment on Saturday, March 26, 2011
In a rare movement away from the fashion scene, I want to highlight today's Pop Art Lab Machinima Expo 2011.
The culmination of hundreds of hours of labor took place today in Second Life. I opted to watch from the web rather than venture into the studio. The entries were all creative. My "winner" did not claim the trophy. That isn't really a surprise. I don't enter contests in SL any longer. Not only do I not win (I can live with that), I have no idea WHY the people that do win --- do. Obviously I have a different vision than most judges and honestly? That's OK with me.
So while Arbit Delecroix didn't garner the gold ring, this video won my personal vote. Minimalist, understated, with a theme that asks us to think -- I enjoy watching it over and over. The camera work is superb, the lighting subtle, the saturation cool and neutral. This camera eye and skill would have been greatly appreciated in my short stint in movie making.
While the official prize went to someone else, I notice that the popular "vote" judging by page views went to Arbit.
So if you missed the viewing, don't miss the mechinima. Be impressed. Be inspired. Enjoy!
Pure White
Posted by Chic Aeon in color challenge on Friday, March 25, 2011
This week's color challenge needed no planning. I have a favorite white outfit. I wear it often. It changes from time to time as there are plenty of options in the set. And I have some favorite hair that definitely makes a statement amidst the absence of color.
This locale wasn't my plan though -- my white room, something akin to Matrix fame, was no longer in existence. Redecorating had changed the purity of white into warm rich woods. Plan B -- my first click in search for "snow" was different, but just a striking. So a ten minute shoot this week.
Sometimes it is nice when things just flow.
Hair: Calico Ingmann Tracy - Blood
Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room :: Gina 04
Clothing: +++BB+++ Valeria WG WHITE
Poses by:Diesel Works
A Perfect Moment in Time
Now and then, when we are lucky, there is a perfect moment in time. It is most often fleeting -- so much so we sometimes wonder if it ever happened at all.
I planned this photo shoot last evening. I made my new outfit (free from one of the lucky chairs at Phoenix - Firefall) in Imprudence 1.4, found my photo op location and went to bed. This morning I logged in the Kirstens S21 viewer to take my photos. It has been a many step process for me of late, switching between viewers in order to capture shadows.
When I logged in to what I think of as the Marrakesh street, I was greeted with a glorious morn. I abandoned my best laid plans of last eve in favor of a spontaneous shot. These are the shadows as they were, the light as it was. One perfect moment. I can't wait until this is my everyday view of SL.
My location is the Arabian Marketplace, Carnivale, a simply gorgeous build with some very cute little shops that are empty should you be a fantasy retailer. It almost makes me want to take up fantasy products in order to apply for a spot in this lovely and serene place. I can of course visit -- and so can you.
PS. I never looked like this when I visited Morocco, but it is still reminiscent :D.
Skin: [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: TTH exclusive
Clothing: Creed outfit in green
Poses by:BehaviorBody
Life and Mirrored Worlds
No more pencils -- No more books. No more admin's dirty looks *wink*.
It has been a difficult but somehow good day for me. I taught a class this afternoon at Learn Avatar. Unbeknownst to me, it was my last. Some new policy changes were that last straw. The rule cam down that unlimited enrollment classes were more or less mandatory. Teachers had to have the OK for each class that they wanted to limit in number AND needed a good reason or it wouldn't be allowed.
I have been a teacher most of my life. I believe in small classes. I believe that teachers cannot TEACH if they are faced with huge numbers of students. They then are just "running them through the mill", not teaching. Most teachers, I believe, would agree. So when faced with the decision to keep on going against my beliefs -- I threw in the towel. I would like to stay for the students, but being true to myself comes first. At least I have learned THAT lesson in this lifetime.
My attire is minimal as you see. This isn't really a fashion post. I am, however, wearing the new FREE Zoe skin from Tuli. It is lovely and definitely worth going to the shop for a searching expedition. The clue has something to do with water I think. It isn't that hard to find. The pack includes a variety of skin tones as well as brow tattoos.
There is that saying that each closed door is an open window. In my case the window came a day before the "closed door". While checking the map to see if my lovely Winterfell land had been purchased, I noted that there was a commercial spot in the park along the canal. Now I had no plans to open another store and this isn't really a store, it is just an adventure. I don't plan to sell much here. It gives me a creative outlet and that, in truth, is the point.
AND I have a brand new SMOKING HOT computer with one of the top graphics cards and i7 processor on is way. Who knows what adventures I can get into with all that power.
It was sunny today as I sipped my wine. The breeze came through the window. I said good-bye to some good times and most likely some nice people, but there are adventures on the horizon.
It was a good day.
Hair: Amacci Hair Shyla ~ Mocha
Skin: [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: TTH exclusive
Accessories: DECO - Analyst Glasses - Licorice; bangles made in today's class.
Poses by:EverGlow
Reprise - Desert Dweller
Posted by Chic Aeon in places
There are a few outfits in our wardrobe that call to us from time to time -- at least that is true for me. I was in the mood for some high role play garb and an exotic landscape. Revisiting Tatooine seemed like a good way to scratch that itch. It wasn't easy to get down to the ground. Quite a few things in the welcome area were broken. Perseverance and some map clicking eventually had my feet touching sandy soil.
My outfit is a little different from before. Skin and hair have changed and with the option to add extra prims and layers I chose eyelashes and tattoos. As the morning light breaks over the quiet desert city, the typist returns to her comfy covers and a few more hours of sleep.
Hair: Exile Fastball Ecllpse
Skin: hO wEAr Dessert Dweller; Poison Chinese tattoos
Clothing: hO wEAr Dessert Dweller
Poses by:Vain
Anyone who has watched this blog through the years, know I like guywear. I am a jeans gal at heart and while I venture over into more girlish attire at times (and mostly for the photos) I pretty much live in pants and other comfy attire. VERO MODERO released a new design for the fellows recently, the Rocker set. I thought about dusting off Chav's shape; it has been awhile. But when I tried on the jacket, it was obvious it would work for gals too. I downsized the prims a bit and took a brief walk in my favorite grungy neighborhood. The belted piece will fit higher up on taller avatars. I am six to six and a half foot barefoot depending on the sim I am in (who knows?)
My hair is a new release from Simply Britnee. Camila comes in two styles; the second has locks falling across the eyes. I particularly liked this Negro color which is actually a very dark gray.
Hair: Camila 2/Negro
Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room :: Gina 04
Clothing: VERO MODERO Rocker Set
Accessories: 19 LOCS Ver,1.1glasses
Poses by:LAP
Permissions -- Why Do We Try?
Posted by Chic Aeon in comment on Monday, March 21, 2011
I don't consider myself much of a retailer these days. I build things for myself or for the challenge and I put them up on the Marketplace and sometimes in my tiny store. I try to stay away from the stress of shop ownership. Been there. Done that. No need to repeat the process.
Today was a day with issues for some of us. Login servers were down; database unhappy. When I got back into world it took me over an hour and half to put an upgraded product on the Marketplace. No matter how hard I tried the magic box refused to believe I had a new item. Finally with some deletes and many refreshes I completed the process. OK. It happens.
Then this evening I had a notecard from someone with an issue. I couldn't actually OPEN the notecard to see what the issue was, but I noted that the Marketplace had delivered an item in my off-world time and I wrote to the notecard author asking if she had a problem with a newly delivered item.
Well yes. It was No Mod. Of course it was supposed to be Mod-Copy which is typical for my goods. I had sold the item many times to happy customers. I know they modified the build as I was invited to see the changes. So why NOW all of sudden had the PERMISSIONS CHANGED inside the "magic box" ?
This isn't the first time. Often I try and convince myself that I simply made a mistake. We do that, designers. I find things from others with issues and sometime report back -- sometimes not. But this was obviously not of my doing. The same object in my shop was fine. The permissions were correct.
There are issues in world also. I have found many items that have "magically" changed their permissions no matter how many tests I have done before putting out the item.
So my -- oh so rhetorical -- question is: Why do we try?
The answer for me is pretty obvious. We love to create.
It would be nice though, if we could have faith in the system that was supposedly supporting us. I have absolutely NO idea how the magical database manages to change what we wanted to what it might like. It is truly a mystery -- one that most likely will not be solved.
Desert Camper
I taught a couple of classes yesterday, my first in two week. The classes were full, went well and at least some of the students went away considerably smarter. All good. After the classes ended I signed up for my personal tent -- the new form of housing at the school. I don't plan on living here of course, but it seemed good to be supportive and of course I LOVE to decorate.
Twenty prims seem pretty measly for folks who have had homesteads with hundreds. Those of you with half sims will no doubt smile broadly at the meager allotment. But I am very happy with my home styling. It has a Raiders of the Lost Arc feel that is comfy. Here's the rundown for you home decor 'fashionistas'.
- Sculpty bed - one I taught a class in -12 prims. The three lounging poses I made and added are happily prim free.
- Ceiling fan with wicker blades I made after moving in - 4 prims
- Flora from my previous abode homemade - 2 prims
- Crate stack (free on Xstreet) - 1 prim
- Comfy meditation cushion (part of yesterday's class project) 1 prim
Most of my archeological outfit comes from the depths of my closet, but I do have two new items. My coffee and cream jeans -- such a great color -- are part of a new release from Gwen Carillon Designs. All sorts of hues are in the collection including some not often seen and definitely missing from my wardrobe. Yeah! Each color comes in three versions of leg styles -- boots, skinny and regular. They are no mod.
My pith helmet was part of a huge swag bag given away at the recent Virtual Worlds - Best Practices in Education symposium. The seminars are over, the speakers are gone, but you can still visit for another week.
Style Notes:
Hair:(Posh) ; Oh Darling ; Caramel f
Skin: [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: 01 Bare
Clothing: =Libertine= Disorder Shred sweater Grey; RONSEM* TEE 1; GCD - G Jeans Coffee with Cream (new release)
Accessories: Virtual Pioneer Safari Pith Helmet by Serena Offcourse; SLM_OrangeParrot20091025(0930); Homespun Hornrimmed Glasses
Poses by:LAP, BehaviorBody
Misty Blues - Skies and Waters
Posted by Chic Aeon in color challenge, props on Friday, March 18, 2011
Softness. Mist. Quiet hours with thoughts and memories.
I didn't have a lot of "sky blue" in my inventory. It isn't a color I go out of my way to search for. But I did have two new release items that fit our Color of the Week, and together they made a lovely photo.
My blue mask skin is one of the Fashion For Life releases from Glam Affair. You have likely seen the photos, though perhaps not in a setting such as this. It is quite lovely. Gentle, demur -- almost fairy-like, but with a bit more mystery than our average fairy displays. You still have a few days to shop and donate!
My silver and pale blue necklace hales from *JD*DESIGN. I love the handmade look. No scripted links here; a tradition I embraced in my stint as a jewelry designer. The blue stones are cool and subtle, the design carefree and creative.
My just barely OK for the office top is one of Chandra's. When looking for something "skimpy", I know which folders in my inventory to search *wink*. The twinkling blue eyes are also from deivousmind.
The magical locale is my finally finished forest glade pond with skybox surround which is now available in world and on the marketplace. It took a lot of work for me to be happy with the fantasy steam of the hot water pool. A long and enlightening trip to the Particle Lab helped. Feel free to come by and take some photos. It is really OK. There are five different poses built into the pond boulders. Finding the correct rocks to click is a puzzle and an adventure. I wouldn't want to make it TOO easy :D.
Hair: Amacci Hair Carletta ~ Graphite
Skin: -Glam Affair- Mary Ice BL A
Eyes: !dM deviousEyes/M "AngelDust" Delirium **GALAXY**
Clothing: !dM Lenore - corset/AB bodice transparent **WHITE***
Accessories: *JD*NECKLACE COOL BLUE
Poses by: BehaviorBody
Moving Back in Time
Posted by Chic Aeon in hunts on Thursday, March 17, 2011
A brief post with two big thumbs up for a new to me store named [ noctis] which seems to have several locations *wink*. The link above leads to the store with this very lovely vintage furniture set. There are two versions available in the Timeless Treasure hunt. One in "blood" and this one shown in "plum". So keep looking for both boxes. There is also a stellar set of goodies as number 176 in the STEAM hunt.
So if you are into vintage, Victorian or Steam -- be sure and drop by. Do a little searching. Do a little shopping. It's all good.
Hair: **Pocket Mirrors** Jane Short Beige
Skin: [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: 05 Vogue
Clothing: Homespun Cozy Cardigan - Birdie; Homespun Bluebird Dress; Homespun Rolled-Down Sock L - Blue
Shoes: Dilly Dolls *DD* Carlotta Oxfords Dark
Poses by:BehaviorBody; LAP
Lovin' the Green
Posted by Chic Aeon in shopping on Wednesday, March 16, 2011
And a happy St. Pat's to ya! I am standing outside of a bustling Irish pub. The music is loud. The folks -- all thirty-one of them -- are merry. It is a good day in Dublin town. I am part Irish so I am happy to celebrate !
My very cute -- and very green -- St. Pat's day outfit is from Leel. It can definitely stay in my wardrobe after the holiday is over!
Hair: !!Calico Ingmann Creations!! Tracy copper
Skin: [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: 06 Brass; ** KANIVAL TATTOO ** - 89. Paisley
Clothing: .:LeeL:. st.patricksday pants and shirt
Accessories: **DM** Stone Dreams Cuff Bracelet
Poses by:LAP
OTR: Archacon Village
Vero Modero has some great new pants out, ones that definitely had me heading to the "playa". It was a bit of a bumpy journey, the photo shoot of the morn. My favorite yacht site was steeped in gray -- not fog, just textures that wouldn't rez. So on to Plan B, the SL Destination Guide which happily gets updated fairly often. I scrolled through the current beach listings and found a picturesque sounding spot, Archacon Village.
These are French islands. My high school language classes really didn't help me much with the signs. Bakery, library and school seem to be the words I remember *wink*. Still, the atmosphere is lovely and perfect for my new attire. I really do love capris and these Chic Jeans are lots of fun with buttoned pockets and leg plackets. My sophisticated sunglasses and cute striped neck tie are accessories that come with the new brightly patterned Chic Tops. I opted for a more sedate shirt, feeling so classically European, like Bridget Bardot -- retro coming around again into mainstream. I love it.
My sandals are a new release from Baby Monkey. The Ultimate Zena sandals are perfect for Spring and Summer. Available in a variety of colors, they come in both Viewer 2 and invisiprim versions and include a HUD for color matching. A handy notecard with some of the popular brands of skin tones is included. How nice!
Hair: Amacci Hair Shyla ~ Hazelnut (new release)
Skin: [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: 06 Brass [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed / lips :: Ruin
Clothing: [ AYUMI ] Heartbreaker; VERO MODERO / Chic Jean (new release)
Shoes: BM Ultimate Zena V2 White (new release)
Accessories: VERO MODERO / Chic Sun Glass (new release); VERO MODERO / Plaid Scarf (new release); homemade bangles
Poses by: Amacci, BehaviorBody


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Student Response Systems (Clickers)
Augustana College has standardized on Turning Technologies TurningPoint student response system for campus clickers and audience response systems.
Information Technology Systems (ITS) can help train you in the use of this system, and provides software and receivers in smart classrooms for easy use of the TurningPoing clicker devices.
You can learn about these systems and pracitce their use in the Library lab. Several departments on campus also have sets of the TurningPoint Clickers.
Augustana ITS currently recommends departments purchase the ResponseCard RF LCD as the device to purchase if you intend to equip your department or classroom.
Devices today are deaprtment purchased, with a few small sets available for testing (visit with our Instructional Technologist about this).


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Boston Marathon bombings on mayoral candidates' minds
The Boston Marathon bombings, still of unknown provenance, send a special chill through New York City, where precautions against attack have commanded municipal attention for nearly 12 years.
Any impact on the mayoral race here remains a matter of mood and flavor. The perennial conversation about balancing order and freedom takes on a more constrained tone.
On Monday night, Comptroller John Liu -- the only one of five mainstream Democratic candidates vowing to end, rather than tweak, police stop-and-frisk policies -- reacted cautiously to the Boston catastrophe.
"These are very complicated matters," Liu said after a Democratic candidates' forum at the College of Staten Island. "And I think in New York we've done a very good job to fight the potential terrorist threats."
Former Comptroller Bill Thompson, who pushes for some restoration of the NYPD ranks, took a similar tack. "We're waiting for facts," he said. "To jump to conclusions right now would be wrong. . . . You're going to hear a lot more, certainly, once we get more facts."
The current administration at City Hall stood in a sort of informational holding pattern as well. By midafternoon yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were reinforcing what they'd said in the hours immediately after the fatal bombings at the Boston Marathon.
Even with no local threats, Kelly said "we've prepared as if yesterday has been a prelude to an attack in New York" -- as has been procedure since 9/11.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn urged the Staten Island audience in closing remarks, "Let's just remember to say a prayer for the people of Boston, particularly for the people who died today, or were injured, and those who have lost family members to this terrible act of terror."
A moment of silence was observed in the auditorium at the outset.
"As I was leaving to come here, I saw on the news that one of the victims was an 8-year-old child," said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. "And everyone in this room knows the feeling, that we're going to be in a long-term fight to make sure everyone's safe and secure, and that's what those of us in government have to devote ourselves to."
Follow precautionary protocols. Await information. Pay respects. Express solidarity.
What else was anyone in the public life of the state or city going to say or do?
Which is not to say the usual debate over city problems -- failing schools, spotty transportation, closing hospitals and unaffordable housing -- was suspended. Some of the discussion involved a different fatal catastrophe, the damage wrought by superstorm Sandy.
Nor was the occasion levity-free. Quinn went for some local pride with the wrap-up joke that the groundhog Staten Island Chuck could become an "economic development engine," and "we could take down that Punxsutawney Phil."
The rest of the mayoral scrum goes on.


text: Purchase guaranteed parking for Blue Man Group - Chicago at Briar Street Theatre in Chicago on Thursday, December 31, 2020 at 10:00 PM. Parking passes are 100% guaranteed for entry at your selected parking location within the hours of operation shown at each location. Enjoy Blue Man Group - Chicago parking at Briar Street Theatre and park happy with Parking Panda today!


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Google already has a large spread in SoCal's Venice. But reports that the Internet search giant is flexing its muscle for more space are not true.
Rumors surfaced Monday that the Mountain View-based technology company was expanding its footprint in Venice by adding 200,000-square-feet of office space, including taking over the iconic Gold's Gym.
The news had upset some longtime patrons of the famed gym, which was once home to the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But Tuesday, Google said the reports that the company is trying to expand into Gold's Gym are flat wrong.
"We have no plans to expand into Gold's Gym space," said Jordan Newman, manager of corporate communications and public affairs at Google. "In fact, we are working with them to extend their lease."
Google does not own the building but it could lease it and then sublease it to Gold's Gym, whose lease is running out.
Newman said his company has no plans to expand its office space in Venice right now, including the Gold's Gym site. He said he is not sure exactly how the misinformation got out.
The gym's Texas-based owners currently lease the space from a Los Angeles real estate company.


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Money from Sandy relief concert being put to work
NEW YORK (AP) -- The charity in charge of distributing donations from the nationally televised Superstorm Sandy relief concert has been thinking small when it comes to doling out more than $50 million.
More than 160 organizations have gotten shares of the Sandy relief funds collected so far by the Robin Hood Foundation.
Many have been the type of small, grass-roots groups that were everywhere on the devastated New York and New Jersey coasts in the initial weeks after the storm.
A church in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., got $25,000 so it could install showers and beds for volunteers. The Mennonite Disaster Service in Pennsylvania got $150,000 to dispatch home builders to New York City.
The concert was held Dec. 12 and included such stars as Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones.


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Open source is driving change and collaboration in K-12 education. We'll talk about key projects, APIs, open standards and technological challenges in education technology as it accelerates the progress of U.S. public schools.
For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at the conference, contact Sharon Cordesse at (707) 827-7065 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
View a complete list of OSCON contacts


text: Contact Breeder Email Ecclesbourne Please include as many details as possible so the breeder can properly assist you. ALL FIELDS ARE REQUIRED Your Name Your Email Your Message Which is bigger, 2 or 8? Contact Breeder was last modified: November 6th, 2016 by Jon Paws Share Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest


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Try this: Pan-seared porterhouse steaks with red wine sauce
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes
Ingredients for 4
- 4 porterhouse steaks (about 200g each)
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 cup Australian dry red wine
- 1/2 cup good-quality beef stock
- 1 thyme sprig
- 30g butter
- Mash of choice, roasted baby carrots,
- steamed green beans, to serve
- Season steaks generously with salt and black pepper. Heat large char-grill or frying pan over high heat. Add oil then steaks and cook for 3 minutes per side or until browned on both sides and internal temperature is 50°C for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to carving board to rest.
- Place non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add wine and simmer for 4 minutes or until reduced by half. Add beef stock and thyme and simmer for a further 4 minutes or until reduced by half. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter to blend. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
- Slice steaks against grain and divide among 4 plates. Drizzle with pan sauce and serve with mash, carrots and beans.
• For a lighter dish, try serving with a simple summer salad!


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Beat the Streak Report: Monday, July 27
Today's recommended picks
Ryan Theriot, SS, Cubs
.476 AVG (10-for-21) lifetime vs. Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez
Derrek Lee, 1B, Cubs
.444 AVG (12-for-27) lifetime vs. Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez
Robinson Cano, 2B, Yankees
.429 AVG (9-for-21) lifetime vs. Rays starter James Shields
BTS all-time leader: Michael Karatzia, 49
MLB all-time leader: Joe DiMaggio, 56
Yesterday's results
For the first time in a little while, we've had some consistency at the top of the BTS leaderboard.
momfannie continued to chug along at the front of the pack, getting a 2-for-4 effort from the high-flying Shane Victorino to extend her streak to 35 games.
But rbgoulet1 refused to give up ground in the standings, riding a 2-for-4 performance to remain close behind at 34 games. matt1448 held steady in third place, at 32 games, thanks to a 2-for-5 day from David Wright.
Yesterday's Top 5 most selected players
1. Joe Mauer (MIN): 13.1%, 1-for-5
2. Michael Young (TEX): 10.2%, 3-for-4
3. Chase Utley (PHI): 9.2%, 3-for-4
4. Ichiro Suzuki (SEA): 7.1%, 2-for-4
5. Derek Jeter (NYY): 3.4%, 2-for-4
10 Comments
Joey Votto got ejected after a strike out 0-1
leader is done again
That sucks!!!
what a way to fail.
That really really hurts. I worked extremely hard to get 35 hits. I couldn't believe he allowed himself to be thrown out in only the 1st inning. After all, he was going to get at least 3 more at bats. But, what if Votto appeals the ejection? Well, hopefully, the rules will be reviewed so this doesn't happen to anyone else.
one can not appeal an ejection.
an 0-for-1 still ends a streak.
ive seen many end like that over the years.
I agree that does suck! Especially considering hes from my hometown and all! But you took a shot with Joey… he walks a heck of a lot.. and he plays on the crap Cincinnati Reds who couldnt score 5 runs in their lifetime. I had 6 picks yesterday and it turned out all 6 got hits… I don't even look a guys like Votto, Pujols… they walk way to much
Juan Rivera went 2-for -4 with a dinger, but my streak wasn't updated. What the hell?
Joey Votto – Mark him as "black cat syndrome."
Ejected in 1st inning and a players loses a 35 game streak.
Double OUCH!
Earlier this season, I saw that the streak leader had over 30 games and had picked Joey Votto – He batted twice and left the game with "dizziness". The game then went into extra innings and his replacement batted 5 times. Votto would have batted 7 times in that game had he stayed in.
He did go on the DL with "Social Anxiety Disorder" later that week.
Pick him with caution – He has the "black cat syndrome."
lol dragbunt.. you hit the spot.. great player.. but you just never know! I think hes worse than Pujols's 0 for 1 with 3 BB.. haha
The real baffle last night was the Boston Red Sox late inning collapse against the Oakland A's… 8 or 9 28 game survivor streaks when in the gutter, but how can you blame these guys for that? Boston is unbeatable at home.. and when they lose its a complete fluke or Smoltz is pitching haha
I hate to villianize any player. However to have streak of 35 end because a player was kicked out after batting once is really tough. Perhaps next year something can be put into place that would require a player to play at least 5 innings to actually count him. Anything can happen doing a game (i.e. quick injury, a headache, being kicked out of a game etc…) This change would help streak participants. You all know this is extremely fun and exciting. If you loose, you move on and try again. However, you want every chance to keep your streak a live. If a player is removed in the first inning, you really didn't have chance to keep your streak a live. It's easy to accept if you had a streak of 3 or 5, or 8 or 12 etc..But when you get up to the level of 20, 25, 30, and in my case 35 you feel a bit cheated. However, this may be moot. Hopefully, someone will do this year. It looks like rbgoulet1 or matt1448 or bigshow are really doing well. I just don't want anyone to run into a situation like I had. Nevertheless, thanks MLB for offering a wonderful fantasy like BEAT THE STREAK.


text: A Celebration – Celebrating fifteen years of his label, Matthew Williamson presented a fall 2012 collection that is as nostalgic as it is current. A color palette of turquoise, plum, citrus orange and dark chartreuse provided a rich variety with a combination of Williamson's signature print work on display. Tailored trousers, lightweight gowns and above-the-knee skirts dominated the runway. Glittering sequins decorated the occasional dress paired with metallic fabric. The show closed with a partially sheer gown worn by Maryna Linchuk that was adorned with large crystals.


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COVID-19 Updates: See cityofberkeley.info/covid19 for news, information, and status of City services.
Everyone is required to stay home, except for essential needs. When out, protect yourself and those around you by wearing a face covering, staying 6 feet away from others, and washing your hands often. Learn more at cityofberkeley.info/covid19. City offices are closed to the public. Some services are available remotely.
The City of Berkeley Health Officer has ordered all residents to shelter at home, leaving only to receive
or provide essential services, starting 12:01 am on Tuesday, March 17. See details of the Order,
frequently asked questions, and recommendations from Berkeley Public Health at
City Council Live Stream: Please visit https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventWebcastMain.aspx
ZAB Live Stream: Please visit http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Zoning_Adjustment_Board_Meeting_-_Video_Stream.aspx.
The City of Berkeley web site is undergoing scheduled maintenance starting on Friday night,
September 13 and ending on Saturday afternoon, September 14. During this time, most web
pages should be available, but some resources may become unavailable for short periods of time.
Looking for a live stream of the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) meeting on 5/9/19, at 7:00pm?
Please visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1UAnZ8kU8EWllREyOY7rwQ/.
The normal viewing methods will not work this time due to a concurrent City Council Special Meeting at the same time.
Looking for a live stream of the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) meeting on 2/28/19, from 6:00 to 11:00 PM?
Please visit http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Zoning_Adjustment_Board_Meeting_-_Video_Stream.aspx.
The normal viewing methods will not work this time due to a concurrent City Council Special Meeting at the same date and time.
PG&E is reporting a widespread outage affecting thousands of customers in
Berkeley and many City buildings, including the Finance Customer Service Center
and the Permit Service Center. Call respective City services for further details, or
check the PG&E outage page.
Power is expected to return by 12:45pm. Traffic lights that are not working should
be treated as a four-way stop sign.
Translation Disclaimer
Zoning Adjustments Board Thursday, April 25, 2013 – 7:00 PM City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Second Floor Berkeley, CA 94704 (Wheelchair Accessible)
Public Testimony Guidelines The Board Chairperson may limit the number of speakers and the length of time allowed to each speaker. To speak at a public hearing, complete a speaker card and submit to Planning Staff (1) as early as possible at the meeting, or (2) at the Permit Service Center, 2120 Milvia Street, before 4:00 pm on the day of the hearing. At the start of the meeting the Board may rearrange the agenda or place additional agenda items on the Consent Calendar, so it is important to submit speaker cards at the start of the meeting to avoid losing the chance to speak to an item. The Board encourages the public to submit comments in writing or by e-mail in advance of the meeting. See Correspondence and Notice of Decision Requests at the end of this Agenda for procedures. How to Contact Us: Land Use Planning Division (Attn: Terry Blount, AICP, ZAB Secretary), 2120 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704; (510) 981-7410; email@example.com Roll Call: Michael Alvarez Cohen (Chairperson), appointed by Councilmember Wozniak Deborah Matthews, appointed by Mayor Bates George Williams, appointed by Councilmember Capitelli Robert Allen, appointed by Councilmember Wengraf Shoshana O'Keefe, appointed by Councilmember Anderson Sophie Hahn, appointed by Councilmember Worthington Steven Donaldson, appointed by Councilmember Moore Prakash Pinto, appointed by Councilmember Maio Igor Tregub, appointed by Councilmember Arreguin Ex Parte Communication Disclosures In the context of adjudicative matters that come before the ZAB, ex parte communications are those which occur outside the formal hearing process. ZAB members should avoid ex-parte contacts on matters pending before the ZAB as much as possible, as they may represent, or be perceived to represent, the receipt of evidence that can unfairly influence a Board member's decision on a matter before the Board. If such contacts do occur, they must be placed in the record and disclosed to all interested parties sufficiently in advance of the decision to allow rebuttal. Public Comment Each Speaker is limited to a maximum of three minutes. Agenda Changes The Board Chairperson may reorder the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. Consent Calendar The Consent Calendar allows the Board to take action with no discussion, on projects to which no one objects. The Agenda includes three types of Consent Calendar items: (1) Approval of previous meeting minutes; (2) Modifications of existing Use Permits (which have not been noticed for public hearings); (3) Items being continued to another meeting (Board action has been postponed to another meeting). The Board Chairperson will announce items for the Consent Calendar at 7:05 pm. The Board may place additional Agenda items on the Consent Calendar, if no one present wishes to testify on an item. Anyone present who wishes to speak on an item should raise his or her hand and advise the Chairperson, and the item will be pulled from the consent calendar. Modification Projects may be discussed by the Board at this meeting or set for a public hearing at a later meeting. Items already noticed for a public hearing will be heard following Continued Items, or, if necessary, posted for a public hearing at a subsequent meeting. 1. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes Minutes from 04/11/2013 meeting Recommendation: APPROVE New Public Hearings: 2. 2095 Rose Street Use Permit #12-10000058 to establish a new AT&T wireless telecommunication facility consisting of twelve panel antennas mounted on the rooftop and six associated equipment cabinets within a lease space. Applicant: Tom McIver, Trillium for AT&T, 7905 Stoneridge Dr., Suite 503, Pleasanton, CA 94588 Property Owner: Peter Calthorpe and Jean Driscoll, 21 Tangle Rd., Berkeley, CA 94501 Zoning: C-NS(H), "North Shattuck Commercial District, Hillside Overlay"; Planner: Claudine Asbagh Continued From: None Recommendation: APPROVE Use Permit #12-10000058 pursuant to Section 23B.32.040 and subject to the attached Findings and Conditions. 3. 2517 Sacramento Street Use Permit #12-10000059 to establish a new AT&T wireless telecommunication facility consisting of twelve panel antennas mounted within a screened, rooftop enclosure and six associated equipment cabinets in a rooftop lease space. Applicant: Tom McIver, Trillium for AT&T, 7905 Stoneridge Dr., Suite 503, Pleasanton, CA 94588 Property Owner: Sacramento Senior Homes LLP, 1250 Addison St., Suite 6, Berkeley, CA 94702 Zoning: C-SA, "South Area Commercial District"; Planner: Claudine Asbagh Continued From: None Recommendation: APPROVE Use Permit #12-10000059 pursuant to Section 23B.32.040 and subject to the attached Findings and Conditions. 4. 1632 University Avenue Use Permit #12-10000057 to establish a new wireless telecommunication facility for AT&T including twelve antennas concealed within Radio Frequency Transparent screens on the rooftop of a three story mixed-use building and install related equipment in a basement lease space. Applicant: AT&T c/o Thomas C. McIver, On Air, 465 First St., West, Suite 101, Sonoma, CA 95476 Property Owner: Yuval Bobrovitch, 1632 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94703 Zoning: C-1, "General Commercial District"; Planner: Pamela Johnson Continued From: None Recommendation: APPROVE Use Permit #12-10000057 pursuant to Section 23B.32.040 and subject to the attached Findings and Conditions. 5. 1471 Scenic Avenue Use Permit #12-10000032 to construct a new 2,619-square-foot, two-story single family dwelling unit with an attached 616-square-foot accessory dwelling unit and garage parking for three vehicles on a vacant parcel. Applicant/Property Owner: Roy Gock, 1465 Scenic Ave., Berkeley, CA 94706 Zoning: R-1(H), "Single-Family Residential, Hillside Overlay District"; Planner: Leslie Mendez Continued From: None Recommendation: APPROVE Use Permit #12-10000032 pursuant to Section 23B.32.040 and subject to the attached Findings and Conditions. 6. 1866 Alcatraz Avenue Use Permit #13-10000012 to establish a child care center and preschool for up to 45 children in an existing ground-floor commercial space; rear yard to be used for outdoor play area. Applicant: Lina M. Lopez, 1233 Broadway #C, Alameda, CA 94501 Property Owner: Hossein Bolourchi, P.O. Box 1192, Daly City, CA 94017 Zoning: C-SA, "South Area Commercial District"; Planner: Aaron Sage Continued From: None Recommendation: APPROVE Use Permit #13-10000012 pursuant to Section 23B.32.040 and subject to the attached Findings and Conditions. Additional Agenda Items: The following agenda items may be discussed, but no action may be taken unless a specific item is listed on this agenda. A. Information/Communication B. Discussion Item C. Business Item Election of Officer (Vice Chairperson) D. Chairperson's Report E. Current Business/Committee Appointment F. Future Agenda Items G. Other Matters Future Council Hearings on ZAB Decisions i. 1152 Amador Avenue, 5/7/2013 ii. 2401 Telegraph Avenue, 5/21/2013 iii. 2433 Martin Luther King, Jr Way, 6/11/2013 iv. 2024 Durant Avenue, 6/25/2013 Adjourn Correspondence and Notice of Decision Requests • Communications to Berkeley boards, commissions or committees are public record and will become part of the City's electronic records, which are accessible through the City's website. Please note: e-mail addresses, names, addresses, and other contact information are not required, but if included in any communication to a City board, commission or committee, will become part of the public record. If you do not want your e-mail address or any other contact information to be made public, you may deliver communications via U.S. Postal Service or in person to the secretary of the relevant board, commission or committee. If you do not want your contact information included in the public record, please do not include that information in your communication. Please contact the secretary to the relevant board, commission or committee for further information. • To distribute correspondence to Board members prior to the meeting date -- submit comments by 12:00 noon, seven (7) days before the meeting. Please provide 15 copies of any correspondence with more than ten (10) pages or if in color or photographic format. This method is strongly preferred. • Correspondence received by 4:00 pm the Tuesday before the meeting will be posted on the ZAB web site for review by the Board and public prior to the meeting. Correspondence received later, and after the meeting, will be posted to the web site following the meeting. • Any correspondence received after this deadline will be given to Board members on the meeting date just prior to the meeting. • Staff will not deliver to Board members any additional written (or e-mail) materials received after 12:00 noon on the day of the meeting. • Members of the public may submit written comments themselves early in the meeting. To distribute correspondence at the meeting, please provide 15 copies and submit to the Zoning Adjustments Board Clerk just before or at the beginning of the meeting. Please be advised: Board members do not have an opportunity to read materials distributed at the meeting. You are strongly advised to submit written comments prior to the meeting date as Board members do not have an opportunity to read written materials handed out at the meeting. • Written comments, or a request for a Notice of Decision should be directed to the ZAB Secretary at: Land Use Planning Division (Attn: Terry Blount, AICP, ZAB Secretary), 2120 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 OR at firstname.lastname@example.com Accessibility Information / ADA Disclaimer This meeting is being held in a wheelchair accessible location. To request a disability-related accommodation(s) to participate in the meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, please contact the Disability Services specialist at 981-6342 (V) or 981-6345 (TDD) at least three business days before the meeting date. Please refrain from wearing scented products to this meeting. SB 343 Disclaimer Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the Commission regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection at the Permit Service Center, Planning and Development Department located at 2120 Milvia Street, Berkeley, during regular business hours. Notice Concerning Your Legal Rights If you object to a decision by the Zoning Adjustments Board regarding a land use permit project, the following requirements and restrictions apply: 1. If you challenge the decision of the City in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the Zoning Adjustments Board at, or prior to, the public hearing. 2. You must appeal to the City Council within fourteen (14) days after the Notice of Decision of the action of the Zoning Adjustments Board is mailed. It is your obligation to notify the Land Use Planning Division in writing of your desire to receive a Notice of Decision when it is completed. 3. Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6(b) and Government Code Section 65009(c)(1), no lawsuit challenging a City Council decision, as defined by Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6(e), regarding a use permit, variance or other permit may be filed more than ninety (90) days after the date the decision becomes final, as defined in Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6(b). Any lawsuit not filed within that ninety (90) day period will be barred. 4. Pursuant to Government Code Section 66020(d)(1), notice is hereby given to the applicant that the 90-day protest period for any fees, dedications, reservations, or other exactions included in any permit approval begins upon final action by the City, and that any challenge must be filed within this 90-day period. 5. If you believe that this decision or any condition attached to it denies you any reasonable economic use of the subject property, was not sufficiently related to a legitimate public purpose, was not sufficiently proportional to any impact of the project, or for any other reason constitutes a "taking" of property for public use without just compensation under the California or United States Constitutions, the following requirements apply: A. That this belief is a basis of your appeal. B. Why you believe that the decision or condition constitutes a "taking" of property as set forth above. C. All evidence and argument in support of your belief that the decision or condition constitutes a "taking" as set forth above. If you do not do so, you will waive any legal right to claim that your property has been taken, both before the City Council and in court.