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1. Beyond Borders – and Ash Clouds
Eyjafjallajokull Volcano - NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre
The Beyond Borders conference was held in Oxford in April – just as the Eyjafjallajokull volcano ash cloud was disrupting travel.
Its aims were to showcase work done at Oxford University this year during our OpenSpires project and provided an opportunity for discussion and debate on different aspects of creation, use and re-use of Open Educational Resources (OER). The conference featured speakers from Oxford, other international research institutions and opinion-shapers in the open education community.
Three international speakers were unable to attend. So, this being a technology conference and a very fine venue we did our best. Here's how.
We used -
- Skype - to quickly chat with people whilst setting up and testing
- Polycom/Tandberg hardware system, IP to IP for a Swedish keynote who used his local town service - this is best for audio/ video
- WebEx - for a Seattle speaker - good for sharing screens, chats, multiple participants - web based so the poor guy didn't have to travel to a commercial service at 4 a.m. his time - free to use
- Simple webcam video recording for a speaker stuck in a hotel in Finland. Worked really well.
Find out more:
- About the whole conference
- About Webex web conference service for group meetings and presentations etc.. Free to trial and use
- About the University video conference service.
About the day and participants experiences
>Delegate blogs from the day
2. Stranded Students?
It wasn't only international conference speakers who couldn't travel. Many faculties and departments expressed concern about the start of term and assisting those students and staff who may not be able to make it back in time. OUCS run a number of services which were used:
2.1. Using WebLearn
WebLearn offers many facilities which are useful if students are not able to return to attend lectures. WebLearn can be used host to learning materials (e.g. handouts, slides, recorded lectures) and access can be controlled. It is easy to set up a site with all members of a course or tutorial group listed as participants. The Sign- up tool can be used to arrange a series of online tutorials in much the same way as it can be used to organise face-to-face tutorials and /or the site Schedule (calendar) can be used to indicate when a tutor will be present in the Chat-room to answer student questions.
If lectures have been recorded then they can be housed in WebLearn via the internal 'Podcasts' tool - this tool allows a sequence of recordings to be made available via a single URL (an RSS feed). This feed can optionally be protected behind Oxford SSO authentication.
Step-by-step guides are available. If you cannot find what you are looking for then please contact email@example.com and ask for help.
2.2. Recording lectures
Some lecturers expressed an interest in recording their talks in order to make them available to those that can't attend. If you are considering this, we have clear guides to help you with this process and to place the digital material on WebLearn. Recording a lecture can be as straightforward as using a portable mp3 recorder or smartphone with microphone. You may have equipment and support available in your department. The OUCS podcasting team has a limited number of digital audio recorders which we can offer on a short term loan. There is also advice and regular training available for the free editing Audacity software available for both Mac and PC.
For further support and advice contact email@example.com or see the Podcasting website.
2.3. Video Conferencing at your desk
OUCS offers a desktop video-conferencing service - Webex - that can easily be used for meetings or tutorials. From one to 200 attendees can be invited into one Webex session, and participants just need a computer (to view material) and a phone or a computer headset (to hear the audio). You can share a presentation, an application (Word, Excel, etc), a whiteboard or your entire desktop with the attendees. You can control who talks (useful in larger meetings) and give control of the whiteboard, application, etc, to specific participants to enable them to demonstrate skills or illustrate points of view. The University is currently running a free trial of this service. How-to guides are available. Please contact email@example.com to ask about an account or to request a demo.
3. Top Tips for a Better Video Conference
- With any video situation - audio is always the most important.
- Test Early - Test often - Practice with the software on both sides
- Death by PowerPoint still applies in an online conference - use pictures/music/shorten your talks
- Use headphones for Skype type conferences
- Turn off video if you don't need it to conserve bandwidth
- In WebEx - don't screenshare to present PowerPoint - upload presentation into the system
- Mute your microphones if the other speaker is doing a presentation (you can do this in WebEx/ Skype)
- If it is a big group collaboration then ask everyone to mute during presentations
- Keep all microphones well away from speakers and PC fans to avoid feedback/noise
- Don't use wireless if you've got wired connections.
- Don't use mobile phones to dial into systems (the sound is already clipped)
4. Nexus News
4.1. Nexus Sharepoint
Since the last newsletter the Sharepoint service has been released to over 130 different applications through 34 different site collections. Another call for users will be released in late Michaelmas term for provision in Hilary Term 2011.
4.2. Nexus mail
Nexus now has over 50,000 mailboxes serving the whole university, and other mail systems are gradually migrating across to the central facility which allows for email, calendaring and Global Address List (GAL). For individuals the GAL now contains telephone numbers and core information of their departmental address.
A chargeable premium service for users who require additional mail storage is now available and can be purchased by registered local ITSS through the Register facility provided that a departmental / college cost code can be provided. Already 210 users are availing themselves of this facility.
5. WebLearn
5.1. An Improved Method of Migrating Content from Old WebLearn
We have recently introduced a much improved method of moving content out of Old WebLearn and in to New WebLearn. This method employs IMS Content Packages (IMS CP) as a transport medium. This has the advantage of preserving HTML descriptions from the old system.
All previous methods of migration still work as before, however, we would recommend this new way especially if the material is not to be reorganised before being added to new WebLearn.
We advise you move your material in chunks; login to old WebLearn and navigate to a suitable point in your tree and begin the migration process:
- Click 'Export content' in the 'Resource Options menu
- Accept the default settings and click the 'Export' button on the next page – save the file on your desktop
Your material has now been moved out of old WebLearn.
To move into new WebLearn, create, or navigate to, a site and add the 'Resources' tool:
- Click on 'Site Info'
- Click the 'Import from file' link
- Click the 'Browse' button and locate the file you just exported, then click 'Import'
- Select all items in the left-hand list and click '>' to move them to the right-hand window
- Click 'Copy Materials' – this may take a while to complete
- When all is complete, visit Resources and check that all is as expected.
You still have to move quizzes separately.
There are a lot more possibilities to consider when migrating you materials, we would strongly recommend that you attend our (free) course to find out more.
6. Converting MS Word to HTML
Pasting text into WebLearn's WYSIWYG HTML editor which has been copied from either Microsoft Word or Outlook is a hit and miss affair.
Pasting directly (via the 'Paste' button) is not recommended. Pasting using the 'Paste from Word' button does a better job but still leaves a large amount of unnecessary information interspersed within the text (use the 'Source' button to see this in action).
Pasting via the 'Paste as plain text' button is a good approach but nearly all the formatting is lost.
The best method I have seen is to use this website. Simply paste your text into the box and click the 'Convert …' button then click on the 'Source' button in the HTML editor and paste the resulting HTML into WebLearn.
7. WebLearn Courses Next Term
From Michaelmas term, we will be offering a new course WebLearn: Surveys which enables Oxford users to design and deliver online surveys at no charge.
If you have materials in the old WebLearn system (Bodington), come and attend the course WebLearn: Migrating your content so that you can move your material to the new WebLearn before the old system is de-activated.
If you have been using new WebLearn for a while and would like to make more effective use of the VLE, you might like to attend WebLearn: Making your site work to pick up some tips and tricks.
If you are a new user then WebLearn: Fundamentals is a great way to get to grips with the system.
Once a term we also run the course Learning and teaching: using technology tools, which focuses on your teaching philosophy and some low-threshold technologies you might like to explore.
Turnitin is a plagiarism detection service that can be used to scan formative essays and summative assessments for text that matches other electronic sources. Come along to the lunch time session on Plagiarism: WebLearn and Turnitin to learn how to use the system directly or via the WebLearn integration.
Do come and attend the termly meeting of the WebLearn User Group where we hear from WebLearn enthusiasts and share ideas and best practice.
8. Develop Learning Objects for Free with GLO Maker
GLO Maker is an authoring tool to design and develop learning objects (called GLOs). GLO Maker is a powerful and user friendly tool to create new learning objects, or adapt and repurpose existing learning objects.
An author can prepare images, video clips, audio clips and then build activities by combining these resources. For example, display an image of a person, building, place or other artefact, incorporate audio commentary from experts, and build a quiz to text student understanding of the artefact.
Such learning objects can easily be imported and delivered via WebLearn. The tool was demonstrated at the Learning Design Bash held at OUCS on Friday 16th July, hosted by JISC. Content Authoring Tools Recent discussion on the Sakai mailing lists has highlighted three interesting free content creation systems:
Here's what their websites say:
"MyUduntu is a FREE web- based tool which provides a user friendly platform to create highly interactive elearning courses quickly and easily. Anyone can design, build and implement online training courses without any prior technological expertise."
" The eXe project developed a freely available Open Source authoring application to assist teachers and academics in the publishing of web content without the need to become proficient in HTML or XML markup. Resources authored in eXe can be exported in IMS Content Package, SCORM 1.2, or IMS Common Cartridge formats or as simple self- contained web pages."
"Xerte is a fully-featured e-learning development environment for creating rich interactivity. Xerte is aimed at developers of interactive content who will create sophisticated content with some scripting, and Xerte can be used to extend the capabilities of Xerte Online Toolkits with new tools for content authors."
9. WebLearn Now Available on Mobile Phones
WebLearn is now accessible via OUCS's Mobile Oxford service (m.ox).
The (Tutorial) Sign-up Tool is the first of many tools that will offer a special interface optimised for use on a smartphone. Other tools including Polls, Surveys, Announcements and Resources will be appearing in the next few months.
The current service will allow you to sign up for events via the Sign-up Tool, in the future you will be able to read announcements, complete surveys and view documents.
The Polls Tool will be improved to allow phones to be used as 'Clickers' or 'Voting Pods' (personal voting systems).
A poll can be set up by a lecturer during class and its web address, which is embedded within a QR Code – a visual representation of the poll URL, can be displayed at the front of a class using a projector. If the phone is pointed at the screen the QR Code can be used to launch the poll on the phone at which point a vote can be cast. As soon as the poll is closed, the results can be displayed to the whole class. This is an excellent way of engaging students and getting instant feedback on views and opinions.
A special long-lived method of Login is used when accessing WebLearn from a phone. This service is based on oAuth and will keep you signed in to WebLearn for a very long time with much reduced privileges in comparison to normal access. oAuth is also used by Flickr, Google and Yahoo.
The first time you log in via m.ox you will be asked for your Oxford SSO username and password and will be asked to authorise the m.ox service to act a go- between between WebLearn and your phone. Your phone communicates with the m.ox service and the m.ox service then accesses WebLearn on your behalf, reformats or builds special pages and then sends them back to your phone.
If you lose your phone or want to stop m.ox acting on your behalf then use a 'proper computer' and navigate to your My Workspace, click on the Trusted Applications link on the left-hand side and remove m.ox from your list of trusted applications.
10. Video Tutorial Guides for Site Managers
The WebLearn team employed a student intern over the summer to produce video screencast tutorials demonstrating the use of some of the most important tools in WebLearn. The 18 videos are now available on the WebLearn Guidance site listed as Video tutorials under the Guides and tutorials section.
Video tutorials provide users with short, just-in-time, visual demonstrations of particular tools. The topics have been subdivided into short sections covering two or three tasks within a particular tool, and lasting only two or three minutes.
We decided for reasons of accessibility to produce the videos using written scripts only. The script can then be read out by screen readers, and hearing-impaired users are not at a disadvantage. At a later stage, voice-overs may be added, if time permits.
The tools that have been covered:
- Site info (manage site)
- Resources (share documents)
- Home tool (front page)
- Web Content link
- WYSIWYG HTML editor
11. WebLearn Helps the IT Learning Programme Count Visitors
The ITLP Portfolio has had its first full year in WebLearn (Sakai). "We wanted to know how many university people were using the site", says Kathryn Wenczek the team's administrator, "so we used WebLearn's Site Stats tool. When we found that around 1100 different members of the university had visited the site, many of them coming back several times, we knew we were providing a useful service."
12. Sakai Award
Congratulations to OUCS staff member Matthew Buckett who has been elected as a Sakai Fellow for 2010. Selected annually, the Fellows are recognized for their leadership in the community in the areas of software design and development, pedagogical and teaching practices and community advocacy. It's a great honour and is a way of the Sakai community thanking him for absolutely top notch contributions over the last few years.
This award means he will be presented with a Sakaiger at some point.
13. Dreaming Spires get Wired
In April 2009, the Learning Technologies Group received national funding from the JISC and HEA for the OpenSpires project, a one-year pilot project investigating the release of open educational resources.
The OpenSpires project built upon the success of Oxford on iTunes U by releasing more audio and video material from Oxford as Open Content. This means that the material will be free to re-use and redistribute provided it is used non-commercially and the creator is attributed.
In its first year the project successfully established a sustainable set of policies and workflows that would allow departments from across the University of Oxford to regularly publish high quality open content for global reuse.
- Over 180+ Oxford academics and visiting speakers have contributed to OpenSpires
- Over 400 items (audio, video, slides) are currently available as open content
- Material includes complete lecture series, interviews, seminars, and panel discussions
- Subject areas include politics, economics, environmental change, business, research ethics, medicine, physics, English, classics, art history and philosophy.
The project leveraged new popular open outreach channels such as the University video portal and Oxford on iTunesU. Through well targeted marketing and a clear communication strategy, we have helped the discoverability of the material which has lead to consistent download figures.
The material released by OpenSpires is
- Openly available on the web.
- Free to download by anyone, without restrictions or registration.
- Promoted as free for reuse in education worldwide.
- Clearly labelled with the popular Creative Commons licence allowing reuse in education.
- Can be discovered through all University distribution channels including the web, iTunesU, the Oxford VLE and the mobile portal m.ox.ac.uk.
Open Educational Resources (OER) at Oxford University now continues past this pilot stage of the project thanks to sustainable processes and a standardised legal form for contributors.
14. LTG Members Share Their Great Ideas
The LTG was closely involved in the 2010 European Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) and Learning Design Conference at Wolfson College on Thursday, 15th July. The conference was organised by the LAMS Foundation based at Macquarie University, Sydney, assisted locally by the LTG events team.
With a focus on "Sharing Great Ideas," delegates explored technologies, applications and approaches that support sharing, collaboration and open access to knowledge and resources. Melissa Highton gave the formal welcome on behalf the University, and Liz Masterman presented the opening keynote jointly with Professor Diana Laurillard of the Institute of Education. The keynote brought delegates up to date with the Learning Design Support Environment (LDSE) project, which is using artificial intelligence techniques to help lecturers expand their pedagogic skills and knowledge, and in which LTG members are playing a major role. In addition Melissa, Jill Fresen and Lisa Mansell gave papers that highlighted aspects of the LTG's work relevant to the conference theme: using open educational resources to support learning technology strategies, and a user-oriented approach to encouraging lecturers to engage with technology through WebLearn.
On Friday 16th July, the LTG played host to a "Design Bash" accompanying the conference. Delegates made use of the modern facilities of the Isis room to share not only their ideas for innovative teaching and learning, but also to demonstrate the exciting software that is currently being developed to support learning design – including a prototype of the LDSE.
The two events represent the latest in a chain of link-ups between OUCS and the LAMS community that dates back to the evaluation of LAMS by Stuart Lee and Liz Masterman in 2004 and the visit to OUCS by Professor James Dalziel, founder of LAMS.
15. Reading Lists are Set to Improve - The Sir Louie Project
The Sir Louie logo photo is used under the Creative Commons Licence and was taken by the longhairedgit.
Sir Louie – System for Integrating Reading Lists within the Oxford University Information Environment.
This project will enhance two academic and administrative systems, the WebLearn (VLE), (based on the Sakai open source platform,) and the University's library search interface SOLO, (based on Ex-libris Primo,) in order to provide much improved experience for both students and lecturers in the area of reading lists.
The planned improvements target the searching of library catalogues and the displaying availability information with a reading list.
Development work on both systems will enable the SOLO search interface to be invoked from within WebLearn's reading list tool, (also known as the Citations Helper,) and be used to find items to be sent back to the VLE for automatic inclusion in the reading list. The data will be transferred using the standard OpenURL encoding.
In addition, the project will develop a method of augmenting all reading lists with availability information when they are displayed in WebLearn.
This is achieved by 'hiding' OpenURL COinS meta data for each item within a reading list. This in-page data can then be used to determine current availability once the page has loaded (using DLF ILS-DI and / or DAIA).
The result is that the reading list will automatically contain links to 'full text' versions of journal articles, a list of (Oxford University) libraries where the item can be found and links to on-line stores where the item can be purchased.
The COiNS meta data can also be used to enable existing Open Source software such as Zotero and LibX (a browser plug-in) to interact with Citation Helper reading lists.
This kind of integration between Oxford's VLE and Library systems was formally requested of the University by the Oxford University Student's Union (OUSU) in order that students can save valuable time when dealing with their reading lists.
The project has been funded by within their Flexible Services Delivery programme and runs until the end of 2010.
16. EndNote X4 Hits the Streets - Works with Word 2010
16.1. Tame those Bibliographies
EndNote is popular with academics and researchers – it can bring sanity to your collection of references, journal articles and books. It works with your word-processor, so at a stroke you can insert citations into your own papers or thesis. You can instantly reformat all the citations in an article you are writing, including the bibliography, to follow a different layout and style.
16.2. New Version, EndNote X4
A new version of EndNote has been released this summer, which is compatible with Word 2010. Read about which versions of EndNote will work with your word- processor:
16.3. Discount Software
EndNote X4 is now available through the OUCS Shop. For computers that are owned by the university, EndNote can be installed without charge. If you want to install it on a computer that is privately owned, download it at considerable discount from the Individual Members area.
17. ITLP Portfolio of Downloadable Course Materials
The online Portfolio supports the range of IT Learning Programme taught courses by offering course handbooks, student exercise files and additional information such as how-to videos. All these useful resources can be downloaded by university members - around 1100 people have visited the site at least once during the year, and many come back to the site repeatedly.
People tell us this is a very useful resource for anyone who would like to follow up a live taught course by reading related course materials, or to practice the skills covered in a course, in their own time.
18. Michaelmas 2010 ITLP Schedule
The IT Learning Programme schedule for Michaelmas Term is online. This term as well as running our popular courses in Office, digital imaging, web publishing and statistics we have a number of new courses such as:
- Apple Mac – iWorks fundamentals
- Multimedia: Screen capture –assessing student learning
- A new lunchtime series entitled "Secrets of…"
And updated courses including:
See our course catalogue for details:
Please note we no longer run courses using Office 2003 (we use Office 2007). However our 2003 course materials are still available in WebLearn through our Portfolio.
19. Get Focused on Digital Media
Our multimedia courses are growing in popularity and we recommend that you book early. You might be interested in:
- Final Cut Pro 101 - Monday 6 - Wednesday 8 December
- This three-day, hands-on course teaches students to perform basic editing functions while becoming familiar with the Final Cut Pro user interface. It is also suitable for those aiming to use Final Cut Express.
- Digital film making – 3 day course - Monday 13 to Wednesday 15 December
- A 3-day workshop, run by the Oxford Academy of Documentary Film, aimed at preparing you to use digital film in your research or project. The workshop is taught by expert tutors who have made films professionally and for research purposes. There is a strong emphasis on practical film production techniques.
- Multimedia: Podcasting - The secrets of presenting to camera - Thursday 16 December
- One of the great joys of the podcast revolution is the ease of creating video and audio podcasts, but producing one that your audience will want to watch or listen to takes a bit more know-how. Learn how to be professional and confident in your video and audio presentations! This one-day workshop provides tips and techniques for creating effective podcasts that will engage your listeners.
20. HFS News
20.1. HFS Changes
On 1st June, we will be making some changes to the HFS Desktop Backup Service which will alter what is included for backup. The aim of the change is to further limit the backup of system files for desktop class clients.
These changes will provide various improvements to the service for end users including: lowering the probability of failed backups due to locked system files; reducing the amount of data sent with each backup thus reducing backup duration; and ensuring more backups can occur without hitting the HFS daily backup limits.
Full details of what will now be excluded can be found on the web pages.
If you use the HFS Desktop service, you will have been contacted with a message explaining the changes. All changes are being implemented on the server-side: so there is no need for you to do anything.
This only affects the Desktop-class service, no changes are being made to the Server-class service.
Please note: The HFS is not designed to offer full-system restores due to the issues that pertain to ensuring backups are complete and to restoring systems on dissimilar hardware. Restores to dissimilar hardware are also not supported by some operating systems. See OUCS News from Trinity 2010 for information on how to recover your entire system.
20.2. Out-of-Oxford Backup Service Over VPN
The HFS has opened a new service for those wishing to ensure that their data is appropriately secured using Oxford-run facilities but who work outside Oxford (off the university network) for long periods. Previously, backup services were limited to the university network and to the University's eduroam wireless network; this new pilot service provides backup and restore functionality worldwide, via the university VPN service.
To use this service, all you need to do is: install the university VPN software; register a TSM account on the HFS VPN service; and then install the HFS TSM software.
21. Costing IT Services
As part of JISC's Flexible Services Delivery programme, OUCS attracted modest funding to investigate the costing of IT services. Although our present model stands us in good stead for the purposes of reporting back to the Divisions, and implementing the 1-2-3 funding model, we wished to investigate whether the system could be improved by utilising the TRAC methodology. Throughout the year staff from OUCS worked closely with Melanie Burdett (JM Consulting Ltd) to develop a costing toolkit. The project took a step-by-step approach to costing IT services in the light of TRAC's approach to considering the full economic cost. Once the toolkit had been developed it was then test-run on three services - the Help desk, WebLearn, and the HFS, plus an instantiation of Microsoft Exchange in a college. We then fed back our findings into the toolkit for further refinement. At the point of writing the final report is near completion to be sent to JISC.
This short project has proved to be very beneficial. Not only has it allowed us to explore a much more detailed costing model (which we will consider, if resourced, applying to all our services) but it also revealed some interesting findings. The most important of these is the recognition that IT systems are highly dependent on each other, and thus serious attention needs to be given to how the true costs of a service should be allocated. For example, if one service makes higher than usual use of another service where should the costs reside? The toolkit proposes a process to help answer this and similar questions. The toolkit also guides an IT provider through the recognition of other costs involved in services both at a local and central level, and the drivers that might be considered.
22. IT Regulations Changes
The University Regulations Relating to the use of Information Technology Facilities have changed with effect from 18th June 2010. Full text of the regulations.
The changes are important, for example on file-sharing (paragraph 5) which moves the onus to determining appropriate use locally.
23. IT Security - Notifying OxCERT
Starting on 4th May OxCERT will be making a number of changes to processes for dealing with incidents to provide a more consistent service to IT Staff, and to meet a number of the recommendations of the University Auditors. Many of these changes have been prompted by the large increase in numbers of information-stealing malware samples we are seeing and the need to streamline our processes to deal with this.
The changes that you may see are as follows:
- Automated notifications when blocks are removed
- Automatic reminders to supply affected username(s) in keylogger incidents
- Notifications to all relevant ITSS of users affected by keylogger incidents (even when the incident occurred in another unit)
- No changes to our block notification mails, these are not automated
- If you run a service using an authentication method other than SSO for users outside your own unit, you may wish to make contact to enable us to send you appropriate notifications if users of the service are affected by a keylogger
You can find more details about the motivations for these changes and some of the behind the scenes changes we're making in our monthly reports.
24. Crowdsourcing with RunCoCo
RunCoCo ran two very successful training events in May. About 40 delegates attended, representing universities, local authorities, museums and private enterprises interested in harnessing the public's enthusiasm to add to their work - 'crowdsourcing' is one word for this. The RunCoCo team received many complimentary comments both during and after the workshop.
RunCoCo is based in the LTG at OUCS and has received JISC funding until the end of February 2011 to tell people about how they could run something like The Great War Archive or tap into the hundreds of thousands of users of the Zooniverse (e.g. Galaxy Zoo) as explained by Chris Lintott. We will be holding further workshops during 2010, and you can read more about RunCoCo on our website or on the project blog. Both of these include presentations and audio from events.
25. Podcasting with iPad
iPads started appearing in the iTunes U Podcast Download statistics in the figures for the week ending 16th May (so presumably these were US bought models). There was just shy of 1200 Oxford podcasts downloaded to iPads directly in that one week!
In context, for the same week:
- iPad downloads ~1200
- iPod downloads ~5000
- iPhone downloads ~14000
- Macintosh downloads ~30000
- Windows downloads ~285000
A quick analysis suggests that iPad downloads have affected the number of items downloaded by iphones and ipods negatively by 2000 downloads, with no noted difference to those using desktop clients.
For those keeping score, around five million podcasts have been downloaded since the launch of Oxford on iTunes U.
26. Digital Medievalist
OUCS staff member Dr James Cummings has been re-elected to the position of Director of Digital Medievalist. Digital Medievalist is an international web-based community encouraging good practice in digital resource creation for medieval studies. It was established in 2003 to help scholars meet the increasingly sophisticated demands faced by designers of contemporary digital projects. Digital Medievalist runs a website, open access peer-reviewed journal, email discussion list, wiki, newsfeed, and is also on Facebook and Twitter.
Membership in Digital Medievalist is freely open to anyone with an interest in Digital Humanities or Medieval Studies, without regard to skill or previous experience in these areas. Participants range from novices contemplating their first project to many of the pioneers in the field. The email discussion list is the perfect place to ask any questions of a Digital and Medieval nature.
Digital Medievalist is hosted at the University of Lethbridge in Canada, and overseen by an international executive of medievalists with extensive experience in the use of digital media.
27. New Staff? Sign up for Breakfast at OUCS
New members of Oxford University staff are warmly invited to join us for breakfast at the Oxford University Computing Services. Over croissants and coffee, we will introduce you to the many important services at OUCS that are available to you for your work or research. The next Breakfast at OUCS is Friday 5th November. Book online.
28. Using TV Shows for Teaching
Did you know you can show material from the main TV channels in any teaching activities in the University? Have you ever missed recording a television programme you wanted to use in teaching? The British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC) run an off-air recording back-up service which holds an extensive recordings library.
29. Printing Service
The OUCS print room has recently been upgraded with a plate-making machine which allows direct production of printing plates from a computer. This replaces many different operations involving creating film, then transferring this to plates. This means that printing has become more affordable for larger and medium sized runs, and dependent upon workload can now be turned around more quickly. There will be an opportunity to view the new systems in Michaelmas term when a number of open days will be held for potential customers. If you would like to be invited please email firstname.lastname@example.com
30. LTG and the Royal Society
During the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition last week over a thousand children, teachers, scientists, and curious adults built models of epidemics using a software service developed by the Learning Technologies Group in conjunction with the Zoology Department. Visitors turned their models into computer games where the player can make various public health interventions to try to stop the epidemic. Over 1100 games were made during the ten day exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall. And since the exhibit closed web visitors have created an additional 130 games in less than a week.
Queen Elizabeth came within ten feet of the OUCS stand but sadly did not stop by to build a epidemic game.
31. Congratulations TALL
OUCS sends warm congratulations to its colleagues in the Technology-Assisted Lifelong Learning unit (TALL) in the Department for Continuing Education, who won the Learning Technologist of the Year team award at the 2010 conference of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT). The LTG has partnered TALL in a number of successful projects over recent years and is particularly proud to be associated with them at this time.
32. Retirements
OUCS will be saying farewell to several long-serving colleagues this autumn – Lou Burnard, Grazyna Cooper, Paul Davis and Roger Treweek. We wish them all well.
32.1. Paul Davis
I started at OUCS in September 1997 as Computing Teaching Officer, having applied to an advert for a one year temporary position which seemed to describe basically what I had been doing for four or so years in Kiribati - for the geographically challenged try an atlas or globe with latitude 1°28'N, longitude 173°02'E
Having been a Morris dancer for a while, my secret escaped fairly quickly when I found that I was a temporary replacement for another dancer. That year's Christmas party featured a special couple of dances featuring the then Director and others from within OUCS. My apologies to Malcolm who since has become hooked! We practiced in what was the conference room, only to be told by Tony Hunter that the ceiling was shaking and bits of plaster were falling on him below.
After I'd been here about 6 months the BCS launched the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) which I was asked to explore to remedy a criticism from the North report that we didn't send our graduates out with recognised IT qualifications. That turned into quite a focus for about 5 years, involving secondment to BCS 90% for a year to promote the Advanced ECDL qualification, membership of the syllabus board for ECDL and it's International ICDL counterpart. As part of the promotion of the qualification I had a number of visits to the Middle East for training and examinations. On one particular trip to Dubai I got hit by a wing mirror on a truck that was rat running to avoid traffic, flew back overnight and went immediately to Nottingham to advise on exam results as the external examiner. Very jet lagged, black eye, elastoplasts holding the cut together - I looked and felt rough! Not all trips went horribly wrong and I received some superb hospitality in Egypt, Jordan, and Dubai including a trip to Petra and a VIP, behind-the scenes tour of the pyramids through the good offices of UNESCO who were the local ICDL licensee.
Reorganisation within OUCS resulted in the creation of the Learning Technologies Group, of which I became Deputy Head. Well that was the theory as I was asked after a little while to fill in as Acting Head while Stuart had 3 months in the US, and again for 3 months when the IT strategy was being planned. That second stint actually stretched to over 3 years with seemingly endless short extensions. This included the time that the original WebLearn was introduced, and then the start of it's replacement.
And then onto the Groupware project which morphed into Nexus. A high-profile service across the whole University with a great team driving the implementation along and overcoming all the various obstacles along the way. But I'm not putting my feet up yet - we're moving to Shropshire to a smallholding with some land and the possibility of becoming self-sufficient. With rental accommodation - the views are absolutely fantastic. Book early!
32.2. Roger Treweek
Roger Treweek joined OUCS in 1978 when networking consisted of two external links to the ULCC and UMRCC Supercomputing Centres which managed to reach speeds of 9600 bits-per-second. Much has changed since then and Roger has been involved with most of the networking changes at Oxford.
His early work has long been assigned to the annals of history and included much low-level programming in projects such as the linking of the University central ICL 2900 to DEC VAX(s) and developing the national FT- RELAY protocol conversion facility for file transfers that assisted JANET in its move from the Blue Book Protocol to the familiar Internet protocol (ftp) in modern use.
Perhaps the most important development was the introduction of a University Backbone Network. Initially this was based on FDDI technology which started out connecting together a modest number of departments but soon grew to cover all departments and colleges. As demand increased this changed to a gigabit ethernet technology, followed by an upgrade to the 10 gigabit backbone that we now all use.
More recent developments include the introduction of the FroDo network distribution units which enabled, amongst other things, the subsequent provision of a managed wireless service across the University.
The transfer of Telecoms into the (now) Network and Telecoms Group did much to advance the introduction of modern networked technology into this area with VOIP telephones now being the first choice where telephony is concerned.
All good things come to an end and Roger retires at the end of October. Technology still marches on - and there are lots of interesting things still to do - but it will be with someone else at the networking helm.
33. Learning Technology in Practice Seminar Series
Michaelmas Term 2010 - Tuesday Evenings - 17:00 - 18:30
Oxford University Computing Services, Evenlode Seminar Room
- 9th of November - Personal learning environments (PLEs)
- Candidates for Masters in E-learning, Dept. of Education Studies. A wine reception will be held after this session
- 16th November - Blended learning approaches in undergraduate Bioscience teaching
- Dr Neil Morris (Leeds)
- 23rd of November - What is the role of fun in learning?
- Dr Nicola Whitton (Manchester Metropolitan)
- 7th of December - hapTEL(TM) project: using simulations with tactile feedback to develop the skills of dentistry students
- Dr Jonathan P. San Diego (London Knowledge Lab)
For further information please contact Melanie Tritz (email@example.com)


text:
About this Research Network
This network has received funding from 1997 to the present.
Network Chair
Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D.
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Network Websitehttp://www.adjj.org/
For additional information, contact Marnia Davis.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
almost impossible to run a business – no matter how small – without a
computer. Yet years ago we used to do it. Buy a computer today, and you've
entered the race to keep up.
you run and you run to catch up with the Sun but it's sinking… racing
around, to come up behind you again" – the words of Pink Floyd, circa 1973.
I'm writing this in a Hotel room in Paihia, where today my job has taken me.
Where the client is, there go I. The notebook computer I'm using was the best
thing since sliced bread when I bought it 5 years ago. It was fast, did
incredible things, and – here's a free plug for Toshiba – has never let me
down, and neither did its namesake predecessor.
But, five years on, it's struggling to keep up, and I have to remind
myself (when I get irritated at having to wait for it) that it is, in computer
terms, ancient. It's a Pentium 133 which, for those in the know, takes ten
times longer to think about things than notebooks on the market right now. In
just five years. In computer jargon, this old notebook is 'maxed out',
meaning that although it is running Windows 98 and Office 2000, those two pieces
of software stretch the machine to its full capacity. Windows XP has been on the
market for over a year, but this poor old thing would have a hernia if I tried
to load XP on it.
I am forced into a decision here. My clients have lots of money and resources,
and update their equipment regularly, which means that unless I buy a new
machine (upgrading a notebook is either impossible or not cost-efficient) I am
going to have to ask my clients to 'convert down' files before they email
them to me. I mean, how embarrassing. It's like having holes in your socks and
being asked to take your shoes off, or having an important person arrive in the
country, and picking them up at the airport in a Morris minor. Doesn't do the
image any good at all. The love of my life (she who must be obeyed, I mean) has
never had to 'embrace' computer technology in serious terms, but now wants
to help out by playing a support role in my busy business life. Here's the
paradox – the time it will take to bring her from zero to full competence on
Outlook, Excel, Word and Publisher seems to outweigh the intended benefit. While she's learning the software we use now, the next new
version is being released… It seems to me that, in financial terms, buying a
computer is an exercise in obsolescence. You know for sure that your recently
purchased asset will be obsolete in business terms within about 5 years at the
most, with 3 years being more likely. In technical terms, it was obsolete
before you bought it – what you see in the shops is already well behind
what's on the design bench. Newer, faster, more capacity. It must be very hard
for the manufacturers to maintain high quality when the financial equation is
telling the buyer to make a decision based on a three-to-five year life span.
Why would you pay for a top-of-the-line computer at $5000, which will be
obsolete in 3 years, when you can buy a Kamikaze brand, which will also be
obsolete in 3 years, for $2000? I
guess that's why leasing or renting is attractive (hire purchase is a no-no)
since the lease payments are fully tax-deductible, at the end of the lease you
probably haven't paid much more than you would have had you purchased it, and
your three year old computer which is now obsolete is the problem of the lease
company, not you, and you simply swap it for a new one and carry on.
Then there's the problem of security, in two forms – learning how to
do backups and the discipline of doing that, and then Internet security if you
are able to access the Internet. Let's imagine you're a small Charter
operator, you've invested in a computer 2 years ago, and you have an accounts
package, a reservations (bookings) package, and a customer database. Two years
down the track you will have all your accounts information, required by the IRD
to be kept for seven years, a history of past bookings and the forward schedule
of this year's bookings, plus you will by now have a marketing database for
keeping in touch with your past and existing clients. What happens in the event
the 'hard drive' on the computer malfunctions – and I mean permanently, in
a way that the data can't be recovered even by an expert? It happens, and not
infrequently either. What about if you have a fire in your office, or a flood?
What happens if Bob the Burglar decides he likes your computer more than you do?
Firstly, he's now got the data and you haven't, secondly if he knows the
value of that data, will he then sell it to your competitors? Take my advice –
every month back up your information onto another computer in your office (if
you've got two), and then drop another back up onto disk and send it to a
trusted friend or your accountant. Make sure your computer is password protected
at start-up; if you don't know how to do it ask your local computer tech to do
it for you. Get it so that when you turn the computer on, after a few bits of
text come up, then it asks for a password – and nothing will happen until you
type the right one in. Now if Bob the Burglar hits, he's going to need very
high-level technical help to get at your data, and most won't bother. Don't
rely on the Windows password – it's pointless, as I found out. All you do is
hit cancel, and you're in! Did you know that? I only found out by accident.
about the Internet. If you're email capable, or if you can Surf the Net,
you're vulnerable AND you're a target. Take it from me – I've been
around people who have learned the hard way, and luckily I learned from that. If
you're in a big organisation with your own IT manager, you will have a
'firewall' and internal virus protection and can probably relax. If you're
a small business working either in an office or home, unless you've done
something about it you won't have a firewall, and unless you've specifically
done otherwise, your computer is probably not virus-protected. That means the
moment you connect your computer to a telephone line, and the computer is
'on', you are vulnerable to attack in at least 3 ways:
can't go into detail here about viruses – go here to learn about them:
are many thousands of them. Produced by malicious idiots wanting the limelight
as the creator of the world's most destructive one, regardless of the misery
they cause to millions of people. They should be taken out the back and shot. A
50-cent bullet is cheaper than a trial – and if we send them to prison we have
to feed and house them.
come as attachments to emails. You'll see it as an email with a 'paper
clip' sign on it meaning that this email has a file attached to it. They can
be perfectly innocent, come from someone you know, and it's a photo of the new
baby or a cartoon or a customer list or something. Then there's another kind,
also appearing to come from someone you know, which often has a file name ending
in '.exe' or '.scr'. If you delete the file without opening it, you're
probably safe. The moment you open it, the programme hidden in the file
unleashes it's 'payload', usually looks for a random file on your hard
drive, grabs your email address book, sends that random file to everyone in your
address book, and attaches a copy of itself to the file before it goes out –
so everyone in your address book gets the virus, and part of one of your
documents. Hopefully not the one containing the 'real' accounts that the IRD
aren't supposed to see. Or the love-letter to your illicit 'friend'. Worst
still, you may not even know it's happened until your friends start ringing
you. That's just the 'embarrassing/irritating' kind of virus. Then there
are the vicious ones, that actually harm the data on your computer, and in some
cases renders the data unrecoverable. That's another reason why you need
regular back-ups. Another type of virus hides on a website that you might visit,
and is buried in the programme code of a page you look at. You'll never know
it's happened unless you've got protection. The solution? Apart from hanging
one or two of the perpetrators in a very public way, as an example to others, go
down to your local Computer store and buy the latest version of either Norton
Internet Security or McAfee or some other well-known brand. It will 'screen'
incoming Email, monitor web pages you look at and automatically quarantine any
suspicious file, then help you decide what to do, including safely deleting it.
Then there are the Hoaxers - emails that tell you you've been attacked, and
suggest you delete certain files. All rubbish, of course, but now you've deleted
needed, innocent files so your computer won't run properly. Before taking action
on one of these 'helpful' emails, check out the Hoax page on the Internet at: http://www.symantec.com
people. They spend their lives in dark little rooms, permanently wired into the
Internet, and use special machines and software to constantly 'scan' the
Internet, looking for a computer that's also connected, and unprotected. Look
at it this way – on a hot summer evening, you want the windows open, but the
lights attract bugs. The air comes in, but so do the bugs. The simple act of
being connected to the Internet, with your computer turned on, means 'your
window is open'. While you are looking at email, or surfing the net, this
miserable waste-of-space has found your computer 'open' and is busily
looking around your hard drive – looking at your data, your credit card
numbers, your bank records, whatever. Worst still they leave a small programme
on your computer, so that every time in the future you 'go on the 'net, this
hacker gets to know what you're doing, what you've looked at. Download
anything 'free' from the Internet and it's 80% likely that hidden in what
you've downloaded is something called 'Spyware', a little programme that
reports back to the place you downloaded from everything you do in the future.
There's a little clean-up programme you can get off the Internet for free
called Ad-Aware, made by people who hate Spyware and thus provide it free, and
it will root out those little nasties and allow you to delete them. You can get
it at: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/index.html.
I recently got a computer back that had been used by two other people over a
two-year period, and couldn't figure out why this darned machine kept trying
to dial the Internet all on it's own. I ran Ad-Aware over it and found 33
separate Spyware programmes. Nasty stuff.
how do you defeat the attackers? Anyone old enough to remember Star Trek, where
the Klingons used to be able to make their space-ship invisible"? It was
called 'cloaking', if my old brain remembers correctly. Well, you can do
that too, with your computer. Make it invisible to the Hacker. I do that by
using Norton Internet Security, but there are other products out there too,
I'm not doing a free plug for Norton. Well, I guess I am actually – I have
never had virus damage despite getting attacks at the rate of 4 or 5 a week
during a particularly bad period. This package includes a Firewall, which kind
of describes what it does – puts a wall up between your computer and the
Internet, then manages the traffic going through it. The Firewall 'conceals'
your computer from the prying eyes of hackers, while you are on the net. It also
tells you when a hacker has tried to penetrate it. You will be surprised...
started talking about the race to keep up, which is what I intended this article
to be, but I seem to have focussed more on protecting yourself from nasty
people. I hope you found it helpful
either way!
Steve Punter ANZIM,
Dip Bus (PMER), FHRINZ
Staff Training Associates Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand.
© Steve Punter 2002 All rights reserved by the author.


text:
Nandamuri Balakrishna
His last release, 'Mitrudu', saw the star in a slightly different role - that of a dependable friend and confidante to the female lead. However, the cash counters didn't ring. The 'roaring lion', it seems, has a bit of catching up to do. With a few releases lined-up this year and the next, he seems to be raring for it.


text:
12-13 March 2014 - World's Sharpest Whales land near Waterloo Bridge...[more]
February 2014 - Achtel Pty Limited releases Colour Science Package for RED Epic cameras - a set of custom optical filters improving underwater visibility and dynamic range in blue channel, Significantly improves micro-contrast and MTF underwater, reduces red channel noise, significantly reduces grey-magenta colour cross-talk of the RED Epic sensor. The Colour Science Package is available for rental with our custom modified RED Epic cameras.
14 February 2014 - DeepX Valentine's Day 15% off Sale
January 2014 - This month we went to Palau shooting for our Sea of Love 3D IMAX film. Highlights from the footage can be found on Flickr...[here]
November - December 2013 - Filming in Coral Sea and Torres Strait for Sea of Love 3D IMAX film has been successful and resulted in large amount of 3D 5k footage. One of the highlights of the expedition was filming extremely rare and spectacular Porites coral spawning...[more]
23 November 2013 - Pawel Achtel wins Silver ACS Cinematography Award for Sea of Love 3D IMAX film teaser...[more]
7 - 8 September 2013 - Pawel Achtel will be presenting at this year's International Underwater Imaging Symposium at ODEX in Sydney. The sessions are:
16 August 2013 - World's Sharpest Whales...[more]
4 July 2013 - Mark Horstman meets cinematographer Pawel Achtel, who has combined lens technology with an innovative titanium housing to bring ultra high definition underwater images to the big screen...[more]
18 April 2013 - Ron Johanson ACS, National President of Australian Cinematographers Society Letter to Pawel Achtel ...[more]
11 April 2013 - Premier of Tasmania, Lara Giddings congratulates ...[more]
15 April 2013 - Labor Senator for Tasmania, Lisa Singh congratulates ...[more]
10 April 2013 - The most innovative product at NAB 2013 was not Canon EOS C300 (finalist) or Canon EOS C500 (also finalist), it was not Blackmagic Cinema Camera (finalist), it was also not Sony NEX-FS700 (another finalist) ...it was: DeepXTM and 3Deep®! ...[more]
22 March 2013 - DeepX and 3Deep nominated as finalists, best innovations in film production, NAB, Las Vegas ...[more]
15-16 March 2013 - Pawel Achtel films deep coral reefs in 3D...[more]
January 2013: Pawel Achtel's Grace under Pressure blue-chip natural history feature film selected at AIDC 2013.
November 2012: Pawel Achtel conducts workshop for ACS members
13 August 2012: Achtel Pty Limited releases 3Deep - 3D Underwater Housing for RED Epic...[more]
June 2012: DeepX underwater housing featured in June issue of Australian Cinematographer magazine...
21 June 2012: World-renowned American cinematographer, Bob Cranston,gives Aussie invention the thumbs up
June 2012: Achtel Pty Limited shows the first 3D underwater housing able to record undistorted and sharp images in 3D. What is unique about our "3Deep" (3D) and "DeepX" (2D) housings is that, we believe for the first time, we can now avoid any of the usual degradation of images from shooting through flat or dome ports. In our tests, these systems typically degrade the image to less than standard definition in the corners. The Nikonos lenses we're using were, of course, specifically designed for underwater use and they actually out-resolve the 5k RED Epic sensor across the entire frame: even the edges of our images are now pin-sharp.
3 June 2012: Band Pro - Film and Digital Inc. Burbank and Munich re-sell DeepX and 3Deep underwater housings for RED Epic cameras in US and Europe.
15 - 20 March 2012: Jon Shaw tests DeepX in the field for the first time [more...]
12 March 2012: Pawel Achtel announces DeepX underwater housing for RED Epic and Scarlet digital cinema cameras compatible with Nikon Nikonos lenses [more...]
6 March 2012: Pawel Achtel acquires second RED Epic-X digital cinema camera
17 October 2011: Pawel Achtel acquires 5k RED Epic-X digital cinema camera
7 July 2009: Pawel Achtel acquires Leica Apo-Telyt R 280mm, 400mm and 560mm modular prime lenses (Van Diemen PL mount conversion)
12 June 2008: Pawel Achtel Acquires Arri Zeiss Master Prime Lenses [more...]
2 June 2008: Pawel Achtel Acquires Red One 4K Digital Cinema Camera and accessories
January 2008: Pawel Achtel films in remote Southern Australia. [more...]
December 2007: Pawel Achtel goes to far northern Great Barrier Reef. A rare sequence of Potato Cod (Epinephelus tukula) courting and spawning has been filmed using newly developed CinePortTM underwater optics. Also footage of numerous sharks species has been acquired.[more...]
November/December 2007: Pawel Achtel films coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef.
7 October 2007 Pawel Achtel announces availability of unique underwater CinePortTM optics for motion picture.[more...]
|27 May 2007: Pawel Achtel releases three new HD Demo clips. The collection includes recently filmed high definition footage of tropical coral reefs, green turtles nesting, Grey Nurse Sharks, seadragons, Australian sea lions and Australian giant cuttlefish mating.[more...]
|April-May 2007: Pawel Achtel films Grey Nurse Sharks (Carcharias taurus) and big schools of black-tipped bullseyes (Pempheris vanicolensis) in northern NSW [more...]
|23 April 2007: Pawel Achtel releases new HD Demo of time lapse cinematography. [more...]
|March-April 2007: Pawel Achtel films weedy and leafy seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus and Phycodurus eques) in South Australia [more...]
|January 2007: Pawel Achtel films green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting on the Great Barrier Reef. [more...]
|9 December 2006: Pawel Achtel films coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef. Some spectacular scenes have been filmed beneath the rough surface of heavy seas, 35 knot winds, torrential rain during black, stormy night. Braving the weather in a small boat about 70 nautical miles off Townsville (Queensland) Pawel filmed an abundant and intense mass spawning of acropora (hard branching coral) and some species of brain coral.
|21 November 2006: Pawel Achtel films mating behaviour of Green turtles (Chelonia mydas).
|November 2006: Pawel Achtel films some of the last remaining pristine and healthy reefs on the Great Barrier Reef. The destruction of most reefs on the Great Barrier Reef is substantial and healthy reefs are increasingly hard to find. Pawel filmed some of the richest reefs teeming with abundant marine life in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef. Also, huge schools of fish and predation behavour were filmed.
© Copyright 2006 - 2014 Pawel Achtel. All Rights Reserved.


text:
TIME on Tumblr is the story behind the stories of the world's first weekly newsmagazine. You're already well-informed about the news. Now be well-informed about TIME.
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shoulda beat out snowden tbh, whatever. at least it's not miley.
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text:
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed!
Women's Ministry
Children's Ministry
Teacher Appreciation
This Glow-in-the-Dark Bracelet also comes with a FREE "The Gospel Story by Colors Laminated Card (KJV). Share the Gospel story with kids as they enjoy these bracelets that actually glow-in-the-dark! Encourage children to take two - one to keep and one to share after presenting the Gospel story. Recommended for ages 4+.
Product Specifications: Card is laminated and printed by 4-color process on front. Sizes are: Card: 2 3/8" x 3 1/2"; Bracelet: 2 3/4" in diameter.
"During our family mission trip, we found the G.L.O.W. Gospel Bracelets are a hit ... the children receiving them love them! It seems that each day we need more! We're up to 600 and still counting!!!
We can easily share the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that is simple and easy to understand. They are a great visual for the children and durable. Being glow in the dark is great for the youngest children who are unable to comprehend the entire meaning of the gospel. I let the younger ones know that at night in bed they can look at the bracelet and the glowing is a reminder that Jesus is always with you.
These are loved not only by the children but the adults as well. Once the adults hear the gospel they want one too!"
Click here for FREE downloadable Ministry Message.


text:
The bread at The Belmont Brewing Company in Long Beach CA with their in house made honey butter.
The bread at The Belmont Brewing Company in Long Beach CA with their in house made honey butter.
There's a little bakery in Glendale called Rolling Pin that has this Dutch Crunch Bread in loaf and roll forms...oh. my. god. I don't know what they do to the tops of the breads, but it's all crackly and crunchy and the bread inside is SO soft. I think they put crack in it. That's the only explanation I can think of.
I don't know what they call it, but the dark oat-covered bread they serve at Black Angus is my crack. Seriously. I'd smack all you people for a hunk of that bread.
That pumpernickel they serve at the Cheesecake Factory. But the ultimate to me is a good french loaf. When done right, it is simple but heavenly.
Reminds me of all the Parisians marching like soldiers on a parade ground every evening, pointing their french loaves to the sky.
On top of being lactose intolerant, I apparently also have a gluten allergy.
So I don't have a favorite bread.
Except for pumpernickel.
Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.
― Stephen King
Old Town Baking Company
Long Beach Southeast Farmers Market
It's at the farmers market next to 2nd street on Sundays. Try their sourdough and prepare to be hooked. Enjoy!
yeah I have hit that bread guy a lot of times. Great stuff!
Another bread I loved was at Du-Par's. I think it's Zuchinni Bread and they serve it warm with butter. AMAZING. I haven't had it for years but it rocked.
Great - now I wanna just go eat a whole loaf of any kind of bread. Bread is GOOOOOOD.
Garlic rolls at C&O Trattoria - good stuff
Wonder Bread BITCHES!
Just kidding.
I made some french toast with some brioche the other day. It was pretty f---ing good.
Disclosure Notice: The above listed post is that of a disgruntled hockey fan on the internet and in no way should be taken as truth or any substance. It does not reflect the views of the host website or its sponsors. If you are offended, please take a moment to reflect on what was written, and then ask yourself whether or not there should have been a /sarcasm next to the statement. If you feel the poster took the comment too far, write a letter to Santa. Maybe that will help.
Now go away.


text:
GreatSchools Rating
Teacher quality
Principal leadership
Parent involvement
My child goes to the elementary school, and his experience has been very positive. He's had excellent teachers every year, and he is challenged, I do need to ask his teachers to give him more challenging work but they always accommodate him. What makes Cuffee special is its attention to social/emotional learning and its culture of respect for everyone in the community. In my experience, this is not true of most (if not all) of the Providence public elementary schools, where principals communicate with students using megaphones, and teachers yell at the students. My son says (even though some teachers are "strict") he always feels safe, and has never been bullied. The elementary school is the oldest, and the best-functioning of the three levels. I've heard the middle school is getting very good, but since the high school is new there seems to be some challenges. I hope these get ironed out before my son is ready to go to high school. I prefer a small school to Classical - the small size at Cuffee is a huge plus - everyone really gets to know each other and this gives the school a very 'homey' feel.
Can I tell you that the nurses at this school are completely out of their mind? One of them gave asthma medication to my non asthmatic son without consulting me at all.The lack of good education is also something to be concerned about. My other son complains that his new classes at classical are hard and paul cuffee teaches you the bare minimum (no advanced classes for those who need them), useless maritime knowledge, and that other former middleschoolers (who attended public schools) are more prepared than he is. Socialization is another problem, kids are forced to be in a class with few students and cannot practice social skills as well as if they were in a bigger enivronment. Please consider the fact that just because it's charter, doesn't mean it's better. They take away necessary resources away from public school while giving students less than at public schools. Sure smaller class sizes are "good" but motivated smart kids will do the same (or better) if they were at public schools.
Paul cuffee is a great school, my doughter went there from 3-8 grade, she were well prepare to go to Clasical hight school, now she is in her second year in URI ; thanks for the confidence that the the teachers from Paul Cuffee Charter School.
all five of my kids go here. Great culture, friendly environment and the students are disciplined. Academically my children do very well here. I love the way my daughter (3rd grade) reads, thanks to her then kindergaten teacher Ms. Hill. My kids love the school and so does my husband and I. Great involved PTO. No child gets left behind at Paul Cuffee School. Funga Alafia...Ase Ase!!! Give us peace... Amen, Amen
teachers and are awesome very good school student learn a lot and there teachers won;t give up on them
It is a great school that encourages parent perticipation.
paule cuffee is a great school i should know i go there and all of the teachers will help you every step of the way its so great to have the privlige to go to paule cuffee school as i said its a great school thats getting better by the second so thats why i think this school is the best school i've ever been to in my life!!!
Paul Cuffee is an amazingly diverse environment. Students are not only taught to excel academically, but they are also taught swimming and sailing. My daughter's teachers have been exceptionally strong!
Paul cuffee is a great school, I am so happy I choose this school, for my daughter, teachers work very hard to work with the students as well as with the parents, in any area that you need help. I am so thankful with the teachers my daughter has had in these 3years, they always helped me daughter in any area of help that she needed and they also worked well with me to help me better assist her. I feel safe when I drop off my daughter every morinig, because I know that its a safe environment, and I like the structure that the students have at paul cuffee, in general its a great school, and everyone is friendly. The after school club is wonderful too.
This school is full of committed and talented teachers and staff, dedicated to quality education for ALL kids in the school. I would recommend it to anyone.
This school demonstrates strength in merging current theory and best practice. The staff has developed an extensive understanding of reader s and writer s workshop, balanced literacy, differentiated instruction, inquiry based science and art appreciation. Teachers strive to work in collaboration with students, staff, and families within and outside of the classroom. This school was rated in the top 50 charter schools in the nation.
This is a great school -- children from all backgrounds learning to work together and getting an excellent academic foundation. Good parent involvement, too.
this school is such a great school.I have watched my daughter just one day started reading right before my eyes. The teachers work so hard and are willing to go that extra mile to help your child.
Pual Cuffee is a wonderful school , the way that they teach the kids is awesome , the programs are great , there very attentive when it comes to students and parents , this school is number 1. I recomend it to every one . Thanx, Lucy R. Pierro
Community ratings and reviews do not represent the views of GreatSchools nor does GreatSchools check their accuracy or verify the reviewers' identities. Use your discretion when evaluating these reviews.
The Community Rating is the school's average rating from its community members (e.g., parents, students, and school staff). The highest possible rating is five stars; the lowest is one star.
459 Promenade St
Providence, RI 02908
Phone: (401) 453-2626
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#128 - chokinandtokin ONLINE (09/13/2014) [-]
Would you sell your white widow cannabis?
#111 - donor (06/11/2014) [-]
Would you sell your radioactive badges?
I need 68k more for the lvl6
I need 68k more for the lvl6
#86 - SumoWamm (03/13/2014) [-]
I'll sell more for 800 fj badges each. Take your time if you're interested, I have 20+ spare weed i'm selling, i'll try and keep ones you don't have.
#84 - bitchyouabitch (03/13/2014) [-]
hey would you sell cinderella or white widow?
#78 - capslockrage ONLINE (03/06/2014) [-]
please sell me the ampserdam pride
#67 - mairon (03/02/2014) [-]
Sell me robot parts and advanced circuit boards.
#61 - bitchyouabitch (02/16/2014) [-]
you selling puppet fiend
kitten egg
gold pixel dragon
or soul keepers
kitten egg
gold pixel dragon
or soul keepers
#48 - hornack (12/10/2013) [-]
Would you swap your cali skunk for my sour diesel?
Also are you selling dragon?
Also are you selling dragon?
Leave a comment


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Hotel Dei Borgia Rome
Hotel dei Borgia, opened in 2013, is the latest addition to Piazza di Spagna View hotels. The building is located in the heart of Rome's Via Nazionale, near the main attractions of the capital, including the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. The Hotel features exclusive, elegant rooms and décor finished in every detail. All 80 rooms are equipped with the best amenities and services and the stunning roof garden with panoramic views makes a perfect location for cosy roman nights. In addition, Hotel includes a SPA & WELLNESS area (soon available), designed for those who want to combine their stay with genuine moments of pure indulgence and relaxation, as well as an elegant, modernly equipped conference centre


text:
TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) - A southern New Jersey developer has been convicted of deceiving investors and stealing more than $1 million connected to building projects.
David Haugland of Stafford Township faces up to 30 years in prison when he's sentenced April 4. An Ocean County jury convicted him Friday on two counts of theft and one count of attempted theft, but couldn't reach a verdict on a money laundering charge.
Prosecutors say the 41-year-old Haugland worked in the Long Beach Island region. The charges stemmed from business activities connected to three construction or proposed construction projects in that area.
The jury found Haugland deceived 12 investors about the projects. They also found he tried to get a mortgage loan in excess of $75,000 by providing false information to a bank.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
KMSP-TV11358 Viking DriveEden Prairie, MN 55344
Phone: (952) 944-9999Fax: (952) 942-0455


text:
Immune Response to Synthesized Pnipam-Based Graft Hydrogels Containing Chitosan and Hyaluronic Acid
Date of Award
Degree Type
Degree Name
Master of Applied Science (MASc)
Chemical Engineering
K. Jones
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.5px Helvetica}
Biomaterials are thought to be the magical solution to improving the quality of life and lengthening lifespans of human beings. To date, there is no biomaterial that can completely escape immune responses. However, successes have recently been made in reducing immune responses to biomaterials.P(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM), chitosan , and hyaluronan are examples of polymers that are gaining great interest in the field of biomaterials. The most attractive property of PNIPAM is thermo-responsiveness. Adequate literature has been published on improving the mechanical strength of PNIPAM, but not much has been published on host response to PNIPAM based graftpolymers. Chitosan and hyaluronan are generally considered non-toxic and nonimmunogenic.
The first part of this project focuses on the synthesis and characterization of hyaluronan-grafted-chitosan-grafted-P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid), while the second part examines the effect of grafting on the extent of immune reaction compared to P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid) alone. The incorporation of chitosan into P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid), and hyaluronan into chitosan-grafted-P(NIPAM-coacrylic acid) was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance , 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS), and Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST) experiments. The optimum molecular p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.5px Helvetica}
weight for P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid) that could provide sufficient amount of reactive sites while maintaining LCST below 37°C was found to be in the range of 2-2.5kDa. Western blotting results demonstrated that incorporating chitosan into P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid) reduces the amount of fibrinogen, fibronectin, and vitronectin adsorbed, and eliminates complement component 3 (C3) adsorption.
Furthermore, incorporating hyaluronan eliminates more inflammatory proteins including fibrinogen and reduces Immunoglobulin G (lgG) adsorption. Chitosan-grafted-P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid) elicited lower levels of inflammatory cytokine release compared to P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid), but higher than hyaluronan-grafted-chitsan-grafted-P(NIPAM-co-acrylic). In vitro and in vivo results revealed lowest density of leukocytes adhesion to hyaluronan containing surface compared to the other surfaces. The extent and duration of inflammation was reduced on chitosan-grafted-P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid) and hyaluronangrafted-chitosan-grafted-P(NIPAM-co-acrylic acid) hydrogels.
Recommended Citation
Al-Haydari, Mariam D., "Immune Response to Synthesized Pnipam-Based Graft Hydrogels Containing Chitosan and Hyaluronic Acid" (2010). Open Access Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4193.
McMaster University Library


text:
George Clooney, Hollywood's
most eligible bachelor is decisive to marry activist-lawyer Amal Alamuddin.
In an interview with Variety, the 53-year-old actor said,
"I'm marrying up
Clooney and Alamudin announced their engagement in April and
have been an item since last fall, according to CBS News.
"The actor recently made headlines for an op-ed he wrote in
response to a Daily Mail article about his fiancee and her mother. In the
piece, he has chastised a British newspaper over a "completely
fabricated" article claiming his fiancee's mother disapproves of the
impending marriage for religious reasons.
Clooney told Variety why he decided to speak out about the
article: "Every day they write things that aren't true, but every once in
a while they write something that is actually dangerous to your family, and
it's probably not true. And that's the one you pick.""
The intruder at the house of the Award-winning actor Sandra Bullock finally at the police custody.
According to TMZ's report Bullock "came face-to-face with her (intruder)...right outside her bedroom."
"We've obtained the search warrant allowing cops to search for an arsenal of weapons owned by Joshua Corbett. TMZ broke the story ... cops found 7 guns at Corbett's home -- including assault rifles -- but they believe more are out there. "
"The search warrant outlines a chilling confrontation between Bullock and Corbett. At 1 AM she hears a loud banging inside the house. Bullock goes to her bedroom door to close and lock it and she sees Corbett right there in the hallway wearing dark clothing."
"Bullock slams the door shut, locks it and calls 911. She told cops she had showered before going to bed, so he may have been there the whole time."
"When the cops arrived, Corbett began screaming, "Sandy, I'm sorry. Please don't press charges.""
"Corbett was carrying a notebook with cut-out magazine pics of Bullock and multiple, handwritten notes. One of the notes said, "I will forever be thinking of you and Louie, my son, as you are my wife by law, the law of God and you belong to me and me to you.""
"Corbett also forgives Bullock for "anything you may have done" and then tries to compliment her, writing Bullock is "hot and intelligent, lissome and taught [sic].""
Top Ten Best Dreamworks
Animated Movies
1 How to Train Your Dragon
2 Shrek
3 Kung Fu Panda
4 Rise of the Guardians
5 Kung Fu Panda 2
6 Madagascar
7 Shrek 2
8 Megamind
9 Over the Hedge
10 Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
After years of work and testing, Google has finally revealed a self-driving vehicle
The vehicle said to have no steering wheel or pedals. The fully autonomous will use a large amount of sensors equipped that will allow it to make the right decisions and adapt to areas as quickly as possible.
Project director Chris Urmson said that the "The vehicles will be very basic—we want to learn from them and adapt them as quickly as possible—but they will take you where you want to go at the push of a button. And that's an important step toward improving road safety and transforming mobility for millions of people."
About the car's safety, Urmson ensured, "They have sensors that remove blind spots, and they can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions, which is especially helpful on busy streets with lots of intersections."
When it comes to getting these prototypes on the road, Urmson said that Google is planning on building about a hundred vehicles. The company will then have safety drivers test the vehicles this summer. The hope of the testing is to lead to a "small pilot program" in California within the next couple of years.Go to Inside Hollywood
LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Godzilla" has smashed its way to the top of the box office.
The 3-D monster movie from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures had the second-largest debut of the year this weekend with $93.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"Godzilla" trails Disney-Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," which opened with $95 million in April, and sits just above "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," which debuted with $91.6 million this month.
Paying homage to the 60-year-old franchise in tone and spectacle, the latest iteration continues the legend of 1954 Japanese original — Ishiro Honda's "Gojira." Reviews of the film were positive — it earned a "fresh" rating from review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, with 72 percent of film critics responding positively.
Legendary Pictures President Jon Jashni said the film did better than expected partly because it was "starting to get sampled even by those who didn't think it would necessarily be for them. They didn't have nostalgic feelings for it." He said friends or family members likely recommended the movie to those viewers.
Jashni added that the success of "Godzilla" is "validating" after last year's "Pacific Rim" and "Jack the Giant Slayer" performed below expectations for the Warner-Legendary team.Go to Inside Hollywood
Adult comedy "Neighbors", ejected superhero movie
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" off the top spot on U.S. and Canadian box
office charts over the weekend, according to Reuter's report.
"Neighbors" earned $51.1 million in ticket sales
to lead all movies from Friday through Sunday, according to estimates from
tracking firm Rentrak.
"Spider-Man 2", last weekend's box office winner,
took in $37.2 million to finish second, ahead of comedy "The Other
Woman" with $9.3 million.
Rogen stars in "Neighbors" as a married former
party guy transitioning into suburban parenthood with his wife, played by Rose
Rogen's character wages war with the neighboring frat house
and its obnoxious president, played by "High School Musical" star Zac
"Neighbors" far exceeded pre-weekend forecasts for
a debut of $35 million to $40 million. The movie cost $18 million to make,
according to the Box Office Mojo website.
Its success follows other adult comedy hits such as
"Bridesmaids", "Ted" and last summer's "This is the
End", also starring Rogen.
"This was the little engine that could," said
Nikki Rocco, president for domestic distribution at Universal Pictures, the
unit of Comcast Corp that distributed "Neighbors".
The film got a boost by playing especially well with female
and older audiences, she said.
The opening was among the best-ever for an R-rated comedy,
according to Rentrak.
The take for "Spider-Man 2", one of a string of
big-budget superhero and monster movies Hollywood is releasing in the coming
weeks, dropped nearly 60 percent from its opening weekend, bringing its
domestic haul to $148 million.
The franchise's previous film in 2012 reached $262 million,
according to Boxofficemojo.
The global total for the sequel stands at just over $550
million through Sunday, distributor Sony Corp said.
The film stars Andrew Garfield as the web-slinging superhero
and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, the girlfriend of Spider-Man's alter-ego Peter
Parker, in a follow-up to a 2012 blockbuster.
"The drop we had is right in the realm of what we would
expect it to be" for films of that scale, said Rory Bruer, president of
worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
He added: "We're well on our way toward meeting and
exceeding our goals.Visit Inside Hollywood
Clooney, the wonderful mother of Actor George Clooney happily opened
up and confirmed the engagement of Amal Alamuden and her son.
Street Chambers in London, the law firm where Alamuddin works has
also confirmed the news after leaks at the weekend.
tagged: hollywood
entertainment, jennifer lawrence, justin bieber , kim kardashian ,
showbiz news, hollywood celebrities , news in hollywood, hollywood movies
Oslo, Norway
Zurich, Switzerland
New York, New York
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Sydney, Australia
Tokyo, Japan
Monte Carlo, Monaco
SingaporeGo to TRIP page
tags: travel, best places, travel guide, cheapest airfares, traveler's guide, beautiful places in the world, best travel destination
2 (8 ounce) packages reduced-fat cream cheese, softened (leave sitting out at room temperature for no longer than 2 hours)
⅔ cup organic cane sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
4 organic eggs
1 cup low-fat organic sour cream
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. With an electric hand mixer, smooth together cream cheese, ⅔ cup sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Pour filling into a 9-inch glass pie plate and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and set in the middle. Let cool for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix together sour cream, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, and vanilla and spread on top of cheesecake.
4. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
Note: Serving suggestion: Serve with sliced strawberries.
THE ONLY RIB RECIPE YOU WILL EVER USE AGAIN! By JUDY REY
1 (1.5 liter) bottle of Coca-Cola Soda (not diet!)
1 large onion, quartered
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
2 racks baby back ribs (about 4 pounds)
2/3 stick unsalted butter
1 small white onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
1½ tbsp yellow mustard
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 (12 ounce) can Coca-Cola (not diet!)
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
.Go to Menu page
tags : food, menu, filipino specialties, dessert, cakes, baking, healthy diet, foodies, treasure foods, family recipes, pinoy recipes, asian foods
The 15 Best Weight Loss Tips, Ever!
If you've ever tried to lose weight (and who hasn't), you've got to be mindful of whose advice you take. Your colleague says you need to cut out carbs. Your gym buddy knows the secret is to stop eating after 7 p.m. Your Facebook friend swears she'll be in swimsuit shape by March if she only eats once a day. Your husband, well, he sneezes and the weight seems to fall off.
But do any of these tips really work? To help you shed those extra pounds--and keep them off--without starving yourself, ditching your social life, or eating only at odd times of the day, we talked to experienced nutritionists for real-world advice you can actually live with, day in and day out. We'll tell you how to focus on the Go to Young,Sexy &Gorgeous page
how to lose weight, tips to stay young sexy and gorgeous, healthy food to eat to stay fit and healthy, healthy diet
THE BEATLES: EXTRAORDINARY PLAGIARISTS. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will receive the Beatles' 2014 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 56th annual Grammy Awards. They will also each perform. They last reunited in 2009 for an appearance at a star-studded benefit at Radio City Music Hall, though whether they'll perform together at the . Go to the Beatles Blog
tags: latest about beatles, paul mcccartney, ringo starr, john lennon, bealtle's book, beatle's extraordinary plagiarists


text:
Flowerz (prod. diplo & DJA) - Lil Twist ft. Lil Wayne & Chris Brown
10/11/12 chill dance party playlist - dj sandstep
Click here if you want to pop out a player to kick out the jams.
Click here if you really want to start at the top and check this here tumblog out.
Just some stuff that's caught my ear lately on soundcloud turned into an amuse l'oreille for your Thursday festivities


text:
Merger and a Spinoff at the Same Time
Mike is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
As part of the New York-based company's expected merger with investment banking powerhouse Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF), Leucadia National (NYSE: LUK) has announced plans to spin off its Crimson Wine division and pay a "spin-off" dividend to its shareholders. The spin-off is expected to close on February 25, 2013. Although the terms of the Jefferies-Leucadia merger have not yet been finalized, it appears likely that the deal will be finalized by the end of the second quarter of 2013. However, legal issues or shareholder concerns may yet complicate or delay the deal.
For now, traders who wish to find short-term value in Leucadia may find it profitable to participate in the Crimson Wine spin-off.
About Leucadia, Crimson Wine and Jefferies Group
Leucadia National Corporation is a conglomerate with operations in a number of agricultural, gaming, service, and medical industries. The company's agricultural holdings include a vertically-integrated beef processing unit and the soon-to-be-independent Crimson Wine winery operation. Its materials division produces raw lumber and various lumber products for sale to homeowners, building contractors and other customers. Leucadia's medical products division consists of several trial-phase compounds that treat certain side effects of strokes, clotting events and sickle-cell anemia. The company also owns a casino and Hard Rock Cafe property in Biloxi, Mississippi and engages in several other miscellaneous operations. It employs about 12,000 workers and had an EBITDA of $902.7 million on 2012 revenues of $7.1 billion.
Crimson Wine is Leucadia's winery division. The unit operates growing and processing operations in the West Coast region of the United States and distributes its products to a modest number of boutique liquor stores and upscale restaurants. As consumer tastes have evolved, the company has also begun to sell its high-value, low-cost wines to supermarket chains and big-box liquor stores within its trade area.
The Jefferies Group is an investment banking firm that facilitates the sale, distribution and exchange of securities like stocks, ADRs, ETFs, options, bonds, closed-end funds, and several other types of esoteric investment products. It also manages a diverse portfolio of assets for mutual funds, private investors and other customers. Its asset management group works with convertible bonds and commodities. This division also makes strategic investments in various assets and companies. The Jefferies Group earned $265 million on 2012 revenues of $2.9 billion.
How the Deal Is Structured
Under the terms of the spin-off deal, Leucadia shareholders of record as of February 11, 2013 will receive one share of the newly-issued Crimson Wine stock for every 10 Leucadia shares that they own. Any leftover fractional shares will be distributed to the appropriate shareholders as pro-rated cash payments.
The new Crimson Wine stock will trade on the over-the-counter markets and can be identified by its CUSIP number of22662X 100. There will be about 24 million outstanding shares of Crimson Wine after the distribution at a par value of $1 per share. As such, Leucadia shareholders stand to earn a premium of about 3 percent relative to the company's current stock price of $28 per share.
Under the terms of the merger deal, all Jefferies Group shareholders will receive 8.1 shares of Leucadia stock for every 10 shares of Jefferies stock that they own. Although the record date for this transaction has not yet been announced, it is expected to occur by mid-April. Relative to Jefferies's current stock price of $21.35 per share, this represents a premium of approximately 3.3 percent.
Complications and Legal Issues
At this point, the Crimson Wine Group spin-off appears to be all but assured. Since the merger between Leucadia and Jefferies is predicated upon the successful completion of the spin-off, it is likely that a last-minute failure would scuttle the larger merger deal. Conversely, a break-up of the merger agreement before the spin-off's completion could render the transaction moot. However, it is overwhelmingly likely that Crimson Wine will begin trading as a separate company on February 25.
Although the merger deal is shrouded in some uncertainty, it also appears likely to be finalized by the end of the first half of 2013.
Long-Term Outlook
Crimson Wine Group has long been one of Leucadia's least-profitable divisions. As such, its long-term prospects remain unclear. However, there is some reason to believe that a newly-independent Crimson may be able to make targeted investments in certain individual assets and distribution chains. Although some stock-watchers have expressed reservations about the deal, others are more bullish. After all, the North American wine market is growing at a solid pace.
Crimson Wine may also benefit from its divorce from Leucadia in a more subtle fashion. Leucadia is heavily reliant on two aging principals who may retire within the next few years. Thus far, the company has been opaque about its "Plan B" in the event that this occurs. Should a clear post-retirement plan fail to emerge, the company may be thrown into strategic disarray. Since Crimson Wine does not suffer from such a reliance on a small group of principals, it may represent a safer long-term bet.
In sum, Crimson Wine offers a stake on a risky but promising company's future. The spread on the JEF/LUK merger; however, may close in the coming weeks. In other words, timing may be critical. More information on the JEF/LUK merger coming soon on ArbIdeas.com.
mthiessen or affiliates are long JEF and short LUK. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is this post wrong? Click here. Think you can do better? Join us and write your own!


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An influential House of Lords committee has pushed the UK's Financial Conduct Authority to tackle high-frequency trading after hearing evidence on the subject from the chief executive of IEX Group.
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Banco Santander's scrip dividend diet is unhealthy
Spanish banks have been compensating for a lack of capital by feeding investors an unhealthy diet of sweet-tasting scrip dividends
From The Wall Street Journal


text:
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Costumes worn by Michael Jackson commanded hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction, and Lady Gaga was among the collectors.
Gaga tweeted Sunday that she bought 55 pieces in the sale administered by Julien's Auctions, and said she plans to keep the items "archived and expertly cared for in the spirit and love of Michael Jackson, his bravery and fans worldwide."
Bing: Mick Jagger's jumpsuit sold at auction
Auctioneer Darren Julien said the jacket that Jackson wore during his "Bad" tour fetched $240,000. Two of Jackson's crystal-encrusted gloves sold for more than $100,000 each, as did other jackets and performance costumes.
The auction, featuring the collection of Jackson's longtime costume designers Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush, raised more than $5 million. Some proceeds benefited Guide Dogs of America and Nathan Adelson Hospice of Las Vegas.
Yes! His Bravery! It's a pity that a man who only gave, created charities (Heal The World, We Are The World), and raised millions to fight world famine and help children at risk, was paid with the public humiliation of being branded a child molester with no proof whatsoever! That's why a Grand Jury of 12 people took nine days of deliberation, to finally declare him innocent and not guilty of all charges!
Michael Jackson figures in the Guinnes Book of World Records as the top philanthropist, and to his day, three years after his death, his family still supports the 39 charities Michael was supporting when he was alive by donating 20% of Michael Jackson Estate's profits.
To me, someone who reaches the international status Michael had, and decides to help other with, is a lot of personal growth that a lot of people can't understand!