text:
52. Experiments with d3.js
d3 Data Visualization Experiments with a Cereal Dataset: Parallel Sets, Parallel Coordinates
it's about me, Kim.
d3 Data Visualization Experiments with a Cereal Dataset: Parallel Sets, Parallel Coordinates
# Preface
Open Data Day 2013 happened on February 23rd. In Toronto. London. Buenos Aires. And oh about 67 other cities around the world. I first heard about the initiative from Mary Beth (@bethmaru), one of the founders of Open Data Day when she came to visit Toronto in February. So I was very happy when I was asked to help out that day thanks to Arndis (@arndis) from Urban Digital (@UrbanDigitalTO). In Toronto it was a day full of workshops, talks, and hacking.
I had a lot of fun! Trying to make sense of my notes however was not. So I've also provided performance-enhancing links. Parse, process, and analyse at will. Here it all is.
Open Data Day 2013 presentation
Online interactive maps
- Crowdsourced democracity
- The purpose: service, analysis , collection, engagement, informing, art
The DemocraCity Project
One Million Tweet Map
Save the Rain
Toronto Sound Map
Rebuild Your Community
- Social planning Toronto Chloropleth map tdsb
- Low income has cut services
- Least marginalized schools were affected (using the TDSB index, looking at earning opportunities with ranking schools)
- Services are already disproportionately located in city
- City of Toronto data consortium - purchasing that data
- Can look at CT vs wards vs political ridings boundaries
- KPMG did a study that reproduced the map
- Income mapping - public information sensitivity
### The problem:
- Data is never natural - there is always an angle
- A stumbling block is for the government at a political level to embrace open data without information presented within a certain context
_the government analyses the data for you_
- A folsom set of data would make it easy to drill down to sources
- Spending council - voting transparency
- Details of motion - clause context matters for constituents
- Approach neutrality by providing as much info as possible
# TABS Toronto
Tabs Toronto
Jason WHITE - TRANSIT ACCESSIBILITY
Ellie MARSHALL - MYCITYHALL.CA OPEN NORTH
Chris PENROSE - YOUTH ASSET MAPPING
Devon MEUNIER - AJAH TOOLS FOR FUNDRAISERS
Morgan PEERS - BIG PICTURE
Diederik VAN LIERE - a love story of big and small data
Julie BOGDANOWICZ - facemap toronto
Helen KULA - mars data catalyst
Sheyda SANEINEJAD - TRACKING TORONTO TICKER
Anil PATEL- THE SHARING IMPERATIVE
Raed SHARIF - GOVT DATA IN SOUTH AFRICA
Kevin BRANIGAN - MY TTC++
Sean CRAWFORD and Tammer KAMELZ - QUANDL
Dawn BUIE - Neighbourhood Planning
Wendy SMITH - PARKLOT
Transit Reliability Access to Transit A Cross City Comparison
# Ellie Marshall
# Chris PENROSE - YOUTH ASSET MAPPING
# Devon MEUNIER - AJAH TOOLS FOR FUNDRAISERS
# Morgan PEERS - BIG PICTURE
Big Picture
# Diederik VAN LIERE - a love story of big and small data
- Presenting data in clearest way possible - moving from complexity to overview
- Look at Otto Neurath
_the symbols create an interesting visual language_
- Maps from 1920s, abstraction of reality
- Kartograph
- Beyond statistics in mapping in general it is an arbitrary exercise
### David Hulchanski: neighbourhood change
- UFT social worker 3 cities in toronto
- map of blue red white - shows the middle class is disappearing
represents immediate data
- with stats and mapping there's a disconnect to the way laypeople look and navigate information
- to some there is an intimidation factor in looking and reading maps and statistics
- 3 cities map using photos of people not reading well
- white lane (middle) dominant
- try to represent 3 cities with photos of people
- photo on subway white faces middle city 1
- not white faces city 3 at edges
- Hulchanski map predict 2025 appears more uniform as opposed to the diversity in the 1970s - mixed map
### Facemap:
- A low tech design approach to mapping data
- Representing 3 cities stats more immediately with photography
- Going to subway stations and taking photographs of people
- If the project matures it will go into more accurate detail
- Map represented by percentages of population. There is an ethical line straddling, issues of racial profiling
_This is a cool idea, hope they can use real faces_
### Transportation Projects:
- myttc.ca
- Trying to consider the interoperation of data
- The innovation lab: when you look at things on the periphery at a glance. Instead it brings things to your attention, not only at your choice. hear streetcars shaking use speakers and see
- Open paths
Data Catalyst
- The unlock data initiative. Health data is challenging to work with and to access because there are a number of privacy issues. The goal is to generate insight and inform decision making around innovation.
- Tracking the money flow and innovation especially around startups. Accelerators and incubators. Currently we have little knowledge of the startup landscape in province, the data landscape around this is patchy at best.
- They are doing data development work, negotiating partnership with 17 regional innovation centres
- Trying to pool data linkages and integrate with others sources of data crunch base, angel list, commercial sources, to generate a more robust view of startup activaty in province
- Special interest in energy and health
- Open data outcomes with energy process consumption
- Innovation data - the million dollar question is what does this look like? How do you capture it?
- It can mean different things. Here they focus on startups and ecosystems that sits around those
- organizations support like mars, funders focus oct programs venture capitalists, angel investors, policymakers
The Innovation Lab
- The ticker for stocks, sports
- Here it would track something more important things using open data that are happening in Toronto, trends of how Toronto is doing as a city economically, socially, environmentally
- What measure or policy in place to determine what is good or bad who decides
- Numbers are not in the periphery, the city will think about why some things increase or decrease
- A physical ticker display gateway to toronto - union station airport
- People will stand in line find to out how doing as a city (building stats, sewage, pollution, etc)
- An online ticker can be customizable audience/ website indicators turn off and on
_Should you let people turn things off or customize what they want to see? Information silos? Or maybe select a portion of the ticker to customize_
- Currently the data feed is not automatic, open data updated by going and put data in the background sheet, a prototype idea is to develop the process automatically
- The innovation lab is a volunteer group no affiliation to the City of Toronto
# ANIL PATEL - timeraiser
Planning Presentations Repository IT Linkedin Box
Planning & IT Timeraiser
- Principles: agile open web movement, takes non-profit work to a whole new level of transparency and efficiency
- Good governance leads to better decisions
- Responds quickly to change
- Shows how non profits interact work like open web
- Tracks all costs from batteries to beer
- The burden of paperwork and what does it mean
- Cost revenue ratio
- Web assets, capacity ability testing tools transactions
- Document workflow
- Tools to use
- See a lot of good governance tools speed dating prep
where emphasis
- Timeraiser's mission is to creatively connect people with causes they care about. In reality volunteers and people involved in donations expend many hours and resources and are burnt out
- A new non-capitalist society
_Prospects through events_
# RAED SHARIF - Govt data in S. Africa
- Government data can save lives
- But there is no accountability or transparency for planning projects
- It is very difficult to find data in S. Africa, even harder to access it. Likely you would find a brief summary of the db or a db wouldn't even exist
- of the requests for data, 60% not answered and from those requests that were answered, many (?%) were rejected
- another issue is data in pdf files
- how to manic put in map see enter manual
- After going through all that, trust/reliability of data
- Context of global south issues tribalism
- NGO CiviC Centre Global South (Egypt, Lebanon, Kenya)
- Crowdsourcing applications like ushahidi can't work because it is not easy to get to scaleable level of infrastructure. Issues like road banning are really becoming more of a trend
# Kevin Branigan & Kieran - My TTC ++
My TTC++
- Was using open trip planner, decided to make their own
- Have a ridiculous amount of data - 10 000 bus stops 3 million times from bus schedules
- Had to interpolate stop times between stops
- Service summaries vehicles allocated each window time frame headway minutes etc
- Debug data see vehicles where move quick interpolate airport or subway
- Simulation compression artefacts
- Data: Went all subway count all stairs - 10 000 stairs, entrances, elevators
- Accolades from Brad Ross (on Twitter he said 'cool')
-Organizational agility could be dangerous. Possible repurcussions: deception by trip planner
# Sean Crawford - QUANDL
Open Data Day 2013 Quandl
- Questions that require data
- A search engine for numerical data
- 2.5 million datasets, doubling total dataset every 3 months, numerical data on set easy to find and use
- When you find the raw data that you are looking for, there is a lot of work left to do. 30 min per dataset in finding, processing, cleaning
- How does it work?
- You can download data in a multitude formats, API visualizations, & more features
- Quandl goes to original data source, fetches raw data, translates it into usable format instantly - an instant productivity gain
- System for copyright, license, all data they have is open and accessible, no need to check yourself
-Will premium data be licensable later?
- Fields or domains Quandl focus - catch all, strongest datasets in finance, demographics, global datasets, economics
- Take dataset pull into R to analyze
- Health data - all and more data hopefully coming
_I hope they chronicle this experience_
- Do you take sets manually or pull in? Quandl uses Q bots - data exists in pdfs, broken web pages, etc Q bots crawlers parses and pulls in automatically
- Dataset will track updates, revisions knows when to constantly grab new data to pull in
- Quandl archives previous data so even if dataset ceases to exist it will exist in quandl
- The data library or finds immediately interprets data - potentially a data library, wikipedia for data
- Search goes to data library or original source
- Will go to their library and exact same time the source makes updated data
# Wendy Smith - Parklot Project
Parklot Project
- The Parklot Project looks at a number of historical features of Toronto: disappeared/disappearing creeks, land grants
- Usage of open data? Much of it is primary research
- The map tells a land transaction story
- Tools: google fusion tables, created a db in excel and built online on fusion tables
- Then give the table coordinates address plot markers on map
# Karen Smith
Workshop Presentation
# Andrew Lovett-Barron - HACKATHON IDEAS
1. Neighbourhood cheatsheet
- a guide that shows local neighbourhood interests to newcomers
- aggregate data from sources
- filters data down to use
- communication problem: how to make data relevant to a lot of people
- location quick and easy cheat sheet
- Information that is contextual to you in seconds
2. Local Layer Library
- A community bake oven, find out when events happen and access to those events. There is no one place to go and find out
- Local organization participation
- Problem there are sources of data but existing in diff formats cannot centralize
- Start physical/expand to cultural events
- For instance, this app can extend to public art like finding murals in the city
Other great ideas:
Great Lakes Map
Crisis Mappers
Ever wonder how to tell a story backwards?
Then look into trend of digital data-driven journalism:
Data driven journalism is a workflow that consists of the following elements: digging deep into data by scraping, cleansing and structuring it, filtering by mining for specific information, visualizing it and making a story.
(Mirko Lorenz, information architect and multimedia journalist)
How is this related to maps and GIS? Mapping involves the same process of visualizing other forms of data, but mapping traditionally involved using geospatial data.
Source: Wikipedia
The process of creating a map not limited to a few people with the tools. Mapping lends itself to the best practices of journalism by communicating information in a way that is efficient and easy to read. In many cases it's more engaging if it is being constantly updated in real-time, like the election maps used in the last two US presidential elections.
Stay tuned for news about a great event on data visualization, coming to an iSchool near you.
Piers Dillon-Scott: 2012 – The web's most interactive, real time, Presidential Election ever
Sheraz Khan: US Election - Mapping Frenzy
Jessica Melanson: Digital mapping: Is it journalism?
Knight Digital Media Center: A resource for data driven journalism, digital mapping and mashups
CBC's Spark website features an extended interview with Andrew Turner about the rise in digital map making and digital map making culture. They ask, what is the social endgame for companies (like Apple, Google, Open Street Maps) to provide mapping?
Is it all about advertising? Is it getting you to buy something? Turner looks beyond that, that creating maps tells us a lot more about the things around us, and it enriches user experiences. Maps can become more personal, as users are able to edit and create their own. Bottom up map-making, local input. You also get to see spin-offs of maps for other uses.
In Maclean's chart of the week, more people will use mobile devices like tablets and smartphones than desktop and laptop computers (the mobile global user base is to surpass 1.5 billion). Location-based information will have a greater importance in peoples' lives.
The interview touches upon everything, also going into political issues of editing maps without ownership- for instance in Cyprus there are disputes over putting Greek and Turkish names on roads. With editing errors by authorities, government platforms controlling maps approval but also having open data.
CBC's Spark: Future of Digital Mapmaking
Andrew Turner: Mapping Social Infrastructure
Krista McCracken: Public Archivist, Digital Map Making Round-Up
An American songbook, including standards, folk, blues, pop, singer-songwriters, gospel, and country, exists as a kind of continuous presence underlying the fluctuations of popularity and trend. Its contents are perennially rejected and then reclaimed, added to and subtracted from. The possibility of that presence threading into a group of songs seemed like a way to take notice of the musical structures that have formed modern songwriting, and to reconnect with the ones that have been abandoned.
Governments Worldwide Asking Google to Hand Over More Data
In the first six months of this year, governments around the world made 20,938 requests to Google to provide information on 34,614 accounts, the company said. In the same period in 2011, governments made 15,744 requests on 25,342 accounts, according to company data.
During the first half of 2012, the government of the United States made the majority of the demands, followed by India, Brazil and France.
In the United States, in the first half of 2012, for instance, the government made 7,969 requests to Google to hand over information on 16,281 accounts. Google said it fully or partially complied with 90 percent of those requests. In the same time period in the United States in 2011, Google received 5,950 data requests regarding 11,057 accounts.
-The process is iterative. Form and feedback co-evolve and re-evolve.
-Do linear models ever work?
-Creating metadata for digital stuff meaning
-Group books together—> meaning
-Digital collections & information overload —> metadata on the web
-Google sucks at this
-Strategic error of the academic library is the organization as an institutional repositories. Focus on the discipline
-One arc, no longer based on locale—>forward facing front disciplinary
-Open data access and normalization across universities —> empowerment to the user
-Service model, away from industrial model
-Seminal works make social constructs
-The framework: from structure to interaction, modality
keywords prototyping, agile personas
keywords big data, metadata, curated content communities
Michael Ridley
keywords contest of faculties, second order discipline, organizational design
Why Does Open Matter?
Steve Fuller
theory, practice, praxis, signification, domination, legitmation
I wondered today what the revenue model was for MOOCs, like Coursera. So far Coursera has $22 million from venture funding, and the article on Gigaom says in that article that they hope to gain most of their revenue from (1) certification and (2) student-employer matches.
How much thought went into providing certification for every successful student? Is there some sort of policy in place that is recognized by every participating university? How difficult would it be to match employers with students online? How do you go about assessing a student's performance this way? What are the issues for a student's privacy, what if they didn't want their performance to be monitored and revealed to potential employers? Does this model work to actually find the best candidates? There won't be enough time to answer all of these questions before another idea comes along and reforms the way we learn.
Look at social analytics, resume parsing, and digital grading. The most recent post I could find was called "The algorithm didn't like my essay". The human markers for now still outnumber the machine markers, but it's something we are moving towards, not away from even with its current fundamental problems. A machine with the same algorithm will always give the same response, is this a good thing?
The assumption is that because users are familiar with the system that they will continue to use it even if they need to pay, and will start to monetize their courses later on. But will these lessons actually be worth it? How much will it actually matter to employers? If you are doing it for yourself, there are so many other learning options out there that are free.
Light Reading:
UC Online Strives to Compete in an Era of Online Courses
Does the freemium model really work? The definitive answer is yes and no.
Infographic: Is the Higher Education Bubble About to Burst?


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Narrow your search
Extend is a laptop-like accessory Acer says could be sold in a bundle with an Android phone for as little as €400.
Pricing not available
The Netgear X6100's awkward design and frustrating performance make it suitable only for casual networking tasks.
The Actiontec gets the job done for those who want to quickly extend their home network without much concern about performance.
Current power-line users with large homes will benefit from the ZyXel PLA4231's network extension capabilities; however, there are alternatives that offer similar benefits for less.
You plug it into a wall socket within the range of an existing Wi-Fi network to help extend its range.
While not perfect, the Actiontec PWR511K01 for now offers the best value among power-line adapter kits on the market.
UCLA biologists may have just found a "fountain of youth" gene. In fruit flies, at least.
After raising nearly $2 million in a month with presales of its augmented-reality motorcycle helmet, Skully gives fans another 30 days to decide if they want its pricey protection.
The carrier will begin trials of Digital Life Care this year and launch the service commercially in 2015.
The move could mean people watch copy-protected premium video in a single browser rather than with dozens of video apps. For now though, Adobe's HTML video approach only works with Firefox.

subset: commoncrawl


text: "Natural fractals — irregular, self-similar geometry — occur virtually everywhere in nature: in coastlines and riverways, in snowflakes and leaf veins, even in our own lungs. In recent years, physicists have found that people invariably prefer a certain mathematical density of fractals — not too thick, not too sparse. The theory is that this particular pattern echoes the shapes of trees, specifically the acacia, on the African savanna, the place stored in our genetic memory from the cradle of the human race. To paraphrase one biologist, beauty is in the genes of the beholder — home is where the genome is."


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140 Proof Top Fuel, Mini Edition
The San Francisco team recently peeled out of HQ for a session on the track at K1 Racing. There, they got up to speed on such topics as: proper positioning of a headsock, the best way to wedge yourself into the track, and the finer points of kicking ass.
Congratulations to Kathleen Brady (@K_Br8y), Jason Bond Pratt (@jasonbondpratt), and our CEO Jon Elvekrog (@jonelvekrog) for taking the top slots in the race!
October 2, 2012 - 1 year agoTweet
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7 Ways to (Re)Discover the Beauty in Your Home
So I was jonesing to see Laure's new place and I kept hinting that I wanted to come over. Ugh, I'm so embarrassed, she said, it's so unfinished and I'm couch-less. When she finally invited me over, I wondered why she'd been so worried. It's a cute and inviting bungalow — couch or not — with bright light and the gorgeous mid-century furniture Laure inherited from her grandmother.
Whether you've just moved into a place and are overrun with the little details of putting it together, been living in a place for a long time and all you see are the things that need repairing or spent the whole morning looking through House Tours, it's likely that at one time or another, you've been in Laure's shoes. When that happens, try these 7 tips to rediscover the beauty in your home:
- Go away: After a long vacation, you're excited to be home. Your home looks new again. Sometimes, all it takes is a night or even a long day away.
- See your home at a different time of the day: When I was working out of the house, I'd sometimes have to run home at lunch. Seeing my home in the middle of the work week, it felt different. Quiet. Calm. It was like entering a friend's home that I knew well.
- Take a photograph of it: A photo of your home can show you things you never see when you just take it all in. Even better: have someone else photograph it! What do they choose to shoot?
- Invite someone over who's never been to your house or hasn't been over in a long time: See your house through their eyes. What are the little things they notice that you take for granted?
- Move the furniture around: Often, when you're pissed off at your house, it's because it doesn't feel like you any longer. Like a long healthy relationship, your house has to morph and change. Try a different arrangement. Switch the couch with the chairs. Put the dining table on an angle. Move that bench in the bedroom to the living room.
- Hire a cleaning lady: I love coming home after the cleaning lady's been there. The house is perfect: the floors dark and shiny, the couch well plumped, the sink sparkling. This is seeing your house at its best.
- Sit in a different spot: You've got your favorite spot on the sofa for watching TV, you always sleep on the same side of the bed. Mix it up a little. When I did this I rediscovered a Moroccan hanging light I'd picked up a few years ago.
- Buy something new for your home: I don't mean a little bitty vase. Get something that makes a style statement. Hint: It doesn't have to be expensive. You can DIY it. Some ideas: new throw pillows, a small table, new lamps. Go bolder: recover the couch, change the rug.
- Or take something away: Roll up the rugs. Clear off the coffee table. Box up the knick knacks. Right now, I'm living without a rug and the house feels wonderfully minimal.
Image: Laure Joliet
13 Comments
I've been feeling a little like this lately. I moved a few months ago, and I still have unpacking to do, art to hang, furniture and accessories to buy, etc.
Then, a good friend who hadn't seen the new house stopped by on Monday for a visit, and she couldn't stop gushing about it, just as it is. I really value her opinion, since she's very creative and artistic, so it made me feel better about my home's current state. Plus, she was able to envision it when it'll be fixed up, so I'm not the only one who can see it beyond the boxes and bare windows. And it made me realize how lucky I am to live here.
Last year when me and my boyfriend decided to move in together, I was living in Ireland and he in France. Since we both had been living abroad and moving around for the few years previously, all we had to our name was a footstool, an office chair (mine) and a chest of drawers (his), plus a couple of mugs and teacups. We had a two afternoons (I flew to France for the weekend) to buy all the main things for our soon-to-be rented apartment, including fridge, cooker, telly & soundsystem, tv unit and shelving, table & chairs, couch, washing machine, bed, desk, and delph... we didn't do too badly considering we went to belgium and back to France, with a trip to Ikea on a busy Saturday afternoon thrown in for good measure.
But now I'm falling out of like with the tv unit in particular. And a few other pieces too, but they were mistakenly ordered (don't let a man take charge of writing the reference numbers in Ikea) and now we're stuck with them. Lessons learned!
And just remember to be grateful for a home that hasn't been devastated by flood (like Queensland Australia) or storms. Ww all need to keep some perspective that which a lovely home feeds our soul so does donating $100 rather than buying those new towels or giving your time.
I love the last tip! My favorite way to spruce things up and enjoy my home again is to put something away. Clutter seems to happen when I am not looking.
Well put Holhum.
I'm trying to rekindle the love right now. I've made some nice changes lately, but the tips and encouragement from this post and another similar to it recently helps. Thanks; good timing!
Here, here, Holhum. I know this is a house blog but we sometimes forget what's really important in life. A home is really made up of the love and support of the family and friends who share it and pass through it. Less stuff, more love!
I love that sideboard with shelves above it. Is that one piece or are they separate?
Nothing more satisfying than adding to your space gradually instead of having too much clutter crowding your space.
I love that you said, "When you're pissed off at your house..."
I've never considered my house as something that "pissed me off" until you said it that way. Makes it seem funny to me, which somehow makes it easier to imagine tackling. :)
BTW, I LOVE that cabinet in front of the white wall with all those colors on it. LOVE!
Just rearranged the layouts of two rooms (living room and office), swapping furniture between the two, and even selling some pieces of furniture that I know I'm not using or wanting anymore on craig's list, and it feels great!
For me, the sitting in a new place really helps since it gives you a new perspective (probably the thing I use most from the Cure). And when I start to feel pissed at my house, I clean--that always makes me feel better.
i love the simplicity of this space. the last tip is the best--take something away. editing always helps! and then when you add something later, it really stands out!


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Ecogrid Paving, an appointed distributor of Ecogrid UK, is a high quality and versatile range of 100% recycled plastic, permeable paving. Ecogrid is the best quality product of its kind in the market place. It is the product of choice with the MOD and local authorities. Tanks can be driven on it and aeroplane runways can be built with it. Ecogrid has a compressive strength of up to 400 tonnes per m2.
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text: Torn freezer door seal John M. • Telferner, TX • March 12, 2014 Appliance: Whirlpool Refrigerator GD5SHAXLT01 My Repair & Advice I looked at a video on that model on replacing door seal and made it easy to do job. Job took about 30 mins. to do. Was this review helpful to you?


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Central DuPage Hospital Earns Honors
KING OF PRUSSIA, Penn., October 14, 2008 - ADVANCE for Nurses newsmagazine announced Central DuPage Hospital (CDH), Winfield, Ill., is one of the select "top hospitals" in the magazine's second annual Readers' Choice survey for the Greater Chicago and Metro Areas of Wisconsin and Indiana.
Voting was open to registered nurses who ranked hospitals in areas that matter to nurses: quality of care, organizational culture, professional development, communication and retention efforts. CDH excelled in professional development, quality of care and retention efforts.
ADVANCE provided a list of nearly 272 hospitals in the region and invited readers to rank their facility by responding on a 1-5 scale to 10 statements in five different categories. Nurses from across the region voted in the unscientific online poll, which was available on the ADVANCE for Nurses Web site from March through July. The Readers' Choice results will be featured in the Oct. 13, 2008, issue.
ADVANCE for Nurses, a biweekly magazine, presents articles and features for registered nurses of all specialties. The magazine also features clinical information, local nursing coverage, a large listing of available job opportunities and the latest product news. Merion Publications Inc., publisher of ADVANCE Newsmagazines, is a family of 31 publications serving more than 1.7 million healthcare professionals across the nation. In addition to nursing, ADVANCE newsmagazines cover a variety of specific healthcare disciplines such as respiratory care, physical therapy and sleep medicine.
The Greater Chicago and Metro Areas of Wisconsin and Indiana edition covers Chicago and northern Illinois, southeastern Wisconsin and northwestern Indiana. The edition reaches 75,031* RNs.
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Advance for Nurses magazine contact:Pamela Tarapchak, Editor800-355-5627, ext. 1360;
Central DuPage Hospital contact:Amy Jo Steinbruecker630-933-5117
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As they enjoy a few well-deserved days off before resuming their trilogy against the New Jersey Devils, the Islanders sit in 13th position in the Eastern Conference, seven points out of a playoff spot. The team has played a schizophrenic brand of hockey this season, showing signs of hope (wins against playoff teams New Jersey and Boston last weekend) and despondency (the collapse against Washington and subsequent beating in Philadelphia last week). So, with the trading deadline past, and the Isles still proving to be one of the most difficult teams in the NHL to define, the burning question is: "Where do the Islanders go from here?"
Certainly, a playoff berth is numerically still a possibility, but with the "one step forward, two steps back" pattern that the Isles have followed this season, does anyone really believe they can string together enough wins to claw their way into the top eight?
The trading deadline brought about the welcome departure of Brian Rolston, the 39 year-old forward who registered a meager nine points in 49 games, along with journeyman defenseman Mike Mottau. The two veterans were dealt to the Boston Bruins for minor leaguers in what can only be described as "addition by subtraction."
The two major moves General Manager Garth Snow was rumored to have been considering, trading goalie Evgeni Nabokov and forward P.A. Parenteau, never happened. With both players eligible to become unrestricted free agents after this season, the lack of movement suggests that Snow feels the team has a chance to make a run at the postseason.
The Islanders will play the second of three straight against the Devils on Thursday, and it doesn't get any easier the rest of the way. Their schedule in March is peppered with some of the Eastern Conference's best, including the Rangers, Flyers, Penguins and Bruins. It will be an uphill battle, but the next several games will play a big part in defining the seemingly undefinable New York Islanders.


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Disappointed with Layouts
I'm quite disappointed with the layout templates in BookSmart.
I realize that BookSmart isn't intended as a full-featured layout tool, but for my needs I'd thought I'd be quite content with the set of templates that are in BookSmart. Only I'm not because they seem poorly done.
For example, the text page layout that has 3 images across the top and 3 columns underneath. First of all, the 3 text columns aren't evenly spaced. The 3 caption lines aren't aligned with the 3 pictures. In fact each of the three has a different offset from the image box. Did someone just create this by eye-balling it? The template is practically useless because anything produced with it won't line-up at all.
I've found other templates where there are multiple small images, only the image containers are all slightly different sizes. There's one with four images and they are four different sizes—all a few mm off. The column margins are quite variable between templates, making it hard to mix templates and have a consistent look. And there are some very strange choices – like caption boxes that don't seem to make any sense for the layout.
This is all extremely frustrating because it is oh-so-close to being good enough. But instead, it looks like the kind of layout I achieved on my high-school yearbook which was done with exacto-blades and rubber cement. (Am I dating myself here?)
I know that one can create any layout one likes in some other program and bring it in as a full-page image. But I'd really rather not for two reasons: First it is much easier to work within BookSmart. Second, I presume that the rasterizer knows that image containers are images and text containers are text, and hence the text boxes come out sharp. Am I wrong about the later?
Blurb-folk: Are there any plans to upgrade the templates to be more (how do I say this nicely?) professional soon?
Posted by
Dec 22, 2007 5:57pm PDTPermalink
OH! I've just discovered that if you start a book in a prior version of BookSmart, then upgrade to a new version – the existing book still only gets to use the templates that existed at the time you started the book!
Hence, seems Blurb has already answered my call, somewhat. The templates in 1.9.2 are much better than what I had in my book (started with 1.8). That said, there are still issues like the grid of 6 pictures template that has slightly different heights for the containers. But, they seem much better.
One moan: The size of the full-bleed image changed by 4 pixels in each dimension! I have 64 full page images all carefully prepared to the older size. I suppose if I just let them fill the new size the distortion won't be noticeable…
Posted by
Dec 22, 2007 10:46pm PDTPermalink
I'm frustrated as well. I'd like some simple photo layouts that are consistent. Ideally choices that conform to standard crops as well. I'm being fussy and doing crops and exports outside of booksmart so that no descaling or cropping needs to be done in booksmart, but it's pretty tedious when I'm trying to use a 2-photo layout in which booksmart's layout has one image container at 1942×1242 but the other one at 1942×1234. That's just sloppy.
I don't want to use InDesign, I don't really need to be "creative" about my layouts, I really just want very simple and straightforward photo layouts. This *should* fit the bill, but doesn't, because the attention to detail isn't there.
Blurb.com was, hands down, my most exciting discovery of 2007! I stumbled onto the site in November while looking for a way to publish a cookbook, without having to buy an expensive page layout program. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to be able to download BookSmart for FREE and I created a 144 page book with almost 200 color photographs that was professionally printed and bound and returned to me in under a week! I've published two books so far and there will be many more to come, yet I cannot get over the fact that the layouts don't measure up to the other offerings of this otherwise terrific programI like that we have the option available for mixing and matching left and right pages to vary the layouts throughout our books, but they still need to pair up to look like they were designed as facing pages! I really hate trapped copy and trapped white space and so many page combinations produced just that when they were paired in the book as a double-page spread.Following some simple steps, it would be so easy to design individual pages such that pairing any two pages would create a visually appealing double page spread. I offer the following suggestions:1. Keep interior and exterior margins consistent on all pages.2. Design layouts on a ruled grid so that image containers are aligned for balance, both vertically and horizontally… and not "off" by just a pica or two.3. Arrange layouts with photo containers near the gutter and text boxes and "white space" outside the photo arrangement. 4. Give us left page / right page mirror images.Better yet, I look forward to a BookSmart updated version that would allow us to resize photo containers and text boxes and – better still – drag these elements to reposition them on the page. (In which case, a "show grid" / "hide grid" option would also be extremely helpful!… Call me greedy, but at least allow me to believe this day is coming!<font face="Times New Roman" size="3" color="#000000"> </font>
Posted by
Jan 10, 2008 1:49pm PDTPermalink
A follow up: I probably shouldn't admit this, but since I'm an geeky-programmer type, I dived into the files that make up my book and tweaked the layouts. It is very very difficult to do, and quite error prone without any documentation, but the result is that I now have layouts where the column widths match, the gutters are consistent, etc.
For me, probably because I am the geeky type, this was almost a deal-breaker for me and Blurb. If I hadn't figured out how to get good layouts, I would have had to gone to a different service.
Posted by
Jan 12, 2008 2:42pm PDTPermalink
I have to say that I agree. Blurb's layouts are SO limiting! I have order books from several other suppliers (just ordered my 1st one from Blurb today- so no comment on the quality yet)- and Blurb's templates are very limiting. The only things that made me go through with the order are that you can add your own logo and that everyone raves about the quality.
Is there a suggestion box where we can suggest that they get a little more variety on thier templates?? And not everyone wants to add text to their books!
Posted by
Jan 12, 2008 5:21pm PDTPermalink
We really appreciate feedback and suggestions here in the forums and sent directly to us using the Suggestions and Feedback form. You won't hear back from us, but your info will be sent along to the appropriate parties including our executive team.
Thanks in advance.
– Kathy
The thing about iphoto pages is that, while they have a "template," you can mess with it. You drag a shot into the gray space, and the space will accommodate a full vertical or a full horizontal shot without cropping. It simply shapes itself around the image. Not only that, but you can start with a two shot template, and then add another picture – and the template morphs. You don't have a lot of control over the morphing, but you can learn how to trick the darn thing into doing better than what they offer you.
For instance: in their photo book, there is no template for five shots. But I have finessed a five shot layout, just by messing with the page. I was very disappointed at the static layouts here – just because I'm new at all this and don't know what I should be grateful for, probably. But the uncompromising shapes and sizes kind of freak me out.
The rest of you guys sound like professionals who are doing much more with layout than I want to. I just want to cram as many pictures as I aesthetically can – in the order, shape and position that looks best. I want also to (am I whining yet) be able to designate where I want a text box – usually one two to three line summary of the page, down on the bottom or out to the side. Caption boxes that allow you eight words are not that productive. "Mom in the pool" Uh-huh.
Anyway, I see such great potential here. Wish I were a programer. I'd be playing with the code. But I'm just a lowly and ignorant grandma – wanting a nice 287 page book for my few little family shots . . .
Posted by
Jan 18, 2008 5:43pm PDTPermalink
I found that the templates that Blurb provides to be relatively limiting for anything but the most basic book. So I have gone the route of using InDesign. It is a kludgee process but the good news is that it works pretty well. I printed a test book and am just getting ready to send a large format photo documentary to press late this month.
So if the Blurb templates make you crazy, there are other alternatives.
Rustoleum bold
For the non-pros, Photoshop Elements for well under $100 makes creating full page layouts extremely easy. The 'Create Collage' option lets you start with one of their predesigned layouts but change it on the fly by dragging an additional photo onto the background of the page. All the individual parts of the page can be adjusted at will. Save it as a flattened JPG and stick it into BookSmart. Not the way to go for a boo which is primarily text, I guess, but seems a god way to go for photobooks.
Posted by
Jan 21, 2008 8:07am PDTPermalink
I've been playing with BookSmart for a couple of days now to see how it stacks up to other book making software. It's not bad, but like most of you I find the templates very limiting. It is frustrating not to able to move a text container or even add one.
Like MtnViewMark I took a look at the templates and the book output, and it's XML! So there is a way of adding say a new text container at what ever X and Y you decide. It would be nice to have some documentation, but you can modify pages through some trial and error.
But the point of having a UI is to not have to get down at the XML level, so I won't be doing that, and instead will use InDesign, PS or some other design tool to create pages I can't using the BookSmart Templates.
I have looked at about half a dozen photobook programs and all have limitations, some even more limited than BookSmart. But for price and quality, I don't think right now you can beat Blurb!
Posted by
Feb 12, 2008 8:59pm PDTPermalink
Oh well – here's my answer to myself. Just got out my Photoshop, read Robin's blog and forum posts, set up my page template, and had a great time. I did as instructed in several places here, flowed my carefully numbered pages into BookSmart, uploaded, and voila!! Wonderful. The ONLY complaint I have is that I had to change the template to full bleed from the default on ever page of almost 300.
Posted by
Feb 27, 2008 11:06am PDTPermalink


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Organic Abominable Winter Ale
This mythological beer emerges from the depths of our brewery every winter. Made with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops and six organic malts, "A-Bomb" has a complex floral, spicy and citrus hoppiness backed up by just the right amount of malt sweetness.
Don't turn your back on the BEAST!
ABV: 7.3% IBU: 70 Plato: 17


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My name is Andrew. This is where I tumble. You can expect a scrap book of a peculiar subset of popculture, and other things that catch my attention. I also run Analog Revolution (which can be found in the links.)
Dragon Warrior III as seen on the NES, SNES, and GBC. Thinking about springing for the GBC version.
Observer theme by Zack Sultan


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Welcome to the Machine
The Machine, the premier Pink Floyd tribute act, returned to Lewiston to perform for the third time at Artpark. The band's performance closed a record-breaking season for the free "Tuesday in the Park" concert series. The Machine performed an assortment of Pink Floyd numbers, and presented the crowd of about 12,000 or so the "Interstellar Multimedia & Light Show."
Sam Roberts returns to Artpark
Canada's The Sam Roberts Band will hit the Mainstage Theater for a headlining performance on Friday, Sept. 2. Tickets ($40 and $30) are now on sale.
Like the Tragically Hip before them, The Sam Roberts Band has achieved massive success in Canada and is supremely popular in Western New York. Roberts and his band of bearded bros recently released a new album, "Collider," via Zoë/Rounder.
While past albums have been credited to the singer-songwriter alone, this one is being was more of a collaborative effort. The album is something of a departure from the retro-rock stylings that have been Roberts's trademark until now, as a press release contains descriptors like "brass-blasted Afro-funk blowout" and "simmering soul shuffle." Then again, it's also said to "(reinforce) the spirit of the band's classic pop song craft and infectious melodies."
The disc features guest appearances from Califone percussionist Ben Massarella and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra woodwind player Stuart Bogie, who "(fire) up the band's funkiness." Land of Talk's Elizabeth Powell also lends her vocals to the duet "Longitude." Brian Deck, who has previously worked with artists such as Iron & Wine and Modest Mouse, produced "Collider."
As for where the LP got its name, Roberts explained, "Ideas collide, especially when you're making music. When you take things that are seemingly different, you can smash them together and create something new."
To purchase tickets in person, visit the Artpark Box Office. To purchase tickets over the phone, call 1-888-223-6000 or 754-4375. For more information, visit www.artpark.net.
Sam Roberts performed at Artpark in 2008.
'Fame' offers theatrical struggles, hope ... and one super-catchy theme song!
Though the storyline is a little thin, Artpark & Co.'s production of "Fame - The Musical" does, in fact, light up the sky like a flame. A talented cast and bright, lively dance numbers make up for character deficiencies and odd time jumps.
Artpark Video
2014 videos
•Photos, video, interviews: Toto, Michael McDonald perform at Artpark
•Styx is back
•VIDEO, PICS: Heart at Artpark
•Phillip Phillips performs 'Wednesdays at Artpark'
•Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band
•Daryl Hall & John Oates at 'Tuesdays in the Park'
•Fourth annual Fairy House Festival
2013 videos
•Motown Memories: Gladys Knight wows Artpark crowd
•Lynyrd Skynyrd rocks sold-out Artpark crowd
•A new Machine lights up Artpark
•Artpark goes Blue: Blue Rodeo video
•'Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy': Bad Company at Artpark
•The Doobie Brothers make triumphant return to Artpark
•Chicago is 'The Inspiration' for sold-out Artpark crowd
•REO Speedwagon draws large crowd
•Artpark loves Joan Jett ... and her rock 'n' roll
•Billy Idol at Artpark
•Season announcement press conference
Artpark News
'Frozen' fun at Artpark
Aug. 30th, 2014 7:00 am
Toto, Michael McDonald close 'Tuesdays in the Park' season tonight
Aug. 26th, 2014 1:20 pm
Resurgent Toto performs Tuesday at Artpark
Aug. 23rd, 2014 7:00 am
Elks bring children to Artpark
Aug. 20th, 2014 2:10 pm
Michael McDonald closes biggest Artpark 'Tuesdays' season
Aug. 16th, 2014 3:50 pm
'ARTsPARKed' offers music, food, theater and art ... with a twist
Aug. 12th, 2014 7:05 am
We love Heart
Aug. 6th, 2014 2:05 pm
Interview: Heart returns to Lewiston ready to rock Artpark
Aug. 2nd, 2014 10:55 am
'Practically Perfect' 'Mary Poppins' is coolest Artpark musical yet
Aug. 2nd, 2014 10:50 am
'Mary Poppins' brings magic to Artpark (or is it the other way around?)
Jul. 26th, 2014 4:05 am
Artpark: Emilie Renier and John Barsoian preview 'Mary Poppins'
Jul. 26th, 2014 4:00 am
Aretha inspires at Artpark
Jul. 26th, 2014 4:00 am
Artpark heats up
Jul. 21st, 2014 1:00 pm
David Nolf to open for 3 Doors Down
Jul. 19th, 2014 10:00 am
Sara Bareilles amazes fans with her personality and performance at Artpark
Jul. 18th, 2014 11:00 pm
3 Doors Down brings hit songs, new songs to Artpark
Jul. 18th, 2014 3:40 pm
Sarah McLachlan makes herself at home at Artpark
Jul. 15th, 2014 3:55 pm
Megadeth takes over Artpark
Jul. 12th, 2014 7:00 am
Yin and yang
Jul. 11th, 2014 6:30 pm
Dive into free summer family fun at Artpark
Jul. 4th, 2014 7:05 am
Artpark 'Music in the Woods' free concert series begins
Jul. 4th, 2014 7:00 am
A revealing Phillip Phillips brings better songs to Artpark
Jun. 27th, 2014 1:00 pm
A busy week at Artpark
Jun. 21st, 2014 7:00 am
Artpark: Lewiston Dance at Fairy House Festival
Jun. 20th, 2014 11:35 pm
All Starr Steve Lukather talks Ringo concert at Artpark
Jun. 18th, 2014 1:25 pm
John Oates talks Artpark
Jun. 10th, 2014 4:30 pm
Artpark season kicks off with country star, fairy houses, Latitude 43 and even a Beatle
Jun. 7th, 2014 11:10 am
Artpark welcomes Lorde
Jun. 2nd, 2014 2:05 pm
Artpark has working artists constructing outdoor sculptures
May. 29th, 2014 7:45 am
Lindsey Stirling brings historic performance to Artpark June 12
May. 28th, 2014 3:00 pm
Aretha Franklin, Heart, Styx, Michael McDonald, Sara Bareilles: Artpark reveals final outdoor acts
Apr. 28th, 2014 10:05 am
The wondrous world of Aladdin comes to the Artpark stage
Apr. 25th, 2014 8:40 pm
3 Doors Down added to Artpark 'Wednesdays' series
Apr. 14th, 2014 4:00 pm
LiveNation presents Jackson Browne at Artpark
Apr. 9th, 2014 12:20 pm
Artpark welcomes Blue Rodeo, 54-40, Ziggy Marley, Megadeth to Lewiston
Apr. 7th, 2014 10:05 am
Updated: Artpark books O.A.R. and Phillip Phillips
Mar. 31st, 2014 12:50 pm
Artpark confirms Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band as part of 'Tuesday in the Park' lineup
Mar. 26th, 2014 4:05 pm
Volunteer registration now open for 'I Love My Park Day' at Artpark
Mar. 25th, 2014 1:40 pm
Artpark reveals first 'Tuesday in the Park' and 'Wednesday' headliners, debuts new logo
Mar. 19th, 2014 10:05 am
Artpark & Company to participate in 'Spring It On' to support children's art programming
Mar. 17th, 2014 11:45 pm
Artpark's first announced acts are OMG-worthy
Mar. 8th, 2014 2:00 pm
Artpark and Funtime Presents welcome Sarah McLachlan to Lewiston
Mar. 4th, 2014 9:00 am
Artpark announces Arctic Monkeys as a 'Coors Light Wednesday' concert
Feb. 19th, 2014 12:35 pm
Artpark welcomes Morrissey
Feb. 14th, 2014 1:10 pm
Artpark books Ringo Starr
Jan. 31st, 2014 7:00 am
Artpark invites schools, artists, groups to create fairy houses
Jan. 22nd, 2014 1:35 pm
Artpark among UpstateLIVE's 'Best of 2013' music picks
Dec. 26th, 2013 6:00 pm
Lindsey Stirling to perform at Artpark
Dec. 17th, 2013 5:15 pm
Artpark to welcome The Kingston Trio and Glenn Miller Orchestra
Dec. 10th, 2013 4:55 pm
'Mary Poppins' flying into Artpark next summer
Nov. 13th, 2013 12:50 pm
- View All News
Artpark Recaps
2012 photo/video recaps:
•Sawin' on a fiddle: The Charlie Daniels Band
•The Machine performs Pink Floyd
•The legendary voice of Supertramp, Roger Hodgson
•Peter Frampton comes alive
•O.A.R. closes 'Wednesdays' series
•Steve Miller Band keeps em' rockin'
•Video, pictures: Heart, Bruce Wojick at Artpark
•The Trews go 4-for-4
•Yes and Procol Harum
•Sublime with Rome
•Workin' For A Livin': Huey Lewis, David Nolf Band video and pics
•Resurgent Foreigner rocks Artpark
•'Coors Light Wednesdays': Ziggy Marley has the power
•'Tuesday in the Park': Kansas opens season
•Sting keeps it real - and rockin' - at Artpark
•Children, families get out and play at 'Fairy House Festival'
2011 photo/video recaps:
George Thorogood and 'Family Movie Night'
Ted Nugent. Need we say more?
Photos and video of Maria Aurigema, Edgar Winter
ZZ Top does even better!
What does 31,000 people look like? See for yourself: Photos • Video 1 • Video 2 • Video 3 • Video 4
Lynyrd Skynyrd breaks Artpark attendance record. Click to see photos
I want you to want me to view Cheap Trick pics/video
I do ... want to see more of 38 Special
Heartbreakers: Pat Benatar and The Trews
Frampton comes alive; Umphrey's McGee video, photos
CCR pics and video from 'Tuesday in the Park'
'Tuesday' pics/video of Son of the Sun, Blue Oyster Cult
Free Henry 'Rocks the Park' photo/video review


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CarbonMan Triathlon Report
Before we get to today's post, can we bestow a Chris Daughtry award, given to the American Idol contestant who doesn't make it to the finals despite clearly being the most talented performer in the field? Actually, we should probably name this award after Jennifer Hudson (or even – how old school are you? – Tamyra Gray).
Anyway, congratulations to Melinda Doolittle, this year's winner of the Hudson/Daughtry award. I'd say it was a disappointment that she didn't win the competition, but in the long run, it's probably for the best. Given the success of the award's namesakes, and the lukewarm album sales of many AI winners, I think we can officially classify American Idol in the same reality TV category as The Bachelor, The Apprentice, Flavor of Love, and (most horrifically) I Love New York – in other words, it's a far better outcome for the contestants who don't win.
Just thought that needed to be said. On with the post …
I might have mentioned this once or twice before, but in light of today's post, it bears repeating: I'm an idiot.
It's funny, because most people who meet me think I'm smart. I've got most of my family, and almost all of my friends and coworkers fooled. But sometimes I feel like I'm living a double life. You know how most superheroes have alter egos (often shy, reclusive, or clumsy) that conceal their true identity? Think of the exact opposite of a superhero – someone who appears to have his act together on the outside, but is really a bumbling wreck on the inside – and that would be me when it comes to intelligence.
Occasionally I screw up important things, like … um … on second thought, maybe I better not say. Fortunately, most of my oversights are relatively minor, as in the case of this virtual triathlon I was supposed to participate in.
A few weeks ago, Matt posted an invitation for bloggers all over the country to complete a three-tiered workout that he calls the CarbonMan Triathlon, then write their own race report. Distances for the tri workout are up to the individual participant – the idea was to have a shared experience to write about.
The announced date of the CarbonMan was this Saturday, May 19th. Somehow, I read the post, and thought the date was May 12th. Which means I've already done the event, one week earlier than I was supposed to. Have I mentioned that I'm an idiot?
Truthfully, I didn't even do a whole triathlon – as you'll see in the report. But I'm committed to another race this Saturday, so my workout from last week is as good as it's going to get for me.
With that, I give you my CarbonMan Triathlon 2007 race report:
Part 1: The Swim
Did I say I started my triathlon on Saturday? That was a mistake. I don't have access to lap swimming on weekends, so I do almost all of my swim training on weekdays, at a pool near my work. So my triathlon actually started on Friday afternoon.
I did a typical "mellow" swim workout: 2x 500yds, 5x 100 on 90 seconds, 6x 50 on 45 seconds, 300 pull, and 4x 25 yds underwater. Throw in a 50 yd breaststroke after each set, and that gives me a solid 2400 yds in approximately 40 minutes.
T1: 11 hours, 30 minutes
I went home, ate dinner, put the kids to bed, watched some TV, and slept for almost six hours before waking up at 4:30 for a bike ride. That's my kind of transition!
Part 2: The Bike
Here's yet another reason that I love summertime: I can ride from my house at 5:00AM without needing a huge headlamp to see the road ahead of me. And while it's not quite summer yet, last weekend I was on the road at about 5:20 with decent visibility. And I was wearing shorts. Keep it coming, California.
If anyone wants to visit me sometime and take in the sights of the Monterey Peninsula, I'll take you on the bike ride I did last weekend. From my house, I rode out of Carmel Valley and into Monterey, on one of the most beautiful coastal recreation trails in America, past Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey Harbor, Cannery Row, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I rode past Lover's Point Park in Pacific Grove, along Ocean View Boulevard to Asilomar Beach, and into Pebble Beach.
The roads in "Pebble" (as the locals say) are so beautiful, and the mansions are so exclusive, that there are guarded entrances to the community, and cars are charged $7.00 just to drive in and look around. But when you're on a bike, you just wave at the guard as you pass by, and you're free to cruise around almost anywhere. You don't even need to be rich - which, in my case, is a very nice thing.
Once in Pebble, I turned onto 17-Mile Drive, and rode about 10 miles past famous coastal landmarks like Point Joe and Bird Rock, past Cypress Point and Pescadero Point and the Lone Cypress, through Spyglass Golf Course and the Pebble Beach Resort before exiting Pebble at the "Carmel gate."
On my way home, I passed the white sand beaches of Carmel, saw the Carmel River lagoon from Scenic Drive, and rode past the Carmel Mission before returning to Carmel Valley. The entire ride lasted about three hours and 10 minutes, covering 55 miles.
(And this is my routine weekend ride. Feel free to get jealous now.)
T2: 5 minutes
I sat on my driveway, took off my helmet and changed out of my bike shoes, and walked down to the mailbox to get the morning paper. And since my legs hadn't quite recovered from the trauma of Wildflower, I knew one thing for certain: there's no way I would be going for a run.
But I had the integrity of the CarbonMan to uphold, so I relied on a strategy I've used countless other times when a situation gets tough: I had my wife bail me out.
Part 3: The Run
My wife normally goes for her run after I get home from my workout, so she was already laced up and ready to go once I walked in the front door. The individual triathlon became a relay, and I was off the hook for continuing the workout.
Unfortunately, all I have to report from this point is that she did her usual 5.5-mile loop, and that it went "fine" and she felt "pretty good". Obviously, she's not nearly as wordy about her workouts as I am. Which might be a good thing, because otherwise she might decide to start a blog, and tell you all kinds of dirt about me. And – believe it or not - there's still some information that I'd prefer to keep to myself.
So let's just leave it at me being an idiot who did a triathlon on the wrong day, and needed his spouse to finish a job he had no intention of finishing in the first place.
If there's an idiot/relay division for this little race, I'm thinking we'll take first overall.


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Health Day - ONLINE EDITION
Obese Patients With Pancreatic Cancer Have Shorter Survival, Study Finds
Reasons for link are unclear, but might involve inflammatory issues or differences in treatment
TUESDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer usually carries with it a poor prognosis, and the news may be even worse for those who are obese: It could mean dying two to three months sooner than pancreatic cancer patients of normal weight, new research shows.
Prior studies have tied obesity to a higher chance of getting pancreatic cancer, but the new study asked whether the disease affects the tumor's aggressiveness and the patient's overall survival.
"[The new research] adds to the growing body of evidence that obesity is linked to cancer," said Dr. Smitha Krishnamurthi, an associate professor of medicine at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
The study was published Oct. 21 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Krishnamurthi was not involved in the new study, but did write a related journal commentary.
Because it is so often asymptomatic and is detected late, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most deadly tumor types. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 45,000 people will be diagnosed with the disease this year, and it will claim over 38,000 lives.
In the new study, a team led by Dr. Brian Wolpin, an assistant professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, collected data on more than 900 patients with pancreatic cancer who took part in either the Nurses' Health Study or the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. These patients were diagnosed during a 24-year period, the researchers said.
After diagnosis, the patients lived for an average of only five months. Normal-weight patients, however, lived two to three months longer than obese patients, the researchers found.
This association remained strong even after the researchers took into account factors such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, smoking and the stage of the cancer at diagnosis. The study did not, however, prove a cause-and-effect relationship between weight and length of survival.
In addition, obese patients were more likely to have more advanced cancer at the time they were diagnosed compared with normal-weight patients. Overall, the cancer had already showed signs of spreading in 72 percent of obese patients at the time of diagnosis, compared with 59 percent of normal-weight patients.
It also seemed to matter how long the patient had been obese -- the association between weight and survival was strongest for the 202 patients who were obese 18 to 20 years before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Krishnamurthi said the reasons for the link aren't clear. She said the study can't tell us whether shorter survival in obese patients "was due to biologic changes that can occur in obesity, such as increased inflammation in the body, or whether the obesity caused other conditions that interfered with the treatment of pancreatic cancer."
"We need more research into how obesity may increase cancer rates and/or aggressiveness," she said.
In a statement from the journal, lead author Wolpin said the research "reinforces the importance of maintaining a healthy weight throughout your life, which may lead to better outcomes after diagnosis and help prevent pancreatic cancer from developing."
"While our findings will not affect the way we treat patients today, they provide new leads for investigating the molecular pathways that may be responsible for the survival difference between obese and healthy-weight patients," Wolpin said. "Hopefully, in the future, that research will bring new approaches for treatment of pancreatic cancer."
Another expert agreed.
"This finding may provide clues about the biology of pancreatic cancer that could eventually be useful in treating patients," said Eric Jacobs, strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society.
"At this point, however, the great majority of pancreatic cancer patients, regardless of their weight, will die of their disease within a few years," Jacobs said. "The most important thing to know about obesity and pancreatic cancer is that maintaining a healthy weight throughout life can help lower the risk of ever developing this highly fatal cancer."
More information
For more information on pancreatic cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.
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42 States Reporting Respiratory Virus That Targets Kids10/1/2014 8:00 PM 0
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I am drawn and easily moved by stories of those who had nothing, only to bloom and attain their definition of everything. Everything intangible, like happiness, serenity, satisfaction, comfort, and well deserved recognition for work where blood, sweat, and tears were shed to put together. Human sadness that drives one to fight and break free from their cages is a sort of world wonder to me. I often find myself feeling happy for them and crushed when an obstacle comes their way.
I don't acknowledge the rags-to-pretentious-riches stories, where the hunger for money turns into a tyrannical abuse of power where personalities shift and backgrounds of the past are completely erased. I value humility. I value potential and those who dream of attaining dreams.


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1 recommendation
While DSLR was down I bought a house. ---Frosty, KA1FOX
While DSLR was down I bought a house.
Amazing what happens when you're forced to log off, eh? Closing is either going to be May 25th or the first week of June, depending on the seller's readiness.I've already checked with Verizon, and FiOS is available. ---Frosty, KA1FOX
Congratulations on the house!Fios is good. But even here in Boothbay in the middle of no-where, I can get 50/5 if I wanted. I am content with 20/2.
Does this mean I'm gonna have to put up with you in Vz Fiber Optics and VZ FiOS TV now?
Bah, somehow I responded to Dominokat .---Frosty, KA1FOX
A- hahahahahahahahahahaHave fun with the lawnA- hahahahahahahahahahahaDo you have ALL the right tools?A-hahahahahahahahahahahaSeriously though, Good Luck.(sometimes I miss living on something as simple as a boat.)A-hahahahahahahahaha
The lot is only 58x83, and there's a 4 car driveway, a concrete porch, a large wood deck and a family room addition plus the house itself. There's some lawn, but it's very little. A push mower will be adequate. A-hahahahahahahahaha back atcha! ... and thanks!---Frosty, KA1FOX


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Enforcement and Assistance in New England
Diesel Idling
As part of a settlement for clean air violations, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will undertake a national effort to reduce diesel truck idling at its 4,000 facilities across the U.S. The anti-idling project results from a clean air enforcement action in Massachusetts and Connecticut brought by EPA's New England regional office.
The groundbreaking EPA settlement will result in Wal-Mart taking action across the country to address truck idling, by training Wal-Mart drivers, posting signs at all Wal-Mart facilities, and notifying other delivery companies of Wal-Mart's policy to prohibit idling. Under the consent agreement, Wal-Mart will also pay a $50,000 penalty. EPA's complaint that trucks were illegally idling at Wal-Mart stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut is the country's first multi-state case that addresses idling violations.
Both Connecticut and Massachusetts have anti-idling rules that are included in the "state implementation plans" that states submit to EPA outlining how they will meet national air quality standards. Regulations in the state implementation plan are enforceable by the state and by EPA. The Massachusetts rule prohibits vehicle idling over five minutes (with exceptions for periods of traffic, repairs, or operation of loading or refrigeration equipment). The Connecticut rule prohibits vehicle idling for over three minutes when temperatures are above 20 degrees Fahrenheit, with exceptions for traffic conditions, repairs, etc.
Under the terms of the settlement, Wal-Mart will comply with all federally-enforceable idling rules. In addition, through a supplemental environmental project, Wal-Mart has agreed to include all facilities in all states in its idle reduction program regardless of whether the state has an anti-idling regulation. Specifically, Wal-Mart will post "no idling" signs at all Wal-Mart facilities in all states, and notify other delivery companies that idling is not permitted on Wal-Mart property and may violate state or local idling restrictions.


text: Tis is the season to give and Google shall do so once again by providing Free in-flight WiFi to all, regardless of if your naughty or nice. You'll need to fly AirTran Airways, Delta, or Virgin America to score the deal, and no, you can't stream porn and it's domestic only. The deal will run from November 20th to January 2nd.


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Introducing Extreme Speed 12 Mbps Broadband
Make the most of your Extreme Broadband Connection and stream video, share high-quality photos, game online, and download entertainment without worrying about exceeding a data limit. With Big Bend *12 Mbps Broadband, you can enjoy lightning fast downloads, no buffering when streaming video and more.
So what's the benefit in faster speeds? Don't just take our word for it:
Need more upload speed? We've got you covered. Get up to *3 Mbps upload speeds where available and upload large files or photos in no time, and experience online gaming with no delay. Call us today to find out more!
*Speeds are up to and where technically available.
Big Bend Acceptable Use Policy


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Everything you need to unleash kids' imaginations
Getting along with each other is one of the most important aspects of life. This thought-provoking and enjoyable project
Run! Gallop! Fly! These colorful 3-D animals, made with recycled file folders, seem almost real. Make---and take---them
Why does it seem like there is less time and more to do when you go back to school? Stay organized with a Back-to-School
The circus is coming! The circus is coming! Make your own 3-D circus using recyclables: a shoebox and foam produce tray.
Bring attention to good causes with an awesome fundraising container. Turn the container into a reusable surface with cl
Kids ring in the fun with their own hand-painted bell. Your whole family will want to chime in to make this great gift a
This scavenger hunt challenges kids to see ordinary things through the eyes of a being from another planet. Plan ahead f
Draw colorful circles that pop into an exciting 3-D display when you wear 3-D glasses. To play the game, capture circles
Sew a pillow or decorate one you buy. Create a set to toss with your friends at a sleepover. Sweet dreams!
Create your own stylish seasonal decorations! Use Crayola® Bright Fabric Markers to design fabric tablecloths and napkin
Flat Stanley, a children's book, has sparked a very popular project with children and teachers. Kids send their o
Kids fall right into step with this Back-to-School activity that helps them draw and write their way into that first day
Create easy ornaments from pairs of paper shapes and bright colors!
Worldwide, the dove is a symbol of peace. Use a straw tip to paint a unique mosaic-looking dove.
Firefly lights brighten any summer night. Now you can capture the glow without the fuss of catching and releasing our en
Oil and water don't mix? Well, neither does Crayola® Color Sticks and Watercolor Paints. Make a unique bookmark using a
Tell the world that it's your birthday (or someone else's) with a giant sidewalk sign!
Why wait for a pumpkin to grow in the garden? Create a pumpkin patch to decorate for your favorite fall holiday!
Emergency workers are brave and dedicated. Create a tribute statue to these daily heroes and heroines.
Plan a pretend pickled egg picnic! Fill a colorful container with decorated eggs. Crayola® Color Wonder™ Markers color o
Get on board when it comes to encouraging resourcefulness! Count on cool recycled crafts like this bus bank to save the
Create your own sparkling gift tags, which can also be used as ornaments! Personalize each tag for a unique holiday tou
Keep in touch with far-away friends and relatives. Do crayon drawings together!
Research your family heritage to find out where they've been and how you got to where you are now. Use Crayola® Bright F


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Congratulations to the following Richfield natives for being recognized for academic excellence and being named to the Dean's Lists of their respective colleges.
- Stephen Henderson, Dunwoody College of Technology;
- Leon Navarro, Dunwoody College of Technology;
- Keith Smith, Dunwoody College of Technology;
- Evan Larson, Luther College;
- Elliot Novak, University of Wisconsin-River Falls;
- Benjamin Huss, Marquette University;
- Molly Opitz, Augstana College;
- Krystal Carlson, Morningside College.
Is there another student who should be recognized? Add the highlights to the Richfield Patch Announcements page.
Follow Richfield Patch on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our daily newsletter


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List of what i like to do
Before New Year Comes i would like to do this for just once in my life. I have missed out so many things like having a lot of pictures taken during high school or college. I'm really an introvert person. I don't like to mingle with other person. Now looking for a job and getting a job offer hopefully, makes me think of my future. Here are the list of things i would like to do:
- Think of a Business Idea! that ROCKs!
- Become an Entrepreneur in the future
- Own a business.
- Study about Business and being an entrepreneur
- Get to study out of the country
- Travel to places i never been
- Relax MORE!
- Learn to do Make Up
- Learn to be a Barista
- Cook some amazing food
- Be more Productive!
- CLOSER to GOD!
- Pray a LOT!
- Learn to do some awesome Photography skills
- Do well in my JOB!
- Get some Experience
- Learn more SKILLS!
- Get a job from companies that would i like to work for.
- Be more FIT! and healthy
- Get my OWN place someday
- Have a great interior for my Apartment or CONDO :P
- Get Pictured a lot
- Be more confident
- IMPROVE myself!
- Watch a Basketball game (just once) :P LIVE
- Improve my Communication SKills and ENGLISH
- Excel At something ..
there are many things i want to do… I hope i can get some of it checked.