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The Internet and researching
On the Pew Research site, you can find a summary of the findings of how teen-age students do research today. Here is the summary of the sources they are likely to consult:
Google or other online search engine (94%)Wikipedia or other online encyclopedia (75%)YouTube or other social media sites (52%)Their peers (42%)Spark Notes, Cliff Notes, or other study guides (41%)News sites of major news organizations (25%)Print or electronic textbooks (18%)Online databases such as EBSCO, JSTOR, or Grolier (17%)A research librarian at their school or public library (16%)Printed books other than textbooks (12%)Student-oriented search engines such as Sweet Search (10%)
The heading under which these data are given reads: The internet has changed the very meaning of research. I would like myself to know how many of the teens consulted more than one of these.
About the Author
Rev. Joseph A. Komonchak, professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of New York.
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Printed books other than textbooks: 12%. I found this to be a problem with young people I hired as entry-level policy analysts. They could only do online research. Maybe this will change someday, but there are a still a lot of documents, government records, reports, etc, that are not online. I had to take new staff to the City Clerk's office to show them to use a microfiche machine to look at property records.
Fr. K. -- A crude guess from the numbers above indicates an average of about 3 types of source per teen. (Total %s above = 298%, omitting search engine tools like Google which point elsewhere for substance.) To me, this is of less relevance than the fact that anyone who can use a browser faces a practical infinity of immediately available "information" (although not all -- see Irene above 12:33pm) of generally unknown quality. The vast majority of teachers in the Pew survey identified judging quality as a top priority that should be addressed. After decades of experience, I feel comfortable sorting and judging material in certain areas. I have no idea how to do that in your field or many others. I would hope these teachers have some recipes to teach teens about the complexities of finding and verifying reliable information today. Sample problem: At 1pm today, a Google search on [ "Joseph A. Komonchak" research internet pew ] for the past month gives me 3 pointers to today's dotCommonweal. For the past year, 11,000,000. Do I pick the first one or keep working to filter through the whole pile?
Very interesting findings. No doubt I'm asking for the moon, but it would be fascinating to know how much these uses of online and other sources vary between fields of research. I imagine that if you're looking at demographic changes in a particular region, online sources, such as census reports, might make up the bulk of your research. But if you've been assigned a paper on "Why Isabel Archer Went Back" (to steal a title from the newest NYRB), it's going to be difficult to write it without grappling first with Portrait of a Lady, and though you can read Henry James online, it's easier to deal with the printed book. Even if you stick only to online sources, you could probably work up a reasonably decent paper on, say, aspects of the Civil War or the New Deal, because there's so much stuff there; but if you're concerned with the growth of the Italian textile industry in the late middle ages and earlier renaissance, you might have a tougher time. My experience (and I've been retired from teaching undergrads for some years) is that too many students think that if a source is worthwhile, it's online; and if it isn't online, it isn't important, and can safely be ignored. PS I hope that among the 11 million hits for Joseph A. Komonchak, some at least relate to his recently having been awarded the Marianist Prize from the University of Dayton (and joining, thereby, some other Commonwealers).
A friend commented the other day: "When I was a child, I tried to read the encyclopedia and it was very frustrating. Articles fell in two categories: either they were straightforward and I knew everything contained in them, or they were too sophisticated and I was completely lost after two sentences. Now, I can find information on the internet about every conceivable subject, written at precisely the right level for my understanding. For the intellectually curious, the internet is a revolutionary tool to acquire knowledge."But do those teenagers appreciate the amazing possibilities lying at their fingertips?
Interesting. I just got done doing a survey of students in my freshman comp class after the librarians did database research training. Despite the fact that students overwhelmingly felt that the training was clear and useful, only 70 percent or so said that they would now be MORE likely to use the databases. On another note, my son's school handed out iPads to all students owing the a fairly large number of kids who do not have computer access at home. Students are doing some interesting things in class with it; they made a movie illustrating velocity for their physics class and are doing jazz arrangements using some special app in music class. But I'd say 60 to 70 percent of my kid's use is personal/entertainment. I also see that he has quite an extensive file of humorous photos taken during what are supposed to be in-class research times. I did send an e-mail to his teachers narking him out on this.And his grades? Meh. Pretty much the same.
When I was in college, the only research source I had for medieval history was my small school library's few books and fewer periodicals ... I felt like Indiana Jones searching for buried relics ;) Now I can read in incredible detail a huge amount of same history because of the internet. It's wonderful! Duke NT professor Mark Goodacre wrote a post once defending students doing research with Wikipedia .... http://ntweblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/in-defence-of-wikipedia.html
Goodacre has a much higher regard for Wikipedia than do a great many people. If I use it I always try to find a supporting "real" source.
Nicholas Clifford wrote,
I hope that among the 11 million hits for Joseph A. Komonchak, some at least relate to his recently having been awarded the Marianist Prize from the University of Dayton (and joining, thereby, some other Commonwealers).
I just did some checking and found this on another website:
I think that this may be a great link for Catholica. University of Dayton's 2012 Marianist award winner - Rev. Joseph Komonchak - gives his presentation entitled, "Thinking the Church" - a wonderful and timely lecture
Turns out that a video of the talk is posted on Joe Komonchaks website:http://jakomonchak.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/marianist-lecture-thinking-t...
Hi Jim - usually Wikipedia articles do have real sources footnoted. I regard Wikipedia as a starting place with leads to other sources.
When I started grad school there was a one-hour required course called "Proseminar" which was about books generally (e.g., what's a codex?), how library books are classified (so you can find what you're interested in by browsing the shelves), and also it told us something about the most reliable journals in our field (philosophy in our case), plus it covered footnoting and a lot of the other stuff you need to be a real scholar. The idea was to make us aware of the wealth of stuff available world-wide and, no doubt, to make us realize just how terribly ignorant we all really were. The problem always is to know who is truly an authority. Wikipedia has a problem because anyone can contribute, but, note, it is also corrected by many, many knowledgeable people. I've read that a recent study was done of its reliability, and, surprise, it was found that it generally compared favorably with the Encyc. Britannica, which isn't all that surprising because the EB has some really old articles in it that probably need correction too. But I've also seen some articles that are real bummers. I'd say that the philosophical articles I've read have been quite reliable, though not entirely so. I always look at the footnoting in the articles -- if they refer to well-known authorities then I assume that the writers knew what they were talking about. And, after all is said and done, we don't really have any better guarantee of reliability when we just pick a book off a shelf because the author can write a decen sentence. He might be a mass of prejudices. So the fact remains whether you get the data off the net or from a library book which you've never heard of before you saw it on the shelf, you have to bring some knowledge of who is authoritative and who isn't. Otherwise, you can spread misinformation unknowingly. I'm thinking hereof Bertrand Russell's history of philosophy (I forget its name. It's a really, really bad book. He was no historian of philosphy. But you'd not know that given his great reputation in other fields. The only solution to the "which writers do I trust?" question is prior education, or, a highly specialized library with highly specialized librarians. It's their job to know, but even then, they aren't always reliable either. I know -- I was one.What the solution for high school kids is, I haven't the slighest idea. They are at everyone's mercy.
High school kids do research?
Thanks for this post and thread. A couple of thoughts:1 - The fact that, according to this study, the average teenager uses 3 of the sources listed above means that the average teenager in or going to college uses more than 3. That jibes with my current experience of teenagers---many of whom regularly use sources from 6-10 of the categories listed in the survey.2 - NYU professor Clay Shirky is an insightful guide on the technological revolution we're living through and how it's changing our society and forcing us to rethink common assumptions. Here's a link to one of his essays in which, among other things, he draws an analogy to the revolutionary impact of the printing press on European society. http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/03/newspapers-and-thinking-the-unthink...
All research materials have to be evaluated, whether they are on the Internet or a library shelf. Learning to research is essentially learning how to evaluate. What is my question? Does this address it? Etc.To take Ann's example, Russell's History of Western Philosophy is an excellent source for Information on Russell and the place of his thinking in society. Mysore Hiriyanna presents a completely different kind of information, Indian rather than Western with Indian rather than Western views of what philosophy is. A student has to know how to choose what answers the question being researched. That becomes more problematic on the Internet, where so much is available, compared to libraries which rarely carry both authors ( except in India?)Just as fiction develops some of these evaluating skills in readers, personal/entertainment use of computers might develop such skills in players, testers, etc. perhaps being bombarded with bombs from virtual attackers helps some understand how to react when bombarded by information. What strategy will get me to the info I need?
Crystal post points out what I think is the great irony of the Internet revolution. Never has so much of our cultural heritage been available to students (e.g., I found a facsimile of the Beowulf MS in one click to show my mass comm students when we studied print media). And with all the info available most kids are essentially using it to send Facebook "postcards" to each other a la "imma c u later this morning i had a egg for bkrfast!!LOL!!"On the other hand, there are some little gems. I'm watching the "Lizzie Bennet Diaries" on YouTube, a modern retelling of "Pride and Prejudice" by some Millennial hipsters. And a friend with an artistic bent puts her daily photos on Twitter, which are really lovely and contemplative.
I agree entirely that something like a revolution is taking place before our eyes. In theology, the amount and variety of data readily available on the Internet is beyond what any of us might have dreamt of twenty years ago. For example, excellent word- and phrase-searches are now possible into the opera omnia of Augustine or Aquinas that once would have taken months to carry out. It remains, of course, that such searches are only as valuable as the questions that prompt them, and that it takes an exercise of intelligence to interpret the data they provide and of reason to assesses them.On the other hand, automatic speller that comes with our blog-software underlined in red the word "dreamt" above. Then there are the politically correct softwares: some years ago a writer who had typed "Notre Dame" was rebuked for using a word that is regarded as disparaging of women!
Ann, I find wikipedia articles on theoretical computer science (a non-controversial topic free of sensitive questions) typically excellent. I use them in lecture preparation, and at the introductory level they are often as good as the best textbook. The examples are well thought out and illuminating. Sometimes I read wikipedia articles that are obviously written by students. Their confusion shows, for example, in mixing two incompatible proofs in an ill-fated attempt to merge parts with different authors. Those are easy to identify by their awkward phrasing. Sometimes I also encounter wikipedia articles written by a researcher who presents his little corner of the subject as though it was the central element of the field. The bias is obvious if you know anything about the subject, and if you do not, suspicions can be raised by looking at the lack of diversity and of well-established textbooks in the list of references. When such a page stays uncorrected for some time, it also suggests to me that the subject may be of only marginal importance.Occasionally I correct wikipedia pages myself. When they are related to material I am preparing for a lecture or a seminar, I might as well correct the corresponding pages. I also sometimes assign wikipedia pages as a writing assignment for my students. For extra credit, they can ask me for a suggestion of a topic that needs a page, or whose wikipedia page could use improvements, and their task is to read the best article or textbook section and use it to update wikipedia under my supervision. It's a satisfying, low-commitment way to "give back" to wikipedia, and the students love the novelty of it, the feeling of being part of a large and diffuse community dedicated to sharing knowledge. One of the most interesting cases I have seen has been the wikipedia page on Chernoff bounds. The topic is part of probability, but is used by scientists in many other fields. Each field has its own style and its own taste to judge what makes a page "well-written" and a particular detail "worthwhile". For example, many mathematicians like to state their result and proof at the broadest possible level of generality, pushing their proof techniques to the limit, even if it becomes cumbersome; but many computer scientists like me like to state their result and proof at the simplest level that still captures the main idea, so to minimize notations and maximize readability, even though it is at the cost of generality. As a result, there's been some push and pull on that page. In fact, last I looked, there were several pages on the topic, with lots of redundancy between them. I am not sure what the solution is for that problem.
The Internet is wonderful for writing homilies. I wish our church's worship space was more audio-visual up-to-date, so I could show clips from films or television shows or music videos.
Google had some ads about google, 2-minute long clips of people telling personal stories about how search engines have had an impact for them. I admit that I was interested in hearing those stories, for example the archeologist who explores Saudi Arabia via google earth, or the philosophy student who discovers a long-lost letter by Descartes via (I think) image search. http://www.google.com/insidesearch/stories/
Jim, in a homily?! In the middle of Mass? I hope I die before I see that.
"... usually Wikipedia articles do have real sources footnoted. I regard Wikipedia as a starting place with leads to other sources."Not unilke the Catechism. The biggest problem is not the sources, but that too many people today, as they were in my generation, are not formed, prepared, or trained to think critically. My teachers refused to accept Encyclopedia research in the 70's. But they can be interesting reads.
Wikipedia (and other wikis and encyclopedic sites) are fun to browse, but students are sometimes astounded to learn that they browse just as easily with a database (Academic OneFile is a favorite).I do think encyclopedic sites can be useful as backgrounders. Recently a student used Wikipedia to learn more about the formation of the state of Israel. This helped her identify some important names and dates that she could then take to a "real" database and better understand the info and narrow her searches.
This might be heresy, but sometimes I think that what students need more of are not articles but fiction and movies. I can read about the causes and effects of, say, WW II, but without some well-formed, highly particular images of what went on I'm not nearly as likely to remember what I have read. Even comic books can supply images of knights in armor and battle scenes that specify things for them. It's why seeing a Shakespeare play is much more informative about human nature than just reading it, and lines well-spoken are more impressive than those just read. Yes, pictures and photographs are useful, but they rarely capture the dynamism of real life. This is also why we love movies -- and, no doubt why we've named them "movies".
Jean: even St. Peter's uses Jumbotrons! Get with it, gal. Maybe parishes can install voting machines in the pews for use within 60 seconds after the end of the homily. Instand feedback and all -- and it can be perfectly anonymous and no need for the messy face-to-face with Father or Deacon.
Research is a teachable process of developing a well-formed question (#1), identifying possible ways to answer it, finding resources which may be relevant, evaluating their quality and interpreting them for the task at hand, and composing a communicable answer to the question, in my view. Few teens will become formal researchers, but, if absorbed, this way of thinking can be powerful in some matters large and small. It deserves focus and up-to-date understanding for its own sake, independent of the multitude of other functions enabled by a computer connected to the Internet such as those mentioned above. Comments above reflect substantial experience with the process, tools, and techniques of research learned in earlier years. The teens of interest don't know anything about that earlier environment and therefore lack grounds for appreciating much of the wisdom and insight it produced. Translating enduring wisdom about searching, judging, and selecting for today's learners at all stages of development is a critical requirement for all involved. My first exposure to a major university library left me awed and challenged by the magnitude of the resources available to me within arm's reach. A combination of teachers, librarians, peers, and learning experiences eventually made it mine for my particular purposes. A student today has much easier access, potentially unguided, to a vastly greater quantity of words, numbers, and images. (I withdraw my earlier use of the term "information" since much of what one can access doesn't fit the definition very well.) Google and Wikipedia calculate probabilistic guesses of what you appear to intend but can't come close yet to providing guidance on an ill-formed question, a mis-directed search, an accidental tangent, or aimless wandering. Claire (12:48pm) may be a leading indicator of the approach required, actively bringing together students, teaching, and research with her deeper appreciation than many have of the nature of the environmental revolution in progress. Are there analogous interactive teaching efforts developing in theology, philosophy, Catechism, history,, recognizing that the Internet as a tool for research is far more than extended bookshelves?
Ann, I agree there is a real need for stories. Our little college received a grant to host a French film festival on campus, and I extended the exposure to movies by giving students a choice of one of six international short films to analyze. In order to explain how the films worked or what they meant, students had to do some leg work to understand things from the Palestinian-Israeli tensions to surrealism to the increased rate of suicide among the elderly in industrialized nations to the Chernobyl disaster to German guest workers.I once heard someone explain that the reason Anne Frank's diary resonates so much is because the human mind cannot really wrap its head around 6 million murders; it seems too abstract. People understand the tragedy better when they consider the particular--one little girl whose observations and perspectives were utterly and senselessly lost.
Ann and Jean - I think fiction (books and movies) is a great way to learn about history. It makes me care enough about the time and the people in the stories to go and look stuff up. If it had not been for all the Musketeer novels of Dumas, how would I have learned all about Cardinal Richelieu and the battle of la Rochelle? :)
Crystal --I agree about "historical movies". They're especially important because they allow kids to see that the past isn't completely different, might have something to teach them, and it gives them a sort of continuity with others in time and space. But just living in the past won't do. It also seems to me that these new graphic comics have a lot to offer as image makers. I recently read about a series called "Classical Comics" (of novels) which some teachers find useful. it's not that images alone can provide an education. It's that education is impossible without a big personal library of images stored in our memories. Our thinking is so dependent on images that thinking even highly abstract thoughts like those of math and econ and metaphysics require using images, images which might not even look like the concepts we're thinking. For instance, try thinkng about infinity without some sort of image (probably visual) coming to mind. Weird.Not to mention that our images of other times and places are a large part of our shared culture.
While I"m spouting off about the conditions for being educated, I think that my own generation (very Old, b. 1930) had a great advantage in having Life Magazine with its truly marvelous photographs. They were highly educational and gave us ordinary non-travellers information about how other people actually live. I can still remember some of them -- the people in the dust bowl, people in the depression selling apples on the streets, Roosevelt at Malta, a lynching, Churchill without his cigar, horrible war photos, Dresden after the bombing, the Bomb set off in Nevada, Queen Elizabeth's coronation, various politicians making their political pitches, movie stars and freaks, local celebrations, . . . Many of those pictures are still available in book form and could be valuable for high school history courses.. Life hired the very best photographers of the day who knew not only the techniques of photography but how to choose a subject to tell a story. Life used to be a weekly magazine, but sadly, no more. TV just can compare with it -- the TV cameras just seem to gloss over things and it doesn't have the intelligent captioning that Life always provided.
Ann,I think you're right about images and learning. I think that's why I have trouble learning some things - I can't make good mental images for them. When I read novels, though, it's like there's a little movie running in my head the whole time, all images, which makes the novels very memorable.
Crystal --Some psychologists say that some people learn best by hearing and others by seeing. I wouldn't doubt that, but I suspect that individuals' learning "styles" differ for many more reasons than that.I find it very difficult to learn something If the question(s) being asked and answered aren't of interest to me. Maybe that's your problem with learning some things too. Questions are, I think, terribly important in the whole learning process, but I don't know that the psychologists have given a lot of attention to the subject. They haven't asked enough questions about questions? Wonder why. Can you teach kids to ask good questions for themselves? Or are we just born more or less curious? Hmm. Some subjects are quite threatening to people, particularly philosophy because it often challenges people's most basic and cherished beliefs. That, not lack of ability, can make a subject hard to learn. Many of the very best college students do less well in philosophy than their other subjects. I daresay theology and history and psychology also can shake up some kids, and so they find them difficult to accept.
Aristotle noted this link between images and knowing when he said, "the soul never thinks without an image" (De anima, III, 7), which Thomas Aquinas elaborated on in Summa theologica, I, q. 84, 7, when he wrote: "Anyone can experience within himself that if he tries to understand something, he forms images for himself which serve as examples in which he can, as it were, look at what he is trying to understand. This is why, when we want to help someone else understand something, we propose examples to him so that he can form images for himself in order to understand." Bernard Lonergan used Aristotle's statement as the epigram for his book Insight.
Humans are largely visual learners, which I suppose is why the Internet is so endlessly fascinating (whether any quality learning is going on); people have a lot of stuff to see and some of it moves!Some of us who are aural and kinesthetic learners (I have to touch something before I believe it, and when a neighbor told me about St. Doubting Thomas when I was six, it opened up great vistas of possibilities for faith that still resonate). As a knitter, I figured out a lot of things for myself just by playing around, but the Internet tutorials that not only show video but TALK you through things are invaluable. This is something a book cannot do, even though I suspect that we aural learners often have a very clear "voice" in our heads when we read a book. (I'm currently reading P.D. James' "Death Comes to Pemberley," and it's testimony to her skill as a writer that the voice is ALMOST the same as the one I hear when I read Austen.)I also love books on tape (and I say frequent prayers for Nicholas Clifford whose wonderful voice animated a number of Henry James novels on LibriVox and proves that American English is quite lovely).
Jean, I listen to a lot of audio novels - it *is* different than reading text.Fr. Komonchak - i wonder if this mental image thing is part of what makes the Spiritual Exercises so intimate and moving to retreatants?
This is why, when we want to help someone else understand something, we propose examples to him so that he can form images for himself in order to understand.
This suggests a problem with the prefabricated broad-stroke historical images displayed in movies. The individual creative imagination is bypassed, left unexercised. The student leaves the movie experience believing the transmitted image in its fullness. Much better, perhaps, is just enough of a good example to start the creative and analytical minds working together to create their own understanding, their own images.
David, I have heard this opinion before ... and expressed it myself on occasion. But I wonder if it's really fair to say that Our Young People are not exercising their creative imaginations.Many of my students do read, and I'm always interested that when a movie version of the book comes out (this year it was "The Hunger Games"), students are quite willing to go for as long as I'll let them comparing the book and movie. What emerges is a discussion on casting, setting, special effects, and the various movie elements that did or did not do justice to the original work--or, in some cases, worked to elucidate some elements of the book.I also have a suspicion that the endless reboots of movies, which I find tedious, means something entirely different to them. Look how many permutations of Arthurian legend there are. Something about Batman and Spider-Man (orphans with special powers, just like Arthur) is important to them and needs constant re-telling and re-visioning. Moreover, these movies, for good or ill, tell them about the nature of responsibility and morality--and these matters are often fairly ambiguous and challenging. I do hear a fair amount of discussion about how the movie *could* have ended with different choices.I don't mean to suggest that there isn't a lot of crap out there that the kiddies consume, but I do wonder if there are things going on in their heads that we aging book lovers might be overlooking.But I stray from the topic.
" -- The human mind cannot really wrap its head around 6 million murders; it seems too abstract --"Unless, of course, one visits the Holocaust Museum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. No book nor movie can match the presentation of such horror as is exhibited in the THOUSANDS of pictures of those who died in that Holocaust. Just the pictures and mournful music. They were more than enough for me and infinitely more revealing than any movie or novel.
Now that people can make little movies with smart phones, I'm hoping that a new genre might spring up -- short story-movies. They could last 15-30 minutes and tell stories that the long movies can't. (Some stories just aren't long, but as tiny motion pictures they they might be enjoyable and even powerful, similarly to the way great photographs can be very moving. And, unlike photographs, they can be of unreal events. Just look at some of the stuff on YouTube. Some of those people are really talented. I bet it expands into another genre.
I think a problem with "movies", Ann, is that they're linear and entire. They demand and consume a fixed and usually lengthy part of our lives. As I've grown older, I've come to understand television and film as tyrants of time, requiring far too much of me. No friend, no book demands that I devote ten or twenty minutes or two hours of my life to doing nothing but paying attention to it. We'd see such a book as an evil object and we'd soon see such a friend as an enemy. On top of this, you won't know whether the fifteen or thirty minutes of your "short story-movie" is worth your while until you've watched it through. Chances are, probabilities being probabilities, that you'll regret the chunk of your life you've lost in the enterprise.Visual, yes; movies, no.
David S. --I just don't finish a book that disappoints. The short story is one of the very greatest genres, and I think there's plenty room for something analogous in movies. Off course, you might waste your time watching, but the same thing is true of reading material, and you can always just turn if off or erase it.
Have a rack at church entrance for everybody to pick up a small transmitter that is instantly activated at end of the homily. Preprogrammed question(s) appear, and time is allotted after the sermon for pewsitters to give feedback to the cleric. Feedback is then flashed across a screen for everybody including homilist to see. Possible question: "Did you benefit from this sermon, or did it suck?"
Hard to imagine doing research now as it was done in the bad old days. All the time spent searching microfilm? All the money spent on inter-library loans? Et cetera.Funny to go to the basement stacks of a university library where the old theses and dissertations are turning to dust. How thin they were a century ago. How crude they still were half a century ago. Today? Easy. The article on Tips from a Professional Cheater in the NYT supplement on Education Life yesterday was funny::http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/term-paper-tips-from-... that:"DAVE TOMAR spent the aughts writing nearly 4,000 papers for undergraduates and graduate students. In his most lucrative year, 2010, he made just over $50,000 $100 to $120 a paper but that was being tethered to the computer every single day for the college-paper mill he worked for. No subject was too big, not even a 170-page dissertation on international financial reporting standards. That was a miserable four days, says Mr. Tomar, 32, who was a communications major at Rutgers."
Gerelyn --I remember when Xerox became the scholar's best friend. Before Xerox we had to copy our notes by hand. I got one of the first MacIntosh computers which was very primitive by today's standards, but it had one glorious feature -- it changed footnote numbers automatically! I used to drive myself crazy when doing my dissertation trying to keep the numbers straight. And, of course, the erase and copy and paste features of computers is a huge blessing. Kids really don't know how lucky they are :-)
B.X. - before Xerox - I remember as a little kid spending hours helping to roneotype my dad's PhD thesis on the kitchen table every day before or after dinner. Seven copies of each page, one for each committee member. The simple work, requiring attention but with no difficulty; putting each new sheet in place, careful to position it straight, or turning the crank, or pulling it out and checking readability; the enjoyment of being useful; the good smell of ink and the blue stains on my fingers. I liked it!
My father was a court stenographer for thirty-five years, taking things down by shorthand. He never learned the little dictation machine, much less the word-processing that is now possible. His work had only begun when he got home from the courthouse; now he had to type out the official record of the day's proceedings. He used carbon-paper for extra copies. We kids often did proof-reading for him. When I was typing out my dissertation, I dreaded having to make a major change because it would mean retyping not only that page but all the others that followed before the end of the chapter.
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Down the ages India has been the target for invasions: the Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Bactrians, Scythians, Huns, Turks and Arabs, but never was there a more bizarre invasion than the one which took place on 19 September 1882. An army of four making its way to Bombay on the P & O SS Ancona, Major Frederick de Lautour Tucker, Captain Henry Bullard, Lieutenants Arthur Norman and Mary Ann Thompson. Other armies had come to conquer, this Army came to serve, but the English and vernacular newspapers had it that 'The Salvation Army was attacking India!'
When they started out from London there were six of them, but it was found necessary for Mrs Louisa Tucker to accompany one young woman-officer back to England for personal reasons and they disembarked at Port Said, Mrs Tucker sailing again for India on the next available ship.
The authorities in India, being unfamiliar with The Salvation Army's military jargon, visualized the landing of a formidable force which might cause communal riots resulting in violence and bloodshed, consequently the Bombay police were lined up on the quayside at Apollo Bunder for the Army's arrival.
After the four had stepped ashore the superintendent of police approached them asking, 'When will the rest of your army land?' Major Tucker replied, 'We are the whole Army,' at which the police officer in evident amazement and, one may assume, with a grin, said, 'We were expecting you to arrive 1,000 strong!'
Major Tucker knew that strength lay not in numbers, and in high spirits he and his little band started marching down the crowded streets of Bombay. Carrying the Army banner he was followed by Captain Bullard playing the cornet, Lieutenant Norman beating the drum and Mary Thompson jingling a tambourine. No wonder they caused a stir! Never before had the proud Britons been seen on the streets of India in such a guise. Not only was the music a novelty, but the party was dressed in a blend of Indian-European dress. The men wore turbans with a red band on which Muktifauj (The Salvation Army) was inscribed, long yellow coats similar in cut to the Indian achkhan and white trousers. Mary Ann Thompson, brave woman, wore a yellow dress set off by a hat with the Salvation Army band of red ribbon. All four wore boots.
A procession with drum and trumpet was no unusual sight to the people of Bombay. Processions of all kinds, wedding, funeral and religious were part of the daily street scene. It was the contrast between the dress and the white skin which caused curiosity. If it had been Tucker's intention to arouse interest he certainly succeeded, but the 'uniform' had a more important aim. It was an attempt to identify the Salvation Army missionary officers with the people of India, the yellow colour being used by India's 'holy men'.
The Founder of The Salvation Army, when sending out his very first missionary force to India had instructed them:
With the apostle, to become all things to all men, in order that you may win them to your Master. This must mean, if anything at all, that to the Indians you must be Indians.
'The Army did not spread abroad by the determination of its leaders,' wrote St John Ervine, 'it spread by the force of its own energy and strength.' General Frederick Coutts adds in No Discharge in this War: 'The notion of William Booth as a religious Alexander sighing for fresh worlds to conquer is as wide of the mark as can be. New shoots began to grow in unexpected places seemingly of their own accord. The wind blew where it listed.' And the wind of the Spirit blew also over India.
Source: By Love Compelled by Solveig Smith


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Black and Decker CHV1510 Cyclonic Action Cordless Dustbuster for $38.95 + free shipping
The Black & Decker CHV1510 15.6-Volt Cordless Hand Vac has 50% more reach than the previous Dustbuster design for less bending and better accessibility. Lightweight and portable for quick clean-ups! The rotating, slim nozzle targets dirt in tight spaces. Brush and crevice tool accessories are located on-board so there are no loose items to misplace. The wide mouth design means this vac can effortlessly scoop up large debris. Cyclonic action spins dust and debris away from the filter so suction power stays strong. A Translucent, bagless dirt bowl makes it easy to see dirt and easy to empty. Removable, washable dirt bowl and filters allow for a thorough, hygienic cleaning. It uses a 3 stage filtration system that means less clogging and cleaner air exhaust. I can be stored in 3 versatile ways: horizontally, vertically, or mount on a wall. It has a charging indicator light that allows you to always know you have a good connection.
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I have one of these. The wife and I really like it as a supplemental tool to go with our dyson. it is good for small quick jobs or to get into tight areas.
"No, Misses, I no DustBuster any more!" --Lupe


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Parents' Responsibilities
If parents fail to send their children to school regularly and that absence from school is unauthorised parents can be prosecuted or may be made liable to a penalty notice for failing to ensure their children attend regularly at a school where they are registered pupils.
The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, Section 23 gives the Local Authority the power to issue Penalty Notices. These may be issued when parents fail to ensure their child attends schools without good reason, as defined by the law.
Fines are set at £100 per parent, per child, per offence. This will be reduced to £50 if the fine is paid within 28 days. If the fine is not paid by the end of a 42 day period parents will be taken to court under section 444 of the Education Act 1996.
In Birmingham, Penalty Notices are used to ensure parents fulfil their parental responsibility in making sure their children go to school. They are issued in accordance with the Birmingham Code of Conduct, which is available from Education Welfare Services.
Education Supervision Order
|A young person can be made the subject of an Education Supervision Order for persistent failure to attend school. This order empowers the supervising officer to make 'reasonable directions'. The Education Supervision Order will be superseded by a Criminal Supervision Order.
In order for an Education Supervision Order to be made, the Education Welfare Service have to show that parents will co-operate with the conditions of the order.
School Attendance Orders
|This order names the school, which the Local Authority requires the young person to attend, in cases where the parent has failed to secure a school place. If the parent does not comply with the order, a fine may be imposed in the Magistrates Court.
Parenting Orders
|These orders may be made against parents or guardians to help them address the young person's offending behaviour or failure to attend school. Parents may be obliged to attend counselling or guidance sessions for up to 3 months, or to exercise particular controls over their children. Breach of the order is a criminal offence.
Anti-Social Behaviour Order
|This order can be applied for by the Police or Local Authority against an individual, aged 10 or over, or several individuals (including a family), whose behaviour is anti-social; ie: causes alarm, distress or harassment to one or more people. The orders are preventative and incorporate the use of prohibitions to prevent further acts. Breaches carry a penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment. Schools, seeing a possible need for this order, should liaise with the Police.
More information about parents' responsibilities.


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This is heavenly sub-tropical, coastal country - about 107 kilometres north of Noosa - where the fishing, boating, surfing, prawning and crabbing are all sublime. Rainbow Beach, is a major entry point to the 41,000 hectare Cooloola National Park, which offers one of the great four-wheel drive excursions in Queensland. The park itself is wild and beautiful... you can even sometimes see brumbies galloping along the vast sandy expanses of Cooloola Beach.
A short drive north from Rainbow is Inskip Point where there's a ferry to take you and your car across to Fraser Island. Rainbow was originally recorded as Black Beach by the miners who extracted valuable mineral sands from the beach. According to the Kaby Dreaming, Yiningie, the spirit of the gods, often took the form of a rainbow. Yiningie was killed in a fight when he crashed into the cliffs and his spirit coloured the sands.
Note: Information on listed products and services are provided by the operator and were correct at the time of publishing. Rates are indicative based on the minimum and maximum available prices of products and services. Please visit the operator's website for further information. All prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).


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Friday 1 February 2013 (Persian date: Bahman 13th 1391)
Today, the International Committee against Stoning received the following urgent appeal from Tabriz prison about Iran stoning case Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and her lawyer Javid Houtan Kian who languish in the Iranian prison under severe security control.
"Here's the notorious prison of Tabriz. I am taking a dangerous risk by writing this letter to the International Committee Against Stoning.
Mrs Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani who is convicted to death by stoning is kept in this prison along with her lawyer Houtan Kian. [Read more…]


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After intensive workouts muscle soreness is a common phenomenon. I heard, that it is important to recuperate before working out again.
However, I had the following experience: During a two week bike trip I continued the trip despite the soreness and lost a lot of weight and gained endurance. I am wondering now, if I should continue with what I know will work (working out despite the soreness) or if I should wait until the muscles recuperated.
Are there any references or articles that reflect this topic? Why is it important to wait until the muscles are not sore anymore?
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After intensive workouts muscle soreness is a common phenomenon. I heard, that it is important to recuperate before working out again.
A lot of the answer depends on your goals and the exercise you are doing. Our bodies are marvelous creations that can adapt to a wide range of stresses over time. However, there are a few principles you can use to apply to your exercise regimen:
In short, if you continually exercise without rest your body will break down until you are forced to rest. However, since we still need sleep and we have jobs that require us to be present, we can't continually exercise. The period of time when you are not physically involved in exercise is a period of relative rest.
If you bike for two weeks straight, your body is adapting to the stresses and periods of rest you are giving it. In essence you are tuning your body more towards endurance, and dealing with shorter rest periods. That means your body won't have the time to build bigger and stronger muscles, but it will be able to repair the damages done during the period of work and fine tune how it is getting oxygen to your muscles.
If on the other hand you are strength training, or some other form of exercise that requires short bursts of energy, your body's requirements for rest become greater. In short, you are putting stresses that are at the edge of or slightly beyond what your body is equipped to handle. During the periods of rest, your body is building the muscle up to meet those greater demands on it. It is also fine tuning the energy sources that the muscle requires so it is less dependent on aerobic (with oxygen) sources. By continually increasing the weight, you will eventually need longer periods of rest to fully rebuild and adapt to the new weight. In the beginning however, you only need one full day of rest between sessions.


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This might come across as a very rudimentary question. My fundamentals of Optics are weak. In the optics chapter of my physics text book I saw diagrams each depicting an object on the left and a lens -- typically convex -- in the middle and an inverted image forming on the right side.
Let's say I want to perform this experiment, how can I do it?
I have always seen such lenses as parts of complex systems like cameras. Do I get such stand-alone lenses from the market off the shelf? And if I keep a candle on the left side, on what screen do I capture the image on the right side? A vertical plate, paper, or the like won't show an image. (Why is this so?)


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Let $\cal F$ denote the group of all finitely-supported permutations of $\mathbb N$. Say that a finite subgroup $G$ of $\cal F$ is singular if $G$ acts transitively on $\lbrace 1,2,3 \rbrace$ but no cyclic subgroup of $G$ acts transitively on $\lbrace 1,2,3 \rbrace$ (this is equivalent to saying that some element in $G$ sends $1$ to $2$, another sends $1$ to $3$ but no element of $G$ has all of $1,2$ and $3$ in a single orbit).
The Klein group (products of disjoint transpositions on $\lbrace 1,2,3,4 \rbrace$) is in example of such a subgroup.
Question 1 : are there other simple examples of minimal singular subgroups ? Is there a parametric description of all of them up to isomorphism ?
Question 2 : Denote by ${\cal F}(i \to j)$ the set of all permutations in $\cal F$ sending $i$ to $j$. Say that a permutation $s\in {\cal F}(1 \to 2)$ and a permutation $t\in {\cal F}(1 \to 3)$ are related iff the subgroup generated by $s$ and $t$ is a minimal singular subgroup of $\cal F$. Given $s$, let $R(s)$ denoted the set of all $t$'s such that $s$ and $t$ are related. Does $R(s)$ admit a simple description ?
Of course, any answer to question 2 automatically provides an answer to question 1.


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- 22 Resorts
- Consistent Snow
- Diverse destinations
- Resorts open before those of many other states
- Home to Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain
"Nice first turns "
"First time on the mountain. You can tell it's been pretty dry this year. I couldn't find untracked areas so it was very packed and hard snow (but not ice). Think they'd be better off glading a few more tree runs to access better snow for longer after storms. "
"Sooo deep"


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So say that I use LeoCAD to export some brick models to Blender. Would it be unethical to modify the models in various ways (tris to quads tool, subsurfacing, textures, rigging, etc.) and then publish them to the internet, assuming that I do not try to profit from them in any way?
Almost certainly no, but with some caveats:
The LeoCAD parts library is based on the LDraw parts library, which has a Legal Agreement here.
The vast majority (and I would assume the entire subset used by LeoCAD) are covered under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0:
You are free:
Under the following conditions:
However there are parts in the library that are not covered by the LDraw Contributor Agreement (CA), and these are covered by the more restrictive NonCA agreement. You are expressly forbidden from sharing, or making derivative works of these parts (creating 2d renderings of the elements isn't considered a derivative work, but converting the parts to a different format is).
All part files should have a license comment in their header stating either:
You should check those parts you wish to adapt, and proceed accordingly.


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Breaking Bad #508: Poetic justice
Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I had nightmares after last night's "finale." I will put spoilers after the jump, but here I will say that at least some of those nightmares involved baby Holly toddling around with that uncovered, not-fenced-in pool five feet from the back door of her house. I don't know whether Junior pushing the baby around the perimeter of the pool while the adults chatted happily in the foreground was supposed to fill me with dread, but it did. Are there no parents working on this show?
Now on to other intimations of danger...
How will I make it to next summer knowing Hank is finally on Walt's trail??? The Hank-gets-dangerously-close sequences have always been terrific. And now that Walt has thoroughly lost my sympathy (that prison-killings sequence was so chilling, and I think the way it was presented shows that the creators know we're no longer rooting for Walt at all), Hank is the new hero, as Emily Nussbaum predicted:
To escape this moral checkmate, Gilligan might shift yet another character into the foreground, revealing that the show is actually (as a friend suggested) a hero's tale in disguise. In that version of Breaking Bad, the protagonist is not Walt but Hank, a man with no children. Despite injury and depression, Hank brings down a vast drug ring, even when he discovers that the kingpin is his own brother-in-law, a sneering brainiac who has always considered himself superior. But because Hank is decent, and the show is on the side of good, Hank triumphs. That ending would have the virtue of symmetry, and pleasure, and closure, and relief, for the suffering audience.
"Right now, however," she adds, "its easier to imagine someone innocent coming to harm." Yes, especially with that pool and the chronically undersupervised baby!! Ahem. Or, maybe the one who comes to harm is Hank. Will the last half-season find Walt considering killing his brother-in-law? Once that would have been unthinkable. But now, by the end of last night's episode, I have to ask, Who wouldn't Walt kill to stay on top? (Even though that raises a further question: on top of what?) Whatever happens, next summer's episodes ought to be good and wrenching.
Questions I have: did Walt really mean it when he told Skyler he was out? My first thought was "What game is he playing now?" But he seemed sincere, and I took the final sequence to mean that he really did want to retire on his earnings and go back to family life. (And now justice will catch up with him. It's like the Hayes code says: crime must not pay.) So, if he really did quit, what does that mean for Todd? And for Lydia? I'm guessing we'll see more of the Czech Republic scheme, and I'm certain we'll see more of Todd. I haven't forgotten that he's (apparently) more dangerous than Walt seems to appreciate.
How could Walt have been dumb enough to leave that Walt Whitman book out where Hank (or anyone else) could see it? Did he do it on purpose? Or had he never noticed the very incriminating inscription? ("Dear Walt, Thank you for teaching me to cook such good meth. 'W.W.' stands for your name. Love, Gale.")
Other questions? Predictions? What do you want to see happen (or, what do you dread happening) in the last eight episodes? And who's going to get that ricin?
About the Author
Mollie Wilson O'Reilly is an editor at large and columnist at Commonweal.
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"Will the last half-season find Walt considering killing his brother-in-law? Once that would have been unthinkable."Actually, one astute person could see it coming and made this prescient observation earlier on this blog:"The series has the feel of the Godfather II about it, with Hank playing the role of Fredo. If Hank goes out on a fishing trip, he aint coming back."Now, it has the feel of Godfather III about it"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."The first part of season 5 seemed like an extended, though necessary, prelude to the upcoming climax. It got deep into Walt's psyche, but to the exclusion of other interesting characters (I, for one, really miss Badger and Skinny Pete). Now that we've eaten our vegetables, I'm ready to move on to dessert. I think the last part of season 5 will be even more exciting, because it will pit Walt against Hank, good vs. evil, with all of the characters suitably aligned and engaged. My question is: Who will Skyler side with?
I loved the ending and was surprised to see lots of disappointment on Twitter and on Alan Sepinwall's blog. I love that Hank has a hunch but nothing certain to go on, and presumably Walt's trail is pretty cold right now. What I didn't buy was that he was getting out. At first I thought Walt was just saying that also, but that picture of domestic bliss around the pool made me think, huh, I guess he was serious. Which I just don't buy. He learned with Gus Fring a season or two ago that you don't just say I'm going to stop making meth now. What about Declan? What about Lydia? What about the loose ends of Jesse, and Todd, and the skinheads who were paid to off nine guys? What about Saul? Way too many people left knowing too much for Walt to say "I'm out" without putting himself into his own witness protection program.Which was also my problem with Mike's end, by the way: a career criminal like him would know you're not out if they know just where to find you. He would have gone on the lam, with or without his granddaughter.But back to this episode: hope Nussbaum is right and that's the direction for the final season.Someone on Alan Sepinwall's blog had a most astute observation: during Walt's MRI he does a literal 180, spinning on the table. That has to be significant on a show this careful. Is the cancer back? Or was that Fortune's wheel showing us his luck was about to run out?Also Marie was wearing yellow instead of purple in that final scene. And earlier in the episode, Walt was wearing an entirely purple outfit. Walt-as-Marie? Will he take up shoplifting in the final season? ;)
Also what happened to Kaylee? as a fellow parent I'm still wondering if anyone picked her up from that playground.
Amy - I'm not sure what you mean about Mike. He was going on the lam, before Walt shot him. Or do you mean at the beginning of this season, before Walt talked him into working with him and Jesse? (Also: who is Declan?)I wondered about the MRI results too. But at this point I'm not sure how much the cancer matters. Walt's living on borrowed time regardless of his health, thanks to his many capital crimes. And we do know he makes it to his 52nd birthday at least. I'm sort of dreading whatever happens to get us to his buying that gun in that parking lot.We should start an Internet campaign to raise awareness for the abandoned and neglected little girls on this show. It'd be easier to shrug off poor Kaylee's loose end if we could say, oh, I'm sure her parents found her eventually. But we never saw or heard a word about Kaylee's parents, which I always found odd. If Mike is that attached to his granddaughter, he must have some kind of relationship with his daughter or son, right? I mean who drops her off at Grandpa's? And do they know about his million-dollar trust fund for their kid?
...As I think more about this episode and where it leaves us, I am reconsidering how much "pleasure, and closure, and relief" viewers might get from an ending in which Hank "triumphs." I'm not even sure triumph is possible given the awful situation Hank now finds himself in. Think about what he is figuring out sitting in that bathroom: his brother-in-law is the "monster" he's been chasing. Catching Walt and exposing him as "Heisenberg" -- which Hank must feel obliged to do, to end the carnage -- will tear his family apart. It will destroy Walter Jr. And, knowing what Walt/Heisenberg is capable of, Hank has to fear for his own safety and that of his family as he decides what to do with what he has learned. And of course there's the personal sense of betrayal and anger as he figures out just how elaborately he has been deceived by Walt and Skyler. I don't really see a happy ending of any kind. I'll be relieved if Hank simply survives.
Mike shook Jesse's hand, made it clear they'd never see each other again... and then went back to the exact same playground bench where he always hung out. That's what I mean about him not going on the lam. He decided he was going to go when Walt tipped him off that lawyer had flipped. But I'm saying he should have been long gone already.
Declan is the guy that Walt said that corny "Say my name!" business to. He's one of Walt's buyers for the meth.
Like you Mollie, I was unnerved by Walter Jr's wobbly stroll around the pool with his sister. I was convinced that Holly would end up in the water and put an abrupt--and tragic--end to the family idyll. To the writers' credit, the spell was broken in a much subtler and more portentous way by Hank's discovery of Gale's inscription. As a plot device, it sets up the trajectory for the final eight episodes, which I, too, believe will be devoid of happy endings for anyone. But, seriously, Leaves of Grass as bathroom reading material?I think Walt really believed, however unrealistically, that he could just walk away, and the happy family gathering was meant to affirm his sense of relief. But, just as in Godfather III, we know that something will pull him back in.And why did Vince Gilligan wait until the 8th episode of Season 5 to play "Crystal Blue Persuasion " by Tommy James and the Shondells? That gauzy tune from 1969 should be the show's anthem (although Tommy James claims that he got his inspiration from the Bible, not from drugs).


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I know I shouldn't drink seawater (because of the salt it contains), but how can I desalinate it?
You need to distill it - I'm assuming that freezing is not an option (unless you're camping in the extreme latitudes). This is easiest, as the ice on top is almost pure water.
Where you don't have a freezer available - boiling the water, capturing the steam and condensing it back to water will provide pure water.
Outdoors you can dig a hole and build SOLAR STILL. It is quick and dirty but works very well and it is time tested.
Or you can put big plastic bag over brach with a lot of leaves on it and put rock on the bottom to capture the water. Make sure you don't do it on foliage that is toxic to people.
If you have the bucks you could get a portable Reverse osmosis filter.
Electrolysis turns the salt water into oxygen and hydrogen then recombine them and the result is pure water.


text: Yogscast fans, behold! I bring you one of the only few standing thrreats to Israphel! But, now he's a chibi! To go into detail, Xephos is Lewis Brindley's character when playing minecraft. I decided to make this because I'm an honest Yognaut and I'm getting really excited about the return of the Shadow of Israphel mineraft series made by the yogscast. Xephos is made to look like William Riker from Star Trek. Here he's holding his trustydiamond sword and Skylord Goggles. (watch the series on youtube! all of the Israphel videos are posted by bluexephos)


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Expect the eclectic. As "the most forward-looking American ballet company on the continent" (Contra Costa Times), SF Ballet is delighted to present a world premiere by Liam Scarlett, who, at only 26, was recently appointed artist-in-residence at The Royal Ballet. Scarlett's highly inventive works, which have stunned audiences and critics, are currently in the repertories of The Royal Ballet and Miami City Ballet. The program also includes the return of Helgi Tomasson's masterful The Fifth Season and Serge Lifar's elegant Suite en Blanc, a brilliant showcase of French neoclassicism featuring "a parade of stunning individual and Hollywood-big corps performances" (San Jose Mercury News).
Performance Dates
Tuesday, April 29, 8:00 pm
Wednesday, April 30, 7:30 pm
Friday, May 2, 8:00 pm
Sunday, May 4, 2:00 pm
Thursday, May 8, 8:00 pm
Saturday, May 10, 2:00 pm
Saturday, May 10, 8:00 pm
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Join Annie Green for a discussion of applying for clerkships as a 3L or an alum. For 3Ls and alums, the time to start thinking about clerkships is now! This event is open to all 3Ls, whether or not you have previously applied for clerkships. Lunch will be served. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
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Swapping Used Makeup Online -- Would You Ever?
An increasingly popular forum has beauty junkies trading products they didn't like for ones they hope to
This is no great revelation. This cycle happens again and again and is the reason why many stores, like Rite Aid, have implemented policies that let you bring back any cosmetic that you're not happy with. But, how many of us do that?
Instead, some entrepreneurial women have taken to Reddit to rid purge their over-flowing bathroom drawers of unwanted beauty products -- by swapping them with others who want them. Evidently, one person's "aack" is another one's "ahhh".
In a forum called "Makeup Exchange," disgruntled shoppers can swap or sell the products they're not happy with. One woman, Maizie Chan, who spoke to the Fox affiliate in Dallas, Texas, says that she'd typically spend $100 each month on makeup but that lately she's taken to trading old products for new ones on the exchange.
"I got these 4 lip tars, which would each cost $18 at Sephora, for two lip glosses," Chan says, explaining that she only had to pay for shipping.
Cool, right? Yeah, sure, except for the health implications, which, according to dermatologist Amy Wolthoff, are numerous.
"I'd say the biggest issue is when you're using something around the eyes you can get viral infections, conjunctivitis, sties. Imagine using a lipstick that someone who had a fever blister used. It would be like kissing something with a fever blister," Wolthoff cautions. Yep. Deal breaker right there.
Chan says that although she's well aware of the risks involved when trading cosmetics with people you don't know, she's only had good experiences so far. But, lest you think she's a throw caution to the wind kind of gal, she does adhere to certain self-imposed rules like not trading mascaras or lip products that use an applicator.
For what it's worth, the Makeup Exchange does list a set of "sanitary" guidelines and cautions folks to swap at their own risk.
I don't know about y'all, but I prefer my makeup to come "risk" free. Would you ever be tempted to swap used products in an online forum?
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|Manager of College & Athletic Media Relations
|484-226-7133 (Cell)
Working within the Office of Marketing & Communications as manager of college and athletic media relations, Chris Dougherty joined Coker's team in 2011. He is responsible for all media relations relating to the Cobras' 19 NCAA Division II athletic teams.
Dougherty serves as the liaison between the athletics department and the media, handling all media requests for Coker athletics. In addition, he develops news and feature stories, directs video projects, assists with social media and the Coker Cobras' website, and provides support between the athletics and marketing departments.
Prior to his position as manager of college and athletic media relations, which began in July 2013, Dougherty served as manager of athletics media relations and marketing from Jan. 2012-July 2013. Before that, he was content manager and writer for Coker.
Dougherty served as sports editor for the Standard Journal newspaper in Milton, Pa., from 2009-11, where he wrote game reports, features and columns for the six-day-a-week paper and was responsible for, among other things, making weekly assignments for staff writers, editing stories and photos, layout, online contests and budgeting.
Dougherty holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. While at IUP, he wrote for the student newspaper and was featured on the student radio station.
Originally from Allentown, Pa., Dougherty resides in Florence, S.C.


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Wes Clark slams influence of "New York money people" on Iran policy
posted at 6:17 pm on January 10, 2007 by Allahpundit
The full quote, lest you doubt the context:
When we asked him what made him so sure the Bush administration was headed in this direction [of war with Iran], he replied: "You just have to read what's in the Israeli press. The Jewish community is divided but there is so much pressure being channeled from the New York money people to the office seekers."
I'm sure by "money people" he just means "AIPAC," or "neocons." Or "hook noses."
It's the code-word flip side of "San Francisco liberal" but with a thousand times the amount of historical baggage. That's the bad news. The good news? He's probably the nutroots frontrunner now for president.
Vote Clark/Gibson in '08!
Related Posts:
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Kaine: I support the Hyde amendment and Hillary's agenda to torpedo it
- Inoperable Terran » Wes Clark: "It's the Jooooooos!"
- The Amboy Times
- Wade's Inn
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Researchers find cocaine on 100% of Irish banknotes sampled
- Waking the Giant
- Liberals and Racism
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Military officials: We're ready, willing, and able to hit Iran
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Wes Clark plays the chickenhawk card on Lieberman over Iran
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Wall Street Journal morons wonder: Who's behind Hot Air's attack ads?
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Giuliani rep: Rudy will be the first Jewish president


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Aliza Licht at Tysons Galleria
DKNY Girl, Aliza Licht, visited Tysons Galleria to celebrate their 25th Anniversary on October 12. She was recently dubbed one of fashion's six most influential women by Time magazine. Her event consisted of a Q&A moderated by none other than our editor, Michael McCarthy. Guests received gift bags, refreshments and a chance to win a $250 Galleria gift card. Photography by Vithaya Phongsaven, Vithaya Photography.


text: I do have another graffiti lesson for you all in the form of three letters that is referred to as 'urban slang'. Today we will first learn "how to draw Yolo", step by step. I'm sure you all know that Yolo is short for 'you only live once'. My sister actually says this all the time. She's actually the queen of knowing all sorts of abbreviated words in place for whole words. I'm really starting to like drawing graffiti words or letters because I get to decorate the final line art into some pretty bright, vivid colors. As you can see I went with some tones from the 80's like neon blue, pink, yellow, and green. I love how YOLO came out, and if you are one of the many that love drawing graffiti, you should enjoy drawing Yolo too. Enjoy yourselves people and remember to leave some feedback, thanks.


text:
Please be advised that Dodge City Public Transportation will close today at noon and remain closed on Thursday due to the winter storm. All rides scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday are cancelled. Drivers will remain on duty Wednesday afternoon for return rides however no new rides will be accepted.
Location, ST | website.com


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At present, all FHE scheme are be constructed based on circuit approach. Can we construct fully homomorphic encryption scheme based on non-circuit approach? Is Polly cracker non-circuit approach ?
Polly Cracker is non-circuit.
The best info for this I could find comes from a recent paper proposing a non-circuit approach due to Xiao, et al..
They identify a number of non-circuit systems, but go on to say that "they all either have been broken or lack conclusive security evidence."
They then propose a symmetric system which reduces to the problem of factoring.
So it seems that the answer is yes, one can be constructed. It is still an active area of research, however, and I personally wouldn't use the proposed systems yet.
Now, what I am exactly not quite sure of is what non-circuit means? In the paper I reference, they state:
So is a circuit approach simply that the cryto algorithms assume a single bit plaintext? If that is the case, then there are many, many more FHE systems which are "non-circuit". In fact, the BGV system does not require single bit plaintexts. So perhaps I am missing something in the circuit vs non-circuit discussion.
In cryptographic literature ,a black-box construction is one that uses only the input/output behavior of its components. By contrast, a non-black-box construction relies on the code of its components ( i.e circuit representation gate by gate etc). Non circuit based approach is usually called "black box" approach , a recent paper , although not directly on homomorphic encryption but very close concept can be found here . (Note: I am yet to read it completely, but this is very fascinating paper on black box and non black box approaches ) . If interested you can read "instance hiding" schemes, which are usually on blackbox approaches.
Yes There was recently a breakthrough FHE and it used p-adic ring homomorphism. the paper was published on nov 10 2012. and the algorithm is LITERALLY quasi-linear time without any "lambda" factor in the keys and NO noise in the ciphertext. it seems to be a very big breakthorugh and i don't know why no one has paid attention yet but me :P . here is a link to that paper, its VERY mind boggling and amazing. If you dont know p-adic numebrs, then take a look at the abstract and conclusion; and if the algorithm really works as claimed then it will throw IBM and Microsoft decades behind. here is the link http://www.ijtpc.org/volume1/JTPC1386.pdf I hope you enjoy reading about this breakthrough. btw, the homomorphic part of the encryption "LITERALLY" goes like for addition E(m1)*E(m2) = E(m1+m2) and multiplication is like E(m1)^m2 = E(m1*m2) ; Algorithm says it used p-adic ring exp to obtain this effect. Its way different and much advanced than Gentry's scheme.


text:
Hollow pleasure
So I jumped on WoW last night because I just couldn't sleep, the question was what to do.
Time Sink
I decided that I wanted to do my first post-patch PvP, but thought I would quickly go grab lolly jars from The Eastern Kingdoms. I had 50% of them, so how long could it take.
Man, what's time sink. Sure, not hard work, see flight master, fly route, run to inn, grab candy, see flight master. Rinse & repeat.
While on the back of one bird I started thinking how I should be more efficient, maybe go /love some critters while I was out and about in the Eastern Kingdoms.
Then it occurred to me I was blowing 1/2 hour, why make it an hour?
Anyway, one more achievement down.
PvP Achievements
Then off to AV to knock over a couple more in a fun loss (so no Alterac Valley Victory achievement). G.N.E.R.D. Rage and The Grim Reaper complete. Couldn't get the Make Love Not Warcraft Achievement (which would be appropriate as that is my guild's name), try as I might when I targeted a enemy and types /love I got not achievement… After the battle was over I realized I was trying to /love critters not /hug enemies… lesson learned… read achievement requirements 1st!
I might have picked up Know Thy Enemy, I know I have Hero of the Stormpike Guard and Freedom of the Alliance but I can't get That Takes Class until WoLK comes out and there are Death Knights to remove from the face of the earth.
Near the end of the battle I got an invite to teach Azgalor a lesson. I was a bit tired, so I passed on the opportunity.
The insidious nature of these achievements
This morning I realized the insidious nature of these achievements. I would rather /love critters or raid candy jars or clear Deadmines than hit bosses I will never get the opportunity to do again.
I am a bit annoyed that Blizz didn't keep better stats/records of our past achievements. I realize that so many things I have done in the past aren't acknowledged, even our Onyxia kill 4 days before patch wasn't acknowledged.
If more of these things were recorded, I would have more incentive to move forward, as it is now I feel I need to go back and correct Blizz's oversights.
On a final note, does anyone know of a guide to efficiently raid candy jars? I don't want to back track in Outlands or Kalimdor, but I have a very sweet tooth.
In exchange for that info, I will give you the links for 3 achievement guides I found on WoWVault.
To All the Squirrels I've Loved Before
It's Happy Hour Somewhere
Tastes Like Chicken


text:
How does Megatron stay alive?
I saw Transformers 3 today, Megatron never dies, he has been in all 3!
5 Answers answer
Because it's in the scripts, silly!
He uses Omega Oil duh.
because he accepted christ as his lord and savior.
You obliviously missed something in the series.
He was killed in 1, then revived in 2 and ran away before Optimus finished him. That's why half is face is still missing in 3.
I won't say any more.
Stem cells


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In Hawaii, there is no doubt that immigrant entrepreneurs and innovators play an important role. Immigrant entrepreneurs bring in additional revenue, create jobs, and contribute to the state's economy. Highly skilled immigrants are vital to the state's innovation industries, and to the metropolitan areas within the state, helping to boost local economies. Furthermore, local government, business, and non-profit leaders recognize the importance of immigrants in their communities and support immigration through local "welcoming" and integration initiatives.
Immigrant entrepreneurs contribute to Hawaii's economy.
- From 2006 to 2010, there were 15,997 new immigrant business owners [1] in Hawaii, and in 2010, 23.2 percent [1] of all business owners in Hawaii were foreign-born.
- In 2010, new immigrant business owners had a total net business income [1] of $772 million, which is 19.8 percent of all net business income in the state.
- Hawaii is home to successful companies with at least one founder who was an immigrant or child of an immigrant, including [2] well-known companies such as Foodland. Foodland, founded by Irish immigrant Maurice J. "Sully" Sullivan, is a family-owned supermarket chain, and the largest locally-owned chain of grocery stores in Hawaii, with more than 2,500 employees [3] and over $190 million [2] in annual revenue. Foodland has also contributed [2] millions of dollars in educational supplies to Hawaiian schools.
- Sullivan's daughter, Jenai Sullivan Wall, in addition to serving as chairman and CEO of Foodland, currently runs the Sullivan Family of Companies [4], a supermarket, retailer, and restaurant franchiser based in Honolulu. Although various businesses fall under the Sullivan Family of Companies umbrella, each are run separately and include Foodland, Malama Market, Lahaina Farms, EZ Discount Store, Whalers General Store, Lamont's Gift Shops and Sundries, among others.
Highly skilled immigrants are vital to Hawaii's innovation industries, which in turn helps lead American innovation and creates jobs.
- Immigrants contribute to Hawaii's economic growth and competitiveness by earning degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields from the state's research universities. In 2009, over 30 percent [5] of STEM graduates from the state's research-intensive universities were foreign-born, and almost 75 percent of graduates earning PhDs in engineering in Hawaii were not born in the U.S.
- In 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor certified 461 H-1B labor certification applications [6] in Hawaii, with an average annual wage of $62,867, which is less than Hawaii's median household income [7] of $67,492, but higher than its per capita income of $29,227.
- An expansion [8] of the high-skilled visa program would create an estimated 800 new jobs in Hawaii by 2020. By 2045, this expansion would add [8] around $487 million to Gross State Product and increase personal income by more than $439 million. The following are examples [9] of metropolitan area demand for high-skilled foreign-born workers.
- The Honolulu metropolitan area had 575 H-1B high-skilled visa requests [10] in 2010-2011, with 37.9 percent of H-1B visa-holders working in STEM occupations. A major employer with a need for H-1B high-skilled workers includes the University of Hawaii.
While the numbers are compelling, they don't tell the whole story.
- Vinod Veedu, originally from India, came to the United States on a student visa. In 2006, Oceanit, one of Hawaii's major science and engineering companies, hired [11] Veedu as a nanotechnology specialist through the H-1B high-skilled visa program. He later became a permanent resident and is now the senior nanotechnology engineer [12] at Oceanit, holding over a dozen patents in nanotechnology.
- Veedu, along with other colleagues, contribute to their community [11] by encouraging stronger science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in local schools. He has coached robotics students at Moanalua High School and hosted "Weird Science with Dr. V," a five-minute segment every Tuesday morning on Hawaii News Now's morning television news program.
- Peter Crouch, originally from England, has served [13] as the Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa since 2006. According to Crouch, 27 percent of the graduate students in the College of Engineering at the University of Hawaii are foreign-born. "It's an interesting situation because clearly the country needs talented science and engineering folks," Crouch told [11] the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
- In addition to immigrant innovators, immigrant entrepreneurs not only contribute to large innovative companies, but to small business formation in local communities. In cities and towns throughout the Hawaiian Islands, immigrant family-owned small businesses contribute to the vitality of their local communities. Although initially aimed at other immigrant customers, many businesses quickly see an expansion of their clientele to include a diverse array of immigrant and native-born customers alike.
- In Kahului, Tam Ah Fook, an immigrant from China, started [14] in 1917 what became Ah Fook's Supermarket. Over the decades, the store became "a gathering place for locals seeking groceries, produce, bentos, fresh fish, bakery products, cut flowers and Asian specialties." Although the store has moved locations over the years, it remains open in a space along Kaahumanu Avenue.
- In Honolulu, Richard Chan, an immigrant from Hong Kong, owns and operates I Love Country Café, which has three locations with around 200 employees. Chan also looks for other business opportunities. One of his other businesses includes Pacific Basin Airport Maintenance, which at one time had a contract to clean jet ways at Honolulu International Airport.
- Also in Honolulu, Hyo Kyu Lim, originally from Korea, started [15] the Palama Supermarket, which carries an assortment of Korean foods and products. Lim started the business [16] in 1987, and he also runs a wholesale business selling Korean products to restaurants and other retail stores.
In Hawaii, some localities are recognizing and supporting immigration through local "welcoming" and integration initiatives.
- The State of Hawaii Office of Community Services in 2012 began laying the groundwork for its New Day program [17] designed to focus on the needs of immigrants coming to Hawaii. The New Day program's goal is to help improve the lives of immigrants and assist them in becoming productive members of society. Additional components of the New Day program include financial literacy programs and legal services.
- Community Resource Centers [17] around the state are the primary feature of the New Day program. These centers are designed to provide access for immigrants to navigate "the wide array of Federal, State and local and private-sector services that promote economic self-sufficiency and social adjustment."
- As of November 2013, centers had opened [18] on three islands in Kalihi and Ewa Beach on Oahu, Kapaa on Kauai, and Hilo on Hawaii. The centers are housed and operated by non-profit agencies.
- According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the centers [18] "will offer an entry point to employment and training programs, English language lessons, citizenship classes, financial literacy, acculturation and health services. The goal is to help newcomers take full part in the economic, civic and cultural life of the islands."
- In Honolulu, the Pacific Gateway Center [19] helps immigrants, refugees, and others gain access to opportunities and services through building skills that lead to self-sufficiency.
- One area in which the Pacific Gateway Center works [19] is in the development of social enterprises "to support job training and entrepreneurship" for clients and the community, as well as support in small business start-ups. The Center also offers bilingual services in a variety of languages, as well as English as a Second Language courses.
- Within their social enterprise [20] work, the Pacific Gateway Center "has incubator sites for fledgling entrepreneurs that are sources of job training and job creation." Additionally, the Center's Culinary Kitchen Incubator "houses 11 Department of Health certified professional preparation and baking kitchens and storage in Kalihi that encourage food-related start-ups that benefit countless markets and retail outlets."
- The Local and Immigrant Farmer Education [21] (LIFE) program, part of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has a variety of programs for farmers. One focus of the program is working with immigrant farmers.
- In particular, the program has worked with Southeast Asian farmers [22] in Hawaii whose "small acreage, remote locations and limited English language skills may make it difficult for them to connect with Hawaii growers." The LIFE program provides one-on-one interaction with individual farmers "to diagnose problems with their crops or soil." Participants also learn how to deal with small business taxes and other issues.
Download the Infographic here. [23]
Published On: Wed, Jul 17, 2013 | Download File [24]