text:
Kaplan University is a leader in college education, not only in the U.S., but because of the stellar online programs, Kaplan U. reaches into nations around the globe. The motto of Kaplan U. is "a different school of thought," and the difference is that they strive not only to educate their students, but also to develop the talent within each student. The success of Kaplan University lies in the fact that the staff and professors have a passion to teach and develop knowledge in their students.
Kaplan offers over 170 certificates and degree programs for the variety of in the student body. Kaplan was founded in 1937 in Davenport, Iowa and called the American Institute of Commerce, then emerged into Kaplan College and now has is Kaplan University. In the beginning, the school focused mainly on technical programs and certificates that would get their students into a good career. Today, there are four physical campuses, and six physical learning centers, and a strong online program. The interaction in a learning environment, even online, makes for a superior online learning experience. With over 53,000 students nationally and internationally, Kaplan is highly regarded as a stellar school, and one that is an honor to attend.
Total Enrollment: 67,307
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Religious Affiliation: Not applicable
Highest Degree Offered: Masters and first-professional
School Calendar Type: Other Academic Year
Total Undergrad Enrollment: 59,828
Total Grad Enrollment: 7,479
Admissions Requirements:
Accepted Credit:
Life Experience
Advanced Placement
I love this school for its flexible schedule and faculty.
Dealing with finacial aid department
The best thing I can say about this school is the flexibility in my schedule and the online courses offered. My professors and Academic Advisor are the best in this field. Kaplan has offered me a...
Late classes .. they sometimes they offer classes later in the evening for a specific class. that can sometimes interfer with slep
The Life-Long Friendships that I have developed through Attending this wonderful university, as well as the staff, professors and faculty are there to make sure that I succeed and reach my...
The Financial Aid Department....
Kaplan's series of "Visionary Voices" videos tout continuing and online education programs.
Student, Kaplan University
Every student at this school needs An open mind
Every student at this school needs Commitment
For comprehensive consumer information, visit http://online.kaplanuniversity.edu/consumer_info.aspx


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Our Publications
- Aspen
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- The Hamptons
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Film enthusiasts gathered to celebrate the Hawaii premier of August: Osage County at the Honolulu International Film Festival's (HIFF) Centerpiece Film Reception. Modern Luxury Hawaii and Our Kaka'ako wowed their guests with culinary from creations and specialty cocktails. Following the reception, guests headed over to Dole Cannery Theatres to enjoy the Pulitzer Prize winning play turned film.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Ariens ST Series features machines designed to devour snow like the big boys, yet are extraordinarily easy to maneuver. Delivering the power is a 5 horsepower engine. Creating a 20 inch path with serrated augers that forcefully move forward, pulling snow into a high-speed 12-inch impeller that effortlessly hurls the white stuff up and out of your way. Just like that, quick as a flash, you're done.
© 2011 Speedway Sales & Service. All rights reserved.Authorized Dealer & Service Facility - Over 20 Years in Business. Family Owned and Operated


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Understandable if he doesn't want to give his info for it tho. But that would be very good if he could, would look great.
I'll ask JJay would he be able to sort it out for us first. That might be the easiest way to go.
how come i cant get o fmwiki i really need it =[
It appears to be down at the moment, hopefully it will be sorted soon. What is it you need it for? One of us may be able to help you
I let our webmaster JJay know in my weekly "Annoy JJay with new suggestions for the site" PM. Hopefully he can sort it out
thanks for the reply arsenal but i recently finished my man utd game got bored after 15 seasons tbh lol and wanna start another game, im not the best manager round here far from it so i want someoe that is a challenge but a do able challenge and in the prem tbh. i wanted to look at all the bedgets lol guess ill have to wait =[
Hopefully it'll be back up later tonight Josh, but it all depends on whether JJay comes back online. I know he's living in a different timezone so it mightn't be back up soon - not sure really.
On a side note, I never even knew that we had a list of transfer budgets. That's pretty cool.
yeah lol with like most of teams it tells you what budgets you can get with teams cause kind people have spent there time doing it =]
Just an update - I was speaking to JJay earlier today and he says he has contacted the guy that's in charge of the server, so it should be back up the next time he comes online. I've no idea when that'll be though.
just noticed i cant get on the site, hope it gets sorted soon
JJay's contacted the guy that made a mess of the site in the first place. Once he comes back online, it should be back up
Some edits will be made to the main page as well.
We can't edit the main page! It's been like that for too long to change it now- I'm used to it
What changes?
Relax, we're just changing around the links in the sidebar
*wipes sweat from forehead*
Any ideas on how long it will take Alan?
Not good
Bloody hell, didn't expect it to be this long.
Just following each other around here now
Want to add more info on some other teams in Leagues 1 and 2.
Ok guys,
Sorry about the delay but it's taken me a couple of days to track down Chris who I needed to speak to.
Good news is that nothing has been lost as it has all been backed up - but Chris accidently deleted the folder containing the wiki files (which does not effect any of the database).
I am in the process of moving that on to a server of its own now as it has grown so quickly
With regards to footballmanagerwiki.co.uk email addresses, do you want a redirect email or a POP3 email address? The difference being that the redirect emails allow people to email it and that email goes to your normal email address - you can use these for MSN too. A POP3 inbox stores mails on the server and you can access these by a webmail portal or Outlook.
I would prefer to give out redirect email addresses and that can be done easily If you want one then PM the name you want and I'll sort that out
Sorry again about the unexpected downtime - it should be up again in the next 24 hours or so
Thanks for the update JJay, glad it'll be back up soon. I'd prefer a redirect email address anyway. PM sent.
Last edited by ahmufcwafc; 04-06-2009 at 16:36.
Cheers JJay, thank you a lot for helping us out.
Any idea when it might be back up JJay?
Just waiting for the DNS to change
And I'm 75% done all the data uploads as I type
I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds good
Basically waiting for the url (link www. thingy) to update to point to the new server.
I'm uploading all your work on to the new server where nobody can delete it "by accident"
Double post
Main thing though is nothing has been "lost"
Not even peter-evo's login?
what is the point of the wiki page like what gain a user gain from it?
Ever used Wikipedia?
yes but like what could u gain all the facts are in the game
If you seriously think that then I'm afraid you're a lost cause.
ok my best friend
If however, you're a serious FM gamer, then the Wiki is a very good source of information collated and explained by seasoned FM veterans
Oh dear, we've been doing this site for so long, and there is no point.
To answer seriously, because it was good question, the wiki shows a mix between unportrayed facts and community opinion. The facts that you see are either:
- Not in the game or
- Hard to find in the game
The rest is mainly user opinion that people use when playing the game. The community builds up opinions and strategys when playing the game and some of our pages reflect the more popular.
We also have a wide array of things that we think the readers would find interesting. Things like the:
- Challenges
- History
- Issues
, are all things that we believe the readers would be interested to learn about.
Me being called a veteran. Not sure whether that's or makes me feel old
Database has been restored 100%. Mediawiki will be updated to latest version - the only thing that I'm now awaiting is for Chris to forward me the files he deleted so I can upload the old images folder so we get all those back
As for email addresses - I've only been asked by Alan for one
Can we have a 'Donate to FMWiki' button like normal Wiki have?
All donations to me.
Wouldn't it be best going to JJay who can then ask us what we want to do with it?
But I already know exactly what we want so it makes little difference...
Ah, okay then.
This is a temporary fix, the full site should be back up tomorrow.
That's cool Alan.
You will notice that the images won't load - this is because I am awaiting the old images folder which I am expecting tomorrow (and disappointed that I haven't had this soon! Glad we're moving now )
No need to upload the old images as I will do this as soon as I receive that folder
Last edited by JJay; 07-06-2009 at 21:04.
It's not working for me JJay.
Yeah looks like it was my cache and it was loading locally The reason it didn't update within the 24 hours I said last time was because I stupidly put a comma instead of a period in the DNS and the change was rejected. This has been fixed now but at least the temporary url will be of use until tomorrow
It's back up now guys, images haven't been uploaded just yet though.
I'm just doing those now
I'll double check that now
That has now been fixed
We're down again.
Up again but without pictures
Any way that we can put the names with the accents etc. back to how they were guys?
I was thinking they looked a little odd yesterday
I'll see what I can do.
Done. Let me know if I there's any other dodgy titles. The Hilario page was damaged in the shuffle for some reason,
It's good to be back
Anyone else noticing a whole lot of pages have database errors?
Erm... nope. What pages have you seen?
769 articles in English
That and the Hilario page so far.
From player profiles:
Juan Pablo Sorín
Jérémy Toulalan
Kaká (database error)
Krisztián Németh (database error)
Luka Modric (database error)
Marc-Vivien Foé
Marek Štěch
Mariano Pernía
Martin Skrtel (database error)
Matías Fernández
Milivoje Novakovič
Márton Fulop
Nemanja Vidic (database error)
Oier Olazábal
Owain Fôn Williams
Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma
Petr Cech (database error)
Przemysław Kaźmierczak (database error - can't remember his name)
Péter Gulácsi
Péter Kurucz
Rogério Ceni
Rubén Miño Peralta
Sami Hyypiä
Saulius Mikoliūnas
Sergi Barjuán
Sergio Agüero
Tabare Viudez
Thiago Alcántara
Thomas Müller
Tó Madeira
Víctor Sánchez Mata
Víctor Vázquez Solsona
Zdenek Grygera
Zoltán Gera
Zoltán Harsányi (database error)
Álvaro Arbeloa
Éver Banega
All profiles are OK. It's just the page titles.
Didn't realise there was more than one page of player profiles. I'll sort out the names for you in a bit.
Yeah. I've been busy No rush mate with them. I'll add a few more tonight.
I have added back the ParserFunctions extension - its obviously not converted backwards though thus the issue.
The images are being uploaded - but on a 3g internet stick slower than I would like - 90mb of them! I am getting through them and I have this week off work to focus a little more on it (although the mrs is off too and giving me a hard time!)
That's good news JJay. Didn't realise there were that many
Nor did I tbh - there's loads and for each one there is a thumbnail image too (often a few different sized thumbnails)
I'm adding in some 'Most Wanted' pages to try and lower the amount of dead links - if anyone wants to develop these I'd be v. grateful.
Yes I think sub-categories are needed for player profiles now. I think by league would be OK atm.
If you want I can sort that out after you have made the sub-categories.
Last edited by ssestig; 09-06-2009 at 21:00.
Just a thought: Perhaps it'd be easier to go by nationality/region instead of leagues? I mean, because of constant transfers we'd have a lot of work to do re-categorising pages.
Or we could always do both I suppose. What do you think?
Could categorise by region then by leagues but only update that by patch. Was also thinking of adding player histories for each player via an FM screenshot - any objections?
About 30 I think atm.
Yes that's right. Though I like the system normal wiki has for players regarding those that have played for clubs being in a category but above system is fine for now.
I think we need to avoid having them hidden away.
Player Profiles > Region playing in > Country playing in > League > Team
is a lot of work to get to where you want imo.
But, then again, there are probably no better ways of doing it.
I hate to sound like a spoilsport, as this is an excellent idea that looks great. But there is one problem. I had a quick look around and it seems that a lot of articles have been copied and pasted from Wikipedia. This in itself is not a problem. Wikipedia licences its content under the GFDL, which does allow people to reuse its content for any purpose. However, it requires attribution. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...ipedia_content for a brief overview of rules for reusing content, and an example notice that can be used to fulfil the licensing requirements.
Not saying that the Wikimedia Foundation is going to sue you into Oblivion if you don't comply with the licensing requirements (they probably won't), but still.
(FWIW, the articles I looked at via random page that were copied from Wikipedia were Carl Pentney, Gabriel Heinze (which semi-complies), and Federico Fazio).
The best way to go about it would be probably be by creating a template for article creators to add to articles which they use from Wikipedia.
The alternative, I suppose, is to just completely rewrite all WP-copied articles from scratch. This is obviously also the best option if you don't fancy licensing your articles under the same terms as WP's articles (i.e. free for anyone to reuse and/or modify for any purpose).
If you need any help or have questions, feel free to ask, but it should be simple enough.
Again, I don't mean to sound like a spoilsport, as it's a great-looking site.
Thanks for the link Dreaded Walrus, it's good to actually know where we stand on this.
I think almost all player profiles are copied from Wikipedia, and I have often said where I stand on this.
We need to make sure we go by the book with this - we wouldn't want the site to be closed down or anything (unlikely, yes, but still possible).
Obviously it has to be a team decision, but I think that if we were considerin rewriting them completely then the best option would be to only write a brief part about them in real life and more about them in FM.
I don't think there are any other articles that have been copied from there have there? Actually, some competition guides maybe?
I don't write up the player profiles, nor do I have much knowledge of wikipedia's policy (although I will look into it now) so I can't really comment on this.
What does it take to comply with wikipedia's policy, Dreaded Walrus? Is it just to say that the information was taken from wikipedia, or am I missing something. IIRC some of the profiles already have that, but I'm not certain.
Totally agree Jammy and Alan.
Dreaded Walrus - All of the player profiles that I have done (that's most of them) have been either copied or been modified from Wikipedia and whilst a good number have been creditted with recognision that this, that has not been the case with them all so I will make sure that these rules are followed. Thank you for highlighting the potential problem.
Would this disclaimer be OK guys? Víctor Vázquez
Chile, which isn't from WP.
A quick look at some competition articles (Premier League and Championship) and they aren't from WP.
To be honest guy, on WP there's actually a procedure to follow for sites which use WP content without following the licensing guidelines, which is mentioned on this page. Usually what happens is a standard email is sent out to whoever owns the site, informing them about the violation (because most times people are using the content in good faith and just don't realise they aren't meeting the requirements for attribution), and there's a couple of follow up letters and stuff sent out weeks later. I've done a few of these myself. The actual time from first email sent to site getting taken down is an absolute minimum of six weeks, but usually people respond to the first email saying that they didn't realise, and either remove the content or (better) simply link back to Wikipedia and stuff. If you ever needed help with complying, you'd almost certainly be helped with creating an appropriate template or whatever (hell, I'd help you with that stuff if you wanted).
So I wouldn't say there's anything to worry about, and certainly in the short term there's no rush, so there's no need to go blanking content from Wikipedia or anything like that. Just have a discussion to see what you all want to do.
I do agree with you that the best use for an FMWiki would be for focussing on in-game stuff. I see that there's been some screenshots uploaded lately, and the Federico Fazio page had in-game information added by SCIAG, and that's really what people would be going to an FMWiki for in my opinion. Obviously, this has probably already been said, but after a good few months away from this place I hadn't looked through the whole thread.
Would you mind making a template for me Walrus? Thought I would've remembered, but in truth I don't have a clue. :o
Sure! I've created an FMWiki account now, but I'll provide it here so you guys can all have a talk about it. I'll need to do some test edits to see what works too, but when I've got something written out I'll post it here.
Might take me a while though (on the phone right now)
Thanks for that. I take it I can use the template on other pages now, yes?
Also, are there any templates or anything similar that you'd recommend us using? Not for licensing agreements, but just to improve the layout of the site.
Alright guys. As a test, I created this. This contains all the stuff that would be needed. A link to the WP article, an acknowledgement of the authors, and a mention that the FMWiki article is also licensed under the same terms. Of course, if you were to go down this road, then you would need to actually want to license your articles under the same terms as WP. In addition, the link to the GFDL in that version links to an externally-hosted copy, whereas your version would need to be hosted on the same server.
I added a variable which allows it to be used both on articles which have the same name on FMWiki and WP (such as Anthony Pilkington (WP), and those which have a different title, such as Brad Jones (WP).
An example of the template as it would appear on both articles would be here for Anthony Pilkington, and here for Brad Jones.
Currently, for testing purposes, the template is located at Userreaded Walrus/sandbox, but if you decided to go down this route you would probably move the template to, for example, Template:fromwp, then for any article which has the exact same pagename on WP (such as the Anthony Pilkington article from above, all you would need to enter is:
{{fromwp}} (you could even put it at template:fwp or something, to make it even shorter at {{fwp}})
If you use it on an article which has a different pagename on WP (such as Brad Jones, which is "Brad Jones (footballer)" on WP), then all you would need to type is:
{{fromwp|ARTICLE NAME HERE}}
or, for Brad Jones:
{{fromwp|Brad Jones (footballer)}}.
As I have already said, you would need to talk amongst yourselves to work out what you want to do, whether you want to have WP content, which would require licensing your own content under the same terms, or whether you want only 100% original content.
Also, the version I have created is by no means final so feel free to make edits to it to make it look prettier or whatever you guys want.
here for example), as this would require major work whenever anyone made any changes to the template itself. Also, it would not work on pages which are at different titles on Wikipedia (such as Brad Jones). The best way to include the template is mentioned in the post above, and you would need to move it from my sandbox to whichever page you wanted it at (such as Template:fromwp, or Template:fwp).
And the main thing that would need to be done to comply with the GFDL which I cannot do for myself is you would need to host a copy of the GFDL which is currently linked on the template on your own server, and then we can modify the template to link direct to that.
Edit: Oh, and you would also need to be willing to license FMWiki under the same terms as Wikipedia (as in anyone can reuse or modify FMWiki content for any reason (including commercial), so long as they provide attribution). That's the other thing you would need to do, which might not be appealing.
Last edited by Dreaded Walrus; 10-06-2009 at 00:24. Reason: fix words (I said "page above" when I meant "post above")
- We only have about 5 of us working on the wiki regularly, and doing this helps us get more content on the site.
- Plenty of information available to users of the wiki.
- In doing this, we perhaps come across as a poor relative of wikipedia.
- Some player profiles don't have any FM related info on the player.
- By looking at the wiki statistics, the player profiles get the lowest amount of views - then again, that could be down to the quantity of profiles available from the site.
At the moment it's my opinion that we need to change the way player profiles are done. Instead of taking all of the information from wikipedia, we should only be doing profiles on players that we have FM knowledge of - much like SCIAG suggested a few weeks back. Maybe instead of adding a heapload of profiles every day, FM related information could be added to current pages whenever possible? Just my opinion, feel free to disagree with me - I'm not going to be the one adding FM related content to player profiles as that really isn't my strong area.
Dreaded Walrus, thanks for the work you have done here, much appriciated.
I think I've already put my opinion across enough for player profiles,whilst I agree that having a lot of pages is nice I think we need information on them on FM in there.
Personally I would have
- Screenshot
- Personal Life
- Brief real life career (maybe screenshot of history?)
- The player in FM.
Obviously not all pages would have extensive information on each player, but it would be better this way. I'll make a new page for Tamas Priskin to give an example of what I think would be best.
K, I've done the Priskin page, thats what I think pages should try and be like. Obviously for some lower league players there would be less information on FM, but personally I think quality and suitability over quantity (not quite as catchy ) as we should try and develop as many player profiles as we can rather than adding new ones for the time being.
Last edited by arsenal_2111; 10-06-2009 at 16:15.
I wouldn't agree that there should be specifications of who warrants a page or not. That way you are making fmwiki elitest, only supplying the information for those who play in the higher leagues.
Elitist is probably the wrong word, actually. But I'm sure you get what I mean.
In my opinion anyone who is going to write up a full article about a player should be able to write about who they want, standard of player regardless.
I agree with the above
1000 images left to upload - on a faster connection though so should be done within the hour
http://www.footballmanagerwiki.co.uk...Alexey_Smertin needs to be moved to "players". Smertin the politician is not included in FM, Smertin the player is (just not in 09)
Liking the page on Priskin Jammy. That's the way forward I reckon. Nothing against the other suggestions on the player profiles but that looks the best that i've seen so far.


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The day after grouting my tile, a white residue formed on top of the (grey) grout. Moistening the grout makes the residue go away until it dries again. I've been told the problem is because I had too much water in my grout mixture when I applied the grout, but how can I get rid of this residue?
Well, if it had been on the tile, it'd have been typical, but as Jeff pointed out, you said it was on the grout itself. I've never done colored grouts, so I have no idea if it's typical or not ... and you wouldn't want to scrub at the grout to remove the haze, particulary when the grout's fresh (which is when you want to remove it from the tile).
Looking around on the internet, I found mention that leaving water-based grout sealer to evaporate could do it. They recommended re-sealing, and wiping off any excess, but others mentioned it took a lot of elbow grease and solvents. On another site, it was mentioned it could be too much water in the grout, and suggested vinegar or a stronger acid to clean, then resealing; a few people mentioned getting grout dye to cover it up, but you have to strip any grout sealer first.


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Support the Healing Arts with a donation today!
The St. Tammany Hospital Foundation Healing Arts Initiative launched in 2004 out of an employee campaign. Employees donated more than $150,000 to fund programs including the player piano in the hospital lobby, aquariums in both the Pediatric Unit and the Cordes Outpatient Pavilion, Healing Ceiling tiles in MRI and CT rooms as well as a restful south Louisiana landscape mural in the Radiology Department created by artist Linda Wheat.
The quietly artistic character of 4South, which opened in April 2008, reflects the Healing Arts. "It's a soothing space, where everything is soft, pleasing and quiet," says Charley Strickland, executive director of the foundation.
STPH worked with Fauntleroy Latham Weldon Barré Architects, whose president Kieran J. Weldon AIA notes, "Our goals were to provide a unique patient and family experience that echoed an upscale hotel through the use of texture, sustainable materials, interactive water features and ceiling canopies. We worked with organic wallpaper prints and both passive and natural lighting for each patient. We focused on the patient, family, visitor and caregiver."
The large, wood-enhanced rooms on 4South, each featuring a select piece of artwork, are designed to create a nurturing, home-like space for patients and their families. The rooms are divided into "zones" for the patient, families and staff, with curving lines and changes in flooring gently delineating each space.
Lighted ceiling panes above each bed display scenes of clouds or trees. Outside the rooms, special flooring in the halls helps reduce noise so patients can get critical rest. The use of pendulum lights minimizes glare and adds to the calm and peaceful effect.
Near the entrance to the unit, bubbles trickle down the sides of an illuminated glass "bubble wall" that glows with slowly changing hues. "It's a very soothing feature," Toups says. "All of these aspects are helpful to patients and families in creating a comforting, soothing place to heal."
STPH employees continue to play a critical role in the Healing Arts Initiative, including in ways that enhance the new fourth-floor unit. The employee committee funded the bubble wall and art-glass ceiling panes as a show of its commitment to bringing art to patients and staff alike.
The 2010 installation for healing arts is a meditation garden adjacent to the cafeteria patio, which, in previous years, was an unadorned space. It has been transformed into a tranquil setting of colorful plant life. Along the walkway is a carpet of mondo grass, which softens the hardscape. River birch trees offset the height of the walls, and boulders invoke a natural setting. The curved beds feature tranquil plant life, cast iron pots and a bird bath. A rock garden invites meditation among ground cover, blooming plants and a soothing fountain.
Music plays a vital role in the healing arts, with concerts in the lobby on the employee-campaign's player piano, occasional visiting musicians and singers including a local harpist and choir, and the playing of Brahms' Lullaby on the occasion of each new birth at STPH.
The foundation secured a grant from the Society for Arts in Healthcare for 20 hours of consulting to develop an extensive long-range plan for healing arts at STPH. Plans include not only the healing power of artwork, but also music, art and aroma therapy. Performing arts, storytelling and poetry may also help create a healing atmosphere for patients, staff and visitors. A good healing environment includes architecture and furnishings as well as landscape and horticulture, which are being included in hospital expansions.


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Halfbreeds {Remake} - 12-03-2012, 06:08 PM
1. This RP is open to everyone. If you have any questions, PM me.
2. No Mary Sues or Gary Stus. Or else I will hit you.
3. Abide by the rules laid out in the stickies.
4. Obey the rules of this RP, which are detailed after the plot explanation.
5. Fill out the character form below when you join, plus an intro of at least one large paragraph. The bracketed parts are just instructions so no need to repost.
Name: (The name of your character. Humans would have a surname too, demons and halfbreeds wouldn't.)
Age: (Self explanitory.)
Type: (Halfbreed/Demon/Human. If your character is a demon, state which animal demon they are. For a halfbreed, state which animal their ears and tail come from.)
Personality: (Have no more than three positives and at least three negatives.)
Bio: (Tell us a bit about your character.)
This RP is set in an alternate world, where there are humans and animal demons living. However, now humans despise the animals demons. Tho, the fate of those created from one human and one demon parent, the half-breeds, is worse. Half-breeds aren't welcome anymore. If they are found they are either sold as pets to high-ranking officers, weathly families, and royal families, or they are killed. Humans are the dominant species on this part of Earth. Sometimes, the pets are treated well and may even become the mate to their owners. Other times, they are treated poorly and live up to the title 'pets'.
Humans have all the rights, legal or otherwise. Half-breeds have none, and the status quo is likely to continue with the vast majority of humans supporting it. The few that don't, are seen as odd-balls. As far as the half-breeds are concerned, their voices are ignored and their opinions treated as tho they don't matter at all. Slaves are common, tho the humans don't see them as slaves, more like beasts of burden. Pets are generally treated as fluff, and concubines as mere objects.
The setting is late 1700s, early 1800s in a different world. That means that there are no cars, no computers, no modern technology. People get about by carriages and cabs which are always pulled by horses, and carts that can be pulled by horses, mules or donkeys. People can also ride horses, and use oxen to pull ploughs and other farm equipment. There are also trains in operation, run by steam. However, cuz this is an alternate world, apart from the lack of technology, the people are fairly modern in attitude and dress. Modern films, music etc can be mentioned, but remember that music would be played on a gramophone and films would exist as plays on a theatre stage.
Masters are always human and pets are always half-breeds. No exceptions. Demons are not kept as pets; they either hide themselves away, pretending to be human, or they are kept in captivity to be experimented on or used for breeding. An animal demon would have a full human form and a full animal form; they can pass for human as long as they stay in their human form and keep away from anyone who's an expert at telling them from humans. Half breeds are human shaped, but with the ears and tail of whichever animal their demon parent is a demon of. That includes reptiles as well as mammals.
The world needs to change. The halfbreeds have remained voiceless for a long time, but soon will get the chance to speak. The humans will not be able to ignore them for much longer. Humans are all equal, yet see nothing wrong with the way they treat the halfbreeds, all but a few who are determined to change the way things are. There are sanctuaries run by humans who believe this, there are a few enlightened owners. There are also those in the demon camp who do not wish for this state of affairs to continue for much longer. A small group of rebel demons live in secrecy in the middle of the city. They come from all walks of life; from demons who's families were killed and who banded together for safety, to runaway breeders and lab experiments who needed someplace to go. The time is ripe for change. But, what will that change be?
Rules And Information.
There are several different ways that the halfbreeds and demons are enslaved; this section tells in what way, and the rules for each group.
Slaves And Breeders.
Slaves are always halfbreeds and as a general rule, they are put to work down mines, doing heavy manual work and as a result, rarely live longer than their mid twenties. Slaves are allowed to breed, but their offspring are sold at either two years if they are to be pets, or five if they're destined to become concubines. Breeders are always demons, and always female. They are kept continuously pregnant in order for their owners to make money by selling their offspring. Most, like slaves, die early.
Pets And Guards.
Always halfbreeds. Both pets and guards are taken away from their mothers at age two and are immediately trained to walk on all fours. If they attempt to walk upright, they are punished. Eventually, after several years, their muscles fix so that they are now unable to stand up at all. This can be reversed if the halfbreed is gotten at early enough, but once a halfbreed pet or guard has gone thru puberty, it is almost irreversible. Altho they can be given therapy at a later date, it isn't always successful and even if it does work, they will always have a limp. Pets have to be kept on leads on the road, only allowed off in places such as public parks. They have to wear collars at all times, and be kept in at night. Guards have a little more freedom, but not much. Altho they can move outside the place they are guarding, they can't go far. Neither have any rights pertaining to offspring; if they do have children, the owner can sell them on.
Always halfbreeds. Concubines are generally picked out at an early age for this fate; this usually happens cuz a halfbreed is pretty. Both males and females can become concubines. They are not allowed to go anywhere without their owner, and any children they have will be the property of said owner. Their feelings on the matter are irrelevant, as is their own sexuality. The legal age of consent is eighteen for humans, sixteen for halfbreeds. However, the law pertaining to underage halfbreeds is rarely enforced, and a rape stands no chance of getting to the courts unless the halfbreed can call upon a human witness. Some concubines end up in entertainment clubs as dancers and singers; however, the club owner has a perfect right to hire them out.
Name: Mara Naylor.
Age: 28
Type: Human.
Personality: Mara has a tendency to lose her temper, as well as to speak and act without thinking. She also is very stubborn and won't be shifted from her path without a lot of difficulty. She is also kind, a hard worker and stands up for what she believes is right. Mara is tall with a tendency to plumpness and has brown hair and brown eyes.
Bio: Mara was brought up by parents who believed that halfbreeds and demons were on the same level as humans and who passed their beliefs on to their daughter. When she became an adult, Mara started a sanctuary for runaway demons, as well as for illtreated halfbreeds who's owners had been imprisoned for cruelty. She runs it with the help of friends, and has money put in her account by her parents, who believe in the cause. Now, she feels her life is to be devoted to helping the demons and halfbreeds in her care, and also to try and get the laws pertaining to them altered, particularly the concubine laws.
Name: Spartina.
Age: Sixteen.
Type: Halfbreed, with black cat ears and tail, black hair and green eyes.
Personality: Spartina is lazy, very selfish and has a hot temper. She is however very friendly, and gives advice if she feels a person needs it.
Bio: Spartina was sold to her owner at the age of six, and has been with him ever since. Her owner is an auctioneer at the local auction house, but has a very feckless attitude towards his pet. He often has to pay a fine when Spartina lets herself out and roams the streets, but doesn't care. She feels that she gets exactly what she wants out of life, simply by acting like the dumb animal that humans think she is. Her owner sometimes takes her along to where he works, to keep an eye on her.
Name: Caramel.
Age: 20.
Type: Halfbreed. Caramel has medium length pink hair, rabbit ears and tail, and blue eyes.
Personality: Caramel can be spiteful at times, as well as very nasty to anyone who she thinks is getting above themselves. If she doesn't like someone, she makes sure they know it. However, she's loyal to her friends and kind to any of her friends who are ill or unhappy.
Bio: Caramel was trained as a dancer and taught to sing by her first owner, who saw the potential in her as well as the money that she'd make him when he sold her on. She was eventually sold to Declan Summers, who owned a club that put on shows by halfbreeds. At first, she was fine with her life, until Declan fell into depression after the death of his wife and allowed his son to influence him into changing the club for the worse. Now, the dances are more sexy, and the clothes the halfbreeds there have to wear leave little to the imagination. Worse, they are now rented out to clients. Caramel made sure that any client who hired her for the evening would regret it, exercising spite and cleverness in equal ways to ensure that they got what they deserved and it couldn't be traced back to her.
~~~Mara looked at her papers and sighed to herself. She always detested having to do the paperwork for the sanctuary, but unfortunately, it was a necessary evil that had to be done. Money wasn't an issue luckily, with such understanding parents as she had, but there were other things that had to be considered. Such as the fact that she needed to expand her premises, and she wasn't really confident of getting planning permission to build on to the house due to what its purpose was. Mara was sick and tired of dealing with rude officials who, just cuz they disagreed with her views and wanted the status quo to continue, felt they had a right to put obsticles in her way for no good reason. Sighing again, the young woman thought that come what may, she would have to go and see the council. Maybe a friend could come too...
The auction was due to start in half an hour. Several people were already there, from those who simply wished to purchase a halfbreed for their own use, to the dealers, club owners and others who wanted to buy in bulk. Curled up comfortably on a couch round the back, Spartina felt utterly content. Her owner, the auctioneer, was busily sorting out the paperwork pertaining to the various lots on offer today. Spartina, a cat halfbreed, was the pet of the auctioneer and felt that her life was, if not perfect, then at least as good as it could be. She used her status as a pet to do exactly what she liked and go where she wanted to go, safe in the knowledge that it would be her owner who'd be held responsible. It was a good thing that he didn't seem to care about paying out fines. Spartina decided that when the auction started, she'd go and find a place to watch. Who knew what would happen?
Caramel filed her long nails as she read a magazine. All the halfbreed singers and dancers had been given this day off, as Declan and his son Anthony were at the auction to try and buy more halfbreeds for the club. The rabbit halfbreed sniffed at the thought; the poor souls who ended up being bought by those two didn't know what they were getting themselves into. The club had once been a respectable place; now it was getting seedier every day. Caramel remembered when her dances had been sexy but stylish; now, however, they were sleazy and involved as few clothes as possible. She had been trained as a singer as well, but very rarely got the chance to showcase her voice as her owner felt that showing off her body was preferable. She was at this moment prepared for whatever newbies ended up at the club, and to help if necessary. They'd need it.
Name: Declan Summers
Age: 51
Type: Human
Personality: Greedy, neglectful, cold. Not a very kind or caring man, though he will pursue those that harm what he considers his, property, son, or concubines.
Bio: Declan is the owner of a club/wh.rehouse in one of the larger cities. He has become very successful, and is very good at keeping track of his money. His club used to be a respectable place in which the half-breeds put on more honest shows, but after the death of his wife, he stopped caring what happened and slowly let the place become what it is now. Now, all he cares for is the money, and lets his idiotic son do whatever he wants.
Name: Emily
Age: 18
Type: half siberian husky dog demon; black fur with white undersides on ears and tail. Ice-blue eyes, pale skin, curly black hair.
Personality: Strong, pushy, loud, volatile, Emily is not a woman to mess with. She usually knows her own mind, and what she wants.
Bio: Emily has a younger brother, Connor, who is smaller, weaker, more emotionally fragile. it is for him she puts up her front of strength, for him she continued to direct abuse at herself. She and her brother, as luck would have it, haven't been separated yet, and she prays they never will be. Emily and Connor, having been raised for concubine positions, are both able to walk upright.
Name: Yuuna
Age: 16
Type: Deer half breed. Long, black hair, golden skin, little puff tail and rounded ears like a white-tailed deer.
Personality: Shy, sweet, a little over-emotional. She is easily frightened.
Bio: Yuuna was raised to be a slave, but when the mines in her homeland gave out -resulting in the deaths of her mom and brother- she was sent away to become a concubine.
Declan paced the auction hall, impatient for the bidding to start; he didn't like crowds, didn't like people, especially didn't like children. He sneered as a little boy bumped into him while running from his older brother. "Watch where you're going, brat," he snarled. The child gasped and ran off, and Declan rolled his eyes.
He was looking for a new voice; Caramel was his dancer, and a good singer, but he wanted a soprano, perhaps, though a new face in general just might help. He just wished the d,mn thing would start so he could leave and so tht his fool of a son would stop flirting so much.
Emily waited in the wings, tied down with Connor. She refused to let go of her brother, cradling him in her lap and stroking his hair. She didn't know what was to become of them, but, as concubines, it would be nothing good.
She both did and didn't want the auction to start; on the one hand, waiting is terrible. On the other... well, they could be separated, they could be sold to somewhere worse than the place they came from... the possibilities were all but endless.
A small girl, the first that would go, trembled alone in a corner. She hid her face, but what could be seen of her skin was golden in color. She was part deer, and her ears were laid down; she didn't want to be seen. She couldn't understand anybody here; she was from a far-off place, and no one had though it important to teach her English. She picked up bits and pieces, but it was hard, so, hard... she just wanted to go home, she just wanted her mother and brother back.
Name: Sanctuary
Age: 18
Type: A silver fox half breed. Her ears are a silver with black tips and her tail is silver with speckles of black. Her hair is like liquid shiver and her eyes are cosmic green, a saturated yellow green.
Personality: Sassy, stubborn and friendly are the traits best to describe Sanctuary. Of course, Sanctuary can be a very nasty woman and will lash out at any man or woman who doesn't treat her right. She's also prone to have a bit of a temper and voice her opinion, but nothing too bad.
Bio: At a young age, she was chosen to be a concubine to serve at the whims of countless Masters and Mistresses. She usually wasn't kept by them long all of them stating she was a rebel and voiced her opinions a bit too much. Even after punishments, she wouldn't change herself and would lash back until she was dumped on to another Master or Mistress. Now, she's being pushed to any one who is willing to be her Master.
Name: Azalea
Age: 16
Type: A red bat half breed. Her arms, like regular bats, are her wings. Of course, being this type of half breed she does have fingers that are fully functional. She doesn't have a tail, but she has semi-large ears that allow her to hear exceptionally well. As for physical appearance, she has long red-orange curly hair and sharp orange eyes. Her skin is a little pink, but other wise she's fairly pale.
Personality: Very sensuous, sassy, and a bit hot headed are terms Aza heard when customers describe her. From her long red hair to curvy figure and killer legs, she can grab the attention of everyone. Of course she has a large bit of confidence and is pegged to be vain and a drama queen, she does have a heart of gold under all of that.
Bio: Aza showed her interest in dance and singing once she was exposed to it from her Master's eldest child. She was trained in both arts and shined greatly. She was eventually dropped at a cavern wishing for a dancer and singer. She was trained even more to add sensual movements with her dancing and to use her powerful, jazz voice to reach into the hearts of the cavern regulars. Aza was eventually sold to an entertainment club as their dancer and singer. She wowed the crowd there until the owner had to let her go, not because she was bad, but he needed fresh talent and she was still underage at the time. So, now she's back in the auctioning ring.
Name: Axel
Age: 20
Type: He's a lion demon. A pure lion demon. His human form has wild red-gold hair, gold-green eyes and light tan skin. He's pretty tall and thin with some muscles. Though, his most striking feature is his feminine hips- of course they are natural. In his animal form, he's the typical lion, just a little bigger in size and his fur has the slightest hint of red.
Personality: Sly, loyal, and a pure trouble maker, Axel grew up like a true rebel. He does have his sweet side and won't be afraid to get in a fight to protect someone he cares about either. However, he does have a bad habit of smoking.
Bio: Axel was one of those fortunate male demons who got away due to the help of active demon protection enthusiasts. He was taken away and was raised for sometime in a home for demons. Eventually, he was taken to another home and then another. His adoptive "parents" didn't want the poor male demon to die at the hands of humans. At the age of eighteen, he ended up at the sanctuary Mara started and has been there since.
Sanctuary sighed and rolled her eyes. The auctions were going to start once again. She was going to be bought once again. Taken back to her Master or Mistresses home, she was going to do something out-of-line and given to another. It was a vicious cycle she couldn't get out of. It wasn't her fault that none of her owners thought she was a being capable of thought, emotions and opinions. She flipped her long hair over her shoulder, this was going to be a long day.
Aza hummed to herself, eyes scanning over the concubines. She had seen some of them before and some were new, especially the dog girl and the little boy in her lap. Her brother perhaps? Cute, but sad. They would eventually get split apart, however, if they were lucky, they could go to the same owner. Though, the chance of that seemed a little slim.
She blew a piece of hair from her face, she leaned over towards them, "You look nervous, doll." She softly purred, crossing one curvy leg over the other.
Axel blew a smoke ring into the air. There was buzz everywhere about the auction. He went a few times before, but didn't stay long. The people there know when a demon is in their presence. He shook his head and tossed his cigarette out the window, then closed it. The poor souls being sold, he hoped they would go to good owners or at least decent ones.
He walked down the hall and took a left, stopping just a little short of where Mara sat, "Yo, you look troubled." He ruffled his hair, "Though I have a feeling it has to do with the bas-tards again."
Spartina got up from the couch and stretched lazily. She glanced at the clock; the auction was about to start, and therefore her owner would be very busy. She made her way to the hall where the auction was to be held. Glancing about, Spartina took in both the halfbreeds for sale and those who had come to bid.
There was that horrible club owner again, with his loathsome son; Spartina had seen them both at the auction place before and didn't like either of them one bit. There was that rich man and his pretty, silly wife; they had their own pet already, a surly black fox halfbreed who sat obediently at the wife's feet. Spartina had spoken to him before, and found that unlike her, Jett hated his role as pet and let his bitterness consume him. Perhaps his owners were there to find him a companion, which could only be a good thing.
The cat halfbreed found a comfortable place to sit on an old armchair at the back and settled down to watch the proceedings. This looked as tho it could be very entertaining.
Mara managed a watery smile as Axel spoke to her. She was very fond of him, and liked him to come with her whenever she attended the auctions. Of course, she would rather not have to go, but felt it her duty to do so in case anything happened. After all, she was quite willing to act as a witness if need be.
"Just the usual, I'm afraid," she said in reply to Axel's query. "I really need to extend the sanctuary, but I'm afraid that it'll be difficult getting planning permission. The money won't be a problem, as my parents will put it up, but the council are just so stubborn. They don't approve of the sanctuary, as if I cared, but it makes it so difficult whenever I have to do anything for it."
The auctioneer banged his hammer for silence. "The auction is now in session," he said, glancing to where he could see his pet, Spartina, curled up on an armchair. He heaved a sigh of relief that she was in plain sight and not wandering around, doing mischief. Much as he liked his pretty pet, he did think that she got into an awful lot of trouble. Still, that was the nature of such creatures; it wasn't her fault.
"Bring out the first lot," he continued, "Then the bids can begin."
The silver fox groaned, the time has arrived. She didn't mind the auctions, she found them highly amusing and a little fun, what she didn't like was being bought. Now, she had gone to a few good homes, some homes she was glad she got out of. She supposed it was just the people who owned her. She followed under their rules, until they would start to treat her badly or even roughly. Sanctuary was grade-A quality, she wasn't going to be treated any less. Who would want to buy a concubine that was less than grade-A?
She scoffed, if they didn't like her. So be it, there were other people out there who would want her.
The bat's ears perked up, so it was about to begin. Well, this was bound to be interesting. She stretched out her legs and arms, back curving into a delicate 'n' shape. Let's see who would buy her today. She shook her head, her hair fell down over her shoulders in curled waves.
Axel enjoyed Mara's company more so than the other demons and half breeds in the sanctuary. Some were just pure bitter and others didn't even want to talk to him.
He slouched against a wall, "Then do it, extend the sanctuary with or without their permission. The council is just a bunch of hypocritical a-sswipes who favorite a group of people over the other." He tapped his temple, "They only have prejudice and hatred swimming around in their empty skulls. If they allow strip joints, seedy bars and clubs, they should allow this to happen. Just tell them it's keeping a lot of 'filthy vermin' off the streets. That'll shut 'em up."
He slid down the wall and relaxed back against said wall, "This sanctuary is giving demons and half breeds a place to hide or live a worry free life before they head their own way."
Declan had a sharp eye, and was quick to discern the ones he'd want for his club; the fox, the bat, possibly the dog, but she wouldn't let go of whom he presumed was a relative, and Declan hated attachments.
The auctioneer brought forward the first, a tiny little thing with the ears and tail of a doe, and eyes round enough to match. She was so small an skinny she looked more pre-pubescent, so Declan decided he had no need for her; he could get assistants for his showgirls and -guys cheaper elsewhere.
He disengaged mentally a little, letting the buzz of conversation overcome him. He almost relaxed- until his son stumbled into him. Clearly, he'd managed to smuggle in a little drink. "Hey, dad," he breathed.
"What do you want?" Declan asked, just managing to bury the sneer tainting his tone.
"I want them." Declan looked down at his son, a man in his late teens. He was actually somewhat handsome, and paid good attention to his own looks. Declan followed a long finger pointing at the dogs.
"Them?" he asked, quirking a brow.
"I like the look of the boy, and the girl's perfect for dancing," his son said with a firm nod.
"If I offer for them both, will you take your drugs outside and not breathe on me like that?" Declan snarled.
"But not til then."
D,mn, boy had actually learned something, and if Declan tried to force him, he'd get kicked out of the place, which was very, very bad for business indeed.
Emily stroked Connor's hair and looked at Aza. "Of course I'm nervous, i'm about to be separated from my blood," she replied at last.
The little doe girl quivered before the crowd, barely comprehending the words the flowed around her so freely. English was such a hard language, with lots of rules that seemed made to be broken, and Yuuna struggled with it immensely.
She was first, and she wanted nothing more than to dive backstage and run away, run so no one could ever find her. but, afraid as she was of being sold, she was more afraid of security, and did little more than whimper and attempt to hide her face behind her dark brown hair.
"I could do that," Mara replied to Axel, "But there's something I could do which would work better. I'll ask my father to intervene. He's quite high up and there's no way that they'd dare to talk back to him like they do to me. I don't normally like to do this, but it's for the sake of those in my sanctuary and I put them first."
Spartina looked up as the first bid, the frightened looking deer girl, was put into the ring. The rich man who owned her friend Jett put his hand up and made the first bid. This was interesting; perhaps she could maybe go and visit if he won the bid.
Connor was terrified as he sat on his sister's lap. He could hardly bear to look up, scared that he and his sister would be separated and sold to different owners and that he would never see her again.
Aza's eyes flickered over the crowd, catching an older man and what looked to be his son. Her brow rose and she smirked, "Maybe not, girl." Her ears caught the last of the man and his son's conversation, "The boy over there likes the way you and your brother looks. You may be bought by that man." She smiled, "So relax and you'll be fine. Show off that pretty face of yours and make sure everyone knows there is a two for one deal."
He smiled, "Your dad is pretty good at getting business done and I highly doubt they would talk back to him, they would lose a very powerful man if they did so."
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Posted 1 November 2005
Important Notice: Schizophrenia Research Forum does not provide medical advice nor promote any product or service. The contents are for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek advice from a qualified physician or health care professional about any medical concern, and do not disregard professional medical advice because of anything you may read on this web site. The views of individuals quoted on this site are not necessarily those of the Schizophrenia Research Forum.We invite your comments on this hypothesis.
Do Chimpanzees Suffer from Schizophrenia?
By Tim Crow
Jim Kennedy asks, "What if the group of schizophrenia risk genes all can be found in the relatively small group of genes that are different between chimpanzees and humans?" (See SRF's Idea Lab.)
This question was highly relevant to the Proceedings of the World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics recently held in Boston, and it is a question that I have been asking since 1988. It suggests an alternative to the widely popular linkage approach. By 1988 I had become convinced that cerebral asymmetry (the "torque," the bias, from wider right frontal to wider left occipital measurements across the anteroposterior axis) was the key to the brain changes in schizophrenia. This was based partly on our 1986 postmortem study (Brown et al., 1986) and more strongly on the findings of our second postmortem study (Crow et al., 1989a), and was spelt out in a review in the Schizophrenia Bulletin (Crow, 1990). In various forms since then I have developed an evolutionary theory of the origins of schizophrenia. This is because, as I see it, we are dealing with an illness present within all populations, probably at similar rates. As far as we can see, it is genetic in origin but the nature of the gene(s) is obscure. As Huxley et al. (1964) pointed out, there is a problem-why do these genes not get selected out if they are associated with a biological disadvantage?
To account for the same-sex concordance effect, the hallmark of X-Y transmission (Crow et al., 1989b; Crow et al., 1990), I postulated that a single gene for asymmetry and brain growth was located in a region of homology between the X and the Y chromosomes. The first hypothesis that this was in the classical pseudoautosomal region (Crow, 1988b) was subsequently discounted by ourselves (Crow et al., 1994; DeLisi et al., 1994) and by others in linkage studies.
This exclusion of pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1) led to the more interesting hypothesis (Crow, 1993) that a gene for cerebral asymmetry and brain growth is located in a sex-specific region of homology. A number of blocks of homology outside the pseudoautosomal regions are now known. Such a location would explain a sex difference, which a pseudoautosomal gene would not. A linkage study along the X chromosome for handedness and psychosis (Laval et al., 1998) pointed to the Xq21.3 region of homology that is of particular interest because it is Homo sapiens-specific, that is, is not present on the Y chromosome in the chimpanzee or other primates, or indeed other mammals. In 1995 I became convinced [partly on the basis of reading Derek Bickerton's book on language and species, (1990)] that the faculty of language was the key human capacity that required explanation. It is a significant problem in its own right and arguably is a challenge to current formulations of evolutionary theory. In a series of papers (Crow, 1995a; 1995b; 1995c; 1995d ; 1996a; 1996b), I put forward the hypothesis that the genetic variation relating to psychosis arose in the event that gave rise to modern Homo sapiens as a species. From this concept developed the idea that language and psychosis are more closely related than is often thought-specifically, they have a common origin in the speciation event (Crow, 1997a ; 1997b; 1998a; 1998b) and that the nuclear symptoms in particular are clues to the structure of language. This concept has its clearest expression in the aphorism that "schizophrenia is the price that Homo sapiens pays for language" (Crow, 1997a; 2000). The implication is that we are dealing with variation that is species-specific, that is, that is not present in non-human primates.
This conclusion has significant consequences for the search for psychosis genes. My view is that none of the candidates so far proposed, nor the linkages from which they were identified, can be regarded as reliably established. For example, there is little agreement on sites of linkage between the two largest sibling pair studies so far conducted (Crow 2006, in press). Enthusiasts for linkage believe that this is because many genes are involved and each of these is of small effect. Larger studies (maybe including tens of thousands of families) are needed to solve the problem. On the contrary, I suggest that a single gene is still feasible (after all, we don't yet have one) and that gene is of great interest to the species. To identify the gene, a simple strategy is feasible-comparison of the human and chimpanzee genomes. A number of differences are already known, and these include the region on the Y chromosome, to which we have already drawn attention, and pseudoautosomal region 2 (PAR2) at the telomeres of the long arms of the X and Y, which was discovered only in 1992 (Freije et al., 1992) and which, unlike PAR1, is present only in Homo sapiens.
Thus, the Xq21.3/Yp and PAR2 regions acquire particular significance (a) because these X-Y homologies were established by translocations in the course of hominid evolution, (b) because of the evidence that cerebral asymmetry is the characteristic that defines the human brain (Crow, 2004) and (c) because of the evidence from sex chromosome aneuploidies that the gene for cerebral asymmetry is in the X-Y homologous class (Crow, 1994). Therefore, I believe that it is still possible that there is "a continuum of psychosis, one human gene, and not much else" (Crow, 1995a), but the gene is the one that accounts for our capacity for language and humanity, and the critical change took place in the speciation event that separated us from the prior species Homo heidelbergensis. The species-specific variation associated with this event is, I believe, epigenetic in nature and therefore invisible to the linkage approach. If I am right, the problem will only be solved by focusing on human-great ape genome comparisons.
In 1988 I wrote that "a promising strategy is to make use of the hypothesis that psychosis is specific to man…. The concept is consistent with the notion that psychosis is a disturbance of genetic mechanisms…subject to recent evolutionary change…. Thus, if we were able to identify those regions of DNA which distinguish man from the chimpanzee and gorilla, we might assume that it is in this segment of the genome that the psychosis gene is to be found…" (Crow, 1988a).
"An even more specific hypothesis…that psychosis is a disorder of cerebral development…derives support from a recent analysis of a CT scan study (Johnstone et al., 1989)…in addition to the well-established finding of a degree of ventricular enlargement, brain area in…schizophrenia was reduced. This seems more likely to be the result of a failure of development than a process of atrophy…age of onset was relevant to asymmetries in the posterior part of the brain: Patients with early onset had significantly smaller asymmetries by comparison both with schizophrenic patients of later onset and patients with non-schizophrenic disorders…. Most convincing are the findings of a study in which the ventricle has been assessed in postmortem material by a radiological technique (Crow et al., 1989a)…of particular interest is the finding of a significant (p <0.001) (side) by diagnosis interaction, the increase being greater on the left side in the schizophrenic patients. It seems, therefore, that schizophrenia may indeed be a disorder of the mechanisms which control the development of cerebral lateralisation…there is reason to suppose that asymmetry of function and structure in the brain is a relatively late evolutionary development, and may either have been a specifically human departure or have developed greatly in man" (Crow, 1988a).
Bickerton,D., 1990. Language and Species University of Chicago, Chicago.
Brown R, Colter N, Corsellis JA, Crow TJ, Frith CD, Jagoe R, Johnstone EC, Marsh L. Postmortem evidence of structural brain changes in schizophrenia. Differences in brain weight, temporal horn area, and parahippocampal gyrus compared with affective disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1986 Jan;43(1):36-42. Abstract
Crow TJ. Temporal lobe asymmetries as the key to the etiology of schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 1990;16(3):433-43. Review. Abstract
Crow TJ. Sexual selection, Machiavellian intelligence, and the origins of psychosis. Lancet. 1993 Sep 4;342(8871):594-8. Review. Abstract
Crow TJ. Sex chromosomes and psychosis. The case for a pseudoautosomal locus. Br J Psychiatry. 1988 Nov;153:675-83. Abstract
Crow TJ. 2004. Directional asymmetry is the key to the Origin of Modern Homo sapiens (the Broca-Annett axiom). Response to Lesley Rogers. Laterality. 9, 233-242.
Crow TJ. 1994. The case for an X-Y homologous determinant of cerebral asymmetry. Cytogenet Cell Genet. 67, 393-394.
Crow TJ. A continuum of psychosis, one human gene, and not much else--the case for homogeneity. Schizophr Res. 1995 Oct;17(2):135-45. Review. Abstract
Crow TJ. A Darwinian approach to the origins of psychosis. Br J Psychiatry. 1995 Jul;167(1):12-25. Review. Erratum in: Br J Psychiatry 1995 Sep;167(3):414. Abstract
Crow TJ. A theory of the evolutionary origins of psychosis. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 1995;5 Suppl:59-63. Review. Abstract
Crow TJ. Constraints on concepts of pathogenesis. Language and the speciation process as the key to the etiology of schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1995 Dec;52(12):1011-4; discussion 1019-24. No abstract available. Abstract
Crow TJ. 1996a. Language and psychosis: common evolutionary origins. Endeavour. 20(3), 105-109.
Crow TJ. 1996b. Sexual selection as the mechanism of evolution of Machiavellian intelligence: a Darwinian theory of the origins of psychosis. J Psychopharmacol. 10(1), 77-87.
Crow TJ. 1988a. Aetiology of psychosis: the way ahead. In: Bebbington P. and McGuffin P. (Eds.), Schizophrenia: The Major Issues, Heinemann, Oxford, pp. 127-134.
Crow TJ. Is schizophrenia the price that Homo sapiens pays for language? Schizophr Res. 1997 Dec 19;28(2-3):127-41. Abstract
Crow TJ. From Kraepelin to Kretschmer leavened by Schneider: thextransition from categories of psychosis to dimensions of variation intrinsic to homo sapiens. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1998 Jun;55(6):502-4. No abstract available. Abstract
Crow TJ. Nuclear schizophrenic symptoms as a window on the relationship between thought and speech. Br J Psychiatry. 1998 Oct;173:303-9. Abstract
Crow TJ. Schizophrenia as the price that homo sapiens pays for language: a resolution of the central paradox in the origin of the species. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2000 Mar;31(2-3):118-29. Review. Abstract
Crow TJ. Schizophrenia as failure of hemispheric dominance for language. Trends Neurosci. 1997 Aug;20(8):339-43. Review. Abstract
Crow TJ, Ball J, Bloom SR, Brown R, Bruton CJ, Colter N, Frith CD, Johnstone EC, Owens DG, Roberts GW. Schizophrenia as an anomaly of development of cerebral asymmetry. A postmortem study and a proposal concerning the genetic basis of the disease. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1989 Dec;46(12):1145-50. Abstract
Crow TJ, DeLisi LE, Johnstone EC. Concordance by sex in sibling pairs with schizophrenia is paternally inherited. Evidence for a pseudoautosomal locus. Br J Psychiatry. 1989 Jul;155:92-7. Abstract
Crow TJ, Delisi LE, Johnstone EC. In reply ... a locus closer to the telomere? Br J Psychiatry. 1990 Mar;156:416-20. No abstract available. Abstract
Crow TJ, Delisi LE, Lofthouse R, Poulter M, Lehner T, Bass N, Shah T, Walsh C, Boccio-Smith A, Shields G, et al. An examination of linkage of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder to the pseudoautosomal region (Xp22.3) Br J Psychiatry. 1994 Feb;164(2):159-64. Abstract
DeLisi LE, Devoto M, Lofthouse R, Poulter M, Smith A, Shields G, Bass N, Chen G, Vita A, Morganti C, et al. Search for linkage to schizophrenia on the X and Y chromosomes. Am J Med Genet. 1994 Jun 15;54(2):113-21. Abstract
Freije D, Helms C, Watson MS, Donis-Keller H. Identification of a second pseudoautosomal region near the Xq and Yq telomeres. Science. 1992 Dec 11;258(5089):1784-7. Abstract
Huxley J, Mayre E, Osmond H, Hoffer A. Schizophrenia as a genetic morphism. Nature. 1964 Oct 17;204:220-1. No abstract available. Abstract
Johnstone EC, Owens DG, Bydder GM, Colter N, Crow TJ, Frith CD. The spectrum of structural brain changes in schizophrenia: age of onset as a predictor of cognitive and clinical impairments and their cerebral correlates. Psychol Med. 1989 Feb;19(1):91-103. Abstract
Laval SH, Dann JC, Butler RJ, Loftus J, Rue J, Leask SJ, Bass N, Comazzi M, Vita A, Nanko S, Shaw S, Peterson P, Shields G, Smith AB, Stewart J, DeLisi LE, Crow TJ. Evidence for linkage to psychosis and cerebral asymmetry (relative hand skill) on the X chromosome. Am J Med Genet. 1998 Sep 7;81(5):420-7. Abstract


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Showing 1-14 of 14 items found in Events
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79th Annual Gladiolus Festival
On the agenda for the Gladiolus Festival are the Coronation of the Princess and Queen, plus numerous parades, a carnival and giant flea, swap, and craft market.
You will see many hand crafted items by the creative minds of the artists that made all of these beautiful items. Original art work includes water color and oil paintings, blown and fused glass creations, woodworking, jewelry, hand knits, porcelain paintings and other media.
For the fine appreciation of quilt making attend this show and see hundreds of quilts on display; along with quilt making demonstrations. There will be quilt vendors and food concessions; plus raffle tickets that will be sold at the door for a quilt drawing.
Kankakee history comes to life with the guided history walk through Mound Grove Cemetery. Actors will portray historical figures sharing their lives and times in Kankakee County. Tours are at 11 a.m and 2 p.m.
Chicago Bears 7UPTraining Camp
Whether you're a hardcore football nut, or you just want to give the family a Bears experience they'll never forget, Bears training camp in Bourbonnais is the place to be! Every summer the Chicago Bears descend on Olivet Nazarene University for training camp, where fans can attend free family events and meet the players. Please visit the Bears website for dates and times. No open practices on July 29, Aug. 2, 3, 7, 8 & 9.
For one day each fall, downtown Kankakee is transformed into a center for arts and entertainment. The Art Stroll brings together artisans from all over the Midwest, including painters, photographers, jewelry makers, potters, glass makers, and a variety of music and performance artists.
Enjoy hay rides, pumpkin painting and tug-of-war in the Forest Preserve District of Will County's Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve. Explore the Nature Center and its critters and snack on s'mores around a campfire while grooving to live outdoor music. Vendors and artisans will be on hand. Registration is not required for this free, all-ages event. 12-4PM.
Throughout the Kankakee County Museum, Christmas trees are decorated by community organizations. Yearly, a special theme is added for your enjoyment. Come in and view the different arrangements and vote for that special tree.
H.A. Rathje Peotone WindMill Tours
Tour and explore three floors of the largest Dutch/German Illinois Windmill built in 1872, filled with antiques and exhibits. Su 1-3PM.
Historical H.A. Rathje Windmill Fall Festival
Explore three floors of the largest Illinois Windmill built in 1872, the demonstrations of old time crafts as well as expanded children activities - and it's free.
Run or walk a 5k route or the 1m fun walk to help raise funds to fight arthritis. Dress in a holiday costume or tie jingle bells to your shoe laces for this festive event.
Let's spend a day at the fair. Go to the time-honored livestock shows, play some games, enter contests, enjoy the exciting live entertainment, be brave and ride on the carnival rides, or feast on the fair food; but don't forget to see the demolition derby or rodeo.
Family fun for all ages! Manteno goes all out for this annual fest that features live music, games, crafts, food vendors and a lighted parade. The whole town joins in with city wide garage sales, contests, a 5K run and fabulous fall decorations throughout.
Our local fair includes livestock as well as arts & crafts judging. With a free Family entertainment tent, a carnival, food, grandstand entertainment & commercial exhibits and a beer tent. 7AM-12AM
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Are there other names which mean essentially the same thing. If there is a univeral process that goes into the making of a chowder that distinguishes a chowder, what is it? Are there some sorts of food produce conducive to "chowdering" and others that are not? Is there a list of chowder types somewhere? I ask because I sense that all of those elements would go into a good definition--not just a dictionary definition--of what makes for good chowders.
According to Food Network and chowhound.com, chowders are thick, usually cream- or milk-based soups with chunks of vegetables and/or fish. A cream soup is generally pureed, a thinner consistency and smooth, with no chunks of food.
Food Network also notes the regional aspects, in that the Northeast seafood-based chowders are more common, while further inland meat-based soups are more prevalent. http://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/chowder-and-soup/index.html
PreparedPantry.com describes chowder attributes:
In tribute to French origins, can I suggest that chowders are soups that begin with a roux. Rhode Island chowder is thick but clear - it contains butter, but no cream or tomato. It does start with a butter/flour base.


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I have just upgraded to Ubuntu 11.10. There is no shutdown button or apparent means of accessing something similar from the GUI. It is extremely annoying having to enter dash, search for the shutdown dialog, and then activate it. The dialog has no apparent means to add it to the panel nor the launcher.
Is there a known fix or is this a "feature"?


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Sara Wycoff, '08, Gov. office
Sara Wycoff, class of 2008, and Senior Strategic Policy Advisor for Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, will be on campus Thursday, September 19, at 7:00 pm. Her lecture, entitled "Charting the Future of Michigan: A View from and Albion Alumnus in the Governor's Office," will address her path from Albion to the state capitol as well as explain some of the policies and legislation that Sara helped implement. This event will take place in Bobbitt Auditorium and is sponsored by the Gerald Ford Institute.


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Go behind the scenes as Omaha artist Jun Kaneko proposes startling costumes and groundbreaking animation for the premiere of The Magic Flute by the San Francisco Opera. Will it work? Next stop, Omaha!
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|Nebraska Stories: Battling a Football State of Mind, 711
|In a state where football dominates the headlines, another sport is battling for recognition. La...
|Nebraska Stories: Spreading Hayseed, 711
|Songs for farmers and the people who love them- that's what Susan Werner sings about in her latest...
|Nebraska Stories: The Farmers' Friend, 711
|We meet Charlie Fenster, a man who has spent his life researching dry land farming practices. Many...
|Nebraska Stories: The Anti-Horse Thief Society, 711
|Late in the 19th century, a group of Kearney citizens formed a club to stop horse thieves. Producer...
|ICU Learning English: Food Preparation, 1016
|Learn basic vocabulary and information about healthy life style
|Nebraska Stories: Gold Star Kids & More, 710
|"Gold Star Kids" The Gold Star Kids Honor Flight brought together widows and children of military...
|Nebraska Stories: The Blue Barn: All Grown Up & More, 709
|"Blue Barn All Grown Up" After 27 years, Omaha's non-profit Blue Barn Theatre finally has a stage...
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|Nebraska Stories: The Blue Barn: All Grown Up, 709
|After 27 years, Omaha's non-profit Blue Barn Theatre finally has a stage all its own to produce the...
|Nebraska Stories: Highway Paleontology, 709
|We follow a team of paleontologists as they dig along Nebraska's highways where they uncover new...


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Click Here to download the Policy PDF
It is the policy of New York University (NYU, "the University") that program income must be identified and tracked in accordance with federal and other sponsor requirements.
"Program income is gross income earned by the recipient that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of a sponsored award … Program income includes, but is not limited to, income from fees for services performed, the use or rental of real or personal property acquired under Federally funded projects, the sale of commodities or items fabricated under an award, license fees and royalties on patents and copyrights, and interest on loans made with award funds." [Federal Office of Budget and Management (OMB) Circular, A-110 §__.2]
A project may have program income as a result of providing services to other organizations and/or from the sale of items developed under the award. When NYU engages in such activities, program income must be accounted for in the manner prescribed by sponsor regulations and NYU's Policy.
For Federal awards, program income should be handled in one of three ways:
In the event that the Federal awarding sponsor does not specify in its regulations or the terms and conditions of the award how program income is to be used, item 3) shall apply automatically to all projects or programs except research. For awards that support research, item 1) shall apply automatically unless the awarding sponsor indicates in the terms and conditions another alternative on the award or the recipient is subject to special award conditions. [OMB Circular A-110, §__.24]
If authorized by Federal awarding sponsor regulations or the terms and conditions of the award, costs incident to the generation of program income may be deducted from gross income to determine program income provided these costs have not been charged to the award.
Unless Federal awarding sponsor regulations or the terms and conditions of the award provide otherwise, recipients shall have no obligation to the Federal Government regarding program income earned after the end of the project period.
Interest earned on advances of Federal funds is not program income. Except as otherwise provided in Federal awarding sponsor regulations or the terms and conditions of the award, program income does not include the receipt of principal on loans, rebates, credits, discounts or interest earned on any of them.
For non-Federal awards, stipulations around program income should be addressed in the sponsor's terms and conditions or by contacting the sponsor through OSP.
Proceeds from the sale of property shall be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Property Standards (See OMB Circular A-110, §§__.30 through __.37).
The purpose of this policy is to set forth the circumstances for identifying and tracking program income in accordance with Federal and other sponsor requirements.
This policy is applicable to all schools, departments, units and personnel of the University involved in administering sponsored awards.
Click here to download the Policy PDF
|Effective Date:
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Program Income
Gross income earned by the recipient that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of an award.
Federal Regulations
NYU Approach and application of this policy, related resources and more available in the Handbook.
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text:
Since misunderstood question here, a new question with narrow scope. So what are equipments need for frame-building?
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The minimum tool set is something that gets discussed on the framebuilders list and other forums from time to time. I think the consensus is:
Ideally you'd have more than that but you could build a bike with only those tools. But that is "making a point" territory. More realistically you would add:
If you want to start building bikes I strongly suggest joining the framebuilders list or some of the online forums. There's a heap of things you can do to make your life easier, and having someone you can visit to see how they do stuff will teach you things you don't even think to ask. The Atomic Zombie crew or other garage homebuilders would be perfect if there's a group like that near you. Recumbent homebuilders are often equally useful and will probably help you even if you want to build a wedgie.
The advantage is that you built it yourself, and if you want something unusual you can build it. The disadvantage is that it's an expensive, time-consuming way to get an inferior bike. The first one you build will not be professional quality, you'll be lucky if it works at all. So if you want a traditional diamond frame bike the only reason to build it is because you can (like Suzy did). If you want a weird bike then you might find you have to either pay a professional framebuilder or do it yourself. Unless you already have a metalworking shop, it's cheaper to pay someone, even if they've never done anything like your bike before (so you get a first attempt that kinda works).
The reward is that you get something you built yourself. It's especially fulfilling when someone you approached initially who refused to build it sees your version and turns it into a commercial product (Greenspeed make a tandem that converts to a solo trike now, because I showed them it could be done).
(moved from Items required to manufacture a DIY bike?)
A different answer: you could build a composite bicycle using the following:
Shape a polystyrene core then layer carbon or glass fibre over it, adding metal inserts as required for dropouts, bottom bracket etc. You would need to buy the metal parts.
But you would probably want to add:
Damon Rinard did it with not a lot more than that and his full version page lists all the tools and other stuff he used to do it.


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Quarry Collection by Feiss
When Mother Nature meets human ingenuity, the result is the Quarry Collection by Feiss. Gray and rusted slate stone are used for the base and backdrop of these organic fixtures. These wall mounts are covered with oil rubber bronze or brushed steel paint and complete with white opal etched glass. Stick these in the bathroom for the perfect vanity.
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Lots of programmers that I've met always says that "He is not a UI guy." The fact is that development nowadays, whether web, Windows, Linux, OSX, or any other type of development now comprises software with a good-looking UI. Why do so many developers seem to not like UI work?
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closed as primarily opinion-based by GrandmasterB, Corbin March, Michael Kohne, MichaelT, Yusubov Aug 29 '13 at 2:03
Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise.If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
I'm not a UI person either. Well, I do UI on my own projects, but at work I have nothing to do with it -- my work is in the guts of the app, not on the front end.
Beyond that, I think it's more boredom than hate. Designing the UI is the hard and challenging part. Implementation is mostly grunt work. There's very little challenge or innovation in how one can implement a user interface, and there's only so many times one can put a checkbox on the screen before going slightly mental. And that's not even touching on spending hours aligning pixels "just so".
Making a good UI involves a lot of different skills than writing some backend code.
Back-end requirements can usually be specified like a black box, x goes in and it's expected that y should come out. Making it work involves implementing the logic and you can programatically test whether it works or it doesn't.
To make a good UI, you need to consider usability, visual design, layout and things like colour schemes. Having some artistic creativity is a bonus here, and many programmers don't feel that they have this. To a logical brain the solution to a UI problem may seem subjective as there is no one correct answer or no easy way to validate that it is done 'correctly'.
I think a lot of programmers that don't have much UI experience or haven't done much research into it don't realise that there are rules and science behind both good UI design from both a usability perspective and a design one (e.g. colour theory).
Of course, some programmers don't have a problem with this aspect but hate it because many UIs are just boring to code. They may consist of a lot of repetitive work like pages of forms for admin pages where they just need to be functional and there is no design challenge.
People just have different interests. Some programmers are more interested in data stuctures and algorithms, some in architecture, some in usability and UI design- or any combination of those and other niches. They each require different skills and different ways of thinking about a problem. If you like the low-level nuts and bolts of programming, maybe you don't care as much about how the user thinks, or vice versa.
Personally, I fall into the latter camp- I'd much rather design a UI than a complex algorithm. It's just the kind of thing that I find interesting.
Whether a given UI design is good or bad is fairly subjective, which I think programmers in general find unappealing. A few decades of effort to quantify and qualify good UI techniques has helped to create some broad rules one can apply, but more often than not to really determine whether a UI is any good requires a lot of A/B testing and other user-observation techniques.
While there is certainly subjectivity in programming, commonly you can point to some form of objective reasons as to why one choice is better than another: speed of execution, memory requirements, flexibility to meet likely future needs, practices that have demonstrably proven more effective in the past, etc. Defending a given UI choice -- and therefor even making the choice itself -- commonly degrades to "I like it," which is a whole different kind of argument to support.
I personally do not enjoy UI development because I am not good at it. There is HUGE element of user psychology that I am just not good at understanding. I think my biggest issue is that I can't put put myself in the user's shoes. I do not know how to make intuitive layouts largely because I do not know what is intuitive to the user, nor do I know how to make things look pretty.
I don't necessarily think some programmer hate designing UI's as much as they hate doing things that they are not good at. It just happens that there are a lot of developers that are not good at UI development.
The problem with UI design is everybody has an opinion...And there is no right or wrong answer. Developers on the other hand love black & white and logic. In any size company everyone will agree that
As a developer who actually enjoys working on UI (specifically, I've done my fair share of web design), I appreciate when someone who doesn't have the skill set stays out of it.
Developing requires the ability to hold a lot of data in your mind, and deal with a lot at once. UI design requires the ability to boil it down as minimally as possible, without sacrificing its integrity. I love the challenge of that; and I cringe when I see someone create a UI that's an unmanageable wall-o-data on screen. (I'm also a total geek when it comes to layout, color theory, etc.)
On the other hand, I hate low-level stuff. I will never touch code for drivers, kernels, or anything else like that :shudder: I'll leave that to the "non-UI guys", and I'm happy someone else enjoys doing it, or it would never get done.
UI development gets complex because you get too much input from the wrong people. They're all graphical design experts. They're no where to be found when you want to know the formula for something.
They don't know what they want but know it when they see it, have no taste, and those with the decision power won't use the application anyway but are certain it should be green. You follow guidelines for good UI like limiting the amount of fields on a form and you get a request to add 50 more fields because they 'need' all of them and having them on separate tabs is too much effort. You know, the same as Excel. Peasants!
You can't make this up. I sat in a meeting where the top two people in the accounting department (approx. 500K/year salary) for a large law firm spent half an hour arguing over a label on a billing website page used by the lawyers. This was suppose to make it easy for the lawyers to understand. Why not just ask the lawyers? Too easy. So the IT department gets to field 50 phone calls from lawyers wanting to know WTF "Residual Net Billing Amount" is and why is it on their time entry form.
Some people like broccoli, some don't. We might have to eat it, but we don't have to like it and we are not going to enjoy it when we do eat it. Not only that, we are going to avoid having to eat it as much as we possibly can.
There are A LOT of other things to code than just the UI. Web Services, Windows Services, embedded (not much of a UI on a microwave), just to name a few examples.
I think it depends of most programmers use left part of their brain.
A good source for further reading of this subject.
That might be because - in some cases - tools that are expressly conceived to help you draw the UI suck dead baby monkeys through a straw instead.
There are certain things in UI development that are difficult to get right.
Layout is one of them. I've been building UIs for over 15 years and have not yet still a decent solution to layout management.
Another is event routing - even with MVP architectures and stuff mandated by frameworks, I would argue that most complex UIs have event routing problems - which might be discovered if any of the testing frameworks could address them well.
I know that for me I used to hate UI dev because I found it very tedious and slow, especially writing layout code to position things in a form or winow. Now with UI designer tools such as the Forms Designer in Visual Studio, I almost enjoy it. Other reasons for hating it I've heard from others included "it's stupid", "it always changes too much", "it's not challenging enough", "it's tedious/boring".
Why don't all chess players like designing chessboards and the pieces they play with?
It's not weird that some people don't like that... it's weird you expect we should.
I like working on the UI. That wasn't always true for me, but my enjoyment of UI work has increased as I've gotten better at it over the last few years. I do know some developers should not be allowed near a stylesheet, or a color palette. It's definitely a different skillset, and not everyone has it.
I don't as much hate UI work as I hate some UI frameworks. E.g. I've been programming .NET for >10years. The frameworks for creating web applications are great (ASP.NET WebForms and ASP.NET MVC). But the frameworks for writing desktop applications, well, I'm not fond of them (WinForms and WPF).
So in this respect, writing GUI applications is more an aspect of using frameworks I don't like.
There is another aspect. I often work with "enterprise"-style applications, i.e. applications where a desktop application needs to receive data from a server. In this case, there are so many layers of conversion of data from one format to another that it gets really really boring.
E.g. the application receives information through a series of DTO objects. The application then creates it's own model representation of the data (not reusing the same domain classes that were created on the server). The model classes are consumed by a view model (in a WPF MVVM pattern), that exposes the properties on the model.
That is a lot of times that the same data is represented by different classes. And that gets boring. But this is a problem specific to this type of desktop application.
There are also interesting challenges in this type of application, such as how do we get changes from one client to update immediately on another client.
I'm not a huge fan of UI development for these reasons:
I do both UI (desktop, not web) and internal guts.
The amount I like or don't like either one depends on how much I can get done using something like a domain-specific-language (DSL).
In the UI domain, what I am presenting to the users, and the complexity of the information I am getting from them, is such that I would go crazy if I had to use typical tools, like forms designers, lots of event handlers, MVC, all that "state of the art" stuff. Thankfully, decades ago I discovered what I think is a better way, which is to make a DSL for it, and work in that. Currently I call it Dynamic Dialogs, and it's based on a control structure I call Differential Execution. The good news is, for a given functionality, the source code is roughly an order of magnitude less, allowing me to put a lot more functionality into the UI. The bad news is, as much as I've tried to teach it, I haven't had much luck transferring the technology.
In the non-UI domain, I took a lesson from a number of products that started out as DSLs usable from the command-line, on which a UI was later grafted. That gives the expert user something where they can bypass the UI, while giving the casual user something they can use casually. (Examples: R, SPlus, Matlab, SAS, WinBugs.) So our product has a command-line language for experts. I love developing such things, with a parser, code generator, precompiler, and run-time modeling engine. The effort spent on that is at least a power of 10 less than the effort spent on the UI.
One reason the UI effort is so much is there's still a lot of "glue" that can't be done with a DSL - managing data grids, all kinds of ways of sorting data, all the stuff that falls in the yawning "crack" between pure UI and underlying language.
So your question was "Why do some programmers hate the UI part of development?". I only hate it because of that "glue" for which I don't have a DSL.
Honestly I find that finding the best GUI toolkit then actually learning the ins and outs of that is kinda a PITA... not to mention you don't learn much UI stuff in college and im a newbie so......ya..
Beyond what's already stated (it's tedious, boring, frustrating work to code it and the design is usually done up front by someone who has no clue as to what problems his ideas cause for those trying to implement them), an important factor is that you're having to work with people whose ideas about what you should be making change constantly, far more so than they do for the backend. As a result, you're shooting against a moving spec even more, and these people tend to be nitpickers too. I've literally have user interfaces fail tests because a components was 1 pixel off the location the person testing it thought it should have been. Did it work? Yes. Did it look good? Yes. But he started counting pixels and something was a single pixel out of line with the rest, so he sent it back for rework.
A few more points:
1) UI Design can be harder to test, sure you can check if that button does what it should, but testing if it is easy to use that is harder. How about testing if it will be usable with someone with a disability?
2) Many programmers are not trained on it, and don't know much about it.
The fact is lots of UI tools/framework/API are bad, complex, far far away to be intuitive. I developed with Win32 API in C / C++, with javax.swing, CSS, etc Since that, i hate have to deals with UI development... Until Qt framework !
As a CS student you'll be taught data structure, database, C++...except UI. So you'll not good at it from beginning. If you are not good at it, you'll hate it.
Having worked on both sides of the coin i.e. UI design and the backend code, I found that both sides of the coin are basically the same thing.
Requirements that differ from what you do day to day do not come all the time and now in the era where all services revolve around CRUD then it becomes boring.
Anyway, coding the frontend allows better interaction and crazy dynamisms that basically screw an inexperienced hand in frontend design. I personally learnt the hard way in frontend and can comfortably say that designing frontend is far much more interesting and challenging.
protected by World Engineer♦ Aug 28 '13 at 17:57
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