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Full profile →'">
The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
is one of the nation's biggest operators of carbon-belching power plants. No wonder CEO David Crane is so keen to become the emperor of alternative energy.
In the basement of the Princeton, N.J. home of David Crane, CEO of electricity giant , sits a backup generator. Called the Beacon 10, it was designed by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway scooter. The device runs on natural gas fed by Crane's residential gas line.
At peak output it can generate 10 kilowatts--about three times the current drawn by the average home. Unlike other backup generators on the market today, the Beacon 10 is a so-called Stirling engine (it features pistons inside a closed chamber that move at a rate governed by the amount of heat applied to the outside of the chamber). Kamen has spent ten years working to perfect his Stirling, which is far quieter and more efficient than a common diesel backup generator.
The plan, says Crane, is for Kamen to work out the kinks (Crane's setup is just the second one out of the lab) over the next 18 months and get the costs down to about $10,000 per machine--the point at which homeowners who suffered a weeks-long blackout from Hurricane Sandy or Katrina or Ike might be interested. "In two years I would expect high-end home builders to be installing them," says Kamen.
But what gets Crane really jazzed is that, with natural gas prices cheap enough, the Beacon 10 is more than just a backup and instead works around the clock in tandem with the solar panels on his roof. This is the future, he says. If the price is comparable, how could you not want to make your electricity at your own home rather than rely on the grid to get it to you? Rooftop solar is NRG's fastest-growing business. Crane is confident that the Beacon 10 could be much bigger. "Think how shockingly stupid it is to build a 21st-century electric system based on 120 million wooden poles," Crane, 55, taunted a conference of utility executives earlier this year.
But the question is this: Why on earth would Crane be interested in this stuff at all? NRG is the nation's biggest nonutility electricity producer, with $12 billion in annual revenue. Just two years ago it acquired a heap of fossil-fuel power plants in its $5.5 billion acquisition of GenOn. Today its 125 power plants generate 53,000 megawatts in 24 states, with 48% coming from natural gas, 32% from coal, but just 6% from alternatives like wind and solar.
It's precisely because of NRG's heavy exposure to coal that Crane is sprinting to expand the alternatives business. While there is no carbon tax in the U.S. yet, the EPA's increasing regulation of coal-fired power plants worries investors in the electricity industry--especially NRG investors. Analyst Hugh Wynne of Bernstein Research modeled how a hypothetical carbon dioxide emissions tax of $10 per ton would affect the nation's biggest electricity generators. He found that NRG would be hurt the most, suffering a 50% blow to earnings. The next worse would be the Corp., at 3% of earnings. Why the outsize hit? NRG isn't a utility, so it can't appeal to regulators to let it recoup carbon costs from ratepayers.
Luckily for NRG, any carbon tax remains years off. That means "Crane has lots of time to move the rhetoric," says Brandon Blossman, managing director of research at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. "And lots of money to spend building new income streams not tied to coal generation."
In recalibrating NRG to be a clean, green power provider, what Crane intends to do is sell (or preferably lease) tens of thousands of solar systems and Stirling engines and smart thermostats to homeowners. It's the kind of business plan that Elon Musk's --the nation's biggest installer of home solar systems--has been working to perfect in recent years, generating $200 million in annual sales and $6 billion of market capitalization in the process. Crane intends to grab some of that for NRG (which has just twice the market cap). "We're going to build a capability that is going to beat SolarCity," says Crane. "Our advantage is that we have all this other cross-selling stuff built in."
Through its retail electric providers including Reliant Energy, NRG has 3 million customers. Crane hopes the shift to green power systems will help keep them. "The loyalty that those customers have to us is almost zero," says Crane. "Our annual churn rate is 30%. Some people will switch electricity providers for one tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour." Since 80% of residential solar installations are done on 20-year leases, "that means that you're my customer for the next 20 years. You're not leaving."
It will take some real doing for this new gear to make an impact on NRG. It got about $100 million from solar sales last year (up from nothing in 2011). That should increase this year with NRG's acquisition of solar installer Roof Diagnostics and the completion of the Ivanpah solar installation in California, the nation's largest.
To further justify NRG's push into "distributed generation" like solar panels and basement generators, Crane talks up his belief that the U.S. power grid will succumb to a slow death caused by anticarbon regulation and ever-cheaper alternatives like rooftop solar. It's like the U.S. Postal Service, he says. All the important mail already goes by UPS or . That puts the post office in a death spiral: It has to raise rates to cover costs, but those higher rates drive away more customers. Electric utilities have already begun responding in the same way by charging home solar adopters new fees for staying attached to the grid.
Crane even questions the dogma that natural gas will forever save us from the great carbon shibboleth: the idea that there's enough natural gas to heat all the homes, run all the power plants, fuel all the heavy-duty vehicles and still export gas. "I'm a believer that fracking is amazing," he says. "But can it do all of those?"
So what about the contraption in his basement? Crane believes there will be a substantial advantage of cheap nat gas for home power for a long time, especially since regulators require that gas supplies to homes never be interrupted, no matter the cost to utilities--it just wouldn't do to have Grandma freeze to death.
An ivy-educated (Princeton, Harvard Law) investment banker who grew up outside of Chicago, Crane got into the electricity business in the 1990s, working at Lehman Brothers' power group. He later ran wholesale generator International Power until NRG poached him for the CEO slot in 2003. At that time NRG was emerging from bankruptcy, having fallen victim to the upheaval of Enron's collapse. Early in his tenure NRG sold a handful of power plants, then in 2006 it bought Texas Genco for $8.3 billion to get a foothold in the lucrative Texas market. He also launched a $13 billion-plus plan to build two additional reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear plant but abandoned the venture in 2011 (and wrote off $300 million in development costs) after slow permitting and newly plentiful natural gas killed the economics of new nukes. Then came the acquisition of GenOn in 2012. All along, say analysts, Crane has shown the ability to change tack with the times.


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Vari*Lite(R) automated luminaires made their debut this season at London's Royal National Theatre in a revival of the 1941 Moss Hart/Ira Gershwin/Kurt Weill musical Lady in the Dark. Directed by Francesca Zambello for its London premiere in the Lyttleton Theatre, Lady in the Dark has sets by Adrianne Lobel, costumes by Nicky Gillibrand, and lighting by Rick Fisher, who animated his rig with 18 Vari*Lite luminaires. Lobel's set presented a challenge to the lighting designer, with an array of ...
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subset: commoncrawl


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Live preview = page not found.
Working on it, hopefully! Updated! Sorry about that!
how do you change the email??
how do you change the email??
Contact me through the contact form on my profile please
I did yesterday and till now you did not answer?? what you sold me is not working
Just checked my spam! D: and replied!
The button on newsletter keep green. I need it RED . How i change?!
Search for 'name="subscribe"'
and change
'class="btn-large btn btn-success"' to 'class="btn-large btn btn-danger"'
Thnks. And how o set font size 10 to about who?! Need to put a Large text.
just add #aboutwho p{ font-size: 10px; }
anywhere into the css
How to change the email?
Well if you buy the template, it's included in the documentation
I would love to buy this theme but is there a possibility to convert the countdown to actual date alive.
I mean I want just the landing page to show how many days,weeks,etc the page is been online
Let me know if that is possible and how, I would love to buy the theme
You want it to count the amount of days it's been live? Seems alright and doable, feel free to contact me through the contact page if you'd like more info!
Cheers BenSheppard
It appears something isn't working with Java when I install the theme. The clock isn't working and when I click on the links it just changes them in place and doesn't jump down. The path structure seems to be fine. I'm testing in both Chrome and Firefox
Also getting java error: "Uncaught ReferenceError: iid is not defined: line 73 lookjavascript.js"
UPDATED: If the year isn't set right it breaks java for the rest of the site.
Sorry for a late reply, yeah due to the counter being the "main" part of the template
Just FYI – the ticker (the thing going around the coming soon section) doesn't work correctly in Firefox 17.0.1.
Just installed FF17 and I see what you mean! Sorting it out now!
All fixed, updating now! I'll keep you updated
Great! Cheers, mate .
All done, thanks for letting me know
I'm running into issues getting Google Maps to embed properly in this code. I'm basically just copying the code (Customize Embed Code > Set the right dimensions > copy & paste), but it always winds up way off center, and doesn't show the marker. Any suggestions?
If you use something like http://www.map-generator.org/ to help work with the offset?
I haven't tried that, but what did work (despite being redundant) was to load the map in a separate document, then load that file into the iframe.
Thanks for the link though, I'll check it out. The landing page works beautifully other than that!
Thank you very much! Sorry for the issues you've had
What seems to be the issue?
Not sure on macs but can you…
Right click -> Edit in notepad (or mac alternative)
Really love this template but have had so much trouble doing the simplest things. I do not want a progress page so I remove the code for the progress section in the html but it causes the whole thing to be messed up. Is there something I'm missing?
If you're removing the whole section I'm not sure what the issue could be? :/ If you send me a message though my profile page with a zip of the theme I'll take the progress bar out for you!
Nice work, Good luck for sales;


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Before racing 70.3 Texas I was getting a lot of questions along the same lines: Are you losing weight? I would shrug my shoulders, because honestly, I didn't know.
I bought a scale about a year ago for the first time in my life, and honestly, the day I bought it was probably the last time I got on it to look at the numbers. The cat usually lays on it to prop himself up, so I guess it's a glorified kitty toy.
Weight to me is a number. It does not define who I am or my value.
But man that number sure has a lot of power over us. The number on the scale for many can turn their mood on a dime: the number goes down, confidence goes up, if the number goes up, body shaming and lack of confidence go up. All of this over a number. Which by the way can vary greatly depending on what time you step on it. If you are going to use that number, gauge yourself based on a consistent time. Something like Tuesday mornings after you use the restroom. If you are a triathlete and have long weekends, I know I tend to retain a lot of water that drains on Mondays, so Tuesday mornings would be the best before workouts. And I've thought about it to track, but, I don't want to give that number power over me. I don't want a scale defining my mood.
I don't know if I am losing weight, but I know my body shape is changing, as it usually does when my long workouts come. As long as I'm eating smart, my body naturally goes to the shape best fitting my activities. That means my clothes fit differently, which can help me with my confidence. Being strong makes me confident, not what size I have to order (although having to order an extra large for a triathlon item was a huge punch in the gut).
That doesn't mean that I don't suffer from body image issues. In fact from my huge PR for my 70.3, some of my first reactions to a few pictures was, ouch, man I'm chubby. Not wow I can't believe I did so well, but that in that picture, I didn't like the way I looked. But then I remind myself that spandex is hard on everyone, even the super fit. I don't want my goal to be a shape that is defined by an industry pushing people to make bad health choices. I don't want to go down the road of having body issues define my eating habits.
I want to be strong, happy and confident in myself, whatever shape that takes. So I may have bigger thighs than a lot of people, but those thighs power me up hills on my bike and keep me going for hours of activity without complaint.
I just have to keep reminding myself of that every time I look in the mirror.


text: Daybreakers Directors Helm The Dark Crystal Sequel, Promise PuppetsMeredith Woerner5/04/10 4:01pmFiled to: dark crystaljim hensonMoviesMUPPETSNewsPower of the dark crystalthe dark crystalPeter SpierigMichael SpierigSpierig brothers85EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalinkGreat flying Gelflings: The Dark Crystal sequel just announced a big shake-up. Rumored director Genndy Tartakovsky has been replaced with the Daybreakers team, the Spierig brothers. But at least the brothers promise puppets and an amazing creative team.AdvertisementThe Henson Company just twitter announced the two directors picked to direct the new Dark Crystal sequel.Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig, writers and directors of "Undead" and most recently, "Daybreakers," have come aboard to direct the screenplay written by Australian Craig Pearce ("Moulin Rouge," "Strictly Ballroom," "Romeo + Juliet") based on an original script by Annette Duffy and David Odell. The legendary fantasy artist Brian Froud will reprise his role as conceptual designer of the film, which will use a stunning mix of live action and traditional puppetry combined with visual and special effects produced entirely in Australia. Omnilab-affiliated Iloura ("Where the Wild Things Are," "The Pacific," "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark") has already begun work on the film's complex CGI elements. With this team in place, next steps will be to secure worldwide distribution.Iloura is bad ass. Granted, they've gotten a little limb-heavy in The Pacific, but that's not really their fault. Bottom line: they make realistic-looking creations, that shouldn't look real at all. Which means, you may want to think twice before going to the 3-D showing of Dark Crystal 2 high as a kite. Wait, who are we kidding? This franchise was made to scare children and entertain stoners.AdvertisementThe only thing we ask from The Power Of The Dark Crystal is that if you don't end up using puppets for Gelflings — and you really should — that you cast Taylor Swift as lead Gelfling.


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June 9, 2011
Stretched-out Low Soaking The Caribbean In GOES-13 Satellite Imagery
GOES-13 satellite imagery on June 9 shows that the pesky low pressure area in the north Caribbean Sea is stretching out and bringing soaking rains to Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite called GOES-13 captured an image of this low on June 9 at 1740 UTC (1:40 p.m. EDT) System 94L, and the cloud cover appears centered over eastern Cuba and Jamaica while the outer portion of the low stretches over Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and now south Florida. The elongated low has a minimum central pressure of 1001 millibars and is centered near 20 North and 83 West.
During the afternoon of June 9, Flash Flood warnings were in effect in Puerto Rico for the municipalities of Guaynabo, Carolina and San Juan until 4 p.m. AST. According to the National Weather Service website, "at 1:54 p.m. AST National Weather Service doppler radar indicated that heavy rain continues over the warned area and the Piedras River has overflowed its banks and will flood a number of streets." An Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisory is also in effect for many municipalities.The forecast calls for showers and thunderstorms across western and northwestern Puerto Rico over the next few days. These showers will bring heavy rainfall and local flooding is possible. In addition to Puerto Rico, the rainfall is also now affecting the U.S/U.K. Virgin Islands and Leeward Islands north of 16 North and east of 67 West.
The GOES series of satellites are operated by NOAA, and the NASA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. created the image of today's low pressure area. The NASA GOES Project also creates animations of GOES satellite imagery and that can be found at: http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
System 94L continues to produce disorganized showers and thunderstorms that are bringing heavy rainfall to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba. The low is expected to slowly move northeast.
Image Caption: This visible image from the GOES-13 satellite taken at 1740 UTC (1:40 p.m. EDT) shows the large, elongated area of low pressure over eastern Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola. Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project, Dennis Chesters
On the Net:


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Romulo Yanes
Everything is approximate with brisket and tzimmes, since some people can't stand prunes and others want nothing but. The amounts listed below are estimates; feel free to change them. Though Karen Stabiner calls for first-cut brisket, which is relatively lean, we prefer the more evenly marbled second cut for moister, more succulent meat.
Leave a Review
Made this for Rosh Hashana dinner, as our usual tzimmes maker could not provide her specialty this year. WOW, what a yummy dish, and simple as well. I did week a bit: 1. I diced and sautéed and onion after I browned the brisket. 2. I substituted red wine for sherry vinegar 3. I added 1tsp cinnamon for fllavor. 4. I used less stock than called for. The sauce was thin and I thought I might need to use immersion blender to thicken but after I chilled it down and skimmed off fat! the sauce was perfect consistency.
I have made this EVERY year for five years. It is my new tradition and I love it. :)
Great recipe. I cut it in half and it still made a ton. I followed the previous reviewers advice and didn't worry about having brown chicken stock. Used my own homemade stock instead. I also added yukon golds and parsnips, as well as some dried apricots. Very delicious!
I have made this recipe two years running for Hannukkah parties, and it's been a big hit! Several pieces of advice: (1) Don't sweat if you can't find BROWN chicken stock; regular chicken stock (or beef stock) will be fine. (2) If you're lazy like me, save time by buying a bag of baby carrots. (3) Can use yams in place of sweet potatoes. (4) DO follow the directions by waiting to add the carrots and sweet potatoes until after the first two hours of braising. (4a) If you're lazy like me and put the carrots & sweet potatoes in at the beginning, cut the sweet potatoes into larger pieces. I found that after 3 hours of braising, chilling, and then another hour of re-heating, the small chunks of sweet potatoes simply dissolved into the broth. The broth tasted awesome, but there was less to eat. (5) I did not find dried pitted prunes in the produce aisle, where I'd expect them. Instead, check the snacks aisle, near the nuts and popcorn. Thanks, Grandma Ethel! :-)
You don`t have to be Jewish (or, insert group here)to enjoy a great meal). Made this for Easter. It was a huge hit, definitely a keeper and will certainly make it again. I`ve always believed that the key to understanding and tolerance amongst people is through food. What better way is there than to sit and talk while eating a great meal
Everyone raved about this at Christmas dinner. We have a lot of food sensitivities in the family and everyone was able to eat this without any alterations. It was also nice to have the majority of cooking done the day ahead. I cut the sweet potatoes a little small. The next time I will make sure to leave them quite large otherwise they break down with the long cooking time.
Wonderful and easy to make. Important tip: after you've chilled the brisket and sliced it for reheating, put everything back in the pan with the meat at the bottom and the veggies on top. That way the meat will be in the sauce when everything melts. I did this the second time, big improvement. And: you can never have too many prunes.
I made this for Easter. Passover can"t have all the fun! It was very easy and the cook time was perfect. I put a thermometer in the oven and made sure the heat was at 350. I used 7lbs of meat and 20 oz of plums. I chilled for 2 days. It was a hit. You could easily chill for 3 days. I am not this type of cook, so if you are worried about it coming out right - this seems to be the one. Happy cooking! J
This recipe was great. I subbed regular chicken broth for the brown broth and added sage and white potatoes. Everyone raved.
First time I chose to make a brisket for Rosh Hashanah. Never attempted before due to horror stories of this type of meat being dry and tough. After reading the reviews for this recipe, I took a chance. Outcome was incredible! The meat was wonderfully TENDER and MOIST; no knife necessary for cutting into bite size pieces,a fork did the job. Even the most finicky eaters and family food critics loved it; 13 lbs of meat for 8 people gone in one sitting. I look forward to making brisket again and have no hesitation in recommending this recipe to others.


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"There is a distinct possibility you will see more very large tech companies paying a dividend. It's a reflection of the continued maturation of these companies,"
Chuck Carlson
"We expect some investors to look for clarity on what Microsoft's dividend plan looks like going forward."
Charles Di Bona
"We view this announcement, following Pfizer's 26% dividend increase in December 2005, as another sign that Pfizer is addressing shareholder concerns and as another step in the right direction for the company."
Chris Schott
"Bristol-Myers' dividend has been an important attraction for value minded investors -- providing the key back-stop for shares even amidst the company's near-term negative growth outlook and lackluster pipeline news."
Chris Shibutani
"My preference would be to see a dramatic increase in the dividend; I think they'd get more bang for their buck. They clearly have the financial capability to triple it; I think they could attract more investors and get a higher stock price more readily."
Ben Halliburton
"We see it (the dividend hike) as an indication of our strong outlook for the business in the years ahead, and an indication that we see a strong performance in earnings and cash flow not just in this period."
Chip Goodyear
"Then in 2007...the real dividend and impact of Adrian's appointment will start to be seen."
Christian Horner
"There are many folks out there who hold the shares because of the high dividend. Dropping part of that dividend would mean dropping many shareholders, and I don't think it's worth the savings, which isn't really that much."
Brian Ropp
"Dividends can be a significant component of total return."
Christine Benz
"The Panel's income tax reform plan would make some positive changes such as eliminating the double-taxation of dividends and treating U.S. businesses on a territorial basis with regard to their foreign profits. Both of these changes would increase U.S. business competitiveness and spur investment. However, on both the individual and business parts of this simplified income tax, the proposed top tax rates were still too high. For example, the proposed 32 percent corporate rate would still be higher than the 28 percent average corporate tax rate in Europe."
Chris Edwards


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I am looking to buy a single stack 9mm. I have several handguns but I would like something a bit smaller than my Glock 19 but larger than my LCP and jframe. I also would like to keep the price down below $600
I am open to suggestions and if you could post some single stack porn, that would be appreciated :image035:
Here are the choices:
S&W M&P 9mm Shield (I can't find one anywhere so I may have to wait several months to find one)
Ruger LC9 $299 (Good price but do I want something that looks like my LCP, just bigger?)
Walther PPS $510
Kahr CM9 $389
Sig P290 $569
Sig P938 $589 (I like this A LOT but I don't know how it shoots and I heard that some owners were having feeding/extraction problems.)
Kimber Solo (Probably out of my price range)
Wait for the 9mm XDs if it ever comes out.
Diamond back DB9
Kel Tec PF9


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Imbasawrus - Shadowsong EU
this exactly. I got 3 90's and 4 80+. transfering just my 90's would cost me 75 EUR. if I want to transfer my 81+ chars as well, it turns into 175 EUR. and I don't want to level 7 characters all the way from 1 to 90 AGAIN. so they either need to have a price reduction of at least 50% or give out bulk discounts from 3 and up.
---------- Post added 2013-02-22 at 03:18 PM ----------
Also, I play on Kor'Gall EU. during Cataclysm, the person you heard the most in orgrimmar were the 3 zeppelin masters. it was often 15-20 minutes of just those messages once or twice per minute.
Pugging is dead. I can only do LFR or LFD. Last time we did Sha, we couldn't even get 40 people together.
The AH is dead. I cannot sell anything on there, even high demand items like darkmoon cards and ghost iron. and when I then play my character on Kazzak, which i'm leveling in a futile effort to escape kor'gall, The auction house has more PAGES of auctions than kor'gall has auctions in total. I cannot do a fast scan because it doesn't get everything. I need to make a 45 minute long slow scan. but that's the fun of it.
Currently only reading the Funny Pictures Megathread because the rest of the forums is filled with piss, whiners and pissed whiners.
Signed up for this too, I think that they only real solution would be merging the realms, there is no chance the player base will grow so much, that all realms would be playable.


text: CORAL GABLES, Fla., Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) today announced that it will release results of operations for the year and quarter ended December 31, 2011 after the market closes on Wednesday, February 29, 2012. Senior Management will also hold a conference call to discuss these results on Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. The call-in number for the conference call is (719) 325-2210 and the replay number is (719) 457-0820, with a pass code of 6417851. The replay will run for 30 days. Additionally, the call will be broadcast live over the Internet and can be accessed and replayed through the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.mastec.com. MasTec, Inc. is a leading infrastructure construction company operating mainly throughout North America across a range of industries. The Company's activities include the engineering, building, installation, maintenance and upgrade of energy, communication and utility infrastructure, such as: electrical utility transmission and distribution, natural gas and petroleum pipeline infrastructure, wireless, wireline and satellite communications, wind farms, solar farms and other renewable energy, industrial infrastructure and water and sewer systems. MasTec's customers are primarily in the utility, communications and government industries. The Company's corporate website is located at www.mastec.com. SOURCE MasTec, Inc.


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Undergraduate students regularly participate in the activities of the CDS through volunteer, work study, and independent study opportunities. Many of these opportunities are posted on the UNC Office for Undergraduate Research. To learn about ongoing research at the CDS, follow this link. If you are interested in a work study opportunity, contact us at the email address on the right at the beginning of the academic year.
We also host a Graduate School Preparation Day Event for Students of Color. To learn more, follow this link.


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Category: Bond
Honorable Mention
Sited in the serene landscape of Minneapolis's 141-year-old Lakewood Cemetery, the Garden Mausoleum is a thoughtful construction of traditional funerary materials including granite, marble, and bronze wrought into a contemporary form designed to provide burial space for more than 10,000 people. Public areas occupy a 5,500-square-foot volume at street level, and visitors progress down to the more private 19,000-square-foot lower level, cut into a hillside, that holds the chapel and daylit, marble-lined crypt and columbarium rooms.
"I think that the light is just so skillfully handled … the way that light would animate the space over the course of the day, so that really simple materials can be used or should be activated by the light." —Phoebe Crisman
Project Credits
Project Lakewood Cemetery Garden Mausoleum, Minneapolis
Client Lakewood Cemetery Association
Architect HGA Architects and Engineers, Minneapolis—Daniel Avchen, FAIA (principal-in-charge); Joan Soranno, FAIA (design principal); Stephen Fiskum, AIA (project manager); John Cook, FAIA (project architect); Nick Potts, AIA, Michael Koch, AIA, Eric Amel, AIA, Steve Philippi, Jay Lane, Ross Altheimer, Robert Johnson Miller (project team)
StructuralEngineer HGA—Paul Asp, Soon Sim Hakes
MechanicalEngineer HGA—Craig Lemma
Civil Engineer HGA—Jim Husnik
Electrical Engineer HGA—Ben Gutierrez
Lighting Designer HGA—Tao Ham
Interior Designer HGA—Rich Bonnin
Graphic Design HGA—Gretta Fry
Owner's Representative Nelson, Tietz & Hoye
General Contractor M.A. Mortenson Co.
Landscape Architect Halvorson Design Partnership—Craig Halvorson, Bryan Jereb
Master Plan Elizabeth Vizza
Mausoleum Consultant Carrier Mausoleums Construction
Acoustic Consultant Kvernstoen, Rönnholm & Associates
Audiovisual Consultant Electronic Design Co.
Reflecting Pool Consultant Commercial Aquatic Engineering
Mosaic Tile Consultant CSI—Tom D. Lynch
Size 24,500 gross square feet
Cost $25.2 million (including 4-acre site)
Photographer Paul Crosby


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"Recommended. A creative approach to help children better conceptualize each poem." -Children's Bookwatch
"Recommended. Walter Mourant's music helps make Stevenson's 'Garden' even more enjoyable. And, today, school choruses are singing 'Child's Garden' art songs at music festivals." -Karen Bellinger, Click for more
This program features four poems written by Robert Louis Stevenson from his beloved book, A Child's Garden of Verses. By seeing the words of the poems on the screen and hearing each performed, children are encouraged to read and sing along. Collectively, children will develop a better understanding of poetry, and a deeper appreciation of the beloved author. The poems include: Time to Rise, The Moon, Bed in Summer, and The Lamplighter. 99/07DE PI 15 min.
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NOTE: REQUIRES MICROPHONE TO PLAY, AS WELL AS LUNGS OF STEEL Darkness has swept over your high school. Darkness in Adidas tracksuits. For too long have you and your fellow classmates been under the firm Nike shoe of the bullies. Its time to fight back! But do not fear, you have a rare gift. You have... THE VOICE. Prepare to lose your voice, as you experience the power of controlling the world around you by shouting! Thats right, its a first person SHOUTER. Unleash the anger within and yell into your microphone as loud as you can to release your most powerful attacks. So get mad, and yell like crazy! You should probably have some throat lollies on hand after playing...
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The Element of Air, along with the other Elements of Earth, Fire and Water make up everything around us and within us.
If you were born under the Star signs of Libra, Aquarius or Gemini,or if your Moon is in these Zodiac signs you are most likely to be drawn to the Air Element. You may prefer to live in an airy, spacious home with lots of space around you. You may live or would like to live high on a hill with breathtaking, un-obscured views. You will not be afraid of making fresh starts and welcome new beginnings.
Air is an Element of the East. The East is where the sun rises at dawn of every new day and is associated with a time and place of new beginnings.
Air has associations with thought processes, thinking, intelligence and learning. The Celtic name for this Element is Air with the magical tools of incense and the wand.
The Moon phase associated with the Air Element is that of the Waxing Moon with the Maiden aspect of the Goddess.
The colour yellow, the season of Spring, clouds, the dawn, birds, feathers and insects are all associated with this Element.
Music of the Air Element is that of wind instruments and bells.
The natural symbols associated with the Air Element are feathers, incense smoke and fragrant flowers and herbs.
Plants and herbs associations are frankincense, myrrh, pansy, primrose, vervain, violet and yarrow.
Astrological Air signs are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius.
In the Tarot, Air is represented as the Suit of Swords.
To make a connection with the Air Element, go to a place in nature, preferably where the air is clean. Breathe deeply; inhale the fragrance of a heavily scented flower or herb. Experience this Element and its energy as you visualise the air you breathe going deep into your lungs and then exhale. Feel the breeze on your body and be aware that although invisible the Element of Air is all around you – both within and without.
Positive human emotions and feelings associated with the Air Element are:
Analytical, articulate, clever, direct, ethical, forthright, honest, incisive, intellectual, knowledgeable, literate, logical, moral, objective, outspoken, quick-witted and well-informed.
Negative human emotions and feelings related to the Air Element are:
Arrogant, blunt, cold, condescending, controlling, critical, cutting, domineering, insensitive, intolerant, opinionated, patronising, standoffish, thoughtless, unfeeling and unresponsive.
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text:
It's Marcel Canet!
Inception star Marion Cotillard was seen arriving in Nice, France with her sweet 4-month-old son on Tuesday (October 4).
The following day, the Oscar-winner was photographed preparing for her upcoming film, Rust and Bone, by learning to train a killer whale at Marineland in Antibes, France.
Marcel is the first child for Marion and her partner, French actor and director Guillaume Canet.
View Slideshow »»


text:
Wednesday, July 9th, 2014
Complete Obituary
Ron Ginter
Ron E. Ginter, 83, a resident of Otterbein St. Marys Retirement Community, St. Marys, died July 7, 2014, at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital, St. Marys.
He was born Sept. 18, 1930, in Hoytville, to Harley and Ruth Moe Ginter. On Oct. 17, 1952, he married Joanne Davis in Winchester, Ind., and she survives.
Also surviving are four children, Ronald J. (Nadine) Ginter, Celebration, Fla., Jeffrey (Geri) Ginter, Brookville, Joe (Kelly) Ginter, St. Marys, and Jane Stewart, Elkhart, Ind.; one sister, Carolyn Winkle, Findlay; five grandchildren, Scott Ginter, Megan Ginter, Candace Ginter, Kylie Stewart and Quinn Ginter; and a great-grandchild, Olivia Long.
Three brothers, George, Jim and Don Ginter, are deceased.
He graduated from Jackson Township High School in 1948, where he had a very successful sports career and was renowned for his brilliant floor play in basketball. He later tried out for the Cleveland Indians baseball team. He was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in Japan and Korea during the Korean War.
He was a community leader who always believed in service to others and served on St. Marys City Council for 20 years - first as Fourth Ward councilman and later as councilman at large. He was proud of his independent political status and worked for the betterment of all. He retired from Reynolds and Reynolds Corp. after 36 years of service and then worked at Miller Funeral Homes in St. Marys for the next 17 years.
Over the years he coached Little League, ACME and high school baseball. He was a member of Wayne Street United Methodist Church, St. Marys, where he sang in the choir for many years and served as head usher. He was the first manager of the St. Marys Youth Center. He will be remembered for his kindness and sense of humor.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at the church, the Rev. Jon Kraner officiating. Burial with full military honors will follow at Elm Grove Cemetery, St. Marys.
Calling is 4-9 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home and after 1 p.m. Sunday at the church.
Contributions may be made to the church building fund.
Condolences may be left at Millerfuneralhomes.net.
Additional obituaries for this date
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text:
Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed functioning of helpline here today. He inspected call centre at MP Nagar and apprised himself of problem redressal arrangements. The Chief Minister stressed the need to increase number of lines of call centre.
Chief Minister Shri Chouhan said that the state government is undertaking public welfare works. It is necessary to know ground realities of schemes' implementation. Ministers and officers have been directed to undertake field tours in this connection. He said that Mukhyamantri Helpline has been started from January 11. So far, 12 thousand 500 phone calls have been registered. Of these, 4,200 are complaints while remaining are suggestions and information etc. Action is being taken on all calls earnestly. Generally, complaints will be redressed in 7 days and complainant will be informed. He said that action is also being taken on suggestions and information. They will be used in quick redressal of complaints and further improving public services.
Chief Minister conducts call centre functioning
The Chief Minister inspected call centre functioning and complaint redressal system by conducting the process himself. He received phone call from Shri Ajay Singh Chandel of village Unniyon under Ghatiya development block of Ujjain district. He enquired about complainant's problem. Surprised at Chief Minister's voice over the phone, Shri Ajay Singh Chandel informed that gas company in his area is issuing receipt of Rs. 50 without any reason.
Later, Shri Chouhan made the staff call 3 applicants whose complaints have already been redressed. When phone of Indore's Govardhan Dahima was found engaged, another Indorean Shri Ghanshyam Lalwani was contacted over phone and asked whether out of order streetlight in his area has started functioning.
Shri Lalwani, who was also surprised finding the Chief Minister over phone, informed that light was started soon after complaint but has gone out of order again. The Chief Minister talked over phone to Shri Kamta Prasad Dwivedi, who had complained about out of order handpum.


text:
Auburn's Big Cat Weekend kicks off on Saturday, and the Tigers' top brass is reaching deep into the playbook to impress recruits. Still riding high off the most incredible win in school history, Auburn has decided to retrace Chris Davis' touchdown from the 2013 Iron Bowl miracle on Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Tracking Chris Davis' return for Big Cat Weekend @FootballAU pic.twitter.com/u39yUuKb7C
— AU Grounds Crew (@AU_Grounds_Crew) May 30, 2014
Imagine running that path with Rod Bramblett's famous call blaring over the loudspeaker.
Something tells me a few guys will be hopping aboard the Gus Bus after this weekend.


text:
Review: Speck Products Active Sport Case and Armband for iPod nano
Company: Speck Products
Website: http://www.speckproducts.com/
Model: Active Sport, Active Sport Armband
Price: $25-35
Compatible: iPod nano
Speck's Active Sport Armband for iPod nano ($35) arrived just in time: Apple launched the Nike + iPod Sport Kit, and we wanted a really good armband to use along with it. Several days later, we also received the company's iPod 5G version of the Armband, as well as two other versions - so-called Active Sport Cases for iPod 5G and nano ($25), each minus the armband and plus a top-mounted metal carabiner hook for attachment to a belt loop or bag. Because of their inherent similarities, we're reviewing all four products in one review, with separate ratings and notes to indicate differences where appropriate.
All four of the Active Sport designs start with the same body concept: a reflective dark silver iPod carrier with soft gray neoprene inside. We'll say up front that we found these designs to be extremely attractive while providing a bit of added safety for those who exercise outdoors at night; so long as you're not in an iPod-snatching neighborhood, you'll like what Speck's done to draw attention to you in the dark.
Each carrier always offers screen, face, side, and back protection for the encased iPod - the screen in particular receives a semi-soft, integrated clear guard that's protective but not ideal for video. Unfortunately, none of the cases offers Click Wheel protection or comprehensive top and bottom protection - each iPod's headphone port and Dock Connector are always exposed, along with at least a little extra portion of its top. In other words, you'll have to rule these cases out immediately if your sports of choice involve being out in the rain or splashing copious quantities of sweat on the iPod's body, but use during drier and lower-impact sports will be fine.
Other than size, there's only one major difference between both of the nano cases and their 5G equivalents. None of the cases has a perfectly tailored Click Wheel hole, but the ones on the nano designs are a little more uneven and slightly encroach on the iPod's controls. This is a small imperfection, and one that shouldn't interfere much with your use of the nano, but we have to note it anyway.
The Active Sport Armbands are the most impressive-looking of the bunch, but also the least protective. In addition to their central iPod carriers, they feature armbands with additional reflective material, two-tone gray rubber, white mesh, and white edging; the nano and 5G versions are both large enough to fit virtually any user's bicep. Soft gray Velcro lets you resize each armband to your liking, while the soft white mesh interior makes each version feel unusually comfortable on your arm. Speck's logo is found only on the armband, a subtle and tasteful same-color extrusion at its visible end.
Our only problem with these armbands is their lack of complete protection - unlike the Active Sport Cases, the top of each iPod is entirely exposed in these Armband designs. The nano version fully exposes that iPod's bottom, as well. Thankfully, the armbands hold each iPod tightly enough while on your arm that you're highly unlikely to lose your music player while exercising, but these designs don't match up with the best workout cases we've seen for iPods - the more protective and versatile SportSuit and Sport Case designs previously released by Marware and Incase. That said, we did enjoy using the nano case during our testing of the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, and found the 5G version equally sharp-looking and comfortable.
Speck's Active Sport Cases are cheaper and offer a little more protection for each iPod. Their iPod carriers are almost identical to those in the Armbands, but their backs continue the reflective material and gray design rather than using the white mesh and edging of the armbands. They also have largely (not completely) protective top flaps that seal shut with Velcro, leaving a loop of reflective material to hold their included O-ring style carabiner hooks. You can detach the hook to pocket your iPod, or attach it to wear the iPod at waist or bag level - obviously, its suitability for your workout needs will depend as much on its aforementioned omissions in protectivity as on whatever you're wearing while you work out.
Like the Armbands, both Cases provide full-time access to your iPod's Dock Connector and headphone port - the nano version with a fully open bottom, and the 5G version with reasonably sized holes for both Dock Connector hole and headphones. You'll have to stretch the 5G case's bottom to connect oversized accessories, but neither case renders oversized headphones incompatible. The nano version works well with the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, assuming you'll be using it for walks rather than runs.
We're not going to say that we think any of these Active Sport designs is practically ideal - because they offer only partial iPod protection, each will be better-suited to dry-weather, low-sweat use than workouts that can get your iPod wet. But like most of Speck's other cases, they look good enough and have enough functional novelty - here, their reflective bodies - that you might not mind the moisture risks. Universal workout cases they might not be, but eye-catching, they surely are. Our number ratings below are for the Case version; both the Case and Armband rate the same flat B, recommended level grades.
Editors' Note: iLounge only reviews products in "final" form, but many companies now change their offerings - sometimes several times - after our reviews have been published. This iLounge article provides more information on this practice, known as revving. |


text: We purchased 3 Vintage Copper Sink Faucet Water Tap for Kitchen - Bronze and within 2 months of installation they are leaking. We need at least 3 spare cartridges to replace the leaking cartridges. They are still under warranty. can you please advise what we need to do. Thanks. Inna.


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The Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) is a design pattern that is a variation of the Presentation Model pattern, which was first described by Martin Fowler. Since Microsoft introduced it with the first release of WPF, MVVM has become increasingly popular among WPF and Silverlight developers and many MVVM frameworks are now available.
As with the predecessor design patterns MVC (model–view–controller) and MVP (model–view–presenter), one of the key principles of the MVVM pattern is Separation of Concerns (SoC), which allows cleanly separating the data, presentation and behavior aspects of the application.
In this article we will show you how Xomega Framework takes the basic principles of MVC and MVVM to the next level, which allows you to rapidly build .Net applications with high degree of flexibility and reusability and a minimum learning curve. Read on to see how you can quickly and easily develop applications with Xomega Framework.
Xomega Framework is a powerful open source framework that has been built from more than 10 years of experience and is based on the approach that has been proven in many large scale applications. The primary goals of the framework are to:
To demonstrate one of the problems that Xomega Framework is designed to solve efficiently, let's consider the following example. Suppose that your application has a common field Customer that appears on pretty much every other screen of your application. The requirements for this field are as follows.
In a typical WPF application you would probably define several reusable methods and classes to retrieve the list of customers, validate the input for both single entry and multiple entries and format the output to be displayed on the screen. Then for each screen you will need to set up bindings for the customer fields to use these methods and classes or you will need to wire it up in some other way.
One of the basic principles of software development is DRY: Don't Repeat Yourself. Instead of wiring up the fields in every single place, wouldn't it make more sense to create a single reusable property that encapsulates all this kind of behavior, which you can easily bind to various UI controls: read-only labels, drop-down lists, textboxes, list boxes, etc.? You can then easily add such properties to a data object that is part of your view model and you will have your presentation model built in no time.
Read on to learn how Xomega Framework makes implementing this kind of requirements just a breeze.
At the core of the Xomega Framework's support of the presentation model lies a concept of a Data Property, which can store anything as a value - strings, primitives, dates with times or complex objects with additional attributes, for which Xomega also provides a convenient generic class called Header. Each property can provide methods to convert the value to and from different formats. By default, Xomega defines the following formats:
One of the key differentiators of Xomega Framework is the integrated support of multi-valued properties. All you have to do is to set the IsMultiValued flag of the property to true and the property will apply the same conversion and validation rules to each individual value and will also be able to display the list of values as a comma (or any other delimiter) separated string as well as to parse the values from such string. Binding to multi-valued properties is identical to binding to single valued properties. So, for example, if you allow searching by a single value, then you can make the search criteria field multi-valued with a minimal effort.
The most notable feature of the Xomega Framework is that it stores the state of the properties, such as whether the property is editable, required, visible, etc., directly as part of the property. Binding the property to a control will not only bind the control value to the property value, but will also bind the control state to the property state with no extra work required. It also allows you to write the behavior logic right in the presentation model in a clean and reusable way. For example, your view model may listen to a change in the value of one property and as a result make other properties required or update their editability or visibility.
In a typical MVVM implementation you would have to define additional flags on the view model that store whether the property is visible or editable, and manually bind the control visibility and editability to these flags.
If you tried building a standard MVVM application and got tired of the tedious implementations of the INotifyPropertyChange and IDataErrorInfo interfaces in your view models, which are required by the standard WPF two-way bindings and validations respectively, then you will surely appreciate the fact that you don't have to do any of this with the Xomega Framework.
Xomega data properties fire a custom property change event whenever anything changes about the property – either the value or any metadata, which you can listen to and then execute any behavior logic in your view model. The event has a PropertyChange attribute that indicates which attributes of the property changed, so that there is no need to subscribe for multiple events.
Controls that are bound to data properties automatically listen to the property change events and update their state accordingly. If the property is not editable, then the corresponding control will be disabled or made otherwise read only. By the same token, if the property is not visible, e.g. due to security restrictions, then the bound control will be hidden along with the associated label. Similarly, controls that are bound to a required property can be automatically highlighted by having a bold label, for example.
Data properties may also implement a method that returns a list of possible values for the property. If a selection list control, such as a drop down list or a list box, is bound to such a data property, then the list of selection items will be automatically populated and kept in sync with the list of possible values for the property. For controls like a drop down list that do not allow to clear the selected item, a special blank item will be added if the property is not required. You can also configure your property to display a certain text if the value is blank, such as <None>, <No Customer>, etc.
As we mentioned before, you don't have to bother implementing the IDataErrorInfo interface in your view model to validate individual properties. The validation logic that you write once in your property (or oftentimes don't even write, but rather inherit from the base property) will be automatically applied everywhere that property is being used, so that you Don't Repeat Yourself.
When a data property is invalid, the bound control will be highlighted and will display the validation error messages. Unlike other reusable validation functions that produce a generic error message like "Invalid number" with no mention of the property name, which would be pretty useless if not displayed right next to the corresponding field, Xomega data properties generate error messages that contain the property names, or even the actual labels from the screen. This allows you to not only display the error messages over the corresponding fields, but also to output the error message summary somewhere on the screen or in a popup dialog and the user will be able to identify the fields that need to be corrected.
Coming back to our customer property example, here is what the property implementation would look like.
using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.ServiceModel; using Xomega.Framework; using Xomega.Framework.Lookup; using Xomega.Framework.Properties; public partial class CustomerProperty : EnumIntProperty { /// <summary> /// A constant used for the cached lookup table name /// </summary> public const string EnumTypeCustomer = "customer"; /// <summary> /// Additional attribute for each value to store the formatted id /// </summary> public const string AttributeFormattedCustomerId = "formatted customer id"; public CustomerProperty(DataObject parent, string name) : base(parent, name) { EnumType = EnumTypeCustomer; // display value as 001234 - Joe Doe DisplayFormat = String.Format("{0} - {1}", string.Format(Header.AttrPattern, AttributeFormattedCustomerId), Header.FieldText); // add custom validation rule Validator += ValidateCustomer; bool canUserViewCustomers = true; // TODO: retrieve View Customer privilege bool canUserEditCustomers = true; // TODO: retrieve Edit Customer privilege AccessLevel = canUserEditCustomers ? AccessLevel.Full : canUserViewCustomers ? AccessLevel.ReadOnly : AccessLevel.None; } // override to fine-tune the value conversion rules protected override object ConvertValue(object value, ValueFormat format) { int id; if (format == ValueFormat.Internal && Int32.TryParse("" + value, out id)) { // try parsing the id to remove leading zeros, etc. return base.ConvertValue(id, format); } return base.ConvertValue(value, format); } // checks if the value has been resolved to a valid customer in the lookup table public static void ValidateCustomer(DataProperty dp, object value) { Header cust = value as Header; if (value != null && (cust == null || cust.Type != EnumTypeCustomer)) dp.ValidationErrors.AddError("{0} has an invalid customer {1}.", dp, value); } // Returns possible customer values from the lookup cache. // If the values are not yet in the cache, reads them // from service layer and stores in the cache. protected override LookupTable GetLookupTable() { LookupTable res = base.GetLookupTable(); if (res == null) { List<Header> data = new List<Header>(); foreach (Store_ReadListOutput row in ReadList()) { Header h = new Header(EnumType, "" + row.CustomerId, row.Name); // store the formatted id as a separate attribute h[AttributeFormattedCustomerId] = row.CustomerId.ToString("000000"); data.Add(h); } res = new LookupTable(EnumType, data, true); LookupCache cache = LookupCache.Get(CacheType); if (cache != null) cache.CacheLookupTable(res); } return res; } // reads the possible customer values from the service layer protected virtual IEnumerable<Store_ReadListOutput> ReadList() { ChannelFactory<IStoreService> factory = new ChannelFactory<IStoreService>("IStoreService"); IStoreService svc = factory.CreateChannel(); IEnumerable<Store_ReadListOutput> output = svc.ReadList(new Store_ReadListInput()); factory.Close(); return output; } }
Xomega Framework comes with a rich set of base properties that implement validations and value conversions for most common types. As you have seen above, you can also define your own generic or application-specific Xomega data properties that are powerful and highly reusable.
Once you have a set of data properties that your application uses, building your view models is just a piece of cake. All you need to do is to create a subclass of the Xomega DataObject, where you simply create and configure instances of your named properties during the data object initialization. We strongly recommend that you also define string constants for your property names, which you should use to reference the properties. This will make refactoring much easier and will also allow some compile time checks in the XAML, which we will describe below. We also recommend that you provide public getters for your properties for convenience. Here is an example of such data object:
using System; using Xomega.Framework; using Xomega.Framework.Properties; public partial class StoreCriteria : DataObject { #region Constants public const string CreatedDateFrom = "CreatedDateFrom"; public const string CreatedDateTo = "CreatedDateTo"; public const string Customer = "Customer"; #endregion #region Properties public DateProperty CreatedDateFromProperty { get; private set; } public DateProperty CreatedDateToProperty { get; private set; } public CustomerProperty CustomerProperty { get; private set; } #endregion #region Construction protected override void Initialize() { CreatedDateFromProperty = new DateProperty(this, CreatedDateFrom); CreatedDateToProperty = new DateProperty(this, CreatedDateTo); CustomerProperty = new CustomerProperty(this, Customer); CustomerProperty.Required = true; CustomerProperty.IsMultiValued = true; } #endregion }
Xomega Framework supports nesting child objects and object lists within their parent data object. This will allow you to build view models for complex views and have a better control over the view behavior, as you will see below.
As with the data properties, Xomega data objects have an Editable flag, which controls whether or not the data object is editable. When it's not editable, all its properties and child objects will be not editable, which will automatically make all controls bound to them disabled or read only. If the user can open your form for viewing and needs to click Edit to enable the controls, then all you have to do is to set the editable flag on the underlying data object to true. You no longer need to write lengthy methods to enable or disable all controls in the view.
Another useful feature of the data objects is support for modification tracking. Normally you need to write a lot of custom logic that detects if the user made any changes to be able to prompt for unsaved changes when the user closes the view. With Xomega data objects it happens automatically and all you have to do is to check the Modified flag of the DataObject.
As we mentioned before, each data property encapsulates the logic for validating its value. However, if you need to perform any cross-field validations, such as to make sure that the start date is not later than the end date, then you can do those in the corresponding data object as follows:
// overridden to perform cross-field validation public override void Validate(bool force) { base.Validate(force); if (CreatedDateFromProperty.Value != null && CreatedDateToProperty.Value != null && CreatedDateToProperty.Value < CreatedDateFromProperty.Value) { validationErrorList.AddError("{0} cannot be later than {1}", CreatedDateFromProperty, CreatedDateToProperty); } }
After you call the Validate method on a data object, which will validate all the properties and nested child objects, you will be able to call the GetValidationErrors method to get the list of errors generated during the validation. If the list contains any errors, then you can show them to the user and terminate the save operation as follows.
criteria.Validate(true); ErrorList valErr = criteria.GetValidationErrors(); if (valErr.HasErrors()) { Errors.Show(valErr); return; }
As you may know, the standard MVVM pattern is somewhat limited to the WPF and Silverlight development only. What makes the Xomega view model data objects so great is that you can define the presentation logic in these objects in a platform-independent way and then easily bind them to ANY view: WPF, Silverlight, ASP.NET or WinForms if need be. Read on to see how Xomega Framework supports binding to the first three types of views.
Introduction of XAML in WPF and Silverlight has made it significantly easier to declaratively define your views. Ideally, you want to be able to have experienced UI designers lay out and style your controls on the form and also have seasoned developers program the view model, which you could easily wire up with the view. Unfortunately, even with the standard WPF and Silverlight you still have to do a lot of legwork to hook up your view with the underlying data model. You need to know about value converters and validators, bind control state, such as the Enabled attribute, to the corresponding view model flags and bind the selection item lists to an appropriate list of values.
Xomega Framework simplifies it so much that all you need to do is to specify the property name that you want to bind your control to and set your data object as the DataContext for the control and it will handle the rest. Here's an example of how a customer list box can be bound to the customer property in WPF:
<Label Name="lblCustomer">Customer:</Label> <ListBox xmlns:xom="clr-namespace:Xomega.Framework;assembly=Xomega.Framework" xmlns:l="clr-namespace:MyProject.Objects;assembly=MyProject.Objects" xom:Property.Name="{x:Static l:StoreCriteria.Customer}" xom:Property.Label="{Binding ElementName=lblCustomer}" Name="ctlCustomer"/>
Binding a text box or a combo box to the customer property would have exactly the same syntax, which makes it extremely simple to switch the type of control for a property from one to another.
Note that we use the static constant StoreCriteria.Customer we defined as the property name. This will ensure that if we refactor our view model to rename the property then the application will still work if we just change the value of the constant, and we will get a compile time error if we actually change the constant name during refactoring. Mind you that if you use the standard WPF binding path, then you will get no compilation error if you change the property name, but rather a runtime error.
Binding to Xomega data properties in the XAML for Silverlight is pretty much the same as for the WPF, but you don't get to use the constant, since Silverlight doesn't support the x:Static construct.
<TextBlock Name="lblCustomer" Text="Customer:" /> <ListBox xmlns:xom="clr-namespace:Xomega.Framework;assembly=Xomega.Framework" xmlns:l="clr-namespace:MyProject.Objects;assembly=MyProject.Objects" xom:Property.Name="Customer" xom:Property.Label="{Binding ElementName=lblCustomer}" Name="ctlCustomer"/>
As you may have noticed, Xomega Framework allows you to associate a label with each property-bound control, which helps the framework to show and hide both the control and the label simultaneously and to use that label's text as the property name in the error messages, so that the user can easily identify the field in error when looking at the error summary. It also allows you to highlight the required fields by making the corresponding label bold. You can do that by defining a global label style as follows.
<Style x:Key="LabelStyle" TargetType="{x:Type Label}" xmlns:xom="clr-namespace:Xomega.Framework;assembly=Xomega.Framework"> <Style.Triggers> <Trigger Property="xom:Property.Required" Value="True"> <Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold"/> </Trigger> </Style.Triggers> </Style>
Binding ASP.NET controls to Xomega data properties is equally straightforward - all you have to do is to specify the property name, for which you can use the constant defined in your object. Here's how the corresponding binding will look like:
<asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblCustomer" Text="Customer:" /> <asp:ListBox runat="server" ID="ctlCustomer" LabelID="lblCustomer" Property="<%# StoreCriteria.Customer %>" />
To easily bind the whole containing panel to your data object you can call the following utility method.
WebUtil.BindToObject(pnlCriteria, criteria);
Any property level validation errors in Xomega are integrated into the WPF validation mechanism. Thus, if you want to define a custom validation template that displays a red asterisk with an error messages as a tool tip next to the invalid field, you can do that in a standard way as follows.
<ControlTemplate x:Key="validationTemplate"> <DockPanel> <TextBlock Foreground="Red" Text="*" FontSize="18" FontWeight="Bold" ToolTip="{Binding ElementName=adornerPlaceholder, Path=AdornedElement.(xom:Property.Validation).Errors.ErrorsText}" /> <AdornedElementPlaceholder Name="adornerPlaceholder"/> </DockPanel> </ControlTemplate>
Binding data grids in WPF is pretty similar. What you have to do is to set the data object list as the DataContext for the grid and specify the data templates for the cells in each column as follows.
<ListView Grid.Row="2" Name="gridResults"> <ListView.View> <GridView> <GridView.Columns> <GridViewColumn Header="Customer Id"> <GridViewColumn.CellTemplate> <DataTemplate> <TextBlock xom:Property.Name="{x:Static l:CustomerObject.CustomerId}"/> </DataTemplate> </GridViewColumn.CellTemplate> </GridViewColumn> <GridViewColumn Header="Name"> <GridViewColumn.CellTemplate> <DataTemplate> <TextBlock xom:Property.Name="{x:Static l:CustomerObject.Name}"/> </DataTemplate> </GridViewColumn.CellTemplate> </GridViewColumn> </GridView.Columns> </GridView> </ListView.View> </ListView>
The same applies to the ASP.NET grid, except that you'll bind the data object list using the Xomega utility method WebUtil.BindToObject.
<asp:GridView runat="server" ID="grdResults"> <Columns> <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Customer Id"> <ItemTemplate> <asp:HyperLink runat="server" ID="fldCustomerId" Property="<%# CustomerObject.CustomerId %>" NavigateUrl="~/CustomerDetailsPage.aspx?CustomerId={value}" /> </ItemTemplate> </asp:TemplateField> <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Name"> <ItemTemplate> <asp:Label runat="server" ID="fldName" Property="<%# CustomerObject.Name %>"/> </ItemTemplate> </asp:TemplateField> </Columns> </asp:GridView>
If you would like to test drive the Xomega Framework to see how easy it makes building .Net applications, here are the different ways that you can do it:
Please vote and leave a comment if you like the article or if you have any questions, or if you would like to share your experience with the framework.
This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The GNU General Public License (GPLv3)
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by Annie Shapiro • October 31, 2016 Annie Shapiro Annie Shapiro is a Content Marketing Manager at Namely, the all-in-one HR, payroll, and benefits platform built for today's employees. Connect with Annie and the Namely team on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
When a Company Feels Like Family A Namely employee shares the HR win that changed his life for the better.
JMP Ranks Namely Among the Best Private Software Companies We're proud to be included on JMP's Hot 100 list.


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It's the year of "Game of Thrones" Season 4, but what else does 2014 have to offer for eager fans of George R.R. Martin's epic saga? In 2013 we not only got the jaw-dropping "Game of Thrones" Season 3, but several companion books were also released. Notably, the novella "The Princess and the Queen" explored a new area of Targaryen backstory, going back even further than Martin's Dunk & Egg books. 2014 is going to be a big year for fans of HBO's "Game of Thrones," and readers of George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" might be in for some fun stuff as well.
Here are five of the things we are most excited for this year:
5. Free "Game of Thrones" screenings at George R.R. Martin's private cinema
We'd probably put this higher on the list if it weren't region-specific; luckily for the New Mexico residents and not-so-luckily for everyone else, Martin's private cinema Jean Cocteau is located in Santa Fe.
One night each week starting this month, Martin will be presenting two episodes of "Game of Thrones" at a time, which will carry local fans through until the premiere of Season 4.
While he has not confirmed the dates, Martin will also be appearing at some of these screenings himself, to sign books and answer audience questions. Find out more about this unique event here.
4. The new "Game of Thrones" video game
The creators of the critically acclaimed "The Walking Dead" video game series announced last month that they are developing a similar game based on "Game of Thrones," where players can join the fray in Westeros and try to lead their House to glory.
If the first season of the "Walking Dead" game is any indication, we can expect a lengthy, intricate game with a lot of hard choices for the player that will actually change the storyline as you play through the episodes. We can't wait!
Of course, it might be a tad optimistic to expect Telltale Games to have this massive project completed and ready for public consumption in 2014, but we live in hope.
3. "The World of Ice and Fire"
This one's for the proper hardcore "A Song and of Ice and Fire" fans. George R.R. Martin has been working hard over the last few years to compile what promises to be an epic, Silmarillon-style tome laying out the history of the "Seven Kingdoms of Westeros," with artwork by Ted Nasmith.
While we already know a lot about the Targaryens from previous companion books, this book promises to tell us everything we could ever want to know about most families, and aspects of the already gargantuan world Martin has created.
This must-have volume will be released on October 28, 2014, and is co-written by Linda Antonsson and Elio Garcia.
2. A "Winds of Winter" release date?
We're cheating, because there is no way to know whether this will be the year where we learn the release date of the sixth novel in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" saga, "The Winds of Winter." But at this point, it's a pretty good guess that we'll get, if nothing else, a tentative suggestion.
The fifth book, "A Dance With Dragons," was first announced to be released two years after "A Feast for Crows," in 2007. Then the release date was pushed to 2008, then 2009, and finally, on March 3, 2011, Martin promised that the book would be out only a few months later. And this time it held true; "Dance" was published on July 12.
It was speculated for a while that "Winds" would be published in 2014, but it didn't take long for fans and journalists alike to figure out that this was merely wishful thinking. Last year, Martin himself even admitted that he wished fans would stop pressuring him to write faster.
And while there has been some worrisome talk about what might happen if the HBO series catches up to the books, we'd like to think that Martin will take his time both with Winds and the (allegedly) final book in the saga, "A Dream of Spring."
Still, we can't help but hope that some time during this year, Martin will have an idea of what year "Winds" will be published, if nothing else. Any guesses?
1. "Game of Thrones" Season 4
Surprise! Not surprised? You shouldn't be, because any "Thrones" fan would be a fool not to look forward to Season 4!
After the epic, gruesome and heartbreaking Season 3, non-book readers might be wondering how Season 4 can possibly hold up – but readers are more excited than ever, and for a couple of really good reasons.
The non-spoiler reasons include the slew of talented new cast members, and the promise of big battles and an abundance of blood and gore.
No exact release date for "Game of Thrones" Season 4 has yet been set, but we know it's Spring 2014, and an educated guess based on previous release dates would be Sunday, March 30 — we'll let you know as soon as something has been confirmed!
We are also still waiting on a proper trailer, but for now, check out this very brief first look at "Game of Thrones" Season 4:
Honorable mention: The "Game of Thrones" Season 3 DVD/Blu-ray box set. While we have already seen all 10 episodes of the series, there is some cool bonus material to look forward to when the season is released on February 18.
What 'Game of Thrones' events are you most looking forward to in 2014?


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Wednesday, December 08, 2010
My first QSO with V4 mode
This was on 80m, running 25W to the bent 80plus2 dipole in the attic. I also copied snatches from WD4KPD and KC2DMC. I have never worked across the Atlantic on 80m on any mode, so this new mode seems quite promising.
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Regardless of the outcome of a referendum Britain and Europe must remain strong trading partners for the benefit of all the UK economy – EY comment
Mark Gregory, Chief Economist at EY commenting on today's speech by the Prime Minister on the future of UK and EU relations, says:
- We have to accept that the European Union (EU) is changing, which needs to happen in order to solve the instability in the Eurozone. These changes are likely to affect the whole operation of the EU, and therefore Britain needs to assess how this might impact its interests now and in the future.
- Britain and Europe are strong trading partners. Europe is Britain's largest export market and the EU runs a trade surplus with the UK. So it is in everyone's interests that a strong and mutually beneficial relationship is maintained.
- Even those who wish to see Britain leave the EU want a strong trading relationship to persist. The current debate is really about the terms on which the UK and EU relationship is best established.
- All of our research and conversations with clients highlight that the UK remains a good place to do business. Our country's ability to win investment has been a crucial source of pride, job-creation and growth over many years – and this is now even more important. Any decisions taken on UK and EU relations should reflect that.
- It's also worth noting that 42% of all inward investment into the UK comes from the US, so the UK is arguably very exposed to US investment trend – another factor of any decisions taken on the UK in the EU.
- While the UK has consistently attracted the most foreign inward investment amongst the European economies, in 2011 the number of projects in the UK fell by 4%, with total projects in Europe rising by 7%. The gap between the UK and its peers, especially Germany, has also been narrowing year on year.
- Whatever the ultimate outcome of this process of renegotiation, there is a question about whether or not it could create uncertainty amongst investors into the UK, especially those looking to invest here for the first time e.g. Asian investors. EY will be putting this question to the 500+ global investors who respond to our annual European Inward Investment Monitor.
- In our 2012, of these 500 global investors in Europe, 21% told us that the most important factor in inward investment decisions is the ability to use a country as an export base. This response rate increased to 31% amongst Asian investors, who are the most concerned about the UK's relationship with the EU. This suggests that existing investors are less concerned than potential new investors and Asian investors about the UK's relationship with the EU when making investment decisions.


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Lawrence Hanrahan, PhD, MS, a Wisconsin native, has been the director of public health informatics and chief epidemiologist in the state's Division of Public Health since 2006. In that capacity, he provides scientific leadership to integrate statewide public health communications, informatics, distance learning, epidemiology, and surveillance programs.
He was also project director of Common Ground: Transforming Public Health Information Systems, a three-year, $15 million national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). In December 2006, RWJF awarded Common Ground grants to 31 public health agencies, including the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services. As one of 10 Common Ground agencies to focus on chronic diseases, the department analyzed and redesigned business processes and defined the requirements for an information system that would improve their capacity to prevent and control chronic disease. (Other grantees worked on emergency preparedness; some worked on information system capacity improvement.)
Head's Up on Common Ground: Hanrahan's interest in improving health information systems began well before he earned his doctorate. In 1975, just out of college, he began working for the Wisconsin state Department of Labor analyzing statistics on occupational injury and illness surveillance for workers compensation. His earliest projects examined the association between chemical exposures and occupational illnesses, such as dermatitis.
"We used computerized information systems back then to get the data we need to analyze; but it's more complicated today than it was 40 years ago. The field of informatics has developed in response. What epidemiologists do is study content. Informatics is the method."
Hanrahan had a "head's up" on Common Ground for a couple of reasons. He had been the project director for an RWJF InformationLinks grant awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in 2006. InformationLinks was an RWJF national program designed to give public health departments a "place at the table" in the development of health information exchanges-electronic data networks that make it possible to share health-related information among organizations.
"InformationLinks had really started us thinking about public health participation in clinical information data exchange," said Hanrahan. "The question was how do we become a player? What can we get from data exchange and what value can we add?" Hanrahan shared his insights when he was invited to a one-day workshop by RWJF to brainstorm what Common Ground would look like.
The Challenge: Wisconsin's Public Health Information Network is the information technology platform for all public health surveillance programs in the state. Unlike most programs within the department, however, the chronic disease program was not using the network to transmit data and generate reports.
Beyond that limitation, Hanrahan said the health department had a "silo-ization" problem. "A lot of different programs approached data differently. We wanted to work more collaboratively to produce more coordinated reports on chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes."
Hanrahan was interested in using Common Ground funding to better understand why chronic disease programs were not using the network to share electronic medical information and then to identify potential efficiencies. Timing was good for a launch of Common Ground in Wisconsin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized that the problem of silos was partly of its own making, a result of categorical funding streams for different chronic disease programs. CDC had begun funding demonstration programs to emphasize chronic care integration, and Wisconsin was a pilot site. Hanrahan was able to "set activity from Common Ground into that."
The Project:
Integrated chronic disease risk-factor reporting. Hanrahan started by bringing together a group of core chronic disease programs. "We started with asthma, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis. We didn't have everyone at the table because we wanted to keep it a manageable size."
The initial focus was asking whether chronic disease programs had a uniform approach to producing and consuming data from the Wisconsin Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a telephone survey of state residents ages 18 and older carried out in conjunction with the CDC.
Staff found that epidemiologists in each program looked at behavioral risk factors, such as whether a person smokes or is overweight, and put together an analysis using their own desktop statistical program. "One of the early things we did was line these reports up and as soon as we did that we saw that everything was a little different; the diabetes report differed from the cardiovascular disease report. That made it difficult for consumers at the local health department level to compare the two. It was apples and oranges.
"Through Common Ground, we were able to come up with an integrated chronic disease report. We had a number of different outcomes, depending on the chronic disease, but regardless of the outcome, we had the same kind of statistical approach in generating the data."
On the downside, Hanrahan admits, "it was a one-time report. Truth be told, we are not entirely ready to make the switch to being on the same page, analyzing data the same way, so we haven't really achieved data integration."
To move towards that goal, the Division of Public Health created a strategic plan in August 2009 to determine how best to use public health information and technology. The strategic plan, Hanrahan says, "has the potential to transform the way data are analyzed, shared and the results disseminated across public health in Wisconsin by removing barriers to data sharing and collaborative activities, increasing the capacity for data integration, and making data more readily available for analysis and reporting."
The committee Hanrahan assembled under Common Ground continues to work on the goals and objectives outlined in the strategic plan. "It's a work in progress," Hanrahan acknowledged in 2012, but that work continues.
Exchanging clinical data with primary care clinics. Public health agencies and primary care clinics are required to share information about "reportable" conditions, such as HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis, but exchanging data on non-reportable chronic diseases, such as asthma and diabetes, was new for Wisconsin, as it was for most of the country in 2006.
Hanrahan noted, "Moving forward required both a cultural shift for public health practitioners as well as additional financial resources, and fortunately we could secure both. The carrot was the growing national emphasis on improving health care quality and controlling costs through health information exchange and the use of electronic health records."
The additional inducement the state needed to move forward was a $400,000 Medicaid Transformation Grant from the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), which supported a pilot project linking clinical care and public health through electronic health record exchange.
Common Ground laid the foundation for the pilot, according to Hanrahan, because it got epidemiologists together to agree that data exchange was a good idea. "But truth be told, without the Medicaid Transformation grant, we would have only had a report that said this is what ought to be done. With the CMS funding and additional support from the CDC we were able to implement the project—but we wouldn't have had the additional support if it hadn't been for Common Ground."
This project used the three-part Common Ground Collaborative Requirements Development Methodology (DCRM). CRDM looks first at how work is being done (business-process analysis), then how it could be done better (business-process redesign), and finally how information systems could support the new processes (requirements development).
The Division of Public Health team created a data set on more than 192,000 patients seen in family clinics throughout Wisconsin from 2007 to 2009. Patient data on asthma, diabetes, obesity, and influenza were linked to some 6,000 community-level variables (e.g., education, median income, economic hardship index, employment, availability of fresh food) and consumer behaviors (e.g., consumption of fast foods, smoking).
The team was able to map pockets of increased asthma and diabetes, information that clinicians can use to make decisions about how to treat patients at risk. Because this systems approach examines diseases within their biological, psycho-socioeconomic, environmental, and community contexts, it is likely to provide a better understanding of what can be done to improve health care quality and population health, according to a recent project publication.
Looking back, Hanrahan noted "we really articulated our theory and practice-and our spirit and vision-of data exchange. The spark of an idea that started with InformationLinks was refined through Common Ground, giving us a clearer picture of what public health's role is in health information exchange. It's not just to be passive consumers, inundated by data, but to provide services back to clinicians."
The big challenge: financing health information exchanges. The lack of resources helps explains "why we're still not there in reaching the goal of integrating the flow of information within the department of public health or exchanging data with external clinical care partners," said Hanrahan.
"Another challenge is that clinical data is different and more complex to analyze than other kinds of data, such as claims data. Although we've accomplished a lot with our asthma and diabetes analytics, we've still only scratched the surface. Looking at diabetes and asthma prevalence in terms of behavioral risk factors, like smoking, is important but the bigger question is who's getting better, who's getting worse, and who never budges.
"To get at that question, we need to do longitudinal data analysis and we've never done anything like that in public health. Physicians are very excited about that possibility because it might inform how they treat patients, but again, money is a problem."
Grantee Perspective: Common Ground's impact was three-fold, Hanrahan said. "The idea of coming together was critical. National Program Director Dave Ross, ScD, came up with an African proverb that became a slogan for what we were doing. 'To go fast, go alone. To go far, go as a group.' With tight budgets, health departments are very thinly staffed. It's hard to get people to commit time to come together and do the hard thinking as the clock is ticking. So people go fast to get things done. The Common Ground collaborative methodology was a way to move forward and go far together.
"Second, in public health informatics we focus on analytics. We've made considerable headway there, but when you look at our reports, how we process data, it's still at a fairly basic level. We were trained to do more but tend not to because of inefficiencies in the way we work. The Common Ground idea of changing work processes, so that what was hard one day is easy the next, was fundamental.
"The final and most important impact was taking the Common Ground collaborative approach and business tools and demonstrating them in the new world of clinical electronic health records, an area that we in the public health department had no experience with prior to Common Ground."
Common Ground, coupled with additional federal support, enabled Wisconsin to create a framework for two-way clinical data exchange between public health and primary care clinics, according to Hanrahan. He also indicated that the state also improved its capacity to describe risk factors and determinants of disease by demonstrating a common analytic approach with asthma and diabetes.
"We believe that through data exchange each domain improves the other," said Hanrahan. "Public health is getting much better surveillance data and clinicians receive information about risk factors that allows them to make better decisions that ultimately result in better clinical care."
RWJF Perspective: In funding Common Ground, RWJF wanted to strengthen state and local public health departments so that they could perform better in the face of the increasing challenges of bioterrorism, emerging infections and potential pandemics, and burgeoning rates of chronic disease. Meeting these challenges required health departments to develop and use more sophisticated information systems than they currently had.
Many state and local health department leaders ultimately found that the Common Ground tools—business-process analysis and redesign—could be used not only to design information systems, but in quality improvement as well. "That was a benefit that we weren't anticipating." said RWJF Senior Program Officer Pamela G. Russo, MD, MPH. "The application of business-process mapping to process improvement was a huge step toward quality improvement in public health."
Former RWJF Senior Program Officer Terry Bazzarre, PhD, MS, agrees. "Over time, it became clear that the Common Ground approach was an alternative way of doing quality improvement in public health, focusing specifically on how the work gets done and the business processes that contribute to it."