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About Chocolate Girl
A certified holistic health counselor who has studied with Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, and David Wolfe, Vanessa created Gnosis Chocolate in 2008 at the green age of 23 years old to help her clients experience the joy of conscious nutrition.
Raw chocolate is Vanessa's vehicle for sharing her innovative expertise in nutrition, transformation, and conscious entrepreneurialism with the world.
Vanessa and her company have been featured in many print and web publications (VegNews, Edible Queens, Health Magazine, Spirituality & Health Magazine, etc) on television and radio (NBC, Early Show, Martha Stewart, Sundance, Bloomberg's NY Channel, etc.) and public speaking engagements (Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Health Freedom Expo, etc).
to book an engagement or interview, contact her directly!
written by Vanessa in July of 2010:
I made chocolate for the first time during the last weekend of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. It was the same weekend David Wolfe (world authority on raw cacao) came to speak. I brought some of the bars to school to share with my peers and they went crazy! Why did I choose to make raw chocolate instead of conventional, roasted chocolate? Well, because raw anything is closer to nature, so it's less processed - there's less "stuff" added to it. It has gone through less machines which alone leaves less chances for contamination! Also the neurotransmitters, enzymes and antioxidants are much stronger and at higher levels in raw vs cooked chocolate. I also promote raw chocolate because the raw food movement is a movement toward eco-sustainability and health. And that's why every single ingredient I use is raw. Because not only is the food itself healthier because it's raw but also because raw food production is much more environmentally friendly. It's much more loving and in touch with nature. So the movement itself is something I want to support.
What does my day look like? In recent days I've been spending a lot of time on updating the website, answering customer service calls and emails, our upcoming Organic Certification. I also spend about an hour a day working on projects for other people - I really see what I am doing as a way to help others grow as well. I spend a LOT of time on sourcing. I source from all over the world, from importers who are as close to the farm as possible.
The most beautiful part for me is the ability to chose who I support. I really believe voting with your dollar is the only way to change our society in commerce. We can always choose support the companies that are conscious - it just takes a little digging. To make a product from these conscious companies is one of the most powerful tools that owning Gnosis Chocolate has given me.
The biggest challenge for me, being a 24 year old, is that I've never managed a company. There are so many things you want to do for your employees but you also have to think about productivity. There is an important balance between productivity and having fun. I want my employees to be really happy, healthy and not overwork themselves. Two of my employees started their own businesses while working at Gnosis. Thats one of the most exciting things I like to cultivate.
- In making decisions, your intuition comes first. Listening to my gut is the only thing thats enabled me to have this company! Get input from people but ultimately do what feels right to you so you can stand behind your decisions.
- Do your best to have a really happy team. You don't want people who don't believe in what you are doing. While I'm still small, I buy fresh organic veggies for my employees and feed them superfoods and spring water, and coconut water, and CHOCOLATE! so they stay healthy and happy.
- Get community support. Rather then putting money into advertising, I like to locate Gnosis' funds towards the community by giving as much as I can to organizations I believe in, helping small companies startup that are in alignment with what I do, and throwing events and parties. Infusing the abundance back into the community not only raises my morale but also gets community support. That goes so much further then money spent on marketing because you earn the space on the supermarket shelf, rather then buying it. If every company went through word of mouth we would have a very different society. If you put all your efforts into the best possible product people will promote it for you. The reason the stores carry Gnosis Chocolate is because somebody in the community walked into the store and asked the buyer to carry our chocolate. That is straight proof that putting effort, love and gratitude into the community is the way to run a successful business.
Thank you!


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playmedia needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 44 designs submitted by 13 freelance designers.
Need a new design for the website of german-based hotel called Eifelgold-Rooding.
Eifelgold Rooding
I'm currently renewing the webpage of Eifelgold Rooding, this includes a new redesign. Since I don't have a lot of time I'm looking for someone to make a redesign.
It is a german based hotel, restaurant and wellness spa which is located in the beautifull Eifel area. More information on the current website: http://eifelgold-rooding.de/en/index.php
- Classic / Stylish layout
- Use of current logo (name + flower)
- Clear menu
- Use of pictures (see current website for examples)
- Place to put their own advertisments
- Something special ;-)
- No busy complicated site
- No rips

subset: commoncrawl


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The Bold & The Beautiful: Black Accents in the Bathroom
The clean sophistication of black and white may be the classic combination, but there are lots of ways to add bold, black accents into bathroom decor. Black can be strong and striking or smoky and romantic, and a little goes a long way. Check out these ideas for adding some bold black beauty to embellish your bathroom (try saying that 5 times fast).
Top Row:
1. Black and white striped wall coverings, like this pattern featured in the home of architect Steven Learner, are a crisp, timeless choice for bathroom decor.
2. Black window treatments, like these Hunter Douglas Brilliance Pleated Shades create a tailored effect when paired against bright yellow walls.
3. Adding in a single black furniture piece, like this tall black cabinet from Restoration Hardware, is a nice way to add a bold visual.
4. I love the look of this vintage black-painted clawfoot tub against a colorful floral backdrop. Vintage clawfoot tubs are not an option for many of us, but a vintage black vanity or etagere could be equally striking.
5. A black shower curtain, like this pattern from City Scene, is a low-commitment way to try out black decor in your bathroom.
Second Row:
6. A black vanity, like this model from Devon & Devon, can work as a powerhouse of elegance.
7. A black bathroom mirror contrasted against blues and grays shows how black doesn't have to "match" in order to work.
8. Hanging up black framed prints is an easy way to create visual interest on bathroom walls. You can use a few choice prints or even create a black-framed gallery wall.
9. For more of a commitment, black stenciled walls can look great, especially when used to play up black tile or fixtures that may already be in place, such as in this example taken from a fabulous makeover featured on Design Sponge.
10. A black light fixture can work with almost any color combination.
(Images: 1.Elle Decor, 2. The Finishing Touch, 3. Restoration Hardware, 4. Todaloos, 5. Linens N Things, 6.Trendir, 7. Hazardous Design, 8. Sketch 42 via MMM Crafts, 9. Design Sponge, 10. Barnlight Electric)


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I recently had the privilege of working at Christmas Cheer, interviewing those who need help providing a Christmas for their children. I was greatly saddened by the living conditions and extenuating circumstances of so many families who are trying their best but are barely able to make ends meet.
For what are they asking? Winter clothing, underwear, shoes and socks; small toys, games, books, crayons; help in providing a Christmas dinner. The requests were simple and humble.
This year, with the closing of Loaves & Fishes, many of these families are low on food. A sad byproduct of the closing is that donations to Christmas Cheer have been severely reduced as the community strives to feed the hungry (as well we should) rather than provide presents for the children and elderly.
What can donors do? Sponsor one of more children or even a family, provide groceries or a gift certificate for Christmas dinner, provide new winter clothing; sponsor an elderly person with groceries, warm clothing, bed linens; or donate directly to Christmas Cheer such items as new toys, new children�s winter clothing and pajamas, non-perishable food or money. Credit card donations can be made via Pay Pal on the website.
For over 80 years, Christmas Cheer has been devoted to seeing that no child wakes up on Christmas morning without a present. This has been expanded to include the needy elderly.
Let�s keep Christmas Cheer going. I urge you to do as my family and I have done for many years � give to Christmas Cheer.


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"Elsewheres": Issue of The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association
The editors of JMMLA seek essays about the literature, film, music, and art of places that don't really matter, places whose adjacency to the capitals of the world confirms their lack of sway. Especially welcome are essays that explore the consequences that come from the way literary and artistic value gets determined, the way consumers of culture continue to count on a handful of institutions to vet the art of the elsewhere.
"Elsewhere" is a term that is hospitable to more established ways of thinking about the relationship between center and margin—from Raymond Williams's "country/city" designation to the various porous binaries of postcolonial theory and ecocriticism—but that also accounts for the unevenness of the opposition. "Elsewhere" presupposes a somewhere in the same way that "99%er" confirms the one percent while also highlighting the inequality built into the opposition.
The art of the elsewhere responds to the unsettling experience of being both predominant and peripheral. It makes explicit the implications of the uneven split, the consequences of a system of cultural authority whose publishing houses, studios, galleries, and engines of public opinion are joined to the same somewhere.
How does this uneven distribution of cultural capital affect inequality beyond the realms of art and culture? Will elsewheres continue to submit to a system that understands its art as a mere dispatch from the periphery? Though somewheres continue to applaud and validate the art of the elsewhere, will elsewheres continue to accept this noblesse oblige? Will the axes of sway change in the twenty-first century? Indeed, can New York ever be irrelevant, or is such an idea too fantastic, the stuff of zombie novels and post-apocalyptic action movies?
One goal of this special issue is to explore these big questions while also appreciating the art of the elsewhere on its own terms, as that which teaches us how to relish the experience of being out of the spotlight—a lesson that Americans may need to learn as we enter a century in which the U.S. may well lose its status as the world's one superpower.
Another goal of the issue is to produce a set of essays that calls attention to the common ground of diverse, dissimilar elsewheres and that, in the process, finds new avenues for coalition building. Hobokens and Cuautitláns of the world, unite!
Essays should be around 8,000 words and should follow the most recent MLA Style Manual for internal citation and Works Cited. Please direct your queries and submit your essays electronically to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Deadline for queries: March 15, 2014
Deadline for essays: September 15, 2014


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With the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, you may want to add this 4 hours and 10 minutes of listening pleasure to your celebration. The stories are broken into 43 chapters. The average chapter is 4-6 minutes in length. Perfect for shorter attention spans! In fact only 3 of the chapters exceed the 10 minute mark. This makes these stories the perfect break between homeschool subjects. A treat to listen to while eating lunch, waiting a turn to do something, etc. Needless to say, it wasn't hard for us to find time to squeeze this product into our busy days.
Your family will get a very clear picture and overview of the pilgrims Mayflower journey, daily life, and New World adventures. Even better, since the main characters are the Brewster children your own kiddos will be completely engulfed and engaged. It definitely strikes a cord and makes the pilgrims more realistic and less holiday fluff when the kids are hearing the stories from the children's perspective.
The Stories of the Pilgrims Study Guide is also available. This 31 page PDF file allows you to print copies for all your family members to study together. It contains 11 assignments and an answer key. Within the assignments, you will find vocabulary study, comprehension questions, map activities, Bible study, recipes, crafts and more. There is even a link to a virtual tour of the Mayflower.
You can actually download the first chapter for free. Warning - you'll be hooked! So, I want to make sure you know about the November Sale!!! You can purchase Stories of the Pilgrims for $15 until the end of November and the Study Guide is $5. Only $20 to add both to your library. What a great addition to your Thanksgiving Unit Studies and a supplement to history curriculum!!!!
If the sale isn't fabulous enough, you don't want to miss the Ultimate Audio Book Homeschool Giveaway from Jim Hodges Audio Books. An amazing value worth over $700!!! Hours upon hours of listening enjoyment for the whole family. Enter today!
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- Home
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Carlin Marie Creech of Fayetteville and Bradley Thomas Smith of Raleigh were married May 19, 2012, at Haymount United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Dr. Brian Gentle and the Rev. David Gira officiated the ceremony.
The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carl R. Creech of Fayetteville.
The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gordon Smith of Shallotte.
The bride was given in marriage by her father.
She wore an all-lace ivory gown with a V-shaped neckline with scalloped edging and a crystal-encrusted satin band highlighting the empire waistline.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The Brunswick Beacon, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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A new year calls for a fresh start and that can be applied to tired, old furniture too. If your space is need of a refresh, have a look at six designer tips for giving your decor an easy overhaul. It all starts with Sarah Sherman Samuel's cool collab with Semihandmade for uplifting your IKEA cabinets. Read up on the fun new line below plus tips from our favorite designers for jumping on the Refresh Bandwagon!
Interior designer Sarah Sherman Samuel and Semihandmade, the go-to cabinet door company have teamed up to offer a new collection of original doors that can pair with Ikea cabinet boxes giving consumers the perfect way to personalize their kitchens cabinets, credenza and consoles.
From John McDonald, founder of Semihandmade...We met Sarah in 2013 when she was remodeling her Venice bungalow. At the time, she was transitioning from product design to interiors and Semihandmade was a five-man shop.
All we did was make her cabinet doors. Sarah painted them, installed the cabinets, styled the room and shot the photos. Sarah's traditional yet contemporary kitchen – Ikea cabinets with copper and brass accents framing two-tone Shaker doors – went viral. We still get at least one email a week mentioning it as inspiration.
A lot has changed for Sarah and Semihandmade in the last five years. We're both better at what we do. This partnership is proof. Semihandmade couldn't have picked a better person to launch our first signature line of doors with, and we're thrilled to share them with the world.
6 Ways to Give Your Furniture a Refresh
Change out the doors! Choose pre-finished doors from Semihandmade to switch out your Ikea cabinet or Ikea console doors. You can transform standard cabinet boxes into something completely new and totally stylized. - Sarah Sherman Samuel
Cover a sofa with a vintage Kantha quilt to switch up the look for a new season, Kanthas are reversible - so with one quilt you can get two different looks for your sofa. Shop our Jungalow favorites here! - Justina Blakeney
Applying removable wallpaper to the door fronts of a cabinet is an easy and inexpensive way to add a custom touch of color and pattern to your console—plus it's low commitment, since you can switch the wallpaper up on a whim when you're ready for a new look! - Anne Sage
Paint is one of the most transformative (and affordable) ways to update any piece of furniture. If the shape and style is good, but the finish isn't your favorite or doesn't go with your current scheme then throw a coat of paint on it and all the sudden you've got a brand new piece. I recently did this to our entry console and I love how different it looks in the space. The color isn't quite right yet, but already it is looking so much better. - Emily Henderson
When it comes to apartment living - double duty furniture is key. When I redid my bedroom I searched high and low for the perfect place for my TV but couldn't seem to find something that really worked and as much as I love TV there is nothing worse than seeing a big black box on the wall. To combat the problem I ended up finding a vintage hutch (typically used in a dining room) and retrofit it by removing the shelf in the top portion to hold my TV, which I could tuck behind the doors when not in use, and then still have room in the drawers below for some clothes. - Brady Tolbert
Utilizing a mirror as the focal point on the wall above a console adds light, height and dimension and can dress up any area. By layering a grouping of objects - greenery is always a great idea! In front of the reflection you'll get a double effect, making the overall space feel larger, lush and really pulled together. - Jenn Feldman


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Benefits of Amigos Library Services Membership
For over forty years, Amigos Library Services has helped member libraries deliver a higher level of service to their communities through innovation, collaboration, and partnerships. Membership provides access to many valuable services such as discounts from leading vendors, continuing education opportunities, professional consulting, and topical online conferences. Amigos Library Service members also have access to a variety of no-charge benefits including:
- Annual Membership Conference is an online conference providing diverse and innovative programming, including an essential Member Update, and Amigos Library Services Board Elections.
- Deposit Accounts help consolidate members' invoices and simplify accounting by allowing members to pay for any Amigos service or product such as continuing education sessions, database subscriptions, and more.
- Discount Direct is a program that provides members with the opportunity to order library supplies and consulting services directly from vendors at negotiated discounts.
- Know & Go Information Sessions are a series of regularly scheduled hour-long informative web sessions covering current topics of interest and designed for group participation.
- Member Job Bank allows Amigos Library Services members the opportunity to post their open positions for free. Open positions are listed for thirty days or longer upon request, and viewed by job seekers across the nation.
- RDA Toolkit Subscriptions for a single-simultaneous user is offered to Amigos Library Services members free of charge. Additional simultaneous users are available at discounted rates when ordered through Amigos.
- Reciprocal Borrowing Agreements enable no-charge resource sharing, saving time and money, among agreement signers. Participating libraries consent to loan and make copies (up to 50 pages) at no charge to other participants. Amigos Library Services sponsors both the Amigos Resource Sharing Agreement and the Western Resource Sharing Agreement.
- Topical Conferences Online exploring topics and trends of current interest to the library community are regularly scheduled throughout the year and available at no charge to the staff of Amigos Library Services member institutions. Click here for more details on our online conference page.


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Woman burned in Portland house fire may have attacked flames herself; smoking likely to blame
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) � Investigators say the Portland woman who received life-threatening burns during a fire at her home suffered her injuries trying to extinguish the blaze herself.
An investigator with the state Fire Marshal's office says 56-year-old Julia Ball was flown to a Boston hospital with burns on 75 to 80 percent of her body after firefighters found her outside the burning home on Sunday.
Sgt. Joel Davis tells The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/Y9nMqz ) the fire may have been caused by smoking materials that ignited a living room couch.
He says Ball may have fallen asleep while smoking or left the room. Investigators have not been able to interview her.
He says extinguishers at the house had not been discharged and investigators do not know how Ball tried to douse the fire.
Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com


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GALVESTON, TX --A Southeast Texas library has asked the public for help in tracking the history of the first rail line to reach Galveston.
The Galveston County Daily News reported Sunday that the research effort involves the Rosenberg Library's Galveston and Texas History Center.
The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad was chartered in 1853. The railway reached Galveston in 1860 upon completion of a bridge across Galveston Bay.
Library officials are seeking photographs of Galveston, Houston and Henderson equipment, personnel, facilities and operations.
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Mortgage Calculator
Estimate your monthly payment and see how much house you can afford.
About our Mortgage Rate Tables
The above mortgage loan information is provided to, or obtained by, Bankrate. Some lenders provide their mortgage loan terms to Bankrate for advertising purposes and Bankrate receives compensation from those advertisers (our "Advertisers"). Other lenders' terms are gathered by Bankrate through its own research of available mortgage loan terms and that information is displayed in our rate table for applicable criteria. In the above table, an Advertiser listing can be identified and distinguished from other listings because it includes a "Next" button that can be used to click-through to the Advertiser's own website or a phone number for the Advertiser.
Each Advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its own advertised terms. Bankrate cannot guaranty the accuracy or availability of any loan term shown above. However, Bankrate attempts to verify the accuracy and availability of the advertised terms through its quality assurance process and requires Advertisers to agree to our Terms and Conditions and to adhere to our Quality Control Program. Click here for rate criteria by loan product.
Advertisers may have different loan terms on their own website from those advertised through Bankrate.com. To receive the Bankrate.com rate, you must identify yourself to the Advertiser as a Bankrate.com customer. This will typically be done by phone so you should look for the Advertiser's phone number when you click-through to their website. In addition, credit unions may require membership.
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Mortgage Calculator: Alternative Use
Most people use a mortgage calculator to estimate the payment on a new mortgage, but it can be used for other purposes, too. Here are some other uses:1. Planning to pay off your mortgage early.
Use the "Extra payments" functionality of Bankrate's mortgage calculator to find out how you can shorten your term and net big savings by paying extra money toward your loan's principal each month, every year or even just one time.
To calculate the savings, click "Amortization / Payment Schedule" link and enter a hypothetical amount into one of the payment categories (monthly, yearly or one-time) and then click "Apply Extra Payments" to see how much interest you"ll end up paying and your new payoff date.2. Decide if an ARM is worth the risk.
The lower initial interest rate of an adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM, can be tempting. But while an ARM may be appropriate for some borrowers, others may find that the lower initial interest rate won't cut their monthly payments as much as they think.
To get an idea of how much you'll really save initially, try entering the ARM interest rate into the mortgage calculator, leaving the term as 30 years. Then, compare those payments to the payments you get when you enter the rate for a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage. Doing so may confirm your initial hopes about the benefits of an ARM -- or give you a reality check about whether the potential plusses of an ARM really outweigh the risks.3. Find out when to get rid of private mortgage insurance.
You can use the mortgage calculator to determine when you"ll have 20 percent equity in your home. This percentage is the magic number for requesting that a lender wave private mortgage insurance requirement.
Simply enter in the original amount of your mortgage and the date you closed, and click "Show Amortization Schedule." Then, multiply your original mortgage amount by 0.8 and match the result to the closest number on the far-right column of the amortization table to find out when you'll reach 20 percent equity.
Mortgage Calculator Help
Using an online mortgage calculator can help you quickly and accurately predict your monthly mortgage payment with just a few pieces of information. It can also show you the total amount of interest you"ll pay over the life of your mortgage. To use this calculator, you"ll need the following information:Home price
The dollar amount you expect to pay for a home.Down payment
The down payment is money you give to the home's seller. At least 20% down typically lets you avoid mortgage insurance.Mortgage Amount
If you're getting a mortgage to buy a new home, you can find this number by subtracting your down payment from the home's price. If you're refinancing, this number will be the outstanding balance on your mortgage.Mortgage Term (Years)
This is the length of the mortgage you're considering. For example, if you're buying new, you may choose a mortgage loan that lasts 30 years. On the other hand, a homeowner who is refinancing may opt of a loan that lasts 15 years.Interest Rate
Estimate the interest rate on a new mortgage by checking Bankrate's mortgage rate tables for your area. Once you have a projected rate (your real-life rate may be different depending on your overall credit picture) you can plug it into the calculator.Mortgage Start Date
Select the month, day and year when your mortgage payments will start.


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Miriam Nelson, Ph.D., presented the subcommittee report on
functional health. Dr. Nelson thanked her fellow subcommittee members, Dr. Kohrt,
Dr. Rimmer as well as their consultants, Dave Buchner, Jack Guralnick and John
Campbell as well as administrative help from Dr. Nelson's graduate assistant,
Mary Kennedy.
Through the sub-committee's work, three questions were formulated:
What is the evidence that physical activity prevents or
postpones functional limitations and/or disability with aging?
What is the evidence that physical activity improves or
maintains functional performance with aging?
What is the evidence that physical activity reduces falls or
risks of falls in older adults?
Addressing question number 1, there were approximately 23
studies that were identified that were relevant to the question. While there
appears to be more studies that can be reviewed the initial findings seem to be
clear and consistent in that physical activity reduces the risk of developing
functional limitations. While there may be a dose-response effect it is not
conclusive at this point. It may be important to pay close attention to studies
that include older adults as those studies point towards benefits to all ages.
Reviewing whether there is evidence that physical activity
improves or maintains functional performance with aging the group looked at 39
studies (mostly randomized control studies) consisting of participants from age
35 to 65 (as the emphasis in this area has focusing more on older adults now the
group may need to reconsider the age groups in the studies they review). Again,
the preliminary findings, no matter how one defines physical activity, show
benefits to improving or maintaining functional health. While there are only a
small number of studies that show a dose-response effect there may be evidence
linking increased activity to better results. However, more data is needed.
Dr. Nelson next discussed the conclusions of physical activity
with regards to balance. In this area there were 13 papers available, most of
which were randomized controls with participants aged 45 or older. The findings
indicate physical activity reduces the risk of falling in older adults. While a
variety of activities show benefit, strength and balance training seem most
While the studies in this area seem consistent it is the feeling
of the subcommittee that more data is needed to strengthen possible conclusions.
<< Musculoskeletal Health Subcommittee
Table of Contents
Adverse Events Subcommittee Report >>
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ASUS EAH2600PRO and EN8600GT Graphics Cards Announced
Home theatre lovers can now enjoy enhanced and convenient home multimedia to the fullest with these newly launched ASUS "HDMI Certified" graphics cards.
Tremendous Benefits with HDMI Connectors HDMI has quickly become the connection standard for HDTV and the consumer electronics market. Being the first and only digital interface to combine uncompressed high-definition video, multi-channel audio, intelligent format and command data in a single digital interface, HDMI dramatically simplifies home theater system installation and helps provide users with the ultimate home theater experience.
Official "HDMI Certified" Graphic Cards The HDMI format is defined, specified and governed by HDMI Licensing, LLC in the USA. "HDMI Certified" simply refers to any product that meets all of the strict criteria as set out by HDMI Licensing. Utilizing any HDMI product that is not approved may result in poor performance, and can even void the warranty on users' other HDMI enabled hardware. Therefore, the "HDMI Certified" ASUS EAH2600PRO and EN8600GT are definitely the most trusted graphics cards for home theater enthusiasts to choose from.
Exclusive Fansink Design Both models utilize a new generation of specially designed cooling fans and heatsinks to dissipate heat efficiently. Exclusively designed, these cooling solutions make for better cooling, and can therefore lower temperatures tremendously in comparison to reference design boards.
Splendid Video Intelligence Technology With Splendid Video Intelligence Technology, images enabled by ASUS graphics cards are fine-tuned to deliver vibrant visual representations in conditions most favorable to the human eye. Therefore, watching movies on the PC is as good as watching them on top-of-the-line consumer televisions. Splendid is also the perfect companion to AMDs Avivo HD and NVIDIA΄s PureVideo HD technology providing superb hardware acceleration for video decoding.
Exclusive ASUS GamerOSD for Versatile Graphics Usage The ASUS EAH2600PRO and EN8600GT also come with the exclusive ASUS GamerOSD that unleashes the true power of ASUS' VGA cards. This feature is able to deliver GPU overclocking and chat options from onscreen displays during gameplay allowing users real-time performance upgrades when they require it. Additionally, it also provides users with the option to record live gaming action or live broadcasting over the Internet with ease.


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Brilliant Acrylic Console Table Bronze
The Brilliant Acrylic Console Table has clean and sophisticated lines, and can accent any room in your home or office with just the right amount of color. It's the most popular piece from Alexandra Von Furstenberg's contemporary furniture line. The simplicity of this acrylic table's simple design is modern and chic, yet it blends in with just about any type of setting. AtMa(i)sonry in Napa Valley, they feature a Yellow Brilliant in a rustic setting that juxtaposes with the modern lines of the Brilliant Acrylic Console Table perfectly. The way the color reflects throughout the piece is truly amazing.Specs: 60"x18"x31"
The Brilliant Acrylic Console Table has been featured in various publications since the launch of the Alexandra Von Furstenberg collection of acrylic tables. In C Magazine, Alexandra is shown posing in front of the Red Brilliant Lucite Console, as well as being featured in House Beautiful Magazine in their story "I'm Looking for Lucite".
To fit your needs, the sizing of this product can be adjusted for your own personal space. If you love the shape but need it longer, wider or in a different color, let us know what your needs are and we will do our best to accommodate them.
Click Here to inquire about customizing this piece.


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Jeannie Yandel
Year started with KUOW: 2001
Jeannie Yandel has always been a sucker for a good story. And she had an epiphany one morning listening to Morning Edition – the consistently best stories out there were coming from NPR. So in 2001, she started as an intern here at KUOW, working for Weekday.
Since then, Jeannie's produced nearly every show out of KUOW, from Morning Edition to Rewind to The Conversation. Now she's a producer for The Record. Her job is to help the people who live in the Puget Sound area tell their own amazing stories on the radio. It's a pretty perfect job.
To see more of Jeannie's KUOW portfolio, visit our current site.


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WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Researchers at Johns Hopkins University said there are signs Iranians may be helping the North Koreans with Pyongyang's rocket program.
North Korea in December orbited a satellite using a rocket that put the U.S. West Coast within reach. Similar launches in 2006 and 2009 coincided with North Korea nuclear test. Pyongyang announced Tuesday it carried out its third underground test of a nuclear device.
Blog 38 North, an arm of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said its analysis of satellite imagery taken in January indicates preparations for an upcoming test of a liquid-fueled rocket.
It said imagery of a new launch pad shows Pyongyang may be able to test rockets "three to four times" the size of the rocket deployed in December.
"Analysis of construction activities around the new launch pad has revealed evidence that Pyongyang's rocket program may be receiving assistance from Iran," the report stated.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told The Washington Post that upcoming nuclear talks with Iran were vital given recent North Korean developments. Iran is suspected of pursing a nuclear weapons program, an allegation Tehran denies.
Johns Hopkins analysis, however, from early this week notes that North Korea doesn't have the ability to deploy a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile.


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Single-family house sales inched upward in Orange County last month compared to a year earlier, while the median sale price dropped.
Single-family house sales inched upward in Orange County last month compared to a year earlier, while the median sale price dropped.
There were 194 sales last month and 183 in September 2012. The median sale price was $230,000 in September, down from $244,900 a year earlier, according to figures from the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors.
Sales totaled 643 in the third quarter of the year, up nearly 24 percent in Orange County compared to a year earlier when 520 single-family houses sold. A lower median sale price was recorded in the quarter-to-quarter comparison: $240,000 this year and $245,000 in 2012.
Orange County attracts more "price-sensitive" buyers than those in other counties represented by Hudson Gateway — Putnam, Westchester and Rockland — the Realtors' group stated, "which gives lower price housing there a larger share of the market basket, at least for now."
Hudson Gateway saw low interest rates — less than 4 percent when much of the third-quarter's activity occurred — as supporting a continued real estate recovery.
Ulster County's Board of Realtors recorded 105 single-family sales last month, up from 77 a year earlier. It also saw the median price rise last month to $229,000 from $197,500 in September 2012.
Year-to-date sales in Ulster totaled 873 through September, up from 770 in 2012. The median sale price increased to $209,000 in 2013, up from $194,070.
Sullivan County's Board of Realtors saw 43 single-family house sales last month, up from 38 in September 2012. The median price dropped to $118,000 last month from $157,000 a year earlier.
Third quarter 2013 brought 122 sales, up from 104 at the same time last year. The median price dropped over the same period to $135,000 from $153,500.


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Colour variation in the peppered moth Biston betularia was long accepted to be under strong natural selection. Melanics were believed to be fitter than pale morphs because of lower predation at daytime resting sites on dark, sooty bark. Melanics became common during the industrial revolution, but since 1970 there has been a rapid reversal, assumed to have been caused by predators selecting against melanics resting on today's less sooty bark. Recently, these classical explanations of melanism were attacked, and there has been general scepticism about birds as selective agents. Experiments and observations were accordingly carried out by Michael Majerus to address perceived weaknesses of earlier work. Unfortunately, he did not live to publish the results, which are analysed and presented here by the authors. Majerus released 4864 moths in his six-year experiment, the largest ever attempted for any similar study. There was strong differential bird predation against melanic peppered moths. Daily selection against melanics (s ≃ 0.1) was sufficient in magnitude and direction to explain the recent rapid decline of melanism in post-industrial Britain. These data provide the most direct evidence yet to implicate camouflage and bird predation as the overriding explanation for the rise and fall of melanism in moths.
1. Introduction
Melanism in the peppered moth Biston betularia led to the earliest measurements of natural selection on a Mendelian locus in the wild [1,2]. Rapid nineteenth century increases in melanics, followed by more recent declines took place in step with changing patterns of industrialization in Britain and elsewhere [3–5]. The melanic 'carbonaria' morph is inherited via a dominant allele, C, at a single locus. The recessive c allele specifies the non-melanic black and white 'typica' form, while intermediate melanic 'insularia' alleles, inherited at the same locus, are dominant to typica and recessive to carbonaria. Insularia forms also increased, somewhat variably, during industrialization [5]. Recently, this locus has been mapped and cloned; the pattern of genetic variation in the genomic region harbouring the C locus suggests a rapid selective sweep around a single mutational origin of melanism [6].
Melanics were long believed to be advantageous in the face of bird predation against bark resting sites darkened by soot pollution [2], a form of camouflage [7]. Classic experiments in the mid-twentieth century proved that birds attacked the moths. Furthermore, resting moths that failed to match their background were more vulnerable to bird predation in cage experiments [8,9]. Mark–recapture studies of live moths, as well as many bird predation experiments using dead moths pinned to tree trunks, supported the hypothesis that birds were the agents of selection on melanism [3,9].
However, these procedures have drawbacks [3,5,10], and critiques were increasingly aired [5,11,12]. In experiments, moths were often placed on tree trunks, which were argued to be abnormal resting sites; pinned carcases seemed particularly unnatural. Moths were often released at greatly inflated densities, potentially increasing predation. Reared insects from geographically distant sources were often used to supplement wild individuals, and may not have behaved as naturally in recapture experiments as wild moths. By the 1990s, considerable scepticism became evident [11–14]. Factors other than bird predation (e.g. migration, physiological differences among genotypes) were argued to play a substantial role in the evolution of melanism in Biston [5,15–17]. Caveats about the predation experiments discussed in Majerus's book [5], critiques by other biologists, as well as points made particularly forcefully in a review of the Majerus book [18], were soon exploited by non-scientists to promote an anti-evolution agenda and to denigrate the predation explanation [10]. Kettlewell's original mark–recapture experiments were later argued to be fraudulent [19] (quite groundlessly: see [3,10,20]). Judith Hooper, author of this claim, also suggested that bats rather than birds might be the agents of selection [19]. Soon, both the public in general and even evolutionary biologists began to doubt the bird predation story (electronic supplementary material, S1 [18]).
Majerus therefore decided to make key new field observations, and he also designed and carried out a massive new predation experiment, the largest predation experiment ever performed (4864 released moths) to answer his own and other criticisms of earlier work [5,10,21]. In addition, to address the possible effect of bat predation, Majerus released live moths in night-time experiments in multiple locations: he found no significant differences in predation of 419 melanic and typical moths eaten by three species of pipistrelle bats [22].
These results were all presented by Majerus in a keynote address at the ESEB Congress, Uppsala, in August 2007. Unfortunately, Majerus died after a short illness in 2009 before publishing the resting site observations and predation results. However, the information from the Uppsala talk, which forms the basis for the current analysis, was made freely available by Majerus on the Internet soon thereafter as a set of projected slides. We have formed the current collaboration in order to analyse these results and disseminate them in print for the first time, as well as to clarify the importance of these key results for our understanding of natural selection in the wild.
2. Material and methods
Experimental and observational work presented here was carried out by Michael Majerus in a 1 ha rural garden, at Springfield, near Coton, Cambridgeshire, UK. Full methods were published in a little-known chapter [10]; relevant extracts are provided here (electronic supplementary material, S2). Original source files of his presentation in 2007, which contain the results analysed here, are provided at http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.962262h9. In cases where numerical data were not supplied in these files, we have expressed the results in terms similar to those used by Majerus in the 2007 documents.
(a) Natural resting sites
While climbing trees in the experimental site in order to set up sleeves for the predation experiment (see below), Majerus systematically scrutinized trunks, branches and twigs of a limited set of trees and recorded natural resting positions of all wild moths he found. The 135 observations he obtained here add considerably to the less-extensive resting site data previously published [10,12].
(b) Predation experiment
The purposes of the new experiment by Majerus were to estimate the relative survival of local melanic and non-melanic moths at low, naturalistic densities. Moths (melanic carbonaria and non-melanic typica; no insularia morphs were used) were therefore released on substrates that Majerus himself had shown were normal for the species. Morphs were released at frequencies close to those estimated from captures in the previous year at Madingley, near Cambridge. (These Madingley frequencies have been interpolated by us from a graph provided by Majerus in his 2007 presentation; see table 2, column 2).
A total of 4864 peppered moths were released during the natural emergence seasons over 6 years. Each night one moth was released into each of the 12 netting 'sleeves' surrounding a branch selected randomly from among the 103 (reduced to 97 by 2007) branches used in the study. Sleeves and any moths resting on them were removed before dawn, and positions of moths remaining undisturbed on bark were noted. Release density averaged less than 10 moths ha−1 night−1. Moths absent from resting positions 4 h after sunrise were presumed eaten by predators as they rarely fly away during daylight unless greatly disturbed. Of those that disappeared, approximately 26 per cent were seen being eaten by birds via binocular observations [10]. For further details, see electronic supplementary material, S2 and the study of Majerus [10].
(c) Statistical analysis of predation experiment
Data from the predation experiment (table 2, columns 4–6) were provided as a three-way contingency table. The numbers of carbonaria and typica released yearly were fixed by the experimental design. Such non-standard contingency tables are readily handled by log-linear models [23]. Maximum-likelihood values of parameters of non-selective and selective predation rates were estimated given the assumptions of homogeneity or heterogeneity of effects among years, and likelihood-ratio tests were performed to test models of different hierarchical complexity [24,25]. While simple contingency table analysis is probably more familiar, non-selective predation was heterogeneous among years, and a more complex analysis that takes account of the heterogeneity was required (see electronic supplementary material, S3).
3. Results
(a) Natural resting sites
Majerus had already shown that some moths did normally rest on tree trunks during the day [10]. His recent extensive observations on resting sites obtained while climbing the trees in his garden to set up the predation experiment appear to have been lost, but he summarized the work in his 2007 Uppsala presentation (http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.962262h9). An annotated version of this summary is presented here. Majerus reported the following major features (table 1):
— The majority (52%) of moths rest on lateral branches.
— Of the moths on lateral branches, the majority (89%) rest on the lower half of the branch.
— A significant proportion of moths (35%) rest on tree trunks.
— Of those that rest on trunks, the majority (87%) rest on the north, rather than the south half.
— A minority of moths (13%) rest under or among twigs.
— There were no significant differences in the resting sites of males and females (χ2 ≈ −2Δln L = 0.33, 2 d.f.).
— There were no significant differences in the resting sites used by typica (non-melanic), carbonaria (full melanic) or insularia (intermediate melanic) forms (numerical data not available).
The findings about orientation of resting position suggest avoidance of exposure to sun, while also verifying that a reasonably high fraction of moths do rest on the trunks of trees, as well as in the canopy.
Note that these observations were of wild moths which did not form part of the predation experiment.
(b) Predation experiment
In Majerus's new predation experiment at an unpolluted site, significantly more released melanics than non-melanics disappeared, or were seen to be eaten by nine bird species (figure 1 and table 2). This lower fitness of melanics is expected if the observed decline in melanism (table 2) is explained by visual predation.
The full statistical analysis (electronic supplementary material, S3) demonstrates:
— strong evidence of heterogeneity in the non-selective fraction eaten of both morphs across years (p < 0.001), but
— no significant variation in the fraction selectively eaten across years, and
— strong evidence of overall selection against the melanic form (p = 0.003), while taking into account the year-to-year heterogeneity in the non-selective fraction eaten.
— The maximum likelihood selective coefficient against melanics is s = 0.091 per day (with likelihood-estimated 95% confidence intervals of 0.028–0.157). This gives daily relative survival estimates for melanics of 91 per cent (84–97%) of that of the typical forms. These estimates and confidence intervals account for year-to-year heterogeneity in overall survival (first result, above).
4. Discussion
The lifespan of wild moths is several days, so the approximately 9 per cent reduction in daily survival of melanics is sufficient in magnitude and direction to explain their long-term local decline; the decline rate suggests a selection pressure against melanics of s ≈ 0.1–0.2 per generation (table 2; [3]). Majerus was able to see predation events from his window, involving nine species of local insectivorous birds (table 2). Clearly melanics disappeared faster than non-melanics in this experiment, and Majerus was able to confirm by direct observation that about one-quarter of the disappearances were owing to bird predation [10].
Factors other than predation have often been argued to play a substantial role in the rise and subsequent post-industrial fall of melanism in Biston [5,15–17]. Nonetheless, with this new evidence added to the existing data, it is virtually impossible to escape the previously accepted conclusion that visual predation by birds is the major cause of rapid changes in frequency of melanic peppered moths [3,5]. These new data answer criticisms of earlier work and validate the methodology employed in many previous predation experiments that used tree trunks as resting sites [3]. The new data, coupled with the weight of previously existing data convincingly show that 'industrial melanism in the peppered moth is still one of the clearest and most easily understood examples of Darwinian evolution in action' [21].
We thank Ziheng Yang, Sami Merilaita, Anders Forsman, Remy Ware, Chris Jiggins, Frank Jiggins, Blanca Huertas, the family of Michael Majerus and two anonymous reviewers for help and suggestions. We are grateful for permission from Michael Majerus to make the data available in the current format. Deposited data: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.962262h9
- Received November 22, 2011.
- Accepted January 13, 2012.
- This journal is © 2012 The Royal Society
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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Is there anything more comforting than potatoes on a blustery fall day? From mashed to fried, potatoes are satisfying, hearty and so delicious. I count so many potato dishes among my favorites - from potato chips (a serious weakness) to roasted potatoes to super loaded baked potato, spuds are in heavy rotation in our household.
A Brief History
The little homely tuber has a very rich and complicated history. Potatoes originated in the highlands of Peru (although Chile disputes this!); The Oxford Companion to Food author Alan Davidson notes that there is evidence that vegetable was cultivated there at least 2,000 years ago. The Spanish were the first Europeans to encounter the tubers, in the 16th century in Columbia, and soon after potatoes were introduced to Spain and Italy, and later in the 16th century to the British Isles and possibly to India.
They didn't catch on right away in Europe - in part because the varieties imported from South America weren't adapted to European climates, but also due to the potato's botanical similarity to deadly nightshade. However, by the 17th century, potatoes were a critical component of the Irish diet (and were just starting to catch on elsewhere). A variety called the "Lumper" was monocropped in Ireland and, according to Davidson, the average Irish peasant consumed between seven and 14 pounds of potatoes per day. By the 18th century the tubers were being promoted by official decree in a number of European countries and had begun to become popular all over the continent and then the world, eventually becoming a staple component of many countries' cuisines. In the 1840s, potato blight struck Ireland, and for a number of complicated reasons (only some of which having to do with the potato), a devastating famine was triggered. The Irish potato famine (or "Great Famine") killed about a million Irish, and a million more emigrated to the US and other countries.
Factual Nibbles
- According to the International Potato Center, there are more than 4,300 varieties of native potatoes, most of which are found in the Andes Mountains. There are also over 180 species of wild potatoes (most of which are not edible - one of these was implicated in the death of Chris McCandless, the controversial figure whose death in the Alaskan wilderness was the subject of the book and film Into the Wild).
- The first French fries were served at the White House, under our first foodie president, Thomas Jefferson.
- Potatoes weren't introduced into North America until 1719.
- Legend says that Marie Antoinette wore potato flowers in her hair, which helped the tuber become fashionable in France (for eating, not just as a hair ornament) in the late 18th century.
- A plant pathogen, called Phytophthora infestans, caused the Irish potato famine. In May 2013, the exact strain of the pathogen was finally discovered.
- Fun with heirloom potato names! Cultivars include: Rose Finn Apple, Banana, Purple Majesty, German Butterball, Mountain Rose and many more.
Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are in the Nightshade (Solunum) family, which also includes several important crops, including tomatoes and eggplant. They are not grown from seed, but from "seed potatoes" which are pieces of whole potatoes that you plant in the ground.
According to the USDA, potatoes are the most important vegetable crop in the US, and are the fourth most important food crop in the world. Idaho and Washington State produce the most potatoes in the US (primarily the Russet Burbank variety) while China, India, Russia and Ukraine are tops in world potato production. The majority of potatoes grown in the US (60 percent) are used for processed potato products, including French fries, chips and other products.
There are early-season, mid-season and late-season potato varieties, making the veggie one of the few that is legitimately available almost year-round, even when grown locally. And because potatoes can be stored for several months, the tubers can be found at markets even in the dead of winter.
Environmental Impact
Unfortunately, there are some serious environmental concerns with potato production. The tubers rank pretty high (at number 10 ) on the Environmental Working Group's Guide to Pesticides in Produce. In a fascinating essay for Smithsonian magazine, Charles Mann argues that potato cultivation "set the template" for today's modern intensive industrial agriculture, starting in the late 19th century. Potatoes have the distinction of being one of the first crops to be intensively monocropped, and Mann notes that potato cultivation started the use of unsustainable fertilizer, in the form of nutrient-rich bird guano harvested from remote islands off the coast of Peru. Finally, Mann contends that potato production frames the creation of the modern era of ever-increasing pesticide potency and utilization, first starting with potent arsenic compounds used to fight devastating Colorado potato beetle infestations.
Fast forward to the 1920s Idaho, where J.R. Simplot founded his company (now called simply Simplot) in 1929. Simplot's company is now one of the world's largest agribusinesses. The company grew during World War II by supplying the US government with potato products, and grew even larger when they developed the first commercially available frozen French fry, eventually destined to be the primary supplier of frozen fries for McDonald's. (They now produce everything from turf to beef products.) Earlier this year, Simplot asked the US government to approve several varieties of GM potatoes (one of which is a bruise-less variety - large potato buyers like McDonalds reject potatoes with bruised spots). Simplot also mines its own phosphate for agricultural production - and came under fire in 2012 for selenium pollution, which is a byproduct of their mining operation.
Sadly, only the types of input have changed from the earliest days of intensive potato production: instead of harvested guano for fertilizer, potato companies (unsustainably) mine phosphorus; instead of arsenical compounds to control pests, a staggeringly diverse list of pesticides (including insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) is used (here's a listfrom Washington State); and potatoes are still intensively monocropped in the US and around the world. If you're concerned about any of these issues, try to buy locally produced potatoes, and check with your local farmer about his or her growing practices. (*And check out our Real Food Rule of Thumb, below.)
We used to be limited to just a handful of potato varieties - there was a time when all one could find on the grocery store shelves were russets (baking potatoes) and maybe red (aka "new") potatoes. Fortunately, it has become easier these days to find fun varieties of potatoes in wide varieties of shapes and colors at the farmers' market and even at conventional grocery stores. Potatoes are generally classified by color, texture and sometimes by shape. Some examples:
- Russets (aka "baking" potatoes) tend to have a "dry" texture
- Red potatoes tend to be waxy or creamy
- White potatoes tend to be creamy
- Yukons (aka yellow potatoes) tend to be a bit waxy and rich
- Purple potatoes tend to have a "dry" or "floury" texture
- Fingerlings finger-shaped or oval; different varieties have different textures
What to look for
Potatoes vary wildly in size and shape - but in general, look for tubers with no black, mushy or spongy spots. Also look closely at the skin: if has a greenish tint or if the eyes have started to sprout, take a pass.
Potatoes have gotten a bad rap in the last few decades for being high in carbs - but the truth is, the tubers are actually pretty good for you. They are high in lots of vital nutrients, including Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, potassium, manganese and folate. Potatoes also have a fair amount of fiber, and even have good amounts of protein and iron. It is an urban myth that potato skins contain all of the nutrients in the vegetable. While the skin does, indeed, contain some of the vital nutrients (for example, most of the iron and potassium), the flesh is also rich in vitamins and minerals. Here's a nice breakdown of the nutrients contained in potato flesh vs. skin.
What to Do with It
Potatoes are really one of the most versatile vegetables in the kitchen. They're at home in cuisines as diverse as Irish, Indian, Spanish and Eastern European. They can be baked, steamed, fried, pureed, mashed, stuffed, roasted, grilled and boiled. Potatoes are classically paired with dairy products (think butter, cream, milk and cheese), pork (think bacon) and alliums (think onions, garlic, chives). They also taste great with stronger spices, like mustard seed, cumin and chile pepper.
When cooking potatoes, it's key to pick the type of potato that is best for whatever you are cooking. For example, waxy potatoes (like red potatoes) tend to hold their shape better, so are great for potato salads or for boiling. Baking potatoes are perfect for French fries. Here's a great primer on common varieties, their characteristics and what they do best in the kitchen.
That being said: the number and variety of potato dishes is truly staggering. Fried potato dishes include the ubiquitous French fry, but also the classic American hash browns, Spanish patatas bravas, Swiss rösti (hash browns with an umlaut) and tater tots (make your own!), among many, many others. Italians make potato gnocci, Indians stuff potatoes into samosas and paratha, the French make potato gratins and pommes dauphine and a million other complicated potato dishes. Nearly everyone makes mashed potatoes of some sort (the Irish mix cabbage into theirs, for colcannon) and potato pancakes (aka, latkes or boxty). Germans make their potato salad with bacon, onion and vinegar; classic American potato salad has mayo and boiled eggs. Potato flour or mashed potatoes are used in bread baking, donut making and pastry dough, too.
Store potatoes in a cool, dark place with low humidity (a basement is ideal). Kept dry and in a dark place, most potatoes will keep for at least a month and up to three months (or more!).
Stretching your fresh food dollar though preservation
Although potatoes can be stored for a long time, they don't really preserve well otherwise. Freezing raw potatoes is a no-go, but you can freeze cooked potatoes, like mashed potatoes, potato pancakes (see recipe below!), twice-baked potatoes and French fries. You can also lacto-ferment potatoes - here's a neat recipe for lacto-fermented French fries. Traditional cultures in Bolivia and Peru make chuño, which are freeze-dried potatoes. They can be stored for long periods of time, and are reconstituted in water before using.
Purple Potato and Carrot Pancakes with Quick Applesauce
OK, OK - you don't have to use purple potatoes, but they are so much fun! Sub any other variety of potato if you can't find purple spuds. The key to a crispy potato pancake is getting as much starch and moisture out of the potatoes before cooking - hence the soaking and squeezing in the recipe below. Make the applesauce first; while it is cooling make the pancakes. (The applesauce can be made several days in advance - stick it, covered, in the fridge after cooling.) Feel free to sub ready made apple sauce for homemade, or top your pancakes with sour cream or Greek yogurt instead.
For the quick apple sauce:
3 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1-inch chunks
1⁄2 cup water
For the purple potato and carrot pancakes:
1 lb. purple potatoes, peeled
1 small shallot, grated on the large holes of a box grater or finely minced
1 large carrot, trimmed and peeled, grated on the large holes of a box grater
1 tablespoon fresh chives (optional)
1 egg, beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1⁄3 cup olive oil or organic canola oil
For the applesauce:
1. In a medium, heavy saucepan, add the apples and water. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until apples are very soft and the water has evaporated.
2. Mash apples with a potato masher, or puree with a stick blender or in a food processor. Let cool.
For the purple potato pancakes:
1. Grate the peeled potatoes on the holes of a large box grater (or use the grater attachment of a food processor). Transfer to a large bowl of water and let soak for 5 minutes.
2. Drain the grated potatoes, squeezing as much moisture from them as you can. Place grated potatoes on a kitchen towel, then roll up as tightly as possible and squeeze as much remaining moisture from the potatoes as you can. (Do this over the sink!)
3. Put the potatoes in a large bowl and add the grated or minced shallot, grated carrot, optional chives, egg, a generous pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix together gently with your hands until thoroughly combined.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot (but not smoking). Gently drop 2-3 tablespoons of the potato mixture into the pan, spreading out with a fork or spatula. (You'll only be able to cook a few potato pancakes at a time.) Fry for about 5 minutes, or until brown and crispy, then flip and fry for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and add more salt to taste.
5. Continue frying the rest of the potato pancakes until all of the mixture is used up.
6. Serve with cooled applesauce.
Note: You can stick your cooked potato pancakes in the oven to keep them warm while you fry up the rest: just heat oven to 250°F and place cooked pancakes on a wire rack over a baking sheet to keep crispy.
(*Real Food rule of thumb: We think that first and foremost, in terms of nutrition, people should eat lots of fruits and vegetables whether they are organic or not. The EWG's guide is a handy list, but we will point out here that the impacts of pesticides are not limited to your ingestion of them - agricultural chemicals also affect farmworkers and local waterways, both good reasons to buy organic, even those vegetables that carry a light pesticide load. Also, it has been demonstrated that produce grown by small-scale farmers, even those who are not certified organic, tends to have a lighter pesticide load than its industrially-produced counterpart, owing to industry's tendency toward large monocrops.)
This post was originally published in November 2013.


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Smartphones Patented... Just About Everyone Sued 1 Minute After Patent Issued
from the wasting-no-time dept
As the link above explains, the patent itself is based on a bunch of continuation filings, which are commonly used by patent holders who want broad patents to cover the latest technologies well after they've already come about in the market. It would seem like the concept itself, merely combining a bunch of things that people were already talking about, should never have been granted based on the Supreme Court's recent KSR ruling that merely combining existing concepts doesn't deserve a patent. Also, as noted in the comments to the link above, it would appear that there's a fair amount of prior art. In fact, Apple even sent over some prior art concerning the patent just before it was originally supposed to be issued last summer -- but somehow patent holder's lawyers talked their way around it. In the meantime, it looks like we've got yet another case of an overly broad and obvious patent being used against a huge number of firms. I'm sure that's exactly what Thomas Jefferson expected when he created our patent system.


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Seattle signs 3 draft picks to practice squad
September 2, 2013
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks have placed three of their 2013 draft picks on their eight-man practice squad.
Seattle announced the practice squad on Monday. All eight players were in Seattle's training camp.
The Seahawks brought back offensive linemen Ryan Seymour and Jared Smith, and linebacker Ty Powell, all three taken in April's draft and released last week. Smith is making the transition from defensive line to center.
Seattle also added defensive tackle Michael Brooks, tight end Cooper Helfet, defensive back DeShawn Shead, defensive tackle Sealver Siliga and wide receiver Bryan Walters. Siliga was acquired from Denver in a trade during training camp.
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org


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A render of the Verizon HTC One has surfaced, revealing a very familiar looking device. Save for Verizon's 4G LTE logo next to the signal meter and the September 5 date on the screen, the image above is practically identical to previous leaks of the HTC One by @evleaks.
On more than a handful of occasions, the on-screen date of HTC handset renders has corresponded to an announcement or retail launch date, but we're not quite ready to make that assumption. While Verizon's announcement that the HTC One would be available "later this summer" was a bit vague, we're truly hoping the device will be made available long before September rolls around.
How much longer are you willing to wait for the HTC one on Verizon?


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If you like comic books, want to meet local sports legends, browse through rare sports memorabilia, and meet a zombie or two getting ready to appear on WBBZ-TV's "Off Beat Cinema," then mark your calendars for a special event co-sponsored by WBBZ-TV.
"Buzzcon" is coming to the Eastern Hills Mall Friday, Sept. 13, from 5-9 p.m., and Saturday, Sept. 14, from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. This is the first "Buzzcon" event sponsored by the station to be held at the mall.
Special guests include former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Andre Reed (appearing 7-9 p.m. Friday); NFL Hall of Famer and former Buffalo Bill Joe DeLamielleure (Saturday, from noon until 2 p.m.); former Buffalo Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson (Saturday, noon until 2 p.m.); and former pro wrestler Dick the "Destroyer" Beyer (Saturday at 11 a.m.).
Bring your cameras, special items to be signed, and get ready to get "Buzzed" by the BUZZCON experience.
The event is free to attend. The Eastern Hills Mall is located at 4545 Transit Road, near Main, in Clarence. The WBBZ-TV studio is located near Macy's.


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So there is interest at work in setting up a video conferencing system for light usage, meaning skype or other software-based solutions that don't require exotic (read: expensive) hardware. The main display will be an off the shelf 50-55" LCD TV, I'm looking at higher-end consumer grade webcams like the Logitech BCC950, and of course a small form factor PC to run them all.
I did a little digging around and found out about the Arctic MC101 From the specs and the reviews I've seen, this looks like a very sweet system with a mobile Trinity APU and some very nice connectivity. Here's a review of the Artic MC101, and I'd love to see TR take a crack at this system. Another advantage for a work environment is that it comes with a pre-built configuration so no assembly is required (there are bare-bones versions too if you want more customization).
Does anyone else have recommendations for SFF or HTPC systems that fit the bill for this type of setup? The Mac Mini is one alternative that comes to mind for me, but the issue there is having to wipe OS X and jump over to Windows for many tasks. Anything else out on the market that fills this niche nicely?
Edit: One disadvantage of the Arctic box is the lack of any optical drive option. It helps to keep the box small, but you can't do DVD/BluRay with this thing. They do offer an external drive option, but at $130, I'd look to Newegg/Amazon/etc. instead of getting it through them.


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About 1,100 people have collectively lost $5 million to callers who fraudulently claim to be from the Internal Revenue Service, authorities said Friday.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has received 90,000 complaints about the scam.
IRS officials said victims are told they might owe money that must be paid immediately to the IRS, or are told they are set to receive a big refund. After threatening victims with jail time or driver's license revocation, scammers hang up and others call back pretending to be police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim.
IRS officials, however, do not call people or ask for money or credit card information.
Anyone receiving a call should contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 or TIGTA at 800-366-4484.
— Larry Altman


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Film titled 'Brooklyn USA' based on Brooklyn borough of New York City. Brooklyn Bridge spanning East River in New York City. Traffic along road. Various buildings in Brooklyn. View of Manhattan skyline of skyscrapers, as seen from Brooklyn. Commercial establishments with signs in various languages, including: Spanish, Italian, and Arabic. Alamphon Arabic Records shop. Brooklynites dresses as native American Indians play music. People sitting on benches, in the sun. Street signs for Myrtle Avenue and Herkimer Street. Building with sign reading: "Greepoint. Post No. 24, American Legion." Sign reads 'T.S.F.T.P.O.D.R.A.B Sidney H. Ascher'. Official walks down the steps of a brownstone apartment building. He speaks to the camera. Milestone with directions and distances inscribed on it, including "10 1/2 miles to N. York ferry." Street signs at intersection of Lady Moody Square and Avenue U. Historic homes and building. Brownstone homes in fashionable district near Garden Place. Sign at corner of Fulton Street and Pineapple Street. Sign for Orange Street. Signs at Vine Street and Columbia Heights,at Cranberry and Henry Streets,and at Poplar, Willow, and Middagh Streets.
From the Ford Motor Company produced film, "Scenes From the World of Tomorrow" documenting the 1939-1940 World's Fair in New York City. View of buildings of the New York World's Fair of 1940. The Brooklyn Bridge. Aerial view of Manhattan Island, New York City. Skyscrapers of New York City including the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. New York Harbor and ships in the harbor. View of the buildings of the New York Worlds Fair in the distance in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, as seen from high in a skyscraper of New York City. The Fair's Trylon and Perisphere stand out. People walk along the sides of fountains and waterways at the fair. Crowds milling about, bands marching, dancers performing. Flags of many nations flying on the flag poles. Celebration of the 150th anniversary of George Washington, as the first President of the United States and a statue of George Washington. A bus moves on the street. Fountains and a small bridge near a waterway. Pavilions of nations of England, Japan, and Italy. The USA building and some of the buildings of U.S. States including Maine and Florida. Fountains and waterways of the fair. Woman and two girls eat ice cream cones. A Raymond Loewy - designed S1 experimental streamlined locomotive created for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Pavilions of American Telephone & Telegraph and of United States Steel Corporation, also of Westinghouse, Goodrich, Chrysler, and General Motors.
Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in New York City during the Great Depression. Aerial view of New York City as a plane flies by and clouds part to show Manhattan island below. Buildings and skyscrapers of New York City as seen from river and harbor views, with some ships and tugboats seen. Trucks on roads of Governor's Island at tip of Manhattan. An older home seen under renovation and reconstruction. View of the Brooklyn Navy Yard with WPA workers busy building and improving new roads and shops and warehouses near the docks. A bulkhead construction project is shown at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, to reclaim land from the waters of the Bay. The work includes construction of a new Boulevard and sanitary and sewer system improvements. View of the front entrance of the Beaux Arts style Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House on Bowling Green at the tip of Manhattan. Pedestrians and WPA workers are seen in front of the building. WPA laborers on an unidentified Manhattan street (with elevated railway running in background) are busy removing old street car rail lines from the streets, in sections, and loading them into truck beds to haul away. Large public swimming pool and bath house construction projects are shown, influenced by city planner and avid swimmer Robert Moses (scene possibly shows McCarren Park pool - note archway seen under construction). WPA workers are seen building the new East River Drive, including highways, walks, and flanking parks. Construction workers seen building the roadway, with the Williamsburg Bridge in the background. A model of the project is shown with the new drive from Grand Street to 14th Street. Camera pans down from the Empire State Building to show the roof of the New York Public Library teeming with WPA workers as they remove the old corroded copper roof and replace it with a new metal roof. View of busy Manhattan streets below the workers, including a street car passing by.
Film begins showing location of New York City on a world globe, at the mouth of the Hudson River on the East Coast of the United States. It transitions to an aerial view of the Southern tip of Manhattan Island at the junction of the Hudson and East Rivers and slowly shows views moving Northward along the Hudson River. Piers along the Hudson are visible. Scene shifts to above those piers, looking South at the cluster of Manhattan skyscraper buildings, and beyond to New York Harbor, the borough of Queens, and Brooklyn, and beyond to Long Island in the misty distance. Next the skyscrapers are seen from Queens,across the East River. A large ocean liner is seen underway in New York Harbor, among ferry boats, barges, and tugboats. The Statue of Liberty is seen in the background. An animated map shows regions around New York and traces the Hudson and Mohawk valleys into the Great Lakes. The map is then overlaid with numerous lines representing transportation routes by lend, water, and air. View of Brooklyn Bridge, wharfs, and Manhattan skyline in hazy background. Seagoing freighters loading and unloading at New York's piers. A truck and other cargoes being moved by cranes. Passenger trains moving in the New York city area. View of the famous Beaux-Arts style Penn Station by architects McKim, Mead, and White, at West 34th Street and Eighth Avenue, in Manhattan. Train station interior crowded with travelers and commuters. Commercial aircraft taxiing at a New York area airport. Closeup of two young children watching the planes. Passengers deplaning from a large aircraft. Sign for Peruvian International Airways atop an airport building. A Swissair passenger plane being serviced. Passengers boarding a TWA Lockheed Constellation airplane. A family watching airplanes from an airport observation deck. The Lockheed Constellation starting its engines. A Douglas DC-4 aircraft taxis out and takes off, as several boys watch from the observation deck. Closeup of another group of boys watching planes from the observation deck. Aerial view of Manhattan skyscraper buildings from an overflying airplane. Traffic at Times Square. The Astor Hotel at the left and the Times building straight ahead. Several other street scenes in Manhattan, crowded with pedestrians. A view residential apartment houses along Park Avenue. Views of African Americans crowding the sidewalks in Harlem. Views of "Little Italy" in the lower East side of Manhattan, where Italian restaurants and other businesses are seen. Chinatown is seen with some of the business signs in Chinese. A man of Chinese heritage reading a letter. Asian American children playing together in a neighborhood. New high rise apartment buildings are seen replacing older homes in parts of Manhattan. Mothers wheeling their children on sidewalks in one of the new neighborhoods.
View from above of parade along city street celebrating the centenary of Brooklyn, New York. American flag and bunting decorate Brooklyn Borough Hall (former City Hall) near elevated train station. Crowds of Brooklyn residents and visitors watch from sidewalks and some ticker tape is thrown from buildings. Marchers dressed in white carry oversized forks and spoons and follow a decorated truck float carrying Salvation Army members. The back of the float is a sign reading: "Waste Material Helps Us to Reclaim Broken Humanity." Brooklyn Firemen march in dress uniforms. Behind them, dozens of war veterans march, wearing shiny steel helmets and carrying American flags. New York City Mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, and other officials, salute with hats over hearts, as American Flags pass. Sign on pole near them reads: "Cruising Taxis prohibited." Boy Scouts, carrying dozens of American and troop flags, parade, followed by men in Native American Indian costumes and then by various fraternal groups in the line of march.
"City Pastorale" shows citizens of New York City hurrying about their business during workday on a street in New York City. Vehicular traffic and pedestrians. People riding on the subway. Views of workaday foot traffic along New York sidewalk in midtown Manhattan. Macy's department store. Racks of clothes being wheeled along the streets and sidewalks. Scenes of New Yorkers in hectic activity. In contrast, are shown peaceful scenic views of New York City. Penthouse gardens. Clothes drying on a rooftop line. People entering a number of different churches in Manhattan, New York. A woman in a garden. A man and a boy sit and read newspapers in the garden. The young boy looks at the "funny papers" (comic strips). A man walks with a child on a sidewalk. Cars parked. People chatting on the sidewalk of a New York city street. The Chrysler Building and nearby skyscrapers. People taking pictures with handheld cameras at a playground. Families with babies. Children playing in a park. Quiet streets. Car drives beneath an elevated train. Men walk on a ramp. People relax on beaches. Older women gathered together on the beach talking, while boys play in the sand at the edge of the surf. A huge crowd seated in a baseball stadium and watching a game between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, including a shot of Giants pitcher, #36 ( Mickey McGowan ?), throwing from the mound and, in another scene, Giants #23 (Clint Hartung ?) batting and striking out. Views of the fans watching the baseball game, including some men in suits and boys sitting together in the bleachers watching the game and eating ice cream on a stick. Visitors stroll through the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


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Your home is your castle, even on those days when you're feeling like less than a queen. The kids are running around, you've got a lot to do, and tidying up the small messes is something you can always put off until tomorrow, right? At some point, though, tomorrow becomes today, and those small messes can really pile up. You don't have a lot of time on your hands, and often think, "If only there were Pennsylvania house cleaning services near me to make this easier."
The Maids has good news for you: We're here to help.
You deserve to walk into your home and feel refreshed. Call us at 1-800-843-6243 today for the best Pennsylvania house cleaning services.


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And this is despite many of the orders being placed in the wake of the financial crisis. The progress is a testament to the strength of the EU market, says Christian Kjaer, CEO of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).
Restrictions hamper wind leaders
EWEA is forecasting another 10GW of wind power capacity to be installed in 2010, 9GW of that onshore.
But this year it is the newer markets that are increasing their contributions as growth in some of the more wind-strong countries slow down.
Thanks to a cap on wind development, Spain is expected to show a decline in new capacity, while markets in France and Italy are stagnating. "There is great potential in France, but it is being restricted by planning barriers," says Kjaer, acknowledging the problems of French wind development zones, which had appeared to be so promising.
Germany and the UK should increase capacity, retaining their status as market leaders. But while the UK will install more capacity than in 2009, this is largely down to offshore development. Onshore is a different story.
"The real onshore constraints are in the UK, where getting approvals is rather complicated," says Kjaer.
"The planning procedures are simply not good enough."
An EU-funded report shows that average administrative lead times for onshore wind energy projects receiving consent and grid connection is three and a half years, requiring direct contact with nine authorities.
EWEA is now recommending a one-stop-shop approach in all member states.
New markets pick up speed
It is the newer member states, notably Bulgaria and Romania, that are pushing ahead, with both expected to double their installations this year. "When they joined they had to sign up to the old renewables directive. Last year a new directive was passed, which they were part of," says Kjaer.
"Being the last two members, they have had less time to prepare legislation in terms of planning. They have done this rapidly, and because they can put up a lot of megawatts means that they are certainly doing it right."
Indeed, in Romania's Dobrogea region, Fantanele-Cogealac, set to be Europe's largest onshore wind farm at 600MW, has just commissioned its first turbine.
So, should developers now be looking to Eastern Europe?
It is not that simple, cautions Kjaer. "It may be easier to get planning permission, but you don't get the same return on your investment," he says. "And think of your knowledge of the market. Where is your experience?"
Kjaer points out that the emerging markets would become more attractive to developers if they had schemes such as the UK's renewables obligation, which requires electricity retailers to source a rising proportion of their power from renewables by buying certificates (ROCs) or paying a penalty.
"If I could put up a wind turbine onshore in Scotland and get it connected, that's what I would do," he says. "It has excellent wind and good, solid pay mechanisms.
"The ROCs benefit highly compared to other European countries. Norway is also a great resource, but it has difficult planning and non-existent payment mechanisms."
Prospects for next year will depend on whether the world starts to move out of the economic crisis and finance picks up again, says Kjaer, adding that EU members are due to submit estimates of how much they expect to build each year until 2020.
"That will at least show political commitment," he says.


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August 29, 2008
Dr. Ralph R. Jacobs, an OSA Fellow who had a long career as a laser scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, California, USA, died in his sleep at home on August 29, 2008. He was 65.
Jacobs died just one week after his retirement from LLNL on August 21, 2008, and two days after his engagement to Esther Ailor.
Jacobs received his undergraduate education from New York University and his Ph.D. in physics from Yale University. He began his professional career at LLNL in 1972 after three years on the technical staff at GTE Laboratories. He worked at LLNL from 1972 to 1980 and then again from 1990 to 2008. Jacobs spent the decade from 1980-1990 at San Jose, California-based Spectra-Physics, Inc., where he was involved in the development of advanced solid-state lasers. He served as engineering leader for Spectra's laser products division and later as the firms' chief technologist.
At LLNL, Jacobs worked on solid state and excimer laser research topics in the early days of the Laboratory's Laser Program. As a senior physicist and project manager, he focused on the development of laser sources for fusion and laser isotope separation programs. After his return to LLNL in 1990, Jacobs served as the director of the Laser Program's New Technology Initiatives effort and later as the director of the Intellectual Property Office. He worked for seven years in what was then known as the Physics and Advanced Technologies Directorate, and most recently served for two years as the chief technologist for the Laboratory's Industrial Partnerships Office (IPO), spearheading an initiative to forge relationships with business schools in the greater Bay Area.
Jacobs was remembered by his LLNL colleagues as "an energetic and enthusiastic researcher who had an excellent understanding of what was required to make a technology a commercial success."
An OSA member since 1983, Jacobs was selected as an OSA Fellow in 1991. He was also a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), a Fellow the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a recipient of an award for excellence in technology transfer from the Federal Laboratory Consortium. During his career, Jacobs published over 50 articles and received six patents for laser-related developments.
Jacobs is survived by his fiancée, Esther Ailor, two daughters and two grandchildren. As a memorial, his daughters plan to establish an educational fund in his name.
Funeral services were held September 9, 2008, in Pleasanton, California, USA.


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Actually, today's lecture consists of two questions:
- How to get system time and date?
- How to set system time and date?
So, the first section is:
How to get system time and date?
Actually, this is not difficult task! Use the following functions:
- Now - function returns the current date and time according to the setting of your computer's system date and time.
- Date - function returns the current system date.
- Time - function returns a Variant of subtype Date indicating the current system time.
Well, let's deal with the second section:
How to set system time and date?
For that, I will use simple DOS commands:
- time - this command displays or sets the system time:
To change the time, pass it as a parameter to time command. See the above screen shot as an example.
- date - this command displays or sets the system date:
To change the date, pass it as a parameter to date command. See the above screen shot as an example for date manipulations :)
As you can see, initial date and time were '26.10.2007 22:45:10'. Then I added 3 days and 2 hours to initial date & time. The result of addition is - '30.10.2007 0:45:10'.
By the way, could you guess, why the result day is 30th, not 29th? :) To answer, please pay attention that we added 2 hours too :)
The last step - running of time and date commands from command line. I used Run method of WScript.Shell object.
So, as you can see - date and time manipulation is easy enough.
Related articles:
- QTP - How to set/get system time and date?
- How to execute QTP script from LoadRunner?
- QTP - How to get font size/color, background color and other attributes of controls
- How to minimize/maximize QTP window before the QTP script execution?


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|Episode Description
|Wednesday, Mar 6, 2013 - 12:00 AM
"Live Forever"
Michael Mosley seeks out people working toward the logical conclusion of modern medicine - triumph over death. At Cambridge, academic Aubrey de Grey offers prize money for the scientist who can most effectively rejuvenate aging mice. He goes to witness the application of stem cell work that is restoring vision, constructing new organs, and offers the chance of replacing body parts. Then using the latest research, some of Michael's cells are made immortal. G
|More on PLUS (PT)
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5 Great Educational iPad Apps for Kids
We love seeing the wide-eyed look of wonder on a friend's face when we introduce a great piece of tech to them. We have seen this look frequently when we share our latest tech acquisition, our iPad, and it is especially fun to see it on the eyes of a kid. Eager to share our iPad with our children and young friends, we began the search for age appropriate educational apps.
As a group of several former elementary school teachers there are some habits we just can't seem to break ourselves of, and one of these is looking at the education prospects of every device and app that we play with. We at Unplggd love delving into kid tech and with our education backgrounds coming into play we knew it was time for an educational iPad app roundup tailored for kids. Here are some of our top picks of great educational iPad apps for kids:
What's the Difference?
What's the Difference is a great app that can keep kids from ages 2 to 90 occupied for quite some time. Recently, we were using the app with a 4 and 2 year old and it was difficult to tell who was loving the app more. The app does exactly what you think it would, it provides side by side images that are almost identical (but with 5 differences) and allows the user to race around the clock trying to spot the differences. Because it relies on images, once a game is set up, no reading is needed making it great for the youngest iPad users. Free.
Tangram XL
We loved taking out the box marked "Tangram" as a child and could not help but feel delight when our young friend enjoyed using the iPad version of the puzzle toy we have long loved. Tangram is made up of several shapes which you use to create pictures. The iPad app is responsive as well as forgiving making it an app that works well and engages a variety of ages. Because of the difficulty of many of the puzzles it's not an app to be regarded as solely for kids. The logic and reasoning that is required to sort out the puzzles can be a turn off for some young users, so be sure to start with the simpler puzzles in order to build up confidence. Free.
RedFish - C is for Cake
In this simple app built for the Pre-K set, little ones interact with ingredients in order to make a cake. This simple puzzle helps to children to work on their dexterity as well as shape recognition and the conclusion of the puzzle rewards them with a finished cake. As adults we like the educational aspects of the app and we also appreciate the design of the app with its clean lines and great color scheme. No obnoxious headache inducing colors here! Free.
Math Magic
Remember flashcards? Well, think of this app like interactive flashcards that are a bit more visually appealing than tattered index cards. Math Magic frames addition, subtraction, and division problems like a game and really engages young learners. Because the app supports multiple operations as well as negative numbers, it can be used by those kindergartners learning simple addition to the more complicated division encountered by third graders, it is really quite the value for the mere cost of $0.99.
Star Walk
We love love love this Apple Design Award winning app and really cannot say enough great things about it. Being so accustomed to free apps, we at first balked at the $4.99 price tag of this app, but after using the app we feel that it was well worth the price. Not only a great educational tool, it is also just plain beautiful. Star Walk uses your location and customizes the app, letting you see your night sky in new ways by taking you on a virtual tour through the stars, constellations and planets. Although this is an app that works for all ages, we can especially see it as being helpful for kids studying the solar system and budding astronomers.
What is your favorite educational app for kids?
(Image: Flickr user Marcus Kwan under license from Creative Commons.)