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Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY, #2
These lessons, by one of our most consistent FaithWriters' Challenge Champions, should not be missed. So we're making a permanent home for them here.
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Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY, #2
Some beginning poets think that writing free verse poetry is easier than writing rhymed and metered poetry. After all, it's free—the poet doesn't have to be restrained by finding a word to rhyme with sacrifice that also works in the poem, and she also doesn't have to make sure the word has three syllables with the emphasis on the first one, in order to fit the meter of the poem.
In reality, the free verse poet has a more difficult task. She has to make every word in the poem work, and to master several poetic skills that perhaps are not quite as important in structured poems. I'll cover some of those skills briefly here, but those of you who are working on writing excellent free verse will want to research them more thoroughly. Each of these terms could easily be a whole lesson in itself; this lesson will only be an overview.
1. Free verse poets often disregard rules of punctuation, capitalization, and sentence length that would apply to structured poetry or prose. That's why it's called free. However—please be aware that simply arranging prose into lines of varying lengths, without punctuation, does not make for a free verse poem (although this is characteristic of many "poems" I've read).
my cat
jumps on my lap
and kneading my thighs
with her paws
That might look like a free verse poem, but there's really nothing poetic about it. It's a start—but it needs a lot of work before it could be considered poetry. Here's a test for your free verse: try rewriting it in paragraph form with punctuation and capitalization, as if you had written prose. If you can easily do this, then perhaps you need to work on some of the skills that follow.
2. Good free verse poetry needs some figurative language. I can only cover a few of these in this lesson—and certainly you don't want to pack your poem with dozens of metaphors and allusions. Pick a few, though, and work them into your poem.
a. Metaphor—comparison between two dissimilar things. My cat kneads bread dough in my lap. My chubby legs are being compared to bread dough.
b. Simile—comparison that uses 'like' or 'as.' Her purring, like the vibrations of a silenced cell phone…
c. Onomatopoeia—words that represent sounds. She watches at the window, chirruping at the haughty robins
d. Personification—attributing human attributes to inanimate objects. She springs to the waiting windowsill.
3. You'll also want to try your hand at using some of these devices, which deal with the sounds of the letters in the words that you choose.
a. Alliteration—words with the same beginning sounds. I used some alliteration in 'd', above—waiting windowsill. The alliteration in your poem should not make it sound like a tongue twister, and the alliterative words need not be right next to each other. Sophie pads on silent paws…
b. Consonance—words that share consonant sounds, but not necessarily at the beginning. the arch of her back, the twitch of her tail
c. Assonance—words with the same vowel sounds, but not necessarily rhyming words. With subtle nudges, she invites me to rub her tummy
4. Miscellaneous poetry tools that don't really fit into the above categories include (but are not limited to) the following:
a. Repetition—of significant words or phrases. I love you, she says with a worshipful look. I care nothing for you. Give me a moment; I love you. I care nothing.
b. Imagery—words or phrases that appeal to any of the senses (not just the sense of sight). She stretches in a dancing beam of sunlight
c. Symbolism—something tangible which represents an intangible concept. …the mouse head she left on the top porch step
d. Altered syntax—ordering words in a way that would seem odd or unexpected if you were writing prose. Under the bed she hides…
These are just a few of the items that the free verse poet should keep in her poetic repertoire. And again, not every free verse poem should include each of these tricks—choose the ones that best serve the purpose of the poem. One that is intended to convey to the reader a sense of the peacefulness of a mountain like might include imagery, a metaphor, perhaps the alliteration of some 's' sounds to suggest the waves on the beach. A poem with spiritual meanings might include repetition, symbolism, simile. The point is that a free verse poem should be substantially different from prose in more than just the obvious visual difference of line length and mechanics. The words should be chosen and arranged carefully, for maximum effect.
A few final things about free verse poetry: it's fine to also use rhyme and meter. Again, every word counts; and if a rhymed word or a bit of iambic pentameter enhance the feel of a particular line, please use them.
And a free verse poem should not be too abstract or so strangely written that it is a struggle for the reader to decipher its meaning.
HOMEWORK (you may post this here, or just do this for your own benefit):
Choose 2 or 3 of the terms above and find examples of them, either in your own poetry or in someone else's work. OR…
Try your hand at writing fresh examples of 2 or 3 of the poetic terms. OR…
Write a free verse poem about my cat, using a few of the examples above and your own original touches. OR…
If you post your homework as a response to this post, I'll read it and give you some feedback. In addition, feel free to ask me a question, or add something I've left out, or suggest a topic for a future class.
Jan Ackerson -- Follow me, friend me, give me a wave!
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Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Jan, these are the first two verses of a free verse I wrote. Does this meet your criteria?
stardom gained in the dullness of a starless night
is elusive but to the few - yet still it hastens away
for the capture of a name and fame
is a lost hope - that takes its flight from most
it avoids the eager grasping hand - ungainly hand
for few can truly hold it dear and true
that sparkling shining elusive star
that bright star of the night
it is known to suddenly draw near within the grasp
and promises to stay close to the humble heart
it captures to please and tease the foolish soulless mind
to find unknown peaks from which to fall
and casts the hapless helplessly o'er the edge
few know its truth is a dark deceit
a secret to the wise - alone - discerned
for pride must change and lowly lessons learn
Colin Swann
Jesus' love is constant and never wavers.
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Hi Jan, Thanks for your comments. I just started writing verse and didn't know what I was doing. I really need your lesson! This is one of the first poems I wrote. May I please have your comments?
I always center the text, but I don't know how in this case.
The sweat of our face,
the aching muscles,
the tired bones,
Emotions stretched to the breaking point-
Minds so tired we can't think another thought.
All this – wrapped up in a paycheck.
Wanted this, wanted that,
But God.
He came to this earth, and lived this life,
And sweated blood.
To give me Hope.
A tithe of my money,
(blood, sweat and tears)
In thanks…
And in the doing,
The tithing,
Comes relationship, uniting,
As our mutual sacrifice is mingled at the cross
And Love is consummated.
We are one.
Bettie Herren
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Colin--this is absolutely an example of an accomplished free verse poem. Here's what I found therein:
freedom in the use (or non-use) of writing conventions
In addition, it doesn't read in the least bit like prose. I'm sure there are other gems in there, too. Thanks so much for sharing this; I didn't realize you were a poet, too.
Jan Ackerson -- Follow me, friend me, give me a wave!
Twitter: @janackerson1
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Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Thanks for sharing your poem. It definitely passes my first "test"--it would be difficult to write this out in paragraph form, and it would definitely seem "odd" as a prose paragraph. So it's got some definite poetic skills going on. These are the ones that I can see:
repetition (your -ing words)
altered syntax ("but God")
unusual capitalization (Love and Hope)
metaphor (emotions stretched)
I've got a few suggestions for you, but you're definitely on the right track.
Avoid using cliches--phrases that are in common use. In this poem, I'd call stretched to the breaking point and blood, sweat, and tears cliches. My test for cliches is easy: have I ever seen this phrase before? If so, then I look for a fresher way to portray the same idea.
The poem uses a lot of plural pronouns (our, we)--but I think it would have more impact if it was personal (I, my, me). In fact, you use 'me' toward the end, and it works very well there.
There's nothing wrong with your word choice here, but a few more interesting synonyms might be good, too.
Finally, I don't think I've ever read an approach to the concept of tithing that's quite like this--comparing it to Christ's sacrifice on the cross. That's a GOOD thing--your idea is unique--but I think it could have been more fully developed with some more imagery or additional metaphors. I wanted more!
Jan Ackerson -- Follow me, friend me, give me a wave!
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Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Okay, y'all don't laugh. This is my first attempt at free verse. Jan HELP!
my tiresome mind wanders
yet another day of loathing hours
yielding to musky darkness
lying sleepless 'neath glimmering stars
night brings yearnings long
love whispers from heaven's light
a savior lulls my aching soul
peace comes gently at last
God Bless the beasts and the children
Give them shelter from the storms.
Children are our tomorrow
Keep them daily from the sorrow
Of the beasts in life
http://www.faithwriters.com/websites/my ... p?id=57394
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
This is a fine first free verse poem! Its best quality is its imagery, and also mood (which I didn't really cover in the lesson). I like the progression from sadness/depression/loneliness to peace in the last three lines. Lovely.
Here are a few things you might want to fiddle with, if you give this another try:
"Tiresome" means "boring, uninteresting." I think you were probably going for a word more like "weary" in the first line. Similarly, I'm not sure that "loathing" works as an adjective for "hours"--I'd suggest "loathsome" or some synonym. However, I really like the unexpected combination of "musky darkness." It suggests a weight and a not-pleasant aroma, and so it's both symbolic and evocative.
"Glimmering stars" might be a bit of a cliche.
I like your word choices in the 2nd stanza, but I think you might want to work with the format--each line begins with a noun + a present tense verb. Shake things up a bit, so the reader doesn't slip into a predictable rhythm and a tendency to gloss over what you've written.
Finally--and this is entirely my personal preference and not a "rule" at all--when you set a poem up in regular stanzas like this (4 lines in each stanza, alternating short and long), your poem looks like it's going to be a traditional rhymed and metered poem. Readers might be a bit thrown off when they don't encounter a rhyme. Thus, you might want to experiment with altering line lengths. Put a word or two in isolation to make them stand out...write a long, uninterrupted line to describe a series of actions...write some lines that shrink and then expand to mirror your emotions.
I appreciate so much your willingness to try a new form--you've made a great start of it! Keep it up!
Jan Ackerson -- Follow me, friend me, give me a wave!
Twitter: @janackerson1
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Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
I just now saw this. Thanks, Jan for the great information and tips. I have to reread it, mull it over for a bit, and give it a try.
A child of the King!
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Being also from the South, I say with tmoral, y'all don't laugh... But it's okay, really, because I can't hear you.
Seeking in vain for silence
Amid the maddening mass of sounds
Yearning for a quietness I could not find
I withdrew into a windowless room
Thinking to nullify voices and noise
Finding rest for spirit and soul.
Alone and aware of only my thoughts
Waiting for respite and needed relief
I found peace elusive, escaping my grasp
When the truth tumbled into view.
The setting and source of my unrest
Was mostly due to the noise in me.
A child of the King!
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Genia, thanks for stopping by and sharing your poem with us. Love the alliteration (maddening mass, setting and source, truth tumbled) and assonance (voices and noise). Love the little kick at the end, and the imagery throughout.
I also really like the way that several of the lines have a meter to them (WAIT ing for RES pite and NEED ed re LIEF, for example).
I really don't have much in the way of critique, except to say that free verse poetry doesn't have to be entirely free of punctuation. There were a few places here where I thought a comma or a dash might aid the reader. That's entirely your call, though.
The poem is lovely, and I was happy to have read it.
Jan Ackerson -- Follow me, friend me, give me a wave!
Twitter: @janackerson1
Instagram: janackerson
Facebook: Jan Worgul Ackerson, Superior Editing Service, Jan Ackerson, writer
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Thanks, Jan. I was unsure about punctuation. In fact, I put some in but took it out. lol
Also, some of the things you saw were just by "feeling" on my part and going by sound, rather than realizing it was assonance, alliteration, etc. I still struggle with it, but enjoyed trying. Thanks again for taking time to help us with this.
A child of the King!
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Years ago, I began to fiddle around with trying to write free verse. Among my beginner's archives is this quite short poem. As is often said, red ink, please for punctuations et al.
"I am not pretty."
I say,
"Behold the finely chiseled visage of your mind.
Free from the ravages of rouge
And pitted power.
Unclaimed by wrinkles,
Undaunted by rejection
Caste in delicate thoughts
And lofty flights,
Molded by laughter and tears."
"You are not pretty," you say?
I see the finely chiseled visage of your mind.
E-Book - Retirement Lane - How to Celebrate Life After 60
Fortunate 500
I write even when I think I can't, because I must.
I love to write. Nothing escapes the crush I have on the written word. I'm hooked on words!!
"Let words bewitch you. Scrutinze them, mull them, savor them, and in combination, until you see their subtle differences and the ways they tint each other." Francis Flaherty
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Lillian, thanks for sharing this poem--I can tell that it comes from a place of deep sincerity.
My favorite thing is the repetition of "finely chiseled visage of your mind." That's highly effective, and since it's the best line of the poem, getting it twice is powerful. I also like the alliteration in 'ravages of rouge' and 'pitted power' (although I'm pretty sure you meant that to be 'powDer', yes?).
My only critique is one of pronouns. I wonder if the first lines would be more effective like this:
You say you are not pretty.
I say
Behold the finely chiseled visage of your mind
Toward the end of the poem, the use of quotation marks around "You are not pretty" are confusing--because if the person you are addressing in the poem said those words enclosed by the quotation marks, she would be saying them about you, the poet. Know what I mean? so if you want quotes there, it should be
"I am not pretty," you say?
Or, to avoid confusion, perhaps
You say you are not pretty?
Other than clearing up those pronouns, I like this very, very much, and I thank you for sharing it with us.
Jan Ackerson -- Follow me, friend me, give me a wave!
Twitter: @janackerson1
Instagram: janackerson
Facebook: Jan Worgul Ackerson, Superior Editing Service, Jan Ackerson, writer
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
Thanks so much, Jan
Your teaching and comments are invaluable to me!
Re: Jan's New Writing Lessons--FREE VERSE POETRY
This week's 1st place Challenge entry is an excellent example of free verse.
Suppositions by Linda Goergen
Last edited by yvonblake on Fri Aug 02, 2013 6:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Liquidware Labs™ Launches New Program for Technology Alliance Partners
Atlantis Computing™, Pivot3® and WHIPTAIL™ Join Company's "Prove Your Performance" Program
Feb 21, 2013, 11:18 ET
CHICAGO, Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Liquidware Labs, the leader in desktop transformation lifecycle solutions, today announced the launch of its "Prove Your Performance" (PYP) Program for Technology Alliance partners who are seeking to provide hard objective data to customers to reinforce the superiority of their products in virtual desktop environments.
"Our 'Prove Your Performance program' is simplicity itself," said J. Tyler Rohrer, Liquidware Labs co-Founder, who heads Alliance partner initiatives. "Our Technology Alliance partners can use our products to provide a crystal clear 'before-and -after' validation proving their products' performance gains. We want to institute validation as a best practice in virtual desktop environments thus providing organizations with the confidence to rapidly scale and expand their use of this game-changing technology."
Inaugural partners WHIPTAIL, Atlantis Computing and Pivot3 have joined the program, which provides these partners with no-cost licenses of Liquidware Labs Stratusphere™ UX to deliver validation of their products in POCs, pilots and production. The PYP program is only open to ecosystem vendors whose products support resource capacity, such as storage and memory, in VDI infrastructures.
Partners Welcome Liquidware Labs PYP Program
"With Atlantis ILIO™, customers can run very high performance virtual desktops using only server RAM as primary storage – and no shared storage or SSDs. Deployments are fully automated and scale with just the addition of new servers as there is no storage and no storage traffic on the network. With Stratusphere UX, our customers have been measuring their physical PC performance and compare the virtual desktop user experience before and after Atlantis ILIO with exact metrics that validate the cost savings and performance that our solutions deliver at very large scale."
Bernard Harguindeguy, CEO
Atlantis Computing
"WHIPTAIL was honored to be selected as an inaugural invite only partner for the PYP Program. Time and time again we see our all-flash storage arrays saving VDI projects from both a performance and cost perspective and the ability to validate that now using Stratusphere UX brings tremendous value to our pilots and rollouts."
Dan Crain, CEO
"At Pivot3, our mission is to provide our customers with smooth and seamless pilot to production rollouts of high performance VDI projects. We are pleased to work with Liquidware Labs as a Technology Alliance Partner in their PYP program. This program will allow us to benchmark and provide concrete evidence of Pivot3's performance improvements in customers' environments."
Olivier Thierry, CMO
Liquidware Labs is still the only vendor in the VDI industry to offer a complete software suite to support the key phases in a virtual desktop deployment. These critical phases include assessment, design, user migration and virtualization, application virtualization and validation / diagnostics.
Gartner Reports Value of Liquidware Labs Products for Storage Planning
Recently the value of Liquidware Labs integrated approach was highlighted in the Gartner report: "How to Implement Storage for Virtual Desktop Deployments," authored by analyst Matthew Brisse (Jan. 14, 2013).
According to the Gartner report:
"A successful SHVD deployment enables IT organizations to deliver virtual desktops to multiple devices helping boost operational efficiency and security, while enhancing end-user productivity and business agility. Storage is a critical component to this success. IT decision makers often underestimate storage complexity associated with SHVD environments. Planning and understanding the various storage options for SHVD is critical for deploying the right storage architecture, at the right price point, when compared with traditional PC drive pricing."
Liquidware Labs products were mentioned with regard to their value for assessments (Stratusphere FIT), user-installed applications (FlexApp), and user experience optimization and diagnostics and reporting capabilities (Stratusphere UX) as being critical to correctly planning capacity and sizing storage and deploying storage correctly. As a result, key VDI storage providers are leading the charge in deploying Liquidware Labs products to validate their effectiveness.
For more information about Liquidware Labs Prove Your Performance (PYP) Program, visit
or email firstname.lastname@example.com
About Liquidware Labs
Liquidware Labs is the leader in desktop transformation solutions for next-generation physical and virtual desktops, including VMware View®, Citrix® XenDesktop, Red Hat® and Microsoft® Windows 7. The company's innovative Stratusphere and ProfileUnity FlexApp solutions deliver powerful features to accelerate critical desktop transformation phases, including assessing existing physical environments, and decoupling users and applications from the operating system and migrating them to virtual platforms. In POC and production environments, Liquidware Labs solutions support user experience validation, and monitoring and troubleshooting VDI environments. Liquidware Labs products are VMware certified, and are available through a global network of partners. Visit www.liquidwarelabs.com for further information.
Liquidware Labs, Stratusphere and ProfileUnity FlexApp are all trademarks of Liquidware Labs Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
CONTACT: Grace Krokidas, +1-678-397-0450 ext. 104, email@example.com
SOURCE Liquidware Labs

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Is there any going back once a world has become a dystopia? That's what I kept wondering as I read my first two books from the new batch of Rosie Award nominees. Libba Bray's Beauty Queens is set in the near future and concerns thirteen survivors of a plane crash on a tropical island. They also just happen to be contestants in the Miss Teen Dream beauty contest, sponsored by The Corporation, a company whose ubiquity in media and the marketplace make them a not-unfamiliar behind-the-scenes corporate dictatorship. Divergent, by Veronica Roth, is set in a much less-familiar future Chicago.
It's a country that decided to split everyone into five factions dedicated to unique ways of life: knowledge-seeking, truth-speaking, philanthropy, etc. Teens are forced to choose and undergo training for their factions, often training that either kills them or forces them out into the world of the "factionless."
Both of these books focus on female teen characters attempting to overcome the limitations of the world in which they live. In the case of Beauty Queens, it is the physical objectification of women and corporate control through passive consumption of media and beauty products. Once the young women are cut off on their island, they begin to challenge their roles. I really wanted to like this book: it has a strong message and is often laugh-until-you-snort funny. But often times it feels like it is too much about the message and too little about the story, and suffers from sloppy writing in the last third of the book. The beauty queens in Bray's dystopia take a Lord of the Flies situation and make it into a utopia, but the end result seems too neat to be believable. Still, it's a thoughtful read and worth the time, especially if you've been bitten by the reality TV bug.
Divergent is a much grittier (and more subtle) take on a young woman challenging her assigned place in the world. In this case, Tris is rebelling against the faction system, choosing the thrill-seeking Dauntless faction over the selfless Abnegation faction she was born into. Women in Roth's dystopia aren't objectified in the same way they are in real life, and it is this fact that made me wonder if the terrible danger and secret police state of Divergent, as awful as they are, don't offer women in the book a more equal chance to improve their situations. Tris is the hero of this book, and ends up saving more than one man's life, but it's a role-reversal that is nowhere near as heavy-handed as in Beauty Queens. Quick-paced, with plenty of trials and tests to keep Hunger Games fans happy, Divergent offers a glimmer of hope in a decayed and corrupt world.
Bray has written a number of other books, including the Gemma Doyle Trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing) that examines young girls' places in Victorian society in a fantasy setting. For a darker take on gender roles and female bonding, try Daisy Whitney's The Mockingbirds, or Megan McCafferty's Bumped, a sci-fi look at women and motherhood. Roth has written a sequel to Divergent (Insurgent) and will publish a final volume, Allegiant, in October 2013. Gender roles and essential human qualities that transcend gender are examined in the dark and brilliant sci-fi trilogy of Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness (starting with The Knife of Never Letting Go). Love and happiness (and whether the two can co-exist) are the subject of Lauren Oliver's Delirium. All of these titles examine worlds in which teens, and especially teen girls, are restricted in or confined to certain roles, and must fight for the right to make their own decisions.


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I'm looking to get a new group started up (bi-weekly would be preferred) and am looking for gamers interested in Burning Wheel (specifically Mouseguard rules but not mouse guard setting). It's extremely story driven and while there can be lots of combat, it's of an abstract nature. If interested please email me at firstname.lastname@example.com and put "gamer reply" in the topic.
I'm very interested in the games you've described, but as my profile states I'm a beginner ((if this is a double post I apologize, I tried to send an e-mail but my work network kinda stinks)). As my profile states, I am a beginner with Pen and Paper, though I am interested in all things DnD
The 300 (+7)


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Featured Fresh Pick
Look for new videos every month!
Chef Remmi
Featured Recipe: Watermelon Salsa
Without a doubt, watermelon is the epitome of a great summer snack, full of juicy flavor, not to mention a bucket-load of excellent nutrition. Watermelons are related to cucumbers and squash and trace back their history to ancient Egyptians who held them in such high regard that they frequently placed them in them in the tombs of kings. Today, watermelons are enjoyed all around the world and have become the quintessential American favorite; served in chunks, slices, juices and in cold soups. Much of the world's supply comes from China, but the U.S. is one of many other countries with a significant watermelon crop. One of the most popular types of watermelon grown today is the seedless variety, which is created through a multi-step cross-breeding process that first requires watermelons with two chromosomes to be cross-bred with watermelons with four chromosomes. This creates a watermelon which contains "triploid" seeds that, when planted, produce watermelons with very small seeds that are incapable of reproducing. Seedless watermelons are not actually free of seeds though, they contain small, rudimentary seeds called "pips" that are eaten along with the fruit.
Did You Know?
- There are 200-300 different varieties of watermelon which fall into four general categories: Allsweet, Ice-Box, Seedless and Yellow Flesh.
- In China, stir-fried, stewed and pickled watermelon are all popular.
- Despite being a fruit, watermelon is the official state vegetable of Oklahoma.
- In terms of weight, the watermelon is the most consumed melon in the United States.


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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In its first action following spring break, the nationally-ranked No. 6 MIT men's volleyball team defeated NECVA New England Division foe Regis College, 30-11, 30-16, 30-11, on Wednesday. The victory raised the Engineers' ledger to 28-7 on the year, breaking the Institute mark for wins in a season. In league action, the Cardinal and Gray improved to 13-2 and currently rank second in the standings.
Troy Tamas paced MIT with 12 kills to go along with three aces and two blocks. Jeremy Velazquez recorded six kills and five aces while Alex Becherer racked up seven digs, six kills, and three aces. In one set, Mike Demyttenaere posted six kills and two assists as his brother, Robin, added five kills and an ace. Matt Hohenberger chipped in three aces, two kills, and a block in the opening frame. Patrick Vatterott contributed two blocks as Eric Reuland collected a team-high eight digs. Caine Jette tallied 25 assists, six aces, and a block while Tim Lee dished out 13 assists. As a team, the Engineers compiled 27 aces and a .468 hitting percentage.


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Dr. Andrew Watson works on models of human vision and applies them to visual technology. The Founder and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Vision, he is also a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and of the Society for Information Display. Watson received a 2011 Presidential Rank Award from the President of the United States.
NASA Tech Briefs: What is the Spatial Standard Observer (SSO)?
Dr. Watson: For many years we've been working on computational models of the early stages of human vision. Part of the purpose of that research is to develop engineering tools that could be used in the design of display technology, compression algorithms, and things of that kind. We have taken a lot of our research and compressed it into a simple engineering tool, the Spatial Standard Observer, which can be used to predict the visibility of artifacts, for example, in a display, or the legibility of information in a display — any case where you have imaging technology that is going to be used by a human observer.
NTB: What role does human test data play in the SSO model? Where is that data coming from?
Watson: Human test data are very important, and the data are of two kinds. One is fundamental data on basic sensitivities of human vision. A lot of that comes from our lab and other labs around the world, where vision scientists are collecting data on how well people can see motion, color, spatial pattern, and temporal change.
The other kind is applied data on questions such as "If we compress this image, can the observer see the artifacts in the image?" Or "If we distort the color in a certain way, will people be sensitive to that distortion?" So we take both those kinds of data and use them to design and calibrate tools like the Spatial Standard Observer.
NTB: Can you take us through a real-world example of how this works, for example, with finding artifacts?
Watson: That's one of our technologies that has been most widely applied, and in that case, there are about 1 billion flat panel displays manufactured in the world each year; that's quite remarkable when you think that there are only 6 billion people on Earth. Almost every display needs to be inspected for defects produced during manufacturing. We like to find the defects that are visible to human observers. We don't really care about the ones that are not visible; the Spatial Standard Observer is uniquely suited to that task because it can tell us when the artifacts are visible. That technology has been licensed to the display industry, and it's currently in use inspecting, for example, flat panel televisions.
NTB: Can you go through the other applications as well? Aircraft damage? Laser eye surgery?
Watson: Another quite different example is where we're trying to understand not a piece of imaging technology, but actually the performance of human observers in a visual task. In the case of unmanned aerial vehicles, where there are many efforts to introduce them more widely into the national airspace, there's great concern about the effects they may have on aviation. One of the issues is the so-called "See and Avoid" rule, where piloted aircraft are generally required to see and avoid other aircraft. Now if there's no pilot in the unmanned aerial vehicle, how does it see and avoid other aircraft? And under what conditions will it be seen and avoided? So we've used the Spatial Standard Observer to actually compute visibility measures for aircraft of various sizes, at various distances, under various meteorological conditions. That can be used to model the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles into the national airspace and determine under what conditions that would be safe, and under what conditions it will be unsafe.
NTB: What kinds of partnerships are possible with this type of technology?
Watson: The technology is now being used in industry: the display inspection technology that I described earlier. Another example of a different industry that we believe may be able to make use of this technology is laser eye surgery. In that situation, we now have very advanced technology for sculpting the eye in order to reduce the eye's optical defects.
We don't have particularly sophisticated ways of predicting the visual outcomes. Another application of the Spatial Standard Observer is to be able to predict from optical measurements of the eye, before surgery and after surgery, what the optical and visual performance of the observer will be. So that's another industry where we're hoping that the technology may see some transfer.


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Name and password guidelines
When choosing usernames and passwords for users and groups you add to your Google Cloud account, consider the following:
- Usernames can contain letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), dashes (-), underscores (_), apostrophes ('), and periods (.).
- Usernames can't contain an ampersand (&), equal sign (=), brackets (<,>), plus sign (+), comma (,), or more than one period (.) in a row.
- Usernames can begin or end with non-alphanumeric characters except periods (.), with a maximum of 64 characters.
Group names can have a maximum of 60 characters.
Group description and group name can't contain an equal sign (=), or brackets (<,>).
- Passwords can contain any combination of printable ASCII characters and must contain a minimum of 8 characters.
- Passwords can't begin or end with a whitespace character.
- First and last names support unicode/UTF-8 characters, with a maximum of 60 characters.
- Periods (.) are not ignored as they are in a gmail.com account. If you create a user account called username, this user will not be able to receive messages addressed to user.name, or us.er.na.me, or any other combination of periods. To let a user receive mail with these variations, create an email alias for them.
Because abuse and postmaster are reserved aliases, you can't use them as usernames or aliases. Learn more


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For 40 years, the UAF Geophysical Institute has been recognized as a leader in volcanology research in Alaska and beyond. Alaska is home to 52 active volcanoes, creating an unparalleled natural laboratory for research in volcanic processes and hazards. The Volcanology group brings together different research disciplines to better understand active volcanic processes, develop tools for monitoring, and train the next generation of researchers through graduate and undergraduate research and mentoring.
Our expertise includes seismology, infrasound, geodesy, petrology, geology, satellite remote sensing, gas geochemistry and aerosols. Volcanology facilities at the GI and UAF comprise geophysical networks, satellite receiving facilities, experimental petrology and the Advanced Instrumentation Lab in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
The GI is a partner agency in the Alaska Volcano Observatory. In cooperation with the USGS and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, we track volcanic activity in Alaska, execute eruption response efforts and undertake long-term research projects to mitigate the impact of volcanic eruptions. We apply this real-world experience to research projects around the globe, and train the next generation of volcanologists through mentoring and research programs for undergraduate and graduate students.


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This website uses cookies to deliver some of our products and services as well as for analytics and to provide you a more personalized experience. Visit our Cookie Notice to learn more.
By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. We've also updated our Privacy Notice. Visit our Privacy Policy to see what's new.
Not a Member? Join OSA
June 19, 2013
Cyrus Duncan "Cy" Cantrell III, an OSA Fellow who helped establish, build and mentor the engineering and computer programs at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), died on 19 June 2013 due to complications from cancer. He was 72.
A physics and electrical engineering professor at UTD for 33 years, Cantrell helped establish the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, or ECS, by recruiting new professors. In 2002, he became an associate dean of academic affairs within the school and is widely regarded by faculty and staff as having been a key force in the expansion of ECS.
Cantrell was born in Bartlesville, Okla., where his father was an engineer and petroleum geologist. Motivated in part by Russia's 1957 Sputnik launch, Cantrell received his bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1962. He earned his master's and doctorate degrees in physics from Princeton University, in 1964 and 1968 respectively.
Cantrell started doing research as a graduate student at Princeton. In 1967 he was hired at Swarthmore College, where he became an associate professor of physics with tenure. In 1973, he joined the staff of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where he conducted research on laser fusion and laser isotope separation. In 1980, he served as visiting professor at the Université Paris-Nord and then joined the faculty at UT-Dallas.
Cantrell made contributions to the fields of quantum electronics, applied optics and photonics. His dual interests in computation and mathematics led to his publication of a textbook, Modern Mathematical Methods in Physics and Engineering. He enjoyed mentoring younger faculty members and teaching both undergraduate and graduate students. He supervised 32 doctorates during his UTD career.
An OSA member since 1974, Cantrell was named an OSA Fellow in 1978. He was also a Life Fellow of IEEE and the American Physical Society. In 1980 he received IEEE Third Millennium Medal, an award given for outstanding contributions in a person's area of activity. He held four technical patents, and he also served as an Expert Witness on legal cases related to intellectual property and optical issues.
Cantrell filled his free time with a myriad of personal interests. His hobbies included computers, backpacking, photography, cooking, languages, history, and traveling.
Cantrell is survived by his wife of 40 years, Mary Lynn Marple, and a daughter.
Memorials may be made to the Sarah Montgomery Marple-Cantrell Memorial Scholarship for Women Engineers at UT-Dallas, named for his daughter who died in 2003. If you would like to make a memorial donation to an OSA Foundation fund or endowment in honor of Cyrus D. Cantrell, please visit www.osa.org/donate/.


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Links to weather related Web sites.
- CNN Weather
- Features weather news and 5-day forecasts for cities or countries around the world.
- NOAA's National Weather Service
- Official US weather, marine, fire and aviation forecasts, warnings, meteorological products, climate forecasts and information about meteorology.
- The Weather Channel
- Present details plus 10-day summary forecast for cities, with maps for shorter periods ahead.


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About Wendy
Work With Wendy
Health Coaching
Wendy's Training
Wendy's Approach
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Women's Health
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About Wendy
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The Law Office of Mark Brown has more than 35 years of proven success in representing clients of all sizes in intellectual property matters. Our patent attorneys are passionate about intellectual property law and strive to obtain the best protection for clients' intellectual property with patents, trademarks, copyrights, and related protections.
Protect & commercialize your inventions.
We are experienced in preparing applications for federal, state, and/or foreign patent registration. …Learn More
Our experienced patent attorneys are skilled in preparing and prosecuting patent applications covering a diverse range of complex technologies. Our clients' inventions include innovations in the areas of mechanical, electrical, computer, software, biotechnology, life sciences, chemical, business methods, and design arts. …Learn More
Our firm often recommends prior art searches as they relate to the patentability of an invention and/or patent infringement concerns. …Learn More
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We prepare trademark-related agreements, including licensing agreements, assignments, and coexistence agreements. …Learn More
We routinely represent our clients' interests in opposition and cancellation proceedings in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). …Learn More


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If you have moved into a new office space or are looking to renovate your existing space, you are sure to want a proven and reliable contractor to handle the job for you. When it comes to commercial office fitouts St Ives, you never want to compromise on aesthetics or quality. The current day business landscape is extremely competitive and it's important to take every opportunity to create a good impression on your customers, clients and staff. This is why office interior design is so important.
Creating office spaces that are attractive, functional and long-lasting takes expertise and skill. And that is something which comes with experience. We at ABS Home Improvements are one of the most reputed companies in this space and focus on providing our clients customised solutions that will fit in perfectly with their needs.
Affordable Office Fitouts St Ives
As modern office fit out specialists we recognize that today's offices have to be smart, practical, easy to maintain and resilient. This means, every feature and installation has to be designed with care and attention to detail. Commercial spaces see a considerable amount of wear and tear and that makes it important to choose tough and hardy materials that will look good and be long-lasting too.
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James's Vintage Eclectic
Name: James
Location: Birmingham, AL
I wanted a room that looked like the rest of the house - I did not want a major theme or a room that screamed "baby!" I find myself drawn to a mix of cottage chic, Anthropologie Bohemia, and French decor.
I LOVE Etsy and Spoonflower so used them for the special touches. My favorite find might be the large white and blue linen that was my grandmother's in her sunroom, in its original frame!
Source List:
• Wall color: Benjamin Moore Vapor Mist
• Crib and changer: Target Milan by Storkcraft
• Glider: Ballard Designs Larkin
• Floor Lamp: Ballard Designs Outlet Julian
• Crib Bedding: Cottage and Cabin from Etsy
• Daybed Bedding fabric: Classy Interior Fabric in Pensacola and French Stripes Spoonflower, custom made by Cottage and Cabin's Debbie Park from Etsy
• Pintuck pillow: Urban Outfitters
• Daybed: Averill daybed from Ballard Designs, no longer on main website
• Whale Fabric: Spoonflower
• Rug: West Elm leather rug (no longer for sale)
• Mirror in changing 'closet': Ikea Stave Mirror
• Mobile: DIY from Anthropologie ornaments from Christmas 2011
• Curtains: West Elm (no longer for sale)
• Wicker Chest: Antique store in Birmingham
• Baby Blanket: Etsy find dyed in tea
• Books: Antique stores in Birmingham
• Artwork: my grandmother's linen in blue frame from her sunroom, antique store finds, Etsy finds (see my pinterest site for direct links)
Thanks, Anne! Readers, visit Anne and see more photos at Windsor Portfolio.
(Images: Anne/Windsor Portfolio)


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FBI in Your Library
Frequently Asked Questions
The Attorney General's Guidelines
The Attorney General's Guidelines
"New policies developed by Attorney General Ashcroft on the power of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate Americans pose serious threats to the right of individuals to speak and assemble freely without the spectre of government monitoring. The policies also threaten Fourth Amendment rights, as Ashcroft has permitted the FBI to engage in prospective searches without possessing any evidence of suspicious behavior. At a time when it is clear that the FBI has been awash in data and unable to process leads effectively, Ashcroft has enabled the agency to obtain even more information that is less likely to result in solid leads."
CDT's Guide to the FBI Guidelines: Impact on Civil Libreties and Security
In the News: FBI in Your Library
Libraries and National Security: An Historical Review (December 30, 2004)
"The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks launched the United States into a new era of defensive preparedness. The U.S. federal government's first legislative action in October 2001 was the passage of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act). The USA PATRIOT Act introduced a greatly heightened level of government intrusion into many aspects of ordinary life, including library use. When, in the past, authorities called upon the library profession to serve national security interests in these ways, individual librarians and the profession as a whole have experienced an evolving tension between their roles as guardians of public well–being and as protectors of intellectual freedom. This is a fundamental issue, one that reflects upon the profession's view of itself and of its place in American life. Librarians once again face this challenge. An inquiry into the similarities and differences with the past may aid in suggesting a response that is both professionally sound and individually appropriate."
Fight FBI Authority to Monitor Reading Habits (May 20, 2003)
"Information is the most valuable resource on the planet. It allows people to make informed decisions, learn and better themselves. No one should be afraid to seek out information and read what they want."
Things We Lost in the Fire (September 13, 2002)
"A man approaches a librarian to ask for help finding a text. 'These books are no longer available,' she replies, in a pinched, Peter Lorre-like voice. 'May I have your name please?' A couple of suited thugs take the library patron away."
The Soldier of the Constitution: Keeping the FBI Lawful (August 23, 2002)
"I sure wish Don Edwards were still in Congress so I could see him on C-SPAN confronting John Ashcroft with a copy of the Constitution."
Secret Court Rebuffs Ashcroft (August 23, 2002)
"The secretive federal court that approves spying on terror suspects in the United States has refused to give the Justice Department broad new powers, saying the government had misused the law and misled the court dozens of times, according to an extraordinary legal ruling released yesterday."
ABFFE Files Freedom of Information Request with Justice Dept. (August 21, 2002)
"The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship, today filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act in an attempt to learn how many subpoenas have been issued to bookstores, libraries and newspapers under the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act. The Justice Department has refused to make this information public despite a request by the House Judiciary Committee. 'The PATRIOT Act gives the Justice Department the power to investigate the reading habits of American citizens,' ABFFE President Chris Finan said. 'We want to make sure this power isn't abused.'"
Justice Dept. Balks at Effort to Study Antiterror Powers (August 15, 2002)
"They asked about 'roving' surveillance; lists of calls to and from telephone numbers; demands for bookstore, library and newspaper records; and subpoenas under the amended Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act served on Americans or permanent residents. Some simpler questions, about Immigration and Naturalization Service employees the Canadian border, were answered."
Ashcroft's Assault on Bookstores: The Fiction Behind National Security (July 25, 2002)
"The effect of the USA Patriot Act upon businesses that loan, rent, or sell books, videos, magazines, and music CDs is not to find and incarcerate terrorists—there are far more ways to investigate threats to the nation than to check on a terrorist's reading and listening habits—but to put a sweeping chilling effect upon Constitutional freedoms. The Act butts against the protections of the First (free speech), Fourth (unreasonable searches), Fifth (right against self-incrimination), and Sixth (due process)amendments."
Librarians Under Siege
"It used to be a matter of flashing a badge and appealing to patriotism, but these days federal agents are finding it a little harder to get librarians to spy."
Terrorism measure worries librarians (July 25, 2002)
"Michael Tyree, director of West Bend Public Library, is concerned about terrorism but is equally concerned about preserving American freedom, he said. If the FBI gets easy access to people's library records, then the terrorists will have succeeded in eroding democracy, he said."
A chill in the library (July 23, 2002)
"Under the USA-Patriot Act, passed by Congress in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, librarians have been made unwitting partners in the FBI's search for potential terrorists. Any records a library might retain on a patron's reading choices or Internet use are now retrievable by federal law enforcement with an easily obtainable court order. Librarians, traditionally defenders of intellectual freedom, are being pressed to become extensions of law enforcement, and many are balking at the new job description."
Patriot Act touches nerve at BR libraries
"A new law that lets FBI agents check out the reading habits of people suspected of links to terrorists has touched a nerve with some local library officials."
House Questions Ashcroft on Bookstore, Library, Newspaper Subpoenas
"NEW YORK, N.Y., June 25, 2002 — The House Judiciary Committee wants to know how many subpoenas the Justice Department has issued to bookstores, libraries and newspapers under a controversial provision of the USA PATRIOT Act, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression reported today. The committee has also asked whether any safeguards have been adopted to prevent an abuse of the power to search these records, which was granted under Section 215 of the act. ABFFE President Chris Finan welcomed the Judiciary Committee inquiry. 'Booksellers and libraries are worried that Section 215 will have a chilling effect on free speech,' Finan said. 'These are the questions that we have wanted to ask.'"
Area libraries balance respect for privacy, terror fight
"Under the Patriot Act, law-enforcement officials must still back up their library-search requests with a warrant from a court. But that court meets in secret to hear the FBI's reasons for suspicion, critics say, and legal standards for obtaining warrants are not as tough as standards for traditional search warrants."
FBI Begins Visiting Libraries
"The FBI is visiting libraries nationwide and checking the reading records of people it suspects of having ties to terrorists or plotting an attack, library officials say."
FBI monitoring library records in terror probe
"First, the FBI must obtain a search warrant from a court that meets in secret to hear the agency's case. The FBI must show it has reason to suspect that a person is involved with a terrorist or a terrorist plot — far less difficult than meeting the tougher legal standards of probable cause, required for traditional search warrants."
FBI Checks Out Library Record of Terrorist Suspects
"[T]he University of Illinois conducted a survey of 1,020 public libraries in January and February and found that 85 libraries had been asked by federal or local law enforcement officers for information about patrons related to Sept. 11, said Ed Lakner, assistant director of research at the school's Library Research Center."
FBI is Searching Library Records for Terror Leads
"The process by which the FBI gains access to library records is quick and mostly secret under the Patriot Act."
FBI checking out Americans' reading habits; Bookstores, libraries can't do much to fend off search warrants
"The searches of some records kept by libraries and bookstores were authorized in an obscure provision of the USA Patriot Act, quietly approved by Congress six weeks after Sept. 11. The act, passed virtually without hearings or debate, allowed a variety of new federal surveillance measures, including clandestine searches of homes and expanded monitoring of telephones and the Internet. Section 215 gave the FBI authority to obtain library and bookstore records and a wide range of other documents during investigations of international terrorism or secret intelligence activities."
FBI wants to track your Web trail
"[C]ivil liberties advocates warn that last week's proposal is the latest step along a worrying path back to the 1950s and '60s—days when investigators compiled dossiers on innocent American citizens based on their religious and political practices. "
The Bad Old Days at the FBI
"The documents should be required reading for the Bush administration and Congress as they consider how to reconfigure domestic intelligence. These accounts of the F.B.I.'s malfeasance are a powerful reminder of how easily intelligence organizations deployed to protect freedom can become its worst enemy."
The Library Awareness Program
Surveillance in the Stacks: The FBI's Library Awareness Program
Resolution in Opposition to FBI Library Awareness Program (1988)
Counterintelligence Program (Cointelpro)
Counterintelligence Program (Cointelpro)
"COINTELPRO is an acronym for the FBI's domestic 'counterintelligence programs' to neutralize political dissidents. Although covert operations have been employed throughout FBI history, the formal COINTELPRO's of 1956–1971 were broadly targeted against radical political organizations. The origins of COINTELPRO were rooted in the Bureau's operations against hostile foreign intelligence services. Counterintelligence, of course, goes beyond investigation; it refers to actions taken to neutralize enemy agents. 'Counterintelligence' was a misnomer for the FBI programs, since the targets were American political dissidents, not foreign spies. In the atmosphere of the Cold War, the American Communist Party was viewed as a serious threat to our national security. Over the years, anti-Communist paranoia extended to civil rights, anti-war, and many other groups."
Spying on America: The FBI's Domestic Counterintelligence Program by James Kirkpatrick Davis
Other Sources
House Questions Ashcroft on Bookstore, Library, Newspaper Subpoenas (FEN Newswire, June 25, 2002)
The House Judiciary Committee wants to know how many subpoenas the Justice Department has issued to bookstores, libraries and newspapers under a controversial provision of the USA PATRIOT Act, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression reported today. The committee has also asked whether any safeguards have been adopted to prevent an abuse of the power to search these records, which was granted under Section 215 of the act. ABFFE President Chris Finan welcomed the Judiciary Committee inquiry. "Booksellers and libraries are worried that Section 215 will have a chilling effect on free speech," Finan said. "These are the questions that we have wanted to ask."
On June 13, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on the committee, sent Attorney General John D. Ashcroft a 12-page letter seeking details about the implementation of 50 provisions of the PATRIOT Act, including Section 215. The letter asks for written answers by July 9 and indicates that hearings will follow.
Although it does not criticize the PATRIOT Act directly, the Sensenbrenner/Conyers letter seems to suggest that the Justice Department should exercise restraint in seeking subpoenas for bookstore, library and newspaper records. Section 215 gives the government far more power to search bookstore, library and newspaper records than it has ever possessed. The FBI can request a court order in a secret hearing before a special "spy" court created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), making it impossible for anyone to oppose the request on First Amendment grounds. In addition, the FBI does not need to show a compelling need for the information; it is sufficient to prove that it is relevant to an investigation.
Without recommending them, the letter identifies two potential safeguards: "requiring supervisory approval" before the records are sought or "requiring a determination that the information is essential to an investigation and could not be obtained through any other means."
(Bookstore, library and newspaper records are covered in Question 12.)
In Defense of FreedomIn Defense of Freedom
Signers include the American Library Association and the Freedom to Read Foundation.
- On September 11, 2001 thousands of people lost their lives in a brutal assault on the American people and the American form of government. We mourn the loss of these innocent lives and insist that those who perpetrated these acts be held accountable.
- This tragedy requires all Americans to examine carefully the steps our country may now take to reduce the risk of future terrorist attacks.
- We need to consider proposals calmly and deliberately with a determination not to erode the liberties and freedoms that are at the core of the American way of life.
- We need to ensure that actions by our government uphold the principles of a democratic society, accountable government and international law, and that all decisions are taken in a manner consistent with the Constitution.
- We can, as we have in the past, in times of war and of peace, reconcile the requirements of security with the demands of liberty.
- We should resist the temptation to enact proposals in the mistaken belief that anything that may be called anti-terrorist will necessarily provide greater security.
- We should resist efforts to target people because of their race, religion, ethnic background or appearance, including immigrants in general, Arab Americans and Muslims.
- We affirm the right of peaceful dissent, protected by the First Amendment, now, when it is most at risk.
- We should applaud our political leaders in the days ahead who have the courage to say that our freedoms should not be limited.
- We must have faith in our democratic system and our Constitution, and in our ability to protect at the same time both the freedom and the security of all Americans.
"Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."—Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, "The One Un-American Act." Nieman Reports, vol. 7, no. 1 (Jan. 1953): p. 20.
"Lack of privacy and confidentiality has a chilling effect on users' choices. All users have a right to be free from any unreasonable intrusion into or surveillance of their lawful library use."—Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."—Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead v. U.S. (1928)
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."—Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."—Benjamin Franklin
"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."—Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
Links to non-ALA sites have been provided because these sites may have information of interest. Neither the American Library Association nor the Office for Intellectual Freedom necessarily endorses the views expressed or the facts presented on these sites; and furthermore, ALA and OIF do not endorse any commercial products that may be advertised or available on these sites.


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Zombieland (UK - BD)
Chris checks out the Blu-ray release of the recent zombie movie. Brains, etc, etc
Nerdy, obsessive-compulsive college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is one of the last survivors of a plague that has turned mankind into flesh-eating zombies. While attempting to reach his hometown he encounters the gun-toting, Twinkie-loving Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), with whom he forms and uneasy alliance as they cross the post-apocalyptic landscape. On their journey the guys encounter sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), who con them out of their weapons and ride and leave them to fend for themselves. However, it's not long before the boys and girls meet again and are forced to band together in order to defend against the vast armies of the undead.
It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that any zombie movie with any sort of comedic element is going to be compared to 2004's British rom-zom-com, Shaun of the Dead. The comparisons are generally less than flattering and usually wholly undeserved, but that's not really the case with Zombieland. Okay, so it's not as funny as Shaun, but it is a lot funnier than most of the comedies I saw last year and the comedy never seems at odds with the gorier moments (unlike Dead Snow, another recent zombie film with 'comedic' elements). A lot of Zombieland's humour derives from the situations the characters find themselves in, rather than traditional gags, but that actually works in the film's favour. With that said, some of the sight gags are very amusing, especially Columbus' 'rules for surviving Zombieland' and the way in which they are cleverly integrated into the action.
However, the film's strongest point is probably its cast. There are only around six speaking roles in the film including the cameos, so the principal cast had a lot of work to do in carrying the film. Jesse Eisenberg makes for a likeable lead, even if he does seem to be channelling Michael Cera, while Woody Harrelson gives a performance that's only ever-so-slightly removed from his utterly psychopathic turn as Mickey Knox in Natural born Killers. However, its the girls who steal the show, with the two young leads delivering remarkably assured performances. Okay, so Emma Stone was twenty and not exactly a baby, but this is only her sixth feature in five years and she continues to impress with yet another totally endearing performance (even when she's being a bit of a dick towards the guys). I think it's fair to say that I have a bit of a crush on her. Abigail Breslin is one of those scary 'Dakota Fanning' child actors who is mature way beyond her years, and it's hard to believe that she's only twelve or thirteen years of age. of course the cameo is also well worth the wait, but I won't come right out and spoil that one for the uninitiated (although the clues are there in this review).
Zombieland arrives with a 2.40:1 widescreen transfer (1080/24p AVC) that actually looks surprisingly good. Well, maybe surprisingly is the wrong word to use, but the quality certainly belies its relatively humble origins and smaller budget. The image is impressively detailed throughout in both long shots and close-ups, with the slow-motion shots during the title sequence looking particularly beautiful. Colour rendition is also impressive, although the palette is slightly stylised, lending many scenes an unnaturally warm tone. Contrast is also slightly amped up, but it remains consistently excellent throughout, while blacks are inky and rich, preserving plenty of shadow detail. I didn't actually realise that Zombieland was shot on digital video until I came to write this review, but that certainly accounts for the total absence of film artefacts. Even digital artefacts are few and far between, and occasional instances of minor posterisaion and aliasing could just as easily be attributed to the source material as anything else. To cut a long story short, Zombieland looks fantastic on Blu-ray, as evidenced by the accompanying screen captures.
Zombieland features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks in both the original English and a French dub (there's also an audio description track in Dolby 5.1). Although not quite as impressive as the visuals, I found the 5.1 mix pretty engaging for the most part. It handles atmospheric effects well, with some particularly effective audio stings in the rears during the jumpier moments. Gunshots are satisfyingly punchy, and there's enough discrete surround action by way of zombie snarls and growls to keep you looking over your shoulder throughout. Dialogue is also perfectly balanced in the mix. The film's soundtrack is one of the more prominent elements and includes some awesome songs from artists such as Metallica ('For Whom the Bell Tolls'), Van Halen ('Everybody Wants Some'), and even Ray Parker Jr. ('Ghostbusters'). All things considered this is a pretty good effort given the source material, even if it's not a contender for 'best on format'.
Beyond the Graveyard': Behind the Scenes Picture-in-Picture Track: Yes, there's a PiP track, but as usual there are extremely long gaps between video segments. What little footage there is consists of visual effects breakdowns, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with cast and crew. It's okay for what it is, but there's just not enough of it. At least the PiP window is larger than usual...
Audio Commentary with Actors Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, Director Ruben Fleischer, Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick: Unfortunately the female members of the cast are absent from the commentary, but the guys provide a reasonably interesting chat track all the same. It's fairly light-hearted and focuses on the origins of the project and the actors' respect and admiration for one another, that sort of thing. There are numerous periods of dead air, but all things considered it isn't a bad effort, even if I have heard better lately.
In Search of Zombieland (15:57 HD): This is a fairly typical making of featurette that includes a little bit of background information about the production along with cast and crew interviews. It's reasonably interesting for what it is, but I've seen better.
Zombieland is Your Land (11:59 HD): This is another making of featurette, but it focusses on set-design and location shooting. We get to see how the various locations were scouted and sets constructed, including the 'Pacific Playground' amusement park where the climactic scenes take place.
Deleted Scenes (05:28 HD): Seven deleted scenes come next. They're all pretty short (some of them are blink and you'll miss them affairs), and to be honest none of them would really have added anything apart from perhaps one scene where Wichita and Little Rock debate returning for Tallahassee and Columbus after they've stranded them.
Visual Effects Progression Scenes (02:08 HD): The are four of these in total, each showing has digital elements were used to enhance everything from backgrounds to zombie gore.
Theatrical Promo Trailers (06:04 HD): Five of these are included, and they do a pretty good job of enticing the viewer to come and see the finished movie (well they worked on me anyway).
Trailers (06:04 HD): As per usual the disc includes trailers for Blu-ray Disc is High Definition!, along with a selection of Sony Blu-ray titles. We get trailers for 2012, Year One, Zombieland itself, and The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.
movieIQ: This is a BD-Live enhanced trivia track that provides real-time cast and crew info, production information, soundtrack details, and more. I did actually learn a thing or two from this track, and it was quite useful to have a complete list of all of the music and the cast and crew's screen credits.
BD-Live: There's no Zombieland-specific content, but it's here if you want it.
Playstation 3 Theme: It's unadvertised, but the disc includes a Zombieland theme for your PS3 (should you own one). You'll find the installer under the game menu.
Zombieland is a great little feature that blends comedy and horror extremely well. Much of the film's success can be attributed to the universally charming performances by the cast, not to mention a crowd-pleasing cameo from a certain Ghostbuster. While the Blu-ray is technically impressive in the audio-visual departments, that only goes so far towards compensating for the somewhat disappointing extras, which look a lot better on paper than they actually are. Even so, I've been quite lucky with my review material of late and this one is another easy recommendation for fans of the film, especially if they're unconcerned with bonus material.
* Note: The above images are taken from the Blu-ray release and resized for the page. Full-resolution captures are available by clicking individual images, but due to .jpg compression they are not necessarily representative of the quality of the transfer.
Review by Chris Gould
Marcus1138 Contributor Join Date: June 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 910
What's the betting all Hollywood are thinking about with a potential sequel is who they can get for the next big name cameo.
Intergalactic Ponce Member Join Date: April 2005 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 1,164
Blind bought this on DVD at a reasonable price. Didn't think the film warrented a Blu. Was pleasantly surprised by the some of the subtle humour in it and think I snorted a couple of times which is quite good for big studio comedy.
Michael Cera should look into whether his act can in fact be plagarised.
In summary then, a bit like The Road but with chuckles.
Michael Cera should look into whether his act can in fact be plagarised.
In summary then, a bit like The Road but with chuckles.
Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over
Disc Details
Release Date: 15th March 2010
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Blu-ray Disc
RCE: No
Video: 1080p
Aspect: 2.40:1
Anamorphic: No
Colour: Yes
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 French, Audio Description 5.1 English
Subtitles: English, English HoH, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish
Extras: Beyond the Graveyard PiP Track, Audio Commentary, In Search of Zombieland, Zombieland is Your Land, Deleted Scenes, Visual Effects Progressions Scenes, Theatrical Promo Trailers, Trailers, movieIQ, BD-Live
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Genre: Comedy and Horror
Length: 88 minutes
7Review Guide
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Will Kwans artistic practice takes a critical view of the visual and material culture of globalisation and examines the sociopolitical and cultural consequences of how the global is represented. He is interested in the iconography and vocabulary that shapes the concept of a synchronised, impartial and frictionless world economy, but also the omissions and contradictions that haunt our global pictures. Kwans projects also study globalisation as a historical experience of intercultural encounter and exchange at the level of politics, identity and daily life.
Born in 1978 in Hong Kong and raised in Canada, he received his MFA from Columbia University in 2004 and from 2005-06 was a research fellow at the Jan van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands. His work has been presented at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre, New York; the Venice Biennale; the Montreal Biennale; Duolun Museum of Modern Art and Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai; Art in General, New York; the Power Plant, Toronto; Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius; Polish National Museum, Poznan, and Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella. Kwan is currently a lecturer in the Department of Studio Art at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, and in the graduate faculty in the Masters of Visual Studies Programme at the University of Toronto, Ontario.
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Temat postu: gw2 gold Soldier hired by company she awarded lucrative cont
Soldier hired by company she awarded lucrative contractWASHINGTON - When then-Lt. Col. Kay Hensen awarded a National Guard recruiting contract worth at least $200 million to an Alabama marketing company in 2005, investigative records show, the Guard failed to get a legal review for the program, did not conduct any market research and neglected to negotiate the contractor's fee. Now Hensen works for the company, Docupak, and the Guard contract is at the heart of a national recruiting scandal. Hensen, documents and interviews show, negotiated her new job while still working for the Guard. She sought and received a ruling from the Montana National Guard ethics officer who cleared her for the job with Docupak, an advertising firm that administered the Recruiting Assistance Program. The program paid bonuses to soldiers and others for signing up recruits during the worst days of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Investigators say that as much as $100 million in bonuses may have been fraudulently obtained and that thousands of soldiers may have been involved. Subsequent contracts with Docupak paid out $459 million in bonuses for signing up 150,000 recruits. The Army killed the program in 2012 after a scathing audit found fraud and patterns of abuse. Hensen's hiring was appropriate and "well vetted," Docupak president Philip Crane told USA TODAY. But Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., called Hensen's hiring "troubling" and vowed that her panel on contracting would continue to investigate the issue. Last week, a panel of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that McCaskill chairs held a hearing on the program. Dozens of Army investigators will need more than two years to sort through more 100,000 payments to determine if they were legitimate, Army officials told the committee. As of last month, the Army had 559 criminal investigations involving 1,219 people associated with the Recruiting Assistance Program. So far, 104 people have been convicted of crimes or disciplined by the Army. Moreover, the Army audit determined that the entire program was illegal because it lacked Congressional authority to distribute such bonuses. A typical scam involved a recruiter, soldier, or even high school guidance counselor who claimed credit for persuading somebody to join the National Guard. They took online training from Docupak, supplied personal information from the recruit and had money electronically transferred to their account. One person being prosecuted allegedly defrauded the government for $274,500. The Army audit blamed the fraud on poor internal controls, unscrupulous recruiters and "contracts that were not effectively written or overseen." The contract met "almost none" of the federal acquisition requirements, according to a memo released by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on financial and contracting oversight staffers to senators. The memo also faulted the Guard Bureau, where Hensen had awarded the contract, for failing to get a legal review that would have shown the payment of recruit-referral bonuses "is inherently a governmental function, and could not be outsourced to a contractor. [url=http://www.goldvk.com/Game.gw2_us.Guild Wars 2.gw2.Gold.Info.aspx]gw2 gold[/url] " It went on to fault the bureau for not conducting "any market research before contracting with DOCUPAK?even though approximately 15 other companies" performed similar services. Another key deficiency in the contract: "The National Guard Bureau failed to negotiate the contractor's fee. Instead, the National Guard Bureau simply accepted DOCUPAK's billing of $345 for each referral, which amounted to a 16.5% fee for the contractor?As a result, the National Guard Bureau inappropriately paid $9,276,630 to the contractor." Hensen told the committee that she disagreed with Army auditors, saying the program was designed with adequate safeguards. [url=http://www.goldvk.com/Game.gw2_us.Guild Wars 2.gw2.Gold.Info.aspx]gw2 gold[/url] Crane, the company's president, said he offered Hensen a job at his marketing firm because he was "very impressed with Kay's knowledge of contracting and understanding the rules and regulations that govern it. [url=http://www.goldvk.com/Game.gw2_us.Guild Wars 2.gw2.Gold.Info.aspx]guild wars 2 gold[/url] " Her hiring was not a payoff for awarding the original contract, he said. He waited more than two years after the contract was issued before contacting Hensen about working at Docupak to ensure there was no conflict-of-interest issue, Crane said. Document and Packaging Brokers Inc. is based in Alabaster, Ala. It bills itself as a "full-service marketing firm with a proven history of success for our clients." The company lists its top three services as sponsorships, exhibits and conference support. Senate staffers, in their memo, said Docupak had limited responsibility for the recruiting scandal. "While Army investigators have not identified any wrongdoing by DOCUPAK, they do not dispute that in many cases DOCUPAK should have been aware of contracting irregularities," according to the memo. In January 2008, Hensen received a memo from the Montana National Guard that cleared her to work for Docupak, saying there "is no legal objection to your employment at DOCUPAK." Hensen had worked for the Montana National Guard since April 2006 in a position that "did not include any procurement or contracting interaction with DOCUPAK." She left the National Guard and took the job with Docupak. The relationship between Hensen and the contractor requires more scrutiny, McCaskill said in a statement. "The revolving door between the military and contractors adds a troubling element to an already astounding level of problems with this program," McCaskill said. "It's clear that for years this effort was mismanaged at many levels and by many individuals, allowing potentially up to $100 million in fraud, and I intend to continue to investigate and ensure those responsible are held accountable." Jon Anderson, a Nation Guard Bureau spokesman, referred questions about the matter to Hensen. George Wright, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, also declined to comment on the issue. Read the original story: Soldier hired by company she awarded lucrative contract xboter 2014
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Smartphones Up, PDAs Down -- But Does It Really Matter?
from the a-surprise-for-who? dept
It's still hard to understand why analyst firms get so worked up about the fact that PDA sales are down. This is especially true coming just a couple days after another research firm announced that smartphone sales are way up. It should be increasingly clear that these two markets are basically the same. We've said it before, of course, but when PCs first started adding modems or network cards, no one wrote reports warning that the sale of PCs was declining in the face of these new "connected PCs" catching on. People just realized that the PCs with a network connection were PCs with more features. The same thing is coming true with smartphones and PDAs. While the two products aren't in exactly the same market, it's becoming clear that the markets are merging, and treating them as unique is somewhat misleading.


text: UFDC Home | Help | RSS Group Title: Saint Augustine fortifications : north wall : palm tree trunks Title: Close-up view ALL VOLUMES CITATION ZOOMABLE PAGE IMAGE Full Citation STANDARD VIEW MARC VIEW Permanent Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00001410/00003 Material Information Title: Close-up view Series Title: Saint Augustine fortifications : north wall : palm tree trunks Physical Description: Photograph Creator: Kesse, Erich J., 1959- Subjects Subject: Saint Augustine (Fla.) ( lcsh ) Spatial Coverage: North America -- United States of America -- Florida -- Saint Johns -- Saint Augustine Record Information Bibliographic ID: UF00001410 Volume ID: VID00003 Source Institution: University of Florida Holding Location: University of Florida Rights Management: All rights reserved, Board of Trustees of the University of Florida. (Creative Commons by-nc (non-commercial) license.) Contact Us | Permissions | Preferences | Technical Aspects | Statistics | Internal | Privacy Policy © 2004 - 2010 University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries.All rights reserved. Acceptable Use, Copyright, and Disclaimer Statement Last updated October 10, 2010 - - mvs


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Vasaloppet: on the path of our fathers...
90 km of nordix ski between Sälen and Mora© François Lambert, 1999-2005 seen: 42852 - votes: 875
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Vasaloppet: on the path of our fathers...
The first sunday of March is nearly a national fest for swedish people. It closed the Vasaloppet week with the very famous Vasaloppet.
Vasaloppet is both a fest and a 90 km race between Sälen and Mora in Dalecarly.
About 16000 people participates to the races and there is about the same amount that are on the side of the track.
People starts to arrive at 6 in the morning to put their ski in the track of the start group they belong to. These groups are determined with help of previous results in ski races. The temperature is then about -20°C and everybody leaves the skis there and run near one of the fire to warm.
At 08, after a common warming-up, it starts quite slowly because there is a bottle neck just after the start.
There is food and drink available every 10-15 km and after 90 km, it is the goal: Mora, where everybody will say "Never, Never again". A resolution that will disapear a few days after when it will remain only the good side of this race.
texte/traduction/Translation/Oversättning : François Lambert
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