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Web Hosting: Difference between revisions
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==== .htaccess Config ====
==== .htaccess Config ====
Put the following in the appropriate .htaccess file. Replace HOST with localhost if running on Caffeine or the hostname if running elsewhere; replace port with your chosen port number.
Put the following in the appropriate .htaccess file. Replace HOST with localhost if running on Caffeine or the hostname if running elsewhere; replace port with your chosen port number.
Revision as of 11:50, 2 August 2016
The CSC offers web hosting for clubs and our members in accordance with our Machine Usage Agreement. This is a quick guide for the kinds of hosting we offer on our webserver, csclub.uwaterloo.ca, also known as caffeine.
We run an Apache httpd webserver and we offer you the use of a MySQL database.
What can I host on my website?
Web hosting is provided in accordance with the CSC Machine Usage Agreement. As a reminder, you are not permitted to host any of the following:
- Ads. Advertisements are not permitted because using our machines for commercial purposes is forbidden by university policy.
- Your start-up's website. Again, commercial use of our hosting is not permitted.
- Unauthorized copyrighted materials. Violating the law is a violation of our Machine Usage Agreement.
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. Websites may be taken down without notice at the discretion of the Systems Committee. (We will always let you know that we took your site down, but if it is breaking our shared environment, we can't provide an advance warning.)
Some great examples of things members host on our webserver:
- Academic projects!
- A personal website or blog!
- Club websites!
How do I make a website?
If this is your first time making a website, this section may be useful to you.
To build your website, CS Club suggests you use http://blog.getpelican.com/ (Python) or https://jekyllrb.com/ (Ruby). They generate static sites and are faster, simpler and more secure than CMSs like WordPress (dynamic and written in PHP) for small sites. We routinely disable WordPress sites that are more than a few weeks out of date (or if a critical security flaw is disclosed).
You can transfer files to the CS Club via SFTP If you run Windows use https://winscp.net/eng/index.php, if you use OS X use https://cyberduck.io/?l=en, and Linux users can directly access SFTP by using ssh:// urls in their GUI file managers. You can use SSH for direct shell access, just run ssh email@example.com or look at https://wiki.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/Machine_List for our other machines. Please do not connect to caffeine (the actual web server) unless you need to debug code. You can also just create your site on our servers or in our office to avoid having to shuffle files around. Your home directory is distributed everywhere via NFS. Bonus points if you use Git to sync your own computer with our servers, if you do this we recommend using git.uwaterloo.ca as your upstream repository.
If you need help, email email@example.com[1] or come to the CS Club office on the MC 3rd floor across from the Mathsoc CnD.
DNS and Your Domain Name
You can serve files without any additional configuration by placing them in your www directory and accessing them at http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~userid, where userid is your CSC user ID. However, many of our members and clubs prefer to use a custom domain name.
Note that this means you do not have to register a domain name to be able to use our services. You can just put a website at http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~userid.
uwaterloo.ca domain Names
If you represent a UWaterloo organization, you may be eligible for a custom uwaterloo.ca domain name, such as csclub.uwaterloo.ca. We can request this on your behalf.
In order to do so, we must have verified that the organization is a legitimate UWaterloo-affiliated group, and that you, the representative, are authorized to request a domain name on their behalf. This all takes place when you request club hosting with the Computer Science Club.
Once you register as a club representative of your particular organization, you can send an email from your official club account to email@example.com to request the domain yourdomain.uwaterloo.ca. Assuming it is available, we will file a ticket and request the domain in your name.
Your personal domain name
These virtual hosts must be approved by the Executive and Systems Committee. If interested, send email@example.com an email. If your request is approved, the Systems Committee will direct you to create a CNAME record for your domain and point it at csclub.uwaterloo.ca.
If you are interested in receiving mail or having other records on your domain, the apex of your domain cannot be a CNAME. If this is the case, then your domain should contain an "A" record of 188.8.131.52 and a (optional, but recommended) "AAAA" record of 2620:101:f000:4901:c5c::caff:e12e.
Static Sites
You can place all your static content into your web directory, /users/userid/www.
If you have been approved for a virtual host, you can access this content using your personal domain once the Systems Committee makes the appropriate configuration changes. Here is an example configuration file:
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerName foobar.uwaterloo.ca ServerAlias *.foobar.uwaterloo.ca foobar ServerAdmin email@example.com DocumentRoot /users/userid/www/ ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/luser-userid-error.log CustomLog /var/log/apache2/luser-userid-access.log combined </VirtualHost>
Dynamic Sites
If you require use of a database, we offer you the sole choice of MySQL. See this guide for how to create your database and connect to MySQL.
We STRONGLY discourage the use of content management systems such as WordPress. These packages are notorious for the number of security vulnerabilities they contain and pose a threat to our systems if they are not kept up to date. The Systems Committee WILL, at its discretion, disable any website using a package such as WordPress that is not updated to the latest version or that is found to contain exploitable security flaws. In such a case, the member or club serving that site will be notified of the termination; the site will not be re-enabled until the issues are addressed.
Using PHP
Because we use Apache, it's as simple as placing your index.php file in your /users/userid/www. That's it!
You can even include rewrite rules in an .htaccess file in your web directory.
Reverse Proxy (Python, Ruby, Perl, etc.)
(In progress... Cliff Notes below)
If computationally expensive, please run the server on a general-use server and proxy to Caffeine.
If Python, (1) use a virtual environment (2) host your app (within the virtualenv) with Gunicorn on a high port (but campus firewalled, i.e. NOT Ports 28000-28500).
If Ruby (Note, I've never used Ruby so take this with a grain of salt), use Unicorn in the same way.
.htaccess Config
Put the following in the appropriate .htaccess file (e.g. if you were running your app at ~ctdalek/python-app, put the .htaccess in ~ctdalek/www/python-app alongside the static files). Replace HOST with localhost if running on Caffeine or the hostname if running elsewhere; replace port with your chosen port number.
Options +FollowSymLinks RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} !-d RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} !-f RewriteRule "^(.*)$" "http://HOST:RANDOM_PORT/$1" [P]
Disabling insecure or infringing sites
To disable a webspace that has known security vulnerabilities add the following snippet to `/etc/apache2/conf-available/disable-vuln-site.conf`. This rewrites all accesses of the directory or its children to the given file. Note that our disable page uses PHP to always return HTTP status code 503. (TODO: move files to somewhere in /srv)
<Directory /users/$BADUSER/www> AllowOverride None RewriteEngine On RewriteRule . /~sysadmin/insecure/index.php [L] </Directory>
Expired Websites
There is a cron job running hourly on caffeine which disables expired member's websites (and re-enables them when they've renewed their membership).
The script is here: http://git.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/?p=public/expire-sites.git;a=summary
Some highlights:
- The script provides a 1-month grace period (corresponding to the grace period of pam-csc)
- The expired page returns HTTP status code of 503 (Service Unavailable)


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'I am not locked down this morning': Charges laid as defiant Ontario church sees hundreds gather for service
LONDON, ONT. -- The pastor of a small Ontario town church was greeted with a standing ovation as hundreds gathered for an outdoor service Sunday after their church was shuttered by a court order last week.
"I am not locked down this morning," said Pastor Henry Hildebrant of the Church of God Restoration in Aylmer, Ont. as he started the service attended by roughly 500 congregants.
With a population under 8,000, Aylmer is located about 40 minutes southwest of London, Ont. and often doesn't attract much media attention.
However, that has not been the case during the pandemic as the church and its pastor have been repeatedly charged with violations of the Reopening Ontario Act leading to national coverage of the ongoing disputes.
During the Ontario stay-at-home order, religious, wedding and funeral services are limited to 10 people indoors or outdoors. Drive-in services are permitted.
On May 14, it all came to a head when a judge ordered the church doors locked after it was found in contempt last month.
In his decision Justice Bruce Thomas said, "The evidence makes it clear that Pastor (Henry) Hildebrandt has control over his congregation…as pastor of this church, (he) is the leading force and unapologetic spokesperson for this offending activity."
During the pandemic the church has continued to hold Sunday services despite repeated charges under provincial COVID-19 regulations and while the doors may have been locked Hildebrant and his congregants showed how willing they are to keep going Sunday.
"So far there is no invention of locks that locks God down, or his people," said Hildebrandt.
He called the warm weather a 'gift' because they couldn't have put the large crowd inside the church.
"We are having a God-given freedom rally this morning", says Hildebrandt.
Throughout the morning he took shots at the mainstream media, the law system and the fines imposed by the courts.
After the service, they invited people for lunch which they prepared for '1,000 people' according to Hildebrandt.
Police were on scene at a distance and released the following statement Monday morning:
"On Sunday, May 16, 2021 Aylmer Police monitored the activities at the Church of God Restoration situated at 751 John St. North Aylmer, Ont. Police obatined footage of a large gathering and a makeshift outdoor church stage and seating area set up for the service. Police counted in excess of 200 vehicles and 400+ persons in attendence. This is following a recent court ruling where the church was ordered locked and substantial fines levied against the Church, the pastor and the assistant. Charges against the organization and those identified as organizers and active participants are pending. Aylmer Police will actively pursue further options to ensure compliance with emergency orders of this particular church and participants in order to protect the community from harm"
Tuesday morning police officially released the new charges.
The Church of God Restoration is charged with Corporation - fail to comply with a continued section 7.0.2 order.
Three men, a 57-year-old and 26-year-old from Aylmer along with a 26-year-old from Manitoba are also facing fines under section 7.0.2.
Meanwhile a constitutional challenge from the Church of God Restoration, along with Trinity Bible Church in Waterloo and the United Reform Church in Wellandport is set to be heard on Oct. 4 in St. Thomas.
With files from CTV News London's Amanda Taccone, Sean Irvine, and Bryan Bicknell.

subset: commoncrawl


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From wishful thinking to shockingly sudden all-but-certainty, Sony's next game system may be here at last (I'll try to avoid calling it things Sony hasn't, like "PlayStation 4" or "Orbis"), apparently head-faking Microsoft to debut earlier than expected at what'll no doubt be a media circus in New York (and online) come Feb. 20.
The event invite cleared my inbox last night accompanied by, well, see for yourself in Sony's slick dubstep tease above. Sony labeled the event "PlayStation Meeting," which is sort of like calling E3 "L.A. Occurrence," but, well, marketing.
(MORE: How to Watch the Super Bowl Live Online)
At this point, your guess would have been as good as mine: probably the next PlayThing, because what else is Sony going to hype for three weeks and drag folks to from all corners of the earth? Still, I could have flown around the room on a broomstick: a PlayStation VitaPad, a PlayStation Phone (pPhone!), or heck, even Sony's answer to Google's Project Glass (Sony GlassStation!).
But no, the Wall Street Journal went and spoiled the fun by claiming that, yes indeed, Sony's going to give us a peek at its next games console and ship the thing later this year, probably around the holidays. I consider that slightly more plausible than hearsay since it's the Journal, but bear in mind it's still a claim based on unidentified sources (the Journal pulls the phrase "people familiar with the matter" off the shelf at least four times).
No surprise, the story's taken off like a guy air-riding a horse, prompting a bunch of people to throw odd notions at the wall based on even sketchier sourcing. Instead of regaling you with tales of mystical multi-core processors pulling contextually meaningless speeds, why don't we look back at some of the things I suspect we'd all agree Sony needs to do better the next time around.
Don't launch at $500-$600. I still can't imagine what Sony was thinking in 2006 (well, beyond "we can barely afford to build this franken-thing!"). Yes, everyone loved the PlayStation 2, and no, not enough to spend that kind of money on the PlayStation 3. No, I don't know what the company ought to sell a new game console for, but I'll refer you down the aisle to the Wii U: currently struggling at $300-$350. If Sony launches higher (and doesn't include something like a free iPad), especially in a weak economy, it may find it's looking for dance partners all over again.
(MORE: Are Weak Wii U Sales a Bellwether of Shifting Game Demographics?)
The new PlayStation Network (or whatever Sony rebrands it) needs to be seamless. None of this irritating "synchronizing trophies" business, waiting ages for features like background downloads or "cross-voice game chat is really coming!" except it's really not. Also, while my lizard brain still sort of responds to the nerdy elegance of the PlayStation 3's XrossMediaBar, after all these years there's just something warmer and friendlier about Xbox LIVE. I have a roughly equal number of friends in both ecosystems, so it's not that; I've just come to prefer navigating TV environments that feel a little less clinical. (The Journal says Sony's new system is more social media-driven, so unless Sony's launching a standalone answer to Facebook, I expect we'll see the interface sporting newfangled riffs on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Google+/etc. integration.)
Resist the urge to go all three-ring-circus on us. Sitting through Sony/Microsoft pressers sometimes feels like watching Tim Meadows and Will Ferrell squeeze bottles of Cookie Dough Sport over their heads. Spare us the strobe lights and sizzle reels and maybe just level with us like we're adults and not a bunch of Red Bull-amped teenage boys at a Lady Gaga concert.
Don't make it all about the graphics. I mean sure, we all like pretty games, but 5x, 10x, 100x the PS3's oomph…it's now all kind of abstract and pointless given how sophisticated games already look today. I want to know what those extra cycles are going to do for me gameplay-wise, and I don't mean visually, e.g. better "god-rays" or "subsurface scattering" or a gazillion bendable blades of grass. Can this thing sustain an artificially intelligent being that'd pass a Turing Test? And can you work that into a game that's actually fun to play?
Don't be the last kid to the party. Hello, stuff like Grand Theft Auto IV and Skyrim DLC. Microsoft scored coup after coup this round in terms of timed exclusive or outright exclusive content. And yes, I'm sure it cost the company a pretty penny, but gamers are going to go where the games they want to play live. If their sense is that's not Sony, well, it's not rocket science. And some of the dropped balls this round were doozies: Skyrim's one of the bestselling games of all time and it's been out since November 2011. Bethesda just announced today that PS3 users can finally get their hands on the downloadable content in a few weeks, whereas Xbox 360 users have had at it for months.


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PARIS — Rafael Nadal's mastery of the Monte Carlo clay courts seems to be over.
The top-ranked Spaniard hopes his confidence isn't gone, too.
Nadal lost to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-6 (1), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday, his earliest exit since 2003 at a tournament that helped build his reputation as perhaps the greatest clay-court player of all time. Nadal won eight consecutive titles here from 2005-12, before losing to Novak Djokovic in last year's final.
This was Nadal's first loss on clay to Ferrer since 2004, and the 13-time Grand Slam champion said he is still trying to find his best form after a disappointing loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the Australian Open final.
"After what happened in Australia, (it) was little bit harder for me to find again the intensity, the confidence, the inside power that always I have," Nadal said. "Even if I won Rio, I played the final in Miami, you know, (this) remains something in my mind and in my game."
Djokovic looked like he might follow him out, but the Serb finally got the better of the unseeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to set up a 34th career meeting against 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
"I started very poorly. Garcia-Lopez played well and I had to work for this win," Djokovic said. "I finally started to play as I wanted in the second set."
Federer leads Djokovic 17-16 in head-to-heads and they are 1-1 this year, with Federer beating him in the Dubai Championship semifinals and Djokovic winning their final at Indian Wells.
The Serb was close to losing against Garcia-Lopez, saving a break point in the fifth game of the second set and two more when trailing 15-40 in his next service game.
Djokovic then made a crucial break to take a 5-3 lead, served out the set, and then broke Garcia-Lopez twice at the start of the third.
Ferrer hardly needed to dig deep as Nadal committed 44 unforced errors and gave away 10 break-point chances on his serve.
"I didn't play the right way. I didn't play with the right intensity with my forehand. I played too short," Nadal said. "I give him the chance to have the control of the point almost all the time."
A day after becoming the 11th man in the Open era to reach 300 wins on clay, Nadal was broken four times in the face of Ferrer's relentless attack.
"All losses feel bad but especially on clay," Nadal said. "I'm not happy with how I'm playing."
The first set-statistics make for ugly reading, with Nadal making only 54 percent of his first serves, and hitting a meager five winners on his normally trusty forehand.
The sixth-seeded Ferrer next faces the third-seeded Wawrinka, who reached his first semifinal since the Australian Open by beating eighth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 7-6 (5), 6-2. Fourth-seeded Roger Federer also reached the last four in an error-strewn 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 win against No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, where he was two points from defeat at 0-30 serving at 6-5 down in the second set.
Federer, who improved to 11-4 against Tsonga, wasted 15 straight break points and three set points in the second set But at 6-6 in the tiebreaker, Tsonga hit a wild forehand into the net and Federer leveled the match with a volley winner.
"It was just many things went wrong at the wrong time for me: Jo playing well, me playing wrong at certain times, wrong shot selections," Federer said. "I'm happy I found the way to tough it out."
Tsonga said the changing conditions in the late afternoon as the match went into a third set suited Federer's style of play more.
"I don't think it was that much of a change. I don't think there was any wind change or any crazy, like, quickness change," Federer said. "We played in those conditions a million of times."


text:
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text:
Hey there! I'm Bobi Ann Allen–author and teacher of There Is More to Your Story. I'm a pastor's wife, a mom and a ministry leader. I have a heart to reach women and the lost. I want to make a difference in someone's life. I want to help them experience more Jesus.
I was raised in a small town, but live in the big city. I'm probably over-transparent, most definitely an over-sharer and brutally authentic. I do consider myself an encourager, a leader and a learner.
I'm a graduate of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary where I hold a Master's Degree in Christian Education and serve as the Women's Minister at Willowbrook Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama. I have been involved in ministry for more than 20 years working with both teenagers and women.
My greatest passion in ministry is to open the Word with women and let the Holy Spirit transform hearts…including my own. Married to and formerly serving on staff with a pastor, has provided me a unique perspective and opportunity to share the hurts and joys of women and their families.
Don't get any ideas that I'm somehow not doing real life. I'm forever folding underwear, unloading the dishwasher and hunting for my people's lost stuff. Speaking of my people: I'm married to Jared and we have two delightfully silly children, Kati Ann and Kie.
I love to laugh, spend time with my family and wear comfortable clothes. My all-time favorite moments are date nights with Jared and loving on my kids.


text:
I'm an outdoorsy girl. Chalk it up to a childhood spent idolizing a rough-and-tumble big brother or simply a natural predisposition to dirt, but I'm the sort of chick who doesn't mind—and actually kind of likes—a little mud between her toes and grit in her teeth. Rough-around-the-edges X chromosome notwithstanding, I'm still a chick. I play hard, but a little frou-frou fabulosity makes me ooze with delight, too. Which is why, when I hear of a four-day kayak adventure where I can paddle down the Chain of Lakes each day, and every night indulge in fine dining, sink into the soft bed of a cozy inn and trust the burden of my ballooning suitcase to the back of some other sucker, I shriek like a sorority girl and immediately ring up my best friend.
One month later, we're running into each other's arms in the parking lot of Elk Rapids' Camelot Inn—the official base camp for our kayak adventure. Though we live just four hours apart, it's been months since I've seen Holly. A pint-sized, perky redhead who cracks up as easily as she cracks the whip in the Detroit accounting firm she markets for, Holly's the ultimate kayaking partner: fun, fearless, always equipped with sunscreen and ever ready for adventure.
In fact, when we shove off from the shore of Six Mile Lake, the first of the Chain's 12 lakes and connecting rivers we'll paddle through in the coming days, I watch her scoot her boat backward out of the shallows—boat wobbling, paddle flailing—and foresee only one problem: Holly's never kayaked before.
At least, she doesn't think she has. After shouting yes to my invite last month, she asked a dozen questions about the logistics: food, lodging, luggage handling. And I launched into the list of what was included in the trip: dinner every night, most breakfasts, all lodging and luggage handling, plus a complimentary waterproof camera, an "I paddled the Chain" T-shirt, kayak with paddles and …. Before I could get to the life vests, she interrupted. "Wait, what's a kayak again?" she asked. "Like a canoe?"
The beauty of the Paddle the Chain Kayak Voyage, the brainchild of Camelot Inn owner Don Weeks, is that just about anyone can do it. Among past trip participants, Weeks counts a 16-year-old and a set of 80-year-old grandparents. The voyage is certainly doable: over four days, we'll have the opportunity to paddle about 36 miles of the 75-mile chain of interconnected lakes and rivers that S-stretches across Antrim County. Weeks will be standing by to pick up, port and put in our kayaks at different points along the way, which he's marked on easy-to-follow maps and a detailed itinerary, all of which are safely nestled in waterproof sleeves. Also in our idiot-proof arsenal: a GPS unit and a cell phone. Weeks gave us detailed instructions on using both, right down to a pointed identification of the phone's red end and green send buttons "just in case anyone's colorblind." He's No. 1 on speed dial.
As we paddle toward the rippling jade of Six Mile Lake's deeper waters, I try not to worry that I've gotten Holly in over her head. Thankfully, in addition to the maps, gadgets and Weeks's assurances he'd pick us up should the slate sky above break into a storm, Holly and I have chanced upon a pair of lucky talismans: Mike and Lily, the husband-and-wife team who will be trekking with us.
Clearly skilled kayakers, they brought their own boats—long, glossy, sleek affairs that slide across the water like skates on ice. Unlike Holly and I, who aresporting T-shirts, shorts, flip flops and Mary Jane–style Crocs, Mike and Lily are decked out in neoprene shorts and booties, dry jackets, bolerolike life vests and CamelBaks. An array of seaworthylooking stuff is strapped to their boats.
I raise my imitation designer shades and watch Holly take in some technique tips from Mike—a broad-chested guy who, with close-shorn hair and muscled hands, looks more like a Green Beret than a silent sport aficionado.
"The one thing to remember is—" he tells her, then stops short when Weeks yells from shore that we've left behind the GPS. Mike wheels his kayak around and tracks back toward shore, his paddle spinning as clean as a propeller. Holly sits in her boat, her paddle still in mid-air, staring after his quickly retreating back. "Hold that thought!" she yells.
We needn't have worried. Two hours later, the moody sky has surrendered to the late-September sun, and my shoulders and Holly's have relaxed into a natural, easy stroke. We paddle along, gabbing as though we do this every weekend. With Six Mile Lake and its gawk-worthy houses and floatplanes behind us, we're meandering through the curvy, quiet river that cuts through St. Clair Natural Area and links to St. Clair Lake. There are no houses here, no powerboats—just pockets of lily pads, bowing reeds and the drip of water falling from our paddles when we pause to take it all in.
Apparently, we pause a lot. Like a mother duck, Mike has circled back twice to make certain we're still moving forward. He tells us he gets nervous when our constant chatter quiets. We apologize for our noisy prattle and explain that we've got lots to catch up on: Holly's a newlywed; she's left her anxious husband at home to care for their two recently adopted, behaviorally challenged boxer pups—one of whom already weighs 70 pounds. I've just reconciled with my longtime on-again/off-again boyfriend. Both our mothers seem to be menopausal.
Mike shakes his head and reminds us what message Don passed along from Tom and Cindy Tomalka, innkeepers at House on the Hill B&B, whose shore we're headed to tonight: "Wine is served on the porch at 5:30, whether you're there or not."


text:
- Feature Links
- About TML
- History
In the summer of 1913, Austin Mayor A.P. Wooldridge issued a call to the cities of Texas to come to Austin to consider the creation of an association to allow officials to confer on municipal issues. He invited representatives of all Texas cities to a convention in Austin on November 4, 1913.
Thirteen cities answered his call:
- Coolidge
- Cuero
- Dallas
- Denton
- Greenville
- Houston
- Marshall
- Mart
- New Braunfels
- Paris
- San Marcos
- Wichita Falls
- Yoakum
At that First Annual Convention of the League of Texas Municipalities, Mayor Wooldridge said,
I know this, that you all need the League as badly as I need it. I am right here at the capitol, and yet I need to touch elbows with my neighbors all over the State, and your lot and condition is no better than mine. These, in very brief words, are the purposes of this meeting.
At that meeting, representatives approved a modest annual membership fee for member cities ($5 for cities under 5,000 in population and $10 for cities over 5,000 in population) to fund the League, and adopted a constitution to govern the association.
The idea of a municipal league caught on, and during the next 35 years, the League grew rapidly. In the early years, the League's services were few: publishing a magazine, conducting an annual conference, and responding to miscellaneous requests for assistance.
After World War II, Texas evolved into an urban state, and the needs of Texas cities grew. As a result of this evolution, the League prepared to expand its services and staff. The 1958 annual conference produced a new name and a new constitution and organization with a strong legislative program. The name of the association was changed from the League of Texas Municipalities to the Texas Municipal League. The new constitution set up a departmental and regional form of representation on the Texas Municipal League (TML) Board by establishing departments of affiliated members and sub-state regions.
The convention of 1958 was a pivotal event for the Texas Municipal League. The organization, which had survived on a minimal staff, was about to undergo a great growth process. Staffing was increased, dues were raised, and the new TML took on a programmatic approach to service. This period of growth and refinement of services has been ongoing and continues today.
During the 1970s, TML member cities called upon the League to assist in the formation of insurance pools specifically designed to meet municipal needs. In 1974, the TML Workers Compensation Joint Insurance Fund was established. A statewide group life and health insurance program was established in 1979, and in 1982, a liability and property insurance fund was established. From the beginning, those insurance funds, today known as pools, have been governed by boards of directors separate from the TML Board.
In 1988, the Texas Municipal League reorganized its service delivery system, resulting in three separate entities: TML itself, a risk pool, and a health pool.
The League exists solely to provide services to Texas cities. Since the first day of its existence, the League's mission has remained the same: to serve the needs and advocate the interests of cities and city officials. It's purpose statement is Empowering Texas cities to serve their citizens. The TML Constitution states that the purpose of the League is "to render services which individual cities have neither time, money nor strength to do alone." In practice, that mission translates into the following services:
- To represent the interests of member cities before legislative, administrative, and judicial bodies at the state and federal levels.
- To sponsor and conduct an annual conference and other conferences, seminars, meetings, and workshops for the purpose of studying municipal issues and exchanging information regarding municipal government.
- To provide administrative services to the Texas Municipal League risk pools so that quality coverages at reasonable and competitive prices can be made available to member cities and their employees.
- To publish and circulate an official magazine and other publications, reports, and newsletters of interest to member cities.
- To serve as a repository of literature, analyses, research, and data related to municipal operations and make that information available to member cities.
- To alert member cities of important governmental or private sector actions or proposed actions which may affect municipal operations.
- To promote the interests of League affiliates (departments) and regions by providing organizational and technical assistance as directed by the Board and consistent with financial resources.
- To promote constructive and cooperative relationships among cities and between the League and other levels of government, councils of governments, the National League of Cities, educational institutions, and the private sector.
- To provide for and conduct training in relevant and timely topics related to municipal government.
- To provide, in a timely manner, any additional services or information which individual members may request, consistent with the member cities' common interests and the League's resources.
Today, 1,175 Texas cities are members of the Texas Municipal League. The League is governed by a Board of Directors made up of:
- President and president-elect (list of all past presidents)
- Regional directors, one from each of the League's 15 sub-state regions
- Affiliate directors, one from each of the League's 21 affiliates
- Eight at-large directors, one from each of the state's eight largest cities
- All past presidents still in municipal office
- One ex officio representative from the TML Intergovernmental Risk Pool
Executive Committee
The League's Executive Committee, which is empowered to take any actions that may arise between meetings of the full TML Board, includes the president, the president-elect, the past presidents, and two other Board members appointed by the president and the executive director.
The Board appoints an executive director to manage the affairs of the League under the Board's general direction. Today, the League employs a staff of more than 30 and is organized into seven departments:
- Administrative Services
- Affiliate Services
- Business Development
- Communications and Programs
- Legal Services
- Legislative Services
- Member Services ♦


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John Lennon Digital poster by ~iamtherealbender on deviantART.
Read more "War is over (?)"
(CNN) — President Barack Obama on Friday announced that virtually all U.S. troops will come home from Iraq by the end of the year — at which point he can declare an end to America's long and costly war in that Middle Eastern nation.
"After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over," Obama said. "The coming months will be a season of homecomings. Our troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays."


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What's happening in monetary policy and macroeconomics.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Keynesian Economics
I essentially took Farmer's idea, simplified it so that I could understand what he is doing, and then expanded on it, in part by incorporating monetary exchange. I have some ideas about what it all means, but have not quite settled on how I want to write it or what else I might want to include.
This is what I think is the basic Keynesian idea, with no funny business involved. There's suboptimality, and fiscal and monetary policy can correct it. Then you have to ask whether you buy the story or not. Let me know what you think.
26 comments:
I don't think you will ever manage to put Keynes into a nutshell but I'm certainly going to spend a bit of time on that paper, which looks very interesting. There's no point in commenting on it until I think I understand it (which may take a while) but I will comment on this summary of what Keynes was on about: "There is a pricing problem that private sector agents are somehow unable to solve on their own. But a benevolent, smart, and well-informed government is able to step in and solve that problem."ReplyDelete
I think that's exactly right (so far). Let A be the market capitalization of the economy's financial assets. Let W be some index of input costs (mostly wages). What Keynes is saying is that markets will not find the optimal value of A/W without assistance. Mass unemployment is a clear indication that A/W is too low, but don't try telling a welder that the value of Exxon Mobil, expressed in welders' labour-hours, is too low and therefore he must take a pay-cut. It's not his fault that the stock market has the heebie-jeebies. Instead, find a way to convince investors to get out of cash and into real capital while their money is still worth something.
That's my Keynes in a Nutshell, but I'm under no illusions that I can wrap it up in a package worthy of a reputable journal.
But the main thing I want to say is thanks for the pointer to the paper.
On reflection, A should be the market capitalization of the economy's risky assets. As Brad DeLong frequently points out, the fundamental problem is the (notional) excess demand for safe assets.ReplyDelete
Steve: from a quick reading, I think your model should work. But it seems to me to be unnecessarily complex.ReplyDelete
Consider an alternative. A representative agent divides his time between 3 activities: producing; selling (searching for a buyer); and buying (searching for a seller).
There is a tabu against consuming your own output.
The output must be consumed at the point of production, and agents are anonymous. So they can't barter and can't use credit and must use money.
Then use Roger's gambit to make the price of output in terms of money indeterminate, within a range.
If the stock of money is too low, relative to the price level, the representative agent spends most of his time searching for a buyer.
Here's my sketch (apologies for my bad math). It's what I thought up after reading your old post on Roger.
Yep, there is no monetary or fiscal authority. But I reckon it works. And it's very simple.
I would give a different interpretation in your section 4 discussion though. Think of the government as a commonly observed sunspot, that allows agents to coordinate their activities. If agents cannot communicate with each other, but the government can communicate with all, the government can do things that private agents can't. More simply still, the government can act as a focal point in a coordination game, like the conductor of an orchestra, or a cox on a racing 8, calling out a beat. In a Keynesian underemployment equilibrium, each agent wants to increase the speed, but at the same time wants to go at the same speed as everyone else.ReplyDelete
"Private sector agents in our model areReplyDelete
incapable of deciding among themselves on terms of exchange that yield socially
optimal outcomes... However,
the government is well-informed, and has sufficient policy tools that it can effectively manipulate the terms of exchange to bring about efficient outcomes"
Chickens aside, is there any reason to believe private sector agents would wish to make "socially optimal" choices when personally optimal choices would be more in keeping with their desires? The differences between individually personally optimal and more generally socially optimal choices lies at the heart of the tragedy of the commons - wherein wiser collective rule making (government) is the solution.
- AnonymousNovember 1, 2011 at 6:29 PM
wherein wiser collective rule making (government) is the solution.ReplyDelete
Yes when the govt includes Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and sundry other hacks, this is not likely.
You sir suffer from the presuppositions of Harvey Road, to quote Nobelist Buchanan.
Markets fail and so do governments. The problem is to design institutions to minimize the fallout from the fact that men are no angels.
This seemed pretty simple to me. You even get closed form solutions in some cases.
Yes, the idea in Keynesian economics seems to be that the individually optimal actions (setting the terms of exchange) are somehow not socially optimal. But that's usually expressed as "setting these wages and prices is really hard," or something like that.
Steve: OK. My definition of "simple" is your "really simple".ReplyDelete
Put it another way. You have a labour market, and an output market. Why not just collapse the two into one market for haircuts? As far as I can see, your having two markets rather than one does not play any essential role in your model. You could simplify it, and lose nothing.
But to answer the main question in your post: yes, I do *think* your model is capturing the keynesian perspective (at least an important part of it). And, basically I like it. At least I think I would like it, if it were simpler, so I could see what's going on more clearly.
The whole Keynesian "recessions are a shortage of AD" thing can and should be re-interpreted as "in recessions, it takes more time for sellers to search for buyers holding money, and less time for buyers holding money to search for sellers".
And (I think) that's what your model does.
- AnonymousNovember 2, 2011 at 9:13 AM
why having consumer in the model? it seems you need that just to justify monetary policy. otherwise money is neutralReplyDelete
With search there are not really "markets" in the usual sense, though there are objects that I call "labor market tightness" and "goods market tightness" which are just the ratios of different types of individuals searching. It's not really 2 markets, as the three types of people are coming together, producing something, and then distributing the surplus from exchange. The "shortage of AD" is a situation where prices are high and the number of consumers searching is low relative to producers and workers.
If you mean that I having the consumer in the model is part of the device for getting monetary exchange in the model, then that is correct. However, you might imagine setups with just workers and producers where you need monetary exchange. For example, suppose a worker and producer have to meet to produce output, but the output is something the worker does not want to consume, so the producer has to pay the worker in money. That would work also.
In your model, producers and workers bargain over shares of what they can produce together, and problems arise if they can't agree on the optimal division of the surplus (the Hosios rule). In Keynes's model, producers and workers bargain over nominal wages the real value of which will be determined later by the prices of the things workers buy. Producers assume the risk involved in incurring costs today without even probabilistic foreknowledge of future sales revenue. For Keynes, problems arise when producers lose their nerve.
In your model, workers can improve their chances of finding a match (a job) by reducing their claims on output. In Keynes's model, when workers reduce their claims, prices fall, and it's not clear that the combination of lower wages and lower prices increases the likelihood that workers and producers will find a match.
I can't really tell whether your model captures Keynes's view, or whether you care, but I appreciate your sharing your paper.
You seem to have a pretty firm view of what Keynes's model was. When I read Keynes, I'm not quite sure what he has in mind. Can you direct me to where in the General Theory you find this?ReplyDelete
On bargaining in terms of the money wage rather than in terms of the real wage, see the General Theory, ch. 2, pp. 10-13, where Keynes criticizes the "classical theory" for assuming that workers bargain over the real wage.
In this same section, Keynes assumes that P = MC and argues that when wages (roughly MC) fall, prices fall too, so that the real wage remains (roughly) unchanged. He concludes ch. 2 by arguing that workers may not have the power to reduce their real wages by revising their money wage bargains with firms because workers have no control over prices.
In ch. 19, Keynes allows that more labor would be employed if real wages fell, provided that demand (prospective sales revenue) remains unchanged. But, of course, he questions the latter assumption, asking whether a reduction in money wages will be accompanied by the same level of demand as prevailed before the cut in wages (p. 259).
The idea that producers assume the risk involved in incurring costs today without having even probabilistic foreknowledge of future sales revenue is most clearly expressed in Keynes's 1937 QJE article.
Stephen: go back to Peter Diamond's coconut paper.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 8, 2011 at 1:08 PM
Anonimo: what matters in the coconut paper is the ad hoc increasing return matching function, which may not be a key idea of Keynes.ReplyDelete
The substance of the argument is that demand matters for supply. Diamond implemented this idea using a technology unknown to Keynes, that is all.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 8, 2011 at 3:39 PM
If the matching function is constant or decreasing return like MP, there is unique equilibrium and hence no role for "demand management".ReplyDelete
hmm, I think I can't follow how increasing return of matching function captures the substance that "demand matters for supply".
- AnonymousNovember 8, 2011 at 6:52 PM
Shouldn't this be the default model for macro ? Coordination failure is the norm for economies. Williamson and the DSGE methodology take market clearing as axiomatic. This seems bizarre - why assume this happens? Surely coordination needs to be modeled not assumed. We are still in the pre-Newtonian phase in macro.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 8, 2011 at 8:08 PM
Market clearing is not the key, you can incorporate search and matching in any RBC/new Keynesian/new monetarist models as in the coconut/ MP/ Prescott-Lucas. But it seems that doesn't give you much extra insight here.ReplyDelete
Anyone who ever bothered looking at the reality of policy making and how economies react to demand shocks will have a hard time denying that a macroeconomic model where some concept of aggregate demand is operational is worth less than the ink used to print it :)ReplyDelete
In other words, if one needs increasing returns for "demand management", then it just says that the case of decreasing or constant returns on matching are empirically irrelevant, just as irrelevant as a macroeconomic model where monetary contractions do not have real effects.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 9, 2011 at 6:28 AM
"O" Anonimo assumes the fact he purports to prove. "Demand shock" is a meaningless term in general equilibrium -- pray tell, what shocks don't shift the "supply curve" via labor demand/supply effects? Yeah, didn't think so.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 9, 2011 at 8:05 AM
anonymous says "you can incorporate search and matching". But doesn't that just shift the black box one notch further down? Don't those guys assume some kind of matching function ? Where is the real "machinery of commerce" underlying that matching function?ReplyDelete
It seems that there are a lot of questions not being answered right now by macro models because we don't fully understand how markets work at the micro level.
- AnonymousNovember 9, 2011 at 8:53 AM
hey Anon 8:05, here is Anon 108 339 and 808 (so inhuman...). I think we can go deeper any time , as people have been proposing several micro-foundation for the matching function. Don't be lazy, "google scholar" the literature.ReplyDelete
The point is, since even relaxing market clearing condition gives us not much extra mileage, then why do we bother to go further and deeper along this direction? There are million of things we can look into. Focus on the important one!
- AnonymousNovember 9, 2011 at 9:04 AM
The confusion of AD and AS is very clear in the coconut model. Guys don't go out for shopping because they expect less supply of the good they want, which is because producers expect less demand for this. How can one say that it is demand but not supply that matters definitely? There is no much meaning to distinguish whether egg or chicken comes first here. It is just a coordination failure.ReplyDelete
the same Anon above


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Learn how to smooth handheld footage, choose which objects in a scene get stabilized, and even reverse a stabilization to track an object in an unstable scene using the Warp Stabilizer VFX.
De ce veți avea nevoie
If you shoot footage using a handheld camera, you will probably end up with shaky shots. Unless this look is intentional, you'll want to stabilize your shots to eliminate unwanted motion.
Warp Stabilizer VFX in Adobe After Effects automatically removes extraneous jitters. When played back, the motion appears smooth because the layer itself is scaled and moves incrementally to offset the unwanted movement. (The Warp Stabilizer VFX effect replaces the Warp Stabilizer effect available in previous versions of After Effects.)
In this excerpt from Adobe After Effects Classroom in a Book, published by Adobe Press, you will apply Warp Stabilizer VFX to a shaky clip to see how the stabilization effect works.
About bicubic scaling
In this tutorial, you will scale the video sample. When you scale video footage or an image to a larger size, After Effects must sample data to add information where none existed before. You can choose which sampling method After Effects uses when scaling a layer. For details, see the video, Set scaling quality using bicubic sampling.
In previous versions, After Effects has used only bilinear sampling. Bicubic sampling, new in After Effects, uses a more complex algorithm that typically provides better results when color transitions are more gradual, as in nearly all real-world photographic images. Bilinear scaling may be a better option for sharp-edged graphics.
To choose a sampling method for a layer, select the layer, and choose Layer > Quality > Bicubic or Bilinear. Bicubic and bilinear sampling are available only for layers that are set to Best quality. (To change a layer's quality setting to Best, choose Layer > Quality > Best.)
Setting up the project
As you start After Effects, restore the default application settings for After Effects:
- Start After Effects, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (Mac OS) to restore default preferences settings. When prompted, click OK to delete your preferences.
- Click Close to close the Welcome screen.
- After Effects opens to display a new, untitled project.
- Choose File > Save As > Save As.
- Name the project Stabilize.aep, and then click Save.
Importing the footage
You need to import one footage item to start this project. Download the sample tutorial files that accompany this tutorial to follow along.
- Double-click an empty area of the Project panel to open the Import File dialog box.
- Select the flowers.mov file in the sample tutorial files, and then click Import or Open to import the footage into your project (see Figure 1).
Creating the composition
You'll start by creating the composition.
- Drag the flowers.mov clip in the Project panel onto the Create A New Composition button at the bottom of the panel.
After Effects creates a new composition named Flowers with the same pixel size, aspect ratio, frame rate, and duration of the source clip.
- Click the RAM Preview button in the Preview panel to preview the footage. Press the spacebar to stop the preview when you've seen the whole clip. This clip was shot with a handheld camera in the late afternoon. A slight breeze rustles the vegetation, and the camera moves unsteadily.
Applying Warp Stabilizer VFX
Warp Stabilizer VFX starts analyzing footage as soon as you apply it. Stabilization is a background process, so you can work on other compositions while it finishes. How long it takes depends on your system. After Effects displays a blue banner while it analyzes the footage and an orange banner while it applies stabilization (see Figure 2).
- Select the flowers.mov layer in the Timeline panel, and choose Animation > Warp Stabilizer VFX. The blue banner appears immediately.
- When Warp Stabilizer VFX has finished stabilizing, and the orange banner has disappeared, create another RAM preview to view the changes.
- Press the spacebar to stop the preview.
The clip is still shaky, but it's smoother than it was initially. Warp Stabilizer VFX moved and repositioned the footage. To see how it applied changes, view the effects in the Effect Controls panel. For example, the clip's borders were scaled up (to about 103%) to hide black gaps that occur when the image is repositioned in the stabilization process. You'll adjust the settings that Warp Stabilizer VFX uses.
Adjusting the Warp Stabilizer VFX Settings
You'll change the settings in the Effect Controls panel to make the shot smoother.
- In the Effect Controls panel, increase the Smoothness amount to 75%.
Warp Stabilizer VFX immediately begins stabilizing again (see Figure 3). It doesn't need to analyze the footage, because the initial analysis data is stored in memory.
- When Warp Stabilizer VFX has finished, create another RAM preview to view the changes.
- Press the spacebar to stop playback when you're done.
It's better, but still a little rough. The Auto-scale setting in the Effect Controls panel now displays 103.7%; the effect moved the frames more dramatically, requiring more scaling to eliminate black gaps around the edges.
Rather than change the amount Warp Stabilizer VFX smooths the footage, now you'll change its goal.
- In the Effect Controls panel, choose No Motion from the Result menu (see Figure 4).
- When the orange banner disappears, create another RAM preview. Press the spacebar to stop the playback.
With this setting, Warp Stabilizer VFX attempts to lock the camera in position. This requires even more scaling. When No Motion is selected, the Smoothness option is dimmed.
Now the camera stays in position, so that the movement you notice is the rustling of the flowers in the wind, not the shakiness of the camera. In order to achieve this effect, Warp Stabilizer VFX had to scale the clip to 112.4% of its original size.
Fine-tuning the results
The default analysis works well most of the time, but sometimes you may need to massage the end results even further. In this project, the clip skews subtly in a few places, most noticeably at about the five-second mark. Casual viewers may not notice the problem, but a keen producer will. You'll change the method that Warp Stabilizer VFX uses to remove the skew.
- In the Effect Controls panel, choose Position, Scale, Rotation from the Method menu.
- Choose Stabilize Only from the Framing menu.
- Increase the Additional Scale to 114% (see Figure 5).
Note: Scaling a video layer up degrades the image. A good rule of thumb is to keep the Additional Scale value below 115% if possible.
- Create another RAM preview.
Now the shot looks rock-steady. The only movement is that caused by the wind rustling the flowers.
- Press the spacebar to stop the playback when you're done.
- Choose File > Save to save your work.
- Choose File > Close Project.
Open Stabilize.mov included in the sample tutorial files to see how the final, stabilized footage should look.
As you have discovered, stabilizing a shot is not without its drawbacks. To compensate for the movement or rotation data applied to the layer, the frames must be scaled, which could ultimately degrade the footage. If you really need to use the shot in your production, this may be the best compromise.
Warp Stabilizer VFX settings
This is just a summary of the Warp Stabilizer VFX settings to help you get started.
- Result controls the intended result. Smooth Motion makes camera movement smoother, but doesn't eliminate it; use the Smoothness setting to control how smooth the movement becomes. No Motion attempts to remove all of the camera motion.
- Method specifies the most complex operation the Warp Stabilizer VFX performs on the footage to stabilize it: Position, which is based on position data only; Position, Scale, Rotation, which uses these three types of data; Perspective, which effectively corner-pins the entire frame; or Subspace Warp (the default), which attempts to warp various parts of the frame differently to stabilize the entire frame.
- Borders settings adjust how borders (the moving edges) are treated for footage that is stabilized. Framing controls how the edges appear in a stabilizing result, and determines whether the effect crops, scales, or synthesizes edges using material from other frames.
- Auto-scale displays the current auto-scale amount, and allows you to set limits on the amount of auto-scaling.
- Advanced settings give you even greater control over the actions of the Warp Stabilizer VFX effect.
Tip: You can use Warp Stabilizer VFX advanced settings to achieve more complex effects, too. To learn more, see Adobe After Effects Visual Effects and Compositing Studio Techniques, available from Adobe Press.


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Climber Chris Sharma Fights for His Home Park
In May 2011, California's Department of Parks and Recreation announced that during the following fiscal year, it would be closing 70 of its 279 state parks. Hoping to achieve an $11 million reduction in the state's already overextended budget, Secretary John Laird admitted the cuts were unfortunate.
Well, the end of the 2011 fiscal year is nigh, which means that starting in July, countless Californians and outdoor recreationalists will be out of a campground, a hike, and for some famous ones, a climb.
Slated for closure is Castle Rock State Park in Santa Cruz, CA, where native son and top boulderer Chris Sharma began his career. Refusing to see his turf closed for those who he's inspired, he has begun a campaign to save the park, which is also home to the famed and aptly-named V10 Eco-Terrorist.
Sharma will be hosting a series of fundraising events throughout the Bay Area this month, including a triple header of media presentations in Emeryville, CA and Santa Cruz during the weekend of May 17th. Tickets are available online, but those who are interested in the statewide parks campaign can support the California State Parks Foundation, which also recently began offering partners "operating grants" to help share the costs of parks management.
And for those who just want to check out Sharma's greatest hits, it'll be worth a trip to the East and South Bays. Check out some of his climbing highlights above.
Benita Hussain is a Sierra editorial intern and writer whose work has also appeared in GOOD, Women's Adventure and Matador Sports, among others. With degrees from Cornell University and Fordham Law School, she's also a part-time lawyer and yoga teacher that surfs, climbs and travels to do both. Twitter:@hussainity.


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Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 02 Apr 2010 05:48 and updated at 02 Apr 2010 05:48
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Section 77
LXXVIII Yudhishthira said, It has been said that in seasons of distress a Brahmana may support himself by the practice of Kshatriya duties. Can he, however, at any time, support himself by the practice of the duties laid down for the Vaisyas'
Bhishma said, When a Brahmana loses his means of support and falls into distress, he may certainly betake himself to the practices of a Vaisya and derive his support by agriculture and keeping cattle, if, of course, he is incompetent for Kshatriya duties' Yudhishthira said, If a Brahmana, O bull of Bharata's race, betakes himself to the duties of a Vaisya, what articles may he sell without losing his prospect of heaven' Bhishma said, Wines, salt, sesamum seeds, animals having manes, bulls, honey, meat, and cooked food, O Yudhishthira, under all circumstances, a Brahmana should avoid. A Brahmana, by selling these, would sink into hell. A Brahmana, by selling a goat, incurs the sin of selling the god of fire; by selling a sheep, the sin of selling the god of water; by selling a horse, the sin of selling the god of the sun; by selling cooked food, the sin of selling land; and by selling a cow, the sin of selling sacrifice and the Soma juice. These, therefore, should not be sold by a Brahmana. They that are good do not applaud the purchase of uncooked food by giving cooked food in exchange. Uncooked food, however, may be given for procuring cooked food, O Bharata We will eat this cooked food of thine. Thou mayst cook these raw things that we give in exchange,
In a compact of this kind there is no sin. Listen, O Yudhishthira, I shall speak to thee of the eternal practice, existing from days of old, of persons conducting themselves according to approved usages. I give thee this. Give me this other thing in return' Exchange by such agreement is righteous. To take things by force, however, is sinful. Even such is the course of the usage followed by the Rishis and others. Without doubt, this is righteous' Yudhishthira said, When, O sire, all the orders, giving up their respective duties, take up arms against the king, then, of course, the power of the king decreases, By what means should the king then become the protector and refuge of the people?
Resolve this doubt of mine, O king, by speaking to me in detail' Bhishma said, By gifts, by penances, by sacrifices, by peacefulness, and by self-restraint, all the orders headed by the Brahmanas should, on such occasions, seek their own good. Those amongst them that are endued with Vedic strength, should rise up on every side and like the gods strengthening Indra contribute by Vedic rites to enhancing the strength of the king. Brahmanas are said to be the refuge of the king while his power suffers decay. A wise king seeks the enhancement of his power by means of the power of the Brahmanas. When the king, crowned with victory, seeks the re-establishment of peace, all the orders then betake themselves to their respective duties. When robbers, breaking through all restraints, spread devastation around, all the orders may take up arms. By so doing they incur no sin, O Yudhishthira' Yudhishthira said, If all the Kshatriyas become hostile towards the Brahmanas, who then will protect the Brahmanas and their Vedas? What then should be the duty of the Brahmanas and who will be their refuge'
Bhishma said, By penances, by Brahmacharya, by weapons, and by physical might, applied with or without the aid of deceit, the Kshatriyas should be subjugated. If the Kshatriya misconducts himself, especially towards Brahmanas, the Vedas themselves will subjugate them. The Kshatriyas have sprung from the Brahmanas. Fire has sprung from water; the Kshatriya from the Brahmana; and iron from stone. The energy of fire, the Kshatriya, and iron, are irresistible. But when these come into contact with the sources of their origin, their force becomes neutralised. When iron strikes stone, or fire battles with water, or the Kshatriya becomes hostile to the Brahmana, then the strength of each of those three becomes destroyed. Thus, O Yudhishthira, the energy and might, howsoever great and irresistible, of Kshatriyas become quelled as soon as they are directed against the Brahmanas. When the energy of the Brahmanas becomes mild, when Kshatriya energy becomes weak, when all men misbehave themselves towards the Brahmanas, they that engage in battle then, casting off all fear of death, for protecting the Brahmanas, morality, and their own selves, those persons, moved by righteous indignation and possessed of great strength of mind, succeed in winning high regions of bliss hereafter. All persons should take up arms for the sake of Brahmanas.
Those brave persons that fight for Brahmanas attain to those felicitous region in heaven that are reserved for persons that have always studied the Vedas with attention, that have performed the austerest of penances, and that have, after fasting, cast off their bodies into blazing fires. The Brahmana, by taking up arms for the three orders, does not incur sin. People say that there is no higher duty than casting off life under such circumstances. I bow to them and blessed be they that thus lay down their lives in seeking to chastise the enemies of Brahmanas. Let us attain to that region which is intended for them. Manu himself has said that those heroes repair to the region of Brahman. As persons become cleansed of all their sins by undergoing the final bath on a horse-sacrifice even so they that die at the edge of weapons while fighting wicked people, become cleansed of their sins. Righteousness becomes unrighteousness, and unrighteousness becomes righteousness, according to place and time. Such is the power of place and time in determining the character of human acts. The friends of humanity, by doing even acts of cruelty, have attained to high heaven.
Righteous Kshatriyas, by doing even sinful acts, have attained to blessed ends The Brahmana, by taking up arms on these three occasions, does not incur sin, viz, for protecting himself, for compelling the other orders to betake themselves to their duties, and for chastising robbers' Yudhishthira said, If when robbers raise their heads and an inter-mixture of the orders begins to take place in consequence of confusion, and Kshatriyas become incompetent, some powerful person other than a Kshatriya seeks to subdue those robbers for the sake of protecting the people indeed, O best of kings, if that powerful person happens to be a Brahmana or a Vaisya or a Sudra, and if he succeeds in protecting the people by righteously wielding the rod of chastisement is he justified in doing what he does or is he restrained by the ordinances from accomplishing that duty? It seems that others, when the Kshatriyas prove so wretched, should take up weapons' Bhishma said, Be he a Sudra or be he the member of any other orders, he that becomes a raft on a raftless current, or a means of crossing where means there are none, certainly deserves respect in every way. That person, O king, relying upon whom helpless men, oppressed and made miserable by robbers, live happily, deserve to be lovingly worshipped by all as if he were a near kinsman. The person, O thou of Kuru's race, that dispels the fears of others, always deserves respect. What use is there of bulls that would not bear burthens, or of kine that would not yield milk, or of a wife that is barren? Similarly, what need is there for a king that is not competent to grant protection? As an elephant made of wood, or a deer made of leather, as a person without wealth, or one that is a eunuch, or a field that is sterile, even so is a Brahmana that is void of Vedic lore and a king incapable of granting protection?
Both of them are like a cloud that does not pour rain. That person who always protects the good and restrains the wicked deserves to become a king and to govern the world
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text:
"Hamlet" Complete Show
A time to be.
A time to not to be.
A ghost story.
A murder mystery.
A psychological thriller.
A young man's coming-of-age. A dysfunctional family drama.
The greatest play produced in the English language in 400 years.
The photos in this gallery are from the publicity, dress rehearsal, and archival photo calls. Once all the photos have been posted to the gallery it will be available for a full download with every image. Please read the additional information on full gallery downloads by clicking here or by visiting our PTC product information page which has information regarding all the products we offer.
Starting in the 2012-2013 season we will be offering all photo shoots into one gallery for each show for ease of purchasing an entire show. The "Complete Show" Gallery will contain publicity photos, dress rehearsal photos, and archival photos. Once all the photos have been posted to the website you will be able to purchase the entire gallery for a flat rate. This rate is the same for every show.
Full Gallery Download Pricing:
• "Web" Resolution ($70): Suitable for use on websites, not good for prints.
• "Low Res" ($90): Suitable for websites and small prints (up to 4x6)
• "High Res" ($130): Suitable for websites and medium sized prints (8x10)
• "Original" ($185): The highest resolution available suitable for just about any use you can think of.
To download a full gallery, you will find an 'All Digital Downloads' option under the 'Buy' button. Here you will be able to select the resolution of the files you would like to download and you can then add the download to your cart.
At this time we are working to apply this feature to all previous seasons. Look for new galleries under the year and "Full Show Galleries" to see what is available. We should have them all available very soon.
For those who do not wish to buy a full gallery, we encourage you to look at our Pick 30 CD option.
If you wish to purchase an entire show PLEASE WAIT until ALL the photos from that show have been posted. Full gallery purchases made before all photos are online WILL NOT include all images.
While we understand that full gallery purchases may seem expensive, our business relies on sales of photos to remain in operation, much the same way that actors needs shows. Despite how easy it seems to copy digital works these days, we would appreciate it if individuals seeking the use of these images would purchase their own copy and license. We can track purchases and digital usage, and we would prefer not to have to ask you to discontinue use of or purchase pirated images.
Remember: Images may always be shared on social sites like Facebook and Twitter using the share button. This is perfectly acceptable use since the images will bear a watermark.
Images from the different photo shoots are denoted in the image name as follows:
• {SHOW}YEAR-PUB-## = Publicity Photos
• {SHOW}YEAR-INVAUD-## = Final Dress Photos
• {SHOW}YEAR-ARCH-## = Archival Photos
CAST (* Denotes Members of AEA):
RICHIE CALL - (Osric/Ensemble) JOYCE COHEN* - (Gertrude) MICHAEL CRANE* - (Hamlet) NICK DILLENBURG* - (Rosencrantz) ERIC GILDE* - (Horatio) JASON HACKNEY - (Ensemble) ALEXANDRA HARBOLD* - (Player Queen/u/s Gertrude) WYNN HARMON* - (Ghost/Player King) JUSTIN IVIE* - (Bernardo) PAUL KIERNAN* - (Marcellus/Gravedigger/Fight Choreographer) JAKE MILO KOEPPL - (Guildenstern) SARAH MCLONEY - (Ensemble) ANDY RINDLISBACH - (Ensemble) NOBLE SHROPSHIRE* - (Polonius) ALEJANDRO STEPENBERG - (Ensemble) NISI STURGIS* - (Ophelia) JOHN TERRY - (Ensemble) GREG THORNTON* - (Claudius) MICHAEL ZLABINGER* - (Laertes)
Charles Morey - (Director) Gary M. English - (Scenic Designer) Phil Monat - (Lighting Designer) Susan Branch Towne - (Costume Designer) Matthew Tibbs - (Sound Designer) Amanda French - (Hair and Make-up Designer)


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Download Guide to PSP
Three easy steps to reading IGN strategy guides on your PSP:
|Download the PSP strategy guide onto your computer hard drive. Open the ZIP and remove the "psp_ign_muramasa.zip" file.
|Move the "psp_ign_muramasa.zip" file from your computer hard drive to
your PSP memory stick. To do this:
|Select the Internet Browser on the PSP main menu. Open the following Address to access the IGN strategy guide:
Once you've opened the guide, make a bookmark so you can easily access it at a later time. Also be sure to set your browser Display Mode to "Just-Fit" or "Smart-Fit" for best viewing.
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Professor Layton and the Last Specter
X360 Forza Motorsport 4
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PC Dark Souls (Prepare to Die Edition)
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PS3 Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
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Muramasa: The Demon Blade at IGN
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Muramasa: The Demon Blade at GameStats


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Home Page Chess Life Online 2012 September Anand and Gelfand Head To Tiebreakers
|Anand and Gelfand Head To Tiebreakers
|By GM Ian Rogers
|May 29, 2012
World Championship title hangs on a series of rapid and, possibly, blitz chess games after Viswanathan Anand and challenger Boris Gelfand finished tied at 6-6 at the end of regulation time in their world title contest in Moscow, meaning that the two players will return on Wednesday for series of up to 15 tie-breaking games.
After the 12th game was drawn in an eventful 22 moves, neither player was willing to give an opinion as to who is favoured in the tiebreakers.
Anand has an outstanding record over his career at rapid chess but has lost two important World Championship rapid tiebreakers – the playoff for the FIDE world title against Anatoly Karpov in Lausanne in 1998 and a Candidates Semi-final match against Gata Kamsky in Sanghi Nagar in 1994.
"Boris and I have played each other in rapid but I am not sure about the exact score" said Anand – the score is a remarkably close 11-8 in Anand's favour. "I don't know if it is possible to train for these things," Anand added, "but it is certainly an abrupt shift in the tempo of the match. I will just play my best chess – that's all I can do."
Gelfand, who came through one rapid tiebreaker against Kamsky on his way to qualifying to challenge Anand, was also unwilling to make predictions; "I am here to play chess – it is up to others to assess the chances."
The World Championship tiebreakers, starting with four games of 25 minutes per player per game plus a 10 second increment per move, will be played on Wednesday starting at 04.00 New York time.
Should these four games be tied 2-2, then up to 5 pairs of blitz games (5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move) will be played. If every set is drawn 1-1 then an Armageddon game will decide the world title.
For more on the World Championship, see the young Daniel Gurevich's onsite essay, GM Ian Rogers latest CLO report, World Championship Match Comes Alive, the official website and Eric Van Reem's "Mate in Moscow" blog.


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Students today should learn how to create technology, not just use it.
Trying an Hour of Code is a simple and fun way to introduce students to computer science, perhaps for the very first time! Find an activity that fits your setting, whether in-class or after-school, in-person or virtual. Take a look at our participation guide if you still have questions after checking out the steps below:
We provide a variety of fun, student-guided tutorials for all age groups and experience levels. It's popular for students to try self-led tutorials, though many activities include lesson plans for teachers to guide discussion or extend the activity as well.
Explore the activities and decide ahead of time if you want to choose a single tutorial for all of your students, or let each child pick their own.
People around the world join in the Hour of Code celebration during CS Education Week (December 5-11) when the latest tutorials and activities are released. But you can do an Hour of Code any day of the year!
Now that you've planned your event, it's time to start promoting it!
Promote the Hour of Code to other teachers who may want to join in on the fun! This is also a great opportunity to reach out to your school's PTSA or share in parent newsletters, letting them know their children may come home wanting to try more activities and tutorials!
When you sign up your Hour of Code event, you'll receive helpful email communications with news and tips for hosting a successful Hour of Code. It's also how you can let local volunteers know your school is participating. Volunteers are a great resource and can come speak to your class about computer science or simply help your students with Hour of Code activities.
Lead up to the event by sharing inspirational videos highlighting diverse people and creative ways that computer science can be used. Or print inspirational posters for your classroom! Students are more excited to participate in a subject when they see people who look like them encouraging it.
Learn more about posters, videos, stickers and other ways to promote your event to your community.
Once your Hour of Code celebration has arrived, make sure you start your event strong with some of these tools and tips.
Invite a local volunteer to inspire your students by talking about the breadth of possibilities in computer science. There are thousands of volunteers around the world ready to help with your Hour of Code through either a classroom visit or video chat with your students!
Show an inspirational video:
It's okay if both you and your students are brand new to computer science. Here are some ideas to introduce your Hour of Code activity:
Direct students to the activity
When your students come across difficulties it's okay to respond:
What if a student finishes early?
Computer science doesn't have to end with the Hour of Code! Learn how to bring CS to your school and students.


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BET Africa (DStv channel 129) is adding to its rich factual programming mix by welcoming the best documentaries from Africa and across the world onto its TV screens under a deal with documentary curators AfriDocs.
AfriDocs' extensive library of African and international documentaries will be aired on BET's pan-African entertainment channel on DStv every Sunday evening at 20:00 CAT, starting from Sunday 5 February 2017.
Created for film buffs, lovers of African stories and culture, activists and anyone with a passion for powerful and real stories,AfriDocs documentaries are always moving, educational, and entertaining – whether ripped from the headlines, or simply the personal journeys of individuals facing the challenges of everyday life.
Since its inception in 2014, AfriDocs has presented over 150 documentaries, including powerful environmental doc Virunga, Rehad Desai's award-winning Miners Shot Down, Nas Jones' Shake the Dust dance documentary, and Nigeria's celebrated film, The Supreme Price. This unique documentary strand has also included internationally awarded and acclaimed films such as the Academy Award winner CitizenFour (the Edward Snowden story), the Academy Award-nominated The Act of Killing, the SAFTA winning The Dream of Shahrazad, and many others.
Commented Monde Twala, Vice President, BET, Youth & Music, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa, "We look forward to rounding out our factual content offering, and illuminating and entertaining our Sunday night audiences thanks to AfriDocs' intelligent, thought-provoking and stimulating documentary titles."
Executive Producer, AfriDocs, Don Edkins explains further, "We are excited about this new relationship with BET in Africa and we look forward to sharing our curation of the best documentary films on offer."
Under the deal, AfriDocs on BET will feature regular themed months such as Human Rights Month, Music Month, and Women's Month, while also continuing AfriDocs' collaboration with the Durban International Film Festival that gives millions of viewers across Africa a chance to view a selection of films from this internationally recognized festival.


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What is Normal?
- S. Michael Craven Founding Director, The Center for Christ & Culture
- 2007 19 Sep
Recently, while wandering through my local grocery, I turned the corner, heading up the cereal aisle. I had no more walked ten feet when I caught the attention of a stranger--a young man in his mid-twenties--walking toward me. Upon seeing me, his face lit up and a smile spread from ear to ear. I smiled in return, his pace quickened and he marched straight over to me and with a welcoming voice said, "Hello, how are you?" I stopped, we exchanged a few friendly words and then after a hardy "goodbye," he moved on to greet the next person similarly.
Within a moment, an elderly couple followed, keeping an eye on the young man who, I quickly surmised was their son. The grinning mother said, "He's very friendly!" I laughed, that was an understatement! I stood there silent for a moment, my spirit energized by this unusual and yet most human of encounters.
This young man was very different from me as I don't normally greet the strangers I meet each day in such a friendly and familiar manner. His congenial nature was heartwarming and he seemed to have a sincere appreciation for other people simply because they were - well - people. This man was, simply stated, better than I. Oh, he was different; he had Down syndrome but as a human being, he was still better than I. He loved without reservation or condition; he did not judge others based on what they looked like or what they were wearing; he understood the gift of human touch and kindness and was ready to share this gift with everyone he could. He was not the least bit self-conscious much less self-absorbed. There was no guile in this man. He was far closer to innocence than those of us who are "normal."
I thought about that young man as I read that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has begun recommending broader prenatal testing for Down syndrome among younger pregnant women. As Joni Eareckson Tada recently reported in World Magazine, "Up until this year, they recommended that only older women who were pregnant be tested. But now, all mothers-to-be are routinely tested. The results? Over 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis choose to have an abortion." That's right, 90 percent of children diagnosed in the womb with Down syndrome are being killed before they can be born.
There is a subtle and sinister shift underway in our culture that is redefining the basis of human dignity and what it means to be human. The Judeo-Christian basis for human dignity rests on the belief that since all men are created by and equidistant from God they are therefore of equal worth before God. Gilbert Meilaender, the Duesenberg Chair in Theological Ethics at Valparaiso University and member of the President's Council on Bioethics adds, "We are equal to each other, whatever our distinctions in excellence of various sorts, precisely because none of us is the 'maker' of another one of us. We have all received our life--equally--as a gift from the Creator."
However, this aforementioned "shift" in thinking seeks to establish a new basis for human dignity that is cut off from this theological and religious foundation. Secular society still seeks to uphold human dignity, however set adrift from its religious moorings there follows a serious crisis in the structure of society's beliefs and its ability to uphold an equitable and true basis for human dignity. Under the new scheme, human dignity seems to inevitably rest on a "comparative" basis.
Meilaender points out that this comparative basis does not see human dignity as a democratic idea equally applied to all but rather "it directs us to speak in terms of worthiness, honor, and nobility: In all its meanings it is a term of distinction. ... In principle, it is aristocratic." While there is no doubt that some excel above others in areas of performance and potential, these are distinctions of human excellence not human dignity. Under the comparative basis, full dignity depends on the extent to which one realizes [or is able to realize] their potential for human excellence. The biblical basis is "non-comparative" and egalitarian.
This brings us back to those infants diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome. Using the comparative basis for human dignity; those with Down syndrome are obviously limited in their ability to achieve excellence in some areas of performance and potential. The result? These children are not afforded full human dignity and thus the decision to terminate their lives is justified.
You may be tempted to think that this is all very philosophical and has little to do with you personally. Not true. If you are a follower of Christ, then there is the matter of truth, which you and I are bound to assert and defend. The truth revealed to us in Scripture gives us insight into what it means to be human--a creation of God for God. Knowing this we can then assert and demonstrate an egalitarian basis for life and human dignity that affords proper care and consideration to all human beings including those with disabilities, either congenital or otherwise. On a practical note, if these comparative distinctions become the consensus then you yourself may become the victim of such thinking when you grow old and your "potential" is exhausted.
Finally, Meileander offers this, "In a speech of 1858, Abraham Lincoln, while granting many human inequalities, also captured something of the problem we have with an inegalitarian concept of dignity: 'I have said that I do not understand the Declaration of Independence to mean that all men were created equal in all respects.... But I suppose that it does mean to declare that all men are equal in some respects; they are equal in their right to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'" Lincoln went on to acknowledge that many may think the black man inferior, when speaking comparatively in 1858, however, in defiance of the prevailing culture he rejected this basis saying, "He is the equal of every other man, white or black!"
Using the biblical basis for human dignity, human slavery could be both opposed and successfully abolished on reasonable grounds. Conversely, using the secular basis for human dignity, abortion on demand became accepted and codified, the imperfect are being denied their right to life, and soon the aged and infirmed will be put to death when their potential for human "excellence" has diminished.
My life was enriched by my encounter with this young man with Down syndrome. My life has also been made much better and far richer with the birth of my precious daughter, Madeleine who was born with Moebius syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that renders her face paralyzed, her sight and speech affected. As her father, I challenge anyone to lessen her human dignity; as a follower of Christ, I will assert and defend the truth of human dignity whenever and wherever I can.
"Probably the most truly handicapped people on earth are those who imagine themselves free of any limitation--mentors for a new race of supermen." - Steve Talbott, Devices of the Soul: Battling for Our Selves in the Age of Machines
© 2007 by S. Michael Craven
Michael is the Founding Director of the Center for Christ & Culture; a ministry of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families that is dedicated to renewal within the Church and working to equip Christians with an intelligent and thoroughly Christian approach to matters of culture.
Comment on this article here
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New Atomic Clock not very Accurate ;)
Amazon locking out some Kindle users
TWC Runs home to Mama after getting beat down!
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This disc has not yet been reviewed. The following information has been provided by the distributor.
For what would prove to be his final film, Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami gave himself a challenge: to create a dialogue between his work as a filmmaker and his work as a photographer, bridging the two art forms to which he had dedicated his life. Setting out to reconstruct the moments immediately before and after a photograph is taken, Kiarostami selected twenty-four still images—most of them stark landscapes inhabited only by foraging birds and other wildlife—and digitally animated each one into its own subtly evolving four-and-a-half-minute vignette, creating a series of poignant studies in movement, perception, and time. A sustained meditation on the process of image making, 24 Frames is a graceful and elegiac farewell from one of the giants of world cinema.


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Three weeks ago, I slapped together a post about our very early experience acquiring a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (on a one-day $249 sale that has yet to be repeated) to try out as a way of reading the San Francisco Chronicle for $71.88 a year instead of $559 a year (the current delivered print subscription price).
That early commentary was mostly positive.
I thought an update might be worthwhile–but I won't repeat much of what I said earlier, so you'll want to read that post first.
The cancellation
The last update to that post (which those of you who read it via RSS probably haven't seen) said that we were happy enough with the Chronicle-on-Kindle experience to cancel the print paper.
We did. And I have to give the paper credit: the process took very little time, didn't involve a lot of "can't we get you to stick around?" stuff (especially since I pointed out that we were not dropping our Chronicle subscription, just shifting it to the Kindle), and was obviously processed rapidly: We didn't see the paper the next day and haven't since. And, after about two weeks, we got a check for the remainder of our current 5-week print subscription. Well handled all in all.
The device
We're both happy with the device–and I think neither of us would be willing to deal with a lower-resolution display such as the Kindle Paperwhite or, in fact, most tablets other than the newest iPads, the Nook HD and HD+ and the Kindle Fire HDs. I'm guessing that 240-250dpi is about the point at which things become basically transparent–it's just type, not pixels on a screen.
We figured out that turning it "off" to sleep mode, rather than fully powered down, only costs about 1% of battery life overnight and means the day's paper is immediately available on an immediately-up device. Worth it–especially since we spend enough time on the paper so that its 10-11 hour battery life means recharging it twice a week anyway. (Yes, the 10-11 hour life appears to be accurate, at least for what we're doing. We're charging it on Saturday afternoon and Tuesday evening: the Sunday paper takes more time to read.)
I suspect there may be other gestures we don't know about (there's basically no tutorial), in addition to the touch, swipe, and pinch/spread gestures (the only multifinger gestures). But so far, I don't know that we need any others. My wife has a little more trouble with screen insensitivity than I do (she's frequently had trouble activating touch controls that rely on body chemistry, so this is nothing new) but seems to be getting along with it OK. Notably because she reads the comic strips on the Kindle (via the Seattle paper), she uses the pinch/spread gestures more than I do: I read the comics on my computer.
Being easier to read than a newspaper is, as already noted, a fairly low bar. If I had to guess, I'd guess that for me the Fire HD's probably no more readable than a well-made trade paperback or hardcover book, maybe a little more than a really cheap mass market paperback–but for my wife, who sometimes wants enlarged type, she's thinking the Fire may be a nice device for reading sometimes.
Other functions
This is still a device with a specific purpose for us. So far, neither of us has felt the desire to download or play games. I downloaded the free Complete Sherlock Holmes, but have yet to read any of it. We've tried Gmail…but until we start traveling again, the computer's a whole lot easier to use than the Kindle. (And if I'm traveling separately, e.g. for the Washington/Oregon convention…well, with only one Kindle, it will probably stay at home. I'll catch up with the paper via SFGate, as clumsy as that is.)
I'm sure the other functions work just fine. My wife listened to a sample piece of music; it was fine. But it's not something we need at the moment: The use just isn't there. Our limitation, not the device's–we're not so fascinated with it that we spend time trying out all the possibilities.
Work in progress
The Chronicle's Kindle version still appears to be a work in progress. I'm hoping they'll recognize a growing number of Fire users and add more pictures, restore the comics, etc. I'd be delighted if the story summaries were (at least optionally) in serif type (as the stories are).
But it works more than well enough. I continue to read more stories, read them faster, and get through the whole paper over breakfast rather than splitting it across the day.
It was unquestionably a good purchase. Yes, I'm pleased to see that the latest CR rates this device tops of the specialized tablets–but it doesn't make much difference at this point. (If there was a Nook version–which there isn't–I'd feel a little guilty about favoring the Amazon monolith over a competitor. But only a little.)
What's next?
We'll eventually choose a cover & stand (although my wife's handcrafted cardboard stand is working remarkably well for now). We might get a stylus as part of such a deal. We might get a Bluetooth keyboard, but that's less likely.
If we were both traveling separately to any degree, I suspect we'd get another one–and that it would be another Fire HD, albeit possibly the 7″ version.
Overall: It was a good decision, it's a fine unit, we're happy.
And, of course, I'm still reading mostly books in print form–partly because 90%+ of the books I read come from the library, and I find print books congenial enough not to seek a replacement. Again, lots of travel might change that.
Added Monday, January 14: We do use some other apps once in a while, although we have yet to add any. Specifically, we've used the IMDB app at times–and boy, is it more colorful and sleek than the web version. (Unfortunately, it's also slower to use, but I think that's inherent in the smaller space.) IMDB is, of course, Amazon…