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A storyboard is a graphic organizer in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at Walt Disney Productions during the early 1930s, after several years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other animation studios.
The storyboarding process can be very time-consuming and intricate. Many large budget silent films were storyboarded but most of this material has been lost during the reduction of the studio archives during the 1970s. The creation of the storyboard is attributed to Georges Méliès.[1] The form widely known today was developed at the Walt Disney studio during the early 1930s.[2] In the biography of her father, The Story of Walt Disney (Henry Holt, 1956), Diane Disney Miller explains that the first complete storyboards were created for the 1933 Disney short Three Little Pigs.[3] According to John Canemaker, in Paper Dreams: The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards (1999, Hyperion Press), the first storyboards at Disney evolved from comic-book like "story sketches" created in the 1920s to illustrate concepts for animated cartoon short subjects such as Plane Crazy and Steamboat Willie, and within a few years the idea spread to other studios.
According to Christopher Finch in The Art of Walt Disney (Abrams, 1974), Disney credited animator Webb Smith with creating the idea of drawing scenes on separate sheets of paper and pinning them up on a bulletin board to tell a story in sequence, thus creating the first storyboard. Furthermore, it was Disney who first recognized the necessity for studios to maintain a separate "story department" with specialized storyboard artists (that is, a new occupation distinct from animators), as he had realized that audiences would not watch a film unless its story gave them a reason to care about the characters.[4][5][6] The second studio to switch from "story sketches" to storyboards was Walter Lantz Productions in early 1935,[7] by 1936 Harman-Ising and Leon Schlesinger Productions also followed suit. By 1937 or 1938, all American animation studios were using storyboards.
Gone with the Wind (1939) was one of the first live action films to be completely storyboarded. William Cameron Menzies, the film's production designer, was hired by producer David O. Selznick to design every shot of the film.
Storyboarding became popular in live-action film production during the early 1940s, and grew into a standard medium for previsualization of films. Pace Gallery curator Annette Micheloson, writing of the exhibition Drawing into Film: Director's Drawings, considered the 1940s to 1990s to be the period in which "production design was largely characterized by adoption of the storyboard". Storyboards are now an essential part of the creative process.
A film storyboard is essentially a series of frames, with drawings of the sequence of events in a film, like a comic book of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand. It helps film directors, cinematographers and television commercial advertising clients visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. Besides this, storyboards also help estimate the cost of the overall production and saves time. Often storyboards include arrows or instructions that indicate movement.
In creating a motion picture with any degree of fidelity to a script, a storyboard provides a visual layout of events as they are to be seen through the camera lens. And in the case of interactive media, it is the layout and sequence in which the user or viewer sees the content or information. In the storyboarding process, most technical details involved in crafting a film or interactive media project can be efficiently described either in picture, or in additional text.
A common misconception is that storyboards are not used in theatre. They are frequently special tools that directors and playwrights use to understand the layout of the scene. The great Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski developed storyboards in his detailed production plans for his Moscow Art Theatre performances (such as of Chekhov's The Seagull in 1898). The German director and dramatist Bertolt Brecht developed detailed storyboards as part of his dramaturgical method of "fabels."
In animation and special effects work, the storyboarding stage may be followed by simplified mock-ups called "animatics" to give a better idea of how the scene will look and feel with motion and timing. At its simplest, an animatic is a series of still images edited together and displayed in sequence with rough dialogue (i.e., scratch vocals) and/or rough soundtrack added to the sequence of still images (usually taken from a storyboard) to test whether the sound and images are working effectively together.
This allows the animators and directors to work out any screenplay, camera positioning, shot list and timing issues that may exist with the current storyboard. The storyboard and soundtrack are amended if necessary, and a new animatic may be created and reviewed with the director until the storyboard is perfected. Editing the film at the animatic stage can avoid animation of scenes that would be edited out of the film. A few minutes of screen time in traditional animation usually equates to months of work for a team of traditional animators to manually draw and paint all those frames, meaning that all that labor (and salaries already paid) will have to be written off if the final scene simply does not work in the film's final cut. In the context of computer animation, storyboarding helps minimize the construction of unnecessary scene components and models, just as it helps live-action filmmakers evaluate what portions of sets need not be constructed because they will never come into the frame. Animation is an expensive and labor-intensive process, so there should be a minimum of "deleted scenes" if the film is to be completed within budget.
Often storyboards are animated with simple zooms and pans to simulate camera movement (using non-linear editing software). These animations can be combined with available animatics, sound effects and dialog to create a presentation of how a film could be shot and cut together. Some feature film DVD special features include production animatics, which may have scratch vocals or may even feature vocals from the actual cast (usually where the scene was cut after the vocal recording phase but before the animation production phase).
Animatics are also used by advertising agencies to create inexpensive test commercials. A variation, the "rip-o-matic", is made from scenes of existing movies, television programs or commercials, to simulate the look and feel of the proposed commercial. Rip, in this sense, refers to ripping-off an original work to create a new one.
A photomatic (probably derived from 'animatic' or photo-animation) is a series of still photographs edited together and presented on screen in a sequence. Usually, a voice-over, soundtrack and sound effects are added to the piece to create a presentation to show how a film could be shot and cut together. Increasingly used by advertisers and advertising agencies to research the effectiveness of their proposed storyboard before committing to a 'full up' television advertisement.
The photomatic is usually a research tool, similar to an animatic, in that it represents the work to a test audience so that the commissioners of the work can gauge its effectiveness.
Originally, photographs were taken using colour negative film. A selection would be made from contact sheets and prints made. The prints would be placed on a rostrum and recorded to videotape using a standard video camera. Any moves, pans or zooms would have to be made in camera. The captured scenes could then be edited.
Digital photography, web access to stock photography and non-linear editing programs have had a marked impact on this way of film making also leading to the term 'digimatic'. Images can be shot and edited very quickly to allow important creative decisions to be made 'live'. Photo composite animations can build intricate scenes that would normally be beyond many test film budgets.
Photomatic was also the trademarked name of many of the booths found in public places which took photographs by coin operation. The Photomatic brand of the booths were manufactured by the International Mutoscope Reel Company of New York City. Earlier versions took only one photo per coin, and later versions of the booths took a series of photos. Many of the booths would produce a strip of four photos in exchange for a coin.
Comic books
Some writers have used storyboard type drawings (albeit rather sketchy) for their scripting of comic books, often indicating staging of figures, backgrounds and balloon placement with instructions to the artist as needed often scribbled in the margins and the dialogue/captions indicated. John Stanley and Carl Barks (when he was writing stories for the Junior Woodchuck title) are known to have used this style of scripting.
In Japanese comics, the word "nemu" (ネーム; modified Hepburn rōmaji: neemu, pronounced [ne̞e̞mu͍̥]) is used for manga storyboards.
Storyboards are used today by industry for planning advertising campaigns such as corporate video production, commercials, a proposal or other business presentations intended to convince or compel to action. Consulting firms teach the technique to their staff to use during the development of client presentations, frequently employing the "brown paper technique" of taping presentation slides (in sequential versions as changes are made) to a large piece of kraft paper which can be rolled up for easy transport. The initial storyboard may be as simple as slide titles on Post-It notes, which are then replaced with draft presentation slides as they are created.
Storyboards also exist in accounting in the ABC System (Activity Based Costing System) to develop a detailed process flowchart which visually shows all activities and the relationships among activities. They are used in this way to measure the cost of resources consumed, identify and eliminate non-value-added costs, determine the efficiency and effectiveness of all major activities, and identity and evaluate new activities that can improve future performance.
A "quality storyboard" is a tool to help facilitate the introduction of a quality improvement process into an organisation.
"Design comics" are a type of storyboard used to include a customer or other characters into a narrative. Design comics are most often used in designing web sites or illustrating product usage scenarios during design. Design comics were popularized by Kevin Cheng and Jane Jao in 2006.[8]
Storyboards are now becoming more popular with novelists. Because most novelists write their stories by scenes rather than chapters, storyboards are useful for plotting the story in a sequence of events and rearranging the scenes accordingly.
Interactive media
More recently the term storyboard has been used in the fields of web development, software development and instructional design to present and describe, in written, interactive events as well as audio and motion, particularly on user interfaces and electronic pages.
Storyboarding is used in software development as part of identifying the specifications for a particular set of software. During the specification phase, screens that the software will display are drawn, either on paper or using other specialized software, to illustrate the important steps of the user experience. The storyboard is then modified by the engineers and the client while they decide on their specific needs. The reason why storyboarding is useful during software engineering is that it helps the user understand exactly how the software will work, much better than an abstract description. It is also cheaper to make changes to a storyboard than an implemented piece of software.
One advantage of using storyboards is that it allows (in film and business) the user to experiment with changes in the storyline to evoke stronger reaction or interest. Flashbacks, for instance, are often the result of sorting storyboards out of chronological order to help build suspense and interest.
Another benefit of storyboarding is that the production can plan the movie in advance. In this step, things like type of camera shot, angle and blocking of characters are decided.[9]
The process of visual thinking and planning allows a group of people to brainstorm together, placing their ideas on storyboards and then arranging the storyboards on the wall. This fosters more ideas and generates consensus inside the group.
Storyboards for films are created in a multiple step process. They can be created by hand drawing or digitally on a computer. The main characteristics of a storyboard are:
- Visualize the storytelling.
- Focus the story and the timing in several key frames (very important in animation).
- Define the technical parameters: description of the motion, the camera, the lighting, etc.
If drawing by hand, the first step is to create or download a storyboard template. These look much like a blank comic strip, with space for comments and dialogue. Then sketch a "thumbnail" storyboard. Some directors sketch thumbnails directly in the script margins. These storyboards get their name because they are rough sketches not bigger than a thumbnail. For some motion pictures, thumbnail storyboards are sufficient.
However, some filmmakers rely heavily on the storyboarding process. If a director or producer wishes, more detailed and elaborate storyboard images are created. These can be created by professional storyboard artists by hand on paper or digitally by using 2D storyboarding programs. Some software applications even supply a stable of storyboard-specific images making it possible to quickly create shots which express the director's intent for the story. These boards tend to contain more detailed information than thumbnail storyboards and convey more of the mood for the scene. These are then presented to the project's cinematographer who achieves the director's vision.
Finally, if needed, 3D storyboards are created (called 'technical previsualization'). The advantage of 3D storyboards is they show exactly what the film camera will see using the lenses the film camera will use. The disadvantage of 3D is the amount of time it takes to build and construct the shots. 3D storyboards can be constructed using 3D animation programs or digital puppets within 3D programs. Some programs have a collection of low resolution 3D figures which can aid in the process. Some 3D applications allow cinematographers to create "technical" storyboards which are optically-correct shots and frames.
While technical storyboards can be helpful, optically-correct storyboards may limit the director's creativity. In classic motion pictures such as Orson Welles' Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, the director created storyboards that were initially thought by cinematographers to be impossible to film.[10] Such innovative and dramatic shots had "impossible" depth of field and angles where there was "no room for the camera" – at least not until creative solutions were found to achieve the ground-breaking shots that the director had envisioned.
See also
- Filmmaking
- Graphic organizer
- Pre-production
- Screenwriting
- Script breakdown
- List of film-related topics
- ↑ Jon Gress (2014). [digital] Visual Effects and Compositing New Riders p. 23. ISBN 9780133807240
- ↑ Whitehead, Mark (2004). Animation. Pocket Essentials. p. 47. ISBN 9781903047460.
- ↑ 'The Story of Walt Disney' (Henry Holt, 1956)
- ↑ Lee, Newton; Krystina Madej (2012). Disney Stories: Getting to Digital. London: Springer Science+Business Media. pp. 55–56. ISBN 9781461421016.
- ↑ Krasniewicz, Louise (2010). Walt Disney: A Biography. Santa Barbara: Greenwood. pp. 60–64. ISBN 9780313358302.
- ↑ Gabler, Neal (2007). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 181–189. ISBN 9780679757474.
- ↑ 1936 documentary Cartoonland Mysteries
- ↑ 2006 Information Architecture Summit wrapup, boxesandarrows.com, 19 April 2006
- ↑ "Storyboarding Basics - Infographic Guide for Film, TV and Animation". jugaadanimation.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- ↑ "How Alfred Hitchcock the movie suspense master crafted his screen classics". Mail Online. 29 April 2011.
External links
Media related to Storyboards at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Movie Storyboards: The Art of Visualizing Screenplays,by Fionnuala Halligan, Chronicle Books (2013)


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I hope you know Blephilia ciliata...It's a delightful little charmer that will brighten a shady spot in your dry woodland garden.
I wasn't disappointed for long. Downy Wood Mint is a beautiful flowering plant and it's happier in my garden then Monarda has ever been. It is tolerant of my dry shade, isn't an aggressive grower and was naturally growing here.
Talk about right plant-right place! It really is.
colonizer! It's not a rough and tumble wildflower blazing a trail through my garden, instead it, gently and slowly spreads. It's a carefree flower that blooms for a month and does a good job attracting pollinators.
|opposite leaves and square stems
|Flowers are typical of the mint family, with an upper lip and a 3-lobed lower lip; pale lavender with purple spots.
The particulars:
Blephilia ciliata is an herbaceous perennial of the mint family.
Native to eastern North America.
Occurs in rich open woods, glades, valleys and ravines, borders of woods, old fields, and along roadsides.
Hardiness zones 4-8
Common names: downy wood mint, downy pagoda plant, sunny woodmint and Ohio horsemint.
Will tolerate shade and dry soil, but, is equally happy in rich garden soil.
Needs a few hours of bright sun to flower best.
Flowers in early summer in my garden.
The seed heads are attractive all winter.
Basil leaves remain green all winter.
The leaves can be used to make a mild mint tea.
NOT browsed by dear or other mammals.
I do hope you can find room for Downy Wood Mint in your garden.
Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky.
Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

subset: commoncrawl


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Toward Deeper Reductions in U.S. and Russian Nuclear Weapons
- Council Special Report
- Concise policy briefs that provide timely responses to developing crises or contributions to current policy dilemmas.
The New START Treaty, signed by presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in April 2010, was an important achievement. A follow-on to the 1991 START treaty, New START commits both countries to substantial reductions in their nuclear arsenals. Pending ratification in the Russian Duma and U.S. Senate, New START limits both countries to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads—far below the Cold War peak of 31,000 strategic and tactical nuclear weapons in the United States alone. Moreover, the New START treaty furthers Obama's goal of "resetting" U.S.-Russia relations. In just the past two years, the former adversaries also finalized an agreement on plutonium disposition, imposed UN sanctions against Iran in reaction to its nuclear program, and enhanced security for non-deployed tactical nuclear weapons.
Despite these signs of progress, it is unwise to be complacent. Even after the implementation of the New START Treaty, Obama's goal of a "world free of nuclear weapons" will remain elusive—the United States and Russia will still command enough nuclear weapons to annihilate each other several times over. In this Council Special Report, Fellow for Conflict Prevention Micah Zenko argues that reducing nuclear weapons stockpiles even further than New START treaty levels—to one thousand warheads, including tactical nuclear weapons—would be both strategically and politically advantageous. It would decrease the risk of nuclear weapons theft and nuclear attack and increase international political support for future U.S. initiatives to reduce or control nuclear warheads, all while maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent.
More on:
Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament
To achieve such a significant reduction in a follow-on to the New START treaty, the United States and Russia would need to reach agreement on three long-standing and contentious issues. Tactical nuclear weapons deployments will be the most difficult of these challenges, Zenko writes, since Russia has a much larger arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons than does the United States and will therefore bear the brunt of the tactical nuclear weapons cuts. Missile defense is the second obstacle toward further significant nuclear reductions. Much work remains to secure Moscow's cooperation on—or acceptance of—the project. Finally, the United States and Russia must reach agreement on the use of nuclear vehicles for conventional weapons. It is difficult to overstate the potential danger if either country mistook a conventional missile for a nuclear one.
Toward Deeper Reductions in U.S. and Russian Nuclear Weapons makes a thoughtful contribution to the discussion on how to build a stable future with far fewer nuclear weapons. With ongoing debate over the New START treaty in the Senate, this CSR serves as a reminder that there is more work to be done.
More on:
Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament


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public interface InterruptibleBatchPreparedStatementSetter extends BatchPreparedStatementSetter
BatchPreparedStatementSetter interface,
adding a batch exhaustion check.
This interface allows you to signal the end of a batch rather than having to determine the exact batch size upfront. Batch size is still being honored but it is now the maximum size of the batch.
isBatchExhausted(int) method is called after each call to
BatchPreparedStatementSetter.setValues(java.sql.PreparedStatement, int) to determine whether there were some values added,
or if the batch was determined to be complete and no additional values
were provided during the last call to
Consider extending the
base class instead of implementing this interface directly, using a single
setValuesIfAvailable callback method that checks for available
values and sets them, returning whether values have actually been provided.
JdbcTemplate.batchUpdate(String, BatchPreparedStatementSetter),
|Modifier and Type
|Method and Description
isBatchExhausted(int i)
Return whether the batch is complete, that is, whether there were no additional values added during the last
setValues call.
getBatchSize, setValues
boolean isBatchExhausted(int i)
setValues call.
NOTE: If this method returns
true, any parameters
that might have been set during the last
setValues call will
be ignored! Make sure that you set a corresponding internal flag if you
detect exhaustion at the beginning of your
implementation, letting this method return
true based on the flag.
i - index of the statement we're issuing in the batch, starting from 0
BatchPreparedStatementSetter.setValues(java.sql.PreparedStatement, int),
AbstractInterruptibleBatchPreparedStatementSetter.setValuesIfAvailable(java.sql.PreparedStatement, int)


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Lily Allen Penning Songs About Baby Daughter Ethel
Lily Allen is reportedly back in the studio working on new music, which has been inspired by her family life and baby daughter, Ethel.
Although she has not released an album since 2009′s 'It's Not Me, It's You,' she is said to have been penning new songs and planning a musical comeback. "Her life has changed so much since her last album and she now has a different perspective," an insider tells the Daily Star.
The source added, "Lily wants a more mature sound and is penning tracks about Ethel and [her husband] Sam (Cooper) … She's not at a stage where she can start recording but the new album is definitely underway and there's a chance it could be released early next year."
Three years ago, the 26 year old announced she was retiring from music. Allen wrote her feelings in a blog post, which has since been deleted. "Just so you know, I have not renegotiated my record contract and have no plans to make another record," she said. "I do however remain a fan of new music, so this is not some selfish crusade. The days of me making money from recording music has been and gone as far as I'm concerned, so I don't (at this point) stand to profit from legislation, except future purchases of previously recorded material (which won't be much)."
Allen suffered two miscarriages before giving birth to her daughter, Ethel, in November 2011. The singer married her husband five months prior at St. James the Great Church in Gloucestershire, England.


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Offline Mode: Difference between revisions
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{{}}{{Article Infobox|{{admin}}|{{ZCS 8.6}}|{{ZCS 8.5}}|||}}
= Offline Mode For 8.5+ =
= Offline Mode For 8.5+ =
Revision as of 02:19, 17 March 2015
Article Information
|This article applies to the following ZCS versions.
Offline Mode For 8.5+
Zimbra Offline Mode allows you to use the Zimbra Web Client (ZWC) and access your data without network connectivity. For example, if there is no server connectivity or server connectivity is lost, ZWC automatically transitions to "offline mode". When server connectivity is restored, ZWC automatically reverts back to "online mode". The offline mode uses HTML5, which uses a caching capability that can be considered a super set of the normal browser caching. This feature is enabled by your system administrator.
Existing Documentation
Official User Guide - https://www.zimbra.com/docs/user_guide/8.6.0/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm#href=860_ZWC_userguide.Using_the_Offline_Mode.html
Documentation Project
Offline Mode Features and Functionality
Offline mode features and functionality include:
- No browser plug-ins or extensions are required.
- Uses the same mail URL (for example, https://example.domain.com), which you can browse to even when there is no connection to the server.
- When in online mode and connected to the server, a spinning icon displays in the top right of the screen indicating your data is automatically being synchronized to the server.
- When in offline mode, a disconnected icon displays in the top right of the screen. Any work performed in offline mode is stored in cache, and synchronized with the server when reverted back to online mode.
- Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Search applications are supported in offline mode. Tabs such as Community, Tasks, Briefcase and Preferences are not available and are disabled from your view. Other features that are not available include shared folders and Zimlets.
- Signing out of ZWC turns off the offline mode setting, and will delete any offline data. If you attempt to sign out, a warning displays informing you of this issue.
Enabling or Disabling Offline Mode
When offline mode is enabled, whenever your machine loses connectivity to the server the ZWC client will automatically switch to offline mode. If you use another browser or device to access your ZWC account, other than the one in which you enabled offline mode, you must enable offline mode again. If you do not want to allow offline mode, you can select to disable the feature.
Enable Offline Mode
1.In the ZWC, click the dropdown menu next to your name in the upper right of the screen.
2.Select Offline Mode.
3.In the Offline Mode dialog, select Allow offline mode and click OK.
4.Accept the warning that displays asking if you want to reload the application now to enable offline access? Click Yes.
Note: If you don't reload the application, offline access is available the next time you sign in.
5.The application reloads and a sync icon displays in the upper right of the screen. You are now working in offline mode.
Selecting How Long to Store Offline Content
By default, if your machine is in offline mode, the last 30 days of your Inbox, Sent, Drafts, and Trash messages are stored in cache. They are then synchronized to the server when your machine reverts to online mode. This setting is configurable. You can select other folders that you want to use for offline access, and the number of days you want your messages to stay in cache. If you do not want your messages to synchronize when reverted back to online mode, select 0.
Configure Ofline Storage and other Folders
1.Right click a folder for which you want to configure offline storage.
2.Select Edit Properties.
3.Select the number of days to store messages.
4.Click OK.
Supported Browsers
Browsers supported for offline mode include:
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
Identified Support Issues
- Bug 94118 Visual Element to show what folders are sync'ed for offline and multi-select folder to set offline sync
- Bug 94116 Offline Mode from ZWC Menu should have On Off or Red Green Light & Pop up about sync settings
- Bug 90530 HTML5 Offline Mode To Offer TGZ Export Of Local/Cached Acct Data


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Snow Bike is Snow Bike
by, 22 Dec 2011 at 03:37 PM (24843 Views)
A few years ago i got some big old snow tires for my bike. They're extra fat and they're studded, so they do a pretty good job. Usually i can trudge through the worst storms with aplomb. I've lost traction a few times but as of yet, on a snowy or icy surface, i have not fallen over with these tires, and only once have i had to get off my bike because i couldn't grip the ground. Sure, i've wrecked on a dry sandy road, slipped on grass, even gotten a sprained knee from slipping in a puddle on a warm summer day, but never ever have i fallen over in snow.
Today was different. I didn't fall over, but i could not gain traction on the roads. When i could get momentum, the back tire would shoot out every direction and gravity would pull me towards the side, where the snow was even worse. The snow was too deep and mixed with sand and whatever crap came off of car tires, i couldn't do it! I HAD TO GET OFF MY BIKE AND WALK. It wasn't all the way, the bike paths weren't bad and sometimes the sidewalks were easy enough. Even so, today, i lost confidence in Snow Bike. It's a sad day.
Also, Denver SUCKS for shoveling sidewalks and plowing crosswalks. I don't know why they think it's acceptable to plow all the way to the road and then leave a drift of mixed snow and garbage that's piled to my waist. I'm a healthy guy and i'm not short and i have a difficult time getting through it.
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Our Decorative Figures are wonderful for decoration on our Birthday Rings, the Birthday and Advent Spiral and Lifelights. On a birthday table, a window-sill and on the nature table it creates a special atmosphere on each of the occasions. Materials: handpainted lime wood, non-toxic water based color stain. Size: height ca.8cm. The Decorative Figures fit in all our Birthday Rings, and Lifelights.
Recommendation age: 14+
WARNING: This product is a decorative article - not a toy!


text:
Rs. 554.00
Material - Copper
Availability date:
Copper kalasams are mounted on the top most part of the temple gopuram. Number of Copper kalasams and size of copper kalasams are decided by the sthapathis of the temple as per agama requirements.
Even though kalasam can be made in many metals, copper kalsam is preferred because of better conductivity than others. Copper kalsam is like antennas. As antennas captures the magnetic waves and supports gadgets. Gopura kalasam captures the cosmic power and passes to moolavar of the temple.
Seppu kalasams need to be changed once in 12 years as per agama.
Copper kalasam is mostly hand made using spinning machine. Gopura klasam can be coated with gold silover etc.
Copper kalash are made in 12 portions and assembled over a tube. Normally inside the copper kalasam tube round wooden stick (Karunkali wood) is inserted and mounted on gopuram.
For mounting copper kalasam either astabanthanam or cement is used. Below the copper kalasam yandthirams, panchalogam, navarathinam, mercury etc are placed.
Inside gopura kalasam virgu arisi, navathanyam etc are placed.
While kumbabisegam the yaga salai gets connected to copper kalasam to transfer the power generated in the yagam. Also on copper kalasam, ahisegam of the wholly water, which get cosmic/spiritual charge is done.
Copper kalasam energizing is one of the very key part of Kumbabisegam. Apart this copper kalasm can help ensuring safety by neutralizing heavy thunder effects.
Now order online Copper kalasam at affordable market price.
update product details
weight, size
Rs. 58.00
Rs. 84.00
Rs. 14.40
Rs. 401.00
Rs. 38.40
Rs. 29.00
Rs. 42.00
Rs. 109.00
Rs. 138.00
Rs. 12.00


text:
- Home
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Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Valentine Cookies for Teacher!
32 comments :
I think it's hilarious! Great job!ReplyDeleteReplies
Whew, thanks for the vote of confidence! :)Delete
You are too funny. I love it!ReplyDelete
Beth @ Hungry HappeningsReplies
Thanks Beth - happy you liked them! :)Delete
Totally agree with Beth and Dotty!ReplyDeleteReplies
You're all so sweet - thanks! :)Delete
- AnonymousJanuary 15, 2014 at 7:38 AM
My daughters 1st grade teacher would love these and think they were so creative. A+ for you. from, twobeautifulgirlsReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks for the A+ - I'll be sure and tell my mom! :)Delete
So cute and unique!!!ReplyDeleteReplies
Hi Christine - thanks for stopping by and for the sweet comment! :)Delete
yes i will be your VOWELentine! i'll even give you the "y" !ReplyDelete
i love the size of these! :)Replies
Thanks for the Y, I needed that! LOLDelete
So pretty!! I love the pastel colors, what a fun treat!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you Michelle - I thought the teachers would get a kick out of them! :)Delete
- AnonymousJanuary 15, 2014 at 1:22 PM
where can I find the letters stamps?ReplyDeleteReplies
I just added a link to the bottom of the post.Delete
So clever and funny, Kim! My teacher friends would love these!!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks so much Mike! :)Delete
These are so cute. Are you selling them? I need to order some! I think the grandkids teachers would love these!ReplyDeleteReplies
Hmmm, I don't know! :)Delete
They are funny and unique, but most of all pretty and clever! Why don't our families "get" us, anyway?ReplyDeleteReplies
Why thank you very much! My family, after all these years is slowly starting to understand my thinking...slowly! LOLDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 18, 2014 at 3:26 AM
Fun idea!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you Jennifer!Delete
I don't know a teacher alive that would count off for spelling Valentine like VOWELentine! Seriously, I think you are onto something with this "Be My VOWELentine?" LOVE IT!ReplyDeleteReplies
Aww, thanks Lisa - I do think a teacher would love it! :)Delete
Great idea! You are featured at Link'n Blogs. The party goes lives at 10pm MST, so stop by to see your feature and please link up again.ReplyDelete
Put A Bird On ItReplies
Thank you so much for the feature! I'll be sure to stop by!Delete
These are adorable, and I think "VOWEL"entine is hilarious! I'd love it if you came and linked up to The Makers link party over on my blog. Have a great day! :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you Alexis - I'll be happy to link up!Delete
Adorable idea! Just pinned it! :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Aww, thank you Maysem! :)Delete


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Obsoleted by Django 1.0: Django 1.0's session object introduced a set_expiry() method, which can be used to set the expiration policy on a per-session basis. To implement "remember me" functionality, simply configure whatever default session length you prefer in your settings.py, and after user login call request.session.set_expiry with some large number of seconds if the user has checked the "remember me" box. No extra middleware is needed.
See http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/http/sessions/ for detailed session docs.
The default SessionMiddleware that comes with Django lets you pick if you want all sessions to be browser-length or persistent, if you want to use different types of sessions based on a users preference (e.g. the good old "Remember Me" check-box) you're gonna have to write your own middleware. Fortunately it's pretty easy, this page documents my attempt, I don't like the "DualSession" name much, but it's the best I could come up with.
from django.conf import settings from django.contrib.sessions.models import Session from django.utils.cache import patch_vary_headers import datetime class DualSessionMiddleware(object): """Session middleware that allows you to turn individual browser-length sessions into persistent sessions and vice versa. This middleware can be used to implement the common "Remember Me" feature that allows individual users to decide when their session data is discarded. If a user ticks the "Remember Me" check-box on your login form create a persistent session, if they don't then create a browser-length session. This middleware replaces SessionMiddleware, to enable this middleware: - Add this middleware to the MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES setting in settings.py, replacing the SessionMiddleware entry. - In settings.py add this setting: PERSISTENT_SESSION_KEY = 'sessionpersistent' - Tweak any other regular SessionMiddleware settings (see the sessions doc), the only session setting that's ignored by this middleware is SESSION_EXPIRE_AT_BROWSER_CLOSE. Once this middleware is enabled all sessions will be browser-length by default. To make an individual session persistent simply do this: session[settings.PERSISTENT_SESSION_KEY] = True To make a persistent session browser-length again simply do this: session[settings.PERSISTENT_SESSION_KEY] = False """ def process_request(self, request): engine = __import__(settings.SESSION_ENGINE, {}, {}, ['']) request.session = engine.SessionStore(request.COOKIES.get(settings.SESSION_COOKIE_NAME, None)) def process_response(self, request, response): # If request.session was modified, or if response.session was set, save # those changes and set a session cookie. patch_vary_headers(response, ('Cookie',)) try: modified = request.session.modified except AttributeError: pass else: if modified or settings.SESSION_SAVE_EVERY_REQUEST: session_key = request.session.session_key or Session.objects.get_new_session_key() if not request.session.get(settings.PERSISTENT_SESSION_KEY, False): # session will expire when the user closes the browser max_age = None expires = None else: max_age = settings.SESSION_COOKIE_AGE expires = (datetime.datetime.utcnow() + datetime.timedelta(seconds=settings.SESSION_COOKIE_AGE)).strftime("%a, %d-%b-%Y %H:%M:%S GMT") new_session = Session.objects.save(session_key, request.session._session, datetime.datetime.now() + datetime.timedelta(seconds=settings.SESSION_COOKIE_AGE)) response.set_cookie(settings.SESSION_COOKIE_NAME, session_key, max_age = max_age, expires = expires, domain = settings.SESSION_COOKIE_DOMAIN, secure = settings.SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE or None) return response
I think the class doc provides all the installation and deployment info you'll need (just make sure you read the Django docs about middleware first). Here's a sample login view that makes use of this middleware to implement the "Remember Me" check-box.
from django.contrib import auth from django.contrib.auth import REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect from mysite.accounts.forms import LoginForm def login(request): """Display and processs the login form.""" no_cookies = False account_disabled = False invalid_login = False redirect_to = request.REQUEST.get(REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME, '') if request.method == 'POST': if request.session.test_cookie_worked(): request.session.delete_test_cookie() form = LoginForm(request.POST) if form.is_valid(): user = auth.authenticate(username = form.cleaned_data['username'], password = form.cleaned_data['password']) if user: if user.is_active: auth.login(request, user) request.session[settings.PERSISTENT_SESSION_KEY] = form.cleaned_data['remember_user'] # login successful, redirect return HttpResponseRedirect('/') else: account_disabled = True else: invalid_login = True else: no_cookies = True form = None else: form = LoginForm() # cookie must be successfully set/retrieved for the form to be processed request.session.set_test_cookie() return render_to_response('accounts/login.html', { 'no_cookies': no_cookies, 'account_disabled': account_disabled, 'invalid_login': invalid_login, 'form': form, REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME: redirect_to }, context_instance = RequestContext(request))
And here's the sample login form used by the view.
from django import newforms as forms from django.newforms import widgets from django.contrib.auth.models import User class LoginForm(forms.Form): """Login form for users.""" username = forms.RegexField(r'^[a-zA-Z0-9_]{1,30}$', max_length = 30, min_length = 1, error_message = 'Must be 1-30 alphanumeric characters or underscores.') password = forms.CharField(min_length = 6, max_length = 128, widget = widgets.PasswordInput, label = 'Password') remember_user = forms.BooleanField(required = False, label = 'Remember Me') def clean(self): try: user = User.objects.get(username__iexact = self.cleaned_data['username']) except User.DoesNotExist, KeyError: raise forms.ValidationError('Invalid username, please try again.') if not user.check_password(self.cleaned_data['password']): raise forms.ValidationError('Invalid password, please try again.') return self.cleaned_data
If you've noticed anything that could be done better please point it out. This hasn't been tested in production yet, so you should run your own tests to make sure everything is working as expected.
Comment: The LoginForm needs individual clean_username and clean_password functions since the clean function will get called regardless of validation errors in the fields. A too short username or password will cause that key to be missing in cleaned_data, and clean will throw a KeyError.


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New Senate bill would make USDA loan repayment program tax-exempt.
-- A federal, bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate yesterday that would make the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) tax-exempt for veterinarians.
The veterinary loan repayment program was established by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act of 2003 and is administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). It is designed to help address the shortage of veterinarians in certain critical areas with a strong emphasis on food-supply medicine. After seven years in the making, USDA finally began accepting applications for the program in April.
The federal bill, SB 3621, is being called the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act and was introduced July 21 by Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), with Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) as an original co-sponsor. The tax-exemption promoted in the bill would increase the number of veterinarians who will be able to participate in the USDA program. If passed, the bill would provide a federal income tax exemption for payments received under VMLRP and similar state programs that encourage veterinarians to enter under-served practice areas through student loan repayment.
"Rather than awarding full funding for this program each year, the VMLRP must immediately give back 39 percent of the money it receives to the U.S. Treasury as a federal tax," explains Crapo in a statement about the bill. "The bill simply removes this tax burden so that more veterinarians can be selected and help rural America. It would allow the VMLPR to increase the number of veterinarians selected by a third."
"Adequate access to veterinary care in rural areas is critical for both human and animal health, as well as animal welfare, disease surveillance, public safety and economic development across America," Johnson told his Senate colleagues when introducing the bill yesterday. "Everyone in America benefits from the veterinary services provided in even the most remote areas of our nation. As such, I am committed to doing all I can to help bring veterinarians to under-served parts of our state."
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is one of 122 organizations across the United States that already announced support of the bill."By making the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program tax-exempt, we will be sending more veterinarians into areas around the country that lack professionals possessing critical expertise in animal care, food safety and public health," says Dr. Ron DeHaven, AVMA's chief executive officer. "If the Johnson-Crapo bill passes, it will remove the program's tax burden, allowing enough additional funds to provide one additional veterinarian for every three veterinarians currently scheduled to receive awards. These additional veterinarians in under-served areas would go a long way to further protect our nation's food supply and public health."
Other supporters include the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmer's Union. Additional bill co-sponsors include Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colorado), Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), Al Franken (D-Minnesota), Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), a veterinarian, was not available for comment on the bill by press time and had not issued statements about its introduction.
According to an interim final rule published in July 2009 about the VMLRP, award recipients can expect to receive as much as $25,000 per year in loan reimbursements for three or four years. Based on funds appropriated through fiscal-year 2009, that totals roughly $4.5 million -- enough to select about 40 practicing veterinarians for participation in the program's first year. Dr. Mark Lutschaunig, director of the AVMA's Governmental Relations Division, adds that Congress appropriated an additional $4.8 million for the program in fiscal 2010.


text:
Light Up a Green Lantern Teaser
There isn't any new info about the game, just what you already know, what has been released though is a teaser trailer and some kind of poster. Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is inspired by the feature film, which brings the enduringly popular DC COMICS SUPER HERO to the big screen for the first time and which stars Ryan Reynolds in the title role as HAL JORDAN, the newest member of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS. In the videogame players will utilize over a dozen constructs and take flight across…Read More


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Google+ is a free app where you can explore your interests, connect with people and share things you're interested in.
Follow interesting people, experts and influencers to start getting great content in your home stream. You can also find content using the search box, trending hashtags, What's Hot and more. Simply follow someone you're interested in to get their posts in your home stream. There are all kinds of ways to discover cool things you're interested in.
Communities are one of the best places to discover content and connect with people around your interests. Within a community, you'll find a stream of content relating to the topic of the community. Search for communities around your interests and join one to get started. Once you're a member, you can post in the community, comment on others' posts and connect with other members. There are lots of really interesting and fun conversations happening in communities.
Google+ Photos is a great way to save all your photos, bring the best moments to life and share with the people who matter. Your photos and videos are stored privately and accessible from anywhere, and when you turn on Auto-backup, they'll be saved automatically. Relive the moment with photos presented as rich stories, videos, animations, collages and more. You can find the right photos fast by searching for what's in the image, even if isn't in the photo description. You can also easily add a personal touch with filters and built-in editing tools.
Google+ is a great place to share and connect with all kinds of people around the things you're interested in. Start exploring today!


text:
Facebook now has a membership of nearly twice that of the United States. Although often decried as a time sink, there are those with more grievous complaints against the service and its supposed founder, Mark Zuckerberg. The Social Network, a cinematic adaptation of Ben Mezrich's book Accidental Billionaires, is a witty and fast-paced look at the intellectual property theft and financial cunning that left multiple parties with claims to Zuckerberg's empire.
As with Mezrich's other book about a Cambridge, Massachusetts, college, Bringing Down the House (which became the 2008 film 21), the movie's gist is accurate, while the details have been fictionalized and dramatized to make for a better story. The Social Network is set during two different 2008 court cases, flashing back to 2003 and the following years that saw the inception of Facebook. In one of the present-day settings, Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg is confronted by the Winklevoss twins, two Harvard students who contracted Zuckerberg to build their own social network, Harvard Connection, which magically morphed into Zuckerberg's own Facebook; in the other, he sits opposite Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield, the next Spider-Man), a classmate who was Facebook's CFO for its first year before being diluted out of the company.
Most of the film is not about technology, but people and personalities. With a script by Aaron Sorkin of West Wing fame, the film's dialogue moves quickly — an impressive feat, since Zuckerberg, founder of the premiere online social networking site, ironically has no social skills himself, alternating between clever zingers and non sequiturs. The film opens with banter between him and his then-girlfriend in which each barely has time to breathe as they engage in verbal ripostes and repartees; "dating you is like dating Stairmaster," she says. After making several miscalculations that culminate in a breakup, Zuckerberg realizes that as a computer nerd, he'll never pick up chicks at Harvard. He then turns to the only alternative medium he understands: online.
Zuckerberg is portrayed as neither villainous nor sympathetic but merely emotionless, being better able to network with computers than with people. His cold logic works for him as much as it does against him. At times, Zuckerberg is portrayed akin to Anakin Skywalker, a powerful potentate who doesn't know who his friends are as others struggle to control him; at other times, he's closer to Emperor Palpatine, whose Machiavellian machinations manipulate the situation more subtly than even his puppets realize. He is hated as much as he is pitied, as when Saverin, sitting across from the Zuckerberg and his lawyers, looks at Facebook's founder, aggrieved. "I was your only friend," he laments. In many ways, the movie is more about Saverin and the other satellites that revolve around the Facebook maelstrom, including Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), co-founder of the company Napster (not to be confused with Shawn Fanning, the developer of the program Napster), who is made out to be a superficial, avaricious rockstar entrepreneur.
Whether Zuckerberg is actually the bad guy that The Social Network makes him out to be is questionable; even Sorkin has said that he was more interested in storytelling than truth. But it's neither surprising nor unbelievable that the sort of backstabbing this film depicts could've happened; friends and classmates may not think conducting business would require anything more than a handshake, making future misdealings possible and likely to be taken personally.
The technical details of the film are few and far in between. Early in the film, Zuckerberg hacks into the Web sites of Harvard's social clubs, known as "final clubs." It's likely that a social club would have neither needed nor implemented security for their online rosters, so it's no stretch of the imagination to watch Zuckerberg write perl scripts in the emacs editor to break into Apache servers and exploit PHP security holes with the wget command. The details are accurate but token.
The consequences of his actions are more dramatic than realistic, though. In Accidental Billionaires, Zuckerberg uses the results of his hacking to create the Web site Facemash.com, which proves so popular as to freeze his hosting computer; in the film, Facemash's traffic shuts down the entire Harvard network, resulting in a disciplinary hearing and an academic probation.
I suspect that example is representative of much of the film's interpretation of reality. The general story is correct — Zuckerberg started Facebook while at Harvard, resulting in two legal battles over its questionable origin — but the details are mostly fabricated to make a better movie. Who knows what dealings Zuckerberg had with women, or what truly drove him to create this empire? Only he knows — and he isn't talking. In its stead, we have a film where even simple hacking is made dramatic courtesy Sorkin's script and Trent Reznor's soundtrack. Seeing this film will likely take less time than attending to your FarmVille vegetables and might make you a less enthusiastic fly in Zuckerberg's web.


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Thank you for your participation in Solarize NE Round II! Registration is now closed.
Stay up to date with future energy projects by the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods by subscribing to our Enewsletter. Thank you to everyone who helped make this community-driven project a success! Stay up to date with the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods energy projects by subscribing to our Enewsletter- click here to do so, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.


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Bootstrappers have to figure out how to market via the web. It's the lowest cost, lowest friction, highest leverage medium available to get the word out. And, it is the easiest place to collect metrics so your decision making can be informed rather than just seat of the pants. But there are many dangers with metrics. First and foremost is optimizing the wrong one.
John Pozadzides, CEO of the Web analytics company Woopra, has a great article in ReadWriteWeb about the leading sources of referral traffic. There really is some awesome stuff in there, and it is tempting to go through the article's major conclusions and think you have a plan:
– Facebook trumps all the other Social Media by a large amount with 68% of referrals. Twitter only gets 25% and LinkedIn 4%. Translation: Bet hugely on Facebook, maybe experiment a little with Twitter and LinkedIn, but ignore the rest.
– Of the Social bookmarkers, Stumbleupon gets 51%, Digg 30%, YCombinator 12%, and the rest is noise. So, we need to bet on Stumbleupon with a little follow up on Digg.
– Google is delivering 92% of search referrals. Guess we won't worry about anyone else there.
– Media site referrals are 84% YouTube. Hey, Larry, we better get going on some videos!
What's wrong with that marketing plan? It's backed up by well-researched numbers. The statistics are compelling. How can we lose?
The answer, as in so many similar cases, is we may have optimized the wrong variable. It's reasonable to assume that you want to get new traffic to your site in order to sell more product. After all, if prospects don't know your better mousetrap exists, its hard to beat a path to your door. And these various venues are only too happy to help. In fact, Google would love to send clicks your way for just a small fee. However, even if all visits were created equal, we have no idea what the relative sizes of each pool are. So what if YouTube is 84% of media referrals if media referrals turn out to only be 1% of overall referrals? Worse, all visits are not created equal.
Look at the YCombinator number as just one example. I don't mean to pick on YCombinator, but go take a look at it. It's a very specialized audience. Clearly they can swing that audience to go look at something in droves. But is your product really going to benefit from that audience's interest? What will be the symptoms of making a mistake there? Well, you might successfully capture a bunch of referrals from YCombinator only to find that they bounce as soon as they hit your site. Yes, your content cleverly got them to click, but your product's substance couldn't cash the check you'd just written with your clever content.
I'll give another hint. The article suggests Stumbleupon may be an awesome place to focus some attention. I get a fair amount of referrals from Stumbleupon, and I'm not even trying, so I'm not surprised they show up well in a study like this. It was the #7 source of referral traffic, in fact. There is just one problem with focusing on it. When I checked this morning, Google Analytics tells me that it had a 96.9% bounce rate. The traffic arrives, doesn't like what it sees, and leaves immediately. Average time on site is 49 seconds, versus a site-wide average of nearly 4 minutes. Maybe, with some effort, I can redirect Stumbleupon to do a better job. But, if I'm just looking at the raw referral number, I have optimized the wrong metric. I need to look at something else that gets closer to what I am trying to achieve.
So what metric should we be optimizing? I'm a huge fan of closed loop marketing. I want to be able to track a lead, let's call that lead a visit to my site, all the way through to a purchase. I want to understand that path as well as I can, from source all the way to revenue. I want to assign costs, volumes, and conversion rates to these sources and tie the effects of my changes in marketing back to their impact on these variables. It's a lofty goal, but it's the only way to know what's working. If you optimize the wrong variable, you're in for a potentially very expensive mistake either in opportunity cost for having worked on the wrong thing, or in real cash if you're paying for clicks that didn't translate into sales.
How do we get this kind of end to end analytics? The good news, is that it isn't that hard even for a tiny bootstrap company to get a start on it because we have Google Analytics. It works like this:
Google Analytics will do a good job tracking where people who come to your site came from. It knows what pages they land on and where they go from there. Your job is to make the act of landing on a page correspond to the metric you want to measure. Let's say you want to track people buying your software. Perhaps there is a page you could create that people only go to if they bought the software. It isn't reachable in any other way. Maybe it is a Welcome page, or a page that activates their product, or better a page that confirms activation. Make that a Goal page and you're ready to work backwards to analyze your funnel. You probably want to differentiate content that attracts people to your site and facilitates SEO from the actual page where you pitch your customers to buy the product. Perhaps there is a trial close along the way where customers sign up for a free trial. So on and so forth.
Once you start analyzing these patterns, you'll come to understand what really works for your world. Tie up Google Analytics to Google Adwords and you get an even more powerful analytics combination. You start to understand the impact and interplay of keywords, ad copy, traffic sources, and even factors like time of day, geographic region, or languages. I'll have more to say about how to use these and other tools over time as I write more about bootstrapping.
Some will argue that its impossible to get these metrics, so we shouldn't worry about it. I couldn't disagree more. The Internet makes it easier than ever before. Marketing is Tragically Knowable. I will always remember that phrase from my mentor, and co-founder of Netflix, Marc Randolph. Working through these kinds of metrics and conducting the A/B experiments to know what works better is all part of avoiding the "Tragic" part of "Tragically Knowable." Tragic is when you think you know, whether by incomplete information, optimizing the wrong metric, or just going by gut, you make a big bet on it, and it turns out to be wrong. To avoid the Tragedy, make sure you understand how each factor you're trying to optimize feeds your ultimate goal of selling product. Don't optimize the wrong metric.
Software developers say that premature optimizing is the root of all evil in software. Optimizing the wrong metric may be the root of all evil in marketing.
Bootstrappa's Resources
Links to the Bootstrappa's Paradise blog series as well as other useful resources for Bootstrappers.


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Episode 1
Black November
Car trouble strands Tod and Buz in an isolated Mississippi lumber town named for and dominated by its unscrupulous ruler and haunted by a secret.
Episode 170 hr 52 min
Tod and Buz get involved in a quandary over an extra-dangerous crop dusting contract.
Episode 1
Car trouble strands Tod and Buz in an isolated Mississippi lumber town named for and dominated by its unscrupulous ruler and haunted by a secret.
Episode 2
Tod and Buz crew a Grand Isle, Louisiana shrimp trawler while its captain deals with a hurricane and a jealous boyfriend.
Episode 3
A young woman inadvertently interferes with a bird smuggling ring at the center of a psittacosis outbreak in New Orleans.
Episode 4
Tod assists an undercover Nazi hunter while working with Buz on an oil platform off the coast of Venice, Louisiana.
Episode 5
Buz attempts to prove the innocence of a single mother who killed the younger brother of a small-town sheriff in self-defense.
Episode 6
Three orphaned ranchers stubbornly fight a losing battle against chronic drought conditions near Kanab, Utah.
Episode 7
Tod and Buz help a Grants Pass, Oregon hops farmer reluctant to instill discipline in his spoiled son and daughter.
Episode 8
To finance a new Virgin Mary statue for her church, a Sicilian woman tries to sell Oregon land ""bequeathed"" to her by an American soldier during World War II.
Episode 9
Tod and Buz act as bodyguards to fashion models at the Glen Canyon Dam construction site.
Episode 10
Tod and Buz help an old prospector stake his claim after he finds beryllium ore.
Episode 11
Tod and Buz meet a scientist who intends to hide in Carlsbad Caverns with friends until an expected nuclear holocaust is over.
Episode 12
Tod and Buz work for a cotton company and battle cowboy Woody Biggs, who is not done with the woman he sent to prison.
Episode 13
Tod becomes a race car driver as he and Buz get involved in a family controversy over whether an aging driver should retire.
Episode 14
Tod and Buz try to protect a woman from her jazz musician husband.
Episode 15
Tod and Buz work for a date farmer who fights the highway department while he "waits out" his sexy ward, hoping she will marry him.
Episode 16
Tod becomes a crop duster for a struggling company.
Episode 17
Tod and Buz get involved in a quandary over an extra-dangerous crop dusting contract.
Episode 18
Tod and Buz meet a teenage girl who claims to be on the run from gangsters but her family thinks she has been kidnapped.
Episode 19
Tod and Buz try to protect a blind widow from her husband's murderers.
Episode 20
Buz and Tod split up over whether to return a runaway boy to an orphanage.
Episode 21
Tod and Buz try to stop a murderer who has left his latest victim in the snow at Squaw Valley.
Episode 22
Tod and Buz meet a gambler, whom the people of Broken Knee have asked to save their town.
Episode 23
At the request of his aunt, Tod traces the life of his saintly cousin through the Los Angeles slums.
Episode 24
Tod and Buz get involved in a custody case over a 9-year-old heiress and her drunken, gambling "uncle."
Episode 25
Tod and Buz protect a Native American girl and her newborn from their employer, who rules the land like a feudal baron. (Robert Duvall as a nasty ranchhand)
Episode 26
Tod and Buz are framed as poachers after Tod interferes with a real poacher's hunting.


text:
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text: So. I just had one of the most romantic, sweet, thoughtful and awkward nights of my life. Since finding a sitter for date night can be tough if we don't plan well in advance, my husband decided for valentines day he would bring a night of live music to us. He found and hired a musician from craigslist to come and play some of our favorite songs for a couple hours. I have to admit I couldn't stop laughing at first, but after a few songs, and a few glasses of wine, the awkwardness melted away. It was a night I will never forget. Cheers to my wonderful husband for thinking outside the heart-shaped box!


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Tak Dal or Sour Lentil Soup with Green Mangoes11:39 AM
Do you associate some memories with food, or exactly in the opposite way does certain food reminds you of some incidents from past? For me, there are some dish that always triggers some memories, some association from distant past. Mostly because then all fruits and vegetables were not available the year around, certain dishes appeared on the dining table only in specific seasons. No matter what or how much I loved sipping this hot out of the kadhai tongue tickling delight, but I could only relish tak-er dal during peak summer. As a result this dal always reminds me of the lazy hot summer vacations from schools.
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For all of you who liked this vessel, this is not a Bengali shape. I bought it from Bangalore (South India) and saw this type of copper bottomed vessels there only. for all living in Bangalore 'Spar' hyper market in Koramangala stocks various sizes of this vessel. When I first saw this shape the dish that popped up in my mind was Dal, and now in our house this bowl is known as 'Daler bati' or the specific bowl meant to stock boiled lentil :-)
52 comments
wow, what a great presentation, love the dal recipe and your bowl both :)ReplyDelete
thanks priya, that was super quick.ReplyDelete
OMG!!this looks very delicious!!!my all time fav dal!!!!thnx for posting...ReplyDelete
Happy Blogging!!!!
Food Blog News Daily
Good Food Recipes
Wow tangy and yummy dal,beautiful presentation.ReplyDelete
Slurp, mouthwatering here, tak dal looks super comforting and delicious..ReplyDelete
Hey love the vessel you served the daal in :))ReplyDelete
And yes, post too..it is very nostalgic..bachpan ki yaden.
Beautifully written memories of Summer ... loved the write up. You are very right .... food always brings a lot of memories. The mango daal looks delicious ......ReplyDelete
Sayantani dear what a coincidence!!:)check out my blog I had the same mango desire going thru my mind and did a post on tak er dal and aamer tok :))an absolote summer pleasure.ReplyDelete
What lovely write up.very nostalgic!!enjoyed reading it .Also lovely lovely click.
Oh boy !! I made aaam daal too :) and was about to post it but then posted something else. Yours looks fabulous!ReplyDelete
wow...that must taste divine....i love a simple daal...but something which might add a some tangy flavour to it, I have never tried it...sounds so wonderful...:) and lovely clicks too...:)ReplyDelete
Loved your Tak Dal..just perfect on aReplyDelete
summer afternoon! Yes, aam dal-shukto-posto-halka macher jhol:)
Great shots too!
Kemon achho? Kolkata kemon lagchhe?
Wow tangy and yummy dal,beautiful presentation.ReplyDelete
Lovely dal..looks yumm n delicious..:)ReplyDelete
Delicious looking tak dal. You have put forward the exact course of events during summer time.ReplyDelete
Hamaree Rasoi
Snaps gulo dekhe mone hocche sugandha pacchi! Ki bhalo lage ei daal ta ... chobigulo khub shundor hoyeche Sayantani! :-)ReplyDelete
Sayantani, The setting is as beautiful as the memory. Is this a traditional shape of utensil in Bengal? haven't seen it anywhere else.ReplyDelete
Thanks everyone. yes you all are very true this is like a journey through the memory lane. every year when I sip the first tak dal of the season I relive those memories. time has changed but the memories are fresh and sweet.ReplyDelete
@Sarmistha, that's an amazing post. very nostalgic write up and lovely clicks as always. loved your colourful bowls.
@Sharmila, ja bolecho, ei daler sugandhoi alada. acho kamon?
@Anjali, just updated the post. this is not a traditional bengali shape but I guess these copper bottomed vessels are trademark of south India.
@Miri, try this out, you will love it for sure.ReplyDelete
@Sanghamitra, thanks dear. Kolkata is good but sometimes I wish to have a magic wand. i would have loved to swap the hot and humid weather with something more soothing.
healthy soup!!nice presentation n nice vessel!!ReplyDelete
Comfort food at it best.ReplyDelete
Comforting and delicious! Nice picturesReplyDelete
Lovely dal sayantini...love ur clicks ..will surely try this and let u know:)ReplyDelete
Wowwww... looks so tempting and delicious.. love the presentation too :)ReplyDelete
Indian Cuisine
simple and tangy dal, love the vesselReplyDelete
Lovely set up and clicks,loved that serving bowl and ncie recipe!ReplyDelete
So comforting and healthy dal! Can eat this day in and day out, with chapattis, with rice..or simply drink it off :)ReplyDelete
What a beautiful presentation dear! Loved all the shots.ReplyDelete
Tak dal looks fantastic and I am sure it tastes equally wonderful :)
US Masala
Dal looks very yummy...You got a beautiful space...Thanks for your lovely words at my space...following you..ReplyDelete
Yes yes yes, food reminds me of many incidents and people..Like you remembered my nephew for BG :) Never thought you'd remember that, thanks yaar!!ReplyDelete
Dal and mango is a perfect combo, love the presentation too..
Loving your bowl and the presentation :-)Mango dal is my favorite too :-)But it never looked this good when I make it :-)ReplyDelete
I can almost taste the tang in the dal - we make something similar with a sambar. Actually most regions I think end up incorporating green mango in their lentils to make the most of summer tastes. Its supposed to be cooling as well, as compared to ripe mangoes.ReplyDelete
Looks lovely and inviting
Beautifully presented love this delicious dal.ReplyDelete
awesome dish priya...thx 4r sharing this...cool pix tooReplyDelete
Love the memories that you have detailed. I remember sleeping out on the terrace with friends. Thanks Sayantani for bring them back.ReplyDelete
The dal it is superlative!
Dal is such a comfort food and this looks heavenly! And thanks for sharing your lovely memories too :)ReplyDelete
Dal is so comforting. Love the bowl too. :)ReplyDelete
Event: Fast food not Fat food
Loved you memories as much as your dal :)ReplyDelete
I really like your dishes also, the copper bottomed one's. From India?
Yum, this is a lovely soup. I have only started my culinary experimentations with raw mango very recently and it sounds like a lovely soup!ReplyDelete
Love the vessels, too ;-)
@Rekha, Shalini, padhu thanks girls.ReplyDelete
@Sush, am sure you will love this simple flavour.
@Hari,Jayshri, Raks, Sanjeeta, same here I love to drink this as soup. slurp slurp slurp
@Aipi, thanks dear. am finding my mojo to keep up the decent work (like you)for all posts but sometimes am down and loose all patience.
@Reshmi, ruchi and Nami, thats my fav bowl too.ReplyDelete
@Miri, very true. but we also make fish curries with raw mangoes.
@Pushpa, Nisha, Archana, Plateful...I believe everyone who has spent their childhood in Eastern India have this same vivid memory of summer. things are all the same till date but we dont have time or better we dont have that eye to watch and experience the beauty in the same way.
Thanks vardhini,ReplyDelete
@MAdhu, yes bought it from Bangalore
@Vanessa, thanks girl. stay tuned am bringing more raw mango recipes soon.
Sayantani, have lots of warm liquids and do salt water gargling to get relief. Take care gurl.ReplyDelete
Hi Sayantani,ReplyDelete
Thanks for your encouraging comment on my post.. have uploaded the story for Chalks and Chopsticks..do take a look..
Dal with green mangoes is awesome.. It is my personal fav too.. This is how my mother does it during summers when raw green mangoes are in abundance...
Happy Blogging
looks delicious..ReplyDelete
My most favorite dal. Loved the pic of your son with the laptop :)ReplyDelete
awesome pics dear! the dish and clicks look great :)ReplyDelete
I m in awe of you...you are so creative dear..:)ReplyDelete
Tasty Appetite
love the presentation:-) cant take my eyes off it!! Love the tangy dal!!ReplyDelete
Yummy recipe. i love this dish. i love ur copper dishes. i heard they are really good for your heart if we eat in copper vessel or drink atleast water from copper tumbers.ReplyDelete
nice post and a nice dish.ReplyDelete
liked your blog followong you.
This looks so good. Thanks for sharing this recipe.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 24, 2016 at 2:42 AM
beautiful presentation.i was impressed.ReplyDelete


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A recently published study details how scientists used light from an exploding star as a probe to study the gas conditions in the space between the host galaxy's stars, revealing that the distant galaxy's interstellar conditions appear "reassuringly normal."
Nature hath no fury like a dying star – and astronomers couldn't be happier…
An international research team, led by Edo Berger of Harvard University, made the most of a dying star's fury to probe a distant galaxy some 9.5 billion light-years distant. The dying star, which lit the galactic scene, is the most distant stellar explosion of its kind ever studied. According to Berger, "It's like someone turned on a flashlight in a dark room and suddenly allowed us to see, for a short time, what this far-off galaxy looks like, what it is composed of."
The study, published recently in The Astrophysical Journal, describes how the researchers used the exploding star's light (called an ultra-luminous core-collapse supernova) as a probe to study the gas conditions in the space between the host galaxy's stars. Berger says the findings reveal that the distant galaxy's interstellar conditions appear "reassuringly normal" when compared to those seen in the galaxies of our local universe. "This shows the enormous potential of using the most luminous supernovae to study the early universe," he says. "Ultimately it will help us understand how galaxies like our Milky Way came to be."The discovery of the dying star in this distant galaxy was made using images from the Pan-STARRS1 survey telescope on Haleakala in Maui, Hawai'i. "These are the types of exciting and unexpected applications that appear when a new capability comes on line," said John Tonry, one of the study's co-authors and supernovae researcher at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa's Institute for Astronomy. Tonry adds, "Pan-STARRS is pioneering a new era in deep, wide-field, time-critical astronomy – and this is just the beginning." After the Pan-STARRS discovery, spectroscopic follow-up studies using the Multiple Mirror Telescope in Arizona and the 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i provided the data used by the team to probe the gas of the distant galaxy's interstellar environment.
The spectra revealed the signatures of a distant ultra-luminous supernova, and equally important, the unique fingerprints of iron and magnesium within the distant galaxy that hosted the explosion. The galaxy itself contains a very young population of stars (~15 to 45 million years old) with a mass totaling some 2 billion Suns. The ultra-luminous supernova explosion belongs to a relatively recently-identified and special breed of exploding stars. They are some 10-100 times more luminous than their ordinary less-energetic cousins and unusually blue in color. While the process leading to their demise is still being explored, evidence points to the central core-collapse of a star having as much as 100 times the mass of our Sun. The collapse triggers an enormous explosion that blasts prodigious amounts of heavier elements through the star's enormous outer layers before expanding into space.
Traditionally, astronomers have used two techniques to study distant galaxies: They would either; 1) look directly for chemical elements leaving bright imprints on the galaxy's spectrum of light; or 2) search indirectly for dark signatures in the spectrum of an even more distant quasar, which reveals chemical elements in an intervening system that have absorbed light along our line of sight.
Recently, astronomers have supplanted these methods with another: seeking dark absorption imprints in the afterglows of "gamma-ray bursts" (GRBs); these brief flashes are the brightest and most energetic explosions in the universe, but they fade away within hours. The method is also limited by the need for expensive Earth-orbiting satellites to first detect and pinpoint a burst's location with precision before astronomers can make ground-based studies.
"The beauty of studying distant galaxies using ultra-luminous supernovae as a tool is that it eliminates the need for satellites and offers more time for study," says Alicia Soderberg of Harvard University. "A typical ultra-luminous supernova can take several weeks to fade away."
The study by Berger and his team provides the first direct demonstration that ultra-luminous supernovae can serve as probes of distant galaxies. Their results suggest that with the future combination of large survey and spectroscopic telescopes ultra-luminous supernovae could be used to probe galaxies 90 percent of the way back to the Big Bang.
Reference: "Ultraluminous Supernovae as a New Probe of the Interstellar Medium in Distant Galaxies" by E. Berger, R. Chornock, R. Lunnan, R. Foley, I. Czekala, A. Rest, C. Leibler, A. M. Soderberg, K. Roth, G. Narayan, M. E. Huber, D. Milisavljevic, N. E. Sanders, M. Drout, R. Margutti, R. P. Kirshner, G. H. Marion, P. J. Challis, A. G. Riess,, S. J. Smartt, W. S. Burgett, K. W. Hodapp, J. N. Heasley, N. Kaiser, R.-P. Kudritzki, E. A. Magnier, M. McCrum, P. A. Price, K. Smith, J. L. Tonry and R. J. Wainscoat, 3 August 2012, The Astrophysical Journal.


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TAX POLICY REFORM and FISCAL CONSOLIDATION
Tax Policy Brief, December 2010
Given the current high levels of budget deficits and government debt, Governments recognize that they need to consolidate their budgets. Taxes can give rise to a multitude of disincentives to work, invest and innovate, with adverse effects on economic growth and welfare. But how can such distortions be minimised?
The Tax Policy Brief "Tax Policy Reform and Fiscal Consolidation" emphasizes the importance of tax regimes supporting sustainable economic growth. In particular, it recommends:
OECD Tax Policy Studies No. 19
Choosing a Broad Base – Low Rate Approach to Taxation
Many countries are likely to have to raise taxes as part of fiscal consolidation over the next few years, but how is this best done - by broadening the tax base or by raising tax rates?
|Tax Policy Study No. 19 explores in detail the rationale for tax breaks, critically examines whether different tax breaks are still justified and explores a number of case studies, including VAT reduced rates and tax reliefs for house purchase. It notes that "tax expenditures" often get entrenched in tax regimes and urges countries to take advantage of the need for fiscal consolidation to evaluate whether they continue to be worthwhile.
More information:
Tax Policy Reform and Economic GrowthOECD Tax Policy Studies No. 20
In the wake of the recent financial and economic crisis, how OECD countries can face the challenge of restoring public finances without jeopardising economic growth?
Tax Policy Study No. 20 sets out in detail the empirical evidence and rationale for changing the structure of tax regimes. It discusses how taxes can be made less distortionary and more growth-friendly. The study also looks at the "political economy" of tax reform. Why are governments able to design, legislate and implement growth-oriented tax reforms in some circumstances and not others? How can policy makers overcome the obstacles to tax reform and make tax reform actually happen?
More information:
OECD Revenue Statistics, 2010 Edition
For more information: www.oecd.org/ctp/revenuestats
This annual publication presents a unique set of detailed and internationally comparable tax revenue data in a common format for all OECD member countries from 1965 onwards. It also describes a conceptual framework to define which government receipts should be regarded as taxes and to classify different types of taxes.
The 2010 edition includes a Special Feature titled 'Environmentally related taxation'
OECD Tax Policy Analysis Department
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