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In many organizations, management is the biggest obstacle to successful Agile development. Unfortunately, reliable guidance on Agile management has been scarce indeed. Now, leading Agile manager Jurgen Appelo fills that gap, introducing a realistic approach to leading, managing, and growing your Agile team or organization.
Writing for current managers and developers moving into management, Appelo shares insights that are grounded in modern complex systems theory, reflecting the intense complexity of modern software development. Appelo's Management 3.0 model recognizes that today's organizations are living, networked systems; and that management is primarily about people and relationships.
Management 3.0 doesn't offer mere checklists or prescriptions to follow slavishly; rather, it deepens your understanding of how organizations and Agile teams work and gives you tools to solve your own problems. Drawing on his extensive experience as an Agile manager, the author identifies the most important practices of Agile management and helps you improve each of them.
Coverage includes
• Getting beyond "Management 1.0" control and "Management 2.0" fads
• Understanding how complexity affects your organization
• Keeping your people active, creative, innovative, and motivated
• Giving teams the care and authority they need to grow on their own
• Defining boundaries so teams can succeed in alignment with business goals
• Sowing the seeds for a culture of software craftsmanship
• Crafting an organizational network that promotes success
• Implementing continuous improvement that actually works
Thoroughly pragmatic–and never trendy–Jurgen Appelo's Management 3.0 helps you bring greater agility to any software organization, team, or project.
Forewords xix
Acknowledgments xxv
About the Author xxvii
Preface xxix
1 Why Things Are Not That Simple 1
Causality 2
Complexity 3
Our Linear Minds 5
Reductionism 7
Holism 8
Hierarchical Management 9
Agile Management 11
My Theory of Everything 12
The Book and the Model 13
Summary 14
Reflection and Action 14
2 Agile Software Development 17
Prelude to Agile 17
The Book of Agile 19
The Fundamentals of Agile 22
The Competition of Agile 24
The Obstacle to Agile 28
Line Management versus Project Management 28
Summary 30
Reflection and Action 31
3 Complex Systems Theory 33
Cross-Functional Science 34
General Systems Theory 35
Cybernetics 36
Dynamical Systems Theory 37
Game Theory 37
Evolutionary Theory 38
Chaos Theory 38
The Body of Knowledge of Systems 39
Simplicity: A New Model 41
Revisiting Simplification 44
Nonadaptive versus Adaptive 45
Are We Abusing Science? 46
A New Era: Complexity Thinking 48
Summary 50
Reflection and Action 50
4 The Information-Innovation System 51
Innovation Is the Key to Survival 52
Knowledge 54
Creativity 56
Motivation 58
Diversity 60
Personality 62
Only People Are Qualified for Control 64
From Ideas to Implementation 65
Summary 66
Reflection and Action 67
5 How to Energize People 69
Creative Phases 69
Manage a Creative Environment 72
Creative Techniques 74
Extrinsic Motivation 75
Intrinsic Motivation 78
Demotivation 79
Ten Desires of Team Members 80
What Motivates People: Find the Balance 83
Make Your Rewards Intrinsic 86
Diversity? You Mean Connectivity! 87
Personality Assessments 89
Four Steps toward Team Personality Assessment 90
Do-It-Yourself Team Values 92
Define Your Personal Values 94
The No Door Policy 95
Summary 97
Reflection and Action 97
6 The Basics of Self-Organization 99
Self-Organization within a Context 99
Self-Organization toward Value 101
Self-Organization versus Anarchy 102
Self-Organization versus Emergence 104
Emergence in Teams 106
Self-Organization versus Self-Direction
versus Self-Selection 107
Darkness Principle 108
Conant-Ashby Theorem 110
Distributed Control 111
Empowerment as a Concept 112
Empowerment as a Necessity 113
You Are (Like) a Gardener 115
Summary 117
Reflection and Action 118
7 How to Empower Teams 119
Don't Create Motivational Debt 119
Wear a Wizard's Hat 121
Pick a Wizard, Not a Politician 122
Empowerment versus Delegation 123
Reduce Your Fear, Increase Your Status 124
Choose the Right Maturity Level 125
Pick the Right Authority Level 127
Assign Teams or Individuals 131
The Delegation Checklist 132
If You Want Something Done, Practice Your Patience 133
Resist Your Manager's Resistance 134
Address People's Ten Intrinsic Desires 136
Gently Massage the Environment 136
Trust 138
Respect 141
Summary 144
Reflection and Action 144
8 Leading and Ruling on Purpose 147
Game of Life 147
Universality Classes 149
False Metaphor 150
You're Not a Game Designer 151
But…Self-Organization Is Not Enough 152
Manage the System, Not the People 154
Managers or Leaders? 156
Right Distinction: Leadership versus Governance 156
Meaning of Life 158
Purpose of a Team 160
Assigning an Extrinsic Purpose 163
Summary 164
Reflection and Action 165
9 How to Align Constraints 167
Give People a Shared Goal 167
Checklist for Agile Goals 170
Communicate Your Goal 172
Vision versus Mission 174
Examples of Organizational Goals 176
Allow Your Team an Autonomous Goal 177
Compromise on Your Goal and Your Team's Goal 178
Create a Boundary List of Authority 179
Choose the Proper Management Angle 180
Protect People 181
Protect Shared Resources 183
Constrain Quality 185
Create a Social Contract 186
Summary 188
Reflection and Action 188
10 The Craft of Rulemaking 191
Learning Systems 191
Rules versus Constraints 193
The Agile Blind Spot 196
What's Important: Craftsmanship 198
Positive Feedback Loops 200
Negative Feedback Loops 201
Discipline * Skill = Competence 204
Diversity of Rules 206
Subsidiarity Principle 208
Risk Perception and False Security 209
Memetics 211
Broken Windows 215
Summary 216
Reflection and Action 217
11 How to Develop Competence 219
Seven Approaches to Competence Development 221
Optimize the Whole: Multiple Levels 223
Optimize the Whole: Multiple Dimensions 224
Tips for Performance Metrics 227
Four Ingredients for Self-Development 229
Managing versus Coaching versus Mentoring 231
Consider Certification 233
Harness Social Pressure 235
Use Adaptable Tools 237
Consider a Supervisor 238
Organize One-on-Ones 241
Organize 360-Degree Meetings 242
Grow Standards 245
Work the System, Not the Rules or the People 246
Summary 247
Reflection and Action 248
12 Communication on Structure 249
Is It a Bug or a Feature? 250
Communication and Feedback 250
Miscommunication Is the Norm 253
Capabilities of Communicators 254
Network Effects 258
Tuning Connectivity 260
Competition and Cooperation 262
Groups and Boundaries 264
Hyper-Productivity or Autocatalysis 266
Pattern-Formation 268
Scale Symmetry: Patterns Big and Small 270
How to Grow: More or Bigger? 272
Summary 274
Reflection and Action 274
13 How to Grow Structure 275
About Environment, Products, Size, and People 275
Consider Specialization First… 278
…And Generalization Second 279
Widen People's Job Titles 281
Cultivate Informal Leadership 283
Watch Team Boundaries 284
The Optimal Team Size Is 5 (Maybe) 286
Functional Teams versus Cross-Functional Teams 288
Two Design Principles 290
Choose Your Organizational Style 292
Turn Each Team into a Little Value Unit 294
Move Stuff out to Separate Teams 295
Move Stuff up to Separate Layers 299
How Many Managers Does It Take to Change an Organization? 301
Create a Hybrid Organization 302
The Anarchy Is Dead, Long Live the Panarchy 303
Have No Secrets 305
Make Everything Visible 307
Connect People 308
Aim for Adaptability 308
Summary 309
Reflection and Action 310
14 The Landscape of Change 313
The Environment Is Not "Out There" 313
The Fear of Uncertainty 315
Laws of Change 317
Every Product Is a Success…Until It Fails 319
Success and Fitness: It's All Relative 321
How to Embrace Change 321
Adaptation, Exploration, Anticipation 322
The Red Queen's Race 325
Can We Measure Complexity? 327
Are Products Getting More Complex? 328
The Shape of Things: Phase Space 331
Attractors and Convergence 332
Stability and Disturbances 334
Fitness Landscapes 335
Shaping the Landscape 337
Directed versus Undirected Adaptation 339
Summary 340
Reflection and Action 341
15 How to Improve Everything 343
Linear versus Nonlinear Improvement 345
Know Where You Are 347
Travel Tips for Wobbly Landscapes 348
Change the Environment, Summon the Mountain 350
Make Change Desirable 353
Make Stagnation Painful 354
Honor Thy Errors 355
The Strategy of Noise 356
The Strategy of Sex 359
The Strategy of Broadcasts 360
Don't Do Copy-Paste Improvement 362
Some Last Practical Tips for Continuous Change 364
Keep on Rolling 366
Summary 367
Reflection and Action 367
16 All Is Wrong, but Some Is Useful 369
The Six Views of Management 3.0 369
Yes, My Model Is "Wrong" 371
But Other Models Are "Wrong," Too 373
The Fall and Decline of Agilists 376
The Complexity Pamphlet 377
Summary 380
Reflection and Action 380
Bibliography 381
Index 393


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3D confocal image of differentiated fat cells showing ankyrin B-GLUT4 complexes (red isosurface dots) decorating the plasma membrane. Isosurface of lipid droplets and nuclei in gold and in blue, respectively.
Credit: Courtesy of Damaris N. LorenzoC
Obesity is often attributed to a simple equation: People are eating too much and exercising too little. But evidence is growing that at least some of the weight gain that plagues modern humans is predetermined.
New research from the Research Triangle suggests that variants in a gene called ankyrin-B — carried by millions of Americans — could cause people to put on pounds through no fault of their own.
The study, which was conducted in mice, shows that the gene variation causes fat cells to suck up glucose faster than normal, more than doubling their size. When an aging metabolism or high-fat diet is added to the equation, obesity becomes all but inevitable.
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"We call it fault-free obesity," said Vann Bennett, MD, PhD, senior author of the study and George Barth Geller Professor of Biochemistry at Duke University School of Medicine. "We believe this gene might have helped our ancestors store energy in times of famine. In current times, where food is plentiful, ankyrin-B variants could be fueling the obesity epidemic."
The results appear the week of November 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Bennett discovered the protein ankyrin-B more than thirty years ago. It is present in every bodily tissue and acts like an anchor by tethering important proteins to the inside of the cell's membrane. Bennett and other researchers have linked defects in ankyrin-B to a number of human diseases, including autism, muscular dystrophy, aging, diabetes and irregular heartbeat.
Several years ago, Jane Healey, an MD/PhD student working in the Bennett laboratory, noticed that mice with cardiac arrhythmia caused by mutations in ankyrin-B were fatter than their wildtype litter mates. To figure out why, she created mouse models that carried a couple of common human variants of the gene.
Damaris Lorenzo, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab at the time, found that these mice quickly grew fat, locking away most of their calories in fat tissue rather than sending them to other tissues to burn as energy. These findings were published in 2015 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
"The problem is, we still didn't know how this gene worked," said Bennett. "There is this common belief in the field that much of obesity can be traced back to appetite and the appetite control centers that reside in the brain. But what if it isn't all in our head?"
To study that question, Lorenzo, now an assistant professor of cell biology and physiology in the UNC School of Medicine, had her research group completely knock out the ankyrin-B gene in the fat tissue of mice.
They repeated many of the same experiments that had been conducted in the previous mouse models, which carried mutant versions of ankyrin-B throughout their bodies. Like before, the knock-out mice gained weight, and their energy-storing white fat cells doubled in size despite eating and exercising the same amount as normal mice. What's more, the weight gain increased as the mice aged or were fed a high-fat diet.
"We quickly learned that the increased accumulation of lipids in fat cells "spilled over" to the liver and muscles," Lorenzo said. "The abnormal accumulation of fat in these tissues led to inflammation and disruption of response to insulin, a hallmark of type II diabetes. A similar cascade of events is what often takes place in humans, and that is why obesity can be so detrimental to our health."
After conducting a number of biochemistry experiments, Lorenzo showed that eliminating or mutating ankyrin-B changed the dynamics of Glut4, the protein that allows glucose to enter fat cells. As a result, the flood gates were effectively opened, allowing glucose to flow into the cells more quickly than normal.
Lorenzo wondered if the same mechanism held true for other known human mutations of ankyrin-B. Variants in ankyrin-B are carried by 1.3 percent of Caucasians and 8.4 percent of African Americans, accounting for millions of people in the United States alone. Lorenzo cultured fat cells carrying these variants and found that they too sucked up glucose at a higher rate. The disease seems to originate in fat tissue, though it likely has effects elsewhere in the body.
"We found that mice can become obese without eating more, and that there is an underlying cellular mechanism to explain that weight gain," Bennett said. "This gene could enable us to identify at-risk individuals who should watch what kind of calories they eat and exercise more in order to keep their body weight under control."
But first, Bennett says their findings in the laboratory must be confirmed in the general population. To do so, the researchers will need to identify individuals with ankyrin-B variants, and then assess family histories, height and weight, and characteristic physiological traits as well as glucose metabolism, to determine the impact of these variants on human health.
Story Source: Materials provided by University of North Carolina Health Care System. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Damaris N. Lorenzo, Vann Bennett. Cell-autonomous adiposity through increased cell surface GLUT4 due to ankyrin-B deficiency. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017; 201708865 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1708865114

subset: commoncrawl


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Local 3rd graders share important messages with their schools
Marca Kidwell-Babcock and Jill Cofer are 3rd grade teachers at Parkview Elementary. Killing two birds with one stone, these clever instructors integrated their existing curriculum – presenting information through videos and PowerPoint – into their students' action projects. Their crafty kids created videos and presentations depicting how easily we can – and must – conserve water. Some students recorded themselves watering the garden with collected rainwater and turning off faucets while they suds hands or brush teeth. Others wrote, directed, and edited videos on preventing waste with water fountains and flushing toilets. Scroll down to see some of their genuine creations.
These brave stewards will present their masterpieces to a broader audience within their school, encouraging other classrooms to take on the Green Classroom Certification challenge.
The certification program, offered by RE Sources for Sustainable Communities' educators, is one part of a multi-faceted approach to help Whatcom County schools reduce their overall footprint while empowering students to become responsible stewards. "We want to see families living satisfying lives in accord with the ecosystems we depend on – now, and for generations to come," says Haley Mountain, AmeriCorps Green Classroom Coordinator at RE Sources. "At RE Sources, we believe education and action are instrumental vehicles in seeing this vision come to life."
The Green Classroom Certification program offers materials and professional support to teachers at no cost, helping them incorporate action-based conservation education into their curriculums while meeting academic state standards.
Elementary teachers are encouraged to participate in the program any time throughout the school year, receiving free support to integrate fun into meeting state standards. Interested teachers, principals, or PTA members can contact RE Sources today for more information, email@example.com, (360) 733-8307.
Click here to sign up for RE Sources' monthly educators' eNews, with educator-focused events, resources, and helpful information.
Presenting Parkview Third Graders
"Hi, I'm Shen and I'm going to show you how to save water when washing hands." - Shen "No Water was wasted during this video." – Caleb, Molly, Luna, Destiny, Astrid
"We need to conserve water because it's a waste if we don't." Kegan
"Conserving water is good because some people in different countries don't get to use as much water as we do. So maybe if we save it they can have more water, too." - Osiris
"Conserving water is important because there is only 2% of it on the whole entire planet that we can drink!" - Alora
Why should we conserve water? "Because it will help sea creatures." - James
"Don't you know not to flush garbage down the toilet? Don't flush it down the toilet, put it in the garbage!" – Alora
"This is a rain barrel and it is used to catch rain and then with this faucet it comes out and we fill our water buckets to water all the plants in this garden…You put it right under the gutter to catch the rain." Keagan
Watch more videos from Parkview third graders.
Check out Parkview PowerPoint presentations and other ingenuitive action projects.
Learn more about RE Sources' Green Classroom Certification challenge.


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When I was a dirty young man working at a low-end marketing outfit, I scoffed at the tagline for the office-approved Dockers-rock station that played all day in any cube pod where the clip artisans outnumbered the conference callers. In between Lilith Fair dirges, furniture store ads, and the softer Third Eye Blind anthems, WMOM congratulated its captive audience for reaching the enlightened stage where we "enjoy Sunday morning more than Saturday night."
I've never been an enthusiastic Saturday night specialist—crowds and lines are for suckers—but I couldn't imagine ever thinking "Thank heavens it's finally Sunday morning." Unless you're being held without bail until court reconvenes, there are few rational reasons for a nine-to-fiver to welcome Saturday's unholy slide into Pre-Monday. The fat newspaper is a pretty good time if you're precious, and there's football on a third of the year if you're not, but otherwise Sunday doesn't have a ton to recommend it.
But I now like Sundays more than I ever foresaw, largely because in my dotage I've finally begun to embrace the Bloody Mary. I used to be suspicious of clock-dependent drinking conventions. I liked beer in the afternoon and the evening, and I couldn't follow any logic that mandated drinking something else on the rare and glorious wet morning. I figured that if people really liked their odd mishmashes of vodka, tomato juice, and condiments, they wouldn't restrict the pleasure to brunch. I thought Bloody Marys were a fussy affectation for people who lacked the gumption to wash down their omelets with a shot and a beer. And I still kinda think that, but that's neither here nor there: The point is that even though a lot of Bloody Marys are lame, there is potential for greatness, and that's where we're headed.
All you need in order to be able to call your drink a Bloody Mary is tomato juice, vodka, and one other ingredient of your choosing that prevents it from being some sad-ass two-tone vodka-and. But don't be lazy about it. You only make a couple Bloodies a week, right? And you do it on slow days. Roll up your pajama sleeves and make a credible drink. It's fun. Let's run through your necessities and some of your optional accessories.
Are you a proud modern boozebag who fancies himself too sophisticated for vodka? Nice, me too! But fuck us, it's Bloody Mary time, which means it's vodka time. The primary knock against vodka is that cheap versions taste like gasoline and expensive versions taste like nothing, and there's a broad truth to that. But Bloody Marys tend to be such clusterswallows that the other ingredients can hide a bit of gas while adding plenty of not-nothing, so your choice of vodka isn't quite as important as you'd think. Just don't buy Grey Goose or any of that high-end shit. There's no reason to ever spend more than the $20 a liter of Tito's will run you. If that's too rich, I recommend Skyy for around $15 or Gordon's for $10 (and maybe a second job?).
Tomato Juice
This part's pretty easy, too. If it's the end of farmers' market tomato season, buy the ugliest ones you can find for a buck a pound, run them through the juicer you almost certainly don't own, strain out the seeds, add a lot of salt, and you're ready to make Mary. If it's one of the other 11 months of the year or you're not the home-juicing sort, just buy the best tomato juice you can find. Campbell's is fine, so is Knudsen's. (The Whole Foods 365 isn't.) You don't need to go high-end heirloom organic, but a solid brand-name from a well-lit major grocery chain is in order. Don't you dare use one of those prepackaged Bloody Mary mixes. They're sweet, gummy, and expensive, and they take all the joy out of operation. V-8 will do in a pinch, but why are you in a pinch? Use tomato juice.
Lime and tomato are weird together. Go with lemon. Lemon bitters even works a little bit.
Horseradish contains glucosinolates, which are said to inhibit the spread of cancer. Cool! Of more immediate importance and verifiability, horseradish tastes fantastic. There should be more horseradish-flavored snack chips and candies and beers. Some people think they don't like horseradish, but they are mistaken. You know that green paste you get with sushi? That's not real wasabi—at least, not on your budget. That's plain old horseradish spiked with food coloring. (No idea where they get the hardened pink gelatin they call "ginger." Maybe another part of the horse, maybe actual ginger root. We'll get to that on Dark and Stormy day.)
Worcestershire Sauce
YES. And you don't even need to spring for the Lea & Perrins, though it wouldn't kill you to since the stuff lasts forever. I've never been disappointed with any of the scruffier brands, either.
Hot Sauce
Oh boy. I really should let Burneko handle this section, as he's got much more of a stomach for instigating food wars. I'm going to tread medium-lightly and insist that you use hot sauce but allow you to pick the brand. I suggest the clean vinegar-cayenne heat of Frank's Red Hot. Crystal is good, too. You'll probably use Tabasco, and that's cool. I prefer the green (jalapeño) Tabasco, but more than a couple drops of green would further muddy a Mary already discolored by Worcestershire. Cholula's great on eggs and other boring things but the flavor's a bit more complex than other popular hot sauces, so it could clash with either your Bloody or your tongue. You know what's good if you're feeling kinky? Drain off a bit of the adobo sauce from a can of chipotles.
Well sure, a little bit of salt (or better yet, celery salt) and pepper, but be careful with the powders. Before you shake in a fistful of cayenne sand, consider if there aren't fresher, livelier ways to heat up your breakfast. I do like a small dose of cumin, though, and maybe paprika, too, if you've got some decent, not-too-ancient stuff.
Don't hang your limp, nasty lemon wedge off the side of the glass. Wring it out and toss it. As for celery, that could go either way. It's not going to impart any flavor just sitting there, but it's worth adding if you actually intend to take a bite or two. If it's the swizzling properties you're after, consider replacing the celery with a pickled green bean, or a Slim Jim. Or one of these beautiful-looking beef straws. Classy places will sometimes hook a shrimp on the rim, but that's not always practical for the home cook. Do you often have spare shrimp lying around on Sunday morning? You probably shouldn't. An honest home like your own probably has a good stash of pickled eggs, though. Chop one of those in half, slit it up the side, and impale it on the side of the glass. Float some pickled jalapeño slices in there; gherkins too.
Here's a basic recipe. Make this, tell me how much you love it and me, and then start improvising.
3 ounces vodka
6 ounces tomato juice
5 shakes of Worcestershire (soy sauce if you're desperate)
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish (less if you're a coward)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (about ¼ of a lemon)
1 teaspoon celery salt or table salt (not both)
½ teaspoon black pepper
hot sauce to taste
1) Combine ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker.
2) Shake the hell out of it—you need to make sure you get everything evenly distributed, particularly the horseradish.
3) Strain it into a pint glass filled with fresh ice.
4) Load in your Slim Jim and your pickles and your various other hopes and dreams.
5) Take some pride in having done one small thing right this morning.
Related: How To Make A Decent Goddamn Margarita, For Once
Will Gordon loves life and tolerates dissent. He lives in Cambridge, Mass., and has visited all of the other New England states, including, come to think of it, Vermont. Find him on Twitter @WillGordonAgain.
Find lots more food and drink stuff at foodspin.deadspin.com. Image by Sam Woolley.


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Queen ousted in GOP takeover of state Senate
Incumbent Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville) lost his state Senate seat to fresh-faced Republican challenger Ralph Hise, making Hise the youngest North Carolina senator and adding another member to the now-Republican majority in that chamber.
This is just the latest in a series of tough battles fought by Queen over the last few elections for the 47th Senate District. His fortunes at the polls have risen and fallen with the tides of national sentiment – he lost his seat in the Bush-bonanza of 2004, but swooped in to reclaim it in 2006 when Bush's ratings – and, by extension, his party's – plummeted, and held it easily in 2008, riding the Democratic wave led by now-President Obama.
Queen himself attributes this loss, the second of his Senate career, to the national backlash against incumbents as well as the wealth of attack ads lobbed at him by his opponent and outside groups unaffiliated with Hise.
"It was a unique kind of race, as anyone knows that followed it," said Queen. "There's been a million dollars of negative advertising, which is twice as much as you would expect, even in a high profile race like I usually have.
"It's hard to withstand a million dollars of negative advertising and still keep your public persona."
Meanwhile, winner Hise attributes his win to the feeling among voters that their interests and needs aren't being properly represented in Raleigh.
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"We've heard an anger across the district that people are upset with their government and representation since we started this campaign," he said, noting that his own frustration with the way government is run prompted his bid for the seat in the first place.
While 60-year-old Queen has served intermittently since 2002, 34-year-old Hise comes to the assembly from his position as mayor of Spruce Pine, carrying with him minimal legislative experience.
He said his priorities in Raleigh will be to "return us to some fiscal discipline" while seeking out new opportunities for jobs in the district.
Hise took just under 56 percent of the vote, winning McDowell, Yancey, Mitchell and Avery counties. Queen surpassed him Haywood, his home county, and neighboring Madison County.
Although he is out for this legislative term, Queen has made comebacks before, and wouldn't rule out the possibility of a return to the campaign trail on the next election cycle.
"I am 60 years old and I've still got a lot ahead of me," Queen said, "but whether it's in politics or business or what, I'm not certain.
"I like public service and I will look at the future appropriately as it develops, but I certainly have enjoyed getting to do the things I've been able to do for my region."
Hise said he is excited about the win, after what he called a "hard, tough fight," but takes a cautious attitude towards the role of the new Republican majorities in both state chambers, warning that he and fellow Republicans must be careful to keep promises lest they find the tables turned on them when voters hit the polls again.
"If we don't return representation to our government," Hise said, "this will be a two-year opportunity."
47th Senate District
Ralp Hise Jr. (R) 31,098
Joe Sam Queen (D) 24,531


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Experts from the UK and India are working together to identify and develop novel environmentally-sustainable strategies to control plant pests, known as plant-parasitic nematodes or eelworms, to ensure global food production and security. This project is funded by the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI).
Plant-parasitic nematodes are thought to cause annual losses to crops in the region of $77-$100 billion globally. They are an important constraint on crop production by reducing the effective uptake of water and nutrients by the plant's root system. Since the middle of the twentieth century, these crop pests have been controlled through the use of synthetic pesticides. But these are some of the most environmentally toxic compounds used in agriculture, and legislation prohibits their use in many parts of the world including Europe and the US. Hence, less environmentally harmful methods of control are required.
Dr Keith Davies, senior lecturer in applied nematology at the University of Hertfordshire, said: "Both India and the UK have a problem with potato cyst nematodes which has a serious impact on the potato crops each year. This project is to develop natural solutions to control these pests on this important staple crop.
"We need natural control methods which do not have the detrimental effect on the environment that the synthetic pesticides have. India also has serious nematode problems on other major crops including rice, wheat and pigeon pea – so the project will also look at natural solutions to control these crop pests."
This new collaboration brings together expertise in this area of crop protection and food security from the University of Hertfordshire, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Rothamsted Research.
The research team will be investigating the use of a bacterium from the Pasteuria group which produces spores and is a parasite of several invertebrate animals which live within soil. The spores lie dormant in the soil and adhere to and then infect the nematodes as they make their way towards the plant roots.
"We know from previous research that when infected, the nematode's ability to reproduce is affected and, in some species of pest nematode, they are prohibited from reproducing. This effect on nematodes has been associated with nematode suppressive soils."
The project aims to understand how Pasteuria penetrans bacterial parasites attach themselves to the nematode's outer skin known as its cuticle. By investigating these molecular interactions between plant-parasitic nematodes and the group of nematode parasitic bacteria, the research team aims to exploit this knowledge and develop a natural and sustainable biological control agent for plant-parasitic nematodes.


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Even though planning your estate isn't an enjoyable job it's necessary so that you can efficiently and successfully transfer all of your assets to those you leave behind. With a bit of careful planning, your heirs can avoid having to pay estate taxes and federal taxes on your assets. As well, a well planned estate avoids confusion for your loved ones. Still, with all the advantages of estate planning, many people make a great many mistakes in the process.
The most common mistake when it comes to estate planning is not getting around to doing it at all. Make sure that you take the time to plan at least the financial portion of your estate so that you leave your loved ones behind with some amount of security.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that estate planning is just for the rich. This is completely false as planning your estate is essential for anyone who has any amount of assets to leave behind. Many people don't realize that their estate is as large as it really is, especially when they fail to take into account the assets from their home. Remember to update your will and to review it at least once every two years. Factors that can change information about your beneficiaries include deaths, divorce, birth, and adoption. As your family structure changes so does the change in your assets and who you want to leave them to.
Don't assume that taxes paid on your assets are set in stone. Talk to your financial planner about ways that your beneficiaries can avoid paying taxes on your assets. There are several strategies for tax planning so that you can minimize taxes or avoid them altogether. All of your financial papers should be in order so that it's easy for someone to find them. Make sure that one of your loved ones has information on where to find the papers necessary for planning after your death.
Many people take a lot of time deciding what to do with their assets and forget that they need to appoint guardianship for their children. There are many details to take into consideration when it comes to guardianship.
The above mistakes are common when people are planning their estate. Take the time to plan for your death even though you think that you have years before it becomes an issue. The key to successful estate planning is being prepared.


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A console version of the much-anticipated Diablo 3 has been rumored for quite some time, due in no small part to developer Blizzard admitting back in September that it was experimenting with a console version of the game. Now, according to a tweet from a Blizzard community manager, it looks like Diablo 3 on consoles is all but confirmed.
In response to an inquiry from a fan via Twitter, which asked simply "can you confirm or deny Diablo 3 coming to consoles?" community manager "Bashiok" responded "Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo console project." More specific details have yet to be announced.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mosqueira has been working as a lead game designer at Blizzard since last May, and prior to that worked on the unreleased Far Cry 3 at Ubisoft and served as a lead designer on games like Company of Heroes and Homeworld 2 at Relic. When Blizzard first revealed that it was looking at bringing the role playing game to consoles, director Jay Wilson said that the game actually felt better in some ways with a controller, as opposed to a mouse and keyboard.
"One of the reasons why we're exploring the idea of a console version of Diablo 3 is because we feel that the controls and the style of the game lend itself to a console," he said. "With some of our early experiments in putting a direct control scheme into the game via a 360-like analogue controller, I've [thought] 'Oh this feels even better, with direct control...'"


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Get More Done: Time Management for Sellers and Managers
One-hour, Live Online Presentation
never enough time to get everything done. But successful people find time to become successful. You'll learn the 3 most important things America's top billers do on a daily basis. And you'll learn 10 tips for managing your time in order to get to the most important things.
Date: Tuesday June 11, 2013


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DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO — It's no joking matter when the Sacramento Kings principle owner Vivek Ranadivé says time after time that he likes to surround himself with people "smarter" than he is. Based on his professional background, the self-imposed discipline Ranadive endorses has been an effective tool for the software engineer and the companies he has built.
Ranadivé has been making some productive personnel changes since he took over the reigns of the Kings. He is also showing his commitment to diversity during the process. It's a procedure that should fit the Sacramento region and its humanly inhabitants perfectly.
"It's all about people," Ranadivé told The OBSERVER during an exclusive interview at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Sacramento. "The one piece of advice I got when I became an entrepreneur was to surround myself with people smarter than me. I'm not super smart. So I've been able to do that. But it's the same philosophy I'm carrying over into the Kings' journey."
What Ranadivé is specifically "carrying over" to the Kings' operation is obviously the business model that works for TIBCO Software Inc., his 16-year-old software company headquartered in Palo Alto. Ranadivé's first company he founded in 1986 is Teknekron Software Systems.
TIBCO, short for The Information Bus Company, provides infrastructure software for companies to use on-premise or as part of cloud computing environments. TIBCO employs its trademark's products to supply companies the "two-second advantage,"which is the ability to retrieve information instantly and act on it to gain a competitive advantage.
TIBCO has more than 4,000 customers worldwide that count on the software company to act as a steward for information, decisions, people, and data in real time. Ranadivé's high-level management team and staff includes people of all different races and gender. Former San Francisco 49ers great Roger Craig is one of the Kings' owner best friends and business associate.
"We just have the best people (to work for TIBCO)," he said. "That's something you can never compromise."
With the inclusion of 160,000-plus African Americans, the Sacramento region boast more than 2.5 million people and has a diversity pool that may exhibit a face from every corner of the globe. Ranadivé likes that human-facade factor of Sacramento. He made references to the region's diversity as a form of popular music or a gumbo mix.
"Oh, I think it's fantastic," Ranadivé said of the makeup of the region. "What you get is the ultimate jazz band. You have people from everywhere. Bring them together and great things happen."
The Kings' ownership group, Ranadivé cited, is a mixture of backgrounds within itself. Youtube co-founder Steven Chen (Taiwanese American), the Jacobs family that founded Qualcomm (Jewish Americans), and former NBA star Dr. Shaquille O'Neal (African American) are a part of the Kings ownership group. Ranadivé is from the of India, the second most populated country in the world.
"If you look through it, you'll find just about every kind of person represented in the ownership group," Ranadivé told The OBSERVER. "You'll see the same thing in the Kings' staff like Shareef Abdur-Raheem (also African American). He's the general manager of our D-League team and he's doing a fantastic job."
TIBCO and the Kings, as diversified as they are, is a only a key component of Ranadive's repertoire. He is persistent in hiring the best people that are qualified for the position. People with different ethnic backgrounds is a plus, though performing the tasks with competent skills is a must, Ranadivé said.
"I am actually pretty colorblind," Ranadivé said. "I have the best people and it just turns out that they come from everywhere. Openness is one of my core values. Openness and diversity actually make good business sense."
Leslie Moore, TIBCO Software Inc.'s Director and Global Head of Corporate Communications and a graduate from Fresno State University, said the company's diversity makeup stretches around the world. TIBCO is global and has offices all around the planet earth.
"(Diversity) carries over into his software company," Ms. Moore said of Ranadivé. "His executive leadership group reads like an international, global database."
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson expressed that Ranadivé's Kings could be a definitive reflection of TIBCO. Johnson said Ranadivé built his company and reputation on finding the cream of the crop to implement the business' vision and organizational infrastructure. Ranadivé is completely changing the whole Kings organization's culture from top to bottom.
"I think that most people realize that if you want to build a high-performing company or high-performing sports team…diversity is in your best interests," Johnson said. "You want to get the best and the brightest. But when you have different perspectives…certainly you're able to do that (perform at a high level). And certainly, (Ranadivé) is able to tout his success in Silicon Valley. I'm sure that same kind of broad-based approach, diversity and perspective, will be a part of what he brings to the Sacramento Kings' franchise," Johnson stated.
In regards to building the Kings back into a winning franchise, Ranadivé also shared that the team is operating under a mission statement that relies on enhancing lives, reaching the lives of those it touches "and to make the world a better place," he said.
Along with the mission statement, excellence, integrity, hard work, openness, and amusement values have been incorporated into the franchise to ensure everyone is making a contribution and commitment to put out the best product possible.
"We've laid all this out and everybody has bought into it so that we are all on the same page," Ranadivé said. "The analogy I make is that the 20th century model leadership was a marching band where everybody robotically marched to the beat of a single drum. The 21st century model that I subscribes to is more jazz. Everyone can contribute, do their own thing, and sometimes improvise. But at the end of the day…what occurs…is beautiful music," Ranadivé stated.
By Antonio Harvey
OBSERVER Staff Writer


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Sources say officials in the Office of the Secretary of Defense want to cut the total LCS buy from 52 to 24. Here, the first-in-class LCSs Freedom, left, and Independence maneuver off San Diego in May 2012. (Lt. Jan Shultis / Navy)
Sep. 2, 2013 By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS - Defense News
WASHINGTON — The office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) reportedly supports the idea of limiting total purchases of littoral combat ships to only 24, far short of the US Navy's goal of 52 ships, sources have told Defense News.
Stopping at 24 ships would end LCS procurement with the fiscal 2015 budget.
The Navy, according to sources, is countering with proposals for higher numbers, but strongly advocates going no lower than 32 ships — a number that would continue production another one or two years.
The positions are part of ongoing deliberations to formulate the fiscal 2015 defense budget, due to be submitted to Congress in February. The annual budget process has been heavily disrupted due to sequester cuts, and the White House's insistence on producing two versions of the budget — a non-sequestration version, called the program objective memorandum (POM) — and an alternative POM (ALT POM), incorporating the mandated cuts and hence, far more severe reductions in purchases and programs.
Pentagon budget officials have focused primarily on the ALT POM, and in late August began switching to the POM. The OSD proposal to limit LCS to 24 ships is understood to be part of the ALT POM discussions.
Asked for comment, both OSD and Navy officials emphasized that no final decisions have been made.
"Until the FY15 President's Budget request is submitted to the Congress in February 2014, and becomes part of the public record, all decisions are pre-decisional and it is inappropriate to discuss specific details," said Lt. Caroline Hutcheson, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon.
"We continue to evaluate the future demand for forces and will maintain a balance between force structure requirements while managing fiscal and operational risk," she added. "We remain committed to a 52-ship LCS program —this number accurately and appropriately captures the requirement for capacity and capabilities."
One defense official noted a mandated $52 billion cut is coming at the end of fiscal 2013, Sept. 30.
"You can't cut force structure that quickly," Maureen Schumann, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Aug. 28. "We've already cut the readiness accounts to a bare minimum. So the investment accounts will take an inordinate part of those cuts for 2014 on."
In addition to supporting a reduction to 24 ships, OSD also reportedly is insisting the Navy place a top priority on fielding the mine countermeasures (MCM) module, one of three major mission packages under development for the LCS.
The Navy already has prioritized the MCM module in order to fulfill its most pressing operational need for the ships — three developmental packages have been delivered — but the effort has seen significant issues that have pushed back its operational readiness.
Sean Stackley, the Navy's top acquisition official, noted during a July 25 appearance before Congress that, "sequestration, combined with recent congressional marks and rescissions, will impact the operational test schedule for the mine countermeasures mission package."
Stackley did not say during that hearing what the revised initial operational capability (IOC) date was for the MCM module, but he noted the surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare packages are scheduled to reach IOC in 2014 and 2016, respectively.
What 24 Means
While LCS has been controversial since its inception more than a decade ago, the Navy's top leadership has never wavered in its support of the full program. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, have remained adamant in their support, testifying before Congress in defense of the program and proclaiming it in multiple public addresses.
Vice Adm. Tom Copeman, commander of the Navy's surface forces, noted in an internal memo produced in November that with 24 ships — half devoted to mine warfare — the Navy will have exceeded the current minesweeping capacity of its ships and aircraft. While the modules are required to be interchangeable between the two LCS variants, only the Independence-class ships have been used in developmental MCM testing.
Four littoral combat ships have been delivered, while construction contracts or contract options have been awarded for 20 more. The numbers are evenly divided between the Freedom class, built by Lockheed Martin at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wis., and the Independence class, built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. Construction contracts have been awarded for LCS hulls five through 16; four more are in the 2014 budget, while hulls 21 through 24 are planned to be funded and awarded in 2015.
The Navy's program of record shows two ships scheduled for 2016, and two more in 2017. A minimum of 32 ships would extend production another one or two years — enough, perhaps, for the sequestration restrictions to be relaxed or eliminated.
Meanwhile, Pentagon budget deliberations continue on a wide scale. But time is growing short. Under OSD deadlines, budget proposals are to be presented to the deputy's Management Action Group in late September, followed by briefings to Frank Kendall, the Defense Department's top acquisition official, in late September or early October. A full budget brief to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel isn't expected until November.
Sam Fellman and Marcus Weisgerber contributed to this report.
commenter cet article …


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The cardinal said that nobody, not even a pope, could change the teaching reaffirmed by St John Paul II
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the Vatican's doctrinal chief, has made one of his strongest statements yet on the controversial question of Communion for the divorced and remarried.
In an interview with the Italian magazine Il Timone, Cardinal Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was asked whether the teaching reaffirmed by Pope St John Paul II's Familiaris Consortio is still valid.
St John Paul said that the divorced and remarried cannot take Communion, except possibly when they try to live "in complete continence".
Cardinal Müller said of this condition: "Of course, it is not dispensable, because it is not only a positive law of John Paul II, but he expressed an essential element of Christian moral theology and the theology of the sacraments."
In Familiaris Consortio, St John Paul said that the prohibition was based on Scripture and the intrinsic link between the Eucharist and marriage: to live in a sexual relationship "objectively contradict[s] that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist".
The cardinal told Il Timone that this made Communion for the remarried impossible: "For us marriage is the expression of participation in the unity between Christ the bridegroom and the Church his bride. This is not, as some said during the Synod, a simple vague analogy. No! This is the substance of the sacrament, and no power in heaven or on earth, neither an angel, nor the pope, nor a council, nor a law of the bishops, has the faculty to change it."
Parts of the interview have been translated into English by Matthew Sherry for the newspaper L'Espresso. In it, Cardinal Müller also says the Pope's apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia must be read "in the light of the whole doctrine of the Church".
St John Paul was one of several popes, including Benedict XVI, to reaffirm the doctrine on Communion for the remarried. It has also been taught by theologians, Church fathers, early councils, and in recent decades by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Recently, the two bishops of Malta said that, instead, the remarried should receive Communion if they discerned that they were "at peace with God". They claimed that their advice was based on Amoris Laetitia. The bishops of Germany have today approved Communion for the remarried in some cases, in their document on Amoris Laetitia.
In the new interview, Cardinal Müller says: "Amoris Laetitia must clearly be interpreted in the light of the whole doctrine of the Church." He added: "I don't like it, it is not right that so many bishops are interpreting Amoris Laetitia according to their way of understanding the Pope's teaching. This does not keep to the line of Catholic doctrine."
He said that many people needed to study more doctrine on the office of the bishop, which was not to offer novel accounts of papal teaching. "The bishop, as teacher of the Word, must himself be the first to be well-formed so as not to fall into the risk of the blind leading the blind," the cardinal said. He also warned against "sophistries" and "casuistry" which would diminish Church teaching on marriage.


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Difference between revisions of "Makerbot Howto / Tutorial"
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Here we connect to the machine, and start it warming up.
Here we connect to the machine, and start it warming up.
* Plug in the USB cable that's coming out of the Makerbot.
* Plug in the USB cable that's coming out of the Makerbot.
Revision as of 22:47, 30 December 2010
Before you start, it's nice to have the big picture of what's going on. Here's an outline of the steps that you'll be taking, and why you take them.
- Download the replicator-G software that controls the machine.
- Download/create a 3-D model in .stl format.
- Using skeinforge, (some python routines bundled with replicator-G) turn the 3-D model into a toolpath for the bot's extruder head to follow. At this point the toolpath will be in an industry-standard text format called "gcode".
- Warm up the machine. (You could have been doing this all along...)
- Convert the gcode into the makerbot's native format (.s3g) and send it across. This is done transparently in one step when you press the "Build" button.
- Confirm that the test extrusion worked. If not, it'll need to warm up more or you may need to straighten out the feedline.
- Watch it print. Let it cool a bit when it's done. Hooray!
The rest of this page is a step-by-step that you can follow. Enjoy.
Set up the Software Side
Get your bits set up.
- Download the latest version of replicator-G: replact.org
- Run it at least once. It creates a secret .replicatorg directory in your home directory.
- Replace the ~/.replicatorg/machines.xml file it creates with the one found here: Makerbot machines.xml. If you don't do this, you will fail when using the makerbot in the space. (Ugh. They've moved the location of the machines.xml file in version replicatorG-0022. The path to machines.xml will depend on the version you install. This needs a fix in the instructions.)
- Download something fun to print. If this is your first time, something cool but quick like the penny bottle opener or a dodecahedron is a good idea. You should now have a .stl file.
- Open up your .stl file in replicator-G. You should see a 3-D representation of it on a wireframe of the build platform. If it's too big, scale it. I always press "Move...Center" which puts the object on the build platform for you.
- Feel free to follow the replicator-G usage tutorial, but start the machine warming up first. (Next step.) That way, the ten minutes you spend monkeying with replicator-G will serve double-duty as time warming up the machine.
Fire up the Machine
Here we connect to the machine, and start it warming up.
- Make sure the power switches on the power supply and the bot itself are flipped on.
- Plug in the USB cable that's coming out of the Makerbot.
- Select Machine...Driver and choose Andy's Cupcake. (You _did_ replace the machines.xml file in the step above, right?)
- Select Machine...Serial Port and choose /dev/ttyUSB*
- The top bar should now be green and the machine's name ("Slick") visible. If not, try clicking on the disconnect and re-connect icons. The next time you connect, replicator-G will remember these settings and it should just connect automagically.
- The four-way arrow icon opens up the Control Panel. Do that.
- On the right-hand side are controls for temperatures. Since it takes a while to heat up, we're going to pre-heat the machine now. Set the extruder temperature for 220 and the build platform for 100 (celcius). You will need to wait at least 5 minutes (maybe 10) until it's ready to go. _DO NOT_ start extruding when the extruder temperature gets up to 220 -- the thermistor is on the outside of the barrel and it heats up before the plastic is melted. You need to wait another five minutes after it says it's at 220.
- On the left are the platform controls. Honestly, it's easiest to zero the machine by hand. Press the "Set Zero" button. Now, push the platform so that the nozzle is in the center, and using the crank on the top right of the machine, lower the nozzle until it's almost touching the platform (0.1-0.2 mm above).
- (Optional test extrusion) If it's been 5 minutes already and the extruder head is good and hot, you can raise the nozzle (press z+ to step up 10mm) and do a test extrusion. Type "255" into the PWM box at the top right, and select "Forward". If a noodle doesn't start coming out in a few seconds, make sure that the cord is feeding in. Sometimes it helps to reverse it back out, clip off the end, and re-feed. The extruder is slightly temperamental. If you do a test extrusion, be sure to place the nozzle back down at zero when you're done.
Build the G-code for your Model
G-code describes the path that the extruder head needs to follow to make your object, along with temperatures and motor speeds and other necessary details. Skeinforge is the program that turns your 3-D model into a tool path for the machine. (This is where all the bodies are buried.) Skeinforge is part of the replicator-G package that you've already downloaded. You're gonna need to click some buttons.
- While the bot is warming up, press the "Generate GCode" button. It will open up a dialog box with a choice something like "cupcake-mk4-heated-platform-abs". Select that. Check the "Use raft" checkbox if it's not already.
- For now, we'll be using the vanilla settings, but if you were going to change some of the skeinforge parameters, you'd click "Edit" or "Create" to edit or duplicate and edit the skeinforge settings to your liking.
- OK, I lied. There's one setting you might want to change. (Optional.) With "cupcake-mk4-heated-platform-abs" selected, click "Edit" and then "Raft". Set "Interface Layers" to 1. Press save and close.
- Back at the first menu, pressing "OK" will start compiling. This can take a while. Good thing the machine is warming up... Pace around expectantly for a few minutes.
- When it's done, you should have a tab labelled "gcode". Click it if you want to see what gcode is like.
- The leftmost button on the top row (arrow pointing to a ghostly jelly bean) enables you to simulate the build. Click it, wait a few seconds, and then watch as it traces out the planned object path. Cool, huh? This will be an important pre-flight check in the future, once you get used to what it means.
Here goes nothing...
- Are you ready to rumble?
- Has the extruder heated up? (Feel free to re-open the control panel to check that it's been at temp for a while.)
- Does the machine think it's at zero? (Feel free to re-open the control panel and press "Set Zero" again.)
- Is the nozzle physically at zero? (Move the nozzle to the center of the platform, almost touching.)
- Press the arrow-pointing-to-solid-jelly-bean button ("Build") to start the build!
- The nozzle will raise up. In a few seconds, it will run a test extrusion. If it worked, pull the extra plastic off of the extruder and click "yes" and it will start the print in earnest.
- (If it didn't extrude, you'll need to see the section on troubleshooting.)
- The nozzle will move back down to the zero position and it'll start printing out the raft.
- The first layer of the raft is slow and low, and ends up being fat. That's to make it stick better to the platform.
- The next layer (or layers) are skinnier. They're just there to get the height right and the surface level. They will peel off your model when it's all done.
- Watch in amazement for a few minutes. It's neat.
While Printing...
You're going to have some down-time here. Feel free to grab a drink. But don't stray too far from the machine. It needs babying.
- First thing to check is that the filament is unspooling properly. Sometimes it kinks up. You may want to rotate the whole reel until there's a decent amount of slack for insurance.
- Smell that? That's the smell of melting ABS in the morning. It's probably toxic. Don't inhale directly above the machine.
- Is everything sticking to the platform? Are the platform lights going on and off? These are good signs. It means the heater's working and around the right temperature.
- Is the raft peeling up and jamming the head? Press stop. Do over from the pre-heat instructions onward. This time, you might try putting the nozzle closer to the platform, which can help. Of course, too close and it won't extrude right. The raft will also peel if the build platform is not yet up to temperature. Check that it's hit 100C.
- Listen to the noises. It'll change when it transitions from a solid layer to a fill layer as the pattern changes. Get to know these noises and you won't have to watch it so closely.
- Relax. It takes a while.
- When it's done, wait another minute or so for the part to cool down.
- Sometimes you'll need to peel it off the platform. I use a tiny screwdriver tip under the raft corners.
- Peel off the raft from your part.
- Feel free to trim off the excess plastic bits that inevitably stick out. Diagonal wire cutters are good for this.
- You win. Nice part.
- You can stop here, or download another file and repeat. If you're a tuner (and you know if you are) read on.
Advanced Tricks for Your Second Print
There's a bunch of options in rendering to g-code that you may be interested in changing. You should probably preview your model before printing it out. Read this section while you're watching it print, but don't change anything -- there's a glitch where sometimes it will abort your print if you try to render g-code.
- See how it's doing multiple laps around the perimeter? That's a setting in skeinforge. "Fill..Solid Surface Thickness (layers)" I often set it down to 2 instead of the default 3.
- See how much fill it's making? Another setting in Fill. "Infill Solidity (ratio)". The default is 0.20. I usually use 0.15.
- If the raft took "forever" and you're impatient, feel free to drop "Raft...Interface Layers" down to 1 or even 0.
- As you saw, there's a billion skeinforge parameters. The defaults aren't bad for most models, but sometimes you'll want to change them, even on a per-model basis. I have more than ten tuned-up skeinforge preference sets. I'll have to share some.
- The z-axis lead screws are modified and super-beefy on Andy's bot. You'll need to modify your machines.xml file to get it to work. See Makerbot machines.xml.
- As noted above, the temperature indicated on the nozzle is _not_ the interior temperature that's relevant for melting the plastic, but the exterior temperature right next to the heating elements. You'll need to give it 5 min or so to soak in and melt the plastic.
Here I list all the things that can go wrong. And they will...


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Motorola Mobility has been found guilty of breaching European Union competition law but escaped a fine from EU regulators.
The European Commission on Tuesday ordered Motorola to eliminate the negative effects resulting from abuse of a dominant position.
Motorola Mobility will have to drop legal injunctions against Apple over so-called standards-essential patents. SEPs are patents that the holders declare essential to the implementation of technology standards such as those for 3G or GSM mobile devices, or H.264 video streaming. Because being able to follow these standards is crucial for all market players, standards bodies typically require patent-holders such as Motorola Mobility to agree to license such patents on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms.
Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia could have imposed a fine of up to 10 percent of the company's global turnover, but said Tuesday that there would be no such sanction. The company escaped a fine because there is no Commission decisional practice or EU court case law regarding the matter at issue, and national courts within the EU have reached different conclusions on the matter.
The Commission opened a formal probe into Motorola Mobility in April 2012 after the company sought an injunction on sales of Apple products it alleged infringed its patents. Seeking court injunctions is generally a legitimate remedy for patent holders in case of patent infringements, said the Commission. However, the Motorola Mobility injunctions relating to part of the GSM standard were found to constitute an abuse of a dominant position.
Microsoft has also filed a complaint against Motorola Mobility claiming the company was charging too much for use of its standards-essential patents in Microsoft products, in particular those relating to the H.264 codec. An investigation into that case was continuing, but Almunia is not yet in a position to make a ruling, he said Tuesday.
Motorola Mobility's current owner, Google, is in the process of selling it to Lenovo Group for $2.91 billion, but plans to retain most of the company's patent portfolio.
As part of a separate but similar investigation into the way Samsung Electronics asserted its own patent portfolio, the Commission made concessions offered by Samsung legally binding. According to these commitments, Samsung will not seek injunctions in Europe on the basis of its SEPs.


text: « Back to Calendar Beginning Epoxy-Resin Dirty Pour Group Art Classes 3/1/2019 6:30:00 PM Artisan Village of Amelia 2188 Sadler Road, Fernandina Beach FL 03 Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034 3/1/2019 8:30:00 PM Date: March 01, 2019 Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM Venue: Artisan Village of Amelia Address: 2188 Sadler Road, Fernandina Beach FL 03 Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034 Age Range: Adults Cost: $45 Per Student Contact: Julie Delfs | firstname.lastname@example.com | (904) 491-2180 Join local resin-epoxy artist Julie Delfs on Wednesday and Friday evenings to "make a splash" with this creative application of various paints mixed into glass-like resin-epoxy and then swirled onto a 12″ x 12″ wooden board that you can take home after 24 hours of drying time! No previous experience necessary ! The class fee of $45 per person includes the cost of materials--just bring your painting clothes. These classes are taught at the new Artisan Village at 2188 Sadler Road, next to Amelia's Attic Furniture and are BYOB friendly! We welcome groups up to 15 people--18+ and older. You must pre-register for this class at https://classes.artisanvillageamelia.com. Please call (904) 491-2180 for further information. Visit Website


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The Man with the Older Son
"Ow! They shot me!"
"He has a powerful weapon, he charges a million a shot..."
|The Man with the Older Son
|Directed by
|Billy Wilder
|Written by
|Richard Harris
Sean Connery
|Roger Moore
Sean Connery
Bernard Lee
Britt Ekland
Tex Ritter
|Produced by
|Albert R. Broccoli
|Distributed by
|United Artists
|Release date
|181 min.
|Preceded by
|Live and Let Die (1973)
|Succeeded by
|The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
|IMDb page
The Man with the Older Son is an 1974 film, the ninth in the James Bond film series, and the first one to be completely divergent from the source text. It was directed by Billy Wilder, produced by Albert R. Broccoli, starring Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Bernard Lee, Britt Ekland, and Tex Ritter.
After Roger Moore's first Bond film, Live and Let Die, turned out to be an enormous flop, the producers were stupid enough to allow Moore to negotiate his contract in such a way that he was guaranteed to act in a few more Bond films.
United Artists, however, did not believe that simply replacing the actor who played Bond would make the movie a hit. Their solution was to offer Sean Connery quadruple what he had been paid in Diamonds Are Forever, and once again cast Connery as James Bond, but this time cast Moore as Bond's son, Jimmy. Due to the bizarre fact that Moore is older than Connery (see The Theory of Children Older than their Parents), the producers decided to name the film The Man with the Older Son. After a rowdy night at a pub, Richard Harris drunkenly wandered onto the set and was subsequently drafted into writting the script, churning it out over three days and 55 Guinnesses.
Billy Wilder, the director of the last two Bond films and the earlier hit Goldfinger, though old and senile, was brought back again because producer Broccoli could not find anyone other director he could manipulate as well.
The Filming[edit]
Sadly, it was immediately obvious to the producers that in the three years since he'd last played James Bond, Connery had gone completely around-the-bend. The actor simply did not give a shit about
the movie, and refused to follow Harris' script in any way. Throughout the first seven weeks of shooting, Connery quite simply fucked around, doing whatever the hell he felt like doing; this included, among other things, shaving both Roger Moore's head and testicles in a bizarre Zoroastrian ritual.
The film, as originally written by Harris, was about a mysterious, unseen genius named Dr. Scarfeld who planned to create a a enormous spaceborne device that vibrated with the resonant frequency of the Earth. Scarfeld planned to threaten world leaders that he would use the device, called Rama, to make Earth vibrate until it split in half, and asked for a multi-billion dollar ransom to prevent him from doing it.
Unfortunately, just before shooting began on the first scene showing Scarfeld's face, Connery appeared out of nowhere
and shot the poor bastard. Of course, the producers would have simply filmed the scene again, except for the fact that Connery had in fact used a real pistol, and had shot and killed Scarfeld's actor, Tex Ritter. United Artists, as such, could not risk Connery killing another actor, so they concocted a story about Ritter having died of a heart attack and diminished his role in the script.
The New Script Arrives[edit]
Amazingly, however, it was the senile director, Wilder, who came up with the solution to the problem of the script: He suggested they continue filming, but do away with the script and have the actors improvise every single scene.
Oddly enough, Connery turned out to be a master of improvised acting. Using his influence over the other actors, however, he managed to turn the entire film into a comedy. The improvised storyline of The Man with the Older Son turned out to be about a rabbit (played by Connery) and an inanimate gelatinous blob named Wilma (played by Moore) who summoned all of their rabbit and blob friends to help them destroy the small European nation of Liechtenstein (voiced by Ritter). The group of rabbits and blobs were known as the Mega Mega Dudes. Although the movie does not explain why the Mega Mega Dudes wanted to destroy Liechtenstein, nor how they planned to do it, the Mega Mega Dudes do eventually destroy the small nation, killing thousands of innocent people.
Nobody really worked out why Connery came up with such stupid ideas, but the producers had no option but to stick with it. Unfortunately, according to Writer's Guild regulations, the actor's new additions could not be credited, so the producers were forced to still credit Richard Harris as writer, even though his script had been completely revised.
Surprisingly enough, despite the unusual storyline, and the fact that the movie had nothing to do with either the title or James Bond, the movie was actually a huge success, though, at first, nobody had a clue why. In a newspaper poll, it was revealed that well under 1% of the population of Great Britain had actually seen the film.
Finally, over a month after the film was released, it was discovered that almost all viewers of the film were heroin addicts. The Man with the Older Son became a new addiction for the junkies, as it seemed to somehow strike a chord with their heroin-distorted brainwaves. Junkies would sometimes see the movie as often as five times a day.
It didn't take long for drug dealers to catch on to the popularity of the film with junkies. They bought every available ticket for the movie at all of their local cinemas, and sold them to junkies at heavy premiums (often as much as £1000 for a single ticket). The dealers kept the tickets hidden in balloons hidden in their throats, which was odd since the movie ticket trade was perfectly legal.
The Future of the James Bond Franchise[edit]
It was soon apparent that the discovery of the legal movie trade was in fact like a free publicity goldmine for the James Bond franchise. Despite the fact that 99% of the world's population despised the previous three Bond films, the next film, sensibly titled The Spy Who Loved Me, broke new records at the box office. From then on, the Bond franchise prospered for many more years, or at least until the shit one came along...
See also[edit]


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Berling Nova Sans supports up to 0 different languages such as in scripts.
Please note that not all languages are available for all formats.
Berling Nova Sans Pro is the companion famous Berling Nova type family. Made by Pangea design, the sans family consists of seven fonts: Light, Regular, and Bold - all with true italics - and the additional weight of Extra Bold for real impact. The original Berling spirit was transfered into this sans design so it functions well as a pairing with its serifed counterpart. Useful for anything from text through display sizes, this clear and modern humanist design is sure to add just the right amount of personality to your project. For more information on this extended type system, be sure to check out the Berling Nova family!


text: This short film offers a picturesque tour through the maple-wooded hills alongside Québec's Lièvre River in autumn to the accompaniment of acclaimed poet Archibald Lampman's poems including Morning on the Lièvre. Trees are ablaze with colour, and their splendor is reflected in the mirrored surfaces of the water, offering a glimpse of the landscape Lampman knew so well through the poet's eyes and words. Lampman's poem is read by broadcaster and poet George Whalley, with accompanying score by composer Eldon Rathburn.


text:
selrecord, selwakeup -- record and wakeup select requests
#include <sys/param.h>
#include <sys/selinfo.h>
selrecord(struct thread *td, struct selinfo *sip);
selwakeup(struct selinfo *sip);
selrecord() and selwakeup() are the two central functions used by
select(2), poll(2) and the objects that are being selected on. They handle
the task of recording which threads are waiting on which objects and
the waking of the proper threads when an event of interest occurs on an
selrecord() records that the calling thread is interested in events
related to a given object. If another thread is already waiting on the
object a collision will be flagged in sip which will be later dealt with
by selwakeup().
selrecord() acquires and releases sellock.
selwakeup() is called by the underlying object handling code in order to
notify any waiting threads that an event of interest has occurred. If a
collision has occurred, selwakeup() will increment nselcoll, and broadcast
on the global cv in order to wake all waiting threads so that they
can handle it. If the thread waiting on the object is not currently
sleeping or the wait channel is not selwait, selwakeup() will clear the
TDF_SELECT flag which should be noted by select(2) and poll(2) when they
wake up.
selwakeup() acquires and releases sellock and may acquire and release
poll(2), select(2)
This man page was written by Chad David <firstname.lastname@example.com> and Alfred
Perlstein <email@example.com>.
FreeBSD 5.2.1 March 20, 2002 FreeBSD 5.2.1


text:
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
1983 - Marvel Comics Super Heroes stickers
8 comments:
- AnonymousJune 20, 2012 at 4:14 PM
Some of those same character illustrations were used in a South African card collecting sticker book in '82.ReplyDelete
Cool! Thanks for sharing.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 20, 2012 at 10:50 PM
These are pretty "iconic" poses for these heroes, for me.ReplyDelete
Except for the Dr Strange and Iron Man.
Thanks for the memories.
You're more than welcome starfoxxxReplyDelete
I would have loved these as a kid. So much fun stuff came ou back then. Thanks for putting this up.ReplyDelete
I have several of these - from a few different places of origin.ReplyDelete
AS noted on the copyright info you see on the border, they were first released in 1983.
I have bought them from two different producers in this form.
Back in '83 but sadly can not recall how they were packaged.
At the same time, they were released by Hallmark Cards. (I doubt that I bought them in the Hallmark incarnation back then, because I only had one sheet of them.
(I'll explain why this is important in a moment.)
The Hallmark package has a gold (non-shiny) header with the Hallmark logo up top (by the hang-hole). The sticker sheets, as you see here, were bundled with 4-sheets to a pack - I've never opened mine, so I can't be sure if it's the SAME sheet 4x, or with different stickers per sheet.
From what I CAN guess, (due to my research) they are all the same. My only source of doubt is that around the same time there were also stickers of characters like Spider-Woman, and Dave Cockrum's depictions of Storm and Wolverine, so... maybe/maybe not.
They were also released at some time after - in a slightly different assortment - as "puffy-stickers", raised "3D"-like with a vinyl outer layer and thin layer of foam inside.
The difference is that the puffy sticker pack comes with only 6 of these characters (in the same art/poses) neglecting to include Silver Surfer, Cyclops or the Fantastic Four.
My pack of Puffy stickers has a cheap header with a cheesy rainbow graphic up top and poor lettering, with the "Made in Taiwan" caveat up top.
I've seen the puffy sticker version on numerous occasions, so I'm guessing they're one of Marvel's low-rent licensees.
I hope my Doctor Strange collector nerdity has been of help.
Thanks ~P~, that's awesome!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 24, 2012 at 6:11 AM
i bought a sheet of those at a Dillon's grocery store, in the magazine/card section. These stickers did make rounds in the stationary aisles in various places.ReplyDelete


text:
Halfway through 2004, I openly predicted incessant redesigning would become somewhat cessant by the same year's end:
How wrong I was. Apparently the Incessant Redesign is far from extinction.
Like a kid in a candy store, we creatives redesign like it's the new black. Why do we possess such an insatiable desire to refresh and remake? Why do we thrive on renewal? What tempts us to be seduced by the sway of renaissance?
While this article won't analyze the psychological ambitions of right-brained elites and their innate desire to recreate, it will attempt to describe the difference between redesigning and realigning, as well the advantages of one over the other.
If iLife Falls in the Forest…#section2
In January 2005, Apple's iLife '05 was announced from Macworld Expo in San Francisco. The ensuing conversation offered plenty of feature-laden jargon regarding the upgraded suite of "digital lifestyle applications."
Virtually absent from the discussion was any mention of the rebranded iLife packaging. With little fanfare, Apple introduced a refreshed identity—let's call it a "redesign" for now—for its suite of lifestyle tools, and an unexpected hush seemed to fall over the crowds that might have otherwise discussed the shift in packaging design.
It was almost immediately following the release of iLife '05 that the idea for this article was spawned. Something clicked. The new iLife packaging wasn't just a redesign for the sake of redesigning. It seemed to represent much more than that. Personal computing was no longer something done to accomplish something else more efficiently, but rather a part of everyday life, even critical to communication and social interaction. The iPod, for example, was no longer only for the technorati; it was quickly becoming mainstream for coder and soccer mom alike. And that's what the new packaging seemed to portray—less about technology, more about people. The camera, keyboard, and similar objects subtly remain from the previous packaging, but the organic styling and seed metaphor—a perfect representation of "life" itself—steal the show.
So was the new iLife packaging merely another redesign to satisfy creative hunger pangs, or was it an attempt at something greater? Perhaps it wasn't even a redesign after all, but rather a shift in positioning—a realign instead of a redesign.
Redesigners vs. Realigners#section3
By now it's apparent that I've split us, the creatives, into two camps—and equally apparent that I prefer to wear Realigner team colors. Allow me to indulge in team bias by comparing the two.
The "redesigners"#section4
The Redesigners often rely on emotional responses to aesthetics in justifying a redesign. You'll typically hear statements like these:
Too often, look and feel, color scheme, layout, and identity are presented as solutions to problems discussed in these conversations long before regard is given to other less-aesthetic issues that may very well be the root of the problem. The old warning against treating symptom rather than cause comes to mind.
The "realigners"#section5
In direct contrast to the Redesigners, the Realigners cite strategic objectives and user needs as reasons to consider a site overhaul:
Thus, the differences between Redesigners and Realigners might be summarized as follows: The desire to redesign is aesthetic-driven, while the desire to realign is purpose-driven. One approach seeks merely to refresh, the other aims to fully reposition and may or may not include a full refresh. (Note that by "reposition," I mean strategy and not physical location or dimensions.)
Don't get me wrong—I too have played the role of typical Redesigner at times. We're all entitled to throw caution to the wind and redesign as a means of staying on top of one's game (e.g. redesign contests and portfolio sites). And besides, we can't bear the full brunt of the blame—we're creatives first, strategists (and info architects and project managers and coders and everything else under the sun) second. But I worry persistent redesigning with little cause often serves to promote only proprietary creativity, doing much to educate one in the hows of redesigning but little in the whys of realigning.
Just say no#section6
Perhaps the best way to educate one's self in the whys of realigning is to start by saying no. Strategy is often just as much about saying no as it is about saying yes. So is realigning.
Considered by many as the godfather of strategy, Michael Porter says it best in his Harvard Business Review article, "What is Strategy?" (emphasis mine):
Thank you, Godfather Michael. You've given us reason to question redesigning and begin thinking about realigning, simply by first saying no to the typical whims of gratuitous refresh and renew.
But enough about strategy and other conceptual banter. Let's talk practical application.
Proof Is In the Pixels#section7
So who's already riding the Realigner bandwagon? A few brief case studies follow.
Though we've never met in person, I consider Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain one of my closest friends. While authoring initial ideas for this article, I was given a peek at the upcoming redesign—er, realign—of Jesse's studio site, 31Three.
Jesse had no idea I was penning thoughts on this subject, yet the instant I saw his nascent layout in raw format I knew I had my first case study. After literally years of begging him to do so, Jesse was finally heeding the call to jump from tables to standards, as well as adding a blog to the site. Accordingly, the site needed to be updated, yet an all-out redesign wasn't necessary. He already had a solid design, so following a few minor color, grid, and typography changes he was well on his way to becoming a Realigner.
Gorgeous, isn't it? Final score: Realigners 1, Redesigners 0.
Like most other sites of age, Dan Cederholm's SimpleBits has changed over the years. But not as one might expect. Take a look at the sequence of screen grabs below:
Notice any sweeping changes from year to year? Neither did I. Dan has managed to tune, tweak, and adapt his site in response to growth and changes in positioning, while maintaining a skeleton that bears similarities with each passing phase. As I've watched Dan launch new versions over the years, he's done so with an eye toward purpose-driven improvements. Chalk up another one for the Realigners.
"But Cameron," you interject, "these are a pair of small studio sites you're spoon-feeding us. What about realigning on a larger scale?"
Not so fast, honey. Keep reading.
Philanthropic realignment#section10
Over the summer, I had the pleasure of doing contract work for March of Dimes. Founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, March of Dimes seeks to reduce premature births through research and fundraiser events such as WalkAmerica. Following a generous referral from Nick Finck, they came to me in need of a new homepage.
As typical with other projects, I was provided an RFP before being selected for the project. Here's the opening statement from that RFP:
Bingo. They nailed it. That's the thinking of a Realigner—purpose-driven retooling. There's virtually no mention of aesthetics, but plenty of talk about responding to growth and new opportunities.
And so began the realignment of the March of Dimes homepage. In fact, we were to realign only the homepage; all other pages would remain intact. The homepage, therefore, would not only need to address the issues mentioned in the RFP, but it would also need to integrate aesthetically with the rest of the site. This fact alone silenced any desire for a full makeover.
It's probably no surprise, then, that the realigned homepage (shown at right above) will not be entirely different from the existing homepage. The new homepage is scheduled to be released in the coming weeks and is still under final review at time of publication (note the filler headline, for example).
The full-refresh disclaimer#section11
By now I hope I've recruited you to join me on the Realigner sidelines. However, be aware that I don't shun the full refresh in all its aesthetical glory when necessary. It's perfectly fine to refresh the entire design from the ground up if there's good reason to do so, and especially if it's the cause and not merely the symptom of your site's woes.
In fact, this very site (A List Apart) underwent a similar transformation only weeks ago, based on a need to adapt to the new identity, brand extensions (A Book Apart, An Event Apart), and other necessary improvements. So by all means, bring on the full refresh should it be warranted.
Converting to realignism#section12
Ready to embrace the paradigm shift from redesign to realign? Consider the following when making the leap of faith to Realignism:
- Ensure a "raison d'être" exists. What are the reasons/objectives/purpose for realigning? I typically reserve a line in my clients' project summaries specifically for this item, What is the raison d'être for this project? Remember to say no just as much as you say yes. Greg Storey's ALA foray on a similar topic is worth a read: "Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason)".
- Determine what level of realignment is required. Will minimal changes suffice, or is a total revamp necessary? A solid raison d'être will aid in answering this question.
- Evaluate user switching costs. What will the impact be to users of the site? How will they be forced, enticed, or encouraged to mentally "switch" to the realigned design and any changes to the user interface, navigation, color scheme, etc.? How painful or painless will the switch be? Will this affect the level of realignment required?
- Determine the impact on launch plans. Answers to steps 2 and 3 will set the stage for launch and will likely determine such issues as whether a phased rollout or a single deployment is necessary.
Go get 'em, kids. As Mom used to say, "make something of yourself." Team Realigner is a great place to start.