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The Perfect Server - CentOS 5.5 x86_64 [ISPConfig 3] - Page 2
Now we select the software we want to install. Select nothing but Server (uncheck everything else). Also don't check Packages from CentOS Extras. Then check Customize now, and click on Next:
Now we must select the package groups we want to install. Select Editors, Text-based Internet, Development Libraries, Development Tools, DNS Name Server, FTP Server, Mail Server, MySQL Database, Server Configuration Tools, Web Server, Administration Tools, Base, and System Tools (unselect all other package groups) and click on Next:
The installer checks the dependencies of the selected packages:
Click on Next to start the installation:
The hard drive is being formatted:
The installation begins. This will take a few minutes:
Finally, the installation is complete, and you can remove your CD or DVD from the computer and reboot it:
After the reboot, you will see this screen. Select Firewall configuration and hit Run Tool:
I want to install ISPConfig at the end of this tutorial which comes with its own firewall. That's why I disable the default CentOS firewall now. Of course, you are free to leave it on and configure it to your needs (but then you shouldn't use any other firewall later on as it will most probably interfere with the CentOS firewall).
SELinux is a security extension of CentOS that should provide extended security. In my opinion you don't need it to configure a secure system, and it usually causes more problems than advantages (think of it after you have done a week of trouble-shooting because some service wasn't working as expected, and then you find out that everything was ok, only SELinux was causing the problem). Therefore I disable it, too (this is a must if you want to install ISPConfig later on). Hit OK afterwards:
Then leave the Setup Agent by selecting Exit:
Then log in as root and reboot the system so that your changes can be applied:
Now, on to the configuration...


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Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,300 public television and radio stations worldwide. Time Magazine named Democracy Now! its "Pick of the Podcasts," along with NBC's Meet the Press.
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard honored Goodman with the 2014 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' for "developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media." She is the first co-recipient of the Park Center for Independent Media's Izzy Award, named for the great muckraking journalist I.F. Stone. The Independent of London called Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! "an inspiration." PULSE named her one of the 20 Top Global Media Figures of 2009.
Goodman has co-authored five New York Times bestsellers. Her latest two,The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope, and Breaking the Sound Barrier, both written with Denis Moynihan, give voice to the many ordinary people standing up to corporate and government power. She co-authored her first three bestsellers with her brother, journalist David Goodman: Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times (2008), Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back (2006) and The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them (2004). She co-writes a weekly column with Denis Moynihan (also produced as an audio podcast) syndicated by King Features, for which she was recognized in 2007 with the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Reporting.
Goodman has received the American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Award; the Paley Center for Media's She's Made It Award; and the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship. Her reporting on East Timor and Nigeria has won numerous awards, including the George Polk Award, Robert F. Kennedy Prize for International Reporting, and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. She has also received awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Project Censored. Goodman received the first ever Communication for Peace Award from the World Association for Christian Communication. She was also honored by the National Council of Teachers of English with the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.

subset: commoncrawl


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|2 Thess 1:1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, ¶ To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
|2 Thess 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
|2 Thess 1:3 ¶ We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;
|2 Thess 1:4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.
|2 Thess 1:5 This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
|2 Thess 1:6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
|2 Thess 1:7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
|2 Thess 1:8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
|2 Thess 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
|2 Thess 1:10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed--for our testimony to you was believed.
|2 Thess 1:11 To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,
|2 Thess 1:12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.


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You saw this Super Bowl ad, right?
And on the eighth day God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need someone who can flip this for a quick buck."
So God made a banker.
God said, "I need someone who doesn't grow anything or make anything but who will borrow money from the public at 0% interest and then lend it back to the public at 2% or 5% or 10% and pay himself a bonus for doing so."
So God made a banker.
God said, "I need someone who will take money from the people who work and save, and use that money to create a dotcom bubble and a housing bubble and a stock bubble and an oil bubble and a commodities bubble and a bond bubble and another stock bubble, and then sell it to people in Poughkeepsie and Spokane and Bakersfield, and pay himself another bonus."
So God made a banker.
God said, "I need someone to build homes in the swamps and deserts using shoddy materials and other people's money, and then use these homes as collateral for a Ponzi scheme he can sell to pensioners in California and Michigan and Sweden. I need someone who will then foreclose on those homes, kick out the occupants, and switch off the air conditioning and the plumbing, and watch the houses turn back into dirt. And then pay himself another bonus."
God said, "I need someone to lend money to people with bad credit at 30% interest in order to get his stock price up, and then, just before the loans turn bad, cash out his stock and walk away. And who, when asked later, will, with a tearful eye, say the government made him do it."
God said, "And I need somebody who will tell everyone else to stand on their own two feet, but who will then run to the government for a bailout as soon as he gets into trouble — and who will then use that bailout money to help elect a Congress that will look the other way. And then pay himself another bonus."
So God made a banker.


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MIAMI – Community leaders are looking for answers after multiple shootings in Miami killed two people and injured four others.
"A lot of them are dying from shootings," said Cherrie Grace, who works on the obituary page for The Miami Times. "I have a son that's around that age, too. It kind of bothers me a little bit when I see them here. But what can you do?"
From Saturday to Monday, two people were killed and four others were injured in five different shootings.
"It's the same people, the same pastors (who) call a press conference when there's a shooting," said Tangela Sears, a community activist. "Does that actually cure the problem in our community? No."
"It's often is a top-down philosophy instead of a bottom up," said Kevin McNeir a senior editor at The Miami Times. "Some ministers, there were some politicians that were more interested, I'd say, in promoting their own agenda than promoting the agenda of those who are really hurting."
"We as a community have to learn how to hold those in our community responsible," added Sears. "They (politicians) are reelected due to popularity. We like them."
"Our young people are frustrated. They are unemployable," said McNeir. "Now, some parents are complicit because they know their children are selling drugs or they know they are in a gang or whatever and they look the other way."
Sears and McNeir described a cycle of poverty, lackadaisical parenting, and youths devaluing their own lives. Sears said the criminals often plead their way out of jail time.
"These guys with guns, they've learned the loopholes," said Sears. "They are just as sharp as the prosecutors and it becomes a revolving door."
"It's parents that have to be accountable and children that have to be accountable and business leaders have to be accountable," said McNeir. "It takes a village."


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Kids Help Phone Year End Fundraising
Team leadership united multiple departments and agencies. Central creation of all assets ensured consistent quality for multi-media support.
Team leadership united multiple departments and agencies. Central creation of all assets ensured consistent quality for multi-media support.
thinkdo's network of experts worked together closely to save the client time and effort
Review analytics weekly, tweak creative and landing pages to optimize return on investment
Sharing affirmations creative concept. Strong family of vendors yielded excellent final product
Ability to understand the target provided a greater understanding of new and lapsed donors
A version of "Branding Success" published in the quarterly publication, Canadian Society of Nutrition Management News
Author: Marty Goldberg, all rights reserved.
Published Fall 2012
What does the word Brand mean? Branding 101
A brand is a collective mental construct – a group of attributes which strongly influences purchase or choice. Brands raise expectations about quality, price, purpose, and performance. They enable marketers to build extra value into products or services and differentiate them from competitors. To be a brand, a product or service must have significant awareness of its brand name, a consistently delivered function, and clear, motivating benefits associated with it.
The important, enduring ideals or beliefs that guide behavior within a culture.
Value Proposition:
What is promised by a company's marketing and sales efforts, and then fulfilled by its delivery and customer service processes.
Brand Promise:
The verbal or written portion of your marketing message that summarizes the main idea – what customers should expect for all interactions with your people, products, services and company – in a few memorable words. It is sometimes called a slogan, tag line or strap line.
The value in a brand is the total of how much extra people will pay, how much more often they will chose to associate themselves with the expectations, memories, stories and relationships of one brand over the alternatives.
Plan to brand, plan to succeed!
Like any complex system to be built and sustained, branding requires planning. At thinkdo, we know a thing or two about planning and building brands. We have worked with Aspirin, Arm and Hammer and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Earlier this year, we began working with CSNM to strengthen its branding and marketing efforts.
We begin client engagements by reviewing or creating the brand plans – the architecture for the marketing. We agree on Vision, Mission, Value Propositions and Values. We summarize as a Positioning Statement, and then restate as a Brand Promise. See the box at right for some important definitions.
We then write and communicate Brand Stories to our clients' prospects, customers, employees and influencers; those who will benefit from a closer association with or engagement with the brand. These are our Target Audiences. The Targets we hope will pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word.
Write it down- use the tools!
Marketing professionals use specialized tools to define a brand and plan for marketing activities. These tools help answer the question, "Who says What to Whom, and How"
Before building a brand, you must create or understand its foundations. You describe and collect all of a brand's attributes and supports, targets and values in writing. I encourage you to use the tools I describe below to position your corporate brand, your department or your professional brand within your organization. Take time to select the words you use to describe your brand. Please take out a fresh sheet of paper and a pen or open a blank document on your computer and work along with me as you continue to read this article.
The Positioning Statement
The Positioning Statement is a unifying, overarching idea that drives the creative messaging and artwork targeted at key audiences. A brand's positioning defines a differentiated perceptual space relative to the space occupied by its competitors. It is a description of the strategic intent, style, personality, and competencies of the organization and can include both rational and emotional attributes.
The Positioning Statement follows the following format:
To (1. Target Audience), (2. Brand) is the
(3. Frame of Reference) , (4. Delivers the Benefits)
Here is our latest version of CSNM's Positioning Statement:
|To (1.) members and potential members, (2.) CSNM is the (3.) best resource supporting the Nutrition Management profession in Canada, providing members (4.) clear, simple and proven ways to develop professionally, make contacts within the broader community and find skilled employees or great new job opportunities.
Identifying your targets
Clearly identifying your priority target audiences – the WHO – is an important step in brand planning. Who are your customers and prospects? Please take a moment now to list your targets. Remember: clients, customers, staff, management, shareholders are common target audiences for marketing messages.
Prioritizing your targets
80% of your success, profits or results will come from focusing on the top 20% of the customers you serve. Revisit your list, and reorder your targets from most to least important to your future.
Frame of Reference
The easiest way to identify your Frame of Reference is to look to your competitors. It is crucial to know how and in which categories of service your competitors present themselves. Check out their web sites, or LinkedIn pages. Think about how they would be classified in the Yellow Pages™ – or what terms someone would use to find them online. Review the words they use to describe themselves. Now write down your brand's frame of reference.
Developing your message – Getting to WHAT
How do you decide WHAT to say? Think about each targets you listed above. In a professional sense, consider internal and external customers; your boss, your staff. Think about the people, patients, customers, clients you serve. Now list the benefits of your service to them, by describing the firm foundation that already exists for your Brand Stories, rooted in your Values. Capture the benefits your targets derive from working with you.
Don't just write down WHAT THEY GET – the features, but how it makes them FEEL. Restate the WHAT THEY GET with a BENEFIT. For example, the regular service your professional brand delivers in the workplace may be: rolling up weekly food expenditures in a budget for your organization through your manager. You track the inputs, review the content, prepare the budget, customize the report and send it by email. This is a functional description of your service. It is important to be able to describe the functional service you perform, but it is not enough. It is more powerful to describe the benefit the target audience derives from your service delivery. Imagine instead, describing the WHAT THEY GET like this – "Providing accurate information so your internal customers can make informed decisions in the best interest of your organization". This is a BENEFIT focused approach to stating the functional service your brand offers.
What are the BENEFITS of the professional services you provide as a nutrition manager? WRITE 'EM DOWN!
Once you have listed what you think are the BENEFITS of your BRAND, do a reality check. Find out what your customers actually think you do – in their own words. Do a little research. Have a frank, face-to-face discussion with the clients to whom you feel closest. What do your customers get out of their interactions with you? Get them to describe the tangible expression of value – how your service delivery makes them feel? If a less direct approach suits your style, ask some questions using a free online tool. Share the benefits you have listed with stakeholders you trust (your partner, colleague or boss). Get their input. Finalize the descriptions of the BENEFITS you deliver.
Get Ready to Tell Your Stories
Your next step is to write your own Brand Story. This will help others more easily define how great you are, why you should be sought out above your competitors. Every product or service needs a story, as does every brand. Stories could be about the product's history, the vision of the founders, or a unique experience the brand delivers. These stories provide value and help consumers remember and relate to the brand in language and imagery that is meaningful to them. What is the idealized experience you wish your customers would have? How would they benefit from your service delivery? What personal attributes will your customers remember? How can you emphasize them? Start with your Positioning Statement – and shorten it to create a Brand Promise – Lengthen and customize it for different Targets and you are writing your Brand Stories.
CSNM's Brand Story:
|In today's competitive economy, institutions and organizations are challenged to provide the optimal quality and quantities of nutritious food to their clients at the best cost.The best resource supporting the Nutrition Management profession in Canada, CSNM successfully communicates the vital role the Nutrition Manager plays, raising the profile of its members and the profession as a whole. The hub for Nutrition Management expertise, CSNM provides members clear, simple and proven ways to stay on top of their professional development, make contacts within the broader community and find skilled employees or great new job opportunities.Members are passionately aware of the importance of their profession and, through CSNM, are empowered to lead as ambassadors in their communities, managing multigenerational, ethnically diverse staff, educating employers, investing in students, and advocating for like-minded colleagues to join the ranks.As a result, the welcoming member community is the 'must-join' associationfor aspiring Nutrition Managers, has an actively growing member base and is sought out by the best employers.
A deep appreciation for the power of brand identities and the knowledge to put them to action.


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Clenbuterol is included in the group of selective β2-agonists. Clenbuterol is a drug that has a rapid bronchodilator effect. Its action is due to the specific stimulation of β2 - adrenergic receptors of smooth muscles. Upon binding to their activated adenylate cyclase enzyme, which leads to an increase in intracellular cyclic AMP concentration and activation of protein kinase A, and denies the ability to connect myosin with actin, resulting in bronchial relaxation. Clenbuterol stimulates bronchial mucosa cells and enhances the expectoration. The therapeutic dosages prescribed clenbuterol no effect on heart rate and blood pressure.
Liquid Clenbuterol Hydrochloride (Clen) syropis an extremely effective bronchodilator and thermogenic stimulant used by fitness professionals for decades to boost performance and enhance physique. Most people who use and buy Clen syrup do so in order to lose weight via its multifaceted ability to burn fat.
Liquid Clen can be taken aloneor mixed with a beverage to mask its chemical flavor. Many formulations have quite an unpleasant taste so that mixing them may be necessary to avoid evoking a gag reflex. Some formulations are intended to be used only subcutaneously. Take care not to consume these orally as they are likely to upset your stomach.
This drug is an adrenergic agonist used by bodybuilders to develop solid muscles, but all of them warn that only a correct clenbuterol dosage can bring you the benefits that you expect.
Clenbuterol is relatively rapidly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract.
Relationship to plasma proteins is 89-98%.
With caution in the following cases: immediately after myocardial infarction, hepatic and renal failure, cardiac arrhythmias, myocarditis, mitral valve defects, hypokalemia, unstable or uncompensated diabetes.
The preparation contains as auxiliary substances called parabens: methyl parahydroxybenzoate and propyl parahydroxybenzoate, which can cause contact urticaria and dermatitis (delayed type allergic reaction). Occasionally you may experience immediate type allergic reactions (bronchospasm).
The preparation contains as auxiliary glycerol, which at high doses may cause headache, diarrhea and gastric irritation.
The drug is not suitable for patients with congenital fructose intolerance because of the presence of sorbitol.
Effects on ability to drive vehicles and management mechanisms
In the first days of treatment clenbuterol can cause small tremors and anxiety, which requires increased caution when driving and operating machinery.
Suggested Use:
Syrup is intended for use inside enterally. The optimal dosage for an adult patient population of 15 ml 2-3 times a day in the early conservative therapy pharmaceutical preparation. Further, after the elimination of the main symptoms of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the dosage applied in supports 10 ml, 2 times a day.
Duration conservative rehabilitation is 8-10 weeks, however, the drug should be taken under the special scheme since anabolic properties of the active ingredients. The course consists of 2 weeks of continuous reception, and 2 weeks of "rest", when the syrup is not used alternately, until the doctor finds it necessary to stop further use of the syrup.
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My recent columns on B.C.'s struggle with the growing westward migration of transients have produced responses that fall mainly into two groups.
The largest is people relieved that somebody is questioning the urban media narrative. That's the one where drifters, drug addicts, welfare shoppers and thieves are the victims, and working people whose hard-earned communities are being degraded are the problem because of their selfish, uncaring attitudes.
Then there are readers so marinated in our nanny-state education, media and political system they object to anything other than a big-government response. They tend to ask, what's your solution, Tom?
As someone who has lost one relative to heroin addiction and almost lost another, I reflect on the history of successful addiction treatment. That is one of detox and abstinence.
That's why I oppose the failed model of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, where resources are poured into concentrated housing and "harm reduction" that perpetuate addiction, handouts and helplessness. Housing Minister Rich Coleman is rolling this out in other communities, in what I fear is an effort to paper over the problem for an election year.
The Globe and Mail recently profiled a methamphetamine addict enrolled at Onsite, the belated treatment addition to Vancouver's Insite supervised injection site. It was his fifth try, which may have something to do with the fact that when he walks outside he is in the middle of Canada's biggest street drug bazaar.
Contrast that with a facility called Baldy Hughes, a therapeutic community 30 km outside Prince George. It's a working farm, designed to provide a year-long program of abstinence-based therapy and meaningful work.
It uses the traditional 12-step program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, with peer support and group therapy.
There's a greenhouse for winter farming, livestock to tend and the residents have designed and built a new horse stable. There's also a beekeeping project. Residents can complete their high school education, take first aid training and learn basic computer skills.
What they can't do is leave unescorted during their treatment program. They can't bring drugs, alcohol, weapons or phones with them.
It's a costly program, with a small number of spaces available on referral from B.C.'s social development ministry. Others can finance it with the help of medical employment insurance.
I mention this not to suggest it is a solution for every community, but to compare it with what the B.C. government is spending millions on.
A news event was arranged to greet the first resident moving from Victoria's squalid downtown tent camp to a refurbished nursing home. And who was the poster child for this project, hand-picked by the agency that runs the growing network of shelters in the area?
He described himself as a former Edmonton resident who was hitch-hiking around, going from shelter to shelter and ending up camped in the squat. He was impressed by the tidy room with three meals a day he was being given, in a "low barrier" facility where booze and drugs are brought in, no questions asked.
What he was really looking forward to, in addition to accommodations, was an opportunity to kick back and play his favourite video game. That would be Grand Theft Auto, where your character runs around stealing cars, escaping police and meeting with criminal gangs. It's popular with adolescents, which these days means anyone under 30.
This is where your tax dollars are going. Waves of people come in, with key trouble spots being communities on the major highways coming into the Lower Mainland.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter: @tomfletcherbc


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Well Chris Shaw has continued his awesome SQL Quiz chain and I was lucky enough to get tagged down the line by none other than the SQLFool! Here's the question on the table this week:
Who has been a great leader in your career and what made them a great leader?
Given the fact that I'm pretty young (26 for those curious) I'm only on my second manager in my true IT career. However with my first manager Jim, I spent almost 5 years under in varying stages of my career.
I first started my career at SWFWMD (Southwest Florida Water Management District) as an intern in their applications group as a web developer. My first experience with Jim was when I got in trouble because I brought in my laptop to do work and plugged in to the network and I went undetected for a few weeks before I got caught (whoops). Jim, at that time, was kind of shadowing our-then IT manager as Jim was slated to take her place after retirement. Jim scared the ever-living hell out of me. After graduation I came back to SWFWMD as a desktop technician and by that time Jim has ascended in to the manager role. Under Jim's management he had very explicit plans for his section and wanted to make sure his people were up to snuff so to speak. Sometimes his ways were a bit strict but I'll be damned if he didn't back his people when it mattered. One of the strengths that Jim has is that he is a huge proponent of education and bettering yourself and strongly enourages his employees in that vein. A thing I liked is that he bought purchased an online training tool and sat down with each of us and laid out his expectations for us in terms of our position and customized a learning path for us in this tool.
At this point of the post you're probably thinking "yeah, he was…managing, big whoop". Yes, he was doing what a good manager does but it was the "other stuff" that made him a great leader. At a department retreat we had a consultant come in and do some team-building using the Kepner-Tregoe method. At one point she asked each section within IT who made the decisions in our group (or who was the leader, can't recall exact phrasing) . Our section laughed when we heard that and all fingers pointed to Jim. This excercise was just an indicator of how strong a leader he was. The other thing I really liked about him was his ability to sit down with you and have a no-BS person-to-person talk. My personal situation at SWFWMD was complicated due to my mother being in a sensitive political position over there. Jim helped me throughout the years deal with the problems that caused every so often. He helped me out a few times when I really broke down and for that I'll forever be grateful. Jim's other strength was his ability to look beyond next week. He was always thinking 3 steps ahead in terms of personnel placement and technology adoption. This method has payed off well and to this day SWFWMD is one of the local businesses that is a technology innovator and leader. A testament to this is that Jim is the leader of the Tampa Area VMware User Group!
I've rambled enough so let's see if we can't get some others to spill their guts!
Chuck Boyce Jr. (aka chuckboycejr) – Works for Quest and got to spend some quality time with in chat during SSWUG Virtual conference
Ward Pond (aka sqltwit) – Another local guy (to me) and hopefully I'll get to meet at next SSUG meeting
Andy Leonard – I'm not even sure if he has a blog but he just got promoted to managing his ETL team and I'd like to hear his story.
Just FYI, if I follow you on Twitter you're pretty much in my pool of candidates for tagging in the future.


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The Predictable Perfidy Of Obama And Samantha Power
Yesterday I pointed out how Samantha Power had deliberately misquoted Reagan to back up her heartfelt desire to destroy Israel. It's worth remembering how fervently she hoped that one day America could invade Israel to "protect" her chosen people. I'm sure the hidden 2003 Obama speech at an anti-Israel event would display similar thinking.
Caroline Glick makes the same point about Reagan as I did in her essential article and draws on another author to put this in context of the deliberate campaign waged by the PLO and their supporters at the UN for decades:
In "How the PLO was legitimized," published in Commentary, Kirkpatrick said that Yassir Arafat and the PLO worked "to come to power through international diplomacy – reinforced by murder."
Kirkpatrick explained, "The long march through the UN has produced many benefits for the PLO. It has created a people where there was none; a claim where there was none. Now the PLO is seeking to create a state where there already is one. That will take more than resolutions and more than an 'international peace conference.' But having succeeded so well over the years in its campaign to delegitimize Israel, the PLO might yet also succeed in bringing the campaign to a triumphant conclusion, with consequences for the Jewish state that would be nothing short of catastrophic."
As I've said consistently here the whole goal is the theft of Jewish indigenous identity in Israel (all of biblical Israel) and the replacement of Jews with invading Muslim Arabs whose ideology conquered and occupied Israel since 640CE. This is a central part of Islamic Jihadi doctrine and always has been. Inflicting the conditions of dhimmitude on subjugated people is the slow method by which indigenous cultures are eradicated leaving only Islam triumphant.
Jews and Judaism in Israel are the only indigenous people and culture to have both survived and regained their lands back from Jihadi conquest in the middle east in modern times!
Almost immediately upon election Obama singled is ultra-left, globalist agenda when he elevated UN Ambassador to a cabinet position. Caroline Glick again:
It is not surprising that Obama is carrying out the final act of his presidency at the UN. Obama has made no attempt to hide his desire to eliminate America's independence of action. By elevating the post of UN ambassador to a cabinet level position at the outset of his presidency, Obama signaled his conviction that this corrupt institution is the equal of the US government.
This early signal was transformed into an open policy when Obama used the Security Council as a means to bypass the US Senate in implementing his nuclear deal with Iran.
Then he put the known Israel hater, Samantha Power, in that position. The ZOA produced a devastating run down of her past, that wasn't enough to block her appointment.
Absolutely all of this was foreseeable as early as 2007 when Obama sought the Democratic nomination and eventually beat Hillary Clinton. And still leading commentators who profess to support the continued existence of Israel as a Jewish state supported Obama's second term.
To watch those commentators and Obama supporters cry now that Obama has done something unpredictable or, worse, blame Netanyahu for Obama's actions doesn't give me any pleasure. It just cements in my mind how impossibly blind these people have been and how much damage they've done by enabling Obama's abuse of my beloved home with his radical, ultra-left agenda for all these years.
Caroline is devastatingly correct at the end. This is a double whammy. Obama has dramatically harmed both Israel and America. I gave up, long ago, thinking Obama was incompetent. It is clear to me he had a plan all along and has executed it perfectly.
We can only hope Israel and the West can recover from his nuclear deal with Iran and his direct perfidy against Israel. Right now I'm hoping that we have reached something akin to what Churchill termed "the darkest hour" and the only way to go from here is for America to recover from this terrible affliction.


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Advocates Concentrate On Severe Mental Illness During Brain Awareness Week
Washington, D.C. - Open your mind and flex those synapses. Test your knowledge about mental illnesses.
1. Severe mental illnesses are caused by: a. bad parenting b. a physical problem in the brain c. hitting your head against a wall d. drug abuse 2. Which brain structures are known to be involved in severe mental illnesses: a. Hypothalamus b. Frontal Cortex c. Hippocampus d. Temporal Cortex e. Hippopotamus 3. All but one of these are brain disorders: a. depression b. nervous breakdown c. schizophrenia d. obsessive-compulsive disorder 4. The medical term for split personality is schizophrenia: True or False? 5. Which of the diseases below are less common than severe mental illness: a. cancer b. diabetes c. heart disease
Answers and additional questions found at end of release.
If you had trouble answering these questions, you are not alone. Most people do. Brain researchers have learned more about the workings of the brain in the past decade than they have in the previous century. Imaging techniques such as PET (positron emission tomography) are allowing scientists to study the living brain, and to understand how the brain works. These advances have helped researchers discover that mental illnesses are medical conditions, just like diabetes and heart disease.
"One of our strongest weapons against discrimination is science," says Laurie Flynn, executive director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). "The good news is treatment works. With each new finding, scientists are one step closer to providing better medical solutions to people suffering from brain disorders."
Unfortunately, each year five million Americans experience mental illness. But many people do not realize the toll that these and other brain disorders take on society. Brain disorders account for more disability than any other disease. Brain research has made extraordinary progress by discovering the roots of these disabling conditions. Science is beginning to shatter the stigma of mental illness. Yet, only the tip of the iceberg has been seen.
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) is a proud partner of Brain Awareness Week, March 17th - 23rd, 1997, founded by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. During the week, a host of events will be held throughout the country: scientists will open their laboratories to the public, researchers will present symposia, museums will hold exhibits, and the Dana Alliance's radio program, Gray Matters will air a one-hour program, Drugs on the Brain, over public radio stations.
During Brain Awareness Week, NAMI launches its Science and Treatment Kit which explores the science behind the causes and treatments of brain disorders. NAMI members will educate legislators, civic and business leaders, and the media about the scientific basics of these disorders. NAMI is also introducing a video featuring Dr. Steve Hyman, director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and other NIMH scientists examining the physical origins of brain disorders and new advances in treatment.
To learn more about severe mental illnesses or learn about support groups in your area, please call 1-800- 950-NAMI (6264) or visit our web site at www.nami.org.
NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons with severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, and anxiety disorders. NAMI's membership includes more than 140,000 people with brain disorders and their families, and 1,140 state and local affiliates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Canada. NAMI's efforts focus on support to persons with serious brain disorders and to their families; advocacy for nondiscriminatory and equitable federal and state policies; research into the causes, symptoms, and treatments for brain disorders; and education to eliminate the pervasive stigma toward severe mental illnesses.
6) Mental illnesses profoundly disrupt a person's ability to (circle all that apply): a. think b. feel c. relate to others and their environment d. have a high IQ 7) In any given year, about ____ Americans, suffer from a severe form of mental illness: a. 100,000 b. 500,000 c. 1 million d. 3 million e. 5 million 8) One in ____ families in the United States are affected by severe mental illness in their lifetime: a. 20 families b. 15 families c. 10 families d. 5 families 9) Who of the following people suffered from a severe mental illness: a. Abraham Lincoln b. Beethoven c. Van Gogh d. Isaac Newton e. Winston Churchill f. Michelangelo 10) What percentage of the homeless have a severe mental illness: a. 5% b. 10% c. 25% d. 33% e. 50% 11) How many people living with severe mental illnesses seek treatment: a. 10% b. 30% c. 60% d. 90% e. 100% 12) Insurance companies must legally provide equal coverage of medical treatment for the brain as they do for the heart. True or false? 13) Recent studies indicate genetic links to brain disorders. True or false? 14) Heart disease has a 45 to 50 percent treatment success rate. Which of the following do you believe to be true: a. The success rate for treating schizophrenia is 60 percent. b. The success rate for treating bi-polar disorder is 80 to 90 percent. c. The success rate for treating panic disorder is 70 to 90 percent. d. The success rate for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder is 75 percent. e. The success rate for treating depression is 70 to 80 percent. 15) In 1990 the total direct cost of treating a person with severe diabetes was $7,725. Which of the following do you believe to be true: a. In 1990, the total direct cost of treating a person with schizophrenia was higher than treating diabetes. b. In 1990, the total direct cost of treating a person with schizophrenia was lower than treating diabetes. c. In 1990, the total direct cost of treating a person with schizophrenia was the same as treating diabetes.
Answers: 1. b; 2. a,b,c,d; 3. b; 4. false 5. each disease is less common 6. a,b,c; 7. e; 8. d; 9. all of them; 10. d; 11. c; 12. false; 13. true; 14. all of them; 15. b.


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Johnny Depp Reacts to the Death of 'Dark Shadows' Star Jonathan Frid
Johnny Depp's upcoming film 'Dark Shadows' is based on the campy soap opera of the same name that ran from the late 1960s through the early 1970s. The actor is an avowed fan of the series, so the recent death of its star, Jonathan Frid, just weeks before the movie's opening hit Depp especially hard.
Although it was only just made public, the 87-year-old Frid apparently died April 14 in his hometown of Ontario, Canada from complications following a fall.
Frid played vampire Barnabas Collins in the TV series, the same role Depp takes on in the movie. In a statement released Thursday, Depp said:
Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home from school to watch 'Dark Shadows.' His elegance and grace was an inspiration then and will continue to remain one forever more. When I had the honor to finally meet him, as he so generously passed the torch of Barnabas to me, he was as elegant and magical as I had always imagined. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. The world has lost a true original.
At its peak, 'Dark Shadows' attracted 20 million viewers and generated 6,000 fan letters a week to Frid, who also reportedly makes a cameo in the Tim Burton movie. But even though the TV role firmly ensconced Frid in pop culture history, he originally wasn't even sure he should take it.
Back in 1991, he told People, "I only did the part for some pocket money to go teach on the West Coast. And, of course, because I didn't particularly want the job, I got it. An audition room full of cadaverous-looking creeps, and I must have really looked the part."
He was also fully aware of the campy nature of the show, adding, "I always thought I looked like this damn silly ass. I couldn't believe people were ever really scared."
The film version of 'Dark Shadows' opens in theaters on May 11.


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KEP VFD Repair
At Specialized Electronic Services, we are one of the largest KEP Service and Warranty Centers in the Southern U.S., and we are experts in KEP Drive repair. We can sell, service, and repair the entire KEP product line. We have extensive design and start-up experience with all KEP products. At Specialized Electronic Services we have even been authorized to work on the KEP Fuji line which was private labeled for Saftronics. We have done several start ups on the KEP DC drives as well.
Below is a partial list of the KEP units we have for sale in our office in Dallas Texas. We are constantly working with the KEP Factory to ensure our technicians and programmers are well versed in the newest KEP products. Be sure to contact us for any application, sales or service questions you may have. We have KEP AC drive sales often so call us to compare pricing if you feel you have been paying too much.
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Ironman blast
Sold Out
This piece measures 48" x 24" x 1", and was created using a mixture of Golden acrylic paints and paper collage. The collage material is almost solely my old comic books, with a small portion of each one being vintage paper from magazines or normal paper stock with high gloss toner. Each piece has a thick polymer layer on top to protect the collage and paint works, and if required, will be shipped with care to their final destination. Please contact me with any questions or concerns.


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"A Terribly Sad Day for Christians in America": Traditional Values Coalition
The following is Traditional Values Coalition's firsthand report from last week's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the "Thought Crimes" bill, H.R. 1592 (the bill's is benignly called the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act"). Please note the portions in bold below:
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
For almost 11 hours Rev. Lou Sheldon, Chairman of Traditional Values Coalition, and CEO Andrea Lafferty monitored every move in the Judiciary Committee relevant to the HR 1592, the Hate Crimes bill. They sat in the front row from early morning until it was concluded around 9:15 p.m. All 25 Republican amendments were defeated. The purpose of the Markup is to vote on amendments to the bill. There are 23 Democrats and 17 Republicans [in the Judiciary Committee]. HR 1592 passed by a party line vote, all Democrats supported it and all Republicans opposed. Following is TVC's account of the "Markup."
TVC materials were used by numerous Congressmen in their presentations. It was clear that they were quoting from documents TVC had produced. Numerous Congressmen came over to us and thanked us for staying there all day and all night.
The TVC staff worked diligently researching, creating reports, meeting with Members and their staff, contacting you the grassroots for help and MUCH MORE.
The first Republican amendment was proposed by Congressman Jim Jordon from Ohio adding those unborn babies and those partially-born babies to the list of protected classes. However, Chairman Conyers ruled the amendment was non-germane, which means the members were not allowed to vote on it.
Congressman Darrell Issa, Republican from California offered a clarifying amendment concerning unborn babies which failed.
Republican Congressman Dan Lungren from California stating that no where in the bill are the terms "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" definition and he asked for a definition. The democrats referred to what they said was an accepted definition of sexual orientation, heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual. The republicans did not agree stating that heterosexuality was not an orientation.
The democrats did not want to discuss a definition of even sexual orientation or have it in the bill. They wanted no definitions.
Friends, it was obvious. There are many additional orientations that would have had to be included in sexual orientation. Also, they would have to agree to a definition of gender identity and they did not want that. They obviously did not want to define gender identity to include she-male, cross-dresser, drag queen, transgender, transsexual, etc.
Republican Congressman Randy Forbes from Virginia stated that since it has been proven and established that our military are targets of hate and physical attack, many facilities are recommending that soldiers not wear their uniforms in large adjoining cities. He mentioned several groups by name that are vehemently spitting on them and abusing them, only because they are US military personnel.
So Forbes offered an amendment to also include military personnel as a protected class and thus to attack them would also be a hate crime. It was defeated.
The Republicans offered many good amendments to add categories that would be covered by the bill. They did a very good job trying to clarify the bill and hold the democrats accountable.
Senior Citizens should be a protected class as old people are being beaten up and robbed. Rosa Parks got mugged in Detroit. Another suggested protected class was Pregnant Women who are battered by boy friends, live-in boyfriends or husbands because they are pregnant. Republican Congressman Tom Feeney of Florida offered an amendment to add the "homeless." All were defeated.
Republican Congressman Louis Gohmert of Texas moved to remove "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" from the bill. It failed on a recorded vote of 19 to 13.
Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana offered the important amendment on Freedom of Religion. "Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution."
A number of Republicans spoke in support of it. But the Democrats Jerrold Nadler, Tammy Baldwin and Chairman John Conyers kept evading the issue.
Finally, Congressman Gohmert asked, "If a minister was giving a sermon, a Bible study or any kind of written or spoken message saying that homosexuality was a serious sin and a person in the congregation went out and committed a crime against a homosexual would the minister be charged with the crime of incitement?"
Gohmert was attempting to clarify and emphasize that the legislation would have an effect on the constitutional right to religious freedom and thus the Pence amendment was needed to protect religious speech.
The Democrats continued to explain why they could not accept the amendment. Lundgren continuously shot down their answer. He said, "What is your answer? Would there be incitement charges against the pastor?"
And finally Democrat Congressman Artur Davis from Alabama spoke up and said, "Yes."
Friends, that is what we have been warning you about and our legal advice was correct. It is evident what HR 1592 is about. It is not about homosexuals and cross dressers suffering with no food, shelter or jobs, it is about preventing Bible-believing people and pastors from speaking the truth.
It is about punishing them so they will not dare to speak the truth.
It is about threatening them with prison so they won't dare speak the truth.
The Judiciary Committee could easily have accepted the amendment, "Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution."
Rev. Lou Sheldon stated, "By refusing to accept this amendment the Democrats on this committee have proven their purpose, to remove freedom of religion from the U.S. Constitution."
This is an up-to-the minute report late tonight.
Tomorrow we will send you more news and an Action item so you can write your elected officials. THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER YET. HR 1592 WILL GO TO THE HOUSE FLOOR, VERY LIKELY EARLY NEXT WEEK.
Your financial help is urgently needed as we work to defeat HR 1592 on the House floor and continue to uphold and protect Biblical principles here at the Congress. TVC can be reached at http://www.traditionalvalues.org/ or by calling 202-547-8570.


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Art History
Using a simple and enjoyable teaching style, this course introduces the novice listener to the wonders of classical music, from Bach fugues to Mozart symphonies to Puccini operas.
完成时间为 3 小时
What Is Music?
Every day around the world, billions of people listen to music of one sort or another, and millions listen to Western classical music. Why do we do it? Because it's fun? Because it energizes or relaxes us? Because it keeps us current, allows us to understand what's happening in past and popular culture? The pull of music--especially classical music—has never been explained. The aim of this course is to do just that: To explicate the mysteries and beauties of some of Western cultures greatest musical compositions—among them masterpieces of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Puccini. We begin with the elements of music, breaking classical musical into its components of pitch, duration, and sound color, allowing us to better understand how music works. Next, we proceed to the compositions themselves, starting with the Middle Ages and Renaissance, to show how Western music developed in ways unique to the West. Ultimately, we reach the masters, commencing with Bach. What makes his music great? Why does it move us? What should we listen for? And so we proceed down through Western musical history, visiting virtually the people who created it and the places where they did so. By the end, we hope all of us have become more human (enriched our personalities) and had a rollicking good time!
9 个视频 (总计 55 分钟), 7 个阅读材料, 3 个测验
完成时间为 4 小时
How Music Works, it's Magic.
What is Music? Is music simply the organization of sounds and silences passing through time? Or is it more? Poet Victor Hugo believes music is "what feelings sound like." In this first module, we'll take apart Hugo's seemingly simple statement by spending some time asking how and why music induces strong emotions in people across different cultures. We'll begin with a look at the inner workings of the human ear to determine how our brains process sound waves. Then, we'll travel to different parts of the world, comparing and contrasting both traditional and popular Western music with sounds from various regions and cultures. You'll find that it is both culture and the physics of music that determine why we like the music we like! From there, we'll be ready to take a look at the basic elements of musical composition; rhythm, melody, texture, etc. We'll also learn how classical composers used these elements in some of their most famous works and how modern artists are still using them today. Finally, we will see how the elements of musical composition have evolved over time and how they have been translated to a universal language enjoyed and understood by millions.
18 个视频 (总计 147 分钟), 10 个测验
完成时间为 3 小时
The Sound of Music
Have you ever wondered what it is that makes music sound sometimes rich and luxurious and sometimes strange and mysterious? Well, you're in luck because this module, we'll explore what the nature of simultaneous sounds and textures. We'll start off with a look at chords, specifically how the three types of triads– tonic, dominant, subdominant– build a foundation upon which a melody can be constructed. Once we understand the rules of musical syntax, we'll be ready to learn about musical progressions including the three types of cadences.We'll also look at major and minor triads and how they work. Then, we'll learn how to hear the bass and focus on the harmony of a song. Finally, I'll talk you through the four families of musical instruments–brasses, percussions, strings, and woodwinds---and the various musical textures, forms, and styles that they can create. How exciting!
8 个视频 (总计 142 分钟), 1 个阅读材料, 6 个测验
完成时间为 3 小时
Music Back in the Day
We will cover a thousand years in musical evolution during this modules lectures! We'll start with the Middle Ages taking a look at its functional chants and dance music, then we'll move to the period of the Renaissance, and finish off by listening to the ornate melodies of opera heard throughout the early Baroque period. From this, you'll begin to see how advances in musical notation allowed compositions to become both more specific and more complex. These advances are ultimately responsible for focus being shifted away from the performers and towards the composers themselves.Along the way, we'll highlight some of these musical inventors and innovators, such as Hildegard of Bingen and Johann Pachelbel. We'll also have the unique opportunity to see (and in some cases even hear) many of the instruments that were popular during these different time periods. This will be a real treat, made possible with help from Yale instructor, Grant Herreid. Many thanks are owed to him!
13 个视频 (总计 125 分钟), 1 个阅读材料, 6 个测验
完成时间为 5 小时
The Baroque Era
Novelists, poets, painters, mathematicians, and even geologists talk about "fugue-like" structure in their media and disciplines. But what is a fugue and how did we get it? To find out, we enter the world of Baroque music and famed master of the fugue, Johann Sebastian Bach. First, we'll get a chance to "live" during the Baroque period by taking a detailed look inside the life, career, and even home of Bach-- explore where and how Bach and his family lived, discuss Bach's music, and talk about the techniques of Baroque music as a whole. Next, Bach's music will then be compared and contrasted with that of his exact contemporary and fellow German, George Frideric Handel. One might say that Bach was an idealist and Handel was a realist when it came to music, so we'll look at how these personality traits informed each composer's musical style. Finally, we'll wrap up the module with an introduction to music of the Classical Period, and who better to lead the way than the inimitable Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
16 个视频 (总计 205 分钟), 1 个阅读材料, 10 个测验
完成时间为 5 小时
The Classical Era
Would you believe that once upon a time, musical compositions were viewed as disposable, one-time-use entertainment? Could you imagine an orchestra attempting to perform a beautiful piece over the sounds of noisy patrons in a casino? How about a violin being drowned out by a dog loudly barking outside of a café? Well, this was the reality before the turn of the 18th century. It wasn't until around 1800 that people began to appreciate musical compositions, as they do today. This was the same time we started to see large concert halls created specifically for the purpose of listening to concerts. Not long after, music was seen as something to be elevated and studied, in other words it became, "High Art." This week, we'll start by listening to music by Haydn and Mozart, getting our grounding, so to speak, in musical form. As we proceed, we'll also see where and how they lived, compare how they wrote and performed their music, and even look at some of the exact instruments they performed on all those years ago.We'll spend latter part of the module highlighting two figures that stand at the very heart of Western music.The first is Mozart, a well-dressed, confident, eccentric, and ever brilliant innovator. We'll explore his music through the lens of three artistic masterpieces: a piano concerto, an opera, and the Requiem mass... We'll delve into the unique features of the music that make it the gold standard for all music for centuries to come. Perhaps the high (or low) point arrives when your instructor is ruthlessness murdered on stage by the feckless Don Giovanni.We'll then shift over to Beethoven– a passionate, conflicted, and oft-times disheveled genius. His physical appearance may very well have served as the prototype for the stereotypical, "struggling bard," or "tortured genius." We'll study some of his most famous sonatas, including his Moonlight Sonata and then go beyond his music to explore his personal life, including his struggle with deafness and depression.
14 个视频 (总计 191 分钟), 1 个阅读材料, 8 个测验
完成时间为 5 小时
The Bridge From Classical to Romantic
If you could put a soundtrack to the French Revolution, it would surely contain music from Beethoven's "Heroic" period, during which, he "brought sound to symphonies." We'll see how Beethoven's incorporation of new instruments, as well as, his creation of a large orchestra, made his symphonies much louder and "sonically vivid" than those of his predecessors. The point of focus here will be a comparison of the music of Beethoven's "Heroic" period, represented by his Symphony No. 5, with that of his "Late" period, epitomized by his famous Ode to Joy. We'll also consider Beethoven the man, as revealed through primary source accounts of his life at that time. They paint a picture of a disheveled, wild-looking Beethoven, who lived among filth and clutter and was consumed by his work. The ultimate question: in what ways might his life of isolation and his hearing disability affected the nature (style) of the great music he created?As we bid aufwiedersehen to Beethoven, we move on to full-blown musical Romanticism. Romantic music, and indeed all romantic art, was known for its idealistic views on love and nature. Occurring roughly from 1820 to 1900, musical Romanticism saw an evolution of musical style as well as a change of venue (place) for musical performance. In addition to the aristocracy and their royal palaces, a strong middle class arose in Europe during this period. With the music of the ever-lyrical Franz Schubert, we'll step into the parlor of an upper-middle class home, to experience his domestic chamber music and songs. We'll finish off the module by asking the question: How do we use musical sound to communicate? A look at program music (instrumental music that uses musical gestures to tell a story) will help us figure this out. After a quick auditory review of the workings of program music (we'll follow Vivaldi on a spring day), we'll watch Hector Berlioz go to hell. More accurately, we'll follow the sequence of musical gestures he employs to re-create a fantastical tale of pursuit, destruction, damnation. Having learned our lesson, we'll end with a little fun as we try to match themes extracted from various symphonies to the mental images that the composer had in mind. Do you speak the language of program music fluently? Join us and find out!
17 个视频 (总计 195 分钟), 1 个阅读材料, 10 个测验
完成时间为 6 小时
The Romantic Era
Module 8 will begin with a tour of Yale's extraordinary keyboard collection; perhaps the finest of its kind in the world. We'll see fully functioning instruments of all shapes and sizes, some dating back to the time of Mozart and before! We'll learn the preferred brands and styles of some of the finest pianists of all time, Haydn, Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin, and Schubert to name a few. We'll even get to hear some of these instruments played by musical educator and concert pianist Robert Blocker. His performances will help us hear exactly how advances in technology changed the sound and capabilities of pianos during this time period. Our next session this module covers a rather polarizing topic: Opera. Many people find the Opera too artificial, too long, and sometimes just plain boring; others enjoy nothing more than this glamorous art form. We'll spend some time making a case for the power and beauty, indeed the magic, of Opera. Maybe, we'll be able persuade some naysayers along the way. Because it is impossible to encompass all of Romantic opera in an hour, we'll concentrate on the masterpieces of Verdi and the groundbreaking music dramas of Wagner. Perhaps the only figure who can reasonably by compared to Beethoven in terms of musical originality and innovation, Wagner changed the face of 19th century music. We'll explore Wagner by briefly analyzing his Ring Cycle. This innovative cycle of librettos, based on Norse mythology, contains some of the most iconic and recognizable music from the period. Wagner's use of "leitmotifs" made detailed storytelling possible, with the music even conveying the subconscious thought of singers on stage, a truly revolutionary feat. His work would go on to serve as inspiration for writers and film makers such as Tolkien, Lewis, Lucas, and Martin, not to mention countless composers. In the final lesson of this module, we'll expand our focus to look at the orchestra as a whole during the Romantic period. Just 60 years after Mozart led his thirty-five-player orchestra, it was not uncommon to see Wagner and Mahler conducting ensembles with well over 100 members. In addition to increased numbers, the instruments themselves changed. Technological advances, transformed previously one dimensional instruments, such as the French horn, into versatile tools, capable of projecting a completely chromatic melody. This newfound versatility allowed composers like Brahms and Mahler to experiment with and forever redefine orchestral instrumentation.
24 个视频 (总计 214 分钟), 1 个阅读材料, 13 个测验
完成时间为 6 小时
Music to the Present
When you think of Impressionism, you probably think of paintings, likely the beautiful canvases of Claude Monet. But the emotionally evocative, non-realistic style of Impressionism pervaded all aspects of art. For music, another Claude, this time Debussy, typified the Impressionist movement. After learning about the sometimes outrageous lives of some of history's famous composers, it may shock you to hear that Debussy led a rather banal existence, with no depression, psychosis or family tragedy to speak of. But from an ordinary life can come extraordinary music! We'll look at three pieces, one each from his early, middle, and late career, to see how Debussy's style shifted away from more goal-oriented Romanticism to the "live in the moment" style that came to define Impressionism. After a brief guitar lesson taught with the help of the talented Solomon Silber, we'll continue on to the Modernist period. As is well known to all by now, musical style is constantly changing. Sometimes the change is subtle, like the shift from Classical to Romantic music. At other times, however, change crashes like a Tsunami against previous traditions. This is what we experience as we engage the bracing sounds of Modernism. Beginning in the early 20th century, composers such as Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg abandoned traditional melody and scale. Simply put, audiences were, at times, less than receptive to this change. We'll listen to samples of the music that provoked audience hostility, and discuss what seems to make this music so inaccessible, at times downright unpleasant, for most listeners.We will close this week, and our course, with Postmodernism and Minimalism. We'll see how composers like Aaron Copland brought orchestral music back to the people by paring it down to its most basic terms. We'll then hear how artists such as Philip Glass and John Adams, took this idea and ran with it, composing captivating trance-like movements around the simplest of ideas.
Craig Wright, The Essential Listening to Music, 2nd edition, Cengage Learning, 2016. Includes streaming and downloads of all music, listening guides, and interactive listening exercises.
Thomas F. Kelly, Music Then and Now, W. W. Norton, 2012. Includes streaming of all core music, listening guides, and interactive listening quizzes.
Joseph Kerman and Gary Tomlinson, Listen, 7th edition, Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2011. Includes streaming of all music, interactive listening charts, and interactive listening quizzes.


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Teens abuse drugs and alcohol for many reasons. They want to feel good; they want to stop feeling bad. They want to do well in school or at work. They want to fit in.
Research shows teens are less likely to abuse drugs when their parents tell them to stay away from drugs. It may not be an easy conversation, but it may be one of the most important ones you'll ever have with your child.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there are many things parents can do to keep their child away from drugs and alcohol:
- Explain how drugs and alcohol hurt their health and their relationships. Specifically tell them to stay away from drugs and alcohol.
- Spend time together so they know you care.
- Keep track of your teen. Know where they are and whom they are with.
- Set clear rules kids can count on.
- Be a good example. They will learn how to deal with stress and problems from you.
- Practice saying no to drugs and alcohol.
- Keep track of your medicine and cleaning products to make sure your child is not abusing them.
- Help keep your home safe by not having people in your home who abuse drugs and alcohol.


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Formal specification
In computer science, formal specifications are mathematically based techniques whose purpose are to help with the implementation of systems and software. They are used to describe a system, to analyze its behavior, and to aid in its design by verifying key properties of interest through rigorous and effective reasoning tools.[1][2] These specifications are formal in the sense that they have a syntax, their semantics fall within one domain, and they are able to be used to infer useful information.[3]
In each passing decade, computer systems have become increasingly more powerful and, as a result, they have become more impactful to society. Because of this, better techniques are needed to assist in the design and implementation of reliable software. Established engineering disciplines use mathematical analysis as the foundation of creating and validating product design. Formal specifications are one such way to achieve this in software engineering reliability as once predicted. Other methods such as testing are more commonly used to enhance code quality.[1]
Given such a specification, it is possible to use formal verification techniques to demonstrate that a system design is correct with respect to its specification. This allows incorrect system designs to be revised before any major investments have been made into an actual implementation. Another approach is to use probably correct refinement steps to transform a specification into a design, which is ultimately transformed into an implementation that is correct by construction.
It is important to note that a formal specification is not an implementation, but rather it may be used to develop an implementation. Formal specifications describe what a system should do, not how the system should do it.
A good specification must have some of the following attributes: adequate, internally consistent, unambiguous, complete, satisfied, minimal[3]
A good specification will have:[3]
- Constructability, manageability and evolvability
- Usability
- Communicability
- Powerful and efficient analysis
One of the main reasons there is interest in formal specifications is that they will provide an ability to perform proofs on software implementations.[2] These proofs may be used to validate a specification, verify correctness of design, or to prove that a program satisfies a specification.[2]
A design (or implementation) cannot ever be declared "correct" on its own. It can only ever be "correct with respect to a given specification". Whether the formal specification correctly describes the problem to be solved is a separate issue. It is also a difficult issue to address since it ultimately concerns the problem constructing abstracted formal representations of an informal concrete problem domain, and such an abstraction step is not amenable to formal proof. However, it is possible to validate a specification by proving "challenge" theorems concerning properties that the specification is expected to exhibit. If correct, these theorems reinforce the specifier's understanding of the specification and its relationship with the underlying problem domain. If not, the specification probably needs to be changed to better reflect the domain understanding of those involved with producing (and implementing) the specification.
Formal methods of software development are not widely used in industry. Most companies do not consider it cost-effective to apply them in their software development processes.[4] This may be for a variety of reasons, some of which are:
- Time
- High initial start up cost with low measurable returns
- Flexibility
- A lot of software companies use agile methodologies that focus on flexibility. Doing a formal specification of the whole system up front is often perceived as being the opposite of flexible. However, there is some research into the benefits of using formal specifications with "agile" development[5]
- Complexity
- Limited scope[3]
- They do not capture properties of interest for all stakeholders in the project[3]
- They do not do a good job of specifying user interfaces and user interaction[4]
- Not cost-effective
- This is not entirely true, by limiting their use to only core parts of critical systems they have shown to be cost-effective[4]
Other limitations:[3]
- Isolation
- Low-level ontologies
- Poor guidance
- Poor separation of concerns
- Poor tool feedback
Formal specification techniques have existed in various domains and on various scales for quite some time.[6] Implementations of formal specifications will differ depending on what kind of system they are attempting to model, how they are applied and at what point in the software life cycle they have been introduced.[2] These types of models can be categorized into the following specification paradigms:
- History-based specification[3]
- behavior based on system histories
- assertions are interpreted over time
- State-based specification[3]
- Transition-based specification[3]
- behavior based on transitions from state-to-state of the system
- best used with a reactive system
- languages such as Statecharts, PROMELA, STeP-SPL, RSML or SCR rely on this paradigm[3]
- Functional specification[3]
- specify a system as a structure of mathematical functions
- OBJ, ASL, PLUSS, LARCH, HOL or PVS rely on this paradigm[3]
- Operational Specification[3]
In addition to the above paradigms, there are ways to apply certain heuristics to help improve the creation of these specifications. The paper referenced here best discusses heuristics to use when designing a specification.[6] They do so by applying a divide-and-conquer approach.
Software tools[edit]
The Z notation is an example of a leading formal specification language. Others include the Specification Language (VDM-SL) of the Vienna Development Method and the Abstract Machine Notation (AMN) of the B-Method. In the Web services area, formal specification is often used to describe non-functional properties[7] (Web services quality of service).
Some tools are:[4]
See also[edit]
- Algebraic specification
- Formal methods
- Model-based specification
- Software engineering
- Specification language
- Specification (technical standard)
- ^ a b Hierons, R. M.; Bogdanov, K.; Bowen, J. P.; Cleaveland, R.; Derrick, J.; Dick, J.; Gheorghe, M.; Harman, M.; Kapoor, K.; Krause, P.; Lüttgen, G.; Simons, A. J. H.; Vilkomir, S. A.; Woodward, M. R.; Zedan, H. (2009). "Using formal specifications to support testing". ACM Computing Surveys. 41 (2): 1. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.144.3320. doi:10.1145/1459352.1459354. S2CID 10686134.
- ^ a b c d e Gaudel, M.-C. (1994). "Formal specification techniques". Proceedings of 16th International Conference on Software Engineering. pp. 223–227. doi:10.1109/ICSE.1994.296781. ISBN 978-0-8186-5855-6. S2CID 60740848.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lamsweerde, A. V. (2000). "Formal specification". Proceedings of the conference on the future of Software engineering - ICSE '00. pp. 147–159. doi:10.1145/336512.336546. ISBN 978-1581132533. S2CID 4657483.
- ^ a b c d Sommerville, Ian (2009). "Formal Specification" (PDF). Software Engineering. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ^ a b c Nummenmaa, Timo; Tiensuu, Aleksi; Berki, Eleni; Mikkonen, Tommi; Kuittinen, Jussi; Kultima, Annakaisa (4 August 2011). "Supporting agile development by facilitating natural user interaction with executable formal specifications". ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes. 36 (4): 1–10. doi:10.1145/1988997.2003643. S2CID 2139235.
- ^ a b van der Poll, John A.; Paula Kotze (2002). "What design heuristics may enhance the utility of a formal specification?". Proceedings of the 2002 Annual Research Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists on Enablement Through Technology. SAICSIT '02: 179–194. ISBN 9781581135961.
- ^ S-Cube Knowledge Model: Formal Specification
External links[edit]
- A Case for Formal Specification (Technology) Archived 2005-10-21 at the Wayback Machine by Coryoth 2005-07-30