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Fabolous - Tonight / Love Come Down [Teaser]
Fabolous' "Tonight x Love Come Down" video will be the 4th and 5th installment of "The Funeral Arrangement" series from his There Is No Competition 2 mixtape with DJ Drama. Both videos will combine to tell one narrative.
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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|A new class of person has emerged in the online world: Digital Natives. While living in San Francisco, I also live on the Internet. The Internet is now a place: a two dimensional world that has transcended the web; there is no government, and the citizens are Digital Natives. As Digital Natives, we are not people that only exist in a physical sense–we are something or someone metaphysically different. We are no longer just citizens of say, the United States; we are also citizens of the Internet.
The concept of the Digital Native is a paradigm shift. In the past, there were movements, but not full worlds where one can exist and do as one pleases in parallel with their physical being. Some Digital Natives are deeply affiliated with all sorts of interests that bring them together organically: Piracy groups, massively multiplayer online games, open source software development, cracking encryption, etc. Others become deeply interested in movements such as Anonymous, the RBN (Russian Business Network), or even terrorist organizations.
I'm not trying to say a Digital Native is better than someone unplugged in the Congo, I am trying to say they exist in a different social construct.
Some Digital Natives may feel like their digital citizenship takes precedence over their physical citizenship. They choose not to define themselves by what country they live in but, rather, by what online movement(s) they are involved in. In these situations, what law does one live by? How are the actions of a Digital Native regulated? Governments don't know how to react to, control, or assert power over them in these situations.
Digital Americans are no longer just American citizens–they have a deep affiliation as Internet citizens as well.
This scares the crap out of Governments all over the world, because they are ill prepared to deal with these situations. To government regimes that are comfortable asserting their control, this concept is terrifying. How do they counteract the changes online and the movements? Do they need to change their politics, defense, propaganda, and warfare?
Apparently the U.S. Government thinks so. In June of 2009, under an order signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Pentagon announced it will create a Cyber Command to oversee the U.S. military's efforts to protect its computer networks and have presence in "cyberspace".
Now even the US Military war machine is joining the world of Digital Natives.
I'm a bit worried, not for us, but for them.

subset: commoncrawl


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Paul KosterinkCoordinator Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Paul Kosterink is Coordinator Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning. Paul joined GPPAC in 2012 and his role is to coordinate the Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation (PME) processes and the Learning agenda of the GPPAC network. He is responsible for capacity building of both Global Secretariat staff and network members on monitoring and reporting, following the 'Outcome Harvesting' approach. During the past year Paul developed a database with all strategic plans and reports from the entire global network and made it accessible to its key users. He coordinated the drafting of the new Strategic Plan for the period 2016-2020. For the coming year Paul's biggest challenge will be to organise more frequent dialogue within the network and reflect on what GPPAC does and achieves and to identify where the network's weaknesses are. The 'learning' component is difficult to organise within a global network, yet it is essential to plan strategically and achieve results. Before joining GPPAC Paul worked with civil society organisations in Central and Eastern Europe and Western Balkan. Paul has twenty years of experience in working with civil society networks and he is a practitioner and trainer-facilitator for civil society development, international networking, PME and adult learning. Paul holds an MSc in Environmental Science.


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I was just curious what player(s) everyone is most interested and/or excited to see play tomorrow night?
For me it's Christine Michael, along with other draft picks: Jordan Hill, Jesse Williams and Luke Wilson.
I think Avril, Bennett, Winfield etc. will all contribute and we know what they can do. But, the way Beast Mode runs the ball, he needs some relief imo. I'm hoping that Michael and Turbin get enough carries to keep Lynch fresh later in the season. With Clem fighting to get back, Irvin suspended for 4 games, hopefully Jordan Hill and/or Jesse Williams will step it up, and with the quickness. A lot to ask of a rookie, but they should get some reps in the rotation.


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Our CTO for Broadcast & Production, Thomas Lund, has taken a number of mobile devices, including Apple's iPhone and iPad, to the test bench at the 'TC Lab'.
In this white paper, all the test results, recommendations
and a practical guide are disclosed.
- Target-Level for Mobile Recommendation
- 3-Step Guide: From HD Audio to Mobile
- Elaboration on Perception, Clarity and Speech Intelligibility
Audio for Mobile, iPad and iPod
By Thomas Lund
For five years, the author has systematically studied audio capabilities of Pod and Mobile TV devices from Apple, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. This paper is the first public report from parts of the test investigating what a Mobile user is able to hear, and what she can't.
Published at NAB 2013, Las Vegas.
Señales de audio para TV móvil, iPad e iPod
By Thomas Lund
Durante cinco años, el autor de este artículo ha estudiado de forma sistemática las capacidades audio de los dispositivos para TV móvil y Pods de Apple, Nokia, Samsung y Sony Ericsson. Este artículo es la primera presentación ante del público de una parte de las pruebas e investigaciones acerca de lo que un usuario de dispositivos móviles es capaz de oír, y lo que no.
Publicado en NAB 2013, Las Vegas
The CALM Act and Cross-platform Broadcast
By Thomas Lund
This paper details the loop spanning from production to multi-platform delivery that paves the way for high-quality audio across genres and platforms. Optimized normalization for iPod and iPhone devices is reported, and the ongoing NoTube project is described.
Published at NAB 2012, Las Vegas.
Loudness Range Design and Evaluation
By Esben Skovenborg
In 2009 we published the algorithm for computing LRA that was included in the EBU R-128 recommendation for loudness normalisation. This paper describes the design choices underlying of the LRA algorithm.
Published at AES 2012, Budapest.
Momentary Loudness: RMS Filter Options
by Esben Skovenborg & Thomas Lund
Employing loudness meters provides an efficient way of balancing
the levels of broadcast programs and channels in order to prevent
the viewer/listener from experiencing annoying level jumps.
Published March 2012.
The BS.1770 Broadcast Standard Revisited
by Thomas Lund
The ITU standard has been updated to BS.1770-2. It now work across genres, for instance between commercials and regular programming. Transparency is a must for the broadcaster, for the producer, and wrt legislation such as the CALM Act. Coherent new EBU R128 tools are also described.
Published at NAB 2011, Las Vegas.
Gated Loudness Measuring
By Grimm, Skovenborg & Spikofski
Loudness normalization as specified by ITU-R BS.1770-1 works fairly well for most broadcast programs. However, wide loudness-range programs may not be well-aligned with other programs. Adding a measurement gate provides a simple yet effective solution.
Published at AES 2010, London.
Program Loudness and Loudness Range
by Esben Skovenborg & Thomas Lund
EBU P/LOUD devoted much time to finding a transparent cross-genre measure for program normalization. This paper was part of that process. It also describes Loudness Range, examines the listener's loudness jump tolerance, and presents the Zap test.
Published at AES 2009, New York.
Universal Loudness Descriptors
by Esben Skovenborg & Thomas Lund
The paper presents two descriptors, "Center of Gravity" and
"Consistency", to summarize the loudness properties of film, music
and broadcast programs and tracks. Applications include delivery
specifications, diagnostics, logging and metadata delivery, for
instance for use with MPEG and AC3 codecs.
Published at AES 2008, San Francisco.
Inter-program Level Jumps in Broadcast
by Thomas Lund
DTV experiences a growing problem with level jumps between
programs; especially when wide dynamic range programming is
followed by commercials, promos or sports. Important contributors
to such inter-program level jumps have been investigated and are
Published at Broadcast Asia 2008, Singapore.
Real-Time Visualisation of Loudness
by Esben Skovenborg & Søren H. Nielsen
A novel real-time loudness meter is presented, which
simultaneously shows short-term loudness, long-term loudness and
peak level.
Published at DAFx 2007, Bordeaux.
Stop Counting the Samples
by Thomas Lund
Report from the frontline of the CD Loudness war, 2006: It's not
over yet. Read about distortion developing in CD players, data
reduction systems etc. The Appendix suggests improved procedures to
follow in production and mastering.
Published at AES 2006, San Francisco.
Control of Loudness in Digital TV
by Thomas Lund
Paper describing various loudness measurement models and their limitations. Consumer Dynamic Range Tolerance (DRT) is quantified, and station infrastructure taking DRT into account is presented.
Published at NAB 2006, Las Vegas.
Evaluation of Different Loudness Models
by Esben Skovenborg & Søren H. Nielsen
The ability of twelve loudness models to measure speech and
music segments is evaluated. Leq(A) and Leq(M) are among the worst
performers, while Leq(RLB) from an ITU experiment, and new advanced
models, correlate better with extensive listening tests.
Published at AES 2004, San Francisco.
Designs for Loudness-Matching Experiments
by Esben Skovenborg & Søren H. Nielsen
Different loudness experimental designs are compared, and the
effect of using a fixed-reference is evaluated against a balanced
pair-matching design.
Published at SOAS 2004, Poznan.
Loudness Assessment of Music and Speech
by Esben Skovenborg, Rene Qesnel & Søren H. Nielsen
An experiment was performed to investigate the assessment of
loudness of music and speech using a General Linear Model.
Published at AES 2004, Berlin.
Level Control in Digital Mastering
by Søren H. Nielsen & Thomas Lund
Music mastering is becoming a battle for maximum level rather than a quest for audio quality, because counting consecutive samples at OdBFS is not an adequate restriction of level.
Published at AES 1999, New York.
The Secret of the Mastering Engineer
by Bob Katz
Mastering is an art and a science. In this acclaimed booklet, Bob Katz shares good advice about monitoring, metering and processing. About listening to the music and supporting it as the road to Nirvana - from one of the true yogis of our industry.
10 Things You Need to Know About Loudness
EBU provides a brief overview of 10 basic topics you need to know about loudness. Not in detail, but you will get a good starting point to build on.


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Buckaroo Handbook (Royal Rangers Buckaroo Handbook)
Johnnie Barnes
AbeBooks Seller Since October 15, 1998Quantity Available: 1
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About this Item
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Title: Buckaroo Handbook (Royal Rangers Buckaroo ...
Publisher: Gospel Publishing House
Publication Date: 1984
Binding: Soft cover
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text:
Sitou Byll-Cateria, Hugh Greene, Joannie Newton, Wanyonyi Kendrick, Bruce Taylor, Kevin Twomey
Oscar Munoz,Kevin Twomey
Chair Kendrick recognized a quorum and called the meeting to order.
Chair Kendrick asked for a MOTION for approval of minutes from June 8. The MOTION was made and seconded. The minutes were approved as presented.
Chair Kendrick offered opportunity for comments from the public. Upon receiving none, she continued with the meeting.
Chair Kendrick asked Vice President Serwatka to present this item.
Vice President Serwatka stated that this regulation was presented to trustees at the June Board meeting as an emergency regulation, and was now being presented as part of the standard regulation promulgation process. He clarified that following this practice was an effort to meet deadlines for the Board of Governors' review and approval procedures. He also clarified that there were no necessary amendments to the emergency regulation previously approved.
Chair Kendrick asked for a MOTION for approval of the schedule of tuition and fees regulation. A MOTION was offered and seconded. The MOTION was approved as presented.
Chair Kendrick asked Vice President Shuman to speak about this item.
Vice President Shuman stated that the purpose of this item was to present proposed amendments to the process for appealing parking citations. She clarified that there was a single amendment which added language that would provide Parking Services the ability to determine if the appeal had merit or should be forwarded to the appeals board for a hearing.
Chair Kendrick asked for a MOTION for approval of the amendment to the appealing citations and appellate procedures regulation. A MOTION was made, seconded, and approved.
Chair Kendrick asked President Delaney to address this item.
President Delaney stated that the university had three unions, all with similar proposals. He provided details on each union's requests.
This item was for information only and required no further action.
Vice President Shuman stated that PECO dollars provided some funding for this project and student fees were bonded for additional dollars. She clarified that the bonding agreement would be presented to the UNF Financing Committee that afternoon, forwarded to the full Board at their October meeting, and presented to the Board of Governors at their December meeting.
This item was presented for information only. No further action was required.
Vice President Shuman stated that these DSOs had not been reviewed by their respective committees. She spoke about the UNFFC audit, noting that it was a clean audit but with two comments. She narrated these comments, stating that changes would be made.
Vice President Shuman talked about the TSI audit, mentioning that it was a clean audit with one comment, which would be rectified next year.
Chair Kendrick asked Mr. Berry, director of the OIA, to speak about this item.
Mr. Berry reported that this year the OIA implemented a campus-wide risk assessment process and integrated information technology audit techniques into all audit engagements. He provided details on the OIA's resources and updated trustees on his department's personnel, noting that there was one open position.
Mr. Berry talked about OIA's utilized resources, mentioning that four in-depth audits, seven fraud allegations and ten management advisory services were completed. He reported that feedback was solicited from clients which revealed a score of 4.62 on a 5-point scale.
Mr. Berry spoke about outstanding issues and follow-up, stating that, as of June 30, one item remained open and one item was in process, noting that management effectively closed or resolved 96 percent of all items.
This item was for information only and required no additional action.
Mr. Berry stated that the intent of this discussion was to convey the audit plan to the Board and demonstrate compliance with applicable standards. He provided details and reviewed activities planned for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Mr. Berry spoke about the risk assessment, noting that this year's goal was to have all departments rate their respective areas. He provided a resource allocation summary, mentioning that the vacant position would be addressed this year.
Mr. Berry provided a summary of the proposed audit plan for 2011, listing planned audits which addressed global risks for accounting, cash and cash equivalents, as well as risks within Academic Affairs and Student Affairs.
Chair Kendrick asked for a MOTION for approval of the 2010-2011 audit plan for the OIA. The MOTION was offered and seconded. The MOTION was carried as presented.
Mr. Berry reported that this item was combined with the annual plan. He noted that there was no activity with the hotline.
This item was for information only and required no additional action.
Mr. Berry stated that there were no changes in either of these charters from the previous year.
Chair Kendrick asked for a MOTION for approval of the audit charter for the OIA and the audit charter for the FAC. A MOTION was offered and seconded. The MOTION was approved without abstention.
Chair Kendrick asked Vice President Stone to speak about this item.
Vice President Stone stated that twice each year, the university provided the Board with an update on pending significant litigation. She reported that the there was no significant litigation pending and that the administration would report again in spring.
Vice President Shuman stated that the Board delegated to the President the ability to write off accounts receivable less than $10,000. She reported that the university was trying to collect tuition and fees but had written off some past due parking fines. Vice President Shuman noted that the meeting materials included a summary of accounts receivable write-offs.
Vice President Shuman stated that the university had ended the year with 94 percent of the budget expended. She noted that the four major divisions stayed within their budgets and had remaining dollars because of salary savings. She clarified that central reserves were not fully expended and were progressing according to plans.
Vice President Shuman spoke about auxiliaries, reporting on negative fund balances but noting that some auxiliaries did very well. She listed construction and a tough economy as causes for some negative fund balances, but noted that some auxiliaries were downsizing and looking at new opportunities for the next fiscal year.
This report was provided for information only and required no additional action.
Chair Kendrick asked Vice President Shuman to provide details of this item.
Vice President Shuman stated that the university had more investments than cash. She noted that the university became more diversified over the previous two years. And, interest income was showing some good months, with cash balances about average compared to previous years.
Vice President Shuman provided commentary on UNF's investment relationships, listing the four major companies. She noted that the average investment total return was 4.3 percent and the benchmark was also 4.3 percent.
This information was provided for review only. No additional action was required.
Chair Kendrick adjourned the meeting.
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4-Star Mountainside Resort Fed by Mineral Springs
In the late 18th century, Dr. John Anderson wanted to reap the curative benefits of the natural hot springs that dot the Allegheny Mountains. He purchased a 2,200-acre plot of land and used locally quarried stones to build the lodge that now serves as the foundation of Omni Bedford Springs Resort. Over the past two centuries, 10 US presidents have stayed at the hotel—a National Historic Landmark that recently underwent a $120 million renovation. But even with its newly restored wings, a historic, restored golf course, and plush guest rooms, the 4-star hotel's main draw is still its eight mineral springs, some of which feed the heated indoor and outdoor pools.
Inspired by the local Native Americans who first discovered the springs' healing properties, the 30,000-square-foot Springs Eternal Spa uses natural mineral water in every one of its treatments. During Bedford Bath rituals, you can alternate between hot and cool mineral pools equipped with massaging jets. The spa also offers a ginger body polish and steam therapy infused with local botanicals. Other treatments, such as massages and body wraps, use local herbs, and others culminate with time in the private spa garden.
Offerings at the five onsite restaurants range from casual bar fare at Frontier Tavern to fine dining at the Crystal Room. The relaxed but upscale 1796 Room serves 21-day-aged USDA Prime beef along with a dessert menu freshly prepared in-house. After dinner, you can gather around a stone fire pit on the lawn and roast marshmallows over the flames.
Bedford, Pennsylvania: Rustic Mountain Town Convenient for Hiking and Cross-Country Skiing
The rural town of Bedford is cradled amid the verdant Allegheny Mountains, a little more than two hours northwest of Washington, DC. There are 25 miles of hiking trails accessible from Omni Bedford Springs Resort. The nearby Blue Knob State Park contains a network of gently sloping loops and steady uphill climbs. Multi-use trails are open for mountain biking, horseback riding, and seasonal cross-country skiing, along with downhill tubing and skiing. In warmer months, many head to the park's streams for trout fishing.


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Emner "evaluering"
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Clemmensen, Torkil; Vendelø, Morten (København, 2004)[Flere oplysninger][Færre oplysninger]
Resume: Abstract: In this paper we present a cost effective and simple procedure for evaluating company web sites. Our assumption is that such sites are places for companies' self-presentation and that customers are readers of these texts. Web site texts with narrative qualities, e.g. scenes, actors, acts, initiate the customers' imagination and narrative mind and hence their decision making. These ideas are investigated in a qualitative study of two companies' self-presentation as future work places for students. The results demonstrate that the students choose the company that has a web site with rich narrative qualities above the company that has a web site with good graphical appearance, but poor narrative qualities. In conclusion, we suggest that user centred evaluation of commercial web sites by using the suggested method can pay attention to deep, narrative structures in both the company's self-presentation and the customers' reading of the web site texts. Keywords: Competitive advantage, decision-making, dramas, imagination, narratives, storytelling, web-design. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6442
Filer i denne post: 108-2004.pdf (679.8Kb)
A Study of CWA Raters' Decision-Making BehavioursLindhardsen, Vivian (Frederiksberg, 2009)[Flere oplysninger][Færre oplysninger]
Resume: The present maps study maps the decision-making behaviors of experienced raters in a well-established Communal Writing Assessment (CWA) context, tracing their behaviors all the way from the independent rating sessions, where the initial images and judgments are formed, to the communal rating sessions, where the final scores are assigned on the basis of collaboration between two rates. Results from think-aloud protocols, recorded discussions, retrespective reports and reported scores from 20 raters rating 15 ESL essays show that when moving from the independent ratings to the communal ratings, there is little, if any, increase in rater agreement levels and the raters' attention to the textual features corresponding to the official criteria become more evenly distributed. However, rather than consulting the scale descriptors directly in resolving insecurities about score assignment, the raters seemed to rely heavily on each others' expertise, thereby reducing the importance of the scale and emphasizing the value of the community of raters. In validating their scores in the communal rating discussions the raters appeared to be critically and equally engaged in the discussions, and through deliberating and refining their assessments the raters believed that CWA practices produce more accurate scores than in independent ratings and lead to professional development. These interpretations support a hermeneutic rather than a psychometric approach to establishing the validity of the present CWA practices. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7743
Filer i denne post: 1Vivian_Lindhardsen.pdf (8.523Mb)
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Christopher Rademacher was at a loss for words.
The Polo eighth-grader had plenty of them at the ready all day at the Lee/Ogle Regional Spelling Bee Feb. 21.
Rademacher bested 28 other spellers through 33 rounds of more than 300 words to become the champion of the regional bee; he won with the word "schadenfreude."
The 13-year-old, who attends Aplington Middle School, won the regional bee last year and will return to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in May.
For the second year in a row, the second-place finisher was Paige Myroth, an eighth-grader at Rochelle Middle School.
This is the fourth consecutive year that the two have faced off for the top spot in the Regional Bee.
Myroth took first place with Rademacher as the runner-up in 2010 and 2011.
The third-place speller this year was Kaden Humphrey, an eighth-grader at David L. Rahn Junior High School in Mt. Morris. The fourth-place finisher was Caden Wiehle, an eighth-grader at Meridian Junior High School in Stillman Valley.
Rademacher had no words for his second win and second trip to the national stage. He had one word, actually: A-W-E-S-O-M-E.
The eighth-grader studied more than 1,000 words every day for weeks. He used a study aid through the national spelling bee with official pronouncers, definitions and example sentences.
He wasn't stumped by any of his words, although he admitted "ingenious," given to another speller in the fourth round, might have got him. He wasn't bothered by the number of foreign words, such as "streusel," "perestroika" or "braggadocio," given in the late rounds. He was surprised that the last few words – most notably "defamation," which tripped up Myroth – were not on the study list.
Rademacher, who has been to the regional bee five times, hasn't just learned to correctly spell a lot of often misspelled or obscure words. He's learned to work hard and be persistent, too.
"I think my learning ethic has greatly improved," he said.
The bee lasted more than 3 hours and went through more than 300 words – the most in nearly 20 years.
Among the prizes given to the top four spellers are a $100 savings bond, a Kindle Touch and dictionaries.
Sponsors of the bee are the Lee/Ogle Regional Office of Education, 1st National Bank of Amboy and Sauk Valley Media.


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His research has explored organizational models and collaboration, innovation practices, and the implications of technology on traditional businesses, and he has presented his findings at conferences around the globe.
But for Sawyer Business School professor Dr. Robert DeFillippi, the impact of his work hits home when other academics cite his research in their own papers. In fact, his 1990 Academy of Management Review article, "Casual ambiguity, barriers to imitation, and sustainable competitive advantage," was among the most-cited papers of the decade, according to Google Scholar.
"This data may be obscure to the general public," says DeFillippi, professor of strategy and international business and co-director of the Center for Innovation and Change Leadership. "But amongst academics these are deeply meaningful metrics because the highest complement an academic can receive is to have their work cited by other scholars."
As an educator, DeFillippi receives great satisfaction in hearing a class or research project of his that has impacted a former student's life.
There was his former global MBA student who went on to complete her PhD in economics and management at Copenhagen Business School before accepting a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. Another former student, who collaborated with DeFillippi on a case study that was published in a book series, went on to pursue a doctor of business administration degree.
"All these students were outstanding contributors to the classes they took with me and they choose to become academic scholars and educators as their next career," says DeFillippi, who earned master's and doctorate degrees from Yale and a master's in social work from the University of Maryland. "I admire how all my students balance very demanding work, family and civic responsibilities with their responsibilities as students."
Chair, Strategy and International Business Department
Professor of Strategy and International Business
Co-Director, Center for Innovation and Change Leadership
Phone: 617.573.8243
Fax: 617.994.6840
Email: email@example.com
Office: Sawyer Building, Rm. 650
Teaching Interests
- Corporate Entrepreneurship
- Project-based Innovation and Knowledge Management
- Management of Innovation
- Strategic Management
PhD, Yale University
MSW, University of Maryland
MPhil, Yale University
BA, Northeastern University


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Hi, my name is Andrea. I am a Boston native who spent LOTS of time on the beaches of Massachusetts and Rhode Island during my teens and twenties. The goal was to be tan, but due to an Irish heritage, the end result was usually a burn, which sometimes would even blister and peel. Sunblock was generally not part of the equation, because getting "some good sun" was all a part of the summer experience, and I actually thought I looked better with a burn then just being my normal pale self. I can remember having some horrible sunburns where I couldn't even walk the next day because my legs were so scorched, and my face would be swollen and red. Sexy, huh?
I smartened up a bit at age 29 when I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Mainly because there are no beaches in Cincinnati, but also because I was getting a bit smarter when it came to sun exposure. I started to wear sunblock and would cover up a bit more. Vacations still brought out my bad habits though, and I would usually overdo it and get burned.
Fast forward to age 37. I had a mole on my torso that looked a bit funky. Now, I had been thinking about going to the dermatologist for a while, but had been putting it off because it was not a priority. I am a "moley" person anyway, and have had freckles and moles all of my life, so this one was not too alarming, other than the fact that it was new. Of course I waited almost a year to have it looked at. Result – melanoma.
The diagnosis was stage three. I had two surgeries - first to remove the tumor and node biopsy, and the second to remove all of the nodes under my left arm. Cancer was found in the sentinel node, but the remaining nodes were negative. I just recently completed my year of interferon, and so far all of my scans have been clean. I am very optimistic and hopeful that it will not return.
I wanted to take this experience and turn it into something meaningful. This brings us to MelanomaGirl (www.melanomagirl.com). During the past year, it became very obvious to me that most people are not familiar with melanoma. I certainly wasn't. Years ago, I had no idea about the danger I was putting myself in, and my impression is that the general public still does not realize how deadly this disease is.
My mission for MG is to bring melanoma into the local and national spotlight through fundraising, community, and imaginative advocacy (a.k.a. fun stuff!). I want to connect with as many people as possible, and encourage them to be smarter in the sun. My approach is not going to be clinical. The strategy that I am taking is combining a light-hearted perspective with a grass-roots execution. MG's tagline is "Proud to Be Pale!" I am very excited about this initiative and have lots of ideas and plans for the future of MelanomaGirl.
I would love to hear from other melanoma patients and survivors! Please feel free to contact me through melanomagirl.com!
Thank you for allowing me to share my story. My thoughts and prayers are with you all!
Re: Andrea Heitker(6/19/2013 - 5:29am)
My dad just found out he has(5/9/2014 - 2:03am)
My dad just found out he has stage 4 melanoma. I'm so worry. He has only option for treatment is ipilimumab. Doctor said that medicine only 10%-15% response. Any idea?


text:
Search our database of handpicked sites
Looking for a great physics site? We've tracked down the very best and checked them for accuracy. Just fill out the fields below and we'll do the rest.
You searched for "explore-results-all.asp?q=light", type: Experiment
We found 16 results on physics.org and 14 results in our database of sites
(of which 0 are Websites, 0 are Videos, and 14 are Experiments)
Search results on physics.org
Time Twins
Inside Story
Physics Life
What are the northern lights?
Science Places
Why is the sky blue?
What is an LED?
Inside Story
What does the 5 sigma mean?
Light pollution - does anyone care?
Wanted: Your computer's spare time
Alien spotting comes down to Earth
The Science of His Dark Materials
What does it take to build, run and interpret results from the LHC
What is a mirage?
Crime Scene Science: Solve Mysteries by Investigating Drops
An activity to explore the behaviour of liquids and how they can be used as evidence.
Harmonies in your head: make amazing sounds only you can hear
A simple activity to explore how sound is made. All you need is a friend and a piece of string.
How does pressure propel sailboats?
An activity about air pressure to explore what makes a good sail. You'll need some foil, styrofoam, paper, straws, a long pipe, tape, scissors, a stopwatch and water.
How Do Bridge Designs Compare?
An activity to explore the strength of different designs of bridges. You'll need several drinking straws, masking tape, thread, scissors, four paper clips, a paper cup, lots of coins, all the same ...
Light fantastic - Marvin and Milo
A Marvin and Milo activity about static electricity. All you need is a party balloon and an energy saving light bulb.
Double-Slit Science: How Light Can Be Both a Particle and a Wave
A experiment to demonstrate how light exhibits wave-particle duality. All you need is three pieces of mechanical pencil lead, a laser pointer and a dark room.
Rad shadow sketch
A simple activity that covers light and shadows and shows the Earth is rotating as it goes round the sun.
Old but simple experiment about waves and light to demonstrate diffraction using pencil, tape and a candle or torch.
TV strobe light - Marvin and Milo
A Marvin and Milo activity about vibration. All you need is a cathode ray television and a rubber band.
Mini magnifier - Marvin and Milo
A Marvin and Milo activity about light, refraction and lenses. All you need is sticky tape, water, teaspoon and some clear plastic.


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I would like to hire a 3D Designer
I am after a 3D modeller, preferably with knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 (40k) universe by Games Workshop, to do some design work for me. I want to create a set of walls / doors terrain to replicate a 3D spaceship interior that I would like to have 3D printed, then have cast up for production.
I am looking at having the following done:
- Wall section that is 2 inches wide * 2 inches * 3 inches tall.
- Wall section that is 4 inches wide * 2 inches * 3 inches tall.
- Column / pillar section that is 2 inches wide * 2 inches * 3 inches tall.
- Door section that is 2 inches wide * 2 inches * 3 inches tall.
- Door section that is 4 inches wide * 2 inches * 3 inches tall.
Each section needs to be able to be placed next to another section by either side (for modularity). So a door section needs to be able to have either a wall or column section on either side of it. A column section is a junction, so needs to be able to have anywhere between 1-4 pieces coming off of it.
Examples of what I mean can be found here:
[url removed, login to view]
I have 3 aesthetics I want to create elements for.
- One is a bio-ship interior. Something similar to the Tyranid aesthetic from 40k, Geiger's work for Aliens or Zerg from starcraft.
- One is a space elf look with the Eldar aesthetic from 40k or Protoss from Starcraft.
- The last is an infested technology look akin to daemonic possession of human tech that Chaos from 40k would have or the Doom game, infested Terrans from Starcraft or the Wraith from Stargate Atlantis.
The dimensions above are the maximum constraints and would require detail on both sides. It is fine to have a thinner sections of wall etc, so long as all the pieces can be placed together.
Ideally I would like a tab on one side of each piece and a slot on the other side that allows the sections to be put together and minimise any movement when setup, but if you have an alternative suggestion, I'm open to changes as there is a good chance I've not considered other otpions.
The final thing to note is that undercuts need to be kept to an absolute minimum (preferably none) as these would interfere with the casting process and demoulding the products.
I would also be looking at other designs in the future to represent other wall options like consoles, vents etc to add more variety, but for now would like to focus on the core components mentioned.
Is this something you would be interested in doing?
Hi Michael, I read the entire description your project, and i am happy to tel you that, I am doing the exact same process ( not withe that game, but with a game called Racedriver grid and Skyrim) ( check my portfoli 更多
10 威客就此工作平均出价 $801
Hello sir,i am ready to start work well and have done lot of games and applications in unity3d so first i will start your work and no need to pay any advance money and i will start your work here and i will give you de 更多
hi mate.. i have read your description.. and i think that i am the most suitable person for this project. i can show you my previous working on 3D game characters and architectural modeling. leave me a text and we can 更多
Hello! I am interested in your offer. I have experience in creating models for 3D printing. I have experience in cleaning the 3D scans of people for 3D printing. Also I have experience in creating models for a bo 更多
HELLO, I understand your requirements precisely to deliver Creative designs •101% client satisfaction guaranteed. I read through the job details extremely carefully**2D & 3D MODELLING**. I can complete your pro 更多
Services of a professional and experienced designer are available who is expert in delivering quality and creative designs. Send me a text to start the discussion on your project.


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NEW YORK -- To the world-weary, Lance Armstrong's confession to Oprah was just one more in a series.
The process of public contrition is by now yawningly familiar: Comfortably seated in front of cameras, the high priestess of the mea culpa faces the penitent. Armstrong, stoic and chiseled, agrees to terms of engagement, his reflexive grin/grimace a foreshadowing of the little deaths to come.


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There are folks at peace with their bodies and then there's Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. It's safe to say that Ayanbadejo likes his body more than average. And look at it. He's on to something. But anyway, one could assume that someone's proud of their physique when they post, say, one picture of themselves online without a shirt. Ayanbadejo posts about one a day. Here's a selection of body shots he's posted. If you like weightlifting poses, there's something here for you. If you like French Bulldogs, there's something here for you, too. And if you just want to bask in some Ayanbadejo ab action, you've come to the right place. -- Jill Rosen Also see: • Ravens to follow on Twitter [Pictures] • Orioles to follow on Twitter [Pictures]
Jill Rosen
Copyright © 2018, CT Now


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Home > News and Multimedia > Press Items [Arrange by Date | Arrange by Topic]
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April 20, 2007
Congressman Mike Capuano has introduced the "Joseph E. Keane Federal Employees Freedom Act" to increase the attendant care allowance so our most severely disabled federal employees can continue to live independently in their own homes. The bill is named in honor of the late Joe Keane, a Somerville resident severely injured in a 1962 training exercise while he was enrolled at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. As a result of his injuries, Mr. Keane was paralyzed from the chest down at the age of twenty and confined to a wheel chair until he passed away in February of 2005.
"Joe Keane was an inspiration, a man who fought to maintain his independence despite significant physical challenges. In 1990 he was instrumental in getting Congress to increase the attendant care allowance, something that had not happened since 1974," stated Congressman Mike Capuano.
Under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA), severely disabled Federal employees injured on the job are eligible for an "attendant allowance", reimbursement for personal care in their home. Personal care attendants provide assistance with needs such as getting out of bed, shaving, bathing, meal preparation, and other daily tasks.
The attendant care allowance is capped at a monthly maximum of $1,500. This amount has not increased since 1991, despite a clear increase in medical costs. Currently, the most severely disabled face monthly attendant costs far greater than $1,500. For these individuals, who wish to remain independent and avoid entering a costly long-term care institution, an increase in the monthly attendant care allowance is critical. Mr. Keane worked in the past with Congressman Capuano's office to introduce legislation that would establish an increase and create a framework for future increases. It was first filed in 2004.
The Department of Labor has estimated that in 2003, only 278 individuals nationwide received the attendant allowance for some or part of the year. Congressman Capuano's legislation increases the allowance only for those who demonstrate that their attendant care needs exceed the current limit. It sets a new cap of $4,000 per month. The bill also establishes a biennial update, to ensure that this small group of affected individuals will not have to return to Congress every time inflation outpaces the cost of care.
"Severely disabled Federal employees injured in the course of public service deserve the dignity of remaining in their homes if they wish to do so. This legislation will make it just a little easier for them to maintain their independence. It is fitting that the bill be named for Joe Keane, who was a true champion of this issue," stated Congressman Mike Capuano.
Contact: Alison M. Mills (617) 621-6208
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Saw the Tie Crawler today for the first time at Target today - $49.99. Awesome looking vehicle and this might be the first LEGO set that I'll ever purchase at full price. Sure would be nice if Hasbro made this thing some day.
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Resistance invades Vita in May
Burning Skies, the first Vita entry in the Resistance series, will be released in the UK this summer.
The European PlayStation Blog confirmed the game would land on shelves on May 30th, marking the arrival of what Sony calls "the world's first portable dual-analog FPS".
Resistance: Burning Skies was first announced during Sony's Gamescom press conference last August.
It is set during the 1951 Chimeran invasion of America's east coast, with players donning the firefighter jacket of Tom Riley.
The game not only recreates console-like first-person shooter controls, it also makes use of the front and rear touch panels.


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Wake For Dawn Hochsprung
Hundreds of mourners, at left, waited outside the Munson-Lovetere Funeral Home to pay their respects to the family of Sandy Hook School principal Dawn Hochsprung who was murdered Friday at her school in Newtown. Luminaria spell out "HOPE" on the front lawn of the funeral home.
STEPHEN DUNN, Hartford Courant
Copyright © 2018, Chicago Tribune


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Jual Kaset Game PS Vita Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a single player Adventure game that brings the trademark active gameplay of the Uncharted series to the small screen like never before. The most prominent of the launch title for the Sony PlayStation Vita handheld Golden Abyss features an all-new story revolving around the adventures of treasure hunter Nathan Drake, as well as controls optimized for play on the PS Vita. Features include: a combination of touch pad and motion-sensing controls, as well as Adventure and Puzzle-solving gameplay.
Uncover the dark secret behind the 400-year-old massacre of a Spanish expedition as Nathan Drake follows the murderous trail of an ancient and secret Spanish sect. Caught in the middle of a rivalry between his old friend, Jason Dante and Marisa Chase, the granddaughter of an archeologist who has mysteriously vanished without a trace, Nathan Drake races into the treacherous river basins, undiscovered temple ruins and karst caverns of Central America in search of a legendary lost city, only to find himself pushed to the edge of the Golden Abyss.
In addition to the standard analog stick controls found in Golden Abyss, PlayStation Vita's innovative control set brings a fresh feel to the well-known acrobatic and puzzle-oriented gameplay of the Uncharted game series. Using the handheld's front and rear touch pads players can more fluidly move laterally, or up and down a wall that Drake must explore. Touch functionality is also used to make charcoal rubbings of found relics, as well as arrange puzzle pieces into the correct configuration for puzzle-solving. Similarly, touch screens can be tapped to move Drake across non-continuous surfaces such as handholds at irregular increments, dilapidated bridge planks and tricky river crossings. Tapping is also utilized as a fast means of switching weapons in combat situations. In addition to this, the motion-sensing controls of the PS Vita's internal gyroscope allows players to balance Drake as he crosses slippery logs, and serves as an aiming method when shooting at enemies. In the latter situation, just point the Vita in the direction you want to shoot, line up you target and pull the trigger.


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Source: National Bureau of Economic Research
Release: NBER Macrohistory Database
Series Is Presented Here As Two Variables--(1)--Original Data, 1924-1935 (2)--Original Data, 1935-1949. These Data Include Government Payments. Source: 1935-1941 Data Are From The Bureau Of Agricultural Economics, "United States Estimates Of Monthly Cash Farm Income And Index Numbers Of Income, January 1935 To September 1942, " (Mimeographed Release, December, 1942); 1942-1946 Data Are From Survey Of Current Business, 1947 And 1949 Supplements; 1947-1949 Data Are From Monthly Issues Of The Farm Income Situation.
This NBER data series m12031b appears on the NBER website in Chapter 12 at http://www.nber.org/databases/macrohistory/contents/chapter12.html.
NBER Indicator: m12031b
National Bureau of Economic Research, Cash Income from Farming, Total for United States [M1231BUSM144NNBR], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M1231BUSM144NNBR, December 16, 2018.


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By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2006 - Two Massachusetts Air National Guard F-15 fighter jets scrambled today to escort a Washington-bound United Airlines flight to Boston's Logan National Airport, a U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman confirmed.
NORAD ordered the unit to scramble the aircraft, based at Otis Air National Guard Base, Mass., after receiving a "domestic event network call" on the aviation security hotline that links the command to the Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. aviation security organizations, Mike Kucherak said.
The call followed an incident aboard United Airlines Flight 923, originally scheduled to fly from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles International Airport. A disruptive passenger with hand cream and matches caused officials to call for an emergency landing, Transportation Security Agency officials confirmed.
The two jets intercepted the aircraft, escorted it to Boston, where it landed without incident, then returned to Otis, Kucherak said.
Today's incident occurred less than a week after the arrest of several suspects in the United Kingdom who allegedly were involved in a plot to blow up airlines bound for the United States.
"We continue to monitor the situation and remain vigilant," Maj. Gen. William G. Webster, director of operations for U.S. Northern Command, said last week of U.S. Northern Command's and NORAD's roles in maintaining situational awareness and ensuring an ability to respond rapidly if required.
Kucherak said today's escort mission demonstrates the rapid response capability provided since Operation Noble Eagle was launched immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, to protect the homeland. In less than five years, NORAD has flown more than 42,000 sorties and scrambled or diverted aircraft more than 2,100 times, he said.
Operation Noble Eagle includes regular overflights from bases around the country that monitor the skies and air crews that remain on alert, ready to launch jets in response to a threat, if needed. "We are ready to respond at a moment's notice," Kucherak said.
Today's mission also exemplifies the "great cooperation" between the Department of Defense and Air National Guard in ensuring Operation Noble Eagle's success, he said. The National Guard flies more than 70 percent of all Operation Noble Eagle missions.


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Tim Sanchez Ph.D. '12 receives honors for thesis work
American Physical Society to award Sanchez for biological physics research
Tim Sanchez Ph.D. '12 is being honored for his doctoral thesis.
Sanchez, who worked in Associate Professor of Physics Zvonimir Dogic's lab and is a post-doctoral fellow, will receive the Division of Biological Physics of the American Physical Society's Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Biological Physics. His thesis was on "Self-Organization in Active Cytoskeletal Mixtures: Cilia-like Beating of Microtubule Bundles and Spontaneous Bulk Mixing."
He will receive a $1,500 prize, a certification citing his contribution, a $500 travel allowance and a registration-fee waiver for the society's next meeting and an invitation to present a 30-minute talk based on his work.
"It's a great honor," Sanchez says of the award, adding that the invitation to present "is also an honor and a nice opportunity to speak and let people know who you are."
Categories: Research, Science and Technology


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Shy Lady Heroin Vs Keys Rap Battle Going Down? Lady Heroin On Why She Called Out Keys! + Keys Pulls A Kat Stacks Move! "Ima Hunt You Down. Smack You & Eat You B*tch. Im Going To Kill You" [Fixed]
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UNITAR NYO hosts workshop on elections to UN organs [1]
2 May 2013, New York, USA — Thirty delegates gathered at the UN Headquarters to participate in UNITAR New York Office's capacity building workshop for Election Officers, titled 'Gearing up: Elections to UN Organs'.
Introduced by Ms. Yvonne Lodico, who qualified it as an insider's course into elections to UN organs, the workshop shined light on diverse, important elements of said elections. Ambassador Ahmad Kamal, Senior Fellow of UNITAR, gave the opening remarks, repeating the importance of developing friendship, which combined with other important tips, he described as key to a successful election campaign.
Mr. Larry Johnson, former Assistant-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, and Adjunct Professor at Colombia Law School, gave an overview of principal UN organs, their membership composition, and the regional distribution of seats. Following this session, Mr. Ziad Mahmassani, of the General Assembly Affairs Branch [2], discussed the technicalities involved with restricted and unrestricted balloting. Ms. Mary Muturi, also from the General Assembly Affairs Branch, intervened, reminding Election Officers to communicate their Missions' candidacy to the General Assembly Affairs Branch. Ms. Maria Maldonado, Former Director of the General Assembly Affairs Branch, concluded this session by giving a very detailed overview of the voting procedures, including insight into what would invalidate certain votes.
Session three presented a panel where the key elements of election campaigns were discussed. Opening this session, Mr. Olivier Maes, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Luxembourg to the UN, described elections to UN organs as very fascinating topics and shared Luxembourg's experience regarding its time line approach to its successful Security Council campaign as well as its campaign to ECOSOC [3]in 2006 and its presidency in 2009. According to Mr. Maes, candidate States should make themselves visible to the rest of the Member States, at all times. Ms. Radhika Ochalik , of the ECOSOC Affairs Branch [4], discussed the complex system of elections of the subsidiary bodies of ECOSOC. Ms. Maritza Chan, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the UN, shared the successful approach that Costa Rica took for the 2011 elections to the Human Rights Council as well as to the International Law Commission, respectively. Closing this session, Mr. Joseph Mutaboba, Mediator-in-Residence of the UN DPA/Policy & Mediation Division [5], highlighted the importance of being well informed at all stages of the candidature.
Ms. Maria Jose del Aguila Castillo, Second Secretary of Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the UN, headed Session four, where she gave a tour of CandiWeb [6]to the delegates. At the same time, she also spoke of her experience as an Election Officer and advised Member States to be proactive instead of reactive, so that your mission maintains its momentum for when the campaigning seasons arrive. Delegates attending this workshop, comprised mostly of new Elections Officers, applauded this course, claiming that it provided not only guidance but also helped to ease the stress of this very intense position from which only an experienced diplomat with an insider's experience could share.


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IT and data center professionals need to understand how much power IT equipment uses. You may have heard of a quick-and-dirty option to use the "nameplate" power rating to estimate energy use. The nameplate is a safety label that comes from the Underwriters Laboratory which was formed in the year 1894 for the independent evaluation of electrical products for safety.
Despite the nameplate's function as a safety label, it can provide a clue as to the device's energy use. It's a gross rule of thumb that most IT power supplies typically sustain a load that's less than half of the nameplate rating.
However, I do not recommend relying on this method. Get the right tools to measure actual energy consumption. For instance, power distribution equipment often includes reporting that you can use. You can also get tools such as a multimeter or "amp clamp" for external verification. Don't touch the power without proper training and safety equipment!
Another unwritten rule in the data center is to pay attention to the power supply efficiency rating, such as the Energy Star External Power Supply (EPS) v2.0 metrics adopted by the Department of Energy. In conjunction with recent European Union efficiency standards, the bottom end of the power supply market has been increasing efficiency, but your choice of efficiency should still depend on your business requirements.
You can see in the DoE and LBL diagram above that most power supplies are less than 75% efficient. If you also consider power supply redundancy, splitting the load across multiple power supplies means efficiency can reach below the 30% load. This can take a mediocre 75% efficient power supply and drop it to 60% efficiency. This means 40% of every watt-hour consumed is just turned into waste heat.
Why should you care? Every watt-hour of energy lost to a 40%-inefficient power supply is a watt-hour that you can't use for another computer. Although you can't get 100% efficient power supplies, what would you give for 10% to 20% increase in your UPS capacity? Every watt-hour saved is liberated power capacity on your UPS. Highly efficient power supplies can give you that capacity boost at a fraction of the cost of a new UPS.
Next page: Power Factor Correction


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It's pretty tempting to think you're quite the valuable commodity when your company offers you a higher salary to keep you from leaving to go work for another company. Not so fast, hot stuff. Here are a couple of things to think about before you accept that offer.
You will be looked on here on out as a bit of a traitor.
Sure, you ultimately decided to stay, but in your company's eyes, you made an effort to find another job. And you might have interviewed on a day you called in sick, or asked to leave early using some excuse.
It may be a little naïve, but to your managers, your loyalty can't be counted on. And if you were just using the other job offer as leverage to get what you wanted from your employer in the first place, it can be construed as a kind of blackmail. People don't tend to forget that kind of thing, especially when promotions opportunities come around.
Money won't solve your problems.
If you began looking for another job because you were unhappy for various reasons, you can be assured that a little bump in salary is not going to make those issues disappear.
You've burned a bridge with the company that wanted to hire you.
If you tell the manager of the second company who was making you an offer that you've decided to stay with your current company, he or she is going to take note. If you pulled the rug out from under them once, they'll be very sure not to give you the opportunity in the future.
Last thoughts
By accepting a counteroffer from your company, you could be changing the dynamics of your relationship forever. And the counteroffer could just be buying time for your company until they can find your replacement—someone they feel will be glad to be where you are.
Full Bio
Toni Bowers is the former Managing Editor of TechRepublic and is the award-winning blogger of the Career Management blog. She has edited newsletters, books, and web sites pertaining to software, IT career, and IT management issues.


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Stocks are opening mixed on Wall Street as traders keep a close eye on budget talks in Washington as a deadline approaches for reaching a deal.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up two points at 13,354 shortly after the opening bell Wednesday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was flat at 1,447 and the Nasdaq composite index edged up five points to 3,060.
General Motors jumped 7 percent to $37.36 a share after reporting that it will buy back government's stake in the company within the next 15 months.
Business software maker Oracle jumped 3 percent to $34 a share after reporting stronger earnings as companies splurged on software and other technology.


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AP Polls Individual Ballots- Interesting
I was reading an article on ESPN, and was directed to a link which allows you to see the individual polls of all 60 voters. The state of Michigan has 2 people voting, Angelique Chengelis (The Detroit News) and Joe Rexrode (Lansing State Journal). Angelique has Michigan ranked 22, Rexrode has them ranked 24. Michigan clocked in at #23 in the poll.
Here is the link- http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/top25_front/voters.html?SIT…
After looking at all of the polls here are some quick observations.
-Michigan was ranked in 46 of 60 polls. 6 Southern polls, 3 Western polls, 4 Midwest Polls, and 1 East Poll (W.Virginia FWIW) excluded them.
-They got some nice national love. Of the 4 national media members with votes, all of them ranked Mich. Craig James (ABC) and Tom Hart (CBS CSN) had them ranked 12th and 11th respectively.
-Doug Lesmerises (Clev, OH) had Mich ranked 10th
Just thought this was a fun way to see how people around the country view different teams. I really wish this was the case with the Coaches Poll too.


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Our fabulous delegation to WorldMUN 2012: Vancouver has done it again! With eleven of the fourteen members earning the coveted diplomacy awards, W&M placed among the top few schools in the world! While the unofficial rankings have yet to be tallied, past years with this ratio have resulted in a second place for the large delegation category.
WorldMUN is truly a group effort. Our delegates trained hard, helping each other to prepare and supporting one another from position assignments all the way through to the glorious end. Many thanks are also due to the numerous members of the Club and W&M community who lent their expertise and talent to numerous training sessions. MUN is a team sport of the highest caliber, and W&M lacks nothing in team spirit.
Congratulations also to all of the universities who participated! These delegations are always a pleasure to work with. It is these friendships and good feelings that WorldMUN strives and succeeds to create.
Until next year, WorldMUN. It has been an amazing experience for all who attended and everyone at home in Williamsburg should be thanked for their assistance. Congratulations delegates!


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How wonderful.
It is fairly simple to deal with the morons who say the world is going to end because of same-sex marriage, or because the ten commandments are no longer posted in schools, or because Chrysler is owned by Fiat. It is less simple to deal with people who have predictions of the end of the world that are actually based on science. Professor Jacques Laskar, in the current edition of the journal Nature, presents evidence that Earth could be on a collision course with Mercury, Mars, or Venus.
They grabbed their big computer, and they plugged the data in;
They programmed the parameters, and told it to begin,
Then sat around and waited while scenarios unfurled,
And it told them of the last days of the world.
A wobble in the orbits of the planets Earth and Mars
Could take the Martian planet and propel it into ours;
Under some of the scenarios, it misses by a bit,
But in others, we collide—a lethal hit!
The odds are still against it, but it certainly could be,
Since the tiniest of chances is no solid guarantee
That the planet that we live on—here, where you and I reside—
Won't be blown to smithereens, when worlds collide!
The professor wants to tell us there's no reason for our fears,
Since there's nothing gonna happen for at least a billion years
In my personal opinion, I'm agreeing with the prof—
Cos by then, we will have killed each other off.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Yet Another Way The World Will End
Posted by Cuttlefish at 10:02 PM
Labels: pinheads
2 comments:
- The Ridger, FCD said...
So (unfortunately) true....
- Rogue Medic said...
What if they are wrong about the date?
I'm going to rush out and buy some Nikes and a nutrient soaked towel. Both are supposed to be useful for dealing with the end of the world.


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Job Seekers
Community Development Investments (February 2012)
Corporation for Supportive Housing: Helping the Homeless Live With Dignity
Deborah DeSantis, Executive Director, and Brigitt Jandreau-Smith, Chief Lending Officer, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)
CSHThe Horizon Apartments, with a trompe l'oeil facade, offer 20 units of permanent supportive housing for the homeless and mentally challenged in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif.
CSHThe rooftop deck of the Horizon Apartments in Venice, California, provides tenants a view of famous Venice Beach.
"There's no place like home," Dorothy told Toto in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. But not everyone is fortunate enough to have a place to call home. Some sleep in vehicles; others on relatives' couches; still others on park benches, entryway stoops, and heating grates. Nationally, more than half a million people in the United States are homeless on any given night, and at least 1.6 million people are homeless at some point every year. Nearly 17 percent of homeless individuals who are homeless on any single night are, by federal definition, chronically homeless because they have experienced long-term or repeated episodes of homelessness.
The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), founded in 1991, is a community development financial institution (CDFI). Headquartered in New York, CSH has offices in 11 states and Washington, D.C. We help communities seeking to prevent and end homelessness by helping them develop permanent supportive housing (PSH). We give each tenant individualized attention. We tackle homelessness by bringing together people, skills, and resources, and providing high-quality advice and development expertise, in a collaborative search for solutions. We make loans and grants to sponsors of supportive housing; we work to strengthen the supportive housing industry; and we help reform public policy, making it easier for communities and developers to create and operate quality supportive housing.
Our mission is to create opportunities for formerly homeless tenants to live with dignity in accordance with their own interests, and we work hard to open the doors of supportive housing to people who face the greatest challenges.
What Is Supportive Housing?
Supportive housing is essentially affordable housing that provides access to health and social services, such as mental health and addiction therapy, medical care, case management, and employment services.
Supportive housing is proving to be a successful solution to homelessness because it addresses the issues that most often cause people to become homeless. Nationally, 110,000 people are, by federal definition, chronically homeless, due in part to untreated severe mental illness (60 percent), addiction (80 percent), and other chronic health issues. Many more are at risk of becoming homeless because they face these same challenges.
Together, supportive housing's combination of place and services is addressing the needs of this fragile population.
CSH's Track Record
For 20 years, CSH has led the national supportive housing movement. CSH provides critical capital to developers to jump-start projects that might otherwise fail early in the project development process. We have been successful because, with more than two decades of experience, we understand housing markets and are willing to take calculated risks.
CSH recognizes the importance of lending as a tool to create supportive housing. We offer low, simple-interest loans and low origination fees. Since 1991, CSH has committed more than $310 million in loans and grants to supportive housing projects and created nearly 50,000 new housing units. Today, our lending resources total more than $50 million, up sharply from $14.7 million in 2004. In addition, we provide significant additional capital to developers through special external loan funds.
Table 1 lists the five acquisition loan funds that CSH has either created or helped to create. Through these loan funds, CSH has access to additional capital to make loans to developers to create supportive housing. Four of the funds target California; the fifth fund targets New York. CSH is either an owner or originator of each of the five funds. CSH provides technical assistance to all five funds. Although the interest rates and fees vary by fund, each fund offers low interest rates and fees designed to contain project costs. Through these loan funds, CSH has access to additional capital to make loans to developers to create supportive housing. Basic information on each loan fund is shown, including total capitalization, geographic focus, loan terms, and loans made to date.
Table 1: CSH's Role in Permanent Supportive Housing: Five Acquisition Loan Funds
Source: CSH
What Financing Is Needed?
Funding supportive housing is complex but doable. With the right mix of training and support, sponsors of this much-needed housing can access appropriate funding packages, achieve financial sustainability, and even provide returns for investors.
Supportive housing projects often have several funding sources and require significant subsidies to cover the cost of services, which includes:
National research commissioned by CSH identified the key funding sources for supportive housing projects. The largest source of capital is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, used in 54 percent of projects and making up 32 percent of all capital used for these projects. Housing Finance Agencies (15 percent), redevelopment agencies (9 percent), and commercial banks (7 percent) are the next most-used sources.
The remainder of capital typically comes from a variety of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding: McKinney-Vento programs (3 percent); the HOME Program (3.8 percent); and Community Development Block Grant funds (4.2 percent). State and local housing trust funds provide other funding.
Operating subsidies for supportive housing are primarily provided by HUD's housing voucher programs, such as the Shelter Plus Care (S+C) Program and the Supportive Housing Program (SHP). HUD programs also cover the ongoing costs of providing support services to tenants through S+C, SHP, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS. Support services are funded by other federal and state programs.
Positioning Projects for Long-Term Sustainability
Planning is the key to long-term sustainability in supportive housing. CSH works with supportive housing sponsors to build strategic and informed plans for creating high-quality units. We provide a suite of products, services, grants, and training designed to give local service providers and housing developers an understanding of supportive housing financing, program models, and best practices. In addition, we provide one-on-one assistance to help sponsors with a range of project-specific work. This kind of assistance has helped establish a supportive housing industry that offers long-term sustainability. CSH works with sponsors in:
Investment Opportunities and Innovation
Traditionally, banks have invested in supportive housing projects and received solid returns by providing loans to CDFI funds that support below-market-rate lending for predevelopment and acquisition costs. Banks also lend directly to supportive housing developers to cover construction costs. Many of these investments and loans qualify for Community Reinvestment Act consideration.
In addition to the traditional LIHTC investments, banks may invest in new supportive housing opportunities, such as cutting-edge, external loan funds and New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs). External predevelopment and acquisition funds use initial government investments to leverage significant private capital. By subordinating the government's lien position to the private capital, more housing can be created with the same amount of public grant resources. CSH, using this leverage strategy, capitalized the LA Supportive Housing Loan Fund on its balance sheet and is participating with other CDFIs in four such funds in New York City, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Industry Innovation: Acquisition Loan Funds
Typically, acquisition loan funds are independently capitalized limited liability corporations (LLC). An initial grant investment acts as a first loss, with public investors taking the primary and generally riskiest position, foundations taking the secondary loss position, and banks and other private investors taking the senior position, or the investment with the least risk. Typically, government agencies enlist multiple CDFIs to originate loans, with CDFIs marketing the loans, conducting due diligence, analyzing the projects and borrowers, structuring the loans, and providing technical assistance to ensure the quality of the applicants' project plans. Because there is first loss built into the structure of the funds, CDFIs do not have to raise grant funds for loan loss reserve, eliminating a major challenge to funding supportive and affordable housing projects on a large scale.
In partnership with the Los Angeles Housing Department, CSH created the Los Angeles Supportive Housing Loan Fund, a stand-alone fund that exclusively targets supportive housing creation. CSH owns this fund, which uses a capitalization structure that is similar to an LLC, although it is not an LLC. The housing department provides top loss for the fund, which has allowed CSH to attract $25 million in private investment. CSH has enjoyed great success through the Supportive Housing Loan Fund in scaling supportive housing development in Los Angeles. To learn about this project, see the sidebar about Horizon Apartments,"Case Study: Venice Community Housing."
These acquisition funds streamline the supportive housing funding process by tying predevelopment and acquisition loans directly to public sources of long-term financing. Given their first-loss positions, the public agencies have a vested interest in the success of the funds. By prioritizing these projects for long-term financing to mitigate risk, public funding for projects is more predictable, resulting in more local production.
Role in Supportive Housing Production
CSH sees tremendous opportunity for acquisition loan funds to attract unprecedented private investments in supportive housing projects. Other than Los Angeles's Supportive Housing Loan Fund, no other existing LLC funds specifically target supportive housing. In fact, several funds are structured in ways that limit their use in supportive housing projects (for example, loan-to-value (LTV) ratios capped at 100 percent). If these funds are restructured to encourage supportive housing development, they could help governments achieve long-term supportive housing production goals and in ending homelessness nationally.
New Markets Tax Credits as New Funding Source
Supportive housing developers are also beginning to look at the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program as another way to attract greater levels of debt and equity financing from banks. CSH received its first NMTC allocation in 2011. CSH expects to close at least one of its three investments in supportive housing projects by year's end. CSH will sell its NMTCs to banks and other investors in exchange for equity and debt investments in the supportive housing projects. To date, supportive housing developers have used this program on a limited basis for very large, multi-use developments. CSH is exploring how NMTCs might fund program space for support services within housing projects, an innovation that would enable this financing to be used on a larger scale for these projects. With a seven-year compliance period, the NMTC program represents an opportunity to attract longer-term bank financing to supportive housing projects.
Risk Factors and Mitigation
As with any housing development project, supportive housing projects carry risks. Indeed, these projects may be incorrectly perceived as riskier than traditional affordable housing projects. The truth, however, is that supportive housing projects have proven to be solid investments.
CSH, in conjunction with Enterprise Community Partners, conducted the 2011 study "Permanent Supportive Housing: An Operating Cost Analysis." The study concluded that permanent supportive housing is beneficial to communities as well as to homeless individuals. The low-income housing tax credit investments analyzed in the study generally had somewhat lower revenues and higher operating expenses when compared with LIHTC affordable housing investments without support services. The primary reason that the projects had stronger cash flow was that they had significantly lower debt service obligations. These reduced obligations offset the lower revenues and higher operating expenses. In addition, a strong service partnership was critical to maximizing housing stability. Stable tenancy leads to increased rental income and reduced repair and maintenance expenses.
Generally, supportive housing projects require higher LTV ratios (for example, 120 percent on average) than other affordable housing projects (80 percent to 100 percent LTV), because supportive housing sponsors often have limited collateral. Based on CSH's very low default rate of less than 1 percent since 1992, we have not found the higher LTV to result in riskier loans.
When it comes to mitigating risk, CSH has pioneered a successful model. We develop long-standing relationships with prospective borrowers to help them plan supportive housing projects that are well-positioned with long-term financing from government and other sources. CSH provides extensive training and technical assistance to review project plans, and offers grants to build organizational capacity. CSH also maintains close ties with government funders in many parts of the country and has experience in helping prospective borrowers qualify for government support.
In addition, CSH offers Project Initiation Loans (PIL), a unique loan product designed to fund early-stage predevelopment and planning work. Capped at $50,000, PILs support robust planning and due diligence, including site and feasibility assessments. The result: stronger projects that are better positioned to repay larger property acquisition and predevelopment loans using permanent financing sources.
For more information, contact Brigitt Jandreau-Smith at email@example.com or visit www.csh.org.


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After graduating an often talked-about senior class that included an individual state champion last season, the Prairie City-Monroe boys track will experience even more change at the top.
With former coach Ben Anderson undertaking administration duties at Monroe Elementary School, PCM athletic director and football coach Greg Bonnett has decided to undertake a new duty of his own as track coach.
For the time being, at least.
"Ideally, I'd like to have Anderson be the head coach because he was a really good one," Bonnett said. "I'd like to think that I'm just holding the job for him when he wants to come back. But I like track a lot, especially the development in it, so I thought it was important to have good numbers."
Good numbers isn't an issue for this year's Mustangs, as Bonnett's first duty as coach was to bulk up what would've been a depleted roster after the departure of last year's seniors. Using his connections in other sports, Bonnett will try to replace the likes of Jordan Van Roekel, who was a two-time champion in the 400-meter hurdles.
"Most of them are football players, but at the same time I think we only had 12 guys coming back from last year's team," Bonnett said. "But now, we have 40 out."
Much like just about every other school in the state, however, the Mustangs haven't had much practice time due to the weather. That mixed with a cast of largely new faces has forced the Mustangs to temper their expectations for the early part of the season and focus on improvement by the end of April.
"Our expectations for success are going to be different than they were last year," Bonnett said. "But this year, with the cold temperatures and not being able to get outside, we're going to look forward to putting everything together by then. After that, we'll have to take a look and see what we've got."
Leading the limited cast of returners will be seniors Ethan Kain and Hunter Reed, among others. Both were on the team's 4x800 and shuttle hurdle relay state-qualifying teams along with teammate Jake Van Wyk. With that experience on a team that could be lacking in the category, Bonnett will be looking in their direction to lead, at least early this season.
Sticking out in the large cast of up-and-comers is junior Troy Vittetoe, who saw plenty of action during cross country season. This season, however, Bonnett is looking at him for sprint events such as the 100, 200 and 400 instead of the distance events like he participated in this fall.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he winds up being one of the best runners on our team." Bonnett said of Vittetoe. "He's a lightweight kid, but he's got good form and can really scoot along."
The other candidates to fill in the holes from last season have a pretty diverse background. Senior Rhett Gainey, who is doubling up with soccer, will be among them, as will freshman Logan Gilman, who made an impact off the bench for the Mustangs' basketball team this winter. Sophomore Hayes Applegate was also mentioned as an athlete that could help PCM in multiple events from sprints to hurdles to the long jump.
Weather pending, the Mustangs will see their first competition in an 11-team home invitational on April 2.


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I think the problem that everyone has with Microsoft on this console iteration is not specifically that the console sucks (it does). Rather, it's that they have demonstrated themselves throughout the entire release as absolutely and remarkably tone-deaf to what people want. They might fumble and hit the right note when they watch everyone cringe, but that doesn't change the underlying problem in that they have absolutely no idea how to properly target their customer base.
Fans respond well to a willingness to correct mistakes. A graceful mea culpa will ingratiate yourselves with people more than it will hurt your brand. Releasing a marketing video where you casually show a headset that you already stated would not be included, along with prior justification for why said headset would not be included, is not an admission of a mistake. That's a 180. While the change is good and certainly welcome, gamers don't "just" want a headset. They want some culpability on Microsoft's part for designing a system that has soured their Xbox fan experience.
While it might sound like having your cake and eating it too, an admission of wrongdoing is tremendously important for instilling brand loyalty because it says, "Guys, we realize we totally screwed up. We're sorry. We corrected it, we know what we did wrong, and we will strive never to do it again." Nothing Microsoft has done or said has remotely indicated that they think their marketing decisions are a mistake. Rather, their press releases and often snide statements lend fans to think that they still believe their decisions are correct, but that to make a buck they need to cave on some of their principles. It's much like having a politician who says, "Tell me what you want me to say," to the highest bidder. It rings hollow and instills no faith that they will get it right in the future.
After all, coming out and saying, "We will not include a headset with this console," followed by, "Hey look, there's a headset with this console," means you're only 50% right or truthful, and 50% is still failing.


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DIXON – The district's elementary schools have some of the highest pupil-to-teacher ratios among districts in the Sauk Valley, while its high school has among the lowest.
Classroom sizes are one of the many issues being negotiated as the district's teachers remain on strike.
Dixon's 168 teachers had been working without a contract since August. They went on strike Thursday, causing 2 days of classes to be canceled.
In the teachers union's initial published offer, it proposed capping the pupil-to-teacher ratio per class.
In its elementary schools, Dixon has 19.2 students to each teacher, compared to the state average of 18.9. Locally, Sterling has 18.9 students to per teacher, Rock Falls 20.1, Morrison 18.2, Amboy 14, Ashton-Franklin Center 16.2 and Oregon 16.
At the high school level, there are 14.7 Dixon students for each teacher, compared to the state average of 19.2. Sterling has 21.1 students per teacher, Rock Falls 19, Morrison 16.4, Amboy 14.9, Ashton-Franklin Center 13.8 and Oregon 19.
Of those districts, Dixon is the second largest with 2,781 students. Only Sterling is larger, with 3,513 students.
Charlie Beck, an English teacher at Dixon High School, said class sizes limit the attention teachers can give students.
"If I've got 28 kids in a research class, I can't get to everybody for a full 2 minutes," Beck said. "That's frustrating for a teacher."
After research, the Center of Public Education said connections cannot always be made between class sizes and achievement, except in the primary grades of kindergarten through third grade, in a report taking 19 studies into consideration.
Bonnie Driver, an English teacher at Dixon High School, said averages don't tell the whole tale, because she has one class with 17 students and another with 30.
"Some classes have too many students, but you can't see that because other classes are below the norm," Driver said.
While Superintendent Michael Juenger acknowledged the benefits of smaller class sizes, he said capping them can cause problems.
"If the district has one more student than the cap, does that mean we have to bring in another teacher and break up those classes?" Juenger said.
Juenger also said student achievement in Dixon has not declined, for the most part, in standardized testing results.
For class sizes to be capped, the union says, more teachers would have to be hired. In its last published offer, it said four to seven teachers would be needed to meet proposed caps.
Juenger said every new teacher costs the district between $40,000 and $55,000.
– SVM reporter Kayla Heimerman contributed to this story.


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Given the resurgence in popularity of Ayn Rand's classic novel Atlas Shrugged, I thought I would publish this list of Atlas Shrugged characters in graphic form, comparing and contrasting them according to their ability- graphed along the x-axis and their morality- graphed along the y-axis.
Men of extreme talent and unwavering moral courage are heroes in Rand's estimation. They include John Galt, Francisco D'Anconia, Ragnar Danneskjold, Ellis Wyatt, Richard Halley, Hank Rearden, Dagny Taggert, and many others. Atlas Shrugged includes however, a picture of people who lack the creative ability of these heros, but match their moral certitude and steadfastness. These include Dagny's assistant, Eddie Willers and James Taggert's temporary wife, Cheryl Brooks. On the other hand, people who lack ability and morals are moochers and looters, who live off the strength of others and consider others as means to their own meaningless, bare survival. These include James Taggert, Philip Rearden, the Starnes heirs, and Wesley Mouch among others. Last of all, there are the men of competence who lack the morality to be heroes. They are instead cowards like Mr. Mowen and Dr. Stadler.
Naturally, John Galt- being the ideal man- is in the very upper right corner of the graph. He is a man of unmatched ability and his motor invention operated off of a new theory of energy, turning all conventional scientific understanding on its head while simultaneously providing humanity with a revolutionary device that would increase human productivity and standards of living by several orders of magnitude. Additionally, John Galt is a man of fierce, uncompromising morality. He understands completely and explicitly, the nature of reality, human beings, and a moral human society, and he exemplifies his clearly understood principles. Though we may not all be men and women of prodigious ability, Ayn Rand believes we all can and ought to be moral human beings. Instead of being envious, parasitic, and destructive, she urges us in her writing to admire excellence, strive for our very best, and never consider the life of another human being as something we can dispose of freely for our own benefit. These are the premises of a well-ordered, civil society.
Purchase Atlas Shrugged or other Ayn Rand books:


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Department of Revenue News Release
October 22, 2009Competitive Process Used to Award License Offices in Boonville, California, Cameron, Chaffee, Florissant, Hartville & Milan
JEFFERSON CITY - Seven more local motor vehicle and license offices have been awarded to individuals and groups using a competitive bidding process that has been implemented and championed by Gov. Jay Nixon.
"The services provided by our local license offices are important to many Missouri citizens," Gov. Nixon said. "Therefore, it is vital that we try to get the most efficient agents to operate these offices. Having a non-political, open competition where the best proposal wins is a tremendous improvement compared to the old, secretive system where a person was appointed without regard for the ability to run an office."
The seven offices awarded today are in Boonville, California, Cameron, Chaffee, Florissant, Hartville and Milan. All of the offices will remain at their current locations. Bidders also have the option of returning a portion of the office's revenues to the state. Five of this week's winning bidders will return some of their revenues to the state. The cumulative amount of funds that will be returned to the state in the first contract year from the 120 offices that have been awarded so far under the new bidding process is $608,054.
Sherry Shelton, doing business as Boonville License Office, is the new agent for the Boonville License Office, which is at 408 Sixth St. Shelton's winning proposal was one of three bids for the office. As part of her bid, Shelton, of Boonville, will return 1 percent ($1,030) of the office's estimated first-year revenues to the state.
The California License Office has been awarded to Roberta Elliott of California. Elliott, who submitted the only bid, has been the office agent since 2005. A 2 percent ($1,398) return to the state was included in the bid. The office is located at 1021 W. Buchanan, Suite 15.
Rebecca Curtis of Cameron, doing business as Cameron License Office, will continue to be the agent for the office in Cameron. She has held this position since 2005. Curtis' bid was chosen from two that were submitted. The office is located at 217 N. Chestnut St., and a one-half of 1 percent ($394) return to the state was included in the bid.
The Chaffee License Office, located at 129 S. Main St., has been awarded to a new agent, Ernst & Sadler Licensing. The group is associated with Dena Ernst of Jackson and LaTanya Sadler of Chaffee. Sadler is the current office manager and Ernst is also an employee with the office. The winning bid was chosen from two that were submitted. A 5 percent ($4,786) return to the state was included in the bid.
The Florissant License Office will continue to be operated by the Florissant Rotary Club, which has run the office since 1995. The club's bid was one of three submitted. A 1 percent ($4,552) return to the state was included in the bid. The office is located at 620 N. Highway 67.
Freda Barr of Hartville, doing business as Hartville License Office, has been selected to be the agent for the Hartville License Office. Barr has been the agent for the office, which is located at 398 S. Main Ave., Suite B, since 2007. No return to the state was included in the bid, which was the only one submitted.
The Milan License Office, located at 825 N. Pearl St., Suite 2, will continue to be run by Heather L. Stephenson of Milan. She has been the office agent since 2005, and she submitted the only bid. No return to the state was included in the bid.
Details about any changes in office operations, if any, will be announced by the agents.
Although Gov. Nixon authorized the Missouri Department of Revenue to implement the new bidding system in January, it didn't become part of state law until legislation was signed by the Governor this past summer. The new law was overwhelmingly approved by both Republican and Democratic members of the Missouri Legislature.
Of the 120 offices awarded so far, 69 have gone to incumbents or been awarded to relatives or groups associated with incumbent agents. Fifty-one of the offices have been awarded to new agents. Of the 183 total offices, bidding has closed on 181, and two remain open. For a list of winning bidders for license offices, please go to http://oa.mo.gov/purch/awardedfeeoffices.pdf.
Alana M. Barragán-Scott, director of the Missouri Department of Revenue, noted the positive aspects of the new and reformed process of selecting office agents.
"Having each office up for competition will undoubtedly improve office operations," she said. "Even when an incumbent agent is chosen to retain an office, he or she has had to justify the way the office is run, and possibly even develop new ways to improve operations in order to avoid losing the office to a competitor."
All local license offices provide services that are overseen by the Department of Revenue, but each office is operated by an independent contractor. Transactions that are conducted at these offices include the issuance and renewal of driver licenses, issuance of titles for motor vehicles, and the issuance and renewal of registration for motor vehicles, boats and outboard motors.
To follow the Missouri Department of Revenue on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/MoRevenue. If you don't already have a Twitter account, you'll have to create one before you can follow the Missouri Department of Revenue.