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As a CTO/CIO, have you ever had this reaction? "Stupid users. If only they would 'get it' already!" Bad news: it's never going to happen.
Users will always push back "irrationally" on any new tech initiative. It's up to you to show them the light.
Fortunately--or unfortunately, depending on how long you've been a CTO/CIO--you don't need a cattle prod to get users on your side. You can use the following 17 tips to turn those "stupid users" into your evangelists.
1. Solve their problems.
Solve problems that are important to users, not problems that are important to IT. Users don't care about making IT's job easier. They only care about making their jobs easier.
2. Have a 15 second "stump speech".
If your initiative is like a presidential candidate, then this 15 second message is your stump speech. You may have to repeat it a thousand times before you "win" (ie., get overwhelming support for your initiative).
Don't list features or try to teach them how to get started. In 15 seconds you don't have time to say anything except how your initiative will benefit the user.
Make sure everyone on the launch team has the stump speech down pat.
3. Minimize the disruption to the status quo.
No one likes to change their routines because of external forces. Users' lives are already overflowing with stuff they need to keep track of, so try to squeeze yourself in there with as little ruckus as possible.
4. Make it really, really (really) easy for users.
While it's fun for you and your IT team to play with interesting new technology, normal users won't be happy with yet another thing they have to learn unless it's really worth it. While you're pushing the benefits in your stump speech, you should also be making the new technology as easy as possible on the users. Otherwise, you will encounter lots of resistance (or worse, apathy).
Having a great user interface and useful documentation are two ways to make it easy for users.
5. Use stats.
Numbers sell.
Have answers to questions like... How much time per employee will the new technology save? How many more units will the sales team be able to move if they had this new technology? How much money do you save per transaction under the new system?
A single hard number can be more effective than a thousand words.
6. Showcase other companies that are already doing it.
Are your competitors or other big players (either within or outside your industry) already doing what you want your company to do? Use that to convince the management team that you need to be doing the same. Few things turn a CEO around faster than showing them something competitors are doing that your company isn't.
7. Do a limited beta with key influencers.
Invite key influencers to preview the beta. Even if they're not 100% convinced that your solution is the way to go, just by including them early in the process (and listening to them), they will feel respected and you will win influential evangelists.
Get one of your company's most influential people to endorse your new technology, and you'll get 10, 20, 500 others to support you too. Social proof and peer pressure work.
Be sure to invite:
- People with explicit authority like executives and managers. You want these guys pushing your initiative, not fighting against it.
- Thought leaders and company superstars. If the top salesperson buys into your initiative, it will be a lot easier to get the rest of the sales team to come along.
- Geeky early adopters. There are probably technology-loving, early-adopting geeks outside your IT departments. Get these guys excited about the new technology, and the non-geeks will follow.
- Chatty / popular / friendly employees who have informal influence over a group of employees. The more gregarious and popular they are, the bigger the group of "normal" users they'll bring along.
8. Let the announcement come from department heads so they "own" the initiative.
Give department heads and other middle managers early access, and let them announce the new technology to their team.
There are several benefits to delegating the announcement to department heads:
- Middle managers will "own" the initiative. Instead of complaining about your new technology to their teams, you'll have department heads evangelizing on your behalf.
- Employees trust their immediate superiors a lot more than the IT guys.
- Department heads will understand the needs of their teams better than you, and can craft an announcement that's better suited for their department's special circumstances.
9. Ask, listen, and respond to your users.
In other words, engage the people who will be using the technology. Feedback from actual users is critical because what may be easy and intuitive to your test team might be incredibly confusing for the users.
Survey users before, during and after launch -- and listen! -- to make sure you're delivering the right solution for the right problem. Only the people using the technology everyday can tell you what you need to work on.
10. Make it easy for users to send you feedback.
Make it drop dead easy for beta testers to get feedback to your launch team. Even after the beta phase, when you've launched to the entire company, be sure to continue to collect feedback from users.
Users will love you (and subconsciously, the new technology) because you asked for and acted on their opinions. When they give input on it, they become stakeholders in the technology.
11. Listen to front line help desk operators.
Similar to the previous point, tap employees who intimately know the technical needs (biggest problems) of the company's rank and file. The techies who field calls and emails from end users know them much better than the programmers and sysadmins who don't have regular contact with users.
12. Stay on message (about the benefits to users).
In your emails, documentation, training seminars, video demo, hallway conversations -- basically, every message you put out there about the new technology -- hammer home the benefits of the new technology to users.
Never miss an opportunity to remind users how much easier their jobs will be because of your initiative.
13. Connect the dots for users.
It may take you 2 seconds to see how new technology will solve specific problems and make the company healthier, but non-techies often can't make that connection on their own. Sometimes they'll eventually get it, but mostly, you'll have to connect the dots for them.
14. Have insanely useful documentation.
Your goal is to make it so drop dead simple to understand that even your "slowest" user can be a power user.
Some tips:
- Use a wiki, so users can help improve the docs.
- Provide a forum. Let users ask each other (and members of the tech team) questions.
- Lots and lots of pictures / screenshots. Humans are visual creatures.
- Use video, but don't force users to watch a 30 minute video. Instead, provide 2-minute slices of specific topics.
- Have demo sessions where you show how to use the technology and field questions. Record it and add the video to the docs.
15. Keep the information flowing.
Blog about bug fixes, new features, 3-month roadmaps, tips & tricks (would be nice if from users), and anything else you can think of that's related to the initiative. Post every week, if not every day.
Keep everyone in the loop to keep users happy and excited about what you're doing. The alternative is to piss off users with pronouncements from up high every once in a blue moon.
16. Sign up the technophobes.
Other employees will think, "Hey, if Joe the technophobe who can't even handle sending email can use this new thing, well then so can I."
17. Thank your evangelists profusely and publicly.
Thank people who helped you launch the initiative and make sure they feel good about helping you out. Thank them directly for their help, mention their contribution to their superiors, and/or thank them in front of their peers (on the IT or internal product blog, perhaps).
Show your appreciation and you'll turn those users into lifelong evangelists.


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You really are going to be amazed at just how many different casino games can now be accessed via any type of mobile phone or mobile device. In fact you can access a suite of casino games either by downloading an app onto your mobile or by using the web browser attached to your device.
Whist you will be able to play most if not all of the games offered by any mobile casino site for free and at no risk, the maximum playing pleasure and excitement will come from playing those games in a real money playing environment.
However, many players are very hesitant about making deposits into any mobile casino site using their credit or debit cards and are actively seeking another method of funding their accounts, which are both highly safe to use and highly secure too.
With that in mind more and more mobile casino sites are offering their players the ability of making deposits into their casino accounts and having those deposited charged to their mobile phone bill. This may be an option that is of interest to you and if so then read on to find out more.
Be aware that you can have your casino deposits either added onto your monthly mobile phone bill, or if you have a prepaid phone, then your deposits will simply be debited from your current account balance, and as such no matter what type of billing set up you have on your mobile, you are still going to be able to use this casino banking option at various different mobile casino sites.
Benefits of Mobile Casino Phone Billing
There are plenty of advantages of choosing to make deposits into your chosen mobile casino account and having them charged to your mobile phone bill. So please do read on for you may find this deposit option a very convenient and possibly cost effective method too.
Managing Your Bankroll – Most gamblers will always keep their bankroll completely separate from their day to day living expenses held in their bank accounts or the money saved up in a savings account. By using phone billing you are going to be able to manage your bankroll by having all deposits added onto your phone bill.
Strict Spending Limits – By setting up a maximum credit limit with your mobile phone's airtime provider then you are never going to run the risk of overspending, as you will only ever be able to have your pre-agreed spending limits added to your phone bill.
That is quite an important aspect to gambling online or on a mobile device, for many players often overspending by simply making deposit after deposit via their credit cards or debit cards.
Monthly Billing Cycle – You are going to be sent out your mobile bill usually once a month, and as such you will be able to pay it all off in one single payment, so you will be able to pay for your gambling activities on credit, and settle those expanses when your next phone bill is due.
Completely Hassle Free – We do know that many people who choose to play mobile casino games in a real money playing environment may choose to use prepaid vouchers such as PaySafeCard to fund their casino accounts. When you choose to use that payment method however you are going to have to make a trip to a local Pay Point or Pay Zone shop, which can be time consuming.
However, by simply choosing to have your deposits added onto your next phone bill you will not have to leave your front door, and your deposits are of course credited to your account instantly.
Choosing which Mobile Casinos at which to Play
For a comprehensive range of different mobile casinos all of which have been fully reviewed, take a look over the www.mobilecasinodepositbyphonebill.org.uk website for you will find that site has been able to negotiate some high valued sign up bonuses and lists only fully licensed and regulated mobile casinos.
In fact as a player one very important aspect of you choosing where to play is that you should always be looking for sites that are licensed by a gaming authority or gaming commission that is based in your country of residence.
With that in mind spend a little time looking over the UK Gambling Commission website for you will discover what each of their license holders has to adhere to by way of their very stringent code of conduct.

subset: commoncrawl


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Whiteboard animation involves explaining the concepts by narrating and drawing pictures on a whiteboard. Whether to motivate, explain, or sell whiteboard animation delivers your message visually and gets desired the results perfectly. Based on the message you wish to convey, OnlineBizServices creates perfect storyboards to deliver your story to educate consumers, stirring their curiosity, and driving them to action.
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CNet Membership - Apply Online
Please complete the online application form in conjunction with the guidance notes (opens new window).
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Download and complete the Membership Application Form (opens new window) in conjunction with the guidance notes (opens new window).
Your application form will need to be signed and sent in hard copy to the address on the form along with your group or organisation constitution or rules.
If you are applying as an individual you will need complete short section on why you want to join CNet.


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"I purchased Piano Tutor for my 7 year old as he is struggling with learning to read music. This was just the app that I was looking for. Works great as he is more motivated to sit down with the iPod than in front of the Piano. It is a great little app and he is making great progress." By Chris B
"This is a great app!" by Aspiring Piano Player
"Great App... Love it!" by wii888
"It's worth the price." by ghoti
Now you can practice your piano skills anywhere with your iPhone / iPod! For piano beginners, one of the most critical skills is learning how to read the piano sheet. The faster you can read the notes, the easier it is to play beautiful music. This app is developed to help you improve your piano sheet reading skills. Therefore unlike many of the other piano apps, this app is both fun and educational! We also just added MIDI keyboard support, so you can practice with a real keyboard.
You can also practice other skills such as Rhythm timing, pitch recognition, and play some simple songs.
- Realistic and beautiful piano sounds
- MIDI Keyboard support. You can plug in any supported MIDI keyboard, and play the proper keys from your real physical piano or from the on screen keyboard.
- 4 Different game modes:
- Music Sheet Reading Practice Mode
- Rhythm Timing Practice Mode
- Pitch Recognition Mode
- Song Playing Mode
- Customizable setting to practice different note ranges
-Various key signatures, for practicing sharps and flats
-Option to turn on key hints for beginners
-High score tracking, to see if you are improving


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Bill Maher recently picked on Mitt Romney for giving money to his church.
"All his charitable donations are to Mormons. He gives to his cult. That's not a charity. They're not poor people," Maher told the crowd of his HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher."
Newsbusters did a great job pointing out Maher's inaccuracies, such as the fact that not all of Romney's charitable expenditures are given to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so I'll spare you all those. Let me instead tell you more about tithing and other charitable donations made to the LDS Church.
Let's start with tithing, defined as 10 percent of our increase or income. The LDS Church teaches that tithing is an important principle of the gospel, and that we are blessed when we we pay tithing. Malachi 3: 10-11:
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
This is a tried and true principle for faithful Mormons. Tithing is not used for a paid clergy. We have a lay clergy, with members serving as bishop and other leadership positions while simultaneously working at their normal employment. Then what is tithing used for?
From mormonnewsroom:
Tithing donations are most usually remitted through the local congregational leader, or bishop, and from there to Church headquarters, where they are allocated and disbursed directly to the Church's many worldwide programs, including its educational, missionary, building, humanitarian and welfare efforts.
In addition to paying tithing, Church members are invited to pay a fast offering once a month, which is the amount of money saved by not eating two meals during the members' monthly fast. This money is given directly to local bishops, to distribute among the local poor in the Church, with any left over money being forwarded to Church headquarters to give to members in other areas that need additional financial help. Financial help to needy members from fast offerings and the LDS Church Welfare Program generally entail a work requirement to preserve human dignity. It is structured such that members learn new skills and self-reliance, as abilities and circumstances permit.
The end goal is helping these needy members to become able to care for their needs on their own. This Welfare Program is very successful, and many outside the Church have taken note of its structure and how it could benefit the welfare programs of the United States.
For example, Ronald Reagan praised the program and said, "If, during the period of the Great Depression, every church had come forth with a welfare program founded on correct principles … we would not be in the difficulty in which we find ourselves today."
Ted Kennedy has also praised it, saying, "I am enormously impressed, as I have traveled around the world, of the efforts that the Latter-day Saints have made globally." Also see What the Mormons Know About Welfare from the WSJ, or Utah storehouse at top of Mormon food chain from RNS.
Additional to tithing and fast offerings, members can donate to Humanitarian Services funded by the LDS Church. Current initiatives include worldwide Emergency Response, Neonatal Resuscitation Care, Measles, Clean Water, Vision Treatment, and Wheelchairs. Anyone can get involved, and this help is available to all, regardless of religious or political affliation. From mormon.org:
The Church sends out semi-trucks or planes full of assistance following any natural disaster, anywhere in the world. They send hygiene kits, blankets, medical supplies, food, clothing, etc. Volunteers also respond at the sites of natural disasters, many of them being the local members of the LDS Church.
Helping Hands is one of these volunteer organizations. Welfare Square in Salt Lake City is kept well supplied so that when disaster strikes, help can get on the way immediately. The Church partners with other charities around the world to facilitate the dispersal of aid.
Other places where members may donate to the Church include The Perpetual Education Fund, the Temple Assistance Fund, and a general or local Missionary Fund, to name just a few. The Perpetual Education Fund is available to those members who do not have the financial means to attend school or train in skills sufficient to support their families, who are often members living in poverty in third world countries. The Church offers them low interest loans which they will repay after they are working, which is why it is called a perpetual fund.
The Temple Assistance Fund is available to help those members without sufficient funds who live far from an LDS Temple to be able to travel to one and be sealed to their families for eternity. The Missionary Funds are donated to help pay the mission expenses for young men and women who would like to serve a mission but lack the financial means.
I don't know what Maher had in mind when he accused Romney's charitable donations of not being charity because the recipient is the LDS Church. As you can see, the LDS Church is involved in a great many charitable causes around the globe within and without the Church. We could hardly profess to be followers of Jesus Christ if we did not.


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Have you heard? Huh? Have you? Beyonce … Disney … Sir Elton … Aida… OK, I'm all tapped out. I don't have any more clues! So let me just tell you. It's being reported that Beyonce Knowles (as opposed to the various other Beyonces out there) is in talks with Disney to potentially star in the possible big-budget film adaptation of Sir Elton John's Tony Award–winning Broadway musical that was based on Verdi's opera Aida.
Did you get all that? Because after I wrote Beyonce, I sort of got confused about the rest of it, myself. Anyway, back to the important part:
I'm not ashamed to admit that if I were to watch Beyonce read the
A real argument can be made that Disney knows a little something about how to throw a heck of a coming-out screen party for its princesses.
Over the years, the words "princess" and "Disney" have been a match made in heaven. So I have little doubt that "Beyonce, Nubian princess, big budget, Disney film, Elton John, Tim Rice, musical, and Tony Award–winning" — all jumbled up together — will mix into a great big pot o' entertainment fun!
Here is a quick description of the Elton John-Tim Rice musical:
And if a classic love triangle isn't enough to capture your attention, the music will. If you haven't heard or aren't familiar with the music from the Broadway show, I recommend listening to a few samples of the songs. After all, the Aida score won one of the five Tony Awards for the show in 2000. One of the other awards that year went to Heather Headley as Aida.
Though Beyonce may have better name recognition and more star power on film than Ms. Headley, revising an award-winning role for the big screen won't be an easy walk in the Egyptian desert for her. But if she does ink the deal, you can bet I'll be watching the movie adaptation of the musical adaptation of Verdi's opera until the fat lady sings!


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Open Thread: Talk About What Matters Most to You
Discuss and debate the issues that mean the most to you.
"How do you feel being the only one?" she asked, rather bluntly, with concern and interest in her voice.
I was sitting in a circle with the fellow American ESL teachers, surrounded by wine and beer bottles with a deck of cards in the center and some alternative rock playing from a laptop.
The only one. Those words echoed in my head for a couple of seconds. I didn't know how to respond to such a question. We had been in Thailand for about two weeks, and the culture shock was strong. The smells, the sounds, the language, the food, the jet lag -- the adjustment was as exciting as it was exhausting. Furthermore, I was experiencing a double dose of culture shock. Besides being a Ghanaian American girl in Thailand, I was also one of four persons of color in a group of more than 200 soon-to-be ESL teachers. I was alone in my culture and my race.
As audacious as her inquiry was, it was caring nonetheless. It was better than if she stated that our feelings are the same and as foreigners we are experiencing equal levels of culture shock and treatment from locals. Her question held a social awareness that is hard for some people to admit.
It was a fitting introduction to the cultural confusion and personal reflection that marked my experience as an ESL teacher in Thailand.
There was the time when students laughed at me for wearing a head-wrap to class, and one teacher approached me and asked if I was wearing a Thai skirt on my head. Shortly afterward, my coordinator pulled me aside to explain that in Thai culture, decorative scarves are traditionally worn as a skirt. I replied, "Well, in my culture, scarves can be worn as a headdress, to serve as statements of fashion, beauty and individuality." I then gathered pictures from Google of some fine looking brown-skinned women in head-wraps, and showed them to my coordinator one by one.
There was the time when one of my students drew a picture of me, coloring me in with a black crayon.
Worst was the time when we saw a racially disturbing performance that broke my spirit. It was a burlesque show in which one of the performers posed as a pregnant woman with darker skin, short kinky hair and painted-on missing teeth while lip-synching an old jazz song. At the end of her piece, she pulled a tiny dark-skinned baby doll out from under her dress. The crowd roared with laughter. I stormed out of the theatre and burst into tears.
There was the argument I had while having lunch at the local outdoor restaurant across the school campus. A man I had never see before sat at one of the tables across from me and asked where I'm from.
"Maajak America, kha," I replied. He refused to accept that as an answer. This started the most insulting mini-verbal-war I have had in another language. We argued back and forth, him saying that I am not American and me wishing I brought a copy of my passport along with me.
He gestured to my skin and said "African!" in a disgusted tone. I finally explained that yes, I am African, but I was born and raised in America. He shut up, satisfied that he was correct.
Finally, there was the time I met a beautiful little girl with an (absent) Ethiopian father and Thai mother. The girl didn't speak English, so she didn't understand what I said while I hugged her tightly and told her how beautiful and special she is. After I left, I was filled with sadness. I wondered who will be there to understand her feelings when she grows up and realizes she is not like the girls around her. Who will show her pictures of African women? Who will teach her the other side of her culture?
And there were several other incidents that I want to keep inside. Or for a future memoir.
I eventually stopped being angry about the misconceptions some Thai people had about my race and culture. The racial stereotyping they had received from Western media is the same kind that we Americans ingest. Those messages travel much more negatively halfway across the world, especially within a culture that knows little or nothing about the history of Black struggles in America -- slavery, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, police brutality and so on.
Colorism is also a huge issue in Thailand. There is a general desire for white skin, and a large market for whitening skin products. It was a challenge finding skin care products that did not have "whitening" on the label. I also had experiences of meeting dark-skinned Thai people who jokingly referred to themselves as "black like me."
But it wasn't all bad. Living in Thailand also meant being surrounded by the most hospitable, fun-loving and kind people I had ever met.
There was the time I got into a small motorbike incident right outside of the school. Everyone who was nearby rushed to help me and my friend. We were surrounded by local shop owners and their family members, who cleaned and consoled us.
Or when I met my new soul friend, who was practicing English as I was learning Thai. We understand each other in a rare way that involves us speaking a wordless language.
The time I led the school's band for Teacher's Day. I marched throughout the marketplace of the town, as people smiled and waved proudly at me.
The time when my student wrote me a beautiful and simple note, which read "I'm glad you could come."
And many more wonderful moments that I want to keep to myself. Or for a future book.
My time in Thailand was short but significant. There were irreplaceable moments of being surrounded by a new unit of family and friends, in one of our humble and beautiful homes. I started a bubble tea fundraiser to bring b-boy dance teachers to our school, with an inspiring teacher who remains one of my closest friends. I fell in love with about 500 students, who I hope to see again one day. I learned some Thai!
Most importantly, I shared with my students and community something that they had yet to experience about black culture and colorful personalities. And I did it by being my complete self.
I believe that it is important for people of color to teach and travel to distant lands in order to cure the misconceptions that others may have about us. It is just as crucial to experience another culture wholeheartedly and completely as it is to express and educate others about a misrepresented side of American culture.
During my trip, my journalistic mentality was (and still is) to find "the universality of all people" -- what makes us think alike, bleed the same color? Ultimately, what do we share in this life besides inhabiting the same marvelous yet malicious earth? And why is this universality not enough to shield us from the social discrepancies in our world? I set out on this trip to find some answers to my questions, teach wonderful students and learn a new way of living.
I may not have the answers yet. But I do know the answer to understanding one another. It simply involves learning the language of the heart. And that can be spoken in any tone, dialect or accent.


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234 pages, colour photos, colour & b/w illustrations, colour tables
The rapidly increasing number of threatened flora and fauna species worldwide is one of the chief problems confronting environmental professionals today. This problem is largely due to the impact humans have had on land use through development (e.g. agricultural, residential, industrial, infrastructure and mining developments).
The requirement for developers to implement measures to reduce the impacts of development on wildlife is underpinned by government legislation. A variety of measures or strategies are available to reduce such impacts, including those to reduce impacts on flora and fauna during land clearance, to deter fauna from potential hazards, to facilitate the movement of fauna around and through a development site as well as those to provide additional habitat. In recent years, considerable advances have been made in the techniques used to reduce the impacts of development on wildlife in Australia and overseas.
"Reducing the Impacts of Development on Wildlife" contains a comprehensive range of practical measures to assist others to reduce the impacts resulting from development on terrestrial flora and fauna, and promotes ecologically sustainable development. It will be very useful to environmental consultants and managers, developers, strategists, policy makers and regulators, as well as community environmental groups and students.
This well-researched book provides an excellent basis for approaching and solving problems associated with impact assessment and mitigation. It gives an overview of techniques and solutions with the objectives of conservation of wildlife that can be applied to most projects. Such a practical book is a 'must-read' for every environmental manager, particularly those involved in consulting and local government.
- Dr Martin Denny, Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of NSW, Past-president of the Ecological Consultants Association of NSW
"This book should not be on the shelf of every ecologist, consultant or developer - it needs to lie open on their desk, sit at the top of their field bag and be widely discussed around the lunch-room table. Indeed - if your copy is not dog-eared and well-worn, you are clearly not doing your job properly! The book is well-written, clearly laid out and provides a huge array of practical strategies and techniques to mitigate the effects of developments on wildlife."
- Dr Rodney van der Ree, Deputy Director of the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
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Author Richard North Patterson reflects on his ill-advised travel in Nigeria while researching his most recent novel Eclipse.As a "killing ground" for militia groups, Patterson descries post-9/11 Nigeria as "Al Capone Chicago metastasized."
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good chemistry is complicated,
and a little bit messy -LW
Irrational numbersby grondilu (Friar)
|on Dec 17, 2012 at 16:44 UTC ( #1009200=perlmeditation: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
Hello monks,
as far as I know there is no such thing as an irrational number in computing. And by this I mean: a number that has an infinite number of non repeating decimals. Or in other words, a number that is real, but that is not rational.
I think it's a bit frustrating. Computers should have a more accurate representation of real numbers. Even in a programming language as awesome as perl6, pi for instance is still defined with a decimal approximation:my constant pi = 3.14159_26535_89793_238e0;
Honnestly, I would have expected a bit more than that from perl6.
I'm not sure it would be useful but I don't care much. It would be cool and that's what matters to me :) And what's cool but apparently useless often appears to be quite useful eventually, so it's worth considering doing it even if we don't see any immediate use for it. Anyway I'd like to discuss how I imagine it could be done.
In maths, one way of defining a real number is to define it as the limit of a sequence of rational numbers. If this sequence is constant above a certain rank or if the limit is actually a rational number, then the number is rational. Otherwise, it is said to be irrational.
Infinite sequences are not hard to define in computing, providing you feel comfortable with the notion of closures or lazy lists. Therefore a way of defining a real number would be to use exactly this: a lazy list or a closure, just as in this Rosetta Code task, where irrationals such as pi or sqrt(2) are defined with continued fractions (which are a particular case of infinite lists of rationals)
Here is an other example, also from Rosetta Code:
Here we define the zeta function as a function returning a lazy list, and we display the thousandth term of the list returned by the call of zeta with two as an argument.
Any infinite list would do, providing that it converges. You can use a Taylor-series for instance.
You can even imagine using non converging sequences. Who knows, maybe it could be useful. They could appear in the middle of a calculus and then disappear in the end. Kind of like whith imaginary numbers. But that's an other story.
It seems to me that arithmetic should not be too difficult to define. For instance, the addition operator would be a function that takes two lazy lists and returns a lazy list whose terms are the sum of the terms of the lazy lits. In Perl6, I'd write it like this:
Couldn't it be as simple as that?
Equivalence and order relations
That might be the thoughest problem.
There is no simple way for a computer to tell if two infinite lists are equals. Unless of course it can make a deduction from an analytic definition of the terms. But in the general case, the computer just can't inspect all the terms one at a time because if the two lists are actually equals, then the computer will need the eternity to reach a conclusion.
So just as arithmetic operators on irrationals would return a lazy list of rational numbers, a equivalence relation operator on irrationals would return a lazy list of booleans. Like in real life, when you ask something to someone but you're not sure about his answer:
- Do you think that's true ? - Yes, it's true. - You're really sure? - Hang on, let me check again. Yes, it's true. - Really, really sure?
And so on.
A naÿve implementation would thus be:
Unfortunately, there are several reasons why this could not be convenient. But that would be a start.
I told you how I think irrational numbers could be implemented in Perl or Perl6. I won't say more, and I'll just read what you think of it. I really think it would be cool if we could just have a "Real" number type that would fill all use cases.
One possible application would be for programs that have to deal with very wild ranges of values, without loss of any precision. The example I have in mind is programs such as the Kerbal Space Program:
The unique necessities of the game, which has to correctly handle distances in a range of at least 13 orders of magnitude and velocities in the order of kilometers per second, have required a number of workarounds to avoid numerical stability issues. Fixing all the known bugs of this nature took multiple updates over a period of months.
I know this game is not open source and it's not written in Perl, but someone might be willing to write something similar.
Update: small example
Here is a toy example module where I define addition, multiplication and display up to an arbitrary precision. Then I define one, the exponential and arctangent functions, and then I compute and display two, three, e, e+one, e*e and pi.
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RBC advisor Reva Shakkottai sees the strong winds of compliance sweeping over an increasingly regulated advisory landscape.
Regulators have become more concerned with how firms disclose conflicts of interest and manage risk, she says. "In 2016, we'll see some of the biggest changes to come around in years," she predicts, echoing industry sentiment. For months, advisors and their managers have been following the Department of Labor's efforts to establish a fiduciary rule.
While this year promises some major adjustments, Shakkottai represents the type of seasoned advisor who has ridden the wave of regulatory change more than once in her career, and she's developed an approach that serves her and her practice well.
"I think that the longer someone has worked in this industry, the more cumbersome regulation and compliance can be, because they think back to how it was done in the past," she says, referring back decades, when advisors were less heavily regulated. For advisors used to a simpler time, new regulations may seem punitive, she says, but her 18 years in the industry have taught her to accept that compliance becomes stricter over time.
"I don't waste mental energy thinking about all of these new rules and getting upset about them," says Shakkottai, who is based in Los Angeles as a senior vice president and financial advisor at RBC. The important thing, she notes, is that she has committed herself to acting in the best interests of her clients, supported by the guidance of her compliance group, which she believes is the best overall strategy to being compliant in a world of increasingly complex products and regulation.
With so much attention focused on Labor's proposed fiduciary rule in the past year, advisory firms say they have sought to promote transparency and eliminate conflicts of interest as they traditionally have — regardless of regulatory requirements.
Ron Long, Wells Fargo Advisors' director of regulatory affairs and elder client initiatives, says that his firm and others are trying to do that on a large-scale level. "For the most part, we are no longer simply looking at the client from transaction to transaction," Long says. "It's more than a purchase here and a purchase there — it's a relationship."
In other words, Long and others say, advisors are already protecting clients' best interests. "Getting the rules of the road from the regulator will just be the final piece in a transition that has been underway for quite a while," Long says.
Regardless of the DoL's fiduciary rule, or the SEC's long-planned version of similar regulation, the concern over conflicts of interest isn't going away, compliance specialists say.
"Conflict of interest is really what is broadly driving a lot of the regulatory agenda that is going to impact financial advisors," says Daniel Bender, executive director of Ernst & Young's financial services advisory group. "And while fiduciary duty might be codified through a law or a rule, conflicts really exist within the engagement with your client, and it happens at the product level, so what firms really need to do is look at what they're selling and who they're selling to."
Those conflicts are already in regulators' crosshairs, and have been for some time, says Washington, D.C., attorney David Kaleda, who specializes in employee benefits law. The Labor Department has been stepping up its investigations of retirement plans and advisors' relationships to them for several years, even without the fiduciary rule, he says.
"That's different from five or 10 years ago, when 80% of investigations would have been at just the plan and the plan-sponsor level, and then a handful of service provider type of investigations," Kaleda says. Additionally, he has seen much more coordination between the SEC and DoL.
RBC's Shakkottai says she has been worried about a related trend. "The boundary between sales and advice in the financial industry is becoming blurred, as new platforms and methods of doing business emerge," she says.
A working knowledge of regulatory issues is essential, Shakkottai says. "It's our responsibility to become acquainted with the rules," she says. "We don't need to be experts in compliance, but as advisors, we need to understand suitability and the risks and rewards of different securities. The onus is on us to determine if there is a simpler way to accomplish the same thing."
Advisors need to be careful not to take excessive risks, even if clients, motivated by, say, a low-interest environment, ask for it, she says. "The regulators' policies are punitive; even if you try to help clients and you think you're doing the right thing, you can still feel the ramifications if you don't follow the rules," she says. "You have to be vigilant to protect clients, and you also have to be vigilant to protect your career."
Shakkottai believes it's important to go beyond simple compliance. "Following the letter of the law isn't enough," she says. "The best advisors go beyond and err on the side of caution and disclose more than you need to. Just because the client can tolerate the risk, it doesn't mean that they should take excessive risk."
For Shakkottai's high-net-worth clientele, the problems of dealing with complex products are always on her mind, and she's happy to have guidance on compliance in that area.
A notice issued by FINRA in 2012 about heightened supervision of complex products helps to offer that guidance, by recommending caution about securities or strategies with new, complicated or derivative-type features, such as leveraged ETFs, hedge funds or asset-backed securities.
But the guidance has limits, Shakkottai points out, so it's still up to advisors and firms — in RBC's case, a risk review committee — to decide how different products should be handled.
At RBC, securities are assigned a complexity level from zero to three; "plain vanilla" stocks and bonds get a zero, while anything getting a three, such as a volatility-index-based product, is banned.
At the beginning of this year, RBC updated its platform to offer trade alerts for complex products, keyed to the suitability for individual investors.
"It's like a red and a yellow type of alert, so if it's a Level 2 product, then you're going to get an alert that the trade must be canceled if the investment objective is preservation of principal or unknown, or if the risk tolerance is minimal or unknown, or if there's anything that's unknown," Shakkottai says.
Complex product flags are keyed to other client characteristics as well, including income, net worth, investment experience and age. "It particularly affects older clients," Shakkottai notes.
Also affecting older clients is oversight of elder abuse protection. Recently, the SEC investor advocate, Rick Fleming, told Congress in a report that the commission was going to keep close tabs on regulatory efforts to give financial advisors the power to intercede if they believe an elderly client is being exploited or abused.
While Fleming agrees with elder care advocates that advisors should not face "undue restraints" that prevent them from helping abused seniors, he wrote to lawmakers that new authority for broker-dealers and investment advisors to intervene in cases of elder abuse should also have proper limits.
"The challenge is to strike the right balance," he wrote.
Wells Fargo's Long predicts additional guidance from FINRA, NASAA and individual states in the coming months. "Challenges such as one-stop reporting for adult protective services, terminating a client relationship and making trading decisions in an account where an owner lacks capacity will all need regulatory input and guidance," he says.
For advisors who suspect elder abuse, figuring out what to do to help their clients while complying with laws and regulations can be tricky. Long says Wells trains all of its 15,000 employee advisors to consult the company's centralized elder abuse team. For firms that do not have staff dedicated to the issue, Long recommends they offer training for point people or establish relationships with local social work organizations or schools, to give advisors someone to discuss the situation with.
Advisors who work in smaller firms, without deep compliance resources, have to figure out how to comply just the same as their competitors who work in larger organizations. Whether it's relying on consultants, offices of supervisor jurisdiction, or compliance officers, the responsibility for compliance ultimately lies with individual advisors.
"You cannot rely on a custodian or broker-dealer to do anything for you," says advisor John Napolitano. "The advisor is always accountable for being in compliance."
That accountability extends even to support staff and others who work with advisors, Napolitano, CEO of U.S. Wealth Management in Braintree, Mass., points out.
That means having oversight policies, even background checks, in place for employees or independent contractors who have access to confidential client information. Independent advisors also need to confirm that their vendors are in compliance with data and confidentiality requirements in place in most states, he says.
It's crucial to keep logs, blotters and other required compliance documentation up to date, as well as records of client conversations. "Do not let things pile up and then get them all together," Napolitano says. "Regulators will sniff out a lackadaisical attitude about compliance. You must take it seriously, and that's evidenced by how well you execute on a day-in-and-day-out basis."
Executing compliance well is much easier if everyone in a firm feels comfortable discussing and asking questions about it, says Marion Halliday, chief compliance officer at Janney Montgomery Scott.
"We train our advisors more than annually; they learn a lot of rules and we really try to help them by giving them the right information at the right time," Halliday says. But above all, she emphasizes that advisors need to reach out to the compliance team whenever they have a question. "It's so much better to ask permission than forgiveness — that's my biggest mantra."
At the same time, Janney encourages supervisors to keep in touch with the compliance department to help prevent problems before they arise. "Don't wait until there's an unhappy client or situation to call us and see how you might address it," she says.
Advisor interaction with compliance teams should not focus only on problems, Halliday says. During presentations, her team has been trying to make examples of positive behavior. "We're really intentionally trying to call out the right stuff when it happens," she says. "It's really important for people to know when they get it right, how they got it right and to applaud it."
That approach can help advisors to view compliance departments as allies rather than as obstacles, but it has to be a two-way street, says Chris Stanley, chief compliance officer for the Loring Ward Group, a broker-dealer firm in San Jose, Calif. "Advisors should understand that compliance isn't here to make everybody's life miserable, we're just here to try to keep us out of regulatory trouble," he says. "At the same time, we can't just be the 'no' department."
Advisors should feel comfortable going to compliance officers for discussions even when nothing is wrong, says Stanley, offering up the analogy of seeing a doctor. "Think of it as going for preventive appointments," he says. "You don't want to just go to the doctor when you're sick; you want to do the things ahead of the time to prevent having to go to the doctor at all."
There needs to be an understanding that everyone in a firm is working toward the same goal, Stanley says. "We're all trying to help the clients and the business be successful," he explains. "Even though the compliance department is not a revenue-generating department, they want to prevent the company from losing money, receiving enforcement action or getting bad press, and that's clearly for the benefit of the company as well."
That's the attitude that helps to bring about a so-called culture of compliance, which FINRA said in its most recent priorities letter that it would be focusing on as a major theme for this year.
Stanley says the term "stands for the principle that compliance really can't be in a silo — it can't exist separate and apart from the business itself."
The underlying concept is that while the purpose of the compliance department is to make sure a firm adheres to regulations and company policies, compliance has to be integrated into a corporation across the board.
"That means not only across every department but across every single level of management," Stanley says.
Janney's Halliday says she's encouraged by the emphasis FINRA is placing on culture. Among the questions the authority will ask when they are assessing a firm's culture: Does the organization proactively seek to identify risk and compliance events? Are supervisors effective role models of firm culture? Are there any subcultures, such as branch offices, trading desks or other departments, that may not conform to the overall corporate culture? She is impressed by the attempts to define and measure firms' culture of compliance, which in the past, she says, was "like the famous definition of pornography: 'You know it when you see it.' Well, with compliance, you know it when you don't have it, because the organization sucks."
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This page provides access to documentation from ORASECOM endorsed projects in the Orange-Senqu River basin. The publications are organised by the different ICP support programmes.
This page also provides access to ORASECOM's NEWSLETTERS. ORASECOM has issued its first newsletter covering the period January to December 2009. However, this issue also provides a brief background on the Orange-Senqu River Basin and ORASECOM's projects being supported by the different International Cooperating Partners (ICPs). The newsletters can be accessed by clicking here.
Additional ORASECOM publications will be made available on this page as they are developed.
FGEF Support
The French Global Environment Facility (FGEF) provided support to strengthen the capacities and experience of ORASECOM, through the implementation of concrete actions by the establishment of project implementation unit (PIU) as an interim body until permanent secretariat for ORASECOM was in place. The PIU was to apply the principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in its supervision of project implementation. The support programme published a series of reports, summarising their activities.
In view of the existing and possible future developments that will influence the availability of water in the Orange River, the Orange River Integrated Water Resources Management Plan Phase I was developed. This programme has been followed by a second phase, which aims to develop a basin-wide integrated water resources management plan.
The Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis was completed in 2009 and is available to download from the UNDP website or from the ORASECOM website.
The European Union (EU) provides project support to ORASECOM aimed at institutional strengthening of ORASECOM and building the capacity of the organisation to deliver on its mandate.
Joint Water Resources Quality Survey (JBS)
ORASECOM will undertake a detailed assessment of the water resources quality state of the Orange Senqu River system in September / October/November 2010. This Joint Basin-wide Survey will provide the first broad understanding of the state of the aquatic ecosystems, Habitats, the presence of Persistent Organic Pollutants, and water quality at river sites throughout the Basin. The survey will learn from similar surveys conducted by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). The proposed Orange-Senqu Joint Basin-wide Survey -1 (JBS-1) will set the baseline water resources quality for the system. The planning and execution of JBS-1 will be actively supported by all the Contracting Parties and the International Cooperating Partners (ICPs) i.e. UNDP-GEF, EU and GTZ(BMZ/UKaid). Two planning workshops have been held on the 24th of May 2010, and the 21st of September 2010, in Johannesburg, and Pretoria, South Africa, respectively. To view presentations made at these workshops click here.


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Paper Trail
The true legacy of Marianne Moore, modernist monument.
When a book's spine says Complete Poems most readers assume the book includes all of a poet's output, or at least everything published in that poet's lifetime. Marianne Moore's poems yield a different story. Throughout her career Moore (1887-1972) revised her work meticulously, some say compulsively; the 1967 Complete Poems, which she compiled and arranged, leaves out much of the early work that first won her notice, and includes other work only in later revisions. But the Moore who in 1919 wrote the poem titled "Poetry" (which begins "I too dislike it" and contains the famous phrase "imaginary gardens with real toads") was a recent Bryn Mawr graduate, committed to her own poetry but deeply unsure about its merits; an ex-schoolteacher who had just moved to New York City with her mother; a reader of "little magazines" published abroad; and a self-declared socialist. The Moore who revised "Poetry" in 1951, and the even older poet who cut it to a mere three lines in 1967, was long ensconced in her adopted Brooklyn, a minor celebrity noted by Time and Life for her ornate hats and her interest in baseball, and a reliable Republican.
Many American poets see Moore as one of the monuments of modernism, up there with Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens (or, depending on which poets you ask, with Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein). Yet Complete Poems long remained the only book of Moore's poems consumers could purchase. In 1997 Bonnie Costello—known for her critical studies of Moore and Elizabeth Bishop—produced, together with two other editors, Moore's Selected Letters (a tough selection; Moore sometimes wrote 50 a day, and over 30,000 survive). The sparkling, informative, well-received correspondence set the stage for a Moore resurgence.
That resurgence has begun. Last year the University of California Press offered Robin Schultze's Becoming Marianne Moore, a scholarly facsimile edition of Moore's early work. With The Poems of Marianne Moore, edited by the poet Grace Schulman, the nonacademic public can for the first time view all Moore's strongest poems, in their first—or close to their first—finished states.
One of Moore's best-known poems, "Nevertheless," begins "You've seen a strawberry/ that's had a struggle." Here, one might say, are some poems that have had a struggle to find their true forms, and readers may sometimes struggle to pick the fruit of Moore's labors out from among the leaves: Schulman's edition brings together (without distinction, except in the notes) poems Moore later chose for Complete Poems; poems she included in earlier books, then suppressed; poems she gave to magazines, but did not collect; and poems she chose never to publish at all, and may have considered unfinished. Nevertheless, the fruits are, finally, here. Take "Radical," finished in 1919, revised for Observations, and unpublished since, which begins:
to a point, conserving everything,
this carrot is predestined to be thick.
The world is
but a circumstance, a mis-
erable corn patch for its feet. With ambition, im-
agination, outgrowth,
with everything crammed belligerent-
ly inside itself, its fibres breed mon-
a tail-like, wedge-shaped engine with the
secret of expansion, fused with intensive heat to
the color of the set-
ting sun and
If other American innovators (such as Walt Whitman) offer the pleasure of immediacy, Moore offers instead the pleasure of reflection, of poems that refuse to be simpler than the world is, and that make more sense the more you reread. The young Moore worried about her poems' difficult forms: She wrote to her friend Winifred Ellerman (Bryher), "to put my remarks in verse form, is like trying to dance the minuet in a bathing-suit," and told her in 1920 that she would not publish a book of poems until she had written "some that are easy to understand and that are beyond doubt, alluring." Yet an easily alluring poem would sacrifice some of Moore's strengths. Finished in 1919—and published that year in a magazine, but never since—"Radical" describes both a carrot (a root vegetable) and a left-wing movement. The poem shows many of Moore's best features: a syntax most readers have to work to decipher; careful if whimsical descriptive phrases, marked by colliding comparisons ("tail-like, wedge-shaped"); a moral at (or near) the end. (Moore's stanzas and lines count syllables, rather than metrical feet: All four first lines here, for instance, have three syllables, and all second lines have nine.)
The young Moore used those intricate structures to think about (radical) politics—one reason the older Moore kept the poem out of print. This is, after all, a socialist poem based on a pun: This root vegetable is both conservative (it grows thick because it gives nothing away) and radical (radix being Latin for root). ("Of course we all are Socialists," Moore wrote in a letter from college in 1909, "in so far as we know economics and are halfway moral, and want clean politics.") Ripe carrots are not quite red (Moore was no Bolshevik), but they're close, "the color of the set-/ ting sun"; Moore seems to laud an American tradition of homegrown radicalism, "agrarian" in its origins and still present in the "fibres" of American democracy along with its foe "monopoly." Burrowing (carrots suggest) is harder work than almost anything—almost as hard as the moral work of "progress" away from "slavery" and toward "freedom." The straw-hatted farmer (of indeterminate race) admires his carrot partly because it constitutes his livelihood (he needs it, either to eat or to sell) and partly because its struggles suggest his own. Is "it" ("it tells him this") the "agrarian lore" Moore thinks we should disregard? Or is "it" the carrot itself, opposing that wrong lore with good advice? The poem wants us to ask and not to be sure—just as it wants us to ask after (and to encourage) the elements of American character that might harmonize "ambition, imagination" and the economic reform about which Moore would later change her mind.
Early and late, Moore valued the meticulous, praised scholars, and collected her favorite phrases from all sort of texts; sometimes she placed those phrases in her poems, where she often set them between quotation marks. It may befit a poet so concerned with ethics, attributions, and accuracy that textual and critical debate will continue to surround her own verse. "Poetry" appeared so often, with so many changes, during Moore's life that Schulman's notes offer five separate versions. Experts will argue other editorial choices: Should Schulman have aimed for consistency and chosen the first published version of each and every poem? Has she sometimes mistaken run-on lines for line breaks, soft returns for hard? (In "Radical" I fear she has.) Why not print more notes, since she had room? (Schulman's Moore comes in under 400 pages: The recent Collected Poems of Robert Lowell, by contrast, has 1,203.) Readers still discovering Moore's opus can avoid such questions for now. Ezra Pound praised (and assisted) Moore early on, but wrote to her bitterly in 1918, "You will never sell more than five hundred copies, as your work demands mental attention." Moore proved him wrong several times over during her life; The Poems of Marianne Moore gives American readers a chance to do so once again.


text:
I'm Brett Slatkin and this is where I write about programming and related topics. Check out my favorite posts if you're new to this site. You can also contact me here or view my projects.
03 February 2013
@ 21:33
Traffic is not a constant stream
Most cohort analysis I've seen models traffic as a constant stream, like a physics test assumes there isn't friction: Totally unrealistic
I'm the author of the book Effective Python. I'm a software engineer and I've worked at Google for the past 12 years. My current focus is survey statistics. I formerly worked on Cloud infrastructure and open protocols.
Follow @haxor if you'd like to read posts from me in the future. You can also email me here if you have questions, or leave a comment below. If you enjoyed this post, look here for some of my other favorites.
© 2009-2018 Brett Slatkin


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A group claims a former military officer carried out a suicide bombing meant to kill Egypt's interior minister. Mohammed Ibrahim survived when a car blew up next to his convoy and gunmen strafed his vehicle September 5.
In a video, the Islamist faction Ansar Jerusalem identifies former Major Waleed Badr as responsible for the attack, but does not say whether he had acted on its behalf.
Staged in broad daylight, the assassination attempt has thus far proved the most audacious act of militancy since the July 3 military ouster of former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The explosion killed the bomber, a passerby and an unidentified person and wounded more than 20 people.
The video shows a seated Badr ahead of the attack, addressing members of what he called the Islamist youth.
"The Egyptian army has waged a war against our religion, for they have killed and arrested many Muslims and attacked mosques," said Badr, appealing to his audience to fight the new government.
"(Army chief General Abdel Fattah) al-Sisi thought there would be a reaction from you, but all you gave him was chanting and bare chests and you became an easy target for torture. Why are you afraid of fighting? You must fight fire with fire."
Interior Minister Ibrahim helped oversee a crackdown on Morsi's supporters. On August 14, security forces killed hundreds of Morsi supporters, and the government has banned the former president's Muslim Brotherhood movement.
'Way of God'
In the video, biographical details of Badr scroll up the screen, including that he graduated from military college in 1991 and served in the army, reaching the rank of major. He fell out with his colleagues and the military finally dismissed him.
"Muslims must sacrifice in the way of God and fight with explosive cars and suicide vests," Badr says in the video. "We must kill them as they kill us."
The video shows how assailants prepared a white car with explosives as Badr gives his final thoughts. Security sources told the news agency Reuters they had information that a former officer had carried out the attack on September 5, but would not confirm Badr's involvement.
Footage later spotlights a white car driving by what looks like a government convoy. Then: a huge orange fireball, a bang, dust and people running away.
Post-coup violence
Officials say Morsi's Brotherhood intended to establish an Islamic state across several countries, and had not made Egypt's interests a priority. The military has held Morsi incommunicado since his ousting and a court has ordered an outright ban on the Brotherhood.
Since July, Brotherhood supporters have protested security crackdowns that have killed hundreds of the group's followers and jailed more than 2,000. Online calls from hard-line Islamists for a more violent response to the crackdown have intensified since August 14.
Ansar Jerusalem also claimed responsibility for an attack last week on an intelligence compound in Ismailia and for a suicide attack on a security headquarters in el-Tor, in southern Sinai on October 7. Earlier, the group claimed attacks on gas pipelines to Israel, rockets targeting Israel and a 2012 shootout along the border that killed three militants and an Israeli soldier.
mkg/rc (Reuters, AP)


text: Vicenza to Acireale trains might be a good value for money solution: travelling in Italy by train is often rather cheap and faster than taking a bus indeed Trains leave from Vicenza and arrive at Acireale every about 2 hours on average. If travelling with Trenitalia, you need to know the Vicenza to Acireale train schedule: the first train leaves at 07:05, while the last ride is at 23:02. A Vicenza to Acireale train cost about 107.0 €. But how long is the train ride from Vicenza to Acireale? Your journey takes about 17 hours on average.


text:
Always On
Is Stanford's cooling glove the future of exercise?Scientists at Stanford have developed a cooling device that they believe can boost athletic performance better than steroids. Molly Wood goes through an intense workout while wearing the glove and tests to see if it actually works!
-Remember when I ran that 13-mile half marathon last summer? I could have actually doubled my performance capacity all with the help of this funny-looking glove. I recently visited Stanford where researchers are developing tech that can make exercise way more efficient, no steroids necessary. -We have freshman women doing over 900 push ups in 45 minutes. What we've shown is we can get equivalent increases in training response and performance responses without using steroids. And the nice thing about it is it leaves no residue. -Or extra nipples or whatever else on. It works by letting cold water flow into a vacuum around the palm of your hand. Then it helps drive that cold blood back into the rest of your body, the result-- a faster recovery and better performance. Okay, So what I'm feeling is almost like a blood pressure cuff, like a little bit of constriction. -Right. So you pull your hand out and you can see your hand is still warm. -Right. It's so fascinating how this part is warm and this part is cool. -Yeah. -Warm, cool, warm, cool-- -What we've found is that the buildup of heat is a major contributor to fatigue on and so if we can keep the temperature from rising so fast, people can exercise for a longer. -Wait-- what in God's name-- so of course in the name of science, I had to put this cooling glove to the test. This is-- I don't even know I was gonna start off completely horrific. What do I have to do here? -The worst kinda stick the stomach up a probe 2 ft. up your nose. -This is the most terrified I've ever been and then I lean my head back a little? -You can lean back. -Oh, dear God. -You find a little [unk]. -Yeah. -There you go. Now, it's going into your mouth. -Uh-hmm. -And swallow. Just keep flowing, like the taste of it? -Yeah, wonderful. This is the best thing I've ever done. -Wow. -Well, that was awful. Okay. It's all up hill from here, right? -Better than just about any [unk] I've seen doing this. -Really? -You did it on your first pass just right through. -Okay, well, thank you. That's good to know. Super attractive too, I bet. Then it was time to get me into the ultra hot exercise chamber. So I have a temperature probe way deep down in my nose in the esophagus. I'm in a room that's about 101 degrees Fahrenheit and I'm gonna walk up at 10% slow per 20 or 30 minutes and just get all heated up and sweating and snotty. -There you go. -Okay. -So you've come up about-- how much do you gain out? So your temperature is find and pretty quick now. -All right. I feel it. -What [unk] temperature up to about 38 and then put the cooling device on one hand and see if we can changes trajectory of the core temperature of it. Okay. It's time to cool you down now. So let's see what happens here. So, are you feeling anything? -My hand feels cooler. After about 10 more minutes, I was spent-- -Now let's see. -All right. I can't believe how hard that was, like I ran 13 miles two months ago and I thought that might kill me. -So we're doing is just watching your temperature drop here. -And the gloves seemed to have worked. My core temperature went down and more importantly my good mood came back. The glove has proven so effective that Stanford is even using it to train their own athletes and sometimes on the field too. -All right. Set! -What we'll do is when we're training especially in the summer in the heat, we'll have it right away available and if somebody is struggling, they need a little bit of recovery. Somebody might be cramping, a hydration issue-- anything will put them on the unit. -As it kinda-- at the meantime until it goes mainstream. Is it kind of a little unpaired [unk] that you guys-- -It sounds like a little secret. We presented to the pack 12 and there's a lot of interests within other teams but again there's still skeptical about it. So we like to keep it a little secret I guess until it really goes mainstream. -I can't believe faint I feel actually. I'm not ready for the football team but my results were impressive. -And then at this point, we put on the cooling device and you can see we have changed the trajectory of your core temperature rise. -Right. Without the glove I would have run out of steam at 15 minutes. With the glove I would have conked out at more like 30 minutes, a doubling of my performance. And is that pretty consistent across everybody who tries it? I mean, do you find that-- -Yeah, we always seen improvement and performance. A lot of it has to deal with what the fitness levels of the individuals are. -The Stanford team says their research into temperature control has all kinds of medical potential from helping patients with multiple sceloris to be more active, to getting obese people off the couch for longer periods. -Individuals with multiple sceloris, you can actually give them a degree of freedom able to go out and walk twice as far as I normally be able to. That for me is very dramatic. -Yeah. -You know, if you're talking about exercise performance having guys doing 600 pull ups and 1000 push ups pretty dramatic too, so-- -Right. For my part, I'm probably not gonna get a 600 pull ups but I am ready to give this glove thing and try in the real world as long as I never have to do that nose tube thing again. Lots of them walking to it.


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I didn't think I love M.I.A more until I heard about this, a female fan sent in a picture of herself displaying her fingers, which are tattooed with the words 'Born Free' - a title of M.I.A.'s song. M.I.A loved it so much that she promised to get the same one done if she can pull in 200,000 Twitter followers.
"Once we get 200,000 strong I'll get this tattoo!" she tweeted.
It's awesome M.I.A showing love to her fans but also taking a marketing opportunity by the horns.
Below is the tattoo and M.I.A's twitter page


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plotting to rule the world...or eating some cheese.
I now make my living in the realm of social media. I blog, I tweet, I often take short naps, usually followed by longer naps, and then a light snack. I didscovered the joy of blogging on Jan 2, 2010, after being attacked by a pack of disgruntled weasels. Ok, there weren't any weasels, I was actually just bored. Most of my writing revolves around my interesting in learning woodworking, but some of it is more about creative and humorous writing. Well it is funny to me at least. I like to mock.


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The Settings dialog box contains general AppDNA options. The settings are grouped into pages. Use the side bar on the left side to move between pages. Click the Save button to preserve your changes.
Click the Help button in the top right corner to open Help specific to the page you are on.
To open the Settings dialog box:


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Cue Ball
|Cue Ball
|Angler's Tunnel
Cue Ball, also known by the name Water Cephalopod[1], is a large octopus-like creature from Link's Awakening that first appeared as a mini-boss in the water-filled labyrinth of Angler's Tunnel. The front of its body is heavily armored and cannot be harmed. The only weak point on its body is their tender backside, which Link must exploit with the edge of his sword. This is easiest done by waiting for it to pass by and striking from the side, but it is also possible for him to chase it down with the Pegasus Boots. Upon each hit, Cue Ball will spin and change direction. It is possible for Link to equip the Roc's Feather and leap over Cue Ball as he passes beneath Link in the longer straightaways and then strike him. Once defeated, Link will gain access to the Flippers.
Cue Ball later returns in Turtle Rock, known there alternatively as Fire Cephalopod.[2] While it behaves the same as its aquatic variation, it now swims around a pool of lava, making the battle considerably more challenging for Link. In this dungeon, Cue Ball guards the room where the Nightmare Key is hidden.
- Cue Ball is known as ヒップループホバー (Hiploop Hover) in Japanese, connecting it to both Helmasaurs (known as ヒップループ (Hiploop) in Japanese) and Water Tektites (known as ホーバー (Hover) in Japanese). It shares its armored head and weak behind with Helmasaurs. Both enemies appear in the Angler's Tunnel along with Cue Ball.
- In Ocarina of Time, Big Octo is very similar in weakness, with its backside being the weak point. However, there is the extra step of hitting it with the boomerang in order to make the spot open revealing a green attack point.
|Names in Other Regions
|Hiploop Hover
Moldorm · Genie · Slime Eye · Angler Fish · Slime Eel · Facade · Evil Eagle · Hot Head · Shadow Nightmares
Rolling Bones · King Moblin · Hinox · Dodongo Snakes · Lanmola · Cue Ball
Master Stalfos · Gohma · Armos Knight · Smasher · Grim Creeper · Turtle Rock · Blaino


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For this blog post I have chosen a selection of displays from the degree show by my fellow Surface Designers at CCAD
I love the way that Becca has put her display together, including a backdrop of her wallpaper designs printed as lengths - I think it looks really effective and sets the display off nicely.
Her designs themselves are very creative and experimental, catching the eye. I could see these being sold in the market now and becoming very popular, especially given the brilliant feedback she received during the show!
Good luck with your teaching career Becca :-)
Trelisa Ho
The way that Trelisa combines traditional oriental imagery with bold geometrics always amazes me! Her fashion fabric designs are always beautiful and I love the colour combinations.
Looking forward to Italy with you Trelisa, and best of luck with your time in New York :-)
Rebecca James
I adore the soft, understated colour palette that Becca has used for her gift collections. My particular favourite is her feather design which she used accents of flitter on to set the design off so well!
Hope to see your designs in the shops soon Becca :-)
I am so proud of Abby for doing so well during the degree show, all of the interest she has received from industry is well deserved! She was also recently featured on WGSN following a reporter seeing her work at our college stand at Printsource, which is fabulous news!
Her work is very unique, using bright clashing colour palettes with architectural patterns to create her digital pieces.
I wish you every success in the future Abby, you are going to be a star :-)
The fresh, feminine designs that Hana produced for her FMP were gorgeous!
Hope you get to be the big trend forecaster that you've always wanted to be Hana, you deserve it :-)
I really like the cute laser cut pop up cards that Kate created for her gift collections.
I hope you continue working hard and become a successful greetings designer with your fabulous cake business!
Ingrid Hudson
I always admire Ingrid's work and the way that she uses colour. Her prints are gorgeous - the way she has created a little room setting for her display shows them off so well, even going to the effort of covering a lampshade and cushion!
I really hope you become successful in the design industry Ingrid, you are a fabulous designer and definitely have the passion and skills to go far :-)
You really do not realise how talented you are Shona! I hope you enjoy Australia and continue to create beautiful designs, whether it be for fashion or interiors, because you are amazing :-)


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Summer is the time to soak up as much sun as possible. Sunny, sundrenched rooms in cool palettes feel like summer all year round. Large windows in a bathroom, skylights in the kitchen, a wall of French doors in a living room all fill a room with gorgeous sunlight. And who couldn't use an extra dose of sunshine in their lives? Nothing brightens up a room like natural light and shines a spotlight on all your best interior design ideas.
A wall of French doors allows the sun to pour into this living room. Cool toned neutral furnishings make the room feel light and airy while darker wood accents anchor the space.
This sundrenched bathroom has a tub with a view. The sunny yellow cabinets make the room feel even more cheerful.
Windows on two sides of this room and an all white color scheme create a sun-filled space that feels cool and fresh. A great view of the sea doesn't hurt either!
Incredible wall of windows! Simple furniture in neutral colors won't compete with the beautiful architectural detail.
Creams with coral accents make this sunny space feel warm and inviting, a great living room design idea. A comfortable sofa looks like the perfect place to curl up in the sun and read... or nap.
This bedroom is not only sun-filled, but the screen walls make this room feel more outdoors than indoors. The hanging bed is interesting. Wonder if it is like sleeping in a hammock.
Skylights flood this kitchen with sunlight and tons of natural light. Large windows and French doors allow additional light to make this kitchen feel bigger.
An incredible sundrenched bedroom that is more windows than walls provides many decorating ideas. Windows on three walls and an arched ceiling with another window flood this room with light. Almost like sleeping outside.
This post comes courtesy of Design Shuffle, where you can find top tier interior designs from around the world – from New York interior designers, Los Angeles interior designers, and more, check out the latest at Design Shuffle.


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United Township High School does not organize reunions. United Township High School does not host websites. We only post reunion information and flyers on the school website. If your class, creates a class website, we will link to it also.
To have reunion info and flyers posted email to: Tim Arnett
1972 1967 1968 – Save the date below *** Blackhawk 1965-67 Alumni at bottom
Class of 1972 45th Reunion:
Class of 1972 45 th Reunion:
UTHS Class of 1972 – 45 th Reunion – 9/29 and 9/30, 2017
September 29, 2017 5pm – 11pm
Leisure Time 845 Avenue of the Cities, East Moline, IL 61244
September 30, 2017 5pm – 1am (Taco Bar and DJ)
American Legion 829 16 th Avenue East Moline, IL 61244
A golf outing has been planned by Dave Hanson for 8am Saturday
morning at Golfmohr ($37/ea. for the1 st 16 people).
Please send your check payable to:
UTHS Class of 1972 to Nancy DeBaillie – 120 16 thAvenue East Moline, IL 61244
A trip to Lavender Crest Winery, 5401 Highway 6, Colona, IL for wine tasting has
also been planned by Becky Samuelson Cruse for 11am (email@example.com)
A Facebook Page has been set up by Steve Montez
There is also an email address available: email@example.com
Please note that all t-shirt orders (from the attached order form) will be printed together in September
for pick at the Reunion or you can choose to have them shipped to you upon completion.
Contact: email@example.com or email@example.com
Class of 1967 50th Reunion:
UTHS Class of 1967 50th Reunion
Casual Mixer; FRIDAY – October 6th,2017. 6 pm-?
Parkside Bar & Grill, 2307 5th Ave., Moline, IL 61265
Cost: $5/person at the door; Cash bar. 50-50 Raffle. Food: you're on your
SATURDAY – October 7th, 2017. Time: 5-6 pm cocktails; Dinner: 6 p.m. Open
until midnight.
Where: Jumers Casino and Hotel, 777 Jumer Dr, Rock Island, IL 61201
Buffet dinner (2 entrees w/dessert; Vegetarian plates made to order)
Entertainment on site. Dress: Dressy/Casual
Cost: $40/person (R.S.V.P. by September 1st). Cash bar
20 rooms are blocked off for both nights at the Jumers Hotel for your
convenience ($129 a room). Call 309-756-4600 to reserve your room. Hotel
Block Code is "SUT67". In addition there are hotels nearby: Radisson, 1415
River Drive, Moline, Il; 309-764-1000 Stoney Creek Inn, 101 18th St.,
Moline, IL; 309-743-0101
Contact information for the reunion and pre-reunion party is Kathy Gelande,
209 S Barrington Dr, Hampton, IL 61256; Phone 309-755-1505; Cell
309-236-7573 E-mail address: email@example.com
Class of 1968 50th Reunion SAVE THE DATE
Save the Dates for the 50th Reunion for the Class of '68
Friday, August 17, 2018 AM/PM: Golf Outing (Time/Place TBA)
Friday, August 17, 2018 @ 6:00 PM: Leisure Time , East Moline IL
Saturday, August 18, 2018 @ 6:00 PM: Believers Together Center
located at Christ the King Catholic Church, Moline IL
Additional information to follow in 2018
Blackhawk College Alumni Reunion 1965- 1967
Did You Attend Black Hawk College? Many members of the UTHS classes of '65, '65, and '66 continued their education at Black Hawk College. We're working with Ms. Maureen Dickinson, Executive Director of the QC Foundation at Black Hawk to put together a list of alumni from our era at "the Hawk." We're even hoping to form a gathering of BHC alumni — potentially on Sunday, September 24 on the "new" BHC campus. Whether you graduated from Black Hawk, attended there and transferred, or just attended there after high school, we'd like to hear from you.
If you're part of the Black Hawk crowd — or if you know someone who attended Black Hawk between '65 and '67 (whether they're from UTHS or not), please get in touch with us.
Please include contact information and address it to firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, and/or firstname.lastname@example.com Thanks in advance! Bruce Metzler, Pete Settle & Jan (Ferry) Loomis Thank you, in advance, for your help!


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Date: 23/8/2006
There will be a vacancy for treasurer from next financial year and we would like expressions of interest in volunteering for this position. Chris Hughes has said that ideally he would like a handover period from December to March before he departs. Any one interested should contact Chris direct.


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Saku Koivu Injured...What Next for Canadiens?April 1, 2008
For some reason, it seems that when the Montreal Canadiens have a remarkable season that only the diehard fans could see coming, the injuries manage to plague them in the post-season. I guess you can say that the latest right-leg injury to Saku Koivu puts the nail on the coffin.
The current injury list for the Habs as they go into the playoffs consists of Mike Komisarek, Guillaume Latendresse, Mark Streit, Francis Bouillon, and, as mentioned, Saku Koivu. I don't believe its possible to say any one of these players will be missed more over the others.
Mike Komisarek was leading the NHL in hits prior to his 'lower-body injury', suffered on March 20, 2008 against the Boston Bruins. There is no doubt the Canadiens miss the presence of the tough gritted, hard hitting, shot blocking defenceman. The intensity of his injury is still unknown at this point. As devastating a blow as this is, on the plus side it gives the opportunity of more ice time for fellow defencemen such as Roman Hamrlik, Josh Gorges, and Ryan O'Byrne. Though none may be as physically tough as Komisarek O'Byrne has shown he's equally capable of throwing some crushing blows.
Guillaume Latendresse missed four games as well from tweaking his neck, but is proposed to return to the lineup against the Senators. Latendresse will at the least contribute to the Habs' physical play once back to feeling 100 percent.
Mark Streit suffered his injury March 28, 2008 against the Buffalo Sabres from blocking a shot. Though he is scheduled to return against Ottawa tonight (April 1) a person has to wonder if he is completely healed and if it will bother him against during the post season. He is currently ranked fourth in the NHL for both assists (46) and points (58); both are not only a career high for Streit but also a NHL record for a Switzerland-born player. Streit is a two-position player who could easily be penciled in as a defenceman or forward, which may end up being a key advantage depending on the outcomes of Komisarek and Bouillon.
Saku Koivu's right-leg injury was also sustained on March 28, 2008 against the Buffalo Sabres. Knowing Koivu, he may be the one out of all the hurt Canadiens to tough out his broken bone and continue to play once the playoffs begin. Even if he can't find the strength to participate he is sure to make his presence felt. Nevertheless, nobody wants to start a long-awaited post-season without their Captain on the ice with them.
Francis Bouillon's right-ankle injury is a familiar theme - it was suffered from a blocked shot against the Maple Leafs on March 29, 2008. It is still unknown when he is scheduled to return. Significant or not, it is never a good thing for a team to lose three defencemen in only a nine day span.
So just what will happen - Will Komisarek be back in time for opening night of the playoffs?? Will Streit be able to stay healthy and continue where he left off?? And mostly importantly, when is Saku Koivu going to return to play?? Even if we don't have the answers to these questions, we're about to find out soon enough.


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Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in South Carolina. It's the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the state.
Throughout the U.S., about 40,000 women die each year from breast cancer according to the CDC. Nationally breast cancer is
Download more information about Breast Cancer (pdf)
Thanks in part to breast cancer screening/early detection, long-term survival rates for breast cancer have improved dramatically over the last several decades.
So if you find a lump, skin change, or any other breast changes or unusual discharge from your nipple(s), see your health care provider right away. Do not wait. Do monthly breast self-exams. (If you don't know how, ask your health care provider to teach you.) See your health care provider each year for a breast exam. And if you are 40 or older, have a mammogram once a year.(If you are a woman age 30 to 64 and need assistance, you may qualify for free breast and cervical cancer screenings through DHEC's Best Chance Network. Check to see if you qualify.)
Yes, men can get breast cancer. But breast cancer is about 100 times more common in women than in men. In men, breast cancer can happen at any age, but is most common in men who are between 60 and 70 years old. Medical treatment options are the same for both women and men who get breast cancer.
Research has shown that these risk factors increase your risk of getting breast cancer.
Recent research offers some evidence to show that the following factors may also raise your risk for breast cancer. However, the links with breast cancer are not yet completely clear at this point; more research is needed.
For more information, contact the DHEC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at (803) 545.4106.


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Driving cars on the layout
MCC is a digital carsystem from VPEB to drive modelcars on the right speed and with real, working lights on the layout. Creating a streetmap in combination with digital MCC cars and the MCC system the landscape on the layout will come alive.
MCC-ModelCarParts wants to make it possible to have modelcars driving on the layout against reasonable prices.
MCC-ModelCarParts is helping you to control the cars on your layout by delivering:
- all parts for cars, streets and system
- MCC cars ready for use
- design of your streetlayout
- constructions of your streetlayout
- installation and configuration of the system
- taking care of workshops
We want to invite you to take a look at our site so you can experience the world of MCC carcontrol.
If you have any questions or are looking for an item which is not shown at our site please contact us. We will respond as soon as possible on your questions and remarks.
We wish you a lot of fun at the MCC carworld!


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31 & 32 Week Pregnancy Update Plus Gifts from Living Royal Sock Company and Stitched Up Apparel Baby Boutique
How far along? 32 weeks
Total weight gain/measurements: 130lbs
Maternity clothes: I cracked! I had to buy larger maternity pantaloons to house these big old hips and actual maternity shirts, my non maternity shirts made me feel like a stuffed sausage. I also had to buy a belly support band.. so basically a bra for my belly. Humph!
Stretch marks? Not yet! I have been using sweet almond oil twice a day.
Sleep: Its been ok. I upped my pillow game and now use 3 big pillows. Poor Phil has little to no room left in our bed. Emily has been super clingy lately and forces herself on me every night. She will stand on me and hover until I make room for her to lay directly on my belly. She is such a weirdo. I think she likes baby boys kicks and he likes the vibrations from her purrs.
Best moment this week: Having dinner with family at the mall and laughing for hours because we are all just so ridiculous. Also, we found a pediatrician very close to our house!
Miss anything? I miss being comfortable and not having random Braxton hicks contractions which make me instinctually grab my nether regions. -_-
Movement: This dude is crazy active! No complaints tho! I love it.
Food cravings: a glass of wine and oysters.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing new. Still can't stand Old Bay or popcorn (barf!!)
Gender: My Moy Boy <3
Symptoms: My back is increasingly sore. But only in one spot, under my right shoulder blade. I've also started crying a lot. Not because I am sad or anything, its just a weird reaction I have to certain things. I cried in H&R Block during taxes because the old man who was doing our taxes was SO adorable. He reminded me of someone.
Belly button in or out? FLAT and if I eat Pho it pushes out a little…. I can see having a convex bully button in my near future!
Wedding rings on or off? Engagement ring is off, wedding ring is still on. Puffy fingers are mad cute…
Happy or moody most of the time: Overwhelmed but happy and excited...
Looking forward to: Dim freaking sum this weekend!!!!
We have baby registries at Target and Amazon! (for those of you who have asked)
32 Weeks
THANK YOU Living Royal for the adorable socks! Will be adding a few pairs to my hospital bag! They have a HUGE selection of cute socks! Take a look! >here<
Another lovely package came for "BABY C" (hint hint). How freaking cute is this arrow legging/hat set from Stitched Up Apparel??! This might be little man's going home outfit?! Check out this UK brand's website for some crazy cute baby goodies!! >here<


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Lawyers fighting North Carolina's 2013 voting law promised Monday to continue their efforts after a federal judge decided not to block the law in time for November's elections.
"In North Carolina, we will have to work harder because of this law," NAACP attorney Irving Joyner said in a conference call with reporters. "But we remain committed to fighting this voter suppression law."
U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder ruled Friday that November's election can take place under last year's law. A full trial is set for next year.
Among other things, the law tightens the window for early voting and makes it harder for people to cast ballots outside of their precincts. Joyner and other attorneys argued that the law disproportionately affects minority voters. Jim Morrill


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The debate about a new high school in Little Village flared up during the Chicago Board of Education's monthly meeting Wednesday when school's chief Paul Vallas and Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) clashed over why the school hasn't been built.
Vallas chided Munoz for orchestrating an ongoing hunger strike involving 10 parents in the neighborhood, saying it was for his own political advantage.