text:
As it was, when I skidded into the hotel bathroom, still half-asleep, and saw the golf ball-sized lump on John's forehead, I was hoping it was merely a flesh wound. (Heh.) The irony, of course, is that it was merely a flesh wound, and would soon be the least of our worries.
Since John was laid out on the bathroom floor, my first order of business was making sure he was conscious (and would stay so), ordering a car to get us to the hospital, and getting us both decently clothed - in that order. In addition to the head wound, John was beyond miserable with what we thought was the flu, so the walk-in clinic we first went to turned us away (none too nicely, I might add), since they couldn't tell if his symptoms were from the flu or the head bonk. So, we called another cab, and waited. The clinic doctor came out and threatened to call an ambulance if we didn't leave quickly, or if John closed his eyes for too long, so it was a long, tense wait. (John was alert enough that we didn't think an ambulance was necessary, but we both had only had a few hours of sleep that night, so he kept trying to put his head down.)
Skipping past a few hours of tedious misery: John was laid out in the ER and on an IV. His head seemed Ok, and the flu test came back negative, so they planned to get just one more bag of fluids in him and then release him. It was getting late, though, so I had to head back to the hotel to get ready for the show. I figured I'd do it solo, and then meet up with John afterward at the hotel.
I should mention that at this point I thought the show at Legacy Books started at 3. It did not; it started at 2. Yeeeah. (Thanks, Amy, for that phone call. And sorry 'bout the screeching.)
I arrived at 1:50 to a lovely crowd of cake-hungry Wreckies:
However, thanks to a host of technical difficulties, all the store's horses and all the store's men could not get my slide show together again. (Not for lack of trying, mind you. Kyle & Jeremy, you guys are awesome.) I really would be doing the show solo: no slides, no John, and not even a mic, at first. Heh.
But here's the crazy thing: it was a great event. Seriously. The crowd was so enthusiastic, and so happy to be there, that I think we all had a fabulous time. It didn't hurt that we had a gorgeous cake on hand, courtesy of Bronwen Weber's Frosted Art Bakery:
Plano really turned on the Southern charm for me. Check out these girls' shirts:
Some even brought gifts, like this gorgeous apron Brooke W. made for me:
(This is Brooke's photo, not mine. I only wish I had a Lucille Ball dress like that.)
Here are their entries:
Fondant censor bars FTW!
John was in critical condition for the next two days, and we are still finding out all the many and colorful ways he could have lost limbs or even his life had the infection taken a nasty turn - or if he hadn't been admitted when he was. Yep, all told, we are very happy he bonked the bejeepers out of his noggin.
So that's the story, my dear Wreckies. Well, not completely: I could go on about my fractured emotional state, the tears, the worry, the hotel that locked me out of my room that first night when I was trying so desperately to get to John, the kind nurses who still let me in when I got there late, the fact that John was calling hotels from his bed in ICU to get me into a better & closer hotel, the cab driver who spread the word about us, so that I had other drivers telling me they were praying for John, the ICU food staff who brought extra meals when I hadn't eaten all day, my amazing contacts at Andrews McMeel (Kathy & Amy) who repeatedly told me not to worry about the tour, but to take care of John...yeah, I could go on about all of that.
Or, better yet, I could go on about all of you. The e-mails, the stories, the jokes, the offers of help: you Wreckies made us laugh and cry by turns, but most of all you made us feel like we had one big, snarky family pulling for us. If you'll forgive the gushiness for a moment - I promise we'll get back to poo jokes soon - please know that John and I will always be indebted to you for your kindness these past few days. You've shown us that you are not just our readers, you are our friends. I only hope we can thank each of you personally someday.
Today John is out of the hospital (wahoo!!) and recuperating in our hotel here in Dallas. We're still figuring out what's going to happen from here, and when we'll get to go home, but I believe a rescheduling of the missed events is in the works. So stay tuned. In the meantime, I'll do my best to keep the Wreckage coming. ;)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
What will you be able to accomplish by being elected, that you would not otherwise be able to do as a contributor?
- Andrea Veri: (As you will see by reading the list right down here) Being a single contributor makes achieving these points impossible since changing how localized communities should work, improving our CoC and enforcing its rules and re-thinking Board's role in our community is something that must be discussed and voted within the Board and its members.
- Peter Robinson: It allows me to contribute back to the project in a more central way than being a contributor and to contribute ideas and direction in a quicker and more direct way.
- Rex Dieter Honestly, only a few smallish things, but I do still consider these important, including:
- continue to shephrd efforts behind Fedora's Community Working Group and Code of Conduct
- revisit/tweak project updates vision statement
What will you do to ensure that Fedora remains at the forefront of innovation in the GNU/Linux space
- Andrea Veri: I will try to do my best to give a warm welcome to new ideas and projects within Fedora, I'll listen, discuss with as many contributors and developers willing to propose something new and innovative that could benefit our beloved distribution. I would like to link this answer with the third point of the first answer I gave on the questionnaire: new ideas are strictly related to my vision of innovation, everyone should be free to propose something new without having to worry about receiving personal insults or complaints: this is unfortunately missing in our community. (is our community really prepared for new ideas yet?)
- Peter Robinson: I believe we need to add more focus on support for mobile devices. With the popularity of small devices such as smart phones, tablets, TV set top boxes and other small, low powered devices I believe we need to better support them, both connecting too them (eg ensuring you can share media from your Fedora laptop with your DLNA connected TV) as well as allowing people to run Fedora on them.
- Rex Dieter: I hope to leverage my position as board member to continue to empower those doing the hard work within the project, and to tear down barriers that get in the way of getting that valuable work done.
What do you view Fedora's purpose and place being in the F/LOSS microcosm.
- Andrea Veri:
- Peter Robinson: I believe we're a leader in a lot of areas of innovation. Fedora 15 being the first to ship GNOME 3 and systemd is a perfect and currently relevant example of this. But being in this leading space does scare some users away as they tend to like or require more stable environments that aren't quite so close to the bleeding edge. Again systemd is an example of this, its the single largest shake up to the unix initialisation system ever.
- Rex Dieter: Simply, Fedora serves a leadership role, and provides an ideal setting for collaboration.
What are your top three priorities as a board member?
- Andrea Veri: If elected, I will mainly try to focus on:
Improving Fedora's localization putting a great effort on introducing a form of formalization for specific localized communities having all the needed requirements to gain the "blessing" of Official local community for a certain country or language / dialect. This means pursuing one main objective, which is making Fedora Ambassadors and contributors not fighting each other but acting together as a community. Having two-three or even four websites / local communities just for the Italian or French langs is simply the wrong way to achieve the result of having a Fedora community together again. Ambassadors and contributors of a specific country or lang should focus on establishing *one* strong and trusted localized community, they should throw away the idea of multiple support websites, we need to put together everyone again, act as a team, Fedora together should be our motto. (the specific requirements to gain the above formalization will be written up by me and presented to the Board for a discussion, so expect more news to come about this point if my candidature will be accepted)
Re-thinking what the Fedora Board should be within the Fedora community. It should represent the community and all its members, if a single or multiple members are having a specific problem, from the bigger to the smaller one, the Board must deal with them to find a valid solution, nothing and no one should be left behind. The Board, in the end, should be the main reference point for everyone wanting to propose a new idea or just willing to costructively complain about something not working in the right way. Discussing problems, respecting everyone's ideas and opinions and finding a good consensus / common solutions for everyone is alwais the way to go to improve the relationships between community members, contributors and developers.
Improving our Code of Conduct, finding a good way to enforce members respecting it and remembering which values should be found behind a community (respect between members and their ideas, costructive discussions, decisions taken with general consensus etc.) is the latest point but it's definitely not the less important on my list. As I stated in my candicacy, I've been negatively impressed by the behaviour of some community members in two occasions: while introducing JustFedora's Planet and while working on another Infrastructure duty. Criticizing without valid motivations just for the sake of doing so seemed to be the common rule on both of the above cases. I would like to remember everyone that this is *not* the best behaviour for an Open Source community, we need to act together as a single team, we don't have to fight each other but we have to cooperate finding common solutions, discussing, criticizing *costructively* and helping our community coming out from the current situation.
- Peter Robinson: In no particular order:
- Expansion of support within Fedora to mobile and low power devices such as ARM to ensure Fedora can lead in the ever expanding mobile and low powered device space and allow Fedora to assist others to innovate in this massive arena. - Allowing all groups that wish to use Fedora to be able to do so as simply and easily as possible. - Ensuring all groups work together nicely and think outside their own box and to impact other groups in a good way rather than a "my way or the highway" attitude.
- Rex Dieter:
- bring ongoing Fedora Community Working Group/Code of conduct efforts to fruition
- reach out to fedora contributors and community members, looking for better avenues for communication as well as help and ideas to increase productivity.
- continue work on its-a-dirty-job-but-someone-has-to-do-it stuff like project definition/scope/vision.
What do you think about Fedora's vision and goals?
- Andrea Veri:
- Peter Robinson: I think they're pretty spot on. The four F's and associated values I
think provide a simple vision that is timeless and generally works very well.
- Rex Dieter: I have to say I like our vision and goals so far. The hard work now involves engaging contributors to help implement some tactical implementations.
Who do you think Fedora is for today? Who should it be for?
- Andrea Veri: Fedora is about innovation, but as you may all know, innovation might take in several problems especially for new comers or people switching from a Microsoft OS. Most of the people I know do have a lot of problems to simply open up a computer, writing a mail or working on a document; I would like to see Fedora (but generally Linux based OSs) available to use to everyone: from developers to complete newbies. I would like to work making the idea of Linux being usable by a restricted circle of people changing and I'm sure the arrival of GNOME 3 will definitely help us out on achieving our goal. (It's user-friendly but innovative interface it's simply superb)
- Peter Robinson: I believe Fedora is more for the hobbyist and technology savvy people. I think its very usable for most people but the quick upgrade releases isn't always what people want. Its much more simple to install than other proprietary OSes, and provides what most consumers want which is generally communications, social networking, photos and music.
- Rex Dieter: A tough question, but well captured, I think, by our current target audience statement, which itself is fairly broadly worded to encompass most any computer or technology enthusiast.
If proprietary is black (100% gray) and uncompromising completely free right down to the hardware is white (0% gray), what % of gray are you and why?
- Andrea Veri:
- Peter Robinson: I think around 40-50%. I prefer free and open software and hardware. It allows innovative use of various platforms that the manufactures of the HW/SW could never have dreamed of or envisioned. But I'm also a realist, companies need to be able to operate stable, usable systems
in order to be able to run their business whether it be technology or more mainline business. I believe in the best tools for the job, and in a lot of cases now days its free and open software that provides this.
- Rex Dieter: I'd say I'm a pragmatic idealist. :) I'm mostly white, and always give preference to free and open software and tools, when available, and only resort to other (proprietary) solutions where there is no viable free alternative.
Where do you see Fedora in five years? How do you think we'll get there?
- Andrea Veri: An innovative Fedora but at the same time a distribution easy to use by any of us out there, an awesome cloud service available to everyone, a package manager made easier to learn and understand by newcomers, a GNOME 3 improved, stronger, robust and a gnome-shell completely ready and fully integrated on Fedora is what I would like to see happening within five years.
- Peter Robinson: I think Fedora as a distribution will be in a similar location where we are today but running on a completely different class of device. It will still be aimed at server side and derivatives of it will be very mainstream in cloud and associated hosting solutions although its likely you may not even know it. It will be very much more persuasive in the mobile space and I believe that ARM will have been a primary platform for a couple of years. It will still be leading by example.
- Rex Dieter: My own hope is that Fedora continues growing into a thriving, even more active community. That means, continue being an ideal incubator for our vision of free culture, collaboration, and people's control over their content and devices.
What will you be able to accomplish by being elected, that you would not otherwise be able to do as a contributor?
- Kevin Fenzi: I think I can bring organization to FESCo as well as a good deal of understanding
how things have worked in the past.
- Peter Jones: Being on FESCo presents a different kind of involvement than just being a contributor does. It's an opportunity to help set direction and get directly involved with broader decisions, and to ensure that Fedora is headed in the right direction on a technical level.
- Iain Arnell: Maintain the existing balance of community vs Red Hat members on the committee, and encourage others to improve it next time round. I understand that they are an important part of our community, but that it's equally important to ensure that our volunteers have a voice too.
- Tomas Mraz: Obviously the policy decisions are voted on by FESCo and to be able to have a direct vote in FESCo will give me better ability to achieve my goals.
- Stephen Gallagher: Having a voice in making FESCo policy decisions will allow me to act on my stated goal of making Fedora into a powerful platform for the development of open-source software.
- Bill Nottingham: The point of FESCo is to arbitrate escalated issues and coordinate work on features and policies; that's not something that can be done as well as an individual contributor. Also, for better or worse, I've been here since the beginning, and I feel that having that perspective of where we've been can help in steering where we're going.
- Kyle McMartin:Sitting on FESCo allows you to contribute not just to the improvement of Fedora as a software platform as we all do, but also attempt to set the pace and tone of development. In the end, FESCo can act as the sober second thought, an arbiter, or provide technical advice to all Fedora contributors, which I think is a fairly important role I can continue to help with.
What will you do to ensure that Fedora remains at the forefront of innovation in the GNU/Linux space
- Kevin Fenzi: I think we need to continue to be ambitious in rawhide/devel releases as well as work hard to provide a stable release stream to folks. We should accept and embrace new tech as soon as (or slightly before) they are ready.
- Peter Jones: In general, I'll try to enact policies that enable others to move forward in accordance with Fedora's Vision, to foster collaboration and allow individual contributors the freedom to set direction for the projects they're involved in.
- Iain Arnell: I think we've already shown that innovation isn't the problem - we have a strong history of innovation and plenty of contributors willing to continue that theme. For me, it's more important that our users are willing to adapt to the changes; new innovations need time to mature as "technology previews" before being foisted on the community by default (and f14 was a good example of this, delaying both gnome-shell and systemd).
- Tomas Mraz: I think that giving as much power as possible to the package maintainers of Fedora ensures this the best way. I think that FESCo should always make decisions towards this goal.
- Stephen Gallagher: I will push strongly for the inclusion of tools to make development on Fedora easier. The simplest way to continue to make Fedora the leader in innovation is to make ours the platform that new developers WANT to work with.
- Bill Nottingham: I will try to encourage innovation where it's being done and point out the areas where new innovation where it's needed. Additionally, through some of our update policies, I intend to work to make sure that people have a stable base to innovate on.
- Kyle McMartin: Continue to refine the processes that have been enacted by the board and FESCo over the last few releases, continue to help smooth and cheerlead the No Frozen Rawhide process, which some people have pointed out has been bumpy, but I believe to be a massive improvement over the freeze/thaw model with massive change drops we had previously. As we get better at working within our new flow, I think both the branched and rawhide quality will improve.
What do you view Fedora's purpose and place being in the F/LOSS microcosm.
- Kevin Fenzi: I think Fedora is a place to push new tech and ideas as well as a kick ass day to day operating system for technical users. Of course it's also a place to provide new innovation to slower downstream operating systems.
- Peter Jones: As reflected in our "core values", Fedora's place is to be a high-quality place for developers to bring new development in order to help with our users' goals, be they sysadmins or desktop users.
- Iain Arnell: When I look at the FSF's "why we don't endorse other systems page"[1], I'm not dissappointed that we don't meet their requirements for a truly free operating system; I'm quietly satisfied that allowing a few blobs enables a much wider community to embrace free software. It seems wrong to deny access to free software just because you bought the wrong graphics adapter or wireless card.
[1] http://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.html
- Tomas Mraz: Fedora should be the place where the development of the most innovative and useful projects can happen. Although sometimes it could
mean that usability for non-developers might slightly suffer. On the other hand the distribution must be usable for developers so I of course understand that there have to be some restrictions especially during the final stages of the release cycle before the GA release.
- Stephen Gallagher: I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but I think that Fedora's place is to be the petri dish for F/LOSS projects. Fedora is where innovation should incubate while being provided with powerful tools to speed delivery to the public.
- Bill Nottingham: I think 'the place where we bring innovation to the masses' is the proper place for Fedora - we make the bleeding edge technology available in a leading-edge distribution where it's consumable even by those who may not be Linux hackers.
- Kyle McMartin: That's a difficult question to answer, because I believe we're in a bit of a transition from being focused on a single spin (the desktop) from RHL to early Fedora, to now, where Fedora is more of a platform to be built upon. In any case, I believe Fedora must remain at the cutting edge, with close integration of upstreams into the distro.
What are your top three priorities as a board member?
- Kevin Fenzi:(well, fesco here, but I will answer anyhow):
1. I think we really need to try and ramp up more folks. I'm open to any new ideas on how to do that. 2. I would love to see more coordination/structure for server using folks. I know that many wouldn't use Fedora as a server, but lots and lots of tech gets tested out in fedora and goes on to be used in server based oses. I'd like to see if we couldn't get that group a voice or help them be able to use Fedora for testing new server related tech. 3. I'd like to continue to see things like Sugar, LXDE and Xfce grow and get added into fedora processes.
- Iain Arnell: I'm not a board member, but as FESCO candidate:
Ensure the continuation of FTBFS reports (and as an aside, I'd like to thank Matt for all his efforts over the years).
Improve the quality of the distribution by supporting autoqa so that it can be enabled by default (whatever that means) without inconveniencing contributors.
Identify under-maintained packages and encourage people to adopt them as co-maintainers.
- Tomas Mraz: 1. Make the decisions as little intrusive and restrictive to the regular contributors work as possible.
2. Make the decisions effectively achievable. 3. N/A
- Stephen Gallagher: 1) Aid and encourage Fedora QA in the creation of general-purpose testing and integration tools. 2) Push for better integration of development frameworks with the tools that Fedora ships. 3) Work to create documentation, guides and mentorship programs to bring new developers into the fold.
- Bill Nottingham:
- Support Fedora QA's efforts towards automated testing, in order to bring better quality to Fedora
- Work with groups brigning in new features to make sure we're all pulling in (roughly) the same direction
- Figure out a way to encourage better maintenance on the fringes of the OS where things may fall through the cracks. (FTBFS, broken deps, etc.)
- Kyle McMartin: On FESCo, I believe my three priorities are to:
- Stay on top of what's going on in the distro.
- Provide unbiased advice or criticism.
- Provide high quality technical advice. With these things in mind helping set the technical pace of the Fedora Project.
What do you think about Fedora's vision and goals?
- Kevin Fenzi:I really like the vision. I think we could do more to promote free content. ;)
By goals, do you mean 'objectives' ? ( http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Objectives ) I like them a lot as well. ;)
- Peter Jones: I think our vision and goals are good - they point a general direction, without being so specific as to stifle further progress. It's true that we sometimes need to revisit them or discuss how they reflect on particular situations, but having the ability to do that gives us flexibility.
- Iain Arnell: I find the vision statement itself to be a little weak and overly generic. But I whole-heartedly support the four foundations and the
project's objectives.
- Tomas Mraz: N/A
- Stephen Gallagher: Lofty targets, but worth striving for.
- Bill Nottingham: I think they are great goals to reach for.
- Kyle McMartin: I think they're both laudible, and attainable. A lot of objection to the new processes and procedures have been from people who do not believe they should be subject to the same rules as others, and while some of the criticism is warranted, for instance, that sometimes updates have taken longer to get out than others, these hiccups can be smoothed with volunteers and effort. It is certainly an improvement on what we had before, though.
Who do you think Fedora is for today? Who should it be for?
- Kevin Fenzi:I think Fedora is for many people and communities and it's limiting for me to try and provide a exhaustive list. :) That said I think some of who Fedora is for would be:
- Technical users who wish a usable, fast updating workstation os.
- Folks who wish to preview or play with the "next great thing"
- Home users who need a reliable web browser os.
- Educators who need something like Sugar.
We could expand into other areas as the people working on Fedora follow their passion and setup a way to reach those communities.
- Peter Jones: Today Fedora is for a range of people, including developers, some desktop users, and admins of systems that don't need the sort of guarantees provided by so-called "enterprise" offerings. I think these are all valuable target audiences, but we need to continue investigate other audiences as well, and to keep in mind the sort of changes we can make - either to our software, our processes, or our websites and such - that can open up more opportunities for us to get Free Software out to more people, to be used in more scenarios.
- Iain Arnell: I think that the default desktop is increasingly targetting Aunt Tillie, particularly with the simplification of the user interface
in Gnome 3. That's not such a bad thing, as long as there are still options for more advanced users.
- Tomas Mraz: I do not really know for who is it today. Sometimes it seems that a regular users are the target, but I do not think this is really aligned with what the Fedora (not as distribution but as people) is. And what it should be? As I said it above, Fedora should be the place where the development of the most innovative and useful projects can happen.
- Stephen Gallagher: Today, I think Fedora doesn't really know who it's for. Fedora as a distribution is a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. I think Fedora's strength in the past had always been that it used to be targeted mostly at developers (maybe not officially, but that was who were most inclined to use it). I think Fedora's strength was always in its ability to encourage more developers into its community, which in turn resulted in more, better and faster development.
- Bill Nottingham: Today, Fedora is for developers, admins, people interested in the next RHEL, people who want a free OS and have someone familiar with Linux to deal with it for them, and assorted other groups. I think, if we want it to remain relevant to the goals and objectives (ubiquity, free culture is widespread) we need to take efforts to make sure it's usable by people beyond those groups; if we're *only* for developers and admins, it's unlikely we'll ever grow to make those goals possible.
- Kyle McMartin: Again, this is a complicated question, I believe Fedora should continue to set a solid pace of integrating cutting edge open source software, and provide consistent releases on a timely schedule. It should be generally stable, predictable (in terms of time frame, not expectation) and as high quality as can be managed with the small (relatively) pool of volunteers we have. In the future, I think we should investigate a more upstream/downstream branching model for spins, as opposed to the current one size fits all tree of packages we have now, but that's a much longer term discussion. From that base though, Fedora could be tailored to anyone, and doesn't need to be pigeonholed.
If proprietary is black (100% gray) and uncompromising completely free right down to the hardware is white (0% gray), what % of gray are you and why?
- Kevin Fenzi:I'm not sure what the % would be off hand. I am very much to the white side of things, but I think firmware and the like are things we should continue to ship, so perhaps thats 10%? I would love a day when users never asked for 3rd party repos to play their content or view their web pages.
- Peter Jones: I really dislike this question. If you want to ask how I feel about embedded firmware (which I assume is what this is about), just ask about it. So:
1) I'm not a piece of hardware. 2) I'm not gray. 3) I'm not a percentage of anything. This is the real world, and there's just more nuance than that.
I would *love* for hardware to be available without any proprietary bits whatsoever. That's not where the world is right now. I'm wildly in favor of projects like opencores.org to help bring the world to a better place in terms of allowing the benefits of Free Software to also be seen in hardware. At the same time, I do think that e.g. dynamically loaded firmware is, in some ways, as much a piece of the machine as a software running on it. In general, I agree with the delineating function that if it doesn't run on the host CPU, it's *usually* reasonable to treat it as part of the hardware. So I'm definitely for keeping those bits in the distribution. Not having them would hurt our users more than having them does.
- Iain Arnell: I would guess around 10-20%. I will grudgingly suffer proprietary if there's no free alternative. Occaisionally, I'll acknowledge that proprietary offerings are simply better. And sometimes, it simply doesn't matter to me: as long as I can watch TV, I don't need to know or care what the set-top box is running.
- Tomas Mraz: That really depends on context. Generally I think that the current Fedora position in this regard is at exactly the right spot (perhaps 80% light gray).
- Stephen Gallagher: My view is "realistic". I think the goal should be that we ultimately demonstrate by our actions (and successes!) that end-to-end freedom is the best and fastest way for technology to advance. However, we live in the real world, where at the end of the day hardware manufacturers are always going to make decisions that benefit themselves in the short-term, rather than the world at large in the long-term. So I think that Fedora's job is to do the best that we can to provide what freedoms we can, wherever possible.
- Bill Nottingham: Honestly, I'm more of a flesh tone than grey (unless you're referring to my hair, which, thanks!) I'm not sure what the point of this question is. Do I always buy open, modifiable hardware and devices? No. I have (at least) three different Linux-running devices that aren't able to be easily modified to run a custom OS, and I think that's an OK choice, all things considered. While I'd love for all hardware to not require firmware, or not have signed bootloaders, or a variety of other things, I don't think that's Fedora's place to attack. First of all, there's always going to be BIOS, or on-board ROMs as in the old days, etc. Secondly, it's not like Fedora *can* make any push in these areas without sufficient market share to force a budgetary impact on the device manufacturers. Furthermore, when it comes to cases of wireless firmware, I think we're much better off furthering our goals by letting our users access the network - to take a principled stand here would be to principle our way into irrelevance.
- Kyle McMartin: I am 0% grey; for reasons which are far too complicated to explain here, I also think re-distributable firmware is fine.
Where do you see Fedora in five years? How do you think we'll get there?
- Kevin Fenzi: I think Fedora will probibly go more toward technical folks than we even are today over the next few years. Many end users will move to smartphones or the like. We could position ourselves as a good platform for content creation as I think thats something that will not happen with smartphones or tablets. I think our main base of technical users will continue to be our main area.
Thanks for the questions. I'm happy to expand on things or talk with any folks about other questions. Catch me on irc or drop me an email.
- Peter Jones: I've been working on Linux for a very long time, and five years is a long time to prognosticate about. I'd hope there are recognizable bits, but also that we continue to move forward with the development that's set us apart in the past.
- Iain Arnell: On every desktop/notebook/whatever in the world! It doesn't hurt to have ambitious goals. But seriously, I'd like to see linux as a
whole acheieve greater penetration of the desktop market, and of course Fedora ought to be a large slice of that.
- Tomas Mraz: N/A
- Stephen Gallagher: This is going to sound pessimistic, but if Fedora continues as it is right now, in five years I see Fedora withering. Too many developers are moving to Other Distros where there is a perception that it's easier to develop for, or that they will get into more users' hands. I want to see Fedora five years from now carrying the majority of F/LOSS development, having made it clear that Fedora is the best distribution for developers and users alike.
- Bill Nottingham: Honestly, I'm not sure. Ideally, I'd like Fedora to be the basis behind a variety of devices that allow users the freedoms we espouse in our vision statement, but we've got a long way to go to get to that mark.
- Kyle McMartin: I'm not very good at looking in a crystal ball. I hope we're continuing to provide the first line of integration for many open source projects, which is a critical service to the ecosystem. In some respects, even if people do not install Fedora, they're still enjoying the fruits of our effort when, for instance, another distro doesn't have to deal with a hundred new build failures when they update to a new GCC, since they've all long since been filed and fixed upstream.
I think the only way we'll get there is through hard work, quality volunteers, and cooperation.


text:
verb col·o·nize \ˈkä-lə-ˌnīz\
: to create a colony in or on (a place) : to take control of (an area) and send people to live there
: to move into and live in (a place) as a new type of plant or animal
Full Definition of COLONIZE
transitive verb
a : to establish a colony in or on or of <colonize an island> b : to establish in a colony <the rights of colonized people>
: to send illegal or irregularly qualified voters into <colonizing doubtful districts>
: to infiltrate with usually subversive militants for propaganda and strategy reasons <colonize industries>
intransitive verb
: to make or establish a colony : settle
— col·o·niz·er noun
See colonize defined for English-language learners
See colonize defined for kids
First Known Use of COLONIZE
Related to COLONIZE
- Antonyms
- depopulate, unpeople
Rhymes with COLONIZE
advertise, agonize, alchemize, analyze, anglicize, anodize, anywise, aphorize, arborize, atomize, authorize, autolyze, balkanize, barbarize, bastardize, bestialize, bolshevize, booby prize, botanize, bowdlerize, brutalize, canalize, canonize, capsulize, caramelize, carbonize, cartelize, catalyze, catechize, cauterize, centralize, channelize, Christianize, cicatrize, circumcise, civilize, classicize, colorize, communize, compromise, concertize, concretize, creolize, criticize, customize, demonize, deputize, dialyze, digitize, disfranchise, dogmatize, dramatize, elegize, empathize, emphasize, energize, enfranchise, enterprise, equalize, erotize, eternize, etherize, eulogize, euphemize, exercise, exorcise, factorize, fantasize, federalize, feminize, fertilize, feudalize, fictionize, finalize, focalize, formalize, formulize, fossilize, fragmentize, fraternize, gallicize, galvanize, germanize, ghettoize, glamorize, globalize, gormandize, gothicize, gourmandize, grecianize, harmonize, heathenize, hebraize, hellenize, heroize, hierarchize, humanize, hybridize, hypnotize, idolize, immunize, iodize, ionize, ironize, Islamize, itemize, jeopardize, journalize, Judaize, laicize, latinize, legalize, lionize, liquidize, localize, magnetize, marbleize, martyrize, maximize, mechanize, melanize, melodize, memorize, merchandise, mesmerize, methodize, metricize, minimize, mobilize, modernize, moisturize, mongrelize, moralize, motorize, mythicize, narcotize, nasalize, nebulize, neutralize, normalize, notarize, novelize, obelize, odorize, optimize, organize, ostracize, otherwise, oversize, oxidize, paganize, palletize, paradise, paralyze, pasteurize, patronize, pauperize, penalize, penny-wise, personalize, pidginize, plasticize, Platonize, pluralize, pocket-size, poetize, polarize, polemize, pressurize, privatize, profitwise, prussianize, publicize, pulverize, racialize, randomize, rationalize, realize, recognize, rhapsodize, robotize, romanize, sanitize, satirize, scandalize, schematize, schismatize, scrutinize, sensitize, sermonize, signalize, simonize, sinicize, slenderize, sloganize, socialize, sodomize, solarize, solemnize, specialize, stabilize, Stalinize, standardize, sterilize, stigmatize, strategize, subsidize, summarize, supervise, syllogize, symbolize, sympathize, synchronize, syncretize, synopsize, synthesize, systemize, tantalize, televise, temporize, tenderize, terrorize, tetanize, teutonize, texturize, theorize, thermalize, totalize, tranquilize, traumatize, tyrannize, unionize, unitize, urbanize, utilize, valorize, vandalize, vaporize, verbalize, vernalize, victimize, vitalize, vocalize, vulcanize, vulgarize, weather-wise, weatherize, westernize, winterize, womanize, worldly-wise
COLONIZE Defined for Kids
verb col·o·nize \ˈkä-lə-ˌnīz\
Definition of COLONIZE for Kids
: to establish a colony in or on
: to settle in a colony
Medical Dictionary
verb col·o·nize \ˈkäl-ə-ˌnīz\
Medical Definition of COLONIZE
transitive verb
: to establish a colony in or on <the parasitic roundworms…have succeeded in colonizing a great variety of hosts—W. H. Dowdeswell>
: to isolate in supervised groups
intransitive verb
of microorganisms : to become established in a habitat (as a host or a wound) <these bacteria in turn colonize in other parts of the body—R. A. Runnells>
—col·o·ni·za·tion \ˌkäl-ə-nə-ˈzā-shən\ noun
Learn More About COLONIZE
Next Word in the Dictionary: colonnadePrevious Word in the Dictionary: colonizationAll Words Near: colonize
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text:
Brown Rice & Black Soybean Mochi is potent strengthening and rejuvenating food. It is skillfully multi-step made of steamed and pounded certified organic sweet brown rice with organic Japanese black soybeans and a wee bit of sea salt. Vacuum packed, no refrigeration is needed for storage. Mochi softens and puffs into moist cakes with crisp chewy crust from slow pan sizzling, or when baked about 8 minutes. Great as is or with a little shoyu, in miso soup, and it makes delightful waffles. Mochi is always a pleasure no matter how it is used. Add cooked mochi to soup or stews after they're cooked for dumplings. Gluten Free.
Eden Brown Rice & Black Soybean Mochi is organic sweet brown rice, a very sticky rice Oryza glutinosa, with organic black soybeans. A potent strengthening and rejuvenating food that is skillfully multi-step made of steamed and pounded sweet brown rice. Mochi means 'pounded rice cake.' Enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or as a powerful snack. Mochi softens and puffs into moist, chewy cakes with a crisp crust from slow pan sizzling or when baked at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes.
For over a thousand years mochi has been the traditional celebratory food in Japan where it's thought to rejuvenate one's vitality, health, and strength. It is always served at New Year festivities and events celebrating births, birthdays, weddings, and special occasions. It is respectfully called 'O-mochi' meaning honorable.
Black soybeans are considered the 'Crown Prince' of all soybeans in Japan going back over 1,000 years. They have been a valued traditional health food for centuries and are considered more health promoting than yellow soybeans. The Chinese characters used to depict black soybeans means 'hardworking' and 'robust'. New Year's day would not be complete without black soybeans and black soybean mochi to promote health and hope for the new year. In Japan, at times, people shout out a phrase praising black soybeans, it translates 'work fruitfully and live faithfully.'
Eden Brown Rice & Black Soybean Mochi is made by the Kojima family who began making brown rice mochi in 1974 when only white rice mochi was available. Brown rice is washed, soaked overnight, and steamed with pure water. While the rice is steaming, soaked black soybeans are cooked separately. When done, the steamed rice is ground into sticky dough that is pounded until smooth by a large stone that is mechanically lifted and gravity dropped. The black soybeans are blended into the mochi. Pounded mochi is spread in half-inch thick sheets and let sit in refrigeration for three days. The then hardened mochi is cut into cakes and steam vacuum packed for a two-year shelf life with no refrigeration needed.
Traditionally, and during festivities today, hot sweet rice is placed in a smooth hollowed tree stump and pounded by two people using heavy wooden mallets. As the pounders alternated, a third person reaches in and turns the rice. All these tasks demand skill, strength, and good timing. Pounding is essential to enhance mochi's energy.
Nutrition Facts
Eden Mochi is certified organic, 100% whole grain sweet brown rice. It is very low sodium, gluten free, rich in manganese, and a good source of niacin B3 and magnesium.
Eden Brown Rice & Black Soybean Mochi is extremely versatile. Pan cook with or without oil, bake, broil, grill, or deep fry until it puffs. Great as is or with a little shoyu, wrapped in nori sea vegetable, and in miso soup. Add cooked mochi to soups or stews after they're cooked for dumplings. Coat cooked mochi in hot maple or brown rice syrup and roll it in toasted soybean flour, roasted chopped nuts, or gomasio for a treat. Try the free recipes on this site - Pan Fried Mochi, Baked Mochi, Grilled Mochi, Steamed Mochi & Cabbage, Deep Fried Mochi, Mochi Miso Soup, and more.


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CUTLER, Calif. (AP) — A Central California company is recalling specific lots of its fresh peaches, plums, nectarines and pluots sold nationwide over concerns of possible listeria contamination.
Wawona Packing Co. President Brent Smittcamp said in a statement that he is not aware of any illnesses caused by the fruit, and the voluntary recall was announced after consulting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"By taking the precautionary step of recalling product, we will minimize even the slightest risk to public health," Smittcamp said.
The recalled fruit was packed and shipped to retailers including Costco Wholesale Corp. and Trader Joe's from June 1 through July 12, Wawona Packing said. The recall came after internal testing at the company's packing house in Cutler, a community in Tulare County.
Anybody who has the recalled fruit should discard it, the company said, adding that it wasn't known where the contamination originated. The recalled fruit was shipped directly to retailers and wholesalers, who resell the products. The company issued the recall because it doesn't know all of the companies that bought fruit from its wholesalers.
More information including lot codes, labels and pictures to identify the possibly contaminated fruit, is at Wawona's website, http://www.wawonapacking.com . Consumers can also call 888-232-9912.
Listeria can cause serious illness and even death for sensitive groups, such as children, the frail and the elderly. Healthy people may suffer flu-like symptoms, such as high fever, headache, nausea and diarrhea. It can cause miscarriage and stillbirth for pregnant women, the company warned.
After discovering the contamination, Wawona said it shut down its packing lines, retrofitted some equipment and sanitized the facility. Subsequent tests have been negative for the bacteria.
Clovis-based Wawona Frozen Foods is a separate company and is not involved in the recall.


text: Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep with congratulations to Jim Berger. He brought to life a little-known creation of Frank Lloyd Wright. Decades ago, the architect designed a home for Berger's California family. Mr. Berger, who was then 12, asked for a dog house, too. He said he'd pay for it with money from his paper route. The world's most famous architect designed the dog house at no charge. The dog died before the house could be built. But now Mr. Berger has reconstructed it from the original plans. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Welcome to the Help Desk!
General Contacts
For questions about applying for admissions or checking the status of your application, contact the Admissions Office.
For questions relating to Open Learning Program Applications:
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For questions about adding or dropping classes, checking seat availability in a class, getting an unofficial transcript, seeing your grades, or reviewing account charges and balance information, contact the Registrar's Office.
For questions about payroll, contact the Payroll Office.
For questions about alumni activities, contact the Alumni Office.


text:
Learn Tennis in As Little As 14 Days
Yes! You can Learn all you need to know about Tennis this quickly in our all ages tennis training course in Cates IN. Our team's Learn Tennis Quickly system will help you achieve that! .
Fun Tennis Lessons in Cates IN
Our specialized teach beginners of all ages proper hand placement for for almost all strokes and serves like back hand and fore hand strokes. In the lesson you will learn tennis etiquette as well as many effective tennis strategies.
What We Teach:
-Proper Grips for all Strokes and Serves
-Forehand and Backhand Strokes
-Rallys from the Baseline
-Net Shots and Over head Shots
-Serves and Returns
-Singles and Doubles Strategy
Our company uses only pre-screened certified teachers and on average the have over six years in the tennis training background and has the top instructors in Cates IN.
Cates IN tennis lessons have ranked in popularly as one of the best games the world has to offer. The bitter pill to swallow is that unlike a game such as football, it is just few people who are conversant with most of the rules which govern tennis lessons. As a sharp contrast to themselves, many parents are now encouraging their children to take up the game. This has led to the soaring of coaches who are after coaching these modern children at the professional sphere or for leisure.
Nowadays, it has become a daily phenomenon to see teenagers, Cates IN children and young adults thronging sports complexes. The Cates IN tennis lessons start with an explanation of the most basic fundamental guidelines which govern the game amidst depicting the grave objectives associated with playing tennis. Children are taken through a list of the things which are required for a game to be of tennis, the use each item as elder players depict to them. In addition, these children are also taught the dynamics of the tennis lessons and lesson court practically.
From that point henceforth, the Cates IN tennis lesson commences the explanations towards a holistic understanding of the tennis game. In these explanations the students learn the reason as why many players always prefer hitting the tennis ball way across the tennis court and high over the small net and into the opponent's court, the ball never touching the ground in this entire instance. This point in the overall explanation is after emphasizing the fact that the ball must remain inside the tennis court play area, in the act of avoiding a score concession.
After the children have been familiarized with the Cates IN tennis lessons, game and its objectives, including all the rules governing the game, they move towards the next phase of learning the techniques of score hunting. This important period must be taught, coached or tutored, and it is wisely done by giving the children that ample chance to play each other and gain the practical skills. To children, this is one of the toughest and complex stage in their tennis lessons outcome.
But unknown to them, they will eventually gain the basic rules and overall objectives quite fast but take time to learn the action part since most of them are very fragile and weak. For a child to grasp the skills involved in the serving the ball over to the other court, the coaches are very patient, resilient, persistent and kind since it is one of the most crucial points in tennis lessons game. These children have to be given instructions which range from the maintenance of the right posture, how to hold the racket and basic movements.
This Cates IN tennis lessons have only the most experienced tennis lessons coaches, able to handle the numerous demands in the instruction of such small children, through sheer delivery of instigating and encouraging words towards these children to keep on trying, consistently without giving up. If these children are held carefully, the rate through which they gain skills increases and they become meshed up in the game perfectly and play with such grace agility
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text:
North Korea nuke test plan 'provocative'
January 25, 2013
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — North Korea's plan to conduct a third nuclear test is "needlessly provocative" and will only increase its isolation, the White House said Thursday, as the U.S. expanded its financial sanctions against the north Asian country.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he's seen no outward sign that North Korea will follow through soon on its plan to conduct a test — following its underground atomic explosions in 2006 and 2009.
But that doesn't mean preparations aren't under way.
"They have the capability, frankly, to conduct these tests in a way that make it very difficult to determine whether or not they are doing it," Panetta told reporters.
North Korea's National Defense Commission said Thursday a nuclear test was part of "upcoming" action directed against the U.S. but did not say exactly when or where it would take place. The commission, led by leader Kim Jong Un, also made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry warheads aimed at striking the United States. The North has previously said its launches are for a peaceful space program.
Pyongyang's statement came two days after the U.N. Security Council condemned its December launch of a satellite atop a long-range rocket for violating a ban on ballistic missile activity. The council, with the support of the North's only major ally, China, also tightened sanctions.
"North Korea's statement is needlessly provocative and a test would be a significant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," White House spokesman Carney told reporters. "Further provocation would only increase Pyongyang's isolation, and its continued focus on its nuclear and missile program is doing nothing to help the North Korean people."
Carney said the council decision to tighten sanctions would impede the growth of weapons of mass destruction programs in North Korea. He said the U.S. would be taking additional steps. The government later designated as "trade" several entities said to be involved in missile development.
Carney noted the council's warning to take further action in the event of a further launch or nuclear test.
"We judge North Korea by its actions, and provocations like these are significant violations and we act accordingly," Carney said.
North Korea claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, its foe from the 1950-53 Korean War. The U.S. still maintains 28,000 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against aggression from the North.
North Korea's recently launched rocket has the potential to hit the west coast of the U.S. mainland, but experts say it still doesn't have the capability to make a missile re-enter the atmosphere and hit a target. Nor is it believed to have miniaturized a nuclear device to mount on a missile. A nuclear test could move it closer toward that goal.
The elevation a year ago of Kim Jong Un following the death of his father Kim Jong Il had fueled hope of improved relations with Washington, particularly after the North accepted a substantial offer of food aid in exchange for nuclear concessions. But that agreement collapsed last April when the North conducted a long-range rocket launch.
Carney said the U.S. has not seen a noticeable change in North Korea's behavior.
The Treasury Department levied sanctions Thursday against a Hong Kong-based trading company and two officials of a North Korean bank. The administrative move prohibits them from transactions with Americans and freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.
Treasury described the Tanchon Commercial Bank as the financial arm of Pyongyang's premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.
The bank has also been involved in ballistic missile transactions between the arms dealer, Korea's Mining Development Trading Corporation, and Iran's Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, a U.S.- and UN-designated organization responsible for developing liquid-fueled ballistic missiles, Treasury said.
"By continuing to expose these entities, and the individuals who assist them, we degrade North Korea's ability to use the international financial system for its illicit purposes," David S. Cohen, the Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.
The State Department also designated the Korean Committee for Space Technology, which it said has orchestrated rocket launches and has contributed to development of long-range ballistic missile development.
Associated Press writers Pauline Jelinek and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.


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'American Treasure' Mavis Staples delivers raw joy on new album You Are Not Alone
Mavis Staples to play Lollapalooza and Wilco-curated Solid Sound Festival in August
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and soul/gospel legend Mavis Staples delivers more wall-to-wall joy on her triumphant new Anti- album, 'You Are Not Alone' (September 14), than any other release you're likely to hear this year.
Buy CDs, MP3s, more:
Produced by fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy at Wilco's studio The Loft, the intimate and textured production showcases the iconic singer at her most powerful and fervent.
'You Are Not Alone' mixes traditional gospel numbers with two new songs written for Mavis by Tweedy, plus her unique interpretations of songs by Pops Staples, Randy Newman, Allen Toussaint, John Fogerty, Rev. Gary Davis and Little Milton.
The album features Mavis's touring band of the last three years: Rick Holmstrom, guitar, vocals; Jeff Turmes, bass, vocals; Stephen Hodges, drums; Donny Gerrard, background vocals; plus special guests Jeff Tweedy on guitars, bass, and vocals; Wilco's Patrick Sansone, keys, vibes; Mark Greenberg, vibes, keys; with additional background vocals by frequent Neko Case collaborators Kelly Hogan and Nora O'Connor, and Richard Parenti.
'You Are Not Alone' is Mavis's second studio release for Anti.
It follows her 2007 critical triumph, 'We'll Never Turn Back,' produced by Ry Cooder, which revisited the great songs of the civil rights era and prompted her hometown paper The Chicago Sun-Times to hail her as "an American treasure."
In 2008, Anti- issued a rapturously received live album, 'Live: Hope at the Hideout,' which was named one of the Best Live CDs of All Time by Amazon.com's editors and earned Mavis her first Grammy-nomination as a solo artist.
Mavis Staples is enjoying a major career resurgence, having become a festival favorite in recent years.
This summer she will play Lollapalooza on August 6, and the Wilco-curated Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCa on August 14 with additional US and European tour dates to be announced soon.
Track listing for Mavis Staples, 'You Are Not Alone':
1. You Don't Knock (Pops Staples/Wesley Westbrook)
2. You Are Not Alone (Jeff Tweedy)
3. Downward Road (Pops Staples)
4. In Christ There is No East and West (traditional; arranged by Jeff Tweedy)
5. Creep Along, Moses (traditional) 6. Losing You (Randy Newman)
7. I Belong to the Band (Rev. Gary Davis)
8. Last Train (Allen Toussaint)
9. Only the Lord Knows (Jeff Tweedy)
10. Wrote A Song for Everyone (John Fogerty)
11. We're Gonna Make It (Little Milton)
12. Wonderful Savior (traditional)
13. Too Close To Heaven / I'm On My Way to Heaven Anyhow (Prof. Alex E. BradfordJr./Brad Pathway)
Buy CDs, MP3s, more:
Mavis Staples Official Website
Mavis Staples Facebook
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Search for CDs, Mp3s, more: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
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"How often do you find yourself wondering where your friends are and what they're up to? It's a pretty central question to our daily social lives, and it's precisely the question you can now answer using Google Latitude," explains Google's blog.
After installing Google Maps Mobile 3.0 (only available for Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 right now), you can share your location automatically or set your location manually. You can also post a short status and choose a profile photo.
Here's the complete list of things you can do using Latitude:
After selecting yourself, you can:
- Change your status message across Google products. Your status will only be shared with your current Google Talk or Gmail chat friends.
- Change your photo across Google products.
- Submit or edit your phone number in Latitude for your friends.
- Edit your privacy settings for all friends.
After selecting a friend, you can:
- Show the friend in map view.
- Search for places near your friend.
- Call if a phone number is available in your Google Contacts or Latitude.
- Chat using Google Talk or Gmail chat if available.
- Send an email.
- Get directions to the friend's approximate location.
- Set sharing options. You can choose to hide your location or share only city level location with individual friends.
- Remove the friend. Your friend cannot see your location and you cannot see the friend's location.
"Everything about Latitude is opt-in. You not only control exactly who gets to see your location, but you also decide the location that they see. For instance, let's say you are in Rome. Instead of having your approximate location detected and shared automatically, you can manually set your location for elsewhere — perhaps a visit to Niagara Falls. Since you may not want to share the same information with everyone, Latitude lets you change the settings on a friend-by-friend basis. So for each person, you can choose to share your best available location or your city-level location, or you can hide."
If your mobile phone is not yet supported by the new version of Google Maps, you can add an iGoogle gadget that has similar features.
Location-based services will be increasingly popular now that mobile phones with GPS and fast Internet connections become the standard and the privacy expectations are changing. Eventually, you'll be able to share your location with other applications and obtain personalized information, alerts and even recommendations. From this perspective, Yahoo's Fire Eagle is better-suited for shaping the future of location-based services.


text: Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Here's a reminder that every vote counts. In Walton, Kentucky, Robert McDonald ran for city council and finished in a tie with his opponent: 669 votes each. A coin toss may now determine the winner, leaving McDonald to wonder how easily it could've been different. His wife goes to school, works at a hospital at night, sleeps during the day, watches the kids, and in a state where early voting is limited, she missed her chance to vote. You're listening to MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Web/Literature/Practical web programming in Haskell
This page is under construction. Feel free to help out. If you make substantial edits, please add your name to the authors list at the bottom of this page, so that you can be credited if this is ever published in another medium.
This tutorial focuses on CGI and FastCGI programming. For more introductory information, see tutorials, blogs and research and discussion.
This tutorial aims to get you started with writing web applications in Haskell. We describe a relatively light-weight approach to Haskell web programming which uses a CGI library and an XHTML combinator library.
We think that while the approach we describe here is not as sophisticated or innovative as some other approaches, it is simple, portable and easy to understand if you are already familiar with web programming in other languages.
The tutorial starts with preliminaries such as how to install the necessary software and how to compile and run your web applications. We then show a number of working small example programs which introduce the basic features of the CGI and XHtml libraries. We then move on to how to use monad transformers to add application specific functionality such as sessions to the CGI monad, and how to create database-driven web applications. We also present FastCGI, and an approach to using dynamically loaded Haskell code.
Assumed knowledge
This tutorial is not meant as an introduction to Haskell or web programming. We will assume that you have some familiarity with the following concepts: We assume knowledge of the following:
- Haskell: This tutorial is not meant as a first introduction to Haskell. If you want to learn about Haskell in general, have a look at the lists of books and tutorials. You may want to start with Haskell in 5 steps.
- (X)HTML: HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the "the lingua franca for publishing hypertext on the World Wide Web. The XHtml library which we use in this tutorial produces XHTML 1.0, which is HTML 4.0 formulated as XML. The combinators in the XHtml library do not make much sense unless you understand at least some parts of HTML.
- CGI: CGI (Common Gateway Interface) programs are programs which run on the web server. They are given input which comes from the user's browser, and their output is given to the browser. To really understand how the CGI library works, you probably need to know a thing or two about CGI. (Tutorial.)
Required software
- GHC, the Glasgow Haskell Compiler, is the Haskell implementation that we will use in this tutorial. However, any Haskell implementation that supports Haskell98 and multi-parameter type classes should work.
- xhtml: This package provides combinators for producing XHTML 1.0, including the Strict, Transitional and Frameset variants. Download here.
- cgi: This is a Haskell library for writing CGI programs. Download here.
- A web server: You need to have access to a web server on which you can run CGI programs. The most convenient way to do this when learning and developing is to run a web server on your development machine. If you run the programs on some other machine you need to make sure that you compile your programs so that they can run on that machine. This normally means that the machines must to have the same architecture and run the same operating system.
Compiling and running web applications
Use GHC to produce a binary executable called prog.cgi from the Haskell source code file prog.hs:
ghc --make -o prog.cgi prog.hs
Put the compiled program in the cgi-bin directory, or give it the extension .cgi, depending on the configuration of the web server. Linking your applications statically will avoid problems with missing libraries on the web server.
To run the compiled program, visit the URL of the CGI program with your web browser.
Hello World!
Here is a very simple example which just outputs some static HTML. The type signatures in this code are optional. We show them here for clarity, but omit them in some later examples.
import Network.CGI
import Text.XHtml
page :: Html
page = body << h1 << "Hello World!"
cgiMain :: CGI CGIResult
cgiMain = output $ renderHtml page
main :: IO ()
main = runCGI $ handleErrors cgiMain
The page
function constructs an HTML document which consists
of a body containing a single header element which contains the text
"Hello World". The CGI-action cgiMain
renders the HTML document
as a string, and produces that string as output. The main
runs cgiMain
, using the normal CGI protocol for input and output.
It also uses handleErrors
to output an error page in case cgiMain
throws an exception.
Fans of one-liners may like this version better (handleErrors
has been
omitted since this simple program will not throw any exceptions):
import Text.XHtml
import Network.CGI
main = runCGI . output . renderHtml $ body << h1 << "Hello World!"
These are some of the important functions used in this example:
-- creates a string containing the HTML document.
renderHtml :: Html -> String
-- outputs a string as the body of the HTTP response.
output :: String -> CGI CGIResult
-- Catches any exception thrown by the given CGI action, returns an
-- error page with a 500 Internal Server Error, showing the exception
-- information, and logs the error.
handleErrors :: CGI CGIResult -> CGI CGIResult
-- Runs a CGI action which produces a CGIResult, using the CGI protocol
-- to get the inputs and send the outputs.
runCGI :: CGI CGIResult -> IO ()
HTML combinators
See also [1].
is the type of HTML fragments. It comes from the Text.XHtml
There are functions for all XHTML 1.0 elements.
Some examples:
- header, body
- h1, h2, ...
- thediv
- p
- image
The <<
operator is used for nesting HTML.
concatenates HTML.
Attributes are added to tags using the !
The function renderHtml
(FIXME: explain variants) produces a string containing the
Getting user input
This program shows a form which asks the user for her name. When the form is submitted, the program greets the user by name.
import Network.CGI
import Text.XHtml
inputForm = form << [paragraph << ("My name is " +++ textfield "name"),
submit "" "Submit"]
greet n = paragraph << ("Hello " ++ n ++ "!")
page t b = header << thetitle << t +++ body << b
cgiMain = do mn <- getInput "name"
let x = maybe inputForm greet mn
output . renderHtml $ page "Input example" x
main = runCGI $ handleErrors cgiMain
This code makes use of the getInput function from the CGI library:
-- Get the value of an input variable, for example from a form.
-- If the variable has multiple values, the first one is returned.
getInput :: String -> CGI (Maybe String)
import Network.CGI
import Text.XHtml
import Control.Monad (liftM)
import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
hello :: Int -> Html
hello 0 = h1 << "Welcome!"
+++ p << "This is the first time I see you."
hello c = h1 << "Welcome back!"
+++ p << ("I have seen you " ++ show c ++ " times before.")
page :: String -> Html -> Html
page t b = header << thetitle << t +++ body << b
cgiMain :: CGI CGIResult
cgiMain = do c <- liftM (fromMaybe 0) $ readCookie "mycookie"
setCookie (newCookie "mycookie" (show (c+1)))
output . renderHtml . page "Cookie example" $ hello c
main :: IO ()
main = runCGI $ handleErrors cgiMain
Here we use newCookie
, setCookie
and readCookie
to store and retrieve a counter
cookie in the browser. If you want to get the string value of a cookie, use getCookie
instead of readCookie
File uploads
FIXME: use a safer example
-- Accepts file uploads and saves the files in the given directory.
-- WARNING: this script is a SECURITY RISK and only for
-- demo purposes. Do not put it on a public web server.
import Network.CGI
import Text.XHtml
import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as BS
import Control.Monad (liftM)
import Data.Maybe (fromJust)
uploadDir = "../upload"
fileForm = form ! [method "post", enctype "multipart/form-data"]
<< [afile "file", submit "" "Upload"]
saveFile n =
do cont <- liftM fromJust $ getInputFPS "file"
let f = uploadDir ++ "/" ++ basename n
liftIO $ BS.writeFile f cont
return $ paragraph << ("Saved as " +++ anchor ! [href f] << f +++ ".")
page t b = header << thetitle << t +++ body << b
basename = reverse . takeWhile (`notElem` "/\\") . reverse
cgiMain =
do mn <- getInputFilename "file"
h <- maybe (return fileForm) saveFile mn
output . renderHtml $ page "Upload example" h
main = runCGI $ handleErrors cgiMain
We first output a file upload form, which should use the HTTP POST method,
and the multipart/form-data content type. Here we seen an example of the use of
HTML attributes, added with the !
For efficiency reasons, we use Data.ByteString.Lazy to represent the file contents. getInputFPS gets the value of an input variable as a lazy ByteString.
Error handling
handleErrors catches all exceptions and outputs a default error page with some information about the exception. You can write you own exception handler if you want to do something else when an exception is thrown. It can be useful to set the response code, e.g. 404.
Returning non-HTML
Of course we do not have to output HTML. Use setHeader to set the value of the Content-type header, and you can output whatever string you like.
In this example we return an image:
import Network.CGI
import System.IO
import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as B
main = do
b <- B.readFile "./img/test.jpg" -- read the image
runCGI . handleErrors . cgiMain $ b
cgiMain :: B.ByteString -> CGI CGIResult
cgiMain p = do
-- we need to set the appropriate content-type
setHeader "Content-type" "image/jpg"
outputFPS p
Examples: RSS
Response headers
You can use the setHeader
function to set arbitrary HTTP response headers.
You can also set the response code, as seen above.
Example: output raw file data (with last-modified)
The CGI Monad
At this point, you should be able to create many useful CGI scripts. As your scripts get more ambitious, however, you may find yourself needing to pass "global" parameters to your CGI actions (e.g. database connections, session information.) Rather than explicitly passing these values around, you can extend the CGI monad to do this work for you.
The Network.CGI.Monad
module defines a CGI monad transformer, allowing us to build a new monad that does everything the CGI monad does -- and more!
For example, let's define a new CGI monad that provides a database connection (in this example, we use the Database.HSQL.PostgreSQL
module for our database.) Since it will be used by the CGI application, I'll call the new monad "App".
Should this not compile for you, you need to enable some extensions:
{-# LANGUAGE GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving #-}
{-# LANGUAGE FlexibleInstances #-}
After importing the appropriate modules, we define a new type, AppT
that is made up of two monad transformers, CGIT
and ReaderT
. The CGIT
monad "wraps" the base monad "m". The CGIT
monad, in turn, is wrapped by the ReaderT
monad, which contains, in its environment, the database Connection
takes two type parameters. The first is the base monad that the monad transformers are modifying. Usually this will be the IO
monad. The second type is the data type that an action in the monad will return.
import Control.Monad.Reader
import Network.CGI
import Network.CGI.Monad
import Database.HSQL.PostgreSQL
newtype AppT m a = App (ReaderT Connection (CGIT m) a)
deriving (Monad, MonadIO, MonadReader Connection)
Like CGI
, we make a type synonym that defines the most common use of this new monad.
type App a = AppT IO a
We're not quite finished defining App
yet. In order to be used like the CGI monad, App
needs to be an instance of the MonadCGI
class. This class defines two functions that we must support.
instance MonadCGI (AppT IO) where
cgiAddHeader n v = App . lift $ cgiAddHeader n v
cgiGet x = App . lift $ cgiGet x
So now we have an App monad that gives us all the functionality of CGI, but also carries around a database connection. The last step is to define the function that creates the monad so we can run actions inside it.
import Control.Exception (bracket)
import System.IO (stdin, stdout)
runApp :: App CGIResult -> IO ()
runApp (App a) =
bracket (connect "host" "db" "user" "password")
(\c -> do { env <- getCGIVars
; hRunCGI env stdin stdout (runCGIT (runReaderT a c))
; return () } )
(either fill in your account/password information, or change runApp
to accept the parameters as function arguments.) The function uses bracket
so that the database connection gets released properly when the monad ends or if an exception is thrown.
There are times when you absolutely do not want to embed (X)HTML in Haskell. You can separate the code and the presentation (the Holy Grail of erm, web development). The code will be, well, Haskell, and the presentation will be buried inside templates. This might not be the case: fortunately, there is a very nice templating engine available: HStringTemplate; also very useful is hakyll, a simple static site generator library, mainly aimed at creating blogs and brochure sites.
FastCGI is a standard for CGI-like programs that are not restarted for every request. This reduces the overhead involved in handling each request, and reduces the servers response time for each request. The overhead involved in starting a new process for each request can also include the need to set up new DB connections every time. With FastCGI, DB connections can be reused.
Install FastCGI. Get a web server which can run FastCGI programs. Import Network.FastCGI. Use runFastCGI.
See also a tutorial by Paul R Brown: Wiring Haskell Into a FastCGI Web Server
Take a look at lightweight, minimalistic FastCGI-based web frameworks: HVAC (Haskell view and controller) and Kibro.
Database-driven web-applications
See Takusen and HDBC. If you would like to write queries in Haskell (and not SQL), see also HaskellDB, which integrates with HDBC.
FastCGI aren't restarted for each request, only the runFastCGI part is re-run. Everything (handles, datastructures etc.) you do outside of that loop will be persistent. However you need to handle errors yourself, because you're operating outside of handleErrors.
See also
Authors: Björn Bringert Authors: Don Stewart


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text:
Judge Richard Posner, a conservative on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, has long been one of the nation's most respected and admired legal thinkers on the right. But in an interview with NPR, he expressed exasperation at the modern Republican Party, and confessed that he has become "less conservative" as a result.
Posner expressed admiration for President Ronald Reagan and the economist Milton Friedman, two pillars of conservatism. But over the past 10 years, Posner said, "there's been a real deterioration in conservative thinking. And that has to lead people to re-examine and modify their thinking."
"I've become less conservative since the Republican Party started becoming goofy," he said.
Posner, who was appointed to the appeals court by Reagan, speculated that the leaks about the deliberations over the national health care law — which are apparently designed to discredit Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion upholding the law — would backfire. "I think these right-wingers who are blasting Roberts are making a very serious mistake," he said.
"Because if you put [yourself] in his position ... what's he supposed to think? That he finds his allies to be a bunch of crackpots? Does that help the conservative movement? I mean, what would you do if you were Roberts? All the sudden you find out that the people you thought were your friends have turned against you, they despise you, they mistreat you, they leak to the press. What do you do? Do you become more conservative? Or do you say, 'What am I doing with this crowd of lunatics?' Right? Maybe you have to re-examine your position."
In addition to his work as an appeals court judge, Posner is the author of more than three dozen books on subjects ranging from law and economics to aging and literature.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Amperage: 40
Max Volt: 48 VDC
Mounting: Panel Mount
Terminal Stud Size: 5/16" - 18
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text:
This was my reaction last night when Sarah messaged me that Nicholas Hoult had joined Twitter. She thought I was screaming about Jennifer Lawrence's fans taunting him pretty much the minute he posted his first message. Frankly that made me happy. Maybe their crazy will scare him off it.
As you know, Hoult is currently #2 on my Five List. And bad things happen when people on my Five List start tweeting. See Tom Hiddleston. Or, rather, UN-see Tom Hiddleston's Twitter.
Nick doesn't strike me as the type to puke out exclamation point after exclamation point on Twitter, or throw down some Yeats to compliment the setting sun, but still, I worry. Because ultimately actors are narcissistic and self-indulgent. And they can't help themselves. Having said that, as we are ever optimistic when it comes to celebrities, and therefore always end up disappointed, perhaps he's the exception, and will only tweet the most obvious promotional messages without much personality.
Attached - Nick at the LA premiere of Warm Bodies last night. It opens this weekend. And, as I noted previously, the movie is clever enough and knows it's silly too and is funny, sometimes very funny, because of that. If you go, you will love him after, I promise.


text:
10,000 Food Gardens to Cultivate the Future
We made our dream of creating a thousand food gardens in Africa a reality. But the Slow Food network isn't stopping there. Now we want to create ten thousand, to promote local food consumption and celebrate the continent's biodiversity.
FOLLOW THE LIVE WEBSTREAM (in Italian) on Monday February 17, 6-8 pm CET
We have reached our goal. Thanks to the mobilization of Slow Food's entire international network and the work of the convivia and African communities, we have created 1,000 food gardens in Africa. The gardens involve over 50,000 people, including farmers, agronomists, students and teachers.
Thanks to the gardens project, Slow Food's African network has been strengthened, new communities have been started, many endangered local foods have been identified and new Presidia have been launched.
We've come a long way. Just think back to before 2004, when the first Terra Madre was held. Slow Food had only a minimal presence in Africa, with just two convivia in South Africa and three Presidia, in Morocco and Madagascar. Today, after five Terra Madre global gatherings and the first thousand gardens in Africa, Slow Food in Africa comprises 354 food communities in 38 countries, 100 convivia, 30 Presidia and 84 Ark of Taste products. This context means we can set ourselves an ambitious new challenge: 10,000 food gardens in Africa!
Behind this extra zero lies a political proposal. This five-digit number represents Slow Food's entire strategy in Africa, which involves promoting local food consumption and food education in schools, protecting biodiversity (Ark of Taste and Presidia), adding value to African gastronomy and raising awareness about crucial issues like GMOs, land grabbing and sustainable fishing.
Creating 10,000 food gardens means training a network of young African leaders by 2016 who will actively guide the policies and operations of the Slow Food movement in Africa. These leaders will be aware of the value of their land and their cultures, protagonists for change and their continent's future.
The project's new phase will be officially launched in Milan on February 17, during the Slow Food for Africa event, which will be attended by Carlo Petrini (President of Slow Food), José Graziano da Silva (Director-General of the FAO), Cècile Kyenge (Italy's Minister for Integration), five African representatives (John Kariuki and Eunice Njoroge from Kenya, Edie Mukiibi from Uganda, Bineta Diallo from Senegal and Mariam Ouattara from Côte d'Ivoire) and 450 supporters and friends of the project (journalists, entrepreneurs, actors, filmmakers and many Slow Food convivium leaders and members).
The event is being streamed live (in Italian) from 6 to 8 pm CET on Monday February 17 (old.slowfood.com and www.slowfoodfoundation.org). It will be available in English the following day on the Slow Food and Slow Food Foundation websites or Slow Food International's YouTube channel.
Twitter: #10000gardens #10000orti


text:
Latest Windows Phone data shows slow GDR2 release, possible 'phablet' and more
The GDR2 update from Microsoft is slowly (but surely) rolling out to consumers across the world. That said, how many of us have actually received the update? AdDuplex decided to run a quick test with the data accumulated in their monthly report. The results show that it's a slow process, but other miscellaneous details are also included so let's jump straight in.
It's clear to see with the above chart how the update process is progressing. Just 3 percent of 1,009 Windows Phone apps running AdDuplex SDK are installed on Windows Phone 8 hardware running the latest version of the OS - including handsets that ship with the update pre-installed (Lumia 925, Lumia 625, Lumia 1020 and possibly the Samsung ATIV S Neo). Microsoft has some way to go but it's early days in the month of August.
Have you had the GDR2 update on your Windows Phone? Let us know in the comments along with which device you own.
Don't support 512MB RAM? Your loss.
This is certainly an interesting piece of information for developers to take note of. The above chart shows there being more 512MB hardware than devices sporting 1GB of RAM. If you're not supporting the former amount, or don't intend to do so when launching an app, you could well be losing out on more than 50 market of the above market (obviously this does not represent the entire ecosystem).
Nokia Lumia 520 continuing to steamroll
The Lumia 520 is a special Windows Phone. It has been able to grow fairly rapidly in multiple markets, as was covered in previous AdDuplex reports. We can see in the above chart the handset overtaking the HTC 8S as the most popular device in France, but also effectively doubling its lead at the same time within a two-month period.
India warming to Nokia's Lumia 720
India has been covered numerous times due to the incredible growth of the Lumia 520. The most affordable Lumia Windows Phone isn't the only handset highlighted as the Lumia 720 has taken second place with 14 percent, surpassing the Lumia 620. The device was on just 12 percent last month and the surge has been pinned on the larger display (4.3-inches).
There's speculation the Lumia 625 with its 4.7-inch display should do well in this market when available. To finish off this report, here are some interesting codenames that were spotted:
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- Nokia RM-955 – Covered in the June report, this device is appearing more times, possibly hinting at an impending release. To reiterate this is something of higher end variety (with WXGA screen) and most of the hits are coming from China, so it could end up being a regional variant of the 92x or 1020.
- Nokia RM-937 – Sports a ScaleFactor of 150. High-end Nokia handsets so far have WXGA screens (ScaleFactor of 160) and Samsung and HTC use 720p screens (SF 150). AdDuplex notes this ScaleFactor of 150 probably make sense on a 1080p device with a larger screen. Possibly the highly anticipated phablet? It's running WP version 8.0.10492.
- Nokia RM-927 – Same as the RM-937 but running on the Verizon network.
- Nokia RM-940 – And again, ScaleFactor of 150, but running on AT&T.
- Samsung SGH-I187 – Brace yourselves. It's something new from Samsung. ScaleFactor of 150. Running on AT&T. Could be just a version of ATIV S for AT&T, but could well be something more than that.
Be sure to check out the full report over on AdDuplex when published tomorrow.
Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.


text:
After Republican Rep. Todd Akin's inflammatory comments over the weekend in which he blithely minimized rape-induced pregnancies, there are at least two inescapable questions:
1) What impact will his remark have on his U.S. Senate race in Missouri against Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill?
2) And how much will the shockwaves buffet the presidential contest or other races elsewhere?
While it's too early to know the answers, it seems safe to say that the earliest damage appears closest to the epicenter. That is, on Akin himself.
But there are also clearly risks for Mitt Romney, the all-but-official Republican presidential nominee, and Paul Ryan, his running mate, as Democrats seek to connect Akin's eyebrow-raising views to the GOP's national ticket, framing it all as part of the alleged Republican "war on women."
Ensuring that the controversy won't be dying down anytime soon, President Obama weighed into it at a White House press briefing Monday, using Akin to form a contrast between Democrats and Republicans.
Less than week after he won the Republican nomination in a three-way race, Akin was being asked repeatedly by high-level fellow Republicans to drop out of the contest. And that's despite his attempt to back away his initial comments.
During a Sunday TV interview, Akin said by way of explaining his opposition to abortion, even in instances of rape:
"If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Not surprisingly, that unscientific comment resulted in outrage at the Missouri congressman.
Responding to a reporter's question on Monday, Obama demonstrated why Akin's comment is a waking nightmare for Republicans:
"The views expressed were offensive. Rape is rape. The idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the American people. And certainly doesn't make sense to me. So what I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn't have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women."
"Although these particular comments have led Gov. Romney and other Republicans to distance themselves, I think the underlying notion that we should be making decisions on behalf of women for their health care decisions or qualifying forcible rape versus non-forcible rape, I think those are broader issues. And that is a significant difference in approach between me and the other party ..."
Obama's reference to forcible rape was as much about Ryan, House Republicans and Romney as it was Akin.
Last year, Ryan and Akin were among the co-sponsors of unsuccessful legislation that would have narrowed the exception to the ban on federal taxpayer dollars being used to pay for abortions. Their bill would have applied the exception to only "forcible" — but not to "non-forcible" — rape.
Such legislation has contributed to the Democratic polling advantage with women voters, an edge Romney has hoped to narrow.
So while a growing number of Republicans said they personally found Akin's statement repellant, political exigencies as well demanded a forceful pushback against the Missouri congressman.
Sen. Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican in a close race himself against Democrat Elizabeth Warren, was among the first elected GOP officials to come out forcefully against Akin, calling on him to give up his party's nomination.
"As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin's comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong. There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking. Not only should he apologize, but I believe Rep. Akin's statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri."
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who heads the Senate Republicans' effort to win enough seats to take control of that chamber, didn't go as far as Brown. But a Cornyn statement seemed to be nudging, if not pushing, Akin:
"Congressman Akin's statements were wrong, offensive, and indefensible. I recognize that this is a difficult time for him, but over the next twenty-four hours, Congressman Akin should carefully consider what is best for him, his family, the Republican Party, and the values that he cares about and has fought for throughout his career in public service."
Cornyn mentioned 24 hours because Missouri law gives Akin only until Tuesday at 5 p.m. local time to drop out. Otherwise, his name remains on the ballot.
As of this writing, Akin gave no public indication he was close to dropping out. Just the opposite, in fact:
During an interview on Mike Huckabee's radio show, Akin, who apologized profusely for his controversial remarks of a day earlier, also struck a defiant note:
"I'm not a quitter. My belief is we're going to move this thing forward. To quote my friend John Paul Jones, I've not yet begun to fight."
So far, Romney and Ryan haven't gone as far as Brown, though the former Massachusetts governor has noticeably intensified his responses to Akin from his first statement
In a Monday morning interview with the National Review Online, Romney said:
"Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong," Romney said. "Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive."
That was a notable escalation from the campaign's earlier statement from campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul:
"'Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape."
Republicans with no official party roles joined Brown in calling for Akin's exit.
Mike Murphy, a GOP political strategist who advised the campaigns of Romney and Sen. John McCain, tweeted:
"Akin should put good of GOP first and resign nomination now after his idiotic comment. Senate control too important."
Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin sounded a similar note:
"The question for Republicans in Missouri is whether sticking by self-inflicted-wounded Akin is more important than securing a U.S. Senate majority."
And that is the question, especially since there is precedent for Republicans who enjoyed polling leads in Senate races against their Democratic rivals, losing not only their leads but the eventual contests because of a misstep.
Nate Silver on the FiveThirtyEight blog at the New York Times reminds us of George Allen in Virginia and Peter Hoekstra in Michigan, who both lost Senate races after they needlessly stepped on political landmines.
Allen made his infamous "macaca" comment aimed at a man of East Asian ancestry; Hoekstra ran an ad featuring an actress who to many seemed to be portraying an Asian stereotype.
Silver notes:
"These episodes in Virginia and Michigan, which produced a net swing of about 10 percentage points in the polls against the candidate involved in the controversy, appear as though they may represent fairly typical cases."
The current Akin episode appeared to further validate the re-election strategy of McCaskill, the Democratic incumbent. During the Republican primary campaign, McCaskill ran TV ads that called Akin the most conservative of the three Republicans in the race.
To observers, it appeared she was hoping that would help him win the primary in a state whose Republicans have been trending more conservative in recent elections. Polls that showed her trailing all the Republican candidates showed her trailing Akin by the smallest margin. (Update: At a campaign stop in Festus, Mo., McCaskill said the idea Akin will be forced to step down by GOP insiders in a slap in the face of Missouri voters. Adam Allington of St. Louis Public Radio reported on her comments.)
Meanwhile, Akin's comment was proving most unhelpful to Romney and Ryan as it allowed Democrats to increase their attacks on the Republican national ticket.
As Politico reported, even before Akin's comments, Democrats had already gone after both Romney and Ryan for opposing women's reproductive rights, including the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortions. What Akin's comments did was give Democrats fresh material for their argument that they are better on women's issues than Republicans.
Lis Smith, an Obama for America spokeswoman, issued the following statement:
"While Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are working overtime to distance themselves from Rep. Todd Akin's comments on rape, they are contradicting their own records. Mr. Romney supports the Human Life Amendment, which would ban abortion in all instances, even in the case of rape and incest. In fact, that amendment is a central part of the Republican Party's platform that is being voted on tomorrow. And, as a Republican leader in the House, Mr. Ryan worked with Mr. Akin to try to pass laws that would ban abortion in all cases, and even narrow the definition of 'rape.' "
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.