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Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- About the Graduate Degrees
- Graduate Programs
- Guidelines for Admission Status
- Graduate Financial Support
- How to Apply
- Pre-Application Form
- Chem Grad Students Association
- Chemistry Department Scholarships
- Graduate Student Handbook and Forms
- Fellowships, Scholarships and Stipends
- Regular Faculty A-Z
- Adjunct Faculty A-Z
- Emeriti Faculty A-Z
- Retired Faculty A-Z
- Directory
- Daniel W. Armstrong
- William A. Baker
- Edward Bellion
- Alejandro Bugarin
- Saiful Chowdhury
- Purnendu (Sandy) K. Dasgupta
- Rasika Dias
- Ronald L. Elsenbaumer
- Frank W. Foss
- Robert F. Francis
- Jongyun Heo
- Junha Jeon
- Kayunta Johnson-Winters
- Peter Kroll
- Carl J. Lovely
- Frederick MacDonnell
- Subhrangsu S. Mandal
- Dennis S. Marynick
- Brad S. Pierce
- Martin Pomerantz
- Laszlo Prokai
- Krishnan Rajeshwar
- Jimmy R. Rogers
- Zoltan A. Schelly
- Kevin A. Schug
- E. Thomas Strom
- Norma Tacconi
- Seiichiro Tanizaki
- Richard B. Timmons
- Jennifer Rhinehart
- Robin Macaluso
- Research Interests Grid
- Analytical Chemistry
- Biochemistry
- Colloids/Surfaces
- Education
- Electrochemistry
- Environmental Chemistry
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Materials/Polymers
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Nanochemistry
- Organic Chemistry
- Organometallic Chemistry
- Physical Chemistry
- Separation
- Synthesis
- Theory/Computation
- Videos
- How to Succeed in Chemistry
- 1451
- 1465
- 1441
- Mass and Volume Measurement
- Separation of a Three Component Mixture
- Determining the Empirical Formula of a Copper Oxide
- Titration as an Analytical Method: Determining the Acid Content in Vinegar
- Qualitative Analysis: Identifying Simple Salts from their Properties and Reactions
- The Ideal Gas Law and Gas Constant
- Hess's Law and Calorimetry
- Synthesis of Tris-1,10-phen iron(II) chloride
- Spectrophotometric Determination of Purity and Concentration
- Atomic Emission Spectra of Gases: Evidence of Quantum Structure
- Chemiluminescence: Optimization of a Chemical Reaction
- Molecular Shapes By Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) Theory
- Concepts
- 1442
- Freezing Point Depression in tert-Butyl Alcohol
- Re-crystallization of Acetaminophen from Tylenol
- Chemical Kinetics: Determining the Rate Law for a Chemical Reaction
- Synthesis of 'Green Crystals'
- Colorimetric Determination of the Equilibrium constant for the Formation of a Complex Ion
- Buffer Solution Behavior
- Behavior of Strong and Weak Acids Upon Titration
- Enthalpy and Entropy of a Reaction
- Redox Titration
- Construction of Simple Batteries and Measurement of Half-Cell Potentials
- Forensic Investigations with Chromatography
- Concepts
- Organic Chemistry 1
Job Listings
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington seeks applicants for a full-time, non-tenure-track lecturer. The successful candidate will hold a Ph.D. in Biochemistry or closely related discipline and teach undergraduate courses related to Biochemistry and General Chemistry.
To apply go to http://www.uta.edu/uta/faculty-opportunities/index.php Applicants must submit a complete CV, a one page statement of teaching philosophy and arrange for 3 letters of recommendation.
|Non-Tenure-Track Lecturer in Chemistry & Biochemistry
Posting number: JOBPOST0011697
Application review will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. The anticipated start date is January 2, 2017. UT Arlington is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. The use of tobacco products is prohibited on UT Arlington properties. A criminal background check will be conducted on finalists.


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Ways to Get Involved in WSFPC
West Suburban Faith-based Peace Coalition
213 S. Wheaton Ave., Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 510 - 8500, ext. 104
MONTHLY EDUCATION FORUM: Held the Third Tuesday of each month. These events feature knowledgeable speakers on a wide variety of peace related topics, as well as time for questions & answers, snacks and fellowship time. All events are free and open to the public. See the EVENTS Calendar for specific dates & topics.
Time: 7:00 p.m. on the Third Tuesday of each month.
Location: Lombard Mennonite Church, 528 E. Madison St, Lombard, IL 60148
PLANNING MEETINGS: Held the 2nd Thursday of each month. These meetings are where the priorities and direction of the coalition get worked out. We envision together, evaluate what we've done, and plan what's next. They're a lively give and take, where we talk about what's called for at this particular moment in time, and how we can meaningfully live out our call to faithful peacemaking together. This is also where decisions of the coalition get made.
Time: 7:00 p.m. on the 2nd Thursday of each month.
Location: Lombard Mennonite Church, 528 E. Madison St, Lombard, IL 60148
Our Legislative Workgroup, led by Carol Urban, meets the first Wednesday of each month. Please contact her to receive e-advocacy alerts or find out more.
Time: 12:00pm. Location: First United Methodist Church, 1032 West Maple Avenue, Downers Grove, IL 60515

subset: commoncrawl


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When is a search term not a search term? That's a question worth asking after looking at a year's worth of search results on Google, Yahoo and AOL.
Google has just released its 2006 Year-End Google Zeitgeist. To compile its year-end lists and graphs, Google reviewed a variety of the most popular search terms that people typed into its news search engine as well as its web search engine.
Here are the top searches in 2006 on Google News:
1. paris Hilton
2. orlando bloom
3. cancer
4. podcasting
5. hurricane katrina
6. bankruptcy
7. martina hingis
8. autism
9. 2006 nfl draft
10. celebrity big brother 2006
Now, compare the list above with the one below for the top searches in 2006 on Google:
1. bebo
2. myspace
3. world cup
4. metacafe
5. radioblog
6. wikipedia
7. video
8. rebelde
9. mininova
10. wiki
To state the obvious: The top news search terms are completely different from the top web search terms.
If you go to Yahoo's Top Searches of 2006, you will also see some striking differences between Yahoo's Top 10 Searched News Stories of 2006 and Yahoo's list of the most popular web search terms this year.
The tragic passing of Steve Irwin and the mysterious death of Daniel Smith rank as this year's top searched news stories. Interest in the Middle East also dominated the top rankings in 2006, with conflict in Iraq, the Israel Lebanon conflict and the Saddam Hussein trial all ranking well.
Here's Yahoo's list of top news search terms for 2006:
1. Steve Irwin death
2. Anna Nicole's son dies
3. Iraq
4. Israel and Lebanon
5. U.S. elections
6. Fidel Castro stroke
7. North Korea Nuke
8. Jonbenet confession
9. Saddam Hussein trial
10. Danish Cartoon
In other words, it appears that one group of people is turning to Yahoo News Search for hard-hitting information.
Meanwhile, on another part of the portal, Britney Spears topped Yahoo's list of most popular web search terms in 2006 – for the fifth time in six years. The rest of the search engine's overall top 10 searches for the year were dominated by the under 30 celebrity set making a mark on pop culture.
Here's Yahoo's list of top 10 web search terms for 2006:
1. Britney Spears
3. Shakira
4. Jessica Simpson
5. Paris Hilton
6. American Idol
7. Beyonce Knowles
8. Chris Brown
9. Pamela Anderson
10. Lindsay Lohan
In other words, it appears that an entirely different group of people is turning to Yahoo Web Search for celebrity happenings and scandals – or the same group of people is conducting news searches in the office by day and different set of web searches at home by night.
If you go to AOL's 2006 Year End Hot Searches, you'll discover that it, too, appears to have a split personality.
The top 10 news topics at AOL News for 2006 were:
1. Gas prices
2. Steve Irwin
3. Immigration
4. Bird flu
5. Iraq
6. Natalee Holloway
7. Debra Lafave
8. Rush Limbaugh
9. Lebanon
10. Hurricane Katrina
In other words, the group of people using AOL News seems interested in "hard news."
Contrast that with AOL's list of the top 10 web search terms for the year:
1. Weather
2. Dictionary
3. Dogs
4. American Idol
5. Maps
6. Cars
7. Games
8. Tattoo
9. Horoscopes
10. Lyrics
In other words, the group of people using AOL Search seems to be looking for general interest information.
So, why do top news search terms differ so often from top web search terms?
One possible explanation might be demographics and/or psychographics. The smaller group of people using news search may differ demographically and/or psychographically from the larger group of people using web search.
And, who knows, perhaps a higher percentage of news search engine users are older, richer, better educated, and more experienced search users with children and homes in suburbs. Or, maybe web search engine users have different lifestyles, behaviors, interests and values. We can't say.
Why? Because there's another possible explanation: Situational intent. Each of us often acts differently in different situations.
A new eye-tracking study from Enquiro found that "intent impacts searching." For research-related queries, we tend to "thin slice" sponsored content out of the way. But, for purchase-related queries, we tend to focus more on sponsored content.
So, maybe most of us use web search engines to look for one type of information and we use news search engines to look for another.
While it may not be clear yet why top news search terms often differ from top web search terms, one thing is perfectly clear. They are often different.
So, using web search term research tools like Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery, Yahoo's Keyword Selector Tool, or the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to identify potential web search terms makes a lot of sense. But, if you are trying to optimize a news story or press release, then using these same tools to identify potential news search terms may often produce mixed results.
If you are looking for news search terms, you might get better results using Google Trends, Google Suggest for Google News, the Yahoo News "also try" feature, or Keyword Discovery's news keywords database. But, don't be surprised if their news search term suggestions often seem surprising.
The most popular news search terms are often different from the most popular web search terms. That's a fact you can take to the bank – even if we can't explain why this is true just yet.
Related reading
Dragonfly: What we know about Google's possible plans to re-enter China's search market
Separating facts from speculation on recent reports of Google re-entering China's search market. What do we know, and what can we reasonably expect from Google in China over the short and long term?
The State of SEO survey highlights – SEO enters the mainstream
In a survey of 30,000 UK marketers of their views on SEO, it seems SEO is entering the mainstream.
Baidu: Can the search giant hold firm in China's increasingly competitive mobile market?
A look at China's search giant Baidu. Against mobile-first Shenma, and potential for Google to enter the gray, can they stay competitive?
Q&A with SAP on digital transformation and search
Last week we spoke with Siddarth Taparia, SVP and Head of Marketing Transformation at SAP. He argues that digital transformation is preceded not by technology but by people, and shares what SAP is doing to ready themselves for the future.


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The surging popularity of smart phones and the faltering economy are putting the squeeze on traditional landline telephone service providers -- and Christopher Larsen of Credit Suisse sees opportunity for investors in the wireless space.
"You are seeing a pullback in demand for wire-line phones," he told CNBC. "Look at AT&T and Verizon: 20 percent or more of their revenues comes from a residential market."
And if anything, he says, the rate of change is accelerating.
"If you asked anybody a year ago, they would say, 'Once all the 18-to-28 year-olds get rid of their landlines, then we're done, and the rest of the business stabilizes'," he said. "Now we're seeing that families are getting rid of their landlines, particularly in the tough economy."
Larsen's got a "buy" on Sprint Nextel.
"The buy on Sprint is really a turnaround story," he said. "If they can get their margins to halfway between where they are today and where the rest of the telecom operators are, that's tremendous upside in the stock."
He also likes Leap Wireless.


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Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 3636
In conversation with the then creative, and now Producer, Prateek Sharma.
Zee TV is all set to bring in two new shows Bandhan by Swastik ...
Disclaimer: All Logos and Pictures of various Channels, Shows, Artistes, Media Houses, Companies, Brands etc. belong to their respective owners, and are used to merely visually identify the Channels, Shows, Companies, Brands, etc. to the viewer. Incase of any issue please contact the webmaster.
Popular Channels :
Quick Links :


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Gorgeous Sridevi turns princess in her next
The sexy and very gorgeous momma of two, Sridevi made a grand come back in English Vinglish, and despite the film receiving critical acclaim and being a superhit, Sri took time to sign her send film. But nevertheless, she has finally done it.
The next film would be in Tamil, and would be dubbed in Hindi. She will be seen in a princess avatar opposite Tamil superstar Vijay and Kannada star Sudeep. The untitled flick will be directed by Chimbu Devan.
Confirming these developments Sridevi's husband Boney Kapoor said, "Yes, she is doing a film with the Tamil star Vijay. That's all I can reveal at the moment."
Sridevi had earlier played a princess in Chandramukhi and Khuda Gawah.


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[Josephine Baker (CinemaArtsCentre.org)]
"Members: $9 / Public: $13
Includes Reception and Book Signing
Tickets available at the Box Office,
or by calling 800-838-3006
"A revealing documentary about one of the most famous and popular performing artists of the 20th century. Her legendary banana belt dance created theater history. The film portrays the artist in the mirror of European colonial clichés as well as a resistance fighter, an ambulance driver during WW11, and an outspoken activist against racial discrimination involved in the worldwide Black Consciousness movement of the 20th century. For black Americans, Baker became 'a role model'. Baker herself 'wasn't allowed to be the real American she wanted to be.' In an article she says, 'I had been suffocating in the United States…A lot of us left, not because we wanted to leave, but because we couldn't stand it any more…' During the mid-1920s Baker found fame in Paris, performing at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees and eventually the Folies Bergeres."


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Himalayan Eco Lodge Barkot is a 2 star facility deluxe cottage like accommodation located at about 11 km ahead of Barkot town on the way to Yamunotri in Uttarakhand. The lodge provides luxury accommodation in its superior tented cottages, hot multi-cuisine meals, barbecue, sightseeing, rafting and number of other thoughtful and personalized services to provide a comfortable and enjoyable stay to the tourists. The lodge is located on the way to famous Yamunotri pilgrimage and it is an ideal deluxe accommodation option of both leisure travelers as well as pilgrims.
Himalayan Eco Lodge Barkot provides a luxury accommodation in its 15 luxury tented cottages. All the cottages are very comfortably large (12'x12′), tastefully decorated with the soothing interiors and well-equipped with all the creature comforts, customized wooden furniture, comfortable bedding, coffee table, relaxation chairs, luggage racks, ambient lighting and so on. Also, there are private sit outs available with each cottage to sip your morning tea with the Snow peaks view.
Room Types
Tariff (INR)
Extra Bed (Adult) (INR)
Extra Bed (Child) (INR)
|Deluxe Tents
Note: Includes Accommodation for 1 night, Meals (Morning Tea, Breakfast, Lunch, Evening Tea with snacks & Dinner), Bonfire with light snacks. Taxes (@12.416%) extra.
Himalayan Eco Lodge Barkot is located on the way to Yamunotri from Barkot, about 11 km away from main Barkot town. Nearest railway stations are of Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh situated at a distance of about 130 km, 176 km and 150 km away from the hotel. Nearest airport is Jolly Grant airport at Dehradun, which is about 149 km away.
Nearby tourist locations to visit from Himalayan Eco Lodge, Barkot: Yamunotri Temple, Surya Kund, Hanuman Chhatti, Chakrata.
Himalayan Eco Lodge – Barkot
Jayalgarh, Barkot, Uttarkashi District,
Uttarakhand, India
We would be glad if you can comment below and provide your valuable suggestions and feedback on Himalayan Eco Lodge Barkot. If this Himalayan Eco Lodge Barkot page have any wrong information/list or out of context content, then you can report us as well.
If you have any questions, you can also ask as in the following comments section. Our team will try to provide you answers/solutions.


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As you'd already be aware by now, Sime Darby Auto Connexion, official importer and distributor of Ford vehicles in Malaysia, recently added the powerful, turbocharged 125 PS 1.0L EcoBoost into the new Ford Fiesta line-up. Priced at RM93,888, the range-topping new Ford Fiesta 1.0L EcoBoost will be available for display and test drive at the Fiesta 1.0L Urban Playground event happening at selected showrooms around the country.
Apart from being able to experience the new Ford Fiesta 1.0L EcoBoost, you also stand a chance to win an LG Pocket Photo smart mobile printer worth RM399 by simply becoming a fan of the Ford Fiesta in Malaysia Facebook page, taking a "selfie" with the new Ford Fiesta 1.0L EcoBoost and submitting the photo with a completed caption and the hashtag #FiestaUrbanPlayground.
Furthermore, if you place a booking for the new Ford Fiesta 1.0L EcoBoost at the event, you'll receive an exclusive Edifier premium headset. The Fiesta is powered by a turbocharged 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine which makes 125 PS and 170 Nm of torque. The tiny, but potent engine is also able to deliver a fuel economy rating of 5.3 litres per 100 km.
The hatch is also equipped with safety features such as Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), Hill Launch Assist, Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS) and more. There is also the Ford SYNC hands-free system, Rear Parking Aid with Park Pilot, Smart Keyless Entry with Ford's Push Button Start and more.
The new Ford Fiesta 1.0L EcoBoost also offers peace-of-mind motoring with a five-year warranty and Extended Service Plan giving you free service for 3 years or 60,000 km. For more information, contact Sime Darby Auto Connexion at +603-77181200.


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Marcia Davis
February 27, 1950 ~ November 17, 2013
Marcia Davis, 63, Glasgow, died Sunday, November 17, 2013, at T. J. Samson Community Hospital. A native of Ohio, she was a daughter of the late Harland and Gertrude Hiltabilde Bennett, a homemaker, and a member of the Cave City Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband Brad Davis; six children: Mary Ann, Brenda, Jenny Price and husband Mark, Harold Jr., David, and Daniel; one brother: Stanley Bennett and wife Aletha; three sisters: Catherine, Deborah, and Mary Jane; 14 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by one grandson: Isaac; one sister: Barbara; and two brothers: Gerald and David.
Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at the Hatcher & Saddler Funeral Home with burial in the Mammoth Cave Baptist Church cemetery. Visitation will after 10:00 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.


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Published Articles
May 2014
Featured in ToastMasters Magazine.
Click to read the article.
February 2014
Featured in Inc Magazine
Click to read the article.
December 2013
Featured in Worldwide Coaching Magazine.
Click to read the article (page 13).
Oktober 2013
Featured on Business Insider.
Click to read the article.
July 2012
Featured in Build magazine, published by The Build Network (Summer 2012 edition).
June 2011
Contributing Author of the E-Book `Return on Culture' published by the Sustainable Business Forum (June 2011).
"How can businesses adjust their corporate cultures to improve their sustainability and drive bottom-line success? In this e-book, The Sustainable Business Forum presents perspectives from some of today's leading management and cultural change experts."
Topics include:
- How to drive cultural change inside large organizations.
- The advantages—and risks—of new corporate structures that seek to force companies to operate for the good of society.
- How to build a culture of workplace safety
- Cultural alignment: four communication traits of strong leaders.
Download the free e-book.
November 2011
Author of the article 'Leading Change – What does Change Mean to You?', published in the e-Magazine 'Guild of HR' (South-East Asia Edition, November 2011).
Click cover to download the magazine (article on page 8) or go to the Guild of HR website.


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Translational Issues in Psychological Science (TPS), the first journal developed and co-published through a partnership between graduate students and APA, has made its debut with an issue focused on the causes and consequences of sleep disturbances and sleep loss. The free journal will be sent to students electronically.
The idea for the journal came in 2009, when APA leadership asked APAGS's student science committee to think about ways to involve more students.
They said to dream big, and we started coming up with ideas that would benefit both students and psychological science," says Michael Scullin, then-chair, whom colleagues credit as the inspiration and driving force behind TPS. Scullin, now an assistant professor at Baylor University, saw two benefits of a student-run journal: giving students a reputable publication that they would want to read and offering students a training ground for publishing, reviewing and editing psychological research.
As its name suggests, the journal aims to show how recent research can be used in work, educational or community settings; in public policy; or to advance the work of psychology scientists and practitioners.
"The mission of TPS is to see how psychological science contributes to important topics of the day, and it seems anytime you read a newspaper or journal article, sleep, or the lack of sleep, is a priority topic," says Mary Beth Kenkel, PhD, the journal's editor-in-chief and dean of the College of Psychology and Liberal Arts at the Florida Institute of Technology.
The committee's dream has now come to fruition, with 11 manuscripts published in the inaugural issue. For this issue, the three associate editors and all 60 reviewers were trainees — associate editors reviewed their work — and each article had at least one novice author. Students learned how to review manuscripts by watching an online tutorial that APAGS science subcommittee members developed with the help of editors from The New School Psychology Bulletin, another student-run journal, as well as APA leadership and staff.
Student reviewers were also given a chance to revise their comments with feedback from the senior editors — an uncommon step in the industry, Scullin says.
"If we can impact the quality of peer reviewing, then the papers we ultimately publish will be globally a little bit better, and if you're as optimistic as I am, you think, hey, maybe we could improve science as a whole," he says.
Drexel University graduate student Caterina Mosti says her work on TPS enabled her to understand the other side of the submissions process. "I learned about collaborating with other editors and received feedback on my editorial style," she says, "including whether my critiques were helpful and what I could expand upon for authors."
On the flip side, "Being a reviewer and reading others' work definitely exercises a muscle that we apply to our own writing. To be able to read your own papers and think of the constructive criticism they might be met with gives us the power to strengthen and improve papers prior to publication," says Bruna Martins, a graduate student in clinical sciences at the University of Southern California who is subspecializing in geropsychology.
The learning process extended to the experts, who said the trainees' professionalism and enthusiasm made the process as fun as it was instructional.
"I was inspired by working with these incredibly brilliant, motivated and motivating editors and reviewers," says Hawley Montgomery-Downs, PhD, associate professor of psychology at West Virginia University. "Ostensibly it was about them learning, but frankly the seasoned faculty have a lot to learn as well."
Adds Kenkel: "Graduate students are close to the ground and very aware of current issues, and they were very influential in determining which topics we should concentrate on."
Upcoming issues of TPS will focus on using psychology in the classroom, obesity, and prejudice and discrimination.
Article Sidebar
More about TPS
TPS is free to APAGS members. Interested in being a student reviewer?
Letters to the Editor
- Write Us


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Title: Expert
Author: Michmak
Disclaimers: not mine.
A/N: This is a very short little piece, set in my mind a little bit after Serenity, although there are no spoilers here for anyone familiar with the series at all.
He'd always loved weapons – the bigger and shinier, the better. He liked the way they felt when he held them; enjoyed the solid weight and the way the cool metal would warm to his touch.
He loved that each weapon was different. Knives were different from guns. Daggers lighter than hunting knives. Pistols were smoother and easier to grasp than semi-automatic rifles. On a good day, he would take a soft piece of old flannel and clean them, making sure they were free of any grit or grime, making sure there weren't no blood gunking up around the handles of his knives or the butts of his guns.
He understood his weapons and they understood him. He didn't ask them for much – shoot were he aimed at, stab where he wanted them to. Help him protect himself and the other people on this gorram ship, out here at the ass end of the 'verse. And in return, he'd treat them well. Oil them when they needed oilin'; clean them when they needed cleanin'. It was a fair deal.
His guns never talked back, his knives always did what he wanted. Killed what needed killin'. They spoke his language. They never made him feel stupid. He had always been fascinated by weapons.
Maybe that was why he found himself watching River more and more now. The way she floated across the floor in her bare feet, moving with some inner purpose only she seemed to know. He bet her skin was as smooth as metal.
When she was on the ship, laughing with Kaylee or talking her crazy-girl talk, he would study her. He tried to be all sneaky-like about it, because he didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Sometimes though, she would catch him looking at her and she would look right back. Her eyes wide and open and dark, like twin barrels on a sawed-off shot gun. She would look at him and she would smile.
He used to find her creepifying. Who wouldn't? But now he found her…well, he found her interesting. She was so tiny, didn't look like she could do much damage to anything. She reminded him of the small derringer he liked to hide in his boot sometimes. Weren't much to look at. When he held it in his meaty hands, you couldn't barely see the pistol at all. He always put hollow bullets in it though, with little cross-hatchings on the tips. Gorram thing made more of a hole going out than going in. It was deceptive looking.
She was deceptive looking, with her frail little body and her long dark hair and her big crazy eyes. Looked like a wild flower sometimes, with bones no bigger than a birds. She looked like she could be easily broken, if'n someone had a mind to break her. He knew that weren't the case though. Tiny little crazy girl might look soft, but he could see the way her muscles flowed all supple and graceful-like under her skin. He wondered if he was the only one who noticed.
The other day, he had walked into his quarters and she had been sitting on his bunk, talking to his guns, looking for all the world as if she belonged there. The sight had been oddly…stirring.
When he had asked her what in the gorram hell she was doing, sitting in his room and talking to his guns without never asking his say-so, she had just smiled at him.
"I understand them. They understand me," she'd replied. "We're the same, after all. Made for one purpose. We're purposeful."
He'd just grunted at her, before replying, "Well, best get your purposeful little ass offa my bed before someone comes lookin' for ya."
"You can use me, if you need to," she whispered as she slid to the floor and walked towards him. "It's your job, after all. Your hands could make me work."
And when she stood up on tippy-toe and pressed a kiss against his cheek, he didn't tell her to get the hell away from him. Just looked at her, kinda considerin'-like. "You're something else, girl," he'd muttered at her. "Something else entirely."
"I am unique," she agreed happily as she slid leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Only one River made in the whole entire 'verse. Something worth collecting."
She had spent the evening with him, watching him as he polished his guns, not saying much that made sense but smiling at him every time he looked up at her. He didn't mind having her there. She seemed to fit.
Later that night, lying in bed, mixed with the smell of gun powder and oil and leather, he could still smell her as well. She smelled like the wind after a storm, earthy and loamy, with just the faintest hint of apples.
He fell asleep dreaming of warming her cold skin with his hands, the way she would feel solid against him, yet soft too. He could do for her like he did for his guns and knives, keeping them clean and shiny and cared for.
He was the weapons expert after all.


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Before December 2006, when the gloves apparently came off at least a little for the Bush administration, they appear to have decided not to retaliate overtly against the Iranians for the support we knew they were lending to anti-coalition operations in Iraq. So the administration used the "might be rogue elements operating outside Tehran's control" subterfuge to throw the press off the scent of what it knew perfectly well was Tehran's complicity, passive or active, in the attacks against American soldiers in Iraq. Since December, the U.S. has been a lot more aggressive towards Iran, cruising huge naval armadas just a few dozen miles from Iranian naval bases without prior notice; detaining hundreds of Iranians and Iranian proxies in Iraq; hammering Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, etc., etc.
In a sense, we may have been storing Iran's transgressions in the bank until the day we could cash them in to justify overt action against Iran. This only makes sense from a strategic point of view. I am all for deterrence, but deterrence presumes two conditions that do not obtain in the case of Iran: (1) that the adversary wants to avoid conflict, and (2) that the adversary is under unified control. Then there is the question of containment theory. If you retaliate automatically for every transgression at the moment the transgression is committed, you let the enemy control the timing of conflict, and you thereby concede to him the initiative. This is the criticism that John Lewis Gaddis levels against several postwar administrations — most of all Kennedy's — in his classic Strategies of Containment. Much better to wait until the moment of our own choosing to take the action most appropriate to achieve our lasting strategic aims.
Moreover, just because we haven't retaliated overtly doesn't mean we haven't retaliated covertly. We may well be fighting fire with fire — and in fact, Iran openly accuses the U.S. of doing precisely that. And let's not forget that the administration is not looking at Iran's terrorist activities in Iraq in isolation from the other things going on — including Iran's shifting political strategy in Iraq, and the diplomacy of the nuclear issue.
This is a complex web, much of which lies in the shadows of classified information and covert operations. U.S. policy is likely to make more sense in hindsight than it does now.


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Nelson Mandela's eldest grandchild has publicly ditched the ruling African National Congress party over its damaging and seemingly endless scandals.
Nelson Mandela led the ANC from 1991 to 1997, carrying the party to an historic election victory at the end of apartheid when he became South Africa's first black president in 1994.
"I will not be voting for something that does not resonate with me anymore, and does not resonate for what granddad and his comrades fought for," Ndileka Mandela, 52, told the News24 website at the weekend.
Ndileka said her decision followed scandals including the death of about 100 psychiatric patients last year in a neglect crisis and a social welfare grants dispute that threatened payments to 17 million of the most vulnerable South Africans.
"It's one scandal after the next and there's no accountability. And our people suffer for it," she said.
"I am highly upset. And this is not a decision that has been made out of anger. I've been thinking about it for a while," she said.
"It's so painful, it's like wrenching my heart out of my soul."
Her pronouncement forced her cousin Mandla Mandela, an ANC lawmaker, to make a public plea for her not to turn her back on the party.
- 'Abandoning the ANC' -
"Please do not throw the baby out with the bathwater," Mandla said in an open letter.
"What we are dissatisfied within the ANC, it is our obligation to set right. Abandoning the ANC does not serve the people of South Africa."
South Africa's highest court last year found President Jacob Zuma, the current ANC chief, guilty of violating the constitution after he refused to repay taxpayers' money used to refurbish his private rural house.
He is also fighting a court order that could reinstate almost 800 corruption charges against him over a multi-billion dollar arms deal in the 1990s.
Increasing numbers of anti-apartheid veterans, ANC activists, trade unions, civil groups and business leaders have called for the president to resign.
In August last year, the party recorded its worst-ever election results at local polls but remained the largest party by a wide margin.
South Africa is scheduled to hold its next general election in 2019.
Mandela, who died in 2013, had three wives, six children and 17 grandchildren.
He joined the ANC in 1944 before it was banned under apartheid from 1960 to 1990. He was jailed from 1964 until 1991.


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Riddle worksheets are available in books and online. BogglesWorldESL.com has anagram riddle, homophone riddle, rhyming riddle, and many other type of riddle worksheets available for free. KidsLearningStation.com provides free riddle worksheets with word and picture clues for younger students. TeachersCorner.net provides more difficult riddles geared towards older students.
Math riddle worksheets available include those that have a numerical answer and those that make students correctly answer math questions in order to get the clues or answers to the riddle. SuperTeacherWorksheets.com has both types of math and English riddle worksheets available with a subscription. Math-Salamanders.org provides both types of math riddle worksheets at no charge.


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High School EnglishLead Content Teacher: Ms. Wallace
English I - Ms. Bakari and Ms. Dennison
English II - Ms. Chanillo and Mr. Jefferson (SPED)
English III - Ms. HeffelmireEnglish IV - Ms. Bakari and Mr. Jefferson (SPED)PRIDE English I-IV - Ms. BranchCreative Writing - Ms. WallaceEnglish class at ACCE is not just about reading and writing. We believe that every student should receive a well-rounded English curriculum including performance, speech, vocabulary enhancement and discussion-based learning. In every grade level, students will read a variety of novels, plays, poems, short stories and non-fiction pieces closely and carefully. They will use what they learn from these great literary works to enhance their own writing. All students will be given the opportunity to select their own books to read independently during class time. Reading should be pleasurable, and we want all students to become life long readers. At the end of each instructional week, we participate in class-wide Socratic Circles where students are encouraged to discuss and debate literature, current events, and essential questions of the course. The ACCE English teachers are committed to providing rigorous and engaging lessons for their students.
For more information:
Please see class websites on Blackboard.
http://www.libraryspot.com/ - Provides an online "reference desk" to navigate the web for free library sources.


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Sukhi Bhaji is a seasoned potatoes dish made specifically for fasting. Boiled potatoes are mixed with green chilies and spices. Serve with farali poori. Method: Heat a ...
farali sukhi bhaji
Popular Recipe Tags
Appetizers / Snacks Beverages Breads chaat chhole bhatura Chutney / Pickles coriander chutney Curry / Subzi Dal Recipes eggless ice cream Eggless Recipes Farali Recipes farali sheero fresh fruit ice cream fried dough giloda gujarati kadhi gujarati karhi gujarati recipes homemade pizza Indo Chinese Recipes Italian Recipes Kids Recipes Mexican Recipes mocktail No‑Onion No‑Garlic no onion no garlic pasta no onion no garlic pasta primavera no onion no garlic pizza paneer Paneer (Indian Cheese) pearl sago poori Rice


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Ever since AT&T created the first toll-free numbers more than 30 years ago, Americans have had the convenience of dialing 1-800-555-1212 to find the toll-free number of a business or organization.
But now those toll-free directory assistance lines appear to be coming down. Next spring AT&T plans to phase out the service, moving listings for 750,000 toll-free numbers to its Web site instead.
The shift will displace 900 operators in four states. It will also put customers without computers at a disadvantage, making it harder for them to contact businesses via toll-free lines. AT&T expects many local phone companies to include toll-free numbers in their databases. But like other directory-assistance calls, such requests will no longer be free.
Eras end with great regularity these days, so perhaps the end of the era of toll-free directory assistance for 800 numbers should come as no surprise. As AT&T's spokesman explains, the company's goal is to rely less on "voice-based" technology and more on the Internet. He adds, "What telephone poles were to our past, Internet protocols will be to our future."
That may signal progress. But it also represents another erosion of personal service and another widening of the gap between computer haves and computer have-nots.
Even sophisticated customers with easy access to the Web may one day feel a twinge of nostalgia for the voices of real live operators at the other end of the directory-assistance line.
(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society


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Okay, guys, this is an important update for those of you interested in reading my fic. I'm really sorry that I've mishandled this lockdown situation. I really, truly meant to deal with the logistics of changing things over within a couple of weeks. Instead it's been months and I've also been terrible about friending people back which was supposed to be my stopgap solution.
So here's the deal. I did create a fic community, and got part of the way through transferring things over.
1. All fic posted prior to my 2008 Big Bang (4/15/08 and earlier) can now be found HERE
2. All NEW FIC from here on out will also be posted HERE so please watch the community if you want to follow my fic.
3. All fic from To Wake a Captive Dreamer (June 2008) to this point is now unlocked on this journal. Have at it and enjoy!
4. I WILL NO LONGER BE FRIENDING PEOPLE ON THIS JOURNAL FOR FIC READING PURPOSES. All the old links for what's been unlocked on this journal will now work, and I've been very careful about tagging on the new community, so you should be able to find what you're looking for there with very little trouble.
5. Eventually, I will finish the job of transferring my old stories to the community, at which point I'll let you all know about any further developments.
Thanks for your attention! And sorry again for not being more prompt about dealing with this. Love you all, and thanks for reading!
( 4 comments — Leave a comment )
Well, to be fair to you, you've been super busy. Especially from all the posts I saw. This is great though, nice and organized.
Thanks, bb. Yeah, I have been busy, but I feel bad b/c to anyone not on my flist, it definitely looked like I just dropped off the face of the internet. So now at least no one is locked out of anything, even if I'm still a bit disorganized :-)
Thanks so much for the heads up.
Thanks for telling us and lol we totally don't mind the wait :)


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I don't think you need us to tell you by now about the risks of revealing too much on Facebook. In light of the NSA revelations The NSA Can Spy On Almost Everybody, Google Buys Songza, And More... [Tech News Digest] The NSA Can Spy On Almost Everybody, Google Buys Songza, And More... [Tech News Digest] Online book sales have overtaken retail book sales, the UK is investigating the Facebook experiment, IFTTT makes Yo useful, Oculus Rift experiment gives third-person perspective, and Google tests our general knowledge with Smarty Pins. Read More , people are becoming more security-conscious and being more careful about what they say and reveal online. However, despite knowing the pitfalls, some people still insist on telling the whole world via Facebook what they did with their day.
From a security point of view, telling everyone you ate Sugar Puffs for breakfast, or posting a photo of your belly button lint, isn't going to get you into hot water. But the following might.
Checking In And Making It Public
I've been guilty of this one before until someone told me to make my check-ins "friends only". It's perfectly normal to want to share your intrepid adventures with your Facebook followers but if you highly publicise the fact that no-one is at home, then an opportunistic burglar might come around to your house and become the new owner your TV and next-gen games console.
Keep your check-ins "friends only" or limit it to family and trusted friends. Or even better, don't do the check-in thing at all. Do you really want Facebook to have a list of all the places you've visited?
Revealing Home Addresses & Phone Numbers
In the "about" section, there are spaces for you to reveal all kinds of personal information, including your sexual orientation. It also invites an address and phone number to be entered. This is where you really start to get into murky waters.
For a start, matching your name up to an address and phone number opens you up to all kinds of spam – Facebook is selling your name and address to marketing firms. But more importantly, revealing where you live enables weirdos, lunatics, and positively dangerous people to track you down. If they don't like something you said on Facebook, they would just have to check your about section to get your address and phone number. Cue heavy breathing and hang-ups at 3.00am.
Don't put your address and phone number on Facebook! If you MUST put something down (say for business purposes), get a post box number, and instead of a landline phone, put down a mobile or Skype phone number How To Get A Skype-In Phone Number For Free How To Get A Skype-In Phone Number For Free Read More . One that you wouldn't mind abandoning if people start calling you up.
Showing Your Kids (For All The Perverts To Drool Over)
If you have been using Facebook for quite some time, then I am sure that you will have witnessed this one. Proud parents showing off their kids by posting photo after photo after photo…..
Obviously it is normal to be proud of your kids ("awww, look at Calvin! He has his brother Timmy in a headlock!"). But if the status updates are set to public, right away you are providing new material for pedophiles to drool over. Combine that with the address in your "about" section….well, you don't need me to draw you a picture.
Seriously limit the number of photos of your kids on Facebook. If you must put them on, set the status to "friends only", and make sure you're aware of how the site's privacy settings work Make Sure You're Secure With Facebook's New Privacy Settings: A Complete Guide Make Sure You're Secure With Facebook's New Privacy Settings: A Complete Guide Facebook also means two other things: frequent changes and privacy concerns. If there's one thing we've learned about Facebook, is that they're not really concerned about what we like or our privacy. Nor should they... Read More . Oh and please don't do what some people have been doing which is deciding to set up your kid's Facebook account for the future, so they get the username they want. There's plenty of time for that. Besides, Facebook might not exist when your kid turns 13.
General Information Which Leads To Targeted Advertising
If there is one thing which Facebook is universally hated for, it's advertising. Even though they are a public company which needs to make money, people still object to ads which they say is intrusive and "in your face".
Let's look at some of the ways that are dangerous to you if you say the wrong thing on Facebook. They're not "it will kill you" dangerous, but instead dangerous in terms of your reputation, your finances, etc.
- You tell your followers that you are feeling down and possibly depressed. Facebook sells your info to an insurance company, and when you try to apply for life insurance, you are denied. On Facebook, you get constant ads about making your peace with God, and making up your will before you go. If you were hesitating about making the final leap, ads like that might persuade you.
- You gripe that you have a bad back and you are on long term sick leave from work. Suddenly you get ads about medicine, wellness spas, etc. What's worse is that your insurance premiums go up. Don't believe that something like this would happen? It was strongly suspected this year that fitness tracker Fitbit was selling user information to insurance companies, who were then seeing if any of the users were customers. If so, they used the fitness information to adjust the premiums accordingly. Fitbit strongly denies the charge but who knows if they are lying or not? Now if Fitbit is suspected doing it, do you think Facebook would have any qualms about trying the same if the price was right?
- You are discussing NSFW subjects with a Facebook follower, while at work. Suddenly you get ads for dildos and sex dolls. The boss walks past and sees it. Suddenly it's "can I see you in my office please?". Next step – the unemployment office.
Now these are three things that instantly came to mind. I am confident there are numerous others, and I am sure you can cite some in the comments.
Be extremely careful what you talk about, and always keep that kind of conversation "friends only". Even better, get off Facebook altogether and discuss your hemorrhoids elsewhere.
So the moral of this story kiddies is : be careful, be suspicious, and be paranoid. Because sometimes they really are out to get you.
Image Credits: Hand picking a book Via Shutterstock
Leave a Reply
You make a preety good point i just found out that a man was fritening a girl with photos of her neiked a 12 year old on facebook i dont have a facebook yet but when i do i will becerfull of what i put on facebook and what i write.
On another article on MUO (sorry! I can't remember which!!), but there was a suggestion by the author of that article to only use facebook in a specific browser, and open links in another browser, or in incognito mode. I haven't tried this because frankly, the opening of links in another browser is a bit too much effort.
Having said that, I use the Adblocker extension on my browser, so the ads don't affect me.
thanks for the reminder about not over sharing on facebook - quite a few of my older relatives will need this....
Are you from Hihgate school ?
Solution: Assume everything you do on social is transparent. Stop kidding yourself.
Does this apply to conversations on FB messenger?
If you want to preserve more of your anonymity and privacy, consider using usenet. It's a bit old fashioned but lets you communicate with lots of people, doesn't demand personal information or constantly blast ads at you.
Now that we have an idea of whats going on, i hope we all take measurable actions. Cos with this, some people wont still believe.
Mark O. ............. to each his own.
BTW: Don't take my word for it, just do a search for:
"reasons not to use facebook"
.... and then open some of the results.
I took a break a few months ago and decided not to go back to Facebook.
Facebook makes too much money from user information and doesn't give a damn about user privacy.
I now block everything that I can about Facebook and also Google.
Google seems to be another entity that is quite invasive of user privacy.
Startpage is a much better search engine.
Mark O, maybe you should make sure to UNCHECK any FB posts while on Amazon, a problem I've never had !
Get FB Purity....it has a very long menu list of things u can do to clean-up your FB page and eliminate or block a lot of FB crap!!!
I use FB to wile away time playing a few games as a retired guy, and occasionally use it to chat with a few selective friends. The rest of FB's "in your face" marketing I've found to be drastically reduced, if not completely eliminated since FB will NOT listen to their subscribers !!!
I wish business colleagues would invite for LinkedIn and reserve Facebook for friends and family. There is always some overlap, and there are exceptions, of course, but venues for different interactions make sense.
Did it occur to you that Linkedin is using similar tactics as well? If not, THINK about it, of course they are! What started out as an interesting idea is now ALSO a way of tracking you. Do you really want anyone to have your work history avaialbe so easily? As a hiring manager, it is simple to go and look up people on Linked in to find out what they have posted there as a quick backgound gathering tool.
your terriable at life
just kidding buddy very good response I am using this for my college class.
Doesn't this also apply to WhatsApp?
please do not take offence, but the word is "definItely", not definAtely - look at the roots... finite, finish... hope you don't mind. it doesn't take away from an excellent article, though
This article, along with many of the experiences shared in the comments, just reinforces my guiding thesis: Facebook is for morons.
Mark O - I will grant you that businesses & charities can create specific pages that may help facilitate their missions; however, IMHO, Twitter and LinkedIn can do a much better job of targeting their intended audience (namely, adults) for these purposes. Once FB openly began courting 13-year olds, it became clear where their bread was being buttered!
Use TOR as often as possible.
Don't say anything that you would care if your 'other' friends knew about. Make sure all your privacy settings are set correctly, which means NO posts go to 'public' and set to 'friends only'. Don't put a friend on your friends list and then talk sh*t about them on FB. Don't use your FB login for anything other then FB. Make sure to turn on '2 step authentication ' for FB, Gmail, and anywhere else it's available. People don't realize all this data is going to be stored for at least a decade and probably much longer then that as space gets cheaper. 99% of any info you publicly disclose, will probably only come back to hurt you in some fashion or another unfortunately. You can't really express yourself on the web anymore, without drawing someone's attention. It's BS, but not much you can about it. Be careful, use TOR, and educate yourself.
I have never missed FacePlant - er, FaceBook.
Thank you for some much needed information for all of us . I am so happy you brought this info to my attention.
I search a certain topic on google or youtube and ads for it come up in facebook and other sites I use. No escaping them...
SAME!!!! Ever since christmas, my mom was looking online to buy a micheal kors bag for my older sis and to this day, micheal kors bag sales keep on popping up! Its sooooo annoying
I've noticed Facebook is definitely using cookies and browsing habits to show ads like that. Not to mention the thing on your timeline that asks you to enter an address. I'll brush up on their privacy policy, but it's still unsettling.
Limit your "friend list" to actual friends. Don't have more names than the Tokyo telephone book.


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Bill Winter on immigration
Bill Winter is running for Congress against Rep. Tom Tancredo. Like other Democrats, he supports the Senate amnesty, and thus everything said about that horrible bill applies. Moreover, his page on immigration has several questionable or misleading statements:
1. His page twice refers to the "INS", an agency that hasn't existed since March 2003. While this might seem like a minor error, if whoever wrote that page doesn't even know that the INS no longer exists it tends to raise questions whether the other proposals on that page have been thought through as well.
2. He complains about the Republican leadership cutting funding for the Border Patrol and ICE, without disclosing that the Republicans are split into two camps on this issue: the more open-borders Bush camp (which is aligned with the Democrats) and the pro-borders camp, including Rep. Tancredo.
3. The page includes a picture of - and references - China's Great Wall, without stating that what Winter calls a "wall" is not a wall but a fence, and the fence is similar to fencing already in place on the border.
4. The page falsely states that "Tancredo maintains that we need to corral all 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States and deport them". As Tancredo has pointed out, he prefers attrition and not mass deportations. In fact, the article that section links to ("CBS4 Examines Illegal Immigrant Costs In Colorado") does not state what Winters claims, and instead refers to Tancredo's attrition plan. Under that plan, increased border and workplace enforcement would lead to a large number of illegal aliens leaving voluntarily as well as prospective illegal aliens deciding not to come.
5. The page refers to a study concerning the costs of deporting all illegal aliens from the liberal Center for American Progress. The page does not discuss the ludicrous methodology used in the study, which assumed that the deportations for one year represented a best-case effort, and then divided the number of aliens deported by the agents' salaries. Obviously, the enforcement being done now is not in any way a "best-case effort".
6. The page claims that failing to pass "comprehensive immigration reform" - what most refer to as an amnesty and which would result in somewhere between 20 and 60 million new legal immigrants over 20 years - makes the U.S. more vulnerable. However, the GAO admits that the USCIS is already stretched to the limit and won't even have a fraud management program in place until 2010. And, considering that most of those former illegal aliens who would be made legal workers under the plan Winter supports come from countries with high levels of corruption and low-tech record keeping, the "reform" he supports is a massive recipe for disaster not just because of fraud but also because of the possibility of terrorist infiltration.
7. Winter claims that raising the minimum wage "will take away the incentive to hire illegal workers in the first place". In practice, that's false because that will make illegal labor more attractive and allow current and future illegal aliens to underbid legal workers. (Maybe he got this idea from the Drum Major Institute or from... Michael Dukakis.)
Winter also blogs at... bill-winter.dailykos.com.
Tags: Bill Winter, Tom Tancredo, Tancredo
Wed, 10/25/2006 - 01:59


text: › Chaplaincy » Events » Religion in Life Lectures Home Chapel Worship Events Religion in Life Lectures Moravian Love Feast World Religions Symposium Hesburgh Lectures Weddings and Funerals MultifaithGroups Libraries Student Groups Meeting Times Religious Engagement Religious Council Off-Campus Worship Office of the Chaplaincy University Chaplains Grief and Loss Sympathy Card Request Form Exploration of Vocation and Ministry Visit Daniel Chapel History and Architecture Labyrinth Contact Chaplaincy Richard Furman Baptist Heritage Award Plan a Visit ›Apply Now ›Give to Furman › Main Content Column 1 Religion and spirituality reach many different aspects of our lives. We've developed different lecture series throughout the year to talk about these different aspects. Whether we're focusing on very concrete examples of how religion affects politics or more open-ended questions of what's important in life, the lectures are a chance to open a dialog about religion in life. L.D. Johnson Lecture Series Compassion, adventure, education, love. What really matters? That was the question L.D. Johnson encouraged the Furman community to think about during his time as chaplain. After his death in 1981 we established the L.D. Johnson Lecture Series to honor his memory and continue asking our community to consider who we are and what we're about. Each semester a Furman professor or alum will give a lecture explaining what really matters. Don't miss the next L.D. Johnson Lecture Series. World Religions Symposium Religion isn't just about faith. It's also about culture, politics, sociology, history, and identity. We started the World Religion Symposium in 2012 as a way to bring together the various the disciplines that study, practice, and engage the world's religions. Our goal is to bring some of the finest scholars and thoughtful practitioners of a faith to campus to talk about the political and cultural issues surrounding their faith. Learn more about this year's Symposium. Hesburgh Lectures We're always looking for ways to enrich our religious and spiritual discussion with new and diverse ways of thinking. The Hesburgh Lectures, sponsored by the University of Notre Dame, helps us bring in speakers from outside the Furman community to start discussion on everything from "Religion, Spirituality, and Health" to how different religions coexisted in Medieval Spain. Find the next Hesburgh Lecture.


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The average consumer buys a laptop that costs about $600, a behavior that's persisted for years. Yet there are also laptops on the market which cost two or even three times as much. Buyers looking for a new model sometimes are taken in by the allure of these extravagant and expensive computers.
Are they really worth the cost? Or does the average consumer have the right idea? I'm going to take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of pricey laptops by comparing them to both their less expensive brethren and desktop computers.
If Your Laptop Is Your Only PC
There are a fair number of consumers who only have use for a single computer. Students, frequent travelers and technically un-inclined home users are all likely to find themselves with no need for a second PC. For these people, choosing an expensive laptop is an apples-to-apples question of value. Does spending twice as much result in a laptop that's twice as good?
You will indeed receive more performance from a more expensive laptop, but you also have to pick a focus on portability or power.
An expensive ultrabook like the Dell XPS 13 won't be much quicker than a budget laptop, but it weighs far less than a budget laptop. In addition, the average battery life of ultrabooks and ultraportables is higher than that of mainstream competitors. These traits are important for people who need a computer while on the go.
Spending more is an even better idea if performance is a concern. You'll be able to buy a Core i7 mobile quad-core which, in multi-threaded applications, can nearly double the performance of a Core i5 mobile dual-core. You can also buy a discrete GPU – a must-have for gaming. Even a relatively inexpensive option, like the NVIDIA GT 640M, can double the performance of Intel integrated graphics.
You can't, however, have both – no matter how much you spend. A choice between portability and performance must be made.
There's less need for compromise in other areas. Display quality, for example, is an area where the value of a more expensive laptop offer shows. Most choices above $1,000 have a 1600×900 or 1080p display and some models, like the ASUS Zenbook Prime and Lenovo X230, can be had with an IPS panel. Expensive laptops also often improve keyboard and touchpad quality and offer better build quality.
Yes, spending hundreds of dollars more for a laptop can be a bitter pill to swallow, but do this calculation before you buy. Take the average time you spend with your laptop per day (in minutes) and multiply that by 1095 (the number of days in three years). You can then divide by 60 to convert to hours, if you'd prefer.
That's the time you will be spending with the device over the next three years. Does a sub-par experience during those hundreds or thousands of hours seem like an okay exchange for a few hundred bucks? If so, then by all means, go for a cheap laptop. If not, save your money for something more substantial.
If You Also Want A Desktop
There are many "common sense" tenants used by layman when giving PC buying advice. Among these is the idea that a desktop will always be substantially faster than a comparable laptop. This leads to strange conclusions, such as the idea that you can buy two computers for the price of one and end up with comparable performance.
There's no truth in this idea if you're unwilling to build your own desktop PC. At any price point a pre-built desktop will not substantially outperform a similarly priced performance-oriented laptop. A consumer who spent $500 on a desktop and then $500 on a laptop would end up with less capable hardware than someone who spent $1000 on a laptop.
Building your own computer tilts the equation in your favor, but not as much as some guides would have you believe. Let's refer back to the Lifehacker article I previously linked to. It claims the $600 do-it-yourself PC configuration it recommends is as capable as the $1,200 ASUS G55VW. Except, well, that's not true. The processor is slower and it has half the RAM. The article also does not budget for any peripherals including the monitor. Woops.
Once you bring the processor up to par, add more RAM and include a monitor and keyboard the budget for the do-it-yourself desktop hovers around $900, leaving you with just $300 to spend on a laptop. That's not going to buy much.
There is some additional value to the desktop. You can upgrade it easily, while a comparable laptop can only have its hard drive and RAM improved. Desktops are easier and less expensive to repair. And the performance ceiling of desktop is much higher. Anyone deciding between a desktop or a laptop should give these points consideration.
It is not, however, broadly true that you'll be wasting your money if you buy an expensive laptop rather than a desktop or a desktop/laptop pair. The pair may provide you with better performance (from the desktop) but you'll have to buy a very inexpensive laptop that's likely of poor quality to fit within the same budget. And again, this is only viable if you build the desktop yourself. If you're not willing to do that a desktop/laptop will never prove a viable alternative.
Expensive laptops are expensive for a reason. They provide performance, portability and features that are beyond anything available from their less expensive kin. Portraying the manufacturers as price gouging is exciting, I guess, but it's false.
That's not to say an expensive laptop is always a good idea. Many consumers end up with inexpensive laptops because they genuinely don't care if their laptop is good. Enthusiasts, on the other hand, might lean towards a desktop because of its higher performance ceiling and easy upgrade path.
But if you need portability and don't need a second computer, and/or you're unwilling to build your own desktop, an expensive laptop can prove a good choice.
Image Credit: Guillermo Esteves, Wickux
Leave a Reply
Today, in 2015 I personally find it difficult to compare the price of Powerful Gaming Notebooks against those similar Desktop counterparts. For instance, a Tower alone with no Monitor,keyboard,mouse,headset etc cost the same as a Powerhouse of a Notebook with the same specs. $3000+ .
Yes,you can insure your Notebook against anything. Thats a plus.
But, with that said, the constant thought of upgrading will forever linger over your shoulder and more so the limitations there of.
I was wondering this for a while since i\I'm actually looking to buy a new laptop at the moment...
thanks for the article its really making me reconsider buying a laptop
In my experience is the other way around. I'm wasting money if I buy a cheap laptop. Cheap laptops are low quality materials, low reliability, freezing, blue screen, BIOS whitelist for hdd, wifi, low resale value. I would NEVER buy the following brands: Acer, Asus, Averatec, Dell, Gericom, Lenovo because I owned at least one and was disapointed by them for different reasons. I would buy IBM Thinkpad, but not Lenovo Thinkpad.
Great article! Thoughtful points were shared by others. I stand undecided for which side of the argument I support. In all fairness I believe it's a matter of personal needs and actual usage.
Depending on your profession, it really boils down to what you are going to do with a computer. Being an Engineering student, I require more horsepower from a desktop and a laptop for portability and outside studies. A desktop will always be more powerful compared to a laptop price to performance ratio. As for Ultrabooks and expensive laptops, I personally believe they are overpriced for what they are, even if they use good materials for the construction. A typical Ultrabook may have an i7 (low voltage version) and intel HD integrated graphics though the latter is for improving battery life. I really think that a laptop anywhere between $600-$800 is enough and adequate for many task, over that price range then I think you are exceeding its performance value and might as well get a desktop.
I believe its not a waste, because laptops are hard to upgrade, however it depends on what you use your laptop for. Obviously a gamer is going to want a much more powerful machine than somebody who only uses it for MS Word
If linebreaks don't show up on posted comments, then this webpage form should advise that HTML paragraph tags be used...
nice article. You're right about the perception that laptops are less powerful than desktops. I just replaced a shorted-out desktop :-( with a laptop, and family members wondered what I was doing because the didn't think a laptop could do as much. Granted, though, I did connect a second display and a full-sized desktop keyboard to my budget laptop. (And having gone w/ a budget laptop this time, I will definitely spend more when I'm able to do so, in order to get a better display -- like an IPS display ...or any display that allows me to move my head slightly or slouch a bit without losing sight of screen content!!)
But I must say, building one's own computer does offer more advantages than saving a little bit of money. For example, one can build a computer with a mainboard and RAM which supports registered, buffered memory. As recent studies have shown, it's actually quite common for computers to arbitrarily switch zeros and ones. A computer like I just described -- with the BIOS set for ECC scrubbing -- can prevent such errors from causing problems with one's data or programs. Plus, one can choose components that truly last, that are truly stable. I built a dual-Athlon-MP computer using a Tyan motherboard which was designed for stability, period. No overclocking features. No bells n whistles. And then a installed things like Voyetra sound card -- not a Creative sound card -- and of course, Voyetra driver software, not Creative driver software.
And to save money, and meet my ACTUAL work needs, I opted for two processors that were half the speed of the latest processors, instead of a single processor w/ the double the speed. (This was before the days of dual- & quad-core CPUs. Btw, I still think there's performance advantages to having separate physical CPUs vs multiple CPU cores in one processing unit. But maybe I'm just biased.)
Anyway, in the end, I had an AMAZINGLY STABLE computer. It met my work needs for nearly a decade, and it went for years and years without any unexplainable crashes or weirdness (ie: crashes not caused by obvious software/OS bugs or glitches). The only problems, actually had to do with port connections weakening, and startup problems. Once it was running, it was stable. Perfectly so. That's more than I can say for my 6-month old Dell laptop.
When that computer finally died it was due to my own reckless use an extra-long screw on a power supply unit (though one would think that a premium Corsair PSU might have some protection -- like a simple plastic or rubber thing -- to prevent a screw from shorting out an entire computer system, CPUs and all!)
An when I shopped for a comparable prebuilt computer, I found nothing below, say, $5000, and I don't even that included a monitor (mine cost $1000 in 2002 or 2003, two CRT monitors included).
I apologize for the long post...
Thanks for the tip
I'll be getting an "expensive" laptop soon, it's my only pc though and I do video editing gaming etc and as a student I'll be moving around a lot too, so for me it's not, but I understand the reasons as to why it would be.
What if I already have a desktop and want a laptop? How do I decide?
awesome article , ultrabooks WTF
If you have the money then no.
I would only buy an ultrabook if I feel like showing off on how great it is to the public
i accept this idea but i think also alot of peoples buy high cost labtops even they do not use 90% of its fetures
My classmate have a poor laptop + a excellent desktop while I have a decent laptop for all tasks.. I can say it worth almost the same but I can have more tasks done at school (modeling, editing, designing) compared to him waiting to get home. Expensive laptops are not a waste of money if they were used as what they provide you.. I prefer what i have.. great review btw..
I would honestly have to say that laptops ... are not really nesecary as they are meant for portability. the rest, you can do on your desktop(the 500 lb beast in the garage)
nice post
Expensive laptops are wastage of money
If you are presenting to anyone of any importance then a slow laptop, even if you are just showing Powerpoints, is a mark against you. However, if you are comfortable with the foibles of a slower machine, you will save yourself a heap of cash. :)
I disagree that desktops are either slower or equal to a comparably priced laptop. You can find cheap i5 desktops. It's much harder to find a cheap i5 laptop. They exist, but it's harder. You can buy an i7 desktop for under $1,000. I submit it's much harder to find an i7 laptop for that price. They exist - recently - but that hasn't been the case previously.
And when you DO find a laptop with an i7 for under $1,000, compare it to a desktop with a lot more hard disk, probably more RAM (and definitely more expandable RAM), and more ports. Even adding in the monitor cost to the desktop probably will only even it out.
CostCo was selling an i7 machine in the year 2010 with a 12GB of DDR3 memory, 1TB SATA hard drive, and Windows 7 - all for $999 delivered. Find an i7 laptop from back then for the same price.
I've never owned a laptop so far because I've been waiting for them to become comparable in power to a desktop as well as at a comparable price to an equivalent desktop. We're about there today, I agree. But it's still easier to find a decent desktop than a decent laptop.
Overall, you only buy a laptop if you need portability. Today a lot of that portability can be provided by a $250 tablet or a $300 netbook. That changes the cost equation considerably.
I have been considering getting a desktop mostly for additional utility in servicing my PC tech support clients. But now I'm thinking a tablet will do just as well as long as the client's Internet access works. I can do searches, download software and move it via a micro-SD card or flash drive (using USB OTG) from the tablet to the client machine just as well - maybe even easier - than using a laptop.
OTOH, in a computer security support context, a laptop is better than a tablet or netbook. The larger screen is more useful, as is the higher power CPU.
I've had corporate clients whose employees all used laptops as their primary machines. I pointed out to them that this could triple their support costs over time over a desktop, but they stuck with it. Laptops are MUCH harder to provide support for than common desktops.
All in all, if you need power and portability but you spend most of your time in one place, get a desktop and a laptop. If you spend most of your time moving around, get a powerful laptop. If you don't need much portability, stick with a desktop.
Makeuseof writes really good article, that are of "real use". Thank you very much MUO !!!
I've had my laptop for a while now, but a year ago, for some reason, I decided I needed a desktop. Now, I use my desktop 99.99% of the time.
If had a desktop before my laptop1, I consider buying a laptop that matches or almost similar in specs to your desktop is a waste of money.
My next buy of a laptop will be for MS office, browsing, and minor programming capabilities.
laptops are not really upgradable, so for the power user it is not a good investement.
"There are many 'common sense' tenants used by layman"
I think you meant "tenets" - "tenants" are people who rent. "Layman" should be "laymen," as well.
I love it that you used images of the brand i use - ASUS :p
Reassured and proud :D
Very nice article. And just like most people, buy an expensive laptop just for the sake of following the latest trend, and end up word processing, surfing the web and replying mails and friends requests... Thats a real shame for all that hardware packed in. But it any case, an expensive laptop is worth its use for full on hardware power and portability.
It all depends on your purpose in buying the desktop or laptop. If you are not into gaming for example or don't need to work on huge worksheets with lot of calculations to be done or if you don't need to do a lot of photo / video editing, you would not need much power under the hood. Then a desktop or laptop of moderate specs would be sufficient (for example my desktop is assembled and cost me less than 400 US dollars equivalent (in rupees). The LCD monitor of 17" is quite a delight to use as also a full keyboard. Thus it all comes to one's real need.
Yes and no. I believe Ultrabooks are just toys and are a waste of money. However, spending more money on a laptop (such as a Thinkpad) that focuses more on being useful rather than "Stylish" is usually worth it.
Although high performance is a great thing, some people buy very expensive, high-end systems they use for MS Word etc. I think that's a shame.
Edit check: "tenets," not tenants" -- otherwise, nice article.
I've asked this same topic a few times before, personally i have both, but my Desktop Computer is the one i use for almost 95% of the time, laptop is mainly for studies and working at clients place...to me it just had to be a comfortable to use laptop, the specs of ir are greatly below my desktop computer, yet is more than enough since is almost a notebook with browsing experience and programming tools.


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posted by Thom Holwerda on Wed 1st Jul 2009 19:09 UTC
"Red Hat today officially announced the beta availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4, which in my view is a lot more than a typical point release. Sure we're all waiting for the big RHEL 6 release, but there are some major changes in RHEL 5.4. The most obvious change is the shift to the KVM hypervisor (as opposed to Xen). Xen is still in RHEL, but with RHEL 5.4, Red Hat is signaling its intention that KVM (eventually) is to be Red Hat's preferred Hypervisor. It's a preference that Red Hat execs have indicated at multiple points this year and should be no surprise since Red Hat now owns lead KVM vendor Qumranet."


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The last half of Fia Yaqub's scintillating Tumblr curation
We are now halfway through Fia Yaqub's week-long residency as the SHOWstudio Tumblr guest curator. Yaqub, a Manchester-based fashion stylist and image-maker, has been offering up imagery that plays with the relationship between object and subject. Make sure to have a peak at her provocative posts before it is too late! (Warning - graphic content)