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SPENCER � A bobcat was struck and killed on Route 31 north Monday night, Spencer police said.
The animal weighed around 30 pounds, police said.
Animal Control Officer Carol Gaucher said she has been working for the town for many years and has never seen a bobcat hit in town, though she has had several reports of sightings. The animal was near St. Joseph's Abbey when it was struck, police said.
A motorist on Route 9 struck and killed a deer Monday night, as well. The animal was struck by a car headed west and thrown into the eastbound lane, where it was hit a second time.
Officials said wild animals are moving around during the fall and motorists should use caution.

subset: commoncrawl


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It doesn't necessarily follow that the artist is WRONG to say, "Hmmmm... your favorite is not my own favorite."
To reply to a compliment of Rainforest as Rich did makes me feel like somehow I am ignorant or "missing something" if I still like it. Do I think some of his work since then is good? Yes. But I still think Rainforest is one of his best - if not my FAVORITE disc of his. When the artist gives the impression that it was less than his best work, as I think can be inferred from his comment, I feel...well...icky.
I'm at your freakin' concert so I must still highly value your work damn it!
Jesse was my first big celebrity so I don't know why I bombed so much the 2nd time with Mr. Rich .
I'm glad you clarified your position. The reason I thought you were second-guessing Robert's opinion of his own work is that you stated that "the ultimate appraisal of an artist's work should be made by the audience, not the artist." I couldn't disagree more with this statement. If this were the case, then chart position would be the equivalent of aesthetic merit---which really begs the question.Forrest
So then... it's OK that Julio comes up to Robert and, intending to offer a compliment, asserts that Rainforest is a favorite... but it's not OK that Robert replies by asserting that he himself thinks he's done better work later on, and hopes that lower-profile work wont be ignored?
This is a fascinating topic. In academia the drift has been towards the audience, not the artist, and towards the autonomy of the artwork ... meaning the artwork once let loose (released in the case of music) is on its own, and has its own history within a community. The original artist is just another member of the audience for the work, and is not necessarily the most perceptive of its virtues or place in the genre. And later the artist dies, but the work continues on its way ... speaking anew to new audiences.
I hate all of doombient's stuff, early or otherwise!


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Sporty-looking, but not a sports car.
The Scion tC is pitched at the same youthful demographic as that of its boxy four-door siblings, with a major emphasis on customization (via a catalog of extensive accessories sold at dealerships). The tC is a cut above the four-door Scion models, but it's still fairly low priced. There's a lot of standard equipment included in the base price: Bluetooth, a power moonroof, a leather-wrapped tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel with audio controls, power door locks, power windows, A/C, and eighteen-inch wheels. The interior is a mix of good and cheap, but the front seats are comfortable and the rear seats are usable, at least for passengers less than six feet tall. The tC's 2.5-liter engine makes a hearty 180 hp; it isn't brimming with personality, but it will send this fairly lightweight coupe from 0 to 60 mph in a brisk 7.6 seconds (8.2 seconds with the automatic). Unlike the lesser Scions, both transmissions here are six-speeds. Those additional gears help the tC deliver very good fuel economy, despite its larger engine. The standard chassis setup is decent but not stellar. Buyers eager for greater responsiveness can select from the menu of TRD (Toyota Racing Development) upgrades. For a real sports car experience, upgrade to the Scion FR-S.
Honda CR-Z
Hyundai Veloster
Kia Forte Koup
Volkswagen Beetle
new for 2013
Another year, another Release Series for the Scion tC. This time it's red. Release Series 8.0, available with a manual or an automatic, is about $3000 more expensive than a standard tC. It includes a body kit with a rear spoiler, eighteen-inch gloss-black wheels, a lower ride height and TRD sport muffler, and a revised interior. Two thousand will be built.
Front, side, knee, and side curtain air bags are standard, as are ABS, stability and traction control, tire-pressure monitoring, and active front-seat head restraints.
High Mileage
Reasonably priced
Well equipped
Potent standard four-cylinder
Some cheap interior bits
Not thrilling in the twisties
Base Price Range: $19,480–$23,620
DRIVE: Front-wheel
TRIM LEVELS: tC, Release Series 8.0
BODY STYLE: Coupe, 5-passenger
ENGINE: 2.5L I-4, 180 hp, 173 lb-ft
TRANSMISSIONS: 6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic


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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smokers and people who regularly breathe others' cigarette fumes are worse at remembering things on their to-do lists than are people with no tobacco exposure, a small study says.
Problems with so-called prospective memory may not only lead to embarrassment if a person forgets to meet with their friends, British researchers write in the journal Addiction. It can also have more-serious consequences such as forgetting to take your medication.
The study doesn't prove that smoke damages memory, but is nonetheless a cause for concern, the researchers say.
"This research extends what is already known about the effects of smoking and second-hand smoke, suggesting there is not only health effects from it, but cognitive consequences too," said Tom Heffernan, the study's lead author from Northumbria University at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Heffernan and his colleague recruited 27 current smokers, 24 people who reported regular exposure to second-hand smoke and 28 people who said they were never exposed to smoke, whether first- or secondhand. All were between 18 years old and 30 years old.
The researchers had each person complete the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test, which included time-based tasks, such as returning a key to the researchers when seven minutes were left on the clock, and event-based tasks such as handing over the key when a certain word was said.
Each person received points for the tasks they completed depending on how many prompts the researchers had to give them. Total scores ranged from zero to 18 points for each test, with higher scores meaning better memory.
For the time-based activities, there was a statistically reliable difference between the scores of each group.
People without any exposure to tobacco smoke scored 16.3 points on average, while those who breathed second-hand smoke scored 13.7 points and smokers scored 11.6 points.
For event-based activities, the smoke-free students again did better than smokers, but only marginally better than those exposed regularly to second-hand smoke.
Exactly what the findings mean in real life, and what's responsible for them, is unclear. And while the study suggests there is a link between smoking and memory problems, Heffernan warns that these are results from just one study.
"I think we need to confirm these findings using other methods," he told Reuters Health.
SOURCE: bit.ly/NZVxL0 Addiction, online August 2012.


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I'm always quite intrigued about the town or village that my ancestors put down as their birthplace. Sometimes it's straightforward: they were born, married and died in the same place so there is no deviation in the place of birth that they gave to the census enumerator. Other times it changes from census to census but its usually in the correct vicinity. Did they not know where they were born? Or was it a case of there being more than one obvious option. For instance, I was born in Bushey in Hertfordshire, yet I quite often say I was born in Watford. This is because Bushey is practically on Watford's doorstep, you can't really tell where one stops and the other begins and also because people are more likely to have heard of Watford.
Today I have been working on the life of my first cousin four times removed, Elizabeth Cullip. I had a bit of trouble searching for her records simply because of the birthplace she'd put down. I developed doubts as to whether I'd got the correct person in the census. But with a bit of lateral thinking I believe I've worked out her way of thinking and the explanation behind the varying places of birth.
Elizabeth was born in 1818 in the village of Eaton Socon in Bedfordshire. Her mother Sarah came from Boxworth which lies about 15 miles to the east in neighbouring Cambridgeshire. Her father Thomas came from Tempsford in Bedfordshire which is about six miles south of Eaton Socon. How Thomas met Sarah I don't know, but the wedding took place in Sarah's home parish of Boxworth. And how they ended up in Eaton Socon is also unknown but this is where Elizabeth was born two years later.
Sadly, Thomas died in 1819 just a year after Elizabeth was born. He was only 24 and was buried in his birth village of Tempsford. And it's at this point I had to put my lateral thinking hat on as the census records weren't telling me what I expected them to.
Elizabeth married a fellow called Robert Ward in 1838 in Boxworth. Interesting, I thought, she's married someone from her mother's home village. But why does she indicate on the 1841, 1851 and 1861 census returns that she was actually born there when she wasn't? Yes, she was living in Boxworth (she lived there until she died in 1888) and her husband was born in Boxworth, as were their four children. The census enumerator could have made a mistake, but could the same mistake occur for three decades in a row. My theory is that when her mother was widowed at such a young age, she returned to the shelter and protection of her own family in Boxworth where she raised her daughter from the age of one. Elizabeth would have been brought up thinking of Boxworth as her home village. Being the only place she'd ever known, it's clear she considered the village as the place she was actually born. And if no one put her right then Boxworth is what she would tell the census enumerators.
Things took a curious turn however on the 1871 and 1881 census records. On those she recorded her birthplace as Tempsford. So for once she'd got the correct county, but she'd still not got the right village. Perhaps by this stage she was aware that Boxworth was not her village of birth but there was clearly still no mention of Eaton Socon as the place she was actually born. It's as if this fact had been forgotten in the family for years. Instead she opted for the place where her father came from and put down Tempsford. I guess for her it was logical: she was born in Bedfordshire so it must be where her father was born.
As you can see this is all supposition, but in the absence of hard facts and without the ability to actually sit down with the person in question and quiz them about their reasons, one has to turn to supposition to come up with a logical theory. In this case guesswork is all I have but it helps when deciphering census records that thrown in sudden curve balls!
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Birthplace conundrums
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It's no longer spurting blood, thanks to four stitches that closed the wound. And he still doesn't quite know how it happened.
But it was the most memorable moment from the Pro Bowl, creating the impression that guys were indeed going harder than usual in what otherwise at times seems to be a game of glorified two-hand touch.
Texans defensive end J.J. Watt joined Pro Football Talk on Thursday to discuss his Pro Bowl battle scar and various other topics. After meeting Watt in person, Erik Kuselias and I agreed that there is a list of guys on whose bad side we never want to be — and Watt just made the list.This video is no longer available. Click here to watch more NBC Sports videos!


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I lived in Stockholm for two years after college and doggedly learned Swedish, even though most Swedes speak beautiful English. Not only could I communicate better with then-tiny (now giant) Swedish nephews, turns out it was a good move for my brain. Learning a second language – even as an adult – helps protect the brain from aging, says a new study published in the Annals of Neurology.
"Learning a language later in life is a challenge but is very, very good for the brain," says lead author Thomas Bak, of the Center for Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh.
>> Sign up for the AARP Health Newsletter
A number of earlier studies by Bak and others have found knowing a second language benefits the brain later in life, but some questioned whether it was just that smarter kids were more likely not only to learn a second language but also to become better educated, which also seems to help preserve brain function.
To control for that possibility, the researchers studied 835 people who took an intelligence test in 1947 at age 11 as part of a group called the Lothian Birth Cohort. The researchers retested the group when they were in their early 70s for verbal skills, vocabulary, reading and other cognitive abilities. Those who spoke two or more languages had significantly better mental abilities – especially in general intelligence and reading – than would be expected at their age. Knowing three languages was even better than knowing two, the study found.
A study last year by Bak and colleagues found learning a second language delayed the onset of dementia by four to five years. (Bak, who incidentally isn't Scottish but Polish, went to medical school in Germany, speaks Spanish with his wife and converses in Polish with his small daughter. He admits he has a "vested interest" in this subject.)
So what is it about struggling through those irregular verbs that helps the brain?
Bak, who is a neurologist, says people who learn a second language are forced to focus on the language that they are speaking, "otherwise, it would be a complete jumble." The concentration required to switch back and forth between languages is excellent mental training, he said. The more you push your brain to learn the second – or third – language, the better it is. Just as you improve fitness by moving from walking to jogging, you can improve your brain health by challenging the brain to conjugate those verbs. In addition, he suspects, because "learning a second language gives people a new way of looking at the world," such cultural broadening helps keep aging brains spry and nimble.
>> Get discounts on health services with your AARP Member Advantages.
Bak adds that being completely fluent in the language isn't important. Just being able to carry on a simple conversation seems to be enough to strengthen your mental capacity. That's more good news for me, since I excel in what I call "cocktail party Swedish" but have trouble as soon as I need to discuss in detail, for example, the science behind the latest study on brain health.
Photo: atakan/iStock
Also of Interest
- Picking Up a Foriegn Language at the Grocery Store When Overseas
- Why You Shouldn't Drop Your Landline Just Yet
- Fight fraud and ID theft with the AARP Fraud Watch Network.
- Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being
See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more


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Cross Bars Will Be Needed In Order To Install The Basket Onto Your Vehicle. Compatible With Square Shape Style Cross Bars With Length No Less Than 50. Size Of Cross Bars Must Be 0.75" x 1.25" In Order To Fit. Roof Bag: Size: 43" x 34" x 16. Made Of Heavy Duty Canvas Materials With The Combined Of Straps & Buckles.
Provides Strong Support & Stability To Withstand Extreme Road & Terrain Conditions. It Can Be Place At Anywhere Such As Roof Top , Trunk , Truck Bed , Hitch Mount Or Inside The Vehicle That Fits This Cargo Carrier.100% Brand New In Stock - Comes With A Pair (2 Bars) - Built-In Lock & Key to Secure Things Slide Off To The Side - Adjustable Clamps For Desirable Length - Fit Most Of The Vehicles With Existing Roof Side Rails - Fast & Easy Installation, Instruction Is Included - Improves The Accessibility & Appearance of Your Vehicles These Roof Rack Cross Bars Attach To Existing Side Bars To give you additional storage & flexibility to your vehicle. They are also an essential equipment for snowboard/ski attachment, bike attachment, luggage basket etc...
It is fast & easy to Install the cross bars onto your side bars. Each rubber coated foot grips onto the side bar & with a twist of a knob, the roof rack cross bar secures itself to your vehicle. Side bars need to have a clearance of 1¾" from the roof of the vehicle and also be 1¾" wide or less in order to securely attach the cross bars. The item "BLK ALUMINUM 50 WINDOW ROOF RACK CROSS BAR KIT+TRAVEL BASKET TRAY+CARGO BAG C05" is in sale since Friday, December 23, 2016.
This item is in the category "eBay Motors\Parts & Accessories\Car & Truck Parts\Exterior\Racks". The seller is "champs_club" and is located in Walnut, California. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada.


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Its half past four in the morning and the dark skies contrast starkly with the snow on the pavements and verges. Its a real bone chilling icer of a night. I'm constantly stamping my boots in the passenger foot-well of the truck to maintain the circulation. I can feel the coldness seeping through my steel toecaps and creeping up my legs.
As we gingerly drive towards our intended patient the blue strobes are bouncing off the black ice on the road surface. Never mind having 'Sat Nav' we should have 'Ice Nav' to help us avoid the treacherous ice. The vehicle is slipping and seems to be flying slowly just above the tarmac. I see my crew mate constantly correcting his steering as the wheels struggle to purchase some grip.
As we approach the vicinity of our incident we start to slow down even more…and gracefully glide past the junction we need to turn down. Luckily there is minimal traffic at this time in the morning but there are plenty of parked vehicles around. Eventually after a 300 point turn we slip and slide into the industrial estate in search of the factory car park where someone has crashed their motorbike on the ice.
How someone made it this far on their motorbike seems a miracle as we constantly bump the wheels against the kerb failing to get proper traction on the road. After what seemed like an eternity we are flagged down by a security guard and pointed towards the large car park at the rear of a very large industrial unit. 'Be careful of the ice! Its treacherous round there!' says the guard. 'No shit Sherlock!' I think as if we need reminding!
After several demonstrations of doing 'J' turns and 'handbrake turns' without having to do anything we see a group of people crouched over a figure in the middle of the road. A smashed up motorbike lays on its side nearby. My crew mate makes sure that he steers away from the group before gently depressing the brake pedal. Once again all we can do is wave from our cab as we sail majestically by like some sort of 'Federation Space Battle Cruiser' slowly drifting through deepest dark space.
The vehicle comes to a sudden stop as the front wheels bump into the kerb, but then it carries on by swinging the rear round not unlike a very slow version of the waltzers at the fair. All we can do is wait for the ride to stop. After two more very slow 360s the truck comes to a rest. I feel as if I've taken part in the worlds biggest game of pinball! We are now more than a hundred metres from our casualty. Opening the cab door invites the cold icy breath of Jack Frost into our faces and his ice cold fingers seek out the gaps between neck and uniform collar.
Keeping hold of the door I place one boot on the road carefully followed by the other boot. It seems okay as I dig my heels into the surface to determine how deep the ice is. 'I'll go take a look first and give you a heads up on the road conditions.' My crew mate nods enthusiastically knowing that he can stay in the warmth a bit longer. I'm cold, I'm tired, I,m hungry and its me that has to make my way across this black ice tundra…so I leave the truck door open to get my own back.
It takes a couple of interesting minutes of modern dance moves before I arrive next to the casualty. I have never experienced ice conditions as bad as this before. The casualty is a woman lying face down, helmet off, groaning with pain. I quickly establish a GCS level of 15 and determine her main injury being a possible mid shaft fracture of her right femur. Colleagues from a nearby factory who heard the crash have covered her in coats etc to try and keep her warm.
Once again I set out on the perilous journey across the car park over the black ice tundra towards the big yellow thing with its twinkling blue lights and its steamed up windows. Eventually I sidle up alongside the truck 'Ninja' like with a stealth befitting any assassin. My crew mate has closed the passenger door to keep warm. With speed of hand and deftness of foot I yank open the truck door and scare the living shit out of him. A major spillage of hot steaming coffee occurs betwixt mouth and cup. 'Arrrghhh! You mad bastard! What you doing?' he calls out plaintively.
Together we get the lift down on the truck and using the stretcher as a make shift sleigh we skate across to the casualty. The moon suddenly makes an appearance casting its spotlight onto us revealing us in perfect tandem keeping one foot each on the floor and propelling ourselves gracefully with the other foot. Sheer poetry in motion. Arriving by our patients side we make plans to get her off the ice cold floor and onto our sleigh stretcher.
'I think we'll use the scoop then we can use some bystanders to help us lift her.' I leave my crewmate to explain to her colleagues our plan. After another couple of interesting forays into the world of modern dance I bring the scoop stretcher over. An ingenious piece of kit designed by someone ingenious enough not to have a job that requires you to work in all conditions in all weathers at all times of the day and night! We quickly assemble the scoop under our patient and prepare to lift.
I take the head end so I can explain to our casualty what we are doing and my crew mate takes the foot end. Two work colleagues, one either side, get ready to help with the manoeuvre. 'Right on the word of command LIFT! we all need to lift at the same time…and watch your backs!' 'Ready? 1, 2, 3 and LIFT!' The strain is taken, knuckles whiten as they grip tighter under the scoop stretcher with an audible intake of breath as oxygen is sent to muscles for the effort about to be undertaken.
Everything goes well as the patient slowly rises from the floor…then I realise my feet are slipping…sideways! I see people around me get taller as I get smaller. My boots cant grip with the extra weight and as I approach the final stages of the splits I am reminded of 'Bambi' suffering a similar fate on ice! As my groin reaches towards the floor, my voice is changing octaves as I speak, shout, yell…eventually shrieking 'Put the scoop down! Put the scoop down!' Just as I am about to do a very good impression of Jean Claude Van Damme doing the splits I regain traction and with one last effort our patient is on the sleigh stretcher.
After a slow skate back across the car park we safely place our casualty in the truck where we warm her up with blankets and get the heaters going full blast. Eventually we set off to A/E on a journey that should take only twenty minutes but which in fact takes us almost an hour!
The next day I am still sore around the old groin area but now have remarkable flexibility! I make a mental note to myself…to do less nights and especially less freezing cold nights!!!


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Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) trying to make some eye-catching movements in term of technical analysis. One of them in these facts is earning per share growth for this year. As to cut the story short, it's all about what a stock does that matters in eye of passive investors. In the case particular EPS growth for this year of stock, the chart notifies quite story at present.
For passive investors (long-term) earning per shares and its growth is most valuable indicator for investment, as EQR has EPS growth of 8.80% for this year. Stocks with higher EPS growth rates are generally more preferred by investors than those with slower earnings-per-share growth rates, though in general high growth rates have a propensity to revert over the longer term to more even growth rates. Strengthening these views, the company is estimating to achieve earnings per share (EPS) growth of 10.90% in next year. In context of long-term intentions, EQR next five year earnings per share (EPS) growth estimates standing at 2.70%. The indicator shows clear picture of consistent history of earnings. Sometimes, companies with strong fundamentals but with low annualized EPS of less than 4% or 5 % but analysts may talk about a huge turnaround in the earnings due to heavy order book.
The stock of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) position in the minds of the trading market reflects a broad analysis of technical's and inherent trends which strengthen overall market-trading viability. The firm belongs to Financial sector, shares of firm struggling to run on green line with price change of -0.96% in latest trading session at price of $74.60.
Dugout more deeply and try to find that, does EQR earnings expected to grow/drop in the future? for this we can take help from price to earnings growth ratio that is 15.75, it is determining a stock's value while taking into account the earnings' growth. It is measuring a stock's valuation (Price to Earning) against its projected 3-5 year growth rate. It is favored by many over the price/earnings ratio because it also takes growth into account. A lower PEG ratio indicates that a stock is underworth.
Diverting focus on other technical analysis indicators that are on noticeable point, the 52-week range indicator provide a potential profit target, you will see either buying or selling pressure around this key area as it translates to a company's ability to turn a profit on a year-over-year basis. In other hand, we can simply identify the size of the 52-week range by subtracting the 52-week low from the 52-high; then divide this value by 52 in order to find the average weekly move of the price. Whereas its latest closing price kept its distance from the SMA20 at 0.23% and 1.79% from SMA 20 while it was Bullish 9.60% from the simple moving average price of 200 days. As a result results using moving averages can be random at times the market appears to respect SMA support/resistance and trade signals, and other times it shows no deference. According to buy-side analysts, moving averages work quite well in strong trending conditions, but often poorly in choppy or ranging conditions.


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I am about to begin reading William James: The Varieties of Religious Experience. I borrowed the book from the library but it is available online here: http://www.psychwww.com/psyrelig/james/toc.htm
The author takes the stance that the veracity of claims about deities are separate and apart from the utility of religion.
I have been following the same line of thinking. Deist have a lot to prove when they claim God exist, Atheist have a lot to prove when they claim humanity does not need religion. In other words: God may not exist, but that does not mean we do not need him.
I am encouraged over the possibilities represented by the presence of this group. Looking forward to fruitful discussions here. Thanks for setting this up.
Views: 191
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is anyone on here part of the USTA or a USTA league? I'm wondering if it's worth the investment. I'm not a serious tennis player, but I enjoy the game and the workout more than competition. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!
Views: 210
Replies to This Discussion
Hey Katherine,
I've played on several USTA teams in a few leagues in northern VA and Montgomery County, MD. I love playing competitive tennis, so I enjoy it. Some teams are more hard-core than others and make every effort to take their team to districts, sectionals and/or nationals. Some are more laid back and play mostly for fun, but with the hopes of winning matches. I recommend joining if you like to play matches (vs. just hitting around).
Hope that helps some.
Katherine, I was in your position in wondering about USTA. I've asked and asked everyone I know and one refrain kept coming up....ultra competitive, super serious, intense, etc. I realized it's not for me.
Instead, I found an easy going league with like minded people in World Team Tennis. WTT is a coed league that's great for team camaraderie. (i'll describe more it you'd like....just send a pm)
I will say, though, the women I know swear by the USTA and they all have seemed to become close friends. Might be worth joining just once to see if you like it. BUT...I'll still swear by the WTT. :)
Thanks! I'll follow up with you.
I would say that USTA tennis is more for serious tennis players. It used to be a option if you just didn't have anyone to play with, but now days meetups (meetup.com) are a better option for the casual player, or tennis social networks like this one.
i am not usta but if you want to play i can commute to the desired destination. I really want to be good so doing my best to find someone who can play everyday
I'd like to play at least 1ce a week but I don't think I can everyday. I live in north Arlington. Let me know if that's okay.
just let me know which day of the week you want to play and where i will make sure to get there
Thanks for your responses, they have been very helpful! I haven't had much luck finding a regular partner on tennisopolis so I was wondering if the USTA teams would be the way to go and if its worth the investment. I'm not a serious tennis player now, but I would like to play regularly so maybe I'll consider USTA in the future.
Yes, you have to join to play USTA Tournaments.
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The ravenous dinosaurs of Turok have made their mark all over the globe as Touchstone announced today the intense first person shooter has shipped more than 1 million units worldwide. The company also announced that the dinosaur-infested multiplayer mode of Turok will soon expand with the release of the Velociraptor Pack, five new downloadable maps. The new Turok downloadable maps will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 400 Microsoft Points and on PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system for $4.99 starting on Thursday, March 27, 2008.
"Turok has captured the imagination of video game players throughout the world," said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Touchstone. "We're now able to expand the multiplayer experience with the release of new maps. These five new maps are sure to satisfy Turok players who are hungry for more multiplayer challenges."
Turok players of all skill levels can play the existing 10 maps with the development team from Propaganda Games. A Turok "Game With Dev" is scheduled for today Wednesday, March 26 from 3-6 p.m. PST on Xbox Live online entertainment network.
Touchstone also announced an April 22, 2008 release date for the Windows-based PC version of Turok, the sci-fi first person shooter. Developed by Propaganda Games, the Windows-based PC version has been optimized for PC by Aspyr Studios. The game will give PC fans the opportunity to experience the engaging, story-driven single player experience and multiplayer modes for up to 16 players. The PC version, which will enable both the mouse and keyboard or a game controller, will be available for $49.99. The new downloadable content for the console versions will be available for Windows-based PC soon after that version's release.
Of the five new Turok downloadable maps for consoles, two are completely new multiplayer maps, one is a new co-op map and two are relit versions of popular multiplayer maps available with the game. Below is a brief description of the five new maps:
Co-Op - A brand new Turok co-op map for 2-4 players. In this co-op map your Whiskey Company squad has been captured and is being held in a Mendel-Gruman facility designed for holding dinosaurs. You and your team have to break out and make it to the rescue chopper before the Wolf Pack troops decide to feed you to the captured raptors.
Desolation - A brand new swamp-based map where simple structures are set up alongside a rock cliff to allow helicopters and transports into the area to bring in supplies. There are many hiding spots on this multi-level map which enables numerous quiet kill opportunities.
Sentinel - Another new multiplayer map and one of the largest Turok maps to date. The setting takes place at the top of a mountain around one of Kane's orbital defense arrays - the very base that shot down the Whiskey Company ship from orbit in the single-player campaign. Also, the presence of a few large dinosaurs on the map can make things very interesting during multiplayer combat.
Inconclusive Tests - This time the Testing Grounds map takes place at night and offers a different view of the world that now contains more dark hiding spots. A word of caution -- watch out for the raptors.
A Rivalry Continues - As the name suggests, the struggle for the compound from A Heated Rivalry is not over and has extended into the eerie darkness of the night.
Turok, the epic, sci-fi first person shooter, provides an opportunity to interact with dinosaurs like never before. Published by Touchstone and developed by Propaganda Games, Turok is a unique and gritty first person shooter that immerses players into a world of dinosaurs. Turok has a robust online multiplayer feature with a variety of modes and maps for up to 16 players. Competitive multiplayer modes include Capture the Flag, Assault-style Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and War Games, a special objective-based game mode. Turok's co-op feature allows up to four players to team up online in maps inspired by the single-player story but designed specifically for the co-op mode. Unique to Turok, and like the game's single-player campaign, the multiplayer modes include dinosaurs and large insects, which may attack any player and can be lured to attack opponents.
Developed by Propaganda Games, Touchstone's development studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Turok is rated M for Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The console version is available in stores now for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system for $59.99.
A separate Turok mobile game developed by Living Mobile Studios is now available across carrier or by texting the word TUROK to the number 55655 to download directly to a mobile phone. As Turok, the player must use a mixture of cunning stealth and brutal force to defeat enemies and hordes of fierce dinosaurs in a classic side-scrolling action game. The game includes the ability to hide in the shadows to sneak up on enemies for Quiet Kills or to blast away with a full arsenal, including a bow and knife.


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European Commission
Brussels, 24 October 2012
Poverty: Commission proposes new Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived - frequently asked questions
(see also IP/12/1141)
How would the Fund work?
There would be considerable flexibility. Member States would plan their programmes for 2014-20 on the basis of their national and regional situations and preferences (e.g. whether they prefer to distribute food or goods or a combination). The Commission would then approve the national programmes and national authorities would then take the individual decisions leading to the delivery of the assistance through partner organisations (often non-governmental). A similar approach is already used for cohesion funds.
The national authorities could either purchase the food or goods themselves and then make them available to partner organisations or provide the latter with funding. If the purchase of food or goods is undertaken by a partner organisation, it can either distribute itself the material assistance or entrust the distribution to other partner organisations.
Why does the proposed Fund focus on food, the homeless and materially-deprived children?
The proposed Fund aims to help the most-deprived, the homeless and materially-deprived children to break out of the vicious circle of poverty and deprivation and so make a concrete contribution to the Europe 2020 target of reducing the number of people in poverty or at risk of poverty by at least 20 million.
One of the main features of material deprivation is the inability to access appropriate quantities and quality of food, something which is defined as a basic need by the World Health Organisation. Another particularly severe form of extreme poverty and exclusion is homelessness. There are an estimated 4.1 million homeless people in Europe today.
The new instrument will also explicitly target children because they are more exposed to poverty than the rest of the population and suffer from forms of material deprivation that make them less likely than their better-off peers to do well at school, enjoy good health and realise their full potential as adults.
The proposed new Fund would focus on these forms of extreme material deprivation not only because they are potentially life-threatening, but also because insufficient food and a lack of basic goods such as clothes makes it impossible for the most affected people to escape from poverty and exclusion and even to take advantage of training or counselling measures.
How would the partner organisations be selected?
The partner organisations would be public bodies or non-governmental organisations selected by Member States on the basis of objective and transparent criteria.
How would passive assistance help people come out of poverty?
First, ensuring people have enough food and basic goods such as clothes is a pre-condition for people to even hope to get a job, and so escape from poverty and exclusion. It for example makes it possible for them to participate in training. Second, the proposed Fund is more than just passive assistance. National programmes to implement the Fund would have to include active social inclusion measures and the proposed Fund could be used to partially fund such measures.
Is the budget foreseen sufficient given that there are 40 million people suffering from food deprivation in the EU?
The Fund does not aim to reach all 40 million people who are suffering from food deprivation in Europe but those who are particularly badly off. It would be up to Member States to focus their programmes on the most needy. Moreover, it should be clear that the 2 million only refer to the additional number of persons that can be helped thanks to EU funding. In total the number of people helped directly by the Fund, by Member States co-funding and contributions in kind by the partner-organisations would be some 4 million.
Where would the money come from? Would it be deducted from Member States' national structural fund allocations?
In accordance with the June 2011 Multi Financial Framework proposal (see IP/11/799) the € 2.5 billion would come from the Cohesion Policy budget heading. In other words, the global budgetary envelope proposed under the MFF covers not only the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund but also the new Fund proposed for the most deprived.
How would the Fund complement the European Social Fund (ESF)?
The proposed Fund would help people to break out of the vicious circle of poverty and deprivation by offering temporary remedial actions, i.e. meeting people's very basic needs so that they are in a position to get a job or follow a training course or counselling such as those supported by the European Social Fund. If people have insufficient food or clothing or lack other essential goods, they are not in a position to follow training courses or counselling.
Why is the successful "Food Distribution programme for the Most Deprived Persons of the Community" (MDP) being discontinued?
The programme of aid for the most deprived people (MDP) was created in 1987 to make a meaningful use of the then agricultural surpluses by making them available to Member States wishing to use them as food aid for the most deprived persons of the Community. However, successive reforms of the common agricultural policy, combined with the simultaneous increase of food prices on international markets, mean that EU agricultural commodity markets are expected to remain balanced - on average - over the outlook period (2011-2020), without the need for market intervention.
Moreover, the General Court ruled on 13 April 2011 on a case brought by Germany and supported by Sweden against the monetary allocations granted to Member States under the 2009 MDP for purchases of food on the market.
With the expected absence of intervention stocks, the MDP has thus lost the rationale underpinning it and will be discontinued after 2013.
Why would the new Fund allow the use of intervention stocks if the current programme based on them has to be stopped?
Although the level of EU agricultural intervention stocks are expected to remain very low, food markets are very volatile. It is possible that in some years, if the market prices of certain products drop, there could be food products in intervention stocks. In such cases, it could be economically advantageous for the new Fund to use them once prices have recovered. The proposal therefore allows for this possibility.
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I hope you enjoy it! ;-)
I hope you enjoy it! ;-)
I just want to say thank you, Nosi, so much for all the great music you have so kindly shared with me over the year...many artistes of whom I was unaware.....standouts the Pat Lundy album and most recently the Alice Clarke.....all in all sublime music that has touched my heart and stirred the soul...and that's what music should be about.
I will miss your daily posts but will continue to follow you on your "sister" blog.
Thanks for everything.
What can I say but thanks, more thanks & nuff thanks, Ms. Musicologist. Best wishes for the new year and forever. Your effort is truly appreciated.
Will now pay more attention to your Soulful Divas.
As the man above said,
Nuff respect!
Thanks for this last gem. How great are you. See you soon elsewhere, Nosi.
Thanks for all you have given an opportunity to listen to.
Too bad that you'll stop, Nosi. I hope that you'll keep the links live for a while, though.
thank you so much for the daily inspiration. your taste and insights are invaluable!!!! your blog was a traesure and will truly be missed. forgive me for all the times i never thanked you before!
You've given us so much, thank you!
Thank you Nosi for all the great music you have brough into my life. Wish you well and the best of luck in youre future endevaours. Hope to see you around tho. Take Care.
Thanks for everything. It has been a pleasure whilst it lasted but as we all know good things do not last for ever. Thanks for the memories and here is wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year.
Thanks for the wonderful and fantastic music that you provided to all of us. I will miss you and I am sure others will too. Thank you.
Thanks so much for all the great music, This is/was my number 1 music blog
will be sadly missed-thanks for all the great drops
We love you, Nosi. Thanks again for all the incredible music.
It was indeed a great run, and I am glad that I could be a small part of it. Thanks for everything.
Peace and blessings.
thnx for all nosi
Thank you so so so much! You have given me an education and so much great music in the bargain!
thank you!!
Thank you for your terrific work!
Big Up1@1
tank for your blog, i have a french blog with album & compil download.
love the blog of course! Just wanted to let you know my blogger account has been shut down but im still going strong on wordpress. If you can update my link that'd be great. I have your link on my new page, thanks!
Thank you so much for all the great music
Very beautiful voice..
It's nice pictures are there. i was amazed this one. Thanks for all really great work on it.
Great post! Thanks for sharing concerti.tv @Sandra
What? So this is the end of supersoulsisters? Well, then I guess I have to thank you for the last year of incredibly good music. You also inspired me to start my own generic viagra blog, with information and lots of things. Thank you so much. Enjoy the ride!
Hi, this is DJ D from Retro Remixes. Not sure if you will get this message but just wanted to say thank you for all of your wonderful posts. As a long time fan of R&B and Soul, it is much appreciated. You posted great stuff for a year and I am very grateful.
I am sorry that you are leaving and that I didn't discover your blog earlier. I have included a link to your blog from my site. I hope more people will be able to enjoy the great things that you have shared.
First of all, a HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best to you, Nosi and yours for 2011.. ^x^ .. !!!
Just wanna express big thanks for an AWWWSOME institute of quality soul-sisters here, great to read all the background info, so well done! I'll SURE be checkin'your next project, so..
Cya inna bit at Soul Divas.. :) ..Take care, greetzzz from chilly Amsterdam,
R@t & Marg..
link exchange whih me
www.clasicsound.com/ please let me know
I cant believe i just found your blog, it is indeed a gem!! Thanks for all the sharing... much respect.
a soul music me da enimo de vida aqui no brasil... meu sonho e puder ir um dia ae nos EUA mas ja que isso esta longe vou fica sempre aqui com voces atravez da internete....
vou aprecia a voz da diva vivian
she sounds great, the outfit is a little distracting :)
dj ny
is she Canadian singer ?
please i m Canadian songwritter if you have any question so you can contact to me.
i write songs.
more post please :)
such kind of nice and wonderful collection Spiritual Music
Hi, Nice post thanks for sharing. Would you please consider adding a link to my website on your page. Please email me back.
Thank you so much for posting all different kinds of soul gospel music . These are the classics along with some I've never heard before! It is so enjoyable!
Thank you so much for posting all different kinds of soul gospel music . These are the classics along with some I've never heard before! It is so enjoyable!
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The files on this site are NOT for commercial use. You are invited to download the music and, if you like it, you are strongly encouraged to buy the CD. That way you support the artists who produce it. In any case you should see these selections as for evaluation purpose only and you're asked to delete the music 24 hours after storing it in your computer or external device. Should anybody holding a copyright claim to any of these materials object to their presence here, please post a comment, and I will promptly remove the download link.
PLEASE, leave your comments always on the last post.


text:
Yesterday I was involved with a workshop around agile development at scale. At one point in the conversation we started talking about the relationship between cost and quality. Some of the people in the workshop were relatively new to agile and still believed the traditional theory that to build in high quality it costs more, sometimes substantially more. This does appear to be true on traditional waterfall projects, but some people were making the mistake that this was an "natural law of IT" which also must apply to agile project teams. I naturally jumped on that idea and described how agile developers have found that writing high quality code leads to lower development costs and shorter time to value, in direct contradiction to traditional theory. A few people struggled with the idea for a bit, and one was pretty adamant that in some cases the need for very high quality does in fact lead to greater cost and time. He talked about his experiences on large-scale Rational Unified Process(RUP) projects and in particular how some URPS (usability, reliability, performance, and supportability) requirements can increase your cost. At this point Per Kroll, co-author of Agility and Discipline Made Easy: Practices from OpenUP and RUP, jumped into the conversation and pointed out although higher quality does lead to lower cost in most cases, using Toyota's lean approach to manufacturing as an example, that the agile community didn't completely have the relationship between quality and cost completely correct. My spidey sense told me that a learning opportunity was coming my way.
Per and I had an offline discussion about this to explore what he'd been observing in practice. In most situation it appears to be the case that higher quality does in fact lead to lower costs and shorter time for delivery, something that Per and I had observed numerous times. This happens because high quality code is much easier to understand and evolve than low quality code -- the agile community has found that it is very inexpensive to write high quality code by following practices such as continuous integration, developer regression testing [or better yet test-driven development(TDD)], static code analysis, following common development conventions, and agile modeling strategies. When you "bake in" quality from the start through applying these techniques, instead of apply traditional techniques such as reviews and end-of-lifecycle testing (which is still valid for agile projects, but should not be your primary approach to testing) which have long feedback cycles and therefore prove costly in practice. But, as we've learned time and again, when you find yourself in more complex situations of Agility@Scale sometimes the mainstream agile strategies fall down. For example, in situations where the regulatory compliance scaling factor is applicable, particularly regulations around protecting human life (i.e. the FDA's CFR 21 Part 11), you find that some of the URPS requirements require a greater investment in quality which can increase overall development cost and time. This is particularly true when you need to start meeting 4-nines requirements (i.e. the system needs to be available 99.99% of the time) let alone 5-nines requirements or more. The cost of thorough testing and inspection can rise substantially in these sorts of situations.
In conclusion, it does seem to be true in the majority of situations, which is what the level 1 rhetoric focuses on, that higher quality leads to lower development costs. But at scale this doesn't always seem to hold true.
PS -- Sorry for the corny title, but a couple of days ago at the Rational Software Conference I had the pleasure of interviewing Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage from the Discovery Channel's Mythbuster's show as part of the conference keynote. They're great guys, BTW, who have had a really positive impact on motivating children to be interested in science (apparently kids like to see stuff get blown up, go figure).[Read More]
Agility@Scale: Strategies for Scaling Agile Software Development
From archive: June 2009 X
Agile Myth:High Quality Costs Less than Low Quality - Busted! (at scale)
ScottAmbler 120000HESD Tags:  quality rup agility-at-scale 1 Comment 12,631 Views


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- Dysphagia should not be confused with the similarly pronounced dysphasia, a speech disorder.
In gastro psychology Dysphagia (/dɪsˈfe(ɪ)ʒjə/) is a medical term defined as "difficulty swallowing." It derives from the Greek root dys meaning difficulty or disordered, and phagia meaning "to eat". It is a sensation that suggests difficulty in the passage of solids or liquids from the mouth to the stomach.[1] Dysphagia is distinguished from similar symptoms including odynophagia, which is defined as painful swallowing, and globus, which is the sensation of a lump in the throat. It is also worthwhile to refer to the physiology of swallowing in understanding dysphagia. Where no physical cause has been identified this may be known as functional dysphagia
There are two main types:
Dysphagia is from the Greek dys- (bad or abnormal)+ phagein (to consume) + -ia (indicating a condition or quality)
Swallowing disorders can occur in all age groups, resulting from congenital abnormalities, structural damage, and/or medical conditions (Logemann, 1998). Swallowing problems are a common complaint among older individuals, and the incidence of dysphagia is higher in the elderly,[2] in patients who have had strokes,[3] and in patients who are admitted to acute care hospitals or chronic care facilities. Other causes of dysphagia include head and neck cancer and progressive neurologic diseases like Parkinson's disease, Multiple sclerosis, or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dysphagia is a symptom of many different causes, which can usually be elicited by a careful history by the treating physician.[4] It should be noted that some patients with dysphagia are not aware of the problem (Logemann, 1998).
Dysphagia is classified into two major types: oropharyngeal dysphagia (or transfer dysphagia) and esophageal dysphagia. In some patients, no organic cause for dysphagia can be found, and these patients are defined as having functional dysphagia.
Oropharyngeal dysphagiaEdit
Arises from abnormalities of the upper esophagus, pharynx, and oral cavity.
Signs and SymptomsEdit
Some signs and symptoms of swallowing difficulties or dysphagia include the inability to recognize food, difficulty placing food in the mouth, inability to control food or saliva in the mouth, difficulty initiating a swallow, coughing, choking, frequent pneumonia, unexplained weight loss, gurgly or wet voice after swallowing, nasal regurgitation, and patient complaint of swallowing difficulty (Logemann, 1998). When asked where the food is getting stuck patients will often point to the cervical (neck) region as the site of the obstruction. However, this may be misleading due to patients' inaccurate sensation of the site of obstruction (with obstructions / dysmotilities lower in the esophagus being common).
If left untreated, dysphagia can potentially cause aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, or dehydration, all of which can be symptoms of dysphagia as well (Logemann, 1998).
Etiology and Differential Diagnosis (causes)Edit
- A stroke can trigger a rapid onset of dysphagia with a high occurrence of aspiration. The function of normal swallowing may or may not return completely following an acute phase lasting approximately 6 weeks (Murray, 1999).
- Parkinson's disease can cause "multiple prepharyngeal, pharyngeal, and esophageal abnormalities". The severity of the disease most often correlates with the severity of the swallowing disorder (Murray, 1999).
- Neurologic disorders such as stroke, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Bell's palsy, or myasthenia gravis can cause weakness of facial and lip muscles that are involved in coordinated mastication as well as weakness of other important muscles of mastication and swallowing.
- Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease with palpebral ptosis, oropharyngeal dysphagia, and proximal limb weakness.
- Decrease in salivary flow, which can lead to dry mouth or xerostomia, can be due to Sjogren's syndrome, anticholinergics, antihistamines, or certain antihypertensives and can lead to incomplete processing of food bolus.
- Xerostomia can reduce the volume and increase the viscosity of oral secretions making bolus formation difficult as well as reducing the ability to initate and swallow the bolus (Murray, 1999).
- Dental problems can lead to inadequate chewing.
- Abnormality in oral mucosa such as from mucositis, aphthous ulcers, or herpetic lesions can interfere with bolus processing.
- Mechanical obstruction in the oropharynx may be due to malignancies, cervical rings or webs, or cervical osteophytes.
- Increased upper esophageal sphincter tone can be due to Parkinson's disease which leads to incomplete opening of the UES. This may lead to formation of a Zenker's diverticulum.
- Pharyngeal pouches typically cause difficulty in swallowing after the first mouthful of food, with regurgitation of the pouch contents. These pouches are also marked by malodorous breath due to decomposing foods residing in the pouches. (See Zenker's diverticulum)
- Dysphagia is often a side effect of surgical procedures like anterior cervical spine surgery, carotid endarterectomy, head and neck resection, oral surgeries like removal of the tongue, and parital laryngectomies (Murray, 1999).
- Radiotherapy, used to treat head and neck cancer, can cause tissue fibrosis in the irradiated areas. Fibrosis of tongue and larynx lead to reduced tongue base retraction and laryngeal elevation during swallowing (Murray, 1999).
- Infection may cause pharyngitis which can prevent swallowing due to pain.
- Medications can cause central nervous system effects that can result in an oropharyngeal dysphagia. Examples: sedatives, hypnotic agents, anticonvulsants, antihistamines, neuroleptics, barbiturates, and antiseizure medication. Medications can also cause peripheral nervous system effects resulting in an oropharyngeal dysphagia. Examples: corticosteroids, L-tryptophan, and anticholinergics (Murray, 1999).
Assessment of AdultsEdit
A Speech Language Pathologist is most often the first person called upon to evaluate a patient with suspected dysphagia. During this informal examination, medical history is obtained, the mini-mental state examination is administered, and oral and facial sensorimotor function, speech, and swallowing are evaluated non-instrumentally.
A patient needing further investigation will most likely receive a Modified Barium Swallow (MBS) as it is the gold standard. Different consistencies of liquid and food mixed with barium sulfate are fed to the patient by spoon and x-rayed using videofluoroscopy. A patient's swallowing then can be rated using the Penetration Aspiration Scale. The scale was developed to describe the disordered physiology of a person's swallow using the numbers 1-8 (Rosenbek et al., 1996). Not all examiners will use this scale.
A patient can also be assessed using videoendoscopy, also known as flexible fiberoptic examination of swallowing (FEES). The instrument, with a camera at the end of it, is placed into the nose until the clinician can view the oral cavity and the pharynx and then he or she examines the pharynx and larynx before and after swallowing. During the actual swallow, the camera is blocked from viewing the anatomical structures making it hard to see if the patient has a disordered swallow. A rigid scope, placed into the oral cavity to view the structures of the pharynx and larynx, can also be used, however; the patient cannot swallow (Logemann, 1998).
Other less frequently used assessments of swallowing are imaging studies, ultrasound and scintigraphy and nonimaging studies, electromyography (EMG), electroglottography (EGG)(records vocal fold movement), cervical auscultation, and pharyngeal manometry (Logemann, 1998).
After assessment, a Speech Language Pathologist will determine the safety of the patient's swallow and recommend treatment accordingly. The Speech Language Pathologist will also advise staff/caregivers and give information about what signs to look for to know if the client is aspirating (e.g. coughing, choking, voice quality becoming 'wet' or 'gurgly', chest colds, recurrent pneumonia) and feeding instructions if required, including posture while eating, consistency of food, and size of mouthfuls.
-Postural techniques (Logemann, 1998)
- Head back (extension) – used when movement of the bolus from the front of the mouth to the back is inefficient; this allows gravity to help move the food.
- Chin down (flexion) – used when there is a delay in initiating the swallow; this allows the valleculae to widen, the airway to narrow, and the epiglottis to be pushed towards the back of the throat to better protect the airway from food.
- Chin down (flexion) – used when the back of the tongue is too weak to push the food towards the pharynx; this causes the back of the tongue to be closer to the pharyngeal wall.
- Head rotation (turning head to look over shoulder) to damaged or weaker side with chin down – used when the airway is not protected adequately causing food to be aspirated; this causes the epiglottis to be put in a more protetive position, it narrows the entrance of the airway, and it increases vocal fold closure.
- Lying down on one side – used when there reduced contraction of the pharynx causing excess residue in the pharynx; this eliminates the pull of gravity that may cause the residue to be aspirated when the patient resumes breathing.
- Head rotation to damaged or weaker side – used when there is paralysis or paresis on one side of the pharyngeal wall; this causes the bolus to go down the stronger side.
- Head tilt (ear to shoulder) to stronger side – used when there is weakness on one side of the oral cavity and pharyngeal wall; this causes the bolus to go down the stronger side.
-Swallowing Maneuvers (Logemann, 1998)
- Supraglottic swallow - The patient is asked to take a deep breath and hold their breath. While still holding their breath they are to swallow and then immediately cough after swallowing. This technique can be used when there is reduced or late vocal fold closure or there is a delayed pharyngeal swallow.
- Super-supraglottic swallow - The patient is asked to take a breath, hold their breath tightly while bearing down, swallow while still holding the breath hold, and then coughing immediately after the swallow. This technique can be used when there is reduced closure of the airway.
- Effortful swallow - The patient is instructed to squeeze their muscles tightly while swallowing. This may be used when there is reduced posterior movement of the tongue base.
- Mendelsohn maneuver - The patient is taught how to hold their adam's apple up during a swallow. This technique may be used when there is reduced laryngeal movement or a discoordinated swallow.
-Diet modification may be warranted. Some patients require a soft diet that is easily chewed, and some require liquids of a thickened or thinned consistency.
-Environmental modification can be suggested to assist and reduce risk factors for aspiration. For example: having the patient use a straw while drinking liquids, putting a pillow behind the patient's head during feeding, removing distractors like too many people in the room or turning off the TV during feeding, etc.
-Oral sensory awareness techniques can be used with patients who have a swallow apraxia, tactile agnosia for food, delayed onset of the oral swallow, reduced oral sensation, or delayed onset of the pharyngeal swallow (Logemann, 1998).
- pressure of a spoon against tongue
- using a sour bolus
- using a cold bolus
- using a bolus that requires chewing
- using a bolus larger than 3mL
- thermal-tactile stimulation (controversial)
-Vitalstim Therapy ([2]) or electrical stimulation (E-stim) is targeted for oropharyngeal dysphagia and uses electrical stimulation to retrain the muscles used in swallowing. This type of therapy being used in a clinical setting is also very controversial because it lacks evidence of effectiveness. Please see external links for more information.
- Prosthetics
- Palatal lift or obturator
- Maxillary denture
-Surgical treatments are usually only recommended as a last resort.
- Tracheotomy
- Tracheostomy
- Vocal fold augmentaion/injection
- Thryoplasty medializaion
- Arytenoid adduction
- Partial or total laryngectomy
- Laryngotracheal separation
- Supralaryngetomy
- Palatoplasty
- Cricopharyngeal Myotomy
- Zenker's Diverticulectomy
Esophageal dysphagiaEdit
Arises from the body of the esophagus, lower esophageal sphincter, or cardia of the stomach. Usually due to mechanical causes or motility problems.
Symptoms, Signs, and EvaluationEdit
Patients usually experience food getting stuck several seconds after swallowing, and will point to the suprasternal notch or behind the sternum as the site of obstruction. If there is dysphagia to both solids and liquids, then it is most likely a motility problem. If there is dysphagia initially to solids but progresses to also involve liquids, then it is most likely a mechanical obstruction. Once a distinction has been made between a motility problem and a mechanical obstruction, it is important to note whether the dysphagia is intermittent or progressive. An intermittent motility dysphagia likely can be diffuse esophageal spasm (DES) or nonspecific esophageal motility disorder (NEMD). Progressive motility dysphagia disorders include scleroderma or achalasia with chronic heartburn, regurgitation, respiratory problems, or weight loss. Intermittent mechanical dysphagia is likely to be an esophageal ring. Progressive mechanical dysphagia is most likely due to peptic stricture or esophageal cancer.
Tree diagram of esophageal dysphagiaEdit
Schematically the above can be presented as a tree diagram:
|Solids & liquids
|Solids only
(Mechanical obstruction)
|Diffuse esophageal
|Lower esophageal ring
|Peptic stricture

|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).


text:
Beginning performances on Tuesday, November 2, ETAI BENSHLOMO will assume the role of Boq and TOM FLYNN will assume the role of Dr. Dillamond in the musical blockbuster WICKED. They join a cast which includes Mandy Gonzalez as Elphaba, Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda, Kathy Fitzgerald as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as The Wizard, Andy Karl as Fiyero, and Jenny Fellner as Nessarose. Alex Brightman and Timothy Britten Parker will play their final performances as Boq and Dr. Dillamond, respectively, on Sunday, October 31 at 3:00pm.
ETAI BENSHLOMO is making his Broadway debut in Wicked. His previous credits include: Wicked (San Francisco, first national tour), the MUNY (High School Musical, Annie, Gypsy, Les Misérables, etc.) and Kansas City Starlight (Fiddler on the Roof). Etai has appeared in the workshops of Little Miss Sunshine by William Finn and James Lapine (Sundance Institute) and On a Glorious Day (Snapple Theatre). He holds a BFA from the University of Michigan.
{module AD Amazon Wicked}
TOM FLYNN's Broadway credits include Juan Darien (Julie Taymor, dir.), How to Succeed…, Tommy (Des McAnuff, dir.). Touring credits include: Terrence McNally's The Lisbon Traviata (starring Nathan Lane), Les Misérables (John Caird/Trevor Nunn dirs.), Evita, Chess, Wicked. Regionally he has had leading roles at Mark Taper Forum, Huntington Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Center Stage, O'Neill Center, Studio Arena, SCR.
Winner of 35 major awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards, WICKED is the untold story of the witches of Oz. Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.
Declared "A Cultural Phenomenon" by Variety and "The Best Musical of the Decade" by Entertainment Weekly, WICKED currently has productions in New York, London, Osaka, Oberhausen, and on two North American tours. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman. The production is directed by Joe Mantello with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. WICKED is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com/wicked. For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.com. WICKED is performed at the Gershwin Theatre, 222 West 51st Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue.
# # #


text:
From GNUstepWiki
Revision as of 23:16, 26 September 2013; view current revision
←Older revision | Newer revision→
←Older revision | Newer revision→
Silver is a theme with silvered controls and scrollbars at right side.
The current Silver theme, for stable GNUstep packages, is the version 2.5, that can be downloaded here Silver.theme.
The last release is the version 3.0. But you will need GNUstep from SVN to see all new features. You can download the package here. Below are some screenshots of this new version.


text:
Hundreds of motorcyclists converged Saturday, May 18, on the Pickerington, Ohio, campus of the American Motorcyclist Association and the AMA...
Fans of motorcycle competition will have all the racing and trials they could ask for at 2019 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, featuring Honda, July...
The inaugural qualifier series of the Supercross Futures AMA National Championship came to a close May 5 in Las Vegas, as the nation's top amateur...
The AspenCash Motorcycle Rally, featuring a tour run, vendors and a parade, starts Thursday, May 16, in Ruidoso, N.M. The event is the third of...
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and the American Motorcyclist Association offer condolences to the family and friends of AMA Motorcycle Hall of...
The AMA, in partnership with MX Sports, is pleased to announce the 2013 Area Qualifier and Regional Championship schedule that will be the first steps to the Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at the Loretta Lynn Ranch on July 28-Aug. 3 in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.
Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association, in partnership with MX Sports,
is pleased to announce the 2013 Area Qualifier and Regional Championship
schedule that will be the first steps to the Red Bull AMA Amateur National
Motocross Championship at the Loretta Lynn Ranch on July 28-Aug. 3 in Hurricane
Mills, Tenn.
"It's every amateur motocross racer's dream to win an AMA national No. 1
plate at Loretta Lynn's," said AMA Motocross Manager Kip Bigelow.
"Whether you are a returning superstar or a first-time racer, the dream is
rooted in success in the area qualifier program. We're excited to once again
work with MX Sports to present one of 2013's most-anticipated schedules."
The Area Qualifiers determine the fields for the seven Regional Championships
that, in turn, qualify riders for the National. The full schedule is below.
"Together with the AMA, MX Sports has selected the nation's premier
motocross facilities and organizers to create the best road to Loretta's
yet," said MX Sports Event Director Tim Cotter. "With the addition of
several new facilities, the 2013 Area Qualifier and Regional Championship schedule
will provide great variety and new experiences for our Loretta Lynn's riders
and families."
The Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship includes classes for
riders from 4 years old to 50-plus on a range of motorcycles, including 50cc
minibikes to state-of-the-art highly modified 450cc motocross machines.
The Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, produced by MX
Sports, is the premier amateur motocross event in the country. Nearly every
professional racer competing in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
earned his way to the pro ranks through the AMA Amateur National Motocross
Championship at the Loretta Lynn Ranch.
For more information on the Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross
Championship at the Loretta Lynn Ranch, see www.mxsports.com. For more
information on AMA-sanctioned motocross competition, see www.americanmotorcyclist.com/racing. 2013 Red Bull AMA
Amateur National Motocross Area Qualifier and Regional Championship Schedule
Northeast Area Qualifiers
February 23-24: Elizabeth City; Elizabeth City, NC; 757-449-3673
March 9-10: Tomahawk; Hedgesville, WV; 304-229-6682
March 23-24: Englishtown; Englishtown, NJ; 732-446-7800
April 20-21: TBA
April 27-28: Pleasure Valley Raceway; Armagh, PA; 814-695-2453
May 11-12: High Point; Mt. Morris, PA; 304-284-0084
May 18-19: Winchester Speed Park; Winchester, NH; 603-239-6406
May 25-26: Birch Creek Motorsports; Danville, VA; 434-836-7629
Northeast Regional Championship ;
June 1-2: Unadilla Valley Sports Center Youth; New Berlin, NY; 607-965-8450
June 29-30: Budds Creek Amateur; Mechanicsville, MD; 304-284-0084
Southeast Area Qualifiers
February 16-17: MX of Marion Co; Reddick, FL; 352-591-2377
March 16-17: South of the Border; Hamer, SC; 423-323-5497
April 6-7: Mill Creek MX ; Pell City, AL; 205-699-8857
April 13-14: Aonia Pass; Washington, GA; 706-678-3737
April 20-21: North Carolina Motorsports Park ; Henderson, NC; 252-438-8192
May 4-5: Palmetto Motorsports Complex ; Gaston, SC; 423-323-5497
May 11-12: Thundercross MX Park; Okeechobee, FL; 321-689-3461
May 18-19: Lazy River MX; Chattsworth, GA; 706-278-1620
Southeast Regional Championship
June 8-9: Muddy Creek Raceway Amateur; Blountville, TN ; 423-323-5497
June 22-23: Gatorback Youth; Gainsville, FL ; 321-689-3461
Mid-East Area Qualifiers
March 23-24: Wild Cat Creek MX; Rossville, IN; 765-379-2482
April 13-14: Log Road MX; Coldwater, MI; 419-636-5430
April 20-21: Ballance MX ; Oakland, KY; 423-323-5497
April 27-28: Highfly MX; Crothersville, IN; 812-374-8228
May 4-5: Red Bud MX; Buchanan, MI; 269-695-6405
May 11-12: Thunder Valley MX; Livingston, TN; 423-323-5497
May 11-12: Polka Dots Motorcycle Club; Midland, MI; 989-832-8284
May 18-19: Fast Traxx Motoplex; Nelsonville, OH; 740-767-3740
Mid-East Regional Championship
May 25-26: Sunday Creek MX Youth; Millfield, OH ; 304-284-0084
June 22-23: Baja Acres Amateur; Millington, MI ; 989-871-3356
North Central Area Qualifiers
March 9-10: Paradise MX; Duquoin, IL; 618-542-6203
April 6-7: Lincoln Trail Motorsports; Casey, IL; 217-932-2041
April 20-21: Romp MX; Richwood, MO; 573-701-8674
April 27-28: Sunset Ridge MX; Walnut, IL; 815-379-9534
May 4-5: Motozone; Tigerton, WI; 920-419-2863
May 4-5: Fun Valley Moto X; Montezuma, IA; 641-623-3456
May 11-12: Little Falls Raceway; Little Falls, MN; 612-919-3457
May 18-19: Mcmotopark; Mt. Carroll, IL; 815-238-1614
North Central Regional Championship
June 15-16: Spring Creek MX Amateur; Millville, MN; 507-753-2779
June 29-30: Byron Motosports Park Youth; Byron, IL; 815-234-2271
South Central Area Qualifiers
February 23-24: Reynard Racing MX; Wellston, OK; 405-793-1049
March 2-3: Three Palms ; Conroe, TX; 936-321-8725
March 9-10: UnderGround MX Park; Kemp, TX; 903-498-4659
April 20-21: Buffalo Creek MX; Edgewood, TX; 214-939-4321
April 27-28: Van Way Moto Playground; Carencro, LA; 870-342-5373
May 4-5: Ponca City MX; Ponca City, OK; 580-762-3635
May 4-5: Thunder Valley; Lakewood, CO; 303-697-1003
May 18-19: Tony Wynn MX; Little Rock, AR; 870-342-5373
South Central Regional Championship
June 1-2: Freestone Amateur; Wortham, TX; 713-962-3386
June 15-16: Golden Pine Youth; Prentiss, MS; 601-506-8669
Northwest Area Qualifiers*
March 2-3: Prairie City ; Rancho Cordova, CA; 916-209-3855
March 16-17: Horn Rapids MX; Richland, WA; 509-496-2958
April 13-14: Honey Lake; Milford, CA; 530-827-2639
May 4-5: Oatfield Raceway ; Turlock, CA; 740-297-6686
May 11**: Washougal; Washougal, WA; 360-601-5347
Northwest Regional Championship
June 8-9: Washougal Youth and Am; Washougal, WA; 360-601-5347
Southwest Area Qualfiers*
February 23-24: Arizona Cycle Park; Litchfield Park, AZ; 623-853-0750
March 9-10: Competitive Edge; Hesperia, CA; 760-947-9054
March 16-17: Kahuku MX; Haleiwa, HI; 808-668-6276
May 4-5: Oatfield Raceway; Turlock, CA;
Southwest Regional Championship
May 25-26: The Ranch Youth and Am; Anza, CA; 949-276-5153
* Additional events may be added
** One day event
Triumph Motorcycles announces a unique collaboration with UK industry experts, academic leaders and Innovate UK, to develop specialist electric...
WERA Motorcycle Roadracing is set to host its first event at Nelson Ledges Road Course in Garrettsville, Ohio, for the first time in five years.
This June, Laconia Motorcycle Week returns to New Hampshire for its 96th year, leaving some wondering how this popular, time-honored event first...
A 1969 Honda CB750 Sandcast owned by California's Sam Roberts was awarded "Best of Show" out of more than 350 entrants today at...
The world-beating KTM SX motocross range just got better. From the junior KTM 50 SX right up to the KTM 450 SX-F powerhouse, the model year 2020...


text:
From the streets of New York City to the trails of the Adirondacks, in 21 countries on six continents, in classrooms and labs and studios, St. Lawrence's learning settings are about as diverse as you can get.
Flexibility: that's the key word when you think about the liberal arts education we offer you at St. Lawrence. See how many creative ways you can meet our requirements. If none of our three dozen majors or three dozen minors suits you just right, create your own, through our multi-field option. Take an elective you never would have imagined taking, just because you want to. Study in a foreign country. At St. Lawrence, your education is yours to shape.


text:
Instagram never would have sold to Facebook for $1 billion this week if its backend tech had not been able to scale to 35 million users in under two years.
The main reason Facebook bought Instagram was that Facebook's photo-sharing experience on mobile was slow and painful in comparison.
Yesterday, at a tech talk at another startup (AirBnB), Instagram cofounder Mike Krieger gave a presentation about how his team managed that feat.
The presentation is loaded with tech jargon, but even for us non-tech types, it presents a fascinating narrative about the challenges behind going from nothing to something huge so fast.


text:
This Specimen has been sold.
5.4" Amethyst Crystal Geode - Morocco
This is a section of an amethyst geode that's collected from Sidi Rahal, Morocco. The amethyst crystals have a wonderful, violet to red coloration.
Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz (SiO2) and owes its violet color to natural irradiation, iron impurities, and the presence of trace elements, which result in complex crystal lattice substitutions. It's considered a semi-precious gemstone, and just two centuries ago was considered to have a value on par with diamonds, sapphires and rubies. The largest, and best known amethyst deposit occur in southern Brazil and Uruguay but many localities around the world produce an amazing variety of amethyst crystals and formations.


text:
I promised to upload the "photo in question" as I mentioned in an earlier post and here it is! The beautiful little babe is thought to be my Grandmother – Marion MANN but I'm not exactly sure of the date. The photo seems to be imbedded in glass and not super-imposed on the glass as originally thought. Still not 100% sure though. I wasn't able to snag the photo from my Aunt – but as she says to me that I will "get it at some point." So, until then I have a great photo of the photo which I've uploaded to my Flickr scans photo stream.
As I find more information about this photo I will post it – but until then – if you have any information please share!
I've checked out a few library books on turn-of-the-century fashion along with photo history. Hopefully I can piece together the dates for several of my photos.


text:
This is the picture of the season. This jersey should be in Cooperstown. When you walk into the Hall of Fame—No! The Library of Congress—you should be greeted by a life-sized bronze sculpture of Jose Valverde and his hot dog jersey, because it's a goddamned national treasure.
For an 11-year MLB vet, the minors are humiliating enough even before the themed jerseys. The erstwhile Tigers closer earned himself a DFA trip to Toledo by giving up a few too many ill-timed home runs, but his Mud Hens stint has been pretty good so far. But en route to grinding his way back to the bigs, Valverde's going to have to put up with nights like Saturday's "Hot Dogs and Baseball Night."
The promotion featured the "Create Your Own Hot Dog Challenge," which sounds less like a challenge and more like an all-you-can-eat toppings bar. There was an appearance from Jake the Diamond Dog, who is an actual dog and not a hot dog, so I guess the theme was kind of a loose one. But the real stars of the night were the jerseys, which were auctioned off for charity.
(We'll have to dig up some more photos from the game to see if that screenprinting is supposed to be a hot dog with mustard, or if that's just actual mustard smeared on Valverde's front.)
While Valverde could earn a call-up if he strings together a few more good appearances, he's reportedly hoping that doesn't come before Aug. 18, because he doesn't want to miss the scheduled appearance by Scooby-Doo.
Photo via the SI Vault


text:
Understanding the behavior of static class properties in PHP 5 is a straightforward process that can be tackled with minor headaches, even for inexperienced developers taking their first steps into the huge and sometimes esoteric field of object-oriented programming.
And the reason for this is simple: essentially, a static property is only an in-memory place that's shared by all of the instances spawned from the same originating class. This means that any value assigned to that property can also be accessed and modified by those instances.
While at first sight, this is not especially interesting, it must be said that static properties do play a relevant role in the way that classes behave and carry data. In many cases, though, it's far easier to explain the rationale behind this kind of property than to show or recreate from scratch a real-world scenario where they can be seen in action.
Bearing in mind that you may want to see an example that shows how to use static class variables in a concrete and realistic case, in this group of tutorials you'll learn how to build an extensible MySQL driver. This driver will employ a few static properties to behave like a Singleton class, and to improve the way that it connects to the RDBMS as well.
In the introductory chapter of this series, I started off developing the first component of the MySQL driver, which turns out to be a basic class that acts like a wrapper for the native MySQLi class included with PHP 5. However, the most important thing to notice here is that this component uses a static $_instance property to turn the driver into a Singleton, which prevents us from dealing with multiple instances of it.
The driver in its current state is only capable of opening and closing a connection to the server, and running hard-coded SQL queries, so it's desirable to provide it with more functionality. Therefore, in this second part of the series I'm going to add to the driver a second component. It will be comprised of a separate class, responsible for handling result sets through a simple API.
Ready to learn the full details regarding the construction of this data set processing class? Then start reading right away!
{mospagebreak title=Review: using a static property within a sample class}
Before we start building the second component of the MySQL driver mentioned in the introduction, it'd be really helpful to reintroduce the definition of the first class that comprises this driver. Among other tasks, it connects to the database server, runs SQL queries and so forth via a Singleton object.
The full source code of this class is as follows:
class MySQLiWrapper extends MySQLi
private static $_instance = NULL;
private $_config = array();
// return Singleton instance of MySQL class
public static function getInstance(array $config = array())
if (self::$_instance === NULL)
self::$_instance = new self($config);
return self::$_instance;
// private constructor
private function __construct(array $config)
if (count($config) < 4)
throw new Exception('Invalid number of connection parameters');
$this->_config = $config;
// prevent cloning class instance
private function __clone(){}
// establish a connection to MySQL
public function connect()
list($host, $user, $password, $database) = $this->_config;
parent::__construct($host, $user, $password, $database);
if ($this->connect_error)
throw new Exception('Error connecting to MySQL : ' . $this->connect_errno . ' ' . $this->connect_error);
unset($host, $password, $database);
// perform query
public function runQuery($query)
if (is_string($query) AND !empty($query))
// lazy connect to MySQL
// run the specified query
if ((!$this->real_query($query)))
throw new Exception('Error performing query ' . $query . ' – Error message : ' . $this->error);
return new MySQLi_ResultWrapper($this);
// get insertion ID
public function getInsertID()
return $this->insert_id;
// close database connection
public function __destruct()
As I said before, the above "MySQLiWrapper" class performs a few simple tasks, such as opening and closing a connection to MySQL, executing hard-coded SQL statements and so forth. While the respective implementations of the methods that carry out all these operations do deserve further analysis, the most important detail to stress here is the use of the static $_instance property within the "getInstance()" method. It returns to client code a Singleton instance of the class.
This method itself demonstrates a concrete use of a static variable that not only improves the behavior of its containing class, but also boots the performance of the application using the class in question.
And now that you've recalled the inner workings of the previous "MySQLiWrapper" driver, it's time to start defining the class that iterates over result sets, since an object spawned from this class is created within the corresponding "query()" method.
As you'll see in a few moments, this whole new class will be an implementer of the Iterator and Countable PHP 5 native interfaces. Its definition will be shown in the section to come. Therefore, to get there click on the link that appears below and keep reading.
{mospagebreak title=Building a MySQLi_Result wrapper class}
As you just saw in the preceding segment, the "query()" method that belongs to the "MySQLiWrapper" class comprises a new object of type "MySQLi_ResultWrapper." As its name suggests, this object is tasked with processing result sets; it also inherits functionality from the native MySQLi_Result PHP 5 class.
You may be asking yourself what the originating class of this object looks like. Well, to answer that question, pay attention to the following code sample, which shows the definition of that class:
class MySQLi_ResultWrapper extends MySQLi_Result implements Iterator, Countable
private $_pointer = 0;
// fetch row as an object
public function fetchObject()
if (!$row = $this->fetch_object())
return NULL;
return $row;
// fetch row as an associative array
public function fetchAssocArray()
if (!$row = $this->fetch_assoc())
return NULL;
return $row;
// fetch row as an enumerated array
public function fetchNumArray()
if (!$row = $this->fetch_row())
return NULL;
return $row;
// fetch all rows
public function fetchAll($type = MYSQLI_ASSOC)
if ($type !== MYSQLI_ASSOC AND $type !== MYSQLI_NUM AND $type !== MYSQLI_BOTH)
$type = MYSQLI_ASSOC;
if (!$rows = $this->fetch_all($type))
return NULL;
return $rows;
// get definition information on fields
public function fetchFieldsInfo()
if (!$fieldsInfo = $this->fetch_fields())
throw new Exception('No information available for table fields.');
return $fieldsInfo;
// get definition information on next field
public function fetchFieldInfo()
if (!$fieldInfo = $this->fetch_field())
throw new Exception('No information available for current table field.');
return $fieldInfo;
// move pointer in result set to specified offset
public function movePointer($offset)
$offset = abs((int)$offset);
$limit = $this->num_rows – 1;
if ($limit <= 0 OR $offset > $limit)
return FALSE;
return $this->data_seek($offset);
// count rows in result set (implementation required by 'count()' method in Countable interface)
public function count()
return $this->num_rows;
// reset result set pointer (implementation required by 'rewind()' method in Iterator interface)
public function rewind()
$this->_pointer = 0;
return $this;
// get current row set in result set (implementation required by 'current()' method in Iterator interface)
public function current()
if (!$this->valid())
throw new Exception('Unable to retrieve current row.');
return $this->fetchObject();
// get current result set pointer (implementation required by 'key()' method in Iterator interface)
public function key()
return $this->_pointer;
// move forward result set pointer (implementation required by 'next()' method in Iterator interface)
public function next()
return $this;
// determine if result set pointer is valid or not (implementation required by 'valid()' method in Iterator interface)
public function valid()
return $this->_pointer < $this->num_rows;
// free up result set
public function __destruct()
Despite the rather lengthy definition of the above "MySQLi_ResultWrapper" class, its underlying logic is very easy to follow. Most of its methods are inherited from the "Iterator" and "Countable" interfaces packaged with the SPL library. Every object spawned from this class will be able to iterate over a given result set by using a simple "foreach" construct.
In addition, the class includes a few additional methods that fetch rows from the queried table in different flavors, and retrieve information about its comprising fields as well.
Having discussed how the previous "MySQLi_ResultWrapper" does its business, I'm now going to code a script that shows how to use the MySQL driver in a useful fashion.
This will be done in the final part of this tutorial. Therefore, to see how this script will be built, read the following segment. It's only one click away.
{mospagebreak title=Putting the MySQL driver to work}
As I anticipated in the section that you just finished reading, I coded a short script below that shows how to use the previous MySQL driver to pull some records from a "users" table and display the data on screen. Take a look at it:
// connect to MySQL
$db = MySQLiWrapper::getInstance(array('host', 'user', 'password', 'database'));
// fetch users from database
$users = $db->runQuery('SELECT * FROM users');
// display user data
foreach ($users as $user)
echo 'First Name: ' . $user->fname . ' Last Name: ' . $user->lname . '<br />';
// catch exceptions
catch(Exception $e)
echo $e->getMessage();
As seen before, once a Singleton instance of the driver has been properly grabbed via the static "getInstance()" method, the object is then used for fetching user-related data from a fictional database table. Finally, the retrieved result set is traversed by using a simple "foreach" construct.
Even when for obvious reasons, the static $_property is hidden behind the class' API, this code fragment shows in a nutshell how useful this property can be for building a Singleton MySQL abstraction class. But as you may have guessed, there are many other possible uses for static class variables. For the moment, though, go ahead and read the conclusions below.
Final thoughts
This is it for now. In this second part of the series, I finished building this sample MySQL driver by adding to it a whole new class responsible for iterating over database result sets through a friendly and intuitive API. This functional example showed that the use of a simple static property makes it easier to implement the Singleton pattern, which is convenient when developing a class that abstracts the access to a database server, be it MySQL or a different one.
In the tutorial to come, I'm going to show you how to improve the behavior of this driver even further, specifically when connecting to MySQL, by using yet another static property.
Want to see how this will be done? Then don't miss the next part!


text: Our Butcher's Cut items are hand-selected for their perfect marbling and exquisite butchering. It is our pleasure to bring these top-of-the-line cuts for your dinner table delight. We generally restock our cuts on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the early afternoon. Check back at those times to place your order for our best selection.