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Making $ on Windows 8: The First Mover Advantage
The upcoming release of Windows 8 offers developers a huge opportunity. How huge? The Windows Store Blog sums it up well:
With more than 630 million licenses sold to date, across 200+ countries and regions around the world, Windows has an unrivaled global reach. Combined with the flexibility of monetization options that the Store provides, Windows 8 represents the single biggest developer opportunity for any platform.
So, how can you join in?
Generation App: Getting You There
Many thousands of developers will recognize this opportunity, but you can gain an advantage and stand out from the crowd through the programs we're offering:
- Windows 8 DevCamps & Hackathons
- Free events, running now in many cities
- DevCamps – In-person training & guidance from Windows 8 experts
- Hackathons – Expert help and hands-on experience creating your app
- 30 To Launch
- Online training and tips from insiders, at your own pace
- Tele-support with a Windows 8 architect
- Exclusive one-on-one design consultation
- Includes an Application Excellence Lab
- Application Excellence Labs
- Your Opportunity to Get Into the Windows Store
- Free Developer Accounts for Quality Apps
- More, including a helpful survey (details below) at https://aka.ms/apps
These Application Excellence Labs (or "AE Labs") are a great way for developers to get guidance and feedback on ways to make their apps shine. In a moment, you'll see how the labs and the related survey can help you as you develop your apps.
What You Need to Know
First, some essential resources to get you started:
- The Windows Dev Center – References, downloads, community, and more.
- Windows 8 app samples – Hundreds of samples covering a wide variety of topics (in JavaScript, C#, VB, and C++)
- Designing UX for apps – Planning, design guidance, case studies and design assets.
- Windows 8 app certification requirements – An absolute must read, describing the requirements you'll need to satisfy to get your app into the Windows Store.
Another immensely useful resource is the Application Profile Survey, available via https://aka.ms/apps. The survey is part of the AE Lab review and is available to you beforehand as a checklist of things to consider as you develop your app.
To access the survey, simply create an account and add an Application Profile for your app or app idea. Once you've done that, a "Survey" link will appear with your Application Profile, bringing you to a helpful checklist of guidance:
You can expand each item to reveal guidance and related resources.
And Now, the List
The Application Profile Survey just mentioned is a great resource, used as part of the AE Labs to meet with developers to review their apps, covering everything from design and features to user experience and performance.
To help you benefit from the experiences in those reviews, the list below is based on the more frequently-encountered scenarios as reported by the Premier Field Engineers conducting those reviews.
So grab a cup of coffee and settle in – taking the time to ensure you've considered each for your app will definitely help you get ready for the Windows 8 opportunity!
1) Screen Management and Layout
Your app can be run on a wide variety of devices, with different screen sizes and resolutions.
What would your app do if it suddenly had much more room to run in? Instead of just showing an undersized rectangle of content in the upper left corner, does the new space let you do something new (adaptive layout) or should things stay put and scale in place relatively (fixed layout)?
Understand your options for creating flexible layouts, and make sure you've tested your app for multiple screen sizes, pixel densities, as well as in portrait and landscape orientations.
The Simulator that's part of Visual Studio 2012 can make these much easier to test. See Running Windows apps in the simulator for more.
For more on this, see:
- "Scaling to different screens" - Building Windows 8 Blog
- "Optimizing for both landscape and portrait" - Building Windows 8 Blog
- Designing flexible layouts (JavaScript and HTML)
- Guidelines for rotation
- Quickstart: Defining app layouts for view states
2) Apply UX Design Concepts Effectively
Effectively applying modern design is critical for the usability and familiarity of your app, so take the time to understand the main concepts and apply them well. The overall guidance you'll need is on Designing UX for apps and in the App Profile Survey, but based on AE Lab reviews, here are a few areas in particular that can help:
- Silhouette - Apply the concepts of Silhouette to your layout to help your users become instantly familiar with your app
- Navigation – Understand navigation options and the navigation design guidance, avoiding use of tabs, menus for navigation, and home buttons.
- AppBar - Know how to use the AppBar, including when and where to place commands including use of contextual commands.
- Text & Typography – Effective use of fonts, font sizes, colors and more can offer a simplicity and clarity that's central to modern design. Understand the guidance for type and typography to improve user experience.
Basing your app on Visual Studio's Grid or Split project templates, which are themselves already based on much of this guidance, can help you easily get started on the right track.
Also, there's a full set of excellent UX training (as recorded sessions) available at http://windowsuserexperiencetraining.com.
For more, see:
- Supporting navigation (JavaScript and HTML)
- Navigating between pages (C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
- Guidelines and checklist for app bars
- Quickstart: adding an app bar with commands (JavaScript and HTML)
- Quickstart: adding app bars (C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
- XAML AppBar control sample - SDK Sample
- HTML AppBar control sample - SDK Sample
- CSS typography JS sample - SDK Sample
- XAML text display sample - SDK Sample
3) Snapping
Users will expect to be able to put your app into snapped view, so make sure you've tested your app for snapped, filled, and full views, including the effect on the flow of your content and behavior of your AppBar.
Though you may decide that some features and content should be limited in snapped view (focus on what will remain clear and relevant), make sure your app remains functional.
By the way, if you are developing a game or another app that won't support play while Snapped, one simple option is to create a branded page with text. For example, a pause screen that pauses gameplay, music, etc., and invites the user to continue by returning to full screen view.
For more on this, see:
- Guidelines for snapped and fill views
- Snap sample - SDK Sample
- "Scaling to different screens" - Building Windows 8 Blog
4) Process Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Load Time
Apps don't always run continuously. If the user switches away to do something else, your app may be suspended and perhaps terminated if resources are running low. Take the time to ensure that your application supports saving and restoring so the user won't lose data or have to retrace steps when they resume.
Also, to ensure good user experience, your app needs to load quickly. Try running your app with the Windows App Certification Kit (or WACK), which will help you test for this and other scenarios.
For more, see:
- Guidelines for app suspend and resume
- Screencast: Process Lifetime Management
- Optimizing your app's lifecycle (JavaScript and HTML)
- Manage app lifecycle and state (JavaScript and HTML)
5) What if the Connection is Offline or Metered?
Does your app rely on internet connectivity? Your app needs to provide a good experience when offline and with limited internet connectivity. Be sure to test for these scenarios, because if you don't, chances are your app will fail when this is tested during review.
Use the Windows.Networking APIs to detect connectivity, alerting the user about connectivity status, and reconnecting automatically if connectivity is restored. Also, disable areas that require network connectivity, displaying an inline error.
How can you improve user experience? Consider bundling a minimum set of resources in the app's package to use in these scenarios and caching resources when the app is online for later offline use.
If your app downloads large amounts of data (e.g. large images), make sure you respect the cost the user will incur if they have a metered network connection. Use the Windows.Networking.Connectivity APIs to determine if the user is on a metered network connection so you can adjust the app's behavior.
For more, see:
- Developing connected applications
- Quickstart: Managing connection state changes (JavaScript and HTML)
- Quickstart: Managing connections on metered networks (JavaScript and HTML)
6) Handle and Display Errors Well
You might be used to using dialogs to display common errors, but many scenarios should be handled instead with inline text or an error and warning bar.
The error guidelines (also here) make the best practices clear, including some helpful Do's and Don'ts.
For more, see:
- Error Message Guidelines
- Laying out your UI (JavaScript and HTML)
- Laying out your UI (C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
7) A Good Sign-in / Sign-out Experience
If your app requires login, make sure you offer a good user experience before the user logs in rather than simply displaying a blank screen with login. In other words, offer as much functionality as you can as a default experience before the user has to log in.
If that's not possible, then you can show the SettingsFlyout automatically when the app launches. Also, your custom login and logout controls should be in the SettingsFlyout and nowhere else.
For more, see Guidelines for the Microsoft account sign-in experience (and especially "Things to avoid").
8) Understand the Search and Share Contracts
Using the Search and Share contracts is a simple way to make a big difference in how users view the usefulness of your app. For example, supporting Share can add new scenarios for connecting your app to other apps in ways that you may not have imagined.
However, avoid including duplicated Search and Share functionality (e.g. custom search fields) directly in your app, outside of the Charms functionality. Also, make sure you test to ensure your app launches correctly when it is invoked by Search and/or Share.
- Guidelines and checklist for search
- Adding search to an app (JavaScript and HTML)
- Guidelines and checklist for sharing content
- Adding search to an app (JavaScript and HTML)
9) The "Embedded Browser" Temptation
You may have an existing web application or site that you'd like your app to leverage, but to ensure a good experience and fewer context switches for the user, you need to resist the urge to host entire web pages (e.g. via the WebView control) as your app's primary workflow.
See these samples for examples and guidance for using web content and services in your app:
- XAML WebView control sample
- Integrating content and controls from web services sample
- Part 3: Create a blog reader (C#/VB and XAML)
10) Accessibility and High Contrast Mode
Consider choosing to make your application fully accessible by following the guidelines and declaring your app as accessible. Doing so can help you reach more customers, and you'll be providing a service to users for whom accessibility makes all the difference!
Using Visual Studio's Grid or Split project templates will help you get off to a good start with accessibility.
While declaring your app as accessible is optional, in either case you should review how your app displays when High Contrast mode is on. You might be surprised by some of the formatting or color issues that can be uncovered.
For more, see:
- "Enabling accessibility" - Building Windows 8 Blog
- Design for accessibility
- Testing your app for accessibility (JavaScript and HTML)
- Testing your app for accessibility (C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
- Supporting high contrast themes (JavaScript and HTML)
- Supporting high-contrast themes (C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
- Making your app accessible (JavaScript and HTML)
Wrapping Up
Thanks for taking the time to read this post. By learning from these scenarios, you're in a great position to create amazing apps!
Be sure to take full advantage of the 30 To Launch and App Excellence Lab programs as well as the Application Profile Survey mentioned earlier. You'll be in very good company, amongst those who recognize the advantage of getting advice, training, and guidance.
Looking forward to your fantastic apps and success with Windows 8!


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with similar backgrounds and experience. iHire's entry-level resume writing service
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really hadn't realized how important it is to put your best face forward – I always
figured my career history speaks for itself. Your rewrite pointed out that all I've
done is listed the responsibilities I was able to handle, but not what value-added
I was able to provide. DUH! I am ecstatic that I invested in a new resume.
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subset: commoncrawl


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I'm not sure who entrusted a mere child with time traveling goggles, but I'm glad somebody did because Lilly Looking Through is an enchanting experience about switching between time.
This kickstarted point & click adventure game from Geeta Games is more akin to Machinarium, than the old inventory and dialogue-based adventures from the likes of Sierra and LucasArts. Any dialogue is sparse but the puzzles require a lot of critical thinking, which made my brain hurt quite a bit.
Lilly Looking Through is available now on Steam, GOG.com and Geeta Games' own site.
Wish to tweet words at me? I can be found here @laserfrog.


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Warhammer Online 'Live Expansion' Announced, Brings Free Trial Version
Dubbed the "'Call to Arms' live expansion," the three-month-long update will add two new careers to the MMO--the Orc Choppa and the Dwarf Slayer--along with a new dungeon zone, three in-game live events, a new RvR scenario, and a free trial version.
Mythic general manager Mark Jacobs referred to the program as "the first of our 'live expansions' planned for the game," adding that the new Tomb Kings dungeon "is the spiritual successor to the Dark Age of Camelot dungeon, Darkness Falls."
Call to Arms Live Expansion Schedule
- 'Call to Arms: Bitter Rivals' Live Event (March): Successful completion allows head start access to the new Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer careers. The event will also include the new Chaos-themed RvR Scenario, Twisting Tower.
- Two New Careers Join WAR (March): The Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer answer the Call to Arms.
- 'Call to Arms: Beyond the Sands' Live Event (April): Details to be revealed soon!
- 'Call to Arms: Rise of the Tomb Kings' Live Event (May): The race between Order and Destruction players begins to unlock the Land of the Dead for their Realm.
- 'Land of the Dead' Opens (June): The deserts of Nehekhara open to players with the addition of a new RvR-gated dungeon zone. To gain access to the Land of the Dead, opposing Realms must battle for control of the zone to access dozens of new Public Quests, instanced lairs, and a massive new Tomb Kings dungeon to plunder in search of the Casket of Souls.
From The Chatty


text:
Definition of uniform system
: a system of photographic diaphragm or stop marking in which the numbers are proportional to the intensities of the light permitted to pass and hence to the times required for exposure
to constrict the range or activity of
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Royals Minor League report: April 9
Omaha Storm Chasers
Omaha at Albuquerque - Postponed
Tuesday's contest in New Mexico was postponed due to rain and cold weather. A pair of seven-inning games are slated for tonight beginning at 5:05 Central. Will Smith is the probable starter for the first game, with Chris Dwyer set to start the nightcap.
NW Arkansas Naturals
NW Arkansas 3, Frisco 2
WP: Noel Arguelles (1-1)
SV: Brooks Pounders (1)
HR: Matt Fields (1)
Noel Arguelles led the Naturals to their first win of 2013. The lefty scattered two runs on four hits and no walks over 7.0 innings. Brooks Pounders fired 2.0 shutout frames for the save. Northwest Arkansas plated two in the second. Matt Fields added a solo homer in the fourth. Angel Franco posted three hits and is batting .412 (7-for-17).
Wilmington Blue Rocks
Wilmington 5, Carolina 1
WP: Sam Selman (1-0)
SV: Robinson Yambati (1)
HR: Tim Ferguson (1)
Sam Selman's 5.0 shutout innings propelled Wilmington to the road win. The lefty, KC's second-round pick in 2012, limited Carolina to one hit and two walks in his 2013 debut. Tim Ferguson started the scoring with a solo shot in the second. Jorge Bonifacio and Cheslor Cuthbert added two hits and two RBI apiece. The series wrapped up with a morning start today.
Lexington Legends
Asheville 4, Lexington 3 (13 innings)
LP: Cory Hall (0-1)
HR: None
The Legends rallied with three in the eighth, though they ultimately lost in 13 innings. Michael Antonio led the offense with three hits. Yowill Espinal, Fred Ford and Cam Gallagher added two hits apiece. Scott Alexander held Asheville to a walk and no hits over 4.0 innings of relief. The series concluded with a morning start today.


text:
Hard Hitting News. Inside Stories. Hot Action Photos.
Opinions & Ideas. Upcoming Events. Get It All In ATD.
Drivers & Crews: All of the official news and information you need to keep up to date with rules, results, points and the top manufacturers and service providers in the dirt track industry.
Track Promoters: Let us help you reach every WISSOTA racer throughout the racing season. Our great track ad programs keep you in touch with all your pitside customers every week.
Race Fans: You want to see great racing, and you want to find out what happened at the races you couldn't attend in person. We've got it all - the upcoming events at your favorite tracks and the results from virtually every WISSOTA sanctioned event.
Manufacturers, Builders & Retailers: When you want to reach the racers of the WISSOTA region, we've got the marketing vehicle that reaches every driver in every division. Put your brand or business in ATD and you can be confident that every driver will know about you.
Subscribe today. You can get it in the mail, get it online, or both!


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Emma Cooper is the Zion Lutheran Student of the Month
Send a link to a friend
14, 2014]
Emma Cooper, an eighth-grader at
Zion Lutheran School in Lincoln, has been selected as the school's
February Student of the Month.
Emma has been on the honor roll, and her ZLS activities include
cheerleading, speech team, volleyball, choir, band, track and field,
spelling bee, and geography bee.
Emma is a member of Zion Lutheran
Her church and community activities include youth group, Liftoff
program, horseback riding and writing for the Logan County Herald.
Emma most enjoys reading, writing, playing her guitar and
listening to music.
[to top of second column]
Her goal is to prosper in college and to have a successful career
doing something she loves.
Her parents are David and Bobbi Cooper of Middletown.
[Text from file received from
Zion Lutheran School, Lincoln]
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text: New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and boasts a beautiful shoreline along the Long Island Sound. Founded in 1638, New Haven created what is now known as the "Nine Square Plan" recognized as a National Planning Landmark. Additionally, New Haven is home to Yale University and founded the first public tree planting program in America giving the city the nickname "The Elm City." The large, deep New Haven Harbor and the pronounced reddish basalt trap rock ridges, respectfully known as East Rock and West Rock, are the best-known geographical features in the city.


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This ring from the Gothic Torrent collection by Catherine Bysheim, is stunning. In fact, there's lots of great jewelry from independent designers on this site, appropriately called Love2Have. www.love2have.co.uk
I want Luke Chueh's first limited edition skateboard deck.
Sweet - LIE FLAT AIRPLANE SEATS!
Max Longin has created 4 different variations of the chair, each slightly different.
The explanation of how this chair was conceived is too long to post here. It looks like the chair is made from chewing gum if you ask me.
wow. silja goetz does some pretty amazing print work.
nab has some great ideas for "connecting"...free wifi from a chair in front of his house, communication via shared playlist names in itunes. i think hes my hero.
wow, talk about simplicity. these chairs are sickeningly sleek.
FEATUREDDigital Life NYC - helping at ThisNext's booth - seeing the latest in tech. Exhausted - but have a quick roundup of what caught my eye over at .com - from the new Palm to brilliant Blurb.com
Working SteamPunk styled laptop by Ironworks.
I'm curious about Elegant Establishment architectural and pollution absorbing tile. And I love the organic shapes.
I saw Chairman Mickey Mao's bust at Munky King on Melrose today
Giles Revell : "Giles' work is influenced by seminal fine art and conceptualism, producing graphic, ideas-based imagery." Strong images and an unique vision...
im sure these arent new, but yoga paws are hilarious.
what do people think of denver's new art museum?
i know i posted the corrugated cardboard dividers before...but this laptop case is so awesome, it deserves a post on its own.
Ms. Pac-Man and Ghost rings by Tiny Armour. Adorable!
From the "Simple Words" greeting card collection at inspirico.com. They sort of say it all.
Another Web 2.0 inspired design: Radiant FM Radio
The Dolmen Mini radio looks like it was created by a Web 2.0 designer. Everything is there, the blue gradient, rounded corners, brushed metal radio buttons. The word BETA is the only thing missing!
sometimes i need these stickers. turn off the idiot box by adding "the end" and getting on with your life. get them at atypyk.
we've got the marriage of street art+ origami, so why not street wrapping paper? how would you open it though? rip it open? delicate to save the paper?
txt your darkest fears to Paul Notzold and let the fear fighter gun them down.
This rather Gothamesque bus will take you to your destination via your SMS text request, at a speed of 155mph, whilst assisting the environment running on electricity.
Very pretty animations constructed from US flight pattern information then manipulated using Adobe After Effects and/or Maya. [Reader says that it is actually made with Processing]
for some reason i love this flowery seal...and lots of other cute things on papa stour.
Show off your status by relaxing in this diamond chair by Trimode
FEATUREDi love this new ad campaign from novotel. it's chilled out to the point of slightly creepy, but really refreshing too. music by emilie simon.
FEATUREDWINDOWZOO birds have landed. On the bird silhouette theme... for anyone curious how they arrive, check out the pics at .com
Gorgeously fun birds on a wire silhouette plate by Snowden Flood
Frying Pan ~ scroll pan...
"Lotus" guitar, by Moolon.
turn your cell into a radiation-free-retro-throwback...sweet
[Editor's Note: see more at hulger.com which has been featured previously on notcot.com]
Don't forget to vote in Cooper-Hewitt's PEOPLE DESIGN AWARDS...
How adorable is this new Gooma line by Sergey Safonov, who has been working to get toy design going in Russia... LOVE the teardrop shape... they are apparently based on the seeds of the gooma tree... love those arm spikes.
Another great ad image for the day... Super Death - Istropolitana D'Arcy,Bratislava.
Oh Bentley. You're so cocky. Quality image though.
dude, i miss a lot of stuff out here! stupid work...this "spank the monkey" show looks pretty sweet.
kids have it too easy. make them vacuum as they play with these cute little snail busters.
blek le rat, first solo show, this friday, london. and im going to be out of town. =(
Sterling silver Pipe ring by Gandolfi.
Gorgeous new power strip design - Rozetkus
I've had the army guys... even scuba divers... but spacemen vs aliens in silver and green? FUN!
Just in time for halloween - Corporate zombie cube guys that glow in the dark - Please tell me you'll take action if my overworking leads me to be a laptop wielding zombie?
Swiss Jewelry line De Grisogono ~ on the subject of designer water... and luxury fitness in the form of weights and jump ropes... "THiNK FiT"
FEATUREDLouis Vuitton's Monogram Groom collection - tintin-esque illustrations on the new line of LV. Check out store front and products pictures here.
the artwork of kurt halsey frederikson...im a huge fan! acording to the site, he just finished a project for urban outfitters


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Looking forward to an empty nest.
Anyone out there looking forward to having an empty nest? I really love my kids but having a 22, 19, and 18 year old under the same roof is making crazy! I am so ready for the...
Started by Molly on 08/02/2009 in Moms Of College Kids
Last update on 01/24/2018 by Oomp74346


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Tips Page
From Wiki
The creators of this wiki are new to this wiki business too. We borrowed some of the elements on this page from [Library Success: a Best Practices Wiki] which is a great Librarian's wiki that we learned from in setting up this wiki. Thanks Library Success!
If you're brand new to the world of wikis you may be unsure how to start. Here is a quick guide with some tips. None of these are required, but many of them are helpful in creating a sense of wiki community and making the wiki more usable.
- why register - Registering lets people know who edited a page and allows all of your edits to be grouped under your name. This helps you establish a reputation -- this is important on big wikis like Wikipedia, perhaps not as much here -- and lends authority to your entries and edits. When you are registered, people can contact you through your talk page if they have questions about your entries or edits. Please note: Registering is currently required on this wiki.
- annotate - You have the option of adding little notes to your edits in the Summary box beneath the editing page. When people look at pages like the Recent Changes page, or their own watchlist, they can tell at a glance what was done to the page you edited. Check the minor edit box if you are just fixing a typo or a punctuation error.
- discuss - Every page on the wiki has a discussion page that you can use for discussing an article. This is often more useful than making an edit, having someone else undo it, and back and forth. These pages can be for asking questions about the topic, or informal coverage of a topic. Every editor also has a user talk page, which you can find by clicking on the history tab of any page that user has edited. You'll see a link to "talk" next to the signature of the editor. You can leave notes or comments just for that editor there.
- list - If you are starting a list of tips, links, or comments, or are adding to a list, you can start your addition with an asterisk (*), which shows up on the wiki like this
- Example.
- It's just a good way to set each distinct contribution off from the rest. A colon will indent what you write as you can see on this line if you look at this page in editing mode.
- look - The best way to learn how to format things on the wiki is to look at how people have formatted things on other pages. Just hit "edit" at the top of the page to see how people did what they did.
- add a new page - You can easily add a new page by putting the title of the new page inside double brackets on the front page, (or add a subpage off of any other page in the same way). Then, when you click on that link, you will be taken to a new page that you can add to.
- re-name a page - if you change your mind about the name of a page, click the <move> tab, to "move" the contents, including history and discussion page, to a new name. In order for the old name not to show under "Category" pages though, you'll need to delete, and re-add the category tags. (hint: just use <Ctrl C> to copy them before you delete, save the page, go back to the <edit> tab, and use <Ctrl V> to paste the tags back in, then save the page again.
- link to the JMRL catalog - Make it easy for your fellow readers to check the availability of the book you love, or place a hold. You can copy, paste and adapt these strings to create catalog links:
- to an author use http://aries.jmrl.org/search/a?shakespeare+william
- to a title use http://aries.jmrl.org/search/t?grapes+of+wrath
- and if neither gives you good results, use a keyword search with distinctive words from the author and title http://aries.jmrl.org/search/X?dillard+living
- add your article to a category - to do this you simply add the category tag at the end of the article. The markup looks like this [[Category:Name of Category]]
- add other external links - to do this simply put the address of the page to be linked inside a single set of brackets. The text of the link can be anything you want. Just leave a space after the address and type the text of what you'd like the viewer to see. For example: [http://www.cvillepedia.org/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page Cvillepedia] which will look like this when you save it: Cvillepedia and the little arrow tells you it's an external link.
- add an interwiki link - this is a link to another Mediawiki wiki page. To add a link to a page in Wikipedia, use the following markup [[wp:name of wikipedia article]]
- Wikis in Plain English - Enjoy this brief film explaining editing concepts!


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Happy Mother's Day, you heartless, killer psycho TV moms
None of the current crop of TV moms is likely to be voted Mother of the Year, unless the ability to put dinner on the table counts for more than mental health.
While still able to feed their offspring, the dark secrets, selfishness and emotional instability of the mothers depicted on TV often get in the way of anything resembling maternal instincts.
It's been a giant leap for TV from the Donna Reed domestic archetype to the happy, single, career-minded mom of Murphy Brown and onward to the quintessential bad mother, Tony's murderous mom Livia Soprano.
Now, the medium seems intent on exploring ever more twisted versions of mommyhood. Consider six examples from this season's standout dramas:
Some mothers have extraordinary intuition about their little ones, even a sort of psychic connection. They choose to lavish nurturing, loving care on their darlings. The exiled Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) on HBO's "Game of Thrones" is the perfect, psychically atuned mother to her brood of dragons.
Like human teenagers, her beasts sometimes spit fire, but the bond between the growing reptiles and their caregiver has been strong, since even before they hatched.
And like all devoted moms, she has big plans for their future: "When my dragons are grown, we will take back what was stolen from me and destroy those who wronged me! We will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground!"
But first, dinner.
Elizabeth Jennings, Keri Russell's Soviet agent on FX's "The Americans," packs lunches between assassinations and wig changes. Her heart wasn't in mothering through most of the excellent first season. Only after separating from her arranged marriage and feeling nostalgic about her own mother did she have a realization about possibly losing her kids. Now that her daughter is curious about what Mom's doing in the basement laundry room (where spy paraphernalia is hidden), we can look forward to great mother-daughter conflict in season 2. Guess what? Mom's not downstairs getting her whites whiter. She has a secret life and may be more attached to the Motherland than to the notion of mothering.
Mrs. Bates loves her son Norman. That's why she's turned him into a sick sociopathic mess in her own image. Norman Bates is everything to this single mother, who is dedicated to making their lodging enterprise, the Bates Motel, into a successful business no matter how many manipulations it takes. The kind of mothering portrayed in A&E's "Bates Motel" is what the experts call a soul murderer.
Vera Farmiga is impeccable as the deranged mother of all mothers in Carlton Cuse's reinvention of Hitchcock's character. Freddie Highmore, all pretty skin and sensitive eyes, is well cast as the devoted son.
The "Psycho" prequel takes a hard look at the Oedipal relationship, filling in the backstory of psychosis presented in the original film. Mommy Dearest can deal with rape, murder and motel renovations. She's just not good at letting go of her pathetic teenager Norman.
This is television peeling back layers of crazy to reveal what happens when boundaries are ignored. Once again, we've come a long way from June Cleaver.
The paternalistic "Mad Men" have their demons, but the women who serve as browbeaten or raging enablers are even more tormented. No character is more divisive than Betty Draper, now Betty Francis, played by January Jones, who makes the TV Mom list again this year. She finds her children an encumbrance. Superficially put together, a mess beneath the surface, her icy stance toward her offspring pervades the affluent home.
Her relationship with daughter Sally is a particularly rich vein of neurotic drama. Sally is becoming worldly in the 1960s in a way that makes Betty's sheltered 1950s beauty role seem pitiful. Betty recently sought out her stepdaughter in a run-down hippie building in the city (the least credible scene yet). She's tiptoeing into the modern world, not very successfully.
The teenage rape victim on Sundance Channel's "Top of the Lake" is an accidental mom who disappears at the start of the drama. The girl, Tui, may find it takes a village to care for a baby. The village in this case is an odd commune of older, reclusive women living by an alpine lake in New Zealand.
The theme of motherhood appears throughout Jane Campion's stunning seven-part miniseries, as young detective Robin Griffin (Elisabeth Moss) returns to her hometown to help solve the case of the missing teen. Her relationship with her own mother is fraught with secrets. Rape, incest, murder... it's all here in this bleak but well-constructed exploration of motherhood. Clearly, the widening awareness of the culture at large has emboldened filmmakers to explore the most primally uncomfortable spaces.
Beyond the focus on ever higher political aspirations, the basis of the marriage of Claire (Robin Wright) and Frank (Kevin Spacey) on Netflix's "House of Cards," is the agreed-upon absence of children. That was the deal when Frank proposed, and it's been the rule ever since. Claire acknowledged she has had multiple abortions as a result. The power couple give each other a pass on extramarital affairs, but they have a firm prohibition on offspring.
But now Claire, the ruthless Lady Macbeth of the piece, finds herself contemplating the possibility.
Imagine what the Underwood household would be -- it's almost unthinkable -- if a demanding new addition entered the scene. And imagine what Claire's relationship with her own mother must have been like. Will season 2 continue to tease the idea of motherhood?
That poor kid.


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When someone asks you to describe the data in your organization, a given system, or a particular database, how often do you answer in terms of storage size, growth rate, the number of tables, or the number of rows? These characteristics are certainly important for designing and maintaining an efficient and supportable solution, but I propose that instead of answering only in terms of quantity or volume, your response should also include a characterization of the data's quality. After all, it's not the amount of data that matters: it's the data's quality that's important. An organization can have the largest and fastest growing database in the world, but if it can't trust or quantify the quality of its data, the data is useless.
The term "smart data validation" describes the concept of setting up the database and processing environment to enforce validation automatically. When you're designing, implementing, and maintaining your own databases, you should consider several important aspects of database design: data ownership and stewardship; data definitions; data modeling; data normalization; nulls and data types; and data cleanup and integrity. As you read through this article's overview of these aspects, one caveat you should remember is that there are no absolutes when talking about design and implementation options. Instead, you should always consider the features, advantages, and tradeoffs of each aspect as they relate to your particular environment. If you keep this rule in mind as you read, you'll get lots of ideas for increasing your data's quality by implementing smart data-validation strategies.
Basic Concepts: Definition, Ownership, and Stewardship
Before digging into the technical details of data validation, we must begin by discussing three crucial factors that affect data quality: data definition, data ownership, and data stewardship. Failure to address these factors can lead to an inability to maintain the data's consistency and validity over time. Definition describes, in business terms, the meaning of the data.Your definitions should include not only a brief textual description of the data, but also any limiting constraints such as valid values or relationships to other data. These definitions form the basis of any rules used during data validation. (I discuss data definitions in more detail in a moment.)
Ownership refers to the people responsible for making decisions affecting the data. Some of the most important decisions that database owners make include validation of the data's definition and approving the data's acceptable
validity level (which I define later in the article).Stewardship refers to the group responsible for maintaining the data. This group includes the application developers responsible for any systems that acquire and maintain the data, the DBA responsible for storing and ensuring the data's availability, and any users who consume, create, or enter the data.
This article primarily focuses on validation as it relates to data definition and stewardship, but if you haven't established ownership, you have no place to turn for answers when you're trying to establish what data is valid or invalid. So as you begin to implement smart data-validation strategies in your own organization, start first by establishing database ownership and stewardship because they lay the foundation for all the design and implementation topics that follow.
When you keep the concepts of data definition, ownership, and stewardship in mind, defining data validation isn't as straightforward as you might expect.The definition of what constitutes "valid data" varies from one organization to another. For example, a financial organization such as a bank, credit card company, or brokerage might have stricter validation rules for its data than a government agency such as the United States Census Bureau. Furthermore, the definition of "valid data" often varies within an organization from one system to another. In a bank, the transactional checking and savings account systems might require a state of "absolute correctness," in which account balances are accurate to the penny and available to customers 24 × 7. Within the same banking organization, analytical warehousing systems might be more tolerant because account-balance information for sales pipeline analysis is required only weekly and reflects average daily balances rounded to the nearest $1,000.
Defining data validity is often a case of defining a reasonable tolerance level rather than an absolute rule for correctness. Therefore, validity levels aren't one-size-fits-all. Instead, each organization must create a validity definition that meets its particular needs and the demands of the system under consideration. I give some examples of determining "absolute correctness" in a discussion about maintaining domain integrity later in this article. Unfortunately, examples of "validation by trending" are beyond this article's scope. Now however, we must dig deeper into the idea of data definition.
The First Step: Data Definition
As I mentioned, the data's definition forms the basis for any rules you use for subsequent validation. In other words, you can't validate what you can't define. So the first step in establishing smart data validation is to acquire and verify definitions for the data.
In a perfect world, the definitions are already captured and published as part of your data repository's dictionary or as part of the system's requirements and specification documentation. However, in many organizations, the definitions are often undocumented, buried deep within the code base, and long forgotten by a staff that has since moved on in support of other systems. If you're in such a situation, consider starting a dictionary by defining the following attributes for the data entities and the items within each entity: Name, Type (Entity or Attribute), Description, Owner, ExampleValues,ValidValues, Uniqueness, an indicator of whether the value is optional or required, and a description of any known constraints. In addition, try to capture any data relationships. For examples of what the definitions of a Customer, Account, and an attribute of each in a banking organization's account management system might look like, see Web Figure 1.
After establishing data definitions, the next step in applying smart data-validation strategies is moving from requirements to design.You need to use data-modeling techniques to maintain the validity of data and incorporate appropriate metric-gathering functionality into the system's various operational processes. These processes might include Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) designs that you can use to measure changes in data volume and capturing metrics during transactional operations to assist with validation through trending.
Leveraging the Data Model
You can't ignore the effect a data model has on maintaining valid data. Poor modeling techniques and the failure to apply best practices to a model's design are the root cause of most validation and integrity problems. In her SQL by Design column, Michelle Poolet explores many concepts that are central to leveraging the data model to maintain data integrity and validity. In "The Four Integrities" (November 1999, http://www.sqlmag.com, InstantDoc ID 6200), Poolet explains how to maintain entity, referential, domain, and business integrity.
Maintaining entity integrity means validating the data within a row. Primary keys and unique constraints let developers uniquely identify each row in a table, thereby eliminating duplicates.Take a look at Figure 1, which shows the data model for three tables: Account_Type, Customer, and Account. The complete DDL code that creates these tables is available in Web Listing 1. The code snippet in Listing 1 shows that the entity Account_Type contains a primary key, account_type_id, which I implemented by using a primary key constraint. I also defined an alternate key on the description column by using a unique constraint.This design ensures unique rows in two ways: Rows are differentiated by account_type_id and by description. This implementation-provides the advantage of ensuring that account types are unique by name and it improves performance and minimizes storage by using the account_type_id to enforce any potential foreign key relationships.
Another example of entity integrity involves using a table-level check constraint to validate or compare multiple columns in a row. For example, at callout C in Listing 2, the account_balance_ck constraint in the Account table ensures that for a row to be valid, the sum of opening_balance plus current_balance must be greater than or equal to zero.
Foreign key constraints aid developers in enforcing referential integrity.As you can see at callout D in Listing 2, a foreign key constraint enforces referential integrity on the Account.account_type_id column. This constraint ensures that all values in the child column have a single corresponding value in the parent column.
Several options exist for enforcing domain integrity. Column-level check constraints enforce domain integrity by limiting a column's value to a certain range. For example, the account_opening_balance_ck constraint on the Account table at callout B enforces that the opening_balance is always greater than or equal to zero. Likewise, combining a User Defined Type (UDT) with check constraints limits any column defined by the UDT to the given domain of values. In addition, you can use foreign key constraints to enforce domain integrity by limiting a column to the defined set of values in the parent table.
Choosing between a check constraint and a foreign key constraint to enforce domain integrity can be tough. Although both move you closer to smart data validation, both impose performance and maintenance overhead related to their implementations. Carefully weigh which might be best for your particular situation. As a general rule of thumb, use a check constraint when the number of values is small and static, and use foreign key constraints through referential integrity when the number of values is larger and the values tend to be dynamic.
Within the realm of smart data validation, triggers can offer a means of enforcing business integrity (the idea of enforcing complex rules across rows and tables) and any of the other three integrity types already discussed. Although poorly written triggers are often at the heart of many performance problems, triggers can be a good tool for validating data. Just use them with care.
In considering the data model's effects on smart data validation, we can't overlook the role of normalization—or more accurately, the affect of an incorrect normalization level on maintaining data integrity. For insight into this idea, we again look to Michelle Poolet for advice. Poolet's article "WhyYou Need Data Normalization" (March 1999, InstantDoc ID 4887) explains four goals of normalization, two of which relate directly to our concept of smart data validation.The concepts Poolet covers include "... minimizing the amount of duplicate data stored in a database" and "organizing the data such that, when you modify it, you make the change only in one place."
Similar to the importance of enforcing data integrity through modeling, correctly normalizing data also has a dramatic effect on data quality. For example, data duplication increases the cost of maintenance and the corresponding risk of introducing inconsistencies. Not all data models must be in the third or fifth normal forms, but as with the other concepts in data validation, you need to carefully consider the affect of a particular normalization level on maintaining data integrity and performance.
Nulls and Data Types
A data model assists in ensuring smart data validation in two additional ways. First, a data model can help you decide whether an attribute is required. If the attribute is required, then you can force the schema to reject NULL values by setting the attribute to NOT NULL. Likewise, you can improve data validation by using constrained data types, which force data to be within a set range of values.For example,instead of using an integer to represent a two or three-state value (e.g., "null", "yes", "no") consider using a bit because by definition, a bit will allow only up to three possible values: 1, 0, and NULL. As another example, given that SQL Server represents all date values as date + time by means of the datetime data type, in situations in which you need to guarantee users are accessing "date-only" values, you can expose a standardized date, rounded to 12:00 A.M., by using computed columns instead of requiring users to remember that each query referencing the date value must manually account for the time portion as well. The opening_date and opening_datetime attributes in the Account table illustrate this technique, as the code at callout A in Listing 2 shows. Using calculated columns lets you capture exactly when an account was opened (including the time of day) while exposing a constrained version of the same value, opening_date, that lets users write simple queries without having to worry about inadvertently excluding accounts that don't happen to have been opened at exact day boundaries.
Sometimes, even with valid data, you can use small data model changes to increase reporting consistency and accuracy. This strategy focuses on incorporating a "single version of the truth" into our data models by moving complex, frequently used calculations out of our report's code and into a persisted state within the data model. Leveraging a "single version of truth" is most often associated with business intelligence solutions such as data warehouses and data marts. However, the technique is also applicable in transactional systems that use calculations such as the derivation of age from a date of birth or a more complex calculation such as the quarter-to-date average net assets within a financial system. Applying this technique often comes at a high price because of the increased performance cost of maintaining the calculated value. However, avoiding the frustration that occurs when multiple people arrive at different results for a calculation involving the same set of values often far outweighs any added performance affect.
Handling the Trash
A final rule to remember as you explore smart data validation is the often-overused but ever-true phrase "Garbage in, garbage out." Systems today do a much better job than they used to of minimizing free-form text through the use of lookup tables and edit controls for validating data that users enter in GUIs. However, users are increasingly demanding the ability to accept and capture data through direct interfaces with systems outside the database (e.g., through Web services or third-party applications).The idea of applying validation rules to each of these new entry points has not been as widely accepted. Blindly accepting data from an external system potentially reduces data quality by putting control of your data's integrity in someone else's hands. Taking appropriate precautions, such as staging and screening incoming data to ensure it adheres to the same validation rules used by the rest of the system, is essential before integrating new data and existing data sets. Similarly, interface validation must also ensure a complete data transmission, meaning the receipt of all expected rows. Failing to validate completeness introduces the risk of consistency problems as well as the potential understatement of values.
The Challenge
By looking at the topic of smart data validation, we've explored several ways a system leverages many of its own physical constructs to increase the validity and value of data. So, are your organization's systems doing all they can to maintain the highest degree of data quality? If so, then congratulations! If not, then I challenge you to take the next step to increase your data's validity by applying some of the concepts presented here.Then, the next time you describe the data in your organization, your description might even include a characterization of its quality as well.


text:
Search resumes for missing snowmobilers in Maine's Rangeley Lake
RANGELEY, Maine (AP) � Drivers have resumed their search for three snowmobilers who crashed through ice in Rangeley Lake last winter.
Maine State Police and the Maine Warden Service were focusing efforts on the area where the three machines went through the ice on Dec. 31. Recovery efforts for 40-year-old Ken Henderson, 43-year-old Glenn Henderson of Sabattus and 41-year-old John Spencer of Litchfield continued until late February.
The resumption of the search on Tuesday included the use of an underwater sonar and cadaver dogs.
Previous searches with an underwater camera and sonar spotted two of the men's snowmobiles. The snowmobilers are believed to have gone in the water on the same night a Yarmouth woman was killed when she accidentally rode her snowmobile onto the partially frozen lake.


text:
From a list of "10 Things You Didn't Know About the Fourth of July."
Happy 4th!
Also, a Meadhouse dialogue:
MEADE (singing): We carried you in our arms...And here I was thinking he was reading about the Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise divorce, within which there's the topic of Suri getting carried everywhere. I'd just read: "Kids as young as five can be sent to the military like Sea Org. I'm guessing she can't bring her child-heels or get carried everywhere, which is something Katie would not approve of."
ME: Why are you singing "Tears of Rage"?
MEADE (talk singing): ... on Independence Day...
ME: Oh....
Oh what dear daughter 'neath the sunThat's what Bob asked, mysteriously. Who is this daughter who always says "no," but waits upon him hand and foot? She sounds pretty devoted. The opposite of a daughter who says "yes," but does nothing. I'm assuming the official Bob Dylan website erroneously placed the question mark inside the quotation mark.
Would treat a father so
To wait upon him hand and foot
And always tell him, "No?"
Perhaps the song really is about Independence Day, and the daughter is the United States, carried in the arms of England....


text:
Open Government Program
All Resources
Search a listing of Government of Alberta open datasets and publications. Can't find what you are looking for? Suggest a resource.
Views: 56
January 1, 2005
This program of studies is intended for students who are beginning their study of Cree language and culture in Kindergarten or Grade 1. It constitutes the complete Cree Language and Culture Twelve-year (12Y) Program.


text:
In which issues concerning the profession of philosophy are
bitched griped about
Monday, June 27, 2011
Are There Academics Who are Satisfied with the Way Their Discipline is Portrayed in the Media?
But I was thinking about the time last year when they found "arsenic-based" life-forms. Or earlier in 2010 when they found evidence of life on Mars. Or this Ph.D. comic. And it seems to me that scientists are usually pretty annoyed with the quality of science reporting. And engineers, too. So I was kind of wondering if there is any academic field whose practitioners are generally content with the level of quality of the media reports involving its area of study or making use of its results.
--Mr. Zero
16 comments:
If they were they would not be real Scotsm--ah--Academics.
- June 27, 2011 at 8:27 AM
If you made up "whatever", that definitely belongs on your CV somewhere.
- June 27, 2011 at 9:46 AM
- Mr. Zero said...
Service to the profession.
- June 27, 2011 at 9:48 AM
Though I can´t disagree that media oversimplify scientific or scholarly matters on a regular basis, it wouldn´t be fair not to acknowledge the presence of articles in the The Stone series of good quality. They make philosophy fun for a wider audience.
- June 27, 2011 at 1:22 PM
- Mr. Zero said...
Agreed. I liked Jason Stanley's recent piece on silencing a lot.
- June 27, 2011 at 1:44 PM
We historians sure aren't too pleased.
- June 27, 2011 at 2:31 PM
I suspect that most academics are displeased with how their respective professions are portrayed in the media. But of course this is a function of the fact that they are uniquely well-suited to see the flaws in the articles being published for general consumption. And I think it is useful to keep in mind that although really inferior work presented to the public ought to be condemned for that very reason, the standards of excellence in this arena are very different than the standards of excellence in an academic journal. So I think sometimes we academics are too hasty to claim that some recently published popular piece is terrible on the grounds that it wouldn't get published in Phil Studies, when in fact it's a perfectly serviceable popular article.
- June 28, 2011 at 12:50 AM
It frustrates me that the Stanley article gets a free pass. I suspect that if it had been written by someone else--say, not a regular poster on Leiter or a Rutgers faculty member--it would have been torn to shreds.
It's not bad, but it's not good. I think that it's comparable, if a bit better, than the ones torn to shreds.
There are big, glaring problems that a charitable reader can fix in interpretation, but that would, in another article, lead immediately to the conclusion that the whole thing is garbage from beginning to end.
Two main problems:
1. Bait and switch. He starts with an apt example of "silencing": if no comes to mean yes, then you are silenced, because you can't in practice say no. (Of course, this is exaggerrated, since there are multiple speech acts for "no," so demonstrating that one of them has been dismantled doesn't mean you're silenced, but that's a lesser problem. It's probably worth noting that another author would be mocked mercilessly for using a cheesy phrase like "stealing the voices of others.") Of course, this example doesn't serve his political claims. But none of his political examples are apt. In every case--heroism, freedom, taxes, presidential and media trust, there is no "silencing," and Stanley makes no attempt to argue that there is. In the first examples, there is value laden framing that weakens, but doesn't take away, our ability to express that something is valuable or not--it diminishes the rhetorical power of speech not silences it. In the latter cases, there is just a loss of trust, which is not clearly related to silencing at all. Moreover, he doesn't make the case, allowing us to believe that these examples are analogous to the first one and don't have to be argued for.
2. Once he's left behind the purported topic of silencing completely for the topic of trust, he makes a self-defeating case. His general charge is that these are strategic political misuses of language, since they aim to politically manipulate not communicate. But if the result "silences every news organ" and makes us believe "there's no such thing as fair and balanced" then it would not be effective and would not be cause for worry. After all, no one will believe Fox or the conspiracy theorists, if that's true.
I can only conclude he doesn't know what he's talking about, has absolutely nothing of value to say, and should be mercilessly mocked. [kidding!]
- June 28, 2011 at 6:47 AM
- Mr. Zero said...
Hi anon 6:47,
I see what you're saying, but I don't share your overall dim view of the article. For one thing, I think we have to keep in mind that it was written for a popular audience. If Phil Studies asked me to referee it, I'd have rejected it. But it's in the NY Times.
I don't see it as a bait-and-switch. I see it as making a non-obvious connection between obvious instances of silencing ('no' means "maybe") and other, non-obvious (possible) instances (e.g. death tax). It seems to me that Stanley is right in thinking that the purpose of calling it a death tax is to make it impossible to effectively communicate support for the taxation of certain transfers of wealth between an estate and its heirs. Just as making 'no' mean "maybe" makes it impossible to effectively communicate that you have withheld your consent to sex. Maybe they're not the exact same thing, but they're similar.
Second, you say,
if the result "silences every news organ" and makes us believe "there's no such thing as fair and balanced" then it would not be effective and would not be cause for worry. After all, no one will believe Fox or the conspiracy theorists, if that's true.
I'm not sure I agree with you about this. I think that nobody would believe Fox in those circumstances only if they were pretty rational and had thought it through completely. A person who was a little irrational or who hadn't thought it through might continue to trust Fox, because Fox says stuff he already agrees with and he likes news that confirms is pre-existing opinions.
- June 28, 2011 at 9:11 AM
My guess would be that journalism departments (the few left) aren't unhappy. But I'm not sure they qualify as academic programs.
- June 28, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Mr. Zero,
First, sorry to derail the topic--if this is too much digression, no need to post it.
I do think the article is better than most, and I agree that, as a popular piece, it needn't be held to as high a standard.
I'd say it's good despite problems, but adding that it's not so *very* much better than the ones many commentors on the phil blogs go into critical conniptions over. None are great, some are better, but they're not as bad as often made out to be, and I don't think they're consistently held to the same standard.
Maybe Stanley does intend the view you suggest, but it's not convincing. The purpose of calling it a death tax is to get thoughtless people to oppose it without examining it closely. It doesn't silence one's opponents but deafens one's supporters. It's a complementary but distinct strategy.
I think this is an important difference, since "silencing" in the age of the internet is a futile strategy, but contemporary media is very well suited to "deafening," both by enabling a lazy reluctance to examine opposing views and by excessive noise, making it impossible to filter in the good info and arguments.
I do agree that, among the semi-irrational, skepticism will fall more heavily on sources that contradict prior beliefs, prevent the strategy's self-defeat. But if so, I think that undermines Stanley's final claim of a growing view of all media as insincere and untrustworthy. Instead, it suggests a more dangerous outcome: a conveniently narrow skepticism that reinforces trust in media sources that mirror our prejudices--a corresponding growth of trust as gullibility.
- June 28, 2011 at 12:29 PM
I don't understand why we should take our cues from other Academics when it comes to this. There might be another problem involved. Academics have become too detached from the lives of their students. It's the holier-than-thou attitude that makes people hate professors.
If you don't like an article write a letter to the editor. Don't critique from the sidelines.
There is a long history of public philosophers in the U.S. from which to take heed when it comes to this sort of thing. Dewey did it, Russell did it. And Peter Singer and Cornel West are doing it right now. What are you afraid of?
- June 28, 2011 at 11:24 PM
I know a psychologist who says that he has given up expecting even to be quoted accurately in the papers.
But it is not just academics. Is there anybody anywhere who expects their area of expertise to be represented accurately in the media?
- June 29, 2011 at 2:26 AM
- Mr. Zero said...
The purpose of calling it a death tax is to get thoughtless people to oppose it without examining it closely. It doesn't silence one's opponents but deafens one's supporters.
But isn't that literally what happens when you make 'no' mean "maybe"? You deafen her "partner" to her refusal. Maybe that shows that "silencing" is somewhat of a misnomer; I don't think it shows that calling it a death tax is not akin to making 'no' mean "maybe."
One thing that is different is that in the classic case an old word is given a new meaning, whereas in the contentious case an old concept is given a new, misleading name. So the mechanism is somewhat different.
if so, I think that undermines Stanley's final claim of a growing view of all media as insincere and untrustworthy. Instead, it suggests a more dangerous outcome: a conveniently narrow skepticism that reinforces trust in media sources that mirror our prejudices--a corresponding growth of trust as gullibility.
- June 29, 2011 at 8:58 AM
I have found it to be an iron-clad law that any newspaper article about anything I know something about will contain at least one factual error, even if it's just getting the name of a street wrong. It bothers me that this doesn't seem to do much to shake my general confidence in the accuracy of newspaper articles.
- June 30, 2011 at 9:46 AM
- Joshua Harwood said...
I thought that the consensus was that media portrayals were a sort of necessary evil to generate wider interest in academic specialties.
Keep in mind that the job of a journalist often demands condensing difficult material into something that Joe the Plumber would read. I expect a lot of dumbing-down at the cost of precision.
Dominic, you wrote: "Is there anybody anywhere who expects their area of expertise to be represented accurately in the media?"
That's a more poignant observation.
I think it helps to think of academics as Trekkies who found a means to survival at educational institutions. Of course they can crap all over "laypeople" for messing up the details, and that's got its own paying audience; but I personally wouldn't take the time to crap on everybody who, say, misunderstands Löb's theorem, or suffers the use/mention fallacy, etc.
- July 6, 2011 at 11:04 AM


text: Since it is the end of the month I have updated the starring system on my surname list that indicates the newest names. Have to confess that this has not been an inspiring month from the viewpoint of tending the tree. Too many other commitments as the summer approaches so I have not added a single new surname to the list in June. I have found more relatives with already known surnames though, so I have not been completely idle. Any new surnames that I find in July will be flagged with two stars until the next month end.


text:
Monday, October 25, 2010
When There's No More Room In Dog Hell
Posted by Rot at 2:25 PM
Labels: blood, designwallah, dog, flickr.com, gore, zombie dog, zombie walk, zombies
6 comments:
- Scott said...
He looks almost like the dog at the end of the 80's zombie classic, 'Night of the Creeps!'
- October 25, 2010 at 5:19 PM
- Jay's Shadow said...
I think it would be cool to witness one of those zombie walks.
- October 25, 2010 at 5:29 PM
- J.P. said...
This made me crack up laughing when I saw it. I guess it's so funny because the it's almost as if the dog totally knows what his owners did to him... and he absolutely loves it!
- October 25, 2010 at 5:55 PM
- The Captain said...
That zombie walk had a lot of really nice looking lady zombies? Where have all the normal and ugly zombies gone?
- October 25, 2010 at 8:35 PM
- "Strublay" said...
"Pleze to come down here? I wantz to eatz your brainz, can't reach."
- October 26, 2010 at 12:54 AM
- IckyDogCreations said...
My hubby and I went to the Zombie Crawl in Denver last Saturday. It was our first time and WILL NOT be our last!!! Over 7000 zombies turned out and it was crazy fun!!!!
- October 27, 2010 at 10:46 AM
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text:
When I was too young to notice plot holes, illogical actions, over-moralizing, and other stupidities, I thought The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) was edge-of-the-seat scary and fascinating. For many years I daydreamed about owning a watch that could stop everything except me.
In 2 years, The War of the Worlds (1953) came out. It impressed me almost as much as The Day the Earth Stood Still, but the enjoyment lasted for many more years and many more viewings. It was scary and fascinating also, but slowly became my #1 because it was more realistic and not as preachy.
In 3 more years, Forbidden Planet (1956) appeared. It was fun, scary, fantastic, and cerebrally satisfying. It easily took the #1 spot, where it stayed for 12 years.
In 4 more years, The Time Machine (1960) was released. Very enjoyable. It remained a favorite along with War of the Worlds for many years. However, Forbidden Planet remained #1.
In 8 more years, the big one hit the theaters. 2001: A space odyssey (1968). For my taste, the best yet. No bug-eyed monsters. No evil bad guys. No plot-holes. No overt moralizing. No bad science. No childish dialog. No cheesy acting. Well, maybe a little. All in all, a lot more realistic than all previous Sci-fi movies.
It was just adventure on a grand scale. From the beginning of intelligent life to the (near) contact with a Godlike intelligence. It also had quiet, personal moments that helped make it believable. The grand space vistas were very emotional to this space and science lover. The classical music was a perfect compliment. I don't remember hearing the opening number before, but it was very impressive with the very low bass note ushering-in the dramatic "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", and impressive first view of earth. Also very thrilling was "The Blue Danube" accompanying the space shuttle waltzing with the space station (docking).
I must admit though, that it wasn't perfect. Even on first viewing, as incredibly impressive as it was to this 27 year old "youngster", I thought the psychedelic color graphics near the end of the show were a bit cheesy and went on way too long. Also, the weird 'music' and weird stuff happening to the astronaut at the end didn't do anything for me. The end message was also confusing.
Those negatives combined with the slow parts made it slowly loose it's impressiveness on repeat viewings. After watching it many times, it's now mostly boring. Without humor, all movies loose attractiveness on repeat viewings.
While I'm at it, I never considered it number 1, but I have to give honorable mention to the next Sci-fi I liked. It came 6 years later. Silent Running (1972), had poor dialog, poor acting, and the basic premise is incredibly stupid. However, I liked the 3 cute klutzy robots, the songs by Joan Baez, and the self-sacrifice of the hero. Didn't hold-up to many repeat viewings, but I enjoyed it for a time.
Another honorable mention came 2 years later. Logan's Run (1976) had quite a bit of cheese, poor dialog, and poor acting (coughFarrahFawcettMajorscough), but the second half picked-up considerably, mostly due to the humor and quality acting of Peter Ustinov. I never considered it the best, but I still like watching it every year.
Eight years later, the sequel to 2001 hit the market. 2010 (1984) was not very popular, but I enjoyed it a lot, and still do because there is more humor, the characters are more well-developed & likable, the Godlike intelligence's plan is more understandable, it's not confusing, and the ending is satisfying. I now like 2010 much better than 2001.
One year later, the first of a great trilogy began. Back to the Future/s (1985/89/90) were great because they had very good actors & dialog, a good time-travel story, but mostly because they had a ton of humor. Purists may say they're Comedies, not Sci-fi movies, but humor does so much for me these days, and is so re-watch-able, that I don't care. My favorite Sci-fis these days are comedies.
I very much like the acting and humor of Christopher Lloyd, and in this trilogy, he does a great job as a slightly ditzy scientist hero. The last of the trilogy is my favorite because he falls for a girl that's very likable and a great beauty. They're also closer to my age than most movie love-story couples. That helps.
A year after the first Back to the Future, were two more honorable mentions. Short Circuit (1986) is the funny story of a warrior robot that accidentally becomes self-aware and decides to be a nice-guy, using the "do unto others" line of reasoning. Still a fun watch after all these years. Short Circuit 2 (1988), is almost as good. Fisher Stevens is a great comic in both these movies.
The second in that year, Little Shop of Horrors (1986) is a darkly humorous take-off of the Sci-fi/horror genre. Lots of great actors and lots of humor. A musical with good music and a good love-story. Still watch-able after all these years.
The same year as the last Back to the Future part III (1990), appeared a Sci-fi "B-movie" that I thought was very enjoyable. Tremors (1990) had lots of humor, and was believable because the characters acted like real people act. Tremors 2 (1996) became just as enjoyable after a few viewings. Tremors 3 and 4 are not near as good, but are still watch-able.
Three years later, and we have Bicentennial Man (1999). Another not so popular movie that's very popular with me. Another artificial intelligence becoming self-aware. Very funny and quite emotional.
I must also mention that in the same year, a TV series started that was as good as most Sci-Fi movies for my taste. Futurama (1999-2003). A greatly humorous take-off of just about every piece of popular entertainment and newsworthy stories, as well as quite a bit of Sci-fi. Again, not very popular, but hits my funny-bone nicely. The spin-off movies, however, were a big let-down.
The next year Mission to Mars (2000) came forth to not-so-thunderous applause. Actually, just a very scattered applause. But I'm one that applauded, and still do every year. Believable and emotional.
Two years later, there were two Sci-Fi comedies that I liked. The adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), received a standing hisss/booo, with the exception of yours truly. I laugh and enjoy myself greatly every time it's in the DVD player. Randy Quaid as the robot Bruno, is very funny.
The second 2002 movie was to some just a childish sci-fi comedy. But it instantly became (and still is) my favorite movie of all time (of any genre). Lilo & Stitch (2002), is an animated Sci-fi comedy with a very emotional story of family and friendship. As seems to be the case with a lot of my favorite Sci-fi movies it's about an artificial intelligence. This one is programmed by an "evil genius" to be super-powerful and destructive. Why? Just for the fun of it. Again, the intelligence learns to go counter to it's programming with the help of a young girl. She teaches it what "family" means, which is the reason it resonates with me so emotionally. The music goes perfectly with the movie and it probably goes without saying that the humor is my type and in great quantities.
It takes another 6 years before another favorite Sci-fi appears. Wall-E (2008), struck me as good, but not great. However, it has become more enjoyable on second and third viewing. Once more, it's a story of an artificial intelligence that exceeds his programming. This time, he inadvertently saves humanity while pursuing his love-interest.
Views: 540
I love Star Trek, Star Wars, and The Chronicles of Riddick - so many I could list here.
I love the ones you listed Spud. Those are good movies.
I like the first 3 Star Wars (IV, V, & VI). "I" was partly enjoyable (I'm one of the few that found Jar Jar Binks to be funny), but didn't like "II" & "III".
I've watched all of the Star Trek series and movies. I like quite a few episodes, my favorite being "The Trouble With Tribbles", because of the comedy of course. My favorite Star Trek movies are "The Voyage Home" and "First Contact".
However, there are some Star Trek's that just annoy me too much because Captain Kirk acts so childish. I wouldn't hire him as a dog-catcher, let alone a Star Ship Captain. I know, I'm a curmudgeon!
I liked Pitch Black just a little, but haven't seen The Chronicles of Riddick.
One you didn't mention which, while it has its faults, has a measure of intrigue, at least for yours truly, and that is Steven Soderbergh's take on Solaris. I suppose it's as much character study as it is science-fiction, but it has a quality I enjoy while completely avoiding being the kind of space opera which too often attempts to pass for science-fiction.
I watched parts of Solaris on TV, but kept going to other channels & coming back. Psychological stories/character studies are just not my thing.
What about Contact? I thought that movie was fascinating. The simple fact that is was spawned from Carl Sagan gave it high marks in my book.
Seconded, enthusiastically so. In addition to the quality of the science-fiction of Contact, there is also the matter of the main character, Ellie Arroway, and her excellent portrayal of an positive, assertive yet non-combative atheist.
Also poignant - when the original machine was destroyed by a religious zealot, who martyred himself in the process, so that questions about the unknown could remain unknown, thereby protecting the faiths of billions of clueless religionists.
Good thing for this rule:
First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?
I loved the premise and the atheistic female scientist. The huge machine thrilled me because I love technology. So, I liked it quite a bit on first viewing, but, sorry to say, I noticed too many things that annoyed me on the second viewing.
I always get very annoyed at religious fools of course. Then, if I remember right, I got annoyed with her for falling for the sleazy guy. And finally, I like resolution, and this movie had none. I hate being left up in the air.
I'd be cool with a sequel to clear things up. I know what you mean about that whole romance thing, though - seems like hollywood feels that shuffling a romance into an already good movie always makes it better.
I've seen all the films you listed and enjoyed most of them. However, my all time favorite has to be Blade Runner, based on Phillip Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Also, among my favorites are Brazil and The Bicentennial Man (although the book was much better)
There are a mountain of SF novels that would make great films and I wish they would produce more. With CG technology almost any novel could be a great film. I enjoyed Dune, but if one had not read the book it was largely incomprehensible.
With CG technology almost any novel could be a great film.
I was really excited when Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was announced, but ultimately I thought the movie fell a bit flat. There's no way to compete on the screen with what Douglas Adams managed to put into words.
Haven't read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but the movie didn't do much for me.
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A villa oozing style! A stunning property in a great location with private pool and walled mature gardens. Sea and mountain Views!
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£65.000 Fully furnished quality apartments available with 2 pools on a great site Ovacik Turkey
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Fully furnished duplex apartment in a great location close to the sea, cafes, Restaurants and beach.
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Fully furnished 2 bedrooms apartment, with own bathroom sleeping 4 people. Large shared pool and spacious garden area for children to play in. Being only a 3 minute walk to the Hisaronu Center - with many restaurants bars and cafes. This apartment has wonderful pool and mountain view...
Single storey accommodation
Property Features
Single Storey Apartment
Communal Pool and Communal Garden
2 bedrooms and 1 living room
1 bathroom ( Communal Bathroom )
Sleeps up to 4
Single storey accommodation Layout of Floors
Ground Floor
Lounge: Lovely bright open plan lounge/dinning room and table with seating for 4 people, opens onto large balcony looking to pool and well kept garden, modern sofas with matching coffee table, TV with Satellite ( Turkish and English Channels ), DVD player, Patio Doors, Terrace and A/C Unit
Kitchen: Open plan kitchen, is fully equipped for 4+people, includes Oven, Hob, Fridge/freezer, Washing Machine, Microwave, Toaster, Kettle and A/C Unit
Bedroom: Double Bed, A/C Unit
Bedroom: Twin Beds, A/C Unit
Bathroom: Communal Bathroom with Shower, WC, Single washbasin
Terrace: Balcony with garden furniture overlooking the pool
Other: Air conditioning in all rooms and lounge, Iron, Hair dryer, Safe box
Villa facilities
FREE A/C, FREE heating via A/C, Sunbeds/Umbrellas, Garden Furniture, Terrace
Cleaning/Towels/Linen/Maid Service
Please note that towels and linen are provided, and are all clean before arrival, the villa is also cleaned before you arrive. Included in your accommodation price is a basic food arrival welcome pack of tea, coffee, milk, sugar, bread, jam, cheese, eggs, butter, biscuits, water and fruit juice; a weekly clean/change of bedding and a meet and greet visit by Profesional Tourist Guide. Please email for cot and high chair requests.
Nearest Airport: 62 km, 1 hour drive from Dalaman Airport
Nearest Beach: 3 km by dolmus to Oludeniz Blue Lagoon
Hisaronu Center: 3 minutes walk to the center of Hisaronu
Fethiye City Center: 12 km, 10 minutes drive / public transport to Fethiye
Nearest Restaurant/Cafe: 300 m, 3 minutes by walking distance to Complex
Nearest Bar: 300 m, 3 minutes by walking distance to Complex
Nearest Mini/Supermarket: 50 m, 1 minutes by walking distache to Complex
Area Information
The touristic resort of Ovacık and Hisarönü are at the top of the hill on the Fethiye - Oludeniz road. The altitude of approximately 300 metres gives respite from the summer heat during the main holiday season. There are numerous accomodation facilities as well as restaurants, bars, shops, childrens fairground, go-karting and evening entertainment.
Services included
Accommodation in fully furnished property
Welcome Pack
Use of utilities (air conditioning, electricity, water, gas, etc.)
Welcome meeting, key and info pack handling by English speaking representatives ( Profesional Tourist Guide )
Written and verbal information pack
Bend Linens and towels provided in the villa
Mid-stay Cleanings including Change of Linen & Towels ( For 2 weeks stay )
Your Rep available at any time on 24 hours call number
Maintanance for the villa, complex, pool and garden
Extra Services
Private airport transfers, Rent a car,
Baby Cot 20 GBP per week, high chair 10 GBP per week
Booking Procedure
You let us know that you would like to book, and then we provisionally reserve your dates
You send the % 25 deposit of the rental cost into our bank account
We confirm your booking and send you your booking form upon receipt of the deposit
The balance of the rental cost and the cost for any extra service if you riquired are charged cash on your arrival
All payments can be done in GBP, Euro, Dolar or Turkish Lira
Basically the check-in time is 3 pm and the check-out time is 10 am. We will try to be as flexible as possible, unless there is a new guests arrival at nearer times
Breakage deposit equivalent to 100 GBP is charged from the guests on arrival and refunded upon the satisfactory property inspection before departure
When buying our Villa in Turkey, Ronnie was on hand to guide us through the whole process. The purchase went very smoothly, without any problems at all. We were advised on every aspect.
After two bad experiences in purchasing property abroad i gave it one last shot, contacting Ronnie


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BY ANGELA HOPP AND JULIE McCLURE
Parag Chitnis, director of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences at the National Science Foundation, first arrived at the agency in 2002 on loan from his university for what he thought would be a relatively brief stint as a program director. But, as often happens, life had other plans. Instead of heading back to Iowa State University to continue his research on plant biochemistry, he was promoted to deputy director and then director of the division. Chitnis, who once was a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and who served on its Education and Professional Development Committee for several years, talked with ASBMB Today Editor Angela Hopp and the society's science policy fellow, Julie McClure, about what kinds of research projects the NSF is looking to fund.
ASBMB: Why do you think it's important for our readers to understand better what's going on at the MCB division? Chitnis: Most of the NSF funding for the ASBMB membership comes from my division, followed by the Division of Chemistry and Division of Physics, because some of the biophysical and chemical biology work is supported by those other divisions.
ASBMB: What are the primary differences between the NSF and the National Institutes of Health in terms of the nature of projects that are sought?Chitnis: The first thing is that the division itself tries to give higher priority to quantitative, predictive and theory-driven science. So a combination of computation and experiment is preferred over just experimental research using traditional approaches … The other area that I think the NSF really takes pride in is exploring the frontiers at the intersections of biology with other disciplines – chemistry, physics, math, computer science, also engineering. Because all of those disciplines are supported by NSF and those divisions are here under the same roof, we make an extra effort to encourage research at these interfaces.
ASBMB: Are there specific funding mechanisms at the NSF that support projects that span the disciplines?Chitnis: There are some new mechanisms, but the regular grants that are submitted to NSF are reviewed (for that crossover). In the case of MCB, 10 percent of our awards are co-funded with other directorates. What program directors do, if there is something that crosses the discipline, is go and talk to the program directors in that discipline and co-review those proposals. And, if the proposals do well in the review process, program directors in different divisions co-fund them.I think readers probably want to be aware of this so they don't try to limit their project just because they think, "Oh, this is too physical, and I don't want to send it to a division in the Biology Directorate." Because they need to realize that, even though some aims are more physical or very much chemistry, we have a mechanism to review those things. I think we want (principal investigators) to consider their projects without thinking about disciplinary boundaries.There is a new mechanism called CREATIV (for Creative Research Awards for Transformative Interdisciplinary Ventures) that's for interdisciplinary science that is really high-risk and high-impact. Up to a million dollars can be given without external review if program directors in two or more disciplines agree to fund one. Again, this program was created to address the same issue: Are there projects that don't fit in one or more disciplines, and are we losing those?
ASBMB: What kinds of projects really aren't in line with the NSF's goals and strategies?Chitnis: The projects that are funded by the Biology Directorate are for basic science purposes and not for their health relatedness. What we look at is the impact of the project on the advancement of science in general – basic principles – and not because it's important for finding a drug for a disease. In enzymology, for example, if it's just another enzyme with the same kind of mechanism that is already known, we would be less interested in funding that type of project, but it may be perfectly fine to be funded at the NIH, because that enzyme is involved in a metabolism important for a disease. The other major difference is we want applicants to address how a project integrates education and research. And that's what we call the "broader impacts" criteria. It's in addition to the intellectual merit, and we take it very seriously.
ASBMB: Can you give us some examples of broader impacts in projects funded now?Chitnis: For example, Hazel Holden (of the University of Wisconsin-Madison) has a project where she took crystallography to middle schools. A typical broader impact is involving and mentoring undergraduates in your research. Another one is taking examples from your research to your classroom.
ASBMB: Do some of these broader impacts criteria involve public outreach?Chitnis: Yes, they do. We had one that involved preparing videos for public outreach. There are some whose broader impacts involve going to public meetings and presenting. There is one (Faculty Early Career Development Program, or CAREER) grant awardee in Alabama who is doing evolution-related outreach events for the public. And people can ask for funds in their budgets for this kind of activity.
ASBMB: Are there differences in the sizes of the grants or the durations compared with the NIH?Chitnis: We can fund up to five years, and I think we'd emphasize that the award duration should be in proportion to the scope of the project. It should be something the PI decides. Unless the review says that there isn't enough work to do for five years, we do not adjust duration. But otherwise, what the PI asks for we give them. Our current median size is $200,000 a year, and that includes indirect costs. But, of course, the range is from $100,000 to $1 million a year. Last year's funding rate of MCB was about 16 percent.
ASBMB: The deadline structure at the MCB division has changed. Can you tell us about those adjustments?Chitnis: About a year ago, the division changed its practices based on the advice of an external committee, which comes and evaluates us every three years. We had deadlines every six months, and they told us that wasn't enough time for meaningful revision if the grant gets declined, because once the PI found out, there were only a few weeks left before the next deadline. That's not enough time to revise the proposal meaningfully. So we shifted the cycle length to eight months. Now we have at least two months for the PI to revise. Also, instead of four cycles every two years, now we have three cycles every two years. Some of the other divisions in the BIO directorate have moved to one cycle a year, but most of those divisions may not be relevant to ASBMB members. Now we are evaluating the impact of this change on the PIs and the review process.ASBMB: How do you see these deadline changes affecting those seeking tenure? If there are fewer opportunities for submitting proposals throughout the year, isn't that going to push tenure back even further for them?Chitnis: For the beginning investigator, they have five chances in two years. They can also send us CAREER proposals separately. Deadlines for those CAREER proposals are in July. The funds for CAREER and regular proposals come from the same pot, so the funding rate is about the same. These (CAREER awards) are five-year grants for untenured assistant professors where they talk about their research as well as their educational activities to start off their career. The size is about the same in MCB at $200,000 a year for five years for a CAREER grant.
ASBMB: Are there other differences between the NSF and the NIH you want to emphasize?Chitnis: At NSF, the program directors make funding decisions, while the panels, the equivalent of study sections at NIH, are advisory to program directors. The panels put the proposals into categories instead of numerical scores, and then the program directors look at all those highly rated proposals and prepare a list of projects that will complement and advance the portfolio of projects that are already funded. That would mean balancing the demographics, diversity, types of projects, areas of science. NSF's responsibility is, even though we are not a mission agency, to have the top scientific infrastructure in the country, so that's why we look at the geographical distribution or different areas of science or different types of institutions.
ASBMB: What can you tell us about the NSF program directors?Chitnis: About half of our program directors come from a university on loan, and they go back to the university. They come here for one to two years. So we have a direct connection to the community that we serve. The remaining program directors are permanent. And when they get hired, they are typically tenured, full professors at universities, and we hire them because they have had strong records of publication, grantsmanship, vision for the future directions in science, and they can represent the community well.
ASBMB: What other ways do you get input from the scientific community?Chitnis: We have a lot of other mechanisms to get community input in what we do and what we think are the future exciting areas, and I think that is very important for us in making those funding decisions. Holding workshops is one way to do it. For example, there was one about RNA and protein folding last summer, which tried to bring together RNA folding people and protein folding researchers so that we can find out what the real challenges are and what we can do about it.
ASBMB: Is there anything you want to emphasize to readers considering submitting to the NSF?Chitnis: I think what we are really looking for is high-risk, high-impact ideas that will advance the field substantially, because those have a better chance for us to make a bigger impact on the progress of science. Some of the projects we funded, even though the peer review didn't rate them highly, ended up starting new fields or the PI won NIH Director's Pioneer Awards.
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