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For my final project in physical computing, I wanted to follow through with one of my pre-ITP goals to accomplish during the program, which I outlined in an older blog post.
I wanted to build an inventory system which used RFID/wifi/whatever to check stuff in to boxes, so that when I needed to find something, I could pull it up on my phone or in a browser and ask it where it was, and the box it was in would glow with LED light. At the same time, these boxes and things would become individuals and traits, respectively, that I could add to or subtract from to create objects with personalities.
Because I hate having to wait for the delivery, here are some videos showing it in action:
Pinging an object from the Wheredipuddit interface:
Pinging an object via QR code (I would show this via a cellphone but I didn't have another camera):
Checking in emotions into a box:
Some Inspirations for This Project
This was an idea somewhat fleshed out in Cory Doctorow's book "Makers". The book involves two hackers who work together in a junkyard to produce lots of low-tech but highly ingenious inventions and gadgets that end up making modestly large amounts of money. Serial tinkerer-capitalists or something. Some of the relevant text, from Cory Doctorow's free (!) online version of "Makers":
Tjan opened the door with a flourish and she stepped in and stopped short. When she'd left, the place had been a reflection of their jumbled lives: gizmos, dishes, parts, tools and clothes strewn everywhere in a kind of joyful, eye-watering hyper-mess, like an enormous kitchen junk-drawer.
Now the place was *spotless* — and what's more, it was *minimalist*. The floor was not only clean, it was visible. Lining the walls were translucent white plastic tubs stacked to the ceiling.
"You like it?"
"It's amazing," she said. "Like Ikea meets *Barbarella*. What happened here?"
Tjan did a little two-step. "It was Lester's idea. Have a look in the boxes."
She pulled a couple of the tubs out. They were jam-packed with books, tools, cruft and crud — all the crap that had previously cluttered the shelves and the floor and the sofa and the coffee table.
"Watch this," he said. He unvelcroed a wireless keyboard from the side of the TV and began to type: T-H-E C-O. . . The field autocompleted itself: THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, and brought up a picture of a beaten-up paperback along with links to web-stores, reviews, and the full text. Tjan gestured with his chin and she saw that the front of one of the tubs was pulsing with a soft blue glow. Tjan went and pulled open the tub and fished for a second before producing the book.
"Try it," he said, handing her the keyboard. She began to type experimentally: U-N and up came UNDERWEAR (14). "No way," she said.
"Way," Tjan said, and hit return, bringing up a thumbnail gallery of fourteen pairs of underwear. He tabbed over each, picked out a pair of Simpsons boxers, and hit return. A different tub started glowing.
"Lester finally found a socially beneficial use for RFIDs. We're going to get rich!"
"I don't think I understand," she said.
"Come on," he said. "Let's get to the junkyard. Lester explains this really well."
He did, too, losing all of the shyness she remembered, his eyes glowing, his sausage-thick fingers dancing.
"Have you ever alphabetized your hard drive? I mean, have you ever spent any time concerning yourself with where on your hard drive your files are stored, which sectors contain which files? Computers abstract away the tedious, physical properties of files and leave us with handles that we use to persistently refer to them, regardless of which part of the hard drive currently holds those particular bits. So I thought, with RFIDs, you could do this with the real world, just tag everything and have your furniture keep track of where it is.
"One of the big barriers to roommate harmony is the correct disposition of stuff. When you leave your book on the sofa, I have to move it before I can sit down and watch TV. Then you come after me and ask me where I put your book. Then we have a fight. There's stuff that you don't know where it goes, and stuff that you don't know where it's been put, and stuff that has nowhere to put it. But with tags and a smart chest of drawers, you can just put your stuff wherever there's room and ask the physical space to keep track of what's where from moment to moment.
"There's still the problem of getting everything tagged and described, but that's a service business opportunity, and where you've got other shared identifiers like ISBNs you could use a cameraphone to snap the bar-codes and look them up against public databases. The whole thing could be coordinated around 'spring cleaning' events where you go through your stuff and photograph it, tag it, describe it — good for your insurance and for forensics if you get robbed, too."
He stopped and beamed, folding his fingers over his belly. "So, that's it, basically."
Perry slapped him on the shoulder and Tjan drummed his forefingers like a heavy-metal drummer on the side of the workbench they were gathered around.
They were all waiting for her. "Well, it's very cool," she said, at last. "But, the whole white-plastic-tub thing. It makes your apartment look like an Ikea showroom. Kind of inhumanly minimalist. We're Americans, we like celebrating our stuff."
"Well, OK, fair enough," Lester said, nodding. "You don't have to put everything away, of course. And you can still have all the decor you want. This is about clutter control."
"Exactly," Perry said. "Come check out Lester's lab."
"OK, this is pretty perfect," Suzanne said. The clutter was gone, disappeared into the white tubs that were stacked high on every shelf, leaving the work-surfaces clear. But Lester's works-in-progress, his keepsakes, his sculptures and triptychs were still out, looking like venerated museum pieces in the stark tidiness that prevailed otherwise.
Tjan took her through the spreadsheets. "There are ten teams that do closet-organizing in the network, and a bunch of shippers, packers, movers, and storage experts. A few furniture companies. We adopted the interface from some free software inventory-management apps that were built for illiterate service employees. Lots of big pictures and autocompletion. And we've bought a hundred RFID printers from a company that was so grateful for a new customer that they're shipping us 150 of them, so we can print these things at about a million per hour. The plan is to start our sales through the consultants at the same time as we start showing at trade-shows for furniture companies. We've already got a huge order from a couple of local old-folks' homes."
I kind of read into the book a post-Apple world, where the production process has become so hyper and quick in order to account for gadgetphiles' fickle tastes that smaller ideas are put into mass production, that grand visions are no longer marketable in a soon-enough timeframe. What we're seeing today is the democratization of hardware, following in the shadow of software's reign, which has dominated the last 30 years or so. With lots of small shops now selling microcontrollers, Radio Shack retooling its stores to sell circuitry components once again, and the advent of the internet of things and sensor-based objects that are learning how to sense the world around them, our world is going autonomous. Think military drones, but on smaller scales and for more common-day applications.
Having boxes talk made me think of the TED Talk by the MIT student who built small toy blocks, Siftables, with screens on them which had accelerometers and sensors to detect tilting, proximity to other blocks, etc. and could be configured immediately to play games instructed by the nearby computer:
My classmate Mark Breneman was telling me to look into near-field communication, or NFC. It's included in the Nexus S phone for Android:
This will probably obsolete RFID, but right now it's not quite cheap enough for usage in the same way that the ID-12 and other RFID readers are. Its security is an improvement upon RFID though, so it will likely win for more complicated applications. I'd love to continue doing projects related to presence, identification, and communication using these techs though.
Another classmate (and make: contributor) Matt Richardson sent me this project, "Doh", which uses RFID and Arduino to help you remember your wallet and keys before heading out the door.
Planning and Ordering Stuff
Here is a sketch I drew for what I want to build, along with some of the components I already ordered to make it work.
"EL tape" in the top-right should read "digital RGB LED strip". I bought both but ended up just using the digital RGB LED strip.
I wanted the Indiana Jones-y guy at the bottom to be significantly jowly, as he is in the film, but I think I just ended up messing up his whole head. I love that quote though. "We have top men working on it right now." "Who?" "TOP. MEN."http://youtube.com/watch?v=q6-rQ6Jay6w
I'd love to have a tour of some of the tech behind Walmart's and UPS's logistics systems, which reportedly make use of RFID to help with real-time inventory. The breadth of data and the information that they must be able to extract from it all is staggering to think about.
My system was only composed of two working boxes though, since it gets rather expensive quickly to get wifi-capable microcontrollers (I got Diamondbacks from cutedigi), RFID kits, some RFID stickers, digital RGB LED strips (to make the tupperware boxes I'll get to glow), 4AA battery packs from Radio Shack to power the microcontrollers, and other assorted power connectors. I also got some LED screens in case I wanted to do some interface stuff. The tupperware I bought at KMart. I had to order plastic PVC ID cards off Amazon.com, as they are surprisingly hard to find in town (Staples didn't even have them). Maybe they are a somewhat controlled item because people use them to make fake IDs?
Now, having never played with any of these things, and having never done a physical computing project of this magnitude, I was fully expecting that I would have pieces that wouldn't work with each other (I'm worried about the cards/tags/stickers and RFID readers being compatible), and that I may have had to buy MORE stuff. I chose this project because I thought it'd be doable, given my experience and the capability of the hardware.
What I wanted to do is just prototype a simple inventory system where each box has a scanner that lets me "check in/out" objects on an RFID reader, which then passes the data over wifi to my server, which then displays a nice PHP script showing where stuff is. If I want to find something, the PHP script asks the box that contains it to light up. That's about it. And maybe, if I had enough time, I could let the boxes talk to each other in some silly way. If I had time. And if things didn't blow up in my face.
Well, things kind of blew up in my face. I gave myself plenty of time, but I ran into tons of problems. Here's the process:
Sparkfun RFID Starter Kit
I bought a couple RFID starter kits from Sparkfun, which include 2 ID-card sized 125KHz cards, an ID-12 RFID module, and an RFID reader breakout board. I tested the RFID readers by just plugging in a mini-USB to USB cable I bought from cutedigi. Those read fine, displaying the RFID card codes into the ZTerm modem comms app for OS X. That working, I then tried to get the reader to work when connected to my Arduino Uno, using the code posted by Nick Gammon on the Arduino forum. Soldered wires to the VCC (5V), GND (ground), and TX. Made sure to not have the TX wire attached to the RX pin on the Arduino while uploading the above sketch. Then, success! Successful reading of RFID numbers to Arduino's serial monitor!
RGB LED Strips
My next task was to get my LPD8806 digital RGB LED strips to work with my Arduino Uno.
Several other students had worked with the strips for their physical computing projects, so I got some good tips on what transistors, shields, etc. to use for EL tape and EL wire, and what pages to look at. Lady Ada's guide was invaluable.
It looked like the RGB LED strips have the potential to draw way too much power for a portable solution. I was worried I might have to go with EL tape or wire as potential solutions, which provide less visual feedback to the user (the RGB LED strips have individually addressed LEDs that you could make any color and thus give the user visual cues). At that point, I also started considering what other components could provide feedback. I wasn't too happy about using individual LEDs — I thought that might look sloppy. And a wave shield for playing sounds has its own host of problems: you have to solder the kit yourself, the shield would be inside the box so the sound would be muffled, etc.
I had ordered 2 meters of the LPD8806. I unsoldered the first meter from the second as instructed by Limor's (Lady Ada) guide, by peeling the strips apart as I heated them up with a soldering iron. Then I soldered wires onto the input connections on the strip.
Then I wired everything up according to this diagram, also on the guide:
I had a massive problem understanding the power requirements, as the product page said that you'd need a 2 amp power supply in order to run the strips at full white output. Well, I tried 1 meter strips with a 4 AA battery pack (with wire-only connectors; bought at Radio Shack). Those worked great with the strandtest sketch from the LPD's library I downloaded off Lady Ada's site. Success!:
I was most nervous about getting the LED stuff to work, but they already came with a library with examples to command the LEDs how I wanted; the hard part was figuring out the power and wiring. 4 AA batteries worked fine, when connected with the Arduino and running whites on each LED (though I wouldn't want to keep it that way, lest it burn out or be underpowered). Where I ran into trouble later was when I wanted to run the RFID reader as well; the power draw coming off the LEDs while also running the wifi and RFID code was too much — not enough juice? I was excited about creating color moods for the containers to represent their feelings, and I was looking forward to a beautiful fade-in, fade-out cyan for when a box says it contains an object I want.
I bought two Diamondbacks, which are basically ATmega328 chips on Arduino Duemilanove boards with on-board wifi (supporting open networks, WPA, WPA2, and WEP…a key bonus for accessing the multitude of networks out there) on recommendation from my classmate Gavin and my prof, Scott Fitzgerald.
I was a little worried about getting this part working because wifi is still a little sketchy and undocumented in Arduino-land. I spent hours upon hours downloading different peoples' libraries and looking through the Arduino.cc and linksprite and asynclabs forums and docs. I even looked through the Chinese linksprite files, which was painful.
But the example sketches I was trying wouldn't compile! I asked Gavin, a classmate, for help and he mentioned that he was using Arduino version 0022, whereas I was using the latest version, 0023 (RC beta 3). I downloaded 0022 and the sketches started compiling! Not too long later, I managed to connect my little Diamondback to my WPA2 router!
So here's what I learned:
- Get a git clone of the user-contributed WiShield Arduino library from asynclabs. Install it to your Arduino sketch folder in "libraries/".
- Edit apps-conf.h so that only one "APP_" define is uncommented. For the client-based example sketches (like SimpleClient), uncomment "#define APP_WEBCLIENT".
- If things don't compile and you get weird errors, try a different Arduino version. I had to install Arduino 0022 to get my Diamondback to work.
- Opening .pde sketches in Arduino 0023 will cause them to be renamed to .ino, which 0022 won't see. So you'll have to go back and rename the sketch and re-open Arduino 0022 to see it again.
- I think I had to go track down wire.h on the interwebs and save it as wiring.h because it was missing for some reason, giving me a compiler error message.
- Make sure you set a static IP on your router for the wifi device to connect to — it can't handle DHCP.
What a headache to get all that working! The forums were not very descriptive or helpful for getting this to work.
I had to combine that code (which lets me GET a string of variables to a PHP web page, which can then be passed into a MySQL database, with two other pieces of code: code to read in the RFID ID # via serial port (which I did above), and code to poll the web server to see if the server is instructing it to light up the LEDs or not. I was really, really, really hoping this is a smooth process.
Front- and Back- Ends
I set up the database and front-end for the web server. I set up a few tables, one for my list of things, one for my list of containers (I made things and containers separate because I'm thinking some things might also be containers), one for a log tracking what events have happened.
The front-end went smoother than I thought. I used jQuery and jQueryUI to easily build in a working interface. It took me the most time to figure out how to correctly encode the MySQL pull into JSON via PHP so that I could access it via JavaScript and jQuery for my autocomplete search functions. But it helped me to better understand how to navigate the DOM and inter-operate between the different languages.
Now I've got a pretty slick interface, though I might need to restructure the MySQL pulls into PHP classes instead of one-offs. I also might need to restructure the data so that not everything is given away in my source's JSON. There's a ton of work I need to do adding functionality for things like having the web server tell the Arduino to turn on its LEDs, etc. But the basic layout is done!
I even added quests and recipes. The quests seen above: OCD is unlocked when you put all the objects of the same type in the same box. Fort Knox is when you check in your wallet, your checkbook, and a small box into the same container. Love at First Light was going to be the coup de grace of my demo: both boxes would have "love" checked into them, and then they'd face each other (both have a reader and an RFID attached to their fronts) to talk, and then the small box would be checked into Eve. All these conditionals would give birth to a new container in my database, called "Caintainer". So I wanted to create life for my class demo. It didn't work. :/
You can try out the Wheredipuddit interface on my web server. It's not connected to anything though.
These pieces all worked fine on their own. It came time to put them all together. This is when I started running into issues. First of all, I was wrestling with the code to send the GET request. The sample Arduino code that connected to a weather database worked. My PHP script to read an HTTP URL into a MySQL database worked. But when I tried to modify the Arduino sketch so that it could insert a different RFID based on which one was scanned, and then requested through the Arduino, I'd often get Arduino resets. My professor suggested that I stop trying to mess around with char pointers (char *) and arrays, and just hardcode in the URLs based on if..then checks for which RFID was scanned.
This worked with one example but for 20, it also reset the board. I suspected I was filling up the memory on the Arduino or something. I reduced the number of if..else if..then checks to just 3 different RFID tags, and that seemed to work okay.
I then added the digital RGB LED strips. With the way I wired it up, everything was drawing from the same power, and I'd get the Arduino to work fine, but when I scanned the RFID reader, it would click (not enough power, or a short circuit), or the LEDs wouldn't come on. I ended up getting another 4 AA battery pack and connecting it to the Arduino + RFID, with the LEDs getting their own (but grounded with the Arduino). I'm not sure if this circuit caused later problems — I don't think it did since I didn't get any more issues, power-wise. Save for the flimsy battery pack wires. If I had more time, I'd definitely solder the wires to header pins so they'd be more robust to being moved. The wires popped out pretty easily without pins.
I added another GETrequest at the end of the loop, which checked to see if the server had changed the box's mood. The server would just output 1 integer on the ping.php page, which the Arduino would read and then display on the LEDs the corresponding color for the new mood.
I blew out an RFID reader after being frustrated and trying a different power setup. I guess it didn't like being hooked up along a connection tied to a 12V battery pack. Oops. First time I've blown out a component.
Maybe this was caused by the bug — or butterfly — in my Arduino. I guess the butterfly was from a classmate's butterfly project (she apparently had butterflies mailed to her).
I had some problems understanding the callback function that was coded into the example sketch. It basically said, if you receive data in the serial buffer, then run this function to process it. It had incoming variables already so they were my constraints. I didn't understand the underlying code enough to either scrap it or modify it. I spent tons of time trying to figure out how to read my HTTP request's response (which, in this sketch, shows the whole HTTP headers, which was a pain in the ass because that's a lot of extra characters I have to deal with in my serial buffer). I tried many examples and tried writing some failed C. I ended up, though, with this:
// Function that prints data from the server void printData(char* data, int len) { // Print the data returned by the server // Note that the data is not null-terminated, may be broken up into smaller packets, and // includes the HTTP header. while (len-- > 0) { Serial.print(*(data++)); if (*(data) == '*' ) { //'*' is our beginning character startRead = true; //Ready to start reading the part } if (startRead) { Serial.print(*(data++)); if (*(data) == '0'){ // content dither(strip.Color(0,127,127), 20); } ... } ... }
The reading of Serial.print(*(data++)) in the startRead conditional is crucial to read in the next character. I did try to do a serial.flush() after this callback function but I think it was interfering with the other GETrequest so I removed it. But I suspect more must be done here to make it a clean read…
I have a feeling having two GETrequests could have contributed to one of my major issues, which seemed to be flooding the serial buffer. I'd often get the LED 13 light stuck on, as if it was being flooded with data. I did try to serial.flush() my serial connections but that seemed to destroy communications — nothing was logged in my database as having been touched. Other times, I would scan stuff in or try to ping them from my browser (pinging from browser would tell the Arduino on its next connection that it needed to light up to show the user that the requested object was inside), and nothing would happen!
This is actually exactly what happened during my class presentation. Nothing worked. I felt bad about it because I prepared for the project well, bought stuff early, put in early test work, and then did all-nighters for almost two weeks trying to figure the whole thing out. I felt like I tried hard, picked a project I could accomplish, and put in the time. And it still didn't work during the demo, though I KNOW some parts of it work well…sometimes. Here's a video clip of me giving my presentation (may have been edited for time):
So there you go. It was a highly disappointing ending to a final project. I wondered if working alone caused my problems, or not asking others for enough help. My lessons learned:
- When doing serial communications, make sure you try to understand EVERYTHING being passed across. Make sure to always use the serial monitor, just to be sure you're getting expected results.
- When doing communications between client and server, always build tons of logging into your code, even at first when you're just scaffolding the project. You will need to do small unit testing on each case individually to make sure it works, before trying to put everything together. The worst is when you can't figure out where your problems are being caused, because there's too much going on and too many points of failure. Keep the network traffic thin so there's more margin for error. TEST EVERYTHING INDIVIDUALLY.
- I would have bought an extra Arduino and the new WiShield 2.0 shields, or waited for the new Arduinos with built-in wifi. The problem I had with the Diamondback was that I ended up using poorly documented code that didn't do what I wanted it to and didn't seem very configurable, and operated far less usefully than Arduino's example code in the ethernet library. The WiShield 2.0 code seemed far more user-friendly.
What interests me about this is the long-term application. What will it be like when objects can tell you if they're missing parts, or they can report to you on their health, or they can take out some of the daily logistics planning that we send to our brains' subroutines every day while we try to get other stuff done? What will the world be like when things start talking to each other outside of the internet? Can I get my boxes to talk to each other while they're near each other? Can I build recipes, like scan a bunch of characteristics (honesty, humor, good looks) into the boxes so that, if the recipe is right for both, they "fall in love"? In talking with another classmate, Tak, we realized that if there were, say, 50 boxes piled against a wall, you could turn them into interactive pixels, controllable via Processing sketches! And as I talked to yet another classmate, Christie, I realized, what if there will be a job in the future for creative storytellers where their job is to imbue objects with personalities? Think of just observing everyday objects talk to each other, all being coded by different people, all with unpredictable and surprising interactive behaviors, with companies competing to hire the most creative people to give their products signature anthropomorphized personalities.
I didn't get my project to work. I thought I'd be able to do it. But I ended up encountering issues at almost every step of the way, with five obstacles popping up once I solved just one.
I definitely need a mental break from school now that the semester's over. I want this idea to work, but I'm going to have to accept that I need to move on from it because I'll have other class projects to do. But it's very hard for me to leave a problem unsolved. So it's been gnawing at me. But I'll be using the break to forget about it, and try not to come back and try to figure out what's wrong with it. At least for a while, or until I can use the project for another class or application. Sigh.
My Arduino code is below the jump:


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This is one of my favorite skirts that I have made. I think mostly because I am in love with the fabric. Tea Party designed by Hokkoh. Love it!
I never offered a tutorial for the comfy skirt. I thought that I would share one today. It is super easy. It can be made for any size. Adult or kid.
For the materials as you can see from above, you will need fabric, 1/8 inch elastic, and you will need 6 safety pins. Then, of course, you will need your thread and other sewing essentials.
This skirt is easy to make in any size. In order to determine how much fabric you will need, just measure around your waste and then add a half yard. This is what worked for my adult skirt, and that is what worked for the mini or child skirt.
In order to determine how much elastic you will need, just measure your waste and then multiply your waist measurement by 3. This is because you will be wrapping the elastic around the waist 3 times. This should make sense later on if it doesn't yet.

subset: commoncrawl


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Next weekend, I will play my inaugural 2012 event on The Golf Channel's Amateur Tour at one of my favorite courses ever - Farmlinks. I'm really looking forward to getting back on the competitive bandwagon, after a short winter break. Last year was one of mixed results - while I finished in the top 25 at the AmTour's National Championship in La Quinta, CA, my play throughout the season was inconsistent.
For those of you who are new to BCC, or have not heard of The Golf Channel's Amateur Tour, its a really cool thing, and I recommend you check it out. Regardless of your skill level, it's an awesome way to enjoy some competition and play some "real golf" - something that lots of golfers (including me, before I joined) seldom if ever played. Playing completely by the Rules of Golf ("playing it down", no gimmes, no mulligans) is vastly different than how most people play...don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the game filled with "do overs" - just saying that playing where you count every stroke and must make every putt is a lot of fun, and will really improve your game.
Anyway - with this being my 5th season to play on the "AmTour", I decided to make some changes in my approach this year. The way the tour works is that every couple of weeks there is a one day event (with 8-20 people in your flight), every couple of months there is a "Regional Major" (a two day event with 50-100 people in your flight), and then the season ending National Championship (with 150 people in your flight). Although I have done well in the local events (winning a few here and there), I have placed reasonably well in only one major, and have set a goal to finish in the top 10 at Nationals in 2012. I have decided to lessen the focus on local events this year (planning to play in 6-8 of them), and play in several "Majors", in hopes that this prepares me better for Nationals.
I will be writing more this year about my experiences on the AmTour, so please check back often to see how my plan works out. Of course, no new season here at Bushwood would be complete without an edition of "What's in the Bag"...so here are the highlights:
- The official ball of BCC is now the Titleist Pro v1x
- We have also put a new driver in the bag, a Titleist 910D2, at 9.5 degrees - with a "real deal" MItsubishi Blue Board shaft
- TaylorMade r9 3 Wood and two TM hybrids are in the mix (maybe replaced by RocketBallz , depending on the results of my upcoming testing)
- Titleist AP2 irons, with KBZ "C Taper" shafts ( a nice Christmas gift !)
- TP Mills "Hand Forged" Trad 2 is now the putter of choice (strongly recommend checking out TP Mills gear - he was truly a visionary artist of the putting instrument, and his son David has continued his legacy..although David IS a bit of a flake).
- I've been experimenting with belly putters (see next weeks post on that...), so the jury is out on that...
- Vokey wedges are back in the bag, after a year off...


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This Original Leather Bravelets bracelet is made of 100% genuine leather and stainless steel. The words "be brave" are engraved, reminding you to be brave through tough times. 10% from this charity bracelet purchase will be donated to the cause of your choice. This style comes in two sizes, and looks great on men and women. Bravelets jewelry makes a great gift for you or a loved one, and is a beautiful way to fundraise for your cause.


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Jeremy Grantham is the legendary mind behind investment firm GMO, where he predicted bubbles in Japanese stocks in 1989, U.S. stocks in 2000, and most risk assets in 2007.
But lately, nothing concerns Grantham more than climate change and its effects on commodity prices and food supplies.
He discusses it in a new piece for Nature.com:
I have yet to meet a climate scientist who does not believe that global warming is a worse problem than they thought a few years ago. The seriousness of this change is not appreciated by politicians and the public. The scientific world carefully measures the speed with which we approach the cliff and will, no doubt, carefully measure our rate of fall. But it is not doing enough to stop it. I am a specialist in investment bubbles, not climate science. But the effects of climate change can only exacerbate the ecological trouble I see reflected in the financial markets — soaring commodity prices and impending shortages.
One of the most urgent aspects of this impending crisis is the shrinking supply of fertilizer, most of which comes from just three parts of the world.
Then there is the impending shortage of two fertilizers: phosphorus (phosphate) and potassium (potash). These two elements cannot be made, cannot be substituted, are necessary to grow all life forms, and are mined and depleted. It's a scary set of statements. Former Soviet states and Canada have more than 70% of the potash. Morocco has 85% of all high-grade phosphates. It is the most important quasi-monopoly in economic history.
"What happens when these fertilizers run out is a question I can't get satisfactorily answered and, believe me, I have tried," he writes. "There seems to be only one conclusion: their use must be drastically reduced in the next 20–40 years or we will begin to starve."
Read more at Nature.com.


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The Village of Grand Beach, Michigan 49117
The Village of Grand Beach is a resort community on Lake Michigan with a population of less than 150 year-round residents. Stately white gates have welcomed visitors to Grand Beach since the early 1900s and the community's public golf course dates to 1911. Among the most famous visitors to Grand Beach are author Father Andrew Greeley and former Chicago Mayors Richard J. and Richard M. Daley, who have maintained vacation homes in the village for decades.
Unlike nearby Harbor Country communities, Grand Beach was solely founded as a resort community. A 600 acre shooting preserve as transformed into Grand Beach by the Grand Beach Company which brought 20 Sears and Roebuck cottages to the area in 1907. The community's golf course dates to 1911 and was a huge attraction for Chicagoans who arrived three times a day on the Michigan Central Railroad. The current Grand Beach Inn was once the Pinewood Lodge and served as the training camp for James Braddock as he prepared for his prizefight with Joe Louis. Frank Lloyd Wright built homes in Grand Beach, but the village's most famous architectural offering was the 175-room Golfmore Hotel. Opened in 1921, the Golfmore offered concerts, movies, and a huge, at least for the Midwest, ski jump located on a dune behind the hotel. The Golfmore was destroyed in 1939 by a spectacular fire that some claimed could be seen in Chicago.
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13964 Grand Ave
Grand Beach, MI 49117 US
Phone: (269) 469-9402
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Phone: (312) 550-6898
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Region: Grand Beach
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Good buddy and awesome dude Chris Hardwick (Nerdist) invited me, Ryan Block of gdgt (and previously Engadget) and Mark McClusky of Wired on his podcast yesterday to talk iPhone 4.
Pop it in your iPhone or Android or Pre or whatever and listen to it on the way to work. It beats actually paying attention to the road. When you're done with this one, visit his older podcasts, where he gets such people like Jim Gaffigan, Andy Richter, Joel McHale, Jon Hamm and even Adam Carolla on his podcast.
(Yes, that's a picture of Hardwick and Carolla. I chose it because you can never have enough Carolla for one day.)


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Rhein, 5-foot-11, is from Pleasant View, Tenn. She is homeschooled. She played for the Aaron Academy Lady Royals, a homeschool team. She played two seasons for the Lady Royals and two seasons for the Baltimore Bravehearts.
Her high school career stats include 1,467 kills (490 per season), a .560 hitting efficiency, 524 service aces (131 per season), a .80 serving efficiency and a 409 digs (136 per season).
In 2008 and 2007 she was the MVP of the Aaron Academy team. In 2006 as a sophomore she was named to All-Baltimore County First Team by the Baltimore Sun and Second Team All-Metro by the Balitmore Sun. In 2005 she was named Second Team All-Baltimore County by the Baltimore Sun. She is the first female athlete from Aaron Academy to earn an athletic college scholarship.
"We are very excited about adding Amanda to the roster," said Rosenthal. "She is a very good player looking to take her game to the next level. She is very dedicated.
"She is also a very physical player. She has great fundamentals. Once she gets into our system she will be a huge asset for us both offensively and defensively. "
Since she was an eighth grade Rhein has been coached by her mother, Carol. Her eighth grade team was the National Champion in the National Homeschool Volleyball Tournament. Last season her team won the Middle Tennessee Athletic Conference Championship and the Conference Tournament Championship.
"Amanda has obviously been successful in the Nashville and Baltimore areas," said Rosenthal. "I'm excited about her maturity level coming into our program.
"She wants to get better every day. She understands it is going to be a process. She is willing to put in the extra time and extra effort. She has yearning to be good not only in the basics of the game, but in the nuances as well. She brings a high level of coachability."
Honel, 5-9, plays for Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School in Bourbonnais, Ill.
"Kory has a great personality," said Rosenthal. "Her personality is very contagious. People are really going to like her and want to get to know her."
In 2008 she was an All-American at the Junior Olympics and was a member of the All-Tournament team in the American Division.
In 2007 she was an All-State honorable mention selection. In 2006 and 2007 she was an All-Region selection. She was captain of her club team in 2008 and 2009. She was the MVP of her high school team in 2007.
She played on the fifth place Junior Olympics team in 2008. Honel was named to the 2008 Junior Olympic All-American All-Tournament Team in 2008. She participated in the USA High Performance Development Camp in 2006 and 2007.
"Kory is very athletic," said Rosenthal. "She jumps extremely well.
"She has a real good knack for the nuances of the game," said Rosenthal. "She is a lot like Jessica Turner was when she played for us. She has power in her game that you would not expect."
Honel was credited with 481 kills from 2005 to 2007. She did not play for her high school team as a senior.
"She trained with club team for boys," said Rosenthal. "She comes from a very athletic family.
"Offensively, she is very strong. With her athletic ability she adds to our style of play."
Her brother, Kris, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the first round of the 2001 Major League Draft. Her father was an All-American baseball player at Eastern Illinois.
"Kory wanted to go to a program where she would be challenged from day one," said Rosenthal. "To hear an 18-year-old player say she wants to get better every day really struck a chord with me."
Rhein is the daughter and step-daughter of Carol and Richard Green and the daughter of Frank Rhein, Jr., of Annapolis, Md.
Honel's parents are Mary Kay and Mike Honel.


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|Garden City, N.Y.
|High School:
|Garden City
|Commack SC United
2013: Appeared in and started 19 games as sophomore … scored 21 goals and notched three assists for 45 points … scored two goals apiece against Wentworth (9/07), Emerson (9/21), Wheaton (10/12), Clark (10/19) and WPI (11/02) and had hat tricks against both Staten Island (8/31) and Springfield (10/26) … NSCAA Third Team All-American … NSCAA First Team All-New England … NEWMAC Athlete of the Year … NEWMAC First Team All-Conference … ECAC All-Star First Team … NEWMAC First Team All-Conference … NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week three times (10/15, 10/28 and 11/04) … ECAC Player of the Week (10/28, 11/4) … first in the MIT record book in goals in a season and points in a season … first on the team in goals and points … first in the NEWMAC in goals, points and shots (87) … ended the season seventh nationally in Division III for goals.
2012: Played and started all 20 games … recorded 16 goals and two assists to total 34 points … ranked first on the team in goals and points … only player on the team to play and start all 20 games … scored the game-winning goal against Bridgewater State (8/31), Tufts (10/17) and Springfield (11/4) at the NEWMAC final … scored two goals apiece against Emerson (9/02), Framingham State (9/04), Emmanuel (9/22) and Elms (10/22) … had a goal and an assist against Wentworth Institute of Technology (9/08) … finished the season tied for first in goals and second in points in the NEWMAC … tied for second in the MIT record book in season goals and tied for third in season points … NEWMAC Rookie of the Year … NEWMAC second team All-Conference.
Off the Field at MIT: Majoring in management with a minor in mathematics … held an internship with andGO Sports, Inc. … Baker House Judicial Committee Chair.
High School: A 2012 graduate of Garden City High school … All-country … captain … MVP … conference scoring leader with 14 goals and nine assists … three-time letterwinner … Nassau County Scholar Athlete Award ... National Honor Society … Latin Honor Society … Spanish Honor Society … 2010 Hofstra University Student-Athlete Leadership Conference … National Merit Commended Student.
Club: Commack S.C. United … ENYYSA ODP State Team (2003-10)…ODP Region 1 Team (2009).


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Whether an experienced or a first-time holiday home renter, you'll enjoy the many choices for beachside getaways on Anna Maria Island. Luxury gulf side villas, quaint beach cottages and canal front condos offer breathing-room space and countless amenities that traditional hotel stays can't match. Beyond the advantage of preparing some meals at home, your beach rental allows you to slide right into islander life and feel very much at home.
Three small communities share Anna Maria Island – Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria. Each gathers along 7 miles of silky white beach overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The island offers the village feel of Old Florida, with simple beach cottages and sandy lanes dipping under lazy Florida oaks and beachfront villas overlooking turquoise bays. There's plenty to do on the family-friendly island, but nothing quite as important as simple relaxation. Rent a bike to roam the island or a kayak to explore the waterways. Fish, sail, comb the beaches for shells, and pack a little picnic for a sunset meal.
Shop names reveal that island boutiques are anything but ordinary. The Painted Gate, Egret's Landing, Paper Panache and other local establishments offer everything from resort wear to arts and crafts. The free island trolley runs North and South, as a convenient way to explore. Ginny's and Jane E's at the old IGA is a popular spot, where vintage furniture mixes with home-baked quiches and brioches in an internet café setting. One restaurant you can't miss is Rod & Reel located at the end of a wooden pier jutting out into the bay. Kick back, fish, eat and let that tropical seascape deliver complete relaxation.
Don your best resort wear and head south along Highway 789 that links Anna Maria Island to Longboat and St. Armand Keys. The gulf front drive leads you to famous St. Armand's Circle, where elite shopping and pampered dining venues merge in an elegant European atmosphere. After a gourmet lunch, venture over to Sarasota for a visit to the cherished Ringling enclave, home to the Museum of Art and Ca d'Zan Mansion. Set in a lush 20-acre garden overlooking the water, the Venetian mansion is considered "the last of the Gilded Age mansions" built in America.
Spacious living areas, plenty of baths and bedrooms and every imaginable amenity explain why holiday homes are today's most popular travel choices. From the comfort of your own island getaway, you'll enjoy every pleasure Anna Maria Island offers.
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Spotlight Article:
Trailer Treasure—Affordable Housing, Green Living, Community, Income in an Unlikely Place
The American dream of homeownership for all is not particularly healthy these days. Housing prices in some areas have already returned to pre-Great Recession (2006) levels. According to the Trulia real estate website, the median price ...
Keep Reading
Missteps with Mold
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Building professionals should follow a thorough mold and IAQ investigative protocol when they tackle mold remediation cases. [continue reading]
Remediating Mold: A Clip-Out Checklist for Building Professionals
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Diagnosing and remedying mold and moisture problems requires good detective skills, proper safety precautions, and a working knowledge of the best practices for mold cleanup and building rehabilitation. Before ... [continue reading]
Public Housing Breaks the Mold
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Multifamily public and low-income housing have particular problems when it comes to moisture and air pollutants. In this first of a two-part series, we look at one particular type of multifamily construction: midrise housing. [continue reading]
Green Products Brighten Multifamily Rehab
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An abandoned inner-city building gets a second life as a ten-unit affordable cohousing project. What's more, the makeover used green products and materials and energy-efficient building practices and appliances. [continue reading]
Contractors Face Changing Marketplace
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If a nationally known expert on building trends is correct, the home retrofit and remodeling marketplace will become dominated by corporate players who sell contracting services with their products. [continue reading]
Chicago Apartments Get New Lease on Life
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Walking through abandoned multifamily buildings is urban spelunking. The buildings are dark, dreary, and damp. Water drips in from the roof. Pitfalls abound. One must be cautious of dark shafts and mounds of who-knows-what. H [continue reading]
Retrofitting Flooded Homes
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In the Great Flood of 1993, more than 10 million acres were inundated by floods that caused more than $12 billion of property damage in the nine states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri. [continue reading]
Hide `n Seek Savings
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This old house (pre-1940s) got the works. Two separate weatherization programs (utility- and state-funded), plus a low-interest rehabilitation loan, had already paid for extensive retrofit work. [continue reading]
Laurie Stone
Equity and Climate: A Solution for Home Rentals
Lack of affordable housing and energy burdens plague many people and communities. Cities throughout the United States are looking for ...
Laurie Stone
Decarbonizing Buildings for All
Lowering carbon emissions from the buildings sector (which produces nearly 40 percent of US carbon emissions) is a crucial part of ...


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South Dakota Industrial Psychology Expert Witnesses
South Dakota Employment & Vocational Expert Witness Listings
Although there are no experts who have listed "Industrial Psychology" as their area of expertise from South Dakota , the below listed expert witnesses have indicated they are available to assist in your selected state.
Expert Witnesses
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Featured Experts
PhD in Psychology with over 30 years of full time consultation to business in all people aspects from recruiting methodology, pre-hire assessment, individual and team development etc. Have forensic experience in areas of harassment and work behavior... Learn More ›
Dr. Morrel-Samuels received an MA in research methodology from University of Chicago, an M. Phil. and a Ph.D. in experimental social psychology from Columbia University, and a Master of Science in Law from Northwestern University's Pritzker School of... Learn More ›
Location: South Dakota
Areas of Expertise: Dr. Adhia is a triple Board-Certified Forensic Psychiatrist. He is among fewer than a dozen Board-Certified Forensic Psychiatrists in the US who are also Board-Certified in Brain Injury Medicine. He assesses...
Location: South Dakota
Areas of Expertise: Dr. Richard A. Mendelson is an Industrial and Organizational Psychologist and Professor at Keiser University. He has been a professional educator for more than 17 years. He holds advanced degrees in Psychology...
Location: South Dakota
Areas of Expertise: Personal injury analyst. BA, MS, SM, PhD in physics & psychology (including MIT); 40 yrs R&D, teaching, trial testimony, industrial training, 'in the trenches'. Perception, vision, warnings, equipment/product...
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Areas of Expertise: Dr. Mark Levy, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association , is a graduate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry...
Location: South Dakota
Areas of Expertise: Dr. Argumedo is a highly skilled Board-Certified Forensic Psychiatrist. She has testified in over 40 cases over her more than 10-year career and rendered her opinion in considerably more cases which have...
Location: South Dakota
Areas of Expertise: As a board certified psychiatrist and Diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, Dr. Steiner brings a broad range of experience and interests through his 11+ years of experience providing mental...
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Industrial Psychology Expert Witnesses by State
All States, Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming


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Agenda: September 20, 2012 Neighborhood Centers PEG Meeting
Thursday, September 20, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
1900 SW 4th Avenue, Portland, Conference Room 7A
Welcome, Introductions and Center Reports (8:00 a.m.)
Presenter: Steve Faust, Facilitator
Equity (8:15 a.m.)
Presenter: Judith Mowry, Office of Neighborhood Involvement
Description: Role of the Equity Group role in ensuring the Portland Plan Equity Framework becomes operational in the Comprehensive Plan Update process.
Portland Demographics (8:25 a.m.)
Presenter: Radcliffe Dacanay (BPS)
Description: Presentation of current data on Portland's demographics.
Gentrification and Displacement (8:40 a.m.)
Presenters: Tom Armstrong (BPS) and Lisa Bates
Description: Presentation and discussion of a study that aims to develop: (a) mapping tools to categorize various stages of gentrification and; (b) a policy framework for approaches to mitigating displacement and other impacts of gentrification appropriate to different stages of gentrification.
Related Material: Portland Plan section on gentrification and displacement
Public Comment (9:25 a.m.)
Topics for Future Neighborhood Centers PEG Discussion (9:30 a.m.)
Presenter: Bill Cunningham (BPS)
Description: Brainstorm possible topics for discussion at future Neighborhood Centers PEG meetings.
Public Comment (9:50 a.m.)
Next Steps (9:55 a.m.)
Adjourn (10:00 a.m.)
For more information, please contact Bill Cunningham, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability at 503-823-4203 or firstname.lastname@example.com or Steve Faust, Facilitator at 503-278-3456 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Other Background Material (supplemental reading)
- Transit Oriented Development that's Healthy, Green, and Just
- BART - Susceptibility to Gentrification


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Seniors on Social Security receive a 1.5% boost!
Seniors are being left out in the cold as temperatures drop and heating costs rise along with rent, food, co-pay's, and other vital necessities squeeze them for their precious and limited dollars.
Next week retired citizens receive their Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security, a paltry one and a half percent, for the average recipient a whopping $17 per month. Seniors will be forced to stretch their retirement income just a little further — sacrifice just a bit more.
It's an embarrassment; a slap in their venerable faces! An affront to a life well lived.
Are we killing our seniors?


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Along The River Stour - Part One
Part One of this superb programme follows the course of the River Stour from Stourhead, through the Blackmore Vale to the Georgian town of Blandford Forum. From a trickling stream to the fury of the flood, it shows the Stour river in a myriad of moods. Such was the importance of the river that in excess of fifty mills once stood on its banks, powering a variety of industries from engineering to flour. Employment was high and directly due to the River Stour - The Strong One.
Bonny Sartin - Singer and writer with the famous Dorset folk group, The Yetties, presents and narrates this fascinating account of life along the river Stour.
- Stunning aerial sequences showing the Stour as few have seen it.
- Interviews and contributions from prominent 'Stour' personalities
- Rare and fascinating archive material
- A sprinkling of William Barnes, topped off with The Yetties at their intrumental best.
- This video was made in conjunction with Dorset Magazine.


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- Item Type: Earrings
- Earrings Type: Stud
- Material: 925 Sterling Silver
- Diameter: 2 cm / 0.79 inch
- Decoration: Crystal
- Set Includes: 1 pair
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The Capitol Steps
Saturday, Jan. 4, 7 p.m. SOLD OUT
$55/$50 senior/$40 MCC tax district residents.
No one is safe from these political satirists, their up-to-the-minute musical spoofs and (in)famous Lirty Dies. View the video
The Good Humor Men (All Ages)
Starring Moody McCarthy, Keith Alberstadt and Pat Hazell
Saturday, Apr. 18, 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m.
$35/$20 MCC tax district residents
Three of America's funniest stand-up comedians (with numerous appearances on "The Tonight Show," "The Late Show" and "The Daily Show") join forces to showcase their original brand of humor in an evening packed with punch lines, clever writing and hair trigger laughs. View the video View the video


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On Sale
Orange Flavor Concentrated Syrup 2.1L
Method of Application:
LT range syrup is our premium fruit syrup that offer a natural fruit flavour with high percentage of fruit juice.
Fruity Tea/ Ice Tea
1. Prepare 360ml of Green Tea pour into shaker
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- Serve with favourite toppings
Jasmine Green Tea: Click here
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text: Former President George W. Bush and his successor, President Obama, at the April 25 dedication of Bush's library on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Larry W. Smith /EPA /LANDOV hide caption toggle caption Larry W. Smith /EPA /LANDOV The Two-Way Public's Opinion Of George W. Bush Is Turning Positive June 12, 2013 For the first time since 2005, Gallup's polling shows Bush's "favorable" rating exceeding his "unfavorable" number. The polling firm says it's normal for Americans' opinions of former presidents to improve over time.


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San Diegan receives national award with unflinching essay on her problems
At 13, Maya Little-Saña finds herself in the company of literary giants.
Like a young
She is headed to
"Abyss" chronicles Maya's struggle to find happiness after battling
The essay started as a middle school writing project that went from a poem to an essay to a winning contest submission.
View the Video "Abyss" chronicles Maya's struggle to find happiness after battling depression, anorexia, bullying and cutting.
"My teacher gave an assignment to write a poem about where you came from," Maya said. "I just wrote it. I went into a dark place having to recall all the pain."
Established in 1923, Scholastic's award is the longest-running and arguably the nation's most prestigious prize of its kind for budding young authors and artists.
Most Scholastic awards for middle and high school students don't come with cash and are instead coveted for "the ties to history and the excitement of being in the same camp with these amazing people," said Virginia McEnerney, executive director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit that bestows the prize.
A striking number of past recipients have gone on to produce indelible works of art across many mediums.
Besides Updike, Capote and Oates, awards have been handed out to novelist
A eighth-grader at Innovations Academy in Scripps Ranch, Maya is one of 260 students in grades 7-12 to win national Gold Medal in writing on this 90th anniversary of the awards.
This year's program attracted a record 230,000 submissions in 28 categories, including memoir, journalism, humor, novel-writing, science-fiction, as well as painting, sculpture, photography, fashion design, film and animation, and video game design. Graduating seniors who have won national awards are eligible for millions of dollars in scholarships.
Many of the contest entries start as class assignments, as Maya's did. Others are submitted by individuals. All are judged blindly by artists and writers.
"We have a freedom of expression policy. No work is ever eliminated because of content," McEnerney said. "You can see in Maya's essay, we receive some very challenging work."
Maya bravely confronts issues that so many girls face in a society that slams them at a young age with often unattainable images of beauty and skinny models.
She writes in harrowing and heart-wrenching detail about the despair that ultimately drove her to attempt suicide. She recounts her experiences in counseling, where she learned from other girls how to cut herself with razor blades. That disturbing behavior that has left her arms and legs marred with scars. She writes about the classmates who bullied her, and she takes on the complicated relationship with her mother.
After a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche, "Abyss" begins:
"According to Merriam -Webster's English Dictionary, depression is defined as, 'A psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness… inactivity, …feelings of dejection and hopelessness… sometimes suicidal tendencies." Depression is also defined as 'a sinking surface… hollow space' That's exactly how my mind felt when I was at my rock bottom. Hollow. Sinking. Depressed. I can never say 'when I was depressed.' Because like a drug addict, who has stayed clean and sober for a while, and still considers themselves an addict, I will always be depressed, and I will always consider myself to be a depressed person. Depression will be a lifetime struggle, and I am prepared for it."
Tony Spitzberg, Maya's humanities teacher who made entering the Scholastic contest a class assignment, said he was blown away by the essay.
"When I read that, I was just so taken aback by Maya's courage and her insights. She is such a powerful writer," said Spitzberg, who pushes his students to write and rewrite and critique each other's work.
"I work really hard to ensure that our classroom is an environment where students feel safe expressing themselves," he said. "It's really important for students to feel comfortable writing."
Indeed, writing has been therapeutic for Maya. The accolades that came with her essay have also helped her heal and begin to build up her self-esteem.
"It's kind of crazy. Sylvia Plath won this, Truman Capote. It's weird to be in the same league," Maya said. "It definitely strokes my ego a little bit. I felt kind of worthless before."
Maya's family — her parents are both educators — have struggled along with her. Maya's writing award has become a source of pride for all of them, although their bragging rights have been tempered by the uncomfortable subject matter. Her mother has fought her own battles with an
"With me, this whole experience with Maya has been eye-opening on a lot of levels," Silvia Saña said of her daughter's experiences. "Like how we are constantly, constantly judging ourselves and taking inventory. I just want my children to feel safe and happy."
Maya could be well on her way to finding happiness.
The memoir ends with what could serve as the beginning of a new take on life:
"So here I am. I am a strong, young, beautiful girl. With battle scars to show my strength, I am ready to face the world. Yes, I was staring into an abyss, but now, I am staring into a mirror. And I see a miracle."


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Making technology work for you...
While most of the new-year celebrations are over now, our friends at LotSoft, Inc are still celebrating giving away free genuine licensed copies of their BDlot Blu-ray Ripper PC utility.
BDlot Blu-ray Ripper is a Blu-ray decrypting and copying tool for users to backup Blu-ray discs to their local storage. The versatile utility allows users to protect their favorite DVDs easily from cracking, scratching, other damages or loss, ignoring any mainstream Blu-ray protections, such as BD ROM Mark, BD+, BD-Live, UOPs, AACS, region code, etc., enjoy perfect Blu-ray DVD quality 1:1 backups with original Blu-ray movies contents (BDAV M2TS audio track, subtitle track, video track, and menu), deleting those annoying FBI and Interpol messages and useless subtitle or audio tracks, user can also transcode Blu-ray discs/backups to MKV, MP4 and other popular formats and watch these videos on iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android, Samsung mobiles, tablets, as well as other popular portable gadgets.
There were days when Nero Burning Studio was the only easy-to-use option available to burn optical disc's, things have changed since then and today we have many excellent free options like Hamster Burning Studio, BurnAware, JetBee and Inscriptio, letting us compose and burn disc's with ease.
7Burn is yet another such simple to use freeware utility designed to work properly under Windows® 7 using the new IMAPI v 2 technology, the utility supports writing discs in following formats - CD-R, CD-RW, DVD ROM, DVD-RDVD-RAM, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R Dual Layer, DVD-RW, DVD-RW Sequential, DVD-R DL Sequential, DVD-R Dual Layer, DVD+RW DL, HD DVD-ROM, HD DVD-R, HD DVD-RAM, Blu-ray DVD (BD-ROM), Blu-ray media Sequential, Blu-ray media, and Blu-ray Rewritable media.
We have shared various free alternatives like BurnAware, JetBee and Inscriptio convincing you to part-away with popular but super-bloated Nero Disc Burning utility, if you are not yet convinced today's share will definitely make you do so.
Hamster Free Burning Studio for Windows 7/Vista/XP would be definitely one of the most feature-rich, multi-purpose and easy-to-use free CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc burner utility for Windows.
The most popular CD/DVD writing software - Nero Burning ROM has evolved a lot from being a simple CD/DVD burner application to a full-fledged all-in-one optical media authoring solution, resulting in adding a lot of bloat and lots of other applications and features that you'll never really use, so if you are looking to get rid of Nero bloatware and looking for a free, fast and simple alternative to Nero - BurnAware Free is your answer, the free CD/DVD/Blu-ray burning application is pretty much similar to Nero and comes in three versions - Free, Home & Professional, the free version allows you to burn data, audio, and video CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs pretty much sufficing everything you'd ever need.


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The military in the United Arab Emirates says a helicopter has crashed during a training mission, killing one crew member.
Tuesday ' s statement from the UAE Armed Forces Command gave no further details.
It says authorities are at the site seeking to determine the cause on the crash, which took place on Monday.
The UAE military has an extensive helicopter fleet including US - made Apaches and various European craft.


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Patricia Hostetler
Licensed Professional Counselor
We are all very unique individuals. Each of us comes to therapy with different needs and goals. Therefore, you and I will first discuss what is happening and what your needs and goals may be. Together, we will build a plan that is unique to you so that you can reach your goals. We will decide together how best to approach your problem with any number of techniques and methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, DBT, Psychodynamic Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Meditation and Relaxation.
In addition to Individual therapy, I offer Couples Counseling, Pre-Marital Counseling, Marriage and Family Counseling in addition to counseling on parenting issues.
You can visit my website at www.DrTrisha.com for more information.
Austin, TX 78750
- Anger Management
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Grief/Loss
- Panic Attacks
- Stress
Patricia Hostetler's Documents
Demographics served
- Child
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Senior
- Christian
- African American
- Latino American
- Licensed Professional Counselor TX - 15785
Associations And Honors
American Counseling Association
American Academy of Medical Hypnoanalysts
- St. Mary's University Ph.D. — Counseling and Counselor Education 2004
- Texas State University M.Ed. — Counseling and Guidance 1996
Rates & Insurance
Breakthrough has not yet partnered with all insurance companies, but you or the therapist you select may contact your insurer about covering your online care. We strive to accept all insurers but we can not guarantee coverage.
If you receive care on Breakthrough but your insurer declines coverage, you will be billed at the therapist's self-pay rate.
If you can not find a therapist who accepts your insurance, call us at 1-888-907-3208 and we will try to find a therapist who can see you.
- Aetna (TX) (TX)
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas/HCSC (TX)
- Cigna (TX)
- HealthNet (TX)
- Humana/LifeSynch (TX)
- Magellan Behavioral Health (TX)
- MHNet (TX)
- PacifiCare (TX)
- Self Pay
- United Behavioral Health/Optum (TX)
$100 per hour


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I have this program, dealing with sockets and threading (which is not of concern). There is a main loop inside this program. Currently, there is a lot of messy code inside here. I'd like to sort this out into a few functions, declared in a header file. The problems are:
1. The functions I've wrote use lots of variables from the main program (is there a way to fix this, save for passing 3-6 arguements into each function? most of the variables are already global in the main program)
2. The functions have certain circumstances when they need to break or continue the original main loop from the main program. .. Heh.. Any ideas?
I guess I COULD just make a long, ugly, unorganized, cryptic, single-filed program... Or include ALL the function declarations inside that source (to fix the variable problem).
Are there any tips/tricks to get around situations like this? Thanks for any input...


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Center for Health Promotion Research
The Center for Health Promotion Research is committed to excellence in education, training and dissemination of evidence-based health promotion programs to schools, community groups and the workplace. The Center facilitates translation of research programs to the 'real world' and ensures success by critical evaluation. The Award winning ATLAS and ATHENA programs are disseminated through the Center. Program dissemination and partnerships bring these innovative and effective strategies from research to public service.
Recapturing the healthy mission of sport
Seven and a half million students are engaged in school-sponsored athletics in the United States. School sports, however, do not safeguard these young athletes from drug use or other unhealthy behaviors. Drugs, alcohol, steroids and disordered eating practices have entered the world of high school sports at an alarming rate. In 1993, 1 in every 45 high school students reported using anabolic steroids. During the past 3 years, the number of users is 1 in 20. The ATLAS and ATHENA programs help recapture the healthy mission of sport through effective substance abuse prevention and health promotion education. With ATLAS and ATHENA, schools can provide their student athletes with the best equipment for a healthy life.
To order materials or for additional information:
E-mail: email@example.com
Phone: 503 494-3683
Fax: 503 494-1310


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ukBathrooms The UKs Premium Online Bathroom store. we Offer High Quality Shower Trays, Baths and Bathroom Furniture At Discounted Prices
A bathroom should be so much more than just a necessity, it's a space to unwind, relax and recharge your batteries. Here at ukBathrooms, we aim create truly beautiful bathroom experiences, leaving you feeling refreshed and energised.
A Huge Collection of Stunning Bathrooms
Browse our huge collection of great quality products, from complete bathroom suites through to taps and essential accessories. We only stock the best brands here at ukBathrooms. You can feel rest assured that your new bathroom will not only look fantastic for years to come, but will work seamlessly long into the future, thanks to quality manufacturing from the likes of Hansgrohe, AXOR, Imperial and Villeroy and Boch, to name a few.
We offer a wonderful range of toilets, baths, showers, bathroom furniture, accessories and much more to suit every budget and available space. Whether you're looking for a beautiful wet room for the ultimate showering experience, a cloakroom toilet and bathroom basin for added convenience, or perhaps you simply need a new shower tray to complete your project, our fantastic range of products really does have something for everyone.
ukBathrooms: The Best of British
At ukBathrooms we're proud of our British heritage, and we carry that over in the products we supply and brands we stock. You'll find the very best British bathroom manufacturers amongst our suppliers, including the likes of Crosswater, Roman, Perrin & Rowe, Kudos, Victoria & Albert, Carron Baths and many more. If you're looking for a brand in particular, head over to our brands page, or contact our team to see how we can help with your requirements.
Never Knowingly Beaten on Price
We're dedicated to stocking the best quality products at great prices, so if you find a cheaper price, or have received a cheaper quote for any of our products online, we will always try price match where possible. We're delighted to be one of the biggest and longest-running online bathroom retailers (over 20 years!), so we're able to buy in larger quantities of products than our competitors and high street retailers, which enables us to pass on huge discounts of up to 50% to our customers.
In over two decades, we've supplied over 30,000 homes (including the Old Bailey) with beautiful bathrooms, and our aim has always been the same: sell high quality products at discounted prices. This means stocking the very best brands, and our team of experts are always on hand to ensure that our standards never drop.
So, come and enjoy huge discounts on a massive range of products online today. You'll also get fast and secure delivery – in fact, we'll even let you know when your order will arrive before you buy! If you're struggling to find what you're looking for, why not check out our buying guides, or alternatively, feel free to contact our friendly customer service team on 01765 694 720 – we'll be more than happy to help!