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Sex In YA, Part 4: YA vs. Romance Sex Scenes
Kody is the NYT bestselling author of The DUFF, Shut Out, and A Midsummer's Nightmare, all from Little Brown/Poppy, as well as Lying Out Loud, Run, and the middle grade novel The Swift Boys and Me, from Scholastic. Born and raised in Kentucky, she now lives in NYC.
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21 comments:
I definitely agree that sex in YA is more about the emotional aspects--particularly when the character is deciding on his/her first time. The emotions seem to be the focus in deciding if this is right or wrong for the character.ReplyDelete
I also read adult romances and I feel like a lot of times the emotions in those scenes have to do more with increasing the tension (and consequently the search for release) than to evaluate the situation.
Just my humble opinion of course. :) Shanan (www.thebookaddict.net)
There is definitely a difference. I write YA and adult (not erotica, though). I will go a bit further with the physical details in an adult story. My YA tends to me more thought and emotion-focused.ReplyDelete
I like the scale you came up with, and I agree that sometimes the lines are crossed or blur. Sometimes a YA scene will have a bit more physical, or an adult scene will have a bit more thought/emotion. It all depends on the needs of the character and the individual scene.
Thank you for this! You explained it very well. :)
I totally agree with the scale. But YA sex scenes have definitely been getting racier over the years. I don't remember reading any detailed sex scenes at all until recently... like over the last 2-3 years. And by detailed I mean like... "he pushed inside of me" and stuff like that. So on that 1-4 side of things.ReplyDelete
I agree. There is a difference, and that difference is important, esp for first time writers.ReplyDelete
I also this it is somewhat related to the "politics" of sex in YA. Focusing on emotion over body parts helps keep the writer from crossing that ambiguous line into "gratuitous"...a line that can vary from editor to editor or agent to agent.
I prefer the less explicit sex scenes. The fun part of reading is using your imagination to fill in the story. Let the reader decide how graphic or tame they want to picture the scene, unless it's pertinent to the story. It's like a horror movie. The scariest parts are what you don't see, what your mind imagines.ReplyDelete
Ok - not to get too personal - but are we doing a disservice to YA readers?ReplyDelete
I remember my first 'truly intense' sexual act with vivid clarity - and though the lead up to the act was all emotion - once the physical sensations started it was ALL about the physical. In fact, if someone had interrupted and asked my name I would have been unable to tell them. The physical was THAT powerful.
I think we sometimes color what we write or what we read with an adult sense of prudery. As older humans, we have weighed and balanced the sexual experience - we know the pluses and minuses - we understand the give and take. This was the number one problem with Twilight's "I'm waiting" philosophy - there was FAR too much consideration going on.
Currently YA sex IS less graphic - but in a way, wouldn't it be more honest if it was MORE graphic - or at least more focused on those crazy explosive physical feelings?
You have inspired me - I think I will write a post on this myself on my Blog!
Great discussion!
I've been well-schooled in this by my editor who works with both YA and romance books. She read my WIP and highlighted exactly where I went to far and I think you hit it one the head, Kody. Nice post.ReplyDelete
I did go ahead and Blog about this:ReplyDelete
I totally agree with your post. I think YA should be a bit tamer than adult. These are teens reading these books after all, not adults. When I think of my daughters growing up and reading books, I would be nervous if every book they read had major sex scenes in them. It's nice that you can really have your pick of YA books. Some of the books do deal with sex and some don't, and I like that there's that choice out there.ReplyDelete
I think if you aren't writing erotica, in which case the goal seems to be to titillate the reader, then the goal of a sex scene should be the goal of any scene - move the story forward, reveal interesting things about the characters, create conflict.ReplyDelete
Most stories are first person or third person limited, so you're in the sex scene from a particular character viewpoint. How would that character experience sex? Describe the sex scene in that way, whatever it happens to be. Are they visually or kinesthetically oriented? Is it emotionally charged or something they're used to? Why are they having sex - for money, for social standing, to prove their love to someone, out of peer pressure, etc. What about the sex did they want, and what about it did they not want? Surprises? Consequences?
Framing the question as political, you gave a political answer, but I'd rather an answer that is rooted in good fiction writing. I personally use sex scenes for intimate characterization, because sex can have intense consequences for the characters and the story, and because they are exciting, just like an argument or fight or chase-scene or whatever.
Anyway, that's my two cents. Reading, I would want a sex scene to follow logically from the story and characterization so far, no matter where that takes the writer.
I totally agree with you Kody, that YA sex is more about the emotional aspect, and I also agree that the lines can blur a bit, depending on the character. Depending on the story. And the scale was a nice mathematical way (yes-this is a math teacher talking) of summing (haha) everything up.ReplyDelete
Two things to add, and a question.
First, one of the things that I really liked about the numbers is that it is a helpful gauge for first time writers. I will never say ban sex in YA (because I write it in myself), but we all know kids are reading up these days - WAY up. My twelve year old practically reads every book on my bedside table once I finish with it, but I hide my Ellen Hopkins until she's ready for such explicit content. My point is, and the reason I liked your scale, is that some kids don't have a Parental Guidance and I don't know that ten year olds or even some fourteen year olds need to be reading some of what's out there. I know I'll get the big refute on this – that it's all over TV, but there's a difference when you read it. Reading the physical aspects of sex can be way more intimate and erotic than seeing it on the screen.
Two - yes - agreed that with teens it is about the emotion. With teenage girls. Now maybe I'm wrong here and I really don't know my guys as well as I should, but where as a girl will perform three inner monologues and describe everything in a very emotional way when she's with her boy, guys are not so, uh…emotional. For them it IS more about the physical.
The timing on this post is uncanny. I just wrote a sex scene today for my mc and his love interest. Yeah. HIS. And I am scared crapless that I haven't done it justice. So my question is (for anyone who's made it to this point in my most long-winded comment), are there good "boy books" out there that might help me figure out if he's "done it" right? I've read all of John Green and Don Calame. The closest I've come to sex in boy YA is The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but Charlie's fragile nature is not a great comparison for my recovering manwhore.
So any suggestions?
Gosh, I think I may copy this and blog about it with everything I just wrote.
Thanks for an amazing and insightful post, Kody!Replies
"recovering manwhore" -- I so, so want to know how this turned out. And, actually, I think the idea is a good one--a dude who's motivated to be purer (as in more faithful) because of the force of his attraction to a chica who really counts.Delete
Seeing as how YA is a marketing term used to shelve books in stores, I don't see how it applies to the actual writing of a book.ReplyDelete
Whether or not a book has sex in it, the nature of the sex, and the graphic detail or lack thereof, is all determined by the needs of the story and the style of the prose, not by whether you think someone in the sales dept. of a major retailer is going to stick the book in Young Adult versus Literature & Fiction. Figuring out where to put your stock so the customers most likely to buy it will find it is the business of stores, not the business of authors.
You can certainly choose, for a target audience, someone of a certain age, and write your story so that it will reach out and connect with that someone, but whether or not that means emotional sex scenes versus physically graphic sex scenes doesn't depend so much on the target reader's age as the purpose of the story. Judy Blume made a particular book physically graphic because that served the book's purpose. In contrast, SHIVER had a sex scene focused on tenderness and shyness and it worked, because it worked with the tone of the entire book. Both books had a teen audience in mind, but the prose was written for the sake of the story, not for the sake of presuming every teen who reads a book wants or needs sex to be written about (or not written about) in a certain way.
Teens read romance novels, as you noted. They also read extremely graphic, erotic fanfic with teen-aged characters in it. The fact that the majority of books shelved in the YA section lacks such graphic detail is not a reflection of how authors write (or should write) for a teen audience; all it is is store managers making assumptions about what an audience reads, and shelving what they think that audience will buy in that section of the store. It's business, pure and simple, and has nothing to do with the actual desires or interests of individual readers.
As a writer, I don't decide to include or not include, to make graphic or not graphic, sex in stories based on the ages of characters. I make that decision based on the tone and goals of the story. I don't give a frak if that means it goes in the "adult" section versus the "YA" section -- that's for someone else to give a frak about, someone who's about making money.
I'm about making art.
As a person who reads both YA fiction and Adult fiction, and the occasional "bodice-ripper" (I'm going to be using that one from now on), I always notice the divide between YA sex scenes and Adult fiction sex scenes.ReplyDelete
I agree with you. There tends to be a deeper focus on emotion rather than "naughty bits" and what goes where in YA. In Adult fiction, there's usually a blend of emotions and naughty bits, which makes the sex scenes longer and, honestly, more satisfying.
I love reading YA, I love it when an author feels comfortable enough to write a sex scene in their story. I love how it seems like sex in YA is becoming less of a taboo and something more talked about, thus resulting sex positive books. There needs to be more of this.
What I don't love is the sex scenes (in some YA and Adult fiction) that gloss over the sex with unrealistic portrayal and vague descriptions so that it feels like your reading a really bad mash up of Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter instead of reading a book. Ex: "Fireworks lit up the room as his lips traveled to hidden treasures lost deep in a sea..."
I'm not saying I want YA sex scenes to become as visually graphic as Adult fiction sex scenes. I'm saying that I want them to become more real and unashamed. Sometimes when I'm reading a YA sex scene I almost feel like I'm talking to my mother in terms like "he has a pee-pee and it's different from yours, because birds and bees..." Well, you get the point.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that there's some awesome changes happening to sex scenes in YA fiction, just not as much as I'd like to see.
Great post, Kody.
As an author who writes romance novels and YA, I think you've nailed it when you said it's about the emotion.ReplyDelete
Sex scenes should be more than the 'docking' procedure, they should focus on the emotional aspect, staying true to the characters' motivations regardless of age.
Interestingly, I'm not a fan of euphanisms for 'bits', I call it as a I see it :)
That said, I haven't written a sex scene in YA yet. Looking forward to tackling the challenge!
Great post, Kody! I've really enjoyed this series. And I think the scale is dead-on.ReplyDelete
I like emotion in the YA sex scene but what I really love are scenes that show the awkwardness of first sex experiences. I don't need to see fluids exchanged but I like to see unscripted things like taking off your socks or being an uncomfortable place like a car or a house with no privacy and how that affects the characters.
Alison, some of my favorite boy-led sex scene scenes can be found in Eireann Corrigan's Ordinary Ghosts, Steve Berman's Vintage, Mindi Scott's Freefall, Melina Marchetta's The Piper's Son and there is an amusing but good one in Lish McBrid's Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. I really like exploring this side of it, because the girl POV is familiar to me and I think the boy's view isn't seen as much, or is seen as stereotypically thoughtless or without care or caution.
As usual, what a great and thought-provoking post! (Inspired me to write my own post on this matter). I feel as though YA novels are simultaneously getting racier (but not about sex) and more tame/oblivious about sex itself.ReplyDelete
@ Carrie- agree. A teen boy's perspective is definitely not described as much as a girl's. Or not given the same attention.
This is really interesting. I never thought about it this way, but you're right. Sex in YA is much more about the emotions.ReplyDelete
Thank you for this series of posts. I found you via a google search. I recently started writing YA, myself, and need all the guidance I can get, outside of channeling my inner fifteen year old!ReplyDelete


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wish you a very happy birthday lynn ! may your birthday be filled with sunshine and smiles, laughter, love, and cheer...:)
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Happy belated Birthday, Aurora! what can be better a lovely kitty for her! 5/5
SOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!! (Ha, my nickname is Lynn...so funny!!!) LOVE IT!!!! (Can you draw me a cat too, please? YOU ARE SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!! Thanks!!!) LOVE YOU!!! (As an artist friend..i added you as my friend, btw!!!!
SOOOOOOOOOO CUTEEEE!!!!! I LOVE KITTENS!!Such a beautiful gift!
very cute drawing!!! love it :D 5/5
This is SO adorable :]
AWWWWWWW.....This is so SWEEEEEET ....really ADORABLE draw ....5/5
Soo cute!~ :3 3
soo adorable !! ...5h
Adorable wish for Lynn! Love it.
I can't catch up with ratings @ the moment.. but this beauty caught my eye.. Gorgeous draw or Aurora 5 hearts & fav's

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redlorry919 needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 45 designs submitted by 16 freelance designers.
I'm looking for someone to design a 'web 2.0' style site for a photo application we've just finished building. The application allows photographers to upload, manage and sell their photographs via a secure members area.
Desired Color Scheme:
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Desired Style:
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Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai); Layered Formats (.psd or .tiff)
Hi all,
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text:
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Union leaders say the draft of the law will tighten restrictions on organized labor and create harsh punishments for unionists.
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text:
Part 1 Part 2
Features Added:
- Add a Delete Command
- Hook Commands to MenuBar and ToolBar
- Display Count of Items in StatusBar
- Add an Exit Command Using ApplicationCommands
- Data Validation of the Title
- Validate ToDo Item (an introduction)
The full, current, code is provided at the end of this Part.
Add a Delete Command
Modify MyObservableCollection.cs to add a Delete enum:
public enum Navigation { First, Previous, Next, Last, Add, Delete }
Modify NavigationCommands.cs to include these two additional cases:
// in the CurrentChanged event's switch: case Navigation.Delete: // there must be at least one ToDo item left _canExecute = (_list.Count > 1 && _list.CurrentPosition >= 0); break; // in the Execute's switch: case Navigation.Delete: _list.RemoveAt(_list.CurrentPosition); break;
(Count is a pre-existing property of an ObservableCollection.)
I am using the condition that there must be at least one ToDo item in the list. This won't always be appropriate. If we don't use this condition then it requires a bit more work, because the Window is still visible and gives the false impression that you can enter details for a ToDo item - but there isn't one! (It also causes some issues with Validation.)
(I suppose you could delete all items, but then immediately start a new one. This seems a little odd, and might be problematic.)
If we want to continue with our aim of making the Commands (and MyObservableCollection) re-usable then it requires some thought. Firstly, do Add and Delete belong in a list of NavigationCommands? I don't think this is a major issue though, because we could create a second Command-class specifically for commands like these (ChangeCommands?).
Secondly, as already mentioned, should it be possible for the Delete command to delete the last-remaining item in the list? To allow for both possibilities the model would have to expose some property that the Command can read to decide whether this deletion can occur. (Or some action should be triggered in the model when the last item is removed.)
Modifying ToDoList.cs is straight-forward:
public ICommand CommandAdd { get; private set; } CommandDelete = new NavigationCommand(this, Navigation.Delete);
Hook Commands to MenuBar and ToolBar
We can add a Button for Delete in ToDo.xaml easily enough:
<Button Content="First" Name="btnFirst" Command="{Binding Path=CommandFirst}" /> <Button Content="Previous" Name="btnPrevious" Command="{Binding Path=CommandPrevious}" /> <Button Content="Next" Name="btnNext" Command="{Binding Path=CommandNext}" /> <Button Content="Last" Name="btnLast" Command="{Binding Path=CommandLast}" /> <Button Content="_New" Name="btnNew" Command="{Binding Path=CommandAdd}" /> <Button Content="_Delete" Name="btnDelete" Command="{Binding Path=CommandDelete}" />
(Notice that I removed the CommandParameters as they aren't used.)
I also modified App.xaml to reduce the size of the Buttons:
<Style TargetType="Button" BasedOn="{StaticResource controlStyle}"> <Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="Center" /> <Setter Property="MinWidth" Value="50" /> <Setter Property="Margin" Value="5,12" /> <Setter Property="Padding" Value="5" /> </Style>
Modify Mainwindow.xaml to use the same Commands in the Menu and ToolBar:
<Menu DockPanel.Dock="Top"> <MenuItem Header="_FILE"> <MenuItem Header="_Load" /> <MenuItem Header="_Save" /> </MenuItem> <MenuItem Header="_EDIT"> <MenuItem Header="_New" Command="{Binding ElementName=vwToDo, Path=DataContext.CommandAdd}" /> <MenuItem Header="_Delete" Command="{Binding ElementName=vwToDo, Path=DataContext.CommandDelete}" /> </MenuItem> <MenuItem Header="_VIEW"> <MenuItem Header="_Previous" Command="{Binding ElementName=vwToDo, Path=DataContext.CommandPrevious}" /> <MenuItem Header="_Next" Command="{Binding ElementName=vwToDo, Path=DataContext.CommandNext}" /> </MenuItem> </Menu> <ToolBarTray DockPanel.Dock="Top"> <ToolBar> <Button Content="New" Command="{Binding ElementName=vwToDo, Path=DataContext.CommandAdd}" /> </ToolBar> </ToolBarTray>
We need to bind to our User Control (vwToDo) and access the Commands via its DataContext (the ToDoList).
If you run the application then the menu and toolbar items are disabled in the same way as the navigation-buttons, based on CanExecute.
The Load and Save menu-options don't do anything currently.
Display Count of Items in StatusBar
This should be straight-forward because Count exists as a property of an ObservableCollection and automatically updates. Change the StatusBar in Mainwindow.xaml to:
<StatusBar DockPanel.Dock="Bottom"> Total Tasks: <TextBlock Text="{Binding ElementName=vwToDo, Path=DataContext.Count}" /> </StatusBar>
I have been working on getting the status-bar to display "Item 3 Of 5" but haven't resolved it yet.
Add an Exit Command Using ApplicationCommands
I use ApplicationCommands.Close to implement an Exit Command. I also decided to put this in the code-behind.
Why code-behind? Aren't we trying to avoid this?
- It is easy to set up and therefore easy to change later.
- It provides a quick demonstration of the use of ApplicationCommands.
I decided that the Exit command will just exit the application, not involving our model at all. If, for example, we didn't want to execute this command unless the ToDoList had been saved (or a decision was made not to save it) then I would remove it from the code-behind and integrate it into the Model (or ViewModel).
Modify Mainwindow.xaml to the following:
<window.CommandBindings> <CommandBinding Command="ApplicationCommands.Close" Executed="CommandClose_Executed" CanExecute="CommandClose_CanExecute"> </CommandBinding> </window.CommandBindings> <window.InputBindings> <KeyBinding Command="Close" Key="F4" Modifiers="Alt" /> </window.InputBindings> <window.Resources> </window.Resources> <DockPanel> <Menu DockPanel.Dock="Top"> <MenuItem Header="_FILE"> <MenuItem Header="_Load" /> <MenuItem Header="_Save" /> <MenuItem Header="E_xit" Command="Close" /> </MenuItem>
WPF Tutorial - Command Bindings and Custom Commands
InputBindings provide a keyboard-shortcut for the Command. They can provide other triggers (InputGestures) to execute the Command.
Right-click the text "CommandClose_Executed" and choose Navigate to Event Handler to create the initial code for this handler, in the code-behind. Do the same for "CommandClose_CanExecute".
// default using statements omitted using ToDoApplication.Models; namespace ToDoApplication { /// <summary> /// Interaction logic for Mainwindow.xaml /// </summary> public partial class MainWindow : Window { public MainWindow() { InitializeComponent(); Loaded += MainWindowLoaded; } private void MainWindowLoaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { vwToDo.DataContext = new ToDoList(); vwToDo.txtTitle.Focus(); } private void CommandClose_Executed(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e) { Application.Current.Shutdown(); } private void CommandClose_CanExecute(object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e) { e.CanExecute = true; e.Handled = true; } } }
As you can see, there is very little code required, and it is completely UI-based; that is, nothing to do with our Model. (I also took the opportunity to Focus() on the Title-TextBox when the Window is loaded.)
e.Handled = true prevents the Command from bubbling further up the UI element-chain.
You can run and test this menu-option, pressing Alt-F4 should also exit the application.
Data Validation of the Title
We will add a simple validation-requirement that the Title cannot be empty, nor more than 30 characters. (The approach used here is also discussed in my earlier WPF Build a Window tutorial.) The TextBox will be decorated (adorned) with an error message when it loses the focus; that is, when the user tabs away from the TextBox. (See the earlier screenshot.)
The simple validation used here is not sufficient to prevent the user from navigating to a different ToDo item. It does, however, prevent the bound-property (the Title) from being updated (whilst HasError is true).
Create a new class TitleValidator.cs in the Models folder:
using System; using System.Windows.Controls; namespace ToDoApplication.Models { class TitleValidator : ValidationRule { public override ValidationResult Validate(object value, System.Globalization.CultureInfo cultureInfo) { if (value == null || String.IsNullOrEmpty(value.ToString())) return new ValidationResult(false, "There must be a Title."); else { if (value.ToString().Length > 30) return new ValidationResult(false, "Maximum of 30 characters."); } return ValidationResult.ValidResult; } } }
Add the following to App.xaml which provides a ControlTemplate which will be used as a Validation.ErrorTemplate to display the error message (decorating the TextBox). It also provides a Style to display a ToolTip when HasError is true.
<ControlTemplate x:Key="validationTemplate"> <DockPanel> <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" DockPanel.Dock="Top"> <Grid Width="12" Height="12" Margin="0,0,5,0"> <Ellipse Width="12" Height="12" Fill="Red" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" /> <TextBlock Foreground="White" FontWeight="Heavy" FontSize="8" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" TextAlignment="Center" ToolTip="{Binding ElementName=TheErrorElement, Path=AdornedElement.(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}" Text="X" /> </Grid> <AdornedElementPlaceholder DockPanel.Dock="Top" x:Name="TheErrorElement" /> </StackPanel> <TextBlock Foreground="Red" FontWeight="12" Margin="20,3,3,3" Text="{Binding ElementName=TheErrorElement, Path=AdornedElement.(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}" /> </DockPanel> </ControlTemplate> <Style x:Key="styTextMissing" TargetType="TextBox" BasedOn="{StaticResource controlStyle}"> <Setter Property="Padding" Value="3" /> <Style.Triggers> <Trigger Property="IsFocused" Value="True"> <Setter Property="Background" Value="LightYellow" /> </Trigger> <Trigger Property="Validation.HasError" Value="true"> <Setter Property="ToolTip" Value="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}" /> </Trigger> </Style.Triggers> </Style>
The Style will display the Tooltip when pointing over the TextBox. There is also a ToolTip in the ControlTemplate which displays when pointing over the red circle. We don't really need both but this demonstrates alternatives.
Now we can modify the Title-TextBox in ToDo.xaml to use these features:
<Label Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Content="Title" /> <TextBox Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" Grid.ColumnSpan="3" x:Name="txtTitle" Validation.ErrorTemplate="{StaticResource validationTemplate}" Style="{StaticResource styTextMissing}"> <TextBox.Text> <Binding Path="/Title" Mode="TwoWay" UpdateSourceTrigger="LostFocus"> <Binding.ValidationRules> <models:TitleValidator></models:TitleValidator> </Binding.ValidationRules> </Binding> </TextBox.Text> </TextBox>
If you run this you will see that it isn't perfect. If you add a new ToDo item the Title is initially empty but doesn't display an error message, which is fine. But clicking in and out of this box (to lose focus) won't display it either. If you type something, then delete it and tab out, it will display the error.
This can be resolved by putting the default text 'Your Title Here.' for every new item, but it is a pain to have to delete it each time. Alternatively, we can ignore this small quirk and rely on validating the entire ToDo item.
Note that there remains another quirk. If you start a new ToDo item and type a Title, but don't then tab away from the TextBox, the value stored is still null, as the updating of the bound-property hasn't taken place. A temporary, but not complete, solution is to change the UpdateSourceTrigger from LostFocus to PropertyChanged. That is, as the user types in the TextBox.
Validate ToDo Item (an introduction)
Data Validation is a large topic and I am only scraping the surface of it in this part of the tutorial.
DataValidation for a single property, such as requiring there to be a Title, works reasonably well, but this doesn't help where we need to validate properties in combination. (DataValidation is intended to work with a single value.)
Homework: Create a new DataValidation class named, for example, SensibleDate that will not allow a date earlier than some arbitrary, but sensible, date such as 1st Jan 2000. Apply this to all three date-controls. Either use our existing ControlTemplate or create a new one. You'll need to allow for null-values though.
For our application:
- The dates could be any reasonable date, but the DueDate should be after the StartDate.
- Similarly, the CompletedDate should occur after the StartDate. (A ToDo item that was completed before its StartDate probably isn't worth keeping.)
- If Completed is ticked then there should be a CompletedDate.
Ticking Completed could insert the current date (if CompletedDate hasn't alerady been entered) but this is a feature of the application rather than being directly related to validation.
(Should StartDate be required for a ToDo item, as well as a Title? This is a business decision.)
Validating an entire item (Explicit validation) isn't as complete a feature in WPF as it was in WinForms with its ErrorProvider Class. However, as a first step in this process, it might be sensible to have an isValid property in the ToDo class, that we can also make use of in our NavigationCommands. Add this in ToDo.cs:
internal bool isValid { get { return !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Title); } }
Now modify the Execute method in NavigationCommands.cs to use this property:
public void Execute(object parameter) { if (_request != Navigation.Delete && !_list[_list.CurrentPosition].isValid) { MessageBox.Show("Current item is not valid.", "ToDo Application"); return; } switch (_request) {
(If they are deleting the current item there is no need to check if it is valid.)
The MessageBox perhaps doesn't belong in the Command; the Command should either execute, or not execute. It is included here to demonstrate that isValid is doing its job.
Full Code Listing
This post has been edited by andrewsw: 21 May 2014 - 01:00 PM


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This week, politicians, scientists and fisheries managers from around the world are coming to Mauritius to attend the annual Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) meeting. This organisation is charged by governments to protect tuna stocks across the Indian Ocean, but right now it is abjectly failing in this task.
Tuna fishing across the region is poorly controlled – too many boats are taking too many fish, and often these boats come from wealthier, distant nations that use wasteful and destructive fishing techniques.
On Sunday morning, I sailed on the Greenpeace ship Esperanza from the Mauritian capital, Port Louis, along the coast towards Grand Bay where the IOTC meeting is being held, to deliver an important message. But the Esperanza did not sail alone. We were joined by a flotilla of artisanal Mauritian fishermen in their tiny boats who wanted to deliver the same message to the IOTC – act now to improve your management of Indian Ocean tuna fisheries.
Battling strong winds and an increasing ocean swell, the local fishermen did a magnificent job in keeping close to the Esperanza with their banners flying as we crept up the coast towards the IOTC conference centre to deliver our message.
The day before our flotilla sailed up the coast I had met many of the fishermen on the beach where they tie up their boats. In the sand, using a stick, they drew out a map of the coastline and we agreed a place where the Esperanza would meet them so that we could sail up the coast together to deliver a message to the IOTC.
These local fishermen, whose boats are only a few metres long and open to the weather, struggle to make a living because their catches have been declining dramatically over recent years. As the number of large, foreign tuna fishing vessels have increased, the local fishermen have seen their catches fall in size. They tie up their vessels on a crumbling concrete jetty that is barely usable or on a nearby beach covered in rubbish that has washed up in recent tides.
Just along the coast, visible from the fishermen's beach, much larger long-line vessels from places such as Japan, Taiwan and Korea and huge state-of-the-art French, Spanish and Korean purse seiners berth alongside well-maintained concrete docks and use modern port and processing facilities.
This contrast, between the operations of the local fishermen and the foreign fishing fleets using the modern port underscores the Mauritian fishermen's grievances and offers some explanation as to why they joined us to call on the IOTC to improve its management of the region's tuna fisheries.
IOTC management is currently so poor that there is no clear idea how many boats are actually fishing in the Indian Ocean. Wasteful and destructive tuna fishing techniques, such as purse seining with Fish Aggregating Devices continues to expand unchecked.
Wealthier, distant-water fishing nations such as France, Spain, Taiwan, Japan, China and Korea are supported more by current management than many local fishermen, who very often struggle to make a living. Waters are poorly controlled and policed meaning there is a significant amount of illegal fishing taking place across the Indian Ocean.
Transhipments of fish between vessels at sea are allowed – an operation that if poorly monitored (and this is usually the case), allows for loads of illegal fish to be landed ashore. In its recent voyage across the Indian Ocean, the Esperanza and her team have found evidence of this illegal fishing. We have now presented this information to the IOTC.
As we approached Grand Bay, the wind and swell picked up yet again and the fishermen decided it was time to return home. We waved them goodbye from the Esperanza as they turned for the coast. But they had made their point and their message will be heard at the IOTC next week.
The local fishermen who we sailed with today are already feeling the impacts of poor fisheries management by the IOTC. For them, declining tuna and other fish stocks are an issue that they and their families confront every day. They will remain in the front line of a poorly protected Indian Ocean, but unless the IOTC acts now to change the fishing here, we will soon all be the poorer for it.
Oliver Knowles, Oceans Campaigner, is currently on the Esperanza.
Click here to download the Greenpeace report looking at Indian Ocean fishing capacity
(Unregistered) Sun Wu
Mauritian Fisherman?
Come on guys, Esperanza is burning something like 4 tons of fossil fuel a day.
Mauritian Fisherman?
Come on guys, Esperanza is burning something like 4 tons of fossil fuel a day.
The Crew and campaigners have been flown in form all over the world at conditions which we better do not talk about.
The Carbon-Footprint of this Kindergarden is anything but green.
I am not saying Greenpeace should go back to the trees campaigning by using spears.
But I strongly believe that, if Greenpeace is burning thousands of tons of fuel for its fleet and planes providing crew/campaign related person (Frits, did you notice, the campaign-related was for you)...
...if Greenpeace is burning thousands of tons of fossil-fuels I do believe there should be some kind of an outcome!
Otherwise I once again ask you to give me the fleet of Warriors...
I want the Greenpeace-ships, you guys seem to be busy with Facebook anyways.
Ships are wonderful weapons (as I tried to prove you when we baptized the Rainbow Warrior).
You just have to know what to use the weapon for!
Sun Wu, GODFATHER of the Rainbow Warrior III
PS: think I never told you...baptizing the Rainbow Warrior was a low budget-event. You have now idea how hard it was to find someone willing to paint a brandnew ships worth 30 Millions.
But actually that was not all...there was supposed to be a Combo on our small harbour-tug Fiete. Or maybe better: a DJ.
Just imagine some nice beats coming from the Seaside...!
But we had a nice ceremony anyways, correct?
I did love DOCTOR Naidoo's singing...there was only a few BEATS missing. Lets say at least 140/minute!
You can not listen to 140 beats a minute at room-level, you have to turn up the volume to get the spirit
7 May, 2013 at 12:42
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(Unregistered) Emily Arm
Good work Esperanza crew! Great to see GP tackling equity issues too.
7 May, 2013 at 13:28
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I fully agree that the current management of tunas by IOTC is as poor, inefficient, and shameful as was the management of bluefin tunas by ICCAT. Now ...
I fully agree that the current management of tunas by IOTC is as poor, inefficient, and shameful as was the management of bluefin tunas by ICCAT. Now that the bft situation is less critical than a few years ago, we should have a longlasting and strong campaign in the Indian Ocean !
8 May, 2013 at 18:57
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Caroline Hoisington
I'm really glad that GP is doing this. Fishing around the globe is an easy one to ignore - we barely know about it and don't feel the results ...
I'm really glad that GP is doing this. Fishing around the globe is an easy one to ignore - we barely know about it and don't feel the results at home (yet). But the oceans are badly over-fished, and falling in productivity as a result (WB/FAO says $50 Billion/year is lost). Small fishers around the globe are the biggest losers now, losing out to factory ships that are energy hogs and too efficient at depleting species including tuna and really should not be allowed.
11 May, 2013 at 3:07
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George Siniska
I personally know one of these local fisherman who went in his tiny pirogue with a flag to make his voice count.
Good on you mate you have to ma...
I personally know one of these local fisherman who went in his tiny pirogue with a flag to make his voice count.
Good on you mate you have to make a stand or one day your livelihood and that of your family will totally destroyed.Thank you Green Peace for looking out after these people
15 August, 2013 at 6:46
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Big Bang #24 on Billboard.com's Social 50 Music Chart [NEWS]
K-Pop sensation BIGBANG makes its debut on the Billboard Social 50 at No. 24. The group gained over 800,000 video views on YouTube last week (a 61% increase compared to the previous week) after releasing a series of live performance videos from their tour. BIGBANG's "Alive" was released Feb. 29 and debuted on the Heatseekers Albums chart at No. 4. The group's "Alive Tour 2012" kicked off in early March in Seoul Olympic Park Stadium and is set to take the band to 16 countries and 25 cities around the globe. BIGBANG is the first K-Pop act to appear on the Social 50 since The Wonder Girls appeared back in Nov. 2011.
1. Justin Bieber
3. Rihanna
4. One Direction
5. Katy Perry
6. Lady Gaga
7. Nicki Minaj
8. Adele
9. Taylor Swift
10. Skrillex
11. Jennifer Lopez
12. Britney Spears
13. David Guetta
14. Demi Lovato
15. Pitbull
16. Chris Brown
17. Beyonce
18. Selena Gomez
19. Shakira
20. Eminem
21. Boyce Avenue
22. Bruno Mars
23. Cimorelli
24. Big Bang (Debut)
25. Christina Grimmie
26. Drake
27. Justin Timberlake
28. Lil Wayne
29. Linsey Stirling (Debut)
30. Walk Off The Earth
(Full Ranking Here)
A ranking of the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites. Artists' popularity is determined by a formula blending their weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with artist page views and weekly song plays, as measured by Next Big Sound.


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Model: PO1
Various winter garments, both for children and babies, as for adults: shirts (polar-shirts), vests, trousers, overalls, etc., as well as winter accessories: caps and scarves. This fabric is also suitable as lining for outdoor clothing.
A thinner, but warm Microfleece fabric made of highest quality micropolyester, with antipilling properties. It's surfaces are plane and nice to touch. The color pallete is especially broad.
Available colors: black, white, red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, pink, brown, grey, cream, navy, turquoise, bordeaux . To see our other colors, click the "more colors" tab.
Download our app for your device
Now you can order from anywhere


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Former Norwich officer acquitted on charges of sex with underage girl
A New London jury has found former Norwich patrolman Kenneth Nieves not guilty of having a sexual relationship with an underage girl.
The jury of four women and two men deliberated for about four hours before reaching its verdict at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. Upon hearing the jury foreman say Nieves was not guilty on all three counts of risk of injury to a minor, Judge Arthur C. Hadden dismissed the case.
Nieves, 45, hugged his son and daughter, who had listened to parts of the trial. In the past year, he has lost his job as a police officer, been divorced from his wife of more than 20 years and been arrested.
Asked what he would do with the rest of his life, Nieves said his life is "ruined."
"Really, nobody won," he said.
In taking his case to trial, Nieves had rejected the state's offer to plead guilty in exchange for a year-long prison sentence followed by 10 years of strict probation and registration as a sexual offender. Had he been convicted at trial, he would have faced a maximum of 20 years in prison on each of the three counts of risk of injury to a minor.
The alleged victim, now a 23-year-old police officer, had testified that she began a years-long sexual relationship with Nieves when she was 14 or 15 years old. She could not pinpoint the date when the affair started. Nieves testified that they began having sex six days after the girl turned 16, which is the age of consent.
During jury selection, defense attorney Charles Tiernan III had divulged his strategy to prospective jurors by asking what they thought about a 38-year-old man having sex with a 16-year-old girl.
"They followed the judge's instruction and did what they were supposed to do," Tiernan said after the verdict was announced. "He indicated from the get-go that she was 16. As uncomfortable as people are with that, it's not illegal."
Prosecutor Theresa Anne Ferryman had argued that Nieves' ability to pinpoint the exact date of the first sexual encounter seemed contrived.
"The jury was attentive and fulfilled its obligation," she said after the judge dismissed the case. "The state, as always, respects the verdict."
Nieves, a Norwich patrolman from 2002 to 2011, admitted on the witness stand that he sometimes had sex with the girl in his police cruiser. He said he would pick her up from her workplace during his lunch or dinner breaks.
The girl testified that she viewed Nieves, a friend of her family, as a father figure until their relationship turned sexual. Her own father was not in her life, she said, and Nieves accompanied her to her school's father-daughter dance. She said she broke off the affair when she was 18 and realized it was inappropriate.
Nieves testified that he had an emotional bond with the girl. He said he told the girl he loved her, helped her move and gave her gifts, including a washer and dryer for her new home.
Nieves resigned from the police department in September 2011 after being placed on paid administrative leave while his superiors investigated allegations that he was having sex with women while on duty.
The police contacted the alleged victim during the investigation. She said she was reluctant to provide a written statement in the case but did not want any other minors to be victimized.
Trump's impeachment counteroffensive could be undercut by Bolton
5th coronavirus case confirmed in U.S., 1,000 more expected in China; death toll at 80


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ATLANTA BALTIMORE BIRMINGHAM BOSTON BUFFALO CHICAGO CINCINNATI CLEVELAND DALLAS DENVER DETROIT KANSAS CITY LOS ANGELES MINNEAPOLIS NEWARK NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA PITTSBURGH HASKINS & SELLS CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS BULLETIN EXECUTIVE OFFICES HASKINS & SELLS BUILDING 37 WEST 39TH ST., NEW YORK PORTLAND PROVIDENCE SAINT LOUIS SALT LAKE CITY SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE TULSA WATERTOWN BERLIN LONDON PARIS SHANGHAI HAVANA MEXICO CITY MONTREAL VOL. VIII NEW YORK, JULY, 1925 No. 7 Vacation Time VACATION time is a time when the editor who must needs supply material for the edification of readers cries aloud for copy which will serve as a whip to jaded interest. The cry is not only loud; it has a plaintive note and is likely to be in vain. Even so it is no more than might be expected. Nature will have its way. Animals hibernate in winter. Human beings yearn for inactivity in summer. Signs of spring find the country boy playing truant from school to while away his time on the banks of a trout stream. Summer time finds the city lad longing for the fresh air of country or shore. Whittier's "barefoot boy with cheek of tan" ever will live in the memory because it typifies freedom from care and a delightful sense of irresponsibility which children openly enjoy, and grown-ups secretly adore. Vacation time is a time for relaxation; for change of scene; for diversion. There is no relaxation when one must continue to do the things which someone else dictates. There is no recreation in traveling the same daily route and seeing the same prosaic individuals. Diversion is not found in pounding away at the same old task. Relaxation means a glorious state of physical and mental freedom. Vacation should mean complete relaxation, amid new surroundings, engaging in activities which are different from those comprising one's regular routine. The labor of the industrial world is characterized by sameness. Of all things deadly none compares with sameness. Day in and day out thousands of industrial workers must repeat the same manufacturing operation. As day follows day armies of office workers must go through the same grind of occupation. Sameness, therefore, is sufficient reason for vacations in the industrial world. The accounting profession may advance no such excuse. Accountancy is marked by anything but sameness. But it is notorious for the high speed and pressure under which the work is carried on throughout a large part of the year; when months are crowded into days; when relaxation and diversion are but meaningless words. Vacation time may, therefore, be expected to appeal with special force to accountants. A rest, a change, new surroundings, new faces, a glimpse of nature, freedom of action and thought—all contribute to renewed energy and enthusiasm for matters which will require attention


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Some people might be surprised to know how many of our readers are not fat, and yet benefit from and espouse the principles of fat acceptance. There are valuable lessons about body acceptance that can come from being thin — and even from getting thinner. Shapeling Dani recently endured a medical mystery that we called "Treehorn Syndrome" because it made her shrink so precipitously. A few days ago she made a comment in another thread about how shooting past a size zero made her understand how vital acceptance really is. I asked her to expand on the comment and I'm really grateful that she was willing to do so — I think her story is a great illustration of how truly ingrained our body hatred is, and how anyone can benefit from rejecting it. -FJ
by Dani
Annoying Truth of the Day: If you hate your body, you will hate it no matter what size it is. If you like your body (or at least respect it), you will like (or respect) it no matter what size it is.
I learned this by shrinking.
("Nobody shrinks," said Treehorn's father.
"Well, I'm shrinking," said Treehorn. "Look at me.")
As most of you who have checked out the Illustrated BMI Project know, I'm supposedly "normal" and visually effing tiny. What most of you don't know is that during high school and college, I'd have given anything to have been two sizes smaller and fifteen pounds lighter.
Yes, this would have made me "underweight" and caused serious health problems. Yes, I'd have lost so much muscle mass that figure skating, around which my life revolved, would have been impossible. Yes, hating my body for sticking to its genetically determined setpoint weight made me pessimistic and cranky.
But I wanted to be a size two anyway. It'd make me able to wear pretty clothes, instead of hiding my shameful hips under giant sweaters. I'd be more popular. I'd be eminently dateable. (That I was never without some guy's attention in high school escaped my notice at the time – wait till they saw how really squishy and fat and ugly I was, they'd run like hell.) I'd stop getting those nasty nervous shakes right before a performance. In fact, I'd stop being shy and nervous altogether, because no one would be able to find anything bad to say about my appearance. I'd have scads of friends as a result. OMG I would be so pretty and popular and sexy if I could only lose fifteen pounds! Right?
Last October, I did what I had been trying to hate my body into doing for years: I shrank four full dress sizes. Thanks to horrible drug side effects colliding badly with my already screwy pancreas, I half starved to death in six weeks – and reached that size two (and well below) I'd been coveting since age twelve.
And my life was a living hell. I could count my ribs and see where they joined my spine. My skin turned a grey ordinarily only seen on cadavers. My hair fell out in handfuls. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I walked with a cane; my skating was a thing of the past. My friends asked if I was "really okay"; my mother begged me to call the doctor; my husband announced that I was "way too thin."
Yet I stared at myself in the mirror and, under the grossed-out fascination of seeing things I'd never actually seen outside concentration camp photos, I actually wished that my hips had shrunk just a bit more.
Now, I've never had an eating disorder. When I look in the mirror I know I'm seeing a woman on the small end of the scale. Even as a figure skater, I was raised on the notion that performance trumps appearance. But why let that stop me from hating my body, even to the point of believing that being halfway starved to death wasn't thin enough?
And so I had to face today's Annoying Truth: there is no magic weight, no magic dress size, at which life becomes nothing but sunshine and puppies. The Fantasy of Being Thin remained a fantasy, no matter how small I got. I got small enough to wear things I haven't worn since fifth grade, and it wasn't enough.
At some level, we all know that no magic number will solve all our problems – otherwise, we'd have broken out a Sharpie, written our magic number on all our clothing tags, and been done with it. We also know that our bodies function just fine even as they are, and even if they don't, that making them disappear is no rational way to improve them.
("Nobody disappears," said Treehorn's father positively.
"That's right, they don't," said Treehorn's mother more cheerfully. "But no one shrinks, either," she said after a moment.)
Perhaps the oddest thing about shrinking so rapidly is that, while it alarmed my family and close friends, my acquaintances expressed nothing but envy. "I wish I could lose weight like that," I heard over and over again. "Like what?" I wondered. "Like, seventeen percent of your body weight? Like, irrespective of whether it's fat, muscle, or bone? Like, enough to ruin your life?" I never asked – I suspect none of them knew the answer.
If I could insert here some wonderfully inspiring and uplifting message about how Treehorn Syndrome banished all my nasty self-hatred and taught me to love my body exactly as it is, and also I thank God for every day because I almost disappeared myself even unto death and it was Teh Life-Affirming Scariez…I still wouldn't. Because I'm not a Hallmark special.
Reaching my "goal weight" did make me realize that this is the body I've been given, and like it or not I'd better damn well work with it or I'm never going to accomplish anything. I realized that a society that teaches us a woman's highest accomplishment is to disappear is fucked up at best. I realized that I will not start liking my body until I start liking my body. I also realized that it's completely stupid to beat myself up over not achieving an utterly impossible fantasy. Hell, I also fantasize about winning Olympic gold medals or dating George Clooney, but I don't beat myself up over never actually having done them.
Which of course doesn't mean that I've stopped beating myself up completely. Like everything HAES-related, self-acceptance is a process. Just like intuitive eating or finding the right amount of exercise, telling my self-hating thoughts to find a toasty abode is an everyday activity. On the bright side, giving my inner critic a boot in the ass is more fun and more fulfilling than hating myself for not being a "magic" size.
("Look," said Treehorn. "I'm my own size now. My own regular size."
"That's nice, dear," said Treehorn's mother. "It's a very nice size, I'm sure, and if I were you I wouldn't shrink anymore.")


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Please call us for pricing: 818-597-7800
Through this manufacturer's Custom Order Upholstery Program, customizing your living room is only a month away. This streamlined custom order process allows you to personalize this item with the perfect upholstery color, texture and type for your home. An in-house delivery fleet ensures quick drop-off so Custom Order items can often times be in your home in 28 days or less. Visit us at one of our retail locations to check availability, pricing and to see the fabric options in person.
This collection was crafted on the value - It's what's inside that counts. Backed by a manufacturer lifetime frame warranty, this item is created from engineered hard wood, a manufactured wood made from multi-layer plywood that provides strength at an outstanding value. The engineered hard wood is then precision cut for interlocking accuracy and reinforced at points that receive the most wear.
Since 1964, this item's manufacturer has been crafting American made upholstered furniture in the foothills of East Tennessee. When other furniture suppliers decided to take their manufacturing overseas, this group's manufacturer remained in the US, offering American made furniture with a wide selection of American made fabric options.
This reclining sofa has three deep cushion overstuffed pillow seats for maximum comfort. Choose from a variety of fabrics.
The Oakland Upholstered Reclining Sofa by England at Reeds Furniture in the Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Agoura Hills, Oxnard, Calabassas, Malibu, California area. Product availability may vary. Contact us for the most current availability on this product.
Since being introduced, the 7200 style has become one of our best. Features include a teardrop arm and a large fiber-filled arm pad. Seating is the extremely popular pillow-top design. The overstuffed back is gathered to produce comfort-wrinkles, but, best of all, it's removable for ease of delivery. With multiple pieces, arrangements can be put together to retail at most price points. Our American-made custom upholstered furniture offers features you won't find anywhere else, manufactured hardwood frames, self-repairing zippers, custom-comfort cushions, and the best warranties in the industry.
The Oakland collection is a great option if you are looking for Casual furniture in the Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Agoura Hills, Oxnard, Calabassas, Malibu, California area.
These images are representative of this group as a whole and may differ from this item.
Browse other items in the Oakland collection from Reeds Furniture in the Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Agoura Hills, Oxnard, Calabassas, Malibu, California area.
This item has been tagged as: Sectional with Recliner, Recliner Sectional, Reclining Sectional, Seating, Couches, Couch, Sofa, Reclining Home Theater Furniture, Living Room Furniture, Accent Furniture, Reclining Love Seat, Loveseat Recliner, Reclining Couch, Reclining Sofa, Couch with Recliner, Sofa with Recliner, Motion Furniture, Moving Furniture, Living Room Furniture, Family Room Furniture, Great Room Furniture, Den Furniture, Home Furnishing
Nothing on this page may be copied or reproduced without explicit permission.


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Remote Solution's Battery Free Universal Remote is fully charged for seven-days after turning its dial 50 times clockwise the first time around, and 30 times thereafter. The remote can control up to six devices and programming is as simple as entering a three-digit code for the make of the device from a list of supported brands in the instructions. A handy five-step quick guide is also found to its rear.
The silver-and-blue plastic design is not particularly stylish and rather basic in layout, but the remote feels solid enough. Programming was easy but gobbled up power in scanning mode and proved a bit hit-and-miss when manually entering different codes. However, this type of design is the start of greater things to come as it does away with batteries for good, making it environmentally friendly and dirt-cheap to run. Lisa Keddie


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Four-channel luminaires not only offer augmented color mixing possibilities, but also enhance the freedom of the lighting designer.
Luminous 14:
Discussing with light
Four-channel luminaires not only offer augmented color mixing possibilities, but also enhance the freedom of the lighting designer.
Philips Lighting has set up an application study to explore the possibilities offered by four-channel LED fixtures when used on different materials. The aim is to make it easier to predict the interactions between materials and color mixing, so saving designers time.
The work is based on RGBA mixing (red, green, blue and amber light) and RGBW mixing (red, green, blue and white light). It used basic color combinations, mixing 0%, 50% and 100% of each channel. These color mixes were applied to six samples representing generic outdoor materials: concrete, white stone, red brick, metallic cladding, wood and green vegetation.
The addition of neutral white LEDs results in a more continuous spectrum in which red, green and blue peaks can be managed to find a precise tint. Adding amber to the color mix creates a fourth peak in the spectrum, enabling a large range of warm white tints.
An obvious benefit of RGBW and RGBA fixtures is the possibility that they can change instantaneously from white light to any dynamic color, therefore increasing the number of potential scenarios in a lighting design.
In addition to the millions of saturated colors achievable with standard RGB lighting fixtures, RGBW fixtures provide an extended range of subtle pastel colors. While a single pastel color was a specific combination of red, green and blue channels in RGB, it can now be made by using the white channel at close to its maximum. It means that the flexibility to play with the three other channels is kept, allowing greater accuracy in creating a specific shade.
The channel of amber LEDs blends with the channels of red, green, and blue LEDs to produce a significantly expanded color palette thanks to a bigger range of colors. As a result, RGBA fixtures make it possible to create intense yellows and oranges.


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Antonio Brown has better odds than Von Miller to win "Dancing with the Stars"
Despite his illustrious sack dances, Broncos linebacker Von Miller is far from the favorite to win the 22nd season of "Dancing with the Stars," according to online sportsbook bookmaker.eu.
Miller is the eighth favorite at +825 odds, meaning a $100 bet would net $825. Among athletes, Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has the best odds at +600 (third favorite), followed by MMA fighter Paige VanZant +800 (seventh). Former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie is 10th at +1,400.
"Fuller House" star Jodie Sweetin, who once hosted "Pants-Off Dance-Off," is the favorite to win at +450. Television personality Geraldo Rivera brings up the rear at +3,000.
Miller's partner Witney Carson could be key for Miller, the Super Bowl 50 MVP, to succeed. Three of her four previous partners finished in the top five and one, "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star Alfonso Ribeiro, won the competition.
NFL players have done fairly well in the history of the show. Emmitt Smith (Season 3), Hines Ward (12) and Donald Driver (14) have won their respective seasons. Jerry Rice (2), Jason Taylor (6) and Warren Sapp (7) finished runner-up. And seven pro athletes have taken home the top prize, but none since season 14 (Driver).
The show will begin airing on ABC on March 21.


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Simplifying the process of mapping and modeling with low cost sensors
During his internship at Willow Garage, Alex Ichim, from EPFL Switzerland concentrated his efforts on simplifying the process of using off-the-shelf RGB-D cameras to capture objects and rooms in 3D. In contrast to other proposed systems utilizing low cost sensors, his goal was to leverage the geometric information gathered from the depth camera as much as possible, without the need for RGB cameras to align elements together in space. The result is comparable to more complex state-of-the-art SLAM algorithms that use color features.
To help with the captre of 3D information, Alex and his team present a system that makes use of geometric features such as planar regions. Planes are used for different purposes ranging from noise removal, alignment of pairs of frames, and global error relaxation within the captured information. In addition, much of their effort was spent with enhancing the different stages of point cloud registration by implementing and benchmarking techniques such as filtering, normal computation, correspondence estimation, and filtering.
At the end, his team refined how the collection of 3D data can be transformed into a compressed representation, such as colorized 3D models. Such a system opens a lot of possibilities given the simplicity of the setup, ranging from scanning small objects such as toys, larger items such as cars, going all the way to reconstructing entire rooms. Once captured, the models can be converted into physical form using off-the-shelf 3D printers.
A thorough evaluation of possible RGB extensions of the application are left for future work. In the meantime, a complete analysis of the components of the system, as well as implementations are available online at www.pointclouds.org.
For more information about Alex's work, check out his thesis (PDF) and presentation (PDF).


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to_davy needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 69 designs submitted by 27 freelance designers.
We are looking for a new logo and website template. The current logo is now 7 years old and we would like to use a more contemporary look and feel to both the logo and website.
About Hsyndicate: With an exclusive focus on the global hospitality and lodging industry, Hsyndicate consolidates relevant business intelligence into a unique, daily updated knowledgebase platform which is used and aggregated by industry-stakeholders that shape the future of global hospitality. Hsyndicate's members and audience include hotel groups and chains, national and global trade associations, schools, universities, consultants, financial analysts, business and consumer media, and conference organizers, representing an audience of 200,000+ individual users in all segments of the global hospitality industry. View Hsyndicate's current website at http://www.hsyndicate.org
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Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Immigration is suddenly a hot topic in the U.S., but it has been hot in the United Kingdom for a while. European Union rules will require Great Britain to admit vast numbers of Eastern European immigrants, starting next year. Why? Just because, apparently. We wrote here about how immigrants from elsewhere in Europe can live high off the hog on British welfare, which is far more lavish than anything available in their native lands–so lavish as to dispense entirely with any necessity to work. The Brits can see what is coming, and they are trying to stave it off the only way they know how, short of dropping out of the EU (which may, actually, be the next step). They are trying to discourage Eastern European immigrants from seeing Britain as the promised land of endless welfare benefits.
The Guardian solicited its readers–tongue in cheek, the paper assures us–to submit posters that might help discourage unwanted immigration:
With government ministers reportedly considering a negative ad campaign to deter potential immigrants from coming to the UK, we asked you for your tongue-in-cheek suggestions for what aspects of Britain should be included in the campaign. The weather, our transport network, and our politicians were all popular suggestions – here's the best of your posters.
They are mostly pretty good. This one is crude, but could be effective with the target audience:
This one is my favorite:
The only catch is, prospective immigrants can't be allowed to find out that in fact, loo-cleaning is strictly optional. The welfare money will flow in any event.
Does all of this have any relevance to the immigration debate in the U.S.? Discuss.


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With testings vigorously underway, the most anticipated partnership in motorsports is set to break new grounds with star drivers Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso at the helm.
Honda makes its return to the racing grid this year as an engine supplier in partnership with McLaren, a legendary union that dominated Formula One (F1) between 1988 and 1992. The union had won them eight championships and 44 grands prix, with 53 pole positions and 30 fastest laps recorded in 80 grand prix.
The first test car MP4-29H/1XI had already kicked off a few laps last November 2014 at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi. More tests are expected before the car's roaring debut but the team is well prepared in bringing the excitement to F1 2015.
- Fernando Alonso,
McLaren-Honda Driver
- Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda Driver


text: Claudia Puig over at USA Today gets it wrong, yet again. The film critic has posted an article called "Dark themes shine a beacon of light at the theater" which is supposed to be about how depressing flicks were big at the box office, but it quickly devolves into nothing more than a list of her best and worst of the year. Plus she snubs science fiction films altogether. Memo to Claudia: Danny Boyle's brilliant (and underappreciated) film Sunshine was just about the darkest-themed film out there this year, plus shining a beacon of light! It's all about reigniting our dying sun.


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By Spencer
On August 1, 2011
In Blog
I'm realizing I have too many T-shirts.
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The summer weather is getting even hotter with these sexy celebs getting their groove on.
It's one thing to see our favorite actresses and singers do their usual routine, but once they start working their hips, magic happens. Today, we've brought Demi Moore, Salma Hayek, Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Biel and Rihanna in all of their rump-shaking glory. Heck, we even threw in a sexy GIF of Christina Aguilera dancing from back in her prime.
Make sure you have some music playing while you check out these curvaceous GIFs of busty celebrities shaking it in all sorts of mesmerizing ways.


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During the past few months, there has been some growing activity in the (hidden) French circles of the Haskell community. A few people, including myself, are trying to increase the interest around Haskell in the French-speaking communities. You may (or may not) have noticed the translation of Learn You A Haskell that is available here, in French. We also have an IRC channel, #haskell-fr (access it through Freenode's webchat), and a mailing list. Please let us know about you if you are a French-speaking haskeller!
But we would like to get it a step further. We are currently considering the idea of a French hackathon. We already have been offered a room for 3 days in June 2012, in conjunction with a French Perl event. So one of the reasons behind this blog post is to get some feedback about this, in addition to letting people know about the French community. Who would be interested in attending such an event? This would be in Strasbourg, France for the moment. Note that this would not necessarily be restricted to French haskellers! The format would be a pretty much classical Hackathon: potential talks and a lot of Haskell hacking. So please let us know if you.d be interested in attending this (by commenting this post, the IRC channel or the mailing list).
On a side note, these past few days, I updated one of my libraries: statistics-linreg and published one too: kmeans-vector. It performs the k-means clustering algorithm on a list of points, and can lead to "pretty" graphics like the following.


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Allowing Hagel To Be Called 'Anti-Semitic' On NPR
When Elliott Abrams, a foreign policy official in the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush administrations, called former Sen. Chuck Hagel "anti-Semitic" on All Things Considered, many listeners were enraged.
"How dare you NPR - how dare you allow discredited neocon hack Elliott Abrams to smear and mislead about Chuck Hagel on my Public Air Waves," wrote Larry James of Fairfax Station, Va. "Questioning Israel's actions from time to time is not anti-Semitism."
Donn Viviani, of Honolulu, referring to Abrams conviction for lying to Congress about the Iran Contra affair, said, "I can't believe you let a guy who secretly sold weapons to our enemies smear with hearsay and innuendo a guy who earned two purple hearts serving this country."
"I hope you are going to have someone on the program to refute Abrams position on the Hagel nomination," said Chris Carlson of Portland, Ore., referring to Hagel's nomination by candidacy for secretary of defense. "The charge that Hagel is an anti-Semite is a serious charge. Abrams was an architect of the Iraq War, which Hagel opposed."
I understand the complaints and was myself troubled that Abrams, who is currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, was allowed to use NPR to make an inflammatory allegation for which he offered precious little proof. NPR wouldn't allow someone to make an unproven accusation that another person is a thief, for example, or beats his wife.
Is it different to accuse someone of being anti-Semitic, or racist, or homophobic, or any of a number of other inflammatory terms that are an unfair smear if unproven?
Abrams spoke in a "two-way" interview with host Melissa Block that lasted eight minutes. These conversations give listeners the opportunity to hear directly from people involved in the news or experts with viewpoints, including some listeners might not like. This was not a reported piece, in which the reporter has greater control — and responsibility — to find truth and impose fairness over the quotes she or he decides to include.
Yet, even in a reported piece on Morning Edition this past week, a voter who opposes President Barack Obama repeated the canard that the president is not American-born, with no context added by the reporter. This raised a separate wave of complaints from listeners.
What's happening? Are some of these charges political fair game when it comes to public figures?
One valid reason to air such charges is the news value in reporting what a significant group or public figure believes. But then you should deal with the charge directly and analyze it, which can be done more easily in a reported piece. Block did heroic work in trying to question Abrams' claim about Hagel's alleged anti-Semitism, and she offered a quote from a book by Hagel that would seem to refute the allegation. But she is constrained in her role from openly disagreeing with a guest.
The show could have chosen to edit out that section of the interview, which was pre-recorded. It also could have killed the interview altogether. Or producers could have told Abrams that it would not air the charge without better proof and ask him to re-record his answer. Abrams could then speak of his own discomfort about Hagel's position on Israel and about his past use of the phrases "the Jewish lobby" and "the Jews." It is these phrases, plus some unsubstantiated hearsay, that was the proof Abrams had to offer for Hagel's supposed anti-Semitism.
It is unclear how often Hagel actually said these phrases, and their use does not automatically mean someone is anti-Semitic. History has given Jews and anyone who is conscientious reason to be nervous when Jews are singled out as a group in a negative way. But that Hagel might be anti-Semitic has been roundly rejected by many Jews and non-Jews who know Hagel well, and nothing in his record has come to light to support the charge.
All this is part of the case against NPR's giving air time to Abrams to make it.
And yet.....
And yet there is another argument that justifies NPR's action, and it comes down to this: Trust the audience.
Christopher Turpin, the executive producer of All Things Considered, cogently made this case in an email exchange with me. In doing so, he also showed the care and anguish that goes into "two-ways."
Wrote Turpin:
As you have doubtless heard before, these kind of interviews are always tough. As hosts, producers and editors, we're invariably left second guessing ourselves. Believe me, there are always questions you wish you had framed a little differently, facts you would have liked to have found a way to work in, edits you wish you had (or hadn't) made. That said, I feel we were on pretty solid ground here.
As to the specific questions you raise:
--No, I don't think we should have killed the interview. While we don't want to provide a platform for ad hominem attacks — and we need to be sensitive to the ways both left and right can use accusations of hate to undermine perfectly legitimate policy perspectives — I disagree with the notion that allegations of anti-Semitism or racism constitute hate speech. Take that argument to its logical extreme and you end up in a pretty odd place. As with so much of what we do, these are judgment calls. In this case, Abrams' allegations reference specific events, which were accurately contextualized by Melissa, who challenges him appropriately throughout the interview.
Turpin didn't think that the interview should have been stopped and re-recorded, either.
We didn't consider re-recording the question. We do that when there is an error of fact. To Abrams the facts here are perfectly clear, based on Hagel's comments over the years. He is not plucking his allegations from thin air. The question is whether those facts, as he sees them, constitute anti-Semitism? Is it our role to decide where that highly subjective bar is? Not in my view. Ultimately, I'd rather place my faith in our listeners to weigh the allegations in context and decide on their merits.
But the All Things Considered staffers were aware of the weight of the decision that they were making. They wrapped up talking with him at about 3:30 p.m. and had less than an hour to edit the tape before airing it, Turpin said. That is not much time to think through subtle trade-offs. They thought fast, as Turpin explains:
Post-interview we considered three options;
--Killing the interview (briefly...see my previous note).
--Cutting the section where Abrams makes his accusation. If you listen to the interview this is a discrete section at the end of the conversation, and could have been lifted out. In my view, to cut this and run the rest of the interview would have been intellectually disingenuous.
--Extend the interview a tad to keep the anti-Semitism section, as well as much of the wider context as possible. This is what we did.
I should also note that we immediately transcribed Abrams comments and sent them to the White House for comment. Our editorial assistant followed-up by phone. We didn't get a response.
In the end, I accept — reluctantly — that the decision Turpin, Block and their team made was defensible. Two things sway me.
One is that you, members of the NPR audience, are smart and by hearing the Abrams charge and reasoning, you yourself can hear the thinness of his evidence, which came across pretty clearly. This is apparently what is happening across Washington and the country as the charge appears to be fading away.
The same goes for the so-called "birther" statement about Obama. The story was about Republicans who, on Inauguration Day, still deeply disliked the president. The quote showed that some of them even still believe he isn't American, a belief so discredited that it arguably doesn't merit context anymore. I doubt that few if any members of the NPR audience were influenced by the statement or needed it to be challenged.
A second observation that sways me has to do with American character and constitutional history. Few countries match the United States in free press and free speech. Protected by the First Amendment, Americans have flung accusations against public figures with an ease that astounds citizens of most other countries, even those with mature democracies such as Britain and France. I share the fear — or the civility — of those listeners who feel that giving a megaphone for unproven, inflammatory smears unnecessarily divides and perhaps even undermines us as a nation, not to mention the damage it does to the individual such as Hagel.
But the country has prospered with the rough and tumble system we have. Will it always? I don't know. Other countries have strong democracies and more regulated speech. As one media lawyer told me last week, falsely accusing someone of being anti-Semitic might even be criminal in Germany, where it is illegal to deny the Holocaust. We shouldn't be so arrogant as to think our way is the only true democratic way. But it has worked so far for us.
Still, I personally would have cut or re-recorded the offending parts of the Abrams interview, for reasons of simple fairness and civility.
For reported pieces, meanwhile, it seems to me that a sensible rule would be to avoid inflammatory names such as "homophobic" and "anti-Semitic" and say instead what a person has actually said or done. The Associated Press recently moved in this direction.
I welcome a genuine discussion among us on the matter.
As it was, Turpin did have a separate regret:
--I felt we fell down, and the lapse is strictly mine, by not having a strong supporter of Senator Hagel on the show the following day to respond to Abrams. While Senator Hagel's qualifications have been well documented on our air, this was a moment where his supporters deserved the opportunity to state the Senator's case in the same relatively extended format we gave to Abrams.
It probably is not necessary by now. But a great thing about the news business is that tomorrow is a new day, and you can always go back and do it all over again.


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4A Purpose LLC necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 80 diseños de 16 diseñadores freelance.
4APurpose.com is a start-up looking for a fresh, professional and charitably-themed logo. Our company provides free event management technology specifically tailored to the needs of non-profit organizations and their supporters. We'd like to keep the words "4A Purpose" in the logo in some fashion. We're looking for a clean feel, but the more creative the better!
4A Purpose
We'd like to have a nice, clean, professional yet "fun" logo to set the vibe of our company. We intend to use the logo on all marketing materials, the website, business cards, etc. and want something that can really help us develop our brand and become easily recognizable and associated with "doing good". Other main feelings we want to convey are "technologically advanced/cutting-edge," "charitable" and "cool/fun."
On a related note, we are also looking to fully redesign our current website due to a change in company focus (and distaste for outdated and clunky design). If you also have web design skills and interest in working with us on this larger project, please let us know. If we like your direction we are open to discussions on work with us on the larger project.
- looking for a fresh idea
- charitable feel
- cool/fun (event site, think evite with charitable tint)
- professional (needs to be presentable and attractive to corporate clients and non-profit partners)
- too many colors/too busy
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Papua New Guinea
major macro economic indicators
|GDP growth (%)
|Inflation (yearly average, %)
|Budget balance (% GDP)
|Current account balance (% GDP)
|Public debt (% GDP)
(e): Estimate. (f): Forecast. *Including grants.
- Abundant natural resources: ores (copper, gold, nickel, cobalt), hydrocarbons (oil, gas) and agricultural products (wood, coffee, cocoa, palm oil)
Financial support from multilateral
- Foreign investment in the commodities sector
- Construction of liquefied natural gas production units
- High exposure to natural disasters
- Weakness of the infrastructure network
- Economy dependent on raw material exports
- Significant shortcomings in terms of governance
- Low literacy rate, lack of skilled labour
The economy recovers from a destructive earthquake
After being reduced by the decline in extractive activities following the destruction of several production sites during an earthquake in February 2018, growth is set to rebound in 2019. The economy should benefit from a return to normal in the extraction of hydrocarbons and minerals, an activity that constitutes approximately 30% of GDP. In addition, the oil price, which is likely to remain high, and rising gas prices are expected to stimulate growth in 2019. Exports, the main driver of growth, will benefit from the recovery of the hydrocarbon and minerals sector, which accounts for nearly 75% of exports. This sector will continue to profit from significant investment, particularly foreign investment, with many facilities under construction, notably in the field of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Agriculture, which employs two thirds of the working population, occupies a limited place in the country's economy, generating only about 12% of GDP. The agricultural sector remains largely informal and unproductive, making subsistence farming prevalent. In addition, the economy will continue to suffer from the damage caused by the earthquake on the already under-developed infrastructure network.
Household consumption, which accounts for about half of GDP, will benefit from the gradual reduction in inflation. However, the level of the latter will remain significant, as it is fuelled by fiscal policy, with the public deficit partly financed by the regular issuance of treasury bills.
Further fiscal consolidation and stabilisation of the current surplus
Many efforts have been made by the government to reduce public spending as part of fiscal consolidation since 2017. These efforts are expected to continue, leading to a resumption of the decline in the public deficit in 2019, after a slight rebound in 2018 due to public spending on post-earthquake reconstruction. It is in this context that the government plans to limit wage developments in the public sector, for example. Measures have also been taken to improve the collection of tax revenues. The government should continue in this direction in 2019, notably with the establishment of new regional tax centres, the aim being to improve the efficiency of tax administration. The rebound in growth is also expected to generate higher budgetary revenues.
In 2019, the country will still have a large current account surplus. This is due to the strength of raw material exports, leading to a trade surplus, as well as by the receipt of international aid. These surpluses more than offset the deficits in the other components of the current account: services (linked to extractive activities) and income (linked to the presence of foreign investment). However, the current surplus is practically absorbed by the repayment to parent companies of loans contracted by their local subsidiaries for the construction of gas infrastructure.
A government that is a source of social tension
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, a member of the People's National Congress, is serving his second term since his re-election in 2017. Accused of embezzlement of public funds and fraud during the 2017 parliamentary elections, his popularity continues to decrease. In June 2018, the Prime Minister declared a nine-month state of emergency in the Southern Highlands province, following riots organised by opposition supporters challenging the victory of the local government. The Prime Minister must also face challenges from citizens about the management of hydrocarbon exploitation on their land. These tensions are unlikely to ease in a country where poverty and inequality remain high. Moreover, additional tensions could result from the referendum on independence that should be held in the autonomous region of Bougainville in June 2019. Although the large majority of inhabitants seem to support independence for Bougainville (which is rich in copper reserves), the non-binding nature of the vote means the government could refuse to grant it regardless of the result.
On the regional scene, the government is maintaining increasingly close relations with China. In addition to importing LNG, China holds a quarter of Papua New Guinea's public debt through its import-export bank. In addition, given the trade tensions between China and the United States, the country's LNG could be partially used by China to replace that of the United States.
In 2017, Papua New Guinea ranked 146th out of 204 countries assessed in the World Bank's regulatory quality ranking, falling four places in a year. The business climate therefore remains marred, with a significant risk of late payments and project cancellations.
Last update: February 2019