text:
Town Square
Connections Program at JLS
Original post made by CKL, Old Palo Alto, on Apr 16, 2007
Comments (28)
a resident of Downtown North
on Apr 16, 2007 at 7:06 pm
The Connections Program at JLS Middle School works wonders for many students. I believe someone coined the phrase "organized chaos" to describe the Connections Program. That's not too far off.
A lot of the students from Ohlone thrive in the Connections Program. Very very similiar to what Susan Charles has set up at Ohlone.
It's run by Steve C. Good guy, solid teacher. The 6th grade staff rotates, but I believe two young ladies handle some of the teaching now. They're great too.
It's the exact opposite of what direct instruction is.
(I subbed once in the classroom. Very "unique" kids and at times very out of control)
a resident of Greenmeadow
on Apr 25, 2007 at 9:29 pm
My son has been in the program for two years and intends on continuing next year. I think this is really great program for any type of kid. The children delve into subjects much more than in many other types of classes; they are encouraged to learn about things they are interested in about the subject under study.
One of the hallmarks of program is the assessments on student progress that are not simple letter grades, but are instead long in-depth essays about how your child is doing in many different domains. As such, these give you a much more complete picture of how your child is doing in school.
The kids work harder than some folks think, and they learn a lot through cooperative projects. The kids in each class really gets to know each other (and trust each other), and as a result really build their own community in which they share and support each other. One of the main things that is emphasized in the program is for the kids to become self-directed and set their own goals for their own learning. My son, who was not very self-directed in the beginning, has made amazing progress in this regard in the Connections environment.
Another distinction of the program is the involvement of the parents. The parents really share the vision of the program and are intimately involved in suggesting directions, topics, field trips, and other events that fit with the curriculum standards. One of the main ideas of this program is that there be as little division between home and school as possible. Together, parents and students are viewed as part of the whole Connections community.
I have spoken with kids who have gone through the program and on to high school, and they have all adjusted very well. In some cases, they are better prepared for "project work" in high school because as Connections kids they did so many projects at JLS. The high schooler have all said that they felt really well prepared for high school by going through JLS under the Connections umbrella. Frankly, I can't imagine a kid who wouldn't do well in this program.
Just a note for the previous commentor: I have also substitute taught elsewhere, plus spent some time in the Connections classrooms. Because the teaching methods used here take a lot of skill, practice, and coordination between teachers, it is not easy to bring in a mainstream sub for a day or two. Connections kids do not generally do the type of worksheets that are the staple of substitute teaching elsewhere.
An (obviously) enthusiastic Connections parent
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Apr 25, 2007 at 10:30 pm
WE love connections and JLS. We chose to go to JLS after having one child go through Jordan which is our neighborhood school. WE are very happy with our decision. We find the connections program academically rigorous enough for our GATE child as it allows for depth of learning within the traditional curriculum. Students are also able to be part of the larger JLS community without any problems...
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 26, 2007 at 9:21 am
I ask the question, if connections is so good, why can't they fill the program. Since Ohlone has a waiting list and the connections program follows the same philosophy, why are the Ohlone students not filling the connections program. I keep getting letters from JLS telling me that there are places in the program for my child if I so want them. I also happen to know that connections teachers are also teaching in regular classes, because the program is not fully utilised.
a resident of Midtown
on Apr 26, 2007 at 9:48 am
The Connections program is run very much like the dedicated San Francisco GATE program in which my oldest spent several years. The academic level is outstanding. My daughter is thriving in Connections. It is likely less suitable for children with more average learning abilities. I would be glad to chat with any parent who is interested in the program-650-322-0686.
On the behavior of the children in Connections, I have been in the classroom and on field trips several times this year. The previous comment from a "sub" on unruly children is likely dated. At least in 6th grade this school year, I have seen no such behavior. My comparison would be two sons previously at JLS in the standard program.
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 26, 2007 at 10:55 am
Our elder son has been in Connections for two years, and really enjoys it. There is a lot of emphasis on respect for self and others, as well as building self confidence and being comfortable in who you are. This latter point was brought home to me when some Connections alumni, currently at Gunn and Paly, came to talk about how their time in Connections was helping them in High School.
Don't think Connections is soft academically. The work is rigorous and covers the same syllabus as direct instruction - it's the approach that is different.
As mentioned in an earlier posting, the parental involvement also seems much greater (but of course it is optional). Yesterday I helped drive a number of 7th Grade Connections kids to the Fort Miley Adventure Challenge Course - what a great day for helping to build the community and encouraging the kids to push themselves to try new things.
Another enthusiastic Connections parent.
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 26, 2007 at 10:57 am
Had 3 kids who attended Nueva School for the Gifted and then attend(ed) JLS Connecitons program. It is a good program for gifted kids as the curriculum and approach is very similar to what scholars have designed for gifted kids (and frankly what works best for all kids). Project based learning, differentiated curriculum, student driven projects and more choice. Real life analytical skills are more valued then rote learning. 6th grade is very strong with 2 teachers who team teach (science/math and english/social studies). 7th and 8th grade is run by Mr. C. Kids are treated with respect and have a voice. Your kid will have an advocate and mentor. Nice community of families within a very large middle school.
a resident of another community
on Apr 26, 2007 at 11:00 am
I was the sub for a connections class this year, they were in 7th grade and I found them to be very insightful. They were great kids although they did seem to undermind my teaching and some were rude to one another. But overall i was pleased with what i saw, and now i am considering putting my son in the program for 6th grade.
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 26, 2007 at 11:05 am
In response to another comment "I ask the question, if connections is so good, why can't they fill the program. Since Ohlone has a waiting list and the connections program follows the same philosophy, why are the Ohlone students not filling the connections program. I keep getting letters from JLS telling me that there are places in the program for my child if I so want them. I also happen to know that connections teachers are also teaching in regular classes, because the program is not fully utilised.
Posted by JLS Parent, a member of the JLS Middle School community, 1 hour ago "
i would like to say that by alot of students connections is 'misread' it is a great program. I think alot of parents arent even aware of its existance and that if their children really knew what went on in the classroom we would have more students. I also know that last year we had two classes of about 23 i beilive and this year (same students) we have two classes of about 18-20 so only a few students left. Some of them moved away or had to leave the program for other reasons.
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 26, 2007 at 11:41 am
I would like to echo the parent who stated that Connections is often "misread". My son is currently in the program and he is thriving in it. Before leaving 5th grade, I have asked advice from his teacher about her take on Connections and she strongly discouraged me from putting him in there. My son is a gifted child who loves learning and often work a lot harder than what is required of him. The teacher has the perception that Connections are designed for kids who don't do well in school and needs an easier curriculum. This is not true.
The nature of Connections allow students to be the best they are. Every child is different. Connections would allow the child to learn in a way the child can learn best. So, for gifted kids, they would have an awesome learning experience. For the kids on the other end of the spectrum, they got to give their best too without the need to feel inferior to others.
Another misconception that I found is that Connections is easier. Frankly, I can't understand that. In most circumstances, it is easier to be told exactly what to do than to have to figure out what needs to be done. That's the difference between Connections and Direct Instructions.
Hope this helps.
a resident of Barron Park
on Apr 26, 2007 at 12:30 pm
My child went through 3 years in connections. He is an extrmely bright, gifted child who was reading and drawing diagrams out of my college astronomy textbooks at 4 yrs old, however he had always struggled in the traditional classroom setting. He is an artist and a very visual learner. His problem with direct learning is that he has trouble focusing on tasks unless the topic/subject really interests him - he found it terribly hard to concentrate otherwise. He was consistently labled as having ADHD and we were constently worried about what to do. I have to say that Connections was great for him. Trust me, he still had trouble getting his work done when it wasn't interesting, but the great thing about connections is that he had more freedom to make it interesting and the teachers cared to help find solutions to make it work for him. For example, instead of writing an essay about a topic which he found terribly boring, he could create a powepoint presentation or FLASH movie illustrating what he learned and present to the class. Many times he did projects like this with a partner or group so he learned how to work with others which was also a struggle for him in elementary shcool. He still learned how to write an essay, math, history, science, etc. as other students, but could use more creative/artistic ways to learn and illlustrate what he learned. I could go on and on but the main point is that I feel that without connections my son would have failed miserably. I am proud to say that his first semester in High School, he received all A's and B's which we would have never thought could have happened. He continues to keep up his grades and is extremely motivated and focused on doing well. I attribute this to Mr. C's guidance and the rest of the teachers who believed in him in the Connections program.
a resident of Midtown
on Apr 26, 2007 at 12:56 pm
The most important thing for my kids to learn is to be decent human beings who are engaged in their learning and in the world, and I am confident in a Connections-style program as the best way for anyone to learn these things, as well as confident in the current Connections teachers.
Connections currently has two dynamite sixth-grade teachers in their third year there. The math/science teacher has over 10 years experience and most recently taught in Cupertino, which is way ahead of Palo Alto in differentiating math instruction. my son is thriving in his second year with connections and will continue. He likes to go to school, which was not always the case in elementary school where he was bored with the pace. In sixth grade he had the best math differentiation I have ever seen in Palo Alto, and I have been helping in math classes with him and my older son for the past nine years. In sixth grade Connections, I regularly volunteered in the classroom working with small groups on math challenges.
Four years ago I did not put my older son into the Connections program because he was a strong introvert who liked to work by himself. I thought he might draw more into himself in the noisy classroom environment I saw. I think the current sixth-grade teachers keep the classes more under control; they do not want to have a noisy classroom although wth group work going on it is going to be noisier.
I concur with most of the comments that have been made. The seventh/eighth grade Connections teacher has his priorities straight and understands that process is as important as product at this stage in our students' development. In his hands history is a dynamic, living subject and he helps the students make connections to our lives today.
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 26, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Anna, thank you for the compliment but i am actually a student. One problem i do find in the connections program is that there are alot of parents who think it is for mentally disabled students and so they put their students in it. There is obviously no one telling them not to (especailly not me) but i do think that they should knokw what the program really is before just sticking their kid in it.
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 26, 2007 at 2:44 pm
I would also like to add that for parents afraid of their kids "regular" grades dropping or them not doing well in the future. I came home last semester with almost straight A+'s, and i know i am not the only of the students, the majority of my friends in connections had straight A's.
a resident of Fairmeadow
on Apr 26, 2007 at 5:12 pm
The Connections program has been amazing for my daughter! She did not attend Ohlone before but our neighborhood school Fairmeadow. The transition to the Connections format and philosophy was perfect for the big leap of middle school. My daughter has thrived the last two years while being in the program and will for sure participate next year.
In so many ways we feel that Connections is the best kept secret in the PAUSD.
a resident of Downtown North
on Apr 26, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I'm the same FYI from above.
I'm glad that many students and parents are happy with the connections program. I stand by my statements that it's "organized chaos". I have MUCH experience with the program, the teachers, and such.
The numbers are so low for connections that there is no 8th grade class.
The numbers for the 7th grade class total 17 students. The average class size needs to be at THIRTY to sustain itself. Connections is extremely low and there's a good chance there won't be an 8th grade class in 2007.
The numbers for the 6th grade are better, about 22-23 kids. However, as has been the case in the past, many of these kids will drop out of connections by the 7th grade... and the cycle repeats.
Just the facts...
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 27, 2007 at 7:36 am
As the sixth grade math teacher in Connections, I can say that FYI is correct about our numbers being low however, there IS an eighth grade planned for 2007, there are TWO seventh grade classes this year, not one, and we have two sixth grades for next year. I think our low numbers are due to a complicated set of circumstances that cannot be completely explained in this forum. Connections is not well known: more than half the people at an informational meeting this year said they'd never heard of it before. But, those who do know of it, don't always have an accurate perception of what it should be. For instance, some staff at the elementary level have recommended it as an alternative to special education classes, some people think there is no homework, some others have perpetuated the idea that there are few expectations. Because of all this, some people have been attracted to the program for the wrong reasons. That is, they have signed up because they thought it would easier to get by than in the mainstream program. These students have not been a good fit because Connections is a place where, ideally, they need to work hard not only at their academics but at self-management and independence. Having students that don't fit has had some negative effects, but the attrition rate from sixth to seventh grade this year is less than half what it was last year. To be honest, Connections struggled for a few years, but we have been trying hard the past three years to create a solid program that lives up to our standards of a quality education. It is difficult to change a reputation but our parent/teacher/student community is very strong and supportive and I believe that, with continued efforts to get the word out, Connections will start to grow.
a resident of Midtown
on Apr 27, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Posts from the parents of Connections students above speak for themselves about how thrilled people are with the program.
Find out more about Connections Philosophy, at: www.jlsconnections.org
The reasons that the program is smaller than it could be are:
Most people don't know about it
Sustaining the program requires parent involvement (now in place)
No outreach to the fifth grade students last year
Reputation from issues the program had long ago
Connections now has a strong Parent Board, improved outreach to the community and will continue to grow.
Next year the number of students enrolled in Connections is over 50% higher than last year. An English teacher will be added to the program for a total of four teachers. The program is thriving.
Claire Amkraut, Connections Board President
a resident of Charleston Gardens
on Apr 28, 2007 at 1:22 am
I speak about my child's experience with the connections program and my observations.
This is my child's second year in the program. She is a special ed kid, and she is thriving. She has learned to work with a group, from organizing and planning, conducting research, integrating the individual works into one, to giving the presentation, and answering questions.
As a result, she has become extremely confident speaking in public, she is faster on her feet and most importantly she has learned to think on her own, specially on how to approach a problem. She is cognizant of deadlines, and strategies on how to meet them, one of which is the time honored practice of cramming. She also has learned how to think creatively, to make her work different and stand out. Her people skills have improved tremendously and she has learned to put aside personal differences to achieve the ends of the group (somewhere along the way she has also learned the value of nagging). How helpful is that for her future?
Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been easy. There have been a lot of tears to get to this point.
A serendipitous benefit is that the connections kids have become a unit unto themselves, almost akin to being family. They are normal kids, rowdy and noisy, but they all seem to care for each other. I have on more than one occasion seen that when one of them becomes upset, the other kids will try to comfort them or simply stay near them until they feel better. How's that for compassion and humanity?
She loves the program and most specially the people, both students and teachers. She only wishes she could have it in high school too. So do I.
We almost missed this program when entering 6th grade. I'm so glad we didn't.
Our two cents.
a resident of JLS Middle School
on Apr 29, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Our son thrives in the 6th grade Connections for the reasons noted above by various authors. The teachers are superb - team teaching at its finest. This in fact has been one of the BEST KEPT SECRETS in PAUSD. We moved into the district last year and only learned of the program's existence when we visited JLS to meet staff and attempt to find an atmosphere similar to what our children had previously experienced; when we described what we sought we were immediately referred to these fine teachers and within minutes our decision was finalized. This year an outreach program was (re-)instituted with the very impressive rise in participation for next year's 6th grade documented above. REmarkable cooperation by students, teachers and parents.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on May 21, 2007 at 8:51 pm
My child was in Connectons for all of Middle School and during those 3 years I noticed, along with everyone else, that this program was not supported by the rest of the JLS community and that's what I attribute to the low enrollment in the past. I'm glad to see that enrollment into this alternative program is up and that it looks as if in the future it will thrive. We need programs like this in our public schools. The Connection teachers are amazing educators who are dedicated to the students and to seeing them thrive in an open education environment. But don't enroll your child in this program if you are not a supporter of this style of education and don't use this program as a place to let your kid twiddle his/her thumbs in middle school. But if you are in favor of a non-punitive style of education, where students learn, not for the grade, but because class is just extremely exciting and interesting, then Connections is the place.
a resident of Meadow Park
on Mar 26, 2008 at 7:51 pm
One specific question if anyone from Connections can answer. Our daughter is in private school and in the lottery for Sixth grade in Connections for next year. Her class is currently working through the California 7th or 8th grade math curriculum. What will happen when she gets to sixth grade? I have looked at the curriculum and she mastered the fraction subject matter and order of operations etc. in third grade! Will she be allowed to work forward, or will she be limited to "differentiated" curriculum that is variations on the same subject matter that the sixth grade books cover? It is literally the only point of concern in what seems otherwise to be quit exactly the program we have been looking for! Comments and advice, anecodtal experiences welcome. Thanks!
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 26, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I agree that Connections looks wonderful, though our child is still one year away.
I don't know the answer to your Connections question, but true differentiated instruction is not merely a variation on the same subject matter. It provides the right challenge for every kid by differentiating various things, including CONTENT. What passes for differentiation often isn't.
a resident of Meadow Park
on Mar 26, 2008 at 8:59 pm
yes, been there done that in a Palo Alto school, which is why I am asking. Ideally the child would be able to test out of the entire year's curriculum, if appropriate, and just keep right on progressing at her own pace with all kinds of depth and breadth added to keep it exciting and challenging. What passes for differentiation atthe moment in a lot os schools is simply more of the same sort of work, leading children to learn that the reward for successfully completing boring work is more boring work. Connections sounds like a refreshing change from that teaching mentality. I hope it is.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 27, 2008 at 10:09 am
Oh, got it.
On the other hand, it's worth talking to the Connections people. The website mentions not just differentiation but also constructivist pedagogy and project-based learning. So they talk the talk; if they walk the walk, they'll be able to keep your daughter moving forward and excited. Please post relevant feedback from the program, if any.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 27, 2008 at 4:08 pm
The Connections program sounds great, but it has always been presented as the "Connections Program at JLS". My eldest was in high school before it was clear that it was a choice program open to non-JLS students.
A question - is it a good enough program to pull a child out of their neighborhood school (Jordan or Terman), have them loose their friends and need to be driven to school rather then biking or walking?
a resident of Fairmeadow
on May 27, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Hi Palo Alto mom,
Only you and your family can answer the question about whether you child will be OK with changing from your neighborhood school and established friends, having to commute, etc. It's highly subjective. It's the question that people all over the district face when choosing a choice program.
For my family, the answer would be yes.
My twins are in the Connections sixth grade and it has been a very positive year for them academically. My youngest child is an incoming sixth grader, entering the program next year. We have found the teachers and the approach to the curriculum to be exciting, compelling, interesting, and unique. The field trips have been excellent, and not all of them are shared by mainstream classes.
As for the 'best kept secret in Palo Alto'...well, no longer! The applicants exceeded the available spaces, and there's a waiting list. The word is out.
One of the best things about the program is the community that it creates. That is a very positive thing because in middle school, kids--and parents--often become disconnected.
a resident of South of Midtown
on Jan 4, 2010 at 9:35 am
If you choose to transport your child outside of your neighborhood attendance area for a choice program, please take responsibility to minimize your personal traffic impacts on the neighborhood streets around JLS where hundreds of children walk and bike to school every day. These children need safe routes to school. Driving parents are the primary traffic safety and congestion problem in and around our school sites. Most middle school-age children have the cognitive and physical skills necessary to independently ride a bike to school. If your child needs to learn bike safety skills, please visit this web site for class information: http://bikeclass.swent.net . This is an outstanding class that willl teach your child what he needs to know to be safe on the street. Please consider riding a bike, walking, carpooling whenever you can.
Kids in choice programs can walk and bike to school, too. In fact, getting exercise before school in the morning improves school performance and overall helath and well-being. It also builds a sense of self-reliance and independence...appropriate for middle school development.
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April 14, 2018 Bear Valley
We frequently try to get to Bear Valley to see the spring wildflowers. The displays are very timing and weather dependents. While this year wasn't bad, it wasn't spectacular either. There weren't a lot of good individual flowers, and there was enough breeze the closeups would be tough to get. However, there were some fields that had decent spreads in them, and the Keegan Ranch field (the one with the wildflower gate) was spectacularly yellow with Tidy Tips and some other yellow flowers.Read More

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The Alto Herald (Alto, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, January 3, 1908
Description: Weekly newspaper from Alto, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: January 3, 1908
Creator: McClure & McClure
Item Type: Refine your search to only Newspaper
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If it takes a long time to locate a signal or if the readings appear inconsistent:
- Check that your belt is correctly positioned on your body. Also check that it's the right way round.
- Check that you have dampened the sensors on your belt.
- The HR signal can be affected by electromagnetic interference (power lines, railway, computers etc. When using your heart rate monitor, ensure you stay away from similar kinds of interference
- Check that the battery is still charged.
Last updated


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This snow portrait caught our attention earlier today on the 500px popular page. But what we loved even more was the 'behind the scenes' shot that photographer Rey Vladyc Mangouta also shared (see below).
The shot was created with a Hasselblad H3DII-39, 150mm focal length, Shutter Speed of 1/125, Aperture of f/3.2 and an ISO of 50.
Here is the behind the scenes image (including the all important details that a snow machine and smoke machine was used).


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Looking at the debate over UK protests over the tripling of tuition fees, it seems to me that this is an occasion where realistic utopianism (I'm paraphrasing Erik Olin Wright here) is needed, and is currently in short supply. The present ways in which modern societies determine the life choices available to 20 year olds are unsatisfactory and inequitable, and the British system is (or seems from a distance) to be more inequitable than many, perhaps most. So, defending that system against change, even change that will make things worse, is difficult and problematic. Rather than ask what incremental reforms might make things better, it seems like a good idea to ask how we might design a set of institutions from scratch, and then think about the implications for existing systems.
My starting point is that, in a modern society and economy, nearly everyone needs to finish high school and the great majority need further education (academic, professional/technical or vocational) beyond that, if they are to thrive and prosper. So, rather than thinking about universities as the destination of a select few, and then about various second-best alternatives for others, we should be starting from the view of post-secondary education as a universal service like school education or health services. That does not mean that everyone should get the same post-secondary education (any more than everyone should get the same health services), but it does mean a presumption that everyone should have access to educational resources of similar quality.
That's radically different from a system where historically-determined differences in endowments and funding drive massive inequality in resources which in turn produce and perpetuate inequality in outcomes. This inequality is most evident in the dominance of Oxford and Cambridge graduates among the elite[1], but it is replicated all the way down the higher education hierarchy.
Producing a universal system would entail a substantial shift in resources over a long period towards social groups and regions that have been poorly served in the past. It would I think (though there are plenty of cultural subtleties here to which I'm not attuned) ultimately imply an end to the presumption that university is somewhere you go away to, and its replacement with a presumption that high-quality education at all levels is something that should be available wherever you live.
If we have a universal or near-universal system, it's natural to start on the basis of funding through the tax system. Things aren't quite so easy in the more realistic case where a majority get post-school education, but a minority do not. Here, there are various options for avoiding the inequitable outcome where the minority (probably poorer on average) pay for benefits they don't receive. One is the set of ideas that have been canvassed in the current debate, including graduate taxes, income-contingent loans and so on.
The alternative is some version of the proposal put forward by Anne Alstott and Bruce Ackerman in the US a while back of making a universal grant, available to everyone at age 20. I'm inclined to a somewhat more paternalistic view than their suggestion of a no-strings grant (partly from considerations of political realism, to which utopians should pay attention, I think). I'd prefer to limit the use of the grant to a range of purposes that are likely to yield life benefits (education, buying a house, starting a small business) and, until it was used, invest it and give the beneficiaries the proceeds every year.
As in all my attempts along this line, the point is not so much to specify the policy-wonk details as to press the need for a renewed transformative vision on the left.
fn1. The UK system is notable, like the US (Ivy League) and France (Grandes Ecoles) for the existence of a set of elite institutions serving a tiny fraction of the population. Other systems (for example Australia's) have a hierarchy, but without this top level. I'm not well-informed enough to say which pattern prevails elsewhere, but Wikipedia suggests that Germany may be trying to replace a relatively egalitarian system with one more focused on excellence. I hope German and other non-Anglo readers can give some better information.


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To, Too & Two
Because to, too, & two all sound the same, people often confuse them. Here are some examples of how to use these words correctly.
To is either used as part of an infinitive (to go, to sing, to do, etc.) or as a preposition (to the store, to Rome, etc.). We use infinitives after certain verbs such as love, like, want, or hate. For example, "I want to see a movie tonight," or, "I hate to study for math tests." We use to as a preposition when we are talking about where we are going. For instance, "She is going to a party this weekend," or, "Did you go to the bank today?"
Too is used to talk about the quantity of something (too much, too little, etc.). As an example, "Jeff can't go with us tonight. He has too much work to do!" In addition, we use too when we mean also. For example, "I like the band Coldplay, too!"
Two is used to talk about the number between one and three. For example, "I have two sisters," or, "There are two tickets left for the concert on Saturday."
To, Too & Two Lessons:
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Recently at one of my landscape design project sites, which is located within a public space, a very distraught woman approached exclaiming that there was a wasp nest in a tree down the road aways. She was sure it needed to be destroyed, despite that it was at least 30 feet high up in the tree and not any where near where guests might wander. I calmly explained to her that the tree was not in my jurisdiction and even if it was, my first impulse would not be to destroy the nest. I thought it best to learn more about wasps in case there were more calls for its annihilation and after she left, I photographed the nest. I was glad she had pointed it out because it was so interesting to observe the rhythms of the comings and goings of the wasps, which after looking at the images through my camera's lens, determined that it was the nest of the Aerial Yellowjacket (Dolichovespula arenaria).
Aerial Yellowjackets are often confused with honey bees (Apis mellifera) becasue of their similar color. In contrast, the body of the yellow and black striped wasp is less hairy and thinner than that of a honey bee's, and yellowjackets do not transport pollen.
Side-by-side comparison of an Aerial Yellowjacket and honeybee:
Honeybee with Pollen Sacs on Hind Legs
The native Aerial Yellowjacket is considered beneficial because it preys on many insect crop pests. It is also serves as food for a variety of animals including frogs, skunks, birds, and other insects (I can't imagine eating a wasp!). Yellowjackets typically sting in defense of their colony and can also be a pest at picnics, especially in late summer and fall when they switch their diet from that of a protein-based diet rich of the meat of chewed up caterpillars and insects, to a sugar-based diet.
The nest is is a papery-like material structured from the worker yellowjacket's chewed wood and saliva pulp and is typically only used for one year in our region. The Aerial Yellowjacket is so named because it builds its nest high up, as opposed to underground.
We left the nest alone, and so far, no more calls have gone out for its destruction.
Honeybee and Aerial Yellowjacket photos courtesy wiki commons media.


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This page lists free software that you can use to record your desktop. The frame rate of the recording is not important: 5 fps is completely sufficient, and one can go even further down. The bitrate will typically vary between 50 and 3000 kbps. Please check that text is legible.
Please send questions or comments to email@example.com.
For Linux
Frame rate: 5 fps
Codec: H.264 (default)
Constant rate factor: 23 (default)
Preset: superfast
These settings produce an insignificant CPU overhead on my slow laptop. File size: 200-250 MB per hour.
For Windows
Alas, untested:
For Mac
Alas, untested:


text: INTERIOR Need to get in touch? Give us a call We are always on hand to talk with you and answer your questions. 778-278-3676 MENU HOME Porfolio Commercial Projects New Home Builds Renovations Interior Exterior Excavation L About Us Membership Affiliations Services Contact Get a Quote Contact Info: 778-278-3676 604-532-7069 email@example.com Unit #205 6339 200th St.PO BOX 45072Langley, BCV2Y 1A0 Address © Payne Pacific Construction Inc. All rights reserved.


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Two seemingly unrelated events in the cloud computing space should make you think about taking a different approach to your sourcing strategy for the cloud. The first event: Cloud outages, such as the recent Microsoft Azure failure, have shown us that no single cloud is infallible. The second event: Google, Amazon.com, and Microsoft have all dropped their cloud services' prices.
The second event means you can deal with the first event better. In your own data center, you'd have your servers fail over to others if needed. And any large organization will have a failover strategy to other data centers or external providers for business-critical information and processes so that an outage doesn't stop the business.
[ Get the no-nonsense explanations and advice you need to take real advantage of cloud computing in InfoWorld editors' 21-page Cloud Computing Deep Dive PDF special report. | Stay up on the cloud with InfoWorld's Cloud Computing Report newsletter. ]
You should have exactly the same strategy in the cloud, and with the lower prices, it may not be cost effective to use a few clouds at a time to hedge your IT bets or to use cloud providers as tiers, much like you do with storage and compute servers within the data centers, when reliability by using redundant systems is a requirement.
You already know how to do this (or should!). All that's changed are the resources involved. You sign up with two or more cloud providers that provide the same service, such as storage. You make sure the data persists in each cloud service as a mirror of the other. You then use them as tiers, such as a primary cloud, a secondary cloud, and perhaps a cloud designated for disaster recovery. If the primary fails, you move to the secondary one automatically until the primary cloud service is restored.
If you do this right, users should not even notice an outage. Also, your uptime will vastly improve because the odds of both cloud services being down at the same time are tiny. (Just make sure that your secondary providers aren't just reselling your primary cloud provider's services under their name.)
Of course, there are two drawbacks:
- Cost. You'll pay for two or more cloud providers. However, with the recent price reductions, the business case for this is much more compelling than before. Count on even more price reductions in the near future.
- Complexity. This strategy adds a lot of work for administrators, so be sure to consider the complex nature of this tiered architecture, including software systems to manage the replication and the failover. Be sure to apply it where it justifies the added effort and complexity.
On the bright side, if done correctly, this strategy will provide better service to your users than the traditional in-house systems -- let's not forget that they typically suffer more outages than cloud-based systems do. Where the amount of money lost from outages could be in the millions of dollars in a single year, the use of a tiered cloud strategy becomes self-funding at worst and contributes significantly to the bottom line (via the avoided revenue disruptions) at best.
It's something to consider as you migrate to cloud-based services.
This article, "Use a tiered cloud strategy to skirt outages," originally appeared at InfoWorld.com. Read more of David Linthicum's Cloud Computing blog and track the latest developments in cloud computing at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.


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NEW YORK -- Wimbledon is leaving NBC after 43 years and appears headed to ESPN.
NBC said in a statement Sunday that "while we would have liked to have continued our relationship, we were simply outbid."
A person with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed that ESPN was working on a contract with the All England Club to televise all of the Grand Slam tournament. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not ready to be announced.
ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said there would be no comment at this time.
The switch was first reported by SportsBusiness Journal.
ESPN had owned the rights to extensively televise early rounds of Wimbledon, with NBC picking up coverage as the tournament progressed, culminating with the "Breakfast at Wimbledon" broadcasts of the finals.
It would be the latest major sporting event to move from the traditional four over-the-air networks to cable. College football's Bowl Championship Series title games are on ESPN, and NCAA basketball's Final Four will be on TBS in alternating years starting in 2016.
Months into its new partnership with Comcast, NBC is losing a marquee event. The network did keep an even bigger one when it outbid ESPN and Fox last month for four Olympics.
This year was the 32nd anniversary of "Breakfast at Wimbledon," with coverage ending Sunday when Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in the men's final.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.


text: FORTE is a very fast and flexible High-Speed USB In-Circuit Serial Programmer for a wide range of popular components microcontrollers, serial EEPROM and Flash memory chips, CPLDs, etc. FORTE is equipped with effective over-current and over-voltage protection. The programmer is powered from USB and it is able to provide the supply voltage for the programmed device in range from 1.8V to 5.5V, or it can work with externally powered targets. Software for FORTE works under Windows XP/Vista/7 (both 32- and 64-bit versions) as well as under Linux (using Wine).


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Lewis Hamilton will have to hand over his Belgian Grand Prix winner's trophy to Felipe Massa (appeal pending).
It will be small comfort to him that plenty of other drivers have had wins taken off them in the past. Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and others have lost race wins after the chequered flag. More encouragingly for Hamilton, a small number of them got their wins back
However by my reckoning only one driver has lost a win because of a racing incident, rather than a technical infringement or stewards' mistake: Ayrton Senna. Here's a look at some of these controversial races:
1976: James Hunt, McLaren, Spanish Grand Prix, Jarama
In 1976 F1's governing body began setting limits on the dimensions of the cars. They used the McLaren M23 as the reference for the maximum width, because it was the widest car in F1 at the time. But when the team used a new construction of tyre at Jarama it failed to notice it made the car 1.8cm wider than the regulations allowed, and Hunt was disqualified after winning.
However his win was reinstated on appeal.
1976: James Hunt, McLaren, British Grand Prix, Brands Hatch
Later that same year Hunt was caught up in a crash on the first lap of the British Grand Prix. Ironically, it was triggered by the two Ferraris. Hunt was originally going to be barred from taking part in the re-start in his spare car, but after noisy objections from the crowd the race organisers relented and let him start.
He won the race, but was disqualified afterwards for using his spare car, handing the win to Ferrari's Niki Lauda.
1980: Didier Pironi, Ligier, Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal
Didier Pironi crossed the finishing line at Montreal in 1980 about 40 seconds before Alan Jones's Williams. But Pironi had been given a 60 second penalty for jumping the start which dropped him to third behind Jones and Carlos Reutemann in the other Williams.
1982: Nelson Piquet, Brabham, and Keke Rosberg, Williams, Brazilian Grand Prix, Jacarepagua
FIA rule enforcement at its most bonkers. After an especially hot and gruelling Brazilian Grand Prix (Piquet collapsed on the podium) Piquet and Rosberg were disqualified because their teams had been using 'water-cooled brakes' as a means of getting around the minimum weight regulations.
Their disqualification promoted Alain Prost's Renault into first place. Behind him were John Watson (McLaren) and Nigel Mansell (Lotus), both of whom were also using 'water cooled brakes' but were not disqualified. Given how close Watson came to beating Rosberg to the championship, a major embarrassment was only narrowly avoided.
1985: Alain Prost, McLaren, San Marino Grand Prix, Imola
In 1985 refuelling was not allowed, turbo engines were thirsty, fuel tank size was restricted, and the technology used to monitor fuel levels was crude. At races where the rate of fuel consumption was high cars would often run out of petrol in the final laps.
Prost's McLaren just made it across the line on dregs of fuel at Imola in 1985. But he had so little fuel left in the car it fell underweight, he was disqualified, and victory went to Elio de Angelis in the Lotus. The disqualification rankled with Prost, and he has said he feels he has won 52 races instead of 51. Including, of course, that controversial Brazil '82 win.
1989: Ayrton Senna, McLaren, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka
One of F1's great controversies. Senna was trying to pass team mate Alain Prost on lap 47 when Prost turned in on him. The pair interlocked wheels and slithered off the road (perhaps this is what would have happened if Hamilton had not driven off the track at Spa last weekend?)
Prost got out of his car and retired – he knew that with Senna out of the race he would be champion. Undeterred, Senna re-gained the circuit via an escape road, pitted for a new front wing, caught new leader Allessandro Nannini, and won the race.
Or so we thought. But the stewards chose to disqualify Senna for missing out part of the track. McLaren appealed the decision but found themselves asked to answer a series of additional charges when they confronted the FIA. Senna's disqualification stood, and Prost became champion.
1990: Gerhard Berger, McLaren, Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal
In a bizarre repeat of circumstances at the same track a decade earlier, Berger was the winner 'on the road' but a 60s penalty for jumping the start left him fourth. Team mate Senna collected the win.
1994: Michael Schumacher, Benetton, Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps
Having led all but one lap of the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix it was particularly galling for Schumacher to be disqualified for excessive wear on the plank on the underside of his car. The planks had been introduced by the FIA earlier in the year to force the teams to run higher ride heights for safety reasons.
Benetton argued the wear had been caused by Schumacher's spin across the kerbs on the exit of Fagnes. But their appeal against the exclusion failed and Damon Hill inherited the win. Others suggested that the changing conditions throughout the weekend and lack of data on running with the planks caused Benetton to set Schumacher's ride height too low.
1995: Michael Schumacher, Benetton, and David Coulthard, Williams, Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos
The Renault-powered duo of Schumacher and Coulthard were originally excluded because of fuel irregularities. But on appeal the FIA chose to give the drivers their points back, but not the teams. The rationale was that a technical breach had been committed but no advantage had been gained by the drivers.
This unusual decision was not seen again until last year's Hungarian Grand Prix, when McLaren were stripped of their constructors' points following the infamous qualifying incident.
1999: Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang
Another famous controversy. Ferrari had finished one-two in the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix but after the race both drivers were disqualified because their barge boards were deemed to be 1cm outside the tolerances allowed by the regulations. This meant Mika Hakkinen was the winner not only of the race but also the world championship.
On appeal Ferrari convinced the FIA that the barge boards had not been accurately measured by the Malaysian Grand Prix stewards and were in fact legal. The FIA accepted this claim, reinstated the Ferraris, leaving the final round to decide the championship.
McLaren's Ron Dennis felt the stewards had allowed Ferrari to get away with a deliberate misinterpretation of the rules in order to guarantee an exciting championship finale:
I believe, along with probably every technical director in Formula One, that the manufacturing tolerance referred to under article 3.12.6 of the Technical Regulations has no bearing on any other aspect of the car other than the vertical flatness of the horizontal surfaces that form the underside of the vehicle. We think the push for our sport has inevitably become quite commercial. Everybody wants to have an exciting race in Japan, but I think that the price we have paid for that one race is too great.
Read more about the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix
2003: Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos
The final example concerns a driver and team who hadn't actually broken any rules at all – instead the FIA stewards were at fault in failing to follow the rules correctly.
The 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix was red-flagged to an early halt following a severe crash for Fernando Alonso. This came shortly after Giancarlo Fisichella had passed Kimi Raikkonen for the lead. However the rules for stopping the race meant that the final positions would be those on the lap before the race was halted. This, they felt, meant Raikkonen was the winner.
However it was only when they studied replays of the race and timing data afterwards that they accepted Fisichella had complete one more lap than they initially realised. Therefore he was in fact the winner, and Raikkonen handed over the winner's trophy to him at the following round at Imola. It was Fisichella's first and Jordan's last Grand Prix win.
Can you remember any other instances where drivers lost F1 wins after the race? Which of these did you think was particularly fair or foul? have your say in the comments.


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Syria opposition group votes to attend peace conference
BEIRUT — Despite deep divisions, the major U.S.-backed Syrian opposition bloc voted Saturday to participate in peace talks scheduled to begin next week in Switzerland, ending months of uncertainty about whether the group would attend the long-anticipated negotiations.
"We are going to the conference without heads held high for those who are witnessing the most heinous massacres in history," a sullen Ahmad Jarba, the coalition president, told reporters gathered at a hotel outside Istanbul, Turkey, where the opposition delegates gathered.
The coalition vote would seem to ensure that the conference — the first face-to-face meeting between the exiled opposition and the government of President Bashar Assad — would begin as scheduled on Wednesday in the Swiss city of Montreux.
Though the conference is viewed as the most concerted international effort to end the almost-three year civil war, it is still an open question whether the talks will accomplish much to end the bloodshed in Syria.
Mixed signals from the opposition had left an air of uncertainty as the so-called Geneva II conference was set to kick off. Coalition activists, who had long vowed never to negotiate with the Assad government, had pushed without success for iron-clad guarantees that the talks would lead to Assad's departure from office.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry lauded the decision Saturday as a "courageous" move.
The decision averted a potential embarrassment for the Obama administration, which had engaged in months of diplomatic cajoling and arm-twisting in an effort to convince its hesitant allies and proxies to come to the peace table.
The United States and Russia are major sponsors of the talks, organized under the auspices of the United Nations. Russia is a key ally of Assad, while the United States has thrown its weight behind the Syrian opposition and backed its calls for Assad to step down.
More than 30 nations will attend the conference, but a major regional player, Iran, a close ally of Assad's government, has so far been excluded at the insistence of Washington.
The Syrian government, working closely with Moscow, has said it would send a high-ranking diplomatic delegation to Switzerland.
Representatives of both the United States and Russia have agreed that a political solution is the only means to end the war, which has left more than 100,000 people dead, forced millions from their homes and sown instability throughout the Middle East.
The stated goal of the Geneva talks is to create a transitional governing authority by "mutual consent" of the negotiating parties, leading eventually to democratic elections. U.S. diplomats and their allies insist this means that Assad must cede power, but Syrian and Russian officials say Assad's departure is not predetermined.
Despite widespread skepticism that the talks will accomplish much of substance, many Syrians and others see the start of some kind of peace initiative as a rare glimmer of hope. Any peace process is likely to drag on for months if not years amid a sectarian-fueled conflict that has left much of the nation in ruins and torn apart the delicate fabric of Syrian society.
Along with pressures from Western, Arab and other backers to attend Geneva II, the opposition coalition also faced criticism from rebel commanders who view the talks as a betrayal. The coalition is a largely exiled-based assemblage with limited influence on fighters in Syria.
Still unclear is the extent to which rebel factions nominally under the coalition's umbrella will participate in Geneva. The coalition includes the so-called Free Syrian Army, a loose federation of fighting groups in a nation where hundreds of factions with varying agendas have taken up arms, including several Al Qaeda affiliates and other Islamic militants. Infighting among rebel factions has become a major problem and opened the way for recent government advances on the battlefield. Coalition officials said its military wing backed Saturday's decision to participate in Geneva II.
The coalition, known formally as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, was formed in November 2012 in Qatar with an explicit vow that it would never negotiate with Assad. A previous coalition president, Moaz Khatib, was subject to intense internal criticism after he said publicly he would be willing to talk to the Syrian government if the move helped to save lives. He later left the coalition.
On Saturday, the coalition said 58 delegates voted in favor of attending the conference, 14 voted against, two abstained and one submitted a blank ballot. But 44 other delegates boycotted in apparent protest, meaning a majority of members did not vote in favor of attending Geneva II.
On Sunday, the opposition coalition reportedly plans to name a 15-person delegation to attend the talks. They will face a formidable government team, led by a veteran diplomat, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, Damascus' former ambassador in Washington.
Twitter: @mcdneville
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Home Page Chess Life Online 2010 January Anand Continues Reign as World Champion!
|Anand Continues Reign as World Champion!
|May 11, 2010
|Viswanathan Anand has retained his World Championship title against challenger Veselin Topalov. In a surprising turnaround in the Lasker Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined, Topalov allowed Anand to crash through. Look for the full story later today from GM Ian Rogers. 4408


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Emotional and Social Growth in Newborns
Topic Overview
Your newborn immediately starts to communicate with you. Newborns need and, in their own way, ask for social interaction with others. They communicate by moving their arms and legs and directing their gaze toward a familiar voice. Their eyes and face brighten as they track parents' movements and scan their faces. When they break their gaze, it signals the need for a rest from the interaction.
Of course, they also cry. A cry can communicate that a baby is hungry, lonely, bored, uncomfortable, or simply overwhelmed. You will soon learn to distinguish your baby's different types of crying, sometimes even within the first few days after delivery.
A newborn's smile most often occurs during sleep. Smiles while awake are reflexive reactions to a face or voice rather than an emotional response. But during the second month, your baby's smiles are a genuine sign of pleasure or friendliness.
Each baby is born with a unique disposition, or temperament , which is generally categorized as quiet, sensitive, demanding, or easily distracted. Temperament often determines a newborn's emotional reactions, ability to focus versus ease of being distracted, ability to adapt to changing situations, and activity level (quiet versus busy). For example, some newborns are hypersensitive to stimuli and are easily overloaded. These babies may overreact to playful rocking, while other less sensitive babies might respond with brightened face and interest.
Recognize how your own personality and temperament influence your reactions to your baby. If you are an active person and have a quiet baby, you may need to adjust your expectations and how you interact.
Related Information
Current as of: May 27, 2020
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics
Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
John Pope, MD, MPH - Pediatrics
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Current as of: May 27, 2020
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics & Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine & John Pope, MD, MPH - Pediatrics


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Susan Elizabeth Phillips
William Morrow
January 27, 2009
How did this happen?
Georgie York, once the costar of America's favorite television sitcom, has been publicly abandoned by her famous husband, her film career has tanked, her father is driving her crazy, and her public image as a spunky heroine is taking a serious beating.
What should a down-on-her-luck actress do? Not go to Vegas . . . not run into her detestable former costar, dreamboat-from-hell Bramwell Shepard . . . and not get caught up in an ugly incident that leads to a calamitous elopement. Before she knows it, Georgie has a fake marriage, a fake husband, and maybe (or not) a fake sex life.
It's a paparazzi free-for-all, and Georgie's nonsupporting cast doesn't help. There's Bram's punk-nightmare housekeeper, Georgie's own pushy parent, a suck-up agent, an icy studio head with a private agenda, and her ex-husband's new wife, who can't get enough of doing good deeds and saving the world—the bitch. As for Georgie's leading man, Bram's giving the performance of his life, but he's never cared about anyone except himself, and it's not exactly clear why.
Two enemies find themselves working without a script in a town where the spotlight shines bright . . . and where the strongest emotions can wear startling disguises.Georgie York has been living in the shadows of her old sitcom character for ages now and she's more than a little sick of it. She's ready to play better roles but none is more dramatic than her real life at the moment. She was just publicly dumped by her husband for another woman so now, apart from having a crummy career, she's also the laughing stock of every person in town. So, really, you'd think things couldn't get more horrible for Georgie. That is, until she ends up married to her archenemy after a night of drunken debauchery. But instead of getting an annulment and hoping to god no one ever founds out about the whole deal, Georgie now finds herself in a fake marriage to a guy she's hated for years.
His name is Bramwell Shepard and he was her sitcom co-star who was a complete nightmare back then - and still is! Sure, he might be gorgeous but he's still liar and a player. But now, Georgie and Bram are stuck together in a sham of a marriage and in the middle of a media storm.
But what neither of them ever imagined that while in the middle of a fake marriage, real feelings might emerge.
What I did for Love is the second Phillips books I've ever read and I had a blast reading it. While I laughed out loud a lot and even teared up a little it felt like I was reading the book version of Jennifer Aniston's life at times. Georgie's the funny girl left by her handsome husband for a gorgeous, successful actress that likes to travel all over the world for humanitarian efforts. Yeah, sounds familiar? It's not that it bothered me at all, I did really enjoy the book, Georgie and Bram have great chemistry together and I absolutely loved the secondary character, Chaz. She's Bram's housekeeper and was incredibly real and vibrant. So, in the end, I did enjoy reading What I did for Love, it's a really funny and witty story and I'll definitely be checking out more of Phillips' books in the future.


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Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Valentines for School & Sweetheart Display
I have to admit I was wondering how I was going to display the Valentines neat and tidy when I took them to school. Then I saw a cute idea at Sparkly Blonde YouTube page that would make the gifts look great on display and I can use it for cupcakes later too.
So the next day I picked up plastic heart plates at WalMart for 98 cents and I already own plenty candle holders. I actually used 3 of the same size plates. The gift boxes, we hot glued the heart shape glitter foam pieces to them, and he wrote from him. I wrapped in gift basket wrap and stuck the rose pens to the side. Then the project came together and topped with a rose. The rose pens are for grown ups on his school list.
at 9:45 AM
Labels: crafts, crafty, creativity, gift, gift basket, valentines
2 comments:
- Mary said...
That looks so pretty and clever!
- February 8, 2012 at 10:33 AM
- Betty Roberts said...
I love this I'm sure he's going to take the cake on this one ver unique!
- February 11, 2012 at 8:28 AM
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806 Highcrest DR #4Granite Shoals, TX 78654 View Map $589,000 Schedule a Tour
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Based on information from the Austin Board of REALTORS® (alternatively, from ACTRIS). Neither the Board nor ACTRIS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. The Austin Board of REALTORS®, ACTRIS and their affiliates provide the MLS and all content therein "AS IS" and without any warranty, express or implied. Data maintained by the Board or ACTRIS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified.


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Great Open Kitchen Shelving That Will Inspire You
Sara Kate and I have been talking about redoing the kitchen at my family's country place the low budget way — by ourselves. Mainly, our plans consist of ripping all the old IKEA cabinets out and replacing them with a really nice stove and restaurant quality open shelving. We're both ready for open shelving, partially because we like the look and partially because it's easier to do. To get inspired, I pulled together some great pics that lead the way.
A few tips:
- Cups, dishes and bowls look good / food looks bad = avoid open food storage
- It is important to edit down and organize your collection = only shelve what you love
- Allow everything to breathe visually = space between objects is important
- Plates (heavy) go on the bottom / glasses (light) go above
- A darker or colored background provides contrast and can highlight the style of your dishes
- A mirrored background will reflect a ton of light and open up a small space
>> Mat's S.S. Waverly (This kitchen was so good, I included the whole apartment in The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces.)
>> Moline's Black and White Kitchen
>> Yiming's Prewar Black Kitchen (Also featured in full glory in The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces with pic above.)
>> Look!: More Open Kitchen Shelving from Our Readers
>> Look!: Even MORE Open Kitchen Shelves from Readers
>> Open Shelving in the Kitchen @ House Beautiful
>> A Different Kind of Kitchen Cupboard
>> Tips for Organizing Your Open Shelving
>> Metro Shelves in the Kitchen
>> Kitchen Inspiration: A Modern and Industrial Renovation Via Dwell Magazine
(BTW, if you have open shelving that you are really proud of, send me a pic and I'll post it to add to this collection – email@example.com.)


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RT @digiphile: Advocates Release Best Practices for Making #opengov Data "License-Free" http://t.co/4mWWaUhsIY #opendata #cc0 #gov2au
— John Sheridan (@sherro58) December 15, 2013
The article, Advocates Release Best Practices for Making Open Government Data "License-Free", recommends CC0 as the default license for a range of reasons. I've responded with my views on why CC BY is a better choice and there's been a subsequent thread of comments.
I'm not going to spread the discussion to my blog, as it is easier to follow while contained in one place, so please follow the discussion at E Pluribus Unum and contribute as you see fit.


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An iPhone 4 that went swimming used to be sadly reduced to spending the rest of its life as a paperweight. But not anymore! Let the repair professionals at uBreakiFix complete our extensive liquid damage diagnostic process on your device! The process will include checking to see which components still work, which need replacing and what your iPhone 4 needs to get back up and running in as little time as possible. Once the trained staff at uBreakiFix pinpoints the repair and components needed, they will contact you with a repair quote and time frame for completion. If on the off chance your device is not repairable, it will not cost you anything, the technicians will provide you with a quote before completing the repair! Stop by a local uBreakiFix location today and let the professionals save your iPhone 4 from a life as
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A.G. Lafley Rejoins Procter & Gamble as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
A.G. Lafley Rejoins Procter & Gamble as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Bob McDonald Retires from the Company after 33 Years
CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Procter & Gamble (NYS: PG) announced today that Alan George "A.G." Lafley has rejoined the Company as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. He has also been elected to the Board of Directors and will serve as its Chairman. Mr. Lafley joined Procter & Gamble in 1977 and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2000 to 2009. He succeeds Robert A. "Bob" McDonald, who is retiring from the Company on June 30, 2013, after 33 years of service.
Robert A. McDonald (Photo: Business Wire)
Jim McNerney, presiding director of P&G's Board, said, "A.G.'s track record and his depth of experience at P&G make him uniquely qualified to lead the Company forward at this important time. The Board expects A.G. to further improve results, implement the current productivity plan, and facilitate an ongoing succession process. The Board is confident that he will continue improving P&G's performance."
Mr. McNerney added, "We thank Bob for his service and note the Company's improving business performance. Under his leadership, the Company expanded its business in developing markets, built a strong innovation pipeline, and has made substantial progress implementing a $10 billion cost savings and productivity program."
Mr. Lafley said, "I wish Bob well, and thank him for his service to P&G. I am looking forward to working with P&G's outstanding leadership team to continue to improve the Company's performance. I am confident that we will deliver strong innovation, productivity and growth to win with consumers, customers and shareholders."
Mr. McDonald joined the Company in 1980 and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2013. Mr. McDonald said, "It has been a privilege to work with the people of Procter & Gamble to serve consumers around the world. I'm proud of what we have accomplished together, and I am confident in the Company's future."
The Company confirmed its fiscal year and fourth quarter guidance, as stated in the recent third quarter earnings release.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release or presentation, other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to our business plans, objectives, and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "project," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.
Risks and uncertainties to which our forward-looking statements are subject include: (1) the ability to achieve business plans, including growing existing sales and volume profitably and maintaining and improving margins and market share, despite high levels of competitive activity, an increasingly volatile economic environment, lower than expected market growth rates, especially with respect to the product categories and geographical markets (including developing markets) in which the Company has chosen to focus, and/or increasing competition from mid- and lower tier value products in both developed and developing markets; (2) the ability to successfully manage ongoing acquisition, divestiture and joint venture activities to achieve the cost and growth synergies in accordance with the stated goals of these transactions without impacting the delivery of base business objectives; (3) the ability to successfully manage ongoing organizational changes and achieve productivity improvements designed to support our growth strategies, while successfully identifying, developing and retaining particularly key employees, especially in key growth markets where the availability of skilled or experienced employees may be limited; (4) the ability to manage and maintain key customer relationships; (5) the ability to maintain key manufacturing and supply sources (including sole supplier and plant manufacturing sources); (6) the ability to successfully manage regulatory, tax and legal requirements and matters (including, but not limited to, product liability, patent, intellectual property, price controls, import restrictions, environmental and tax policy), and to resolve pending matters within current estimates; (7) the ability to resolve the pending competition law inquiries in Europe within current estimates; (8) the ability to successfully implement, achieve and sustain cost improvement plans and efficiencies in manufacturing and overhead areas, including the Company's outsourcing projects; (9) the ability to successfully manage volatility in foreign exchange rates, as well as our debt and currency exposure (especially in certain countries with currency exchange, import authorization or pricing controls, such as Venezuela, China, India and Argentina); (10) the ability to maintain our current credit rating and to manage fluctuations in interest rate, increases in pension and healthcare expense, and any significant credit or liquidity issues; (11) the ability to manage continued global political and/or economic uncertainty and disruptions, especially in the Company's significant geographical markets, due to a wide variety of factors, including but not limited to, terrorist and other hostile activities, natural disasters and/or disruptions to credit markets, resulting from a global, regional or national credit crisis; (12) the ability to successfully manage competitive factors, including prices, promotional incentives and trade terms for products; (13) the ability to obtain patents and respond to technological advances attained by competitors and patents granted to competitors; (14) the ability to successfully manage increases in the prices of commodities, raw materials and energy, including the ability to offset these increases through pricing actions; (15) the ability to develop effective sales, advertising and marketing programs; (16) the ability to stay on the leading edge of innovation, maintain the positive reputation of our brands and ensure trademark protection; and (17) the ability to rely on and maintain key information technology systems and networks (including Company and third-party systems and networks), the security over such systems and networks, and the data contained therein. For additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those projected herein, please refer to our most recent 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K reports.
About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves approximately 4.6 billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Fairy®, Gain®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun®, Fusion®, Ace®, Febreze®, Ambi Pur®, SK-II®, and Vicks®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 75 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130523006484/en/
P&G Media Contact:
Paul Fox, 513-884-2592
P&G Investor Relations Contact:
John Chevalier, 513-983-9974
KEYWORDS: United States North America Ohio
The article A.G. Lafley Rejoins Procter & Gamble as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer originally appeared on Fool.com.
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The Rescuers Down Under1990 Action/Adventure | Animation | Family | SciFi/Fantasy
Bernard (voice of Bob Newhart) and Miss Bianca (voice of Eva Gabor), the intrepid mouse squad from the International Rescue Society of The Rescuers, return to help a little boy from the Australian outback named Cody (oice of Adam Ryen), who has been kidnapped by an evil poacher named McLeach (voice of George C. Scott). Enlisting the air services of Wilbur the Albatross (voice of John Candy), the two mice travel to the wasteland of Australia. McLeach is a dark complexioned exploiter who scours the Outback in a giant hovercraft, intent on capturing endangered species and selling them for a hefty profit. Bernard and Miss Bianca befriend a Paul Hogan-type mouse named Jake (Tristan Rogers), but to battle against the evil McLeach, Bernard's wisdom is required in order to save the day. Disney got its feet wet in computer animation with several impressive flight sequences, which bracket the film.~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide


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Pope: Psalms 'Are a School of Prayer'
Songs of praise draw us to God, the Holy Father said at his June 22 audience.
VATICAN CITY (EWTN News/CNA) — The Book of Psalms can teach people how to pray and is the "prayer book 'par excellence,'" Pope Benedict XVI said in his June 22 audience with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square.
"These inspired songs teach us how to speak to God, expressing ourselves and the whole range of our human experience with words that God himself has given us," he said.
The Book of Psalms consists of 150 prayers traditionally ascribed to the authorship of King David.
The Pope explained that a whole range of human emotions are found in the Psalms, ranging from "joy and suffering" to the "fullness of life to fear of dying."
"In these prayers, the Psalms are manifestations of the soul and faith, in which everyone can recognize and communicate the experience of a special closeness to God to which every man is called," observed the Pope.
The Pope said it was significant that Jewish tradition refers to the Psalter as "Tehillim," which means "praise" in Hebrew. This makes the Psalms "ultimately a book of praise."
"Despite the diversity of their literary forms, the Psalms are generally marked by the two interconnected dimensions of humble petition and of praise addressed to a loving God who understands our human frailty," he said.
But the Psalms are also quite different from the other books of the Old Testament, Pope Benedict noted. Instead of being narratives with a specific meaning or purpose, he explained, they "are given to the believer just as text for prayer."
In fact, the Pope urged pilgrims to pray using the Psalms, suggesting that in "praying the Psalms we learn to pray. They are a school of prayer." He explained himself by drawing an analogy with how children learn to express themselves.
A child initially "learns to express their feelings, emotions and needs with words that do not belong to him," but, instead, "he learns innately from his parents and those who live around him." Very quickly "the words become his words," and those feelings, emotions and needs of his are then duly expressed, said the Pope.
He concluded by suggesting that the Psalms ultimately point people towards Jesus: "Many of the Psalms are attributed to David, the great king of Israel, who, as the Lord's anointed, prefigured the Messiah. In Jesus Christ and in his paschal mystery, the Psalms find their deepest meaning and prophetic fulfillment.
"Christ himself prayed in their words. As we take up these inspired songs of praise, let us ask the Lord to teach us to pray, with him and in him, to our heavenly Father."


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Welcome to the public engineering documentation site for the Home Energy Saver (HES), the first Internet-based tool suite for calculating energy use in residential buildings.
The Home Energy Saver project provides a family of interactive web sites, as well as the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that underlie them, designed to help residents and home energy professionals make decisions about energy use in their homes. The aims of the project are to increase consumer interest in energy efficiency and to foster market activities that capture those opportunities. HES is developed and maintained by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with sponsorship (past and/or present) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the California Energy Commission.
The major products of HES are:
Links to these projects are in the sidebar. The main technical documentation site for the APIs that underlie the websites and enable
replication of their functionality in third-party applications is: http://developers.buildingsapi.lbl.gov.
Project Background
Development of the Home Energy Saver began in 1994, and the first site went on-line in 1996[1], originally sponsored by the Energy Star program, operated by EPA and DOE (Mills 1997; Mills et al. 2007)[2] [3]. The Home Energy Saver uses state-of-the-art data and models to support the Federal energy mission by helping to build national recognition of energy efficiency programs and by enabling consumers to quantify the energy savings and environmental benefits that can be achieved by improving the energy efficiency of their home. The sites are also used periodically by researchers, designers and contractors as a tool for analyzing residential energy performance issues, and for learning from actual homeowners about their experiences with implementing energy-saving upgrades. Finally, through the Energized Learning module, science educators at the high school and college level regularly use HES as part of their science curricula. Based on a user-feedback form, submitted thus far by approximately 1100 users, approximately 80% of users are homeowners or renters, with the balance made up of those who visit for professional/educational reasons, such as building professionals, educators, contractors etc.
The Home Energy Saver websites provides two basic services:
This wiki provides a description of the method for calculating energy consumption, and the levels of input detail available to the user and the output reported to the user. It also outlines calculation of energy bills based on consumption, and documents the presentation by which consumers can compare results for their household to households typical in their geographical area, and which suggest possibilities for energy bill reduction.
The goal in developing the Home Energy Saver web sites has
been to provide diverse audiences with a simple way to use state-of-the-art residential
energy calculation tools and energy data. The site integrates a variety of
models, algorithms, and data sources developed over several decades at Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, other DOE National Labs, utilities, and elsewhere
in the energy community. Historically, access to and use of such materials has
required more extensive expertise and knowledge of energy and building
technologies than that possessed by consumers. Making these tools and
information available via a web-based interface, enables lay users to obtain
energy use and savings estimates tailored to their particular home, climate,
lifestyles, etc. While not discussed further here, the site also provides "decision-support" information to accompany the analytical results.
Consumer-oriented home energy calculators are most effective if they combine careful energy analysis with energy cost information in a fashion that yields meaningful energy bills. Energy tariffs (particularly those for electricity) are becoming increasingly complex, as they are redesigned to encourage efficient use of energy at the margin and management of peak demand. For example, the so-called "inverted block tariffs" present the user with an increasing per-unit electricity price as consumption rises. "Time-of-Use" tariffs present the user with high electricity prices at times when the utility system is likely to be facing peak demands (e.g. weekday afternoons during summer), and correspondingly low prices at off-peak times. Most energy calculators utilize highly stylized prices (e.g. a flat cents-per-kilowatt-hour value), which fail to capture the real-world conditions facing consumers. To address this void, the Home Energy Saver site includes a process to model electricity bills using actual utility tariffs.
Limitations and Advantages of Web-based Energy Modeling
Advantages include ease of distribution, version control, platform independence and the ability to locate computation-intensive simulation engines such as DOE-2 on a central (free to the public) server, rather than requiring users to install and administer them on home personal computers.
[1] An earlier version developed at LBNL in the early 1990s was called WebCalc.
[2] In 2000, the Energy Star program sponsored the development of a simplified consumer web site derived from the HES, called Home Energy Advisor. In most cases, Advisor used the same data and calculation methodologies as HES, but employed a more constrained building description and provided different outputs.
[3] A companion report (Warner 2005) describes the use of the DOE-2.1E simulation model for handling space conditioning.


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Australia's Kakadu National Park
Rich history and natural life In the Northern part of Australia in the Alligator Rivers Region, one can find the Kakadu National Park. It is one of the more interesting hiking spots in Australia because it tells much about the history of the country and has varying landforms. The landforms include the outliers, the lowlands, […]Read the rest of the article »


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The Small Clutch No. 105
Our Small Clutches are incredibly versatile and can be used in a variety of ways, including a pocketbook, a cosmetic catch-all, and organizing your travel essentials.
This clutch includes a bronze metal YKK zipper, our custom Caroline-made suede tag, and a secret layer of interfacing for durability.
Handmade in Los Angeles, California by Maggie Whitley.
Measures 7.5" x 6"
This item is ready-to-ship.


text: employment inquiries Staff, Assistant, Intern and Crew Positions: Please do not call. We receive many employment requests and time does not permit us to respond individually. If your resume and work samples look good they will be kept on file and you will be contacted should an opening come up. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Thank you for your understanding. Send to: e: email@example.com


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Rhythm Racer Review
- Publisher: AvatarLabs
- Genre: Music
- Released: 5 Jan, 2010
- Size: 32.3 MB
- Price: FREE!
- Amazing graphics and gameplay.
- Online leaderboards.
- Unlockable achievements.
- Only two tracks currently available.
Rhythm Racer provides a unique 3D racing experience which although may not currently feature much content, is sure to become a hot favourite in the Appstore with a few updates. Considering the game is currently free, you've got nothing to lose and is worth a try if you aren't usually interested in this style of game.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Rhythm Racer is a free futuristic 3D racing game which combines elements of "F-Zero" and "Guitar Hero" to deliver a fast paced, high volume racing experience which is unlike anything you've ever seen before.
The goal of the game is to keep the music flowing and collect points by tiling your iphone and driving your ship through the rings and coloured spheres which appear on the track. Like Guitar Hero, the game will let you miss a few beats, however if you miss too many the song will stop and it's game over, but this is fairly impossible to do. The game also features a neat pick-up placement system so no two games will ever be the same and utilises OpenFeint for both online leaderboards and achievements which adds a nice competitive touch.
The graphics are stunningly superb with out of this universe backgrounds and smooth 3D animation. The sound effects although enjoyable, become a bit repetitive after a few plays as the game only comes pre-loaded with one track (with another purchasable), however Avatar Labs have promised more content including new levels, video ads and push updates in the near future.
Rhythm Racer is a highly unique game which although may currently only feel like a demo, is sure to make an impression in the Appstore once more content is released. Since the game is free anyway, its highly worth downloading if you enjoy this style of game as it is guaranteed to entertain you, if only for a few minutes.
DescriptionCombining elements of "F-Zero" and "Guitar Hero", RHYTHM RACER is the fastest full 3D racing experience you'll have on the iPhone or Touch, and an amazing musical experience too! Keep the music playing and rack up points by hitting as many Power Spheres and jumps as you can. If you miss it, you'll know it. Recover quick and you'll still have a chance to get a streak and post a high score. The Pickup Placement System keeps it interesting by making sure that no two races are ever the same. RHYTHM RACER features original songs written and performed by Parry Gripp of Nerf Herder. Download it, play it, and see what the hype is all about.
- Adrenalin-fueled racing combined with killer interactive music!
- Full integration with OpenFeint.
- Global leader boards - see how you fare against everyone.
- Social leader boards - see how you fare against your friends.
- Includes one racing track with the ability to purchase more tracks.
- Easy controls: Just tilt the phone left and right to steer and pickup the power spheres.
- Adjust the tilt sensitivity to match your playing style.
Developer Notes:
Greetings from AvatarLabs, developer of RHYTHM RACER. THANK YOU to the tens of thousands of people who have downloaded and are playing everyday during our first weeks in the app store! Thanks also to the people who've taken time to give us feedback ([email protected] or www.facebook.com/avatarlabs). We depend on that to make RHYTHM RACER the best it can be. We're working on an update that will address issues some of you are having, and we'll have more music and race maps soon. Easier gameplay options are on the way, too. For those who have posted amazing high scores in Open Feint, we are in awe! Way to go! Thanks for playing and helping us bring the thrill of racing and music together!
Give it a shot, we hope you'll love RHYTHM RACER as much as we do!
What's New in Version 1.0.1- We've added another free track!
- Bug fixes to address startup issues.


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Fred Grandy is one of the smartest – and certainly most respected men – in Washington. He achieved that reputation the old fashioned way: He earned it as a former Congressman, successful non-profit business executive and long-time top-rated talk radio show. So when he warns Republicans that they have entered a potentially fatal "box canyon," they should listen.
In conversations on the "Secure Freedom Radio" show we co-host, Fred has been warning for some time about the Budget Control Act of 2011. He has described it as the legislative equivalent for his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill as a box canyon, meaning the sort of naturally occurring, dead-ending geological formation used by Indians and desperados in the Wild West to trap and snare their prey.
Pursuant to that act, either 1) a congressional "supercommittee" would come up with $1.2 trillion in cuts or 2) reductions in that amount will be achieved through automatic cuts – half from domestic discretionary spending, half from the Pentagon's budget.
Fred Grandy's point is that, by agreeing to this deal, as a practical matter, Republicans allowed themselves to be fatally boxed in: Either they would have to accede to Democrats' demands that taxes be raised. Or they would share responsibility for the meat ax that would indiscriminately cut $600 billion across the board from the country's national security capabilities.
The former is now foreclosed. And the latter would have particularly devastating effects – "catastrophic" is the term being used by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Joint Chiefs of Staff – because they would not be the first cuts. Rather, they would come on top of roughly half-a-trillion dollars in Pentagon funding reductions already in the pipeline.
The cumulative effect will essentially eliminate the modernization of the armed services' aging fleets of aircraft, ground vehicles, ships and other weapons. They will preclude much of the research and development needed to ensure our forces can deter – or at least compete effectively with – tomorrow's threats.
The reductions imposed via the so-called sequestration mechanism (which Mr. Panetta has called a "doomsday machine") will also adversely affect the refurbishing of existing, worn-out equipment. It will require further contraction of military bases, ports, airfields and depots and the defense industrial base and its suppliers. And the services' respective "end-strengths" – the numbers of personnel in uniform – will be cut, perhaps dramatically.
By some estimates, there will be a loss over a million jobs just on the civilian side. Those aren't "shovel-ready" jobs; those are actual, generally high-paying jobs that people are currently performing to help keep our people safe and free. Add hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and Coast Guard personnel who will be forced out of uniform and may wind up out of work and, in some cases, homeless, and you have a serious additional burden on our economy and society.
Factor in the likely impact of the cuts now in prospect on the military's pensions, benefits and health care system and the stakes get even higher. These represent commitments we have made to our men and women in uniform – past and present – that have enabled us to have an all-volunteer force. Break with those commitments and it is predictable that that kind of force may cease to be viable.
Democrats and others on the Left who have long seen the U.S. military as an instrument of American imperialism and a danger to international peace have been only too happy to drive Republicans into a box canyon with such results. But what are we to make of those in the GOP who seem willing to go there – to the point of embracing the sequestration process' automatic cuts that would eviscerate our defense capabilities?
In the interest of avoiding any increase in revenues – read taxes – which is rightly seen as a key part of the GOP "brand," they are prepared to abandon the party's credibility for responsible stewardship of the national security. It is far from clear how this plays politically.
Here's my bet: More of the women, independents and Reagan Democrats upon whom the effort to replace Barack Obama critically depends will be alienated – not attracted – by two perceptions: 1) that conservatives are, on the one hand, indifferent to the need to both cut spending and raise revenue in the present crisis, and 2) that Republicans are now to the left of Leon Panetta on providing for the common defense.
One thing is sure: No one should delude themselves that we can slip out of the box canyon by repealing or otherwise revising the sequestration mechanism's defense budget cuts sometime next year. The Democrats in the Senate are unlikely to go along. President Obama says he'll veto any such legislative relief.
The problem is that, even if those obstacles could be overcome next year, the reality is that the Pentagon is going to have to make plans and change programs on the basis of what is the law now – not what might be enacted later. That means grievous harm will be done to our ability to protect our country, people and interests at the very moment that threats to them are growing exponentially.
For all of our sakes, Republicans have to find their way out of the box canyon. That way lies with burnishing, not abandoning, their national security credentials and forging a governing majority rooted in the Reagan philosophy of "peace through strength."