text: Back Myoglobin (Blood) Does this test have other names? Serum myoglobins, myoglobin-serum What is this test? This test measures the amount of a protein called myoglobin in your blood. It's done to help diagnose conditions caused by muscle damage, including heart attack. Myoglobin is found in your heart and skeletal muscles, where it captures oxygen that muscle cells use for energy. When you have a heart attack or severe muscle damage, myoglobin is released into your blood. Myoglobin increases in your blood two to three hours after the first symptoms of a heart attack. It usually peaks about eight to 12 hours later. Because myoglobin appears in the blood more rapidly than troponin and other markers of a heart attack, it can help diagnose a heart attack in the earliest stages. Your kidneys filter your blood for myoglobin so that it can be passed out of your body in your urine. But too much myoglobin can overwhelm your kidneys and lead to kidney failure. In some cases, doctors will use a urine test for myoglobin to help detect the hazard and protect your kidney health. Why do I need this test? You may need this test if your doctor suspects you have had a heart attack, which causes damage to the heart muscle. This test is usually done every two to three hours if you enter an emergency room with chest pain or other symptoms of a heart attack. You may also need this test if you have a severe muscle injury, such as with trauma or a condition that damages muscle. Symptoms of muscle injury or damage include: Muscle pain Dark-colored urine Fever Fatigue Nausea and vomiting Abdominal pain If your myoglobin level rises too high, you may have to get intravenous fluids or other treatments to help flush the extra myoglobin out of your body. This test will help your doctor find out whether your injuries need treatment right away. What other tests might I have along with this test? Your doctor may also order tests to confirm that you've had a heart attack, including: Blood tests for other heart attack markers. These tests will look at troponin, creatine kinase, and other substances that may be released when your heart is damaged. Electrocardiogram to watch your heart's electrical impulses. Imaging tests. Various scans can check your heart for damage, clots, and other problems that may affect its ability to pump your blood. Your doctor may also order these tests if he or she suspects muscle damage: Complete blood count, or CBC, including a differential and platelet count Blood urea nitrogen, or BUN; creatinine; and routine electrolytes, including potassium Calcium, phosphate, albumin, and uric acid What do my test results mean? Many things may affect your lab test results. These include the method each lab uses to do the test. Even if your test results are different from the normal value, you may not have a problem. To learn what the results mean for you, talk with your health care provider. Results are given in micrograms per liter (mcg/L). Normal results are less than 90 mcg/L. Higher myoglobin levels mean that you may have muscle damage, but they don't show where the damage took place. Your doctor will order other tests to confirm whether you've had a heart attack. Higher results may also mean muscle damage elsewhere in your body. Muscles can be injured in many ways, including: Coma or another situation in which you don't move for a long period of time Surgery Certain infections Poisons and certain medications Conditions such as muscular dystrophy Unusually strenuous exercise Higher results may also be caused by: Kidney failure Shock Electrical shock Malignant hyperthermia, an inherited condition in which your body temperature rises rapidly and your muscles contract when you have general anesthesia Lower results may mean you have: Rheumatoid arthritis Myasthenia gravis Antibodies to myoglobin in your blood How is this test done? The test requires a blood sample, which is drawn through a needle from a vein in your arm. Does this test pose any risks? Taking a blood sample with a needle carries risks that include bleeding, infection, bruising, or feeling dizzy. When the needle pricks your arm, you may feel a slight stinging sensation or pain. Afterward, the site may be slightly sore. What might affect my test results? Heavy drinking and certain medications can affect your results. How do I get ready for this test? You don't need to prepare for this test. But be sure your doctor knows about all medicines, herbs, vitamins, and supplements you are taking. This includes medicines that don't need a prescription and any illicit drugs you may use.


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Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the best known birds of prey. Golden Eagles use their agility and speed combined with extremely powerful talons to snatch up a variety of prey, including rabbits, marmots, ground squirrels, and large mammals such as foxes and young ungulates. They will also eat carrion if live prey is scarce, as well as reptiles. Golden Eagles maintain territories that may be as large as 155 km2. They are monogamous and may remain together for several years or possibly for life. Golden Eagles nest in high places including cliffs, trees, or human structures such as telephone poles. They build huge nests to which they may return for several breeding years.Read More

subset: commoncrawl


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National Garden Bureau would like to thank our members for providing the licensed photos for this feature. Any use of these photos must be accompanied by the appropriate variety name as labeled. To download for digital use, right click on the photo of choice and select "Save link as…" To download high-resolution images for print, left click on the photo of choice. This will open the image in a new tab/window that can be saved to your computer. Please credit the National Garden Bureau for use of these images and use proper variety name.
Here are other varieties of Salvia perennial from our NGB members:


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I'm constantly experimenting with photo styling as I continue on this blog journey, and I absorb inspiration from all sorts of places, from magazines, food stylists, prop stylists, Pinterest too. One of the things I'm always looking to improve is my photography. I've come a long way since the beginning of this blog in 2009 but I think I still have a way to go, I aim high!
When I look at the portfolios of professional stylists, I'm always so impressed and inspired, and when I've had the opportunity to work or converse with them, I try to learn a thing or two from their many talents. Here are five tips I've learned in the past year when it comes to styling and photographing a project, scene, recipe, or room.
Shoot from Above. Taking a picture of a scene from a bird's eye view is one additional angle to consider when taking pictures of your latest tablescape, project, or recipe. This can be complicated for larger scenes because you need a lens that can capture all of the subject matter and the advantage of height above it, and it doesn't work with everything, but it's a great trick to keep in the back of your mind when you're taking pictures from the side, think about snapping a picture from a high above angle too.
Halloween tablescape for Dabble Magazine
Bring the Bokeh. I learned from stylist Matthew Mead that a 50 mm lens with a low aperture setting is a really great tool for achieving bokeh, that desirable blur (technically referred to as shallow depth of field) when the main object is in focus and the background or foreground is not.
image by Matthew Mead
You can purchase a 1.8 50mm lens for both Nikon and Canon for under $150 and it is a worthy investment for beautiful closeups! Simply set your aperture to 2.0 or below and watch the magic happen.
Keep it Simple. We all love Paul Lowe of Sweet Paul! He said some words in our spotlight interview that stay with me to this day. "Keep it simple, don't overthink things, and go with your gut feeling. Think a simple background and few props. Remember what's important in the shot."
Allowing the project, craft, recipe, or group of objects to shine in a simple setting is a no fail approach to great styling. Less is more!
Practice the Rule of Thirds. You've heard that old photography Rule of Thirds trick time and again but the technique rings true. Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid on your image, either when you're shooting or when you're cropping. Place the main object on one of the four intersecting points or along one of the four lines that dissect, and you'll end up with a more dynamic shot. Off center looks best!
Include Something Living. I've been practicing the 'include something living' ever since I picked up this tip from last year's Better Homes & Gardens shoot. Often it's something as simple as a vase of flowers on a table or a bowl of fruit, sometimes my kids become part of the scene and who can resist a cute dog?
Kids and pets and botanical objects from nature make the image or scene come alive. It shouldn't be forced, but instead a natural part of the narrative. Ever notice how all shelter magazines have fresh flowers or plants in just about every room shot? Copy that!
Those are my latest observations and tips for better styling and photography for bloggers and nonbloggers too. Do you have any tips to share you've learned along the way, or stylists or photographers that inspire you?


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(AllHipHop News) United States Hip-Hop star 50 Cent is bankrolling a probe into the death of his high-powered manager, Chris Lighty, who allegedly committed suicide last month.
50 Cent and Chris Lighty's family have hired attorney Scott E. Leemon of Leemon Law and private investigator Les Levine to look into Chris Lighty's death, which was ruled a suicide by the New York Medical Examiner.
The new investigation will focus on all of the circumstances surrounding Chris Lighty's death, attorney Scott E. Leemon told AllHipHop.com in a statement.
"I will confirm that I have been asked by Chris' mother and many of his former clients/business associates/friends (including 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and Q-TIP) to fully investigate all of the circumstances surrounding his premature death," Scott E. Leemon told AllHipHop.com.
According to an article by Lisa Evers of Fox 5 in New York, 50 Cent said that Chris Lighty's mother came to him, asking for help because, she didn't believe her son would take his own life.
50 Cent shared the same opinion and started the process of investigating Lighty's alleged suicide.
Although initial reports stated that Chris Lighty could have been distraught over his financial situation, Fox 5 obtained a copy of the high-powered manager's will, which left over $1.6 million in a trust fund for his children.
Lighty had also just secured a world tour for 50 Cent, which is expected to commence next year.
The will also left Chris Lighty's entire estate, which is worth millions, to his wife, Veronica, who he was in the process of divorcing.
According to Dr. Michael Baden, who is conducting an independent autopsy, Chris Lighty definitely died of a gunshot wound, but he is investigating other circumstances surrounding Lighty's death, which have not been revealed.
"His mother has asked me to help her determine if anyone or more people are legally responsible for Chris' death," Scott E. Leemon told AllHipHop.com. "And, if so, whether a wrongful death action should be filed against them. As such, the investigation will focus on those questions."
Scott E. Leemon and Les Levine are currently seeking any parties who may have more information about Chris Lighty and the circumstances surrounding his death.
"The investigation is being lead by private investigator Les Levine and is in its' extreme early stages. It is being initially funded by 50 Cent with the hope of others helping," Scott E. Leemon added. "If anyone in the public has information about Chris' death it may be emailed to: email@example.com."


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Sexual assault on college campuses is a national health issue. In the United States, one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college, yet more than 90 percent of these survivors do not report the assault.
Why don't they report?
Some survivors are embarrassed or ashamed. Some don't think anything will be done, even if they report. And many are simply overwhelmed and don't know where to begin to address the physical, emotional and logistical issues that can occur after an assault.
With all of that in mind, a company named Capptivation Inc. has released "Reach Out," a mobile app for college students that provides resources that can help survivors make decisions and feel less alone after experiencing sexual assault. Colleges and universities throughout Pennsylvania are among the more than 2,300 schools currently included in the college version of "Reach Out."
Students can plug the name of their college or university into the app to receive comprehensive sexual assault-related information specific to their institution and its location. Each school's "Reach Out" home page includes icons that link to topics such as:
- Start Here
- Campus Resources
- Medical Care
- Reporting Options
- Prevention/Education
- School Links
- Advocacy/Support
- Hotlines
- Get Involved
- Locators
- Portal.
Links for medical care are specific to the school's geographic location, as is contact information for reporting options. Links for campus resources provide contact information for a school's Title IX coordinator, campus police and security, chaplains, the safe rider program, student health services, the counseling center, and a number of other support services.
For survivors of sexual violence, regaining a sense of empowerment after experiencing sexual assault is a key component of recovery. One of the most meaningful aspects of "Reach Out" is that the app provides information in a manner that empowers the user to make his or her own decisions.
As an example of the app's tone, the introduction on the "Start Here" page reads, "There is no 'right' way to get help after experiencing a sexual assault. This guide provides phase-by-phase information and lists of resources that a survivor might find helpful immediately after an assault all the way through the often-long process of healing. The resources listed are not exhaustive, but rather are commonly chosen options."
After the introduction, the "Start Here" page includes a drop-down menu for topics such as:
- Get to a Safe Place
- Preserve the Evidence
- Talk to an Advocate
- Get Medical Attention
- Arrange Interim Measures
- Report the Incident
- Heal.
Capptivation was created by a small group of former college students who realized the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses and decided to use technology to help reduce the incidence rate and to provide support to survivors.
Tools such as "Reach Out" can make a difference in supporting survivors as they navigate challenges they face through no fault of their own. These tools also can help raise awareness and help reduce the rape culture that exists on college campuses.
Marylee Sauder has a writing business, Sauder INK. She is a trained community educator on issues related to sexual assault prevention and bullying. She contributes blogs and articles to the PA Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.


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How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever
by Jack Horner and James Gorman. Dutton, 2009
A more accurate title would be How to Genetically Modify a Chicken. But How to Build a Dinosaur is definitely catchier—and harmless. The subtitle is less sanguine. Extinction, certainly of really ancient creatures, is forever, as the authors themselves make clear.
But back to that chicken. Horner, a well-known paleontologist (his co-author is a writer for the New York Times), confides that he has kept a chicken skeleton at hand wherever he has worked, because it looks like a dinosaur. "Sometimes," he writes, "I look at it and turn it ... and think, if I could just grow these bones a little different, tilt this one way, that another, I'd have a dinosaur." That skeleton started out as an embryo, he reasons, so why couldn't we biochemically nudge a chicken embryo this way and that, "until what hatched was not a chicken but a small dinosaur, with teeth, forearms with claws, and a tail?" The book describes how this might be done—someday.
Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God
by Amos Nur, with Dawn Burgess. Princeton University Press, 2008
The outsider may be surprised to learn that earth scientists and archaeologists disagree strongly about what caused the destruction of ancient civilizations. Archaeologists hold that human events—war in particular—crushed these societies; earth scientists lean toward natural causes—earthquakes in particular. Stanford University geophysicist Nur offers detailed evidence for the controversial earthquake theory. Troy, Jericho, Knossos, Mycenae, Armageddon, Teotihuacán and Petra, he argues, were all located along fault lines or in regions prone to earthquakes. He corroborates this scientific evidence with written records from the Bible, the Iliad and other documents that describe events that could have been earthquakes.
Elephant Reflections
Photographs by Karl Ammann. Text by Dale Peterson. University of California Press, 2009
This gorgeous book, which includes the natural history and conservation status of African elephants and recent surprising discoveries of field scientists, will convince you that the elephant is one of nature's greatest and most original works. As Peterson writes in his introduction:
"Good photography depends only partly on the artistic skill of the photographer. It also surely depends on the artistic value of the subject. We look at this collection of elephant reflections not simply to admire the talent and skill of Karl Ammann but also, and even more fully, to reflect on the drama and glamour and mystery of real elephants."
For a slideshow of photographs from the book, go to www.ScientificAmerican.com/elephant-reflections
NOTABLE BOOKS: Science and Literature
Sex in an Age of Technological Reproduction: ICSI and Taboos
by Carl Djerassi. University of Wisconsin Press, 2008
Written by one of the inventors of oral contraceptives, these two plays dramatize the social transformations and controversies created by advances in reproductive technology.
Quantum Lyrics: Poems
by A. Van Jordan. W. W. Norton, 2009
Physicists—most often Einstein—as well as physics itself inhabit these poems.
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives
by David Eagleman. Pantheon, 2009
A neuroscientist presents in novelistic vignettes a variety of possibilities for the world that comes after death.
Note: This article was originally published with the title, "Reviews".


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Create, upload, and share
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If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for a ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on Twitter or Facebook.
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Budget Request and Reimbursement Guidelines
All budget requests over $2000 need to be approved by FAmSCo. Regions deal with requests up to $2000 and each one has its own guidelines and rules for budget requests and reimbursements:
- APAC (Asia and Pacific)
- EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)
- LATAM (Latin America)
- NA (North America)
Travel expenses
If you receive travel funding for an event, you will be expected to provide a trip report within a week after the event for Fedora Magazine.
Do not wait until the last minute to make travel reservations. Room blocks for conferences sell out. The block may expire, and you'll have to pay a higher rate. Flight prices go up. The earlier you can plan for travel, the better. The "sweet spot" for the lowest prices booking flights is generally a Tuesday or Wednesday three weeks in advance of your departure.
Hotels generally require a credit card to make a reservation but do not charge it. (They may put a hold on it if it is a debit card. If this is a concern, check with the hotel to be sure.) Please make your own reservation if at all possible. Once you're at the event, you can have someone with a Red Hat card, preferably from the OSAS team (as this is the cost center for Fedora's budget) put your room on their card. You won't be charged and won't have to file for reimbursement.
Critical: If you have someone else put your room on their card, you must promptly give that person the receipt for your room. Otherwise you will be putting that person in the situation of not getting reimbursed by Red Hat. If someone ends up paying out of pocket for your mistake, you will not receive travel funding again.
If at all possible, it is preferable to book your flight yourself. We trust you to choose the least expensive option. When someone else books your flight for you, there is a risk--a large one for those outside of the US--that it will be flagged as fraudulent and your flight cancelled. That means that your flight will have to be rebooked, possibly at a higher cost, and at the expense of twice the time for the person who booked it for you.
If that is not at all possible, you can have someone book your flight for you. But because of the time involved with the process, it is highly preferable that you book your own flight.
Non-travel expenses
Having others pay for you
You can avoid being a middleman by having certain other people pay bills directly. We have several community members who have Red Hat credit cards for this purpose:
- APAC: Izhar Ismail
- NA: John Rose (NA)
- EMEA: Joerg Simon (EMEA)
- LATAM: Neville Cross (LATAM)
See our community credit card process page for more information.
Paying for things yourself
In order to be reimbursed for Fedora-related expenses that you pay out of your own pocket, you must be able to be reimbursed via PayPal. Please see your region above for more information on how to make these requests. We do not reimburse by cash, check, or wire transfer.
If you are helping host an event, please submit expenses as they are incurred. Do not save them up until the event is over. This is problematic for two reasons. First, you will likely be beyond the two-week deadline on some of your expenses for submitting the request. Second, if you have more than $1,000 in expenses, you will have to be reimbursed with a Red Hat purchase order, which will take 60 days or more. If you anticipate having more than $1,000 of non-travel expenses (i.e., related to swag or holding an event), please contact Ruth Suehle before beginning.
Every expense related to Fedora must have a receipt. No exceptions.
Your Fedora wiki user page must be updated with information about yourself, what you do in Fedora, etc. This is necessary because it allows financial auditors to give a "+1" to the expenses, because they can see the connection to Fedora.
Expenses must be submitted within two weeks of being incurred. If you submit outside of this time frame, you may not be reimbursed. If you submit out of quarter, you will almost certainly not be reimbursed.
Red Hat's fiscal quarters run Mar-May, June-Aug, Sept-Nov, Dec-Feb. Obviously, if you have an expense the last few days of May, you still have the two weeks to file; it will simply be charged to the June-Aug quarter instead. However, if you have an expense in April and don't submit until June, there's a good chance your request will be denied for being out of quarter. Please file expenses in a timely manner.


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Angelina Jolie is one of the highest paid actresses in the world, but the Oscar winner's main passions are actually outside of the field. In an interview with the Financial Times published Friday, Jolie, 36, opens up about becoming a mom of six has changed her relationship with work.
"I've never not been grateful to be an actor," she says. "But I think when I was younger I needed [acting] more. I was trying to question things in life so you find these characters that help you find things and grow."
Now, she adds, "I'm older and I know who I am… and I'm less interested in the character helping me answer something… than in being able to answer it for myself, as a woman, as an adult, with my family."
Although the Salt star says she has no plans to retire in the near future, she admits: "I don't love [acting] as much as I did]. I love being a mom."
Jolie and her longtime love Brad Pitt have six children together — Maddox, 9, Pax, 7, Zahara, 6, Shiloh, 5, and 3-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne — and the family is famous for their nomadic lifestyle. "Home is wherever we are," she says. But does she ever feel rootless? "Yes, but happily. I'm very bad at staying in one place. I'm also bad at sitting still… There's so much to explore in the world… So I love travel. If you can travel I think it's the best way to raise kids."
Her directorial debut — In the Land of Blood and Honey — is a love story she also wrote, which is set in the Bosnian war. "I prefer [being behind the camera] to acting," she admits. "I think I've learnt something from all of [the directors I've worked with] — even the ones I didn't like… I also learned a lot from Clint Eastwood about how to appreciate the members of the crew, empowering them to do their job."
But Jolie doesn't plan to stay in the business forever. "As Brad and I get older we're going to do fewer films. I've been working for a long time, he's been working for a long time," she says. "We've had a nice run and I don't want to be doing this our whole lives. There are a lot of other things to do."


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We've seen plenty of Tricorder-styled gizmos, but the PMP-09 is the best I've seen, and a functional gadget in its own-right. The flip-up PMP has a 2.8-inch display, 8GB storage, and provides 12 hours of music/4 hours of video playback.
Vizio's Latest TVs Go All Quantum
It has 12 different Star Trek LCARS (Library Computer Access/Retrieval System) interface themes, and the site says more will be available for download. File format support is listed as MP3, MP4, AVI JPG, BMP, and WAV.
What gave me goosebumps: Seeing that beyond the TR-590 Tricorder X-style design, there are also Medical, Borg, Marine, Workbee and Troi-styled models available. The starting price of $349 might bring you back down to earth, though. [AmeralisGrafx — Thanks Junior!]


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At Mortgage Protection Center, we offer a variety of life insurance options to suit your needs and your budget. Whether you have just gotten married, bought a home, or want to prepare for life's other unexpected twists, we have an insurance plan for you.
Our goal at Mortgage Protection Center is to provide you with the best life insurance coverage you can get at the best rate possible. We believe that our variety of products and carriers allow us to offer you the best options for protecting your family's future.
Our range of insurance options include mortgage protection insurance, mortgage disability insurance, final expense insurance, tax-free retirement, spouse insurance, single premium whole life and term life insurance. We believe that different people have different insurance coverage needs, so we offer a life insurance plan for everyone.
Consider your family's future – what would happen to them if you suffered a debilitating illness or injury, or suddenly passed away? Would they lose their home because they couldn't pay the mortgage? Would they have money for basic necessities and monthly bills? Would your spouse's salary be enough to pay all regular and additional expenses? Would your family be able to afford your funeral? Your family is your main priority, and we want to help you protect them from financial devastation in the event of your disability or death.
Take the first step to protecting your family's future by learning more about our different kinds of life insurance and getting your free quote today. Fill out the form or call today to talk to an experienced insurance representative about what option is best for you.
© 2023 - Mortgage Protection Center. All rights reserved


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Peter Bergen interviews Ken Ballen
"Ken Ballen found one of the first suicide bombers in Iraq to survive his attack, and elicited other fascinating confessions [including] a Saudi militant who was from a prominent religious family and who had a passionate love affair with his male first cousin."
"[S]ix fully drawn portraits of people often reduced to caricatures in
"Ballen, a former federal prosecutor and the founder and president of the non-profit research institute Terror Free Tomorrow, profiles six former jihadis in this provocative study. With the assistance of Saudi Arabian authorities and well-placed Pakistani journalists, Ballen interviewed more than 100 former jihadis during five years of research, focusing on six very different, very complex individuals whose lives were so different from Western conceptions of the terrorist that he felt compelled to tell their stories. The six include a mama's boy, a homosexual, a sexually abused dreamer, one-half of a "jihadi Romeo and Juliet," a homesick and gullible suicide bomber, and "Pakistan's most notorious terrorist you never heard of." The author's dynamic with terrorists is fascinating ("I was everything he hated: an American, a Jew, and once a prosecutor of terrorists like him"), and he culls fascinating observations from what motivates terrorists ("the story of Islamic radicals and terrorists... is as much about love as hate") and how they can be overcome ("they are, in fact, a small group that can be isolated and defeated"). An unprecedented and unusual look at Islamic radicalism."
"In a ground-breaking book, author Ken Ballen seeks to dispel our mislaid conceptions of terrorism in order to show the personal struggles and inner demons that inspire an individual to dedicate their life to the jihad… The depth of emotion that Ballen captures is at times enlightening and at other times disturbing. Traveling the gradient between true love, fear, and absolute hatred Ballen shows the motivations that drive one to become a terrorist. "
"Those who still believe terrorists are mindless fanatics will find little evidence in these revealing, often touching interviews with six young Islamic men.
"Ballen blasts past the clichés about what animates terrorists and takes readers to places that no one has gone before."
Terrorists in Love shatters the dominant dispassionate treatment of modern day Islamic purveyors of death and destruction and instead offers a profoundly intimate portal into the fragile, emotional, even sexual factors that drive their behavior. Ballen blasts past the clichés about what animates terrorists and takes readers to places that no one has gone before. The profiles and revelations in this book are at times as uncomfortable as they are vital to appreciate what lies in the mind of some terrorists. I couldn't put the book down."
"The 9/11 Commission grappled with the question of what drove the 19 hijackers to their terrorist acts in 2001, but we did not have time to investigate and fully understand their motives. Ken Ballen's exhaustive research, scores of interviews, and gripping writing make Terrorists in Love a uniquely valuable – and sometimes chilling – behind-the-scenes account of the extreme beliefs that often fuel the actions of jihadist militants."
—Lee H. Hamilton, former Congressman and Co-Chair of the 9/11 Commission
"Ballen not only gets beneath the skin of terrorists, but all the way into their hearts, revealing unimaginable emotional and personal secrets. He has shed surprising light on the never-ending question about militant jihadis – what are they thinking? Anyone who wants to know ought to read this unusual book."
—Jane Mayer, bestselling author of The Dark Side
"Ken Ballen has managed the impossible for an American. He has worked his way into the intimate thoughts and frustrations and family conflicts that drove six young Muslims toward the jihadist movement, and he presents his findings in a series of compelling narratives."
—David K. Shipler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Arab and Jew and The Rights of the People: How Our Search for Safety Invades Our Liberties
"It's simply astonishing how much Ken Ballen, an outsider, penetrated the closed world of Islamic radicals."
In a fast moving, absorbing and at times shocking narrative, Ballen destroys stereotypes and defies conventional wisdom by allowing the 'enemies' to speak for themselves. America, meet the terrorists, really for the first time. And if you find yourself in the strange position of empathizing with them, don't recoil in horror, for you might just have stumbled upon that unexpected insight that could help design a more effective response."
"Deploying techniques developed during his two decades as a prosecutor and investigator, Ken Ballen interviewed more than a hundred Islamist terrorists in depth, evincing from them their inner stories. Here he profiles six of these men, and the results are eye-opening and full of startling implications."
—Daniel Pipes, founder and president of the Middle East Forum, and author of Militant Islam Reaches America
"Many authors write about terrorism. Ken Ballen took the rare step of talking directly to terrorists. If you want to understand them, read their stories, in their own words. By giving them voice, this book offers a rarely-seen glimpse into another world, the world of terrorists, not just terrorism."
—Philip Mudd, Former Deputy Director of the Counterterrorism Center at the CIA and Senior Intelligence Advisor for the FBI.
"A valuable, even-handed and insightful window into the mindsets and emotions of jihadi terrorists. Ballen draws a telling portrait of the human side of terrorists, from childhood traumas to moments of transformation to radicalism and, in some cases, to renunciation of terrorists cause. A compelling, if at times frightening study, one that should be read by anyone interested in the roots – and possible deterrents – of terrorism."
—Karen Greenberg, author of The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days
|Content © Ken Ballen 2012 | Site design by Ilsa Brink


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Please send your request for research to [email protected] and we will process as soon as possible.
Our society is a non-profit organization formed in 1976, relying on membership dues of $10.00 per year and research money to operate and for this reason, we are unable to provide free research. Members will do research for $10.00 an hour, with a one hour minimum, plus Postage and cost of copies. The monies made from these request are used to purchase more microfilms and materials for the Archives Room housed at the El Reno Carnegie Library.
Volunteers work in the Archives Room on Wed. afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00 to help with research. Monthly Meetings and Genealogy Program are held on the 2nd Wed. of each month, except July & August, at 2:00 p.m. El Reno Carnegie Library. VISITORS WELCOME
Our collection of county history and genealogical material is housed in the El Reno Carnegie Library Archives Room at 215 East Wade, El Reno, Oklahoma. Also copies of our quarterly, Canadian County Connections from 1976 to 1987, which we have discontinued publishing. Materials in the Archives room do not circulate to local patrons or libraries.
Two Microfilm/Microfiche readers with printer and Copy Machine are available for use.
Genealogical & Historical Collection includes:
- 22 Rolls of Microfilm of Courthouse records
- Marriage 1890-1929
- Probate Records
- Guardianship & Naturalization records
- County Cemetery Name Index to 1969
- Funeral Records
- Obituaries Indexed 1890-1916
- 400 rolls of various county newspaper 1890 to current
- 1937 WPA Interviews of Canadian County Pioneers
- Microfilm of Federal Land Tract Records (Homesteaders in Canadian County)
- Census
- Canadian County Census 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930
- 1900 Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory Soundex
And many more county records in book form and microfilms furnished by donations and the Canadian County Genealogical Society.
County Death and Birth records are not kept at our Courthouse. These records can be obtained by writing to:
Oklahoma Dept. Of Health
Vital Records Div.
P. O. Box 53551
Oklahoma City, OK 73152
Statewide registration of birth & death records began in 1908, with general compliance by 1930.


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Back in January, Apple CEO Steve Jobs first outlined his company's vision for the Mac as the hub of a digital lifestyle. The way Jobs saw it, the Mac would be the centerpiece for a host of digital cameras, MP3 players, and camcorders, providing the applications that brought out the power in those digital devices.
On Tuesday, Apple revealed that it's not satisfied simply making your digital devices work better–it wants to make those devices itself.
The company has developed a palm-sized digital music player dubbed iPod, which is slated to hit stores on November 10. Sporting a 5GB hard drive, the FireWire-enabled iPod can store roughly 1,000 songs at a 160K bit rate in a device not much bigger than a deck of playing cards.
"To have your whole CD library with you at all times is a quantum leap when it comes to music," Jobs said Tuesday. "You can fit your whole music library in your pocket."
Little Package, Big Storage
Encased in stainless steel and featuring a white face similar to the iBook's, the iPod hosts a 1.8-inch hard drive that's less than a quarter-inch thick. It supports the MP3, WAV, and AIFF formats and features 20-minute skip protection. "You can take it mountain-biking, jogging without skipping a beat," Jobs said. (The 20-minute skip protection also works to save battery power. Once MP3s are copied to a large RAM cache, the iPod can turn off its hard drive, making it a lower-power device that's also impervious to shocks.)
Jobs touted iPod as the "first and only music player" with built-in FireWire. That's important because the high-speed connectivity standard lets users quickly download music onto iPod from their Macs. An entire CD of music loads onto iPod in less than 10 seconds; it would take five minutes to do that using USB, Jobs said. In a demonstration following the iPod announcement, it took a little more than two minutes for iPod to download 257 songs from iTunes running on an iBook.
To download songs onto iPod, Mac users simply plug the device into one of the FireWire ports on their Mac. The computer instantly recognizes iPod like it would with any external FireWire drive (In fact, iPod doubles as an external hard drive, allowing you to store documents, photos, and other files in the space not being used for MP3s.)
"You've heard of plug-and-play. This is plug, unplug and play," Jobs said. "It's so simple to use, it's unbelievable."
Play Well With Others
Beyond simplicity, Apple also wanted a device that could work seamlessly with the applications it's been producing as part of the Digital Hub strategy. Applications like iMovie and iTunes can take advantage of digital video cameras and MP3 players, "but there's never been a device built that can take advantage of all these apps," Jobs said. "We decided to build one."
Indeed, iPod works intimately with iTunes, downloading songs and complete playlists the first time you plug the device into your Mac. What if you add songs or albums to iTunes? iPod takes advantage of a new Auto-Sync feature to automatically update its playlists to reflect any changes to your musical library.
"iTunes knows all about iPod, and iPod knows all about iTunes," Jobs said.
Apple cited auto-synching as one of three breakthroughs offered by iPod. The others include:
Portability: iPod is four inches tall, 2.4 inches wide and just over three-quarters of an inch thick. It weighs less than 6.5 ounces–"lighter than most cell phones," Jobs noted. Because it fits easily in a pocket, iPod can go just about anywhere, Apple figures. And with a rechargeable lithium polymer battery that offers 10 hours of musical play, you should be able to take iPod anywhere without the music screeching to a halt. The battery recharges every time you plug it into the FireWire port; the iPod recharges in about an hour, Jobs said.
"An iBook is really portable," he added. "But [the iPod] is ultra-portable."
Ease of Use: iPod sports a black-and-white LCD display with a backlight that activates anytime you hold the menu button down for a few seconds. (Longtime Mac fans will be amused by the fact that the entire iPod interface is in Chicago, the menu bar font of the original Mac.) Besides the menu button, iPod also features buttons that let play, fast-forward, and rewind songs. Those buttons surround a scroll wheel in the center of iPod that allows for quick, one-handed navigation of your playlists. A piezoelectric clicker lets you hear as you scroll though the menu.
"If you're going to have your entire music collection [on an iPod], you have to be able to find music fast," Jobs said.
Priced at $399, the iPod does not come cheaply. But Jobs defended the price by arguing that the iPod's large capacity gives music lovers more bang for their buck. A $150 MP3 player that lets you store 150 songs is costing you $1 per song, Jobs argued. For the iPod and its 1,000-song capacity, the cost per song is closer to 40 cents.
About Those Apps
iPod wasn't the only new product unveiled by Apple Tuesday. The company also introduced the latest update to its iTunes CD ripping and burning software. iTunes 2, which should be available as a free download in early November, will run natively on both Mac OS 9 and OS X. New features include the ability to cross-fade music tracks, a 10-band equalizer, and MP3 CD-burning capability that will let users squeeze more songs onto CDs.
Apple also announced Thursday that iDVD 2.0 will be available in early November. That marks a second shipping delay for the latest version of the DVD authoring software. Announced at July's Macworld Expo trade show, iDVD 2.0 was to originally ship in September. At last month's Seybold Seminars conference, Apple pushed back the release date to October. When it arrives, iDVD 2.0 will add motion menus, background encoding, and the ability to make DVDs with up to 90 minutes of content.


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Moth is a multi-award-winning animation studio formed by Daniel Chester, Dave Prosser, and Marie-Margaux Tsakiri-Scanatovits.
Since collectively graduating from the Royal College of Art, they have quickly become renowned for their perceptive, emotive storytelling. Whether it's examining the looming threat of artificial intelligence, the effects of rainforest deforestation, or the plight of refugees, their colorful, hand-drawn animation style and narrative cadence possess maturity and profundity.
Their projects have been screened and awarded in festivals worldwide, including a BAFTA nomination for Matter Fisher in 2011, a British Animation Award for HIAS: For the Refugee in 2016, a D&AD Graphite pencil, and Annecy Crystal Award for their New York Times piece Modern Love: A Kiss, Deferred in 2016, as well as an ADC Young Gun Award and a YCN Professional Award for their greater portfolio of work.


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Hand-cut crystal beer glass from Rudolph II collection.
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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's largest city faced off in court Thursday against an environmental group seeking to force officials to expand the distribution of bottled water to more residents facing potentially high lead levels.
The arguments in federal court came days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Newark to begin issuing bottled water to residents served by the city's largest water provider, the Pequannock Water Treatment Plant.
Tens of thousands of bottles were handed out beginning Monday at four locations around the city as angry residents demanded answers.
The EPA's order came after two of three households in the Pequannock service area that had received filters from the city still showed lead levels above 15 parts per billion, the allowable threshold.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, which sued the city last year over high lead levels, is seeking an injunction to force the city to also provide bottled water to some of about 30,000 households served by a plant in Wanaque, northwest of the city.
An expert testified Thursday that providing two cases of water per week for three months to qualifying households — those with a pregnant woman or young children or both — would cost about $300,000.
Among other testimony in the daylong proceeding, an expert for the city told U.S. District Judge Esther Salas that Newark residents in the Wanaque service area weren't in danger and that the Wanaque system was demonstrating "effective corrosion control."
In addition, of roughly 240 samples taken from the Wanaque-served homes, about two-thirds showed lead levels so low they couldn't be accurately measured, Steven Reiber said. Lead levels in the Wanaque water "are low and going lower," he said.
That contrasted with the picture painted by attorneys from the National Resources Defense Council who noted that about 25 of the homes had tested above the EPA-mandated threshold of 15 parts per billion. Daniel Giammar, an expert called by NRDC, testified that one home in the service area tested at 246 parts per billion last year.
The lead is leaching in from the pipes and is not originating from the source water.
Newark has come under scrutiny in the past year since the resources council sued and claimed the city dragged its feet after its corrosion control system was found to be failing in 2017 and downplayed the severity of the problem when it notified residents.
Since then, the city implemented a new system that introduces orthophosphate into the water that acts as a coating on the inside of lead service lines to reduce leaching. It also distributed nearly 40,000 filters to residents and created a plan to replace the 18,000 residential lead service lines in the city, expected to take as long as a decade and cost millions.
The city also closed off gates and valves where water from the two systems was comingling; the resources council has said that blending might have compromised the water coming from the Wanaque plant.
City and state officials are working with the EPA to figure out whether the recent high readings in the Pequannock homes were caused by incorrect use or installation of the filters or whether the filters themselves were defective. The filters are EPA-approved and were used in Flint, Michigan, during that city's lead crisis, state officials said this week.
Attorneys for Newark used the example of Flint and other cities to attempt to show that distributing bottled water isn't a first option even when levels exceed the EPA threshold. Giammar, the resources council expert, conceded on cross-examination that Providence, Rhode Island, where he was an adviser to the city's primary water company, had exceeded the levels more than 10 times in a 10-year period but hadn't distributed water.
The parties will finish up arguments on Friday, though Salas indicated she likely would rule at a later date.
By DAVID PORTER
© Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Ever since its first foray into the video game market, Nintendo has been known for the incredible amount of creativity it brings to the medium. Innovative ideas – whether they add a pleasing minor touch or groundbreaking gameplay feature – have to some degree been the company's bread and butter for decades. It's these concepts, as well as an unrivalled understanding of what makes a great game, which have helped set Nintendo apart from its competitors for so long.
Long has a mystical aura surrounded the company – one which paints it as the Willy Wonka of video games. It's partly down the fact that no one can ever really tell what the often secretive video game manufacturer is thinking before it comes out with the software it does. While it may flaunt its creative edge with each new core instalment of Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, it's not always easy to tell how it came up with its ideas in the first place. Moreover, interviews with legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto in the past have revealed that inspiration often comes from the most unusual of places.
Why is this important in the context of a review about a re-released Game Boy Advance game? Because while it may not be as critically or commercially important as Super Mario or Zelda, WarioWare is arguably the only game series to date in Nintendo's repertoire that gives those of us on the other side a glimpse into what's actually happening in the heads of those who create these wonderful experiences.
The first instalment in the series, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! – or WarioWare, Inc.: Minigame Mania as it is known in Europe – was originally released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003 and can only be described as a weird and wonderful trip into the collective mind of Nintendo. Here, gameplay concepts are presented in their rawest, purest form against a rich and vibrant backdrop of the company's history. It's intentionally simple in what it offers, but at the same time is also unashamedly honest as far as Nintendo's past is concerned, drawing on both its many successes and occasional failures to create a hugely entertaining experience.
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! is essentially a "microgame" compilation – basic and incredibly short games which are meant to be played in quick succession. In only a matter of seconds, it's up to you to work out what you have to do and then do it as quickly as you can. The games themselves rarely amount to anything more than pressing a button or moving an on-screen character or object, but the quickfire nature of every microgame (each one only lasting three seconds) makes them all the more challenging. Perhaps an unintended side effect of this format is that the short time limit places a great deal of emphasis on what is arguably the most important aspect of any video game: the gameplay and how you interact with it.
It's strange, because in spite of their simplicity it's hard not to develop an affection for many of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!'s challenges. Whether it's the panic-inducing nature of the task where you have to dodge a giant foot or the gross-out fun of pressing A to stick a finger up a virtual nose, there's plenty to raise a smile and coerce the odd chuckle out of you here and there.
In the single–player mode, microgames are grouped together into stages and the goal is to complete a certain number of these challenges in order to move on to the next stage. In each stage you have four lives, meaning that you can get away with making the odd mistake here and there. There's a good chance that most stages – especially further into the game where exceptional timing and precision are essential – will take you more than a first attempt, and thankfully WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! keeps things interesting by having the challenges appear in a random order each time. Not only that, but stages speed up as you progress through them, resulting in what feels like a visual and mental overload. There aren't a huge amount of different stages overall, and the microgames may well be short, but it's fair to say that you'll more than likely find yourself attempting some stages multiple times.
Many of the microgames are self-contained snippets from Nintendo's older titles, and in some instances even include references from before the company's existence as a video game manufacturer. The overall experience contains plenty of nods to old games and systems and will appeal especially to long-time, knowledgeable Nintendo fans, but that doesn't mean that newcomers won't find enjoyment in the wacky and bizarre presentation.
In fact, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! is a real visual treat as a result of its art style, and this has transferred across nicely to the Wii U. Each stage is themed around Wario or one of his kooky friends, and although this doesn't amount to very much in terms of storytelling, it nevertheless exudes a healthy dose of fun. For the most part the 16-bit look and feel works well on the home console – especially on the GamePad – although some of the low–detailed backgrounds look noticeably pixelated even with the system's smoothing feature enabled.
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! is a great game to play in short bursts, which is just as well, because the overall experience sadly isn't very long. In addition to the main single–player mode, there are a handful of multiplayer microgames in which you and a friend can compete. They work really well considering you have to share a controller, but like the rest of the game they're quite simple and as standalone experiences, they won't hold your attention for very long.
With WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, Nintendo has taken the endless creativity and superbly crafted gameplay for which it is renowned and merged them into a highly addictive and entertaining experience. At first glance, you could be forgiven for assuming that this is just another minigame compilation that lacks depth. However, while the microgames on offer may be simple affairs, the way in which they are used to form a frantic, fast–paced and above all challenging experience is something truly special. It isn't the longest game, and beyond the single-player mode there isn't much else to do, but it's stuffed full of magical, creative moments and an abundance of classic Nintendo nostalgia and charm.
It may have been more than a decade since WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! was first released on the Game Boy Advance but it's still a joy to play today, and a more than welcome addition to the Wii U's Virtual Console lineup.


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Growing up in Iowa, I was often judged solely on appearance. In stores, strangers would make karate-chop gestures at me, inspired by the popular TV series Kung Fu. When I played quarterback for my high school team, opponents were not above slamming me to the dirt and then piling on racial slurs.
These incidents embarrassed me and made me self-conscious. But they are trifling indignities compared with the discrimination that many people around the world face based solely on their sex, age, race or sexual orientation.
I raise this in light of the law Uganda enacted this week, which could imprison for life those convicted of homosexuality, and the increased violence against gays in Nigeria after an anti-gay law took effect there this year.
These countries are in the news now, but our focus should be much broader: 81 other countries -- in the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East -- have passed laws that make homosexuality illegal. In the United States, although Arizona's governor vetoed a bill this week that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay people, nine states have laws that limit how public school teachers can talk about homosexuality. More than 100 countries discriminate against women. And an even greater number of countries still have laws that discriminate against minority groups.
Institutionalized discrimination is bad for people and for societies. Widespread discrimination is also bad for economies. There is clear evidence that when societies enact laws that prevent productive people from fully participating in the workforce, economies suffer.
Discrimination against women is a case in point. A World Bank study last year of 143 economies found that 128 countries still have at least one legal difference in how men and women are treated, which constrains women's economic opportunities. These barriers include laws that make it impossible for a woman to independently obtain an ID card, own or use property, access credit or get a job.
In 15 economies, husbands can prevent their wives from working, although in the past two years Ivory Coast, Mali and Togo have reformed such restrictions.
The economic losses from such discriminatory laws and practices are costly. A study last year found that women's low economic participation created income losses of 27 percent in the Middle East and North Africa. The same study estimated that raising female employment and entrepreneurship to male levels could improve average income by 19 percent in South Asia and 14 percent in Latin America.
Discrimination based on other factors, such as age, race or sexual orientation, has similarly bad outcomes. Legislation restricting sexual rights, for instance, can hurt a country's competitiveness by discouraging multinational companies from investing or locating their activities in those nations.
These recent anti-gay laws, and many others that have been on the books for years, are acutely ironic. Just 15 years ago, a small band of gay men and women -- largely in the United States but also in Europe and parts of Africa -- fought with all their intellect, energy and creativity to expand access to treatment for all people with HIV/AIDS. In 2000, just 50,000 people in the developing world received AIDS treatment. Today, largely thanks to the work of these gay activists and others, more than 10 million people are being treated with AIDS drugs -- most of them African.
At the World Bank Group, we will have a full internal discussion over the coming months about discrimination more broadly and how it would affect our projects and our gay and lesbian staff members. My view is that the fight to eliminate all institutionalized discrimination is an urgent task.
After all, the bottom line is clear: Eliminating discrimination is not only the right thing to do; it's also critical to ensure that we have sustained, balanced and inclusive economic growth in all societies -- whether in developed or developing nations, the North or the South, America or Africa.
This op-ed piece first appeared in Washington Post on February 27, 2014.


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Rock: Mortgage key to gun control
Comedian Chris Rock is the latest celebrity to chime in on the topic of gun control, opening up about the topic during an appearance before the Television Critics Association.
"The gun lobby also says people need to be able to protect their property," said Rock, according to Deadline.com. "But every mass shooting is done by guys who live with their mother. So I believe you should need to have a mortgage to buy a gun. A mortgage is a real background check. Even if you go to jail for 30 years, you've still got to pay your f—king mortgage."
( PHOTOS: Politicians with guns)
It's not the first time Rock has weighed in on the topics of guns; a regular bit in his stand-up act focused on raising the price of bullets.
"Gun control? We need bullet control! I think every bullet should cost 5,000 dollars. Because if a bullet cost five thousand dollar, we wouldn't have any innocent bystander ."


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Tutorial: How to make a patchwork quilt
|The quilt featured in this tutorial is now for sale on Etsy here.
The final quilt will measure roughly: 30" x 36" (77cm x 92cm). All measurements include ¼ seam allowances.
Scraps of beautiful cotton fabric totalling roughly 1¾ yards for the quilt top
Quilt batting 34" x 40" (I used Hobbs Heirloom, but any good quality batting will be fine)
Cotton fabric for the back of the quilt 34" x 40"
Fabric for binding the quilt edges - approx ¾ yard.
Quilting pins and/or quilter's 505 spray (this acts as a spray adhesive)
Cotton thread
Lightweight masking tape
An iron and ironing board
Rotary cutter, self-healing cutting mat and omnigrid (these make things make cutting out all the fabric pieces easier and quicker, but are not at all essential)
Above shows the quilt design that you'll be creating. It's basically a series of squares sewn together, each made up of three rectangles. The interest comes by alternately placing each square so that the rectangles within in it run in different directions.
First select your fabric. I used about 12 different prints for my quilt top, but really you can use as many as you would like as long as you have at least 6 different fabric patterns. In my quilt I've used the same fabric for the central rectangle of every square as I like the sense of continuity this gives. If you'd like to do this too, then you'll need to cut 30 rectangles from this fabric.
Cut each rectangle so that it measures exactly 6½" x 2½". You will need to cut 90 of these rectangles in total.
Lay out three rectangles. Take two of the pieces and place them face-to-face (so that the printed sides are together) and sew together with a ¼" seam along the long edge. It's important to try to sew with an accurate ¼" seam as otherwise your squares won't line up properly later. (If like me, you've decided to use the same print at the centre of every square, you'll need to be mindful of this when joining your pieces).
The three rectangles should look like this from the reverse. It's essential that you press all the seam allowances to give a nice finish. I tend to press them to once side, keeping them all going in the same direction. Your finished square should look like this once pressed.
You now need to create 29 more squares, just like this one, until you have 30 in total. Lay them out on the floor as you go, playing around with the distribution of colour and pattern, so that you can create your squares mindful of what your quilt still needs to create a good balance.
Once you've pressed all the squares with an iron and decided on your layout it's time to begin sewing the rows of squares together. I tend to turn one row over at a time, labelling them with numbers to be sure they they end up being sewn in order correctly. It's frustrating to gather them up and then realise that you can't remember quite which square was meant to be going where.
Place two squares face to face, sewing along the raw edge with a ¼" seam where they are to be joined. Then join another square on, until you have completed the first row.
Be sure to press the seams again, once you have completed joining each row of squares.
Crisis Management: If your seams are drastically off, take a deep breath and go and have a cup of tea. Once strengthened by its restorative powers come back to your sewing with the conviction that your quilt will still look beautiful because you've no doubt chosen fabrics that you love. You can either remedy the seams by rechecking them, unpicking a little and making sure each really is a perfect ¼" or you can accept that this is a forgiving pattern and that in the melee of bright colours coming from all angles, your mistakes will very likely be swallowed up when you are not focusing on them. In which case you should just sew from edge to edge and ignore how the seams intersect one another visually.
Continue sewing one row to another row, being sure to press the seam in between each row.
You should now have a finished quilt top. Hurrah!
Now it's time to make a quilt sandwich. So often in sewing we make things with the fabrics facing one another to create a neat outer-edge with the seam hidden away inside. However, when creating a quilt we don't do this, as the raw edges will later be finished with binding, so pay close attention to which direction your fabric should be facing - it may go against your instincts as to what would normally be right. First take the piece of fabric that you had reserved for the back of the quilt, making sure it is well ironed. Place it on the floor with the fabric facing away from you. Tape the top and bottom to the floor using masking tape, smoothing out wrinkles as you go, before taping each side down. It's important to get this as smooth and wrinkle-free as possible, without pulling the fabric so tight that natural line of it is distorted.
Once you are happy with that, take some Quilter's 505 and spray it liberally over the fabric, before smoothing the quilt batting over the top of this.
The batting will tend to hold creases from where it was folded, but as long as you have smoothed them out, don't worry that the crease lines are still visible (as above). Batting does not need to be ironed. Finally spray this batting with 505 spray, and lay the quilt top, right side facing up toward you, centrally on top of the two layers. You'll notice that the quilt top is smaller than the bottom two layers - this is intentional as otherwise it is very hard to align the layers perfectly. Smooth out any wrinkles, until your quilt top sits perfectly flat.
Despite the fact that the quilt sandwich is held together with basting spray, I like the extra insurance policy that quilting pins offer to ensure nothing moves around later while you're quilting the sandwich. Quilting pins are a little different from safety pins - they have a curve in them so that when you stick them in they are naturally more inclined to resurface for fastening. Pinning when the quilt top is stuck down to a carpet is not always the easiest task (and I am no stranger to pinning the quilt top to the carpet itself), so if you have a non-carpeted surface you may find this much easier.
Always, always, start pinning from the centre and work your way outward, pinning in concentric circles. This means that any extra fabric is pushed to the outer of the quilt, rather than being allowed to bunch up toward the centre.
Once your quilt sandwich is finally pinned, unpeel the masking tape and free the quilt from the floor (a little at a time if you have been pinning it over a carpet...that way if you find you have accidentally pinned the quilt to the carpet at any point you may release it without damaging either party!).
How you quilt the layers together is very much down to personal preference and accomplished quilters often use a free-motion stitch that undulates across the quilt in loops and swirls. However, by far the simplist method is to 'stitch-in-the-ditch'. This simply means to machine across the quilt so that your stitches fall into the 'ditch' created where two fabrics have joined at a seam. In this case, I have quilted in vertical and horizontal lines across the entirety of the quilt following the outer edges of the rows and columns of squares. You may find that the quilt is hard to maneouvre and feels 'slippery'. This is normal and is another good reason for beginning with a smaller quilt, as this sensation is only increased when working with a larger quilt where quilting gloves can be a good investment to give you some extra grip on the fabric. Once the quilt is fully quilted, you can then square up the quilt, cutting off the unwanted bits of backing and batting that show around the edges.
To cut the binding strips start working diagonally at a 45 degree angle across the centre of your fabric creating strips that are 2½ " wide. You will need to produce an amount that when joined together will create approximately 4 yards of binding (so this will be several strips).
Once you have cut your strips, you may find that having cut them at a 45 degree angle, each one has a pointed end. Cut this off as shown above to produce a straight end. Next we must sew the strips of binding together, to create one long binding strip. To do this take two strips of binding. Place them face to face at right angles to one another, as shown below.
Pin in place and mark a diagonal line in the direction shown above between the top right hand corner of the upper binding strip and the bottom left hand corner of the binding strip that is partially covered. Keeping the fabrics placed as they are in this photograph, sew along this line. Once you have sewn along this line, cut the surplus fabric off quarter of an inch away from the line of stitching.
Continue to join the binding strips in this way, until you have approximately four yards of binding, pressed and ready to use. Now it's time to attach the binding to the quilt. Start at one corner and with right-sides-together (this means face-to-face), align the binding strip with the top edge of the quilt and then pin along the long edge of the quilt.
Now sew exactly 1/2" from the long edge, from one end of the quilt to the other. When you reach the end, carefully cut the excess binding off, so that the bottom of the binding aligns perfectly with the bottom of the quilt.
Now sew another binding strip on in the same way on the opposite side of the quilt. It should look like the photo below:
Once complete, it's time to put the two final binding strips on, but this time, first fold outwards the binding strips that are already attached to the quilt.
With the binding strips folded outwards attach the final two bindng strips as below, aligning the top edge of the binding to be joined with the top edge of the binding that is already joined. Cut off any excess binding when the strips are sewn on.
The binding should now look like this:
To finish the binding. Turn the quilt over, as pictured below:
Now fold the edge of the binding inwards, so that it meets the raw edge of the quilt.
Fold in once more, so that the folded edge just covers the line of stitching. Pin in place and repeat on the other side, so that a neat corner is created.
Now turn on the radio or curl up in front of the television and hand sew the reverse side of the binding in place. Use a whip stitch or a ladder stitch, going through only the upper layer of fabric, so that your stitches aren't seen on the front of the quilt.
You're now finished. If your quilt is made from 100% cotton, you should feel free to wash it at 40 degrees and tumble dry as frequently as you need to. The first time you wash it, you may find that the fabrics shrink very slightly, which can give you an attractive slightly dimpled, puckered look that so many heirloom quilts seem to have - this is generally considered to be a positive thing (although, if this really isn't your thing it can be avoided by laundering all your fabrics prior to cutting them).
I hope you might enjoy making a quilt from this tutorial - please do add any finished photos to the Flickr pool or email them to me - I'd really love to see.
And if you don't feel quite ready to make your own, but would still like a small quilt of your own, then you can find the one featured in this post for sale here on Etsy.
Florence x


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Surgical site infections represent a serious and growing problem for hospitals and their patients. Recent data indicates that in the U.S. alone, roughly one out of every 20 patients admitted to a hospital will end up with a hospital-acquired infection, with a total cost of about $10 billion per year to the healthcare industry.
Looking for a way to solve that problem, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics decided to see if using predictive analytics to drive real-time decision-making in operating rooms could help lower the rate.
"Many factors determine whether or not a patient gets a surgical site infection, including characteristics of the patient, their medical history and the illness they're being treated for," says Dr. John Cromwell, associate chief medical officer and director of surgical quality and safety at the organization.
One of the biggest factors is what takes place during the operation itself, including real-time variables such as blood loss, duration of surgery and the patient's core temperature during surgery. "Unfortunately, across the healthcare industry, the use of predictive modeling to address infections and rehospitalization has generally focused on administrative data in nonsurgical populations," Cromwell says.
UI Hospitals & Clinics went a step further by bringing predictive analytics directly into the surgical setting. It deployed an advanced enterprise analytics platform from Dell that made it possible to combine historical data with real-time data from the operating room.


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Cholera emergency declared in Sierra Leone
(AP) An outbreak of cholera in West Africa has infected more than 13,000 people and killed at least 258 people in Sierra Leone and Guinea, authorities said as they appealed for international assistance.
Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has declared the outbreak there an "emergency issue," and has set up a task force to prepare the budget that will be needed to stem the outbreak.
"All of this is the aftermath of the 11 years rebel war when we had a huge rural-to-urban migration and a huge population clustered in the urban area where adequate provision has not been made for water and sanitation. This is what we have been witnessing today," Minister of Health and Sanitation Zainab Hawa Bangura told The Associated Press.
She said that in the capital, Freetown, there have been about 100 deaths during the past month, especially in congested areas. That brings the total to at least 176 dead in Sierra Leone, while 82 deaths have been reported in neighboring Guinea.
"It is important to request help from the international community in order to spread the mobilization of resources," she said.
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine, contracted by eating or drinking contaminated food or liquids. It can cause acute diarrhea and vomiting and can kill within hours.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said there has been a spike in reported cholera cases since mid-July and the onset of the rainy season. Over the past five weeks, 6,000 cases alone have been confirmed in Sierra Leone and many other cases might not been officially reported.
"This current outbreak of cholera has the potential to be devastating and is proving very difficult to control," said Amanda McClelland, IFRC emergency health coordinator. "We are particularly concerned by the rising numbers in Freetown, which suffers from overcrowding, poor sanitation and lack of safe water access all factors which contribute to this deadly disease."
Parts of Mali and Niger have also been affected by the outbreak, the Red Cross said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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- 10:03, 10 December 2012 XVilka talk contribs uploaded a new version of File:Qemu coreboot coreinfo.zip (Using coreboot latest commit 1224626e3b6eef255b9faac60a18807acebc1f3d)


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Warren Buffett Delivers Advice For Payments Industry Innovators At The Innovation Project™ 2013 At H
Warren Buffett Delivers Advice For Payments Industry Innovators At The Innovation Project™ 2013 At Harvard
Buffett praises the power of human potential in America in conjunction with the breathtaking rate of innovation
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A video interview with Warren Buffett on the power of innovation has officially launched the start of the PYMNTS.com's The Innovation Project™ 2013, a two-day program to challenge the way the payments and its broader commerce ecosystem thinks, talks, delivers and ignites innovation. Buffett sat down with Business Wire CEO Cathy Baron Tamraz and offered his view on the current landscape of the payments industry and his optimism for the economic future in his keynote introduction to the program, held at Harvard University. Business Wire is owned by Berkshire Hathaway and a joint venture partner, along with Market Platform Dynamics (MPD) in PYMNTS.com.
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren E. Buffett and Business Wire CEO Cathy Baron Tamraz (Photo: Business Wire)
"The pace of change in terms of what customers are doing, how they pay us, how they come to us - it's breathtaking," said Buffett. "Any company that interacts with consumers and thinks that last week's technology and approach is going to work five years from now is probably making a mistake."
As the economy gradually improves, Buffett said he describes himself as a "realist," when looking towards the future. But, he said, it's the way of America to continually progress, improve, and innovate - a theme sure to endure throughout the event.
"Our system does work. It works because it unleashes human potential," said Buffett. "Never bet against what a human is going to accomplish if they're operating in the right soil. And we have the right soil."
Click here to view Buffett's interview in its entirety.
The Innovation Project continues through March 21, culminating with the Innovator Awards gala emceed by B.J. Novak of The Office.
About The Innovation Project
Over two days, 100 speakers and 500 senior members of the payments industry will change the way that the payments and its broader commerce ecosystem thinks, talks, delivers and ignites innovation. On March 20-21 the greatest minds in commerce and payments will assemble at Harvard University near Boston to kick the conversation about innovation up to an entirely different level at a program called The Innovation Project. Speakers and delegates are among the most senior executives and elite innovators from literally every established payments company worldwide, along with the CEOs of the most innovative startups in the space. One of its five modules includes pairing industry CEOs with external thought leaders such as Al Gore (former U.S. VP), SteveLevitt(Freakonomics), Eric Reis(The Lean Startup), RosieRios (U.S. Treasurer), RussellSimmons (RushCard), Raj Date (CFPB)and Josh Lerner(The Architecture of Innovation) to challenge the conventional wisdom around what it will take to get merchants and consumers to adopt new ways to shop and pay. Warren Buffett is the program's keynote. The Innovation Project also hosts the industry's 2013 PYMNTS.com Innovator Awards, given to 15 of the industry's top innovators over dinner, which this year will be emceed by B.J. Novak of The Office and will introduce delegates to 40 of the hottest "next generation" payments innovators.
About PYMNTS.com
PYMNTS.com is reinventing the way in which companies in payments share relevant information about the initiatives that shape the future of commerce and make news. This powerful B2B platform is the #1 site for the payments industry by traffic and the premier source of information about "what's next" in payments. C-suite and VP level executives read it daily for these insights, making the PYMNTS.com audience the most valuable in the industry. It provides an interactive platform for companies to demonstrate leadership, popularize products and, most importantly, capture the mindshare of global decision-makers. It's where the best minds and best content meet on the web.
About Market Platform Dynamics
Market Platform Dynamics (MPD) advises businesses based on rigorous research and analytical tools and frameworks, combined with practical experience in launching and running companies. The firm specializes in platforms—businesses that create value by serving as intermediaries between two or more different kinds of customers who need each other—as well as businesses that operate in platform-based ecosystems. Typical engagements are commissioned by C-Level executives who wish to accelerate the pace of innovation within these highly complex ecosystems, or who seek advice on strategic direction in the face of threats to their core businesses brought about by competitors, new technologies and new business models. MPD's intellectual underpinning is the economics of platform businesses—our principals are considered the field's pioneers in the commercialization and application of these concepts to business. MPD is based in the United States but the principals have extensive experience working in the European Union, Latin America, and Asia on payments related matters as well as other platform industry sectors. For more information please go to http://www.marketplatforms.com.
About Business Wire
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure. Investor relations, public relations, public policy and marketing professionals rely on Business Wire to accurately distribute market-moving news and multimedia, host online newsrooms and IR websites, build content marketing platforms and provide audience analysis that improves engagement with specified target markets. Founded in 1961, Business Wire is a trusted source for news organizations, journalists, investment professionals and regulatory authorities, delivering news directly into editorial systems and leading online news sources, while boosting SEO and social media engagement via its multi-patented simultaneous NX Network. Business Wire has more than 30 bureaus worldwide to securely meet the varying needs of communications professionals and news consumers.
Learn more at BusinessWire.com and the BusinessWired blog; follow updates on Twitter: @businesswire or on Facebook.
Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for Business Wire.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130320005885/en/
Leeann Cannon, 617-374-1334
Business Wire
Tom Becktold, Senior Vice President, Marketing
310-820-9473, ext. 115
KEYWORDS: United States North America Canada California Massachusetts Nebraska New York
The article Warren Buffett Delivers Advice For Payments Industry Innovators At The Innovation Project™ 2013 At Harvard originally appeared on Fool.com.
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Are the Spatone sachets recyclable?
Unfortunately, our sachets are not currently recyclable, but without them we wouldn't be able to put the product on the market. The unique composition of Spatone® presents us with a number of challenges in terms of compatibility with packaging materials.
In order to meet the legislative requirements for placing such products on the market, we must ensure that it is packed in materials that keep the product fresh and within specification throughout its shelf life.
Spatone® is naturally occurring and iron-rich, so as soon as it is exposed to the air (oxygen) it starts to oxidise. This is why we package Spatone® in one daily sachet, so that it is always 'fresh' and provides a source of iron for your daily needs. To date, a recyclable and convenient to use sachet format does not exist that has this protection from air.
As a naturally inspired company, we are doing our best to reduce waste in Spatone® packaging, as well as in our other products.
What is Spatone?
Spatone® is a naturally sourced iron-rich water from Snowdonia, Wales.
Why take an iron supplement?
Not everyone needs to take an iron supplement however low iron levels are common, and not all people are aware their diet may be deficient in iron.
How to take an iron supplement?
Iron supplements come in many forms. Spatone® comes in easy to use sachets that you can either add to your favourite drink or take straight from the sachet.
How much iron is in the human body?
A healthy adult body contains 4-5mg of iron and uses/loses about 1-2mg per day, so it constantly needs topping up.
What type of iron is in Spatone?
Spatone® contains ferrous iron (Fe 2+).
What is the function of iron in the body?
The role of iron in our bodies is a complex one. Iron is an essential element for blood production and supports many other bodily functions.
Where is iron stored in the body?
Most of your body's iron is in the haemoglobin of your red blood cells, which carry oxygen to your body.
How to increase iron in the body?
A balanced diet is one of the main keys to staying healthy and getting your daily allowance of iron.
When is the best time to take an iron supplement?
Spatone® can be taken at any time of the day however It's ideally taken on an empty stomach in the morning
How do I take Spatone?
Spatone® can be taken straight from the sachet, or with juice high in Vitamin C. We recommend a single sachet in the morning on an empty stomach, ideally 30 -45 mins before breakfast.
What is different about Spatone Apple?
We developed Spatone® Apple with a delicious apple juice concentrate and added vitamin C, which helps with the absorption of iron, to make Spatone perfect for on-the-go.
What is Immunity?
'Immunity' is your body's ability to recognise germs to prevent them from causing illness. The immune system's job is to help identify and eliminate germs that enter the body before they can cause disease or damage.
Is Spatone good for immunity?
Yes, Iron contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
How to boost Immunity?
Diet is so important when trying to maintain a healthy strong immune system, focus on foods rich in vitamin C and antioxidants.
Is Spatone suitable for vegetarians?
Both Spatone® Original and Spatone® Apple are suitable for vegetarians and vegans and are registered with the UK Vegetarian Society.
Is Spatone suitable for diabetics?
Spatone® Original does not contain any carbohydrates or sugar. However, Spatone® Apple contains an apple juice concentrate which has a small amount of carbohydrate 9.8g of which 2.6g are sugars per sachet.
Is Spatone suitable for children?
Spatone® is suitable for children over the age of 2, but please consult your health care practitioner before giving Spatone® liquid iron to children.
Is Spatone gluten free?
Spatone® does not contain any ingredients that contain gluten.
Can I take Spatone straight from the sachet?
Spatone® sachets are designed to be easy to take on the go, therefore you can enjoy straight from the sachet.
Can I take Spatone on an empty stomach?
Yes, we recommend you take Spatone® iron-rich water on an empty stomach ie. first thing in the morning, 30 -45 mins before breakfast.
Can I add Spatone to other drinks?
You can add Spatone® to any cold beverage of your choice. We recommend that you choose a drink high in Vitamin C, as it helps to increase iron absorption.
Can I take too much Spatone?
You should always follow the directions of use. They are on the back of both the sachet and Spatone® box.
Can I take Spatone with medicine?
If you are on any medication or have a pre-existing condition, you should consult your doctor or pharmacist before taking any food supplements.
Can I take a multivitamin with Spatone?
Many multivitamins contain iron, so you should check the labeling before using the product.
Why do some people find taking iron supplements upsets their stomach or gives them constipation?
As iron is a difficult mineral for the human body to absorb, iron supplements normally contain more iron than you need. The excess unabsorbed iron can irritate your stomach and cause constipation.
Will Spatone stain my teeth?
Provided your teeth are cleaned regularly you shouldn't need to worry about stains from Spatone® liquid iron supplements.