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Boyne, John Noah Barleywater Runs Away, 222 p. David Fickling Books, 2010. $16.99 Language: G (0 swears, 0 'f') Violence: G, Mature Content: G. Noah Barleywater has run away from home. The further he goes the stranger things get; from an apple tree that won't let him pick its fruit, to a newspaper in the next town that already knows what he did! He decides to stop and stay for a while at a magical toy shop with a strange old man and the most amazing handmade wooden puppets. Noah's story unfolds as he hears about the old man's life (which, by the way, is strangely familiar to this reader - - no spoilers here) and he learns some very valuable lessons about living his own. Although Noah is only 8, the appeal of this book is for a bit older reader, at least middle school because the most enjoyment is figuring out who the old man might be (or have been) and without the background knowledge to help with that, it's just a magical story. MS, HS - ADVISABLE. Lisa, Reading Teacher
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Dinosaur vs The Library by Bob Shea - ESSENTIAL
Shea, Bob Dinosaur vs The Library. Disney, 2011. $16. PICTURE BOOK.
Dinosaur is on his way to the library, and as he travels, he wins every roaring contest he creates. When he gets to the library, however, he must use his inside roar. Can he actually be quiet through the entire story time???
Make way for a new story time favorite. Your library may not be silent, but children will definitely have fun acting out with Dinosaur and then displaying their good manners.
Pre-K, EL (K-3) – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
Dinosaur is on his way to the library, and as he travels, he wins every roaring contest he creates. When he gets to the library, however, he must use his inside roar. Can he actually be quiet through the entire story time???
Make way for a new story time favorite. Your library may not be silent, but children will definitely have fun acting out with Dinosaur and then displaying their good manners.
Pre-K, EL (K-3) – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Bradley - ESSENTIAL
Bradley, Kimberly Jefferson's Sons, 360 pgs. The Penguin Group, 2011. $17.99. Language: G (no swears); Mature Content G; Violence G
Thomas Jefferson had seven children by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, who was two years younger than his oldest child. Even though Jefferson's wife had died, a romantic slaveholder/slave relationship was considered unacceptable. These children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings were strictly forbidden to acknowledge Jefferson as their father.
Throughout the course of this book, the children struggle with the concept that their father penned the Declaration of Independence which states: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" yet still held 130 slaves.
I found myself empathetic to the plight of these children who were too black to white, and too white to be black. EL/MS –ESSENTIAL. Reviewer: Rebekkah Ward
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle - ADVISABLE
Carle, Eric The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse Philomel Books, 2011. $17.99 PICTURE BOOK Content-G. Beautiful paintings of animals in different colors than they are normally painted; for example, a blue horse, a yellow cow, a polka dotted donkey. This book conveys the freedom and creativity that an artist can enjoy. There are around four to five words per page, so it concentrates on the pictures. This could be used in the art classroom, to show how great artists sometimes go against the norm. I wish it was also available in a board book. EL, MS, HS -ADVISABLE. Reviewer, C. Peterson.
The Game of Triumphs by Laura Powell - ADVISABLE
Powell, Laura The Game of Triumphs, 265pgs. Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. $16.99. Language: PG (6 swears, 0 "F"); Mature Content- PG-13; Violence: PG-13
15-year-old Cat is a loner and prefers it that way. She is able to negotiate the streets of London in a way that allows her to observe, but remain invisible. This holds true until the day she finds herself unwittingly pulled into a complex game that will lead her into another reality unlike anything she knows. As she discovers more about the game she learns more about her past and realizes that what she thought was real may in fact be a sham. Playing Tarot has never had such fantastic rewards or dire consequences. Powell wastes no time in starting the action of this book. From the first page the reader is immediately draw into the "game" alongside Cat. The book is well written with teenage characters that are portrayed as intelligent and free of the usual stereotypes that plague most young adult literature. My only hesitation with this book is the complexity of the tarot game the characters are involved in. Many times I had to reread passages and use the reference pages to attempt to understand how the game worked and what this meant to the plot and characters.
HS—ADVISABLE. AEB, Social Studies Teacher
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Lost! A Dog Called Bear by Wendy Orr- ADVISABLE
Orr, Wendy. LOST! A Dog Called Bear, 112 pgs. Henry Holt and Co., 2011. $15.99. Inside cover: Logan is moving from the farm to the city. He'll miss all the things he's leaving behind, but at least he has Bear. He loves Bear more than anything else in the world- because Bear is his dog. Hannah lives in the city. What she wants more than anything else in the world, is a dog of her own. At the Rainbow Street Shelter, Logan and Hannah find a talking parrot, an old black Labrador, a three-legged goat, a puppy that looks like a peanut- and a surprise that just might be the best thing in the world." I liked this book because the illustrations were good. The story was interesting and exciting. I liked how the book ended. EL. ADIVSABLE. Student Reviewer: JL- age 9.
Jumping off Swings by Jo Knowles - PUBLIC
Knowles, Jo Jumping off Swings, 230 p. Candlewick, 2009, 2011. Content: R. One of my favorite books ever is now available in paperback. Here is what I wrote about it in my original post:
For all of its harsh language, there is something very beautiful about this book. Knowles shows so many sides of complicated teen thoughts on sex and love and blends them skillfully. We see the girl who thinks that sex will bring her love, the callous boys who see girls as trophies, but we also see the sensitive boy who realizes that he shouldn't have treated a girl that way. There is nothing idyllic about the outcome of this book, no fairy tale ending. But it is a very honest look at the intricate dance of human emotions. I wish I could say yes, but I will have to leave this to public libraries or for brave parents. I had my daughter read it right away, but there is no way I could keep this in my school library without know that I would get challenged right away. PUBLIC. Cindy, Library-Teacher.
I still love this book - I share it with lots of young people; my middle school is just too young for the presentation of the material.
The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot by Margaret McNamara - OPTIONAL
McNamara, Margaret The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot Illustrated by Mark Fearing. Schwartz and Wade Books (Random), 2011. $16.99. PICTURE BOOK. Content-G. In the same story format as The Three Little Pigs, three little aliens move away from home and the first two pick homes that are fun, while the last alien picks a house that is secure. When the robot comes to destroy the aliens, they find their homes destroyed and end up at the safe alien's house. Great illustrations, but one of the aliens' name is "Nklxwcyz" which is awful when you are trying to read a book to a child, which is the age group this book is geared towards. EL (K-3)-OPTIONAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson.
Monday, November 28, 2011
The Flint Heart by Katherine Patterson - ADVISABLE
Paterson, Katherine and John, The Flint Heart, 288 pgs. Candlewick Press, 2011. $19.99. Language-G (0 swears, 0 "f"), Sexual Content-G; Violence-G; This book is a fun book of fairies and mystical creatures with a goal of keeping people pure and good. The characters are up against an evil flint heart that, when in someone's possession, it gives them tremendous confidence and success with the dramatic side effect of being bad. The authors take you on a trip through the many hands the flint heart happens upon. The reading is fast and fun for elementary students. Plus, the illustrations are gorgeous. I was entertained the entire book, but mostly because my son of eight-years was enjoying it so much. I don't think this would have been the case for me personally or if I was in High School. EL (K-3) and EL (upper elementary) - Advisable. Reviewer: BMN
No More Hitting for Little Hamster! by Bernette Ford - OPTIONAL
Ford, Bernette No More Hitting for Little Hamster! Illustrated by Sam Williams. Boxer Books (Sterling), 2011. $14.95 PICTURE BOOK Content-G. Little Hamster has a short temper and whenever he wants something while playing with his friends he takes it, or he hits the friend that won't give it to him. Because he has a bad reputation, nobody wants to play with him, until Bunny comes along and tells Hamster that he will play with him if he will not hit. Hamster learns that playing nice makes it so others will play with you. Good lesson for kids, but the pictures are not very engaging. PRE-K-OPTIONAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson.
The Downside Of Being Up by Alan Lawrence Sitomer - PUBLIC
Sitomer, Alan Lawrence The Downside Of Being Up, 213 pgs. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2011. $ 16.99. Language-R (3 swears, 0 "f" – LOTS of innuendo), Sexual Content-R (lots of innuendos to boy puberty challenges); Violence-G; This book is about an eighth grader who is experiencing puberty and love and life. His goal is to make it through middle school with the girl of his dreams by his side. However, he will have some of life's unexpected fumbles thrown his way first. This book is super funny and a very easy read. In my opinion it doesn't have a place in the normal classroom and is more for adult audiences. I think this book would be great in a public library, because it repeatedly talks of boy puberty inappropriately. PUBLIC LIBRARY ONLY. Reviewer: BMN
Estie the Mensch by Jane Kohuth - ADVISABLE
Kohuth, Jane Estie the Mensch Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. Random House, 2011. $16.99. PICTURE BOOK Content-G. Estie is a little girl that likes to act like different animals, which can cause some embarrassing social situations for her parents and grandmother. Her adult family members ask her to "Act like a Mensch" which means to act like a person. But it takes an outing with her grandma to the zoo with a friend for Estie to learn when it is okay to play and act like an animal and when it's important to act like a person. Cute illustrations and good moral. Pre-K and El (K-3) ADVISABLE. Reviewer, C. Peterson.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
E-Mergency! by Tom Lichetnheld-OPTIONAL
Lichtenheld, Tom. Fields-Meye, Ezra. E-Mergency! 40 pgs. Chronicle Books, 2011. $16.99. Inside cover: "What Happens when the most important letter in the alphabet gets a big owie? One of the other letters has to take her place while she recuperates, but who? Z is too sleepy. And Y asks too many questions. Is O well-rounded enough to handle the job? It's a real E-MERGENCY!" Kids will love it when the reader attempts to say the words with E missing from the sentences. "I'm roady to roam!" "I'm oxcitod" We laughed in our attempt. This book could be used in primary grades introducing or reinforcing the alphabet. Pre-K. EL (K-3). OPTIONAL. Reviewer: SL
Bun Bun Button by Patricia Polacco-OPTIONAL
Polacco, Patricia. Bun Bun Button., 40 pgs. Putnam Juvenile, 2011. $17.99. Inside cover: "Paige loves cuddling with Gramma and all of Gramma's pets in the Old Blue Chair. But cuddling there is even more wonderful when Gramma makes her Bun Bun Button, an adorable stuffed bunny with a button nose. Then, on an outside day, a balloon steals Bun Bun Button and floats her away. Paige misses her dear little friend! She can only hope that luck-or love- will bring Bun Bun Button home again." The illustrations are bright, bold and inviting. We weren't sure about all the pets. A squirrel living in her gramma's house? That was strange. The story has a sweet, but unrealistic ending. Pre-K. EL (K-3). OPTIONAL. Reviewer: SL
A New Year's Reunion by Zhu Cheng-Liang-OPTIONAL
Cheng-Liang, Zhu. Li-Qiong, Yu. A New Year's Reunion, 40 pgs. Candlewick Press, 2011. $15.99. Inside cover: "Maomao's father works far away and comes home only at Chinese New Year. When Papa arrives, Maomao hardly recognizes him at first. But before long, the family is making sticky rice balls, hearing firecrackers, and watching the dragon dance in the street. Maomao loves doing ordinary things with Papa- getting a haircut, fixing things around the house, and sleeping tucked between her parents. But all too soon it is time for Papa to go away again." This book explores the different celebrations surrounding Chinese New Year and is informative in that way. We were sad while reading this story knowing that Maomao's father would be leaving soon. I am sure this is true of some families, but it wasn't a very uplifting story. This book could be used in a unit celebrating Chinese New Year. Pre-K. EL (K-3). OPTIONAL. Reviewer: SL.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern - OPTIONAL
Halpern, Julie Don't Stop Now, 232 pages. Feiwel and Friends, 2011.$16.99 Language PG-13 (31 swears, no "F"); Mature content PG-13; Violence G. Lil and Josh have been best friends since they were freshman in high school, but now that it's the summer after graduation they don't know how their relationship is going to change with Lil preparing to go to college and Josh dreaming up his latest plan for a musical band. When their friend Penny stages her own kidnapping, Lil and Josh decide to go on a road trip to find Penny, and to have one last adventure before responsibility kicks in. This book has likable characters, fun dialogue and a realistic ending, but it is not a must read. HS-OPTIONAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson, teacher.
This Child, Every Child by David J. Smith - OPTIONAL
Smith, David J. This Child, Every Child, illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong. Kids Can Press, 2011. $19. Following in the footsteps of "If the World was a Village", Mr. Smith tries to present a overview of the lives of children around the world. With each subject he gives an overview, and then he gives a more detailed look into the particulars of one child. The book also reviews the Rights of Children, a document that was created by UNICEF at the United Nations. This particulare book is a little unwieldy – I wish the format were more like "We Are All Born Free", which goes over the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the U.N. EL – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sass and Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler - ESSENTIAL
Ziegler, Jennifer Sass and Serendipity, pgs. 369. Delacourte Press, an imprint of Random House, Inc., 2011. $15.99. PG – Language (20-25 soft-core swears); Mature Content: PG-13 (party with drinking and making-out); Violence: G.
This is a delightful book that follows, more or less, Jane Austin's "Sense and Sensibility." Set in the present, Gabby is the sensible, serious "Elinor." She is a 17year old senior and older sister to 15year old Daphne, the "Marianne" character. Gabby works hard to get good grades and help support their family. Daphne, ever the cheerleader, goes out to buy a Prom dress, spending money the family doesn't have, before she even has a date. Their mother, Liz, is recently divorced and not doing well financially or emotionally. They are in dire circumstances and being threatened with near homelessness when an unexpected turn of good luck saves them. Who are the Edward Ferrars, John Willowby and Colonel Brandon characters? You'll have to read the book to find out! I really liked reading this book. The characters were believable. It was a breath of fresh air to have main characters that weren't interested in drugs, alcohol, or premarital sex… or vampires. There were enough unexpected twists and turns in the story to keep me wanting more. The flaws in this book were: the plotline didn't follow "Sense and Sensibility" as much as hoped for; the sisters didn't come together to overcome adversity as much as expected. MS / HS – ESSENTIAL. Mary Jane Burton
Aliens Love Panta Claus by Claire Freedman - NOT RECOMMENDED
Freedman, Claire Aliens Love Panta Claus Illustrated by Ben Cort. Aladdin, 2011. $16.99 PICTURE BOOK Content-G. This book is obviously part of a series of some sort. There is no set up for the characters and their motivation. Aliens who are obsessed with underwear decide to help Santa Claus get ready for Christmas by wrapping underwear in with the kids' toys. When Santa's sleigh breaks they let him use their spacecraft. Also, when they go into the homes with Santa they exchange children's stockings for underwear. The illustrations are bright and colorful, it's too bad they are wasted on this weird, creepy story about underwear. Pre-K and EL (K-3) NO. Reviewer, C. Peterson.
The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson -OPTIONAL
An interesting piece of historical fiction, this book starts in the 1920's, when over fifty Japanese dolls, called Ambassadors of Friendship, were sent to the United States. This is the story of one of those dolls –Miss Kanagawa, as she encounters children through the decades, and finds she can communicate with some of them. Each section of the book features the dolls encounter a new child, each in a different time period, such as the depression, and offering her advice.
I realize the doll is used as a thread to tie together the unique stories of each child. However, I must say that it just plain creeped me out - imaging this sentient doll trapped in a box for long periods of time, just waiting (even with good intentions) to influence a susceptible child. That being said, the individual stories of the children in the various time periods were wonderful. They were well written, engaging, and featured just enough 'history' to set the tone without overriding the voice of the character. This might be worth purchasing just for that component, especially if you want to represent elementary age children during the early to mid 1900's.
ELEMENTARY –OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie MLS graduate.
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos - ADVISABLE
Gantos, Jack Dead End in Norvelt, 341 pgs. D&M Publishers, Inc., 2011. $15.99 Language – (4 Swears, 0"f"), Sexual Content – G; Violence – G. Jack Gantos' plans for summer vacation are shot down when he is grounded for the whole summer. Locked in his room, he escapes by reading old history books his mother gave him. He is volunteered by his mother to help an elderly neighbor, Ms. Volker. He becomes her typist as she dictates obituaries of the original Norvelt residents. Jack eventually looks forward to helping Ms. Volker each day, it gets him out of his room and he gets to see his best friend Bunny. In the end, this book was really about a town and the stories it had to tell. This book is actually very interesting, especially for the age it is intended for. It had a slow beginning. I didn't care for Jacks parents at first; they both were so dysfunctional. I was half way through the book when it suddenly dawned on me that what I was reading really did happen. The author did a good job in developing the relationships in the book especially the relationship between Jack and Ms. Volker. This book would be great read for elementary and middle school age children. EL, MS – ADVISABLE. Reviewer: Elaine Miller
Carl and the Kitten by Alexandra Day - ADVISABLE
Day, Alexandra. Carl and the Kitten. Square Fish (MacMillan's Children Publishing Group), 2011. $15.99. PICTURE BOOK. This is a book in the My Readers early reader book series. My review is based on my experience as a father of a five-year-old boy just learning to read. In the book, Carl the dog must save a kitten that is stuck in a tree. I like this book. It is a good story. Some of the early reader books contain names that kids don't recognize, but they are in the book because a child might be able to sound them out. I am of the opinion that it's better if the child recognizes the name than be able to sound it out because pulling from prior knowledge is more important than being able to sound out easily but still be confused about what the word is saying. Carl in this book is a great choice of name. I know that repetition is good, but sometimes early reader books are too repetitive; in fact, my son sometimes says, "It just said that," because it is too repetitive. This book uses repetition, but does it in a creative and less obvious way. This is a good choice for a LEVEL 1 early reader. Pre-K, EL(K-3) - ADVISABLE. Brent Smith, Reading Teacher
The Scar by Charlotte Moundlic - ADVISABLE
Moundlic, Charlotte. The Scar, illustrated by Olivier Tallec. Candlewick Press, 2011. $14.99. PICTURE BOOK.
The narrator is a young boy and his mother dies on the first line of the book. He has to deal with the grief and so does his father. When Grandma comes (his mom's mom), he sees that she is dealing with the grief. But going on does get a little easier as the book progresses.
This is not a happy book. It was originally written in French in 2009 and it has been translated into English this year. I can see why it was translated, but it is not the easiest book to get through. I am embarrassed to say that my first thought was that this is too sad for children to read or have read to them. But then, naturally, my next thought was that there are children everyday who have to do more than read this book; they have to live the same grief. I can see that this is a simple book that could offer some help to someone going through the death of a parent, but I am not of the opinion that everyone should read this just to let them know that death is real. This is a good book to have on hand if the need arises.
Pre-K, EL(K-3), EL, MS, HS - ADVISABLE. Brent Smith, Reading Teacher
The narrator is a young boy and his mother dies on the first line of the book. He has to deal with the grief and so does his father. When Grandma comes (his mom's mom), he sees that she is dealing with the grief. But going on does get a little easier as the book progresses.
This is not a happy book. It was originally written in French in 2009 and it has been translated into English this year. I can see why it was translated, but it is not the easiest book to get through. I am embarrassed to say that my first thought was that this is too sad for children to read or have read to them. But then, naturally, my next thought was that there are children everyday who have to do more than read this book; they have to live the same grief. I can see that this is a simple book that could offer some help to someone going through the death of a parent, but I am not of the opinion that everyone should read this just to let them know that death is real. This is a good book to have on hand if the need arises.
Pre-K, EL(K-3), EL, MS, HS - ADVISABLE. Brent Smith, Reading Teacher
Bad Kitty Meets the Baby by Nick Bruel - ESSENTIAL
Bruel, Nick. Bad Kitty Meets the Baby. Roaring Brook Press, 2011 143 pgs. $13.99
Kitty's owners bring home a new surprise-a baby. Kitty isn't thrilled about the new addition, but her cat friends run the baby through a Kitty Olympics and prove that the baby is more kitty than human. Eventually Kitty learns to adapt to the change. This series as a whole is funny with great pictures.
EL (K-3), EL - ESSENTIAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson
Kitty's owners bring home a new surprise-a baby. Kitty isn't thrilled about the new addition, but her cat friends run the baby through a Kitty Olympics and prove that the baby is more kitty than human. Eventually Kitty learns to adapt to the change. This series as a whole is funny with great pictures.
EL (K-3), EL - ESSENTIAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson
The Carpenter's Gift by David Rubel - ADVISABLE
Rubel, David The Carpenter's Gift: A Christmas tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree, illustrated by Jim LaMarche. Andom House, 2011. $18. PICTURE BOOK. Henry and his father are headed to New York in order to make a little bit of money selling Christmas trees from their woods to the City folk. They give the last of their trees to the workmen building the new Rockefeller Center, who in turn do Henry's family a great service. from the pinecone that Henry plants that day, comes a huge tree that many decades later becomes a tree for New York's famous celebration. While the story itself is not true, it is a beautiful idea – and since 2007, the old tree from each year is milled into lumber that is given to Habitat for Humanity. It is a wonderful Christmas story to read and presents a great opportunity to talk about the Great Depression and about Habitat for Humanity. EL – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher
Death Sentence by Alexander Gordon Smith - ADVISABLE
Smith, Alexander Gordon Death Sentence: Escape From Furnace 3, 261 pgs. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2009. $16.00. Language: PG13 (15 swears); Mature Content- PG13; Violence: PG13; This is the third book of the Escape From Furnace series and Alex has become one of the monsters he's been so afraid of. While being programmed to crave power and hurt others, Alex fights to remember his name and who his friends are. He experiences a rush of power and control, but then feels that it leaves a stain behind, like the slime trail that follows a slug. This book is full of action scenes and conflicts both internal and external. Although there is some violence, this book feels more hopeful than the others in the series. It is still a horror book, however, and readers need to expect some gore and tense moments. MS HS-ADVISABLE. Reviewer: M. Mathews School Librarian
The Art Collector by Jan Wahl - OPTIONAL
Wahl, Jan. The Art Collector, illustrated by Rosalinde Bonnet. Charlesbridge, 2011. $15.95. PICTURE BOOK. When Oscar visited Great-Granny (who only looks like a great-grandma because she has glasses dangling on a necklace and her hair is gray--not even white; otherwise she looks as wrinkle free and young as I imagine Oscar's mom would look), she drew him a picture of a chicken. Oscar's parents helped him frame the picture, and that was the beginning of his art collection. He collected and collected and collected some more. Well, I didn't love this book. I didn't hate it, but like so many picture books, it seemed to be trying too hard to be artistic and clever. I can't imagine someone would be inspired to collect art by reading this book. Pre-K, EL(K-3) - OPTIONAL. Brent Smith, Reading Teacher
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Follow the Force (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) by Rob Valois- ADVISABLE
Valois, Rob. Follow the Force (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), 32 pgs. Grosset and Dunlap, 2011. $3.99. Outside cover: "Learn the secrets of the Force from Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Padawan Ahsoka Tano as they take you along on their most epic adventure." This book covered the basics of the Force. It was a great informational book. It was easy to read and taught me what I needed to know about the Force. I enjoyed reading it. EL (K-3) EL. ADVISABLE. Student Reviewer: ML- age 12.
Attack of the Vampire Weenies by David Lubar- ADVISABLE
Lubar, David. Attack of the Vampire Weenies, 224 pgs. Starscape, 2011. $15.99. Outside cover: "A boy steals a ticket to an amusement park and gets the roller-coaster ride of a lifetime- literally. The first day of middle school turns into a free-for-all when the gym teacher offers the class a get-out-of-gym-free card. Sick of his sister's vampire wanna-be friends, a kid decides to teach them a lesson at their next party. But the tables are turned when some surprise guests show up. Watch out for the vampire weenies!" I liked this book. This book is made up of many different unique stories in one book. The stories weren't too scary, but enough to give some people the chills. EL. ADVISABLE. Student Reviewer: ML- age 12.
My Life as a Stuntboy by Janet Tashjian- ESSENTIAL
Tashjian, Janet. Tashjian, Jake. My Life as a Stuntboy, 272 pgs. Henry Holt and Co., 2011. $13.99. A boy named Derek gets to be a stunt boy in a movie. He has to wear a wig and he is worried about what his friends will think. Life gets bad when his friend makes a video of him. I loved this book! I liked that it had a lot of real life brands (like Disney Channel). I liked that he had a monkey for a pet. It was really funny. The illustrations were stick figures and fun to look at. I would really like the author to write another book in this series! EL. ESSENTIAL. Student Reviewer: JL- age 9.
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Born on April 9, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey, Paul Robeson was the youngest of five children. His father was a runaway slave who went on to graduate from Lincoln University, and his mother came from an abolitionist Quaker family. Robeson's family knew both hardship and the determination to rise above it. His own life was no less challenging.
In 1915, Paul Robeson won a four-year academic scholarship to Rutgers University. Despite violence and racism from teammates, he won 15 varsity letters in sports (baseball, basketball, track) and was twice named to the All-American Football Team. He received the Phi Beta Kappa key in his junior year, belonged to the Cap & Skull Honor Society, and graduated as Valedictorian. However, it wasn't until 1995, 19 years after his death, that Paul Robeson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
At Columbia Law School (1919-1923), Robeson met and married Eslanda Cordoza Goode, who was to become the first Black woman to head a pathology laboratory. He took a job with a law firm, but left when a white secretary refused to take dictation from him. He left the practice of law to use his artistic talents in theater and music to promote African and African-American history and culture.
In London, Robeson earned international acclaim for his lead role in Othello, for which he won the Donaldson Award for Best Acting Performance (1944), and performed in Eugene O'Neill's Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings. He is known for changing the lines of the Showboat song "Old Man River" from the meek "...I'm tired of livin' and 'feared of dyin'....," to a declaration of resistance, "... I must keep fightin' until I'm dying....". His 11 films included Body and Soul (1924), Jericho (1937), and Proud Valley (1939). Robeson's travels taught him that racism was not as virulent in Europe as in the U.S. At home, it was difficult to find restaurants that would serve him, theaters in New York would only seat Blacks in the upper balconies, and his performances were often surrounded with threats or outright harassment. In London, on the other hand, Robeson's opening night performance of Emperor Jones brought the audience to its feet with cheers for twelve encores.
Paul Robeson used his deep baritone voice to promote Black spirituals, to share the cultures of other countries, and to benefit the labor and social movements of his time. He sang for peace and justice in 25 languages throughout the U.S., Europe, the Soviet Union, and Africa. Robeson became known as a citizen of the world, equally comfortable with the people of Moscow, Nairobi, and Harlem. Among his friends were future African leader Jomo Kenyatta, India's Nehru, historian Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, anarchist Emma Goldman, and writers James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway. In 1933, Robeson donated the proceeds of All God's Chillun to Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler's Germany. At a 1937 rally for the anti-fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War, he declared, "The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative." In New York in 1939, he premiered in Earl Robinson's Ballad for Americans, a cantata celebrating the multi-ethnic, multi-racial face of America. It was greeted with the largest audience response since Orson Welles' famous "War of the Worlds."
During the 1940s, Robeson continued to perform and to speak out against racism, in support of labor, and for peace. He was a champion of working people and organized labor. He spoke and performed at strike rallies, conferences, and labor festivals worldwide. As a passionate believer in international cooperation, Robeson protested the growing Cold War and worked tirelessly for friendship and respect between the U.S. and the USSR. In 1945, he headed an organization that challenged President Truman to support an anti-lynching law. In the late 1940s, when dissent was scarcely tolerated in the U.S., Robeson openly questioned why African Americans should fight in the army of a government that tolerated racism. Because of his outspokenness, he was accused by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of being a Communist. Robeson saw this as an attack on the democratic rights of everyone who worked for international friendship and for equality. The accusation nearly ended his career. Eighty of his concerts were canceled, and in 1949 two interracial outdoor concerts in Peekskill, N.Y. were attacked by racist mobs while state police stood by. Robeson responded, "I'm going to sing wherever the people want me to sing...and I won't be frightened by crosses burning in Peekskill or anywhere else."
In 1950, the U.S. revoked Robeson's passport, leading to an eight-year battle to resecure it and to travel again. During those years, Robeson studied Chinese, met with Albert Einstein to discuss the prospects for world peace, published his autobiography, Here I Stand, and sang at Carnegie Hall. Two major labor-related events took place during this time. In 1952 and 1953, he held two concerts at Peace Arch Park on the U.S.-Canadian border, singing to 30-40,000 people in both countries. In 1957, he made a transatlantic radiophone broadcast from New York to coal miners in Wales. In 1960, Robeson made his last concert tour to New Zealand and Australia. In ill health, Paul Robeson retired from public life in 1963. He died on January 23, 1976, at age 77, in Philadelphia.


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You know those woven reusable shopping bags we all drag along to the grocery store with us? Well, now one of those has been linked to a norovirus outbreak at a girls' soccer tournament.
Top image: pond5/Awrangler
In 2010, a group of 17 young Oregonian women, aged between 13-14, and four adult chaperones, went to Washington for a soccer tournament, during which eight of them got sick with gastroenteritis — and this small case shows just how incredibly well norovirus can spread. By analyzing the shared habits of this small group, the researchers were able to pin the disease on one thing: a shopping bag that carried the virus.
What happened was that the group were staying together, and when one teenager started feeling sick, she changed rooms and moved in with a chaperone — but before any really bad symptoms manifested. What happened soon thereafter is familiar to anyone who has had food poisoning: the eternally wonderful combination of vomiting and diarrhea. Soon after this happened, her and the chaperone left the tournament — but then more people started getting sick. How did the virus spread, if she was pulled away from her teammates before the illness could be transmitted?
It turns out that in the bathroom of the chaperone was a grocery bag, which contained packaged cookies, chips, and fresh grapes. Those cookies were served at lunch the next day, and all seven of the remaining infected handled the bag in one way or another. It seems that when the virus aerosolized while being expelled and flushed, and settled on surfaces in the bathroom — including the bag.
While the immediate takeaway from this is obviously "for god's sake, don't store food in the bathroom!", it does show just how careful you have to be with outbreaks like this. The virus can settle on any surface, and simply breathing the air near where someone was vomiting can be enough to infect you. So maybe you shouldn't be holding your friend's hair out of their face when they throw up after all...


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Pharrell Williams isn't the literal center of the universe—that would be the sun, word to Copernicus. But the Virginia native has pull in more spheres of influence than most. Music, fashion, art, business: If it's cool and cutting edge, chances are it's in Pharrell's orbit.
We've been celebrating Pharrell's extraordinary 2013 this week with a series of stories on his various interests: catch up with our digital cover story here and the Oral History of BBC/Icecream here. P dropped much knowledge in a series of interviews we conducted with him this year, so much so that some great parts of the interview didn't make the final cut for the cover story. Read below for Williams' take on his accessory selection, his classic Vibe magazine cover with Gwen Stefani, and his thoughts on producing a full 50 Cent album.
I read somewhere that when you get dressed you never say to yourself "I'm really killing shit tonight." You know like 98 percent of fashionable dudes say that to themselves, right?
Well, this is what I do. I do get excited about the articles, like the items and shit.
What are these chains you're wearing now? You didn't have them on the last time we spoke.
This is a Chanel rosary that I made myself. They make a lot of costume jewelry, like faux jewelry. So I just went in and got it made with all the real materials. This is Hoorsenbuhs, this two-finger ring. These "To Be Happy" bracelets are Lorraine Schwartz. The other four are her sister, Ofira—Ofira Jewels. And this coin chain is BVLGARI. These are real antique, vintage Roman coins. So it's a little regal. I saw it on the director of the company and said to her, "And how might I acquire this chain?" And she says, "Oh you keep it darling." Yeah, Mrs. Sabina Belli.
Are you more interested in bringing back someone who cooled off, or breaking new talent? Pusha told me, "I want 50 to just get in the studio with Pharrell, just let Pharrell do the whole album."
I would love that. But, you know, he would have to see why that makes sense...for himself. That doesn't mean it makes the ultimate sense, I mean you know, people could read this and be like,
I would love to make an album with 50 that felt like a film. Cause he's an actor and a rapper and all these other things... I'd just be Mario Puzo. I don't have to be Corleone.
"What?! Ew, no. Don't fuck with Pharrell." You know? I would love to make an album with 50 that felt like a film. 'Cause he's an actor. He's an actor and a rapper and all these other things. I would wanna put all those talents together and try and make a cohesive body of work that was all about him. I'd just be Mario Puzo. I don't have to be Corleone. I don't have to be in it at all. I could just be the air in the room, which is just the storywriter or the backdrop. Cause he's the storywriter.
You lived in the projects in Virginia until you were 7, then you moved to the 'burbs as a teenager, now you travel the world. Out of all those places, which one had the biggest impact on you?
All of it. Every moment...every moment.
Who do you go to for inspiration? Is it a person? A place?
It's a feeling. I'm often inspired by what doesn't exist. That's my thing. And as cool as it sounds, it's not as cool as it sounds. It's just what it is. If it doesn't exist, it gives me opportunity to go put something else out there that doesn't exist. It kind of sounds all philosophical and shit, but I don't mean it in that way. I really mean it. I like to bring new experiences into this round and to this frequency.
The mantra of the Billionaire Boys Club brand has always been "Wealth is of the heart and mind, not of the pocket." Why did you choose that tag line?
Because at the end of the day, that's what you take with you when you go. It's what's in your mind and your heart. The ethereal part of your personality is what continues to build, these other things are just matter. They'll stay, either they'll wither away, or stay here forever. But our spirits and what they garner while they are here that's what lasts forever. And for me, ya know I just wanted all my fans to know, wealth is of the heart and mind. You're truly wealthy, you're a billionaire even better when you have your education and you're putting it to good use and exercise.
One of my favorite magazine covers of all time is the cover with you and Gwen Stefani on Vibe.
Yeah! That was a moment for me. It was me and the leader of an Orange County ska-rock-punk group. It's Gwen and me. That's fucking Gwen. That's fucking Gwen Stafani. Like, ya know? "Don't Speak." That's Gwen. That's gigantic to me.
Yeah and it was Vibe. That's awesome.
I felt the same way, when I had the skateboard in The Source. Not as big, because a skateboard can never compare to Gwen Stefani, but it's the statement. It's the juxtaposition and the alchemy that was allowed to be photographed for the cover that was a big deal.
You're in a rare space, where you can collaborate with someone like Hans Zimmer and then the next night, you're in the studio with Schoolboy Q, how do you manage?
Just remember me and Hans Zimmer. Just remember that. I can't say anything else yet, but I'm super pumped up. And I rarely do that. I rarely tip people off, but this is Complex and Noah has always been incredibly, incredibly supportive. And has had a non-stop belief. I'm just incredibly thankful. Anything for you guys.
RELATED: All Pharrell Week Posts


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Thanks to a foundation of youth that includes players like the sophomore ace of the pitching staff, Aaron Nola, LSU will be among the favorites in Omaha.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Alex Bregman had already made up his mind to turn down the Boston Red Sox and instead enroll at LSU as he watched upstart Stony Brook celebrate a College World Series berth following their upset of the Tigers in Baton Rouge last year.
The next day, Bregman logged on to the social media site Twitter and guaranteed the Tigers would get to Omaha in 2013, when he would be their new shortstop.
"I knew I would be able to make a difference and expected I could do even more than I've done so far," said Bregman, recently named the national freshman hitter of the year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and All-America by Baseball America. "I'm just happy we're in Omaha and that's the main reason I came to school. I just wanted to win a national championship."
Photo by Steve Franz
Sophomore pitching ace Aaron Nola
Thanks to a foundation of youth that includes players like Bregman, freshman outfielder Mark Laird and the sophomore ace of the pitching staff, Aaron Nola, LSU (57-9) will be among the favorites in Omaha after tying a school record for wins. The Tigers open play on Sunday against UCLA, and the so-far unbeatable Nola (12-0), will be on the mound.
Mason Katz is among the four-year seniors who would have comprised the first class since 1982 not to make at least one trip to Omaha during their LSU careers had the Tigers not made it this year. Katz is quick to give credit to rise of younger players.
"Those were pieces we were missing from last year," Katz said.
Nola was 7-4 as a freshman. This season, he has been arguably the best pitcher in college baseball, not losing a game in the formidable Southeastern Conference, then going 2-0 so far in the NCAA tournament.
While Nola's fastball can reach the low- to mid-90s, he does not have to try to overpower hitters because he is seemingly able to put his fastball, breaking ball and off-speed pitches wherever he wants.
But what also impresses Nola's coaches and teammates is the hurler's unshakable confidence and mental toughness.
For coach Paul Mainieri, one of Nola's defining moments came in the NCAA regional round, when three errors committed behind him allowed Sam Houston a five-run first inning. Nola responded with six shutout innings as LSU roared back.
In the super regional, Nola went head-to-head against Oklahoma ace Jonathan Gray, the third overall pick in the draft. He pitched a two-hit shutout in a 2-0 win - and Katz will never forget a brief conversation he had with Nola in the tunnel behind the dugout around the sixth inning.
"I went down there and said, 'Hey, we're going to get a run.' And he goes, 'Well, if you score one, we win,'" Katz recalled. "That's who Aaron is. He always keeps us in the game."
The way the double-elimination College World Series is set up, LSU could pitch Nola as many as three times, and Nola said he embraces the chance to take as much responsibility for LSU's success as the team gives him.
"I feel good about it. We're playing for everything," Nola said. "You're supposed to have that mentality that, 'I'm the best.' ... Every time I go on the mound, that's how I think."
Mainieri describes Bregman as player who combines supreme talent with an unsurpassed work ethic - the kind of player he finds in the batting cage, alone, at 8 a.m. on a fall Sunday, or persuading a team manager to hit him grounders when everyone else has left the stadium, and the lights are off, forcing him to field the ball in darkness.
"You can't fake that," Mainieiri said. "He just loves it that much. ... He's going to get every accolade you can get in your time here and you can't do that without talent, but unfortunately some kids that have a lot of talent don't have that kind of work ethic."
Bregman has hit .380 this season with six home runs, 18 doubles, seven triples and 52 runs batted in. His 104 hits are an LSU freshman record. He has stolen 16 bases on 17 attempts.
He might not have come to LSU if not for a broken finger that sidelined him his senior year of high school. Bregman arrived at LSU expecting to be a difference-maker, and endeared himself to teammates by putting them first. Katz recalled standing nearby, last fall, when Bregman was asked about his goals.
"He said, 'Get the seniors to Omaha,'" Katz recalled. "To have a freshman come in and not care about personal statistics or anything - just to help us go to Omaha and win a national championship - that's a guy you want to play with."


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The Ravagers #4
Betrayal, revelations, blood, and DEATH come to the group as some find themselves powerless to the seductive charms and horrific powers of BROTHER BLOOD.
RIDGE is prepared as a blood sacrifice to indoctrinate the newest members of Brother Blood's cult.
NOT everyone will survive this fatal encounter.
Cover Illustrators


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This is another fast and easy summer gluten free recipe to help you use what's fresh and in season and spend more time enjoying the summer. This uses that fun new kitchen tool I've been playing in the kitchen with. It can help you make really fast, delicious and nutritious meals.
I served these with the Chick and Pork Balls. Again another recipe working to help you live an easy healthy gluten free life.
You can keep this totally vegetarian and vegan by serving it with beans, tofu or your favorite protein. Or just serve it alone. It doesn't need any help on the plate to make it a meal.
Both of these recipes use what I found fresh at the farmer's market. If you find something different, change up this recipe and please let me know what you created. This was shared on Wellness Weekend.
For more ideas on my different pesto recipes see Pesto Shrimp on Polenta Portobellos, Pesto Chicken Salad and Pesto Shrimp and Tomato for a spicy version.
2 small organic zucchini
1 small yellow summer squash
2 ripe organic tomatoes
2 TB pesto (basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper)
2 TB pine nuts
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Prepare your zucchini and squash with a Julienne Peeler.
Toss them into a large pre-heated skillet on medium high with the oil. Allow to warm through and if you like begin to brown.
Add in the tomatoes and pesto and again allow to warm through. If you like your tomatoes cooked a little more add them before the pesto until they get to the consistency you prefer.
That's it. Serve it up on a plate, sprinkle on some pine nuts and garnish with your favorite protein like Chick and Pork Balls.Print This Recipe


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Free Lossless Audio Codec
|Popular open source patent free lossless compression scheme.
|Josh Coalson, Xiph Community
|2001; 22 years ago
|Recommended encoder
|FLAC v1.4.2 (22 Oct 2022)
Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is a codec for lossless audio compression. Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported) just like you would a lossy file.
FLAC is natively supported in Android since version 3.1, in Windows 10, and in macOS High Sierra 10.13.
- 1 General aspects of the format
- 2 Features
- 3 Pros
- 4 Cons
- 5 Hardware and software that support FLAC
- 6 Software
- 7 Frequently asked questions
- 8 See also
- 9 External links
General aspects of the format
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.
The FLAC project consists of:
- the stream format
- reference encoders and decoders in library form
- flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
- metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
- input plugins for various music players
When it's said that FLAC is free, it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose, although the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance. It also means that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. And it means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.
- Lossless: The encoding of audio (PCM) data incurs no loss of information, and the decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went into the encoder. Each frame contains a 16-bit CRC of the frame data for detecting transmission errors. The integrity of the audio data is further insured by storing an MD5 signature of the original unencoded audio data in the file header, which can be compared against later during decoding or testing.
- Fast: FLAC is asymmetric in favor of decode speed. Decoding requires only integer arithmetic, and is much less compute-intensive than for most perceptual codecs. Real-time decode performance is easily achievable on even modest hardware.
- Hardware support: Because of FLAC's free reference implementation, low decoding complexity and popularity, FLAC has relatively widespread hardware support compared to other lossless formats.
- Streamable: Each FLAC frame contains enough data to decode that frame. FLAC does not even rely on previous or following frames. FLAC uses sync codes and CRCs (similar to MPEG and other formats), which, along with framing, allow decoders to pick up in the middle of a stream with a minimum of delay.
- Seekable: FLAC supports fast sample-accurate seeking. Not only is this useful for playback, it makes FLAC files suitable for use in editing applications.
- Flexible metadata: New metadata blocks can be defined and implemented in future versions of FLAC without breaking older streams or decoders. Currently there are metadata types for tags, cue sheets, and seek tables. Applications can write their own APPLICATION metadata once they register an ID.
- Suitable for archiving: FLAC is an open format, and there is no generation loss if you need to convert your data to another format in the future. In addition to the frame CRCs and MD5 signature, FLAC has a verify option that decodes the encoded stream in parallel with the encoding process and compares the result to the original, aborting with an error if there is a mismatch.
- Convenient CD archiving: FLAC has a cue sheet metadata block for storing a CD table of contents and all track and index points. For instance, you can rip a CD to a single file, then import the CD's extracted cue sheet while encoding to yield a single file representation of the entire CD. If your original CD is damaged, the cue sheet can be exported later in order to burn an exact copy.
- Error resistant: Because of FLAC's framing, stream errors limit the damage to the frame in which the error occurred, typically a small fraction of a second worth of data. Contrast this with some other lossless codecs, in which a single error destroys the remainder of the stream.
- Portable to many systems
- Open source and freely licensed
- Hardware support (PhatBox, Kenwood MusicKeg, Rio Karma, etc. See below)
- Streaming support
- Extremely fast decoding
- Supports multichannel and high resolution streams
- Supports ReplayGain
- Supports cue-sheet (with some limitations)
- Gaining wide use as successor to Shorten
- Compresses less efficiently than other popular modern compressors (Monkey's Audio, OptimFROG)
- Higher compression modes slow, for little gain over the default setting.
Hardware and software that support FLAC
For a more comprehensive list see the FLAC links page.
Car stereo
- Kenwood KMM series
- Pioneer Car Stereo (search FLAC)
- JVC KD-X "Digital Media Receivers" series (almost all)
- Soundstream Source Units
- Tesla Model S
- Citroën DS5
- Volvo Sensus (SPA Platform)
Home stereo
- Olive's Symphony wireless digital music center
- Numark's DJ equipment (HDX and CDX turntables, HDMIX mixer)
- Sonos Digital Music System
- Slim Devices' Squeezebox networked audio players
- Apple iPod with Rockbox firmware
- iAudio M3, M5 and X5
- iRiver iHP-120/iHP-140 with Rockbox firmware
- Iwod G10
- Rio Karma
- SanDisk Sansa
- TrekStor's Vibez
- Devices running Android 3.1+
- Pono Player
- FiiO X Series
Players Software
- Windows
- foobar2000
- MediaMonkey
- MusicBee
- Winamp
- XMPlay
- MPlayer Console player
- Mac
- Linux
- Android
Frontends (Windows)
- foobar2000 Music Converter / Audio Player
- FLAC GUI (By Moisés Cardona)
FLAC frontend (ktf)
Windows Frontend (by Speek)
Frontends (Mac)
- for a more comprehensive list here
- dBpowerAMP Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer
- MediaMonkey Music Manager / Audio Player / CD Writer
- fre:ac Music Converter / CD Writer/Ripper
- foobar2000 Music Converter / Audio Player
- List of popular audio editors
CD writers/rippers
- for a comprehensive list of CD/DVD Writers & rippers
- Nero
- CDBurnerXP CD writer
- MediaMonkey - CD ripper/writer
- Exact Audio Copy CD Ripper
- CD Wave
- Arson
- Burrrn Audio CD burner
- CDex CD ripper
- for a comprehensive list of tag editors [here]
- Mp3tag - Universal Tag Editor
- TagScanner - "The Ultimate Tag Editor"
- foobar2000
- MediaMonkey - Tagger / Music manager (Including multiple and linked album art support)
- The GodFather - Tagger / Music manager
- Tag - for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Case's Tag - Command line tagger
- metaflac - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance
Other tools
- mkvtoolnix - tool to multiplex FLAC streams inside the Matroska container
- metaflac - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance, also to calculate ReplayGain values for FLAC files lacking such
Frequently asked questions
Question: Does the compression level affect decompression speed?
Short Answer: No.
Long Answer: In truth, the compression level does affect the decompression speed, but the difference between the various compress levels can barely be measured and is too small to be noticed, even on low-end machines.
Question: What is the best compression level for encoding my music?
Short Answer: The default setting, 5.
Long Answer: Encoding at the default setting will give the best balance between compression and encoding speed. Encoding at 8 can more than quadruple the encoding time, while having an insignificant effect on compression.
See also
External links
- FLAC homepage
- FLAC discussion board on hydrogenaudio
- FLAC v1.4.x Performance Tests on hydrogenaudio
- FLAC 1.4.2 topic on hydrogenaudio
- FLAC 1.4.0 topic on hydrogenaudio
- FLAC 1.3.3 topic on hydrogenaudio
- FLAC 1.3.1 topic on hydrogenaudio
- FLAC 1.3.1 non-SSE2 build for older CPUs on hydrogenaudio
- Lossless codec comparison (Jan '15) on hydrogenaudio by ktf graphs the influence of the chosen encoding level on the encoding and decoding performance of FLAC 1.3.1 and various other lossless codecs. Omion's older test, "File Size vs. Decoding Speed", covers the influence of the chosen encoding level on the decoding speed of FLAC 1.2.1.


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BERLIN- Worcester Prep's men's varsity soccer team stayed on a roll this week, beating host Greenwood Mennonite, 3-0, on Tuesday for their fourth straight win.
The win over ESIAC rival Greenwood Mennonite completed a highly successful first third of the season for the Mallards, whose record now stands at 5-1. After splitting the first two games of the season with a victory over Holly Grove and a 2-0 loss to Sussex Tech, Worcester has now reeled off four straight wins. The Mallards thrashed Salisbury Christian, 10-0, early last week and followed that up with another win against another ESIAC for, Gunston, last Friday.
Worcester was back in action the very next day when it hosted Our Lady of Mount Carmel from Baltimore County in a rare game against a team from the western shore on Saturday. The Mallards beat Mount Carmel, 5-1, for its third straight win and fourth overall on the season.
This week, Worcester traveled to Greenwoon Mennonite on Tuesday and came home with a 3-0 shutout win. Martin Sanchez scored a hat trick for the Mallards to provide all of the scoring. Chase Humphrey and Evan Bauer each provided an assist on two of the goals. The Worcester defense, which has been solid all season thus far, recorded another shutout in front of goalkeeper Joe Wilson, who had four saves.
Worcester hits the road next Tuesday for a rematch with Salisbury Christian before facing old rival Salisbury School at home next Thursday.


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Previous Lesson
Complete and Continue
Trader's Transformation Framework
Framework Introduction
Setting Expectation - Framework Introduction (3:58)
How Trading Transformed my Life (37:17)
My Trading Story (4:13)
Week1: Build your bases through understanding of Price Action
Introduction to Trading (24:35)
Understanding market movements (4:47)
Real chart examples of market movements (7:40)
Understanding Price Cyclicity (5:52)
Understanding Moving Averages (4:51)
Power Pivot Strategy (3:47)
Power Pivot Strategy - Real Time examples (7:02)
Fun Work for the Week
Week2: Setting up your MT4 Charting Platform
MT4 Installation (1:56)
Setup and Features (5:33)
How to install indicators and Strategy Template (3:24)
MT4 Additional Features (4:40)
How to select your Trading Broker?
Fun Work for the Week
Week 3: The Wave Strategy (Joining the first wave of the trend)
The Wave Strategy Concept (2:57)
How to Upload the Wave Strategy into your charting (1:54)
The Wave Strategy Setup and Rules (7:06)
How to Trade The Wave Strategy (7:03)
Fun Work for the Week
Week 4: The 30 EMA Strategy (Four Hourly Trading Strategy)
30 EMA Strategy Concept (7:55)
How to Install the strategy into your Charting Platform (1:31)
30 EMA Trading Setups and Rules (10:03)
Trading Examples (6:38)
Fun Work for the Week
Week 5: The Squeeze Strategy (Seasonality Trading Strategy)
The Squeeze Strategy Concept (7:40)
How to install the Squeeze into your charting (1:05)
The Squeeze Strategy Rules and setups (4:25)
Trading Examples (4:13)
Fun Work for the Week
Week 6: Diamond Pivot Strategy (Capture trade momentum during contraction and expansion)
Diamond Pivots Strategy - Part 1 (8:58)
Diamond Pivots Strategy - Part 2 (3:20)
Diamond Pivots Strategy - Part 3 (3:50)
Diamond Pivot Strategy - Setups and Rules (6:10)
Diamond Pivots Buy and Sell Techniques (4:58)
Trading Examples (6:45)
Fun Work for the Week
Week 7: Bonus Week
Bonus Strategy - Surprise!! (7:05)
Strategy Setup and Rules (2:58)
Trading Examples 1 (5:12)
Trading Example 2 (3:18)
Fun Work for the Week
Trading Example 2
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text:
- Updated On:
- February 25, 2021
View now this truly stunning 3 bedroom home in Mangotsfield, Bristol.
In brief this well presented home comprises of entrance hallway, modern cloakroom, lounge, 2nd reception room which can be used as a family room or dining room, modern and newly fitted kitchen. Upstairs you'll find three bedrooms and a modern family bathroom. Outside you have generous parking spaces leading to a garage and a rear garden.
Early viewing is highly recommended to appreciate all this home has to offer!
Property Id : 125295


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Offshore Sailing Team
Offshore sailing serves as an ideal platform for team building, small unit leadership, and seamanship skill development. All planning and decision making involved with day sailing and long distance transits and racing is made by midshipmen team members. Skills developed include navigation, strategic planning, resource management, vessel maintenance, weather tactics, and racing strategy.
The co-ed Offshore Sailing Team (OS) practices and competes during the fall, spring, and summer aboard Navy 26's, Navy 44 Sloops and a variety of donated offshore sailboats. Competitions involve both intercollegiate and civilian teams. During the summer, VOST focuses on long distance Halifax, Nova Scotia. Traditionally, midshipmen also race to Bermuda each summer as part of the Professional Development Training Program. Additionally, OS members represent the Naval Academy at National and/or World level regattas both domestic and internationally. The Naval Academy has the largest offshore sail training fleet for collegiate sailing in the United States and hosts many of intercollegiate sailing's big boat regattas.
Basic Offshore Sailing Squadron
BOSS is mainly comprised of midshipmen who are first semester sailing team members and have been selected for the team during tryouts each August. BOSS team members spend their first months training on Navy 26's with a four person crew. Teams learn the mechanics of sailing, safety at sea, small boat handling, and racing fundamentals. BOSS competes in weekly scrimmages with up to twenty Navy 26's racing on short courses in close quarters. As well, the US Naval Academy hosts an intercollegiate event each fall which attracts teams from the mid-Atlantic, New England, New York, and Midwest regions.
Toward the latter part of the fall semester, BOSS team members are cross trained on Navy 44's to learn the mechanics of sailing larger offshore boats. This provides the pathway for the spring semester when the Varsity and BOSS team members train and sail together in preparation for their summer cruise experience on large offshore sailboats.


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B.2 Requests for which the Bureau formulated a recommendation to the Committee
B.2.1 Technical co-operation
B.2.1.1. Serra da Capivara National Park (Brazil)
The Bureau considered a request for technical assistance for the amount of US$ 53,000 for the site of Serra da Capivara in Brazil which consisted of two components:
1. Assistance for taking measures in three of the most visited sites in the Park (Toea do Baixao do Perna I, Toea do Baixao da Vaca and Sitio do Meio) with the double objective of protecting the paintings and at the same time better controlling and facilitating visits to the sites:
The Bureau considered it necessary that preparatory assistance be provided to study in detail and in cooperation with international experts, which measures would be the most appropriate. The Bureau recommends the Committee, therefore, not to approve this request, but to allocate instead an amount of US$ 15,000 under preparatory assistance in order to study the protection of the rock paintings.
2. Assistance for the purchase of equipment for the inventory and documentation of the rock paintings:
The Bureau recommends the Committee to approve the amount of US$ 28,000 for the purchase of equipment that is necessary for the documentation and inventory of the rock paintings in this site.


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DigiTech Introduces Element XP and Element Guitar Multi-Effects Pedals
DigiTech today announced the introduction of its Element and Element XP, two guitar multi-effects pedals that offer hundreds of sounds, effects, amps and cabinets, drum machine and much more.
Salt Lake City, UT (September 23, 2013) -- The elements of perfect guitar tone start here: HARMAN's DigiTech today announced the introduction of its Element and Element XP, two versatile guitar multi-effects pedals that offer hundreds of sounds, effects, amps and cabinets, drum machine and much more.
The DigiTech Element XP features an expression pedal and offers 38 effects, while the Element provides 34 effects. The Element XP and Element both deliver state-of-the-art effects processing with six classic overdrive and distortion stompboxes, 12 amps and cabinets and 28 pedals. The Element XP and Element both feature a pedalboard-style control layout that is simple to use and lets players quickly adjust and save their settings to fit their personal styles.
"Our new Element XP and Element multi-effects pedals bring an incredible array of classic and contemporary guitar sounds to players everywhere, at prices that offer outstanding value," said Scott Klimt, marketing manager for DigiTech. "We spent a great deal of time and effort in getting everything right and give guitarists an affordable yet high quality guitar effects processor that is not just useful, but inspiring."
Overdrive and distortion are elemental to every guitarist's sonic arsenal, and the Element XP and Element offer stompboxes inspired by the legendary Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer, DOD 250 Preamp/Overdrive, Boss DS-1 Distortion, DigiTech Grunge, DigiTech Death Metal and Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi. The amplifiers include many of the classics that defined the sound of rock and roll, like the '57 Fender Tweed Deluxe, '65 Fender "Blackface" Twin Reverb, '68 Marshall Super Lead "Plexi" with slant Celestion® "Greenback" 4 x 12 cabinet, '83 Marshall JCM800, '63 Vox AC 30 Top Boost with "Blue Back" speakers, '01 Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier and other all-time greats. The Element XP and Element provide a dazzling array of effects: compressor, 3-band EQ, flanger, phaser, tremolo, vibrato, chorus, rotary simulator, envelope filter, step filter, spring reverb, room reverb, noise gate, an acoustic guitar simulator and many others. The Element XP adds four expression pedal-based effects including the Dunlop® Cry Baby wah wah, Vox Clyde McCoy wah, a full-range wah and a volume pedal. Guitarists can choose from 100 factory presets that encompass a host of musical genres, and create and save 100 more custom preset sounds. 45 different drum tracks are available to jam and practice along with, and both models include a built-in tuner. The Element XP and Element feature a 1/4-inch guitar input and a 1/4-inch stereo output jack that can be connected to either an amplifier or a mixer for direct recording using the Amp/Mixer mode switch. The Element XP and Element have a dedicated headphone jack and an Aux input to jam along with favorite songs. Both pedals include a power supply so no batteries are needed.
The DigiTech Element XP and Element multi-effects pedals will be available in October 2013 at suggested retail prices of $119.95 and $159.95 respectively.
For more information:


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WindSong Cohousing Community
Welcome to the WindSong Cohousing Community, an innovative neighbourhood architecturally-designed to encourage interactions among members and to enrich our lives with the pleasure of cooperation and friendship.
Cohousing offers private strata-titled homes, safe surroundings, and the benefits of a sustainable lifestyle. WindSong consists of 34 townhomes, a beautiful multipurpose common house, forested land and gardens.


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From the Darkness of Noon series. These images are soft and monochromatic and make for lovely details in any room.
Product Information:
Giclée art print.
Printed on Hahnemuhle acid free paper with archival pigment inks. All prints include a white border.
Some prints and sizes are made to order and require additional delivery time.
Signed and dated by the artist
About the Maker:
An initial career in fashion photography soon evolved. Inspired by the models she photographed Thompson began to capture her subjects as ephemeral illustrations that were published by major publications leading to a loyal following of fans. As her work became in demand she found herself working full time as a freelance artist, being invited as a guest speaker at popular creative events, working as a brand ambassador and collaborating with fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands. Thompsons' work is described as delicate and feminine yet confident and she is a popular choice with people wanting something hand drawn and special


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Todor Georgiev
Principal Scientist, Adobe
Latest paper: Sensor MTF, Interferometric Measurements
Todor Georgiev on ResearchGate Introduction to Light Field Capture and Plenoptic Camera .
This website covers active research in the area of Light Fields until 2014
ICIP 2014 paper: The Radon Image as Plenoptic Function
ECCV 2014 course: Theory and Methods of Lightfield Photography , Sept 7, 2014.
My Seagull
Gallery and Data -- not only seagulls...
Full sensor resolution Superresolution -- see ICCP presentation on superresolution: Plenoptic Sampling and Rendering, April 2012.
My Publications on Lightfields
Silicon Valley SIGGRAPH presentation: The Camera of the Future
Keynote with Jensen and Salesin. NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference, Sep 2010.
Full Radiance / Lightfield data
CVPR 2010 Demo: Real Time Lightfield Rendering Using GPUs. Demonstrating interactive high resolution refocusable stereo 3D with NVIDIA glasses. The latest development on Adelson's Single Lens Stereo with Plenoptic Camera. Plenoptic data available upon request: todor at tgeorgiev dot net
Keynote at WSCG 2010
Light Field HDR project High resolution capture of HDR, Multispectral color, Polarization and other plenoptic function modalities with Plenoptic 2.0 Camera.
Historical Light Field
The very first light fields were captured by Lippmann, 1908. It took over 100 years to bring Integral Photography to market (see article in Scientific American 1911). Integral/Plenoptic/Lightfield cameras you can actually buy today: Lytro and Raytrix
Lippmann (1908): Epreuves Reversibles. Translation: Reversible Prints. Thanks to Fredo Durand, Shmuel Peleg, Nicolas Merlet and Sylvain Paris.
Sokolov (1911): Autostereoscopy and Integral Photography by Professor Lippmann's Method. Thanks to Ekaterina Avramova and Daniel Reetz.
SPIE Electronic Imaging 2014 course: Theory and Methods of Lightfield Photography (SC980), Feb 02 2014.
Eurographics 2010 Theory and Methods of Lightfield Photography
SPIE Electronic Imaging 2010 Course: Theory and Methods of Lightfield Photography
SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 Course: Theory and Methods of Lightfield Photography
ECCV 2008 Tutorial: Theory and Methods of Radiance Photography
CVPR 2008 Tutorial: Theory and Methods of Light-Field Photography
EG 2008 Tutorial: Radiance Photography
Photoshop Healing Brush / Poisson Editing
Image Inpainting
Poisson Image Editing


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Essays & Articles
Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful
Column written for Interactions. © CACM, 2005. This is the author's version of the work, the same as the published version except that I have corrected several typographical errors. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. It may be redistributed for non-commercial use only, provided this paragraph is included. The definitive version was published in Interactions, 12. 4, (July + August, 2005). Pp. 14-19.NOTE: Please also see the clarification to this article: HCD harmful? A Clarification.
Human-Centered Design has become such a dominant theme in design that it is now accepted by interface and application designers automatically, without thought, let alone criticism. That's a dangerous state — when things are treated as accepted wisdom. The purpose of this essay is to provoke thought, discussion, and reconsideration of some of the fundamental principles of Human-Centered Design. These principles, I suggest, can be helpful, misleading, or wrong. At times, they might even be harmful. Activity-Centered Design is superior.
If there is any principle that is sacred to those in the field of user-interface design and human-computer interaction, it is "know your user." After all, how can one design something for people without a deep, detailed knowledge of those people? The plethora of bad designs in the world would seem to be excellent demonstrations of the perils of ignoring the people for whom the design is intended. Human-Centered Design was developed to overcome the poor design of software products. By emphasizing the needs and abilities of those who were to use the software, usability and understandability of products has indeed been improved. But despite these improvements, software complexity is still with us. Even companies that pride themselves on following human-centered principles still have complex, confusing products.
If it is so critical to understand the particular users of a product, then what happens when a product is designed to be used by almost anyone in the world? There are many designs that do work well for everyone. This is paradoxical, and it is this very paradox that led me to re-examine common dogma.
Most items in the world have been designed without the benefit of user studies and the methods of Human-Centered Design. Yet they do quite well. Moreover, these include some of the most successful objects of our modern, technological worlds. Consider two representative examples:
The Automobile
People all over the world learn to drive quite successfully with roughly the same configuration of controls. There were no systematic studies of users. Rather, early automobiles tried a variety of configurations, initially copying the seating and steering arrangements of horse-drawn carriages, going through tillers and rods, and then various hand and foot controls until the current scheme evolved.
Everyday Objects
Just look around: kitchen utensils, garden tools, woodworking tools, typewriters, cameras, and sporting equipment vary somewhat from culture to culture, but on the whole, they are more similar than not. People all over the world manage to learn them — and manage quite well.
Why do these devices work so well? The basic reason is that they were all developed with a deep understanding of the activities that were to be performed: call this Activity-Centered Design. Many were not even designed in the common sense of the term, rather, they evolved with time. Each new generation of builders slowly improved the product upon the previous generation, based on feedback from their own experiences as well as from their customers. Slow, evolutionary folk design. But even for those devices created by formal design teams, populated with people whose job title was "designer," these designers used their own understanding of the activities to be performed to determine how the device would be operated. The users were supposed to understand the task and to understand the designers' intentions.
Activities Are Not the Same as Tasks
Do note the emphasis on the word "activity" as opposed to "task." There is a subtle difference. I use the terms in a hierarchical fashion. At the highest levels are activities, which are comprised of tasks, which themselves are comprised of actions, and actions are made up of operations. The hierarchical structure comes from my own brand of "Activity Theory," heavily motivated by early Russian and Scandinavian research. To me, an activity is a coordinated, integrated set of tasks. For example, mobile phones that combine appointment books, diaries and calendars, note-taking facilities, text messaging, and cameras — can do a good job of supporting communication activities. This one single device integrates several tasks: looking up numbers, dialing, talking, note taking, checking one's diary or calendar, and exchanging photographs, text messages, and emails. One activity, many tasks.
What Adapts? Technology or People?
The historical record contains numerous examples of successful devices that required people to adapt to and learn the devices. People were expected to acquire a good understanding of the activities to be performed and of the operation of the technology. None of this "tools adapt to the people" nonsense — people adapt to the tools.
Think about that last point. A fundamental corollary to the principle of Human-Centered Design has always been that technology should adapt to people, not people to the technology. Is this really true? Consider the history of the following successful technologies.
The clock (and watch)
An arbitrary division of the year and day into months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds, all according to physical principles that differ from psychological or biological ones, now rules our lives. We eat when our watches tell us it is meal time, not when we are hungry. We awake according to the harsh call of the alarm, not when we are rested. University classes are taught in one hour periods, three times a week, in 10 – 15 week sessions, not because this is good for education, but because it makes for easier scheduling. The extreme reliance on time is an accidental outgrowth of the rise of the factory and the resulting technological society.
Writing systems
Consider printing, handwriting, and typing. All are artificial and unnatural. It takes people weeks, months, or even years to learn and become skilled. One successful stylus-based text input device for the Roman alphabet is Palm's Grafiti — yet another unnatural way of writing.
Musical Instruments
Musical instruments are complex and difficult to manipulate and can cause severe medical problems. Musical notation is modal, so the same representation on a treble clef has a different interpretation on the bass clef. The usability profession has long known of the problems with modes, yet multiple staves have been with us for approximately 1000 years. It takes considerable instruction and practice to become skilled at reading and playing. The medical problems faced by musicians are so severe that there are books, physicians, web pages and discussion groups devoted to them. For example, repetitive stress injuries among violinists and pianists are common. Neither the instruments nor the notation would pass any Human-Centered Design review.
Human-Centered versus Activity-Centered: What's the Difference?
What is going on? Why are such non-Human-Centered Designs so successful? I believe there are two reasons, one the activity-centered nature, and two the communication of intention from the builders and designers. Successful devices are those that fit gracefully into the requirements of the underlying activity, supporting them in a manner understandable by people. Understand the activity, and the device is understandable. Builders and designers often have good reasons for the way they constructed the system. If these reasons can be explained, then the task of learning the system is both eased and made plausible. Yes, it takes years to learn to play the violin, but people accept this because the instrument itself communicates rather nicely the relationship between strings and the resulting sounds. Both the activity and the design are understandable, even if the body must be contorted to hold, finger, and bow the instrument.
Activity-Centered Design (ACD) is actually very much like Human-Centered Design (HCD). Many of the best attributes of HCD carry over. But there are several differences, first and foremost being that of attitude. Attitude? Yes, the mindset of the designer.
The activities, after all, are human activities, so they reflect the possible range of actions, of conditions under which people are able to function, and the constraints of real people. A deep understanding of people is still a part of ACD. But ACD is more: it also requires a deep understanding of the technology, of the tools, and of the reasons for the activities.
Tools Define the Activity: People Really Do Adapt to Technology
HCD asserts as a basic tenet that technology adapts to the person. In ACD, we admit that much of human behavior can be thought of as an adaptation to the powers and limitations of technology. Everything, from the hours we sleep to the way we dress, eat, interact with one another, travel, learn, communicate, play, and relax. Not just the way we do these things, but with whom, when, and the way we are supposed to act, variously called mores, customs, and conventions.
People do adapt to technology. It changes social and family structure. It changes our lives. Activity-Centered Design not only understands this, but might very well exploit it.
Learn the activity, and the tools are understood. That's the mantra of the Human-Centered Design community. But this is actually a misleading statement, because for many activities, the tools define the activity. Maybe the reality is just the converse: Learn the tools, and the activity is understood.
Consider art, where much time is spent learning the vagaries of the media. If you want to do oil painting, then you need to understand oil, and brushes, and painting surfaces — even how and when to clean your brush. Is this the tool wagging the dog? Yes, and that is how it always is, how it always shall be. The truly excellent artists have a deep and thorough understanding of their tools and technologies. It isn't enough to have an artistic sense. So too with sports, with cooking, with music, and with all other major activities that use tools.
To the Human-Centered Design community, the tool should be invisible, it should not get in the way. With Activity-Centered Design, the tool is the way.
Why might a Human-Centered Design approach ever be harmful? After all, it has evolved as a direct result of the many problems people have with existing designs, problems that lead to frustration, grief, lost time and effort, and in safety-critical applications, errors, accidents, and death. Moreover, HCD has demonstrated clear benefits: improved usability, less errors during usage, and faster learning times. What, then, are the concerns?
One concern is that the focus upon individual people (or groups) might improve things for them at the cost of making it worse for others. The more something is tailored for the particular likes, dislikes, skills, and needs of a particular target population, the less likely it will be appropriate for others.
The individual is a moving target. Design for the individual of today, and the design will be wrong tomorrow. Indeed, the more successful the product, the more that it will no longer be appropriate. This is because as individuals gain proficiency in usage, they need different interfaces than were required when they were beginners. In addition, the successful product often leads to unanticipated new uses which are very apt not to be well supported by the original design.
But there are more serious concerns: first, the focus upon humans detracts from support for the activities themselves; second, too much attention to the needs of the users can lead to a lack of cohesion and added complexity in the design. Consider the dynamic nature of applications, where any task requires a sequence of operations, and activities can be comprised of multiple, overlapping tasks. Here is where the difference in focus becomes evident, and where the weakness of the focus on the users shows up.
Static Screens Versus Dynamic Sequences
We find that work in the kitchen does not consist of independent, separate acts, but of a series of inter-related processes. (Christine Frederick, The Labor-Saving Kitchen. 1919.)
The methods of HCD seem centered around static understanding of each set of controls, each screen on an electronic display. But as a result, the sequential operations of activities are often ill-supported. The importance of support for sequences has long been known ever since the time-and-motion studies of the early 1900s, as the quotation from Frederick, above, illustrates. Simply delete the phrase "in the kitchen" and her words are still a powerful prescription for design. She was writing in 1919: what has happened in the past 100 years to make us forget this? Note that the importance of support for sequences is still deeply understood within industrial engineering and human factors and ergonomics communities. Somehow, it seems less prevalent within the human-computer interaction community.
Many of the systems that have passed through HCD design phases and usability reviews are superb at the level of the static, individual display, but fail to support the sequential requirements of the underlying tasks and activities. The HCD methods tend to miss this aspect of behavior: Activity-centered methods focus upon it.
Too Much Listening To Users
One basic philosophy of HCD is to listen to users, to take their complaints and critiques seriously. Yes, listening to customers is always wise, but acceding to their requests can lead to overly complex designs. Several major software companies, proud of their human-centered philosophy, suffer from this problem. Their software gets more complex and less understandable with each revision. Activity-Centered philosophy tends to guard against this error because the focus is upon the Activity, not the Human. As a result, there is a cohesive, well-articulated design model. If a user suggestion fails to fit within this design model, it should be discarded. Alas, all too many companies, proud of listening to their users, would put it in.
Here, what is needed is a strong, authoritative designer who can examine the suggestions and evaluate them in terms of the requirements of the activity. When necessary, it is essential to be able to ignore the requests. This is the goal to cohesion and understandability. Paradoxically, the best way to satisfy users is sometimes to ignore them.
Note that this philosophy applies in the service domain as well. Thus, Southwest Airlines has been successful despite the fact that it ignores the two most popular complaints of its passengers: provide reserved seating and inter-airline baggage transfer. Southwest decided that its major strategic advantage was inexpensive, reliable transportation, and this required a speedy turn-around time at each destination. Passengers complain, but they still prefer the airline.
Sometimes what is needed is a design dictator who says, "Ignore what users say: I know what's best for them." The case of Apple Computer is illustrative. Apple's products have long been admired for ease of use. Nonetheless, Apple replaced its well known, well-respected human interface design team with a single, authoritative (dictatorial) leader. Did usability suffer? On the contrary: its new products are considered prototypes of great design.
The "listen to your users" produces incoherent designs. The "ignore your users" can produce horror stories, unless the person in charge has a clear vision for the product, what I have called the "Conceptual Model." The person in charge must follow that vision and not be afraid to ignore findings. Yes, listen to customers, but don't always do what they say.
Now consider the method employed by the Human-Centered Design community. The emphasis is often upon the person, not the activity. Look at those detailed scenarios and personas: honestly, now, did they really inform your design? Did knowing that the persona is that of a 37 year old, single mother, studying for the MBA at night, really help lay out the control panel or determine the screen layout and, more importantly, to design the appropriate action sequence? Did user modeling, formal or informal, help determine just what technology should be employed?
Show me an instance of a major technology that was developed according to principles of Human-Centered Design, or rapid prototype and test, or user modeling, or the technology adapting to the user. Note the word "major." I have no doubt that many projects were improved, perhaps even dramatically, by the use of these techniques. But name one fundamental, major enhancement to our technologies that came about this way.
Human-Centered Design does guarantee good products. It can lead to clear improvements of bad ones. Moreover, good Human-Centered Design will avoid failures. It will ensure that products do work, that people can use them. But is good design the goal? Many of us wish for great design. Great design, I contend, comes from breaking the rules, by ignoring the generally accepted practices, by pushing forward with a clear concept of the end result, no matter what. This ego-centric, vision-directed design results in both great successes and great failures. If you want great rather than good, this is what you must do.
There is a lot more to say on this topic. My precepts here are themselves dangerous. We dare not let the entire world of designers follow their instincts and ignore conventional wisdom: most lack the deep understanding of the activity coupled with a clear conceptual model. Moreover, there certainly are sufficient examples of poor design out in the world to argue against my position. But note, many of those bad designs are profitable products. Hmm. What does that suggest? Would they be even more profitable had Human-Centered Design principles been followed? Perhaps. But perhaps they might not have existed at all. Think about that.
Yes, we all know of disastrous attempts to introduce computer systems into organization where the failure was a direct result of a lack of understanding of the people and system. Or was it a result of not understanding the activities? Maybe what is needed is more Activity-Centered Design, maybe failures come from a shallow understanding of the needs of the activities that are to be supported. Note too that in safety-critical applications, a deep knowledge of the activity is fundamental. Safety is usually a complex system issue, and without deep understanding of all that is involved, the design is apt to be faulty.
Still, I think it time to rethink some of our fundamental suppositions. The focus upon the human may be misguided. A focus on the activities rather than the people might bring benefits. Moreover, substituting Activity-Centered for Human-Centered Design does not mean discarding all that we have learned. Activities involve people, and so any system that supports the activities must of necessity support the people who perform them. We can build upon our prior knowledge and experience, both from within the field of HCD, but also from industrial Engineering and Ergonomics.
All fields have fundamental presuppositions. Sometimes it is worthwhile to re-examine them, to consider the pros and cons and see whether they might be modified or even replaced. Is this the case for those of us interested in Human-Centered Design? We will never know unless we do the exercise.
Don Norman wears many hats, including co-founder of the Nielsen Norman group, Professor at Northwestern University, and author, his latest book being "Emotional Design." He lives at http://www.jnd.org.
NOTE: Please also see the clarification to this article: HCD harmful? A Clarification.


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Please note this refill is to be used in a Chase and Wonder ceramic (300g) candle holder only - Do not purchase unless you already own a ceramic (300g) candle.
Our ecological solution for you to reuse your canldle holder once the wax has melted.
Evoking natures aromatic treasures, freshly cut stems, herbal blends and carefully selected botanicals.
Aromas of herbs, cut grass, mint, iris and pine wood.
How to use your refill in three easy steps
1. Once your original candle has melted, wash out the ceramic container with warm, soapy water so that no wax/wick remains.
2. Carefully unwrap this refill from it's wrapper, and then place it in the cleaned, and dry, ceramic container.
3. The first time you burn your refill, please burn for 1-2 hours or until the wax has pooled to the sides.
Never burn this refill as a pillar candle - always place the refill in the Chase and Wonder ceramic container before lighting.
Your candle refill will arrive wrapped in printed grease proof paper with the instructions above printed on it.
FYI - The candle may have slight imperfections on it, as the wax is soft and easily damage - This will not affect the performance on the candle (and you won't see it once it's in the container).
We spent many months developing our candles, so that you'd have something that you'd treasure and keep forever.
Read more about them below.
We believe candles should be a joy to smell, and fill the room with elegant notes that are so evocative they transport you to a forgotten past, a cherished memory, on an adventure you are yet to take.
So we spent many months perfecting each one of our fragrances so that the final result would be sophisticated, memorable and contain many layers of aroma.
We wanted the fragrance to be as beautiful as the illustration adorning it (and vice versa).
Our candles are not mass produced by factories and machines, they are hand poured in small batches by an expert team of British candle pourers in the traditional and (in our opinion) best way.
They are made with the finest quality eco soy & vegan friendly wax which are infused with our unique blend of essential oils and premium fragrances.
By making everything in small quantities, we can ensure that all aspects are of the highest quality and to our exacting standards.
Our fine china candle holders are made especially for us and are hand decorated by a small team of expert ceramicists who carefully and meticulously finish each one of them - including 22 carat gold detail (hand painted around the rim).
The team is based a few miles away from us; in the heart of the Potteries:- Stoke on Trent, and is run by a Father and Daughter team, David and Jenny (a family business like us). We love working with them because they care about their craft as much as we do.
Watch how they're made below.
Once the candle has melted, you will be left with a beautiful fine China container that you can use over and over again.
We launched refills for our single wick ceramic candles - so you can simply buy one and keep using your candle - watch video below to see how easy it is.
Simply wash out any reminents of wax with hot, soapy water and you'll have a beautiful, hand made vessel that you could use to drink from, keep your pens tidy on your desk, use as a vase/plant pot, or store something useful like in the images below:
The vegan friendly soy wax we use is from a sustainable source, and is cleaner burning than other waxes (such as paraffin/mineral wax) and contains no toxins, carcinogens or pollutants which means it's less likely to trigger allergies. We use lead free (cotton) wicks for the same reason.
Soy wax also melts slower than mineral/parafin wax (which is a crude-oil by product), which mean they typically last 30-50% longer than their mineral wax candle counterparts.
Soy wax releases scent easier than paraffin candles to give a richer fragrance throw and 'Pot Pourri' effect when not lit.
The first time you light your candle, we'd advise you keep it lit for around 2 hours (and away from draughts), or untill the wax has pooled to the edge. This will prevent any subsequent tunneling.
Ideally you'd trim the candle's wick to around 3mm before you light it.
We'd also recommend burning your candle for 1-2 hours at a time.
Don't let it burn all the way to the bottom, and protect the surface the candle sits on.
Finally, please don't forget that Chase and Wonder candles are particularly social, and like to be given as gifts too.
Candles burn beautifully and the fragrance is like no other… many comments from my friends wow what a beautiful smell and fragrance. The actual jars are so unusual and so expertly painted…unique!!
Love being able to buy re-fills for my lovely collection


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The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), released 'Excreta Matters' – its 71-city study of how India's urban centres manage their water and sewage in Kolkata on 1 September, 2012. The study focused on Kolkata's water and sewerage issues and suggested a way forward. His Excellency the Governor of West Bengal Shri M. K. Narayanan and the honorable Union Minister of State for Urban Development Shri Saugata Roy jointly released the report.
The emphasis was on protecting the East Kolkata Wetlands as they are crucial for the city's very survival, augmenting the sewerage system and maintaining its current dual character that carries both storm water and sewage. The Wetlands need protection from land sharks as the 12,500-odd hectare spread are extremely valuable real estate and the State Government has started sanctioning construction on its fringes.
|News clippings
The Sunday Indian: Kolkata, September 3, 2012Need to protect Kolkata wetlands: CSE