text:
It is easy to fall into the trap of busyness – constantly going from one thing to another – from demands at home to demands at work to emails to exercise to relationships– with no time for stopping, reflecting, or recharging. We can become like a carpenter who doesn't have the time to stop and sharpen his or her tools. As a result, the tools become dull; more and more effort is required; less and less is accomplished. We think we must move faster, work harder. It's a vicious circle.
A doctor friend I have known for many years was recently severely injured in a head-on collision with a driver who had a seizure on the Golden Gate Bridge. She broke nearly every bone in her body and was in a coma for several months. It is a miracle that she has not only survived but appears to be in the process of a nearly complete recovery. In her online journal, she writes with a sense of deep knowing and powerful urgency: "We must remember to get on with our lives. Do what is important. If you haven't been married, GET MARRIED. If you need to get divorced, get divorced. Just do what is essential and important. That is what matters."
The truth is, you are both carpenter and tools, for you are responsible for keeping the blade, which is yourself, honed. However, busyness not only dulls the blade, resulting in unnecessary and ineffectual effort, it can convince us that we don't even have the time to pull out the grinding stone and keep ourselves sharp. Sometimes the day's furious deadlines make us believe we are so busy that we don't even have a minute — much less ten or twenty — to stop, pause, and reflect. We convince ourselves that we can't do the very things that we most want, or the things that would make all our efforts easier and more effective. In short, we become accustomed to using a dull tool, and we may stop even noticing how much extra effort we are exerting for such diminishing returns.
Unlike a carpenter, we don't need to do anything extra to return to our original state of sharpness and unbridled full-functioning. We only need to do less of what gets in the way. As Shunryu Suzuki, the author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, says, "You are perfect just as you are." And, as he adds somewhat cryptically, "You can use a little improvement." When I first read that quote thirty years ago, I found it hard to comprehend. Yes, it was a paradox, but it seemed rather puzzling and not very helpful. Now that I have had many years to ponder it, I believe it is one of the kindest and most freeing pieces of wisdom to live by.
What is interesting is that we usually become overbusy for laudable reasons — we are pursuing our dreams, being responsible citizens, assisting our family members or colleagues, and seeking happiness and real freedom. Having a lot to do is not innately a bad thing. Most of us love being active. I do. But this becomes over-the-top busyness when it makes us feel depleted rather than complete, when we run down the path toward freedom and real accomplishment but find them getting farther away.
The Power of Sabbath
When my two children were in elementary school, a weekly day of doing less was an important part of our family ritual. We borrowed some ideas from the Jewish Sabbath as well as Buddhist Day of Mindfulness practices. At the heart of our day we had three simple rules that we applied from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday evening:
Rule #1: There was no spending money.
Rule #2: There was no watching television.
Rule #3: We did something together as a family.
These three guidelines produced significant results in the quality of those twenty-four hours. What a relief to not buy anything, not have the television on, and spend time simply enjoying each other's presence. My wife and I talked more with our two children; we read books, told stories, played games, went for walks, and shared meals. The biggest benefit of this structured break was that, for a day, the pace of our lives slowed down and our family connections increased.
One of my favorite parts of this ritual was the formal ending. We observed the Jewish tradition of looking for the first three stars to become visible on Saturday evening, signaling that Sabbath was over. It was fun and exciting for the four of us to stand on our deck together, seeing who could find the three stars as the sun faded and nighttime slowly emerged. Of course, since we live in Marin County, dense fog sometimes forced us to use our imaginations.
Instituting rest and simplicity is not a magic wand for perfection. There were occasional disagreements, grumpiness, and boredom. But our imperfections often emerge as the most endearing parts of ourselves, and those "Sabbath" days stand out as important building blocks, and are great memories, for our still-growing family. You don't need to have children to create a regular Sabbath or retreat in your life. In fact, you can do this if you live by yourself, with others, or a family of any size.
You Are Perfect the Way You Are
See if you can fully own the notion that "You are perfect, just as you are." Really let it seep into your mind and body, into your bones. We are born with all the wisdom, playfulness, and imagination we need; we just sometimes need help and reminders to return to our senses and get out of our own way. It is the firm knowledge that nothing extra is required. You have everything you need; just let go of whatever distractions, fears, and busyness might be hampering you. It's that simple. Allow yourself to think and feel and live that way. Embodying and acting from this place results in greater composure, and when we act with composure, we are more effective.
Try these practices:
Busyness, and the difficulties and demands of our lives demand a good deal of attention, and respect. At the same time, by bringing our habits into greater awareness and experimenting with challenging our assumptions, we can produce surprising results.
Marc Lesser is CEO of ZBA Associates, an executive coaching and workshop company based in Northern California. His website is http://www.doingless.net.
Based on the book Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less. Copyright 2009 by Marc Lesser. Reprinted with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. http://www.newworldlibrary.com or 800/972-6657 ext. 52.


text:
My Reddit Q&A on Monday generated a lot of good questions:
Ever notice on Facebook, when ever an average/fugly/fat chick post's her picture you have like ten women (only women) chime in with their comments under the picture saying stuff like "HOT!" "you're so pretty!" "damn you look good" when in fact she isn't?!
Are women trying to make their not so attractive friend feel better about herself?! Or is there another scheme involved here of setting the bar low in order to boast their own attractive scale up.
I see, hear and read this constantly. What we're observing however is a carefully constructed feminine social convention, and a feminine-combative one at that. By tacitly reinforcing the "good looks" of an obviously overweight woman with positive compliments, the latent message is that she doesn't need to improve her looks to attract men. The truth of course is that she could be semi-fuckable after dropping another 15 pounds, but in telling her she's hot 'as-is' the idea, in the form of an encouraging compliment, is to get her to relax and stay fat. Thus the complimenter(s) simultaneously feel relaxed in their fat.
It's really a socialization attempt by less physically appealing women to regulate the sexual market in favor of themselves.
I can remember experiencing this firsthand long before the advent of social media. In the days I worked in the resort casino industry, I was in the lunchroom with the largely (heh) female advertising department and the conversation came up about how some woman in accounting was "too thin" or she need to gain some weight. I emphatically disagreed; I knew the woman they were going on about and she could've lost 10 pounds and still been overweight. The ladies lost their shit when I said she could stand to lose a few pounds and hit the gym more often. The hens practically pounded the table with their fists and the accusations of misogyny, and the old chestnuts about men's "shallow" desires for the physical all flew wild and furious.
You see all the women at the table were as heavy if not heavier than the woman in question. I had insulted the herd by association.
The funny thing about body image is that most people tend to judge obesity based on their own physique. If you're overweight and your regular peer group is fatter than you, you tend to think you're "normal". It's similar to eating a donut from a box someone's brought to work for all to enjoy. If one person is eating a donut it tacitly gives others "permission" to enjoy one too.
I was once at a distillery in Panama with a group of Dutch people I work with and a stunningly attractive Panamanian secretary asked me if I was Dutch. I told her, no, I was American and she said "oh, you don't 'look' American. I laughed at this for a minute and asked her what an American 'looks' like and she said, "well, they're all fat." I took it as a compliment, but I had to agree with her.
Books and Covers
You can't judge a book by it's cover, but more often than not, it's a good indicator of what the story's about. An attractive cover should make the reader want to read it.
Women have far more rigid prerequisites for what makes an acceptable man for an LTR than men do for women. Women base their estimate of a man on his confidence, status, affluence, looks, humor, intellect, creativity, ambition, determination, decisiveness,..and the list goes on. Men's requisites for intimacy? Looks and sexual availability, that's it. Beyond that, you can make a case for any ephemeral quality that convinces you the girl's worth your long term investment, but if she's not hot enough to keep your physical interest, you're going to look elsewhere to make up for it.
Yet what is the single most common shaming tactic women use for men? Painting them as 'shallow' for requiring her to maintain a good shape and be sexually available. Men have far too much on the line in the long term NOT to be concerned with demanding the highest standard from a woman for an investment that goes beyond anything she could hope to genuinely appreciate or match by other means. For all of the personal investment a man must make in himself to meet women's 'attraction prerequisites', it only makes pragmatic sense that his (physical) standards for women be strict and exact.
It's really up to you to make the judgement call, but by no means should you allow accusations of superficiality influence your decision in that. As a Man, you are well within your rights to expect a maintained physique from a woman, considering the far greater sacrifices she expects from you. Would you leave her if she got fat? Damn right you would. Would she leave you if you went beta-listless-unemployed-alcoholic? Damn right she would.
All that said, what it really comes down to is the reason why this girl lost the weight. There are plenty of fresh divorcees frenetically working out at Planet Fitness in the hopes of reconditioning themselves enough to attract another husband – only to fatten up again once she finds the guy who "loves her for who she is". Women who once were fat, who slim down are prone to this. That's not to say there aren't women who make a definitive lifestyle change and go from being a walrus to a Fitness America Pageant contestant and parley that into modeling or personal training career, but these are the most rare and notable exceptions.
I should also point out that it's a uniquely White Knight habit to publicly defend a woman's body image insecurities in order to get the identification / affirmation strokes they believe endears them to women. I hear these guys parrot back the same lines women self-affirm when talking about their body shape or trying to disqualify a sexual competitor, in an effort to be more 'like' the women they hope to get with. The idea is that they believe they'll be rewarded for taking the "fat acceptance, love-who-you-are" tact and be perceived as more modern or up with the right conventions, and that guy's who actually have the temerity to say they prefer a tight body are the neanderthals – again, to disqualify their own sexual competitors.
The Mechanics of Sexual Selection
Whenever the 'fat is OK' debate pops up all it does is serve to further illustrate yet another feminine social convention. All of these conventions are sociological and psychological methodologies with the latent purpose of securing breeding opportunities for less than physically optimal women.
- Point 1: Women know on an instinctual, biological level that, overall, men generally base their breeding selection on the physical conditions of a female. Hips to waist ratio, breast size, facial symmetry, fullness of lips, youthful appearance, etc.
- Point 2: In order to compete with similar women in meeting the physical standards of a given demographic of men, women must create physical methods in order to compensate for this deficit. Thus they have make up, cosmetic surgery, high-heels, hair dye, etc.
- Point 3: Failing this, sociological and psychological constructs are necessary to 'level the playing field' in the sexual marketplace. Thus, fat, out of shape women attempt to convince men to feel ashamed for wanting a physically superior female by converting that desire into shame. It becomes superficiality. Likewise, older women who's sexual marketability wanes with every passing year, must create social constructs that praises the sexual prowess of older women.
Women have been trying to convince themselves for centuries that there ought to be more to sexual attraction for men than physical appeal, and for centuries this method has been thwarted by simple male biology. Rather than play the game better, they attempt to change the rules of the game to better fit their own limitations in a variety of ways.
The problem with the idea that "it's what's inside that counts" is that it's what's outside that arouses. All the "feeling good about your body" that a fat woman can muster is NEVER going to be an aphrodisiac or a substitute for having a great body that men are aroused by.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
There are few who know the extreme disparities between the U.S. and Central America like 29-year-old Steven Levy.
His mother immigrated to Los Angeles from the infamously dangerous Los Amates, El Salvador in 1979. A decade later, Levy was born, the youngest of five brothers — and the only one born on U.S. soil.
He was also the one to give birth to a legacy of lasting change.
One year ago, he founded Academia de Fútbol Juvenil Amatense (AFJA) — a Los Angeles based non-profit that recycles soccer equipment throughout the U.S. and establishes community-based soccer academies for youth, ages 5-19.
Brian Aguilar, of Guatemalan heritage and Levy's college friend, heard about the project and was inspired to make a short documentary about it called, "El Poder del Juego" ("The Power of Play"). It will be screening at the Central American International Film Festival this Saturday, November 10, in Los Angeles.
The idea for AFJA was conceived because Levy's mom would send him to her hometown, a town made up of about 150 homes in the northern part of El Salvador, during summer vacations, while his school friends were being sent to summer camp. This allowed Levy to witness firsthand the life his mother had left behind.
"I saw kids, already at 10, working in agriculture and doing hard work," said Levy about the impoverished youth in El Salvador, who often only had one pair of worn shoes, if that.
"I would communicate with the kids, and make friends, through soccer," said Levy. "I would start leaving stuff behind like soccer balls, equipment, and toys, because I saw the disparity between my friends here and there."
Fast forward to 2015. Levy graduated from the University of Southern California, and he now works full-time in IT at an LA-area hospital. However, despite his average American life, with everyday comforts like clean drinking water and takeout food, the image of his young friends in El Salvador — without those same luxuries — never left him.
In the summer of 2017, Levy decided to start a Go Fund Me with a $500 goal, which was quickly surpassed.
"I was just going to buy new gear, and bring it to the kids, but within two weeks we surpassed the goal," Levy told NBC News. "After I went to El Salvador and took videos and photos, then it really took off. People saw the joy in the kids' faces. We captured the moment of some of these kids receiving their first shoes."
The original idea was to give these hard-working youth an outlet to play, but it grew to become an academy for them to also be future leaders in their towns. There are three requirements for eligibility, including academic, attendance, and community service. One of their most important duties is "clean up days."
"The coaches, teachers and kids in the community get together to pick up the trash in the neighborhood," Levy explained. "You know we're having impact when a 5-year-old sees an adult throw a wrapper on the ground and says, 'Hey, pick that up.'"
Another serious problem Levy has witnessed is the water, which is contaminated with dangerous levels of lead.
"The same water kids were taking to practice is contaminated. One of the moms told us she had to take her 10-year-old to dialysis, because of the level of contamination in the water," said Levy. "We partnered with another nonprofit called La Mission por Vida, (launching a Giving Tuesday campaign on the 27th of this month) which provides water filters for the whole community."
Levy said he could not have done this all without the help of his mom, who is the program's director, residing back in El Salvador, as well as the help of other family members and some of the children's parents. Thanks to the group effort, the organization now serves 122 youth in Los Amates and Ateos, El Salvador, and there are plans to start a chapter in Guatemala in January.
In Los Angeles, Levy said it really hits home for him to see Central American children in the news, detained by immigration authorities. But he understands why they try to come. It's out of desperation.
"Here we are with the same kids, and what they look like when someone believes in them," he said.
Levy said he's most proud that he's making his mother proud.
"She came to the U.S., worked the jobs nobody wanted to work," said Levy. "My brothers joined the military, and I went to college. [Los Amates] is where my mom comes from, the school she went to still has the bullet holes from the civil war."
"With the academy," said Levy, "I want to build a sustainable model to be able to use soccer as a vehicle for social change."


text:
A technological lament in eight Tweets.
1 – Since Leopard time-stamps differently, syncing iPhone between Leopard + Tiger Macs means constant "replacement" of same files.
2 – 365 "old" calendar events get deleted; 365 "new" ones replace them. Same with 1GB video files. "Old" one is deleted; "new" one gets written.
3 – "Calendars" and "subscriptions" are also different between Leopard and Tiger, causing data loss when you sync.
4 – Choices: Update all Macs to Leopard (even though CS3 is wonky in it). Or sync iPhone only to one Mac (home OR office, not both). Or buy PC?
This would seem to end things. But then JZ pipes up:
(5) – : @zeldman – Seems to me that you need .Mac. Sync your phone to just one computer and then sync both computers to .Mac.
So one wearily continues:
6 – .Mac sync fails between Leopard + Tiger due to changes Apple made between OSes. .Mac freezes instead of syncing. .Mac useless now.
7 – Obviously Apple requires you to "upgrade" all your Macs to the same OS version, otherwise everything (including iPhone) is half-broken.
8 – It's the kind of stuff that's supposed to happen to the John Hodgman (PC) character, not the Justin Long (Mac) guy.
[tags]getamac, justinlong, johnhodgman, mac, pc, sync, dotmac, .Mac, iphone, leopard, tiger, iphone, compatibility[/tags]


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A twitter friend asked me about the appearance of Helen recently:
This comes at a time when many are talking about the ethnicity of Homeric heroes and rightly arguing that so many of our ideas about race, color, and identity have little to do with the ancient world and everything to do with our own. (See also the discussion on Pharos.) Within this debate is the important realization that ancient concepts of hue and range of color-representation may have been altogether different from our own. In addition to Tim Whitmarsh's essay (cited above) Maria Michel Sassi's recent essay does well to explore gaps between how we conceive of color and how the ancients may have.
As @spannycat notes, Greek poetry describes Helen as xanthê and kuanopis. An insensitive and simplistic reading of these facts might claim that she was "blonde" with "blue eyes" (and I am not at all implying that @spannycat is doig this). Not only is the situation far more interesting and complicated than this, but I am pretty sure that even if we accept these two words as applying to Helen they would not be equivalent to the appearance these two terms denote in modern English.
Let's start with the barest fact. What Helen actually looks like is never stated in Homer. When the Trojans look at her, they say she has the "terrible appearance of goddesses" (αἰνῶς ἀθανάτῃσι θεῇς εἰς ὦπα ἔοικεν). This, of course, is not terribly specific.
Elsewhere, she is "argive Helen, for whom many Achaeans [struggled]" (᾿Αργείην ῾Ελένην, ἧς εἵνεκα πολλοὶ ᾿Αχαιῶν, Il. 2.161) she has "smooth" or "pale/white" arms (῏Ιρις δ' αὖθ' ῾Ελένῃ λευκωλένῳ ἄγγελος ἦλθεν, 3.121), but this likely has to do with a typical depiction of women in Archaic Greece (they are lighter in tone than men because they don't work outside) or because of women's clothing (arms may have been visible). Beyond that? In the Odyssey, She has "beautiful hair" (῾Ελένης πάρα καλλικόμοιο, 15.58) and a long robe (τανύπεπλος, 4.305).
If anyone is looking for a hint of the ideal of beauty from the legend who launched a thousand ships, they will be sorely disappointed. Why? I think the answer to this partly has to do with the nature of Homeric poetry and with good art in general. Homeric poetry developed over a long duration of time and appealed to many different peoples. To over-determine Helen's beauty by describing it would necessarily adhere to some standards of beauty while alienating others.
In addition, why describe her beauty at all when the audience members themselves can craft an ideal in their mind. As a student of mine said while I mused over this, Helen "Cannot have descriptors because she is a floating signifier". She is a blank symbol for desire upon which all audience members (ancient and modern, male and female) project their own (often ambiguous) notions of beauty. To stay with the ancient world, think of that seminal first stanza in Sappho fr. 16:
Some say a force of horsemen, some say infantry
and others say a fleet of ships is the loveliest
thing on the dark earth, but I say it is
[whatever] you love
Οἰ μὲν ἰππήων στρότον, οἰ δὲ πέσδων,
οἰ δὲ νάων φαῖσ' ἐπὶ γᾶν μέλαιναν
ἔμμεναι κάλλιστον, ἐγὼ δὲ κῆν' ὄτ-
τω τις ἔραται
As long as beauty is relative and in the eye of the beholder any time we disambiguate it by saying that it is one thing and not another we depart from an abstract timeless idea and create something more bounded and less open to audience engagement. I think that part of what makes Homeric poetry work so well is that it combines a maximum amount of specificity within a maximized amount of ambiguity.
Outside of Homer, Helen is described with a little more detail, but in each case the significance of the signifier is less than it appears. In Hesiod, she has nice hair again (῾Ελένης ἕνεκ' ἠυκόμοιο,Works and Days 165; this is repeated a lot in the fragmentary Hesiodic Catalogue). In fr. 9 of the Cypria she is merely a "Wonder for mortals" (θαῦμα βροτοῖσι·). Much later she has "spiraling eyebrows/lashes" (῾Ελένης ἑλικοβλεφάροιο, Quintus Smyrnaeus, 13.470).
If we want to learn more about Helen, she has additional features outside of epic poetry in lyric. I would be bold enough to claim that the more personal and erotic character of the genre is a better explanation for this specificity than anything else.
In lyric (e.g. Mesomedes, κυανῶπι θεά, θύγατερ Δίκας,) Helen is "cyan-eyed", but if we look at the semantic range of this nominal root—which describes dark stones and eyes of water divinities—I think we can argue fairly that this indicates a dark and shiny, even watery texture (like lapis lazuli). I suspect this is about the sheen of eyes rather than their hue.
Eustathius remarks that the epithet κυανώπιδα is common (κατὰ κοινὸν ἐπίθετον) and is often used for dark sea creatures, describing as well his hair (Ποσειδῶνα κυανοχαίτην, Ad Hom. Il 1.555.23). Indeed, nymphs in general are "dark-eyed" in lyric (καὶ Νύμφαι κυανώπιδες, Anacr. fr. 12.2) and water deities remain so in Homer (κῦμα μέγα ῥοχθεῖ κυανώπιδος ᾿Αμφιτρίτης, Il. 12.60). Outside of Homer marriageable women also receive this epithet, including Helen's sister Klytemnestra (Hes. Fr. 23a κού[ρην Τυνδαρέοιο Κλυταιμήσ]τρην κυανῶπ[ιν· cf. fr. 23.27 and for Althaia, 25.14, Elektra (169).
From Robert Beekes. Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Leiden: Brill, 2010
So, in lyric, Helen has dark pools for eyes. But what about her hair? At Sappho fr. 23 Helen is described as "xanthai" ([ ] ξάνθαι δ' ᾿Ελέναι σ' ἐίσ[κ]ην; cf. Stesichorus Fr. S103: [ξ]α̣νθὰ δ' ῾Ελένα̣ π̣ρ[ ; Ibycus, fr. 1a.5: ξα]νθᾶς ῾Ελένας περὶ εἴδει ). But it is important to note that in this context there is a first-person narrator speaking ("I liken you to fair Helen…"). Note as well that there is something formulaic in these lyric lines: the epithet seems to begin the phrase each time.
When it comes to Hair color, xanthus is used in Homer to describe heroes, but not Helen (Menelaos is Xanthus, for example). A byzantine etymological dictionary suggests that the core meaning of this root has something to do with fire (Ξανθὴν, πυῤῥοειδῆ) and argues that the hair "symbolizes the heat and irascibility of the hero" (αἰνίττεται, τὸ θερμὸν καὶ ὀργίλον τοῦ ἥρωος, Etym. Gud, s.v.). But outside the Iliad and Odyssey the adjective is applied to goddesses: both Demeter (H. Dem. 302) and Aphrodite (Soph. fr. 255) are called Xanthê. Modern etymology sees this as anywhere from yellow to brown. But this is altogether relative again. "Light hair" in a group of people who are blond is almost white; among black/brown haired people, light hair can merely be a different shade of brown.
Again, from Beekes 2010:
In the second book of Liu Cixin's "Three Body Problem Trilogy" The Dark Forest, one of the main characters Luo Ji creates an ideal woman to love in his mind and goes so far as to converse with her, leave his actual girlfriend for her, and go on a trip with her. When he consults a psychologist about this, his doctor tells him his is lucky because everyone is in love with an idea–where the rest of the world will inevitably be disillusioned when they realize this, Luo Ji will never suffer this loss.
Trying to make Helen look like an actual person is not only impossible, but it is something which Homeric epic avoids for good reason.
Special thanks to .@spannycat for asking the question. Her own conclusions on the topic are pretty much the same.


text:
Thursday Night Football Breakdown: Undermanned Texans vs. Scoreless Bengals
By Kevin McGuire
The Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) and Houston Texans (0-1) each had forgettable season openers at home in Week 1, so a short turnaround to Week 2 may be just what the doctor ordered for both teams. The Cincinnati Bengals host the Houston Texans on Thursday night in Paul Brown Stadium (8:25 p.m. ET, NFL Network), and there will be no shortage of drama for this week's game.
It's Time For Deshaun Watson in Houston
Rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson got some playing time in the season opening loss at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and now head coach Bill O'Brien handed over the starting job to him. This should not come as a surprise, given Watson is the first true franchise quarterback O'Brien has had to work with since coming to the NFL from Penn State. Now he gets a chance to build from the ground up with his new starter under center, while Tom Savage takes on a backup role.
Bengals Might Score This Week... Maybe?
If the Houston Texans offense was a train wreck in Week 1 against Jacksonville, then the Bengals were the Titanic. The Bengals were blanked at home by the Baltimore Ravens following an absolutely dreadful showing by quarterback Andy Dalton. Dalton was picked off four times in Week 1 by the Ravens, and he completed just 16 of 31 pass attempts for 170 yards while being sacked five times.
If the Bengals get another horrifying performance from Dalton, we could be heading to AJ McCarron getting some playing time soon, and that may not be much of an upgrade for the Bengals. The pressure is on head coach Marvin Lewis to get the offense in gear, and with the Texans being a bit banged up from the opener, there will be little room for excuses.
Texans in concussion protocol
The awareness of head trauma in football has escalated over the past few years, and that is a good thing. This week, five Texans players will be going through the league's concussion protocol, which means their availability for a Thursday night game could be in serious doubt given the short turnaround this week. The players going through the concussion protocol this week in Houston are linebacker Brian Cushing, wide receiver Bruce Ellington, and all three tight ends on the roster: C.J. Fiedorowicz, Ryan Griffin, and Stephen Anderson. O'Brien is not expecting any of those five players to be available, which is a tough blow to the Texans' depth this week.
Which coach is under more pressure?
Some are already suggesting Bill O'Brien is coming under pressure to show signs of progress. Marvin Lewis has been there, done that. Coaches may not have long to prove they are right for the job in professional sports anymore, but there is only one coach under an immense amount of pressure to go 1-1 this week, and that is Lewis. O'Brien has the saving grace of finally having a true franchise quarterback he can work with, and his background suggests he will do good work with Watson moving forward. Lewis no longer has that option with Dalton. If Cincinnati goes 0-2, the rumblings and hot seat chatter should pick up steam in Cincinnati.
for more features.


text: My server has 2 domain. I tried to access https://www.domain1.com and https://www.domain2.com. Then it show the same page which is "Welcome to the Advanced Extranet Server" <- this is Mandriva linux Do I make any mistake? if it is a mistake how can I make use of https for each domain? * I check at ISP Manager-> website Basic at www.domain1.com already. For www.domain2.com, I cannot check box because it show SSL already for this IP.


text:
Peter Drucker's Works Theology: Part 3
What is one to do when the Word of Government or the Word of Business conflicts with the Word of God? The "partnerships" that characterize the new global P.E.A.C.E. Plan efforts of Rick Warren reflect the 3-legged stool philosophy of Peter Drucker, his mentor. This "collaboration" (another name for the same thing) places Church, State and Corporate Business interests together as if all interests were compatible. The ethical dilemmas that this "partnership" raises are multitudinous.
What suffers most from such unholy alliances is the Word of God. History shows that the Word becomes compromised and squandered during such joint pursuits. And it becomes enmeshed and entangled in the competing interests of Business (especially financial) and State (particularly power).
J.C. Philpot's sermon, "The Word of Men and the Word of God" was preached at Providence Chapel, Oakham, on Tuesday Evening, Oct. 4, 1864. This message is timeless. The reader is challenged to find a modern-day neo-evangelical pastor with his 15-minute pre-digested, canned sermon who can stand on this solid ground at the close of his life, as Philpot could:
"For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." 1 Thess. 2:13
". . . I hope, though I would wish to speak of myself humbly and modestly as becomes me, -- yet I would fain hope that the Lord, not only here, but elsewhere, has caused the gospel I have preached to be received not as the word of men, but as it is, the word of God. And I hope there are those underneath this roof this evening who can set to their seal that they have received what I have said from time to time from this pulpit, not as the word of men, but as the word of God. They have felt at various times a power in the word, as if God himself were pleased to speak to their hearts by it; and from the effects realised by it, in the peace and joy it has communicated, in the liberty which it has brought, in the comfort which it has given, in the sweet assurance with which it has been attended, in the abiding effects which it has wrought, and the permanent effects which it has produced, they can look back and recognise it as having been to them the very voice of God. Now, my dear friends, this will stand, and stand for ever. If you have received what I have spoken to you for these many years only as the word of men, when I am gone all will be gone, and I and it as much forgotten as if I had never preached in your ears the word of life. It will be as vain, as fleeting, as useless as the foam upon the water when stirred by a breeze, will all pass away as the smoke out of a chimney, or as the chaff of the summer threshing floors. Nay, worse, for where the gospel is not the savour of life unto life, it is the savour of death unto death (2 Cor. 2:16); and if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost. (2 Cor. 4:3.) It will little profit you in the great day to have heard the gospel for many years if it has not been made the power of God to your salvation. Nay, it cannot but increase your condemnation to have seen the light and rebelled against it, to have heard the truth, and yet inwardly or outwardly, in heart or in life to have turned aside to lies.
"But you who have received the gospel from my lips as the word of God, and found and felt its effectual power in your heart, will stand every storm and live at last. What you have thus heard and received has been for eternity. It has saved and sanctified your soul, and it will be owned of God at the last day as his voice through me to you. The faith raised up in your heart by the power of this word, the hope that has been communicated, and the love shed abroad by the Holy Ghost through it will all have his approbation in the great day when Christ shall come and all his saints with him. Then you who by his teaching and testimony have believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God, even you who can only say you desire to fear his name, be you weak or strong, will be found in him in that day accepted in the beloved. O that we may now be blessed with a sweet assurance that we shall then enter into the joy of the Lord; when all the infirmities of the flesh shall be forgotten, all the sins of our nature lost and buried in the grave, and we stand before the throne, with palms in our hands and everlasting crowns upon our heads, and all sorrow and sighing for ever fled away."
To read this entire sermon, go to: http://www.truegospel.net/Philpot/198a.htm


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Former O's Player Ryan Freel Found Dead In Fla. Home
By JENNIFER KAY
Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) -- Ryan Freel, a former Major League Baseball player known for his fearless play but whose career was cut short after eight seasons by a series of head and other injuries, was found dead Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Freel, who was 36, died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted shotgun wound, sheriff's office spokesman Shannon Hartley wrote in an email Sunday. The medical examiner will make the final determination of the cause of death.
"RIP Ryan Freel!! Great teammate, great guy, n loved his family!" former Cincinnati Reds teammate Sean Casey tweeted. "Such a sad day today with his passing!Awful news!Prayers are with his family!"
The speedy Freel spent six of his eight big league seasons with the Reds and finished his career in 2009 with a .268 average and 143 steals.
"Really hurt by his passing!" Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips said on Twitter. "You'll never will be forgotten."
Freel drew attention in 2006 when he was quoted by the Dayton Daily News as saying he had an imaginary friend, Farney. "He's a little guy who lives in my head who talks to me and I talk to him," Freel was quoted as saying. "Everybody thinks I talk to myself, so I tell `em I'm talking to Farney."
The Jacksonville native thrilled fans with his all-out style, yet it took a toll on his career. During his playing days, he once estimated he had sustained up to 10 concussions. Freel missed 30 games in 2007 after a collision with a teammate caused a concussion.
Freel showed no fear as he ran into walls, hurtled into the seats and crashed into other players trying to make catches. His jarring, diving grabs often made the highlight reels, and he was praised by those he played with and against for always having a dirt-stained uniform.
Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 10th round of the 1995 amateur draft out of Tallahassee Community College, Freel made his big league debut in April 2001 with the Blue Jays after second baseman Homer Bush injured a thumb.
Freel appeared in just nine major league games that season, became a free agent and spent all of 2002 at Tampa Bay's Triple-A farm team. He signed a minor league deal with the Reds that November and made it back to the majors the following April.
He stayed with the Reds through 2008, when a torn tendon in his right hamstring caused him to miss the final 103 games of the season. He was traded to Baltimore at that December's winter meetings and split the 2009 season among the Orioles, Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals.
"The Reds family is deeply saddened to hear of the death of Ryan Freel," the Cincinnati Reds said in a statement. "His teammates and our fans loved him for how hard he played the game, and he loved giving back to the community. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."
Freel had consecutive seasons of 37, 36 and 37 steals from 2004-06 but started to slow the following year. After hitting .271 with eight homers and 27 RBIs in 2006, he gained a $2,325,000 salary for the following year and then in April 2007 signed a $7 million, two-year deal covering 2008 and `09.
He was in center field when he collided with right fielder Norris Hopper's elbow on May 28, 2007, an injury that caused Freel to be taken off the field in an ambulance. Freel sustained a concussion that caused headaches and an impaired memory, and he didn't return until early July. He then suffered a season-ending knee surgery in August.
"I think what happened last year has taken a toll on this year," he said at spring training the following year. "Obviously there's question marks. Obviously there's people questioning or doubting or whatever it may be."
He sustained another head injury that put him back on the DL when he was hit by a pickoff throw to second base from Boston pitcher Justin Masterson during the Patriots Day game at Fenway Park on April 20, 2009. Freel appeared dazed as he walked off, both arms extended over the shoulders of Baltimore's trainers.
Disappointed about conditions surrounding a stress test he was forced to take before beginning a minor league rehabilitation assignment -- he insisted he felt fine -- Freel was traded to the Cubs on May 8 only to be dealt to Kansas City on July 6. The Royals cut him a month later, and he signed a minor league deal with Texas. The following year, he played in nine games for the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League.
Jacksonville.com reported he was hired as baseball coach at the St. Joseph Academy on June 28 this year and then "backed away" from that position.
Freel also had trouble related to alcohol. He was arrested in northern Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, in April 2005 and was charged with drunken driving, careless driving and driving with an open container in a motor vehicle. A month later, he pleaded guilty.
The following January, he was arrested at a pool hall in Tampa, Fla., and charged with disorderly intoxication, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors settled the case by having Freel do community service.
Associated Press writers Ronald Blum and Ben Walker contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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This article is more than 1 year old
VMware ships embiggened vCloud Suite after price brouhaha
Discount chop looms; how many dollars per socket?
VMware suffered a cacophony of complaints over its pricing for its software in 2011, and as part of the latest round of product launches this summer the company moved away from per-VM or VRAM capacity pricing as customers wanted. But to get the more attractive pricing, you have to buy a whole bundle of cloudy tools, called the vCloud Suite. If you buy tools piecemeal, then you get whacked by the old pricing model.
The vCloud Suite was launched by VMware back at its VMworld extravaganza back in August, rolling up automation, disaster recovery, and other add-ons to the shiny new ESXi 5.1 server virtualization hypervisor and its vSphere extensions. VMware has graduated editions of the ESXi tools, with rising prices as functionality increases, as is the case with most enterprise software. The vCloud Suite is intended for those customers who want to move beyond server virtualization to full-on cloud computing and workload orchestration. (VMware draws a line between the two, but El Reg would argue that the whole point of virtualization from the very beginning was to get to more malleable, utility-style computing, not just to drive up utilization on x86 iron where operating systems had crap workload managers.)
When vCloud Suite came out in August, it included the following features:
- vSphere Enterprise Plus: The top-end ESXi 5.1 hypervisor.
- vCloud Director: Aggregates multiple vCenter management servers and pools of ESXi virtualized servers into clouds.
- vCloud Connector: Links private clouds to each other and to public clouds.
- vCloud Networking and Security: A firewall add-on with and other network security features.
- vCenter Site Recovery Manager Enterprise: Does disaster recovery and failover for virtual servers.
- vCenter Operations Management Suite: This includes vCenter Operations for performance monitoring and alerting, vCenter Chargeback Manager for metering CPU, memory, storage, and other capacity usage, vCenter Configuration Manager for checking the configurations of VMs and hypervisors and ensuring they are compliant with setup and security policies, and vCenter Infrastructure Navigator for discovering apps running in the virtual infrastructure and mapping their dependencies along with their VMs.
- vFabric Application Director: An application publishing catalog that links into provisioning tools for virtual infrastructure.
What was not apparent at the time was that vCloud Connector 2.0, vCenter Operations Management Suite 5.6, and vFabric Application Director 5.1 were not yet shipping. But VMware announced this morning that two of these modules are now shipping.
The company also said today that one new module that was added to vCloud Suite back in October would be shipping by the end of the fourth quarter (so, within the next four weeks). This module is vCloud Automation Center 5.1, which is the rebranded DynamicOps server, hypervisor, and cloud provisioning tool that VMware acquired back in July.
VMware added that vCloud Connector 2.0 would also be generally available in the fourth quarter, thus completing the suite and making all of the modules available.
vCloud Suite comes in two flavors. vCloud Suite 5.1 Standard Edition includes vSphere Enterprise Plus, vCloud Director, vCloud Connector, and vCloud Networking and Security Standard Edition (which rolls up software-defined networking and vShield security); it costs $4,995 per socket. vCloud Suite Advanced Edition, which costs $7,495 per socket, adds in firewall and networking resiliency features and vCenter Operations Advanced Edition. The latter item has performance monitoring and capacity planning across the cloud. The top-end vCloud Suite Enterprise Edition has all the bells and whistles and costs $11,495 per socket and has everything.
Depending on the edition you pick and how many VMs and sockets you deploy using these various VMware tools, the discount from the vCloud Suite bundle compared to buying the components individually is somewhere between 20 and 50 per cent, VMware has told El Reg.
That said, at between $4,995 and $11,495 per socket, the virtual machine and cloud extensions that VMware wants you to buy in the suite cost twice as much per socket as a pretty hefty two-socket x86 server at the low-end and nearly five times as much as a physical server per socket at the high-end.
Most of the money and damned near all of the profit is in the virtualization and cloud software. And that is why the server and operating system makers who don't control their own virtualization stacks cannot make any money these days.
And here's a reminder. Concurrent with the vCloud Suite was launched in the summer, VMware has been giving customers currently using the vSphere Enterprise Plus server virtualization stack a free upgrade to vCloud Suite Standard Edition. That's a savings of $1,500 per socket or around 30 per cent off the cost of the upgrade to vCloud Suite. This deal ends on December 15, so if you are done with server virtualization on the VMware stack and want to move into clouds, it gets more expensive to do so in a few weeks. ®


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Home Diagnostic Tests: The Ultimate House Call?
Home Diagnostic Tests: The Ultimate House Call?
Magazine article
By: Carol Lewis
Date: November/December 2001
Source: Lewis, Carol. "The Ultimate House Call?" FDA Consumer 35 (November/December 2001): 18-20.
About the Author: Carol Lewis is a staff writer for the FDA Consumer, the official magazine of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Now part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA grew out of the work of a single chemist in the Department of Agriculture in 1862. The FDA's mission is "protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation's food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health."
Tests on body fluids, such as blood and urine, can yield a significant amount of information about an individual's health. Such diagnostic tests were once the preserve of the pathology lab, and doctors and patients had to wait for the results. Now, thanks to advances in chemistry, many tests are quick and simple. As a result, people can now perform many tests for themselves and get the results quickly and easily in the privacy of their own homes.
Home pregnancy tests were the first of the do-it-yourself diagnostic tests. First marketed in the 1970s, they are still the most popular product on the home diagnostic market. One-third of all women have used these tests at some time. Home pregnancy tests allow early access to highly sensitive and personal information. With today's tests, a woman can get a positive or negative result within days of a missed period, rather than waiting the traditional two weeks. The result also is available within minutes of performing the test, rather than having to wait for a doctor's appointment.
If all home diagnostic tests were like pregnancy tests, there would be few problems. Although a pregnancy test may give an incorrect result, either because of test limitations or because it was used improperly, the outcome is unlikely to be life-threatening. However, today there are many other home diagnostics on the market, some of which test for serious conditions such as HIV, hepatitis C, or drug use. The article that follows describes some of the key issues involved in the growth of home diagnostic tests.
More and more Americans are playing doctor in the privacy of their own bathrooms, using a few drops of blood or a urine sample to test for cholesterol, blood glucose, or evidence of colon or rectal cancer. In fact, a snippet of a child's hair now can confirm the use of illicit drugs.
Often seen as a less expensive and a more convenient alternative to a trip to the doctor's office, self-testing diagnostic and monitoring devices are booming in sales. Devices such as blood-glucose tests and blood-pressure kits make it easier for people to self-monitor conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. However, this technology-driven trend is not without limits and could result in serious problems for those who rely on the tests instead of on the expertise of their health-care provider. A recent shift in the home diagnostics market—from monitoring chronic illnesses to diagnosing serious or potentially fatal diseases—is raising red flags among health professionals.
For years, pregnancy tests and ovulation predictors dominated the home test kit market. While these devices still generate large numbers of self-care sales, other tools of the medical trade are fast becoming available outside the doctor's office—no prescription needed. Spiraling health-care costs, increased interest in preventive health care, and a desire for privacy are paving the way for products that now include screening for the virus that causes AIDS and for drugs of abuse.
Screening tests often are used at home to check for symptoms of a disease when they may not be readily apparent. For example, people can measure their cholesterol and triglyceride levels—two types of fats in the blood—to help minimize the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Home test kits are, in many cases, as inexpensive as a co-payment to a doctor and a lot less time-consuming. Some can provide speedy results. Women often use home pregnancy test (HPT) kits for these reasons, as well as for the convenience of testing at home. Some women prefer to know for sure that they are pregnant before visiting their physicians, and HPT kits can help confirm pregnancy earlier. An earlier confirmation provides an opportunity for health-care providers to counsel women about their options, and to discourage potentially harmful behaviors, such as smoking and use of alcohol or drugs.
Kidney disease is one of the most devastating complications of diabetes, but it's also detectable and treatable in its earliest stages. A home test kit allows people with diabetes to test for glucose and even small amounts of protein in their urine—an early sign of kidney dysfunction.
Jim Watson, R.Ph., a pharmacist at the CVS pharmacy in Gaithersburg, Md., says that in his experience, blood glucose monitoring systems and home pregnancy tests are among the most popular tests purchased for home use.
"Diabetics already know they have the disease and so they test their blood sugar levels several times a day," he says. By contrast, Watson says, although women may only use a pregnancy test once, they are still one of the most popular tests the store sells. Sales of both HIV and drug screening home tests are infrequent, according to Watson.
One sign of their overall increasing popularity is the fact that many pharmacists are moving home test kits from behind their counters onto free-standing displays. The lure of the Internet is also helping to make these devices more readily available.
Steven Gutman, M.D., director of the Food and Drug Administration's clinical laboratory devices division, says that consumers need to be wary about buying and using the kits on their own. "People need to carefully read the test-kit labeling and instructions, where important information and warnings about the product are listed," he says. Among other things, this information tells how a test works, and what to do when it doesn't. Home test kits are meant to be an adjunct to doctor visits, not a replacement for them. "Although the menu of home testing products has expanded," Gutman says, "the advice is still the same."
While convenience, confidentiality, and the cost-saving benefits of home testing cannot be overlooked, doctors are concerned about the availability of medical tests that encourage self-diagnosis because of the possibility that the results could be misinterpreted and treatment might be delayed.
For example, Sandy Stewart, Ph.D., a research biomedical engineer in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), says that blood pressure monitors should be used for tracking blood pressure readings between doctor's visits. "Users should never change their medications based on a home blood pressure reading." If there are significant changes, he says, the user should see his or her doctor immediately. "The blood pressure reading taken in the physician's office must be the final word."
In addition, the diagnostic value of home test kits can be affected by users who don't follow instructions carefully. In an effort to conceive a child, Donna Trossevin of Frederick, Md., bought from a local pharmacy an ovulation predictor that uses body temperature to help pinpoint a woman's most fertile time. Although the kit consisted of only a thermometer and special paper to chart her daily temperatures, Trossevin says it was difficult to get accurate readings because "if you don't hold the instrument just so, you can easily misread the numbers." And the half a degree increase from a person's normal temperature that a woman is looking for to predict ovulation "is such a small window of opportunity and easy to miss," says Trossevin. "I just never knew 100 percent whether I was ovulating or not."
Those who rely on home tests also miss out on pre- and post-test counseling, which offer information, support, competence, interpretation, and follow-up advice to consumers that only a health-care professional can give. The benefit of having a health-care professional involved in a test or screening procedure is that the results can be evaluated within the context of the whole health picture, not just one test. Furthermore, receiving news of potential pregnancy, illness, or infection over the phone, or from the color of a test strip, can be devastating.
"The first 72 hours following a positive result for an illness as serious as HIV is when people are most likely to hurt themselves," says Edward Geraty, a licensed clinical social worker with Behavioral Science Associates in Baltimore. Geraty says it's important to have a face-to-face relationship when delivering the news of a positive HIV test. Without it, he says, "there's a psychological component of the person's illness that is completely left out of the process."
Bob Barret, Ph.D., agrees. A professor of counseling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Barret believes that home test kits, particularly for HIV, "are best used only by those who are well-educated about the disease, and who are in touch with their emotions and have a good support system around them."
Accuracy, too, is an important consideration when it comes to home testing. False positive test results indicate that a condition is present when, in fact, it is not. False negatives are results that do not identify a condition that is present.
The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces consumer protection laws, recently reviewed results of several unapproved HIV test kits advertised and sold on the Internet for self-diagnosis at home. In every case, the kits showed a negative result when used on a known HIV-positive sample.
Similarly, the FDA recently tested a number of unapproved home HIV test kits sold on the Internet that were confiscated during a criminal investigation. None produced accurate results. In reality, the outcome could have had grave consequences for a user in terms of mental and emotional stress, access to proper medical treatment, and transmission of the disease to others. The FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which reviews all blood-related products, continues to investigate firms and people involved in the illegal sale of unapproved HIV home test kits in the United States.
Home test kits, for the most part, involve relatively simple procedures. Some are as straightforward as one pregnancy test in which chemically treated test strips dipped in urine produce colored indicator lines. Others require a finger prick and the placement of a blood sample onto a reagent strip. The strip is inserted into a machine that measures blood glucose levels. Still others, like the only FDA-cleared HIV home sample collection kit, consist of multiple components, ranging from pre-test counseling information to a personal identification number for obtaining the test's results. In any case, the FDA requires that the kits be simple enough for an average consumer to use at home without a doctor's supervision.
Some home tests give their results as positive or negative. Performance of these is described in terms of sensitivity—the probability that the results will be positive when a disease or condition is present; and specificity—the probability that the results will be negative when a disease or condition is not present. Other home tests give numerical results. Performance of these is described in terms of precision—how reproducible the results are when a test is run over and over; and accuracy—how well the results compare to a laboratory test. All diagnostic tests have limitations, and sometimes their use may produce erroneous or questionable results. Test results obtained at home can often be clarified by a physician, who may recommend another test that is handled by a laboratory.
Gutman, whose office is within CDRH, says that home test kits should not be stored in places where they might be exposed to extreme temperatures, since this may cause product deterioration over time. He also stresses the importance of checking test-kit expiration dates—chemicals in an outdated test may no longer work properly, so the results are not likely to be valid.
While manufacturers of professional test kits used in clinics and hospitals or doctor's offices are required to include sensitivity and specificity information in their labeling, the FDA does not make manufacturers of home test kits do so. But Lori Moore of Maysville, Ky., thinks they should.
"As a consumer, I want to see the data that supports this being a good brand," she says. "For the average person, this information truly lets them know what they're purchasing." But Moore happens to be more familiar with sensitivity and related product information than most people, since she has worked as a registered laboratory technician. Still, she insists that today's consumer wants more information visible on the product's label than is currently available.
Dave Lyle, a medical technologist in the FDA's clinical laboratory devices division, explains that "the decision was made several years ago to exclude this information from over-the-counter kits because it might confuse the consumer." However, Lyle agrees that "in today's world, most consumers are very sophisticated and want as much information as possible to make an informed decision."
Complications of home testing may interfere with obtaining accurate results. Consumers may not be able to follow the instructions. Proper collection, storage and shipment of specimens are all critical for accuracy. Samples held too long, for example, or subjected to severe temperature changes could generate false positive or negative readings. Urine samples taken too early or too late in the day or foods eaten that mimic the metabolites being measured also can produce inaccurate readings.
And people need to beware of bogus tests—those not cleared by the FDA. Unapproved home test kits do not come with any guarantee of accuracy or sensitivity, nor do they have a documented history of dependability. Proper training to interpret results is not provided with the kits, and they do not have a validated record of precision. This means that unapproved tests may be inconsistent and inaccurate.
Approved tests, on the other hand, have undergone extensive study and review by the manufacturer of the product to satisfy the FDA's requirement that they are as safe and accurate for consumer use as their laboratory counterparts are for professional use. For any in-home test, the manufacturer must convince the FDA that the results of a test will benefit consumers and that consumers have the knowledge necessary to decide whether testing themselves is appropriate.
For example, Stewart says people purchasing blood pressure monitors should look for a statement in the label that says the device has been validated in a human study "where the statistics have been calculated to ensure that good accuracy can be demonstrated." Stewart says the label also should include a statement that says measurements obtained by the blood pressure monitor are equivalent to those obtained by a trained observer using a cuff and stethoscope.
"Indeed, reading the label is the most important thing," he says, "but it might also be useful to ask the pharmacist or one's doctor to get a recommendation."
Amid sweeping changes in U.S. health care, the trend toward cost-effective self-care products used in the home emphasizes prevention and early intervention. The home test kit market is offering faster and easier products that lend themselves to being used in less-sophisticated environments to meet consumers' needs.
However, Gutman emphasizes, "even the best screening tests are occasionally wrong. No tests, whether performed at the lab or in the home, are perfect."
Today, patients are better informed, thanks to the Internet and other media coverage of health. Physicians also carry larger workloads. The increased use of home diagnostic tests appears to fit in with these trends. Prior to a doctor's visit, home diagnostic tests equip a patient with information that he or she would otherwise have had to wait for or might not have obtained at all. However, there is, as yet, no clear evidence that self-diagnosis is improving the nation's health and clear guidance is lacking as to the role of home test kits in health care.
For patients with a chronic condition, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, home monitoring would seem to be useful. However, this self-monitoring needs to be done in partnership with the doctor, because other checks are needed that cannot be done by the patients themselves. When it comes to self-diagnosis, there are self-tests for hepatitis, HIV, cholesterol, and fertility. Most of these self-diagnostic tests use a simple color test based on a rapid chemical reaction that occurs in blood or urine. The main issue with these tests is that the results still must be confirmed by a pathology laboratory, despite advances in the technology of the tests. This is standard scientific practice and often is explicitly stated on the product label.
The Internet has contributed to the growth of the home diagnostics industry since the article above was published. People can buy tests anytime and in complete privacy, which may be attractive to some consumers. Some of these tests are FDA approved and are the same as those sold in pharmacies. Others are not recommended and, as with many products available on the Internet, are hard to regulate. It may not be easy for a consumer to distinguish an approved from a non-approved test when they visit a Web site. Buying a test on the Internet guarantees privacy, but there is none of the face-to-face follow up which is so important in interpreting a result. For example, tests for prostate specific antigen (PSA) may indicate an increased risk of prostate cancer, but do not mean much in the absence of a physical exam and a confirmation test.
Home diagnostics probably will continue to expand as the technology becomes simpler and faster. For example, genetic tests for susceptibility to certain diseases will likely become available in the near future. Ideally, consumers will only use approved tests. If they do not, then they should remember that a do-it-yourself test is only a part of the diagnostic work-up and discussion with a doctor is still important.
Web sites
Center for Devices and Radiologic Health. "Buying Diagnostic Tests from the Internet: Buyer Beware!" 〈http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/buyerbeware.html〉 (accessed November 22, 2005).
Office of In-vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety. "Home Use Tests." 〈http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/oivd/consumer-homeuse.html〉 (accessed November 22, 2005).


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Attendance up 16 pct. at Wis. historical sites
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Historical Society's 12 historic sites and museums have seen a 16 percent increase in paid attendance so far this year.
Officials say new programs have been popular, and the weather has been better this year than it was last year.
Through the end of July, paid attendance was up 30 percent at Old World Wisconsin in Eagle and almost 14 percent at Circus World Museum in Baraboo.
Cheryl Sullivan is the administrator of the Historical Society's Division of Museums and Historic Sites. She says attendance at Old World Wisconsin was driven by monthlong events including a display about children's author Laura Ingalls Wilder.
She says the nice weather also helped. She says attendance in July 2012 was poor because of unseasonable heat.


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Lower Steel Demand Takes Toll on Iron Ore Producer
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF), a major producer of iron ore from mines in North America, Brazil, and Australia, has idled some of its North American ore production and will delay completion of a mine expansion in Canada. A temporary mine closure in Michigan is expected to affect about 500 employees and the shutdown of two production lines at a concentrating plant will result in the layoff of another 125 workers.
Cliffs' president of global operations said:
[W]e believe it is prudent and necessary to match our production volumes with market demand. We will remain operationally flexible to ramp up production volumes throughout the year if the demand increases.
The company did not change its forecast for North American production volumes from a previously announced level of 19 to 20 million tons in fiscal year 2013. The company has failed to meet the consensus estimate for EPS in each of the past four quarters, and the estimate for the December quarter has dropped from $1.70 three months ago to $0.71 currently.
U.S. steel production in October totaled 6.9 million metric tons, down 3.3% year-over-year, according to the World Steel Association. Global capacity utilization dropped to 76.5% in October, down 1.4% since October 2011.
Financial results from U.S. steelmakers like United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), Nucor Inc. (NYSE: NUE), AK Steel Holdings Corp. (NYSE: AKS), and others indicate that margins are shrinking and production is contracting. Demand for iron ore, a principal component in steel making, consequently falls, and that is what Cliffs is predicting for next year.
Cliffs' shares are down 11.7% at $30.60 after the stock posted a new 52-week low of $30.12 earlier today. The prior range was $32.25 to $78.85.
Paul Ausick
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities & Metals, Jobs Tagged: AKS, CLF, NUE, X


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1900/72 Photo Gravure NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN Female Hupa Art EDWARD CURTIS 11x14. Since 1989 - The Name You Can Trust For Fine Vintage Photogravures, Photographs & Antique Prints. Serving the Design & Decor trades for over 20 years.
See our vintage and original prints featured in. And other fine quality publications. WE LIST DOZENS OF NEW ARRIVALS EVERY DAY!Where you can search our World Class Selection of authentic vintage prints by photographer or subject. Browse THOUSANDS of fine vintage photography prints from silver gelatin to photogravure. This Vintage 1972 Photogravure Comes Professionally Dry Mounted On 11 x 14 inch White Archival Presentation Mat Board And Is Ready To Place In A Standard Size Frame. Curtis (American, 1868 - 1952) - renowned photographer of the American West and the Native American Indian. Title: "Principal Female Shaman of yhe Hupa" Subject: Native American Indian - American West - Hupa Tribe. Date Of Negative: circa 1895 - 1918 Type Of Print: Authentic Sepia Toned Sheet Fed Photogravure made directly from the original circa 1895 - 1918 Edward S. Date Of Print: 1972 Original Issue: Bound sheet fed photogravure compilation issued in 2 sided gravure (imagery on verso). Paper: Mohawk Superfine Paper - medium weight rag type art paper, matte finish. Meriden Gravure Company - Meriden, Connecticut Print Origin: U.
Approximate Image Size Inches: 9.25 x 7 inches Approximate Image Size Metric: 23.7 x 18 centimeters Mount Board Size Inches: 11 x 14 inches Mount Board Size Metric: 28 x 36 centimeters Mount Board Color: White Print Border: No - full bleed print. Condition Grade: Fine + + Verso: Professionally dry mounted with Bienfang archival materials onto sturdy 4ply museum mat board. Registered Vintage Archive Serial #.Vintage 1972 photogravure print on fine art paper made directly from the original circa early 1900's photogravure plate/negative by the renowned photographer of the Native American Indian, Edward S. The photogravure plate is professionally dry mounted on 11x14 archival museum mat board and ready for a standard size frame. These iconic Native American images have been faithfully crafted in fine sheet fed photogravure (also known as Héliogravure) by The Meriden Gravure Company and matched for tonality and color - their "look" is that of the original pre-1920 gravures. Soft, muted and atmospheric, these images evoke the historic feel of a world and way of life long since gone.
The source originals from which these vintage 1972 prints were made came from the Pierpont Morgan Library's Curtis collection and the Boston Public Library's set of original Curtis photogravures from his landmark project "The North American Indian". Finephoto carries an extensive selection of vintage 1972 Edward S. Curtis prints, in both fine lithography and photogravure - all are matched to the original images in their look. Condition of this professionally mounted photogravure is excellent and it will frame up beautifully for display.
This vintage 1972 photogravure is guaranteed to be authentic and comes with a hand signed CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY (COA) with unique individual registered serial number from the Finephoto Archive & Database. Under magnification this plate shows a tight "honeycomb" cell structure, uniform pressing of ink and a wide range of tone - all indicative of a high quality sheet fed gravure plate. The watermark word "Finephoto" does not appear on the actual print. We list beautiful original vintage photographs, photogravures and antique prints everyday! READY FOR FRAMING & DISPLAY!- The expensive engraved copper plate photogravure process and the resulting fine prints make vintage photogravures highly collectible and excellent vintage prints for framing. Your vintage print will arrive ready to be placed directly into a standard size frame. While most of our clients frame our quality mounted vintage prints right out of the box exactly as delivered, you also have the option of adding an overlay window mat in the color or style of your choice which can be inexpensively done with a quick visit to your local arts/crafts store or framing shop. Secure archival packaging includes water/tear resistant carrier, custom made 275 lb.
Triple wall inserts, individual acid free black archival backing boards, individual ultra clear heavy duty archival print protectors and a hand signed Certificate Of Authenticity (COA) from Finephoto. To supplement and replenish those holdings we are regularly acquiring new collections and portfolios from around the world as opportunities present themselves. As a result of this ongoing procurement of vintage materials, when we feel we are "deep enough" in specific areas we will be open to accept offers which are reasonably close to the listing price of an item.
So, if you decide to use the Best Offer option in those listings which contain one and make us a reasonable offer, we will do our best to accept. At Finephoto we are always 100% committed to your complete satisfaction! We will continue striving to bring you the very best in quality, variety and excellence in photographic imagery for your collecting and photographic art needs. Where you can also sign up for our free newsletter for special promotions, new listings and interesting information on vintage photography.
Unauthorized copying or use of ANY PART of this description is prohibited. (Please remember this is a large piece and requires special packing materials and procedure to ensure adequate protection during transit). Remember this is a large piece!
DO NOT DUPLICATE OR COPY! This item is in the category "Art\Art Photographs". The seller is "finephoto" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped worldwide.


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Why we decided to buy instead of rent
Three years ago, we moved across the country and almost went under financially when it took 16 months for our old house to sell. I immediately promised that I would never buy a house again. . . . Until last month when we signed on the dotted line for a home once again. Here is what changed my mind:
No more moving
Obviously we cannot tell the future for certain, but my wife and I plan to never move away from our current location. Even if my job situation changes, we are committed to staying in the Denver area. We really enjoy the weather, the culture, the mountains and above all, our church. A year ago, we expected that we could move at any time.


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From the day I flew into LA, all Kyle kept saying was "we're gonna take you on the hardest ride of your life". All I could think was "what? we're going to Australia?". Turns out, Cloud Burst, aka Cloud Bonk is a tough ride. Not the hardest ride ever, but a damn tough ride. So what qualifies as a tough ride? Well, for starters, you're climbing for like 30 miles straight, from sea level to 7,000′. And there are no shops, no spigots, no nothing to get water. Just a crap shot of drinking from "the Earth". Previous experiences with that cunt, Mother Nature has left me bed-ridden for days… So yeah, it's not your every day, supported, group ride through the dainty countryside like a lot of centuries I've done are.
Cloud Burst does live up to its nickname and yes, it is a tough ride but how can you fixate on the negatives with such a rad crew? I had so much fun this day that the photos don't even begin to capture it. Sure, it's beautiful and yes, these roads are some of the finest California has to offer but to experience this ride with your true friends is something else.
That and the burgers are the top are the best! In the end, my Garmin was showing under 10k of climbing, so we hit Griffith to bring it to a nice and even 120 miles and about 10,300′ of climbing.
YEESH! I will say, this is the most fun I've ever had on a bicycle before and these photos are my absolute favorite 35mm ride photos. Ever.
Click on the above photo to launch the gallery, or here to open in a new tab.


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|We are listed in the following Internet directories. We do not necessarily endorse all the sites listed in the topsites
below. Just because one labels a site, "Christian" does NOT make it biblical. So please use discernment when
visiting any link:
|Why Did Christ Die?
by Dr. Arno C. Gaebelein


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Kids' Resistance to the Stepfamily
Kids' Resistance to the Stepfamily
Visiting stepkids often have the most resistance to the stepfamily. They want to spend time with the bioparent they rarely get to see, but because they don't know you, they don't feel particularly close to you. Visiting stepkids often feel excluded from the family identity. Be sympathetic. Many shared experiences have occurred without them, so they have reasons for feeling left out.
You can help make a child feel more a part of the family by following these pointers:
- Creating a place for each child, even if it is a shelf (don't touch it—don't even peek!), a closet, a bed, a bureau drawer, or a corner.
- Give the child some public acknowledgment (but keep it subtle so as not to embarrass her). Try a small Welcome Home sign posted in the living room, or add the child's name to the mailbox: John, Jane, and Joshua Smith.
- Introduce your stepchildren to what you do in your daily life, whether it's a reading group, a bowling club, or a "take-your-daughter-to-work day."
- Try to spend time with each child alone.
Reassuring Your Own Kids
With stepsiblings visiting, your own children's reactions and ups and downs will certainly affect the whole family. If they're relatively happy and secure, it will make things easier for you. It may also make it easier on the visiting kids—they won't face hostility from your kids. The same rules apply whether your kids live with you all the time, part-time, or just visit. Here are some suggestions:
Stepping Stones
Your job is to make your stepchild feel welcome. It's his job to test the boundaries you provide.
- Keep some space special and private no matter how crowded conditions get when the entire family is assembled.
- Help your child anticipate what the visit will be like by talking about it with her ahead of time.
- Let your kid know that nothing has changed emotionally between you—the new kids are not crowding your affections.
- Sit down with your child and brainstorm ways to make the visiting kids welcome. By including your child in these kinds of welcoming activities, she'll feel a part of the events.
- Allow for grumpiness and plan to give her some space and time to be alone—and to be alone with you.
"May I Bring a Friend?"
Letting kids bring a friend along for an occasional visit can be a good idea, especially if you're having problems getting along.
- A friend can serve as an ice breaker, someone who might actually see you as a human being instead of a monster!
- You will get to see another side of the child—the side that giggles, hangs out, and plays.
- A friend is a bridge to the rest of the child's life.
When a Child Refuses to Visit
Sometimes a child might refuse to visit your home. Your partner, the bioparent, will feel wretched, but you, too, will probably feel rejected and hurt. (If things have been rough between you, you may also feel a little relieved.)
When a child refuses to visit, try to determine why. Here are some possibilities:
- You might have hurt the kid's feelings, or she may be hanging onto an old conflict.
- She might feel intimidated or teased by other kids in the house.
- She might feel that you cramp her lifestyle, that she isn't allowed to have friends over, listen to her kind of music, or dress as she prefers.
- She may be feeling pressure from her custodial parent to shun you.
- She may be frightened to leave her custodial parent alone because she or he is sick, or in bad shape emotionally.
- She might feel that she can't leave the custodial parent because she needs to be a protector in a violent household.
Even if your partner has visitation rights, you may not want to force a child to come visit. Encourage your partner to try to find out what's going on, offer an ear, and tell her you're ready to talk about it whenever she is. At the same time, both you and the bioparent should continue to encourage her to come visit. When she does show up, don't say a word, and don't hold it against her.
Post-Visit Blahs
When the visit is over, you and your partner may keep the postmortem going for days. You may have no idea of how successful the visit was. Your perceptions may be totally different from those of your Sweetie on this matter, too. I'll bet you feel utterly drained. Visits are exhausting.
When a Child Comes Back from Visitations
If you are the custodial family or you share custody, you may find that the kid comes back from visits to the other home in a terrible mood. It's very common for a returning stepchild to pick a fight with a stepparent, as if to prove to himself that you are not his real parent. Don't rise to the bait. Remember that transitions are brutal. Give the kid space.
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3M Awarded Contract by Banner Health for 3M 360 Encompass System
3M Awarded Contract by Banner Health for 3M 360 Encompass System
SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 3M Health Information Systems has been awarded a contract by Banner Health that will expand the organization's portfolio of 3M products to include the 3M 360 Encompass System. The system's integrated computer-assisted coding and clinical documentation improvement (CDI) technology will assist Banner Health - one of the nation's largest nonprofit healthcare systems - in addressing the challenges of healthcare reform and ICD-10 adoption in 2014.
With auto-suggested codes and real-time prompts for clinical documentation specificity delivered across all CDI and coding processes, the 3M 360 Encompass System promotes optimal capture of patient severity in physician documentation and reduces the time needed to prepare physicians for ICD-10. Coders and CDI specialists access a common view of the patient information, which promotes streamlined processes, increased communication, strengthened collaboration and actionable data to improve patient care.
"Partnering with 3M allows us to leverage technology in new and exciting ways," said Jaime James, MHA, RHIA, System HIMS Director at Banner Health. "With 3M's coding logic and NLP technology we can bring the workflow of our CDI specialists and coders together to achieve new efficiencies. This makes it an important part of our ICD-10 mitigation strategy."
"ICD-10 will require increased clinical documentation specificity to capture the most complete code assignments," added Jane Walters, MA, RHIA, Senior Coding Director at Banner Health. "The volume of information and clinical documentation in the electronic health record makes CDI and coding processes more challenging. We anticipate the 3M 360 Encompass System will positively impact our physician documentation clarification process, which will ultimately reduce rework and increase productivity across the enterprise."
Banner Health joins 117 leading hospitals and health systems, representing more than 500 facilities, that have awarded contracts to 3M for the 3M 360 Encompass System. The integrated solution is the only automated coding and documentation improvement system built on 3M coding and grouping logic that leverages 3M natural language processing (NLP) technology and coding rules.
With the 3M Coding and Reimbursement System as its foundation, the 3M 360 Encompass System incorporates complete ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS coding content. The application natively codes in ICD-10 and enables coding in ICD-9 while viewing the ICD-10 equivalent. 3M is an international leader in coding and patient classification systems with more than 5,000 hospitals worldwide using 3M coding solutions to code and group patient data for decision support, quality measurement, and reimbursement.
Headquartered in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns or manages 23 acute-care hospitals, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services including physician clinics and home care and hospice services. Banner Health is in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming.
More information about the 3M 360 Encompass System is available online or by calling 800-367-2447.
360 Encompass and 3M are registered trademarks of 3M Company.
About 3M Health Information Systems
Best known for its market-leading coding system and ICD-10 expertise, 3M Health Information Systems delivers innovative software and consulting services designed to raise the bar for clinical documentation improvement, computer-assisted coding, performance monitoring, and quality outcomes reporting. 3M's robust healthcare data dictionary and terminology services support data interoperability and the expansion and accuracy of the electronic health record. With nearly 30 years of healthcare industry experience and the know-how of more than 100 credentialed 3M coding experts, 3M is the go-to choice for more than 5,000 hospitals worldwide that want to improve quality and financial performance. For more information, call 800-367-2447, visit www.3Mhis.com or follow on Twitter @3MHISNews
About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $30 billion in sales, 3M employs about 88,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.
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Product photography and illustrations have been reproduced as accurately as print and web technologies permit. To ensure highest satisfaction, we suggest you view an actual sample from your dealer for best color, wood grain and finish representation.
A delicate wisp of soft gray in an opaque cabinet finish*.
*When opaque or painted finishes are specified, the door and/or drawer center panel may be constructed of Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF).


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Overnight lane closure on Interstate 5 northbound
Traffic Advisory
October 8, 2014
Work on a stormwater management project will close one northbound traffic lane and the right shoulder on Interstate 5 this Friday night through Saturday morning. The I-5 northbound shoulder and lane closure will start about three quarters of a mile north of exit 295, the Taylors Ferry Road exit.
The closure will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, October 10. The northbound lane and shoulder will re-open at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 11.
The work is part of a project to collect and treat stormwater runoff from the freeway to protect Tryon Creek water quality. Environmental Services is working with the Oregon Department of Transportation on the stormwater management project.
For more information contact Linc Mann, 503-823-5328.
The Bureau of Environmental Services works with Portland residents and businesses to protect water quality, public health, and the environment through wastewater collection and treatment, sewer construction and maintenance, stormwater management, and stream and watershed restoration.


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NEW YORK (AP) — Yet to be challenged even a tiny bit at this U.S. Open, Serena Williams now gets a sure-to-be-hyped match against one of only three women to beat her all year, Sloane Stephens.
From the moment the women's draw came out at Flushing Meadows, it was clear which potential fourth-rounder was the most intriguing: defending champion Williams against up-and-coming talent Stephens, the top two Americans in the rankings.
"As I always say," Stephens said, "I think it will be epic."
And that statement came hours before Williams even had advanced out of the third round by beating 78th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-1 in a match that wrapped up at 1:05 a.m. Saturday.
"I'm so excited you guys stayed out for the late-night rendezvous. Thank you, guys, for staying," Williams told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. "I don't think I've ever played this late."
She has dropped a total of eight games through six sets this week. After killing time before facing Shvedova by watching "I Love Lucy" on a computer tablet, Williams produced a 22-3 edge in winners. She faced only one break point, erasing it with one of her six aces, then following up with another at 119 mph.
As for facing Stephens on Sunday, Williams said: "I definitely look forward to it. Whatever happens ... an American for sure will be in the quarterfinals, which is really good."
Much, much earlier, on a ho-hum afternoon devoid of any truly significant surprises, Stephens reached the round of 16 in New York for the first time by beating 23rd-seeded Jamie Hampton 6-1, 6-3 on Friday.
"Serena is the No. 1 player in the world. She's possibly the greatest player of all time. Sloane is Sloane. You know, she's making her own name. She's top 20 in the world for a reason," Hampton said. "They're both great players, both great competitors."
Hampton's blase summation of a Williams-Stephens matchup: "I don't really make too much of it."
She might be the only one.
"It's something," Stephens said, "I think everyone is looking forward to."
And why not? Williams is 31, seeded No. 1, and owns 16 major titles. Stephens is 20, seeded 15th, and already carrying the label of "Next Big Thing" in American tennis. Not only that, but Stephens surprisingly won their Australian Open quarterfinal, one of only four losses in 67 matches for Williams in 2013 (Victoria Azarenka beat her twice, and Sabine Lisicki once). Oh, and then there's this: Stephens found herself in a bit of a brouhaha this year over less-than-flattering comments she made to a reporter about Williams.
"That's all old news now, and we've moved on. We're fine, so I think that's all that matters," Stephens said Friday.
Asked about her relationship with Williams, Stephens replied: "Obviously, we're co-workers. We're Fed Cup teammates. But other than that, everything else is private. It's fine."
When a portion of those comments were relayed to Williams, she said: "We're teammates. I mean, I've always really liked Sloane. I have a lot of respect for Sloane. I think she's a great girl. I think she's great for tennis, as well."
They've played twice in the past — both in January, both on hard courts, both in the quarterfinals. Williams won 6-4, 6-3 at the Brisbane International. Three weeks later, Stephens came back for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory in Melbourne, where Williams was dealing with an ankle injury.
"She's very aggressive. She stays on top you of you. Doesn't give you any room to breathe. She's intense. She knows what she wants to do out there. That's why she's No. 1," Stephens said.
Thinking back to their previous matches, Stephens added: "It was very important for me the first time to just even get out there and be like, 'OK, it's not as scary as I thought it would be.' I think being able to have played her a couple times before, I'm excited to get back out there."
Williams probably is, too, given the way she responds to disappointments such as her Australian Open loss. Since a first-round exit at last year's French Open, Williams has won 94 of 99 matches and earned 13 titles, including at three of the past five Grand Slam tournaments.
As for what happened against Stephens in Australia, Williams said: "You got to ... think about what you can do, how you can be better. I'm sure she takes it as well — how she did, how she can repeat that."
Her match against Shvedova began at nearly midnight because it followed 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt's stirring 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 comeback victory over 2009 winner Juan Martin del Potro, which lasted more than four hours.
It was the ninth time in the last 10 years that two previous title winners faced each other in New York; Hewitt was a participant in three of those in the past, going 0-3.
The 32-year-old Australian, a former No. 1 now ranked 66th after a series of injuries, repeatedly scrambled along the baseline to come up with passing winners against the sixth-seeded del Potro.
"I don't know how many years I've got left in me. I keep getting asked the question," said Hewitt, who won Wimbledon in 2002. "I'm just pumped to get out on this court and try to put on a great show."
Earlier, two other U.S. Open winners, defending champion Andy Murray and top-seeded Novak Djokovic, experienced only brief lulls before staying on course for a possible showdown in the semifinals.
About 40 minutes into his match, Djokovic faced two set points, but he erased those thanks to errors by his opponent, and after adjusting to the swirling wind, wound up defeating 87th-ranked Benjamin Becker 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2. Murray dropped a set, yelled at himself after some awkward miscues, but finished well, taking the last five games of his 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory over 81st-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.
Becker, who beat Andre Agassi at the 2006 U.S. Open in the final match of the American's career, "is a quality opponent, and he should have won the first set," Djokovic acknowledged. "I was fortunate enough to come back and win the first set, and after that, I was much more comfortable on the court."
During the day session, the only seeded man to bow out was No. 17 Kevin Anderson, a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 loser against 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, while all seven women's matches were decided in two sets. Winners included 2011 French Open champion Li Na, 2012 Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska, and 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Jelena Jankovic.
Stephens has reached at least the fourth round at all four Grand Slam tournaments this season, including a semifinal run at the Australian Open and a quarterfinal berth at Wimbledon, losing to the eventual champion in both.
"She shows up to play at the Slams, for sure," Hampton said.
While Stephens' record at major tournaments this season is 15-3, she is only 17-15 at other tournaments, with six losses in the first or second round.
"The Grand Slams — it's just showtime, I guess," Stephens said, shrugging her shoulders. "What can you do?"