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The Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat is a unique immersion experience which focuses on accessing our real and essential nature, the supreme and divine Self, through an artful integration of meditation and yoga techniques. During the retreat, Hridaya Yoga will address broad aspects of the Spiritual Heart from a variety of traditions. The retreat was specifically created to guide people in coming to an intimate understanding of what Self-Enquiry meditation is in order to experience the inner transformation that it brings. During the retreat, practitioners will be skillfully guided to a penetrating understanding in which the search for meaning ends in surrender to the domain of revelation. Both beginners and advanced practitioners are welcome to dive into the beauty of meditation, Hatha Yoga, and the non-dual teachings.
Staying at Hridaya Yoga means you have easy access to everything the Center has to offer. The private rooms are spacious and feature eco-friendly composting toilets. The dormitories feature a unique design and excellent mattresses. The two camping areas offer fresh air and peaceful surroundings. Guests can enjoy clean drinking water and the use of a refrigerator. Wireless internet is available, but may not be used during the Silent Meditation Retreat.
An inner awareness of all sensory perceptions and emotions which will gradually become, through sublimation, an awareness of the Spiritual Heart
The calming of the mind
The polarization between the individual soul and the divine self that is experienced as a state of very strong and profound aspiration and longing for God
The evocation of the death of the physical body as a way of transcending desires and egotistical tendencies
The act of powerfully evoking and experiencing the mystery of God's presence inside our Heart
This retreat includes advice for guided meditation, lectures, and practical methods
Ramana Maharshi's method of introspection (Self-Enquiry, using the question "Who am I?")
Techniques for stilling the mind using breath awareness
The study of the symbolism of the Spiritual Heart
Methods to pass from individual consciousness to cosmic consciousness
Daily special meditations on themes connected with Self-revelation
Yogic methods to approach the Spiritual Heart
Mystical poetry
Hatha Yoga sessions
What Are the Purposes of this Retreat?
During the retreat, our aim is to inform you of methods for meditation encompassing, but not limited to, the unity of consciousness and Advaita Vedanta (non-duality). This leads to the Self-discovery of the Spiritual Heart. The system of meditation will focus on the Self-Enquiry method developed by Ramana Maharshi, as well as other complementary meditations and prayers.
We aim to inform you about the practical and theoretical aspects of this methodology, allowing ample opportunities to directly put it into practice. In doing so, we hope that you will understand the underlying principles and value the purpose of meditation. Thus, reaping immediate benefits and coming to love meditation as an essential part of your life.
An Orientation Session is held at 2:00 pm on the day prior to the retreat. During this session, the retreat rules and special guidelines will be explained and a forum will be provided for any questions. In addition to administrative details, the Orientation Session will feature a lecture that explores some of the definitions and esoteric aspects of the retreat methods and will end with a meditation. Attending the Orientation Session is mandatory for all participants. The meeting may last up to 3 hours, so please plan accordingly.
The retreat aims to support all participants in going deeper inside themselves. To achieve this inner-orientation, participants agree to follow the retreat guidelines. These include:
Noble silence (no speaking throughout the entire retreat)
No use of electronics, mobile phones, internet, etc.
No reading (except for the provided retreat booklet)
Sexual abstinence
Modest dress
Gender segregation
No smoking or use of drugs or alcohol
Attendance at all retreat sessions
Hridaya Yoga is located in beautiful Mazunte, Mexico. Mazunte is a small, friendly village on the Oaxacan coast. The Hridaya Yoga Center sits atop an attractive hill with a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean. Their four yoga halls and sustainably-built accommodations offer an atmosphere of serenity and simple luxury.
Click to see more vegetarian-friendly Yoga Retreats
Delicious vegan food is served with love in their spacious dining room. The food service supports the retreat experience, rest periods, and noble silence of participants. The meals are simple, without excessive spices (no onion or garlic is used) and without extensive condiments. The meal catering cannot accommodate food allergies and other special requests. Mealtimes are scheduled into the retreat and the food will be ready as soon as the retreat sessions end.
Bahías de Huatulco International Airport
32 km
Transfer not provided
You can choose to fly to the Puerto Escondido International Airport (PXM) or the Bahias de Huatulco International Airport (HUX)--both are about 1 hour away from the Hridaya Yoga Center
Taxis are available at both airports. For the cheapest price, walk from the airport terminal to the main road and catch a taxi from there (approximately $350-450 MXN).
From Oaxaca City, take a bus to Pochutla. There are two options for this. Either take the first class tourist bus that takes a longer (eight to nine hours), but less windy route, or a regular minibus that is faster (six hours), but takes very curvy mountain roads (Dramamine recommended for those who suffer from motion sickness). To take the first class bus, go to the ADO station in Oaxaca to buy a ticket. There are several departures each day including one overnight bus. There are several mini-bus companies. They also have several departures per day. You can search for one online or ask someone at your guesthouse in Oaxaca for a recommendation. Their departure times will vary seasonally so call ahead and check the schedule.


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The Tax Management Transfer Pricing Report ™ provides news and analysis on U.S. and international governments' tax policies regarding intercompany transfer pricing.
By Frank S. Berall, Esq.
Copp & Berall, LLP, Hartford, CT
* Copyright by Frank S. Berall, August 5, 2010.
The Unconstitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act
In two Massachusetts' federal district court cases, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)1 was held unconstitional.
In Gill v. Office of Personnel Management,2 the court held DOMA violated the Fifth Amendment's due process provision.3 In Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. U.S.,4 the court held DOMA violated both the Tenth Amendment5 and the Constitution's spending clause.6 California's Proposition 8 was held to violate the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection provisions in Perry v. Schwarzenegger.7
The 1996 federal DOMA precludes any federal recognition of same-sex marriages, stating "the word `marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word `spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."
Thus, same-sex couples are denied all federal benefits of marriage, even if the couple was married under the laws of the six states, including the District of Columbia or the 11 foreign countries permitting same-sex marriage.8
The Gill plaintiffs, all with valid Massachusetts marriages, were seven same-sex married couples and three survivors. They contended the DOMA violated core constitutional principles of equal protection embedded in the Fifth Amendment's due process clause.
Defendants were various federal officials in their capacity as such. But the Commissioner of Internal Revenue was not named, nor did any documents filed by defendants include anything from the IRS; only from the Department of Justice's Civil Division. Furthermore, the plaintiffs' prayer for relief merely was that the court "declare DOMA unconstitutional as applied to" them.
Massachusetts, the plaintiff in the other case, contended that DOMA violates the Tenth Amendment, by intruding on areas of exclusive state authority, as well as violating the Constitution's spending clause which gives Congress power, "to pay the debts and provide for the . . . general welfare . . .," by forcing plaintiff to engage in invidious discrimination against its own citizens so as to receive and retain funds from two joint federal-state programs. On July 8, 2010, Massachusetts Federal District Court Judge Tauro (a President Nixon appointee) gave summary judgment favoring all plaintiffs in both cases. The government will almost certainly appeal these cases to the First Circuit within 60 days (until September 6, 2010, counting Saturdays and Sundays), while further proceedings are stayed. No doubt the loser in the First Circuit will petition the United States Supreme Court for certiorari.
Although Gill's result has been stayed pending any appeal, it is doubtful that it can be relied upon in the interim. The court did not appear to hold DOMA unconstitutional on its face, nor even as applied to the Internal Revenue Code or other federal statutes. It has merely been struck down as applied to the Gill plaintiffs in Massachusetts.
A same-sex couple might try to file a joint tax return, citing Gill as authority, so as to avoid penalties if it is reversed on appeal. However, while the Gill plaintiffs would pay lower taxes, if permitted to file joint federal returns, this would not always be true of other same-sex married couples, who unlike these plaintiffs, do not have a major difference in income. The Gill plaintiffs will pay less tax on a joint return than if they filed separately or if they were single taxpayers. However, for a couple who each have approximately the same income, there is a so-called marriage penalty. Thus, unmarried couples with approximately equal incomes pay a lower tax than if they were married.
Same-sex couples in Massachusetts and other jurisdictions recognizing same-sex marriage, should decide whether to file for income tax refunds for open years after their marriages, if this will actually result in lower taxes for them or, because of the marriage penalty, increase their tax liability.
Another unanswered question is whether Gill's "as applied" language applies to same-sex couples who married in Massachusetts or elsewhere, where same-sex marriage was valid at the time of their marriage, but then moved to a state not recognizing same-sex marriages.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts case held that DOMA violates the Tenth Amendment, by intruding both on areas of exclusive state authority and the Constitution's spending clause, "by forcing the Commonwealth to engage in invidious discrimination against its own citizens in order to receive and retain federal funds for two joint federal-state programs." Thus, DOMA induces Massachusetts to violate the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection rights of its citizens.9 By imposing an unconstitutional condition on the receipt of federal funding, DOMA was held to contravene a well established restriction on the exercise of Congressional spending power, exceeding the scope of its authority thereunder.
Commonwealth also held intrusion of DOMA on a state's ability to define its citizen's marital status violates the Tenth Amendment. By refusing to recognize same-sex marriages, it held that DOMA directly imposes significant additional health care costs on states, increasing their burden for health care provided to same-sex spouses of state employees.
The California Proposition 8's Amendment to its Constitution to Bar Same-Sex Marriage has been Overturned
Perry, et al, Plaintiffs and City and County of San Francisco, Plaintiff—Intervenor v. Schwarzenegger, et al, Defendants and Hollingsworth, et al, Defendant—Intervenors,10 in an extremely scholarly 136-page opinion by United States District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker (an appointee of President Reagan, whose nomination had been delayed for two years, partly because of opposition from gay rights activists, since when in private law practice he helped the U.S. Olympic Committee sue a gay ex-Olympian who had created an athletic competition called the Gay Olympics), held California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional.
His conclusion pointed out that it "fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license . . . does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriage on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional."
Protect Marriage, the coalition of religious and conservative groups sponsoring the ban, said it would immediately appeal to the Ninth Circuit. While Judge Walker rejected all arguments by sponsors of Proposition 8, he is considering whether to suspend his order, while the ban's proponents appeal. He has urged both sides to submit written arguments by August 6, 2010.
During 13 days of testimony and arguments, plaintiffs presented 18 witnesses. Academic experts testified about topics ranging from the fitness of gay parents and religious views of homosexuality to the historical meaning of marriage and the political influence of the gay rights movement. The defense called only two witnesses, claiming they did not need to present expert testimony, because the United States Supreme Court had never specifically upheld the right to gay marriage. The defense claimed that it was an experiment with unknown social consequences that should be left to voters.11
Perry v. Schwarzenegger, et al, overturned California's Proposition 8's amendment to that state's constitution barring same-sex marriage, holding that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection and the Fifth Amendment due process provisions. Regardless of the Ninth Circuit's decision on the appeal, application for certiorari will probably be filed.
Anticipating the defeat of Proposition 8, on August 3, lawyers for the coalition of religious and conservative groups that sponsored it in 2008 filed a legal brief asking Judge Walker to stay his decision so same-sex couples could not marry while an appeal was pending. They argued that "Same-sex marriages would be licensed under a cloud of uncertainty, and should [their] proponents succeed on appeal, any such marriages would be invalid."
The U.S. Supreme Court could decide both Massachusetts cases overturning the federal Defense of Marriage Act (the DOMA) before California's Perry case, since it takes time for cases to move through their respective circuits, especially if Perry's appeal period is extended.
Justice Kennedy and the four conservative Justices 12 might overrule Perry, which was decided solely on Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments' equal protection and due process grounds. They might consider that unless there is a "suspect classification" (such as race), California's ability to discriminate should be tested on whether there is any rational basis for the discrimination. They might disagree that there is none, since whether to confer the benefits of marriage is a traditional state prerogative. Thus, their support for the Tenth Amendment might incline them to let California's Proposition 8 stand. If so, this would not reverse California's electorate, but would overrule Perry's conclusion that the Fourteenth Amendment renders Proposition 8 unconstitutional.13
If the Supreme Court accepts certiorari for both the California and the two Massachusetts cases, they might be argued at the same time. Then either both of them could be decided in favor of or against same-sex marriage or there might be conflicting decisions. Their outcome will depend upon the Supreme Court's composition then. If Justice Ginsburg retires or dies while the Democrats still hold the Presidency, her replacement will probably have similar liberal leanings.
If no other changes occur in the Supreme Court's composition, a five to four decision is probable. The four conservatives will probably vote against same-sex marriage. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Breyer and Ginsburg (or her replacement) will probably vote to uphold it. Thus, the key vote will be Justice Kennedy. It is hard to predict how he will vote and thus how the Supreme Court will decide these gay marriage cases. However, his opinion in Lawrence v. Texas14 affirming some protection for sexual orientation, may be an indication.
The political complications created by Gill, Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Perry may have some influence on the 2010 fall elections. Advocacy groups on both sides plan to make same-sex marriage an issue. California's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political action committee is raising money to elect a governor and an attorney general to refuse to appeal the ruling. Presumably they will support Democrat Attorney General Brown, who is running for governor, in view of his known favoring of same-sex marriage.
There is some Republican concern that their chances of winning back one or both Houses of Congress may be hurt as a result of the three same-sex cases, especially Perry.
For more information, in the Tax Management Portfolios, see Horwood, Zaluda, Wolven and Hudgins, 813 T.M., Estate Planning for the Unmarried Adult .
3 U.S. Constitution, Am. V. "No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law; . . ."
5 U.S. Constitution, Am. X. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
6 U.S. Constitution, Art. 1, §8's first clause gives Congress the "Power to lay and collect taxes . . . to pay the debts and provide for the . . . general welfare of the United States . . . ."
8 Massachusetts:Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, 440 Mass., 798 N.E. 2d 941 (2003).
Connecticut:Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, 289 Conn. 135, 957 A.2d 407 (2008), followed by Connecticut P.A. 09-13, §1; 15.
Iowa: Varnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862 (2009).
Vermont: VERT. STAT. ANN. § 1a, et seq.
New Hampshire: N.H. R.S.A. 457; 1a
District of Columbia: D.C. Code § 46-401(a)(Supp. 2010).
Netherlands: Wet van 21 December 2000 tot wijziging van Boek 1 van het Burgerlijk Wetboek in verband met de openstelling van het huwelijk voor personen van hetzelfde geslacht (Act to open marriage for persons of the same sex), effective April 1, 2001.
Belgium: Loi ouvrant le marriage des personnes de meme sexe et modificant certaines dispositions du Code civil, Art. 143 of Feb. 13, 2003. This permits two persons of the same or different sex to contract a marriage.
Canada: The Civil Marriage Act, S.C. 2005, c. 33, July 20, 2005.
Spain: LEY 13/2005, de 1 de julio, por la que se modifica el Código Civil en materia de derecho a contraer matrimonio.
South Africa: Civil Union Act (No. 17) of 2006.
Sweden: Government Bill Aketenskapsfragor (Marriage issues), 2009/09:80 at 222. Regeringen. Se.
Norway: The Marriage Act, part I, Ch. I, § 1, amended January 1, 2009.
Iceland: Citation not located.
Portugal: Lei No. 7/2010 de Maio-adopta medidas de Proteccao das unioeos de facto. Law permitting same-sex marriage signed in May 2010.
Mexico City and several provinces in various Latin American countries: Citations not located.
Argentina: Passed by the legislature July 16, 2010. Wall St. Journal, p. A13 (7/16/10). Citation not located.
9 U.S. Constitution, Am. XIV, §1 says, "No State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
11 Portions of the above are quoted from Judge Walker's opinion and other parts have been condensed and edited from a report by the Associated Press, http://www.wfsb.com/print/24503558/detail.html (8/5/10).
13 The above two paragraphs were based on suggestions by Attorney Thomas C. Carey, a member of the Massachusetts and New York Bars and a partner in the Boston law firm of Sustein Law.
All Bloomberg BNA treatises are available on standing order, which ensures you will always receive the most current edition of the book or supplement of the title you have ordered from Bloomberg BNA's book division. As soon as a new supplement or edition is published (usually annually) for a title you've previously purchased and requested to be placed on standing order, we'll ship it to you to review for 30 days without any obligation. During this period, you can either (a) honor the invoice and receive a 5% discount (in addition to any other discounts you may qualify for) off the then-current price of the update, plus shipping and handling or (b) return the book(s), in which case, your invoice will be cancelled upon receipt of the book(s). Call us for a prepaid UPS label for your return. It's as simple and easy as that. Most importantly, standing orders mean you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you're relying on. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.960.1220 or by sending an email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Now fortified with even more iron.
Nightfighter and Reconnaissance TTroops.
Ground assault TTroops.
. . .
Hit me up at email@example.com for any commission questions. It's also my paypal address . You can also follow me on flickr, facebook or instagram. I'm always happy to answer process or how-to type questions.
Currently available: 22" Rhino(labbit) and 4 1/2" Smiley Yellow Iron Snail, Rhino Troop, and Dun-209, . E-mail me or go to my store.


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Comments on Understanding Progressive Enhancement
43 Reader CommentsBack to the Article
...although graceful degradation is a goal; progressive enhancement is a method. You can achieve the former through bad means, or through good means. PE is an example of the latter.
It's often difficult to keep it all in mind as you're designing. Thanks for remind us to slow it down enough to contemplate every layer of every project.
Thank you for the well-written article! I've never seen an explanation of such a subtle difference that was as gentle and clear as this.
I agree with the points laid out in the article. But where progressive enhancement falls short is in rich internet applications. I'm personally OK with requiring a certain level of browser requirement in order to experience in a certain way.
I also think fostering progressive enhancement leads to things like IE6 being around even after 10 years. I find it stifling.
There comes a point where you have to just drop support for older browsers because the experience on those devices is so verbose and hurts the message you are giving.
Of course this doesn't apply to blogs or simple content websites.
The info-graphic assumes that anyone actually eats M&M's for the peanut.
Perhaps this comes in the next installment… But, can anyone point to some current examples of a "progressively enhanced" website?
Similar to Jess Heitland, I thought the article was significantly lacking in the concrete definition and real-world examples departments. I ended up writing a short article to hopefully complement it (particularly for people who weren't previously familiar with the idea of progressive enhancement), but I'd also love to see example websites that uses progressive enhancement. My own examples are still incomplete or under NDA.
http://www.panic.com/coda/ - A great example of progressive enhancement.
Then disable CSS. The content is all there, with a clear structure, and everything is readable, usable, and informative.
I guess I always considered that behavior graceful degradation.
RE: Coda site…
When Java and CSS Styles are disabled the arrows for navigating the carousel (am I being 'nitpicky?') are still visible and hyperlinked. Under Progressive Enhancement, shouldn't those elements be presented in a different manner? They are useless to anyone/device lacking Java/CSS Styles.
Would PE possibly be more about the site reacting to the device? (e.g.: no java = display version A. jave enabled = display version B. no java/mobile device = display version C.)
Thanks all, just trying to understand.
No, I don't think you're being nitpicky. I noticed too that the arrow links aren't unobtrusive ([removed]ScrollArrow should and could easily be made into standard links, just like the tabs at the top.)
Maybe someone else will have a better example. But I think the Coda site is pretty good, and is mostly using progressive enhancement. :-)
Clients, designers, employers, project managers, etc. (I'd say anyone except for front-end developers and accessibility experts) always seem to have the opinion that the fully pimped version of the website is its only real incarnation.
Therefore I agree with "Robert Grant":http://www.alistapart.com/comments/understandingprogressiveenhancement?page=1#1 that Graceful Degradation is a goal and Progressive Enhancement is a method to achieve that goal. And for now it's probably the best method there is.
The difference between GD and PE is one of concept more than of working practise in my mind.
Thanks for the article. And I think the M&M analogy is great.
My eyes were opened to progressive enhancement by Jeremy Keith's Dom Scripting book and I've tried to apply the principle whenever possible since. As he says in the book, "web pages that are progressively enhanced will almost certainly degrade gracefully".
By the way, is there any point worrying about behaviour without style scenarios (peanut and candy-coating)?
Yahoo! is mentioned as an example in the article.
Thanks for this simple, straightforward article. If this approach to design catches on widely (as many other ALA concepts have) the web will surely become a better experience for all.
The key is the statement "Content is the reason we create websites to begin with". All the fancy tricks of CSS and JavaScript etc. (wonderful as they are) distract from this fundamental point.
Even though we have fancy cars today, the roads still accommodate horse-and-cart. Every discipline has its foundation, and ours is "rich, semantic (X)HTML".
Looking forward to the following installments…
I agree with the article. It's what I believe in and tell my manager so often. But in our company, clients first want to see a great layout, and much, much later they come up with the content.
I am a web designer/UI Developer. The article is a great one indeed, so thank you very much.
However I might have some comments on the whole subject.
I have been working on PE for the last 3 years without really knowing it. And it's really great!
Only last month I started studying this cross browser compatibility. I realized that often the need for 3 or 4 style sheets is not necessary at all (it's in fact a hug NONO because of the increase of requests to the server).I found that If your work is correct and according to the W3 standards then you hardly will have any problem with the CSS, Especially if you use a tables layout (which is the hardest thing to be compatible in 4-5 big name browsers).
I know the emphasis in PE is on the content. But often when doing web applications and systems such as intranet HR systems, the focus is set on the behavior of the user and the user experience. In this case GD is better in my opinion. There is no way that you can actually give the same user experience to all the browsers that the client might have, without having to lower the user experience.
I believe that there 2 ways to developing systems in web. First you need to lose a lot of the great experience of the user and use the PE method afterward. Or simply apply the GD and I prefer the second.
I think it is now obvious that I don't agree that PE is a method and GD is a goal. But rather 2 ways of developing depending on the environment which the application of the website will be in.
One last thing, I am currently working on a new project in am supposed to create a full User Experience bearing in mind the need for limitations of browsers in relation to JS.
I know I have made this comments long but I hope I made some sort of use to you all. And hope to get some feedback and some help and hints regarding the previous paragraph.
I'll be waiting eagerly for the second and third part of this document.
Graceful Degradation is a goal and progressive enhancement the tool to build it from ground up. Is that what this article is trying to convey?
Good read. The difference between progressive enhancement and graceful degradation makes for a great interview question.
And since no one else has made the remark… some people are allergic to peanuts, but really enjoy JavaScript and CSS. Cheers!
Good read.I can't stop translating it to chinese. here: http://lifesinger.org/blog/?p=298
Looking forward to the following articles"¦
Slightly off topic, but…
The candy coating is applied to M&Ms; in a tumbler. The sugar is sprayed into the machine while the M&Ms; tumble around. After the sugar is added, color is added in the same way and tumbled until polished.
Oh! And thanks for the article.
Lets say: one likes candy and the peanut; but no chocolate.
I found, that most of the time it doesn't make sense to activate JS, when there is no CSS support. But sometimes there is a need for JS even with no CSS.
The workaround usually do:
on a documentReady Event, I check, if a certain CSS Property is present. Mostly I check if the body background-image is rendered. If so, I apply all the magic done with JS. If not, I just fire-up basic JS.
BASIC JS: If you have some Ajax Content, it might be a valuable information to users with JS support and no CSS support( Top3 news for example). So all users will get served with this.
Advanced JS: All kind of thick-, fancy, and greyboxes won't work correctly ,if there is no CSS support. So only users with CSS and JS will get served with the convenient js-Lightboxes.
O, btw. Thanks or the article.
bq. Graceful degradation focuses on building the website for the most advanced/capable browsers. Testing in browsers deemed "older"? or less capable usually takes place during the last quarter of the development cycle and is often restricted to the previous release of the major browsers (IE, Mozilla, etc.). Under this paradigm, older browsers are expected to have a poor, but passable experience. Small fixes may be made to accommodate a particular browser. Because they are not the focus, little attention is paid beyond fixing the most egregious errors.
That may be the way _some_ people viewed graceful degradation, but it is certainly not the approach that I or many other accessibility-aware developers worked.
Yes, a GD website was built for the latest popular browser(s). But sites were made to be accessible in much older and less advanced browsers than "the previous version". I designed sites that used _noscript_ and _noframes_ to ensure that they worked in the most basic browsers, albeit in many cases with a much reduced user experience. It may be that people with slightly older or less capable browsers would be treated as thought they had the oldest and least capable browsers, but they would still be able to access the site.
Cameron Westland:
bq. I agree with the points laid out in the article. But where progressive enhancement falls short is in rich internet applications. I'm personally OK with requiring a certain level of browser requirement in order to experience in a certain way. I also think fostering progressive enhancement leads to things like IE6 being around even after 10 years. I find it stifling. There comes a point where you have to just drop support for older browsers because the experience on those devices is so verbose and hurts the message you are giving.
I agree that certain application-type sites might need minimum browser requirements, but most sites can offer a non-Ajax alternative or users can manage without certain features. People with older browsers know (mostly) that they can't get the all-singing all-dancing stuff, but they still want/need to be able to access the content and basic functionality.
What has led to IE6 being around after 7 years (it was launched in 2001) is a well-known phenomenon, which is that as a particular technology becomes more widespread and pervasive, an ever smaller proportion of people keep their technology up-to-date. Opera and Firefox have got around this by prompting users to update every time a newer version is released, but IE hasn't had that yet, so people who just want to browse that there ol' internet use what came with their computer and that's the end of that.
What progressive enhancement has done is to allow developers to build standards-compliant high-functioning websites that don't alienate people with IE6. The alternative is that we would be stuck with sites designed for IE6 forever, and I don't think that's a better alternative!
Progressive enhancement isn't just about catering for IE6. It also means catering for people using new technologies like mobile phones, and it is helpful for people using assistive technologies. You can't blame good accessibility practice for the persistence of IE6!
Those pointing out that graceful degradation doesn't differ from progressive enhancement are on the right track, as far as definitions are concerned; the problem was that for a long time in the mid-nineties and beyond, the trend _in practice_ was towards simply winking at GD and building sites for cutting edge browsers that were then tweaked so they weren't simply awful in older browsers. This is partly due to the fact that the technology support simply wasn't there back then to allow for true separation of content and presentation; the primary point behind PE as a term was to give people a method to approach how sites _could_ be built so they were usable and functional across a wide variety of browsers, and to show that it was even possible. Dave Shea's CSS Zen Garden was just one of the first examples of the basic idea, but many people just saw it as an isolated experiment, rather than as a demonstration of the way things ought to be done in the future.
I coined the term as a replacement for the more unwieldy phrase "separation of content, presentation, and behavior for the sake of accessibility" and to give designers a method they could expand upon, using the ideas of content-driven design, minimal, semantic markup, CSS-driven presentation, and what has come to be called unobtrusive JavaScript. I'm happy to see that it has taken off as I'd intended, and I'm grateful to Aaron and ALA for helping to spread the ideas even further.
The point about "Web 2.0" sites and others with highly functional, interaction oriented interfaces being harder to do with PE methods is a valid one; I don't think it's impossible, but rather that it's kind of an obvious point - if your app absolutely relies on scripted behavior, then it clearly won't work at all in a browser that doesn't support scripting. But I also believe that the vast majority of sites and pages are about delivering content, rather than interface, at least for the time being. And for those, PE represents a way to build those pages and sites in the most accessible way possible. And it makes for more easily maintained sites, due to the manner in which the underlying markup isn't cluttered with presentational crud.
The fact that Yahoo, AOL, and others have embraced PE as the foundation of their design strategies is telling, and gratifying. In a way, PE was, for me, a way to get back to my roots in SGML, where we simply didn't have presentational markup and where scripting and/or interaction was built into the applications, rather than into the underlying document source; many of us abandoned the sensible approach simply in order to keep up with the flood of new Netscape betas back in 1995, and when CSS was finally mature enough to use, it seemed important to return to those older lessons and apply them to the present day.
The author seems to me to be saying, in effect, this is what 'graceful degradation' should have been, and then giving it the a name, never mind the fact that GD _is_ in many places what it should have been.
What happens now when the new 'progressive enhancement' is done badly in a few places and the ideal is not universally realised? Do we need to come up with a new name - this is what 'progressive enhancement' should have been?
That said, and regardless of what we call it, the author does well to draw our attention once more to this way of developing web sites.
I loved the candy coat example! Couldnt have been more illustrative that that.
the concept of "Web 2.0" began with a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International. Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and O'Reilly VP, noted that far from having "crashed", the web was more important than ever, with exciting new applications and sites popping up with surprising regularity. What's more, the companies that had survived the collapse seemed to have some things in common. Could it be that the dot-com collapse marked some kind of turning point for the web, such that a call to action such as "Web 2.0" might make sense? We agreed that it did, and so the Web 2.0 Conference was born. www.dreamconsultancy.com.au
Great article as always! But isn't this just common sense?
I want M&Ms;!
I've been a proponent of PE for a while, and have gotten push back from developers who want to create for the 'latest and greatest' and _then_ look to fix any quirks later. One of they key areas of this battle has been Flash.
Thank you for the wonderful article. I had no real understanding of the difference that progressive enhancement intends to bring to the table until I read this article. This article clearly portrays the advancements offered by such a development paradigm, and quickly offers up an understanding of it's fundamental differences.
Thanks again,
The article does miss explaining the 'M' printed on the candy. To me, this would represent the site's favicon.
I'm a fan of progressive enhancement as I use NoScript on Firefox and hate it when a site forces me to allow their JavaScript just to use the site's functionality, even though it's not needed. Sometimes I'll leave the site, but other ones I really need to use, so have to allow it.
I just don't see the difference between progressive enhancement and graceful degradation. To me it seems like progressive enhancement is just graceful degradation done right.
Can anyone please tell me which of the two the following scenario adheres to?
Someone builds a Javascript image gallery that loads all images, and hides the non selected images using Javascript+css. Anchors are used by Javascript to display the selected image and hide the previous selected image. The default action of the anchors are suppressed by Javascript.
Graceful degradation or progressive enhancement?
That was a quality article. And a good kick in the pants. Often when I go about CSS, even though I'm conscious to make it accessible and test it in older browsers, I focus on CSS being design - and I focus on design and plug the content in after. But really, the content does need to be first. Adding CSS while focusing on the content is a subtle but important shift in thinking. Thanks for the thoughts…
In the past i was styling my H's nad A's and P's way before I put some content in the page. After that i started adding some content and then style it, then add some more content, and so on…
After I read your article it all clicked for me - I knew where I wanted to go with the development of my HTML pages.
Now I put in all of my content, then I apply styles to it. It was remarkable to notice how much LESS ie-workarounds I had to apply to my code by doing so. Sometimes I even don't have to apply any. (those are the times when I'm grinning like a madman).
A great read! All three articles. Thank, you
"http://www.panic.com/coda/ — A great example of progressive enhancement."
Yikes, I don't think so:
<a href="[removed]ScrollArrow('right','toolbar','scroller','new-pane');">
It amazes me that folks still mark up their pages this way. No self-respecting GD/PE website would replace real hyperlinks with inline JavaScript in the markup. Instead, the HTML link should (re)load the page with the next chunk of content, and a linked JavaScript file would override that hyperlink with the ScrollArrow() behavior.
I believe in the idea of progressive enhancement and the reasoning behind it. I wonder your thoughts, Aaron, on how the idea can be applied, or if it does apply, to Web _applications_.
An argument can (and is being) made that applications need not be universally accessible; that an application, by nature of the behavior it has and the technologies it depends on, has minimum system requirements.
How do you view progressive enhancement as relates to applications for creating content, manipulating content or completing tasks that use Web _technologies_ as the runtime environment inside a browser?
I'm way late reading this and so my comment may be utterly redundant by now, but I think that the difference between Graceful Degradation and Progressive Enhancement is in the point-of-view of the designer.
PE is a forward-planning effort including older browsers' needs from the start, while GD is backward-looking stop-gap approach. GD builds an ideal site, and only throws in rough and basic accessibility as a quick and lazy afterthought; whereas PE deliberately plans well-designed access to the content from the ground up, adding more beautiful interactions along the way.
So they both achieve the same goal, but PE does it better (though perhaps at greater cost).
However, I also see a danger with PE:
The web is much, much more than content nowadays. It is just as much market-related entertainment and interaction. Entertaining and easy-to-use web-sites will have readers who not only stick, but also spread the word all over the web, increasing the site's 'web share'.
But starting from content and older-generation accessibility concerns from the ground up can unwittingly blinker your artistic flair and result in your missing a much better interaction design possible in the latest generation of browsers.
To tell the truth I haven't designed a web-site yet but I think my personal instinctive approach would be a 3-pass design phase - first the ideal, then the basic, and finally a re-working of the two to find the best combination:
1. To carefully AVOID thinking of older browser needs at first for the artistic creative phase. To focus on designing a rewarding and easy EXPERIENCE for the user whatever it might involve.
2. Then to do the same thing again for the oldest browsers, and see how much of their design can overlap with your ideal design.
3. Finally to marry the two and produce a child design, now from the PE point of view, perhaps sacrificing some aspects of your ideal design. Or even perhaps to divorce the two, if the ideal is worth the maintenance.
As a PS to the above.
I misrepresented PE slightly above, in that as I understand it the aim is to forget the browser issues, and design the delivery of the content itself, THEN build that delivery for all levels of browser.
I guess I really am just qualifying PE by saying that we must design not only for content delivery but also for interaction and entertainment, and as a result, we are forced to consider browser capabilities from the start. And so, not to be unconsciously limited, we need to indulge in the luxury of the latest version of browsers before designing the delivery of content from the ground up.
"The Chocolatey Layers of Progressive Enhancement" i like that idea so much, really so clever :))
I like thinking about Progressive Enhancement first, otherwise Graceful Degradation can end up like a zombie as this: http://ui-notes.com/progressive-enhance-vs-graceful-degradation/


text:
Carlos Vargas, a 5th year graduate student working with his adviser, Rene Walterbos, recently published a paper entitled "HALOGAS Observations of NGC 4559: Anomalous and Extra-planar HI and its Relation to Star Formation."
For this study, Carlos and the other authors analyzed new observations made by HALOGAS, a survey dedicated to analyzing interactions between spiral galaxies and the neutral hydrogen gas that lies outside of their plane (that is, extra-planar gas). Using these observations, they studied the neutral hydrogen gas in NGC 4559, a nearby spiral galaxy. They chose this galaxy because its inclination made it a good test subject for code written to extract the locations of extra-planar gas.
The hydrogen gas observations were taken with a radio interferometer, which allows a 3-D data cube to be created, with x-y space on the 1st and 2nd axes and velocity on the 3rd. Using this 3rd velocity axis, the authors could map the motions of neutral hydrogen throughout the spatial extent of the galaxy. Using the aforementioned code, they found that between 10-20% of the total neutral hydrogen content lay outside the galaxy as extra-planar gas.
By modeling the trajectories of the gas, testing the emission line profiles of the gas, and looking for the stars that could have done the ejecting, the authors determined that this gas was most likely ejected from the plane of the galaxy by powerful supernovae and stellar winds. Eventually, this gas will respond to the gravitational pull of the galaxy and fall back into the plane, where it will provide fuel for future generations of stars. This circular feedback process is called the galactic fountain mechanism.
Along with this analysis, the authors discovered a previously undetected cloud of hydrogen associated with NGC 4559. They found two sources associated with this cloud in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and determined that this neutral gas cloud encompasses two young merging dwarf galaxies.
Take a look at Carlos' paper by clicking this link.
Image: NGC 4559 in visible light
Image credit: Jeff Hapeman/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF


text:
Age: 43
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Norwegian
Ship: Pride of America
Sailing Date: February 17th, 2007
Itinerary: Hawaii
We have just returned from this sailing. We will never sail on NCL again. Had we seen the reviews prior to booking we would have made other plans but since we didn't we just figured that we would go with an open mind and hope for the best.
We have sailed previously with Royal Caribbean and have loved every cruise.
First, we traveled with our 3 children, ages 10, 9, and 6. All of them loved the RC cruise and the great activities they offered. This time they would not spend any time in the children's activities area and found them no fun at all.
We had a family suite at the very front of the ship, direct view of where we were going. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, dressing area, plasma TV, coffee grinder/espresso/cap/coffee maker with 100% Kona coffee. Large balcony with 2 lounge chairs. 1 Bathroom had a tub/shower, the other just a shower. We can not complain about the size of the room or amenities in the room. The room was kept up and serviced regularly, we also had a butler who was great. But, please keep in mind, that this cruise with air cost us over $14,000 and that does not include the excursions or the on board account, with that you can add an addition $2,000 to the cost. So we should have had a good room and service to match. But the 'good' service ended there.
The food was terrible, and I do mean terrible. This was our first experience with "Freestyle" eating and it will be our last. We made reservations in the East Meets West restaurant the first night. The food was just ok and it cost us $120.00 to eat there. The "better" dinning areas all required reservations, which our butler made for us and with the exception of the Italian restaurant, all had cover charges which were outrageous. I would suggest that you make your reservations the first day and only do the Italian one, and try to book it more than once. By the way, if you do make a reservation and do not cancel it if you decide not to go they will charge you a fee. The best meal we had was at a McDonalds while on shore. We were more than a little upset with the food. My kids would only eat on shore or the chicken wings in the cafe during the day or the hamburgers.
Also, we had to bring soda and water on board when we went ashore to keep in the refrigerator. We also took the small cartons of milk in the Aloha cafe to keep in the room too. Unlike RC, they only had water and unsweetened ice tea in the fountains during the day. What kid drinks unsweetened ice tea? RC always had fountain soda or fruit punch for free, NCL must need the money because you couldn't get anything but water for the kids unless you paid for it.
Breakfast was terrible. The same cold eggs, waffles and such every day. The Aloha Cafe had the same food as the sit down restaurant and it was bad in both places. They always ran out of food and the fruit flies on the fruit filled pastry was nasty, especially since the staff did not remove the items and just looked at it. The desserts in the afternoon in the Aloha cafe were very good though, but that is because they were brought on the ship on not made there.
The staff is so poorly trained it wasn't funny. No one had any knowledge of the ship or islands.
The excursions were way over priced. We only did the luau on Maui and had no real choice, because of our terrible flights out, 11:55pm on Saturday, but to do the Grand Finale on the last day. We rented a car the other days ourselves and drove to the sites and beaches and saved a ton of money doing that. My suggestion would be to rent a car, look for deals from home for the days in the ports you want. The people that did that saved even more by booking the cars early from home. Also, if you are doing the final day tour they have a luau, not mentioned in the excursion book, so don't bother with the one on Maui, we did not know and could have saved ourselves about $400 by not doing the so-so one on Maui and just waiting for the one at the Polynesian Culture Center.
We live on the east coast and although there
were many flights out earlier they did not give us our return flight until
11:55pm and we did not get home until 8:30pm on Sunday. Needless to say, it was
way too long for any child to endure (although my kids were great about it).
Considering how much we paid they should have had us on better flights. I think
they do this so you will spend more money on the excursions. Which by the way
you can get much cheaper off the ship by the same companies that do the tours,
you can even book some on line by these same tour groups yourself and save some
money by not booking through the ship.
The entertainment, if you can call it that, was pathetic.
The other big issue we had was the "service charge" they put on your bill at the end. This crew doesn't earn their tips, like on other ships, they get it automatically from the forced charge for each passenger. This was $10 per day per adult and $5 per day per child. The only one we had to tip with cash at the end was our butler and she was the only one who earned it.
The islands are beautiful but if you have a choice I strongly recommend that you fly to a resort and island hop another way. If you can get out of this cruise do yourself a favor and do it. I wish we had.
I just hope that NCL gets some real
competition in the future from another cruise line, they are the only one that
does the shorter 7 day sails, because that may be the only time they will shape
up. Right now they are basically the only game in town and have not listened to
the many complaints they have gotten. We spoke with many people on this cruise
and not one said they were happy or that they would ever sail with NCL again.
They have forever lost our business.
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text:
With the holidays right around the corner, I'm starting to get prepared. I've never made a huge deal about holidays in our house and I've not really decorated so much (aside from the Christmas tree that was up from, yes, December to July - Julia liked to look at it while in her swing and we just got lazy and left it b/c she liked it so).
So I know it's a little late to decorate for Halloween - probably won't bother - just do fall harvest sorta things - that can last for Thanksgiving. But she's starting to get big enough to remember and notice things. It's been hard to really nail down any "family traditions" with me, Tracy, and Mallory - everything is so unpredictable with when Mallory will actually be around. But I feel like it's time to do that for Julia. Well, like with my mom and dad - we always put the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Mallory is almost never here that day - but I'm starting to think we need to make a traditional day to do it. I need to make traditions for Julia. And hopefully, Mallory will be able to participate in these "traditions".
I'm working on some things for Thanksgiving and some things for Christmas. I don't have many ideas yet. I may have Thanksgiving dinner for dinner on Thanksgiving - I'm really not sure how this year will play out for us. Asheville people are supposed to come to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and we changed it to where Mallory alternates Thanksgiving Day with her mom and dad - this will be her first year ALL DAY with us. I think this will work out so much better and make Mallory ultimately more happy for this holiday in the long run.
I missed taking Julia to Christmas parades last year so I'm hoping to make it up this year. There are so many more things for her to do this year - it makes me start feeling like a little kid again.
I will post fall pictures tomorrow from our Apple Farm trip and do a short blog of birthday pictures.
Hopefully I will get some Halloween pictures this week with her Piglet costume on her - but don't hold your breath. She doesn't like the hood with the Piglet ears - she likes the costume if you pull the hood down the back. oh well. We'll work on it!
Catch you later taters!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
With the holidays right around the corner, I'm starting to get prepared. I've never made a huge deal about holidays in our house and I've not really decorated so much (aside from the Christmas tree that was up from, yes, December to July - Julia liked to look at it while in her swing and we just got lazy and left it b/c she liked it so).
Posted by tracEy at 10:01 PM 0 comments
Friday, October 5, 2007
Remainder of Blue Panthers soccer schedule
For those interested, Mallory's got 5 more games left this season:
Old Canaan Rd Soccer fields - Field C1
Oct 6 - 11:30 a.m.
Oct 13 - 12:45 p.m.
Oct 20 - 11:30 a.m.
Oct 27 - 9:00 a.m.
Nov 3 - time unknown - Tournament game.
Posted by tracEy at 1:23 AM 1 comments
Only recent pic of me that I know...
Posted by tracEy at 1:20 AM 0 comments
Since we last met...
Soccer season is underway - we're losing and I'm not sure what else to say about that. I think Mallory tries hard most days - except when she assists the other team with their goals. *sheesh* It does get nerve-wracking even for the girls.
Julia and Mallory went to the apple farm with our MOMS group. Julia got her first pumpkin and rode her first hayride - she didn't want to let the pumpkin go (less than a week and it's going bad already though). She also kept trying to pull out the hay and eat it. I was convinced I had birthed a monkey up 'til that point. Now I'm not so sure.
I'm so behind. I still have birthday pics to post. I now have Apple Farm pics to post.
Julia has 5 teeth now, about to be 7. She's gotten 3 of the teeth since her first birthday - and really reaaallly likes what you have on your plate WAY better than hers. Not sure I blame her. Some of the toddler food isn't so bad though.
She finally weighed 20 lbs. on September 6th. Only took 4 months to gain a full 2 lbs. and she eats like a PIG! We went to Hardee's this evening and got 2 pc. chicken strip combos for the kids. Julia ate almost as much as Mallory did. Astounding and by the morning - she'll be back to her tiny 20 lbs as usual.
Mallory lost another tooth. She's proud of being all snaggly! She's doing well in school again this year so far. She's one smart cookie - God has truly blessed her in the smarts section. She's doing 2 dance classes and AYSO. We talked about trying out Upward Basketball this evening - not sure if that will fly by her mom though. We'll see - it falls between soccer seasons so it wouldn't add really anything.
Tracy totaled his truck. All pics of that are on myspace - if you haven't seen it/can't see it there, let me know. I don't want to repost that. It wasn't his fault - a lady pulled out in front of him and he flipped his truck trying to avoid hitting her. He's lucky to be alive is what many have said. It certainly puts a new perspective on life as we know it here.
And me. I really have nothing new to add. Well, I'm membership vice pres. for our moms group. I'm adjusting to that - it's good for me and Julia - lots of interaction with other moms and children. Very different from any organization I've been involved with before. I'm also finding out what true friends are - and finding ones I thought were my friends weren't so much. So I'm putting my focus where things should be. I'm rekindling what needs rekindling and setting aside what is beyond hope - perhaps hope isn't a good word. beyond being what it once was. I have some good friends I've just neglected. I hope they believe me when I say I was a doofus. Wanna get some coffee? :) or perhaps a Dew?
Anyways. I'm excited about this month. Halloween is fast approaching. Julia will be Piglet. Mallory will be something - its a work in progress - it's pretty, but Mallory doesn't want to be a "bad guy". I'm sure her mom will come up with something - it is a pretty costume. To be revealed at a later date when Mallory is happy or Halloween, whichever is first!
More scrapbooking - it's becoming addictive. Halloween shindig at Dan and Angie's - can't wait! Jay Clifford @ Orange Peel? we'll see ! October also starts FEELING like my favorite times of year - fall and winter - I really just like the holidays and cold weather and fall leaves. Pumpkin pies and coffee don't hurt a dang thing either!
You guys have a good night - lots of pics to post later.
later taterz.
Posted by tracEy at 12:38 AM 1 comments


text:
I'm not a fighter. Not anymore at least. When you realize that most of your life has been spent fighting for the wrong things, and for the wrong reasons, you find yourself questioning if anything really is worth fighting for. If the scars are all that remain, then why bother, right?
But Life is strange. It sometimes gets you to do things without you realizing what it is you're doing. You just throw the punch, you just keep walking, you just refuse to stop and you never realize – you were actually fighting. And what's more – that you chose to fight. Trekking to Kalsubai is one such fight – one that you never realize you're in while it's happening – only when it's done, and only once you've won.
We climbed the highest peak in Maharashtra on New Year's Eve. To be precise it was actually New Year's Day, because we started climbing at 12:30 AM on January 1. It was a night trek organized by Mumbai Travellers. The aim was to see the first sunrise of the year from the highest point in the entire state. Sounds pretty dramatic, I know. It's why there were 70 of us on that trek. Everyone loves drama.
And action. Kalsubai is not easy, regardless of what some trekkers (and the organizers) might tell you.It's 5400 feet of sheer climbing. The terrain is rocky and steep, and in patches so steep that you need ladders to continue the climb.
The entire climb takes around 3.5 – 4 hours – in the night. In the day, with the sun bearing down on you, and the sight of the terrain wearing you down – I would assume it takes much longer.
We also happened to go on the coldest night of the year, or at least what seemed to be the coldest. It didn't seem so bad when we started off for Kasara, or even when we traveled to Bari – the base village – from Kasara. But once you're in the village, and the lights of the city have all but vanished, and the air is free from the heat of the pollution, the cold gets to you. As you start to climb, you start to pant, and with every breath you suck in more and more of the chilly night air until the cold is in your belly, spreading it's icy tentacles inside you slowly. It's not so bad when you're climbing, because the heat in your body keeps it at bay; but the moment you stop, you freeze. This is probably the only drawback of climbing in the night. You're miserable when you walk, you're miserable when you stop.
However, the vista surrounding you as you climb does leave you with a happy, warm feeling, even when the wind gives you goosebumps. A million stars give you company. Bright yellow dots suspended against a black nothingness remind you of warm houses. When you look down at the trekkers behind you, you see a line of torch lights draped upon the mountainside like lights on a Christmas tree. Even in the pitch blackness of the night, you glow. Or maybe it's just the sweat.
But Kalsubai is a kind mountain. It gives you ample patches to rest in. A small temple about 1/3rd way to the top. Another grassy patch halfway. This patch is particularly beautiful, as it offers you a panoramic, unobstructed view of the night sky and the mountains around. It's hard not to forget about the trek (and everything else) and just stay there. You could almost doze off into a little snooze if it weren't for the biting cold and a local villager narrating the legend of Kalsubai. It's almost killing us to get up and start walking again. And well, this would be the second drawback of trekking on a cold night – when you start climbing after a break, you feel even more miserable than before.
To be honest, there were umpteen times on that 4-hour climb when I wholeheartedly wished that I'd just gone to some stupid new year's party and gotten bored instead of subjecting myself to this ordeal. And I'm pretty sure a lot of other people felt the same way, at some point on that night. That my husband kept reminding me whose idea this was didn't do much to soothe my frayed nerves, aching muscles and runny nose. However, climbing at night had the single biggest advantage of ignorance. Except for the next rock you had to step on, we had no idea what we were climbing. We couldn't see the terrain, we couldn't see the summit, we couldn't see each other. We were completely in the dark, literally. All we focused on was the next big rock, the next stepping stone. We had absolutely no idea what we had actually gotten ourselves into, except that if we kept going long enough, we'd eventually get there.
When you are doing a trek like Kalsubai, not seeing the mountain of a task in front of you is really comforting. I'm pretty sure a lot of people including me would've given up half way if we could actually see what we were climbing. And therefore, if you're going to do Kalsubai, do it in the night. That sounds very weird. Anyway, do it in the night, and do it with Mumbai Travellers. Getting 70 people to climb the highest summit in Maharashtra, many of them first-timers, is not an easy task. But they managed it effortlessly. No one was left behind, no matter how tired or slow they were. The organizers were extremely skilled climbers, but more importantly, were incredibly efficient and managed the entire trip without any glitches.
If you're lucky, at the base of the summit, there will be a villager making kanda bhaji and chai in a little hut, at 4 AM. Yes. You read that right. And if you're really lucky there will not be a group of rowdy, loud boys playing mafia at the top of their voices outside that hut as if their lives depended on it. Obviously we weren't really lucky. All we got were the bhajjis and chai. But the rest of our group was worse off. All the way to the top you are relentlessly whipped by the wind which is hell bent on skimming the skin off your bones. As you near the summit there are many patches that are on the leeward side, and hence will protect you from this onslaught. This is where you should wait to rest. Our group did not. Our group chose the most windy spot you could find to start a bonfire. Now, I'm one of the most sensitive people when it comes to cold that I have ever met. I was wearing five layers and was still shivering. The chai and bhajji had not helped. The hut hadn't helped either. In hindsight, brandy may have, but I didn't have the foresight to carry any. There was no way I was sitting out in the cold, so me and the hubby opted to stay in the hut. I'm sad to say that did not help either. I shivered for a whole hour sitting next to that stove.
An hour later, we were jerked out of our stupor by someone who said the rest of our group was on their way to the summit (we were parked some 100 feet below it) to see the sunrise. It was around 5:00 AM. In a maddening hurry we managed to align our creaking bones with our stiff muscles and stumbled out of the hut, scrambling in twilight over the last 100 feet in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the torches.
I want you to take a minute to let this seep in. This is my first trek in 3 years. I can barely run for 5 mins without panting. Both my knees are on fire. I'm shivering through the 5 layers. I can't feel my hands or feet. We haven't slept in 24 hours and have climbed 5200 feet in 3 of those hours, 3 coldest hours. And now just when we were finally beginning to rest, we had to climb some more. Those last 100 feet – the very last of those hand-hewn stone steps were torture – pure and simple. I stopped in my tracks, and cried. I cried. And told my husband I wanted to go home. I'd had enough. My husband, who's is the most resilient of people, too was on edge. He looked at me and said, "Mini, there's really no where else for us to go."
That's when I knew, I was fighting. More importantly, that's when I knew I wanted to win. I didn't really know whether we would see a sunrise through the fog and clouds around us. I didn't care. I would make it to the top. I would climb this damned mountain. And then I would die in peace.
When I would go to dance classes, my teacher would often say, "Just give in to the pain. Don't resist it" while we moaned and groaned in the prone position for 30 counts. I never really understood what that meant up until that morning. For the kind of pain I was in (my knee problem is a little serious for a 26 year old) I have no recollection of how I climbed the rest of the 100 feet. Throughout the trek I'd waited for every small break and devoured it – because that's when the pain stopped. Now, I just didn't care for it anymore, not even for it to stop. It was going to hurt. Period. And I was going to climb. Perioder.
We climbed over 4 really poorly constructed ladders on this trek. We had to climb the fourth and last ladder right now, which would take us to the top. This one was over the steepest part. I remember climbing it with such disdain and hope. Disdain that there was one more step to climb. Hope that I had climbed one more. When I finally set foot at the top, I could have fallen down on my knees and kissed the ground, but it was too cold.
The freezing gale blowing at the summit could have swept one off the cliff. And it looked like it had, because our group wasn't there. What we'd seen were villagers making their way to the temple on the summit for the morning aarti. One of them kindly lit us a small fire and we tried to warm ourselves while waiting for the promised sun.
I don't know how many of you have seen a sunrise. It kinda sneaks up on you. One minute the sky is blue, then it turns purple, then pink,then orange, and then finally yellow-white.
It's an amazing feeling. You don't really notice the colours – all you realize is that things around you get clearer and clearer. It was still a very foggy winter morning, and I began to think that we might not be able to see the sun after all. I went back to the fire just as the aarti was about to end. The villagers started with 'Ghalin Lotangan' – the customary aarti to end all aartis (and also one of my favourites), and that's when we saw it.
A bright ball of Orange. The brightest orange you could ever see. Like a glowing ember suspended amidst dark clouds. At first we could only see the uppermost rim and slowly, as the chants of the men grew louder, as the sanskrit words began, the ones that praise the Almighty for being everything, the parent and the brother, the friend and the teacher, the alpha and the omega, the eternal and the infinite, it appeared, its entire form slowly emerging. And as the final chants of Hare Rama and Hare Krishna resounded, it glowed brilliantly, having now 'risen' completely. And having witnessed it like I did, I felt like it had risen for me alone.
It was the most spell-binding moment of my life. I had not slept the whole night, but I awakened then. It had been the most befitting end to my struggle. For the first time, in a long time, I had fought for something – that I knew, with utmost certainty – had been worth the fight. And I had won. I felt redeemed. I felt humbled.
It wasn't over yet though. There was still the journey downhill – but it didn't matter. Actually, nothing mattered anymore. Climbing down that ladder was nerve-wracking to say the least, particularly because you had to descend it facing downwards. The rest of the descent was surreal, to say the least. We were now actually 'seeing' what we climbed over last night. Everywhere we turned were vistas of the Western Ghats, and we looked down upon the mountain tops, from the highest among them. We saw the valleys and the slopes, the mountain forms and the roads – all with a wondrous feeling of – 'Did we really climb all this in the night?! HOW did we DO THIS?!'. Had we climbed during the day, our fatigue would have definitely not let us enjoy any of this. And while I've trekked down many mountains before, trekking down the Kalsubai gives you a view like no other.
It was exactly 24 hours later that we were on a local again, to Mumbai. A lot can happen in a day, they say. But what can you do in a day? You could go to work. You could travel to a new country. You could meet someone. You could get married. Or you could climb a mountain. The highest in the state, just for kicks. If that's possible in one day, imagine what's possible in 365.
(The images on this post are courtesy of fellow trekker Pratik Koli. You can view the original images here: http://goo.gl/gT6jXA)


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rzelvenschi needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 153 designs submitted by 36 freelance designers.
We build luxury homes in Israel for overseas customers. We handle everything from financing to buying the land, getting permits, building the house and decorating.
Our target group is affluent people who can afford to build 2+ million homes. The geographical location of target group is Russia, USA and Canada.
These people are used to expensive brands and shopping in boutique stores.
IL in logo stands for Israel, one of the ideas is that the letters would be of a blue color (as a flag of Israel) - not a requirement though, just an idea.
We need a logo and a business card. The logo need to be :
-easy understand the name of the company
-easy to understand what the company is about
-boutique-luxury feel (perhaps black and gold colors, just throwing it out there - we are not designers)
-If you can come up with an idea on how to transcribe that the company is from Israel it would be great (maybe a logo from Jerusalem flag)
-Another message could be that we build luxury homes in a Happy place
-Business card should be in line with the logo and again have a boutique feel
-Don't use star of David in logo or any other religious symbols
We will give a feedback as soon as we receive first concepts!
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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A recent posting in Harvard Chan's School of Public Health's e-newsletter brings up some important points regarding calories vs. quality. The article states that rather than focusing on calories alone, food quality is also key in determining what we should eat and what to avoid in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight." Instead of choosing foods based solely on the caloric value, think about choosing high-quality, healthy foods, and minimizing your intake of low-quality foods.
What is high-quality vs. low-quality?
- High-quality foods are unrefined, minimally processed foods such as vegetables and fruits, whole grains, healthy fats and healthy sources of protein.
- Lower-quality foods are highly processed snack foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, refined (white) grains, refined sugar, fried foods, foods high in saturated and trans fats, and high-glycemic foods
Researchers emphasize that there isn't one "perfect" diet for everyone, due to individual differences in genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors. Researchers did not discount the importance of calories, instead suggesting that choosing high-quality foods (and reducing lower-quality foods) is important in helping individuals consume fewer calories overall. This is helpful advice to follow whether eating at home or dining out – look for restaurants that offer menu items made with fresh and high-quality foods.


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Sparkling wine will be well represented at this year's London Wine Fair. Leading Champagne Houses Taittinger and Pol Roger will launch their 2009 Brut and 2008 Rosé, respectively. Taittinger Champagne will also show the new Taittinger Nocturne City Lights packaging, which is available in bottles, magnums and jeroboams. Family-owned, independent Maison, Champagne Bruno Paillard will show its Multi Vintage Première Cuvée Rosé on the Walker and Wodehouse stand. Prosecco producers will be out in force, as will Cava, English sparkling wine and sparkling New World producers.
Domaine Sainte Rose from the Languedoc will unveil its 2013 Method Traditional Blanc de Noir. This is the first year that the family owned winery has produced the Method Traditional Blanc de Noir, which is made entirely from specially selected Pinot Noir grapes. The wine is produced in very small quantities from grapes that have been carefully hand-picked. 2016 will be the first time a producer from Luxembourg has exhibited at the show.
Domaines Vinsmoselle, the largest producer of wine and crémant in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, will show POLL-FABAIRE Crémant de Luxembourg, which was first produced 25 years ago. This Crémant is based on the méthode traditionnelle method. They will also be showing the latest creation, Poll On Ice, the first Luxembourgish crémant to drink on ice. This new occasion to drink sparkling wine in a large glass heightens its freshness and aromatic intensity.
UK agent, Bancroft Wines, will have a 'fizz corner' to show some of its best traditional method offerings, including the newly-launched Westwell Fine Wine 'Pelegrim' Extra Dry Non Vintage from Kent and the recently-appointed Champagne House Gratiot-Pilliere from le Marne. And finally, as an alternative to sparkling wine, over in the new Sake Pavilion, Bibendum will show its innovative Niizawa Sparkling Sake.


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HI fellow stampers..
I'm here today to share a magical card I created as my design team project for Craftin Desert Diva's using some of my favorite stamp sets and dies..
Here is the card I created:
I created a black embossed card for the background, rubbing some silver paint on top to get the image to pop.. Then added my layering, using the Fancy Frames dies..
I absolutely love these little potion bottles. They are so great little images to cluster.
I also used the stars from the Hallo-Scream stamp set to give my card a magical feel..
and the bubbles are from the Under the Sea stamp set
the sentiment to my card I created using the new Adventure Awaits stamp set.
I also used some of the Lime Sprinkles.
Thank you for stopping by today and checking out my magical card.
Till next time


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This phrase jumped out and hit me over the head the other day. I was reading through Psalm 71, a psalm that really emphasises God's work throughout the whole of the Psalmist's life, right through from being a baby in the womb to his old age and grey hairs. It's a Psalm I often flick through to remind me that God is the story of my life, that He has been at work and He will continue to be at work. A Psalm that leads me through my childhood, my teenage years and beyond, reminding me of the constant presence of God weaving His faithfulness around my days here. The plea is for God to carry on doing his work, the circumstances around the Psalmist seem hopeless, people are laughing at him, taunting him with tales of God's abandoning of him. And yet in the middle of the Psalm come these four words, "But as for me…". The strong desire to continue despite the circumstances around him, the clinging to trust in God rather than unbelief, the deep cry of the soul. But as for me…
So anyway I looked around a bit and found some other places where this phrase is repeated in the Bible and again found the verses that leave me wrecked every time I read them. The end of John 6, people abandoning Jesus all over the place, and I can almost feel the piercing gaze of Jesus into my soul as he asks. "You do not want to leave too do you?". The answer, that sometimes is almost too hard to gasp out, is no. No I do not want to leave. There is no where else to run, you have the words of eternal life, you went through Gethsemane for me, you rose from the dead and smashed all the barriers between me and you, you hold me, you comfort me, you challenge and confront me, you hide me, you are the story of my life, you are my Lord, my Friend, my Shepherd.
ÂFrom this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6)
*But as for me*
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua 24:14-16
But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.
Psalm 55:22-24
But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
Psalm 71:13-15
But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.
Psalm 73:27-29
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 7:6-8


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If you live in Nevada and become disabled and are no longer able to work, the federal government offers two programs to provide assistance: Social Security Disability (SSD), for those who have worked and paid into the Social Security system, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), for those who have below a certain income. While these are federal programs, a Nevada state agency decides who is disabled and who is not.
After you submit your disability application to Social Security, claims examiners at the Bureau of Disability Adjudication (BDA), which is part of Nevada's Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation, will review your case and approve or deny you benefits. Except in children's SSI claims or mental illness cases, the claims examiner does not need to consult with a Social Security doctor before denying you benefits (not all states allow this).
The Bureau of Disability Adjudication has offices in Carson City and Las Vegas. If you have a questions regarding your claim, you can contact the BDA at 775-885-3700.
Nevada pays an additional amount to recipients of SSI who are blind, although Social Security administers the payment, so those eligible receive one combined SSI check. The amount depends on the person's living arrangements. A blind person living on their own will receive a total of $819.30 in combined state and federal payments. A person living in someone else's household will receive a total of $687.30. And those living in private nursing homes or residential facilities receive a total of $1,101.
Nevada residents are also automatically eligible for Medicaid from the State of Nevada when they are approved for SSI.
Nevada does not pay short-term benefits to those who are disabled (some states provide benefits for up to six months for temporary disabilities).
The Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) is the office that handles disability hearings. There are ODAR hearing offices in Las Vegas and Reno. Applicants whose local Social Security field office is in Elko usually have their hearings in Sacramento, California.
If you're interested in hiring legal representation for your disability hearing, you can find a local Social Security disability lawyer by using our Nevada disability lawyer finder.


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ahh so nice to come home..
BUT, so much to choose from. I ended up doing a collage of drawings and ephemera, from around the country.
This is my page. In the background the flag of St. George, a castle, some old stamps, an advert for the National Gallery, a label from some Newcastle brown Ale, an iconic red telephone box and good old Shakespeare.


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|Beauty and the Beat (1981)
Sounds melodramatic, I know. Still, I remember how much it completely rocked my world in the Fall of 1981. I had seen the group lipsynch "Our Lips Are Sealed" on Solid Gold, and from that moment on I was helplessly obsessed.
|My first Go-Go's concert, 1982
|My original welcome packet from the official fan club.
|My ticket stub from the Vacation tour


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BRUNSWICK — At 6 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, the new Brunswick branch of the Bath Area Family YMCA officially opened for business at 24 Venture Ave.
Located in the old gymnasium at the former Naval Air Station, the new facility houses renovated basketball and pickleball courts, yoga and aerobics rooms, and fully equipped weight and cardio rooms.
Tom Wright, co-founder of Brunswick-based nonprofit Seeds of Independence, purchased the building in September from the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority for $550,000.
Renovation of the facility, which was flooded and overgrown, began before the property was officially purchased and took about 14 months, he said, with most work completed last August.
Wright said much of the scraping, cleaning, stripping and sanding was done by members of Seeds' youth programs, and by recent graduates of Brunswick High School. They also pulled shrubs and saplings that had been growing around the building during the years it was ignored.
The majority of the painting, he added, was done by young women in Seed's teen mother support group.
But over a year and about $1 million later, the space has been transformed into a modern recreational facility.
"We couldn't have done this without (Wright's) vision," Bath Area Family YMCA Executive Director Sabrina Murphy said during a tour of the building Tuesday.
Murphy said the YMCA hopes to add 500 memberships in the facility's opening weeks and months. Memberships range from $19-$38 a month for grade school and college students, and $38-$53 for seniors and adults.
The Y also offers family memberships and discounts for Brunswick Landing employees.
Hours are 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 6 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays. Program schedules can be obtained at bathymca.org or by calling 443-4112.
As the end of the first day neared, four people stayed on playing pickleball – a game that's sort of a mix between tennis and ping-pong – in the Y's new gym.
The branch's manager, Charlie Ault, watched from the sidelines, beaming.
Ault left a career of 32 years in banking and finance to head the new YMCA. He said he only took five days off between ending his job at Mechanic Savings Bank and starting at the Y.
"You just have to do what you love," he said.
Outside, it was beginning to snow, and Ault had a long, slow drive back to his house in Damariscotta.
But, he said, "that doesn't bother me at all."
"I don't have anyone calling me about loans," he added.
The Bath Area Family YMCA fully opened its new branch at 24 Venture Ave. in Brunswick Jan. 12.
YMCA members play pickleball Jan. 12 in the renovated gym of the new Brunswick branch of the Bath Area Family YMCA.


text: Once we get to this time of year, my family and I can't stop thinking about summer. My daughter, an ice cream lover, starts begging even more for her favorite dessert and I love to come up with new ways to serve it. My latest dessert creation combines our love of ice cream and our love of traditional Mexican sopapillas. They're made using Old El Paso Stand 'N Stuff soft flour tortillas. Eating ice cream is fun from a cone or a bowl, but it's even more fun when the bowl is edible! Try this fun dessert trick for Cinco de Mayo and you'll be serving it all summer long. This recipe is so easy; it's more of a method. To start, place 4 of the taco shells on a cookie sheet and brush them with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Then, sprinkle them with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. (I used a ratio of 2 teaspoons sugar to ½ teaspoon cinnamon.) Bake the taco shells at 350 °F for about 7 minutes, until they're golden brown. You can serve these taco bowls with any kind of ice cream you like, but I love to amp up the sopapilla flavor by stirring 1 teaspoon cinnamon into a pint of vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt). Once you're ready for dessert, serve your taco ice cream bowls with whipped cream. Or, lay out a bunch of toppings and let everyone choose their favorites. Chocolate or caramel sauce would be delicious additions, as would chopped nuts and sprinkles!


text: ''I drink wine because I don't like to keep things bottled up.'' In wine, there is truth. Raise a glass to this artsy Mini Gallery sign, combining humorous words with an appealing design and a mini easel display! Perfect for your kitchen counter, home bar, guest cottage, beach house, wherever you want to express yourself!


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Medical questions & health advice by board certified doctors
"Why do the joints in my legs suddenly become painful?"
I am a 19 year old male who is currently attending college. I am not on any medication. I have no history of severe medical problems. Sometimes I will be walking to class and suddenly the joints in my legs, especially my knee and the middle of my foot, will become painful for no apparent reason. This has only been happening for the past month to month and a half. The only thing I've really done to try to fix it is to take ibuprofen, which works for a short time. Should I see a doctor about this? Or is it just a phase that my body will eventually work out of?
I would first want to know what your level of activity is. If you are engaging in a lot of high impact aerobic exercise, such as running, then it is likely that the intermittent pains you are experiencing could be related to this exercise. I do suggest seeing your primary care doctor, so that you can have a complete exam of the affected body parts and figure out what is going on. In the meantime, you may want to try resting from vigorous high impact sports and exercise. You can try icing the affected areas as well. Make sure you are wearing a supporting pair of athletic shoes, especially if you have any arch problems or trouble with over pronation. Taking anti inflammatory medications like ibuprofen or naprosyn is also ok. Common causes of knee pain would include patello femoral pain syndrome (runner's knee) and iliotibial band syndrome. Common causes of pain in the middle of the foot would include plantar fasciitis. Your doctor will be able to help you figure out which, if any, of these conditions you may be dealing with and will also be able to help you decide whether any further type of treatment is needed.
Need more info?See a primary care-doctor today
Zocdoc Answers is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor (in the United States) 911 immediately. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. Medical professionals who provide responses to health-related questions are intended third party beneficiaries with certain rights under Zocdoc's Terms of Service.


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The February prompt for OLW2018 didn't come easily to me. I found loads of pictures etc that spoke to me but when it came to putting my vision board together, it just didn't seem right so I went back to my magazines and started again, only to end up with the same problem. I decided to give it away, not worry about this months prompt. But today, in a quiet house all by myself I found 6 images that spoke to me but didn't seem to fit the idea of what I wanted in my head. I decided to let these images guide me, and just like that my vision board started to come together.
I paused for awhile to take it all in, potter about to find just the right wording to add. Not rushing,just letting it come to be what it will be. I found several quotes/wording that said just what I needed them to say so I added them to my board.
My vision board has ended up nothing like I had planned for it to look. I was going to add images of vegetables, exercise, books, etc etc. The images were going to cover all the areas that I want to tackle this year with my word. But when I had all those images, for some reason I just couldn't get them to come together on a vision board. I was frustrated, very frustrated. After deciding to give it all away and just sloth on the couch with a coffee and an intention to read some magazines that I hadn't got to yet, it just happened. I had six images that I wanted, loved and somehow found a real connection to.
I am quickly finding this year, that when I try to force things, it doesn't work. But when I step back, slow down and accept that the timing is not right for what ever it is that I need to happen. The right thing happens instead.
I love this top one, "no looking back, love where you're going". It's a great reminder that the life I had before is not the same anymore, Cancer has changed that. I have no idea what the future holds for me health wise, but I can't think about the past anymore, I need to focus on the future, what ever that is and embrace it.
Love me :-)