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Need help understanding the pros and cons of home schooling? Have questions about the legality of home schooling in Texas, socialization, and more? Read our Considering Home Schooling page.
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Get many of your questions answered on our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.
Our children are the hope of this country's future, and we owe it to them to provide them with the best education and upbringing possible.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
For Israelis, the unilateral motion by the Palestinian Authority to gain admittance to the UN as a sovereign nation epitomized the Palestinian approach to the peace process over the entirety of the past 15 years.
In short, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it in numerous interviews while visiting the US this week, "the Palestinians want a state, but don't want to give us peace."
On top of seeking to achieve their political goals in the absence of an agreement with Israel, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' speech to the UN was, in most Israelis' eyes, an act of incitement.
Abbas' speech, during which he all but labeled Israel as illegitimate, "distorted the historical record and showed open hatred and hostility for the Jewish state," Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin told Japanese Ambassador Haruhisa Takeuchi on Monday.
Prior to his speech, Abbas' delegation handed out maps of "Palestine" to UN members. The maps erased Israel completely and replaced the entire Jewish state with a Palestinian one.
Rivlin concluded that Abbas' actions "leave little hope [for peace]."
Nevertheless, Netanyahu and Western leaders continue to urge Abbas to return to the negotiating table.
At the weekend, the Middle East Quartet - the US, EU, Russia and the UN - submitted a proposal for the immediate resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The proposal calls on both sides to set aside their differences and return to the negotiating table without preconditions. The Quartet plan envisions a rapid series of meetings, including a summit in Moscow, concluding with a final status peace deal to be signed no later than December 2012.
Israeli officials responded favorably to the proposal, while the Palestinians rejected it outright.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki called the Quartet proposal "incomplete" because it failed to incorporate the Palestinians' preconditions - that Israel immediately halt all Jewish building in Judea and Samaria and agree to the pre-1967 armistice lines as the future border even before negotiations have begun.
The Palestinian side's intransigence was clear for all to see.
US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told Army Radio on Tuesday that the Palestinian insistence on preconditions is not consistent with the terms of the peace process or American policy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said she spoke to Abbas by telephone "insisting" that he reopen peace talks with Israel based on the Quartet's proposal.
Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres on Monday urged Abbas to "not waste time."
Netanyahu expressed in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press his concern that Abbas and the Palestinians are trying to "detour negotiations" in such a way as to make a genuine peace impossible to achieve.
"They're trying to get a state to continue the conflict with Israel rather than to end it," stated Netanyahu.
The UN Security Council is expected to vote on the Palestinian motion for statehood in the coming weeks, but there are rumors it may purposefully delay the issue. If it does come to a vote, the US has vowed to veto the motion.
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You have probably been wondering what has been going on with Arcadecraft. Well, here are some answers for you!
First of all, we ran into a really ugly memory problem. Basically as we have been adding certain features to complete and flesh out the game we also started running out of available memory.
Arcadecraft, by its design has to hold a lot of stuff in memory at a time. The city block, the building, the avatars, the user interface, and the arcade game cabinets. We don't have a lot of flexibility with our memory for most elements of the game so we have to be very careful and optimize the material that is available.
To get available memory back we had to comb through the textures that the game uses and make specific choices about resolution size. We crunched many textures down that the player would never see the highest resolution version of anyway, which was an easy win. After that we set about taking our entire library of arcade games and reconfigure them so they take less space! Here are some examples of what we did…
What you will notice is that the main cabinet texture now contains the monitor frame as well as the coin slot, but more texture room for the company logo side art. The control panel texture was drastically modified so it takes up 1/2 the amount of space of the original. Really, the only serious resolution drop was in the marquee, which is unfortunate but you cannot tell in gameplay. The control panel itself is only 5% smaller and the monitor size is indentical.
Every machine had a dedicated 512×512 colour, and emissive texture. Now with change to 512×256 maps for every machine we get double the amount of machines in the same memory space as before.
The cabinets also got modified. The original models were a bit of polygonal overkill. A lot of the budget was spent on the coin slot area which is barely seen in game. Changing this to being more texture dependent saved polys and performance. The other change was that the rubber stripping along the edge of the machine had a centimeter of extra depth which is now gone. With these changes, and a once over of the textures, the machines actually look a bit better than they did in the past and render faster!
Those two big memory changes needed to be propogated over the 60 arcade games in Arcadecraft and unfortunately it took a very long time and a lot of manual labour to make it happen. Now with it near complete the user can currently have up to 30 unique machines in their space. Hopefully these changes have mitigated the memory problem once and for all.
To be clear, we still have higher resolution source for everything so a future PC release, if it ever becomes a reality, will see a visual upgrade even with these changes.
Onto new features!
Like we alluded to in a previous post we have added the Import Salesman, Kenji Hase! He is a Japanese businessman specializing in grey market arcade machine sales. Once a year he visits your arcade and offers the latest import for you to purchase! Just be sure you have the money on hand because if you don't buy the machine then and there you can't get it again!
Yes Halloween is long past now but we have added in a couple of Seasonal Decorations for your arcade!
Christmas is on its way so buy and place a tree! Both items become available for a month and a half before the holiday date and expire in 45 days after purchase. Both of them bump your arcade popularity up a 1/2 star while they are present and need to be repurchased every year to get that bonus. We may add a couple more for other holidays or special events!
Speaking of seasonal effects, we are considering altering the exterior of the arcade with snow, rain, leaves, etc. This screenshot shows a early attempt at showing snow changing the environment!
Other recent improvements and changes have been the addition of the power square. It is a tile that appears within your arcade and if you place a machine over that tile it increases the machines popularity substantially.
The economic system of the game is firmly in place and functioning very well. We have also added a big dollar sign icon that appears above machines that have paid themselves off.
The stats screen has been improved to show monthly and life to date expenses and revenue. It also says what machines you have bought or sold, repairs made, customizations purchased, etc.
The machine info screen now shows how much money you have spent on a machine's repairs over time. The same panel for the Jukebox shows the current music track playing.
There are three more big changes to the game yet to come and all are pretty important to how the game plays as well as offering strategic choice. Two of these changes we will talk about in a future update, but one of which we are open to talking about is the "Classic" mechanic.
After a machine is no longer available to buy from the store, it will become a "Classic" These Classics do not make a lot of money, in fact they barely break even on their power costs. However, a healthy selection of Classics improves your overall arcade popularity. They don't require constant attention and repairs like newer machines do, due to the lack of people playing them, so they can be tucked into their own section and almost be left alone.
You probably want to know what effects the memory issues and features have had on the overall scope of the game and release plans for the game. Well, unfortunately the game's scope has had to be taken down a bit. The first version will not be 10 years long and 100 games in size as was the original plan. It will be brought down to 5-6 years. However, there will be at least one machine released per month during the game so around 77 machines (as 5 are available from the start). We found that when there wasn't enough machines released in a year, buying them became too easy and the game less engaging. In a play through of the game now, it is often that you don't have enough money to buy the latest and greatest in the first couple years. That added a level of strategy for how and when the player decided to pick and choose the games they do want.
We have also had to lengthen the time a single month takes from 2:00 to 2:30 minutes. When the game was past the two year mark and you have 30 machines to manage it was impossible to take care of all of them. With the extra 30 seconds the game is more managable but still manic. That means the shortest time the 5 years can take is 150 minutes. In our playthroughs we spend an extra 10 minutes per year in the menus so a single 5 year playthrough is around 200 minutes or 3.3 hours. It would still be likely that you wouldn't see everything the game had to offer in that time.
Does this mean Arcadecraft will never see 1986 and beyond? We still plan on updating the game after release if there is a good player base and if the game is popular! We personally want to build into the 90s and give players a new environment to work in!
As far as actual release of the game, we are planning on having the game into Xbox Playtest and Peer Review come the middle of December. Seeing as though gamers are already saturated with big holiday titles we don't think it wouldn help Firebase to have it compete for gamer time and money against huge 100 million dollar games. That time is better spent making the game as stable and feature rich as we can!
All being well, the game should be releasing after the first or second week of January 2013. We know it seems like a long time to wait but we are just as anxious to have this game in your hands!
Thank you for all your interest in Arcadecraft!


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Kidnapped Calif. girl breaks silence; her father dismisses DNA request
SAN DIEGO – As a 16-year-old girl breaks her silence about how she was kidnapped by a family friend accused of killing her mother and brother, the girl's father is striking back at the suggestion that the suspect fathered his children.
Brett Anderson finds it "disgusting" that the family of James Lee DiMaggio is mentioning the suspect as the possible father of Hannah and Ethan Anderson, said Stacy Hess, an Anderson family spokeswoman.
DiMaggio, 40, didn't meet Brett and Christina Anderson until Christina was six months pregnant with Hannah, Hess said. And investigators used Brett Anderson's DNA to confirm the identity of 8-year-old Ethan Anderson, whose remains were found in the rubble of DiMaggio's burned home, she said.
The exchange of words over families for the suspect and victim came as Hannah Anderson ended her public silence since she was rescued Aug. 10 by FBI agents during a shootout in the Idaho wilderness that killed DiMaggio. Hannah gave her first news interview since her rescue to the NBC "Today" show, which was scheduled to air Thursday.
"In the beginning I was a victim, but now knowing everyone out there is helping me I consider myself a survivor instead," she told NBC. "My mom raised me to be strong."
Andrew Spanswick, a spokesman for the DiMaggio family, said rumors have circulated on social media that DiMaggio fathered the children and that it was "a little strange" that the suspect named the girl's paternal grandmother as his life insurance beneficiary.
Lora Robinson, DiMaggio's sister and lone survivor of his immediate family, collected DNA from her brother and wants samples from Hannah Anderson and her brother to determine paternity, Spanswick said. She has not yet asked for the samples but intends to at a later date.
"The biggest issue is, I think, that Lora wants closure on the case," Spanswick said. "As Lora has heard these rumors, she would like to confirm whether they are true or not."
DiMaggio was like an uncle to the Anderson children and Brett Anderson's best friend. Hannah was rescued Aug. 10 when FBI agents killed DiMaggio in the Idaho wilderness, ending a massive search that spanned much of the western United States and parts of Canada and Mexico.
Investigators say DiMaggio escaped with Hannah and killed 44-year-old Christina Anderson and her son, whose bodies were discovered after DiMaggio set fire to his home Aug. 4 in Boulevard, a tiny town 65 miles east of San Diego.
DiMaggio named Hannah's grandmother, Bernice Anderson, as the sole beneficiary of his employer-issued life insurance policy, making her eligible to receive $112,000, according to Spanswick, who believes the money was intended for Hannah.
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore has called Hannah "a victim in every sense of the word." He has declined to discuss a possible motive and investigators haven't publicly addressed other aspects of the case, including why the family went to DiMaggio's home, how Christina and Ethan Anderson died, the nature of letters from Hannah that were discovered in DiMaggio's home and how Hannah was treated in captivity.
DiMaggio used a timer to set the fire, giving him a 20-hour jump on authorities, San Diego County Sheriff's Department Jan Caldwell said.


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Rule: Answer the would you rather question asked by the post above you, and then create your own would you rather question.
Edit: Check if you've been ninja'd and change your answer which would have been meant for the person before the person above you [xD] Please. Thank you ^^
Would you rather live with a third hairy arm with 2 fingers on your stomach or live with a hundred eyes behind your back?


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Nobel Prize Nominee's Charity Wins No Award for Accountability
Published 04/01/2010
UPDATE, Published April 2012:
Montana Attorney General announces a settlement agreement requiring Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, to pay more than $1 million in restitution for financial wrongdoing at the charity he founded, Central Asia Institute. Read the CharityWatch article that sparked the investigation below, and visit the Montana Attorney General's website to read its investigative report, released on April 5th, 2012. The very same three person board, which includes Greg Mortenson and is responsible for the mismanagement of CAI, is empowered with selecting its replacement board, according to the settlement reached with the Montana Attorney General.
SEE ALSO: UPDATE, Published March 30, 2011
ORIGINAL ARTICLE, Published in the April 2010 issue of the Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report:
Central Asia Institute (CAI) is one charity that for many donors and avid readers alike requires no introduction. CAI's co-founder and executive director, Greg Mortenson, is a New York Times best selling author two times over and has received wide recognition for his charitable work in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including two Nobel Peace Prize nominations. While many people are interested in reading Mortenson's books, Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools, the one document that AIP is most interested in reading does not exist—CAI's audited financial statements.
Having received many inquiries from donors about CAI, AIP sent a certified letter to the charity last year requesting its financial documents, including audited financial statements. When the charity failed to respond after many months, we followed up in November of 2009 and were told by CAI's operations director, Jennifer Sipes, that the charity "[does not] have audits." When asked why not, Sipes told AIP that CAI's board of directors is currently working with an attorney to "get this sorted out," but could not say for sure when an audit would be available, or what years it would include.
One point of confusion an audit of CAI might help to clear up is how much, if at all, the charity benefits from the sales of books co-authored by its executive director, Greg Mortenson. Mortenson's books are prominently displayed on the home page and other large sections of CAI's web site at ikat.org, with synopses and photos of the books' front covers, and links to two web sites, threecupsoftea.com and stonesintoschools.com, that describe where the books can be purchased. According to threecupsoftea.com, if a person buys books from certain retailers using the links provided, the purchases "will generate up to 7% of proceeds to benefit Greg Mortenson's nonprofit foundation, Central Asia Institute." The stonesintoschools.com site makes a similar claim that "up to 9% of proceeds" will benefit CAI. Since "up to" can mean anything from 0% to 7% and 9%, respectively, it is not clear that the charity is actually receiving any proceeds from sales of books. CAI's 2008 tax form, the most recent available, does not break out any revenue from book sales, and when AIP asked CAI in February of 2010 how much it receives from book sales each year, the charity would not respond to our questions.
Also unclear is whether CAI receives any of the speaker's fees charged by Penguin Speakers Bureau, the company that exclusively represents Mortenson for speaking engagements, according to the charity's web site. The dates and venues of Mortenson's extensive 2010 speaking schedule are advertised on CAI's web site, along with information on purchasing tickets for the events, typically via the sponsors' or venue hosts' web sites. Those interested in booking Mortenson as a speaker or special guest are redirected to the web site threecupsoftea.com where a list of "minimum event support requirements" is posted, including a speaker's fee of $25,000.
CAI considers Mortenson's speaking events, at least in part, to be a program activity of the charity. According to CAI's 2008 tax form, $1.5 million or about 37% of the charity's total program spending of $4 million consisted of "Domestic outreach and education, lectures and guest appearances across the United States telling CAI's story and the plight of children in Pakistan and Afghanistan." This description suggests that at least some of this $1.5 million includes expenses related to Mortenson's speaking events. If CAI is going to take credit for Mortenson's speaking engagements as a program expense of the charity, it makes sense that it should be entitled to a portion of any revenues, such as speaker's fees, generated at these events. Nowhere on CAI's 2008 tax form does it report revenue from speaker's fees, and CAI would not respond to AIP's question as to whether or not the charity receives any of the fees or ticket sales from these events.
An argument can be made that the publicity generated by the charity's well-known founder and executive director results in contributions to the organization that it otherwise might not receive. While this may be true, AIP is concerned that the activities that generate revenue or create expenses for CAI are not being properly segregated from those that generate income for outside parties like the publishers of Mortenson's books, Penguin Speaker's Bureau, or for Mortenson personally. Mortenson is already compensated by the charity, $145,309 in 2008 according to CAI's tax form of the same year, for his role as executive director of CAI. It is fine for the head of a charity to earn additional income for himself through book sales or speaking engagements, but such endeavors should be conducted separately from a charity's activities and be paid for by the person or business that benefits financially.
AIP also questions whether advertisements for books and speaking engagements from which the charity reports earning no revenue are the best use of CAI's web site. At the very least, the charity should be entitled to compensation in the form of advertising revenue from the companies or persons who earn income as a result of such ads. To avoid misleading donors CAI should be explicit as to what portion of the revenues the charity receives, if any, from the goods and services being advertised on its web site.
CAI reports on its 2008 tax form that it took in $13.1 million in contributions, had expenses of over $5 million, and carried out programs nationally and internationally. Most charities of CAI's size and reach have independent auditors conduct an annual audit of their financial activities which includes reviews of internal controls, potential conflicts of interest, and other activities that could significantly impact the charity's operations. An audit often reveals information about a charity that it does not want to, or is not required to, report about itself on its tax form.
Some states have laws requiring charities with as little as $150,000 in annual revenue to submit audited financial statements as a condition of being allowed to solicit contributions in their state. CAI is a large charity with a national following, making it seem questionable that the group would not have been required to file an audit at some point in the thirteen years between now and 1997 when it was initially granted tax-exempt status. AIP asked CAI in February of 2010 if it was currently in compliance with all filing requirements in any state in which it is required to be registered. CAI did not directly answer this question, but responded that it is the organization's policy "to provide the reports and information to the official local, state and federal governmental regulatory agencies as required by law," including "the Internal Revenue Service and Attorney General Offices in the states in which we conduct activities." AIP attempted to verify CAI's statements regarding its compliance by making inquiries with several state charity offices, but had not yet received responses as of the date this article was published.
Every charity has an obligation to be transparent in its financial reporting to the public, and an independent audit of a charity's financial activities does a much better job of fulfilling this obligation than does the self-reported, and often far less reliable information reported in a charity's tax form, which is not audited. "We are in the process of having our initial financial audit performed by an independent accounting firm. This information will be available on our website at the time we publish our [2009 tax] Form 990," CAI told AIP in February of 2010. It is AIP's hope that a rigorous audit of CAI's financial activities, if conducted and made publicly available, will soon provide answers to the questions about the charity's financial activities that CAI was not willing to answer when contacted by AIP.
In mid-2010, Central Asia Institute did finally publish audited financial statements for its fiscal year-ended 2009. However, the information contained in the audit unfortunately did not assuage AIP's concerns about the lack of segregation between Central Asia Institute's financial activities and the personal business interests of its executive director, Greg Mortenson.
According to Central Asia Institute's 2009 audit, "The Organization has an economic interest in a book written by the Executive Director, Greg Mortenson, which is written in regards to his journeys in Afghanistan and Pakistan while pursuing the organization's mission. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, the organization paid $1,729,542 for book-related expenses associated with outreach and education." As in past years, Central Asia Institute does not report receiving any revenue from book sales in its 2009 audit or tax form.
A donation to Central Asia Institute, at least in 2009, was more likely to be spent on costs related to educating people in the U.S. about problems in Pakistan and Afghanistan than on helping children in central Asia with their education. According to the charity's 2009 tax form, Central Asia Institute spent $4.6 million on "Domestic outreach and education, lectures and guest appearances across the United States telling Central Asia Institute's story and the plight of children in Pakistan and Afghanistan." In contrast, the charity's 2009 tax form reports that expenses related to serving schools in central Asia totaled less at $4 million, including $3 million for building materials, supplies, labor, and transportation; $759,000 for school operating expenses like teachers' salaries & supplies; $40,000 for scholarships; and $139,000 for project managers' travel expenses.
AIP continues to be concerned about conflicts of interest at Central Asia Institute. Greg Mortenson, who not only benefits personally from sales of his books promoted by the charity, also regularly receives $30,000 in speaker's fees for his lectures. The charity does not report earning any revenue from speaker's fees in its 2009 audit or tax form. AIP is concerned that Central Asia Institute looks to be covering expenses related to "domestic outreach and education, lectures and guest appearances…" while apparently not receiving a portion of the related speaker's fees or any other revenues generated at these events.
In October of 2010, AIP mailed and e-mailed questions to Central Asia Institute's executive director, Greg Mortenson; its operations director, Jennifer Sipes; and its outside auditors, Anderson, Zurmuehlen & Co., PC. We asked why the charity does not report receiving any revenue from books for which it incurs significant, related expenses, or speaker's fees for any lectures Greg Mortenson gives as a representative of the charity. We also asked what controls the organization has in place, if any, to ensure that activities that generate personal income for Mr. Mortenson or for outside, for-profit companies are kept separate from activities that generate revenue or incur expenses for Central Asia Institute, and inquired as to the role the charity's board of directors plays in enforcing these controls.
No one from Central Asia Institute has responded to these and other questions posed by AIP. As of the end of March, 2011, AIP continues to issue Central Asia Institute a rating of "?" based on the charity's fiscal year-ended 9/30/2009 reporting.


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There was no farm bill conference on Wednesday but plenty was going on behind the scenes, promised conferee Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
"There are a lot of small, behind-the-door meetings going on," said the Arkansas senator and member of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday afternoon. "Those have proven to be pretty productive so we want to keep them going."
With Congress facing a Friday deadline for the bill, the senator said a two-week extension of current law would be proposed. Lincoln was correct, but on Thursday, only a one-week extension passed the Senate.
The bill still has "funding issues being worked through. Of course, along the way, we've been trying to deal with technical issues in the bill. But it's hard to get people to commit on some of the technical issues until they know the funding is available…
"Maybe tomorrow (Thursday), there will be a conference meeting ... At that point, hopefully we'll go back to the titles and clear the outstanding issues. There's no doubt we must resolve the funding first."
During the Tuesday conference, a letter from President Bush decrying the farm bill's progress and composition was read. In it Bush called for a one-year extension of current law. Did Sen. Lincoln know about the letter before the conference began?
"No. They delivered that at the last minute and laid it on everyone's desk.
"The president has been less than engaged in this and less than helpful in coming up with solutions. Every concern the (Bush) administration has brought to us, we've tried every which way to resolve. We've bent over backwards to deal with (its demands) on reform and funding and a host of other things."
The letter "was more threatening than it needed to be."
Bush's letter made no absolute statement that he wouldn't allow another extension of current law. How hard will it be to get the White House to sign off on another short-term extension?
"Who knows? But even if the President doesn't agree to sign an extension, we'll go to 1949 law … and most people tell us that even if we do revert to 1949 law, it'll take at least two or three months before USDA could actually implement it.
"The two weeks of breathing room we need are (largely to deal) with the mechanics of putting the bill together — physically putting the bill together. I don't know that it really matters if he signs the extension, or not."
Like many colleagues in Congress, Sen. Lincoln has been critical of the Bush administration's approach to a new farm bill. Her position hasn't shifted.
"They've had all kinds of different perspectives, quite frankly. At one point they've wanted an extension (of current law). At another point, they wanted a baseline bill. At another, they wanted $6 billion above baseline.
"We've tried to stick with what was negotiated in the Senate — a very good, bipartisan, responsible bill. It had tremendous reform, more reform than ever. We (increased funds) for areas like nutrition and conservation.
"We tried to keep intact a very productive, successful commodities title even with the reforms. Prices are good now, but in two years who knows where they'll be?
"We must keep in mind that we're not just writing a bill for this cropping year, but for crop years down the road. And no one knows what (conditions) will be like then."
The bill's recent halting progress and skirmishes between the House and Senate only developed in the last few months, pointed out Lincoln. Bipartisanship has never been a problem — 82 senators voted for the Senate's farm bill proposal.
And she's unimpressed with claims the Senate tax package is a deal killer.
"It's amazing how people suddenly thought the (Senate's) tax package was a secret. We marked it up last September and went through the regular committee sequence.
"For some reason, the House has had great consternation over this tax piece … One comment out of the House was 'we sent (the Senate) a farm bill and they sent us a tax bill back.'
"No, (the House) sent us a revenue bill and we looked at how to complement some of the things people wanted to do by providing incentives instead of just giving away money."
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


text: On Fri, 4 Feb 2005, Joe Landman wrote: > > > Robert G. Brown wrote: > > On Wed, 2 Feb 2005, Matthew Pratola wrote: > > > > > >>Hi all, > >> > >>Can anyone recommend a simple web frontend for submitting SGE jobs? > > > > > > http://www.globus.org/ > > > > One stop shopping. > > Did I miss something? Was a tongue planted in cheek with this reply? Actually, it was a reply I snapped off on my way out the door on the edge of late for teaching. Let me reconsider my answer. You don't like yes/globus, how about "no". At least if you mean really really simple by simple. I would argue that a cluster designed to run primarily embarrassingly parallel jobs, fronted by a web portal/interface, is a not uncommon form of a grid, although perhaps the definition is large enough to include a union of such clusters or some more general structure (certainly access to other kinds of resources than strictly "a cluster"). So I read this question as "I want to make my local cluster into a grid, so users faraway with no direct LAN accounts or access can submit jobs into my local SGE queue after being properly authenticated". And, of course, be notified (with messages) when the jobs crash or terminate normally, facilitate data transfer and resource allocation requests, etc. Not exactly simple... Globus TK is as I understand it a toolkit from which one can build a web interface for generalized remote task submission to "a grid". It has to have lots of moving parts to do that well -- just AUTHENTICATING data transfer and job execution via a web interface isn't really terribly "simple", becaues to do it decently generally requires e.g. stuff like kerberos, ssl, ssh that aren't terribly simple either. So I definitely failed on the "simple" bit. However, simple or not, I believe that Globus does contain the components to do what you want -- provide a very generic web interface for people far away who don't share any LAN components such as mounted filespace, authentication/userid mappings, etc to transfer data and job execution instructions to a system. That system, if it is a front end running SGE and/or stuff like condor (policy, load balance, batch job tools) can then put the job into a queue, run it, and let globus know when it is finished so it can tell the original user. If you look over just their security layer (GSI -- Grid Security Infrastructure) you rapidly come to realize that to run any sort of remote job execution service you NEED most of its components -- authentication (including a Certificate Authority CA), encryption (public/private key, managed with certificates), permissions, etc. Some grid designs I've seen use just this component of Globus and use other tools (like PBS or SGE or custom designed stuff) for other components. Ian Foster seems to have a list of at least some of the major grid projects around the world -- enough to be able to google on them by name -- here: http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/~foster/grid-projects/ Perhaps you can find a reusable interface at one of their project websties. You can also check out e.g. the Grid Portal Development Kit: http://doesciencegrid.org/projects/GPDK/ or The Grid Portal Kit: https://gridport.npaci.edu/ or the Open Grid Computing Environment: http://www.ogce.org/index.php all of which I believe use globus as at least part of their middleware for e.g. authentication etc. Some of these are (e.g. the DOE's GPDK) currently unsupported although still available and possibly still reasonably functional. I don't really know the status of the rest of them, and I doubt that this is all of them. So you're right, I should have answered "no" because it isn't simple to offer a web interface to any active service, ESPECIALLY one that permits a remote user to upload arbitrary programs for execution on arbitrary data of arbitrary size where authentication, encryption, data transport, and remote job management become absolutely essential components of the solution. AFAIK, Globus is one of the if not the only middleware toolkits of choice for people who run the big grids -- they probably write their own actual web portal, but they use Globus to do at least some of the heavy lifting that goes on behind the scenes. Maybe one of the "portal projects" above (all open source) will be of use in setting up a "simple" portal to your cluster, but be aware that the problem itself is far from simple. However, I could be wrong and as always cherish being corrected. rgb > > As far as I know there are very few web interfaces to running SGE (or > LSF, or ...) jobs. If I am wrong please do provide links/references. > > Globus is not a web interface (last I checked), but a large group of > middleware to manage something that looks a lot closer to the definition > of a grid than SGE. SGE is a job scheduler (with a name "engineered" to > make you think it is a one-stop-shop as a grid-in-a-box). > > My company is interested in (and we are developing) web portals for end > user cluster work, so if you know of any, we would like to hear about > them. Good open-source platforms that are current/supported could be > worth looking at (and will save us time/development effort). There seem > to be lots of bits of abandonware in the grid portal/user-interface > area. We don't want to re-invent wheels, but at the same time, we don't > want to adopt abandoned ones either. > > Joe > > -- Robert G. Brown http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/ Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305 Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 Phone: 1-919-660-2567 Fax: 919-660-2525 email:rgb at phy.duke.edu


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Brighton entertain their fiercest rivals Crystal Palace tomorrow for the first time in six years. European Football Weekends has one foot in the Brighton camp. On the other side of the fence is Match of the Day 2 regular, Kevin Day....
I just want to get this over with now. I've been as nervous as Ryan Giggs in a newsagent for the past six weeks and I never get nervous because I'm old enough to believe that football is just a game. But this one is so not just a game. So I just want to take the inevitable stuffing, turn the phone off and hide under the duvet until the seaweed fans switch their gloating searchlights elsewhere - and if you think the eye of Sauron is an unforgiving and exhausting gaze, it's nothing to what Palace fans have been subjected to from the smugness of Sussex recently.
And if that strikes you as a tone of weary resignation then congratulations, you've caught the mood of Palace fans. Our away form is dismal: the defeat at Doncaster being the latest proof that Palace could make a fortune by hiring themselves out to shit teams desperate for a win. And although our financial fortunes have improved, the seaweed are officially on a roll. They've got a brand new environmentally friendly stadium powered solely by self-righteousness (I'm not saying it's middle class but I believe Sandi Toksvig is the pitch announcer). They've got money to burn and a team playing free flowing attractive football. Not only that, but they seem to be in the wank bank of every journalist and pundit south of the river - I have been told off many times for shouting "get a room" at Steve Claridge as he bats his eyelashes and tells us how brilliant and gorgeous Brighton are.
"But Kevin" I hear you say (and I really do hear you, the voices in my head won't go away until this is over), "Why such bitterness about a team that play fifty miles away from you?" It is odd that they are our bitterest rivals. Millwall and Charlton carry on their scrap dealing ways unhindered by our contempt, they don't even register. It's all reserved for Brighton. And the odd thing is, it's all so new. It's only since an FA Cup game that went to a third replay at Stamford Bridge in 1975, that this passion has been unleashed. I was there, it was one of my first 'away' matches a kid and I still remember Alan Mullery's face contorted with rage, attempting to confront Palace fans, which being Alan Mullery he obviously failed to do (if I was the Navy Seal that found Bin Laden and Mullery was next to him, I would have been in a real pickle).
Both teams were in the old Third Division then and got promoted and relegated together in several seasons to come. Within five seasons it became a lifelong enmity and some of the pre and post match fighting was horrendous (and let's face it, out of character, neither team had any sort of reputation for trouble).
I'm also aware that dispassionately, the Brighton story is a good one. A team saved from oblivion, travelling from ground to ground, being refused permission to come home then returning triumphant to their own
patch. A romantic football lover like me should be all over that. But I can't be dispassionate about them. Especially not when people I never knew were Brighton fans have crawled out of the woodwork to tweet and
text me about how good they are. My God, I wish I had gloated when they were two divisions below us and really shit, but I didn't because Palace fans are too nice. And now it's too late. We're going to lose
and they are going to gloat.


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Contributed Paper Sessions
Submissions of abstracts for contributed paper sessions are currently being accepted.
Submitting an Abstract: Please email title and abstract to email@example.com.
The preferred format is LaTeX (*.tex); a template may be found at
Other formats, such as MS Word (*.doc) or Portable Document Format (*.pdf) will be reformatted in LaTeX as faithfully as possible.
Submission Deadline: Extended to May 31th.
There will be six contributed paper sessions which will be spread over two days, June 24 and June 25. We have sessions devoted to a variety topics in both research and teaching in mathematics as well as an open session for talks aimed at a more general audience. Talks will be allotted 15 minutes, which includes time for questions.
Junior Faculty Talks
This session is intended to showcase research interests non-tenured faculty, particularly those new to the section, who are early in their careers as mathematical researchers.
General Talks
The goal of the general research session is to exhibit current research in pure and applied mathematics and mathematics education by faculty in the Northwest and by colleagues elsewhere. Mathematical papers on any topics of interest to section members are welcome.
Topics in Mathematics Education and Teaching
Talks in any area of mathematics education including examples of effective classroom techniques and other "teaching gems" are welcome.
Current Research in Algebra, Geometry and Topology
Many of the most important results in modern mathematics occur in the intersections of Algebra, Geometry, and Topology. This session welcomes presentations on new results in these areas and their overlap. Bonus points will be awarded for results with applications in other areas.


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The Crime of Being HIV Positive
July 27, 2012
Two incriminating words branded the young Army clerk's honorable discharge paperwork.
Serious offense.
Monique Howell had not been found guilty of any crimes. But in May 2007, she was told she had 72 hours left in the United States military. Her discharge was considered honorable, but it certainly wasn't her choice. Indeed, she had planned to re-enlist. That would no longer be an option for her.
Howell had been charged with aggravated assault, a felony charge in military law for not disclosing her HIV-positive status before having unprotected sex with another soldier. After five months in court, the charges were dropped. But those two words would stay on her paperwork. For Howell, then a 26-year-old mother of three young children, the damage had been done.
"It made me feel like a criminal," said Howell, 31, of Summerville, S.C. "I could be nice one minute and about to kill myself the next."
Compared to some, Howell was lucky. Hundreds of Americans have been arraigned on charges of alleged nondisclosure of HIV statues or transmission of HIV and many have served time in jail -- most often in cases where HIV was not transmitted, experts say. Though laws vary by state, there are currently 33 states that criminalize HIV exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
HIV advocates and legal experts are trying to get these laws off the books, saying they do far more harm than good. The laws deliberately discriminate against a specific group of people, they lead to innocent people serving jail time, and are often based on an outdated understanding of how HIV is transmitted, said Sean Strub, director of the Sero Project, a nonprofit dedicated to ending such criminal prosecutions.
"These prosecutions are driving the epidemic," said Strub, interviewed at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. "Everyone talks about stigma this, stigma that. What creates more stigma than the government enforcing laws that discriminate against one specific group of people?"
Howell did not know it was against the law to not disclose her HIV status, she said. A higher-ranking staff sergeant had paid her a visit at her house on the Army base in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
One thing led to another. She asked him to wear a condom. The staff sergeant, charming and persistent, declined to do so, she said. Eventually, she relented, and they engaged in unprotected sex.
"I didn't know the laws, but I knew what I did was wrong," Howell said.
It's unclear how the staff sergeant became aware of her HIV-status, but Howell suspects he was told by other supervising officers to whom she had disclosed. She was soon thereafter called at her parents' house and ordered to report to the military police. She was facing 8-12 years in prison.
Take the Test, Risk Arrest
You've seen the stories. The AIDS monster, the HIV predator, sits impassively in court as the television gravely explains the heinousness of the alleged crimes.
But legal experts and advocates in the HIV/AIDS field are banding together to repeal criminalization laws because they say such laws, conceived to stop the spread of HIV, are actually worsening the epidemic. For the first time, there is a coordinated national effort, called the Positive Justice Project, to stop HIV criminalization.
A look at some of the data is illuminating. Thirty-three states have HIV-specific statutes to cover behaviors such as sex, spitting, biting, needle sharing, organ/blood/semen donation and prostitution, according to the CDC, but HIV-positive people are prosecuted with felony charges -- such as aggravated assault -- in states, or under federal law, where there are no HIV-specific statutes.
Some of the laws are plainly archaic. Despite the fact that the risk of transmitting HIV through spitting and biting is virtually nil -- or negligible, according to the CDC -- 12 states and territories have HIV-specific spitting and biting laws, according to data compiled by the The Center for HIV Law & Policy.
(The law in Illinois was recently amended to not include biting or spitting, among other changes. Click here to read how the AIDS Foundation of Chicago recently led efforts to amend the law in Illinois.)
Actual transmission of HIV is rarely a factor in prosecutions, said Scott Schoettes, HIV project director for Lambda Legal.
"Overall these laws are ineffective because the criminal law is far too blunt of an instrument to deal with the variety, complexity and nuances of sexual relations between two consenting adults," Schoettes said in an email. "People's lives, emotions, and motivations are complicated; intimate relationships are complex and sometimes messy; and the "mating dance" in which we engage takes place on multiple levels, through a wide variety of verbal and non-verbal cues."
(Read a full Q&A with Schoettes on HIV criminalization laws.)
This article was provided by AIDS Foundation of Chicago.
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The global airline industry continues to face challenges from the deepening of the European debt crisis that is wiping out the positive impacts of lower fuel prices, increasing air traffic and improved freight market. The scenario is unlikely to change for the remainder of the year.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) still projects overall airline profits of $3.0 billion for 2012 with net profit margin of 0.5% on the back of healthy growth in North and South America. The profit outlook is less than $7.9 billion earned in 2011 and $16 billion earned in 2010. This steep decline in the industry's profitability is a function of the overall unfavorable macro backdrop in which the industry has to operate this year.
Regional Forecast
North America: North American airlines are seeing improving growth prospects as the year progresses thanks to tight capacity, rising travel demand and a number of new and enhanced ancillary revenues. The carriers are performing at record levels when it comes to customer service including on-time arrivals, baggage handling, fewer customer complaints, lower cancellations and lower overbooked flights. As a result, these carriers are expected to generate $1.4 billion in profits this year, up from the previous expectation of $900 million.
Asia-Pacific: These carriers are expected to record a profit of $2.0 billion in 2012, down from the previous forecast of $2.3 billion. IATA made the downward revision on the heels of weak cargo performance and the slowdowns in Chinese and Indian economic growth. Notably, this is the highest profit-producing region in the industry outside the home market.
Middle East & Latin America: Per IATA, profits from the Middle East carriers are expected to grow to $400 million, down from the previous expectation of $500 million. Profit projection for Latin American carriers increased to $400 million from $100 million forecasted previously.
Africa: African air carriers are expected to incur a loss of $100 million due to weaker yields after touching the break-even point in 2011.
Europe: As for the European airlines, the IATA expects this year's loss to widen to $1.1 billion given intensifying Eurozone woes, continued weakness in cargo and passenger businesses and higher taxes. The forecast is almost double the previous expectation of $600 million.
Underlying Factors for 2012 Profits
In the base-case scenario, there are several factors that will drive overall airline profits in 2012:
Cargo & Freight
Passenger markets are growing at a slower pace while freight has also been modestly weak since the beginning of the year. The cargo market has bottomed out, following a sharp fall in 2011 and we expect it to remain stable in the second half.
While the economic slowdown in several countries like Europe and U.S. will keep travel growth trends at check, markets in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East would continue to boost growth in the second half of the year. The IATA projects global airline passenger growth of 4.6% in 2012 versus 4.2% forecasted previously.
Coming to demand-supply balances, demand (measured in traffic) will outpace capacity (combined passenger and cargo) as the year advances. Capacity is expected to show an increase of 3.3% while air travel demand is expected to see a 4.8% pickup.
Fuel Price Rise: Boon or Bane?
The airline profit outlook depends on fuel prices, the major variable component in the industry.
Crude oil price has dropped about 15% in the recently concluded second quarter. Lower fuel price no doubt cuts airline operating expenses, but it also indicates a slowing economy and the consequent fall in global air travel demand. However, if pricing remains stable despite the questionable macroeconomic outlook, the carriers should experience better profitability solely on the back of falling fuel costs.
Even with the falling fuel prices, the Association projects fuel to account for 33% of the overall operating costs, which is at similar levels when oil prices spiked in 2008 but 13–14% higher than a decade ago.
High crude oil prices, largely a function of geostrategic forces, are beyond the control of the airlines. However, using Brent crude oil as the basis, IATA expects crude oil price will hover around $110 per barrel this year. We expect crude oil and jet fuel prices to increase further this year because of the political tension in the Persian Gulf, but forecasting this key variable with any level of accuracy has always been extremely challenging.
Given the weak macroeconomic data points, we believe the carriers are ready to accept the burden of rising fuel prices as they are well positioned to endure the current crisis. Successfully passing on the increased cost to customers in the form of fare hikes and efficient use of fuel-hedging strategies are helping them to combat the rising fuel prices (hedging strategies discussed below).
Getting Rid of Unprofitable Jets
Most of the air carriers are scrapping or cutting flights in many small airports that are unprofitable in order to reduce their fuel cost burden. North American carriers lead the way in capacity discipline.
Over the last two years, Delta Air Lines Inc. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/dal]DAL[/url]), United Continental Holdings Inc. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/ual]UAL[/url]), US Airways Group Inc. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/lcc]LCC[/url]) and American Airlines, a subsidiary of AMR Corp. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/aamrq]AAMRQ[/url]) slashed their capacity by about 16.6%, 16.3%, 14.3% and 8.4%, respectively as per the Center for Aviation (CAPA).
Other international airlines like Air Canada, Air France ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/aflyy]AFLYY[/url]), Qantas Airways, Korean Airlines and All Nippon Airways also reduced their capacities over the past two years.
Hedging Strategies
Hedging strategies provide a cushion to the rising fuel prices and are being used extensively. The carriers use a combination of calls, swaps and collars at varying WTI crude-equivalent price levels to hedge.
Passengers are demanding high quality services with proper security. Airlines are using obsolete, old and less-fuel efficient aircraft, flying which are no longer feasible in a fuel-expensive environment. Hence, air carriers are also focusing on fleet rightsizing.
Though initially expensive, the new aircraft are more fuel efficient than the existing ones and have helped in lowering operating and maintenance costs. Global airlines are expected to invest $3.5 trillion to buy 27,800 new airplanes, having seating capacity of more than 100, over the next 2 decades (2011–2030). New airlines business, advanced technology and dynamic growth of air travel in emerging markets throughout the world are boosting demand for these airplanes.
About one-third of the demand is expected to come from Asia, which currently accounts for 28% of global air passengers. The demand in Europe and the U.S. is expected to fall to 23% and 20% by 2030, respectively, from the current 27% that each enjoy.
Airbus, the world's leading aircraft manufacturer, will deliver the largest number of aircraft to the airline companies, followed by The Boeing Co. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/ba]BA[/url]). The U.S. air carriers have started buying new planes from these manufacturers in order to provide good customer service. The progress thus attained would help these companies to regain their lost profits.
U.S. Airlines: 20-Year Projection
The U.S. airline industry is expected to remain profitable over the next two decades given the improving worldwide trends in air travel. However, growth may be held back until 2015 due to increases in fuel costs and the ongoing economic difficulties in the U.S. and Europe.
Although U.S. airlines will likely see a small dip this year, the demand for air travel will double over the next 20 years, as predicted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Passenger demand is expected to grow 2% to $746 million in 2013 and about 3% in subsequent years, reaching $1 billion by 2024 and $1.2 billion by 2032.
The FAA projects air traffic, customarily measured in billions of revenue passenger miles -- a unit of one mile flown by one passenger -- to grow by more than 90% over the same period. Revenue passenger miles would jump from 815 billion reported last year to 1.57 trillion by 2032 at an average annual rate of 3.2%.
International traffic is expected to grow 4.2% per year, in contrast to domestic travel that will growth at a more modest clip of 2.7% annually through 2032. This projection assumes a steady economic recovery with no major calamities like a large rise in oil price, swings in macroeconomic policy or financial meltdowns. Further, major North American airlines would raise capacity (available seat miles) at an annual rate of 3.1%, reaching 1.89 trillion by 2032.
The 20-year trajectory is expected to stem from the implementation of NextGen, the satellite-based navigation system that aims to make air travel more efficient. The carriers are taking numerous steps to improve their profitability as described in the above sections.
Moreover, the growing demand for air travel and a relatively lesser number of planes will make future fare hikes possible over the next two decades. Airline mergers and consolidation will bring down the number of flights and reduce the number of cities served.
We believe industry consolidation and various ancillary revenues will boost profitability and cost performance of most air carriers going forward. This is an opportune moment for companies to consolidate in order to regain their lost profits and operational efficiency.
Ancillary Revenue: A number of supplementary revenue streams helped the airline industry gain ground in 2010 and 2011 after two years of drought. Ancillary revenues shot up 66% over two years to $22.6 billion in 2011. Air carriers are adding novel features to their services and expanding new products to improve passenger satisfaction and experience. The IATA projects total revenue of $631 billion for 2012, down slightly from $633 million projected in March.
Carriers are going wireless with in-flight entertainment systems such as American Airlines' Gogo "Vision" wireless video-on-demand, Delta Air Lines' "Delta Connect," Lufthansa's "BoardConnect," Emirates' "ice OnDemand" and Southwest's "Live TV." Other carriers such as Virgin America, Qantas and Virgin Australia will soon launch their in-flight entertainment systems.
Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, KLM, Delta, Qantas and British Airways have also made Apple Inc.'s ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/aapl]AAPL[/url]) iPad available to passengers in their lounges, rent them out in the air as well as use them as a self-service kiosk, customer survey tool and food ordering tool.
Further, major U.S. carriers remain focused on expanding their product and service offerings on board and on the ground for higher ancillary revenues. Delta Air Lines and United Continental are installing winglets, WiFi and flat-bed seats apart from expanding Economy Comfort or Economy Plus seats to their fleet. United Continental is also introducing streaming wireless video in its aircraft.
Southwest Airlines Co. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/luv]LUV[/url]) is benefiting from EarlyBird check-in, unaccompanied minor travel and pet fees. The company is renovating in-flight cabins and redesigning interiors, and has labeled the new appearance as Evolve: the New Southwest Experience. These fleet modernization plans and the All-New Rapid Rewards program is contributing to revenue growth.
JetBlue Airways Corp. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/jblu]JBLU[/url]) is experiencing solid growth given continued success in the Getaway Vacations Division, as well as the Even More Space product.
Consolidation: Airline companies consolidate in order to restore lost profits. This is evident from the past three mega-mergers: Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines in 2008, United Airlines and Continental Airlines in 2010, and AirTran Holdings and Southwest Airlines in 2011. All the three companies -- Delta, United and Southwest -- are the long-term beneficiaries on both capacity and cost fronts.
Again, the airline industry is awaiting another major consolidation. The rumors about American Airlines merging with another airline have been heating up since the company filed for bankruptcy protection in November last year. American Airlines is evaluating its merger proposal with US Airways, JetBlue, Alaska Air Group ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/alk]ALK[/url]), Frontier Airlines, a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/rjet]RJET[/url]) and Virgin America.
We see American Airlines-US Airways as the hottest pair in the industry. Three months ago, the three labor unions of American Airlines supported a merger with US Airways. The combination would create an airline on par with the largest U.S. air carrier, United Continental, in terms of revenue and traffic, and bigger than the current second-largest airline, Delta. As a result, American Airlines should emerge as a successful candidate by balancing its debt level and lowering costs.
The consolidation of American Airlines, if successful, would be the fourth in the last three years. Nevertheless, any potential merger with AMR will take several months or a year to materialize, as American Airlines has yet to complete its court restructuring process and will undergo antitrust scrutiny.
Expansion: North American carriers are making continuous efforts to increase their domestic and international flights. Delta Air Lines is focusing on adding flights in New York, Latin America, Mexico and Brazil. Delta Air Lines is progressing well on the $1.2 billion expansion at New York-JFK, scheduled to open in 2013. Internationally, Delta's deal with a Chinese international airline, China Eastern, should prove profitable.
Southwest started new services in Atlanta and will introduce services to new and unexplored domestic markets including New York LaGuardia, Boston Logan, Milwaukee and Baltimore/Washington as well as many smaller domestic cities. Further, Southwest is looking to tap the opportunity in the international market with its debut in the Caribbean, Central America, Latin America and Mexican markets by 2015.
United Continental is benefiting and enhancing its access from each other's hubs and networks. JetBlue continues to successfully expand its network in two major growth regions: Boston to New York and the Caribbean.
Technology Upgrades: Air carriers are involved in numerous technology upgrades and system automation for various activities such as airline reservation system, flight operations system, website maintenance and in-flight entertainment systems. These upgrades enable companies to perform better, lower costs and enhance customer service.
The major outperformer is expected to be Republic Airways, which has a Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank for the short term (1–3 months). We also recommend Spirit Airlines Inc. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/save]SAVE[/url]), Allegiant Travel Company ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/algt]ALGT[/url]), Hawaiian Holdings Inc. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/ha]HA[/url]), Skywest Inc. ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/skyw]SKYW[/url]), U.S. Airways and Air France that have a Zacks #2 (Buy) Rank.
We also like a few Zacks #3 (Hold) Rank stocks such as Alaska Air Group, AMR Corp., Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, United Continental and GOL Linhas ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/gol]GOL[/url]).
Of the many challenges facing the industry, the most important ones include volatile fuel prices, economic weakness, natural calamities, government regulation, unionization, airport infrastructure constraints and safety concerns.
Oil Price Volatility: Fuel price volatility continues to be one of the significant challenges, as the cost of fuel is largely unpredictable. Fuel prices remain well below the 2008 level of over $140 per barrel that had ravaged the airlines industry. The company's ability to pass along the increased costs of fuel to its customers is limited by the competitive nature of the airline industry. Thus, even a small change in fuel prices can significantly affect profitability.
Unionization: The airline business is labor-intensive. Most of the employees are unionized and depend on various U.S. labor organizations. The relation between airlines and labor unions are governed by the Railway Labor Act, which states that a collective bargaining agreement between an airline and a labor union does not expire. Instead it becomes amendable as of a stated date. Failure to amend terms and conditions suitably may lead to work stoppages or strikes, and thereby hamper operations.
Federal Regulations: The airline industry is highly regulated, in particular by the federal government. All companies engaged in air transportation in the U.S. are subject to the regulations implemented by the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT recently laid new pricing rules for air carriers, effective January 26, 2012. As per the new rules, airline companies have to include all taxes and fees while advertising fares for their flights. As passengers are switching to low fares, the new rules might weaken travel demand, thereby leading to lower profits for the industry.
Further, airlines are also regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a division of the DOT, primarily in areas of flight operations, maintenance and other safety and technical matters.
Capacity Creep: The airline industry has a poor record of capacity discipline, though it has largely been mindful of this issue in this cycle. It remains to be seen how long the current trends remain in place before old habits return.
Large Investments: The air carriers are investing a lot of money to enhance their products and services in order to make them competitive. The proper returns from these investments are uncertain or the timings are unknown. The carriers might also lose money invested in the business for the new developments.
We expect Ryanair Holdings plc ([url=https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/ryaay]RYAAY[/url]), which has a Zacks #4 (Sell) Rank, to underperform the broader market.
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What better way to explore the nature of life than by playing the game of LIFE? And who better to put on the hot seat about the philosophies of life than Vampire Weekend, on the occasion of the release of their third album Modern Vampires of the City?
Much too early one morning in New York City, Radio.com asked Vampire Weekend to play a round of LIFE while they answered questions of the great philosophical thinkers. They revealed their thoughts on the biological imperative that causes parenthood, God and the unmoved mover, the nature of good and evil in man and why they're so into making album covers out of found art.
Watch as they navigate through choosing a college and career, adopting pets and embracing Marxism in a quick game of LIFE.
Catch the band playing KROQ's Weenie Roast Saturday May 18 at noon PT. If you can't make it to L.A. you can watch the webcast from your couch.


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Just wanted to share a script I've been working on for the past few days called sour. Its been really useful, and it might be to others too.
AUR: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=58453
Source: https://github.com/wolfcore/sour
sour is a script that automates uploading of screenshots,
sour: usage:
-h, --help print this message
-f forum output (thumbnail and BBCode)
-k keep images when done (sent to current directory)
-u URL don't scrot; use URL as image
-e PATH don't scrot; use PATH as image
-p MSG prefix output with MSG
-c show a countdown before taking the shot
-d NUM wait NUM seconds before taking a shot
-s interactively choose a window or rectangle with the mouse
Please play with it and tell me what you think!
Last edited by wolfcore (2012-04-22 02:33:29)
It's been a week since I posted this thread, just wanted to post an update: I've been working on sour nonstop, and it's pretty nice so far
It's so much easier to post screenshots compared to having to do it all by hand!
AUR package?
CPU-optimized Linux-ck packages @ Repo-ck • AUR packages • Zsh and other configs
AUR package?
Yes, the AUR package can be found here.
Thanks for this package, I really like it!
Thanks for this package, I really like it!
I'm open to any suggestions on improvements, etc.
I see that you are using scrot to take the actual screenshot. Can you also support Gnome Screenshot?
I pretty like that one because it allows you to select an area which to grab which is not supported by scrot, I guess?
I pretty like that one because it allows you to select an area which to grab which is not supported by scrot, I guess?
scrot --select
Arch + dwm • Mercurial repos • Github
Registered Linux User #482438


text:
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Empties: Products I've Used Up! #13 | MichelaIsMyName ♥
Another empties..
I hope you like the video
Mika xxx
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Pleasure and Pain - ALWAYS I hate what is normal. I'm NOT reflecting what is normal for "normal" people. Normal people are fine, but I'm not one of them. I'll never change. I am what I am, and I wont be what you want me to be! I want to do MY WAY! nice to meet you x
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text:
Cut Throat Business
|Cut Throat Business
Carl Johnson and Madd Dogg decide to shut down OG Loc.
|GTA San Andreas
|Madd Dogg
|Mulholland, Los Santos, San Andreas
Death of Madd Dogg
Death of OG Loc
OG Loc escapes
Vortex and Kart will begin to spawn at fixed places throughout the state.
|Riot (with Sweet's missions)
|Unlocked by
|Home Coming
Cut Throat Business is a mission in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas given to protagonist Carl Johnson by rapper Madd Dogg from his mansion at the Mulholland district of Los Santos, San Andreas
Carl Johnson arrives at the mansion to find Madd Dogg back in the studio, ready to make his comeback. He is watching rival rapper OG Loc on a nearby television; the media appear to be doing a live feature on him as he shooting his new music video. After listening carefully, Madd Dogg realizes that OG Loc's lyrics are actually from Dogg's own rhymebook, which Carl in fact stole for Loc. Carl and Dogg both agree to drop-in unannounced and make a cameo appearance in the middle of Loc's video.
As the two arrive at the shoot, OG Loc is being interviewed. When he sees them, Loc attempts to escape in a Vortex. Carl and Dogg take the two other hovercrafts and give chase. Upon reaching Verona Beach, Loc abandons his Vortex and switches to a go-kart. Carl and Madd Dogg take the two other Go-Karts and continue chasing Loc through Los Santos. The chase comes to an end as Loc attempts to escape to the Blastin' Fools Records headquarters in Rodeo. Madd Dogg and Carl confront Loc, who initially denies the theft but then attempts to buy their silence. Jimmy Silverman, one of the executives of the record company, overhears their conversation and offers to sign Madd Dogg to the record label and sue Loc. Loc is sent to go get them all some lunch; his career is now finished.
(Carl, Madd Dogg, Kent Paul and Maccer at Madd Dogg's Crib)
Carl Johnson: Hey, what's up, Dogg?
Madd Dogg: CJ, what's up, baby? Word.
Kent Paul: Resist, sunshine, you can do it! For me, eh? Fucking Northerners... No, Maccer! Fight the urge! Think of... Thatcher!
Madd Dogg: You know it's my time again...
Carl Johnson: I know, dude. So what's holding you back?
Madd Dogg: Woah, hold up, this his video? I gotta see this fool...
Carl Johnson: Hey, man, you clean now. You got nothing to worry about.
Madd Dogg: Man, that fake-ass LOC!
Carl Johnson: Loc? But he's terrible!
Madd Dogg: Motherfucker... I knew there was something familiar about those rhymes he was kicking. They're from my rhyme book! That's my money! And those are my hoes! And that's my video he's shooting today.
Carl Johnson: OK, I say we make a cameo appearance. just drop in, unannounced.
Madd Dogg: Yeah, that's gangsta. C'mon.
(Madd Dogg, Carl Johnson find OG Loc being interviewed.)
Madd Dogg: You fucking phonies! Sum' bitch! Gimme my rhyme book! Gimme back my chain! Gimme back my hoes!
Carl Johnson: He bustin' out! Come on, Dogg, let's get him!
(OG Loc being chased by Carl and Madd Dogg.)
OG Loc: Hey! I thought we was friends... Stay away from me! You're yesterday news...
(The chase leads into a Go-Kart.)
OG Loc: Smoke is gonna deal with you pussies!
(OG Loc, Jimmy Silverman, Carl and Madd Dogg inside Blastin' Fools Records.)
Madd Dogg: You phony!
OG Loc: Man, you can't prove nothing!
Carl Johnson: Hey, Jeffrey, you a buster, straight bitch. You stabbed me and my brother in the back.
OG Loc: Man, I'm an artiste! We all make mistakes, ain't that right, alkie?
Madd Dogg: You ain't no artist! You's a buster! You's a fake!
OG Loc: Man, I was going to give you credit on the next album! Here, royalties! Take that! I got more, too!
Madd Dogg: Little bitch, I should just smack dog-shit out your ass, break your face right here, motherfucker!
Jimmy Silverman: Yeah, you phoney! Heh heh heh heh! Mr. Dogg, Jimmy Silverman, Blastin' Fools Records.
Carl Johnson: Hold up, I'm the manager. You want to talk, talk to me.
Jimmy Silverman: Oh, OK. Pleasure, gentlemen. Let's talk, all right? I need hits. I mean, hits! Now what about this guy... this phoney... I've got a good mind to sue his ass into next year.
OG Loc: Man, get off me, you drunk!
Carl Johnson: Hey, Loc - go get us some lunch.
OG Loc: You get lunch!
(OG Loc tries to take Madd Dogg's rhymebook and go.)
Madd Dogg: Excuse me, gangsta - I don't think so!
OG Loc: Man - get outta here. Don't let him be pushing me! Don't be pushing me...
The player is rewarded with respect upon completing this mission. If Sweet's mission Grove 4 Life is done, the next mission Riot will be unlocked. Also, there will now be Vortex and Kart spawn points.
- When chasing OG Loc, if you are far behind him, he'll drive slower; being very close to him will make him drive faster, indicating that there is no way to get in front of him.
- This mission is scripted so that OG Loc's driving path is pre-determined. If the game is modded so that objects - such as islands - are lying in his way, he will simply drive through them.
Carl Johnson and Madd Dogg pay OG Loc a visit at his video shoot.
CJ chasing Loc in a Vortex across Santa Maria Beach.
CJ and Madd Dogg confront Loc at Blastin' Fools Records.
Video walkthrough
|PC Version - GTASeriesVideos


text:
The American Medical Association (AMA) now classifies obesity as a disease. The AMA said in a released statement the new definition would help in the fight against type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which are linked to obesity.
Obesity should not be classified as a disease. When it comes to issues of weight, unless there is a true underlying medical condition, which isn�t the case most of the time, your weight is your responsibility. Classifying obesity as a disease does nothing but add to the psychological delusion that being fat isn�t our fault.
Americans love to play the blame game. People say they�re fat because of the food manufacturers, the restaurants, portion sizes and more. It�s everyone�s fault but our own.
Americans have been programmed to believe diets don�t work because of the inability of the average person to stick to them, and their unwillingness to take responsibility for their own failure.
Make no mistake: Many diets work very well and have been scientifically proven to do so. Because an individual lacks the mental toughness to stick to a diet doesn�t make the diet any less effective. People have a difficult time accepting their own behavior, so they blame their diet. That�s no different from a college graduate begging for money on the street and then blaming the school for his failure to succeed.
People battling weight have failed on so many diets, they begin to believe there�s something mysteriously complex about getting thin and healthy. It�s a psychological phenomenon that holds people back from building the body they desire and deserve.
Fit people know weight loss is as simple and straightforward as making a commitment to change and being mentally tough enough to stick to their commitment. The configuration of the diets themselves can be very complex, but adhering to a diet is as elementary as having the willpower to keep your word to yourself.
People who battle their weight have no credibility with themselves because they�ve broken their own promises so many times they no longer trust their ability to do what they say they will do. This bleeds over into every area of their lives and destroys their self-esteem. Fit people, on the other hand, make a decision and stick to their diet no matter how much they are tempted and taunted by themselves or others. They know being physically fit goes beyond looking good and being healthy. It impacts everything they do.
The masses love to make the simple seem complicated, so they have an excuse for failing. The AMA ruling is just another excuse for someone to say, �It�s not my fault; I have a disease.� Fit people keep it simple and get busy getting what they want. Instead of wasting their mental energy going from diet to diet, they select a diet and focus on following it to the letter until they arrive at their ideal weight. While those battling their weight are struggling at every meal, deciding whether or not to remain compliant, fit people waste no mental energy because the decision has already been made.
The bottom line: We are all responsible for what we see in the mirror, and nobody forces us to eat the way we do or not engage in an active lifestyle. Is there somebody holding a gun to your head making you eat the pizza and doughnuts? It�s time for people to realize that nobody is going to save you from yourself � not the government, a doctor or any magic pill, lotion or potion. The hero on the white horse isn�t going to come riding in singing �Here I come to save the day.�
It�s time for America to grow up emotionally and make the decision to get fit and healthy once and for all. You are the problem, and you are the solution. Make the decision today to get fit and healthy. It�s your choice.
Steve Siebold is author of the book, �Die Fat or Get Tough: 101 Differences in Thinking Between Fat People and Fit People,� and a mental toughness coach who has helped thousands of people lose weight.


text:
The official GroupMe app has been bumped to 4.2, up from the recently released version that included a new start screen, as well as Windows Phone 8 support. The popular service by Microsoft enables consumers to connect with others in groups with images and makes use of both push and SMS.
So what's new in this latest release?
Fixed Bugs
- App now updates correctly when returning from a screen time-out
- Launching from a tile now updates the group correctly
- Other smaller bug fixes
- Share pictures of any size!
- Save pictures to your Saved Pictures album in the Photos app
Though Groupme mentions the above as new features, they left a big one out: Lockscreen notifications. Yes, Windows Phone 8 users can head to their Settings to add notification icons and 'detailed status' information right on their locksceen. Sweet!
It's a handy app should you have a bunch of friends or contacts that you need to contact where private areas can be created between select personnel. We've utilised the app and found it to be fairly reliable and useful for those who enjoy collaborating.
You can download GroupMe from Windows Phone Store for free. Thanks, Justin, for the tip!


text: We run mm5 jobs here at the Univ of Utah. In our initial tests we found mm5 to need a lower latency network then ethernet seems to offer. We currently run over Giganet's VIA hardware at a 2x speedup over our initial runs over ethernet. We also tested Myrinet, though an older rev then the 2000 product, and found similar speedups. I can get you more detailed info if you need it, let me know. On Fri, 2002-09-20 at 15:02, Paul English wrote: > > We are running MM5 on a 12 node, 24 processor cluster. It does not seem to > be running at full capacity and I'd like to figure out where we can get > the most bang/buck on performance improvements. The network is currently > only single 10/100, although the motherboards (Tyan S2462 w/ dual onboard > 3c920) have a second 10/100 interface. > > I need to look at: > How saturated is the network? > Do I need to double (2nd 10/100) or multiply by 10 (gigabit) the throughput? > Is the problem latency based? > > > Thanks, > Paul > > > > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf -- Brian D. Haymore University of Utah Center for High Performance Computing 155 South 1452 East RM 405 Salt Lake City, Ut 84112-0190 Phone: (801) 585-1755, Fax: (801) 585-5366 http://www.map.utah.edu/umaplink/0019.html


text:
An Elgin man took the witness stand Wednesday to flatly deny he sexually abused a preteen girl in 2007 and 2008.
Randall Behning, 52, confidently answered, "No," when defense attorney Nischal Raval asked him if he ever had any sexual contact with a now-18-year-old girl, who says the abuse began when she was 12 and continued for about 2½ years.
Behning, an Army veteran, has been charged with criminal sexual assault, predatory criminal sexual assault, child pornography and indecent solicitation of an adult. If convicted on all the charges, he faces a minimum sentence of 28 years in prison.
About 15 of Behning's relatives and friends came out to support him. Several testified that the relationship between Behning and his accuser was good, "never threatening" and "comfortable."
Eugene Roether, of Ottawa, said he's known Behning for about 10 years and never noticed "anything even close" to the accusations.
Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Jason Poje said their observations make complete sense.
"(Behning's) family and friends didn't have a chance to see the truth; they weren't always in his home," Poje said in closing arguments. "We as human beings want to believe we have surrounded ourselves with people of character."
Raval suggested in his closing argument that no one can corroborate the girl's claims that Behning sexually assaulted her.
Photos recovered of the girl wearing lingerie could have been taken by her using a camera timer and not by Behning, Raval said.
He pointed out inconsistencies in testimony between the girl and prosecution witness Kyle Peters, who testified Behning invited him to have sex with the girl but that he chose not to.
Poje rejected Raval's testimony, saying "the question isn't how they (their accounts) were different but how they came up with a story so similar."
There's evidence that the girl's grades dropped in 2008, during the time she says the abuse occurred, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Kristin Piper, which was consistent with her testimony.
Cook County Judge Joel Greenblatt ruled the prosecution could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt whether the victim had been 12 or 13 years old for some of the allegations and dropped three of those counts before the defense presented its case Wednesday morning. The age of the accuser matters for certain charges.
Greenblatt said he will announce his finding at 11 a.m. Friday.


text:
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Is There a Link between Autism and the Gut?
A Closer Look at Food Allergies, Gastrointestinal Problems and Autism
A significant percentage of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD's ) have gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain and reflux. An expert panel, co-chaired by Dr. Timothy Buie and Dr. Harland Winter, both pediatric gastroenterologists at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, reviewed existing medical literature related to children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders with the goal of establishing evidence-based recommendations for evaluation and management of GI problems in this patient population. The group, which included 27 experts in 12 scientific disciplines, including pediatric gastroenterology, pediatric allergy, pediatric pain and child psychology, found that a lack of high-quality clinical research data makes evidence-based recommendations impossible. While there are anecdotal reports of improvements in autistic behaviors after dietary interventions -- there is no scientific proof that special diets help or don't help autistic children. They also found no proof that food allergies, food sensitivities or gastrointestinal problems cause autism or are more common in children with autism. The panel's report was published in the January issue of Pediatrics. Dr. Buie was the lead author. Click here and here for the abstracts.
Dr. Buie is one of the world's leading experts on GI connections to autism, as well as biomedical treatments, dietary interventions and nutritional treatments of children with autism. He is a founding developer of the Autism Treatment Network (ATN), a multi-center national organization of academic programs located throughout the U.S. and Canada that medically manage children with autism. He is also on the staff of the Lurie Family Autism Center/LADDERS, which is a multi-specialty collaborative program sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital serving patients with autism and other developmental disorders.
Q: If I have a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who I think also has a GI problem, what should I do?
A: First, I would discuss the concern with your pediatrician. Many problems and evaluations can be discussed and managed by her. If there is need for additional help, she may ask you to make an appointment with a gastroenterologist. Children with ASD's should have the same thorough diagnostic workup for GI symptoms as individuals without ASD's. In our clinic, we have a variety of techniques for treating this patient population. We schedule early morning appointments so children aren't delayed in the waiting room and we try and distract them by blowing bubbles during a blood draw. Often child life specialists can be present to help if painful procedures are needed.
Q: Parents, like actress Jenny McCarthy, have reported improvements in autistic behaviors after dietary treatments. Did this review establish that such dietary modifications are not helpful for children with ASD's?
A: Not at all. We found that there is a great need for more rigorous research on the subject. We believe that diets or nutritional supplements are not likely to help all children with autism and should not be recommended for all and so far the medical literature echoes that. We need to do a better job figuring out what subgroup of children with autism might benefit from these treatments. We still have a lot to learn about the gut and how it may or may not contribute to behavioral symptoms. We also need more information in order to determine how best to treat GI symptoms in autistic children.
Q: Are GI problems more common in people with ASD's?
A: The research is limited and therefore it's difficult to assess. There are reports of gastrointestinal symptoms in children with ASD's ranging from 9 to 70 percent. This kind of spread in the reported prevalence adds to the confusion. Several reports, including our own data suggest that about half of the children with autism will have GI issues. The panel agreed that in order to answer that question we will need prospective multi-center studies using better standardized tools.
Q: What are the most common symptoms of GI distress in people with ASD's?
A: Chronic constipation, abdominal pain with or without diarrhea and the involuntary passage of feces as a consequence of diarrhea. Patients can also suffer from acid reflux and abdominal bloating. The consensus statements in the recent report state "GI conditions reported to be common in individuals without ASD's are also encountered in individuals with ASD's ." But, "the prevalence of (specific) GI abnormalities in ASD's is incompletely understood."
Q: Does GI distress worsen autism-related problem behaviors?
A: Yes. In fact, problem behavior in patients with ASD's may be the primary or sole symptom of the underlying medical condition, including some gastrointestinal disorders. Pain may actually initiate the problem behavior.
Q: What is the biggest hurdle when it comes to diagnosing GI disorders in children with ASD's?
A: We need to stop blaming behaviors on a child's autism. While not eliminating the idea that a child might act out or have behaviors from the frustration of communication issues, we need to continually look for the underlying factors that may account for the behavior. That might include gastrointestinal pain, but also dental pain, migraines and earaches. We won't find these problems if we don't consider them. Clinical practice guidelines for the management of ASD's have not included routine consideration of potential gastrointestinal problems. In those cases, focusing purely on behavioral treatments will be ineffective.
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