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Introducing: The Philips CD-i
>> Wednesday, July 4, 2007
CD-i veterans and Philips employees aside, new visitors to Interactive Dreams may not have a clue what the Philips CD-i was about. This introduction below is a summery of what previously has been published by other sites like Le Monde du CD-i. It deals with a very basic start, some of which is used at Wikipedia (a main start for anyone who wants to know what CD-i was) Here's an introduction to CD-i, 'the Interactive-Dreams way':
Let me be clear from the start the Philips CD-i was not meant as a real games console. Instead, Philips launched the CD-i format in 1990 to introduce a multimedia machine competing with the CD-ROM format, offering videos, photos and music on a CD to play on your television. One of the key selling points to convince people CD-i was better than CD-ROM, was by claiming you don't have to use a seperate computer anymore. In 1990, this was a unique experience to offer on a simple format just like the audio CD. The format has been developed in an alliance of Philips, Sony and Matshushita, known as The Green Book. The Audio CD format was standardized in The Red Book; CD-ROM was standardized in The Yellow Book.
The CD-i (Short for Compact Disc Interactive) was invented around 1985 but commercialized in 1990, so it took a long while to arrive at the consumer market. The Digital Video add-on was released in 1993. CD-ROM was aimed at the 'professional' user, CD-i was there for the 'casual' consumer. It all went a little different.
Any company was allowed to produce a CD-i player, as long as the Green Book specifications were met: Motorola 68000 processor at 15Mhz, 1 MB of memory (RAM), one drive at single speed, 8 KB of internal memory and the operational system CD-RTOS. So, CD-i was not able to play just CD-i's. The CD-i player was able to play the following kinds of discs:
-CD-i Ready
-CD Graphics (CD+G)
-CD Bridge:
1. Video CD
2. Photo CD
-Audio CD
Philips produced several types of CD-i players, to serve every kind of consumer. why are there so many CD-i players? It has been the policy of Philips I guess, but most of all, more brands were involved with CD-i than just Philips. That's why you can also get a Sony CD-i player, a Grundig CD-i player, a Goldstar CD-i Player, and so on. But Philips was responsible for 90% of all CD-i hardware, I guess. More types appealing to more people, like portable systems, developers system, high-end consumer systems..... For you who just want to play some games, I recommend the 470 or 490 player (basically the same). If you don't know what I'm talking about, be sure to check out the CD-i Player index of the ICDIA website.
Important to know is that every CD-i player plays the same discs. Just be sure some games need the Digital Video Cartridge. CD-i is a 16 bit machine, and the Digital Video Cartridge was something of an upgrade with a 32 bit RISC processor so the CD-i could play full motion video in MPEG1 format. Some games use digital video to show off some fast-pace gameplay. And it is just to play movies, to play the Video CD format, and so on. The front boxart of the CD-i disc normally sais it's a base case title (stating Compact Disc interactive) or a title requiring the Digital Video Cartridge (stating Digital Video on CD-i).
The CD-i 210 was the highest selling. It is mainly a stripped down version of the CD-i 220 (Matchline product). The 210 was sold at a price of 800 dollars.
In 1994, Philips introduced the CD-i 450, built to compete with real videogames systems like 3DO, Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive. The 450 player also marked the return of Magnavox to the videogames platform. It is a cheap version of the CD-i format (only 400 dollars).
Originally CD-i was meant to offer educational and reference software. The educational part of software was very important for CD-i. Philips aimed at children playing and learning at the same time with CD-i. They hoped CD-i would be highly adapted in school programs. Philips also developed for adults several programs about culture, art, encyclopedias, documentairies, courses and so on. Really, games were not on the mind of Philips. They only developed some basic board games like Battle Ship, Jigsaw, Text Tiles, simple games like that. Slowly Philips funded more projects to develop games on CD-i, with Alien Gate by The Vision factory as a remarkable change in the quality games possible on CD-i.
In theory, this educational and reference approach was very innovative, never seen before and without Internet as a real competitor in the early ninetees a good idea. Unfortunately, even before launch the japanese developers stepped out of the alliance and Philips decided to go for it alone. There are only a few left-overs of the japansese involvements, like the Sony CD-i player and Panasonic CD-i prototypes. I think, if Sony (pics here) and Matsushita continued support in CD-i, the term "Interactive" would have been cool now instead of 'obscure' as what it is these days...
Still, in my opinion the list of CD-i games is very good, and if you are willing to search, you can find a lot of high action arcade games on CD-i:
The 7th Guest: An instant succes on CD-i promoting the just available Digital Video Cartridge. Classic puzzles in a full motion rendered 3D mystery house. The 7th Guest is a horror story told from the unfolding perspective of the player, as an amnesiac. The game received a great amount of press attention for making live action video clips a core part of its gameplay, for its unprecedentedly large amount of pre-rendered 3D graphics, and for its adult content. In addition, the game was very successful, and is widely-regarded as a killer app that accelerated the sales of CD-i.
Mad Dog Mc Cree: Live action shooting offered by American Laser Games, straight from the arcades. CD-i offered the best graphics available out of all console versions. This is what made "Interactive Movies" popular. Mad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games. It originally appeared as an arcade shooting game in 1990. It gained a lot of attention for its real-video style, bearing similarities to recent Hollywood westerns.
Litil Divil: Starring Mutt, this is what the mascot of CD-i could have been. Along with Marvin from The Apprentice he is the best known CD-i character. Litil Divil is also a puzzle game full of cartoon graphics, mazes and ofcourse: puzzles to solve.
Solar Crusade: The sequel to Chaos Control was the very last CD-i game ever released by Infogrames in 1998. This marked the end of the life of CD-i. It's a very cool and fast 3D shooting game, on-rails so you control the cursor to shoot your opponents.
Dragon's Lair: Thanks to Digital Video this shows the power of CD-i: Real TV animation in a cartoon movie you can control by clicking the right button on the right moment. You influence the story of the cartoon but if you choose wrong you are killed. Frustrating but beautiful at the same time.
Secret Mission: One of the best games which don't need a Digital Video cartridge. A puzzle game much like the style of point and click adventures, previously popular on CD-ROM only.
The Lost Ride: Another rail-shooter built as a roler-coaster: Shoot your way to the end of a beautiful rendered maze in Digital Video. This game also featured a rare technique on CD-i: Seamless Branching.
Micro Machines: A classic 2D racing game, top-view. Everybody knows Micro Machines, it has been released on virtually every platform, including CD-i.
Tetris: The game that made the Nintendo Game Boy hugely popular, even got an official version made by Philips.
Burn:Cycle: a 1994 CD-i title that encompasses puzzle play and 3D graphics with live action footage. The game's star, Sol Cutter, is a small-time data thief whose latest steal at the beginning of the game comes with a nasty sting. The Burn:Cycle virus has been implanted in his head and has given him a two-hour realtime deadline to find a cure before his brain deteriorates completely. You, as the player, must guide Sol out of Softech and into the Televerse in order to find his cure. Various obstacles and games stand in his way, and there is the overarching realisation that Burn:Cycle has been planted by someone with malicious intent. Finding this within the time limit completes the game.
International Tennis Open: Can you imagine this was one of the most realistic tennis sims on any console? This is what makes Infogrames' Tennis pretty popular.
Most people remember the CD-i because of the link with Nintendo. Click the link to read more about the involvement of Nintendo with Philips CD-i.
Zelda - The Wand of Gamelon
Link - The Faces of Evil
Zelda's Adventure
Hotel Mario; the only game starring Mario which has been officially released.
I hope this selection will convince you the Philips CD-i actually has some good games to offer. But it's true Philips wasn't the most popular in creating videogames and even with all the efforts of funded third party projects, the title library on CD-i remained low. One interesting aspect of CD-i is that it could play Video-CD; but only if you upgraded the CD-i player with a so-called Digital Video cartridge (MPEG1 decoder):
The best games on CD-i required a Digital Video Cartridge. Check out this list if you want to know which games do.
And.... all kinds of accessories were available for use with CD-i. Can you tell which ones are used for what purpose ;) The roller controller was there for children and they could easily scroll the cursor with the big blue ball, and the roller controller was not breakable, at least for a kid ;) The splitter was needed to play two-player games on newer models from the CD-i 4xx series. Using the splitter you were able to connect a second controller. Also, to connect the player to the Internet, the splitter was needed to connect the CD-i modem to the CD-i player.
Philips even produced a portable version of the CD-i and OEM'ed the LG CD-i player (370). The portable players were very expensive, so not a lot of consumers actually bought it...
CD-i was the first console to enter the Internet right from your couch, right on your own television.
I hope we'll continue the History story of CD-i soon; it's a beautiful story!
Credits: This post is inspired by the history of CD-i posted by Le Monde du CD-i. However, the pictures are available on virtually every CD-i website, which makes it hard for me to credit the originals.


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Transparency Portal Sections
Mission Statement
Amended and approved by Membership, December 2014
The Mission of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is to promote the healthy development of children, adolescents, and families through advocacy, education, and research, and to meet the professional needs of child and adolescent psychiatrists throughout their careers.
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Code of Ethics
Adopted by Council, September 2014
AACAP was among the first medical associations to create written code of ethics. The AACAP Code of Ethics was created in 1980 to ensure the highest level of services to children, adolescents, and their families. This set of principles guides child and adolescent psychiatrists in the changing landscape of the doctor-patient relationship in the modern practice of child and adolescent psychiatry.
All AACAP members must pledge to adhere to the AACAP Code of Ethics as a condition of membership.
Excerpts from AACAP's Code of Ethics on Transparency
Principles of Practice
Adapted from CODE OF ETHICS, May 16, 1982
AACAP's Principles of Practice was adapted from its Code of Ethics. The Principles of Practice states that child and adolescent psychiatrists must avoid all actions which may have a detrimental effect on the optimal development of a child or adolescent. Additionally, child and adolescent psychiatrists must maintain the integrity of professional judgment independent of influence. Child and adolescent psychiatrists agree to adhere to these principles as a condition of AACAP membership.
Revised December 2015
AACAP's Bylaws, the regulations that govern the organization, are available on the AACAP website. AACAP members must adhere to AACAP Bylaws as a condition of membership.
Leadership Disclosures
To best serve child and adolescent psychiatry, and the interests of practitioners and families, AACAP requires its leadership, including its president, president-elect, program committee chair, and JAACAP editor-in-chief refrain from participation in speakers' bureaus and advisory boards associated with pharmaceutical companies.
The JAACAP editor-in-chief must be free of pharmaceutical industry ties during his or her tenure.
Disclosure of Affiliations for the Executive Committee, Program Committee Chair and JAACAP Editor
Committee Disclosure of Affiliations Form
Updated 2008
Before serving on Council, committees, or participating in committee meetings, AACAP members must disclose any potential conflict of interest by filling out this form. Disclosure is necessary when outside affiliations result in conflicts which may impact on an individual's opinion. In the event of a conflict, committee leadership will decide if the issue merits the committee member's removal from the discussion or committee. Members of the Committee on Quality Issues are required to be free from pharmaceutical industry involvement throughout the course of guideline development, whether salary or research funding, additional income, or in-kind services. AACAP's Secretary also reviews Disclosures of Affiliation and, when appropriate, reports any concerns to the President. The AACAP has used variations of this form since 2000 to engender openness and transparency.
Guidelines on Conflict of Interest for Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists
Last Reviewed and Approved by Council on January 30, 2009
A physician's first obligation is his or her patients. AACAP wrote its Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest for Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists to support patients by helping child and adolescent psychiatrists assess conflicts of interest. AACAP notes the 4 A's of conflicts of interest management: awareness, assessment, acknowledgment, and action.
Guidelines on Conflict of Interest for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Researchers
Approved by Council on January 30, 2009
Research is funded by a range of entities. AACAP encourages the interaction of child and adolescent psychiatry investigators and sponsors, including government, and private and commercial organizations that serves the best interests of children and adolescents while maintaining scientific integrity. Child and adolescent psychiatrists who engage in research must disclose all relevant benefits, especially material financial interests.
Operating Principles for Extramural Support of AACAP Meetings and Related Activities
Adopted in 2003, updated annually
To facilitate transparency and disclosure, the AACAP has approved the Operating Principles for Extramural Support of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Meetings and Related Activities. These principles provide the framework through which members of AACAP, and AACAP meeting attendees and supporters can foster high quality scientific and educational programming in the context of full financial disclosure.
The Treasurer's Report of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
AACAP takes its fiduciary responsibility seriously. Reports are posted as they become available. In 2015, AACAP received 2.65% of its annual income from pharmaceutical companies. To view AACAP's Treasurer's reports, please click on the following:
AACAP Audit Reports
Clinical Practice Guidelines
AACAP Clinical Practice Guidelines assist physicians in the clinical decision-making related to the diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescents' mental illnesses. Each guideline makes specific recommendations based on a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation of all available scientific data.
Disclosures for all Clinical Practice Guideline authors are available on the AACAP website.
Facts for Families
Since 1982, AACAP has offered the Facts for Families series to provide concise and up-to-date information on issues that affect children, adolescents, and their families. These fact sheets are written and updated by child and adolescent psychiatrists to inform families about what's normal, what's not, and when to seek help. The series is freely available on the AACAP website.
Bill of Rights for Children with Mental Health Disorders and Their Families
(Adopted March 12, 2008)
AACAP created the Bill of Rights for Children with Mental Health Disorders with a coalition of consumer organizations including the Autism Society of America, the Balanced Mind Foundation, Children and Adults With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health. The document serves as a standard of what families living with mental illnesses should expect from treatment and aims to address inconsistencies in accessible mental healthcare services throughout the country.
Physician Payment Sunshine Act
Beginning in 2007, Congress began to look into concerns over financial relationships between physicians and device and pharmaceutical companies. Senator Grassley (R- IA) introduced the Physician Payment Sunshine Act to require reporting of all payments to physicians or their employers from pharmaceutical or medical device companies. AACAP supported the legislation, stating that the bill will "reinforce the public's trust in the medical profession and promote transparency to allow patients, researchers, physicians, and others to obtain accurate and complete information on the nature of interactions between industry and physicians."
Due to the increasing congressional concerns about transparency, and concerns over waste and fraud in the healthcare system, the Physician Payment Sunshine Act was included in the Affordable Care Act. In February 2012, AACAP provided comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), on their interim regulatory rule, concerned that if implemented without modifications, it could result in the publication of misleading information and impose costly and burdensome paperwork requirements on physicians.
CMS announced a final rule in February 2013 that will increase public awareness of financial relationships between drug and device manufacturers and certain health care providers. The rule finalizes provisions that require manufacturers of drugs, devices, biological, and medical supplies to report to CMS payments or other transfers of value of $10 or more to physicians and teaching hospitals. Payments mean food, entertainment, gifts, consulting fees, honoraria, and other items or services of value. CMS will post that data on a public website. The increased transparency is intended to help reduce the potential for conflicts of interest that physicians or teaching hospitals could face as a result of their relationship with manufacturers.
AACAP's Management of Relationships with the Pharmaceutical Industry
Martin J. Drell, M.D., President of AACAP, appointed a task force (TF) to examine the Academy's relationship with pharmaceutical interests, including the biomedical industry. The task force is charged with examining current AACAP conflict of interest policies, revenues, and allocation of relevant expenses; obtaining input from leaders and members; objectively studying and analyzing the information gathered; and making recommendations to AACAP leadership as to how the organization might move forward.
Click here for more information.
Council Approved Decisions Regarding AACAP's Relationship with the Biomedical Industry
(June 2014)

subset: commoncrawl


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The Uncommon Appeal of CloudsBook - 2012
From the critics
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9th title in the Isabel Dahlhousie series.
Oh, the Lovely clouds. Seems Scotland might be famous for the mighty drama of its sudden changing of its skies above, Scotland's spaces.
This plot is less dramatic than other plots in the series. But that's OK.
McCall Smith truly works to present people's characters, character (or lack of it);
the people in the story deal with varying forms of conflict, silent, spoken, or otherwise.
This would be because life is real in its actions and consequences of conflict. Does an understanding of moral philosopy, / ethics, .. Isabel's, ...make a difference to resolutions?
Enjoyable reading. Challenging, poetic, thoughtful writing.
a light mystery with a philospher sleuth in the soft style of McCall Smith. Always pleasing to read him!
Surprisingly slow, discursive, and finally, quite self-indulgent. What was essentially an interesting story seems to have been written as a means for Mcall to unburden himself of all his apercus about the human condition, to an extent that tried this reader's patience. While he does this in several of his other series, and certainly his observations and comments are kindly and perceptive, if much too avuncular, I felt this needed much more editing and self criticism. Very disappointing.
If you are interested in the minutia of life in Edinburg from why cars won't start in the damp to whether 3 y/o Charlie should learn to divide and multiply before he starts school, then this is the book for you. The plot eventually rears its sleepy head only to peter out at the end. I promise I will never pick up another book by this author. I'd rather watch paint dry.
I'm not certain which book the reviewer read, but no foxes were shot in this one!
One of A. M. Smith's better written Dalhousie books UNTIL the end, where the story seems to just peter out.
#9 Isabel Dalhousie series
Another very enjoyable episode in the Isabel Dalhousie series set in Edinburgh, Scotland. The mystery surrounds the disappearance of a very valuable painting. There are the usual side stories involving her husband, Jamie; their 3 year old son, Charlie; her rather "sometimes difficult" housekeeper, Grace; her neice, Cat who runs a delicatessen; and my favorite, Eddie who helps Cat run the delicatessen but has social and emotional issues. I love the last line of this book! Plus this time the outcome of the mystery seems to be left to the reader. My memory is fairly poor and I've read so many of his novels that I'm not sure if this has happened in the other books in the series but it didn't bother me as that is how real life is: sometimes there isn't an obvious answer.
Some readers complain that the pace of his writing is too slow but I love the way his words seem to "flow" across the page. IMO, his characters are so human and have flaws like all of us. One of the reasons that I love Isabel is that she truly does try to see the good in most people.
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Parts to be reviewed:
KOffice is an interated Office Suite consisting of several applications where KSpread is the scriptable spreadsheet program which provides both table-oriented sheets and support for complex mathematical formulas and statistics.
The KSpread Scripting Plugin implements a plugin to dynamic access the scripting functionality from within KSpread. The plugin realizes usage-scenarios like;
The whole KSpread Scripting Plugin, that does handle all things related to scripting for KSpread, consist of only a small hand full of files;
The Kross scripting framework provides full Python, Ruby and KDE JavaScript scripting support. The KSpread scripting plugin uses this framework to deal with scripting on an abstract level. Kross does handle interpreter-backend details while KSpread does not need to know anything about Kross, Python, Ruby or KDE JavaScript.
The goal was to limit the work needed on an application to have it full scriptable. To achieve this internaly Qt's introspection-functionality like signals, slots, properties, enums, QObject's and QMetaObject/QMetaType/etc. is used to deal with functionality at runtime. To get a more detailed overview you may like to take a look at my talk about scripting with Kross.
Kross is included in the kdelibs4 (KDE4 libraries). The Kross scripting framework consists of the Kross library which handles the Kross interpreter-backend details and the "kross" commandline-application which could be used to execute Python, Ruby or KDE JavaScript scripts direct from the commandline rather then embedded in an application like KSpread.
The KSpread Scripting Handbook (PDF) contains a full reference of the functionality accessible from within the scripting backends.
The Handbook is generated from the sourcecode using doxygen and KWord's Import Doxygen XML File python script.
Extensions are used to extend KSpread with additional functionality written with Python, Ruby or KDE JavaScript scripts.
The htmlexport.py Python script demonstrates how extensions could be used. The script exports the content of the current sheet to a HTML file.
Extensions are located in the "Tools->Scripts" menu and are either distributed with KSpread (so some default extensions like the htmlexport.py script are installed together with KSpread as part of it) or could be later added and configured on demand using the "Script Manager".
Once the htmlexport.py Python script got executed, it displays the "HTML Export" dialog to let the user define the HTML file that should be written and some additional details like Document Informations or Styles. For GUI-related things you are also able to use PyQt4 or Tkinter in your python scripts, Korundum/QtRuby in your Ruby scripts, KjsEmbed4 (KjsEmbded4 is included in kdelibs4 now) in your JavaScript scripts or the more high-level Kross forms (used in the htmlexport.py as shown in the screenshot below) in all interpreter-backends.
If the user clicks on the "Ok" button the export-process starts and a progress-dialog is displayed to offer visual feedback while the Python script reads the content from the current sheet and writes it to a HTML file.
See also;
KSpread has a rich set of formula functions for nearly every purpose. KSpread implements the whole set of the OpenFormula specification and could be easy extended with additional formula functions written in a scripting language.
The functions.py Python script demonstrates this by defining the KSpread formula function "SCRIPT_TEST1";
# create the new formula function "SCRIPT_TEST1"
functest1 = self.kspread.function("SCRIPT_TEST1")
# set the minimal number of parameters
functest1.minparam = 1
# set the maximal number of parameters,
# -1 means unlimited.
functest1.maxparam = 1
# set the comment displayed at "Help"
functest1.comment = (
"The SCRIPT_TEST1() function demonstrates how to "
"use scripting functions. All it does is to take "
"a string as argument and return the same string."
# set the syntax which is displayed at "Help".
functest1.syntax = "SCRIPT_TEST1(string)"
# set details about the parameter the formula
# functions expects.
"The string that should be returned")
# add an example displayed at "Help".
functest1.addExample("SCRIPT_TEST1(\"Some string\")")
# this python function will be called by the
# KSpread formula function
def functest1callback(argument):
# just return the first argument
functest1.result = "%s" % argument[0]
# connect the python function with the KSpread
# formula function
"called(QVariantList)", functest1callback)
# and finally register the function to be able
# to use it within KSpread
Now we run KSpread with the --scriptfile argument that points to the delivered functions.py example.
# make the script executable
chmod 755 `kde4-config --install data`/kspread/scripts/functions/functions.py
# run KSpread
kspread --scriptfile `kde4-config --install data`/kspread/scripts/functions/functions.py
The screenshot below shows KSpread using the new formula function "SCRIPT_TEST1" which was added and is handled in the functions.py script.
All at the functions.py script added formula functions are accessible via "Insert=>Function..." in the "Scripts" category.
See also;
KSpread provides functions to access the R programming environment for data analysis and graphics. The rpyfunctions.py python script shipped with KSpread does implement 45 R-Project functions.
The new 45 R-Project functions are the same Gnumeric supports. New functions are;
Once the rpyfunctions.py python script got executed those new functions are also available via the Insert=>Functions menu-item.
The following screenshot shows KSpread in action running the python script that provides us the R-Project functions.
See also;
KSpread ships the both python scripts yfinance.py and yweather.py that offer finance and weather formula functions using the Yahoo! Web-services.
See also;
KOffice Dockers are plugins that provide graphical user interface elements within a QDockWidget embedded into a KOffice application like KSpread. Such docker plugins could be also be written in a scripting language like demonstrated below.
The consoledocker.py Python script does provide a interactive Python Console Docker to KSpread.
The script does use PyQt4 to embed widgets like a QTextBrowser or a QTreeView for the GUI related stuff. For this we use PyQt's SIP to pass around void* pointers. The following python code demonstrates how KSpread's KoScriptingDocker provided on the fly via Kross got translated into the PyQt world.
# Import needed modules
import KoDocker, PyQt4.Qt as Qt, sip
# Create a widget using PyQt4
widget = Qt.QWidget()
# Get the void* pointer for our docker
ptr = KoDocker.__toPointer__()
# Wrap the pointer into a PyQt4 object
docker = sip.wrapinstance(ptr, Qt.QDockWidget)
# Set the widget for the docker
Those consoledocker.py Python script is defined within the scripts.rc in a collection named "docker". If KSpread starts and the scripting plugin got loaded, for each script within that "docker" collection a Docker will be created. Once such a docker got shown/displayed, the defined scripting file will be executed.
<collection name="docker" text="Docker">
text="Python Console"
file="docker/consoledocker.py" />
See also;
The snippetsdocker.rb Ruby script does use QtRuby to embed widgets as docker into KSpread. The script does provide different sample actions to the user.
We connect Kross with QtRuby using following ruby code;
# Fetch the QDockWidget as void-pointer.
$voidptr = KoDocker.toVoidPtr()
# Translate the void-pointer into a QtRuby object.
$wdg = Qt::Internal.kross2smoke($voidptr, Qt::DockWidget)
# Create the SnippetsWidget QtRuby object...
$label = SnippetsWidget.new($wdg)
# ...and set is as the docker's widget.
Just like at the Python Console script above we registered the snippetsdocker.rb Ruby script in the scripts.rc file in the "docker" collection;
<collection name="docker" text="Docker">
text="Ruby Snippets"
file="docker/snippetsdocker.rb" />
See also;
Following samples are implementations of use-case scenarios KSpread could be used for. The scripts are simple executable files that run from within the commandline by using the "kross" application which is installed together with the Kross scripting framework.
The following Python script reads the OpenDocument Spreadsheet file "/home/kde4/invoicetemplate.ods" and writes the first sheet to a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file.
The complete csvexport.py script including the invoicetemplate.ods OpenDocument Spreadsheet file used as template is available as csvexport.tar.gz. Download, extract, edit the csvexport.py to change the "filename" and "csvfile" variables to point to the correct locations and execute the csvexport.py Python script ("chmod 755 csvexport.py" to make the script executable and "./csvexport.py" to execute the script).
The csvexport.py Python script looks like;
#!/usr/bin/env kross
# The OpenDocument Spreadsheet file that we
# like to read.
filename = "/home/me/invoicetemplate.ods"
# The CSV file we like to write to.
csvfile = "/home/me/invoicetemplate.csv"
# Import Kross and fetch the KSpread module.
import Kross
kspread = Kross.module("kspread")
# Try to open the file.
if not kspread.openUrl(filename):
raise "Failed to open %s" % filename
# Import the Python CSV module and create a writer.
import csv
csvwriter = csv.writer( open(csvfile,'w') )
# Get the sheet we like to export to the CSV file.
sheet = kspread.sheetByName(kspread.sheetNames()[0])
# Iterate now through all cells on the sheet.
for row in range(1, sheet.lastRow() + 1):
# Put the content of the row into the record-list.
record = []
for col in range(sheet.lastColumn() + 1, 1, -1):
value = sheet.text(col, row)
if value or len(record) > 0:
# If the record has at least one cell print it.
if len(record) > 0:
csvwriter.writerow( record )
The htmlexport.py Python script distributed with KSpread could also be executed from the commandline;
# make the script executable
chmod 755 `kde4-config --install data`/kspread/scripts/extensions/htmlexport.py
# run the script
`kde4-config --install data`/kspread/scripts/extensions/htmlexport.py
The odfpyexport.py Python script distributed with KSpread uses the OdfPy Python module to write an OpenDocument text file (ODT) from KSpread. Take the script as example how easy scripting with KSpread is and modify it to your needs to produce custom OpenDocument files.
The following Python script reads the OpenDocument Spreadsheet template-file "/home/kde4/invoicetemplate.ods", fills some cells within a sheet and writes a new OpenDocument Spreadsheet file.
The complete invoice-example including the invoice.py Python script and the invoicetemplate.ods OpenDocument Spreadsheet file used as template is available as invoice.tar.gz. Download, extract, edit the invoice.py to change the "templatefile" and "savefile" variables to point to the correct locations and execute the invoice.py Python script ("chmod 755 invoice.py" to make the script executable and "./invoice.py" to execute the script).
The invoice.py Python script looks like;
#!/usr/bin/env kross
# The OpenDocument Spreadsheet file that we
# like to read from.
templatefile = "/home/me/invoicetemplate.ods"
# The OpenDocument Spreadsheet file that we
# like to write to.
savefile = "/home/me/invoice.ods"
# Import Kross and fetch the KSpread module.
import Kross
kspread = Kross.module("kspread")
if not kspread:
raise "KSpread is not installed."
# Try to open the file.
if not kspread.openUrl(templatefile):
raise "Failed to open %s" % templatefile
# Get the sheet we like to manipulate.
sheet = kspread.sheetByName(kspread.sheetNames()[0])
# Set the content of some cells.
sheet.setText(1,7,"Joe User")
sheet.setText(1,8,"Userstreet. 1")
# Finally write the new OpenDocument
# Spreadsheet file.
if not kspread.saveUrl(savefile):
raise "Failed to save %s" % savefile
The both python scripts kexidbimport.py and kexidbexport.py are providing functionality to import content from or export content to a Kexi project file.
Zope is an open source application server for building content management systems, intranets, portals, and custom applications with a large community of hundreds of companies and thousands of developers all over the world. Zope is written in Python, a highly-productive, object-oriented scripting language and supports the XML-RPC and SOAP protocols.
The kspread2zope.tar.gz tarball includes a Python script that demonstrates how to connect KSpread with the Zope application server using XML-RPC. What the script does is to download a resource from the Zope server, then parses it into KSpread sheets, changes some content and then either save it as OpenDocument Spreadsheet file or upload the content at the Zope server.
import KSpread
sheet = KSpread.view().sheet()
# swap text of B5 and C6
t1 = sheet.text("B5")
t2 = sheet.text(6,3)
sheet.setText("B5", t2)
sheet.setText(6, 3, t1)
# swap value of D7 and E8
v1 = sheet.value("D7")
v2 = sheet.value(8,5)
sheet.setValue("D7", v2)
sheet.setValue(8, 5, v1)
import KSpread
# the sheet we like to listen to
sheet = KSpread.view().sheet()
# the cells within that sheet we like to listen to
cellrange = "A1:F50"
# create the listener and connect an own handler for it
listener = KSpread.createListener(sheet.sheetName(), cellrange)
def cellChanged(column, row):
t = sheet.text(column, row)
if not t.endswith("test"):
sheet.setText(column, row, "%s test" % t)
listener.connect("cellChanged(int,int)", cellChanged)
import KSpread
for n in KSpread.sheetNames():
sheet = KSpread.sheetByName(n)
for row in range(1, sheet.lastRow() + 1):
record = []
for col in range(1, sheet.lastColumn() + 1):
record.append( sheet.text(col, row) )
print ",".join(record)
import KSpread
sheet = KSpread.view().sheet()
# should print B5
print sheet.cellName(5,2)
# should print [5,2]
print sheet.cellLocation("B5")
# should print 5
print sheet.cellRow("B5")
# should print 2
print sheet.cellColumn("B5")
import KSpread
view = KSpread.view()
# following both calls are identical but the
# first one always needs a valid view while
# the second can be even used without view.
print view.sheet()
print KSpread.currentSheet()
# Activate a sheet named "Sheet 2"
view.showSheet("Sheet 2")
# Activate the previous sheet
# Activate the next sheet
import KSpread
view = KSpread.view()
(x1, y1, x2, y2) = view.selection()
view.setSelection( [x1-1, y1-1, x2+1, y2+1] )
import KSpread
view = KSpread.view()
def selectionChanged():
# this will be called either if the sheet or
# the selection within a sheet changed.
print "Selection changed"
view.connect("selectionChanged()", selectionChanged)
import KSpread
sheet = KSpread.currentSheet()
n = sheet.sheetName()
sheet.setSheetName("%s test" % n)
import KSpread
sheet = KSpread.currentSheet()
name = sheet.sheetName()
def nameChanged():
print "name before: %s" % name
name = sheet.sheetName()
print "name after: %s" % name
view.connect("nameChanged()", nameChanged)
import KSpread
for n in KSpread.sheetNames():
sheet = KSpread.sheetByName(n)
if sheet.isHidden():
import KSpread
sheet = KSpread.currentSheet()
def visibleStateChanged():
print "Visibility of sheet changed"
sheet.connect("showChanged()", visibleStateChanged)
sheet.connect("hideChanged()", visibleStateChanged)


text:
March 17, 2011
Bornemann Leads the Court at UMass Dartmouth
by Marvin Pave, Boston Globe
BOSTON, MA-Erika Bornemann is off to an impressive start in her college basketball career at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The former Canton High standout is leading the Corsairs in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots 17 games into her freshman season.
After averaging 17 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 57.7 percent from the floor in victories over UMass-Boston and Plymouth State, the 6-foot-2 forward was honored as the Little East Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week. She also became the first Corsairs player to earn rookie weekly honors from the New England Women's Basketball Association.
"Erika has the finesse required to succeed in our conference,'' said UMD coach Amanda Van Voorhis. "She has a nice touch in the paint and she is able to step outside the arc and hit the three. She is growing more comfortable with every game, is playing with patience and poise early in her career, and is getting a lot of attention from our opponents as she is consistently'' double- and triple-teamed. Averaging 14.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, Bornemann had scored in double figures in 12 of 17 games. She is joined on the roster by former Canton High
teammate Colleen Moriarty, a sophomore forward and co-captain who was averaging 9.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game; freshman guard Megan Sheehan out of Carver High, who was averaging 6.1 points and 2.6 rebounds; freshman forward Tahirah Gibson of Norwood; and sophomore guard Shannon Singletary of Brockton.
"Colleen has an array of nice moves from the block and is able to go left and right. She is an incredible offensive rebounder,'' said Van Voorhis. "Her defensive presence and her ability to serve as our defensive stopper provides us a last line of defense. She has missed several games this season due to injury and we miss her leadership on the court.
"Megan is a quiet player until she unleashes her shooting ability on opponents. It took her awhile to convince her she has the green light. She has hit big shots for us in clutch situations.
"Tahirah has stepped up to enhance her defense and has offensive skills and Shannon is a defensive spark. She is often assigned to harass an opponent's point guard or deny a shooter the ball and plays her role well.''


text:
The research goal is to activate the immune system to precisely target malignant brain glioma cells while simultaneously delivering radiation to the infiltrating tumor without harming adjacent normal brain cells.
The malignant cells of high grade glioblastomas that infiltrate healthy brain tissue are currently outside the reach of standard brain tumor therapies and are responsible for the inevitable recurrence of this cancer that kills within a year or two. The investigators will target tumor specific molecules that are found on the surface of more than 95 percent of glioblastoma cells but not on normal brain cells. These "biomarkers" provide the potential for activating immune cells to precisely target tumor cells while sparing adjacent normal tissue. They have developed a molecular scaffolding designed to recognize the biomarkers on tumor cells. Moreover, they can attach ultra short-range (nanometer) radioactivity to this molecule.
The researchers hypothesize, therefore, that they can precisely and simultaneously target glioblastoma cells with immunotherapy augmented by radiation while sparing nearby healthy brain cells. Furthermore, they hypothesize, the anti-tumor immune response that is elicited can protect against development of additional tumors. After producing the molecular scaffolding and attaching ultra short-range radioactivity to it, they will conduct laboratory experiments to see if the molecule attaches to glioblastoma cells—including those from tumors that had been surgically removed from patients and those from a glioblastoma cell line—but not to normal brain cells. Thereafter, they will test this experimental treatment on mice that have been implanted with cells from patients' surgically removed tumors.
Significance: If successful, this experimental combination of immunotherapy and radiation treatment ultimately could be used in patients to eradicate infiltrating glioblastoma cells and prevent this deadly tumor's recurrence while producing no collateral damage to normal brain tissues.
High grade malignant gliomas are the leading cause of primary brain cancer deaths, afflicting close to 20,000 patients annually in the United States alone. Targeting tumor-specific molecular biomarkers with immunotherapy and/or immune-targeted irradiation offers the potential to specifically eradicate infiltrating tumor cells but not harm the surrounding normal brain tissue. Therefore, our overall goal is to create a targeted molecular scaffolding that can effectively and precisely activate the immune system against malignant glioma cells and simultaneously deliver large amounts of molecular targeted nano-irradiation to infiltrating tumor cells without harming adjacent normal brain. The central hypothesis behind the proposed research that we can activate an immune response and deliver ultra-short range cytotoxic radionclides via a novel recombinant carrier that we invented to target over 95% of stage IV malignant gliomas. We will accomplish our objectives via two specific aims. In specific aim 1, we will produce, radiolabel and characterize the structure/function of our molecular scaffolding and examine its affinity towards a wide range of fresh-frozen glioma specimens, normal brain and malignant glioma cell lines. In specific aim 2, we will assess the in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity of our molecular scaffolding (unlabeled or radiolabeled) against various malignant glioma cell lines as well as in human malignant glioma xenograph orthotopic mouse models. We will additionally examine for long term immuno-protective effects of our radiolabeled scaffolding by re-challenging cured mice with additional tumor cells.
Our expectations are that at the conclusion of the proposed work, we will have created a clinically relevant anti-tumor agent with potential to eradicate infiltrating tumor cells and hence prevent recurrence while causing no collateral damage to normal brain. In addition, we anticipate our system will be an ideal scaffolding to safely deliver other therapeutics to infiltrative malignant glioma cells that are currently outside the reach of standard therapy and responsible for the inevitable recurrence of malignant high grade gliomas.
The PI of this proposal is an Assistant Professor at Wake Forest University Health Sciences in the Departments of Neurosurgery (Brain Tumor Center of Excellence; BTCOE) and Radiology. In the BTCOE, he leads the biomolecular imaging group, where his interests include delivering diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides specifically to malignancy via tumor-restricted biomarkers. In addition, Dr. Mintz actively practices clinically nuclear medicine, in which he is board certified. He completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, followed by his training in clinical nuclear medicine, as well as an NIH-sponsored multimodality molecular imaging fellowship, at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sensory difficulties, like hearing loss or vision problems, are not just about those senses but also the extra cognitive effort it takes to understand them. Dana Foundation grantee Jonathan Peelle talks about the cognitive challenges involved with hearing issues, how even slight deficits in "normal" hearing levels can lead to changes in how sound is processed, and why this work may offer us new insights into how hearing may be linked to the development of dementias.


text:
It has come to my attention that several members of this forum have been bombed with unwanted PMs and IMs. Harrasment of any type will not be tolerated on this board. If you are a victim of this type of harrasment. Let me know--send me a copy of the PM or IM and the Id of the one who is sending them and I will warn them once--if it does not stop I will ban them and help you change you Id.
One warning is all they will get--I do not care who you are--or how many posts you have---so please take this as serious as it is---if you are PMing or IMing another member ---and they ask you to stop ---Then you had better stop.
I know the Mods on this forum will help you too---do not just stop comming to the forum---let us know---we can not stop what we are not aware of.


text:
9 Android Products That Are Just Plain Weird
Let's face it: the Nikon Coolpix S800c is just plain weird. Why should a 16-megapixel CMOS shooter allow you to surf the Web, access Twitter, and upload photos to Facebook? OK, so the last option makes some sense.
Still, not every embedded or mobile OS allows for the freedoms provided by Android. Apple has always been the elegant fashionista: prim, proper, dressed to the nines, and blazing a trail that other designers instinctively follow. There are rules, darling. Google, on the other hand, has always projected an air of stoner chic: "Dude, you want to put Android onto a microwave? Dude, that's going to be AWESOME. Epic. How do I help?" Apple would simply look aghast.
It helps, of course, that Android is based on the Linux architecture, with its own freewheeling legacy. Delaval, for example, makes its own remotely operated, Linux-powered milking machine. (Sorry, it doesn't yet offer an Android mobile app we checked.)
Granted, that means that you can find dozens of Android phones from a variety of manufacturers on each carrier: over 40 Android handsets available on Verizon Wireless alone. (We've rounded up the best Android phones here.)
But when we set out to create this roundup of the oddest, weirdest Android gadgets, we tried to embody what makes Android interesting: with just a few apps or a change to the user interface, Android can be used for all sorts of products. Our one disappointment? We couldn't find an Android-powered toilet, although 11mark reported in January that 87 percent of Android users admitted to using their mobile phones while on the throne. So there's that.
Hit the slideshow for more bizarre Android-powered devices.
1 MetaTrend's Espresso Maker
2 Touch Revolution Cordless Phone
3 Motorola HS1001
4 VizualLogic's Android-Powered Headrest System
5 Samsung's Samsung RF4289HARS
6 Touch Revolution Washer/Dryer
7 Samsung Galaxy Beam
8 Touch Revolution Microwave
9 SectorQube Technologies MAID Microwave


text:
Spring 2006
Throughout the spring training season, Santa Clara University junior Jamil Roberts will provide his insight into the inner-workings of the nationally-recognized Bronco men's soccer program.
Jamil is a rising junior defender from Fremont, Calif. He has enjoyed a stellar first two seasons on the mission campus and is one of the West Coast's top defensive players. Last summer he played the full 90 minutes for the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team in wins over Brazil, Serbia & Montenegro and host Northern Ireland to win the elite group of the 2005 Milk Cup.
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Posted: Friday, May 26, 2006
Busy Before the Break
The last couple of weeks have been busy. A week ago we had our soccer banquet on Saturday night. The banquet was very fun. The seniors gave their speeches and made many people laugh as well as cry. After the banquet we went to one of the soccer houses where everyone and some parents hung out for the remainder of the night. No Cam this time! On the pursuing Monday of that week we had our 3rd annual golf tournament. It was probably the hottest day of the year, but it was still nice to be outside rather than in class. The golf tournament was a success, even though we spent the last couple days before scrambling around trying to get last minute stuff in order to prepare. It was fun sharing stories with the alumni and comparing when they played, to now. Everyone had a blast and was able to participate except for Anton. I'm not really sure where Anton was, but I'm sure he had a good time where ever he ended up that day! During that week I spent most my time studying for midterms. The midterms I took went well so I was somewhat happy with that.
That Friday we had our final game of the spring season against Stanford at Stanford under the lights. Everyone was very excited for the game and wanted to beat Stanford, but unfortunately we ended up losing 4-0. The loss was very embarrassing for our team. Even though we had many players out with injuries we still had no excuse for losing to Stanford 4-0. The coaches were not thrilled either and everybody knew that our next practice was going to be an indicator of that.
This week has gone well for the most part. It's starting to be crunch time with school, now that the quarter is slowly dying down. For me its been a very slow week and I have been trying to figure out some of my plans for the summer. I have been debating whether I should work or not and I still have not decided. I have never worked before so I am not sure if I really want to start now. One thing I am doing that's exciting this summer besides going on vacation is I am playing in an indoor soccer league with a bunch of my friends from home I use to play club soccer with. I can't wait for that, it will be like old times when soccer was "fun".
Memorial Day weekend is almost here so that's exciting. I don't really have any plans for Saturday, but on Sunday a bunch of guys and I might go to the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony concert in Santa Cruz. Relaxing in Santa Cruz on a Sunday afternoon listening to Bone Thugs will be a blast if we go. On Monday the fun will die down and it will be back to studying, so I can bring up my grades by the end of the year.
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Posted: Friday, May 12, 2006
A Time For Work and a Time For Play
The past week has been very busy for me as well as the rest of our team. We have a golf tournament for which we are cramming, people have midterms, a banquet and game this Saturday and practice each and everyday. Last week I went to Napa Valley with Jonny B, Anton, Curry and Jimmy. While in Napa the five of us tried to gather things for our Golf Tournament fundraiser from the various wineries. We were able to get a lot of things from the wineries thanks to Jimmy's hook-ups in the Napa Valley.
Practice on Monday could have been the easiest practice in my two years at SCU. Lately everyone has been totally drained of energy and it's staring to take a toll on all of our bodies, so it was much needed. Cam was in Japan for a week supposedly doing research for a trip our team is going to take next year....hmmm "sake bombs' maybe, instead?
Tuesday was probably the highlight of my week along with some others on the team. That day, a bunch of us went to the Cal Berkeley Soccer Formal in the city. The night was really fun and I think it was good for a lot of us because sometimes you just need to get away from soccer and school. It's kind of funny how we can not stand Cal's team with them being such a Bay Area rival on the field and how much trash-talking goes on, but outside that we are all close friends. The highlight of the night had to be Jimmy singing to Jon, Anton and me, while playing a guitar. It had to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen, but we won't go into detail because he asked that it stay within the group, ha ha!
The rest of the week has been pretty good too. Yesterday I talked to my brother a little bit about soccer and just the usual stuff. Also he gave me a little insight to the Galaxy team's fun after some of their games, which was really interesting.
Today I just have the usual going on: class all day and then soccer practice. It should be pretty calm and nothing too much. I'm looking forward to the weekend though because we have a game, banquet, and golf tournament so it should be lots of fun and good bonding time for our team if the golf tournament and banquet end up being anything close to last year!
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Posted: Thursday, May 4, 2006
Is the Weekend Here Yet?
It's now the middle of the week, but I wish it was Friday already because it seems like this week is moving so slowly. Last Saturday my team won both of our games 1-0. Our team played the best we have played this spring and could have easily won each game 3-0. After the second game our team went in the pool to cool off a little bit and check out some ladies working on their tans.
After that I went with Jonny B, Bryan, Tiz (Anton), and Jimmy to get some grub from The Hound. Later that night some people came to my house and one of the other soccer houses to relax. On Sunday I woke up early and went to the gym then went to Zanotto's before I went home and passed out. The rest of Sunday was devoted to watching the NBA playoffs for the most part, and I also went home to go swimming at my girlfriend's pool and out to dinner in the evening.
The beginning of this week has not been the best for me. Monday my allergies were killing me and I could barely function all day, then I had practice which wasn't the best ever because I strained my quad. So hopefully I can be back by next week playing soccer again, depending on how it progresses because we have a game on Saturday.
Yesterday, I spent all day at home being bored. The only exciting thing was I found out I was going to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico for summer vacation so that should be ridiculously fun. Today I should be really busy because I have soccer, class later tonight and a bunch of studying to do along with a paper due on Friday.
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Posted: Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Nice Haircut Peter
It's Tuesday and I just woke from my shortened nap because there is a Champions League game on television. Villarreal is playing Arsenal and the game is in Spain. The game should be really exciting.
This morning's practice was a little more fun than the usual, but for the most part it was the same cycle. First 7 a.m. weights, which was good besides the fact that Mutunda (Kwesele), at times, is the worst DJ ever. I felt like I was on a family vacation listening to some music my mom picked out. Maybe he can redeem himself on Thursday. After weights we had our practice which is slowly getting better day by day. Later today I might head home to get some dinner, if I have time.
Last weekend was really relaxing for me. On Saturday, we picked two teams, dividing our team up, and had a game on Buck Shaw. It was too bad that my team lost, but otherwise the game was fun. After our game some of my team and I worked out in the gym. For the rest of the day I was either sleeping or being lazy watching TV. Later we had a little team BBQ at Blue House. The guys just hung out watching some NBA playoff games and playing some video games.
That night many of my teammates went out, but I decided to go home because I was going to get up early and watch my little sister, Afiya's, State Cup soccer game. The game was a repeat of the State Cup final and just like last year my sister's team lost again. I thought she played good which was positive for her as she is getting lots of attention from different college programs. The rest of Sunday was devoted to my midterm I had yesterday (Monday).
The rest of this week should not be too bad at all. I'm excited for Saturday because we play Sacramento State at Buck Shaw Stadium. I'm really eager to see how my team will do after many intense training sessions since our last games.
Quote from Flow (Florian): "Nice haircut Peter, I really like it!"
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Posted: Saturday, April 15, 2006
Happy Easter
The second week of school is now over and it seems like everyone has gone home for Easter. Yesterday I had practice early in the morning. After practice, later in the afternoon, our team got together at my house. Some of us had a little poker tournament while the others ate pizza and watched TV. Also we listened to some music Stryker (Matthews) made which wasn't bad at all. The "Smart House", which you have to have a 3.8 or higher to live in, is Peter, Scott, Jared and Matt's house. They didn't want to join us for the fun probably because they were busy doing homework or something. Maybe next time you can come hang out with the team Peter, if you're not too busy?
Today I had two games at Valley Christian High School. We tied the first game 0-0 to San Jose State which was probably not the best result. I played ok but definitely could have done better. The second game of the day was a lot more exciting. We won 2-1 and scored both of our goals in the last two minutes of the game. Luckily we barely pulled it out. The highlight of the game might have been the (scuffle) at the end where one of my former teammates from high school threw some punches at one of the players on our team. After that happened it felt a lot better that we beat them, so I'm thinking I will call him later tonight to talk a little (good-natured) trash.
Right now I am at home hanging out with moms, pops and little sister. I think I will probably stay here to get a home-cooked meal and watch some of my brother, Troy's, soccer game on TV. After that I am planning on going to my girlfriend's house before heading back to Santa Clara to hang out with the boys. Maybe I will drag her along with me tonight if she isn't busy with her girlfriends. Easter Sunday is tomorrow and it seems like it is going to be a busy day for me. In the morning I am going to breakfast with my girlfriend, Kelly's, family which is always amusing. Then, during the day, I have a bunch of reading to do for school and later in the afternoon my roommate John and I might hit up the gym. After that I need to go to the mall to get my iPod fixed. At night I am going to San Leandro for dinner at my aunt's house and to just hang out with the family who I am lucky enough to see since they all live fairly close. Well that's pretty much it for me and I'm sure tomorrow will be a good day, Happy Easter!
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Posted: Sunday, April 9, 2006
Getting Back Into The Groove
While everyone else had a full spring break, our team's was put on hold due to a soccer tournament down south. Even though everyone cancelled the end of their plans for the break, we were excited to be back on the field playing soccer. It was the first time we had played as a team in months. In our first game we played Michigan in the pouring rain and got crushed 4-0. The game was an absolute disaster. In the second game of the weekend we played Cal Poly which we tied 1-1. We played much better in this game then the first. After the games on Saturday a majority of our team got together near downtown San Diego and finished off the rest of our spring break.
We ended the week with a "fun" practice on Saturday morning. We woke up around 6:45 a.m. and headed to the gym while passing other SCU students just ending their fun from the night before. We met at the gym and headed to the Los Gatos Dam. We ran the dam and then 3 faces, which is an extremely steep uphill run. It was tough and painful except for the coaches and injured players who placed bets on who would finish first in our groups of four. The run back to our cars from the top of the dam was amusing. We cracked jokes with and about one another and talked about our plans for the upcoming night. Saturday night was fun and we will enjoy our day off today before we have head to class and back to practice on Monday.


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Vietnam Voices Storybooth
The Vietnam Voices KCPT Storybooth is touring the region collecting local stories, experiences, and thoughts related to the Vietnam War. During Big Read KC the booth will visit the Plaza Branch and Central Library, offering patrons an opportunity to share and record their own stories.
Friday, Sept. 22 to Thursday, Oct. 12
Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.
Saturday, Oct. 14 to Friday, Oct. 20
Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.
View a schedule of additional site visits across the region and watch select video contributions at veterans.kcpt.org.
This event is a featured program of the fall 2017 Big Read KC. For more related programs at the Kansas City Public Library, visit kclibrary.org/bigread2017.
Find more regional events, activities, and resources at bigreadkc.org.
The NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.


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Here's to #47 one day hanging from the rafters at the ESA
A few days late with this, but here goes…
Guess what? I'm absolutely thrilled that most everyone considers AK overpaid and subsequently untradeable. I know not everyone agrees with me that he is a difference-maker or the missing piece, and it does worry me that Andrei becomes an expiring contract next season (yay for $17.8 million!). Whether it's because of his bigger stat lines recently or something else, AK has become somewhat of a hot topic lately.
Fanhouse did a fantastic piece on AK recently, in which he said that not only is his priority to stay with the Jazz, but that he's willing to take less money to stay in Utah once his contract expires. AK also talked about the mental adjustment he needed in understanding his new role on the team (and let's not forget, the NBA landscape is littered with guys that were/are incapable of making that adjustment):
"Definitely the Jazz is going to be my priority," Kirilenko said.
"I understand my value is going to be a little lower than it is right now. I'm not worried about that…Money has never been an issue. It's good to have a good contract and money. But my priority is basketball."
"When I signed the contact for the Jazz, I was feeling at the time I was a key player," Kirilenko said. "Things change. … After we got Deron and Booz, they're really the guys who are the forces on our team. I kind of had a tough time a few years ago converting myself. … I didn't understand how to deal with it. I have learned to adjust to the system. I have my role…I want to help [the Jazz] and make it work."
Andrei further told the desnews today:
"After talking a lot, we think Utah is the best choice for us, because our kids are growing up here, going to school, we've settled everything, we know what to expect."
I've written a number of AK appreciation posts in the past. All I want to say now is that he has played an enormous role in our recent mini-win streak. He may be the second-oldest and highest-paid player on the team, but he's also the first one to dive for a loose ball. The only player you ever see with gauze pads on his knees is AK, because he is out there hustling his ass off.
The team also reaps the benefits of his maturity. We forget how young Deron is because of how he plays and the things he does on the court, but a couple of bad calls and he's often taken out of the game. AK provides a steadying hand and you rarely see him flustered or frustrated. He's always locked in and focused on the big picture rather than a BS foul or call. He doesn't pout about his minutes or whether he starts or comes off the bench. He doesn't question why he sometimes plays 20 minutes and sometimes 36. He doesn't complain about whether he's being played at the 3 or the 4. Jerry has always said that he sticks to a set substitution pattern because he believes players perform better if they know exactly when they're going to play.
The exception to the rule seems to be AK, and yes, I can understand Jerry wanting to take advantage of AK's versatility. Along the same lines, however, I think fans and maybe even the coaches should give AK a pass (no allusion intended) on expectations of consistency since his playing time is as inconsistent as it gets (all right, that's not true, there's Nate Robinson and everyone on the Warriors)…for the Jazz then. We all saw what happened when Jerry said that he was thinking about bringing Boozer off the bench. Deron has been plenty vocal about how he is a point guard, not a shooting guard. Regardless of how Jerry utilizes him, AK just does the best job he can, no complaints, sideshows, or drama.
Best of all, he helps improve his teammates' fashion sense. :-)
Best of all, he's committed to the Jazz and locked in in wanting to help the team win. Even though he was processing the adoption of his daughter, he spent time during the summer at the Peak Performance Project and working with a nutritionist so that he could gain bulk/muscle mass like the coaches and management asked him to.
After the game at San Antonio, Boler asked AK, "Does starting fit your game, Andrei? I know it's been discussed time and time again. You've tried both sides. Which fits your game? It looks like starting."
AK answered, "When we're winning the game, that's what fits our game. Starting the game, we start winning it, that's good. Coming off the bench, we're winning the game, that's good too."
Way back when when Masha was pregnant with their first child, I remember Andrei saying that if the baby was a boy, he wanted to name it "Utah" and if it was a girl, "Jazz" (but that his parents weren't on board). While that was before Summer of Drama '07, and while I'm still not necessarily on board with every jumper he takes (shoot in rhythm!) I still like to think that Andrei Kirilenko and the Utah Jazz will be tied to each other forever. Here's to #47 one day hanging from the rafters at the ESA. As BBJ once said, who can ever wear #47 again in Utah?


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As expected from the oral argument in U.S. v. Stevens last fall - when Justice Alito was alone in expressing some support for the government's position - the Court on Tuesday upheld the First Amendment by declining to add a category of unprotected speech. This was not, after all, a case about the "human sacrifice channel" or Michael Vick's greatest dog fights. Indeed, cruelty to animals should be and is punished everywhere in the country. Instead, at issue here was a broadly drawn "depiction of animal cruelty" statute that could have ensnared Spanish tourism brochures or hunting instructional videos. More fundamentally, the Court rightly rejected the government's proposed weighing of the "value" of speech against its "social cost." That's simply not the way Americans view the First Amendment.
The case is also notable because a solid majority of the Court rejected the "speech balancing test" defended by Solicitor General Elena Kagan, often mentioned as being on the short list of candidates to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Chief Justice Roberts' opinion, joined by all of the panel's liberal justices, went so far as to call that argument by Kagan "startling and dangerous." That is the kind of legal reproach that tends to be revisited at confirmation hearings.


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APNewsBreak: Road group seeks tax tied to gas cost
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois transit advocates want to tie a tax on gasoline to the price at the pump as part of an aggressive fundraising effort to get a toehold on what they say are rapidly deteriorating roads, rails, and bridges.
The Transportation for Illinois Coalition is pushing legislation to impose a 9.5 percent tax on the wholesale price of fuel — adding about 14 cents a gallon at today's prices — along with vehicle license and registration fee hikes to bring in about $800 million a year, coalition co-chairman Doug Whitley told The Associated Press.
That's still a far cry from what the coalition says is a price tag of more than $65 billion in the next five years to catch up with and modernize roads and mass transit.
And it comes at the same time the $31 billion statewide capital construction program adopted in 2009 expires, dropping the available money annually for transportation improvement by $2 billion, and no replacement on the horizon, said Whitley, who's also president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
Bill Fleishli, executive vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers, however, criticized the idea, saying it would pinch retailers who would have to pay the tax upfront at the same time higher gas prices slow sales. Fleishli pointed to a legislative report that shows Illinois spends more on transportation than all but six states and said it needs to stop diverting transit-dedicated dollars to other purposes.
Whitley laid out the plan to the AP in advance of discussing it publicly. A coalition study found that without "significant investment," by 2018, one in every three miles of roads and 10 percent of all bridges will be in "unacceptable" condition. Chicago-area motorists spend $292 annually in higher automobile operating costs because of poor road conditions.
"We face a transportation infrastructure crisis in the state of Illinois, and we do not have the revenues to do the fixes that we need in order to make sure our highways are operating at peak efficiency and our bridges are safe for travel," said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat sponsoring legislation to implement the plan.
Currie and the legislation's Senate sponsor, Transportation Committee Chairman Martin Sandoval, plan hearings on the issue before taking up the matter in the fall session of the General Assembly.
The wholesale fuel tax would replace the current 19-cents-a-gallon motor-fuel tax. Indexing the fee to the price of gasoline would mean that at today's statewide average price of $4.20 per gallon, motorists would pay about 33 cents.
With increased fuel efficiency, state motor-fuel tax revenue has fallen 11 percent since its peak in 2007, to $1.22 billion in 2012, according to an analysis of Illinois Department of Revenue figures. The new tax would raise $1.66 billion in its first full year, or $440 million more.
The plan would also increase four-year driver's license fees by $10 to $40; annual vehicle registration fees $15 to $116; and certificates of title $10 to $105. Those hikes would raise an additional $184 million a year. Eliminating the retailers' tax credit on ethanol would bring in another $180 million.
The plan does not include Illinois Tollway roads in the Chicago metropolitan area. Users paying tolls support them.
It's a tough sell for legislators, Whitley conceded, particularly with a statewide election next year, a still-unbalanced budget haunted by the unresolved pension crisis, and a 67 percent income tax increase set to expire in 2015.
"The atmosphere is pretty electric for all these needs to be showing up," Whitley said.
But the motor-fuel tax was last increased to 19 cents in 1990 — when it represented about 16 percent of the retail gas price of $1.20 per gallon. According to AAA, the statewide Illinois average price per gallon was $4.20 Wednesday, of which the tax makes up 4.5 percent.
"Our state infrastructure system is a utility, and like a utility, needs to have recurrent, ongoing, long-term, sustainable investment," Sandoval said.
Unlike the current motor fuel tax, which is paid after the sale, the new tax would be paid up front, according to Fleishli. That would cause cash-flow problems for smaller retailers, particularly with rising prices.
"It will put the squeeze on people, because you haven't sold the product, and at $4 a gallon, it's going to be a while before you sell it," Fleishli said.
He noted the Legislature's bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability found in a study last year that the $640 spent per capita on Illinois state and local roads in 2010 was higher than the national average of $504.
However, the same study found that Illinois' motor-fuel tax — $102 per capita — was 43rd among the states. And the coalition study points out the Prairie State ranks No. 3 nationally in interstate-highway system size and in bridge inventory.
Fleishli mentioned a state auditor general report in May that found of $25 billion spent from the road fund in the past decade, less than half went directly to road construction. While it didn't count construction salaries or even debt payments, "diversions" have hounded the road fund for years — something the transportation coalition has devoted time and energy in past years.
The bills are HB3637 and SB2589.
Illinois General Assembly: http://www.ilga.gov
Transportation for Illinois Coalition: http://tficillinois.org/
Contact AP Political Writer John O'Connor at http://www.twitter.com/apoconnor
News from The Associated Press, and a taste of the great journalism produced by AP members and customers. Managed 24/7 by these editors: apne.ws/APSocial Read more ›


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I started a post about my resolutions for the new year. And I just deleted it. I'm being bombarded by the media recommending ways that I can better myself. Now, I'm not saying there's no room for improvement here, but I like the way I am. And I like where I am. So this year I resolve to stop running in circles trying to be a better version of myself and just be KathyB!
- Spending more time watching TV / movies.
- Spending more time goofing on Facebook.
- Reading more.
- Quitting exercise that is drudgery, and doing things I like to do.
- Procrastinating more (2009 is going to be interesting).
- Eating out more.
- Having more fun.
Whatever your resolutions may be I wish you a healthy and happy 2009!


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I'm trying to test out the new
SS 2012 RC, but I'm having problems with the installation.
My installation stops a ways in saying that the resource needed cannot be found. I'm using the ISO from MSDN and mounting it using MagicDisc. I browse to the location of the missing resource (
vs_setup.msi) on the disc and it says that the
vs_setup.msi file is not valid for VS 2010 Ultimate. I tried both vs_setup.msi's on the installation iso and both said they weren't valid. Any ideas on what I am doing incorrectly?
I do have VS2010 Ultimate already installed.
The dialogue specifically says:
The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable.
It tried to default to this directory, but the directory doesn't exist on my machine:
Browsing to the v
s_setup.msi in
E:\1033_ENU_LP\redist\VisualStudioShell\VSIntSetup and in
E:\1033_ENU_LP\redist\VisualStudioShell\VSSetup doesn't work either.
Anyone have any suggestions for what I might be doing wrong?


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Miley's New Puppy Floyd Vs. Kristen And Rob's Bear! Which Dog Is Cuter?
It's a celebrity puppy face-off! Miley Cyrus is obsessed with her new dog Floyd, but does he have what it takes to beat Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson's pup Bear in cuteness? VOTE!
Can you hear us squealing with delight? Miley Cyrus recently got a new gorgeous puppy Floyd, tweeting about how much she loves him this past weekend. He's a stunner with his bright blue eyes and pointy ears. But Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's Bear is a bigtime favorite here at HollywoodLife.com so it's hard to decide which dog is cuter! It's an adorable puppy faceoff and we need your help voting who wins the crown!Miley's fluffy Floyd looks sweetly alert as she carries him in her hand, and he's still young and so small. Meanwhile, Bear has not one but two famous parents in Rob and Kristen, and he has a beautiful shiny black and brown coat. His face is full of character and he looks like he's fun to play with!
So which dog do you think wins the cute crowd? Vote below!
Craving More Rob & Kristen? Click Below!


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Harry Styles was her famous brother. She was the popular...
- by 1DCookieRaider
- Rating:
- Published: 14 Nov 2012
- Updated: 19 Jan 2013
- Status: In Progress
Quotes pretty much says it all. Hope you like it!! Thanks. :)
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Carly Rae Jepsen Rocks Bold, Bright Colors in Candie's Spring 2013 Campaign
Lea Michele out, Carly Rae Jepsen in!
The Canadian 'Call Me Maybe' singer has replaced the 'Glee' star as the face of the latest Candie's campaign for Kohl's. CRJ is a vision in black and white, as well as pale pink, pastel blue and mint green in the Spring 2013 ad campaign for the junior's line.
We can hear it already. We know, we know. Jepsen is 27 and dresses like she is in 11th grade, with some of her outfits. That is very true. But there have been times when she showed off a more age-appropriate and glammy look, like this cover.
Her Candie's ads aren't as girly or as "too young," as you might think. She wears cardis and skinny jeans and wedge heels, which are the uniform of both juniors and professional ladies with smart, cute street style, especially on weekends. So it's youthful and girlish, but not too teen'ish. It's an insanely wearable collection.
The ads are unique since the singer photographed herself via a photo booth. This is the first time a celeb spokesmodel has shot herself in a fashion spread. You go, CRJ! You are a woman of many talents.
Her ads will begin debuting in March issues of fashion mags.
"I feel very honored to be the next Candie's girl," Carly Rae Jepsen said in a press statement about her new gig. "It's a dream come true to be in the company of such amazing women! The photo shoot was really fun because it was so different. I'm actually the photographer as well and can't wait to share it with my fans!"
They ought to rename it Carlie's! Or she should change the spelling of her name, right?
Check out the photos of some of the items in the spring collection below. Don't you just love CRJ playing with the balloons?
Watch the Carly Rae Jepsen 'Call Me Maybe' Video


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Parent company of "Greatest Show on Earth" spending $20 million plan to turn a manufacturing plant in Ellenton into its new production center
Virginia Haley is doing a "little happy dance" over the news that Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus is returning to Southwest Florida.
Ringling's $20 million plan to buy and renovate a manufacturing plant and 47-acre tract in Ellenton reinvigorates the region's connection to its nearly 100-year-old circus legacy, said Haley, the president of the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"It is that thing that makes our area really unique," Haley said. "Not a lot of places have that circus heritage. So, to have more of the business of the circus located in the area becomes really important."
The site on the north shore of the Manatee River will become the global production center for Feld Entertainment Inc., Ringling's parent company that also produces Disney on Ice, Disney Live, Monster Jam and Feld Motor Sports productions.
Haley noted that her office recently launched a circus-themed promotion for travel professionals.
"We're following Ringling around to promote the circus ties to Sarasota at performances. We had a great response at our first event in Miami," she said.
Another is scheduled in Atlanta next month.
It is difficult to overstate the Ringling impact on the region, which developed into an arts and culture destination because of the number of visual and performing artists who initially came to work with the circus when John Ringling moved the winter quarters to Sarasota in 1927.
Ringling built a mansion along Sarasota Bay and a museum to hold his vast art collection that was turned over to the state after his death. He also became actively involved in real estate and land development.
"This really solidifies the area as the epicenter of the American circus of past and present as we look at the generations of circus performers who have their families here," said Deborah Walk, Tibbals curator of the Circus Museum at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. "It's a great statement, as they say, to have the big one home."
The museum recently expanded its Tibbals Learning Circus to include hands-on, interactive circus activities for visitors. Some of the material was donated by Feld Entertainment, Walk said.
Ringling Bros. moved its winter quarters to Venice in 1959 and stayed there until the railroad tracks that were needed to move the operations could no longer support Ringling's train cars. In 1990, Ringling began setting up its winter operations at the Florida Fairgrounds in Tampa.
It also operated the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Clown College at the Venice Arena from 1968 to 1993, when operations moved for three years to Baraboo, Wis., where the Ringling Bros. operation was founded in 1884. Clown College moved to the Sarasota Opera House for two years before the program was suspended.
Pedro Reis, a former Ringling performer and the founder of Circus Sarasota (which now also operates the Sailor Circus youth program), said the company's move to Ellenton could provide some economic benefit for the region.
"Anytime anyone brings in jobs to the area, it's fantastic," Reis said. "But are these all people moving to this area or being hired from this area?"
The Washington Post reported that Feld Entertainment will move as many as 190 jobs from its Vienna, Va., headquarters to Florida during the next five years.
Reis also wonders if the area is not already saturated with circus productions and operations.
"We've got Sailor Circus and Circus Sarasota, the Shrine Circus performs around Easter. We do have a lot of circus. I have no idea if their intentions are to perform here or not," he said.
Ringling has competed directly with Circus Sarasota with a short-lived tent show that it called Kaleidoscape and with small arena shows that overlapped with Circus Sarasota's winter performances.
The years of history "make it hard to think of Sarasota without thinking of the name of Ringling," said Jim Shirley, executive director of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota, and the former executive director of Sailor Circus. "John Ringling and his family had a huge commitment to the arts, and that's a big part of why this community has the type of recognition that we do today in the arts."
Even though the Feld headquarters will be in Manatee County, which provided tax incentives for the move, Haley said it is a boost for both counties.
"We really are a region and we work together frequently with our colleagues in Manatee. In fact, we're going to be sending them a supply of clown noses."


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Enfidha-Hammamet Airport
Enfidha-Hammamet Airport – Means of Transportation, Transportation Alternatives, Routes and Car Park Information
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New Zealand's Edinburgh!
A little story about a foolish Scotsman that just has to be told:
1 / 4
Once upon a time, after Dunedin has been founded as a Scottish Settlement, there was Dunedin's surveyor, Charles Kettle. Charles Kettle had a vision - a quiet foolish one you might find.
When planning Dunedin, he instructed to emulate the characteristics of Edinburgh, using the same construction plan. Unfortunately, he was not thinking of the differences in landscape between Dunedin and Edinburgh.
Consequently, the builders struggled. In some parts they were even failing to construct his vision across the quiet challenging landscape of Dunedin.
The results are both grand and quirky streets, as well as in some parts real steep streets. Moreover, all the streets are named after the streets of Edinburgh, thanks to Charles Kettle.
But the Scottish influence doesn't stop in the construction of the city and its street names.
Wandering through Dunedin, you will notice its Gothic stone buildings – the Scottish Edwardian and Victorian architecture.
Founded in 1848 as a Scottish Settlement, the Scottish architecture and culture are still present in today's Dunedin.
More than that, the city's name derives from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.
As one can see, Dunedin's roots are still present and if you like to find out more, there are great options of heritage tours around the city to experience Dunedin's Scottish roots!