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Performance Philosophy
Performance Philosophy is an interdisciplinary and international field of thought, creative practice and scholarship. The Performance Philosophy book series comprises monographs and essay collections addressing the relationship between performance and philosophy within a broad range of philosophical traditions and performance practices, including drama, theatre, performance arts, dance, art and music. It also includes studies of the performative aspects of life and, indeed, philosophy itself. As such, the series addresses the philosophy of performance as well as performance-as-philosophy and philosophy-as-performance. Series Advisory Board: Emmanuel Alloa, Assistant Professor in Philosophy, University of Fribourg, Switzerland; Lydia Goehr, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, USA; James R. Hamilton, Professor of Philosophy, Kansas State University, USA; Bojana Kunst, Professor of Choreography and Performance, Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany; Nikolaus Müller-Schöll, Professor of Theatre Studies, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Martin Puchner, Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature, Harvard University, USA; Alan Read, Professor of Theatre, King's College London, UK; Freddie Rokem, Professor (Emeritus) of Theatre Arts, Tel Aviv University, Israel. http://www.performancephilosophy.org/books/


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Our general interest e-newsletter keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics.
High blood pressure is a risk factor for more than heart disease. Discover what complications high blood pressure can cause.
High blood pressure complications
High blood pressure (hypertension) can quietly damage your body for years before symptoms develop. Left uncontrolled, you may wind up with a disability, a poor quality of life or even a fatal heart attack. Roughly half the people with untreated hypertension die of heart disease related to poor blood flow (ischemic heart disease) and another third die of stroke.
Treatment and lifestyle changes can help control your high blood pressure to reduce your risk of life-threatening complications.
Here's a look at the complications high blood pressure can cause when it's not effectively controlled.
Healthy arteries are flexible, strong and elastic. Their inner lining is smooth so that blood flows freely, supplying vital organs and tissues with nutrients and oxygen.
Hypertension gradually increases the pressure of blood flowing through your arteries. As a result, you might experience:
Your heart pumps blood to your entire body. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can damage your heart in a number of ways, such as:
Just like your heart, your brain depends on a nourishing blood supply to work properly and survive. But high blood pressure can cause several problems, including:
Your kidneys filter excess fluid and waste from your blood — a process that depends on healthy blood vessels. High blood pressure can injure both the blood vessels in and leading to your kidneys, causing several types of kidney disease (nephropathy). Having diabetes in addition to high blood pressure can worsen the damage.
Tiny, delicate blood vessels supply blood to your eyes. Like other vessels, they, too, can be damaged by high blood pressure:
Although the inability to have and maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction) becomes increasingly common in men as they reach age 50, it's even more likely to occur if they have high blood pressure, too. Over time, high blood pressure damages the lining of your blood vessels and causes your arteries to harden and narrow (atherosclerosis), limiting blood flow. This means less blood is able to flow to your penis. For some men, the decreased blood flow makes it difficult to achieve and maintain erections — often referred to as erectile dysfunction. The problem is fairly common, especially among men who are not treating their high blood pressure.
Women may have sexual dysfunction as a side effect of high blood pressure, as well. High blood pressure can reduce blood flow to your vagina. For some women, this leads to a decrease in sexual desire or arousal, vaginal dryness, or difficulty achieving orgasm. Improving arousal and lubrication can help. Like men, women can experience anxiety and relationship issues due to sexual dysfunction.
High blood pressure can also affect other areas of the body, leading to such problems as:
High blood pressure is usually a chronic condition that gradually causes damage over the years. But sometimes blood pressure rises so quickly and severely that it becomes a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment, often with hospitalization.
In these situations, high blood pressure can cause:
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subset: commoncrawl


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Drug Makers Tiptoe Back Into Antibiotic R&D
As Superbugs Spread, Regulators Begin to Remove Roadblocks for New Treatments
For years drug companies have abandoned the search for new antibiotics, saying it isn't worth their while. Now some are getting back into the hunt.
After dismantling its antibiotics team in 1999, Switzerland's Roche Holding AG is recruiting a head of anti-infectives to rebuild its in-house expertise. Last year, Roche licensed an experimental new antibiotic from Polyphor Ltd., a biotechnology company, and is investing as much as $111 million in antibiotic-focused RQX Pharmaceuticals Inc....


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These games teach valuable skills and have a high fun and educational rating.
Your child improves cognitive development by watching a video about a fictional character wondering through an Egyptian tomb.
Your child will develop gross motor skills by moving the mouse left and right to speed up the dragon boat.
Zoodles 11.5.8 Copyright (c) 2014 Inquisitive Minds, Inc. All rights reserved.


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You already knew that customs officials can search your laptop if they feel like it, detaining you if you refuse, but what can you do to protect yourself from random dudes checking out your vacation pics? The EFF has some tips. There's having multiple encrypted partitions, having secure passwords, shutting off your machine before searches and destroying naughty stuff semi-permanently with shredding applications. Hit up the link for more privacy tips. [EFF]
EFF's Guide to Border Laptop Searches


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PMalladi necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 107 diseños de 17 diseñadores freelance.
Malladi Bariatrics and Advanced Surgery
I am a female general surgeon who is incredibly excited to start a practice in Dallas, Texas. My education and training have been of the highest caliber, and I continually strive to deliver the highest level of care to my patients. My core values are compassion for and commitment to my patients, ethics and professionalism, clear communication and education, and meticulous surgical skill.
Being a general surgeon means I perform surgery mainly on the organs within the abdomen - stomach, esophagus, intestines, gallbladder, spleen, adrenal, etc.
I also have fellowship training in minimally invasive surgery (using small or no incisions) and with specialized training in weight loss (or "bariatric") surgery including the gastric bypass, the sleeve gastrectomy, and the gastric band. So my practice encompasses both general and bariatric surgery.
Bariatric surgery is quite different from general surgery because bariatric surgery is not covered by all insurances; there are strict requirements for coverage; the treatment of obesity requires coordination with other experts including nutritionists, psychologists, fitness experts etc; and the field usually has more direct marketing to patients and patient self-referrals.
So the marketing effort for my practice will be focused more on my bariatric audience but should be flexible to connect with nonbariatric patients.
My market involves all adult surgical patients (wide age range and all socio-economic levels) as well as primary care physicians or other specialists who may refer their patients to me. So both a medical audience as well as the public.
For bariatric surgery in particular, the audience are 80% women in their 20s through 50s. Most are interested in surgery so they can resolve some of their weight related health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure etc. They want to be more active for their children/family and live longer. A good cosmetic result is just an added bonus.
I need a branding design and logo for my practice.
1. I like sophisticated, clean, modern designs with fresh, bright colors (not pastels). I would like a red flower (sunflower type) as a symbol but open to other color choices (could have different colors alternating petals and center).
2. Please incorporate "Malladi Bariatrics and Advanced Surgery" into the overall look. One idea I like is having the symbol on top, then "Malladi", and then "Bariatrics and Advanced Surgery" underneath in different font and/or color.
Once the branding/logo is developed I will use it on my website, business cards, brochures, announcement cards etc. So I will have more projects down the road.
I have a placeholder website http://www.drmalladi.com which will be replaced once I have a branding/logo design.
Look at this:
(not my company, just same name)
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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The All-Star break offers players a mid-season reprieve and a chance to clear up the injured reserve list.
New additions
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks – Hand-Wrist – Indefinite
There are conflicting reports surrounding the severity of Toews injury and even the exact nature of his injury. Officially he is listed as having an upper body injury, and is day-to-day. An ESPN report suggests Toews sustained a hand or wrist injury as a result of a slash from Eric Gudbranson of the Florida Panthers. "Took a whack on the hand," Toews said after Friday's game. "Nothing serious. Should be ready for tomorrow [Saturday] night." Toews missed the Saturday and Tuesday games. Toews was then placed on injured reserve Tuesday and announced he will not participate in the All-Star game. The Hawks next game is January 31 when they host Vancouver, hopefully Toews is ready to play in that game.
Jaromir Jagr, Philadelphia Flyers – Groin – Day-to-Day
Jagr left Saturday's game in the first period after aggravating a groin injury. Jagr missed the next two games but is expected to return after the All-Star break.
Brenden morrow, Dallas Stars – Neck – Day-to-Day
Dallas placed Morrow on the injured reserve list retroactive to January 21st when he suffered a neck injury in the game against the Minnesota Wild.
Dmitry Kulikov, Florida Panthers – Knee – 6-8 Weeks
Kulikov had knee surgery January 24 and will be out 6-8 weeks.
Nikita Nikitin, Columbus Blue Jackets – Knee – Week-to-Week
Nikitin had a violent crash into the end boards after a shove from Henrik Zetterberg. Nikitin was seen with ice on his left knee at Sundays practice. "We don't know how long it's going to be," Richards said. "It's week to week right now." Todd Richards told Blue jackets Xtra.
Henrik Tallinder, New Jersey Devils – Blood Clot – 6-8 Weeks
An MRI confirmed the cause of escalating pain in his leg is the result of a blood clot.
Latest Concussion Victims
Evander Kane, Winnipeg Jets – Concussion –Day-to-Day
Kane was placed in the injured reserve retroactive to January 19 but is only listed as day-to-day
Nathan Horton, Boston Bruins – Concussion – Day-to-Day
Horton suffered a "mild" concussion on Sunday and is day-to-day. Horton suffered what must be a serious concussion less than a year ago in the Stanley Cup Finals. The team hopes he will be over his "mild" headaches by Tuesday when the Bruins host the Senators.
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers – Concussion – Indefinitely
Philly.com reports Briere had a tough game Saturday against New Jersey. In the game Briere was flattened three times by Anton Volchenkov, once in the first, and again in the third Volchenkov levied big hits on the diminutive Briere. Volchenkov also cross-checked Briere face-first to the ice. On top of all that Briere also received a punch in the face and a high stick in the head. After the game, Briere looked dazed, and he said he did not know which hit caused the concussion.
Jochen Hecht, Buffalo Sabres – Concussion – Indefinitely
Hecht is out again with another concussion. This will be his second this season, and third in less than a year.
Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars – Abdomen – Day-to-Day
Benn is on the injured reserve after undergoing appendectomy surgery. Benn participated in the team practice on Tuesday and is expected to participate in the All-Star game.
Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers – Broken Hand – Indefinitely
After seeing a specialist Jovo had surgery to repair his broken hand.
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals – Concussion – Day-to-Day
Backstrom returned to the ice on Monday to join the Caps in practice. He was wearing a non-contact jersey which tells me he is still at least seven or 10 days away. Expect him back by February 4th when Washington is in Montreal to play against Rene Bourque.
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning – Concussion – Indefinitely
Hedman also returned to practice sporting a non-contact jersey.
Joni Pitkanen Carolina Hurricanes – Concussion – Indefinitely
Pitkanen has suffered a set back in his concussion recovery and is not expected back until March
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers, Shoulder – Day-to-Day
The Nuge will not be available for the All-Star skills competition this weekend but should be ready to come back soon after the break.
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Ormond 3204, VIC
Website: Remezzo
I've talked about how few and far apart restaurant gems in the outer suburbs are, such as Shyun, well, you can add Remezzo to that list. I've visited Remezzo previously and it was fantastic. I can happily report that it is still fantastic and great for a casual meal.
Remezzo's is your typical cafe style restaurant with wooden floors, simple wooden tables and simple no fuss service. The waitress seated us to a table near the counter and gave us water while we looked over the menu. I like it how cafes offer you tap water as a default and you can order other types of water later if you want. That's how I like it, rather than being upsold sparkling water which I hate.
Remezzo's serve tapas style meals, so you order from a variety of simple items. Just be warned that the servings a huge and one and a half to two tapas per person is more than filling. So obviously it was no surprise that two people could not finish five tapas and a dessert. We were silly to not heed our waitress warning and thought that two starving guys could finish all that food. How wrong we were.
The Meatballs in Tomato Sauce is rich and hearty and full of flavour. Lamb cutlets are grilled with seasoning and herbs, just simple and delicious. Prosciutto fritters are actually a bit salty for my liking, but eaten in small amounts with other things, worked well.
The Chorizo Sausages are spicy and nice, and way too much. The bowl was just so large that we couldn't finish it. My favourite dish, just like last time, were the Goats Cheese Balls. The melting goats cheese inside the crispy shell of the fried ball is sensational. The meal was finished off with a very large Apple Crumble with Ice Cream. The crumble was beautifully fragrant and had a great crumble on top, loved it.
The ambiance at Remezzo is extremely loud. Don't come here wanting a nice quiet dinner. The room is always packed and full of diners chatting away happily. The tables are packed quite closely so be prepared to hear bits and pieces of your neighbour's conversations. I don't mind this and really like the vibe in the restaurant. It's definitely a great place to come for a casual meal with friends.
Overall Rating: 15/20, Nice good food at great prices.
Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.


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American shot while jet skiing on Falcon Lake
Gunmen are presumed to be Mexican drug operatives
BROWNSVILLE - Gunmen presumed to be Mexican drug operatives opened fire today on a couple riding water skis on the binational Falcon Lake reservoir, possibly killing the husband and sending the woman fleeing frantically to the U.S. side.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said the couple - believed to be from McAllen - had crossed to the Mexican side when they came under a spray of bullets by two boatloads of men. The man, 30, was shot in the head and his wife said she fears he is dead.
"They saw them approaching and started revving it up back to the U.S. side," Gonzalez told the Associated Press. "The guys just started shooting at them from behind."
According to unconfirmed reports, the woman circled back to get her husband but the gunmen continued shooting, even after she crossed back to the U.S. side.
Gonzalez said he had contacted the Mexican consulate for help finding the husband. As of late Thursday afternoon, he was tracing down leads with the FBI, said Mary Pulido, a dispatcher fielding a barrage of press calls.
"I do know that it happened on the Mexican side, that's what's making the investigation very difficult," she said.
The shooting follows reports in May that boaters in the famed bass fishing oasis were at risk of being shaken down by "pirates" lurking on the Mexican side.
The 60-mile long Rio Grande reservoir is shared by the United States and Mexico, and due to its location along sparsely populated Starr and Zapata counties is believed to be a favorite location for trafficking drugs.
Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, who along with state Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, recently traveled to the area for a briefing by the Texas Department of Public Safety on Falcon Lake dangers said that any gunfire that took place on the U.S. side of the lake - in some places demarcated by floating markers - would represent a serious step over the line for a drug war that's "getting out of hand."
"These guys are getting very aggressive," he said. "It's a significant incident, but it has international ramifications if the shots continued into our side. This was just a couple of people having a good time."
Peña, as chair of the emergency preparedness committee, said the incident strengthened his resolve to fight budget cuts for DPS, who along with Border Patrol agents patrol the lake.
"They're essentially the Texas marine force," he said. "We need them to protect our citizens and keep our lakes safe."
Thursday's reported shooting comes during what may be the most deadly and prolonged streak of Mexican drug cartel violence in memory.
In May, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported several incidents of pirates shaking down U.S. boaters. The robbers in at least one case posed as Mexican federal law enforcement, searching fishing boats for guns and drugs and then demanding cash at gunpoint.
The DPS issued a statement warning people not to cross to the Mexican side of the lake. Boaters were encouraged to file a float plan with family members.
"The robbers are believed to be members of a drug trafficking organization or members of an enforcer group linked to a drug trafficking organization who are...using AK-47s or AR-15 rifles to threaten their victims," it said. "They appear to be using local Mexican fishermen to operate the boats to get close to American fishermen."
The warning came as the county of Zapata geared up for a summer of fishing tournaments, prompting the chamber of commerce to say that the warning was drastic and that people were safe if they stayed in U.S. waters.
Falcon Lake was formed by a dam in 1953 to conserve water for agriculture and control downstream flooding.


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Welcome to OsmoSDR
OsmoSDR is a 100% Free Software based small form-factor inexpensive SDR (Software Defined Radio) project.
If you are familiar with existing SDR receivers, then OsmoSDR can be thought of something in between a FunCube Dongle (only 96kHz bandwidth) and a USRP (much more expensive). For a very cheap SDR (with limited dynamic range), you can use the DVB-T USB stick using the RTL2832U chip, as documented in rtl-sdr.
It consists of a USB-attached Hardware, associated Firmware as well as GrOsmoSDR gnuradio integration on the PC.
The first generation hardware (1.2 MS/s) was available to interested developers from http://shop.sysmocom.de/
We are currently doing a re-design for the second-generation hardware, featuring higher sample rate and other goodies.
Update on next version of OmoSDR
Christian has posted a detailed status update to the osmocom-sdr mailing list, describing his progress with enhancing the sample rate from 500 kS/s to 4 MS/s (at 14 bits ADC). Also, some impedance mismatch between tuner and ADC was fixed.
The benefits of this are not only available to the users/customers of the next generation hardware, but the ...
GNSS-SDR officially supports rtl-sdr
The team of developers of the open source project GNSS-SDR proudly announces that the latest version of our GNSS receiver supports the realtime operation using RTL-SDR compatible dongles.
They achieved GPS position fix with what is probability the cheapest GPS receiver ever made. If you have a RTL2832U based compatible DVB-T receiver you can ...
First 16 OsmoSDR boards available for developers
There are something like 16 units of OsmoSDR that we have produce and which are able to sell to interested developers.
However, as there are only 16 units right now, and as the firmware and host software is in a barely usable but incomplete state, we would like to make sure that those 16 units get sold to people who actually have an interest (a ...
Introducing RTL-SDR
While the OsmoSDR is still not available, some Osmocom team members (notably Steve Markgraf) have been hacking away on an alternative least-cost solution: rtl-sdr.
So what is rtl-sdr? It is a creative form of using consumer-grade DVB-T USB receivers, turning them into fully-fledged software defined radios.
Those ...
OsmoSDR hardware verification at 28C3
At 28c3, the OsmoSDR team was busy verifying the hardware design on the first prototypes.
The result can be summarized as:
- SAM3U is working, enumerates on USB and can be programmed via SAM-BA
- E4K tuner driver is working
- Si570 driver is working
- FPGA can be flashed via JTAG bit-banging from SAM3 ...
Hardware schematics and firmware source code are kept in a git repository on git.osmocom.org.
- clone the repository like this: git clone git://git.osmocom.org/osmo-sdr.git
- web-browse the repository: http://cgit.osmocom.org/cgit/osmo-sdr/
For a complete list of local wiki pages, see TitleIndex.
This is a (slightly better) picture of the current developer preview:
Mailing List
We discuss both OsmoSDR as well as rtl-sdr on the following mailing list: osmocom-sdr@…. You can subscribe and/or unsubscribe via the following link: http://lists.osmocom.org/mailman/listinfo/osmocom-sdr
- Stefan Reimann of SR-Systems (electrical engineering, manufacturing)
- Christian Daniel, Matthias Kleffel and Thomas Kleffel of maintech (overall design, FPGA, rum-ba)
- Harald Welte of sysmocom (sam3u firmware development)
Attachments (2)
added by laforge 8 years ago.
PCB photograph of OsmoSDR
added by Hoernchen 7 years ago.
OsmoSDR developer preview
Download all attachments as: .zip


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Getting history right
Religion | Two professors respond to David Barton's claim they made 'mountains out of molehills' in their critique of his research into Thomas Jefferson and his faith
by Warren Throckmorton & Michael Coulter
Posted 3/14/13, 09:30 am
This is the third and final round of WORLD's Barton controversy coverage. Below we have Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter's reply to David Barton's response to their book that critiqued Barton's The Jefferson Lies. Barton is welcome to offer a final rebuttal, but is under no obligation to do so.
WORLD would like to thank all the writers and readers participating in this debate with the hope that this process is allowing iron to sharpen iron. —Mickey McLean
First, we are grateful to WORLD for this opportunity to clarify some points and reply to David Barton on the matter of Thomas Jefferson and his faith. WORLDhas shown real courage to further examine the claims related to the controversy generated by Thomas Nelson dropping The Jefferson Lies from publication. Second, although we stand by our work, we thank David Barton for participating.
Generally, in Barton's reply to us (see "No, I'm not wrong"), he claimed we made mountains out of molehills by picking out a few details to examine in our book Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President. Let's take a look at those details.
History is the examination of details
First, examining historical claims requires the careful analysis of evidence, bit by bit, and details are important because those details are used to establish and understand the facts and present an accurate historical narrative. Barton's claim that we selected small aspects of his work appears to us to be an effort to change the subject. In getting history right, details are important and the accuracy of a claim can depend on contextual matters, such as time and place. For instance, Barton quoted Jefferson as saying that the law did not allow slave owners to free slaves in Virginia. The relevance of this statement hinges on when Jefferson said it. Jefferson said this to Edward Coles in 1814, eight years after the laws in Virginia were changed to make it more difficult for slave owners to emancipate their slaves. Coles was born in 1786 and would have been a minor during most of the period in which it was easiest to free slaves in Virginia (1782-1806). Coles was also vehemently opposed to slavery, and Jefferson may have just been telling Coles what he wanted to hear.[i] In our book, we did not claim, as Barton suggested in his WORLD article, that Jefferson could have freed all of his slaves at any time in his adult life. Rather, we identified a 24-year window of time, between 1872 and 1806, when freeing slaves was easier and more common. Jefferson said that "the laws do not permit us to turn them loose" in 1814, but many slaves were in fact freed in the preceding decades. According to Philip Schwarz, author of Slaves Laws in Virginia, the free black population was 12,866 in 1790, 20,124 in 1800, and 30,570 in 1810.[ii]
In his response, Barton created several straw men—that is, he attacked his misrepresentations of our work. He claimed we deny the role of Congress in using religion to civilize the Indians. That is not true. Although peripheral to our purposes, we acknowledge the unfortunate abuse of Indians via religion by the federal government. However, we don't focus on U.S. relations with Indians because our purpose was to examine Barton's claims about Thomas Jefferson and the Indians. On point, Jefferson did not hide his thoughts about Indians and missionaries. In a letter to physician James Jay, Jefferson asserted in 1809:
"The plan [Jay's plan] of civilizing the Indians is undoubtedly a great improvement on the ancient and totally ineffectual one of beginning with religious missionaries. Our experience has shown that this must be the last step of the process."[iii]
Jefferson added that the Indians preferred Aesop's Fables and Robinson Crusoe and outlined several steps to civilization before religious matters could be introduced. Yes, the government occasionally paid missionaries to work with Indians, but Jefferson expressed reservations about the policy.[iv]
Because Jefferson expressed these views in the face of opposing practices, one must look at the gnats Barton said we strained at to make sense of Jefferson's actions. When Barton told readers about one aspect of Jefferson's actions but omitted the parts inconvenient to his stance, he did something different with the details than we did. One way or the other, one can't avoid the details. We incorporated them and attempted to tell the whole story. Barton often obscures the details.
This selective quotation of material is evident throughout The Jefferson Lies and in his reply to us. Not only did Barton fail to tell readers about Jefferson's view of missionary work with Indians, he did not explain other pertinent aspects of Jefferson's policy toward the Indians. Jefferson laid out a crucial component of his plan in 1802:
"If we could furnish goods enough to supply all their [Indians] wants, and sell them goods so cheap that no private trader could enter into competition with us, we should thus get rid of those traders who are the principal fomenters of the uneasiness of the Indians: and by being so essentially useful to the Indians we should of course become objects of affection to them. There is perhaps no method more irresistible of obtaining lands from them than by letting them get in debt, which when too heavy to be paid, they are always willing to lop off by a cession of land."[v]
Jefferson's plan was to get the Indians in debt and use that debt as a bargaining chip to induce them to sell off their lands. The plan worked well and was one factor in the background of the treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that Barton said was primarily about sending missionaries to evangelize the tribe. In fact, having gotten in debt, the Kaskaskia were willing to lop off millions of acres in exchange for an annuity, debt forgiveness, protection, a church, and a stipend for their priest.
Although Barton accused us of focusing on minor issues, we disagree. Most of the claims we examined in our book are ones that he uses repeatedly in his speeches and videos. Those claims seem essential to his arguments since he comes back to them often (albeit sometimes in different forms). For instance, in The Jefferson Lies he said Jefferson negotiated and signed "a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that directly funded Christian missionaries, and provided federal funding to help erect a church building in which they might worship."[vi] But in his Capitol Tour speech, he changed the narrative by claiming:
"Most people have no clue that Thomas Jefferson in 1803 negotiated a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians in which Jefferson put federal funds to pay for missionaries to go evangelize the Indians and gave federal funds so that after they were converted we'd build them a church in which they could worship."
The Capitol Tour description is clearly more false than the claim in The Jefferson Lies. Here are the key details. Prior to the treaty, the Kaskaskia were, for the most part, attached to Catholicism. The federal money did not provide for missionaries plural, the funds didn't support a new evangelization effort, and the church was built for the existing Catholic community at their request as a condition of deeding the United States most of central Illinois. While his book was not as far off the facts of the case as the Capitol Tour speech, in the context of Barton's public stance on Jefferson's actions, we believe we were right to examine the claim because of the manner and frequency in which Barton uses it.
'Sins' of omission
Another detail that turns out to be important is Barton's omission of a section of Virginia's 1782 law on emancipation of slaves. In The Jefferson Lies (pg. 92), Barton omitted the section of the 1782 law which allowed owners to free their slaves while the owners were alive. He simply omitted it from his presentation of the 1782 law, leaving the impression that owners could only free their slaves via a will at death. We have asked Barton why he chose to omit that portion of the law and have received no reply.
Barton wrote in his WORLD article that his position on Jefferson and emancipation took into account all of the many laws on slavery. However, in The Jefferson Lies, he did not even cite the most important one (the 1782 law) completely. In the WORLD article, he provided dates of many statutes but did not quote any of them or explain why they were relevant. We have read the Virginia statues between 1782 and 1806 cannot find any law that changes how the 1782 law allowed slaves owners to free some slaves (most of the laws in that period concern the activities of freed slaves). Barton further provided the irrelevant case of James Armistead who could have been emancipated by his owner but was not because Armistead sought reimbursement from the Virginia legislature for the loss of slave services. The fact is that Barton wrote in The Jefferson Lies that "Jefferson was unable to free his slaves under the requirements of state law …" (pg. 94) and has refused to acknowledge the misleading nature of his position.
Furthermore, Barton did not describe how Jefferson continued to buy and sell slaves throughout his life. Barton wrote that it was debt that prevented Jefferson from freeing his slaves, but if that was the main factor, then Jefferson would not have spent money to acquire new slaves or paid for bounty hunters to capture escaped slaves. In fact, according to his detailed account of his financial transactions, he often indulged in many expensive items and activities, such as wine, fine china, and constant renovations to Monticello, and thus it wasn't merely a matter of not having enough money to free slaves. All of this is relevant to Barton's main point about Jefferson and slavery. In Getting Jefferson Right, we balanced out the rather sentimental picture Barton painted of Jefferson. The truth is that Jefferson opposed the slave trade and said negative things about slavery, but the other side of Jefferson (e.g., his views of race and his actions as a slave owner) is not attractive and should not be ignored.
Shifting standards
In the past, Barton has criticized historians for not relying on primary sources. In a recent posting on his website, Barton "challenged writers on all sides of the debate over religion in the Founding Era to stop relying on secondary sources and quotations from later eras and instead to utilize original sources."In that same article, Barton chided evangelical historians Mark Noll, George Marsden, Nathan Hatch, and John Fea for citing what Barton called secondary sources.However, Barton deviated far from this standard in The Jefferson Lies and his WORLD article. For instance on page 12 of his WORLD article, he defended his contention that Jefferson gave his 1804 edited version of gospels to Indian missionaries by means of a footnote from Henry Stephens Randall's biography of Thomas Jefferson. Randall, who did not personally speak to this source, wrote in 1858:
"This [i.e., the 1804 work] is sometimes mentioned as Mr. Jefferson's 'Collection for the Indians,' it being understood that he conferred with friends on the expediency of having it published in the different Indian dialects as the most appropriate book for the Indians to be instructed to read in." (Emphasis added by Barton.)
There is no primary source material for this claim. When we couldn't find any evidence, we asked the Monticello research library for help. Librarian Anna Berkes told us, "I've searched Jefferson's papers as thoroughly as anyone can, and can find nothing to support Barton's statement regarding Jefferson's Bible compilations and American Indians." However, despite the absence of primary source material, Barton asserts in his WORLD article:
"The proof of Jefferson's intent to distribute his 1804 work among native peoples is not only the title he himself placed on the work but also the testimony of his own family members and friends."
According to Barton's own Wallbuilder's challenge, what Randall "understood" is inadequate to prove anything and should not be used.
The distance between Barton's claims and primary sources can be substantial. For instance, he relied on a book by Mark Beliles, who relied on a book by George Sanford, who relied on Henry Stephens Randall's book to make claims about the verses Jefferson used in making his 1804 gospel compilation. Randall was able to see the list of verses Jefferson used but made several copying errors. However, none of those men saw the Bibles Jefferson actually cut up to make his extractions. Yet, Barton chided us for relying on the scholar who did examine those Bibles and had the original list of verses to reconstruct the 1804 version. Barton's admonition to use primary sources did not stop him from making dogmatic claims based on sources far removed from the original. In contrast, we included in Getting Jefferson Right images of the original list of verses Jefferson intended to include.
We could easily offer more instances (e.g., using a fiction novel as a source for historical claims), but we hope these points help show readers the general problems that we document in Getting Jefferson Right.
We want to close by returning to the purpose of our book, which is to get history right. Gregg Frazer of The Master's College summed up our thoughts well when he wrote:
"[W]hat has been in question all along is not Barton's standing as a cultural battler, but his standing as a historian. That is determined by how accurately one writes history, not how well one stems the progressive tide."
The first order of a Christian scholar is not to present a polemic to help fight the culture war, but rather, the accurate presentation and careful analysis of all the facts, even if those facts show a person or event or theory in a less than favorable light.
Continuing the conversation
As one means of continuing this conversation and providing as much assistance as possible on these very detailed questions, we are making ourselves available to answer follow up questions from readers. If you have any questions about a source, citation, or evidence we offer, please email us from this webpage.
Also, if new claims come up that readers want to explore (e.g., was the NRA founded to counter the KKK?), please feel free to contact us. We have asked a group of history, religion, and political science professors to assist us in providing accurate answers to historical questions. —W.T & M.C.
Further reading
For more information about the claims made in David Barton's WORLD article, see our book Getting Jefferson Right and the following articles posted at the Getting Jefferson Right website and the Warren Throckmorton blog:
- "David Barton's Capitol Tour: Did Thomas Jefferson Spend Federal Funds to Evangelize the Kaskaskia Indians?"
- "Jefferson and Slavery: A Response to David Barton on the Glenn Beck Show, Part One"
- "Jefferson and Slavery: A Response to David Barton on the Glenn Beck Show, Part Two"
- "Jefferson and Slavery: A Response to David Barton on the Glenn Beck Show, Part Three"
- "The Emancipation of James Armistead"
- "The Gnadenhutten Massacre Revisited: A Response to David Barton"
- "Gnadenhutten Massacre Revisited: An Extended Response to David Barton"
- "David Barton on Thomas Jefferson—United Brethren and the Christian Indians"
- "Jefferson and the Bible: A Response to David Barton on the Glenn Beck Show, Part Four"
- "David Barton is wrong" (Our WORLD excerpt from Getting Jefferson Right with much on Jefferson's extractions from the gospels.)
[i] We document in Getting Jefferson Right that Jefferson was not above slanting his correspondence to the interests and beliefs of his reader. For instance, see Jefferson's responses to abolitionist Father Gregoire and friend Joel Barlow in Getting Jefferson Right, pp. 203-205.
[ii] Philip Schwarz, personal communication to Michael Coulter, 9/5/12.
[iii] Washington, H.A., Ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 5, (Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Maury, 1853), p. 440.
[iv] It must be remembered that the federal government viewed the Indian tribes as sovereign nations. There are different First Amendment issues that are raised with citizens than with other nations. Regarding Jefferson's ideas on missions, he was expressing these ideas as late as 1814. Even at that late date, he did not think it was advisable to send missionaries.
[v] Boyd, J.P., & Oberg, B.B., Eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: 1 July to 12 November 1802, Vol. 38. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012), p. 210; letter to Henry Dearborn.
[vi] Barton, D. The Jefferson Lies, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012), p. 135.
Warren Throckmorton
Warren is an author, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College, and fellow for psychology and public policy at the school's Center for Vision and Values.
Read more from this writer
Michael Coulter
Michael is professor of humanities and political science at Grove City College and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, and Social Policy.


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October 9, 2008 What's it take to win in Ohio?
October 9, 2008 Voting irregularities? Hopefully, not this time! Ohio's secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner, joins us to talk about how the state has prepared for the election on November 4th.
October 8, 2008 In the crucial swing state of Ohio, there is no campaign issue harder to quantify than the impact of Senator Obama's race.


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I have two wonderful parents that took me and my two sisters on some pretty amazing vacations. At last count, I've been to 35 of the 50 states, and a part of Canada and Mexico....all before I was 17, and never flew in an airplane until I was 17. My parents (or me when I finally had money) bought a t-shirt for me as a souvenier and to help remember the visit. You saw what I did with some of the t-shirts in a previous post.
As I grew up, I realized I had way too many t-shirts and wanted something else to bring home to help me remember the visit or experience. Then one day while hiking in the grand canyon, I saw a hiker wearing a hat that contained pins from all of the different places he had been. I saw another hiker with a back-pack with embroidered patches from each place he had been. At the time, I didn't know how to sew and never thought I'd ever sew...so I decided to go with the pins. My first pin was purchased at the Seguaro National Park in Arizona. Ever since, I have purchased a pin to commemorate each place I have travelled. (I'm doing some ebay searching to even find pins from the places I went to when I was younger.) After my uncle passed away I was given some of his pins, some random, but some from his days at the Moose Lodge!
What was I going to do with all these pins (my treasures)?! Like the hiker in Arizona, I tried putting the pins on a hat, but realized I would probably never wear the hat and was afraid I'd lose one of the pins. I thought about a backpack....same problem. I bought a lanyard at Disney...but that wasnt what I was looking for. Slowly my collection has grown (exponentially after my visit to Disney two years ago....they have whole groups dedicated to pin trading....), and pins have found there way into a box on my dresser. I wanted to display the pins, but didn't want it to look childish (if you know what I mean).
I did some searches on google, flickr, blogs, and the Disney pin trader discussion board for ideas. I didn't like the display case idea...too generic for me. I finally went to a couple of craft shops for ideas. I didn't get an idea until I happened to go into the Crate and Barrel outlet (yes, they do exist!) by my house. They had a 17" square bulletin board for $12 in the college section, and some fabric in the clearance bin. I also had leftover fabric at home. Perfect!
I covered the board with the fabric I bought, and left over fabric from when I had made pillows for my couch and added the pins. I left room to add additional pins, and maybe some photos from the trips. I am really happy with the end result.....now I just need wall space to hang it....
Do you have a collection? Did you inherit a collection? How do you display your collection?


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Qualcomm is to sink €100m into small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe. The company has pledged the investment via its venture capital arm Qualcomm Ventures. So which technologies might be best placed to grab a share of Qualcomm's big pie?
Qualcomm certainly knows something about technology. Thirty-five per cent of its income is from licensing intellectual property, and employees get a couple of grand for every patent they add to its already-impressive list.
The company also spends a lot of time evaluating technologies and laying bets on what customers are going to want embedded in silicon a few years down the line.
Qualcomm chief operating officer and president of the QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) division Sanjey Jha gives WiMAX a pretty short shift: "WiMAX has no handoff and no latency control. It's based on a cable standard [DOCSIS] and was never designed for wireless".
Unsurprisingly, Sanjay sees CDMA and W-CDMA everywhere, with little need for other radio standards.
We don't need no UWB
Femtocells are what's needed to allow W-CDMA to take on UWB, Wi-Fi and any other radio technology, and they're coming. Qualcomm can demonstrate a domestic femtocell taking a high-definition video stream from a phone handset to a TV, while simultaneously handling a VoIP call for good measure, which does beg the question: why bother with all those other radio standards?
According to Qualcomm, 80 per cent of Wi-Fi-enabled handsets never have their Wi-Fi capability used, which represents an enormous waste of money when W-CDMA could fulfil the same role if the network operators would let it.
Why stop at mobile gaming?
Even more outlandish are Qualcomm's plans for mobile-phone gaming, with demonstrations of Dance-Revolution-like mats and TV connections from handsets. The company sees mobile phone gaming taking on the Playstation and XBox markets.
When a mobile phone can stream HD TV, and play 3D games, Qualcomm can't see why you'd want any other electronics in your house.
Being fab-less isn't always fab
Qualcomm famously owns only very limited fabrication facilities, preferring to outsource its production to third-parties – but as the industry moves to smaller and smaller hardware, the investment needed is starting to limit the competition in fabrication.
The move to 45nm and the next jump to 32nm are so expensive that industry consolidation is expected, which could mean less competitors for Qualcomm to negotiate with.
So anyone looking to grab some of the $100m should look at new applications for W-CDMA; exploiting femtocell deployments and integrating the mobile phone into consumers', largely stationary, lives as well as anything which might make nano-scale manufacturing easier.


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Engelbart's Violin
Computing pioneer Alan Kay tells us that a computer is "an instrument whose music is ideas." This seems like a beautiful metaphor, until you realize that we have somehow ended up in a world where the profession of musician is nearly unknown. To continue with this analogy, let's imagine that you were a child who loves music. A child with Mozart's inclinations, if not necessarily the full magnitude of his gifts. Your parents buy you a toy piano, and you live out what are, unbeknownst to you, the brightest days of your life. The years go by, adulthood comes, and you become – no, not a composer: an organ grinder. (Or, if you like, a disk jockey.) Or let's say that you were an extraordinary lucky and dedicated child of music. You manage to enroll in a conservatory. Or perhaps you don't, but instead you spend your free time away from your organ-grinding day job as an amateur composer. And yet, in either case, you are still stuck playing out your original works on a hacked barrel organ. Why? It is because, in this imaginary nightmare world, the very idea of a musical instrument has faded away. If someone wishes to hear music, he turns a crank or listens to the results of someone else doing so. Or perhaps there are Victrolas in this world – and professional composers, the few which still exist, are expected to compose music by hand-etching grooves on a phonograph record, as if they were machinists working a peculiar sort of lathe.
Sadly, the above scenario is more truth than fiction – for computer enthusiasts. There is a particularly cruel discrepancy between what a creative child imagines the trade of a programmer to be like and what it actually is. When you are a teenager, alone with a (programmable) computer, the universe is alive with infinite possibilities. You are a god. Master of all you survey. Then you go to school, major in "Computer Science," graduate – and off to the salt mines with you, where you will stitch silk purses out of sow's ears in some braindead language, building on the braindead systems created by your predecessors, for the rest of your working life. There will be little room for serious, deep creativity. You will be constrained by the will of your master (whether the proverbial "pointy-haired boss," or lemming-hordes of fickle startup customers) and by the limitations of the many poorly-designed systems you will use once you no longer have an unconstrained choice of task and medium. To my knowledge, no child grows up "playing doctor" and still believes as a teenager (or even as a college student) that an actual medical practice resembles that activity. Likewise, no one has a fully functional toy legal system to play with as a child, and as a result goes into law. On the other hand, "adult" programming, seen from afar, is enough like child-programming to set the computer-enthusiast child up for just this kind of exceptionally cruel bait-and-switch.
Let's say that you were one of the lucky ones – those who found a way to pay their bills via something resembling creative programming. Or, far more likely, you inhabit the salt mines by day, while letting your mind run free in your spare time. Yet in both cases, you are doomed to work with the instruments of the salt mine! Fortunately, in software there is room for some liberating deviancy – since bits are easy to rearrange and copy. But as for hardware, you come home to the very same instrument of torture and mutilation you left behind in the cube farm: the typewriter keyboard. (And, naturally, the "C machine." But the latter is an overworked subject on this blog, and today we speak of other things.)
Virtually every profession has a concept of professional equipment. It tends to be costlier, sturdier, more solid, more rewarding of dedicated training, more difficult to obtain, than equipment intended for amateurs. And yet, among the tools of a modern programmer's trade, we find scarcely anything which fits into this category. Perhaps you are now sitting in front of your lovingly-maintained heirloom IBM "Model M" keyboard, but it is still a typewriter keyboard – and resembles, in many fundamental ways, the cheapest piece of disposable trashware found at your local electronics store.
Conventional wisdom in the technology community holds that the personal computer revolution gave everyone access to professional-grade computing equipment. I hold the opposite view: that the very notion of professional equipment has been forgotten in our field (and to my knowledge, in our field alone.)
If the above is a delusion, I am proud to share this delusion with several persons whose brilliant minds I think of as my guiding lights. Among them was Erik Naggum:
Erik Naggum, comp.lang.lisp. Feb. 16, 1997. (Emphasis mine.)
And so, here we are, deskilled craftsmen, flippers of bits. Some of us fungible today, some tomorrow. Still performing the same old menial tasks by mouse instead of by lever — the so-called Computer Revolution notwithstanding. Still "turning steam engine valves by hand." Still writing the same, dreary boilerplate code, again and again. On QWERTY keyboards…
You have probably heard of Douglas Engelbart: one of the very, very few genuinely great minds of the computing field. He is best known as the inventor of the computer mouse – but in fact, this man created just about all of the conceptual underpinnings of what we now think of as the standard human-computer interface. Arguably, he is single-handedly responsible for the very notion of interactive, visual computing. Engelbart presented his ideas to the public in one long demo session on December 9, 1968. This demo is known today, quite appropriately, as "The Mother of All Demos."
If you watch the Mother of All Demos – which you should – you will notice the piano-like device sitting to the left of the conventional keyboard:
A closer look:
In use:
The above gadget is known as a chorded keyboard, or chorder. In Engelbart's computing environment, it supplemented, rather than replaced, the traditional typewriter keyboard. Most of Engelbart's contemporaries saw the chorder as a somewhat naive engineering mistake. Among them was Alan Kay:
Thierry Bardini, Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, Coevolution, and the Origins of Personal Computing. (p. 215.) (Emphasis mine.)
As far as I can tell, this is still the mainstream view today:
Richard Monson-Haefel, "Engelbart's Usability Dilemma: Efficiency vs Ease-of-Use."
And yet, there were those who believed that there is something to be gained by breaking with the typewriter tradition. Why should the mechanical constraints of nineteenth-century clockwork limit today's user interfaces? Among the few brave souls who "put their money where their mouth is" was Cy Endfield – American (later, British) screenwriter, film director, theatre director, author, magician and inventor. Endfield, a true polymath, created the Microwriter – a pocket word processor equipped with six keys, intended to be operated with one hand:
At first glance, this device resembles the familiar stenotype. However, the latter was never meant to be a general-purpose text entry system. Stenotypes use syllable-based encodings, narrowly specialized for transcribing human speech. Endfield's Microwriter was something rather different: a genuinely-original, alphabet-based, general-purpose text entry system.
The Microwriter's use of one – rather than both – hands seems like a shortcoming, until you realize that the device was designed for maximal portability – at the very dawn of the age of personal computing! It was really intended to replace a traditional paper clipboard, rather than a typewriter:
Endfield's chording system was of a very elegant design, which balanced ergonomics with mnemonic simplicity:
Volume One of the Microwriter User Guide contains a miniature crash-course in the use of Endfield's writing system. This document is perhaps the cleanest and most imaginative piece of technical writing that I have ever come across:
There have been other commercial and academic attempts at chorded keyboards, but this one happens to be the earliest (that I am aware of) which reached actual production and was placed on the market (however briefly.) It is also the only one which I have had the good fortune to actually hold in my hands:
This rather unimpressive "hello world" was achieved after around fifteen minutes of practice. The speed is a fraction of my QWERTY typing speed, but is a near-match for my handwriting on a good day. What would it have been like if I had been put in front of an Endfield keyboard as a small child, instead of a typewriter monstrosity?
And what if you could expect to find (or carry) a decent, non-wrist-destroying chorded typing device everywhere you go, at work sites, schools, etc.? Clearly, that is not the kind of world we live in: century-old technological standards die hard. But why is there so little interest among genuinely-professional computer users in an input device which maximizes speed and slows the destruction of the hands with which you work? And I marvel at the absurdity of the miniature QWERTY keypads found on mobile phones! Surely that is where the supremacy of the chorder would be indisputable.
Fascinating as the chorded keyboard is, its confinement to the ghetto of "crackpot technology" is but a symptom of the underlying disease: the total victory of the technological business model which caters primarily to the unskilled.
Naggum clearly saw the absence of professional computing equipment for what it is: a result of the erosion of the very concept of the craftsman, the skilled, non-fungible professional:
Erik Naggum, comp.lang.lisp. Jul. 15, 1999.
In the mind of today's technological entrepreneur, the ideal user (and employee) is semi-skilled – or unskilled entirely. The ideal user interface for such a person never rewards learning or experience when doing so would come at the cost of immediate accessibility to the neophyte. This design philosophy is a mistake – a catastrophic, civilization-level mistake. There is a place in the world for the violin as well as the kazoo. Modern computer engineering is kazoo-only, and keyboards are only the most banal example of this fact. Far more serious – though less obvious – problems of this kind tie our hands and wastefully burn our "brain cycles."
Professional equipment, whose mastery requires dedication and mental flexibility, may not be appropriate for casual users. But surely it is appropriate – in fact, necessary – for professionals? Just why is this idea confined to crackpots shouting in the wilderness? I hope to learn a definitive answer to this conundrum some day.
Some people said, after reading this: "He thinks that computers ought to be costly and difficult to use." Sorry, idiots. The message here is that a computer system should maximally reward learning. (The way Emacs does.) And that this should certainly be true of a computer one uses for 8-14 hours a day, for decades.
68 Responses to "Engelbart's Violin"
Wow, this is all interesting to me! I just recently noticed that there is software to do this on a touchscreen. Now I'm learning how to, thanks to you and metafilter.
I was the co-patent holder of Microwriting with Cy Endfield (film director – Zulu). 25000 people purchased the Microwriter and the follow on machine the AgendA which was a true pocket organiser, diary, alarm etc and was a fore runner to many of the current machines and was manufactured from 1987 to 1991. It only failed because of the economic downturn of the early 1990's when Sir Mark Weinberg withdrew from the project after investing a lot of money in a new machine which over stretched the finances of the company. The CyKey (the name is a tribute to Cy Endfield) is still available as an add on to a PC or Mac and was developed to fill a gap and was developed by us here in Devon. Basic Microwriting can be mastered in about 20 minutes by most people because of very clever mnemonics which Cy created; based on something we all already know-the shape of the letters!
I have been using the microwriting system since the days of the Microwriter and have worn out my AgendA, so I have written an iPad app, with the support of Chris Rainey. I am about to offer it up to Apple for Beta testing, but the website is live and anyone interested can take a look and send me emails from the site http://siwriter.co.uk
Comments wanted !
Many thanks.
Simon Anthony ( August 2013 )
Traditional chording keyboard text entry is limited to about 2 characters per second at maximum, slower than even a typewriter keyboard. It's just hard to press down all the buttons any faster than that. The Microwriter uses a scant 5 buttons, for a maximum of 5 factorial = 120 combinations. This tiny number of unique inputs limits the 5 button chorder to per-character input. It's incapable of whole-word input such as used in stenography, so it will always be painfully slow to use.
However, human hands have 22 degrees of freedom, giving a theoretical maximum of 44 factorial = 2658271574788448768043625811014615890319638528000000000 two-handed combinations. This enormous potential is at hardly utilized even by stenography, with its two rows of keys, but it's at least enough to type every word stem in the english language. Once you have a sufficient number of inputs (I like the design of http://homepage2.nifty.com/perky/index.htm ) it then becomes a tradeoff between time invested in learning to use the device and time wasted by not knowing more advanced key combinations. One could spend near infinite amounts of time learning and creating more and more key combo to phrase mappings, so how much time should one invest in memorizing key combinations?
The reason most people haven't gotten interested in stenography or chording keyboards is that there is no ready-made path to just start using one. The common perception is that there's no money to be made by selling weird keyboards for productivity. You have to build your own out of a pile of switches and wiring. This is really a pathetic situation considering how simple the technology is and how easy it would be for an entrepreneur to get started.
If you're interested in using chording keyboards today, development of an open-source stenography platform has begun over at http://ploversteno.org
Do you think something like Ponoko would help? I think they only produce unassembled kits, but that seems less intimidating than having to produce a device from scratch.
No, five buttons does not give you five factorial combinations. Each button can be either up (unpressed) or down (pressed); so one button gives you two possible states (two to the first), two buttons gives you two times two is four possible states (two to the second) (while the first button is up, the second button can be either up or down, and the same when the first button is down), three buttons gives you two times two times two is eight possible states (two to the third), and so on. Five buttons would give you two to the fifth or 32 possible states–which is just about enough to fit the entire English alphabet and some interesting punctuation, by the way.
(I'm slightly embarrassed that I had to actually work it out.)
I'm not sure where you get 22 degrees of freedom for the human hand, but even with that number, if one degree of freedom is state-A-or-state-B, using both hands gets you a number 'only' fourteen digits long (as opposed to that unreadable easily-twenty-digit-and-probably-lots-more monstrosity you posted), 'only' two to the 44th which is some 17 (US) trillion.
Of course, with both of those, you have to reserve one state (potentially two for two-handed input?) as 'neutral', ie not doing anything. This is more onerous with the smaller numbers, but it's also completely unavoidable.
(TL;DR: your math is embarrassingly wrong, it's two to the N, not N factorial.)
Interestingly, the Microwriter actually pictured above appears to have six buttons (which gives two to the sixth = 64 possible states), but the documentation shown seems to only picture five. Not sure what's going on there. Maybe the sixth button is used as some sort of "mode locking" button, to get two groups of 32 possible states each used for something different.
Interesting. Thanks.
So true
Reminds me of Steve Roberts who devised a system (in the late 80s) to type out articles in binary while cycling.
Thanks for derailing me to try to come up with some other novel input devices and going on long bike tours…
Interesting comments – much to agree with, but also others that I would question. Yes, Engelbart was unquestionably extremely important in his contributions to interaction, and I very much like that you point out that "easy to use" was decidedly not his objective. However, your statement, "Arguably, he is single-handedly responsible for the very notion of interactive, visual computing" is somewhat disrespectful of the arguably even greater contribution of the (earlier) work from Lincoln Lab (http://www.billbuxton.com/Lincoln.html). The accomplishments of one does not diminish the other. So, while I really like your pointing out the importance of appreciating our history, it is even more interesting when we begin to appreciate its full richness.
You write, "Modern computer engineering is kazoo-only, and keyboards are only the most banal example of this fact." I find this puzzling, since the keyboard is one of the things that still does require a high level of skill to operate. And if your case is that it requires two hands, the little acknowledged fact is that so did Engelbart's. His physical keyboard had 7, not 5, buttons: 2 on the mouse, operated by his right hand, and 5 on the chord keyboard, operated by his left. The encoding that he used was essentially 7-bit ASCII.
Your contrasting Engelbart's chord keyboard with the Microwriter is useful in that it highlights the fact that all chord keyboards are not created equal. The coding on the Microwriter was much easier to learn and use. But then, from one possible reading of your essay, to be consistent, you might hold that against it. (I know you are not, I am just trying to make a point regarding the questino of ease of use: it does not have to imply going the path of the kazoo rather than violin. The violin is not made more diificult to learn than is neccesary to serve the full potential of its purpose. That helps us zero in on the real issue: the question has more to do with the the purpose is, and how the tool can best help the human in realizing their full potential to achieve it. And, the less that operation of the tool takes away resources from focusing on that purpose, the better.)
As for one of the comments that says that the best that one can do with a chord keyboard is two characters a second, may I suggest that you count how many notes Dizzy Gillespie could play in a second on his 3-button chord keyboard, a.k.a. his trumpet. In fact, the fastest text entry on a keyboard of any type has been accomplished using a chord keyboard.
Finally, if you want the details of how Englebart's chording worked, or to learn about other chord keyboards – including the first "typewriter in your pocket" (made by a guy named Livermore in 1857!!!), see http://www.billbuxton.com/input06.ChordKeyboards.pdf
If you want to see more images of the Microwriter, including the CyKey and Agenda, as well as documenation etc., or any of the many other chord keyboards that I have in my collection, see: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/bibuxton/buxtoncollection/
My closing comment is my oft repeated mantra: everything is best for something and worst for something else. We only begin to understand a technology or technique when we know both sides equally well, and the grey areas in between.
Thanks for initiating the concersation, and providing the opportunity to comment.
I find this puzzling, since the keyboard is one of the things that still does require a high level of skill to operate.
I question this assertion.
We've all watched children pick up and use a keyboard and mouse: click, type, click again. This does not appear to require a high level of skill.
Well yes Brian, if you put it like that maybe so.
I'll be off to hire a load of children to replace all of my programmers as there is clearly no difference in speed, familiraity of how to do stuff with it or anything at all between the two.
After that I've decided to stop thinking about piano lessons as I earlier saw a child clicking away on one and this action did not seem to require a high level of skill.
Very interesting ideas, as usual, and hits the nail on the head!
The only problem I see is that I'm left-handed. Also, I wonder how things like the Meta key would be replaced or represented by this
The "chorded keyboard and mouse" combination is actually incredibly prevalent in computing today. Not that a different keyboard is actually used (though sometimes enthusiasts will obtain modified versions of the standard keyboard, but the basic template is the same). Rather, the software applications treats a standard keyboard as a chorded keyboard.
What software applications? Video Games. Particularly First-Person Shooter (FPS) and Real Time Strategy (RTS) games, which require very fast and precise movements. The WASD+Mouse combo for FPS games has proven to be highly effective, and it is "chorded" in the sense that one can use the different movement keys (W,A,S,D) in combination to effect 360 degree movement, and they can also be used orthogonally with other action keys (reloading, firing, opening doors, etc.). RTSs function similarly (even if the gameplay experience is radically different).
The performance boost that this mode of interaction offers makes a big difference in gaming, because the flow of play could change in microseconds. Because development operates on larger time scales, those microseconds aren't noticed (even if, over time, they actually do make a significant difference) Programmers in the main will only care about having an efficient UX setup once we have development environments which have the speed and interactivity of video games.
[...] dazu in diesem Artikel bei loper-os.org / via Presurfer Kommentare [...]
If there's not already some way to use ccv to do this, the programming of such a thing would be beyond my capability but I'd love to test it out. I have a bunch of webcams just laying around, anyway.
From the 'Missing the Point' department …
Perhaps you are now sitting in front of your lovingly-maintained heirloom IBM "Model M" keyboard
You can get _new_ Model M keyboards – Unicomp licenses the design from IBM.
It is tempting to find a chorded keyboard to supplement my existing setup.
Unicomps are IBM keyboards. Unicomp bought the actual tooling and machinery from IBM. They aren't just making licensed clones.
A late reply, but this should be cleared up.
I have a Unicomp keyboard, bought at some great expense.
This has a buckilng spring inside each key, but underneath it all is an evil membrane. Unless the Model M also uses a membrane, they are not the same. The Unicomp feels like a Model M, except its body creaks. However, the issue for me is that three of the keys are suffering from keybounce for some inexplicable reason, and because they are not discreet keyswitches, I cannot swap them out. And this keyboard is not even two years old, and has only had very light use.
Obviously, I recommend not buying one.
Back on topic. I have a MW4 sitting in my loft, along with a TV adapter and all documentation. Thanks to this interesting article, I am now planning to pull it out of storage and have another go at chorded typing.
[...] Loper OS » Engelbart's Violin [...]
Interesting and slightly related – an application for a similar device for tablets:
Very interesting article. The piece about the comparison of a child's view of programming verses what it is in reality I can relate to somewhat. I eventually went to work in the salt mines then later in life traded that for creating my own salt mine and now spend most of my time working in that instead.
However I find my biggest disillusionment from my younger self is the gradual erosion of available time the older I get.
Before you even factor in the tools used to make what ever it is you're making I find the above to be the biggest obstacle. Sadly life seems to creep up on you (well it's not all sad, much of it is good but anyhow).
[...] Engelbart's Violin Очень интересная статья о том, почему и куда исчезают профессиональные "железки", а замещают их понятные массовому пользователю продукты. Они требуют долговременного обучения, зато позволяют здорово повысить эффективность работы. [...]
I've always been fascinated by chording keypads, but never eccentric enough to buy one. I was particularly interested at the dawn of portable computing: I owned an HP95LX/HP100LX. It was a very well designed pocket computer from the 90s, which ran DOS-5, and had very low power consumption (it would last two weeks on AA batteries, with very heavy use).. It had a very good symbolic algebra system in Derive. I used to use that to calculate trace formulas and such. I even ran emacs on it and built some C and Fortran doodads I'd use on a big computer later. The big drawback was the keyboard (which, in hindsight, was/is embarassingly superior to something like the Ipad interface). I figured a chording keypad would work very well with a gizmo like this. Cell phone type devices would also benefit from chording input for power users, though there is no way you could convince a consumer numskull to use one.
Re: some of the comments: I bet if some Korean starts winning Starcraft championships using a chording keypad, they might get some traction with the idea.
Also, I bought myself a Das Keyboard a few years ago, for the home gizmo. Not perfect, but a lot better than the unholy horror of using a mac chiclet keyboard.
I hadn't realized Engelbart had advocated/invented this as well. I guess I am not surprised.
Spectacular essay. It makes me feen for a simple chorded device to hold in one's hand and casually take notes during meetings. I'd be happy with a USB pen drive with a button allowing Morse Code note-taking.
Also, thank you for the pointer to Bardini's book. It was a joy.
I found myself respectfully disagreeing with many of your ideas. The joy I feel writing code today, solving problems and building things (ideas) is identical to what I felt as a fourth grader sitting in front of a BASIC terminal. I suspect you are taking your own childhood feelings toward programming and projecting them into everyone else. As for your ideas about professional grade keyboards, I'm not quite sure what a gold-plated, ebony keyboard would do to help you write better code; a Stradivarius and a Yamaha are both cellos, but the analogy of professional grade physical things breaks down for software engineers, whose domain is thought-space. My work machine has far more cores and RAM than a typical computer user's.
[...] Engelbart's Violin — A beautiful post about keyboards and chording and enhancing the human potential. [...]
I don't think that 'user-friendliness' is a useful concept when discussing UI design. It's a conflation of two separate concerns: discoverability and usability. One can lead into the other, but frequently they don't (e.g. in almost all modern GUIs).
I gave a brief presentation on the idea to RoRo a while back (notes on GitHub).
Do you want an Engelbart keyboard? The electronics and basic core of the software are there, using keymodules rather than paddles. I'm still working on a paddle version. I'll sell you one for $100. It requires a PS/2 mouse, but will work fine with a USB->PS/2 adapter. Works with wheel mouse.
[...] everyone that Engelbart invented the computer mouse, but they are largely silent on the matter of his having personally created almost every one of the concepts we think of as part of a standard hum…, including the very idea of an interactive graphical workstation. This is because a silent army of [...]
[...] Engelbart's Violin Очень интересная статья о том, почему и куда исчезают профессиональные "железки", а замещают их понятные массовому пользователю продукты. Они требуют долговременного обучения, зато позволяют здорово повысить эффективность работы. [...]
[...] of the need for computing systems to be easy-to-use was not irrational. As Stanislav Datskovskiy argues, Engelbart's primary concern was that the computing system should reward learning. And Engelbart [...]
I arrived here via a succession of links that started from an essay by Mike Hoye concerning the True History of zero-indexing. To all involved along the way, to you, Stanislav, and the commenters, my thanks for presenting new things and providing much food for thinking (to the extent I might wrap my head around it.)
While I quite take the point about the Violin, at this stage in my life it's not for me, other than a Big Thing to remember when considering the world around me.
Your comments on keyboards struck a nerve; mostly I use whatever I can scrounge, that comes with other kit, or that I can afford – my cheapo Logitech wireless set. To think, I learned touch typing in high school in '65 – the only class available apart from physics and English my senior year. While I can't remember the manufacturer, it had all the normal adjustments and each key could be tuned to the typist. If one had a weaker finger, the force necessary to depress the relevant keys could be lightened by, among other things, changing the attachment points of some of the springs and pivot points. To this day I find the whole contrivance remarkable.
Don't even get me started on the whole GUI/UX stuff. Too many of those doing it are up-screwing it wholesale – all the research into perception, action, the whole human factors corpus, tends to be ignored or abused in exchange for shiny. In some ways the usability and metaphor have been declining since GEM.
Thanks again for the fine dining.
Pretty good essay! You missed my point about Engelbart's chord keyboard (I loved it). I was pointing out that most people are not willing to invest even what it takes to learn to ride a bicycle today on anything new — nor are marketeers. The basic idea is that — as with musical instruments — there needs to be a transition from just love of music and doing it (e.g. by singing and dancing) to a little more work to synergize with the physical amplifiers that can allow us to do much more.
And, many of your other commenters were quite right that personal computing did not start with Engelbart. Personal computing came from an entire research community of which Engelbart and his group was an important part. If one were to search for the first example that is undeniably like modern personal computing, one would have to pick Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad system done at Lincoln Labs in 1962.
I don't understand what you mean by the lack of professional computer programming equipment, we have different tools to other professions but there is definitely a big gap between commercial tools and personal: Eg. Visual Studio Professional; Massive blade machines run with a Linux server. Not to mention your point about the tedious work, your obviously not smart enough to position yourself into a position of creativity. There's plenty of companies out there that look for the industry leaders to work on very creative works?
But the difficulty of learning a different style of keyboard is only secondary: the main issue is that, for programmers, a one-hand keyboard is the solution to the wrong problem, or at least to a problem of secondary importance. All else being equal a one-handed keyboard is always likely to be a lot slower for typing than a two-handed one. So the combination of one-hand keyboard and mouse allows you to type slowly and point quickly and accurately: the advantage is that it lets you do both simultaneously or near-simultaneously, with no switching time caused by having to reach a hand from keyboard to mouse. Still, it's the wrong way around for tasks like programming which are usually typing-heavy: most of the time programmers would be much better served by having the ability to near-simultaneously type quickly and point slowly. Fortunately, the hardware to do this is already in fairly wide use: keyboards with pointing sticks, and/or trackpads under the spacebar which can be thumbed without taking your hand off the keyboard.
Ideally you'd want to be able to switch between both typing slow+pointing fast and typing fast+pointing slow modes. In fact it would be fairly easy to make that possible even without a separate one-hand keyboard: https://plus.google.com/105224327306964621564/posts/51JkbiocpnU . If you do want to or have to use a one-hand keyboard, many of the commercially-available "gameboards" are perfectly able to act as such, often including full NKRO to allow chording.
This post really struck a chord with me (pun not intended) since I have been thinking about ways to improve my current development workflow. What do you think about using dual five-button mice? You would use one mouse (Mouse A) for movement and clicking, and you would use the other mouse (Mouse B) as a chorded keyboard. I used to have a Microsoft mouse with two main buttons, a scroll wheel (which can function as another button), and a button on each side. You could input regular text commands with Mouse B and control commands with Mouse A. Does anyone have any reccomendations for wireless five-button mice?
Interesting read! I studied type interfaces in my one of my HCI classes and made this as a class homework.
Interesting read. My first typing was done on a chorded two handed typewriter, a braille machine. However, since the time I start using computers I used a normal typewriter keyboard. Braille is usually one stroke per character, not counting in abbreviated codes for multiple character sequences that are language specific (e.g. English grade 2 braille). Despite the lack of finger movement on a braille keyboard, I've always been faster on a normal typewriter keyboard.
That being said, I'm way faster entering braille on a touch screen keyboard compared to a qwerty on screen keyboard. However, I hate any form of non-physical keyboards with a passion.
It seems to me that character-by-character typing on a chorded keyboard would actually be slower than typing on the qwerty board I'm using. Besides the figures presented in Leo's post I would also like to observe that for example playing a sequence of chords on a piano is significantly slower than playing a succession of individual notes as in a scale.
I think the major speed-limiting factor of a five-finger chorded keyboard is the requirement that up to five keys (usually, I suppose, around two or three) be pressed and then released before the next character can be chorded, whereas on a keyboard a finger can be moving to type the next character before the finger that typed the previous is ready to go again. (Try typing j repeatedly, then trilling i and j. Rough measurements for me seem to indicate I am pretty much exactly twice as fast doing the latter.)
Some keyed input with reduced synchronization requirements should be faster. I think for example splitting a keyboard into two components on which the hands type separately (every keystroke pair being interpreted together as another input) would present less of a slowdown while effectively doubling bandwidth and also being relatively easy to commit to muscle memory.
With the hindsight of 2016, I'd say the keyboard turned out to have been a violin all along; its presence is now largely limited to professionals and interested amateurs, while the rest of the world appears to have eagerly moved on to tooting the vuvuzela of emoticons…
In case anyone is interested, I've made a free and open source project, written in Common Lisp, and extends Engelbart's one handed keyboard. It has a different alphabet, but allows for both one and two handed typing and allows for powerful mnemonic shortcuts. Currently runs on Linux.
I was looking for a place to buy a chorded keyboard like the original Engelbart design, but couldn't find one! So I rolled my own. It's currently prototype stage, but very usable and powerful. You can make your own or buy one from the website. More designs coming soon.
Let me know what you think, I'd love to get some feedback!
If anyone is still interested, I have recently updated my SiWriter code to run on the larger iPhones as well as the current ios . A recent upgrade broke my code, but the soon to be released revision > 3.2.0 on the Appstore will fix the 'missing keypad' issue. This new release is awaiting review as I type. I would be pleased to hear thoughts and comments on this app. Yes, it still doe not have any haptic feedback, but a small iPhone screen does reduce the chance of your fingers wandering off the pads – which can be widened ! The app caters for left handed users as well, and has speech output – handy if you have a speech impairment.


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Daylight Easy-Twist Floor Lamp
Natural light isn't only easier on the eyes —it uplifts the spirit and energizes the body, so that working is easier. These fine daylight-simulation lights are easy on the environment too, using 80% less electricity than a normal household bulb, and lasting up to 10 times longer. The 18W low heat daylight bulb allows perfect color matching while reducing eye strain. The light and a removable magnifying lens are individually mounted on long flexible arms, enabling you to find the perfect working position for any task. The solid, sturdy base is on four wheels and rolls effortlessly from room to room. 120V. 60 Hz. UL listed.
Electrical Warning - All electrical products have U.S. standard plugs and voltage. Due to damage that can occur when using incompatible plugs, sockets, or converters, Blick does not ship electrical items or accessories outside of North America or to freight forwarders.


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Welcome to the BJMC website. In this digital era, we are looking forward to serve you better through this web portal.Since 1972, BJMC has been playing a vital role in the financial advancement of the country by producing jute goods and exporting these around the world and at the same time contributing the cause of maintaining ecological balance.The demand is increasing as we are manufacturing our goods from natural fibre, which is absolutely eco-friendly and free from health hazards. This website provides you useful information on how BJMC manufactures quality products to serve your demand at reasonable price.
Use natural fiber, save the environment.
চেয়ারম্যান মহোদয়ের বানী
Welcome to the BJMC website. In this digital era, we are looking forwa...


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Collin Klein's dream of playing quarterback in the NFL is alive.
Klein -- the former Kansas State star signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent -- will play quarterback with the team, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.
The designation means the Texans currently have five quarterbacks on their roster: Matt Schaub, T.J. Yates, Case Keenum, Stephen McGee and now Klein. McClain doesn't believe the Texans will take that many QBs to training camp.
Klein is a quarterback in the Tim Tebow mold, a successful rushing quarterback whose awkward throwing motion wouldn't seem to translate to the next level. Despite that, Klein -- a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2012 -- has been adamant in his desire to play quarterback, turning down an invitation to work with tight ends at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"In my heart, I know I can do it," Klein told The Kansas City Star earlier this month. "That's the position I love to play. Until that door closes, I'm going to walk through it. I have the work ethic and all the physical tools to do it. I was very fortunate to have good coaches at K-State. I feel very well equipped."
He might have skeptics, but Klein at least gets an opportunity.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.


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rkdesto necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 89 diseños de 18 diseñadores freelance.
Authentic Living Interiors
I've been an interior designer for over 20 years and have recently changed my name and business concept. I plan to begin conducting workshops, speaking, as well as interior design consultations. I love remodeling projects for kitchens and baths, color selections, and anything fabric related. A lot of my design meetings and searches are done on the internet. My personality is fun when I get to know you. I like to step out of the box (ie I want to know the rules so I can break one or two). I want my business to be welcoming, accepting, and bring peace of mind to my clients.
My husband lives in Singapore, so I travel there frequently. Consequently, I like things clean and simple and slighty Asian with a zen flair. But not too much.
My target is women 45-60, usually professional, but not always. Combined income level is about $200-350K. Home price is $500K-1.5M They shop at Whole Foods and Fresh Market. Play golf and tennis regularly. Are wine connoisseurs and collectors. Love to cook and entertain. Spending time with family and friends is important to them.
They have children in high school, college, or are total empty nesters. In typical Baby Boomer mentality they want to move to a new home or stay in the one they have and remodel it. My business concept is to help them create a home that reflects their lifestyle, not someone else's. I believe when your home influences your life, then your life will influence your home.
I need a logo for the business which will then lead to business cards and website header. http://www.authenticlivinginteriors.com is my site which still has my old logo on it. In my newest logo I like the house that I have and I like it in red. I'm not wild about the colors. And what I really don't like about it is the way the right side is so perfectly lined up. It makes me want to burst out of the box.
1. I don't like anything wild or edgy. So nothing with a lot of harsh lines to it.
2. I'll attach my logo and also other attempts at correcting this.
3. I want Authentic Living to feel connected with Interiors to be minimized, but not too small
4. I want something that reads "high end luxury design" but approachable
5. I'm not keen on the font I have now. If you choose to use lower case, I'd rather have one with a closed "a" or use a capital "A" - something different and maybe flowing?
6. I love the blue in my web header. I love a red with a little yellow in it. I wouldn't be opposed to taupe or charcoal lettering, and can use up to 3 colors.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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President John F. Kennedy was in office less than three years before his tenure came to an abrupt and bloody end. He didn't live to see the impact of his presidency, or to fulfill all he set out to accomplish when he entered the White House in 1961.
Kennedy came into office in 1961 at age 43, the youngest president ever to take office and the first Catholic president. Succeeding Dwight Eisenhower, the oldest president elected since James Buchanan in 1857, Kennedy brought a dose of youthfulness and energy to the job.
He entered office at a dynamic time, both at home and abroad. He was the first peacetime president in more than two decades, but Kennedy inherited Cold War tensions, a sluggish economy and simmering social unrest.
In his inaugural address, Kennedy acknowledged the profound challenges that lay ahead. "The world is very different now," he said. "For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life."
In the speech, he expressed hope for peace, but also welcomed his generation's role of "defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger." It was a responsibility that Kennedy took to heart and one that quickly led him into perhaps the biggest blunder of his presidency.
Just four months into his first term, Kennedy signed off on a plan to oust Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The U.S. provided training and supplies to Cuban exiles who were supposed to swiftly invade Cuba through the Bay of Pigs and topple its communist leader. Instead, the rebels found themselves outgunned and lacking critical intelligence. Their surrender was an embarrassment to Kennedy and a blemish on his early record in office.
But the president rebounded quickly. The following month he delivered an unexpected State of the Union address, recalibrating in the wake of his failure.
In the speech, which he said was warranted by the "extraordinary challenge" of upholding freedom, Kennedy laid out a vision of using aid and other peaceful measures to stanch the spread of communism.
"No amount of arms and armies can help stabilize those governments which are unable or unwilling to achieve social and economic reform and development," he said.
Kennedy also unveiled in the famous speech one of the most ambitious plans of his presidency: to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. He framed the project as a response to Soviet space achievements (they had sent the first man to space the previous month) and a way to sway "the minds of men everywhere, who are attempting to make a determination of which road they should take."
The speech was not a turning point, but his success, months later, in steering the U.S. from the brink of nuclear war, certainly was. in October 1962 Kennedy managed to strike a deal with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that prevented the installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the United States. The Soviets nixed their plan in exchange for the United State's removal of missiles from Turkey. Kennedy's ability to appear cool and level-headed amid such a high-stakes crisis bolstered his image on the international stage.
Meanwhile, Kennedy was also navigating the growing conflict in Laos and Vietnam, which were steadily falling into the sphere of communist influence. He aimed for a measured approach, boosting U.S. aid and military presence in the region, without entering U.S. forces into combat.
"They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them … but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam against the Communists," he said, adding that he also did not believe the U.S. should withdraw. "We also have to participate—we may not like it—in the defense of Asia."
On the domestic front, Kennedy found himself the target of criticism from both civil rights proponents and segregationists who were engaged in a fiery fight over the future of America. Though he ran on a pro-civil rights platform, once elected, he was reluctant to push too hard or too early for legislation that would dismantle the country's system of racial inequality.
Civil rights leaders were particularly critical of Kennedy's appointment of southern conservatives to federal judgeships and his failure to introduce a civil rights bill early in his presidency.
But Kennedy did use his powers to intervene in several high-profile instances, most notably the integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962. Kennedy ordered federal marshals to escort a black student, James Meredith, into the school amid massive protests that later turned violent. Months earlier, he had ratcheted up his rhetoric, framing civil rights as a "moral issue … as old as the Scriptures and … as clear as the American Constitution."
He finally submitted a civil rights bill toward the end of 1963 but died before its passage.
He did live long enough, however, to see other significant goals accomplished. During his tenure, the U.S., U.K. and Soviet Union agreed to limit nuclear testing after Kennedy and Khrushchev entered into negotiations in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Though he died before Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew landed on the moon, making his vision a reality, Kennedy did live to see John Glenn orbit the earth. He was also able to watch the rapid development of the Peace Corp., which he established by executive order in 1961. In its first years, hundreds of Americans traveled to developing countries, bringing with them Kennedy's vision of peace, friendship and service—a vision he consistently hammered in his major addresses.
In his final speech, which he never had the chance to deliver, Kennedy was to tout America's strength, but emphasize that strength should only be used in the pursuit of peace.
"We ask ... that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility," Kennedy was set to say at Trade Mart in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, according to the prepared text. "… and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of 'peace on earth, good will toward men.'"


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