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With seeds for next week's Mountain Valley Conference tournament already settled and neither team willing to give an inch, not even 100 minutes of play could determine a winner.
STROUDSBURG — With seeds for next week's Mountain Valley Conference tournament already settled and neither team willing to give an inch, not even 100 minutes of play could determine a winner.
Kaitlyn Smith and Bria Bittiger each scored first-half goals, and both Pleasant Valley and Stroudsburg got good performances from their goalies and defenses as the two teams played to a 1-1 tie in MVC girls soccer at Ross-Stulgaitis Stadium on Thursday.
The Mounties (15-2-1, 10-1-1 MVC), who will be the top seed in next week's MVC tournament and play Pocono Mountain West when they host the semifinals Tuesday, got their best stretch of play in the first 10-minute overtime period when it took four of its 11 shots.
"We came out a little flat in the start of the game," Stroudsburg coach Cindy Svensson said. "As the game went on, we picked it up and I told them it was going to come down to who wants it more and both teams really wanted it."
Even with the top seed already locked up, the Mounties came in focused to try and knock off PV for a second time this season.
"You never go into a game not wanting to win," Svensson said. "We still wanted it, but it's OK. We'll take the tie and we might see them again."
The Bears (12-5-1, 9-2-1), who played without leading scorer Dianna Connor, who sat out with an eye injury but will play next week, controlled the first 35 minutes of play.
PV had its best chances in the opening half, repeatedly gaining possession and keeping the ball in Stroudsburg's end of the field. It finally paid off when Smith corralled a loose ball and scored inside the right post with 13:21 left in the opening half.
Stroudsburg picked up its game over the final 10 minutes of the half and tied the game when Bittiger scored her 29th goal of the season when she snuck a shot over the outstretched hand of Hailey Parks and just under the crossbar from 20 yards out 67 seconds before halftime.
The second half didn't see many scoring chances, but play picked up in the first overtime.
The Mounties had the best chance when Bittiger dribbled down the far sideline and tried to find Jess Hagy in front only to have Janelle Pastrana slide out and control the ball. Pastrana, who played the second half and both overtime periods, made five saves, while Parks also finished with five stops.
"I'll think it over over the weekend," Pleasant Valley coach Tim Hinton said when asked who is starting goalie would be next week. "Janelle made a nice save there on Bria when she put the ball in the box and she's played real well down the stretch."
Dani Bettini and Emily Taylor also got the job done for the Mounties, combining to make nine saves to ensure the tie for Stroudsburg. Bettini, who played the first half and both overtime periods, made two nice saves in the second overtime.
While a victory would have been better, Hinton was able to appreciate the effort of his players with his team down one of the conferences best players.
"I'll take a tie over a loss any day," Hinton said. "Both teams had chances to win and both teams played hard for the full 100 minutes. We knew coming in that they were one of the top teams in the district so we hung there right with them. It's a good step going into next week."
Stroudsburg 1, Pleasant Valley 1
Pleasant Valley 1-0-0-0 — 1
Stroudsburg 1-0-0-0 — 1
Goals — PV, Kaitlyn Smith; S, Bria Bittiger. Saves — PV, Hailey Parks 5, Janelle Pastrana 5. Shots — PV 16; S 11. Corners — PV 5; S 2.
Records — Pleasant Valley 12-5-1, 9-2-1 MVC; Stroudsburg 15-2-1, 10-1-1.


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This activity guides students through sampling, identification and counting of macroinvertebrates sampled in a GLOBE hydrology study site, and understand how the taxa composition found in the sample can be an indicator of water quality and ecosystem... (View More) health. The resource includes 8 field and laboratory protocols. This resource is a protocol within the Hydrology chapter of the GLOBE Teacher's Guide. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Over $20
Learners will consider the essential question, "How much energy does sunlight provide to the Earth and what is its role in the Earth's energy resources?" Activities include building a device to measure the solar constant - the amount of energy in... (View More) sunlight - calculating the amount of energy arriving at the Earth from the Sun, and describing the differences in solar radiation at Mercury compared to Earth. This is activity 1 of 4 in the module, Staying Cool. Note: the student guide starts on p. 21 of the PDF. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $1 - $5 per group of students
Students create a physical model illustrating soil water balance using drinking glasses to represent the soil column, and explain how the model can be used to interpret data and form predictions. Using data from the GLOBE Data Server, they calculate... (View More) the potential evapotranspiration, average monthly temperatures and precipitation for their model. This is a learning activity associated with the GLOBE hydrology investigations and is supported by the Hydrology chapter of the GLOBE Teacher's Guide. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $1 - $5 per group of students
This is a lesson about impact craters; the relationships between crater size, projectile size and projectile velocity; and the transfer of energy in the cratering process. Learners will create plaster of Paris or layered dry impact craters and... (View More) conduct controlled experiments using mass and velocity as the independent variables. Energy calculations for advanced classes, and vocabulary words are included. This is lesson 6 of 19 in Exploring Meteorite Mysteries. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $1 - $5 per group of students

subset: commoncrawl


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Boba Store Coupon & Promo Codes
Most popular now: Free Shipping on All Orders.
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Shop Boba for all the greatest deals on child safety accessories and garments. You'll find a wide collection of innovative products to choose from, and while promo codes and coupons aren't immediately available, you'll still enjoy the environment of the website, which caters to the needs of new parents. Gift cards are also available so that you can give the gift of Boba to a friend.


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Finance & Development, December, 1998
- The Implications of EMU for IMF Surveillance
- Policy Challenges for the Euro Area
- The Euro Area and the World Economy
- Ensuring Financial Stability in the Euro Area
- Capital Account Liberalization and the IMF
- Sequencing Capital Account Liberalization
- Capital Account Liberalization in the Southern Mediterranean
- Financial Crises in Emerging Markets
- Are Banking Crises Predictable?
- Monetary Policy in Russia
- Are Currency Boards a Cure for All Monetary Problems
- Guest Article: From Grandmotherliness to Governance: The Evolution of IMF Conditionality
- Books
- Books in brief
Monetary Policy in Russia
- International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
- Published Date:
- January 1998
Show Summary Details
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"Kindles and free Kindle apps via USB only"?
Why do some Kindle books I check out from OverDrive say "Kindles and free Kindle apps via USB only"?
This happens on all Kindle books purchased from Penguin Group publishers. Penguin Group does not allow their Kindle books to be delivered via a wireless connection from one device to another. You must first download the Kindle book to your computer and then you can transfer to a device using a USB cable.
NOTE: Interestingly, if you download the book to the Kindle app on your computer, you can then transfer the eBook via wireless connection to any Wi-Fi capable device registered to your Amazon account. You can also download the book directly onto a mobile device if you have the Kindle app. After you have checked out your book and selected Get for Kindle, choose Transfer via Computer and the book will be downloaded to your Kindle app on your device.
*This information was found on the Grand County Library District website.


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Custom paging in ASP.NET with ListView & DataPagerPosted on July 23rd, 2009 7 comments
1. Introduction
In this article, we'll see how to implement custom paging in an ASP.NET website. You most probably have already worked with some controls having native paging implemented (such as the GridView and FormView for example) but they're not applicable in every case. First, custom paging will allow you to page everything you want the way you want, but also, if correctly implemented, it's gonna be a lot lighter than using a heavyweight control with all its richness only to beneficiate from its native paging.
So, to illustrate how to implement this, we're gonna use the ListView, which enables you to define a template (much like the Repeater) for your display and the DataPager control to configure custom paging on it. And for those who read my article about implementing the Bing API (part 1 & part 2), it's the occasion to see how I actually implemented the paging of the search results.
2. The ASP.NET code
<asp:ListView ID="lvwSearchResults" runat="server" ItemPlaceholderID="plhItemContainer" onitemdatabound="lvwSearchResults_ItemDataBound">

<asp:PlaceHolder ID="plhItemContainer" runat="server" />

<asp:HyperLink ID="lnkSearchResultUrl" runat="server"></asp:HyperLink>

<asp:Literal ID="litSearchResultDescription" runat="server" />

<asp:DataPager ID="dpgSearchResultsPager" runat="server" PagedControlID="lvwSearchResults">
<asp:NextPreviousPagerField ShowNextPageButton="False" ButtonCssClass="previousNextLink" />
<asp:NumericPagerField ButtonCount="10" ButtonType="Link" NumericButtonCssClass="numericLink" />
<asp:NextPreviousPagerField ShowPreviousPageButton="False" ButtonCssClass="previousNextLink" />
Let's first have a look at the ASP.NET code. What's noticeable here :
- The 2 controls : ListView and DataPager, which references the ListView (PagedControlID property)
- The LayoutTemplate (stucture) and ItemTemplate (content) regions of the ListView
- A ol is used in the LayoutTemplate because it's the more correct, semantically speaking, for an ordered list of search results. But you could also be using a ul
- The reference to the PlaceHolder by the ListView (ItemPlaceholderID)
- We'll use here the ItemDataBound event, but of course the inline Eval would also work perfectly
- There's a Div surrounding the DataPager for CSS purposes
- The DataPager is very flexible and powerful : you can set the paging to be numeric, to be next/previous/first/last, or a mix of them (the case here : previous / numeric / next, just like Bing or Google), to display it at the top or bottom, or even both. Take a look at the Smart Tag in design view and make your choice…
3. The C# code
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
this.dpgSearchResultsPager.PageSize = PageSize;
In the Page_Load(), initialize the PageSize property of your DataPager. Here is the code from the Bing API context, where we had defined a constant for the page size. But it could also be hardcoded in your ASP.NET code.
private void DisplayResponse(SearchResponse response)
. . .
// Otherwise, perform databinding
this.lvwSearchResults.DataSource = response.Web.Results;
For those who want to use paging in the Bing API context, here's where to put the initialization code. For the others, just put these two lines in the Page_Load().
protected void lvwSearchResults_ItemDataBound(object sender, ListViewItemEventArgs e)
if (e.Item.ItemType == ListViewItemType.DataItem)
HyperLink lnkSearchResultUrl = (HyperLink)e.Item.FindControl("lnkSearchResultUrl");
Literal litSearchResultDescription = (Literal)e.Item.FindControl("litSearchResultDescription");
ListViewDataItem dataItem = (ListViewDataItem)e.Item;
WebResult searchResult = (WebResult)dataItem.DataItem;
if (lnkSearchResultUrl != null && litSearchResultDescription != null && searchResult != null)
string url = searchResult.Url;
string description = searchResult.Description;
if (HighlightText)
description = description.Replace("\uE000", "").Replace("\uE001", "");
description = description.Replace("\uE000", string.Empty).Replace("\uE001", string.Empty);
lnkSearchResultUrl.Text = url;
lnkSearchResultUrl.ToolTip = url;
lnkSearchResultUrl.NavigateUrl = url;
litSearchResultDescription.Text = description;
And finally, the code from the ItemDataBound event. Again, it's from the Bing API context but serves as a good example and is straightforward to adapt.
4. The click-twice problem
I'm dedicating a section to this problem as I noticed from a web search that many developers had the same problem. When you want to change the page (ie, click on a paging button), nothing happens and you've got to click the same button twice to get the expected result. Clicking another button results in an even more strangy behaviour. Here's the solution :
protected void Page_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
// Workaround to prevent clicking twice on the pager to have results displayed properly
5. A touch of CSS to polish that
When all this done, you can have fun styling all of that. I'm just listing here the more fundamentals styles to apply, that is, removing the list numbers and centering the pager
ol, ul
list-style-type : none;
margin-left : 0;
padding-left : 0;
ol li, ul li
margin-left : 0;
padding-left : 0;
text-align : center;
6. The final result
7. Conclusion
Implementing custom paging in ASP.NET is very easy and powerful at the same time. But as all the power resides in the DataPager, I encourage you to take a look at the functionalities it can provide (start by taking a look at the Smart Tag). Hope you enjoyed this and see you soon
Implementing the Bing API in a ASP.NET website (part 2)Posted on July 22nd, 2009 7 comments
In my last post, we saw how to get started with the Bing API. But the MSDN code is lacking (intentionally) from the following things that you might find useful :
- You want to use Bing from a website and not from a console application
- You want to use Bing to search on a particular website and not the whole web
- You might want to handle the different kinds of errors/informations the right way
- Some paging would also be very useful to browse the results
- And maybe simplifying the code, extracting constants to ease their setup
That's what we're gonna see here by taking a look at my implementation. Let's see what the code is all about, then we'll discuss about it. The code will be splitted in several parts, so we can discuss about it step by step.
1. Extracting hardcoded values into constants
public partial class SearchResults : Page
private const string BingApplicationId = "YourAppIDHere";
private const string WebsiteToSearch = "http://www.thibautvs.com";
private const int MaxResultsCount = 50; // Max value : 50 (Bing API v2.0)
private const int PageSize = 10;
private const string SearchLanguage = "en-US";
private const bool HighlightText = true;
private const string BingApiVersion = "2.0";
First, I extracted all the hardcoded values in the code into constants. That's way easier to setup the values. I also added one which enables you to easily activate/deactivate text highlighting of the keywords in the search result and the PageSize constant to take into account the paging functionality. From experience, I noticed that the BingService throws a SoapException when the ResultsCount is too large. By experimentation, I noticed that the value must be max 50. You can take a look at the MSDN to get more info about this restriction.
2. Initializing the search request
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
this.dpgSearchResultsPager.PageSize = PageSize;
In the Page_Load, we initialize the PageSize of our pager (which is a DataPager bound to a ListView in the aspx page) and call the InitializeSearchResults() method.
private void InitializeSearchResults()
using (BingService service = new BingService())
SearchRequest request = BuildRequest();
SearchResponse response = service.Search(request);
catch (System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException ex)
catch (System.Net.WebException ex)
Tthe InitializeSearchResults method makes use of the BingService, which implements the IDisposable interface (thus, used here with the using keyword) in order to :
- Initialize the search request
- Get a search response
- Display the response
- Handle a SOAP exception, if there is one
- Handle a network exception, if there is one
private SearchRequest BuildRequest()
SearchRequest request = new SearchRequest();
// Common request fields (required)
request.AppId = BingApplicationId;
request.Query = Request.QueryString["keyword"] + string.Format(" (site:\"{0}\")", WebsiteToSearch);
request.Sources = new SourceType[] { SourceType.Web };
// Common request fields (optional)
request.Version = BingApiVersion;
request.Market = SearchLanguage;
request.Adult = AdultOption.Moderate;
request.AdultSpecified = true;
request.Options = new SearchOption[] { SearchOption.EnableHighlighting };
// Web-specific request fields (optional)
request.Web = new WebRequest();
request.Web.Count = MaxResultsCount;
request.Web.CountSpecified = true;
request.Web.Offset = 0;
request.Web.OffsetSpecified = true;
request.Web.Options = new WebSearchOption[]
return request;
Again, the code shown by the BuildRequest() method is autodescriptive. Just a precision about the search query : the code here assumes that you're passing a keyword to the page via the querystring and in order to restrict the search to a particular website, your query must have the following form :
keywordToSearchFor (site:http://www.thesitetosearch.com)
3. Displaying the results
private void DisplayResponse(SearchResponse response)
// If no results were found, display message and return
if (response.Web == null || response.Web.Results == null)
this.litInformationZone.Text = "No results found.";
// Otherwise, perform databinding
this.lvwSearchResults.DataSource = response.Web.Results;
As a crash occured when I submitted to Bing a request having no result (response.Web.Results having a NULL value), the first thing I do here is to protect the code from that error and warn the user by a message that her search query has no result. The litInformationZone is just a simple Literal object (and thus why I prefixed this "lit"). If the search has results, we perform the databinding with our ListView.
4. Displaying the errors
As errors may always occur, we have to handle them properly and display them to the user in a more convenient form than a disgracious exception message. Another lesson that Steve Krug teaches us in his Don't make me think book is always apologize for the inconvenience to the user and explain to her briefly the error she's encountered. This is where I started creating my own ErrorPanel UserControl that I used here and can also be reused later, so I suggest you doing the same. This UserControl is reffered in my code as pnlError and has one public property : ErrorMessage.
private void DisplayErrors(XmlNode errorDetails)
// Add the default namespace to the namespace manager.
XmlNamespaceManager nsmgr = new XmlNamespaceManager(errorDetails.OwnerDocument.NameTable);
nsmgr.AddNamespace("api", "http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/03/Search");
XmlNodeList errors = errorDetails.SelectNodes("./api:Errors/api:Error", nsmgr);
if (errors != null)
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (XmlNode error in errors)
foreach (XmlNode detail in error.ChildNodes)
builder.AppendLine(detail.Name + ": " + detail.InnerText);
this.pnlError.ErrorMessage = builder.ToString();
this.pnlError.Visible = true;
5. Enjoying the final result
Time to watch some screens about the final result of all this work :
You can see from this picture the paging feature (that we'll cover more in detail in a future article) and the highlight of the search keywords in the description text. By the way, this is accomplished by replacing the delimiter characters by a span having a specific CSS class. Code to accomplish this is shown below :
if (HighlightText)
description = description.Replace("\uE000", "").Replace("\uE001", "");
description = description.Replace("\uE000", string.Empty).Replace("\uE001", string.Empty);
Of course, your website needs to be indexed by Bing in order to perform searches on it. To check if your website is indexed, type "site:yoursiteurl" into Bing (ex : site:http://thibautvs.com). If it isn't indexed yet, it will propose you to submit the URL so it can index it.
6. Conclusion
And this is it ! As you can see, the Bing API is pretty cool and easy to implement (actually, I took me less than 2 hours to get a first, beta running version). And a lot more services such as searching for images, videos, instant answers, mobile web, ads, phone books, using spell checkers or translations, … are also available (more info on the MSDN). Hope you've enjoyed this article, don't hesitate if you would have any questions about that.
See you
Implementing the Bing API in a ASP.NET website (part 1)Posted on July 21st, 2009 11 comments
Foreword : as the title suggests, the Bing API was implemented here in a ASP.NET website, but as the code dealing with the API is in C#, it should be straightforward to adapt it in some other .NET projects such as Silverlight. Hope you'll enjoy this article !
1. Context
On the ASP.NET website I'm currently working on, I wanted to implement a search functionality as that's the kind of very important criterias for the users on today's websites. Steve Krug actually lists the search engine in the top 5 needed functionalities in his Don't make me think book. I had several possibilities to do this :
- Use the Google API, which is the first solution I've thought about
- Use Yahoo & IBM's OmniFind
- Implement my own search engine
- See what other options are available
2. Choosing the right search engine API
Of course, I wanted a totally free solution. I don't want to have to pay each month or year for the kind of functionality I expect being free. So as I said, I thought about using Google API at first. There's a free version but with advertisements. You've got to pay about 100$ a year if you want them out. Ok we can already eliminate this one. One doesn't really wants ads of his direct concurrents to appear next to the search results on her own website.
I also listed the solution of developing a little search engine by myself. Although I completely agree that this kind of project could be very interesting, I needed a fast solution and why developing something that I knew a way better version would be available for free out there on the web. There was also the OmniFind option, but the installation, deployment and database configuration makes it heavier to use than a simple API. At this moment, I thought about Bing. I tested it at its release and was very impressed by the relevance of the results, especially by the image search. And they've got all what I need for free. Plenty of documentation on the MSDN about the API, in multiple programming languages including C# that I'm using. Perfect ! Let's implement this !
3. Implementing the Bing API
3.1. Choosing the protocol
The Bing API can be used with the 3 following protocols :
So the first step is to decide which one you'll gonna use. In our case, that is, working with the code behind in C#, the use of SOAP was according to me the preferred choice. Indeed, JSON is best used with Javascript and we're working in C#, so we can eliminate this choice. Remains XML and SOAP. XML is nice but you don't want to have your code filled with potentially long XPATH strings when you can work with strongly typed objects and accessing their properties. Also, we beneficiate from the intellisense support for every information we'll want to access. (more info on the MSDN about these protocols). Let's now see how to implement the API using SOAP.
3.2. Obtaining a Bing AppID
In order to gain acccess to Bing through the API, you must first obtain an AppID from the Bing Developer Center.
Just click on the Create an AppID link to get one. You'll have to fill in a little form, with information such as your company name, website and your country.
3.3. Adding the Web Reference under Visual Studio
Then, in Visual Studio, right click on your web project and click on Add Web Reference from the context menu.
Type the following in the textbox : http://api.bing.net/search.wsdl?AppID=YourAppId&Version=2.2 (replace your AppID in this url). Then you should get this :
You can see that the Search method from the API was correctly found. You can still change the Web reference name, which is the one you'll use in your code to reference the Bing service.
3.4. Integration of the API into the code
In the page(s) where you want to use the Bing API, first include the following using statement :
using [YourProjectDefaultNamespace].[TheWebReferenceName];
Ex :
using sampleproject.net.bing.api;
Then you can implement and adapt the code listed on the MSDN to your needs.
4. Implementing the Bing API - Part 2
When you'll have a look at the code from the MSDN, you'll see that some adaptations are necessary.
- First, there is little chance that you want to implement Bing as a console application.
- Second, you want to use it to search on a particular website and not the whole web.
- You may also wish to handle the different types of errors the best way possible.
- And maybe you would like to have some ASP.NET code illustrating the implementation.
This is exactly what's coming next, where we'll have a look at my implementation of the API in a ASP.NET website. So be sure to check out the part 2.
Coming soon…


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When I was in Italy I was in Bugnara (a small village that my mother's parents are from) the whole time (except when I flew in and out of Rome) and I understand a large amount of that dialect but I don't speak it well.... It was safe but again, its a small village
My bucket list in order of most desired:
Godric wrote:
1.) Cerrado Protected Areas - Brazil ~Spoiler:
2.) Summer Solstice @ Stonehenge - United Kingdom ~Spoiler:
3.) Milford Sound - New Zealand ~Spoiler:
4.) Taipei 101 - TaiwanSpoiler:
5.) Borobudur - Indonesia ~Spoiler:Borobudur is actually a giant textbook of Buddhism, as its bas reliefs tell the story of the life of Buddha and the principles of his teachings. To "read," a pilgrim must make his way through nine platforms and walk a distance of over 2 miles.


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- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed
- 3 medium Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, very thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (or 3 tablespoons sugar mixed with scant 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
- 1/4 cup apricot jam, melted
Recipe Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Unfold pastry on parchment paper. Using tines of fork, pierce 1/2-inch border around edge of pastry, then pierce center all over. Arrange apples atop pastry in 4 rows, overlapping apple slices and leaving border clear. Brush apples with melted butter; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 30 minutes. Brush melted jam over apples. Bake tart until golden, about 8 minutes longer. Serve warm or at room temperature.


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Saturday, July 29, 2006
The Definition of Obnoxious
When I was a kid, I knew how to be obnoxious—even if I didn't know what it literally meant.
My sisters, who were both older and physically bigger than I, sat on either side of me in the back seat of the station wagon, and they made life miserable by hitting me whenever I crossed the weird plastic strips that defined the middle seat of those old cars.
This was in the days before SUVs gave everybody their own fully-reclining, climate-controlled entertainment center, with DVD players popping down from the ceiling and satellite radio on the sound system. It was even before seat belts became mandatory.
Hence, it was impossible for a squirmy kid not to cross one line or the other during the normal course of a ride. I was always getting whacked until the long arm of my father reached backwards over his driver's seat, probing for the perpetrator of whoever was causing the muffled cries of pain.
Then I discovered the power of words, and learned that by being something called "obnoxious" I could make my sisters' lives miserable for hours on end.
I didn't actually know what "obnoxious" meant, but I was good at it. The best part was when they would tell me to "stop being obnoxious," and I would say, "How can I be obnoxious when I don't even know what it means?"
That especially drove them crazy—so much so that it was even worth the black and blue marks on my arms. Later, when I learned what "obnoxious" actually meant, I realized that as a seven year old I not only embodied it, I had defined it.
But, forty years later, I have discovered a new definition of the term "obnoxious." It comes not from a seven year old kid in a car—not even from one of the gangly teenage boys with jeans hanging six inches below their Size 24-inch waists who mysteriously appear in my front yard waiting for my daughter to come out and go long-boarding.
It is this: lady sitting in coffee shop dictating notes into her computer.
The lady in question is not sitting in an isolated corner of the coffee shop, nor is the coffee shop itself devoid of other people attempting to work. Three or four individuals come here most mornings when the doors open at 6 a.m. to get coffee, plug in their laptops, connect to the wireless router and begin the day.
And today is no different, except that it is Saturday, and the lady in question is one we had never seen until she came in an hour ago, got a coffee, plopped herself down at a table smack in the middle of it all and opened a Dell laptop—one of the few Dell laptops which, based on the many web-cam videos zipping around the internet these days, are not spontaneously exploding on a desk while some guy who probably lives alone with his cats and writes feverish blogs DISCLOSING IMPORTANT INFORMATION THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN SUPPRESSING ABOUT NAKED SHORT-SELLERS AND AREA 59 happens to be filming it for immediate distribution on YouTube.
There was nothing unusual about this lady's behavior…until she dug out of her briefcase a large air-traffic-controller style headset and put it on her head, and began dictating into her not-exploding-yet Dell laptop.
Now, this coffee shop is not exactly the best venue to dictate things, if for some bizarre reason you feel the need to dictate instead of typing with your fingers, which even Size 24-inch waist teenage boys can do. It is noisy. James Brown plays over the coffee shop speakers, espresso machines hiss and people stand in line talking. So anybody needing to dictate rather than type couldn't dictate quietly if they had the basic decency to do so, which this lady does not: she must speak LOUDLY so her still-not-exploding Dell can hear her.
Not only must she speak LOUDLY, she must speak CLEARLY and ENNUNCIATE her words for the computer software program, the designer of which should be forced to sit next to her for the rest of his life, or until the Dell laptop explodes and kills her and him both.
Not only does she speak LOUDLY and CLEARLY and with good ENNUCIATION, she frequently inserts a COMMA or a BACKSPACE into her text. And sometimes she says SCRATCH THAT.
Now, I can get a lot of work done in a crowded coffee shop: the noises all blend together and there's something about the background buzz that makes it easy to focus. But not when somebody is saying things like COMMA and BACKSPACE and SCRATCH THAT very LOUDLY and very CLEARLY, with very good ENNUNCIATION.
So I quickly resorted to Plan B, which is my version of noise-cancellation technology that always works in a pinch: headphones plugged into an iPod, with Arctic Monkeys played loud.
But if anybody knows the secret code that makes a Dell laptop spontaneously explode while some guy who lives with his cats films it for YouTube, please email me a copy so I can insert it onto her machine while she's up at the counter getting another blueberry muffin. (Apparently, speaking LOUDLY and CLEARLY and with good ENNUNCIATION for an extended period of TIME causes people to STUFF THEIR FACES with pastries).
Or maybe I'll sit next to her and start dictating IMPORTANT INFORMATION THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN SUPPRESSING ABOUT NAKED SHORT-SELLERS AND AREA 59 into the flower vase on the table.
Yes, that would be obnoxious, wouldn't it?
Jeff Matthews
I Am Not Making This Up
© 2006 Jeff Matthews
The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews also acts as an advisor and clients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon Mr. Matthews' recommendations. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.
8 comments:
- jockgunter said...
OMG, you've just identified the Next Big TERRIBLE thing ! - I've read that the newest dictation software is REALLY good, so I guess we'll soon be hearing it EVERYWHERE ...
- MightBWrong said...
I guess it's good that the Windows Vista 'dictation demo' last week in Redmond for some Wall Street analysts - went horribly wrong. Causing most people in the crowd to laugh out loud. Microsoft then vowed not to release Vista until it's ready - I guess we will never see it then. And I like your plan, obnoxious people, for some reason, are less tolerant of obnoxious behavior of others. So, a few carefully dictated phrases aimed at the original offender should keep her from ever coming back - with or without her headset.
- ptkelly said...
while i'd like to think it is just an availability phenomenom, i'm convinced that society's concern or regard for others has evaporated - from your incident today to the SUV driving rockhead that changes lanes or pulls out of the parking space without the slightest check over the shoulder or signal.
people just don't care if they've inconvenienced you or infringed on your space/time/rights. as long as they get what the want.
i guess that is just living in the city.
- Its_strange said...
Sounds like you need a night at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park NJ listening to Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. No weirdos , no Wallstreet or Gov weirdos. No lawyer weirdos ..Just a real blast with real people listening to real music.
- Sandy Woodward said...
Well, Jeff, I don't remember you as being obnoxious...just cute as the dickens with a lovable smile and contagious giggle. You probably aren't going to let this one get "in" but this I am definately not making up! S.
- Jeff Matthews said...
Well, for anybody who's ever accused me of blocking comments here...yes, that's my sister, and I love her.
- imalurkernotafighter said...
Whoa, that is the definition of obnoxious. And I thought the chick who sits next to me at work and insists on conducting all her calls via speakerphone, despite the fact that it's an open-plan office and we have no cubicle walls, was bad. And yea verily to the previous poster, who hopes that the unintentionally hilarious performance of Microsoft's dictation software during their analyst day last week will slow the spread of what could be an insidious new trend.
- Bill Gusky said...
Guys, guys, guys. You're all WAY too nice. You're obviously not helping yourselves by being so, but you most especially aren't helping The Idiot Dictater.
Think of this kind of behavior as a cry for help from the decidedly less fortunate.
When someone is clearly being disruptive and inconsiderate, it is only reasonable that someone should simply ask her, politely the first time anyway, to quiet the hell down.
Sure, as someone said above, people are less thoughtful and considerate nowadays. But accommodating and enabling the thoughtless and inconsiderate only aggravates the issue.
The cool thing is, it's usually not just you who's having a problem with it. If you asked her politely to quiet down once and she didn't, I'd lay odds that you could get one or two other people in the place to join you, position yourselves around the idiot in question, and then have an extremely loud conversation between yourselves so that mouth-breathing dictater couldn't possibly get any work done.


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posted by Sub at 1:54 PM
nice work!! but...they dont look very frightning..
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He had thought he was a vampire and then a genius up to the age of 22(this counts from 1978 which he started to live in the name of Sub)
Once thought studying abroad to Rumania because of his vampire obsession, but this indecisive obsessive-compulsive random kid changed his mind soon to Canada for some reason...
Now he is graduated from the BAA-Animation program at Sheridan College, finished with his first animated short film ' Amor Fati' and searching for inspiration for the next film. His obsession about the agents disapeared while he was making Amor Fati.
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Joshua Zumbrun and Jeff Kearns
Wednesday, 24 October 2012 01:46 PM
Sixty-eight percent of 60 economists said the Fed chairman's third round of quantitative easing will last until late next year or beyond. Just 51 percent of them said the strategy will help boost employment, with a median estimate of 116,000 jobs over the course of next year.
"The recovery in the labor market is probably going to be more sluggish than the Fed recognizes" said Michael Hanson, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Corp. in New York and a former Fed economist. He said policy makers have "painted themselves in a bit of a corner, waiting to see a significant improvement in the labor market."
Editor's Note: You Deserve to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans
Bernanke said in August that new bond buying, while spurring growth and generating jobs, may erode confidence the Fed will exit smoothly from record accommodation, including the first two rounds of bond purchases totaling $2.3 trillion. Most surveyed economists believe Bernanke has gone too far with quantitative easing, with 55 percent saying policy is too easy, compared with 48 percent who said so in a Sept. 7-10 survey.
Bernanke and his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee resumed a two-day meeting in Washington Wednesday and plan to release a statement at about 2:15 p.m. on policy, including their current plan to buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month for an indefinite period.
Skills Atrophy
By not buying bonds, the Fed would increase the risk of "structural damage" to the economy as skills atrophy among workers facing long-term unemployment, Bernanke said on Aug. 31.
More than 4.8 million Americans have been out of work for six months or more, Labor Department data show. Bernanke said in the August speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that the first two rounds of quantitative easing generated 2 million jobs.
The Fed started its third round of easing even as it continued Operation Twist, a program to lengthen the maturities of the assets already on its balance sheet by swapping about $45 billion a month of short-term debt and buying the same amount of longer-term Treasury securities.
That program is due to end in December. Seventy-two percent of the economists said the Fed in January will make up for the end of Operation Twist with monthly purchases of as much as $45 billion in Treasury securities in addition to the mortgage-bond buying. The central bank may wait for their Dec. 11-12 meeting before deciding what to do after Operation Twist.
Dealer Survey
Dealers that trade directly with the Fed also expect the central bank to continue buying Treasurys after Operation Twist ends, according to a separate Bloomberg survey.
"The odds are slightly tilted in favor of them adding further Treasury purchases after Twist is done," said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a former researcher for the Fed Board in Washington. "I don't think we'll have seen enough improvement for them to be satisfied, and if there are fiscal headwinds coming next year they'll want to provide some extra accommodation."
Economic output would shrink by 0.5 percent next year, and joblessness climb to about 9 percent if the so-called fiscal cliff isn't averted, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The term refers to $607 billion in U.S. federal spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to take effect in January unless Congress acts.
Growth Slowdown
A slowdown in global growth may also inhibit the U.S. expansion, Bernanke has said.
The world economy will grow 3.3 percent this year, the slowest since the 2009 recession, and 3.6 percent next year, the International Monetary Fund said this month, compared with July predictions of 3.5 percent in 2012 and 3.9 percent in 2013. The Washington-based lender sees "alarmingly high" risks of a steeper slowdown, with a one-in-six chance of growth slipping below 2 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose to a 2012 high on Sept. 14, the day after the Fed announced QE3. Since then the benchmark has dropped 3.6 percent as companies including DuPont Co. and 3M Co. reported earnings that spurred concern the economy is weakening. The index is up 12 percent this year.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped 0.06 percentage point yesterday to 1.76 percent, the same level as the day before the last FOMC meeting. The yield fell to a record low 1.38 percent in July.
Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, this week forecast sales growth for 2013 that would be slower than in the previous three years as the global economy loses momentum.
Rising GDP
The U.S. economy grew at a 1.3 percent pace in the second quarter, slower than a prior estimate of 1.7 percent, after increasing at a 2 percent rate in the first. Economists predict gross domestic product will rise by 1.8 percent in the third quarter, according to the median of 85 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
By combining Treasury and mortgage-backed securities purchases and continuing QE3 for 18 months, the central bank's balance sheet could grow by $1.5 trillion or more, said Jeremy Lawson, senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas SA in New York.
Lawson said he forecasts growth of 2.1 percent next year and 2.7 percent in 2014. Without the open-ended bond purchases, the expansion would be closer to 1.9 percent and 2.5 percent in those years, he said.
By the end of 2014, bond buying should help push down unemployment to about 7.3 percent compared with about 7.5 percent without the program, Lawson said. While helpful, QE3 is "not a panacea for the headwinds that the economy faces."
Benchmark Gauge
Bernanke has repeatedly said quantitative easing isn't a cure-all. The central bank forecast in September that the jobless rate will fall slowly, with unemployment ranging from 7.6 percent to 7.9 percent at the end of next year and from 6.7 percent to 7.3 percent at the end of 2014.
The jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 7.8 percent in September, the lowest since January 2009. The economy added 114,000 workers last month after a revised 142,000 gain in August that was more than initially estimated.
"The reason that the economic recovery has been sluggish for the last three years is that there's been a lot of headwinds holding it back," said Josh Feinman, a former Fed senior economist. He is currently the New York-based global chief economist for DB Advisors, the Deutsche Bank AG asset management unit, which oversees $220 billion. "All the nasty residue of the bubble has impeded the normal transmission mechanisms of traditional monetary policy easing."
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Nov. 9, 2007
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball New England Regional saw its first upset of the weekend as No. 3 Amherst College edged out No. 2 Williams College, 24-30, 30-27, 30-23, 21-30, 15-11 on Friday afternoon. The Lord Jeffs (29-4) will face either No. 1 MIT or No. 4 Wellesley College in the regional final at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Ephs closed the season with a record of 28-8.
Amherst opened the match with four straight points, but Williams gradually overcame the deficit and went ahead at 11-10 on a service ace by Whitney Hitchcock. After two more ties, a kill by Alisha Cahlan gave the Ephs the lead for good at 16-15.
The second stanza was a back-and-forth affair as it featured 10 ties and four lead changes. The Lord Jeffs established a 15-11 edge before Williams countered with a 9-4 run. Following six more ties, a hitting error returned the advantage to Amherst at 28-27 and helped it seal the game.
The Ephs raced out to an 8-2 lead in the third game, but the Lord Jeffs battled back and tied it up at 14. Each side exchanged points until a kill by Whitney Kouvaris sparked 12-5 run by Amherst to close out the frame.
In the fourth game, a hitting miscue by the Lord Jeffs ignited an 8-2 run that put the Ephs up 14-8. Amherst closed the gap to four multiple times, the last occurring at 20-16. Seven unanswered points from Williams put the game out of reach and forced the extra session.
After exchanging points to start the final game, a strike by Claire Holton-Basald touched off 5-2 spurt that resulted in an 8-4 edge for Amherst at the changeover. The Ephs narrowed their deficit to two (10-8), but they could not muster a late rally as the Lord Jeffs held on for the win.
Jaclyn DeMais paced Amherst's attack with 30 kills to go along with 24 digs. Kouvaris followed with 27 kills and four blocks as Holton-Basald amassed 15 kills. Jackie Berkley contributed 12 kills and five blocks while Rachel Yorke posted 40 digs. Sara Heller notched 78 assists and 16 digs as Bethany Belisle rounded out the defense with 17 digs.
Ballon-Landa paced Williams with 19 kills and 10 blocks as Melissa Pun rattled off 17 kills and 22 digs. Emily Avis registered the Ephs' third double-double on 60 assists and 16 digs. Cahlan rounded out the attack with 13 kills while Chelsea Kubal led the defense with 31 digs.


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Taking Out Simon. At The Bank, Anyway.
Ryan Seacrest is apparently the most powerful man in reality television.
So says The Hollywood Reporter, who ranked the 'American Idol' and radio host number one on its fourth annual Reality Power List.
Seacrest, who is poised to make over $55 million this year, according to PopEater, ironically dethroned former 'Idol' judge Simon Cowell, who dropped to number six on this year's list.
According to the report, some of the determining factors of the list included "Having a reputation for quality and innovation within the business; the indelible mark one makes on his or her shows as overseeing executive, producer, or talent; ones overall impact on pop culture, and the 'watercolor factor.'"
Number two on the list was Mike Darnell, President of alternative entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Co. Jennifer Bresnan, executive VP of alternative programming at CBS, came in third.
See the full top 10 here.
via Ryan Seacrest Is Reality TV's Most Powerful Person, Will Earn $55 Million in 2011 - Mass Market: Entertainment news, Music, Viral Vids, Funny lists, TV clips, Weird news, Finance tips, Sports bloopers, Fashion, etc.


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Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi
Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi [Rumi] (1207 - 1273 / Persia)
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Who Makes These Changes?
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I shoot an arrow right.
It lands left.
I ride after a deer and find myself
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Please select your meditation time
Start Meditating
Conclude Meditation
From John Main OSB, "The Wholeness of God," MOMENT OF CHRIST (New York: Continuum, 1998), pp. 83-85.
We have to learn, and it is absolutely necessary that we do learn it, that only one thing is necessary, because only one thing is.
Laurence Freeman OSB. An excerpt from "Dearest Friends," CHRISTIAN MEDITATION: Newsletter of the World Community for Christian Meditation, Vol. 33, No. 4, Winter 2009-2010, p. 6.
There seem to me five essential aspects of the spiritual life, which for convenience I would describe briefly as these:
An excerpt from John Main OSB, "Healthiness of Spirit" in FULLY ALIVE, MEDITATIO Talk Series 2011-D, Oct-Dec (London: WCCM, 2011), pp. 9-10.
A big problem that all of us have to face is deciding what is really important in our lives and what is trivial, to learn to differentiate between what is passing away and what is enduring.
From Laurence Freeman, OSB: Dearest Friends, January 1997 WCCM International Newsletter.
To allow [the] pattern of daily meditation to take hold amid all the other patterns of our lives, not just imaginatively but actually, is a challenge to the best of us; to the best in us. It is a mundane introduction to the cosmic law of sacrifice.
An excerpt from John Main OSB, "Death and Resurrection," MOMENT OF CHRIST (New York: Continuum, 1998), pp. 68-70.
[T]he whole Christian tradition tells us . . .that if we would become wise we must learn the lesson that we have here "no abiding city". . .[B]ut the principal fantasy of much worldliness operates out of completely the opposite point of view. . .
An excerpt from John Main OSB, "The Oceans of God" in MONASTERY WITHOUT WALLS (Norwich: Canterbury, 2006), pp. 222-223.
Our life is a unity because what is real in it is centered in the mystery of God. But to know its unity we have to see beyond ourselves with a perspective greater than when self-interest dominates.
A selection from Laurence Freeman OSB, JESUS: THE TEACHER WITHIN (New York: Continuum, 2000) pp. 226-227.
[T]he mantra . . .is recited continuously whatever we may be feeling: "in times of war and times of peace," as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it; "in times of prosperity and adversity," as John Cassian puts it; "from the beginning to the end of each meditation," as John Main said in his turn.
An excerpt from Fr Laurence's Christmas message to all members of the Weekly Internet Meditation Group, December, 1997.
As we have no birth certificate for Jesus, what is the reason for celebrating his birthday at this time of the year as Christians have done since at least the fourth century? Almost certainly it is linked to the pagan feast of the re-birth of the Sun.
A special Christmas message to all members of the Weekly Internet Meditation Group and to all meditators from Laurence Freeman OSB, Director, The World Community for Christian Meditation, 2002.
As a reminder that there is no false consolation in Christianity, the church's readings for the run-up to Christmas have an apocalyptic quality. At times they seem to be more about endings than the great new beginning about to burst upon the world.
From Laurence Freeman, OSB, "Christmas Message," email, 2009.
A Jewish tradition has it that when the angels saw what God had done in the work of creation they burst out with a song of praise that continues throughout time at the heart of all things.


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text:
Fund for Water Protection in Bogota
Eight million residents of Bogota obtain water from Chingaza and Sumapaz national parks.
By Misty Herrin
Borrowing strategies from the realm of high finance, the Conservancy has created a conservation trust fund to protect rivers and watersheds in Colombia — and help provide clean drinking water to Bogotá, the country's capital.
The fund will attract voluntary contributions from Bogotá's water treatment facilities to subsidize conservation projects — from strengthening protected areas to creating incentives for ecologically sustainable cattle ranching — that will keep sedimentation and runoff out of the region's rivers.
Without such projects, the facilities have to spend millions to remove those pollutants in order to provide clean drinking water for Bogotá's 8 million residents.
The fund — based on a pilot program in Ecuador — is projected to raise $60 million for conservation projects over the next 10 years. And the Conservancy plans to implement six more such funds in South American countries in the next two years.
People and Nature Will Benefit
Water treatment facilities in Bogotá could save $4 million per year by proactively investing in watershed protection, according to a study undertaken by The Nature Conservancy and its partners.
The Conservancy brought together a broad range of public and private stakeholders — many of which had never collaborated before — to navigate complex regulations and broker the landmark agreement.
All these efforts culminated on April 16, 2008, when former Mayor Samuel Moreno Rojas and dozens of other community and business leaders gathered to launch the new water fund.
"Saving upper watersheds will help us protect key ecosystems that provide habitat for many endangered species," says Alejandro Calvache, the Conservancy's Water Funds Specialist for the Northern Tropical Andes program (NTA). "Spectacled bears, Andean condors and rare Andean guans will benefit."
A Growing Fund for Water
The Conservancy led the development of the first such water fund in Quito, Ecuador, in 2000. From a modest $10,000 start-up investment, that fund has already reached $6 million in capital and will disperse $900,000 this year for conservation in watersheds that supply drinking water for Quito's 2 million residents.
Conservancy donors in the United States provided the seed money that enabled in-country staff to launch both of these funds.
"The Nature Conservancy in Maine believed in us, and that ultimately made this project possible," says Aurelio Ramos, director of the Conservancy's NTA program and architect of the Bogotá Water Fund.
In 2007, donors in Maine contributed $50,000 in seed money to the NTA Program, enabling Ramos to put a grand vision into action.
"People in Maine understand the connection between forest health and water quality," says Michael Tetreault, state director of The Nature Conservancy in Maine.
"And with projects like the Penobscot River Restoration underway here, there's an appreciation for the need to work at large scales."
Conservation Investment Pays Off
The Conservancy will work to grow the Bogotá water fund by securing additional investments from national agencies.
The fund will be managed by a board, which will include representatives from the Conservancy, the water companies and other stakeholders, including Bavaria, a brewery and one of the biggest private companies in Colombia.
Bavaria donated $150,000 to start up the fund. Guidelines are also being developed for how funds will be dispersed and overseen.
"Our priorities align well with the other stakeholders actively participating in the implementation of the fund, such as the Ministry of Environment, Colombia's National Parks Service and the Patrimonio Natural Foundation," explains José Yunis, the Conservancy's top representative in Colombia.
"We're expecting to support a diverse array of projects, including adding park rangers, strengthening protection in parks, and helping people who live in sensitive areas to switch to more ecologically sound livelihoods."
For example, grants can enable ranching families to switch to ecologically sustainable operations by underwriting the purchase of higher quality cattle and other start-up costs if they commit to long-term conservation agreements to preserve their natural areas.
More milk from fewer cows means that ranchers will be less likely to clear forest land for additional grazing fields — resulting in less sedimentation in rivers.
"In financial terms and in actual conservation results, these funds yield a tremendous return on investment," says Ramos.
Misty Herrin is senior conservation writer for The Nature Conservancy.


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Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc)[1] (Domremy in Champagne, France 1412 - Rouen, France 1431) was a girl who, at the age of seventeen, believed she had been called by God to lead the French army which went on to defeat the English at the siege at Orleans in 1429. She was later captured by the English, burned at stake as a heretic in 1431, and was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in 1920 and is accordingly known today as St. Joan.
Her story has inspired numerous works of art, notably George Bernard Shaw's 1923 play Saint Joan (considered one of his greatest plays) and Mark Twain's novel Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (largely forgotten but believed by Twain to be his best work). Both are sympathetic and admiring depictions. In contrast, in Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 1, the character "Joan La Pucelle" is depicted as she was generally viewed by the English at the time: as a witch and sorceress who was justly executed.
Joan stepped onto the stage of world history during the Hundred Years' War with England at a point in time when French fortunes were at a low ebb. The English and their Burgundian allies had confined the faction of the uncrowned and disinherited King Charles VII (the Dauphin) to southwest France and had laid siege to Orleans, the fall of which would have permitted the English to invade Charles' remaining French territory.
Siege of Orleans and beyond
After a hazardous journey from her native Domremy through English held territory, Joan arrived at the court of the Dauphin in Chinon in early March of 1429 bearing her message that God had sent her to aid the French cause by lifting the siege of Orleans and leading the Dauphin to Reims to be coronated. After an inquiry by Churchmen at Poitiers had found nothing of madness or heresy in her, she returned to Chinon and was sent with a French army to attempt to relieve the besieged town of Orleans.
Although the other French military leaders did not, at least at first, hold Joan in high regard, she managed to gain the loyalty of much of the soldiery and pursued, over the objections of the more cautious French commanders, a strategy of aggressively attacking the besiegers. The result was the lifting of the siege of Orleans in early May of 1429 and, within the next month, the clearing of the remaining English held towns in the Loire River valley.
Following these spectacular military successes, Joan then led French forces northwards through English held territory to Reims where Charles was formally coronated.
Capture, trial, and execution
In the Spring of 1430, Joan was captured at the town of Compiegne while leading troops attempting to defend against an English siege. She was held for much of the remainder of that year by her Burgundian captors, but then was sold to the English after which she was transferred to Rouen where she was put on trial in proceedings governed by the Inquisition.[2]
After a preliminary inquiry, which was part of Inquisitorial proceedings, the actual trial began in February of 1431, lasting some three months. Following this, after being threatened with immediate burning at the stake, Joan signed an abjuration, though there is considerable doubt that she knew what she was signing since she was illiterate and, in fact, another document may have been substituted for the one she signed. Shortly thereafter, in obedience to her voices, she recanted the abjuration. By the rules of the Inquisition, this made her a relapsed heretic and she was then burnt at the stake in Rouen's market square.
Joan's crucial intervention at Orleans had turned the tide in the Hundred Years' War, but she did not live to see the conclusion of that conflict. When the war finally ended, the French King, Charles VII, inaugurated the process of re-examination of Joan's life and career with an inquiry into the proceedings at Rouen. Soon thereafter, formal hearings were approved by the Pope. The resulting investigation, commonly referred to as the Trial of Rehabilitation (though it was not, strictly speaking, a trial, but rather an inquiry into the earlier Trial of Condemnation) took testimony of over a hundred witnesses and, in the end, set aside the original verdict of Rouen, declaring it to be "iniquitous, and full of lies".
- "I place trust in God, my creator, in all things; I love Him with all my heart."
- "Gentle Dauphin, I am called Joan the Maid (Jehanne la Pucelle)"
- "In God's name, the soldiers will fight and He will grant victory."
- "I trust in my Judge, who is the King of Heaven and Earth".
- ↑ Joan of Arc is the English translation of the French name Jeanne d'Arc. Her name was spelled in a variety of ways; she herself signed her first name as "Jehanne" on some letters. Contemporary accounts of Joan of Arc, Bryn Mawr college library. She is also known as "the Maid of Orleans" and "La Pucelle" (French for "the maid").
- ↑ Years after the trial of condemnation, in testimony during the rehabilitation proceedings, Guillaume Manchon, the chief notary at the 1431 Trial, testified that in spite of pressures exerted upon him and his assistants to alter the court records to Joan's disadvantage, he and other witnesses maintained that record, including the Latin translation of Thomas de Courcelles, was a reliable account of what had happened at the Trial. As regards the official record of the trial, which, so far as the Latin version goes, seems to be preserved entire, we may probably trust its accuracy in all that relates to the questions asked and the answers returned by the prisoner. These answers are in every way favourable to Joan. Her simplicity, piety, and good sense appear at every turn, despite the attempts of the judges to confuse her. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08409c.htm Joan of Arc)
External links
Web references
- Transcript of the Trial of Joan of Arc, translation of W.P. Barrett
- Nullification Trial of Joan of Arc, transcripts of testimony
- St. Joan of Arc Catholic Encyclopedia
- Saint Joan of Arc Center Albuquerque, N. M.
- MaidOfHeaven.com Dedicated to telling the true story about Saint Joan of Arc
- biography
Print literature
- Gies, Frances, Joan of Arc: the Legend and the Relaity, Harper and Row, New York (1981) ISBN 0-690-01942-4
- DeVries, Kelly, Joan of Arc: a Military Leader, Sutton Publishing, Gloucestershire, England (1999) ISBN 0-7509-1805-5
- Spotto, Donald, Joan: the Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Necame a Saint, HarperSanFrancisco, (2007), ISBN 978-0-06-081517-2
- The Trial of Joan of Arc, translated and introduced by Daniel Hobbins, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2005) ISBN 0-674-02405-2
- Pernoud, Regine and Clin, Marie-Veronique, Joan of Arc: Her Story (revised and translated by Jeremy Duquesnay Adams and edited by Bonnie Wheeler), St. Martin's Press, New York (1998) ISBN 0-312-21442-1


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10 Colorful Kitchen Finds For Fall
There's so much color throughout the entire season of fall. From the leaves on the trees to the colors of the fields, it's a fantastic time to bring a little festivity to your table as well. Check out 10 of our own fall favorites and see if they might be a match for your home!
Here's 10 of our favorite fall color picks for the kitchen. Do you have a certain item you've been spying on all season? Share it with us in the comments below!
• 1 Rachel Ray Stoneware Baker Set, $39.99 at Target. Even if we're not super huge fans of her TV shows, we still love the ability to remove these bakers from your oven without sticking your hot pad into your dish.
• 2 Little Cayman Plates, $0.99 at CB2. They're the perfect size for appetizers, or even just for placing under a name card on your dinner table. They're a versatile pop of color that can be used throughout the seasons to come.
• 3 Mini Santoku Knives, $6.95 from Crate and Barrel. We've been using these knives in our own kitchen and they're a great addition to our regular "heavy duty" knives and can be identified quickly.
• 4 Amber Glass Tumblers: for $26.99 from Target. Yellow is a great color to float from season to season, plus this set of tumblers would double nicely as candle holders on any fall or holiday table.
• 5 2pc Bowl Set, $56.90 from CB2. Each bowl is quite large in size, food safe and perfect for snacks, rolls, pasta and more!
• 6 Organic-Shaped Salad Plates: for $38.00 for a set of 4. Their platinum design makes everything shine and is sure to match any colors you're already planning to use. They'll add just that extra bit of dazzle to your table.
• 7 Ruffle Foil Chargers, $14.95 for a set of 4. These green metallic chargers are a great color to transition from fall into the holiday season and even back into spring. Money well spent!
• 8 Fiesta Dinnerware, starting at $8.99 from Macy's. Even if you're not a Fiesta type of person, you can't help but love the soothing fall color combos you can dream up!
• 9 Salsa Striped Dishtowels, $3.95/ea. Unlike solid colored dishtowels, these carry the ability to blend with many different color options throughout the life and style changes of your kitchen.
• 10 Citrus Juicers, starting at $13.00 from Sur la Table. These juicers come in different sizes to handle different sized jobs. Either way, they're sure to add a pop of color in your utensils holder!


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BEDFORD, Mass., March 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Instrumentation Laboratory (IL), a company of the Werfen Group, today announced total worldwide sales in 2012 of EUR476.4M (612.3M USD). In its two major business segments, Hemostasis and Critical Care Diagnostics, IL achieved significant revenue growth of 12.4% and 10.1%, respectively. Additionally, based on data from company estimates and third party research, IL confirmed their global market leadership position in Hemostasis diagnostics. In the Critical Care diagnostics market, IL was the fastest growing manufacturer of benchtop systems worldwide.
In 2012, IL placed a record number of both Hemostasis and Critical Care systems worldwide. Of particular note, IL successfully transitioned to a direct business model in the United States, Canada, China and Australia for their Hemostasis product line. With North America representing the largest Hemostasis market in the world, and China, the fastest growing market in the world, this move unlocks tremendous growth potential for IL. The company estimates that, excluding the impact of the transition to a direct business model, its Hemostasis end-user sales worldwide grew by 8%.
"2012 was a year of very significant, positive change for IL. Notably, our shift to a direct business model in several key markets enables us to be closer to our customers, react immediately to their needs and share our expertise with them," said Ramon Benet, Chief Executive Officer at IL. "The outstanding customer feedback we have received speaks to the quality of our employees, the new infrastructure we developed, and our entire product line. While we are already the global leader in Hemostasis testing, we look forward to continued strong growth in 2013 and beyond."
In North America, where sales, service and support employees have worked directly with Critical Care customers for decades, more than 200 new Hemostasis employees were hired. At IL's headquarters, a Hemostasis Customer Training Center was built, along with an Innovation Center where customers can meet directly with R&D scientists and engineers to help shape and enhance products in development. Concurrently, in mainland China, including Hong Kong and Macao, direct distribution channels for IL Hemostasis products were established with dedicated sales, service and support teams and a Technical Service Call Center. Additionally, in Australia, Werfen Group established a new headquarters to provide direct sales, service and support for IL's Hemostasis product line.
IL now provides direct support to more than 13,000 Hemostasis laboratories around the world, solidifying their position as a leader and innovator in Hemostasis testing solutions. Worldwide sales of the ACL TOP((R)) Family of Testing Systems, IL's flagship Hemostasis product offering, grew significantly throughout the world. A new member, the ACL TOP 300 CTS, was introduced in 2012, leveraging the Family's standardized platform and allowing additional flexibility in Hemostasis testing. The product is quickly penetrating the global Hemostasis market as a stand-alone system and as companion to the other members of the ACL TOP Family: the ACL TOP 500 CTS and ACL TOP 700 CTS/LAS.
IL has consistently led innovation in the Hemostasis reagent market with their HemosIL((R)), the most sophisticated automated assays for the diagnosis and management of coagulopathies, and in 2012, IL continued this trend. Several highly anticipated new assays to complement the ACL TOP system, including a dRVVT test for Lupus Anticoagulants and a Protein S Activity assay with enhanced stability, were successfully introduced. New assays for IL's ACL AcuStar((R)) chemiluminescent system, included the HemosIL AcuStar HIT assay panel, comprised of HemosIL AcuStar HIT-IgG and HemosIL AcuStar HIT-Ab assays, and the HemosIL AcuStar VWF assay panel, with VWF: Ag and VWF:RCo, all based on chemiluminescent technology for high sensitivity and precision.
On the Critical Care diagnostics side, sales of IL's flagship GEM Premier 4000 analyzer with Intelligent Quality Management (iQM((R))) grew considerably throughout the world spurred by the introduction of PLUS technology featuring faster touchscreen responsiveness and integrated wireless features. In addition, IL completed worldwide commercialization of GEMweb((R)) Plus 200 Custom Connectivity offering operator certification and advanced regulatory management.
HemosIL AcuStar VWF and HemosIL AcuStar HIT assays are not currently 510(k) cleared.
Instrumentation Laboratory ( www.ilus.com ), founded in 1959, is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and distributor of in vitro diagnostic instruments, related reagents and controls for use primarily in hospitals and independent clinical laboratories. The company's product lines include Critical Care systems, Hemostasis systems and Information Management systems. IL's GEM((R)) product offerings, part of the Critical Care line, include the GEM Premier(TM) 4000 analyzer with Intelligent Quality Management (iQM((R))), GEM Premier 3500, GEMweb((R)) ( )Plus Custom Connectivity, and complementary products GEM PCL Plus, a portable coagulation analyzer, GEM OPL CO-Oximeter, and GEMdraw arterial blood samplers. IL's Hemostasis portfolio includes the ACL TOP((R)) Family of Hemostasis Testing Systems, fully automated, high-productivity analyzers, including the ACL TOP 700, ACL TOP 700 LAS, ACL TOP 700 CTS, ACL TOP 500 CTS and ACL TOP 300 CTS. IL also offers the ACL AcuStar((R)), ACL ELITE((R)), other Hemostasis analyzers and the HemosIL((R)) line of reagents. IL is based in Bedford, Massachusetts.
The Instrumentation Laboratory logo, GEM, iQM, HemosIL, ACL, ACL TOP, ACL ELITE, ACL AcuStar and Premier are trademarks of Instrumentation Laboratory Company and/or one of its subsidiaries or parent companies, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other jurisdictions. All other product names, company names, marks, logos, and symbols are trademarks of their respective owners.
Instrumentation Laboratory


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|GDP growth (%)
|Inflation (yearly average, %)
|Budget balance (% GDP)
|Current account balance (% GDP)
|Public debt (% GDP)
(f): forecast
- Abundant agricultural and forestry resources
- Social homogeneity and political stability
- Active reform policy (business climate, public finances, social security)
- Substantial foreign direct investments
- Member of Mercosur, preferential trading relations with the EU and the US
- Economy vulnerable to commodity price movements (soya, meat, dairy products)
- Dependence on economic cycles in Argentina, Brazil and China
- Inadequate transport infrastructure
- Competitiveness reduced by strong inflation
- Public debt (mitigated by long maturity and increasing share of local currency-denominated)
New found strength in the wake of regional circumstances
In 2017, Uruguayan growth rebounded after two years in the doldrums. Activity was sustained by exports and household consumption. The economy benefited from the resumption of growth in Brazil and Argentina, as well as the rebound in agricultural export prices (soya, meat, dairy products). Internally, consumption regained some momentum thanks to lower inflation, which fell back to within the target range (3%-7%) fixed by the central bank.
Activity is expected to remain buoyant in 2018, with growth being driven by all sectors. Investment is thus expected to rebound after a sluggish year, thanks to the Ferrocarril Central railway infrastructure project, which aims to facilitate the transport of goods (especially wood) to the port of Montevideo (public/private financing estimated at USD 1 billion). This project is specifically the subject of negotiations with the Finnish UPM group regarding the potential construction of a third pulp mill, which is set to be the largest private investment project ever undertaken in Uruguay (USD 4 billion). Consumption is expected to slow because of the jump in inflation as a result of the peso's devaluation against the dollar after a year of stability. However, inflation will remain around the upper limit fixed by the central bank, thanks to more modest wage rises, which themselves are largely due to the gradual indexing of wages to sectoral activity rather than to inflation. Externally, the strengthening economic recovery in Brazil, the country's main client for exports of goods, and in Argentina, principal source of FDIs and tourists, should also sustain growth.
Gradual fiscal consolidation and slight deterioration of the current account balance
After public accounts were hit by weak activity in 2016, the government pursued a more restrictive fiscal policy in 2017. The government has accordingly implemented the fiscal consolidation programme set out in its five-year finance act of 2015, aimed at achieving a 2.5% public deficit by the end of President Tabaré Vázquez's presidential term in 2019. The government's strategy relies notably on higher tax revenues, thanks to the economic momentum gained through VAT, as well as higher income taxes in particular (between four and six points, depending on the tax band) that came into force in 2017. In 2018, in order to finance the increased education budget, set to reach 5% of GDP, the government decided to raise one of the taxes levied on imports: Consular Duty or tasa consular. While the public debt burden remains considerable, the authorities have gradually increased the share denominated in local currency and held by residents (over 55% at the second quarter of 2017, compared with just 30% in 2007) and extended the average maturity (fourteen years), thus lessening its vulnerability.
Meanwhile, in 2017, the current account deficit widened slightly, due to rising imports resulting from the recovery in internal demand. While exports also rebounded, thanks to the aforementioned improved economic prospects, they only partially offset the rise in imports. In 2018, Uruguayan exports are expected to continue to be driven by stronger growth in its main partner markets. At the same time, imports are expected to remain buoyant thanks to the resilience of consumption and the recovery in investment. After a sharp rise in the number of tourists (mainly from Argentina) in 2017, the services balance looks as if it will take a hit in 2018 from the ending of tax benefits at the end of March (partial or total VAT exemption depending on the service) reserved for tourists. The current account deficit is, therefore, expected to grow slightly.
The governing coalition faces divisions and allegations of corruption
President Tabaré Vazquez is facing allegations of corruption concerning the previous government, related to his centre-left coalition Frente Amplio (FA), and in particular his vice president, Raul Sendic, who stepped down in September 2017. Moreover, President Vazquez is facing a sharp drop in his popularity (around 30% approval ratings in mid-2017). A sign of his fading popularity is that the right-leaning opposition party (Partido Nacional) was ahead in the polls in mid-2017 for the first time since 1994. Meanwhile, the governing coalition is characterised by sharp divisions between the Communist wing and President Vazquez's moderate wing, as evidenced by the latter's decision to vote in favour of the temporary exclusion of Venezuela from Mercosur in August 2017. The divisions within the coalition also concern the free-trade agreement on services signed in October 2016 with Chile, to which the left wing of the Party is opposed, and which Parliament still hasn't ratified one year on. Uruguay remains a particularly stable country politically.
Despite there being significant room for progress on financial transparency, Uruguay is a preferred destination for FDIs in the region, thanks to a favourable business climate overall.
Last update: January 2018


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Have you ever been curious about genes and inheritance? Gregor Mendel was. Over one hundred years ago, he studied pea plants to develop theories of inheritance that are still relevant today! Even simple characteristics, such as the number of petals on a flower, or the specific coloring of a leaf are determined by a plant's genetic code and may change due to mutation. Join us for an inquiry activity highlighting Mendelian inheritance and plant development. Afterwards, do a DNA extraction and learn about modern genetic research.
Hands-on demonstrations are 20-30 minute free interactive programs on the 2nd floor of the Museum. They include both brief presentations highlighting University research and engaging hands-on activities, and are suitable for adults and children ages 5 and up.


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Rwanda National Police Interpol
- INTERPOL Kigali
- Member since :
19 September 1974
Rwanda National Police
Making people living in Rwanda feel safe, involved and reassured.
- Deliver high quality service;
- Perform with accountability and transparency;
- Safeguard the rule of law;
- Provide a safe and crime-free environment for all.
Core Values
- Justice and respect for human rights;
- Integrity;
- Stability and social order;
- Team work and partnership;
- Openness;
- Accountability;
- Community relations focus;
- Professional conduct, efficiency and effectiveness.
INTERPOL Kigali
Located at the Kigali national police headquarters, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) for Rwanda is directly under the command of Rwanda's Inspector General of Police. INTERPOL Kigali focuses its activities on providing other Rwanda National Police departments with the services and tools they need to tackle transnational crime and bring fugitives to justice. The NCB has a strength of 30 Police officers, with 20 of them seconded to Rwanda's border posts and international airport where they help boost national security by using INTERPOL's secure global police communications system I-24/7 and its criminal databases.
INTERPOL Kigali is made up of five divisions:
1. Transnational Organized Crime:
- Transnational Crime Division;
- Operations & Crime Intelligence Analysis Division;
- Sensitization Program Division.
2. Fugitive Investigations Support:
- Fugitive Tracking and INTERPOL Notices Division;
- Regional Alert Lists Division.
3. I-24/7 Management and Information Systems:
- Data Protection and Management Division;
- Contact Office & I-24/7 Borders / Airport Liaison Division;
- Technical Support Division.
4. Administration, Capacity Building & Logistics:
- Personnel, Capacity Building & Finance Division;
- Logistics Division;
- Events Management, Protocol & Customer Care Division.
5. Research & Documentation:
- Records Division;
- Research, Analysis and Statistics Division.


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This is an easy little craft for kids to make for Mom. They can draw a picture, write a message or glue a photo on the inside hearts, that just slide apart for Mom to see. A great little treasure to give for Valentine's day!
Items needed:
- Foam Hearts 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 inch diameter (or cut from craft foam)
- Small glitter Heart (or other small heart)
- Pens, Photos, Glue
- Cording, approx 24 " each
- Hole Punch
- Scissors
- Punch hole in 3 large Hearts
- Glue small Heart onto front Heart.
- For 2nd and 3rd Heart, let kids draw a picture, write a note or paste a small photo of themself onto the Heart.
- Set Hearts on top of each other in correct order, then thread cording through holes.
- Make a knot close to top of Hearts, not too tight as you want the Hearts to slide sideways or pull apart to see inside of 2nd and 3rd hearts.
- Tie ends of cording together and your Valentine Heart Locket is ready to give.


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Insights: Sports—NBA Preview
- By Ahmad Rashad
- | From Kevin Costner, Nov/Dec 00
It seems like only yesterday that Kobe Bryant was kissing the championship trophy, Phil Jackson was lighting a victory cigar, and Shaquille O'Neal was giving himself the most fitting of his many nicknames--the Big Champion. The Los Angeles Lakers earned their right to celebrate, but the 20002001 National Basketball Association season is already underway, and it's time to start from scratch again with any outcome possible.
As new seasons tend to do, this one will bring new scenarios and some new characters. Here's one man's early glimpse of the teams and players to look for as it tips off.
The Miami Heat has had no problem winning the Atlantic Division. The problem has come at playoff time, especially against its archrivals, the New York Knicks. New York has eliminated the Heat three years in a row, all in deciding games, and all on Miami's home court. That means it's time to shake things up, and coach Pat Riley has done just that by trading for Eddie Jones and Anthony Mason. Eddie will give the Heat some of the scoring and athleticism it's lacked, and with stars like Jones, Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway, Miami will again be an Eastern Conference power.
But its Florida rival, the Orlando Magic, will also be much improved, thanks to two big off-season acquisitions, Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill. Last season, NBA Coach of the Year Doc Rivers took an unheralded team to the brink of a playoff berth, led by one of the NBA's most underrated players, point guard Darrell Armstrong. Orlando also came up with a real find at center in British-born John Amaechi, the only NBA player who has tea time each afternoon. And now that the Magic has added two dynamic stars to the mix, the team could emerge as a genuine contender in the Eastern Conference.
Of course, when you talk about the Atlantic, you have to mention the Knicks, who went to the conference finals last season, and the NBA Finals the year before. But New York has some question marks. One of them is, how much does Patrick Ewing have left in the tank? (Assuming he's still around and not traded as was attempted in the off-season.) And, how will the Knicks address their biggest weakness--rebounding? The main problem, according to coach Jeff Van Gundy, is that the lineup has been too small with Latrell Sprewell and Larry Johnson as their starting forwards.
The Philadelphia 76ers have become Eastern Conference contenders, reaching the second round of the playoffs the past two years. The main reason has been high-scoring guard Allen Iverson. But as electrifying as he is, the Answer has often been the only answer on offense for the Sixers. He's had to carry too much of the load by himself, and the Sixers need more help from the supporting cast if they're to get to the next level. One thing that'll help is having Toni Kukoc for a full season.
What happens when you replace one Hall of Famer with another as head coach? The Indiana Pacers are about to find out, after saying goodbye to Larry Bird and hello to Isiah Thomas. Isiah inherits a team that went to the conference finals the past three seasons and made its first trip to the NBA Finals last year. It's a team with plenty of veteran leadership, which is another way of saying the Pacers are starting to get older. They do, however, have budding superstar Jalen Rose. Four of last year's starters were over 30, so look for Thomas to start mixing younger legs into the rotation and play a more up-tempo style. He'll look to players like Al Harrington and Jonathan Bender to help create a more versatile team. And they still have Reggie Miller!
Even though the Pacers made it to the Finals, they were just seconds away from going out in the first round. If Travis Best hadn't hit a clutch three-pointer from the corner, Indiana would have lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. The Bucks have been coming on strong the last two years under coach George Karl, and they could be ready to take another big step up this season. Milwaukee features a trio of dangerous scorers in Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell. And the Big Three could very well be a Big Four with the rise of the talented Tim Thomas, a player who really came into his own last season. With this nucleus, the Bucks are on the verge of making serious noise.
The Toronto Raptors appeared to be on the same path after last season when they made the playoffs for the first time ever. But the Raptors took a step backward by losing Tracy McGrady. They'll still be an exciting team to watch, thanks to one of the most sensational players in recent memory, Vince Carter, a player so awesome he requires more than one nickname. "Air Canada" and "Half-Man, Half-Amazing" are just a couple. The key for the Raptors will be replacing the athleticism of McGrady. They also needed to come up with a bona fide point guard, a slot they have filled with newly acquired Mark Jackson. Before I leave the Eastern Conference, here's my starting five for the 2001 All-Star Game in Washington, D.C.: Eddie Jones and Allen Iverson in the backcourt, Grant Hill and Vince Carter at forward, and Alonzo Mourning at center.
The San Antonio Spurs already have a big reason to celebrate: superstar big man Tim Duncan announced in the off-season that he'd be staying in San Antonio. And that means the Twin Towers, Duncan and David Robinson, will still be a big part of the Midwest landscape. They led the Spurs to their first-ever championship in 1999, but with Duncan sidelined by a knee injury, San Antonio was eliminated last season in the first round of the playoffs. With Tim healthy again, and Sean Elliott set to play a full season following his kidney transplant, the Spurs feature virtually the same cast that won the title. They are a legitimate threat to capture the crown.
The Utah Jazz are beginning to look like a team whose time has passed. After trips to the Finals in '97 and '98, the Jazz are starting to slide back the other way, with second-round playoff defeats the past two years. Now Jeff Hornacek has retired, while John Stockton and coach Jerry Sloan may follow him out the door after this season. But people have counted out the Jazz before. The ageless Stockton and Malone are still in great shape. And Bryon Russell has taken on a larger role each season. But Utah faces some huge obstacles, including the Portland Trail Blazers, the Lakers and the calendar.
Ever since my main man Kevin Garnett arrived on the scene, the Minnesota Timberwolves have shown steady progress, and last season they reached a milestone with their first 50-win season. But the Timberwolves have yet to achieve a breakthrough in the playoffs, going out in the first round four consecutive seasons at the hands of higher-seeded teams. One key for this season will be improving their playoff seeding. Garnett will certainly hold up his end, as he's become arguably the game's best all-around player. Minnesota also features a talented point guard in Terrell Brandon (who also happens to one of my main men and a former University of Oregon Fighting Duck) and one of last season's most impressive rookies, Wally Szczerbiak.
One team to keep an eye on is the Dallas Mavericks. When no one was looking, the Mavs finished last season 11-2, and won 30 of their last 48 games. They have one of the league's most unheralded stars in forward Michael Finley, plus a sharp-shooting forward in Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavericks could make some noise in the Midwest this season, and even if they don't, they are certain to lead the league in at least one category: assistant coaches. At last count, head coach Don Nelson had eight assistants, which leads to one question: What does Nellie do?
The Los Angeles Lakers were unquestionably the league's best team last season, capturing their first NBA championship in 12 years. But the road wasn't as easy as it might have seemed. The Lakers were pushed to the limit by the Sacramento Kings in the first round, shaken by the Blazers in the conference finals, and the Pacers gave them a tougher battle than expected in the NBA Finals. So to be talking about them as a potential dynasty does seem a bit premature. Still, L.A. has to be favored again this season, for three good reasons: the coaching of Phil Jackson, the spectacular play of Kobe Bryant, and the dominance of league MVP Shaquille O'Neal. No one has come up with a way to stop Shaq, except of course at the free throw line. For the man who's called himself the Big Felon, the Big Havlicek, the Big Aristotle and the Big Shakespeare, the big challenge may simply be to come up with some more nicknames.
With the Lakers receiving so much acclaim, it's easy to forget that the Portland Trail Blazers with Scottie Pippen were just one quarter away from the NBA Finals and a possible championship themselves. They had L.A. on the ropes in the Western Conference Finals, with a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 7. But the Blazers went cold at the worst possible time and gave the Lakers new life. This season, Portland will again be considered the biggest threat to the Lakers. If the Blazers are to be title contenders, they'll need big seasons from their young players like All-Star Rasheed Wallace and the unsung Bonzi Wells.
The Phoenix Suns had a breakthrough season, advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in five years. The Suns have an explosive attack, with the All-Star backcourt of Jason Kidd and Penny Hardaway plus the athleticism of Shawn Marion, the all-around game of Clifford Robinson, and Sixth Man of the Year Rodney Rogers. One big difference last year was the renewed emphasis on defense and tenacity from new head coach Scott Skiles. Heading into this season, the Suns shape up as one of the top teams in the West, but if they're to challenge the Lakers, they may need to make a move at the center position, because Shaq simply dominated them in last year's playoffs.
Over the past two years, the Sacramento Kings have been revitalized. They've not only become a winning team, they're also one of the NBA's most entertaining teams. That's due mainly to point guard Jason Williams and All-Star forward Chris Webber. The Kings also gained a lot of respect last season when they extended the Lakers to five games in the first round of the playoffs. But now they can't be satisfied just to make the playoffs anymore. The Kings need to find a way to advance, and it'll have to start with defense. Sacramento was the NBA's highest-scoring team last season, but the flip side was that it ranked third in points allowed. And it's defense that usually wins in the NBA playoffs.
Here's my Western Conference All-Star starting five: Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant at the guards, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan at forward, and Shaquille O'Neal in the middle. No season preview is complete without naming some of the rookies to watch. I've noticed some pretty big names from the 2000 draft. They include Seattle's Olumide Oyedeji, Sacramento's Hidayet Turkoglu, New Jersey's Soumaila Samake, Denver's Mamadou N'diaye and Phoenix's Iakovos Tsakalidis. I don't know how good any of them will be, but I just wanted to get their names down on paper right now, because I will find it impossible to say them on the air.
Ahmad Rashad covers basketball for NBC.


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Write some Software
Budget $30-250 USD
Create or adapt an existing javascript library to play back flic files (extension flc). The playback should be fluent enough to be used for animation purposes.
3 functions are required:
opening/creating a flic file
example of function syntax: [url removed, login to view]("[url removed, login to view]");
set the flic to a particular frame:
example of function syntax: function syntax flicskip(flicname,frame);
frame is the start frame. If it is the first frame, the value is -1. This should not affect the visible frame on the screen, it should just preset the value. This is used because flic files can work with key frames, required to calculate the color palette. Note: in case the flic file only has the fist frame as a keyframe, the file should be played in memory allowing flicplay to play the next frame up.
play the flic file:
example of function syntax: flicplay(flicname, frame)
frame is the frame to play. If this function is called, and the visible frame is equal to the frame parameter, nothing happens. The last frame played stays in memory for future use unless this frame memory is set to a different start position by flicskip.
an example of the file format is attached. Pay attention to the existence (or absence) of key frames, needed to create entire images.
For reference: a flic player for java - including source code - can be found on: http://vento.pi.tu-berlin.de/STROEMUNGSAKUSTIK/SOFTWARE/fliplay/main.html
More information on the flic file format: http://bespin.org/~qz/pc-gpe/fli.for