text:
Beauty is an ever booming business that will never see a lack in customers and Hair Cuttery Places Near Me in Centurion because women and even men will continue to go to beauty salons for a new hairdo, for a manicure, a pedicure or even a tan. So, whether there is a depression or not, women (and some men) will still go to beauty salons to have their fix. In fact, it is in stressful times that you will see an increase in customers going to Beauty Hair Salon Near Me offering spa services for a spot of relaxation through aromatherapy, baths, manicures and massages.
Beauty Salon Equipment For a Fully Equipped Salon
So, if you are thinking of setting up a beauty salon, it is time that you go searching for the best ever beauty salon equipment for your business. You will need nothing but the most affordable and best beauty salon equipment to provide nothing but incomparable services to your clients.Lets take a look at the different types of services offered by beauty salons and Beauty Salon Store Near Me what sort of beauty salon equipments you will need for the services you offer at your salon. If your salon only offer basic hair styling and cutting services, you will need beauty salon equipment to cater to your hair styling needs. You should look at hair styling chairs, wash basins, hair dryers, steamers, trolleys, professional hair styling scissors set and even basic must-have furniture like mirrors, chairs, comfy chairs for the waiting area.
Beauty Salon Business Forms
In the midst of searching for the right equipment to furnish your salon, although it is important to compare prices, please do not settle for cheap, low quality equipment as it could end up sabotaging your business. Lousy quality equipment could break down in the midst of a hair styling session or worse, can you imagine the bath tub leaking or the hair dryer malfunctioning and injuring a client? So, compare prices if you must but do not try to save by buying low quality beauty salon equipment.
Hair Cuttery Places Near Me in Centurion ?
Beauty salon sinks are a beautiful addition to every salon. Most of the sinks in the beauty salons are used for shampooing and rinsing. Salon sinks include shampoo bowls, shampoo cabinets, and shampoo bulkheads. These sinks come with a variety of bowl colors and fixtures.
Beauty salon sinks or basins are designed with a front wall that has a U-shaped depression. During shampooing, rinsing, and other treatments, the customer is positioned in a reclining chair in a backward position. The individual's neck is placed in the U-shaped depression in the sink. If the customer undergoes a prolonged treatment, there is a chance of getting a nerve injury in the neck.
In ancient times, these sinks were deep ones used for washing hair. But now, there are different types of sinks that include waist-high sinks, complete with non-slip surfaces and security harnesses; open-ended washtubs; flexible hoses with showerheads, high-powered hairdryers, and extra towels. To make them more attractive, many salon owners try to add tinted green glass and ultramodern fixtures to the sinks.
4 Tips For Improving Your Beauty Salon Business
Waxing is a popular treatment in a beauty salon, so as a beauty therapist you need to be 100% confident with your technique and make sure your knowledge of waxing is second to none. Having a large selection of waxing exam questions is therefore essential to any beauty student's study plan.
There are 4 different types of wax including;
You need to know the difference between each one, the ingredients, what temperature they should be, what areas of the body they are used on and how to apply the wax etc.
Another vital area that needs to be covered when you are studying waxing is the anatomy and physiology part of it, namely anatomy of the skin and hair.
03. Which one of the following is a cause of ingrowing hairs?
a) Too much exfoliation
b) Oily skin
c) Hot wax
d) Poor waxing technique - Answer
04. What is the composition of the cortex?
a) Thin, unpigmented flat cells
b) Thick, pigmented cells
c) Several layers of closely packed elongated cells - Answer
d) Several layer of closely packed endothelial cells
The secret to passing your waxing exam is having a structured revision plan which includes various exam questions and quizzes that you can revise.


text:
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Right Foot
Good morning, lovelies! And welcome to a brand new week! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was great. Got a lot accomplished and yesterday we went on a foliage drive upstate. The foliage wasn't peak yet but it was pretty nonetheless.
Also we attempted to go pumpkin picking but, as I mentioned earlier, there is a pumpkin shortage this year, and the farm we went to seems to have been affected by the hurricane back in August. Oh well, guess I'll just be picking mine up from the storm this year. I tried....
So onto the next. A little pumpkin shortage isn't going to bring me down. I'm in a fabulous mood this morning and I'm starting this week off on the right foot. I started a new way of eating last week, vegan & gluten-free, and as of now, I'm feeling great and ready to take on whatever is thrown my way. One thing I haven't given up is my morning cup of coffee. Every girl has to have at least one vice, right? And besides coffee is good for you :)
Hope your week gets off to a fabulous start!
Images: 1, 2, 3 All images edited by The Alternative Wife
58 comments:
- adele said...
Happy Monday Dawn! I've got the week off on the right foot too - swam my 80 lengths, had my berries & porridge for brekkie - bring it on!!!!
- October 17, 2011 at 5:06 AM
- Pratishtha Durga said...
Good luck with the new food choices, Dawn. I too had a great weekend, and that always makes Monday better, doesn't it?
I spent the weekend celebrating my brother's birthday. And this morning, I finally started work on my handmade accessories collection.
Hope you have a great week ahead.
- October 17, 2011 at 5:27 AM
- modniza said...
happy week,darling! lovely shoes! xooo
- October 17, 2011 at 5:43 AM
- Draffin Bears said...
Happy new week, Dawn and I agree you can't start a day without a cup of coffee to get you going.
Hope that you have a fabulous week
- October 17, 2011 at 6:00 AM
- The enchanted home said...
Sounds like a wonderful weekend. Amazing about the pumpkin shortage, have heard so much about it. I am so interested to hear more about your diet, was this an impulsive thing or had you been considering this for a long time? Do you feel a marked difference in your energy level? I am curious because someone I know who moved away to Spain did that a few years ago and within a few months she said she felt like a new person......it defenitely intrigued me!!
Enjoy your day.
- October 17, 2011 at 6:01 AM
- Collette Osuna said...
Hey there girlie!!! Im a vegetarian....this March will be two years...Ive never felt better!! You will love it!!
Statements in Fashion: A Funky Little Fashion Blog
- October 17, 2011 at 6:31 AM
- The Dainty Doll's House said...
Happy Monday doll!! I hope you have a great one..and find yourself a pumpkin!! I used to be a vegetarian before I had my daughters, but I always think of going back to it, always feel better :) xx
- October 17, 2011 at 6:39 AM
- Rachel {Little Bits of Lovely} said...
Don't you love those days when everything goes just right? Glad to hear your week is off to a brilliant start. The new diet sounds great; I'm doing something similar and trying to stick to organic and non-processed food - a change in diet definitely makes you feel a whole lot brighter! xx
- October 17, 2011 at 7:04 AM
- Chelsea said...
Such a good attitude to read about first thing on Monday. I want to hear more about this big diet change...I am not even sure about the pros of going gluten free. xo
- October 17, 2011 at 7:11 AM
- Girl about town.... said...
Good morning to you! The new diet sounds fab! I have so much respect for you doing it too! It takes stamina! Glad your still having your coffee!
Beautiful pictures, I would love to live in N.Y...
Glad you had a lovely weekend, have a lovely week!
Girl About Town XxX
- October 17, 2011 at 7:12 AM
- Diana Mieczan said...
Coffee is a must for me too:) Have a wonderful start to the week, sunshine.
- October 17, 2011 at 7:26 AM
- Bestie said...
You attitude in infectious! Thx for the Monday boost. Enjoying my first cup of coffee as I read this...mmmmm
- October 17, 2011 at 7:39 AM
- Helena - A Diary of Lovely said...
What an upbeat post Dawn! Have a lovely week, glad you are feeling so happy on a Monday! xo
- October 17, 2011 at 7:54 AM
- classiq said...
My daily cup of coffee is my vice too. :) It adds a little something to your day, right? Have a wonderful new week, Dawn! xoxo
- October 17, 2011 at 8:06 AM
- Tanvi said...
Good Luck with the new choices! :) I am rooting for you.
Hope you have a great week ahead!
♡ from © tanvii.com
- October 17, 2011 at 8:26 AM
looks like you are off to a fabulous start of the week. Like your new diet and love the cup of coffee even better!
- October 17, 2011 at 8:28 AM
- odessa said...
How inspiring,I'm considering changing eating habits as well: I have started with the morning coffee (and juice it up), but allow myself to have a cup at least twice a week haha. Have great week xoxo
- October 17, 2011 at 8:32 AM
- Audrey Allure said...
Definitely agree with the coffee -- having my cup right now! :)
- October 17, 2011 at 8:39 AM
- A BRIT GREEK said...
I swear coffee makes you do things quicker! I've had far too much already! But have accomplished a lot too!
Wishing you a wonderful week beautiful!
- October 17, 2011 at 9:08 AM
- Alex {Things That Sparkle} said...
Driving up to see the leaves sounds heavenly! Glad you had a good weekend
- October 17, 2011 at 9:20 AM
- With love... said...
Sounds delightful and wonderful.
The images are great. Makes me want to fly to NYC today.
Have an absolutely loving and laughter filled week.
- October 17, 2011 at 9:32 AM
- LenoreNeverM♡re said...
I finally got some pumpkins as well!
p.s: truly need my caffeine fix too, especially on a Monday morning!
- October 17, 2011 at 9:49 AM
- Taylor said...
Save a pumpkin for the kiddo's (at least that's what I tell myself bc I don't need one, even though I want one HA!) And girl how are you eating like that - I want to go veggie but I can't give up the occasional steak...Although we are tonning down the meat consumption - I am not that strong!
- October 17, 2011 at 9:53 AM
- Liz {Sequins And Stripes} said...
Gluten free is the way to be! Your body will feel amazing! Happy Monday to you!
- October 17, 2011 at 9:59 AM
- ASHLEY said...
Happy Monday! This is happening in Southern Maryland too! We went pumpkin picking and the patch wasn't very pretty ;( They said Irene had them under 16 inches of water!
- October 17, 2011 at 10:16 AM
- Daisy said...
I can never give up coffee too ;)
- October 17, 2011 at 10:29 AM
- Elle Sees said...
Wish I could send some pumpkins your way! I got to go stargazing too.
- October 17, 2011 at 10:41 AM
- {The Perfect Palette} said...
sorry about the pumpkin shortage :) glad you're feeling great this Monday ! Enjoy your coffee
- October 17, 2011 at 10:46 AM
- Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...
Sounds like a beautiful weekend, Dawn! I've been enjoying fall too ... such a gorgeous time of the year and always feels like a fresh start (must go back to when we started school in the fall) ... perfect time for a fresh start in a diet and you've really made some changes! So glad you're feeling fab and best of luck with the new way of eating .. I agree, give up coffee ... uhhh, no. ;) Kisses ~
Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou
This Week: Aimee's Grande Paris Adventure Part III "Pink Champagne Bubbles"
- October 17, 2011 at 10:52 AM
- pretty pink tulips said...
You always start my day off in a beautiful way!
I'm all for keeping at least one vice - and coffee is definitely mine. Ok..."one" of mine! :)
Have a fabulous week - the leaves are turning and it's going to full on red and gold soon!
xoxo Elizabeth
- October 17, 2011 at 10:57 AM
- Maria @ Orchard Bloom said...
Your weekend sounds like a delight!
- October 17, 2011 at 11:22 AM
- Styleabaad said...
I'm happy to hear you're going Vegan! I'm a vegetarian since like forever but I enjoy eating vegan a few days per week! Coffee on the other hand is something I treat myself to in only in the weekend... But that's a though one! ;)
Have a great week!!
Elsa @ Styleabaad
- October 17, 2011 at 11:30 AM
- ilene @ muchloveilly said...
this is the way all monday posts should be - i'm speaking to myself, really! and i could use that cup of coffee and those fabulous tights/boots! happy monday, dawn. :)
- October 17, 2011 at 11:45 AM
Itd be hard to give up the coffee :)
- October 17, 2011 at 11:52 AM
- Alexa said...
Good for you with your diet...I'm interested to see how it goes. I tried gluten free...but it was a challenge..especially for an Italian. Ha.
- October 17, 2011 at 11:57 AM
- B. in the Know said...
Glad you had a lovely weekend! I enjoyed mine as well - and am loving my bright red nails from it :) I cannot believe another new week is already upon us, but I think it will be a good week!
Much love,
- October 17, 2011 at 11:58 AM
- Mrs. C said...
Oh no...pumpkin shortage!!! Glad it's not getting you down though!!! Vegan...that is tough? I was vegetarian for a while but don't think I could go vegan...kudos to you!! Happy week!! :)
- October 17, 2011 at 12:15 PM
- Dancing Branflake said...
Sad about the pumpkin shortage! I haven't been to a patch in so long and I totally need to go soon. Love that first photo. Stunning!
- October 17, 2011 at 12:38 PM
- Tamra {walkswithBella} said...
Pumpkin shortage such a bummer! I feel like I've been seeing pumpkin patches all over the blog, but just not here. Definitely keep me posted on the vegan diet. Have you ever seen this blog? http://theveganstoner.blogspot.com/
my bro in law loves it and he has been vegan for several years now.
- October 17, 2011 at 12:51 PM
- kristina@beancakes ★ said...
good morning dawn! YES! coffee is indeed very good for you! and yes, we all need at least one vice ~ i agree! good job on the healthy eating ~ that's my goal as well ~ it just makes such a difference when i eat well ;) love these photos as usual ~ those booties and tights are way cute!!
xoxo ~ kristina
- October 17, 2011 at 1:39 PM
- Mary Jo at TrustYourStyle said...
Gasp, I am so envious that you've buckled down and are doing the diet I vowed to start months ago {ice cream got in the way}. I really am going to start it soon--which diet are you following? Happy Monday to you dear Dawn!
xo Mary Jo
- October 17, 2011 at 1:40 PM
- sugarhoneybaby said...
Sounds great!Have a wonderful week:)
- October 17, 2011 at 2:02 PM
- Josie said...
Loving all your autumn inspired posts Dawn, hope all is good with you :)
- October 17, 2011 at 2:21 PM
- Lonely Wife Project said...
What I would give to have your positivity on a Monday morning!
- October 17, 2011 at 2:37 PM
- Curves Ahead Make up said...
have a great week !!
- October 17, 2011 at 4:17 PM
- About Last Weekend said...
I do love those booties and your enthusiasm!
- October 17, 2011 at 4:44 PM
- Shishi said...
I just found out your blog! It's great!!!
- October 17, 2011 at 4:45 PM
- Punctuation Mark said...
i love your always possitive attitude... hope you're week started with a fabulously heeled right foot!
- October 17, 2011 at 5:46 PM
- Lindsey Regan Thorne @ be pretty said...
Coffee is a MUST in any diet!! :) I don't know what I'd do without my morning cup of joe!! Happy Monday to you my dear!! xoxo
- October 17, 2011 at 5:56 PM
- Aubrey {All Things Bright and Beautiful} said...
Girl you have got some stellar willpower if you can do that diet! Definitely have to have at least one indulgence! (c: You don't want to start feeling deprived! (c:
- October 17, 2011 at 6:07 PM
- Nessa @{Casa Braaflat} said...
Wow good for you on your new way of eating. and I agree with you on the coffee. I'm pretty sure I would wither & die without coffee.
- October 17, 2011 at 7:13 PM
- Charlotte Aimée Clarke said...
Ahh I do love a good hazelnut latte; especially in Winter and on stressful days -The perfect excuse for a break or a gossip with girlfriends on Sundays :)
Love the brown-espue tones of all the pictures, very pretty.
- October 17, 2011 at 7:36 PM
- Chelsea Lane said...
pumpkin shortage?! oh no! glad your vegan/gluten free diet is going great :)
- October 17, 2011 at 7:38 PM
- Erika [small shop] said...
Getting healthy has seemed to affect everyone! I suppose it's a good thing altho yes, I don't think i could give up my morning coffee either. And wine. Need wine.
Have a great week!
- October 17, 2011 at 7:44 PM
- honey my heart said...
i have to find a few little pumpkins, too! glad to know your weeks is off to a good start, so is mine :)
- October 17, 2011 at 7:55 PM
- Annemarie @ Brunch at Saks said...
Oh no! I love your attitude though! Don't let it ruin your fall! xo
- October 17, 2011 at 8:30 PM
- Vanisha @ Vanisha's Life In...Australia said...
Happy Monday! That's such a great attitude to have, especially on a MONDAY morning!
- October 17, 2011 at 10:25 PM
- annie markantonatou said...
like the shoes! have a great week!
- October 18, 2011 at 4:09 PM

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Get the Flash Playerto see this player.
|Sorority Sistas
Short review: This site has very long videos and plenty of them to watch. Updates once a week and tons of bonus sites available with this pass as well! High resolution pictures and videos to look at. The videos are full length episodes but without the option to download shorter clips. Overall a decent site with beautiful women to watch eat each other's pussies out!
Content Amount: 26 videos at the time of review with about 32 minutes on each. Over 250 pictures per gallery, with some being screen shots and other's being posed pictures. Plenty of stuff to look at, especially when you include what they offer on the bonus sites.


text:
It sounds like the latest developer preview for Mac OS X Lion will allow you to reboot into a Safari only mode (similar to how a Google ChromeBook is perpetually in Chrome-only mode), as part of the upcoming Find my Mac feature. Should iPad have that option? iPhone and iPod touch?
It would be handy if you wanted to give someone easy access to the web but didn't want them nosing around in your pictures, iMessages, email, and other personal information. It might also be good for educational, business, or even kiosk settings where web access is enough and apps might be too much.


text: At the end of a close game against the Nets on Wednesday night, noted flopper Chris Paul turned the ball over with 19 seconds to go and the Hornets down by two. In overtime, he missed the potential game-winner and added a spectacular flop for good measure. Finally, he "verbally abused" an official — it can only have been for not calling a foul on this play — and was hit with a $15,000 fine. Paul, who was was 4-for-15 in the 103-101 loss, told the Times-Picayune that he was frustrated with his "indecisions" down the stretch and felt "like this was my loss." The flop, at least, was quite decisive.


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Outcomes Assessment
Assessment must be an integral part of any successful institution. A well planned and executed assessment process will help the college accomplish its mission and goals.
Our Mission Statement
Sierra College provides a challenging and supportive learning environment for students having diverse goals, abilities, and needs interested in transfer, career and technical training, and life long learning. The College's programs and services encourage students to identify and to expand their potential. Sierra College students will develop the knowledge, skills and abilities to become engaged and contributing members of the community.
Outcomes assessment helps align instruction and student services in order to meet program and institutional goals. In the classroom assessment can dramatically improve teaching effectiveness and student learning. Outside the classroom it informs institutional effectiveness and improvement. Outcomes assessment is systematic , ongoing and involves the entire Sierra College community.
We assess at the institutional level (ISLOs), program level (PSLOs, instructional and student services), and course level (CSLOs). We assess because we have an obligation to our educational community and through the assessment process we become better at what we do.


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LAKELAND, FL (September 26, 2013) — Lakeland Electric is hosting an open house on Saturday, October 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. as part of Public Power Week so get ready for a fun-filled, power-packed day! The event will be held at the Lakeland Electric Training Center across the street from the McIntosh Power Plant. The Training Center's physical address is 2727 Centurion Dr. Lakeland, FL 33805.
October 2013 marks Public Power Week's 27th anniversary as a country-wide program to celebrate the importance of public power to local citizens and other key publics, including state and national officials. Lakeland Electric employees invite all residents to experience their electric utility.
Participants will see first-hand how electricity is generated, learn how to save energy and dollars, get a better understanding of what goes into establishing electric rates and experience hands-on operations of power equipment. Attendants will get a firsthand look at the various generation units and the operating systems at the McIntosh Power Plant. Not everyone gets access to the power plant and this is a rare opportunity to tour the generation facility that produces the majority of the electricity that powers Lakeland.
Besides the plant tours, there will be a number of activities that will include something for all ages. The fun-filled, day includes:
· Bucket Truck Rides
· Photos with Wattson (Lakeland Electric's mascot)
· Children's Activities (Tattoos, Arts & Crafts)
· Giveaways
· Food and Refreshments
· Electric Safety Demonstrations & Displays
· Smart Meter Educational Tutorial (Benefits & Features)
· Hurricane Preparedness Demonstrations
· New Lakeland Electric Web Site Demonstrations & New eServices Portal
· System Control Demonstrations (How trouble trucks are dispatched)
· Electri-fried Hot Dogs
· Customer Care Programs & Services
· Solar Power Demonstrations and Solar Hot Water Systems
Lakeland Electric customers will have the opportunity to meet linemen, system control operators and customer service representatives and ask them any questions you might have. Family Day features something exciting for kids of all ages… so come out and feel the energy!
The Lakeland Electric Training Center is located at 2727 Centurion Drive. Take Lake Parker Drive off Memorial heading north toward the McIntosh Power Plant. Across from the Plant you will see Centurion Drive. Take a right at Centurion Drive and then take the first right off Centurion Drive to the Training Center. We hope to see you there!


text:
Beyond the Yellow Brick Road: A Honolulu Theater Makes a Move
There's lots to like about the new performance space for The Actors' Group (TAG) in downtown Honolulu.
(page 1 of 2)
There's the antique couch that greets you in the foyer; the comfortable audience seating for 50—a perfect size house for an intimate, but not in-your-face, theater experience; the weathered red brick peeking out from behind the set walls; and the roomy lanai that wraps around a greenery-filled courtyard, just right for a charming intermission.
Eric Nemoto is one of TAG's founding members and serves as its current president. His favorite thing about the theater's new digs? "The air conditioner! We don't take anything for granted. Good air conditioning, running water—I hate to be so basic. We're still in that honeymoon phase, but I'm like, wow."
In Honolulu's theater community, TAG is known as the go-to place for a good, straight play, the kind in which dialogue isn't the white bread that surrounds juicy song-and-dance numbers. Since its first full season in 1999, TAG has racked up an impressive number of Pookela honors, often dominating the performance categories for plays—but, until recently, seeing a TAG production meant that you had to suffer for your art.
TAG's former venue, at the now-defunct Yellow Brick Studio, was in a decidedly non-waterfront part of Kakaako. Says Nemoto: "I used to greet people at the beginning of the productions by saying, 'You know you're gonna sweat, because the air conditioner doesn't really work. Your butt is gonna ache, because the seats are hard. You're gonna hear the next-door garage, because there's no soundproofing." There were barely two dozen seats, and actors had to be careful not to trip over the legs of the folks in the front row.
The rent was cheap, though, and a theater with low overhead costs doesn't need a river of cash flow. Instead of sticking to surefire blockbusters, TAG put together carefully chosen lineups of thought-provoking, interesting work. Glengarry Glen Ross. Equus. Albee. Pinter.
Word got around: The roof might leak, but the plays you've been wanting to see are finally here. The group also gained a reputation for riveting performances. "As lousy of a space as it was," says Nemoto, "for an actor, it was a real turn-on." Brad Powell, TAG's artistic director, agrees: "We have had the very best actors work with us. It really boggles my mind."
As the Pookelas stacked up and the building aged, it became increasingly clear that it was time for a change. After a long search for the right blend of bohemian and comfortable, TAG found a diamond in the rough in the historic Mendonca building in Chinatown's gentrifying arts district, dense with performance spaces and other urban gems. Now, a lot of late nights and hammered fingers later, there's a well-designed, well-furnished new theater across the street from Little Village, with the galleries, eateries and watering holes of downtown Honolulu a stone's throw away.
TAG opened its first production in the new Chinatown space on the auspicious date of 8/8/08. It's been less than a year, but it looks as though the group has settled in. Props are stacked up backstage—a tiny, non-playing piano, racks of costumes. Elegant wire horses' heads from a favorite production peer down from a partition in the group's offices. "This is only our third production here, and already it feels like home," says Powell. "For 10 years, at the old space—it's hard to remember how we did that."
And the future? There's reason to be optimistic. "Season tickets have increased a lot [in number]," says Powell. Nemoto cautions, though, that it's a tricky time for a growing theater that wants to keep doing it for love: "Now that we've made the commitment to be in that space, our rent has tripled—and that's our big challenge. I'm staying away from the word guarantee, because you never know, but we hope that we will continue to be the theater that takes risks, and puts forth productions that we want to do, rather than what we have to do."
Go to the next page to read about TAG's next play, Inside Out.


text:
Give me your fussy, your bored, your hard to buy for: the TED Fellows gift guide
Still hurting for gift ideas? Never fear. The inventive and iconoclastic TED Fellows are coming to the rescue with the recent fruit of their labors. These inspired and unusual items — from Chinese-inflected banjo music to a remote-controlled underwater vehicle — are sure to delight your loved ones. Just be gentle stuffing that all-terrain vehicle […]Continue reading


text:
Viking: Battle for Asgard
What do you need help on?Cancel X
If you're stuck in Viking: Battle for Asgard, ask your fellow GameFAQs members for help.
Viking: Battle for Asgard thrusts players into a twisted mythological world overrun with demonic warriors unleashed by Hel, the Norse goddess of death. As Skarin, a rage-fueled Viking hero, players will wage all-out war to free mankind from the grip of evil and ultimate annihilation. Enemies will suffer graphic dismemberment with disturbing realism from an array of Skarin's melee, range and magic attacks.
Game News
- Sega Is Giving Away Free Games on Steam [UPDATE]Updated Feb 22, 2016
- Viking: Battle For Asgard now available for PCUpdated Oct 18, 2012
- Sega Sammy posts half-billion-dollar lossUpdated May 14, 2008
- Shippin' Out March 24-28: Crisis Core, Kane's WrathUpdated Mar 24, 2008
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Who We Are
In 1944, the IEC was founded as a nonprofit organization sponsored by universities and engineering societies and became dedicated to continuing education for the U.S. electronics industry.
During its sixty years, the Consortium has experienced many changes: from the electronics industry to today's information industry; from a national focus to an international perspective; and from an initial base of engineers to a vast cross-section of engineers, managers, and executives.
Academia and Industry Working Together
But the essential mission has remained unchanged: academia and industry working together to bring the highest quality and most innovative forms of continuing education to the industry.
In addition, new educational programs and new forms of cooperation have been developed to meet today's more complex needs. As our predecessors defined our mission for the electronics age, we carry it into the future of the information age.
The IEC became a strong force in the remarkable growth of the electronics industry, keeping many thousands in the industry up to date, adding to its roster of prominent university affiliates and industry sponsors, influencing curricula at engineering schools, and developing innovative educational research and service programs.
Today, the IEC maintains its mission as a partnership between academia and industry by providing quality continuing education, research, publications, and service programs for the international information industry.
University Program
For academia, the IEC University Program provides tuition-free grants to professors and students, permitting the latest technological, business, and industry information to transfer into curricula and academic research.
Also, the IEC manages the 270-university Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA), dedicated to sharing information and maintaining awareness of industry needs and direction.
Contact Information
International Engineering Consortium
Two Prudential Plaza
180 N. Stetson, Suite 3500, Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: +1-312-559-3724
Fax: +1-312-559-4111
E-mail: email@example.com
Address comments regarding IEC's web site to: firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Washateria robber punches clerk and takes money
Port Arthur police are looking for a man who punched a clerk at Willie's Washateria and then took money from the woman.
According to a release from the police, a black male suspect walked into the Washateria with a pistol, threatened the clerk and then struck her "with his fist." The suspect then took money from the clerk after going behind the counter. Fortunately, officers were able to gather evidence from the scene. The Street Crimes Unit and the Criminal Investigation Division are investigating. The clerk was slightly injured according to the release. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call 409-983-8600.


text:
PETERSBURG, Alaska—An eagle rescued from a Petersburg beach has been euthanized.
KFSK reports (http://is.gd/bfjgSB) the eagle had been at the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka for about five weeks.
The eagle couldn't fly because it had a broken bone in its wing.
However, it became evident during rehabilitation that the bird had been electrocuted. Staff workers found a part of the eagle's wing with a bone in it on the floor of the large flight area, meaning the bone had died in the electrocution.
Electrocutions are common in southeast Alaska. There's a large population of eagles, and some birds will fly into power lines.
The remains will be sent to the National Eagle Repository in Colorado for conservation and use in Native American traditions.
Information from: KFSK-FM, http://www.alaska.net/~kfsk/


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2011-04-07 / Church News
Easter Services
An Easter celebration will be held Saturday, April 16, at Pleasant Ridge Nazarene from 10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Activities will include an egg hunt, stories and snack. Children ages 1- 12 invited along with family. Details and preregistration are may be obtained by calling 485-3973 or 573-4586.
Antioch Christian Church will hold Easter services April 14, at 7:30 p.m. with Brother Todd Jay as speaker. Singers will be he Jerusalem Christian Church. All are welcome to attend.


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What's Happening at Tanglewood in the Summer of 2014
The exciting details of Tanglewood's 77th season (June 28 – August 30) have been released giving all of us another reason to be thankful this weekend!
This summer, Tanglewood and the Berkshires welcome Andris Nelsons for his first festival appearances as BSO Music Director Designate.
2014's program highlights American music. Along with the concert performance of Bernstein's Candide and the movie presentation with live orchestra of The Wizard of Oz, mentioned above, Tanglewood will present American baritone Thomas Hampson in a selection of Old American Songs by Aaron Copland, with Christoph von Dohnányi conducting (7/18), and the world premiere of William Bolcom's Circus Overture to open a BSO concert celebrating Leonard Slatkin's 70th birthday (8/8).
The American music theme will extend to the season-long celebration of the 20th anniversary of Ozawa Hall with an appearance by Chanticleer in a program entitled She Said/He Said, with music ranging from Renaissance madrigals to new arrangements from Chanticleer's popular and jazz repertoire (7/9); a performance of Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
The 2014 Festival of Contemporary Music, July 17-21, under the direction of John Harbison and Michael Gandolfi, will present programs featuring works by American composers, with a special emphasis on music from a younger generation of Americans, many of whom have been Fellows at the Tanglewood Music Center.
The Boston Pops Orchestra with Keith Lockhart and John Williams will be joined by two American icons: Jason Alexander, and Josh Groban. Besides leading the Boston Pops in the score to The Wizard of Oz to accompany the universally beloved movie classic (8/22), Keith Lockhart will conduct Boston Pops concerts featuring Broadway veteran and Tony Award-winner Jason Alexander in a program of comedy, song, and dance (7/13), and superstar singer Josh Groban in a program that brings the 2014 Tanglewood season to a close on August 30. John Williams will lead Tanglewood's Film Night, one of the most eagerly-anticipated evenings of the Tanglewood season, with special guests to be announced at a later date (8/2). The annual day-long musical celebration, Tanglewood on Parade, culminating in an evening concert with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center orchestras, led by Keith Lockhart, John Williams, and Stéphane Denève will take place on August 5.
Tanglewood welcomes back James Taylor and his extraordinary band for two performances in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, July 3 and 4. A spectacular fireworks display over the Stockbridge Bowl will follow the concert. Mr. Taylor, who regularly performs to sold-out audiences at Tanglewood, has returned to the festival 21 times since his first performances there in 1974.
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning on January 26, 2014 ; and for James Taylor's July 3 and 4 concerts on Thursday, January 16. All proceeds for the July 4 concert to benefit Tanglewood. Rooms at The Rookwood will start filling up sooner. Make your reservation early to avoid disappointment!


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University of Hartford student Amanda Schoen, from Lake Worth, Fla., a senior majoring in English, has been selected as one of five Connecticut student poets to recite their work at colleges and universities around the state in the spring 2013 Student Poetry Tour.
The tour, which is sponsored by the Connecticut Poetry Circuit, began on Feb. 6 in New Haven, and includes a stop at the University of Hartford on Tuesday, Feb. 26. Schoen was selected from among undergraduate college students from across the state to join this highly selective contest.
"Being chosen to participate in the poetry tour came as a great surprise and an honor", Schoen said. "Following graduation, I plan on attending graduate school to pursue a master's degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in creative writing."
Each winter since 1970, the Connecticut Poetry Circuit has sent four or five Connecticut Student Poets on tour to read at colleges and universities throughout the state.
Chartered in 1957 with the mission to be a "private university with a public purpose," the University of Hartford offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs in the arts, humanities, business, engineering and technology, education, and the health professions. The University's student body of nearly 7,200 represents 48 states and more than 60 countries. For more information, visit www.hartford.edu.


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[[Category: Courses]] [[Category: SLOrk]]
[[Category: Courses]] [[Category: SLOrk]]
Revision as of 21:43, 18 February 2009
SLOrk 2009
Lights and Levitation
- Andy, Mikael, David
- Craig, Isak, David
- Craig, Mikael(--)
- Leah, Rob, Jieun
- Visda
Live Coding
Feel free to submit introductory tutorials or suggestions regarding performance for any of the pieces currently in the Slork repertoire. Not only could many of last year's members use a refresher in the control-systems and subtleties of each very different piece, but to new members struggling with putting all the pieces together, these basic comments can get the ball rolling.
Take it for Granite
by Perry Cook
To start, open a terminal window and type: "granite". A simple GUI with three horizontal sliders and a single button will open and you will hear a crackling sound (you will also hear a few percussive beats but that's a bug, isn't it? ) Move the sliders to the right and you'll hear changes in amplitude of the crackling sound (top slider), pitch of the crackling sound (middle slider), and density of the drum-like percussive beats (bottom slider). Pressing the button labled "Sync Pattern" will output a strong pulse, grounding the rhythmic pattern temporarily to your beat.


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Twins Take Down Toronto Saturday To Snap Six Game Skid
The Twins snapped a six game losing streak Saturday afternoon with a 6-0 win at Toronto. Mike Pelfrey returned from the disabled list and threw six strong innings for Minnesota in the win.
The Twins got four RBI from second baseman Brian Dozier, a RBI groundout in the third to start the scoring and a three run home run in the seventh to cap it.
Pelfrey threw six innings and allowed no runs on three hits and three walks to earn the victory.
The Twins and Blue Jays will finish their three game set Sunday afternoon in Toronto.


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Florida Georgia Line Visit Food Bank For New York City [Pictures]
Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line are much more than just the face of Outnumber Hunger. They recently provided some muscle at Food Bank For New York City.
Outnumber Hunger is a partnership between General Mills, Feeding America and Big Machine Label Group to help Feeding America secure millions of meals on behalf of local food banks. Hubbard and Kelley's volunteer efforts took place on April 30, after an exclusive performance at Hill Country, a famous barbecue restaurant in Manhattan.
More than 49 million people in the United States struggle with hunger, according to the USDA, and Florida Georgia Line have been proud leaders in this year's Outnumber Hunger campaign. In addition to appearing on 90 General Mills products, they' headlined the Outnumber Hunger Live! concert last month, and appeared on shows like 'The View' to spread their message.
"Having campaigns like Outnumber Hunger and, in particular, volunteer events with stars like Tyler and Brian, really helps to shine a light on the issue of hunger and the importance of making sure that everyone have enough food to eat" says Lucio Guerrero, spokesman for Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger relief organization. "We know that we can't solve hunger alone -– only together can we really work to solve hunger in this country."
After helping pack boxes, the 'Cruise' singers talked to local food bank leaders about the work that goes in to feeding families in the NYC area and the efforts to eliminate hunger locally.
This post has been produced in collaboration with our advertising partner, General Mills.


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Burleigh County, North Dakota Consumer Lawyers
Rick Sand
Burleigh County, ND Consumer Law Attorney
(701) 609-1510University of St. Thomas, Minnesota School of LawArizona and North DakotaState Bar of North Dakota
The LII Lawyer Directory contains lawyers who have claimed their profiles and are actively seeking clients. Find more Burleigh County, North Dakota Consumer Lawyers in the Justia Legal Services and Lawyers Directory which includes profiles of more than one million lawyers licensed to practice in the United States, in addition to profiles of legal aid, pro bono and legal service organizations.
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Commercial, Products, Services, Training
By By Mark Robins | May 1, 2010
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A helicopter rotor is the rotating component that generates an aerodynamic force. Also called the rotor system, it usually refers to the helicopter's main rotor mounted on a vertical mast over the top of the helicopter, but it also can refer to the tail rotor. A rotor is generally made up of two or more rotor blades, although several earlier helicopters featured designs with a single main rotor blade. The main rotor provides both lift and thrust, while the tail rotor provides thrust to compensate for the main rotor's torque.
Tail rotors are generally simpler than main rotors since they only require thrust control via change in pitch. The rotor head is a robust hub with attachment points for the blades and mechanical linkages designed to control the pitch of the blades.
Helicopter rotor blades are highly sophisticated products, consisting of a matrix of various materials and composites. Each rotor blade is manufactured as a composite, with foam or honeycomb materials forming the core of the blade. The blades are covered with one or more layers of fiber-reinforced plastics on the outside. For further reinforcement, carbon, Kevlar or glass fibers are used. In highly stressed areas, such as the leading edge of the blade, titanium erosion shields provide additional reinforcement.
Because so much is riding on them, helicopter rotors are safety-requisite components. They are exposed to high stresses caused by centrifugal, inertia and aerodynamic forces. They must combine low weight with a high degree of fatigue resistance. There are many ways to test rotor blades, which can verify that the blade laminations layers do not separate. Testing also can verify that the fibers do not break under repeated stress.
Rotor blades can be visually inspected. Visual checks aim at detecting surface cracks and corrosion. Manual acoustic inspection is done by tapping the rotor blades with a hammer and then noting the impact sound to determine whether the substructure's bond is intact or has separated. This tests for delamination between the alloy skin and the leading edge spar or blade root reinforcing strip.
But these tests are time-consuming, cannot be automated and can have a high incidence of error. Also, these tests make it very difficult to discover any damage not visible on the outside. For these reasons, it is necessary to have nondestructive and automated testing systems that can test with greater reliability and efficiency.
Infrared thermography can test rotor blades. A rotor blade's surface temperature is increased using a heat pulse to reveal local build-up of heat. If a defect with reduced heat conductivity prevents heat dissipation into the object's interior, then the surface above the defect remains warm for a longer time, and the defect's location can be seen in a thermographic image.
An infrared image of a defective rotor blade could show air inclusions and structural dampening. It can indicate an area of delamination or an area that is moving toward the breaking point for the fibers. With infrared thermography, rotor blades can be tested in a semi-automatic process and surface areas of several square meters can be completely registered in one minute. Even defects that are invisible on the outside can be detected with improved clarity. Image processing software assists in automating the evaluation.
Wind tunnel test measurements, flight test measurements and analytical prediction play a key role in the developing and testing rotor systems. Tests are typically performed using a range of sizes and wind tunnel test facilities to provide precise, repeatable control of rotor operating conditions. Airspeed, rotor speed and rotor thrust are easily controlled in a wind tunnel, and can be set to values not possible in flight.
Wind tunnels can test aerodynamics, dynamics, model noise, and full-scale aircraft and its components. The aerodynamic characteristics and aeromechanical stability boundaries of new and advanced rotors can be explored, as well as rotor-fuselage interactions. Stability and control derivatives can be determined, including the static and dynamic characteristics of new aircraft configurations.
Models for wind tunnel testing fall into three categories: rigid, Froude-scaled and mach-scaled. "Rigid models only simulate aerodynamic profile and are used to study aero performance under ideal conditions," says Edward C. Smith, professor of aerospace engineering at Penn State University. "Froude models study rotor dynamics, but are complex and expensive to build. They can simulate steady elastic deformations under airloads. Mach-scaled models study performance and aero characteristics; they simulate compressibility. Their higher rotations per minute can match full-scale tip speeds in hover and forward flight."
Despite its many advantages, accurate wind tunnel noise measurement testing can be difficult. Wall effects can prevent the rotor wake from developing exactly as it does in free flight. This is crucial because an important contributor to rotor noise is the interaction between the rotor and its own wake (such as blade-vortex interaction).
In many wind tunnel tests, the rotor test stand is not the same shape as the fuselage, hence aerodynamic interference between the test stand and rotor is different than in flight. The wind tunnel walls cause reflections that may corrupt the acoustic signals. The wind tunnel has its own background noise, caused by the wind tunnel drive and by the rotor test stand. The turbulence level is rarely the same as in flight. The rotor is frequently trimmed differently in a wind tunnel test than in flight.
Testing on a full-scale, state-of-the-art helicopter rotor system for a Department of Defense customer is currently underway at the U.S. Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC)'s National Full-scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) at Moffett Field, Calif. The testing is a two-part collaborative effort between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), NASA and the U.S. Army.
The test article, a Boeing Smart Material Actuated Rotor Technology (SMART) helicopter rotor, is being tested in the NFAC's 40-by-80-foot wind tunnel to study the system's forward flight characteristics and to collect data to validate cutting-edge aero-acoustic analysis codes.
"DARPA has a program called the helicopter quieting program," says Jeffrey Johnson, Arnold's test engineering group lead at NFAC. "Their overall goal is to try and develop codes for predicting the acoustics of helicopters. One component of the program is to take this active flap rotor system, and run it at several specific test conditions to get acoustic measurements so they can have that as a database to compare their acoustic prediction codes against."
Dr. William Warmbrodt, NASA Ames Research Center's Aeromechanics Branch chief, says the NFAC is uniquely qualified to conduct testing of the SMART rotor. He is the acting program manager for DARPA on the test and helps to execute the technical aspects of NASA's and the Army's part of the project.
"This is the only facility in the world that can test full-scale helicopter rotor systems," he says. "We are testing rotor systems that have never been operated within simulated forward flight conditions and to do this safely and still get the kind of quality data out of them is a unique challenge."
Warmbrodt describes helicopters as a unique flying platform requiring all the tools available to properly test to improve system designs and capabilities. "Helicopters are the most complex mechanical systems flying today," he says. "In the wind tunnel you can only simulate steady operating conditions and as such the rotors get tested in a certain way and then you rely on your analysis to take it beyond what you have demonstrated in the tunnels, understanding dynamic behavior in a real fight environment."
Helicopters are the most complex mechanical systems flying today.
Electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI), also called electro-optic holography or TV holography, is an effective way to test rotors. It can measure a rotor's surface roughness, shape and slope contours. ESPI produces results in the form of images called fringe patterns. It displays fringe patterns in real time on a TV monitor without the need for photographic processing or optical filtering. It is an especially powerful test technique to characterize rotors at elevated temperatures providing full field displacement and strain information.
Rotors are illuminated using two laser beams, which make equal angles with the surface normal to the object. The image of the object is formed on the detector of a video camera using a system of lenses. The image captured by the video camera is processed using a digital image processor.
To obtain the fringes corresponding to the displacement field, two images of the object are needed: one before deformation, and the other after deformation. The image of the object illuminated by laser light has a random distribution of speckles, which are extremely sensitive to the motion of the object's surface. Speckles are the bright and dark spots that appear on a diffuse scattering surface when illuminated by laser light. This phenomenon occurs because waves of laser light scattered by various surface elements are superimposed with a random phase relationship in space.
Although very similar to ESPI, Shearography is typically used for nondestructive testing instead of material analysis and strain measurement. The shearography method is less susceptible to environmental noise and operating the equipment typically requires less technical understanding. It is generally used qualitatively because additional information and processing is required to determine the absolute value of the deformation. In comparison with conventional testing techniques, shearography offers the advantages of a noncontact, full-field test and an overall significantly increased testing speed.
Laser shearography is an inspection technique where rotor blades are positioned in a huge vacuum chamber and loaded with a relative pressure difference. The pressure change in the vacuum chamber will produce slight deformations on the rotor blade's surface. A laser shearography system can observe these deformations and automatically indicate defects, such as delaminations and debondings, which show up by typical deformation patterns.
A ventilation system facilitates fast pressure sequences during operation. The typical pressure difference is a few mbar. Despite the large dimensions of the vacuum chamber, the test pressure difference is realized within five seconds.
The rotor blade is positioned on a sledge and fixed by automatic clamps in the center and the sledge is driven into the chamber. The internal chamber dimensions are designed for inspection of large main rotor blades. Two shearing cameras are positioned on a separate guiding system on each side of the rotor blade. They allow simultaneous inspection of both sides of the rotor blade during one pressure cycle.
Automatic defect analysis can be facilitated with software that controls the exact positioning of the shearing cameras, the automatic pressurization of the vacuum chamber and automatic evaluation of the measuring results. Monitors present the inspection results of both cameras on the control panel. Three different operation levels allow automatic inspection (operator level), definition of new rotor blades and teaching of "good" rotor blades (specialist level) and complete access to all data structures and free configuration of the complete system (expert level).
For each rotor blade, inspection sequences are defined and stored in a database. This data contains all parameters for definition of the optical and mechanical properties during the inspection cycle. Using the rotor blade code, all parameters are automatically loaded and the inspection is started. If similar rotor blades have been inspected earlier, the measuring results are automatically compared with the stored master data of earlier inspections. Deviations are automatically indicated on the monitor.
The test results are automatically analyzed by comparing the measured data with a set of earlier taught master data. This allows the operator to distinguish between structural information and anomalies. The automatic anomaly localization is carried out during the test cycle and indicates the anomaly position on the screen. Sizes and positions of the anomalies are printed in a test report, which is automatically prepared after every test cycle.
These are only some of the most popular helicopter rotor blade testing methods. There are others, and because rotor testing is such an important part of the helicopter development process, new testing techniques are always being developed.


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email@example.com OR @cgriffin415 and @Brian_Bassett on Twitter.
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There are so many educational opportunities for teachers during the summer months. Some can be offered for free, and other charge fees. I'm going to mix it up a bit, because I know there are school districts which will reimburse their teachers if there is a fee. In my case, I'm on my own if I decide to pay for any workshops or classes this summer. NOTE: Some events could not be listed because the date to apply has already passed.
ALA Las Vegas- American Association of School Librarians schedule HERE
EasyBib Professional Development- on demand and free
Summer Getaway Professional Development Workshops- for school librarians from the Graduate School for Library and Information Science at the iSchool at Illinois. The flyer can be downloaded HERE.
On Common Core 2014: Professional Development for School Librarians- instructional webcasts from School Library Journal
Summer Institute 2014- South Carolina Association of School Librarians
Annenberg Learner- view videos in these subject areas: arts, foreign language, literature and language arts, math, science, social studies and history
Annenberg-Newseum Summer Teacher Institute- three-day institute in Washington, DC for teachers using new media; application deadline is May 26, 2014.
Coursera- verified certificates for certain courses
edCamp- list of all edCamp schedules (it's worldwide!)
EdmodoCon- 11-hour virtual event
Free Professional Learning Through ASCD's Professional Development Tools- includes webinars, virtual learning, book study guides
Google Teacher Academy- this summer: Atlanta, GA, Mountainview, CA and The Phillipines
Hidden Histories: Free Summer Professional Development and Lodging for Teachers- for North Carolina K-12 teachers
NEA Member Benefits: Professional Development
NJEA Professional Learning
NSTA Learning Center- science teachers can find workshops in New Mexico, Texas
Smithsonian Educator Workshops- includes the Mobile Learning Institute
Summer Professional Development Blog Series- Edutopia's list of virtual workshops, tools and resources and their Summer Rejuvination Guide
YALSA Academy- Young Adult Library Services Association's online educational video initiative
2014 Civics and Civil Rights Institute- Washington, DC
2014 Summer Institute- Learning Forward's four-day event in Chicago
American Studies Summer Institute- Defining "Public" and "Private" in America: Cultural, Social and Political Arguments Past and Present (Washington, DC)
Annenberg Learner- full courses for graduate education credit, courses for continuing education units and certificates (Through Colorado State University); facilitated or self-paced courses through PBS TeacherLine
The Art of Education Conference- online conference for art teachers
Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute- covers teachers of grades K-12
The Conference Calendar- lists conferences for all types of educators
Hybrid Institutes for Grades 3-8 Educators- in conjunction with Framingham State University and Cambridge College
ISTE 2014 Atlanta- The International Society of Technology in Education
Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians- open to in and out-of-state teachers
Learning and the Brain- "Connecting educators to neuroscientists and researchers."
Massachusetts Teachers Association Summer Conference
Millard Oakley STEM Center- for Tennessee teachers
NJEA Summer Learning Opportunities
Richard Byrne's In-Person PD Opportunity- Maine
Summer PD Opportunities- Mathematics, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies teachers from Ohio
Summervision DC- sponsored by the National Art Education Association
Teaching the Holocaust at the Middle School Level- at the University of New Hamshire
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The U.S. Brig Niagara, left, is shrouded in smoke as it fires a volley at the Sorlandet, portraying the HMS Detroit, during the bicentennial re-enactment of the Battle of Lake Erie near Put-in-Bay, Ohio.
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PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio — The image of what had taken place nearly 200 years ago was a little overwhelming for Oliver Hazard Perry Lloyd, a direct descendant of the famous naval hero of the Battle of Lake Erie.
After witnessing a re-enactment of that decisive confrontation of the War of 1812 play out in the open waters of the lake several miles from here on Monday afternoon, complete with 15 tall ships with their sails wide grabbing the wind and their carronades and long guns blasting away, Mr. Lloyd said the picture of what the actual battle must have been like became very vivid.
"If you take the little bit there was today of the armaments going off, and extrapolate that 10 times or more to get what happened here in 1813, and then add in the fact there were huge cannon balls flying around and chunks of splintered wood and shrapnel everywhere — it really boggles the mind," he said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Battle of Lake Erie Reenactment thrills onlookers
The re-enactment and the nearly two-week-long festival of events that coincide with the bicentennial celebration of the battle brought tens of thousands of visitors to South Bass Island, with event organizers estimating that on Monday more than 2,000 private boats were out on the lake forming a huge floating gallery around the actual re-enactment battle site.
"What went on here today was truly amazing — so many ships, so many people — it was really something," said Mr. Lloyd, a California resident who also plans to attend upcoming events commemorating the bicentennial of the Battle of Lake Erie held in Erie, Pa., where the original Niagara was built.
"To see so many people who really appreciate what this battle was all about is wonderful."
The re-enactment of Comm. Oliver Hazard Perry's victory over the vaunted British fleet was initially greeted by a heavy overcast sky, a few intermittent sprinkles of rain and a moderate chop on the lake, served up by north winds of 10 to 15 knots. With the wind as the most elusive variable, the tall ship captains had to improvise.
"When we started planning this battle scenario three months ago, we had no idea what the wind would be," said Wesley Heerssen, the full-time skipper of the Brig Niagara. "We looked at the forecast and had eight possible plans, but when the wind came out of the north this morning, it made for a more challenging time."
Mr. Heerssen said the re-enactment, which sought to very closely duplicate the historical record of the battle "was the largest marine battle re-enactment in maritime history, to my knowledge."
The sun had broken through around the time the first shots were fired about 2 p.m., and the sky cleared to a bright blue. Mr. Heerssen said the large number of spectator boats in the vicinity made the orchestration of the battle even more complex.
"All of the boats being there actually interfered with the battle to some extent, and hampered our ability to fire the guns," he said. "With that said, however, it all worked."
The U.S. Coast Guard stayed busy enforcing a 500-yard safety zone around the 15 tall ships, support vessels, and a fixed pyrotechnic barge participating in the massive undertaking. There were close to 70 security boats working the perimeter of the battle zone.
"With all of those tall ships under sail and the cannons going off, it looked like a movie scene out there," said Julene Market, a native of South Bass Island and one of the owners of the Miller Boat Line, which helped sponsor the appearance by the Brig Niagara. "In my lifetime, this is the biggest event Put-in-Bay and these islands have ever seen."
More than 500 re-enactors in period garb manned the tall ships, along with the permanent crews. The Brig Niagara, the star of the show, had a large American flag from the era filled with the breeze high above her stern during the event.
Following the historical script, at the height of the battle the actor Billy Campbell, playing the role of Mr. Perry, climbed out the starboard side of his flagship the Brig Lawrence, depicted by the tall ship Windy. Mr. Perry had left the Lawrence midway through the actual battle, since it was heavily damaged at that point by British fire.
Following Mr. Perry's move of 200 years ago, Mr. Campbell carried the "Don't Give Up The Ship" flag with him and took a smaller boat to reach the Niagara, which had been in the back of the formation and away from the intense fire. In Monday's stout wind, Mr. Perry's move to the Niagara was assisted by a small motorized boat.
Mr. Campbell as Mr. Perry climbed on board the Niagara on its port side, assumed command, raised the "Don't Give Up The Ship" flag and rejoined the battle. The Niagara tracked to the southwest to line up with the British vessel HMS Detroit, and as its carronades fired several volleys at the Detroit, smoke swallowed the deck of the Niagara.
The U.S. fleet was victorious again Monday, mimicking the way the 27-year-old Mr. Perry had handed the British their most humiliating naval defeat.
The historical record shows that after Mr. Perry accepted the British surrender, he then sent his superior, Gen. William Henry Harrison, one of the most famous dispatches in military history, writing that "We have met the enemy, and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop."
Peter Huston, from the not-for-profit Perry Group and the director of the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial, said the celebration, highlighted by the re-enactment, was a difficult but necessary undertaking.
"This is as good as it gets," he said. "This is not a drinking crowd out here — these are historical buffs, re-enactors, and thousands of people who wanted to be part of this bicentennial. One gentleman told me that after watching the re-enactment of the battle, now he could cross this off his bucket list. I think that says it all."
Contact Blade outdoors editor Matt Markey at: email@example.com or 419-724-6068.


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Avernum: Escape From the Pit Review
Category: ReviewsHits: 42768
Avernum: Escape from the Pit is a remake of 1999's Avernum, which in turn is a remake of Exile under a different name. A "remake of a remake" isn't a common thing, but evidently Jeff Vogel is a fan of updating his games both for new audiences, new technology (his Avernum 6 engine) and new devices (the iPad). While I'm personally familiar with a few Spiderweb games, I haven't played the original Exile or Avernum before, so like many, I'm going into Avernum: Escape from the Pit with fresh eyes. While the question of whether or not this second remake offers enough new content to be worthwhile to old fans is a bit hard to answer, on its own, Avernum stands as a very solid exploration-driven RPG that fans of the genre should enjoy, albeit with some rough edges.
Welcome to the Pit
Avernum is unique in that its world (also called Avernum) is entirely underground. Cast into the darkness by the all-controlling Empire on the surface world for some crime or other, your party of four will soon learn that life under the surface of the earth is actually quite remarkable, if harsh and dangerous. The kingdom that's been formed by exiles like yourself, ruled by King Micah and home to six major towns and a society of mages, is a large and relatively prosperous place all things considered. After a short, if slightly awkward tutorial sequence (a brand-new addition), you're set free into the game world to explore, do good deeds, strike a blow to the Empire, and, hopefully, escape from your subterranean prison.
If there's one thing that Avernum completely gets right, it's open-world exploration and a sense of progression. While not entirely free-roaming, you'll work your way from one corner of the world to another, following more or less whatever path you want. With the single goal of escaping Avernum, there's a lot of room to take your time and figure things out. As you explore the world, so too will you grow in power, learn more about Avernum, its people and history, and so on, until you're finally both tough enough and well-traveled enough to leave it behind. Trekking deeper and deeper, the distance from civilization growing as the land becomes more and more desolate, Avernum is able to create a feeling of scale and, later, isolation, that few other games can.
Two more goals appear as you explore the caverns - strike a blow to the Empire by assassinating its Emperor right inside his palace, and defeat the ancient demon Grah-Hoth. Combined with escaping to the surface, these form the three "great goals" of Avernum. In keeping with its generally open-ended nature, Avernum never actually ends until you want it to, a design choice which encourages you to explore every inch of the game world and solve every quest. Without any points of no return, forced cutscenes and plot doors, you're free to play at your own pace in a game actually built for it, making Avernum a stronger open-world experience than many more modern titles.
Of course, there's a lot of additional content beyond these "great goals", and in fact, many of those goals require you to solve several other quests - banishing the demon Adze-Haakai from the Mages' Tower, collecting a magic orb that allows your party to fly, helping out several dragons, and so on. There's also a lengthy subplot concerning helping out either the Empire's servants, the kingdom of Avernum, or the freehold of Kyass, in addition to several dozen minor quests sprinkled all throughout the game world. Many of these help guide your exploration, but I was able to solve many, many quests and visit the farthest reaches of the world well before I was "supposed" to simply by striking out on my own. The rewards - skill-boosting tomes, money, magic artifacts, and more - are more than enough reward, and make exploration very compelling.
As Avernum is based off of Exile, Spiderweb's oldest game, the design of many of these quests and the overall story is decidedly different from the newer titles. Rather than having a plot, it'd be more accurate to say Avernum gives you a lot of problems to solve and scenarios to complete. Almost all of the quests are of the fetch/kill variety, and there are very few puzzles to be found, so unfortunately they tend not to be very interesting on their own. At the same time, a global reputation mechanic and the fact that many characters are involved in multiple quest-lines also means that advancing one quest will help you indirectly in others, which gives the world a great sense of consistency, as well as a feeling of progress in your adventure as previously locked areas and opportunities open to you, sometimes revealing entirely new sections of the game world that were invisible earlier on.
Growing Pains
If there's one complaint to be made about Avernum as far as its world and gameplay goes, it's that it comes from a much simpler time. While there is an interesting parallel between some of the underground conflicts and those implied above ground (such as the dominance of the state over the people), Avernum is bare-boned compared to the far more character-driven stories found in the later games, and has very little choice and consequence in either solving quests or the game ending(s), something that can become a bit jarring at times.
The game world's overall tone and morality is also a bit strange - slaughtering Slith (lizardmen) farmers in the name of the king might be uncomfortable, but the game world certainly doesn't care. Additionally, while the early game constantly reinforces how miserable the world and its people are, none of this really translates into any actual game mechanics - you'll be rolling in supplies and magic items even just a few hours into the game, while peasants continue to farm cave dirt and fight off bandits. The classic tongue-in-cheek, wry humor Jeff Vogel is known for is very much intact, but it doesn't always mesh with the situations or setting, certainly not as well as in his later games.
The simple fact is that Spiderweb's games have changed over the years. Avernum is both a simple hack-and-slash game, and one with some hints at the later greatness of the franchise. Not everyone will be bothered by this, but there is so much more potential that was only fulfilled in later games that it can be hard to ignore. As a remake, Spiderweb had the option to flesh out the world and characters, create a more refined and driven story, and spiced up some of the quest design. Some of them, like the addition of the Freehold of Kyass, an all-new town that's tied up with a few quests, are definitely interesting, but they also draw attention to the lack of sophistication in the parts of the game that weren't spruced up. As one of the few parts of the game with real choice and consequence, it's a little unfortunate some of these improvements didn't show up elsewhere.
This new version of Avernum has some additional quirks; the transition to the new engine, as well as cross-platform play on the iPad, has brought with it a share of compromises. For one, the ability to close doors manually has been removed, which means that now stealing items can be very difficult without being caught. Additionally, changes to the non-combat skills mean that searching for secrets is now done by clicking hidden switches on walls, with the emphasis not on finding secrets but on whether your party is smart enough to press these buttons - a little silly, in my opinion. The auto-regenerating health from Avadon is thankfully gone, but now your party fully heals whenever it enters a town, and there's no hunger system in place like some of the other Avernum titles, which makes eating food or staying at inns completely useless. It's simply hard not to feel like you're playing an old game with a fresh coat of paint, and like the simpler story and gameplay mentioned above, these more modern design choices don't always fit, or simply weren't necessary.
Character System & Combat
One consistent theme throughout Jeff Vogel's games has been an emphasis on party-based play, as well as a lot of combat to enjoy (or slog through, in some cases). After the previous Spiderweb game, Avadon: The Black Fortress, and its heavily simplified character system, I was a little apprehensive about Avernum. Fortunately, Avernum retains much of the depth of other Spiderweb games, although there have been a few changes here and there, specifically to the leveling-up process.
Avernum is a classless game, although like many classless RPGs, in practice you'll have to specialize into various roles anyway. With only four character attributes and only one or two of those relevant for each archetype (mage, priest, fighter, archer/rogue), there's little room for fiddling around with spellswords and more exotic character concepts. Min/maxing is the name of the game. The one key advantage of the classless system is that non-combat skills, such as Cave Lore and Tool Use, can be assigned to anyone, and the entire party will pool its knowledge, so you can either have a "nerd" character to figure out everything, or spread out the non-combat stuff across your whole party depending on preference.
Leveling up is fairly frequent, although different from the 1999 version of the game. Aside from a single attribute point per level (along with some "natural" bonuses as you go), you'll also get two skill points and, sometimes, a trait. Skills cover everything from passive bonuses, to the aforementioned non-combat skills, to defensive abilities like parrying, to more general bonuses that allow you to learn spells and battle disciplines (activated combat abilities). Traits, meanwhile, are now passive benefits earned every two level-ups, and they either take the form of health bonuses, attribute bonuses (strength, intelligence, dexterity, etc.), or skill bonuses. They're a bit of an odd fit, because the same effect could have been achieved with a bonus skill or attribute point every few levels. I would have preferred the original trait system, with up two two selected on character creation, was kept for the new Avernum
Happily for fans of modern open-world games, there's no level cap in Avernum. Once you hit level 30, you continue to gain health bonuses on level-up, but you'll only receive new attribute points and skill points every five levels. This is both a blessing and a curse for the game. On the one hand, it's great to be able to level up endlessly and still feel like killing monsters and exploring the world is worthwhile. On the other hand, it means that about 35-40 hours into the game, my party was basically unstoppable, and only some of the toughest boss fights even remotely challenged me (and even then, due more to my complacency than anything else). It's a great feeling to be able to crush just about everything in the world, even the all-powerful dragons, but it also reduces a lot of the combat to busywork, as tactics at that point are mostly irrelevant.
The combat itself takes a form that should be instantly familiar both to Spiderweb fans and fans of Western RPGs in general. Movement is grid-based, with each character assigned a set number of action points per turn. Usually, battles will see you outnumbered, sometimes with a five-to-one ratio or more, although there are a lot of fights against small groups of powerful creatures as well. The zone-of-control mechanic remains from previous Spiderweb titles, preventing characters from freely moving when enemies are breathing down their throats. Battle disciplines have been hit with the nerf stick compared to some Spiderweb games, which severely limits the functionality of warriors and mostly relegates them to tanking roles. Combat balance is a bit rocky, unfortunately. Polearms and shields are severely outclassed by dual-wielding, and archery doesn't do enough damage to be worthwhile in most cases; magic is extremely powerful in comparison, to the point where your mages will probably be doing over 90% of your total damage output.
The actual quality of combat encounters is very hit or miss. There is a lot of filler combat in the game, albeit given its open-ended nature that's not surprising, and much of it is necessary for leveling properly (as most quests give only a small amount of experience points). Moreover, while you have a lot of options in buffing, summoning monsters and so on, almost always the best choice is simply to eliminate as many enemies as quickly as possible, especially when you're faced with large hordes. Instead of a focus on preparation and using the right tools for the job, usually you'll just be spamming area-of-effect attacks with your mages and priests, while your fighters hold the enemies at bay. When you actually need to dig into your pockets and use the more advanced abilities, fighting is great - but it's almost never necessary, leaving much of the combat feeling grindy and repetitive. The same goes true for some of the more exotic weapons, potions, scrolls, wands and so on - they come in handy from time to time, but usually simply attacking is the better choice, which means most of them are reduced to vendor trash.
The game's boss fights are simultaneously combat's high points and low points. Some of them feature interesting environmental challenges to deal with, similar to newer-school Spiderweb games like Avadon, as well as difficult combinations of enemies, like mages, ranged attackers and meat shields. However, in some cases, bosses simply have all their hit points, resistances and so on cranked up to eleven, with endless waves of respawning mooks to kill. This renders some fights sheer attrition more than anything else, and a single mistake (sometimes interface-related) can be fatal when it interrupts your delicate attack/heal flow, or causes the death of a critical party member. Like general combat, some of these battles are a ton of fun and very tense... but other times, they're simply tedious.
Visuals, Sound & Interface
Avernum, as far as I can tell, runs on the same engine tech that powered Avadon and Avernum 6. The look of the game is almost identical to Avernum 6, so much so that save for small changes to the interface and some much-improved character portraits, you'd likely have a very hard time telling the games apart. Whereas Avadon had a somewhat close-up look, with a lot of additional detail in the game world (for a Spiderweb title, anyway), Avernum pulls the "camera" back and gives a better sense of scale and space, as well as environments that generally feel a bit more realistic in terms of their size.
The actual art assets are the usual Spiderweb mix - simple, and effective, but surprisingly diverse. The limited tilesets mean that often environments have to distinguish themselves with unique layouts, and Avernum is generally successful at this, with surprisingly diverse dungeon layouts and towns that are easy to tell apart at a glance. However, the consistency of the assets themselves sometimes leaves something to be desired. While most of them are taken from the newer Spiderweb stock, a few of them have apparently been retained from the original Avernum, and when they're present they stick out like a sore thumb.
Audio is the usual for Spiderweb's games, with a heavy focus on environment ambiance and some stock sounds used primarily in combat, for opening doors, etc. Almost all these effects have been reused from previous games, but there's a little bit more music to go around - a generic but rather effective intro theme that plays on the main menu and after completing major goals, a short melody that plays when you enter a town, and a dramatic orchestral sting when combat begins. It's all effective and minimalist, and while Avernum still doesn't compare to games with bigger budgets as far as sound effects and soundtrack are concerned, there has been at least some progress made in this respect, even if it's just the little things.
The one major stumbling block for me, from a technical standpoint, isn't bugs or glitches, it's actually the user interface. Although virtually identical to the one found in Avernum 6 and Avadon, save for some added hotkeys during combat and exploration, there are a number of annoyances which I had not previously encountered in any Spiderweb game. For the most part, these issues are restricted to combat. The first of these is the snap-to targeting that's been added when selecting party members or NPCs. While usually it works, in some cases it's impossible to move your character to a certain space on the battlefield, or to target a specific enemy, or to place an area-of-effect spell exactly where you want it. Since double-clicking the active party member ends the current turn, when combined with the auto-targeting, trying to walk one space upwards will often lead to wasted turns.
Another big issue is pathfinding. Party members will not move through each other without you telling them to, which means that in dungeons, they will often plot long routes all around the other side of the level, much like in the older RPGs such as Baldur's Gate. In 2012, this is extremely frustrating and means that sending your mages to their dooms by accident, or at least attracting a new room full of enemies to deal with, is very common. Moreover, when moving near enemies, the zone-of-control mechanic won't always work consistently - sometimes your character will halt in place and allow you to still attack, and sometimes they will walk an extra space, and you won't be able to get off an attack or a critically needed spell. This can be very frustrating and on multiple occasions led to me losing difficult fights. Simply put, combat requires precision and the interface often doesn't allow for it. The addition of a pathing preview, showing the route a character will take before he or she moves, would have gone a long way towards mitigating some of these problems.
Beyond the interface issues, however, the game runs extremely smoothly, and should manage on just about any computer made in the last 10 years due to its low requirements. I played the PC version through Steam, which grants some Steam achievements in trade for the DRM, and encountered absolutely no other technical issues with the game stemming from either Steam or from the game itself. However, I did read about a few broken quests and corrupt save files on the official Spiderweb forums, so like many old-school games you'll probably want to keep as many "hard" save files on hand as you can, just in case.
Avernum: Escape from the Pit is another game in the Spiderweb mold, with all of the usual trappings that includes: a unique setting with competent writing, decent combat gameplay marred by occasionally poor balance and filler, and a great sense of freedom and exploration within a huge game world. However, unlike Avadon and Avernum 6, Avernum: Escape from the Pit often shows its age with its relatively basic quest design, lack of puzzles, shallower characters, and simple story. This isn't always a bad thing, but it is worth pointing out, especially if you're used to newer, more plot-driven titles.
Overall, I can recommend Avernum: Escape from the Pit to just about any fan of old-school isometric RPGs. For your $10 USD (on Steam, anyway), you're looking at about 40-50 hours of gameplay, which is phenomenal value no matter how you slice things. While it's a shame some of the rough edges in user interface can get in the way of gameplay from time to time, and I would have liked to see some more content additions, there's no denying that Avernum is an enjoyable game. Fans looking to get into the Avernum series will do very well with Escape from the Pit, and while the improvements beyond the game engine and visuals are relatively modest, there's still a lot to enjoy even if you've played through the game once before already.


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Since I am in PA briefly and hence have a yard even if temporarily after living mostly in cities for the past 12 years, I decided that I should plant something in it. So I decided on beans, like haricots vert type beans. I also threw some red onions and mixed salad greens + parsley, basil, sage and rosemary on my porch.
So any advice to a budding gardener (pun intended)...?


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(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
In the early 19th century girls were often taught to sew and draw as part of their schooling. As co-education opened up more academic subjects to women, they spent less and less time on the applied arts. Middle and upper class girls began to take drawing lessons in their communities. In this case, young ladies in Deerfield were being instructed by August Vincent Tack, a talented portrait painter who would make a name for himself nationally.
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Photo Assumption: Slum Love & the Turks
Jennifer Lopez was in Istanbul yesterday and hit up a club with her Slum Love Casper Smart. I love these pictures. See how the Turks are NOT feeling the Slum at all? He's shrinking into that couch. He's about to disappear into that couch. He's barely there. He's trying to be there -- HI! It's me! Over here! -- and the Turks are clearly not having it. They know. We all know. Only she doesn't know.


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HIV and the Brain
Summer/Fall 2009
Right from the early years of the epidemic, researchers have recognized that HIV can affect the brain. Before effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), people with AIDS were susceptible to a variety of opportunistic infections of the brain, as well as HIV-related dementia.
With the advent of effective combination ART in the mid-1990s, the prevalence of both conditions declined dramatically in areas with widespread access to treatment. Less severe neurocognitive impairment, however, remains common. In fact, some research indicates that the frequency of HIV-related neurological impairment is rising as people with HIV live longer.
After some time out of the spotlight, neurocognitive problems have again become a pressing concern as the average age of the HIV positive population rises (nearly 25% are now over 50, according to the National Institute on Aging). Recent conferences and journal articles reveal an increased emphasis on the effects of HIV on the brain, part of a larger shift of focus from classic AIDS-related illnesses to long-term progressive conditions in an aging population that are related to HIV and its treatment in ways that are not yet fully understood.
In particular, there is a new appreciation of the detrimental effects of low-level HIV replication and HIV-related immune activation and inflammation, even while the CD4 cell count remains high. And researchers and people with HIV are increasingly questioning whether the virus somehow accelerates the aging process. (See "Aging and HIV: A Conversation with Dr. Malcolm John," for more on getting older with HIV.)
This article discusses the spectrum of neurocognitive manifestations related to HIV/AIDS, looks at their natural history and possible causes, and reviews recent research, including studies presented at the 16th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Montreal in February 2009 and the 5th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Cape Town the following July.
Spectrum of Conditions
Specific neurological manifestations depend on which parts of the brain are affected. Impairment can range from so mild that it is not apparent without specialized testing, to so severe that it prevents independent living.
Before the advent of effective ART, individuals with advanced immunosuppression and low CD4 counts were susceptible to a host of opportunistic infections (OIs) that attack the brain, including cryptococcal meningitis, toxoplasmosis, and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), as well as primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, an AIDS-related malignancy (see sidebar on page 19).
Though less common now, OIs still frequently occur in areas where access to ART is limited and among people who do not begin treatment until HIV disease has already progressed.
Today, most neurocognitive impairment among HIV positive people is not due to opportunistic pathogens, but rather to the effects of HIV itself. As discussed below, neurological disorders are not the result of the virus attacking neurons directly, but instead result from changes in the brain's chemical environment triggered by HIV infection.
HIV-Associated Dementia
People with HIV -- especially those with severe immune suppression -- can develop frank (clearly evident) HIV-associated dementia (HAD), formerly called AIDS dementia complex. HAD is characterized by significant cognitive impairment that affects activities of daily living (for example, taking medications properly, personal care, handling money, or preparing meals). The ability to perform learned complex tasks (e.g., buttoning a shirt) is particularly affected.
A diagnosis of HAD requires significant impairment in at least two separate "domains," or areas of function. HAD is considered to be a subcortical form of dementia, meaning it is more likely to involve executive functions, such as attention, concentration, and processing speed. Cortical dementias, in contrast, are more likely to involve memory loss and deficits in higher-level cognitive functions controlled by the cerebral cortex, such as language comprehension and problemsolving. These categories overlap, however, and patients with HAD may experience the full range of symptoms.
People with HAD typically also develop some degree of motor impairment, including psychomotor slowing, poor coordination, tremors, or impaired fine motor skills (e.g., handwriting). Changes in personality, behavior, and mood are common as well, especially apathy, lack of motivation, or depression.
Individuals with a nadir (lowest ever) CD4 cell count below 200 cells/mm3 remain at higher risk for significant neurocognitive problems even if they subsequently achieve undetectable viral load and good CD4 cell recovery. This has led some researchers to conclude that HIV-related brain injury may in part be irreversible, thus underlining the importance of timely ART to prevent neurocognitive impairment from the outset.
Milder Neurocognitive Disorders
In the ART era, HIV positive individuals with well-preserved immune function generally experience less severe cognitive impairment, known as HIVrelated mild cognitive-motor disorder (MCMD). Overall, the neurocognitive manifestations of MCMD are similar in kind to those of HAD, but of lesser severity. As with HAD, there is no single prototypical pattern of impairment.
A newer classification scheme divides MCMD into asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment (ANI) and HIV-associated mild neurocognitive disorder (MND) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). People with asymptomatic impairment score below average on standardized neuropsychological tests, but do not have functional deficits apparent either to the individuals themselves or to their families, friends, and coworkers.
Symptoms in people with mild neurocognitive disorder can range from noticeable changes in concentration and short-term memory -- sometimes described as "brain fog" -- to increasing difficulty carrying out daily tasks.
It is not clear whether mild neurocognitive disorder is a precursor to HAD. Some individuals do experience this progression, but many others have stable mild-to-moderate impairment for years without significant worsening. Whereas neurocognitive disorders often appeared suddenly and progressed rapidly in the pre-ART era, today chronic, slowly progressing impairment is a more typical pattern.
The use of varying terminology can make it difficult to compare findings across studies. Because symptoms can wax and wane and there is no clear dividing line between mild and severe impairment, researchers often refer to the entire spectrum as HIVassociated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) or HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (HNI).
This article was provided by San Francisco AIDS Foundation. It is a part of the publication Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS. Visit San Francisco AIDS Foundation's Web site to find out more about their activities, publications and services.
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Are you enjoying this?
Madonna showed up at the opening of her Hard Candy gym in Berlin yesterday. She wore leather and wouldn't let us see her hands. Am I projecting or does M seem like she's in an extra extra good mood?
I'm probably projecting.
But if she were in an extra extra good mood, would it have anything to do with the fact that her former friend, Gwyneth Paltrow, has had a terrible week?
Graydon Carter and Vanity Fair are meangirling G. And Martha Stewart told her to stay in her lane. And Madonna might be all like, "Finally, enslavers! Finally that tight ass wasp is eating sh-t".
It should also be noted that Madonna has always had a warm relationship with Vanity Fair. She presented baby Lourdes in Vanity Fair in 1998, remember? Madonna & Child…exclusive, the very first time:
I'm just saying Madonna would have never tried to start a boycott on Graydon Carter's ass.