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I have lost two pairs of black running tights (leggings). If you find them, could you return them?
I know they were here, because I wore them when the weather was freezing and they functioned as long underwear in addition to exercise clothes. Now that it is "officially" spring, I can't find them. Anywhere. Losing clothes is one thing, but losing medication would be an altogether different problem, wouldn't it?
When I was first diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, I think I was put on Aricept. I had no trouble remembering to take my medication (that I remember), although I think the initial packets were labeled and I added dates to each week. Funny, I wonder if I knew what week it was. When another drug, Namenda, was added to my treatment, I began using an inexpensive pill organizer that may have been given to me by my doctor or pharmacist, or by the Alzheimer's day services program where I was facilitating support groups. Or maybe I had to purchase one because Namenda is usually prescribed twice a day. So I went from just one bottle of medication to filling a "box" once a week, which I could do without much effort.
I don't remember when purchasing a new pill organizer became necessary. It may have been when I was trying supplements. But I currently need one because I take seizure medication as well as Namenda and Aricept. They take up some space in pill compartments. I looked online off and on because my local pharmacy had nothing that would work. They were either too big (four doses a day) or too small. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I would know it when I saw it. My search ended up on Amazon and that didn't narrow it down. The prices were all over the place and I wanted to keep the cost down, but I needed the pill keeper to function for longer than the last two or three had. This is the one I purchased, though I see now they have a 4-times-a-day holder as well as a much deeper one. If you are looking for a daily keeper, this might be just right for you. What is very helpful is that I can take just one day with me if I am going out for dinner, or traveling for a few days. If I travel longer than a week, I take the keeper and my prescription bottles.
I keep my pills in the keeper on my bedside table. Days not taken have the "day" (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…) facing up. Days taken are put in with the blank side facing up. When all blanks are showing, I know I have to refill. My pill bottles are kept in a scrapbook box on the kitchen counter. I bring the bottles to the keeper and put all the individual keeper boxes, open, on the top of the scrapbook box. Then I remove one bottle at a time, read the instructions, and fill the boxes with that medicine for the week. I close the bottle, leave it outside the scrapbook box, and repeat until there are no more pill bottles in the scrapbook box.
One day I won't be able to do this and it will probably fall to my wife. For now, this system keeps me from succumbing to the same fate as my running tights. By the way, have you seen them?


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Computer modelling of the mass balance and dynamics of the Antarctic Ice SheetEntry ID: ASAC_1261
Click to see members of this collection.
Abstract: Computer models have been developed to investigate the present and future balance of ice accumulation and loss for the Antarctic ice sheet. New information about the flow properties of ice has been included to improve models. Comparisons with field observations and projections for sea-level and climate change will be investigated.
This metadata record is a parent metadata record for several child ... metadata records. The child records contain information on:
1) Balance ice fluxes for the Antarctic Ice sheet
2) Balance ice velocities for the Antarctic Ice sheet
For details on the model used, etc, see the child metadata records.
This work is now part of AAS (ASAC) project 2698.
Project objectives:
This multi-strand project aims to improve our understanding of the dynamical system of ice sheet and ice shelves and their place within the global climate system, with the major objectives of quantifying (a) the contribution of Antarctica to sea-level change, past, present and future, and (b) variations in the discharge of fresh-water into the Southern Ocean from ice shelf ocean interactions.
Specifically the project will
- assess the state of mass balance of individual drainage basins of East Antarctica, to improve understanding of the present contribution to global sea level rise
- improve understanding of the flow properties of ice through modelling, laboratory studies and analysis of remote sensing data, and incorporate this into dynamical models of the Antarctic ice sheet and ice shelves
- refine our quantitative understanding of the interaction between ice shelves and the underlying ocean and determine the influence of ice shelves on dynamics of the grounded ice sheet and hence on mass budgets and sea level change
- determine whether, and on what time scale, global warming might lead to irreversible change in the ice sheet-ice shelf system
- develop models of the ice sheet and ice shelves that can be linked to coupled atmosphere/ocean models (in an Earth Systems Model)
The project is constructed around the Science Strategy, season workplan, and the goals of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, as discussed under 3.1.2 below.
These are long term objectives, and this proposal seeks approval for a five year period culminating in the final round of ACE CRC research milestone/outputs in 2010 - and accordingly a workplan briefly indicating research for future years is included.
Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report:
Public summary of the season progress:
Patterns of present day ice sheet flows have been contrasted with marine geological evidence of palaeo ice stream flow in the Amundsen Sea region of West Antarctica. Models predicting Antarctic ice sheet thickness have assisted aerogeophysical field programs. Several theoretical models of ice flow have been tested using ice deformation experiments and crystal microstructure measurements. Interpretation of our measured ice velocities for Mertz Glacier tongue is revealing dynamic interactions with surrounding fast ice, with implications for mutual stability. Development of an ice sheet system model continues, aimed at improving predictions of ice sheet evolution and sea level rise.
Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report:
Progress against objectives:
- Antarctic Mass Balance
Roberts has improved the algorithm in his Lagrangian ice sheet balance flux computer code, vastly reducing the computational running time.
New Antarctic balance fluxes have been calculated with the Lagrangian code using the latest available Antarctic ice sheet digital elevation models, including that of Bamber, Gomez-Dans and Griggs (2009) and for ice accumulation fields from a regional atmospheric modelling study (van de Berg, W., M. van den Broeke, C. Reijmer, and E. van Meijgaard, 2006. 'Reassessment of the Antarctic surface mass balance using calibrated output of a regional atmospheric climate model.' J. Geophys. Res. 111, D11104.), as well as earlier accumulation data compilations.
New computed ice fluxes for the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica advanced our collaboration with Frank Nitsche (Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) , exploring the contrasts between present day ice sheet drainage, and paleo-ice sheet ice streams deduced from exploration of submarine troughs across the continental shelf.
Work comparing the new computed balance fluxes to the observed flows in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to explore patterns of ice sheet mass imbalance at a regional scale is nearing completion.
Warner has also continued collaboration with Jaehyung Yu (Texas A and M University), Hongxing Liu (University of Cincinnati), Kenneth Jezek (Byrd Polar Research Center) and Jiahong Wen (Shanghai Normal University) on the mass balance of the drainage basins that feed the Amery ice shelf. The detailed analyses suggests the ice sheet catchment is in overall positive budget, partially offsetting losses elsewhere in Antarctica, but they also highlight a crucial need for ice flow estimates at the southernmost grounding zone to resolve conflicts with other published estimates.
- Ice Flow Properties
Warner continued to be involved with Prof W. F. Budd in finalizing revision of a major paper connecting ice deformation studies under combined compressive and shear stresses with a simple model for enhanced ice flow proposed for use in ice sheet modeling.
The investigation of crystal fabrics in glacial and marine ice samples from Amery Ice Shelf bore-holes (led by Adam Treverrow - UTAS) was prepared for publication (joint activity with AMISOR project- AAS 1164).
- Ice shelf - ocean interaction
Warner's mass balance collaboration with Yu, Liu, Jezek and Wen (above) also arrived at new broad-scale estimates of the rates of basal melting and freezing beneath the Amery ice shelf.
Ben Galton-Fenzi (UTAS) completed his Ph D thesis on 'Modelling ice shelf ocean interaction'. Warner advised regarding calculation of the accretion of marine ice beneath the Amery ice shelf from the ocean model basal melt/freeze pattern. Galton-Fenzi's results for the Amery ice shelf basal melt/freeze show good general agreement with estimates from glaciological observations when realistic present day climate forcing is applied in the model, and this ocean model development brings capacity to make projections of how ice shelves will respond to climate change much closer. His work also indicates the importance of treating frazil ice processes in marine ice accretion.
Warner and Galton-Fenzi commenced collaboration on coupling the current ACE CRC ice shelf dynamics model with the ROMS subglacial circulation ocean model.
- Ice shelf dynamics
Research on the dynamics of the floating Mertz Glacier Tongue (MGT) led by Robert Massom continued, particularly regarding the possible stabilising influence on the MGT of a large slab of thick and consolidated landfast multi-year sea ice ("fast ice") attached to its eastern edge. To date this has mainly involved interpretation of remote sensing work (also associated with AAS 3024 Remote Sensing of Near-Coastal Antarctic Sea Ice and Its Impacts on Ice Shelves and Ecosystems), but also provides material for future ice shelf modelling work. Ironically, after our study the main, more northerly, section of the MGT calved in February 2010.
- Ice Sheet System model development
Progress continued on developing a next generation "full stress solution" model for treating the dynamics of ice sheet, ice stream and ice shelf flow. Roberts has developed a numerical method that allows for the efficient calculation of derivatives for arbitrarily distributed points. This method will be used in the ice-sheet model, allowing the selection of the discretisation grids for numerical solutions to be based on accurate implementation of boundary conditions rather than dictated by requirements for evaluating gradients. In the vertical, the grid will be of terrain following type - but with minimum grid spacing and automatic clustering in areas of high gradients.
In a separate modelling activity, Roberts has developed a novel scheme for interpolating between ice sheet thickness measurements, typically from Radio Echo Sounding (RES), drawing on ice flow trajectories, ice balance fluxes and earlier thickness inference modelling (Warner, R.C. and W.F. Budd (2000) Derivation of ice thickness and bedrock topography in data-gap regions over Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 31. 191-197). The skill of this interpolation scheme has been evaluated using the denser coverage from the first season of RES data gathered by the ICECAP international collaboration (see AAS 3103) over the region south of Casey station, encompassing the Aurora Subglacial Basin and Totten and Denman glacier streams. Warner and Roberts have recently applied this interpolation scheme to the generally sparse publicly available ice thickness data for the entire Antarctic continent, to produce a new view of the broad-scale subglacial landscape. We hope this scheme will be of value in the international effort (BEDMAP 2) to assemble a new ice thickness and bedrock dataset from existing and new IPY-era RES data.
Related URL
Geographic Coverage
Spatial coordinates
Data Set Citation
Dataset Originator/Creator: Warner, R.
Dataset Title: Computer modelling of the mass balance and dynamics of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
Dataset Series Name: CAASM Metadata
Dataset Publisher: Australian Antarctic Data CentreOnline Resource: https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/metadata_redirect.cfm?md=/AMD...
Temporal Coverage
Start Date: 2000-09-30Stop Date: 2010-06-30
Location Keywords
Science Keywords
ISO Topic Category
Quality Values provided in temporal and spatial coverage are approximate only.
Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report:
Difficulties affecting project:
The loss of a PhD student has resulted in significant delays in the major ice shelf modelling work.
... Progress was made on adding basal drag to the CRC ice shelf model, and on modelling rifting in the Amery ice shelf, and on a study of the sensitivity of the Mertz Glacier Tongue to global warming, but some topics were not commenced.
At present the main changes envisaged are for a decrease in the depth of research carried out on some facets of the project.
Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report:
Variations to work plan or objectives: Were any variations made to the work plan or objectives for the project since it was last submitted for assessment? If 'Yes', please describe below what those variations are and why they have been made. If you intend making any changes to the future work plan for the project, what are the changes and why are they required? Will the changes affect the project?
The most recent revision of this year's work-plan envisaged the major focus on two modelling topics - coupled modelling of ice shelf-ocean interactions, and ice sheet system modelling. These contribute to the goals of the old ACE CRC. In the event more time was expended on what were then indicated as a range of subordinate topics.
Coupled modelling of ice shelf ocean interaction and of the response of the Amery ice shelf to global warming (Warner and Roberts with John Hunter and Ben Galton-Fenzi of ACE CRC) were not substantially advanced. This was partly due to Galton-Fenzi being occupied with other tasks - including completing his thesis, making useful subglacial ocean simulations involving the Mertz Glacier and Mertz polynya region, and his being assigned responsibility for circum-Antarctic coastal ocean modelling following the departure of Frank Kohlberg from the ACE CRC Oceans program. Warner and Roberts were also heavily committed elsewhere. There was still relevant progress. Galton-Fenzi's PhD thesis provides valuable new sensitivity studies for the Amery under warming scenarios, but the task of coupling ice shelf and ocean models was not implemented. This is expected to commence in earnest in June-July 2010. The work on the high resolution modeling of the Antarctic coastal ocean was in any case planned as contributing to the future effort to estimate response of other ice shelves to global warming.
Warner's collaboration with Yu, Liu, Jezek and Wen also provided additional perspectives on present day Amery aggregate basal melting and freezing, and some progress was also made towards addressing marine ice accretion via a derivation of new map of marine ice distribution (involving Allison, Fricker, Hyland, Warner and Young).
In ice sheet system modelling, Roberts developed the new component to enable derivative computations over arbitrary spatial discretizations, but he and Warner were more engaged than anticipated in other studies. Regarding the intentions of commencing new ice sheet simulations, the expectations of substantial new ice sheet bedrock data from ICECAP, AGAP and BEDMAP2 were in any case premature. The appointment of new ACE CRC staff in the coming year is also expected to assist in managing the workloads involved in assembling atmospheric and ocean forcing fields for climate change simulations.
On the other topics:
- Ice Flow Properties - (Warner, Budd, Treverrow):
Generation of research publications from 2008/2009 season and from Adam Treverrow's PhD project in general progressed but was not completed. This was partly due to Treverrow's participation in this season's AMISOR field program in Antarctica. Time and personnel constraints also led postponement of work on inferring ice flow relations from inverse modelling of ice shelf flow to early 2010/2011.
- Ice shelf dynamics (Warner, Roberts, Court, Massom, Legresy, Giles):
Progressing the ice shelf modelling projects associated with the ACE CRC ice shelf model and John Court's (abandoned) PhD project through to publication also had to be postponed - in part due to time constraints, and in part to delays in Court finding time to deliver definitive versions of the code and simulations. It is proposed that at least the major work on Amery ice shelf rifts will be completed in the coming year (paper by Warner, Court and others).
The team led by Massom decided to concentrate on studying the connection between the Mertz Glacier Tongue and the region of adjoining multi-year fast ice before returning to the detailed analysis of the time series of glacier tongue velocity maps - which will be completed in 2010.
- Antarctic Mass Budget Studies
The reassessment of East Antarctic drainage basins is almost completed. This is now expected to be done in 2010.
Access Constraints These data are not yet publicly available for download.
Use Constraints This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=ASAC_1261 when using these data.
Ancillary Keywords
Data Set Progress
Originating Center
Data Center
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Role: DIF AUTHOR
Phone: +61 3 6226 7878
Fax: +61 3 6226 2902
Email: Roland.Warner at utas.edu.au
Contact Address:
Australian Antarctic Division and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC Private Bag 80
City: Hobart
Province or State: Tasmania
Postal Code: 7001
Country: Australia
Extended Metadata Properties
(Click to view more)
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date: 2000-08-11
Last DIF Revision Date: 2018-07-10

subset: commoncrawl


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The effect BOTTLE1.mp3 is one of 11 sounds in the Glass category. You could describe the content of this category as Glass, as well as crystal, bottle, chime, drink, shatter, shard, figurine, windshield, dish, pitcher, clear, transparent, and window.
The full collection of 5,000 FX and music clips are organized into 70 separate categories. They are all 8-bit 22kHz mono in .mp3 format, making them easy to use with most programs. This collection is license and royalty-free for non-commercial use, and inexpensive for commerical use. Click here for detailed usage rights.
(If you don't have Shockwave, you can download the Plug-in Here.)
Free Sounds | Games | Clip Media | Education | Misc Stuff | Company | Order
© 1990-2007 BeachWare, Inc.


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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
Get involved on campus by attending events, joining student organizations, and participating in volunteer opportunities is an important part of the college experience at UW-River Falls. Getting involved provides skills that are helpful in becoming a leader on campus and skills that will helpful in preparing for a career after graduation.
Check out the variety of involvement opportunities provided by the Student Involvement Office. Make the most of your college experience by getting involved!


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Android Hello World Example using Eclipse IDE and Android Developer Tools (ADT) Plugin
This tutorial will help you to write your first Android 'Hello World!' program. Here, we'll use Eclipse IDE with Android Developer Tools (ADT) plugin to build the application and Android Emulator - Android Virtual Device (AVD) to run the application which will draw 'Hello World!' text on the screen.
Tools & Technologies used in this article :
1. Create Android Project
Select from the menu File --> New --> Other --> Android --> Android Application Project (say 'AndroidHello') and click Next button.
2. Configure Project Settings
Enter Application, Project and Package Name. Select 'Minimum Required SDK' (lowest version of Android that this app supports), 'Target SDK' (highest version of Android with which this application has been tested), 'Compile With' (platform version against which this application will be compiled with) and 'Theme' (Android UI style) from the corresponding theme. To make it simple you can leave the dropdown value as it is. Click Next button
Click Next button
3. Configure App Launcher Icon
Choose your App icon and configure as per your requirement. For demonstration purpose, I have changed few settings as shown below
4. Create Activity
Choose an activity template (say 'BlankActivity') and click Next button.
Enter 'Activity Name' (say 'HelloActivity') and click Finish button.
If Finish button is not enabled and Next is enabled that means required dependencies (Supporting library) are not installed. In this case click Next button and hit 'Install/Upgrade' button to install or upgrade required dependencies.
Finally click Finish button.
5. Overall Project Structure
Android project will be created with some default files as shown below
'android_hello.xml' (layout) will be opened using 'Android Common XML Editor'. Here we can build UI by simply dragging and dropping UI components from the Palette.
6. Code
'hello_world' resource string contains the message 'Hello world!' which will be shown on launching of the application.File : strings.xml
'activity_hello.xml' is the layout built using 'Android Common XML Editor'. Instead of using a hard-coded string value ('Hello world!') in '<TextView>' element, the "@string/hello_world" value refers to a string resource defined in strings.xml.File : activity_hello.xml
For this application we do not require to change anything in the generated activity code.File : HelloActivity.java
7. Run Configuration
Right click on the project and from the context menu select 'Run As' --> 'Run Configurations..'
If there is no Android Virtual Device (AVD) already created, then click Manager button to create one.
Configure AVD as shown below and click OK button.
8. Run Application
Right click on the project and from the context menu select 'Run As' --> 'Android Application'.
9. Output
Eclipse ADT will start the AVD and launch your application with 'Hello world!' message on the screen.
Click home icon in the emulator and click the launcher icon to find your application. There you'll see the app icon which we have configured at step #3.
Download Source Code


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
Online ticket sales end two hours before show time. Tickets are also available by phone at 972-205-2790 or in-person at the Granville Arts Center Box Office (300 N. Fifth Street, Downtown Garland), open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and two hours prior to select performances. Tickets to CORP and Breitling Performing Arts performances will also be available at the door of the Plaza Theatre (521 W. State Street, Downtown Garland) one hour prior to showtime.


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Could Tim Tebow end up in the CFL?
"We'll see what happens," Rex Ryan said Wednesday about Tim Tebow's future with the New York Jets.
Given Tebow's lack of playing time and the fact that he was passed over by third-string quarterback Greg McElroy for Sunday's start, it's a safe bet that what happens involves Timmy and the Jets parting ways. But where would he end up? Is it possible Tebow would take his talents north to the Canadian Football League?
Some have analyzed the move to the CFL as if it's a legitimate option, but others are quickly dismissive.
Andrew Buckholtz of the CFL blog 55-Yard Line has an interesting take:
The comedy of Tebow, a former Florida Gators star, being behind (Adrian) McPherson, who left rival Florida State following an infamous arrest, would be substantial, though. What would be even better would be if Tebow came to the CFL and had less success than another former Florida quarterback, the less-hyped Chris Leak, who infamously washed out in Montreal and then Saskatchewan. Beyond merely giving CFL fans a chance to laugh, though, there's no reason for the Alouettes to even consider Tebow. Simply put, Tim Tebow has done nothing that would suggest he'd be an effective CFL passer.
Of course, it's highly unlikely Tebow would come north anyway. There's so much bizarre, ESPN-fueled hype about him (which has been parodied in literature and musicals) that it's quite probable some other NFL team will pick him up if New York lets him go. Even if they don't, another U.S. based league like the UFL or the AFL will make a run at him and offer him way more money (and a chance to start) than the CFL could. His game might be a better fit in those leagues, too; it certainly isn't suited for the CFL. That's why it's so bizarre that teams keep putting him on a negotiation list. Tebow likely isn't coming north, and he wouldn't be any good as a quarterback if he did.
Most of it makes sense, but I can't say I agree with the last part -- if Adrian McPherson can start in the CFL, then surely Tim Tebow could too -- nor is it possible Tebow would go to the UFL or AFL before the CFL. The first two are rock bottom. The CFL is on the path to rock bottom. Tebow is struggling, but he's not there yet.
This can be chalked up as a lost season. It's almost inconceivable that Tebow was backing up a quarterback who played as awful as Mark Sanchez and couldn't see any legitimate playing time. Say what you will about Tebow and his quarterbacking talents (or lack thereof), the way the Jets handled him is surprising. It's like they were cutting their nose to spite their face.
But maybe the Jets not starting Tebow is the best thing to happen to his career. Let's say the critics are right: Tebow's success in Denver was a mirage, and he'll never make an impact on an NFL roster. If he started this year in New York and failed, wouldn't most have been forced to come to that conclusion? As it is, the only additional knock on Tebow is that a dysfunctional franchise couldn't find a place for him. He still has the aura of being a possible NFL success. Since he didn't prove otherwise this season, the dream can live on.
As long as Tebow doesn't get on the field and prove otherwise, there's the hope that he'll find greatness. It's a play off the old saying, "better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Going to the CFL removes all doubt.


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|Blonde: "I'm on the road a lot, and my clients are complaining that they can never reach me."
Psychiatrist: "Don't you have a cell phone?"
Blonde: "They're too expensive, so I did the next best thing: I put a mailbox in my car."
Psychiatrist: "And do you receive any letters?"
Blonde: "No, but I figure it's because when I'm driving around, my zip code keeps changing."


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The ear/brain can hear very tiny differences, and even subliminal things are sensed. But at different times of day the ambient noise varies, AC line noise varies, the human body may have very different active energy levels - all adding up to very different perceptions.
The Entry Level #40
The system hasn't changed, but something has. How else can I make sense of the fact that, today, my experience of listening to music through the hi-fi is different from what it was yesterday? Does it have something to do with the suddenly cold, gray weather? Or that I've been fighting the flu? Is it because I'm sitting at a desk, on an old orange elementary-school chair, off to one side of the right-channel speaker? Or because a scented candle is burning? Does it have something to do with the new pair of Levi's I'm wearing? Or is it because Ms. Little is at her parents' house, trying on wedding dresses for our ceremony (this October)? Is it because the cats have been peacefully napping? Or does it have something to do with the musicfirst Matteah Baim, then Lorde, now Beyoncé, and later Wild Beasts?
I suppose it must be some combination of all these things, plus others I haven't yet considered. I suppose the system is might be really good, too.
It's strange that I even try to come up with an easy answer. Music, after all, is one of the artsa representation or embodiment or performance of beauty, form, perspective. And of the many factors involved in the appreciation of art, perhaps none is more significant or variable than the state of mind of the person doing the appreciatingin the case of music, the listener. I think it's important to remember that, even when the goal is pure enjoyment or simple understanding, work must be donethat we must, in fact, try to connect with the artist. Because while it's true that any artist, musician, or engineer can fail at the job of delivering an artistic message, it's just as true that wethe audience, the listenerscan fail at the job of receiving that message. We're better at it some days than other days.
"Learning how to listen to musichow to identify and understand various elements of composition, how to distinguish good playing technique from bad, and so forthis a lifelong journey of considerable value." Art Dudley's words, taken from this issue's "As We See It," can be repeated until memorized like song. We can all be better listeners.
Today, perhaps, I'm listening well.
Informed appreciation of something beautiful
Or maybe I'm just imagining things. In "Placebo-philes," a recent posting to his entertaining blog Anxious Machine (footnote 1), Robert McGinley Myers discusses his brief experience as a headphone enthusiast. Myers buys one set of headphones, then a better (more expensive) set, then adds a headphone amplifier, then a better (more expensive) headphone amplifier. With these tools, he escapes into his music: "I had moments . . . when I heard things inside songs I swore I'd never heard before, when I felt as if parts of the music were two dimensional backdrops and then three dimensional shapes would leap out of the picture towards me, or the music would drizzle over my head, or crackle like lightning, or I'd swear I could smell the studio where the song had been recorded, or something."
To me, this sounds very familiar. It sounds real. I bet it does for you, too. However, in retrospect, McGinley Myers finds it simply "absurd."
"I was an idiot," he writes. "Because on other nights, usually after I'd owned that same set of gear for a little while, I wouldn't hear those things any more, and I'd start thinking that I needed better gear."
After browsing online forums and discovering that other headphone enthusiasts had plunged down the same "rabbit hole," Myers, despite having enjoyed many nights of happy listening, realized that he was "listening to his equipment rather than the music" and decided to sell it all. He attributes his experience to the placebo effectthe improvement in health or behavior following a treatment (in this case, "better" headphones) that arises not from the treatment itself but most likely from expectations about the treatment. And though for a while he felt ashamed of being "its victim," Myers now realizes that the placebo effect should be embraced for the happiness it provides.
Myers quotes from a recent Reuters piece by Felix Salmon, on the nature of the placebo effect in wine tasting:
"The more you spend on a wine, the more you like it. It really doesn't matter what the wine is at all. But when you're primed to taste a wine which you know a bit about, including the fact that you spent a significant amount of money on [it], then you'll find things in that bottle which you love. . . . After all, what you see on the label, including what you see on the price tag, is important information which can tell you a lot about what you're drinking. And the key to any kind of connoisseurship is informed appreciation of something beautiful."
Myers wonders if listening to high-end headphones, like drinking expensive wine, is "really about ritualizing a sensory experience." In performing such a ritual, you are telling yourself, I am going to focus on this moment. I am going to savor this event.
There are indeed great pleasure and value to be found in dropping a needle onto a record, properly positioning a pair of loudspeakers, or carefully placing a set of headphones over one's ears and being transported by music. And I have nothing against happinessreal, perceived, or otherwise manufactured. But I think Robert McGinley Myers and Felix Salmon place too much emphasis on price. Informed appreciation doesn't necessarily have to come at high cost. For instance, knowing all there is to know about a loudspeakerwhether it's the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 ($349/pair) or the Wilson Audio Specialties Alexandria XLF ($200,000/pair)will inevitably enhance the experience of listening to that speaker. The owner of the Wilsons isn't necessarily having more fun than the owner of the Wharfedales.
Myers is probably correct when he says that he stopped listening to his music and started listening to his equipment. It's hard for me to accept, however, that he ever actually stopped hearing the magic in his favorite recordings. The magic was there; I suspect he simply became inured to it. After time and with increased familiarity, even the magicthe crack of lightning, the smell of the studio, whatevercan become commonplace. If you stick long enough with this hobby, you may very well come to a point along the way when you find yourself listening more to the equipment than to the music.
This is okay. There's nothing inherently wrong with listening for differences between two or more components. In fact, the practice can be as educational, entertaining, and even as insightful as listening to music. The gear has its own story to tell. But if you find that focusing primarily on equipment drains the hobby of its joy, then take some time to reevaluate your values and priorities. New, more expensive gear can certainly help re-create the magic, but it's not our only salve. New musicthe best tweak for any old systemcan also help.
Audioengine D3 USB DACheadphone amplifier
Similar in size, shape, and functionality to AudioQuest's popular DragonFly (version 1.2, $149), the Audioengine D3 ($189) is a very small USB DACheadphone amplifier with a USB plug at one end and a ¼" jack at the other. It comes neatly packed with a light-gray felt case, a ¼" adapter cable, and a well-written setup guide. You can plug the D3 into a USB port on a Mac or PC, then plug a set of headphones into the D3's ¼" jack. Or, if you'd prefer to listen in open space, you can use a cable with a ¼" connector to mate the D3 to a pair of powered loudspeakers or a component hi-fi system. (Have I mentioned that the USB DACheadphone amplifier is a brilliant component category?) Essentially, the D3 replaces the computer's highly compromised audio circuitry to deliver a cleaner, purer audio signal to headphones or speakers, thus transforming the computer into a legitimate music-playback source.
Footnote 1: My thanks to Stereophile reader Marshall Bolton for directing me to Anxious Machine.
Thanks, Stephen.
Some very astute observations. It kind of makes me a little happier with my entry-level Grados and my Hifiman Waterlines. Maybe I don't need more expensive gear, just 3 or 4 decent-sounding headphones that I can rotate between for that new-sound feel. :)
I enjoyed the referenced articles/blogs (almost) as much as your piece here. The concept that even though I may know better, things are actually enjoyed better with context and external reinforcment stimuli makes perfect sense to me.
My music sounds better when I sit down and savor it. When I hear a piece of music that I haven't listened to in a long time, I hear things I did not hear (or don't remember having heard) before. I absolutely enjoy my stuff more because I know how I searced for it and chose it and set it up than if I just came upon it complete.
As the technology improves, the differences between high-end DACs and entry-levels ones is shrinking. (IMO) It takes careful comparison with short intervals between listens to detect these differences. My less than golden ears find it nearly impossible to hear the differences when I hear gear in different places and at differnent times. But when I do crtically listen, I invariably hear differences and for the most part enjoy each new sound and usually think it sounds "better" especially when I am told that there is some improvement in there soemwhere.
You know what else...my car runs better after I wash it. I know it can't be...but it sure seems that way to me.
I am going to polish my tonearm, re-seat the cables, re-route the speaker wire and enjoy the improvements....
I'm gonna throw in a cd and enjoy the music.
Hi Stephen, I just read that you are leaving Stereophile. Is this true and will you be continuing to write through a personal blog or other platform? I always appreciate your insights from your column.
I just read that you are leaving Stereophile. Is this true and will you be continuing to write through a personal blog or other platform?
Sadly, it is true. Stephen left Stereophile at the end of March after more than 13 years with the magazine. He was made an offer to join cable manufacturer AudioQuest that he would have been crazy to turn down. His new position is VP Communications for that company.
His final "Entry Level" column appears in our June issue. He will no longer be writing about hardware for Stereophile or blogging for our website, but it is possible that he will still be contributing record reviews to the magazine.
We are not replacing "The Entry Level" as such but AudioStream.com editor Michael Lavorgna will start contributing a column with the July issue.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Mr. Atkinson,
I was immediately sorry to hear that Stephen has left the building. When you say "The Entry Level" will not be replaced, do you mean that Michael Lavorgna will be continuing "The Entry Level"? I sure hope so. I am not familiar with Mr. Lavorgna's writing, but I know you understand how important this specific column is to your magazine(and to us).
Stephen, if you can hear me, good luck and thanks. Em, good luck and thanks in any case.
Nathan Daniels
I was immediately sorry to hear that Stephen has left the building.
Me too :-)
When you say "The Entry Level" will not be replaced, do you mean that Michael Lavorgna will be continuing "The Entry Level"? I sure hope so.
No, Michael's column will explore the kind of products he currently writes about for AudioStream.com in greater depth. We will continue to cover affordable components in our reviews and regular columns, but "The Entry Level" was so strongly identified with Stephen Mejias that I thought it best to cease publishing the column as it currently stood. I hope to be able to launch a replacement column devoted to entry-level components when I have discovered a writer who offers the unique combination of experience, listening ability, a love of music, the ability to communicate what he and she thinks, and a love for uncovering affordable great-sounding gear.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
I'm sorry, I just don't buy the wine thing. I agree with Felix Salmon's assertion in the above referenced Reuters piece that knowing the price one paid for wine corrolates to one's enjoyment of said wine in part. I know that effect is true for some people, but by no means all. My own particular bias is oriented around getting the best value; If I wasn't paying specific attention to the taste, I'd be the most impressed with the one that had the highest cost that I paid the least for. That's why I get all excited when I hear the phrase "it sounds as good as speakers retailing for twice the price" in reviews. That's the placebo that activates my pleasure center.
It's even more likely to sound "As good as items at twice the price" if the user is willing to do a little tweaking, but it seems so many audiophiles today say "If it isn't perfect out of the box I'll just send it back".
Of course our receptivity changes from time to time, with the same equipment. I take that as a given.
And of course it means the Stereophile-style 'listening' 'test' is a joke. I take that as a given too.
And of course the placebo effect is real. I take the fact that audiophiles even want to discuss this point, with reference to our hobby, as a simple matter of re-education (away from everything audio journalists have been writing and towards simple realities).
But the Myers solution of selling good gear and going back to worse gear is not one I commend, except for him personally if he was truly unable to simply enjoy the music through high performance gear. But that is simply a *personal* psychological issue for him.
It is still okay to obtain high performance equipment and thoroughly enjoy our music through it, comfortable in the knowledge that there is less interference between us and the music that way.
When i drank, i would listen to music and never thought the volume was high enough for me to hear everything; about 6 months after i quit, i put on a record and was amazed at the instruments i could now hear on same record. I was now paying attention to the music. Going back to the wet years and the subject of price vs hearing, i'd like to add that i once went to a high gear store and heard a pair of speakers that sounded so real, that i went home and would not play my gear for a couple of weeks. I knew it would only make me feel sick, knowing, what i could be enjoying if i invested in better stuff. It's between the ears, some say, but as a V8's posess a distinctive sound, you know, when you hear one.
In my experience the biggest changes in audio response in transducers come from changes in humidity.


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A computer programming team from the University of Rochester came in third in the regional final of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest this past weekend, behind MIT and Harvard. The northeast final was held at Rochester Institute of Technology and included 12 schools from upstate New York, New England, and eastern Canada.
The problems faced by the contestants may not be what a layperson would expect on a computer programming competition.
Problem 3: Filip's train
Filip is playing with his train. He has many straight track pieces of various lengths, and he has four identical and symmetric round track pieces that make the train turn by 90 degrees. Filip wants to build a loop (or, rather, a rectangle with rounded corners), using all his track pieces. Actually, he wants the loop to resemble a square (as much as possible). Help him!
The Rochester team solved 7 such problems in 15:25. MIT solved 8 problems in 19:13, while Harvard solved 8 problems in 19:23. Trailing Rochester in the standings were UMass Amherst, Colgate, RIT, Acadia University, Siena College, Dalhousie University, Memorial University, Middlebury College, and McGill.
"The teams were very strong this year," said Assistant Professor Daniel Stefankovic, who served as the Rochester coach. "And our team put up a world-class performance."
Rochester won the regional finals in 2009, earning a berth to the World Finals in Harbin, China. Last year, the team came in 4th in the regional competition.
The Rochester team this year was made up of Josh Pawlicki, Darcey Riley, and Sean Tang.
The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest is sponsored by IBM and operated under the auspices of the Association for Computing Machinery, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society. This year 24,915 contestants on 8,305 teams representing 2,070 universities from 88 countries competed in the regional competitions. The World Finals will be held next May in Warsaw, Poland.


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Visit Vocations Toronto at www.vocationstoronto.ca, a resourceful site in answering these questions.
The symbols that come to mind on this Solemnity are so rich and so varied.
This is a late feast and one that, in some ways, repeats Holy Thursday, to
remind us again of Jesus giving Himself for us, to remind us that God as
Father has cared for His people throughout all of history. We only
understand these mysteries in the Spirit, the gift of the Father, the
Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit who invites us and empowers us to grow in
Our readings today begin with the Book of Deuteronomy, and we hear of the
care God has for His people, especially giving them food and drink in the
wilderness. These realities point us to the perfect food and drink of
Jesus. It is Jesus who sustains us in our wilderness and in the day to day
seeking of the divine. Without the food of Jesus, we are lost. Just as in
the desert, in the Book of Deuteronomy, the people would have perished
without the food and drink given them by the Lord.
The First Letter to the Corinthians invites us to reflect on our unity in
Jesus Christ. There is a clear statement in this short passage: the bread
and the wine are so that we share in Christ. In Him we are one.
The Gospel today, from the famous Chapter 6 of Saint John, speaks of bread.
More than ordinary bread, this bread given us by Jesus will enable us to
live forever. We can understand why the people rejected Jesus. Even today
if someone tries to sell us a secret medicine that would keep us alive
forever, we immediately think that such a person is a charlatan, a fake and
someone who wants something else from us, usually money. So Jesus must
have seemed to at least some of those who were following Him.
Today, on this great Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord, you and I
are invited once more to faith, to believe that Jesus was telling the
truth, to believe that Jesus not only had words that give life, but that He
Himself continues to give Himself to us in this Sacrament, which is so
holy. The Body and Blood of the Lord are sacred realities given to us so
that we can live. The Body and Blood of the Lord are given for love and to
help us love.
Let us delight in the Lord! Let us feast with God! Let us adore this
presence of Jesus and renew our commitment to Him. Truly Jesus shows us
the Father and gives us the Spirit and asks us to follow Him in trust.
Come, let us adore Him.
Reflections are available for the following Sundays:


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EVGA's Superclocked edition of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 9800+ is a fast 3D graphics card at an affordable price. You can expect it to play most current PC games at smooth frame rates, especially on lower resolutions. We've seen prices as low as $165 and as high as $235, so you would be wise to shop around. And those with limited upgrade room might consider the comparable card from ATI , the Radeon HD 4850 that, unlike the double-wide GeForce GTX 9800+, requires only a single expansion slot. Otherwise, the differences between these two cards, in price, power consumption, and speed are negligible.
Nvidia's GeForce GTX 9800+ chip debuted last July for around $230. In this "Superclocked" design from EVGA, Nvidia's chip has its core clock speed boosted to 756MHz, from its stock 738MHz setting. This chip was supposed to be Nvidia's Radeon HD 4850-killer, but as you'll see on our charts, even this overclocked model only barely outperforms its competition.
We ran some rather aggressive benchmarks on these cards, and for the most part they held up well. The exception, as usual, is Crysis, on which neither card was able to achieve a playable frame rate. Even if the Radeon card was faster on that test than the GeForce, it's still only hitting 20 frames per second on 1,400×960, the lowest resolution we tried. Dropping the detail level down to medium and the anti-aliasing to 2x resulted in frame rates around 35 fps, but still well below the 60 frames per second hallowed ground.
While Crysis remains the most difficult game out there for graphics card testing, our Far Cry 2 and Left4Dead test results provide a better indication of how the cards in this price range will handle current PC games. For Far Cry 2, you can see the two cards are roughly tied on the lower resolutions they favor. On the less difficult Left4Dead even the 1,920×1,200 setting poses little challenge. If you own a 24-inch display with a 1,920×1,200 native resolution and intend to play the more demanding games, we recommend that you spend for a higher-end card to take full advantage of the larger screen size. Otherwise, for the foreseeable future at least, either one of these cards should deliver a smooth, well-detailed gaming experience.
If the performance is basically a wash, we find that each card has an advantage in other areas that might sway your buying decision. Even though it's a double-wide, overclocked card, the EVGA GeForce GTX 9800+ actually uses less power than the Radeon card with your computer idling. With only a 14-watt difference, the GeForce card's edge may be a small one, but if you're prone to leaving your PC on for extended periods of time, it may actually save you a few bucks on your electric bill over the course of a year. As with virtually all 3D cards above $100, each of these cards also need a direct connection to your PC's power supply, specifically a single six-pin PCI-Express power input.
Ironically, because the Radeon card requires only a single expansion slot, it's better suited to smaller PCs than the GeForce GTX 9800+, even though the former requires a bit more power. Both of these cards will work in multicard configurations on supporting motherboards, thanks to SLI from Nvidia and Crossfire from ATI, but we don't normally advocate doubling up on lower-end cards due to scaling issues. Not every game will distribute its workload evenly across two graphics cards, but with one card that's not an issue. For the sake of stability (as well as simpler installation) you're generally better off with a single $400 card then two $200 cards.
Each vendor also claims a handful of advanced features for its graphics technology in general; PhysX game physics support for Nvidia, and both Havoc Physics and DirectX 10.1 support for ATI. With few games that take advantage of either vendors' features in a compelling way thus far, neither can claim superiority with its extras. Each card can also connect to an HDTV over a DVI-to-HDMI adapter, but, as always with this generation of graphics chips, Nvidia requires you to connect your card directly to your audio output to send sound over the HDMI connection. By including an onboard audio processor, ATI has eliminated that intermediary step. That and the single slot may be enough to sway home theater enthusiasts away from the GeForce card.


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In some areas OSM data is very complete and has a level of detail not seen in closed data sources. Another distinguishing factor is that it contains the knowledge of the people who live in that areas. For example, commonly, colleges are mapped with many details, because students spend special care mapping the place they study.
Taking into account these characteristics and others and the OSM licence, What's the most promising application of OpenStreetMap data?
-Car GPS may have OSM data?
-Government could make use of OSM data?
-Companies could make use of OSM data?
-Other possibilities?


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Any Ludumers
Just checking to see if any one here is making a Ludum Dare http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/
My coat is made with real beaver fur. The last ten to be precise.
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The Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce supports a merger of the five independent institutions that make up the Alamo Colleges, including a hotly contested idea to seek single accreditation for the whole district, according to this statement.
According to the statement, the chamber backs trustees' broad goals to save money and operate more efficiently by consolidating back-of-the-house operations and aligning curriculum to ease transfer from one college to another.
But they also back single accreditation.
St. Philip's, San Antonio College, Northwest Vista and Palo Alto College are independently accredited and the newest college, Northeast Lakeview, is seeking accreditation. That college has run into problems, prompting talk of moving to a single accreditation that would turn the district into a five-campus system.
Faculty and staff have protested single accreditation, saying it would rob the colleges of autonomy and unique programs. A committee of faculty and administrators are looking into the pros and cons of single accreditation, and their findings are due in December.


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Classes Return to 51 Astor Place
POSTED ON: December 19, 2013
While the last Cooper Union class to be taught in 51 Astor Place was in the spring of 2009, when the building officially changed ownership, classroom space will once again become available in the new building thanks to an agreement with St. John's University. The full press release, from St. John's, is below.
St. John's University has leased 71,000 square feet of space for its Manhattan campus at 51 Astor Place, the new 12-story, 400,000-square-foot Minskoff Equities office building that occupies the block between Third and Fourth avenues.
The new location will house St. John's School of Risk Management, a key division of the university's Peter J. Tobin College of Business and a global leader in risk and insurance education and training. The School of Risk Management contains the Kathryn & Shelby Cullom Davis Library, which comprises the world's largest collection of risk and insurance literature, policies, and related documents, and serves as a center for study and research for students of risk management, insurance, and actuarial science around the world. The location will also be home to The Language Connection, St. John's intensive English language institute, and to continuing professional education and other academic programs.
Minskoff Equities has a 99-year lease on the property, which is owned by The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Through a separate Memorandum of Understanding, St. John's will provide The Cooper Union with access during certain hours each weekday to two classrooms and satellite office space. In turn, The Cooper Union will provide St. John's access for a select number of days each year to the historic Great Hall in the Foundation Building (7 East 7th Street).
"This location puts St. John's in the heart of one of New York City's most vibrant neighborhoods with unlimited student engagement opportunities and accessibility to a host of potential employers," said St. John's Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer Martha K. Hirst, who led the university's in-house real estate team. She noted that a portion of the developed space was zoned for educational purposes. "We are extremely pleased to have collaborated with Minskoff Equities to reach an agreement that makes it possible for St. John's to choose the perfect location where our students and faculty will thrive."
St. John's plans to open 51 Astor Place for the 2014 fall semester. The new site will replace the school's Manhattan campus at 101 Murray Street in Tribeca, which the university sold for $223 million in July 2013.
Designed by Fumihiko Maki, 51 Astor Place features a black-and-white granite lobby anchored by a 14-foot-tall red rabbit sculpture by Jeff Koons, and a public plaza at Astor Place and Third Avenue. St. John's will occupy the building's first and second floors, and part of its concourse level, with a private entrance. The space will feature state-of-the-art classrooms and video-conferencing technology to bring off-site students and industry leaders from around the globe together in a virtual classroom to enhance the educational experience, as well a conference, faculty and student gathering spaces.
"The new location occupies a unique intersection of several top academic institutions that share one of the world's greatest city campuses," said Robert A. Mangione, Ed.D., Provost of St. John's University. "St. John's has been proud to call New York City home for more than 140 years and 51 Astor Place provides the perfect opportunity for the world-class academic programs we house at our Manhattan campus to continue to excel."
"St. John's University, its students and faculty are a welcome addition to the neighborhood," said The Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha. "We look forward to exploring ideas and opportunities to work together as academic neighbors with many strengths and common interests."
St. John's will continue to operate at its current Manhattan location at 101 Murray Street through the 2013-14 academic year. The proceeds from the Murray Street building sale are being used to enhance the university's academic offerings, improve facilities and augment the school's endowment, which allows for a considerable increase in ongoing financial aid to St. John's students.
Founded in 1859, The Cooper Union enrolls more than 900 students in its world-renowned architecture, art, and engineering degree programs. Established in 1870, St. John's has about 21,000 students enrolled in its highly successful degree programs for liberal arts and sciences, education, business, pharmacy and health sciences, professional studies, and law at its Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, and Oakdale campuses.


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Conference Abstract
"Assessing the implications of complex fiber configurations for DTI metrics in real data sets", ISMRM, 20th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 3584, May, 2012.
"Counting the number of fiber orientations in diffusion MRI voxels using constrained spherical deconvolution", 2nd meeting of the ISMRM Benelux Chapter, Utrecht, The Netherlands, January, 2010.
"Estimating the number of fiber orientations in diffusion MRI voxels: a constrained spherical deconvolution study", ISMRM, 18th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition, Stockholm, Sweden, May, 2010.
"ExploreDTI: A Graphical Toolbox for Processing, Analyzing, and Visualizing Diffusion MR Data", ISMRM, 17th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition, Honolulu, USA, April, 2009.
"Inversion Recovery DTI In Vivo at 7T in the Human Brain", ISMRM 23th Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, pp. 567, 2015.
Journal Article
"The influence of complex white matter architecture on the mean diffusivity in diffusion tensor MRI of the human brain", NeuroImage, vol. 59, issue 3, pp. 2208 - 2216, 2/2012.
"Investigating the prevalence of complex fiber configurations in white matter tissue with diffusion magnetic resonance imaging.", Human Brain Mapping, vol. 34, no. 11, pp. 2747-66, 2013.
"Probabilistic fiber tracking using the residual bootstrap with constrained spherical deconvolution", Human Brain Mapping, vol. 32, issue 3, pp. 461 - 479, March, 2011.
"T1 relaxometry of crossing fibres in the human brain.", NeuroImage, 07/2016.


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Friday, August 28, 2009
The number of articles and studies done on wine and health is astronomical. I've always sort of wondered about this fascination for proving that wine benefits us. We know that it doesn't. We know that we drink too much and then graciously act as case studies for crash test dummies. We know that it harms our kidneys and livers and makes us sleep with people we'd otherwise touch only with oven mitts. We know that it kills millions of brain cells, and, worse, as a corollary, creates hundreds of wine blogs. Yet, being human, we insist that it's good for us. In moderation, as though anyone practices moderation. Moderation is like birth control--it's for other people. People who don't want to be on "Maury." We rig endless clinical studies so that the results say wine is good for us. We know the studies are bogus, but we believe them anyway. Like we believe wine publications that accept advertising are objective. Like we believe wineries when they say they don't filter. Like we believe "organic" on Safeway produce.
But the studies about drinking wine continue. Here are some of the latest findings.
In a recent study, drinking wine was shown to eliminate halitosis. An astute observer noticed that Alder Yarrow had the freshest breath despite unmitigated and frequent buttkissing. This lead to the study. A similar study concluded that wine not only relieved halitosis, it also removed women's mustaches. That study was done on walruses.
When fed a steady stream of expensive Napa Valley Cabernets, mice overestimated the size of their penises by a factor of three. Mice fed Shenandoah Vally Zinfandel started a boys choir.
In a test done on Rhesus monkeys it was discovered that the primates fell into two categories according to the amount of wine consumed. The monkeys who drank less wine were more likely to be aggressive and warlike. The monkeys who drank steadily and moderately were more likely to be the Rhesus Peaces.
People who consumed moderate to heavy amounts of wine were shown to be far more immune to Swine Flu even though they slept with far more pigs. Many became Swine Connoisseurs.
A large and comprehensive study showed that people who drank a lot of wine on a daily basis usually died peacefully in their sleep. Not like the other people in the car.
Another study showed that there is a significant correlation between moderate consumption of wine and the belief in ones ability to speak foreign languages. After three glasses of wine white people often believe they can speak Ebonics.
Moderate consumption of wine has been shown to lower your risk of catching fly balls. This is good news for the flies.
Oh, I could go on. But, really, all this academic hooey trying to prove wine is part of a healthy lifestyle is stupid and basically wrong. Drinking wine doesn't improve your health, it improves your attitude about your health. Just look at the people you know who drink a lot of wine, who drink if for a living or as a hobby, they're all sallow, bloodshot-eyed, out of shape people several teeth short of a full grimace. This is the picture of health? Who cares? Not one of us drinks wine for his health, not one of us. We drink it because it tastes good, and because it gets us drunk. Saying you drink wine as part of a healthy lifestyle is like saying you read Playboy for the interviews. Like saying you had a vasectomy to lose a little weight. Like saying you eat panty shields for the fiber.
Wineries, the wine industry, promote wine drinking as part of a healthy diet. Oh brother, who buys that crap? Didn't they used to sell cigarettes the same way? Look where that got the tobacco companies. Beer gets it right. It's fun to get drunk! Gorgeous babes are drawn to drinkers. Drinking is democratic--anyone can do it and look stupid. Time for wineries to get on that bandwagon.
8 comments:
- Arthur said...
Smo fo buttah layin' to the bone, jackin me up...tightly! Sheeeeee'.....
- August 28, 2009 at 1:03 PM
- Arthur said...
Oh, and did you read the interview with Lech Walesa in Playboy? Illuminating! THAT is one man whose ability to communicate might improve with a steady diet of Turley'esque wines....
- August 28, 2009 at 1:06 PM
- Samantha Dugan said...
Oh what about the one where consuming massive amount of Grower Champagne can induce dancing with a garden gnome in a Hemet casino...think I "read" about that one some place.
- August 28, 2009 at 1:41 PM
- el jefe said...
Some wineries are already on that bandwagon:
I believe this illustrates all of your very well-made points.
- August 28, 2009 at 2:41 PM
- vinosseur said...
Thanks for cracking me up!
Moderation is the key to good health
- August 29, 2009 at 6:42 AM
- Ron Washam, HMW said...
I tried my Google Ebonics translator and it came up with, "I've got to stop reading blogs when I'm drunk." Doesn't seem quite right. And I thought Lech Walesa was an Irish toast.
My Gorgeous Samantha,
I love you so. That was no garden gnome, that was me. I'm an inch taller. In height, I mean.
Kiss me.
El Jefe,
I think what I meant is that the reality of wine is what your photos illustrate, but what the industry pushes is wine's health benefits, which no one believes anyway.
Nice party, by the way. Looks like the cast of a porn film for blind people.
Welcome, newbie! Cracking folks up is why I write this crap. And moderation is the key to good health and a dreadfully dull existence.
- August 29, 2009 at 7:59 AM
- Arthur said...
Google translator is a powerful tool.
- August 29, 2009 at 9:50 AM
- el jefe said...
Ron - we are nothing if not tactile.
- August 29, 2009 at 11:35 AM


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A couple of weeks ago, I talked about Drs. Sears and Weissbluth in their online chat. There was an interesting comment about an elephant in the room when it comes to parents who stay home versus working parents and their sleep training or attachment parenting philosophies. I thought this deserved a proper discussion. After all, I don't mind talking about elephants.
Truth be told, I never envisioned myself staying home with the kids. I have always loved kids and always imagined having kids. At parties where there were kids, I'd gravitate towards them, play games, and become their favorite adult at the party. I loved them and they loved me. Yet, I never imagined staying home full time with my own. Why, you ask?
Since a young age of 15 or 16 I got my first job at Baskin Robbins (an ice cream shop), became a manager quickly, then moved on to my first office job. Then I went to college, started my career, went to graduate school, and so on. As much as I always imagined myself as a mother, I also envisioned myself being one of the women who would shatter the glass ceiling.
As my wisdom grew about both children and the corporate world, I changed my mind about that glass ceiling. I found it hard to envision being a CEO of a Fortune 500 company and go to all the kids' "soccer games" (or whatever event they would be interested in). I didn't want to be that mom who was always absent or late and I didn't want to miss out seeing the kids as much. Nowadays, I do see amazing women doing both. There are now family-friendly companies (and family-friendly companies in Canada), that must help, too. I guess I found my own way to be a CEO in this website. 🙂
Now that I am a mom, I can definitely understand why parents stay home. My husband calls me a "work-a-holic" yet says I'm more of a mom than a career woman. How can that be? I guess I do a good job of balancing work and home… at least I try to. Being a working mom I find it very difficult to get dinner on the table at a decent time, never mind make that dinner healthy. I find "What's for dinner?" a simple, but extremely stressful question every day, every week. We can make big plans to make multiple meals on the weekend, but it rarely happens. The weekend is when we have soccer games, football games, fun at the zoo, etc. It's much too busy to cook! We have to squeeze a lot into a little amount of time. So, then, it makes sense that maybe it's harder for working parents. Or, is it?
It's easy to say it's harder for me being a working mom, but I'm not so sure. Come Monday, sometimes it feels like a break from having the kids 24×7 over the weekend! I start to wonder how stay-at-home moms (and dads) do it every day, day in and day out, without a weekend "off" like I have off from work. Sorta. Okay, not really, but it's less work on the weekend and definitely a change of pace.
Do Stay-At-Home Parents Have It Easier With Their Baby's Sleep?
Since I am able to talk to a lot of different people on a daily basis, I tend to see similarities in how a family approaches their baby's sleep. If you are a stay-at-home mom, most of the time you are on your own at night, since your spouse/partner has to work. If you are a working mom, you do most of the work, but sometimes both parents seem to work together. There are exceptions, of course, but the majority of families seem to fall into one of these camps (I have not been contacted by enough stay-at-home dads to say one way or another in that family structure). If you stay home and have a working partner who gets up, count your blessings. If you are the working parent, kudos for you "getting it." 🙂
As a working mom, it sort of rubs me the wrong way. If I am a working mom and can get up with the kids at night, why can't the working partner, so the stay-at-home parent can get some sleep, too?
Here comes the elephant.
There seems to be this implication that if you stay home with the baby (or babies) that you don't need to be as well-rested. Is it because you can take a nap (or two) every day with the baby? I am sure I have at-home parents who would laugh at that. I should say that I have never studied my client make-up, but I would estimate that I have just as many stay-at-home clients as I do working parents. And, I know why.
- Just because you stay home with the kids does not mean you need less sleep.
- Just because you stay home does not mean you don't need to use your brain the next day.
- Just because you stay home does not mean it is safe to drive your precious baby around in the car when you got less than two hours of sleep last night.
- Just because you stay home doesn't make you a better mom when you are exhausted.
- Just because you stay home doesn't mean you don't get sick more often due to sleep deprivation.
- Just because you stay home doesn't give you more patience to deal with a not-sleeping baby.
I'm sure I can go on and on, but the point is that when you have a baby with sleep problems, it isn't any easier to deal with if you are a working parent or a stay-at-home parent, in my opinion. I will say when I went back to work, it did feel a lot harder, but after months of sleep-deprivation, I'm sure a lot of people would feel just as exhausted as I did.
Cumulative sleep deprivation is hard on anyone physically, mentally, and emotionally. While I think it's probably a common misconception that stay-at-home parents can take more time and have more patience with their baby's sleep problems, I think this is more to do with a parent's personality and the extent of the sleep problems than the parent's working status. I have clients who are working parents and practice attachment parenting and I have at-home parents that do cry it out and everything in between. Your parenting philosophy is not dictated by whether you work or not and, certainly, your baby, whose temperament may or may not respond favorably to your philosophies, surely is not dictated by your working status.
But, enough about what I think. What do you think?
Do you think it's easier for at-home parents to handle sleep problems?
Note: I know this topic can get very heated, so please be respectful.
For those persistent nighttime struggles, check out The 3-Step System to Help Your Baby Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your baby sleep through the night. For those looking for a more customized solution for your unique situation with support along the way, please consider one-on-one baby and toddler sleep consultations, where you will receive a Personalized Sleep Plan® you can feel good about!


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Or as anime characters. Or manga characters. Or movie characters. It's simply "costume play", and Japanese photographer Yuji Susaki explores that in this series of photos, "Cosplay: Made in Japan".
Susaki is perhaps more known for his fashion pics, celeb portraits, or artistic nudes. For this cosplay series, Susaki roped in well-known Japanese cosplayers like Ai Amano (aka Julie Watai). These are the results.
Be sure not to miss the tour lady holding a "Cosplay Sightseeing" flag.
Yuji Susaki [Official Site]


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Been playing the UFC Undisputed demo and it's rock solid. ****ing excellent, can't wait for the actual game to come out in a couple of days time.
Having used a 360 controller (for my PC) for the first time this weekend, deadset kicking myself for using the PS type controllers for so long instead. Love where the 2 analogue sticks are placed on the X-box controller, and the 2 triggers underneath (which are perfect for racing games).
CBF reading above again, but I'm sure someone mentioned the possibility of buying Far-Cry 2? Is honestly one of the most over-hyped, repetitive and after a couple of hours, boring games I've ever played. The fact that EVERYONE is against you, no matter which side you're doing a job for, is really quite frustrating/irritating. That, along with the fact that no matter how many times you go through certain checkpoints on the rather large map, the enemies ALWAYS respawn makes for a really **** game imo. Just once, i'd like to be able to take a drive and not have every car you pass do a u-turn and come after you.
So yeah, I don't like it.
Self Elected Vice-President of AAAS
(Ajit Agarkar Appreciation Society)
"Uniting Ajit Agarkar Fans World Wide"
Always Live Life With: Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence
Also, anyone who wants a good sports game for 360 should look no further than NHL 09. Comfortably the best sports game I've played on the console and I can't stand Ice Hockey. Such an addictive game, very much worth a go.
The controls are out of this world good these days you can do anything and everything really, and the game has so much more depth than previous versions.
"Be a Pro" mode is the best of it's kind as well.
There's a decent video review of it here. But for me the "touch and feel" so to speak is off the charts, it's just a lot of fun to play as a one player or multiplayer where it's outstanding.
Agree with everything Duffer said, am in my fourth season on be a pro playing left wing. Best Sports game on the Xbox IMHO
Hate it how the EA Sports games are starting to phase-out from PCs. Would love to get NHL 09, but it is no longer made to be equivalent of the platform versions, and thus has lesser graphics, and a few game options aren't the same. Can see it going the same way as NBA & Madden (which didn't even release a PC versions of 09 )
I haven't gone through the whole thread but will tell abt the console that I use ----> PS3
1. Doesn't heat up like X-box
2. More reliable [have heard that the question is not whether the X-Box will die but when will it die]
3. More silent [X-box is noisy]
4. Blue-tooth
5. Built in Wi-Fi
6. You can install yellow dog linux and turn it in to a PC if you want [but it may not be worth the effort]
7. the killer app -> Blue-Ray [PS3 is one of the best, if not the best, Blue Ray players on the market]
8. More powerful [correct me if I m wrong]
9. Better looking [subjective]
It may be priced higher than a X-box but if you see the above points it does offer value [and considering the fact that Sony isn't making too much money on it]
Ofc. X-Box has more titles but unless you have time and money to burn on tons of games, you won't feel the need to go for more games. PS3 has enough titles to keep you happy!
Fastest gun in town
From what I understand ret is the ps3 has an average blu ray player not the best.
No'ones gonna take me alive
The time has come to make things right
You and I must fight for our rights
You and I must fight to survive
New Zealand Cricket Supporter
I made sure I upgraded from a PS2 to an Xbox360. The two systems complement each other really well and I'm glad I went this way. I love the look and feel of the Xbox360 and the controller. Plus the games and the Xbox LIVE services are great. I don't really care for or need a Blu Ray player, so an Xbox360 was the right choice.
Not sure about which other games to get. Will probably get NBA 2k on this because I know a few peeps who I want to play but other than that am clueless on where to go?
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, ,
Images of Kenneth Josephson, Indiana, 1972
Related content
- Picture Fiction: Kenneth Josephson and Contemporary Photography–
- Short A black-and-white photo of the Chicago skyline from the north shore of Lake Michigan is overlaid with rectangular color image fragments of the same view. The color images add and subtract people from the lakefront view.
- , ,
- Short The Washington Monument and its smooth reflecting pool are centered in this black-and-white photograph. An arm extends, holding a card with cut-outs that match the shape of the monument's obelisk.
- Long This black and white photograph centers on the Washington Monument and smooth reflecting pool that reflects and inverts the monument. On the left side of the frame, an arm extends, holding a horizontally-oriented card against the sky to the left of the monument. A cut out in the bottom center of the card matches the shape and size of the peak of the obelisk; the top of the card extends upward as the positive mirror of the negative cutout below.
- , ,
- Short A black-and-white photograph shows an outstretched arm, hand holding a twelve-inch ruler up to a mountainous and wooded landscape above a sign labelling the distant mountain range.


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Calling all Roger Rabbit alumni - on Friday August 16th Tom Sito, Don Hahn, and Max Howard are hosting a Roger Rabbit reunion party at the King's Head Pub at 12969 Ventura Blvd, in Sherman Oaks. So if you fancy reminiscing about the good old days of hand-drawn animation then grab your Rabbit memorabilia and head for Sherman Oaks on Friday.
After the film ended in the Spring of 1988, many of the crew found themselves in Los Angeles, where Dave Spafford continued the friday night drinking tradition by turning his house in a very passable imitation of an English pub, complete with bar, darts board and pinball machines (well, maybe that last bit wasn't so authentic).
For years, any animation Brit or Rabbit veteran who found himself at a loose end in LA would head for Spaff's on a Friday night. I went myself a few times, though the last time I went I remember I didn't recognise anyone there. Dave closed it down soon after - it had had its day. But only after a long, excellent run.
|Me in 1987, with Caron Creed
Why has no-one ever made a sequel?


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Students in Christian Schools: Transformation or Indoctrination?
By Kevin Probst, 25th Apr 2013 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutFamilyEducation
Teachers are often disappointed when they don't see the end product they were expecting to see. This disappointment is especially painful among Christian educators. This article explores the importance of transformation and the dangers of mere indoctrination.
Students in Christian Schools: Transformation or Indoctrination?
I have attended or taught in private Christian schools for well over two decades. I presently teach in a Christian School in Columbus, Georgia. My experience teaching in Christian education has been overwhelmingly positive. I walked away from public education twelve years ago and dedicated myself to educational ministry.
A common complaint I hear from non-Christian public school students as well as Christian school students is that there isn't a thimble full of behavioral difference between the two. If this is true it is tragic, if it is not true then it is a perception that must be addressed. This leads us to a most relevant question: Are students who attend Christian schools being transformed by the redeeming truth of Christianity or are they simply being spoon-fed a well-learned jargon that brings no transformation but rather produces a generation that exhibits a "form of godliness but denies its power." (2 Tim. 3:5)
Students who have been spoon-fed a Christian worldview but have not been taught or permitted to ask the hard questions are often swept away when they get to college and experience an environment that is decidedly atheistic but one that encourages enquiry and contrary opinions. They often mistake the falsity taught in an open and challenging atmosphere as truth and conversely question the truth they learned in an atmosphere that discouraged consideration of the 'hard questions'.
What is the mission of a Christian school? Is it to evangelize those who are lost? Is it to disciple whose who have accepted Christ? Is it simply to offer an alternative form of education and provide an escape hatch for those who are caught up in a culture saturated with promiscuous sex and illegal drug activity? I think most Christian schools have elements of all of the above in their declared mission.
A statistic was released some time ago that rocked the Christian world. 80% of youth stop attending church after they graduate from high school. Many reasons have been given: They had planned to leave even before graduation. They were sidetracked by atheistic professors touting PhD's behind their names. They were unprepared for the sudden flood of anti-Christian culture that simply swept them away.
After decades of involvement in Christian education, I have observed this phenomenon in Christian schools as well though perhaps not quite so prevalent. I believe the real reason students leave the faith may well be that they never were in the faith to begin with. Christian school students often spend an entire twelve years learning the jargon of Christianity. They know what words to use and exactly when to insert just the right phrases to convince their elders that they are, indeed, followers.
After years of teaching, mentoring and observing young students in Christian schools, I have concluded that those many who leave the faith had never really enlisted. Jesus gave a clear calling to his disciples to follow him. Only a few became true followers. Some began to follow but were overwhelmed by the sacrifices they were asked to make. Others turned back because they missed the comforts offered by their families and culture.
The call to "Follow me" is exclusive. Christ wants us to follow him and no other. A bird can't fly north and south at the same time. A bulldozer can either push or pull but it can't do both simultaneously anymore than a person can follow Christ while simultaneously following a sinful, secular culture. Most of those who 'leave' the faith were not saved in the first place. They did not read their Bible regularly. They blended in with their non-Christian friends rather than be distinguished from them. They dated unbelievers and they rationalized a participation in sex and experimentation with drugs and alcohol. They gave mental assent to the Christian worldview they were being taught but they never gave their heart to it.
Christian educators must strike a balance between simply being an educator and being a spiritual mentor. It is not enough for students to learn the twelve tribes of Israel and be able to recite last week's memory verse. The fact that they have mastered Christian lingo doesn't always indicate that they have accepted and embraced those truths into their hearts. They are very skilled at reciting biblical truth but have they learned to make practical application of those recitations?
Some Christian school students walk away from the faith because they never distinguished the difference between accepting Christ as their personal Savior and simply accepting Christ as the Savior of their parents or their teachers. The paradox is that Christian educators want very much for their students to have a personal relationship with Christ but when we package the message in the atmosphere of the institution it is perceived to be very impersonal.
Students often make an unfortunate parallel between Christianity and the policies of the educational institution. They are given a list of rules to follow regarding academics, dress code and behavior. They can then make an easy transition to interpret Christianity as simply a set of rules to keep. They attempt to experience a personal relationship with Christ by keeping a list of 'do's and don'ts'. The rap on college students who come from Christian schools is that the ones who get wild get really wild. It may be because of the exhilaration they feel when they are freed from the weight of trying to abide by the rules using their own effort rather than relying on the grace of God.
We often go shallow when teaching Christian principles to our students. We want them to learn seven steps to successful dating or five ways to financial success. In so doing we offer them no more than they can find in the self-help section of Barnes and Noble. They can get 'an inch deep and a mile wide' anywhere. We find ourselves giving them what they want rather than what they need. We allow them to stay in the shallow end of the pool rather than explore the treasures that can only be found in the deep. Those who learn and then embrace the deep truths of the gospel are those who become great warriors and kingdom builders for Christ.
Christian teachers are tempted, just like all teachers, to entertain rather than educate. Students would much rather hear stories from your personal life than study trigonometry or Shakespeare. But succumbing to this temptation in Christian education is perilous to their educational as well as their spiritual development. More often than not, we fail to challenge them because we underestimate them. They are usually capable of diving much deeper than we realize. Make no assumption that their intellectual capabilities are limited because their behavior is foolish.
I have learned over the years that there are treasures deep in the souls of my students that are not revealed in mere words. Some are actually unaware of the gifts they harbor deep within. As an educator am dedicated to helping them discover what they are capable of but as a Christian educator I also want them to dedicate these discoveries to Christ the Savior. They will then become great warriors for Christ and skilled builders of his kingdom.
I am so blessed to be a Christian educator