text:
Broken Pieces To Mend: I Don't Trust God
Shards of nutshell fall to the table as my child giggles in delight. He reaches through the broken pieces of shell to retrieve his reward–a round, crunchy hazelnut, perfectly-sized for his small mouth. Crunching the nutty morsel between his tiny teeth, he gives little thought to the broken pieces surrounding him as he reaches for another nut to crack.
Gathering around the table to crack fresh nuts has been a long-standing Christmas tradition in our home. Hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts–each unique; all delicious.
Our family has discovered that some nuts are hard and smooth and more difficult to crack, while others are large, more textured, with a softer shell to break through. If a nut seems impossible to crack open, there is always a family member sitting nearby to lend a hand. Whatever the nut, regardless of the hardness of the shell, the crunchy reward on the inside makes all the hard effort of "cracking" well worth it.
November was a hard month.
My life is literally falling to pieces.
Surrounded by shards of brokenness, I wonder, "Why all the pain? Why does life have to be so difficult? Oh God, where art thou?"
I listen closely for an answer, seeking, searching, but the only sound is,
as another piece falls to the floor.
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Trusting in God and his perfect timing brings peace and a stillness of heart.
This level of complete trust is something I have not yet mastered.
How easily I forget that the reward He has in store for me, as part of His carefully-laid out plan for my life, will be worth the wait. It will be worth all the tears that have fallen, all the heartache that has been endured, all the brokenness that has resulted.
God's way is always the right way.
Learning to abide in Christ, and to trust God, even as the storms of life rage on, will carry me through life's perilous times. For who but God Himself knows how this stormy story will end?
I cling to Him, in all my weakness, and He shelters me with His protective arm.
Lying prostrate, unable to move, He whispers to me, "Shhh…be still."
I plead, "Don't ever leave me," and he promises, "I never will."
"Be not afraid, only believe." (Mark 5:36)
Little by little I give way and make room for the cracking open of my old life, pieces falling hard, echoing in the still, dark, coldness, as I search for signs of the new life God has in store for me.
Another piece begins to crumble.
I take courage and, with a softened heart and a glimmer of trust growing inside, whisper, "I'm grateful for this trial for I know it will bless me in the end."
I say the words, and I really mean them, but I know that I'll soon forget.
This building of trust takes time. If all goes according to plan, this relentless ebb and flow of trust verses doubt will, in the end, result in my giving my whole heart to God.
I recently learned of a woman who never married or had children of her own. Around her neck she wore a silver locket. All who knew her longed to know whose picture she kept in this treasured locket. Could it be that she had a secret love? This mystery went unsolved until the day of the woman's death. The locket was finally opened by loved ones to reveal the answer to their most puzzling question, "What secret love did this woman have?" Each person in the room caught their breath as their eyes beheld the image inside the locket, for it was a picture of Christ. The woman had chosen to give her whole heart to her God, the locket kept close to her heart to serve as a constant reminder of her unfailing loyalty.
One need not be single to give their lives over to God. To fully trust in Him.
Regardless of the circumstances of our lives, God desires that we put Him first.
I believe in God.
I alway have.
But I don't put Him first in my life.
I never have.
Family has always come first to me.
Family is my everything.
My life revolves around my family and my God. In that order.
As it turns out, Providence is stepping in and rearranging my priorities.
My family is falling apart, things are spinning out of control, and there is nothing I can do about it.
Or is there?
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
(Matthew 14: 27-31)
The cold, hard truth is that I don't trust God enough to put Him first.
I don't trust Him, but I want to.
Suddenly, I find myself in a position of wanting to trust Him because I believe that my only hope lies in Him. If I willingly put my life in His hands, will I have the strength to weather any storm? I ask that as a question because I'm still not 100% sure.
The truth is undeniable: I still don't fully trust God.
But I long to.
If you find yourself in this same predicament of not fully trusting God, but longing to, I invite you to join me on this journey of putting Him first in our lives.
Sometimes life's challenges are hard to crack alone.
It is so hard to be alone and broken.
Instead, let's choose to crack our challenges together, allowing God, the ultimate carpenter, creator, healer, and restorer, to pick up the broken pieces, and mend them in His own way, in His own time.
I've shared a bit of my story of grief and loss and healing.
Will you share your story too? For God uses each of us as instruments of healing as we reach out to one another—one person, one story at a time.
In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steals the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.
And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.
The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, "Can you mend it, Carpenter?"
And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.
So, up the hill the long years through,
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:
"O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that's broken past repair,
This life, that's shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?"
And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation—"all things new."
"The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!"
(George Blair, "The Carpenter of Nazareth," in Obert C. Tanner, Christ's Ideals for Living (Sunday School manual, 1955), 22.)
It's been 2 years since I wrote down my feelings about trusting in God—feelings filled with anguish and raw emotion.
Today, I look back and can barely remember the person I was then…the person who struggled so desperately to put her trust in the One who holds the world in His hands.
Over time I learned for myself that His love for me is unfailing, even in the darkest of times. Especially in the darkest of times.
He has been there for me every step of the way.
It was time, I realized, to allow my trials—the "cracking" of my life—to humble me enough to change.
What I needed more than anything was to rearrange my priorities. To give my whole heart to God.
One day I decided to go for it.
To let go.
Have faith.
I finally determined to trust in God—to put Him first in my life—and that has made all the difference.
Discussion: Do you trust God? In what ways is the Carpenter of Nazareth mending your brokenness?
Looking for more inspiration?
If you found this post encouraging, please share it on social media. Thank you!
14 Comments
Amy @ The Quiet Homemaker
Wow! This is so real and raw, and I thank you for sharing it with us all. We all have our trials to face and it can be easy to feel alone. God has worked with me in so many ways over the last few years. I was full of anxiety, fear, and depression due to childhood issues. God started by showing me His love. And now is working on me with fear! Yikes! And at the base of fear, of course, is trust. So I am in much the same boat as you, though not with the heartache of loss, which I am so very sorry for! I am praying for you!
Thank you so much for linking up @LiveLifeWell!!
Down Aspen Lane
Oh, yes, fear! It may be my biggest nemesis. You are not alone in your struggle, Amy!
Down Aspen Lane recently posted: https://downaspenlane.com/2018/04/16/seeds-to-plant-a-call-to-practice-hospitality/
Jessica @ Overwhelmed to Fulfilled
Keeping in the forefront of our mind all the faithfulness of Christ can get us through many trials! I'm so sorry that you are going through such heartbreaking times right now. I have experienced the comfort of Christ that only pain and suffering brings. Today we talked about Paul and 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 –
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead
We endure beyond our abilities so that we may not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
Praying for you Carri and for sharing your vulnerability with us at #LiveLifeWell.
I am a neighbor at Fresh Market Friday this week. I also posted about Mending Brokenness this week…which is interesting that your post caught my eye.
I have lost my daughter, my son & my late husband. I now have Chronic health issues…trust….mmmmm….
I have learnt that my lack of trust in God meant i had expected God to handle the situation the way I thought it should go, rather than trusting Him to bring the situation into "His will be done!"
I have put God first in my life for the past 38 years but trust at times has wavered over those years & that has caused me sadness…I'm a work in progress…
I enjoyed your allegory of the nuts.
You're most welcome to drop by for a cup of inspiration, anytime!
Down Aspen Lane
Your daughter, son, and late husband, PLUS chronic health problems!? Oh, my heart goes out to you, Jennifer. Thank you for your thoughtful post. I, too, am a work in progress. Blessings!
Down Aspen Lane recently posted: https://downaspenlane.com/2018/04/07/seeking-to-do-good-turning-our-deepest-sorrows-into-blessings/
Bonnie Lyn Smith
Oh, my heart! Praying for you. I can feel the pain, but I also can feel you turning your head toward Christ in fresh ways. This kind of vulnerability in sharing your journey builds people up and shows them the way to handle grief and mess and disappointment and loss. I'm so sorry you are going through this. I've been through my own rounds. But I know how much when He mended me together again, each time I was a better model and better representative of Him. The shards and the shrapnel can be used for His glory. Be encouraged that even in your breaking, you shine His light to many! I'll be back to read more. Bless you! <3
Down Aspen Lane
"the shard and the shrapnel can be used for His glory" LOVE this!! Thank you for your encouraging comment.
Down Aspen Lane recently posted https://downaspenlane.com/2018/03/30/friday-favorites-color-crochet-and-kindness/
Wow! Your vulnerability is so powerful. I am sorry you are hurting. But I truly believe you will come out on the other side with a deeper trust in God.
I have a grief story too. Grief is so interesting to me. At one point I referred to it as my unwelcome friend. Having grief as my friend meant that my dad was gone but at the same time it is oddly beautiful and so sacred. My grief is sacred. It was the most painful thing I had ever experienced but I didnt want it to go away-it kept me connected. It kept me connected to my dad. It kept me connected to Jesus. It was in those moments of paralyzing heartbreak that I felt the sweet tangible presence of God. I felt him hold me and comfort me. I heard him whisper "stay connected."
I trust God more because of my grief. The month after my dad died was the longest and darkest period I had ever experienced. I was in such pain that sometimes I could hardly walk. Sometimes the most victorious thing I had in a day was remembering to brush my teeth or making it from my bed to the couch by myself. I finally felt like I was coming up for air about 2 months later. I was mostly ok for the next 3 months. Then summer hit and various grief triggering events happened. I remember being so scared and telling the Lord "I dont want to go back. I dont want to go back to that same darkness of February" In the most gentle and kind voice He responded with "If we can make it through that, we will make it through this"
That was my promise. He wasn't leaving. He was with me every step. That summer ended up being worse than what I experienced before but Gods Presence was my anchor.
My relationship and connection with God is now so much deeper. I know that no matter what life throws at me, I will make it. He is good. He is so good.
My prayer for you is this: That you would tangibly feel the Presence of God like a blanket wrapped around you. That you would see his goodness even in the pain. That you have the community you need who will bring you to the feet of Jesus when the pain is to much to bare.
Down Aspen Lane
Gabby, thank you for sharing such a heartfelt response, and for sharing the ups and downs you experienced with the death of your dad. I'm slowly but surely coming to realize that grief can be beautiful and sacred and transformative in all the right ways…bringing me one step closer to God. Thank you for sharing such powerful insights! I will be referring to your words often as they filled me with great hope for the future. Again, thank you!
Down Aspen Lane recently posted https://downaspenlane.com/2018/03/30/friday-favorites-color-crochet-and-kindness/
I am so thankful I came across your post tonight. Thank you for your sweet honesty. Your words echo beautifully what has been in my heart for these past several months… and although I too have not yet mastered this level of complete trust, I'm experiencing a stillness… a peace… that can only be a gift from my gracious Father in heaven. Happy to join you on this journey as we open ourselves to the peace that only He can offer.
Down Aspen Lane
The stillness and peace is such a gift, isn't it?! Now, to find a way to increase it's presence in our lives. I'm so glad to have connected with you, Carlie, and am happy you'll be joining us on this journey.
Down Aspen Lane recently posted https://downaspenlane.com/2018/03/23/friday-favorites/
Cari, I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through a difficult time. 🙁
I noticed that you seemed to fall off the face of the earth suddenly.
(Yes, i did actually notice your silence). I'm sorry that I didn't reach out earlier, if for nothing else, to say I notice, and I care, and "are you okay?"
I appreciate your article.
I appreciate your vulnerability while still in the midst of the storm. It is not easy to be so transparent. It takes courage and bravery to tell a story that's not yet finished, when you don't know how it will end.
Even though you may not know the ending, at least you know the One who does! And He is good.
If I'm honest, I don't fully trust God either, (though I want to).
I haven't whispered a prayer of sheer surrender since my daughter died 12 years ago.
Oh I want to! But I've been down that road before, and I'm not sure I can do it again.
My only encouragement for you is to hold on to the anchor. The One who provides you with the only stability you may encounter through the treacherous storms.
He is our hope, even when the world falls apart around us.
Hold on. Hold on to Him. And don't let go.
He IS good. The world may not be good. Our circumstances may not be good. Our thoughts and feelings may not be good. But HE IS GOOD!!!
I'm praying for you, friend.
I really, truly am.


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And here's the evidence.
The 44th now has its Colonel and Standards.
See ya!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Quick Little F&IW Repaint Project
I am repainting my Jenkins officers and standards for the 44th. The officer on the far right with the King's Colors is stock and won't change. The officer on the left with the Regimental Standard belongs originally to the 47th, so will get the most paint: gaiters will be brown, trousers and waistcoat will be linen, and of course the Regimental facings will be yellow. The standard came from the 28th - I changed the Regimental number previously. The drummer will just get brown gaiters, and the officer in front - originally from the Jenkins "Death of Wolfe" set - will get new yellow facings.
Why? I had the original officer and color set but found as it was an early Jenkins release it wasn't up to his later quality standards. So I sold it to follow this path, instead. The blog title does warn of "obsession," after all.
Hope to have the repaints done next weekend.
Now what should I do for Recruits in September?
See ya!
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Happy Birthday, America!
It ain't perfect, but there's no place we'd rather live. Jack's ready for the fireworks!
Despite the recent focus on work, I did finish a book: The War of the World by Niall Ferguson. It took a while; it is over 600 pages long before the footnotes start!
Amazon describes the book thus:
Astonishing in its scope and erudition, this is the magnum opus that Niall Ferguson's numerous acclaimed works have been leading up to. In it, he grapples with perhaps the most challenging questions of modern history: Why was the twentieth century history's bloodiest by far? Why did unprecedented material progress go hand in hand with total war and genocide? His quest for new answers takes him from the walls of Nanjing to the bloody beaches of Normandy, from the economics of ethnic cleansing to the politics of imperial decline and fall. The result, as brilliantly written as it is vital, is a great historian's masterwork.
Also from Amazon, a review, from Publisher's Weekly:
Why, if life was improving so rapidly for so many people at the dawn of the 20th century, were the next hundred years full of brutal conflict? Ferguson (Colossus) has a relatively simple answer: ethnic unrest is prone to break out during periods of economic volatility—booms as well as busts. When they take place in or near areas of imperial decline or transition, the unrest is more likely to escalate into full-scale conflict. This compelling theory is applicable to the Armenian genocide in Turkey, the slaughter of the Tutsis in Rwanda or the "ethnic cleansing" perpetrated against Bosnians, but the overwhelming majority of Ferguson's analysis is devoted to the two world wars and the fate of the Jews in Germany and eastern Europe. His richly informed analysis overturns many basic assumptions. For example, he argues that England's appeasement of Hitler in 1938 didn't lead to WWII, but was a misinformed response to a war that had started as early as 1935. But with Ferguson's claims about "the descent of the West" and the smaller wars in the latter half of the century tucked away into a comparatively brief epilogue, his thoughtful study falls short of its epic promise. (Sept. 25)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The first chapter was a slog, but once the author's premise was established and the historical narrative began the slogging turned to pleasure. Well, "pleasure" may be a stretch since the subject matter is so unrelentingly grim. Some perspectives I found intriguing:
• The "War of the World" lasted from the turn of the 20th Century until the signing of the Korean Armistice in 1953, and what followed in its wake, the Cold War, could also be called the "Third World's War."
• World War 2 could have been averted had Britain and/or France attacked Germany preemptively in 1938 instead of embracing the policy of appeasement.
• Josef Stalin's Soviet Union was the single clear "winner" of World War 2.
There's a lot more; I learned a lot about the situations in Europe before World War 1 and in Asia before World War 2.
See ya!
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subset: commoncrawl


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Described by the Sunday Times as "an intellectual powerhouse with a world-class reputation", UCL is one of the world's leading multidisciplinary universities. It is 7th in QS World University Rankings 2017/18, and is the highest-ranked university in the UK for research strength (Research Excellence Framework 2014). UCL also has 29 Nobel Prize winners amongst its former staff and students.
We offer more than 200 undergraduate programmes, nearly 500 graduate programmes, and research opportunities across the academic spectrum. We offer a dynamic and challenging learning environment, and our degree programmes reflect the latest research. There is a strong emphasis on small-group teaching. The student to staff ratio of 10:1 is the best in the UK (Guardian 2017).
We have a highly international student body, spanning around 150 countries. Our programmes reflect the latest research in a dynamic and challenging internationally-focussed learning environment with a strong emphasis on small group teaching. Our Careers service offers dedicated support to international students.
Located in central London, we are surrounded by the greatest concentration of libraries, museums, archives and professional bodies in Europe. As well


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Yorkshire County Cricket Club is delighted to announce that Leeds City Council has granted planning permission for the installation of permanent floodlights at Headingley. The decision was made at a meeting of the Council earlier today (May 29).
The scheme will see four permanent pylons erected at the stadium each just over 50 metres in height incorporating the latest lighting system. It is hoped, once funding is secured, that work will start on the installation for the 2015 season.
The lights will be in operation for cricket matches at Headingley up to 20 times per season.
An artist impression of how the floodlights will look from Headingley Mount
Yorkshire County Cricket Club's, Chief Executive, Mark Arthur said: " We want to create a stadium that is amongst finest in the world and enable Yorkshire to continue to stage major international fixtures over the long term. To be granted planning permission for the installation of permanent floodlights is a major step forward for the Club.
"It will also enable us to promote Day/Night fixtures, which will become an integral part of of our limited overs schedule in the various domestic competitions.
"The cost of installation will be £1.8 million. We have received a grant from the England and Wales Cricket Board for £700,000 and work will continue to secure the additional funding of £1.1 million.
"I would like to thank Leeds City Council for their support and granting the Club permission to install floodlights."


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by Michael Rubin
Yesterday, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin unveiled the State Department's latest "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report. Benjamin declared that al-Qaeda was "on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse," and explained:
We saw millions of citizens throughout the Middle East advance peaceful public demands for change without any reference to al-Qaeda's incendiary world view. This upended the group's long-standing claim that change in this region would only come through violence… These men and women have underscored in the most powerful fashion the lack of influence al-Qaeda exerts over the central political issues in key Muslim-majority nations.
First, it's important to give credit where credit is due: President Obama deserves credit for the death of bin Laden, and numerous other terror masters. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to take an aspirin and then claim to have cured the common cold. An election may be coming up, but predicting al-Qaeda to be both down and out is woefully premature.
The hit on bin Laden was bold and wielded an intelligence bonanza. However, the second bin Laden's death was announced, that intelligence was stamped with an expiration date. In subsequent days and weeks, the Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency utilized the bin Laden cache to roll up terrorists globally.
What Benjamin seems to misunderstand though is the idea that al-Qaeda is motivated not by grievance but by ideology. They seek not democratization or government accountability, but rather blind obedience to their own totalitarian belief set. They'd certainly be willing to win that through elections—but no serious candidate advocates such a platform—so they'll take what they can get by any means necessary. If al- Qaeda is really satisfied with the Egyptian and Libyan elections, then that is a sign of just how bad things have become–Obama's public statements notwithstanding.
By leading from behind or by standing on the sidelines, Obama has set the conditions for al-Qaeda to resurrect itself. Terrorists love a vacuum, and that is what Obama has done his darnedest to create in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Libya, not to mention Mali and Somalia. Add into the mix Syria's chemical weapons and Libya's surface-to-air missiles, and al-Qaeda may soon have new lethality. The fact that the bin Laden intelligence haul is now more relevant to historians than counter-terrorism action officers means the veil of opacity has once again descended.
The Obama team can celebrate in its 2011 report but, when it comes to al-Qaeda, what we're seeing may very well be the calm before the storm.Michael Rubin
Source: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/08/01/al-qaeda-is-not-defeated/#more-801251
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.


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|Osei Bonsu Patterson
1CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana
|International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 2015, Vol.5 (5), pp.213-219
|Directory of Open Access Journals
|Planting Device; No-Till; Maize; Jab Planter; Economic Analysis;
|An experiment was conducted at the CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) Experimental station at Ejura in Ghana to compare the efficiency of four devices for planting no-till maize: Tractor drawn seeder, Chinese made jab planter, Locally made jab planter and a Cutlass. It took two (2) hours 48 minutes to plant one hectare of maize with the tractor drawn seeder, which was significantly (p less than 1%) faster than all the planting methods. Cutlass was the slowest planting device lasting more than 14 hours per hectare. There was no significant difference in planting time between the Chinese planter and local planter. Economic analysis showed that cutlass planting produced the highest net benefit, whilst tractor drawn seeder produced the least benefit. In this study cutlass planting was... done with precision by collaborating farmers. In actual farm situation however, hired laborers (planting gangs) often plant in haste which often results in poor plant population leading to low yields. Tractor drawn seeders or jab planters could reduce drudgery in planting and encourage farm expansion.


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Concept child seat inflates in 40sec
Los Angeles - Children's car seats are historically bulky, hard to move and tedious to mount - but that may be about to change.
Volvo has designed a lightweight, inflatable rearward-facing child seat concept that is says is safe, easy to pack and carry and will enable parents to use it in many situations not practical with the seats on the market today.\
Designer Lawrence Abele, head of the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Centre in Los Angeles, had his two children in mind while designing the concept seat.
"For me child safety is always the number one priority," he said. "When we lived abroad with two toddlers we had to haul bulky child seats through airports and then into taxis.
"Travelling with young children is a challenge; anything to simplify their parents' life is great."
The concept presents new opportunities; when grandparents or friends take care of your children, or when travelling by taxi, rental car or bus, you no longer have to rely on the safety measures available.
The seat has a quiet, efficient pump that inflates it in less than 40 seconds and can also be used to deflate the seat for storage. The seat and its pump weigh less than five kilograms - half the weight of a conventional seat - and it's constantly online via Bluetooth, making possible a wide range of features, including remote controlled inflation.
And when deflated it fits into a weekend bag along with other necessities for your child.
Project manager Maria Hansson explained: "We used a special material called drop-stitch fabric to make the prototype seat, which is very strong when inflated to a high internal pressure.
"It was originally developed by the military in an effort to develop inflatable aeroplanes, but it's now quite widely used in the boating industry."
The inflatable child seat concept faces the rear of the car, because that's the safest way for children to travel. A child's neck is not as strong as an adult's and, in a frontal impact collision, the head of a forward-facing car occupant is thrown violently forward.
That's why children therefore need to face the rear of the vehicle until at least 3-4 years of age.
Abele said: "Actually, it would be better for all of us to travel facing the rear but, given how cars are designed nowadays it's not feasible.
"Young children, however, can and should travel facing the rear of the car as long as possible," he added.


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Poor Man's SU Utility
\[Editor's Note: Share your NT discoveries, comments, experiences with products, problems, and solutions and reach out to other Windows NT Magazine readers (including Microsoft). Email your contributions (under 400 words) to Karen Bemowski at [email protected] Please include your phone number. We will edit submissions for style, grammar, and length. If we print your letter, you'll get $100.\]
While logged on to a workstation with a user account, you might need to access that machine's drives as an administrative user. For example, on a user's workstation, you might need to modify files that the user account can't access. You can use the Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Resource Kit SU utility to run a process as another user, but this utility can be unwieldy to set up and use. (For information about SU, see Mark Minasi, "SU," January 1998.)
An alternative is to use the NET USE command to connect to a network resource (such as a share), even if that resource is on your current machine. For example, you can connect to your machine's C drive as an administrator by typing the command
net use W: \\mymachine\c$ /user:administrator
This command maps the W drive to the C drive of mymachine. If you access the drive as W, you have administrative permissions. If you access it through C, you have the user account's permissions. If you open a window for W and another for C, you have side-by-side windows that have different privileges.
The NET USE command doesn't limit you to becoming another administrative user. You can become any user if you know that person's password. This flexibility can be useful. For example, you can test a program as a user to make sure the program's access control lists (ACLs) are set up correctly. To become another user, specify that person's user account in the NET USE command. However, user accounts cannot access administrative shares, so you must set up shares manually if you want to access them as non-administrative users.
When you complete your task, discontinue the mapping. Type the command
net use w: /delete
Adapted Template Prevents Potential Side Effect
In "Implement SPE Changes with Custom Template" (Reader to Reader, March 1998), Alex Zarenin shared a system policy template for controlling browser service parameters. The template lets you define systems as Not a Browser, Potential Browsers, or Preferred Browsers, and hide systems from the browser.
I realized that the template might cause a side effect that I encountered implementing a similar policy on my Windows NT systems. The problem occurs when you configure a system as Not a Browser (MaintainServerList=No). This setting causes the browser service to fail when a user tries to start an NT system. The Service Control Manager generates a message box and event log entry for the error. Although benign, such a message can alarm users.
You can fix this problem by revising the system policy template to control the Startup Type value for the browser service. The revised template sets the Browser Service Startup Type to disabled when you configure a system to function as Not a Browser, preventing unwanted error messages from disturbing users. You can download this template from http://www.winntmag.com/magazine.
Use SPE to Customize Your Logon Information
After reading Steve Thomas' article "Uncovering New Settings in the Registry" (March 1998), I decided to customize the Begin Logon, Logon Information, Workstation Locked, and Unlock Workstation dialog boxes in my Windows NT system. I wanted to configure these dialog boxes to include a company greeting, like that shown in Screen 1, page 48.
I wrote a custom template, logonmsg.adm, to change the necessary Registry settings. Listing 1, page 48, contains this template. Rather than using the standard Registry editing tools to implement this template on the many workstations in my company, I used NT's System Policy Editor (SPE) because SPE is easier to use and more efficient. Screen 2 shows how SPE looks now that I've added the template.
If you want to use logonmsg.adm but are an SPE novice, Microsoft's Zero Administration Kit (ZAK) is a good place to start. You can download ZAK for free at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/platform/info/zakdemo.htm. (For more information on ZAK, see Darren Mar-Elia, "Zero Administration Kit: The Answer to Your TCO Woes?" January 1998.)
Important Detail
In the Reader to Reader tip, "Hosting Multiple DNS Names with One IP Address Is as Easy as 1, 2, 3" (January 1998), Paul Noeldner explained how you can use the Active Server Pages (ASP) variable, Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_host"), to redirect incoming requests from Web users. However, the tip didn't mention an important detail.
Because the client, not the server, supplies ASP request object variables, the Domain Name System (DNS) names are not case sensitive--but Visual Basic (VB) string comparisons are. So, in your ASP code, you must use the LCase() VBscript function on the server name. Otherwise, whatever the user types in is exactly what is passed into that variable. So, if a Web user types in http://another.DNS.COM instead of http://another.dns.com, the tip won't work. In addition, you need to use OR clauses in your IF statement to handle users who are connecting by IP address or by LAN broadcast-resolved NetBIOS names.
Alternatively, you can use Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_host") as a dynamic configuration variable to get your ASP applications to automatically configure. For example, my company has several ASP applications on development, testing, and production servers. I can run the same ASP code on all the servers by using Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_host") to set pagewide or sessionwide variables.
Listing 2, page 50, is an example of ASP code. The CASE statements use a comma-delimited list to let you use server name variations. This capability is useful if you have a machine that goes by several DNS names. For example, the code in Listing 2 will send all of these URLs to the same place:
- http://testserver.mycompany.com
- http://testserver.MyCompany.COM
- http://testserver
- http://22.214.171.124
Maintaining NT in the Lab Environment
In my Windows NT lab, I frequently make simple changes (e.g., changing the Registry and adding and modifying files) to each machine. I found that utilities such as Ghost Software's GHOST are wonderful for initial installations but are not suitable for daily administration tasks. A better-suited tool for maintaining large numbers of identical NT machines is Pyzzo Software's PC-Rdist (http://www.pyzzo.com).
PC-Rdist maintains a standard set of files and settings on multiple computers across a network. PC-Rdist runs on the client machines and compares files and settings on the local computer to master copies on a server. To change or add a file, you just change the master image. PC-Rdist also moves files that users add to a temporary directory or deletes these files, replaces files missing on users' PCs, updates the local Registry, and restores system settings. You can configure the clients to regularly check and update files.
This tool will not set up the machines from scratch, however. You still need a utility such as Ghost for the first pass. After that pass, PC-Rdist greatly simplifies your daily administration tasks.
Workaround Needed for Toshiba Laptop
I use a Toshiba Tecra 750CDT laptop computer daily as a domain administrator for AT&T. I configured the laptop to run Windows NT 4.0, Service Pack 3 (SP3). I loaded all the Toshiba drivers from its Web site, including NT subsystem drivers and hardware utilities and Toshiba's Advanced Power Management (APM) utilities and drivers. I now receive error messages when I start the machine and when I run 16-bit applications. The messages always involve the scivdd.dll file, which the Toshiba drivers installed.
I made several calls to Toshiba for a fix. The representatives said they had never heard of this problem, but assured me that they would "escalate the issue to the next level." After about 5 weeks, a technician asked for information so that he could reproduce the error in Toshiba's lab. He generated the same problem and passed the error data to the next level.
Meanwhile, I have found Knowledge Base article Q155726, "Scivdd.dll Generates Error Messages at Windows NT Startup" on Microsoft's Web site (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q155/7/26.asp), which discusses this problem. The article states that Toshiba's scivdd.dll file, which runs the laptop's APM features, doesn't run in NT 4.0. To solve this problem, the article tells you to install NT 4.0 to a clean folder and contact Toshiba for more information.
I can't be the only person running NT on a Toshiba laptop. Does anyone have a workaround to this problem?
Use a .bat or .cmd File to Simulate Single-User Mode
I'm a systems administrator at EDS. People ask me whether Windows NT has the equivalent of UNIX's init 1 command to take an NT system into single-user mode. You can use a .bat or .cmd file to simulate single-user and multi-user modes. You can even name the file init.cmd and accept arguments of 1 and 3 to shut down and start up all networking services. Listing 3 contains an example of init.cmd. You can enhance this file to add more error handling if needed.
NT Installation
During installation of a Windows NT network, I encountered two problems. The first occurred when I was using Ghost Software's GHOST to duplicate workstations (http://www.ghostsoft.com/main.htm). After I made a copy of the master workstation to serve as a template, I renamed that workstation, rebooted, and created a new domain account. I thought this process was generating a new security ID (SID). (For more information about SIDs, see Mark Russinovich, "Windows NT Security, Part 1," May 1998.)
At two NT sites, the network seemed to be OK. But when I tried to use logon scripts to control users' drive mappings at the third site, the logon scripts worked on only one workstation. Using GHOST Walker, I found that all the workstation SIDs were identical. After I changed the SIDs, the logon scripts worked.
I had thought SIDs had to be unique to connect to a server. However, many NT network functions can run on workstations with identical SIDs. At one point, I had about 30 workstations with identical SIDs operating without problems.
I encountered another installation problem when I tried to use Traveling Software's LapLink for Windows NT to remotely control the server consoles and to replicate directories between servers
(http://22.214.171.124/products/travelling/index.htm). The scheduler in LapLink for Windows NT doesn't work. I called Traveling Software's support, only to hear that no workaround exists. After experimenting, I was able to use WinAt to schedule the LapLink transfers.
Three Suggestions for Microsoft
I want to run Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 on my network. Although I have Internet Explorer (IE) 3.02, IIS 4.0 requires IE 4.0. I have tried many times to install IE 4.0 on my Alpha-based (Digital Server Model 800) server running Windows NT Server 4.0, Service Pack 3 (SP3), but to no avail. The install goes to about 3 percent, then skips to the end, showing red Xs instead of blue check marks. I consistently get the error message: The install didn't work. Reboot and try again. If that doesn't work, try redownloading the software. Based on this experience, I have three suggestions for Microsoft:
- Create error messages that state why an install failed. Otherwise, these messages are useless.
- Create error messages that use the correct terminology. The term redownloading doesn't make sense. It means "to download the software again," but if the install fails, you haven't downloaded the software in the first place. So how can you install it again?
- Remove IIS 4.0's requirement to have IE 4.0 installed. This requirement has no reason to exist. Microsoft is obviously attempting to force people to use IE 4.0. In addition, if customers want to install IE 4.0, they should be able to install it where they want. (I usually don't manage servers from my console, so I don't want to install IE 4.0 on my server.)
I'm venting my frustration. However, I also want to warn Alpha users who are considering implementing IIS 4.0.
Microsoft Is Stressing Its Non-Disclosure Agreement
Sean Daily's excellent article, "The Value of the MCSE Credential" (March 1998), addressed the controversy of paper Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSEs). The article commented on the fact that certification preparation has evolved from classroom courses and self-study guides to crash courses and cheat sheets.
Apparently, Microsoft is attempting to nip paper MCSEs in the bud by stressing its Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for exams. I recently became aware of this NDA when I was preparing to take another Microsoft exam. The person registering me asked whether I had read and agreed to Microsoft's NDA policy. I was not aware of this policy, so I investigated and found the following disclaimer online (http://www.microsoft.com/mcp/articles/nda.htm):
"This exam is Microsoft confidential and is protected by trade secret law. It is made available to you, the examinee, solely for the purpose of becoming certified in the technical area referenced in the title of this exam. You are expressly prohibited from disclosing, publishing, reproducing, or transmitting this exam, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, verbal or written, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the prior express written permission of Microsoft Corporation."
Perhaps Microsoft has learned from Novell's mistake with the Certified NetWare Engineer (CNE) program and is trying to solve the problem before MCSE loses its stature. Although stressing the NDA probably won't stop companies from providing crash courses and cheat sheets, at least it's a stance for integrity.


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Urban Traffic a core element of SMART city should be focused more efficiently during the urban planning. While more money, less corruption, more infrastructure and better design are indeed medium-term and long-term solutions, they are complex and unlikely to be easily addressed in the churn of India's democratic politics. Even so, we must push forward on them. However, in the meantime, if we focus on improving flows we can enjoy some respite from the tyranny of traffic almost immediately.
Urban Traffic | The blame lies on….
- On the one hand policymakers blame lack of funds, and it is true that the municipal corporation's entire annual budget is smaller than what is required to upgrade the road network to modern standards.
- On the other, citizens blame the pyramid of corruption that brazenly siphons off even what little funds are allocated for the purpose. There are also issues of master-planning, infrastructure design and maintenance.
Urban Traffic | Improvements Required
This is an eight-fold path to improving traffic in the short term, without requiring to spends massive amounts of money
- Focus on the flow– Try to improve the width the road uniformly. Unless a road is of uniform width throughout its length, flow is unlikely to improve much by widening. In fact, uneven road width causes congestion and can actually worsen the situation. Do not widen a road unless you can widen it along its entire length.
- Remove road cholesterol – In many places almost 40% of the road is unusable because, like clogged arteries, circulation of traffic is choked by various blockages. Potholes, construction materials, parked cars, auto rickshaw stands and street vendors interrupt traffic flow and not only cause congestion points but also endanger safety of motorists and pedestrians. They should be regulated to minimise the impact on traffic flow. Make it compulsory for construction material and debris to be placed in bins, with a fee charged for occupying road space. Make parallel parking compulsory, draw parking lots and assign a serial number to each of them. Move auto-rickshaw stands away from street intersections. Similarly, ensure street vendors occupy designated lots.
- Get cows and other animals off the road – It should be astounding that a city that connects India to the global economy, and one that suffers so much traffic congestion, tolerates herds of cows on its major roads. Cows might be holy but that does not prevent them from causing congestion and endangering their own lives and the lives of motorists.
- Make all lanes of uniform width – Today, lanes are mostly not marked, and where they are marked, they bisect the available road width. The lack of lane markings and lanes of varying widths create no behavioural triggers for people to drive in a disciplined manner. Lane markings should always be clearly visible and not left to drivers' imaginations.
- Enforce queuing for right turns – One of the biggest reasons for congestions on major roads is that when vehicles wait to turn right, they do not queue up one behind the other. Instead, they line up side-by-side in a right-turning arc. What this means is that all the vehicles that intend to go straight ahead or turn left are blocked. It doesn't matter how wide the road is, if right-turning vehicles do not queue up. Barricades can be placed to create a right-turn queue to create this driving behaviour norm.
- Directional signs – There have to be a lot more directional signs on our roads. Overhead gantries identifying lanes for left, right and straight ahead are necessary. These must be placed well-ahead of the intersection so that vehicles can change lanes much before the intersection.
- Stop-line at intersections – The stop line at intersections must be prominent. Right now its exact position is left to the imagination and discretion of drivers. This makes it impossible for pedestrians to cross safely or other traffic to pass across the junction. The stop line must be a 'lakshman rekha' crossing which should attract severe penalties. Cameras already exist that can enforce this easily.
- Heavy vehicles management – Movement of heavy vehicles and tractor-trailors cannot be unrestricted as it is now. Slow moving vehicles such as these not only slow down traffic but also create incentives for illegal and dangerous overtaking by other motorists. If they cannot be limited to certain corridors and certain times, then they must be compelled to move only in the left-most lane. Again, camera footage can be used for penalising offenders without burdening on-ground police personnel.
Urban Traffic | Way-forward
Although pedestrians ought to have the first right on the road, they are constantly robbed of their safety and dignity. Traffic lights for pedestrian crossings seem to have been designed for Olympic sprinters, as it is almost impossible to cross even a mid-sized road in the ten seconds that are allocated for the purpose.
Sky-bridges and underpasses are impractical if they have steep staircases or are located at unnatural crossing points. At times where traffic lights are sought to be synchronised to create "green channels" and smooth traffic flows, the pedestrian's rights must not be sacrificed. Give them more time to cross the road; and dissuade them from crossing where they shouldn't.


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Applications are now open now for the MIMS PSA Intern of the Year 2015 awards. State and territory winners vie each year for the coveted title of the PSA-MIMS National Intern Pharmacist of the Year, announced at the PSA national conference.
MIMS Australia is the exclusive partner of these awards at state, territory and national levels and will be contributing the prizes: To find out more about the selection criteria or nominate someone, please visit the PSA website.


text: Is it true that there's a tropical wave floating around out there with an associated low? What's the story with the associated wind shear and chances for development? Whee! As always, may these storms form, send some swell, and not cause any destruction or loss of life. I always feel guilty wishing for tropical development.


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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced that there will be a line of smaller Windows tablets on the market soon.
The new devices — which will be manufactured by its partners and feature Windows 8 — will be cheaper and bridge the gap between PCs and the Windows Phone, ZDNet reports.
The announcement came from Microsoft CFO Peter Klein in an earnings call April 18. During the call Klein mentioned that the newer devices would be available "in the coming months" and will be sold at a more attractive price point.
Last month Microsoft changed the Windows 8 certification guidelines to allow developers to create software for smaller, 7-inch tablet devices. This allows both manufacturers and software developers to create for the popular devices without having to get waivers from the company.
In the call, Klein also highlighted that the smaller devices could help the Windows Phone. While Klein maintained that the device was developing momentum in some regions, he also said that the company had, "a lot of work ahead to break through in some key markets."


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So, here is what I found so far, to summarize:
- Time between last meal and beginning of training - Ideally more than 3 hours
- minimal ideal weight - smaller portions - keep your weight in the lower range of your ideal - for me by experience, I now know that it's in the 68-70 kg range - this could be even lower in the coming year
- Rest and sleep - a night with less than 5 hours sleep will have a huge impact on your energy level while you train.
- missed some training session - for instance, if you don't train for a 2 weeks for practical reasons, you will feel that you need way more will power to achieve the same results
These are some core fine tuning elements.
When you start training and are only at 40-50% optimization these fine tuning elements matter way less.
The core limiting factor will probably be 10 or 20 pounds extra body fat or simply being out of shape.
However, when you are in the 80-100% optimization range, the 3 elements I mention above become essential!!!
To compensate, you can always use your will power and force it.
However, when you are taking care of these optimization elements, then you enter into the fun/energy zone.
This means that you feel that your training is effortless.
It becomes super enjoyable and almost exhilarating.
Also, these strategies apply to exercises like jogging, swimming, cardio, and the kind of training I do in the woods with intervals, exercises, etc.
If you are on the weight training and body building mode, the rules might be different because you are trying to build up bulk muscle.


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Middle Grades
Grades 3 through 7 meet each Sunday for a short service. The older students are encouraged to lead the services and everyone enjoys the singing. There are brief prayer explanations and the students are given the opportunity to express their opinions
The main vehicle for learning to read Hebrew is our Hebrew tutoring program staffed by teen tutors. Students work in pairs or individually with a tutor to practice correct Hebrew reading and learn about the prayers. We use the Mitkadem program both in the classroom and at home with online access available to families who choose to enroll.
3rd grade: The theme for the year in the CHAI curriculum is k'duashah, holiness. The students learn that understanding the laws in the Torah and doing acts of kindness make the world and their lives better and more holy. Hebrew studies involve intensive decoding practice for the first part of the year and beginning the Mitkadem program as they are ready.
4th grade: Students learn about themselves and the community, their connection to the Jewish people and the land of Israel. Hebrew studies now include learning prayers from the siddur (prayer book) and holiday vocabulary.
5th grade:Children continue to expand their Hebrew reading and writing skills, with emphasis on Shabbat and other holiday services. This year, the CHAI curriculum focuses on liberal, progressive Judaism and the community. The books of the Prophets are used to understand how God wants us to live.
6th Grade: At this point, the children become increasingly aware that the day on which they will become b'nai mitzvah is fast approaching. A large part of their curriculum focuses on helping prepare them for the responsibilities of becoming Jewish adults. By grade six, the average student should be very comfortable reading Hebrew. Cantor Kohlbrenner teaches the class for a half hour on Wednesday. Revelation is the main topic of the CHAI curriculum dealing with our relationships to God through text, and g'milut chasadim.
7th grade: Students become increasingly involved in bar/bat mitzvah preparation. Hebrew studies reinforce the skills they already know. The question posed in the CHAI curriculum is, "What does it mean to be a responsible Jewish adult?


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I teach a lot of authors about book marketing and many start the workshops with dread, knowing they have to learn this stuff, but not really wanting to do it.
My aim is always to change their mindset to one of happily incorporating marketing into their daily lifestyle, and generally, by the end of the day, most authors are much happier! In today's article, Bryan Cohen talks about his own marketing change of heart.
If you had fun marketing would you be looking for advice on a book marketing blog?
Probably not. I imagine most people search these blog posts for a magic bullet. A marketing solution that takes less time and energy. A tactic that leads to increased sales and more time for writing.
I'm not sure this post fits the bill, but I will tell you what I've done to make space in my life for publicizing my books.
Stranger Sales
The summer after I graduated from college, my favorite acting professor invited me to New York City to run the marketing for her show that was part of the New York Fringe Festival. I'd had some success promoting student plays, once packing a 250-seat house to the brim by promoting an unknown but lewd play as an age 18 and up affair. My professor hoped I'd fill the seats in New York, but despite my best efforts, I failed to get the word out.
I understood what worked for marketing on a college campus to my friends and peers. Using flyers, Facebook events and cheap/free tickets, I was able to pack the house. The same tricks didn't work in the Big Apple, especially given the 50+ other shows going on at the same time. I'd failed to learn an important marketing truth:
What works for your friends and peers won't always work for strangers. And without strangers on board, your sales will be severely limited.
From Chore to Reward
The first few years of my writing career, I struggled mightily with my marketing. If it weren't for my skills in search engine optimization, my first few books wouldn't have sold at all. When more and more authors entered the fray of self-publishing, I knew I'd need to do more marketing to make my work stand out. The only issue was that whenever I even thought about marketing my brain seemed to shut off.
When I feel passionate about something, I will draw from the deepest possible reserves to complete it.
When my younger brother beat my race time for a 10-miler, I trained for four straight months to take the running record back. When I had the chance to enter an online course creation contest to win an iPad for my wife, I worked 16-hour days for three straight weeks to create/finish the course and win the prize. Clear goals excite me. Marketing has always felt like a never-ending process with no definitive chance of victory.
To make marketing a daily task, I would have to make it something to look forward to.
I work on marketing about five to 10 hours a week on average. Most of that time is spent on tedious tasks like changing out book blurbs, posting to free book websites and formatting. I would never do these mindless, time-consuming projects if it wasn't for the power of the podcast.
I'm passionate about self-publishing podcasts. I will only let myself listen to them while I work on tedious marketing tasks.
As a result, I've become much more passionate about my marketing time than ever before. I'll load up The Creative Penn, the Self Publishing Podcast or the Rocking Self Publishing Podcast and get to work for 45 minutes to an hour at a time.
In the last few months alone, I've made a huge amount of progress on my tedious marketing tasks using this method. And when a task is too time-consuming, I save up my money to outsource the project through a website like ODesk.
Loving the Pitch
But marketing isn't all about tedium.
The most successful people are willing to do what other people don't want to do.
To make your book stand out among the hardest working authors in the biz, you need to use your brain to try new and unusual marketing methods. To make this happen for my own books, I went back to my theatrical roots.
I loved producing theatre because I was able to bring a group of people together for one incredible run of shows. Directors, actors, stage crew and the other folks involved become like a family for a month or two. There is little more I love than making that happen as a producer. It's like being the play's patriarch.
After some inspiration from horror author Timothy W. Long, I created a Facebook author event for books about writing. As part of the event, 16 authors discounted their books and participated in a live Q&A session. The authors told their fans about the event, which allowed their readers to find out about new authors at a significant discount. The event was a lot of hard work to organize, but the results spoke for themselves.
Over 600 readers attended March to a Bestseller and my website received more than 2,000 unique visitors the day the event went live. At one point, the books involved in the promotion took over every slot of the Amazon Reference-Writing Skills category's top 10.
My peers thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the event, and I made some lifelong connections. As I scanned through hundreds of Facebook notifications, I felt invigorated. Planning, moderating and contributing to the event helped me to apply my love for producing to my writing life. I finally figured out the best way for me to bring strangers to my work while loving every minute of it.
The best kind of marketing isn't about teaching yourself to do something you hate. It's about converting things you love to do into marketing. It's more than liking what you're selling. It's liking how you're selling.
If you can figure out how to do that, marketing your book may become something you look forward to. How strange.
What are your feelings about marketing? How have you learned to incorporate it into your daily author life? Please leave a comment below.
Bryan Cohen lives in Chicago with his wife and their Netflix account. He has written over 30 books, most of them filled with writer's block-busting creative writing prompts. His latest book is 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts, Volume 2.
Check out some of his writing prompts on the site Build Creative Writing Ideas. Keep up with his latest books and blog posts by subscribing to his mailing list.


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NASHVILLE � The Vanderbilt Commodores keep insisting they're the same team as a season ago, with more experience. They're getting much more practice at losing on their own floor, however, and the latest loss is likely to drop them back out of the Top 25.
NASHVILLE � The Vanderbilt Commodores keep insisting they�re the same team as a season ago, with more experience. They�re getting much more practice at losing on their own floor, however, and the latest loss is likely to drop them back out of the Top 25.
Jeffery Taylor scored 21 points, but 25th-ranked Vanderbilt scored only once in the final 6:31 in blowing an eight-point lead during a 61-55 loss to Indiana State. It was the Commodores� third non-conference loss at Memorial Gym this season, the most since the 1977-78 season when they lost to St. John�s, Kansas State and Virginia Tech.
�Just untimely for us to go cold in stretches,� Taylor said. �I can�t really put my finger on it. I felt this was a game we should�ve won. It�s really frustrating right now.�
That�s because these Commodores opened the season ranked seventh nationally, their highest preseason ranking since 1965. Home losses to Cleveland State and Xavier helped knock them out of the Top 25, and they had just gotten back into the rankings at No. 25 with the return of center Festus Ezeli from a sprained right knee that cost him the first eight games.
This time, they were coming off a 10-day break for finals with exams so scattered coach Kevin Stallings had trouble scheduling practices or having all his players available to hit the floor. Now they are 6-4, with the Southeastern Conference slate still ahead.
�It was not a very good performance,� Stallings said. �It was not a very good week of practice. It was not a very good week overall.�
Reserve RJ Mahurin scored 14 points, Carl Richard and Jordan Printy each had 11 and Jake Odum added 10 with seven assists as Indiana State got its first win over a ranked team since 2006.
Steve McWhorter held John Jenkins, the Southeastern Conference�s top scorer, to a season-low 11 points, and the sophomore guard hit two free throws with 3:32 left to put Indiana State ahead for good.
�It�s not rocket science to look in there as much as possible and scout the best you can,� Indiana State coach Greg Lansing said.
Indiana State (8-2) earned its fifth win in 12 games against SEC teams and first since beating Vanderbilt on Dec. 22, 1984, in Terre Haute. The Sycamores are off to their best start since opening 8-1 in 2005-06, and Lansing called this a big win for his program.
�It�s going to be a good ride home,� he said.
Jenkins had been averaging a league-best 21.3 points this season. Brad Tinsley had 12.
�They did a good job of getting up on John,� Stallings said. �He was too quick to try and pinch off shots. There was no rhythm to our offense, but we had no rhythm the whole week of practice.�
Looking rusty, Vanderbilt fell behind by 12 early before going cold late, and Taylor had no explanation.
�We�re going to have to figure it out. It can�t keep going like this,� he said. �We�re a much better team than we�re playing right now.�
The Sycamores led by as many as 12 in the first half and nine in the second half. Vanderbilt rallied to take the lead each time and led by as much as 53-45 with 6:32 left on Lance Goulbourne�s three-point play. The Commodores then went cold and shot so poorly late that fans started heading for the exits in the final minute.
�I was worried some,� Lansing said of falling behind at that point. �We�ve done that a lot, letting opponents come back. We calmed down on the offensive end, and that helped us be a better defense. We�ve been guilty of poor offense leading to poor defense. Having the ball in Odum�s hands at the end makes me feel comfortable.�
Printy hit a 3-pointer, then McWhorter put Indiana State ahead to stay with his free throws. Odum, who committed six turnovers, scored four of his 10 points in the final 2:44 to help seal the win.
Indiana State outshot Vanderbilt 43.1 percent (22 of 51) to 38 percent (19 of 50), and the Sycamores were even better from 3-point range. They hit 10 of 21 compared to Vandy�s 6 of 22. Jenkins, leading the nation with 3.9 3-pointers per game, was just 1 of 6 beyond the arc.
The Commodores struggled shooting even at the free throw line, hitting only 11 of 18.
With the game tied at 28 at halftime, Indiana State scored 10 of the first 11 points to open the second half and led 38-29 on a fast-break layup by Odum.
Taylor started a 12-0 run with a 3, a pair of free throws, another 3 and then a high-flying dunk off a steal by Tinsley that had fans roaring. Tinsley then scored on a layup for a 41-38 lead with 15:21 left. Vanderbilt grabbed its biggest lead at 53-45 but didn�t score again until it was too late.
No. 2 Ohio State 74, South Carolina 66: Deshaun Thomas scored a career high 30 points and No. 2 Ohio State overcame the loss of star Jared Sullinger to defeat South Carolina 74-66 on Saturday and give Thad Matta his 200th win as Buckeyes coach.
No. 17 Mississippi State 80, Detroit 75: Rodney Hood�s jump shot with 17.7 seconds left lifted No. 17 Mississippi State to a 80-75 win over Detroit on Saturday, the 10th straight victory for the Bulldogs.
Southern Miss 86, Mississippi 82: Angelo Johnson scored 23 points, Neil Watson added 18 and Southern Mississippi beat Mississippi 86-82 on Saturday.
Arkansas 62, Southeastern Louisiana 55: Freshman Ky Madden scored 10 points and had seven assists off the bench to help Arkansas pull away Saturday for a 62-55 win over Southeastern Louisiana.
No. 4 Louisville 95, Memphis 87: Russ Smith set personal bests with 24 points and seven steals as No. 4 Louisville survived a rough-and-tumble matchup with former conference foe Memphis 95-87 on Saturday to extend the Cardinals� home winning streak to 18 games.
Tennessee State 59, Delaware State 55: Robert Covington scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help Tennessee State pull away from Delaware State 59-55 on Saturday night.
Miami (Ohio) 66, Belmont 61: Julian Mavunga had his fifth double-double of the season and Miami (Ohio) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 66-61 win over Belmont on Saturday.
Tennessee Tech 72, Evansville 70: Kevin Murphy scored 23 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining, to give Tennessee Tech a 72-70 victory over Evansville on Saturday.


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Restorations & Revivals
The Mummy
A 1921 British field expedition to Egypt uncovers the mummy of Prince Imhotep, who was condemned and buried alive 3,700 years ago, along with the Scroll of Thoth, which can bring the dead back to life. When a young member of the expedition reads the Scroll out loud, Imhotep (Boris Karloff) is reawakened. Eleven years later, the ageless mummy, disguised as a modern Egyptian, attempts to reunite with his lost love, an ancient princess who has been reincarnated as a beautiful young woman (Zita Johann).


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Shopping around for some new summer wear and don't know where to start? StyleWeek Swim is sure to inspire you. Stop by The Rooftop at the Providence G on Sunday, June 12 to see swimwear and resort collections from unique designers like Elan Rose, Melissa Hillas, La Fille Collette and many more.
The runway will also display several Providence-based designers such as Jeffery Dickerson, Jess Abernethy and Jonathan Joseph Peters, a former Project Runway contestant. With so many creative minds involved, the shows will feature a range of styles including sophisticated and upscale pieces as well as easy-to-wear, versatile fashion.
Rosanna M. Ortiz, the Founder and CEO of StyleWeek Swim, is excited to welcome designers to the runway to showcase their work. "Their creativity combined with the beautiful setting of the Rooftop at the Providence G promises a great kick-off to summer in the city," she says.
Runway shows will take place from 2:30 to 4:00 pm, but the party starts at noon so you can take your time sampling some signature cocktails, craft beers and snacks at the Rooftop. The pre-runway party will also include an accessories showcase to get your fashion senses all warmed up, including brands like Flaunt Boutique, Calico, Ashley Ernest Designs, Chevalier Homme and more.
So if you're looking for that perfect start-of-summer event, be sure to stop by the StyleWeek Swim runway for some great fashion, food and drinks.
StyleWeek Swim
The Rooftop at the Providence G
100 Dorrance Street