text:
Untangling the twisted subway lines that make up the Fulton Street subway station is a problem that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been trying to solve since long before 9/11. But the energy for development that came in the aftermath of the attacks – and the funds to do it – allowed the agency to push forward the design of its own large-scale architectural project in the area surrounding Ground Zero.
The new Fulton Street Subway Station, which was presented to the public on May 26, will be funded with $750 million of federal rebuilding money. Construction will begin late this year, and the station will be completed in 2007. A public hearing on the design is scheduled for June 8.
The building consists of a glass cube fifty feet tall, extending along Broadway from Fulton Street to John Street. From the center of this cube a cone, also made of glass, rises to a height of 110 feet. Several buildings will have to be condemned and destroyed.
The Corbin Building -- a nine-story building considered a skyscraper when it was built in 1889 -- will be preserved. It will be used to provide entranceways and spaces for small retail stores on the south side of the structure.
Retail stores will also be included on the second floor of the station, though details are still being worked out. The project's architects also say that some of the subway connections remain unresolved
"The transit center, very much, is the tip of the iceberg," said Andrew Whalley, who spoke for Grimshaw, the architecture firm designing the station. "It's very much about connecting the dots."
The dots in this case are 12 separate subway lines, spread over 1000 feet from the 2/3 station on the east to the R/W station about 1000 feet on the west. Private transit companies built these stations over a span of about 30 years in the early 1900s with no thought to a creating a coherent whole; turning the stations from competitors into collaborators has proven to be a very difficult project.
The new station leaves an opening to connect to any future 2nd Avenue Subway. It will also connect to the Ground Zero transit hub a block to the west.
Like Santiago Calatrava, the architect of the Ground Zero station, the new Fulton Street station has been designed to bring natural light to the underground track levels. Grimshaw echoed Santiago Calatrava in saying that its design attempted to use light as a construction element.
Calatrava described his station as a pair of hands releasing a bird; Whalley said the roof of the Fulton Street station was like a glass leaf, capturing light and drawing it into the subway system.
But David Dunlap of the New York Times saw another image in the station. "New Yorkers," he wrote, "…may find it hard to resist thinking of this structure as a jeweled egg to Mr. Calatrava's birdlike terminal."


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If you are curious about Apache Camel then I recommend to take the five minutes it takes to read his blogs. And on the 2nd blog there is real code :)
Go read mere here Camellos - Discovering Apache Camel. And make sure to read both blog posts in the series.

subset: commoncrawl


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The south shore of Lake Chabot—the whole eastern side actually—is a good place to study the Joaquin Miller Formation. Outcrops of this shaly unit are hard to come by, so the shoreline and the roadcuts along the trail are useful. Even so, you realize that Earth isn't always tidy when you come upon this gulch full of siltstone boulders.
Massive (that is, unbedded) siltstone isn't part of the Joaquin Miller Formation's description, which is "thinly bedded shale with minor sandstone," grading into "thinly bedded, fine-grained sandstone near the top of the formation." Oakland's collection of Great Valley complex rocks, which includes the Joaquin Miller Formation, is crisply marked on the geologic map. But unlike your standard street or topo map, a geologic map is an exercise in vision and interpretation and approximation. The lines might be moved by the next geologist, with complete respect paid to the previous mappers. The photo is near the "70" mark on the map below.
Might this belt of stones actually be in the overlying Oakland Conglomerate? I don't think so, because there are no coarse grains in them. They're just an unusual element in the Joaquin Miller, to be appreciated but ignored in the larger context. We can't forget about the hundreds of meters of soft, obscure rocks that surround them.
This valley has its head in a recently populated part of northernmost Castro Valley, which means that it poses a risk of allowing urban runoff into the reservoir. Clearly it carries a lot of water at certain times, even if those occasions are rare. I hope to revisit and get to know it better, if only because living bedrock appears to crop out up there.


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Without a grand jury, Florida state prosecutor Angela Corey determined the second-degree murder charge for Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman. Some believe this is another instance of Corey zealously overcharging as she has done in the past .
CNN's Gary Tuchman looks at another controversial case involving Corey and charges she issued against a 12-year-old boy. Cristian Fernandez is being tried as an adult on a first-degree murder charge for the death of his 2-year-old brother. He's the youngest person in Florida to be charged as an adult for murder.
When first imprisoned, he was placed in solitary confinement in an adult jail before a judge agreed to move him to a juvenile facility. If convicted, he will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
When asked about the decision, Corey said, "We want the public to understand at this point we have no choice" She also believes it's necessary to be tough to prevent a future murder. Others disagree, like the man who held Corey's title before her and used to be her boss. "I clearly think the decision was a travesty," said Harry Shorstein.
Fernandez's mother is also implicated in the crime; she pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter. The 12-year-old's traumatic family life includes an abusive stepfather who committed suicide. Watch Gary Tuchman's report for more on the circumstances of the case, and why Corey would like to reach a plea bargain.
Why is this 12 year old kid not getting help from mental Doctors. Is it because people are to busy trying to look good in front of the media!? Not to mention thier ego to make a name for themselves! Shame on the world!! Poor kid! Get him help!
DA would sell her soul for fame and power. A little boy's life is a bargain to her.
It seems unbelievable that more than one attorney has come on CNN and expressed that a person who is known to have followed an unarmed person carrying a nine milimeter gun and ended up shooting the person in the chest and killing them is somehow overcharged with a second degree murder charge. Not to mention he was told by police not to follow the now dead victim. They seem to suggest if Trayvon Martin tried to defend himself from the armed stranger following him that this will mean the shooting was somehow legitimate and not a serious crime. If this is true what kind of justice is this.
The law that allows a twelve year old to be tried as an adult is beyond inhumane, but insane. Everyone under 18 should be tried as a juvenile because they are not adults legally or developmentally. All other industrialized nations know this and respect these facts.Why doesnt the U.S. ? Let me guess could it be racial biases?
The incident is sad but she is definitely overcharging him. The more appropriate charge IF ANY would be manslaughter. His head wounds are obvious. He did not use racial slurs. He might be a security zealot but that does not make him a bigot or murderer. His choice to follow Trayvon was not illegal. Once the physical altercation started he does have a right to defend himself. Even if they find that he attempted to detain Trayvon (But I doubt it), Second Degree Murder will be damn near impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. She screwed up in a big way!
He should be charged with voluntary manslaughter, because he could get a jury like Casey Anthony who can't call it on the evidence. I think he murdered Trayvon out of his stupidity and racial profiling, but it was a reckless shooting that he chose to be involved in leading to the confrontation. If not for Zimmerman unjustly suspecting Trayvon, unjustly questioning Trayvon, and unjustly confronting him, this wouldn't be an issue. Zimmerman was a criminal justice student in his third year,he should have known better.
I have been thinking about this and just want to mention it. I remember hearing, I guess it was on the 17 year old's call to his girlfriend, him saying in an aggressive voice, "Are you following me; are you following me?" I wonder if this young man had turned and said to Zimmerman, his elder, "Sir, may I help you?", would this thing have turned out differently.
you are allowed to carry a gun in Florida so stop convicting someone because you can't conceive carrying a gun...it's totally legal.....I believe the prosecutor knows Zimmerman is going to walk but knows there would have been civil unrest if she didn't press charges...she neatly postponed any unrest until after the election...thus this stops the potential for Obama's rallying of the black voter base....ingenious politics by the Republicans....
Are we forgetting that already. Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin . Zimmerman should not be allowed to just walked away .
The only reason a prosecutory would ask for a preliminary hearing in a jurisdiciton that allows indictment by grand jury would be to get more publicity. If you don't think prosecutors over charge regularly, you're nutz. Being "tough on crime" is good for their career. And, a case with as much attention as this... well, it's a ticket to being elected Florida's Attorney General.
Soooo long to indict. Why? Maybe because the evidence is mostly for self defense? If convicted will this just be another mob lynching like the 60s?
Gary Tuchman, why didn't you write an article on John McNeil (Black man) who shot Brian Epp (White man) who was attacking McNeil and his son with a knife? This happened in Georgia, which also had a Stand Your Ground law. McNeil, fired a warning shot, had called 911, and there were witnesses. Yet, McNeil was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. It's not too late to show moral indignation for judicial inequality.
I think its an overzealous charge and will be aquited. But we have not heard all the evidence just medieval hype.
And the NBP and that donated to an arrest warrant should be charged with conspiracy to incite violence.
"Zimmerman being 'overcharged'?" or "'Overcharging' George Zimmerman?" No
If they can't convict on 2nd degree murder, it will be the Sanford Police who are guilty, and
It won't make Zimmerman innocent.
An Exercise in Zimmerman's Logic:
(1) "I did not know how old he was, I thought he was a little bit younger than I am":
-If I knew he was a teenager, I wouldn't have followed him nor confronted him, because burglaries are not committed by teenagers but by mature people!
-If I knew he was a teenager, I wouldn't have killed him even if my life was in imminent danger!
(2) "I did not know if he was armed or not":
-If I knew he was not armed, I wouldn't have killed him even if my life was in imminent danger!
Corey, the city and the gov. are playing this beautifully, because they were given no choice by the belly-aching, riotous black community. They purposely are seeking a conviction on a charge that they know they will never make stick. That way, they appeas the Al Sharptons of the world and let a man go, who did kill someone, but obviously did'nt committ a crime nder Florida law. Brilliant!!
This is a case of Murder at the hands of the neighborhood watchdog, he will get convicted because the evidence shows he didn't have to follow and shoot. Remember God is watching. There is no self defense for this dog, he should get the death penalty. To say to his parents, I'm sorry for your loss, this is the writing on the wall.
Robinette is sure wrong on that one. Been a cop for 32 yrs and any watchman going into a rainy DARK buglarized neighborhood and not armed would need her/his head examined. Can't think of any better way to commit suicide.
Zimmerman has been tried, convicted, and sentenced already in public opinion by a multitude of people who know virtually "nothing" about the facts. A lot of 17 year olds are big, and capable of beating someone to death if they choose. All we are seeing in the media is a picture of what appears to be a little boy. Is that what he looked like the night he got shot. Things are not always what they appear to be. And I got some good news. There is a God who knows it all. And we are all going to be tried in His court one day. And we shall all get justice. Bank on it.
@Carlos the legal age to drink is 21, but i agreed in this case the child was a product of his enviroment he was beaten so he did the same to his brother but it was his mothers neglect on both her children ending up in their situation> I dont agree he should not be treated as an adult. Now with that being said on other cases some teenagers should be treated as adults depending on a psychological evaluation on the case situation so it should be case by case, but with this case from the information given its too much.
He did not mean to kill this kid, sometimes things just go wrong. I think he will walk.
The reason that the child is coming up is because this prosecutor has a history of throwing down harsh convictions for debatable reasons. I know, and have discussed with, a few law students and they feel that he should be getting a manslaughter charge. The evidence doesn't support a murder charge and because of that there's a good chance he'll get off on that charge. But he DID create the situation and carried a gun he shouldn't have been, so a manslaughter charge can fit. She's being overly harsh and as a result may get him acquitted which will cause MAJOR backlash.
I truly beleive the prosecutor overcharged zimmerman on purpose to pacify the masses, to give the appearance that she supports zimmerman being convicted/charged knowing she won't get a conviction and he'll walk free, she could have charged him with manslaughter or a lesser charge which would ensure that she would get a conviction, but by charging him with second degree murder, she and her office can say well we charged him with the maximum charged that we could and we just have to let the justice system take its course knowing full well that the would never happen otherwise zimmerman would have been charged initially when it happened.
It seems to me that Trayvon Martin stood his ground after being pursued by Mr. zimmerman (a man he did not know) and protected himself. Mr. Zimmerman cannot claim self-defense as he instigated the confrontation by his pursuit of Trayvon.
Even if George Zimmerman had injuries, does not mean that he was not the agressor. Trayvon can't speak for himself, Zimmerman made sure of that. Didn't Trayvon had the right to defend himself? Also as far as race is concerned, that should not matter, and not be the issue. The facts are that someone is dead and the person who killed him is pleading self-defense who should not have been carrying a gun in the first place.
Robinette....Please explain to me why Zimmerman "should not have been carrying a gun in the first place"? Last time I checked he cleared a federal background check and met all the requirements to carry a concealed weapon. Your ignorance disgusts me, Zimmerman was simply exercising his 2nd Amendment right by owning and carrying a firearm.... just as you are exercising your 1st Amendment Right when you go on cnn.com and write ignorant statements like the one above.
robinette: were you there?
@ Robinette- He had a license from the State of FL to carry the firearm. He was also walking BACK to his car when he was confronted by Trayvon. He sustained documented injuries to his the back of his head, his nose, etc. I have not heard any evidence that Trayvon sustained inuries other than the gunshot wound. True, Trayvon can not speak for himself, however physical evidence is starting to mount that corroborates Zimmerman's version of events.
If following a suspicious person in your neighborhood, losing sight of them and giving up, then getting confronted by them and getting the crap beat out of you by them.....makes you the agressor....there is something seriously wrong with this country.
Sorry folks, stating that just because Zimmermans story checks out does not mean he did not commit a crime, forgets that someone must be PROVEN guilty. He does not NEED TO PROVE he is innocent.
why would you state that zimmerman should not be carrying a gun. bearing arms is a right protected by the constatution. I think this was a a misunderstanding. I belive Travon thought zimmerman was up to no good and zimmerman thought the same. I will have to wate till all the evidence is out before I can make a judgement.
Even if George's injuries turn out to not be defensive wounds and Trayvon turns out to somehow actually have defensive wounds, that doesn't mean he's guilty of Murder 2. Manslaughter is the right charge. Zimmerman is overcharged.
Agreed. If he wasn't supposed to have a gun normally, it means he was looking for a fight. If anything he should not have a loaded gun. I want to know if he was carrying a taser and pepper spray. those are the first items he should have before a gun, not have a gun and none of those other items. He is either overly cautious and the death was an accident or he murdered the kid. due to the media and what I hear he has done he is a murderer. If he was carrying a stun gun and pepper spray and claimed he reached for the wrong tool and said it was an and in self defense accident and he cried a little I would only slap 2-5 years sentence with parole for manslaughter. It is really hard to say he could be not guilty and everything in my gut and logic says he has to may with at least a couple years in prison
Robinette- you state he should not have been carrying a gun. Why not, it is a constitutional right? I'm not taking sides because as everyone knows the facts are not all on the table as we see every week as something new comes out. The jury will have to decide who to believe. If they believe Zimmerman then he is not Guilty but even if they don't he may still be found not guilty if they believe he could be telling the truth. It's a tragedy either way for Travon and his family. The media is constantly pushing the envelope to see which side they can get a rise out of. It is not providing news coverage but opinions and propaganda. Let the facts speak for themselves and if they don't give a conclusive answer then you cannot prosecute but if they do bring on the full wrath of the law and not public opinion.
sounds like you already made up your mind about what happened as if you were there. You are not the judge and you are not the jury. in order for Zimmerman to be convicted they need to prove without reason of a doubt that he commited 2nd degree murder...that is the law and that is how our judicial system works. Zimmerman had every right to carry a gun, he had all the proper permits as required by Florida law. These charges were politically motivated and influenced by the mob/media, they probably would have been better off with manslaughter but no the prosecutors are gonna screw this up.
The race issue comes at the very beginning, where Zimmerman has zero reason to follow this guy EXCEPT that he's black and wearing a hoodie (in the rain, what a crime!). Unless Martin was actively committing a crime, zimmerman had no reason at all to confront martin, and even then, Neighborhood Watch is supposed to WATCH and CALL, NOT "confront and kill." I DOD believe Zimmerman is going to jail for a LONG time.
An observation that no mention has been made if the gun Zimmerman was carrying is duly licensed or not.I may have missed it, but this license issue is important in determining if the accused is duly qualified to be a gun owner and carrying the gun outside residence? By what authority?
Trayvon attacked a smaller man because he though Zimmerman was easy prey. Bad decision. Instant consequences.
i am curious of his race. in florida they have zero tolerance for blks and some latinos. zero. 12 doing for ever and life. my son is 12 and he is smart but not diabolical . 12 come on... really. whats next 9, 7 5 years old. they will rape that boy everyday of his life.
the video should be called something like 'fernandez, 12 year old and youngest person that may be tried as an adult in FL.'
this should video be renamed because people are confused that this is a video re: zimmerman and are not watching.
In the other case the charges might not be correct. However, in the zimmerman case, it's undercharging.
You got that right my friend. I could'nt have said it better myself
Since you appear to be an expert on law, specifically Florida criminal law and applicable statutes, can you explain for us the differences between 1st and 2nd degree murder and how one vs. the other would apply in this case?
Thanks in advance!
Who cares about this nasty kid.
Yeah, it looks like a "Casey Anthony Pardon" coming up. I'm not sure they can prove murder.
It is going to be difficult to prove that is was not an act of self defense, especially given the police reports that indicate Zimmerman was injured from a physical attack when they arrived on the scene.
You cannot claim self defense when YOU are the original aggressor. Zimmerman had profiled Martin on nothing but his looks. What does it mean "suspicious"? Zimmy then followed Martin "just in case" he gets away. But Martin was not committing any crime! So Zimmy CANNOT use self defense when he was the original stalker, armed with a gun in his waistband.
Mr. Zimmerman is victim of reverse racism. He was attacked and brutally beat by Martin. Synthetic marijuana can cause psychosis and increase the tendency of violent behavior and Martin was a consumer.
its sad that your racism or genetics doesnt allow you to see that trayvon was wronged in the whole sense he was being chased by an unknown person. that we know is fact he lost sight of trayvon and when he saw him again he approached an scared individual who feared for his life now if im scared of an unknown person approaching me im goin to defend myself trayvon was the one in fear of his life wake up out of that program of where because he was black hes wrong im sure theres bigger things working behind this case only time will tell and as far as you being a scared american im so sorry you feel like that especially when you more than likely have all the advantages we still looking for and im not talking about we need an advantage im saying we just need a fair chance....!!!!!!!!!!!
Please go look up the definition of "racism" – then tell me how this is somehow "reverse"
Scared American you are so confused!!! Zimmerman is a common vigalante with a history of violence, but who never did time due to money and daddy! he broke the law when the police told him not to go after Martin plain and simple!!! Marin can not speak for himself due to Zimmerman!!!
Anderson, it is sad about the 12yr old charged as an Adult, however here is a story that occurred in 1994 with two 12yr olds and two other children under twelve. It happened in College Park, Georgia. A 12yrs stole a vehicle for a gang initiation and a police chase started when the 12yrs got spooked by the police blue lights, he drove the car in excess of 90 mph and lost control. The car flipped over two times throwing the 12yrs on the passenger side out the window and seriously hurting the back passengers who were later found out to be under twelve. The police did not know the driver was only 12 yrs old when the pursuit started, the driver was not hurt, and that's when the police found out his age. Some 12yr old's mature faster. Recently a 12yr old was suspended from school because he had a school friend perform oral sex on him and video taped it with his cellphone what she was doing, it just so happened her father was a police officer OMG. Children are committing criminal acts at the age of 12 and I can not totally blame the parents, and I do not blame the DA for the charges, I blame the Video industry for creating the scenarios that the children watch and want to try. It is sad but a real reality Anderson.
please google cristian fernandez petition and cristian fernandez story to learn more
Unbelievable!!!! Where is the common sense? It is hard to believe that anyone in that courtroom (including the judge) can believe that a 12 year-old can be charged as an adult! Can anyone look back to when they were 12 and say they were mature enough to be treated as an adult? You can't have it both ways. Either you are an adult at 18 where you can drink, smoke, and fight in a war or you're not. This prosecutor has some serious problems not to see this. Regardless of what this child did, there is no way he can be treated as a grown man.
Not only that, they put a 12 year old kid in solitary confinement!!!!! SC is a clear violation of the 8th amendment PERIOD. Let alone putting a 12 year old boy in there. Unreal the lengths these people will go to under the guise of keeping the public "safe".


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Available at: Sears and Macy's
What I think: Seems all the reports about holiday sales
starting in October are right on. I'm
still not sure about doing my holiday shopping before Halloween, but some of
the sales are just so good, I could change my mind.
Take Sears. A huge flyer came in the other day and they've
been running loads of television ads about their "Sears Days" sales with the "lowest
prices of the season."
More From Good Housekeeping
Sears and Macy's might not be my first choice for holiday
shopping, but I have to admit I'm impressed with their efforts to cater to consumers
to make the whole shopping experience nicer, easier and cheaper.
Sears has some really nice sales going on now. And they concentrate on good customer
services, including an easy-to-get-to ad showing what's on sale in your local
Macy's just sent an email from its president outlining the
many improvements they've initiated based on customer input. Included was an
offer of 20% off on purchases through October 22, 2009 and free shipping on
orders of $99 or more, as a "thank you."
One of their more creative new services is something called "One-Stop
Deal Spot" which lets you browse all Macy's online deals and special promotions
in a single place. It's a nice
The email went on to request customer thoughts, compliments
and suggestions be sent to email@example.com.
I just might do that and suggest shorter
promotion codes. My code to get the 20% is PL8KM91213X. Too much typing for me!


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URIAH HEEP: 'One Minute' Video Released
The official video for "One Minute", the new single from URIAH HEEP, one of the pivotal hard rock groups to emerge from England in the late 1960s, can be seen below. The track is available for download (iTunes, Amazon, etc.) and legal streaming (Spotify, Deezer, etc.) on all digital platforms across the world. The new single is also available in a special version with German lyrics, called "Eine Minute". "One Minute" is taken from URIAH HEEP's 24th studio album, and the first since 2011's "Into The Wild", "Outsider", which will be released on June 9 in the U.K., June 6 in the rest of Europe and June 10 in North America via Frontiers Records. "We are very proud of our history," says URIAH HEEP founder/guitarist Mick Box, "but it is equally important to keep producing new material. This new album, 'Outsider', is very much a rock album in true HEEP style. It shows that we still have the same passion and energy for our music that we have always had." From the opening chords of the album's hard-driving rocker "Speed Of Sound" to the more introspective closer "Say Goodbye", "Outsider" proves that URIAH HEEP has remained a musical powerhouse, and one that can effectively balance its legendary sound with a distinctly contemporary approach. The record, which was produced by Mike Paxman (ASIA, STATUS QUO), also introduces bassist Dave Rimmer, who joined the band last summer after the untimely death of long time member, Trevor Bolder. Says Box of his late friend, Bolder: "We lost a world class bass player, singer, songwriter and friend. While Trevor was ill, he wanted us to continue working, so we used a bass player called Dave Rimmer, who Trevor approved of. It was only natural that Dave carried on with the band." After major tours of Europe, Scandinavia, Russia and South America, upon the release of "Outsider", URIAH HEEP will launch a world tour that will take in many continents as the band promotes the new album to an international audience. "Outsider" CD track listing: 01. Speed Of Sound 02. One Minute 03. The Law 04. The Outsider 05. Rock The Foundation 06. Is Anybody Gonna Help Me? 07. Looking At You 08. Can't Take That Away 09. Jesse 10. Kiss The Rainbow 11. Say Goodbye "Outsider" LP edition: Side 1: 01. Speed Of Sound 02. One Minute 03. The Law 04. Can't Take That Away 05. Rock The Foundation Side 2: 01. The Outsider 02. Is Anybody Gonna Help Me? 03. Looking At You 04. Jessie 05. Kiss The Rainbow 06. Say Goodbye The "Outsider" cover artwork was created by Igor Morski and can be seen below.


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Fred Wilson says "RSS has to become brain-dead simple to use."
I'm pretty sure we can do it, but it would require the companies to give up hope of locking users into their software, into their extensions, their mistakes.
How RSS can bust through
There are two barriers to brain-dead simplicity.
1. It must be easy to find relevant feeds. Too much hunt and peck is involved. The reason My.Yahoo and iTunes have been successful is that they centralize a lot of the discovery, they make it easy to find stuff you might be interested in. But not easy enough to qualify for brain-dead simplicity. That's why we're working on reading lists, trying to drive adoption of the new practice by the industry. If, when you get started using an aggregator, it gives you some interesting feeds, and then as time goes by gives you more, without you having to do anything, that's going to make the finding of relevant feeds a passive thing. Until you're ready to take over, you can ride the bus without learning to drive. I think this is going to get us another 15 or 20 percent of web users into the RSS world.
2. Subscription has to be centralized. When Microsoft invited me in, in April of last year, to hear their RSS strategy, I think they expected me to object to their centralizing subscription for Windows users; they were surprised when I didn't. I had already come to the conclusion that subscription had to be handled in the browser, because that's where the impulse to subscribe happens. We knew this back in 2001, when we implemented the Radio coffee mug that made subscription a one-click operation. The problem of course is that our method only worked for Radio. Any of these techniques is going to work with only one destination, that's why there has to be just one destination, why subscription needs to be centralized.
Microsoft didn't go far enough. They only solved the problem for Windows. In 2006 that's not even a very large part of the world, because a large number of people who subscribe, do it through web-based services like Bloglines or My.Yahoo, and more will over time. The Microsoft approach doesn't work for them. If I subscribe to something using their desktop service, it only registers with software that runs on my desktop. It doesn't inform My.Yahoo, for example. Now, Microsoft argues that Yahoo can install a toolbar that runs on the desktop, but come on, we don't want a proliferation new stuff loading into the OS. That's how we got in all the malware trouble. We don't need to open that kind of Pandora's Box. What we need is a centralized subscription public service. It's not a technological problem, it's a political and economic problem. In order for RSS to grow to the next level, tech companies have to stop seeking lock-in on subscriptions.
I've suggested to Yahoo that they run this service. Of the top three net companies (the others being Google and Microsoft) they're the least controversial, imho. All that would be required is that they support OPML export for My.Yahoo subscription lists, and commit to keeping it open for perpetuity. The last part is the hard part of course. Now perhaps we could get a university involved, they have politics too, but people seem to trust universities more than they trust for-profit businesses. Something to think about.
Now once we have a single place for subscriptions, which is a real tall order, then all kinds of services can be built off that. It's like the domain name system again, and perhaps that's the way to implement it. We're lucky that RSS is still a fairly close-knit community, and there is leadership that works, somewhat. The small tech companies and at least two of the large ones (Apple, Google) don't participate, they blaze their own trails, but the publishing industry and most of the large tech companies are still in the mode of cooperating. So now may be a time it can work. And reading lists buy us some time.
Fred Wilson provides the emphatic statement. We can get someting very cool working, and let's add a dose of reality — we have to work together in order for it to happen.


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Editor's Note: This is a guest post by Mark Suster (@msuster), a 2x entrepreneur, now VC at GRP Partners. Read more about Suster at his Startup Blog, BothSidesoftheTable.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the proliferation of startups in the past 2 years. It seems almost incomprehensible that only 2.5 years ago we read the "RIP Good Times" presentation from Sequoia.
But what does this all mean? Are we headed for a long era of innovation in which startups are the new norm? Are we seeing a time in which pre-revenue companies are more valuable than our offline institutional brands? As with the late 90's the answer is "Yes. And no."
Yes, there is unprecedented innovation. I've never seen anything like it in my career. The era of cheap cloud computing plus open-source software plus digital natives unleashed upon society is creating some truly amazing products that will challenge the way we do business and the way we live our lives. I don't believe it's hyperbole to say that Twitter and Facebook are truly transformative at a societal level, for example.
No. It's not all sunshine and candy canes. We are building a lot of stuff now that has no longevity. In a way, startups have become kind of like the video game industry. New stuff gets created, it's fun to play with and talk about. You want to use it because your friends are doing it and you want to find out what it's all about. You want to see what's new. You want the dopamine rush.
You play with it for a few weeks or months. Then you stop. You stop because it was game like. Temporal. Non valuable. Not really helping you do something better. Not improving your life or business.
Not solving a real problem.
And so it occurs to me that many startups in the consumer world are now truly hits driven like video games or movies. They get marketed as such. We compare user numbers like box office receipts. Some become true breakouts that can be built into a franchise even though they started as just a game, like Angry Birds. They had the magic formula. Others like Words with Friends solve deeper problems than games, like meeting new people or curing loneliness.
The challenge that many startups face today is: Are you really providing enough value? Will you get the TechCrunch bump, the tier-1 VC anointment, followed by great PR firm support and then the NY Times or WSJ story that follows? Will that be enough or will high churn rates creep in, new toys be introduced into the market, new time sucks pulling user attention away? This year's Tamagotchi?
If you're building a startup today I would encourage you to think harder about how you're going to win the battle for share of mind. That's much tougher than getting people to play with your hot product for 6 months. To do so you must truly provide value that changes the way that end-consumers do something in their lives that will persist.
My example du jour is LinkedIn.
Why had it endured though market machinations and become this year's darling IPO? I can't comment on its stock price – I'm not a public market analyst. But the obvious value to LinkedIn is that it is the dominant online resume of our generation. They got us to fill out the details of where we worked in the past and the network effect compels us to keep it updated.
The second obvious value driver is that it was one of our first true "social graphs." I often argue that this has greatly weakened because everybody I know accepts LinkedIn requests from strangers so it's not really a true barometer of our graph anymore but enough of the remnants are accurate enough that value persists. So resume + directionally-correct social graph = goldmine for recruiting, networking and marketing.
It doesn't strike me as a "social network" in the way we've come to define them. But its focus on solving a real-world problem makes it uniquely valuable to most other social graphs.
So as I get around the country speaking at college campuses in 2010 & 2011, I have been preaching the same theme. If you want to build enduring companies that weather both the tech market acceleration and the inevitable tech market correction as companies like LinkedIn have done, you need to ask yourself if you're solving a real problem for users that will persist when hotness wears off.
That might be in online resumes. It might be in online game platforms solving the problem of entertaining people. It might be online videos targeting a niche audience. It might be a way to diet online or a way to manage your online scheduling / appointments. Or like a company I spoke to today, SportsForce, that is helping high-school athletes better prepare to get picked up by college sports teams. That's a problem in need of a solution – I'm sure. Or the way Uber is shaking up the cozy, static world of taxi transportation.
Not every problem has to be a huge VC-fundable business.
But what I do see in the market in 2011 is way too many "me too" solutions where a bunch of founders have brainstormed a way to do a better Groupon, a better Gilt Groupe, a better Twitter or a better Quora. When pressed, not enough of these entrepreneurs can answer questions about why users would still be using this product in 5 years, about why their product is going to solve a consumer or business problem that isn't being solved today. They pitch me features, not value.
I play with features. I'm a tech junkie as much as the next guy. But next month I'm on to the next one.
I would encourage you to think bigger. The market is over-weight in companies trying to solve problems for bars & restaurants. Sure, that's a fine category. I have no problem with it. But what about education? Healthcare information? Energy? Housing? Auto? Financial Services? There are so many big inefficiencies in this country that need tackling. I feel quite comfortable that our bars & restaurant industry will be just fine.
When you solve a real problem you'll win the true battle. The battle for share of mind. Challenge yourself to think harder.


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KAOS 89.3 FM Olympia Community Radio and Olympia Film Society bring you PURE CIRKUS on Super Saturday, June 14, 2008
On June 14, 2008, Super Saturday, Washington State's largest one-day festival, celebrates 30 years at The Evergreen State College. Live performances are one of the highlights of Super Saturday, and this year KAOS is taking that idea to downtown Olympia, in cooperation with the Olympia Film Society
At 8:00pm, KAOS and OFS present Seattle's PURE Cirkus at the historic Capitol Theater in a night of daring delight; from the audacious to the exquisite.
Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for KAOS/OFS members, kids under 12 just $5.
PURE Cirkus is a performance art and event production company that spans multiple genres and themes within the live entertainment and circus field. Their productions focus on Corporeal storytelling and Variety acts merging elements of street performance, Cirque Noir or "Dark Cirkus", live theater, circus acts, dance, burlesque, tribal art and live music, with more modern forms of performance such as grinder performance and fire manipulation.
Featuring stunning costumes, height-defying stilt walkers and aerialists, illusionists, comical clowns, jaw dropping acts of demented bravery by the geeks, freaks and acrobats, the clash of both the macabre and mystical side of the three ring circus is brought to life through the human body as PURE Cirkus.
Also performing, the Penny Dreadfuls, formerly known as Femme de Fabrique; and the music of Vince Brown and his Fish Tale Hoppin' Barley Feetwarmers! All freaks, geeks, and families welcome! This fun time event is a fundraiser for the Olympia Film Society and KAOS-fm Olympia Community Radio! It's an all-ages show with a 21+ beer garden in the upstairs mezzanine.
About KAOS
Celebrating its 35th year on the air, KAOS 89.3 FM Olympia Community Radio is licensed to The Evergreen State College. KAOS has been the South Sound's only full-time, full-power commercial-free public radio service since 1973, offering a wide range of local and global news, community information, and independent music. The station streams its broadcasting live on the World Wide Web, at www.kaosradio.org, and can be heard on Comcast cable in Thurston County on TCTV Public Access channel 22 as well as on Comcast Digital Cable channel 982.
Over its thirty-five year history, KAOS has become one of Thurston County's largest volunteer-based organizations. KAOS is programmed by a staff of nearly 100 student and community volunteers. Their varied perspectives and sensibilities make KAOS a unique resource for information and entertainment often ignored by major media.
About the Olympia Film Society
The Olympia Film Society is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance film appreciation within the community by promoting alternative films and by aiding and encouraging the development of allied arts. The Society also works to foster, promote and present visual media and performing arts. OFS cultivates a diverse volunteer and membership supported organization and is the largest of its kind in the northwest. Now in its 28th year of operation, they enliven its community by presenting and fostering the development of independent film, music, and other arts in the South Puget Sound.
Who: PURE Cirkus, the Penny Dreadfuls, Vince Brown & Romanteek
What: Benefit for KAOS 89.3fm & Olympia Film Society
When: Saturday June 14, 8:30pm, doors open at 8:00pm
Where: Capitol Theater, 416 Washington St. SE, Olympia, WA 98501
Ticket Cost/Locations: $15 General Admission/$10 for KAOS or OFS members, children under 12 $5.00. Available at Phantom City Records, Capitol Theater box office and buyolympia.com
Contacts: KAOS - John Ford, 360-867-6894 / OFS - Audrey Henley, 360-754-3635, ext. 3


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Volunteer Opportunities
We appreciate and welcome volunteers!
If you would like to volunteer at our school or in your child's classroom, FUESD requires the following forms to be completed and a current TB test clearance to be on file. TB test dates are good for 4 years. Please stop by the school office to return these forms and TB test to the school secretary. Thank you again for wanting to volunteer at our school and to make a difference at MFP!
Also, please visit our PTSA website to review other volunteer opportunities, as well!
MFP Volunteer Reminders
• You need to sign the attached Volunteer Code of Conduct
form if you are going to be a regular volunteer.
• Always have your ID available.
• You need to volunteer in the classroom or classroom(s) you are
assigned to.
• Ask questions if you do not feel confident in operating the
machinery available to you on campus.
• Wear appropriate clothing when working with children.
• Please do not bring younger siblings while you are volunteering
in the classroom.
• Be professional and confidential in your conversations. Items
you may overhear are to remain confidential.
• Allow staff members and teachers to correct students, except
in life-threatening or emergency situations.
• Always have another adult in the room with you when working
with students.
• Use positive and professional language when referring to
school, staff, or other families.
• Always act in the best interest of all students at MFP.
Please remember our 7 Habits
o Be Proactive
o Begin with the End in Mind
o Put FirstThings First
o Think Win-Win
o Seek First To Listen, Then to Be Understood
o Seek First To Listen, Then to Be Understood
o Synergize
o Sharpen the Saw


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1776party.us - 1776 Party
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Workshop: Germany, Braunschweig, 2-3 March 2011
Results of the TFO workshop (SP08/SPC) in Braunschweig 2-3 March 2011
The workshop 'Integration of ecological and socio-economic work in TFO by defining the Ecosystem Function (ESF) - Ecosystem Service (ESS) interface' was held from March 2nd to 3rd, 2011 in the DSMZ in Braunschweig, Germany. The workshop was organized by SP08 the group of the University of Giessen in consultation with SPC and cooperation with the DSMZ. Its aim was to contribute to the building of interdisciplinary collaboration, notably by ensuring that relevant data can be exchanged among SPs. The interdisciplinary work has the aim of enabling SPs to conduct valuation of different types and to compile and compare land use trajectories in the long term. The specific objectives of the meeting were to get to know each other, discuss the meaning of important concepts, start a discussion on collaboration needs and opportunities, as well as get an overview on valuation approaches in TFO and of possibilities for synthesis.
Photo gallery


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This post, by Emily Esplen, Policy Analyst on Gender Equality and Women's Rights at the OECD, is based on a speech prepared for the Secretary General of the OECD for a joint workshop of the DAC Network on Gender Equality and the UN Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality on the MDGs and post-2015. This blog is a part of the Wikiprogress series on Post-2015.
There is no chance of making poverty history without significant and rapid improvements to the lives of women and girls. Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG 3) recognised that gender equality is important both as a goal in its own right and as a prerequisite to the success of all other development goals. That gender equality and women's empowerment is one of only eight global goals has proven to be a powerful stimulus for action.
We must do everything we can to achieve the MDGs by the end of 2015. This means meeting existing aid commitments and investing in the right strategies to accelerate progress for women and girls in the time that remains. Finishing the job we started with the MDGs will also require an ambitious and inspiring post-2015 framework that builds on and expands the priority given to advancing gender equality in the MDGs.
Agreeing an ambitious agenda
This was the focus of much lively debate at a workshop in early November in Paris, which drew together gender equality advocates from the United Nations, governments and civil society. Participants echoed the strong consensus emerging from across the globe that addressing the "unfinished business" of gender equality and women's empowerment means putting women and girls front and centre in the post-2015 framework. This will require a strong stand-alone gender equality goal and the comprehensive integration of gender-specific targets and indicators across the new framework.
Now is time to go beyond business as usual and step up our efforts to empower girls and women. Participants were unequivocal that a new framework will need to address the structural factors that underpin the widespread persistence of gender inequality. This calls for a transformational agenda that is anchored in and aligned with existing international human rights standards. Priority must be given to addressing the disadvantage experienced by the most marginalised women and girls.
Fighting for the targets and indicators that will really make a difference
When the time is right, we need to be ready with the targets and indicators that will really make a difference to the lives of women and girls. Already clear areas of consensus are emerging about what is needed. We know that quality secondary education has huge pay-offs for women's empowerment. We know that putting an end to early marriage would transform girls' lives – enabling them to stay in school, fulfil their potential and make choices about their futures. We know that expanding women's economic opportunities is a key driver of development with multiplier effects for societies, economies and women themselves. We know that women's capacity to influence the decisions that shape their lives is a basic human right and a prerequisite for responsible and equitable governance. We know that ending violence against women is essential for women's full participation in economic, social and political life. Each of these must be priorities in the post-2015 framework.
Backing up political rhetoric with action
Building a framework with teeth will require adequate and sustained financing, and strong accountability mechanisms. Political promises must be backed up with the resources required to do the job. We need to gather and use high quality data to monitor our progress and build evidence about what works. We also need to track governments' expenditure and the proportion of aid focused on achieving gender equality, and hold ourselves to account for the promises we make.
Towards a universal agenda
At the OECD, we know that there is no country in the world where gender equality has been achieved. That's why we need to keep a strong focus on gender equality beyond 2015. It is also a potent reminder that gender equality is a universal concern that applies to all countries, including OECD countries.
The OECD aspires to play the role of "best supporting actor" in support of these global processes – recognising that real progress is only possible if countries themselves own the agenda and are in the lead. Bringing gender equality and women's rights to the centre of government attention is a challenge for the months ahead.
Arriving at global consensus will not be easy. With gender equality and women's rights we can never afford to be complacent – it is not a done deal. And the post-2015 agenda is a high-stakes game. But success is within our grasp if we build a broad base of support and work together with our allies in the global south to position gender equality as a "must have".


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How Poler Stuff Scaled the Heights of Outdoor Gear
Two years ago, Portland photographer Benji Wagner faced a conundrum. He loved being outside, and professionally he often shot advertising material for major outdoors companies. But he felt like his employers didn't understand him, or his friends.
"The industry was full of good products," says Wagner, now 34, "but the brands weren't relating to young people in an authentic way." Images of soulful, handsome adventurers contemplating mountain vistas didn't match Wagner and his tribe's more rough-and-tumble approach to camping, hiking, and travel. You don't need waterproof ultra-wicking poly/spandex boxer briefs to drink Rainier tallboys by a campfire.
So Wagner and two collaborators created Poler Stuff, a camping and travel gear brand aimed at urban-based adventurers who might have more moxie than money. They funded the start-up themselves and worked out of their homes to produce the 2011 debut line of tents, T-shirts, and bags. The Man Tent promised ample room for yoga and an eye-shaped window to let in starry nights. The Wunder Bundler, a foldable thermal pad, can keep a six-pack cold or a burrito warm. The Napsack, Poler's wearable, hooded sleeping bag (yes: a sleeping bag you can walk around in), sparked a cult following. Most products cost less than $200.
"We want to inspire people to embrace everyday outdoor activities," Wagner says. "You don't have to be climbing Mount Everest to have a good time."
After a modest debut at local shops like Worn Path and Communion, Poler has steadily increased sales, added employees, and, in March, opened its first retail space. The latest line adds some gravitas with a hefty, leather-lashed backpack made for more serious excursions. Early this year, Poler decisively shattered the Northwest culture-niche ceiling when Hannah, creator-star Lena Dunham's character on HBO's Girls, lounged in a puffy, neon orange Napsack. (Decidedly less hip Al Roker later nestled in one on Today.) Despite another character's claim that the Napsack made Hannah look like a "sad little glow worm," the glorified Snuggies remain the company's most popular product—and maybe the best summary of this scruffy rising star of Portland's outdoors industry.
"We embrace the things people actually use," Wagner says. "Everyone grows up car camping. Instead of acting like people are outside of civilization, as much as anything it's about travel and couch surfing."


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Teacher suspended over anti-gay Facebook post
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A Parkersburg South High School teacher has been suspended following a Facebook post he made regarding the school's Gay-Straight Alliance student club.
Wood County Schools Superintendent Pat Law tells the Parkersburg News and Sentinel that David Foggin was suspended on Tuesday for four days.
Law says the Wood County school board will decide whether the suspension is paid or unpaid, or whether to make any changes.
The newspaper says Foggin posted an image on Facebook of a poster advertising the club's meetings, along with a comment stating, "We are also considering a drunks-t totaller club, drugged/sober club, smokeless tobacco vs smokes club, street racing, and deer poaching clubs."
A telephone listing for Foggin in the Parkersburg area couldn't be found. He declined to comment to the newspaper on Monday.


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Surgery 12 weeks before birth changes baby's life
THIBODAUX – Kolby Boudreaux's legs are supporting his weight. At 10 months old, he's "army crawling" and pulling himself up on things. It may seem trivial, but his beautiful normality is due to surgery 12 weeks before he was born.
Kaci Boudreaux, of Thibodaux, learned during a routine ultrasound that her son had the most serious form of spina bifida — an opening in the spine that exposed the spinal cord.
Doctors at the Terrebonne General Medical Center Outreach Clinic referred her and her husband, Anthony, to Ochsner Medical Center's maternal fetal medicine team to learn about their options with myelominingocele, which leaves nerves exposed and vulnerable to injury even from the amniotic fluid surrounding an unborn baby.
"At first, all we could think about was what was the worst outcomes. It was so scary," Boudreaux said.
One possibility was having their baby become the first fetus at Ochsner to undergo the surgery pioneered in 1997 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., and offered since late 2011 at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
Myelomeningocele affects about 1 in every 1,000 babies born in the U.S. It can lead to hydrocephalus, a buildup of spinal fluid in the brain that can cause neurological disabilities, problems moving the legs, sensation impairment and bladder and bowel issues for the rest of the child's life.
Boudreaux said the thought of what could become of her child weighed heavy. She was nervous about being Ochsner's first.
"I thought how is that even possible? How can you do that?" Boudreaux said.
Her options were limited and no action was a great risk to the child. She read about others elsewhere who had the surgery and even watched a video of the procedure. All options were on the table. Even pregnancy termination was mentioned.
"I'm not for that at all," Boudreaux said. One particular visit to the hospital for an ultrasound sealed the decision, she said.
"I could feel him kicking. He was very active. At that point, I thought I had to help him. Everything else was out of the options at that point," Boudreaux said.
During the delicate two-hour operation, Ochsner's surgery team worked together to repair the hole in Kolby's back. Boudreaux's uterus was opened by the physicians. The fetus was lifted and held just slightly out of his mother's womb while a pediatric neurosurgeon closed the opening in his spine.
After a plastic surgeon closed his skin incision, he was placed back into the uterus. At the time of surgery, Kolby weighed just more than a pound.
Boudreaux said the wait to see if the baby would be born healthy was equally arduous. When he was born on March 3, Colby weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces.
He's been doing so well that in the autumn, doctors reduced Kolby's checkup requirements from every two weeks to every six months. Doctors have also been encouraged by the strength of his legs, Boudreaux said.
"The surgery has definitely changed my son's outcomes," she said. "The staff made it so easy on us."
Boudreaux said it was important that the procedure was available in New Orleans, not requiring long, expensive trips.
Today, she is active on different spina bifida awareness groups and has even advised some of the six parents who have had the surgery since her at Ochsner.
Most people who see Kolby have no idea the baby had spina bifida.
"He is already trying to go," Boudreaux said. "He sees his sister playing and he wants to run with her."


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We understand, khakis have a bit of a bad rap. It is hard not to associate the classic trousers with moms driving minivans and Casual Fridays at not-so-stylish offices. And honestly, it seems like there are more rules about what not to wear with khakis (red shirts, sneakers, polo shirts), than what to wear with them.
Lucky for all those lovers of preppy staples out there, khakis are experiencing a bit of a Renaissance. From modern cuts to surprising accents, it turns out, there are a variety of ways that chinos can becomes quite chic. So, go ahead, give your favorite jeans a day off — and trust, nobody will ask you where the orange slices and juice boxes are, when you sport these.


text: Lawrenceville's Historic (1861) Iron City Brewing now closed (click underlined name for links) According to the article the plan is shops, condos, a garage in the former stables. Beer production has moved to Latrobe. Stopped at a red light and a line of cars. Textures from the cobblestones & metal bridge, black paint peeling. Stone wall and a sign. Framed by the car window. Traffic behind me in the mirror. Afternoon light on metal and stone.


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White Plains, NY, US
see all...Viewing 3 out of 4 projects
• Top performing professional that has a strong creative eye in innovative design who maintains a proven track record of continued successes, as well as realizing concurrent professional growth.
• A true leader among leaders with an analytical goal oriented personality and work ethic; has an innate ability to influence others and produce dynamic and long lasting results.
• Known for streamlined process improvements that have substantially increased revenue and reduced expenses, while building a strong and recognized portfolio of diverse designs
• Excellent leadership, interpersonal, organizational, and written and verbal communications skills; innate ability to build rapport with clients, vendors, and colleagues and succeed in high-pressure, challenging, and deadline-driven environments.
Horizon Group USA, Warren, Visual Display Specialist
• Design and execute company's trade show displays
• Facilitate all shipping and installation logistics for shows and events
• Creative and strategic design sets for instructional web videos
• Innovative design environments for Client meetings and showrooms
• Expertise with plan o gram and merchandise showrooms
Louis Vuitton, North America, White Plains, NY, US, Window Display Installer
• Measure and order appropriate display package from corporate
• Install corporate display package
• Manage a team of 3-5 employees for maximum efficiency during installation.
Fortunoff, White Plains, NY, US, Visual Manager
• Design and layout Seasonal and Furniture floor sets
• Draft architectural floor plan for a 20,000 sq. ft. department.
• Oversee a team of 6-8 team members to assist with fabrication.
• Coordinate with Sales department to highlight key product.
• Facilitate fixture delivery and install.
• Planogram and merchandise all product
Mada Design Co., New York, NY, US, Prepress Production Assistant
• Retouch and isolate image elements files for designers
School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York, NY, US, Bachelors, Graphic Design
Graphic Design with a concentration in Display and Exhibition Design.


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American Fur Company
American Fur Company, chartered by John Jacob Astor (1763–1848) in 1808 to compete with the great fur-trading companies in Canada—the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company. Astor's most ambitious venture, establishment of a post at Astoria, Oreg., to control the Columbia River valley fur trade, was made under a subsidiary, the Pacific Fur Company. His early operations around the Great Lakes were under another subsidiary, the South West Company, in which Canadian merchants had a part. The War of 1812 destroyed both companies. In 1817, after an act of Congress excluded foreign traders from U.S. territory, the American Fur Company commanded the trade in the Lakes region. An alliance made in 1821 with the Chouteau interests of St. Louis gave the company a monopoly of the trade in the Missouri River region and later in the Rocky Mts. (see mountain men). The company was one of the first great American trusts. It maintained its monopoly by the customary early practice of buying out or crushing any small company that threatened opposition. When Astor withdrew in 1834, the company split and the name became the property of the former northern branch under Ramsey Crooks, but popular usage still applied it to succeeding companies. The American Fur Company strongly influenced the history of the frontier, not only by preparing the way for permanent settlement but by opening Great Lakes commercial fishing, steamboat transportation, and trade in lead.
See G. L. Nute, Calendar of the American Fur Company's Papers (1945); B. DeVoto, Across the Wide Missouri (1948); H. M. Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far West (3 vol.; 1902, repr. 1954); J. U. Terrell, Furs by Astor (1963); D. S. Lavender, The Fist in the Wilderness (1964); P. C. Phillips, The Fur Trade (1961, repr. 1967); P. Stark, Astoria (2014).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History


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Complementary Wellness Services
At El Camino Health, we strive to create a soothing, welcoming environment that supports healing. Whether it's bringing music or art to the bedside or offering simple comforts to our patients and their loved ones, we offer a range of free services for patients and family members.
Art at the Bedside
Armed with watercolors, crayons, construction paper, and other media, artist Nili Helman-Caspi guides patients in a creative activity that can relieve stress and anxiety, and provide relief from boredom and pain. In addition to hands-on projects, she can engage in discussions of art history or other topics. As part of the Healing Arts Program, you can request an art session in your room, but sessions can also be arranged in waiting rooms for individuals or groups. Nili can offer sessions in English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Polish and basic German and Spanish.
To arrange a time with Nili, call guest services at 650-962-5836. Services are also available at the Rehabilitation Center in Los Gatos.
Art at the Bedside is supported by donations to El Camino Health Foundation.
Canine Companionship
The gentle affection of animals can have healing benefits — interacting with animals can help relieve feelings of loneliness, improve mood and promote relaxation. To support patients' emotional health, volunteers affiliated with Therapy Dogs International regularly bring their animals to visit patients at El Camino Health's Mountain View campus. Dogs meet rigorous standards for obedience and are comfortable interacting with people in a hospital setting.
To arrange a visit by a therapy dog, call guest services at 650-962-5836.
Healing Hands
Massage can relieve stress and pain and improve circulation and healing. As a special service to our patients, we provide free, 15-minute massages by an experienced, massage therapist. You need to receive approval from your doctor beforehand. To schedule an appointment, let your nurse know that you're interested.
Music and Healing
Through the Healing Arts Program, we bring the soothing sounds of jazz, classical guitar, Celtic and double-strung harp, piano and voice to the bedside to create warmth and comfort to our hospital. Professional musicians go from ward to ward, playing in hallways and along bedsides for patients, staff, and visitors.
Professional musicians who visit our campuses include:
- Jeff Buenz, who plays Latin and jazz guitar and bass.
- Barbary Grant, who plays Celtic music and traditional songs on the Irish harp.
- Dona Reyes, who plays classical Spanish guitar music.
- David Snellbacher, who plays an assortment of guitar music including old English, Celtic, classical and traditional Christmas carols and contemporary music.
To arrange a visit during your stay, call guest services at 650-962-5836.
The music of the Healing Arts Program is supported by donations to El Camino Health Foundation.
Spiritual Care
El Camino Health's chaplains and volunteers of all faiths provide nondenominational spiritual support for patients and their loved ones. Our spiritual care team is respectful of diverse spiritual and religious beliefs and cultural practices. Our chaplains are available to:
- Perform rituals, sacraments and practices of faith.
- Provide spiritual support and comfort to patients and family members during difficult times.
- Assist with ethical and moral issues, or loss and grief.
- Facilitate communication and decision-making among patients and the healthcare team.
- Arrange visits from patients' own spiritual advisors.
To arrange a visit from a chaplain, ask your nurse or doctor, or call 650-988-7568.
Spiritual Care is supported by donations to El Camino Health Foundation.
Community Services
El Camino Health also offers a number of free services available to both patients and members of the community, including blood pressure screenings, individual consultations with a pharmacist or a dietitian, and more. Visit our Health Library & Resource Center to learn about other wellness services.


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This year, the Living Wall in the Grunsfeld Children's Growing Garden needed to be replanted. The metal cells that hold the plants to the wall were removed and taken to the Garden's greenhouse nursery to grow new plants before placement outside for the summer.
This left us with four empty walls at the entrance to the Growing Garden. So we decided to get creative. We made an "alternative" living wall.
Our carpenters covered foam boards with brown burlap and installed these panels on the living wall frame where the plant cells had been removed. Students from the Garden's Nature Preschool planted seeds and transplanted seedlings into small pots. We placed the plants into colored burlap planters and pinned them to the foam walls, and voila! We have a vertical garden again.
You can do this at home. Making planting pockets is simple and fun.
- Plant seeds or transplant small plants and let them sprout. We used biodegradable Fertilpots, but you could also start seeds in egg cartons, newspaper pots, or plastic pots.
2. Cut the burlap into squares that are twice as long and wide as the pots.
3. Fold the square in half diagonally and sew a seam along the side. You can use a heavy duty needle with a sewing machine or do this by hand with a darning needle. It might be possible to use a hot glue gun to make the seam, but I did not try this.
4. Turn the triangle inside out to form the pocket. Slip the planted pot into the pocket and get ready to hang it on a wall.
5. To hang on the wall, pinch the extra fabric so the burlap fits snugly around the pot. Fold down the point in front or cut it off—your choice. Push a long pin through the pot and the fabric and pin the pocket to the wall. (I had pins used by our horticulturists to propagate cuttings; you could use T-pins or other pins with large heads.) You could also lace a ribbon around the top of the pocket and cinch the fabric, then hang the planter by the ribbon.
Students in our Nature Preschool enjoyed helping to grow the plants and pin them to the Living Wall. Each child wanted to place his or her planter next to a friend's planter so they could grow close together.
Just for fun, we experimented with some other kinds of planters, including plastic bottles and shoes.
The preschoolers are fascinated by the soda bottle planter. They like to look in the round opening on the side. The toddler shoe makes everyone smile. We may add more surprising planters over the next few weeks, just to keep it interesting.
If you decide to try something like this at home, be advised that the small pots need to be watered frequently (ours need watering daily) because they tend to dry out faster than larger containers. It's a good project for young children because they will get to do a lot of watering without harming the plants.
Our "alternative living wall" is only temporary. Stop by the Grunsfeld Children's Growing Garden between now and June 12 to see how it's growing. After that, the real living wall will be installed for the rest of the year.
©2017 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org


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Build Stronger Bones With These Calcium- and Vitamin-Rich Foods
It's not too late to strengthen your body
En español | For every adult who heard the childhood warning Drink your milk or you won't have strong bones, Jeri Nieves has another message. "It's never too late to take care of your skeleton," says Nieves, director of bone density testing for the Clinical Research Center at New York's Helen Hayes Hospital.
"Think of it as a bank account," Nieves says. "You were putting calcium into the account when you were younger to accumulate, and now that you're older, you're mostly looking to maintain what you have." To do that, she says, people age 50 and over may need to increase their consumption of some foods and beverages, and cut back on others.
"We want people to get the amount of calcium recommended for them but not necessarily to exceed it," says Nieves. Too much calcium, she says, may contribute to ailments such as kidney stones, prostate cancer and heart disease. For women over age 50, that's about 1,200 milligrams a day. Men need 1,000 milligrams a day up to age 70, and 1,200 milligrams a day from age 71 on. Good sources include:
- Low-fat dairy foods.
- Leafy green vegetables such as kale, collard greens and broccoli rabe,
- Calcium-fortified products, including soy milk and juices.
- The calcium content of many dishes, from puddings and baked goods to stews and soups, can be increased by about 50 milligrams for every tablespoon of nonfat dried milk added to a recipe.
Nieves counsels consumers to estimate their daily calcium intake from foods generally, and then take only enough calcium supplements to hit their recommended dietary allowance (RDA).
For example, Nieves says, "If you start every day with calcium-fortified orange juice and have yogurt for lunch, you could already be getting 800 milligrams of calcium and you can simply add another serving of a high calcium food to get your required amounts. (The National Osteoporosis Foundation has a worksheet that can be used to calculate the calcium in a consumer's daily diet, and the organization Osteoporosis Canada has a "calculate my calcium" tool online.)
Vitamin D
This vitamin helps the body absorb calcium, so getting enough of it every day is vital, Nieves says. While it is found in fatty fish such as salmon, tuna and halibut, most people will need to supplement their diet to get their RDA — 600 international units (IU) a day up to age 70, 800IU a day for those 71 and older. By reading food labels, consumers can choose foods that have been fortified with Vitamin D, and then can take a supplement to round out their RDA. Going a little over the requirement isn't a problem, she says, as a person would have to consume about four times the RDA of Vitamin D to do yourself any harm.
Vitamin A
This vitamin is derived from two sources: retinoids (from animal food sources) and carotenoids (found in fruits and vegetables). Nieves encourages consumers to eat healthy amounts of Vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables. Good sources include:
- Apricots
- Cantaloupes
- Carrots
- Lettuce (romaine and loose leaf)
- Spinach
- Sweet potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Watermelon
More on bone health
Some factors that affect bone health — generally measured in terms of bone density, or bone mass — are beyond a person's control, Nieves says. Women are more prone than men to low bone mass that can progress to osteoporosis. Caucasians and Asians are at greater risk than Hispanics, and those three groups are at greater risk than African Americans. (For a detailed list of risk factors, visit the National Osteoporosis Foundation website.)
"While people can't control all risk factors for bone disease, there is one they can control: their diet," Nieves says. "Bone is living tissue that needs calcium and vitamins and nutrients because, constantly through the lifespan, there's an ongoing process of bone remodeling to refresh the skeleton."
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Sandberg, Dorsey to leave the Disney board
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will be leaving the board of The Walt Disney Co. Neither executive will stand for re-election at the company's annual meeting in March.
A Disney spokesperson says it has become "increasingly difficult for them to avoid conflicts relating to board matters."
With Disney planning to put ESPN online, Twitter live-streaming sports like NFL football, and Facebook prioritizing live video, online video is a likely area of overlap.
The pending departure of the two Disney board members was revealed in a securities filing Friday.


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Over the past four years we watched the moral fabric of our nation unravel under the leadership of Donald J. Trump. We became inured to dishonesty, boorishness, incompetence and worse. Even when people were dying, in the pandemic or in protests, the most powerful players, with all their influence and clout, remained remarkably silent in their condemnation of the president. It took an actual insurrection — an attack on our Capitol, and on our very democracy — to get the attention of corporate America.
It is just recently that corporations began to dismantle Trump's communications platforms on social media, suspend political campaign donations or request that their contributions be returned.


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Are You Ready For Colored Contact Lenses?
Are You Ready For Colored Contact Lenses?
By Makiyo Nagamura
If you are bored with your eye color and are looking for a way to make your eyes more intense or even change their appearance completely then colored contact lens may be just what you are looking for. Colored contacts are tinted lenses that effectively change the color of your eye when you put them in.
Colored contacts come in several variations. There are enhancement tint lenses, which are designed to make the hue of your eyes more intense. These lenses are translucent and go along with the normal hue of your eye to create a more vibrant look. The most common hue for enhancement lenses are blue and green. If you want to change the hue of your eyes completely, say from brown to bright blue, then you should go for colored tint lenses. Common tint include blue, aqua, green, brown and purple. There are also crazy contact lens that many people use for costumes and include things like cat eyes, red eyes and white eyes.
Colored contacts are incredibly popular and many people use them, with or without a prescription. However, there are a few things you will have to keep in mind if you are thinking about colored contact lens. For starters, its important to see an eye doctor to determine if contacts are suited for your eyes. Then, it is important to understand that coloured contacts can sometimes affect your vision at night if your pupil becomes larger than the center of the lens. However, if you can deal with these small issues then coloured contact lenses can be a great way to switch up your look.
News for Tuesday 04 January, 2011
View all news for Tuesday 04 January, 2011 on one page


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Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, died yesterday at the age of 95.
It looks like Carrie Underwood struck gold (not really). Apparently, even though not everyone loved it, The Sound of Music was watched by many.
Over 100 people were left dead in Bangui, Central African Republic, due to political unrest between Muslim rebels and Christian citizens.
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston has not been charged with rape.
Shaine Sherrill, who was shot by APD officers Sunday afternoon, did not have a gun. Apparently, Sherrill was suicidal and had said he wanted to be shot by police.
Just for future reference, when you use the wrong dirt … it might cause some setbacks.
Andrew Coppler faces up to nine years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder for the death of his father.
A restaurant owner is facing some scrutiny for putting a surveillance camera in the men's bathroom. Yikes.


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Being the delicate optical instruments that they are, spectrometers are pretty picky about light.
But Georgia Tech researchers have developed a technology to help spectrometers — instruments that can be used as the main parts of sensors that can detect substances present in even ultra-small concentrations — analyze substances using fewer parts in a wider variety of environments, regardless of lighting. The technology can improve the portability while reducing the size, complexity, and cost of many sensing and diagnostics systems that use spectrometers. The technology has appeared in Applied Optics , Optics Express and Optics Letters and was presented as an invited talk at the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society Annual Meeting 2005.
Conventional spectrometers have multiple parts — a narrow slit, a lens (to guide light), a grating (to separate wavelengths), a second lens and a detector (to detect the power at different wavelengths). The Georgia Tech team's goal was to combine all these pieces into two parts, a volume hologram (formed in an inexpensive piece of polymer) and a detector, to create a compact, efficient and inexpensive spectrometer that could be used for multiple spectroscopy and sensing applications.
"This technology is very useful for low-end spectrometers, but at the same time, there are many applications that require high-end spectrometers. This technology could convert a portion of a complex, high-end system into a much more versatile and light system," said Ali Adibi, head of the project and an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Because of its light weight and relative insensitivity to optical alignment, the new design helps create more versatile and portable spectrometers for several applications where portability had been difficult. For instance, the technology would make hand held devices possible for carbon monoxide detection or on-the-spot blood analysis and other biomedical applications.
One of the key advantages to the new spectrometer is its insensitivity to alignment. Spectrometers are very sensitive to the direction and wavelength of light and several of their parts are devoted to keeping the light correctly directed.
But the Georgia Tech team was able to incorporate those necessary alignments along with the focusing functions into a volume hologram. This hologram is recorded by the interference pattern of two beams in a piece of photopolymer.
"There were lots of challenges because the light we need to analyze is diffuse in nature," Adibi said.
Conventional spectrometers work the best under collimated light (i.e. light moving in only one direction). However, the optical signal needed for practical sensing applications is diffuse. This problem is solved in conventional spectrometers by blocking light in all but one direction using a slit and a lens, but this also results in considerable power loss and lower efficiency.
"By choosing the appropriate hologram, we have no collimating hardware in our system. We have further demonstrated the capability of improving the throughput by using more complex holograms, which are recorded similar to less complex holograms, in our spectrometer without adding to the actual complexity of the system," Adibi added.
The Georgia Tech team has a prototype for a lower-end spectrometer comparable to those currently on the market but for a considerably lower cost, Adibi said. Their research will now focus on developing more complex systems by using specially designed volume holograms to improve the efficiency — and thus the sensitivity — of our spectrometers, Adibi added.
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October 1st, 2012
Seth MacFarlane to host 85th Academy Awards
It's amazing what talking into the wrong microphone at the Emmy Awards can do for your career.
Just one week after Seth MacFarlane's mic mishap, which he recovered from by joking, "This is what happens when you don't come to rehearsal," CNN has confirmed that the "Family Guy" creator will host the 85th Academy Awards.
"We are thrilled to have Seth MacFarlane host the Oscars," telecast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron said in a press release. "His performing skills blend perfectly with our ideas for making the show entertaining and fresh. He will be the consummate host, and we are so happy to be working with him."
It's been a good year for the funnyman, who directed, wrote and lent his voice to "Ted," which grossed more than $54 million its opening weekend in June. And in September he hosted "Saturday Night Live" for the first time.
"It's truly an overwhelming privilege to be asked to host the Oscars," MacFarlane said via the press release. "My thoughts upon hearing the news were, one, I will do my utmost to live up to the high standards set forth by my predecessors; and two, I hope they don't find out I hosted the Charlie Sheen Roast."
MacFarlane also tweeted the news, along with a video involving his dad and some "barely used" bathing suits:
[[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgqRnlOEhoE]]
The Academy Awards will be broadcast live on Sunday, February 24 on ABC.
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Editor's Note: Anil Dash is an entrepreneur and writer in New York. He blogs at dashes.com Follow him on Twitter.
Story highlights
Anil Dash: People revert to old arguments on gun control, but there are 2 areas of agreement
He says in social network chats people agree: gun buyers should have mental health test
He says other area of agreement includes examining gun distribution channels
Dash: Stop demonizing the other side of the issue; just start with these two simple ideas
I'm writing about some changes we need to make in the wake of the horrible school shootings in Sandy Hook.
Now stop. Take two deep breaths.
Stop. Don't race to the bottom of the screen to leave a comment repeating the same statements you've made after every such shooting in your life.
We have the same conversation each time. We say things that alienate our friends on Facebook. Or we get affirmative agreement from our family members. And nothing changes.
Here's the good news: There are specific, meaningful policy guidelines we can adopt as a country that nearly everyone agrees with across the political spectrum. We'll never eliminate unexpected violence, but a small number of changes could save thousands of lives.
Will Newtown change America's attitude toward guns?
I've shared two key ideas with more than half a million people across a variety of social networks online in recent days, and even over this incredibly stressful weekend with such passionate feelings behind everyone's words, I've heard nearly universal consensus on implementing these two changes.
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1. Mental health screenings before gun purchases. Because everyone in America will have health coverage next year, we can ask for a simple, straightforward clean bill of mental health before a person can buy a gun. Just like we ask drivers to take an eye test before hitting the road, we should do the same when someone wants to buy a gun. The most passionate target shooters, hunters and self-defense enthusiasts I know all agree: There are often warning signs in the boys and young men who usually carry out these acts of mass violence, and broadly implemented tests could reduce the number of them who have access to guns, without affecting any of the hundreds of millions of safe, responsible gun owners in America.
While law enforcement officials say that the guns used in Newtown had been bought legally by Adam Lanza's mother, there are instances when rampage shooters have acquired guns illegally. And we are talking here about areas for broad agreement. A place to start. Which brings us to the second key idea.
2. More accountable gun distribution and retailing. Since the earliest days of our country, guns have been relatively readily available, and there's no need to compromise that to improve the safety of our gun distribution infrastructure. Instead, we can look at weak points in gun distribution through which guns go from legal manufacturers to illegal use.
Gun shows that require only a brief in-person event with no live-fire training to qualify for a purchase permit, or that allow bulk purchase of weapons disrespect the care and dedication with which most gun owners teach themselves and their children. Again, a few simple changes requiring proof of real safety, such as shooting lessons before buying a weapon just makes common sense, not only to prevent irresponsible gun distribution, but to ensure that future generations of gun owners obey the traditions of the hundreds of years of millions of thoughtful, smart gun owners in America.
Lawmakers seem prepared to take on gun control
Now stop.
If you're like most Americans, you already have some canned response ready. You want to talk about a slippery slope or how guns don't kill people, people do. Or you want to rant about how barbaric and foolish gun owners are and how the Second Amendment was written in a totally different period in history.
Two deep breaths.
We've all heard all this before. When you fall back into those tired cliches, you put us back in the cycle where no progress happens. You put us back into a cycle where the responsible gun owners who don't mind some minor changes to encourage upholding the American tradition of safe shooting get stuck feeling defensive against the condescension of people who've never fired a gun.
You put us back into a cycle where hundreds of millions of thoughtful opponents of the proliferation of lethal weapons in the hands of unstable people are forced to stand in disbelief as people tell them that these kinds of tragedies are somehow inherently American and thus can't be prevented.
When I shared these two simple ideas with about half a million people across a few social networks, at first people responded out of habit, with extremists ranting about fantasies of armed insurrection against the government or of hundreds of millions of guns being melted down.
But once they read what we're actually saying, hundreds of people, from across the political spectrum, came together and agreed on these principles, that a few simple ideas can make a big difference. I've seen gun-owning Obama voters in the hip hop industry who agree with prominent Romney supporters in the financial industry who would never bring a gun into their home, with all in favor of a few common-sense guidelines.
We know we can fix things because we've made huge progress already. America is a far less violent country that it used to be. Violent crime overall is lower than it has been in decades. The reality is, the overwhelming majority of Americans kids are safe. But dozens of our kids are shot every week, so we have to do better. And just as we've made so much progress on so many intractable problems, we can fix this one, too.
Step away from the usual rehearsed responses. Stop demonizing your fellow Americans, your fellow countrymen who love their kids as much as you do.
Instead, start. Start with two simple ideas.
And start by talking to someone who disagrees with you overall on all the big issues around guns and violence in our society, and see if you can't agree on these two points. We won't solve the whole problem, but at long, long last, we'll make a small bit of meaningful progress, and will have a policy that our representatives across the political spectrum can unite behind.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Anil Dash.


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Co-Founder & CEO of Trouva and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)
Alex is a computer scientist turned entrepreneur who is leading the technological developments enabling independent retailers to compete against larger chains. Over the past 5 years, he has raised $13.8 m from a range of investors, including eBay and Google. Alex is also actively involved in the UK start up ecosystem, by simultaneously building his own company and taking on the role of mentor and advisor for various events. Previously a member of the inaugural cohort of EntrepreneurFirst, Europe's leading pre-seed investment programme for technical founders, Alex was included in both the global and European Forbes 30 under 30 lists of 2016.


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Arizona Public Media
Story by Gisela Telis
October 15, 2013
Psychiatrist Charles Raison says he has it easy.
"One of the fun things about studying depression and happiness and what it means to lead a fulfilling, satisfied human life is that everybody's interested in it," he said.
As a University of Arizona researcher, Raison has spent years trying to understand what happiness is, and how we can all enjoy a little more of it.
He and his colleagues are learning that the answers aren't so simple. Even defining happiness can be tricky, he said.
"It doesn't appear to be a unitary concept—it's not just one thing," Raison said. "It has dimensions."
One dimension is called "hedonic happiness"—the pleasure that comes from winning a prize or enjoying a meal. But researchers have found there is another dimension or kind of happiness, called "eudaimonic happiness," that stems from a sense of purpose or meaning in life.
These two types of happiness often go hand in hand, but "they're not the same thing," Raison explained.
Researchers like Raison have discovered many factors that contribute to either kind of happiness.
One of them is genetic—some people are predisposed to feel more happiness than others. Your health, environment—even the kind of bacteria living in your gut—all play a role in your individual mental health and well being.
But studies also show that certain things can make everyone happier—such as a sense of community.
"People are happiest when they're connected in positive ways with other people, when they feel like they're part of a group," Raison said.
Being connected is critical, he said. But does the quality of the connection matter?
Raison's collaborator, UA psychology researcher Matthias Mehl, is working to answer this question—by eavesdropping.
He has developed a device—called the electronically activated recorder, or EAR—to document the kinds of social interactions people have and how much happiness they feel.
"You can see how much time (people) spend talking to other people versus being alone, how much time…they spend talking to their partners, their friends and family or with strangers," Mehl explained. "So you can get a fine-grained acoustic picture, for lack of a better word, of what participants do on a daily basis."
Mehl and his team have found that it's not just the quantity of social interactions, but their quality that can help create happiness.
"We found very strong effects that happy people had substantially fewer small talk interactions, and substantially more substantive interactions," Mehl said. "In fact, the effect was so large that the happiest person in our sample had about twice the amount of substantive conversations compared to the unhappiest participant in the sample."
Mehl and the rest of Raison's team are working on interventions for that "unhappiest participant"—interventions that can restore happiness, particularly in patients who suffer from depression.
They've found another, rather surprising factor that affects mood: temperature. Raison's team has recently revealed a powerful connection between the body's ability to regulate temperature and its ability to regulate mood.
In depression sufferers, thermo-regulation seems to go awry, leaving them with an elevated body temperature.
Raison and his colleagues are now using a hyperthermia chamber—a kind of box that heats the body, which causes internal body temperature to drop—to improve mood in patients struggling with major depression. The hotter the box gets, the lower the patient's body temperature afterwards—and the greater the antidepressant effect.
"The fact that warmth has these properties may explain why so many indigenous cultures around the world either adopted or developed things like sweat lodges," Raison said. "In so many cultures, heat is a very key part of spiritual activities, healing activities, and our theory is that it's because heat activates these pathways and part of what these pathways do is undepress people."
Some UA researchers are going even further afield to fuel happiness.
Consciousness researcher Stuart Hameroff, an anesthesiologist at the UA Medical Center, thinks good vibrations could do the trick.
A few years ago, Hameroff read a study suggesting ultrasound waves—which are mechanical vibrations used to create images of the body—could affect mood.
After first testing the technique on himself, he and his colleagues tested a cohort of chronic pain patients, who often suffer from depression. They found that applying ultrasound waves to the brain measurably helped the patients feel better.
The interventions that Mehl, Raison, Hameroff and others are pioneering may lead to new treatments for depression, which affects an estimated 350 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
But Raison said cutting-edge technology isn't required. Anyone can cultivate happiness.
"The things that make people happy are health, hope and positive relationships," Raison said. "It's very, very hard to be unhappy if you really are deeply connected with the welfare of other people, if you really are connected to something that's going to live beyond your own small existence. That seems to be the great capstone of happiness."


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The Alice Lloyd College Cross Country squad entered the Knott County Gingerbread 5K run over the weekend as a tune –up for the upcoming KIAC conference races.
On the women's side, Amanda Sullivan (Tolland, Mass.) finished second overall with a time of 27:15. Alissa Burkhardt (London) finished fourth in 27:50. She was followed by Jerkia Vandyke (Oakwood, VA.), Kimberly Schroeder (Louisa), and Ashley Foster (Peebles, OH.) with times of 34:55, 37:59, and 38:58 individually.
On the men's side, freshman Chazz Maynard (Inez) finished 5th overall with a time of 22:20. He was followed by Tylar Harmon (Union), and Matt Moorefield (Hopkinsville), with times of 28:47 and 31:14 respectively. The first conference race is Saturday September 17th at defending champion Berea.