text:
Today's edition also features other announcements crypto investors may find interesting. Some useful tools can help them develop dynamic strategies on the volatile markets, while a new bot offers automated crypto trading.
Thomson Reuters has expanded its sentiment data tracking service to cover the top 100 cryptocurrencies. You can find details about the TRMI 3.1 crypto sentiment package in our daily rubric, Bitcoin in Brief.
Thomson Reuters Expands Its Crypto Sentiment Data Tracking
Thomson Reuters has included market data for the top 100 cryptocurrencies in its sentiment data offerings. The service is provided in cooperation with Marketpsych Data LLC, a leader in quantitative behavioral science. The expansion comes after the introduction of bitcoin sentiment index in March, when Marketpsych 3.0 was revealed, as news.Bitcoin.com reported, and the launch of cryptocurrency real-time rates data feed for six cryptocurrencies in May.
According to the official announcement, the new Marketpsych Indices package uses machine learning and natural language processing to measure emotional and topical items across news and social media sites that may drive market participant behavior in cryptocurrency markets. TRMI 3.1 monitors more than 2,000 global news and 800 social media platforms in real-time.
The providers of the service also note that the historical data dates back to 2009. The collected sentiment data can be incorporated into quantitative and qualitative analysis to support investment decisions, the press release details. Investors and other interested professionals can use it to quickly discern patterns affecting their respective businesses, Thomson Reuters points out.
Suite of Tools for Crypto Investors Released
Waterstreet Research Partners LLC, a Minneapolis-based investment research firm, has announced the launch of Crypto Powerranks, a suite of useful tools for cryptocurrency investors. Its users will be able to research, plan, and develop dynamic investment strategies on the volatile cryptocurrency markets, according to the announcement.
Crypto Powerranks is a membership program that provides access to institution-level analytics and portfolio construction strategies. The service will enable cryptocurrency investors to create their own investment plans. The developers of the suite note that their solution comes in response to the need to use robust research tools in combination with market intelligence when making investment decisions.
The service introduces 32 cryptocurrency indices, including 12 that use quantitative factor models known as smart beta. These proven index strategies have not been applied to the cryptocurrency market before. The platform also provides its members with continually updated tools, indicators, and reports, including index action reports. By applying the tools to the different indices, they will be able to research a single cryptocurrency or the broader market, when deciding which coins to choose for their investment portfolio.
"More and more investors are entering the crypto market and have expressed a clear need for more insight, intelligence, and tools, so they can make better informed decisions", said Jonathan Held, managing partner and cofounder of Waterstreet. In his words, crypto investors are tired of biased and emotional opinions in blogs and video channels. "They want clear, objective insights to help them understand the evolving market and make investment choices with confidence", Held added.
New Bot Automates Cryptocurrency Transactions
A new trading bot, designed to automate cryptocurrency purchases and sales, has been launched by Millioncoin. The platform, which offers crypto-related services, promises to counter the high costs and inconvenience of transacting in digital coins. The bot, named AT.systems, provides its users with resources in real time, which help them profit from trading these cryptocurrencies.
According to the developers, price instability, high transaction fees, and uncertainty about the relative value of different digital and fiat currencies represent barriers to buying, trading, and spending cryptocurrencies. Millioncoin is trying to address these issues by automating the respective processes.
The bot offered by the company can automatically trade cryptocurrencies to provide its users with the best possible deal for their assets. Combined with other tools, AT.systems can also enhance crypto shopping. This, according to Millioncoin, will help consumers incorporate cryptos in their everyday lives.


text:
Muscat: There are some misconceptions about Islamic banking in Oman, which need to be dispelled through raising awareness about this sector, says a senior official at Bank Nizwa.
"Perhaps many market participants believe that Islamic banking is just a way to 'Islamise' interest and they keep comparing Islamic banks to conventional banks," Dr Jamil El Jaroudi, chief executive officer of Bank Nizwa, told 'Times of Oman' in an exclusive interview.
"At Bank Nizwa, it is not only our belief, but also our commitment to build Islamic banking true to its core based on Sharia," said the official at Oman's first dedicated Islamic bank.
El Jaroudi noted that they do not want to simply replicate what is out there in the conventional banking and continuously try to innovate and build an industry based on Sharia objectives, and not necessarily just to be Sharia-compliant.
"However, during the initial phase, we do have to provide alternatives to the current conventional products to suit the demand of customers. This process will take time. In the meantime, we can help to re-design the basic concept of finance based on Sharia, which is more equitable to all rather than only based on debt," he said.
'Social philanthropic'
"Another misconception is that Islamic banking is similar to a social philanthropic entity. Accordingly, why do Islamic banks ask for profit margins and fees and this is why knowledge about this industry is imperative to succeed," the official added.
"Yes, there are ethical and social obligations but above all, Islamic banks are commercial and profit oriented businesses owned by investors who chose to put their wealth at work in a Sharia-compliant manner," El Jaroudi explained.
Asked what Islamic banking provides should do to help enhance the performance of this sector, the CEO of Bank Nizwa said that they need to grow to a certain size to be able to compete on equal footings, meaning good services and good returns to both clients and investors.
"Islamic banks need to be protected, may be incentivised as well, until it gets there because the ultimate beneficiary is the economy of Oman," he said.
In addition, El Jaroudi said that Oman can learn from the Islamic finance experience of its neighbouring countries as well as other countries in the Far East and other regions.
"Oman has the advantage of seeing and learning from the experiences of the other markets, be it good or bad. If you look at Oman's Islamic banking regulations, it is very much influenced by this, in addition to choosing what Oman decides is right for its market," he said.
"However, learning does not stop here. Now we need to dig more into the main benefits of Islamic finance to economies in general and be prepared to modify or add what benefits the Sultanate the most," El Jaroudi stated.
(Times Of Oman / 20 September 2015)---
Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Which browser are you using?
Can you see the stack trace of the error?
The extra info Dario mentioned is not yet printed by the official builds, I'll have to send you a preview of the next library, or you might wait January for the official release, for these new info to be in the error message.
Let me know your thoughts.


text:
Difference between revisions of "WordPress"
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#Go to Dashboard
#Go to Dashboard
#Go to Settings >
#Go to Settings >
#Specify which option best meets your needs
#Specify which option best meets your needs
Revision as of 14:08, 21 May 2013
You can help Library & ITS Wiki by editing it.
Blogging at Middlebury
WordPress [1] is an open-source platform that is used at Middlebury for individual blogs and as a content management system for creating web sites in general. Uses include journals, creative writing tools, and news publishing. You can log into the Midd instance of WordPress with your Midd username and password.
Log in
To log into WordPress at Middlebury, locate the "login" link on whatever blog you want to contribute to. If the blog has no "log in" link then go to: http://sites.middlebury.edu/wp-admin/. Type in your Midd username (first part of your email address before @middlebury.edu) and password (same password you use to log into Midd email).
(Click to play)
New Blog Creation and Access
New Blogs
You must have a Middlebury user account to create a WordPress blog. Here are the steps:
- go to the login page
- then go to the sign-up page to give your blog a name. Do not use "wp" at start of blog name.
For more information see: WordPress @ Middlebury
Course Sites
To create a course site using WordPress, begin at the Course Hub. Instructions are here Course Hub: Adding a Resource to Your Course Hub Site
Access and Roles
WordPress allows you to define who can access your blog/site (anyone, middlebury community, registered users, admins only( and what role individual users have (administrator, editor, author, contributor, subscriber)
Access (Privacy)
Access to a given blog/site can be defined in Dashboard > Settings > Privacy. Here are the steps:
- Go to Dashboard
- Go to Settings > Reading > Site Visibility
- Specify which option best meets your needs
Access can also be restricted by adding password protection to posts or pages. Password protected posts/pages will only be accessible to blog/site administrators, editors, authors (of the post/page password-protected) or any site visitor who is given the password. Here's how to password protect a post/page:
- Add a new or edit an existing post or page
- In the Publish panel chose edit the "Visibility"
- Select Password protected and type in a password
- Click the "OK" button
- Click the "Publish" or "Update" button
Add Users
WordPress allows you to add "users" to your blog/site and assign them roles (administrator, editor, author, contributor, subscriber). When you create a WordPress site, by default you will be the only person who can access it. Here are the steps for giving access to additional users:
- Browse to your blog
- Click on the Log In, using your Midd email name and password
- Click on Add New to pull down menu
- Click on User
- To add an individual, use the "Add An Individual User" window and type in either a person's name or username. To add a class, follow the instructions below.
- Begin typing in a name. Wait for a couple of seconds
- A list of names will appear. Choose the correct one.
- Use the drop down menu to give appropriate access
- Click on the ADD USER button.
Roles and access:
- Administrator - Somebody who has access to all the administration features
- Editor - Somebody who can publish and manage posts and pages as well as manage other users' posts, etc.
- Author - Somebody who can publish and manage their own posts
- Contributor - Somebody who can write and manage their posts but not publish them
- Subscriber - Somebody who can only manage their profile
[Alternatively, if you are adding group members as users (see below) then access to sites for your course can be managed in the same way that you manage access to your Courses Folders. This has the advantage of adding users once to give them permissions to any course platforms that need authorization. See Managing Access to Classes Folders and Other Folders on Middfiles.]
Adding Group Members as Users
Groups of users can be added to your WordPress site as well
- Go to your site Dashboard
- Go to Users > Add New
- Under "Bulk-Add Users By Group" Type in the name of the group you want to add (i.e. span0101a-f11) and wait for this group to appear in the drop down list
- Chose a role for these group members and click the the "Add User" button
Note: WordPress does NOT automatically update groups when the members changes. However you can "bulk-add users by group" multiple times and any new members in the group will be added.
If you are using WordPress for a course site, its a good idea to "bulk-add" frequently during the first couple of weeks of classes.
WordPress sites can be organized in a variety of ways.
An author adds material to their blog by creating posts. Posts may be of any length, and can include text, audio and video. Once an post is created, it may be previewed, saved as unpublished, or save as published. Only published post will be seen by visitors. Posts can be edited after they are published. When posts are published they appear on the main page of your site in reverse chronological order (i.e. most recent posts first).
Authors can also add content to their site by creating pages. Like posts, pages may be of any length and can include text, audio and video. When pages are published a link to them will be created either in the top navigation bar of the site or in the "Pages" widget in the site's sidebar. You can change the order of pages on the menu by going into edit for a page and assigning a number in the order field.
Pages vs Posts
For more information of the difference between pages and pages, see:
WordPress @ Middlebury > Techniques > Pages vs Posts
Categories and Tags
All posts can be assigned one or more categories and/or tags for use in a guided search. New categories can only be added by site administrators or editors and can be organized hierachically. New tags can be added by site administrators, editors and authors.
All the categories/tags on a site can be listed using the "tag cloud" or "categories" widgets. For more information about widgets, see:
WordPress @ Middlebury > Widgets
Widgets are available to add character and functionality to the blog. Some widgets that are available include:
- Calendar
- Latest entries
- Search
- Creative Commons License
- Tag cloud
- Subscribe to feed
A feed widget can be added to create a list of links to any other blog or website that has an rss feed. Also, third party widgets can be added.
To change the way widgets are displayed on your blog, activate the Display Widgets plugin. More information about the Display Widgets plugin is here: WordPress Plugin Spotlight: Organize your Widgets with Display Widgets.
Plugins are features that are added to WordPress to expand its functionality. Some of the plugins we have added to WordPress at Middlebury have been highlighted in the LIS Blog. See Plugin Spotlight.
Blog Authors, Editors and Administrators
Visitors to a blog may leave a comment through the use of a simple web form. In most cases, this is a name, an email address, and the text of their comment. Authors may decide whether comments appear immediately on the blog, or if they are held until the author can read them.
Blog Visitors, Subscribers
To comment on a Midd WordPress blog, click on the link to comment (usually below the title of the post or below the post text). If you have a Middlebury user account and you see fields for name and email address, this indicates you should log in before you post. If you are NOT part of the Middlebury community (i.e. you don't have a Middlebury user account), you need to fill in your name and email address.
(Click to play)
RSS and Subscribing
WordPress supports both publishing its own content via RSS (really simple syndication) as well as accessing RSS feeds with widgets. Blogs are RSS feeds for posts/entries, comments, categories, tags and authors. Some blogs will display links to some of these feeds, most commonly, the feeds for posts and comments. How you subscribe to a feeds depends on how your browser and computer is configured to handle RSS. Some browsers may be configured such that when you click on an RSS feed link, you are given an option to chose what desktop or web application to use to read the feed.
Here is one way of subscribing to RSS feeds that will work on nearly all browsers/computers:
- Locate the link to the RSS feed you want to subscribe to
- Right click (or control click) on on the RSS link and chose "Copy Link Location" or "Copy Link" or "Copy Shortcut."
- Open you favorite RSS Reader (or try Google Reader), and find the "add subscription" or "subscribe" link or button
- Paste the RSS link url you copied above and click "add" or "save" button/link
The url (web address) of RSS feeds in WordPress follow a common syntax. Thus if the blog you want to subscribe to doesn't display RSS feed links, you can always figure out what they are by using the following convention:
Posts RSS:
Comments RSS:
Category RSS:
Tag RSS:
Author RSS:
Post Comments RSS:
Best way to get these urls is to go to the blog page that has the content you want to subscribe to and add "/feed" to the end of the url.
Subscribing to Private Blogs
When you are logged in and viewing a private blog, the RSS feed links contain a special key unique to you and the blog that gives your reader access to the feed. There is nothing special you need to do, just subscribe as usual and feeds from private blogs will now work without redirecting your reader to the login page.
Q. Oops, I sent my private feed link to everyone! Now what?
A. If you accidentally share your personal feed link with others, you can go to your profile page and revoke your key for the blog in question.
Q. If someone finds out my key, can they use it to access my other sites?
A. No, keys are per-user and per-site.
Q. I removed a user from my private site, will they still see updates?
A. No, the feed keys just authenticate the user, they still are checked against the subscriber list before showing them content.
Q. Will my feed key let me edit without logging in?
A. No, the key only grants access to feeds, nothing more.
Links to audio files in a WordPress entry will appear in the RSS feed. Visitors may subscribe to this feed as a podcast. To set up your WordPress blog to function as a podcast, do the following:
- Log into your Blog
- Click on the Plugins link in the upper righthand corner
- Chose to Activate the Audio Player plugin
- Click on links to Write > Post
- Give you post a title and add text (describing your podcast post)
- Click on the Add Media "starburst" in the post editor
- Click on the MiddMedia tab
- Chose to show files in your MiddMedia or Upload a new file to MiddMedia
- Click on the "use" button for the file you want to use in your post
- Click on the Publish button to publish your podcast post
Liveblogging is the practice of covering an event as it happens on your blog. Rather than a composed post that covers your thoughts on a subject and is published once, a live blog post is updated with snippets of your thoughts on the event as it occurs. Common uses of liveblogging are covering a speech, television show, or sporting event. The practice allows the author to interact with their readers in real time via comments on the live blog post.
To do liveblogging on your site, activate the Liveblog plugin. More information about the Liveblog plugin is here: WordPress Plugin Spotlight: Liveblog.
Embedding Video
Wordpress has special plugins for video and therefore requires special plugin codes that normally aren't used in html coding. In order to embed video, do the following:
- Log into your Blog
- Click on the Plugins link in the upper righthand corner
- Scroll down the page and make sure that the plugin labeled "Wordpress Video Plugin" is green, meaning it is active. If it is inactive, activate it.
- In the upper lefthand corner, click on "Write" and begin a new post.
- Add a title and descriptive text.
- Determine which video hosting program you are using (ie. YouTube, Veoh, etc.)
- Head to this link and find the embed code that's specific to your video server and follow the instructions there.
As an example, YouTube's embed code for Wordpress is [youtube id] where "id" is replaced by the video id on the server.
Access to Blogs
A visitor can view all published entries in a blog. Unpublished entries may have a scheduled publishing date, or they may be manually published.
A blog owner may allow, or not allow comments on their blog.
To limit blog access just to students enrolled in a class, do the following:
- Go the "dashboard" of your blog (you'll need to log in and click on link to site admin or one of the links in the upper right corner.
- Click on the link to privacy under Settings (in the right sidebar).
- Chose to make your blog "visible only to registered members."
- Click on link to "add new" under Users.
- Under "Bulk-Add Users By Group" begin typing in the course code for your class until your class appears in the drop down menu and you can select it.
- Click on the "Add Group Members" button and chose to add them as subscriber or authors (if you want them to create their own posts).
Removing a blog
You can delete a blog that you own.
- Go to Dashboard
- Go to Tools > Delete site
- You will receive an e-mail, which you must respond to for deletion to happen.
WordPress at Middlebury
WordPress has been used in a variety of ways at Middlebury.
Curricular Use
WordPress has been used for creating course sites and curricular resources.
Personal Use
Many faculty, students and staff have used WordPress to create blogs that describe things they have done at Middlebury. These sites could contain information about research, studies, projects, e-portfolios... etc
Department Use
Some departments/areas at Middlebury have used WordPress to supplement information on the main college website.
Journal/Research Use
For more examples, see the blog roll on the home page of Blogging at Middlebury.
- ↑ WordPress, http://www.wordpress.org/
- This page was last edited on 21 May 2013, at 14:08.
- Privacy policy
- About Library & ITS Wiki
- Disclaimers


text:
09/20/2017 Participation of Liebherr-Aerospace at the 2017 Aerospace Congress
"Aeronautics and Astronautics - for the good of society" - was the motto at the 66th Aerospace Congress in Munich, which was organized by the German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics – Lilienthal-Oberth e.V. (DGLR). Representatives from the aerospace industry met from September 5 - 7, 2017 in order to show and discuss the latest trends in the industry. As in the past years, Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH also presented itself as a congress sponsor with a booth, supported by five work-study students. Among the different exhibits from the product areas flight controls and landing gear, it was in particular components that were created by a 3D printing process which caught the attention of visitors.
More than 100 scientific lectures on research and industrial topics were held at the congress. One focus, among others, was electric aviation. Liebherr-Aerospace also participated in the speeches program, and thus significantly contributed to the exchange of knowledge.


text:
Nicholas Jackson over at The Atlantic has a great piece about the tear down of the Zion nuclear power plant in Illinois that was permanently deactivated in 1998 after both of it's reactors were accidentally/coincidentally shut down. But even when done properly, complete removal isn't so simple.
According to Jackson, there are two stages to the demolition process, which is expected to take 10 years and cost $1 billion to complete. First, there's the removal of the structure, which is relatively straight forward.
EnergySolutions will dismantle the radioactive equipment, demolish the buildings and remove all of the foundations and leftover rubble in a process known as "rip and ship." Even the old metal desks, pipes, tools and workers' clothing, which could be considered radioactive after being kept that close to the nuclear fuel, will need to be shredded and moved to EnergySolutions' disposal site in Clive, Utah. There, all of the waste will be crushed and compacted. About four million cubic feet of waste is expected to be moved to Utah, according to the Wall Street Journal, and then entombed in clay and rock.
Then there's the removal of the nuclear waste, which is a whole barrel of political, economical, environmental and scientific complications. Spent fuel will be placed into concrete casks and locked in a storage pad that sits under 24-hour security and can withstand disaster and attack. Still, politicians yammer on about about terrorist attacks and environmentalists yammer on about the water supply in the event of such a freak accident. As for the removal process itself...
There are more than 2,200 nuclear fuel assemblies sitting inside of the radioactive waste pool at the moment. They range in age from 14 years old to 40. Each of the assemblies will be moved into a three-inch thick stainless steel tube while still underwater. Each of the tubes will then be vacuum dried and welded shut, according to ABC 7 News, and then placed inside of larger concrete containers. During this process "there's no chance of a meltdown," Val Christensen, the CEO of EnergySolutions, told ABC 7. "The water temperature is below 100 degrees. These units have been cooling for 13 years." Once completed, there will be sixty-one steel and concrete dry casks, each weighing about 125 tons, stored on the pad, which will measure between 10 and 15 acres.
In short, it's a giant pain-in-the-ass. But an interesting one, nonetheless. Which is why you should read the entire story over at [The Atlantic].


text:
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E-mail - firstname.lastname@example.com
Davis Burton Sellek have a wealth of experience in advising businesses and individuals in the Ascot area on a range of key tax and financial planning issues. Here we consider strategies to help you to minimise your tax bill, maximise your profitability and boost your wealth.
2021 saw two Budgets due to the exceptional circumstances in which the country found itself. The Chancellor made a number of changes, both to raise taxes to meet the £440bn of additional expenditure caused by the pandemic but also to stimulate business recovery, and some of these are dealt with below.
The UK-wide personal allowance rose to £12,570 from 6 April 2021 and the basic rate band also increased to £37,700. This means the higher rate threshold – the point at which you start paying higher, rather than basic rate tax in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – increased to £50,270 (if you have a full personal allowance).
The personal allowance and higher rate threshold are now frozen until at least 5 April 2026 when the personal allowance and basic rate limit will be indexed with the Consumer Price Index by default.
Scottish taxpayers: income tax rates and bands for non-savings and non-dividend income are different from the rest of the UK: see Personal Tax Essentials later in this guide. The freeze to the personal allowance impacts Scotland, although the freeze to the UK higher rate threshold only affects those with savings and dividend income.
The government will introduce a new, UK-wide 1.25% Health and Social Care Levy from April 2023 although the Levy was effectively introduced from April 2022, when national insurance contributions (NICs) for working age employees, self-employed and employers increased by 1.25%. The Levy will not apply to Class 2 or 3 NICs.
From April 2023, the 1.25% Levy will be formally separated out and will also apply to individuals working above State Pension age, at this time NICs rates will return to their 2021/22 levels.
Existing NICs reliefs to support employers and the Employment Allowance will also apply to the Levy.
In addition, the rates of taxation on dividend income are increased by 1.25% to 8.75%, 33.75% and 39.35% from April 2022.
The Chancellor announced that between 6 April and 5 July 2022, employees will be able to earn £190 a week without paying Class 1 NICs and the Levy. From 6 July 2022 this weekly threshold will increase to £242.
For 2022/23, the self-employed will be able to earn £11,908 before paying Class 4 NICs. In addition, the point at which the self-employed start paying Class 2 NICs increases to £11,908. This means that those with profits between the small profits threshold of £6,725 and the lower profits limit of £11,908 will not need to pay Class 2 NIC from April 2022 but will still be able to access entitlement to contributory benefits.
The single largest revenue-raiser is a proposed increase in corporation tax from 1 April 2023 to 25% where profits for an accounting period exceed £250,000. If a company has no associated company in the accounting period and its profits are up to £50,000, the small profits rate will be 19%. If a company has no associated company in the accounting period and its profits are between £50,001 and £250,000, a marginal rate will apply.
If a company has one or more associated companies in the accounting period then the limits are divided by the number of associated companies plus one. For an accounting period of less than 12 months the lower limit and the upper limit are proportionately reduced. There are a number of complex rules regarding associated companies.
Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023, companies investing in qualifying new plant and machinery benefit from new first year capital allowances. Under this measure a company is allowed to claim:
This relief is not available for unincorporated businesses.
In the face of ongoing change, it is more important than ever to have a robust business and personal financial planning strategy in place, to help ensure that you and your family are financially secure and on course to achieve your long-term goals.
If you're in the Ascot area and would like advice on tax planning strategies, please contact Davis Burton Sellek.
Connect with us


text:
AKRON, C & Y R. CO. v. HAGENBUCH(1943)
Rehearing Denied May 24, 1943.
See 319 U.S. 782 , 63 S.Ct. 1169, 87 L.Ed. --.
Messrs. Paul D. Miller and John Wallis, for petitioner.
Messrs. Andrew P. Martin and H. L. Chapman, for trustees of Akron, C . & Y. Ry Co. and another.
Mr. Shelton Pitney, for Bondholders' Protective Committee for Northern Ohio Ry. Co. First Mortgage Bonds.
Mr. George C. Sharp, for Bondholders' Committee for Akron, C. & Y. Ry. Co. General & Refunding Mortgage Gold Bonds.
Petition for writ of certiorari to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Mr. Justice RUTLEDGE took no part in the consideration or decision of this application.


text:
Spoilers ahead. Turn back!
In July of 2000 I started writing software professionally, and became acquainted with the wonderful world of version control. I immediately wished I had a CVS repository set up for "Guess the Verb!", the game I was then developing, so that instead of packaging up source releases of the game every now and then, I could just point source-code-wanters to the CVS repository.
In November, after Guess the Verb! had been weighed in the balance and given 11th place in the 2000 IF Competition, I decided it was time to start work on my sophomore effort. I had a silly idea which I was just about to start experimenting with, when I came up with an even sillier idea: a game which changed its version number as you played it. As I conceived it, you would start at the latest version, and as the version number slid inexorably downwards, objects would disappear, typos would pop up, and previously fixed bugs would come back like Jason back for another try.
It took about thirty seconds for me to connect this idea with the "world in decay" scenario often seen in fantasy games. I got a piece of paper and drew the most generic castle layout I could think of: three rooms square, four towers in the corners for battlements (two of these went below ground to become the store room and the priest's cell, and the other two disappeared) I numbered each room and made each one instantiate a class whose room description merely listed the exits. This was basically version 0.01. To get a feel for the next fifty-plus versions, look at my list of fixed bugs, or just play the game.
I tied it into the plot, of course. The idea is that you have been sent on a mission to kill this corrupt baron, but by killing him you trigger a curse intended to trap you in his slowly disintegrating keep (conveniently destroying the evidence of his wrongdoings at the same time). You can break the curse and leave, or you can choose to stop the deterioration of the game world on your way out. The title of the game is a reference both to this process and to the state of moral turpitude that occasioned the baron's assassination.
It's one of the ideas implementation of which you only embark upon because you don't quite realize how much work it's going to be, and how much of that work will be tedious bookkeeping. It's all very well to say "I'm going to write a game which contains its own CVS repository.", but it's quite another to put the architecture in place, and still another to make sure that the architecture gets used consistently throughout the game. I occasionally cheated and made a change retroactive, especially when not doing so would have had horrible repercussions on the game. [0] But most of the bugs are still in there, and a lot of them let you do things you shouldn't be able to do (for instance, in versions previous to 0.34 you can use the little box of spices to hold anything, even huge things like the dead pig and Baron).
The architecture is as follows: almost object in the game
subclasses the VCObject class. This contains a version number at which
the object is first implemented; when the version number drops below
this number, the current location is noted (so that if the version
number ever goes back up it'll reappear in the right place), and the
object gets moved to a storage room. VCObject also implements methods
downgrade and
upgrade; these are
called whenever the version changes upwards or downwards, to effect
whatever changes in internal state are neccessary (for instance, some
objects gain attributes in certain versions; this requires a
downgrade which removes the attribute in version x-1 and
upgrade which grants it in version x).
VCObject also implements a
parse_name which calls
wordOkay for each relevant word. This made
parser-level version control much easier; when I was told by a beta
tester that the Baron's corpse should be referrable to as "body", I
implemented recognition of "body" only in versions 0.50 and up by
putting a conditional in the corpse's
wordOkay. I didn't have
to implement the (marginally) more complicated
since I was using VCObject's
In addition, there are several utility functions for handling
changes to text, which I wrote as I recognized a need for
change(oldtext, newtext, version),
insert(text,version), and
delete(text,version) handle a wide variety of common
actions, such as the correction of my misspelling of "Archimedes" in
version 0.44 (so that it shows up "Archimedes" in versions >= 0.44 and
"Archimides" in versions < 0.44). There's also
amp(version), which prints "&" in
and above, and "and" below that version; I committed this stylistic
inconsistency so much I wrote a special method for rectifying it as of
a particular version.
My original plan was for the degeneracy to be irreversable. It would be much simpler that way; reversal meant keeping track of where objects were when they disappeared, and was complicated by containers which disappeared before the things they contained (such as the copper key, which sits on the dresser in the Baron's room but which was implemented before the dresser). State changes need to disappear along with the code to implement them. For instance, starting in version 0.40 you can chop up the dented box with the axe. If you chop up the box and then go before version 0.40, the box reverts to being un-chopped up. If you later get the version back up to 0.40 or above, the box needs to become chopped up again.
None of this is difficult, programming-wise, but it is tedious, and very few people will ever see any given example. However, once I'd given the degeneracy a physical manifestation in the form of the hourglass, a puzzle reversing the degeneracy by refilling the hourglass was an obvious step, so I went ahead and did it. The degeneracy is now arbitrarily reversible and... well, versible. I hope. There are probably still some bugs hiding in there, but I doubt anyone will ever go through the trouble of finding them.
First, the concept, in all modesty, is really cool. As Vyvyan from The Young Ones once said, "That's the most completely brilliant thing I've ever seen! A flying shark!". Well, it's not as cool as a flying shark, but it's still pretty nice.
I love the keys. In so many games (IF and otherwise), the extent of the puzzle-solving component is finding colored keys to open colored locks. I thoroughly enjoyed creating puzzles in which you obtain colored keys which are completely worthless for lock-opening purposes. (Well, you need to use the gold key to open the trapdoor, but I also love objects used in multiple puzzles, even if one puzzle is a lame door unlocking puzzle. Now that I think about it, though, I should have left the trapdoor unlocked.) I also liked implementing a standard lock-and-key puzzle (the priest/box puzzle) in which you employ an otherwise worthless locked object to obtain its (useful) key.
Though this is a topic of some contention, I like the inventory system. I did not want the player to be able to simultaneously carry an axe, two large corpses (pig and human), a mechanical fountain, a fistful of keys, and a long lance. A lot of the objects in the game are so heavy that you could not reasonably expect to be able to carry anything else, and it's a small step from that to a hand-based system that lets you hold smaller things in greater quantities. Also, there are a couple effects which wouldn't work without the sort of system I implemented: the hourglass is so heavy that you can only hold it for a few turns, and the book numbs the hand you use to carry it.
I'm fairly pleased with the cluing-in that no, the game is not ridden with bugs. Originally there was absolutely no cluing-in of this sort. [1] This started changing when beta testers started running into the problem that they knew something was going on, but they had no idea what. The creepy messages you get when you re-enter a room you've been away from for a few versions, and the travails of the hourglass as it slowly runs out of sand, were added in the final release candidates to help clue the existance of something beyond the obvious, and to tie that into the actions of the hourglass.
After the feisty twelve-year-old PC of Guess The Verb! I found it a nice change to do an PC with singleness of purpose who took everything very seriously. I wanted an assassin, but not one who was conflicted about his assassinations, but not one who was unconflicted due to having no moral compass. So I made the PC a knight well-versed in the faith (one thing I should have made a bigger deal out of was the fact that the PC knows how to read), someone able to execute God's will in the full knowledge that it involves committing a mortal sin.
Finally, I like the style I used in the game. It was a lot of fun writing the purple prose in the room descriptions. I'm also pleased with the integration of period ideas (sympathy and perpetual motion) into the puzzle system.
The puzzles are not particularily hard, and in general they're the sort of puzzle that you think of early on in development and then replace with better puzzles which are more intuitive. Of course, I couldn't do this without totally messing up the playability of the game or violating the guiding principle which I was using to write the game. So I basically had to dump in clues until the puzzles were solvable without reading my mind. This turned the centerpiece puzzles into basically "look at the reference materials and suddenly make logical connection", which would be great in a Name of the Rose adventure game, but this isn't that game.
I'm all for rich reference material, but you shouldn't have to check six library entries to figure out what to do in a puzzle. One person complained on the newsgroup that the formula for rose gold is never given; it is given, but in the entry for "rose gold", not in the entry for "sympathetic alloy", even though the two are the same thing. I had fun writing the library reference text, but the important stuff is too split up across slightly different entries.
The lance and the hole behind the desk is total AGT puzzle. I mainly put it in because I needed a use for the armo[u]ry. The puzzle might serve a useful purpose in subverting the player's train of thought when it comes time to use the keys, but probably not, since you can't see the results of your puzzle solving until you've gotten through all the doors. So, pretty lame, but at least internally consistent with the game world.
I don't think I did enough to clue the fact that the room descriptions and objects are disappearing because the game is slipping backwards in implementation time. The HELP menu displays the current version, and that's the biggest hint; people who are sweating to figure out the game are more likely to try HELP more often, and hopefully with the version number up there every time they do, they'll eventually have an epiphany. There are really no other substantial clues tying in the hourglass-caused degeneracy with the version number; just a bunch of really tiny clues corresponding to every change I ever made to the game.
Finally, there are two things going on in the game, and it's never made explicit that they're different. There's the curse, which was triggered by a contigency spell upon the Baron's death, and which prevents you from touching important objects like the hourglass and the wheel; and there's the degeneracy, which is caused by the hourglass (the hourglass also being set into motion by the contigency spell). I couldn't do much to differentiate between these two things because they're closely entwined and I couldn't think of a way to describe their relationship in a way that sounded like the PC's internal monologue. I had to punt and rely on inference, and it didn't really work.
I'm glad I wrote Degeneracy, but I'm even more glad I'm done with it. I have some ideas in a similar vein[2], but I'm holding off on them until I can come up with good frameworks and plots for them. Degeneracy works because the game world is rich enough that something is lost when it begins to fade away; empty exercises in formalism are no fun for the author or the players.
[0] In particular, the hourglass was at one point reimplemented from scratch. After I initially wrote it, Mike Popovic and I kept thinking of new and annoying things that a player could do with the hourglass and the piles of sand, and the hacks I'd made to handle them were incredibly buggy. I rewrote the hourglass using a primitive physics model so I could convince myself I'd gotten all the cases.
[1] Actually, originally originally the version number was shown on the status line instead of the number of moves, but this made it way too obvious, so I retroactively changed it.
[2] That vein being "secretly subverting the player's unstated assumptions", of course, not "changing the version number of the game during play".
This document (source) is part of Crummy, the webspace of Leonard Richardson (contact information). It was last modified on Thursday, April 29 2004, 20:36:38 Nowhere Standard Time and last built on Monday, March 27 2023, 01:00:02 Nowhere Standard Time.
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text:
Reeling from the latest barrage of globally catastrophic images—my mind gravitates to that startling and necessary image—beamed to us from Standing Rock.
It is the image of a U.S. veteran named Wesley Clark, Jr kneeling down, with veterans of various American combat units standing behind him—offering his formal apology to Lakota Medicine Man Leonard Crow Dog.
Who ever thought we would see this in our life time?
In his fine L.A.Times front page feature, reporter Sandy Tolan describes the veterans' forgiveness ceremony: "Clark, organizer of Veterans Stand with Standing Rock, noted that some of the veterans had served in the same military units that had fought during the Indian Wars. He wore the blue jacket and hat of the 19th century 7th Cavalry, evoking the 140 year old memory of Gen. George Armstrong Custer. As it happened, he spoke on Custer's birthday, Dec 5.
'We stole minerals from your sacred hills. We blasted the faces of our president onto your sacred mountain. Then we took still more land, and then we took your children and we tried to eliminate your language.. We didn't respect you. We polluted your Earth, we've hurt you in so many ways.'
He removed his hat, dark blue with a gold braid, and lowered himself to one knee, as did the veterans behind him. 'We've come to say that we are sorry,' he said, bowing his head. 'We are at your service, and we beg for your forgiveness.'"
You can't smell the smoke from the sacred bundle of cedar, sage and sweetgrass while watching this scene on YouTube. But you can intuit the gentle weight of Leonard Crow Dog's large hand placed on Clark's head.
Tolan writes, "Someone let out a ululating cry, and fellow Sioux spiritual leaders offered prayers and songs of cleansing and forgiveness. Hardened veterans wept openly…. Then Clark and the other veterans, their faces twisted with emotion, began to embrace their Native American hosts. It was apparent that the former service members received far more in the forgiveness than they gave in supplies and the goodwill they brought with them."
The veterans' assembly at Standing Rock is a 'gesture in the world' in an age of symbolic gestures. A counter-image to the Morton County sheriffs in riot gear, wielding the infamous water cannons they used against peaceful demonstrators.
In her book, A Human Being Died Last Night, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela—the only psychologist on South Africa's Truth & Reconciliation Commission- lays out what an apology must contain in order for its words to "perform." The one who apologizes must name the deed, acknowledge wrongdoing and recognize the pain of the victims. The apology must be unconditional. She points out how the victims hold a particular power in this dynamic: they can give or deny forgiveness. "They hold the key to what the perpetrator so desires — to rejoin the realm of moral humanity."
These are veterans brave enough to bend on one knee, willing to ask forgiveness of the Sioux, on behalf of our government, on behalf of all U.S. citizens– for all the ways we have harmed them. Those veterans participated in this Ceremony of Forgiveness to rejoin a human realm from which they felt excluded. They did it for themselves. And they did it for all of us.
I write this on the somber eve before tomorrow's meeting of the Electoral College. Regardless of the petitions we've signed, the phone calls we've made, the emails we've sent, the outrage about the election that we've expressed— we're not likely to stop the juggernaut. We'll likely see the outcome we're dreading come to pass.
In the late 19th century, philosopher William James called for "the moral equivalent of war." He was asking, "How can we get the United States to have a great moral cause, that can unite us to do marvelous things?" As we gird ourselves for the weeks and months ahead, well need these symbolic gestures to guide us as we embark on our own "moral equivalent to war," as citizen-activists. It may not be exactly what William James had in mind, but in opposition to the ransacking of democratic values by the Trump administration, oh yes, we will be united.
I'll keep the images from Standing Rock close at hand, deep in my heart: the soldier bending his knee; the old man placing his hand on the young man's bowed head, the undeniable presence of a terrible history, the unearthly yet human sound of those joyous ululations.


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Neely's Lemon Pasta Salad
Total Time: 30 min.
Prep10 min.
Cook20 min.
Yield:4 to 6 servings .
- Salt
- 1 pound corkscrew pasta
- 1 pound asparagus
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup freshly chopped dill leaves
- 1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
- 7 ounces crumbled feta cheese
Servings 4
Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and rinse. Set aside.
In another large pot of boiling salted water, add the asparagus and blanch until bright green and slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon or a spider and shock in icy cold water. Remove from the water and dry well.
Trim the ends of the asparagus and cut into bite-size pieces on the bias.
Whisk together the mustard, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Combine the reserved asparagus and pasta in a large serving bowl. Add the tomatoes, dill, peas, feta, and the mustard dressing. Toss with tongs to coat the salad well. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed.
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- Orzo Pasta Salad 5/5 (2 Votes)


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International Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
103 Shatzel Hall, 419-372-7814
The International Studies major provides an interdisciplinary approach to international and global connections. The major acquaints students with approaches from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The student's individual program may focus on a world region, a particular issue or discipline, or a future career goal such as government, business, or foreign service. All IS majors continue foreign language at least through the third-year college level. A study abroad experience of at least 3 hrs and at least 4 weeks duration is required.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the baccalaureate degree, students in International Studies are expected to:
- Understand the connections between countries;
- Describe the impact of international events or arrangements at the regional, national, and local levels in at least one major area of the world;
- Articulate how historical processes, such as colonialism, post-colonialism, and globalization, have led to our current situation in general, and to specific conditions in at least one area of the world;
- Analyze and describe global issues both qualitatively and quantitatively, using approaches from both the humanities and the social sciences;
- Demonstrate a basic command of at least two appropriate disciplinary approaches, such as economics, sociology (demographics), political science, history, literature, popular culture, environmental studies, cultural studies, or regional studies;
- Apply interdisciplinary approaches, including foreign language skills and international experience, to research and present specific global issues.
Major, Bachelor of Arts (36 - 45 hours) - minor required - Spring 2018 course requirements
International Studies Minor
The minor in International Studies requires 21 - 24 credits as follows:
- Study abroad, including 3 credit hours of foreign language study OR 6 credit hours of a foreign language at the 3000 level (3-6)
- 2 courses with a regional or country focus (6 credit hours): AFRS 2000, ASIA 1800, CAST 2010, CHIN 2160, ETHN 3100, GERM 2160, RUSN 2160, SPAN 2700
- 1 elective at 3000 level or higher (3 credit hours): BA 3900; ETHN 4250; GEOG 3250; HIST 4110, 4140, 4020, 4030; JOUR 4750; POLS 3350, 4750, 4760; SPAN 3770, 3780, 4010
Updated: 03/23/2018 03:21PM


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http://mmajunkie.com OMAHA, Neb. – A wrestling base and solid standup skills helped carry promotional newcomer Justin Salas to a unanimous-decision victory over fellow lightweight Anton Kuivanen.
Salas shook off an early stream of low kicks before scoring some key takedowns throughout the fight.
The preliminary-card bout was part of UFC on FUEL TV 1 at Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb. It streamed live on Facebook prior to the night's main card on FUEL TV.
After a few minutes of sparring, Salas shoot and scored a slick takedown. He then stood over his opponent and dropped down a couple heavy punches, but Kuivanen tripped and swept him to force the stand-up. However, aside from some Kuivanen low kicks, that takedown and another one from Salas before the bell was the only substantial action of the round.
Kuivanen showed solid takedown defense in the second round, though both landed some stiff punches. Kuivanen, though, continued having success with some low kicks and body shots, and his ability to shuck off Salas' takedown attempts kept the action fairly even through two rounds.
Salas was the aggressor early in the final round, and he then shot across the cage for a big double-leg takedown. Salas stood over him to deliver punches, and after escaping a kneebar, returned to his feet to drop more punches. A few of the shots landed flush, but after they returned to their feet, the action again was evenly matched. However, in the final minute of the fight, Salas scored another big takedown to seal the deal.
In the end, he earned the unanimous-decision victory via 30-27, 30-27 and 29-27 scores.
"It wasn't an easy fight for a debut, but I got the job done," Salas said. "He was a tough, physical guy who was tough to take down. … But I controlled the fight and was confident (I'd get the win). But I've got room to improve."
Salas (10-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC), a college wrestler and onetime Strikeforce fighter, has now won six straight fights, including recent bouts with UFC vet Rob Emerson and Bellator fighter Joe Ellenberger. Kuivanen (16-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a veteran of the regional circuit in his native Finland, snaps a nine-fight win streak.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on FUEL TV 1 results include:
- Justin Salas def. Anton Kuivanen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Tim Means def. Bernado Magalhaes vis unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
For more on UFC on FUEL TV 1, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
(Pictured: Justin Salas)


text:
Building Protective Column Pads for Square Beams
Supplier: Vestil
FOB: Midwest Warehouse
Protect personnel from workplace injury. Vestil Building Protective Column Pads are crafted to maximize protection with 3" of high density foam to compress before any impact. The outside wrap is superior nylon reinforced vinyl. Square beam pads, series V-PAD-S, feature a nylon rope laced through brass grommets to secure the protector to a round or square column. A pleat is folded over and sewn to increase the brass grommet strength. Custom sizes available.
- Model Info


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I can remember it like it was yesterday. Well, a yesterday thirty-six years ago.
Sometime during he mid 1970's, I stumbled upon a bunch of old record albums that had been accumulating under my grandparents large stereo system. My family and I had lived with my grandparents at the time, and their house and property was used by aunts, uncles and cousins as a repository for such things as old records, books, hand me down clothing and the occasional automobile that did not run anymore. Every once in a while, especially when there was nothing else to do on a rainy day, it was always cool to take stock of the things relatives had dumped off with no intention of ever taking back.
It was during one of these rainy days, while picking my way through the Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow and Carpenters albums, that I discovered it. The picture on the album was both creepy and cool. There they were, four dudes standing on some street corner against a pole; perhaps waiting for a bus (or an ambulance to take them all to the loony bin). They were all dressed in suits and ties; wearing the highest of high water pants the seventies had to offer. Big white shoes and the coolest make-up I had ever seen in the seven years that I had been alive.
The album was KISS' Dressed To Kill, and unless my grandmother was a closeted guitar shredder and told none of us kids, I still to this day have no idea how the album wound up with all of those other relics. But I was so glad I did. Thanks Nan!
I quickly fired up the turntable and placed needle on vinyl (for those of you born after 1995 or so, that means I played the record). At the time, I remember not being all that much interested in most of what I heard. Sure, songs like "Two Timer", "Rock Bottom" and "She" were kind of catchy, but nothing that really did anything for me on a first listen.
Then it happened.
The final song on the album was played and a spark went off. The cool little drum intro, the crunch guitars, the catchy lyrics! When I heard "Rock and Roll All Nite" for the very first time, I had an epiphany. Something snapped inside of me and I knew I would be changed forever. Yes Gene, Paul, Peter and Ace, I did wanna rock and roll all night AND party EH-VER-EEE Day!
Over the next several years, I couldn't get enough of KISS. The "Alive", "Alive II" and "Destroyer" albums were soon added to my collection (yes, I took ownership of "Dressed To Kill"). Each a masterpiece of music and mystery. I signed up as a member in good standing of the KISS Army and whenever the band appeared on TV, I just had to watch. I even remember there were times I was bummed out when I saw that a "Jean Simmons" movie was coming on and only found out (after watching most of it) that they really didn't spell Gene's name wrong. Whether it was the music, watching Ace Frehley's guitar catch fire or Gene Simmons' spitting up blood (always a fan favorite), I was obsessed with these "unknown" guys.
In retrospect, I suppose it was the combination of everything that made KISS appeal to me so much. But little did I know at the time, the band (and particularly the song, "Rock and Roll All Nite") planted the seed that made me want to become a rock star.


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Welcome to Cerrillos, New Mexico
(The Best Village in New Mexico)
Accessible from State Highway 14, commonly called the Turquoise Trail, Cerrillos is on the scenic road from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, closer to Santa Fe. While it was once seriously considered as the capitol of New Mexico, today Cerrillos, with its dirt streets, is a picturesque reminder of the Old West. It is home to Broken Saddle Riding Company, Cerrillos Station, Mary's Bar, Black Bird Saloon, Bill Skrips Studio, Cerrillos Hills State Park with 5 miles of hiking, biking and riding trails, Casa Grande Trading Post, Mining Museum & Petting Zoo. There is a Post Office, two churches and Ortiz Mountain Health Center.
The Cerrillos Historical Society works to preserve the area history and family database with this website. The Mining Museum contains artifacts from the Cerrillos Mining District and American Old West and examples of rare Cerrillos turquoise are on display.
Movies filmed in Cerrillos include Shootout, Young Guns, Outrageous Fortune and the Nine Lives of Elfego Baca.
Cerrillos - Madrid - Golden YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZek2-Vwp6k&t=381s


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SAN FRANCISCO – Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt will lead a private humanitarian mission to North Korea this week, Richardson's office confirmed in a statement Saturday.
Richardson will hold a press conference at the Beijing airport on Thursday, but no media will be accompanying the delegation, according to the statement.
The trip comes despite public criticism from the U.S. State Department, which has said the visit was ill-timed in light of tensions stemming from North Korea's recent rocket launch.
The delegation will also include Jared Cohen, the director of a Google initiative known as Google Ideas and Schmidt's co-author on an upcoming book about how the Internet is changing the world.
Last July, Cohen organized a conference outside Los Angeles that featured nearly a dozen North Korean defectors, who gave harrowing accounts of privation and coerced criminal activity including drug sales.
Schmidt spoke at the conference and met with the group, according to panel moderator and North Korea expert Sheena Chestnut Greitens, now a graduate student at Harvard University.
K.A. Namkung, an Asia specialist and adviser to Richardson, will also take part in the trip, along with some other staff, according to the statement. A spokesperson for Richardson did not elaborate beyond the brief statement.
Richardson, a former ambassador to the United Nations, has made numerous trips to North Korea. The purpose of this week's trip and the reasons for Schmidt's involvement are not clear, though Google characterized it as "personal" travel. Schmidt did not respond to requests for comment.
Many observers expect Richardson to seek the release of Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American tour guide who was detained last year.


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Freedom New Mexico: Tony Bullocks Clovis head coach Eric Roanhaus sends in a play with senior wide receiver Corbin Best in Friday's game against Alamogordo. Clovis beat Alamogordo 40-0 for Roanhaus' 300th win.
Kevin Wilson
Cannon blasts filled the air, as they have so often on Clovis Friday nights, and the fireworks lighted the night sky, signifying a milestone win for Eric Roanhaus.
But the longtime Clovis coach simply did what he had done 299 times before Friday's 40-0 pounding of Alamogordo — put one in the Wildcat win column.
At 300-103-5, Roanhaus is the third coach in New Mexico history to amass 300 football wins. He trails only Bill Gentry (305) and Jim Bradley (311) at the top.
"It's a big thing for us," said senior Juan Rivas, who had a pair of touchdowns and two interceptions in the win, one of six home games this season at Leon Williams Stadium. "I'm pretty sure it's a big thing for Coach Roanhaus, but he didn't show it. He's never satisfied."
Roanhaus called a run-heavy attack that rolled out 375 of Clovis' 437 yards. The defense, run by 20-year assistant and former Wildcat player Darren Kelly, held the visiting Tigers to 142 yards and four first downs.
Kelley said whether it was one of his 10 state championship seasons or one of just three losing seasons, nothing about Roanhaus' approach to practice, film study or game management has changed.
"He expects everyone to do things right," Kelley said. "There's the right way, and that's the only way to do things."
Alamogordo coach Tommy Standefer, a 1982 Clovis High grad who went on from the Wildcats to play for Eastern New Mexico University, used a classic Roanhaus adage, saying, "I think we were able to save the jerseys" in the blowout.
"As a friend of Coach Roanhaus and one of his former players, that's a great accomplishment. I wish he'd have picked another time to do it, but he's been a real influence to me and he was a second father to me in high school."


text:
People with careers in this vital industry work to ensure our freight and passenger railroads, airlines, barge lines and ground transportation systems are running as safely and efficiently as possible.
Career Details
Students in Advanced Transportation are trained in the following subject areas:
- Transportation Service Worker—Emphasizing freight and passenger railroads, airlines, barge lines, and ground transportation systems
- Computer Operations—Keyboarding skill development, word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications
- Office Communications—Filing, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Access, office etiquette
- Business/Consumer Math—Microsoft Excel and 10-key calculator
- Job Search Skills—Resume and interview preparation
Before entering the program, students must:
- Be at least 17½ years old.
- Complete a Job Corps basic career technical training program.
- Meet basic academic requirements in math and reading.
- Have a high school diploma or equivalent.
- Have a positive attendance and progress record.
- Have a positive behavior record with no major incidents in the past 90 days.
- Have health clearance from the Job Corps center where they received basic training.
- Pass an entrance exam.
- Complete a successful phone, in-person, or videoconference interview.
As a Job Corps student, you will have the opportunity to earn credentials in your training area that may lead to greater employment opportunities, higher wages, and promotions.
Additionally, program graduates are eligible to attain Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-Hour Certification and Office Skills, Clerical Skills, and Software Skills (OPAC) Certification.
Advanced Transportation Numbers to Know
National average earning potential for this career
Completion times vary by training area. Check with your admissions advisor.
While on the job, you will be expected to display the following traits at all times:
Attention to detail
Commitment to safety
Communication skills
Concern for rules
Organizational skills


text: It's a sad reality. Most people don't understand ADHD. And, quite frankly, many do not want to. Unfortunately, too many are intolerant or ignorant. ADHD is an excuse, they say. Some go further than that, as you will soon read, and blame ADHD on pharmaceutical companies who, as you know, created ADHD so they can sell their over-priced medications. They have that power, apparently. Those reasons and more are why ADD ADHD is so misunderstood . It truly is amazing what some people believe or want to believe, isn't it? Today I want to call your attention to an article published by Jaqui Karr. "Destroying Children with the Cloak of ADHD: Parents Need to Pay Attention" Karr states unequivocally: The problems AND answers lie in food. Sadly the pharmaceutical companies will do everything in their power to get the "experts" and medical community to say otherwise. Even sadder is that for the […]Read More


text:
Specialist lenders profit as big banks pull back
For small businesses looking for loans, banks that focus on specific communities and industries have become the most reliable financing source.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Here's something you probably haven't heard a lot these days: Despite an industrywide credit clampdown, many banks have sustained their lending to small businesses, and some are even making more loans now than they ever did before.
They aren't household names and they don't often show up on high-volume lender lists, but community banks and specialty lending companies have kept their coffers open even as the vault doors at bigger banks swing shut.
"Those that are doing SBA loans on the sidelines are more willing to walk away. In top commercial banks, SBA lending is not a big part of their business," says Bob Judge, Partner at Government Loan Solutions, a firm that analyzes activity on loans backed by the Small Business Administration. "But for others it's a major part of their business and if they pull out, their whole business would come undone."
The number of loans made through the Small Business Administration's flagship program is down 57% in the first three months of the year, with participating banks lending $1.59 billion, almost half as much as they did in the same quarter last year.
The biggest pullback has come from some of the largest lenders: Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Capital One (COF, Fortune 500) have essentially stopped making new SBA loans, and nine of last year's ten biggest lenders have sharply cut their loan volume.
The cuts have come for a variety of reasons, including the reduced creditworthiness of small businesses struggling against a recession. But small business owners still need loans and credit lines, and for many, the best place to find them right now are smaller lenders with specific geographic or industry expertise.
"Community banks may not look at the underwriting criteria the way a big business does," Judge says. "It's now about getting back to basics - the community bank has an invested interest in making sure the community succeeds."
That's been the case at Seattle-based Fortune Bank, which lends in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In the SBA's 2008 fiscal year, the bank made 20 loans totaling $8.5 million, which was quickly topped by the $10.3 million in loans the bank made within the first five months of the 2009 fiscal year.
Fortune recently funded an expansion loan for the Perio Institute, a dental surgery training business in Snoqualmie, Wash., that borrowed from Fortune to buy two companies. Those acquisitions will help Perio expand its offerings and boost sales. (For more stories from business owners who have gotten loans from banks that have increased their lending this year, see "Startup stories: 'How we got the cash.'")
"This shakeup is changing banking back to what it was traditionally - relationships," says Scott Harvey, executive vice president of Fortune Bank. "A lot of lenders have expanded into areas where they see dollar signs, but they don't know what they're doing. The real future is having a bank actually work with customers."
Live Oak Bank in Wilmington, N.C., knows its customers' business models thoroughly because it lends to clients of just one kind: veterinarians.
"We asked the SBA, 'Who pays the best?' Vets," says Live Oak chief founder Chip Mahan. "Vets are diligent. We were comfortable with that subsegment."
Since receiving its banking charter in May 2008, Live Oak has originated 125 loans totaling just under $150 million.
Live Oak originally planned to fund its operations by reselling bundles of its loans to investors. That's a common way for banks to raise capital to issue the next round of loans: 45% of the guaranteed portion of SBA loans issued last year was resold on the secondary market, according to a recent Government Accountability Office audit of SBA data.
But after Lehman Brothers' failure, that market quickly fell apart. Banks were stuck holding loans they couldn't profitably sell, and several major lenders stopped making new loans.
Live Oak decided to find other funding sources and maintain its lending volume. "We didn't want to tell customers no because the secondary market is frozen," Mahan says. "We just had to deal with it and raise more capital."
For banks that don't rely on the secondary market, its collapse left them in a stronger position than their competitors. Huntington National Bank (HBAN), a large regional lender that keeps all the loans it originates, is likely to be one of the few large banks to increase its SBA lending volume this year. Executives there say their tight geographic focus is key to the bank's success: Huntington, based in Columbus, Ohio, only originates loans in areas of the Midwest where it has a local office.
"It's critical to see where the business has been and where it's going," Jeff Rosen, Huntington's business banking director, says of his bank's emphasis on getting close to the business owners it lends to. "Our bankers are local. Our SBA specialists are local."
Other lenders have developed expertise not in a geographic or industry niche, but in a specific type of loan. Mercantile Commercial Capital specializes in the SBA's 504 lending program, which backs loans for commercial property purchases.
For Mercantile, other banks' lending pullback is an opportunity to grab market share. CEO Christopher Hurn says he's raising additional capital, increasing his marketing, and hiring some of the SBA loan officers laid off by other financial institutions. Mercantile won't reveal how many small business loans it has made this year, but as of April, Hurn says the total is up 31% compared to last year, with a 22% increase in the dollar volume lent.
He's also able to be pickier about the loans he funds. "We're seeing a lot of physicians and lawyers buying property right now," he says. "They're coming to me, a specialist firm, because there's no credit elsewhere."
Specialist lenders across the board say they're seeing increased demand as customers that once got loans from national banks get turned down and go searching for other options. Superior Financial, based in Walnut Creek, Calif. specializes in SBA express loans, which are capped at $25,000. Its loan volume is down about 20% from last year, but it's still a robust lender: The company issued 560 loans in the first three months of 2009.
"From established businesses, we're seeing a lot of businesses that have equity lines that have been canceled or reduced. These borrowers have good credit, but the bank has shut down [their credit line] because equity has evaporated," Superior CEO Tim Jochner says. "We doubled the applications we've received over the past year."
It's a change community banks welcome. In recent years, with credit flowing freely, critics say that big banks cherry-picked their borrowers, making loans to the most attractive candidates and forcing local banks that rely on small business lending to hunt for riskier deals. Now, those banks can choose more carefully from among a broader applicant pool.
That's a tough reality for entrepreneurs seeking financing, but it's a transformation those in the industry hope will strengthen the nation's banking system. The lending standards community bankers embrace are better for businesses and better for the nation's economy, proponents say. "We do not have a past-due loan in the bank today," boasts Live Oak founder Chip Mahan.
"Big banks intruded into areas they had never been before," says Keith Ward, CEO of United Central Bank in Garland, Texas, a 20-year-old bank that specializes in serving Asian business owners. "Liquidity is tighter than ever, and the competitive playing field is so uneven. Small banks are paying for the mistakes of larger banks."
In the first quarter of 2008, United Central originated 57 SBA-backed loans, totaling $33.4 million. But in this year's first quarter, its volume dropped to just eight loans, worth $3.2 million, a plunge Ward attributes entirely to the secondary-market freeze.
Unable to sell its existing loans, United Central began looking elsewhere for the funds to keep making new ones. In late February, the bank collected a $22.5 million investment from the Treasury's bailout program, which it plans to use to increase its small business lending.
This crisis may give small banks an opportunity to level the playing field and finally compete with the large national lenders, Ward says - an shift that he believes can help prevent the current economic crisis from recurring. He is looking forward to recapturing some of the customers his bank has lost to larger rivals.
"I've been in banking many years now, but right now is very unique. We have strengthened our standards. We're receiving applications from people who [have good collateral] and can make extraordinary purchases," he says. "Interest rate is not an issue. They just want a bank."To write a note to the editor about this article, click here.
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Vire will wind in other shadows
unborn through the bright ways tremble
and the old mind ghost-forsaken
sink into its havoc
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989): Saint-Lô, 1946, from The Collected Poems 1930-1978, 1984
Ruins of St. Lô, Normandy [with river Vire in foreground]: photo by US Army Signal Corps, July, 1944 (US National Archives)
When we got there, there was nothing at all. The whole of Saint-Lô was blotted out. Nothing was standing except a few shacks that had been temporarily put up, and in one of these wooden shacks was the local hospital, a room of about twenty feet by twelve. One nurse kept explaining how it happened, the planes coming around and around, bombing Saint-Lô from a very considerable height. They were American planes.
[T]he whole enterprise [i.e. of collaboration between townspeople of the devastated "Capital of the Ruins" and the visiting Irish Red Cross aid party, in building a hospital] turned from the beginning on the establishing of a relation in the light of which the therapeutic relation faded to the merest of pretexts. [...] I suspect that our pains were those inherent in the simple and necessary and yet so unattainable proposition that their way of being we, was not our way and that our way of being they, was not their way. It is only fair to say that many of us had never been abroad before.
Saint-Lô was bombed out of existence in one night. German prisoners of war and casual labourers attracted by the relative food-plenty, but soon discouraged by housing conditions, continue, two years after the liberation, to clear away the debris, literally by hand.
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989): excerpts from The Capital of the Ruins, unproduced radio play for Radio Erin, c. 1946, in The Complete Short Prose, 1929-1989 (1995)
Saint-Lô, Normandy, on the River Vire, destroyed by Allied bombing: photo by US Army, July 1944 (US National Archives)
US soldiers watching Allied bombardment, Saint-Lô: photo by US Army Signal Corps, June 1944; image by W. Wolny, 29 January 2006 (Archivesnormandie 1939-45)
American military convoy through Saint-Lô: photo by US Army Signal Corps, June 1944; image by W. Wolny, 27 January 2006 (Archivesnormandie 1939-45)
Railway station and town of of Saint-Lô, Normandy, destroyed summer 1944: photo by US Army Signal Corps, July 1944 (Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie / US National Archives)
France, St. Lô, destruction. A severely damaged neighborhood in St. Lô: photographer unknown, June-July 1944 (Deutsches Bundesarchiv)
Normandy invasion front. Refugees from Anglo-American bombing of the stricken town of Saint-Lô carrying their belongings: photo by PK-Koll/Transocean-
Ruins of the Henri Claudel dairy plant, Pont-Hébert, on the left bank of the river Vire, Saint-Lô, Normandy: photo by US Army Signal Corps, July 1944; image by Photos Normandie, 1 April 2007
A double metal railway bridge crossing the river Vire river collapsed into the water: German sabotage or Allied bombing?: photo by US Army Signal Corps, July 1944; image by Photos Normandie, 1 April 2007
Bomb-Torn St. Lo Plays Host to Yanks. It was a victory in ground gain only for American troops which took St. Lo. Practically all of the city was in the same condition as the section shown here. Soldiers amble down the street looking to both sides, where, stretching as far as the eye can see, is rubble and debris from shattered buildings and emplacements: photo by Acme/WP, 12 August 1944; image by Michel Le Querrec, 15 February 2012 (The Allison Collection of World War II Photographs)
Battle-Ravaged St. Lo. Airview from an Allied plane showing the terrible extent of damage suffered by St. Lo in the flaming battle for the possession of the Cherbourg peninsula in France: photo by Acme/WP, 8 August 1944; image by Michel Le Querrec, 15 February 2012 (The Allison Collection of World War II Photographs)
River Vire, Normandy: photo by tarheel traveler, 9 October 2010
River Vire, Normandy: photo by tarheel traveler, 9 October 2010


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On Wednesday, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) arrested and charged a 24-year-old man from New South Wales who claims to be the leader of LulzSec. The man, who has not yet been named publicly by the authorities, is believed to be the person behind the online moniker "Aush0k." Other Australian media have named him as Matthew Flannery, who worked for Sydney-based firm Content Security. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Flannery was fired by Content Security on Tuesday, following his arrest.
Specifically, the suspect was charged with two counts of "unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment," and one count of "unauthorised access to, or modification of, restricted data." Authorities believe that Flannery set up some type of remote and hidden access to a government website that the AFP did not specify, although they did say it was not an Australian federal site.
Collectively, these offenses carry a maximum penalty of 22 years in prison. Flannery is scheduled to appear in Woy Woy Local Court on May 15, 2013.
Federal authorities allege that because of Flannery's job, he had access to sensitive government information. Flannery's former employer, Content Security, said that he had no such access.
"Flannery did not and does not have access to any customer information that was or could have been used to carry out any malicious activity or compromise systems," Content Security said in a statement to the Herald.
Just last week, a California judge sentenced fellow LulzSec member Cody Kretsinger, nicknamed "Recursion," to one year and one day in prison. Also earlier this month, three UK-based LulzSec members pleaded guilty to related crimes in a London courtroom. As of June 2011, the hacktivist group said publicly that it had disbanded.


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The first positive development for the movie version of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man since the project's announcement has come, in the form of Shia LeBeouf declaring that he won't be playing Yorick after all.
LeBeouf, who's been linked to the role ever since director D.J. Caruso became involved in the project, told Wizard magazine that he couldn't see himself playing the titular last man alive on Earth because of similarities to his Transformers character, Sam Whitwicky:
You take Sam and you put a monkey on his shoulder... I don't know if it's that big a differential. It seems like he's the ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation again... I'm not willing to make that movie currently, and may be too old to play the role by the time it does come around.
While I have nothing really bad against Shia, he never seemed right for the character to me. But who could step into Yorick Brown's shoes convincingly? Start your casting speculation now.
No Y: The Last Man for Shia LaBeouf [Superhero Hype]


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The Perfect Liberty Peace Tower
Tuesday, 19th August 2008 by James Turnbull
This bizarre tower is the Perfect Liberty Peace Tower in Tondabayashi, Japan, and from up here it looks like it might be constructed entirely from cotton-wool.
Completed in 1970 this incredibly oddly-shaped tower stands at 180 m, and was actually made by spraying concrete at a wire mesh. The irregular shape looks like a disaster waiting to happen, but is actually designed to be earthquake resistant thanks to its centre of gravity being set just 12 m above ground level.
The Peace Tower is part of the headquarters of Perfect Liberty, a "modern" religion whose motto is "Life is Art". Anyone can visit the tower, but apparently it's inadvisable as you will be approached to be "drawn into the religion". Perhaps for this reason, the Street View car kept its distance – the closest shot is from a passing motorway.
However, a local photographer has dared to venture up close, and has loads of pictures showing just how truly weird the tower is.
Thanks to adrbr.


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Homer Bailey throws second no-hitter, dominates Giants
- Homer Bailey had pitched baseball%27s last no-hitter%2C in September 2012
- He took a perfect game into the seventh inning
- First baseman Joey Votto saved his no-hit bid with a heady play in the seventh
The last two major league no-hitters now belong to Homer Bailey.
The Cincinnati Reds' right-hander, who threw Major League Baseball's last no-hitter on September 28, 2012, pitched another one Tuesday night when he allowed just one baserunner in dominating the San Francisco Giants at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds won the game, 3-0.
Bailey was perfect until issuing a lead-off walk to San Francisco's Gregor Blanco in the seventh inning. Later in the inning, Reds first baseman Joey Votto fielded a groundball and, with first base uncovered, threw to third base for a fielder's choice of Blanco to keep the no-hit bid alive. Bailey followed up with a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
The 27-year-old Bailey struck out nine and threw just 109 pitches in improving his record to 5-6.
He's just the fourth active pitcher - along with Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander and Mark Buehrle - with two no-hitters.
"Every dog gets his day twice, I guess," Bailey said in a postgame TV interview.
He said after surviving the seventh inning, he thought, "Why the hell not?"
And so he rolled through the eighth and ninth, retiring Blanco on a grounder to third to end it.
The last pitcher to throw baseball's two most recent no-hitters was Nolan Ryan during the 1974 and 1975 seasons. Bailey's no-hitter came against the Pittsburgh Pirates after he allowed just one walk. After last season tied a record with seven no-hitters across MLB, there had yet to be one this season.
Cincinnati has 15 all-time no-hitters, though Bailey's 2012 feat was the first one since Tom Browning did it in 1988. San Francisco, which has struggled to manufacture runs this season after winning the World Series last year, has been no-hit three times in franchise history.


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Barnard today named Carmen Ren '14 as the inaugural recipient of the Axinn Foundation/Anna Quindlen Award for Creative Writing. Thanks to the generosity of the Joan F. and Donald E. Axinn Foundation and in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Barnard alumna Anna Quindlen '74, this new prize will be awarded annually to a graduating Barnard senior, who will receive $25,000 to support her creative writing. With the Prize, the Axinn Foundation recognizes Quindlen's outstanding contribution to American life and letters, and her sustained support for the education and development of creative young people.
"Donald Axinn was a modern version of what is often called a Renaissance man," said Axinn trustee Leo A. Guthart. "He was a very close friend of mine and I am certain that nothing would have made him happier than to learn that the Foundation he started is establishing prizes to encourage and assist young talented writers."
For Carmen Ren, a double major in sociology and English with a concentration in creative writing, this award will enable her to pursue a career in writing after she graduates from Barnard on May 18th. Ren is the daughter of Chinese immigrant parents and the first in her family to attend college.
"I came to Barnard because I wanted to write, and now I'm graduating and they're giving me money to write," said Ren, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. "I thought I had already found everything I wanted in a writing community at Barnard, and this is just one step beyond what I ever could have hoped for."
A committee of Barnard English faculty, including Profs. Yvette Christiansë, Mary Gordon, Timea Szell, and Saskia Hamilton, unanimously selected Carmen as the Axinn Prize's inaugural recipient based on her exemplary work produced during her time at Barnard. "Carmen, who is as kind and as funny as she is talented, writes fiction that sheds new light on the Chinese-American immigrant experience, mother-daughter conflicts, and the problems of cultural adjustment. It is full of her trademark humor and tenderness," said Prof. Peter Platt, Chair of Barnard's English department.
"It's always been difficult for young writers to balance working at their craft and paying the rent," said Barnard Trustee Anna Quindlen '74. "The Axinn Foundation has made that task easier for one graduating Barnard senior, and I'm so grateful. I'm almost as excited about that check as Carmen is!"
The inaugural Axinn Foundation/Anna Quindlen Award for Creative Writing will be presented to Carmen Ren by Barnard President Debora Spar, together with Anna Quindlen and members of Barnard's English faculty, at a reception on Barnard's campus this evening.
About Donald E. Axinn
Donald E. Axinn was a modern version of a Renaissance man—a writer and businessman who had a lifelong commitment to public service. He was a highly successful developer of office buildings, but always with the goal of integrating function and aesthetics. Over his 55-year career, his projects won many awards for their effectiveness and visual appeal.
He also loved the life of a creative writer. Almost every day, he awoke at 5:00 a.m. to write with great enthusiasm and discipline. He was the author of twelve volumes of poetry that were published and well-received, and three novels. His first novel, Spin, was produced as a full-length feature film.
At the same time he was a philanthropist who worked to help others. He was a Founder of the Interfaith Nutrition Network, now the largest shelter for the homeless on Long Island. He and his wife Joan endowed the Axinn Library at Hofstra University where he served as Associate Dean overseeing the Liberal Arts Program.
Mr. Axinn loved nature and was an avid pilot and outdoorsman. For many years, he served with great passion on the Board of The Nature Conservancy. In his later years, he became interested in biotechnology and what it could do for mankind. He then joined the Board of Trustees of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a world famous center for research in cancer and neuroscience.


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Animal love is a difficult thing.
Sometimes, it can lead people to such extremes that they tend to diminish the significance of, well, people.
These thoughts course through my being as I read reports that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals intends to unleash a porn site.
Reuters, in the midst of a wider exposition of .xxx domains, reported that PETA doesn't intend, as do so many ethically upright companies, to block its .xxx domain. No, the organization's representative reportedly declared that Peta.xxx will be a porn site that "draws attention to the plight of animals."
Some of those who view porn on their laptops (I use a Mac. There is no porn on Macs) tell me that they sometimes feel for the plight of humans in these movies. They say there is nothing remotely ethical about the manner in which members of the human race are occasionally debased.
There again, PETA has not been shy about using nude people and sex in order to further its cause. Who could forget the organization's Super Bowl ad- banned by NBC--which suggested that veggie-lovers have better sex?
So it should be no surprise to read this quote from PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt to the Huffington Post: "We live in a 24 hour news cycle world, and we learn the racy things we do are sometimes the most effective way that we can reach particular individuals."
Which particular individuals can she possibly mean? Still, Rajt reportedly confirmed the porn site plan. Which leaves us--both particular and nonparticular individuals--to consider what this porn site might entail.
Here, I have some ecstatic news to impart.
For Rajt reportedly went on to say this to the Huffingtoners: "There will be a lot of girl and boy next door content, but we haven't ruled out celebrities on the site as well. People who are extraordinarily dedicated to helping animals and who are willing to do whatever it takes to draw attention to the suffering they endure."
Might one imagine, therefore, that strong Peta-ists like Alicia Silverstone will be making a porn movie for Peta.xxx? And let's not forget that Ron Jeremy and Sasha Grey have also performed in previous PETA activities. Please, stop right there.
Reports suggest that PETA will use a little naked human flesh before flashing images of the nasty things that humans do to animal flesh. Still, I can imagine that, should this be a subscription-only affair, it will surely attract a considerable and very particular following.