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Girls Basketball: With blowout, Tuckers near 6th playoff bid in 8 years
The losses have been one-sided, mind-numbingly one-sided for the Bishop McGann-Mercy girls basketball team. Just look at some of the results: 53-15 to Mount Sinai, 61-19 to Mattituck, 70-16 to Huntington, 55-10 to Babylon, 51-11 to Southampton. And then there was the biggest loss of the bunch: 72-14 to Hampton Bays.
Make room for another: 52-11 to Mattituck on Thursday night.
For the coach of a young, undersized team that is light on playing experience and depth, Jacki Paton may surprise some people in that she is not about to jump off a bridge. Far from it. Paton said that for all of those losses by her winless team, there have been a thousand good things to appreciate.
"It's been a very good season," she said. "They're working as hard as they can, and we are young. We're young not only age-wise, but definitely experience-wise, but they're giving a hundred percent every day, and every day they do get better."
"Everything is building blocks," she continued. "So, if we can build and every day get a little bit better, ultimately, that's success, isn't it?"
In a game that carried little mystery beyond when McGann-Mercy would score its first point and whether the Monarchs would reach double figures, Mattituck rolled on its home court. The Tuckers (8-5, 5-2 Suffolk County League VII) need only one more win to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth time in eight years.
"That's an achievement," said Mattituck coach Steve Van Dood.
The difference between the teams was seen from the start of the Coaches vs. Cancer game, which raised money for cancer research. For most of the first half, the outstanding question was whether or not Mattituck would pull off the nearly unheard of feat of taking a shutout into halftime. The Tuckers had bolted to a 28-0 lead before McGann-Mercy (0-12, 0-7) finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a jump shot by Mary Reiter with eight seconds left in the second quarter. The Monarchs managed only 2 points in the third quarter from a layup by Delaney Macchirole.
McGann-Mercy, which entered the contest averaging 19.4 points per game, didn't reach double figures until Meghan Kuehas banked in a shot during the game's final seconds.
The Monarchs lost one of their eight players when Julianne Cintron-Leonardo, a freshman forward, took a hard fall near one of the baskets, injuring her left ankle with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Cintron-Leonardo had her ankle wrapped and exited the gym on crutches. Paton said she did not know how severe the injury is.
"She's a tough kid, and she went down hard," Paton said. "Normally after a couple of seconds she bounces right back up. I'm sure it's a nice sprain. She'll run through a brick wall for you. She'll give you her heart and soul, 100 percent, a tough rebounder."
Allie Wilcenski led 10 Mattituck scorers with 13 points and Courtney Murphy put in 11.
The top scorer for McGann-Mercy, which was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss, was Macchirole with 4 points.
While Mattituck shot 54.5 percent (24 off 44) from the field, McGann-Mercy hit only 14.8 percent (4 of 27) of its shots.
Van Dood said it was a plus that he was able to give all 13 of his players at least one quarter of playing time. Mattituck's bench produced 22 points.
"I think we got to see a lot of good things from a lot of the girls who don't usually get a lot of [playing] time," said Wilcenski.
"Some of the younger girls did a good job," said Van Dood, who cited Molly Kowalski, Katie Hoeg, Megan Daly and Murphy by name. "It was an opportunity for them to show us something and see what we have for the future. Maybe they can move a peg up … in the pecking order."
Mattituck's players put a lot into the organization that surrounded the Coaches vs. Cancer event. Van Dood said players cooked, baked, did art work and tied pink balloons to the chairs the players sat in during the game. Before the game, in keeping with team tradition, Mattituck players announced to the crowd someone they know who has been affected by cancer who they are playing for.
"It's a shame, but everybody knows somebody who was affected by it," Van Dood said. "I think that hits home with the kids." He said that in playing for a good cause and winning, "it's a win-win for everybody."
For the Monarchs, though, a win on the court still eludes them.
"I respect them a lot for coming out every game and still trying," said Wilcenski.
McGann-Mercy junior guard Savannah Schwack said team morale is good, regardless of the win-loss record. "It's been tough, but we're working as hard as we can," she said. "If someone does something wrong, we just give them a high five and tell them to try better."
Thursday's game may not have brought the result Paton was hoping for on her birthday, but she sees the big picture.
"They come out positive," she said of her players. "They come out knowing that they put in a hundred percent, but they care about what they're doing and they're getting better, and they're not only getting better as players, they're getting better as people."


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Wandered around the city on Saturday looking at elements in the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) Culture Program. As I was near RMIT Gallery I went there and found textiles exhibitions that are not part of the LMFF Cultural Program. The LMFF Cultural Program is so large that you would think that every fashion/ textile / jewellery related exhibition in Melbourne would be in it but you would be wrong. Just as if you imagined that every good window display in Melbourne was part of the LMFF's "Windows by Design" but more on that later.
"1st Tamworth Textile Triennial - Sensorial Loop" at RMIT gallery is an impressive exhibition. Most impressive is the relationship that two of the pieces make of video and performance and textiles. Martha McDonald's "The Weeping Dress" is seen in a video of a performance and in the washed out relic from the performances of a once black Victorian style mourning dress stained with a fugitive dye. (It was part of last year's LMFF – see Vetti's post about it.) Carly Scoufos's "Panels from the Interlaced Manuscript" also has a video and some of the panels, part of a wall from a shed, containing two doors, onto which Scoufos has embroided with woollen thread and nails. Amongst the exhibition there are also two impressive works of post minimalist sculpture Tania Spencer's wire donut, "Would you like some cake", and Lucy Ivine's black, groovy and curvy, "Continuos Interruptions" made from irrigation pipe and cable ties.
"Joyaviva: Live Jewellery from across the Pacific" and "Double Happiness: Portrait of a Chinese Wedding" were also at RMIT Gallery. "Joyaviva" captured something of the personal, magical and interconnecting aspects of jewellery with its pin board style of exhibiting. "Double Happiness" is a set of contemporary Chinese wedding fashion for the whole family.
Nicholas Bastin's "The Sleepless Hero" at Craft Victoria is part of the LMFF Cultural Program. Bastin's funky mixed media jewellery is beautifully installed on diagrammatic depictions of partial figures. But Bastin's jewellery is too "hyper-real", too much in the realm of art for the magic of jewellery to be credible. Craft Victoria's three exhibitions are typical of its avant-garde approach to craft; the other two are more contemporary art than craft.
The NGV at Federation Square has a fashion exhibition of the work of Australian designer, Linda Jackson that is part of the LMFF Cultural Program. Jackson's designs are from a very foolhardy era of Australian fashion – the 1980s. Some might be kinder and say that these are 'brave and bold' designs but the kind of bravado seen in Jackson's 80s fashion lacked any good sense.
In the windows of Zambesi we saw one of the LMFF "Windows by Design" by Marcos Davidson. The windows are full of a variety of pillars of readymade objects carefully arranged and curated. Between these pillars you can just make out some mannequins in fluorescent clothes. Shop window displays are an interesting aspect of culture. Almost every time I go past Aesop I have to remind myself that I'm not passing a contemporary art gallery but an up-market cosmetics shop. The design is so elegant and minimalist. What is the difference between a shop window display, especially those in the windows of Aesop or Alphaville, and an art installation? I always think about Walter Benjamin wrote about shop windows. For more about Walter Benjamin and shop window displays see "Speculative Windows text" by m-a-u-s-e-r (Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest). http://www.m-a-u-s-e-r.net/?p=4


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AAM, Biomarker, Bond Changes, Classification, Directed evolution, EBI, EC Number, EMBL-EBI, Enzyme Classification, Functional genomics, Genes, Github, GO, KEGG, Metabolic pathways, Metabolomics, MMP, Novel Genes, Nutrigenomics, Ontology, Predicting, Protein Sequence, Rational design, Reaction Similarity, Seq2EC, Sequence, Small Molecule, substructure, Toxicity
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data is knocking at our door and simultaneously, our ability to design novel enzymes (rational design or directed evolution) using high throughput methods has improved tremendously. As a result, the demand to link enzymatic sequences to their chemical products and metabolic pathways is ever increasing. On the other hand, the push to generate Metabolomics data to design Biomarkers, understand Toxicity, Functional genomics and Nutrigenomics has given researchers a run for their money!
Last year we launched EC-Blast (my old post), a robust tool to compare chemical reactions using chemical knowledge of bond changes, molecule molecule pair (MMP) and molecule substructures. This tool helps plough through and understand the reactions present in the Enzyme Commission (E.C.) classification. This has generated a lot of interest in the research community and industry to revisit and mine the knowledge which might have been overlooked by traditional methods. Feedbacks from our users strongly suggested a demand for tools/methods to systematically link the protein sequences to the knowledge of bond changes, molecule molecule pair (MMP) and molecules substructures.
We have recently developed Sequence to Enzyme (Seq2EC) a novel tool (Figure 1) to:
- Detect novel enzymatic genes- test if a sequence has potential enzymatic function.
- Predict GO terms, E.C. number, bond changes and MMP from a protein sequence.
- Predict potential genes and protein domains from chemical bonds (e.g. O-C, O-P formed or cleaved).
There are two ways to use the tool:
- Seq2EC webservice/webserver (requires patience): http://www.ebi.ac.uk/thornton-srv/software/rblec/
- Download and run locally (fast) – contact me!
The tool reports a star ranking schema (Table 1) for predicted enzymes which is based on the statistical confidence of finding domains, bonds, catalytic sites etc.
Table 1: Star ranking schema explained
|Confident till the 4th level of EC
|Confident till the 3rd level of EC
|Confident till the 2nd level of EC
|Confident till the 1st level of EC
|Might have an enzymatic activity
Please go ahead and test your favourite sequence(s) or chemical changes and send me your feedback/comments!


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As the experts in BP technology, we know that exceptional products don't just happen. They are created with an extraordinary attention to detail, so that when you need accuracy and quality – we deliver. Every time.
It's our Legacy. It's SunTech Medical. It's The Difference in Clinical Grade.®
We've been to outer space and back – just imagine where we will take you!
When the complete picture is what you need, our 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring devices don't miss a step - so you won't either.
Whether it's taking a simple BP, or if you need more – like temperature and SpO2 – our spot-check devices will get you from A to BP – every time.
Our full-line of clinical-grade cuffs measure up – providing you with options including disposable, reusable and durable.
Don't Stress! Focus on your patient's safety and well-being – and we will handle the rest.
Combining an animal-specific BP algorithm with our motion-tolerant technology, discover how this fast, simple and silent automated BP solution is ideal for pets and vets!
See what we've been up to…and what that means for YOU!
Warranties, important updates & more - Register your product today!
Where in the world is SunTech Medical? If we are in your area, please stop by and say hello!
With more than 30 years of data, we not only know what BP is – we know what BP isn't.
Our expertise can become yours!Explore
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With nearly 30 years dedicated solely to designing clinical-grade blood pressure technology, our story is best told by the company we keep.


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Capital CBD American Shaman
cbd shops Austin, delta 8 Austin, cbd oil Austin, cbd gummies Austin, cbd store Austin
Capital CBD American Shaman is a locally owned and operated franchise of American Shaman. We carry CBD Gummies, Tinctures, CBD Flower, CBD vape oil, Delta 8 & Delta 9 THC products. We offer the most powerful CBD hemp oil available. We bring worldwide wellness through ultra-concentrated terpene rich CBD oil. We put our heart and soul into creating our store so that it would be a welcoming space for everyone. We only carry highest quality products derived from hemp. We have a water soluble product/oil that has the highest absorption rate on the market. Our CBD topicals can be used for pain relief and we have a line of CBD products for pets. We are your one stop shop.
Business Name:
Capital CBD American Shaman
8315 Burnet Rd Ste. CAustin Texas 78757United States
About Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city in the United States, the fourth-most-populous city in Texas, the second-most-populous state capital city, and the most populous state capital that is not also the most populous city in its state. It has been one of the fastest growing large cities in the United States since 2010. Downtown Austin and Downtown San Antonio are approximately 80 miles (129 km) apart, and both fall along the Interstate 35 corridor. Some observers believe that the two regions may some day form a new "metroplex" similar to Dallas and Fort Worth.
Neighborhoods in Austin, Texas
Allandale, Austin Lake Hills, Barton Hills, Blackland, Bouldin Creek, Brentwood, Bryker Woods, Castlewood Forest, Central East Austin, Cherry Creek, Cherrywood, Chimney Hill, Clarksville, Copperfield, Deer Haven
Things to do in Austin, Texas
Our Newest Profiles


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Four More Booms In Wisconsin City Troubled By Mysterious Sounds
Things were not quiet again in Clintonville, Wis., early today.
As we reported Wednesday, folks there have been hearing booms and feeling vibrations this week and no one has yet been able to explain what's causing them. One of the latest theories is that unusually warm temperatures are causing underground ice to crack. A few homeowners think they've suffered some damages (cracked floors, for example).
Today, according to Milwaukee's WTMJ News Radio, "authorities tell us of four [more] reports coming in since 4:00 a.m."
Meanwhile, the Green Bay Press Gazette says that city officials in Clintonville announced Wednesday night that they plan to spend $7,000 to have an engineering firm "place four seismometers around the city to try to locate the epicenter of the strange sounds."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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My Anritsu
5G Lab
IoT (Internet of Things)
This product line and all activity related has been sold to: - Fred Bennett/ZettaView Systems, Inc. 4115 N. Progress Drive, Ottawa, IL 61350 - Phone: 815-434-6000
Intelligent network monitoring system for critical areas of service provider and enterprise networks, including IP-based services and applications.
ZettaE2E is an intelligent network monitoring system for managing critical areas of LAN, WAN, and ATM networks. It provides detailed real-time and historical network traffic information that enables a clear view of how network bandwidth is being utilized and by whom. ZettaE2E troubleshoots and pinpoints Quality of Service (QoS) issues; reduces current and future LAN, WAN, and ATM network costs; and postpones or eliminates network infrastructure upgrades by maximizing existing network bandwidth and infrastructure.
ZettaE2E is a non-intrusive intelligent network monitoring system for LAN, WAN, and ATM networks based on a highly scalable and distributed architecture. The system enables the network manager to proactively monitor the network rather than reactively troubleshoot it. The system is a combination of software and intelligent probes that are placed on strategic links throughout the network to monitor critical applications.
ZettaE2E's distributed architecture is the key to its operation. It enables the collection of data in unsurpassed 10-second increments on a 24/7 basis. This granularity allows network professionals to have a clear picture of the network both in real-time and via 2 years of historical trend data, allowing problems to be solved before they become critical and providing the basis for appropriate capacity planning. The distributed architecture provides for easy installation: time and money is saved because no configuration of the probes is needed. Auto detection of Ports, Protocols, Applications, IP Pairs, VP/VCs, and Users also enables network professionals to quickly and easily assess situations so corrective actions can be taken before problems become critical.
Intelligent Probes - The core of the ZettaE2E system is comprised of multiple intelligent probes that perform network data collection, interpretation, and processing. Probes are placed at selected access points on Wide Area Networks (WAN probes), on strategic Local Area Network segments (LAN probes), or on ATM links (ATM probes). The system is independent from any vendor, customer, or network operating system (OSS). The probes collect the network data directly from the physical lines, not from the routers and switches. Probes can be accessed by multiple users and can be remotely upgraded from any PC.
System Components
The ZettaE2E system includes the following components:
The ZettaE2E Network Manager is the heart of the ZettaE2E system. It enables real-time remote network monitoring and analysis. Through the ZettaE2E Network Manger, the auto-detection of ports, protocols, applications, IP addresses, and users takes place. It communicates with the probes via UDP and FTP, pulling only relevant and consolidated data for viewing or Web publishing. The ZettaE2E Network Manager is comprised of a Channel Explorer, IP Explorer, and Protocol Explorer.
The Alarm Manager automatically sends real-time alarms from each probe when a pre-defined threshold has been met. All alarms are saved in a log file for further review and observation of trends.
The Protocol Analyzer can perform both real-time and post-analysis decodes throughout the 7 layers of the network for over 300 protocols. Real-time filtering and triggering and a conversion utility to Sniffer™ format are also available.
The Statistics Report Generator provides immediate reporting capabilities and allows web editing of reports with active histograms and graphics.
The Report Scheduler provides over 300 pre-defined reports and the ability to customize reports to specifically meet users' needs. Reports can be scheduled for routine delivery or be obtained on an ad hoc basis. Reports may be automatically posted to a web server or sent to a printer, email address, or intranet server.
ZettaE2E's FastExpert automatically generates reports based on data trends identified on each probe. It looks for periods of poor network performance and then correlates additional statistics to identify the root cause of the problem.


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All News Releases By Date
U.S. EPA Awards Contract Up to $46.7 M to South S.F., Calif. Biotechnology Company
Release Date: 10/04/2012
Contact Information: David Yogi, firstname.lastname@example.com, (415) 972-3350
Funding to develop predictors of human body toxics
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today awarded a five-year contract, worth up to $46.7 million, to the South San Francisco, Calif.-based company BioSeek for research to evaluate the potential human health effects of environmental chemicals, pesticides, failed pharmaceuticals, and nanomaterials, among other substances.
Using its rapid and cost-effective proprietary technology, BioSeek will analyze up to 60,000 substance samples to determine the potential toxicity effects on the human body. Rather than testing substances on animals, tests will be conducted on extracted human cells cultures in its laboratory.
EPA intends to use BioSeek's findings to screen thousands of chemicals to see if they require additional investigation.
Work is being performed by BioSeek under U.S. EPA's ToxCast program, which seeks to verify "toxicity signatures" of substances, such as environmental chemicals, and catalog them to help predict adverse effects these chemicals would have on the human body.
EPA researchers have published scientific papers showing how ToxCast can be used to predict a chemical's potential for liver toxicity, developmental toxicity, reproductive toxicity and cancer. ToxCast is supplemented by the National Academies' Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century Federal Agency Research collaboration that uses robotics to test the chemicals.
For more information on BioSeek and its BioMAP technology, visit: http://www.bioseekinc.com
For more information on ToxCast, visit: https://www.epa.gov/ncct/toxcast
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.


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Would you like more features and flash in Windows on your netbook? Here's how you can easily upgrade your netbook to Windows 7 Home Premium the easy way.
Most new netbooks today ship with Windows 7 Starter, which is the cheapest edition of Windows 7. It is fine for many computing tasks, and will run all your favorite programs great, but it lacks many customization, multimedia, and business features found in higher editions. Here we'll show you how you can quickly upgrade your netbook to more full-featured edition of Windows 7 using Windows Anytime Upgrade. Also, if you want to upgrade your laptop or desktop to another edition of Windows 7, say Professional, you can follow these same steps to upgrade it, too.
Please note: This is only for computers already running Windows 7. If your netbook is running XP or Vista, you will have to run a traditional upgrade to install Windows 7.
Upgrade Advisor
First, let's make sure your netbook can support the extra features, such as Aero Glass, in Windows 7 Home Premium. Most modern netbooks that ship with Windows 7 Starter can run the advanced features in Windows 7 Home Premium, but let's check just in case. Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (link below), and install as normal.
Once it's installed, run it and click Start Check.
Make sure you're connected to the internet before you run the check, or otherwise you may see this error message. If you see it, click Ok and then connect to the internet and start the check again.
It will now scan all of your programs and hardware to make sure they're compatible with Windows 7. Since you're already running Windows 7 Starter, it will also tell you if your computer will support the features in other editions of Windows 7.
After a few moments, the Upgrade Advisor will show you want it found. Here we see that our netbook, a Samsung N150, can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate. We also see that we had one issue, but this was because a driver we had installed was not recognized. Click "See all system requirements" to see what your netbook can do with the new edition.
This shows you which of the requirements, including support for Windows Aero, your netbook meets. Here our netbook supports Aero, so we're ready to go upgrade.
For more, check out our article on how to make sure your computer can run Windows 7 with Upgrade Advisor.
Upgrade with Anytime Upgrade
Now, we're ready to upgrade our netbook to Windows 7 Home Premium. Enter "Anytime Upgrade" in the Start menu search,and select Windows Anytime Upgrade.
Windows Anytime Upgrade lets you upgrade using product key you already have or one you purchase during the upgrade process. And, it installs without any downloads or Windows disks, so it works great even for netbooks without DVD drives.
Anytime Upgrades are cheaper than a standard upgrade, and for a limited time, select retailers in the US are offering Anytime Upgrades to Windows 7 Home Premium for only $49.99 if purchased with a new netbook. If you already have a netbook running Windows 7 Starter, you can either purchase an Anytime Upgrade package at a retail store or purchase a key online during the upgrade process for $79.95. Or, if you have a standard Windows 7 product key (full or upgrade), you can use it in Anytime upgrade. This is especially nice if you can purchase Windows 7 cheaper through your school, university, or office.
Purchase an upgrade online
To purchase an upgrade online, click "Go online to choose the edition of Windows 7 that's best for you".
Here you can see a comparison of the features of each edition of Windows 7. Note that you can upgrade to either Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate. We chose home Premium because it has most of the features that home users want, including Media Center and Aero Glass effects. Also note that the price of each upgrade is cheaper than the respective upgrade from Windows XP or Vista. Click buy under the edition you want.
Enter your billing information, then your payment information. Once you confirm your purchase, you will directly be taken to the Upgrade screen. Make sure to save your receipt, as you will need the product key if you ever need to reinstall Windows on your computer.
Upgrade with an existing product key
If you purchased an Anytime Upgrade kit from a retailer, or already have a Full or Upgrade key for another edition of Windows 7, choose "Enter an upgrade key".
Enter your product key, and click Next. If you purchased an Anytime Upgrade kit, the product key will be located on the inside of the case on a yellow sticker.
The key will be verified as a valid key, and Anytime Upgrade will automatically choose the correct edition of Windows 7 based on your product key. Click Next when this is finished.
Continuing the Upgrade process
Whether you entered a key or purchased a key online, the process is the same from here on. Click "I accept" to accept the license agreement.
Now, you're ready to install your upgrade. Make sure to save all open files and close any programs, and then click Upgrade.
The upgrade only takes about 10 minutes in our experience but your mileage may vary. Any available Microsoft updates, including ones for Office, Security Essentials, and other products, will be installed before the upgrade takes place.
After a couple minutes, your computer will automatically reboot and finish the installation. It will then reboot once more, and your computer will be ready to use! Welcome to your new edition of Windows 7!
Here's a before and after shot of our desktop. When you do an Anytime Upgrade, all of your programs, files, and settings will be just as they were before you upgraded. The only change we noticed was that our pinned taskbar icons were slightly rearranged to the default order of Internet Explorer, Explorer, and Media Player. Here's a shot of our desktop before the upgrade. Notice that all of our pinned programs and desktop icons are still there, as well as our taskbar customization (we are using small icons on the taskbar instead of the default large icons).
Before, with the Windows 7 Starter background and the Aero Basic theme:
And after, with Aero Glass and the more colorful default Windows 7 background.
All of the features of Windows 7 Home Premium are now ready to use. The Aero theme was activate by default, but you can now customize your netbook theme, background, and more with the Personalization pane. To open it, right-click on your desktop and select Personalize.
You can also now use Windows Media Center, and can play-back DVD movies using an external drive.
One of our favorite tools, the Snipping Tool, is also now available for easy screenshots and clips.
Activating you new edition of Windows 7
You will still need to activate your new edition of Windows 7. To do this right away, open the start menu, right-click on Computer, and select Properties.
Scroll to the bottom, and click "Activate Windows Now".
Make sure you're connected to the internet, and then select "Activate Windows online now".
Activation may take a few minutes, depending on your internet connection speed.
When it is done, the Activation wizard will let you know that Windows is activated and genuine. Your upgrade is all finished!
Windows Anytime Upgrade makes it easy, and somewhat cheaper, to upgrade to another edition of Windows 7. It's useful for desktop and laptop owners who want to upgrade to Professional or Ultimate, but many more netbook owners will want to upgrade from Starter to Home Premium or another edition.
Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor
Windows Team Blog:
Anytime Upgrade Special with new PC purchase
- › A Short History of Netbooks, a Technology Before Their Time
- › Back to School Guide to Some Awesome Apps and Resources
- › How to Transfer Photos from Android to iPhone
- › Midjourney Is Shutting Off Free Access Indefinitely
- › Why You Can't Hear Dialogue on Your TV (and 7 Ways to Fix It)
- › OverDrive, the Library eBook App, Is Shutting Down
- › Windows 11 Is Testing Updates to the Microsoft Store
- › Google Fiber Is Reaching 8 Gbps in Its Latest City


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Pittsfield man gets 4 years for pot deliveries
Police: Man received 9 pot deliveries from Oregon
A Pittsfield man has been sentenced to four years in prison for accepting deliveries of marijuana from FedEx.
Daniel Martin was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges including misdemeanor possession to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm without a license.
The Berkshire Eagle reports that the 29-year-old Martin was arrested in March 2012 when a police officer disguised as a FedEx driver delivered marijuana to him.
Police were tipped off by FedEx after a driver detected the smell of marijuana from a package.
Police say Martin received nine packages of marijuana from Oregon in a month's time. A search of his home also turned up a sawed-off shotgun.
Martin's lawyer says his client had no criminal record and the secured shotgun belonged to a relative.


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Brown has 30 days to sign the legislation – SB 1051 and SB 1522 -- into law or veto the measures. Both bills are designated urgent, so they take effect immediately should the governor approve them.
State lawmakers introduced the legislation in response to reporting by California Watch, which found the in-house police force at developmental centers for years failed to competently investigate cases of patient abuse and suspicious deaths.
The centers are home to nearly 1,700 patients with cerebral palsy and profound intellectual disabilities in Sonoma, Tulare, Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties. The police force, called the Office of Protective Services, patrols and handles criminal investigations at the state-run facilities.
SB 1051, sponsored by state Sen. Carol Liu, D-Glendale, and state Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Riverside, would make two significant changes to the force and its work. First, the bill would mandate that developmental centers notify Disability Rights California, a protection organization, of all unexpected or suspicious deaths, sex abuse allegations and any report made to law enforcement. Second, the force's police chief would be required to have law enforcement experience before overseeing criminal investigations.
SB 1522, sponsored by state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would require the centers to immediately alert outside law enforcement of patient deaths, sexual abuse, assaults with a deadly weapon or severe injury, and unexplained broken bones.
The state Senate and Assembly passed the bills with unanimous votes last week.
Data gathered by the state Department of Public Health show there were more than 200 substantiated cases of patient abuse at the centers from 2008 to 2010. The center police referred hardly any cases to county district attorneys for prosecution.
In numerous cases, investigation records show, detectives at the Office of Protective Services did not collect physical evidence. Officers routinely delayed witness interviews and have been accused of going easy on co-workers who care for the disabled.
State regulators have documented an array of violations in recent months at the largest institution, the Sonoma Developmental Center. In a 495-page report issued last month, the state Public Health Department faulted the center for incomplete investigations of patient abuse.
The Office of Protective Services put its commanders, detectives and patrol officers through two days of training in June on basic law enforcement practices. Instruction included how to secure crime scenes, gather evidence and interview witnesses.
View this story on California Watch
Story courtesy of our media partners at California Watch (A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting)


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On Sunday May 21, 2006, the last episode of one of the WB's most enduring and popular shows aired. Charmedran for eight seasons and 178 episodes. The series stood out for its fantasy storylines and for its powerful and sensitive female characters. The final episode was watched by 4.5 million viewers, was written by series executive producer Brad Kern and was entitled, very appropriately, "Forever Charmed." You can read part one here. Here's part two of what happened:
Billie appears to the sisters and Grams. She pleads for their understanding and explains about the dangerous and manipulative Dumain and the Triad. Grown Wyatt and Chris arrive to reveal that it looks like a strange man stopped by Victor's yesterday and likely stole young Wyatt's powers. Billie confirms that it was Dumain. Phoebe calls for Coop for help but he doesn't appear.
Chris and Wyatt reveal that Coop was sent by the Elders with the hope that Phoebe could find love with him. It was their way of making up for all she'd sacrificed. It isn't, and won't be, a forbidden love. The young men tell her that, in the future, they're "as one" and all she has to do is think about him and he's there. Phoebe focuses on Coop and he appears. He's been tortured and Dumain took his ring.
Dumain and Christy use the ring to go back in time. Dumain is warning the Triad in the past when present-day Dumain and Christy arrive. Moments later, the three sisters and Billie arrive as well. The Charmed Ones destroy the Triad and then Piper destroys both versions of Dumain. Christy is left alone, confused and angry. Piper explains that Billie brought them back and Paige retrieves Coop's ring. Billie tries to reason with her sister but Christy shoots a large fireball at her. Billie deflects it and it destroys Christy. Billie is devastated.
The Charmed Ones return to the Manor and grown Wyatt's powers have been restored. Paige tells them that Billie came back to the present via her own power and that she helped redeem herself. The Angel of Destiny arrives with Leo in tow and reveals that the ultimate battle ended as it should have. It's over. She leaves and Leo and Piper are reunited.
Victor and Patty arrive with the boys and they all talk. Coop says he will take everyone back to their rightful times, just before they were taken, so they won't remember what they've learned. Grams doesn't want to forget while Patty won't mind, having learned what happened to Prue. She knows however that everything happens for a reason. There are lots of hugs and laughs before the eventual goodbyes.
Later on, the three sisters talk and Piper suggests that they should write about their own experiences in the Book of Shadows, to share it with future generations. Each write down what they've experienced and we see what will happen in the future.
Coop and Phoebe are married in a beautiful wedding and have three daughters. Billie is seen watching the two older girls as Phoebe and Coop go to the hospital to have the third. Phoebe continues to write her column but also writes a best-selling book about finding love.
Paige and Henry have three children together — little Henry and two girls. Henry continued his work in helping young parolees and helped with his own kids as well. This allowed Paige time to fully explore her heritage as a Whitelighter and help the next generation of witches.
Piper and Leo have another child, a girl, in addition to raising sons Chris and Wyatt. Piper was able to get back to her love of cooking and opened the restaurant she'd always wanted. Leo took over at the Magic School and taught young witches and warlocks for many years until he retired.
The final scene shows elderly Piper reading from the Book of Shadows to a granddaughter. She reaches the end and the girl asks her to read it again. Elder Piper says she's too tired but that she can read it herself since it will be hers one day. As the girl begins, older Piper and Leo ascend the stairs, passing photos of their loved ones on the wall. The Manor door opens and a group of grandchildren happily flood in. The girl in the chair looks up, smiles and, with a wave of the hand, closes the door behind them. The camera pulls back to show the Manor one last time. The power of three continues on. End of series.


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Steve Martin and Wife Welcome First Child
TV Guide
Steve Martin and his wife Anne Stringfield welcomed a baby in December, his rep confirms to People.
While no other details were released, a source told New York Post's Page Six the couple has been spotted around Los Angeles with a newborn.
See other celebs that have given birth this year
Martin, 67, and Stringfield, 41, married in 2007. This is the first child for both.
View original Steve Martin and Wife Welcome First Child at TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


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Not long after my children returned to public school after two-and-a-half years of homeschooling, it started.
At this point, my older son was in 8th grade and so gym meant changing in a locker room with the other kids in his class. A couple of his peers developed a habit of coming up behind my son while he was changing, cupping his chest, and informing him that he had breasts. On the gym floor and in the hallways between classes, these boys would leer moon-faced at my child and call him "Scoops." At the time, my son shared none of this with his father or me or his inclusion teacher or the school psychologist that he was seeing once a week.
Part of the reason that we'd decided to homeschool in the first place was because my younger son had been physically bullied in elementary school–finally, after a third call in as many days from the school nurse telling me that my 2nd grader had been injured again by a peer at recess, and a third day of ignored calls to discuss the matter with the principal, I picked both children up from school and left a message with the principal saying, "I will allow these children back on school grounds when I have a guarantee that they will be safe."
One day passed. No phone call. Two days passed. I called the district superintendant's office. A message was taken.
On the third day, the principal finally called. She opened our conversation by saying that she was very disappointed in me for keeping my children out of school for three days. The second point she tried to make was her last: "Mrs. Schwalm, you cannot possibly expect me to guarantee your children's safety at all times in this building–I am only one person."
"This conversation has ended," I immediately replied. "You'll have the paperwork for homeschooling on your desk tomorrow morning."
And so, we homeschooled for two-plus years–and it was great. We read together and went to parks together and visited museums and wrote plays together…and then I felt it was time to send my children back into the fray. Ironically, I was worried that by homeschooling, I was making things too easy for my sons and blocking them from experiencing necessary social challenges or developing important coping skills.
The way we found out that my older son was being bullied was through a call from the middle school principal informing me that my son was being placed on three days of ISS (in-school suspension). Having suffered through months of taunting, he'd finally had enough, and when the boy who had been teasing him the most reached out to cup him in the chest for the hundredth time as he was passing my son's locker, my son had thrown himself at the boy and knocked him against a wall. No one had been hurt but a half-dozen teachers standing at their doorways monitoring the hallway had witnessed the entire inelegant encounter.
The principal's voice was heavy on the phone as she spoke with me. "I know what happened–all of it now–but we have a zero-tolerance policy for violence in the school. The other child is being suspended out of school–at home with a parent–for a week, and other measures will be taken, as well. I have to protect the privacy of the other student but I am telling you: we will put tools and consequences in place so that this will not happen again."
Outside of a lecture on the importance of talking to trusted adults when you need help, we didn't punish our son at home. On the night of the incident we actually went out for pizza and ice cream. He did his three days of ISS and when he came back to class, two boys in his gym class told him that they thought he was cool for standing up to the other kid and not taking it anymore; a trio of girls nearby agreed.
A week later, my son joined a running club for children with disabilities. Within six months he'd lost 40 lbs. and was requesting that we buy healthier snacks when we went food shopping. He has never felt like a victim at school again. At his most recent annual review meeting as we discussed moving my son out of inclusion and into a more-rigorous curriculum, his teacher told me, "Whenever I pass him in the halls, he is chatting and surrounded by friends."
So, after all of this, I thought it would be a good idea to go as a family last Friday to see the documentary Bully. My older son is a member of his high school's Anti-bullying Club and was planning shortly on participating in its Gay-Straight Alliance's Day of Silence to support gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students. I wanted my children to see that they were not alone in experiencing either bullying or inept school personnel. I thought that the movie would give their experiences a broader context and soften some of the residual sting in all our memories.
The boys brought a friend and all three agreed afterwards that the movie was worthwhile. "That was a lot better than I thought it was going to be, actually," my younger son confided. "I thought it was going to be boring but it really wasn't–and I can understand why you wanted us to see it." As my older son walked off then to be interviewed by the local television station, I excused myself to the bathroom for one last, brief, shuddering crying jag before we all drove off to an afternoon of cheese fries and amusement park rides at Coney Island.
It may sound melodramatic, but I cried through this entire film. The opening scenes intersperse home movies of a toddler giggling up at a camera with scenes of his somber father recounting the life events that ultimately lead up to Tyler Long committing suicide at 17, and that was it: 90 minutes of continuous crying and a headache that followed me all day until bed.
I saw aspects of my children in almost all of the children followed in this film: like my older son, Alex has some developmental issues and refuses to tell the adults in his life how badly he is being abused. Like my younger son, Alex had a frail, perilous babyhood. Like the principal at Alex's school who tells his parents, "These children are just as good as gold," the principal at our elementary school was clearly not trained in creating a school culture that rooted out bullying and abuse. Like my older son, Ja'Meya also finally decided that she needed to fight back against her bullies–but she didn't just push a child against a wall, she brought her mother's handgun onto her school bus and brandished it in front of her peers in an effort to get them to leave her alone (and wound up incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital for six months).
"Geeky" Tyler Long suffered through years of being abused in his school's locker room and being called "a fag" before he hung himself in his bedroom closet. Ty Smalley was a beautiful little boy with freckles and wide eyes similar to my younger son's features. He killed himself after he was suspended from school for standing up to a bully…
I can't help but believe that if conditions were only a little different, I could be one of the devastated, shell-shocked parents in this movie. Don't mistake me: I empathized with the other parents in Bully but I was crying for me and my children. The policeman in the film who suggests that 14-year-old Ja'Meya be charged with 44 counts of kidnapping and receive hundreds of years of imprisonment because she hadn't "really been hurt" simply doesn't know what he is talking about.
Bully is playing in a still-expanding number of theaters nationwide. The movie was initially given an R rating by the MPAA but after a great deal of media attention and public outcry, this was changed to PG-13. Go with a group of people you care about. Get ice cream afterwards. Or cheese fries.


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There is a phase when one becomes aware of the extent of the problems in the world and we go through the vast amount of information that is at our finger tips nowadays and really get to know the nitty-gritty details of the actual prison that we've created for ourselves, and the challenge that comes with this is: how not to get imbued by the perception of the 'oh so ever powerful ones' – that are in fact a minority in this world – being the sole problem and the ones to blame for everything that's wrong, we perceive them as being invincible, which is precisely part of the function that they represent within the whole construct of the system in itself. Sometimes the information and getting to know 'how deep the rabbit hole goes' becomes a reinforcement to the belief that "there is no possible way out because 'they' are everywhere/ 'they' are so powerful and invincible." In that, we actually psychologically become subdued to what we accept as 'their power' which we believe 'is so real' that the only thing that we apparently can resort to is blaming, complaining, judging others and believing that: there is no possible way out, so why bother? This is the mentality that we have to stop and that I'll share here how I've managed to constantly work on preventing me from falling on the same old patterns.
Identifying one's reactions to the problems
From my perspective and personal experience, it all begins with simple steps, such as how you engage in discussing relevant topics and 'less known' information that is termed as 'conspiracy theories' which many times are not 'theories' but rather the hidden/occult history out of our text books in school and universities and usually explain the actual workings of this world system, such as who has been in fact 'behind it all' and the mechanisms used to galvanize it, which implies that we also had to be part of such control system by compliance. An easy response to knowing 'who's who in the zoo' and in fact 'sitting at the top of the hill' can result in us reacting with anger which in turn leads us to 'spew our mind out' in blaming and finding this/that president/corporation/elite person as the culprit, which is not necessarily something that can be supportive for others that might come through and read these comments and opinions on Facebook – or any other social media site – and be exposed to this information for the first time and be shocked at discovering that their president is waging a war in Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan killing over 2000 civilians, which means it is killing people that have most likely nothing to do with any sort of potential terrorists – yet this is all being paid by your taxes… In this case, what would you say to 'you' as that person that is informing themselves about the ills of the world system for the first time, and realizing that their taxes are being used to obliterate certain nations to keep control of poppy fields and trade more drugs? Reinforcing the predictable behavior such as blaming, complaining, calling names and spurting general outrage about it is Not going to solve anything.
So where do we start, then?
One thing that I suggest starting with is considering self-responsibility – which is a tough point, and not many people are willing to recognize it, because it involves stopping feeling righteous about calling out the abuse and instead becoming a co-creator of the mess as well. t is about realizing that by virtue of living in this same world: We Are ALL Responsible. So instead of trying to 'change the world out there' which becomes indeed an 'out of reach' type of experience when considering 'Oh my god, I have to change the entire world!' we have to instead consider that this change begins with taking our own lives into our own hands, to become an example, which means: start with our own life.
I bet you also began questioning why this world is the way that it is and why are people in power only being corrupted and evil and being protected by the same laws we are supposed to abide to – is the system rigged in some way? So you as I did most likely began investigating, educating yourself about the problem, developing that interest and critical thinking skills, asking questions, and maybe even getting to know others that were also starting to look for similar answers. What I've realized now is that understanding the problem is one part of the solution, but then comes the necessary rule of Taking the point back to oneself and so Dare to ask the more uncomfortable questions, the kind that we've forgotten to ask ourselves all along such as: where was I when all of this 'conspiracy' took place? How have we allowed ourselves to be consumed and entertained to a point where we forgot about our responsibilities?
Instead we've learned to equate happiness to consumption and not consider how real happiness could be genuinely built if we could all come together and agree to integrate the principles we want to live by as a society into a new proposal for a political/economic and social structure, starting with the simplicity of how we can grant each other – for example – the basic right to live in dignity? This is what the provision of a Basic Income entails. This leads to the recognition of Self-Responsibility which implies 'They' and 'Those in Power,' the 'Invincible' ones or those that we perceive as 'Untouchable' are not going to give up their power, nor do we have to focus on 'them' to create any form of solution either. Instead it's about focusing on how to empower myself and others at the same time with developing this self-awareness and an understanding of the problem, without reacting to it in the predictability of anger, frustration, rage, blame and wanting to tear the government building down – but instead with maturity and self-responsible assessments.
It is about motivating oneself to see through the a new solution-based mindset and at the same time, inciting others to consider self-responsibility and Act in the awareness of 'How can I be the solution?' 'How can I consider Self-Responsibility?' within the understanding that we won't change 'them' or others for that matter – we have to be the ones that step in, we have to be the ones that are willing to correct all of our personal 'flaws' which entail a personal debasement to for example, believe that we are disempowered. Instead we have to prove to ourselves that we can stand up as a reformed and corrected type of human being – as a New Human Kind – that stops all forms of hatred, deception, violence, defensiveness, attack, complacency, defeatism, laziness, conformity and the ever so corrosive illusion of powerlessness, which is precisely what I many times have considered that is created as a result of an extensive amount or information on the fickleness of the human mind that might become emotionally affected by it, becoming obsessed to continue 'dwelling' on the same problem in spirals without landing on Earth back with solutions. It is at the same time strange because this creates a strange sense of false-empowerment that leads – most of the times – nowhere; very, very few are able to read, understand and use the information and awareness constructively to continue building a foundation that gathers even more reasons as to why, for example, in the case of the American 'Secret War' as the Drone-Wars, the funds that go to combat a deliberately created boogie man, sending people to kill and enrich all the military contractors, should instead be spent in funding the provision of a basic income in America and creating a genuine safety net to prevent an upcoming crash that has been vaticinated for some time now, yet is already quite palpable based on the amount of poverty that exists in the U.S., isn't it? So instead of waiting for the war-jackpot to hit home and revive the economy – why not informing people about the possible solution of using that money in a supportive manner that benefits the common man at home – it is about informing the society that such Military Defense budget Is in fact people's taxes – this is just to name a brief example.
In this, I do not speak of creating Hope either, as it becomes a 'waiting mode' with idle expectations based on someone, somehow 'turning the tables to our favor' which won't come at all by itself, and even if it happened that way, we would still then miss out the process of realizing that we actually have to be the ones that must do something about our lives – this whole process of facing massive consequences in this world is in fact a gift to allow ourselves to see what kind of responsibility we've abdicated throughout time, and so at the same time realizing that it is in taking self-responsibility that the solution begins.
What are the Practical Solutions then?
I can share with you what I've done myself which begins with getting to halt my own spewing that I used to vehemently defend and share with anyone else that I could as 'my right to point out all that is wrong' in this world and just remain there, in that complain, in that sense of protest which I lived as what I've denominated 'The Loathing Politics' character and having an ever present and growing hatred and disgust toward virtually anything that has to do with power and politics. I live in Mexico and one of my first ingrained memories was listening on the radio about the release of a secret tape where some politicians and party enthusiasts were hiding voting ballots beneath the carpets of some governmental building during a presidential election, this was then about the politicians doing the necessary 'dirty job' to rig the game… this became part of the pattern lived throughout my life of getting used to hearing about corruption and political neglect on a daily basis, it is a part of 'how politics work' here, hence my loathe and despair to it all back then.
So, to the day (January 30th) 7 years ago I decided to change my life and perspective toward it: from depressive and giving up on anything related to politics/system/society to recognizing that if I want my life and that of others to be genuinely good and supportive = I have to directly do something about it. It all started by me walking my own self-forgiveness on the past hatred toward every aspect of my life that I knew was detrimental to my personal development – this includes my reactions to 'the world system' – specifically politicians and people ruling in the catholic church – and so made a clear decision to for once and for stop being the predictable robot that only knows how to complain and blame.I decided to Stop adding my own bs and reactions to 'those in power.' Instead, understanding more about 'the truth' of this game led me to gather more and more reasons to understand that if a 'few' could do it, then our potential if united as the 99% of the world that is not 'rigging the game' can form an agreement to take responsibility for creating a new starting point in our society. I've also realized there is a massive potential yet to be unleashed that we have to begin growing and enticing within each other with simple steps, changing the way that we look at politics is an example of where one can start with.
"We need to do the opposite of what Russell Brand is advocating, we need to use our votes. Even if we don't want to engage with the current broken system, we should not use that as an excuse for apathy. We should see it as an encouragement to engage in creating our own alternatives, our new co-created systems; to be creative about it and to connect. Connectivity is the key to a rapid change; but information in itself is meaningless if we don't know how to decode it into wisdom." –
Birgitta Jonsdottir "Democracy in the Digital Era" – January, 2015
This is thus about first understanding the problems, understanding the 'power structure' and so realizing that if we see politics plays a big role, if CEO's play a big role, if influential people in communities play a big role = then We have to become such 'big roles' as well! This won't be an easy task either, because we are all essentially predestined to continue blindly walking the path of the least effort, giving up on the first obstacle we encounter, seeking the most reward without having to move a single finger and so on…. well, those days will be over soon.
We have to consider that we've allowed ourselves to be slaves for far too long, therefore it won't take only 7 years to 'wake up and change' – no, we're talking about walking through the human conditioning that's lasted for thousands of years, which has increased in the last century at a rapid rate and is ever present now with the ability of be intercommunicated at all times. However in a way it also prompts us to consider first and foremost: how have I contributed to the problem as well with my inaction to take responsibility for it? Is my anger, hatred or blame supportive for myself or anyone? If not, then what would I do if – for example – I was 'Obama'? or anyone you perceive has more 'power' than you for that matter…well, the thing is: we all have the ability and potential, we just squander it too much when being overwhelmed and emotionally driven to give up or just continually seek to focus on something more pleasurable and easily rewarding which is part of the necessary elements to keep ourselves in a divided and conquered mentality = this is the human failure that I decided to not be a part of anymore.
What do I practically do and support?
I support myself and other individuals to walk through this same process I just described, which is the most rewarding thing I've ever conceived I'd be doing with my life – after perusing a rather selfish career in visual arts – and I gave myself a purpose to every single day share what I learn, what I consider as solutions, what I see as the problems and how we can use a documentary, a blog, a news article to reflect how what goes on 'in the world' as our individual and collective creation.
So, you can hear all my daily recordings which is a relatively 'new' project here: http://mixlr.com/marlen-vargas-del-razo/showreel/ – I support and am directly involved in the promotions of the Living Income Guaranteed Proposal Living Income Guaranteed Proposal http://livingincome.me/wiki/The_Living_Income_Guaranteed_Proposal / http://youtube.com/livingincome along with an exemplary group of people around the world at Equal Life Foundation which is part of the various efforts that we've proposed throughout the years as stepping stones toward political and economic change, while emphasizing on the necessity to include living principles which are similar to the same ones I've shared about my personal process.
So for example, providing a basic income/living income is a starting point to first get ourselves out of this survival-coerced mode and so, give each other the certainty of having the necessary to live. This in turn frees the necessary time to educate ourselves, to realize that it is about us now proposing solutions and giving that opportunity to each other to see who would we really be once that money stops being the main problem and obstacle for our personal and collective development. This also requires the will and volition to develop self-leadership and self-governance. It is not an easy task to do, though it is Not impossible either and everyone at ELF can be an example of what it is to live a regular life and still have the time to actually 'walk the talk' and direct ourselves to embody the principles that we agree on, the principles that we want to live by as a society and as a result of understanding the problems, which is what many people in the informed community already does – so now it's about time to take the next step to encourage the development of a solution-based mindset.
Giving up based on how 'bad things look' has become a common excuse to not do something about it – my take is: what else is there to do anyways in this world if not attending the problems we've caused? What else is there to do if not attending and raising your children, becoming an example of what is to do your work in the best possible way, supporting others to become better themselves, to recognize their potential and assist others in developing it – which can be done once that one works on one's own – practicing our communication abilities, creating supportive personal and working relationships, becoming a living example of what is to Really 'Be the change you want to see in this world' and the list goes on…It only takes a decision from ourselves to be a part of the not-giving up group.
I would not even focus on trying to awaken those that are too fearful or complacent to even spare some minutes to read, watch or hear something that is beneficial to the whole. We tend to discourage ourselves from believing 'no one cares' when in fact, many Do care, but have no idea of where to even start with looking at a way through this mess, so that's why education and information with a directive proposal for solutions is required and what we are in fact here for, no matter how 'impossible' it may seem at the moment – everything starts steps by step with oneself, isn't it?
If we want to stop corruption, then let's develop self-integrity, if we want to stop all lies and deception, then it's time to develop self-honesty, if we are tired of 'greedy people' then we have to focus on developing moderation and being able to spot our own behavioral patterns and impulses where we give too much attention to that which only benefits 'me'; this implies being a little bit more 'selfless' which is not giving oneself away, but developing a genuine care and empathy for others around us, as they are 'us' as well – yes, even those in 'high places.' If we are so tired of the 'same old' bs, well, we have to also do some self-introspection and be willing to see and recognize what of ourselves we would like to change, what destructive patterns and habits we have that we know only lead us to a predictable outcome of failure/giving-up/passivity/complacency… how about instead we start considering how we affect ourselves/ others with our words, actions and inactions? What would it mean and what would I do if 'I' today had to become a person that is at the service of others like a public-servant/politician?
These are questions that lead us to recognize that we don't have to wait for a president to give us nice answers on how to solve the problems, we can instead begin this process bit by bit ourselves, no matter how 'unrealistic' the feasible solutions might seem, because this 'unrealistic' conclusion about possible solutions becomes part of the obstacles to not think outside of the box and is part of the most common sabotage to potentially great ideas that, fortunately, are gaining more attention these days.
These are the kind of questions that lead us to introspect and ensure that we live every day willing ourselves to see beyond the 'fog' and not get overwhelmed by how things currently operate. The trick is not to get lost in the rabbit hole and come out of it scared and only recreating another war as overloaded criticism and antagonism to those that we perceive as 'the only culprits,' or to try and attempt to 'take the power away' from someone through protesting and waging war – yet another one – with words, imaginations, intentions and predictable defeated outcomes.
This genuine (r)evolution is about focusing on individual self-change so that the way that we relate to one another and the world itself becomes the sheer result and accumulation of these seemingly 'small changes' that will certainly not get 'Obama' out of office – but will in turn encourage many others to start seeing behind the fog, to consider ways out in a human brain that is designed to always only focus on the friction/conflict and problem… it is about time we get rid of the belief, hope and sheer religious faith where we think that 'those in power had to do this For Us'. It is about outgrowing the notion and comfortable denomination of 'those in power' by realizing that we are in fact the ones that abdicated such power: we are the majority therefore, we are in fact all capable of standing up for what we see will make our lives much better.
Our biggest problem at the moment is apathy and the perception of being powerless, and with this we do a disservice to life when we get too informed about the ultimate nitty gritty on conspiracies, but we don't act in ways that prove we understand the problem and so have a better notion of how to start solving the problems as well.
I quote Junaid Malik with whom I fully agree with when it comes to the solution he proposes, and when I read his words I was glad to realize that not everyone that informs about the actuality and depth of the problem leaves a blog without a clear directive to self-responsibility:
"There is no short term solution to the multidimensional problems we are facing. Education and awareness are key prerequisites for the change, which can only be achieved through a long term process. Instead of being selfish we will have to revive our faith in self-sacrifice for the common good. Instead of accepting an unequal educational system, we will have to educate all the children, the next generation in this country, without discrimination. Education doesn't mean reading, writing or getting a degree and finding a job. It means learning to see through the façade of pretense. It means attaining knowledge and wisdom; knowledge to understand what's going on and wisdom to change it. Let's give it a try and hope that our next generation, once educated and enlightened, will stand against injustice and inequality, showing the oligarchy the exit door and replacing it with capable individuals in the decision-making process." – JM http://wp.me/p2zw1Q-1o
So, my suggestion is that instead of continuing to rehash the same old predictable self-defeat, we use our time, our words, our simple interactions to share common sense = What WE Can Do in order to realize that it is about US learning to agree on what is best for all, learning to properly communicate, learning to always take the finger back to us and be willing to recognize our own flaws and self-deception first, and so prevent ourselves from jumping into conclusions and criticizing others – it is about being willing to give it our All that is humanly possible to correct the mess we've co-created – we all know what would make our lives in this world better, so why don't we instead focus on working on that which is not only meaningful and gives a new sense to our lives, but absolutely necessary and ultimately our responsibility to the generations to come?
Thanks for reading and: walk along if you are ready to stand up
You can listen to the original version of this writing here: http://mixlr.com/marlen-vargas-del-razo/showreel/if-we-dislike-deception-we-have-to-become-self-honest/


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Nightengale: In landing Lester, A's are all about October
Well, just when we don't think it's possible for Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics to surprise us again, they absolutely stun us.
Never, ever do they cease to amaze, and just when you think they're done with their major moves at the non-waiver trade deadline, they pull off another doozy, landing Boston Red Sox ace Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes for Yoenis Cespedes and a competitive balance draft pick in 2015.
The trade, confirmed by two high-ranking officials with direct knowledge of the trade, also said that the Athletics will be receiving about $1.15 million from the Red Sox.
The officials spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the trade has not yet been announced.
The Athletics, who already pulled off the stunning deal in July with the Chicago Cubs for starting pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, now have a full-house of aces that make them the World Series favorite.
Finally, after being to the postseason seven times under the Beane watch, and failing to reach the World Series, advancing to the American League Championship Series just once, the A's have a team ready to win it all.
The Athletics didn't care about surrendering two of their prized prospects in shortstop Addison Russell, 20, and outfielder Billy McKinney, 19, to the Cubs.
They didn't care about trading Cespedes, who's eligible for free agency after the 2015 season, to grab Lester now.
"We have a team that can win right now,'' Beane said earlier this month. "Just collecting young players is not something in our marketplace we can do.''
The Athletics were shrewd making this move. They may have the best record in the American League at 66-41, but the Los Angeles Angels refuse to go away, trailing by just 2 ½ games.
Besides, Hammel has badly struggled, going 0-4 with a 9.53 ERA.
Now, with Lester, Samardzija, Sonnny Gray and Scott Kazmir, who in the world is going to stop them from getting to the World Series.
Remember when Beane said, that ""it would be a bit arrogant'' to think that the Samardzija trade was a postseason move?
Well, this indeed is a postseason move.
Remember when Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander said that they were the reason for the Samardzija trade, knowing they knocked the A's out of the playoffs the last two years?
Well, this trade was built for the Los Angeles Dodgers or whatever team comes out of the National League in the World Series.
The A's will be there.
Now, we'll see who they'll be playing against in late October.


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Puree of Pumpkin Soup
The Gift of Southern Cooking: Recipes and Revelations from Two Great Southern Cooks
Published by Knopf
When I was a child, the big orange pumpkins sold around Hartford were just for carving jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween. I knew pumpkin was used for pie, too, but that came from a can. Miss Lewis, however, says that when she was growing up pumpkin was used as an autumn vegetable for savory and sweet cooking. I began to view pumpkins differently after reading her recipe for pumpkin with sautéed onions (from In Pursuit of Flavor). And over the years we've prepared together pumpkin as a side or supper dish. In this recipe, pumpkin makes a fine soup. Roasting it first concentrates the flavor, adds a degree of caramelization, and also makes it much easier to separate the flesh from the skin. Be sure to use "pie" or "sugar" pumpkins for this recipe—they are the small, elliptical ones that look like Cinderella's carriage. You could substitute butternut or another winter squash too, with satisfactory results, but by all means do not use the orange jack-o'-lantern gourds. They are nothing but water, seeds, and stringy fiber. If possible, prepare this pumpkin soup 1 or 2 days ahead of serving, and allow the flavors to deepen.
Cooking Methodbaking
Total Timeunder 4 hours
Make Ahead RecipeYes
Kid FriendlyYes
One Pot MealYes
OccasionCasual Dinner Party, Family Get-together
Recipe Coursemain course, side dish
Dietary Considerationegg-free, peanut free, soy free, tree nut free
Equipmentblender, food processor
Five Ingredients or LessYes
Mealdinner, lunch
Taste and Texturecreamy, savory
Type of Dishhot soup
- 1 small pumpkin (about 4 pounds)
- 6 slices bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 small shallots, finely diced
- 1 small leek, thinly sliced
- 1 small clove garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 6 cups Chicken Stock
- ¼ cup cream sherry
- 1½ cups heavy cream as garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Split the pumpkin in half, and scrape out the seeds and fibers. Place the pumpkin halves, flesh side down, in a roasting pan lined with parchment or Silpat. Pour in ½ cup water and bake 1½ hours, until the skin is deeply browned and flesh tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and let rest until cool enough to handle. Scoop out the flesh, discarding the skin.
Put the bacon in a cold heavy pot, and cook over medium-low heat until it is deeply browned and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove the browned bacon pieces. In the fat remaining in the pot, sauté the onion, shallots, leek, and garlic over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and pumpkin. Stir well, and sauté 5 minutes longer, stirring often, and taking care not to burn the vegetables. Add the chicken stock, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf from the pot, and purée the soup in a blender or food processor until perfectly smooth. Return the soup to the Dutch oven, and bring to a simmer. Add the sherry, and simmer gently for 3–5 minutes. Add the cream if desired, and heat through. Taste very carefully for seasoning, and add more salt, pepper, or nutmeg as needed. Serve with fresh gratings of nutmeg and grindings of pepper over the soup, and sprinkle on the reserved bacon pieces. Serve as is or add more cream, using as much as you like, or with semi-ripened cheese added to the dish.
2003 Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock


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Farrell, James Thomas
Farrell, James Thomas
fâr´əl, 1904–79, American novelist, b. Chicago. In his fiction Farrell expressed anger against the brutal economic and social conditions that produce emotional and material poverty. His work, noted for the frankness of its language and its detailed realism, is in the tradition of naturalism. Farrell's first series of novels about life among the Irish Catholic population of Chicago's South Side was the Studs Lonigan trilogy: Young Lonigan (1932), The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan (1934), and Judgment Day (1935). Another of his series was the Danny O'Neill pentalogy: A World I Never Made (1936), No Star Is Lost (1938), Father and Son (1940), My Days of Anger (1943), and The Face of Time (1953). Farrell's other works include numerous collections of short stories; several volumes of essays, including Reflections at Fifty (1954); and innumerable novels, among them Ellen Rogers (1941), Boarding House Blues (1961), and The Dunne Family (1976).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: American Literature: Biographies


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Flournado: The "Pie of the Storm," reared its ugly head in my kitchen last night in a massive flurry of white powder and shortening, but I gained the upper hand and made an apple pie, so all is well—until the sequel, which I hope won't happen any time soon. I must confess: I don't like to make pies, but Nate's birthday was yesterday and he didn't ask for any presents. However, he did ask for a homemade apple pie. He also did not ask me to post, "Nate is looking great at 48" on Facebook—or on this blog. That's just an extra special surprise I like to throw into the mix.
When it comes to making pies, though, I don't like surprises. I like recipes. Nice, predictable recipes, but there are so many to choose from. I ended up consulting at least three different sources—including the original "apple pie" source, compiled in 1390 by "master cooks" of King Richard II and released in Samuel Pegge's The Forme of Cury in 1780, which was published from a manuscript by a Gustavus Brander. "For to Make Tartys in Applis," which is entry number XXIII in the "Memorandum" section of the cookbook, provides the following instructions:
XXIII. FOR TO MAKE TARTYS IN APPLIS. Tak gode Applys and gode Spycis and Figys and reysons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed colourd [1] wyth Safroun wel and do yt in a cofyn and do yt forth to bake wel.
Keep in mind that the entry number XXIII appears several times in the manuscript and that the actual ingredients for the crust or "cofyn" for the pie, are somewhere near the beginning. This entry was fascinating to read, but completely useless to me at that moment. When it comes to pie making, I need to be hit over the head with step-by-step instructions and illustrations. Nate also wouldn't want an apple pie that contains saffron or the term "cofyn" as in, "Here's your birthday 'cofyn!' All the little 'applis' pieces are 'maken myrge' in a 'gode potage' of 'Spycis.' Huzza!"
Then, I remembered that there was a recipe for the apple pie filling that came from a Cooking Light Magazine in July 2002. This filling was the perfect balance between sweet and tart, so I went looking through my magazines, which sent Nate into a panic:
"No—I don't want a reduced fat pie—please! It's my birthday," Nate said.
"It's just the filling—I promise I won't skimp on the crust—or the butter crumble on top. I'll make that part really super unhealthy. I mean, they don't call the crust on top a "cofyn" for nothing. I'll use all the shortening in the house and when I run out of that, I'll use butter," I said.
Nate looked skeptical and even offered to make the pie himself, because of the two of us, he really is better at making pies, but I already had the cookbooks out—and the flour. There was no turning back.
The Cooking Light July 2002 apple pie filling calls for 8 medium sized apples, peeled and sliced. I had six large green "Granny Smith" apples, which worked out well. I mixed the peeled/sliced apples with one tablespoon of lemon juice, 2/3 cup of granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons of flour, ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt—all according to the recipe.
Betty Crocker's 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook held the secrets to the piecrust and the crumb topping. The instructions from this cookbook follow below:
For a 9-inch pie crust:
Mix together 1 cup of flour and ¼ teaspoon salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of shortening. Add two-three tablespoons of very cold water and mix together until the dough just starts to form a ball. (Over mixing or stirring could make the resulting crust tough and not flaky.)
After following the instructions above, I used my hands to kind of push and shape the dough into a ball.
Then, there were all kinds of illustrations and tips for rolling out the crust into a perfect circle. I ended up making some kind of ratty-edged rectangular oval of sorts. Then, I plopped it into the bottom of a glass pie plate and pressed it into place. (In fact, I'm not even sure why I bothered rolling it out. I could have probably just pressed it, piece by piece, into the bottom of the pie pan.)
When I was done, it looked far from professional and would not have won any contests. In fact, I imagined myself getting yelled at by Anne Burrell, Tyler Florence, and Gordon Ramsay.
"Where's the passion? The skill?" they'd ask—and I'd just stand there with a blank expression on my face.
"I swear I clean out the refrigerator and organize the pantry," I'd say. "The kitchen would pass a health inspection."
And Ramsay would shout back, "My God! You're standing knee deep in flour and Crisco! Clean as you go! Clean as you go!"
I really wanted to launch into my jilted reality show contestant tirade by shouting, "You don't know what you're talking about" in my head, but it was getting late and I needed to preheat the oven to 425 and get going on the crumble for the top. Betty Crocker's 40th Edition Cookbook came in handy with this three-ingredient recipe:
Mix together ½ cup of packed brown sugar, ½ cup of cold butter, and 1 cup of flour.
Once the filling was in the crust and properly covered with its sugary, crumbly "lid," I popped it into the oven for 40 minutes. Then, I covered it with aluminum foil and baked it for 10 minutes more.
The whole house smelled absolutely divine and the pie won warm approvals from both Nate and Alex.
There was the aftermath to deal with though—Flournado parts tend to get everywhere. These parts are now safe in the belly of a handheld Shark vacuum, but somehow I don't think I'm in the clear. This morning, I discovered that the pie is almost gone and I've got two fans demanding at least 6 more sequels. Stay tuned.
In Other News: A new short story of mine was accepted for publication in The Sirens Call eZine, issue 40. It's called "The Fires that Burn Near Sapphire Lake." If you click on the title of the story in the previous sentence, you should be taken to a PDF link of the magazine. Happy reading!
Your Turn: Are there any foods/recipes you enjoy eating, but NOT making? Share and discuss below.


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FCRA charter for foreign funds receiving banks
on behalf of NGO or Nonprofit (Sec-25) Company
Ozg FCRA Consulting
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Facebook.com/FCRAregistration | Youtube.com/FCRAregistration
Banks have given a very crucial role in ensuring that the provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA, 2010) the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011 (FCRR, 2011) are scrupulously followed by the associations who have been granted prior permission/registration under FCRA, 2010 as also by all other person(s), as defined in the Act.
No bank should credit any foreign contribution to the account of an association / NGO unless it produces documentary evidence of having obtained registration/prior permission from the Central Government for the same.
In case any foreign contribution is credited to the account of an NGO/Association/Trust directly, the bank should not allow utilization of such fund and inform the NGO/Association/Trust concerned to obtain necessary permission/registration from the Central Government for the same. Simultaneously, the bank should inform the Deputy Secretary (FCRA), Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi about such receipt.
Non-compliance of the above by the bank will constitute a violation and will render the defaulting bank liable for appropriate action by the Reserve Bank of India. Attention of the Banks is drawn specifically to the following provisions of FCRA, 2010 and FCRR, 2011:
Section 17: (1) Every person who has been granted a certificate or given prior permission under Section 12 shall receive foreign contribution in a single account only through such one of the branches of a bank as he may specify in his application for grant of certificate;
Provided that such person may open one or more accounts in one or more banks for utilising the foreign contribution received by him.
Provided further that no funds other than foreign contribution shall be received or deposited in such account or accounts.
Section 17: (2) Every bank or authorised person in foreign exchange shall report to such authority as may be specified-
(a) prescribed amount of foreign remittance;
(b) the source and manner in which the foreign remittance was received; and
(c) other particulars, in such form and manner as may be prescribed.
Section 18: – (1) Every person who has been granted a certificate or given prior approval under this Act shall give, within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed, an intimation to the Central Government, and such other authority as may be specified by the Central Government, as to the amount of each foreign contribution received by it, the source from which and the manner in which such foreign contribution was received, and the purposes for which, and the manner in which such foreign contribution was utilised by him.
Section 18: – (2) Every person receiving foreign contribution shall submit a copy of a statement indicating therein the particulars of foreign contribution received duly certified by officer of the bank or authorised person in foreign exchange and furnish the same to the Central Government along with the intimation under sub-section(1).
Rule-16: – Reporting by banks of receipt of foreign contribution:-
(1) Every bank shall send a report to the Central Government within thirty days of any transaction in respect of receipt of foreign contribution by any person who is required to obtain a certificate of registration or prior permission under the Act, but who was not granted such certificate or prior permission as on the date of receipt of such remittance.
(2) The report referred to in sub-rule(1) shall contain the following details:-
(a) Name and address of the donor.
(b) Name and address of the recipient.
(c) Account number.
(d) Name of the Bank and Branch.
(e) Amount of foreign contribution (in foreign currency as well as Indian Rupees).
(f) Date of receipt.
(g) Manner of receipt of foreign contribution (cash/cheque/electronic transfer etc).
(3) The bank shall send a report to the Central Government within thirty
days from the date of such last transaction in respect of receipt of any foreign contribution in excess of one crore rupees or equivalent thereto in a single transaction or in transactions within a duration of thirty days, by any person, whether registered or not under the Act and such report shall include the following details:-
(a) Name and address of the donor.
(b) Name and address of the recipient.
(c) Account number.
(d) Name of the Bank and Branch.
(e) Amount of foreign contribution (in foreign currency as well as Indian Rupees).
(f) Date of receipt.
(g) Manner of receipt of foreign contribution (cash/cheque/electronic transfer etc.)."
Ozg FCRA Consulting
FCRA Registration Consultant
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Join on: Facebook.com/FCRAregistration | Youtube.com/FCRAregistration


text:
Fedora Workstation PRD
This page includes the original Fedora Workstation PRD from January 2014. It has been replaced by a new PRD.
Mission statement
The Fedora Workstation working group aims to create a reliable, user-friendly and powerful operating system for laptops and PC hardware. We want to create a stable, integrated, polished and user friendly system that can appeal to a wide general audience. The Fedora Workstation working group will have a special focus on providing a platform for development of various types of applications. This PRD is not meant to be an exhaustive list of what potential users can or will use the Fedora Workstation for, but rather outline the Workstation working groups development priorities and overall goals. We want the Fedora Workstation platform to be attractive to a range of developers types - from hobbyists and students to developers working in a corporate environments. This is meant to be a living document which evolves along with the project and which can be changed as time go on by the workstation working group.
Target Audience
Programming Environment: web languages and tools, open source databases, IDE, Compilers, debug tools, performance monitoring
Desktop apps should be sufficient to make this system the user's only computer. Users should not be required to be familiar with the terminal or to use the terminal for essential tasks, including software development.
Case 1: Student
Engineering/CS student who needs a personal system for software classwork and personal projects. Software class work may require particular tool chain versions. Tries out new versions of open source applications when released. Uses computer to play games. Ability to play 3D games from commercial publishers distributing games for Linux. Multiple developer environments i.e. school standard for class work, latest tools for personal use.
Case 2: Independent Developer
Personal development system for an independent software developer doing contract work or developing apps for a new opportunity.
Desktop Apps: Up to date desktop with email client, browser, productivity suite, messaging, and a complete set of desktop apps and utilities. Desktop apps should be sufficient to make this system the developer's only computer.
Generally a single development environment with the latest web development tools.
Easy to configure Virtual Machines for testing software.
Case 3: Small Company Developer
Software developer working on an individual project or coordinated small team. DevOps.
Generally a single development environment with the latest web development tools. Easy to configure Virtual Machines for testing software.
Testing in local VMs and on dedicated testing systems.
Case 4: Developer in a Large Organization
Software developer working on a large, coordinated project in a large organization.
Support for enterprise login. Multiple developer environments i.e. current project and maintenance work on older projects. Testing typically on a target system in a testing lab.
Other users
While our focus is on creating a top-class developer workstation, our developer focus will not compromise the aforementioned goal to be a polished and user friendly system that appeals to a wide general audience. In fact, many of the changes and improvements we expect to implement for developers will be equally beneficial to other user segments. For instance our plans around multi-screen handling and improved terminal functionality should also be highly beneficial to a system administrator. Or the work we are doing to provide a high performance graphics workstation would be useful to people who want a Linux gaming PC. Or a student who just wants a system with a productivity suite to write papers will of course get benefit from the fact that we do ship a good productivity suite. We welcome feedback and requests from all our users and will consider accommodating it when possible.
Overall plans and policies for the product
Technical goals and design principles:
- Robust Upgrades
Upgrading the system multiple times through the upgrade process should give a result that is the same as an original install of Fedora Workstation. Upgrade should be a safe and process that never leaves the system needing manual intervention.
- Encapsulation of development environments
In general, development environments should allow targeting deployment environments that are different than the operating system itself, and an upgrade to a newer version of Fedora Workstation should not mean that a coding project needs to be modified to work with new versions of libraries and runtimes.
- Quality releases
We want to focus on engineering practices that ensures that the core product offered is of the highest quality possible. This includes keeping the core test matrix as small as possible a high degree of testing automation and collaborating with upstream to increase general test coverage of core modules.
- Better upgrade/rollback control
If there are any problems with an upgrade or an upgrade breaks a configuration script we want to offer an easy way for users to roll-back such upgrades and changes.
- Container based application install
The working group will investigate and work with the other products to decide and work on the possibility of a system where applications can be installed inside a container to improve security and simplify compatibility through library bundling.
- 3rd party software
Fedora Workstation will work to ensure that 3rd party software has a stable underlying OS with a known set of APIs/services that ISVs and other developers can rely on for their software. Fedora will not include any non-free software by default or host any non-free software in our repositories.
- Fedora ecosystem integration
While the workstation will have a different target than the Server and Cloud images it is still important that the 3 variations share technology and infrastructure. The 3 systems will all be RPM based and while for instance the open source databases will be packaged primarily with the Server in mind we want to be able to pull them into the developer workstation too.
- Work towards standardizing and unifying the Linux desktop space
We want to use and develop technologies that can be widely shared with the rest of the community and we want to allow developers to use the tools they prefer for their application development yet make them all feel like a natural fit into our integrated desktop experience. This would include items like theming and making sure we offer a consistent accessibility story across different development toolkits. The product will reach out and collaborate with the Fedora Design team and other relevant groups on such items.
- Develop application guidelines and designs
Fedora Workstation follows the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines. These guidelines are mandatory for applications installed by default. Third-party software developers are encouraged to follow them too.
- Delivery Mechanism
The Workstation product plans to leverage the existing image/repo delivery mechanisms already present in Fedora. The product will be offered for installation via either live or netinstall ISO images.
Core Platform Components
The Workstation working group will define a set of packages that are considered required be installed in order for the system to qualify as a Fedora Workstation. Through policy users will be strongly advised against uninstalling any of these packages and there will also be no option in the graphical software installer to uninstall them. Any optional packages for the Fedora Workstation can not obsolete or in any other way try to remove or disable these packages.
These installed packages will together form the basis of the API and service promises the system makes to 3rd party developers.
The Fedora Workstation working group will also define two set of requirements, one for anything that is to be considered for inclusion in the core platform components list and one for optional packages. This will include a requirement to support specific system services and libraries, for example the working group might make it a requirement that any software that wants to be part of Fedora Workstation can run against Wayland or directly output sound to Pulse Audio.
The working group will also specify policies in terms of branding, theming and desktop graphics, although these items will of course need to be in line with the overall Fedora branding guidelines and styles.
Work Model
We will at any given time try to have one major engineering effort underway for the Fedora Workstation. The definition of a major engineering effort is something that requires changes in a wide set of packages and tools. At the same time we will be working on smaller projects to improve various aspects of the distribution and also setting things up to be ready for the next major effort. We will try to announce and plan these things well in advance, by putting up a public timeline. Of course resources and changing market conditions might make changes to the plans necessary on an ongoing basis.
Marketable Features
Each release is to have at least one item developed for it that we present as a 'developer feature'. These items might be small or large in terms of the effort behind them, but they will be a core part of our messaging of being a great first choice for developers. Examples include Software collections, Developer Assistant, LinuxApps, new features in Boxes, IDE integration and so on.
Other tasks for working group
The working group will also be responsible for on-going feedback and suggestions on release schedules, based on collaboration with upstream components, the other Working Groups and FESCo, and Fedora Infrastructure. The working group will also regularly meet with a designated representative of Red Hat to discuss how Red Hats product and development plans will affect the Fedora product development and resource allocation.
Packaging for the Workstation
The working group hopes and expects that there will continue to be a wide range of software, packaged and maintained by the wider Fedora community, software that will available for install through the desktop Software installer. A lot of this software might not have any direct relevance to the main goals of the product or working group, but that is not a problem or something that the working group wants to discourage. No software will be blocked from being packaged as long as it doesn't break any part of the core workstation system upon install.
Document Approval
Edits done by Josh Boyer based on FESCo questions/feedback on January 28, 2014.
This was approved by the Workstation WG on January 21, 2014. The final vote was +1:6, 0: 3, -1: 0.
Updated on June 9, 2015 based on consensus of the WG.