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|Perl: the Markov chain saw
(ichimunki) Re: Thoughts on Perl6 - Love it? Hate it?by ichimunki (Priest)
|on Jan 10, 2002 at 22:38 UTC ( #137807=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
I don't care about the sigil stuff that much, although I agree that it is better in the long run not to have to shift the sigil to say what you mean. I prefer the Ruby use of sigils to denote things like scope levels ($ for global, @ for instance, @@ for class).
I don't care about the dot much either: no other language I've used has -> for methods. I would prefer that references kept -> and. would get used for methods and properties and stuff. But I'll live.
Everything as an object. Been there, done that. See also: Ruby.
"Optional" strong data types. A natural extension of the previous point. But I doubt it will end up feeling optional after a few more C programmers are converted. One thing I like a *lot* about Perl is the ambiguity of the scalar. This is serious erosion of that, imho.
I'm not sure I understand these hyper-operators. From japhy's example they look like pre-coded versions of the block/yield structure in Ruby with a bit of Tie thrown in (method overloading essentially). Which is fine with me if there are considerable performance gains to be had-- otherwise I think these will confuse Perl newcomers and oldcomers alike for quite a while.
Totally unthrilled that _ will be the new concatenation operator since I use _ a lot in variable and sub names, but I tend to do most my concatenating using interpolated strings anyway. What I'd really prefer is a way for me to do something like $name = sub{ return 'My Name' }; print "$name\n"; without having $name return a darned coderef value rather than the results of $name->().
Switch? Not terribly big deal to me either way. I can see it's value if you want to do some sort of goto-based dispatch, and yes I consider it an improvement over a hash full of coderefs since the conditions in a switch can be more involved that the simple labels that are hash keys. Enough languages have this that there's no reason to avoid it.
The only thing that keeps from seriously saying "Yeah, but there is *already* Ruby available" (since 99% of the above seems to be already implemented in Ruby, which can be very Perlish if you want it to be) is the byte-code issue. And frankly, the byte-code thing scares me. Two reasons: Java seems to have taken off, but is this because it was an OO language with a good sense of community at a time when the alternative was obscurity and/or C++? Did Java succeed because so many people learned it based on the dreamy notion that it would allow web browsers everywhere to essentially become OS replacements-- only to find out that it worked much better as a locally compiled/executed language? But AFAIK Java is the best example of a language with a VM. And I don't still don't get a coherent sense of whether the public has made a real decision about the Java VM.
And so I wonder if this isn't a major mistake for Perl. Will it actually be fast enough to follow through? Will it actually be portable? Will it promote the distribution of byte-compiled code under proprietary licenses?
And those are my thoughts as a fairly uninvolved Perl user and one who thinks Ruby probably solves a lot of these problems already (in addition, from what I understand, extending Ruby with C neither requires the Inline module or XS hacking). If the byte compiler/vm comes to pass and I can truly write in other languages (such as the aforementioned Ruby-- and if Dan Sugalski has anything to say about it, I'm sure I'll be able to) for it, then I'll be very happy (other misgivings aside). A good vm would be much preferable to the shared library/dll situation, since it would make sharing Perl and Ruby code to Windows users who are not hackers a lot easier.
PS: wrt to tilly's comments on byte code... woohoo! I have much more confidence in that aspect now. *grin*
In Section Meditations


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EB Writes: "Because I'm a bit of a skeptic...I have been doing my own online research. I have also contacted other buying services from organizations that I belong to (USAA, MVCP, and UBS). None of my research or the other (free to me) services produced the results that CarBargains did..."

subset: commoncrawl


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Note: This review originally appeared in the Illinois Entertainer.
Kaela Sinclair's 11-song debut Sun & Mirror has already made quite a splash in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where she grew up, and that success seems likely to grow. The 23 year-old vocalist makes use of an extensive range of tones and inflections, and as a songwriter, she's not afraid to go dark and deep. Still, her first effort has its rookie mistakes, including a few slow, repetitive arrangements that drag on for too long.
Veteran producer McKenzie Smith (Regina Spektor, St. Vincent) should have known better than to let Sinclair close with the dreary epic, "Coral Castles." And when Sinclair sings, "You might not catch up with me" on the ironically titled ballad "Run," it doesn't come across as much of a challenge. Smith is more successful conjuring a Cocteau Twins-like atmosphere around Sinclair's ethereal vocals on "Ghosts You've Won," while on the edgier "The Realist," Sinclair opts for a soulful delivery reminiscent of Laura Nyro. "Without" is an enticing torch song with elements of classical music. An irresistible melody and Sinclair's flawless delivery make the techno pop tune "Stranger" Sun & Mirror's best bet for a hit single.


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Today is Black Friday. I'm not sure why that's significant to those of us who aren't in the the United States but hell, people are going on about it everywhere this week. Or so it seems. Anyway, a couple of things which are ostensibly "for Black Friday", as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday, are these two Jeffrey Lewis session video for Wowsers Trousers.
The first is for 'Cult Boyfriend'...
...and the second is for 'Don't Let The Record Label Take You Out To Lunch'.
More information about Wowsers Trousers on their Tumblr.


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Making Millions Off Designer Leftovers in China
Vipshop Holdings is in the business of selling excess inventory in China. The WSJ's Kathy Chu explains how good timing helped the company grow into a multimillion-dollar business.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... the the ... what did this question at one time or another what happens to design a spillover is in a Margate innocent and you see that ... the attacks that data and be sold ... aam but actually ... there's one company whose turning it into a multimillion dollar business joining me now Wall Street Journal reporter Kathy Kathy Chu at ... Kathy and this this have ... to play an interesting business so that they take that the spillovers from top designers ... and they put it back onto the market and sell it to consumers at a discount ... to the and he's not been there either company founded in two years and ... that they're taking unwanted goods from retailers think that they can sound ... and the marketing and discount consumers in this business is really booming right now ... because with the slowdown of growth in China's economy what's happening is the consumers cutting back spending ... and this is flowing through to retailers who can sell a lot of it that they wanted to what they expected to walk when you become a wedding that didn't occur to me West reading your story is the fact that so many brands and luxury brands have had sex ambitious expansions ... in China in particular ... and they've I'm actually though for produces too much in and red eyes but the one designer who actually told me ... they don't just ship one line out they should the entire season because they were banking on the speed and so ... I'm ... is is there a big problem with the overflow with with designers these that the problem with the overflow ... and it's not just with a monthly companies is going down to just that everyday retailers well ... as the consumer is at a cutback in spending become more conservative ... partly because of slow down economic growth but also because of this ... and leadership transition ... on Wednesday as retailers as well and it's you know home retailers appealing until ... they're seen inventories build that there seemed expectations for growth that just a few years killing of a ... double digit just just shrink by today and they're realizing that ... the overpaying to come on China and the center short-term ... and and another thing that surprising is its more profitable to the design is actually sell this their inventory extra inventory to people to companies like this ... instead I meant is that you think you would dilute the brand said SBTV BBCN and if you see your ... ID in your your designer goods are goods being sold somewhere Altai hugely discounted price doesn't that actually hurt sales ... eco a bit they're two things that I apparel companies are thinking of my now ... one is everyone is dealing ... with the most on time and so everyone's discounting ... and is the app that the president yet these are told that ... if you are not doing it in you can lose market share silly comment ... on the economy the key kind of this is ... not ... the perception that discount it was that the kids and Wednesday ... secondly just how its inventory or new books cost money you have to keep this inventory ... and it's going to earn prevent you from using that money to do something else ... so what a lot apparel companies are doing across the board in China now ... is the discounting your feet deep deep discounts to clear up the inventory so they can get new pressure inventory and ... and then when they clean up the inventory ... it the more conservative about ... the inventory they are pretty and in order to not have the same problem ... Dexia ... said just how profitable can this business the ending is that how how much is that making ... I well you know the these companies are doing extremely extremely well they they ... they say they're in there and they've never been better which isn't a ... bad sign ... for some of these apparel company is especially Chinese brands that are hardest hit ... by the slowdown in spending is trying to ... sell your business has never been better they don't know for how long this will last ... as China's economic growth continues to slow ... time business will show surely be good for these companies has a consumer that's not a bad deal but they say meds last A Journal reporter tap each


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Joan Smalls Stars in H&M's Latest Lookbook: See it All Here
Joan Smalls Is the Face of H&M's Latest Styling Lesson
Joan Smalls Is the Face of H&M's Latest Styling Lesson
H&M's latest trend story casts Joan Smalls as the face of its black and white — and totally romantic — new narrative. The retailer proves that the season's must-have colour duo is hardly two-dimensional in its aptly titled Romantic Edge lookbook. The looks showcase the supermodel in both smart, snappy black and white prints and softer white dresses and lace, as well as tough-girl (faux) leather jackets. It's easy to get lost just staring at the gorgeous photography (like those shots of Miss Smalls making her way down a flower-covered stairway), but you won't want to lose sight of the styling lessons at work here. Keep clicking for a little H&M-guided how-to in mixing prints and pulling off the hard-meets-soft approach to dressing — it's all inside.


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If you develop an application for the cloud, such as Microsoft Azure, you may need to create a distributed workload. Distributing workload in the cloud is one of the fundamental aspects of scalability, because you can breakdown the work into smaller pieces and use multiple machines to process the workload. A good workload distribution technique exposes the following important characteristics:
- The more machines you use, the faster the overall workload will be processed - An increase of machines to process the workload scales in a linear fashion - When a machine crashes another one can pick the load from where the other one left off
Let's first review the overall architecture of a workload distribution topology. Let's assume we have a Distribution Service (DS), which is responsible for preparing the overall workload (for example, we need to backup 100 databases). The workload is broken down into 100 individual requests; each request is then saved into an Azure Queue (possibly as an XML). The Azure Queue is the favorite tool for workload distribution because it guarantees that only 1 service can retrieve a message at a time, and there are built-in recovery mechanisms in case of failure of the processing service (PS).
The Processing Service (PS) is a Worker Role responsible for reading items from an Azure Queue and perform the operation requested. Depending on the amount of work involved, you could code your PS to process a single request at a time, or process multiple messages at the same time. Each PS could have more than one processing thread, if needed. Finally, you could deploy multiple PSs to further increase the throughput of the workload.
The following diagram shows a simple logical deployment model that implements a single DS and multiple PSs to process the workload. From a physical deployment standpoint, the DS could live inside the same worker role as the PS, on a different thread. This works well if the DS and the PS do not compete too much for the same resources. If the DS has significant pre-processing needs, the DS should reside on its own worker role. In the following sections we will improve upon this architecture to handle DS high availability and Azure scalability targets.
To calculate the maximum throughput of your distributed workload using the architecture above, let's assume the DS does not have any bottlenecks and does not need to scale. Let's further assume that you can processing 10 (T) parallel threads in each PS (each thread consuming 1 message at a time), using 1 PS instance (X) and it takes 5 seconds (S) to process each message. This gives you T * X / S messages per second maximum throughput, or up to 2 messages per second. If you deploy your PS worker role a second time, you now can perform 4 messages per second. Generally speaking, this model is linear in nature as long as you don't share any resource. However, as you will see further below, you are sharing the same Azure Storage Account and Azure Queue, so after a certain point, you reach a throughput plateau unless you improve the design.
Also note that smaller processing times makes a more scalable system. It is usually better to have many small requests than a few large ones; it is usually easier to handle failure/retry for smaller units of work, and the system is overall more responsive when it has to deal with smaller retries than large ones. So choosing what your unit of work should be is fundamental. As a general rule, I try to select workloads that are a few seconds in duration and do not depend on the outcome of other workloads, or the sequencing of work units.
As discussed above, the simple workload distribution model scales well up to a point; specifically, Windows Azure introduces performance limitations on various services, and scalability targets on its storage account. As a result, the scalability of the architecture discussed so far is bound by Azure performance boundaries.There are ways to design around those limitations however. Let's take a look.
The new scalability targets for an Azure Queue is 2,000 messages per second. Note that this is not a guarantee; it is a performance target. You also have other limitations worth noting: 60MB/Sec per partition (in our case that would be the Azure Queue) and 20,000 transactions per Storage Account (and up to 15GB/sec per storage account). See this link for more information: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2012/11/02/windows-azure-s-flat-network-storage-and-2012-scalability-targets.aspx.
So in order to go beyond these scalability targets we need to adjust our design and allow our DS and PS to communicate through more than one storage account and, as a result, more than one Azure Queue. It may be possible to use more than one Azure Queue in each storage account, however for simplicity we are creating one queue per storage account in this design. This design implies that the DS creates messages across multiple storage accounts/queues, and that each PS reads from each available queue too, in a round robin mechanism. Over time, the system is able to write and read from multiple queues progressively and can process an even much larger number of items. This technique is called Storage Account Sharding and allows distributed systems to scale significantly.
By default, each Windows Azure account (Live ID) can have up to 20 storage accounts (you may need to call Microsoft Support to obtain 20 storage accounts). So technically, this approach still has a scalability limit. Nevertheless, it is easy to open additional Microsoft Azure Accounts and continue to create additional storage accounts.
There is one more item to consider: how to make the DS highly available. In theory, all you need to do is to deploy the DS to multiple worker roles, and you naturally achieve redundancy. In our design however, this could create a problem because each DS instance is unaware of the other; so this could lead to duplicate messages in the Azure Queues. To go around this issue, you simply need to implement a shared locking mechanism that allows each DS to determine if it needs to run the distribution, of if it should sleep and try again later. If one DS goes down, any other DS will be able to pick up the work going forward.
The easiest way to implement a shared locking mechanism that relies on a wake up call (let's say, run every 60 seconds), is to use an Azure Table. The Azure Table is shared by each DS, and a single entity representing the workload is created with a NextTimeToRun datetime property. Each DS then attempts to read then update the entity; by default, the update will fail if any of the properties has changed since it was read. So only 1 DS will successfully update the Azure Table at a time, and thus be responsible for running the next distribution.
Ultimately, the proposed distributed workload architecture would look like this. Note that the Azure Table will not be used extensively in this architecture,
Note that this architecture can be further improved. For example this approach doesn't prescribe the handling of poison messages, nor does it handle how to efficiently store data in SQL Database when dealing with large amounts of data. However, this should provide a good start for a distributed architecture in the cloud.
We talked about the DS being a worker role (or multiple worker roles) running on a schedule. However the DS could be a client facing application for example, not running on any specific schedule. If you deploy an application to thousands of workstations, each workstation could act as a DS and could publish data in the Azure Queues directly. This represents a specific use case of the scenario described previously. Here how this use case would look like:
Herve Roggero, Windows Azure MVP in South Florida, is the founder of Blue Syntax Consulting, a company specialized in cloud computing products and services. Herve's experience includes software development, architecture, database administration and senior management with both global corporations and startup companies. Herve holds multiple certifications, including an MCDBA, MCSE, MCSD. He also holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Indiana University. Herve is the co-author of "PRO SQL Azure" from Apress and runs the Azure Florida Association (on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4177626). For more information on Blue Syntax Consulting, visit www.bluesyntax.net.
Print | posted @ Thursday, December 27, 2012 8:57 AM
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Free Backup Tool for Azure Storage! Check it out. Used by hundreds of companies worldwide.
Herve Roggero
Herve Roggero
Key West theme by
Robb Allen.


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Carbonite and Mozy
Pricing: 15-day free trial, $49.95 per year (no monthly option).
Encryption: combination Blowfish/DES (PC)128-bit SSL (transmission).
Storage: unlimited, with upload limitation past 50GB.
OS support: Windows XP, Windows Vista
Web site
The best way to describe Carbonite's overall service is to glance at the total number of options presented to the user. Mozy Online's option page offers 13 separate checkboxes, two throttle controls (one controls bandwidth usage, the other PC responsiveness), and an "Only throttle between X and Y" option, where X and Y are selectable times.
In contrast, Carbonite offers just six standard options and a single checkbox throttle that's meant to lower Carbonite's Internet priority. This is a service obviously meant to appeal to those who want a solution that "just works," and the application feels almost—dare I say it—Mac-like in its simplicity and design. Files and directories are selected for backup via right-clicking on them from within Explorer. Once selected, a file or folder is marked by a dot to indicate its status: blue means that a folder contains backed up files, green indicates that a file has been backed up, and yellow means that a file is awaiting backup.
Backup and restore
Unlike other services we tested, Carbonite offers very few automatic backup options. Upon installation, users are presented with three options:
- Back up Desktop and My Documents folders.
- Back up everything on the hard drive, excluding system files, executable files, and temporary files.
- Back up nothing by default.
While this fits in with Carbonite's simple UI and presentation, the options available don't necessarily capture the range of backup modes users would prefer. Ideally, Carbonite would offer to back up certain file types or allow users to define a range of files (e.g., pictures, movies, and documents) they would like to save.
Carbonite's backup and restoration speeds also leave much to be desired. Upload speed on my system topped out between 80-120 Kbps, while downloads fluctuated between 150-180 Kbps. Clicking the "Lower Priority" box didn't appear to impact my upload/download speeds or Internet latency in any way, but it may have a more significant impact on consumers with slower broadband or who use Internet telephony (as mentioned in the application tooltip).
- Simple, effective interface handles most backup tasks well
- Easy to determine whether or not files have been tagged for backup from within Windows Explorer
- Relatively slow download/upload speeds; service is best for light/occasional backup needs
- Limited automatic backup options
Mozy Online
Pricing: 2GB free, $4.95 for unlimited storage.
Encryption: 448-bit Blowfish (encryption), 128-bit SSL (transmission), option to use personal encryption key.
Storage: unlimited
OS support: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Mac OS X (Beta). Windows Server 2000, 2003 supported via Mozy Pro.
Web site
Mozy's 2GB of free space is about standard, but the company's unlimited storage plan for just $4.95 a month is by far the most generous of the products we tested. Data is encrypted via 448-bit Blowfish encryption on the PC and then transferred using 128-bit SSL encryption. Users have the option of using a Mozy-generated key for data encryption, or they can define their own encryption key. This particular feature is unique to Mozy, but the company warns against losing the key once you've defined it, as they'll be unable to help restore your data.
Clicking the "Configure" button shown above opens the program's options, including backup set control, file selection, and backup scheduling. Unlike several of the other programs we tested, Mozy doesn't offer a "Backup this file" option when an item is right-clicked inside Windows Explorer, but single files can be restored quickly using the "Mozy Remote Backup" virtual drive folder that's created by default at program installation.
Mozy has a set of folders it preselects for backup. Tweaking Mozy's default configurations is simple, as is adding additional files to the backup sets—right-clicking brings up the "Add Backup Set" option. Individual files within backup sets can also be cleared or added once specific file folders are selected.
Backup and restore
Mozy's backup speed is fully controlled by the end user; the service can be throttled from 32Kbps to 1.0Mbps. Throttling can be turned on at all times or set to automatically occur between certain hours of the day. The separate "Backup Speed" throttle only impacted my system's Internet performance when shifted all the way towards "Quicker Backups"; at that point, I had trouble using the Internet for much of anything, although overall system performance was still fine. On my system, choosing a throttle point of either 256Kbps or 384Kbps with the Backup Speed slider set as indicated gave the best balance between smooth Internet performance and backup speed.
File restoration under Mozy is handled two different ways. One method is to simply navigate to the "Mozy Remote Backup" folder under My Computer, select the files or folders to be restored, and then choose the "Restore" option. The other option is to handle the backup via Mozy's online web service (accessed by clicking "Restore Files." Accessing Mozy via this method allows the user to select a backup set or a set of files that are then assembled via a restore request. Users then receive a notification via e-mail that the restore request is complete, and the file can now be downloaded. Clicking on the provided link initiates the download of a single zip file that contains all selected backup files.
The amount of time it takes Mozy to build a restore file for download was the only significant difference I encountered between the free and paid versions of the software. When I requested a restore build as a free user, it took Mozy 36 hours to make my restore file available versus only 18 minutes when I requested the same service as a paying customer.
Download speeds from Mozy's servers were approximately equal when downloading either a set of individual files (selected via the Windows Explorer interface) or pulling the cohesive zip file. In both cases, Mozy was able to sustain a download speed of approximately 3Mbps.
- Best throttling controls
- Best price/storage ratio
- Multiple encryption options
- Slow image restore process for non-paying users


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Who knew Fisher Price would ever move into the home cinema industry? Ok, so it's not a product from the kiddywink toys manufacturer, with this portable Aiptek DVD projector available now at Firebox.
With an integrated DVD player (remember when they were all the rage?) it's very much styled at those who'd want to slip a copy of Hannah Montana inside. Images are thrown up in a 50-inch diagonal, and while it won't impress Mr Home Cinema Buff, it might just keep his children happy for a few (quiet) hours. Available now for £159.99 (around $260), it's from the guys who came up with one of the first pico-projectors. [Firebox]


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KEY INDIVIDUALS OF COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE ACTION AND THEIR NETWORK ROLES: THE CASE OF NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES by Yoon-kyung Oh A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (POLICY, PLANNING, AND DEVELOPMENT) December 2011 Copyright 2011 Yoon-kyung Oh
Object Description
|Key individuals of community collective action and their network roles: the case of neighborhood council in the city of Los Angeles
|Oh, Yoon-kyung
|Author email
|Doctor of Philosophy
|Document type
|Degree program
|Policy, Planning and Development
|School of Policy, Planning and Development
|Date defended/completed
|Date submitted
|Date approved
|Restricted until
|Date published
|Advisor (committee chair)
|Musso, Juliet A.
|Advisor (committee member)
Weare, Christopher
Valente, Thomas W.
|This study examines community leadership as the factors that effectively achieve community collective action. Despite the free riders, small number of exceptionally enthusiastic individuals willingly dedicates themselves to collective goals and lead collective action. Those exceptional few are not just motivated by material benefits, but by satisfaction of fulfilling ideology, social or civic gratification, or emotional gains from influencing collective policy. From the idea that small number of key individuals is critical in collective action process, this study aims to answer the research questions of "who are those key individuals of community collective action?" and "how do they affect the effectiveness of community collective action?" ❧ Particularly, the roles of key individuals are identified in the context of their communication network. With an alternative way of defining community leaders based upon the brokerage concept, this study captured the uniqueness of community leadership. With the case of Neighborhood Council (NC) in the City of Los Angeles, which was created to increase citizen participation in urban governance, the research questions are statistically tested through the standard multiple regression models. The main dataset is 2006 NC board member survey conducted by Neighborhood Participation Project (NPP) at University of Southern California (USC). Missing data analysis and factor analyses are conducted prior to regression analyses for methodological purpose. ❧ As a result, first, previous experiences in civil society and interests in local politics are critical to take key roles in community action. In addition, formally designated leaders of community organizations are active in taking the brokerage network roles, which implies that their willingness and commitment are strong enough to overcome their structural constraints as strong ties. Second, those with high socioeconomic status (at an individual level) and strong political efficacy (at both individual and board levels) affect significantly the effectiveness of community action. Among network roles, the internal network role is the most critical brokerage role, which infers that the internalization of communication inside the group is crucial, and that organizational capacity that facilitates effective internal communication is expected for effective community action. Lastly, the issues that are affected by the network roles vary. From the individual-level analysis, key individuals who play network roles have a notable impact on NC activities associated with the community action process, whereas no significant relationship exists between active network roles and an NC's contribution to enhancing civic values. ❧ In sum, this study confirms the uniqueness of community leadership by verifying the characteristics of community leaders that are current and expected for effective community action. This study also assures the importance of managerial capacity that facilitates effective internal communication in community organizations. As limitations of this study, the inconsistency of format in network data, single-dimensional performance data, and low R squares and small sample size (at a board level) are addressed. Qualitative analyses, such as in-depth interview or case study can be considered to supplement statistical analyses. This study concludes with policy recommendations; to provide more opportunities for citizens to train their civic skills and stimulate interest in their own community, to promote NC's achievement to increase citizens' external political efficacy and effectively outreach to community, to develop community leadership and induce more people to act as leaders in NC activities, and lastly to provide training and administrative support that improve NC's organizational capacity.
|community organization; leadership; collective action; social network
|Part of collection
|University of Southern California dissertations and theses
|Publisher (of the original version)
|University of Southern California
|Place of publication (of the original version)
|Los Angeles, California
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|University of Southern California. Libraries
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|University of Southern California
|Oh, Yoon-kyung
|Physical access
|The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.
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|University of Southern California Digital Library
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|USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA
|Repository email
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|KEY INDIVIDUALS OF COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE ACTION AND THEIR NETWORK ROLES: THE CASE OF NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES by Yoon-kyung Oh A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (POLICY, PLANNING, AND DEVELOPMENT) December 2011 Copyright 2011 Yoon-kyung Oh


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4 Star Hotel is close or near to Phoenix Durban
The Riverside Hotel is a full service hotel in Durban North that provides accommodation for families with family rooms as well as for the individual on a business trip.
The four-star Durban hotel is where luxury meets comfort with 169 stylishly designed bedrooms and suites. Quality comforts, such as a self-serve kitchenette, telephone, lounging area, and satellite TV are provided, and each of the rooms have views over the beautiful city, glistening river, lush gardens or idyllic ocean.
Five minutes from the city centre of Durban, with wonderful views across a magnificent green belt stretching from the Umgeni River to the Indian Ocean.
The Riverside Hotel reflect resort life in, the city. One hundred and sixty – nine superbly appointed bed rooms, two Restaurants and a conference facilities have been designed to offer our guests a luxurious and relaxed environment.
The Riverside Hotel
Tel: +27 (0) 31 563 0600
E-mail: email@example.com
Web site: www.riversidehotel.co.za
Address: 10 Kenneth Kaunda Road, Durban North
Always open
The Riverside Hotel Complex
The Riverside Hotel is a full service hotel in Durban North that provides quality accommodation for families with family rooms as well as for the individual on a business trip.
Facilities available at the hotel include, a 24 hour reception, currency exchange, Conference facilities at The Riverside Business Centre, room service, laundry, mini gym, baby-sitting facilities, shuttle quest , tour's and much, much more.
Restaurants available at the hotel include The Riverside Grill and The Hops Sports Bar where there are daily activities and specials.
The Riverside Grill is a restaurant situated inside The Riverside Hotel.
This tropical-like restaurant and bar has something to offer everyone and makes for a terrific escape from the normal city life.
The Riverside Grill has a daily Happy Hour and a Sunday plated roast buffet.
Hops Riverside is the premier venue of choice in Durban. Situated adjacent to the Riverside Hotel.
The venue caters for most sporting events on the big screen.
The emphasis on the entertainment is to create and sustain a wide variety of events ranging from local bands to comedians dancing classes in Salsa and quiz evenings.
Have a make over with Martin Pearman Hair – Creative Salon.
Is a progressive hair design and care solutions studio.
That provides cutting edge with latest trends and product technologies.
We use our knowledge to create the unique style that is right for the unique individual you are.
There is no shortage of things to do during your stay at The Riverside Hotel. You can take a stroll along the golden mile visit uShaka Marine World, the enormous Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Umgeni Bird Park, play a round at the Windsor Golf Course, or catch a game at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Whatever you're into, you'll find it situated within a few minutes travel from The Riverside Hotel. See a full list of activities and attractions close to the hotel.
Discover how amazing your stay can be by visiting The Riverside Hotel, we are only 5 minutes away from Durban CBD, 15 Minutes away from Umhlanga central business district and 28 Minutes away from King Shaka International Airport.
We are close to the following suburbs in Durban: Riverside, Umgeni Park, Durban North, Virginia, Glenashley, La Lucia, La Lucia Ridge, Umhlanga Rocks, Umhlanga Ridge, Prestondale, Glen Hills, Sunningdales, Somerset Park, Mt Edgecombe, Phoenix, Morningside, Musgrave, North Beach


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If you're like me and it's been awhile since you've studied your early Twentieth Century French war history, then here's a link to Wikipedia with a fascinating description of exactly what the Maginot Line was. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom and look at the maps and historic pics.
Give the bulls their credit. They stepped up and defended 800 once again by initiating a high volume straight up charge into the close. The short term momentum the bears had off the Monday high was broken and I've projected out what could be the micro degree wave 2 for this move. After 2 more precise pins off the bottom of my wave 3 channel I now see those set of trenchlines as being even more important going forward. I am going to look to redeploy bear troops I covered near the top of the yellow channel if I get the chance.
Despite the bulls valiant end of day charge I think it could all have been part of the master plan Trojan Horse trap the bears have been laying down for over 2 years. I included a couple of charts of the VIX demonstrating the count and pattern I think may be in play there and I'll be damned if that doesn't look like a stick figure horse. The key to pay attention to is the VIX triangle. Until the bulls manage to push the VIX back under 38 you need to be very cautious and short-term with any bull positions. The breakout from the horse (wave 4 triangle) and bull slaughter could happen at anytime. If we are set to break 800 my guess is it will happen suddenly with no warning on a gap down type of action as that is usually how major breaks occur. Expect the bears to spring out of the VIX horse at the same time making it expensive to buy any protection for the next leg down.
In order for the bulls to prove this is more than just a minor correction off of the Monday high, they will need to first get back above the 848 pivot and 2nd take out new highs. Being that this is a 2 it is possible and some would say likely it will be a powerful retrace that at some point tests the bears resolve that the first move was real.
- DoctorMad


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The evolution of the Puerto Rican vote
The out-migration of New Yorkers to Florida has altered politics in both states for decades and the trend appears to be continuing.
This time it's Puerto Ricans moving from New York City to Central Florida, a demographic shift that is rippling across both the New York City mayor's race and Florida politics.
Only a portion of the Puerto Ricans who have moved to the Orlando area are from New York (many arrive from the island and are eligible to vote right away), but it's enough to have left a mark in both places.
With a mayoral race on the horizon in 2013, Ed Morales of City Limits has a terrific piece (one in a 5-part series) that looks at the demographic shifts among New York's Puerto Rican, Dominican and Mexican groups and how it's influenced city politics – and Latino political aspirations -- in recent years.
Since the defeat of Fernando Ferrer in 2005, where he won the Democratic nomination convincingly (something Herman Badillo had never done) yet suffered a devastating loss to the incumbent Bloomberg, New York's Latino political apparatus has been unable to identify a credible candidate for mayor, or even citywide office.
Much of this can be attributed to a few factors: a shift in the city's demographics that have gradually eroded the power of Puerto Ricans, long the city's dominant Latino group; a decline of the Bronx Democratic machine (meaning there are no Latino county leaders at this time); and the subsequent consolidation of power by Latino politicians to hold onto local offices and bases of support rather than developing broader appeal.
Since 2000, the percentage of Puerto Ricans in New York vis a vis the rest of the Latino groups has dropped considerably, even though they are still the largest group. Puerto Ricans dropped by 11.2 percent to a total population of 723,631, while Dominicans jumped 8.2 percent to 576,701 and the Mexican population increased 73.7 percent to 319,263.
As Puerto Rican clout has declined in New York, it's grown in places like Orlando's Orange County, once a battleground but now becoming comfortably Democratic thanks in part to the in-flow of Democratic-voting Puerto Rican voters (not to mention African-American growth).
The Orlando Sentinel's Central Florida Political Pulse blog described the new Orange County order Wednesday:
Orange County's newly-minted legislative delegation today announced that its first gathering will be on Dec. 17, and once seated, it's new complexion will have gone from deep red to blue.
Orange's last lawmaking crew was made up of 12 Republicans and four Democrats. Now Democrats hold eight elected posts, and Republicans just six…
Aside from carrying more blue Democrats into a red Tallahassee run by Republicans, the new Orange delegation is also decidedly green. Of its nine House members, five are rookie Democrats: Randolph Bracy, Karen Castor Dentel, Joe Saunders, Linda Stewart and Victor Torres.
The national implications of Orange County's evolution were apparent on Election Day as President Barack Obama won 59 percent there. Between the Democratic margins in Orange County and in neighboring Osceola County, where there has also been significant growth in the Puerto Rican population, it might be fair to say that the state's famed I-4 Corridor now no longer qualifies as a swing area.


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Fall Foliage Finds: Zealand Valley area
J.E. Henry pretty much stripped the Zealand Valley of every tree by 1904 and that led to problems downstream.
But it can be argued, that bad behavior led to the National Forest system East of the Mississippi.
Henry's got a state historic plaque for himself along Route 302, which is not that complimentary. But the thing about the land is that it heals.
Today, that very land, which was stripped, has returned to just about fully forested.
And this week, it looked like a huge bowl of Trix cereal with oranges, reds, yellows and gold against the green conifers as I hiked and drove.
Our third Fall Foliage Find is to visit the Zealand area, just off Route 302, here in what is technically the Town of Carroll. But nobody calls it that. It is more often Twin Mountain or Bretton Woods or even Crawford Notch, just a few miles away.
Coming from the South on Route 3, just after you make the right turn at the four corners in Twin Mountain, you will soon see the sign for the WMNF camping on your right. Turn right and cross the bridge and head up a steep paved hill where the trees are in all their glory right now. The road turns to dirt and runs for miles along the Wild Amonoosuc River and there are lots of trail heads to start your walk into the Zealand Valley.
When I was there Monday, there were anglers casting their flies in the Wild Ammonoosuc, which shadows the narrow dirt road. You do not need four-wheel drive.
Parking at the trail heads are fee-based and you need to leave a few dollars in the iron ranger.
You can camp for $18 a night at the White Mountain National Forest's Sugarloaf I or Sugarlaof II in the midst of peak foliage and look up at those great peaks. One of my favorite hikes in that area is the Ethan Pond Trail, which gets you into the valley.
There is more than a 1,000 foot elevation gain between the road and Zealand Valley above, which has signs that it was once a railroad.
You can imagine the trains loaded with virgin timber being hauled out and moved to the cities. If you visit the Appalachian Mountain Club's Zealand Valley hut, (along a nice set of waterfalls above), you can read a bit about Henry's destruction.
The AMC guide has a lot of great suggestions for hikes in this area but even if you are not up for anything in the woods, get out of the car and walk the dirt road, maintained by the forest service. The foliage is gorgeous right now.
For camping information http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whitemountain/recarea/?recid=74731.


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Bohemian's Keller Rye: This is Bohemian's latest seasonal. Keller Rye is an unfiltered rye lager. Brewed with Köln and Munich malts it pours an orange, copper color and has a smooth sweet malt character up front with hints of spicy rye in the back end. German Hallertau Hersbrucker hops dry out the finish to bring crisp balance to this very drinkable lager.
Returning Favorite.
Epic's Santa Cruz: This "Brown IPA" is an interpret of the recent Black IPA trend. The Santa Cruz Brown Ale is a true hybrid. For this beer Epic combined the rich malty backbone and color of an American brown ale with piney, resinous American hops, creating a completely new and unique type of beer. Easily one of my favorite Epic beers.
Uinta's Sea Legs Baltic Porter is finally available for sale as well. @ Uinta's Bottleshop


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I'd suggest they start by reducing the number of pens they use to sign bills with.
If governors and the president truly want to cut the budget…
9 Responses to "If governors and the president truly want to cut the budget…"
Nick Says:
March 15, 2011 at 1:27 pm |
haha fantastic. And very true.
I actually dont think most senior officials should be paid (or get benefits). That makes it true "public service" and would force most of them out after a term or two.
Nick Says:
March 15, 2011 at 3:00 pm |
Question for the informed masses on this blog:
During the draft, what will the trade rules be? Because of the lockout, NFL teams cannot trade or sign players. But can they trade draft picks and cash during the draft? Or will all teams be stuck in the position they are currently in? I know TT like to move around in the latter rounds, so how will this impact his strategy?
TGinGB Says:
March 15, 2011 at 3:44 pm |
Don't remember where I read this, but my understanding is that they will still be able to trade draft picks, just no trades involving current players.
Travis Says:
March 15, 2011 at 11:33 pm |
I heard that too. No players, just picks
Nick Says:
March 16, 2011 at 8:22 am |
Thanks guys. Will be an interesting day. Just hope the Packers continue the impressive streak of fantastic and impactful drafts!
- Travis Says:
Dave K Says:
March 16, 2011 at 9:23 am |
This lockout is frustrating for all fans but it has to be extremely frustrating for the fans of those teams going through a transition of a new coaching staff or new key players.
The Packers are pretty set and they won't have rookies or new players that will be crucial to the season. The Packers have a fairly mature roster despite their age in terms of players with extensive experience in the offensive and defensive systems they run.
Teams with new coaches or QB's are going to be really punished if they lose the off-season programs like mini-camp, QB schools, training camp, pre-season games, etc…. Think of the Vikings. They have new offensive coaching staff and a very young QB (Webb) or a rookie QB who won't be able to work with the coaches. It could be a disaster for them if a deal gets worked out right before the season starts. We could see some really ugly football games to start the season and I think the Packers are one of the teams set up to excel in that situation.
AZWarrior Says:
March 16, 2011 at 11:38 am |
Dave K – good point. Too bad about them Vikings, eh?
nik Says:
March 16, 2011 at 1:56 pm |
just wanted to pass this along:


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The Louisiana Athletic Trainers' Association has developed a regional council system designed to improve communication and promote collaboration between athletic trainers, school administrators, and the public. The Regional Chairpersons will serve as a resource for the exchange of knowledge and the dissemination of current information within the state of Louisiana regarding health care issues specific to athletes. This system will help enable athletic trainers, school administrators, as well as the public to identify a local health care professional providing athletic training services.
Chris Brister, MS, ATC, LAT
Chris is a certified athletic trainer (ATC) and a duly qualified/LSBME certified health care provider of athletic training services working within this region. The LATA President has appointed this member as the Region 9 Chairperson to serve as a liaison and resource regarding athletic training service issues and/or questions.
Athletic Trainer Contact Information
If you need additional information or assistance, please contact any member of the


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All-star games mean big decisions for top players
The high school season is over, and the all-star game circuit will kick off this weekend when McDonald's All-American game practices begin on Sunday. This should create a little more action on the decision front for some of the nation's top prospects.
While the class of 2013 is pretty much picked over, there are a handful of big fish such as Andrew Wiggins, Aaron Gordon, Keith Frazier and Rysheed Jordan with decisions to make. So far, only Frazier ? who is planning to announce on Thursday ? has set a date.
Additionally, 2014 five-star Dwayne Morgan will be announcing on Wednesday.
Since his decision is coming up first, let's take a look at Morgan. A 6-foot-7 forward from Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances, Morgan is set to select from Georgetown, Maryland and UNLV during a ceremony at his high school.
Heading into decision day, the Hoyas and the Rebels are the programs generating the most buzz. UNLV has been considered the hidden leader, but Georgetown has come strong over the past few weeks.
Next in line to make his pick is the 6-foot-5 Frazier. A five-star shooting guard from Dallas (Texas) Kimball, Frazier is going to pick SMU or Texas Tech. At SMU legendary coach Larry Brown is trying to rebuild, while at Tech interim coach Chris Walker is hoping to remove the interim from his tag.
This is an interesting one to say the least. The Mustangs have been considered a leader for a while, but Walker and Tech have been making a big run at him. Still, Walker hasn't been named head coach, and if that hasn't happened by Thursday then it would be a pretty unprecedented move -- or a major tell that Walker is getting the job -- for Frazier to pick the Red Raiders. For now SMU still gets the edge, but if Walker is named the coach at Tech between now and Thursday things could change.
After those two, the only big name guy left who has actually set a decision date is Gordon, who will announce during the McDonald's All-American game April 3. A 6-foot-8 jumping jack, the five-star from San Jose (Calif.) Mitty finished his season on Saturday night with a 20-20 effort in a state title loss to Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei.
The finalists for his services are Arizona, Kentucky, Oregon and Washington, and for the better part of the winter it has looked like Arizona or Washington ends up with him, perhaps with Arizona holding the slight lead.
The Wildcats and Huskies have been there every step of the way. Arizona already features a few members of Gordon's Oakland Soldiers summer team, while Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar has a longstanding relationship with the Gordon family from when he recruited Aaron's older brother, Drew. With Kentucky's recent landing of Julius Randle, it appears to be out. However, Oregon is an interesting finalist here. Dana Altman's squad is on a run, has one of Gordon's good friends playing the point in Dominic Artis, and it was added to his final list two months ago after initially getting cut.
As for the nation's top player, things remain quiet on the Andrew Wiggins front. Everybody knows that he has completed visits to Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina, but outside of that, there's not much to report.
No decision date has been set, and there have been no rumblings about where he may or may not be leaning. One rumor says it is down to KU and UNC, another says he's always been going to UK, while the other theory is that he'll pick FSU because of family ties. The fact is, there just isn't anything credible out there on Wiggins at the moment.
Finally, there's Jordan. The nation's top remaining point guard prospect, the 6-foot-4 senior has an excellent shot of moving up to five stars when the final rankings for the class of 2013 are done. For the latter half of his state title-winning senior season, Jordan has been rumored to be leaning to UCLA. However, with Ben Howland out in Westwood, the Bruins are at a significant disadvantage.
If they were indeed trailing, as rumor had it, Temple and St. John's have to see a major opening to try to lock up Jordan. Jordan has been a frequent visitor to Temple games during the 2012-13 season, and at St. John's the Red Storm should be returning a team full of long and athletic players with whom Jordan would fit in nicely.
Steve Lavin and the Red Storm, much like UCLA, have also been a rumored leader at times. Can their stable of athletes trump playing for a hometown squad that has been very successful of late that has room for a new star to take over the departing Khalif Wyatt?


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After weathering volcanic ash, wicked winter snow, and rough financial storms last year, Great Britain and Ireland are hoping for a smoother 2011. Fortunately, there's a lot to look forward to.
On April 29, the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton takes place at London's Westminster Abbey, followed by a public appearance and reception at Buckingham Palace. Expect exuberant crowds if visiting during this time. Several companies, including London Walks, are offering royal wedding walking tours featuring the wedding venues and the couple's favorite haunts.
London is also prepping for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and visitors can take guided tours of the construction zone that will become the Olympic Park. This site is handy to visit in conjunction with a trip to the built-to-the-hilt Docklands district, for those who want to see a modern side of London beyond Big Ben. Filled with skyscrapers, art, and people, the Docklands is an easy stop on the way home from Greenwich, as both destinations reside along the same DLR (Docklands Light Railway) line. Seeing all three — Olympics site, Docklands, and Greenwich — make for a great day trip to London's thriving east.
Restoration projects are ongoing at some of London's top sights. Lady Di's former home, Kensington Palace, is under renovation through mid-2012. During this time, its regular exhibit of historical artifacts has been replaced by a cheesy Enchanted Palace theatrical show not worth the 12.50 GBP ($19.30 USD) entrance fee. The overpriced Dali Universe exhibit, once located prominently next to the London Eye, is currently being moved and downsized ... making it easier than ever to avoid. A multi-year expansion continues at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Tate Britain will likely begin renovation work this spring.
London's airports are also being spiffed up. Heathrow's oldest terminal, T-2, will be closed until 2013 during its 1 billion-pound renovation. Gatwick Airport's renovation is complete, and its two terminals are conveniently connected by a free, two-minute monorail ride.
Eurostar's monopoly on the Chunnel tunnel expired at the beginning of 2010. Air France has announced plans for competing high-speed trains between London and Paris, with service starting possibly in 2011. Germany's national railroad hopes to run its high-speed trains to London by the 2012 Olympics.
Outside of London, travelers will find new — or greatly improved — sights. In February, the Royal Shakespeare Company returns to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford after a three-year renovation. If planning a visit, book your room and play tickets well in advance.
In the Beatles' hometown, the new Museum of Liverpool will open this summer, filling a big, splashy, white building on the harborfront next to the Albert Dock. The museum will feature exhibits on the technological and cultural history of the city.
York's top archaeological sight, the Yorkshire Museum, reopened last year after a major facelift at a relatively minor price tag, thanks to employees who pitched in with renovations to help keep costs to a mere 2 million pounds. The museum's new exhibits focus on prehistoric, medieval, and Roman times.
Across the sea, the Irish capital of Dublin continues to expand its public transportation system, with the light rail's red line now extending to the hip O2 Theatre (nicknamed The Point), the country's top live-music venue. The beefed-up Dublinia exhibit has emerged from renovation with three floors of Viking and medieval history, including a huge, well-done model of medieval Dublin.
Down south, the Waterford Crystal Visitor Center has reopened in a brand-new facility in downtown Waterford. The new space offers a more intimate experience than the old factory, which was much larger and located outside of town. During the one-hour tour, visitors are encouraged to ask questions of glass blowers and crystal cutters.
In County Clare, a new rail line has been completed, connecting Limerick (via Ennis) and Galway for the first time in decades. This is a big plus for those staying in Ennis and relying on public transport.
In Northern Ireland, Belfast has adopted an "iLink" transit smartcard system, similar to London's Oystercard. And the city's excellent Ulster Museum — intriguing for the British bias it injects into its Irish history exhibits — has reopened after a $27 million remodel.
Like many countries, the UK and Ireland are struggling financially. British Prime Minister David Cameron announced dramatic spending cuts and an increase in the Value-Added Tax from 17.5 percent to 20 percent (which likely means higher prices for travelers). Meanwhile, Ireland's much-vaunted "Celtic Tiger" economy is long gone. But regardless of these problems, infrastructure and tourism improvements continue, making this a fine year to visit Europe's most popular isles.
( writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. E-mail him at , or write to him c/o P.O. Box 2009, Edmonds, Wash. 98020.)


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December 20, 2017Global
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So not everyone knows this, but Luke is a gigantic fan of collages.
He's made a dog collage, a cat collage and even a spoon collage.
The other day he decided he wanted to make one of the Fun Kids presenters, so we all went off to a big green room and had our photo taken.
Check out the behind-the-scenes pictures…
We'll have some new shiny photos and videos to show you soon. And Luke's collage of course.
Remember, you can catch these guys on DAB Digital Radio in London and online across the UK! Click here to listen!


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The Hedge Combers
A Field-to-Fork Foodie Adventure
I'm Janie, I'm a food writer, photographer and recipe creator.
I share my home with Jonny and a little black rescue cat called Sassy. We breed Muscovy ducks for eggs and meat and have laying hens in the garden. And depending on the time of year, we'll either have pigs in the field or bacon in the freezer. Read More…
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text: Ultralight fishing has existed 100 of years ago but it has never widely regarded as one of the fishing area that everyone should explore and enjoy. Today, you can find there many ultralight fishing rods in the market which you can select the various brands made by different manufacturers due to the explosion ultralight fishing trend. You may want to …Read More »


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Ciao! Day 11 was another fabulous day in the gorgeous city of Florence, Italy. It was kicked off with a scrumptious breakfast at the hotel - prosciutto, salami, croissants, boiled eggs, peaches, and coffee...yum! After breakfast, we grabbed our Florence map and headed towards the Uffizi Gallery to see some amazing artwork. The concierge at the hotel was nice enough to make us a reservation. So, once we walked to the gallery we could spend our extra time taking photos of the square instead of standing in line. The gallery was very pretty. I was most excited about seeing Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" and "Primavera", as well as Titian's "Venus of Urbino" and several works by Da Vinci. I love Botticelli's work. He's known for his beautiful faces, and I can certainly see why. His paintings were even larger than I had expected.
Back in the hotel courtyard...
Uffizi Gallery! They didn't allow any photography in the Florence museums...I wish we could have taken some photos...then I would have more to share with you!
After walking through the entire gallery, we were pretty hungry so we started looking for a place to eat. After browsing several restaurant menus, we decided to try a place called "Gusto Leo." Brad and I both ordered pizza with prosciutto, mushrooms, artichokes and olives. You hear about the great pizza in Italy, and all the rumors are true....real Italian pizza is unbelievable!!! The main difference is probably the fact that they don't pile on the sauce and other toppings. Plus, the ingredients always taste fresh and the dough is perfectly thin. When you have great, fresh ingredients, maybe less is more! I washed mine down with some "Coca Cola Light," of course.
Pizza "4 Stagioni"...our FAVORITE! I can't wait to share my recipe for this in the next post!
Once we were finished with lunch, we explored the city a little while longer and then made a pit stop at the hotel so Brad could leave his camera gear in the room...that stuff gets heavy after a while! Once we did that, we made our way over to the Academy Gallery to meet Michelangelo's "David" for the first time. Wow...he is A LOT taller than I expected! I guess I thought he would be more life-size, but he is huge! It was really cool! It blows my mind that artists could take a ginormous piece of marble and carve it into something so beautiful and life-like. Michelangelo's "Slaves" were also really neat to see.
Back in the hotel courtyard...
Next, we walked the streets of Florence some more. We loved simply roaming the streets - it was one of our favorite things to do in Europe if we had time. In Florence, there weren't quite as many things to see and do (say, compared with Paris), so it was a little more relaxing. We knew we'd need that extra energy for our next stop - ROME!
I love these cars!
This cute little dog was wandering the streets with a cone on his head...poor little guy!
This was on the side of a building...pretty funny!
A gorgeous wedding window display...
That night, we had dinner at a great little cafe right on a piazza called "Caffe Concerto." It's the oldest cafe in Italy. It was built on what used to be the Roman Forum...pretty neat, huh? The food was fabulous! I had the Gnocchi with mozarella and basil. Brad had the tagliatelle pasta - Bolognese style. Of course, we shared a bottle of red wine to complete the meal. There was a carousel in the middle of the piazza, so it was fun to watch that and all the people going by while we ate.
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
(Tagliatelle bolognese style)
Gnocchi di Patate alla Sorrentina Salsa di Pomodoro, Mozzarella, Basilico
(Potato dumplings with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil)
Next, we explored the streets yet again and got some gelato and some lattes/expresso for dessert. The gelato was divine...every single time we got some. We had a scoop of chocolate, coffee and tiramisu - perfect!
After dessert, it had gotten really cold outside (and late!), so we headed back to the hotel...we needed to get an early start the next day. Rome, here we come!


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THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! Premieres "Reindeer Games" Special
Arlington, VA - December 16, 2010 - PBS KIDS is celebrating this holiday season with strong ratings. PBS KIDS shows held four of the top ten spots in children's programming among kids 2 - 5 for September, October and November 2010, according to Nielsen ratings. CURIOUS GEORGE� was ranked number one in September and tied for number one in November, and THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! held the number one spot in October.
These series, along with other PBS KIDS favorites, will be airing special holiday episodes throughout December. THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! will premiere its first holiday special episode "Reindeer Games," which helps children learn the science behind how reindeer use antlers to dig in the snow and find food. Other favorite programs' holiday episodes teach kids the meaning of the season and help build literacy, science and math skills.
PBSKIDS.org also offers fun games and mobile apps to keep kids engaged during the holiday season, including the web-based online safety game WEBONAUTS INTERNET ACADEMY, and the new DINOSAUR TRAIN Eggspress App for iPhone and iPod touch. The whole family can also watch holiday and other episodes any time on the PBS KIDS video player.
Following is a listing of the episodes airing on PBS KIDS throughout December (check local listings for air dates and times).
THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! - "Reindeer Games" NEW!
Nick and Sally can't find their sled that's buried under the snow. Cat's friend Magnus the reindeer is great at finding things in the snow. Off they go to the Jingly Bell Forest where Magnus shows them how he digs with his feet and shovels snow with his antlers. And when Nick and Sally find Magnus' old antlers, they can shovel snow now too and find their sled!
CURIOUS GEORGE - "A Very Monkey Christmas"
Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat are having a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas. There's only one dilemma - neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present! In the end, both gift-giving predicaments are simply and beautifully resolved, revealing the true spirit of the holiday season.
DINOSAUR TRAIN - "Dinosaurs in the Snow" and "Cretaceous Conifers"
"Dinosaurs in the Snow"
Buddy and his Pteranodon family ride the Dinosaur Train to the North Pole - where it's cooler out and the skies are dark all winter long! The kids get to play in the snow and slide on a frozen pond for the first time.
"Cretaceous Conifers"
The whole Pteranodon family travels to Troodon Town to help Mom celebrate her favorite holiday, Winter Solstice. They learn about evergreen conifer trees and help decorate them at a holiday party.
SUPER WHY! - "Twas the Night Before Christmas"
'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through Storybrook Village, not a creature was stirring�except for Whyatt, who has an important question for Santa! So the Super Readers catch up with Santa and his reindeer as they gallop from rooftop to rooftop and unravel the mystery of Santa's childhood, discovering along the way how to help spread the magic of the holiday.
SID THE SCIENCE KID - "Sid's Holiday Adventure"
Sid loves celebrating the winter holidays where he lives, because it's always sunny and warm. But this year, Sid and his family are visiting relatives where it's chilly and cold. Sid wonders why it can't be warm everywhere. At school, Sid discovers that temperatures are different all over the world!
WORDWORLD- "The Christmas Star" and "A Christmas Present for Dog"
"The Christmas Star"
It's the night before Christmas and Frog needs a star to hang on his Christmas tree. Duck thinks this will be the perfect present for Frog, and tries to lasso one out of the sky for him. Try as he might, Duck is unable to catch a star for Frog, and cries himself to sleep. But while he sleeps, someone leaves him a wonderful present: the letters S-T-A-R�
"A Christmas Present for Dog"
It's Christmas morning, and all the WordFriends are excited by the presents Santa has brought for them! Pig has a sled, Bear has a doll and Ant has a cookie. But not all the letters for Dog's present came down his chimney. All he has is a B-A-L. Bear gets filled with the Christmas spirit and makes a sacrifice to ensure Dog's Christmas will be merry!
BARNEY & FRIENDS - "Gift of the Dinos and a Visit to Santa"
It's Christmas in the park and BJ dreams of getting a new glove to go with his beloved big league baseball, while Riff hopes for new drumsticks to use his cherished drum. When Barney reminds them that Christmas is about more than getting gifts, they decide to give each other his dream gift�even if it means parting with a most-loved belonging. They learn the true meaning of Christmas, and, in the end, "Santa Barney" makes everything right by restoring the drum and baseball.
CAILLOU - "Caillou's Christmas" and "Winter!"
"Caillou's Christmas"
Caillou goes out caroling for the very first time with Mommy, Daddy, Rosie, Grandpa and Grandma. He finds out caroling is lots of fun - you get to stay up late and surprise your friends with carols, and you even get treats! They finish up the night with a big finale at the seniors' home and Caillou imagines he's really 'dashing through the snow' in a horse and sleigh.
Wintertime brings lots of new experiences. Sarah teaches Caillou to build a snowman, Dad helps him stay upright on his ice skates (and picks him up when he falls down), and Mom shows Caillou the fine points of downhill skiing, including how not to be afraid of the ski lift. When Caillou and Dad get to the vendor too late to buy a good Christmas tree, they decorate one in the yard instead. All the beautiful colored lights chase away the winter gloom. Also, Caillou learns about the Chinese New Year. He even tries some Chinese delicacies, but most exciting of all, he gets to see the famous dragon dance!
ARTHUR - "Arthur's New Year's Eve"
What exactly happens at midnight, December 31st? There are plenty of rumors, but no one seems to know for sure. Arthur is determined to stay up and discover the horrifying truth.
WORDGIRL - "Oh Holiday Cheese!"
Who moved the Botsfords' cheese? In a brand new episode of WORDGIRL, Dr. Two Brains uses his cheese-swiping ray to ruin the holiday spirit of young Becky Botsford and her family. Can WordGirl save the party and teach Dr. Two Brains an important lesson about his curmudgeonly ways?
CYBERCHASE - "When Penguins Fly" and "Starlight Night"
"When Penguins Fly"
Penguins can't fly - or can they? In Cyberspace, on one special night each year, the penguins of Penguia take flight to deliver gifts to young borgs across the virtual universe. For the first time ever, the CyberSquad's friend Fluff is participating, and invites his pals Matt, Jackie, Inez and Digit to join him in the impressive Penguin March. But Hacker, up to his usual ruinous tricks, doesn't want a happy holiday (let alone happy little borgs) so he creates a giant ditch in front of the Ice Palace and traps all the penguins in its icy depths! The CyberSquad must get the penguins ice-shoes so they can climb out before midnight, but how many do they need? Can the CyberSquad save the penguins and their favorite holiday too?
"Starlight Night"
It's Starlight Night, the annual holiday when all the stars in Cyberspace are refreshed for the new year. But Hacker concocts a scheme to darken the stars forever. He sends Buzz and Delete to stop all production of new star circuits and take inventor Archimedes to the Northern Frontier. With the ceremony only hours away, the kids and Digit must find a simple way to make the complex circuits and rescue Archimedes -- all before Hacker turns out the lights in Cyberspace!
MAYA & MIGUEL - "Miguel's Wonderful Life"
What might life be like without Maya? At first, it seems like Miguel's Maya-made troubles are over, but then Miguel sees how the lack of Maya's influence has adversely affected the world: Maggie and Chrissy aren't friends because Maya's not there to help them sort out their differences and Mr. Nguyen isn't their teacher because Maya wasn't there to make him feel appreciated. Miguel soon regrets wishing Maya away, and poof! The world goes back to normal. Maya is back and Miguel couldn't be happier to have a twin sister.
About PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. More than 21 million children watch PBS KIDS on TV, and more than 21 million engage with PBS KIDS online each quarter. For more information on specific PBS KIDS programs supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit PBS.org/pressroom.
Ratings Source:
Nielsen NPower, 08/30/2010 - 11/28/2010, Live+7 Day national AA program ratings among children ages 2-5 for PBS and select competitive cable networks (Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, The Hub, Nickelodeon, and Nick Jr.). Rankings are based on unique program names for shows telecast at least three times during each month.
Curious George is a production of Imagine, WGBH and Universal. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Television Series: (C) 2010. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.


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A 4-day tour along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, focusing on the observation of some of the most targeted species of birds in Southeastern Europe, including Dalmatian Pelican, Pygmy Cormorant, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Levant Sparrowhawk, Syrian Woodpecker, Masked Shrike, Sombre Tit, Paddyfield Warbler, Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, Olive-tree Warbler, Olivaceous Warbler, Black-headed Bunting, Semi-collared Flycatcher, Pied Wheatear and Isabelline Wheatear.
We will first visit the coastal lakes of Shabla and Durankulak and Cape Kaliakra on the northern sea coast. On our way south we will stop in the Eastern Balkan mountain range, where we can find a great variety of forest birds. In the last two days we will explore the Bourgas wetlands and the deciduous forests in the Strandzha Mountains.
If you wish to join one of our scheduled Balkan Specialties Birding Trips, please check the availability.
Download the check-list of birds likely to be seen on this tour.


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Breathtaking views, great surroundings and a fantastic dwelling to enjoy them in.
We loved Eravue – a top class, five star holiday house with the most incredible view across the Sound of Sleat
We had the most wonderful time at Eravue, we could have stayed in the lounge forever, great style and comfort and that view – wow!
Eravue offers couples an unrivalled romantic escape where you can relax and enjoy the view together. The house is a cosy 'get away from it all' location, a favourite with Honeymooners and those looking for peace and tranquillity. A fantastic base for walking, bird watching, or just chilling out with a glass of wine to watch the world go by!
We have to leave today and you can't imagine how sad we are!! It was so great in your wonderful home – we will come back.
A home with lots of space for everyone – so all the family can find their own special place to enjoy the view. The beach is 5 minutes away with great rock pools just waiting to be explored. Close to Broadford, Armadale and the mainland so always plenty to do and see for those that want to explore the Island and surrounding areas.
Thank you! Fantastic relaxing break for the family. Beautiful house, amazing views – just perfect.
A perfect home for meeting up with friends, the spacious lounge is ideal place to congregate for celebrations and the deck area extends your space outside to soak up the spectacular views. With 3 double bedrooms there is plenty of space to relax and recharge your batteries before heading out for dinner at one of the many fantastic local restaurants.
The view! The best we can find from any cottage in Scotland. The house – amazing! A perfect place to spend time with friends.


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Magicians, comedians, people who disturb our comfortable interpretation of the world…" These are among the influences Briggs cites and they seem apt indeed: you have to pay close attention to the artist's tricks to figure out what's happening: did you miss his mother's well-hidden body in Portal? Or his father's ever so discrete presence in Into the Black?
Each of Briggs' photographs is set up as a stage, with the players (most often his mother and his father) miming unsettling thoughts and hinting at unresolved domestic tensions.
Briggs prefers flirtation with the unsaid rather than confrontation, but the one-act plays do contain an element of revenge, or at least the suggestion that there are old scores to settle.
The Briggs family album, to which the artist often has recourse, is both a curse and a blessing: it certainly recalls momentary joys of childhood, but it also reminds Briggs of the role he was obliged to play in the 'performances' directed by his father. Now Briggs-the-artist has the upper hand, proving Wordsworth's famous observation, "the child is the father of the man."
Text by William A Ewing