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MIT researchers have built a prototype device to absorb the vibrations of underwater cables. The work is important because such shaking causes problems for scientists, fishermen, oil companies and virtually anyone else who relies on some combination of ropes, cables, pipes and casings in marine environments.
The device could also aid researchers who are studying vibrations caused by wind.
A cable in the ocean vibrates because water flows past it and creates a turbulent wake. As vibrations increase, so too does the resisting force-known as drag force-that is exerted on the cable. This can cause a variety of problems. For example, the increased drag force on a shaking cable connecting an anchor, scientific instrument and buoy may pull the buoy under. Increased drag can also make it difficult to tow underwater cameras or vehicles and cause wear and tear on cables, particularly at termination points.
As a result, many attempts have been made to minimize vibrations. "Lots of things have been tried," said J. Kim Vandiver, a professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering and director of the Edgerton Center. "There's a long history of people doing things like adding fuzzy plastic grass to cables." The type of device that works best, he says, has an airfoil-shaped fairing made of plastic, which fits over a cable. However, such casings are also very expensive and won't pass through pulleys or winches.
Armed with a conceptual approach to the problem, Professor Vandiver collaborated with several students to design and build a prototype vibration absorber. The researchers included graduate students Li Li and Ethan Butler, and several students from MIT's Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. (Dr. Li and Mr. Butler have since graduated.)
The MIT apparatus concentrates on the terminations of cables. Vibration amplitude builds when waves travel down the cable, hit the ends and are reflected back into the center of the cable, creating standing waves. Rather than eliminating the source of vibration-the turbulent wake-this invention diminishes the steady-state standing wave vibration by absorbing waves incident on the terminations.
With the device, each of the cable's ends terminates in a stainless-steel fork commonly used to terminate wire ropes on a yacht. The fork is pinned to a metal flange, which is welded to the side of a foot-long shaft, with the cable and fork roughly perpendicular to the shaft's axis. The shaft is hinged to the boat or towed object with two fixed bearings, so that the cable's tension is transferred from the fork to the shaft and then to the bearings.
The ends of the shafts are encased in non-moving cylindrical sleeves, and an extremely viscous liquid, with a consistency similar to that of very cold honey, is placed between the shaft and the sleeve. This liquid serves as a damping material, absorbing vibrational energy as heat.
Professor Vandiver and Mr. Butler first tested the apparatus in the laboratory, then moved out into Massachusetts Bay. There, they conducted experiments in 100 feet of water, with one cable termination attached to a small boat and the other attached to a towing device known as a V-fin. Resembling an upside-down kite, the V-fin is typically used to tow vehicles or cameras in deep water. The investigators measured vibration and found roughly a 50 percent reduction in vibration amplitude.
Researchers collecting acoustic measurements could also use this instrument. Because cable vibrations can occur at the same low frequencies as those sounds used by the researchers, confusion as to the source of a sound can arise. Reducing vibration lessens the chances of contaminating underwater acoustic measurements.
Applications for the device reach beyond oceanography. "There's a whole group of professionals who worry about wind," muses Professor Vandiver. "Driving down the road occasionally you'll notice a tall smokestack that has funny, spiral things wrapped around it. Those are the smokestack equivalents of grass [around underwater cables], to help prevent it from vibrating in wind."
While Professor Vandiver's cable terminations won't steady smokestacks, the experiments will help researchers understand the underlying physical phenomenon that causes the problem.
The project was funded by MIT Sea Grant and a consortium of 11 oil companies.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on March 13, 1996.


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NYC museum presents 'The Little Prince' exhibit
NEW YORK -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery crafted The Little Prince in New York City, mentioning Rockefeller Center and Long Island in one draft of the beloved children's tale - references he ultimately deleted.
That page is contained in the French author's original handwritten manuscript, which is the subject of a major exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum on the 70th anniversary of the book's French publication - a year after its U.S. debut.
"The Little Prince: A New York Story," which opens Jan. 24, features 35 of his original watercolors and 25 pages from his heavily revised 140-page text, written in Saint-Exupery's tiny script.
Some visitors may be surprised to learn that The Little Prince, which has been translated into more than 250 languages and dialects, was written and first published in New York.
"It's well documented that he wrote the book here, but it's not well known to the general public," said Christine Nelson, curator of literary and historical manuscripts at the Morgan.
"Because the manuscript brings you back to the moment of creation, we wanted to set the exhibition in the place and time of creation," she said. "It focuses on the emergence of this work in New York during the war. He was writing it just within miles of where this exhibition is being shown."
Saint-Exupery, a French aviator and best-selling author, didn't live to see his book published in France after the war. He died while piloting a reconnaissance flight in 1944, weeks before the liberation of Paris.
The Little Prince tells the adventures of a boy who hails from a tiny asteroid no larger than a house. On his way to Earth, he visits other planets and meets a king, a conceited man, a drunkard, a lamplighter and a geographer. On Earth, he encounters a fox who teaches him: "What is essential is invisible to the eye." The phrase is the book's central theme and one Saint-Exupery revised 15 times, including the version "What matters cannot be seen."
Saint-Exupery came to New York after France fell to Germany in 1940. He spent two years living near Central Park and Manhattan's East Side and renting a summer home on Long Island's North Shore. Frequently, he wrote at the Park Avenue home of his close friend Silvia (Hamilton) Reinhardt. He entrusted his handwritten manuscript to her before he rejoined his squadron in North Africa.
The Morgan acquired the manuscript from her in 1968, the museum said. Saint-Exupery's French publisher, Gallimard, has just published a facsimile of the working manuscript.
"This is very much a preliminary draft, a work in progress and yet to anyone who knows the book well it will be entirely recognizable," Nelson said.
Among the exhibition's highlights is an unpublished drawing that Saint-Exupery had wadded up and tossed showing the prince wearing his signature yellow scarf floating over Earth. Some of the illustrations are paired with images from the first edition.
The pages on view include episodes from the prince's time on Earth that were deleted entirely from the final version: a meeting with a storekeeper who gives him a lesson on marketing and an encounter with an investor who has a machine that meets every need with just the push of a button.
"He was a very diligent author. He worked, labored, revised, read out loud to people ... he was very interested in people's response to the story," Nelson said.
There's also a three-page draft of an alternate ending in which the narrator muses about what happened to the little prince after he left Earth.
"It's much more agonized and melancholy and reads as a war-time text," Nelson said. "The final version is more open-ended, more mysterious, leaving it up to the reader to conclude how to feel at the end of the prince's journey."
The exhibition also features a silver identity bracelet that Saint-Exupery was wearing when he was killed. It is on loan from Saint-Exupery's Paris estate.
The bracelet, never before exhibited in the U.S., "was recovered in 1998 after it was snagged in a fisherman's net and bears the author's name and the New York address of his American publisher" Reynal & Hitchcock, said Olivier d'Agay, the estate's director.
The exhibition helps "reinforce the bonds of friendship between the French and the Americans through one of the most beloved books of all time," he added.
The exhibition runs through April 27.

subset: commoncrawl


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WASHINGTON – U.S. officials say one American has died in the hostage standoff at an Algerian gas complex.
The officials say the deceased American is a Texas resident, Frederick Buttaccio. It is unclear how he died.
The officials say Buttaccio's remains have been recovered and his family has been notified.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter.


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About The Yangtze Boutique Hotel Shanghai
The Yangtze Boutique Shanghai is a historic hotel originally build in 1933. Yangtze Hotel, the predecessor of The Yangtze Boutique Shanghai, decorated with lavish art deco style, this hotel was touted as "The Third Largest Hotel in the Far East". As the social resort gathered many celebrities and movie stars, it was exactly the birthplace of the most classic and well-known song "Rose, Rose, I love you".
Owns the superior geographical position in the People's Square, this boutique hotel in Shanghai is located in Hankou Road and enjoys convenient access to the Shanghai Metro Lines 1/2/8, as well as being bordered by major cultural and entertainment highlights within walking distance, such as Nanjing Pedestrian Road, the Raffles City, People's Park, the Shanghai Museum, and so on. What's more, the 103 comfortable rooms, brilliant restaurants, functional conference facilities enable guests to enjoy fantastic experience.


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We've heard of hate-reading—the kind of reading you do out of disgust or loathing or contempt for the author. Now, it seems that a new type of reading style has emerged: call it "shame-reading."
In a poll cited by The Daily Mail, 34% of a test group of 1,863 British subjects admitted to having used their e-reading devices to read erotic novels. And 57% of the same group of adults said they had used theirs to hide the fact that they were reading young adult literature, like Harry Potter, and 28% to disguise their sci-fi book habit. Overall, 58% of respondents said they use their e-readers specifically to "hide" what they are reading.
These same adults filled nearly three-quarters of their bookshelves with autobiographies, political memoirs, and other non-fiction; on their e-readers, those genres accounted for just 14% of their reading material.
With so much of our technology working to connect us and allow our private lives exposure, the privacy afforded by the e-reader is an uncommon advantage. (If that's, you know, what you're into.) And shame-reading will likely only grow in practice, as authors discover this lucrative sub-market of the ebook industry and cater directly to it. [DailyMail - Image via preetamrai/Flickr]


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Remember all of this
excitement hoopla over Facebook's latest standalone app, Poke, yesterday? You aren't the only one that is interested, apparently. As The Next Web reports, Poke by Facebook has hit the No. 1 free app spot on Apple's App Store, just a day after being released.
Make no mistake about it, the big companies like Facebook and Google are going to have the best holiday season ever thanks to Apple and iOS. It's very rare to see utility or social apps hold the top free app spot like Google Maps has over the past week, and like Facebook Poke probably will. It's usually a game, or a boogers app that holds that down.
And they get massive downloads because of it, especially during this time of the year.
What does this mean for consumers…and for Apple? Most iOS users who are getting new devices, or even first-timers, are swayed by what's hot on the App Store. The leaderboard is very important to onboard new users into the app ecosystem. Apple likes to highlight the best and brightest that shows off their technology, but the leaderboard shows what users are really interested in. Today, it's all about Poke.
When Facebook said it was focusing on mobile, it wasn't kidding. Holding the No. 1 free app spot is like having the biggest kiosk in a mall during the biggest rush of the year. This type of crowding from big companies isn't what the App Store has seen over the years, as we usually have a big game launch right around Christmas, thus ruling the charts since Apple freezes new submissions and releases during the holidays.
Note that Snapchat is holding the No. 9 spot, and is clearly slipping in popularity, and Google is sitting pretty at both No. 2 (Maps) and No. 5 (YouTube). Even Pinger's free texting and calling app is right up there at No. 6.
It's also important to note that the new "hot" apps tend to surge up to the top quickly, as Poke clearly has, but remaining there for more than a few days is a real feat. Can Facebook do it? Let's see as all of those new iPads, iPhones, Touches and iPad minis get opened next week. Also, having a billion users surely doesn't hurt your distribution and marketing efforts.
Welcome, Facebook. Seriously. Who knew that a Poke would be so important?
[Photo credit: Flickr]


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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Photo credit: Janitors)
There has been some recent debate about Samsung and their approach to regionally locking handsets, starting with the Galaxy Note3. It's a very interesting situation, and one that will impact grey marketers and their customers more than those who sell and buy in market. But the real story is not the region locking. It's about the lack of transparency by Samsung and what they are attempting to do which is to protect their "customer" and their customer isn't the consumer.
The fact is this is about protecting the distributors and dealers who legitimately buy devices from Samsung, forking over hard cash, putting staff and promotion behind the sales of product in the legitimate market the device was sold into and to protect against what is called product diversion. It's also about protecting the carriers from having devices that can be bought elsewhere, without contract and put on their network, but without the long term predictability of how long the customer will stay with them which is why the carriers get behind any product. It's another creative way to help those carriers who buy hundreds of thousands of units so they can keep the customer "locked to them" without the customer being locked to the device if they want to change devices the way some people change shoes.
Compare Samsung to Apple. Apple sells unlocked devices directly to consumers through the Apple stores ONLY. If you want one, you buy it direct from Apple, and so does or did HTC. But Samsung doesn't really sell direct, they rely on the channels to drive their sales, and that's what this is all about.


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Otherness and Transgression in Celebrity and Fan Cultures
Hosted by the Cultural Transformations Research Group, Aarhus University.
November 21-22, 2014
Keynote speaker:
Matt Hills, Aberystwyth University –
"Fans as Celebrities, Celebrities as Fans: The Rise of an Affective Economy?"
The notions of otherness and transgression play an essential part in the cultural work and practices celebrities and fandoms perform inasmuch as these concepts are inseparable from the celebrity and fan cultural processes of social in/exclusion, identification and dissociation, uniformity and diversification,
and forces both drawing and disrupting demarcations between normalcy and deviance. To the extent that these processes are actively shaped by and partake in shaping our desires, contempt, ways of thinking and being, otherness and transgression constitute pertinent sites for critical exploration within
the two overlapping fields of research, Fan and Celebrity Studies.
A complex and multivalent term, otherness is conventionally signaled by markers of "difference" and the unknown. As difference remains a condition for any determinate sense of identity, otherness is also inevitably implicit and complicit in considerations of subjectivity, identity, and sameness rendering it a pivotal aspect in discussions on both their constitution and impossibility. Likewise, in the field of Fan and Celebrity culture – where categories such as class, gender, race, sexuality, and age dynamically intersect and interact in manifold ways – the identity work, social meanings, and cultural preferences informing both these cultures' production and consumption of cultural and media texts are also
constantly negotiated. Reflexive of the values, biases, and tensions of the social body, they are useful indicators of contemporary configurations and devices for othering; for example, the ways in which the discourses of immorality, pathology, monstrosity, impropriety, and cultism, among others, inform the construction of difference, and function as vehicles for othering that additionally cut diagonally across various imbricating "-isms," such as racism, heterosexism, ageism, ableism, and lookism.
As difference often implies the perception of deviance, otherness is accompanied by the constant impending threat of transgression, to undo and redraw the differentiating limits determining the
provisional identities of entities, behaviors, and bodies. While transgression refers to a violation and exceeding of bounds, it also ambiguously realizes and completes these boundaries as it helps define them and reaffirms a given social order by designating the illicit. This dialectic of the de/stabilizing
effects of transgression summons further inquiry in relation to fandoms and celebrity cultures, in which deviance is an attractive commercial component. Construed as particularly excessive, both celebrity personas and subcultural fan practices are defined by their distance from the norm, but where celebrity
culture concerns the consumption of transgressive content and narratives of extraordinary personalities, in the case of fan culture, consumption itself is purportedly transgressive. Celebrities are conventionally conceptualized as power-saturated signs seductively reinforcing cultural norms – either
through glossy portraits of charismatic individuals advertizing luxurious lifestyles and the censure of celebrities in the scandal genre respectively – and fandoms, conversely, as subversively contesting these norms through the fetishistic appropriation of cultural icons, media products, and playful textual poaching. However, hardly homogenous, both celebrity power and fandoms channel a multitude of contradictory and inconsistent ideological inflections, and entail a complex mesh of conformity and heterogeneity, which informs, for example, the social interaction among fans and their interpretive communities, whose internal fractions struggle over affect and meaning, as well as the pervasive circulation and currency of certain im/proper celebrity images and fan identities. Accordingly, the need to study, explain, and analyze the semiotic labor invested in the celebrity sign and by the fan in a given media product respectively only becomes greater.
In light of today's new socio-political subjectivities, prosumer and participatory culture, new technologies and distributive modes, expanding networks, and means of communication enabling transcultural proximity between individuals from different parts of the world, new encounters, expressions, and understandings have emerged and with it, transformed nuances of othering, saming, and transgression. As a result, Fan and Celebrity cultures, are in need of a reappraisal in which the new fickle and permeable boundaries between identities, cultural practices, private and public spheres, products and consumers, celebrity and fan bodies, intimacy and estrangement are investigated.
Refracting otherness and transgression from overlapping prisms, the pleasures, representations, productions, and affects of celebrity and fan cultures opens up a fruitful and invigorating space for further research.
It is this variety of formulations which this conference wishes to convene on from divergent disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. The Cultural Transformations Research Group at Aarhus University therefore invites submissions exploring celebrity and fan cultures within the scope of the critical spaces and contexts offered by otherness and transgression.
The Intersection of Celebrity and Fan Studies
Sex, Gender, Sexual Differing, and Queering the Fan / Celebrity Body
Cross-Over Celebrities; Ethnicity, Hybridity, and Fandom in Transcultural Contexts
Celebrity Representations of Dis/ability and through Fan Works
The Intersectionalities of Social Categories in Celebrity and Fan Cultures
Notoriety, Infamy, Scandal, Deviance, and Excess
Social Media and the Construction of Celebrity as Other
The Construction of Otherness in Fandom and Fan Works
Monstrosity, the Abject, and Uncanny in Fan Fiction, Fandoms, and Celebrityhood
Pathology, Addiction, Cultism, Confession, and Therapy
Mashing and Vidding: Viral and Violating
Authenticity, Secrecy, Intimacy, and Publicity
Post-feminist Celebrity Narratives and Cultural Forms
Power, Prosumerism, and Participatory Culture
New Modes of Self-Other Relations within Para-social Contexts
Fan and/or Celebrity Shaming
The (Im)Material Other Worlds of Fandoms and the Alternative Spaces of Fan Communities
We are pleased to announce that qualified research papers are considered for prospective publication in a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal Otherness: Essays and Studies,
http://www.otherness.dk/journal/. Submitted articles will follow the standard review process of the journal.
The conference is open to scholars and students of all disciplines. Those wishing to participate in the conference are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to the organisers at firstname.lastname@example.com by 5 September, 2014. The convenors will have reviewed the
abstracts and notified the authors of whether their proposals have been accepted no later than
September 12, 2014. Papers may be given in English with citations in any language, and are limited to 20 minutes.
All questions regarding conference content (abstracts, presentations, speakers etc.) may be directed to the organizers at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Matthias Stephan, Ph.D. scholar Claus Toft-Nielsen, Ph.D.
Lise Dilling-Hansen, Ph.D. scholar Susan Yi Sencindiver, Ph.D.


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Blog Archives
Exeter Poetry Festival Programme 2014
Tickets for events can be purchased:
– Online, using the links below or by browsing upcoming events
– By phone, 01392 667080
– In person in advance from Exeter Phoenix Box Office, Gandy Street, Exeter,
– In person at the venue on the night
Guidance on using the box office to purchase tickets.
Quick links to event ticket purchase:
– 30/09 'Beyond Borders' at Exeter University with Victor Rodriguez Nunez, Harry Guest, Martin Sorrell and Andy Brown
– 01/10 'The Retold Ramayana' at Exeter University with Daljit Nagra
– 02/10 'National Poetry Day Reading' at Exeter Central Library with Gillian Clarke and Adam Horovitz
– 04/10 'The Forgotten of World War One' at Exeter Central Library
– 04/10 Fiona Benson and Carrie Etter at Exeter Central Library
– 05/10 Workshop with Carrie Etter at Exeter Central Library
Monday 29th September
Simon Williams and Susan Taylor
Venue: City Gate Hotel, Cellar bar, Exeter
Time: 7.30pm
Tickets: FREE
After great success last year, we again kick-start the Festival with the launch of a collector's edition of The Broadsheet, featuring poems from Festival guests alongside work from some of the most talented poets resident in the South West
Tuesday 30th September
Venue: Queen's Building, Exeter University, Prince of Wales Road, EX4 45B
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Tickets: Donations to Festival appreciated
Four of Exeter University's brightest lights read for us as a poetic prelude to the Festival's signature lecture…
With Víctor Rodríguez Núñez, Harry Guest and Martin Sorrell
Venue: Old Library, Exeter University
Time: 7.30pm – 9pm
For one night only we're lucky to bring together experts in poetry translation to read their work and discuss the joys and challenges of translation in practice. Introduced and facilitated by Dr. Andy Brown, Director of the Centre for Creative Writing at Exeter University, we bring you multi-award winning Cuban poet Víctor Rodríguez Núñez; poet, editor and specialist in Japanese and French translation, Harry Guest; and esteemed academic, BBC playwright and translator Martin Sorrell, for a stimulating and multi-cultural evening of readings and debate.
Wednesday 1st October
With Daljit Nagra
Venue: Roborough Studios, Exeter University, Prince of Wales Road, EX4 45B
Time: 7pm – 9pm A two hour performance including interval.
Tickets: £12 / Students £8 /children 11+ £6
We are thrilled to have the critically acclaimed Daljit Nagra amongst our line up this year, for a visually stunning retelling of the Ramayana.
Daljt's technicolour and multi-cultural version of the tale follows Rama's quest to rescue his wife Sita from her abduction by Raavana, Lord of the Underworld.
Ahead of the event (6pm – 6:30pm) is a free lecture by Dr. Jerri Daboo, Senior Lecturer in Drama at Exeter University: "Exiling heroes and burning demons: examining two productions of 'The Ramayana' in Britain".
Thursday 2nd October
With Gillian Clarke and Adam Horovitz
Venue: Exeter Central Library
Time: 7pm – 9pm
The Festival's signature reading this year brings National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke and upcoming poet and performer Adam Horovitz, described by Carol Ann Duffy as 'the real deal' to the Exeter stage.
Friday 3rd October
Venue: Exeter Central Library
Time: 7pm – 9pm
Tickets are now SOLD OUT! For other events at Exeter Poetry Festival, 30th September to 5th October, buy your tickets here.
Critically acclaimed rapper and spoken word artist Kate Tempest comes to Exeter for one night only.
Her epic narrative poem Brand New Ancients won the Ted Hughes Prize and she has just completed a sell out run in the UK and New York. Everybody Down, her debut solo album, came out earlier this year on Big Dada Records, also to vast acclaim. Her first full collection, 'Hold Your Own', will be published by Picador on October 9th 2014. Early booking advised.
Saturday 4th October – Daytime
Venue: Exeter Central Library
Time: 1pm – 5pm
The Untold story of Ivor Gurney
A special screening of Redcliffe Film's widely praised biopic of Ivor Gurney, the WW1 soldier, poet and composer.
Women Poets of WW1
Some well known female writers based in Devon and Cornwall read and respond to poems written by women living and working during the Great War including Charlotte Mew and May Sinclair. With Ann Gray, Rachel McCarthy, Helen Evans and Chrissy Banks.
FREE EVENT – Voices and Memory
Time: 3.30pm – 5pm
ExLibris launches a pamphlet of poems based on WW1 objects held in Exeter Library's archive.
Saturday 4th October – Evening
Venue: Exeter Central Library
Time: 7pm – 9pm
Our final reading brings Fiona Benson, fresh from reading at the Forward Prize for Best First Collection for her widely acclaimed Bright Travellers, together with American poet Carrie Etter, whose latest work, Imagined Sons, was described by Bernard O'Donoghue as simply "of the utmost importance."
Sunday 5th October – Daytime
WORKSHOP : CARRIE ETTER – Adventures in Prose Poetry
Venue: Exeter Central Library
Time: 11am – 1pm
Join award-winning poet and lecturer Carrie Etter to delve into the intricacies of the prose poem. For both those new to and those familiar with the form, this workshop offers fresh adventures in prose poetry, in reading and discussing wonderful works as well as composing our own.
Sunday 5th October – Daytime
Venue: Bikeshed Theatre
Time: 7.30pm –
To apply to take part, please email: email@example.com
15 contestants, 3 rounds, 1 winner, much kudos.
There will be a prize of £50 cash and a further £50 paid slot at Spokes Amaze! for the winner.
Judges for the event are last year's winner, Saskia Tomlinson, current Bard of Exeter Daniel Haynes and celebrated local poet Graham Burchell.
Gillian Clarke on Radio 4 and at Exeter Poetry Festival On National Poetry Day, Thursday 2nd October 2014
Twenty one years ago, four relatively unknown poets spoke with Peggy Reynolds for BBC Radio 4 about the impact of gender and nationality on their poetry and on their sense of themselves as poets.
Today, Carol Ann Duffy is the first-ever Poet Laureate, Gillian Clarke is the National Poet of Wales, Liz Lochhead is the Makar or National Poet of Scotland, and Eavan Boland is a highly distinguished scholar-poet who divides her year between Stanford and Dublin.
In the light of these developments – not to mention the constitutional changes and wild economic fluctuations of the last 21 years – Peggy Reynolds speaks with each of them again, asking them to reflect on their creative and professional journeys and on the state of women's poetry – and poetry in general – today.
Finally, she asks them to cast forward and predict what they might say if there were a similar programme in 21 years time. Their replies surprise her.
Thursday 2nd October
With Gillian Clarke and Adam Horovitz
Venue: Exeter Central Library
Time: 7pm – 9pm
The Festival's signature reading this year brings National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke and upcoming poet and performer Adam Horovitz, described by Carol Ann Duffy as 'the real deal' to the Exeter stage.


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Always on the verge of a seeming comeback, airships are back in the spotlight, touting new technologies. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency recently announced funding for an innovative, ballast-free airship technology created by Aeros Aeronautical Systems, based outside Los Angeles. The Aeroscraft ML866's potentially revolutionary Control of Static Heaviness system compresses and decompresses helium in the 210-ft.-long envelope, changing this proposed sky yacht's buoyancy during takeoff and landings, Aeros says. It hopes to end the program with a test flight demonstrating the system. Other companies are planning their own first flights within the next few years. Each has a design that it promises will launch a new era of lighter-than-air transportation.
To blanket hundreds of miles with high-resolution radar, the 450-ft.-long, unmanned High Altitude Airship will use old-fashioned lifting gas to ascend. A top-mounted solar array may enable this massive radar platform to stay aloft for up to a month.
Designer: Lockheed Martin
More From Popular Mechanics
Operational Alt.: Up to 60,000 ft.
Speed: 28 mph (cruising)
Progress: The airship's radar system is still being developed, but Lockheed is scheduled to fly a full-size prototype of the ship by the end of 2009. The Missile Defense Agency is a potential user.
This unmanned, 62-ft.-dia. diesel/electric hybrid broke the world airship altitude record in 2003, reaching 20,000 ft. Designed for scouting and surveillance, the SA-60 can fly autonomously. Its round design gives it more low-speed maneuverability.
Designer: Techsphere Systems International
Operational Alt.: Up to 10,000 ft.
Speed: 35 mph (cruising)
Progress: With no major deals announced, Techsphere is putting its best blimp forward, with a higher-altitude followup to the SA-60--the SA-68--scheduled to fly this year.
The cargo-hauling SkyCat-20 features retractable hover-cushion engines that allow for vertical takeoffs and landings and can also be reversed, eliminating the need for a ground crew or handling equipment. Variants could include firefighting blimps.
Designer: World Skycat
Operational Alt.: Up to 10,000 ft.
Speed: 97 mph (maximum)
Progress: World SkyCat originally planned a first flight for 2002. The updated schedule calls for a SkyCat-20 world tour by the end of this year, and production models in early 2009.


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Getaway: Nashville for families
What's the hidden bonus of a family tour of Nashville? Being able to connect with your kids, especially those hard-to-please 'tweens and teens through music. To the generation that downloads tunes instead of spins LPs, Nashville offers a historical perspective even if country isn't your kids' favorite musical genre.
In Music City the digital generation can discover how folk, country, rockabilly as well as rhythm and blues influenced their hot iPod picks. And even if you yourself came of age in the era of vinyl and eight tracks, you get to be the guide and gain some newfound respect from the kids.
To those kids who have not yet discovered country or don't think it's "cool," just say two words: Taylor Swift. She proves that teens like country music. The best-selling vocalist is one of many headliners at the June 11-14 CMA Music Festival, Nashville's big block party.
But any time of year, begin your magical musical tour at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Plaques paying tribute to the genre's greats line the rotunda. "Sing Me Back Home," the permanent exhibit details country music's history and features such over-the-top items as Elvis' gold piano and Porter Wagoner's jacket, elaborately decorated with blue beaded wagon wheels.
The Hall of Fame's kiosks are the most fun. That's where you can call up videos and songs. After watching Minnie Pearl decked out in a flowered hat with a price tag attached deliver her lines, kids realize that she was a skit master long before "Saturday Night Live" and fashion, as part of showmanship, started way before Madonna's pointy bras.
You might also gain points with your teens by quietly singing along to Elvis' "Hound Dog" or toe-tapping to Jerry Lee Lewis' rendition of "Great Balls of Fire." To get in touch with performers' style and the decades' standards, have your kids listen to Patsy Cline croon "Crazy" and ask them to compare Carl Perkins' version of "Blue Suede Shoes" to Elvis's hit.
The museum's Experience Music programs offer songwriter sessions where kids can ask questions about the creative process and "petting zoos," where young musicians get to finger guitars, banjos, gourds and other instruments.
From the museum, board a bus to RCA's Studio B, the hallowed hall where Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold and Charley Pride recorded. Although there's not much to see except posters and the room where Elvis laid down "Are You Lonesome Tonight," the simplicity of the studio underscores that artists before the era of high-tech, really needed to know how to sing. No-lip synching allowed. Elvis recorded "Lonesome" in nearly one take. The ending required cutting and splicing because the back-up singers hit a false note.
More than 100 clubs, most clustered in or near downtown, offer live music nightly, but few admit those under 21. To enjoy live music with your kids, book tickets ahead of time. Check the headliner concerts, the museums' performance schedules and reserve space at one place that does allow kids (at tables, but not at the bar), the Bluebird Cafe. At the 21-table restaurant plus "listening club," artists perform as they might in your living room, without razzle dazzle back-up. Garth Brooks and Kathy Mattea sand here before they became famous. Also, the Stage on Broadway club admits kids accompanied by adults before 6 p.m.
Among the June and July offerings at the Ryman Auditorium are six nights of bluegrass music. The famed concert venue also hosts Elvis Costello June 16 and Chris Isaak July 22. The historic auditorium was home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974.
The Grand Ole Opry actually began in 1925 as the radio program "WSM Barndance." One night in 1927, after the show followed a classical opera broadcast, the announcer introduced the country music program as the "Grand Ole Opry" and the name stuck.
Every Saturday night the Grand Ole Opry, now with its own auditorium, hosts a variety of performances from country to crossover. Headliner shows feature Carrie Underwood June 9. Wynonna appears June 27 and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band takes the stage Aug. 15.
Nashville itself has the second largest landmass of any city in the U.S., sprawling over 533-square miles (Jacksonville is the largest). And in addition to popular music the city boasts a symphony. In the summer the Nashville Symphony offers free, outdoor, classical concerts in parks as well as paid performances of Brahms and Beethoven at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
The 55-acre Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, one of several museums in Nashville, hosts Family Night Out, geared to young kids, on Thursdays in June and July. Budding stars can clap along with such children's musicians as Dennis Scott, winner of a 2006 Grammy for producing a children's recording. Cheekwood is known for its botanical prints, Worcester porcelain, American silver and dazzling Faberge collection that includes three eggs plus tulips fashioned from amethyst, quartz and diamonds.
Outdoors, kids romp through the boxwood, Japanese and seasonal gardens and also explore the nearly mile-long sculpture trail. It's home to whimsical art works such as Sophie Ryder's "Crawling Lady Hare" and abstract creations like George Ricky's "One Line Horizontal Floating Twenty Feet," a metal beam that moves with the wind, changing appearance. With a Backpack Adventure bag borrowed from the museum, kids can follow scavenger hunt clues or sketch what they see.
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, located in an impressive adaptation of the former main post office, offers Frist Fridays, their summer concert series May 29, June 26 and July 31. Linger in the courtyard and listen to a variety of music from country and western to classic rock.
Unlike most art museums, the Frist, with no permanent collection, serves as a venue for traveling exhibits. Teens interested in architecture might like "Museums in the 21st Century," May 29 to Aug. 23. Those feeling moved to create should visit ArtQuest, the museum's room where kids and families can paint watercolors, make a print or create a sculpture.
Music City offers visitors plenty of places to try Southern comfort food, a must-do on a Nashville visit. For a stuff-your-face breakfast of biscuits, eggs, ham and blueberry pie, try the Loveless Cafe, a Nashville landmark at the northern end of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Popular Jack's Bar-B-Que serves up pork, chicken and turkey plates that get locals and visitors alike lining up. For a more healthy meal, visit Tayst Restaurant and Wine Bar, certified by the Green Restaurant Association, to find such tasty staples as spaghetti and meatballs (the spaghetti is whole wheat), trout and chicken fricassee.
Don't be surprised if you find yourself humming country tunes - or at least Elvis - while you explore. Some time before you head home from Nashville, you're likely to notice you and your kids share a newfound appreciation for music and each other.


text:
Hello everyone,
I have some experience with Java and am looking for a good tutorial or book, about Java3D, that people have tried with good success. I have followed a few Hello3DWorld tutorials but most do not explain the process or individual parts to the extent that I am looking for.
And yes I know I should probably look into OpenGL, my professor said it would be best, but I have taken a liking to Java and wanted to see what Sun has come up with.
I guess a book on the subject would be best so any suggestions would be nice.
Thanks in advance,


text:
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text:
A sure way to tell that summer is on the way in these parts? The fountains are back on! Of course it has been in the 40s and low 50s and I don't think many people are going to be running through them very soon but they are on and that means tourists are on the way. But, before we get to summer we have to get through the end of school and 3 nights of a play, 1 orchestra concert, 1 choir concert, 8 finals, 1 dance recital, 1 cello recital and 17 lessons all before June 10th.
This was supposed to be Croquettas de Jambon on Monday but I quickly realized I did not have time to get the mixture into the refrigerator in time because some other "life" things came up. Isn't that always the case when you need to have dinner started at a certain time or have everything at least in the refrigerator or slow cooker at a certain time? Those phone calls of "Can you help me?" or "Would you mind?" of course I will do it if I can!
So, on the way home we stopped at the grocery store and picked up King's Hawaiian Dinner Rolls. Love, love, love these rolls. (This is my own opinion. I am getting nothing in return for saying this although if they sent me some free rolls…. Just kidding, I would totally eat them.) They are soft and sweet and add a great flavor to this dish. We also discovered a Savory Butter variety for my son as he doesn't like his quite as sweet.
These were awesome! We all loved the rolls (my kids said they reminded them of deli onion rolls). These would make a great addition to a football party or a hearty bite for teens. They are simple to make and you can make several pans at once if you are having a party. Keep them warm in an oven or a warming tray.
We are considering changing these up a bit with the type of meat and cheese used. Maybe some roast beef with Swiss cheese and a bit of horseradish or an Italian meats sandwich with provolone? We will see where this takes us!
Hot Ham and Cheese Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls
- 1 dozen King's Hawaiian Dinner Rolls
- Ham (I used leftover spiral sliced ham from a previous meal – Deli Virginia Baked Ham also works well)
- Sliced Provolone or Swiss Cheese
- 2/3 cup melted butter
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used a whole seed version of mustard)
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick spray.
- Split the rolls in half. Place the bottom half of the rolls in the prepared baking dish.
- Top the roll bottoms with ham. Place the sliced cheese over the top of the ham to completely cover.
- Place tops of rolls on top of the cheese.
- Mix together the melted butter, mustard, Worcestershire Sauce, brown sugar, poppy seeds and dried onion until the sugar is dissolved.
- Spoon mixture over rolls.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the rolls are lightly browned and the cheese has melted.
- Cut into individual sandwiches to serve.


text:
I'm trying my hands at milling a PCB.
It will be a USB isolator for my CNC.
Here I'm collecting my notes as a step by step guide to do the same again later.
Even if you are etching your PCB, drilling mounting holes and vias automatically could be a reason to visit your local CCC Erfa Kreis, Hackerspace or FabLab.
FilesYou start with Gerber files. (If you have hpgl or svg data, your CAM software should already be able to do this without pcb2gcode.)
- .gbs - Gerber Bottom Solder Mask Data
- .gbo - Gerber Bottom Overlay Data
- .gbl - Gerber Bottom Layer Data
- .gbp - Gerber Bottom Paste Mask Data
- .gdd - Gerber Drill Drawing Data
- .gko - Gerber Keep Out Layer
- .gpb - Gerber Pad Master Bottom Data
- .gpt - Gerber Pad Master Top Data
- .gtl - Gerber Top Layer Data
- .gto - Gerber Top Overlay Data
- .gtp - Gerber Top Paste Mask Data
- .txt (not human readable)
ToolsThe go-to tool seems to be PCB2GCode.
Sadly it is only available for Linux. Not for Windows (where my MACH3 CAM software lives) nor MacOS.
However there seems to also be a beta website PCB2GCode online by Fablab Amersfoort.
UsageThe PCB2GCode website tells you to look at pcb2gcode --help. Nothing more.
No example. Not even an explanation of the file endings listed above. (They speak of .gbr wich is the only extension you'll not find a file for.)
Top-layer (.GTL) and bottom layer (.GBL) are easy.
TODO: Outline I have not a clue.
TODO: Drill data seems to be missing for me. :(
pcb2gcode --front USB_Isolator.GTL --back USB_Isolator.GBL --metric --zsafe 5 --zchange 100 --zwork -0.02 --offset 0.02 --mill-feed 100 --mill-speed 6000
Importing front side... done
Importing back side... done
Importing outline... not specified
Calculated board dimensions: 1.7in x 1.7in
Current Layer: back, exporting to back.ngc.
Warning: pcb2gcode hasn't been able to fulfill all clearance requirements and tried a best effort approach instead. You may want to check the g-code output and possibly use a smaller milling width.
Current Layer: front, exporting to front.ngc.
Warning: pcb2gcode hasn't been able to fulfill all clearance requirements and tried a best effort approach instead. You may want to check the g-code output and possibly use a smaller milling width.
No drill file specified.
Attention: Website only expect everything to be in these strange and obsolete "inches" thing.
The command line tool can be changed via
"--metric use metric units for parameters. does not affect gcode output"
for it's parameters but the output will still be imperial g-code.
No Rebels seem to have converted this imperial stronghold into metric units yet.
The website seems to require a drill file. The command line tool can do without.
--zwork The default seems to be "0.0008 inches = 0.02032 millimeters" for isolation milling.
--offset You need to set half your tool diameter or a greater value for the --offset parameter.
--zsafe travel height
--zchange z height for changing from milling to drilling tool
--mill-feed feed rate
--mill-speed spindle RPM
MillingEven when set to metric, MACH3 shows the maximum dimensions in imperial inches.
Use an electrical probe to set Z=0.
I made a special probe cable for this purpose as the toolheight-sensor wouldn't reliably touch the top side of the PCB.
Also make sure the PCB is insulated against the machine so the probe isn't always triggered.
I used paper to do this and also to level out the board (after meassuring all 4 corners).
TODO: My board was still slightly bent. I need a way to compensate for Z-differences in the 4 corners+center by software.
--mill-feed 100 --mill-speed 6000 seems to be a good value to start with.
CuttersI tried a chinese engraving tip and it wasn't a good fit.
The tiny Z errors and the fact that the engraving tip quickly gets bigger the deeper it gets are a bad combination.
The smallest flat cutter I could find is 0.8mm. Way too large. I need to look for something along the lines of 0.1mm.
TODODONE: Wrote a program to take 9 Z meassurements and adjust the g-code PCB3GCode returns.
(EMC2 specific) There seems to be script named "etch_z_adjust" that uses the electrical probe to meassure the exact Z=0 height every 10cm before starting to mill.
A thin layer of cutting oil seems to help too.
(Reprap specific) This "PcbSubtraction " pcb2gcode postprocessor adds probe commands to the g-code itself but is limited to 315 probes per PCB.
There is also a MACH3 visual basic macro but I just can't find the actual code to try it.
- PCB2GCode
- PCB2GCode online (Beta)
- My PCB2GCode postprocessor using 9 z probe meassurements.
- USB Isolator by Greinert-Dud
- USB Isolator by Circuits At Home
- Recommed settings and mounting (60° engraving cutter, z=-0.15mm, Pertinax=15-18mm/s, Epoxy=12-15mm/s, 20'000-22'000rpm)


text:
Vintage 70s Sterling Sliver Rhodonite Oval Locket Necklace
Elegant piece that is a great for yourself or your love ones !
BOITE LAQUE gathers all the special , unique and one-of-a-kind vintage jewels in good condition however little marks of pre-owned may be shown. These little signs make every vintage piece the best story jewelry and worth to add in your collection. All BOITE LAQUE vintage jewelry is cleaned and cared by professional jewelers.


text:
Google Android Just a Press Release, Says Ballmer
1 recommend
Google's plans to enter the mobile industry with a cell phone platform might have impressed many in the industry but not Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft and one of Google's biggest competitors.
Ballmer, predictably sidestepped a request to make any specific comments on the Android software platform during a Tokyo news conference Thursday.
"Well of course their efforts are just some words on paper right now, it's hard to do a very clear comparison [with Windows Mobile]," he said.
Ballmer went on to note the successes that his company has had with its Windows Mobile platform, which commands a sizeable share of the smartphone market, especially in North America. He said Windows Mobile is on 150 different handsets and is available from over 100 different mobile operators. He added that Microsoft will likely license 20 million Windows Mobile handsets this year.
"So we have great momentum, we've brought our Windows Mobile 6 software to market, we're driving forward on our future releases and we'll have to see what Google does," said Ballmer. "Right now they have a press release, we have many, many millions of customers, great software, many hardware devices and they're welcome in our world."
Android was developed by Google and others under the umbrella of the "Open Handset Alliance." The Linux-based platform will combine open-source components and include an operating system, middleware stack, customizable user interface and applications.
A number of big names in the wireless industry have already thrown their weight behind OHA, including carriers such as T-Mobile, NTT DoCoMo, Sprint Nextel, Telecom Italia and China Mobile; handset makers including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Motorola and HTC; and others such as Intel, EBay, NVidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.
Alongside Windows Mobile the biggest competitor that Google will likely face is Symbian. Two days earlier at a news conference also in Tokyo, the CEO of Symbian dismissed the platform's significance.
"One of the reactions is, it's another Linux platform," said Nigel Clifford. "There's 10, 15, 20, maybe 25 different Linux platforms out there. It sometimes appears that Linux is fragmenting faster than it unifies."


text:
Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715)
Louis XIV: King of France (roi de France) 1643-1715; born 5 September 1638, the son of King Louis XIII of France (1601-1643) and Anne of Austria (1601-1666). He succeeded his father when he was not yet five years old, and reigned for 72 years. Louis married his double first cousin, Maria Theresa of Spain (1638-1683). Louis died 1 September 1715 and was succeeded by his great-grandson, Louis XV (1710-1774).
Louis intended to make France an absolute monarchy. Although he was strictly Catholic, he did not permit the pope to interfere in any political affairs. Very energetically he defended Catholic customs and usage, which were called freedoms of the Gallic church. He was also a zealous promoter of religious unity in France. There were in the kingdom many Protestants, to whom Henry IV had guaranteed freedom of conscience and certain political rights in the Edict of Nantes (1598). Richelieu, the minister of Louis XIII, had withdrawn these political rights. Now Louis XIV proceeded to restrict their freedom of conscience. What was not expressly promised in the Edict was prohibited. All means were used to convert the Protestants. The most terrible of these was the compulsory quartering of troops, who were guilty of all sorts of violence, upon the unfortunate ones, until they declared themselves ready to recant. The large numbers of conversions were announced and celebrated with great rejoicing. Finally the Jesuits persuaded the king that there were practically no Protestants left in France and that the Edict was therefore meaningless. It was repealed in 1685. The remaining Protestants were forbidden to leave the country on threat of being sentenced to the galleys. Nevertheless hundreds and thousands of them fled over the borders and brought their fund of knowledge, particularly in industry, to their new home.
Although Alsace had been French since 1648, it was not affected by the Edict of Nantes, since the Peace of Westphalia had assured it freedom of conscience. But there were many Mennonites in Alsace. Against them the king was particularly prejudiced. In France the name Anabaptists had the effect of a bogey; it suggested only the Peasant Revolt and the revolt of Münster. But the Alsatian Mennonites were quiet, and the government of the newly acquired province was so complicated that they escaped notice for many years. The attention of the king was directed to the Mennonites when he came into conflict with the Dutch States-General. But here he heard only favorable reports about them. Some time previously General Turenne had met with the Dutch Ambassador M. van Beuningen. Turenne censured the States-General for tolerating so many sects, especially the Anabaptists. The statesman replied: "Why should we not tolerate the Anabaptists? They are such good people and so easy to get along with. They do not seek honor and regard, so they are in nobody's way. We do not fear revolt from a sect which has as one of the articles of its faith a prohibition against carrying arms. The Mennonites pay their share of all public taxes, and that suffices us. With their taxes we pay mercenaries who are more useful to us in the army than they could be. They build us up by the purity of their morals. They carry on agriculture, industry, and trade without wasting what they earn in luxury or gluttony. People of other creeds frequently do not act thus but by their excesses are a public offense and a great injury to the state. To be sure they refuse to render an oath, but that is of no significance, for their promise to speak the truth binds them like an oath" (Michiels, 104 f).
In 1672, when the French army marched into Holland, Louis XIV sent Raymond Formantyn to get information about the Mennonites and make a report. The learned man went to Emmerich to the book dealer van Beughem. Since they did not understand each other's language they conversed in Latin. Van Beughem summoned the Mennonite preacher Heinrich van Voorst and served as interpreter for him. Formantyn was amazed at the Biblical knowledge of the Mennonite. He looked up in a French Bible the references cited and underlined them. After a two days' discussion they departed on friendly terms and Formantyn promised to give a favorable report. But the effect of this report was not evident, for Louis XIV had to withdraw from the country. The French troops retreated to Alsace via the Palatinate, doing a great deal of damage (1674). The unfortunate Palatinate, to which many Mennonites from Switzerland had fled, was devastated again in 1689.
But the hour of persecution was also to strike for the Alsatian Mennonites. There were many of them in the gravure Rappoltstein and especially around Ste.-Marie-aux-Mines, where they had achieved a certain economic position through their industry, rousing the envy of their neighbors, especially since they were exempt from military service. Complaints reached Versailles. In the name of the king, de la Houssaye issued a circular on 9 September 1712 requiring that all Anabaptists be expelled from the kingdom. They turned to the gravure of Montbéliard, which at that time belonged to Württemberg, to the duchy of Lorraine, to Zweibrücken, and to the Breisgau in Baden.
The count of Rappoltstein at that time was Christian II von Birkenfeld, a captain in the French army, a favorite of the king. Although it meant a great loss to his country, he had to carry out the king's command exactly, whereas other lords in Alsace were more lenient. It seems that the numerous Mennonites living in Upper Alsace and especially in the Sundgau (south of Altkirch) were not molested. Also in Rappoltstein they were again tolerated on a petition by the count, at least a certain number of families.
Louis XIV died in 1715. Under his successors the Mennonites again enjoyed relative peace on the condition that they would draw no public attention to themselves. In 1766, when Lorraine became French, inquiries were made about them; but since the reports were favorable they were tolerated until finally the French Revolution brought religious freedom to all.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 697 f.
Michiels, Alfred. Les Anabaptistes des Vosges. Paris, 1860.
|Pierre Sommer
|Richard D. Thiessen
|Date Published
|December 2007
Cite This Article
MLA style
Sommer, Pierre and Richard D. Thiessen. "Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. December 2007. Web. 20 Mar 2023. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Louis_XIV,_King_of_France_(1638-1715)&oldid=145729.
APA style
Sommer, Pierre and Richard D. Thiessen. (December 2007). Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 March 2023, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Louis_XIV,_King_of_France_(1638-1715)&oldid=145729.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 401-402. All rights reserved.
©1996-2023 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


text:
Who knew David Pogue's consumer insurrection against scummy, minute-hoarding voicemail messages would actually work? Sir David would like to report that most major carriers have at least responded to the campaign, and AT&T is cutting down on message length.
The collected responses provide an interesting glimpse of how each carrier deals with problems, and its customers. Pogue's results:
• AT&T is "actively exploring" how to make its messages shorter, and says that visual voicemail, which will make this issue moot in a few years anyway, is a priority.
• T-Mobile says the issue has their "attention," which is either a promising acknowledgment, or just a statement of an incredibly obvious fact.
• Sprint rightly reminds us that you can turn off extended messages on their service already, and explains how. Thanks, Sprint.
• Verizon would very much like David Pogue to shut his stupid face, please, because he said mean things about them on
TV Twitter. Everyone else was cool!
You can read the full carrier responses here, but there are two main takeaways here: the campaign is actually working, so, you know, good job everyone; and it's clearly not over yet, until AT&T follows through, T-Mobile clarifies what their "attention" is worth, and Verizon cools down a little bit. A reminder:
Verizon: Post a complaint here.
AT&T: Send e-mail to Mark Siegel, executive director of media relations.
Sprint : Post a complaint here .
T-Mobile: Post a complaint here.
Happy polite haranguing, people! [Bits]


text:
Sticks and Stones break the bank
She grew up on a farm in Roseville near Monmouth, where her family tended cows and pigs and grew their own vegetables. He grew up in the Longwood subdivision around Devereau Avenue in Peoria, where his mother was a District 150 administrator.
Today, Brad and Jera Deal are among Peoria's nouveau riche, and they will be included in Entrepreneur Magazine's Aug. 26 edition that releases its much-vaunted list of 20 millionaires under 40. To be included in this select group, the main criteria is the age - 40 - and the subjects should have built their own fortune without a silver spoon from family or friends.
Brad and Jera Deal certainly fit the bill. Sticks and Stones. It is from these very basic materials that the Deals built their business, which propelled them on a tide beyond their imagination. Along the way, they amassed fame and fortune, which is what they've worked toward but appear to be embarrassed to claim.
While their business, Sticks and Stones, is becoming a national sensation, in Peoria they are not household names. Only three years ago, the Deals set up Sticks and Stones as a business that creates handmade keepsake gifts by framing black and white photographs of letters from objects found in nature and architecture. They marketed it through the Internet and various catalogs on their Web site, www.createsticksandstones.com.
But Jera Deal was relentless in her marketing efforts. As a result, in one year the couple had made the rounds of People magazine, the Rachel Ray show, Oprah's "O" list, Martha Stewart, Modern Bride, CNBC's "The Big Idea" with Donny Deutsch, and a number of national gift catalogs. All without hiring a publicist or a marketing company.
Their success is due to the fact that they learned quickly that they have to beat their own drum - loudly and frequently. They are also enthusiastic about their product. Even when their Internet-based business was an unknown entity from a little-known place, the Deals firmly believed in it and made their own community look at the things around them in a different light.
"What I'm most excited about is that as residents of Peoria, we can promote Peoria," said Jera Deal, the more loquacious of the two. "I think that people here will be able to recognize things that can be found in Peoria when they see it featured in our products."
"How many times have you walked by St. Mary's Cathedral and not seen these stairs?" she asked, pointing out the curved stairway leading from the steps of St. Mary's Cathedral in downtown Peoria that makes the letter "J."
"We all know the Eiffel Tower or the Sears Building. With Peoria, it's the simplicity of the things here, the everyday things that people don't pay attention to," she said.
Sticks and Stones stemmed from the family's hobby of finding letters around the area as a way to introduce the alphabet to their daughters, Allie, 8, Julianna, 6, and Lily, 3. While on walks, the family began taking photographs of the letters spotted around town.
In late 2005, when Jera was a room mom for her daughter's preschool class, she had to find a gift for the teacher, who was getting married. She wanted a unique item that 20 years later would still evoke fond memories of the giver and the occasion.
So the Deals decided to get their letters custom-framed to spell out the teacher's new last name. The bridal shower was the perfect launch site for their product. The orders began rolling in, and Sticks and Stones was born.
As Jera Deal quickly realized, the reason for their PR success is simple: They have a compelling narrative and a good product. Even before being featured in "O" magazine, the endorsement they gained when Oprah commissioned them to create a Stick & Stones wedding gift for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes was the icing on the cake.
The Deals love their hometown and say it is even more exciting "because Peoria often gets a bad rap.
"My image of Peoria before we moved in here was indifferent, not necessarily unfavorable," Jera said. "But since we moved in, we love it. I started to see all the things about it that make it beautiful."
Brad, 39, handles the business and planning end of the company, while Jera, 34, does the public relations and marketing aspect.
"I'm aggressive, but I tend to be more conservative," Brad said. "I'm not going to break down someone's door to get things done. She's the exact opposite of me."
Jera understates her contribution: "I primarily take care of the girls. I do as much of the marketing as time allows."
She is up-front and aggressive and pushes the product into new territories.
"I don't want people to think it's easy being on Oprah or Martha Stewart," Jera said. "It takes a lot of work and constant calling and keeping in touch and pushing your product."
In October 2005, they made their first sale.
"In the first couple of weeks, we'd sell five or six products, and we thought that was wonderful," Brad said.
Both say their first press story gave them the boost they needed.
"The Journal Star article really gave us the big push," Jera Deal said.
After that, they received a call from a local sales representative who put them in touch with the right people in Chicago, and Sticks and Stones made its presence in 20 stores in the Windy City.
Today they have a staff of about eight, but at peak holiday periods, as many as 50 people work feverishly to meet the orders, all by hand. Their first trade catalog entry was in August 2006, followed by a mass market presence in the Better Homes & Gardens in 2007.
The average last year was 200 orders a month. As the publicity grew, sales of Sticks & Stones products soared.
"In 2006, our sales were a little over $1 million," Brad said. "Last year, we did $10 million. Some days we were getting 300 orders a day."
As any good marketing person knows, if your company is listed at the top on a Google search, you've made it, and Sticks and Stones is right up there. The Deals have also learned that national publicity is a double-edged sword.
"Some people want to have us in their shows or their magazines because we have been linked with Oprah or the other big names," Jera Deal said. "But some won't touch us because of that. They want to be the ones to discover us."
So now that they've become millionaires, what's next?
Quoting from Leviticus 23:14, Jera said, "The first fruits always go back. The more you give the more you receive."
In scripture the Israelites were not allowed to eat of the new harvest until the offering of the first fruit was brought and presented to God.
"It gives us an opportunity to give," Jera said. "Peoria Christian (School) is very close to our hearts, and we will always think of that first. We had a giving goal last year, and we were able to give 50 percent more than we had planned because we had such a good year."
The Deals have just set up a foundation that will be a tool for giving scholarships to Christian schools. Other plans are in the works, but they haven't been fleshed out yet. The Deals have now hired a New York-based publicist, "because of their proximity and knowledge of the media world," Brad said.
Jera now is able to spend more time with the children. And the future, she says, "is in God's hands."
Catharine Schaidle can be reached at (309) 686-3290 firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Mexico cartel war latest toll: 49 headless bodies
CADEREYTA, Mexico – Authorities struggled Monday to identify 49 bodies without heads, hands or feet to gain clues into the latest in a series of massacres from an escalating war between Mexico's two dominant drug cartels, with increasing evidence that innocents are being pulled into the bloodbath along with gang rivals.
More than 24 hours after the gruesome discovery, officials had yet to identify any of the mutilated corpses found near the northern industrial city of Monterrey. None of the bodies examined so far showed signs of gunshots, Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene told Milenio television.
Though it was unclear who the victims were, it was the fourth massacre in a month. Mexico's interior secretary, Alejandro Poire, said Monday that all those incidents resulted from the fight between the Zetas gang and the Sinaloa Cartel, which have emerged in the last year as the two main forces in Mexican drug-trafficking and other organized crime.
Some victims in earlier body dumps have turned out to be bakers, brick layers, even students — anyone who could be snatched off the streets in mass killings that one captured gang member said were designed to "cause terror."
Poire would not respond directly when asked by The Associated Press if innocents have increasingly become targets.
"We don't have proper identification of the dead," he said. "We have to leave that to the investigation."
"We have to look deeper ... to know the motives or who could have been the victims of violence," Poire added.
The 43 men and six women found Sunday were dumped at the entrance to the town of San Juan in the municipality of Cadereyta about 105 miles (175 kilometers) southwest of McAllen, Texas.
Graffiti around the town of 4,000 people mark it as Zetas territory, including "100% Zeta" painted on a stone arch welcoming visitors where the bodies were dumped and "Z's" painted on the home of San Juan's priest.
There have been 74 killings in the first four months of this year in Cadereyta municipality, compared to 27 over the same period in 2011 and seven in 2010, according to figures from Nuevo Leon state prosecutors.
The massacre follows the discovery of 14 men left in a van in downtown Nuevo Laredo on April 17 and 23 people found hanged or decapitated in the same border city May 4.
Eighteen dismembered bodied were left near Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara, last week. Among the nine people identified in that attack were bricklayers, waiters and at least one student. None had criminal records.
Accused Zetas member Juan Carlos Antonio Mercado was arrested near Guadalajara last week in the kidnapping of 12 people. He told reporters that he and accomplices had been kidnapping people since mid-April at random and held them with the intent of dumping their bodies in the city center on May 10, Mexican Mother's Day, but the police presence kept them from doing so.
Prosecutors in Jalisco state, where Guadalajara is, said the kidnapping plot fell apart when some victims escaped. The plot appeared to be linked to the discovery of the 18 dismembered bodies.
Drug violence has killed more than 47,500 people since President Felipe Calderon launched a stepped-up offensive when he took office in December 2006. The campaign has seen the two cartels emerge as Mexico's two most powerful. At least one of the two cartels is present in nearly all of Mexico's 32 states.
Their war started in earnest last fall with the dumping of 35 bodies in Veracruz, a strategic smuggling state with a giant Gulf port formerly controlled by the Zetas and recently taken over by a gang loyal to Sinaloa.
Guadalajara has long been controlled by gangs loyal to Sinaloa. Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey are considered territory of the Zetas gang, which was founded by deserters from the Mexican army's special forces as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel that historically dominated northeastern Mexico and the border along Texas. The groups split in early 2010, causing a bloody battle for territory that the Zetas have been winning. The weakened Gulf Cartel has started to align itself with Sinaloa to fight back.
Poire wouldn't say which side was responsible for Sunday's killings, though Domene said Sunday that it was the Zetas.
A state police investigator at the morgue, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case, said some of the bodies were badly decomposed and some had their whole arms or lower legs missing.
San Juan, part of the Cadereyta municipality, is a town of farmers and factory workers near a refinery for Pemex, Mexico's state-run petroleum company.
One resident who didn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation said that the municipality has been without a local police for six years and that the Zetas have controlled San Juan for at least two years.
He said he believed that the Zetas' enemies, who he wouldn't name, dumped the bodies as a way to provoke authorities into cracking down on the Zetas. By Monday afternoon, both state police and Mexican soldiers were patrolling the town.
It's a common tactic, known as "heating up the plaza," for drawing law enforcement to disrupt the activities of a cartel's rival in its home territory, said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst and former official in Mexico's CISEN intelligence agency.
"It puts the authorities in a reactive mode," Hope said.
Associated Press writers Michael Weissenstein in Mexico City and Porfirio Ibarra Ramirez in Cadereyta contributed to this report.


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Headed for the University of Michigan. The high school graduation ceremony is Monday night.
At the party it felt a bit like football weather tonight. Guests had on sweaters and jackets, long pants. Last week it was 90.
Luke and Friends sang and played musical numbers during the party and it was a lot of fun. His grandfather accompanied him on the guitar singing New York New York and Vanessa and he sang The Prayer at the close as Kim, his mom, played the keyboard for them. I don't have the playlist but know that Brad Yoder played guitar with Luke and also Nina Sainato sang Quando Quando with him. A little jazz, some standards, a little show tune, a lot of musical improvisation. Congratulations Luke and all the best to you!
You have grown into a fine young man and will do wonderfully in whatever you pursue.
I like the one with the balloons but we decided on the one below. Hope you are okay with the two cause I could't decide. I like that some of the party scene peeks into the background and the balloons declare it a celebration!


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Mr. Conventional Wisdom checks the SEC's pulse on the question of going to a nine-game conference schedule. He thinks it's inevitable.
But several developments appear to be pushing the SEC to a nine-game schedule soon rather than later:
• The Pac-12 and Big 12 already play nine games and the ACC will do so next season when both Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the league.
• The Big Ten and Pac-12 tried to work out a scheduling relationship but couldn't overcome the logistics. As a result, the Big Ten will probably take another look at a nine-game conference schedule.
• When the four-game playoff begins in 2014, the selection committee will look at a number of criteria, including strength of schedule. An undefeated Auburn got left out of the BCS championship game in 2004 and Commissioner Mike Slive vowed that would never happen again.
"We thoroughly vetted this idea of scheduling and we took a vote and chose to stay at eight games," said Slive. "But we are also mindful that moving forward our strength of schedule will be a factor. I can't tell you what we will decide. But I can tell you that this is something that we're going to watch."
Given that it's Barnhart saying this, I'd say it's worth giving it some very solid weight. He also makes a good point about where the real point of contention may lie.
Within the conference, the argument lines break down like this: The schools at the top of this conference that are competing for the national championship are willing to play nine conference games, a good intersectional game and two teams they can beat at home. But there are other teams in the league that need at least three guaranteed wins in non-conference games in order to have any shot at a bowl.
For me, though, the most interesting part of his piece is what he doesn't say. There's absolutely no mention of TV's role in wanting more – and paying for more, of course – conference product to broadcast as a factor in expanding the conference schedule. That's hardly an insignificant matter. So why do you suppose Barnhart omitted it?


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Nautical Home Decor Chalk Paint
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Give your home decor projects a touch of chalk-inspired color with Nautical Home Decor Chalk Paint. Designed for indoor use, this water-based, non-toxic paint will complete your crafts and projects with an ultra matte blue chalk finish. Clean your desired surface, apply the acrylic paint with a brush, and let dry for two hours between each coat for a picture-perfect finished product.
Bottle contains 2 fluid ounces.
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Large Christmas Ornaments – LCO0030
Glass Christmas ornaments; Egyptian hand-made beautiful glass Christmas ornament is made in a way to shine and reflect all lights which make it a perfect gift.
Egyptian hand-made Christmas ornaments collection is a unique collection.
Size: Length 4.5 inches, Width 2.5 inches.
Product Code: LCO0030


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First of all, I would like to thank all the applicants to the Project Sputnik beta program for their patience. Since we announced the program last month we have been working on implementation, traveling mostly uncharted waters here at Dell. After working through countless details and seeing what could actually be done in a timely and supportable manner, we have come up with our list of Beta cosmonauts.
The Beta Cosmonauts
We had hoped to make the beta program worldwide, but after digging in we found that the resources needed to execute on it turned out to be more than our little Dell/Canonical team could handle. As a result we have decided to narrow our Beta effort to the United States. From those applicants from the US, which represented close to half of the total number of applicants, we have selected 455 people.
It wasn't easy to narrow the list but we picked people who represent a cross section of the developer population from start ups to large companies to universities. They represent a wide variety of skills and experience and are the people who we feel will be most vocal and participatory and who best represent the Sputnik ethos.
What they get – Updated Aug 30
Tomorrow we will send out the emails to everyone in the program letting them know whether they have been selected or not. Those selected, and who are still interested in participating, will be able to purchase the high-end XPS13 at
$1,199 rather than $1,499*. As the program continues we will continue to refine the software. In return…
*Update Aug 30: We took the feedback re the desire for a deeper discount and went back to see if there was any more cost we could drive out the base price. We found a couple of places and were able to lower the base price from $1,499 to $1,349.99. Applying the 20% discount to this we are now able to offer the system to Beta cosmonauts at $1,079.99 ($120 less than before. It's not a huge difference but I assume every little bit counts).
What we are asking of them
- Load the software: While we had hoped to be able to offer the beta systems with Ubuntu pre-loaded this has turned out to be a lot more difficult than we had thought and would require shifting resources from our launch in the fall. As a result, unfortunately the systems will come with Windows pre-loaded. All the Beta cosmonauts will need to do is follow the directions for installing Ubuntu as listed on the Canonical page.
- Be vocal and transparent: We want the cosmonauts to blog and tweet (hashtag #ProjectSputnik) about their experience as a beta tester, but if asked or when appropriate disclose that they received a discount from Dell.
- Use it and contribute: As beta testers we want the cosmonauts to use the system, try things out, file bugs and share their experience with us and each other on the project Sputnik Forum. It would also be awesome if they could even contribute a profile or two when we make the profile tool available.
- Support: given that this is a beta program we won't have official support for the hardware or software. That being said we will try our best to help out the cosmonauts via the forum and bug tracker.
Thanks again to everyone who applied to the program. Dell and Canonical are very excited to hear what people think of the systems and learn what we can do to make them better.
Key links
- Where to get the image for Project Sputnik – Canonical page
- Where to comment on/share your experience –Project Sputnik Forum
- Where to post bugs – Project Sputnik on launchpad
- Sputnik on dell.com – dell.com/sputnik


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text: February 8, 2018Groko coalition treaty: More spending than strategyRegion:GermanyGermany MonitorTopic:Bundestag elections 2017Analyst:Barbara Boettcher, Dieter Bräuninger, Stefan SchneiderPDF 214kFacebookTwitterXingLinkedInGroko coalition treaty: More spending than strategyBarbara BoettcherDieter BräuningerStefan SchneiderThe four-month deadlock following the inconclusive German federal elections was brought closer to its end with the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the SPD.The four-month deadlock following the inconclusive German federal elections was brought closer to its end with the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the SPD. The last hurdle to Merkel's re-election is now the SPD membership ballot which is expected to give its approval, though at a thin margin. The agreement foresees significant investment in infrastructure and education but caters too much to permanent spending on social and pension policy given the largely cyclical nature of the budgetary leeway. Europe is supposed to take centre stage in the would-be coalition's policy – a signal which matters for Martin Schulz but less so for the member ballot and the German voter. The coalition commits itself to the transformation of the ESM and more spending on Europe but the red lines will only emerge when the details will be tabled. Surprisingly, the SPD will hold most of the major portfolios in the cabinet. With the foreign and the finance ministry the SPD got hold on the key portfolios for shaping the European policy course, although the key decisions will still be left to the chancellor. [more]


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The introduction of the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012 in both houses of Congress has touched off a wave of concern among other livestock groups. The NPPC's Audrey Adamson talks about some of those concerns and the impact of the legislation in other countries in this interview at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa.
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On the heels of the APEC 2011 meetings in Big Sky, Montana, Secretary Gary Locke and Senator Max Baucus visited West Paw Design today, a Montana-based manufacturer of eco-friendly pet toys, beds and apparels. Touring its sustainable manufacturing facilities, Locke praised West Paw for its green manufacturing methods and efforts to export its products to foreign markets. Promoting green growth among businesses of the Asia-Pacific region is one of the key goals of APEC 2011.
"West Paw exemplifies the kind of green growth and aggressive exporting that we need from small- and medium-sized businesses to reinvigorate our economy," Locke said. "It is the export successes of companies like West Paw that are going to help our economy grow, create jobs and meet President Obama's goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years."
West Paw, which exports its products to 28 foreign markets, showcased its best sustainable manufacturing practices to more than 70 participants during the tour, including APEC trade officials and private sector representatives from the 21 APEC economies.
West Paw Design integrated sustainability into its manufacturing processes and product design by using recycled and organic materials. The company has 46 employees and has more than doubled the size of its manufacturing facility in 2010 in order to handle the growing demand for its products. It has utilized several federal government resources to help boost its exports, including the Commerce Department's U.S. Commercial Service, Manufacturing Extension Partnership and loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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I would heartily recommend everyone to read the uncorrected House of Commons Oral Evidence taken before the Work and Pensions Committee on Universal Credit on Monday 17 September 2012 by Iain Duncan Smith and Lord Freud, if only to read how politicians can avoid giving a straight answer to some very straight questions (and get away with it)! Glenda Jackson can also be read playing a splendid role questionning the two aforementioned Tory apologists, along with Dame Anne Begg (who according to this week's New Statesman had to put up with Iain Duncan Smith leaning obliviously on the back of her wheelchair in the Commons bar recently).
For local authorities there is no good news as the answers received by Ms Jackson reveal and they now appear to be 'charitable organisations':
"Q216 Glenda Jackson: Will the funding be there to assist local authorities?
Lord Freud: Clearly, it is premature to say exactly what kind of funding is required.
Q217 Glenda Jackson: We know the cuts they are having to carry.
Lord Freud: We have got funds to introduce Universal Credit. We are not concerned about who undertakes particular endeavours, and we can pay that on a neutral basis, so, in the sense that, yes, we do have funding for it.
Q218 Chair: My understanding was that a large chunk of the £2 billion-or £3 billion; there seemed to be some argument in the debate last Tuesday-that was set aside to help introduce Universal Credit would go on transitional protection for those whose income would lose out, rather than in the mechanics of it.
Mr Duncan Smith: The mechanics are part of all of that. The whole point that we have been talking about is getting people online. All those processes are part of what we have to do. We are discussing with local government about how that lies and where that sits. There are other charitable organisations we are talking to."
And then it gets worse –
"Lord Freud: No. Let me just go through that. What we are transferring to local authorities is a whole range of responsibilities, where they can make better judgments on their local requirements: elements of the Social Fund; the decisions on DHPs, which are very substantial-next year, when you add them all up, DHPs are £165 million; and decisions on direct payments.
Q227 Chair: That just confuses the landscape. The whole point of Universal Credit, and the reason that you get people like me saying that in principle this was a good idea was it was meant to be that single working-age benefit for those who were on means-tested benefit.
Lord Freud: And it is.
Chair: But it is not.
Lord Freud: It is.
Q228 Chair: It was going to be, but then council tax went off to the local authority and the Social Fund went off-"
And shortly after that they give up on that strand…but so it goes on, and on. I'm not sure I'm much clearer about what's happening with UC, so I look forward to the edited ('corrected') highlights in due course from the Committee and congratulate the members of it again on some thorough questioning.


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Become a Positive Wife
- Whitney Hopler Live It Editor
- 2004 15 Jul
No matter what your husband or circumstances are like, you can change your marriage for the better by becoming a positive wife. Your decision to act positively can release great power that will draw you closer to both God and your husband.
Here are some ways you can become a positive wife:
• Put your hope in God. Don't look to your husband to fulfill you. Instead, look to God alone to give you satisfaction and joy in life. Know that God will never disappoint or fail you. Strive to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength. Ask God to give you His peace about your marriage. Invite God to help you love your husband more by serving as a channel for God's love to flow through.
• Strive to complement your husband. Ask God to show you how your own strengths and weaknesses can complement your husband's strengths and weaknesses so that the two of you are greater together than apart. Think and pray about how you can use your God-given talents to bless your husband and other people with whom you both interact. Consider how your marriage can shine God's light to others in the world through the unique ways you and your husband bring out the best in each other. Rely on God's strength to overcome your weaknesses.
• Know the truth about true love. Understand that true love isn't simply something that's discovered. Instead, it's created through the hard work of continually choosing to act in love no matter what your feelings of the moment. Decide to make the daily choice of loving your husband as God does - in all circumstances, despite your husband's faults. Realize that the power to love your husband isn't based on your love for yourself, but on God's love for you. Don't try to build your self-esteem so you can love others; instead, recognize your value in God's eyes and accept His unconditional love. Know that marriage is intended to be a lifetime commitment. Count on God to always supply the grace you need to act in love. Enjoy the wonderful gift of love!
• Choose to forgive. Realize that you need to forgive your husband freely and regularly. Remember that God has forgiven you of many things and expects you to forgive others so both you and they can be healed. Periodically take an inventory of any grudges you're holding against your husband. Then release them in prayer, relying on the Holy Spirit to help you. Work to resume a healthy relationship with your husband by acting with kindness. If your husband struggles with habitual sin, help him heal by drawing upon resources such as a Christian counselor, friends who will support him and hold him accountable, books on the issue with which he's struggling, and prayer.
• Stay committed. Remember the vows you made to God and your husband on your wedding day, in front of family and friends as witnesses. Decide that you will honor them no matter what. Realize that all marriages must endure struggles, and that all husbands (and wives) have faults. Trust that God can enliven and redeem any marriage, and that He will answer your prayers for your own marriage.
• Argue effectively. Listen more than you talk. Remain calm and keep your voice down. Keep current, leaving old issues behind. Avoid condescending phrases or character attacks. Stick with facts, not speculations. Be ready and willing to ask for forgiveness or offer it. Speak clearly, thoughtfully, and respectfully. Guard your tongue from saying something you will regret later. Pray together. Get to the point. Don't ever mention divorce. Don't use phrases such as "you always" or "you never." Don't shout or scream. Don't give the silent treatment. Don't lie or manipulate. Don't beg or cry. Don't push your husband's hot buttons. Don't bring up past sins or hurts. Choose your timing wisely when approaching your husband about a controversial issue. Consider scheduling an appointment to discuss it together. Don't go to bed angry. Remember that your husband is not your enemy. Don't fight against him; fight with him to find a good solution for both of you.
• Respect your husband. Decide to treat your husband with respect whether or not you think he deserves it. Respect him because God created him and loves him. Choose to obey God by offering your husband respect no matter what your circumstances. Ask God to give you the positive attitude you need to make that choice. Notice your husband's good qualities and overlook some of his faults. Know that you can love your husband even when he's wrong, as God loves him unconditionally. Regularly take an inventory of the blessings God has given you. Then take the time to thank Him for them. Strive to be content and at peace. Depend on Jesus to help you through whatever struggles you face. Ask God what He wants you to learn from your trials. Keep your eyes focused beyond your circumstances to God.
• Encourage your husband. Remember that words have great power to either build someone up or tear someone down. Speak encouraging words to your husband whenever you can. Strive to be the companion your husband desires. Schedule a date with him at least once a month, and take anniversary trips together if possible. Build as much time into your schedule as you can simply to be together in relaxing ways, doing things you both enjoy. Regularly make eye contact, touch each other, smile at each other, and pray together. Work to build a great friendship with your husband.
• Fan the flames of your physical attraction. Spend time with God in prayer to develop the inner beauty that comes from the fruit of the Spirit. Take care of the body God has given - the temple of His Spirit - by making healthy choices and striving to look your best. Get enough exercise and sleep; eat wholesome, unprocessed foods; update your hairstyle, makeup, and wardrobe; and smile. Don't use sex as a weapon by withholding it from your husband when you're angry at him. Instead, work at becoming a great lover and see how the connection you develop with your husband improves your relationship. Flirt with your husband during the day in anticipation of a romantic evening. Be creative about your lovemaking places and techniques.
• Manage money responsibly. Ask God to help you distinguish between wants and needs and develop wise plans for spending, saving, giving, and investing. Work together with your husband to create a budget and maintain it. Be loving and respectful as you discuss financial matters.
• Manage your household well. When dividing up your domestic tasks, take into account the unique skills and interests that you and your husband have. If both of you find a particular chore distasteful, work it out without grumbling or nagging. Decide to serve by always striving to do more than your fair share. Organize your possessions so that everything has its proper place. Organize your time by choosing wisely how you will spend it.
• Grow spiritually. Spend regular time in prayer to develop the intimacy with God that will help you become a more positive person. Pray for your husband's physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Read the Bible regularly and ask God what He would like you to learn from what you read. In all you do, view your husband as a gift from God and strive to be a good gift to him.
Adapted from The Power of a Positive Wife, copyright 2003 by Karol Ladd. Published by Howard Publishing Co., Inc., West Monroe, La., www.howardpublishing.com.
Best-selling author Karol Ladd offers lasting hope and biblical truth to women around the world through her positive book series. A gifted communicator and dynamic leader, Karol is founder and president of Positive Life Principles, Inc., a resource company offering strategies for success in both home and work. Her vivacious personality makes her a popular speaker to women's organizations, church groups and corporate events. She is co-founder of a character-building club for young girls called USA Sonshine Girls and serves on several educational boards. Karol is a frequent guest on radio and television programs. Her most valued role is that of wife to Curt and mother to daughters Grace and Joy. Visit her Web site at www.PositiveLifePrinciples.com.


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1304.6 - Tasmanian Key Indicators, Feb 2009
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