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This article is more than 1 year old
Microsoft signs off on Windows 7
Manufacturers, start your machines
Microsoft has signed off on Windows 7, closing a tightly controlled chapter in Microsoft product development.
On Wednesday, the company released the Windows 7 bits to manufacturing (RTM) at the same as code for the next update to its Windows Server 2008: Windows Server 2008 R2.
RTM means the code is considered finished from an engineering perspective and is ready to be pressed on CDs, installed on manufacturers' PCs, and put on Microsoft's servers for download.
Windows 7 is set for a consumer launch on October 22. Developers, partners, and Microsoft's volume customers on the company's various individual and organizational licenses and subscriptions will get Windows 7 ahead of that.
Meanwhile, Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on of before October 22 date, the company said Wednesday afternoon.
Before then, Windows Server 2008 R2 will be released for evaluation in the first half of August with full product available to volume customers with a Software Assurance subscription in the second half of August.
The July RTM comes after Microsoft had hinted it was prepping for an August 6 RTM of Windows 7. So much for trying to fathom Microsoft hints. At least Windows 7 is done.
The company has run a streamlined operation getting Windows 7 out. The operating system qualified for a single beta and completion comes just nine months after the code first previewed.
Along the way, testers complained Microsoft was triaging bugs and potential problems to expedite the release Windows 7. The idea was to avoid a repeat of the delays that dogged Windows Vista and to finally have something fresh to offer the client operating-system market.
Two major problems for Windows Vista were hardware and software compatibly, which occurred despite the huge development cycle and code-base rewrite. Also, Windows Vista killed the performance of many PCs. The latter posed a real problem for netbooks, which the Microsoft camp has served using Windows XP instead of Windows Vista.
No doubt cognizant of this, Windows 7 evangelist Brandon LeBlanc blogged: "Our customers also told us that 'fundamentals' on both the hardware and software side was extremely important. Windows 7 today runs great on the broadest array of hardware types ranging from netbooks to high-end gaming machines. We worked closely with OEMs so that their PCs delight customers with the new features in Windows 7."
Now, about Windows 8... ®


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'Lord During My Darkest Hour I Lean On You,' Says Trayvon Martin's Mother, Sybrina Fulton
Only God could bear the grief that moved through Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, when the not guilty verdict was handed down by a jury of six women on Saturday that let the man, George Zimmerman, who killed her son go free. So shortly after the verdict, she cried out to Him.
"Lord during my darkest hour I lean on you. You are all that I have. At the end of the day, GOD is still in control. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I will love you forever Trayvon!!! In the name of Jesus!!!," she tweeted shortly after the verdict had been handed down.
Shortly before that, the teen's father, Tracy Martin, also tweeted his disappointed with the verdict, but like his ex-wife, left the matter in the hands of God while thanking the public for their support.
"God blessed Me & Sybrina with Tray and even in his death I know my baby proud of the FIGHT we along with all of you put u," tweeted Martin. "Thanks to everyone who are with us and who will be with us si (sic) we together can make sure that this doesn't happen again. Even though I am broken-hearted my faith is unshattered I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY."
Although she was expected to worship at her home church, Antioch Missionary Baptist in Miami Gardens where Trayvon Martin's funeral was held, Fulton did not show up on Sunday. Instead, she sent a message to her church family through Pastor Arthur Jackson III who told CBS 12 News that the verdict was difficult to swallow.
"Our church our community is extremely disappointed. We're heartbroken over the verdict, of course we respect it but we don't understand it," said Jackson III.
Regarding Fulton's message, he said: "She wanted me to let the church and all the media outlets know that she's still trusting in God. Even though she couldn't trust in the legal system she's trusting in the Lord not being able to trust the courts she's trusting Christ."
As for how the church will respond to the unfavorable verdict, Jackson III noted: "We are arming ourselves but our weapons are not carnal. We are arming ourselves with prayer. We are putting on the whole armor of God. We are putting on the helmet of Salvation, we are making sure that we are turning it over to God."
Standing in solidarity with the Trayvon Martin family on Sunday, a number of churches across the nation declared the day 'Hoodie Sunday' in honor of the slain teenager.
"We have to hold the nation accountable but we also have to hold accountable the people who are shaping culture and shaping the atmosphere in which a young man could be dehumanized," said Reverend Tony Lee of the Community of Hope A.M.E. Church in Temple Hills, Md., who delivered his sermon in a hooded sweatshirt on Sunday.
"I don't want this kind of stuff to happen to another one of our children," he said.
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), which represents 34,000 black churches, staged a rally at noon on Monday in front of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. to protest the verdict of George Zimmerman's murder trial according to the Associated Press.

subset: commoncrawl


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The BWT Single Point Watering System features innovative valve designs, including the new Sense Smart Valve™ available exclusively for U.S. Battery. All BWT valves are manufactured with the highest quality materials that keep all working parts above the battery cell. The spark arrestor makes this the safest watering system available. The BWT system fits on every FLA battery we manufacture and on every configuration. Water flows through a single connection reducing labor cost by accurately filling each battery set in less than 30 seconds!
The innovative clip-in valve makes installation of pre-strung systems fast and easy. BWT also offers several water delivery options, the Gravity Fill System is ideal for a small number of batteries when a water source is not readily available. The 2.5 gallon gravity fill tank should be placed at least three feet above the battery tops to ensure sufficient water flow. The Direct Fill Link features a built-in flow indicator and pressure regulator. The pressure sensitive handle reduces pressure down to 10 psi and will handle incoming pressure up to 100 psi. Allowing it to be connected directly to a water source.
The Pro-Fill On-Board Battery Watering System by Flow-Rite
is specifically designed for use with "golf car" style batteries commonly found in golf cars, sweepers, scrubbers, RVs, pallet jacks, and small solar systems. Based on the same technology as Flow-Rite's Millennium Plus+ valves, the Pro-Fill system is compatible with all Millennium water supplies.
The Pro-Fill on-board battery watering system works by replacing the battery's existing vent caps with valves that are interconnected by manifolds and tubing, allowing the user to fill all cells of the battery from a single remote location. Each valve independently shuts off water flow to it's cell when the proper electrolyte level is reached. This allows the operator to fill the batteries perfectly every time without having to monitor each individual cell.


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This is an overview of US aircraft carriers serving in the Vietnam war. Carriers were assigned to the western Pacific, and during each cruise spent several periods on "Yankee station" in the gulf of Tonkin. Short periods of rest were in Japan, Hong Kong, or the Philippines. While all carriers are listed as "CV", they actually were designated CVA, CVB, or CVS during their Vietnam tours.
Essex class
USS Yorktown (CV-10) was the oldest carrier (commissioned in 1943) to serve in the Vietnam war,
and did not receive an angled-deck conversion. Deployments to the Tonking Gulf were December 1964 to May 1965, February to July 1966, and March to June 1968. She was employed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and search-and-rescue (SAR) work.
USS Intrepid (CV-11): During its war cruise in the second half of 1966, a Skyraider based on Intrepid shot down a MiG-17. A second Vietnam assignment was during the second half of 1967.
USS Hornet (CV-12) was deployed to waters off Vietnam throughout the summer of 1967.
USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), first of the long-hull Essex class carriers, launched aircraft in response to the attack by North Vietnamese craft, the Tonkin Gulf incident, during its August to December 1964 deployment. Four more war cruises followed: November 1965 to April 1966, November 1966 to April 1967, January to July 1968, March to July 1969.
USS Hancock (CV-19) was deployed to Vietnam from November 1964 to the spring of 1965, December 1965 to July 1966, the first half of 1967, November 1970 to May 1971, and in spring of 1972. She was present during the evacuation of Saigon in 1975, and possibly had war cruises in 1968 and 1969 as well, but I could not confirm that.
USS Bennington (CV-20) had three Vietnam tours from 1965 to 1968, as ASW carrier, and probably SAR as well.
USS Boxer (CV-21), which was not converted to an angled-deck carrier, was used twice for shipping helicopters to Vietnam, but was not used in battle.
USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) had five war cruises from 1965 to 1970.
USS Kearsarge (CV-33) was deployed to Vietnam from August to December 1964, and August to November 1966, as ASW carrier.
USS Oriskany (CV-34) served off Vietnam May to November 1965, June to October 1966. A parachute flare caused a fire eventually killing 44 crewmembers. Another cruise was from July to January 1967, and at least one more in 1969.
USS Princeton (CV-37) was deployed to Vietnam four times between 1964 and 1967. At that time, she had already been converted to an amphibious assault carrier, LPH-5, carrying only helicopters.
USS Shangri-La (CV-38) had one war cruise, from April to November 1970.
USS Valley Forge (CV-45), converted to an amphibious assault carrier (LPH-8) in 1961, was deployed to Vietnam waters several times from 1964 to 1969, launching Marines assaults.
Midway class
USS Midway (CV-41) March to November 1965. After an extensive modernization, cruises from May 1971 to October 1971, in 1972 and in 1973 followed. Midway was present during Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon, in 1975.
USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) was deployed to Vietnam only once, from August 1966 to January 1967.
USS Coral Sea (CV-43) had a total of seven war cruises: February to October 1965, August 1966 to February 1967, August 1967 to March 1968, September 1968 to April 1969, October 1969 to June 1970, November 1971 to July 1972, March to October 1973. She was also present during the evacuation of Saigon.
Forrestal class
USS Forrestal (CV-59) had one Vietnam war cruise, in the summer of 1967. On the 29th of July, a mis-firing Zuni rocket hit an external fuel tank of an A-4. The resulting fire and exploding ammo killed 134 crewmembers. Severely damaged, the Forrestal had to return to the States for repairs.
USS Saratoga (CV-60) was deployed to the western Pacific from May 1972 until the end of the year.
USS Ranger (CV-61) was deployed to the western Pacific a total of eight times: October 1964 to April 1965, January to August 1966, December 1967 to April 1968, October 1968 to May 1969, October 1969 to May 1970, October 1970 to May 1971, November 1972 to July 1973, May to October 1974. She was also present during the Laotian crisis in 1963.
USS Independence (CV-62) had one war cruise, June to November 1965.
Kitty Hawk class
USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) was deployed to the western Pacific from April to June 1964, November 1965 to May 1966, December 1966 to May 1967, December 1967 to June 1968, January to August 1969, November 1970 to June 1971, March 1972 to November 1972. While the 1964 cruise was before the start of hostilities in Vietnam, two aircraft on reconaissance missions over Laos were shot down.
USS Constellation (CV-64) relieved the Kitty Hawk in June 1964 and also flew reconaissance missions above Laos. She launched air strikes in response to the Tonkin Gulf incident and was present until January 1965. Six more war cruises followed: May to November 1966, May to November 1967, June 1968 to January 1969, August 1969 to April 1970, October 1971 to June 1972, January 1973 to September 1973.
USS America (CV-66) had three war cruises: May to October 1968, May to November 1970, July 1972 to February 1973.
USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the only one in its class and the first nuclear carrier. From December 1965 to 1972 (I could not find exact dates), she made six war cruises. On 14 January 1969, an exploding Zuni rocket and subsequent fire claimed 27 lives. She was the first carrier to take on the new F-14 Tomcat in 1974 and was present during the evacuation of Saigon in 1975.
Vietnam: Aircraft – Helicopters – Carriers


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Murphy, Chisenhall get 5 hits each for Indians
TORONTO (AP) -- David Murphy had five hits and five RBIs and Lonnie Chisenhall had five hits and an RBI and the Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 15-4 on Wednesday night.
Corey Kluber pitched seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season, and Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes homered as the Indians set season-highs with 22 hits and 15 runs in winning for the sixth time in eight games.
Infielder Steve Tolleson came on to record the final out in the ninth inning after Gomes drilled a three-run homer off Neil Wagner. Throwing knuckleballs, Tolleson faced two batters, giving up a double to Chisenhall before Mike Aviles popped out.
Kluber (4-3) allowed two runs and four hits, walked one and struck out nine. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.04 ERA in his past five starts, with 47 strikeouts over 34 1-3 innings.
Kluber retired the first 13 batters in order before giving up his first hit, a double by Adam Lind. One out later, Lind scored on Brett Lawrie's double.
Bryan Shaw worked the eighth and Carlos Carrasco finished for the Indians.
Santana opened the scoring in the second when he drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on Murphy's one-out double.
Murphy doubled to begin the fourth and scored on Chisenhall's single.
Michael Brantley, whose 11-game hitting streak ended in Tuesday's loss, doubled to open the fifth and scored when Santana followed with a homer into the second deck. Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a single, chasing Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan.
McGowan (2-2) allowed four runs and nine hits in four-plus innings. He walked two and struck out three.
McGowan is winless with an ERA of 9.19 in four home starts this season, but 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in four road starts. He dropped to 0-3 with a 10.61 ERA in five career games against the Indians.
Toronto cut it to 4-2 on Jose Bautista's RBI double in the sixth, but Edwin Encarnacion fouled out and Lind flied out to the wall in left.
Cleveland tacked on two more against reliever Marcus Stroman in the seventh on RBI singles by Murphy and Aviles.
Cabrera chased Stroman with an RBI single in the eighth. Murphy greeted Wagner with a two-run double.
Cleveland capped it with a six-run, 10-batter ninth. Michael Bourn hit an RBI triple and scored on a base hit by Jose Ramirez. Murphy hit a two-run double and Gomes homered to chase Wagner.
Brantley left in the fifth with a sore back. He was replaced by Nyjer Morgan, who lasted just half an inning before spraining his right knee. Ramirez replaced Morgan, going in at second base as Aviles moved to left.
NOTES: Tolleson is the seventh position player to pitch for the Blue Jays. ... This was the third five-hit game of Murphy's career. ... The Blue Jays placed C Dioner Navarro on the family medical emergency list and optioned RHP Chad Jenkins to Triple-A Buffalo. Toronto recalled C Erik Kratz and Wagner from Triple-A. ... When Cleveland's Nick Swisher grounded to the mound in the ninth, he carried his bat all the way to first base. ... Indians RHP Danny Salazar (1-3) faces LHP J.A. Happ (1-1) in Thursday's series finale.


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HOLLYWOOD – Cedric "The Entertainer" is coming back to television with his own new original series, "The Soul Man."
Starring alongside Cedric will be the very funny and charismatic Niecy Nash.
Both Cedric "The Entertainer" and Niecy Nash caught up with the Sentinel and Watts Times for an intimate interview on the set of their new series, at the CBS Studios in Universal City, California
LAWT: Tell me about the new sitcom and what attracted you both to the series?
Cedric "The Entertainer" (CTE): The show is called "The Soul Man." It's a show I created, produced and starring in. In the show I play Boyce BallentineCedric or Reverend Boyce Ballentine, an ex-R&B superstar who gets the calling late in life and moves my family, my wife, and my daughter away from Las Vegas back St. Louis and become the minister of my dad's church. It's just basically a story of transition, how you go from one lifestyle or one life to another.
Niecy Nash (NN): I play Lolli Ballentine and I loved the life my husband Boyce had when he was an R&B singer, I loved the shiny lifestyle, Vegas the Bellagio. Not crazy about coming back to St. Louis but supportive of my husband and there I am. And it's so funny because this particular story mirrors a life I use to live with my ex-husband who was an R&B singer, who got called into the ministry. So I have been a first lady before. It wasn't easy then and it's not easy now.
LAWT: When did each of you know this project was right for you?
CTE: I developed it and wrote the script with Susan Martin from "Hot in Cleveland." So really when developing the world out, I knew we would have a lot of fun. When looking for a TV wife Niecy's name came up. We had worked together before on a movie I had done called, "Code Name: The Cleaner." But it was also the idea was really fresh too me. You knew her talent from "Reno 911" as well as her reality shows but I just thought it was going to be really unique. So we met for lunch and she told me this story about her real life and I couldn't believe it. She thought I was making it up, I thought she was making it up; I'm like wait a minute? It just ended up being a perfect match. It's been dynamic and I'm really thankful and blessed that she was available and wanted to play along and we have been having a great time.
NN: I have never been a TV wife before. Been a lot of things, concubine, girl on the side, you know freak of the weak, but no now I am official. I am a TV wife and I have to say Cedric creates an environment where the set in so much fun. You know and I said if I knew it was going to be this much fun being a wife I would have been a TV wife a long time ago. But I didn't know.
LAWT: We have not seen a show like this, and when I say a show like this, this type of theme (family theme) for African Americans in a while. There have been similar attempts for instance with Damon Wayans (My Wife and Kids), but it's refreshing to see a family oriented show for not just Black families but all families on television. Was that your goal when you approached this project?
CTE: Definitely, for me I try to build a brand that is inclusive with my comedy and one that allows everybody to come and watch the show. Being a family man myself you know raising kids' living that particular lifestyle I thought the image was something that could be really refreshing. The story line of being able to kind of show the generational things like having a grandfather involved on the show in a regular basis and that kind of relationship of the extended family with the younger brother who is a little different in age group. Like all of these things were things that I thought would be interesting story points of view to tell about our community and so for me, that was something I definitely wanted to run at and again probably not since Cosby in a real way have you seen something that resembled fun loving family that is having a good time but also has challenges and struggles or whatever they have to deal with. So that's the world I thought would be really fun.
NN: I was excited to show Black love on TV. You know because a lot of time with the programming we have now, even if it has wife in the title, the girls aren't wives. If there is a man involved it's a lot of yelling and arguing. And even in a traditional sit-com, you know usually the husband and wife are each other's foil. It's like that's who you get your cheap shots in with but I love the idea that we just love each other. You get to see a couple that loves each other not that there perfect but they are perfect for one another and they are trying to be better so that is what I am happy about bringing.
LAWT: Even though the show is based in a church atmosphere the series still incorporates many different real – world problems. Niecy, tell me a little bit more about your character and what you are trying to bring because we are seeing you in a new light?
NN: Even though it's a new light in TV, it's an old light for me. I'm on my second marriage; I got it down pact now. I have an ex-husband, a new husband and a TV husband. I got more husbands than I could shake a stick at. And now I understand what being a wife is. So playing a wife on television now is really another extension of who I am. I have my own children, my own family so to be able to bring that motherly love. But the truth of the matter is who we are outside of our character's they blend together a little bit. So there is a bit of extra mothering. We are able to move around and bring so many real elements and nuances to what we do because it's not far from our truths in a sense.
LAWT: What advice do you have for up and coming actors and actresses or anyone looking to make it in the business?
NN: To the new generation that's coming, they move around, a lot of them, like there is a sense of entitlement. You know doing what you doing hook me up! And you know, I am scared of the hook up because if you don't have someone to help you will you really know how to hustle. The other thing is I don't think you need anybody else to believe in your dream. And that is why they call it self-esteem. When you believe, that is enough to carry you to the next point in it all.
CTE: I definitely try to tell people to love what you do first and don't worry about blowing up. Most of the time it's kind of to that same point, what you hear is people really want to have that star experience right away. "I did a play last week man, put me in a movie I'm ready to go, I did it I rocked it." The thing is that you got to be able to know the different rungs on the ladder so if ever you go up and you have to come down, you don't have to fall down to the bottom. You can fall for or five steps get yourself together and then climb back up. So you know its okay to do the journey. The journey is going to be far more valuable than the rocketing to the top.
LAWT: Why should people tune in and watch "The Soul Man?"
CTE: You got to watch "The Soul Man," Wednesday's on TV Land, it's funny, I'm on it, Niecy's on it, and then I said so…Its s great show of family values, the struggle of changing your life, going from one life to another, growing up getting smarter, getting wiser and then having people recognize that and is it okay to be known for one thing and mature to something else. Watch it for that reason.
NN: I would tell everyone to watch "The Soul Man" because I think that this is a show that could be appointment TV. Where everyone in your family can find some character in here they relate to, something funny that they identify with. I definitely think you will either see yourself or someone in this family and you can watch it with your entire family.
LAWT: What else do you guys have going on outside of television, anything we should be on the lookout for?
CTE: I'm still touring. I'm scheduling a show in the Los Angeles area for August. But usually I'm on out on the road on the east coast. But creating producing other shows, I got a very cool movie called coming out called "Grass Roots," it's a little more of a dramatic role for me. I play a Seattle politician in this film.
NN: There is a lot going on. God has been very kind so I have my hands in a bit of everything. I just launched an accessories line on the Home Shopping Network. I have a book coming out. Producing, creating and developing a lot of things.
By Brandon I. Brooks
Special to the NNPA from the Los Angeles Sentinel


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Pricing benefits:
- Without CDN, you are charged for each streaming unit and outbound traffic from the Azure data center. With CDN, you are charged for each streaming unit and only the outbound traffic from the CDN POPs to end users. You are not charged for the outbound traffic from the Azure data center to the CDN.
- Azure CDN is pay-as-you-go model. Unlike other providers there is no CDN specific minimum commitment or additional contract required. For full CDN pricing details, see https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/cdn/.
Key characteristics:
- Data center availability: CDN integration is enabled in all the Azure data centers: US West, US East, North Europe, West Europe, Japan West, Japan East, South East Asia and East Asia.
- Streaming hostname: Your streaming endpoint hostname remains the same after enabling CDN. You don't need to make any changes to your media services workflow after CDN is enabled. For example, if your streaming endpoint hostname is strasbourg.streaming.mediaservices.windows.net, after enabling CDN, the exact same hostname is used.
- Streaming unit: You need to have at least one media services streaming unit to be able to enable CDN. By default when you create a new streaming endpoint a streaming unit is automatically enabled.
- Activation time: After enabling CDN, it takes two hours for the changes to be active across all the CDN POPs.
- Enabling CDN: For new streaming endpoints, you can enable CDN simply by creating a new endpoint; for existing streaming endpoints, you will need to first stop the endpoint and then enable the CDN.
- Allowed requests: When CDN is enabled for a streaming endpoint, clients cannot request content directly from the origin. If you need the ability to test your content with or without CDN you can create another streaming endpoint that isn't CDN enabled.


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You're reading an outdated article. Please go to the recent issues to find up-to-date content.
System compatibility is not only a growing trend, it also seems to be an unmistakable necessity. This term appears to be evolving from an industry "buzzword" to a way of life for contractors. It is essential that electrical contractors be well versed in all disciplines of communications, so that they may offer compatibility guarantees to their clients, since this topic seems to be at the top of everyone's requirement list.
System compatibility generally refers to the voice, data, and visual communication systems' ability to work at peak performance at once. Depending upon the sophistication and extent of the systems, wireless systems in use may also be included in the compatibility issue. While wireless solutions seem to be less of an issue, they could raise their own compatibility issues in the near future.
It is often difficult to work with technology buyers when you come from an electrical system-based background. Within the electrical field, there are few concerns about whether or not systems can operate together both efficiently and effectively. This is not true within communications, where it is essential that systems operate seamlessly and simultaneously. Communications systems are completely dependent upon reliability issues.
Being able to assess the compatibility of the proposed systems is essential. This type of knowledge and understanding should ultimately take place long before any attempts are made at design or installation. Sometimes just evaluating products and their associated benefits can put contractors one step ahead in the game.
Today's hot topic seems to be converged network systems. Converged systems are purported to provide effortless acceptance of all related systems within a network, which means that all associated voice/data/video applications can operate harmoniously.
This all helps to explain why one of the most influential reasons behind the acceptance and availability of converged systems is that they are inherently designed to offer the added benefit of essentially built-in compatibility measures. Along these same lines of reasoning, the issue of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) often deserves more credit than it has historically received.
The VoIP solution, in theory, allows both traditional and more advanced digital systems to operate in an integrated fashion by using a standardized data networking protocol. This is considered a more optimal solution than many current voice systems in place. Many facilities essentially operate from the same copper cable that was laid roughly a century ago. Considering the sheer magnanimity of the technological advances over the past 15 years, it is amazing that we have operated so efficiently while continuing to use such old cable as the backbone of the whole process.
Many compatibility issues come into play when enhanced voice systems (such as large-scale telephone switches) are installed in facilities where antiquated data systems are in use, and vice versa. Take for example a growing operation that has desktop PCs linked to the main network server via Category 3 cable, which probably was installed a few decades ago. The PCs are attempting to communicate with a new telephone system that operates at a faster speed than the network itself. This type of situation leads to greater lag time, slower connections, and jumbled signals. All of this generally points to factors that teach us that enhanced communications all need to be operating from the same-generation hardware and software.
As the various modes of communication become increasingly advanced, all with the promise of greater performance, it becomes more important to discover solutions to incompatibility. Many times the issue of systems interoperability surfaces after installation is complete. Once the electronics are installed, it often becomes quite apparent that a network hub manufactured by the ABC Company does not function at optimum performance when used in conjunction with a telephone switch by the DCE Company. Assessing the systems before the design phase can lead to easier installation.
Whether or not the systems you are being asked to install are voice or data, video or wireless, the basic compatibility issues are always at play. Systems need to operate both independently and dependently in regards to one another. A fully functioning voice system is of little use if the network server fails to operate because of network traffic, thus rendering internal communications inoperative. Think about how essential communications are within your own organization, and you will understand the client's perspective and what it is truly asking you to provide. EC
STONG is the enterprise developer at G. R. Sponaugle & Sons, Inc., a full-service engineering, construction, and communications company. She can be reached at (717) 564-1515 or via e-mail at [email protected].


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Leak report omits Panetta allegation
The official version of a Pentagon report about its dealings with Hollywood over the making of "Zero Dark Thirty" omits allegations included in an earlier leaked copy, which alleged then-CIA Director Leon Panetta revealed classified information.
The Defense Department's final version of the document appeared Friday, but in an earlier draft, which was published last week by the Project on Government Oversight, Panetta was accused of discussing classified information at a 2011 CIA event attended by the film's screenwriter.
Bridget Ann Serchak, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon's inspector general, said issues related to Panetta were referred to the CIA's IG.
"As with any IG work product, the working draft was edited and revised during a rigorous internal review process," Serchak said in a statement to POLITICO. "No third parties, to include anyone from the Office of the Secretary of Defense or the Executive Office of the President, attempted to influence the content of the report or its release date."
The final version of the IG's report references the CIA event but omits a paragraph in the draft version that said Panetta "specifically recognized the unit that conducted the [Osama bin Laden] raid and identified the ground commander by name." That information was protected from public release, according to the draft report, and amounted to divulging a secret.
A source close to Panetta told POLITICO last week that the former Defense secretary was unaware anyone without a security clearance had attended the CIA event. "He has no idea who all is in the audience," said the source, who asked not to be identified. "He was told everyone got the requisite clearances."
Still, the omission is raising some eyebrows.
"There appear to be mitigating circumstances regarding Mr. Panetta, but does that justify omitting any reference to the apparent disclosure of highly classified material?" said Adam Zagorin, co-author of a POGO article last week on the draft report. "I would just note the fact that it isn't there and the reason for it not being there is not really explained."
The final report released Friday also makes clear there was resistance within the Pentagon to providing access to the makers of "Zero Dark Thirty." Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal did not formally request the Defense Department's support for the film but did meet with military officials as part of their research.
The report quotes "DoD's director of entertainment media" — Philip Strub — as saying he wasn't eager to deal with the two filmmakers because of their portrayal of the military in a previous film, "The Hurt Locker," but was overruled by higher-ups.
"I wasn't given the choice of whether to authorize it or not," he said, according to the final report. "I mean, these senior people do whatever they want."
In a 2011 email, then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Doug Wilson told Boal, "If you have any problems with [Strub] on any of this, come to me."
Later, Wilson emailed Boal that he and other top Pentagon officials would "work to unclog the SOCOM pathway for you," referring to U.S. Special Operations Command. Boal wanted to interview Navy SEALs as part of his research, but Special Operations Command officials had expressed reservations about making people available.
The report did not identify any instances in which Pentagon officials disclosed information to the filmmakers on "special operations tactics, techniques and procedures-related information."
Investigators began looking into the Pentagon's relationship with the "Zero Dark Thirty" filmmakers after a New York Times columnist wrote that Obama administration officials hoped the movie, then expected for release around the time of the 2012 elections, would portray the president in a heroic light and help him at the polls. Republicans, angry at what they called a willingness by the White House to reveal classified information for political gain, demanded more information.


text:
MooseX::Types is an alternative method for creating an managing your Moose type constraints. This has been recently updated to properly support parameterized type constraints and type constrain unions. So now you can correctly do:
subtype MyArrayRefOfIntegers,
as ArrayRef[Int];
subtype BigInt,
as Int,
where { $_ >10 };
subtype MyArrayRefOfBigInts,
as MyArrayRefOfIntegers[BigInt];
So there are a few things going on here. First of all "MyArrayRefOfIntegers" is defined as a parameterized ArrayRef and will match [1,2,3, ...] but not ['a','b','c', …] since that data structure contains strings. We also created a subtype called "BigInt" which is an integer with a further requirement that the value be greater than 10. Granted, you may not consider this very big, but it will serve for example. Then, we define another type constraint which is a subtype of the previously created parameterized type. We call this one, "MyArrayRefOfBigInts", since it extends the "MyArrayRefOfIntegers" subtype with a new type parameter, the previously created "BigInt". This will match [11,12,13, ...], but not [1,2,3, …], since the latter violates the "BigInt" constraint. This ability for a parameterized type subtype it's type parameter is a recent addition to Moose, so you'll need at least the 0.60 version.
If you extend a parameterized subtype this way, the new type parameter must be a subtype of the type parameter of the parent type. So this could be any subtype of "Int" but not "Str". If you try, you'll get an error.
Please note you could have done the following to achieve the same effect:
subtype MyArrayRefOfBigInts,
as MyArrayRefOfIntegers,
where { foreach my $int (@$_) {$int > 10 || return 0} 1 };
However, I believe the first example is cleaner and offers additional reusability.
Type constraint unions are straightforward:
subtype MyThisOrThat,
as Int|Str;
This would match either an Int or a Str type constraint. Personally, I don't use these type of constraints very much since I suspect they may indicate improper abstraction at some level, but to each her own. Of course can can mix and match:
subtype MyBigMess,
as HashRef[HashRef[Num|Object]|ArrayRef[Str|Object]];
However at some point you need to start wondering if what you are doing is sane :)
If you are using MooseX::Types in your applications, please update to the latest and let me know if you find any problems.


text:
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text:
One thing we all have is lots of old software, and we always need to worry about how we will run that one crucial application next year, the year after, or a decade down the road. Will the hardware be available? Will the drivers and libraries required still be available?
My recent quest to run up an old computer game -- "Star Wars Episode I: Racer," published in the 1990s -- has been a good example of this problem, though, admittedly, rather more fun than dealing with some moldy accounting app. Even so, the same principles and complexities are involved.
A VISUAL HISTORY: 'Star Wars' video games
The game in question, "Racer," is one of the few games I have ever really liked, but it is fussy: It will only run under Windows 98 and requires DirectX 6.1 and 3D video acceleration.
I started my quest to raise the digital dead a few weeks ago by trying to get "Racer" running in a virtual machine under VMware Fusion on my iMac, but, alas, with no luck. While Fusion is pretty amazing in the range of operating systems it supports, it turns out Windows 98 with DirectX 6.1 and 3D acceleration is not a supported or supportable combination.
A few weeks later I tried Oracle's VirtualBox and, again, despite the awesomeness of this virtualization product, it too was not up to the task of running an obsolete, nay, antiquated, operating system with such specific requirements.
I had pretty much given up hope of ever being able to duke it out as Anakin Skywalker in a pod race with that swine, Selbulba, unless I set up a machine specifically for the purpose (which seemed like far too much effort) when I stumbled across CodeWeavers' CrossOver Impersonator.
Click to see: "Star Wars Episode I: Racer" running on Codeweavers' Impersonator under OS X
Impersonator is a commercialized version of Wine, a free open source Windows emulator. Wine (which stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), is, as the Wine folks like to point out, "not that kind of emulator."
By "not that kind" they mean that it's not trying to emulate an entire PC architecture. but rather, presents a system interface for applications that looks like the system interface for Windows.
Now some people assume virtual machines a la VMware are just better for a variety of reasons, and one that is often cited is performance.
The fact is that full virtual machines often aren't faster for the simple reasons that there's a lot of code between, say, a disk input or output request or a screen update, and the code that requests it. This is because the virtual machine has to encompass an entire operating system as well as emulations of video, keyboard and disk drivers and going through all of that code eats up processing cycles.
You could think of Wine as remapping operating system calls from a Windows interface to the host interface (which could be OS X or Linux), which means there's no need to "fake" an entire PC as, say, VMware Fusion does.
Another benefit of this kind of support for Windows applications is that Impersonator (but not Wine) provides predefined installation and configuration support for all of the Windows Office applications and scores of games. Even better, those applications are integrated with the host operating system so they can, for example, be launched by opening email attachments or from the file browser.
As for compatibility, yep, Wine does have issues with some applications but, surprisingly, not that many ... at least, not enough to put you off using it. These compatibility issues mostly come from the sheer messiness of the Windows APIs (remember when the Windows 2000 source code was leaked back in 2004? I doubt whether the hacks upon hacks nature of Windows code has been removed).
So, to handle the various eccentricities of Windows applications, what Wine and CodeWeavers' Impersonator do is to provide customizations for the systems interface to meet the demands of specific software packages.
When you compare Impersonator to, for example, dual booting, the advantages are obvious: Not having to reboot your entire machine and not needing a copy of Windows are huge. And compared to a true virtual machine solution such as VMware Fusion, Impersonator is lightweight in terms of memory and processor utilization and, in many cases, the application runs faster.
So, I installed the Impersonator Games version under OS X, went through the install and setup process -- which took mere minutes -- and voila! "Star Wars Episode 1: Racer" was up and running!
Now, it's true that there are a few problems; the mouse pointer in the game is offset from the system mouse pointer and the mouse response during game play is uneven (I'm sure there are some tuning options in the game and in Impersonator I haven't set up quite right), but it worked! I blasted around the Pod Racer course on Tattooine setting a new lap record (so the game told me) and left Sebulba in the dust. W00t!
As a strategy for migrating your legacy Windows desktop or server applications to OS X or, more cost effectively, to Linux, Impersonator offers some incredible cost benefits. CodeWeavers also provides an interesting and refreshingly honest explanation of what its product can do.
An interesting thought just occurred to me: What virtualization format will have the greatest longevity? If it turns out to be, for example, VMware's, then for those really fussy applications like "Racer," it might make sense to create a Linux VM using VMware, then install Impersonator, then the awkward app, and voila! A software time capsule!
Priced from $39.95 to $69.95, depending on which edition you choose, this solution to running Windows applications on other operating systems is an amazing value and provides terrific functionality. I'll give CodeWeavers' CrossOver Impersonator a rating of 5 out of 5.
Now, excuse me 'cause I've got me some racing to do ...
Gibbs is a winner in Ventura, Calif. Tell him if you have tiger's blood at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
There's a certain charm to old-school analog clocks, unless you're part of the generation that never learned how to properly decipher a bunch of numbers laid out in a circle. So Thingiverse user 'joo' has created a happy medium for those more comfortable with a digital clock, but like seeing a bunch of moving parts, with this contraption that writes out the time, erases it, and then starts all over again minute after minute.
Watching it write out the current time again and again is surprisingly relaxing and hypnotic, and it's far easier to maintain than a pond full of koi. Every few days you just need to feed it a new erasable marker and it's happy.
If you want one for your desk to help take the edge off work, you'll have to 3D print and build your own because you can't just buy the Plotclock outright. But 'joo' has posted all the info you'll need over on Thingiverse minus soldering and basic electronics know-how. [Thingiverse via I Heart Chaos]


text:
Guns in the Granite State: N.H. has most machine guns per capita in U.S.
A 1940s-era submachine gun is seen at Riley's Sport Shop in Hooksett on Thursday, Jan. 17.
DOVER — The number of automatic weapons in New Hampshire increased dramatically after 2010, according to federal firearms records, although it remains unclear whether the growth is being driven by civilians, law enforcement or the military.
The number of registered machine guns in New Hampshire spiked 80 percent between the end of 2010 and March 2012, according to the most current data available from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Unlike semi-automatic weapons, machine guns have been subject to federal restrictions for decades. Machine guns are weapons that can operate in a "fully automatic" mode, meaning multiple shots can be fired by simply holding down the trigger.
Semi-automatic weapons — such as the Bushmaster .223 rifle carried by Newtown elementary school shooter Adam Lanza — are limited to firing a single shot each time the trigger is pressed.
It's illegal for civilians in the United States to own any machine gun manufactured after 1986, though several hundred thousand weapons made before that date are still in circulation around the country.
Machine guns have been regulated in the United States since as early as 1934, when Congress passed the National Firearms Act to combat "gangster" violence that had increased during prohibition, according to information available from the ATF.
The National Firearms Act imposed an excise tax on manufacturing and transferring machine guns and some other weapons, including short-barreled shotguns, rifles and silencers.
The NFA also required that all machine guns must be registered in a federal database known as the National Registration and Transfer Record.
A machine gun is defined by federal law as "any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot," multiple shots with a single pull of the trigger. Parts that can be converted into a machine gun must also be registered with the ATF.
In 1986, Congress halted all domestic manufacturing of machine guns through passage of the Firearm Owners Protection Act. The measure made it illegal for civilians to possess or transfer any machine gun that was manufactured after May 1986.
New Hampshire doesn't have any laws that restrict the possession of machine guns or other firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act.
However, people with knowledge of the ATF's regulatory process warn it can be burdensome to buy and sell so-called "NFA weapons" — meaning those controlled by the National Firearms Act.
To begin with, transferring a machine gun, or most any other NFA weapon, to another person requires payment of a $200 federal tax. In the case of a private machine gun sale, either the buyer or seller is required to pay the tax before the swap.
Licensed firearms dealers can avoid paying the transfer tax by instead paying an annual "special occupational tax," but only a fraction of the gun dealers in New Hampshire have opted to pay for it, according to ATF records.
Of the more than 350 licensed firearms dealers in the state, about 30 were paying the tax as of 2011.
Individuals who wish to purchase a machine gun from a dealer or through a private sale from someone residing in the same state are required to submit a package of information to the ATF before they can proceed.
The application requires individuals to provide at a minimum, their name, as well as photo identification. Individuals are also required to obtain written permission from the chief law enforcement officer in their community, whether a county sheriff or municipal police chief.
The forms must then be processed by the ATF and returned before the machine gun or other weapon can be transferred.
"The waiting period lately has been five to six months after the submission of your documents in which they are specifically examined by an individual and approved or disapproved," Nappen said.
The owner of Riley's Sports Shop in Hooksett, Ralph Demicco, talks about a 1940s-era submachine gun on Thursday, Jan. 17.
Despite the increase in registered machine guns in the state, dealers who are licensed to exchange the weapons on behalf of clients said they doubt the figure is being driven by civilian sales.
Dover gun-shop owner John Domfort said he's been paying the special tax to transfer restricted weapons for more than two years, and hasn't been involved in any machine gun transactions at his shop, Tactical Defense Solutions.
Domfort said machine gun owners are typically firearms collectors who are drawn to the historical value of the weapons. Customers who own them aren't usually interested in buying or selling their pieces, Domfort said.
"The guys that buy them, they're the same guys that invest in gold," he said.
Penny Dean, a Concord attorney who specializes in gun ownership issues, said the ban on civilian manufacturing has sent prices soaring on some rare weapons, bumping the price of a weapon that would have previously cost $3,500 into the range of $60,000.
Even an automatic weapon on the cheap end of the spectrum, such as an Uzi — a type of smaller submachine gun — will run $10,000 and up, Dean said.
"Typically, these are really good investment vehicles," she said. "A lot of people buy them strictly for investments because you just can't get any more. It's a finite supply, and the price just keeps going up."
There are also three major, high-end auctioneers who sell machine guns in New Hampshire, Dean said.
"They turn through a whole pile of machine guns, and so it's very possible ... that right now the three auction houses just happen to be holding a bunch and are in the process of auctioning them," she said.
At Riley's Sport Shop in Hooksett, only one fully automatic weapon was hanging on the shelves on Thursday. It was a 1940s-era H&R Model 50 "Reising" submachine gun, trimmed in a walnut stock, which was valued at $4,500.
Given the limited supply of fully-automatic weapons manufactured before 1986, machine guns have consistently held their value, Riley's owner Ralph Demicco said last week.
"I have not seen an increase in the interest in machine guns," he said. "It's a pretty stable market."
Lately, customers have been more interested in products being eyed for new regulations, such as semi-automatic weapons, Demicco said.
Riley's was packed on Thursday morning, one day after President Barack Obama unveiled a new package of gun control measures being backed by the White House.
Nappen agreed that buying and selling machine guns is "not a poor man's game." He suspects manufacturing is the primary factor influencing the registration bump in New Hampshire.
Qualified gun manufacturers are still permitted to make new machine guns for sale to government entities, or for export or use as dealer sales samples in gun shops.
Other states, such as South Carolina, have competed more vigorously than New Hampshire to attract gun manufacturers, according Nappen. Despite that fact, New Hampshire has favorable gun ownership laws, and more than 80 gun manufacturers are currently registered to do business in the state.
Manufacturers who wish to produce machine guns can avoid paying a so-called "making tax" on each individual weapon by paying an annual tax of $500.
Twenty nine firearms manufacturers in the state were paying the special tax in 2011, according to ATF records, making them eligible to produce machine guns and other NFA weapons.
Among them were some well-known names in the gun industry, such as Sig Sauer and Sturm, Ruger & Company.
Also on the list is Umlaut Industries, a smaller manufacturer in Concord that produces a range of products, including some NFA weapons.
Owner Lars Högblom said he is required to notify the ATF within hours of producing controlled weapons. Serial numbers and model numbers are also recorded in the business' so-called "bound book" of gun registrations.
Högblom said he suspects the number of registered machine guns in the state has been driven by new machine guns being registered at manufacturing facilities around the state.
Sig Sauer and Ruger both manufacture machine guns, Högblom said. Sig Sauer also recently introduced a new law enforcement submachine gun, an automatic weapon that fires handgun-caliber bullets, he said.
Heckler and Koch, which has a facility in Newington, is also known to manufacture machine guns for the Department of Defense, Högblom said.
"There's a lot of guys overseas that have their machine guns as well," he said.
Representatives from Ruger, Sig Sauer and Heckler and Koch did not return phone calls or emails this week seeking comment about their manufacturing operations in the state.


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Late last summer as I moved into my condo, I had big plans for a major overhaul of the place. After all, much of it hadn't been touched since 1968. (Had the building been built in the 1920s or 30s, I wouldn't dare think of redoing anything. Alas, it wasn't, and late 1960s decor just doesn't do it for me.) I started with things like having the popcorn ceilings scraped (such a mess), staining the parquet floors ebony, and having the walls painted and papered. Oh, and having the pea green shag carpet in my bedroom AND bathroom promptly removed (yes, it even went around the toilet- Yuck!). What really bothered me, though, were the 1960s bathrooms. My guest bathroom had the worst toilet you've ever seen. It sat about a foot and a half off of the ground, and it had the original plastic toilet seat, which, by the way, had a cigarette burn mark in it. I care not to think about how that happened.
I was trying to decide how I wanted to renovate the bathroom when the economic hell broke loose, and then I lost the nerve to do anything. On top of that, I was tired of having workmen in my home. So, I left it alone for a while, nasty toilet and all. But a few months ago, I realized that it really wasn't necessary to rip everything out and start anew. I could tart the room up and try to disguise some of the questionable decorating choices that were made forty years ago. So let me give you a lay of the land...
This is the way the bathroom looked when I first visited the condo over a year ago. I guess I should clarify something- somebody did make a few upgrades to the bathroom at some point. So it was a blend of 1968 and 1998.
More From House Beautiful
I know what you're looking at. It's the nasty toilet with the discolored toilet seat. The vanity with the chic woodgrain laminate doors is original. Note how the counter top extended all the way over to the shower door. The ceramic tile floor and shower walls are a later addition, as is the green tiled shower floor and the cheapo sliding glass door. See the handle bars all over the place? There was no way you could slip and fall because no matter where you were, there was always a handle to grab.
The walls were papered in a red vinyl wallpaper that was trying to be marbleized. I stripped the paper off of the walls myself, which just about caused me to lose my mind, not to mention my back and arms. You should have seen the pastel paper that was behind the top layer. The weirdest thing about the bathroom is that mirrored medicine cabinet that extends across the entire wall. The doors slide back and forth. Also, in typical 1968 fashion, there is a commercial fixture over the mirror. There had been a big, long plastic box that fit over the bulbs, but I sent that packing.
The vanity has Kohler fixtures which aren't the worst things I've ever seen, but they're far from great looking. Here, you can see the nice, new, and CLEAN Kohler toilet that I had installed. I had to have my contractor cut off that ledge that extended over the toilet; otherwise, no toilet would have fit because of the height issue.
My dilemma was that if I ripped out that light fixture, the mirror had to go to. And if the mirror went, so did the medicine cabinet. I wasn't upset about that prospect. But if I ripped out the vanity, then walls would have to be redone, and I would have to put in a new floor. At that point, I might as well have renovated everything, which defeated the purpose of my project. So, I left the vanity, the mirror, the shower, the floor, the medicine cabinet, and that awful light intact. Tomorrow, I'll show you the after pictures.


text:
Sinkhole Claims: Hiring an Attorney in Naples
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Naples Sinkhole Claims
At Morgan and Morgan's Naples office, our attorneys understand how to protect our clients' rights when filing and, if necessary, appealing a sinkhole claim. We have dealt with insurance companies that failed to provide an appropriate amount of money for these claims, forcing our clients to merely "bandage" damaged areas.
Our attorneys have also fought insurance companies which denied a sinkhole's existence without conducting proper ground testing. With years of experience handling sinkhole claims, our attorneys will work to protect you from the money-saving strategies insurance providers use to intimidate Florida property owners and deny valid claims.
If you have a sinkhole on your property, our attorneys may be able to help you receive proper compensation for the damage. Fill out a free case review to find out how we may be able to help with your sinkhole damage claim.
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Why Should I Hire an Attorney for My Sinkhole Claim?
Insurance providers will hire experts to look after their interests and expenses when investigating a sinkhole claim. By hiring an experienced sinkhole attorney, your will have a chance to assemble your own team to help ensure both your rights and property are protected.
Our Naples sinkhole lawyers have handled hundreds of claims for sinkhole damage compensation and advise that property owners do not try to negotiate with the insurance company on their own.
Filing a Sinkhole Claim
The first step in filing a sinkhole claim is to call the insurance company and alert them to the sinkhole. Once an insurance adjuster is assigned to the claim, he or she will document their inspection of the area. After information is collected from the home and/or property owner, the claimant's insurance company will typically send a geologist or geotechnical engineer to conduct tests at the property.
The experts' inspection will determine if a sinkhole is present. The testing may take several days or weeks. Once a sinkhole's presence is established, the insurance company will request repair estimates and send the claimant a letter either confirming or denying the claim.
Why Was My Sinkhole Damage Claim Denied?
When an insurance company denies a sinkhole damage claim, the claimant, with the help of their attorney, will determine answers to the following:
- What type of testing was conducted?
- Was the claim denied without drilling?
- Has any information regarding the claim been overlooked?
In some cases, insurance companies may skip standard testing procedures required under Florida law. They may conduct a "drive-by" test, instead of utilizing industry-proven geophysical testing techniques such as ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity testing, or a standard penetration test. Failure to properly test for sinkhole activity may constitute a breach of policy and may entitle the homeowner to immediate legal action.
When an insurance company denies the presence of sinkhole damage, the property owner can hire experts not associated with any insurance company to come and retest the suspected or obvious sinkhole area. These experts may suggest that the property owner get estimates on repairs to the affected property areas to pass along to their insurance provider.
Sinkhole Signs
Sinkholes are very common in Northern and Central Florida as a result of both human activity and the state's natural topography. Most of Florida's topography is comprised of a thin layer of sand and clay covering limestone. Rain and circulating groundwater soften this underground limestone and form cavities and crevices in the rock, which are filled by the overlying sand and clay. Pressure from buildings, roads, and water, combined with the caverns formed from the dissolved underground rock, leaves a weak crust prone to fail under pressure.
Although sinkholes are largely unpredictable, warning signs may be present. In the event of weakening ground or foundation, you may see the following:
- The ground begins to splinter
- Dried or dying vegetation
- Excessive standing water
- Doors and windows fail to close properly
- Exposure of previously hidden tree roots
- Trees, fences, and anything affixed to the ground beginning to lean
- Cracking of foundation, interior and exterior walls, driveways, porches, decks, ceilings, and floors
- Unusual water stains
- Unexplained loud noises (as one's house begins pulling apart and sinking)
if your home was damaged by a sinkhole in Naples or the surrounding areas, contact our attorneys today to find out how we may be able to help you.


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April 17, 2013 | Agawam | Steven Zicolella, co-owner of the land at 369 Main St., until last September, the Mushy's golf driving range, walks where the tees used to be passed an array of about 7700 solar panels now on the site. Rivermoor-Citizens LLC has leased the land for one of two solar panel parks in Agawam.
(Michael S. Gordon/The Republican)
By Matt Murphy
BOSTON — With the assistance of state incentives and a boom in solar installations last year, Massachusetts residents, businesses, municipalities and utilities now have the capacity to harness more than 250 megawatts of power from solar energy and Gov. Deval Patrick has achieved a 10-year goal four years early.
Patrick plans to announce the clean-energy milestone on Wednesday afternoon at the Drydock Center in South Boston when he also intends to set a new goal for the state's solar energy future. The solar power now installed in Massachusetts can generate enough electricity to power 37,000 homes for a year.
The governor's new target for solar power could also foreshadow how state energy regulators plan to address the cap on renewable energy credits for solar projects currently under review and expected to increase.
Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard Sullivan told the News Service that Patrick was weighing several options for the new solar installation target, but said, "The governor has been a leader in clean energy and an aggressive leader and whatever number he chooses I'm sure will reflect that."
New Jersey has a goal of 4 gigawatts of solar capacity, while Maryland has a 1.3 gigawatt goal.
In 2007, just months after taking office, Patrick said he wanted the state to have 250 megawatts of solar capacity installed by 2017. Massachusetts had just 3 megawatts of solar capacity installed at the time.
Over the next several years, Patrick signed a number of pieces of legislation creating incentives and requirements for utilities to boost their renewable energy sources that led to a mini-boom for the solar industry. Those bills included the Green Communities Act, the Global Warming Solutions Act and the Green Jobs Act
Sullivan said the laws enacted by the Legislature between 2008 and 2010 created a "very solid environment to grow the solar industry," and the new goals "will be certainly furthering the Commonwealth's commitment to growing not only solar deployment in Massachusetts but growing the clean energy sector."
The amount of solar capacity being installed each year in Massachusetts has steadily increased since 2007, climbing from 9.64 megawatts in 2008 to 42.5 megawatts in 2011 and 135.8 megawatts in 2012, according to the Clean Energy Center.
The growth has been achieved through a number of programs incentivizing homeowners, businesses and municipalities to invest in solar energy, including the Commonwealth Solar program that provides rebates per watt of electricity produced for qualifying homeowners and businesses and the Green Communities program that distributes grants and technical assistance for cities and towns to embrace clean energy options.
The Green Communities Act also created a solar carve-out program in the state Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard allowing solar developers to earn credits that can then be sold to help finance the cost of new solar installations. Utilities are currently required to purchase at least 7 percent of their power generation from renewable sources, including almost 0.3 percent solar.
The solar carve-out program was capped by energy officials at 400 megawatts, but is now under review and in the public comment phase as regulators prepare for what happens once the cap is exceeded, possibly within a year.
"We're eager to see the solar market grow. It's brought a tremendous amount of business and jobs to Massachusetts. We're definitely committed to seeing that not crash and burn," said Dwayne Breger, director of renewable energy at the Department of Energy Resources, in a recent interview with the News Service.
Sullivan said he expected the new regulations pertaining to the solar carve-out cap to be released "very soon," adding, "We're cognizant of the fact that moving the program forward we have to provide certainty in the financing community that the incentives are all there and viable moving forward."
While renewable energy sources like solar and wind have traditionally been more expensive than fossil fuels, the high cost of energy in Massachusetts and state incentives have helped make solar more affordable. Since 2007, average installed costs in Massachusetts have decreased 35 percent, with costs under $4.50 per watt for some solar systems, according to the Clean Energy Center.
The market for wind power has been slower to develop. At the time he set his target for solar growth, Patrick also called for 2,000 megawatts of wind power to be installed by 2020. Similar to solar at the time, the state had a 3 megawatt wind power generating capacity in 2007.
"Right now we're at 100 megawatts deployed and obviously that is all on shore. In order to be able to hit the goal of 2,000 megawatts by 2020, clearly there's going to have to be deployment of megawatts offshore. But you can see how fast both have grown in a little over six years," said Sullivan, noting that Patrick had counted on Cape Wind when he set his target.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, residential solar electricity prices dropped 28 percent in Massachusetts in 2012, the second largest decline in the country, and Massachusetts ranks ninth among states in installed solar capacity.
The SEIA would like to see DOER increase the cap on solar energy credits from 400 megawatts to at least 1 to 1.2 gigawatts.
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center reports that in 2012 clean energy jobs in Massachusetts grew by 11.2 percent over the previous year, with nearly 5,000 clean energy firms employing more than 71,000 workers.


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The Sunrise Kiwanis want to make sure everyone that wants to celebrate the Fourth of July by participating in the traditional parade down Main Street in Manteca will be able to do so.
The service club is again waiving all entry fees for the Independence Day parade taking place on Friday, July 4, starting at 10 a.m.
The deadline for entries is at noon on Friday, June 27. Entry forms are available at www.sunrisekiwanis.org by clicking on "downloads/forms" or by contacting Brian Mills at 209.601.6214.
This year's theme is "Traveling the US."
The service club is able to cover all of the parade costs thanks to proceeds they make from their annual Manteca Pumpkin Fair.
The staging starts at 8 a.m. at Jason Street and North Main Street across from the Golden West School. The parade route travels south on Main Street and then turns west onto Center Street ending at Library Park.
The Manteca Kiwanis also will stage their annual pancake breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. at Angelano's located in the staging area.
The City of Manteca's 2014 Independence Day Celebration and Fireworks also takes place Friday, July 4, from 6 to 10:30 p.m. at Big League Dreams (BLD) Sports Complex, 1077 Milo Candini Drive.
Fireworks will be launched from the adjacent Wastewater Treatment Plant and the best viewing is from inside BLD (admission required). Admission is free for children ages 12 and under and $2 for ages 13 and up. This old-fashioned celebration features children's activities (ride wristbands are available for $2 each), a teen zone, vendor booths, a softball tournament, live family entertainment and the fireworks show.
Sponsors are still being sought for this event and vendor booths are available. Call the Parks and Recreation Department at 456.8600 for more info.


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Why Kaiser-Battistone?
Why Kaiser-Battistone For Your Business?
What's so great about Kaiser-Battistone? Check this out:
Emergencies? No problem
Days, nights, weekdays, weekends, major holidays … you name it. Bastille Day? Yep, that too. The point is, you can count on us to take care of your non-hazardous liquid waste systems, whether during an emergency or for simple routine maintenance.
Our fleet is HUGE
We don't like to brag, but we operate the largest fleet in the industry with over 400 pump trucks, tractors, vacuum and bulk liquid trailers, drain vans, service vehicles, mobile jetters, excavators, power snakes, video units and more. That's how we are able to cost effectively respond to your largest or smallest service needs.
We're good to the environment
We don't mind getting our hands dirty, but septic tanks, grease traps, and other non-hazardous liquid waste systems all fall under federal, state, and local Clean Water Act regulations. The rules are complicated and, for the safety of everyone, not something to put in the hands of beginners. We have a full-time team that focuses on nothing but environmental compliance (ok, and donuts), to help reduce your potential liability. All waste is fully manifested, documented and legally disposed at a fully permitted waste water treatment plant.
We're everywhere
Ok, maybe not literally everywhere, but we do have many, many offices throughout the area. That allows us to quickly respond to both emergency and routine needs.
Our people know what they are doing
Every Kaiser-Battistoneteam member has graduated from Wind River University (you should see prom night). All of them – both field technicians and associates – have been trained in proper system servicing, preventative maintenance programs, the identification of system problems, and customer care.
Our phones are manned by actual humans
We have no answering machines; somebody is here to answer your call, 24/7/365. After all, when you have an emergency, you don't want to "leave a message at the beep." You want to speak with a trained professional (See #5 above). Call us; we'll pick it up, every time.
We don't take you for granted
We know we're the best, but we don't rest on our laurels. In fact, just to make sure we continue to make it happen for our customers, we survey them EVERY NIGHT. Not all of them, of course, that would be annoying. Just the ones whom we visited that day, giving us a daily report card on quality and customer satisfaction.
Convinced yet? Schedule Service or Contact Us for questions about your business.


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Lower Main Street offers shopping as vibrant as its restaurant scene, an international smorgasbord of tastes, style and cultures. For every French, Italian, Oriental or Pan-American restaurant, we found equally delicious stores "serving" everything from boutique java or workout gear to fine jewelry and world-class art.
Puppy Pram When Fido's personal four-wheel drive fizzles, a pet stroller ($179.90) by Jeep will make you his best friend forever. Built to go the distance with joggers, it's among the many treats (including cookies baked by a former pastry chef) at Max's Dog Bakery, 1375 Main St., Sarasota (941) 330-0330.
Fit City "Sarasota is a wicked workout town," say Karen Magee and Andrea Rankin, who are astounded by the turnover of exercise gear at their new Jake's Downtown. Items from volleyballs ($20) to Good Move performance T-shirts ($30) and tanks ($40) are flying out the door. 1463 Main St., Sarasota (941) 955-JAKE.
Diamond Eyes Glasses are jewels for your face at Soto's, where Eyewood's curly maple frames sport black, brown and gold Swarovski crystals ($800) and David Eden's boast diamonds, rubies, even canary emeralds ($700 to $2,300). Soto's Optical Boutique, 1383 Main St., Sarasota (941) 953-3788.
Stars' Sapphire It's no wonder fans of Helen Ringus' jewelry include celebs Melanie Griffith, Angela Bassett and more. She created the diamond-rimmed enamel flowers on this sapphire necklace ($11,500) with an ancient filigree technique, plique a jour. Wearable Art, 1463 Main St., Sarasota (941) 957-0105.
Life's Mosaic The newest restaurant on Main Street, MoZaic represents an amalgam of cuisines and cultures that have left their mark on French Moroccan chef-owner Dylan Elhajoui's life and menu. Try the tagine-stewed petite veal shank laced with fennel. MoZaic, 1377 Main St., Sarasota (941) 951-6772.
Arts Counsel At this local artists' co-op, you'll find paintings, sculpture and artists on hand to discuss their work and inspiration. Wood turner Gordon Cook says he crafted this stunning segmented bowl ($1,480) with 134 pieces of maple and walnut. Art Uptown, 1367 Main St., Sarasota (941) 955-5409.
Gold Standard To make a truly figure-flattering swimsuit, you have to understand lingerie, says Lotus owner Wendy Getchell, whose newest bathing suits are by Huit (from $134) and Cosa Bella (from $160), the gold labels of European underwear brands. Lotus, 1451 Main St., Sarasota (941) 906-7080.
High Five You'll celebrate La Source's 60-Second Fix for Hands, the award-winning therapy program that restores dry hands to softness within minutes. Customers in the know snap up this hands-down best-seller (in $10 and $28 sizes) at Main Street Traders, 1468 Main St., Sarasota (941) 373-0475.
Seattle South It's a coffeehouse culture at Sarasota News & Books with a new café menu, C'est La Vie croissants and coffee by Intelligentsia, the boutique roaster with a cult following. Try a 12-ounce bag of beans to go (from $10.50). Sarasota News & Books, 1344 Main St., Sarasota (941) 365-6322.
Don't Forget to…
- Show you care with awesome gift baskets specially customized to fit your friend, lover and budget with tantalizing treats from $50 to $600 at The Gourmet Market, 1469 Main St., Sarasota (941) 953-9101.
- Rifle through racks of recycled designer fashions on consignment from Sarasota's finest closets at Encore! and more, 1439 Main St., Sarasota (941) 953-4222, where proceeds fund the Women's Resource Center of Sarasota County.
- Step back in time at the Gator Club, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and consistently voted best bar/club in town with rhythm and blues, hot new bands, even Texas Holdem Mondays. Gator Club, 1490 Main St., Sarasota (941) 366-5969.
- Browse through stacks of gently used tomes plus antique books, maps and prints at this world-class emporium, where the booksellers are as intriguing as the subject matter. Book Bazaar/A. Parker's Books, 1488 Main St., Sarasota (941) 366-1373.
Raise the Bar
Indulge in affordable luxury with an extra-special soap.
It's Essential Venice, Fla. soap crafter Francine Nichols' signature bar is a seven-fragrance Organic Essential Oil Blend, but every one of her original recipes includes hand-poured goat's milk for silky skin. A 7-ounce bar is $7 at www.pureessentialoilsoap.com or Nirvana, 353 W. Dearborn St., Englewood (941) 726-1127.
Haute Soap The lavender in Cote Lavande soap ($8.50) is so pure it's certified by the French government (like fine wine) for origin and quality. Based in Haute-Provence (where the lavender is grown), but the owners warehouse products in Sarasota. Pamela de Provence, 665 S. Orange Ave., Sarasota (941) 955-9102.
Sunshine State As fresh as Florida citrus, Earthwork soaps ($10) called grapefruit, sweet lime and limone combine natural floral and fruit essences. Triple-milled in England with moisturizing shea butter, coconut and jojoba oils. Simply Spoiled, 100 Central Ave., Sarasota (941) 364-3337.
Oceans Away The best-selling soaps at Décor de France are Ocean & Seaweed and fragrant Verbena. The hand-milled vegetable soaps ($7.50) by L'Epi de Provence are rich in shea butter and scents from Grasse, the world fragrance capital. Décor de France, 24 N. Boulevard of Presidents, Sarasota (941) 388-1599.
Soap d'Etat Milanese soap maker Rancé traces its roots to Grasse, France, and its fans to Napoleon. Corylopsis ($11) is infused with winter hazel, triple-milled and hand-pressed in 18th-century molds. Shown with Annieglass dish ($65). Square on the Circle, 25 N. Boulevard of Presidents, Sarasota (941) 388-1322.
Magnificent Seven Is it Oprah's favorite because Claus Porto soap is milled seven times instead of three? Or is it the hefty 12-ounce bars ($15) and scents like Banho (Citron/Verbena) and Honeysuckle, favorites from the venerable Portuguese brand's array? At Lotus, 1451 Main St., Sarasota (941) 906-7080.
Give Me MOR You'll be hearing more about MOR, a beautifully hand-wrapped, triple-milled Australian soap ($15), with fans like Paris and Nicky Hilton, Fred Segal and more. Twelve sensual fragrances from Black Cherry Plum to Kale & Watercress at Envie Home Decor, 1411 First St., Sarasota (941) 366-7027.
Who's In Store?
Tina Little and her store, Queens' Wreath Jewels, are known for giving customers the royal treatment. In fact, when a princess from the United Arab Emirates requested a private showing of designer Michael Beaudry's gems, Beaudry asked Little to represent him in Dubai.
"Michael knew that showing jewelry to royalty must be done by a woman," she explains. "It was amazing—no men were allowed. I was taken to a private room and she entered in full burka. The suspense was incredible." Little says the royal shopper—who was gorgeous—was enchanted by an eight-carat pear-shaped diamond pendant surrounded by micro pavé-set diamonds.
At her St. Armands boutique, Little carries a Beaudry Diamond Forever necklace that also caught the princess' eye, as well as gems from a cache of prestige names. "I sell legacy jewels; I believe jewels are the blood of the family," declares the diminutive gemologist, confessing to one more passion: "barbecued ribs from the Rib Shack on Bahia Vista."—Carol Tisch
Queens Wreath Jewels, 382 St. Armands Circle, Sarasota (941) 388-9800
Can't live without: "Beautiful jewels. Just looking at them makes me happy. I love my right-hand diamond ring: It's heart-shaped, but surrounded with fancy pink diamonds micro-set in platinum," Little says.
What this town needs: "We need women to wear big, beautiful jewels and be proud of it; I don't see that here, but I do in other towns," Little notes. Mimi Bijoux's vintage-style diamond bracelet is "tiered like a wedding cake." (Price on request)
What's old is new: "Vintage doesn't mean pre-owned; everything we sell is new," says Little, who gets first pick of world-renowned names' retired stock like this Bulgari gold and tourmaline collar.
Gifts for Mom
By George! Jewelry by Giorgio has moved next door to Morton's Gourmet Market with gossamer creations like this lacy pavé diamond collar (11.58 carats; price on request). The jewelry is made in Valencia, Italy, and complements Sarasota's lifestyle, says Giorgio Salameh, who once owned stores in Santorini, Mykonos and St. Thomas. "Clients here wear my pieces with jeans or evening gowns, just as they did abroad," he says. Jewelry by Giorgio, 1924 S. Osprey Ave., Sarasota (941) 363-7700.
Buzz-Worthy Designer Susan Farber's bow bags are paparazzi magnets, as good-looking as the stars who wear them. Photo ops in the clutches of Eva Longoria, Teri Hatcher and Sharon Stone are matched by those of local fans, chief among them Farber's mom, Steffi Gold of Longboat Key. Sophia comes in two sizes, Piccolo ($235) and Mezzo ($253) in myriad colors. Addison Craig, 28 S. Boulevard of Presidents, Sarasota (941) 388-3400.
Zensational Moms will receive the gift of relaxation this Mother's Day. It comes in the form of Buddha Boards (from $10 to $32.95 for a laptop) that include bamboo brush and Japanese-style water holder. You paint with water on an eco-friendly reusable surface. When the water dries, the art (or doodles) eventually evaporate, leaving a clean slate and a clear mind. Ringling Museum Store, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota (941) 359-5700.


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Culpeper, Thomas Culpeper, 2d Baron
Culpeper, Thomas Culpeper,
2d Baron kŭl´pĕp˝ər [key], 1635–89, English colonial governor of Virginia. In 1673, with the earl of Arlington, he was granted all lands in Virginia not previously patented. In addition, Culpeper was granted (1675) the right of succession to the governorship of Virginia and soon replaced Sir William Berkeley. He remained in England and ruled through deputies until 1680, when Charles II required him to go in person to Virginia. His general pardon of all those who had participated in Bacon's Rebellion made him popular for a brief time, but after about four months he returned to England. When disturbances arising out of the low price of tobacco broke out in the colony, he was threatened with removal unless he remained in Virginia. During his second stay (1682–83) Culpeper hanged some of the planters who had destroyed tobacco plants and quarreled violently with the burgesses. Upon leaving the colony again in 1683 he was deprived of the governorship. However, in 1688 he procured from James II a renewal in perpetuity of his vast Northern Neck proprietary (see Fairfax of Cameron, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Baron).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies


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Leveled Books
Q. The teachers at my school want me to fill the library with "leveled books" for the students to read. I'm not sure this is a good idea. What can you tell me about them?
A. Both ALA's American Association of School Librarians (AASL, a division of ALA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) have registered concerns in using such programs, pointing out the limitations and presumptions inherent in them, in determining what children of a certain age "should" read. Perhaps the most well-known of these programs for "leveled books" and "guided reading" are Accelerated Reader by Renaissance Learning and the Lexile Framework for Reading. Research into and reports about these programs is available from both of these groups, as well as the view from ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). Both the advantages and disadvantages of the programs have been reported throughout the years by School Library Journal magazine.
Accelerated Reader--Reports/Studies
Accelerated Reader (Elementary)
Company Touts System to Match Students and Books
Staff -- School Library Journal, 9/1/1998
AASL Position Statement on Resource Based Instruction: Role of the School Library Media Specialist in Reading Development
(adopted June 1993; revised July 1999)
What Works--A Skeptic Is Sold: A high school librarian finds reasons to love Accelerated Reader
by Julie Anderson -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2001
Keeping Score: Increasingly popular "reading management programs" give kids points for every book they read. But do they turn kids into readers?
by Karin Chenoweth -- School Library Journal, 9/1/2001
Accelerated Reader
by Nancy Everhart -- AASL's official journal, Knowledge Quest, March/April 2002 issue
Accelerated Reader Research – Finally! (PDF)
by Nancy Everhart -- Presentation at the AASL 12th National Conference, October 7, 2005
Computers as Book Selectors
School Library Journal, April 2006
ALA | Questions and Answers on Labels and Rating Systems from ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom
Age, Grade, Reading Level, and Computerized Reading Programs
I would like to organize sections of the library using reading level designations, such as those supplied by Accelerated Reader. Is this okay?
While knowing the reading level of a book can assist library users, organizing a library via these labels can pose a psychological barrier for users who do not know their reading level. Many will feel that they should not utilize those resources. Users who do know their reading level may feel compelled to only select resources from their reading level. This will result in users not utilizing the full scope of the library collection.


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Mitt Romney's Most Interesting Ad
You may have seen this already. I hadn't, and I love it (seriously). It's worth the watch, on many levels, and right through the end:
Soy James Fallows, and I too valoro mucho que somos un nación de inmigrantes. Congrats to whoever came up with this -- including the footage of George Romney's south-of-the-border past.


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Sept. 13, 2012— -- In many respects, Cynthia Toussaint is unlucky. She was a ballerina who had a role in the show "Fame." Then she was brought down by a then-nameless chronic pain disorder that left her mute and in a wheelchair for years.
But in one respect, she is lucky. She is one of the few women she knows whose partner, John Garrett, didn't leave her during years in pain. He stayed with her during the 13 years doctors told her the pain was in her head, and the 17 more as she gradually found her voice and started lending it to other women with conditions like complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and fibromyalgia.
"He said he never doubted me, but he did not understand it," Toussaint said. She said Garrett has taken care of her and their home since they were 21 or 22 years old. Now, they're 51. "To not leave is amazing."
Garrett said he met Toussaint in 1982 when they were 19-year-olds at the University of California, Irvine and planned to move to Los Angeles to pursue careers in entertainment. Then Toussaint suffered a ballet injury that went from "bad to worse to catastrophic."
The pain from the injury to her right leg spread through her entire body, which is typical of CRPS, though she did not know it at the time. CRPS has no known cause, but doctors suspect it is either a damaged nervous system response or an immune system response. The young couple wouldn't get a diagnosis until 1995.
"She was bedridden, housebound, wheelchair bound," Garrett said. "Everything was being turned upside down and inside out, and you don't really know what's going on."
And for years, he tried and failed to sleep in bed next to Toussaint at night as she writhed in pain.
"There's no manual, no textbook on how to take on something like this early in your life," he said, noting that most people who care for elderly parents are middle-aged. "I had fantasies of fleeing, of getting the hell out of here. I'd get in a Honda Civic and head out on the I-15 and just keep going."
Garrett worked odd hours to bring in money and still be around to take care of her. His acting career would have to wait.
Toussaint compared caring for women in pain to caring for an Alzheimer's patient: "We don't get better, and we don't die. It's just the truth."
But he stayed because he loved her, and what he really wanted was to make her feel better. He made her meals, helped her dress and even helped her go to the bathroom when things were at their worst.
Toussaint's CRPS diagnosis was the real turning point, he said. And when she founded For Grace, a nonprofit to educate and help women in chronic pain, he became its executive director.
They're about to have their fifth annual Women in Pain conference on Friday, and they have a bill on California Gov. Jerry Brown's desk to ensure effective pain treatment for patients.
There are pitfalls of being a caregiver, but he has stayed with Toussaint for more than three decades. They'll celebrate their 32nd anniversary on Sept. 15.
"Sometimes, you lose yourself. You lose your identity, giving yourself over to caregiving for somebody," he said, adding that it's important for him to reconnect with his desires and goals when he can. "If you truly love someone, you'll go through hell and high water to help them in any way you can."
Heather Grace, who has pain from a spinal injury in her neck, was not so lucky. The pain started a year after she met Jeff, the man she thought she might marry -- and three years before it would cause him to leave.
"I don't hate him," said Grace, now 38.
She had been working a desk job since 1995, and got an MRI in 2002 for her pain. The news wasn't good. It showed a disc in her spine near the base of her neck was out of place. But getting worker's compensation to pay for it was a battle, and it took until 2007 to get her spine fixed. By then, Jeff was long gone, her employer had laid her off and another spinal disc had shifted out of place.
Soon after the pain started, Grace noticed Jeff would find excuses to stay away from her, and she had a hunch her pain was stressing him out. He eventually went to see a therapist for antidepressant medication, even though it was out of character for him, and he became so stressed that he would cause a fight just to push himself farther away.
When Grace confronted Jeff about whether her pain was hurting him, he refused to admit it, she said. She realized their relationship wasn't healthy, and told him it was OK that he wasn't OK with it. Even when they tried to be friends, Jeff was "tortured" by the fact that he walked away from Grace while she suffered.
"You think you have this person that's going to be there for you at the worst time, and you can't depend on that," she said.
Gail Williamson is another woman with chronic pain, but she first began experiencing fibromyalgia symptoms when she was 7 years old, long before she met her husband. Back then, when doctors told her she was making it up, her mother would validate her pain and rub her aching legs at night.
Doctors told Williamson she was a "princess," a "blueblood" and that she "should sit on a pillow and not lift groceries or babies." When she broke her finger as a child, she once told her mother she didn't want to go to the doctor, fearing they wouldn't believe her. In junior high school, a doctor told her she was growing too fast. As an adult, Williamson worried her husband by sleeping every second she wasn't at work.
Williamson finally got her fibromyalgia diagnosis about 15 years ago, and her pain has become significantly more manageable. Like CPRS, fibromyalgia has no known cause, but it results in long-term, body-wide pain. It affects soft tissues like tendons, joints and muscles, according to the National Institutes for Health.
Now, Williamson cares for her 87-year-old mother, who is due for cataract surgery this month, but also has a pain condition called spinal stenosis, which puts pressure on her nerves.
She said the role reversal helps her to ask the right questions so her mother is on the right medications and isn't underreporting her pain to the doctors.
"It's very comfortable," Williamson said. "She cared so much for me that it's really easy to care for her at this point."
It's important for the caregiver to take care of himself or herself, too, said Donna Benton, a psychologist who directs the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center at the University of Southern California. Often, people don't realize their role as caregivers, and don't seek help from other people when they feel overwhelmed or isolated.
Benton likes to tell caregivers to remember the acronym CARE: Communicate, Advocate, Relax and Engage. It's also important for them to talk to other caregivers from time to time.
"Really, the hard part is for caregivers to realize they have to establish a balance between their care-giving responsibilities and doing other things," she said, adding that Garrett didn't realize he was a caregiver for years.
When it comes to relationships, she said people often think their lives will somehow get back to normal, but instead they'll have to adapt.
"You have to except that there's a new normal," she said.


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Reserved for Nhu L
Regular price $96.79
calligraphy pen holder: Sunrise
• By default, our calligraphy pen holders are made with the flange set right-handed oblique. Please leave note on your order if you would like left-handed oblique or straight.
• Please allow roughly 3-4 weeks for handmade pens to be made. We will of course do our best to surprise you with quicker completion. You will receive a shipping notification with tracking as soon as you order is ready.
Thank you so very much for allowing us to create with you!!


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Following the tragic death of David Hillman Curtis last month, the Hillman Curtis celebration benefit has been organised and curated by Gary Hustwit, Stefan Sagmeister, Ben Nabors, and Ben Wolf, with support from the School of Visual Arts. It will be a celebration of the life and work of Hillman Curtis, hosted by his friends, colleagues, and the subjects of his films.
Proceeds from the evening will benefit the PS29 Arts Fund, the Carroll Gardens elementary school attended by Jasper and Tess Curtis.
You can find the event details below:
The Films of Hillman Curtis
Thursday, June 21st, 7pm
With special guests Milton Glaser, Debbie Millman, Stefan Sagmeister, Paul Sahre, Paula Scher, James Victore, and more to be announced.
SVA Theatre
333 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
Drinks reception: 7pm to 8pm
Film program: 8pm to 9:30pm
General admission: $20
Students: $15
VIP ticket with priority seating and after-party invite: $50
Tickets on sale now: http://bit.ly/Kw7vDh