text:
Browsing Department of Informatics (INF) by Title
Previous Page
Now showing items 92-111 of 114Next Page
Proccedings of the 3rd ACM International Conference on Intercultural Collaboration (ICIS), 19-20 August 2010, Copenhagen, DenmarkClemmensen, Torkil (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper draws from Frederic Bartlett's notion that aspects of culture may influence the development of science and technology. Combining additional works from Bloor and research from cultural psychology, we discuss several case (historical and contemporary) studies that illustrate how culture and human-computer interaction are interrelated. These results illustrate how usability problems are tied with global cultures. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8234
Files in this item: 1p219.pdf (411.6Kb)
Kühn Pedersen, Mogens; Holm Larsen, Michael (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In globalizing competitive markets knowledge exchange between business organizations requires incentive mechanisms to ensure tactical purposes while strategic purposes are subject to joint organization and other forms of contractual obligations. Where property of knowledge (e.g. patents and copyrights) and contractbased knowledge exchange do not obtain network effectiveness because of prohibitive transaction costs in reducing uncertainty, we suggest a robust model for peer produced knowledge within a distributed setting. The peer produced knowledge exchange model relies upon a double loop knowledge conversion with symmetric incentives in a network since the production of actor specific knowledge makes any knowledge appropriation by use of property rights by the actors irrelevant. Without property rights in knowledge the actor network generates opportunity for incentive symmetry over a period of time. The model merges specific knowledge with knowledge from other actors into a decision support system specific for each actor in the network in recognition of actor role differences. The article suggests a set of 9 static and 5 dynamic propositions for the model to maintain symmetric incentives between different actor networks. The model is proposed for business networks. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6487
Files in this item: 1no.13.pdf (3.362Mb)
an architecture for an integrated airline rostering frameworkDoerner, Karl; Kotsis, Gabriele; Strauss, Christine (København, 2002)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6478
Files in this item: 12002-15.pdf (348.9Kb)
Jørgensen, Niels (København, 1999)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6455
Files in this item: 11999-12.pdf (155.3Kb)
A new point of view in the IS reference discipline discussionKjærgaard, Annemette; Vendelø, Morten Thanning (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Information Systems scholars continuously debate about the nature of the IS discipline. Recently a series of articles have discussed whether the IS field has reached the status of a reference discipline. We address this issue by examining the application of the theory of sensemaking in IS research. Our findings show that the prospects for IS as a reference discipline are not promising. Based on these findings we suggest that IS scholars hallucinate when they a) assume that to become a 'real' academic discipline, IS has to become a reference discipline, and b) believe that IS will become a reference discipline in time. Hence, we describe the IS reference discipline discussion as a misconception, which should be abandoned in the pursuit of a stronger IS discipline. Academic legitimacy, information systems research, reference disciplines, theory application, theory of sensemaking URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6452
Files in this item: 104_2007.pdf (576.2Kb)
Madsen, Dorte (, 2010)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8187
Files in this item: 1jofia-0101-01-madsen.pdf (74.38Kb)
Fomin, Vladislav V. (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Development and advancement of Information Society in on agenda of many nationstates today. As scholars, we can contribute to the effort by attempting to reconcile to the official rhetoric with the real life situations of "netizens". This paper is inspired by the publication of Leonard Jessup and Daniel Robey [2002], in wich the authors use anecdotes to demonstrate what advanced service possibilities are afforded by ubiquitous technology as contrasted to the residue of social behavior.This story illustrates that the succes of establishing Information Society should not be measured by the number of available services to citizens over the wireline and mobile Internet. The ultimate measure for success must be the extent to which poeple are aware about the availability of relevant content and are using the services [Daniel and Wilson, 2003, p.285]. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6486
Files in this item: 106_2006.pdf (798.1Kb)
what do we know and need to know?Mahnke, Volker; Overby, Mikkel Lucas; Vang, Jan (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper presents a review of existing theoretical perspectives and empirical work on strategic IT outsourcing. By presenting the main findings of various recent studies and elaborating on current research gaps it conveys a picture of the past research, the present findings and the future applications of IT outsourcing. Prior research has generated theoretical insights and largely qualitative evidence on IT outsourcing. While quantitative studies remain sparse, limited to decisionmaking and performance, there is a lack of quantitative empirical research examining outsourcing processes more comprehensively. This paper outlines a simple, yet integrative process model and develops propositions, which serve to integrate and compare theoretical strands, to evaluate existing empirical research and to stimulate new avenues of empirical research. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6479
Files in this item: 1mahnkeoverbyvang2003cbswp.pdf (352.3Kb)
The case of the US express delivery industryMahnke, Volker; Overby, Mikkel Lucas; Özcan, Serden (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: IT-enabled innovations are of increasing importance for competitive success in a range to develop associated competencies - in-house and/or through outsourcing - consequential for creating and sustaining competitive advantage. Against the backdrop of the importance of IT-enabled innovation, the key concern of this chapter is to address the crucial question: How do capability development strategies differ between first-movers and late entrants in IT-enabled services. We develop theory based on three explorative case studies – FedEx, UPS and DHL. An analysis of the three companies reveals that governance choices are influenced by a company's attempts to create, imitate, and/or leapfrog IT-enabled innovation in varying technological regimes. of industries including express delivery services. How companies choose associated competences - in-house and/or through outsourcing - is conseqcreating and sustaining competitive advantage. Against the backdrop of the of IT-enabled innovation, the key concern of this chapter is to address URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6499
Files in this item: 118-2004.pdf (538.4Kb)
Viborg Andersen, Kim (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Mere end to tredjedele af statslige styrelser, råd og nævn kommer ikke slutbrugeren i møde på nettet. Med sneglefart og en tilsyneladende modvillighed mod at tage fuldblods digitale løsninger i anvendelse, synes styrelserne, råd og nævn at være opsat på at gøre ydelserne så løntunge som overhovedet muligt. Denne kontroversielle karakteristik kan være forklaringen på de resultater som en undersøgelse fra Handelshøjskolen i København afdækker for digitaliseringen af brugernes adgang til mere end 100 statslige styrelser, råd og nævn. Resultaterne fra undersøgelsen sår alvorlig mistillid til hastigheden og evnen til at udarbejde og gennemføre digital sagsbehandling og digitale løsninger med slutbrugeren i centrum. De eksisterende selvbetjeningsløsninger skriger til himlen om forbedring og nytteværdi for slutbrugerne. En endeløs række pdf-filer, excel-filer, informationer om telefontider og fysiske åbningstider er fortsat det dominerende billede af styrelsernes formåen på nettet. Det markante fravær af fokusering på slutbrugeren gør, at al tanke om at bruge de digitale medier til at løse arbejdskraftproblemet i den offentlige sektor synes at være så langt ude i tidshorisonten, at det nærmer sig fata morgana forestillinger. I stedet er hjemmesiderne for styrelserne, råd og nævn skabt om de marginale, og set fra et slutbrugerperspektiv, betydningsløse løsninger. Hjemmesiderne er halvhjertede løsninger og uden reelle forsøg på at skære den offentlige sektors administrationsforbrug ind til benet. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6507
Files in this item: 1wp-2006-10.pdf (194.2Kb)
Ansøgning om støtte fra e-læringspuljenJensen, Anna B.O.; Levinsen, Karin; Nielsen, Janni; Tscherning, C. C.; Yssing, Carsten; Ørngreen, Rikke (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6459
Files in this item: 106-2004.pdf (346.4Kb)
Insights from IndiaSudhanshu, Rai (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this paper my endeavor is to explore the meaning and implication of collaberation within a dynamic frame which I refer to a capacity. First I review the collaboration literature from an innovation perspective and then develop a framework that enables me to engage with the data we collected during the Euro-India Innovation Mapping project funded by the European Union under the FP-7 program. The idea is to refine theory and contribute to a better understanding of collaborative as a capacity firms can build creating the environment of collaboration both within and outside. I conclude this paper discussing the new insight on collaborative capacity (CC) of firms and their implications for ICT collaboration and firm innovativness. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8260
Files in this item: 1Sudhanshu_Working Paper 5.pdf (656.2Kb)
Insights from the ICT industry in IndiaSudhanshu, Rai (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this paper I discuss innovative potential at a firm level using information system literature and broadening my review to R&D literature as well. This review enables me to develop a theoretical frame of what researchers have indicated to be innovative potential or capacity at the firm level. While the information system literature does refer to a firms innovative potential as a dynamic phenomena, thus the inception of this phenomena is rooted through the R&D literature, which is helpful but in itself has a weakness. In relying on the R&D perspective to explain innovative potential of a firm information system researchers have stuck to the static notion of innovation while talking about innovative potential (IP) as a dynamic process. This paper redresses that imbalance as it tries to formulate a theory of IP that in my opinion better explains IT innovation at the firm level from a dynamic perspective in its conception, operation and instantiation. I conclude this paper with insights on what I call the dynamic IP threshold arguing that being dynamic cannot be seen as a point in time but a threshold existing over time. I then discuss some implications. I suggest that firms need to consider IP as a long term investment not only in human capital but in the way the human capital is allowed to engage with new ideas. I suggest IP can be build using institutional logics that enable openness and collegiality. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8257
Files in this item: 1Sudhanshu_Working Paper 4.pdf (215.2Kb)
Willison, Robert (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: There is currently a paucity of literature focusing on the relationship between the actions of staff members, who perpetrate some form of computer abuse, and the organisational environment in which such actions take place. A greater understanding of such a relationship may complement existing security practices by possibly highlighting new areas for safeguard implementation. To help facilitate a greater understanding of the offender/environment dynamic, this paper assesses the feasibility of applying criminological theory to the IS security context. More specifically, three theories are advanced, which focus on the offender's behaviour in a criminal setting. Drawing on an account of the Barings Bank collapse, events highlighted in the case study are used to assess whether concepts central to the theories are supported by the data. It is noted that while one of the theories is to be found wanting in terms of conceptual sophistication, the case can be made for the further exploration of applying all three in the IS security context. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6468
Files in this item: 104_2005.pdf (97.42Kb)
Willison, Robert (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: While hackers and viruses fuel the IS security concerns for organisations, the problems posed by employee computer crime should not be underestimated. Indeed, a growing number of IS security researchers have turned their attention to the 'insider' threat. However, to date, there has been a lack of insight into the relationship between the actual behaviour of offenders during the perpetration of computer crime, and the organisational context in which the behaviour takes place. To address this deficiency, this paper advances two criminological theories, which it is argued can be used to examine the stages an offender must go through in order for a crime to be committed. In addition, this paper illustrates how the two theories, entitled the Rational Choice Perspective and Situational Crime Prevention, can be applied to the IS domain, thereby offering a theoretical basis on which to analyse the offender/context relationship during the perpetration of computer crime. By so doing, practitioners may use these insights to inform and enhance the selection of safeguards in a bid to improve prevention programmes. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6463
Files in this item: 1wp_2006_004.pdf (429.5Kb)
The Indian Innovative Journey, Reflections and ChallengesSudhanshu, Rai (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this paper I present a framework of innovation and then use the framework on interview data collected to reflect and gain insight on the status of ICT Innovation using India as a case. The central question I pose in this paper is how ICT Innovativeness can be articulated. In this paper I argue that innovativeness is a dynamic concept distinct from notions of R&D, although elements of innovativeness determine the outcome of successful R&D but a successful R&D does not necessarily imply that the is innovative. We make distinction between R&D and innovation, using the distinction we demonstrate how the dynamic nature of innovation needs to be understood distinctly different from R&D, I propose that R&D is a institutional arrangement while innovativness is a contextual phenomena being determined by factors both inside and outside the business entity. I conclude this paper with a framework for understanding the dynamic nature of ICT Innovativeness, I use data from India to reflect on the research question. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8258
Files in this item: 1Sudhanshu_Working Paper 2.pdf (129.6Kb)
Holm Larsen, Michael (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: As deals are becoming more complex, and as technology, and the people supporting it, are becoming key drivers of merger and acquisition processes, planning of information and communication technologies in early stages of the integration process is vital to the realization of benefits of an Merger & Acquisition process. This statement is substantiated through review of literature from academics as well as practitioners, and case exemplifications of the financial service organization, the Nordea Group. Keywords: ICT Integration, Mergers & Acquisitions, Nordea Group. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6446
Files in this item: 108_2005.pdf (677.0Kb)
belyst ved et caseAlmbjerg, Sarah (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6516
Files in this item: 1no.01.pdf (4.133Mb)
Vendelø, Morten Thanning (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Keywords: Epistemology, field formation, information systems research, paradigms, research fields. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6496
Files in this item: 109-2004.pdf (259.4Kb)
On concurrent usability testingNielsen, Janni; Yssing, Carsten (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: ABSTRACT Working with usability techniques, with focus on how a given technique enables data capture made us ask the question: What kind of information is it an HCI expert want from the user when conducting a usability test? We answer the question by discussing two techniques both relying on concurrent data. Think Aloud is one of the most frequently used techniques and almost an institution in itself. Eye-tracking is new in usability testing and still at an experimental level in HCI. We reflect critically upon the two obtrusive techniques. We discuss the usability of concurrent data capture, suggesting participatory analysis and retrospective verbalisation as a possible step in usability testing. Keywords Concurrent data, usability test, Think Aloud, Eye-tracking, mind, participatory analysis and retrospective verbalisation URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6465
Files in this item: 115-2004.pdf (301.1Kb)
Previous Page
Now showing items 92-111 of 114Next Page


text:
Lee Sedol taking a break??
An interview with Lee Sanghun, Lee Sedol's brother
Lee Sanghun, 7-dan pro is the brother of Lee Sedol. He is the owner of the so called Lee Sedol-Lee Sanghun Baduk School, which is currently in best 5 in Korea by number of students.
Is it true, that Lee Sedol decided to take a break?
Yes, that's true. Yesterday (June1) we visited Korean Baduk Association and signed necessary papers. Lee Sedol wanted to retire and stop playing official tournaments at all, but later we decided to make a break instead
1.5 years is a long time. Will this break damage his Go skills?
It's hard to say. He will not stop studying Go and every day he will visit our school. We have enough sparring partners here
What was the main reason of this break?
There are lots of unsolved problems now with the Korean Baduk Association. Lee Sedol is in big pressure, so he cannot play Go as well as usual. It's bad to skip official games and it's also strange to lose them by playing non-seriously. So, we decided to start a break
Can we say that Hankuk Kiwon became very angry because of Lee Sedol's decision to ignore the Korean Baduk League?
It's not our fault. Long time ago we discussed this tournament and made a decision to take part if Hankuk Kiwon can create more than 8 teams (A.D.: Right now they have only 7 teams, instead of 8 they had last year). So, it must not be a big surprise for Hankuk Kiwon, that he refused – they were informed long time ago.
What do you think about the problem with game records copyrights?
Lee Sedol has the opinion, that game records must have copyrights of the masters, who played them, and not the Korean Baduk Association. So he refused to sign the paper. Maybe he is wrong, so probably he will sigh this paper in future, as other professionals did before.
Can you tell us his future plans?
Now he must finish his World Championships – Fujitsu and TV Asia cups. If he enters the final of the Fujitsu cup, he will still take part in local tournaments till July. But I afraid that he cannot show good results in such a difficult situation.
Do you want to say something to Lee Sedol's fans?
Yes, we are very sorry. I know that there are lots of fans in Korea, who like his Go. He will try to study hard for keeping his current level, so you will have a chance to see his good victories in near future!
Translated from korean by Alexander Dinerchtein

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Only DISH and Amazon Alexa give you voice control of the Hopper 3.
It's just another way DISH is Tuned In To YouTM.
Download the Alexa App and enable your Hopper 3 skills.
How to set up Alexa and the Hopper 3.
DISH Hopper 3 receivers integrate with any Amazon Alexa device. See the system requirements, warranty, service, and more for the Amazon Echo, Tap, and Dot.
Get the power to turn any TV into a smart TV, the ability to record up to 16 show at once, and more.


text:
Calling all Dirt Dogs! It's time to go racing!
One of the sure signs of spring is finally getting the racing season underway. That was supposed to happen last Sunday but it sounded like nobody would like to sit and watch races when it's 38 degrees.
Looks like the weather is going to be much nicer for what will be the opening weekend of racing at Huset's Speedway in Brandon. Sundays forecast is calling for sunny skies and a high of 62 so you'll want to bring your jacket but it's gonna be warm enough to race!
Throughout the year, we'll be featuring local race car drivers and their cars. We know the drivers, even on a local level have fans who follow them. This weeks featured driver is Jody Rosenboom. Jody did get out this past weekend.
Saturday marked the opening night of the 60th season of racing at the famed Knoxville Raceway. Jody and Jimco Motorsports were in attendance to get some track time. With 33 cars in the field Jody qualified 18th setting him up for the heat race. In the heat race Jody came in with a 5th place finish to transfer to the A Main. Starting 15th in the A Jody had moved up a few positions by the halfway point of the race before the left rear tire blew, along with contact from another car took Jody out of the race. "At Knoxville it's important to be smooth and keep your momentum up at all times. As the night went on and into the feature we were really running some good laps. The more laps and experience you get here the better you are."
Ride along with Jody on this trip!
Whether it's crowd favorites who you know, or the up and comers, the racing season is always exciting.
Here's a post from Huset's Facebook page talking about this Sundays Races. This Sundays races will feature a racer who's building a Big name quick in the racing world.
Kyle Larson plans to race this Sunday at Huset's. The season opening event with the Dollar Loan Center Outlaw Sprints promises to be exciting as Larson battles with defending champion Terry McCarl, former champions Mark Dobmeier and Lynton Jeffrey and other stars like Jody Rosenboom, Chuck McGillivray, Dylan Peterson and Austin McCarl.
The Coffee Cup Fuel Stops Championship Sprints also take to the track with the Bolte's Street Stocks, B-Modifieds and Hobby Stocks also competing. Gates open at 5pm with racing at 7pm.
Test and Tune is also planned for this Friday. That free event is scheduled from 6-9pm.
Thanks to one of the premier photographers in the dirt track racing industry Doug Johnson for pictures we'll be using with our weekly racing post. See Driverphotos.com for other awesome racing shots!


text:
Researchers are questioning how California's schools have managed the more than 5.5 million acres that the federal government granted to the state when it joined the union, according the San Francisco Chronicle.
Analysts at Utah State University found most of the land given to the California school trust has been sold off, mismanaged or neglected, the newspaper reported Saturday (https://bit.ly/YscYo3).
A report by the university's Center for the School of the Future, found that of the original land, less than 500,000 acres remain.
Still, California has done better with its lands than nearly two dozen states that have nothing left of their school land trust, according to the report.
"While we point sometimes at California - and to be honest there is, on the part of some people, snickering - California at least has some lands left," said Richard West, executive director of the center and author of the report.
The land was given in trust by Congress when California joined the union to support the education of children, the Chronicle reported.
As in other states, the land sold off in California was gone before the start of the 20th century.
"In the old days, they sold off everything anybody wanted," said Jim Porter, public land management specialist in the California State Lands Commission.
The remaining land produces about $6 million in royalties and revenue each year, with all the proceeds going to the state teachers' pension fund, the report said.
A vast majority of that revenue is generated from geothermal leases at the Geysers along the border of Sonoma and Lake counties. Oil, gold and other minerals also generate some revenue.
West argues education officials should be part of the conversation about how to use the school trust, which is overseen by the State Lands Commission. The commission is composed of the lieutenant governor, state controller and finance director.
In an odd twist, California is still owed about 51,000 acres from the federal government for the land trust because some of the initial parcels designated for education support already were occupied.
The State Lands Commission is working with other states to pursue legislation that would push federal officials to turn over the remaining land to California and any other states owed acreage.
In the meantime, the commission wants to expand solar and wind efforts, which could increase revenue for the school land trust, Porter said.


text:
NEWS- Prism schism: Venue heads to Gordonsville
Nearly two years after the Prism Coffeehouse on Rugby Road made headlines for its artistic director's angry tirades and alleged abuse of power, the historic music venue has plans to move its operation out of the Rugby Road home it has occupied for 40 years. Its destination: the former O'Dell's restaurant space and adjacent theater on Main Street in Gordonsville.
The impending move is shocking– especially to the Prism's landlord, Westminster Presbyterian Church, which owns the property at 214 Rugby Road.
"They've made no mention of moving," says church administrator Wally Camp, who adds that Westminster has been attempting since October to negotiate a new lease agreement with the Prism through artistic director Fred Boyce and his partner, Kenyon Hunter.
That agreement, Camp explains, involves an increase in the "use payment" for the Prism's downstairs space, where concerts take place. Camp did not reveal the Prism's rent, saying only, "It's less than they'd pay for utilities anywhere else." Federal non-profit filings suggest the Prism has paid under $700/month for rent, utilities, and maintenance on the 4,500 square-foot building.
By contrast, a market-based rent in Charlottesville– which can top $15/square foot– might exceed $5,000 per month.
In addition, says Camp, the church wants greater access to the space when the Prism is not using it for concerts.
"We have this valuable piece of real estate and a venue that gets used about 65 days a year," Camp says. "We have needs, and there are community needs that could be fulfilled."
But despite Camp's efforts to negotiate with Boyce and Hunter "fully in good faith," he says he has been unable to reach them. He says he heard about their moving plans second-hand.
"They are not very communicative," Camp says. "They are defensive when the use payment is late or forgotten, and they act like they own the building, and they don't."
Boyce and Hunter did not return the Hook's calls or emails.
Camp is not the first person to be frustrated with Boyce and Hunter.
In 2004, a group of former Prism board members alleged that Boyce was operating the Prism outside its bylaws by nixing the annual board elections by volunteers in favor of appointing board members.
"It's analogous to a dictatorship," said disgusted ex-board member Jim Quarles in the Hook's April 1, 2004 cover story.
Quarles had received a particularly vitriolic phone message from Boyce after he resigned from the board in 2004.
"You're nothing but a f***ing poseur," Boyce screamed during a six-minute, curse-riddled tirade broken off twice by the answering machine's beep.
Other Prism volunteers recounted similar tirades, including Phyllis White, a WTJU DJ, who recalled Boyce striking her car window in the Prism parking lot in a fit of rage. She stopped volunteering at the Prism soon after.
"I didn't want to deal with his toxicity," she explained.
While critics pointed fingers at Boyce and blamed him for the poisonous atmosphere, others defended him and claimed the conflict about board elections had been blown out of proportion.
"Fred is unjustly treated a lot," said then-board chair Joe Ayers in 2004, adding that Boyce and Hunter "do all this work at the Prism. They make that thing happen."
By Hunter's accounting in the federal filing, Boyce puts in 50 hours a week as the head of the Prism; Hunter works 30 hours as a volunteer.
As for the complaint that Boyce had alienated volunteers and board members, Ayers said, "You get that kind of trade-off with a personality that strong...."
Ayers did not return the Hook's call, and board member Frank Grizzard declined to comment on the decision to move the Prism to Gordonsville.
While the federal records suggest that the Prism's income is rising, so is the local competition. In the past three years, three new music venues have opened: the Paramount Theater, the Charlottesville Pavilion, and the Gravity Lounge– the last of which specializes in acoustic music, the Prism's bread and butter.
If the northward move disappoints Charlottesville music fans who are accustomed to a quick jaunt over to Rugby Road to hear acts such as Dry Branch Fire Squad and Mike Seeger, the prospect of a famed music venue landing in their town's midst thrills residents of the tiny Orange County hamlet (pop. 7,200) that in recent years has seen a rebirth with the arrival of upscale restaurants and boutiques along Main Street.
"We're so excited," says Becky Lynch, former O'Dell's proprietor who is handling the sale of the building– originally listed for $800,000– for her mother and stepfather, who are both traveling out of the area.
Lynch says she has been negotiating the deal with Boyce and Hunter since December and that several Prism board members have ventured out to see the property, now under contract for an undisclosed sum. In addition to the concert hall, the Prism would open a restaurant in the space.
"Gordonsville is an incredible town, but it needs a draw," Lynch explains. "This is the type of positive venture that will do that for the town."
Camp, however, is sorry Westminster wasn't able to work things out with the Prism.
"The church has supported it all this time," he says. "We consider it part of our ministry, and we were trying to negotiate in good faith a new agreement."
The Prism building, seen here from Rugby Road, is owned by Westminster Presbyterian Church.


text:
SATURDAY, March 13, 2010 (HealthDay News) -- When the stock market declines, do heart attacks go up? That's what Duke University Medical Center researchers are wondering based on an analysis of data collected during the current U.S. economic crisis.
"During the period that the NASDAQ was declining, the MI (myocardial infarction, or heart attack) rates were increasing," Mona Fiuzat, the study's lead investigator, said in a university news release.
Using figures from the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease, the research team traced a rise in heart attacks from January 2008 to July 2009, a roller-coaster period for the stock market.
But when the researchers adjusted their findings for known seasonal variations -- heart attacks are more common in winter months -- their initial results were less clear.
"In the unadjusted findings we saw a strong trend," said Dr. Christopher O'Connor, director of the Duke Heart Center and study senior author. "However, previous research has shown that myocardial infarctions occur more frequently during winter months than summer months. When we corrected for seasonality, we learned the time of year could be impacting our results."
Fiuzat said the seasonal variation makes it impossible to say there is a relationship. "There is the possibility that there is no relationship," she said.
O'Connor and Fiuzat, who were to present their findings Saturday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta, said they intend to conduct a larger study to further explore the possible relationship between heart attacks and economic volatility.
How stock market fluctuations affect heart health has had little study before now, Fiuzat said.
More information
For tips on preventing heart attack, see the American Heart Association.


text:
We recently learned that rats in Africa can use plant poison to kill lions, and their North American counterparts also have a few tricks up their sleeves. Woodrats eat so many different toxic plants, it's impossible to poison them.
Many plants evolve toxins that will poison any animal that tries to eat it. Because woodrats just straight up don't give a crap, they go right ahead and eat all the toxic plants they want. To do that, they simply eat small amounts of lots of different toxic plants, and eat smaller meals at longer time intervals. This unusual eating style allows these rats to build up a general resistance to most plant toxins.
University of Utah biologist Denise Dearing explains:
"For decades, we have been trying to understand how herbivores deal with toxic diets. This study compares woodrats that eat only a single plant — juniper — with another species that eats several kinds of plants, including a small amount of juniper. We were trying to understand how they regulate the dose of toxic chemicals they eat by observing how often and how much they ate. We found that the woodrat that eats many types of plants was better at limiting toxin intake than the woodrat that eats only juniper."
While those rats that exclusively ate juniper built up a strong resistance to those particular toxins, this meant that that was the only plant they could really eat. The "generalists", on the other hand, got to eat lots of different plants thanks to their unusual smorgasbord approach. While a lot of work has been done on so-called "specialists" - those animals that only eat one particular toxic plant - there's a lot we still don't know about generalists.
That's why the biologists examined the white-throated woodrat of the American southwest, as Dearing explains:
"We are interested in knowing how the rats adjust their toxin intake so they don't poison themselves and die. They live in deserts where plants evolved toxins to protect themselves, and the woodrats don't have much choice in what to eat. A lot people in this field focus on trying to understand how the specialist deals with high concentrations of toxins. But generalists in some ways have it harder than specialists because they eat so many different poisons that they have to know when to stop for each poison. We were interested in whether they do that in the course of a night or in the course of a meal."
As it turns out, the rats seem to know instinctively when to stop eating during a meal. While it's possible that they simply eat until they feel sick, Dearing doubts that they would rely on a system as unreliable as that. Instead, she suspects the generalist rats have developed some pretty nifty ways to know when they've taken on too much poison:
"We think there are receptors in the gut that have a way of monitoring the intake of poisons. They may be bitter-taste receptors like those on the tongue. Other researchers have found them in the gut of other rodents."
Via the University of Utah. Photo by Denise Dearing.


text:
About Our Membership
Who are our members? They are transplant recipients, donors, and their loved ones.
Our members are concerned people of every age who understand that transplants save lives. They are dedicated activists, working to spread the message, educate the public, and build special friendships that will last a lifetime.
There are many opportunities for you to make a difference. The CTA - a registered charitable organization (#131815862 RR0001) - is proud to support the World and National Transplant Games, and we are involved in countless activities at the local level. No matter what your particular interest or contribution, all of our members have a role to play in celebrating what we do and showing the world that transplantation works.
Membership fees are tax deductible. When you sign up, you will be issued a tax receipt and a formal Membership Statement.
We need your help! Join us today so you can help us build a better tomorrow.
Are you a recent transplant recipient? If you are within a year of your transplant, you're eligible for a complimentary one-year membership!
Canadian Transplant Association Membership Rewards:
- Annual Publication
- Professional presentation materials for community/school events
- Access to a speakers bureau from each region across the country
- Information and support regarding National and World Transplant Games
- Identifications, promotion, and support for Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness events across Canada
- A complimentary one year membership to all transplant recipients who are within their first year of transplantation
- Demonstration of the success of organ and tissue donation; education other that transplantation saves life


text:
|laziness, impatience, and hubris
Re: An interesting rebuttal of "agile"by Mutant (Priest)
|on Mar 16, 2008 at 23:30 UTC ( #674497=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
Most (all?) Agile methodologies are about striking a balance between allowing change, and managing the effect of those changes. As chromatic said, if you can make daily releases, it's not really a problem in and of itself. If you *have* to, because of bugs, or more to the point, business people changing their minds then it's a problem. (Believe it or not, I have seen business people try to distort the defintion of Agile to allow them to make changes in direction at least daily).
Scrum, for example, strongly discourages the product owner from interfering with the iteration while it's in progress (they can terminiate the sprint if they really have to, but this is an action of last resort). So there's really no need for the team to release anything until the end of the iteration, which is usally at least 2 weeks long.
In Section Meditations


text:
EDMONDS — Hiram Martin got Edmonds-Woodway off to a strong start with a pin at 138 pounds as the Warriors remained perfect in the Wesco 4A South with a 45-29 victory over Mariner.
"Hiram Martin had a hard battle, it was back and forth," said Edmonds-Woodway head coach Brian Alfi. "But he put (his opponent) on his back and never let him up. It really set the tone for the rest of the night."
Martin's pin was the first of five on the night for an Edmonds-Woodway squad that was missing a few of its usual starters due to illness according to Alfi.
Mariner actually took a 9-6 lead after Ali Mehdi recorded a pin at 152-pounds and the Maruaders were down 18-17 after a technical fall victory by Tommy Duong (182) and Daniel Huynh's 6-2 decision win at 195-pounds.
But after a Warriors' forfeit win, pins in three of the next four matches by Edmonds-Woodway stalwarts George Johanson (285), Gabe Baltazar (106) and Noah Cuzzetto (120) ensured the dual meet win.
"Gabe Baltazar has hit his stride," said Alfi. "He's been picking up big points and came through with a pin. Noah Cuzzetto and George Johanson have been about as automatic as you can get in dual meets right now. It's nice to have those guys in the lineup."
The meet's closest bout came at 145-pounds with Mariner's Andrew Villalobos facing off against the Warriors' Nathan Vulliet in match that Alfi and Mariner head coach Carl Wilkins arranged beforehand. Scoreless through the first three periods, Villalobos got a takedown to grab a 2-0 overtime win.
"It was a great match … us coaches went out of our way to make sure they matched up," said Alfi. "Nathan just got stuck on the bottom and you can't make mistakes against Villalobos. The points were hard earned, both wrestlers are very physical and tough."
At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.
106—Gabe Baltazar (EW) pinned Anthony Carrillo, 3:47; 113—Bryant Ruiz-Septimo (M) pinned Jackson Fair; 120—Noah Cuzzetto (EW) pinned Tristin Higgins, 3:01; 126—Ramon Ozuna (M) pinned Tyler Stedman, 5:18; 132—Mark Hood (EW) dec. Kyle DiLeonardo, 12-10; 138—Hiram Martin (EW) pinned Glenn Hunt, 5:01; 145—Andrew Villalobos (M) dec. Nathan Vulliet, 2-0 (OT);
152—Ali Mehdi (M) pinned Wes Corbein, 4:35; 160—DeShaun Washington (EW) won by forfeit; 170—Marquise Brown (EW) pinned Edgars Plornish, 1:30; 182—Tommy Duong (M) tech. fall Spencer Schultz, 22-4; 195—Daniel Huyhn (M) dec. Michael Swires, 6-2; 220—Brandon Hohengarten (EW) won by forfeit; 285—George Johanson (EW) pinned Francisco Flores, 0:57. Records—Mariner 0-2 league, 6-3 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 3-0, 7-3.
Talk to us
- You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com or by calling 425-339-3428.
- If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to email@example.com or by regular mail to The Daily Herald, Letters, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.
- More contact information is here.


text:
Paxton feels good in 'pen, sim game next
CHICAGO -- Mariners rookie left-hander James Paxton threw his third bullpen session since beginning his latest comeback Friday at U.S. Cellular Field and now will progress to a simulated-game situation against live hitting on Tuesday when the club returns to Seattle.
Paxton said he threw 52 pitches, slightly more than scheduled because he was feeling so good.
"I was actually supposed to throw 45, then we did some [pretend] hitters at the end," said the 25-year-old southpaw. "I was feeling really good, so they said do three hitters. I did and everything was great. It felt really good. I was loose, threw all my pitches today and everything felt good."
The youngster went on the disabled list after his second start of the season on April 8 with a strained lat muscle in his left shoulder, then had to be shut down again after making one rehab start in late May. Though no radar gun was used Friday, Paxton said his velocity felt fine as he let loose with his fastball.
"I'm really bad at telling how hard I'm throwing, but it was coming out real easy," he said. "I wasn't trying to throw hard, it was just popping out of my hand and making a good sound when it hit the mitt. So it felt like I was coming in pretty good."
Paxton said he even threw some curves as he worked through his repertoire.
"It was pretty good, a little loopy," he said. "But in bullpens, it usually is. You don't usually get that sharp one until you get some adrenaline going with hitters in the box. I'm not really worried about that. Just looking forward to the next step."
And that step will come Tuesday when Paxton takes the mound against some Mariners hitters. He'll get another sim game or more before being sent out on another Minor League rehab stint, likely after the All-Star break. Paxton was 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his first two starts this year and is 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in six starts since his Major League debut last September.


text:
*Rolex's suggested retail price before applicable taxes. Rolex reserves the right to change prices at any time without notice.
Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust
Oyster, 28 mm, Everose gold
$26,750* - Reference 279165
Reference 279165
Model Case Oyster, 28 mm, Everose gold
- Model Case Oyster, 28 mm, Everose gold
- Bezel Domed
- Water-Resistance Waterproof to 100 meters / 330 feet
- Movement Perpetual, mechanical, self-winding
- Caliber 2236, Manufacture Rolex
- Power Reserve Approximately 55 hours
- Bracelet Jubilee, five-piece links
- Dial Chocolate
- Certification Superlative Chronometer (COSC + Rolex certification after casing)
The Archetype of the Modern Watch
The classic Rolex Datejust is the archetype of the modern watch, thanks to aesthetics and functions that transcend changes in fashion. Aesthetically, the Datejust has spanned eras, while retaining the enduring codes that make it one of the most recognized and recognizable of watches.Discover


text:
What is that saying about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb? Well, I'm starting to think that it applies to my life right now more so than the weather, LOL! So much to do and only so many hours in the day but it's all good... I just need to tame this lion. ;)
As I've mentioned before, creating, making cards, drawing and the like, keeps me sane when things get crazy and I always try to make some time in my day for that. So when I got a chance to sit and relax for a bit I pulled my inspiration from this week's Cupcake Inspiration challenge which is all about the sweet, sweet strawberries and I knew the exact paper I wanted to use. :)
So I dug through my bag of pink paper scraps and found this perfect Doodlebug pattern and went from there. I pulled all my colors that I used to color in the Gorjuss Girl image from the paper and when I needed something for her to sit on I pulled out the coordinating Doodlebug sticker sheet and that gave me the 'Ah-Ha' moment of how to finish off the card. When I saw she was going to be small enough to sit on an overturned basket of berries you just know I had to add some wings... I mean, no brainer right? ;)
All in all this was quick and fun and a nice break from the routine of my day... hey, I can't ask for more than that. :)
Alrighty, I hope you all have a berry sweet day!


text:
Bishop Maxim's Archpastoral Visit to the Synaxis of the Faithful in Seattle, WA
Bishop Maxim's Archpastoral Visit to the Synaxis of the Faithful in Seattle, WA with, Seattle is in the top 5 rainiest U.S. cities by number of precipitations days, and it gets the least amount of annual sunlight of all major cities in the lower-48 states. This city experiences moderate to heavy rain during the months of November, December, and January. However, during this last Archpastoral visit of His Grace our Bishop Maxim to his humble flock and parish dedicated to St. Sava, we had sunny and crisp weekend.
His Grace arrived on Saturday November 9th, and was greeted by newly installed priest Fr. Predrag Bojovic (who replaced recently retired Fr. Ilija Balac) and Mr. Cedo Marusic, an active member of this parish. After arriving at Fr. Predrag's residence His Grace was greeted by Fr. Predrag's family along with few active members of this blessed parish. They spent an evening in spiritually rewarding talks and enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Presbytera Rada.
On Sunday morning, His Grace officiated the Divine Liturgy and celebrated the Feast of St. Arsenius of Srem (successor of Saint Sava and the second Serbian Archbishop) with a Eucharist that everyone in attendance will long remember. Father Predrag Bojovic, the parish priest, Fr. Seraphim Gascoine (of the local Pokrov Parish in His Grace's jurisdiction) and Fr. Nikola Todorovic from Portland, OR, along with nearly a dozen enthusiastic readers and altar boys and numerous pious parishioners, met the Bishop at the front doors and followed him into the church. His Grace moved from the crisp, sunny morning into a brightly lit church with the voices of a choir filling the air. After the Bishop's vesting His Grace presided over The Divine Liturgy and this blessed Synaxis of the faithful (around 120) of whom more than 50 communed in the Cup of Eternal Life. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Bishop Maxim blessed the newly installed icons on the iconostasis and then addressed the people in an inspiring sermon which was a continuation of his homily after the Gospel.
Afterwards, a banquet took place in the church hall where the local KSS members prepared a delicious meal of traditional Serbian foods. Laughter, joy and live music filled the hall as His Grace alternated time between enjoyable conversations with adults and happy playing with the children who sought his attention. Then, children were pleasantly surprised by the rainfall of candies as well as with painting session with His Grace that lasted for an hour in which they have created few interesting paintings but, most importantly, children were encouraged to keep discovering their talents. Father Predrag concluded the memorable events by thanking God for His great abundance and reminding people of Episcopal role in the Church as an Icon of Christ through whom we "here and now" foretaste and anticipate second coming of the Great ARCHPRIEST CHRIST THE LORD, Life Everlasting, "Never-ending Day" and Liturgy in the Kingdom of Heaven. Fr. Predrag has spoken on behalf of the whole synaxis when he exclaimed: "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord"!
On Monday His Grace visited the Serbian Cemetery in Roslyn, where he served a Trisagion (panichyda), and Antiochian Orthodox Church and Parish dedicated to the Holy Cross in Yakima, Wa where he was greeted by Fr. Joseph Copeland and few other priests and parish members among whom were Ugljesa and Zvezdana Mileta, iconographers from Belgrade, who are using their God given talents to adorn, even more, this already beautiful church, according to the sacred traditions handed down to us.
With the blessing of His Grace Bp. Maxim, plans are in development for the construction of a traditional Church building and expansion of the hall. The entry road will be improved and water and gas service will be extended to the property. The Parish is truly blessed with the coming of our new priest, fr Predrag Bojovic and his wonderful family (July 2013). With God's help the parishioners of St. Sava Church will continue to perpetuate the Orthodox Faith and Serbian Traditions.
After seeing His Grace of at the airport, filled with emotions and memories of the few memorable and joyful days in His Grace's presence, Fr. Predrag along with Cedo Marusic and Darko Hrle proclaimed "with one heart and one mind" ISPOLA ETI DESPOTA!
Source: Western American Diocese


text:
Thanks to Monica Roberts for the heads-up. If there is one thing that you read during lunch, make sure that it is the New York Times profile of Rod 2.0 favorite and turntable goddess Miss Honey Dijon.
The Chicago-born DJ and producer created a name for herself in the early 00s by performing amazing deep house sets in intimate settings and massive club rooms across the globe. In recent years Miss Dijon has created a singular brand at "the nexus of art, fashion and night life" as she spins live for Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and other runway collection, reports NYT fashion critic Alex Hawgood.
The fact that Honey Dijon is transgender has caused barely a shrug in the widening circles that have embraced her. Style.com routinely features her as a talking head alongside industry power players in its video reviews of ready-to-wear collections. ...
In January, Vogue Italia chose a snapshot of Ms. Redmond wearing thick blue-frame glasses and a floral print blouse by Givenchy as its 'Look of the Day,' praising her personal style as a "mix of femininity, androgyny and irony, which is always cool." The top was a gift from her friend Riccardo Tisci, the label's designer. In an e-mail, Mr. Tisci wrote: "I've known Honey for a long time. I love her style and I like her playing with her masculine and feminine sides."
Ms. Redmond grew up in the 1970s on the South Side of Chicago in a "very middle-class, loving African-American family," she said. Her young parents often gave parties in their basement on Friday nights and invite their son, who identified as female from an early age, to lift the needle on the record player between songs from artists like the Isley Brothers and Minnie Riperton. "That's where I got my first education in music," she said.
Ms. Redmond thought that going public about her transition, which took place after moving to New York (where "there was more of a community") might help broaden notions about feminine ideals of beauty in the fashion and D.J. worlds.
"I've always wanted my talent to speak for itself," she said. "I didn't want 'black' or 'trans' or any of it to speak for me. Now I am beginning to realize the importance of it because there is really hardly any visibility for black trans women, especially in fashion. Hell, there are hardly any black women in fashion. Period." But despite her success, Ms. Redmond said she still can feel like an outsider.
Miss Dijon performed today at the Louis Vuitton Men's F/W 2013 Presentation in Osaka, Japan. She arrived in Japan last night and almost lost her music. "[Left] my laptop on the plane with 4 hard drives full of music because i was over exhausted from traveling," Miss Dijon writes on Facebook. "Just got it back and I'm back in business."
Brava! I first encountered Miss Honey' and her music in the mid 90s via the old Gramaphone Records in Chicago. Miss Honey and I reunited in the early 00s in New York City. I've heard her play everywhere from G in Chelsea to clubs in Montreal and Paris. Love, love, love her music and energy.
LISTEN to Miss Honey Dijon on Soundcloud
You May Enjoy:
NEWS: iPhone, Tyson Beckford, Honey Dijon
News: Black Gay Men in Brazil, Miss Honey Dijon


text:
Turn 2
You pause, watching the cultists stream out, gathering around the corners of the square, and try hard to remember anything you know that might give you an edge... as you're clearly going to have to fight them if you stick around. You know that Kristianity is a very old religion... and many claim it's been twisted from its original roots and is no longer "valid". That's not very useful right here, though.
Looking about the square, you soon catch sight of exactly what you were looking for: a policeman, clad in a lightly-armored suit with a light helmet. You hurry over to him; he seems to be ordering some kind of fruit kebab from a vendor, chatting happily about his kids. "Hey - you need to look at this," you tell him urgently.
To the man's credit, he quickly turns toward you, dropping his former conversation immediately. He notices the crossbow over your shoulder and his eyebrows furrow; he opens his mouth to reprimand you, but before he does, he glances where you're pointing. It makes him pause for a moment. "What the..." he mouths... and then his eyes widen in realization. "Holy shit - Krad, get out of here - get these people out of here!" he shouts at the vendor, motioning hurriedly to you as he takes cover behind Krad's hard-backed market stall.
He hardly has time before gunfire erupts - and you certainly don't.
Bright flashes ring the square from all four corners as bolts of plasma sear through the air, hissing and whining - "EVERYONE DOWN!" you yell, even as you feel a searing sensation in your foot. Without looking to see what happened, you throw yourself on the ground, pulling out your crossbow and trying to load a bolt into it. Meanwhile, chaos reigns - people scream and flee almost in random directions, pushing and shoving - some of them directly toward the groups of cultists. One by one, people fall - four dead at least so far, and more wounded. You start to feel mildly panicked; your hands shake as you load your weapon, but to your credit, when you actually get to firing a shot, you manage to hit one of the cultists directly in the chest. He falls back, clutching at the end of the shaft.
Unfortunately, this gets the attention of the guy next to him, who responds by shooting you in the back. The pain is unbelievable - certainly more than you've ever experienced before - you cry out in agony and, completely panicked at this point, begin crawling toward the nearest cover - a solid bench at the edge of the plaza. It's not too long before you reach it - more people fall as you go - but you finally make it there. You hyperventilate; your hands shake so much that you can't even manage to load your crossbow.
This isn't real, right? Right??
The bloody trail you've left behind you seems to say otherwise. Can VR be this real??
((Your choice whether you're panicked. Normally this would be forced panic, but this is "just VR". Your choice how you roleplay this as well.))
Calm and cool as ever thanks to your extensive military training, you scan your surroundings for good cover - and soon see what looks like a payphone booth near the edge of the square. The back on it looks... rather solid, if not impenetrable, but you'll take what you can get, jogging there quickly as you pull out your laspistol. You're not planning on letting them fire first, keeping a close eye.
Shouting erupts from nearby - a policeman, it seems - your new companion is talking to him, apparently. This seems to force the cultists to take action: they pull their weapons immediately and prepare to fire - but you don't let them fire first, pulling the trigger on your weapon.
Bright flashes ring the square from all four corners as bolts of plasma sear through the air, hissing and whining - "EVERYONE DOWN!" Frank yells, even as someone shoots Frank in the foot. You return fire on that particular cultist, hitting him in the chest - but it doesn't quite take the man down. Meanwhile, chaos reigns - people scream and flee almost in random directions, pushing and shoving - some of them directly toward the groups of cultists. One by one, people fall - four dead at least so far, and more wounded. You remind yourself that it's just a simulation, but you're calm anyway. Training goes a long way.
"Hey, you with him?" someone calls out from behind him. It's the cop you noticed earlier, and he's pointing at Frank... who is lying on the ground, shaking in fear. You shrug. The policeman nods grimly, cursing the situation under his breath. "I need to radio for backup," he says, firing another shot around the corner of the market stall he's hiding behind. "Cover for me, got it?" He puts his hand to his throat, pressing some sort of contact. "This is Officer Kinsey. Situation code 00803 - I need backup now!"
You turn and fire a couple more shots at another cultist, but he ducks behind cover, and you miss.
"Right," Kinsey says, "I'm at - one moment." He pauses, looking out from behind cover to look for a street sign. You can see it from where you are - you're at the corner of Panaxa and Keyte, Level 3. Of course... Kinsey never manages to radio back - a plasma bolt hits him dead center in his face, splattering blood and chunks of bone and gore out from the front of his helmet. His lifeless form falls back behind the market stall, the call unfinished. His radio seems undamaged, though... if you could use it, you might be able to get some backup yourself.
This situation got messy in a hurry. You currently seem to be a prime target - bolts whiz past every time you dare look out from behind cover. Frank seems to have attracted some attention too - he's lying flat on the ground behind a low bench in front of you that hardly provides him any cover, and seems to be a target that the cultists are particularly interested in - two of them are walking toward him, plasma weapons at the ready.
Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:56 am
Re: BTE Tryout Thread: Frank & Caleb
Have a question? Send me a PM! || I have a Patreon page up for REKT now! || People talking in IRC over the past two hours:


text:
[Detail] President Coolidge, standing, full-length...
Lesson Overview
In order to appreciate historical fiction, students need to understand the factual context and recognize how popular culture reflects the values, mores, and events of the time period. Since a newspaper records significant events and attitudes representative of a period, students create their own newspapers utilizing primary source materials from the American Memory collections.
Students will be able to:
- locate, analyze, and evaluate primary source images and text from the American Memory collections; and
- synthesize fictional events and primary source materials as they create parallel stories for a newspaper project.
Time Required
- One week
Recommended Grade Level
- 9-12
- News, Journalism & Advertising
- Arts & Culture
- Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929
Margie Rohrbach and Janie Koszoru


text:
Simply stated–the PARTY BARGE® 18 DLX is built for fun. Whether with family or friends (or both, since it's big enough for a crew of nine), this pontoon boat comes standard with all the amenities you need to get in, get out and get to the fun.For example, there are comfortable couches throughout for lounging in the sun, as well as a Bimini top for taking a break in the shade. The swim platform is perfect for sitting back with your feet in the water, or the setup for the perfect cannonball. And storage throughout means you can take a cooler and all the other gear you need to make a day of it.
This ad has been viewed 28 times.


text:
This occurred in Pillar Point Harbor, about 20 miles from my house. From my HOUSE! Where my wife sleeps; where my children come to play with their toys ...
The ocean is teeming with killer sharks, apparently. Luckily I never venture outside of the basement.
Veteran surfer Tim West, 25, and a friend were paddling about an eighth a mile off shore about 5 p.m. Wednesday when a shark came up underneath his board and went on the attack. "This is where it hit, majorly with the tooth still in it," West said while pointing to his damaged board. "It hit pretty hard. Then there are pressure dings in the top from the top jaw."
The signs should read 'Beaches closed, by order of Amity PD.' And let Polly do the printing.
Assistant San Mateo County Harbor Master Matt MacDonell said the details of the attack make him believe West had a run-in with a great white shark. "So what happened to him is the shark came up, bite the board, knocked him off the board," he said. "It took the board as if it was its dinner…It trashed with the board and then because it didn't taste any blood — it spit the board out."
Here's a closer look at the tooth embedded in West's board. Comical West quote: "I'm thinking eBay. Dude, I might do that. At first I wanted to just fix it and ride it again, but if I could sell for it two grand, I could get like four new boards."
Pillar Point is home to the Mavericks Surf Competition, which should be very interesting this year indeed.
Shark Attack At Famed Mavericks [KTVU2]
Surfer Attacked By Great White Shark At Mavericks [Surfer Magazine]


text:
Iraq: 10 Catholics killed, 30 wounded after security forces stormed Baghdad church
More here.
Labels: Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Iraq, terrorism
'cookieChoices = {};'
Labels: Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Iraq, terrorism
Image via Wikipedia
Nitty Gritty Numbers Suggest Downward Spiral
In housing, the Case-Shiller home price index fell almost 3% on an annualized basis in August and September, the weakest performance since May of 2009 when the recession still going on. In 19 of the top 20 cities, prices were down on a seasonally adjusted basis. During the July, August, September period sales of new homes fell at a sickening 41% annual rate to 293,000 units the lowest level ever recorded going back to 1963, when the figures were first kept.
In unemployment, emergency benefits to extend 99 weeks (almost two years) of unemployment benefits are running out or for some 4 million to 5 million people from December through April. This is proof positive that we are on the cusp of a deepening poverty at the very moment of political stalemate. Rosenberg says government handouts are responsible for 20% of disposable income in the country, so pray for the stability of the Social Security system. In personal Income, this loss of unemployment benefits means a loss of income equal to about $300 a week, or about $80 billion totted up, unavailable for consumption.
I have seen no other market strategist get down to the prospects for the people at the bottom of the income ladder. Did you know that 38% of middle income families plan to spend less than $500 on holiday gifts, double the number last year?
Look at global air cargo shipments, an indicator of health for global economy. They slid ominously by 2.1% last month. The Air Transport Association found this "worrying," according to Rosenberg's daily letter "Breakfast with Dave." Durable goods orders are down 0.8% if you exclude orders for aircraft components, which suggests air travel and tourism might be good place to invest dollars.
Good news? Some 83% of companies have beaten their profit estimates, putting their margins at a high point despite the slowness in revenues. Large public companies have risen in share price because they cut out overhead. They laid off a lot of people and were able to report significant profit gains from the bottom of the recession cycle.
Labels: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hamas, Iran, Islamization, Malawi, maldives, non-Muslims, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, Sharia Law, US
Labels: Paul Weston, ray boyd
Labels: dark humor, Halloween, vampires
Labels: Brooklyn Tea Party, culturist
Labels: Australian muslim culturism, culturist, history of education society
A far grimmer mood now pervades the electorate, one shaped not just by the immediacy of the economic distress that has hit virtually every household, but by fears that it might take years for everyone, from the average family to the federal government, to climb out of the hole. Anger is one word that is often used to describe the electorate this year. But one word alone cannot adequately capture the sentiments expressed by voters on doorsteps and street corners, at community centers or candidate rallies. Along with the anger there is fear, worry, nervousness, disappointment, anxiety and disillusionment.Briefly, what most of the electorate is responding to is the naked face of collectivism in action. The faces are many and insouciant: President Barack Obama's, Nancy Pelosi's, Harry Reid's, Rahm Emanuel's, Anita Dunn's, Henry Waxman's, Barney Frank's, David Axelrod's, Robert Gibbs's – an opera cast of hundreds, if not thousands, all singing in chorus the same liberal/left/collectivist libretto.
As Nancy Pelosi goes, so might a generation of her colleagues.Hey, San Fran Nan. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
If Democrats lose control of the House of Representatives next week, as most political observers expect, there is a good chance that the House Speaker will opt to spend time with her eight grandchildren rather than toil in the relative obscurity of the minority. Even if she wanted to stay on, it's not at all clear that she would win the position of minority leader: seven Democratic incumbents and several candidates oppose her leadership — on Wednesday, North Carolina Representative Heath Shuler suggested he might challenge Pelosi for the spot — and another 20 have refused to say one way or another. Pelosi is more likely to leave gracefully, trading the red-eye slog for the pleasant commute between her San Francisco and Napa homes, and leaving the caucus in the hands of majority leader Steny Hoyer, who has been chafing in her shadow for decades.
Other Democrats are sure to follow Pelosi out of the Capitol....
Labels: Always On Watch, Nancy Pelosi
Sophisticated bombs contained in packages sent from Yemen were designed to explode in the air and bring down the cargo planes carrying them, UK security officials have confirmed.
Intelligence experts believe the use of the devices, contained in printer cartridges despatched on two Chicago-bound cargo planes, represents a shift in terrorist tactics to commercial targets.
One of the devices was linked to a mobile phone, while the other was attached to a timer. The Observer understands that the East Midlands device was so sophisticated an initial examination by forensics experts initially suggested it did not contain explosives.
"Even when it was examined, the sniffer dogs couldn't detect it," a security source said. "It was only when they [forensics experts] had a second look at it they realised what it was."[Emphasis mine..ed]From Jawa:
Yemen Post: According to a senior governmental official who spoke to Yemen Post on anonymity, Yemeni security forces arrested two Yemeni women under suspicion of sending the packages to the United States.
The Yemeni official claims that the two women sent the packages in order to damage the reputation of Yemen and not on links of Al-Qaeda. He denied that Al-Qaeda had links to the packages that were sent.
The source confirmed to Yemen Post that the two ladies are believed to have tried to send the packages to Jewish schools in the United States.At the same time, Yemen predictably began a duplicitous media campaign for internal consumption denying the bombs shipped from Yemen.
St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations wants Delta Air Lines to investigate complaints that some Muslim passengers were subject to religious profiling.
The group says last month, four Muslim men were escorted off a Delta flight when it landed at the Twin Cities airport. The council says a flight attendant had reported one of the men behaved suspiciously after dropping a pen.
In another incident, the group said a Delta commuter plane flying to Grand Forks made an emergency landing
Zahra Aljabri, the organization's assistant civil rights director, said the issue is the training flight attendants are receiving regarding what constitutes suspicious behavior.
"We're just asking for that training to be examined, so that incidents don't continue to occur," Aljabri said.
Delta said it takes the accusations seriously and will "take any and all actions necessary" to ensure all passengers are treated equally.in Fargo after a flight attendant feared a Muslim student had tampered with a lavatory smoke alarm. No foul play was found.
Labels: political satire, the Obama administration
(The Statesman) — Turkish army chiefs boycotted an official ceremony at the Presidential Palace because the President's wife wore an Islamic headscarf, the Press reported today. The army's top brass were conspicuous by their absence late yesterday, at a banquet thrown by President Abbdullah Gul to commemorate the creation of the modern, secular Turkey in 1923.
Labels: MR
Labels: MR


text:
Yes, it is nauseatingly corporate, but the iconic breast patch of the man who bedded 33 flight attendants before he won the 1976 Formula One world title keeps on bringing good luck.
34 years after Hunt's third place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix clinched him the title, it is yet again a young man with blond locks who rules the racing world. No word yet on how exactly Sebastian Vettel spent the two weeks leading up to the title race in Abu Dhabi, but one has to assume modern F1 drivers don't retreat to drunken hotel orgies before all-important races.
Also, it is now certain that Red Bull mogul Dietrich Mateschitz is the real-life Hubertus Bigend.
Photo Credit: Allsport UK/ALLSPORT, Clive Mason/Getty Images


text:
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Cranick Fire Fund
The Fulton Fire Fiasco
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Cultural Roots and Collective Identity in a Libertarian Society
In general, a libertarian society would be hospitable to people's cultural roots and collective identities.
Placing one's life story in the context of a larger, more inclusive narrative can help to give one a sense of meaning and direction. Some of the tales we tell for this purpose are religious, some metaphysical, some scientific, some ethnic, some cultural. Political libertarianism would not deprive anyone of the sense of identity conferred by any of these stories—unless, of course, it could only be preserved by force—and would doubtless contribute to the flourishing of a significant number. Cultural libertarianism might undermine some of these stories, but would certainly leave many undisturbed.
Varieties of Libertarianism
Political libertarianism opposes aggression—the initiation of force—by individuals, including those acting under the color of law. Cultural libertarianism seeks peacefully to undermine hierarchies in workplaces and other social institutions; to promote individual freedom of self-development, self-definition, and self-expression; and to foster an ethos of openness, dialogue, and critical reflection on social norms. Proponents of cultural libertarianism argue plausibly that their position emerges from the same respect for the value of freedom that underlies political libertarianism; that people who are not consistently skeptical about positional authority will find it difficult to sustain a free society; that the assumptions that ground some cultural arrangements are inconsistent with those embraced by political libertarianism; and that aggression frequently makes possible the maintenance of hierarchical social arrangements, even if those arrangements are not themselves aggressive.
Political Libertarianism and Collective Identity
Political libertarianism would leave people free to form whatever non-violent social arrangements they might like and to remember and celebrate whatever narrative sources of cultural identity they might opt to embrace. Do you claim the story of the Israelites following Moses through the wilderness as your own? Are the Cluniac monks your spiritual ancestors? Do you see the Boxer Rebels as your forebears? Political libertarianism leaves you free to identify with them, to celebrate what you judge to be their accomplishments, to treat them as central to your own heritage.
Creating Space for Identity
Indeed, it is important to emphasize that your ability to preserve and share a cultural identity you cherish would be greater in a politically libertarian society than it is in societies dominated by states. By taxing people, states claim resources their subjects could have used to preserve identity-constitutive places, objects, and traditions. But the state poses more serious problems for those who want to nourish particular cultural identities.
The state's haphazard identity-preserving projects are funded in part by taxes paid by members of minority cultures who may have little interest in preserving the artefacts or life-ways on which the state focuses the resources it has acquired. In addition, even putatively liberal states frequently suppress or relocate cultural minorities; and state-owned media and schools can operate to erase regional dialects and other signs of sub-cultural distinctiveness. At the same time, because governments overseeing increasingly diverse societies frequently wish to treat all cultural groups inclusively, state-funded cultural projects tend often to be instances of characterless pabulum, with little or no capacity to contribute to the transmission of any particular cultural identity. Further, when the state claims the authority to safeguard a majority culture, it almost unavoidably also claims a hegemonic role as interpreter of that culture—often distorting or reconstructing it in perverse ways, or co-opting its values and symbols as sources of legitimation.
The existence of state-owned property and employment by state agencies creates endless opportunities for conflict over cultural matters in statist societies. Which religious symbols may be displayed on public land? Will officially led prayers be permitted in state schools? Which holidays will be officially recognized? Which culturally significant dress codes will teachers, soldiers, judges, or nurses be allowed to follow? Different interest-groups with the ability to influence the state can engage in repeated contests over such matters, each seeking to ensure that the state works to preserve particular identity markers. The end result is that cultural, religious, and ethnic communities come into conflict with each other, and that pressure to avoid any expression of distinctiveness increases.
The problem is only exacerbated when the state opts to use force not only to manage affairs on the property it claims for itself but also to constrain people's freedom with respect to admittedly private property in the interests of preserving or suppressing particular cultural identities. The French government's bans on the public wearing of the burqa and on the wearing of the hijab in state schools are obvious examples—they prevent people from using their own property in relation to their own bodies. So are efforts in New York and elsewhere in the United States to use the state's claimed power to regulate land use to prevent the construction of religious structures. In statist societies, people's peaceable attempts to express their identities and nourish their traditions can be opposed by actual or threatened state violence.
In a politically libertarian society, by contrast, members of varying cultural groups would obviously be free to spend their money as they chose. They would not be required to subsidize others' cultural preferences. They could erect monuments and houses of worship, put iconic images on display, at their own discretion on their own property. They could invest in efforts designed to preserve objects and practices and memories they cherished. They could operate schools that transmitted their beliefs and habits.
Obviously, conflicts over the proper uses of places and things with multiple cultural meanings will not go away in a politically libertarian society. However, by removing these conflicts from the realm of politics, by assigning responsibility for the contested sites or objects to particular people or organizations in accordance with outcome-independent rules, a libertarian society can in some ways localize their intensity, reducing the likelihood of spill-over clashes, and render them more manageable.
Aggression and Culture
In a politically libertarian society, people would be free to retain cultural roots and collective identities—and unlikely to confront many of the conflicts over cultural issues that the state unavoidably creates. Such a society would thus not only be free from state-related tensions that often prompt the suppression of cultural particularity but also provide more room for cultural expression than a statist society. At the same time, however, it would not and could not make room for any and all practices designed, even in good faith, to preserve deeply valued cultural mores. For a society that genuinely embodied political libertarianism would be one in which a norm precluding aggression was rightly understood as a necessary prerequisite to social peace and to both individual and cultural flourishing.
In such a society, the claim that a given practice somehow supported the preservation of this or that group identity would obviously be insufficient to justify the practice if it involved aggressive attacks on persons or their justly claimed property. To take obvious examples, clitoridectomy, infibulation, and foot-binding could not be regarded simply as expressions of particular cultural preferences, to be treated with the same deference as habits of dress and efforts directed at the preservation of historically significant monuments. As instances of aggressive force, they would clearly fall beyond the pale in a politically libertarian society. (I prescind from those cases in which those who would otherwise clearly qualify as the victims of these aggressive acts indisputably render free and informed consent to them. Cultural libertarianism surely embodies a commitment to discouraging such consent and the beliefs and attitudes underlying it.) So, too, would the use of physical force to exclude people from trading relationships, prevent people of the purportedly wrong sort from living in particular neighborhoods, or keep people from destroying or altering their own property in ways likely to eliminate or distort objects of cultural significance.
Some kinds of collective identities might not survive if those who valued them could not use force to preserve them. To this, the advocate of a libertarian society will have no reasonable choice but to say: so be it. A politically libertarian society would leave room for many cultures and collective identities to flourish, but it would obviously not be equally welcoming to all. Only those which people were prepared to own without the threat of force would survive and thrive. Of course this would remove one means of preserving and transmitting collective identities. At the same time, however, it would ensure that those who shared those identities did so voluntarily and were thus more personally invested in them—and so more likely to preserve and transmit them—than might be the case in a society in which they were preserved by force.
The Limits of Libertarian Culture
While a politically libertarian society would nourish diverse collective identities, a society that was also culturally libertarian might be friendly to fewer such identities.
Individuality and Identity
Cultural libertarianism is fundamentally individualistic, so it might be thought that a fully libertarian culture would have no room for collective identities at all. But there is surely no reason to suppose this. For the sense in which libertarianism affirms individualism need not entail any deep-seated conflict with the affirmation of a densely textured cultural identity. It is quite possible to be an individualist who cherishes a sense of place, who treasures the contribution historical predecessors have made to his or her sense of self, who recognizes the importance—indeed, the inescapability—of learning about the world and one's place in it from one's traditions. Cultural libertarianism need involve no commitment to a Promethean view of autonomy, an existentialist vision of self-creation, or a naïvely foundationalist rejection of tradition. One can be a cultural libertarian without aspiring to be the deracinated individual of philosophical fantasy.
Cultural libertarianism is animated first and foremost by a desire, positively, to see the full range of human possibilities explored and put on display and, negatively, to avoid the suppression of dignity, freedom, creativity, and uniqueness that occurs when people are subjected to the whims of hierarchs, experts, blue-noses, busy-bodies, and paternalists. In short, cultural libertarians "don't want to push other people around . . . and . . . don't want to be pushed around themselves" (Murray N. Rothbard, letter to David Bergland, June 5, 1986, qtd. Justin Raimondo, An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus 2000) 263-4). Seeking neither to push nor to be pushed is quite compatible with seeing oneself as part of a wider whole, with making sense of one's own story in light of a more comprehensive narrative.
Rejecting Illiberal Identities
But if support for cultural libertarianism need not mean opposition to collective identity in principle, it is still certainly the case that it does mean rejection of particular sorts of collective identities. Cultural libertarianism will certainly prompt rejection, for instance, of racism and of multiple varieties of nationalism.
It is quite possible to be a peaceful racist—to avoid racially motivated violence against person or property while nourishing prejudice and fostering and engaging in unwarranted discrimination. One may quite non-aggressively develop and cling to a sense of oneself defined by identification with one group of people on the basis of their race and dismissal of others on the basis of theirs.
A narrowly political libertarianism may have nothing in particular to say about this sort of non-aggressive stance. But it seems likely to fall foul of a more broadly cultural libertarianism. Even if it is itself expressed non-violently, this kind of racism can prompt violence. Racialized distributions of wealth and social power are often rooted in past acts of violence—enslavement and dispossession are particularly clear instances. Racism features an implicit unwillingness to see people as particular, as individual, and a penchant for reducing them to sets of stereotypes. And the underlying sense of the moral equality of persons that grounds libertarianism's rejection of statism is, at minimum, difficult to square with racial prejudice.
None of this means that the cultural libertarian will judge it appropriate to use force to punish the racist for thinking bad thoughts or to prevent anyone from catering non-aggressively to racist tastes. But the cultural libertarian will be quite aware that, without statist privilege to sustain it, racism in the context of economic life will prove to be prohibitively costly over time. In addition, the libertarian—here, the purely political libertarian will have no quarrel with the cultural libertarian—will favor remedies for past acts of injustice that may often serve to reduce the aggression-based power of the racist. The cultural libertarian will also strongly favor the use of non-violent forms of social pressure—shunning, public shaming, peaceful boycotts, and peaceful protests and strikes—to challenge the racist's behavior.
Cultural libertarians will actively discourage racism. And, more fundamentally, the widespread adoption of libertarian cultural values would make it difficult for anyone to sustain a sense of self rooted in racial superiority or exclusivity.
There is no obvious incompatibility between embracing cultural libertarianism and identifying with a particular place—provided one simply values its treasures for their own sake, or prizes its contribution to making one who one is, rather judging other places to be objectively inferior. G. K. Chesterton and Bill Kauffman provide obvious and appealing models for an admirable localism. Conventional nationalism is another sort of creature altogether, however.
Nationalism characteristically involves loyalty, not to a revered place as such, but rather to the nation-state. The libertarian can hardly welcome a willingness to cheer for "my country, right or wrong," not only because to support wrong-doing is to risk moral corruption but also because "my country" really means, not people and places dear to my heart, but rather the implacable apparatus of the state.
Nationalism too often finds expression in violence, especially militaristic violence—whether of an irredentist variety or in support of state expansion. Of course it need not. But the cultural libertarian will be wary of its capacity to underwrite aggression.
He or she will also look askance at nationalism's frequent valorization of state boundaries, which often fail to track culture or geography meaningfully. There may be little connection between the actual people and places on which one's loyalty focuses and the borders of one's state. Similarly: sensitive to individuality and diversity, the cultural libertarian will also recognize that the geographic territory claimed by nation-states is characteristically home to people with varied cultural identities. Loyalty to the nation often seems to mean loyalty to the majority in a particular region, or perhaps to a minority that holds the reins of state power. As a variety of collectivism, nationalism too frequently seems to involve the erasure of the particularity of those who don't identify with the majority's culture—including members of minority cultures, people who identify with multiple cultures, and people in some sense within the majority culture who seek in one way or another to transform it.
The territory claimed by an enormous nation-state may arguably be not only too arbitrarily demarcated but also too extensive to provide a manageable focus for personal loyalty. A genuinely local perspective may often prove more compatible with human-scale attachments. This does not mean, of course, that one can or should ignore the role of others who are not local in shaping one's identity and experience. The Loiner may recognize London as a world quite different from his or her own while still acknowledging that Trafalgar Square memorializes events without which life in Leeds might be very different indeed. But this need not provide an opportunity to smuggle nationalism in through the proverbial back door, for we can reasonably treasure our connections with geographically dispersed people and places—ones it would never occur to anyone to link with us under the same national umbrella—that have helped to make us who we are.
Preserving Identity in a Libertarian Culture
Whatever the fate of national and racial loyalties in a libertarian society, tensions surrounding families will doubtless be unavoidable. A society that tolerated aggression against children would hardly count as libertarian, but families unavoidably shape children in innumerable peaceful ways, and there will surely be those of culturally libertarian bent who will seek to challenge what they see as illiberal indoctrination of children by parents. In a politically libertarian society, not only individuals but also families and other groups in search of mutually reinforcing support for their distinctive worldviews and life-ways could obviously craft communities, territorial or virtual, in which their critical mass could allow them to counter the effects on each other of what they saw as objectionable elements of the wider culture. At the same time, it is easy to see that a society that created space for diversity would, indeed, render it difficult for any sub-cultural group to ensure wholesale identification with its traditions by all of its members.
Cultural libertarianism will tend to militate against a range of habits and practices that might be seen by some people as integral to their collective identities. Identities of some sorts—I have already instanced racism and many sorts of nationalism, but there are obviously others—will not be likely to survive in a libertarian culture. Others will persist, and perhaps even thrive, while being transformed by libertarian attitudes that undermine subordination and exclusion. And it would be unfair to deny that the loss of some cultural forms is a genuine loss, in the sense that it deprives people of patterns of existence and ways of understanding themselves and others that offer meaning and order to their lives. Those committed not only to political but also to cultural libertarianism will need to remind themselves and others that there are costs associated with the embrace of freedom.
But this is hardly reason to treat cultural libertarianism as underwriting cultural decline. To repeat: no more than political libertarianism does cultural libertarianism require or promote the abandonment of all sources of collective identity. Those that respect freedom and individual particularity can thrive in a libertarian culture. To be sure, the very capacity of some life-ways to fostering meaningfulness and order may be seen as depending on their immunity to criticism and their appearance of inevitability, and they will lack both in a culture of liberty. But an awareness of possibilities for improvement and a denial of uncritical regard to previously established cultural authorities can be quite compatible with continued esteem for and identification with traditions and communities and ways of life that offer people meaning and identity.
Libertarianism and Identity
A politically libertarian society will create space for many different kinds of identity-maintaining ways of being human—more, in general, than a society in which aggression is legitimized. Only those collective identities maintained through the use of force will be excluded from such a society, and we will be, I believe, well rid of them. A society that is not only politically but also culturally libertarian will likely be free of such sources of identity as racism and nationalism. But this kind of society can still welcome local loyalty, and any number of other identity-conferring relationships compatible with regard for individual dignity and freedom and the diverse forms of human flourishing.
I submitted a version of this essay to the 2010 Chris R. Tame Memorial Prize essay competition. Stephen R. L. Clark and Kevin Carson both provided insightful comments on an earlier draft.


text:
The impact of shades on your homes efficiency
With the new season comes differences in how your home functions. As the weather gets colder, you may find a few home deficiencies, like drafty windows or old caulking, disturbing your home's comfort levels and energy efficiency. If you see a difference in the atmosphere of your indoor space, you may need replacement windows (or replacement caulking). But while you are looking for more efficient windows, there's an often-overlooked thing that can help improve your energy efficiency and comfort now—proper shades and blinds.
Shades or blinds on replacement windows have the potential to save you money on your monthly energy costs, even more so during winter months in Kingston when temperatures drop. The key to getting the most benefit from your shades and blinds is correct installation. It's also important to make these adjustments as the colder months approach:
- North-facing windows – Your windows facing the north typically get the least amount of sunlight. It's a good idea to have your shades closed on these windows because not much heat will be gained from sunlight.
- South-facing windows – The windows on the south side of your house offers some natural warmth from the sun during Kingston winters. Keep your shades open on your south windows for extended periods of time because these windows give the best chance of catching some of the sun's warmth.
- East-facing windows – Keep your shades open on the east side of your home during the morning hours.
- West-facing windows – You can keep your shades open during the afternoon and evening hours for the windows on the west side. Blinds are also a good option for west-facing windows (interior blinds are more beneficial than exterior blinds in the winter because they will allow more heat in).
Saving energy in your home can be that much easier with window shade adjustments, but proper installation is also crucial. Keeping your shades as close to your window glass as possible will help reduce heat loss. Window shades with a double layer of fabric are even better, if they are an option for you and your home. Lighter-colored window shades will reflect heat in the summer and darker-colored shades will absorb heat in the winter.
People often ignore the energy efficiency shades and blinds can give a home. If you are in need of enhancing your comfort levels this winter and you think your windows may the problem, invest in proper shades and follow our opening and closing tips until you're prepared for replacement windows. Pella Windows and Doors offers a variety of window shade and blind styles at our Kingston showroom, so stop by and check them out. You can also reach us at 845-663-1025 or set up an in-home appointment with us online so we can inspect your windows and give you shade recommendations.


text:
Victims hope records hold church leaders accountable
MILWAUKEE — The Archdiocese of Milwaukee plans to make dozens of priests' personnel files public in the next week, along with hundreds of pages of other documents related to clergy sex abuse.
Victims hope the records hold church leaders accountable for covering up priests' crimes and transferring them to new churches without warning parishioners.
Church leaders say it is important for the truth to come out, but most of the cases are well-known and involve priests who have been publicly identified for nearly a decade.
Forty-five-year-old Charles Linneman, of Sugar Grove, Ill., says he was an altar boy when he met the priest who abused him in 1980. Linneman read the man's file several years ago when it became public during litigation in California. He says it helped him move on.