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A PERMANENTLY unfolded futon bed, piles of clothing and the smell of stale smoke make Sean Sciubba's cottage in Sea Cliff, N.Y., seem a lot like a college dorm room.
"They call it 'The Studio,' " Mr. Sciubba, 23, said of the friends who visit, weary of the childhood bedrooms they've returned to in their own parents' homes.
Mr. Sciubba's loftlike converted garage behind his mother's lavender Victorian affords him more privacy.
"The only time I see my mother is when I'm in the office," Mr. Sciubba said. Both work at Sherlock Holmes Realty in Sea Cliff; he is the rental manager and she is a real estate agent.
It is hardly news that 20- and 30-somethings are living with their parents, camped in a back cottage or a childhood bedroom. The arrangement passes for entertainment, from the Fox sitcom "Free Ride," about a college graduate who moves back in with his parents, to the comedy "Failure to Launch," starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker, about a 35-year-old man who never left home.
But the cost of real estate is making plenty of strange housefellows, with siblings, elderly parents and children, work mates and friends doubling up to save on the mortgage or rent.
Some local governments are cracking down on cohabitants who are not related. In extreme cases, where day laborers and other immigrants are crowded into houses meant for single families, they are evicting.
Even the classic "mother-daughter" arrangement -- a single-family home with an apartment added for a parent -- is increasingly likely to be illegal, as the cost of building such an apartment to conform to building and zoning codes can run up to $100,000.
And yet people all over the suburbs are making shared housing work, with some finding happiness and comfort in living with those they know and maybe even love.
"It doesn't feel that crowded since they're all family," said Ismama Joseph, 52, who lives in a four-bedroom duplex in Norwalk, Conn., with her husband, two adult daughters, their husbands and the five grandchildren she cares for while the others are at work. "But it would be impossible with strangers."
In Fairfield County, many older people -- "people who have lived their entire lives in Norwalk" -- are selling and moving in with their children, according to Carol Ann Falasca, a broker at Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Norwalk. "Their children went to the schools here and all of a sudden they're retired and they cannot afford to stay because of the taxes," she said.
In New Jersey, Gordon Crawford, a real estate agent with Re/Max Properties Unlimited in Morristown, said about 10 percent of his buyers have been groups of family members buying together.
One such group included Suzanne Rosengold, a single mother, who was living last year with her daughter, Hanna, in a one-bedroom rental apartment in Parsippany, N.J., in the same complex as her parents.
When Ms. Rosengold's grandfather died last year, the family inherited a Florida condominium that they sold, planning to use the proceeds for a down payment on a house.
After looking at dozens of houses, the Rosengolds found a four-bedroom ranch in Lake Hiawatha, a suburb of Parsippany. All three generations moved in last July -- the first time any of them had owned a home.
The mortgage payment is the same as the combined rents the Rosengolds were paying before.
"It has really changed our whole lives," Ms. Rosengold said. "My daughter has her own room now. Before, she had a converted dining room."
Her father, Edward Rosengold, 63, said: "I do things now that I've never done before. I have my own workshop. I build things, I repair things."
In another three-generation household, in Fairfield, Conn., Christina and Raul Diaz live in a three-bedroom 1,750-square-foot ranch with Mr. Diaz's 59-year-old mother, Leonor Martinez. Ms. Martinez takes care of the couple's 2-year-old daughter, while they work in nearby Stamford.
But the household will be growing, Ms. Diaz said. Her mother, Beth Bodnar, 70, who recently retired, is moving in soon, and the couple hope to have another baby next year.
Ms. Diaz has been looking for about four months for a bigger house that the family can afford in Fairfield. They need about 2,500 square feet and, ideally, a ground-floor master bedroom, she said.
But pickings are slim.
"We're probably going to have to put it off another year to save more," Ms. Diaz said.
The couple is assuming that the real estate market is not going to change at all, she added. "My big concern is how much equity we can get out of our existing house, because I feel like it's a buyer's market, not a seller's market," she said.
Baby boomers reaching retirement age who want to move to a warmer climate are also increasingly helping their adult children expand their homes or buy a larger house.
They don't want to lose total contact with their lives here after moving to Florida or Arizona, said Elayne Jassey, a real estate agent with Prudential Connecticut Realty in Stamford.
Expanding one's living space to accommodate a relative may be a good investment, in spite of the cost of complying with zoning codes and the possibility of higher property taxes.
While "real estate prices have exploded," said Robert Campbell, professor of real estate finance at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., construction costs have risen more slowly with inflation. Under those conditions, he said, "building onto your own house is one of the best things that you can possibly do."
But where young people are concerned, multigenerational living is often seen as temporary. Matt Wolff, 31, has been living at his parents' home in White Plains, for two years since friends with whom he shared an apartment in Bronxville went their separate ways.
Mr. Wolff is saving for a down payment on a co-op, "the last bastion of affordability" in the area, according to his father, Nick Wolff, who owns Century 21 Wolff, a six-office real estate agency based in White Plains.
"It's not a problem for us," the senior Mr. Wolff said of his son's situation, "but from his standpoint, he's a grown man and wants to be on his own and have privacy."
On Long Island, Sean Sciubba also says he won't stay in his mother's cottage forever. "I work in real estate," he said. "I've done the research. Hopefully, I'll be able to get out of there soon."


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By Rick Eymer
Palo Alto Online Sports
Jeremy Lin did not attend Stanford but he played basketball in Maples Pavilion against the Cardinal, so the Palo Alto High grad gets a special mention in this year's review. A year ago he was Harvard's starting point guard. He's ending 2010 with the Reno Bighorns, an NBA Development League team.
In between has been anything but ordinary for the Lin family and friends. Jeremy led the Crimson to its best season in school history, played for the Dallas Mavericks' summer league team in Las Vegas and wound up signing with and playing for the Golden State Warriors, creating quite a stir among fans and media. He averaged 1.9 points in 8.5 minutes over the 17 games in which he appeared.
In honor of Lin's "Top 10 attitude," herewith another successful year in Stanford athletics, it is an honor to present our version of the Top 10. Please don't take us literally, though, as we slyly sneak in an extra subsection or two.
The overwhelming pick for No. 1 involves good times, poignant moments, rough going and finally, jubilation. The Stanford men's volleyball team set out on a mission four years ago and patiently worked toward its goal of "worst to first," coined by long-time Cardinal assistant coach Al Rodrigues, who ultimately lost his battle with cancer this past March but not before inspiring his boys to the achievement of the year.
Stanford got knocked around early in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season and reaching the playoffs was in doubt for a few anxious days. The Cardinal rallied, always believing in its destiny.
Senior Kawika Shoji, later named National Player of the Year, led Stanford to the NCAA national championship at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal beat Penn State, 30-25, 30-20, 30-18, and as the final point hit the court, emotions poured out from the hearts and souls of the players, fans and coaches alike.
"It's been a fairy tale," Stanford senior Evan Romero said. "We wanted to end this the right way."
It may have ended on one plane, but it was just the beginning on another plane. The journey will long be remembered in Stanford athletic lore as something so special it could not be spatially contained.
No less dramatic was the accomplishment of Stanford's women's tennis team, practically written off at the beginning of the season. This was supposed to be the year 'the streak' ended and yet, through sheer force of will and drive, the Cardinal remain one of the greatest tennis dynasties in the nation.
Four Pac-10 teams were ranked ahead of Stanford when the balls were first tossed out on the court. The Cardinal was the last team standing, winning the national title with a 4-3 victory over Florida on the courts of Georgia in Athens.
Stanford was invincible at home again, like it has been since 1999. The Cardinal takes a 164-match consecutive home winning streak into its next season.
The Cardinal, seeded eighth in the NCAA team tournament, upset top-seeded Baylor in the quarterfinals, got past No. 6 Notre Dame in the semifinals and then faced No. 3 Florida for the title.
"This was just an epic performance by our entire team," Stanford coach Lele Forood said at the time.
She won't get any argument here, which defines this as the No. 2 Stanford accomplishment of the year. The Cardinal, which captured its sixth national crown since 2001, won its last 19 consecutive matches, three by the slimmest of margins.
Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette combined to win the NCAA doubles title. Burdette's younger sister, Mallory, clinched the team title. By the way, they live in Georgia.
On the men's side, Bradley Klahn won the NCAA singles title, giving Stanford, which reached the Round of 16, another handful of tennis trophies.
If 2009 was the year of Toby, then this season belongs to Andrew Luck, who guided fifth-ranked Stanford to a record 11 regular-season wins this fall. The football success got knocked down to No. 3 in our polling because the end hasn't been written yet. Even Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh (a Palo Alto grad himself) would say it's a work in progress.
On a campus with such excellence though, third becomes the new No. 1B. After all, Stanford qualified for a BCS Championship Bowl and there's no precedent for that.
Luck threw for 3,051 yards and 28 touchdowns, finishing second to Cam Newton in Heisman Trophy balloting.
Two-way player Owen Marecic also deserves some accolades for his 10th-place finish in Heisman voting. Of course, any individual mention is also a nod to the entire team, which will long be remembered in Stanford football lore.
Jayne Appel was as tough as she was talented on the basketball court. An assortment of injuries kept her from playing at full speed much of the year and she still managed to help carry the Cardinal to a second straight appearance in the NCAA championship game last April.
The All-American and WNBA all-star ended her collegiate career as the Pac-10's all-time leader in rebounds, with 1,263. She also blocked a Stanford record 273 shots and was third all-time with 2,125 career points.
Appel made .565 of her shots, fourth all-time. She is one of only three Cardinal players to reach 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Roz Gold-Onwude also fought through injury and pain to produce her finest season. She was named the Pac-10 co-Defender of the Year and helped carry Stanford through the tournament.
Christen Press was soccer's answer to Appel and she produced a record-setting season of her own in helped the Cardinal reach its second consecutive NCAA title match.
Press had an outstanding season for Stanford (23-1-2) to earn Soccer America's Player of the Year honors. She led the nation in goals (26) and points (60), and broke every Stanford career scoring record.
For her career, she has scored 71 goals, had 41 assists and recorded 183 points, all Stanford records.
The women's swimming team added a second-place finish at the NCAA championships, recording four individual titles and a team relay title. Julia Smit won the 200 IM and 400 IM and finished her Stanford career with 26 All-American honors. Elaine Breeden won the 100 fly and 200 fly and holds five of the top-nine times in NCAA history in the 200 fly. She leaves with 24 All-American honors.
Stanford won the 400 free relay with a team of Kate Dwelley, Samantha Woodward, Betsey Webb and Smit.
The Stanford men's gymnastics team also produced a national runnerup finish, with Ryan Lieberman (parallel bars) and Eddie Penev (vault) earning individual NCAA titles.
Eugene Godsoe and Chad La Tourette each won individual national titles and the Cardinal men's swimming team finished fourth at the NCAA championships.
Godsoe won the 100 back and La Tourette became Stanford's first 1,650 national champion in 23 years.
The Stanford men's cross-country team also finished fourth in the NCAA championship, its best finish since running third in 2008. Chris Derrick and Jacob Riley placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
The women's gymnastics team also finished fourth at the NCAA championships, with Carly Janiga (uneven bars) winning a national title.
Nick Amuchastegui finished fourth at the NCAA wrestling championships at 165 pounds. He became Stanford's first All-America in two years and recorded Stanford's highest finish in six years.
Seniors Alix Klineman, Cassidy Lichtman and Gabi Ailes were each named to the women's volleyball All-American team. Stanford reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.
Menlo School grad Kenny Diekroeger earned freshmen All-American honors for the baseball team, which reached the NCAA tournament.
Alissa Haber was named an All-American as the Stanford softball team qualified for the NCAA tournament.
Arantxa King, Jake Riley and Stephanie Marcy each received All-American status at the NCAA track and field championships. King was the runnerup in the women's long jump.
The fencing team recorded a ninth-place finish in the national meet and the women's squash finished seventh.
The men's golf team reached the national quarterfinals before falling. David Chung and Sihwan Kim earned All-American honors.
The Stanford field hockey team qualified for the NCAA tournament and senior Xanthe Travlos was named Stanford's first All-American in 12 years.
The women's crew finished fourth in the NCAA meet and the synchronized swimming team was the national runnerup.
We'd like to end the year in review by honoring three Stanford grads. Men's basketball Landry Fields actually belongs as he achieved All-American status before he was drafted by the New York Knicks and, ultimately, earning a starting spot.
Fields never buckled under the pressure he faced all year as Stanford's top returning player. It earned him a job in the NBA.
Lauren Fleshman nearly retired after suffering a front foot injury. The Cardinal grad chose to stay with her sport and won the 5,000 meter title at the USA Outdoor Track and Field championships.
And, certainly not least, Erica McLain won the triple jump at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
As 2010 ended, perhaps the next great story of 2011 begins. The Stanford women's basketball team shocked top-ranked Connecticut last week, 71-59, to end the Huskies' all-time NCAA Division I winning streak (for men and women) at 90.
Whether the Cardinal go on and become the top story of this new year remains to be seen. Stanford will host the NCAA men's and women's tennis championships this season and anything can happen at the Taube Family Tennis Center. The Stanford baseball team has the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, so good things could happen this spring for coach Mark Marquess.
Nonetheless, 2010 is in the books and what a great read it has been. One can only hope that 2011 will be just as enthralling.

subset: commoncrawl


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FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — Pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his 7-year-old son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine pulley, authorities said Tuesday.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — Pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his 7-year-old son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine pulley, authorities said Tuesday.
Investigators found anabolic steroids in the house and want to know whether the muscle man nicknamed "The Canadian Crippler" was unhinged by the bodybuilding drugs, which can cause paranoia, depression and explosive outbursts known as "roid rage."
Authorities offered no motive for the killings, which were spread out over a weekend, and would not discuss Benoit's state of mind. No suicide note was found.
"In a community like this it's bizarre to have a murder-suicide, especially involving the death of a 7-year-old," District Attorney Scott Ballard said. "I don't think we'll ever be able to wrap our minds around this."
The Montreal-born Benoit was one of the stars of the World Wrestling Entertainment circuit and was known for his wholesome family-man image. His wife, Nancy, was a wrestling stage manager who worked under the name "Woman." They married in 2000.
When he won the world heavyweight championship in 2004, Benoit (pronounced ben-WAH) hoisted the belt over his head and invited his wife and child into the ring to celebrate. Asked by the Calgary Sun that year to name his worst vice, Benoit replied: "Quality time with my family is a big vice. It's something I'll fight for and crave."
Despite those appearances, Nancy Benoit had filed for a divorce in 2003, saying the couple's three-year marriage was irrevocably broken and alleging "cruel treatment." She later dropped the complaint, as well as a request for a restraining order in which she charged that the 5-foot-10, 220-pound Benoit had threatened her and had broken furniture in their home.
In the divorce filing, she said Benoit made more than $500,000 a year as a professional wrestler and asked for permanent custody of Daniel and child support. In response, Benoit sought joint custody.
The bodies were found Monday afternoon in the house, off a gravel road in this suburb about 20 miles south of Atlanta.
Benoit's 43-year-old wife was killed Friday in an upstairs family room, her feet and wrists were bound and there was blood under her head, indicating a possible struggle, Ballard said. Daniel was probably killed late Saturday or early Sunday, the body found in his bed, the district attorney said.
Benoit, 40, apparently hanged himself several hours and as long as a day later, Ballard said. His body was found in a downstairs weight room, his body found hanging from the pulley of a piece of exercise equipment.
The prosecutor said he found it "bizarre" that the wrestler spread out the killings over a weekend and appeared to remain in the house for up to a day with the bodies.
Ballard said Benoit had sent two text messages to acquaintances, one saying that his wife and son were sick. The other, to a neighbor, said the door to the house was open and that the pets were outside. The prosecutor said the messages appeared to be an attempt to get someone to the home to find the bodies after his suicide.
The boy had old needle marks in his arms, Ballard said. He said he had been told the parents considered him undersized and had given him growth hormones.
"The boy was very small, even dwarfed," Ballard said.
Toxicology test results may not be available for weeks or even months, Ballard said. As for whether steroids played a role in the crime, he said: "We don't know yet. That's one of the things we'll be looking at."
Steroids have been linked to the deaths of several professional wrestlers in recent years. Eddie Guerrero, one of Benoit's best friends, died in 2005 from heart failure linked to long-term steroid use.
The father of Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig blamed steroids and painkillers for Hennig's drug overdose death in 2003. Davey Boy Smith, the "British Bulldog," died in 2002 from heart failure that a coroner said was probably caused by steroids.
The WWE, based in Stamford, Conn., issued a news release Tuesday evening saying steroids "were not and could not be related to the cause of death."
"The physical findings announced by authorities indicate deliberation, not rage," the company said, adding that Benoit tested negative April 10, the last time he was tested for drugs.
Benoit was a quiet, roughhewn figure amid the glitz and bluster of pro wrestling. He performed under his real name, eschewed scripted personas and didn't bother to fix a gap where he had lost one of his front teeth.
His signature move was the "Crippler Crossface," in which he would lock his hands around an opponent's face and stretch his neck.
"You always rooted for him, because he was a good guy and he overcame the odds," said Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer, a weekly news letter. "It's like if you watched 'Rocky,' and in the end it comes out that Rocky killed his wife and his son."
The WWE canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, Texas, after the bodies were discovered.
Monday's show was supposed to be a memorial service for WWE owner Vince McMahon. In a storyline concocted by the WWE, McMahon was supposedly "assassinated" in a limousine explosion two weeks earlier. McMahon appeared at the beginning of Monday's telecast and acknowledged the bombing was made up.
The McMahon storyline has been dropped.
Associated Press writers Debbie Newby and Jason Bronis contributed to this report.


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An endorsement of exceptionalism
It's no longer an everyday smear, but for years, Republicans have attacked President Obama for his insufficient celebration of American exceptionalism. As the argument goes, the president isn't just lacking patriotism, he rejects national greatness altogether.
As Mitt Romney claims, Obama thinks "America's just another nation with a flag."
It's always been an ugly, baseless smear – Obama has emphasized his support for the principles of "American exceptionalism" explicitly, a fact more than a few observers acknowledged, even on the right – but it's interesting to see the president work this into his stump speech.
"Now, understand, there are no quick fixes or easy solutions to some of these challenges. But here's the thing that I constantly am reminded of wherever I travel across the country: We have the capacity to meet any challenge, because we've still got the best workers in the world. We've got the best entrepreneurs in the world. We've got the best scientists and researchers in the world, and the best colleges and the best universities in the world. We're still a young nation, and we've got the greatest diversity of talent and ingenuity and people who want to come here from every corner of the globe.
"And so no matter what the naysayers tell us, no matter how dark the other side tries to make things look, the fact is there is not another country on Earth that would not gladly trade places with the United States of America."
Politico called the rhetoric "hyperbolic" – there are countries that would resist trading places with us – but it's far more interesting to me that the rhetoric is being made in the first place.
Obviously, there need not be a connection between GOP attacks and reality, but it's a little trickier for Republicans to say Obama doesn't even like the country when the president is on the stump emphasizing American greatness.


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We Are The World: The Story Behind The Song
Billy Joel famously told Rolling Stone magazine that most of the singers didn't actually like the song and that "Cyndi Lauper leaned over to him and said, 'It sounds like a Pepsi commercial.'" Of course the song is pretty lame, but the spectacle of the one-night-only super-group, USA For Africa, recording the otherwise forgettable song, "We Are The World," is one of pop music's most bizarre and fascinating stories. The infomercial/documentary We Are The World: The Story Behind The Song, hosted by Jane Fonda in the same stagey '80s home-video visual style as her hot selling aerobicizing videos, runs at a sparse 52 minutes (though the DVD is packed with extras on two discs), but I could have easily watched three more hours. It's truly the greatest line-up in music history.
Back in 1984 Bob Geldof of the British band The Boomtown Rats became aware of the horrible starvation going on in Ethiopia and he gathered a bunch of his countrymen (and a few Americans) to record the wonderful little song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Calling themselves Band Aid, the super group was made up of then hot singers including Sting, Bono, George Michael, Phil Collins, Boy George, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Jody Watley, and a couple guys from Kool & The Gang. There were no older British super legends, it was the kids. No Bowie, no Elton John, no Jagger, not even a Ringo Starr. The song helped raise money and brought attention to the issue of African famine and, at the time, was the biggest selling UK single ever.Continue Reading


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Ken Nakamura, Ph.D.
Scientific Review Branch
National Human Genome Research Institute
B.S. University of California at Berkeley
Ph.D. Oregon State University
As Co-Chief of National Human Genome Research Institute's (NHGRI) Scientific Review Branch, Dr. Ken Nakamura shares the responsibility of overseeing the review of all grant applications and contract proposals that are assigned to the NHGRI Scientific Review Branch. Dr. Nakamura joined NHGRI's Division of Extramural Research (DER) in 1993 as a Scientific Review Officer. Prior to joining NHGRI, Dr. Nakamura worked at Life Technologies, Inc. and Food and Drug Administration's National Center for Toxicological Research. Dr. Nakamura received a B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Microbial Physiology/Biochemistry from Oregon State University. Dr. Nakamura was a Staff Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory.
Last updated: September 22, 2017


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Here is a picture of my brother and me (I'm the little blonde one) dressed up as pumpkins!
I love Halloween so much, mostly because candy is my favorite thing on earth. I was still going trick or treating when I was 21, hahaha. Saddly they don't celebrate Halloween in France :( But I have a very nice boyfriend who will buy me candy!!!


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Trophy, loving cup, Antique trophy, Dated 1930
The shabbiest trophy .. Perfect in my eyes..but it is tarnished, used, old, not perfect, dented etc.. ya.. wonderfully shabby♥
Dated 1930 Field Day
Wonderful for flowers, weddings or just to have in your library or guest room.
9 1/2 inches high 7 across handles 4 inches approx wide at wooden base..
Looks like silver to me please see photos.
I accept Visa and Paypal.
Shipping from Canada
I quote the cheapest shipping. If you want insurance, tracking, faster time etc. Please request a price before you purchase anything. It is your responsibility to pay customs.
I cannot give a accurate price to the penny to everyone in the world nor can I run to the post office and pack an item up to make sure your item is priced for perfect shipping incase you might buy it, there are to many variables.
I have done this for many years. No complaints and happy customers are what love about this business.
I give an approximate price includes all packing materials if it costs more I pay the difference.
Items purchased after December 10th will not arrive before Christmas unless arrangements were made prior to purchase.
I do charge for packing materials on top of postage as boxes and packing material are essential. A quality packaging costs money.
Items are mailed within 1-2 weeks.
I am not responsible for items lost or damaged in the mail.
Refunds are not available. All sales are final. These items are antiques, old used, approx. sizes.
Please examine the pictures as that is what I am selling. The item is what it is and once you press buy it now the treasure is yours.
If there is a problem and we cannot resolve it than the only alternative is a shop credit for the goods only this does not include postage. This is only available if irrefutable evidence is found that I was in error. The item must be returned to me in the same condition it was sent with in 10 days of receiving it. You must purchase a tracking number so the item does not get lost in the mail. Once I have inspected the item to make sure condition match the one it was sent in you will have credit only. To be used in 2 months from the date granted.
I am not responsible for items lost or damaged in the mail.
I do not give credit for shipping errors or items lost in the mail.
In 30 years I have been blessed with wonderful customers, I'd like to see at least 30 more.
thank you.
My items are sold as is, with no guarantees. Please be sure at the time of purchasing that this is what you really want.
I have been very disappinted by a few people asking me to reserve items. I won't do that any more, terribly sorry about that.


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Tel: 0348 88 00 21
Vă rugăm să introduceţi numărul de telefon sau e-mail (departamentul vânzări vă va contacta)
We (Master Security) will use the data you provide here to contact you regarding your call request or order. That data will remain in our system, visible to our staff (or the relevant vendor), until you withdraw your consent. If you'd like to have your personal data removed, send an email to email@example.com.
If you believe that your personal data has been misused, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. We're obliged by EU General Data Protection Regulation to let you know about this right; we don't actually intend to misuse your data.
Daca adaugi aici adresa ta de mail, noi (Master Security) vom sti ca doresti sa primesti noutatile ce apar pe platforma online.
Bineinteles ca te poti dezabona oricand.
Service Client
Evaluare de risc
Evaluare de risc
2013 -
2020 Master Security. administrator al w w w . u l t r a m a s t e r . r o


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This is week 26 of my participation Amy Johnson Crow's, once a week challenge to blog about one ancestor a week, tell their story, biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on that one ancestor. More about the challenge can be found at her Blog, No Story Too Small.
On Friday afternoon, my brother, Don, was golfing and had a massive heart attack and passed.
Those who knew Don, will all agree, I believe, that it was a good way for Don to leave the earthly bonds, on a golf course, he so loved golf.
Don leaves a mother, a wife; a son; sister (moi); half-sister; many dear friends including his ex-wife, the mother of his son (they had the most remarkable relationship); nieces and nephews..
Five years ago, when Reflections was rather new, I wrote about my brother. Today, in his memory, one of the "better" stories, a fond memory.
Don't always trust your brother
Summer 1982, Man, Moi, 3 sons, my brother and Man's mother all pile in vehicle for 2 week vacation to see family in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. We decide to drive part of the Shenandoah National Park Skyline Drive. Brother reads brochure, finds a "short" hike to a spectacular view, decides we need exercise and convinces us to stop.
Eldest son, Man, Moi and Brother decide to take the hike, others refuse or are not allowed.
Brother leads. Brother, Man and Son #1 get a good bit ahead of Moi, all I hear are their peals of laughter. As I round the bend, all they hear are my moans and some choice words (not repeated here). I am wearing plastic shoes and find myself scaling rocks that are 10 to 20 feet tall.
Short hike, ya, maybe, short in distance, not short in time! Yes, the view at the top was pretty special.
Photo above, Moi and Son # 1 on the way down. Photo below, Brother, also on the way down. Miracle that day was that no one got hurt.
Rest in Peace Don.
* Additional source data can be obtained by contacting me, see the right hand column for a yahoo email address.
** 52 Ancestors Weeks Button courtesy of Amy Johnson Crow.
*** I use many resources to research, FamilySearch.org is a free site. Ancestry.com is a pay site for which I pay, no discounts, etc. Fold3 is a pay site for which I pay. Find A Grave is a free site. None of these sites have asked me to review them, or use them. See my Disclaimers page for further details.


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Arkansas politics is never boring. This week, Republican Congressman Tim Griffin of Little Rock surprised virtually everyone on Monday morning with an announcement that he will not seek a third term representing the 2nd Congressional District.
Arkansas politics is never boring. This week, Republican Congressman Tim Griffin of Little Rock surprised virtually everyone on Monday morning with an announcement that he will not seek a third term representing the 2nd Congressional District.
"We have decided that now is the time for me to focus intently on my top priority, my family, as Elizabeth and I raise our two young children," said Griffin in a prepared statement. "To that end, I will not seek re-election to a third term. I will complete my second term, but I have made no decision as to my plans after Congress except that I will continue in public service, including as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve."
Part of the surprise was that Griffin had all the appearances of a guy running for re-election. His recent campaign finance report showed he had raised over $200,000 just last quarter and had over half a million dollars in the bank. He was hiring campaign staff, notably including David Ray, who left his job as communication director for the Republican Party of Arkansas to take the job as Griffin's campaign manager.
Add to that Griffin has become a key player within the House of Representatives. His seat on the House Ways and Means Committee is perhaps the most coveted and powerful spots in the House. Such a rapid ascension for a second term congressman is rare.
On the other hand, it is not completely surprising when you think about his decision. The daily grind of being a congressman is far from glamorous with long flights from Washington, D.C. to Little Rock and many nights away from home and his young children.
There's also the point that he may have been forced to deal with more tantrums from his colleagues in Washington than his children in Little Rock. The gridlock from the two chambers of Congress and bickering between and among the two parties is certainly more than any sane person could endure.
Griffin says the recent shutdown was not a factor in his decision, but it certainly could not have made the job more appealing. Doing the back and forth, Griffin joined a bipartisan group called "No Labels" that worked to end the stalemate.
Although Griffin says that he will not be running for Congress or any other office in 2014, he certainly seems to be leaving the door open for running for another office down the road. That makes sense considering his rather unconventional path to his current office.
Prior to running for Congress, Griffin spent most of his career working behind the scenes in positions such as research director for the Republican National Committee during President George W. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004. His effectiveness in that and other positions earned him the respect of his party and the anger of his opponents.
From there he went to work in the Bush White House Office of Political Affairs. Then he had a brief stint as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. But the position was clouded by controversy because he was a recess appointment and not confirmed by the Senate. The move was seen as political and opponents of President Bush pounced.
I restated history to point out Griffin's track record. Griffin resigned from the U.S. Attorney office and took a brief respite from public service. For a couple years, he ran what certainly appeared to be a successful political and legal consulting business. But when opportunity presented itself in 2009 he jumped back in and ran for Congress.
His exit has changed the landscape of the 2014 elections in Arkansas. One bright spot for Republicans is the long list of potential candidates to replace him. But after enjoying a few years with his children and returning to behind-the-scenes consulting, I expect Griffin to come roaring back.
Jason Tolbert is an accountant and conservative political blogger. His blog — The Tolbert Report — is linked at ArkansasNews.com. His e-mail is firstname.lastname@example.com.


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No to Military, Yes to Hair: The Most and Least Stressful Jobs of 2014
It's January 7. Are you pulling your hair out yet?
You might be—especially if you're a firefighter, public-relations executive, newspaper reporter, or airline pilot. Those are among the most stressful careers for 2014, according to a new ranking from job-search website CareerCast.com.
Every year, CareerCast.com compiles lists of the ten most and least taxing jobs, scoring 200 occupations according to 11 different stress factors including physical demands, deadlines, competitiveness, and the amount of travel the job requires. The scores are then added up to give a total, with higher numbers signaling higher stress.


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Creation's crowning glory
Giant sequoias thousands of years old and so gigantic that they make us humans feel tiny by comparison grow in California – however, drought is threatening these behemoths.
The giant trees leave visitors speechless. They walk across the spring forest floor without a word, the beams from their headlights falling on mighty red pillars. Cathedral atmosphere. Any word, any sound would tear apart the reverent stillness. This place is sacred. Wendy Baxter glances at her hand-drawn map, then at the mighty tree trunks disappearing into the darkness above her. "That must be the one," she says softly, indicating one of the giants, number 233. She carefully lowers her backpack with the climbing harness onto the ground.
Giant Forest in California's Sequoia National Park is where the mightiest trees on earth are found. Thousands of giant sequoias, or giant redwoods, grow here, including the record holder, General Sherman Tree, which at just under 84 meters tall and with a trunk circumference of 31 meters, is by volume the largest tree in the world. It would take 17 adults with outstretched arms to embrace it. Around it, four more of the ten biggest trees stretch their branches heavenward. The most ancient of these was probably already 700 years old when the Greeks began building the Parthenon in Athens. Here in the Sierra Nevada, on an area measuring roughly 150 square kilometers, is where the last natural stands of sequoiadendron giganteum survive.
Continued drought is slowly drying out California. Even if there was more precipitation last winter than in the preceding years, the past six have still brought far too little snow and rain. At the same time, there are 40 million Californians consuming large quantities of water. According to the US Forest Service, 62 million trees perished in California in 2016 alone. More than 102 million trees have died of thirst during the drought that has prevailed since 2011, and millions more are doomed to go the same way. At first, it was only the lowland trees that died, pines, firs and oaks, but then death began to creep up the mountains. Now the giant redwoods at 1500 to 2200 meters are under threat. Trees that once defied storms, forest fires and disease are now showing signs of stress: brown leaves, dying branches. In January, a "tunnel tree" toppled, a mighty sequoia more than two thousand years old into which lumberjacks in the 1880s cut a tunnel wide and high enough to allow a man to ride through on horseback.
It's not quite four o'clock in the morning. One-and-a-half hours ago, the obtrusive ring of an iPhone drove tree scientist Wendy Baxter, 37, and her colleague Anthony Ambrose, 49, from their sleeping bags. They fixed themselves bagels with cream cheese and drank a swiftly brewed coffee – it's cold at 2000 meters. The scientists shiver as they climb out of the truck, but soon warm up on the half-hour's tramp to tree 233. It stands 72 meters tall and has a diameter of just under five meters. "A sturdy guy," says Ambrose. Last week, they selected dozens of trees and nylon lines over protruding branches with their crossbows, then pulled up heavier lines and finally brought their climbing lines into position. Now no. 233 is rigged, ready to climb.
The two forest ecologists from the University of California in Berkeley are running health checks on the giant redwoods. To find out how the giants are coping with their changing living conditions, they collect samples. "We have to get up there," says Baxter, gazing up into the darkness. You can sense that the black of the sky will soon change to a deep blue. "We need small twigs from the crown of the tree," she explains, "ideally a sample taken at dawn, when the trees are at their most relaxed, and one in the heat of the afternoon, when their metabolism is in full swing." She hooks in a couple of cable clips and begins to pull herself further and further up the tree in a caterpillar-like motion sequence. Soon, all we can see of her is her helmet light, and after a couple of minutes, that too vanishes among the branches of the colossus.
The huge trees are like gigantic drinking straws drawing water from the ground – experts estimate that a single tree can manage up to three tons a day, more than any other tree species. The trees release the humidity into the air through their leaves. This process reduces the pressure in the capillaries along which the water rises up the tree. The drier the atmosphere and the less groundwater there is available, the greater the tension inside the tree. Under extreme conditions, the flow of water can break off like an overstretched elastic band. When that happens, gas bubbles form, and they can block the capillaries in the trunk. If this happens frequently, the pores of the leaves responsible for exchanging water and gas close, leaving the tree without the ability to absorb carbon dioxide, an important source of energy. The giant trees can live for a while on their vast reservoirs, but if the pores remain closed for too long, the plants starve.
One-and-a-half hours later, Baxter, now totally exhausted, is back on the ground. She takes off her purple helmet, revealing sweat-soaked hair clinging to her head. She has a plastic bag containing the small twigs she has brought down – and a large graze on her upper arm. She still has five climbs ahead of her today – trees 231 and 272, and, of course, the afternoon climb of tree 233. By comparing the samples, the scientists can see the extent of the "stress" already caused by the lack of water.
"I've been doing this for four years," she says, her dark eyes shining, "but the climb is always a crazy experience. I feel like an ant every time I sit up in the treetops." From her vantage point up in the treetops, the giant sequoias resemble colossal exclamation points rising from the forest. "You cannot understand them if you never climb onto the roof," says Baxter. She wanted to become a doctor originally, but switched to ecology during her time at college. "I am really a kind of doctor now, anyway," she grins, "only arriving at a diagnosis is a little more strenuous than it is with people."
The oldest of the giant sequoias was probably already 700 years old when the Parthenon was built in Athens
The titanic trees have stood on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada for hundreds of thousands of years and are among the most resilient organisms on the planet. No one knows what age they can reach. The oldest known specimen to date was 3200 years old. In the 19th century, the explorer John Muir claimed to have found a stump with 4000 growth rings. Once a giant sequoia has reached "its teens" at a few centuries old, it is as good as indestructible. Its bark, up to one meter thick, is soft and fibrous. It contains little resin, over the decades enabling it to survive recurring forest fires from the tree's core. Their highly aromatic tannins repel insects. "It's a perfect design," says Ambrose, "when they get to 2000 or 3000 years old, they really must have already survived some period of drought."
But therein precisely lies the question: Is the prevailing drought harming the giant sequoias more than anything that happened before? And what role does Central Valley play? Just a few dozen kilometers west of the sequoia forests, it's the area with the worst air pollution anywhere in the USA, a fatal blend of smog, smoke from forest fires, exhaust fumes and dust swirled up as a result of intensive farming.
Later in the afternoon, Nathan Stephenson joins the climbers. Also a forest ecologist, the bearded 60-year-old is a sequoia expert and has been living in the small town of Three Rivers on the edge of the national park for 37 years now. He's dressed in green pants, green shirt, green jacket and green baseball cap. He was the one who raised the alarm three years ago. He had been on his hands and knees, studying the effects of the drought on young saplings just centimeters high, when he glanced upward. "I couldn't believe what I saw: a mature sequoia with brown leaves. Then I found another sequoia with branches almost reaching the ground and dead leaves floating down." That was something I had never encountered in over 30 years of tree research.
His questions: Was this the drought? And: What else are we in for if this drought is a kind of dress rehearsal for global climate change? After finding dozens more withering giants, Nate Stephenson notified the authorities. After all, the sequoias are also a symbol for the USA: big, strong, unique – and supposedly indestructible. Scientists were hastily assigned to investigate whether and to what extent the lack of rain is stressing the tough titans. They used a special airplane to measure the structure of the forests and the light reflectance of the leaves. In their labs, Baxter and Ambrose tied the data from their own measurements in with those gathered in the air. "To the human eye, everything looks green and healthy from above," reports Baxter. But the spectrometers that measure the treetops' water content paint a different picture. The images reveal extensive red, dry areas. "With many forests, we simply haven't yet realized that they are dead," says Baxter. Luckily, the images show most of the sequoia groves in a soothing blue. "They have sufficient water." Baxter pauses a moment. "For now!"
A handful of tourists have gathered beside the tree. They regard the two disheveled figures suspiciously: Baxter and Ambrose look like they have been living in the wild for weeks. Ambrose has bits of bark sticking to his clothes, scratches on his face and large patches of perspiration. Baxter's face and upper body are covered with charcoal marks made when she squeezed by a scorched trunk. "I look like a dalmation," she laughs. One tourist wants to call the police and report "fun athletes" climbing trees – but her cell phone has no signal. Stephenson gets rids of the visitors, asking them to keep their distance from trees that are being climbed, as branches could snap and fall to the ground. He talks of a falling cone that once smashed a car's windscreen. This has the desired effect. With dubious glances upward and a couple of quick smartphone snaps, away they go.
Giants of their species
A comparison
"We know so little about the sequoias," sighs Stephenson, the man who has been studying the trees for decades, "we know more about the depths of the ocean than we do about them." He fingers a sequoia cone. "This here is the crowning glory of the plant world – and we are only scratching the surface." For decades, research funding went into projects that studied the effects of forest fires on the giant trees. But now what they want to find out is whether drought and climate change are threatening the trees' very existence. Analyzing the timber giants is difficult by reason of their sheer size. "We don't know how deep the roots of these trees go," says Stephenson, stroking his gray beard and adding with a grin: "You could dig one up to find out … good luck with the digging." Question upon question: Is there a tipping point at which the heat stress becomes too great for the trees and kills them? Will it be easier for disease and insects to overcome the trees' defense systems in a warmer future? And most important of all: How can the trees be protected?
Ambrose sits on the forest floor that is now giving off the heat of the sun it has been storing throughout the day. Exhausted, he stuffs an energy bar with peanut butter and chocolate into his mouth and swallows large gulps from his water bottle. Stephenson and a couple of helpers collect the hermetically sealed bags of twigs. This is the final tree for today. Baxter is still up in the treetop. It's got late – not for the first time – and the light is fading on the ground, while 30 meters higher up, the trunk gleams red in the last rays of the setting sun. "Everything okay?" asks Ambrose via his walkie-talkie. He takes a step back, throws back his head and peers up. Long pause. The two-way radio crackles. "Yes. It's just…" Ambrose doesn't know what's going on up there. "It's just … what?" he asks. Long pause. "Oh, nothing," comes the reply, "it's just so incredibly beautiful." Ambrose rolls his eyes, then gets serious. "I know what you mean," he answers softly.
This story first appeared in Lufthansa Exclusive, the frequent traveller magazine. For more information about Lufthansa Miles & More offers, please click here.


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The other day, my wife got a new phone, replacing her shattered iPhone 4 with a new LG Optimus. The problem is, by rotation, the upgrade was for me, so the new phone was to have my phone number. They moved it to her phone number, but that left me disconnected from the cell network. At least, I knew at the time I was disconnected, but I was less than sure that her phone was using her number.
My thought was, "It would be nice to be able to call someplace and have it tell you what number your phone is, so we could be sure." So, I wrote something.
This uses Twilio, which is essentially an API into IP telephony. I've used Twilio before, and have two projects on GitHub, Call_Me and SMS_Me, that are generally unidirectional messaging tools, but I haven't done much interactivity with the tool.
It gives the following output, which Twilio then runs through text-to-speech.
The time is currently 4 37 pm The temperature in West Lafayette is 83 degrees Fahrenheit. Your phone number is 1 2 3. 4 5 6. 7 8 9 0.
A few notes on the formatting first. I separate the numbers of the phone number (and that is not a real number) so that it says the number with an expected cadence. If I just put
1234567890, it'd say
one billion, two hundred twenty three million, five hundred sixty-seven thousand, eight hundred and ninety. If I just broke it up to
123 456 7890, it'd say
one hundred twenty three, four hundred fifty six, seven thousand eight hundred ninety. To break up the numbers so it just says the digits, you need to put the spaces. To break it up so the area code and exchange and line numbers are distinct, you need the punctuation.
Times are weird, too. If the time is 4:37, just having the time as
4 37 works, but if the time is 4:05 and broken into
4 05 instead, it'd read it as
four five. This is why I use
digit letter-"o" digit for the time.
I say lots of bad things about XML and prefer to avoid it when possible, but sometimes, like here, it's just that easy to handle. Kudos to XML::LibXML and NOAA for making that part reasonable and good.
Now that I have this working, I'm curious about doing other things. I can see myself adding to this, checking to see if From is my number, and if so, opening up choices like my whole Quantified Self stuff, the home automation I want to do more of, etc. I'm not sure I like the TwiML module, and might move that over to Template Toolkit, but that remains to be seen.


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Simply create a BB tag that would substitute [rtl] for the following:
Code: Select all
...
I don't think it's necessary to use any specific font settings. Just allow us to use right-to-left direction coding, which is appropriate for all Semitic languages.
Punctuation isn't language-specific. So, when you type punctuation at the end of a sentence, you get the following:
שלום, חברים.
The period obviously doesn't belong at the right side of that sentence. I have a workaround, using the U+200F character from the character map:
שלום, חברים.
That works, but the [rtl] tag would be useful.


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By Peter Delevett San Jose Mercury News
Startups have made Reid Hoffman very rich and fairly famous. And, he told a roomful of aspiring entrepreneurs this week, there's nothing wrong with that.
But Hoffman -- an early PayPal employee and Facebook investor who later founded LinkedIn -- made clear that a yen for wealth or fame alone won't carry an entrepreneur through what he called the inevitable "valley of shadows" every fledgling company encounters at some point.
"Find an idea and a team you're passionate about, so if it fails, it'll still be a good experience," Hoffman told a packed auditorium Tuesday at Mountain View's Computer History Museum, where the annual Startup Grind conference was taking place.
He spoke from a stage that had just been vacated by rap star-turned-tech investor MC Hammer; other big names at the two-day event included venture capitalist Ben Horowitz and Intuit co-founder Scott Cook.
Hoffman, currently a venture capitalist at Menlo Park's Greylock Partners, talked about PayPal's own "valley of shadows" when, early in the company's history, it was losing millions of dollars a month fighting fraud.
During an hourlong Q&A with Tagged CEO Greg Tseng, Hoffman likened building a startup to "throwing yourself off a cliff and assembling a plane on the way down."
For that reason, he counseled the audience to have not just a Plan B, "but Plans B." (He and Tseng both joked that Plan Z had been moving back in with their parents.)
Hoffman, 46, also preached the value of building a network, or "tribe," of fellow entrepreneurs -- who in his case range from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Hoffman's Stanford classmate, to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Such a network can help tap into Silicon Valley's collective experience at building startups and its willingness to share advice.
Hoffman said good mentors can use their firsthand experience to advise on hiring decisions or negotiations with investors, issues that face every first-time chief executive.
"Try not to make the same old mistakes -- make new mistakes," Hoffman urged his listeners.
One's network also provides valuable feedback when honing an idea. He recounted how Thiel and fellow PayPal co-founder Max Levchin came to him with a notion to encrypt mobile phone data. That famously morphed into a mobile wallet to send money between Palm Pilot devices, and ultimately into a way to remit payments via email.
But while being willing to toss out first drafts, an entrepreneur also should trust his or her vision. When he went to found his own company, Hoffman recalled, "Two-thirds of the people I spoke to about LinkedIn said, 'This will never work. Without 1 million people, you're dead.'"
Hoffman believed -- correctly, it turned out -- that the professional networking service's viral nature would let it reach that threshed quickly. LinkedIn, where he remains executive chairman, claimed 259 million members in its latest quarterly earnings report.
Hoffman, whose net worth Forbes estimated last fall at $4.4 billion, also is an investor in and adviser to companies ranging from Airbnb to Zynga.
He's on the boards of microlending site Kiva and of Mozilla Corp., which helps develop and promote the open-source Firefox Web browser, created as an alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Yet while he sees business plans by the bushel, Hoffman said even startups with good ideas and bright founders can fail if they don't execute or time their markets correctly.
"The number of software companies that get created in Silicon Valley is in the thousands," he said. "Only five or six matter every year."


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American Red Cross is partnering with the Miss Connecticut Scholarship Corporation and Miss Connecticut 2013 Kaitlyn Tarpey, the former Miss Southington, to sponsor a Blood Donation Challenge during the month of February to help raise awareness about the need for blood during this critical time of year.
Since the beginning of January, a press release from the Red Cross explained, winter storms and freezing temperatures have resulted in more than 600 American Red Cross blood drive cancellations and nearly 20,000 uncollected blood and platelet donations. In other words, the release said, the number of cancellations throughout January is the equivalent of the Red Cross having to shut down its operations across the nation for more than an entire day. Overall, 26 states and Washington, D.C. have had blood drives canceled because of weather. Despite the winter storms and resulting blood drive cancellations, hospital patient care must continue. Like the emergency room of a hospital, the Red Cross needs to be prepared to respond to patient emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. On average, the Red Cross must collect about 15,000 pints of blood every day for patients at approximately 2,700 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country.
To help ensure blood is available for patients in need, Kaitlyn Tarpey, the 2013 Miss Connecticut titleholder, is encouraging the Connecticut community to donate blood during February and to share their experience on their Twitter feeds. All participants should follow @MissCTAmerica or @RedCrossBloodCT and tweet a picture of their donation experience, such as their "I donated blood" sticker and use the hash tag #MissCTRedCross.
As a special thank you, all participants will be entered into a drawing to win a $200 Visa Gift Card. Additional details can be found at http://www.redcrossblood.org/promotions/ct/february-blood-donation-challenge.
"The American Red Cross relies on generous contributions from organizations like the Miss Connecticut Scholarship Corporation to help us fulfill our lifesaving mission," said Steve Mavica, Communications Manager for the Connecticut Blood Services Region in a press release. "We are so grateful for Miss Connecticut's support to help ensure blood is available for those in need."
The Miss Connecticut Scholarship Pageant, a preliminary to the Miss America pageant, is a scholarship and service-based nonprofit organization. Young women who participate in the organization are committed to community service and civic responsibility. "It's important to remember that giving blood is a simple act that helps save lives," said Kaitlyn in the Red Cross's press release. "You never know when a friend, family member, or co-worker or even you will need a transfusion, so blood must be available before it is needed. When it comes to the life of a loved one, every drop counts."
To schedule an appointment to donate, please visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS. To give blood, someone must be at least 17 years of age, meet weight and height requirements and be in general good health. Donors should bring their Red Cross blood donor card or other form of positive ID with them.


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Photo: viewerblur/Flickr
I have about two dozen shirts, all told, in my wardrobe. They have various levels of wear on them, from a few that look practically new to a few that look like they're approaching "rag bag" level.Whenever I buy a new shirt, I don't just toss it in my drawer and go on with business. I make sure to transfer a shirt to the rag bag (or to the "sell later" pile) at that point.
If I didn't make that transfer, it wouldn't be long before my shirt drawer and closet were overflowing with shirts, making it difficult to find the shirt I wanted. I'd also be putting money into clothing that I didn't really need.
This same philosophy works well with almost everything that you have a "collection" of that takes up physical space, whether it be DVDs or home decorations or vintage soda bottles. When one comes in, one goes out.
There are a couple reasons why this tactic really works.
For starters, if you stick to that rule, the overall volume of your stuff won't expand very much. Often, it is the expansion of one's "stuff" that makes a home upgrade desirable, so that you have room for all of your stuff (and, eventually, much more). A home upgrade is an enormous expense, one that can often be postponed or avoided by simply having a firm grip on your acquisition of items.
At the same time, a one-in, one-out rule like this one makes you carefully consider purchases. Is that new shirt really better than any of the shirts you already own? Is this DVD more essential to own than any of the ones already in your collection? If you can't answer yes to those reasonable questions, you don't buy an item. This keeps money in your pocket instead of in the coffers of retailers from which you purchased something you really didn't need.
We use this tactic with quite a few of our collections.
For example, I've long instituted this rule with my video game collection. This led me to not directly buying games, but instead trading games I had played through at a local used video game store, replacing them with new ones to play.
We're even starting to introduce this to our children as a tool for reducing the growth of toys. Sure, they receive several toys as gifts from grandparents and parents on their birthdays, but that means it's time to re-evaluate the toys that they already have.
This tactic reduces clutter, reduces the growth of one's stuff (saving on potential housing costs), and saves money on purchases. That's a victory in three directions.
This post is part of a yearlong series called "365 Ways to Live Cheap (Revisited)," in which I'm revisiting the entries from my book "365 Ways to Live Cheap," which is available at Amazon and at bookstores everywhere.
Don't Miss: 12 times being cheap will cost you >
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Most Improved Prospects (Increased Plate Awareness Edition)
The Oakland Athletics have a keen eye for finding prospects that have the ability to get on base through walks whether it be the highly touted prospects like Carlos Pena and Daric Barton (who had a 13.0% walk rate in Triple-A) to Jack Hannahan* who was an solid mid-season acquisition that once again was plucked from another organization that did not value the walk. Jack Cust had an obscene walk rate of 24.4% in 2006 and was still not given the chance at the major league level until Oakland acquired him. Even newly pilfered prospects from the Diamondbacks organization in the Dan Haren trade have a history of patience. Billy Beane realized early on that one of the hardest things to teach is plate discipline, so he has stocked his farm system with batters that have a good idea of the strike zone. Patience has never been a strong virtue practiced by the Twins nor has it been a trait targeted when acquiring prospective talent. It stands to reason that having a roster of players that a) do not swing at bad pitches, b) makes the pitcher throw more pitches then necessary and c) gets on base in the process is a good philosophical building block for a team.
More than that, monitoring the walkrate is a good barometer for evaluating talent in the farm system. It is a major indication of whether or not a prospect is adapting to pitching. If a prospect is elevated to the next level and sees a significant decrease in the walks rate it is a telling sign that the player might not be able to assimilate. For instance, one-time heir to the third base throne Matt Moses had a solid year in 2005 at Ft Myers with a walk rate of 9.4% (28 walks in 304 plate appearances), midway through the season he received a promotion to Double-A New Britain where he struggled and saw his walk rate drop to 6.9% (14 walks in 204 plate appearances). The following season Moses started at New Britain and had a similar walk rate of 6.8% (30 walks in 516 plate appearances) leading to a very pedestrian obp of .295. The Twins, who have been reluctant to relinquish their faith in the former 1st round draft pick from 2003, let him begin 2007 with the Rochester Red Wings where his very poor walk rate of 2.2% (a ridiculous 4 walks in 181 plate appearances) got him bumped back down to New Britain for the remainder of the season. It is normal for a prospect to experience some neutralization when acclimating to higher levels of considering that the pitching talent should be getting more accurate as they ascend through the farm system.
Between 2006 and 2007, the Twins have had several of their prospects make significant inward adjustments in their approach at the batter's box:
5) Brock Peterson - 8.0% in 2006/10.1% in 2007 - increase of 2.1%
Drafted in the 49th round in 2002, 23-year old Peterson had the dubious privilege of not only being in Justin Morneau's shadow but also Garrett Jones. He had a solid season at Quad City (leading the team in hits) however the offensive production in his first season at Double-A New Britain has projected him past Jones in a lot of people's minds. In his second season at high-A Ft Myers in 2006 Peterson hit .291/.356/.497 with an ops of .853 in a league that averaging .701 and on a team that was averaging .696. He supplemented that with 21 home runs and an isolated power average (ISOP) of .206 to an organization desperate for power. This earned him the opportunity of Double-A. Peterson had a tough time in the early months of the season (a walk rate of 5.8%, 5.8% and 2.6% in April through June) but followed that with a strong July and August (21.9% and 18.3% respectively) and end with a .285/.381/.476 line (as well as 15 home runs). His .858 ops was 120 points high than the league average.
4) Brian Buscher - 7.4% in 2006/10.0% in 2007 - increase of 2.6%
Also a member of the previous Twins Top Five (contact edition), Brian Buscher has since been relegated to utility role now that the Twins have signed Mike Lamb. Gleeman has the full run down on Buscher's career which certainly has had its ebb and flow. His power has been described as Ron Coomer-esque, his defensive at third is serviceable (better than Lamb) and he would be a candidate for one half of a platoon but his peripheral numbers in the past season has sent the message that he might only be getting better. Last season when splitting three level, Buscher proved that he is better than a throw away prospect hitting Double-A and Triple-A pitching well. His stint with Minnesota was less reassuring to the front office that Buscher was the 2008 opening day third baseman (.244/.323/.329 in 93 plate appearances), but he was able to reduce his strikeouts and increase his walkrate which may indicate a turned corner. If nothing else, Buscher/Matt Macri will make a phenomenal platoon at Rochester in '08.
3) Juan Portes - 5.2% in 2006/8.1% in 2007 - increase of 2.9%
Another alum of the previous Twins Top Five (contact edition), Portes's consistency in 553 plate appearances for Fort Myers should earn him a promotion to New Britain in 2008. Almost all of his numbers improved in 2007 over his previous season in Beloit:
Extended Statistics Year Age Team PA AB ISOP BB% K% BABIP GB% LD% RC RC/27 wOBA 2006 20 A Beloit 288 268 .079 5.2% 19.1% .284 46% 11% .256 2007 21 A+ Fort Myers 553 495 .141 8.1% 16.1% .307 41% 19% .324
2) Luke Hughes - 6.3% in 2006/9.9% in 2007 - increase of 3.6%
This 23-year old non-drafted Australian native second baseman had the best season of his career last year but was a seemingly different player every month: one month it appeared he was swinging wildly for the fence the next he had zen like discipline. The results were a .283/.353/.438 season with 34 walks and 68 strikeouts in 362 plate appearances for New Britain. The Twins have Alexi Casilla playing second in Rochester or Minneapolis next season, more than likely Rochester, so Hughes will have to have an exceptional season to move further up in the organization or risk becoming a causality.
1) Brian Dinkelman - 4.7% in 2006/11.5% in 2007 - increase of 6.8%
Dinkelman will be on of the most watched position player the Twins have in their organization after his performance in 2007 not only because it was good but because the clock might be against him. After being named to the Midwest All-Star game, the 24-year-old Dinkelman hit .269/.367/.437 between low-A Beloit and high-A Ft Myers. He has a high walkrate and a low strikeout rate while hitting a good amount of line drives in play (16% of batted balls). The problem with Dinkelman (besides his name sounding like it belongs to a mathlete) is that he is considerably older than his competition of low-A and his numbers would be slightly padded due to facing more inexperienced pitching. That being said, Dinkelman has to be a strong bet to be given the opportunity to play in Double-A in 2008 if his starts the season well in Ft Myers.
*As a matter of personal experience, in high school Hannahan hit a home run off of me that cleared Hamline Avenue by four or five houses. Then again, I was the Brad Radke of Minnesota High School baseball and gave up quite a few jack-bombs my junior year. Brutal.


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Christine Lynch
Class of 2011
Major/Minor: Biology, Premed
With her sights set on a career as a military physician, Christine worked at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Massachusetts.
In November 2012, she learned she was one step closer to achieving her dream; she was accepted to her top choice school, the New England College of Osteopathic Medicine.
As part of Washington College's summer undergraduate research program, Christine Lynch '11 worked under the supervision of associate professor of biology Mindy Reynolds to investigate the effect of environmental toxins—specifically cobalt and nickel—on human DNA.
Upon graduating, she went to work in a research lab focused on serving the military population.
Christine's team at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine was looking for ways to accelerate muscle growth and regeneration post-injury.
"Research is such a learning process," she says. "It's different from learning a technique in class where maybe you follow a protocol and look for a result. In research, you have to understand why am I doing what I'm doing and what does it mean? It's critical thinking," says Lynch, who is set on becoming a military physician. "I think my time in the lab definitely helped me not just get where I am today, but I think it will open opportunities for where I'll be in the future."
During her time with the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Christine had authorship on two journal publications and presented research at the 2012 Endocrinology Society Meeting in Houston, TX and the 2013 Experimental Biology Meeting in Boston, MA. The Health Progessions Scholarship Program awarded a her four-year scholarship to medical school, and she was commissioned as an officer into the U.S. Air Force in spring of 2013.
Currently, she is in her second year of medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine and loving it.
Campus Involvement
- Major/Concentration: Biology/Pre-Med
- Cater Society of Junior Fellows
Hodson Fellow Investigates Environmental Toxins
At the prospect of doing hands-on science research, Christine Lynch '11 selected Washington College as her top-choice school. But when the incoming freshman accepted the Hodson Science Fellowship, she had little idea that, by the end of her sophomore year, she would be investigating the effect of environmental toxins on human DNA and looking at tumor suppressor genes.
Over the course of a 10-week summer research program in Professor Mindy Reynolds' lab, the biology major learned how to use the instrumentation and methodology required to extract DNA from human lung cells, introduce heavy metals to the samples, select cells to test for proteins, and analyze toxicity levels.
The young scientist is looking at occupational levels of environmental toxins—specifically cobalt and nickel—associated with lung cancer and other lung disease. The heavy metals are typically found in batteries that, when discarded, can leech out into groundwater supplies.
"We are looking specifically at the mechanism by which co-exposure to these heavy metals cause lung cancer," explains Dr. Reynolds, who collaborated on a similar project with Khadiza Chowdhery '10, a biochemistry major from Bangladesh. Khadiza is looking for gene mutations caused by exposure to nickel and cadmium.
"This is my first real research experience, and Dr. Reynolds has been very patient in explaining everything," says Christine. "As a premed student, I'm really interested in the work we're doing and I'm now considering oncology as a possible career track."
Christine and Khadiza traveled with Professor Reynolds to Salt Lake City in March to give poster presentations of their investigations at the annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology.
"I hope to come back to Professor Reynolds' lab next summer," says Christine. "This has been a really cool experience, and there are lots of different avenues we can explore from here."
Hometown and high school? Lincoln University, PA, Avon Grove High School


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Healthy well-managed river basins and coastal areas, where people and nature thrive, is the vision behind the development of a new IUCN initiative 'Ridge to Reef'.
A workshop to kick-off the Ridge to Reef initiative took place in Punta Leona, Costa Rica, between 19-21May. It brought together the Mesoamerica and Oceania Regions, the Asia 'Mangroves for the Future Initiative' and the Caribbean Initiative, as well as regional projects working on ridge to reef approaches, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), IUCN Mesoamerica Members, and the IUCN Environmental Law Centre and Global Water Programme.
The workshop focused on developing a framework for a new programme designed to tackle management challenges to freshwater systems and their impact on coastal areas. "The challenge is to understand the technical and management links between rivers and coasts", said Juan Mario Davy, IUCN Regional Members Committee President for Mesoamerica, "often our laws and regulation approaches are not suitably developed to cope with managing land based impacts on the marine environment."
Rocio Cordoba, IUCN Water Coordinator for Mesoamerica, highlighted the need to raise awareness on the connectivity of water systems. "These linkages seem obvious to us working in water" said Cordoba, "but as urban growth continues and more people live in cities and coastal areas, we have to start changing practices to maintain the integrity of our freshwater and marine environments."
Janaka de Silva, Programme Coordinator for the IUCN Asia Office, brought long-term and critical experience from the 'Mangroves for the Future Initiative' to the workshop. Established following the Indonesian Earthquake in 2002, the Mangroves for the Future Initiative supports communities in managing their coastlines through maintaining natural infrastructure, mangroves, coastal forest, seagrass, reefs, and other ecosystems, which not only provide food and livelihood bases, but also increase coastal resilience to storms and future climate change impacts.
"There are important lessons to learn from islands, and vice versa from continental approaches" said Dr. Milika Sobey, IUCN Water Coordinator for Oceania. "Many of the islands we work with do not have rivers, but rely on very shallow groundwater. As sea levels rise and storms occur more frequently, we have to manage these freshwater lifeline systems better to prevent increasing salinity. We already face huge challenges keeping freshwater aquifers free of pollution for drinking – adding in seawater intrusion brings more difficulties".
The new initiative will be framed around better understanding the connectivity between fresh and marine water systems, and the need for greater recognition by civil society, the private sector, and governments on the impact and role they have in reducing pollution from the land into the sea. Governance of the coast is different to land and freshwater. Integrating these approaches is crucial in order to reduce damage to reefs and other ecosystems that communities rely on for food, tourism and coastal defense. Marine habitats, estuaries and coastal wetlands are some of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet. Extending water management between salt and freshwaters is a serious challenge, the Ridge to Reef initiative aims to tackle this through demonstration of different approaches and better economic understanding of the links and reliance between salt and freshwater ecosystems.
For further information contact:
Rocio Cordoba, IUCN Water Coordinator for Mesoamerica: firstname.lastname@example.com