text: Review : Sony Tablet S updated 09:35 am EDT, Mon September 5, 2011 by MacNN Staff Sony dips into Android tablets with uncommon thinking. MacNN Rating: Product Manufacturer: Sony Price: $499 (16GB Wi-Fi) The Good Clever ergonomics. Truly usable SD card slot; file transfers. Infrared remote feature. AirPlay-style media 'throwing.' Sony speed boosts. Always-on home screen shortcuts. Generally good display. Solid battery life. Special docking features. The Bad Terrible cameras. Weak speakers. Remote control app is limited. Numerous glitchy or limited special features. PlayStation Suite not really suited to the tablet UI. Low number of tablet-native apps. Still somewhat laggy due to Android. Sony has often been one to pick its battles carefully: sometimes it enters first, like with the Walkman, while in others it waits until it thinks it can achieve something distinct. With the Tablet S, that's more true than ever: Sony is taking on the iPad in the hopes that an infrared remote, custom apps, and a genuinely unique design will give it an edge. Whether or not Apple or Sony's fellow Android tablet rivals have reason to worry is the core of our Sony Tablet S review. Design and docking Most tablets take their design goals literally, aiming to create close to a slate-like shape as possible; that usually means as thin as the engineers allow. Not so with Sony. The Tablet S is consciously asymmetric, meant to resemble a folded-back magazine so that users have a more natural grip. Sony not only didn't mind that it didn't have the thinnest; it chose not to play that game where Apple and Samsung have. It mostly works. When held in landscape mode, it tilts more naturally towards your face, and it gets a more logical angle when it's sitting on a desk. Sony even includes small feet on the back to avoid scraping it when it's sitting on the coffee table. Portrait mode is where it works best: hold the thick end and your hand 'bites' into the textured grip like it should, so you can read one-handed or use it comfortably while standing. The shape both is and feels light, too. Sony gets to about 1.3 pounds through the use of plastic rather than the slimming on the iPad 2, but because the weight is balanced towards the thick side you're likely gripping, it reduces the strain that comes from having too much of the weight at the opposite end from your hand. You won't mistake it for the lightness of an e-reader, but it's certainly more palatable for reading books over long periods. Certainly it's better than the Motorola Xoom, which was heavier to start with but was far too top-heavy if you used it in portrait mode. Drawbacks are few when just considering a basic hand hold. The Tablet S is cheaper-feeling than we'd like, and while it won't fall apart, it doesn't have the iPad's reassuring metal. Asymmetry also means that, unlike an iPad, the BlackBerry PlayBook, or most Android tablets, you can't just hold it any way you want: if an app demands a fixed rotation, like many Android phone apps do, you may end up holding it the opposite way. Third-party accessories are also liable to be a minor pain, since cases and others assuming symmetry won't work. Having that extra padding on one end does help with controls and expansion. Both the power button and volume rocker are tucked under the lip of the 'wrapped' area and are easy enough to remember but hard to accidentally push. Sony has found room not just for a micro USB port but a full-size SD card slot, which is genuinely useful in Sony's implementation -- more on this later. Sony has made a pair of odd choices, however, when it comes to ports. Although the micro USB port is there, there's no cable included: it's up to you to supply your own, not to mention what purpose it serves. It's not high-powered enough to charge the tablet. That role is left to a proprietary power port, which apart from limiting your cable choices is always slightly tricky to plug in. We suspect it's designed the way it is because it's also meant to lock the tablet into its optional dock, which we found very easy to use. Apart from serving as a convenient stand if you pair up a Bluetooth keyboard, it automatically triggers a prompt to use the tablet either as a desk clock or as a photo frame, both of which we can certainly see being used by some owners. One weakness we noticed is uncharacteristic of Sony: the speakers. The Tablet S, unlike so many other slates, has stereo speakers that sound clear enough, but they're surprisingly underpowered. Without enough raw output, they're quickly overwhelmed in anything more than a moderately quiet room. This may be a clue as to why the iPad and so many other tablets have a monolithic speaker instead, since it's better to have a clearly distinguishable one-channel sound than an inaudible stereo mix. The display As with most tablets, the display is the defining feature, since it not only affects the viewing experience but defines the hold. We're inclined to say that 9.4 inches nearly hits a sweet spot. While only slightly smaller than the 9.7 inches of the iPad or HP TouchPad, it's just smaller enough that it's more feasible to thumb type or otherwise reach across. Magazines and other content are just large enough to be readable while still staying reasonably small, unlike what you can see on a small but occasionally still cramped 8.9-inch tablet. Turning to the display itself, Sony's choice of LCD is what we'd call a good but not great panel, though in some areas it's doing better than others. It uses what Sony calls a TruBlack panel: effectively, it's a resin layer that deepens the black levels, reduces glare, and makes colors pop. We can vouch for the first two. Sony might not have reached the real black of AMOLED screens, but it's visibly darker. The panel isn't glare-free enough to be used in bright sunlight, but it eliminates a fair amount of the more common reflections. Color vibrancy we're not sure about. We'd call the screen fairly accurate, but there's a slight muted quality to the color that's noticeable if you put a tablet with a very high-grade panel, like the iPad, nearby. Apple and Samsung both have visibly more vibrant and brighter screens. Sony should be complimented for very wide viewing angles, though, as the screen barely changes hue at all even when seen nearly side-on. Sony's real challenge is simply that screen technology is a moving target, particularly when it comes to the resolution. Just a day after we received our Tablet S, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab 7.7, which has an extremely vivid Super AMOLED and fits the same 1280x800 resolution as Sony's tablet into a smaller area. Apple is also rumored to be getting a 2048x1536 display on the iPad 3, and Samsung will have a 2560x1600 10-inch tablet LCD. We find the resolution just fine for now, but if you want the ultimate in display technology, it's not here yet. Android 3.1 and Sony's core customizations The Tablet S is part of a narrow crop of tablets that will ship with Android 3.1; 3.2 is already shipping, and Ice Cream Sandwich (possibly referred to as Android 4.0) is due by the end of 2011. Accordingly, it sits in between some of the bigger OS revisions, but it's still more polished than the 3.0 we saw as recently as the LG Optimus Pad and T-Mobile G-Slate. Most of what it brings are small but welcome interface and under-the-hood changes: the OS is slightly faster, brings resizable widgets, and a much expanded list multitasking switcher to jump to other apps. It recognizes USB devices if they either conform to a common standard (such as a keyboard) or the app is built to recognize them; that's why Sony can include a micro USB port. We won't recap the entire experience other than to say that it's improved, but still periodically rough, with elements that tend to lag, occasional crashes, and just an overall lack of polish. While we're comfortable navigating the OS and find it powerful when everything is synchronized, it feels a little too Windows-like with a need to constantly jump between the top (for menus) and bottom (for notifications and basic navigation). Your preference will depend on whether or not you were aiming to replicate the desktop or get away from it; ours is that a tablet is a chance to break from convention and make technology more accessible, not to follow tradition. More importantly, there just aren't enough apps, and Google has done little to make finding tablet-native apps easy. It's not until you reach Android 3.2 that some apps can zoom, too, so legacy phone apps will have an out of proportion interface. Sony has done some work of its own to massage the experience, though. What might help the most is a tuning that the company refers to as Swift and Smooth. At a minimum, it improves the touch responsiveness. While we still noticed that characteristic Android lag in areas where touch wasn't used, such as rotating the screen, Sony has gone to some lengths to make the response to touch, such as scrolling or launching apps, noticeably better. The browser is faster: on average, we noticed that it took several seconds off of loading a page versus another tablet (admittedly running Android 3.0) that we had, especially given Flash's notorious delay on page loads.. We also liked that the top of the home screen now has a few, customizable shortcuts to commonly used apps, such as the web browser or mail. On other devices, you're too often left to use the app switcher or to scroll through multiple home screens. A favorites shortcut next to the app tray launcher in the upper-right of the home screen isn't as useful. Sony is trying to replicate the PlayStation 3's layout in that area, and it doesn't work. The keyboard in normal mode, whether landscape or portrait, largely hews to the stock Android keyboard layout, just with a more Sony-like theme. You won't always see that, though. When entering a password or another area where a mix of letters and numbers is likely, Sony introduces a secondary keyboard that includes a number pad next to the QWERTY layout. Ostensibly, it's to make entering those numbers easier, but we more often than not found it jarring: it disrupts the layout and shrinks the QWERTY keys, so if you were typing quickly and advanced to a section where the number pad keyboard comes in, you'll at least slow down, if not mistype. Numbers come up seldom enough that we'd rather just remember to hit the special character key. You can, however, speed type on the Tablet S once you're used to it, and we found it fast enough to whirl through with concentrated typing. You won't want to write an essay, but a substantial e-mail or Twitter update isn't any issue. We thankfully skipped some of the laggy behavior of the Optimus Pad and enjoyed that there was predictive text, although it won't auto-correct by default, just passively suggest spelling options. Sony-specific apps: remote control, media, and file transfers Before we launch into Sony's bundled apps, a disclaimer: as of the time of this review, the Tablet S hadn't launched and so had a number of apps that were placeholders, such as the Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited services, Reader, and Select App. We'll test what we can what they launch, although their absence didn't significantly affect our review: many of them have rough equivalents in Android Market, such as Slacker. Sony when it launched the Tablet S saw it as the linchpin for all its products: a place where one device could either control or play just about anything in Sony's catalog. As such, while there isn't a conspicuous amount of interface changes on top, there are several apps that handle some very distinct features. By far the most unique is the infrared blaster found on the thick side of the tablet. Paired up with a remote control app, it's possible to control home theater equipment, and not just Sony's, directly from the Tablet S. There's no required Wi-Fi link; instead, you just have to create profiles for individual devices and then pick them from the app. The range is broad and covers TVs from genuinely obscure brands through to DVRs and digital media hubs. In a fitting bit of irony, it will even control an Apple TV. The app works well for direct control and can have multiple pages of buttons to speed up input. Switching directly to the fourth HDMI input can save a large amount of time. With this in mind, though, we've noticed that it can require some extensive work to truly get a device up and running. Most brands only get profiles rather than specific models, and you end up finding sets that fall between the cracks. Our Samsung LNT-4069FX, a fairly standard LCD TV that we bought in 2008, doesn't show HDMI inputs by name and only maps a pair of them to actual buttons. It's possible to add and program buttons, but that extends the setup time from a minute to ten as you reach inside and set up each input by hand. There's no macros, either, so the Tablet S won't replace a Logitech Harmony or other universal remote. You can't tell it to turn on the TV, switch the receiver to the relevant input, and start up a Blu-ray movie. Sony hinted during our first hands-on time that macros might be coming later, but we have to assume for now that the infrared on the tablet is more a convenience than a device seller. Not surprisingly, music and movies play a big role in a tablet made by the same company that owns Sony Music and Sony Pictures. The movie player is only slightly upgraded in most respects; music is somewhat more advanced in the inclusion of SensMe, a mood-based automatic playlist generator. Where it gets more advanced is in the inclusion of a "throw" button on either. Use it and you can push media to any DLNA-equipped target: a wireless speaker, a TV, and even a PlayStation 3. We've used it, and when it works, it's nearly as good as Apple's AirPlay -- you don't have to put effort into slinging media around the home. "When it works" is the operative term. Despite being on the same network where we've had DLNA sharing work before, the Tablet S couldn't see the PS3 on the main network we had to try. It could see a Sonos audio system on the network, but it couldn't push standard MP3 files that other devices could. Admittedly, any iOS devices can't play their own locally stored content on either device without custom apps or elaborate workarounds, but we'd expect a host of devices supporting DLNA to talk to each other. Other apps have their usefulness, although in a limited form. A Social Feed Reader is the quintessential third-party Android social network integrator merging Facebook and Twitter: it works for very casual users with only a small number of friends, and it has a fairly clean and well-structured interface, but it falls apart for anyone with a substantial number of contacts. Sony does have its own mini cloud service, Personal Space, which can be used to share media between groups of friends. It's straightforward enough to use, but at 1GB of total space and few using it, it's difficult to justify when Facebook and Google+ can achieve some of the same effect. One feature may trump all for some owners, though: file transfers. Although it's a Sony app and not part of the OS, the File Transfer app makes it very straightforward to grab files and either move them to or from the tablet. We mostly used it to offload photos and videos to an SD card, but the reverse also works. It has no real explanation for newcomers and isn't a pervasive part of the OS like it should be, but if all you're looking to do is to load a third-party app or get some downloaded songs from the tablet to a computer, it works. Even Android 3.2 is currently very limited in how it can use the SD card slot; it's somewhat telling that Sony could do quickly what Google itself hasn't done yet. Gaming and hardware performance Another segment of the preloaded software suite, gaming, deserves its own software section. The Tablet S is just the second device beyond the Xperia Play to officially support the PlayStation Suite, Sony's official platform for recreating some of the PlayStation experience in mobile. Out of the box, you get both a direct port of the PS1's Crash Bandicoot as well as the PS Suite-optimized Pinball Heroes, both of which are fine games in their own right. The pinball game takes advantage of the tablet's widescreen ratio, so you can either see the entire table while you play (our preference) or go landscape for a more closely focused view. It's when you try Crash Bandicoot, though, that the problems with bringing PlayStation Suite to a tablet creep up. Sony has faithfully recreated the pre-Dual Shock PlayStation gamepad on the touchscreen; the scheme, however, just doesn't work that well for action-based games. It's playable, but there's a certain degree of irony to Sony attacking iPhone games only to turn around and encourage using titles with the same limitations. The 320x240, 1996-era graphics aren't scaled elegantly on the larger screen, either, and what looks acceptable on the Xperia Play's four-inch LCD looks over-pixelated on the Tablet S' 10-inch display. Without PlayStation Pocket or other apps to curate the native games, there's limited appeal to the PlayStation side right now. Raw performance in modern games, as well as the larger OS, is what you'd expect from Android tablets as a whole, primarily because it's the exact same hardware inside as virtually every other Android 3 tablet outside of the HTC Jetstream. NVIDIA's dual-core Tegra 2 is fast enough to drive games with smartphone-level detail at a tablet-sized resolution. It's not the revolution that it needs to be to stand out, though, and tablets like the iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 10.1 can both outperform it. Flash content on the web sometimes struggles, even with the hardware acceleration kicking in. We don't think it's too slow, but with quad-core tablets a few months off, the speed may feel strictly adequate before long. Camera app and image quality The Sony camera app is one of the few at this stage to make significant changes to the layout of Google's official software. In this case, it has unusually deemphasized the actual preview in favor of a pseudo-filmstrip at the bottom with recent photos. We'd like the photo preview window to be larger and the filmstrip smaller, although we can't complain too much about the convenience of jumping to a photo taken five shots ago. Settings aren't extensive but do include macro focusing, white balance, exposure compensation, and the requisite scene presets. A big, oversized shutter button is appreciated. Unfortunately, it's in the camera quality that the Tablet S is a definite letdown. Sony might have a five-megapixel camera on the back, but it's clear this is more to get a perceived numeric advantage more than for actual quality. Despite some images looking acceptable, we noticed that many others have a slightly smeared, hazy look, even in bright daylight. Colors tend to be muted or sometimes inaccurate. Low light isn't much better than the iPad 2's camera, so the higher resolution sensor hasn't bought much more than raw size. Front camera image aren't that ambitious, either. At 0.3 megapixels, it's really just large enough for the sake of Google Talk Video Chat, Ustream (included here), or Picplz self-portraits. The quality is just good enough for the resolution and intentions. Our pick would be the Galaxy Tab 10.1 if front image quality mattered. Video quality somehow deteriorates this further. Even after choosing maximum encoding quality at 720p and keeping the tablet fairly stable during movement, we saw large amounts of visual artifacting from the video as it was taken straight off of the camera, let alone posted to YouTube. Moreover, audio was near-unusable: we made sure we didn't obscure the microphone, but it was so faint as to frequently be inaudible and wasn't as spectacular when we did hear it. Critics might dock Apple for its choice of hardware in the iPad 2, but it's proof that sometimes a low-spec camera and microphone can do a lot more than a pair that looks better on paper. Battery life and a note on 3G/4G versions Gauging battery life can be difficult on a tablet because of the sheer variety of tasks they handle. We focused primarily on continuous browsing, since that's often what tablets excel at and are benchmarked against. In our experiences, we netted about 8.5 hours of battery life on average in these conditions without trying to tightly regulate background apps or other power usage elements. Overnight battery drain is more severe than on some tablets we've seen, but that depends entirely on how many apps are checking for mail in the background. You can leave the tablet up and running for two or three days, but not much more than that if you get a healthy amount of e-mail and social network updates. The battery life is certainly solid compared to some tablets we've seen, particularly the Dell Streak 7 and Toshiba Thrive. If battery life is paramount, though, the iPad and a handful of the larger Android tablets last practically longer. We've regularly seen over 10 hours of battery life from an iPad and relatively little overnight drain even with background mail. We have yet to try a 3G or 4G version of the Tablet S, although that's mostly a virtue of Sony's pushing those off weeks or months ahead. When they do ship, expect HSPA+ speeds (LTE isn't likely practical) and a minor but noticeable reduction in battery life, most of all when the cellular link is in use. Only the Tablet P clamshell is so far known to be getting 3G, through AT&T, but European carriers and possibly Canada should have the 3G option as well. Wrapping up Virtually every Android tablet maker that has shipped so far has faced a tough question: what would make someone want to buy your product instead of an iPad? Providing that answer has so far been tough. A few, like Samsung and its Galaxy Tab 10.1, have simply focused on improving core features: getting a slimmer design, better cameras, options like LTE for 4G. Acer focuses on price. Others, however, focus on having a gimmick: ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer has its notebook dock, HTC's Flyer and Evo View 4G have their pen, and LG has its 3D video. So far, none of them have caught on well enough to seriously upset Apple, not even with Samsung's market clout. Sony could be best be described as trying to strike that balance with the Tablet S, and in some ways it succeeds. Using a tablet as a home theater remote can feel like a gimmick, but it's one you could realistically use every day. More interesting to us are the meat-and-potatoes upgrades. We like that Sony thought of ergonomics, not just thinness, when shaping the design. Swift and Smooth might not completely iron out Android's quirks, but it goes some way towards getting the responsiveness it needs. And the SD card slot combined with file transfer might finally add some much needed ability to work from a tablet if you regularly shuttle files around. Even so, the Tablet S feels more competent than outstanding. For every nice extra feature, there's seemingly another that doesn't quite work the way it's promised, sometimes within the same app. The performance, the screen, the build quality are all good, but not great. The camera is just a mess, too. And as interesting as Sony's work is, it still has to contend with problems that are mostly in Google's hands, like the dearth of native Android tablet apps. If you're already heavily invested in an Android smartphone or something about Apple's app policies or features rubs you the wrong way, the Tablet S is a solid pick. At the same $499 for a 16GB Wi-Fi model as an iPad 2, it's competitively priced. But if you're not wedded to Google or your TV, it's hard to suggest the outlay here instead of with Apple. Android can theoretically do more, but the overall polish and much larger app library on the iPad means you're already getting things done.


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New Adidas NCAA Uniforms May Ruin Your Tournament Viewing Experience
Do not adjust your TV sets when watching the NCAA Tournament -- the colors are supposed to look like that.
Just in time for the 2013 NCAA Tournament, Adidas has unveiled new uniforms for Cincinnati, Kansas, Notre Dame, Baylor, UCLA and Louisville. The verdict? Put on your sunglasses because, man, these threads are brighter than the entire cast of 'The Big Bang Theory.' If there's a power outage during any of their games, no one will have to worry about finding the players, since they'll glow in the dark.
In addition to a range of colors that look like they were developed in the Chernobyl aftermath, the shorts come in the Zubaz style that made the '90s just so darned magical. Actually, if you look at them long and close enough, you may see a hidden image of the Statue of Liberty.
Baylor (which rode its neon greens to the Elite 8 last season) joins Louisville and UCLA as schools with sleeves, a questionable look that the Golden State Warriors recently tried to make cool.

subset: commoncrawl


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Teens involved in fatal crash identified
Victims range from stable to critical condition
LANCASTER, Wis. — A 15-year-old girl killed in a single-vehicle crash Wednesday in Grant County is identified as MaKayla Hore of Lancaster, according to the Grant County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said four other teens involved in the crash remain hospitalized in conditions ranging from stable to critical but stable.
Emergency crews were called to Liberty Ridge Road between County Road E and Hill Road in Liberty Township at 4:42 p.m. on a report of a crash.
Deputies said the 16-year-old driver, Morgan Hoehne and three other passengers from Lancaster, were taken to Grant Regional Hospital and later transported by MedFlight and MedLink.
The other passengers are identified as Jena Hore, 17, Nathaniel Tranel, 15, and Kindra Yoose, 14.
Investigators said speed is a contributing factor in the crash and alcohol does not appear to be involved.
MaKayla Hore was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash but deputies don't know if any of the other teens were wearing seat belts.
All victims are students at Lancaster High School. Deputies said the high school was offering counseling services to students.


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Indonesia - Raja Ampat
In late February 2015 I joined the Dewi Nusantara traditional three mask Balinese Schooner for a 12 day Raja Ampat dive itinerary. Although I only completed 18 instead of a planned 30 dives because of the flu, I was still able to take a representative collection of images in this fabulous destination at the heart of the Coral Triangle. We enjoyed the full variety of diving the area offers culminating in dives and a snorkel with the Manta Rays. Some of the images are included to show the diversity of the underwater environment whilst most I hope will inspire others to visit and see for themselves!Read More
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Rumors of iPad mini return
Could Apple be working on a device with a 5-inch or 7-inch screen? This question continues to get stirred up with other speculation, like the leaves at the bottom of a tea cup -- and everyone tries to read them.
In today's edition of "As the Apple Turns," momentum appears to be coming out of China with stories attributed to "reliable sources" about the company developing Retina display screens for a smaller tablet.
Macotakara is reporting that 2013 is the year of the pocket-sized tablet and feature resolution of 1,600 by 960 pixels or 1,280 by 960 pixels.
And Eric Jou of Kotaku wrote that Chinese site NetEase is claiming a mini iPad would be released in the third quarter of this year to combat a potential debut of a Windows tablet. The report, which appears in Chinese, puts the cost of these devices under $300, according to Jou.
Talk of both smaller and bigger screens pops up almost weekly. Earlier this month, reports from Korea Times and Venture Beat highlighted the possibility of a smaller screen. And last week, an analyst note started a flurry of speculation about the next iPhone screen growing a smidge to 4 inches.
The genesis of the 7-inch iPad appears to have come from an iLounge report in 2009, citing an anonymous source. Apple had created several versions of the iPad, including a 7-inch model that was dismissed as being too small, according to the iLounge report. (Wired does a good job of tracking the rumor from birth to maturity.)
Apple respectfully declined to comment on rumors.
The current iPad, aka "new iPad," features a 9.5-inch display with 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch.
And with Apple apparently going through a renaming renaissance, one is left to wonder: Would a tablet with a smaller screen be an iPad mini along the lines of the Mac Mini, or would it be an iPad Nano like the watch-sized iPod? Or maybe it'd be an iPhone Maxi.
Gripes about new iPad: The list goes on
New iPad name causes some confusion
Exclusive hands-on look at MasterImage 3-D tablet
Follow Michelle Maltais on Google+, Facebook or Twitter


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At the Intersection of Saving and Sustaining Lives
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update
Updated March 24, 2020 – The coronavirus outbreak is challenging communities, relief organizations and healthcare systems throughout the world. Here is the latest update (as of March 17, 2020) on how Baxter is responding and providing support to hospitals, healthcare providers and patients.
Our Commitment to Providers and Patients
We work at the critical intersection where innovations that save and sustain lives meet the physicians, nurses and pharmacists who make it happen. We are committed to improving outcomes for patients, and helping our partners meet the evolving challenges and opportunities in healthcare around the world. Learn more about our diverse specialties.
Advancing Modern Healthcare
We are leading global conversations to help improve and personalize healthcare. Insights from our patients, healthcare providers and community partners guide our efforts to deliver meaningful innovations that advance healthcare.
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) UpdateThe coronavirus outbreak is challenging communities, relief organizations and healthcare systems throughout the world. Here is the latest update (as of March 17, 2020) on how Baxter is responding and providing support to hospitals, healthcare providers and patients. Read More
Finding Strength Through Home Parenteral Nutrition (HPN) Therapy
Jana can often be found with her husband Chase walking their dogs Linus and Jovie in her hometown of Beaumont, Texas. She is a charismatic young woman who leads a very active and social lifestyle, whether it's getting together with friends or hiking in New Mexico with her bright green backpack. But what many don't realize is that the backpack Jana's wearing is an extension of her body, as it carries the nutrients and calories that she will consume for the day.Read More
Remote Patient Management Gives Peritoneal Dialysis Patient Peace of Mind
Didi has lived with diabetes for many years, which can be a leading contributor to kidney disease. Still, learning her kidneys were failing was a shock. Fortunately, she had the support of her family and healthcare providers to explore the therapy options that met her clinical and lifestyle needs. Didi decided home peritoneal dialysis (PD) was the right path for her.Read More
Fostering an Innovative Culture
Our mission to save and sustain lives is reflected in our pioneering legacy and focus on patient-centered innovation. We are passionate about shaping the future and giving back to the communities where we live and work.
We promise to foster innovation, strive for the highest standards of corporate responsibility and support an inclusive and diverse workplace to enable a better tomorrow.


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A New Credit Card Surcharge?
Businesses can now charge customers who use a Visa or MasterCard an extra fee. But will they?
As of January 27, brick-and-mortar retailers and online merchants in 40 states can add up to a 4% surcharge to purchases made with a Visa or MasterCard. The surcharge, called a checkout or swipe fee, is allowed because of a recent court settlement between retailers, the card companies and nine major banks, according to Consumer Action, a consumer advocacy group. The settlement allows retailers to pass on the cost of processing credit card transactions to customers -- a practice that previously was banned. However, most merchants probably won't be adding a surcharge to credit card purchases, says Craig Shearman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation.
DOWNLOAD: The Kip Tips iPad App
The NRF has spoken with many of its members and none plans to charge a checkout fee, Shearman said in a statement to the media. In fact, the point of the lawsuit, which was brought by merchants, was to bring down credit card swipe fees, and, in turn, lower prices for consumers.
Retailers typically pay credit card issuers a fee equal to 1.5% to 3% of a total purchase when they accept a credit card. The settlement allows retailers to charge only the amount they pay to process a card, up to a maximum of 4%, according to Consumer Action. Shearman said in the statement that retailers also would have to meet several complex requirements if they wanted to charge the fee.
For starters, these fees are illegal in ten states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas). Shearman points out that existing Visa and MasterCard rules require companies to handle credit cards the same in all of their stores. So national chains with stores in the ten states that allow surcharges wouldn't be allowed to charge an extra fee for credit card transactions in any of their stores.
And the settlement also requires merchants that add a surcharge to Visa and MasterCard purchases to add a surcharge to other cards with an equal or higher swipe fee, such as American Express. However, American Express prohibits retailers from charging customers an extra fee to use their cards. So businesses that accept all three cards would not be able to add a surcharge, Shearman said in his statement.
Retailers also must follow other guidelines if they charge this fee:
-- They must disclose at the store entrance, point of sale or on receipts that they are charging an extra fee for credit card purchases.
-- The disclosure on a receipt must show the amount of the fee and stipulate that the amount is equal to what the retailer pays to process a credit card transaction. The fees can vary for different types of cards, such as rewards cards or premier cards, according to Consumer Action.
-- Retailers cannot charge an extra fee for debit cards.
Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com, says that competition is another reason retailers probably won't add the surcharge. "If you institute a surcharge and your competition does not, consumers will start shopping at your competitor's store," he says.


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Colombia and Extrajudicial Killings Scandal
By Lee Jay Walker
Tokyo Correspondent
|Above, the FARC commander Raul Reyes who was killed in 2008.
The government of Colombia which is supported by the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and others, is now in the spotlight because of the continuing grisly finds of dead corpses. The killings have been carried out by sections of the armed forces and it is a grim reminder of events in Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, and other nations throughout the region, with regards to events in the 1970s and 1980s.
If this scandal had happened in modern day Cuba or Venezuela, then America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and others, would be the first to call for "a major enquiry" and more severe action would be taken. However, for all the above named nations, then it is complex because they have supported the current government of Colombia. So how will these nations respond to the government of President Alvaro Uribe?
It would appear that "cracks are emerging" because the British government is alarmed by recent events. For example, David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, stated that "The challenge for the Colombian government is to ensure the strategic human rights principles we have helped to promote are embedded and consistently practiced by all members of their armed services."
Therefore, the British government will divert part of its military aid because of the gross violations of human rights in Colombia. Alan Campbell, from the British Home Office, said that aid would not be given to any areas which had links to the "false positives." This applies to the extrajudicial killings in Colombia; however, can the British government be assured that the "chain"in this scandal is so limited?
Now pressure is mounting in America, after all, President Obama talked about "a new history" and the need to support human rights. Also, before being elected, Obama criticized the human rights record of Colombia and he spoke about linking this before signing the proposed USA-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
However, according to Gary Leech, a much acclaimed journalist and writer, he is skeptical. He states in the Colombia Journal on May 4th, 2009, "that in an apparent reversal, Obama recently called on U.S. trade representative Ron Kirk to work with the Colombian government and Congress in order to address the obstacles to the trade agreement and get the deal signed."
Gary Leech also makes it clear that the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, is "…currently pushing Parliament to ratify the free trade agreement signed last November with Colombia's President Uribe. "According to Gary Leech, this is contrary to what the majority of Canadians want because a poll in July 2007 indicated that "73 percent of Canadians said their federal government should not negotiate free trade agreements with countries that have dubious human rights records."
However, it would appear that Prime Minister Harper is a firm supporter of President Uribe. Harper commented that "We're not going to say, 'Fix all your social, political and human rights problems, and only then will we engage in trade relations with you.' That's a ridiculous position."
So according to the leader of Canada, it is more important to concentrate on stabilizing Colombia under the current government of Colombia and to focus on mutual self-interests. Yet, like Gary Leech points out, this means that Canada is supporting Colombia without any strings being attached despite this nation being" … the country with the worst human rights record in the hemisphere."
Yet in recent times it is abundantly clear that events in Colombia are extremely alarming because we are talking about the deaths of thousands of people by the armed forces, paramilitaries, and murky "overt operations." Given this, the governments of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and others, must do more to pressurize the government of Colombia.
Also, economic and military aid must be made accountable because if the "human rights mantra" is violated then once more we are going to enter a period of "tainted democracy." So it is important that international pressure is increased because the people of Colombia have been victims for too long, irrespective if victims of right-wing or left-wing groups, or via government sponsored paramilitaries or by landowning militias.
Of course the issue is very complex and Jeremy McDermott, writer for the BBC, stated on May 7th, 2009, that the democratic security policy "has been a great success. It has pushed back Marxist rebels from around the cities and deep into their mountain and jungle strongholds. It has demobilized 30,000 members of an illegal right-wing paramilitary army, the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia. It has seen a massive drop in kidnapping and a fall in the murder rate, once among the highest in the world."
However, Jeremy McDermott also highlights the tremendous pressure which was put on the armed forces in order to obtain results. Therefore, the government of President Uribe put great pressure on the armed forces and other areas.
But much of the blame for this current crisis must be blamed on elements within the Uribe government. After all, like Gary Leech points out, "There has also been a dramatic escalation in the number of extra-judicial executions perpetrated by the Colombian military since Uribe assumed office. Investigators are currently looking into 1,296 cases of extra-judicial executions that have occurred since 2002. In a process known as "false-positives," soldiers execute civilians and then dress the corpses in camouflage fatigues and pass them off as guerrillas killed in combat."
What is clear is that the numbers of deaths will continue to rise and both left-wing and right-wing views will try to manipulate events. However, the real tragedy belongs to the people of Colombia and the counter-insurgency strategy and paramilitary-political scandal must usher in a new period of transparency and fresh hope.
Therefore, it is essential that nations like America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and others, do much more because "democracy" can not be turned-on and turned-off when it suits. It is now up to internal forces and external forces to pressurize the government of President Uribe and recent events must be fully scrutinized. Also, accountability must apply to all people within the chain of events.


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The exhibit is called,
Lowell and the Civil War
First Blood: The Lexington of 1861
Since this is Memorial Day weekend, I decided to post these two photos and include my post of two years ago where I explained the story of, "The Minutemen of 1861 -- First Soldiers to Die in Civil War Were From Lowell" The names above are those who enlisted, The names of those who died are listed on large plaques hung high in the Lowell Library. (See photos below.)
Many years ago, a few of us in the local genealogy club went through huge ledgers and transcribed 3,525 names of Soldiers and Sailors mustered from Lowell during the Civil War (1861 to 1865). We entered their information into a data base several of us had on our computers. I believe I did two books. The writing was beautiful, the only problem was the books were huge and heavy.
The 3,525 names can be seen HERE. Please take a peek if your ancestor lived in the Lowell area, or England, Germany or any of the New England states. In other words, they came from all over. Scroll to the end as there are many death dates and locations included.
Photos taken years ago at the Lowell Library of those who gave their lives in war. I hope to retake pictures and perhaps type up a list.


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Clicking on that link takes you to a search page where you are informed as follows"
Here is another screen shot of the page:FamilySearch offers a network of more than 4500 facilities offering public access to genealogical records from all over the world. These range from the world's largest in Salt Lake City to locations in more than 80 countries.Find a FamilySearch Center near you
It is fairly obvious to any one familiar with FamilySearch.org that the term "FamilySearch Centers" is the same as the older term, "Family History Centers," as in Mesa Regional Family History Center and Utah Valley Regional Family History Center. I would guess, as I have observed before, that there is a change in the branding. But during the interim they may be some confusion, especially because the main link on lds.org also refers to Family History Centers.
Personally, I like the term FamilySearch Centers better than Family History Center. It gives the potential user the idea that the center is a place to search not just come in and find some one has done their family history. There is always the not too unbelievable story going around of the lady who comes into the family history center, leaving her husband in the parking lot with the car running, and asks to have a copy of her "family history." I have really talked to people who thought all they had to do was come in and ask.


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The SAG Awards couture: Lumpy, Dumpy, Frumpy, and Tawdry
When it comes to clothes, I settled into my color palette in junior high school. My favorite color is black; my next favorite is gray. This is not because I'm a depressed person or into Goth. It's because I have absolutely no ability to match colors.
That's where black and gray come in: everything goes with them (except brown). If I put on a black pair of pants, I can pair it with any color top I like. This is a good thing because my approach to buying tops is as primitive as my color sense: if I find a top in a fabric I like, in a design that doesn't make me look plump, I tend to buy it in every color available.
I then wear those five or seven tops for years, right up until they disintegrate. Once they're gone, I hunt for another top that I like and buy out all the colors. I'm not fashionable, but I always look neat, and my colored shirts always match those black or gray trousers.
Which brings me to the Screen Actors Guild (or SAG) awards for 2013. The Daily Mail has a photo essay showing that the color du jour is black, with a fair amount of white thrown in. Seeing the headline about black's triumphant return to the fashion world, I expected to swoon over the various dresses and to wish that I too could have one. Oh, how wrong I was. The color is good but the styles are awful, just awful.
Julianne Moore may well be the worst. She wore a white dress with abstract, almost 60s-style flowers embroidered around the bottom. This would be okay but for the fact that the dress has a plunging decolletage that gives a frightening view of her flabby breasts. Ignore the breasts, and she has no shape at all. I guess that, when Moore received the invitation to the "SAG" Awards, she took that SAG part literally.
Another peculiar costume in the breast department was Nava Rivera's black dress. It featured a peek-a-boo cutout (complete with chiffon overlay), that revealed the left half of her right breast, and the right half of her left breast. She didn't look voluptuous, she merely looked confused: Am I selling my acting chops or did I leave the Victoria's Secret store without putting my street clothes back on?
Jane Lynch, who proudly waves her lesbian sexuality around every chance she gets, opted for a black dress with a pleasantly classic line, except for the leather bondage theme. Apparently she confused the SAG awards with the Folsom Street Fair.
Anne Hathaway, who is a lovely and charming actress, looked like a Barbie doll run amok. When I was little, I used to layer my Barbie's clothes: deep cut this over chiffon that, with a long overskirt complimenting a ridiculously short miniskirt. I could have dressed Hathaway for pennies on the dollars she spent on her mix-and-match outfit, which included a long skirt, a short skirt, solid fabrics, sheer fabrics, and beaded fabrics. I get dizzy just writing about it.
The other dresses I saw in the photo essay weren't bad, but none were beautiful. They all bespoke too much money, and too little taste. Collectively, all of these attractive, wealthy women looked like four of the seven dwarfs: Lumpy, Dumpy, Frumpy, and Tawdry.
There are years when I look at these Hollywood costume photo essays and wish that, just for one night, I could live the glam life solely to wear a beautiful dress. Looking at the women from this year's SAG awards, though, I have to say I'm a lot better off with my current outfit: black, straight-leg NYDJ jeans and a deep turquoise, round-necked, long-sleeved tee from Target. Total cost (including the sale price on the jeans): $95. I look classy, sleek, and comfortable. Yay, me!


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When the rats in Moe's Tavern take flight and make plans to take over Springfield, there is only one mighty force that can stand in the way of The Rat Pack. Prepare yourself for the derring-do of the Unleashed Legion! Then, Bartman is on the case, when people all over Springfield fall victim to random hairnappings. Finally, one of Radioactive Man's adversaries will get a second chance at defeating the Atomic Avenger when he makes his return as...the Retroactive Man!
By Barr, Boothby, Lash, Costanza, Kazaleh, Rodriguez


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I want to create a file manager for a web server that will run in the browser. I started by making a simple interface to create a directory in the folder that the java class is run.
When run, the applet creates the folder fine but when I upload it and run it on a web server it doesn't create the folder.
Here is my directory creating code:
File f = new File(System.getProperty("user.dir")+"\\"+folderName+"\\"); f.mkdir();
I have had a look at using URL instead of files but it kept throwing exceptions and I would have no idea how to do it that way. Any help would be very much appreciated.


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According to TMZ, Elin Nordegren has purchased a brand spanking new mansion in North Palm Beach, FL for $12.2 million. The ex-wife of womanizer and now struggling PGA golfer Tiger Woods is reportedly the proud owner of a 17,178 square foot beach-front property that features eight bathrooms and an expansive 4,000 square foot basement.
The Swedish-born Nordegren received a $110 million settlement in her infamous divorce from Tiger Woods. As a condition of their divorce, which was finalized in August 2010, the former model and golfer agreed to live in close proximity to one another for the benefit of their two young children. In fact, Tiger is only ten miles away from his ex's new crib. The golfer recently announced on his blog that he's moving into a $50 million bachelor pad that features a reflecting pond, a lap pool and a 3.5 acre swanky practice facility.
U.S. & World
We can only assume that Nordegren's new two-story gated estate will provide her with some privacy and tranquility after what has certainly been a tumultuous two years for the mother of two.
Copyright LXTVN - LXTV


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Pumpkin & Chorizo Cornbread
Difficulty: Medium
Servings: 1-2
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 45 mins
1. With a sharp knife, slice kernels off the ear of sweetcorn. This should yield about 130g to 150g of corn kernels.
2. Combine corn kernels, cornmeal and buttermilk in Bosch kitchen machine and mix on low speed for 1 minute, until ingredients are thoroughly blended. Transfer mixture to an airtight container, cover, and chill for at least 6 hours. Let mixture come to room temperature before use.
3. Preheat oven to 180˚C. Line base of a deep square cake tin (20cm in depth) with baking parchment. Grease and flour sides of tin.
4. Coarsely grate pumpkin flesh. Chop chorizo into small chunks.
5. Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder together into mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt and using the Bosch kitchen machine, mix on low speed for 1 minute, until dry ingredients are thoroughly blended.
6. Add pumpkin, cornmeal mixture, and eggs to dry ingredients in bowl. Beat on medium-low speed with the Bosch kitchen machine for 1 to 2 minutes, until everything is well mixed and batter is evenly blended.
7. Scrape batter into prepared tin. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until risen, well browned on top and a skewer inserted into the cornbread's centre comes out damp but clean.
8. Transfer cornbread to a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Special thanks to Christopher Tan
Product Used
Kitchen Machine Styline MUM52110
A powerful kitchen machine that boasts an award-winning design and exceptional Bosch quality, the MUM5 is a true all-rounder.


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Friday, February 18, 2011
Guest Reader
We had a very special guest today..... a student from last year's Pre-K class came to read to my class! I was so proud that in a few short months in kindergarten she's learned to read an entire book with enough fluency to hold the attention of squirmy 4 and 5 year olds for an entire book. She choose the book Tiptoe Into Kindergarten by Jacqueline Rogers. (Appropriate, too!)
It was such a special experience for me to have her share her new skills ~ I was beaming with pride!
Thank you, Courtney, for coming to read to us!
4 comments:
How wonderful! I love it when I get to see my students from prior years! I always love seeing how much they have grown.ReplyDelete
What a great blog! I got to your site from 'Getting Messy with Miss Jessi'. I teach grades k-5 but I taught pre-k art a while ago as well and I miss the little guys, they're so cute!ReplyDelete
Hi I am a new follower from the Mommy Perks Link up!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousFebruary 25, 2011 at 8:17 AM
Thank you Ms. AynReplyDelete
You guided us through building a solid foundation that has enabled Courtney to excel.
Courtney's Dad.
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I'm a big proponent of good lighting while sewing and let's face it, as our eyes age they need more light, I've certainly noticed.. If possible I insist my machines are always set up in front of the windows for as much light as possible. If you've been online in the sewing world I'm sure you're aware of the options for add on LED sewing lights.
- http://www.sewingpartsonline.com/dreamworld-bendable-bright-sewing-light.aspx
- http://www.123sewinglights.com/led.htm
- http://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/dritzled.php
- etc....
As a side note, they have a wall mounted version for $29 which doesn't make any sense to me, the higher price that is. I could easily see having a few of the wall mount versions over the ironing table but not at that price. I use the KVART double at right over my ironing table which is also $9.99 and uses compact florescent instead of LED, it's also a great buy and may work better for ironing with it's less focused yet bright light.
Gosh my work space is always a bit messy isn't it? I don't even want to show you the ironing table.... Talk about a catch all! Will get to work on that cutting tool video ASAP!


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Monday's men's and women's basketball doubleheader vs. Quinnipiac has been postponed and will not be played on Monday night. Due to the continued campus clean-up and today's freezing rain the decision has been made not to play on Monday night.
The CCSU women's basketball game against Quinnipiac will now be played on Wednesday night (2/13) at 7 p.m.
The women's basketball team's game against LIU Brooklyn that had been scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed to a date that has yet to be determined.
The Monday night men's basketball game against Quinnipiac will also be played at a yet to be determined date and time.
All tickets pre-purchased for all games will be honored at the new date and time.
Please check CCSUBlueDevils.com for the most up-to-date schedule information.


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Last September, Van Brooks walked for the first time in eight years.
A wobbly video, recorded on a smartphone and posted on Facebook, shows the lower body of an undeterrable young man.
Legs violently shaking as he refuses to accept his initial diagnosis, Brooks clings to a walker while his weight is supported by a harness attached to the ceiling.
Wearing white tube socks and a pair of Converse All Stars, Brooks slowly takes a small step forward. His left foot quivers as he strains to straighten it and complete the step. Seconds later, the right leg follows.
On Sept. 25, 2004, when his helmet collided with a knee, the promising Loyola football standout who was starting to catch the eyes of Division I recruiters suffered a broken neck and was paralyzed. Doctors told Brooks he would never walk again, but medicine and technology have since advanced at warp speed, and his determination has never wavered.
"When certain things started coming back, I promised myself that I would never get comfortable sitting in a chair," Brooks said. "That's what drives me constantly to keep working, trying to get out of the chair. It's been a long process, but I'm still getting things back. There's still a lot more that needs to be done, though."
Now 25, Brooks is still at heart the energetic kid who pulled pranks on his classmates and lit up every room he walked into. But since his injury put him in a wheelchair — for now, at least — he has embarked on a different path. He graduated from high school on time, earned a degree from Towson University and recently started a foundation in the hope that his incredible story will inspire others.
He has called it Safe Alternative Foundation for Education (S.A.F.E.), and on most days he spends hours doing research online, developing marketing plans, emailing potential sponsors and planning fundraisers.
The first will be a charity ice hockey game at Mount Pleasant Ice Arena on May 18. A crab feast at Jimmy's Famous Seafood in Dundalk that will benefit the foundation is in the works for some time in June.
The foundation keeps him busy, but he says he can spare six hours a week to work toward permanently parking his wheelchair.
"Eight years later, I'm doing everything they said I couldn't do," Brooks said.
'That's just the kind of player he was'
Athletically, there wasn't much that Brooks didn't do growing up in West Baltimore. He started football at age 7 and also played baseball, lacrosse and soccer.
In his first year in football, the coach put him at center. Because he got hit on every play, he almost quit.
He got drilled by a baseball and wanted to quit that sport, too.
The same thing happened when they made him a goalie in lacrosse.
But as he grew older, Brooks eventually began to enjoy contact.
By the time he reached high school, Brooks was 5 feet 10 and just a few pounds under 200. His primary position was free safety and he flew all over the field to swat down passes and deliver hard hits. He also played running back and wide receiver, often busting free to produce big plays.
"He was absolutely one of the greatest football players I've ever coached," former Loyola coach Brian Abbott said, adding that Atlantic Coast Conference schools showed interest in Brooks. "There's no doubt in mind that he could have went to a Division I school and then possibly played on Sundays."
His former Dons teammate, Aaron Slaughter, remembers a play from the Turkey Bowl during their sophomore season when Brooks covered up a blown assignment by racing across the field to blast a receiver and break up what should have been a long touchdown. The hit was so hard, both Brooks and the receiver were dizzied.
"When he was a freshman, he was getting respect from the seniors," said Slaughter, still a close friend of Brooks'. "That's just the kind of player he was."
Brooks was just as likable away from football. He joked with his Loyola teachers just as he did with his coaches. And he loved pulling pranks on friends and classmates.
Slaughter cracked himself up when reminiscing about the time Brooks brought a fake $10 bill to mass. As students returned to their seats after communion, Brooks slipped the bill onto the floor. Excited grins quickly turned to dejected scowls when they realized it wasn't real.
"Oh, my gosh, we were laughing so hard," Slaughter said. "We all ended up getting detention."
The fun was abruptly interrupted that September afternoon at Georgetown Prep.
Brooks remembers the routine tackle, one he had made hundreds of times.
He remembers crumpling face-first to the grass and not being able to get up.
He remembers being surrounded by concerned teammates, coaches and family.
The whir of the helicopter pierced the silence that afternoon and he was whisked away to Shock Trauma. Everything faded to black shortly after that. After he regained consciousness, Brooks, hooked to machines with tubes and wires, was told by doctors that he would never walk again.
"If I could talk, I probably would have given them a few words," Brooks said.
Realizing that anything is possible
In the past 81/2 years, Brooks has plowed through many benchmarks, some coming more strenuously than others.
It took him two months after the injury to eat food again. It took him about the same amount of time to speak. Not coincidentally, his first words were a request for a grilled cheese sandwich.
He soon started to regain movement in his arms and hands, and he was eventually able to lift them high enough to feed himself. Sitting up in bed without any help took Brooks nearly a year.
"Van doesn't do any complaining. He never complains about nothing," said his father, Van Brooks Sr. "He just do what he do. It's just a drive, getting to the next level."
Van Brooks Jr. appeared to be overzealous when he said he wanted to graduate high school with his class. But he had a tutor come to the hospital and later did double duty to finish his junior year while rejoining his classmates at Loyola for his senior year.
When he wheeled across the stage to accept his diploma, Brooks was greeted by a standing ovation. Outside of Brooks and maybe a few other people, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
"That's when I really realized anything was possible," Brooks said.
Now training twice a week, Brooks does activities in the pool for an hour before drying off and doing exercises on land for two hours. Doctors and trainers are helping him walk again with Functional Electrical Stimulation, which uses electric currents to activate muscles and stimulate movement.
His spinal cord injury is considered an "incomplete" one as he has some sensation and movement below the level of his injury, said Alison Staples, a physical therapy assistant at Kennedy Krieger Institute. The electric impulses, along with physical activity, encourage damaged nerves to regenerate. Through increased activity, the nervous system is essentially re-educating itself.
"I know how much harder it is going to get for me," Brooks said between a recent workout and a much-needed nap. "So I have moments, my accomplishments, but then I move on to the next one. It's a constant battle."
Brooks first stood on his own last month, a sign that he is getting stronger. A harness helped get him into position, but he completed the motion himself, standing up on his own before walking with the help of the walker and the harness. It was another big step in his recovery as he has to get to the point where he can support his body weight — he is now 6 feet 1, 167 pounds — to walk completely unaided.
"If you ask me about Van, with what we have right now and his neurological function and how the science and technology are advancing, he is going to walk in his lifetime," said Cristina Sadowsky, his longtime spinal cord doctor at Kennedy Krieger and a second mother of sorts to Brooks. "I just can't tell you when."
A backup plan for a backup plan
Days after taking his first steps after his injury, Brooks woke up with an idea.
With so many people having helped him during the past eight years, it seemed right that he should give something back. So before he climbed out of bed, Brooks decided to start S.A.F.E.
On this day, Brooks is seated at a table at Jimmy's Famous Seafood in Dundalk, waiting for a cup of crab soup and his cheesesteak to arrive. His class ring from Towson is dangling from the gold chain around his neck. He fidgets in his wheelchair and fiddles with his phone, scrolling through his email and talking shop with John Kucharski, a friend who has been helping him get S.A.F.E. going.
Brooks asks a reporter whether he has a backup plan in place — and a backup plan for that backup plan — should the paychecks stop coming in. Told that the job already was a backup plan for a backup plan, Brooks laughs.
"It's a question that a lot of people, including successful people, can't answer," he says.
He is still narrowing the scope of his foundation, but that's the message he wants to get across to teenagers focused mostly on athletics, just as he was in high school.
Brooks also wants to generate funding for families dealing with paralysis. He wants to donate sporting equipment to inner-city youths. He wants to create a scholarship fund to help others get to college. He wants to sponsor a football team — and he might even coach it if he can keep his emotions in check.
"I just want to help as many people as possible," he said.
Those close to him say this is vintage Van: making the best of an unfortunate situation.
"He's a great role model," Abbott said. "If you want to be successful, you want to be Van Brooks. Whether Van is in a wheelchair or not, you want to be that type of person."
Brooks has matured since suffering his injury, but at his core, he hasn't changed much. He still plays jokes on his friends, whether he is hiding their car keys or asking waiters at chain restaurants to sing "Happy Birthday" to them even though it isn't their birthday.
And while he hopes that one day he will walk on his own again, he believes the injury happened for a reason. He wants to use it to inspire others, but he already started doing that a long time ago.
"If I can help someone achieve a dream or goal, I would feel that my God-given mission — the reason for my injury — was achieved," Brooks said.
S.A.F.E. fundraiser
Charity ice hockey game
When: May 18, 5 p.m.
Where: Mount Pleasant Ice Arena
Tickets: $15 before May 1; $25 after
More information: safealternative.org


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WOLFEBORO — For Andrew Swenson, owner of the Wolfeboro Carwash & Executive Detail, automotive detailing is not only his job — it's an art form.
"You really have to have the eye … the eye for detail," he said, seated inside his small office space next to his shop. "You have to have a certain finesse about it."
While automotive detailer customers may be those who are concerned about the look and feel of their vehicle, detailing can contribute an automobile's life span. So Swenson and members of the nationwide "Detail Mafia" headed to Union Beach, N.J., last month to give back by helping the public services workers there in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. There, emergency response and other vehicles worth hundreds of thousands of dollars sustained serious damage, and the group wanted to help fix what could be fixed.
When a surge from the ocean gushed through the residential area in late October 2012, it brought with it piles of sand and harsh saltwater and the Union Beach fire station's engines and service trucks were ravaged, some nearly totaled, Swenson said. He remembered a Dodge Durango SUV with a water line on it, showing exactly how far the water had risen as it sat parked on the street in the storm.
"Some (vehicles) were outside and they had just a lot of water spotting on them," he said. "There was mold and mildew all over (the Durango)."
The Detail Mafia, which Swenson refers to as "a family," is comprised of nearly 200 people from all over the country who train with Renny Doyle, considered a master in the field. Swenson along with a few other men from the team volunteered four days and contributed about $15,000 worth of repair work, free of charge, to the New Jersey department. Swenson headed down on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in late January and returned after three full days of work. He worked on two fire engines, the Durango and a rescue truck, detailing their exteriors and restoring the paint close to its original condition.
Swenson added it was surreal to see the communities in the Garden State still recovering from such devastation.
"It was bizarre going down the street there," he said. "You just saw heaps, huge piles, of sand they had just taken out of the streets … There's still a lot of people that are displaced."
Swenson purchased the Center Street carwash facility in Wolfeboro, in 2008 after moving back to the area with his wife and said it truly a great passion of his to run the carwash on the side while devoting serious time to detailing his customers' cars.
And he said it was fulfilling to see how appreciative the Union Beach firefighters were of the Mafia's efforts.
"From a detailer's perspective it's like we always feel, 'Well, gee, we could have spent another couple of hours. We could have made that paint absolutely perfect,'" he said, "… (but) they were very appreciative. We met a couple of guys from a couple of different companies … and they were all extremely appreciative."


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It is a rare person who has never had an animal play some part in their family history. Animals can bring us comfort and peace in our hectic lives. Other animals are raised for the purpose of providing food products to sustain our lives. In our family we have had both types of animals and they become a part of our family story. While we may not place them in our database as a family member, though some may very well have done so, we should include them in the stories that we write.
While raising six children we had a wide variety of animals that included: two dogs, numerous cats, parakeets, fish of many varieties, hermit crabs, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats (my least favorite), an iguana, neuts, other lizards and a turtle; and for food production chickens, rabbits, and a goat. They were not allowed to have snakes. Feeding of said animals was time consuming, especially when you are running to the pet store for crickets. The children experienced responsibility in caring for the animals and loss when an animal moved on or died.
Animals can bring us great joy and many people feel as though they become a member of the family. As a mother of six children I had to give up the two dogs and this brought me great sadness. The first was terribly spoiled before we had children, and then developed a terrible case of jealousy toward our first child. The second would not be contained and was an artist at going over four foot fences and under six foot fences. Cats are another story, as they sometimes develop unpleasant habits. So we decided no more cats or dogs.
My children continue to have a great love of animals. Our oldest daughter has two delightful dogs that are definitely a part of their family. In the past couple of years she had to put down two dogs due to illnesses. Yes, animals require care, love and time for meeting their needs. Our middle daughter has a dog and a cat, so when we need animal time we can visit them. Our youngest son wanted a dog since he was young, and while he had other pets, he will have to wait until he leaves home to have a dog.
As I read the stories of our ancestors there are often animals mentioned. One of my favorite stories is about a pony that was loved by an entire community. There is even a newspaper article about this beloved animal. Most of these animals lived on farms and were more or less outdoor pets. For some reason over the years the care of pets has often fallen to women who are supervising children. The animals are at the mercy of humans who can be forgetful, so we remind each other of our obligations to the animals.
Recently we had the Portland Aquarium open near us and this has become a family favorite place to visit. Almost everyone in the family has been there at least once. It is interesting to watch people as they interact with the wildlife. The staff is especially good at working with children up close, allowing them the chance to feel comfortable around the animals. We love that it is very close to our home. It is an indoor activity that fits well with the Oregon weather. Then we have the Oregon Zoo and programs through OMSI, which allow close contact with animals. There are many ways to share the mysteries and interesting aspects of animals living on our planet.
Did animals play a part in your family history? Have you written stories about them, or taken pictures of them with family members? Capturing these memories to share with future generations helps them to learn of the value of animals in our lives. For all the love and affection our pets demonstrate for us, we need to include them in the stories we write about our families.
Gopher Genealogy by Susan LeBlanc provides information about research, lectures, published articles and book reviews, and Serendipity Moments that are the results of searching for ancestors both personally and for clients. The objective of the blog is for others to receive insight and inspiration in doing their family history research. It is an evolving method of communication and input from reviewers is welcome.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Animals in Our Family History
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【バラエティ番組】180414 せとチャレ!STU48 #26.mp4
180414 Seto Challe! STU48 ep26
A short weekly variety show hosted by Hiroshima Home TV announcer Nakanishi Nozomi with guests (usually some comedians). In the show, several STU48 members take on some challenge, such as playing console games or making a cake, but there are also just general talk/STU48 news parts. It seems that every couple of episodes have the same guests and theme.
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ほんの少し笑顔 !
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Have a Nice DAY ! i Just Say To You 人生を楽しみます !
【バラエティ番組】180414 せとチャレ!STU48 #26.mp4 Reviewed by akb48ma on April 14, 2018 Rating:


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A Coastal Garden Wedding at Nebo Lodge in North Haven, Maine
Hannah Greggs and Gerrit Benthem took full advantage of Maine's natural beauty with an intimate summer wedding set along the rocky coast of North Haven Island.
The couple tapped Emily Elizabeth Events to bring their vision to life. The team didn't disappoint, joining forces with Turner Farm and Nebo Lodge to create an unforgettable coastal farm ceremony and cozy garden dinner made with island-grown ingredients.
"The first time our wedding planner suggested Nebo Lodge, I rejected it straight away because of the logistics. But my now-husband took a better look at it and thank goodness he did—it was literally the exact right size for our wedding and so, so beautiful!" Hannah says. "I can't imagine anywhere more suited to us and our event."
The event's stand-out detail (aside from the stunning location, of course) was the bright, seasonal blooms sourced from Pamela Mountain. A vibrant mix of elegant dahlias, garden roses and textured wildflowers, the whimsical arrangements enlivened the quaint interiors of the classic New England inn and tied in seamlessly with the locale's lush, sea-facing gardens. From the mint and turquoise bistro chairs to the hand-lettered place cards, taper candles and fresh herbs delicately laid on each plate, the celebration exuded rustic elegant perfection.
"Don't give into pressure to have a big wedding if that's not what you want!" Hannah and Gerrit advise. "We felt pressure from all sides to have a big, spectacular event, but we stuck to our guns. It wasn't what we wanted, and we wouldn't have been happy. We were lucky to have support from our wedding planner and our family when others tried to persuade us to do something more traditional."
Nebo Lodge
Wtoo By Watters
Nebo Lodge
Emily Elizabeth Events


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|Oracle® OLAP DML Reference
11g Release 2 (11.2)
Part Number E17122-05
|View PDF
The INSBYTES function inserts one or more bytes into a text expression.
When you are using a single-byte character set, you can use INSCHARS.
Return Value
INSBYTES(text-expression bytes [after])
TEXT expression into which the bytes are to be inserted. When text-expression is a multiline TEXT value, INSBYTES preserves the line breaks in the returned value.
One or more bytes that you insert into text-expression.
INTEGER that represents the byte position after which the specified bytes are to be inserted. The position of the first byte in text-expression is 1. To insert bytes at the beginning of the text, specify 0 for after. When you omit this argument, INSBYTES inserts the bytes after the last byte in text-expression.
When you specify a value for after that is greater than the length of text-expression, INSBYTES adds blanks to the last line of text-expression. The number of inserted blanks is the difference between the value of after and the length of text-expression. For example,
insbytes('abc' 'def' 4) inserts one blank space before adding
def to
abc, resulting in.
abc def


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Methylmalonic acidemia is a disorder, passed down through families, in which the body cannot break down certain proteins and fats. The result is a build up of a substance called methylmalonic acid in the blood.
It is considered an inborn error of metabolism.
The disease is usually diagnosed in the first year of life. It is an autosomal recessive disorder, which means the defective gene must be passed onto the child from both parents.
About 1 in 48,000 babies are born with this condition. However, the actual rate may be higher, because a newborn may die before the condition is ever diagnosed. Methylmalonic acidemia affects boys and girls equally.
The disease can cause seizures and stroke. Babies may appear normal at birth, but develop symptoms once they start eating more protein, which can cause the condition to get worse.
Symptoms include:
Testing for methylmalonic acidemia is often done as part of a newborn screening exam. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends screening for this condition at birth because early detection and treatment has been shown to be beneficial.
Tests that may be done to diagnose this condition include:
Treatment consists of cobalamin and carnitine supplements and a low-protein diet. The child's diet must be carefully controlled.
If supplements do not help, the doctor may also recommend a diet that avoids substances called isoleucine, threonine, methionine, and valine.
Liver or kidney transplantation (or both) have been shown to help some patients. These transplants provide the body with new cells that help breakdown methylmalonic acid normally.
Patient may not survive their first attack.
Seek immediate medical help if a child is having a seizure for the first time. See a pediatrician if your child has signs of failure-to-thrive or developmental delays.
A low-protein maintenance diet can help to reduce the number of acidemia attacks. Persons with this condition should avoid those who are sick.
Genetic counseling may be helpful for couples with a family history of this disorder who wish to have a baby.
Some places have expanded newborn screening done at birth, which includes screening for methylmalonic acidemia. You can ask your doctor if this was done on your child.
Rezvani I, Rosenblatt DS. Valine, leucine, isoleucine, and related organic acidemias. In: Kliegman, RM, Behrman RE, St. Geme III JW, Schor NF, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 79.
This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM


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How much does the course cost? All Fees £600
Are concessions available? No
Examining Body ACCA
Is an interview required? No
Find out more about our brand new college campus that Opens in Spring 2020
Find the course(s) that are right for you and apply today
While studying ACCA Taxation (F6), you will develop knowledge and skills relating to the tax system as applicable to individuals, single companies and groups of companies.
ACCA has a high global reputation, which continues to grow as its qualifications attract large numbers of new students each year, highlighting the attraction of accountancy as the basis for a successful career. ACCA will provide you with skills and knowledge relevant to any business, which means you are free to choose which type of accountancy role and organisation you want to work for. There is a strong focus on professional values, ethics and governance.
ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the most recognised international accountancy body in the world. More people qualify locally with ACCA than with any other international accountancy body. Members, who are known as Chartered Certified Accountants, are employed in industry, financial services, and the public sector or in public practice.
Please note this is a course for adults (19+). Click here for courses for 16-18 year olds.
How much does the course cost? All Fees £600
Are concessions available? No
Examining Body ACCA
Is an interview required? No
To gain direct entry to the F6 paper (part of the Skills module), you must have completed papers F1-F3 (the Knowledge module), or have successfully completed the AAT Accounting Diploma Level 4. For more information, visit the ACCA website.
It is vital that you have completed, or are sure you are exempt from, taking papers F1-F3 if you want to sit any papers in the Skills module. Some highly relevant degree programmes or other qualifications are eligible for exemption from these papers. Visit ACCA Exemptions for more information.
Important: You have 10 years from your date of registration to complete the ACCA exams. For more information, visit ACCA Time Limits.
This will involve lectures, discussions and practical work. There will be regular progress tests during the course, followed by an intensive revision day at the end of each module.
The tutor will record your progress and provide informal, regular, feedback throughout the course. At the end of your study programme you will need to sit the exam for each ACCA paper for which you enrolled. The pass mark is 50%. Exams will be held by ACCA in December and June each year.
Passing the F6 Taxation paper will enhance your CV and is also a stepping stone towards the ACCA Professional Qualification.
In order to qualify as an ACCA member, you will need to complete nine papers in total at Fundamentals level, five papers at Professional level and a Professional Ethics module. You must also have a minimum of three years' practical experience.
Once you finish your ACCA, this will open up your career prospects to different sectors as mentioned above. In addition, if you want to study a master's degree you can do so. You can do most of the Accounting and Finance Masters Fast Track due to prior learning.
There is an option to be awarded the Oxford Brookes BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting; to achieve this you must:
The degree must be completed within 10 years of your initial registration onto ACCA's professional qualification otherwise your eligibility will be withdrawn.
If you are unsure on your eligibility for the Oxford Brookes BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting degree, you should refer to myACCA which will tell you whether or not you have opted-in to the degree scheme and whether or not you are eligible.
To enrol, click the Add to Basket button at the top of the page. Please note that your final acceptance on to this course will be subject to an interview, either over the telephone or in person. For more information, visit How to Enrol.


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With more than 20 years of software development under his belt, Ray Floyd was ready to tackle the next great platform, Apple's iPhone. He'd developed for the Macintosh, although not recently. He was familiar with Objective-C, and he had developed software for other mobile platforms. With a software development kit in hand and up to 75 million potential customers, Floyd couldn't wait to roll out his first iPhone app.
Two months later, he was still waiting, and his enthusiasm had largely changed to exasperation. Why? Because writing native applications for the iPhone platform can an intimidating process.
For one thing, as Floyd quickly discovered, there is a huge amount of information to digest before you can start coding. The iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad is a new platform in its own right. These are sophisticated general-purpose, handheld computers. And as a platform, it has its own operating systems, and a host of APIs (some new, some recycled) for programming. Not surprisingly, the documentation on operating systems and APIs spans hundreds of pages.
Even knowing the Mac isn't a free pass. The iPhone operating system is a variant of Mac OS X, but slimmed down to function on a mobile device. As such, a lot of familiar OS X APIs, such as those that manage a keyboard and mouse, are absent. This means that even experienced Mac developers, which Floyd didn't consider himself to be, may not have the features and facilities they're used to having.
The APIs are based on Cocoa, an object-oriented application framework used to write Mac OS X apps. Like the operating system, the Cocoa frameworks have been stripped to the bare essentials for the iPhone OS, and lightweight touch interface APIs added. This minimalist version of Cocoa, termed "Cocoa Touch," provides another hurdle.
To use the APIs, you need to learn Objective-C. Objective-C is an object-oriented superset of C, and while it has many valuable features, its idiosyncratic syntax means it'll take a lot more than a cursory study to make sense of code. you won't make makes a cursory study of an example program's source code unfathomable. The language's syntax is quite different from C++, and until you have a grasp the syntax, example code will appear almost unreadable.
Like Floyd, I was initially lulled into thinking iPhone development was probably simple for experienced developers. How else could you explain the many thousands of iPhone apps available on Apple's App Store? In fact, many of these apps and games written in C and C++, in particular have been ported to the iPhone, where an Objective-C based wrapper interfaces to the Cocoa Touch frameworks, while the game engine remains written in C and C++. In other words, since the Apple Objective-C compiler accepts C and C++ code, you don't have to start entirely from scratch.
But as I began researching iPhone apps, I grimly realized even my background in writing INITs and FKEYs for the classic Mac OS and J2ME programming for various mobile phones was of little use. The iPhone platform, its OS and APIs, and the peculiarities of Objective-C were radically different. I decided to break the task up to reduce the steepness of the learning curve, hoping to find a magic bullet along the way that would streamline development.
First, what should my first app do? I wanted a specific project so I could focus on a subset of APIs, and not become overwhelmed by the big picture. I settled on porting the SpaceActivity app I had written for the Android platform some time ago (see The Android Mobile Phone Platform).
The app displayed a spaceship you steered with handset buttons. That iPhone APIs would be utterly different from Android's was a given. I'd have to learn how to draw the ship on the iPhone's screen, then figure out how to implement controls for it. I hoped that SpaceActivity's "core code" the physics routine that calculated the ship's velocity in response to rocket thrusts, plotted its position, and kept the image on-screen could be reused. This code was debugged and tested and had the virtue of using a minimum of API calls. It also had ready-to-use images of the spaceship with a transparent background, so I didn't have to design any new graphics. Finally, it would also be an interesting test of porting Android code. The complete source code for SpaceActivity is available here.


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Your Daily Tread
High fuel prices not only are taking their toll at the pump, they are affecting tire prices as well. Oil is a major ingredient in the manufacturing of all tires. As such, you need your tires to take you as far as possible. And there are several things you can do to extend their life. One simple and immediate way for you to make the most of your fuel and tire money is to pay greater attention to proper tire maintenance. This is critical for both new and re-treaded tires. What follows are some tips to enhance performance and ensure that you are maximizing the wear you are getting from your tires.
Air pressure is at the heart of proper tire maintenance. By maintaining the correct inflation pressure for a given size of tire and load, tires will provide the best fuel mileage and safety, while minimizing wear and maximizing retreadability. Tire manufacturers have tables and charts (available free for the asking) that specify air pressure adjustments for tire size, load and speed. These charts are also available from the Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB). (See "Tire treatment," page C15.)
It is important to realize that it is the air inside the tire that carries the weight of a vehicle, not the tire. The air supports the weight, absorbs shock and keeps the tire in its proper shape, allowing it to perform as designed. The tire serves as the container for the air.
In addition to affecting rolling resistance and, thus, fuel economy, inflation pressure also influences handling, traction, braking and load-carrying capability.
Improperly inflated tires have an uneven, irregular and inconsistent tire footprint (the portion that contacts the road surface). Because the tire doesn't roll as smoothly or as easily as it was designed to, fuel efficiency declines, as the engine has to work harder to keep the vehicle moving.
Tires are made of layers of fabric and steel cords encased in rubber. Tires flex when they roll, which bends these components. Underinflation is a major contributor to premature tire problems because underinflated tires cause excessive flexing, which generates heat, and heat is a tire's worst enemy. There is a direct correlation between how much a tire is underinflated and how much faster it wears.
Underinflated tires tend to run hotter, diminishing retreadability. This is significant because retreading makes it possible to re-use worn tires, allowing the best possible return on tire investments, and that helps improve your bottom line.
Retreading is a process where worn tires receive a thorough visual inspection, followed by the use non-destructive inspection equipment to uncover damage invisible to the naked eye. This equipment ensures that the casing is a prime candidate for a full and useful additional life.
Tires that pass the rigorous initial inspections then have their worn tread precisely buffed away, preparing the casing surface to receive a new tread. Next, any injuries to the tire are repaired and the new tread is then securely bonded to the tire in a method similar to the manufacture of a new tire.
Retreaded tires provide the same performance and safety record as new tires but at a lower cost — as much as 50 percent less. The more expensive the original new tire, the greater the retread savings.
Every major quality commercial and industrial tire manufacturer designs and engineers its tires with robust casings for several retreading lives. So to discard a worn tire without retreading is to lose much of the tire's value.
You should pay particular attention to tire pressure in mated dual tire and wheel assemblies. Inflation mismatches on these tires can cause tire diameters to differ enough that the "larger" tire will drag the "smaller" tire. The result: rapid and irregular wear, especially on the smaller tire.
Always check tire pressure when a tire is cold. That is, before you have driven the vehicle or have driven it less than one mile. Once a vehicle has been driven, even a short distance, tires warm up and experience an increase in air pressure and that causes an inaccurate reading.
Check tire pressure regularly (at least once a week), and always with a properly calibrated tire gauge. Inflation pressure cannot be accurately estimated by kicking or thumping the tire. Trying to determine if tires need air by thumping them is as effective as trying to determine if the vehicle's engine needs oil by thumping the hood.
While gauging inflation, perform the "dirty hand test": Rub your hands over the tires to feel for any abnormalities like flat spots, bulges, cuts, damage and missing chucks of tread. Such problems not only can result in tire failure, they can also lead to accidents.
It is a good idea to install value caps on all valve stems and keep to them tight. This provides seal against valve leaks and keeps out dirt and water. Metal value caps are best as they contain a rubber gasket to provide an airtight seal. Most plastic caps do not.
Even well-maintained tires lose air pressure: on average, about one or two pounds per month. This is a natural occurrence as air permeates through rubber.
You can do several things to help maintain proper tire inflation. One is to fill tires with nitrogen instead of compressed air. Nitrogen allows a tire to retain more of its original properties so that there is less inflation pressure loss for a more stable and consistent tire pressure, longer tread life and less oxidation of tire components. This assists in increasing tire life, improving fuel economy and reducing tire aging for a more durable casing for more retreadability.
Another option is the use of various tire-pressure monitoring and control systems. Some warn of low pressure. Others equalize air pressure for slow leaks. Still others help maintain air in a tire that is damaged, enabling the driver to get to a repair facility.
A sound tire-management program involves purchasing application-specific quality new tires, good air pressure maintenance, proper tire repairing and quality retreading. In addition, you should track tire performance and analyze scrap tires.
Finally, do not overlook the driver of your vehicles. They are yet one more key factor impacting fuel efficiency, tire life and retreadability. All tires will wear faster when subjected to hard cornering, rapid starts, sudden stops and curbing.
Harvey Brodsky is managing director of the Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB), a non-profit, member-supported industry association dedicated to the recycling of tires through retreading and repairing, and to promoting proper tire maintenance for all tires. To learn more, contact TRIB at (888) 473-8732 or at firstname.lastname@example.com. TRIB's Web site is www.retread.org.
For charts that specify air pressure adjustments for tire size, load and speed, you can contact the Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB) at (888) 473-8732 or at email@example.com.


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German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Internship Programs Application Deadlines November 25, 2012 and January 31, 2013
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is pleased to announce that for summer 2013 we will again offer three internship programs: RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering), RISE professional and RISE worldwide. RISE has established itself as an outstanding opportunity to combine serious research with a rewarding study-abroad experience. All three programs are targeted to students from the fields of engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences (geology) and related disciplines.
RISE undergrads have the opportunity to work on cutting edge research projects at top research institutions (e.g., Max-Planck-Institutes) and universities in Germany. Students are paired with German PhD students in a unique mentoring partnership to ensure immediate integration into hands-on lab work and a built-in social network with an excellent opportunity to develop new technical skills. RISE participants receive a scholarship to cover living expenses. To learn more about RISE, please visit: http://www.daad.de/rise/en or email: firstname.lastname@example.com.
RISE professional is designed for recent graduates, Master's and PhD students, and undergraduate RISE/DAAD alumni who are matched with a well-known German company, where they gain insight into the professional applications of science and engineering and develop practical skills. Internships can last from one-and-a-half to six months. Similar to RISE, this program features a scholarship to cover living expenses. Online registration is currently available. To learn more about RISE professional, please visit: http://www.daad.de/rise-pro/en or email: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Online registration and the internship database for RISE and RISE professional open on December 6th. The application deadline for both programs is January 31, 2013.
Also continuing this year is RISE worldwide. German students in the early stages of their studies who have the ambition to work abroad and gain hands-on research experience in their fields will be matched with researchers worldwide who wish to engage in a meaningful cooperation with a young German scholar. These German interns receive a DAAD scholarship to help cover living expenses and travel costs. Participating hosts receive invaluable assistance with their own work—they profit both professionally and personally from contact with the intern, having the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the culture, lifestyle and higher education system in Germany.
Research groups interested in hosting a German research assistant in the summer of 2013 are invited to participate in RISE worldwide and to submit project proposals at:
http://www.daad.de/rise-weltweit/en. The time-frame for the submission of project proposals has already begun and will close on November 25, 2012.


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Glacier Series uses a combination of blues, with touches of gold, coral and teals to compliment the texture and movement of each piece. These unique square ornaments are 2" square.
Complete your handmade holiday, by hanging a piece of fine art from your holiday boughs. These ornaments make the perfect gift for co-workers, friends, family, or teachers.
Every ornament is painted by Angelique in the studio with a combination of acrylic paints, fine art crayons, and 18kt gold leafing paint, finally the ornament is sealed with a durable acrylic glaze, and hung by beautiful coordinating ribbon.
The price includes shipping within the U.S.A. Every single painting and print is created and shipped by me, out of my studio in New Hampshire.


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Hand thrown red stoneware with satin white glaze.
This Item is ready to ship! Wolf Ceramics wares are all hand made and each piece varies slightly. For purchases with multiples of the same item, we do our best to match heights, though sometimes there will be slight differences. They are intended for everyday use. Though they are dishwasher and microwave safe, hand washing and handling with care will extend the life of your ceramics. Hand washing is recommended particularly for pieces with colored underglaze designs on the edges.
Handmade by Wolf Ceramics