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HOTSEAT- Unoppressed-- and outspoken: Tim Reid overcame
Former WKRP in Cincinnati star Tim Reid can trace his success in Hollywood back to growing up in segregated Norfolk, where separate but equal was the law of the land.
He still remembers the amazement of people in California, when he told them, "Virginia was the only state that would pay black students to go to Harvard to keep them out of Virginia schools."
Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 initially did not change things for Reid. He went to an all-black school, and on to a black college. Along the way came the Civil Rights Act of 1964– and the realization that Virginia was not following the post-Brown law of the land.
As president of the youth chapter of the NAACP at Norfolk State College and a member of the Student Committee Against Discrimination, Reid participated in sit-ins at dime stores and White Castle, and was attacked by police dogs. "It was a very powerful and life changing time," he says.
Just don't get him going about movies like Mississippi Burning– "gag me" is the expression he uses– and their depiction of oppression and sadness and people hiding.
"It wasn't all oppression," says Reid. "We didn't wake up every day wondering if the white man was going to come and get us."
There were even benefits. "Many of us learned about public speaking and standing up," he says. "It was a very positive, uplifting time." And after the Civil Rights Act passed, a lot of activists like Reid went into corporate America, he says.
DuPont in Chicago proved the unlikely starting place for his career in comedy. There, he joined the Jaycees and met Tom Dreesen, and the two civic-minded men went around to schools telling kids not to do drugs. "One young lady said, 'You ought to be in show business,'" says Reid.
That part of the story is why Reid will be at the Virginia Festival of the Book March 21 and back in Charlottesville, where he lived for 16 years and still owns land. He and Dreesen have written a book, Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White, that details their five years during the late '60s/early '70s as the first interracial comedy team.
Because he was too busy to do it in his 40s, book writing is part of Reid's belated mid-life crisis, he confesses. After he and Dreesen broke up their routine, he went on to success in Hollywood, most memorably as Venus Flytrap on WKRP from 1978 to 1982.
In 1997, he and wife Daphne Maxwell Reid opened New Millennium Studios in Petersburg. "I was building a studio," he says. During that time came death in the family, cancer, and loss of money– "everything that could be thrown at you in a five-year period," he says.
At age 59, the midlife crisis hit. "I did would any man would do," he says. "Flee."
And that will provide the basis for his next book, called Hotel Love's House, based on a photo he took in Brazil of "this wonderful sign," he says. "The irony is, it's a flophouse."
Reid lives in a different Virginia from the one in which he grew up, and he's proud of how far the state has come, although he believes the legislature could be doing more to attract filmmaking to Virginia.
"One of the reasons I succeeded in Hollywood," he says, "is whatever Hollywood threw at me, it paled in comparison to standing on a picket line with police with billy clubs and the Klan standing behind them– while we were singing 'We Shall Overcome.'"
And although a younger generation thinks of him as the beleaguered dad of twin teens in the long-running mid-1990s sit-com Sister Sister, he's at peace still being known as Venus Flytrap, more than a quarter century after playing that indelible role.
"It's part of who I am," says Reid. "I knew it could stick with me when I took the role. But it got me on TV in front of America."
Tim Reid will appear at Culbreth Theatre at 2pm Saturday, March 21, host the Authors Reception at 6pm March 21 at the Harrison Institute/Small Special Collections (tickets $35), and sign books at 3pm Sunday, March 22, at Barnes & Noble.
Age: 64
What do you like best about Charlottesville? The relaxed life style.
Least? The rapid growth and loss of the relaxed life style
Favorite hangout here? Barnes & Noble and the Downtown Mall
Most overrated virtue? Its relaxed lifestyle
People would be surprised to know about you: I sold my Mercedes and bought a tractor. I loved my tractor.
What would you change about yourself? I'd do better with what natural gifts I have to work with.
Proudest accomplishment? Becoming a sculptor.
People find most annoying about you: My outspoken nature
Whom do you admire? Anyone who dares to dream and has enough passion to proceed
Favorite book? James Hillman's The Force of Character
Subject that causes you to rant? The current mediocrity of TV programming. I dislike all reality shows, well, with the exception of America's Next Top Model.
Biggest 21st-century thrill? The election of President Obama
Biggest 21st-century creep out? The election of G.W. Bush
What do you drive? I avoid driving like the plague.
In your car CD player right now: Make that my iPod, and I would say: the soundtrack from the film, Cadillac Records.
Next journey? To Korea, Guam, and Japan to visit our troops. I don't think enough black entertainers go over to visit with our young men and women in the military.
Most trouble you've ever gotten in? I can't say...I'm not sure the statute of limitations has run out.
Regret: That I didn't enjoy my victories as much as I suffered through my losses.
Favorite comfort food: Anything Italian
Always in your refrigerator: Beer
Must-see TV: America's Next Top Model...hey, I like looking at beautiful women.
Describe a perfect day. A great breakfast, a good workout, my hands in clay, production work on a documentary, a nice dinner with wine (Brunello 2001), loving intimacy with my wife, watching Jon Stewart, a few pages of a good book, a restful sleep.
Walter Mitty fantasy: That I am a successful singer
Who'd play you in the movie? A younger me
Most embarrassing moment? Standing dumbfounded and without the ability to speak in front of the beautiful actress, Nancy Kwan, who was my first movie star crush.
Best advice you ever got? "If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made."
Favorite bumper sticker? I don't brake for S#*T!


text:
Trade up your current Harley-Davidson®
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*Trade up P&A offer of AUD $500 – AUD $2,500 is available when trading in a Harley-Davidson® road registered motorcycle and purchasing an eligible new Harley-Davidson® motorcycle. This offer is available from January 1st 2018 until 11.59pm on 31st March, on eligible models only and depending on the Harley-Davidson model purchased. Offer is exclusive to purchases of 1200cc Sportster®, Softail® and Touring models. Excludes Street, 883cc Sportster®, Trike, Anniversary and CVO™ models. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer and can only be claimed when purchasing an eligible model at the listed ride away price. Offer is subject to availability and may be withdrawn by Harley-Davidson Australia & New Zealand at any time without notice. ©2017 H-D or its affiliates. HARLEY-DAVIDSON, HARLEY, H-D, and the Bar and Shield Logo are among the trademarks of H-D U.S.A., LLC.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Welcome to the PATIENT+ decision aid How can this decision aid help you? There are various treatments available for people with a thumb arthritis. This decision aid provides you with the harms and benefits of each treatment. If you're unsure, your doctor can help you choose the best treatment for you. At the end you can print this decision aid. This way you can go over it again and discuss everything with people you trust. How was this decision aid created? This decision aid is written by: S. Wilkens, T. Teunis and D. Ring. Special thanks to:Julia Kurker, instructional voice Version @TEXT(version, 1;)@ 20-01-16. All authors indicated to have no conflict of interests associated with this decision aid. Completed ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms of all authors and PATIENT+ employees are on file and can be viewed on request. Notes × Notes Cancel Save changes Start the decision aid


text:
The Tekkeon Systems are available with two configurations: the 3450 unit and the 3700 unit. The 3450 has a user-selectable voltage output for running things that have a specific voltage required. The range is from 5VDC to 19VDC. Ideal for portable 13.2VDC devices like radios, transceivers, gps units or anything that plugs into a car socket. The 3700 unit has an automatic voltage determination protocol designed for laptops and automatically determines your laptop voltage and selects it. The 3700 unit is used mainly for a laptop. The 3450 for other applications.
The main advantage of the Tekkeon units is that they contain lithium batteries and are therefor lighter weight. They also are very compact. These units both come with a variety of adaptor plugs to fit most all laptops and most consumer devices. They also have a USB output for charging USB devices that normally charge from your PC.
The main disadvantage of the Tekkeon units is that they are available in only 5 and 10AH configurations. The larger lead acid power centers we cell may be heavier but they can be built and are available in a number of much larger capacity sizes. Additionally, our conventional power centers have LCD displays of voltage, current in and current out. Also the Lead acid units (8AH, 16AH, 24AH, etc.) are all weatherproof and more ruggedized. The Tekkeons also only can accept one 32W panel input whereas the Lead Acid units can accept much larger panel capacity inputs up to 16A continuous. If you are going on a serious expedition the Lead Acid units are much more durable and flexible. If you're backpacking and weight is the major issue, then the 10AH Tekkeon with a 32W panels is best. We are glad to explain further as needed.
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I love traveling, and I love the fact you can freelance while traveling. Today, we have a guest post from Mark James, a former freelance writer who has successfully combined freelancing with traveling.
As anyone who's done a little traveling will concur, once you've caught the travel bug, it's hard to make it go away. Even more so when you live in the UK like me, where the climate is bordering on Arctic six months of the year.
The perpetual desire to see new places and meet new faces is something that's hard to satisfy though, thanks largely to the significant cost involved. Travel is pricey, especially when you're looking at going further afield or looking at backpacking in first, rather than third, world countries.
One way to counter this is by working whilst you cross countries and continents, although again there may be considerable barriers to doing this, visa issues and the like posing problems.
As freelancers though you're in a gifted position, as for many freelancing disciplines you can take clients and customers with you, regardless of where you go in the world.
I speak from experience, having combined some freelance copywriting with some backpacking around Europe. Sitting in a hostel dormitory in Naples, money running low after three weeks spent traversing round taverns and frittering away funds, I sent a speculative email to a client and managed to snap up enough work to tide me over another two weeks. It was then it struck me how it could be possible to juggle a freelancing career with some larger scale traveling.
Intrigued? Here's how I think it's possible…
Communication barriers have been reduced
Skype has made things infinitely easier on the worldwide communication front, increasing numbers of expats, immigrants and backpackers all using the platform to keep in contact with friends and relatives back home. For free, too. It's even being used to conduct interviews remotely, according to a friend who's on a working holiday in Canada.
On this basis, what's to say that it can't provide a medium from which to communicate with clients? Elsewhere, if you're required to communicate on a larger level then there's apps like GoToMeeting. Ultimately we're so connected online nowadays, it's relatively easy to communicate.
Paperwork needn't be so much of a burden
The rise of cloud software has made things remarkably easier regarding paperwork, creations like Dropbox meaning that you can access all your important documents on foreign shores, as long as you've uploaded and scanned them prior to setting off on your travels. Furthermore, with online platforms gradually taking greater and greater precedence over paper, it's increasingly possible to go without paper.
All that said, you'll likely need to deal with post from time to time. Here in the UK the taxman is keen on sending letters should you have any outstanding tax liabilities, (presumably the IRS are similar?!) so you'll probably need a helpful relative or friend who can occasionally check up on your post, or, failing that, a mail forwarding service.
(Nice) accommodation can be reasonably cheap
Finding a place that's conducive to work is vital. Whilst hostels and budget hotels may prove good places to make new friends and save money, they're likely to be noisy, making it a struggle for you to keep your focus.
Thankfully, there's still a range of reasonably priced options that are more conducive to clients' needs. Sites such as Couchsurfing and Airbnb offer an alternative to the hellishly priced hotel or just plain hellish hostel. You can even get yourself some office space should you so need it, Loosecubes and Sharedesk providing the opportunity to rent desks by the day.
Convinced? Well, if you are then don't go packing your bags just yet. There's still one considerable barrier to nomadic freelancing. The legalities. If you don't not have a "permanent" address, what laws will apply to your business?
Amongst the biggest legal concerns is tax but as a little research around the subject has shown, to overcome this issue many mobile freelancers pick a home tax base regardless of whether they'll actually be spending much time there. I'm a just a mere Writer though and I don't profess to be an expert on this issue, so it's probably best to liaise with an accountant before booking that one way flight to the Bahamas.
What are you waiting for? Get packing!
Mark James is a former freelance writer who now works in-house for Crunch, online accountants for contractors. He specializes largely in small business and finance, contributing to both online and print media. Outside of work writes extensively on soccer and travel, two of his biggest passions. Having spent several years freelancing prior to working in-house, Mark is also a regular contributor to Freelance Advisor, popular UK news and advice site for freelancers. He hopes to return to freelancing again in the near future, preferably combining it with some travel across South America.
Image by Jon Gos


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Eight years ago, Kiva was founded in October 2005, and ever since, we've considered October to be the organization's birthday. This year, we want to take the opportunity to celebrate the connections our lenders are making with borrowers around the world. So we asked our community one simple question: "What made you connect with a borrower on Kiva?" We received an amazing number of responses filled with truly heartwarming and inspiring stories.
Kiva lender
I read about Kiva in a Danish newspaper while staying in Denmark for a month in July 2007; loved the idea of personal microfinance and opened an account. For a little over a year, I put $100 a month in my PayPal account and then lent it to Kiva borrowers. The Icelandic financial deep-freeze in October 2008 put a stop to that, but I kept on relending, each time giving a small share to Kiva, and will continue to do so until the last cent is gone.
I started out slowly with a few loans, and in September 2007, I gave a loan to Samuel who was selling clothes in Kenya with his wife (and their three beautiful daughters). His repayments started coming in according to plan, but then in April 2008, they suddenly stopped. There had been riots and violence in Kenya in the wake of elections, with more than 1,000 people dead and up to 250,000 displaced, and Samuel had disappeared.
I then realized that being a part of the Kiva lender team gave me the opportunity to witness the constantly evolving history of our planet in real time and that was a revelation; not only was I reading about what was happening, or watching news and documentaries from the different places of the world, I was involved in my own small way and the fate of complete strangers touched me directly. This is one of the most fascinating aspects of Kiva.
As far as I know, Samuel from Kenya has never been heard of again, and his small family business is gone. His memory, however, still lives on in a distant part of the world, thanks to Kiva.
Kiva lender
My husband and I have been a part of the Kiva community since early 2008, so we've been along for a big portion of the ride! Kiva's 8th birthday and invitation to submit a loan story is a great opportunity to share why we focus a large portion of our lending to women in the Ukraine.
Human trafficking is a global issue and is not limited to the boarders of the Ukraine or other Eastern European nations, so why this particular country? One of my great-grandmothers left the Ukraine in the early 20th century and somehow made it to Canada with a friend at the tender age of 17. She ended up in Winnipeg and then in Calgary working as a domestic for several wealthy families. We suspect she was likely brought here to work, and we have no idea if she had any say in the matter. Her departure from the Ukraine and the opportunity to stay in Canada has meant boundless opportunity for her descendents.


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I received this award from Deborah Stewart who has
Teach Preschool, Little Fingers That Play and Excellence In Early Childhood Education
I am a fan on her Facebook page, where she fosters an amazing community of teachers sharing with each other.
Deborah selected the following recipients:"Teacher Tom, Matt Halpern, Scott Wiley, Danny Chiu - because they are all guys doing amazing work with young children and I think their blogs are super cool!
And for the girls….
Shara Lawrence Weiss, Marcy Fox, Ayn Colsh, Vanessa Levin, Karen Nemeth – because they are amazing early childhood educators and bloggers that go out of their way to support everything I do!"
I can't believe I have been included in such prestigious company. These are ALL awesome bloggers and I value their contributions to our profession. I am learning so much each day by connecting with the awesome folks in this community. A BIG thank you to Deborah, who shares selflessly,and brings us all together! Deborah, YOU ROCK!!!
The rules for accepting the award are…
"You have to first list 10 honest things about yourself (and make them interesting), and second — present the award to seven other bloggers."
Okay, so here goes....
1. I have issues with wet wood (unfinished). This is a big joke with my family~ there are many, many jokes made about my aversion to wet wood. I even broke my toe a few years ago when my brother chased me around the kitchen with a wet wooden spoon!
2. I have a very large family. (VERY LARGE!) I have a brother and 5+ sisters (15 nieces and nephews) .....and we all get along!! We rent a really big house each summer and all vacation together!
3. When I first started working with children, I was told I would never cut it in the classroom.(But I'm still here!)
4. When I first met a few of my students from this year, almost two years ago, they really thought I was Rapunzel. Two or three still mention it occasionally. (I have long, red hair.... go figure!)
5. I don't tell my husband or my children who I vote for .... EVER! I'm not generally a political person. I do have strong political feelings about some things, but I keep them very private.
6. I love crafts, but have very, very little natural talent. It's sad, really. :(
7. I LOVE BASEBALL !!!! I don't necessarily follow the statistics of the game, but I love the game itself. I'll watch anything, any team from little league to MLB, I'll even listen to it on the radio! My favorite Mother's Day gift of all time was when my husband got box seats for a Braves game and arranged childcare for the kids. Go BRAVES!!!!
8. I am still a rocker at heart. I may not be able to tolerate the noise level of a rock concert every night, but every once in a while, I can still let loose!
9. I collect children's literature. Our living room is packed with bookcase upon bookcase filled with children's books. Finding a new one that I haven't heard before is a treat!
10. Although I can't sing, I was recently told that I am known as "the music lady" at our preschool. I play a lot of music and have a wide variety on hand usually.
Now, for the seven bloggers who I want to share this award with…
teach mama
Getting Messy With Ms. Jessi
Irresistable Ideas for Play Based Learning
Kat's World
miller moments
Inspiration Surrounds...Creativity Abounds
Once Upon A Day In Preschool
Of course, some of my favorites were listed with Deborah's, so I didn't name anyone she listed. This gave me the opportunity to share seven of the blogs I visit regularly and thank them for all they share!


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Comment on Bioshock Explained by anonymous.
Anonymous writes:
If one plays this game and listens to the audio logs, one gathers that this game has strong antipathy towards neo-paganism, gays, libertarianism, humanism, objectivism, and atheism. Add to it piles of bibles, martyr imagery, and people bemoaning their damned fates with bible verses, and this game seems like thinly-disguised Christian Fundamentalist Hate Literature. The sweet irony of all is that Christian Fundamentalists HATE the game too, because they can't see past the evils of violent video games realize it is batting for them.
anonymous Also Commented
Bioshock Explained
Sam writes:
Hello from 2012 (Odd how great games can have such lasting impacts, huh?)! I thoroughly enjoyed your explanation of this very thought provoking game! In support of one argument of Ryan casting aside his morals for the best in Rapture, there is a tape in the Farmer's Market of Ryan deciding to use the ADAM to make people open to suggestion, which is one reason he's able to control the splicers himself. Upon my first playthrough, I agreed with most of your ideas presented here. However, I saw a connection between Ryan and Fontaine as a conflict between Capitalism and Socialism. Ryan clearly presented a capitalistic idealism through his following of both Smith and Rand. Fontaine was the people's man, he fought for the working class. However the game shows the horrid atrocities of both. In a socialist society, we have the splicers who've gone crazy and often fight each other for any and all ADAM. On the other hand, we have capitalists that established monarchies in business because others could not feed off another's idea, these elitests let the working class suffer. Either side they chose, the splicers suffered through the greed and selfishness of others. In a society that was ideally selfless as people worked for themselves which, in turn, benefited society, selfishness reigned true as people like Fontaine abused the system. In addition, Fontaine's world made people think they had a choice, that they could choose to better themselves through exploitation of others, yet they only made him stronger and hurt others. Ryan alike, made people think they had many choices, yet the elites forced the layman to work for them and made it impossible for their choice to lead anywhere but to the bottom of the ladder. Sorry if my ideas seem a bit off, I'm not sure how to phrase it other than the faults of Capitalism versus Socialism. Perhaps the faults of government today would be better. One side proposes free market, the actual outcome is one of exploitation. Was Hobbes or Locke correct? I think the game argues for human nature being "tainted". Bioshock isn't just a political critique but a human one, too.
Bioshock Explained
Anonymous writes:
The meaning i got from this nightmare is "Your choice is never truly your own. Your will is tainted by even existing. To have true free will would to not exist."
Bioshock Explained
Anonymous writes:
Internet Advertising and marketing is likely one of the few on the flooring that permits an individual to wait decrease prices and compete effectively with someone who is not in the company. You spot, simply because it's at the line, does not mean you could have a business relationship.
Recent Comments by anonymous
A Philosophical Approach to a Better Mass Effect 3 Ending
Cyrgaan writes:
I completly agree with your deduction. Free will unity is the option I've missed from the whole picture, yet I couldn't explain the plot on the level you did.
Lack of this option (method, more likely) in the ending is the main inconvenience for me, because that was the way I always walked on in the whole story. There was one other point in the game, when this method was not present: at the choice you erase/rewrite the heretic geth. Though with Legion's explanation about the rewrite way is acceptable for the greater good, it's still a renegade method. There should be a way to communicate with the heretic geth, for example using Legion as an interpreter, and persuade them with reasons to bridge over the schism without forcing. Though, in fact, the lack of this option is logical because of the presence of the Reaper code (it can be seen as "indoctrination for synthetics").
(Sorry, if my bad english rendered my explanation to something uncomprehendable. I hope you can understand what I've tried to explain.)
A Philosophical Approach to a Better Mass Effect 3 Ending
Max Payne writes:
1hundred stars to this
I can agree with this
this make sense,
Inet is full of nonsense "indoctrination theory"
Too much people are persuaded to it and using 2sided blade arguments, ignoring facts, on first look you can see that they are justifying themselves that "destroy" is right choice and other are you loose and be full indoc.
Our race is still too young
A Philosophical Approach to a Better Mass Effect 3 Ending
Ruffian writes:
very good fix, in my opinion, This is more along the lines of what I was actually expecting. This and an actual final mission of some sort, where your intergalactic fleet did something or some kind of decisions to make regarding your crew. The lack of the latter wouldn't have been so bad though with the inclusion of the former.
A Critical Analysis of There Will Be Blood: Intensional Godhood
Anonymous writes:
hi u people are rlly gay u know that?
Carpe Somnium
I agree with your perception of the 'distinction' between dream and reality Lorenzo. How could we say that dream is any less real than reality? In my opinion, I'd say dreams are even more 'real' cause they're happening right inside my head. you could call me crazy but that's what comes to my mind.
As for the article, it is an excellent analysis, both film-wise and philosophy-wise. 🙂


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text:
Every time Suegra returns from El Salvador, she comes with a suitcase or two loaded with gifts for us. She's like a guanaca Santa Claus. Some of the gifts Suegra buys herself, others are sent by in-laws. The in-laws send gifts partly because they love us, and let's be honest, partly because they're hoping to score an awesome "thank you" gift from Los Uniteds. (Awesome = Nike shoes, in my experience.)
Over the years we have accumulated a lot of stuff from El Salvador. Some of it is beautiful, adorable, fantastic. Some of it… is not. A Tío sent pirated DVD's of Pedro Infante movies. I love the films but feel a little naughty owning them… And speaking of naughty, Suegra once brought me panties – but not just any panties. These panties have a heart emblazoned on the front and the words "I Love You".
On the sweeter side of things, when the boys were little, Suegra always brought them pajamas from "St. Jacks", (pronounced San Yacks by locals.) Sometimes she brought them shirts with weird random sayings in English like "Deluxe Auto Umbrella Stick!" and "Super Boy King" … I will have to dig through the niños closet one day and find those.
All of the wonderful items she brings usually have the distinct scent of queso, by the way. The dozens of white bricks of cheese in her suitcase look like cocaine and I'm surprised she hasn't run into trouble… (Of course, security is probably busy with the buckets of Pollo Campero the other passengers are carrying.)
Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some more of the things we've received from El Salvador…
A cross painted in the traditional style from La Palma.
This "God Bless This Home" wall hanging I actually brought back myself. This was at Suegra's house and I admired it. Suegra took it off the wall and gave it to me. (That was back in the day when she still liked me.)
Capirucho. It's a toy. You have to catch the ball on the little stick that is attached. We have a few different types but this one is prettiest.
I'm rich! … Oh wait, the dollarization. My colones are worthless.
A little trinket box painted in the traditional style from La Palma. (Though I think this particular artist was a little more exceptional than the others I've seen. The detail on this is much more unique than other things I have.)
A hat.
A miniature clay jar.
These are the shoes my husband wore to the United States. The niños find them hilarious. "Daddy wore THOSE?! They look like elf shoes!"
A peasant blouse with pretty embroidery but I can't wear it in public because it makes me look like a German barmaid.
Detail on the blouse.
One of many bags we own. They're especially good for going to the beach.
My very fashionable Mauricio Funes bag. (And for those who don't know, despite his cool sounding name, Mauricio Funes is not a top designer – he's the President of El Salvador.)
What Salvadoran household is complete without a machete?
We interrupt these photos for a commercial break…Oh wait, that's just an apron someone sent me. Caja de Crédito de Chalatenango, you're getting free advertising on Latinaish.com today.
A cute ratoncito (mouse) wallet which has been personalized, like many gifts we receive, with one of the kid's names.
Another wallet, for all the money we don't have.
A necklace I wear almost all the time.
Perhaps the most hideous doll I've seen in my entire life – and that includes those Chucky horror movies. I'm sorry to whoever made this doll. It scares me. After I took the photo, I put it back in the box in my closet where it belongs.
This bracelet is supposed to keep the "mal de ojo" ("evil eye") away from babies, but I rarely let them wear it. I was worried they'd rip it off their wrist and choke on it.
This is a depiction of The Last Supper. I never hung it up because one of the people in attendance is wearing a witch's hat and a little boy to the left of Jesus is wearing a baseball hat. It's just weird.
I love these towels by artist Edmundo Otoniel. The scenes they depict are so perfectly Salvadoran. They're almost too beautiful to use, but we do use them.
One of my favorites – the hammock. My parents also have one – they refer to it as "The Gringo Tipper" because they've both fallen out of it. It's takes some practice to get used to it, but once you do, those flat-style American hammocks can't compare. I love to lay in there and watch the clouds, think, read … sometimes I just inspect the weaving, imagine the person who made it – all the work that went into it…


text:
University of Missouri
Home | People | Locations | Program index | Calendar | News | Publications
Continuing education Seminars
Southwest Regional Office, MU Extension
home > Southwest Regional Office, MU Extension >
faculty and staff
David L. BurtonCOUNTY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST IN COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTMU Extension in Greene County2400 S. Scenic AveSpringfield, MO 65807Phone: (417) 881-8909Fax: (417) 823-4818E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Counties served: Greene, Lawrence
Works in community development, serving as county program director in Greene County. Assists the media, individuals and communities in gaining a better understanding of local issues with the Southwest Region News Service. Weekly articles making up Southwest Region News Service are delivered electronically to hundreds of subscribers, extension council members and media outlets throughout southwest Missouri. Subscribe to the weekly email online or text MUEXTENSION417 to 22828.
See my profile on LinkedIn.
Education: Bachelor's degree in journalism and political science from Drury University, 1988; Masters in integrated marketing and communication from Drury University, 2001.
Relevant past employment: Five years as managing editor of the weekly newspaper in Willard, Mo. (1989 - 1993); three years in alumni and development work at Missouri State University, Springfield, Mo.; and six years as public relations specialist in the communication and marketing department at Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., Springfield, Mo. (1995 - 2001).
Memberships: Ozark Press Association, Missouri Press Association, Public Relations Society of America, Springfield Writer's Guild, Missouri Writer's Guild, National Association of Agriculture Extension Agents, Public Relations Society of America, Missouri Historic Schools Alliance, Country Schools Association of America, Ridgecrest Baptist Church and Friends of Greene County Extension.
Publications: Literally, thousands of newspaper and magazines articles. Since 2002 he has written two weekly columns in the Springfield News-Leader: "Ask a Master Gardener" and "Agriculture in the Ozarks" as well as a weekly column in the Republic Monitor entitled "Live and Learn." He has also written several books that are available through Amazon.com and are linked from his author page.
Honors: 2016 "County Program Director of the Year," from University of Missouri Extension; 2016 "Program of the Year" for Great Game of Business, from UMEA; 2014 UMEA Program of the Year for Friends of Greene County Extension; 2013 Technology Award from the Missouri Association of Community and Economic Development Professionals; 2013 Technology Award from the National Association of Community and Economic Development Professionals; Carl N. Scheneman Excellence in Teaching Award from MU Extension, 2003; MU Extension "Rookie of the Year" Award, 2003; "Team of the Year" from University of Missouri Extension Association, 2004; "Innovator Award," from UMEA, 2004; "AgriMissouri Media Award," (bronze-2004) from Missouri Department of Agriculture; eight different journalism awards from the Missouri Press Association (1989—1993); and. "Outstanding Instructor Award," TRIO/Upward Bound program, 2008. Has been president of the SPJ Chapter since 2005 and during that time the local chapter has been named one of the top three small professional chapters in the nation four times, including being named the "Outstanding Chapter in the Nation" for 2007-2008.
David L. Burton
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When I think of well-known figures of AFSC's past, I think of men—Rufus Jones and Clarence Pickett, more specifically. I'm sure much of this has to do with the fact that I have spent numerous hours sitting in rooms named after them at Friends Center in Philadelphia. But I have little doubt that their familiarity is also due to the general attention that our society pays to men with big ideas and big voices, particularly the society in which the organization was founded.
Of course, Friends Center, where AFSC's Philadelphia office resides, has also named a room after a famous female Quaker, Lucretia Mott. Mott was well known for her oratorical skills, rare for women in her time.
But her voice was supported by and in conjunction with the work of her Quaker community. Her big idea was equality, and she helped to make that idea a reality by organizing historical opportunities for connection, such as the Seneca Falls convention. That event turned her big idea into a real movement.
Often, the more constructive, relational aspects of social change work associated with women are undermined by the seductive appeal of "charismatic leaders"—men whose rhetorical talents have the power to mobilize large groups of people to do both good and evil. Women's "behind-the-scenes work" is important, we tell ourselves, as long as a man is setting the stage.
Digging into the archives to find out more about women who worked for AFSC, a different story emerges: I learned of women doing radical, righteous work that was not based on the vision of any particular leader, but on the deeply felt truth in the value of each person.
These women were not "just" serving or doing the "behind-the-scenes work" to support the programs of their male counterparts; they were standing up for the truth through a fundamental commitment to the power of human connection.
Crystal Bird Fauset gave presentations up and down the East Coast on race relations in the United States, engaging white, privileged audiences with a topic that many chose not to see.
Elizabeth Gray Vining served as the first female tutor to the crown prince after World War II so that she might develop good relations between the two countries. "I am not here in Japan as a missionary," she declared. "I will present my views and let my pupil go on from there… I hope I can contribute to the peace and understanding of the world. The emphasis will be on a world without war, and on nations working together for peace."
In the 1960s, Connie Curry served as AFSC's Southern Field Representative, helping the Carter family negotiate the prejudices they faced as the family desegregated local Mississippi schools. AFSC helped the family find work and affordable housing. Eventually Connie would write "Silver Rights," telling the story of the Carter family and winning numerous awards for her work. Her relationships with that family facilitated their own passion to live in a more equal society and inspired her own work for justice.
Saralee Hamilton spent 30 years developing the National Women's Program and building an international women's movement. She helped AFSC confront issues of sexism within its own organizational structures by holding it accountable to its principles of equality and inclusion.
Creating change based on a deeper understanding of our shared humanity is often confused with fragility and ineffectiveness. Developing relationships often takes a bit more time. But that kind of on-the-ground work is almost always more successful for creating lasting peace.
Building bridges is radical because it's hard. It requires vulnerability and time and faith. Women and men have been doing the hard work with the AFSC for years. When we all have an opportunity to connect and truly value that connection, our world will be transformed.


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THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web
At the end of June 2012, I was in Amsterdam to present some sessions at Teched Europe 2012 and, while preparing the material for the demos (yes, the best demos are the ones I prepare at the last minute), I decided to make a comparison between the two implementations of xVelocity of SQL 2012, one is the VertiPaq engine in SSAS Tabular and the other one is the ColumnStore index in SQL Server. After some trials, I decided that ColumnStore was a clear loser, because I was not able to see a real improvement in performance for my test queries, involving complex calculations and many-to-many relationships.
But, hey, I am not a SQL expert, I work mostly on the BI side, might it be the case that I don't know how to write a query that takes advantage of ColumnStore?
Being in a place full of SQL gurus from Microsoft and MVPs, I decided to ask for help. Hugo Kornelis was there and I had a chance to talk with him about ColumnStore performance. It turned out that he perfectly knew how to improve the performance of my queries and I was amazed to see that, after his intervention on SQL code, the two engines did run at a comparable speed. Moreover, sometimes ColumnStore was faster than VertiPaq. I suddenly decided to investigate more on the topic. I did not have time to prepare the material for the demos, but, at that point, a whitepaper was born.
At the end, I discovered (many thanks Hugo!) that the first implementation of the ColumnStore indexes in SQL2012 is not perfect and hopefully will be improved in the future. There are several limitations that reduce the effectiveness of ColumnStore indexes, as stated in the following post: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg492088.aspx.
If you want to join me in this amazing trip on performance analysis of two incredible query engines, take a look at the whitepaper on "Vertipaq vs ColumnStore" on sqlbi.com and provide me all the comments you have, I always enjoy reading your thoughts, I learn a lot by comparing with you.
I do not normally blog about my activity at conferences, courses and workshop, not because I don't like these "marketing" topics, but only because I forget to do it. That said, sometimes I do some really exciting activities and, well, I need to share them with all of my readers, just for the pleasure of doing it.
You probably already know www.projectbotticelli.com, it is probably the best place where you can find informative videos about our beloved Business Intelligence topics. Starting from August 2012, SQLBI is working with Project Botticelli to provide videos about DAX and the new SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular model.
The first video, which is a 20 minutes teaser on how to compute new and returning customers in DAX, is out right now. You can find it here: DAX in Action. Preparing the video has been a wonderful experience, I learned a lot and really enjoyed staying behind a camera. We are already working on other great videos on the DAX language, stay tuned!
Hierarchy handling in DAX is not very easy, due to the fact that hierarchies, unlike it was in MDX, are not first-class citizens in the DAX world. While hierarchies can be easily defined in the data model, there are no DAX functions that let you access, for example, the parent of the CurrentMember. Well, to tell the truth, there is no concept of CurrentMember in DAX either. That said, there are several scenarios where it might be useful to handle hierarchies in DAX and, in this post, I am going to show some techniques to make them work in a clever way, starting from the basics until we reach a good level of hierarchy understanding in DAX.
Read more at http://www.sqlbi.com/articles/clever-hierarchy-handling-in-dax/.
As you might (or not) know, I travel a lot for work and, when possible, I always try to speak at local user groups. It is fun and I always learn a lot by speaking with other professionals like me.
Being in Lisbon next week, I'll deliver a speech at Microsoft Portugal with the NetPonto user group for a couple of hours of DAX, Vertipaq and many-to-many relationships. Here's the link of the event, a free registration is required: http://netponto-lisboa-fevereiro-2012-powerpivot.eventbrite.com/
If you happen to be there, I'll be really happy to meet you.
My 4yo son keeps asking me why I should leave home so often to attend SQL conferences around the world and today, after a couple of days of snow, he discovered a good reason, along with the best place for the SQLBits scarf.
What is a circular dependency? If A depends on B and B depends on A, then you have a circular dependency. As programmers, we know that they should be avoided to obtain a working system. All this looks fine but, when authoring a simple DAX formula containing CALCULATE, SSDT (formerly known as BIDS, sometimes called Visual Studio… I love Microsoft attitude to find new names) warned me about circular dependency errors and, believe me, there seemed to be no loops inside my formulas.
After some fight with the tool, it turned out that anytime you use CALCULATE in a formula for a calculated column you are in danger for a circular dependency and, to solve the issue, the easiest way is to add a key column to a table. Understanding why the problem exists is not trivial and it requires you to read the article I have published on the SQLBI website here: http://www.sqlbi.com/articles/understanding-circular-dependencies/.
Clearly the scenario is the same for PowerPivot 2012 and for Tabular in SSAS 2012.
Happy reading! And, as always, comments are very welcome.
BTW: Happy new year to everybody! In case you forgot it, THIS is the year of SQL2012.
Data modeling in Tabular is different from Multidimensional. I spend much time teaching people that they need to change their mind when approaching the Vertipaq engine, because it is a different tool with different capabilities. Nevertheless, I still have a lot to learn on this topic, as I am going to show in the next paragraphs.
One customers of mine has a 4 Billion rows table containing some numbers he wants to work with. Among those, two columns contain a value and a weight and, when aggregating the value, it should be weighted by the weight. This is a very common pattern: in the banking environment, for example, you might have the rate and the amount and, to get the mean rate, you need to weight the detail rates by the amount. In my specific scenario, the value represents the age of a customer, ranging from 0 to 100, while the weight is an integer number ranging from 1 to 60M. Take note of the ranges, it will come handy later.
I am used, in such a scenario, to store in the fact table the result of Age * Weight in a column called AgeMultipliedByWeight so that the aggregate can be computed as SUM (AgeMultipliedByWeight)/SUM(Weight). Following this pattern, I developed the solution and performances were pretty good. Nothing exceptional, but it worked fine. The reason to store the intermediate calculation is to use SUM instead of SUMX, getting better performances, as I normally teach during my classes.
Then, during PASS 2011, I had the option to discuss this model with the dev team and it has been very funny to get their feedback, which sounded like: "why did you do something that stupid? You don't need it, just compute the values runtime using SUMX, it is much faster and you consume a lot less memory". Learning why this pattern is wrong in Tabular is definitely worth spending some time, because in Multidimensional this is the right pattern. So, let us think in DAX and try to figure out what's wrong with storing intermediate calculations.
First of all, we already know that the memory usage of Vertipaq depends on the number of distinct values of a column. It turns out that, while the age has only 100 distinct values, AgeMultipliedByWeight has 600 millions of different values. The difference is huge and, in fact, it turned out that the AgeMultipliedByWeight column was using a lot of memory (9Gb in my scenario with 4 billion rows). First lesson learned, increasing the number of distinct values of a column is easy as performing some computation over it and a lot of precious memory is wasted if you don't pay attention to that.
The second and most important consideration is that the DAX Formula Engine is capable to push simple calculations to the Vertipaq Engine, which runs in a multithreaded environment (while the Formula Engine is still single threaded). Thus, if a SUMX contains a simple calculation (i.e. simple math with no complex formulas), this formula will be pushed down to Vertipaq and will be executed in a parallel way directly at the leaf level. There's a lot of work yet to be done in order to understand what "simple calculations" means, but I will speak about that in future posts, as soon as I discover more information about what can and cannot be pushed down to Vertipaq.
Back home, I had the option to try this on my server and, as expected, performance is now much better. By changing the formula from SUM to SUMX, avoiding the intermediate calculated column, I saved 9Gb of RAM and the test query, which was running in 13 seconds, is now executed in 3 seconds, i.e. 4 times faster, scaling on all the available cores.
Thus, the first lesson here is always the same: thinking in DAX is not easy, we need to get rid of many of the concepts we have learned with UDM/MDX and change the way we approach problems. The results, when following this practice, are awesome. There is another lesson, probably the most important one: speaking with people at conferences lets you learn a lot, much more than you will ever be able to learn alone in the office or at home.
For the ones of you coming at SQL PASS Nordic… I am eager to speak with you too, see you there on 8-9 November.
This year I and Marco Russo will host a Birds of a Feather lunch about "DAX, Vertipaq and BISM Tabular" during PASS Summit in Seattle.
If you want to spend some time speaking about DAX, the new Vertipaq engine of just have a good chat in front of some food to give a face to a name, just come there and sit down. The BOF lunch will be on Friday, there is a bunch of tables to choose from, as you can see in the complete list. Social networking is one of the main reasons to go to a conference, thus, don't be shy, come to meet us in person: we'll be really happy to share some time with you and provide a demonstration of true "Spaghetti English".
Using Visual Studio to author SSAS Multidimensional projects, I was used to copy the project, deploy it with another name and then proceed with updates, until I was satisfied with the final result. Then, working with the two projects side-by-side I could check performance and numbers.
I tried the same technique with Visual Studio 2010 with CTP3 Denali with a Tabular model. I created a copy of an existing project but, as soon as I opened it, I got the error "This model is already open in another location by the same user, please close the other project before working on this one":
The reason for the error is that, copying the project folder, I copied the user settings file too, which contains the workspace database definition. Because the workspace is already in use by the previous instance of the project (which is still open, due to the way I work) and a workspace cannot be used by more than one active project. For more information about the user settings file and the behavior when opening a BIM project in Denali, refer to this very comprehensive post of Cathy Dumas.
The solution to this problem is straightforward (once you learn it, thanks Cathy for explaining this!): just locate and delete the user settings file (which, by the way, is a hidden file, thus you will need to show hidden files before searching for it). As soon as Visual Studio opens a project with no user settings file, it will create a new workspace, detaching the copied project from the original one, and I can work with the two projects side-by-side.
Tabular projects work in a different way, when compared with Multidimensional ones, we just need to learn new tricks, as always.
Having read this question on the mdsn blogs, I investigated on the KEEPFILTERS function and, after having learned it, it is now time to write about it. Moreover, before start to write about it, I need to thank the dev team of SSAS and Marco Russo who helped me understanding this complex topic.
This blog post is not an easy one, so let me start with some conclusions, in order to let you understand why you need to read the post up to the end and digest its content.
These are the final considerations. Now, if you want to discover why these facts holds, roll up your sleeves and come with me in a travel in the land of filter contexts.
We all know that filter contexts are the foundation of any DAX calculation. The CALCULATE function is used to create, alter, update filter contexts and to create any complex formula in DAX. We also know that iterators like FILTER, SUMX and AVERAGEX create a row context that gets translated into a row context when a measure is used as the formula to iterate.
For example, to compute the average of yearly sales, we can define a couple of measures:
TotalSales := SUM (FactInternetSales[SalesAmount])
AvgYear := AVERAGEX (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]), [TotalSales])
The measure [TotalSales] inside AVERAGEX is called in a filter context that filters only one year. The values are then averaged to return the correct value. All this is well known.
For educational purposes, we are not going to use AVERAGEX but a modified version of the formula which is useless, but makes the concepts clearer. We simply substitute AVERAGEX with SUMX:
TotalSales := SUM (FactInternetSales[SalesAmount])
SumYear := SUMX (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]), [TotalSales])
Thus, SumYear is equivalent to SUM (FactInternetSales[SalesAmount]). Or… it should be… as we are going to see in a few minutes, something weird will happen when we evaluate this formula over a user defined hierarchy.
In the following figure, I have put the calendar hierarchy on the rows, TotalSales and SumYear on the columns and the result is straightforward: the two results are identical.
Now, I can filter the time and decide that I want to see only July and August for 2001 and September and October for 2002. This can be easily accomplished filtering the hierarchy but, this time, the result is much more interesting:
If you look at the highlighted cells you should have the strong feeling that something is going wrong. From where do these strange numbers come? At the month level, everything is fine. At the year level and at the grand total the values shown make no sense at all. In order to understand what is going wrong here, we need, as always, to dive into the different filter contexts that exists during the steps of the computation.
First of all, we have filtered some months for 2001 and some other months for 2002, creating a complex filter that looks like this:
(DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2001 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "July" || DimTime[MonthName] = "August"))
|| (DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2002 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "September" || DimTime[MonthName] = "October"))
This filter contains two columns: MonthName and CalendarYear and the resulting filter is a mix of both columns, resulting in a relationship between the two columns. Please, read this sentence twice and keep this in mind: this filter contains two columns.
Now, what happens when the SumYear gets evaluated? This is the formula:
SumYear := SUMX (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]), [TotalSales])
SUMX iterates over the values of CalendarYear and, for each value, it computes TotalSales, after having transformed the row context over CalendarYear in a filter context. Thus, if we unroll the iteration, the formula is equivalent to:
CALCULATE ([TotalSales], DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2001) +
CALCULATE ([TotalSales], DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2002)
We have two CALCULATE that set a filter on the year. Now it is useful to remember that when a column gets filtered inside CALCULATE, the new filter overrides any existing filter on the same column. Do we have any filter on CalendarYear? Yes, we do, because the previous filter context imposed by the hierarchy was filtering CalendarYear and MonthName. Thus, the engine will remove the filter on CalendarYear from that formula and then apply the new filter.
What happens to our original filter if we remove all the references to CalendarYear? It becomes:
((DimTime[MonthName] = "July" || DimTime[MonthName] = "August"))
|| ((DimTime[MonthName] = "September" || DimTime[MonthName] = "October"))
You see that removing CalendarYear from the filter it now become a completely different filter, that says: "any month from July to October is fine". We are then going to add the new filter on CalendarYear and the resulting filter, under which [TotalSales] gets computed is:
DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2001 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "July" || DimTime[MonthName] = "August" || DimTime[MonthName] = "September" || DimTime[MonthName] = "October")
In other words, the cell for the year 2001 takes into account the months from July to October and, clearly, the same happens fro 2002. The final result is completely wrong because the original filter is lost. This is the reason for which numbers are wrong.
Luckily, the SSAS dev team addressed this problem in advance and gave us the magic function KEEPFILTERS. What KEEPFILTERS does is to modify the semantics of CALCULATE so that the new filter will not replace any existing filter but will be merged in AND with any previous filters.
If we rewrite our SumYear definition in this way:
SumYearWithKeepFilters := SUMX (KEEPFILTERS (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear])), [TotalSales])
We are asking DAX to take the values of DimTime[CalendarYear] but keep any existing filter on the same column in place, without removing them. With this definition, the filter context under which [TotalSales] gets evaluated is:
DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2001 && DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2001 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "July" || DimTime[MonthName] = "August"))
|| (DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2002 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "September" || DimTime[MonthName] = "October"))
And, this time, the formula will return the correct result because the original filter context is preserved and, with it, the relationship between months and years. You can see that in the following figure:
Now that we have understood the issue with SUM, it is easy to see that the same problem happens with AVERAGE, but it is harder to detect because numbers are not so easy to check.
Before to go to a conclusion, I would like to spend some more words on the topic and I will use DAX EVALUATE function to show how the same scenario can easily happen (and be verified) in DAX. The same model, deployed on SSAS Server in Vertipaq mode, can be queried with DAX and, to simulate the complex condition, we use CALCULATETABLE and put a filter on a CROSSJOIN. Take a look at this DAX query:
MEASURE FactInternetSales[SumYearNoKeep] = SUMX (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]), [TotalSales])
MEASURE FactInternetSales[SumYearKeep] = SUMX (KEEPFILTERS (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear])), [TotalSales])
VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]),
VALUES (DimTime[MonthName])
"SumYeaNoKeep", [SumYearNoKeep],
"SumYeaKeep", [SumYearKeep]
VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]),
VALUES (DimTime[MonthName])
(DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2001 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "July" || DimTime[MonthName] = "August"))
|| (DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2002 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "September" || DimTime[MonthName] = "October"))
This query returns both [SumYearNoKeep] and [SumYearKeep] and, strangely, they return the same wrong value. This is because the damage of destroying the original filter context has already been done by the CROSSJOIN inside SUMMARIZE, which did not take into account the previous filters.
If we add KEEPFILTERS to the CROSSJOIN inside SUMMARIZE, the formula will be different:
MEASURE FactInternetSales[SumYearNoKeep] = SUMX (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]), [TotalSales])
MEASURE FactInternetSales[SumYearKeep] = SUMX (KEEPFILTERS (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear])), [TotalSales])
VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]),
VALUES (DimTime[MonthName])
"SumYeaNoKeep", [SumYearNoKeep],
"SumYeaKeep", [SumYearKeep]
VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]),
VALUES (DimTime[MonthName])
(DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2001 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "July" || DimTime[MonthName] = "August"))
|| (DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2002 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "September" || DimTime[MonthName] = "October"))
And, this time, the result will be the correct one. Take your time to understand well these two formulas, they are not easy ones but, hopefully, they will let you understand how KEEPFILTERS works and why it is needed.
Moreover, for the brave reader that has still wants to go deeper into the topic, it is worth to study this variation of the same query, where I have removed the FILTER on the CROSSJOIN and replaced it with a classical FILTER on the full table.
MEASURE FactInternetSales[SumYearNoKeep] = SUMX (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]), [TotalSales])
MEASURE FactInternetSales[SumYearKeep] = SUMX (KEEPFILTERS (VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear])), [TotalSales])
VALUES (DimTime[CalendarYear]),
VALUES (DimTime[MonthName])
"SumYeaNoKeep", [SumYearNoKeep],
"SumYeaKeep", [SumYearKeep]
(DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2001 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "July" || DimTime[MonthName] = "August"))
|| (DimTime[CalendarYear] = 2002 && (DimTime[MonthName] = "September" || DimTime[MonthName] = "October"))
This time the filter is not on the CROSSJOIN of the columns but on the full table, resulting in a table filter context. This formula will return the correct value for both [SumYearNoKeep] and [SumYearKeep] because the table filter context will impose its filter on the individual rows of the table and the new filter on CalendarYear will not touch the filter on the table. As always, in DAX there is a strong difference between a table filter context and a column one. In Denali we can now create a new kind of filter context that contains many columns from the same table and, for that kind of filter context, KEEPFILTER might be necessary to use to avoid inconsistent results in your formulas.
Moreover, even if it seems that KEEPFILTERS usage can be avoided by means of using table filters, keep in mind that we have provided this example using only one table. If you want to filter a CROSSJOIN that uses more than one table, then it will not be easy to create table filter contexts on that structure. Thus, KEEPFILTERS usage is much more convenient because it solves any scenario you will encounter.
September 29th I and Marco Russo will be delivering a full day of deep dive into the DAX programming language, during the training days of SqlBits 9. Later on, during the conference, I will deliver a session about many to many relationships in DAX, exploiting the power of the Tabular data model with DAX to solve complex problems with many to many relationships. Mine is just one among several great sessions delivered by many of the most talented SQL professional from all around the world.
There are still a few seats available for the training day on DAX. Thus, if you are interested, hurry up and register yourself, I'm eager to meet you in Liverpool.
You can find full information here: http://www.sqlbits.com/information/Event9/DAX_Deep_Dive/TrainingDetails.aspx.
See you there
Tomorrow, at 11 AM CET, I will deliver a webinar on how to produce interesting reports with PowerPivot, a webcast which is a first taste of my incoming session for the European Sharepoint Conference.
You can see all the details here: http://www.sharepointeurope.com/upcoming-webinars/self-service-bi-at-work,-an-example-of-a-powerful-user-created-report-in-powerpivot.aspx
See you tomorrow.
A new date is available for the PowerPivot workshop I and Marco are delivering all over Europe.
On September 19-20, 2011 we will be in Lisbon (Portugal) to present the workshop to Excel users and BI professionals.
Moreover, as Denali CTP3 of PowerPivot is now disclosed, we will present, for the first time, an enhanced version of the workshop with a new set of slides and demos aimed to understand what's new in Denali for all the PowerPivot users.
In the meantime, we are organizing a community event on the evening of the 19th, where we are going to speak about the roadmap from UDM to BISM and how to shape your data and skills for the incoming version of Analysis Services. We will publish all the details of the event as soon as we will know them.
You can find more information and the registration page at www.powerpivotworkshop.com.
I know from personal experience that Lisbon is a wonderful city and the food is simply great. Moreover, I have been assured that the weather will be nice too in that period. Thus, I look forward to see many of you at the workshop and at the community event, even from outside of Portugal!
Wow! Today I hit F5 on this interesting transaction:
BEGIN TRANSACTION INSERT INTO World.Babies (Name, Surname, DateOfBirth, Gender) VALUES ('Arianna', 'Ferrari', '20110720', 'Female');
UPDATE World.Parents SET STATUS = 'Happy' WHERE NAME = 'Alberto' AND Surname = 'Ferrari'; COMMIT
Thanks Caterina, I'm now the proud father of two babies, thanks to you!
And… yes, I am going to lose some sleep, this time without thinkink at Denali.
In my last post about Parent/Child hierarchies, there is a question, in the comments, that I found interesting. Nevertheless, the formula is a complex one and cannot be written in a simple comment. Thus, I am making a follow-up to that post. I am not repeating all the stuff of the previous post so, please, read that before reading this one, to have the necessary background.
The question looks a simple one: "If you needed a measure (SumOfLeafAmount) that only shows childrens values, what would it be like?"
I was about to answer that "I have a formula that is too large to fit in the margin" but… Fermat did it some years ago and caused a real mess. I don't want to be responsible for such a complication. Thus, I am providing the answer in this new blog post. And… ehy, no, I don't consider myself anyhow similar to that genius, I'm just joking!
I was about to answer that "I have a formula that is too large to fit in the margin" but… Fermat did it some years ago and caused a real mess. I don't want to be responsible for such a complication. Thus, I am providing the answer in this new blog post. And… ehy, no, I don't consider myself anyhow similar to that genius, I'm just joking!
There two interesting points in this simple question:
Let us start with the set of data we are going to work on. The first figure is the hierarchy:
And, in the second one, I have put in the same figure a PivotTable containing the P/C structure with the SumOfAmount measure and the content of the Invoices table, which is the source of the Amount column.
Now, what are the desired results?
In the case of Annabel, both formulas will return the same value because all of Annabel's children are leaves.
Let us start with SumOfLeaves, which is pretty easy. Any row in the hierarchy can be a leaf or not. It is a leaf if it has no children, otherwise it is the parent of somebody, thus it is not a leaf. In other words, it is a leaf it there aren't any rows in the hierarchy where the ParentNodeId has the value of the NodeId.
We can define a new calculated column, called IsLeaf, with this formula:
FILTER ('Hierarchy', 'Hierarchy'[ParentNodeID] = EARLIER ([NodeId]))
) = 0
Or, if you are a real fan of Denali and of the new Parent/Child functions, this one works too (and, these days, it makes you look cooler):
PATHCONTAINS ('Hierarchy'[HierarchyPath], EARLIER ([NodeId]))
) = 1
Now, the hierarchy has a new column:
And the formula for the measure SumOfLeaves becomes straightforward, just a simple usage of CALCULATE:
SumOfLeaves=IF (
[BrowseDepth] > [MinNodeDepth],
SUM (Invoices[Amount]),
'Hierarchy'[IsLeaf] = TRUE
The result, compared with SumOfAmount, is very clear:
The reason for which SumOfLeaves is easy is because each row in the hierarchy is either a leaf or not, its behavior is easy to define. In the case of SumOfChildren, this is no longer true. Each row can be aggregated to the total or not, depending on the level we are browsing.
Take, for example, the value of Brad. When we are summarizing Brad's amount, his value should not be computed, because he is not a child of himself. Thus, SumOfLeaves(Brad)=900. But, when we summarize the value of Bill, Brad is a children of Bill and the complete amount of 1300 should be computed for Bill's amount. Same row, different behaviors… things are becoming interesting.
If we want to compute the sum of all the children of a node in a P/C hierarchy, it is enough to create a filter context that isolates the current root of the tree. Once we have isolated that row, we can create a FILTER expression that computes all the nodes but that one. The problem is that a row can be the root at some point and a regular node at other points, the difference being the value of BrowseDepth.
In order to understand the incoming formula, we need to take some time to study our data set. I have created a new measure, to see the value of NodeDepth inside the PivotTable, which basically shows the value only when a single row of the hierarchy is selected:
[Node Depth] = IF (
COUNTROWS ('Hierarchy') = 1,
VALUES ('Hierarchy'[NodeDepth]),
With this new measure, and after having modified slightly the definition of the Level1..3 calculated columns to always show the value of a node (it was previously blank), I got this very interesting figure:
Up to now, we have used the difference between BrowseDepth and NodeDepth to hide rows. Now we will use the same values to compute the SumOfChildren. By carefully looking at the PivotTable, it is easy to verify that the SumOfChildren of Brad will need to avoid computing the highlighted row, where BrowseDepth > NodeDepth. Clearly, when computing the value for Brad, we will be interested in the rows in the red box, all others are of no interest.
When the same row (the highlighted one) will be computed for Bill's total, the value of BrowseDepth will be 1, while NodeDepth will still be 2. In that case, the value of Brad will be used to compute the total for Bill.
Thus, by using this simple test, SumOfChildren will compute the sum of the values of all the children of a node, avoiding the node itself, which is the only one where the condition is false. With all this in mind, the formula is straightforward:
[BrowseDepth] > [MinNodeDepth],
SUM (Invoices[Amount]),
'Hierarchy'[NodeDepth] > [BrowseDepth]
We use FILTER to remove the nodes whose NodeDepth is not higher than BrowseDepth. Add this measure to the PivotTale and this is the result:
Et voilà, BLANK everywhere, not a single number shown. Something is wrong but… what? I strongly suggest you to check the formula by yourself at least twice before to continue reading because this is the CALCULATE wall and, hitting it, is always a pain.
Now, the solution. I already gave you the first hint: the problem has something to do with CALCULATE. Ok, how many CALCULATE do you see in the formula?
If you answered 1, which is the naïve answer, you are able to read a formula, but you hit the CALCULATE wall. If you answered zero, two or three, it means you need better glasses. But if you answered the only right answer, which is FOUR, then you have already touched the DAX karma: you already know what I am going to write.
Where are those four CALCULATE? We need to remember that whenever a MEASURE is used inside a formula, it is automatically surrounded by a hidden CALCULATE. And, in this formula, we have three measure calls:
These three measures, plus the evident CALCULATE, make the total of four CALCULATE inside the formula.
Now, what happens for the [BrowseDepth] measure computed inside FILTER? We have a CALCULATE inside a loop, that means that the row context introduced by FILTER (yes, FILTER is an iterator, never forget it!) is converted into a filter context before evaluating the measure. Thus, the [BrowseDepth] is computed in a filter context where the only visible row of the Hierarchy table is the currently iterated row. Check it by yourself, the value of that [BrowseDepth] is always three, because only a single row of the hierarchy is visible. The original filter context is lost when that measure is computed.
The value of [BrowseDepth] inside the FILTER is NOT the value of [BrowseDepth] for the original filter context, it is the [BrowseDepth] in a new context introduced by the automatic CACLULATE added by the measure call.
If we want to compute our measure, we need to avoid that nasty CALCULATE created by the engine. The only way to do that is to remove the measure call and expand it to its measure definition (which you can find in my previous post):
[BrowseDepth] > [MinNodeDepth],
SUM (Invoices[Amount]),
'Hierarchy'[NodeDepth] >
IF (ISFILTERED ('Hierarchy'[Level3]), 3,
IF (ISFILTERED ('Hierarchy'[Level2]), 2,
IF (ISFILTERED ('Hierarchy'[Level1]), 1
The formula is identical to the previous one but, this time, we are not calling a measure, we are computing a formula. Thus, no automatic CALCULATE is added to the expression. Guess what? It now works as expected
Now, you see that all the leaf level nodes do not have any value and this is expected, since their value is provide by themselves only, not by their non-existent children.
I personally don't believe that this formula is really useful but it might mean something to a customer who give me some money to compute it. Thus, it would be useful at least for me. The interesting point of this post is that DAX is simple, but not easy. This is the best definition of DAX I have ever heard. Until you fully understand CALCULATE and all its implications… DAX will be a black art. Take your time to study it, and DAX will become your best friend.


text:
LONDON - Ryan Lochte said it was his time at the London Olympics.
He'll have to wait until next time.
The swimmer who speaks like a laid-back surfer dude concluded his third games with two golds, two silvers, one bronze and a fourth-place finish. Impressive, but not quite up to the high expectations Lochte had set for himself.
Still, he said: "For the most part I'm pretty satisfied."
Lochte closed his meet Thursday night with a bronze in the 200-meter backstroke and a silver in the 200 individual medley behind Michael Phelps. It was the last competitive race between the longtime rivals since Phelps is retiring after the Olympics.
"Yeah, I wanted to get all golds in my events, but you know it didn't happen," Lochte said. "I'm going to have to live with that and move on and learn from it, and try not to make the same mistakes in the next four years."
Lochte plans to swim on to the 2016 Rio Games, but he's going to make at least one important change.
"I'm going to be training differently," he said. "I got a birthday tomorrow. It's definitely time to take it down a little."
He turns 28 on Friday and his immediate plans included eating at McDonald's, which is free in the athletes village. Lochte said he had the fast-food chain's meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner over 10 days at the 2008 Beijing Games.
"I witnessed that," a smiling Phelps said.
Lochte won one more medal in London than he did four years ago, when he had two golds and two bronzes.
"How many people walked out with five medals? It's way above average," his coach Gregg Troy said. "It's just if you come with real high expectations sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't."
Lochte opened the swimming competition this time with a dominating victory in the 400 IM, while Phelps straggled home in fourth.
"That was definitely one of the greatest feelings, and knowing that my whole entire family was right there cheering for me was pretty amazing," he said.
Troy said he's talked to his star swimmer about exploring some other events.
"With him getting a little bit older, you take that 400 IM out of the program and everything looks a lot different," Troy said. "His time last year in the 200 freestyle was better, but it was the first event of the meet."
Lochte pulled off a tough double on his last night in the pool, swimming the 200 back and then returning 31 minutes later for the 200 IM final.
"Anytime you're swimming in back-to-back events, especially at a level such as the Olympics, is tremendously hard," he said. "I've been putting in that extra work so I can do those doubles. I'm not going to change that. I love racing. That's why I swim. It's fun to me. So I'm going to keep doing those crucial doubles no matter how bad it hurts."
Phelps knows a thing or two about doubling up at major international meets, and he complimented Lochte on his ability to do it, too.
"It just takes a lot of time to really be able to understand how stressful it is on your body mentally and physically," Phelps said. "It is tough to get up and race the best in the world ever single event. Ryan has built his way up to doing it here and he'll probably do it again in four years."
The two rivals and friends sat next to each other at the medallists news conference after joking around on the medals podium.
"We've been racing for eight years now and the rivalry we created has been tremendous for the sport," Lochte said. "Hopefully I'll still be able to see him around."
Having a rival of Phelps' ability in his own country pushed Lochte to new heights, and he knows it'll be an adjustment without him.
"But there's a bunch of competitors out there in the world and hopefully in the next four years I'll create another rivalry with someone else," he said.
Phelps tabbed 200 butterfly gold medallist Chad le Clos of South Africa as a worthy rival for Lochte in the future, and Troy agreed.
"That South African boy is really good," he said. "We're going to miss Michael. Michael and Ryan going head-to-head has been great for the sport."
A moderator eventually told the media that Lochte needed to leave, drawing a playful protest from Phelps.
"He's done. Why does he get to leave?" he said. "I have two more races. I got to go."
Lochte stood up, patted Phelps on the shoulder and told him, "Have fun."


text:
MILKING sow means traffic STOP
October 27, 2010 1 Comment
Driving in Albania is an adventure. We just drove through an olive trees orchard and then, behind a curve and in the very middle of the road, here she is. Her and the kids: a saw and 8 piglets, if I'm not mistaken regarding the number. Silent, eyes shut, she stood still letting me walk around and take the picture.
When she decided it was enough, a solid 5 minutes later, she screamed and jumped away, followed by the team.


text:
Oct 03
The North Wing of Kaplan Library includes areas on the 1st and 2nd floors where books, journals, dvd's, and other materials are housed, including the Curriculum Materials Center.
View the complete Spring Schedule
Kaplan Library & Learning Center provides access to its South Wing after regular library hours and on days when the library is closed.
Learn more...
Mount Saint Mary College
330 Powell Ave. Newburgh, NY, 12550


text:
Peggie Ferguson�s mother told her time and again that education was the way out.
Peggie Ferguson�s mother told her time and again that education was the way out.
Now Ferguson is working to give others the chance to advance their education as chairwoman of the Gaston County committee starting a local United Negro College Fund.
Ferguson, an educator for more than 40 years, believes that starting a UNCF will make a difference in the county�s dropout rate.
�But not only that, we believe we will see an increase in high school graduation. I believe we will see an increase in our college graduation thus bringing our employment rate upward,� Ferguson said at a meeting last week to raise awareness. �We will work hard to see if we can see more of our children getting a high school diploma.�
UNCF provides 10,000 scholarships each year and provides assistance at 38 historically black colleges and universities. UNCF offers scholarships to Hispanic, Asian and Native American students in addition to black students. Students at UNCF member colleges may get assistance that came from UNCF donations regardless of their race.
Creating the local chapter means from 10 percent to 40 percent of donations, will stay in Gaston County to help local youth, said Sandra Johnson of UNCF.
In Gaston County, 78.4 percent of black students who started as freshmen four years earlier graduated from Gaston County Schools in 2012. That�s a little bit higher than the countywide graduation rate of 77.8 percent of student graduating in four years. About 20 percent of students attending Gaston County Schools are black, according to the district.
At least $1,905 was donated to start the UNCF effort in Gaston County Thursday night.
�I know a number of you, and I just know in my heart that this town that we grew up in, a number of us, that we are going to see Gaston County Schools graduating many students and many of them receiving scholarships and going on to further themselves in education,� Ferguson said.
You can reach reporter Amanda Memrick at 704-869-1839 or follow @AmandaMemrick on Twitter.


text:
Linde's involvement in renewable energy stretches back 20 years, when Linde started its development of hydrogen as a fuel. Since then, the company has entered renewable energy areas such as biogas, biomass, wind, geothermal, solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal, and fuel cells. Here Renewable Energy Focus' Steve Barrett and Kari Larsen talk to Alan Watkins, Head of Merchant and Packaged Gases, and Andreas Opfermann, Head of Innovation Management at Linde Gas.
11 February, 2010


text:
A few months back, we at the blog had a semi-regular series: "things institutionalists know that you should" (see for example see Josh on timing, Nate on Plott's fundamental equation, and myself on the status quo bias of institutions). This small series was inspired by similar lists on the fundamentals of political behavior (see for example, here). Our list, by comparison, offers the neo-institutional fundamentals.
Yesterday a federal court in Washington heard arguments that center on a thing "institutionalists know." In Common Cause et.al v Joseph Biden et.al., Common Cause and a group of private citizens are suing Vice President Biden (as president of the Senate) arguing that the filibuster is an "accident of history" and unconstitutional on the grounds it violates the principle of majority rule. The lawsuit arose over repeated filibusters of the DREAM Act, which the petitioners argue would have passed were it not for the filibuster. The goal of the suit is to have Senate Rule XXII, for which this blog is named, declared unconstitutional.
This highlights something institutionalists know well: that institutions—in this case parliamentary rules—have unintended consequences. The filibuster is, indeed, a classic example (see Sarah Binder here). Simply put, the filibuster arose out of a procedural lapse. When the first Senate convened in 1789 it adopted a procedure known as the previous question. The previous question motion is a common parliamentary device used to close debate on a pending matter. If you watched the movie Lincoln, you no doubt saw the previous question in action. But in 1806 the Senate removed the previous question from its rule book (on the advice of Vice President Aaron Burr). The House, by contrast, maintained the previous question which, today, gives a simple majority in the lower chamber the ability to quickly end debate (though as Sarah Binder points out, the previous question at the time wasn't used in the manner it is today). The obvious question is: Why would the Senate remove such an important procedural device from its rule book? The simple answer: the previous question wasn't used very often and was viewed at the time as superfluous (it was only used once prior to 1806). As Binder argues, the reason for removing the previous question was simply to "clean up" the messy Senate rule book. Removing the previous question motion wasn't as problematic as its absence today for the obvious reason that extended debate was less obstructive in the early 1800s. It wasn't until 1837 that the first actual filibuster occurred. First, the Senate was about 1/3rds its current size. Second, the Senate's overall workload was much lower. And third, minority parties in this formative era were much smaller and thus less able to stymie the legislative process (from 1803 to 1823 the Federalists, the perennial minority, had an average of only 8 seats in the Senate). Over time the lack of a previous question was compounded by the fact that the Senate, unlike the House, is a "continuing body." That is, the Senate's rules carry forward from on Congress to the next and are therefore difficult to change. In sum, a short-sighted change in the Senate's rules back in 1806 morphed, over a long time span, in a manner that has major implications for the modern legislative process. This was by no means a "rational" or "functional" outcome.
Which brings us to the Common Cause lawsuit. While the petitioners may be right that the filibuster is an "accident of history," for the reasons outlined above, that doesn't make it unconstitutional. Quite the contrary, in fact. Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution outlines the procedures governing the House and Senate. And like many things in the Constitution, it lacks detail and nuance. Well, expect for one important detail: "Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a member." Yes, Clause 2 of Section 5 gives both chambers the power to determine their own rules. This makes the filibuster, and all other rules of the Senate for that matter, explicitly constitutional. Courts have rejected similar legal challenges in the past, so unfortunately for Senate reformers, Common Cause's lawsuit is not the answer.
Two additional examples of how institutions can have unintended consequences include the development of the American welfare state and the 435 member cap in the House. In "Protecting Soldiers and Mothers," Theda Skocpol shows us that the modern welfare state developed out of Civil War soldiers' disability pensions (which covered the widows of decreased soldiers, hence the title of Skocpol's book). The long-term consequence of this policy was that, by the early 1900s, significant portions of the population were dependent on the pension. The policy extending pension payments to soldiers' wives evolved into a uniquely American "materialistic" welfare state (unlike the welfare systems of Europe). A similar unintended consequences narrative applies to the 435 member cap in the House. From the first census in 1790 to 1910, the size of the House increased along with population growth. In 1920 House negotiators were unable to reach agreement on the reapportionment bill. So in 1929 the Permanent Apportionment Act formally set the size of the House at its current 435. Thus, the size of the House is not part of some rational design or larger constitutional principle, but the result of a critical event in political time and the path dependent nature of politics.