text:
Update May 19, 2011: Amazon announced that they are now selling more Kindle books than print books – 5% more – after dropping the price on the Kindle with advertising to $114.
Update April 20, 2011: Amazon announced they will be introducing a Kindle Program for Libraries later this year. This is significant news for the Library market and quite a game-changer. How will this affect the Overdrive market and the future purchase of hand-held e-book readers by libraries?
According to MediaPost.com Kindles represent 59% of e-readers shipped. So, if Overdrive is able to deliver as represented, this would mean 59% more potential e-reader patrons for Libraries that have e-book collections. Is making the most popular e-reader compatible with 11,000 library collections a positive thing for Libraries? Is making the devices interactive with the books positive for patrons? I think it is.
It is also potentially *great* for Kindle sales, Kindle book sales, Kindle book authors/publishers (70% royalities in US/UK) and Overdrive. The marketplace responded very positively to Amazon's April 20th news release: http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:AMZN
Since Overdrive, Inc. is not publicly traded, it is hard to tell what immediate impact this has on the value of their company. But, given Amazon's extraordinary success in customer satisfaction and their huge IT infrastructure, it stands to reason that the partnership would serve to enhance Library customer satisfaction with Overdrive too.
Scary new road for Librarians
Many of the Publib and Web4Lib conversations in 2010 centered on the effects of handheld media devices and applications in the world of libraries. The mainstream use of handheld media and the proliferation of machines that effectively recreate the reading experience of traditional books struck home for many librarians.
The codex certainly has many iterations, but after 500 years it did become standardized. With the exception of oversized and miniature books, most are close in size and operate essentially the same way. Librarians are comfortable with and comforted by collections of nice squared chunks of paper, cloth and leather neatly arranged on metal and wooden shelves. We were comfortable with card catalogs and eventually became comfortable with online catalogs. The online catalogs certainly did not have the same feel, the same look, the same smell as the old catalogs, but eventually they took hold as standard library features. Yet, unlike most traditional library catalogs, the intellectual authority over catalog software was outsourced to vendors. Librarians essentially gave up ownership of their catalogs, while providing broader access to more collections for their patrons through shared resources, databases and inter-library loan.
Slowly, a new path of accessibility began to blend in with the online catalogs. Digital books and digital audio became popular. Massive digitization and storage of public domain works projects were undertaken. Computer memory, speed, and storage increased while size, cost and energy needs decreased. Smart-phones and wireless networking became common. 3G and 4G networks proliferated. The convergence of networks, digitization, and hardware improvements meant book contents requiring hundreds of metal and wooden shelves are now available on devices weighing under a pound. And, those same devices have access to enormous digitized collections at far greater speed than even the most efficient traditional library services.
The youthful progression of 18-20 somethings forced Academic Librarians to become early adopters of hand-held media technology. Academic in-house computing power and talent lent themselves to solving problems of accommodating information delivery in the manner prefered by their gen x and gen y patrons . Public Librarians trended towards becoming late adopters. Many had no budget for electronic book collection development. Others, inhibited by vendor controlled delivery and electronic book access looked for ways around what appeared to be a system without standards. Some of the better funded public libraries have been able to develop electronic book collections, purchase electronic readers, and effectively respond to the demand by their patrons for this new information medium.
Rise of the Machines
2010 Christmas season sales in the US accompanied a big price break and increase in quality for hand-held electronic book readers. Nook, from Barnes & Noble, dropped its price to $149 and started offering a color screen. Kindle , from Amazon dropped in price to $139 and the Kindle became their top-selling item. The Sony ebook Reader was more affordable at $129. The marketplace moved from early adopters willing to pay several hundreds of dollars to the mass market with prices under $200 for advanced electronic book readers. Many librarians saw the trend and adapted to increased demand for e-books by their patrons. Many other librarians worked on denying the viability of e-books and holding on to the comfortable idea that the codex was simply better. But with massive profits driving the suppliers, each complaint about the viability of e-books is being addressed with solutions. And, the suppliers of e-readers attempt to make their devices behave as well or better than the traditional book:
Librarians and readers complained that reading from a computer screen was not as enjoyable as reading a book. Nook now advertises its "just-like-paper screen" and Kindle and Sony employ the same electronic technology from E-Ink . The electronic paper screens do not have the flicker of CRTs and glare of LCD panels. They are not back-lit such as LCD / LED screens – so text does not disappear in direct sunlight. Some reports link use of LCD and LED screens to insomnia , but the same effect is not apparent with the E-Ink electronic paper available from new electronic book readers.
Librarians and readers complained that sharing of downloaded materials was not possible because the license was for one device, one reader. Nook and Kindle have begun to address sharing and are now offering options. Market demand and profit will determine future sharing options. With such an insignificant production / advertising / distribution cost compared to traditional books – electronic books potentially have more leeway in terms of maintaining profitability for publishers and authors.
Nook offers social media options and two million titles. Kindle offers text to speech, advanced pdf reader, and Whispersync links your personal library and the progress of your reading with other devices you might own. Sony offers Readerstore, Googlebooks, and excellent cross-platform compatibility. Each device is moving towards becoming more and more multifunctional.
Librarians complained about the lack of standardization, instructions and cross-platform compatibility. Most of those problems were derived from vendors who had failed to create adequate instructions and quickly address the needs of libraries as fluid and dynamic information marketplaces. Conversely, with each complaint about electronic book readers, the focus of the manufacturers and suppliers is to improve. The complaints are heard as an opportunity to improve and move a step ahead of their competition. Are libraries competing?
As if Kindle and Nook and Sony did not create a big enough impact, Google's Android operating system along with Apple's iPad / iPhone and PC applications paved the way for multi-use handheld devices. 3G access became widespread and smartphones are able to use Nook, Sony and Kindle applications to increase personal library access. Android equipped devices can quickly download a Kindle or Nook application. Every smartphone can now become an electronic book reader and a mobile library.
The electronic book is here and expanding and evolving without librarians a gatekeepers. However, there is encouraging news from many public libraries showing patron excitement over electronic book collections. Some are offering to purchase copies for libraries. Multiple holds for electronic books demonstrate that sharing is still one of the most effective tool of libraries. But, if libraries are going to rely solely of vendors for delivery, vendors must improve and address libraries as valued and dynamic information markets. One of the most promising tools available to librarians who wish to take the intellectual leap of not being entirely vendor dependent is Calibre ebook management. This "free and open source e-book library management application" offers many features of value to librarians and their patrons.
Librarians must address competition in the information market in order to remain viable. With massive budget cuts to all public services looming, the road ahead for libraries is unknown. However, it looks like the Tin Man will be traveling with us.
Rise of the Machines
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Filed under: Administration, Book selection, Budgeting, Cataloging, Centralized processing, Collection development, Electronic books, Intellectual freedom, Interlibrary loan, Library Marketing, Library Profession, Mobile, Multimedia, On-line, Outreach, PACs, Public Services, Research, Technical Services, Technology, Terminology, Virtual, Web librarianship | Tagged: Amazon, Android, e-book, e-books, ebook, ebook readers, eBooks, Kindle, Nook, Overdrive, Sony | 7 Comments »


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In any case, we are having a great summer here at Alida's Kitchen, and I hope you are too!
After making Herbed-Grilled Tomatoes, I developed an appreciation for the delicious flavor of grilled tomatoes. So when I saw a Caprese Chicken recipe that grilled the chicken AND the tomatoes, it went on my 'must make' list immediately!
Grilled Chicken Caprese is a simple weeknight (or quick weekend meal) that takes little effort and yields an impressive result. First you make the marinade. Then marinate slices of the fresh mozzarella (yum!). While the cheese is marinating, you grill the tomato slices and chicken cutlets, which takes about 5 minutes. Last, simply put everything together, let it sit a little bit if you can, and then eat!
The result is a delicious Caprese-inspired grilled chicken dish that is quick and easy to make. The original recipe states it takes 30 minutes, which sounds about right…but that includes eating time! 🙂 Enjoy!
Have a great weekend!
Grilled Chicken Caprese
Yields 4 servings
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons red wine or balsamic vingar
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
4 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4-inch slices, halved and patted
4 chicken breast cutlets (or butterflied chicken breast halves)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
8 tomato slices (2-3 tomatoes), cored and cut into 1/2-inch slices
- Make marinade/dressing: whisk together basil, vinegar, garlic and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to your taste preference.
- Take 2 tablespoons of the marinade and pour over mozzarella slices, turning the slices to make sure cheese is coated. Set aside.
- Pat chicken dry and then drizzle about a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil on each side of chicken cutlet and season with pepper.
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat and spray grates with cooking spray or rub with oil.
- Grill chicken and tomatoes until chicken is thoroughly cooked and browned and tomatoes are slighly charred (about 2 minutes per side).
- Transfer chicken to platter and top each cutlet with 2 tomato slices. Drizzle with remaining vinaigrette and top with mozzarella. Cover with an inverted plate or tented foil and let sit for 5 minutes (up to 10 minutes, if you can wait that long). Serve.
Adapted from Cook's Country, August/September, 2011

subset: commoncrawl


text: 公和我做好爽The Aquarium is committed to welcoming all guests to experience and enjoy our aquatic world. To ensure that you have a wonderful experience, a variety of services are available for individuals with disabilities. Access to Services Express Entry and Early Entry 公和我做好爽Visitors with special needs and their parties may purchase tickets at the Members/Accessible entrance and gain immediate entry to the Aquarium, thereby avoiding long lines and the chance of a wait if tickets are purchased at the main ticket center. The First Saturdays & Sundays program allows all visitors with disabilities and their guests to enter 30 minutes before the Aquarium opens on the first Saturday and the first Sunday of each month, for a leisurely, crowd-free visit. Enter through the Members/Accessible entrance. Parking Visitors may be dropped off at our circular bus drop-off spot in front of the Aquarium. The nearest parking garage, Parkway Lockwood Place Garage, has designated accessible parking spaces available. This garage is located directly across Pratt Street, approximately 300 yards from the Member/Accessible Entrance. Get information about this garage and discounted parking here. Bus and oversized vehicle parking is available at Camden Yards. Please contact the Maryland Stadium Authority at 410-347-9330 for prices, directions, and other information. Service Animals 公和我做好爽Service animals are allowed in all public areas of the Aquarium. Personal Care All restrooms have wheelchair-accessible stalls. A family restroom is located on the ground floor of Pier 3 near the stroller check. 公和我做好爽A private space is available for any visitors who need a quiet moment away from the crowds. The Guest Relations Room is located on Level 1 of the Pier 3 Pavilion, behind the bubble tubes. This room contains a TV and a microwave, as well as coloring supplies for children. The room is always unlocked and available for guests who need a quiet or private space; there is a sign to hang on the door when the room is in use. Emergency Assistance A first aid room and trained first responders are available to provide assistance. Refrigeration for medication is available. Aquarium security and staff are trained to assist you in the event of a fire evacuation or other emergency. Tour Guides Specially trained guides, translators and interpreters can be provided to accompany your group with two weeks' advance notice. For more information, contact the special customer liaison prior to your visit. Re-entry Hand stamps are available at exit doors if you need to leave the building for a break and re-enter later in the day. Visitors with Limited Mobility Wheelchair/Stroller Use in the Building 公和我做好爽The Aquarium is fully accessible to visitors using wheelchairs, including all entrances, exhibits, theaters, restrooms, and elevators. Strollers for children and parents with disabilities are the only strollers allowed in the building. Pick up a wheelchair tag at the stroller check, located on the ground level, to display on your stroller while touring. A companion Accessibility Guide and Map is available for those who follow the specially designed wheelchair/stroller route. This can be obtained from the ticket taker and at the stroller check, as well as at all information desks. Download Accessibility Guide (.pdf) Due to safety concerns, only seated assistance devices—manual and electric—are approved for use inside the Aquarium. Wheelchair Rental 公和我做好爽Guests may obtain wheelchairs free of charge with the deposit of a driver's license at the stroller check, located on the ground level and across the hall after entering through the Members/Accessible entrance. These manual wheelchairs are available in limited numbers on a first-come, first-served basis for use inside the Aquarium. Elevators Elevators displaying the wheelchair accessibility symbol have been designated for use by visitors who use wheelchairs while touring. Reserved Accessible Seating Reserved accessible seating is available in both the dolphin amphitheater and the 4D Immersion Theater. Staff at the theaters will be on hand to direct you to these seating locations. 公和我做好爽Reserved seating areas in the dolphin amphitheater provide you and your guests with a magnificent view of these marine mammals. At the 4D Immersion Theater, you will receive express entry into the theater to access the reserved seating. These seating areas are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so plan to arrive early to your scheduled shows, and speak to the staff for assistance. Services for Visitors Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing Closed Captioning & Assistive Listening Devices 公和我做好爽 The 4D Immersion Theater is equipped with assistive listening systems and private seat-mounted closed captioning. CC units and ALS headsets or induction loops are available from theater attendants before entering the theater. Presentation Scripts 公和我做好爽Printed scripts for all public presentations, animal feedings, and animal encounters, can be obtained at the information desk in the Pier 3, Level 1 lobby. A script for the 4D film can be picked up from the theater attendant at the 4D Immersion Theater entrance. Sign Language Interpreters 公和我做好爽An interpreter who is accompanying a visitor who is deaf or hard of hearing in order to interpret for that deaf visitor is admitted free. During Deaf Awareness Days, sign language interpreters take part in public presentations. With two weeks' advance notice, interpreters are available upon request. For more information, contact the special customer liaison. Services for Visitors Who Are Blind or Partially Sighted Audio Wireless Tour An audio wireless tour highlighting exhibits and providing directional information allows blind visitors vastly improved access to the Aquarium's exhibits. The unobtrusive audio device consists of a receiver, no larger than a cell phone, and an earpiece. Once wearing the device, a guest can travel, in any order, among 22 audio stations positioned throughout the Pier 3 and Pier 4 pavilions. This device can be picked up from the stroller check with deposit of photo identification. Braille Tour A Braille tour of the main Aquarium is available at the information desk in the Pier 3, Level 1 lobby. Touch Bag and Hands-on Experiences 公和我做好爽A touch bag of tactile items representing animals in the exhibits is available to borrow from the stroller check. Additionally, there are many hands-on experiences throughout the Aquarium. Many of the presentations and education carts in the galleries have interactive elements that encourage touching animals and objects; check the digital message boards throughout the Aquarium for that day's presentation times. Staff members are also present throughout the galleries to give detailed descriptions of the exhibits. Guests on the Autism Spectrum Guest Relations Room 公和我做好爽The Guest Relations Room next to the information desk on Level 1 of Blue Wonders is a calm, quiet space available for any guest that needs a private moment away from the crowds. Sensory elements in galleries Temperature, lighting and noise levels fluctuate from gallery to gallery. Some spaces are quieter than others, and some can be overly stimulating. When deciding which exhibits to visit, please consider: At the main entrance you will encounter a grand 35- foot waterfall, with mist and sound of cascading water. Staff can escort you to alternate entrances with a quieter, calmer pathway into the lobby. The Australia: Wild Extremes and Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibits have natural light (with light dimming as the sun goes down) and occasional loud sounds from the free-flight animals or, in Australia, the rumble of distant thunder that mimics the flood season. The Rain Forest has temperature fluctuations, high humidity, misting, and consequent dampness of a tropical environment. The interactive Living Seashore exhibit contains two touchpools with live animals. Staff have model representations of animals for those who need more sensory stimulation than gentle touch allows. The Jellies Invasion exhibit has dim lighting and a futuristic soundtrack. The 4D Immersion Theater shows 3D films with special sensory effects that are built into the seats and theater environment, such as strobe lighting, seat movement, and dramatic sound Group Rates Group Reservations Groups of special needs visitors may be eligible for a reduced admission rate; find out by contacting Central Reservations at 410-576-3833, and begin the booking process at least three weeks in advance. Please inform the reservationist of any special needs of your group or special requests at the time you schedule the tour. Learn more about group pricing. Back to the Top


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The front-month bitcoin futures contract on the Chicago-based CBOE Futures Exchange surged past $17,000 on Monday, the first day of trading.
The January contract opened at $15,460 in New York on Sunday evening, before leaping to a high of $17,170 during Asian hours. They were last quoted at $17,120, a more than $1,000 premium to the price on Gemini Exchange.
The futures are cash-settled contracts based on the auction price of bitcoin in U.S. dollars on the Gemini Exchange, which is owned and operated by virtual currency entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.


text:
The two teams that met for the championship of the American Football League on December 29, 1968 had already met several weeks earlier with memorable results. In the so-called "Heidi Game", in which television viewers on the East Coast had the last few minutes of the contest pre-empted by a showing of the children's classic "Heidi", the Oakland Raiders had scored twice in short order to defeat the New York Jets. Now they were matched up again at New York's home venue.
The Jets, built into a winning team by Head Coach Weeb Ewbank, had topped the Eastern Division with an 11-3 record. The explosive offense was directed by QB Joe Namath (pictured above), who had outstanding targets in wide receivers Don Maynard and George Sauer as well as TE Pete Lammons. The ground game was sound with FB Matt Snell and HB Emerson Boozer. The overlooked defense was especially tough against the run and contained AFL All-Stars in ends Gerry Philbin and Verlon Biggs, DT John Elliott, and MLB Al Atkinson. PK Jim Turner, who kicked a record 34 field goals, added a further scoring dimension.
The Raiders, under Head Coach John Rauch, were the defending AFL Champions. Despite a spate of injuries, they had gone 12-2 but still had to defeat the Chiefs in a playoff to again win the Western Division. QB Daryle Lamonica was still highly effective with his passing and, in addition to WR Fred Biletnikoff, had a new and speedy deep threat in WR Warren Wells. Rookie HB Charlie Smith entered the starting lineup at midseason with good result. With CB Kent McCloughan out due to knee surgery, rookie CB George Atkinson showed potential but had been burned badly by Maynard in the previous encounter.
Weather conditions were windy and cold at Shea Stadium, where 62,627 fans were present. The Raiders had constructed a small makeshift shelter for their players, but AFL President Milt Woodard ordered it taken down because it was obstructing the view for several rows of fans.
Oakland had the first possession and was forced to punt, with Mike Eischeid's poor 28-yard kick giving the Jets good initial field position. With Pete Lammons and Emerson Boozer spread wide, New York moved 44 yards in four plays. Namath hit Don Maynard twice for 14-yard completions, the second good for a touchdown. In between, a pass interference call on Atkinson helped the drive along.
The Raiders missed a scoring opportunity when George Blanda attempted a 45-yard field goal into the wind that hit the crossbar and bounced away. Late in the first quarter, Jim Turner added a 33-yard field goal to make it 10-0 in favor of the Jets.
Daryle Lamonica (pictured at left) got off to a poor start, completing just one of his first 13 passes. But the Raiders began to move offensively late in the opening period as Lamonica started to find the range. He completed a screen pass to HB Pete Banaszak for 11 yards and followed up with throws to Fred Biletnikoff for 15 yards and to FB Hewritt Dixon for 23 yards on the first play of the second quarter. A pass to Biletnikoff, running a post pattern, was good for a 29-yard touchdown as he outmaneuvered CB Johnny Sample (Sample was subsequently replaced by Cornell Gordon).
Turner missed a 44-yard field goal attempt but connected from 36 yards late in the second quarter. Blanda booted a 25-yard field goal just before halftime to narrow the tally to 13-10 at the intermission.
In the third quarter, Warren Wells caught a pass for a 40-yard gain before being brought down by SS Jim Hudson at the New York six. The aroused Jets defense held on the next three plays as Charlie Smith was downed at the three and again after another gain of a yard, and Dixon was stopped on the third down play at the one. Oakland was forced to settle for a Blanda field goal and a tie score of 13-13.
With just under a minute remaining in the period, the Jets culminated a 14-play, 80-yard drive with Namath tossing a 20-yard touchdown pass to TE Pete Lammons to re-take the lead. The Raiders surged back as Lamonica completed a pass to Biletnikoff for a 57-yard gain and Blanda kicked a 20-yard field goal.
On the first play following the ensuing kickoff, Atkinson intercepted a Namath pass and returned it 32 yards to the New York five. Banaszak scored a five-yard TD that put Oakland in the lead by 23-20. The Jets struck back swiftly. Following a 10-yard completion to Sauer, Namath fired to Maynard for a 52-yard gain and again to Maynard for a six-yard TD with 7:47 remaining in the game.
Oakland drove to the New York 24, but chose to try and convert a fourth-and-ten and Lamonica was sacked by Verlon Biggs. With two minutes to go, the Raiders were again threatening to move back in front. Lamonica passes to Biletnikoff for 24 yards and Wells for 37 advanced the ball to the New York 12. But a lateral intended for Smith went awry and LB Ralph Baker recovered it for the Jets to extinguish the threat.
The Raiders had one last chance with 42 seconds remaining as they took over at their 22 yard line but fell short after advancing to near midfield. The Jets were AFL Champions by a score of 27-23.
Oakland had the edge in total yards (443 to 400) although the Jets had more first downs (25 to 18). New York was effective against the running game as the Raiders gained just 50 yards on the ground. The teams punted a combined 17 times, with the Jets accounting for 10.
Joe Namath completed 19 of 49 passes for 266 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. George Sauer (pictured below) caught 7 of those passes for 70 yards while Don Maynard gained 118 yards and scored two TDs on his 6 receptions. Matt Snell rushed for 71 yards on 19 carries and Emerson Boozer contributed 51 yards on 11 attempts.
For the Raiders, Daryle Lamonica went to the air 47 times and had 20 completions for 401 yards and a touchdown. Fred Biletnikoff had 7 catches for 190 yards and a TD and Warren Wells added 83 yards on his three receptions. Hewritt Dixon ran for 42 yards on 8 carries and added another 48 yards on 5 catches. Charlie Smith was held to just a yard on five rushing attempts.
The Jets went on to pull off a huge Super Bowl upset of the NFL Champion Baltimore Colts and repeated as Eastern Division champs in 1969. Oakland again placed first in the Western Division in '69 but, due to a revised playoff format for the AFL's last pre-merger season that allowed second place teams to qualify, ended up losing again in the league title game, this time to the Chiefs, who had finished behind them in the standings.


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The committee that standardizes the C programming language (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG14) has completed a major revision of the C standard. The previous version of the standard, completed in 1999, was colloquially known as "C99." As one might expect, the new revision completed at the very end of last year is known as "C11."
In this article and its companion article, I will describe the major new features of C11 in concurrency, security, and ease of use. A final article will discuss compatibility between C11 and C++.
C11 standardizes the semantics of multithreaded programs, potentially running on multicore platforms, and lightweight inter-thread communication using atomic variables.
The header
<threads.h> provides macros, types, and functions to support multi-threading. Here is a summary of the macros, types, and enumeration constants:
- Macros:
thread_local, ONCE_FLAG, TSS_DTOR_ITERATIONS cnd_t, thrd_t, tss_t, mtx_t, tss_dtor_t, thrd_start_t, once_flag.
- Enumeration constants to pass to:
mtx_init: mtx_plain, mtx_recursive, mtx_timed.
- Enumeration constants for threads:
thrd_timedout, thrd_success, thrd_busy, thrd_error, thrd_nomem.
- Functions for condition variables:
call_once(once_flag *flag, void (*func)(void));
cnd_broadcast(cnd_t *cond);
cnd_destroy(cnd_t *cond);
cnd_init(cnd_t *cond);
cnd_signal(cnd_t *cond);
cnd_timedwait(cnd_t *restrict cond, mtx_t *restrict mtx, const struct timespec *restrict ts);
cnd_wait(cnd_t *cond, mtx_t *mtx);
- The
void mtx_destroy(mtx_t *mtx);
int mtx_init(mtx_t *mtx, int type);
int mtx_lock(mtx_t *mtx);
int mtx_timedlock(mtx_t *restrict mtx,
const struct timespec *restrict ts);
int mtx_trylock(mtx_t *mtx);
int mtx_unlock(mtx_t *mtx);
- Thread functions:
int thrd_create(thrd_t *thr, thrd_start_t func, void *arg);
thrd_t thrd_current(void);
int thrd_detach(thrd_t thr);
int thrd_equal(thrd_t thr0, thrd_t thr1);
noreturn void thrd_exit(int res);
int thrd_join(thrd_t thr, int *res);
int thrd_sleep(const struct timespec *duration, struct timespec *remaining);
void thrd_yield(void);
- Thread-specific storage functions:
int tss_create(tss_t *key, tss_dtor_t dtor);
void tss_delete(tss_t key);
void *tss_get(tss_t key);
int tss_set(tss_t key, void *val);
These standardized library functions are more likely to be used as a foundation for easier-to-use APIs than as a platform for building applications. (See "When Tasks Replace Objects," by Andrew Binstock, for discussion of higher-level APIs.) For example, when using these low-level library functions it is very easy to create a data race, in which two or more threads write (or write-and-read) to the same location without synchronization. The C (and C++) standards permit any behavior if a data race happens to some variable
x, which can lead to serious trouble. For example, some bytes of the value of
x might be set by one thread and other bytes could be set by another thread ("torn values"), or some side-effect that appears to take place after assignment to
x might (to another thread or another processor) appear to take place before that assignment. Here is a short program that contains an obvious data race, where the 64-bit integer (
long long) named
x is written and read by two threads:
#include <threads.h> #include <stdio.h> #define N 100000 char buf1[N][99]={0}, buf2[N][99]={0}; long long old1, old2, limit=N; long long x = 0; static void do1() { long long o1, o2, n1; for (long long i1 = 1; i1 < limit; ++i1) { old1 = x, x = i1; o1 = old1; o2 = old2; if (o1 > 0) { // x was set by this thread if (o1 != i1-1) sprintf(buf1[i1], "thread 1: o1=%7lld, i1=%7lld, o2=%7lld", o1, i1, o2); } else { // x was set by the other thread n1 = x, x = i1; if (n1 < 0 && n1 > o1) sprintf(buf1[i1], "thread 1: o1=%7lld, i1=%7lld, n1=%7lld", o1, i1, n1); } } } static void do2() { long long o1, o2, n2; for (long long i2 = -1; i2 > -limit; --i2) { old2 = x, x = i2; o1 = old1; o2 = old2; if (o2 < 0) { // x was set by this thread if (o2 != i2+1) sprintf(buf2[-i2], "thread 2: o2=%7lld, i2=%7lld, o1=%7lld", o2, i2, o1); } else { // x was set by the other thread n2 = x, x = i2; if (n2 > 0 && n2 < o2) sprintf(buf2[-i2], "thread 2: o2=%7lld, i2=%7lld, n2=%7lld", o2, i2, n2); } } } int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { thrd_t thr1; thrd_t thr2; thrd_create(&thr1, do1, 0); thrd_create(&thr2, do2, 0); thrd_join(&thr2, 0); thrd_join(&thr1, 0); for (long long i = 0; i < limit; ++i) { if (buf1[i][0] != '\0') printf("%s\n", buf1[i]); if (buf2[i][0] != '\0') printf("%s\n", buf2[i]); } return 0; }
If you had an implementation that already conformed to the C11 standard, and you compiled this program for a 32-bit machine (so that a 64-bit
long long is written in two or more memory cycles), you could expect to see confirmation of the data race, with a varying number of lines of output such as this:
thread 2: o2=-4294947504, i2= -21, o1= 19792
The traditional solution for data races has been to create a lock. However, using atomic data can sometimes be more efficient. Loads and stores of atomic types are done with sequentially consistent semantics. In particular, if
thread-1 stores a value in an atomic variable named
x, and
thread-2 reads that value, then all other stores previously performed in
thread-1 (even to non-atomic objects) become visible to
thread-2. (The C11 and C++11 standards also provide other models of memory consistency, but even experts are cautioned to avoid them.)
The new header
<stdatomic.h> provides a large set of named types and functions for the manipulation of atomic data. For example,
atomic_llong is the typename provided for atomic
long long integers. Similar names are provided for all the integer types. One of these typenames,
atomic_flag, is required to be lock free. The standard includes a macro named
ATOMIC_VAR_INIT(n), for initializing atomic integers, as shown below.
The data race in the previous example can be cured by making
x an
atomic_llong variable. Simply change the one line that declares
x in the aforementioned code sample:
#include <stdatomic.h> atomic_llong x = ATOMIC_VAR_INIT(0);
By using this atomic variable, the code operates without producing any data-race output.


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I was going through my food photos and came across a few that I thought would be fun to share. These are ones that somehow got lost in posts I meant to write or got caught up in the dilemma of having nothing to say except that this tastes really good or got thrown to the wolves as just too basic to share. But, let's take a short trip through some of my archives and see what we can come up with.
So this is simple syrup infused with dried roses. I've made simple syrup here before, and while the mint version is fabulous, the rose variety is lovely to look at but that's where the loveliness ends.
This here is rainbow challah — my standard recipe filled with sprinkles and formed into a round challah for Rosh Hashana. This tradition was passed on to me by part of my extended Atlanta family.
These are some vegetables that I tossed with a balsamic reduction vinaigrette. The star here was clearly the vinaigrette. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I found the recipe that I used as my starting point. I remember reducing the balsamic by about a third, mixing with olive oil, salt, pepper, and mustard. And tossing it over sliced peppers and blanched asparagus.
Mmmm…yet another quinoa recipe. Actually, this one is worth sharing.
Lemon-Tahina Quinoa
Inspired by 101 Cookbooks' Lemon-scented Quinoa Salad.
– 1 C quinoa (I used a mix of white and red quinoa)
– 2 C water or amount called for by your quinoa package
– kosher salt to taste
– 1 garlic clove, chopped
– 1/4 C tahina
– 1/4 C lemon juice
– 2 T olive oil
– 2 T boiling water
– 1 can garbanzo beans
– chives
Make quinoa. Prepare quinoa as directed on package, or bring water to a boil, add salt and quinoa and return to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover for ~15 minutes. Remove from heat when the water has been absorbed and allow to cool, covered for 3-5 minutes.
Make dressing. Whisk the garlic, tahina, lemon juice, and olive oil. Add in boiling water to thin and salt to taste.
Assemble salad. Toss quinoa and garbanzo beans with dressing. Cut chives over top of salad before serving.


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Thursday, November 1, 2012
8 comments:
- Vuyo said...
I have literally laughed out loud and nodded in agreement at this post, from you stealing my tampons to the real fact that half of the world does bleed every month and yet we still treat this as taboo...I mean if we didn't bleed, there wouldn't be any babies born on a daily basis...I love the clip of the woman advising her daughter...I will surely do the same the day I am blessed with a little girl...Nice one babe!
- November 1, 2012 at 3:22 PM
and if you like me and get excruciating period pains, you were taught (not explicit, by from society's behaviour) as a young girl not to say you have period pains, when asked by a male you just said i got a stomach ache. Lucky thing is that some of us grow out of these norms, cant imagine telling your boyfriend or male friends that wena you get a tummy ache every month
- November 1, 2012 at 4:03 PM
- Unknown said...
I presume you grew up in Cape Town, and went to a private school, but your upbringing around puberty and womanhood sounds quaint, funny and painful at times. Presumably, many other women maybe having difficulty in choosing between pads/ tampons?
Well, personally, fortunately it's only once I had a girlfriend with period pains, and the experience was bad: it taught me to avoid dating such women: every month-end it was pains, pains and more pains.
Since then I've had women with painless periods, though I currently date one whose periods are irregular. Mostly, they prefer either pads or tampos.
My ex-fiancé, who's a top math teacher and has biology among her majors, told me the benefits of tampos over pads, and got me to prefer the latter, though she used both depending upon the flow.
She also taught me that the safest time, and best time to have sex is when a woman is in periods: there's no chance of her getting pregnant. And I've had sex during periods just as much as I did with her knowing we're both safe.
I find it absurdly priggish not to speak of periods, and your experiential silence and shaming over periods seems to ruminate from a foreign universe: it's unbelievable that people, at least urbanites, still behave in such a way over periods. It's ancient to think of periods as dirty; my girlfriend was shocked that I engage in cullingus even when she's in periods. This is an oddness ony part, co spidering that I shun on blood generally, but the lure of sex is too great to resist for blood that is just as clean: after all, untypical of blacks, I prefer my steak medium -rare, not well-done.
- November 1, 2012 at 4:53 PM
- Sabu said...
Finally! An honest, funny and endearing post about this seemingly elusive and highly irritating 'period' that half the world is subject to and the whole world would rather not talk about!Its funny because when I read this post I first cringed, gasped and wanted to close my laptop but I then went on to smile and laugh hysterically and by the end I was slightly emotional because you're right Milli we don't talk about periods because society has taught us to shut up about it. It's tiring, really.
I remember my LO teacher told me that when her daughter first got her period, she took her out to Wimpy for milkshakes; I'm going to do the same for my child because its gestures like that can change a woman's outlook on her body and on a process that is completely natural. My kid and I are going for milkshakes, although my double chocolate shake might be dashed with a little kahlua - for obvious reasons.
- November 1, 2012 at 9:25 PM
- Unknown said...
So glad you posted this. I also come from a time or rather started menstruating at a time when one was told that periods are/were a shameful thing. "Lucky" for me accidents didn't happen; mostly because of my aunts threats of a beating should i ever come back from school soiled - to this day, i'm quite finicky about pees coming unannounced lest an accident happens.
And yes, we also turned up our noses girls who made it obvious that there where on their pees either by admitting pain or by the tell tell wet brown patch slowly spreading across their behinds.
My mother wasn't there when i became a "woman" so my initiation came at the hands of different women with different ideas of how to go about it (insert fear mongering anecdotes laced with conservative christian practices with a splash of patriarchal traditions).
Thankfully i can now talk about all things menstruation with my mom, she gives me time off when the cramps come and she made me realise that its ok to actually admit and down all tools when its that time of the month.
Can only hope that such dialogue becomes more common and accessible to women. We need to talk about our reproductive/sexual health freely if there's any hope of staving most of the diseases that attack wombs, while shielded by the cover of taught silence.
- November 1, 2012 at 9:57 PM
- Unknown said...
Que buena entrada. Ya es hora que dejar los tabues. Saludos desde www.jualferx.blogspot.com
- November 2, 2012 at 12:14 AM
- LittleMissConceptions said...
Had the same good feeling when I was reading the Marie Claire Body Bill of Rights; 'Right #3 - my body has the right to bleed without shame, secrecy or fear'. Thank you for this...
- November 4, 2012 at 12:04 PM
- slomokazi said...
Recently a friend wrote on her facebook status about how she was having a bad bady, everything went wrong and to top if off she's on her periods. Was disturbing how the comments in the comments, no-one cared about what she was going through but were quick to discipline her for "too much info".
I also went to an all girls school and we were lucky to have the school organise us "the talk" formally in grade 8/std 6. They had a bilogy teacher and representatives from both a pad company and a tampon company tell us the pro's and cons of each. We were presented us with a sanitary pack so we could try both products out and make our own decisions.
I automatically became the tampon girl, and preferred pads only for sleep. I also took it upon myself to educate those who were not lucky enought o have the well-researched & presented talk that I did. My biggest hurdle though, was always my mom, who thought that tampons broke your hymen and were to be used by sexually active individualls only. If only they had invited our mothers to the talk as well...
- November 15, 2012 at 9:59 AM


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Michael Jackson has a chance to win artist of the year posthumously at the American Music Awards.
Fans will select winners by online voting. The awards will be televised Nov. 22 from Los Angeles on ABC.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Country Cutie Taylor Swift
Jackson is up against Lady Gaga, Eminem, Kings of Leon and Taylor Swift for the show's top honor. Jackson died in Los Angeles on June 25, in the midst of rehearsals for a comeback tour.
Country star Swift tops all artists with six nominations. Jackson has five and Eminem has four.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Fierce & Fabulous Fashion-Forward Looks Of Lady Gaga
PLAY IT NOW: Lady Gaga: Kanye West & I 'Mutually Decided To Cancel The Tour'
PLAY IT NOW: Taylor Swift Thanks Her Mom For Getting Her Through The Kanye West Debacle
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Music - Awards Season - ABC - Taylor Swift - Michael Jackson


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The only way you can Save to Win is if you're a member of a participating credit union. Already a credit union member? Take a look below and see if your credit union is participating. If your credit union isn't on the list you can either ask them to participate or join another credit union that's already part of Save to Win. Then, just go to your credit union and open a Save to Win share certificate.
Not a credit union member and want to Save to Win? It's a great time to join. Contact a credit union near you from the list below and join. You'll be saving and maybe even winning in no time!
In either case, you can't have prizes without some rules these days. Each participating Save to Win credit union has its own set of rules. You can either visit your participating credit union for a copy of the rules or view your credit union's rules in the list below.
See All Participating Credit Unions in AlabamaGo to main navigation


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Are we neglecting our soft power assets?
Last week saw the launch of a new global #softpower report, ranking the UK at the top of a 30-country index. Compiled by Portland, Facebook and ComRes, the report is described by Joseph Nye (who coined the term in 1990) as "the clearest picture to date of global soft power", and has ranked countries in six categories (enterprise, culture, digital, government, engagement, education).
There are quite a few of these indices around now, with varying methodologies – nevertheless, this is the first to incorporate data on government's online impact and international polling. Who's at the top of the tables isn't really surprising (the top 5 countries – UK, Germany, US, France, Canada – are identical to the top 5 in the Anholt-GFK Roper Nation Brand Index, but with a slight reordering of ranking). The US, Switzerland and France topped the specific categories, and although not first place in any of the categories, the UK ranked highest overall, reflecting its strength in culture, education, engagement & digital. More on the UK later.
What is really surprising is that China finishes last. Following a 2007 directive from Premier Hu Jintao, China has been investing heavily in soft power assets (such as the Xinhua news agency, aid/ development projects), at a time when others have been paring back their ambitions. Nevertheless, the impact of this investment isn't borne out in the results, likely hindered by negative perceptions of China's foreign policy, questionable domestic policies and a weakness in digital diplomacy. China came out strongest in the culture, likely reflective of the many Confucius Institutes dotted around the globe.
There are a few other interesting nuggets:
· Broader power trends are increasing the need for soft power – 3 factors driving global affairs away from bilateral diplomacy and hierarchies and toward a much more complex world of networks:
1. Rapid diffusion of power between states
2. Erosion of traditional power structures
3. Mass urbanisation


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Document Type
- Article (8) (remove)
Most automated theorem provers suffer from the problem thatthey can produce proofs only in formalisms difficult to understand even forexperienced mathematicians. Effort has been made to reconstruct naturaldeduction (ND) proofs from such machine generated proofs. Although thesingle steps in ND proofs are easy to understand, the entire proof is usuallyat a low level of abstraction, containing too many tedious steps. To obtainproofs similar to those found in mathematical textbooks, we propose a newformalism, called ND style proofs at the assertion level , where derivationsare mostly justified by the application of a definition or a theorem. Aftercharacterizing the structure of compound ND proof segments allowing asser-tion level justification, we show that the same derivations can be achieved bydomain-specific inference rules as well. Furthermore, these rules can be rep-resented compactly in a tree structure. Finally, we describe a system calledPROVERB , which substantially shortens ND proofs by abstracting them tothe assertion level and then transforms them into natural language.
Planning Argumentative Texts (1999)
This paper presents PROVERB a text planner forargumentative texts. PROVERB's main feature isthat it combines global hierarchical planning and un-planned organization of text with respect to local de-rivation relations in a complementary way. The formersplits the task of presenting a particular proof intosubtasks of presenting subproofs. The latter simulateshow the next intermediate conclusion to be presentedis chosen under the guidance of the local focus.
This paper deals with the reference choices involved in thegeneration of argumentative text. A piece of argument-ative text such as the proof of a mathematical theoremconveys a sequence of derivations. For each step of de-rivation, the premises (previously conveyed intermediateresults) and the inference method (such as the applica-tion of a particular theorem or definition) must be madeclear. The appropriateness of these references cruciallyaffects the quality of the text produced.Although not restricted to nominal phrases, our refer-ence decisions are similar to those concerning nominalsubsequent referring expressions: they depend on theavailability of the object referred to within a context andare sensitive to its attentional hierarchy . In this paper,we show how the current context can be appropriatelysegmented into an attentional hierarchy by viewing textgeneration as a combination of planned and unplannedbehavior, and how the discourse theory of Reichmann canbe adapted to handle our special reference problem.
Most automated theorem provers suffer from the problemthat the resulting proofs are difficult to understand even for experiencedmathematicians. An effective communication between the system andits users, however, is crucial for many applications, such as in a mathematical assistant system. Therefore, efforts have been made to transformmachine generated proofs (e.g. resolution proofs) into natural deduction(ND) proofs. The state-of-the-art procedure of proof transformation fol-lows basically its completeness proof: the premises and the conclusionare decomposed into unit literals, then the theorem is derived by mul-tiple levels of proofs by contradiction. Indeterminism is introduced byheuristics that aim at the production of more elegant results. This inde-terministic character entails not only a complex search, but also leads tounpredictable results.In this paper we first study resolution proofs in terms of meaningful op-erations employed by human mathematicians, and thereby establish acorrespondence between resolution proofs and ND proofs at a more ab-stract level. Concretely, we show that if its unit initial clauses are CNFsof literal premises of a problem, a unit resolution corresponds directly toa well-structured ND proof segment that mathematicians intuitively un-derstand as the application of a definition or a theorem. The consequenceis twofold: First it enhances our intuitive understanding of resolutionproofs in terms of the vocabulary with which mathematicians talk aboutproofs. Second, the transformation process is now largely deterministicand therefore efficient. This determinism also guarantees the quality ofresulting proofs.
In this article we formally describe a declarative approach for encoding plan operatorsin proof planning, the so-called methods. The notion of method evolves from the much studiedconcept tactic and was first used by Bundy. While significant deductive power has been achievedwith the planning approach towards automated deduction, the procedural character of the tacticpart of methods, however, hinders mechanical modification. Although the strength of a proofplanning system largely depends on powerful general procedures which solve a large class ofproblems, mechanical or even automated modification of methods is nevertheless necessary forat least two reasons. Firstly methods designed for a specific type of problem will never begeneral enough. For instance, it is very difficult to encode a general method which solves allproblems a human mathematician might intuitively consider as a case of homomorphy. Secondlythe cognitive ability of adapting existing methods to suit novel situations is a fundamentalpart of human mathematical competence. We believe it is extremely valuable to accountcomputationally for this kind of reasoning.The main part of this article is devoted to a declarative language for encoding methods,composed of a tactic and a specification. The major feature of our approach is that the tacticpart of a method is split into a declarative and a procedural part in order to enable a tractableadaption of methods. The applicability of a method in a planning situation is formulatedin the specification, essentially consisting of an object level formula schema and a meta-levelformula of a declarative constraint language. After setting up our general framework, wemainly concentrate on this constraint language. Furthermore we illustrate how our methodscan be used in a Strips-like planning framework. Finally we briefly illustrate the mechanicalmodification of declaratively encoded methods by so-called meta-methods.
Extending the planADbased paradigm for auto-mated theorem proving, we developed in previ-ous work a declarative approach towards rep-resenting methods in a proof planning frame-work to support their mechanical modification.This paper presents a detailed study of a classof particular methods, embodying variations ofa mathematical technique called diagonaliza-tion. The purpose of this paper is mainly two-fold. First we demonstrate that typical math-ematical methods can be represented in ourframework in a natural way. Second we illus-trate our philosophy of proof planning: besidesplanning with a fixed repertoire of methods,metaADmethods create new methods by modify-ing existing ones. With the help of three differ-ent diagonalization problems we present an ex-ample trace protocol of the evolution of meth-ods: an initial method is extracted from a par-ticular successful proof. This initial method isthen reformulated for the subsequent problems,and more general methods can be obtained byabstracting existing methods. Finally we comeup with a fairly abstract method capable ofdealing with all the three problems, since it cap-tures the very key idea of diagonalization.
In this paper we generalize the notion of method for proofplanning. While we adopt the general structure of methods introducedby Alan Bundy, we make an essential advancement in that we strictlyseparate the declarative knowledge from the procedural knowledge. Thischange of paradigm not only leads to representations easier to under-stand, it also enables modeling the important activity of formulatingmeta-methods, that is, operators that adapt the declarative part of exist-ing methods to suit novel situations. Thus this change of representationleads to a considerably strengthened planning mechanism.After presenting our declarative approach towards methods we describethe basic proof planning process with these. Then we define the notion ofmeta-method, provide an overview of practical examples and illustratehow meta-methods can be integrated into the planning process.


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Texas bucks U.S. trend in reporting multiracial students' scores
Multiracial students are being tallied for the first time in Texas history, but their standardized test scores won't appear as a separate group when accountability ratings are released Friday.
As it grapples with increasing diversity, Texas has opted not to measure the scores of the state's 78,419 multiracial, non-Hispanic students as an ethnic subgroup whose performance matters in determining whether a school made "adequate yearly progress."
Instead, they'll join the ranks of the 180,000 Asian students lumped in with their schools' entire student body for accountability purposes.
Texas continues to only hold three racial subgroups accountable: whites, blacks and Hispanics. Other states have expanded their systems to measure as many as eight ethnic and racial groups.
"I don't know why Texas would go back, while the rest of the country is going forward," said Susan Graham, a founder of Project RACE, a California-based group that advocates for multiracial students.
Racial and ethnic categories are important not only to students' sense of identity, but also to the researchers and educators who depend on accurate data on high-stakes tests to determine campus rankings and bonus pay, among other decisions. Schools can face sanctions as serious as being closed based on the performance of students in one ethnic subgroup.
A 2007 federal mandate now requires all states to ask student whether they are Hispanic or not Hispanic, and then whether they are white, black, Asian, American Indian or one of two new categories - Native Hawaiian or two or more races.
While Hispanic students may identify themselves as multiracial, the federal government has ruled that they won't be included in that tally. They want accurate results, but they don't want to gather cumbersome amounts of data.
"Through this system, there will be no double reporting of persons identifying with multiple races," according to a U.S. Department of Education document on the decision.
It's up to each state, however, to decide which racial groups to measure separately in its ratings. The Texas Education Agency has said a racial group should make up at least 10 percent of the state's student population to trigger inclusion.
African Americans, the smallest group in Texas, slipped to 13 percent in 2010, down 1 percentage point with the introduction of the multiracial category.
About 1.6 percent of Texas students identify themselves as "two or more races." (The percentage jumps to 3.4 when you exclude the 2.5 million Hispanic students who are ineligible under the federal guidelines.)
While Texas is sticking to its three racial categories, California - where 1.8 percent of student are multiracial - is among those expanding to include the group. Any California school with more than 100 multiracial students will be measured on those students' performance. State officials weren't sure how many campuses, if any, had a high enough concentration to be included in the ratings, which will be released there in August.
Some scores moved
As Texas transitions to the new categories this year, state officials have opted to return some multiracial students' scores to their previous category, if records indicate that the student was originally listed as white or African American. Their scores will only count in that previous category if they improve the school's rating.
State officials said they're aware of the concerns that could be created this year by allowing students to be moved between categories. The TEA will analyze data from districts and campuses with significant discrepancies in the percentages of multiracial students between fall 2010 and spring 2011, spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said.
Houston-area officials said they aren't sure what the new categories will mean to their ratings. Many districts have small numbers of multiracial students - Galena Park reported 110 - so chances are they would be inconsequential this year.
But the category is expected to grow quickly. Texas had 679,001 people self-identify as "two or more races" in the 2010 Census, up 32 percent from 2000.
'Part of both of us'
Advocates worry that the new guidelines don't allow students to accurately and specifically report their race and ethnicity. Many Hispanics, for instance, feel discounted because they cannot be considered multiracial, Graham said.
West Orange-Cove ISD parent Evelyn Smith is glad she no longer has to decide whether she should mark her mixed-race children as white or African-American. While they may look more like their father, Smith said she didn't like being cut out of the genetic equation.
"They're part of both of us," she said.
But the additional category is a hurdle for researchers attempting to track trends over time, said Bob Sanborn, CEO of Children at Risk, a Houston-based advocacy group.
"If you're trying to understand school performance under a microscope, mixed race is not really helpful," he said. "Multiracial doesn't act in a particular way."
Educators could, however, use the category to hide children whose performance could hurt another subgroup, he said.
"I like the idea of a mixed race category. I think it's a reflection of reality," Sanborn said. "It's a good thing for society. Researchers are going to have to adjust."


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The Dateline London foreign correspondents get to the heart of the shipbuilding jobs decision, recognising that it was Scottish politicians who made it political - and we know which ones - Iain Davidson and Alistair Carmichael, the so-called 'Scottish Secretary ...
NESRINE MALIK: "It did start out as a non-political decision, but has become politicised - by Scottish politicians. ---- It was the Scottish politicians who said 'If you do vote for independence, we will ensure that shipbuilding stays in the UK ..." (She means rUK!)
I can do no better than quote from Iain Macwhirter''s superb analysis in the Sunday Herald, part of eight pages of insightful coverage of the complexities to the decision-making processes that so cruelly affected Portsmouth, Govan and Scotstoun shipyards.
IAIN MACWHIRTER (Sunday Herald)
"The UK Government relied on the tribalism of Scottish politics and the willingness of anti-nationalist politicians to trash their own nests to create a climate of uncertainty around Scottish shipbuilding at the moment it won the security that eluded the Clyde for decades. There was an inability to recognise Scotland won for a change. Perhaps it is a kind of industrial defeatism Scotland has got so used to industrial closures we expect them.
"There is a parallel here with the Grangemouth petrochemical plant. The dispute there should never have been allowed to become a closure issue, and in allowing it to, the unions involved seemed to follow a 1980s script in which the workers always go down to heroic failure"


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I very much appreciate the fact that people have taken the me to read my postings and type a comment. I want to
No problem where there is an e-mail address given and I can do a personal message, but very often no address is obvious.
What is the best way of replying to comments on my own blog, so my response is seen and not just hidden away at the end of a posting readers may well not return to again. Am I wasting my time doing it this way, when my comments may not be viewed?
Do you keep track of blogs you comment on? With blogs on my regular reading list, this is not so much a problem in remembering, but I often add comments to particular posts that catch my attention on the daily Geneabloggers Beat. Should I be keeping note of these in case I get a response, so I can follow it up?
Should I be changing anything on my Settings tab?
Tuesday's Tip is one of many daily prompts from www.geneabloggers.com to encourage writers to record their family history


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The steel �hands� come together, holding the planet. The treasure the sculpture protects is one that will be opened in 50 years � showing future generations of Kinstonians and residents of Lenoir County what life was like in their home from 1911-2012.
The steel �hands� come together, holding the planet. The treasure the sculpture protects is one that will be opened in 50 years � showing future generations of Kinstonians and residents of Lenoir County what life was like in their home from 1911-2012.
A beautiful stainless steel and granite sculpture now rises about 10 feet above Centennial Corner at the corners of King and Herritage streets, above a time capsule that holds artifacts from Kinston and Lenoir County collected from the past century.
A ceremony dedicating the sculpture and time capsule was held Tuesday afternoon at Centennial Corner. The sculpture was the vision of Stephen Hill, the philanthropic businessman whose efforts have helped dramatically reshape downtown Kinston over the past decade or so.
�Art is a big part of my life and a big part of the life of my family,� Hill said. �It�s great to give back something to the community that�s such a beautiful piece. It�s public art and it�ll be here for decades to come.�
The piece was sculpted over the past three months by local artists Hanna and Jodi Jubran.
�I�m so glad the Hill family is making Kinston better every day,� Jodi Jubran said.
The significance behind the sculpture is special, Hill said.
�For hundreds of years, Kinston has sent things like cotton and tobacco into the world,� Hill said. �The hands are holding the world here; we�re going out into the world, but the hands of this community hold it all together.�
Photos and documents from the 100 years of the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce are in the time capsule, including special copies of The Free Press over the past century. There are also pieces and memorabilia from important Kinston businesses and organizations, including Lenoir Memorial Hospital, H. Stadiem and the Caswell Center.
�To me, one of the most interesting pieces in the capsule are the original copies of the Chamber minutes,� said Jan Parson, the director of special projects and events for the Chamber.
Kinston Mayor Pro Tem Joe Tyson greeted the 50 or so people at the rainy ceremony before turning the proceedings over to Arts Council Director Sandy Landis, who introduced the sculptors and the Hill family.
After the ceremony, Tyson said Tuesday�s was a historic ceremony.
�A day like this, along with the 250th anniversary, shows Kinston is moving forward,� Tyson said. �We have a grand history we should be proud of. Looking at our history, we see we should be able to continue to do grand things for another 100 years. This is a milestone and a great accomplishment of this city and this county that has every reason to move forward.�
Gracyn Murphy, Parson�s 4-year-old granddaughter and the daughter of Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy, clung tight to her grandmother while photos were being taken after the ceremony. Parson said she is excited about Gracyn � and the other dozen or so children who witnessed Tuesday�s ceremony � being in attendance at the capsule�s opening in November 2062.
�She can say, �I was here when it was buried and I was here when it was opened,� � Parson said. �Imagine how interesting it will be for her.�
Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at 252-559-1074 or at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter at BCHanks.


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Apple will boost its dividend by 56 percent to please and attract investors, according to reports.
The tech titan could raise its quarterly dividend to $4.14 a share, or an annual $15.7 billion, Bloomberg News reported. The rumor comes as a Apple chief Tim Cook deals with pressure from investors like David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital that are pushing for cash payouts.
"The accumulation of cash has become excessive," Brian White, an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets, told Bloomberg. "It doesn't matter which bearish scenario you forecast, they're never going to need this much cash."
U.S. & World
Analysts predict a dividend of $3.31 to $5.30 a share, according to Bloomberg. And at least one analyst said that Cook should step down. "There has been almost a $300 billion decline in value of this company," said analyst Laurence Balter. "Any CEO at the helm of any U.S. or international company that sat at their desk idly while this happened would be shown the door."
The last time a dividend was given in November investors went into a buying frenzy which also buoyed share price. As one analyst said, "You need to attract new investors, and I think one way to do that is to pay out a bigger dividend."


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Senior Firefox Community Support Lead – it's you we're looking for!
[Cross posting from my Mozilla blog.] There was some confusion! To be 100% clear this job can be anywhere there's an awesome internet connection. No need to be in the Bay Area. My apologies! Ever loved a piece of software … Continue reading


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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — The profane and hysterical "The Book of Mormon" ruled the Tony Awards, snagging honors Sunday for best musical, best book, best direction of a musical, best featured actress and two technical awards.
Nikki M. James, who plays a potential love interest in the musical about Mormon missionaries who travel to Uganda, dedicated the award to her dad, who died while she was in high school, and to her nephew Ozzie, who was born with kidney problems.
The show is one of the hottest in town and James said even cast members are having trouble getting tickets for their friends and family. "It's amazing to know you're going to walk out there every night and know you're going to see a house full of people," she said.
The best direction of a musical award went to Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker for "The Book of Mormon." Parker — as well as co-writers Matt Stone and Robert Lopez — later returned to the stage to accept the Tony for the best book of a musical.
The top directing prize for a play went to Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris for the weepy "War Horse," a World War I tale about horses told with puppets and actors. "We quite like it when people cry," Morris cracked backstage.
Two actors from the revival of the AIDS drama "The Normal Heart" — Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey — also won. Barkin, making her Broadway debut, was declared the best actress in a featured role in a play, while Hickey took home the male equivalent honor.
"It's the proudest moment of my career. Being involved in something this important is I think a once-in-a-career opportunity," said Barkin. Hickey warned his family in Texas that they'd better not be watching the Heat-Mavericks game instead of the Tonys.
EXTRA: Your Guide To The Tony Awards
John Larroquette, in his Broadway debut, won the award for best actor in a featured role in a musical for "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." He thanked his co-star Daniel Radcliffe, who was not nominated, saying that without the "Harry Potter" star he'd be "home, sitting in my underwear, watching this on television."
"The Book of Mormon" won two awards before the telecast even began — best orchestration and best original score. Kathleen Marshall won for best choreography for "Anything Goes." "War Horse" won for best sound design of a play and "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" got the costume award.
Host Neil Patrick Harris began the show at the Beacon Theatre with an exuberant, tongue-in-cheek song about how Broadway isn't just for gay people any more. The number featured a bevy of dancing nuns, sailors, flight attendants and Mormons: "Attention every breeder, you're invited to the theater!"
"The Book of Mormon" went into the Tonys with 14 nominations, one shy of the record held by "The Producers." The show, by the creators of "South Park" and "Avenue Q," has already been declared the season's best musical by the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama League and the New York Drama Critics' Circle.
The musical was the biggest new hit from a Broadway season that saw 42 shows open — 14 musicals, 25 plays and three specials. Box-office grosses soared to $1.08 billion while attendance reached 12.5 million, both up from last season.
Winning best musical was a considerable achievement for first-time Broadway playwrights Parker and Stone, who created the Emmy Award-winning "South Park" and feature-length films such as "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" and "Team America: World Police."
A mix of high art and low, the Mormon musical pays homage to such stalwarts as "The King and I" and "The Lion King," and references diarrhea, AIDS ravaged villages and sex with babies. A Mormon sacred book finds its way into a leading character's rectum.
This year's Tony's took place on Manhattan's Upper West Side after the ceremony was forced to leave its longtime home at Radio City Music Hall because Cirque du Soleil moved in. Tony producers picked the 3,000-seat Beacon Theatre, which has only about half as many seats as Radio City. CBS is televising the event.
Did you watch the Tony's? Comment below.
(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Are the mormon leaders buying their way to heaven? http://www.moneyteachers.org/Rothschilds+Gift+to+Mormons.htm
So far it's boring. Would much rather watch a ball game then this.
Since all "awards" are included in everybody's contracts before they even begin rehearsals, maybe somebody should just announce the "awards" in a press release and skip this whole TAXPAYER-FUNDED farce.
May you never smile or enjoy the sounds of music
I DO smile and enjoy music. What I DON'T enjoy is subsidizing FAKE "awards" (whether Tony, Academy, Grammy, People's Choice, etc.) with MY tax dollars.


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Top 10 Tips for Creating a Scandinavian Interior
By on in Inspiration
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Here at Freshome we know that our readers love Scandinavian design. Renowned for their simplicity, utility, and beauty, Scandinavian homes have a pure, pared backed style that is centred around warm functionality, clean lines, flawless craftsmanship and understated elegance. The use of light is considered to be extremely important, and many Scandinavian homes are characterized by the use of earthy muted tones, honest materials and minimal ornamentation.
Whilst we have featured countless Scandinavian interiors, we wanted to put together a guide to help you recreate the Scandi style in your own home. To do this we consulted the award-winning architectural interior designer Staffan Tollgard of Staffan Tollgard Design Group, which has bases in both London, UK and in the Algarve in Portugal. The group has won a number of prestigious design awards and Staffan has been selected by Conde Nast's House & Garden magazine as one of the top 100 leading interior designers.
In addition, Staffan was recently commissioned to create the main installation at the Scandinavia Show in London, where he created three Scandinavian rooms that encapsulated the best of Scandinavian design. Staffan created one room from the Gustavian period, one capturing the retro feel of the 50s and 60s, and the one showing design from the last 10-15 years.
Staffan kindly agreed to share his expert insights with us and has put together his top 10 tips for creating a Scandinavian interior. He stressed that there isn't ONE Scandinavian style but several. "The more decorative and traditional Gustavian design is just as much Swedish as the scaled back mid-century design. My list of tips incorporates items from several different Scandinavian styles," says Staffan.
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1. Floors
Wall to wall carpets never took off in Sweden and all truly Scandinavian interiors will have a wooden, preferably light, floor in all rooms apart from the bathrooms.
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2. Colour
White walls and cool grey and blue textiles definitely gives off the right ambience of a Scandinavian interior however there are more colourful textiles from the likes of Marimekko in the 60s pop vein and the much more decorative Josef Frank from the 40s. Both very different, both very Scandinavian.
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3. Materials
Wood, and don't be afraid to show it. Incorporate cladding on walls and even ceilings to add texture and warmth. Use a grey oil to take the yellow away from woods like pine or oak.
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4. Form
Clean lines from architecture to furniture.
5. Function
A truly Scandinavian interior is very liveable.
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6. Furniture
There are such incredible pieces from several manufacturers. From the mid-century period designers like Hans Wegner, Alvar Aalto and Arne Jacobsen stand out and their pieces are just as beautiful today as they were when they were conceived.
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7. Put a fireplace in the corner
Scandinavian winters are much harsher than those in the UK and most apartments and houses have an original fire in the living room. Unlike British fireplaces that are usually the focal point of a grand room, these are often very simple columns (many originals from the 19th century are beautifully tiled) and are located in the corner of the room.
8. Be eco-friendly
Swedes have been very quick to add eco-friendly aspects to their houses. Triple-glazing, proper insulation for walls and roofs, ground source heat pumps … all these are fairly standard in Swedish new builds.
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9. Add an outside/ inside room
Swedes generally love a connection with the outdoors so you'll find a balcony or terrace in even the smallest apartments. These are usually decked and used for grilling (Swedes rival Australia and South Africa in the bbq stakes) and entertaining outdoors during the late light nights of the summer.
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10. Scale back on accessories
Any Scandinavian would shudder at the sight of an English Victorian interior with little boxes housing the collection of little boxes. Declutter!
Freshome would like to thanks Staffan Tollgard for sharing his design insights with us. We'd love to know what you guys think about these tips and also if you have any tips of your own, so do leave us a comment below!


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Ways and means of improving food production in Britain and overseas against the background of high fuel prices and a growing demand for all land-based commodities will be discussed in Edinburgh today (10 February 2011) at a one-day conference organised by the Church of Scotland - writes Trevor Grundy.
"This is the first conference on food sustainability that the Church of Scotland has organised," the Rev Ian Galloway, Convener of the Church and Society Council, told ENInews.
"It will be attended by members of various church congregations, farmers, men and women involved in marketing, and it will be addressed by various speakers from Scotland's farming community.
"Delegates will discuss the questions and facts behind sustainable agriculture at home and overseas and highlight what members of Christian congregations can do to contribute to this sustainability," he said.
Food and agriculture is a subject of ongoing interest and importance in Scotland and globally. Conference organisers note that some Scottish farmers are facing real difficulties while huge subsidies are paid to others. In addition, they say, Scottish towns are witnessing the death of small shops and food outlets because of the spread of giant supermarkets throughout the UK.
These issues persuaded the Church and Society Council to investigate the meaning of 'sustainable agriculture' in more detail. "The investigation is focused on Scotland but must take into account development elsewhere. In particular, the council is interested to explore the question, 'What can congregations do?'" Galloway said.
Galloway explained that one aim of the conference, to be held at the Church of Scotland's head office, would be to develop a report with recommendations to the church's General Assembly 2012.
[With acknowledgements to ENInews. ENInews, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]


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Procurement Services Division
Welcome to the home page for the Procurement Services Division at The Citadel.
Mission Statement
The Procurement Services Division is here to support The Citadel by purchasing and providing the goods and services necessary for its educational, research, and public services missions; by managing the campus warehouse and distribution system and by accounting for fixed assets through property management.
We strive to understand the needs of our customers, be actively involved with the departments we serve, meet our obligations to them, exceed their expectations, and endeavor to build partnerships with them in developing practical and innovative solutions to their problems.
Our goal is to achieve and maintain a procurement system that empowers our customers to make good business decisions and to pursue excellence while maintaining good internal controls to insure accountability, compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and the responsible stewardship of the college's resources.
Procurement Summer Hours: June 29, 2020-August 7, 2020
Monday through Thursday: 6:30am-5:00pm
Friday: CLOSED
Visiting the Campus?
If you will be visiting the campus and looking for a place to stay while in the Charleston area follow this link to great values in accomodations - Hotels.
Copying/Printing Solutions
For your convenience we have provided links to Copying / Printing solutions for The Citadel.
MUSC University Press located at 122 Bee Street is operated by Jim Corr. You may reach him at 843-792-4927 or by e-mail at email@example.com; he and his staff will be delighted to help you with the printing of your business cards and other printing needs. The link to their website is:
You may also consider using the College of Charleston Copy Center located at 81 St Phillip St Bell Bldg Rm 501 (Mailing address: 66 George St). You may call them at 843.953.5924 or e-mail them at email@example.com. The link to their website is: http://copycenter.cofc.edu/ws Releases -New Contracts, "HOT" Deals, and More!
If we can be of assistance, please contact us at email@example.com


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Draw Something Loses 5M Users a Month After Zynga Takeover
Draw Something Lost 5M Users a Month After Zynga Takeover
According to the latest figures from AppData, it would appear that mobile games giant Zynga has shot itself in the foot.
In the past month, Draw Something has lost around 5 million daily active users, bringing the number down to around 10 million. 10 million daily active users is still a considerable amount, but the rate at which Draw Something is losing its players is alarming and worrying, especially since Zynga forked out a cool $180 million to acquire OMGPOP, the game's developers.
For quite some time now, Zynga's strategy in the mobile games market has been either to acquire its competitors, or, if that fails, make a similar version of the game themselves. It has since served them pretty well, but if these figures are anything to go by, it would seem that Zynga's strategy has finally backfired on itself. Zynga's stock prices have also suffered as a result, plummeting from a high of US$14.69 in early March to US$8.30 as of last week.
It also goes to show just how fickle the mobile gaming crowd can be.
Source: Forbes


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The flutter of blades within compressors and turbines is a serious cause of machine failure that is difficult to predict and expensive to correct. This aeromechanical phenomenon usually occurs at a blade natural frequency and involves sustained blade vibration resulting from the changing pressure field around the blade as it oscillates. For the process to occur, it is necessary that, over one cycle, there is an input of energy from the gas stream to the blade of a sufficient magnitude to overcome the mechanical damping.
Clearly, flutter is dependent on both the aerodynamic and structural characteristics of the blade, and, until recently, it has been beyond the design capability to satisfactorily investigate and avoid this phenomenon. Historically, empirical design criteria have been used based on parameters involving blade natural frequencies and flow transit times, but these methods fail to take into account generally found vibrational modes or the influence of adjacent blades.
Read Full Article


text: I'm a humor columnist, on-air lifestyle expert, Host of The Jenny Isenman Show on Cafe Mom, and a proud mama of two. I'm also a cellulite/wrinkle obsessed, pop-culture junkie and card carrying Gen Xer (oh, they have cards). I'm known as Jenny from the Blog at my site The Suburban Jungle. I guarantee that reading it will make you tanner, smarter, and reduces cellulite. Well, at the very least, it'll make you more literate.


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The Central Connecticut volleyball team earned a three set victory over St. Francis (NY) on Saturday afternoon. Senior Blaike King recorded her 1,000th career kill late in the first set and helped lead the Blue Devils with eight kills in the match.
Central earned set victories by scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-14.
The Blue Devil (12-10, 8-2 NEC) offense posted an excellent .352 hitting percentage in the match. Central connected for 42 kills on 91 total attacks with senior Jamie Rademacher leading the squad with nine kills and sophomore Rachel Dunlap posting a .500 hitting percentage.
Eight Blue Devils recorded multiple kills in the match led by Rademacher's nine. Senior Emily Cochran and King had eight kills, Dunlap (6), freshman Makenna Lommori (4), freshman Heather Trueman (3), senior Jennifer Waddill (2) and junior Veronika Ban (2) all contributed multiple kills in the match.
Defensively, the Blue Devils were led by Lommori, Dunlap, Rademacher and King. Lommori assisted on three blocks and had a solo, Dunlap assisted on three, Rademacher and King each contributed to a pair of blocks.
Sophomore Brittany Schumacher and senior Allyson Porter led the defense in digs. Schumacher recorded nine and Porter had seven. Lommori also chipped in with seven assists and Cochran added six.
Lommori assisted on 36 of the Blue Devils 42 kills, including King's 1,000th in the first set. Ahead 21-13 in the first set, Lommori set King, who delivered her second kill of the match and the 1,000th of her career.
Offensively, the Blue Devils played their best in the third set. CCSU collected 17 kills on 35 attacks with just four errors in the set. The Blue Devils .371 hitting percentage in the third was their best of the day.
The Blue Devils will host Fairleigh Dickinson tomorrow afternoon at Detrick Gym. That match will begin at 1 p.m.


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Many boomers reluctant to retire
Mike Steinharter's nest is half empty. His two oldest of four children are working, a third is a junior in college and his youngest has a year left in high school. But Steinharter, a baby boomer living in Weston, doesn't have plans to retire anytime soon.
"Like an athlete, I'll quit when I'm ready to quit," Steinharter, 54, said with a laugh. "I don't see myself working forever. I can picture a time when I'll spend more time with (my wife) Dale and in anticipation of grandchildren. But I don't see myself as a five-day-a-week golfer. I'd like to try a next career ... in a nonprofit."
After senior sales roles at technology and IT companies, Steinharter recently joined Falls Church, Va.-based CSC Corp. as a vice president. "While it's really hard work, I haven't had this much fun in years."
Steinharter is one of the optimistic and career-motivated baby boomers who came of age during some of America's greatest social changes, from civil and gay rights to the women's movement. The baby boomer generation includes people born between 1946 and 1964. The youngest baby boomers turn 50 this year while the oldest became eligible for Social Security at age 66 in 2012.
About a quarter of Fairfield County's 933,835 residents are boomers and remain a sizable part of the workforce with plans to keep working. But it is ironic that those in the "live to work" generation were more likely to lose jobs and join the long-term unemployed amid the Great Recession.
Whether by choice or financial necessity, boomers plan to work past the average age of 61 and the traditional retirement age of 66, according to a Gallup poll published in January. Forty-nine percent said they plan to work at least until age 66, including 1 in 10 who say they will never retire. Boomers who feel they "have enough money to do everything they want to do" expect to retire at age 66, while those who strongly disagreed with the statement predicted they will retire at 73.
Focus on opportunities
Connecticut's 50-plus labor force in 2013 was estimated at 662,849 or 35.8 percent of the workforce, of which 42,198 or 28.7 percent were jobless, according to a Connecticut General Assembly report. The December 2013 jobless rate, the most recent available, was 6.1 percent for Fairfield County and 7.4 percent for Connecticut. The national rate for February, released on Friday, stood at 6.7 percent.
"The thing of most concern to us in Connecticut, where we want policy to focus and what we're advocating, is job opportunity for those who want or need to stay working," said Nora Duncan, state director of AARP Connecticut, which represents 603,000 members. Duncan pointed to a May 2013 MetLife report on the oldest U.S. boomers that showed 54 percent who retired did so earlier than planned, largely because of health challenges or job losses.
While retiring boomers and discouraged job seekers who give up the search will lessen the number of Americans in the work force, something known as the participation rate, job experts say that will not translate anytime soon into a tight labor market with wage pressures.
`Significant labor shortage'
"The concern in Fairfield (County) for the age profile in the population is that you might see a significant labor shortage in the next decade. The national numbers say that all the increase in the labor force over the next decade will be for those 55 years and older," said Patrick Flaherty, an economist at the Connecticut Department of Labor in Wethersfield. "The effect of the recession is that folks delayed forming families and 20 years from now" the labor market will be tight.
Connecticut's workforce is aging and surpasses many other states in the percentage of seniors aged 65 plus who are still working. A Connecticut legislature December 2013 study found the overall percentage of women seniors in the workforce was 14.7 percent in 2011 and male seniors at 23.8 percent. The report noted that older workers were highly educated, a benefit of the overall work population as well.
More facelifts
As for how some boomers responded to the economic malaise, Dr. Joseph O'Connell, 58, a plastic surgeon in Westport, saw a "dramatic increase" for boomer facelifts and performed one a week in 2013. Dr. O'Connell said most patients are female from Fairfield County and want minimally invasive facelifts during "times of transition: divorce, the marriage of a son or daughter, job change or all of the above." Men don't feel the need to look younger to keep their jobs or job hunt, he said.
Cheryl VanVoorhies, 53, co-owner of La Jolie Salon & Spa in Stamford, worked with a business coach through the recession and hired junior stylists for clients wanting lower salon costs. Her client base is about 1/3 boomers and while clients may have been worried about finances, they didn't extend times between haircuts "because they want to look good. The big cutback we have heard is vacations."
Some boomers became their own boss by starting a business. "For some who are aspirational or entrepreneurial, maybe someone left their employer of 25 years, by choice or not, and decided it's time to pursue that dream," said AARP's Duncan. Connecticut AARP is co-sponsoring free workshops with the Small Business Association for would-be entrepreneurs ages 50+ and the next one will be April 1 in Danbury.
The Connecticut legislative report had an analysis of the survival rate of small businesses started in 2004. Researchers found that there was a 47 percent survival rate when the founders were younger than 45, but a 90 percent survival rate when the founders were at least 45 years old because of their broader contacts and greater self-awareness.
As for other good boomer news, economist Flaherty said, "There is evidence that folks delayed retirement as the values of their houses and investments declined. We're starting to see some evidence that those who delayed retirement during the worst of the recession are starting to ease up a bit."
Betty Wong is a freelance writer and media consultant in Greenwich.
After spending five years as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal at the start of her career, she spent the next two decades at Reuters News, where her last role in 2011 was global managing editor. Write to her at email@example.com.


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Have you tried installing Windows Vista from DVD yet? If so, have you been successful in getting it to install? I ask because some Vista beta testers haven't had very good luck installing the recent CTPs. Apparently, some users have been setting their burner speed to "Max" and letting 'er rip. The final outcome? A botched install.
For most of us, burning disks at slower speeds is a no-brainer, at least if we want to ensure that all the data has been copied properly. Then again, with blanks being as cheap as they are, I'm always one to give Alcohol's "Write Speed: Maximum" setting a click and hope for the best. However, Microsoft is warning speed demons, myself included, to lay off of the gas. In the release notes of the latest Vista build, 5456.5, the company makes the following suggestion:
When burning your DVDs please do so at 1x or 2x and CRC them when done using the CRC utility posted on the Connect site. The customer experience improvement telemetry that we've been getting back on Beta 2 shows that not quite three quarters of setup failures are the result of a failure to read from the media. Testing shows that burning at slower speeds greatly increases the chances of a good burn.
Burning DVDs at 1x is like watching paint dry and 2x isn't much better, but if around three quarters of failed installs occur because of a bad burn, then the company should not only include the passage, but it should also place the words in big bold letters on the download page as well. As for myself, I haven't run into any of these problems because I have been using VMWare for all of my Vista installs. It has worked perfectly for every build, and I highly recommend it to anyone that can spare the resources. For those that have no choice but to install from the DVD, you might save some time in the long run burning at 1x (it hurts me to say it) rather than getting 95% done with the setup and having it hang.


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Remember how good ol' Coach Neuheisal used to get around those pesky NCAA rules forbidding coaches from visiting recruits in their homes before a certain date? He'd sit across the street from their homes in his car, call them on his cellphone and tell the kid to look out the window so they could see him. Sure, technically Neuheisal didn't violate the letter of the law but he broke the spirit of the rule.
Well, it is to honor that sort of ethical compass that we here at the M Zone are pleased to hand out our first ever Rick Neuheisal Professional Integrity Award.
The envelope, please.
And the award goes to...
Richard Manship, President of WBRZ-TV and The Advocate newspaper.
As the President of the ABC TV affiliate and leading newspaper in Baton Rouge, home to LSU, his "news" organizations covered the Onepeat.com billboard story mentioned so often here. The story was an obvious one for his "news" outlets as LSU was the "offended" party at the core of the Onepeat campaign. But it was the "professional" way Mr. Manship's media companies covered the story that drew our attention and led us to bestow this award upon him.
As you know if you're a regular M Zone reader, we here disagree with the Onepeat premise. Furthermore, we questioned - and still do - the motives behind the folks doing this. Rumors swirled that the site's founder, the mysterious Dallas-based "Steve," was actually a UCLA Bruin. If true, that would certainly cast a different light on the reason for the billboard, making it not an attempt to "clear the air" and "right" some perceived slight to LSU by the media regarding the 2003 season but, more likely, "little brother syndrome" from living in USC's long football shadow the last couple of years. Such a disclosure might (rightfully) affect many people's desire to give money to the "cause."
In addition, asking for $10K anonymously on the Internet should be something legitimate news organizations, if they're inclined to cover the story, should want to know much more about in terms of who's behind it and why. Seems to us, a lowly blog (with a humorous bent at that), to be basic journalism.
So, naturally, when we found out Mr. Manship's TV station, WBRZ, did an interview with "Steve," we watched with baited breath to get more facts about this story. But, alas, it was if they were protecting the identity of a government informant. They had him on over the phone, didn't bother to get a last name and provided not one iota of anything to back up "Steve's" stated intentions or background. My three year old nephew gets more information from strangers when he answers the phone at my sister's house (If you haven't seen the "story" above, it really is worth watching for the humor of it all).
Next, Mr. Manship's newspaper, The Advocate, had BUSINESS WRITER Ted Griggs do a story on Onepeat.com revealing...nothing more. Griggs says the site's creator ("Steve") is remaining anonymous although he doesn't say why. He mentions that "Onepeat.com has been fodder for a number of sports blogs, many of them critical" but doesn't give anybody else's point of view as to their reasons for that. Then, finally, at the end of his story Griggs mentions, oh by the way, that Advocate President Richard Manship is donating a $1,000 to this anonymous website to help with the cause. Yeah, better not ask any important questions.
Does that raise any ethical questions? I think so. Then again, Mr. Manship is no stranger to such ethical issues at WBRZ and The Advocate. Last year, a weatherman at his WBRZ TV station had filled out a Neilsen ratings book causing the rating firm to have to reissue ratings due to the obvious bias against local competitor WAFB. When Mr. Manship was asked if there would be any disciplinary action taken against the weatherman in question, Manship said it was an internal matter and added, "I have bigger fish to fry."
Maybe those fish included billboards.
Actually, when you get right down to it, I guess my beef about this isn't even really about the billboard. In the end, who really cares? My profound disappointment is with the media and news outlets covering this "story." Because if they can't ask the tough questions - or get more information out to the public than any one of us can get from an anonymously run website - about the Onepeat.com stories of the world, how can we trust them to inform us and get to the bottom of the big stories?
Anyhoo, it is for these reasons we present Richard Manship with this award he so richly deserves.
Congratulations, Dick!
Note: "Steve" now claims he's an LSU alum in recent articles, something unmentioned in the first stories. A Seatlle-Post Intelligencer story says his allegiance is "unclear."
Friday, January 20, 2006
M Zone Rick Neuheisal Professional Integrity Award
1 comment:
- Benny Friedman said...
Fellow Michigan alum Mike Wallace has nothing on the M Zone. Great work!
- January 19, 2006 10:08 AM
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