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MONTREAL - For a year, they sat in the ER of the Jewish General Hospital, watching.
Researchers from McGill University's department of health sciences management, the observers counted patients as they arrived, by ambulance or on their own steam, inching their way past the triage nurse to wait their turn to see the doctor.
The visitors clocked nurses and watched physicians as they ordered tests. They took notes on how many beds there were and how many were occupied.
Among Montreal's overstretched emergency wards – on any given day, the average Montreal ER runs at 117 per cent capacity – the Jewish General is known for smooth delivery of services and shorter waiting times.
That's provided you think an average waiting time of 16 hours and 18 minutes is acceptable. (That's one hour and 18 minutes better than the provincial norm and roughly 18 hours better that the average wait at Maisonneuve-Rosemont.)
But imagine if the ER at the Jewish, which has been tagged for a $119.8 million overhaul by the end of 2012, could be better, more efficient, and patient-friendly.
And what if those improvements could be transposed and mimicked by other hospitals, in Montreal and beyond – wherever gurneys routinely line the hallways?
"There is a consensus that something needs to be done," says Vedat Verter, a professor of operations management at McGill University, where he's heading up the research project that has been using the Jewish General to create a computer simulated model of a working ER.
Once their model is proven to be a reliable replica of how the Jewish General's ER works, Verter's team will test how it could be improved, by something as basic as having more doctors on duty during peak hours, or having different entrances for ambulance and walk-in patients.
For Verter, founding president of the College of Healthcare Operations Management and organizer of an international conference on health care being held in Montreal next June, what needs to be done is fairly straightforward.
Put the patient at the centre of the system.
Do a better job managing costs, quality and access to health care.
Find and keep more family doctors.
Those waiting times in ER matter, and not only because time is money. Waiting is one of those infuriating things everyone can understand, a simple measure of how well, or how badly, the health care system is working in a period when the cost of being sick seems to be madly skyrocketing, both for the public purse and for the patient.
This year, Quebec expects to spend $28 billion – 44.7 per cent of its global budget – on health care. Total health expenditure, Canada 2007 Predictions are that the proportion of public money going to pay health costs will continue to swell as a larger proportion of the population gets older and frailer.
But Quebecers will spend another $11 billion on health care that isn't covered by government funds, paying for everything from private duty nurses and chiropractors to over-the-counter cough medicine.
Suddenly, it seems, we find ourselves shelling out for services that aren't covered by the Canada Health Act – everything from newfangled technologies and home-based chemotherapy treatment, which can run to $65,000 a year, to the antipsychotics or Ritalin many can't seem to function without.
In last spring's budget, Finance Minister Raymond Bachand announced a health tax of up to $200 per Quebec taxpayer to help offset the spiralling cost of health care.
Threats of a user fee of $25 per doctor's visit were dropped earlier this month, shouted down by an angry chorus of public opinion makers.
Meanwhile, the government has adopted a budget balancing measure that will slash $33.3 million from the administrative costs of local health care spending this year. David Levine, director of the Montreal Regional Health and Social Services Agency, insists the cuts, mainly to training and travel budgets, will have no impact on front-line services.
But before we start throwing more cash into the system – or taking it away – shouldn't we have a better idea of how the money we are already pumping into the system is being spent?
For instance, can Quebec, a province forever scrambling to train enough family doctors to go around, afford to invest $80 million a year on an enhanced in-vitro fertilization program?
Major improvements in drug treatments have been a godsend for many, allowing better control of hypertension and cholesterol, cancer, mental illness and HIV/AIDS, even supplanting the need for surgery in heart patients.
But are we allowing Big Pharma to dictate how we spend our money when we throw hundreds of millions into fighting a pandemic that doesn't pan out or when doctors prescribe daily doses of medications for illnesses that didn't even have a name when Tommy Douglas inspired Canadians to make free access to health care a pillar of our national identity?
Is too much money being spent on bureaucrats doling out bed pans and rubber gloves and too little being spent on nurses, home visits and respite care?
Are hospitals really doing the best they can do with their budgets? Does anyone even know the answer to these questions?
"Quebec must be reaching a level where it's got to wonder – with the proportion of its expenditure on debt and the proportion on health care, there is very little left in the middle for education and other important services," says Wendy Thomson, director of the School of Social Work at McGill.
"Before you start introducing user fees, before you start introducing more money into the system, I really think there is just a huge obligation, a duty, for us to know what we are getting for the current money that we spend."
A repatriated Montrealer who sits on the regional health board, Thomson played a key role in lauded reform of Britain's National Health Service during Tony Blair's term as prime minister.
There, she says, any new investment was clearly linked to "deliverables," targets set for improvements in the time it would take to see a general practitioner, be treated in the ER or get a new hip.
"We thought the political deal was that if you are going to spend more money on it, you've got to demonstrate to the public that they are going to get something better. I wish that sense of a deal was a little stronger here in Quebec. Because we still haven't heard what we are going to get for our health tax," Thomson said.
"Personally, I would be willing to see money being invested in better health care and put up with more potholes," says health care economist Erin Strumpf.
A McGill professor, Strumpf studies the cost, efficiency and impact of health policies.
"You might decide that being healthier and being alive longer … might be worth even more money. Or you could discover that the system could be organized differently for a better return and better outcomes."
Part of the challenge, she said, is measuring the outcomes, which basically comes down to how sick a patient was going into the health care system and how well they are when they leave.
The trouble, said Strumpf, is that data on outcomes is sketchy.
"The trickier part is inside the walls of the hospital, which is where patients tend to be sickest and where the most expensive procedures are performed. It is harder to track those costs. Essentially, the hospital gets what it spent the previous year, but how it is spent is up to them.
"It's a big black box."
Toss the words health care into a crowded room these days and brace yourself for the explosion of stories of yawning gaps in service or insurance coverage, of dubious uses of limited resources.
A co-worker spends a week in hospital waiting for heart bypass surgery. His condition is stable but sending him home would mean surrendering his place in the surgical hierarchy.
Your father is in agony, popping painkillers while waiting for a hernia operation. He's been told he won't go under the knife for at least five weeks. Now he's made up his mind to fork over the $2,500 and "go private," assuming he can find a surgeon with a hole in his schedule.
Your 92-year-old aunt doesn't have a family doctor. So when she gets a stomach ache, she trots down to the Montreal General, another non-emergency who will wait hours to see a physician, feeling increasingly more stressed, weary and agitated.
The hospital where you work has two gleaming CT scans side by side. Yet they stand idle for 20 hours of the day. No one seems to be able to explain why.
Nationally, health care costs now account for 11.9 per cent of Canada's economy.
The closer you are to the cradle or the grave, the higher your health costs. Babies under the age of one cost the health care system roughly $8,239. Average annual costs then drop for the next 60-odd years, when per-person health costs gradually rise to $10,470 for people 75 to 79 and $17,469 for people 80 and older.
Canada is the third highest spender on health care among 24 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Yet Canada also has the third highest rate of mortality from diabetes and the second highest rate on infant mortality.
The Conference Board of Canada predicts that within the next 15 years – the time it takes for today's young seniors to reach the ripe age of 75 – health care costs will account for 15 per cent of the county's gross national product.
But there are other new wrinkles in the middle-aged face of universal health care, ones that are only peripherally linked to the demographics of aging.
Up until 1997, the three major costs for health care in Quebec, as elsewhere in Canada, were hospitals, doctors and drugs.
Over the last 13 years, there has been a shift in the order. Hospitals still soak up the largest share of the pie, although its proportion of health care costs has dropped sharply, from 47 per cent 30 years ago to 28 per cent of the total.
Meanwhile, drug costs have soared, overtaking physicians to become the second largest expense.
While that's true across Canada, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reports the gap is wider in Quebec, where drug costs are higher than they are anywhere else in the country, and doctors earn less.
At the same time, individuals find themselves picking up a larger share of the tab.
No longer are out-of-pocket costs limited to visits to the dentist, physiotherapist and the eye doctor, which, by the way, account for 10.8 per cent of Canada's total health care costs.
Five years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark ruling in the case of Dr. Jacques Chaouilli paved the way for patients in Quebec who were fed up waiting for hip and knee surgery and other non-emergency procedures to opt out of the system – provided they are willing to pay the bill.
Premiums for private or group insurance account for 12.8 per cent of Canadians' health expenditures.
In 2007, a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Canada ranked third, behind the U.S. and Switzerland, when it came to private sector spending on health, which included both insurance and private payments.
Though we still end up paying through our taxes, at least Quebec's mandatory drug insurance plan helps cushion individuals from the blow of paying the full cost of prescription drugs, which have climbed from 10 to 17 per cent of the health care budget since 1985. Quebec's drug plan puts the annual cost of Aromasin, used to treat breast cancer, at $1,825, while Tarceva, approved for home use by patients with lung cancer, costs $19,465 a year.
Claude Lemay, manager of CIHI's Quebec office, sees a couple of explanations why drugs cost more in Quebec than they do in the rest of the country. Extended licensing protection for brand names was one of the carrots Quebec used to attract pharmaceutical companies to set up business here and the province may still see the pros of jobs and investment outweighing the cons of higher drug costs. And because everyone in the province is covered by a public or private drug plan, there may be less pressure for physicians to prescribe a less expensive medication that would be just as effective.
Quebecers have it relatively easy compared with residents of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, where checkerboard insurance coverage leaves many seasonal and self-employed workers without a safety net when illness strikes.
"What we are seeing is an evolution of health care coverage by postal code," says Aaron Levo, assistant director of national public issues for the Canadian Cancer Society, which is pushing hard for a national policy protecting those who need a "catastrophic drug plan" covering sophisticated cancer treatments administered at home that can cost as much as $74,500 a year. "New drug therapies have exposed gaps and disparities in coverage depending where you live and how much money you make."
Yet even in Quebec, a cancer patient undergoing a chemotherapy protocol at home or a senior with multiple prescriptions for chronic diseases can easily expect to spend up to $954 of their own money before reaching the annual spending cap.
For people at the bottom of the economic heap, paying even a fraction of the cost of medication and other treatments could be too much, prodding them to skimp or cut their prescriptions.
Robyn Tamblyn, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at McGill, published a study detailing the negative impact of drug cost-sharing schemes on the poor and the elderly.
"Cost-effectiveness rests on the assumption that individuals will have the capacity to pay for essential drugs and that they will make rational choices. ... Short-term savings in the drug budget may be offset by downstream costs in the treatment of potentially preventable illnesses."
Thomson said the issue of health inequality is a tough nut to crack, one which "isn't even on the agenda" in any practical way.
"Public health people worry about it and they write papers. But in the day-to-day lives of the health care world, the fact that you are going to die 10 or 15 years earlier in one part of Montreal than another part of Montreal isn't something they think has anything to do with them," Thomson said.
"Even with free access, if you want outcomes that are better for poor people, you need to put resources in a heavier and more concentrated way in those communities."
Earlier this month, the OECD added its voice to those who have been pushing Canada to relax health care rules to allow patients to pay for core services in an effort to contain costs and trim waiting times.
Hugh Scott, a physician and former executive director of the McGill University Health Centre, takes issue with doomsayers who argue privatization is inevitable as rising health care costs put the squeeze on budgets for education, roadwork and other essential services.
He points out that the fastest growing portions of the health care budget are drugs and medical research, with doctors' salaries and hospitals consuming an ever-smaller portion of public funds.
Rather than throwing in the towel on public health care, Scott calls for constant innovation and close, persistent scrutiny of the entire health care system to identify shortcomings and fix them. One area of particular concern for Scott, who managed the MUHC at a time when Quebec hospitals were struggling to recover from the budget-crunching of the early 1990s, has been the largely-unchecked growth of public health and administrative boards.
"There is a lot of room for improvement in the managerial skill of the people who actually manage health care systems," said Verter, who wants to take much of the guesswork out of the decision-making in health care institutions.
"You can increase the number of beds, you can increase the number of nurses, you can increase the number of physicians. Which one should you do? You can't do them all because you don't have enough money.
"The problem is that usually our intuitions are wrong. … And I can assure you that the head nurse is telling something to the chief and the attending physician is saying something else," Verter said.
"I don't think anyone seriously thinks that the (regional health councils) are in control of the hospitals," said Thomson. "They have no way of managing the doctors in the hospitals. All they can do to control costs is to take away some money and then the hospitals close beds and all hell breaks loose."
That's despite reams of documents and layers of red tape that prevent hospitals from buying a bed or a piece of machinery without the agency's approval. "The numbers which are available from the regional health agency don't make sense in any practical way."
Thomson said the first big hole in our health system is the lack of information.
"Ask any manager. What gets measured get managed And we don't have any information to manage," she said. "Two, there is no management of demand.
"That's why whenever anything new is needed here in Quebec, all we can do is add on extra funds. Give more money, because we don't have any way of shifting it from one thing to another."
To really run a public market like the health care system effectively, "you need to know how much it is costing you. And we have no idea," Thomson said.
"We know what a hospital spent and we know what all the hospitals together spent. We know what the establishments cost. But that's all we know."
Under the current structure, she said, there's no incentive for hospitals to operate more efficiently. "The more people who show up at the ER, the more work you have. The hospital is funded as an institution, not by activity. Doctors get to 'chik-chik,' but the hospital doesn't."
Nor, says Strumpf, is there a reliable way to measure cost-effectiveness of medical services delivered when physicians are paid by the visit. "When the doctor says, 'I want to see you again in two weeks,' it's difficult to know whether there is a real medical need to see you again or whether its because he or she will receive a payment for that service."
So what's the answer?
How do we get a grip on whether we need more money when we don't know whether the money we already have is being spent wisely?
CIHI's Lemay said concern is brewing over the cost of drugs, which have climbed from 10 to 17 per cent of total costs since 1985. He said it's also the only real area where he believes Quebec has room to manoeuvre. Ontario has recently moved toward capping the price of generic drugs and other provinces have been watching what happens there with keen interest.
Lemay said Quebec wouldn't dare do anything to cramp doctors' fees, particularly since they are already the lowest in the country and Quebec is already hard-pressed to find enough GPs to go around.
Indeed, Verter suggests getting a handle on the family doctor shortage could go a long way toward mending what ails us, and the health care budget.
"There is a sizable chunk of people who end up in the emergency department because they do not have access to a sufficient number of family physicians. So their condition worsens.
"You can't see a family physician, your situation worsens, you go to emergency, they do something, they discharge you, and a couple of weeks later you have to go back to emergency," Verter said, citing research showing a link between repeat visits to the ER by stroke patients and the likelihood of death in the short term.
"Almost everybody who goes to ER actually needs something. That's why they are there. ... Well, you can certainly affect the arrival process by charging them a fee. But an alternative would be to give them some other place to go and that, to be precise, would be a family physician."
Thomson thinks it would be useful to identify and track an episode of health care, from the time the patient showed up at the doctor's office with symptoms to the time they were well on the way to recovery.
"You'd want to know what that cost in different places in Quebec and different institutions so you can begin to see where costs were highest in that episode of care, how they could be reduced, and if there were lots of returns (to hospital)."
Having that kind of cost breakdown is crucial, perhaps more so when there is competition from private consortiums. "If you are going to buy a television set, you need to know what a television set costs. … And we don't have that kind of information on our health care system in Quebec."
Thomson said she is not suggesting anyone is "twiddling their thumbs or doing their nails. … I think they are working their socks off and they are anxious and they are worried. I think they are trying their best. But I don't think they have the kind of information they need to make a decision."
As someone who had a front-row seat as Britain's NHS slashed waiting times and made access to family doctors a keystone of its health care policy, Thomson can't help feeling Canada hasn't given enough thought to such central questions as "how service demand is expressed, how supply is organized, how funding is allocated, how services are regulated.
"Until you have really thought through how that is going to work, one piece against the other, it's really premature to start assuming that we need to spend more money."


text: Gardening is a solitary activity. But blogging about it is a social phenomenon! I don't make money from my blog by advertising, or use it to drive customers to a business. If you liked my post, or my writing or photography, or even just one picture or turn of phrase, I'd love to hear from you. That's how I get paid.

subset: commoncrawl


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Showing all 7 results
Ease of use
(Did you have a hard or easy time using the product?)
Cost/value for money
(Did the price match the product's quality?)
Hygiene, safety
(Is the product sanitary and safe for baby's use?)
Warranties, after-sales service
(Did you avail of warranties or after-sales service?
Were you happy with the service provided?)
Truth as advertised
(Did the product work as stated in ads or promotions?)


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Free Math Worksheets Third Grade 3 Geometry Quadrilaterals Properties - Options include all our kindergarten worksheets, which set the basis for developmental mathematics, writing, and reading skills through tasks which vary from easy addition and sight words into vowel sounds and consonant blends. With neat topics like circus mathematics and color by number dinosaurs and butterflies, our kindergarten worksheets are as entertaining as they are educational, meaning that your little student will soon be begging you to perform additional work if she gets home from college.
US A1 Arrays and artificial receptors Google from free math worksheets third grade 3 geometry quadrilaterals properties , source:google.com
Kindergarten is where many children are exposed to a structured academic environment where a particular degree of attention is anticipated. For many others, it may be hard, and those struggles occasionally lead to classroom conflicts which impede the learning procedure. Happily, we provide a huge source of free kindergarten worksheets that teachers and parents may utilize to supply young students with a few much-needed academic aid -- and improved confidence.
philips na730 manual from free math worksheets third grade 3 geometry quadrilaterals properties , source:philips-na730-manual.afamca.org
When using these simple kindergarten worksheets in your home, parents should think about establishing a designated workspace (a table or desk ) stocked with all the required supplies so that the child can concentrate on the tasks at hand. To minimize frustration, make certain to give clear directions for every worksheet, and place time limits for completion. Every one these steps can help mimic the classroom experience and make your child more comfortable with all the everyday rigours of college life. And do not forget to supplement the kindergarten worksheets with some arty pages to provide the youngster both a psychological and imaginative break.


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Nicki Minaj was turned away from her own record launch release celebration in New York.
Our source said that the 29-year-old "Starships" artist was planning to be present at the party but was denied access from Greenhouse club (the owners of Greenhouse are the same owners of WIP, the site of the Drake and Chris Brown brawl). Nicki showed up with her boyfriend/hypeman and an entourage of 25-30 people at 3:30 a.m. READ MORE
Archive for 'Nicki Minaj Album Release Party'
Nicki Minaj denied access to her album release party
Sunday, November 25th, 2012 at 9:51 am


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4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Worst place to be sentenced: The 16th Circuit, which includes Charlottesville and Albemarle, where the judges exceed sentencing guidelines 13.7 percent of the time, according to a Tasha Kates at the Daily Progress.
Worst jail: Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, where Guido R. Newbrough, 48, a German who lived in the U.S. for 42 years, is denied medical care for 10 days and dies in immigration custody November 28 from an infection of his heart valves after being dragged by the leg to solitary, according to a New York Times article. In 2006, Abdoulai Sall, 50, dies of kidney failure at the same jail, also while in immigration custody.
Worst news for realtors: The county will start enforcing the ban against signs in the right of way, and offenders will be fined $100.
Worst/best news for property owners: Despite the glut of unsold houses, residential property assessments go up an average 1.02 percent in Charlottesville, while in Albemarle, residential assessments drop an average of 2.59 percent in 2008.
Best potential windfall for local schools: Albemarle schools could end up with $5.6 million and Charlottesville with $4.8 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed January 28 in the House of Representatives, according to a release from Congressman Tom Perriello– if the Senate passes the bill.
Best newspaper readership: UVA Student Council votes to continue the popular free giveaway of the New York Times in Newcomb Hall without raising student fees, but will drop the costlier USA Today, the Cav Daily reports.
Most sexual assaults: Andrew Reid Bechtle, 20, is sentenced to four years in prison January 28 for two separate assaults in a plea agreement, according to the Progress. Bechtle pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery and carnal knowledge for incidents in June and December 2007, although other women allegedly told prosecutor Darby Lowe that Bechtle had assaulted them as well.
Most protected: Albemarle County added almost 3,000 acres to its Acquisition of Conservation Easements program in 2008, which puts 16 percent of the county's rural areas under permanent protection from development.
Most depressed: Medical students, 21 percent of whom suffer depression, compared to eight to 15 percent of the general young adult population, according to Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Long hours and lack of experience with being ranked below average could be contributing factors, the CD reports.
First dean: Harry Harding is named founding dean of the Frank Batten Sr. School of Leadership and Public Policy, UVA's newest school, thanks to a $100 million gift from Batten. Harding comes from George Washington University and is a preeminent China scholar, according to a release.
Second-highest ranking Homeland Security lawyer: UVA law prof David Martin is named principal deputy general counsel January 29. His boss, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, is a former student and 1983 UVA law grad.
Biggest loss: Media General, parent company of the Daily Progress, loses $85.5 million in the fourth quarter and $631.9 million for the year.
Smallest loss: UVA's endowment decreases a more modest $30.5 million in December, compared to the $1.3 billion it lost between July and November, bringing the pot down from $5.1 billion June 30 to $3.88 billion at the end of 2008.
Biggest piece of the bailout pie: Charlottesville-based StellarOne (a 63-branch bank HQ'd at Peter Jefferson Place) gets $30 million from the U.S. Treasury despite being considered financially healthy, Neil H. Simon reports for Media General.
Best Charlottesville Super Bowl connection: UVA alums Heath Miller and James Farrior each win their second Super Bowl rings as part of the Pittsburgh Steelers team that beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on February 1.


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"CM: We polled our readers informally a year ago to find out which industry had the worst customer service, and cable and telecom had the absolute worst. That's because there's little or no competition; with cable, for example, customers have no decision to make regarding the the cable provider they get, so there's no vested interest for the companies to improve customer service."
OMG, this is so true...I'm fired up just thinking about it!!! We recently had another terrible experience with a cable company, and I just want to shout from the rooftops about how bad it was. (I guess I did by posting about it at our blog here http://wp.me/p2sJ0c-2H. Sorry for the blatant self-promotion.)
Why is it that there is no competition for cable companies? It seems to me that would in some way be a violation of antitrust laws. Nothing frustrates me more than dealing with these incompetent, rude, lazy companies. Along with the outrageous prices they charge for dozens of channels that nobody watches, their utter lack of customer service has caused me to get rid of my cable tv subscription. Once I got off the juice, I liked it, and I'll never have cable again.


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Jennifer Lawrence didn't rip her dress Sunday night at the SAG Awards, but the Silver Linings Playbook star did inadvertently flash a bit more skin than she'd planned on.
The Oscar-nominated actress dropped by Piers Morgan Tonight Thursday and watched her wardrobe malfunction (which just happened to be the way her Christian Dior gown shifted) for the first time.
Jennifer didn't let pneumonia get in the way of the SAG Awards
U.S. & World
"Oh, god. Oh," she laughs, watching as the dress' tier drops and reveals the frock's sheer lining. "My pants fell off."
"Somebody trips me on the way, I remember that," she recalls. "And yeah--there it starts to fall off. And then I'm keeping it together, keeping it together, then my pants fall off again!"
Clearly, Jennifer doesn't take herself too seriously. And amazingly, she's still humble about her good looks.
Did we mention Jen's boobs are uneven?
When Piers asks if she finds herself "sexy," she adamantly tells him, "No!"
"What do you think when you look in the mirror?" Piers asks.
Jennifer stammers for a few seconds and then adorably says, "I try and figure out what to do with what I got."
And that is why we love her.


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William Woys Weaver: Trading Bees for Seeds
June 22, 2012 at 2:00 am smithsoniangardens 3 comments
If you've been following our twitter and facebook page, you've been learning about our newly planted vegetable garden at the southwest corner of the National Museum of American History. The Gillette Family Garden is an important adjunct to the current exhibit, "Slavery at Monticello: Paradox of Liberty." http://www.monticello.org/slavery-at-monticello/about/breaking-ground-gillette-family-garden
Out of all the vegetables in the garden, the fish pepper is likely to have the most interesting history. Fish peppers are dated to the early nineteenth century, where they were popularly grown as an heirloom vegetable by African Americans in Philadelphia and Baltimore. The green, inconspicuous fish pepper was often the secret ingredient in fish and shellfish cookery, passed down in recipes communicated through oral history.
The story of these peppers' mid-twentieth century rediscovery may be traced to an important barter made by men trading bees for seeds. In the 1940s, Horace Pippin of West Chester, Pennsylvania, sought a unique remedy for his war wounds. Learning that bee stings may relieve the pain of his wounds, Pippin bought bees from H. Ralph Weaver.
In exchange, Pippin offered what he had – tons of interesting vegetable seeds, including the rare fish pepper, for what would become the Roughwood Seed Collection, run by Weaver's grandson, William Woys Weaver. For the first time, the fish pepper was advertised to the public on a grand scale when William Woys Weaver offered the seeds in the 1995 Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook.
The garden will be on view during the length of the new exhibit, ending October 14, 2012. For more info on the exhibit, see http://ow.ly/bQgBF
To purchase your own fish peppers, go to http://ow.ly/bs0Yc
Kristina Borrman, Katzenberger Art History Intern
Entry filed under: Garden History, Horticulture. Tags: African-American, fish pepper, Gillette Family Garden, heirloom vegetable, Monticello, vegetable garden.
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[…] William Woys Weaver: Trading Bees for Seeds […]
Does Smithsonian Gardens eat what their garden produces? Is there anyway to try fish peppers at the Smithsonian cafes?
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Teaching/Work Experience
I worked for 15 years as a Training Director for a bank in Everett, Washington.
Upon returning to North Dakota I worked at OtterTail Power Company for 5 years. Prior to going to Washington State I worked for 22 years in the banking industry in Fargo.
Enderlin, ND
Family Members
My husband, Bob, three children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Other Interests
reading, flower gardening, relaxing at the lake
Additional Information


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Hi everyone, i'm new and I am struggling with a problem, please anyone help.
I created a GUI using JTextPane and i've got it working, I have created a working trie tree and I am trying to implement a realtime spellchecker.
What my program does according to my logic at the moment is if a word is not found in my trie, the word is changed to the color red.
I know my trie is working because I system out the words that aren't in the TRIE and it does so correctly. Now when I go into the if statement for when a word isn't in the trie I try the setCharacterAttributes method on the word from its starting index to the end of the word. the indexes work because I output them too and they are correct, I counted them myself to make sure, here is my code:
Oh and by the way this is when I open an existing text file.System.out.println("Misspelled words: "); int indexS = 0, indexE = 0; String all = createGui.ta.getText(); SimpleAttributeSet attrs = new SimpleAttributeSet();; StyleConstants.setForeground(attrs, Color.red); StyledDocument doc = createGui.ta.getStyledDocument(); while(true) { readWord(fIn); if(!trie.found(s)) { indexS = all.indexOf(s.toLowerCase()); System.out.println(s + " on line: " + lineNum); indexE = indexS+s.length()-1; System.out.println("indexS is at: " + indexS); System.out.println("indexE is at: " + indexE); doc.setCharacterAttributes(indexS,indexE, attrs, false); } if(ch == -1) break; }
Here is the GUI and output I receive from netbeans:
As you can see it isn't highlighting correctly, I'm not sure why, please help I've been struggling for hours.


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Clip in hair extensions from: FoxyLocksExtensions.com
Sunday, 19 June 2011
How To Put Your Hair Up (Ponytail) Using Clip In Hair Extensions - Tutorial (Foxy Locks)
Clip in hair extensions from: FoxyLocksExtensions.com
13 comments:
Looks really beautiful! ♥ReplyDelete
gorgeous and yes it does look very natural.ReplyDelete
This looks so beautiful, i love your hair :)ReplyDelete
Love Christine ♥
It's effortlessly beautiful! :-)ReplyDelete
Love it, ill try it tomorrow :) <3ReplyDelete
I've needed this for so long! Thank you <3ReplyDelete
Bless :') xxxx
I love your hair.. it always looks so beautiful.ReplyDelete
I started a new Beauty Blog and was hoping that you would be so kind to check it out and "follow" me. I would appreciate it so so so much.
Thank you so much sweetheart!!
Hugs & Kisses
I love this tutorial Imogen! The thick voluminous hair ponytail is so sexy but simple - thanks for doing a video showing us how with clip in extensions. Very helpful :)ReplyDelete
I would never guess those were extensions. Great job ;)ReplyDelete
Very good tutorial!ReplyDelete
gorgeous! :)ReplyDelete
love love love this. you're gorgeous. so glad I came across your blog. I'm following, I hope you will as well. I started my blog a little over 3 months ago after graduating from college in the south and moving across the country to LA. The site's all about celebrity fashion from the point of view of an LA stylist. I'd love if if you'd stop by to see multiple post a day on all the latest celebrity fashion news. Any support would be awesome. Thanks love. xoxoReplyDelete


text:
Check Out Ali Lohan's Short New Do
The 18-year-old steps out in New York with a short new bob
X17 Online; Alo Ceballos/FilmMagic
Someone's got a new look: Ali Lohan stepped out in New York City on Monday showcasing a shorter new do. The blunt shoulder-length bob is a fairly big change from the longer, curlier hairstyle the 18-year-old used to sport.
Lohan — a sometimes-model who's faced plastic surgery rumors in recent months — was in the Big Apple for a few days to support big sis Lindsay, who received praise for her work on last weekend's
Saturday Night Live
. Tell us: What do you think of Lohan's haircut?


text:
This challenge required some considerable background reading on my part, but the subject is of particular interest to me. Not only was I involved in the gold exploration industry for some fifteen years, but I've long had a fascination with historic gold rushes and the motley cast of characters who often played a part in them, such as the Californian forty-niners (1849), the Witwatersrand uitlanders (1886) and the Klondike stampeders (1897).
Print by Burton Brothers, Dunedin
Image © and courtesy of National Gallery of Australia
Accn No: NGA 2007.81.119AB
Prior to the 1860s the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island was an almost completely uninhabited no-man's land, the steep forest-encrusted and almost inpenetrable slopes and rocky, surf-pounded coasts with few natural harbours discouraging all but a few passing explorers. Maori visitors, who succeeded in extracting prized pounamu from the river valleys and mountain peaks, and pakeha whalers briefly occupied a few temporary shore stations, but neither group left much in the way of permanent settlements. District boundaries tended to be merely lines drawn on the maps by the colonial state authorities with little real meaning on the ground. In 1861 Charles Hursthouse described it as "a savage, gloomy country, silent, desolate and dreary ... this vast tract is unpeopled; millions of acres have never been trodden by human foot ... fresh from nature's rudest mint, untouched by hand of man.," but then went on to predict with pinpoint accuracy the forthcoming means of change: "... this part ... has as yet been very partially explored ... [but] may prove to be New Zealand's 'Gold Coast'." [1]
Wood engraving published in The Illustrated Australian News
Image © and courtesy of State Library of Victoria
Accession no IAN10/07/76/104
Between 1865 and 1867 a sequence of events shattered this isolation forever. In the early 1860s the province of Otago, situated on the other side of the Southern Alps, had experienced a gold rush the likes of which had never before been seen in New Zealand. As individual diggings like Gabriel's Gully suffered declining yields of the royal metal, prospectors looked further afield towards the West Coast, walking overland through the dripping, verdant forests and exploring by boat the shingle beaches and rivers along the wild, rocky coast. [2]
Albumen print, 120 x 200 mm, on album page
Image © Alexander Turnbull Library and courtesy of Timeframes
Reference No. PA1-q-069-02-1
On the 27th February 1865 the landing in Nelson of an single enormous shipment of gold from diggings at Hokitika, equal to the entire production from the previous year, precipitated a tremendous rush. Within a matter of weeks word had spread, not only to Wellington, across the Cook Strait, and more distant provinces such as Canterbury and Otago, but also across the Tasman to Victoria and New South Wales. Diggers braved the wild seas, cramming every available sea-going vessel, and travelled to the new finds by any means they could find. Settlements began to spring up in the Waimea Valley, Okarito, Greymouth and the Pakihi, between the Buller and Grey Rivers. [3]
Image © Alexander Turnbull Library and courtesy of Timeframes
Reference No. 1/2-055911-F
Almost overnight clusters of scruffy tents mushroomed into bustling towns with narrow streets, elaborate wooden buildings, hotels and dancing girls. [4] Perhaps the greatest of these in the history of the West Coast was the Charleston rush, reaching a peak between 1867 and 1870 with a population of around 5,000. [5] Boats bringing in both prospectors and supplies braved the narrow and treacherous entrance to the tiny Constant Bay, with wrecks and tragedy a common occurrence. [6]
Charleston, West Coast, New Zealand
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
One of the many hundreds of people who set up shop in Charleston to take advantage of the tremendous increase in trade was photographer Herbert H. Vorley. [7] Although born to a wealthy merchant family in London he emigrated to New Zealand in the mid-1860s, arriving on the West Coast and setting up as a photographer and phrenologist in the town of Westport prior to 1867. While maintaining this studio, he is also known to have operated branch studios in Charleston (1867, 1869, 1873 & 1875), Hokitika (1870), Buller (1874 & 1877) and Reefton (1877-78). [8]
Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
It seems likely from the nature of advertisements in the Grey River Argus, the West Coast Times and the Inangahua Times between 1875 and 1878 that the branch studios were open only intermittently, and on occasion staffed by managers or employees. A detailed examination of back issues of the Charleston Herald - sadly not yet included in Papers Past, the National Library of New Zealand's otherwise comprehensive digital coverage of old newspapers - may be they key to determining more precisely the dates of Vorley's presence in Charleston. [9] An inheritance received after the death of an English aunt in January 1879 enabled Vorley and his family to leave Westport in May that year and return to England, where he died a year later. [10]
Image © University if Southern California Regional History Center, CHS/TICOR Collection and courtesy of the History Computerization Project
The gold output of the Charleston area, in tune with the "boom and bust" cycles experienced in all of the other gold fields, was already waning by the early 1870s and the population dwindled rapidly, with many leaving to try their luck in newer fields such as Thames on the North Island. [3] Other enterprising diggers remained in the area and a large and well documented group of Scots from the Shetland Islands turned their hand to washing gold at Nine-Mile Beach, a short distance north of Charleston. Although the alluvial beach deposits had been discovered and worked by other beachcombers using fairly primitive methods a few years earlier, the first of the Shetlanders to arrive, in January 1870, were Magnus Mouat and Gilbert Harper from the village of Norwick on the northernmost island of Unst. [11]
Lantern Slide
from Chips of the Auld Rock publ. 1997
Image © and courtesy of Wellington Shetland Society
Having spent a couple of years wandering the Queensland, New South Wales and Bathurst gold fields and eight months at Bradshaw's Creek near the Buller River with little to show for their efforts, the auriferous black sands at the southern end of Nine-Mile Beach appeared to offer more promise. [11] So much, it appears, that sent word to other members of the original Unst party who had wandered elsewhere in Melbourne and Otago, and wrote to friends and family back home in Unst.
© Copyright Mike Pennington, courtesy of Geograph.co.uk
& licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
A dwindling of traditional fishing and farming opportunities, as well as clearances in the Shetlands, coincided with timely offers of assisted passage from Sir Julius Vogel's recruitment drives and immigration schemes. [12] Over the next few years a large number of families joined them, such that by 1877 it was estimated that there were about a hundred Unstmen working the sands at Nine-Mile. In November 1875, the provincial government surveyor was kept very busy surveying new leases and extended claims on Nine Mile Beach. [13] Magnus Mouat himself went home for a couple of years, during which time he married, returning to the West Coast goldfields with wife and baby aboard the Howrah in November 1876. [14]
(L-R) Magnus Johnson, John Madden, James Mouat, J.R. Mouat, Gilbert Harper & James Harper
Image © Alexander Turnbull Library and courtesy of Timeframes
Reference number: PAColl-6181-35
The Shetlanders were strong, practical men and soon improved their chances by purchasing most of the claims on Nine-Mile Beach and by developing new methods of extracting fine gold from the layers of black beach sands. Apart from the building of extensive tail races or flumes by Messrs. Hall, Parsons and Harle to bring to the beach the water so essential to the operation, already well under way by March 1872 [15][16], the Shetlanders made significant improvements to the washing process, designing the multi-tier mobile washing tables, or "beach boxes." These devices are illustrated in the images above and below, while the tail races are clearly visible in the background of the lower image.
William Harper (left) and John Mouat (right)
Image © Alexander Turnbull Library and courtesy of Timeframes
Reference number: 1/2-015698-F
The Charleston Herald (reported in the Grey River Argus) remarked on their good fortune although it was, no doubt, mixed in with decent proportion of hard slog:
1 December 1876
The beach claims in Second Bay and on the Nile and Nine-mile Beach, have for the past five or six months been paying exceedingly well. The men on Nine-mile Beach have been very fortunate, they having during the above-mentioned term been earning on an average from 25s. to 30s. per day.
6 July 1878
since the late stormy weather, accompanied by heavy south-west gales, the Nine-Mile Beach claims are paying splendidly, some of the miners who work long hours netting as much as £12 per man per week. It is said, and with a good deal of truth, that the mining property, dams included, sold some six years ago by Mr Fred Hall for the sum of four or five hundred pounds, to-day is worth as many thousands. This tells well in favour of the healthy condition of mining matters in this district.
13 August 1878
One of the beach claims which was only the other day taken upon the Nine-mile Beach, on the Northern limit, having hitherto being lying idle, was sold last week by Mr Thomas Humphries to Mr Sullivan for the sum of £50. At present there are more beachcombers at work on the Nine-mile Beach than has been remembered for the last six or seven years, and the lowest wages made by them is £3 and £4 per week, the highest being £10 and £12. The beach has "made" so much that the men are sure that payable ground exists to within close limits to the Totara river - a distance from the north claim, now work of about two miles. At present the water is not conveyed any distance along the beach, so that there is little probability of the ground now lying dormant being worked just yet, though we hear that it would be a very easy matter to bring water to the ground.
Carte de visite by H.H. Vorley of Westport, Charleston & Reefton
Image © and courtesy of Nola Sinclair
Nola Sinclair's husband's ancestor James Mouat Harper (1832-1918) arrived with his wife Margaret (née Anderson) (1836-1918) and eight children [17] in Nelson in January 1876, after a three month trip from Unst. They were part of a large group aboard the Caroline making their way to Charleston where a great Unst reunion was subsequently held. [11] The carte de visite portrait shown above depicts a large group of nine men, women and children standing in front of a wooden building, with a backdrop of moderate sized trees. The house has a cylindrical water tank, apparently for collecting water off the roof via the visible gutters and down-pipes, and a timber(and corrugated iron?)-encased chimney to the left. There is also a wood picket fence in the right foreground, possibly enclosing a vegetable garden.
Carte de visite by H.H. Vorley of Westport, Charleston & Reefton
Image © and courtesy of Joan Robertson
Nola also sent me this image of another carte de visite, which she had received from Joan Robertson, a distant cousin of her husband's still living in the Shetlands. It is very similar, although not identical, to the one that Nola has in her collection.
Detail of carte de visites by H.H. Vorley
Image © and courtesy of Nola Sinclair
A comparison of detailed scans elucidates some differences: most of the figures have moved slightly, and in the second shot there is an additional male adult figure standing immediately to the right of the doorway. The only adult female is standing at the extreme left of the group. The youngest of the children, standing at second from left, is perhaps three or four years old; the clothes suggest a little girl - although one cannot be certain at this young age - who is holding his or her mother's hand. The figure to the right of this is almost certainly a boy, wearing a cap and long trousers, and probably five or six years old. Next are two girls, aged about 8-9 and 10-11, respectively. To the right of the doorway a further group of three girls are fairly similar to each in height - almost the height of the adult woman at extreme left - so it is difficult to estimate their ages beyond saying that they are probably in their mid- to late teens. They all have their hair in a style typical of the 1870s, partly in plaits tied up in a circlet on the crown, and partly descending in ringlets to the shoulders at the back.
All three men are bearded and wearing hats. I would suggest that the man to the left of the doorway, wearing a waistcoat, is older while the two to the right are somewhat younger, but it is difficult to be precise. The men to the left and right are wearing bowler hats, of a style with a moderately high brow which was common through the 1870s and early 1880s. The man in the middle has what appears to be a forerunner of the wider flat-brimmed slouch hat, and is wearing a jacket.
The reverse of the second carte de visite (shown below) is inscribed, in what appears to be a contemporary hand, "to Anthony." Nola tells me that the second photograph was a copy mailed back home to Anthony Anderson, great grandfather of Joan Robertson, possibly by Anthony's sister Margaret Yule Harper.
Image © and courtesy of Nola Sinclair
If this is the case, then she may have been the woman standing at the extreme left of the group, and the remaining figures would then include her husband James Harper and at least some of their children. She is dressed in clothes typical of of the mid- to late 1870s. The bodice is tight-fitting with a prominent vertical row of buttons, and a bow at her neck, while the sleeves are narrow, a little looser at the wrist, and possibly with a frilled or pleated cuff. Although not actually visible, the bustle in her skirt is probably small, if present at all, and the skirt contains several layers, types of fabric or ornamentation. Her hair is parted in the centre drawn back tightly, probably into a bun at the back of her head.
Two further children were born to James and Margaret after their arrival in New Zealand, bringing the total to ten [17]:
James Mouat HARPER (1832-1918) m: 1855 Margaret Yule ANDERSON (1836-1918)
- Charlotte b. 24 Jan 1857 Norwick, Unst
- William b. 29 May 1859 Norwick, Unst
- Elizabeth b. 15 Feb 1862 Braefield, Norwick, Unst
- Williamina/Wilhelmina b. 23 Aug 1864 Unst
- Margaret b. 23 Jun 1867 Velzie, Unst
- Jemima b. 16 Apr 1870 Unst, Unst
- Gilbert b. 3 Mar 1873 Velzie, Unst
- Ann b. 3 Jul 1875 Norwick, Unst
- Isabella b. 7 Jan 1879 Charleston, New Zealand
- Anthony b. 24 Dec 1881 Charleston, New Zealand
Image © and courtesy of Joan Robertson
The reverse of both card mounts have a design very similar to that of the Vorley carte de visite shown earlier, with the addition of studio locations in Charleston and Reefton, suggesting to me a slightly later date i.e. some time after c. 1870-72. We can be fairly sure, however, that the photographs were taken prior to May 1879, when Vorley left New Zealand for good. This rules out the possibility of the youngest child born to James and Margaret in New Zealand being in the photograph, since Anthony was born in December 1881. If height is used as an approximate indication of age, then the children in the photograph are arranged from left to right in increasing order of age.
Detail of carte de visite by H.H. Vorley
Image © and courtesy of Nola Sinclair
Now some theorising. If - and I agree with Nola that we should emphasize the 'if' - this were to be the Harper family, then the only young male child, aged approximately five in the photograph, must be Gilbert Harper, born in Unst on 3 March 1873, suggesting a possible date for the group portrait of 1878 or early 1879. How do the the ages of the remaining children and adults in the group fit with what we know about the Harper family? Well, I think they match very nicely. N.B. The numbers in the provisional list below refer to those shown in the silhouette index above.
1. Margaret Yule Harper née Anderson, aged 42ish - Margaret does not appear very pregnant in this photograph, and since she had her ninth child Isabella in January 1879, I suggest this is unlikely to have been taken in late 1878. It is conceivable, however, that it was taken after the birth of Isabella, and that the baby is asleep indoors.
2. Ann Harper, aged 3
3. Gilbert Harper, aged 5 - Gilbert died at Charleston on 14 March 1883, aged 10.
4. Jemima Harper, aged 8
5. Margaret Harper, aged 11 - although the top of Margaret's head is only slightly higher than that of Jemima, examination of her feet shows that she is standing in a slight dip, and is therefore somewhat taller than she appears in relation to her next youngest sister.
6. James Mouat Harper, aged 45 - James Harper's central position in the group and manner of standing with his feet slightly apart, hands crossed calmly and patiently in front of him, is commensurate with his status as head of the household.
7. This is probably a younger man, although the full beard does disguise the age to some extent. His is a youthful figure assuming a very relaxed pose, his legs crossed, leaning against the door jamb with his thumbs tucked into his belt, holding the flaps of his jacket open. The jacket may have fringe sleeves, in a "Western style." This is most likely to be William Harper, who would have been aged 19, and very much "at home."
8. Williamina Harper, aged 13 or 14
9 & 10. Elizabeth Harper, aged 16, and Charlotte Harper, aged 21
11. This man, perhaps a little older than the man postulated as William Harper, is standing well off to the right hand side of the others. With his elbow perched on the window sill and right hand to his cheek, he is facing and leans in towards the rest of the group, in contrast to all of the others, who look directly at the photographer and his camera. So, while he is clearly part of the group, one gets the feeling that he is somehow distanced from it, in both a physical and more social sense. The eldest Harper daughter Charlotte married James Harper Mouat (1849-1928) at Charleston on 3 May 1878, and my feeling is that this is young Mr Mouat. He would have been about 30 years old at the time, and the photograph may have been taken before the wedding - hence the distance between him and the Harpers. [17]
Lantern Slide
from Chips of the Auld Block publ. 1997
Image © and courtesy of Wellington Shetland Society
The house forming the backdrop in this group portrait looks very similar in shape and form to the second building along the beach in the 1886 view, as pictured in the detailed image above, although Nola has pointed out that the frieze of large trees behind the house has been removed.
So ... we can make several tentative conclusions:
(a) The carte de visite portrait was most likely taken between 1874 and 1879 at or near Westport, Charleston or Reefton on the West Coast of New Zealand.
(b) We have a possible identification of the house in the portrait as being one of those built by the Shetland community prior to 1886 on Nine-Mile Beach.
(c) The group shown matches very closely the Harper family that we expect to have been living at Nine-Mile Beach in 1878.
Although I feel we have a probable identification, to be more confident I would suggest examining the make up of the other Shetland families who were living at Nine-Mile Beach in the late 1870s, to see if any of them fit the pattern. Most of the families living there were fairly closely related, having emigrated from the same small district on the island of Unst, so it is conceivable that somebody else might have sent a copy home "to Anthony."
Image © Alexander Turnbull Library Ref. PAColl-6075-51
Courtesy of Matapihi - Alexander Turnbull Library, New Zealand
In the mid-1880s there were still between 70 and 80 Shetlanders working the sands at Nine-Mile Beach but eventually the deposits were depleted and by the turn of the century, when the above photograph was taken, the numbers had declined considerably. [14] In 1906 there were only 15, and the last of the original pioneer Shetlanders, William Harper, moved away in 1916. [11]
I would like to thank Nola Sinclair and her husband for the opportunity to use her photograph as the subject of this article, and the Alexander Turnbull Library for permission to use scanned images of photographs in their collections.
[1] Hursthouse, Charles (1861) New Zealand, The "Britain of the South." 2nd Edition. London: Edward Stanford. p. 149. [Available online from Google Books]
[2] May, Philip Ross (1962) The West Coast Gold Rushes. Christchurch: Pegasus. 55p.
[3] Eldred-Grigg, Stevan (2008) Diggers, Hatters & Whores: The Story of the New Zealand Gold Rushes. Auckland: Random House New Zealand. 543p. ISBN 9781869419257
[4] Wood, Frederick Lloyd Whitfield (1971) Understanding New Zealand. Ayer Publishing. 267p. [Partially available on Google Books]
[5] Charleston, New Zealand. Wikipedia article.
[6] Wall, Ella & Lewers, Neville R. (ill.) (1939) Gold Rush at Charleston. Adventure - In the Old West Coast Days. in The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 6 (September 1939) [Available online courtesy of the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre (NZETC)]
[7] Payne, Brett (2008) Fraternal Organisations. Photo-Sleuth, 3 August 2008.
[8] Anon (n.d.) Vorley, Herbert Henry. Auckland City Libraries Photographers Database.
[9] Extracts from Grey River Argus, West Coast Times, Nelson Evening Mail, Inangahua Times & Evening Post. Papers Past, Digital images of New Zealand newspapers and periodicals, from the National Library of New Zealand.
[10] Rackstraw, Tony (2008) Vorley, Herbert Henry. Early Canterbury Photographers, including South Canterbury and the West Coast, 22 August 2008.
[11] Faris, Irwin (1941) Charleston : its Rise and Decline. Wellington : A. H. and A. W. Reed. Reprinted 1980 by Capper Press, Ltd. [Extract courtesy of Nola Sinclair]
[12] Scots - The Late 1800s. Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
[13] Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2259, 4 November 1875, Page 2. Papers Past.
[14] Butterworth, Susan M. & Butterworth, Graham (1997) Chips off the Auld Rock: Shetlanders in New Zealand. Wellington: Shetland Society of Wellington. 251 p. [Extract courtesy of Nola Sinclair]
[15] Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1142, 26 March 1872, Page 2. Papers Past.
[16] Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1337, 11 November 1872, Page 2. Papers Past.
[17] The Family of James Mouat Harper & Margaret Yule Anderson, on the Shetland Family History Home Page.


text:
For those of us who despise iTunes, can this software be used exclusive of iTunes?
Does it have its own cataloging and sorting feature?
Integer mode with Mountain Lion?
Pure(r) Music
In March 2010, Channel D released their music server software Pure Music for OSX. Since then, Pure Music has been one of the reference programs I have used to evaluate music, computer hardware, and audio components due to its neutrality and excellent reliable functionality. Version 1.86 had reached a high degree of reliability with a wealth of functions. Gapless track playback and memory play, CoreAudio Device HOG Mode Exclusive Access support, native device nonmixable integer mode for OSX Snow Leopard, automatic sample rate switching, and native DSD streaming for DACs that support DoP are just a very few of the many features available with this program. All of these features beautifully integrate with the iTunes interface for access to one's music library while using the Pure Music audio playback engine.
Now Rob Robinson of Channel D has released a significant update to Pure Music in version 1.88a with many performance enhancements and new features:
The Sound of Pure Music (1.88a)
Rob has previously discussed his philosophy of a "steady state" for the CPU and processing in the computer. He feels that this results in an improvement in the sound delivered by Pure Music.
I listened to 1.88a with OSX 10.82 Mountain Lion in an early 2011 MacBook Pro 2.3 GHz Quad Core i7, 16GB RAM, OCZ Vertex 4 256GB for the OS, and external Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt Drive for my music library. A Synergistic Research Thunderbolt Active SE with Enigma tuning circuits connected the Pegasus to the Mac and a Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB cable was used with the Wavelength Audio Silver Crimson/Denominator DAC.
The soundstage of 1.88a has increased in width and depth over the previous version. In fact, it is as good as I've heard from any program. What I think makes it very special, is that it is more revealing than 1.86. Just listen to Reference Recordings HRx Exotic Dances from the Opera 176.4/24 and you will understand what I'm talking about. Instruments are rendered in a huge acoustic space with superb definition. The deep bass from the drum has thunderous power while retaining its control and definition. It is the best I have ever heard from this recording. Likewise, the excellent new Channel Classics recording of Mahler Symphony 1 with Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra 192/24 was reproduced with superlative focus and detail in a natural soundstage that was very engaging.
What I think is going on with 1.88a is that transient rendition or speed has been significantly improved. I am hearing better detail from top to bottom with 1.88a than from the previous version. We talk about pace or the ability to reproduce dynamic sense of rhythm; Pure Music 1.88a does this in a manner that is superior to other programs I have heard. Listen to Paul Simon's Live in New York 48/24 "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes". There is less blurring of the instruments and Simon's voice in the acoustic space. Bass, and particularly the drums are well defined and dynamic sounding. I found myself drawn into this recording in a way I have never been in the past.
As I previously mentioned, bass and particularly the mid bass, are reproduced with excellent definition. No sonic blurring is occurring with the new software. If you like the Weavers Reunion at Carnegie Hall, you will probably like a live recording called Harp: A Time to Sing with Arlo Guthrie, Ronny Gilbert, Pete Seeger, and Holly Near. This live recording is out of print, but I have the original vinyl from 1984 and the CD. Pure Music reproduced Pete Seeger's voice better than I have ever heard it and as good as my vinyl version. Many of my music programs add mid bass warmth to this recording that obscures the midrange. Pure Music 1.88a got it right.
Gapless playback was tested and it worked flawlessly allowing Pure Music to add the files into memory with perfect playback.
In summary, Pure Music 1.88a is a significant improvement over its predecessor 1.86. In fact, it is now my new reference program. This is not a euphonic program like many out there that add warmth or richness to the music. It is very revealing of detail from top to bottom and the acoustic space of the recording.
Rob Robinson has created something very special in Pure Music 1.88a. I hope that you find it as entertaining and engaging as I have.
For those of us who despise iTunes, can this software be used exclusive of iTunes?
Does it have its own cataloging and sorting feature?
Integer mode with Mountain Lion?
Pure Music has a feature called Less Is More that allows one to run the program without iTunes integration. It is not cataloging / data base feature like that in Fidelia.
Pure Music does not support Integer playback for Mtn. Lion.
iTunes 11 will be coming out shortly. I have no idea if Pure Music will work with the new iTunes.
Thank you. Appreciate the info.
Sorry for what is probably a dumb question but I am new to the world of computer based audio. I thought that all the computer did was supply a stream of bits to the DAC. The sound quality should be determined by the nature of the DAC. Why should the software on the computer, e.g., Pure Music, effect the sound quality? What am I missing?
Apple Won't Let Me Load the Update ... because I didn't get it in the app store. Is there a workaround?
Many Thanks
This info can be found at the Support link for Channel D:
I hope this helps.
Pure Music must be identified as a "trusted" application to launch it, if it was downloaded after installing Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8).
1. Navigate to the Pure Music application icon (should be located in the Applications folder, if installed as advised).
2. Hold down the Control (not command) key on the keyboard and simultaneously click on the Pure Music application icon.
3. Select Open from the pop-up contextual menu that appears.
4. Click Open in the ensuing dialog box, shown below.
I've been using PM for nearly two years, and it has evolved from a somewhat buggy tool that modestly improved the sound to a really nice piece of software that makes a big difference over iTunes. I installed 1.88a over the weekend and agree that it seems to sound even better. I wonder if they figured out a way to lower the noise floor a touch, 'cause it does sound more dynamic. While I have a few quibbles, I am a very happy customer!
Here's what I like and dislike about Pure Music.
What I like:
1. For recordings that were originally in mono, but the stereo recording is only available, it's nice to be able to flip into mono mode. It would be nice if it was on the actual player as a button for easier access, but this does do mono for those rare occaissions.
2. I can play YouTube videos through my DAC and there's no conflicts, some players do this, while others do not.
3. Sound quality is good. I don't hear huge differences to some of the others, but this a good sounding player.
What I dislike:
1. The UI, it's just old, outdated and could use a refreshed UI.
2. The price. It was a little steep.
3. The Volume Up/Down/Mute on the Mac Keyboard isn't mapped to the s/w, but the start/stop/next/back is, so that's a minor thing I hope they fix.


text:
The Invicta Mustangs compete in the National Ice Hockey League SE2 Conference.
Home games are played on Saturdays or Sundays at the Gillingham Ice Bowl at 1715 on the dates detailed on the schedule page.
Entry to home games for Adults is £6, Child is £1 and a Family is £12.
As well as this app you can follow the Mustangs on Facebook and Twitter.
To access all the features of this site you need to Log In or Sign Up.
Sat, 7 Dec 2019
from 5:15pm to 6:15pm
by Mustangs Admin
Posted: 11 months ago
Updated: 11 months ago by Mustangs Admin
Visible to: public
Time zone: London
Reminder: 3 days before
Ends: 06:15pm (duration is about 1 hour)
Gillingham Ice Bowl


text:
Democrat Brett Hulsey enters governor's race
Forces Democratic primary with Mary Burke
State Rep. Brett Hulsey has announced his candidacy for governor on Monday.
Hulsey is the fourth Democrat to declare a bid for governor. Mary Burke, Marcia Mercedes Perkins and Hariprasad Trivedi have also declared their candidacies. Burke is widely viewed as the front runner among those three, however.
"My reason is simple, and that's to get Wisconsin working again. We're second in the nation in losing jobs, according to most recent federal reports and what Gov. Walker's doing is not working," Hulsey said.
Hulsey said he plans to reinvest more than $2 billion to create clean energy jobs, increase job training and send more money to public schools and higher education.
Hulsey has been in the state Assembly for four years and served on the Dane County Board for 14 years. He runs an energy and environmental consulting business.
Marquette University political scientist Charles Franklin said Hulsey's past and the late entry could hurt his chances.
"I think the question will be, 'Does he attract enough backing to run a significant campaign for the August primary,'" Franklin said.
A Burke campaign spokesman said Hulsey's candidacy won't change Burke's strategy.
"Their focus remains squarely on (Gov. Scott) Walker," the spokesman said.
Walker said his plan stays the same.
"We don't think the difference will be dramatic between the candidates as much as it will be between our positive reforms and whether or not we'll go backwards or forwards," the governor said.
In order to officially get on the ballot, Hulsey needs to collect at least 2,000 signatures and file his nomination papers by June 2.
The fall primary is Aug. 12. The Democratic winner will face Walker on the ballot on Nov. 4.


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A Debate Challenge on the Problem of Evil.
I don't look for any eager beavers on this one.
If you see this challenge, post it on your Blogs and/or websites.
My Christian philosopher friend, Dr. James Sennett, has said: "By far the most important objection to the faith is the so-called problem of evil – the alleged incompatibility between the existence or extent of evil in the world and the existence of God. I tell my philosophy of religion students that, if they are Christians and the problem of evil does not keep them up at night, then they don't understand it." [Forthcoming book: This Much I Know: A Postmodern Apologetic].


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When my first son, Thomas, was little, I made him a bedtime book as a Kindermusik exercise. One day I'll post some pictures of it - it was a cloth book, sewn of pages with photos and text, printed on fabric. Friends warned me that I was setting myself up for more work - whatever I did for my first I'd have to do for any subsequent children!
Fortunately by the time Austin came along I'd found out you can buy blank board books, and adhesive paper to feed through your printer, and hence this book was born!
It was designed using PhotoShop, then the pages printed on adhesive paper, cut to fit the pages, and stuck on the book. I did set up some of the shots specifically for the book, but others were ones I had already taken.
First, a few pages in the book:
And here are all the pages:


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Sayings for the months
Posted by James Briggs on February 21, 2003
In Reply to: Sayings for the months posted by ESC on February 21, 2003
: : : Does anybody know any popular or traditional phrases/proverbs/sayings that go along with all the months of the year? I can only think of some of the months. Any help would be appreciated.
: : People who answer questions here are volunteering their time and effort. So that we won't duplicate material you already have, why don't you identify the months that still need sayings?
: That's a good idea.
How about?
Thirty days have September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, except for February clear, which has but 28 and 29 each leap year.
- Original text of "thirty days..."? TheFallen 02/21/03
- Original text of "thirty days..."? masakim 02/21/03


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Ashley Parker Snider
Owner / Proprietor
While representing the Fess Parker Winery at consumer and trade events around the country the comment Ashley hears most often is "you know, I grew up with your dad." It's heartwarming to Ashley that even after her dad's passing in March of 2010 people are still eager to share their memories of him.
Ashley is practically a Santa Barbara native having moved here at the age of two. She attended Bishop Diego High School but chose to venture east to attend Bates College in Lewiston, Maine where she graduated with a B.A. in English in 1986.
A college internship in Washington D.C. led to a position as a Trip Coordinator in the Office of Presidential Advance following graduation. At the close of the Reagan Administration, Ashley was offered a position at the Department of Housing and Urban Development working in Jack Kemp's Office of Public Affairs. Ultimately however, Ashley's sense of family duty kicked in and she returned home to California to work in the family's fledgling wine business, marry and start a family in 1991.
Over the last 26 years Ashley has been involved in all facets of the sales and marketing functions of the winery. Ashley frequently travels to markets all across the country to work with the winery's network of distributors and brokers, contributes regularly to the quarterly newsletter and helps coordinate special events and donations at the winery. She did take a two-year hiatus from the family business in 2010 when she took the position of Director of Admission and Public Relations at her alma mater, Bishop Diego High School.
Currently Ashley is enjoying working with her family and the rest of the Fespar team to complete her father's vision for the waterfront in Santa Barbara. Ashley and her husband Tim Snider are also enjoying watching their three children, Spencer (23), Greer (21) and Henry (17) grow and develop their own talents and interests.
Ashley is a former member of the Board of Directors of Direct Relief and currently serves on the boards of the Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, Bishop Diego High School, Life Chronicles and The Channel City Club. She is an avid tennis player and recovering golfer.


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As you should know, the new Stage3D feature of Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 provides powerful low level APIs to create high performance 3D graphics in Flash, the issue with this API is that it is of an extremely low level nature that makes it extremely difficult for average developers to pick it up and use it in their projects, and the expectation is that frameworks will be built on top of the Stage3D APIs that will be easy to use and are tailored for specific project needs.
Starling is the first framework built on top of Stage3D and is ready for use right now, this framework aims to help Flash developers create GPU powered 2D graphics that run at the high performance provided by Stage3D. The main highlight of this framework is that is uses convention display list architecture which means that you can pick it up and use it without having to spend a lot of time learning how things work.
Starling Framework projects will run on AIR 3 and Flash Player 11, unfortunately you will not be able to create high performance 2D games for mobile using Starling when AIR 3 comes out because the mobile version of AIR 3 does not yet support Stage3D, but Adobe announced that Stage3D will be introduced to mobile AIR in an upcoming update.
You can watch a video tutorial by Lee Brimelaw that showcases how easy it is to use this frame here, and you can also download a PDF handbook on the basics of Starling written by Thibault Imbert at this link. You can learn more about Starling Framework, look at the samples, and download the framework for your own use by visiting its official website.


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Stories about "Florida State"
Psychologist to discuss mechanisms of will and self-control at Bates College
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 10:53 am
Roy Baumeister, an influential social psychologist at Florida State University, visits Bates College to discuss the mental processes enabling individuals to control their behavior at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 18, in the Keck Classroom (G52), Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road (Alumni Walk). The talk is open to the public at no charge. For more information, please call 207-786-8204.


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Switch to the dark mode that's kinder on your eyes at night time.
Switch to the light mode that's kinder on your eyes at day time.
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All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. All the lyrics are provided for educational purposes only. © 2020 Latest Hindi Songs Lyrics


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With the first weekend of Spring came the first longboard race of the year: Icy Annecy. It was a race that I didn't want to miss because the last time I had been in Annecy I'd not had a board and the bike path the race was to be held on is lovely. So I got up at ridiculous O'clock to start my journey to Annecy.
Thankfully, the weather turned out fine and the beautiful lake views could be seen by all.
Since I arrived early, I had a good chill out in the sunshine whilst I waited for Thib the race organiser to arrive. He is probably one of the more active distance riders (amongst other talents) in the South-West of France and I was eager to meet him. He'd also participated in the other race to take place in the nearby region, La Familia Winter Challenge: Stage 2 and also gone up to the race that Alex Bangnoi had organised: Paris Push Race 2. I knew that others were coming up from Grenoble so it was a chance to meet a fair few new faces in person.
The 'locals only' mentalities of some of the locals meant that the event had received some bad press but in the end no-one from Annecy took part. In the end there was about 10 people of which 5 took part.
Thib took us on a small skate where we met up with the group guys, all members of the La Familia collective who had come up from Grenoble… they quickly set up camp and dug out some cheese and wine for those not taking part in the race.
I was sorely tempted but knew that if I ate some the race would be over for me even before it had began!
The five of us taking part were soon lined up on the starting line and we were off. The pace was pretty good and I remember feeling happy to be on a skateboard again. Just after the start the youngest participant, Jules took off at a crazy pace and overtook everyone. Alex was then behind him, with Thib in third and me in fourth.
I knew that Alex was going to try and make a break for it so I accelerated past Thib and Alex and took the lead. Not soon after passing him I heard Alex shout something. Not wanted to loose concentration I didn't really reply but the Thib who was then coming up to overtake me once more said that me shoelace was undone!
Usually, I'm pretty thorough with my pre-race preparations but I'd not checked my shoes. Thankfully, I only had to stop pushing and tuck the lace into my shoe. It would have been annoying to have had to stop. Once I got push again I caught up slowly but surely with Thib who had got into a stead pace but Alex was already way ahead.
For a little while I took the advantage of drafting Thib and rested a little to catch my breath from the effort I'd had to make to catch him up. Thib was pushing constantly and I could manage 3 or 4 good pushes and rest for a few seconds between swapping legs. I was amazed that I could put in so little effot and it really helped my performance in the race. Once I was rested enough I decided to make a break for 2nd place and put on a good spurt of speed and managed to pass Thib.
Now I was ahead of him and needed to keep up my pace. Every now and again I would pump my board instead of push and it offered my leg muscles a good rest. The issue is that I find it a little harder to breathe when pushing and I felt that after a while I was cramping up. Still, I was happy to put in some pumps every once in a while. I'm really happy with the Illuminati setup and I love it for racing.
We got to the half way marker where we would have to turn back. Not knowing exactly where this was and having stopped slightly earlier, I let Thib catch up and pass me. Stopping then suddenly starting again made my legs feel really weak but after a few good pushes I got back into a rhythm. I used the same technique as before, catching up with Thibault and then passing him once I felt rested. The way back was terrible due a strong headwind and I could tell that I was tiring. Alex was way up front and there was no way to catch up with him.
Thib was right on my tail, maybe 4 or 5 metres away and when we got to the a small downhill I pumped all I could to make the most of the incline. Pumping downhill, in my opinion means that you can reach higher speeds than pure pushing and I definitely felt that this is what helped me keep my position. The final kilometre or so was horrible… I didn't want to loose my place and really gave it all I got. 500 metre from the finish line there were a few 90° corners to negotiate and every one I passed was sketchily done with no class or style at all. The finish line couldn't come soon enough and it was a happy moment when I crossed it (you can see Thib in orange just behind).
After race knackered-ness:
During races, I often wonder why I do this but being amongst beautiful scenery and awesome people really helps. The bit I prefer the most though is often the end though and the chilled skates that sometimes take place. Once we'd rested the group migrated to the skatepark which was nearby:
After some more chilling the Grenoble crew and Thib went back home and Alex and I got some quality catch-up time. We had some good food and tried to keep our skateboards out of the way of the throbbing crowds – post-race beers for the win!
We then had a little skate back to Alex's nicely stickered-up car:
It was awesome to see everyone and be part of such an awesome day. For more information about the event see the full race report on on Skatefurther. Big thanks to Thib for getting this day together!


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Once again Pinterest ideas struck my lessons. My co-teacher found a link on Pinterest to a figurative language booklet idea. After looking at that and a few other ideas we came up with our own "version" of this booklet. The kids did GREAT! I also made a mimio to go along with the unit and used picture books each day (with each type of figurative language) as an "attention getter" or opener.
I LOVE how the booklets came out, so here are a few pictures. Also CLICK HERE to get the figurative language packet which also includes a rubric I made in order to grade them!
The covers:
A few pages:


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Many hours are spent daily with coworkers in the lab. We in the Brugarolas lab believe that gatherings outside UT Southwestern help promote a good working environment and a team spirit.
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Guess who's back in Port Charles!
After being dropped from The Young and the Restless last year, Emmy winner Genie Francis will reprise her role as Laura Spencer on General Hospital to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary, Entertainment Weekly reports.
Francis will begin filming later this month, and Laura will officially return on the Feb. 11 episode, according to EW.
Check out Kelly Monaco and other sexy soap stars
Laura left Port Charles in 2008, leaving her three children behind, so the show's writers will have some loose ends to tie up.
"It's not for me to tell them how to run their show," Francis told EW. "But my biggest concern was that there had to be a good reason for me to stay away from my family."
Are you looking forward to Laura's return?


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To have anything added to this list, use the report post to moderator function
When you are searching for an answer to a question, use the search function. if you cannot find the answer to you question in the Recent Topics try changing the Data Set to Archived Topics and you might find the answer you are looking for.
>> Topics:
Video Capture
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Editing & Visual FX Software
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>> Community threads:


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John Moore / Getty Images
John Mayer -- with new love Katy Perry -- says he "was just a jerk" in his past relationships.
We're guessing John Mayer's' kiss-and-tell days are over. In a forthcoming interview with "CBS Sunday Morning," the "Clarity" singer and Katy Perry's new beau reflects harshly on his well-earned rep as a Hollywood heartbreaker who notoriously spills to the press about his breakups.
"I was just a jerk," the 35-year-old Mayer tells host Anthony Mason.
The blues rocker notes that he's changed since the days of his past interviews -- like that infamous 2010 Playboy sit-down when he compared former ladylove Jessica Simpson to "sexual napalm" and offered up TMI comments about ex Jennifer Aniston.
John Mayer: Jessica Simpson was "sexual napalm!"
"It's very liberating when you finally realize it's impossible to make everyone like you," Mayer said, adding, "I wanted everybody to like me. I thought I was one shuck and jive away in every direction."
The Grammy winner, who was forced off the road last year for 10 months so he could recover from vocal cord surgery, confessed that getting over the negative reaction resulting from his media interviews was a lot harder than dealing with the reoccurring granuloma that nearly robbed him of his voice.
Time to take a look at the many lusts of John Mayer
Before hooking up with the "Firework" crooner, Mayer was also linked in the past to the likes of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Minka Kelly and Taylor Swift, the last of whom gave the singer-songwriter a taste of his own medicine by seemingly writing about their relationship in her hit "Dear John."
The full interview with Mayer airs Feb. 10 on CBS "Sunday Morning" at 9 a.m.
More in Entertainment:


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RECIPE OF THE WEEK – Buffalo Chicken Sliders
RECIPE OF THE WEEK – Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Total Time: 20 min
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 10 min
Yield:12 sliders
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot
12 small rolls, such as Hawaiian or Parker House rolls, buttered and griddled
Ranch dressing, for serving
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
Tomato slices, for serving
Green leaf lettuce, for serving
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the oil. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper, the brown sugar, paprika and cayenne. Sear both sides of the chicken until golden, about 4 minutes. Add in the hot sauce to the skillet. Bring to a simmer and then place in the oven to finish off, and the chicken registers 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.
Let the chicken cool, and then pull the meat with your hands. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, and then place back in the oven at BROIL until crusty and caramelized on top, about 4 minutes.
Sandwich Build: Place some chicken on the bottom buns, top with ranch, blue cheese crumbles, tomatoes and then lettuce. Serve.
Recipe courtesy of Jeff Mauro
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jeff-mauro/buffalo-chicken-sliders-recipe.html?oc=linkback


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Notice: On April 23, 2014, Statalist moved from an email list to a forum, based at statalist.org.
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: st: master labeling file of a string variable
Nick Cox <email@example.com>
Re: st: master labeling file of a string variable
Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:17:16 +0100
-- meaning string variable! (Sorry for any bemusement.)
On Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 12:10 PM, Nick Cox <email@example.com> wrote:
> You can't attach value labels to a numeric variable.
> Nick
> On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 6:59 PM, Lucie Vlach
> <email@example.com> wrote:
>> Hello everyone!
>> I have a problem trying to design a "master labelling file" that will label string values for me, uniformly, as I acquire datasets over time.
>> I want to label values of a string variable. There are about 90 possible values at this time that I could have, but not all datasets that I will have, will utilize all full 90 labels. I could have a data set that will only use 26 of the 90 possible value labels. And some future datasets can use more.
>> I want to be able to set up this 90-label file and draw on it when I am using a do file and appending the new data to a master file.
>> I think the string variable gets assigned a number based on the size of the dataset at that time. Data set that has 20 unique values gets 1-20 numbers assigned, and the next dataset could only be 15, so 1-15 gets assigned, and so on, but 5 on one set is not 5 on the other set.
>> encode Health_Service_Code, gen(HSC_num)
>> label define hsclabel ........
>> 03.03A "Office visit not requiring complete (Automatic increase by 20% if>75)"
>> 03.04A "Comprehensive visit physical q180d"
>> 03.04J "Development documentation and admin of comprehensive SNIP office"
>> 03.03B "Prenatal visit"
>> 03.03C "Post-partum visit"
>> label values HSC_num hsclabel
>> I want to make sure, that I always end up with '03.03B "Prenatal visit"' to be value 4 and '03.03C "Post-partum visit"' as 5 and then it would be easy to label 5 as "Post-partum visit" etc etc…
>> I would love to have the full 90 item label file as something my do files would access before appending to the master. Is this possible to do?
>> Thank you all very much for your time. Much appreciated!
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/


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That sinking sound you're hearing is the stomachs of Netflix investors. On a roll for the better part of a year, the Silicon Valley DVD rental giant just heard the news no company wants to hear: Google is taking you on.
It's true: Google confirms that it will dip a virtual toe into the movie rental business, via its YouTube video distribution service. It plans to start on a very small level, giving viewers a chance to see certain movies from the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. The rental opportunity will start on January 22nd.
This may be an early overreaction, but while shares of Google (GOOG) stock jumped after hours on the news, shares of Netflix (NFLX) took a bit of a tumble. It's always tough to hear that a giant with the resources of Google wants to get into your business, but that seems to be the case. After all, Netflix itself (along with Amazon.com) has shown that the video rental business is very lucrative, and Google is eager to find ways for YouTube to make more money.
U.S. & World
Speaking of money, Google is not yet saying how much it will cost you to rent their movies. It did, though, say that it will use its Google Checkout payment service, to take your money.
Is Netflix in trouble? The guess here is no. After all, not only is it way more established when it comes to renting movies, but it's already streaming more movies each day, though an increasing number of consumer devices. Its innovation will keep it ahead. But it will have to keep innovating, now that YouTube, and its billions of viewers, is entering the theatre.


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I recently received an e-mail from a club operator who has been dealing with a sensitive issue at his club. He's at a loss about what to do, so I thought I'd share this issue with you in hopes that someone out there has come across a similar situation and has a solution for him.
He has a group of about 60 to 90 women from Somalia who are members of his club. They emit a strong odor that has taken over the women-only area of his club and the women's locker room. Since the issue came up, he has researched this culture to figure out why the odor is occuring and what he might be able to do about it. He thinks the odor may come from spices used for cooking and improperly burned incense in the home.
The problem is that the club has received numerous complaints from other members about the odor, and he is afraid that the club is losing out on new members who are offended by the odor when they come on a tour. So far, no members have cited the odor as their reason for cancelling their memberships, but he says he can't be sure that this hasn't been a reason for cancellations.
He doesn't want to lose members because of the smell, and he doesn't want to lose this group of women.
Here is what he has tried so far: an extra porter and cleaning attention to the area, constant HVAC in the area, electronic scent sprayers, employing oder-neutralizing products, and a sign disallowing foot washing in the hand sinks in the woman's bath area. He also contacted his attorney who recommended speaking individually to the women, but he has not done so yet, because he is concerned about offending and hurting feelings.
Have you ever come across a situation like this in your club? What suggestions do you have for this club operator? Please respond using the comment button below if you have any suggestions for him.


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Tamales de elote (corn tamales) are often eaten for breakfast, (or any time really), in El Salvador, as well as in other countries in Central America. They are especially good if you re-heat them the next day by frying them, (which turns them into "tamales fritos" or fried tamales.)
Here is the recipe I use, adapted from the one found at Whats4Eats.com. If you want it completely authentic – (i.e. you want to use lard and fresh corn) – go check out their recipe. My recipe is easier and can be made year round because it uses canned corn – but I changed a few other things as well, and they're delicious like this.
Makes 1 dozen
What you need:
Corn husks (for wrapping) – 12
Butter, unsalted, softened – 1/2 cup
Baking powder – 2 teaspoons
Masa harina (MASECA) – 2 cups
Salt – 1 and 1/2 teaspoons
Whole milk or cream – 1 cup (warm)
Corn (whole kernel, sweet, no salt added) – 1 and 3/4 cups (drained) = about one 15.25 oz. can
Sugar – 3 tablespoons
1. Put corn husks in a large bowl of warm water to soak.
2. Put butter, baking powder, corn and sugar in a blender or food processor and mix until combined. (Add a couple tablespoons of milk if blender blades won't turn. This can be any kind of milk, including skim.)
3. In a large bowl, mix together (with your hands), the masa harina (MASECA), salt and warm milk. Knead until completely combined.
4. Mix the masa little by little into the blender mixture, using the blender to combine it. If the mixture is now too thick for your blender to handle, mix all into a bowl by hand. Squeeze the mixture through your hands until completely combined.
5. Drain the corn husks and shake dry, (it's fine if they're still moist.) You will either need to work fast so the husks don't dry out again, or you can leave them in water and shake dry one-by-one as you use them.
6. Lay out a husk and add about 1/4 cup dough to the center. Fold in each side to cover the dough. Then fold up the bottom of the husk. Finally fold down the pointed part of the husk and insert it into the bottom. Repeat with the rest of the dough. (I go the extra step of wrapping my tamales in aluminum foil to prevent them from opening, which is easier than tying with string, which some people do.)
7. Steam the tamales in a steamer pot for 30-45 minutes. (If you don't have a steamer pot, you can places balls of foil on the bottom of the pot and then put a metal pie plate on top of the foil. Make sure water doesn't come above the plate. Over low heat, stack tamales on top of the plate and cover the pot. You may need to add water halfway through the cooking time if your pot cooks dry.)
8. Remove tamales and let cool. Serve warm, or refrigerate. To re-heat, unwrap tamal from corn husk and place on a comal or in a frying pan with a little oil. Cook on both sides until browned – now you have a tamal frito!


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attention: Site Update (20 Jun 2015)
Welcome to Song Crypt!
To get started head over to " Introductions " and introduce yourself! That's the best way to get involved with the community!
Sorry for the absence...
I am working now on updating the site and making some adjustments so that it is more flexible and can be accessed easily from a smartphone/tablet. If something is broken, missing, or if you just have feedback, let me know!
Time to create page: 0.220 seconds


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Joe Brogno (@thebluemuzzy) and I have started our own podcast. We are going to be looking at the world of games through the eyes of designers. We want to help designers with tips and trick we have learned along the way. We want to talk about the importance of games and what they have to offer to gamers and non-gamers. We want to talk to other designers about their games and provide concrete examples of what the design and development phase of a game sounds like. We might even review some games from a designer's point of view. All that, and we might even talk about the games we are working on. All of this in 1d6 plus 15 min! Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy the show!
Episode Nine Line Drive design session #2
Libsyn Link: http://cardboardarchitects.libsyn.com/episode-9-line-drive-design-session-2
Download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/cardboardarchitects/Ep009_Complete.mp3
Find us on Twitter (Follow Us!) and Facebook (Like Us!)
If you have any comments or questions, leave a comment here or email Chris at firstname.lastname@example.com