and injuries. artificial microbes will play a role in finding new treatments and possible cures for sicknesses that, as of now, can ’ t be effectively treated. in other words, there are many good reasons for christians to be excited about the advances that will result from synthetic biology. it would be wise to support efforts to create artificial life — yet there are still legitimate concerns over synthetic biology that need addressing. is synthetic biology safe? when people think of scientists creating life in the lab, images of frankenstein ’ s monster likely come to mind. will scientists make organisms that “ turn on their creators ”? will these artificial organisms run amok, causing a disaster of biblical proportions? on the surface, these are not unreasonable concerns. however, at this point, work in synthetic biology is safe. furthermore, there is no reason why advances in this field should ever pose a genuine threat to safety. the protocells developed to date are fragile, metastable systems that cannot survive long even under the most optimal laboratory conditions. as they learn how to develop more robust systems, researchers could potentially design these systems in such a way that they can thrive under controlled conditions, but not outside the lab. likewise, the artificial microbes that dr. craig venter and his collaborators are attempting to create from the top - down pose no safety hazard. these cells will be based on the bacterium mycoplasma genitalium, an obligatory parasite incapable of surviving apart from its host. if the genes critical for mediating the host - parasite interaction are removed from m. genitalium ’ s genome, then it will not survive outside the manufacturing facility. the scientific community has a very good track record when it comes to regulating its activity, at least in these types of disciplines. genetic engineering and recombinant dna technology were synthetic biology ’ s forerunners. after some early success in recombinant dna research, scientists voluntarily placed a moratorium on this work until safety protocols and other guiding principles could be established. ( these guidelines and regulations were developed at the asilomar conference in 1975, organized by paul berg, a pioneer in recombinant dna technology. ) scientists willingly adhere to these guidelines. to my knowledge, no significant incident involving recombinant dna technology has occurred over the last 35 years or so. there is no reason why something like the asilomar conference guidelines couldn ’ t be developed for artificial cells and protocells. with effective regulations in place, work in synthetic biology can be carried out in a safe manner


last 35 years or so. there is no reason why something like the asilomar conference guidelines couldn ’ t be developed for artificial cells and protocells. with effective regulations in place, work in synthetic biology can be carried out in a safe manner. should scientists “ play god ”? christians ’ concerns over synthetic biology extend far beyond ethical and safety considerations. they are worried that scientists are trying to usurp god ’ s role. from my perspective, however, as human beings we have no choice but to play god — because we are made in his image. whenever we create, design, invent, etc., we are manifesting the image of god. and we are also mimicking the creator, albeit imperfectly. if god is the creator of life, then it is just a matter of time before we try to create life as well. our ability to even attempt to create artificial life stems from the image of god. and if our desire is to use synthetic biology to take better care of the planet, to use resources more wisely, to help the sick, to improve the quality of life for people all over the world, then i maintain that there is nothing wrong with playing god. the problem is not in playing god. the problem occurs when we try to usurp god ’ s authority. this was the sin committed at the tower of babel ( genesis 11 : 1 – 8 ). as i understand it, the construction of a tower reaching to the heavens, in and of itself, was not the problem. it was the motivation behind it. the builders desired to be like god, to take his place. unfortunately, this is the attitude of some — not all — of the scientists who work in synthetic biology. they see their work as pounding another nail in god ’ s coffin. this arrogance is the reason why christians need to engage synthetic biology. this is why christians in science need to become active in this field. if we don ’ t, we will have capitulated this very important technology into secular hands. 3. see note 2 for articles in support of this conclusion. this entry was posted on monday, january 16th, 2012 at 11 : 38 am and is filed under christianity, dr. fazale ( fuz ) rana, ethics, god, intelligent design, reasons to believe, reasons. org, synthetic biology. you can follow any responses to this entry through the rss 2. 0 feed. you can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


you don ' t have to be a dog lover to be constantly reminded of how many people are, but i never really thought about how dogs have been a major subject in the arts for literally thousands of years. laumeier sculpture park had an exhibition this past summer entitled " dog days of summer ". the exhibition was both inside in the galleries and had an outdoor installation by tea makipaa on the nature trail. the exhibition included " yappy hours " for dogs and their human counterparts, dog and human look - alike contests, and numerous dog related vendors and rescue organizations. there are even dog memberships now and according to the director of laumeier, marilu knode, the exhibition drew a tremendously large audience. the " yappy hours " alone drew at least 100 humans and 50 dogs per event. city garden and laumeier collaborated on showing william wegman videos at city garden. in 1970, painter, photographer and conceptual artist wegman began making videos with his weimaraner, man ray, named after the influential american artist of the first half of the 20th century. man ray became a central figure in wegman ' s photgraphy and videos and remained so until he passed away in 1981, when the next generation of weimaraners took place. in an article on the internet by author tamsin pickeral states : " five thousand years seems like an eternally long period of time, and it certainly is when you have your publisher breathing fire down your neck and muttering about word numbers and lack of space, but actually viewed within the context of our history, 5, 000 years is relatively shorter when looking at archaeological evidence of domestic dog and the earliest discovered human / canine relationships which date back to around 14, 000 thousand years ago. " pickeral goes on to say, " it was with some hesitation then that the dog, our most beloved companion, first started to appear in the arts, but after an initially slow start, the dog became one of the most frequently painted animals. they appeared at first as subsidiary to the primary subject of art works, slinking into the canvas to hover up crumbs from beneath laden tables, licking clean the feet of religious figures or accompanying bold warriors on hunting expeditions and dogs were frequently included in paintings to convey a symbolic message, most often being representative of qualities such as fidelity, love and servitude. " there is no end to the list one can purchase on dogs on amazon. com. just a sampling of titles include, " dog painting : the european breeds


, most often being representative of qualities such as fidelity, love and servitude. " there is no end to the list one can purchase on dogs on amazon. com. just a sampling of titles include, " dog painting : the european breeds ", " sit! ancestral dog portraits ”, " dogs in english porcelain of the 19th century, " and " the artful dog : canines from the metropolitan museum of art ". and i ' ll bet few st. louisans realize that the american kennel club museum is located in beautiful queeny park in west st. louis county. it ' s home to the world ' s finest collection of art devoted to the dog. the 14, 000 square foot facility, which includes historic jarville house displays over 700 original paintings, drawings, watercolors, prints, sculptures, bronzes, and porcelain figurines, and a variety of decorative arts objects, depicting man ' s best friend throughout the ages. so to all you dog lovers, whether your pooch yaps, barks, or woofs and you can ' t take enough photos of " fido ", just know that you are continuing an age old tradition. ( the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of st. louis public radio. ) arts aficionado nancy kranzberg has been involved in the arts community for some thirty years. she serves on numerous arts affiliated boards, including the st. louis art museum, laumeier sculpture park where she is the co - chair, the sheldon arts foundation and the sheldon art gallery board, jazz at the bistro, the missouri mansion preservation inc., the mid american arts alliance, and the contemporary art museum st. louis. nancy was named women of achievement and was awarded the distinguished alumnae award at washington university nancy is a docent at the st. louis art museum and is an honorary docent at laumeier sculpture park. at age 60 she became a jazz singer. she performs with the second half which features chancellor tom george on the piano.


the patella is the bone that makes the knee cap. patellofemoral pain syndrome is a condition in which pain is felt under the kneecap. the femur is the thigh bone. this bone forms the upper part of the knee. in people with patellofemoral pain syndrome, the patella painfully rubs against the femur. this pain occurs during exercise or movement. it is most common during weight bearing activities such as running. it is often increased by going down stairs or down hills. if you have knee or joint pain during activity, call your doctor. there is no single cause for this condition. it can be due to a number of different factors or conditions, including : - malalignment of the knee joint — often caused by dysfunction in the feet. people who roll their feet out when they walk can pull the kneecap out of line. this causes painful rubbing of the kneecap against the bones of the knee. rarely, this condition occurs because the kneecap is located too high or too low in the knee joint. - weak anterior thigh muscles — these muscles help to hold the kneecap in place as it moves. if these muscles are weak, they cannot hold the kneecap in the correct position. this causes the kneecap to rub against the femur during movement. - overuse and overloading the knee joint — especially from high - impact sports or activities that can cause pain. the following factors increase your chance of developing patellofemoral pain syndrome : any condition that causes misalignment of the knee joint, such as : - flat feet - high arches - hip dysfunction - pronation when walking — rolling feet outward - external rotation of the lower leg - knock knees - participation in high - impact sports, such as running - trauma, such as an automobile accident where the kneecap hits the dashboard the first symptom is pain around or under the kneecap. the pain may first occur during high - impact activities. as the condition gets worse, the pain may be triggered by long periods of sitting. it is thought to be caused by the pressure on the kneecap while the leg is flexed. other symptoms include : - swelling of the knee - popping or grinding sounds in the knee joint during activity - a snapping sensation in the knee your doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. a physical exam will be done. images may be taken of your knee. this can be done with : your doctor may refer you to a specialist. orthopedic surgeons focus on bone and joint disorders. the


about your symptoms and medical history. a physical exam will be done. images may be taken of your knee. this can be done with : your doctor may refer you to a specialist. orthopedic surgeons focus on bone and joint disorders. the initial step is to rest the knee. high - impact activities should be switched for lower impact exercise. for example, choose swimming instead of running. your doctor may suggest that you apply ice to the kneecap after activity. longer - term treatment involves a number of different strategies, including : exercise and physical therapy most people will benefit from strengthening the muscles around the knee. this includes the quadriceps muscles in the thigh as well as other muscles near the hip. physical therapists can recommend specific exercises. this treatment is very helpful. it can take 6 to 12 weeks to see an improvement. some people may benefit from nonsteroidal anti - inflammatory agents ( nsaids ). they may be helpful in relieving the pain. they work best when combined with other treatments, such as physical therapy. many people find relief from knee braces or knee sleeves. these devices typically have a cut - out in the knee cap area. they are designed to hold the kneecap in place during activity. some are designed to hold the patella from going too far laterally. certain methods of taping the patella in position have also been helpful to many patients. special shoe inserts, called orthotics, may also be helpful. they work best when the condition is due to dysfunction in the foot, such as flat feet or excessive pronation. in rare cases, people who do not respond to other forms of treatment may be recommended for surgery. this will be done to correct malalignment of the patella. it may not be possible to totally prevent this condition. there are steps you can take to reduce your risk and avoid making the condition it worse, including : - proper warming up before exercising. this includes stretching after warm - up and post - activity. this will help to prevent sports - related injuries. - vary the types of activities that you participate in. for example, rather than running or jogging every day, alternate between running and swimming. - take care of injuries right away. this includes getting first aid and resting the injury until it is healed before beginning an activity again. - reviewer : michael woods, md - review date : 05 / 2013 - - update date : 05 / 03 / 2013 -


- campus life - cost & aid - news & events - about plattsburgh you ' ve checked your machine with the latest version of anti - virus software. you ' ve called the helpdesk, and they sent someone over who gave your computer a clean bill of health. yet, you still receive messages accusing you of spreading viruses to others via e - mail. why? the reason may be due to any number of viruses that cleverly " spoof " or fake the return addresses on the loaded e - mails they send. such viruses gather e - mail addresses from the infected machine, choosing one to list as the destination ( to : ) and one to " spoof " ( fake ) as the sender ( from : ). most mail systems will let you put anything down as the sender ( from : ) address without validating or authenticating it. so, someone else ' s macchine is spreading a virus but you get the notification because the virus found your e - mail address on the infected system. to explain further, here is a sample scenario. let ' s say firstname. lastname @ example. org contracts a virus like mimail. some time after that, email @ example. com receives a message from firstname. lastname @ example. org that has a virus attachment in it. leonardo ' s anti - virus software or his firewall catches it before it can infect his machine. the anit - virus or firewall software then sends a note to isaac warning him that he is spewing out viruses. isaac is totally confused as he knows that his firewall or anti - virus software would have caught it. as the interception of the virus and the notification are automatic, the actual messages are never examined to verify the sender ' s name. had they been examined, they might have revealed that the original sender was from somewhere in sion. org. the only one can do is make sure one ' s anti - virus software is up to date and working. the confusion over who actually sent the virus will continue until e - mail software and protocols evolve to address this gap in security ( spoofing ). for more information about technology at suny plattsburgh, please contact : phone : ( 518 ) 564 - 4433 / toll - free 1 - 800 - 787 - 8773


by austin bay january 26, 2010 the pentagon announced on jan. 26 that the u. s. military will begin to wind down its central role in haitian relief efforts within the next three to six months. this announcement definitely signals a transition in post - disaster operations, from emergency operations ( immediate rescue relief ) to recovery operations. the haitian government ' s decision to suspend major search missions ( made late last week ) was another indication a phase shift is occurring in the global effort to assist the haitian people. there are arguably four types of aid : emergency, recovery, reconstruction and developmental. these four flavors roughly correlate to the " phases of recovery " following a disaster like haiti ' s jan. 12 earthquake. each phase is complicated. emergency aid gets the headlines, for it involves life and death heroics ; developmental aid is the most difficult because it seeks to build a future, and this entails a debate of whose version of the future will be financed. since the earthquake, the world has witnessed a remarkable demonstration of u. s. transport and logistics capabilities. american military swords often double as plowshares, and a natural disaster illustrates that dual capacity. speed saves lives in emergency response. providing first aid and surgical services to injured survivors obviously requires swift action. search and rescue is another mission that plays a crucial role in reducing the death toll, and in the case of haiti several american civilian agency search - and - rescue teams deployed within 48 hours. supplying follow - on medical assistance, food and clean water is also vital. numerous public and private aid organizations responded quickly to meet these needs. in large - scale disasters, bottlenecks inevitably occur. the port au prince airport ' s limited ramp space ( for parking and unloading transport aircraft ) hampered initial international efforts, but aircrews, flight controllers and ground personnel adapted. impoverished haiti, however, starts off short of runways. enter the u. s. navy. a navy nuclear - powered aircraft carrier is a mobile airfield. with their large sick bays, carriers are mobile hospitals. in haiti, the uss carl vinson is serving an emergency transportation hub for helicopters moving people and supplies throughout the quake - damaged area. large ships with onboard distillation capabilities are particularly valuable in the emergency aid phase since they can provide significant amounts of clean water for both aid personnel and victims. the u. s. has also deployed the hospital ship usns comfort. the recovery phase is a time of transition. the immediate shock of the disaster is fading, the timely distribution of supplies is reasonably certain, and


for both aid personnel and victims. the u. s. has also deployed the hospital ship usns comfort. the recovery phase is a time of transition. the immediate shock of the disaster is fading, the timely distribution of supplies is reasonably certain, and, for the bulk of the population, basic survival needs are being met. however, sustaining this condition means critical local support infrastructure must begin to function at a minimal level. hasty repairs to transport and communications systems ( e. g., roads, airfields, cell phone towers ) and providing semi - permanent shelter ( e. g., refugee centers ) characterize the recovery phase. this has begun in haiti. recovery, when support is sustained, should eventually lead to reconstruction, rebuilding old neighborhoods and building new ones. developmental aid intends to build a better future than the past the disaster savaged. reconstruction and development, when pursued wisely, involve improving human systems as well as improving infrastructure. they are, in some respects, the most difficult phases, for they move from immediate, definitive heroics to long - haul, squishy politics. haiti ' s endemic problems now become the problem. haiti has limited natural resources. take a look at the satellite photos - - the haitian half of the island of hispaniola is a moonscape of denuded hills and slope failures. in order to make charcoal, poor haitians cut down their forests. that is fine with the haitian elites. the wealthy have the cash to import fuel and build grand villas in petionville ( way up the hill from port au prince ). should 60 percent of haiti ' s political class be in jail? does that sound outrageous? okay, 70 percent may be a better figure. haiti ' s corrupt political class entwines with its business class, and the result is a kleptocracy. kleptocracies don ' t enforce building codes. kleptocrats let their corrupt pals make chalky concrete. when the earthquake strikes, hundred of thousands of people die due to poverty and corruption. the systemic lack of governmental accountability in haiti steals haiti ' s future. the u. s. military will be pulling out in the next six months. fifteen years ago in a column addressing the clinton administration ' s efforts in haiti, i wrote that a developmental aid program that genuinely addresses haiti ' s problems would take somewhere between 30 and 50 years to implement. given the continuing corruption, three to five decades still sounds about right.


what is a domain name? a domain name represents a physical point on the internet — an ip address. the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers ( icann ) governs coordination of the links between ip addresses and domain names across the internet. with this standardized coordination, you can find websites on the internet by entering domain names instead of ip addresses into your web browser. here ' s an example : think of a street address for a house or business — let ' s say the white house. the street address, 1600 pennsylvania avenue, is an exact location — like an ip address. you might not know the exact street address, but when you visit washington, d. c., you can tell your cabbie that you want to visit the white house and still get there. this is how a domain name is used : it ' s an easy way to reach the exact location of a website without having to remember the numeric address. a domain name consists of, at least, a top - level and a second - level domain. see what are top - level domains ( tld ) and country code top - level domains ( cctld )? and what are second - level domains ( sld ) and country code second level domains ( ccsld )? for information on these terms. domain names must be registered with an icann - accredited registrar. we are an icann - accredited registrar, and you can register domain names through us. many tlds, also called extensions, can be registered by anyone. the extensions. com,. net, and. org are good examples that anyone can register. others, primarily country - code extensions ( cctlds ), have residency requirements — like. eu ( representing the european union ) and. us ( representing the united states ). still others, like. aero,. biz,. edu,. mil,. museum,. name, and. pro, are restricted to a certain type of entity or community — like. edu, which is reserved for educational entities and. gov, which is reserved for government agencies. your message was successfully sent. there was an error in sending your message, please try again. have a question about the content of this article?


by : lane s. kansas, age 13 there once was a great indian chief named chief kang. him and his tribe lived along the mississippi river and used the river for a lot of resources. they were only one of the 5 groups in their nation. the others lived right along the river but they didn ’ t communicate and they had a lot of wars and battles. one day kang and his warriors were out hunting when they were ambushed by another group. kang and his warriors escaped the attack but he was wounded very fatally. when they got back to the tribe one of the women had had a baby named great buffalo. the child would grow up to be a very strong leader and chief of the group. a few months later kang died of his wounds from the battle. the nations then began to have wars very often and that led to the splitting of the groups. this went on for a few years and then great buffalo began to take control of the group and they made him their chief. he tried to make peace among the tribes but that was no use. while this was happening there was a great peace god named sanka coming to bring peace. it took months for sanka to finally arrive but one day he was out on the mississippi when he was a man standing in the middle. he went towards him but he began to disappear. he went back and told the tribe about this man that he called sanka the peace god. the next day the village is attacked and there were very little survivors. when great buffalo came out from his longhouse he saw the shape of a giant man. it was sanka ; he told great buffalo he had came to bring peace to the land and form the washuka federation to help keep war from the nations. great buffalo listened and they agreed to go to the surrounding tribes and bring peace. they went to the first four tribes and they all agreed and followed sanka and great buffalo. they got to the final tribe but they would not follow sanka so they had to per sway them to but they still wouldn ’ t listen. sanka called out to the great god of the mississippi and begged for his help. the god banished the people from the land and made them into peace bringing natives. the washuka federation has kept peace among the nations for many years now


9 : 15 pm in uncategorized by cardigan an acanthamoeba may not be a term you ’ re likely to hear at the optometrist while being outfitted for a new prescription for contacts, but it ’ s a good reason to heed their warnings about proper contact lens care. the acanthamoeba is a microorganism found to essentially crawl through the eye ’ s cornea causing not only pain but also potentially permanent blindness. the united kindgom ’ s press association recently reported though incidence if the infection is rare — only about 75 people of the 3. 7 million contact lens wears in the u. k. are treated each year — it ’ s still worth being aware of how to best avoid contracting it. the ukpa states that the parasite, which burrows into the eye, can be picked up from a dirty case or from rinsing lenses in tap, river, pond or lake water. it also notes the condition, acanthamoeba keratitis, is often misdiagnosed. once contracted, treatment includes a hospital stay with “ round - the - clock administration of disinfecting eye drops, ” ukpa states. if the infection is bad enough, the cornea could need to be replaced or blindness could also result.


lymphedema bandages may be discomforting at first, but these are essential in treating lymphedema. lymphedema causes the swelling of the limbs due to fluid retention in the tissues. since no cure is available, patients will have to deal with physical therapy and medication to reduce the swelling. part of the comprehensive treatment patients have to undergo is using compression garments or bandages. these provide pressure to the limbs and encourage better lymph circulation. there are two types of compression used in the treatment : elastic and non - elastic. elastic compression can be adjusted to suit limb movement. one disadvantage though is that the patient may not always need the same amount of pressure, which may lead to circulation restriction. on the other hand, non - elastic compression does not adjust to the limb ’ s volume and movement. since these can ’ t accommodate change, the patient may have a hard time moving around. compression bandages belong to the elastic type of compression. however, these can be further divided into two : short - stretch bandages and long - stretch bandages. short - stretch bandages are preferred over long - stretch bandages because they produce the necessary tension needed to reduce the swelling. long - stretch bandages however, may provide too much elasticity. so when the patients move, they loosen the bandage ’ s grip on the limb, causing less resistance for the lymph to press against. compression bandages must be used even at night during sleep. it is also very important that these shall be used during flights since low cabin pressure may aggravate the swelling caused by the disease. normally, a second bandage is applied before flight to increase the pressure. bandages must be cleaned regularly not just for hygienic reasons but also to maintain the elasticity of the bandages. these should be handwashed as much as possible. also, these should be changed regularly. the patients are often taught on how to put the bandages by themselves because during sleep and travel, the bandages must be adjusted to suit their condition. though bandages relatively cause discomfort, it shouldn ’ t be a very painful experience. once pain is present when bandages are applied, the patient must immediately tell the therapist or doctor. | « lymph node removal | | lymphedema courses » |


collaboration | feature wikis : pulling it all together online elementary teachers are using wikis in and out of the classroom. the collaborative, teacher - moderated technology allows educators to set up sites quickly and at little or no cost, creating instant learning resources for students. but wikis aren ' t without their challenges. - by bridget mccrea david lindsay discovered wikis in 2005, several years before collaborative web 2. 0 innovations would officially infiltrate the educational space. armed with web site design experience, this elementary school teacher started tooling around with the idea of wikis after seeking out a better way to manage an annual competition that paired students with a local business alliance. " i was looking for an easier, free way to manage the competition, " said lindsay, a fourth grade teacher and technology coordinator at rosedell elementary in saugus, ca. through the event, students work closely with the business alliance to develop their own online businesses. lindsay coaches students through the process, which finds children using the web to experience hands - on entrepreneurship at a young age. " at the time, there was software available for what i wanted to do, but it was cost - prohibitive, " said lindsay, who was also challenged by the fact that web site design five years ago still required the developers ( in this case, the students themselves ) to write code. " programming and html were still pretty complicated for a fourth grader to learn and use, " said lindsay. " while i was looking around for better options, i stumbled upon wikis. " by definition, a wiki is a web site that allows for simple creation and editing of multiple, interlinked web pages. using simplified markup language wysiwyg text editor and a browser, teachers can get set up online and start interacting with their online communities quickly. powered by wiki software, these sites are used frequently in educational settings, where teachers can exercise editorial rights by removing inappropriate or off - topic material. for the last five years lindsay has used wikis both in and out of the classroom. one wiki web site, for example, serves as a " window " into his fourth - grade classroom and a portal to curriculum resources. using the free pbworks online collaboration service, lindsay not only posts his own data, but also stores his students ' portfolios and other pertinent information. the student who creates a podcast, for example, will likely have her work showcased on lindsay ' s wiki, which uses embedding technology to make such uploads simple


also stores his students ' portfolios and other pertinent information. the student who creates a podcast, for example, will likely have her work showcased on lindsay ' s wiki, which uses embedding technology to make such uploads simple and fast. " you can take the code from the podcast and embed a player right into your wiki, " said lindsay. " then, parents can log on, click ' play ' and listen to their students ' work at their own convenience, online. " lindsay also uses the wiki to display more traditional projects, such as works of art. a student ' s masterpiece can be scanned into a computer, and then uploaded to the wiki without much more than a few minutes of effort. the process not only helps preserve the original work of art, he said, but also allows a much larger audience to view it online. the same process works for collaborative, group projects, which are often difficult to manage and share. a team of four students who are working on a volcano project, for example, can log onto the wiki and use it as a place to post and / or answer research questions among each other. both teacher and parents can monitor the project ' s progress, see each student ' s contribution, and offer feedback and help where needed. " the wiki makes it easy for everyone to see what ' s going on in the classroom, " said lindsay, " and helps me follow the progress on specific projects ; even those that are taking place off campus. " lindsay said he ' s run into a couple of challenges while using wikis, with the most prevalent being the fact that users can post " pretty much whatever they want to " in the online forums. once the " submit " button is pressed, the content is viewable by the rest of the world. " one time, a student posted the wiki passwords online, just for fun, " said lindsay. " luckily, i have the site set up to send me push notifications of any changes to the content, so i was able to take them down within five minutes. " lorna larson, an esl teacher at forest lake elementary in forest lake, mn, has also dealt with " monitoring " challenges when using wikis and said password distribution and management has been equally as onerous. " we had to print out user names and passwords for all of the students, and then keep all of that information straight, " said larson, referring to the first wiki she set up a few years


management has been equally as onerous. " we had to print out user names and passwords for all of the students, and then keep all of that information straight, " said larson, referring to the first wiki she set up a few years ago. " we wound up having to redistribute the information every time the students used the wikis, until they had the passwords memorized. " larson, who learned about wikis several years ago at a university of minnesota workshop for elementary teachers, said she uses the collaborative spaces on several fronts. recently, summer school students were encouraged to use the classroom wiki to give feedback and recommendations on the books they were reading, while other children used the online, collaborative space to participate in fact - and - opinion projects related to plays that they attended while on field trips. where those student contributions differ than those created in more traditional ways ( in notebooks or on paper reports, for example ), said larson, lies in the fact that they are being developed with a larger audience in mind. " students recognize that students, teachers and parents will be reading their work, " said larson. " that ' s pretty powerful, and it prompts them to be more conscientious about the quality and depth of their writing. " to teachers looking to infuse their own classrooms with some of those benefits, larson said the best place to start is by talking to other educators about their experiences. " you can flounder around forever, trying to figure it all out, " stated larson, " or you can send an e - mail to someone who has already used wikis, and get help. " lastly, larson said teachers should be careful not to lose sight of the real reason they ' re using wikis : to enhance the learning experience for students. don ' t get caught up in the technology, she said. instead, focus on what type of enrichment would most help students, and figure out how wikis can help fill those gaps. " technology can be a great facilitator, " said larson, " but knowing the learning objective is the first critical step. "


audiobooks | feature at one school, ipods help improve reading scores after noticing an uptick in ell and other students with below average reading scores at his school, skip johnson, principal at el crystal elementary in san bruno, ca, created a forward - thinking reading program pairing ipods and print books that has helped to successfully boost reading comprehension scores among non proficient readers. the idea for letting struggling readers follow print and ipod audiobooks simultaneously was first sparked when johnson was browsing the itunes store trying to spend a $ 50 itunes giftcard - - a generous gift from a teacher. " i happened to notice audiobooks for sale and i went, ' hmm, there are a lot of books here that kids want to read, " he said. johnson then piloted the initiative with a single ipod and just a handful of audiobooks that he introduced to just three students. now in its fourth year, the program maintains a library brimming with more than 400 audiobooks on 50 devices, and has caught on school wide. " it was motivating to the kids, and they would be back in a day or two wanting another book, " johnson said. " it was becoming a lot of work for the media aid to load each new book. one of the teachers and i both said ' it ' s an ipod ; you don ' t buy one song at a time, you make a play list. " with help from his colleagues, johnson curated hundreds of audiobooks on a sliding scale arranged by lexile level. students check out books from the library and take them home to read, following along with the audio loaded on school - owned ipods. when students finish, they take a scholastic reading counts quiz to test their comprehension. after passing, they can progress to another book on the playlist, often at a higher level of difficulty. " we let the kids chose the titles but we control the level of the book, " johnson explained, " and we push them to read them in increasing increments, so we use the tool the way it was intended. " to organize purchases, johnson set up a spreadsheet that lists a given book ' s title, author, whether the school had a hardcopy in the library, the link to the audiobook, and what the school paid for it. the process ultimately helped to ensure that the school was only buying materials that they could quiz students on. however, johnson describes it as a " labor of love, " as data was painstakingly pulled from multiple sources like itunes


school paid for it. the process ultimately helped to ensure that the school was only buying materials that they could quiz students on. however, johnson describes it as a " labor of love, " as data was painstakingly pulled from multiple sources like itunes and scholastic that do not interface with each other. as part of the program ' s expansion, language arts teachers began using the ipods in their reading groups - - called lit circles - - with students on a broad range of reading levels. since the school does not have ipods for every student, johnson purchased a belkin - made add on, called a rockstar, which lets up to five students listen to the same device on headphones without compromising the fidelity of the sound. recently, johnson created video clips with students to gauge their interest in the program, where he discovered students that were beginning to genuinely enjoy reading for the first time. " every kid i interviewed said ' i didn ' t like reading before because it was difficult. now i have a tool and i like it, ' " he said. " if you look a the overall data from our district, which has seven elementary schools, we read more words per year than some of the schools that have more readers. " lexile scores have also seen improvement. " these non proficient readers are, for the most part, hitting the 100 points that scholastic says the average reader will grow per year. and we have many kids hitting 200, 300, or even 400 " points of growth. stephen noonoo is associate editor of the journal. he is on twitter @ stephenoonoo.


a simile, as our fourth - grade english teachers intoned, is a comparison of two, usually dissimilar, objects, with the use of “ like ” or “ as. ” to enliven our writing, similes can evoke the particular sense we want to transmit. many of our most now - trite similes were fresh when first used — burns ’ “ my love is like a red, red rose, ” shakespeare ’ s “ shall i compare thee to a summer ’ s day? ” but repetition and endless assignment in freshman english classes has made them as shopworn as the bargain table after a sale. it ’ s easy to succumb to overused and by now boring similes. you know the ones : eyes like stars, fits like a glove, swim ( or smoke ) like a fish, fierce as a lion, dead as a doornail, sleep like a log, dry as dust, smooth as silk, white as snow, cute as a button. when we write, they seem to spring up like spring flowers, i mean, like groupies at a rock star ’ s world tour. i ’ m not against similes, although they ’ re less elegant than their more subtle, no - like / as cousins, the metaphors ( her eyes were stars, he was a fierce lion in battle, the air was dust in my nostrils ). but notice in the examples of similes above, and many more you can probably think of, that some of the objects compared make little sense today. how dead is a doornail? why is it deader than a screw or a staple? how does a log sleep? does it twitch, snore? how cute is a button? what if it ’ s a button on the jumpsuit of a prisoner? or the black coat of a funeral director? i encountered the tired - simile syndrome with a recent passage in a novel and, desperate for freshness, developed a method to create better similes. describing the arms of a middle - aged mother, i first wrote, “ they were like... ” and several barely passable similes spewed out : “ like bowling pins, ” “ like tree trunks, ” “ like sausages, ” “ like pieces of wood. ” each of these felt either too old ( bowling pins ) or not quite right ( tree trunks were too big, sausages needed adjectival spice, pieces of wood felt stagnant ). reaching for surprising similes


pieces of wood. ” each of these felt either too old ( bowling pins ) or not quite right ( tree trunks were too big, sausages needed adjectival spice, pieces of wood felt stagnant ). reaching for surprising similes i wanted the simile to convey more than a striking image. the mother ’ s arms should evoke the bulk of her body and, more subtly, underscore the theme — her strong - armed ways tyrannized her family. so i did what i ’ m suggesting to you below. and found the right simile : “ her arms were like the thick ends of baseball bats. ” when you avoid the cliche similes like the plague, i mean, like mud after a downpour, and choose imaginative ones, you can write effective description, heighten the reader ’ s experience, and deepen your theme. have you read any similes lately that surprised you? choose a description of an object, either something that fascinates you or from a piece you ’ re working on. to describe the object, write out all the similes you can think of. start with the ones that come easily. get at least three or four. you ’ re purging your system of commonalities. then visualize the object ; see it clearly in front of you. even better, set it out before you ( unless it ’ s a skyscraper or an orca ). ask yourself : - how does it look, feel, smell, taste? - how would a friend, sibling, stranger react to it? - what else is this object like? - what does this object make me think of? write your responses to each question. and wait and listen. something, or several things, more will come to you. write them all down. when your insides cry “ that ’ s it! ” you ’ ll know it ’ s the perfect, rare simile. like my woman ’ s arms. when you ’ re finished, share a few of your favorite similes here in the comments section.


four women in san francisco coined the term “ locavore ” in 2005, and since then many similar groups have popped up all around the country. each has the same idea : eating locally helps the environment, improves health, stimulates the local economy, and simply tastes better. for these reasons locally grown and produced food has been called “ the new organic. ” the new oxford american dictionary even named locavore their word of the year in 2007. today, the average conventionally grown vegetable travels more than 1, 500 miles to your neighborhood grocery store. brook levan, from the documentary film, “ locavore, ” comments on the journey of food in the film, saying, “ we ’ re eating oil, right now, and we ’ re eating out of trucks, and that ’ s not going to last for much longer. ” he ’ s right. every trip to the grocery store adds to our carbon footprint. in fact a 2005 study in the journal food policy found that eating local foods is greener than eating organic foods because the miles traveled by organic food create environmental damage that outweighs the benefit of buying organic in the first place. additionally, a study in iowa found that by eating locally, one consumes 17 times less oil and gas than a typical diet with food shipped across the nation. these kinds of facts show how important it is to make more of an effort to eat locally, and there are plenty of resources to help you get started. jennifer maiser, editor of the blog eat local challenge, says that the first step to becoming a locavore is determining what local means to you, be it creating a radius of 10 miles or 100 miles. there are even online tools to help you do this. additional steps include shopping at your local farmers ’ market, lobbying your grocery store to invest in more local foods, signing up for a local community supported agriculture program, starting your own garden ( like michelle obama ’ s white house garden ), or even hosting a locavore thanksgiving. eating locally doesn ’ t restrict you to your own kitchen, either. many restaurants are making an effort to use more local ingredients ” ” some exclusively so. and if you ’ re looking for a low - key way to start joining the locavore movement, try to pick a few foods that you can commit to buying locally each week, such as those currently in season. lucky for you, there ’ s an iphone app for that. besides environmental benefits, eating locally tends to put more fruits


##e movement, try to pick a few foods that you can commit to buying locally each week, such as those currently in season. lucky for you, there ’ s an iphone app for that. besides environmental benefits, eating locally tends to put more fruits and vegetables on families ’ plates, which is essential to any healthy diet. it ’ s not yet clear whether local or organic foods have more nutrients than conventionally grown produce, but several locavores claim that eating less processed foods leads to a noticeable increase in general well - being. there are economical benefits as well. every dollar spent locally can generate up to six times as much income for the local economy. plus, most local produce at farmers ’ markets has been picked within 24 hours and tastes fresher and better than food shipped from thousands of miles away. locavores have their critics, like stephen budiansky, who claims that locavores promote “ arbitrary rules ” and misunderstand concepts such as “ food - miles, ” leading them to misrepresent reality. budiansky claims locavores incorrectly see local eating not as a means to an end, but as an end in itself. but the important thing to remember is that your efforts really do make a difference. eating locally is the number one thing consumers can do to cut carbon emissions and energy use. if everyone ate one meal a week from a local source, over 50 million barrels of oil per year could be saved. a locavore in the documentary by the same name said, “ if more people had gardens “ ¦ yeah, i think it ’ d be a better world. ” she ’ s right. more gardens, more farms, and more locavores will help make the world a greener place. so what are you waiting for? ( if you ’ re curious about what it ’ s like to be a locavore, check out these testimonials from locavorenation, a group of 15 individuals who throughout all of 2008 tried to get 80 percent of their food from local, organic, and seasonal sources. ) this is a repost from cap ’ s easy being green series.


new research finds that the consumption of sugary drinks and sodas contributes to about 180, 000 obesity - related deaths around the world — including the deaths of about 25, 000 adult americans — each year. according to a new study presented on tuesday at a meeting of the american heart association, one out of every 100 obesity - related deaths around the world can be tied to sugary drinks, which directly exacerbate health conditions like diabetes, heart diseases, and cancer. specifically, the over - consumption of those beverages increased global deaths from diabetes by 133, 000, from cardiovascular disease by 44, 000 and from cancer by 6, 000. although the united states doesn ’ t currently have the highest rate of deaths associated with sugary drinks — that dubious distinction goes to mexico, where people consume more sugar - sweetened beverages than anywhere else in the world — americans still get the majority of their calories from those type of drinks. the experts who contributed to the study explained that ’ s a big issue because those calories don ’ t provide any nutritional value, and policymakers should focus on helping encourage americans to cut back : “ one of the problems of sugar - sweetened beverages is that we don ’ t seem to compensate as well for the calories as we do for solid foods, ” [ rachel k. johnson, a professor of medicine and nutrition at the university of vermont ] said. “ in other words, when we consume sugar - sweetened beverages we don ’ t reduce the amount of food we consume. ” johnson cautioned the study didn ’ t prove cause and effect, just that there was an association between sugared - drink intake and death rates. singh, the study ’ s co - author, said that taxing sugary drinks in the same way as cigarettes, or limiting advertising or access, may help reduce usage. “ our study shows that tens of thousands of deaths worldwide are caused by drinking sugary beverages and this should impel policy makers to make strong policies to reduce consumption of sugary beverages, ” singh said. new york city mayor michael bloomberg ( i ) attempted to craft exactly that type of policy, seeking to ban the sale of large sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces in order to encourage healthier portion sizes. but after a state judge struck down bloomberg ’ s initiative last week, new yorkers won ’ t have to curb their supersize soda habits anytime soon. instead of working to come up similar health - conscious policies in other parts of the country, however, some lawmakers are actually passing reaction


have you ever been unsure about a trade that seems a little " iffy, " or something that just doesn ' t seem right? this guide could help you decide what to do when stuff like that happens, and it could one day save your account. important : first read cipsoft security information page last updated : february 20th, 2011 as defined in the dictionary, hacking is " to use one ' s skill in computer programming to gain unauthorized access to a file or network. " if someone gets your account password and account number, they might take all of your stuff on your character, or possibly even your character itself. what bad things are out there? there are several ways someone can get your password to your account. most can also do some bad things, not only to your tibian account, but to your computer as well. | 1. trojans, trojan horses - these are malicious programs pretending to be a regular program. they can destroy data and send info back to the owner, such as passwords. the main difference between them and computer viruses is that they do not replicate. 2. viruses - bad programs made by people to ( usually ) do bad things to computers. they can be disguised as games, pictures, or regular programs. when executed they could destroy information. 3. key loggers - these are programs much like trojans, but usually they don ' t destroy data. they keep track of every keystroke made, and then sends it back to the owner. 4. worms - worms are viruses that sit in the computer ' s memory, duplicating themselves. they can be sent to other computers through an email program, or irc ( internet relay chat ), destroying data. 5. spyware, adware - usually these come from programs with bundled software, like file sharing utilities. both will track what sites you visit and what you do on them. 6. guessing passwords - although unlikely, if you have an easy password, someone could guess it, or - - automated scripts with common words dictionaries embedded can " break " your easy - to - figure password too! how can a person get these? with exception to # 6, all the programs above can be gotten from a computer program. sometimes they can be sent by email, a downloaded program, or a website. but, usually you will not find any of these things unless you ' re looking for a cheat to the game, or doing other... bad things. if someone asks you to be their friend, and


a downloaded program, or a website. but, usually you will not find any of these things unless you ' re looking for a cheat to the game, or doing other... bad things. if someone asks you to be their friend, and then tries to send you a file, reject it. especially files with a. exe,. cmd,. bat, or. scr extension. even if they want to send you a picture of them self, it ' d advised not to accept it unless you absolutely trust the person. ask them to upload it on a trusted image uploader instead. how not to get them? there are lots of ways to be sure not to get any of the bad things mentioned earlier. using your common sense is a good start! 1. don ' t download anything questionable, like character modifiers, add - on tibia programs, or toolkits, unless its from a trusted fan site. cipsoft has deemed what they consider trusted fansites on their fansites page. even then, please use extreme caution. • mcafee - can be bought in stores or online. 8. scan for spyware using any popular program such as : • ad - aware - an excellent program that will get rid of adware and spyware, along with other harmful programs. here are some tips to make your password almost un - guessable! • make sure you have a password of around 8 - 10 characters or even more. • don ' t use words from a dictionary. instead, mix words together that don ' t make a real word, or even use a number or 2. • don ' t use your name or phone number for a password. don ' t use words that a friend could think of using ( if you and a friend play diablo, don ' t use ' diablo ' for a password ). • never give out your password - not even to a friend. your ' friend ' could turn out to be someone you don ' t know at all. myths & facts here are a few common myths about these things. myth : cip or a gamemaster needs my account number or password fact : cipsoft will never ask you for your password, they do not need it. nor a gamemaster will do. or a counsellor. or a tutor. myth : i can ' t trust any websites anymore! fact : not all sites are bad, and about 99. 8 % of the ones you can find are good, and want to help you out


. or a counsellor. or a tutor. myth : i can ' t trust any websites anymore! fact : not all sites are bad, and about 99. 8 % of the ones you can find are good, and want to help you out. unless you want to find a cheat or something, you won ' t find the other. 2 %. myth : having antivirus software and a firewall makes me invincible to bad stuff! fact : although it does help a lot, you should still be careful. myth : if you get a virus, you need to buy a new computer. fact : absolutely not! there ' s a number of things you can do to fix it. for one, try getting a program mentioned above, such as ad - aware and try scanning. if that doesn ' t work, you could always choose the ' road less traveled by ' and reformat, but sometimes it takes awhile. myth : there are item duplicators. fact : if you read any post from people saying they have an item duplicator, or they contact you in - game saying they can duplicate your items, it ' s a guaranteed scam. myth : there are magical start editing hacks! fact : that ' s a nonsense. all they want is your password or keylog you. how keyloggers work there are lots of keylogging programs out there today. i ' ve seen lots, and i mean lots. but, the people here tend to use 2 types of keyloggers. sc - keylog and blazingtools perfect keylogger ( or bpk for short ). 1. sc - keylog : how this works ; it is a file by itself, usually and. exe. when you open it, you will see that nothing happens. usually this means that the file is running in the background, and you can alt + ctrl + del to find it in the ' processes ' tab. 2. bpk : this program works by binding to another program, say tibia. exe. the program will run fine, but what you dont know is that it secretly installed bpk into your system. bpk will either send it to a person ' s e - mail or upload it to an ftp. in order for this to work, you need to supply a user + pass for the e - mail or the website which you are uploading to. there are programs out that will decrypt the infected file, and will find their user +


. in order for this to work, you need to supply a user + pass for the e - mail or the website which you are uploading to. there are programs out that will decrypt the infected file, and will find their user + pass that the provided. payback! : ) despite everything.... " i am hacked! " we are sorry to hear you have been hacked. before you can get your account back there are certain things that you must take care of. if you do not remove your security problem first you risk being hacked again. 1. find out how the hacker got access to your account and remove the security problem. carefully think over everything that has happened to your account and your computer during the last few weeks. here are some questions that might help : • is it possible that you have a computer virus or a spy program on your computer? please use one or two up - to - date virus scanners to check your computer. if a virus is found remove it before you do anything else. • did you share your account data with anybody? a person that knows your account data can easily hack you. do not risk that again. • is your email address safe? try to secure your email address by changing the email password. to find out more about possible security leaks read tibia ' s security hints carefully. if you follow these guidelines your account should be well protected against any further hacking attempts. remember, if you try to get your account back before the security leak is removed it is quite possible that the hacker will again get access to your account. 2. get your account back. to get back access to your account you have to use the lost account interface. specify your problem there and follow the instructions. please note that a new password will only be sent to the email address to which the account is registered. if you have lost access to this email address try to get it back. for example you can contact your email provider and ask for help. once you have access to the registered email address the lost account interface will work.


lightweight video cameras and small flying platforms can be mixed in a variety of ways. you can put a camera on a rc airplane, fly it around, and watch the video later. a more advanced flavor is called first person video - you put a camera in the aircraft, stream the video back and use it to control the flight - often watching the view with video goggles. and you can let the aircraft fly autonomously to a pre - planned flight path and either store or transmit the video. lots of fun, but there are any number of social implications. it is still very difficult to fly autonomously in the us and commercial use of these flying cameras is still largely barred by the faa ( although they are working towards allowing it ). there is a big space for hobbyists with certain weight and distance regulations and thousands participate. some videos have become popular ( from his youtube channel ) one has to wonder what the moose is thinking - perhaps some lines from the bullwinkle show are appropriate. ( some notes on the video from its author ) eirik solheim - the norwegian guy who created the video - has a site that is rich in content for advanced hobbyists. while there are very small toy class platforms, most of the experimenting is taking place using kits that require something in the neighborhood $ 1, 000 to build and fly. stability and control can be very impressive and the police who were involved in the occupy wallstreet demonstrations became very nervous when one of these appeared. there are a number of small autonomous commercial class drones used for police, military, construction, scientific and other work... the people who make the toy class ar. drones ( still very impressive technology ) are involved in an autonomous uav ( unmanned aerial vehicle ) product called the sensefly. starting at about $ 9, 000, but currently illegal in the us, you get an autonomous mapper. these would have been very useful in the wake of the recent sandy superstorm. uavs bristle with society and technology issues, but can be a great platform for engineering students. i suspect hundreds of organizations in the us probably have someone playing with them on salary or as a hobbyist and suspect a lot of activity if the faa announces regulations with few restrictions ( which is expected ). think about any task that uses a helicopter for observation and lower the operating cost by a factor of 100. and that is just a starting point.


sensory development in the first two years your baby ’ s senses mature in response to the stimulation she receives, as you share different sights, sounds, smells and feelings sense and baby ' s stimulation the play a central role in our lives : they are the channels through which we take in information from our environment ; absorbing sights, sounds, sensations, smells and tastes and assessing our position in space, balance and more. in the first few months, baby ’ s are not fully mature and pass on only partial info, but once baby turns 4 months old his are ready to pass on diverse rich data from the environment. your baby ’ s mature in response to the stimulation she receives, as you share different sights, sounds, smells and sensations. in reaction to stimulation, your baby ’ s sensory receptors transmit and stimulate nerve activity in the relevant part of the brain. for example, when you show your baby a brightly colored, highly contrasted image, the nerves are triggered in the area of the brain that controls vision – supporting development and maturation of the retina, cornea and the muscles of the eye. while sensory stimulation is essential, it is also important to understand your baby ' s limits. like everything else in life, the right time and the right dose are important, so expose your baby to the correct, age - appropriate stimuli. this process is gradual and moves from the specific to the comprehensive. as she gazes lovingly at your face, she will first focus on the main features, such as the eyes, mouth and nose. later she will see other details, like the eyebrows and teeth. there is also a gradual transition from absorbing sharp contrasts to being able to absorb an entire range of hues and shades. for instance black and white are more readily processed, as opposed to similar colors like blue and green. over time, your baby ' s abilities gradually improve and move from a more single sensory grasp of her surroundings to an inter - sensory of our entire world. at any given moment, our are bombarded with a wide array of stimuli. naturally, we are not able to process everything our pick up. this is where the process of steps in, helping us filter and moderate the data our receive on a day - to - day basis.


as seen in : snowball is a fictional pig in the book animal farm written by george orwell. he is based on leon trotsky. snowball believes in a continued revolution : he argues that in order to defend animal farm and strengthen the reality of old major ' s dream of a life without humans, the animals should stir up rebellions in other farms throughout england. he is the only pig on the farm who works with the other animals and is the kinder pig on the farm. snowball also writes the first version of the seven commandments. these are later altered by squealer under the orders of napoleon to accommodate the actions of the pigs. for example, the commandment stating “ no animal shall drink alcohol ” is changed to “ no animal shall drink alcohol to excess ”, and is later removed entirely. the rule that states, “ no animal should sleep in a bed, ” changed to “ no animal should sleep in a bed with sheets ”. snowball is eventually forced out of the farm when napoleon uses his guard dogs to chase snowball. after that he is blamed for problems on the farm, and it is claimed he was in support of jones from the start. though he fought bravely at the battle of cowshed, the facts are altered to say he openly fought for jones and the shot wounds are changed to wounds napoleon inflicted on him. those accused of supporting him are executed after being forced to confess, and a reward is offered for his capture. snowball was a very inventive and quick speech pig that influenced others to his side. it is never revealed what happened to him after his escape, although in the 1950s film adaptation it is implied the dogs killed him.


cycling is no stranger to safety innovation, a welcome trend amid the push for urban sustainability and shifting commuting priorities. but, until recently, bike helmets haven ' t evolved much, and that ' s odd, since helmet innovation has swept across several other categories, including those that help firefighters, football players, and people worried about impending natural disasters. however, thanks to a few visionary inventors, now cyclists are finally getting safer with inventive new takes on cranial armor. : helmet hair can be a source of anguish, which means that too many cyclists often ride without skull protection. so, to keep tresses perfectly coiffed while still protecting riders, swedish industrial designers terese alstin and anna haupt developed the hovding, a bike helmet that stays nearly invisible until activation. the device is disguised as a collar and is equipped with sensors that detect when an accident is imminent, upon which it inflates into an airbag that surrounds the head within 0. 1 seconds. speaking to the vanity of its audience, the collar ’ s shell can be switched out with an increasing array of colors, patterns, and fabrics. cyclists, unlike drivers who have blinkers to indicate turns, are often left to communicate via hand signals. luckily, a team from rmit university ' s exertion games lab in melbourne, australia is developing a helmet, called the lumahelm, that gives riders a more visible way to signal turns. led lights, which are plugged into to an arduino uno circuit board to allow for individual control, blanket the helmet ' s surface. a built - in accelerometer calculates motion through head movements that generate different light signals. for example, a forward head tilt lights up the left side of the helmet to signify a turn, while a backwards tilt triggers red lights to signify breaking. all - weather motorcycle helmet : as the changing seasons bring on more extreme elements across much of the world, gear that keeps cyclists toasty becomes essential. portland - based designer bob averill, whose previous projects include the underwater hamster colony hampture, recently created the all - weather motorcycle helmet. made from ordinary vega headgear, the product ’ s lining is outfitted with a lithium battery - powered heating element, as well as a solar panel - powered evaporative cooler for when summer approaches once again. unfortunately, despite piqued interest around the web, riders will have to remain patient for now, as kickstarter rejected the project and averill is pursuing new


nasa ( national awesome space agency ) is an entity of the united states government, responsible for all things relating to space. this includes space travel, spacewalking, space aliens, and kevin spacey. its most well - known accomplishments include landing on the moon and sampling the lunar cheese. nasa currently has plans to return to the moon after a thirty year hiatus ; critics say that this is a ' bad idea ' and ' the moon was terrible to nasa, why should nasa take the moon back? ' other plans include colonizing mars in case of slight incidents on the earth, combating rogue asteroids, and reaching into space as deep as uranus. the motto of nasa is " for the benefit of all ", referring to its eventual goal of eventually putting every person, place, and object on the earth into perfect circular orbit of the earth. the administration is constantly under fire from angry taxpayers claiming that it is a waste of money ; such detractors are known to vanish and reappear months later in the nevada desert. originally formed in 1787 when america ' s founding fathers set aside a large portion of the nation ' s resources for a space program, nasa was put on hold for nearly two hundred years until humans discovered " technology. " in the 1950 ' s, the evil soviet empire began work on their space program, eventually launching a number of inanimate objects into space. endless taunts by ussr radar bases and furry hat factory workers caused the united states much shame due to their inability to retaliate in kind. when the soviet " muttnik " program successfully launched several stray dogs into space and returned them safely, america could stand losing no longer, and resurrected nasa in 1958. the competition between the americans and the soviets during the 1960s is often referred to as the ' space race '. each country was trying to outdo the other, by launching increasingly large and / or delicate things into space. however, the us quickly fell behind, as the soviets had a large head start. by the end of 1959 the russians had successfully launched a large glass swan into orbit and returned it to earth without breaking it, while nasa had only managed to manufacture a large number of magnificent explosions. finally, in 1961, the soviets achieved an 80 % survival rate in their space - dog program, and greenlighted the first human orbit of the earth. in april of 1961, soviet commie - naut yuri gagarin entered a large metal object. seconds later, an enormously large explosion was set off underneath that object, and young yuri


and greenlighted the first human orbit of the earth. in april of 1961, soviet commie - naut yuri gagarin entered a large metal object. seconds later, an enormously large explosion was set off underneath that object, and young yuri became the first person to leave the earth while still medically alive since jesus. tragically, after returning safely to earth, gagarin was killed in a foolish attempt to break the land - speed record on a jet - powered unicycle. in the meantime, nasa continued to create larger and larger explosions, with minimal success. it was at this point that us president john f. kennedy delivered his famous speech, imploring america to " commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, or before i am assassinated ( whichever comes last ), of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. " this rousing oratory gave nasa precisely the motivation it needed. within weeks, the first successful orbit of the earth by an american satellite was completed by explorer i. project mercury was established, and alan shepard became the first american in space. project gemini established human beings ' ability to survive long - term spaceflight durations. all of this was completed very rapidly in the early 1960 ' s, with nasa control rooms full of pencil - necked nerds armed with pocket protectors and horn - rimmed glasses operating in time - and - a - half, manning banks of hundreds of lit - up buttons that had to be pressed in precisely the right order at precisely the right time ( which produced precisely the right musical tones, influencing the popular electronic game " simon ", which recreates the intense stresses of being a nasa control operator ). finally, in 1966, america was ready to aim for the moon. the apollo program was an ambitious plan by the united states to launch black musicians to the moon. its goal was to allow these musicians to perform on the lunar surface, and then return them safely to the earth. the program was a huge success, with six lunar landings, each of them more boring than the last ( except for the first one, which was totally awesome. ) john f. kennedy ' s aforementioned speech challenged the nation ' s scientists, and indeed, the whole of america, to reach the moon with great entertainers such as ella fitzgerald and james brown. his proposed goals were initially met with skepticism by leading scientists. complaints included ' but nasa can ' t afford a project of that scope ' and ' what can my country do for


reach the moon with great entertainers such as ella fitzgerald and james brown. his proposed goals were initially met with skepticism by leading scientists. complaints included ' but nasa can ' t afford a project of that scope ' and ' what can my country do for me? ' kennedy responded by allotting nasa a budget of approximately 94 % of the total money that existed in america in 1966 ( around fifty thousand dollars ), and delivering a moving speech containing his most famous quote, " ask not what your country can do for you ; we ' re actually pretty busy here and you should realize that there ' s like two hundred million of you, so it might be a while before we can get around to doing anything for you. seriously, get a job. " nasa scientists worked around the clock for eight years converting the famed apollo theater into a spacecraft that could withstand the harsh trek from the earth to the moon. finally, with the last - minute additions of heat shields ( to protect the musicians from the extreme temperatures of re - entry ) and cool racing stripes ( to protect the musicians from the barrage of cosmic rays, the solar wind, and the interplanetary medium in general ), three black performers were ready to be launched to the moon in mid 1969. on july 16th, 1969, the three black crew members entered the apollo theater for what promised to be a " jive ride ". the crew members were commander / trumpeter louis armstrong, lunar module pilot / pianist stevie wonder, and command module pilot / vocalist marvin gaye. with over seven hundred million people watching, the theater lifted off from 125th street in harlem. three days of intense sound checks later, the crew was making preparations to descend to the lunar surface. it was at this point that they realized that wonder was, in fact, blind, and thus could not fly the lunar module. cursing irritably under his breath, gaye, who had been looking forward to a nap after 77 consecutive hours of driving, climbed into the lunar lander and joined armstrong. after touching down, it was determined that armstrong would be the first on the moon, after he guessed closest to the number that nasa director ed harris was thinking. armstrong descended the ladder and set foot on the lunar surface as billions of people watched in mild amusement. once standing ankle - deep in the delicious powdery moon dust known as regolith, armstrong broke out his trumpet. the first song he played was one written specifically for the mission, titled " one small step for man ". he then joined gaye in a


- deep in the delicious powdery moon dust known as regolith, armstrong broke out his trumpet. the first song he played was one written specifically for the mission, titled " one small step for man ". he then joined gaye in a 90 minute set, one that would echo through the ages as part of one of mankind ' s greatest achievements. after the successful launching of louis armstrong to the moon, the apollo program launched many other black artists. the apollo theater made regular returns to the moon over the next fifteen years. musicians such as luther vandross, ben e. king, and diana ross all had lukewarmly received shows in the 1970s. in early 1981, michael jackson spent a considerable amount of time on the lunar surface, perfecting the moonwalk that would make him famous. the apollo program was officially discontinued in 1983 due to lack of interest and money shortages. however, the program still holds its famous amateur nights, in hopes of discovering an up - and - coming black artist capable of re - sparking america ' s interest in space exploration. in the early 1980s, nasa finalized plans for building a fleet of reusable " space shuttles " to be used for the colonization of space. these plans materialized during the height of worldwide imperialism movement ; namely, 1981. with americans running out of room, the vast expanses of space seemed like a perfect location to " dump our unwanted stuff, like nuclear waste and mexicans. " alternatively, it was thought that space could be used to exile society ' s most heinous villains, similar to australia but considerably more expensive. however, the space - prison idea was abandoned when several films depicting possible scenarios all resulted in the conquest of the earth by apes. as of today, these " shuttles " are still in use. their main function is to bring components of the international space station into orbit, where the station can be assembled. while conservative doomsayers claim that the space station is actually some sort of superweapon, nasa insists that the project is purely scientific. many experiments are planned, principally weightlessness studies ( such as space - hockey games ). the shuttles are set to be retired in 2015, at which point will enjoy a quiet life in rural florida consisting of shuffleboard and waiting for their children to call. personnel and recruiting the staff of nasa consists mostly of the pencil - necked nerds mentioned in the history section of this article. since the 1960s, their pocket protectors and horn - rimmed glasses have given way to leak


their children to call. personnel and recruiting the staff of nasa consists mostly of the pencil - necked nerds mentioned in the history section of this article. since the 1960s, their pocket protectors and horn - rimmed glasses have given way to leak - proof pens and horn - rimmed contact lenses, respectively. nasa has had many directors, ranging from the down - to - earth billy bob thornton to the chain - smoking alcoholic ed harris. occasionally nasa will hire outside contractors, such as deep - core drillers, when a budget surplus necessitates blowing many things up in space. nasa originally recruited pilots from " space camps ", where young children would go to laugh and pretend they were astronauts. those who pretended the hardest became astronauts. however, these camps were highly selective, and the only way for children to attend was to win a week at space camp on one of nickelodeon ' s game show programs, most of which were hosted by former nasa director mark summers. these game shows tested children ' s ability to handle astronaut - type stresses such as finding a red ribbon in a vat full of green slime, sliding down a ramp into a vat of green slime, and catching rubber chickens in a laundry basket. nasa has broad, sweeping plans for the future of space exploration. their current conquest to return to the moon is already underway, with several illegal spy satellites already en route to lunar orbit. the agency has also set its sights on mars, in an ingenious gambit that would completely cut off jupiter ' s supply line to venus. although remotely controlled machines have touched down on the red planet, human presence is necessary for a ' total conquest. ' nasa hopes to have several colonies on the moon and mars by 1990 2000 2010 2020. these colonies will send tributes of rocks and dirt, and be taxed astronomically so as to discourage any space - rebellions. another one of nasa ' s top - secret projects involves research into highly controversial areas such as religion. with the advent of computers and supertechnology, it has been possible to ' look for god ' using highly sophisticated remote sensing equipment. right - wing conservatives have demanded fair time on several of the agency ' s largest telescopes, and the current administration has ensured that they receive it. these groups have also lobbied for equal time using assets such as cancer research labs and puppy shelters for their own religious research, evicting the former inhabitants. the success of these religion projects has been minimal. modeling things such as the fluid dynamics of the last supper and the


lobbied for equal time using assets such as cancer research labs and puppy shelters for their own religious research, evicting the former inhabitants. the success of these religion projects has been minimal. modeling things such as the fluid dynamics of the last supper and the projectile physics of jesus ' ascent into heaven have not been well received by the public. the future of these endeavours is unclear as several of the more controversial findings ( such as jesus having a wife, owning a speedboat, and even having children ) have been kept quiet. if the program is discontinued, the religious right will have to go back to " the old standard - making it up. " as far as the distant future, nasa has several ideas that are waiting for technology to advance to a sufficient level. for example, nuclear engines may make interstellar travel possible, and humans could be colonizing extrasolar planets within the next hundred years. also, once genetic engineering catches up to aerospace engineering, sharks may replace human astronauts. these so - called ' sharkstronauts ' will have the advantage of a system of cartilage rather than bone, rendering them less susceptible to radiation and extreme acceleration. also, sharkstronauts will be far better suited for an encounter with any kind of predatory space creature, such as a space - orca.


harare, zimbabwe — as the humanitarian crisis in zimbabwe deepens and its health systems collapse, unfpa, the united nations population fund, has intensified its efforts to aid pregnant women and their families by providing critical supplies to hospitals and support to health personnel. the crisis, which has worsened in the last few months with the spreading cholera epidemic, is characterized by hyper - inflation, deteriorating infrastructure, food insecurity, diminished access to basic social services, and massive unemployment. large numbers of mobile and internally displaced people, ex - farm workers, the poor and the vulnerable have lost their livelihoods and are left with very limited coping options. lack of access to basic social services, such as safe water and proper sanitation, shelter, health services — including access to reproductive health services and life - saving emergency obstetric care — have left vulnerable populations dependent on humanitarian assistance for survival. the hiv and aids pandemic in zimbabwe has worsened the plight of many families. more than a million zimbabweans are living with hiv, with prevalence estimated at 15. 6 per cent. prevention of hiv and access to clean and safe delivery, including emergency obstetric care services, are critical components of the coordinated humanitarian response in zimbabwe. the deteriorating capacity of the health system has recently been significantly worsened by the cholera epidemic, which has affected nine of the country ’ s ten provinces, with a cumulative number of reported cases since august 2008 of more than 20, 000 and over 1, 000 reported deaths. in response, the zimbabwean government has declared the cholera outbreak a national emergency, but the situation remains dire and may worsen with the current rainy season. as the cholera epidemic spreads, evidence is mounting of a health system in collapse. both the availability of health services and the ability of families to pay for care has declined. though significant support is being mobilized to address the cholera outbreak, some un officials fear that this approach may leave out most of the vulnerable groups in need of health services. as part of the humanitarian response to the worsening health sector crisis in zimbabwe, unfpa, working through the united nations - led health cluster, has intensified its support to emergency obstetric care services in the hardest hit central hospitals. the support has focused on two critical priority resources : essential supplies for emergency obstetric care and a supplementary allowance to the health workers stationed in these units. in the last few days, unfpa, in consultation with the zimbabwe ministry of health and child welfare, delivered emergency reproductive health medicines and surgical supplies to the central hospitals for use in their


a supplementary allowance to the health workers stationed in these units. in the last few days, unfpa, in consultation with the zimbabwe ministry of health and child welfare, delivered emergency reproductive health medicines and surgical supplies to the central hospitals for use in their maternity units. the commodities comprised of inter - agency reproductive health kits for use in crisis situations. the total consignment can meet the needs of a population of about 900, 000 for at least three months. in addition, unfpa distributed medications to prevent haemorrhage and eclampsia that should fill the national need for the next six months. unfpa has also started paying incentives to health personnel working in the maternity units at the central hospitals. the unfpa support is meant to complement initiatives by the zimbabwe ministry of health and partners to kick - start operations of central hospitals ' maternity units, which are barely operating due to critical shortages of staff and supplies. these challenges have reduced the capacity of the health system to respond to the needs of the population, putting the lives of thousands of pregnant women and their families at risk. during a handover ceremony of the emergency reproductive health kits at parirenyatwa hospital ms. gift malunga, the unfpa assistant representative, urged the government, donors, ngos and all other players to urgently respond to the call for supporting human resources in the health sector. — reported by phylis munyama in zimbabwe and shannon egan in new york through the 2009 consolidated appeals process, organized by the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, unfpa has appealed for approximately $ 4, 959, 400 to provide much - needed basic life - sustaining services, including critical reproductive health care and social information and services to the poorest and most vulnerable zimbabweans. the fund is also calling for the provision of much - needed medical equipment and supplies, the rehabilitation of primary maternal and reproductive health - care facilities, and training of health workers on antenatal and emergency obstetric care services. it continues to advocate for the prevention of hiv through information and sensitization campaigns, and the detection, prevention and treatment of violence against women.


late last night, perljam posted in # parrot a small perl 6 program which gave the wrong answer in rakudo : my $ foo = ' fred ' ; my $ bar = ' fred ' ; the correct output is obviously : perljam and infinoid both correctly diagnosed the problem as a cow problem. what ' s that, and why does it matter? the rakudo compiler turns this code into pir code. pir is the native high level language of parrot. inside parrot, the pir compiler ( imcc ) turns pir into parrot bytecode. as part of that process, imcc identifies constant string literals and treats them specially. like the perl 6 code, the pir code produced by rakudo contains the string literal fred twice. the pbc produced by imcc doesn ' t ; it refers to a single internal data structure twice. this is usually the right approach. in this case, where the literal string appears twice and is only four characters long, there ' s little benefit, but in a complex program, you can save a lot of memory and time with judicious caching. now of course sometimes people want to mutate these strings. they ' re mutable ; you can change them. that ' s where the cow comes in. it ' s like memory handling on a decent operating system. you only make a copy of the memory at the last possible point, where you know you ' re going to modify your copy. parrot strings support this, so if you use parrot operations directly, you don ' t even have to know that cow exists. it just works. the problem was that the string modification took place outside of parrot, in a custom perl6str pmc. think of a pmc like a class which represents internal data structures, and you ' re most of the way to understanding them. the perl6str pmc has two operations, decrement which do exactly what you ' d expect to strings on the c level. this means that they modify the c string directly. because this occurs at the c level ( working directly on c pointers ), parrot doesn ' t have a chance to perform the copy - on - write operation to the string, and the modification of one string produces the modification of all other strings which refer to the same string literal. my first solution was to call the parrot string function to perform the copy ( because there ' s a write coming up ) directly, but that made too


videos and articles designed to help you diagnose and maintain your vehicle. drive train category what is a differential and do you have one? date : may 25, 2011 9 : 26 am - category : drive train with front - wheel drive being so common these days in apple valley, minnesota, the differential is just taken care of during a transmission service, so most folks in apple valley, minnesota don ' t even have to think about it. and rear - wheel drive differentials don ' t need to be serviced for years, so it ' s understandable that it ' s not something on the top of mind for our apple valley customers. so it ' s not uncommon for people to not know they have a differential let alone know that it needs service. call valley auto care at 952 - 431 - 2700 for information about differential service, or stop by our apple valley, minnesota auto center at 7125 151st st. west, suite 105 55124. to better understand what a differential does, think about our local apple valley high school track. there are lanes marked off on the track. for the longer distance races, the starting lines are staggered. the starting lines for the outside lanes are ahead of the starting lines for the inside lanes. that ' s to compensate for the longer length of the outside lanes. staggering the starting lines means that each runner has the same distance to run. the differential compensates for the difference in speeds between the inside wheel and the outside wheel in a turn, because they have to travel together through slightly different distances. it ' s a very important function. when you think of it, all the power to get a vehicle moving goes through the differential. most cars in the apple valley, minnesota area weigh between three and six thousand pounds – trucks even more. the power from the engine goes through the transmission and then through the differential to the drive wheels. that ' s a lot of work and requires very heavy duty parts. and those parts need protection. the differential fluid lubricates the gears in the differential and keeps them cool. the fluid eventually gets dirty and worn down. some kinds of differentials require special additives that breakdown over time. so manufacturers recommend intervals for replacing your differential fluid. your apple valley, minnesota technician at valley auto care will drain the used fluid and check it out for metal bits, which could be a sign of excessive wear on the gears. then he ' ll replace the fluid and install the additives if necessary. your valley auto care service advisor can look up the manufacturer


drain the used fluid and check it out for metal bits, which could be a sign of excessive wear on the gears. then he ' ll replace the fluid and install the additives if necessary. your valley auto care service advisor can look up the manufacturer ' s recommended service interval or you can check your owner ' s manual. give us a call at 952 - 431 - 2700 for more information about your differential service. drive train - what you need to know in apple valley date : april 29, 2011 1 : 42 pm - category : drive train one apple valley automotive service issue that doesn ' t get much attention is driveline service. drivelines don ' t get talked about very much around apple valley, but they ' re very important. first let ' s define what the driveline is : taking a small step back, the power plant is comprised of the engine and transmission. the driveline starts there and includes all of the components that transfer power from the transmission to the wheels. that ' s not really a lot of components, but they handle the full force of the engine. without the driveline you ' re not moving. so we need to take good care of it. the driveline components differ depending on whether your vehicle has front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive or four wheel drive. for purposes of our discussion, we ' re going to have to over simplify a bit. if you are ready to have your drive train looked at, give us a call : valley auto care 7125 151st st. west, suite 105 apple valley, minnesota 55124 call us at 952 - 431 - 2700 let ' s start with front wheel drive. the point where the transmission stops and the driveline begins is a little blurred with front wheel drive because the transaxle houses both the transmission function and the differential function. the half shafts that send power to each front wheel, come out of the transaxle. the shaft is connected to the wheel by a constant velocity, or cv, joint. the cv joint is protected from dirt and water by an airtight, flexible rubber boot. so, driveline service would include properly servicing the transaxle and inspecting the cv boot to see if it ' s torn or loose. if it is, it needs to be replaced and the cv joint inspected for damage. repairs may be in order. besides visual damage to the airtight cv boot, you might hear a clicking noise when turning. recommended maintenance for the transaxle and cv joints will


, it needs to be replaced and the cv joint inspected for damage. repairs may be in order. besides visual damage to the airtight cv boot, you might hear a clicking noise when turning. recommended maintenance for the transaxle and cv joints will be spelled out in your owner ' s manual or check with your apple valley service advisor. on to rear wheel drive. the driveline for a rear wheel drive vehicle starts with the driveshaft – that long tube that connects the transmission with the differential on the rear axle. some vehicles in apple valley have a two piece drive shaft. the shafts are connected to the transmission and the differential with big universal joints. you ' ve probably heard the term ' u - joints '. these joints can wear out, just like the cv joints in front wheel drive vehicles. you may hear some clunking or feel a jolt when shifting into drive or reverse – if you do, get your driveline inspected. the differential on the rear axle sends power out to each rear wheel through half shafts in the axle. the differential fluid needs to be drained periodically and replaced with clean fluid. when the seal on the end of the axel is damaged or leaks, the axel will need to be serviced. the routine maintenance item here is differential service. be sure to check your owner ’ s manual or apple valley service advisor for intervals. now let ' s go on to all wheel drive. remember that the difference between all wheel drive and four wheel drive is that an all wheel drive vehicle is essentially providing power to all of the wheels all of the time. the vehicle may be able to shift more of the power to the front or to the back depending on where you need traction. all wheel drive vehicles are designed to work well on dry pavement. even some high - end sports cars from makers like lamborghini and porsche have all wheel drive. some all wheel drive vehicles are designed to work well off - road, but all hard - core rock crawlers are four wheel drive. these guys thrive in mud, sand, rocks and hills – but they don ' t work well on dry pavement when they ' re in four wheel drive. so they have the option to shift to rear wheel drive only on dry pavement. most all - wheel drive vehicles are very similar to front wheel drive when it comes to the front end. they also have a center differential that transfers power to the rear differential. connecting it all is a shaft from the transaxle to the center differential and another from the center differential to the rear differential. so all of