gifted students do have some characteristics in common. they usually are swift and efficient learners, may make intuitive leaps, quickly sense patterns in information, ask themselves questions about perceived patterns in order to understand them, and form connections among stored concepts and related bits of new information to modify their existing knowledge base. in their area of interest, they are able to construct clear mental maps that organize concepts efficiently ; they are able to think flexibly about new possibilities, and they thrive on questions and problems that have a wide range of possible answers instead of those that have one correct answer. gifted students develop asynchronously. this means that they are intellectually advanced in one or more areas, yet may have difficulties or be very average in other areas. their motor skills may or may not match those of other same age children. the same is true for social skills. in addition, social skills may be advanced. young gifted children progress through developmental milestones more rapidly, and sometimes prefer to associate with older children or adults who are more likely to understand their vocabulary and the complexity of their ideas. one important point is that gifted students of the same age are not alike. there are differences between moderately gifted, highly gifted, and profoundly gifted students that may require as much curriculum differentiation within the group as is necessary between moderately gifted students and their non - gifted peers. program modifications for gifted students must be sufficiently varied and flexible that these students receive challenging learning experiences and appropriate resources. in the coolidge unified school district, as of 2008 - 2009 school year, there are 167 students who are identified as gifted and who participate in the gifted education program. of the 167 students, 83 or 49. 70 % are males and 84 or 50. 30 % are females. 103 or 61. 68 % are caucasian ; 38 or 22. 75 % are hispanic ; 13 or 7. 78 % are african american ; 10 or 6. 00 % are american indian and 0 % are asian. coolidge unified school district uses the cognitive abilities test to determine eligibility for gifted services. during school year 2009 - 2010, the district will identify a second state approved assessment to students of the district. testing is available three times during the 2009 - 2010 school year as mandated by the department of education gifted services. testing will be in the fall, winter, and spring. in alignment of arizona state gifted education guidelines, any of the following persons who are familiar with the students ’ abilities, potential performance, and past records may make testing referrals : formal evaluation may begin only after the gifted services teacher has received


spring. in alignment of arizona state gifted education guidelines, any of the following persons who are familiar with the students ’ abilities, potential performance, and past records may make testing referrals : formal evaluation may begin only after the gifted services teacher has received written approval from a student ’ s parent or guardian. every effort will be made to provide information in home languages other than english, in accordance to the diverse population of the districts. the gifted program specialist and site teacher of the gifted to each school site will address characteristics of gifted children in the same training. district wide gifted training will address the characteristics of gifted children. a student must wait for a period of at least 12 months before retesting. once a student has qualified for the program, the gifted services will mail a placement form, along with an informational letter, home. services can only begin after the parent has completely filled out and signed the placement form. students transferring into the district who have been in a gifted education program in their other district will receive individual evaluation through review of transfer records. these students must meet the same criterion as students in cusd to participate in the gifted program. the district will provide dates and timelines through newsletters and made available through printed material at each site ’ s front office. testing will occur in a group setting unless other arrangements have been made. coolidge unified district uses the cognitive abilities test form 6, a state approved test for the identification of gifted education students.. students who do not qualify when tested within the district must wait twelve months for an opportunity to retest. please fill out out the permission form below if you are interested in having your child tested for the gifted education program. test administration and description the cognitive abilities test form 6 will serve as the district ’ s primary assessment tool. at kindergarten, first grade, and second grade, test items are read aloud to students who choose answers in a multiple - choice selection of pictures. there are two subtests per battery. each battery requires approximately one hour, with breaks between the subtests. at grades three – twelve, this test consists of three batteries, each requiring approximately one hour. the cognitive abilities test form 6 evaluates student - reasoning skills in the following areas : all parents will receive notification, in writing, of their child ’ s testing results. this information will also go in each student ’ s cumulative file for future reference or for students transferring to another site or school district. for each qualified student, the designated classroom teacher, the site gifted education teacher, and the parent will meet


testing results. this information will also go in each student ’ s cumulative file for future reference or for students transferring to another site or school district. for each qualified student, the designated classroom teacher, the site gifted education teacher, and the parent will meet to determine the gifted education plan for each individual student. students may also be included in the planning meeting. once a student qualifies for services, no further testing is required. coolidge unified school district understands that a continuum of services must exist for gifted learners. services are available on a continuous basis from the point of identification through high school graduation. students receive services through cluster groupings provided by the classroom teacher with the assistance of the gifted education specialist in the preparation of challenging programs for each individual gifted student. at the middle school level, students have many academic and extra - curricular options from which to choose. some options include honors courses in language arts, mathematics, national junior honor society, gear up, mentoring opportunities, etc. during grades nine through twelve, students will encounter several academic challenges such as interactive television courses, advanced placement courses and summer gifted camp. various levels of services are available to match the needs of gifted learners by providing different learning options. gifted services supplement and build on basic academic skills and knowledge learned in regular classrooms at all grade levels to ensure continuity as students progress through the program. the use of flexible groupings of gifted learners, as described below, is an integral part of gifted education programming. in addition, placement decisions take into account the needs of students with disabilities or english language. school district personnel will provide academic and personal / social guidance or counseling services related to learning opportunities for gifted students, and their parents. designated cluster / gifted classroom teachers k - 8 will serve gifted education students and work towards a gifted endorsement. these teachers will :


helping seniors with disabilities get online : accessibility features in popular computer and mobile devices this manual has been created for member organisations of the council of the ageing by cota western australia to support seniors with disabilities in participating online through the use of computers and mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. funding for the creation of this resource has been provided by the nib foundation and the manual itself has been created by media access australia. accessibility, in this context, generally refers to the provision of a tool or method that makes it easier for people with disabilities to use computing devices and the internet. popular computing devices may include a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer or a mobile phone. traditionally it has been expensive for people with disabilities to get access to computers and the internet. a few years ago it would have been necessary to purchase software programs generally called assistive technologies ( at ), and these tools could cost several thousand dollars. today, however, most popular computers and mobile devices have accessibility features and at which are built - in or can be freely downloaded from the internet. due to the improved affordability of accessibility, initiatives by the australian government to improve website accessibility and the rapid increase of social media among seniors, it could be argued that there has never been a better time for seniors with disabilities to join in the popular community interaction that occurs online, including keeping in touch with grandchildren, participating in community events and finding information related to interests and hobbies. this resource provides step - by - step guides to assist in enabling the accessibility features on your computer or mobile device so that seniors with disabilities are able to participate in the same online benefits as everyone else. in addition, the resource also provides guidance on overcoming potential barriers in using social media and other popular tasks. to access your free copy of this manual click here. to order your free copy of this manual email firstname. lastname @ example. org or call 08 9321 2133 with your details.


i am having trouble with functions write a program that outputs inflation rates for two successive years and determines whether the inflation is increasing or decreasing. ask the user to input the current price of an item ( currprice ), its price one year ago ( oneyearprice ) and two years ago ( twoyearprice ). to calculate the inflation rate for a year, subtract the price of the item ( for that year ) from the price of the item one year ago and then divide the result by the price a year ago. for example, the current inflation ( currinf ) would be oneyearprice subtracted from currprice and then divided by oneyearprice. similarly, last years inflation ( previnf ) would be twoyearprice subtracted from oneyearprice and than divided by twoyearprice. your program must contain at least the following functions : a function to calculate the results, and a functions to output the results. use appropriate parameters ( function arguments ) to pass the information in and out of the functions. ( do not use global variables ). the point of the exercise is to learn more about information passing between functions. notice that the point assignment for this exercise is purely on function declaration and data exchange among functions. i have some hints for you : your input is the price of an item ( let ' s say the price of a gallon of gas ) for the last three years. for example, user will enter the current price of a gallon of regular gas today ( currentyear ), last year today ( lastyear ), and two years ago today ( twoyearsago ). once you collect all the input you need in the main ( ) function, you will need to compute the inflation. notice that, you will need to compute inflation twice. inflation from last year to today, and inflation from two years ago to last year. i would write a function called ( computeinflation ( ) ) that takes two prices of an item as input and computes and returns the inflation. i would need to call computeinflation ( ) function twice, for the first call i send current year and the last year price as input and get last years inflation. the second call i would send the lat year ' s and two year ago price as input and get the inflation of two years ago. at this point you have two inflation rates in the main ( ) function. you should have a second function that prints out a nice output. you will need


year ' s and two year ago price as input and get the inflation of two years ago. at this point you have two inflation rates in the main ( ) function. you should have a second function that prints out a nice output. you will need to send the two inflation rates you computed as input. the function would output the inflation rates and also tell us if inflation is on the rise or declining. need some guidance in fixing up my code. using namespace std ; int computeinflation ( int oneyearprice, int twoyearprice ) ; double computeinflation ( double oneyearprice, double twoyearprice ) ; double computeinflation ( double oneyearprice, int twoyearprice ) ; double computeinflation ( int oneyearprice, double twoyearprice ) ; if ( currinf > previnf ) cout < < " the inflation rate is increasing " < < endl ; else if ( currinf < previnf ) cout < < " the inflation rate is decreasing " < < endl ; cout < < " there is no change in the inflation rate " < < endl ; cout < < " what is the current price " < < endl ; cin > > currprice ; cout < < " what is the price of one year ago " < < endl ; cin > > oneyearprice ; cout < < " what is the price of two years ago " < < endl ; cin > > twoyearprice ; currinf = ( currprice - oneyearprice ) / ( oneyearprice ) ; currinf = ( currprice - twoyearprice ) / ( twoyearprice ) ; cout < < " your total tax is $ " < < currinf < < " per month " < < endl ;


how does cap - and - trade work? there are no paddles or speed - talking auctioneers, and bidding in an auction takes only about 20 minutes. the idea behind cap - and - trade is relatively simple : a governing body caps the amount of pollutants that can be released into the atmosphere, then mandates that companies emitting those pollutants must hold permits to cover the amount of pollutants they expel. to reduce pollution, the governing body slowly reduces the number of allowances available over time. skip to next paragraph subscribe today to the monitor so how do auctions for emissions allowances work? it ' s not quite sotheby ' s. and with the regional greenhouse gas initiative – a coalition of 10 northeastern states that has agreed to limit its carbon - dioxide emissions – the winner isn ' t simply the highest bidder. rather, when participants place a bid, they name the amount they ' re willing to pay per allowance and the number of allowances they ' d like to purchase. absent are the auctioneers, the paddles, the excitement of bid and counter - bid more typically associated with auctions. participants simply place their bids on an online interface, not unlike ebay. the bids are then collected and ordered according to price. starting at the top of the list, with the highest bids, the auction overseer works his way down, adding the number of allowances requested until he reaches the total number of allowances offered in that auction. when he reaches that point, he draws a line ; everyone above the line receives the number of allowances they requested at the lowest winning bid – the price closest to, but still above, the line. this is known as the clearing price, the price that every winning bidder will pay for their allowances, no matter what price they originally bid. while bidders will likely have extensive conversations with their company ' s compliance team in the days before the auction, the bidding process usually takes only a few minutes. for two days after the auction, results are calculated and affirmed by an auction overseer to ensure that there hasn ' t been collusion between bidders or other prohibited behavior. then, participants log back onto the auction interface to find out if their bids were successful. in rggi ' s most recent auction on june 17, the 10 participating states put 33, 060, 160 allowances – each representing 1 ton of carbon - dioxide emissions. there were 54 different bidding entities which bid on allowances that eventually each sold for $ 3.


the clayton collection, which is owned by trustees and loaned to english heritage, has 5, 500 catalogued items from a variety of sites along the central section of the wall. © trustees of the clayton collection the clayton collection - the curator ' s choice few people today have heard of john clayton yet he is one of the single most important individuals in the history of hadrian ’ s wall. were it not for this remarkbale victorian gentleman collector and archaeologist large parts of hadrian ’ s wall would have disappeared as the industrial revolution fuelled the need for stone to build factories and mills. now his collection, which resides at chesters roman fort museum - adjacent to the remains of the fort, has been re - displayed in a revamped space. the clayton collection has 5, 500 catalogued items from a variety of sites along the central section of the wall. below, chesters fort museum curator, georgina plowright, explains why these are her favourite seven objects from the collection : john clayton. © trustees of the clayton collection incense burners from coventina ’ s well near carrawburgh fort the well lay within a small shrine dedicated to the goddess coventina. she was not just a local celtic goddess, as she is also known in france and spain. both burners have an inscription saying that they were made ( and donated ) by a man named saturninus gabinius. made of pottery with rather florid decoration, they are unique in roman britain. the small finds are in a case in the small gallery, and the numerous pieces of sculpture from the well are around the walls of the main gallery. stone altar giving the name of the first regiment stationed at chesters found in the nearby river in 1978, it confirmed suspicions that the fort had originally been built for a cavalry unit. the altar shows that its name was the ala augusta ob virtutem appelata, “ the cavalry regiment called augusta for valour ”. it would be an honour to be called the equivalent of ‘ the emperor ’ s own ’. hadrian ’ s name appears on the altar, confirming that it dates from the original building of hadrian ’ s wall. it is under the window in the small gallery. part of the re - vamped collection at the chesters roman fort museum. © trustees of the clayton collection the carvoran modius, a large bronze corn measure found by the postman just outside the fort at carvoran in 1915 it has lots of mysteries – the emperor domitian ’ s name has been


. © trustees of the clayton collection the carvoran modius, a large bronze corn measure found by the postman just outside the fort at carvoran in 1915 it has lots of mysteries – the emperor domitian ’ s name has been erased, its inscription says it contains the odd amount of 17½ sextarii which does not tie up with its estimated volume. the most likely explanation is that it was the official measure against which a daily ration of 2½ sextarii of corn per soldier could be checked on a weekly basis, and domitian ’ s name was erased as he was damned after his death. finds excavated by john clayton from the commanding officer ’ s bath house in 1840 there are not many of them, and they are not all there, but when we started we didn ’ t know we had any of them. the combination of the fact that the rev. john collingwood bruce illustrated them in his 1851 edition of the roman wall, and the fact that nearly 9, 000 items in the collection have been catalogued, many with illustrations on the computer catalogue, meant that previously anonymous objects could be re - identified as coming from this early excavation. a slection of stone altars ( photographed prior to their re - display ) in the clayton collection. © trustees of the clayton collection three stones illustrating hunting themes they have all been very simply carved with roughly incised lines, and very much have the appearance of being doodles, perhaps of a soldier ’ s daydreams. one shows two men hunting with a trident, another a man attacking a boar with a trident, and the third simply shows a fine beast, which may be a stag. they are all in different places and careful searching is needed to find them so it ’ s a challenge you can set the kids during a visit. large stone with inscription beginning aqva addvcta ' it goes on to name the second cavalry regiment of asturians, who came from north west spain and records that they brought water to chesters. the brilliant part is that you can still see the end of their aqueduct where it comes in at the side of the west gate of the fort. the stone is high up on the shelves of the north wall of the big gallery. mr clayton ’ s copy of john collingwood bruce ’ s the roman wall, 1867 edition this is the third and best edition with lovely illustrations. a lot of john clayton ’ s work came into the public domain through bruce ’ s publications and bruce is effusive in his dedication about


do what you can to avoid the flu published : wednesday, january 9, 2013 at 2 : 51 p. m. last modified : wednesday, january 9, 2013 at 2 : 51 p. m. we are in the thick of flu season. although our annual confrontation with the flu is usually a bit later in the year arriving, it is definitely here now. “ on a daily basis we ’ ve documented a very large number of patients testing positive for both flu types a and b, ” said dr. michael marcello with ochsner st. anne family doctor clinic in mathews. for far too many people each year, contracting the flu means death. this is particularly true of the old and the young, as well as those who have complicating medical conditions already. across the nation, it is estimated that the flu kills 36, 000 people in an average year. that number seems shockingly high. but the fact is that we are all perilously close to catching the flu, and those who are most vulnerable can easily fall prey. the number of deaths from the flu, though, tells only part of the story. the larger, much more common part of the story is the tens of thousands of people who catch the flu each year and struggle with its misery and inconvenience for days. if you ’ ve had the flu, you know the awful symptoms. and you don ’ t need convincing to try to avoid it in the future. for some, though, the flu just sounds like a more - severe form of the common cold. it is not. it is a serious illness that is more than worth going to great lengths to evade. fortunately, you don ’ t have to go to great lengths. you just have to do a few simple things to significantly reduce your chances of catching the flu. first, and most importantly, get a flu shot if you have not done so already. the flu shot will ward off the illness for most, but it is not completely effective. to further protect yourself, avoid people who have the flu. this sounds like common - sense advice, but it is something we all need to do. the easiest way for this to happen is for those who are suffering from the flu to stay in until they recover rather than getting out and spreading their germs and potentially life - threatening illness to unsuspecting coworkers and others. wash your hands often, and avoid touching your eye, nose or mouth to keep from ingesting germs you probably don ’ t even know


there are several contributing factors into the decline of the u. s. space agency, though immediate fixes are not evident. even though nasa has a long string of success, the unfortunate shuttle columbia disaster in 2003, budget issues, and the looming 2010 retirement of the current generation of space shuttles are all complicating matters. " we spent many tens of billions of dollars during the apollo era to purchase a commanding lead in space over all nations on earth, " nasa administrator michael griffin said. " we ' ve been living off the fruit of that purchase for 40 years and have not... chosen to invest at a level that would preserve that commanding lead. " although russia has been a long - time competitor to nasa, the chinese space agency and japan aerospace exploration agency ( jaxa ) have continued to make steady progress with its intended goals. along with multiple missions to mars, china is preparing for stage two of a three - part mission to the moon. the first step in the plan, which is ongoing, included sending a satellite to orbit the moon. the second step proposes launching a lunar lander before 2010, and the third step involves collecting soil samples from the moon in the next 12 years. the chinese space program also has its first spacewalk scheduled for october. griffin admits china will likely beat the u. s. and other nations back to the moon. india also has a developing space program that may not have the type of budget of larger space programs, but the country still has had success launching smaller missions that have shown good results. its most recent success was a satellite launch in which 10 satellites launched into orbit aboard one the u. s. space agency does have its own mission outline for the next 12 years, but may struggle to meet its goals if the orion crew vehicle is not completed on time in 2015. nasa used to be responsible for sending other nations ' satellites into orbit, but now russia, india, and china are the three main nations responsible for helping israel, brazil, singapore and the esa launch satellites into space.


diego state university researchers have found that pollutants released from cigarette smoke may linger longer within a home than previously thought, holding a presence long after the smoker has moved out. e. matt, study leader and a professor of psychology at san diego state university, along with a team of researchers, has discovered that cigarette smoke pollutants can attach to home surfaces and slip into crevices for long periods of time after the smoker has already moved out. then, when non - smokers move in, they could potentially absorb these toxic chemicals. oily, sticky droplets hang around for months after a smoker has left, " said matt. " while there was considerably less in homes once an active smoker moved out, there was still 10 to 20 percent of what was found while the smoker still lived there. " pollutants have been dubbed " thirdhand smoke, " and despite the fact that the home has been vacant for months and even cleaned after a smoker has left, the thirdhand smoke remains and can affect a new non - smoking occupant. came to this conclusion after studying the homes of 100 smokers and 50 non - smokers who were planning to move out. nicotine levels were used as a " marker " for any other chemical residues that come from tobacco smoke. chemicals on the walls, ceilings, floors and other surfaces were measured as well as the air. they even searched for nicotine on the residents ' fingertips in all 150 homes as well as a nicotine breakdown product, cotinine, within urine samples of non - smokers then moved into homes that were previously owned by smokers, and researchers again checked nicotine / chemical residues throughout the homes, on fingertips and in urine. after careful measurements, researchers concluded that nicotine levels in the air throughout the homes, which were vacant for two months after the smokers moved out, were 35 to 98 times as high " as they were in non - smoker homes. " as far as surfaces go, nicotine levels were 30 to 150 times as high in the former smokers ' homes compared to the homes of non - smokers. testing for nicotine on fingertips, non - smokers who moved into the homes of smokers had nicotine levels seven to eight times higher than those who stayed in non - smoking homes. children ' s urine contained nicotine levels three to five times higher than those in non - smoking a certain threshold level, you can smell it, " said matt. " and if you can smell it,


international university researchers claim that humans have thrown off the balance between the earth ' s rotation, surface air temperatures and movements in its molten core through our contribution of greenhouse gases. included in the study were jean dickey and steven marcus from nasa ' s jet propulsion laboratory, along with olivier de viron, from the universite paris diderot and institut de physique du globe de paris in france. it is well known that an earth day consists of 24 hours, which is the time it takes for the earth to make one full rotation. over a year ' s time, seasonal changes occur due to energy exchanges between fluid motions of the earth ' s atmosphere, the oceans and solid earth itself, which changes the length of a day by about 1 millisecond. in addition, the length of a day on earth can vary over longer timescales such as interannual timescales ( two to 10 years ) or decadal timescales ( 10 years ). oceans or motions of its atmosphere cannot explain the variances in the length of day over longer timescales. instead, longer fluctuations are explained by the flow of liquid iron within earth ' s outer core, which interacts with the mantle to determine earth ' s rotation. this is also where the earth ' s magnetic field originates, and because researchers cannot observe the flows of liquid iron directly, the magnetic field is observed at the surface. have shown that this liquid iron " oscillates in waves of motion that last for decades, " and have timescales that resemble long fluctuations in earth ' s day length. at the same time, other studies have shown that long variations in earth ' s day length are closely related to fluctuations in earth ' s average surface air temperature. study, the nasa / university team of researchers has linked earth ' s rotation, surface air temperatures and the movement in its molten core. they did this by mapping existing data on yearly length - of - day observations and fluid movements within earth ' s core against " two time series of annual global average surface temperature. " one dated back to 1880 from nasa ' s goddard institute of space studies in new york, and the other dated back to 1860 from the united kingdom ' s met office. to the study, temperature changes not only occur naturally, but are also affected by human activities. so researchers used computer climate models of earth ' s oceans and atmosphere to generate changes made by humans. then, these temperature changes caused by human activities were removed from the overall total observed temperature records. what they found was


are also affected by human activities. so researchers used computer climate models of earth ' s oceans and atmosphere to generate changes made by humans. then, these temperature changes caused by human activities were removed from the overall total observed temperature records. what they found was that old temperature data coordinated with data on earth ' s day length and movements of its core until 1930, but after that, surface air temperatures increased without corresponding changes in movements of the core or day length. according to the study, this deviation after 1930 is linked to increased levels of the human contribution of greenhouse gases. but the new temperature data that the researchers generated ( which subtracted human activity from the equation ) had a temperature record that coordinated with earth ' s core movements and day length, showing how human activity has thrown the earth ' s climate off balance. solid earth plays a role, but the ultimate solution to addressing climate change remains in our hands, " said dickey. unsure as to why these three variables correlate, but hypothesized that earth ' s core movements might interfere with the magnetic fielding of charged particle fluxes, which may affect cloud formation. this affects how much sunlight the earth absorbs and how much is reflected back into space. research demonstrates that, for the past 160 years, decadal and longer - period changes in atmospheric temperature correspond to changes in earth ' s length of day if we remove the very significant effect of atmospheric warming attributed to the buildup of greenhouse gases due to mankind ' s enterprise, " said dickey. " our study implies that human influences on climate during the past 80 years mask the natural balance that exists among earth ' s rotation, the core ' s angular momentum and the temperature at earth ' s surface. " this study was published in the journal of climate.


compiled by the makers of deer scram™ - - america ’ s finest deer repellent™ exterminated by market hunting in much of the united states - - especially the midwest and northeast – the whitetail deer population by the 1970s across north america has been steadily growing. following extensive efforts to protect whitetails and restock herds from the 1940s forward, whitetails numbers in their natural range are estimated today as high as 25 million no surprise, then, that whitetails - - - - are found just about anywhere. it has become the most plentiful game animal in eastern north america and is seen as a pest in many areas - - eating garden plants and ornamental shrubs and trees, and contributing to tens of thousands of car accidents. thinning the deer population is among the cures for these problems and is best done by hunting both does and bucks. as a result, hunting seasons for whitetails of both sexes now are scheduled in all states and canadian provinces where the animals are found. though not the primary cause of lyme disease, white - tailed deer are the host for deer ticks, which spread lyme disease to humans who are bitten by “ carrier ” ticks. ) whitetails prefer to live around the edge of forestlands – at transition points to open areas – and, frequently, in farming country. however, increased urbanization of land has created ideal habitat for deer where yards meet forested land – both deciduous and conifer forests – as well as grasslands and even deserts where water sources are found within 10 miles. land clearing also has reduced the number of natural predators of not only whitetails but of their north american cousins, too – mule deer and black - tailed deer. all three species often enter human inhabited areas and feast on vegetable gardens, flowerbeds, ornamental shrubs and trees and a variety of grasses. deer have also been seen taking drinks from artificial water supplies. white - tailed deer tend to remain separated by sex and will only come together for short periods of time during the “ rut ” - - or breeding season - - which occurs between november and january, depending upon the location. during this period, bucks spar for breeding and domain rights. one to three fawns are born to does usually in may or june and remain with does through the following winter. in spring, young bucks begin the rites of maturity by leaving the does, growing their first set of antlers – frequently little more than “ spikes ” several inches long – and sparing to claim domain rights. does continue to herd together through summer


. in spring, young bucks begin the rites of maturity by leaving the does, growing their first set of antlers – frequently little more than “ spikes ” several inches long – and sparing to claim domain rights. does continue to herd together through summertime. life span in the wild is about 10 years. deer are extremely cautious animals with keen senses of smell and hearing. both bucks and does tend to come out at night to feed or migrate and usually remain awake until dawn. when they do sleep, it is usually in areas of dense cover and only for short periods of time. when nervous, the white - tailed deer snorts through its nose and stamps its hooves, an action that alerts other nearby deer to danger. if alarmed, the deer raises - - or " flags " - - its tail to display a large, bright flash of white that sends a danger signal to other deer and helps a fawn follow its mother in flight. they are always alert to the sense of danger, but they can grow at ease with people, pets, automobiles and other machinery that appear to pose no threat, although they typically bolt when approached. when they run from confrontation, whitetails rarely dash farther than the nearest white - tailed deer are browsers and grazers. leaves, grass, bark, acorns, shrubs, fruits, nuts, berries, lichens, fungi and other plant material support whitetail growth to as much as 400 pounds for bucks and 200 pounds for does, but these are the biggest of the sexes. the largest individuals are usually found where winter weather is harshest. on average, a single deer consumes 5 to 10 pounds of food a day, primarily what is available in their habitat. where yards meet woodlands, deer will readily adapt their feeding routines to include the vegetable gardens, ornamental shrubs and trees of homeowners and it comes to accessing urban food - scapes, whitetails are an amazingly efficient - - and clever - - animal. azaleas, rhododendrons, roses and hostas are among their favorites, but it often seems there ’ s no end to what they will eat. the damage done to yard plants by a lone deer can be substantial. several deer can lay a 2 - acre landscape to waste. their remarkable jumping ability allows them to clear fences as much as 9 feet high. they learn the domain and attitude of yard dogs, and some have even displayed an understanding of how far a tethered dog can range. and they communicate their learning to their brethren,


ability allows them to clear fences as much as 9 feet high. they learn the domain and attitude of yard dogs, and some have even displayed an understanding of how far a tethered dog can range. and they communicate their learning to their brethren, especially fawns and yearlings. a result, deer deterrents range wide across the horizon of the imagination. deer are mostly color blind so any bright colors will also not act as a deterrent. thus, numerous offensive products – both professionally and personally cooked up to protect ornamental shrubs, trees, flowerbeds and vegetable gardens – are made to attack their taste buds and their noses. many temporarily turn deer away, but their cleverness eventually results in failed remedies. deer must be instilled with the fear of physical harm, which almost always naturally occurs with predators. indeed, it is only the fear of death that effectively breaks their behavior, whether it ’ s in a yard or in the woods. to turn deer away from the foods they want, they must sense an assault upon their security. this is best done by taking advantage of their remarkable sense of smell for locating food and survival. their nose will lead them to return over and over again to areas where food is tasty, abundant and safe to forage. their nose will also alert deer to nearby danger. disrupt their sense of security and you ’ ve achieved the primary factor for turning deer away from your valuable plants, gardens, shrubs and trees. deer have good memories and learn from each other. when one deer is afraid to return to an area, other deer – including fawns – also will be reluctant to enter the area. scram is your best deer repellent because it attacks a deer ’ s sense of safety. blended from selected all - natural organic components, deer scram will keep deer off your plantings because, through their uncanny sense of smell, deer scram convinces deer that harm is nearby. deer scram will change deer behavior. as they near the applied barrier of deer scram, deer actually alert to a sense of danger – even death! its unique blend of organic ingredients targets a deer ’ s remarkable sense of smell. as the scent of death reaches the deer, a genetic biological defense mechanism to flee from predators is triggered. watch deer flee from the area or avoid it completely! the association of the fear of death with deer scram will lead to a profound learning experience for the deer and, with proper re - application of deer scram, the deer will not return to the


japanese producers continue to develop meteoric improvements in bioplastics for engineering applications. the newest is a stunner : nec has developed a bioplastic that has better heat conductivity than stainless steel. the new material is aimed at new mobile phones and personal computers that are too small for fans and other devices used to remove heat. “ in electronic product housings, the use of heat - conductive metals is considered to be one alternative to plastic for improving heat release, ” nec said in a statement. “ however, heat conductivities in the thick direction of metal boards are too high and can cause partial or rapid increase in the temperature of housings near electronic parts that have high temperatures. ” previous attempts to use heat - conducting plastics for housings have been slowed by their high costs ( due to 50 percent - plus content of fiber or stainless steel ), poor moldability and high densities. nec has been researching alternatives using bioplastic, which has the same low heat conductivity as oil - based plastics. a new cross - linked structure between the resin matrix ( polylactic acid ) and carbon fiber is achieved through use of a new biomass binder. “ this enables good heat conductivity in the plane direction of the pla resin board, which is a characteristic conventionally difficult to attain in metal boards, ” nec said. a filling of 30 % carbon fiber provides double the heat diffusion ability of stainless steel. nec says it plans to begin mass production of the new composite in march, 2009, when it will seek new applications beyond housings of electronic products. as reported by design news, nec has already developed bioplastics with kenaf reinforcement for mobile phone housings, a wall as shape memory bioplastics. 1. the biomass content of the new composite exceeds 90 percent, excluding the carbon fibers. 2. nec says the new composite molds satisfactorily and has adequate strength for electronic products. inspired by the hooks a parasitic worm uses to penetrate its host ' s intestines, the karp lab has invented a flexible adhesive patch covered with microneedles that adheres well to wet, soft tissues, but doesn ' t cause damage when removed. researchers at the missouri university of science & technology have designed a new nanoscale material that can transmit light faster than the 186, 000 miles per second it usually takes to travel through air. it has often been said that as california goes, so goes the nation. this spring, the state ' s wind power is setting energy generation


protecting our borders from the illegal movement of weapons, drugs, contraband, and people, while promoting lawful entry and exit, is essential to homeland security, economic prosperity, and national sovereignty. american citizenship speaks to our character as a welcoming country that bestows upon us all of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the u. s. constitution. - safeguarding civil rights and civil liberties is critical to dhs ’ work to protect the nation from the many threats we face. our daily life, economic vitality, and national security depend on a stable, safe, and resilient cyberspace. whatever the disaster, as the federal government ’ s emergency management and preparedness agency, fema is part of a team of responders. america ’ s economic prosperity, and the world ’ s, depends increasingly on the flow of goods and services, people and capital, and information and technology across our borders. since the department ' s creation, the goal is simple : one dhs, one enterprise, a shared vision, with integrated results - based operations. the department of homeland security has unique career opportunities that will challenge your mind and reward your skills and talents. - human trafficking is a crime and a form of modern - day slavery involving the exploitation of children and adults. u. s. immigration and customs enforcement has adopted common sense policies that ensure our immigration laws are enforced in a way that enhances public safety, border security and the integrity of the immigration system. we work internationally not only to maintain our physical security, but also protect our economic security. law enforcement partners at the state, local, tribal and territorial levels are essential to our nation ’ s domestic defense against terrorism. they are this country ’ s eyes and ears, and the first line of detection and prevention. protecting the american people from terrorist threats is the reason the department of homeland security ( dhs ) was created, and remains our highest priority. tsa employs a risk - based strategy to secure u. s. transportation systems, working closely with transportation sector stakeholders, as well as the partners in the law enforcement and intelligence community.


reading the newspaper these days often feels like an onslaught of one crisis after another — storms causing severe flooding, droughts ruining crops and driving up food prices, wildfires destroying thousands of homes. in the midst of these immediate and dramatic stories, the global financial crisis of 2008 can feel like old news. but a new video animation by doing it ourselves illustrates why the financial crisis — and the flawed system it ’ s rooted in — should still be major concerns for all of us today. the video, “ what the economic crisis really means – and what we can do about it, ” begins by explaining the roots of the economic crisis in our fractional reserve banking system. by this system, banks are able to lend out almost all of the money we deposit in them to other people and businesses. as the video explains, “ when you put $ 100 in one bank, they lend $ 90 of it to someone else, who then puts that $ 90 in their bank. now there ’ s $ 190 where there used to be $ 100. that $ 90 lent out will also be deposited and $ 81 lent again. ” because of this lending system, over 99 % of the “ money ” in our economy has been created as debt and exists only as numbers in the digital world. the fractional reserve system works fine, fueling increasing amounts of money and economic growth … but only if the economy keeps growing. without continual growth, we can ’ t keep paying back debts on all that borrowed money, and that ’ s where we ’ ve run into problems. as we all know, earth is finite, and so are its resources. a growing global economy fueled by cheap oil can ’ t go on forever. according to doing it ourselves, the total debt owed to banks and investors across the globe is already about 150 trillion dollars — money we simply don ’ t have. as they say, “ this is the world, we ’ re not about to get bailed out by aliens. ” so, assuming they ’ re right and no aliens will come to save us, what ’ s next? doing it ourselves admits that major economic downturns in the past “ have not been happy times, ” and it ’ s likely that this one will be the biggest yet due to our resource struggles. but they also note that humans are an incredibly ingenious species, and we ’ ve been developing ways to live without an industrial economy for decades now. we know about better ways to farm, better ways to conserve energy, better ways to design currencies and build


educational games and simulations have been described in science fiction for decades. from the kobayashi maru ’ s “ no - win scenario ” for the purpose of testing character ( ecklar, 1989 ), to a child prodigy named andrew wiggins guiding actual troops in what he believed to be a mere simulation ( scott, 1994 ), games have proven to be plot devices in many science fiction scenarios. like many technologies that found their roots in science fiction ( stewart, 2010 ), games are beginning to find their place in modern society, both as an art form and as an educational tool. the tabletop and video gaming industries have boomed in the last twenty years, and the current proliferation of games could lead to an increased use of games and simulations in education in salen & zimmerman ’ s rules of play : game design fundamentals, a game is defined as “ a system in which players engage in artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in quantifiable outcome ( salen & zimmerman, 2003 ). ” if games can be designed to provide a desirable quantifiable outcome, and knowledge can be established as a necessary resource to achieve that outcome, then games have the potential to be very useful teaching tools. the purpose of this paper is three - fold : to describe the biological effects of games, and how educators can employ those effects to create an addiction to learning ; to present statistical evidence of the benefits of games and simulations in the classroom ; and to describe a test that used quality assurance testing techniques common to the game industry to guide traditional course development. the biology of gaming one of the goals of games in education is to get learners to learn without realizing it. while little research has been done on how games get players to learn without realizing it, the danger of drug addiction has lead to extensive research on the reward circuitry of the brain ( johnson, 2006 ). in his 2006 book “ everything bad is good for you, ” steven johnson suggests dopamine release could be the reason why people seek out the rewards of games. in a later article, he describes several studies that demonstrate dopamine release during game play ( johnson, 2007 ). one such study of dopamine during game play showed that dopamine release positively corresponded with performance during the game ( koepp, et al, 1998 ). this explains why games are often described as “ addictive. ” given that knowledge is often the resource required to participate in the game, an addiction to games could potentially translate to an addiction for new knowledge. with that in mind


al, 1998 ). this explains why games are often described as “ addictive. ” given that knowledge is often the resource required to participate in the game, an addiction to games could potentially translate to an addiction for new knowledge. with that in mind, video games addiction could be a useful mechanism for delivering new information to learners in a meaningful way, provided the information is embedded into an enjoyable and well - designed game. in other words, a properly nurtured gaming experience can create an addiction to learning. addiction to learning goal - oriented behaviors are usually learned ( arias - carrion & poppel, 2007 ) over a period of time, and the reward prediction error — that is, the difference between our expected rewards and the actual rewards we receive — triggers changes in dopamine levels in the brain. research has shown that dopamine, commonly associated with the reward mechanism in the brain, conditions us to seek out the conditions that have rewarded us in the past. in a sense, games allow the player to “ have the cake and eat it, too. ” because the consequences of failure are generally low in games, players are encouraged to explore to the edge of their imagination to come up with a solution to a given problem. failure simply tells the player that yet another solution does not work, and that the player is free to explore other possibilities. success is rewarded when the task is completed. johnson suggests that, given most games are filled with clearly defined rewards, it makes sense that games would trigger the same biological motivations as addicting drugs. in his estimation, the keys to good design are ( 1 ) informing the players of potential rewards to build anticipation, and ( 2 ) quantifying how much those rewards are “ needed. ” as long as the rewards are clearly defined, players are willing to spend 90 % of their time frustrated to get to the 10 % of time where they are rewarded ( johnson, 2006 ). surfing the learning curve in a piece entitled changing minds : computers, learning, and literacy, andrea disessa coins the term regime of competence to describe the domain of knowledge that a person possesses ( disessa, 2000 ). according to james gee, good games remain at the frontier of the player ’ s regime of competence ( gee, 2005 ). by staying at the edge of this frontier, games are able to stimulate dopamine production by providing players a path to seek what they want, even if they don ’ t immediately provide exactly what they want. disessa ’ s idea that maximized learning


at the edge of this frontier, games are able to stimulate dopamine production by providing players a path to seek what they want, even if they don ’ t immediately provide exactly what they want. disessa ’ s idea that maximized learning takes place at the edge of the regime of competence seems to be reinforced by an experiment conducted by richard haier in the early 1990s ( johnson, 2007 ). haier conducted pet scans to assess brain activity on test subjects as they played the puzzle - game tetris. this established a baseline. after a month of play, the subjects returned. haier ’ s experiment showed that even though the test subjects ’ performance improved dramatically, their brain activity had actually decreased. by this point they understood the game well enough to play on a more passive basis. this seemed to show that the regime of competence is an ever - expanding domain ; in order to increase brain activity further, the learners need an ever - increasing struggle. success embeds the new knowledge into the brain, and the search for new knowledge is no longer required to achieve the same success. in order to further satisfy the game addiction, the learner must seek out a more difficult or different type of challenge. i call this progressive incremental challenge. single player games are typically designed to provide this by steadily increasing the difficulty and complexity ; multi - player games typically provide this through ever - changing opponents. games matter to educators because they can motivate and challenge learners on a fundamental, biological level. by stimulating and satisfying the player ’ s addiction, monitoring performance, and keeping players as close to the edge of their abilities as possible, games can provide individualized experiences that maximize the learner ’ s potential. by the numbers – the statistics of educational gaming the studies described in the last section have shown the effects that could happen as a result of games in education, but does that possibility represent reality? based two meta - analyses of games in the classroom, it appears so. games in the classroom in the early 1990s, a meta - analysis was performed on 68 studies related to the effectiveness of games in education ( randel, morris, wetzel, & whitehill, 1992 ). of the cases studied, 32 % favored the effects of simulations / games in education, while only 5 % favored conventional instruction. the remainder either found no differences or had questionable controls. the meta - analysis also revealed over 85 % of the studies involving math favored games over traditional instruction. further, in most cases, the simulations and games showed both a greater interest


favored conventional instruction. the remainder either found no differences or had questionable controls. the meta - analysis also revealed over 85 % of the studies involving math favored games over traditional instruction. further, in most cases, the simulations and games showed both a greater interest and greater retention came from simulation and games than through traditional instruction. this tends to back up the biological analysis provided by steven johnson. another meta - analysis was conducted in 2005, this time examining 42 papers related to the use of games in educational contexts ( tobias & fletcher, 2006 ). the studies showed very positive results in the areas of transferability to real - life tasks, introduction of new variables, team characteristics, and motivation. the studies also suggested a general improvement of cognitive ability as a result of games and simulations. games are being used in higher education and in vocational training every day. business schools regularly use the markstrat simulator to teach projections or the littlefield simulator to teach bottleneck calculations. civilian power plant operators regularly spend time in a simulator receiving refresher training and to explore unusual plant transients. the us navy uses a control room simulator, called an ide, to train reactor operators on casualty procedures ( daniels, 2008 ). in fact, the military is using a broad spectrum of games and simulations to train personnel for the realities of their jobs ( macedonia, 2002 ). metrics driven course design – the quality of gaming in addition to the educational value of the games themselves, the quality assurance and continuous improvement practices of the gaming industry can be applied to lesson development. the increase in game quantity over the years has been accompanied by a general increase in quality. this is due, in large part, to the rigorous vetting that most games endure before they are released. in this section, i wish to show how educators can polish their courses using techniques commonly applied to polish games. a flash love letter in his 2009 article advocating flash game development, daniel cook describes a process for gathering feedback from his players during their game session ( cook, 2009 ). through timed questions and trending of feedback, he was able to identify exact moments when players were received increased or decreased levels of enjoyment, and modify his games accordingly. here are some examples of possible trends, and the actions that can be taken to improve on them. in each of these examples, players would be sampled at random 2 minute intervals to determine their level of enjoyment. if the feedback trends formed the first curve, then it would be clear that players ’ enjoyment was dropping off after about 10 minutes. based on this data, the


examples, players would be sampled at random 2 minute intervals to determine their level of enjoyment. if the feedback trends formed the first curve, then it would be clear that players ’ enjoyment was dropping off after about 10 minutes. based on this data, the designer would know that it is time to introduce a change to keep the player interested. this is the ideal time to introduce a progressive incremental challenge. on the other hand, if the feedback shows this second curve, then it is clear that players initially didn ’ t care for the game, but those that kept playing grew to like it over time. this might be an indicator that the introduction is too long, or the control scheme may be difficult to learn in the first 8 minutes. the third curve presents a more interesting situation. in this instance, something annoyed the players at around the 8 - 10 minute point. this could be an unskippable cut scene, or a “ cheap ” enemy. in any case, this allows the designer to identify precisely when the problem occurs. this is the first step in finding a solution. metrics driven course development using cook ’ s method, i conducted an experiment in one of my own courses. at the time of the 2009 article, i was in the process of developing a fundamentals of electricity course. the course was taught in 40 hours over of 5 days. like most learning institutions, we used a standardized end - of - course evaluation form for feedback. instead of simply relying on the end - of - course form, i developed a daily evaluation sheet that allowed me to receive feedback at more regular intervals. a copy of this sheet was submitted with this report. the survey asked students to score a variety of statements about the course. by taking the average of their scores, i was able to trend their perception of the class over the course of the five days and pinpoint where changes could be made. workflow for metrics driven course development survey data analysis trending here is an example. based on the survey of the first test class, i plotted a curve for the statement, “ today ’ s lesson did not feel rushed. ” the feedback average was 3. 0 or above on monday, tuesday, and thursday, but dipped to 2. 5 on wednesday. further feedback showed that this was based on the start contrast in course content on that day, coupled with the pacing of the course and the reduction in time to practice new problems. while the end - of - course feedback form provided useful general information, it would not have told me about this


on the start contrast in course content on that day, coupled with the pacing of the course and the reduction in time to practice new problems. while the end - of - course feedback form provided useful general information, it would not have told me about this slump. based on this data, i adjusted the transition into the day - 3 material, changed the order in which the course material was being delivered, and spread out some of the more difficult concepts. as a result of these changes, i saw the following feedback trend for the next class. to show the comparison, i have overlaid the new trend on the original. several things improved here. the overall scoring was higher, the magnitude of the slump was lower, and the slump that did occur came earlier in the week, which allowed more time for review. note that, while i did care about the absolute score to some degree, i placed more weight on the trends. one student ’ s 2 might be another student ’ s 3, but most students keep the same scoring standard throughout the week. i ’ ve used this same feedback form for several classes since then, and have noticed general improvement and a flattening of most of the curves. this method, which was transplanted from a game designer ’ s qa technique, has proven to be a valuable resource to my own educational development process. recall salen & zimmerman ’ s definition of games : a system in which players engage in artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in quantifiable outcome. in a sense, every traditional test that a student has ever taken in the classroom has met this definition. the test is a conflict with rules and constraints, and the outcome is quantifiable. the student ’ s resource is the knowledge. students that assign value to the outcome will be motivated to attain the resources ( learn the material ) necessary to win the conflict ( pass the test ). those who don ’ t will often perform poorly. tabletop and video games introduce affective and psychomotor elements to a student ’ s learning process by creating an emotional connection to the learning, encouraging the learners to assign value to the steps that lead to reward, and requiring the learner to perform hands - on tasks during the learning process. games can be a vehicle for cultivating an addiction to learning, and they have demonstrated their ability to improve the effectiveness of the learning environment. in addition to the games themselves, my own experiment has demonstrated that the qa testing methods commonly used in game development can be useful in course design. and


addiction to learning, and they have demonstrated their ability to improve the effectiveness of the learning environment. in addition to the games themselves, my own experiment has demonstrated that the qa testing methods commonly used in game development can be useful in course design. and that is why games matter. stewart, s. ( 2010 ). science fiction ’ s influences on modern society. retrieved from http : / / www. associatedcontent. com / article / 2481432 / science _ fictions _ influences _ on _ modern. html? cat = 2 ecklar, j. ( 1989 ). the kobayashi maru. new york, ny : simon and schuster. scott, o. ( 1994 ). ender ’ s game. new york, ny : tor science fiction. salen, k, & zimmerman, e. ( 2004 ). rules of play : game design fundamentals. massachusetts : the mit press. arias - carrion, o., & poppel, e. ( 2007 ). dopamine, learning, and reward seeking behavior. festo - program for applied knowing. ludwig maximilian university : munich, germany. johnson, s. ( 2006 ). everything bad is good for you : how today ’ s popular culture is actually making us smarter. new york, ny : riverhead trade ( paperbacks ). johnson, s. ( 2007 ). this is your brain on video games. machine - brain connections. discover magazine. retrieved from http : / / discovermagazine. com / 2007 / brain / video - games / article _ view? b _ start : int = 0 & - c = daniels, l. ( 2008 ). nuclear training simulator arrives in san diego. retrieved from http : / / www. navy. mil / search / display. asp? story _ id = 39575 gee, j. p. ( 2005 ). good video games and good learning. phi kappa phi forum. cook, d. ( 2009 ). flash love letter, part 1. lost garden. retrieved from http : / / www. lostgarden. com / 2009 / 07 / flash - love - letter - 2009 - part - 1. html randel, j. m., morris, b. a., wetzel, c. d., & whitehill, b. v. ( 1992 ). the effectiveness of games for educational purposes : a review of recent research. simulation & gaming, doi : 10. 1177 / 1046878192233001


d., & whitehill, b. v. ( 1992 ). the effectiveness of games for educational purposes : a review of recent research. simulation & gaming, doi : 10. 1177 / 1046878192233001 disessa, a. a. ( 2000 ). changing minds : computers, learning, and literacy. massachusetts, mit press. tobias, s., & fletcher, j. d. ( 2006 ). using computer games and simulations for instruction : a research review. koepp, m. j., gunn, r. n., lawrence, a. d., cunningham, v. j., dagher, a., jones, t., brooks, d. j., et al. ( 1998 ). evidence for striatal dopamine release during a video game. nature. macedonia, m. ( 2002 ). games, simulation, and the military education dilemma. forum for the future of higher education. retrieved from http : / / net. educause. edu / ir / library / pdf / ffpiu018. pdf aldrich, c. ( 2005 ). learning by doing : a comprehensive guide to simulations, computer games, and pedagogy in e - learning and other educational experiences. san francisco, ca : john wiley and sons.


martin fowler, chief scientist at thoughtworks, is also a widely respected author in the software development world, having written books on topics ranging from object - oriented design to patterns to agile development. his latest book, domain - specific languages, written with thoughtworks cto rebecca parsons, promises to aid developers in deciding when and where to best use a dsl, and how to go about building one. fowler and parsons recently spoke with dr. dobb ' s editor in chief jon erickson the nature of dsls. dr. dobb ' s : what exactly is a dsl? fowler : the definition in the book is “ a computer programming language of limited expressiveness focused on a particular domain. ” parsons : there are two key characteristics for a dsl. first, there should be an identifiable domain, whether it be a business domain, like lease accounting, a scientific domain, like rational drug design, or a technical domain, like persistence. the second is the language must be small. we don ’ t want these languages to grow into turing - complete general purpose programming languages with some domain concepts thrown in for good measure. more often, we are looking at constructing programs and systems by combining one or more dsls with one or more general purpose programming languages. fowler : which ties into “ limited expressiveness ” in the definition. we see this as the key difference between dsls and general - purpose languages. they aren ’ t just simpler languages than general - purpose languages. the limited expressiveness means that all sorts of rules change when you think of working with them... it ’ s also important to note that this is the definition we use in the book. others don ’ t necessarily follow that in other writings. dr. dobb ' s : what kind of applications are well suited by a dsl solution? parsons : the book frequently talks about dsls as interfaces to apis and libraries. if the problem in question lends itself to thinking about a suite of concepts linked by actions that can be well expressed using an api, you ’ re likely looking at a good candidate for a dsl. fowler : indeed, i like to think of dsls as an alternative interface to a library than the usual command - query api. dsls come into their own when you have a lot of configuring of objects in a library and those configurations and resulting object relationships are easier to visualize with a linguistic approach. another case is where you want to communicate detailed processing rules with domain experts. a small dsl can provide something that


of configuring of objects in a library and those configurations and resulting object relationships are easier to visualize with a linguistic approach. another case is where you want to communicate detailed processing rules with domain experts. a small dsl can provide something that domain experts can read and critique. in most cases, we don ’ t see dsls as something that domain experts edit directly, removing the need for programmers ( although there are exceptions, such as css ). we think that most of the time the key benefits come from domain experts reading the dsl and using that as the basis for conversations with programmers. dr. dobb ' s : when should you avoid dsls? fowler : you don ’ t need one if the command - query api does the job just fine. parsons : if there ’ s not really a properly stable domain language, a dsl might be premature. it ’ s conceivable working to design the dsl will help clarify the domain understanding, but i don ’ t think that would typically be true. designing a dsl codifies certain domain assumptions, some of which may be hard to change. dr. dobb ' s : do developers need special skills to build and use dsls? fowler : to a certain degree they do... but they aren ’ t difficult skills to learn. indeed, a large part of why we wrote this book was to remove the fear that seems to have grown up around language processing that ’ s made people shy away from doing dsls. parsons : i think there is actually a third part to this question, regarding designing dsls, but i ’ ll answer your actual question first. the skills required to implement a dsl... are not markedly different from normal programming skills. again, the skills requirements for dealing with simpler languages are quite different than those required to implement a full - blown programming language. the developer needs to choose whether to build an internal dsl, using a host language like ruby, groovy, or c #, or whether to build an external dsl by constructing a separate parser either directly or using a parser generator. using a dsl requires constructing a script or program in the new language, likely coupling it with code in a programming language. now, a different question concerns the skills needed to design the dsl. language design is an art, and even for general purpose programming languages, there is little consensus on what constitutes a good language design or how to get one. this area requires a great deal of additional attention, but


skills needed to design the dsl. language design is an art, and even for general purpose programming languages, there is little consensus on what constitutes a good language design or how to get one. this area requires a great deal of additional attention, but the book couldn ’ t include everything. fowler : and even if we had more room, i only have a sketchy sense of the guidelines for good dsl design. if we see more activity with dsls in the future, i hope this will become clearer. dr. dobb ' s : does dsl design require any special tools? fowler : the kinds of dsl we describe in the book, textual dsls, don ’ t require any fancy tools. internal dsls are existing language features used in a fluent style ( which admittedly can look rather funky ). external dsls are often done using a parser generator, but such tools are mature and easily available ( often open source ). parsons : while programming languages processing tools have existed for a long time, the literature on these tools has targeted people who write compilers and / or process general purpose programming languages. dsls, as they are generally far simpler than programming languages, are easier to work with. one aim of the book is to demystify these tools. fowler : the great thing about textual dsls is that to program in your dsl, you use the same tools you use for regular programming : text editors, version control, etc. fowler : we don ’ t talk too much about language workbenches in the book. these are sophisticated tools for constructing and editing dsls. they have huge potential, but it ’ s unclear how long it will be before they are usable in the mainstream. dr. dobb ' s : what about unique, non - standard dsls 5 or 10 years from now? won ' t they be difficult to maintain once the original developer is no longer around? fowler : when you ’ re considering the pros and cons of dsls, it ’ s valuable to remember that they are nothing more than a thin veneer over a library. so many of the benefits and problems of dsls are essentially those of libraries. we see lots of unique, non - standard libraries out there, developers have to learn their apis and often their implementations. the question is whether using a dsl makes using that harder. parsons : i think we ’ d all accept that maintaining anyone else ’ s code, or even our own, after 10 years is a difficult problem. so, is


often their implementations. the question is whether using a dsl makes using that harder. parsons : i think we ’ d all accept that maintaining anyone else ’ s code, or even our own, after 10 years is a difficult problem. so, is it harder to maintain a dsl after that length of time? i would say no. if your development staff that takes over has a basic understanding of dsl implementation techniques and the dsl itself properly reflects the domain, the problem is no different in the dsl context. the new developer still needs to learn the domain and understand the implementation. it ’ s just done differently than it might have been in the past. one could argue that it should be easier, because the existence of the dsl will tend to make the business logic expressed in the dsl “ stand out ” in a way that business logic in code may not. will it always pan out this way? nope. dsls are no more immune to poor programming practices, the existence of technical debt, and general code atrophy as any other approach. sorry — still no silver bullet. dr. dobb ' s : is letting developers have their own language really a good thing? parsons : as opposed to what? the tool can clearly be misused, as can every other piece of technology known to man. letting poor, inadequately trained developers loose on a problem with insufficient guidance and time is a recipe for disaster. your steaming pile will simply look different if dsls are used. it won ’ t smell any worse. dr. dobb ' s : have dsl productivity gains for developers been validated or is this just another sales pitch? fowler : i haven ’ t seen validated productivity gains for anything in the software industry — even for something as generally accepted as using high - level languages rather than assembler. it all boils down to the fact that there is no way to measure output, and thus productivity. ( i talk about this in cannot measure productivity [ a blog posted several years ago. ] ) parsons : i ’ d say there ’ s compelling anecdotal evidence, but i think the idea still needs to be validated as to the degree of generality. we don ’ t yet really know the patterns that will emerge in the usage of dsls. dr. dobb ' s : do agile methodologies and dsls enjoy a special relationship? fowler : the only link i see is that so many people in the agile community are deeply interested in the questions of good software design and communication with


##ls. dr. dobb ' s : do agile methodologies and dsls enjoy a special relationship? fowler : the only link i see is that so many people in the agile community are deeply interested in the questions of good software design and communication with domain experts. but that link is just an indirect common interest of the people involved, rather than anything inherent in either technology. parsons : indeed, to me there ’ s still an open question surrounding how dsl design works in an agile development cycle. as we described in response to an early question, there ’ s still a lot of thinking to do about language design for dsls. dr. dobb ' s : when designing and implementing a dsl, what ' s the number one ' gotcha ' developers need to watch for? fowler : the biggest danger for dsls, particularly external dsls, is the gradual accretion of features that turns it into a general - purpose language. the greatest strength of a dsl is its limited expressiveness and narrow focus, so you have to be vigilant to keep it small. parsons : for dsls to provide the most utility the language needs to reflect the domain, including the vocabulary of the domain and what constitutes “ normal ” in the domain. things that are normal in the domain should be easy and natural to express in the language. the language must reflect the needs of the domain users, not the needs of the programmers ( unless the users happen to also be programmers ), even though programmers might still be actually writing the code. another significant issue is that of backward compatibility. languages evolve, as the domains they represent also evolve. there ’ s an interesting trade - off each time the language needs to change regarding the cost of changing existing scripts relative to the cost of creating a less domain - friendly language.


many of us like to please others e our supervisor, our spouse, our children e but how many of us would take that as far as confessing to a serious crime that we did not commit? in a study completed by the american association of intellectual and developmental disabilities in 2008, a researcher discovered 53 cases of serious felonies to which people with intellectual disabilities confessed and were later legally exonerated. these exonerations were based on significant evidence such as dna tests or eventual confessions by the real perpetrators. in some cases, the crimes to which the suspects confessed never even occurred. in many cases, the person with a disability already had served significant jail time before being exonerated. the examples, spanning years from 1924 to 2007, came from across the united states ( no cases from colorado were included in the study. ) they include such cases as a 2002 case in georgia, in which a man with intellectual disabilities confessed to being present at the murder of a 15 - year - old girl, even though the man was with his family in brazil for the three days before and eight days after the murder. a 1979 case in florida recorded a man with an iq of 56 who confessed to the murders of six women. after the man spent 22 years in prison, he was released when dna evidence excluded him from all six of the murders. in a 1985 case in new jersey, a man with an iq of 57 confessed to beating his girlfriend to death with a stick. the woman died from alcohol poisoning. what was clear from all 53 cases was that people with intellectual disabilities can be unduly susceptible to interrogation techniques used by some law - enforcement agencies. intellectual disabilities can affect a personis ability to perceive a situation correctly and affects the ability to make good judgments. people with intellectual disabilities frequently strive to please others, especially those in authority. often, this is a survival technique learned by a person who is dependent on others to meet his or her basic needs. in this study, those characteristics led to wrongful convictions. in other situations, it can make a person with a disability vulnerable to abuse or exploitation. as a community, we can address this problem. la plata county already has led the way in preventing wrongful convictions of people with disabilities by instituting a crisis intervention team training for law enforcement and first responders in our area. the cit training offers tools for working with people with mental illness and other disabilities. since cit was implemented in 2003, 230 law - enforcement officers and community members have graduated from the program. la plata county also has


associated press file photo associated press file photo february is the month where love is in the air. however, i ’ m not talking about the kind that involves a dinner out, roses and chocolates ( one of the annual mating rituals of homo sapiens ), but one of the variety that involves a lot of yipping and yapping. listen closely this month for lots of high - pitched canine vocalization, because february is the mating season for the fox. the fox is a member of the dog, or canid, family. however, unlike other canids such as wolves and coyotes, the fox exists primarily in monogamous pairs and family units, rather than packs. it may be “ love, ” but more likely it is thought that single male and female foxes have overlapping territories. during mating season, the male can be seen following the female closely everywhere she goes. vocalizations are at their highest, and fights can break out if more than one male is competing within a female ’ s territory. at the end of the winter, the female finds a suitable den where she can prepare to give birth. she usually gives birth to four or five blind and deaf cubs, which don ’ t leave the den for the first few weeks. for the entire time the female is confined to the den, the male ’ s role is to bring food for first the mother, and then the growing cubs. when the female finishes lactating in early summer and abandons the den, both parents share feeding responsibilities, tapering off so the juveniles can learn to forage for themselves. in the autumn the cubs are full - grown, and most that survive literally get kicked out of the nest, or in this case the territories. fighting may increase during this dispersal season, where food is not abundant enough to support the entire family. after dispersal, mom and dad are usually left within the original territory to start the cycle over again. foxes mark their territory with scent. urine is usually used to mark their home range, while urine and feces can be used to mark a specific state, such as when females are fertile. these signs are often placed in conspicuous spots, like paths, trails or even food remains. foxes have scent glands on their tail, feet and faces that they can rub on things, in addition to using their saliva. colorado is home to four species of foxes. however, the smaller kit fox and the swift fox are fairly rare and live mostly on colorado ’ s eastern plains. the types of foxes found around this part of colorado are the red


action alert : the union of concerned scientists is asking that we sign a petition to oppose the building of additional dirty coal plants here is some background on why this is important. right now, there are plans in place to build up to 150 new coal fired electricity plants in the united states by 2030. while these plants will emit only a tiny fraction of the sulfur dioxide, mercury, and nitrogen oxides of older style plants, they emit only 15 percent less co2, mostly through increased efficiency. none of these plants are designed to capture co2, or easy to retrofit as carbon capture technologies improve. burning coal for electricity produces 32 % of the co2 emmitted in the u. s. if these new plants are all built, the us will be increasing the amount of co2 released into the atmosphere no matter what else we do. from architecture 2030 if every household in the us changed a 60 - watt incandescent light bulb to a compact fluorescent … the co2 emissions from just two medium - sized coal - fired power plants each year would negate this entire effort. that is just one plant - and we are talking about 150! co2 is one of the main greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. while a lot has been written on global warming and the potentially devastating effects, every new piece of news tells us it is worse than we thought. scientific american reports on some recent research done by geologist darrell kaufman of northern arizona university and a consortium of colleagues. the team analyzed 14 sediment cores from arctic lakes and compared the results with ice cores and tree rings. in warm summers, relatively more sediment is deposited thanks to from the glaciers that create these lakes, and the abundance of algae in the sediment layers reveals the length of growing seasons. so, these sediment cores provide a picture of the climate that goes back millennia. combining this analysis with tree ring and ice core studies done previously, yields a fairly detailed climate history. the result? there has been a 2000 year cooling trend due to variations in the earth ’ s orbit. as the earth has moved slightly further away from the sun due to vagaries in its orbit — it ’ s roughly 600, 000 miles further away now than in 1 c. e. — some parts of the arctic received as much as 6 watts per meter squared less sunlight than in 1 c. e. that, in turn, has led to a cooling rate of roughly 0. 2 degrees celsius per 1, 000 years. but at some point in the 20th century, that trend stopped


per meter squared less sunlight than in 1 c. e. that, in turn, has led to a cooling rate of roughly 0. 2 degrees celsius per 1, 000 years. but at some point in the 20th century, that trend stopped and reversed …. in the past decade, summertime arctic temperatures have been 1. 4 degrees celsius higher on average than would be expected and 1. 2 degrees celsius higher than in 1900. and the arctic is merely the trendsetter — the northern - most latitudes are among the fastest - warming parts of the globe due to various feedbacks. for example, melting arctic sea ice exposes more ocean, which in turn absorbs more of the sunlight ’ s warmth and further increases warming … ( the ) cooling trend wouldn ’ t have reversed naturally for at least another 4, 000 years. yet, despite this decline, arctic temperatures have soared and the most likely culprit is the build - up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from fossil fuel burning, forest clearing and other human activity, kaufmann and his colleagues wrote. ok – so here is where we are at. solar activity ( and yes, that includes sunspots ) should be taking us cooler. instead we are warming at an ever increasing rate. how bad is the warming? “ the most recent 10 - year interval ( 1999 – 2008 ) was the warmest of the past 200 decades, ” they wrote. “ temperatures were about 1. 4 degrees c higher than the projected values based on the linear cooling trend and were even more anomalous than previously documented. ” and this warming can have catastrophic consequences. according to a recent report by the wwf delivered at the world climate conference - 3, hosted by the world meteorological organization. the combination of thawing arctic sea ice and melting ice sheets in greenland and west antarctica is likely to raise global sea levels by about 1. 2 meters ( four feet ) by 2100, more than previously thought, the report warns. “ the associated flooding of coastal regions will affect more than a quarter of the world ’ s population, ” the wwf said. how bad is the arctic warming? for the first time in history, commercial frieght ships have taken the northeast passage, the arctic sea route, from norway all the way to korea. “ it is global warming that enables us to think about using that route, ” verena beckhusen, a spokeswoman for the shipping company, the beluga group of bremen, germany, said in a telephone interview.


to korea. “ it is global warming that enables us to think about using that route, ” verena beckhusen, a spokeswoman for the shipping company, the beluga group of bremen, germany, said in a telephone interview. so, in light of all this, why are we building over 150 new coal fired electric plants? ultimately, the reason for the “ coal rush ” going on in the midwest is economic. utility executives say that the coal expansion is needed to meet rising electricity demand as the u. s. population and economy grow. coal - fired plants provide half the electricity supply in the country. “ a lot of congressmen ask me, ‘ dave, why are you building that coal plant? ’ ” says midamerican ’ s sokol. “ and i say, ‘ what are my options? ’ “ coal is an attractive option, because the us has at supply of coal that will last for at least 100 years : “ there is probably sufficient coal to meet the nation ’ s needs for more than 100 years at current rates of consumption, ” the study said. “ however, it is not possible to confirm the often - quoted assertion that there is a sufficient supply of coal for the next 250 years. ” and the scale of these new plants can be huge the new $ 1. 1 billion midamerican facility will be one of the nation ’ s biggest, with 790 megawatts of capacity. its boilers and pulverizers will devour 400 tons of coal every hour, 3. 5 million tons a year, sokol says. combined with an existing plant next door, it will require a fresh train of coal every 16 to 17 hours ; each train will be nearly 1. 5 miles long and lug 135 cars about 650 miles from wyoming ’ s powder river basin. aside from the environmental damage done by the mining of this much coal, these new firing up these plants will add a lot of carbon to the atmosphere, significantly worsening global warming. as the power executive asks, “ what are the options? ” option 1 – conservation and efficiency. among other things, it has been estimated that 5 % of all electricity is wated by vampire electronics. option 2 - renewables - currently, less than 10 % of electrical generation comes from renewable sources, and the bulk of that is hydroelectric. less than 2 % comes from wind and solar. clearly. we can do a lot more. can we meet al gore ’ s challenge to meet 100 % of our electricity generation


electrical generation comes from renewable sources, and the bulk of that is hydroelectric. less than 2 % comes from wind and solar. clearly. we can do a lot more. can we meet al gore ’ s challenge to meet 100 % of our electricity generation from renewables by 2018, not at the rate we are going, but we can do a lot more. option 3 nuclear – many people think nuclear power is an option, but safety concerns alone mean that nuclear should not be an option, and that leaves … option 4 – coal – given the economics of energy today, it is almost certain that coal will play a major role in electricity generation for some time to come. ” the notion is that the sooner we wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the sooner we ’ ll be able to tackle the climate problem, ” said sally benson, executive director of the global climate and energy project ( gcep ) and professor of energy resources engineering. ” but the idea that we can take fossil fuels out of the mix very quickly is unrealistic. we ’ re reliant on fossil fuels, and a good pathway is to find ways to use them that don ’ t create a problem for the climate. ” for coal, it seems one of the best possible paths is carbon capture and storage ( ccs ), also referred to as sequestration, ccs involves capturing the co2 from coal - fired power plants, compressing it into a liquid and injecting it deep beneath the earth into old oil fields or saline aquifers. there, according to geologists, the co2 would be trapped by sealing cap rock to prevent it from seeping back to the surface and into the air. but there are numerous problems with ccs. even the strongest supporters acknowledge that the technology is still young, and that there are many unanswered questions. for example, from the union of concerned scientists for ccs to play a major role in reducing co2 emissions, an enormous new infrastructure must be constructed to capture, process, and transport large quantities of co2. and although ccs has been the subject of considerable research and analysis, it has yet to be demonstrated in the form of commercial - scale, fully integrated projects at coal - fired power plants. such demonstration projects are needed to determine the relative cost - effectiveness of ccs compared with other carbon - reducing strategies, and to assess its environmental safety — particularly at the very large scale of deployment needed for ccs to contribute significantly to the fight against global warming. among the questions needed to


the relative cost - effectiveness of ccs compared with other carbon - reducing strategies, and to assess its environmental safety — particularly at the very large scale of deployment needed for ccs to contribute significantly to the fight against global warming. among the questions needed to be resolved before ccs can be implemented on a wide scale : 1. what are the best techniques for capturing the carbon? there are several promising technologies for carbon storage, but none have been used on a commercial scale. will they work on that scale? what will the cost be? 2. can the carbon be transported large distances to storage sites safely, and economically? again, what is the cost? 3. will long term underground storage of carbon work, or will there be leaks? one of the most promising new technologies is integrated gasification combined cycle ( igcc ). in this technology, coal is transformed into gas. the solid waste is seperated and stored. the gas powers a turbine, and the excess gas fires a steam generator. it is very promising, but these technologies are not proven on a commercial scale. what we need is to do the following 1. stop the construction of dirty coal plants 2. expedite research on the new clean coal technologies. build commercial sized pilot plants 3. once we have settled on technologies that work, we can expedite the building of new plants. this was one of the scenarios laid out by mckinsey in their report carbon capture and storage, assessing the economics. time is running shorter. we need to act soon, if we are going to have a chance to prevent the potential catastrophies we face. sign the petition, please.


by justin gillis a " green " nytimes blogger trying to tap into the best thinking about the future of global agriculture, as i have tried to do in my work as a reporter, can be an exercise in frustration. many groups and many bright people go at the problem, but not many of them go at it in a holistic way. the environmental crowd is worried mainly about the ecological damage from agriculture and is prone to recommend solutions that farmers say would undercut the food supply. traditional agronomists are mainly worried about supply — and tend at times to recommend fixes that might worsen the environmental damage. a separate crowd is primarily worried about the inequities in the global food system : that a billion people at the top end are killing themselves eating overly rich diets while a billion poor people live desperate lives circumscribed by malnutrition. can ’ t we figure out how to fix all this at once? it ’ s a tall order, but a heartening development in global agricultural policy is that some people are starting to try. now comes an interesting new installment in the literature of the big fix. it ’ s an analysis by an international team of scientists led by jonathan a. foley, director of the institute on the environment at the university of minnesota. their paper, “ solutions for a cultivated planet, ” was released online and is scheduled as the cover article of the oct. 20 issue of the journal nature. dr. foley is also publishing a piece in the november issue of scientific american, due on newsstands next week, that summarizes the team ’ s analysis in layman ’ s terms. the group finds, as others have before them, that the challenge of doubling global food production in coming decades can probably be met, albeit with considerable difficulty. the interesting thing to me about the analysis is that it doesn ’ t treat any of the problems confronting the food system as superior to the others — it treats the environmental problem, the supply problem and the equity problem as equally important, laying out a case that they all need to be tackled at once. “ feeding nine billion people in a truly sustainable way will be one of the greatest challenges our civilization has ever faced, ” dr. foley says in the scientific american article, referring to the projected global population at midcentury. ( he outlines some of the links between environmental problems and agriculture in this talk, and his group produced a popular animated clip that gives a sense of the scale of the problems here. ) many elements of


to the projected global population at midcentury. ( he outlines some of the links between environmental problems and agriculture in this talk, and his group produced a popular animated clip that gives a sense of the scale of the problems here. ) many elements of the new paper will be familiar to readers who follow these issues. yet it is interesting to see these building blocks of a smarter food system spelled out in one paper, with hard numbers attached. for starters, the group argues that the conversion of forests and grasslands to agricultural use needs to stop now ; the environmental damage we are doing chopping down the amazon far exceeds the small gain in food production, it says. next, the paper contends that increases in food supply need to come from existing farmland by a process of intensified production in regions where yields are low : northeastern india, eastern europe, parts of south america and large parts of africa being good examples. if yields in these regions could be brought to within 75 percent of their known potential using modern farming methods, including fertilizer and irrigation, total global supply of major foodstuffs would expand by 28 percent, the paper found. if yields were brought to 95 percent of their potential, close to those achieved in rich countries, the supply increase would be a whopping 58 percent. the paper does not say so, but i suspect that either development would be enough to reverse the soaring food prices of recent years. another important strategy laid out in the paper is to improve the efficiency of agriculture in places where yields are already high. if farmers in africa need more fertilizer, farmers in the united states need less. the paper essentially argues that high yields can be attained with fewer chemicals and less water, which would not only cut pollution but in some cases also cut costs for farmers. and finally, the paper argues that more of the food we grow needs to wind up on people ’ s plates. that means cutting food waste, not just the kind so common in western kitchens but also the tremendous post - harvest losses caused by bad storage conditions in poor countries. and it means a shift in diets away from meat and dairy products, which are inefficient to produce, and toward plants. the paper acknowledges that a massive transition to vegetarianism is unlikely but argues that even incremental changes — getting many people to move from less - efficient beef to more - efficient chicken, for instance — would make a difference. the paper studiously avoids taking sides in the ideological wars over the food system. it does not adopt the left - leaning argument that