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Miss Tennessee tackles opioid epidemic
October 17, 2017 By Alex Windings Leave a Comment
Elizabeth Fite
The effects of substance abuse and the opioid epidemic have hit close to home for Miss Tennessee 2017 Caty Davis.
Her grandfather, father and half-brother all battled addiction, but Davis said her position as Miss Tennessee gives her a great opportunity to change the conversation surrounding drugs and alcohol.
"My hope is that we change the stigma, or erase the stigma," she said. "I don't want anyone to go down the path that my brother or father did — to feel that they can't get into treatment or can't get better."
A record number of Tennesseans are dying from drug overdoses, and in 2016 nearly 73 percent of those deaths were attributed to opioids.
Since being crowned Miss Tennessee in June, Davis has traveled around the state promoting her "Attacking Addiction" platform, which aims to educate, reduce stigma and empower people to seek treatment for mental health and substance use disorders.
"I get to speak to 70,000 students this year on addiction prevention," she said.
On Monday, Davis visited Chattanooga to meet with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee employees and increase awareness for the Count It! Lock It! Drop It! campaign that's sponsored by the BlueCross' Health Foundation.
The campaign targets prescription pain medication misuse, a common catalyst that leads to opioid addiction, by encouraging people to regularly count their pills, lock up medications to prevent theft, and properly dispose of unused prescriptions.
According to a report from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, 55 percent of people who use opioids recreationally got the medicine from friends or family members.
Lori Johnson, a customer service representative at BlueCross, lost her 23-year-old daughter to an opioid overdose, saying her drug use began with prescriptions.
"The night before she passed away, she got prescription pain medicine from someone. If they had locked it up, that wouldn't have happened," Johnson said, adding that she admires what Davis is doing to promote awareness.
"With her being young, it's a really good message for other young women," Johnson said.
Davis earned a psychology degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and said she plans to go back to school and pursue graduate studies focused on childhood psychology and substance abuse.
Read more on The Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Elizabeth Fite is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia's Health and Medical Journalism Master's Program. She has written for WebMD, Georgia Health News and UGA's Office of Research, where she covered public health, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, infectious diseases and other sciences.
Filed Under: News Tagged With: BlueCross Blueshield of Tennessee, Count It! Lock It! Drop It!, opioid addiction, Tennessee


Both my T's are in closed, weatherproof garages but subject to cold and colder winter temps as I have no heat. I leave the coils in the boxes. Is this an accepted practice ? Cars are stored from November thru early May. Interested in your opinions.
Cold won't hurt coils. Put the battery on a shelf in the basement, hooked up to a Battery Tender.
I was told it is best to remove the coils boxes and place them in ziplock bags and store them inside the house. Then in the spring put them in a warmed oven heated to 150 degrees. Turn off the oven and place the coils on the oven racks and let them sit for an hour as the oven cools. This will dry any moisture out of the boxes.
I addition also made some of silica packs used for flower drying and slip them into the bags also for the winter.
You can put the battery on the floor, it will be much safer. Disregard any advice from anyone who believes that concrete somehow damages batteries.
I bought some wooden coils from Ron Patterson and I asked him about moisture-proofing. He suggested that I paint the wooden cases with boiled linseed oil until they wouldn't soak up any more. So I did and never had any problems with them.
My garage is enclosed and somewhat heated, but I live in Louisiana where it is damp.
Regarding that battery, I suggest leaving it in the car with the ground strap disconnected. Removing it from the car is unnecessary. Charge it to 100% with a 2 amp or less charger before storage and again before use in the spring.


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Panel discussion on J&K High Court's decision on hoisting state flag Part-02
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the government to hoist the state flag on all official buildings and vehicles of constitutional authorities. The judgment is a setback to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led PDP-BJP government that had withdrawn a circular asking the constitutional authorities to respect the state flag and hoist it on their official cars. Zee News is the highly popular Hindi News channel of India's largest television network ZMCL. The channel, which has a huge following in India and abroad, has won several prestigious national and international awards.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Chinese Grand Prix made its debut on the Formula One calendar in 2004 to universal acclaim of the hugely impressive facilities. Designed by Hermann Tilke, the Shanghai International Circuit is built on three square kilometres of reclaimed marshland, and can seat up to 200,000 people.
The 5.4-kilometre track is shaped like the Chinese character 'shang' which stands for 'high' or 'above.' It comprises seven left and seven right turns with several overtaking opportunities, in particular at the multi-apex turn one and at the end of the back straight.
Average speeds are approximately 200 kph, with the cars reaching their maximum speeds down the back straight which stretches for over a kilometre in length between turns thirteen and fourteen.
"After such a strong qualifying performance at Fuji on Saturday, we were extremely disappointed that we were unable to convert this into a points-scoring position in the race. We move to China now and hope for better things at the Shanghai International Circuit. This is a very technical track which places great emphasis on driver skill and car stability. Our drivers are looking forward to the challenge.
We have some new developments from our recent test in Jerez and hope that we will be able to end the season on a stronger note and with a point or two."
"The Shanghai circuit is a demanding one for the drivers and quite technical but it is also fun to drive. The length of the corners, particularly turn one which is tough on the neck, is quite something and you have to remember to breathe as you go round the lap. In turns seven/eight/nine the G-forces are so high that you are unable to breathe. There are a few good overtaking opportunities, particularly going into turn one and then at the banked entry onto the back straight which is very unique to this circuit and presents the ability to take a number of lines onto the straight itself."
"Shanghai is a fantastic race venue with impressive facilities and an exciting modern track layout. I won the very first Grand Prix here in 2004 so it holds some good memories for me. The combination of long straights and low/medium speed corners makes for a challenging technical layout with the main feature being the length of some of the corners. The complex including turn one is fairly tricky with a combination of hard braking and lateral acceleration."


A highly visible temporary public art installation consisting of seventeen hornbeam trees located in the heart of Liverpool.
The art piece designed by architects Diller, Scofido and Renfro, re-examines the traditional idea of public park space by choosing to animate, in a mechanised way, those landscape elements that we expect to be stable and on 'terra firma'.
The project required landscaping of a 740m2 grass verge area and the installation of three 4m diameter concrete pre-cast rings supported on a foundation slab, which in turn housed mechanical turntables that rotated the steel tree planters.
Associated electrical and lighting installations were also required.


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Q: Update auto_now field in bulk_update I'm using Django 2.2 and I have a model with auto_now modification_datetime field and I need to update it during/after a bulk_update execution only for the affected registries that were really updated.
Is it possible to update auto_now datetime model field only on the affected records by bulk_update execution?

A: No as bulk_update() does not call save() method nor it fires pre_save and post_save signals on instance ( generally produces only single update query). Also generally there is no recollection of the instances that are actually updated in Django
furthermore as documented auto_now does not trigger on update()/bulk_update() as it is triggered by save()

The field is only automatically updated when calling Model.save(). The
field isn't updated when making updates to other fields in other ways
such as QuerySet.update(), though you can specify a custom value for
the field in an update like that.

You could check which instances have update manually and update their timestamp or do some kind of database trigger

A: Maybe override your update method in QuerySet helps. But I am not sure if this only updates "updated_at" on data which have really changed in bulk update.
from django.db import models
from django.utils import timezone

class YourModelQuerySet(models.QuerySet):

    def update(self, **kwargs):
        kwargs['updated_at'] = timezone.now()
        super().update(**kwargs)

class YourModel(models.Model):
    objects = YourModelQuerySet.as_manager()

    updated_at = models.DateTimeField()
    other_fields = ...

Edit:
look also here: https://brobin.me/blog/2020/02/auto-updated-timestamp-fields-in-django-bulk-querysets/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Nashville-based Palm Ghosts release new album 'Architecture'
7 June 2018 We Are Cult Music, News 0
❉ Nashville-based outfit Palm Ghosts present their new album 'Architecture', which is being released by Ice Queen Records.
"With Palm Ghosts' sound, I try to combine the things I love the most about early 80s music. The eccentricity of bands like XTC, The lush waves of sonic bliss from the early 4AD bands and The Cure, The dark dance music of Factory Records and the worldliness and adventurous palate of an artist like Peter Gabriel"
Architecture by Palm Ghosts
Palm Ghosts is a five-piece led by songwriter / producer Joseph Lekkas (bass and vocals), Erica Whitney Wilkes (vocals and keyboards), Ben Douglas (guitars and keyboards), Jason Springman (guitars), and Rene Lambert (drums). Collectively, they are influenced by groups such as Cocteau Twins, Peter Gabriel, Dead Can Dance, New Order and The Cure.
Lekkas founded Palm Ghosts in Philadelphia in early 2013 as a creative outlet for dealing with a severe bout of depression and anxiety that left him incapacitated. Discovering that music was his only path through the mire, he spent a particularly long Philadelphia winter recording a batch of introspective songs that was to become the first, self-titled, Palm Ghosts record 'XX', a tapestry of lo-fi indie folk and dreamy pop he christened as "sun-damaged American music" and which can be found here – https://palmghosts.bandcamp.com/album/palm-ghosts
After moving to Nashville in 2015 to take part in the southern city's musical renaissance, Joseph Lekkas set up a small home studio, finally releasing Palm Records' second album 'Greenland' in February of 2017.
In May of 2017, Joseph began work on his next project, sketching song ideas to create the lush, cinematic arrangements he was hearing in his head. 'Architecture' is the fruit of his labors. This album is a sea-change for the band from the more electro-laced dream pop- indie folk of former releases to a more synth heavy and decidedly darker post punk sound. A brand new group of talented musicians helped to form the tapestry of layered guitars, synthesizers and rhythmic pulse found on this record.
"With Palm Ghosts' sound, I try to combine the things I love the most about early 80s music. The eccentricity of bands like XTC, The lush waves of sonic bliss from the early 4AD bands and The Cure, The dark dance music of Factory Records and the worldliness and adventurous palate of an artist like Peter Gabriel," says Joseph Lekkas.
"'Architecture' is my first release as an artist that feels like a complete work with intention. It is musically inspired by music of the early 80s, contains a fair bit of nostalgia, but also feels new to me. Perhaps it is the male / female co-lead vocals, two completely different voices that blend in a unique way. The lyrics mostly deal with things I sadly know a thing or two about…depression and anxiety (cortisol, the hound) the dissolution of love (who knew me better than you?, love in winter, swan dives, a lover's quarrel), but there are also some political nods to modern america and war (rhythm to rage, the crown and the confidant, red horizon)."
❉ 'Architecture' is available through the regular online stores and streaming platforms as of June 8, 2018. Previous Palm Ghosts releases can be found via Bandcamp.
❉ News source: Shameless Promotion PR.
❉ We Are Cult is not responsible for the content of this news release.
Liked it? Take a second to support We Are Cult on Patreon!


The price includes the boat for 8 hours.
Vat, skipper and fuel are not included in the price.
Interested in booking this boat, Ranieri 940? If so fill in the form below so we can get back to you as soon as possible.


Phone Home Inc. is an installation in which you can experience interplanetary communication. In space we have to deal with unthinkable distances that reveal the limitations of physics. We are bound to the speed of light and this influences sending and receiving information to and from one planet to an other. To let you experience how distance influences communication Phone Home Inc. was created.
The installation consists of three phone booths each representing a planet, Earth, the Moon and Mars. From Earth you can 'skype' to the Moon and to Mars. In the connection Earth - the Moon a delay is set of 5 seconds. This means that the video and audio recorded on Earth are played on the Moon 5 seconds later and vice versa. The Earth - Mars connection has a delay of 5 minutes. When you ask a question to someone on Mars it will take at least 10 minutes before you get your answer.
This project was done together with Rogier Arents in the group Observing Space for BIO50, the design biennial of Slovenia in Ljubljana.


The male and female Australian Wood Duck can be told apart by their different markings. The male (pictured) has a chestnut head with a small black mane and a mainly grey body with a speckled breast. Females have a pale brown head with a pale white stripe above and below the eye and a speckled underbelly.
Both sexes have a small black bill with serrated cutting edges for grazing grass. The two black stripes along the back are quite distinctive to this species. With their short bills, longish necks and legs they look a bit like a small goose. In flight their wings are mainly grey with black tips and distinctive white trailing edges.
On land they feed on grass in open grasslands and town parks, and on water they dabble in shallow water. This involves upending themselves on top of the water and searching for aquatic plants under water with their long necks. During the day they can spend much time resting near water or perched in trees. They can also be found in pastures, open woodland, farm dams, sewerage ponds and lakes.
They nest in November in tree hollows, preferably over water and often quite high off the ground. The nesting hollow is large and well lined with down in which they lay their large clutch of eggs. A clutch can consist of 8 to 14 eggs that both sexes incubate for about a month.
Not long after the chicks hatch they jump from the hollow and are led by the adults to the safety of nearby water. The downy chicks follow the adult birds around the pastures and learn from them.
You can find these handsome ducks grazing on the grass, or resting near the ponds in the Parklands.
Are you new to Twitching? We've put together a list of top tips to help you make the most of your bird watching expedition to the Parklands.
Ian Potter Children's WILD PLAY Garden offers city kids an opportunity to reconnect with nature in our new state-of-the-art nature play space.
Have you spotted an unusual bird?
Visit the Bird Spotting Register to see if the birds you've spotted during your visit have been seen in the Parklands before now – if not let us know!


THE formation of an Afghan government-in-exile, after weeks of delay and disagreement, lends the disparate resistance movement a semblance of unity and provides a rallying point for 5 million Afghans and the patchwork of guerrilla commanders inside Afghanistan. The new government, whose leaders were named late last week, is a last-ditch attempt by the Peshawar-based Afghan politicians to retain a role in post-Soviet Afghanistan, according to diplomatic, resistance, and international aid sources.
``We have to wait and see whether this government will have any real power, and whether it can really do what needs to be done,'' says a guerrilla representative here. ``The leaders have disappointed us too many times in the past,'' he adds, referring to the bickering among parties during their decade-long war against Soviet forces and the Soviet-backed Kabul regime.
Many Afghans criticize the nominating council and the new ``government'' for not reflecting the diversity and various viewpoints within the resistance. Many snowbound northern and western provinces were unable to send delegates to the council, which first convened Feb. 10 under Pakistani pressure. In addition, the new government does not include the country's Shiite Muslim minority. The parties also lack a coherent policy to deal with captured areas and material. As a result, government offices have been trashed, state farms looted and destroyed, and the spoils of war divided among the fighters.
The new government is to operate until elections can be held in six months. It is headed by a so-called moderate, Sibghatullah Mojaddidi, as president. ``Fundamentalist'' Abdul Rasul Sayyaf was named prime minister. Other positions and ministries were handed out to leaders of the other five Peshawar-based parties. It is not clear how the parties will organize an election among Afghans both inside the country and in refugee camps, particularly if fighting continues.
Mr. Mojaddidi has called upon the international community to recognize his government, adding that it intends to move into Afghanistan within a month. The United States has said it will only recognize the government once it shows substantial control of territory, broad grassroots support, and a functioning civil administration.


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The BasketCases (and Petey, of course) wish all of our readers a very happy, healthy . . . and sparkling New Year!
However, before we close the book on 2010, we thought we'd pass along a few recent odds and ends about some people of interest:
Angela Taylor. Yesterday, former (and best ever) Mystics GM Angela Taylor officially launched her new sports marketing and consulting firm, NetWorks Sports. She also announced one of her firm's first major projects: working with former Stanford star and WNBA player Candice Wiggins on Candice's new business venture, The Candice Wiggins Overseas Experience.
Next October, in the first of what is expected to be an annual "experience," Candice will host a 50-person tour of some of the major cities in Spain, mixing visits to the traditional tourist sites with culture . . . and some basketball! Candice has played in Spain, so she brings to the experience a special familiarity with the country. During the tour, the lucky 50 fan-tourists will have the opportunity to see one of the best teams in Europe, Ros Casares, play in beautiful Valencia. Pricing and other details are here. It sounds very exciting (and very tempting to the BCs, who definitely love both travel and basketball). We certainly hope to be able join Candice on one of her trips! We wish Angela and Candice all the best with their new ventures in the new year!
Kristi Toliver. While we're on the subject of travel, former Maryland star and WNBA player Kristi Toliver has just agreed to join the Turkish team, Samsun, and will be playing in Turkey this winter.
Laura Harper. Unfortunately, Kristi's former Maryland teammate, Laura Harper, has had to cancel her own plans to play overseas. Harp had been recuperating from the knee injury that kept her out of the WNBA last season, but recently needed to undergo microfracture surgery on her knee. She's on crutches right now, and will be for a few more weeks; after that she will need several months of additional rehab. So in the new year, we wish Harp a full and speedy recovery. We hope to see her playing again when the WNBA season rolls around this summer. (And, of course, all the best to Kristi in Turkey.)
Crystal Langhorne. As Kristi heads to Eurasia, Maryland and Mystics star Crystal Langhorne has just returned from a very successful few months playing for UMMC in Ekaterinburg, Russia (in case you're wondering, Ekat is located just west of Siberia). Lang is planning to stay stateside in the new year, working out and getting ready for the upcoming WNBA season.
Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood. Last but not least, we have some news about another former Maryland Terrapin, Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood. Sa'de, we learned recently, has now embarked on a career in coaching. The BCs were delighted to learn that Sa'de (whose college playing career was plagued by injuries) is now the girls' basketball coach at Mission Bay High School in San Diego. We think those young athletes are lucky to have her, and we hope that Sa'de has a long and successful career as a coach.
Undoubtedly there's much more news out there, but it's time for the BCs to sign off for 2010. . . Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful, happy, healthy, successful and sparkling 2011!
The #18/20 Terps finished up the 2010 calendar year on a high note, beating the #17/17-ranked St. John's Red Storm today at Comcast in the title game of the Terrapin Classic, 66-60.
The first half of today's midday game was tightly contested, despite the fact that St. John's did not hit a field goal until nearly ten minutes into the period. But thanks to turnovers and fouls by the Terps, SJU managed to hang around, even though they struggled from the field. At the break, Maryland took a 31-26 lead into the locker room.
In the second period, the Terps appeared to take control . . . opening up a lead that grew to as many as 16 18 points. However, as often happens when one team is trying to protect a lead while the other team is fighting desperately to come back, that comfortable double-digit margin didn't hold up. St. John's chipped away at the Maryland lead, forcing the Terps to really work to hold on and secure the win. We weren't expecting the nation's #17 ranked team to allow the Terps to roll to an easy victory . . . and the Red Storm didn't. They fought hard, but the Terps hung on. Whew.
Two Terps finished in double figures today, Diandra T with 19, and Lynetta Kizer, with 13 (including her 1,000th career point. Congrats to 'Netta!). For the first time this season, the Terps were outrebounded by their (noticeably smaller) opponent. Fortunately, it was not enough to give St. John's the victory.
While this game didn't have the hype of a meeting between Maryland and one of their traditional ACC rivals, it was still a very important game -- and a very important win -- for the 2010-11 team. To date it's their only victory (in two tries) over another nationally-ranked team. Not only should this win provide the Terps with some good momentum going into ACC play, but it should also be a plus for the team next March with the NCAA selection committee.
And Maryland will need all the momentum it can muster, as conference play kicks off next Thursday with as difficult a game as any team can play in the ACC -- a game (on the road) against Duke in Cameron.
Before that, however, the Terps have one more game to play -- on Sunday, in Philly, against St. Joe's at 2 PM. And then it's next stop, Durham!
The Terps were all smiles after being awarded the Terrapin Classic Trophy
Go Terps . . . Beat the Hawks!
As the BasketCases Drove up to Comcast this morning for the noon start of the Terrapin Classic, we were hoping that the Terps would not be looking past the (4-6) La Salle Explorers to the expected game tomorrow against #17-ranked St. John's. We were also hoping that the Maryland players wouldn't be exhibiting signs of post-holiday lethargy after a nine-day layoff. Instead, what we were hoping for was to see Maryland come out strong, decisively put away their opponent and advance to meet the winner of the 2nd half of today's Maryland Classic double-header.
We're happy to report that sometimes wishes do come true. Today we got our wish. The Terps came out of the blocks focused and determined, and before you knew it, Maryland was ahead, 18-2, and the game was all but over. During the early minutes of the first half, we thought the Explorers probably could've used MapQuest to help find the basket. At the break, the Terps were ahead, 43-21.
During the second half, the teams playing the second game of today's double-header, St. John's and Liberty, were in the stands watching their potential Wednesday opponent. Neither team, however, got to see much of Maryland's starters . . . all of whom spent at least the last ten minutes of today's game on the bench. But they did get to see a very good second-half performance by Maryland's reserves, who picked up where the starters left off, and helped the Terps cruise to an easy 83-45 victory.
Playing only 17 minutes, Lynetta Kizer led the Terps with 15 points (and 9 rebounds). Rookie starter Alyssa Thomas put up 14 points in 19 minutes, and Diandra T rounded out Maryland's double-digit scoring with 11 points in 20 minutes. The star of the second half was crowd favorite Yemi Oyefuwa, who played 9 minutes and scored a career-high 7 points!
With their game already in the books, it was then the Terps' turn to wait to see who they'd be playing tomorrow. Every Maryland coach and player watched the entire St. John's/Liberty game. Each player was equipped with a pad and pencil and was busy taking notes throughout the game. What was notable by their absence were cell phones, iPads, and ear buds. Clearly, the Terps were given a message -- loud and clear -- that watching tomorrow's opponent was serious business, not a time for social networking.
As the Terps no doubt anticipated (and the BCs certainly hoped), a match against the higher-ranked St. John's Red Storm of the Big East was only a day away. Yet until the last couple of minutes of the second game, it was still up-in-the-air who the winner would be, as St. John's and Liberty slugged it out, neither team able to create any real separation. Finally, a late game rally by the Red Storm got St. John's the win, 81-66. The final score does not reflect how close this game really was for 35 minutes or thereabouts.
So the BCs got our wish: a match-up between #18/20 Maryland and #17/17 St. John's tomorrow morning at (the ridiculously early) tip-off time of 11:30 AM. Two closely ranked teams from BIG conferences squaring off in an out-of-conference contest just days before both teams begin conference play.
Don't miss this one!
For the record, the only one of our wishes that didn't come true today . . . BC Eileen really wanted Dara Taylor to have a BIG game for the Terps today. Don't take this the wrong way . . . Dara played very well. 4 assists in only 10 minutes of playing time is outstanding! But BC Eileen really wanted Dara to be the star of today's game. That way we could have titled today's post Dora Dara v. The Explorers. (Oh well, maybe next time the Terps play La Salle . . . )
See you tomorrow at 11:30 AM.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Red Storm!
Some additional reading . . . St. John's uber fan (and BCs reader and fellow blogger) Rebecca was in the house on Tuesday, having made the trek from snowcovered New York to see her Red Storm in action at Comcast. For Rebecca's truly unique recap of both games, see her Game Notes of Doom, here and here.
The BasketCases Wish One and All
A very Mary(land) Christmas!
Follow the Link...and turn up the volume!
It takes a minute to load...but we think it's worth waiting for.
Maryland vs Delaware State. This was not a game that was even supposed to be close. The Terps entered the game at 9-1; the Hornets had a 1-6 record. And one of DSU's losses was to Syracuse by a score of 87-17. Ouch.
So when the DSU Hornets took a 1-point lead on the Terps with about 2-1/2 minutes left in the first half, the BCs (following the live stats online) were slapping ourselves upside the head, trying to figure out what was going on up there in Dover. Had the late night studying and the stress of exams made the Terps forget everything they knew about playing basketball?
Well, those final 2-1/2 minutes of the period answered our question with a resounding NO! As in, no, the Terps did not forget how to play. They closed out the first half on a 10-0 run; they opened the second half with a 20-2 run, at which point they had doubled up the Hornets (54-27); and they finished with a 30-point margin, 79-49. So despite the slightly bumpy beginning, this game turned into the one we had expected.
Four Terps finished in double figures: Alyssa Thomas led all scorers with 17, Lynetta Kizer was close behind with 16, Tianna Hawkins finished with 15, and Alicia DeVaughn added 13 points off the bench. And once again, the Terps outrebounded their opponent (40-25).
Having just concluded a 9-day break for exams, the Terps now face another 9-day layoff for the Christmas holiday. Next up, the Terrapin Classic on December 28 and 29. The Terps tip off against La Salle at noon on the 28th, with Liberty vs St. John's following in the second game of the double-header.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Explorers!
Thank You, Mystics
The Mystics haven't given the BCs much to be grateful for this offseason. In fact, in the last couple of months, they've caused us nothing but unmitigated grief. But we believe in giving credit where credit is due, so we have to admit that, today, at least, it was good to still be on the Mystics' mailing list.
And that's because tonight, thanks to the Mystics' email, as we entered GW's Smith Center to buy tickets for the Colonials' game against Auburn, we knew the magic words to repeat at the ticket window: "I'm a Mystics fan." This got us $6 off the regular $9 ticket price. Wow, a game ticket for only 3 bucks! What a deal! At least that was what we thought before we watched the game.
This past week, we've been feeling the need for a little college hoops fix, having missed the most recent Maryland games while BC Eileen was on injured reserve. And with the Terps not playing at home until December 28, we figured why not take in some action within walking distance from our offices.
We hate to say it, but truthfully, this was a $3 game at best. Neither team could hit water from a boat shot well at all. In fact, for most of the game, both teams were shooting under 30%, which is pretty bad however you slice it. When the final buzzer sounded, Auburn had won, 52-45. We have the feeling that both of these teams may struggle a bit this season in conference play. (We hope we're wrong.)
Now although our evening was kinda disappointing from a basketball perspective, we did learn some interesting sports history. Having noticed that the Auburn players had the words "War Eagle" rather than their own names on the backs of their jerseys, we were puzzled . . . the Auburn mascot is a tiger, isn't it? Not a bird. Hmmm.
Fortunately, the BCs spotted some genuine Auburn fans (from actual Cash Cam Newton territory). How did we find these fans, you're wondering? Being the keen observers that we are, we scoped out a few folks down the row wearing orange jackets and shirts that said "Auburn." (Was this a clue?) So we asked them why a team called the Tigers wear jerseys that say "War Eagle." "Well," they answered, "it goes back to the Civil War." The Civil War? (Wow, we thought, this might just be worth $3 after all.)
These genuine Auburn fans then proceeded to tell us the entire story, beginning with a wounded Confederate soldier on a battlefield, and a baby eagle. BC Judith, being a history buff, found the tale fascinating. We won't go into the details, but you can read the story here. Was it true, we asked them. Well, perhaps not, they confessed. But it makes for a good story, and it was certainly more interesting than the game.
Also more interesting than the game was the GW Dance Team, which performed at half time. Since tonight was GW's "holiday game" (who knew?), the dancers were wearing Santa hats and glittering short red dresses. They performed a Rockettes-style routine to a jingle bell song, and they were, in fact, very well-rehearsed and entertaining. We'd also like to give a shout out to the male members of the GW Cheerleading Team . . . one in particular, who was able to hold a female cheerleader in the air using just one hand. We have to say, that's impressive.
On second thought, we got our three bucks worth. Maybe the evening would've even been worth $4. So we'll say it: Thank you, Mystics.
Cell Phone Photo Credit: DC BasketCases
All Terp Systems Go
Tonight's game at Comcast featured the basketball programs of two campuses of the University System of Maryland -- College Park, and Baltimore County. Whatever the schools may have in common academically, they're a bit different when it comes to basketball, and the Retrievers of UMBC were no match for the Terps of College Park, who cruised to a 71-45 victory.
Although the Terps were at full strength tonight with Alyssa Thomas back in the lineup, BC Eileen is still sidelined, and so once again we were not able to see this game live. But we did "watch" those cute little red and white Terp figures run and jump on Gametracker's virtual court (what fun!) as they scored the first 15 points of the game, and never looked back (actually the little figures can't . . . they don't have eyes).
Alyssa not only played tonight, but was one of three Terps finishing in double figures (she had 10 points); T-Hawk led all scorers with 16, and Anjale Barrett added 12 points (including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc). Anj also dished out 6 assists, and the team as a whole had 21 assisted baskets. The Terps also cut down on their TOs (12), and totally dominated the Retrievers on the glass (30-19).
The Terps now have a long layoff for exams. They won't be tipping off again until Sunday, December 19, when they travel up I-95 to take on Delaware State in Dover. And they won't make another appearance at home until the Terrapin Classic (**Time Change Alert, link here**) that starts on December 28th, by which time BC Eileen is virtually certain to be back in action.
Congratulations, Terps! Go Ace Those Exams!
Go Maryland . . . Beat Delaware State!
Deep Bench
This evening in Baltimore, the Loyola Greyhounds did what greyhounds do . . . they raced out to an early lead. In fact, it was nearly halfway into the first period before the heavily-favored Terps managed to catch them from behind. But once Maryland nosed ahead at the 9-minute mark, it seems the Greyhounds learned the hard way exactly what it means to face a team with a deep bench.
In those remaining 9 minutes of the first half, the Terps dominated every facet of play and returned to their locker room with a 20-point advantage.
The second half (based on what we could garner from Gametracker) seemed somewhat similar to the first. The Greyhounds took off again, closing the gap on Maryland (a bit), only to have the Terps stretch out the lead again, to a 20-point cushion in the final minute. Loyola scored once more; the Terps ran out the clock. Final score: 79-61, Turtles over Greyhounds.
Lynetta led the Terps with 21 points. Ti-Hawk notched a double-double (17 points, 12 rebounds). The Terps outrebounded the Greyhounds, 51-26. 19 of their boards were on the offensive end, contributing to Maryland's scoring a remarkable 48 points in the paint! And we're pleased to report that Maryland's 3-point shooting, for a change, was a positive: 50% (4 of 8) from behind the arc.
We should mention, too, that Maryland's easy win came without Alyssa Thomas in the line-up. Presumably, the coaches are giving her a little more healing time for that gash she sustained on her left leg during the last game.
Since we weren't there, there's not much more we can say about tonight's game . . . except, Congratulations Terps! Woof!
Next up for the Terps: a game at home this Friday at 7 PM against UMBC.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Retrievers! Woof! Woof!
Unfortunately, one of the BCs ended up on injured reserve this weekend, so we couldn't make it up to College Park for Maryland's game today against Appalachian State. But that didn't keep us from following along on Gametracker.
Of course, that's not the same as live action . . . so many of you reading this who were there in person already know (better than we undoubtedly) what happened. That the Terps led but couldn't gain any separation against the Mountaineers during the first half, taking a mere one-point lead into the locker room after 20 minutes. But after the break, Maryland pulled out to a comfortable, double-digit lead, and cruised to an easy 81-65 win.
Four Terps ended up in double figures, including rookie sensation Alyssa Thomas, who scored 13 points, all in the first half. Late in that opening half, Alyssa ended up on the bottom of a pile-up and suffered a gash (above her left knee) that required 9 stitches. So for the 2nd 20 minutes, she joined BC Eileen on injured reserve, which explains why she was "scoreless" for the remainder of the game. A reliable source (thanks, Joan!) reports from speaking with Alyssa afterwards that AT was ready to return for the final period (had it been left up to her, which it wasn't). The Maryland coaches and trainer decided to keep Alyssa on the bench rather than risk a more serious injury. We certainly hope to see Alyssa back playing in the next game.
Of the remaining three Terps who finished in double figures, two recorded double-doubles, Lynetta Kizer (12 points, 10 boards) and rookie Alicia DeVaughn (10 points, 13 boards). But it was Diandra T who grabbed game-high scoring honors with 17 points. Although these are all positive stats, there's one negative stat that is still of great concern: the Terps' lack of 3-point shooting. For the second game in a row, Maryland shot 10% from beyond the arc; with the ACC season looming on the horizon, this is getting more than a little worrisome.
The Terps will have a chance to break out of this long-range shooting slump on Tuesday when they take on the Loyola Greyhounds on the road in Baltimore at 7 PM. The BCs made that trip from downtown DC during rush hour on a weekday evening for a game at Loyola several years ago. It took more than two hours in stop and go traffic (mostly stopped) to cover the 40-some miles; suffice it to say that once was enough, so expect another Gametracker report from us on Tuesday.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Greyhounds!
Still Perfect
It was definitely an imperfect game. Heck, some would describe it as downright ugly. But tonight in Mackey Arena, the Terps pulled out a last minute win over the Purdue Boilermakers, 56-55, to remain perfect in ACC/Big Ten Challenge play. 4 years . . . 4 wins!
We don't know about you, but we'll take an imperfect win over a near-perfect loss anyday. So the long drive here (and a long return trip awaiting us tomorrow) was definitely worth it. Just getting to sit in "The Pit" at Old Mackey was pretty cool. Of course, The Pit is so named because it is literally below the court; we couldn't see a thing when the players and coaches on the Maryland bench jumped to their feet . . . time and time again. (And you can't exactly yell "Down in front" to Coach B.) We're not complaining; that was part of the experience. Sometimes we couldn't see the action, but we could always tell from the bench's reaction whether something good, or something not so good, had happened on the court for the Terps.
And this evening there was plenty of both . . . good and not so good. Too many turnovers, too many fouls, not enough outside shots falling, and the Terps found themselves down by double digits -- 11 points -- with about 5 minutes left in the game. But the Terps never gave up; they fought back, pressing the Boilers, and with 52 seconds remaining and Maryland down by one, rookie Alyssa Thomas nailed a layup that put the Terps ahead for good. Purdue was unable to score, the final buzzer sounded, and the small group of Maryland fans packed in the pit went wild! Just how did the Terps manage to pull this one out?
Last-minute hero Alyssa was one of three Terps to finish in double figures, with 12 (and an impressive 9 boards). Lynetta Kizer led all scorers with 20, and Diandra T also had 12. Another noteworthy stat was Maryland's domination of the glass (the Terps outrebounded the Boilers 40-27), which helped keep them in the game even though they squandered so many of their possessions.
And we feel good knowing that the Terps did their part in helping the ACC to again remain perfect against the Big Ten in the Challenge, as the ACC prevailed for the 4th straight year, 6-5 (the closest yet).
Our evening at Mackey ended well, and it began well too, as we ran into Drey Mingo's Mom in the lobby and got to hear first hand how well Drey is doing. Thank goodness! And then we got to see this for ourselves, as Drey returned to the court tonight, escorted by her teammates, hooked up to an IV for her antibiotics, and beaming her 1,000 watt smile. Everyone in the arena stood and cheered -- Drey's former Maryland "family" and her current Purdue "family" -- united in the joy of seeing Drey walking back onto the court after being struck by such a frightening, life-threatening illness. It's not known yet whether Drey will be able to play again this season, but she's such a fighter, we wouldn't bet against it!
Finally, after all the cheering and excitement, the BCs needed a good meal, and we found it at the Triple XXX. No, not an adult bookstore, but Indiana's "oldest drive in restaurant," where their claim to fame is great burgers and Triple XXX root beer. We each had a Bert's Burger and a big mug of Triple XXX, and can safely say that the restaurant's reputation is well-deserved. (Our server suggested we try the special burger that they make with a layer of peanut butter, but we didn't feel quite adventurous enough for that this evening.) A big thanks to BC reader Jill for suggesting the Triple XXX to us!
We have a long drive ahead of ourselves tomorrow, so that's it for our quick midwestern road trip. Petey says hello from West Lafayette! But early in the AM, it's Goodbye Lafayette . . . Hello Columbus and points East, home sweet home.
Goodbye Columbus
How do you separate the truly die-hard fan from a wannabee? Just tell her when she wakes up on the morning of a planned road trip that the forecast includes a Tornado Watch, drenching rain for the first hundred miles or so, and then snow showers the rest of the way (~300 miles). If the first question out of her mouth is "Have the State Police closed the roads?" And when you answer, "No," she says, "Great . . . let's go!" That's when you know you're in the presence of a real fan.
So this morning, Petey and the BCs hit the road for the first leg of our drive to West Lafayette, Indiana, where the Terps will be playing Purdue tomorrow. We loved driving in snow on those mountain roads in Western Maryland and West Virginia that twist and turn . . . you know, the ones with runaway truck ramps about every quarter-mile. What fun! (Not.)
But we made it to Columbus, Ohio, by late afternoon. And this being the home of Ohio State, we figured we might be able to get the Big Ten Network on cable (and indeed, we could), so we made this the pit stop for this leg of the race roadtrip.
Of course, a successful roadtrip requires rest and refreshment. A Hampton Inn off the highway took care of the first; the second, finding a good place for a relaxing meal, we thought might be a bit harder. For some reason, that's often hit or miss for us when we're in an unfamiliar city.
But this time, did we ever hit the jackpot! We happened upon a cafe/pizzeria in the historic district of the city with an interesting name, Plank's Cafe. Plank's? A restaurant with the same name as the most successful coach in Mystics history? Was this an omen? Perhaps, but a little research never hurts. So BC Judith googled it on her smart-phone and learned this is a popular family-owned business dating back to 1939 . . . a virtual institution in this part of Ohio. The menu looked appealing. We huddled with Petey and decided to give it a try.
We walked in and immediately felt at home. Spacious brick and barn-wood decor with a large bar and plenty of tables to accommodate groups of all sizes. But the best part was that the walls were filled with hundreds of college pennants and pictures of great sports teams, stars, and memorabilia. Our kind of place.
And that was even before we met Julie Plank's Mom and one of Julie's sisters, Jane, and discovered that, indeed, this warm and inviting cafe was owned by members of Julie's family. Our first clue was when we spotted Mom and Sis sitting by themselves near a GIANT photo of (you guessed it) Julie herself (from her Stanford Double-Natty-Winning Assistant Coaching days). The family resemblance was obvious. So introductions were made and they invited us to join them for a lovely evening.
Cold beer (of the root and especially the non-root varieties) was consumed in generous quantities, and delicious pizza (with a slightly-sweet, secret recipe crust) was consumed, also in large quantity. But the company was the best part. A friendly, fun evening for a few road-trippers. What good fortune we had today -- stumbling upon one of the best known-eateries in all of Columbus, established by Julie's grandfather and now run by the third generation of pizza-making Planks. Would that all of our road-trip stop-overs were this enjoyable!
We had such a nice time, we almost hate to leave. But the ACC/Big Ten Challenge beckons, so reluctantly, tomorrow morning we will hit the road again and bid Goodbye to Columbus . . . and Hello to West Lafayette.
More tomorrow after the game.
Go Maryland/ACC . . . Beat Purdue/Big Ten!
Photo Credits (excluding Map): DC BasketCases
posted by BasketCases @ 10:22 PM 12 comments


Calling all Dylan fans – what a brilliant way to spend your Sunday night, in this state of the art theatre, enjoying a two hour narrated concert that will take you on an incredible trip through the life, music and times of legendary Bob Dylan.
Dylan has led an extraordinary life, and lived through momentous times. Without meaning to he became 'the spokesperson for a generation' and DYLANesque the show explores how he achieved such fame, who helped him along the way, from music producers to girlfriends, and how he continues to evolve his craft. The stories are entertaining and intriguing and the songs performed by Jenkins and his stellar band, make for an amazing evening's entertainment.
Grab your tickets early to get the best seats, bring your friends, and enjoy this entertaining tribute to undoubtedly one of the 20th century's most lauded song writers.


NFL: Undrafted is a docu-series that follows a handful of promising, undrafted college football players who are working hard to get on an NFL team roster. Season 3 of NFL: Undrafted follows tight end Laquan McGowan, wide receiver Jakeem Grant, punter Swayze Waters, linebacker Jeremiah Allison, quarterback Mike Bercovici, and defensive back Mariel Cooper.
Cooper played college football at South Carolina State for four years before playing at The Citadel for the 2015 season. In May 2016, the 5'11", 192-pound defensive back signed a contract as a free agent with the Washington Redskins. Cooper was one of 33 tryout players during the Redskins' rookie minicamp. According to the Redskins website, Cooper played four pre-season games before being released in September. NFL: Undrafted which airs Tuesdays at 8pm.


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Radioisotope power systems for future missions may benefit from ORNL simulations
Radioactive isotopes power some of NASA's best-known spacecraft. But predicting how radiation emitted from these isotopes might affect nearby materials is tricky
Two ORNL staff receive 2020 Great Minds in STEM awards
Two staff members at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have received prestigious HENAAC and Luminary Awards from Great Minds in STEM, a nonprofit organization that focuses on promoting STEM careers in underserved
Scientists building 3D-printed nuclear reactor core use HFIR to test novel materials
It's a new type of nuclear reactor core. And the materials that will make it up are novel — products of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's advanced materials and manufacturing technologies.
ORNL-produced plutonium-238 to help power Perseverance on Mars
After its long journey to Mars beginning this summer, NASA's Perseverance rover will be powered across the planet's surface in part by plutonium produced at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Isotopes – Improved process for medicine
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have discovered a better way to separate actinium-227, a rare isotope essential for an FDA-approved cancer treatment.
As ORNL builds novel reactor, nuclear industry benefits from technology
Scientists at the Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL have their eyes on the prize: the Transformational Challenge Reactor, or TCR, a microreactor built using 3D printing and other new approaches that will be up and running by 2023.
3D-printed nuclear reactor promises faster, more economical path to nuclear energy
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are refining their design of a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core, scaling up the additive manufacturing process necessary to build it, and developing methods
ORNL researchers make learning fun in a digital 'new world'
With Tennessee schools online for the rest of the school year, researchers at ORNL are making remote learning more engaging by "Zooming" into virtual classrooms to tell students about their science and their work at a national laboratory.
Kat Royston: Finding excitement in nuclear physics
As a teenager, Kat Royston had a lot of questions. Then an advanced-placement class in physics convinced her all the answers were out there.
ORNL, TVA sign agreement to collaborate on advanced reactor technologies
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 19, 2020 — The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding to evaluate a new generation of flexible, cost-effective advanced nuclear reactors.
(-) Nuclear Science and Technology (17)
Fusion Nuclear Science (3)
Isotope Development and Production (1)
Biology and Environment (9)
Fusion and Fission (1)
Isotopes (3)
Neutron Science (16)
Supercomputing (63)
Honors and Awards (1)
(-) 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (4)
(-) Cybersecurity (1)
(-) Isotope (5)
Advanced Reactors (11)
Nuclear Energy (33)
Sustainable Energy (1)
Transformational Challenge Reactor (3)


The minimalist design is really a symbol from the modern home. It's a gallerylike decorating approach we appreciate but is usually too stark.
Recently, however, you've likely seen decorators and design-lovers espouse minimalist homes that don't wholly eschew traditional furnishings and comfort. This so-called warm minimalism has caught our eye inside a big way, combining the less-is-more ethos with sumptuous designs : Substantially scaled pieces, rich materials, natural hues, and a lot of lush textures and details anchor airy, often-white rooms.
Stay on to discover ways to bring this cozy modern look within your rooms.


ArcVancouver: Agile Results - A New Workflow?
Agile Results - A New Workflow?
As someone, who for most part in my career, has been used to taking orders, or had a definite & clear understanding of the work I was assigned to, this new job means that my range of tasks in developing and producing a solid GIS program has become wider.
The last few months, like most new jobs, has been a bevvy of administration duties, budgeting processes, and the standard airport security courses. Such as is it working for an airport, and rightly so.
Lots of freedom to explore but a lot of responsibility as well.
I've always had an interest in how to develop a good enterprise GIS program. Kudos to the BCIT GIS program for giving a good foundation in what a GIS can be for an organization. Now that I'm no longer a small cog in the GIS section, and now the primary one facilitating most aspects of GIS here, it's important to nail down what's important and how to go about giving my coworkers the best data & maps either via ArcMap, or online, or in a printed map.
So JD Meier's post the other day on Agile Results got me thinking. Agile development is all the rage with GIS developers - time to get into that and apply it to my workflow too. Let's see if I can keep up with it in the next month or two and make it a solid habit. With all the changes in my life (personally and professionally), it's a crazy, busy time.
It's great food for thought and something I'll have to practice to be productive. Because my productivity is no longer tied to waiting for a hard-copy map to be printed or icons to be designed for a new map app by the GIS Analyst Team.
Gotta channel some Ron Swanson, daily! And good coffee helps too.


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Frank Lloyd Wright Coonley Playhouse Tapestry Throw
Item# WUTHCOONLEY
Out of Stock - $100.00 $88.95
The Frank Lloyd Wright Coonley Playhouse Tapestry Throw is adapted from one of the many art glass windows in the Avery Coonley Playhouse, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Avery and Queen Coonley in 1912. Designed originally to appeal to children, each one of the designs is a unique abstract representation of elements seen in a parade: balloons, flags and confetti. Developed in association with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the throw measures 48" x 68". 100% cotton. Machine washable and dryable.
Collections: Frank Lloyd Wright Coonley Playhouse, Made In The USA, Wright and Arts & Crafts Home Textiles
Frank Lloyd Wright Dana Sumac Tapestry Throw $100.00 $88.95
Frank Lloyd Wright Dana Sumac Tapestry Throw
The Frank Lloyd Wright Dana Sumac Tapestry Throw was inspired by an art glass dining room window from the Susan Lawrence Dana House (Springfield, Illinois, 1904). Developed in association with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the throw measures 48" x 68". 100% cotton. Extra fill. Machine washable and dryable.
Frank Lloyd Wright Waterlilies Tapestry Throw Blue $100.00 $88.95
Frank Lloyd Wright Waterlilies Tapestry Throw Blue
The Frank Lloyd Wright Waterlilies Tapestry Throw Blue was inspired by a drawing for a window that was never realized. The graceful pattern depicts flowers and lily pads floating on a tranquil pool of water. Developed in association with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the throw measures 48" x 68". 100% cotton. Machine washable and dryable.
Frank Lloyd Wright Luxfer Tapestry Throw $100.00 $88.95
Frank Lloyd Wright Luxfer Tapestry Throw
This Frank Lloyd Wright Luxfer Prism Tapestry Throw measures 48" x 68". 100% cottonl. Machine washable and dryable. The design is an adaptation of the glass prism design Wright created for the American Luxfer Prism Co. Developed in association with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Frank Lloyd Wright Oak Park Tapestry Throw $100.00 $88.95
Frank Lloyd Wright Oak Park Tapestry Throw
The design for this Frank Lloyd Wright Oak Park Tapestry Throw was adapted from Wright's famous skylight from his Oak Park Studio (Oak Park, Illinois, 1898). Developed in association with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the throw measures 48" x 68". 100% cotton. Machine washable and dryable.


The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) are hot topics for those entering their 60's. A common question that comes up when we meet with those looking ahead to retirement is: When should I begin taking my CPP and OAS benefits? In this two-part series we will shed light on CPP and OAS separately, as well as provide some guidelines for when you should apply to receive benefits from these programs.
As the deadline for RRSP contributions looms ahead, I have noticed more advertisements around local banks marketing RRSP loans. In theory, it sounds like a good idea to use a loan to contribute to your RRSP, thus triggering a tax deduction while enabling you to save for retirement. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when considering a decision like this.


Take Donald Trump seriously but not literally — or better yet, take him symbolically, a member of the president-elect's transition executive committee advised Tuesday.
Scaramucci countered that the president-elect should be taken seriously and symbolically.
Scaramucci said "some people out there that do get a little crazy with the president-elect," to which Ruhle responded that Trump puts information out there but doesn't answer questions about it. Trump's last news conference was July 27.


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Struggling West Ham turn to Moyes for second time
Monday December 30, 2019
Struggling West Ham said on Sunday they had appointed David Moyes as manager for the second time in a bid to safeguard their place in the Premier League.
Moyes, whose career has never recovered from a deeply unsuccessful spell as Manchester United boss in 2013-14, succeeds Manuel Pellegrini, who was sacked after a 2-1 defeat to Leicester on Saturday that left the Hammers just one point above the relegation zone.
The 56-year-old has been without a club since leaving West Ham after a six-month spell in the 2017-18 season.
Moyes guided West Ham to safety that season after Slaven Bilic was dismissed in early November and will be tasked with doing the same for a second time.
"It's fabulous to be back," said Moyes in a club statement.
"I'm feeling very proud that I'm back here at West Ham. But I think more importantly I'll be looking to see what I can do and what I can make improvements to.
"I do believe that the squad of players I've got here is a better squad of players than when I took over before, so I am looking forward to working with them."
The West Ham hierarchy were keen to make a swift appointment following Pellegrini's sacking ahead of Wednesday's crucial clash with fellow strugglers Bournemouth at the London Stadium.
"David proved in his short time with the club that he was capable of getting results and we believe that he will start moving the club in the right direction once again," said West Ham's co-chairman David Sullivan.
"We are delighted to welcome David back – he knows the club well and he built strong relationships during that time which will be crucial for the work that needs to be done going forward."
Moyes won nine and drew 10 of his 31 previous games in charge of the club.
He made his name in 11 successful years at Everton, but was sacked after less than a year as Alex Ferguson's successor at Manchester United.
Moyes also struggled in short spells at Real Sociedad and Sunderland before taking the West Ham job first time round on a short-term contract.
He was not offered a new deal despite comfortably keeping the club up by finishing 13th.


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Hello ! Today i bring good news of successfully meeting my deadline, with time to spare! I've had a lot of fun during this project, even though there were some areas of struggle, and to be perfectly honest i'm excited for it to be over and to start my Final Major Project, which will be a similar but also very different project. Anyway! Here are some images of the final collection, hope you like them and any comments would be appreciated !


Table for Two: Can Founders & Successors Co-Exist So Everyone Wins?
For most organizations, when a founder steps down as CEO, he or she should leave the organization to not undermine the new leader's authority. However, MAG recognized that there may be missed opportunities there. For Table for Two: Can Founders and Successors Co-Exist So Everyone Wins?, Mark Leach conducted a study of organizations where the founders stayed on under new leadership to learn the factors that foster success for such a unique and challenging transition.
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After years of planning and delays after a massive architectural change, the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois finally went into production in 2013, giving scientists, engineers and researchers across the country a powerful tool to run and solve the most complex and challenging applications in a broad range of scientific areas, from astrophysics and neuroscience to biophysics and molecular research.
Users of the petascale system have been able to simulate the evolution of space, determine the chemical structure of diseases, model weather, and trace how virus infections propagate via air travel. The most recent allocations on the system, announced last week, run from 25,000 to 600,000 node-hours of compute time, and they now include some deep learning jobs as well as more traditional scientific modeling and simulation workloads.
Most recently, the Blue Waters system made news in the areas of supercell and tornado research and natural gas and oil exploration. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison used 20,000 processing cores in Blue Waters over three days to simulate supercell storms to help find out why some produce tornados, crunching huge amounts of data about such factors as temperatures, air pressure, wind speed and moisture. As we have talked about at The Next Platform, engineers at ExxonMobil used 716,800 cores on the supercomputer to run a proprietary application that did complex oil and gas reservoir simulations, an effort that resulted in data output that company officials said was thousands of times faster than similar simulations in the industry.
Those workloads are just a couple of examples of the broad array of applications that run on the Blue Waters supercomputer, which is housed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and supported by the National Science Foundation. The system boasts 22,640 Cray XE6 nodes and 4,228 XK7 nodes –powered by AMD processors and using GPUs from Nvidia – more than 1.5 petabytes of memory, more than 25 petabytes of disk storage an up to 500 petabytes of tape storage. The two types of nodes are connected by a single Cray Gemini high-speed network in a large-scale 3D torus topology. The supercomputer delivers a sustained speed of more than 1 petaflops (quadrillion floating point calculations per second) and a peak of more than 13 petaflops. Blue Waters runs the Cray Linux Environment.
Recently, a group of researchers from the Center for Computational Research at the University of Buffalo and the NCSA turned their attention to the supercomputer itself, conducting a study of the workloads that are running on Blue Waters with hopes of not only making the system work even better but also to fuel research into future computer designs.
The study's authors wanted to better understand the disparate use patterns and performance requirements of the jobs that run on Blue Waters, focusing on differences in such areas as average workload size, the use of GPU accelerators, memory, I/O, and communication. They studied the use of numerical libraries and the parallelism technologies that were employed, such as MPI and threads. In addition, they also took a look at how the supercomputer had been used over the first three years of its life to determine any changes in requirements, which they said could impact future architectural designs.
This analysis of the workloads on Blue Waters posed its own computational challenges. It required more than 35,000 node-hours – and more than 1.1 million core-hours – on Blue Waters to analyze about 95 TB of data from more than 4.5 million jobs that ran on the system between April 2013 and September 2016, work that itself generated about 250 TB of data across 100 million files. That was all put into a MongoDB and a MySQL data warehouse for searching, analysis, and display in Open XDMoD, an open source technology for managing HPC systems that offer data in such areas as the number of computational jobs that have been run, resources used – such as processors, memory, storage and network – and job wait times.
In addition, the researchers made it so that data from future jobs on the supercomputer will be automatically put into the Open XDMoD data warehouse for faster analysis.
The researchers had a list of questions they wanted answered, including whether the proportional mix of scientific sub-disciplines is changing – including the use of the XE CPU nodes and XK hybrid CPU-GPU nodes – what are the top algorithms running on the nodes, how much of Blue Waters' resources are being used by high-throughput applications. They also wanted to know whether job sizes are changing, I/O patterns and bottlenecks are popping up, and whether memory use is increasing or decreasing.
Among the key findings is that more than two-thirds of all node-hours are being used by mathematical and physical (MPS) and biological sciences groups, and that the number of fields of sciences that are accessing Blue Waters has increased during the supercomputer's first three years of operations – more than doubling since its first year. It's "further evidence of the growing diversity of its research base," the authors wrote. Along the same lines, the applications running on the system also are becoming more diverse, from the wide use of community codes to more specific workloads for scientific sub-disciplines. The top ten applications used on Blue Waters consume about two-thirds of all node-hours, with the top five – NAMD, CHROMA, MILC, AMBER, and CACTUS – using about half.
There is a broad range in the size of job running on the supercomputer, from single-node tasks to workloads that leverage more than 20,000 nodes. Single-node jobs account for fewer than 2 percent of the total node-hours used on Blue Waters. On jobs running on the XE nodes, all of the top sciences disciplines run an array of job sizes, and all have workloads that use more than 4,096 nodes. The largest 3 percent of jobs – determined by node-hours – accounted for 90 percent of the node-hours consumed, and most node-hours are used running parallel jobs that use some form of message passing, they found. At least a quarter of the workloads used some sort of threading technology.
On the XK nodes, the molecular biosciences, chemistry, and physics groups were the largest users, with NAMD and AMBER the most used applications. The largest 7 percent of the workloads accounted for 90 percent of the hours consumed on the XK nodes. The use of GPUs also varied by application, they found. On the XE nodes, most of the jobs used less than half of the memory available, while most on the XK nodes use less than 25 percent. In terms of memory and I/O, the supercomputer's three file systems have balanced read/write ratios with significant fluctuations, with the volume for traffic for the largest file system peaking at 10 PB per month. There also is a wide range of I/O patterns, a small fraction of time is spent by jobs in file system I/O operations – .04 percent of runtime for 90 percent of jobs – and many workloads use specialized libraries for their I/O operations, with about 20 percent using MPI-IO, HDF5, and NetCDF.


It may be time to update those pots and pans, cooking utensils, and oven mitts . . .
Some feel it is safest to have a separate cookware for gluten-free food. If you decide to do this, you can purchase name tags that indicate that a particular cooking utensil is gluten-free. We do not recommend non-stick surfaces as it is important that the pans do not get contaminated with gluten; the stainless sets wash much better.
We also recommend a good cast-iron pot (dutch oven) for soups and many other dishes.
It is a good idea to have separate cooking utensils for gluten-free foods. You can buy a different set from your regular set so you won't get confused. Or you can put them in a utensil jar so as not to mix them up with other utensils.
In terms of pasta, it is wise to buy a separate pasta colander for gluten-free foods. Pasta tends to get stuck in the colander so you want a separate gluten-free one. The ones we recommend are safe to put in the dishwasher.


Vanguard Healthcare Solutions, operators of a pioneering fleet of mobile healthcare facilities in the UK, has developed a purpose-built, 6,600m2 transport and logistics facility in Manningtree as part of an expansion programme for the business. The renovation of the former Brownfield site at the Riverside Business Centre, Station Road, Lawford will be home to 11 permanent members of staff and has the capacity to house the full fleet of 50 mobile healthcare units.
The buildings, occupying units 1-4, have been completely refurbished, with the new office block purpose designed to house a Customer Innovation Centre, a state-of-the art conference facility for customer activity. As part of this business expansion, two new members have joined the Vanguard Healthcare Solutions team as project engineers. It is expected that the move to these contemporary facilities will increase employment opportunities in the area and Vanguard Healthcare Solutions is committed to recruiting from the local talent pool.
The new facility was officially opened in a ribbon cutting ceremony by the local mayor, Councillor Mrs Ruth Stocks, at 1pm on Monday 11th December 2017. Employees, board members and local business figures came together to mark the opening of this progressive facility and celebrate the company's move to the area.
David Cole, Chief Executive of Vanguard Healthcare Solutions, comments, "We pride ourselves on the seamless delivery of our units into the field and the smooth running of additional surgical capacity from set up to implementation, with minimal disruption for our clients. With a fleet of nearly 50 mobile healthcare units, and an active global logistics programme, we needed a purpose-built facility centrally located within a thriving business and local community.
Vanguard Healthcare Solutions is an industry leader in flexible healthcare delivery, supporting the NHS and private healthcare providers across the UK and Europe. The Vanguard fleet of mobile healthcare facilities offers additional clinical capacity across a range of general and specialist services. Their mobile facilities help to meet changing demand due to factors such as increased pressure on hospitals during the winter period or refurbishment works. Working with its healthcare partners, 250,000 procedures have been performed within Vanguard mobile healthcare facilities.


Applications to join Hanham Woods Academy in Year 7 are managed by South Gloucestershire Council. You will have receive a letter from the Local Authority containing your child's UID (Unique Identification number). The UID number can then be used to make an application on line. Alternatively you can submit a paper application which can be downloaded from the Local Authority's website. You are able to apply up to 31 October.
The booklets at the bottom of this page are provided by South Gloucestershire Council and outline the processes and policies involved.
For more information see the South Gloucestershire School Admissions Website.
Parents/Carers of students wishing to join the Academy during the academic year or after Year 7 should complete the following form and return it to reception.


Doctor which Polish inhabitants needs very often is dentist surely. We are taking care of our Teeth very carefully, cause each of us wish to have a pretty smile.
Plenty of us are able to visit public clinics which are not payable, but not in each occasion it'll be a decent call. How to select the best doctor and do we have to pay for nice service?
When You wish to use dental treatment in Wroclaw free of charge, You need to have a dedicated type of insurance. Inhabitants, that are owning full-time employment have their bosses to pay this kind of service. Similar is with students and elderly, but in that situation state is paying for health treatment. Unfortunately, to get a visit in any doctor, especially in dentist, is really difficult in such big city as Wroclaw. Often You have to wait for few weeks, because patients are a lot more then specialists. Also, not each sort of treatment will be free of charge.
You're looking for a valuable product, but You don't want to waste too much money? Go to this link to see really additional offer (https://en.jwp.pl/), do not miss it!
If You like to get implants and simply whitening the smile You need to pay it by yourself.
Fortunately there's also available payable dental treatment in Wroclaw. Each year next practice is opened in this metropolis, cause citizens getting wealthier and finally may afford to pay for dentist. If You decide to visit place this kind You got assurance that doctor will find a moment for You within 2 days. Beside, clinics this kind are far more hi-tech, because got a lot more cash to invest on technologies.
If this post was appealing for You, see our link. You'll read there consecutive details and great content will be also worth the attention.
And if You waste a lot of cash You will have a chance to pay in small installments.
If You are living in Wroclaw You may have big issue to get to the dentist in state clinic, cause queues are really long. Fortunately You can either go to private clinic.
This entry was tagged in sen, Teeth, VAT.


text:
Andreessen Horowitz's Returns Trail Venture-Capital Elite
Deals, Global trends, Hotnews September 1, 2016
By ROLFE WINKLER for WSJ
Rare look at startup investors' performance shows Andreessen Horowitz lags Sequoia, Benchmark, Founders Fund
Andreessen Horowitz's first three venture funds have nearly doubled their investment capital or better since inception, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal that provide a rare look at the performance of one of Silicon Valley's top venture-capital firms.
The firm, co-founded by web pioneer Marc Andreessen in 2009, is routinely mentioned among the pantheon of great startup investors along with the likes of Sequoia Capital—a status that has allowed it to command higher fees than some of its rivals.
But an analysis of its performance, compared with funds from top firms and industry averages, shows that Andreessen Horowitz hasn't yet earned that reputation.
Sequoia has separated itself from the pack thanks to its consistently high returns. Its 2003 and 2006 venture funds have both risen eightfold net of fees, according to a person familiar with the matter. The first bet on LinkedIn Corp. and YouTube, the second on Airbnb Inc. and Dropbox Inc. Its 2010 fund is up 5.5 times and, unlike other venture funds that are mostly sitting on paper gains, has been able to generate massive cash returns, mostly after WhatsApp was purchased for $22 billion by Facebook Inc. in 2014, the person said.
Another venture firm, Benchmark, has multiplied investors' money 11 times net of fees in its 2011 fund, according to a person familiar with its performance. It includes blockbuster investments like Uber Technologies Inc. and Snapchat Inc.
Founders Fund, co-founded by Peter Thiel, posted solid returns thanks to bets on Space Exploration Technologies Inc., Palantir Technologies Inc. and Airbnb. Its 2007 fund has increased in value by nearly seven times net of fees, according to a person familiar with its figures, and its 2010 and 2011 funds are both up 3.6 times.
Since its founding through last year, Andreessen Horowitz had returned a total of $1.2 billion in cash to investors, net of fees. Sequoia returned more money on WhatsApp alone.
A spokeswoman for Andreessen Horowitz declined to comment.
The partners who run high-profile venture-capital firms generally guard their investment data, saying it helps them make long-term bets away from public scrutiny. Critics say the secrecy can allow venture funds to hide poor returns and lofty fees.
Venture-capital firms raise money from universities, pension funds and other institutions to wager on startups. They typically raise a new fund every few years, operating a handful at the same time with each expected to wind down after 10 years.
Though they fall short of their top-notch rivals, all three Andreessen Horowitz funds—whose bets include Instagram, Airbnb and Pinterest Inc.—have outperformed the average of venture funds raised in the same years, according to data from investment adviser Cambridge Associates. The earliest fund, raised in 2009, ranks in the top 5% of venture funds from that year, the second fund, raised in 2010, ranks in the top 50%, and the third from 2012 ranks in the top 25%.
Most of the gains are still on paper as many of the companies have yet to be acquired or stage initial public offerings, the main ways venture firms cash out. Promising investments like Airbnb could still deliver bigger gains.
The performance could also erode if some of the investments lose value. In the first quarter, for example, Andreessen wrote down the value of health-benefits broker Zenefits Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter.
Andreessen Horowitz's data are of particular interest due to the firm's unique structure and investment strategy, as well as the high profile of Mr. Andreessen, the Nestcape co-founder who was labeled "the most influential VC in Silicon Valley" on a 2012 Wired magazine cover.
Mr. Andreessen and business partner Ben Horowitz hired scores of workers to cater to startups' every need, from recruiting new hires and customers to drumming up press. Meanwhile, some investors say the firm has often overbid for stakes in hot companies, driving up valuations more broadly.
That recipe has turned Andreessen Horowitz into a premier brand among startup founders, giving the firm access to more hot deals. But amid a drought in tech IPOs, Andreessen is still waiting for the kind of blockbuster that can cement a venture firm's legacy.
Andreessen Horowitz has raised more than $5 billion across five funds, including a $1.5 billion fund raised this year. It commands premium fees, keeping 30% of its profits after returning the initial cash back to investors, rather than the standard 20%.
Its first three funds have enough history behind them to begin gauging their performance. Investors in venture funds caution, however, that it usually takes up to 10 years, the typical life of the fund, to determine investment prowess.
Mr. Andreessen has said "top tier" venture investors look for firms to return more than three times their committed capital after 10 years.
Andreessen Horowitz's first fund from 2009, totaling $300 million, had returned about $472 million in cash through last year and has another $300 million in value on the books. That translates to a return of 2.6 times invested capital.
The fund included Instagram, Andreessen Horowitz's biggest winner in terms of multiplying cash invested. When Facebook bought the photo-sharing app for $1 billion in 2012, the firm said it made $78 million on a $250,000 investment.
The second fund, a $650 million vehicle raised in 2010, includes two of Andreessen Horowitz's biggest stars: Airbnb and Pinterest. That fund invested $30 million in each startup, according to a person familiar with the matter, positions valued over $700 million combined at the end of March.
The second fund had distributed $439 million net of fees and includes another $965 million in paper value through last year, for a return multiple of 2.3.
The third fund, which raised $1.5 billion in 2012, had cashed in $329 million while holding $2.2 billion of paper value as of year-end—generating a return of 1.7 times invested capital. The data came before the Zenefits write-down, though other investments in this fund may have appreciated.
First appeared at WSJ
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Wolperdinger is a prototype of a large-scale music similarity search engine.
Mirage is an implementation of the latest research in automatic playlist generation and music similarity. Mirage analyzes your music collection and computes acoustic similarity models for each song.
The interactive device Urban Musical Game takes the form of a game.
Reverse the Mix The reverse engineering prototype finds the parameters of effects employed during the mixing of a multi-track recording.
Lara, a Lego-NXT-based robot, dancing to the rhythm of prodigy.
A system for the exploration of large music collections on tabletop interfaces developed on the Reactable by Carles F. Julià at the Music Technology Group of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.
Sensing system based on Polhemus Lyberty trackers to capture violin performance gestures. A 3D model of the violin is visualized to show how data is been captured.
Demo of a tempo transformation system developed by the Music Technology Group of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona.


Getting affordable health insurance is a primary concern for most people in Alabama. Health insurance is important because there is absolutely no way you can tell when you will need it. Searching online and comparing quotes is the best way to make sure the plan you choose has the coverage you need. If you are working check with your employer to see if they have coverage that you can participate in. If you are unemployed make good use of government programs to be sure your family is taken care of. If neither applies, however, don't delay in looking for affordable health insurance. Alabama has some of the best hospitals in the country and yet far too many residents of Alabama go without needed medical attention because they haven't found a health insurance program they feel they can afford. When it comes to your health you can't afford not to have major medical coverage. The need for medical attention doesn't even always mean illness; accidents are often unavoidable and emergency care is unavoidable as well. Emergency room care is extraordinarily expensive if you do not have health insurance. The lack of affordable health insurance is the leading cause of bankruptcy all over the nation and it simply does not have to be.
Aetna of Alabama: Aetna insurance in Alabama offers many selections to make your health insurance fit your needs to perfection.
Assurant of Alabama: For several years, Assurant Health has been providing its customers in Alabama with affordable and comprehensive health insurance plans that offer high value and complete coverage.
Individual and family health insurance in Alabama is necessary for those not covered by their employer's group health plan. As in many states, your options in the state of Alabama are somewhat limited. Your overall health and any pre-existing medical conditions play a major role in the type of health insurance plans that you can choose from. If you do have pre-existing medical conditions, health insurance carriers in Alabama are legally allowed to deny you coverage. Under most individual health insurance plans, a pre-existing condition is one that has been present within 5 years of your application for coverage. However, if you were to get sick while being covered by an individual and family health insurance plan in Alabama, your coverage cannot legally be canceled by the carrier.
If you lose your job in the state of Alabama, you still are eligible to continue your group health insurance plan, for a limited amount of time, under a program called COBRA. If you are not eligible under your employer's group plan or if your COBRA coverage period has passed, an Alabama Health Insurance Plan (AHIP) might be your best option.
The Alabama Health Insurance Plan provides health insurance coverage to high-risk individuals and families. United Health Care in Alabama offers the Managed Care Plan, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama offers the Traditional Indemnity Plan. The plan offered by United Health Care requires you to select from their network of hospitals and doctors, but has limits on out-of-pocket expenses. The plan offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama lets you choose your doctors and hospitals from a larger list, but requires higher out-of-pocket contributions.
Doctors practicing medicine in the State of Alabama are licensed by the state. Doctors accept different forms of health insurance which you can verify before setting an appointment.