text:
This documentation covers new Ilios installations for users that have never had any current or prior version of Ilios running on their server. If you are looking to upgrade a previous installation of Ilios, please see [Upgrading Ilios 2.x to Ilios 3](UPGRADE.md).

## Ilios 3 - Frontend vs. Backend

Ilios 3 uses a [Symfony](https://symfony.com/) ([PHP](https://php.net))/SQL backend that provides an API to the Ilios 3 Frontend that is built in javascript using [EmberJs](https://emberjs.com).  The Ilios 3 Frontend is managed by the [Ilios development team](https://iliosproject.org) and the latest frontend javascript is served to users via the [Amazon Cloudfront](http://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/) CDN (Content Delivery Network).

## Frontend
In most cases, you will never need to deploy the Ilios 3 Frontend on your own servers, as the latest version will always be up-to-date at the CDN, but the source for the frontend code can always be found at https://github.com/ilios/frontend

Currently, there is no Frontend deployment documentation available so, if you feel that you must manage the frontend files yourself, please contact the [Ilios Project Support Team](https://iliosproject.org) at support@iliosproject.org or refer back to the Ilios Frontend [README.md](https://github.com/ilios/frontend/blob/master/README.md) file at a later time for instructions on how to do so.

## Backend
To build/deploy the Ilios 3 backend, you will need to install the default Ilios database schema and then follow the steps for deploying code to your webserver(s) and configuring them to connect to the database and serve the API.

## Pre-requisites/requirements
As mentioned above, Ilios 3 uses a Symfony (PHP/SQL) backend to serve its API, so these tools and their required dependencies need to be installed before you can install the application itself. Here at the Ilios Project, we currently run and recommend running Ilios 3 using a "LAMP" (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) technology stack with the following software packages and versions:

* CentOS 7 - Any modern Linux should work, but we recommend Redhat (RHEL, CentOS, or Fedora) or Ubuntu
* MySQL using the InnoDB database engine (v5.1 or later required, 5.5+ recommended)
* PHP v5.6 or later (available for CentOS and RHEL from https://www.softwarecollections.org/en/)

PHP should configured with a 'memory_limit' setting of at least 386MB and have the following required packages/modules/extensions enabled:

* php-mbstring - for UTF-8 support
* php-ldap - for ldap-connectivity support (when using LDAP)
* php-xml
* php-domxml
* php-pecl-apcu - caching
* php-mysql - DB connectivity
* php-mysqlnd - DB connectivity
* php-pdo - DB connectivity

You are also need the Composer PHP package management tool.  If you do not have it, you can learn about it and download it at https://getcomposer.org

NOTE: Several institutions have successfully deployed Ilios using Microsoft IIS on Windows as their webserver, but we do not recommend it as we do not have alot of experience with it ourselves and we've only ever support Ilios on Linux systems.  That being said, if you MUST use IIS for Windows and are having trouble getting Ilios running properly, please contact the [Ilios Project Support Team](https://iliosproject.org) at support@iliosproject.org if you have any problems and we might be able to help you out!

### Code Deployment

These steps assume that you are deploying the Ilios 3 backend via a Git clone from the Ilios repository at [https://github.com/ilios/ilios.git](https://github.com/ilios/ilios.git) and building the install using PHP's 'composer' package manager. For installation from the Ilios 3 source distribution files, please refer to Installing the Ilios 3 backend from distribution file.

All the steps below should be performed in the context of the user that runs your webserver process (typically, 'apache')

1. Log into your webserver(s) and change to your web server root ('/web/ilios3' for this example).
2. Clone/update Ilios 3 directory tree to this directory (assuming 'git clone' for this example).
```bash
sudo -u apache git clone https://github.com/ilios/ilios.git
```
This will create a folder named 'ilios' in your server root directory.  The entire application source tree will be downloaded to this folder and when this process is finished, the 'web' subfolder should be set as your web server's document root ('/web/ilios3/ilios/web') in your webserver configuration.
3. Change into the newly created folder

```bash
cd ilios
```
You should now be in the '/web/ilios3/ilios' directory
4. Checkout the correct release version, based on its release tag ('v3.0.0' for this example):
```bash
sudo -u apache git checkout tags/v3.0.0
```
5. Run the following command to build the packages and its dependencies.  This step assumes you have PHP 5.6+ and Composer installed on your system:
```bash
sudo -u apache composer install
```
This will install the required PHP Symfony packages and their dependencies.  When the process nears completion, you will be prompted with the following configuration setting options.  You should set them as noted:
```bash
#default value, set to your value if different
database_driver: pdo_mysql

#Set this to your database host's IP address or hostname
database_host: 127.0.0.1

#3306 is the default for MySQL, but your db port may be different
database_port: 3306

#enter the name of your database where your Ilios data resides
database_name: ilios3

#enter the name of the user login name you use for accessing the database
database_user: ilios_user

#this should be set to YOUR database password
database_password: 3x@mp73P@$$w0rd

#default values, set to your values if different
mailer_transport: smtp
mailer_host: 127.0.0.1
mailer_user: null
mailer_password: null

#en = 'english', enter your desired language ISO abbreviation, if different
locale: en

#this should be a long string of random characters and letters of your choosing.  If you are
#running in a load-balanced environment, these need to be the same on all the webservers in
#the group. IMPORTANT:  You MUST change this to your own value as using the default value would
#be EXTREMELY dangerous in a production enviroment!
secret: ThisCanBeWhateverYouLike,JustMakeSureYouChangeIt!

#These should all be set to 'false' in a production environment
debug_toolbar: false
debug_redirects: false

# can currently be 'form' (default),'ldap', or 'shibboleth' depeding on your institution
authentication_type: form

#legacy_password_salt should be your old Ilios2 password salt, if upgrading from ilios 2, otherwise, leave as 'null' (default):
legacy_password_salt: null

#file_system_storage_path is where you plan to put your uploadable files, like learning materials
file_system_storage_path: /web/ilios3/file_uploads

# if you are using LDAP to authenticate users on the system, you should fill these in, otherwise leave 'null'
ldap_authentication_host: null
ldap_authentication_port: null
ldap_authentication_bind_template: null
ldap_directory_url: null
ldap_directory_user: null
ldap_directory_password: null
ldap_directory_search_base: null
ldap_directory_campus_id_property: null
ldap_directory_username_property: null

# This is for the curriculum inventory reporting
# This is the name of the institution as it will appear in the Curriculum Inventory Export
institution_domain: ucsf.edu
# This should be the link to where your Curriculum Inventory Export may be viewed:
supporting_link: null

#and finally, the current mysql database version
database_mysql_version: 5.1
```

## Database

### Upgrading from previous versions of Ilios

If you are already running a 2.x version of Ilios, you can upgrade your current database by following the intructions at [Upgrading Ilios 2.x to Ilios 3](UPGRADE.md).

### Creating a new database for Ilios
If you are NOT upgrading from a previous version of Ilios, you can create a new, empty database schema by using the following Symfony console command:

```bash
bin/console doctrine:database:create
bin/console doctrine:migrations:migrate
bin/console doctrine:fixtures:load
```

This will your database schema, with all tables and constraints, and will also load in all the default lookup table data, like competencies and topics --- which you can modify once you're done with setup --- but it won't have any course data or any other unique data about your specific school or curriculum until you log in and add some.

* Then change into the document root folder ('/web/ilios3/ilios/web') and remove the 'app_dev.php' file as this file should not exist on a production machine.
```bash
cd web
sudo -u apache rm app_dev.php
```
* Finally, you should clear all cached items from the system, including the Symfony Cache (and its store on the filesystem) and the APC cache:
```bash
#first, change back into the application root folder ('/web/ilios3/ilios')
cd ../
# then clear the Symfony cache...
sudo -u apache bin/console cache:clear --env=prod
# then, the cache items residing on the filesystem...
sudo -u apache rm -Rf var/cache/*
# and finally, the APC cache (by restarting the httpd server)
sudo service httpd restart
```
## And that's it!  You should now have a working Ilios 3 backend!

To get started with your new version of Ilios, you are going to have to create the 'first user' in order to get into the application. The username for this user will always be 'first_user', the password will be 'Ch4nge_m3', and the user's role will be set as 'Course Director', which will allow you to perform all necessary tasks to start administering the application.

To add the first user, we need to return to the the Ilios application root folder ('/web/ilios3/ilios') and get ready to run the following console command.  Before running the command, however, you'll want to gather this information about the user you intend to add:

* The user's email address (eg, ilios_admin@example.edu)
* The id of the school that user will be part of; this will most likely be '1' (School of Medicine)

You will be prompted for the email address and school id info when you run the following command (And don't worry, you can change this info after you login!):

```bash
sudo -u apache bin/console ilios:setup:first-user --env=prod
```

After that, visit the url of your new Ilios 3 site and you should see a login form.  Enter 'first_user' in the login field and 'Ch4nge_m3' (without the quotes!) in the password field and submit!

If everything went correctly, you're ready to go!  Congratulations on installing Ilios!

Please feel free to contact us support@iliosproject.org if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!


text:
The Walking Dead Review: "Slabtown"
We finally learn who took Beth, as we encounter yet another post-apocalyptic society run by crazy people.
Title: "Slabtown"
Directed by Michael Satrazemis
Written by Matthew Negrete
Emily Kinney as Beth Greene
Melissa Suzanne McBride as Carol Peletier
Christine Woods as Officer Dawn Lerner
Keisha Castle-Hughes as Joan (for some reason, the imdb currently identifies her as "Amber.")
Tyler James Williams as Noah
Erik Jensen as Dr. Steven Edwards
Cullen Moss as Michael Alexander
Ricky Wayne as Officer Gorman
Teri Wyble as Offficer Shepherd
Amber Dawn Fox as Officer Bello
Additional cast and crew information may be found here.
Beth wakes up in a hospital where another society has developed that may not be what it seems— or, it may be entirely what it seems.
High Points
Beth has experienced difficulty finding her place in this apocalyptic setting, and few viewers were surprised when she disappeared entirely. Here, she must carry an entire episode, and Emily Kinney proves equal to the task.
I find Slabtown an interesting society. It offers some commentary on first world / third world perceptions of the world—consider Dr. Edwards' view of circumstances. It also examines how, in politics and other aspects of life, we plead necessity when we engage in acts of tyranny….
Low Point
But I'm not entirely certain how it functions, without it being a kind of "Second Order Idiot Crazy Person Society." That is, if a Second Order Idiot Society functions because everyone in it is necessarily an idiot, this one functions because everyone is necessarily crazy (which is not entirely impossible, I suppose). I'd be very interested in seeing what role the technical people have in the balance of power, given that someone has been keeping a fleet of cars and the hospital generators functional for some time.
The Scores
Originality: 2/6 Do you think we might have one Walking Dead society that sort of functions weaving our worst impulses into its constituent fabric?
Effects: 5/6 They do zombies right. Check out Z Nation if you're not convinced.
Story: 4/6
Acting: 5/6 Emily Kinney gets another turn to shine.
Emotional Response: 5/6 While it's not the strongest episode, it did create a strong sense of suspense without relying excessively on zombie threats.
Production: 5/6
Overall: 5/6
In total, "Slabtown" receives 31/42
It looks as though we have to wait a couple of weeks before we find out who was walking behind Daryl. Even with the uncertainty regarding the two stories' timelines, it seems unlikely it could be Beth or Carol.
Noah is unlikely, but not entirely out of the question.
Published by JD DeLuzio, in The Walking Dead.
← Weekly Digital Disk Picks for November 4th, 2014 X-Files Retrospective Podcast 032: "3" →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


What's wrong with this piece of code?
Under low server load, not much. A cache miss like this typically results in a single recalculation of data, with the majority of visitors getting cache hits when reaching that function.
However, under heavier loads (E.g.; 1,000+ requests per minute), data will be recalculated multiple, simultaneous times for each request. Before one request can be completed and stored in the cache, additional requests have come in, triggering duplicate calculations. This is known as cache stampeding, or the thundering herd problem.
// For the sake of the example, we're skipping the part where we check for a 200 response.
This code might seem acceptable, given that the worst case scenario results in a visitor waiting ~10s+ for their request to process. This is true, under some scenarios.
Consider a hypothetical website that only calls get_foo() on its homepage; if the right kind of caching is in place, there is little to worry about.
By using a caching reverse proxy in front of the app server, which only allows one synchronous request per resource, along with stale caching data for handling other requests, there is no likely issue.
Varnish + grace mode and NGINX + proxy_cache_use_stale.
However, in the case where get_foo() isn't limited to the homepage, the caching reverse proxy won't help. Instead, it will send one request through for each URL, resulting in an overwhelmed server.
Do nothing. This is a valid approach for the majority of sites on the internet. Unless serving more than a dozen requests a minute, the amount of visitors affected by this issue approaches zero.
Out of band scheduled updating via WP-CLI.
You modify get_foo to always recache when you call from WP_CLI.
Out of band triggered request. Similar to above, this solution always serves cached data using TechCrunch WP Asynchronous Tasks (co-developed by 10up) to make a request without affecting the visitor experience.
Mutex, which adds a second cache key—'fookey_updating'—when 'fookey' is not present or up to date. It either forces the other requests to sleep or to return a stale version of the data.
wp_cache_add( $cache_key_updating, true, '', 30 ); // We give this entry an expire time so that the cache key is cleared if the request was terminated.
Re-caching, which works for a widget included on all site pages.
By forcing a bottleneck code to exist for http://10upclient.com/wp-admin/admin_ajax.php?action=some_api, Varnish/NGINX, stale content will be returned for that resource, and only one request will be allowed at a time to that endpoint.
Edge Side Includes (ESI). Similar to #5, ESI dynamically generates the HTML for a widget from an endpoint. Added for posterity, ESI is not recommended for WordPress, as it requires a call through the full WordPress stack for each page section, potentially turning one request into many. WordPress isn't architected to serve fragments of pages by default, though it can be customized to do so.
This flowchart can be used to identify the best solution for each use case. If you enjoy unpacking complex engineering challenges like these, consider applying to 10up.


text:
Full BNT V8 series regulations unveiled
in New Zealand, News, TransTasman V8 Series
The 2020/21 New Zealand V8 Touring Car Championship season will look vastly different to previous years with a full revamp of the technical and sporting regulations.
The finalised list of series articles has now been published, fine-tuning the details of the shape of the new-look championship.
Firstly, the refreshed category will be split into two classes: BNT NZV8s and TTV8s (Trans-Tasman V8s). Plans are in the pipeline to have the two classes eventually split, though, with unknown numbers of TTV8 cars, both will be running side-by-side for the first few seasons.
Under the bonnet of the BNT NZV8s, the basic rule of thumb is that any sized naturally aspirated V8 engine is go. There are no zero restrictions on engine modifications.
Chassis and body shape regulations have also been relaxed with those now eligible including: SuperTourer, TLX, Mitchell Xtreme, TTV8-TA2, BMW Open V8s, Howe GT, any other V8 Touring Cars with body shapes manufactured from 2000 onwards, TL specification Cars.
Previous restrictions on driver aids have been lifted, with no limitations on the gearbox, differential, suspension, aero or brake packages.
The new rules are designed to encourage an extensive range of cars on the grid. Already the opening round this weekend has seen the likes of the DFM Audi A5 GT, the NASCAR-powered Collins Motorsport Mustang and Nick Ross in his Nissan Altima as the first big guns to confirm their entry.
A full driver entry list is expected to be released shortly.
Tyres are open to all manufacturers. However, there will be a limited number of sets available for drivers at each round.
Drivers will be only be allowed to present eight 'dry' tyres for marking at the opening round in Pukekohe. Marked tyres are those only available to be used in qualifying and the race. Every following round, drivers will be limited to present just four marked tyres.
Each weekend will follow a three-race format: two marble draw sprint races on Saturday and a single one-hour feature race on Sunday.
While a marble draw will determine the starting grid for the two sprint races, the fastest overall lap time achieved by the driver in race one and two will decide the starting order for the feature race.
The feature race carries the most points (100 for the winner over the usual 20) and allows drivers to partner up with a co-driver if they wish.
To level out the playing field, each car must complete a compulsory pitstop between the 20- and 40-minute mark.
During this pitstop tyres can be changed, and one crew member can add fuel to the car. However, the duration of each pitstop will vary with faster cars serving longer pit stops than slower ones.
This is consistent with the new Balance of Performance (BOP) regulations where pit stop lengths will be determined by the lap times set by the car in the earlier two races.
To avoid drivers potentially cheating the system, any driver that has gone slower than the full capabilities of the car in the sprint races, they must nominate a lap time. Suppose they exceed their designated time by more than 0.9s. In that case, the driver will be penalised two seconds for every infringement.
A maximum of three crew members are permitted to work on the car during the CPS. However, they must wait until the vehicle has grounded to a complete halt before working in the lane.
There will be five rounds for the BNT NZV8s and TTV8s this summer, all of which will be contained within the North Island.
The series kicks off this weekend at Pukekohe Park before the Christmas break. It will pick back up again at Hampton Downs in January before rounds at Manfeild and Taupo. The season will then conclude in April at a yet-to-be-determined venue.
2020-21 NZV8 Touring Cars Accredited Series Articles ApprovedDownload


text:
"""
Job Type Models
===============

Models and objects dedicated to handling information which is specific
to an individual job.  See :mod:`pyfarm.models.job` for more the more
general implementation.
"""

import ast
from textwrap import dedent
from sqlalchemy import event
from sqlalchemy.orm import validates
from pyfarm.core.enums import JobTypeLoadMode
from pyfarm.master.application import db
from pyfarm.models.core.types import id_column, JobTypeLoadModeEnum
from pyfarm.models.core.cfg import TABLE_JOB_TYPE, MAX_JOBTYPE_LENGTH

JOBTYPE_BASECLASS = "JobType"

class JobType(db.Model):
    """
    Stores the unique information necessary to execute a task
    """
    __tablename__ = TABLE_JOB_TYPE

    id = id_column(db.Integer)
    name = db.Column(db.String(MAX_JOBTYPE_LENGTH), nullable=False,
                     doc=dedent("""
                     The name of the job type.  This can be either a human
                     readable name or the name of the job type class
                     itself."""))
    description = db.Column(db.Text, nullable=True,
                            doc=dedent("""
                            Human readable description of the job type.  This
                            field is not required and is not directly relied
                            upon anywhere."""))
    classname = db.Column(db.String(MAX_JOBTYPE_LENGTH), nullable=True,
                          doc=dedent("""
                          The name of the job class contained within the file
                          being loaded.  This field may be null but when it's
                          not provided :attr:`name` will be used instead."""))
    code = db.Column(db.UnicodeText, nullable=False,
                     doc=dedent("""
                     General field containing the 'code' to retrieve the job
                     type.  See below for information on what this field will
                     contain depending on how the job will be loaded."""))
    mode = db.Column(JobTypeLoadModeEnum,
                     default=JobTypeLoadMode.IMPORT,
                     nullable=False,
                     doc=dedent("""
                     Indicates how the job type should be retrieved.

                     .. csv-table:: **JobTypeLoadMode Enums**
                        :header: Value, Result
                        :widths: 10, 50

                        DOWNLOAD, job type will be downloaded remotely
                        IMPORT, the remote agent will import the job type
                        OPEN, code is loaded directly from a file on disk"""))

    jobs = db.relationship("Job", backref="job_type", lazy="dynamic",
                           doc=dedent("""
                           Relationship between this jobtype and
                           :class:`.Job` objects."""))

    @validates("mode")
    def validates_mode(self, key, value):
        """ensures the value provided to :attr:`mode` is valid"""
        if value not in JobTypeLoadMode:
            raise ValueError("invalid value for mode")
        return value

def jobtype_before_insert(mapper, connection, jobtype):
    if jobtype.mode != JobTypeLoadMode.DOWNLOAD:
        return

    # TODO: this parsing is extremely basic and needs some expansion
    # If jobtype's says to download a file then we must
    # be sure it's valid.  If we don't, you could probably tip over
    # the master(s) under the load of rapidly failing tasks due to
    # any of the following:
    #   * job class name does not exist in the code (...)
    #   * invalid Python code (SyntaxError)
    #   * invalid parent class (jobtype must subclass JobType)
    try:
        parsed = ast.parse(jobtype.code)

        # NOTE: some coverage is skipped because the final except clause
        # prevents coverage from pulling the correct lines in
        for node in ast.walk(parsed):
            if not isinstance(node, ast.ClassDef):
                continue

            # found the class, make sure it has the proper parent class
            elif node.name == jobtype.classname:
                if JOBTYPE_BASECLASS not in set(base.id for base in node.bases):
                    error_args = (jobtype.classname, JOBTYPE_BASECLASS)
                    raise SyntaxError("%s is not a subclass of %s" % error_args)
                else:  # pragma: no cover
                    break
        else:  # pragma: no cover
            raise SyntaxError(
                "jobtype class `%s` does not exist" % jobtype.classname)

    except Exception:
        raise

event.listen(JobType, "before_insert", jobtype_before_insert)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Watch Audiences Get Really Into The Greatest Showman Sing-A-Long Showings
Published: Jan. 15. 2018 1:49 PM
Generally when you go to the movies, you want the people around you to have a great time and enjoy the movie... silently. But a part of going to the movies is the communal experience, and under the right circumstances, that group environment can really heighten your enjoyment. Watching a comedy where the whole audience is cracking up is really fun. Likewise, seeing a Star Wars film on opening night is a blast with all of the die-hard fans cheering for triumphant moments. So for a musical, it makes sense that the audience may want the opportunity to sing along with the film. Normally this would be frowned upon, but at the sing-a-long showings for The Greatest Showman, you're welcome to belt out the memorable tunes, and there's a good chance the stranger next to you will be doing the same. Check out the video below to see the audience at a Burbank sing-a-long showing singing along to "This Is Me".
Wow, I was not prepared for that level of enthusiasm. I thought everyone would be seated, with some of the audience getting into it while others just sort of hummed along. I should have known better. If you go to a sing-a-long screening, that is because you really want to sing. I'm guessing pretty much everyone in the audience for this showing had already seen this film more than once and were likely bursting at the chance to sing out loud without getting thrown out of the theater. You can tell they had probably memorized the songs , so they came fully prepared to take advantage of this sing-a-long screening. They are singing their hearts out and dancing in the aisles, and they even brought souvenir top hats to get fully into the P.T. Barnum character.
The greatest praise this film has garnered has been for its catchy musical numbers, which will no doubt find their way to many a musical fan's Spotify playlists. While musicals, show tunes and singing along aren't for everyone, these fans are clearly saying that 'this is me' and they are unafraid to sing and dance in a theater full of strangers because of their love for this film and how it spoke to them. This level of enthusiasm really lives up to the spirit of The Greatest Showman, and for musical fans who would see this film anyway, the sing-a-long showing seems like a fun way to do so. Take a look below to see another video of the crowd singing along to the opening number, "The Greatest Show."
This is the definition of a communal experience, and everyone looks to be having a blast. With everyone singing and clapping along this more resembles a concert or a large group of fans watching at home than a movie screening. But like any other fandom, gathering with strangers who share the same passion you do creates an immediate bond and comfortability. It's cool to see a theater experience where the more people around you who stand up and start moving around, the more fun you have.
The Greatest Showman is now in theaters. If you found yourself clapping and singing along and you want to go to a sing-a-long screening of The Greatest Showman, you can find location information at the movie's website. For all of the other movies arriving this year, take a look at our release guide and be sure to check before you start singing and dancing in the middle of any of them.
Nick Evans View Profile
Nick grew up in Maryland has degrees in Film Studies and Communications. His life goal is to walk the earth, meet people and get into adventures. He's also still looking for The Adventures of Pete and Pete season 3 on DVD if anyone has a lead.
news 1M Why Greatest Showman's Keala Settle Rejected Her Famous 'This Is Me' Song Until This Year Sarah El-Mahmoud
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Jun 10, 2022 Jurassic World: Dominion Rating TBD
Jun 4, 2021 The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Rating TBD
Jan 29, 2021 The Little Things Rating TBD
Jul 9, 2021 Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings Rating TBD
May 7, 2021 Black Widow Rating TBD
Fight Club's David Fincher Finally Responds To Paul Thomas Anderson Wishing Testicular On Him news
Is WandaVision Meant To Be The MCU's House Of M? Kevin Feige Explains television
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news The Greatest Showman's Keala Settle Explains The Downside To Her Iconic 'This Is Me' Song
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news You'll Finally Be Able To Watch The Greatest Showman On Streaming And Soon
news Zendaya Reveals How Hugh Jackman Helped Her Through Trapeze Stunts On The Greatest Showman


text:
Past, present of flu pandemics examined
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes to change the name Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences to School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Experts seek lessons from broad range of disciplines
By Alvin Powell Harvard News Office
Date December 14, 2006 August 10, 2016
The global response to bioterrorism and AIDS is increasing health system capacity in a way also useful if avian flu strikes, according to experts attending an interdisciplinary conference on Asian flus.
The bad news, however, is that vast disparities in health care systems still persist and, despite the expanding capacity in recent years, bird flu could still have a devastating impact.
"I think of what happens if avian flu comes to Lesotho. The mortality and morbidity would just be devastating," said Jim Kim, who heads Harvard Medical School's Department of Social Medicine and serves as the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Health and Human Rights in the Harvard School of Public Health.
Kim used Lesotho as an example of a nation hard-hit by AIDS where the response to the disease includes building health system capacity in a rural area.
Worldwide, Kim said, there's been an enormous investment in recent years in fighting AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
Kim was just one speaker at the "Asian Flus and Avian Influenza Workshop," held at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge Dec. 8-10.


D.I.P.R.I.P. is a Half-Life 2 multiplayer total conversion. Gameplay is based on vehicle combat in various post-war environments. Vehicles use multiple weapon mounts which are activated by finding weapons scattered around the battlegrounds. Requires Steam SDK: steam://run/211 (Copy into address bar).


text:
Jacqui Lofthouse
Writer - Speaker - Coach
About Jacqui
The Temple of Hymen
Bluethroat Morning
Een Stille Verdwigning
The Modigliani Girl
Language Autobiography
28 May 2014 by Jacqui Lofthouse
Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash
Essay for PGCE, English and Drama, Institute of Education, 2014
In Basildon, The Mood of the Nation, social scientists Dennis Hayes and Alan Hudson (2001) describe the stereotype of the "Essex Girl" as "a sexually predatory twenty-something female with short skirts, large hoop earrings and a pronounced estuary accent." It's a stereotype that has crystallised in recent years as the television show The Only Way is Essex has continued to portray "Essex Girl" as a glitzy, orange-tanned, materialistic working-class woman. She is an easy target for mockery.
I was born and grew up in Basildon, often seen as the quintessential Essex town and known as "Baz Vegas" in popular culture. Yet when I grew up in the late sixties and early seventies, this stereotype did not yet exist – and the predominant accent in my home had nothing of "estuary" about it. My parents came to Basildon in 1961, from Sunderland in the North-east of England when my father was offered a job in the new Marconi factory. Fifty years on, my "Mam" still lives in Basildon and speaks with a Geordie accent. She has resolutely refused to lose her own identity: it is bound up in the voice that I recognise as hers. Yet my own accent, my "voice" seems more difficult to define and I have often wished that my language heritage had the same solid foundations as my parents'.
Basildon New Town was built in the post-war period to accommodate the London population overspill. At the time, Lewis Silkin, Minister of Town and Country Planning (in Hayes and Hudson 2001) said, "Basildon will become a city … where all classes of the community can meet freely together on equal terms and enjoy common cultural and recreational facilities…It will be something which the people deserve; the best possible town that modern knowledge, commerce, science and civilisation can produce." I like to think that my parents were caught up in this spirit of idealism and as a child, I was affected by this optimism and idolised all that was "modern". But living in a purpose-built town, I lacked a firm grounding in history.
As a child, I was aware of the differences between the way my parents and my friends spoke. My Dad said "fillum" rather than "film" and called us "ye bugger" when we were mischievous. My Mum would greet us with ''allo pet". But my dialect was more influenced by that of the kids at school and my older siblings and as most of Basildon's inhabitants came from the East End of London, my childhood accent was doubtless similar to the "Essex" accent I still slip into when I'm home: higher pitched than my everyday voice, as if to make myself less threatening, more "girly"; not pronouncing the "ts" or "ws" in the middle of words. For example, in Essex, I might say "Hi-ya, are ya comin' dahn tan lay'er?" instead of "Hi, are you coming into town later?" One might say that this Essex accent is my own "voice", but I don't believe it is so simple as that. In an interview for the Poetry Archive (in O'Brien 2011), Jo Shapcott, discussing her poetic voice said,
"..what I did was not like what other people did but that was a positive, things that I might have perceived as weakness – for example not having a particular region of the country that I related to, that my work came out of – I mean a good example of someone who does have that is Seamus Heaney who connects language and landscape so strongly that he even talks of "vowel meadows". Now I grew up in a new town where there were certainly no "vowel meadows" and no one way of speaking at all and no connection between language and landscape but what I came to discover was something I now feel is very contemporary – and that is a kind of aesthetic that demands travel, it demands, in a sense, rootlessness and even exile."
Jo Shapcott
Shapcott's experience echoes my own. However, my sense of "rootlessness" was not something I could articulate as a child. My father discouraged me from learning history and told few stories from his past. It was only in later years that I became interested in my cultural heritage, tracing my ancestry back to the Scottish Highlands at the time of the clearances. When I was young, I thought of myself as a Basildonian. But my identity (and my accent) were challenged when I passed my 11+ exam and gained a place at the grammar school in Chelmsford. I was made to stand up in class and tell other pupils my news and was immediately branded a "snob". Not surprisingly, at the grammar school, "standard English" was more common than "estuary" and by the time I arrived at Bristol University, my voice had morphed almost imperceptibly into one that my primary school friends would have labelled "posh". Nonetheless, I never felt like one of the "posh" crowd at Bristol. Whilst I was capable of "blending in" with people from more privileged backgrounds than my own, I also noticed marked differences between myself and them: in clothing, in cultural references and indeed in the use of words. I might refer to "dinner-time" for example, and be corrected that it was in fact "lunch-time"; or I'd wear a home-made, red silk frilly "ra-ra" dress for a ball, whilst my new friend would find something far more sedate in Laura Ashley.
I find it difficult to separate "use of language" from other cultural signifiers of class, including dress and also "knowledge" or "book-learning". A story illustrates this: I arrived at university with little historical education and I remember asking a very well-spoken boy if he would explain the French Revolution to me. "What do you want?" he quipped. "The Ladybird version?" His words silenced me. Even if I could not articulate it at the time, it was an early indicator to me that knowledge equals power and that power was generally held by those who spoke "the Queen's English" and read big books. If we consider Volosinov's (1929/1986) idea that, "every sign … is a construct between socially organized persons in the process of their interaction"[1] we begin to understand the interrelatedness of language and culture. In this interaction, the boy's language felt (in my experience) "superior" because his accent was "better", his knowledge was more complete and he told me, through the "Ladybird" reference, that mine was akin to a child's. His language and cultural references belittled me.
In any classroom, communication between individuals is constant. Unseen "signs" which relate to identity are always present and pass continually between pupils in ongoing interactive relationships. There will always be a multiplicity of such interactions in a diverse classroom and these interactions have the power to affect children emotionally and intellectually on a moment-by-moment basis. As teachers, we may not always be privy to the nuances of these interactions but we can remain aware of their existence and be alert to the responses and behavior of our pupils in a given moment.
Accent and voice are malleable traits. As human beings we are social animals and have the capacity to "blend" according to our environment. When I visit my mother in Essex, I will consciously use my "Essex voice" to speak to the taxi driver. When I talk with my sisters, the process is more sub-conscious; my voice relaxes more naturally into an Essex dialect. Often we "recognise" people like ourselves by listening to their voices: this may also be on a sub-conscious level. Recently, when I met a member of our PGCE group, I experienced a strong feeling of familiarity, but did not know why. It was only later, when I discovered that she came from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, that I understood what had happened. I "knew" her, because she sounded like a member of my family. In a new environment, we are often judged by our voice and it has often struck me that my voice does not entirely capture "who" I am, nor do I know which voice is entirely my own. When I speak aloud in class, in my "teacherly" voice, remembering voice lessons I've taken in the past as part of my former career in radio, I am self-conscious about the effect of this "standard English" accent on others (perhaps I am afraid of sounding like the boy who knew about history). This is the sense of "exile" that Shapcott spoke about: one feels that one does not exactly "belong" anywhere. In recalling my own experience of accent and language, I also reflect on the nature of individual relationships in a classroom. When people "recognise" each other from their common language use or accent (which often point to a common cultural heritage), they will often feel drawn to one another. Equally, language can lead to divides which may be apparent in open hostility or may be more subtle and disguised; it is even possible to dislike someone for no apparent reason and it would be interesting to consider the role of language in our subconscious attitudes towards others.
In 2004, I was visiting Sunderland for the first time in many years. I was staying with my father's brother, my Uncle, whose middle name was Sutherland. Names are important indicators of identity and "Sutherland" is a family name. My mother once gave me a book of algebra published in the 1920s with the name "Ursula Sutherland" inscribed on the inside cover. In claiming this Scottish heritage, and in remembering my father whose name was Jack, I called my son Jack Sutherland (the latter being his middle name). Dad passed away in 1986, so at the time of this visit, eighteen years had passed since his death. I'd been in Sunderland for a couple of days and it had felt like "coming home". One evening, I visited a pub with my husband and a voice came over the tannoy, to make an announcement. I'd been surrounded by Geordie accents all evening, but this disembodied voice had a different effect. I immediately began to tremble and became tearful. As the voice was disembodied, it affected me more powerfully than any of the voices in the room. It could have been my father's voice and I missed him. Though I can't remember the exact cadence or the words used (perhaps the man said "fill-um" or "ye bugger") I knew that the intonation, the language used, the accent – these had a particular and personal effect. It was not a logical reaction, but an instinctive one. A Language for Life ('The Bullock Report') (1975), states,
"we symbolise, or represent to ourselves, the objects, people and events that make up our environment, and do so cumulatively, thus creating an inner representation of the world as we have encountered it … We interpret what we perceive at any given moment by relating it to our body of past experiences, and respond to it in the light of that interpretation."
A Language for Life ('The Bullock Report') (1975)
If I consider this in relation to my experience with the disembodied voice, I understand that the accent, the voice and possibly the words chosen, represented the concept of "Dad" to me. I related the voice to my own "body of past experiences" and responded in a personally appropriate way. This incident, unique to me, is typical of any personal response to a given stimulus. Just as the disembodied Geordie voice acted as a trigger for my emotion, so there are countless triggers for all of us in everyday life. In a diverse classroom, every child has a unique personal history. A given stimulus, which might mean nothing to other members of a class might provoke strong emotion in one individual. As teachers, it is important that we remain alert to individual responses. We might never know why a student responds in a particular way to a given stimulus, but it is important to be aware of these personal "triggers". As Amanda Desmond, SENCO at Southfields Community School said[2], in relation to bad behaviour, "Don't ask 'why?', ask 'why now?'" We must be aware of the both the surface and the hidden reasons why a student may be reacting in a given circumstance.
Language can be a source of cultural pride, but it can also be a source of embarrassment and even shame. As Dr. Dina Mehmedbegović stated[3], "many bilingual children often experience their home languages as of little value in the education system and perceive them of value only within their communities." Yet it is vital that we recognise the importance of language heritage in children's lives, as well as the impact of their different experiences of learning and reading outside the classroom. Gregory and Williams (2000) describe the "demands made upon children who participate in two very different cultures" by transcribing a conversation with a Bangladeshi child who attends his Arabic class for two hours each night, five days a week. Whilst we cannot directly experience the lives lived by our pupils, we can educate ourselves about the circumstances of individual pupils in our classes, recognise their diverse needs and plan our teaching and our interactions appropriately.
My own experience of "not belonging" or "needing to blend" in certain social situations and my self-consciousness in others, helps me to understand the far more emotionally difficult challenges faced by children from other cultures and traditions and children with special educational needs for whom language in its broadest sense may be more of a barrier to social interaction in the classroom. My own "differences" are subtle and personal to me, but my knowledge of these differences serves as a reminder that all children are engaged in a continual process of interaction with others and the world, using language as a tool for communication, for belonging and defining their own identity. It may often be a difficult process but my role as an English and Drama teacher is to encourage interaction and language expression in order that each child can freely express his or her own meaning in a supportive environment.
A Language for Life ('The Bullock Report'), (1975) DES
Gregory, E and Williams, A (2000) Living literacies in homes and communities from City Literacies: learning to read across generations and cultures, London/New York, Routledge
Hayes, Dennis and Hudson, Alan (2001), Basildon, the mood of the Nation, Demos
Sean O'Brien (2011), Jo Shapcott, Of Mutability. Poetry Review, 101:1 (Spring 2011),
Volosinov, V. N. (1929/1986) Marxism and the philosophy of language, Cambridge & London, Harvard University Press
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Catering: BBQ Season is Here!
When you are looking for the best catering for your next event in the Elk River, Ramsey and Ostego area, be sure to think of Serrano Brothers. We cater all types of events, from formal sit-down weddings to casual family reunion BBQ's. With an exciting summer ahead of us, we'd thought we'd concentrate on your BBQ catering options in this week's blog.
BBQ catering is perfect for your large events. We do BBQ catering for groups of over 50 people.
We have seven different BBQ packages for you to choose from and enough add on's to make everyone happy.
This BBQ features Black Angus burgers and all beef hotdogs.
Watermelon is served for dessert.
Buns, ketchup and mustard are available.
10oz hand-cut New York strip steak is served with our own Zip sauce and with sauteed mushrooms.
Marinated chicken breasts are also available.
Sides include baked beans, baked potatoes, pasta salad, potato salad, and coleslaw.
We also serve a tossed salad with our homemade vinaigrette.
These BBQ options include rolls and butter, buns, ketchup and mustard.
You can choose to add a fresh fruit tray, raw vegetable tray or a relish tray.
Add on Old Dutch Kettle Chips if you want.
We also can add on corn on the cob or cornbread.
Call Serrano Brothers today and reserve your day for a summer BBQ!


What happens if you offer assistance to someone during an emergency situation, and things don't go as planned? Good Samaritan laws exist to protect you in this scenario.
There have been some odd final wishes written into Last Will and Testaments over the years. Here are some of the strangest requests we've read about.
There are benefits and drawbacks for small businesses using Employment at Will contracts. What advantages do these types of employment agreements provide to companies and workers?
Whether your small business is a retail store, a set of offices, or a warehouse, there are things you can (and should) do to raise the level of security in your workplace.


Swanson, E.E. and Heshmat, H. "Oil-Free Foil Bearings as a Reliable, High Performance Backup Bearing for Active Magnetic Bearings," ASME Paper GT2002-30291, 2002 ASME Turbo Expo: Land, Sea & Air, June 2002, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, (2002) American Society of Mechanical Engineers, International Gas Turbine Institute, Turbo Expo (Publication) IGTI, Volume 4 A, pp. 589-598.
Gas turbine engines and other high speed rotating machinery supported by magnetic bearings require some form of backup bearing to ensure reliable and safe operation. To date, this backup capability has been provided by either rolling element bearings or solid lubricated bushings. both of these solutions have drawbacks – most notably limited life and uncertain dynamic performance. In many cases, the backup bearing system requires substantial maintenance following an activation event. An alternate approach investigated in this work is the use of a compliant foil bearing as a backup bearing. This work discusses tests of this concept on a test rig with a 63 kg rotor. In this application, the foil bearing demonstrated smooth, stable operation during a variety of simulated magnetic bearing failure events, and allowed for continued operation of the rotor following the simulated failures.


text:
The Great Nationalist Whitewash of 2017
I appreciate Jonah's wonderfully well-done response to the cover story I wrote with Ramesh for our last issue on nationalism, and he makes some powerful points. Also, check out Ben Shapiro's terrific and deeply felt reply to our piece today.
Ramesh and I will be responding at more length to critics at some point. But I just want to take up Jonah's charge that Ramesh and I have written a "whitewash" of nationalism to pretty up Trumpism.
Before I get to that, just two quick things. It is a charming characteristic of American nationalism to believe it isn't and can't possibly be nationalism — that is for other countries, not us. So Jonah seems to imply that other countries can't have true patriotism because they don't have the Declaration and our founding ideals. Their heroes honored with statues — I guess that means you, William of Orange, and you, Admiral Nelson, and you, Tadeusz Kosciuszko – were combatants in grubby wars of tribe versus tribe, as Jonah puts it. This is the equivalent of the New Yorker "View of the World from 9th Avenue" for world history, with the ideals and struggles for independence and self-government of others reduced to utter inconsequence. I must admit I find this view emotionally appealing on a certain level, but it is a particularly blinkered and ahistorical expression of nationalism.
Also, as he defines them, Jonah's emphasis on patriotism and opposition to nationalism (except in a healthful little spoonful) doesn't account for some of the most important questions facing us. I can imagine a liberal of the decent sort who is just as patriotic as Jonah, who believes just as deeply in our founding ideals, who is just as distrustful of nationalism. This liberal might favor quasi-open borders because he believes the universal principles of the Declaration extend to everyone. He might, as a way of controlling the potential dangers of American nationalism, favor subsuming American sovereignty in trans-national institutions and, as a reflection of his ideals, oppose a national interest-based foreign policy. What is wrong with this liberal's worldview? As stipulated above, it's not that he's not patriotic enough; it's that he's not nationalistic enough.
And the thing is, as Samuel Huntington suggested in Who Are We?, when you lose our nation and common culture, you're going to lose our creed, as well.
Anyway, what I really wanted to push back on was Jonah's charge of whitewashing. First, National Review, thanks to the leadership of John O'Sullivan, has been writing sympathetically about nationalism for about 30 years. I remember as a young staffer here going to an event where John debated Walter Berns, who Jonah mentions, on the question of whether America was an idea or not. So if this is a whitewash, it's been going on for longer than some of our young writers have been alive.
Second, obviously nationalism is a subject of much greater interest because of the Trump phenomenon, which we believe it's important to understand and glean the appropriate lessons from. To wit, Trump ideologist Stephen Miller refers to America as a home. I assume Jonah considers this a healthy rather than a dangerous expression of nationalism. If so, isn't it important to think about why almost no other Republican or conservative has been willing to say it? I'm certain that most Americans understand their country in these terms rather than as "an idea" (for the understandable reason that no one has ever lived in an idea nor ever will).
Finally, there are plenty of criticisms of President Trump in our piece. Jonah says he won't hold his breath for Trump to get "educated" by us. Fair enough. But is it too much to ask that conservatives use this moment to re-think some of the cliches and misapprehensions that have led them to neglect the importance of nationalism, to the detriment of our cause?


text: Q: Why is the infinite intersection of open sets not necessarily open? I have seen a few questions about this but still don't understand. Why is it that for infinitely many open sets their intersection might not necessarily be open?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
TheColorOfHockey
~ Hockey for Fans and Players of Color
Smith-Pelly smiley tweet after Anaheim Ducks playoff elimination lights up twitter
Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized
Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Devante Smith-Pelly, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning
So, Devo, how do you really feel?
Was Devante Smith-Pelly's tweet playfulness or making a point?
Moments after the Anaheim Ducks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 Western Conference Game 7 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night, Montreal Canadiens forward Devante Smith-Pelly tweeted a message that didn't sit too well with the fans of the team that traded him.
Smith-Pelly shrugged off the responses, some of which criticized the bruising forward's weight and Montreal's failure to advance in the playoffs.
He told The Montreal Gazette: "I didn't think it was a big deal…I didn't think people would be that upset about it, but that's the way Twitter goes, I guess."
"The worst one?" Smith recounted to The Gazette's Dave Stubbs. "That I was too bad to be on a (crappy) team, that the Canadiens had lost in the second round. It was hilarious. I thought it was great."
— Devante Smith-Pelly (@smithpelly23) May 31, 2015
Devo's tweet unleashed a stream of traffic – 1,700 retweets and 2,100 "favorites." Some of the responses, presumably from Ducks fans, weren't all sunshine and bunnies.
@smithpelly23 why u smiling? Your team lost a long time ago
— Will-I-Am (@macdyer282) May 31, 2015
@smithpelly23 scumbag
— Matt (@da_mope) May 31, 2015
@14_henrique_ Sitting at home with his millions
— NIC S (@habsforlife97) May 31, 2015
The Ducks dealt Smith-Pelly to the Habs in February to Montreal for rookie forward Jiri Sekac. Smith-Pelly was supposed to add size and a power forward's scoring touch that was lacking from the Canadiens' smallish offensive players.
Smit-Pelly had 5 goals and 12 assists in 54 regular season games with Anaheim and only 1 goal and 2 assists in 20 games for Montreal. He notched a goal and 2 assists in 12 playoff games with the Canadiens.
The Ducks selected Smith-Pelly with the 42nd pick in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft. Before the 2014-15 season began, the team re-signed him to a two-year deal reportedly worth $800,000 per season.
Not all hockey fans were upset by Smith-Pelly's tweet.
@CanadiensMTL @smithpelly23 @NickyK_4 @reporterchris I'm buying a smith pelly shirt just for this
— Chocolate Thunder (@ChocoIateSugar) May 31, 2015
Coaches of color help power Tampa Bay Lightning's charge to Stanley Cup Final
Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Everblades, Frantz Jean, J.T. Brown, Johnny Oduya, New York Rangers, Nigel Kirwan, Steven Stamkos, Syracuse Crunch, Tampa Bay Lightning
When the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks face off Wednesday in the Stanley Cup Final opener, hockey fans will see two players of color who've been indispensable to their teams.
Right wing J.T. Brown has been a key role player for the Lightning ever since he was promoted from the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch in 2013-14 after All-Star forward Steven Stamkos suffered an injury. The Blackhawks' Johnny Oduya is vying for his second Stanley Cup and has grown into one of Chicago's top defensemen.
What fans watching the final probably won't see are two coaches of color who've been vital behind the scenes to the Lightning's quest for the Cup.
Tampa Bay Lightning goalie coach Frantz Jean.
Frantz Jean is the Lightning goalie coach who puts starting netminder Ben Bishop and backup Andrei Vasilevskiy through their paces in practice and strives to keep them on an even keel during the emotional rollercoaster that is the playoffs.
Bishop out-dueled Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, a league Most Valuable Player candidate, and New York Rangers all-world netminder Henrik Lundqvist in the playoffs to earn the right to face Chicago sharpshooters Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad in the final round.
"From our perspective, Ben's doing nothing different," Jean told The Tampa Tribune earlier in May. "Except now he's on a bigger stage."
Bishop heads into the Stanley Cup Final with a 12-8 playoff record, 2.15 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. During the 2014-15 regular season, Bishop won 40 games, fourth-best among NHL goalies, and lost only 13 contests. His 2.32 goals-against average was 15th best in the league.
Jean has presided over the Lightning organization's goaltending since 2010. Under his tutelage, Tampa Bay goaltending prospects playing for the AHL Norfolk Admirals and ECHL Florida Everblades vied for league championships in 2012.
Then-Lightning property Dustin Tokarski – now with the Montreal Canadiens – finished the 2012 AHL playoffs with the best save percentage and goal-against average and led the league with 32 wins in the 2011-12 regular season.
Jean joined the Lightning organization after coaching for 12 years with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His Moncton netminders allowed the fewest goals in the league in the 1999-00, 2005-06, 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
A Montreal native, Jean coached goalies on Hockey Canada's Under-18 teams that won Gold Medals at Ivan Hlinka Memorial International Tournaments in 2009 and 2010.
In the six degrees of separation of the hockey world, Jean can take some credit if the Blackhawks defeat his Lightning for the Stanley Cup. He coached Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford at Moncton.
"I've seen him grow from a teen to a man," Jean told CSN Chicago recently. "When I see the work he had to go into the minors, to pay his dues and learn to be a consistent goaltender and then to be able to duplicate that in the pros, I'm very proud of him."
Crawford is apparently still fond of his old coach. "A great coach, an awesome guy," he told The Tampa Times in 2013. "He was great technique-wise, and for my mental game, taking care of myself and learning that aspect, too, getting rest at the right time. He definitely helped me moving on to pro hockey."
Lightning video coach Nigel Kirwan.
Jean is a newcomer to the Lightning when compared to video coach Nigel Kirwan. He's been with the 'Bolts since the team's inaugural season in 1992. He worked in the Lightning's ticket sales office before then-Head Coach Terry Crisp made him a video coach in the 1996-97 season.
Initially, he thought Crisp's job offer was a joke.
"I basically told him to go fly a kite," Kirwan told TampaBayLightning.com in 2012. "Crispy was a prankster and loved to rile the office up so my immediate reaction was that he was trying to get me going. I also had a report due to my boss that was already late so I told him to just get out of my office."
But Crisp, now a studio analyst for the Nashville Predators, pressed Kirwan because "I saw something in him," he told TampaBayLightning.com. "He knew the game, he loved the game, and his personality fit right in with our staff. He fit right in like a hand in a glove," Crisp added.
Now Kirwan serves as a keen set of eyes for Tampa Bay's coaching staff and players. He breaks down pre-scout and game film and helps formulate scouting reports on opposing players. He performed the same tasks for Team USA at the 2008 and 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships.
Born in Jamaica and raised in Winnipeg, Kirwan hoisted the Stanley Cup when the Lightning won it in 2004. Only the Blackhawks stand in the way of him doing it again.
Ex-NHL tough guy Donald Brashear goes from jaw-breaker to stick-maker
Alex Ovechkin, Donald Brashear, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals
After 17 National Hockey League seasons playing for five teams that provided him with every piece of equipment he needed, tough guy forward Donald Brashear had an epiphany – and a case of sticker shock – when he had to buy a hockey stick.
"I was retired for five years, so when I ran out of sticks and I went to buy one at a store, I thought the sticks were so expensive," Brashear told me recently. "Even though I have money, it didn't make sense for me to pay 300 bucks for a stick just to play in the beer league."
Donald Brashear launched a quest to make an affordable hockey stick.
That breath-gasping experience launched Brashear on a mission to manufacture and sell professional-caliber, carbon fiber, high-performance hockey sticks at an affordable price.
The result was Brash 87, an upstart business that sells Brashear-designed sticks for players of all levels. He's priced them between $129 (CAN) and $189 (CAN) – roughly $103 to $151 (USD) – about half the cost of name-brand sticks.
Brashear is the latest individual or company to venture into the lucrative and ultra-competitive hockey stick business. In 2013, STX, a Baltimore-based lacrosse, field hockey, and golf equipment maker branched off into ice hockey sticks.
In 2000, golf club shaft-maker True got into the hockey stick biz and has sold more than two million twigs since. But big-name hockey companies continue to be the big dogs. Bauer, for example, has an estimated 54 percent of the hockey equipment market – which includes sticks.
Brashear says he's not out to conquer the hockey stick-making world. He just wants a small piece of the planet.
"It's like you're drinking Pepsi-Cola and then there's a new company that shows up and says 'Listen, I want to take one percent of that market,'" he told me. "If I can get one percent of what that company is making, that's a lot of money."
Donald Brashear played for five NHL teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers (Photo/ Mitchell Layton/Getty Images via Philadelphia Flyers)
Brashear began his quest slowly. First, he searched for a reliable manufacturer in China who could make sticks to his specifications. After personally putting prototype sticks through their paces, he began selling the sticks around hometown Quebec City and at a Toronto-area Canadian Tire store.
"In six months, eight months, I sold like close to 3,000 sticks with no marketing, no advertising, no nothing. Only word of mouth," he told me. "I hit two markets: the parents who don't want to pay for a stick that's too expensive and the beer league player who wants a high-performance stick."
He's become a traveling salesman of sorts, lugging a few Brash 87's with him to rinks around Quebec City where he plays hockey five times a week.
"I bring my sticks, other players take them and they realize 'That's a nice stick, it's light,'" Brashear said. "I say 'Why don't you try it?' They try it and they adopt it."
Now Brashear is looking to expand. He pitched his wares earlier this month before the panelists of CBC's "Dragons' Den," Canada's equivalent to CNBC's popular "Shark Tank" business reality television show. The episode should air in the upcoming season.
Donald Brashear recently pitched his less-expensive Brash 87 hockey sticks to CBC's "Dragons' Den," Canada's version of CNBC's "Shark Tank." (Photo/CBC)
"The ultimate goal is to build a high-performance stick to help people save money on sticks," he said. "It's not something I'm doing to become a millionaire. It's something I'm doing where I'm helping people and helping me at the same time."
Some fans might think Brashear's desire to sell hockey sticks a bit odd. After all, he was a player known more for his fists than his scoring touch. In 1,025 NHL games, Brashear tallied 85 goals, 120 assists and a whopping 2,634 penalty minutes – most of them accumulated five minutes at a time as one of the league's fiercest and most-feared fighters.
The website dropyourgloves.com calculates that Brashear had 390 fights during his hockey career – 277 of them while playing for the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers. He spent enough time in the sin bin that he's ranked 15th all-time in penalty minutes among NHL players.
"A lot of people know me as a guy that was fighting but knew how to play the game, that could score a goal once in a while, and could make some passes," said Brashear, an Indiana-born French-Canadian. "If you look at my stats, I fight but I was also picking up points."
Brashear had the ability to light the lamp. He was second in scoring on the Fredericton Canadiens -Montreal's American Hockey League farm team in 1993-94 – with 38 goals and 28 assists while amassing 250 penalty minutes. He had an NHL career-high 28 points – 9 goals, 19 assists – for the Canucks in 2000-2001.
One of his most satisfying seasons was when he scored 25 points – 8 goals, 17 assists – with the Flyers in 2002-03 as a fourth-line player with right wing Sami Kapanen and center Keith Primeau.
"That was a fun year, I really liked it," Brashear told me. "I always wanted to be in different situations, and I was used in different situations. I wanted to become a better player."
He added: "I shot a lot of pucks and I know a lot about hockey sticks. I would watch (Capitals forward Alex) Ovechkin make a move and I would try to make the same one. It would take me two years before I would be able to, but in the end I would get it."
But toughness remains Brashear's calling card. When his young players were being pushed around in the Swedish Hockey League last season, Modo Assistant General Manager Peter Forsberg telephoned his then 42-year-old former Flyers teammate Brashear and asked him to hop a plane and suit up.
"I said 'Peter, I've been retired for five years. Yeah, I play a lot of hockey, but I'm not in game shape like going 100 miles an hour like these kids now in Europe,'" Brashear recalled. "I said 'We're not allowed to fight.' He said 'No, but your presence there is going to make a big difference.'"
Brashear's Modo stat line: 12 regular season games, no points and six penalty minutes. He had a goal, no assists, and two penalty minutes in four playoff games. He was a fan favorite during his nearly three-month stint in Sweden.
"I really enjoyed it…I kind of wish right after my career I had the chance to go play there to get better at the game there," he said. "There's so much skating, passing the puck. It's not so much physical."
Rockets hope to soar in Memorial Cup tournament
Chicago Blackhawks, Kelowna Rockets, Madison Bowey, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals
Tyrell Goulbourne isn't going to let a little thing like recovering from surgery on a lacerated calf muscle keep him from being with his Kelowna Rockets teammates when they compete for the Memorial Cup in a four-team major junior hockey tournament that begins Friday in scenic Quebec City.
"I wouldn't miss it if I was in a wheelchair, I'll be there," Goulbourne, the 21-year-old left wing told Western Canada's AM 1150 radio.
Goulbourne's injury – he was cut by Portland Winterhawks forward Keegan Iverson's skate in the third round of the Western Hockey League playoffs – has been the only downer in the Rockets' ride to the 97th annual Memorial Cup tourney that will determine the Canadian Hockey League champion.
Injured Kelowna Rockets forward Tyrell Goulbourne will root for his team in the Memorial Cup from the sidelines (Photo/Marissa Baecker/Kelowna Rockets).
The team stormed through the Tri-City Americans, the Victoria Royals, and the Brandon Wheat Kings to capture the WHL's Ed Chynoweth Cup, losing only three games along the way. The Rockets began the playoffs with a four-game sweep of the Americans and ended it by sweeping the Wheat Kings.
The quest for the Memorial Cup begins Friday when the Rockets face the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Quebec Remparts, the tournament's host team. The Rimouski Oceanic, the QMJHL's champions, and the Oshawa Generals, the Ontario Hockey League champs, also qualified for the tournament.
An Edmonton native, Goulbourne was a major contributor to the Rockets' 53-13-5-1 regular season record and in the team's playoff run before his injury. A Philadelphia Flyers third-round draft pick in 2013, he tallied 22 goals and 23 assists in 62 regular season games and notched a goal and an assist in 12 playoff games.
Four Rockets players were among the Top 10 scorers in the WHL playoffs. Still, Kelowna is known more for its defense. After all, this is the team that produced the likes of defensemen Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks, Tyler Myers of the Winnipeg Jets, Josh Gorges of the Buffalo Sabres and the Flyers' Luke Schenn.
Madison Bowey hoists WHL championship trophy, perhaps a practice lift for the Memorial Cup (Photo by Marissa Baecker/Kelowna Rockets).
Carrying on that blue line tradition is team captain Madison Bowey, a 2013 Washington Capitals 2013 second-round draft pick. His 2014-15 season could earn him more than a look-see from Capitals Head Coach Barry Trotz during the team's rookie camp and training camp later this year.
The 20-year-old Winnipeg native scored 17 goals and 43 assists in 58 regular season games and had a gaudy plus-minus of plus-38. He had 7 goals and 12 assists in 19 WHL playoff games. Bowey also played for Gold Medal-winning Team Canada in the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, scoring a goal and 3 assists in the tournament.
All Bowey has done is win this season to the point that he's in a position to complete a hat trick – an IIHF championship, a WHL championship, and a Memorial Cup.
Another Rockets defenseman, Devante Stephens, hopes to follow in Bowey's skates and be selected by a National Hockey League team at the 2015 NHL Draft in Sunrise, Fla., next month. He's ranked 116th among North American skaters by the NHL's Central Scouting Service.
Devante Stephens hopes to follow a long line of Kelowna defensemen into the NHL (Photo/ Marissa Baecker/Kelowna Rockets).
Stephens scored 4 goals and 7 assists for the Rockets in 64 regular season games and 4 assists in 17 playoff games. The Surrey, British Columbia, native won the team's Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player awards this season.
If Stephens, 18, hears his named called inside Sunrise's BB&T Center at the June 26-27 draft, he may give an assist to Bowey, whose absence from the Rockets for the world junior championship gave Stephens more minutes and more responsibility on the ice.
"When the guys went away to world juniors….I really had an opportunity to show the coaches what I had," Stephens told Rockets TV. "And I think it was a real stepping block for me, especially in this league. I really just got to show my stuff."
Born in Haiti and raised in Canada, Michael Herringer helped backstop the Rockets to the WHL championship (Photo by Marissa Baecker/Kelowna Rockets).
Rockets goaltender Michael Herringer has had a chance to show his stuff to Rockets coaches – and potential NHL suitors – this season. In 14 regular season games Herringer posted an 11-2 record and recorded 2 shutouts.
Born in Haiti and raised in Comox, British Columbia, the 19-year-old Herringer had a 2.33 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. He went 3-0 in the WHL playoffs with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.
Debate over a hockey team's Indian name, logo, surfaces in a surprising place – Sweden
Chicago Blackhawks, Frolunda Indians
The fight over sports teams using Indian/First Nations names and logos shifted to an unlikely battleground this week – Sweden.
A Stockholm man complained to Sweden's Discrimination Ombudsman and demanded that the Frolunda Indians Hockey Club change its name and ditch its logo – an angry-looking Indian/First Nations member wearing a red, white, green, and black feather headdress.
"I want to report their logo to you and I want to demand that it is changed because it is offensive to all Indians and it uses a stereotypical image of Indians," the complainant wrote to the ombudsman, according to a story reported by The Local in Sweden.
The Frolunda Hockey Club's name and logo prompted an unsuccessful complaint to Sweden's government.
But the complaint was dropped because "We arrived at the conclusion that it was not covered by Swedish discrimination law," Clas Lundstedt, a press spokesman for the ombudsman, told The Local. "Discrimination is defined in the legislation as somebody being disadvantaged or treated worse than another person in a similar situation and that has not happened in this case."
He added: "This case could perhaps be related to freedom of speech legislation or similar, but that is not covered by laws on discrimination, so it is nothing that is within our remit."
Frolunda's Joel Lundqvist.
Frolunda is a member of the Swedish Hockey League. The team's alums include New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and former Buffalo Sabres forward Christian Ruuttu. Lundqvist's twin brother, Joel, a former Dallas Stars center, played for Frolunda in 2014-15.
Frolunda adopted the "Indians" name and image about 20 years ago as a tribute to the team's aggressive playing style which was described as "Wild West Tactics." Peter Pettersson Kymmer, the team's media manager, told Radio Sweden that he doesn't believe that Frolunda's name and logo are disparaging.
"We think our symbol and name communicate
something entirely different, like courage, passion and fellowship," he said.
Pettersson Kymmer's comments sound similar to those of management of North
N.Y. Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist, a Frolunda alum.
American sports teams. The National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks, Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves, and the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins have resisted calls to change their names or logos.
Daniel Snyder, owner of Washington's NFL team, has been under pressure by several Indian/First Nations groups, many members of Congress, and others to change his team's name and remove the Indian head logo from the team's helmets.
Media outlets like the New York Daily News, The Seattle Times, The Washington Post editorial board, The San Francisco Chronicle, and online sites Slate and Mother Jones no longer refer to the team by its name.
The U.S. Patent Office canceled the Washington football team's trademark registration last June. But Snyder has vowed not to change the team's name.
"A Redskin is a football player. A Redskin is our fans. The Washington Redskins fan base represents honor, represents respect, represents pride. Hopefully winning," Synder told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" last year.
Frolunda management said they don't intend to change their team's name, either.
"The answer is no, but then I don't know what will happen 10, 20, 30 years from now," Pettersson Kymmer told Radio Sweden.
While the fight over Washington football team rages and the flap over Frolunda's name generates headlines, Chicago's NHL team doesn't seem to get as much heat for its name and distinctive Indian head logo.
Last August, a seven-person panel from The Hockey News ranked Chicago's logo as tops among the NHL's 30 teams.
"What differentiates this logo from the Washington Football Club – and why there is not
Chicago's Johnny Oduya sports one of the NHL's top-rated team logos.
great controversy around it – is that it honors a great chief and does so with a sophisticated, artful design," The Hockey News' Rory Boylen wrote last August. "It's not a cartoon like Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians and the team's nickname that it represents isn't the outright slur Washington's is. This name and logo honors the memory of a great Native American chief who stood up to the injustices inflicted upon his people."
The Blackhawks have forged a relationship with the American Indian Center of Chicago over the years and the team has "a genuine and ongoing dialogue with the native community in Illinois and for that we respect them," center general counsel Scott Sypolt told USA Today last year.
"There is a clear distinction," Sypolt added, "between sports teams that depict Native Americans as caricatures and red, screaming savages…If you look at Chief Wahoo, you have the big lips, the exaggerated nose and the beady eyes."
Still, several folks believe that it's time for the Blackhawks to take a new nickname and logo. "Clearly, no right-thinking person would name a team after an aboriginal figure these days," Toronto Star hockey columnist Damien Cox wrote in 2010, "any more than they would use Muslims or Africans or Chinese or any ethnic group to depict a specific sporting notion."
NYC roller hockey players pay tribute to a minority trailblazer
There was a time not-so-long ago when hockey truly wasn't for everyone.
In big cities like New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, the lack of access to ice skating rinks and lack of funds to pay for hundreds of dollars worth of equipment and team fees sent working-class urban kids to the streets to play the game they loved.
And play they did. With wheels on their feet, they competed on their neighborhood streets, on playground basketball courts, and in organized roller hockey leagues. New York has tons of urban sports legends, from basketball players who lit it up Harlem's Rucker Park to the brothers Mullen – Joe and Brian – roller hockey-playing kids from Hell's Kitchen who made it big in the National Hockey League.
The New York Times has a touching story about Craig Allen, who endured the slings and arrows of racism to become a 1970s roller hockey legend in the city. The Times piece by Corey Kilgannon is worth a read.
Heroics and highlight reel performaces by players of color in playoff games
Alec Martinez, Buffalo Sabres, Connor McDavid, Darnell Nurse, Edmonton Oilers, Erie Otters, Joel Ward, Justin Bailey, Nick Baptiste, Washington Capitals
Hockey playoffs are in full swing and players of color are at the center of the action.
From the National Hockey League to Canada's major junior leagues to the alphabet jumble of various minor leagues, players of color are providing heroics and highlights in the early rounds.
Washington Capitals' Joel Ward getting it done in playoffs – again.
Washington Capitals right wing Joel Ward further enhanced his reputation as a clutch playoff performer with his game-winning goal against the New York Rangers with 1.3 seconds left in the third period in the first game of a second-round series opener at Madison Square Garden.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Ward's buzzer-beater against Rangers all-world netminder Henrik Lundqvist marked only the third time that a winning goal had been scrored in an NHL playoff game with less than two seconds remaining.
Game-ending heroics are becoming old hat for Ward. He's got three playoff walk-off (or skate-offs) goals, the most dramatic being a Game 7 overtime winner that vanquished the Boston Bruins from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2012.
Anaheim Ducks left wing Emerson Etem is yet to score an NHL playoff game-ending goal. But he did recently notched a highlight reel goal in the Ducks' opening round series against the Winnipeg Jets that melted the "White Out" of Jets fans inside the MTS Centre and drew oohs and aahs from amazed teammates.
Emerson Etem eats up Jets defenders on goal.
Born in Long Beach, California, Etem wasn't much of a scorer during the 2014-15 regular season, tallying only 5 goals and 5 assists in 45 games for the Ducks. But he has 2 goals in five games in the still-young playoff season – and loads of confidence after undressing the Winnipeg Jets.
A few rungs below the NHL, forward Connor McDavid is getting his share of snazzy playoff goals for the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters. The likely Number One pick in June's 2015 NHL Draft is the Main Man in Erie, the straw that stirs the Pennsylvania-based franchise.
But folks lucky enough to catch the Otters' playoff series against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on the NHL Network couldn't help but notice Erie forward Nick Baptiste. He potted 4 goals in a crucial Game 4 against the Greyhounds, a team that featured defensemen Darnell Nurse, the Edmonton Oilers' 2013 first-round draft pick, and Anthony DeAngelo, the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2014 first-round draft selection.
"It was one of those nights where you just try to shoot as much as you can, and they go in," Baptiste said after the game. "Fortunate enough to get the goals, but more importantly, the win."
Erie won the game 7-5 and eliminated the Soo from the playoffs four games to two. The series was a high-scoring affair that offered a glimpse of the future for the downtrodden Buffalo Sabres.
Sure, a bad Ping-Pong ball bounce or two in the NHL Draft Lottery cost the Sabres – the league's worst team in the 2014-15 season – the first-overall pick and a shot at McDavid in June's draft.
But with the Number Two pick in the upcoming draft, Buffalo is poised to get a great player in Boston University forward Jack Eichel. And more help is on the way talent-wise to Buffalo in the near future in the form of players like Baptiste.
Nick Baptiste's performance in the OHL playoffs brought Erie Otters fans to their feet (Matt Mead/Matt Mead Photography).
The Sabres chose him in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft. In the 2014-15 regular season, Baptiste tallied 32 goals and 32 assists in 53 games with the Otters and the OHL's Sudbury Wolves. He has 11 goals and 9 assists in 15 OHL playoff games thus far.
Baptiste was one of the last players cut in tryouts for the Canadian team that went on to win the Gold Medal in the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship.
The Greyhounds also featured a future Sabre in right wing Justin Bailey. A Buffalo second-round pick in 2013, Bailey scored 34 goals and 35 assists in 57 games with the Greyhounds and the OHL's Kitchener Rangers. The Western New York native tallied 7 goals and 7 assists in 14 playoff games for the Greyhounds.
Jaden Lindo adds new chapter to 'Soul on Ice' by winning hockey championship
Sarah Nurse seeks gold at IIHF world championship after winning Olympic silver
Hockey Family Photo Album, Page 2
Hockey's diversity in pictures from pee wee to the professional leagues
Wayne Simmonds among players of color moved on NHL trading deadline day
John Tortorella
Hockey Links
American Collegiate Hockey Association
Black Ice Book
Detroit Hockey Association
Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation
Fort Dupont Ice Arena
Hasek's Heroes
Hockeyland Canada
Ice Hockey in Harlem
Jamaica Olympic Ice Hockey Federation
Kevin Weekes Online
NHL official website
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The ECHL


Take a moment to scan around the office. Computers, phones, wireless devices as far as the eye can see, right? All storing and carrying data that your organization and employees depend on every minute of the workday — and likely after business hours, too. But what happens if that technology fails due to a natural or human-caused disaster?
Business and technology are more integrated than ever before, making it even more critical to have an disaster recovery plan in place. Studies show 43% of companies that experience a major loss of business data never reopen and 29% close within two years.
There are definitive preventive steps you can take to ensure that your business is in a position to quickly recover from the technology impacts of a disaster.
The time to put a recovery plan in place isn't during a disaster, it's well before.
A disaster recovery plan should be created in conjunction with your business continuity plan. Devising a viable strategy takes considerable effort and advance planning. It involves bringing a team of key stakeholders in your organization together to work through possible disaster scenarios and identify solutions. Keep in mind the disasters can be natural (such as a flooded data center) or human-induced (like a cyber attack or IT bugs).
"What's the backup to the backup?" It's the winning question when creating a disaster recovery strategy. Your business's initial backup plan may work for a period of time, but it may not be a long-term solution that can keep your business running until things are completely back to normal.
How long will your backup generators run? Can they handle keeping your air conditioning units working in your data center? What do you do if the backup generator goes down? Working through these lines of questioning can help your business identify areas to address and plan redundancies to keep your doors open.
A disaster recovery plan isn't a "set it and forget it" endeavor. It requires routine preventative maintenance. This includes regular system updates, system testing and assessments to ensure the plan keeps up with changes in your technology environment.
A recovery plan is of no use if employees don't know their role during an emergency.
Annual disaster recovery and business continuity training is critical to make sure employees are ready to jump into action. Identify and train team leads who will relay information to their employees in the event of a disaster. Training for new employees should be incorporated into their orientation program.
Additionally, tabletop exercises provide an opportunity to test disaster recovery and business continuity plans without a full scale drill. This involves engaging your organization in a mock disaster, gathering subject matter experts (SMEs) to talk through the scenario and documenting how your business would react. These exercises are an important tool to uncover interdependencies and gaps, and identify areas of concern and ways to address them.
Splashwire, a technology consulting and solutions company, can help your business establish a scalable disaster recovery solution, backed by 24/7/365 local support.
Our solutions include back-up and protection for operating systems, applications, configurations and data for physical and virtual environments.
Contact us to us to learn more.
Happy New Year from Splashwire!