How do I find the top 3 fields per dimension (for all dimensions) grouped by platform?
Graphing counter delta values over multiple dimensions?
Is it possible to extract dimensions from the source field for metrics imported from CSV files?
Why is the deployment server not available in Splunk Enterprise Trial license?
A Splunk Enterprise deployment has many dimensions. These scenarios determine whether a single reference machine can handle indexing and search load.
In some cases, a single reference machine can collect, store, and search data efficiently. In other cases, consider adding machines to your Splunk Enterprise deployment to increase performance. Below is a list of items that can have a significant impact on Splunk Enterprise performance.
Amount of incoming data. The more data you send to Splunk Enterprise, the more time it needs to process the data into events that you can search, report, and generate alerts on.
Amount of indexed data. As the amount of data stored in a Splunk Enterprise index increases, so does the I/O bandwidth needed to store data and provide results for searches.
Number of concurrent users. If more than one person at a time uses an instance of Splunk Enterprise, that instance requires more resources for those users to perform searches and create reports and dashboards.
Number of saved searches. If you plan to invoke a lot of saved searches, Splunk Enterprise needs capacity to perform those searches promptly and efficiently. A higher search count over a given period of time requires more resources.
Types of search you use. Almost as important as the number of saved searches is the types of search that you run against a Splunk Enterprise instance. There are several types of search, each of which affects how the indexer responds to search requests.
Whether or not you run Splunk apps. Splunk apps and solutions can have unique performance, deployment, and configuration considerations. If you plan to run apps, consider the resource requirements of the apps the you are using. See the documentation for the app for more information.
How do these dimensions impact overall performance?
While these factors have an impact on the basic sizing requirements of your Splunk Enterprise deployment, addressing each of them individually does not guarantee peak performance gain for the deployment. You must discover through trial how these factors correlate with one another in your specific application.
For example, if your Splunk Enterprise deployment calls for a low amount of indexing but has a high number of concurrent users, it has significantly different resource needs than a setup with a low number of concurrent users and a high amount of daily indexing volume. Additionally, as both user count and amount of indexed data rise, you must distribute the environment across multiple servers to maintain a similar performance level. Search types complicate matters, because some searches strain available CPU resources, while others depend on the speed of the disk subsystem.
When should I scale my Splunk Enterprise deployment?
How much data do you expect to index daily?
How much data do you need to retain and for how long?
How many users do you expect to search through the data at any one time?
Do you plan to use certain specific searches more than once?
Do you want or need to use a Splunk app to present or manipulate your data?
The key to a well-performing installation is to develop a plan early in the deployment cycle to account for both your initial outlay of hardware resources and the addition of resources when the deployment scales up.


Are you saying that Parker is that much more expensive than Ventura, other than health insurance and gas?
Interesting anecdotal info on price.
The extra $550k on a mortgage adds $3200 to the monthly cost of living. Even if I could afford $900k - why do that?
That's why we left the DC metro area for Colorado Springs, the affordability of housing here makes it a no-brainer for me.
Then there is the beauty of CO, the friendly people, so much to do, the mild climate along the Front Range.
Summers in Colorado can be like living in a furnace.
While it can get into the 90's and occasionally break 100, I would not characterize it as "living in a furnace". I lived in Santee, California for 13 years and it would routinely get 100+ in the summers and fall, now that is a furnace! I'm sure those in some other areas of CA, NV and AZ have experienced worse than that.
We are anxious to get out there and see if our savings estimates are close as we predict it will amount to several thousand dollars a month. The costs on Long Island are staggering.
Have you looked up in the Durango, Colorado area. It is a pretty small community but has some of the amenties you might be looking for, great mtn views, just built a new hospital Mercy Medical and have quite a few jobs listed online in the medical fields, and also Ft Lewis College for your teaching. Although, the prices are a little higher for housing, but not as high as California, taken from an ex-Californian. Just above Durango, 25 miles is Durango Ski Resort, and a town called Hermosa for mtn living. Durango downtown has an old town historical community with many shops, and if so inclined they do have a super walmart there. Check it out you might find it appealing in that area.
I'm surprised that health insurance is so much more money there in Colorado. Anyone have any feedback as to why?
See, for me the dry heat is not always a blessing. I purposely used the word furnace.
Colorado set heat records in both 2005 as well as 2006, with triple digit temps.
No doubt those other states you mentioned can match that--and then some.
That's why I don't live in those places.
I think it is a sign of the times. While we were in Denver, our health insurance costs steadily rose--but wages didn't.
Business owners are faced with cutting pay,dropping the benefit or providing their own benefits.
Kaiser Permanente is both a healthcare provider as well as an insurer, and I was with them until I got married. All things considered, I was pleased with the care I received with them.
I still think that using the expression "living in a furnace" is quite a stretch, but you are entitled to your opinion. The humidity level here is half that of the San Diego area, so routine 100+ temps in the summer there coupled with the higher humidity make it far more furnace like IMO. I'll take the occasional 100+ here over the routine 100+ temps elsewhere anytime, especially with lower humidity.
Last edited by gpraceman; 11-02-2006 at 07:19 AM..
Thank you for your response Cil! So far the health insurance is the only thing that is going to cost us more - almost triple for one that is close to what we have now.
a hosptial there in COS, or maybe a health insurance company.
I still think that using the expression "living in a furnace" is quite a stretch, but you are entitled to your opinion.
The humidity level here is half that of the San Diego area, so routine 100+ temps in the summer there coupled with the higher humidity make it far more furnace like IMO. I'll take the occasional 100+ here over the routine 100+ temps elsewhere anytime, especially with lower humidity.
Good luck, Thunderbird. I hope you are able to work out something with health insurance. I hope you don't have to get a second job, but I understand that you have to do what's necessary.


Aleyn joined the governing board of Julian's as a community governor in September 2012. He is Chair of the Achievement Committee and link governor for Maths.
Aleyn is an Associate Director at the Carbon Trust, with over a decade's experience in business and management consulting. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge Univeristy, and a Masters from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Alfie joined the governing body in 2018 and is a member of the Resources Committee. He has previously worked at The Key, an information service that provides support to school leaders and school governors. He is now a Children and Families Social Worker based in London, and is currently studying towards a Masters in Advanced Social Work practice. He has a particular and keen interest in the arts and the extra curricular activities that schools provide, having been heavily involved throughout his school life.
Alice McNeill joined the governing body in 2017 and is a member of the Achievement Committee. She teaches at another local Lambeth primary school, with experience across the year groups, and a particular interest in modern foreign languages and art.
Alice has two children at the West Norwood site.
Alison has been the Headteacher at Julian's since 2003. She has worked in Lambeth since the 80s and has taught across the entire primary age range during her time as a class teacher, Senco, Literacy Consultant and Deputy Head of both an infant and later a primary school.
Alison is committed to ensuring all pupils experience an inclusive and enjoyable learning experience. This has been demonstrated in the vast range of opportunities and enriched experiences Julian's pupils have been introduced to over the last few years.
In her spare time Alison likes to read, spend time with family, walk and train her adorable Tibetan terriers and Westie dog.
Caroline is a community governor and was appointed in 2017. She lives in West Norwood and, after more than 30 years as a manager in the NHS, now works independently as a consultant and executive coach, with a particular focus on strategy, governance and on the development of organisations and individuals. She is also a trustee of a local charity and volunteers with Lambeth Home-Start, supporting families with young children.
Caroline's two children (now adults) attended local state schools and she is passionate about the importance of education and how it can make a significant difference from a very young age.
Chris Davies is a local authority governor who lives in south Streatham. Chris is Vice Chair of Governors and is currently a member of the Resources Committee. He has specific responsibility for Training & Governor Development.
Chris is Director at Tribal a large management consultancy, where he leads work on education.
He is married and has a young son, who keeps him busy outside of work. He is also a Trustee of Southside Young Leaders Academy,a youth charity based in Camberwell.
Christina joined Julian's Primary in September 2013 on the School Direct Programme. She has worked as a Class Teacher across both sites in KS1 and lower KS2 and is now a Year Group Leader.
Christina is a member of the Achievement Committee.
Georgina Worrall joined the governing body in March 2018 and is a member of the Achievement Committee.
She is Head of Events at the Geological Society and has a son at the Streatham site.
Kelly joined the Governing body in November 2014 and has joint specific responsibility with Polly Lee-Baker for Parent/Carer Liaison & Engagement. Before being elected she was active on the school PTFA, undertaking the role of Vice-Chair for 3 years. She has two children at the West Norwood site in Years 2 and 5.
Outside school Kelly works as a Television Producer Director making family Entertainment shows.
Matt White is a parent governor who joined the governing body in December 2018. He has a daughter at the Streatham site and has been working in the world of technology since the mid 90s.
Stefanie joined the governing body in 2018 and is a member of the Resources Committee.
Stefanie is a Principal Associate in the Financial Services team at the law firm Eversheds Sutherland.
Steve joined the governing body in July 2018. He is a member of the Achievement Committee and has a specific responsibilities for governor training and development.
Having lived locally for 15 years in Streatham Hill, Steve works as a programme and change manager and is currently working on the assessment part of the new Department for Education (DfE) National Assessment and Accreditation System (NAAS) for children and family social workers in England.


Wounds found in combat vs those in Active Shooter situations are very different. This class is designed for law enforcement, first responders, schools, corporations, churches, hospitals, etc. who want to train to treat mass casualties from active shooters or targeted attacks. This class is best taught in cohesive groups who will be together during such events and can develop a training bond and plan together, but can also be taken by individuals. This class can also be switched and taught at businesses where coworkers could treat incidents of workplace violence and locations such as schools to law enforcement and tactical EMS. We recommend this class to to grasp concepts surrounding mass casualties and patient triage. This class will teach the most current Tactical Emergency Casualty Care curriculum and will also teach the "Stop the Bleed" Homeland Security curriculum.
All course materials are provided for this course. IFAKs are available to purchase for $150 ($15 discount) and custom medical bags and other medical equipment will be available for purchase as well. This course can be taught at your business, church, school, or other locations. Group and responder discounts available for this course. Basic first aid and medical response is recommended for this course. This course can also be taught in a 2-day format and combined with tactical medicine 101. A certificate of completion will be given at the end of this course.


description XSane is an application to scan images using a hardware scanner attached to your computer. It is able to save in a variety of image formats, including TIFF and JPEG and can even save your scan as a PDF. XSane also has support for scanning multiple pages and merging them into a single document.


ColdFusion comes with three tags that make it possible to manipulate files and directories on both local and remote servers. These tags enable you to build sophisticated applications such as document management systems, forms capable of accepting file uploads, FTP clients, and more.
The CFDIRECTORY and CFFILE tags allow you to manipulate directories and files on your local ColdFusion server, while the CFFTP tag makes it possible to conduct file transfers between your ColdFusion server and remote FTP servers. Both the CFFILE and CFDIRECTORY tag present potential security hazards, as these tags have direct access to the filesystem of the ColdFusion server. Therefore care should be taken with their use and deployment. Depending on the configuration of your web server and operating system, it may also be possible to upload executable code via the CFFILE tag and execute it on your server. The consequences can be potentially devastating to a system as a user could easily upload malicious code to the server and subsequently execute it. Therefore, both tags can be disabled from the ColdFusion administrator, should you decide not to make them available to developers on your server.


General Research Division, The New York Public Library. "Mrs. Nack, Murderess!" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1897 - 1909.
I created this unique murder mystery tour, which allows participants to truly immerse themselves in the world of 1890s New York City. I first conceived of the tour while reading The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins. Building on his amazing narrative I researched remaining buildings from the time period and generated possible routes for the participants to take. I then did extensive research to write elaborate clues for each team.
The first edition of the tour was produced with Atlas Obscura and sold out almost instantly. Participants imagined themselves as members of the crack reporting teams of the great newsmen rivals Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. They learned the details of the shocking 'murder of the century' in 1897 through a series of clues and historic locations. The event was a huge success; participants truly got into the spirit of competition and were surprised and excited by the remnants of 1890s NYC hidden in plain sight.
This tour has now been produced successfully three times, partnering with Atlas Obscura and separately with the New York Adventure Club. It has evolved based on participants' feedback and is now a more concentrated and fast paced historical adventure.
These photographs by Jason Hall and Corey William Schneider are reproduced here with permission.


When it comes to social games, there isn't all that much going on around Boston—at least compared to places like the San Francisco Bay Area, Germany and Eastern Europe, or Buenos Aires.
Ayeah Games, a stealthy Boston startup, is working on what it calls a "social reality" game, which touches many current themes in the tech world, including social networks, personalized news streams, Web annotation, and game mechanics. The company has gotten an undisclosed amount of seed capital from angel investors and micro-VC firms, including John Landry of Lead Dog Ventures and Janpieter Scheerder of Eureeka Ventures. Details about the startup and its financing were first reported last week by Galen Moore of Mass High Tech.
The company is the brainchild of Doug Levin, a longtime tech entrepreneur, startup advisor, and founder of Black Duck Software in Waltham, MA. Back in the late 1980s and early '90s he worked at Microsoft in sales, marketing, and other areas. But he is a gamer at heart, and says he is looking to enter the sector aggressively and define a new category of games. Ayeah also counts Steve Kane, the founder of Full Circle Media and GameLogic, as an advisor.
Ayeah (pronounced AH-yeah) is different from most people's idea of a social game—that is, casual games like FarmVille, Café World, or Bejeweled Blitz, played on Facebook or other social networks. Instead, Ayeah is "marrying the best of the social graph with a really accessible game," Levin says. The basic idea, as I understand it, is to let players follow the events they're interested in online, react to and comment on them, and interact with friends and other players—all in a fun format that encourages competition, advancing to new levels within the game, and earning and buying virtual goods (which is probably where most of Ayeah's revenue will come from, over time).


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Microsoft is rolling out the screen recording feature in the Windows 11 Snipping Tool
Kevin Okemwa
As earlier reported, there was an indication that Microsoft was working on a screen recording feature for the Windows 11 Snipping Tool. And now the company has revealed that it has started rolling out the feature, though this release is controlled as only Windows Insiders will be able to access it for now.
The screen recording feature ships to the Windows 11 in-built tool in the form of an update, coming in at version 11.2211.35.0, which you can download via the Microsoft Store. The Snipping Tool already provided users with a quick and simple way to capture screenshots and share them on their devices, with this newly added feature you will now be able to record your screen in Windows 11 easily.
You'll no longer need to use third-party applications or the Xbox Game Bar to screen record. In order to make use of this neat feature, you must first be part of the Windows Insider program, and your device must be running on the latest build. However, some Insiders may not access it immediately as the roll out process just began, though it will be availed gradually.
When using this feature while it is in preview, you might encounter a couple of issues, For instance, there might be a slight delay when you click Start and when the tool actually begins the recording process. And finally, the Snipping Tool app window might fail to restore when you try to initiate a new snip directly from the app.
If you have early access to this feature, Microsofts invites you to share your thoughts and experiences with this feature in the Snipping Tool via the Feedback Hub. Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
via: Microsoft
Jedi: Survivor pre-orders open and they include Luke, Han, and Obi-Wan cosmetics
Surface Duo 2's December firmware update addresses the bug affecting calls

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Free Water Testing in Illinois
posted by Water Testing Blog on Monday, October 11th 2010 under: Arsenic, Arsenic in Water, Bacteria, Coliform, Lead, Metals, sensafe, Water Quality Testing, Water Testing, watersafe Tags: sensafe, sensafe test kits, testing for vinyl chloride, vinyl chloride, watersafe, watersafe test kits, well water testing
The Courts in Illinois will play host to a series of lawsuits alleging that a Rohm & Haas facility allowed a carcinogenic compound known as vinyl chloride to escape into the environment and contaminate the aquifer from which local residents pull their drinking water.
Wikipedia.org has this to say about vinyl chloride: "This colorless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC). At ambient pressure and temperature, vinyl chloride is a gas with a sickly sweet odor. It is highly toxic, flammable and carcinogenic." ( source )
More than 300 McCullom Lake residents have signed up to get their wells tested for carcinogenic vinyl chloride at Rohm and Haas' expense.
Of 515 surveys sent out last month by village government, 325 came back wanting the free test, while only 11 responded no, Village President Terry Counley said. Rohm and Haas offered in August to pay for it, more than four years into a series of lawsuits blaming pollution from its Ringwood plant for causing a brain cancer cluster.
"I'd say it's a very good sign. We're all in this boat together over here, and we need the answers," Counley said.
Counley must select a water testing company from a list of firms accredited by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Only people who signed up will get their wells tested, and Counley said he would like to get it done before winter.
Three former village next-door neighbors diagnosed with brain cancer filed the first lawsuits in April 2006, alleging that decades of seepage from a closed 8-acre waste pit fouled their air and groundwater with vinyl chloride and other chemicals.
Thirty-two lawsuits as of today blame the pollution for brain and pituitary tumors in McCullom Lake and the Lakeland Park subdivision in McHenry. ( source )
Thankfully the residents of that region in Illinois have banded together and taken a stand on the matter of well water pollution. With any hope these folks will find some answers from the testing… and after that we hope other communities will band together and investigate possible sources of suspected well water contamination.
SenSafe / WaterWorks
Can the average person test their own water?
While the task of testing well or ground water for the presence of compounds such as vinyl chloride will remain in the hands of certified water testing experts such as National Testing Laboratories, the average person CAN test for other, more common drinking water contaminants.
Companies such as SenSafe and WaterSafe make easy-to-use, accurate at-home water test kits for a number of critical drinking water parameters such as arsenic in water, lead in water, bacteria in water, and heavy metals in water, etc.
Consumers have the option of purchasing drinking water test kits for individual parameters or in multi-parameter test kits such as the Water Quality Test Kit from SenSafe and the City Water Test Kit from WaterSafe.
Spread the Water Testing Word!
« Arsenic Test Kits for Science Fair Projects
Water Filter Companies Not Affiliated With City or State »


Cheers to 5 More Years!
The team at Tourism Nanaimo is beyond excited to share the news that the City of Nanaimo has awarded a five-year service contract to Tourism Vancouver Island to continue service delivery of tourism marketing, destination development and visitor servicing activities for Nanaimo. The agreement is set for April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2024.
For additional information, quotes and media contact information, please see the official media release from The City of Nanaimo.
For information about our proposal to the City and the next steps in our planning, please contact Karen Bannister at 250-740-1222; karenbannister@tourismnanaimo.com.
The City of Nanaimo has extended is service contract with Tourism Vancouver Island (TVI) to March 31, 2019. The extended contract is for the service delivery of tourism marketing, destination development and visitor servicing activities for Nanaimo.
Tourism Nanaimo is at an exciting point in its growth. The Fiscal 2018 plan builds upon past successes, but creates a cohesive presence in the marketplace through the development of a Destination BC brand-aligned creative concept. This plan translates a creative vision that captures the uniqueness of Nanaimo as a destination into marketing tactics that hit desired markets: short-haul British Columbia and Alberta residents seeking authentic travel experiences and identifying as Authentic Experiencers, Cultural Explorers or Free Spirits.
The theme of the FY18 Marketing Plan is uncovering the real Nanaimo – storytelling that forefronts the hidden gems and undiscovered beauty of this region, known and celebrated by local residents and now shared with the world.
Thinking about reaching out to Tourism Nanaimo? Please do!
Tourism Nanaimo strives to connect with and support as many local tourism industry operators and partners as possible; your email or phone call will put your business on the fast track to inclusion in industry initiatives and programming such as marketing, social media, visitor servicing and destination development opportunities.
Contact Karen for questions about Nanaimo's annual marketing plan, ideas for marketing programs, or other marketing-related inquiries specific to Nanaimo and Region.
Contact Hannah for questions about social media and content for Tourism Nanaimo channels.
Contact Darsey for connecting with media and travel trade, itinerary suggestions, and familiarization or press trip assistance for Nanaimo.
Contact Melissa for information related to destination development, stakeholder engagement and inquiries, grants and funding, value of tourism presentations, and special industry projects.
Contact Dino for information related to visitor services, visitor counselling, travel planning, itinerary suggestions and other visitor inquiries.
Contact Helga for information related to volunteer opportunities, volunteer training, requesting volunteers, the hospitality ambassador program and any other volunteer related inquiries.


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Author Archives: AlysounBoyle
About AlysounBoyle
Alysoun is a PhD candidate at the Newcastle Law School, University of Newcastle, where she is conducting metaresearch of empirical studies of mediation, in an effort to find out more about mediator effectiveness. In addition to ADR Research Network, she is a founding member of ADRAC, and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the Law and Society Association (USA). She was a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Dispute Resolution Task Force on Research on Mediator Techniques until that Task Force's disbandment following publication of its Final Report in 2017. She is a Director of National Mediation Conferences Ltd. Alysoun is an experienced DR practitioner and educator/trainer. She is also the Call Out Officer for her local brigade in the NSW Rural Fire Service. Contact: alysounboyle@gmail.com
A student journal – in parts (2)
Posted on 30/08/2019 by AlysounBoyle
Amazon smoke © A. Boyle
Days Three – Six
The Amazon hangs over everything here, and today, literally so, with bleak, smoked air. It smells quite different from Australian bushfires (all those eucalypts) and, at first this morning, I wondered if it was "merely" pollution in such an enormous city. It truly is a "pall" of smoke.
Last week, one of the Brazilian delegates explained to me that Amazonia (its Portuguese name) has its own rainforest-generated climate typified by regular downpours. Some call it "our river in the sky". So there are two rivers: on the ground is the Amazon itself and, in the sky, is the rain. It is said that, with all that has been happening over recent years, the river in the sky does not flow as much and, because it relies on the forest (which is so damaged), it may never flow again.
Although this School still has a couple of days to go, I am sending this today – it takes only a few minutes to arrive, but it actually isn't delivered in Australia until thirteen hours from now.
Back to my homework. Embarking on this journal was a purposeful exercise: I wanted to gain some insight into what students experience when they have to do a journal. In preparation, I have re-read Olivia's articles, Tania's guidelines, various references (including: P. Brown, H. Roediger, and M. McDaniel, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, [Belknap Press, Harvard University, USA, 2014],) and my own 'Guide to Reflective Learning' (2018-19). This time I have read them from the viewpoint of a student rather than an assessor/marker. Needless to say, I have gained some insights that will inform my future teaching/instruction. For example, it is a rigorous undertaking that requires constant concentration during the day, and the capacity for honest self-reflection in the evening. It is far less for the faint-hearted than I had fully realised. In terms of a contribution to ADRRN, I did hope that this task would contribute something to our collective knowledge, about what we teach, and how we teach it. Though in the form of a much more self-conscious experiment than a controlled study.
This international "workshop" on Science and Innovation Diplomacy: there are three key ideas about journals that I have gained from my time here:
Having to write a journal forces me to concentrate much more throughout the day;
It also forces me to slow down and truly think about all that happened during the day; and
I have to sort between all that happened during the day, and what actually mattered to me.
I know that any amount of reading in the area tells me about the importance of journals as learning tools; however, now I have experienced how much keeping a journal has enhanced my own retention of information.
Presidents of three universities © A. Boyle
What I understand from this whole Sao Paulo event is that Global South countries are seeking avenues to become equal players in the world despite their lack of competitive clout. By concentrating on scientific and technology expertise, they aim to build transnational collaborations that are as strong as the Global North's economic dominance.
There are three stand-out ideas for me:
The importance of a collaborative, respectful approach to building international relations;
Developing transnational relationships based on shared expertise rather than on the basis of politics; and
Recognising common purpose that needs no "ownership".
As concepts, these are not entirely new to me, because they are similar to the concepts that underlie mediation. As a member of this group here in Sap Paulo, I have witnessed and experienced the strength that comes from genuinely mutual recognition and acknowledgement. This is not about the social desirability of doing the right thing in order to "look good"; "looking good" is out of place here. Instead, it is about creating collaborative expertise. For me, it echoes the sense of self-determination that is fundamental to (my own view of) mediation.
More importantly for me personally, I have discovered a sense of what it might be like for the majority of the world's people most of the time: as a delegate here, I have experienced their frustration at not having a voice, not being heard, and not being understood by those (our) much richer countries. People in my learning group have voiced their frustrations: "Can you explain to me why Africa gets so much more attention than Latin America?" Though I do have to remember that Brazil has some racial problems, too (as a Nigerian delegate has explained to me).
Although any flow of funding is very important, I am now aware that of far greater value are the mutual recognition and respect inherent to the success of these collaborative relationships. Although I have always been aware of these, I have not before seen it as starkly as here, perhaps because I have not before been in the situation of being so very out-of-place. When I think of "culture", I think of personal and social settings (and all that they entail). Here, I am learning that global positioning is a key cultural identifier, regardless of personal or social setting (by global positioning, I am referring to the Global South and Global North).
We have a major task to complete before Friday. We have been allocated to small groups for devising the preliminary wording of guidelines for establishing the transnational collaborative relationships that are fundamental to the approach of science and innovation diplomacy (the focus of being here). Typically, such relationships include at least government, universities, and private business. The group I have been allocated to: "Private Sector of Developed Countries" (no stereotyping there …), and we will craft input for the document that reflects the views of private companies. Other groups include: "Academia", "Government", "International Organisations" (e.g., UN agencies), and "Civil Society". On Thursday, all the groups will come together and, using their own ideas, jointly develop a document to be known as The Sao Paulo Framework for Science and Innovation Diplomacy. A mass negotiation if you like, though perhaps not as well planned as it could be.
I have had a remarkable time here: formal learning, informal learning, meeting people I would never otherwise meet. Today I tried to identify what, in particular, stands out for me from all that I have experienced; and what has been my personal learning? What I found was not a surprise; I've been aware of it from the first day: it's about being from the Global North, about not speaking Portuguese, about being the oldest delegate, about being white. But I hadn't realised what it means for me.
OMG. It doesn't matter what I do or say here, I have no choice but to STAND OUT. My "discomfort zone" made so very unavoidable.Keeping a journal has been a valuable lesson for me, and it's time I came home.
Futbol © A. Boyle
Posted in Dispute resolution	| Leave a reply
A Student Journal – in parts
© 2019, A. Boyle
Innovation and Science Diplomacy School, Sao Paulo School of Advanced Studies, University of Sao Paulo
When I read students' submitted journals in mediation courses, or as part of university DR courses, Day 1 regularly has comments about being unfamiliar with the course subject (e.g., "I feel completely out of my depth in this course – it is unlike anything I've ever done before") and uncomfortable with having to do a daily journal (e.g., "The two things I dislike about this course are having to do this journal, and having to do group work and role plays"); "out of my comfort zone" is a common phrase.
Being selected for this event at the University of Sao Paulo presented an unbeatable opportunity for me to subject myself to the journal – to gain some experience in, and some empathy for, the situation that students describe. I have never been to Sao Paulo before (nor do I speak Portuguese), I know almost nothing about the topic, and I did not know any of the other attendees, who seemed to have travelled from many countries. Everything about the experience was way beyond my "comfort zone".
I am here at the School to learn, and to see if I can get the beginnings of an international alliance of researchers who will help bring fresh ideas to how we conduct mediation research.
Today started 30 minutes late and we were encouraged to mill around the coffee, meeting each other. Conversation starters were pretty straight forward: "Where are you from?", closely followed by "How long did you have to travel?" By the end of the day, writing this up, I realised that I had spoken to people from: Albania, Armenia, the Balkans, Benin, Colombia, El Salvador, India, Iran, Nigeria, South Africa, Sweden, UK, Uruguay, USA, and, of course, from all over Brazil. And, of course, the other delegate from UoN. There is a noticeably different atmosphere with so much true diversity and a complete absence of homogeneity.
Key information from today
(i) Being introduced to the key concepts of Science Diplomacy and Innovation Diplomacy:
The primacy of international relations that are based on equity, and on the value of human rights;
Using the common language of science to connect peoples and cultures; and
The importance of collaboration at all levels.
(ii) Emphasis on cooperation and interpersonal influence; and
(iii) Key repeated words throughout the day: trust, bridge-building, and peace.
This is not stereotypical science, I thought. Perhaps I will have to abandon stereotypes. The sciences that delegates bring with them include: agriculture, oceanography, bio-chemistry, biodiversity, molecular science, chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, genetics, and, of course, climate sciences. And I did find a professor of Law who had travelled from Edinburgh.
What is Science Diplomacy and Innovation Diplomacy?
What I learnt today is that no-one is quite sure what Science Diplomacy and Innovation Diplomacy are. They all agree that it is about the use of science as a tool of diplomacy, the application of the unencumbered language and interests of scientists to create non-political alliances between countries; groups of scientists who work together to build bridges between their countries, especially where there are problematic political relations. They create commonalities where none seemed to exist. These are things that I can understand.
During the presentations, one example was mentioned more than once: over some years, scientists from Cuba and from the USA worked together on a range of projects, building trust with each other – in the full knowledge that Fidel Castro was very supportive of science and scientists. Apparently, it was this collaboration that led to President Obama relaxing travel to Cuba by US citizens. Each time this story was mentioned, it included mention of the current President and all that he has done to reverse that development – including banning the scientific collaborations.
What really stood out for me from today?
The constant emphasis on cooperation, trust, bridge-building. The undoing of my stereotypes about scientists. Here was a room full of highly idealistic people showing no sign of any kind of stereotype, even though they represent probably every branch of science.
And the group work. Yes, of course, we had to do some group work. We have been given a long-term task in which each group is to develop a strategy for bringing Science Diplomacy to assist with a major international crisis (each group gets to decide what sort of crisis to deal with – our group chose water). We must complete the task – and report on it – before the end of this School.
Dr Marga Gual Soler, InnSCiD, University of Sao Paulo, 2019 © 2019, A. Boyle
Today it was quite cool, and the sky monotone beige. Many of the buildings here have that grey mouldiness typical of older tropical cities. One important thing, though, Sao Paulo knows how to make coffee. The hotel has beautiful coffee; even the university venue has beautiful coffee.
We all travel together in mini-buses from the hotel to the university and back again in the evening – a matter of safety here in Sao Paulo. This morning, riding in the bus and hearing all the languages, I was struck again by the diversity. There is truly an air of excitement among people – everyone is openly very pleased that they were selected to attend this School. Last night, a small group of us went to a workmen's street-side bar on a back lane behind the hotel, where we sat at three rickety tables and talked over the day amid bottles of local beer, supplied by the bar's cheerful proprietress. If this is how students wind down, I think we instructors have it very tough. When I was back in my hotel room, I also realised just how isolated we instructors are. Meanwhile, at the bar, in response to a question, I had mentioned briefly my own purpose in having applied to attend, and was surprised that people were genuinely interested in my, as yet unformed, plan.
The content of Day Two's presentations was still focused on giving us an overview of Science Diplomacy. Two presentations stood out for me:
Dr Marga Gual Soler: she is a Science Diplomat, and something of a heroine here. She advises the European Union on its Science Diplomacy strategy, and, in November, she leads the first all-women expedition to Antarctica to publicise Science Diplomacy and the climate emergency. During her presentation, she said that, at its core, Science Diplomacy is flexible and creative, responsive to each situation and context. Now what does that remind me of? She also talked about the importance of capacity building to deal with future problems.
Professor Edouardo Viola: he gave a one hour presentation that tracked the political and economic contexts of climate change between the 1990s and now. He showed the links between economic ups and downs, and countries' responses to the various climate conferences. He showed the links between political stability and countries' responses to the various climate conferences. And the links between the crisis in democracy and the rejection of scientists, the rejection of expertise. Depressing in some ways, while, for me, so valuable to be given such a clear perspective on how we have arrived at this point. And to see that, even in widely divergent fields, context has such strong influence over our collective decision-making.
During the day I have been thinking about the application of all these concepts in my own work. There are so many commonalities between what is being said here and what happens around mediation, such as the importance of:
Trust and cooperation;
People to people contact;
Long-term capacity-building; and
People's ability to overcome their differences.
This event continues until Friday next week. I have so much more to learn, yet I am already discovering that mediators and scientists share such deep humanistic values. I wonder what else we have in common?
Part 2 will follow later this week…
NMC2019
OMG YOU'RE NOT REGISTERED YET???
This will be a remarkable event. Not only 11 national and international Plenary Speakers. Not only more than 130 national and international presentations. Not only more than 500 delegates to catch up with, or to lose yourself among.
But also a Welcome Function with views to die for. A cocktail party with the Australian Government Solicitor. An informal dinner at a smokehouse that just happens to be a winery, too. A (competitive) poetry slam. And a farewell function to wrap it all up.
Pre-conference workshops to refresh your practical skills. Not only traditional presentations, but opportunities to contribute and to take part: mini-workshops, collaborative conversations, interactive panels. Child-inclusive FDR; ethical complexities in Elder Mediation; perspectives on leadership; unexpected applications for restorative practice; what's happening in conciliation; research and you; younger people, older people, and everyone else. And illuminations from other countries, other cultures, other societies.
And three journals calling for papers from the conference: the ADRJ, The University of Newcastle Law Review, and the Bond Law Review.
And the ADRRN NMC2019 Blogfest.
Phew! Thank goodness the Easter break is so close – you'll have earned a rest.
[© A. Boyle 2018]
Get on to it, before it's too late:
http://nmc2019.com.au/
Please do contribute to our Indigenous Delegate Support Fund while you're registering.
Who to Ask: Transferability of Findings Reported in Empirical Studies of Mediation
This is a summary of a research paper presented at the ADRRN Roundtable convened at the University of the Sunshine Coast in December 2018; comments made by ADRRN colleagues have been taken into account in this summary. The research paper reports on one component of a much larger research project in which a systematic appraisal is being conducted of a selection of articles describing empirical studies of mediation
[Vektor ID 563739124/Shutterstock.com]
When I am reading an article about an empirical study of mediation effectiveness, I want to know whether I should incorporate into my mediation practice the techniques, strategies, and behaviours that are described in the article as having been effective. In other words, how transferable are they?
When appraising the transferability of the results of an empirical study in any field of research, two key factors are taken into account: the study's identification of its broad sample population, and its selection of study subjects from that population. Where neither the sample population nor the selected study subjects are appropriately representative, there is a significant reduction in the external validity of the study's results. In this context, it is important to establish what might be a representative mediation population.
It has been said that mediation can '… play a role in virtually every significant area of social conflict' (K. Kressel, The Mediation of Conflict: Context, Cognition, and Practice, in: P. T. Coleman, M. Deutsch, and E. C. Marcus (Eds), The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (3rdEdition, Jossey-Bass, USA, 2014), p 817). This suggests that a representative mediation population is the broad diverse community, all of whom are actual and potential mediation participants. When mediation researchers select people to participate in their studies, it can be assumed that they are choosing subjects who represent that broad diverse community. Yet analysis of the selected mediation literature suggests that this is not the case: mediation researchers rarely mention population representativeness, and appear to choose their study subjects from a very limited range of groups (or programs):
Mediator and non-mediator participants in some court-connected mediation programs;
Mediator and non-mediator participants in some structured community mediation programs;
Mediator and non-mediator participants in some programsdesigned for family/custody disputes; and
University students (where the studies are of simulated mediation).
As the list shows, subject diversity in mediation research is restricted by the research's own limited focus on a selection of government funded services and programs, as well as services provided through public institutions. This focus leaves other services, and participants, largely unexamined.
The lack of representative diversity in study subjects applies to the mediator as well as non-mediator participants, and it is only one of many issues claimed by mediation researchers to affect how they are able to do their work.
The issues that have been described can be categorised as follows:
Obstacles (preventing certain empirical research from being undertaken): the lack of access to adequate funding; ethical restrictions that prevent rigorous examination of mediation practices and thus limit what is known about mediation,potentially disadvantaging future mediation clients;
Impediments(making it difficult to conduct certain empirical research): the nature of the mediation process itself (including confidentiality restrictions); the increasing incidence of mediation research being conducted in law schools where there is limited social research experience and expertise; the lack of consistent research methodologies; definitional problems (e.g., the meaning of "mediation" itself, the variety of models of practice, and the various measures of mediation effectiveness); external influences on research purpose and design (such as interest groups, funders, and researcher affiliations); and reputational concerns of potential subject mediators (i.e., if they participate in a particular study, what might be reported about them?);
Recurrent flawsin research design have been noted to include: heavy reliance on data collection from mediator and non-mediator self-reports; and the inherent tension between funder preferences for relatively cheap/quick studies, and protection of research rigour; and,
Persistent gapswhere little is known about: private mediation; mediation outcomes other than settlement;individual mediator behaviours, or microskills; how mediator values and preferences influence what they say and do in mediation; systemic issues that might influence the mediation process, and what mediators say and do within it; and the lack of comparative studies (i.e., investigations of similar mediator approaches in different contexts, or of different mediator approaches in the same context).
Other potential problems that are not mentioned often in the mediation literature include:
How the researcher's own preferences and experience might influence:
Research design,
Choice of data collection methodologies,
Method of data analysis, and
Study subjects' responses;
The lack of gender, race, ethnic, and socio-economic differentiation in the selection of study subjects, in the collection of data from and about research subjects, and in the analysis of that same data. In addition, not enough is known about the demographic differences between mediators in any context, nor about how those differences might affect what mediators say and do, and affect the responses and behaviours of non-mediator participants.
It has been observed that, in all fields, there is pressure on academics to publish as frequently as possible, with their research ability being assessed by the numberof published items rather than by the qualityof reported studies. In the mediation field, this issue is compounded by the relative lack of specialist mediation publications, and the lack of sufficient mediation knowledge in other publication areas where mediation researchers do publish (e.g., law journals, business journals, social science journals); the latter can result in valuable articles not being published at all, and/or their value not being recognised. Also, it has been suggested that publishers give preference to articles that confirm mediation's outcome effectiveness.
Any of the above issues can influence the context and setting of an empirical study of mediation, as well as the research design and its scope, the nature of the research data that is collected, the methods used to collect the data, and the focus of the data analysis.
In particular, many of the issues are likely to influence the researcher's access to appropriately representative populations, and, ultimately, the transferability of the study findings, and their relevance to practicing mediators. It is important for the future practice and development of mediation that some of these issues are openly acknowledged and addressed.
The ADRRN is a valuable, respectful, and friendly forum in which mediation researchers can discuss their work with their peers. It is also a forum in which mediation researchers can consider the above issues. For example:
What are the options for improving mediation researchers' understanding about social science research methodologies?
How to identify realistic and creative research funding and support that enables:
Access to a broader and more representative population of subjects for empirical research;
Access to diverse mediation settings and diverse research subjects;
Empirical investigations that are more complex and innovative than evaluations of mediation outcomes; and
How to encourage the dissemination of, and access to, mediation research, without being guided solely by results and findings?
NMC2019 – PhD Research Reports
The next National Mediation Conference will convene in Canberra on 15-17 April next year. the Conference streams include one devoted to DR research: Research, Education, and Training: Building a rigorous research base for DR. Although the stream will have a broad focus on the many facets of DR research and education, the Conference Design Committee is keen to provide an opportunity for conference delegates to gain an appreciation of what is happening in current DR research round Australia. To this end, they have suggested that a specific session be included in that stream, and that it be dedicated to reports from current PhD candidates for whom some aspect of DR is the focus of their research. The research project does not have to be completed in order to be included in the session. Nor does participation in this session require the submission of a formal Abstract for the conference.
The session is expected to provide conference delegates with a sense of what is happening in DR research, and to provide current researchers with a sense of what their research colleagues are doing.
If you are a PhD candidate focusing on one or more aspects of DR and you would like to participate in this session, please email me directly at: alysounboyle@gmail.com If you know someone else who is a PhD candidate and might be interested in participating, please encourage them to email me.
Conference website: https://nmc2019.com.au/
Alysoun Boyle, Chair, NMC2019 Conference Design Committee, Co-Convenor, NMC2019
National Mediation Conference 2019: Call for Abstracts
The Conference Design Committee has released the Call for Abstracts for NMC2019. The dedicated website provides guidelines, key dates, and an electronic submission pro forma. Only electronic submissions will be accepted, and they must arrive by the due date of 5 October this year:
https://nmc2019.com.au/call-for-papers/
There are eleven Conference Streams (in alphabetical order):
Approaches to Indigenous dispute management and decision-making processes. Key words: Governance; peace-building; evaluation; effective policy & services.
Business and construction, workplace and employment. Keywords: DR clauses in contracts; business, construction and workplace arbitration; industrial and employment DR; innovation in business and workplace DR; international commercial dispute resolution; evidence in commercial and business disputes.
Community-focused mediation, and other community-focused processes. Keywords: Conflict coaching; alternative approaches; environmental DR; multi-party, consultative, and whole-of-community processes; innovative approaches; evidence-based approaches.
Conciliation, including public and private advisory processes, and statutory programs. Keywords: Evidence-based approaches; conciliation, evaluative mediation, advisory dispute resolution, hybrid dispute resolution; statutory programs and processes; conciliation training, standards, and accreditation.
Court-connected DR services, including services associated with courts and tribunals. Keywords: Mandatory DR; judicial DR; artificial intelligence; theoretical frameworks; evidence-based approaches; current developments.
Dispute System Design, online DR, and technological innovations. Keywords: Theoretical frameworks; current developments; sociocultural influences; innovative approaches & applications; artificial intelligence; evidence-based approaches.
Elder mediation and other developing specialist areas of practice. Keywords: Elder mediation; age-related issues; Elder abuse; Elder law; new specialist approaches; evidence-based approaches.
Family mediation and dispute resolution, including Family Dispute Resolution (FDR). Keywords: Child inclusive and child focussed processes; family and domestic violence; parenting plans, including shared parenting; parental responsibility; property and financial matters; mandatory FDR; confidentiality; lawyer assisted FDR; family group conferencing.
Peace-building, transitional justice, reconciliation, and civil society. Keywords: Sociocultural influences, including: intra-cultural, cross-cultural and multi-cultural approaches; discourse analysis; evidence-based approaches; innovative approaches.
Research, training, and education: building a rigorous evidence base for DR. Keywords: Research design, empirical methodologies, program evaluations; standards & accreditation; innovative research; evidence-based approaches to training and education.
Restorative justice and other innovative approaches. Keywords: Circles, conferencing, mediation; theoretical frameworks; current developments; innovative approaches; evidence-based approaches.
When assessing proposals, the Committee will give priority to the following criteria:
The introduction of new and innovative concepts not previously canvassed or fully explored in the sector;
Where applicable, the rigour of any research that will be included in the presentation, or on which the proposal relies;
The inclusion of credible demonstration of the importance of the subject matter to the mediation, or DR field, and to the preferred Conference Stream;
The inclusion of intercultural, cross-cultural and/or multicultural considerations;
The potential appeal of the proposal to a broad spectrum of delegates; the proposal should include appropriate comments if it would appeal more to one cross-section of the sector (e.g. newly trained practitioners, or experienced practitioners);
The demonstrated capacity of the proposal to allocate appropriate time for coverage of the topic, and, if for a panel, to include all presenters; and
The title of the proposal conveying to delegates what they can expect from the session.
We look forward to considering your proposals as we prepare for 2019 being a belated celebration of NMC's 25th Anniversary.
https://nmc2019.com.au/
Some questions about empathy and rapport
This article reports on a side-issue that has arisen within a much larger research project. A separate part of the large research project was presented to the ADRRN at its last Round Table in December 2017.
Empathy and rapport are complex aspects of human interaction, and there is a significant literature on them dating back at least to Alfred Adler in the 1920s. The literature occurs principally in the research fields that include sociology, linguistics, neuroscience, social psychology, and cognitive psychology. In essence, empathy is accepted as being able to identify with another person, to understand what it might be like to be that person, while simultaneously retaining your own sense of self and maintaining your own sense of emotional control. It has been established that empathy and rapport are essential prerequisites for building trust and maintaining effective communication, and that establishing empathy will increase a person's sense of satisfaction with business services. Empathy has been said to be underpinned by what are called the "rules of communicative competence" by which individuals calculate the appropriate levels for relating to others depending upon cultural and personal influences at any given time. Where one person has high levels of communicative competence, in any given situation, they remain sufficiently aware of the presence of others that their behavioural and linguistic preferences will enable them to assume an appropriate level of relationship with those other people. These rules of communicative competence have since become better known as the "Rules of Rapport"
It is widely accepted that empathy and rapport are different states. Research in other fields has shown that empathy plays an important role in developing rapport, rapport plays an important role in developing trust, and trust plays an important role in creating a cooperative atmosphere in which mutually beneficial outcomes can be crafted. However, understanding and acknowledgement of the differentiations in that sequence is rare in the mediation literature, as are explanations of how the researchers intend any of the terms to be interpreted in the context of their study.
Given what is known about empathy and rapport, it is a pity that the mediation literature includes very little about what mediators actually say and do to establish an empathic relationship with and between the disputants in any particular mediation; nor what the mediators say and do that enables that empathy to contribute to building rapport and trust. For example, researchers often report a general sense of what mediators say (e.g. the mediator described the mediation process), or of what the mediators do (e.g., the mediator created an atmosphere suitable for negotiation), yet they do not report what the subject mediator actually said or did: when the mediator described the mediation process, did they use formal or less formal language, did they speak to the disputants jointly or separately (or both), what was the mediator's tone of voice and demeanour (It has been reported elsewhere that actual demeanour is important in the development of empathy and rapport)? What did the mediator say and do that created a sense of the atmosphere being suitable for negotiation?
There is a reasonable amount of research outside the field of mediation that has reported on how empathy and rapport are established and the range of effects they can have (e.g., improving witness recollection, and increasing engagement in and commitment to business relationships). It is likely that, because of mediation's essential links to conflict, empirical studies of mediators and of mediation would be a significant contribution to knowledge about empathy, rapport and trust. Well-designed, rigorous empirical studies could investigate: how can empathy, rapport, and trust be established in situations of conflict; how do the indicators of empathy, rapport, and trust differ in the context of conflict; how do the effects of empathy, rapport, and trust differ in the context of mediation generally (compared with other contexts); how do they differ between mediations conducted in different contexts?
How much does the establishment of empathy, and the building of rapport, influence the often-reported mediator experience of disputants and other participants reporting high levels of satisfaction with the mediation process despite not having achieved any form of settlement?
Finally, during all the emphasis on the mediator's role in establishing empathy and building rapport, have we forgotten a different perspective: how often do the disputants seek to establish an empathic relationship with the mediator?
Some Readings and Sources
Adler, Understanding Human Nature (Greenburg, New York, USA, 1927).
J. Clark, 'Empathy and Alfred Adler: An Integral Perspective' (2016) 72(4) The Journal of Individual Psychology.
Lietz, K. E. Gerdes, F. Sun, J. M. Geiger, M. A. Wagaman, and E. A. Segal, 'The Empathy Assessment Index (EAI): A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of a Multidimensional Model of Empathy' (2011) 2(2) Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Madsen, Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Investigative Interviews: the effects of a humanitarian rapport-oriented and a dominant non-rapport oriented approach on adult's memory performance and psychological well-being, PhD Thesis, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Abo Akademi University, Finland, 2017.
Davis, L. Jiang, P. Williams, A. Drolet, and B. J. Gibbs, 'Predisposing Customers to be More Satisfied by Inducing Empathy in Them' (2017) 58(3) Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.
T. Lakoff, Stylistic Strategies within a Grammar of Style (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, USA, 1979).
Tannen, 'Framing and Face: the Relevance of the Presentation of Self to Linguistic Discourse Analysis' (2009) 72(4) Social Psychology Quarterly.
Zaki, 'Empathy: A Motivated Account' (2014) 140(6) Psychological Bulletin.
Holmberg and K. Madsen, 'Rapport Operationalized as a Humanitarian Interview in Investigative Interview Settings' (2014) 21(4) Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law.
P Vallano, J. R. Evans, N. S. Compo, and J. M. Kieckhaefer, 'Rapport-Building During Witness and Suspect Interviews: A Survey of Law Enforcement' (2015) 29 Applied Cognitive Psychology.


Firstly, happy Pagan New Year to all my Northern Hemispherean friends who are today celebrating Samhain, and to my fellow Southern Hemisphereans, Blessed Beltane! Can't believe we're back here again!
And speaking of being back here again, we have some special news - Michael and I are expecting our second child in May 2014! It's a little sooner than we originally anticipated - we were planning on trying for our second late next year, when Lily was about to hit her 2-year mark, but this one decided s/he must exist now (!) so I'm currently 11 weeks in, making me due on the 18th May 2014.
I can't lie - I'm SUPER anxious about this pregnancy. I think because of all the stuff we went through when I was pregnant with Lily (read here and here), I am frightened that the same thing will happen again, even though rationally I know that every pregnancy is completely different. I've had awful dreams that I've lost the baby, that we went for a scan and couldn't find a heartbeat, and all these scary thoughts even though I've had no reason to believe anything is wrong - and all was confirmed as just fine when we went for a scan today; little heart flickering on the screen, and growing well. It was so reassuring to see that little heartbeat, and to see little bubba wriggling around - I nearly cried out of relief.
I know what I went through with Lily is the least of it - and that others have been through much, much worse - but it was a scary time for me and with nothing worse to compare it to, those moments were some of the most frightening I've ever experienced in my entire life. I spent nearly 3 weeks of last year not knowing if Lily was going to be born premature, or if she'd even make it at all.
And I know that every thing turned out perfectly in the end, and we now have a super healthy 11-month old who is growing and developing in leaps and bounds (started walking in the last week!), but I think between scans, until I can feel baby moving, that fear is always going to be there. You can't shake it when you've been through difficult times in similar circumstances before - it's human.
That being said, we're SUPER excited to be adding another little kiddo to our household - our little ones will be 18 months apart almost exactly - and I think that's a great age gap to have. They'll hopefully grow up really loving each other and getting along well and sharing their fun moments (not without arguments of course, but that's part of being a brother or sister!).
I'm Terri, a 27 year old Pagan wifey and mama living in Tasmania, Australia with my little family. I am geeky, I am a feminist, I'm a little bit new agey/hippie, but most of all I'M HAPPY AND I'M ME! Stay positive and positive things will happen, YAY HAPPY!


Get the look you want and deserve!
Welcome! Since 1986, Lien Orthodontics has been working with patients to provide the best orthodontic care for patients in the Blooming Prairie, area. Deborah Lien DDS, MBS's experience in orthodontics is coupled with genuine concern for their patients. All of our staff is dedicated to your comfort and prompt attention as well. Our goal is to help you achieve a healthy and satisfying smile.
This website provides you with an overview of our practice and the field of orthodontics. As you navigate the site, you'll find information about Lien Orthodontics's practice philosophy, our Blooming Prairie office, our location, insurance policies, and appointment scheduling procedures. Please browse the site at your convenience and feel free to contact us with any questions. You can also request an appointment by clicking here.
You'll find a lot of valuable information on the website about orthodontic problems, diagnoses, and treatments. We believe informed patients are better prepared to make decisions about their health and well being. We encourage you to review this information to help you understand any health concerns you may face.
From children to adults, we specialize in creating beautiful and healthy new smiles for the whole family. Our friendly professional staff looks forward to meeting you and exceeding your expectations.
Contact Dr. Deborah Lien, DDS, MBS today at 507-583-6613 for a free consultation, or browse the website for more information about our services.
Dr. Deborah Lien, DDS, MBS, has been an orthodontic specialist serving the Southeast MN communities of Blooming Prairie, Austin, New Richland, Albert Lea, Owatonna and Rochester and surrounding areas since 1986.
"Visiting Lien Orthodontics gives my family and me more reasons to smile."


text:
Bishop Seabury and Bishop Prov...
Bishop Seabury and Bishop Provoost an historical fragment /
Perry, William Stevens, 1832-1898.
Sabin Americana, 1500-1926
[n.p.] : Priv. print., 1862.
Seabury, Samuel, > 1729-1796.
Alexander, Mary, > d. 1760.
Full text online
by: Perry, William Stevens, 1832-1898.
Life and correspondence of the Right Reverend Samuel Seabury, D.D. first bishop of Connecticut, and of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America /
by: Beardsley, E. Edwards 1808-1891.
Bishop Seabury and the "Episcopal recorder" a vindication /
The Address of the Episcopal clergy of Connecticut, to the Right Reverend Bishop Seabury, with the Bishop's answer. : And, a sermon, before the convention at Middletown, August 3d, 1785. By the Reverend Jeremiah Leaming, A.M. Rector of Christ's Church, Stratford. : Also, Bishop Seabury's first charge, to the clergy of his diocese, delivered at Middletown, August 4th, 1785. : With a list of the succession of Scot's bishops, from the Revolution in 1688, to the present time.
A discourse delivered before a special convention of the clergy, and lay delegates, of the Episcopal Church in the state of Connecticut, in Trinity Church, New-Haven, on the fifth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six: occasioned by the death of the Right Reverend Samuel Seabury, D.D. Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode-Island. /
by: Jarvis, Abraham, 1739-1813.


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text:
"I Have a Dream" or "Do What You Can!!"
No disrespect, but I'm sick of that speech. It has been caricatured almost as much as King himself. It's quoted by everyone from Tucker Carlson to Sean Hannity. Racists who danced on Kings grave have now turned him into Mr. Rogers in black-face. The only thing missing is that dumb sweater. His life and writings have been sanitized and air-brushed almost beyond recognition.
No mention of his sharp criticism of white racists, white moderates, and white Christians from the Birmingham jail.
No mention of his scathing attacks on the evils of capitalism.
No mention of his blistering rebuke of the Vietnam war and the military industrial complex.
No, just this painful distillation of a landmark speech into a kum-ba-ya call for a time when " little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little girls as sisters and brothers." Point missed.
Frankly, I think that Kings most valuable counsel can be summed up in 4 important words he actually never spoke. Not the words "I Have A Dream" but "Do What You Can!" You probably missed the great "Do What You Can" speech. It wasn't delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, it was spoken to Huey in the animated TV series the Boondocks in 2006.
The award winning black cartoon series was known for pushing buttons and boundaries. I'm not endorsing it. But the satire could be as inciteful as it was profane. Through the magic of animation, Dr. King survived his 1968 assassination attempt and came out of a coma 32 years later. He awoke to a misunderstood legacy and a messed up people. He was so upset with his own people that he reverted to the notorious N-word.
" It's the ugliest word in the English language, but that's what I see now", King said. The cartoon King then went on to confront his own people in with a fury I believe he might display if he were alive today. With the same passion that he went after inactive and unproductive white folk from the Birmingham jail, he went after his own folk who were talking loud and doing nothing!
Let me substitute a less volatile word for the one he used in that fictional cartoon speech. Negroes.
"Negros are living contradictions."
"Negros are full of unfulfilled ambitions."
"Negros wax and wane."
"Negros procrastinate until it's time to worry."
"Negros love to hear themselves talk."
"Negros love to complain."
He then turned to young Huey as he was leaving the stage and said, "Do what you can."…..and then he muttered, " I'm going to Canada!"
The language was offensive, but the message was clear. Do what you can! We have substituted arguing for action. Stop talking and do something. Stop posting and do something. Stop complaining and do something. Talking and posting and complaining are all essential in changing our circumstances, but not if they are a substitute for practical action.
It's a challenge to each of us on this King day. Let's complain less and do more this year. And do what YOU can do, not what your neighbor or Facebook friend can do. Do what YOU can!
Read to first graders.
Pick up the trash on your block.
Baby-sit for a frustrated single mother.
Go to the pharmacy for a weathered senior.
Little things add up. Lawrence Bell once said, " Show me a man who can't bother to do little things, and I'll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things." It's true. Let's celebrate King by serving. Do what YOU can. That's enough.
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7 More Lessons Covid Taught The Church
Every Adventist should be disturbed by the article in Christianity Today yesterday. They reported the results of a massive Adventist " health message" survey conducted
7 Lessons Covid Taught The Church
Intro: Things have changed. It has been exactly one year since the Covid crisis officially became a pandemic. One year since the masks went on
No disrespect, but I'm sick of that speech. It has been caricatured almost as much as King himself. It's quoted by everyone from Tucker Carlson
3 Things The Church Can Learn From Nick Saban and Alabama Football"
Let's establish something from the outset. I am Not an Alabama football fan. I live in Alabama, but the only Alabama team I support outside


This blog post continues the conversation around the concept of polarizing. This really ties into brand bravery. All of this ties into courage. In my work with brand leaders, I work with the "shadow". The more and more we deal with the shadow, we look at polarization. In this blog post, I'd like to talk to you about the concept of projection. Projection is a very, very intricate conversation, a very, very intricate concept. For me, it was one of the hardest to grasp when I was really learning and understanding the shadow from the luminary leader on the Shadow, the late Debbie Ford.


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The Daily Beast's Best Longreads, July 26, 2014
From the last hours of MH17's victims to the history of autocorrect, The Daily Beast picks the best journalism from around the web this week.
A Kiss, a Prayer: The Last Hours of MH17's Victims
Kristen Gelineau, The Associated Press
Flight 17 took off around 12:15 p.m. on what should have been an 11 hour and 45 minute flight. It lasted two hours.
The Secret Government Rulebook for Labeling You a Terrorist
Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Devereaux, The Intercerpt
The Obama administration has quietly approved a substantial expansion of the terrorist watchlist system, authorizing a secret process that requires neither "concrete facts" nor "irrefutable evidence" to designate an American or foreigner as a terrorist
The Biden Agenda
Evan Osnos, New Yorker
A former chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the veep has been visiting Eastern Europe since the nineteen-seventies, and he was tapped to be Barack Obama's running mate in 2008 partly to compensate for the candidate's inexperience abroad. Last year, Biden said that the President "sends me to places that he doesn't want to go."
The Fasinatng … Frustrating … Fascinating History of Autocorrect
Gideon Lewis-Krauz, Wired
Despite the inadvertent hilarity, the real marvel of our mobile text-correction systems is how astoundingly good they are.
Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League
William Deresiewicz, The New Republic
Our system of elite education manufactures young people who are smart and talented and driven, yes, but also anxious, timid, and lost, with little intellectual curiosity and a stunted sense of purpose.
Dude, Where's My Frontal Cortex?
Robert Sapolsky, Nautilus
The teenage brain is unique. It's not merely an adult brain that is half-cooked or a child's brain left unrefrigerated for too long. Its distinctiveness arises from a key region, the frontal cortex, not being fully developed.


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Sonic X-Treme Unity (Project SXU) – Tech Demo
August 5, 2020 August 5, 2020 by Calum Fraser
Sonic X-Treme Unity (Project SXU) is a fan made project based on a cancelled Saturn game, that delivers a very unique take on Sonic the Hedgehog in 3D, with the spherically styled levels and a fisheye camera view.
As many tries as SEGA have had, they still haven't managed to satisfyingly transfer the classic 2D Sonic experience to the third dimension. They did get close with the Sonic X-Treme on Saturn, but it was sadly cancelled before it was released. Sonic X-Treme Unity is a project created by Sonic fan Entendo, that's based on Sonic X-Treme, complete with with spherically shaped levels that feel like you're playing in 2D and 3D simultaneously.
The current build of Sonic X-Treme Unity features two whole levels (and one short tunnel test area) that can be completed in around a minute, with multiple routes and fun stuff to discover. The second level (Comix Zone) is particularly impressive, with some very creative level design and a nice sense of speed and momentum.
It's still early in development so you can expect plenty of rough edges, but there's a lot to like about Sonic X-Treme Unity. It's a very different take on the Sonic series which manages to nail the feel of the classic 2D Sonic games and transfer it to its weird spherical fisheye worlds. With a bit more polish this could be the Sonic 3D game we've all been waiting for.
Check Out a Gameplay Video Here
Download The Tech Demo Here (Windows)
Categories Arcade, Download, Indie, Platformer, retro Tags alpha, download, indie games, Project SXU, Sonic X Treme Unity, Sonic X Treme Unity download, Sonic X Treme Unity game Post navigation
Doomtrooper CCG – Beta Download
The Magister – Beta Sign Up


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Q: left click a ListViewItem to select it, the previous selected ListViewItem is not unselected The Code is my ListView, sometimes, when I click a ListViewItem with the mouse left button, the previous selected ListViewItem is still selected. This scenario is random. Anyone can help?
My ListView:
 <ListView ItemsSource="{Binding TestsList}"
                  x:Name="TestsListView"
                  Style="{StaticResource ListViewStyle}"
                  ItemContainerStyle="{StaticResource ListViewItemStyle}" />

ListViewStyle:
  <Style x:Key="ListViewStyle" TargetType="ListView">
        <Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="Stretch"/>
        <Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Stretch"/>
        <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="0"/>
        <Setter Property="VirtualizingStackPanel.IsVirtualizing" Value="True"/>
        <Setter Property="SelectionMode" Value="Extended"/>
        <Setter Property="ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility" Value="Auto"/>
        <Setter Property="ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility" Value="Disabled"/>
        <Setter Property="KeyboardNavigation.TabNavigation" Value="Continue"/>
        <Setter Property="FocusVisualStyle" Value="{x:Null}"/>
    </Style>

ListViewItemStyle:
 <Style x:Key="ListViewItemStyle" TargetType="ListViewItem">
        <Setter Property="ins:MouseDoubleClick.Command" Value="{Binding Path=DataContext.OpenCommand,ElementName=TestsListView}"/>
        <Setter Property="Background" Value="Transparent"/>
        <Setter Property="IsSelected" Value="{Binding IsSelected,Mode=TwoWay}"/>
        <Setter Property="FocusVisualStyle" Value="{x:Null}"/>
        <Setter Property = "Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate>
                    <Border x:Name= "ItemBorder" Margin="0,0,0,5" BorderThickness="0" Height="92">
                        <Border.Background>
                            <ImageBrush ImageSource="../Images/Item.png"/>
                        </Border.Background>
                        <Grid Margin="0,0,0,5" VerticalAlignment="Top">
                            <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                                <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
                                <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
                                <RowDefinition Height="*"/>
                            </Grid.RowDefinitions>
                            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
                                <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
                            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                            <TextBlock  x:Name="NameTextBlock" Grid.Column="1" TextTrimming="CharacterEllipsis" Text="{Binding Name}"  FontWeight="Bold" Padding="0,5,10,2"/>
                            <Image Source="{Binding Icon}" Grid.Row="1" Grid.RowSpan="2" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="30" Height="30" Margin="10,2,10,2"/>
                            <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Margin="0,0,10,2">
                                <Image Source="../Images/Prompt.png" Width="15" Height="15" Margin="0,0,5,0" />
                                <Image Source="../Images/Warning.png" Width="15" Height="15" Margin="0,0,5,0" />
                                <TextBlock TextTrimming="CharacterEllipsis" Margin="0,0,20,0">
                                <Run Text="{Binding DataContext.VersionText,ElementName=TestsListView}" FontWeight="Bold"/>
                                <Run Text="{Binding Version}"/>
                                </TextBlock>
                                <TextBlock TextTrimming="CharacterEllipsis" Margin="0,0,10,0" TextWrapping="NoWrap">
                                <Run Text="{Binding DataContext.AuthorsText,ElementName=TestsListView}" FontWeight="Bold" />
                                <Run Text="{Binding Authors}"/>
                                </TextBlock>
                            </StackPanel>

                            <TextBlock Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" TextTrimming="CharacterEllipsis" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="{Binding Description}" Padding="0,0,10,5"/>
                        </Grid>
                    </Border>
                    <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                        <Trigger Property="ListViewItem.IsSelected" Value="True">
                            <Setter TargetName="ItemBorder" Property="Background">
                                <Setter.Value>
                                    <ImageBrush ImageSource="../Images/Selected.png"/>
                                </Setter.Value>
                            </Setter>
                        </Trigger>

                        <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Source={x:Static SystemParameters.HighContrast}}" Value="False">
                            <Setter TargetName="NameTextBlock" Property="Foreground" Value="#0261A5"/>
                        </DataTrigger>
                    </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Full Professor and Chair of Combinatorial Optimization in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His key field of expertise is operations research, especially combinatorial optimization problems and applications thereof. He combines an interest in theoretical results with the desire to affect practice. Within his field, Frits is particularly interested in various scheduling, routing, and clustering problems. He is especially interested in sport scheduling; in addition, he works on other applications of combinatorial optimization such ascombinatorial auctions, andcomputational revealed preference. Also, logistic challenges, such as the optimization of inland waterway transport have his interest. These problems are connected to computer science, discrete mathematics, (applied) economics, management science, and indeed, he has great interest in problems that are in the intersection of other scientific disciplines and combinatorial optimization. Understanding the precise characteristics of today's relevant optimization problems, and dealing with the abundant presence of data, are key in developing techniques that can solve tomorrow's combinatorial optimization problems!
Frits Spieksma obtained his MSc in Econometrics from the University of Groningen (1987) and hisPhD in Operations Research from Maastricht University (1992).Spieksma worked for more than nine years at Maastricht University, with a short sidestep to the University of British Columbia, and eventually became full professor at KU Leuven before joining TU/e in 2018. He has supervised more than 10 PhD students, many of whom found their way to academia. He is founder of the EURO Working Group OR in Sports, which aims to bring together quantitative research related to sport. He is also a member of the organizing committee of MathSports International, which brings together mathematics and sports. And in the past, he has helped optimize the playing schedule of the Belgian football league Currently, Frits is Associate Editor or Editorial Board member of Operations Research Letters, OMEGA, INFORMS Transactions on Education, Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, and 4OR. He has also published around 100 papers in scientific journals and organized several international conferences.