Nintendo President Satoru Iwata claims no price cuts are in the works for the Wii U console, one day after the company reported?a?third-fiscal-quarter profit, according to the Associated Press.
?We are already offering it at a good price,? he reportedly said while speaking to investors and reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
During a third quarter financial results briefing, Iwata said the company has taken a resolute stance in pricing the console below its manufacturing cost, and is not planning to perform a markdown.??I would like to make this point absolutely clear,? Iwata said. ?We are putting our lessons from Nintendo 3DS to good use, as I have already publicly stated. However, given that it has now become clear that we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the software lineup is enhanced, and at the same time work to enrich the software lineup, which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U.?
Although the company has?sold 3 million Wii U units since its November 18 launch, Iwata admits sales of the console, and of the Nintendo 3DS handheld, ran out of steam during the holiday shopping season.?Yesterday, Nintendo slashed its Wii U sales forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31 to 4 million consoles. It ?previously forecasted sales of 5.5 million. It also cut its 3DS sales estimate to 15 million units, down from 17.5 million.
The Wii U is Nintendo?s first?new home console in six years.?The basic version retails for $299.99 in the U.S.
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) ? VMware Inc. said Monday that it is cutting 900 jobs, or nearly 7 percent of its workforce, and expects revenue to fall short of Wall Street's expectations for the current quarter.
The software company also said it plans to exit some lines of business and consolidate facilities this year. Cost of the job cuts and business changes is expected to be between $90 million and $110 million.
Its stock tumbled $14.58, or 14.8 percent, to $83.74 in after-hours trading following the guidance announcement, after closing down 68 cents at $98.32.
VMware expects revenue of $1.17 billion to $1.19 billion for the first quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet forecast $1.25 billion.
For the final quarter of 2012, VMware earned $205.8 million, or 47 cents per share. That's up from $200.4 million, or 46 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items adjusted earnings were 81 cents per share in the recent quarter, beating the 78 cents per share that analysts expected.
Revenue rose 22 percent to $1.29 billion, slightly above estimates.
The company said 2012 was a "strong year," despite a tough economic environment.
VMware's virtualization software allows one computer to function as multiple machines, which can help companies save energy and other costs.
TV channel Belarus 24 presented at international CSTB show in Moscow. ? News | Society ? Belteleradiocompany
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TV channel Belarus 24 presented at international CSTB show in Moscow.
The forum is a key media event of the year. It engulfs all relevant formats of TV and telecommunications technologies: digital, cable, satellite, air and mobile TV, mobile multimedia communications and satellite communications. This is the first appearance of the Belarusian satellite TV channel after rebranding. On January 1 Belarus TV changed its name for Belarus 24. The channel changed its broadcasting policy and is going to cover all regions of Russian Federation. (Gennadi Davydko, the Chair of Belteleradiocompany) (Dmitry Shedko, Deputy Minister of Information of Belarus) Belarus 24 concluded an agreement with Russian distributors in order to include the channel in packages of cable operators from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean.
2000-2013 ??All rights reserved. Belteleradiocompany
Official site created and supported by Internet Broadcasting Department of Belteleradiocompany
ADAM ASHTON | Staff writer ? Published January 30, 2013 Modified January 30, 2013
Sandy Allnock?s golden retriever Sierra greets daily deliveries to her Federal Way home with a wagging tail and a head just itching to be scratched. The dog sees so many mail carriers that she treats them like familiar friends.
Letters and packages arrive in buckets at Allnock?s house because it?s the hub of Operation Write Home, a nonprofit she launched six years ago to help deployed service members stay in touch with loved ones.
Her efforts enable an average of 1,500 troops a day to write home on intricately crafted cards that Allnock and a network of volunteers send to forward bases and aircraft carriers all over the world.
?They just love them. They love being able to write home on something beautiful,? said Allnock, 39.
This month, Operation Write Home delivered its 2 millionth card since the group was formed in 2007. It was a milestone Allnock could not have imagined when she started sending her extra handmade cards to a nurse at a military hospital in Iraq.
?It?s been amazing to watch this grow,? she said.
Operation Write Home now fills a niche in the bounty of candy-packed care packages service members receive from friends and family in the states. It?s also different from the modern communication tools soldiers take to the battlefield, such as Skype and email.
Allnock?s boxes give troops something special to send home so their loved ones know they?re not forgotten. They carry messages such as ?thinking of you? or ?Happy Mother?s Day,? but with a personal touch.
?I thought it was important that they could hold something I held,? said Maj. Johnpaul Arnold, a public affairs officer from Joint Base Lewis-McChord?s I Corps. He sent Operation Write Home cards to his wife and children while he was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2011-12.
?These cards will last,? said Arnold, 40. ?My children and their children can go back and read them, and understand a different side of these two wars that I?ve been a part of, and that they?ve been a part of.?
Allnock, a graphic designer for the Christian organization World Vision, discovered a need for a group like hers after hearing a radio interview with a craft hobbyist who sent about 1,000 handmade cards to deployed soldiers.
Allnock had a similar stash of unsent cards she created for special occasions, and she thought she could find a group that would forward them to overseas service members.
Back then, Allnock concedes, she didn?t spend much time thinking about the wars or the military. She just wanted to put her hobby to good use and clear out her extra cards.
She could not find an organization that would connect her with soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan, so she created her own.
?It was an accident, but it was a meant-to-be accident,? she said.
After Allnock posted a message online looking for help, her first bite came from a nurse stationed at a combat hospital in Baghdad who volunteered to distribute the cards. Now, Operation Write Home sends packages with hand-made cards to 120 units across all service branches.
Allnock knows the cards are popular because of the stream of thank-you messages she receives. Her sitting room features six framed flags that flew over forward bases, and a pack of framed certificates signed by officers and senior enlisted soldiers.
These days, the nonprofit consumes about 60 hours a week for Allnock. Much of that time focuses on raising money, finding sponsors, sorting cards from thousands of hobbyists and assembling packages for deployed troops.
Each box gets a few pictures of her golden retriever.
She also makes time to create at least one of her own cards every day.
?I don?t mind putting in this many hours because I think of what they do, and how hard they work,? she said. ?Compared to them, I have nothing to complain about.?
Allnock also considers herself a teacher for other hobbyists. She hosts a regular online show from her home in which she demonstrates how to make different card designs. She invites guests to ?Stump Sandy? by challenging her with seemingly unmatchable materials. Most episodes generate more than 1,000 views.
She recognizes that the war in Afghanistan is ending, but she also sees a role for Operation Write Home in years to come. Bahrain, Djibouti and South Korea are among the current destinations for her packages.
?At some point, there?s going to be another big event, and we?ll ramp up,? she said. ?For now, we?re just staying steady and strong until they all come home.?
Links to the organization
On the Web:
http://operationwritehome.org/
On Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/opwritehome
On Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/colourfulvideo
Adam Ashton: 253-597-8646 adam.ashton@ thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/military
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Skylar Diggins scored a career-high 33 points and No. 2 Notre Dame built a 19-point lead in the second half before withstanding a late Tennessee rally in a 77-67 victory Monday night over the ninth-ranked Lady Vols.
Notre Dame (19-1) won its 14th straight game and snapped the Lady Vols' nine-game winning streak. Notre Dame also became the first school ever to defeat both Connecticut and Tennessee in three consecutive seasons. The Irish won 73-72 at Connecticut on Jan. 5.
Before the game, Tennessee hung a banner at Thompson-Boling Arena in honor of former Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, whose 1,098-208 record in 38 seasons gives her the most career wins of any Division I men's or women's basketball coach ever.
Summitt, who led Tennessee to eight national titles and 18 Final Four appearances, already had the playing court named after her. The Hall of Fame coach stepped down in April after announcing in 2011 that she has early-onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. She remains on Tennessee's staff as head coach emeritus, attends just about every practice and sits in the stands for all home games. Former Lady Vol greats Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Candace Parker attended Monday's game.
Tennessee (16-4) used the emotion of that pregame ceremony to take an early 7-2 lead, but the Irish answered with a 12-2 run of their own. Diggins scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the game to help the Irish build an eight-point lead.
Notre Dame had chances to build an even bigger lead.
Tennessee guard Meighan Simmons, who entered the night averaging a team-high 17.6 points per game, picked up two early fouls and played just 11 minutes in the first half. Tennessee's frontcourt endured a major loss when center Isabelle Harrison took a spill after driving to the basket and had to be helped to the locker room. The Lady Vols had announced before the game that Harrison was playing with a meniscus injury in her left knee.
But the Irish didn't take advantage in the early going and only led 33-29 at the half. Diggins didn't get much help from her teammates, who shot a combined 8 of 30 in the first half.
Diggins then took over the game early in the second half.
The senior guard dominated the Lady Vols on both ends of the floor. She had six points, three steals, one block and an assist during an 11-0 run that gave the Irish a 16-point lead.
Diggins started the run by sinking a 3-pointer and making a conventional three-point play. Tennessee called a timeout, but Diggins stole the ensuing inbounds pass, drove to the basket and sank one of two free throws after drawing a foul.
Diggins then made another steal that eventually led to a 3-point basket by Madison Cable. She got one more steal on Tennessee's next possession and passed to Kayla McBride for a jumper that capped the spurt.
In a 72-44 victory over Tennessee last season, Notre Dame broke open a close game in the second half and proceeded to hand the Lady Vols their second-most lopsided loss in Summitt's tenure. This time, the Lady Vols fought back.
After trailing by as many as 19 points, Tennessee rattled the Irish with a furious rally over the final 10 minutes and cut the lead to 69-64 on Taber Spani's free throw with 3:54 remaining.
That's when Diggins took over again.
She found Madison Cable for a layup that got the Irish out of danger. After Spani and Jasmine Jones missed jumpers on Tennessee's next possession, Diggins sank a 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game.
Notre Dame's lead wouldn't drop below eight again.
Jewell Loyd added 10 points for Notre Dame, while Kayla McBride had nine points and 10 rebounds. Bashaara Graves had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Tennessee. Taber Spani added 12 points and Simmons had 11 points.
GENEVA (Reuters) - More than 700,000 Syrian refugees have registered in neighboring countries or await processing there, and aid workers are struggling to keep up with the exodus, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
"We have seen an unrelenting flow of refugees across all borders. We are running double shifts to register people," Sybella Wilkes, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters in Geneva.
Jordan hosts 167,444 registered Syrian refugees, as well as 51,729 who await processing, many of who fled fighting around Deraa, according to UNHCR figures posted overnight that show an overall regional total of about 705,000 refugees as of January 27.
"We are trying to clear a backlog of people because the numbers have gone up so dramatically (in Jordan and Lebanon)," Wilkes said.
Lebanon has 157,139 Syrian refugees, as well as nearly 69,000 who await processing. "The needs are enormous, we can't get to everyone fast enough," Wilkes quoted Ninette Kelley, UNHCR representative in Lebanon, as saying on Tuesday.
Turkey has 163,161 Syrian refugees in its 15 camps while Iraq hosts 77,415. There are 14,312 in Egypt and 5,417 registered across the rest of North Africa, the agency said.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Pravin Char)
NASA believes our return to the Moon could be sustained by extracting water from the lunar soil to produce air and even fuel. But how to get large amounts of that soil without bringing heavy, failure-prone machinery? The agency's RASSOR (pronounced "razor") excavator robot might do the trick. Rather than wield big scoops, it has a pair of arm-mounted drums that can change the robot's profile and dig with far more efficiency than RASSOR's 100-pound weight would usually allow, using one drum as a grip. The robot's sheer flexibility is also key to its working for the estimated five years of NASA's plans: if the crawler ever overturns or gets caught, it can flip over and keep the main treads out of the ground while clearing out soil-related jams. There's enough refinement needed that a RASSOR 2 follow-up should be in testing around early 2014, but the sequel will be close enough to the ideal design that long-term Moon missions could have the little hauler as a passenger.
There are many ways to stay connected with our family, no matter the distance.
We write e-mails, send letters or speak on the phone. Even with Skype on our computers, many of us still have a land line phone at home to connect with our families locally and worldwide.
Hearing our families? voices brings us closer together, but how were we able to keep in touch before all these technological advances showed up in our homes?
Construction of the first regular phone line was completed in 1877. By the end of 1880, there were 47,900 telephones in the US. Since the first Bell telephone company was established in 1878, phones have evolved from the ?candlestick? telephone to rotary-dial and to today?s cordless handsets.
The telephone emerged as an improvement to the telegraph. Many credit Alexander Graham Bell with the telephone?s invention; he did patent the invention. However, others have been recognized for their contributions including Italian-American inventor Antonio Meucci, who developed a voice communication apparatus considered by many as the first telephone.
Alexander Graham Bell placing the first New York to Chicago phone call in 1892. Image credit: wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone
The phone?s design has changed technically and visually since the first 19th century. They have been made of wood, metal and - more commonly today - plastic.
The first model had two parts to speak and listen. In 1890, the phone evolved to the handset, with a one-piece microphone and earpiece The early 20th century rotary dial was replaced by touch-tone phones during the 1960s. By 1970, cordless phones provided a user-friendly telephone that made it possible to communicate from anywhere in our homes.
The history of cellular phones can be traced to two-way radios, but wasn't really developed until the 1960s. The first cell call was placed in 1973. Today, many of us have mobile phones, making communication with our families easier without being restricted to phoning from a specific place.
Computers have also helped with communication since the mid-1970s. With the Internet, communication via the web has increased. What is better than seeing family even if they are far away? All these great communication tools provide easy ways to stay in touch with the people we love.
With MyHeritage, there are several ways to make communication easier with our relatives. Members can send messages, create events, birthday reminders and more.
What modern communication technology tools do you use to stay in touch with your family? Before cell phones and video communication, how did you keep in touch?
Share below, or leave us a comment on our Facebook page.
In our book, Prostate Cancer Survivors Speak Their Minds: advice on Options, Treatments and Aftereffects our aim was to provide readers with sufficient information to enable them to make informed and personal decisions. We regard our work as a companion piece to a good medical text book. A kind of portable support group.? But to be sure, advances in research and medical techniques are taking place at a rapid pace. And while the basic tenets in our work are sustainable, we want our readers to be apprised of the latest information as it becomes available.? These advances may alter options and decisions a patient may want to make. In our Blog, you will find reports? on the latest advances and research on fighting prostate cancer.? We scour the scientific world to bring it to you as soon as possible. At the same time, from now and then, we can?t help injecting our opinions here and there if we think they may be helpful. We clearly mark them ?opinions? in full disclosure.
We began our Blog when the book was first published in 2010 and you will find the Blog has been updated ever since.? Just so you get an idea of the contents, we will provide here a list of the more recent postings. You can always find older posts at the bottom of each Blog page marked ?older entries.?? We hope you will find these useful.? Let us know if we can answer any questions you may have by filling out the Contact portion of our website.
BLOG ENTRIES
?FDA approves Mayo Clinic?s new imaging agent for advanced prostate cancer
Clinical trials begin for advanced prostate cancer
Erections after prostate cancer surgery
PSA screening: Johns Hopkins vs U.S.Preventive Services Task Force
New drug to fight advanced prostate cancer: cabazidtaxel
?Blood signatures? point to aggressive prostate cancer
Mystery of erections
Advanced prostate cancer: more options now
Risk markers found for ED after radiation
MD Anderson unveils broad program to fight multiple cancers
?Wait and See? No longer cool
FDA approves Xtandi for advanced cancer
Aspirin: life saver for prostate cancer as well as heart attacks
Breast cancer drug helps men with gynecomastia
Opinion: Who should make the decisions?
PSA test gets new boost
Advanced prostate cancer treatment makes more strides
Opinion: When nothing is something
PSA and new drugs search for prostate cancer cells
U.S.Preventive Service Task Force under new fire
Opinion: Should I get treatment or do nothing?
A chip that finds prostate cancer cells
Upgrading the PSA test
New Hormone blocker pill for advanced prostate cancer
American Society of Clinical Oncology reports advances fighting advanced PC
PSA game changer?? Says Who?
Birth control pills do not cause prostate cancer
Beehive glue checks prostate cancer in mice
New universal cancer vaccine developed to be tested
Antibody shrinks tumors in 7 cancers
New surgical tool aids doctors
Circumcision and prostate cancer
Insurance Issues and prostate cancer
New cancer statistics and old cowboy hats
Link between heart disease and prostate cancer?
Robotic surgery and outcomes
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This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2013 at 4:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The recipient of nineteen honorary doctorates, and honors from three U.S. presidents, Ray Kurzweil's accolades are almost too many to list. A prolific inventor, Kurzweil created the first CCD flatbed scanner, the first omni-font optical character recognition, the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first text-to-speech synthesizer, and the first music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments. His book, The Singularity Is Near, was a New York Times best seller. and is considered one of the best books about futurism and transhumanism ever written. Mr. Kurzweil was hired by Google in December as Director of Engineering to "work on new projects involving machine learning and language processing." He has agreed to take a short break from creating and predicting the future in order to answer your questions. As usual, you're invited to ask as many questions as you'd like, but please divide them, one question per post.
Unlimited Metrocards Need To Be Activated By March 11 To Get Full Value Before Fare Hike
(Sunday, January 27th, 2013)
Hoarding extra unlimited MetroCards won?t get you far after the MTA fare hike takes effect. The unlimited cards have to be activated by March 11 to get the full value, meaning riders have to start using them before that date.
Weekly cards will expire March 17, while monthly cards will expire April 9.
The approved fare hikes will increase a monthly card from $104 to $112. A weekly card goes up $1 to $30.
Riders using pay-per-ride MetroCards will start getting charged the new $2.50 base fare when the hikes take effect March 3.
(Source: NY1)
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Writing a Professional Life: Stories of Technical Communicators On and Off the Job (Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication)
This is the first collection of narratives by practicing technical communicators telling their own personal stories about the workplace and their lives on the job. The authors portray a wide range of jobs: writers, editors, interface designers, marketing writers, and trainers working in 9 different technical fields, including software, R&D, engineering , medicine, transportation, and telecommunications. The stories vividly demonstrate the unique power of narrative as a teaching and learning tool. Unlike fabricated cases, these real-life narratives show new and veteran technical writers at work on the job, dealing with tasks, clients, and co-workers, and revealing their insights, values, and attitudes about their work. The stories also show the skills required in the profession and the ethical and other issues raised in the course of the workday. For anyone interested in technical communication and professional writing.
List Price: $ 53.00 Price: $ 8.00
Effective Communication Skills for Scientific and Technical Professionals
ISBN13: 9780738202877
Condition: New
Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Flatter, more collaborative organizational structures, combined with the pressure to translate innovative ideas into action quickly, are increasing the need by technical professionals-such as computer programmers, design specialists, engineers, and R&D scientists-to expand their repertoire of communication and managerial skills. In this highly accessible and practical book, Harry Chambers offers a wealth of strategies and tactics for building these skills, to the benefit of individuals, teams, and companies. In his trademark shoot-from-the-hip style, Chambers identifies specific real-world challenges that technical professionals face in the workplace, and offers definitive guidelines for enhancing their communication skills-from making presentations to giving and receiving criticism to navigating office politics. Featuring interviews with people in the trenches, as well as self-assessment tools and exercises, Effective Communication Skills will become a valued resource for technical professionals and their colleagues, trainers, and HR departments in all industries.
List Price: $ 16.50 Price: $ 6.74 Professional SQL Server 2000 Database Design by Louis Davidson (2001, Paperback)
TIP! As you begin your home improvement project, take care not to demolish too quickly. Wall and cabinet structures need to be checked before tearing them down.
Since the economy has taken a turn for the worse, most of us are staying put and attempting to improve what we already have. The tips in this article will help teach you how to make any home improvements worthwhile.
Acrylic Paint
TIP! Inspect your property to make sure there are no low area, particularly next to the foundation. Fill these areas with firmly packed soil to stop water from gathering there and causing erosion.
Boring, simple lampshades have no personality. Go to your local arts and crafts store, and pick up some stencils and acrylic paint. With the acrylic paint, create some interesting designs on your lamp shade. This will add a personal touch, making the room reflect your personality. This can take a boring room and make it more exciting.
TIP! Simple things like magazines or an interesting paint swatch can provide you with inspiration for a remodeling or home improvement project. Once you?ve begun to prioritize projects you?d like to accomplish, you can organize a task and materials list in order to reduce stress when you decide to begin your project.
Get an electrician to install an outlet inside the cabinet that is above your microwave. This creates simple accessibility for you to plug a microwave in while not having a visible cord. Eliminating dangling cords is an easy way to improve the look of your kitchen.
TIP! You just need two tips to make your ceiling seem higher. Think about painting stripes on the wall or adding tall lamps.
One way to save money on home improvement projects is to borrow tools from your neighbors. This means that you can all share the large, expensive tools instead of buying 10 of each. You can even trade tips with your neighbor.
TIP! Give good effort to your home?s curb appeal. Mow your lawn and make sure that your hedges are trimmed.
Look at what you want to accomplish, this is a great tip to assist you on your journey towards home improvement. A home improvement project gives you a great opportunity to add personal flair to your living space.
TIP! If you are unsure of where to start with your home improvement, spend time with a hired contractor. They understand how to choose renovations which offer the most property value in return.
Install good ceiling fans in order to help the air circulation in your home. Using these fans can decrease the need of using your air conditioner during the hot summer. In addition, they help push down warm air during the winter, which increases the efficiency of your furnace. Many models of fans are able to reverse their blade direction, allowing on either forcing air up or down.
TIP! Expensive artwork is not necessary to make your home look nice; simple tiles can be used instead. Three dimensional tiles set in two different colors is wall art within itself.
Divide your project into different steps and make sure you have all the tools and knowledge necessary for each of these steps. Any project that can be done by others is likely something of which you are also capable. If you are willing to use the information that you have just read, you are sure to have a successful, hassle-free home improvement experience.
For living, the American didactic regularity has been scrutinized, berated, belittled, and criticized when it comes to the learning of Americas offspring. For several families, secretive schools, as classy, are a tuition-guaranteed, well-rounded learning. Charter schools, which are privately operated civic schools formal by the stately departments of civic directive, are an unorthodox as positively. A upward typeface of learning, residence education, is appropriate constantly increasingly prevalent. In studies conducted by the Us. District of Learning, in 2003 present were approximately 1.1 million students who were residence- schooled. According to a prepare in black and white by the Us. District of Learning, the delineation of residence schooled encompassed students whose parents reported them as being schooled at residence as a replacement for of at a civic or secretive train for at smallest amount quantity of their learning and if their part-time staffing in civic or secretive schools did not exceed 25 hours a week. Students who were schooled at residence simply as of a acting illness were not built-in as residence schoolers.
In adding to the figures on the total of students enrolled, the Us. Dept. of Learning besides surveyed folks parents who residence schooled their offspring to hit upon the work out why parents chose this didactic choice. The work out agreed the majority habitually (by 31% of parents surveyed) was that parents were alarmed not far off from the structure of the train populace. A further maximum work out parents chose to residence train their offspring was to offer spiritual or decent directive, which they would not pick up in a civic train. Interestingly an adequate amount, simply 16% of parents were frustrated with the intellectual directive accessible at new schools.
Residence education rations vary from stately to stately. It is vital for a person taking into consideration residence education to do their training Each one stately has reliable official rations in organize for your son to be residence schooled. In North Carolina, for case in point, parents who residence train want to have a least possible of a soaring train certificate or the correspondent the leave of directive has to be inspected by the native flames assemble to manage inevitable it meets the didactic cryptogram rations and the close relative obligation go on particular proceedings. These are just a the minority of the stately rations. Nevada, on the new hand over, requires that a residence education close relative have a ideas pass or official recognition. On the contrary they do not want inspections, nor do they want recordkeeping or the direction of achievement tests. As you container predict, present is a group of variance, so it is important to get in touch with your stately district of civic directive to hit upon on show the rations that operate to your circumstances otherwise you embark on residence education. Your stately district of civic directive motivation besides have a roll of funds groups, sitting room for ordering ideas equipment, and new property to evade you as you look for to offer this exceptional learning for your son.
As residence education has its peculiar set of non-traditional didactic challenges, it container besides be creative, pleasurable, and memorable for your son. Whether your son learns out of fixed civic schools, secretive schools, or residence education, the the majority vital thing to go on in beware is that a childs learning is desperately vital to their hope successes as an adult.
MOU with Panthera launches Guyana's first jaguar conservation framework
New York, NY The jaguars of Guyana gained significant ground yesterday with the establishment of the country's first official jaguar-focused agreement by the government of Guyana and wild cat conservation organization, Panthera.
Gathering in Georgetown, Guyana's Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Honorable Robert M. Persaud, presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Mr. Joslyn McKenzie, and Panthera's CEO, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz. Serving as Panthera's fifth jaguar conservation agreement with a Latin American government, this MOU marks an official commitment by both parties to collaboratively undertake research and conservation initiatives that ensure the protection of Guyana's national animal, jaguar conservation education among its people, and mitigation of human-jaguar conflicts in the country.
Launching this agreement provides a framework through which Panthera, in partnership with Guyana's Protected Areas and National Parks Commissions, can strengthen the effectiveness of the country's Protected Areas System for wildlife, and outline the most effective initiatives to conserve the nation's jaguars. Several initial activities to be undertaken through the agreement include mapping of the presence and distribution of jaguars across Guyana, and implementing a human-jaguar conflict response team that helps ranchers in livestock husbandry techniques and assesses conflict hotspots to better focus mitigation efforts and reduce conflict.
At the ceremony, the Honorable Robert M. Persaud stated, "We are proud of our new partnership with Panthera to secure the continuity of our sustainable development efforts while conserving our national symbol, the jaguar."
Panthera's CEO and jaguar expert, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, continued, "Historically, Guyana has achieved incredible success in sustainably balancing the country's economic development, natural resource management, the livelihoods of its people, and the preservation of its unique wildlife and wild places. The signing of this jaguar conservation agreement demonstrates the government's continued commitment to its legacy of conservation alongside economic progress and diversification."
Unlike most other Latin American and developing nations rich in natural resources, Guyana has maintained an exemplary model of habitat preservation, assisted by sparse human populations in the southern half of the country and a strong ethic for sustainable development, aided by important regulatory frameworks. In recent years, Guyana has implemented a Low Carbon Development Strategy to protect its 16 million hectares of rainforests and adhere to the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD). Additionally, in 2011, Guyana committed to the establishment of the national Protected Areas Act, providing a framework for the management of the country's preserved landscapes, including those within the Jaguar Corridor.
Such dedication to environmental conservation, along with its unique placement rooted between Venezuela to the north, Brazil to the west and south, and Suriname to the east, has established Guyana's pristine forest and savanna landscape system as a critical connecting block for jaguar populations in northern South America, and through the Jaguar Corridor. Conceptualized by Dr. Rabinowitz, the Jaguar Corridor Initiative is the backbone of Panthera's Jaguar Program, which seeks to connect and protect jaguar populations ranging from Mexico to Argentina to ensure the species' genetic diversity and survival.
Today, Guyana represents one of 18 Latin American countries that is home to the jaguar, and one of 13 countries in which Panthera is conducting jaguar conservation science. In fact, the signing of this MOU comes at the heels of a ten-day exploratory expedition of Guyana's Rewa River by Panthera's jaguar scientists, including Vice President and legendary biologist Dr. George Schaller, Northern South America Jaguar Program Regional Director Dr. Esteban Payan, and grantee, Dr. Evi Paemelaere. Along with assessing the state of biodiversity and threats facing this watershed, Panthera's team made a milestone sighting of the notoriously elusive 'forest jaguar' during the trip, indicating the potentially healthy condition of the riparian forests bordering the Rewa River.
"Being able to have a forest jaguar sighting in 10 days in the river is a testament to the good health of this forest. Sometimes years pass without seeing a jaguar in a perfectly sound forest environment," commented Dr. Payan.
View Panthera's Guyana image gallery.
Since 2011, Dr. Paemelaere has led Panthera's jaguar conservation initiatives in southern Guyana, concentrating on the Karanambu and Dadanawa Ranches of the Rupununi savannas. Traversed by the Rupununi River, these savannas serve as an extraordinary hotspot of biological diversity and an essential element of the Jaguar Corridor, potentially connecting Guyana's jaguars with those of the Amazons.
Panthera's partnership with the Karanambu Trust and Lodge - a former cattle ranch emblematic of historic Guyana turned eco-tourism operation - established the country's first jaguar monitoring site and first mammal-focused biodiversity survey in the country. Often working on horseback, Panthera's jaguar scientists conducted surveys on both Karanambu and Dadanawa ranches using camera traps and interviews to determine jaguar density, and assess the extent of human-jaguar conflict and unique threats facing the species.
"A jaguar density of three to four individuals per 100 km2 for the Rupununi savannas means these habitats are as important as rainforests for the conservation of the jaguar," said Dr. Payan. In partnership with the Karanambu Trust and WWF Guyana, Panthera has also contributed to capacity-building with local Amerindian communities.
In 2013, Panthera is working to assess the state and presence of jaguars inside a logging concession between the Iwokrama Reserve and Central Suriname Nature Reserve, also embedded in the Jaguar Corridor.
###
Download a map of Guyana and watch a video from the field.
About the Jaguar Corridor Initiative
Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative seeks to link core jaguar populations across the jaguar's range within human landscapes, from Mexico to Argentina, to preserve the species' genetic diversity. Through multilateral partnerships, government support, and local buy-in, Panthera is the driving force behind this initiative. Saving jaguars range-wide is a winning strategy for conserving vast landscapes and ecosystem functions, and preserving human health and livelihoods. Visit the Jaguar Corridor Initiative.
About Panthera
Panthera, founded in 2006, is devoted exclusively to the conservation of wild cats and their ecosystems. Utilizing the expertise of the world's premier cat biologists, Panthera develops and implements global conservation strategies for the largest, most imperiled cats tigers, lions, jaguars, and snow leopards. Representing the most comprehensive effort of its kind, Panthera works in partnership with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, local communities and governments around the globe. Visit www.panthera.org
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Guyana government and Panthera sign historic jaguar conservation agreementPublic release date: 25-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
MOU with Panthera launches Guyana's first jaguar conservation framework
New York, NY The jaguars of Guyana gained significant ground yesterday with the establishment of the country's first official jaguar-focused agreement by the government of Guyana and wild cat conservation organization, Panthera.
Gathering in Georgetown, Guyana's Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Honorable Robert M. Persaud, presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Mr. Joslyn McKenzie, and Panthera's CEO, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz. Serving as Panthera's fifth jaguar conservation agreement with a Latin American government, this MOU marks an official commitment by both parties to collaboratively undertake research and conservation initiatives that ensure the protection of Guyana's national animal, jaguar conservation education among its people, and mitigation of human-jaguar conflicts in the country.
Launching this agreement provides a framework through which Panthera, in partnership with Guyana's Protected Areas and National Parks Commissions, can strengthen the effectiveness of the country's Protected Areas System for wildlife, and outline the most effective initiatives to conserve the nation's jaguars. Several initial activities to be undertaken through the agreement include mapping of the presence and distribution of jaguars across Guyana, and implementing a human-jaguar conflict response team that helps ranchers in livestock husbandry techniques and assesses conflict hotspots to better focus mitigation efforts and reduce conflict.
At the ceremony, the Honorable Robert M. Persaud stated, "We are proud of our new partnership with Panthera to secure the continuity of our sustainable development efforts while conserving our national symbol, the jaguar."
Panthera's CEO and jaguar expert, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, continued, "Historically, Guyana has achieved incredible success in sustainably balancing the country's economic development, natural resource management, the livelihoods of its people, and the preservation of its unique wildlife and wild places. The signing of this jaguar conservation agreement demonstrates the government's continued commitment to its legacy of conservation alongside economic progress and diversification."
Unlike most other Latin American and developing nations rich in natural resources, Guyana has maintained an exemplary model of habitat preservation, assisted by sparse human populations in the southern half of the country and a strong ethic for sustainable development, aided by important regulatory frameworks. In recent years, Guyana has implemented a Low Carbon Development Strategy to protect its 16 million hectares of rainforests and adhere to the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD). Additionally, in 2011, Guyana committed to the establishment of the national Protected Areas Act, providing a framework for the management of the country's preserved landscapes, including those within the Jaguar Corridor.
Such dedication to environmental conservation, along with its unique placement rooted between Venezuela to the north, Brazil to the west and south, and Suriname to the east, has established Guyana's pristine forest and savanna landscape system as a critical connecting block for jaguar populations in northern South America, and through the Jaguar Corridor. Conceptualized by Dr. Rabinowitz, the Jaguar Corridor Initiative is the backbone of Panthera's Jaguar Program, which seeks to connect and protect jaguar populations ranging from Mexico to Argentina to ensure the species' genetic diversity and survival.
Today, Guyana represents one of 18 Latin American countries that is home to the jaguar, and one of 13 countries in which Panthera is conducting jaguar conservation science. In fact, the signing of this MOU comes at the heels of a ten-day exploratory expedition of Guyana's Rewa River by Panthera's jaguar scientists, including Vice President and legendary biologist Dr. George Schaller, Northern South America Jaguar Program Regional Director Dr. Esteban Payan, and grantee, Dr. Evi Paemelaere. Along with assessing the state of biodiversity and threats facing this watershed, Panthera's team made a milestone sighting of the notoriously elusive 'forest jaguar' during the trip, indicating the potentially healthy condition of the riparian forests bordering the Rewa River.
"Being able to have a forest jaguar sighting in 10 days in the river is a testament to the good health of this forest. Sometimes years pass without seeing a jaguar in a perfectly sound forest environment," commented Dr. Payan.
View Panthera's Guyana image gallery.
Since 2011, Dr. Paemelaere has led Panthera's jaguar conservation initiatives in southern Guyana, concentrating on the Karanambu and Dadanawa Ranches of the Rupununi savannas. Traversed by the Rupununi River, these savannas serve as an extraordinary hotspot of biological diversity and an essential element of the Jaguar Corridor, potentially connecting Guyana's jaguars with those of the Amazons.
Panthera's partnership with the Karanambu Trust and Lodge - a former cattle ranch emblematic of historic Guyana turned eco-tourism operation - established the country's first jaguar monitoring site and first mammal-focused biodiversity survey in the country. Often working on horseback, Panthera's jaguar scientists conducted surveys on both Karanambu and Dadanawa ranches using camera traps and interviews to determine jaguar density, and assess the extent of human-jaguar conflict and unique threats facing the species.
"A jaguar density of three to four individuals per 100 km2 for the Rupununi savannas means these habitats are as important as rainforests for the conservation of the jaguar," said Dr. Payan. In partnership with the Karanambu Trust and WWF Guyana, Panthera has also contributed to capacity-building with local Amerindian communities.
In 2013, Panthera is working to assess the state and presence of jaguars inside a logging concession between the Iwokrama Reserve and Central Suriname Nature Reserve, also embedded in the Jaguar Corridor.
###
Download a map of Guyana and watch a video from the field.
About the Jaguar Corridor Initiative
Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative seeks to link core jaguar populations across the jaguar's range within human landscapes, from Mexico to Argentina, to preserve the species' genetic diversity. Through multilateral partnerships, government support, and local buy-in, Panthera is the driving force behind this initiative. Saving jaguars range-wide is a winning strategy for conserving vast landscapes and ecosystem functions, and preserving human health and livelihoods. Visit the Jaguar Corridor Initiative.
About Panthera
Panthera, founded in 2006, is devoted exclusively to the conservation of wild cats and their ecosystems. Utilizing the expertise of the world's premier cat biologists, Panthera develops and implements global conservation strategies for the largest, most imperiled cats tigers, lions, jaguars, and snow leopards. Representing the most comprehensive effort of its kind, Panthera works in partnership with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, local communities and governments around the globe. Visit www.panthera.org
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Jan. 25, 2013 ? Population explosions of pine beetles, which have been decimating North American forests in recent decades, may be prevented by boosting competitor and predator beetle populations, a Dartmouth study suggests.
Bark beetles are the most destructive forest pests worldwide. Management and climate change have resulted in younger, denser forests that are even more susceptible to attack. Though intensively studied for decades, until now an understanding of bark beetle population dynamics -- extreme ups and downs -- has remained elusive.
The Dartmouth-led study, published in the January issue of the journal Population Ecology, confirmed, for the first time, that the abundance of a certain animal species -- in this case the southern pine beetle -- fluctuates innately between extremes, with no middle ground.
"That is different from most species, such as deer, warblers and swallowtail butterflies, whose populations tend to be regular around some average abundance based on food, weather, and other external factors," says Matt Ayres, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth and senior author on the paper. "They don't appear and disappear in cycles. Rather, they exist in two stable equilibrium states -- one of high abundance and the other of scarcity." Once the population pendulum swings toward the high end, it won't quickly or easily swing back.
The new research by Dartmouth scientists and their forester colleagues could provide the means to limit this seemingly bipolar dynamic, keeping the bark beetles at the lower stable population level.
The studies identify the presence of bark beetle competitors and predators (specifically two other beetles) as the predominant limiting factor that can keep the bark beetles at a low, stable equilibrium. The authors suggest that the presence of these competitors and predators could be encouraged as a control strategy.
"The pine beetles produce pheromones, chemical signals, that attract enough competitors and predators to prevent outbreaks," says Sharon Martinson, a member of the research team and first author on the new paper. "Leaving more dead trees in forests can provide habitat for competitor beetles that rarely kill tree, and for predators that eat both beetle species."
The authors suggest that other pest species with catastrophic impacts may also have natural dynamics that include a tipping point between the bipolar population states. By learning what factors control those tipping points, impacts on ecosystems can be averted through monitoring and occasional intervention strategies.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Dartmouth College, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
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Journal Reference:
Sharon J. Martinson, Tiina Ylioja, Brian T. Sullivan, Ronald F. Billings, Matthew P. Ayres. Alternate attractors in the population dynamics of a tree-killing bark beetle. Population Ecology, 2012; 55 (1): 95 DOI: 10.1007/s10144-012-0357-y
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ? Jan. 25, 2013 ? Not surprisingly, a cancer diagnosis creates stress. And patients with prostate cancer show higher levels of anxiety compared to other cancer patients.
A new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center indicates that stress is not just an emotional side effect of the diagnosis; it also can reduce the effectiveness of prostate cancer drugs and accelerate the development of prostate cancer.
The findings are published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
The Wake Forest Baptist team, headed by George Kulik, D.V.M., Ph.D., associate professor of cancer biology, tested the effects of behavioral stress in two different mouse models of prostate cancer.
One model used mice that were implanted with human prostate cancer cells and treated with a drug that is currently in clinical trial for prostate cancer treatment. When the mice were kept calm and free of stress, the drug destroyed prostate cancer cells and inhibited tumor growth. However, when the mice were stressed, the cancer cells didn't die and the drug did not inhibit tumor growth.
In the second model, mice genetically modified to develop prostate cancer were used. When these mice were repeatedly stressed, the size of prostate tumors increased. When the mice were treated with bicalutamide, a drug currently used to treat prostate cancer, their prostate tumors decreased in size. However, if mice were subjected to repeated stress, the prostate tumors didn't respond as well to the drug.
After analyzing the data, the Wake Forest Baptist researchers identified the cell signaling pathway by which epinephrine, a hormone also known as adrenaline, sets off the cellular chain reaction that controls cell death. Considering that prostate cancer diagnosis increases stress and anxiety levels, stress-induced activation of the signaling pathway that turns off the cell death process may lead to a vicious cycle of stress and cancer progression, Kulik said.
Yet in both models in which the mice were given beta-blocker, stress did not promote prostate tumor growth. Beta-blocker is a drug that inhibits the activation of anti-death signaling by epinephrine.
"Providing beta-blockers to prostate cancer patients who had increased epinephrine levels could improve the effectiveness of anti-cancer therapies," Kulik said. "Our findings could be used to indentify prostate cancer patients who will benefit from stress reduction or from pharmacological inhibition of stress-inducing signaling."
The researchers now plan to test the same signaling mechanism that was identified in mice to determine if it also works in the same way in human prostates, Kulik said.
"We are at the very beginning of understanding complex stress-cancer interactions with multifaceted responses to stress that affect cancer cells, tumor microenvironment, and the organism overall," he said. "We hope that components of this signaling pathway could be used as biomarkers to predict whether and how a given tumor will respond to stress and anti-stress therapies."
SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co turned cautious on spending for the first time since the global financial crisis, keeping its annual investment plan unchanged at 2012 levels, as demand for computer chips wanes and the smartphone market slows.
Samsung, one of the industry's most aggressive spenders, has ramped up capital expenditure every year since 2004 except 2009 to meet soaring demand for its array of consumer electronics and mobile devices. It sold a record 700,000 smartphones a day in the last quarter.
But with the personal computer market shrinking for the first time in 11 years, the global smartphone market growing more slowly, and Apple Inc moving to buy fewer of Samsung's microprocessors used in the iPhone and iPad, the South Korean IT giant is now forced to keep a lid on spending.
"Overall its earnings momentum remains intact, and smartphone shipments will continue to grow even in the traditionally weak first quarter, as Samsung's got a broader product line-up and Apple appears to be struggling in pushing iPhone volumes aggressively," said Lee Se-chul, a Seoul-based analyst at Meritz Securities.
Samsung, which reported a record quarterly and annual profit on Friday, said it would keep 2013 capital expenditure unchanged from 2012.
"The key word for us in investment in 2013 is flexibility. We'll decide as the market demand dictates," Robert Yi, head of Samsung's investor relations, told analysts.
Data from the company shows Samsung started to slow down planned investment in the last quarter.
Samsung said it spent 4.4 trillion won in October-December, pushing its 2012 investment to a record 23 trillion won ($21.5 billion). But the company said in October that it was on course to spend 25 trillion won in 2012.
Analysts had expected a 4-20 percent cut in Samsung's 2013 capital spending.
By contrast, Taiwanese rival TSMC is planning to raise its capital expenditure to $9 billion this year, aimed in part at winning Apple orders away from Samsung.
Shares in Samsung fell 2.1 percent as of 0250 GMT, lagging a 1.1 percent decline in the wider market.
RECORD EARNINGS
Samsung had poured money into factories to boost production of chips and panels used in Apple products and its Galaxy range devices, pushing its operating profit to 8.84 trillion won in the last quarter. The 89 percent increase from a year earlier was in line with its earlier estimate.
Profit at its mobile devices division, which makes phones, tablets and cameras, more than doubled to 5.44 trillion won in the quarter from a year earlier, lifted by a broader offering of smartphones - from the very cheap to the very expensive.
The division accounted for 62 percent of Samsung's overall fourth-quarter profit, up from 55 percent a year earlier.
Samsung is also seeing strong sales of its Note phablet, which analysts expect to help Samsung get through any seasonal weakness better than rivals.
Samsung, which doesn't provide a breakdown of smartphone sales, is estimated to have sold around 63 million smartphones in the last quarter, including 15 million Galaxy S IIIs and 7 million Note IIs.
The company also said 2012 operating profit rose 86 percent to an all-time high of 29 trillion won.
SAMSUNG VS APPLE
Samsung sold 213 million smartphones last year and enlarged its share of the global market to 30.4 percent from around 20 percent in 2011, a report by market research firm Strategy Analytics showed on Friday. The sharp increase reflects Samsung's aggressive marketing of its wide product range.
Apple's share of the market shrank slightly to 19.4 percent from 19.0 percent in 2011, according to the report.
Globally, sales of smartphones surged 42.7 percent last year to 700 million, Strategy Analytics said.
Samsung said on Friday it expects the global smartphone segment to shrink in January-March from the seasonally strong fourth quarter, and that growth of the overall handset market will slow to the mid single-digits this year.
The forecast is in line with industry estimates, with signs of a slowdown having already emerged.
Apple shipped 47.8 million iPhones in the three months ended December, a record that nonetheless disappointed many analysts accustomed to years of outperformance. The Cupertino, California-based company also missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for a third straight quarter as iPhone sales lagged expectations.
Apple shares have dropped by more than a third since mid-September as investors fret that its days of hyper growth are over and its devices are no longer as 'must-have' as they were.
By contrast, shares in Samsung have risen 12 percent in the same period as the company once seen as quick to copy the ideas of others now sets the pace in innovation.
At the world's biggest electronics show in Las Vegas this month, Samsung unveiled a prototype phone with a flexible display that can be folded almost like paper, and a microchip with eight processing cores, creating a buzz that these may be used in the next Galaxy range.
"It's very probable to us that the Exynos 5 Octa (processor) will find its way into the Galaxy S4," UBS analyst Nicolas Gaudois wrote in a recent note.
"It also looked as if the curved display is close enough to finished product. We came away even more convinced that displays will provide significant differentiation to Samsung devices, and application processors will materially grow over time," Gaudois said. ($1 = 1066.2000 Korean won)
In space, dense clouds of cosmic gas and dust are the birthplaces of new stars. In visible light, this dust is dark and obscuring, hiding the stars behind it. So much so that, when astronomer William Herschel observed one such cloud in the constellation of Scorpius in 1774, he thought it was a region empty of stars and is said to have exclaimed, "Truly there is a hole in the sky here!"
In order to better understand star formation, astronomers need telescopes that can observe at longer wavelengths, such as the submillimetre range, in which the dark dust grains shine rather than absorb light. APEX, on the Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes, is the largest single-dish submillimetre-wavelength telescope operating in the southern hemisphere, and is ideal for astronomers studying the birth of stars in this way.
Located in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter), 1500 light-years away from Earth, the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth, and contains a treasury of bright nebulae, dark clouds and young stars. The new image shows just part of this vast complex in visible light, with the APEX observations overlaid in brilliant orange tones that seem to set the dark clouds on fire. Often, the glowing knots from APEX correspond to darker patches in visible light -- the tell-tale sign of a dense cloud of dust that absorbs visible light, but glows at submillimetre wavelengths, and possibly a site of star formation.
The bright patch below of the centre of the image is the nebula NGC 1999. This region -- when seen in visible light -- is what astronomers call a reflection nebula, where the pale blue glow of background starlight is reflected from clouds of dust. The nebula is mainly illuminated by the energetic radiation from the young star V380 Orionis lurking at its heart. In the centre of the nebula is a dark patch, which can be seen even more clearly in a well-known image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Normally, a dark patch such as this would indicate a dense cloud of cosmic dust, obscuring the stars and nebula behind it. However, in this image we can see that the patch remains strikingly dark, even when the APEX observations are included. Thanks to these APEX observations, combined with infrared observations from other telescopes, astronomers believe that the patch is in fact a hole or cavity in the nebula, excavated by material flowing out of the star V380 Orionis. For once, it truly is a hole in the sky!
The region in this image is located about two degrees south of the large and well-known Orion Nebula (Messier 42), which can be seen at the top edge of the wider view in visible light from the Digitized Sky Survey.
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ESO: http://www.eso.org
Thanks to ESO for this article.
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I grew up the daughter of an airline family.? At various points in my life my mother, father, grandfather, uncle, older sister, two aunts and two uncles all worked for an airline in one way or the other-ticket counter, manager, pilot, management, flight attendant, reservations, you name it.? In the airline industry, you put up with a lot of stress in exchange for travel benefits.? So, we traveled.? A lot. I grew up with the expectation that every couple of months you take a long weekend or longer to Arizona, or Hawaii, or Disneyland.? Sometimes even on more adventurous vacations out of the country.? After graduating high school I was terrified of the prospect of losing that lifestyle so I went to work for the airlines myself.? But after a couple of years I realized, as previously mentioned, those benefits come at the price of lots of stress.? And, starting out, I made so little money I rarely could afford to go anywhere anyway, even with the benefits.? Skip forward, for this and many other reasons, I decided to finish the degree I had been slowly, spottily working on.? I figured I could get a degree and be able to afford to travel full fare anyway.? Voila, right?
Ha.? Years and years later and I still have the expectation and itch to go somewhere every couple of months.? I get very antsy if I don?t have some change of scenery.? I think that is also why I have moved so much, or constantly rearrange the furniture.? But it doesn?t work out that often, beyond visiting relatives by car-the most 5 hours away.? If we go anywhere that is truly a vacation, it?s every couple of years, and with my parents who we love to travel with, but makes me still feel like a child sometimes.? It requires carefully saving up money and miles. I know some people rarely go anywhere at all, and maybe this sounds snobbish, but it really is an uncontrollable itch.? Needless to say we, or more importantly, I do not scratch the itch as much as I feel I need to, whether the itch is rational or not.
As a parent, I look back on the experiences traveling I had as a child.? How it shaped me.? My travels stirred compassion, awe, inspiration, tolerance and awareness.? I wouldn?t be the person I am today without witnessing poverty in the streets of Hong Kong; the contrast of overcrowded industrial cities vs. the vastness of the desert or other quiet parts of the world; the colors of the Great Barrier Reef, the rich life hidden below the surface of the water, invisible to the rest of the world. The colors of the world.
I want that sense of inspiration and understanding for my children too, even if we can?t physically go far.? Not too long ago I read ?Paris in Love? by Eloisa James and was telling my children about Paris.? They were particularly impressed when I told them about all the yummy food and the typical meals there.? I had them at ?In the summer, sometimes French children eat ice cream for breakfast,? something I had read on the internet but had no idea if it was really true.? The response was ?Let?s go!?? We wished.? To let them down gently I said ?Let?s pretend to go.?? And so French Day was born.
The question was, how do you extract the essence of a far away place and infuse it into your home, a day in your very different life?? It?s hard to actually pretend like you are standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. ? We could attempt to build a model of the Eiffel Tower.? We could check out books at the library and study the country, learn the facts.? But that all feels so schoolish, and that takes the fun out of it.? This is no homeschooling, this is vacation, a kind of staycation.
We were just going to have to be French, I thought.? And what are the French about?? Fashion and food?? Well, I had little chance of luring the boys into the fashion world, but my boys are like men: the way to their hearts is through their stomach.
We would eat.? And through eating, we would experience.? So, I donned my fanciest scarf and skinny pants, a nod to the fashion part, and headed out the door one recent morning to Sweet Life Patisserie.? If the name has French in it, good enough for us.
If the French indulge in moderation, we would too.? We all chose one item, plus one extra, and shared.? A croissant, a cherry chocolate scone, a French cinnamon breakfast muffin, and the very French pain au chocolate.? The boys had hot chocolate and I had a cafe au lait.
Breakfast
We took our time, really savoring each delicious bite, enjoying the rare treat.? We discussed our opinions on which was the best.
Nothing compares to flaky pastries.
We went about our day, going to the library and even checking out some books on France to look at.? We cut these out and used them as a backdrop on our dining room table.
Paper City Paris
I made a four course lunch of a simple salad, beef stewed in red wine with a baguette, French cheese (mimolette-like a hard sharp cheddar -nothing stinky!) pears, a French red wine (it wasn?t very good so I won?t bother posting the name) and custard eclairs we took home from Sweet Life.? The paper city also provided some discussion prompts over our long, lingering lunch.? We ate for two hours.? But mimicking the French, we ate so slowly and moderately that after lunch I was pleasantly full, instead of stuffed.? It was nice.
We spent the afternoon looking at books and talking about France.? We looked at pictures of the art, read about the architecture, learned about it?s geography and it?s people.? We practiced speaking French with a CD from the library.? I told them stories my French teacher in college told me.? But really, for us it was all about the French art of eating.? The breaks between meals was intermission, with eager anticipation of what was next on the menu.
Supper was simple, simple for the French anyway: roast beef and crudite with French onion dip, a sausage and bean cassoulet with the last of the baguette, and more cheese, fruit and wine.? We took our time and I asked the boys what their favorite part of the day was.? Breakfast at Sweet Life was the star, and I admit for my sweet tooth as well.? I asked if they had learned anything about France.? They came up with nothing.? Which is ok, because for me I learned that this staycation was more than a vacation, more than experiencing a different culture, more than it?s food,? more than it?s language.? For me, the unexpected learning experience was that I learned a different way to be with my children.? I learned to give into indulgences with them, and to be fully present with them.? Our daily operating status, like many families I believe, is the kids are off playing or reading or whatever, while I am cleaning, cooking, or whatever I need to do to maintain our home, the chickens, the garden, the schedule.? As they grow older, I spend less bonding time with them.? French Day, our mini vacation, was not just a vacation into a different world, it was a vacation from how we operate on a daily basis.? We sat together at the table, talking for long periods of time.? We spent time looking at books and delving into our subject.? For a whole day.
Even if we were actually on vacation, if we truly were in France, my methodical and systematic mind would be focused on organizing our sightseeing, that days plan and the next.? I would be focused on the different awareness I adopt when traveling, in retrospect a rather cranky one, that focuses on ensuring I don?t lose my children in a foreign place and keeping them from making too much noise in a hotel room.
What I learned was how to be leisurely with my children.? Which is funny, because part of being French is leisure.
There are many ways to stay connected with our family, no matter the distance.
Hoarding extra unlimited MetroCards won?t get you far after the MTA fare hike takes effect. The unlimited cards have to be activated by March 11 to get the full value, meaning riders have to start using them before that date.
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For living, the American didactic regularity has been scrutinized, berated, belittled, and criticized when it comes to the learning of Americas offspring. For several families, secretive schools, as classy, are a tuition-guaranteed, well-rounded learning. Charter schools, which are privately operated civic schools formal by the stately departments of civic directive, are an unorthodox as positively. A upward typeface of learning, residence education, is appropriate constantly increasingly prevalent. In studies conducted by the Us. District of Learning, in 2003 present were approximately 1.1 million students who were residence- schooled. According to a prepare in black and white by the Us. District of Learning, the delineation of residence schooled encompassed students whose parents reported them as being schooled at residence as a replacement for of at a civic or secretive train for at smallest amount quantity of their learning and if their part-time staffing in civic or secretive schools did not exceed 25 hours a week. Students who were schooled at residence simply as of a acting illness were not built-in as residence schoolers.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 25-Jan-2013
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