tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720268230508716512024-03-12T21:52:16.512-07:00Creatures For My AmusementPeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-87534789813072220852024-02-12T17:46:00.000-08:002024-02-12T17:46:57.220-08:00Ripley's Believe It or Not!: The Riddle of Master Lu<p> I really liked this game when it came out. It was one of the best puzzle games I had played on PC.<br />(Yes, I never got to play Myst).<br /><br />Hoping for a reprint or remaster, but no such luck yet!</p><p><br /></p><p>https://www.mobygames.com/game/1996/ripleys-believe-it-or-not-the-riddle-of-master-lu/</p><p><br /></p>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-31931832118082068862023-12-26T19:56:00.000-08:002023-12-26T20:00:36.685-08:00Civlization 2 Advisors<p> Loved this from playing Civ 2.</p><blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" data-embed-height="658" style="height: 500px;"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/2cs5h8/who_remembers_the_liveaction_advisors_from/">Who remembers the live-action advisors from Civilization 2?</a><br /> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Jon-Osterman/">u/Jon-Osterman</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/">gaming</a></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" data-embed-height="658" style="height: 500px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FlTIk80uBPg" width="320" youtube-src-id="FlTIk80uBPg"></iframe></blockquote><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> </p>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-42920887819016643502017-12-14T05:20:00.001-08:002017-12-14T05:20:09.282-08:00This is How Huge Door-stopper Fantasy Novels Get Made | Tor.comThe book-making process. Pretty cool.<br /><br />
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<a href="https://www.tor.com/2013/11/26/how-books-are-printed/">This is How Huge Door-stopper Fantasy Novels Get Made | Tor.com</a>: <br /><br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-49099317225810150482017-09-11T10:39:00.002-07:002017-09-11T10:39:27.036-07:00Measuring and Calculating WealthFound a site to calculate how much money back then would be worth today.<br />
<br />
It looks to have quite a few other calculators that I'll have to check out later.<br />
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<a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/relativevalue.php">https://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/relativevalue.php</a><br />
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<br />PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-27463847479762053072017-09-08T07:03:00.001-07:002017-09-08T07:03:18.848-07:00Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence<a href="https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/?utm_content=buffer09f26" target="_blank">BENEFITS & RISKS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE</a>: <br /><br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br /><br />
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from the Futre of Life.org website.<br /><br />
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https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligencePeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-4662702647509997532017-07-20T11:06:00.001-07:002017-07-20T11:06:33.484-07:00The Serious and the Smirk: The Smile in Portraiture | The Public Domain Review<a href="http://publicdomainreview.org/2013/09/18/the-serious-and-the-smirk-the-smile-in-portraiture/">The Serious and the Smirk: The Smile in Portraiture | The Public Domain Review</a>: <br /><br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-53720810369329748462017-05-22T08:06:00.001-07:002017-05-22T08:06:45.392-07:00Helping your child find her voice | Parenting<a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/childs-strengths-helping-your-child-find-her-voice/">Helping your child find her voice | Parenting</a>: <br /><br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br /><br />
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From the<a href="http://www.greatschools.org/" target="_blank"> Great Schools website</a> (http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/childs-strengths-helping-your-child-find-her-voice/)<br /><br />
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<h1 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 34px; letter-spacing: 0.01em; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 2px;">Helping your child find her voice</h1><div class="sub-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 18px; padding-bottom: 5px;">When teasing by middle school boys took an inappropriate turn, the principal helped my daughter advocate for herself.</div><div class="sub-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 18px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">by:</span><span style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> </span><a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/author/andrewleonard/" rel="author" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0.32px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Posts by Andrew Leonard">Andrew Leonard</a><span style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> </span><span class=" gray-dark" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">| <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">May 18, 2017</em></span></div><div class="sub-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 18px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><br /></div><div class="sub-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 18px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">My ex-wife, Jeni, called to deliver the news. A group of middle school boys had harassed our daughter, Tiana. Nothing physical or outright menacing, but there were enough sexual overtones to make a shy and sensitive seventh grade girl feel deeply uncomfortable. Jeni wanted to tell the principal. She wanted something done.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">Tiana wasn’t so sure. As a rule, she avoided confrontation. She was upset, but escalation wasn’t her style.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">At the time, I sympathized with my daughter. I recalled how brutal my own middle school years had been, resulting in a usefully thick skin. Maybe the same would be true for Tiana?</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">Jeni persevered. She convinced us that this was too important to let slide, that it was our responsibility to all the girls at our middle school to call out this bad behavior.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">So we met with the principal, Rebecca Cheung.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">We weren’t crazy about her response — at least not initially. Principal Cheung told us that in cases like these, her recommendation was for the aggrieved party to personally confront the person who had said or done something harmful. Tiana, she suggested, should explain to the boys why what they had said was so hurtful.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">This didn’t sit right with any of us. Tiana was the victim! Why should she be forced to directly address the offender? For a shy girl, the experience would surely be excruciating.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">Now it was Principal Cheung’s turn to persevere. She outlined the benefits for Tiana: Standing up for herself would be beneficial to Tiana’s long-term emotional growth and sense of self-worth. The confrontation would happen in Principal Cheung’s office, under her supervision. Neither Jeni nor I would be allowed to attend, another element furthering the goal of getting Tiana to stand on her own two feet. Principal Cheung told us she’d done this many, many times before, with good results for all parties. Though we were all still trepidatious, we decided to give this method a try.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">That was 10 years ago. After this incident, high school came on like a tsunami, followed by college and foreign travel and serious boyfriends. We all kind of forgot about that middle school incident… until recently.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">One day earlier this year, I started wondering how much of the strong, self-assured, utterly-unafraid-to-advocate-for-herself-or-others young woman I know today was born in that moment in Principal Cheung’s office. When my seventh grader put aside her diffidence, looked a boy in the eye, and explained to him his malfeasance — was that a breakthrough that forever shaped my daughter?</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;">The answer, I thought, could be useful to anyone with a child in middle school. </span><a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/seventh-grade-worst-year-ever/">Middle school is notorious</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> to everyone — parents, teachers, students — as a painful transition between the nurturing embrace of elementary school and the exciting drama of high school. We tend to think of middle school as a time to be endured, gotten through, tolerated. As parents, our impulse is often to try to shield our children from the roughest waters and keep looking ahead.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;">But a couple of decades of neuroscience research informs us that young adolescence — especially for girls — is an enormously important period of neural growth and transformation. The </span><a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/inside-the-preteen-brain-development/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; letter-spacing: 0.32px; text-decoration-line: none;">brain is literally being rebuilt</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;">, on the fly. Some developmental psychologists believe that making the right educational and developmental interventions in middle school could be as important as anything that happens in the 0-to-3 years period widely believed to be the most important developmental stage of life.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;">“The amount of neurological and developmental change that is happening right then [makes middle school] the second and last major window in which the brain is massively reorganized,” says Diane Divecha, a psychologist affiliated with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. “It is a great period of vulnerability and opportunity. We should be pouring as much resources, study, attention, money, and support programs into this period as we have in the 0-to-3 range.”</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;">It is, in retrospect, impossible to determine exactly how any single event can affect any person’s overall process of maturation and personal growth. But what I didn’t realize before investigating the hows and whys of my daughter’s experience is just how important it is to take a proactive stance in helping middle schoolers learn how to grow up at a time when everything — their brains, their hormones, their </span><a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/6th-grade-identity-crisis/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; letter-spacing: 0.32px; text-decoration-line: none;">sense of self-identity</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> — is in a state of roiling turbulence. We can’t shield our kids from these traumas; we need to get right in there, like Principal Cheung did, and show our kids how to grow from them.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">Rebecca Cheung now works as the academic coordinator for the Principal Leadership Institute at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. She remembered Tiana, although she did not recall the specifics of this particular instance of harassment.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">She acknowledged that her recommendation for a sit-down between harasser and victim was standard operating procedure during her time as principal. Quite a few girls, she said, had gone through similar experiences during her tenure. Middle school, said Cheung, is challenging for everyone, but it is especially tough for girls.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">“What the research says is that girls by and large mature faster than boys,” says Cheung, “and so girls are really going through the puberty period during middle school. <a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/puberty-normal-development/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; text-decoration-line: none;">Puberty</a> and adolescence come with a lot of awakenings for kids around their physical body — their identity, beauty issues, hormones. It’s really challenging for them to navigate, physically and psychologically.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">Her decision to bring both the victims and perpetrators of a bullying or harassment incident together to talk things out in her office was, says Cheung, a conscious effort to nurture youth empowerment “informed in part by some theories around resiliency and around student voice and advocacy.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">“I remember many, many instances of having to help kids find their own voice in navigating these types of issues,” says Cheung. “I remember telling them I’m not always going to be there to solve this problem for you. Part of our role is to help you be able to advocate for yourself.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">According to Cheung, the ensuing showdown wasn’t a sink or swim situation for Tiana or any other girl or boy. It was an adult-guided effort to resolve issues while building the child’s strengths. By being present in the room and lending her authority to the interaction, Cheung says she made it clear to both parties that this was an important interaction, that in her position as principal and leader of the school, she was using her authority to “to support Tiana… to emphasize the importance of her voice.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">Simply using her power to lecture the offending party on the error of his or her ways would be self-defeating, Cheung explains.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">“Students have to find their own voice. That’s what self-advocacy is all about. If I advocate on her behalf, I could be reinforcing a victim mentality for her. [Instead], it’s like I’m taking my power, and using it to say ‘this is really important and you need to hear this now.’ ”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">“Victimization happens when you can’t get yourself out of that space or mentality of fear,” she continues. “The empowerment is to move beyond the fear, to be able to speak and say your piece, and to make something right with the person and then for them to honor their words to each other, and move on.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">I wonder: Did it ever blow up in her face? Did resolution ever fail to occur?</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">“Oh yeah, that happened,” she acknowledges. “And then we do it again. But in between we have individual conversations with the students who are struggling, and we talk about why it was a struggle. These types of skills take time and practice to develop and sometimes they are really unfamiliar or uncomfortable for kids, and so I think we have to do right by them: which is to give them another chance.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">Intriguingly, according to Divecha, Cheung’s approach ran counter to the “conventional wisdom on bullying and harassment.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">“Peer mediation is not recommended,” says Divecha, “because you are putting the target of the harassment back into the relationship with the people who did the harassment.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">Which, of course, was precisely the concern that I had as a parent when Cheung first suggested bringing the students together to talk it over.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">However, noted Divecha, it is also possible that “the principal was sophisticated enough to finesse that interaction so that your daughter didn’t feel re-victimized… and to make this happen to help her feel confident to stand up to something like a transgression on her dignity.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">In the immediate aftermath of the “interaction,” Tiana didn’t tell us much about what happened, except to note that the boys were extremely embarrassed. The initial harassing comment had involved the boys teasing Tiana about whether she knew “where the Tampon goes.” The retelling of this incident in front of the principal, apparently, was not something the boys enjoyed sitting through.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">But at a time when the very structure of your brain is in great flux, maybe it’s a good thing to be forced to feel acutely embarrassed at your own dumb joke. And conversely, it seems possible that the principal’s encouragement to Tiana to be her own self-advocate may well have had outsized reverberations, given that we now know that everything that happens in middle school packs a larger-than-normal punch.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1.3em;">And that seems to me the thread to hold on to. Whether or not Principal Cheung’s intervention really did help transform my daughter into the adult she is today, it is clear that middle school is a time when such interventions make a huge difference. We’ve got to stop fearing middle school and learn how to embrace it. The potential for encouraging long-term positive personal growth and building your child’s strengths is simply too great to ignore.</div><div class="gs-avatar" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: none; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px; position: absolute;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img alt="Andrew Leonard" class="avatar avatar-110 wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar-110 alignnone photo" src="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/andrew-leonard-with-a-martini-125x125.jpg" height="110" style="border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(222, 222, 222) rgb(222, 222, 222) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-image: initial; border-radius: 50%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: middle;" width="110" /></div></div><div class="copy" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 130px; min-height: 115px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: 0.01em; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">About the author</h3><div class="name" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/author/andrewleonard/" rel="author" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Posts by Andrew Leonard">Andrew Leonard</a></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Andrew Leonard is a Berkeley based writer who covers technology, economics, and Sichuan food.</div></div></div><div class="sub-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 18px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><br /></div>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-80563911354741391702017-05-02T13:01:00.002-07:002017-05-02T13:01:29.082-07:00Budget Hero Game GoneNPR had a show in 2008 about a simulator that you could use to try your hand at balancing the Federal Budget. I had a link to it on here, because I think it's a great idea, and a great way to learn how our tax dollars were spent.<br />
Plus it was a game, and a fun one!<br />
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It seems Budget Hero was <a href="https://www.publicinsightnetwork.org/budgethero/" target="_blank">retired in August 2014</a>,<br />
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I found another, but it's not the same. Probably more detailed, but the world has gotten more complex, so I guess it makes sense.<br />
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<a href="http://www.crfb.org/stabilizethedebt/" target="_blank">Stabilize the Debt: An Online Exercise in Hard Choices</a>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-9527265742056711982017-01-25T09:35:00.002-08:002017-01-25T09:35:36.046-08:00Why the Gap Between Worker Pay and Productivity Is So Problematic - The Atlantic<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/why-the-gap-between-worker-pay-and-productivity-is-so-problematic/385931/">Why the Gap Between Worker Pay and Productivity Is So Problematic - The Atlantic</a>: <br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br />
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I just learned this is the case. It kind of made sense, since I was living it, but we still liked to think life was improving.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/why-the-gap-between-worker-pay-and-productivity-is-so-problematic/385931/">http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/why-the-gap-between-worker-pay-and-productivity-is-so-problematic/385931/</a><br />
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by <span itemprop="name" style="color: #ec1b23; font-family: , "blinkmacsystemfont" , "roboto" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.05em; outline: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><a data-omni-click="inherit" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/author/gillian-b-white/" itemprop="url" style="color: #ec1b23; letter-spacing: 0.05em; outline: 0px;" title="Gillian B. White">GILLIAN B. WHITE</a> </span><span itemprop="name" style="font-family: , "blinkmacsystemfont" , "roboto" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.05em; outline: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">on</span><span itemprop="name" style="color: #ec1b23; font-family: , "blinkmacsystemfont" , "roboto" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.05em; outline: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-transform: uppercase;"> </span><time datetime="2015-02-25T07:30:00" itemprop="datePublished" style="background-color: white; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-transform: uppercase;">FEB 25, 2015</time><br />
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One of the most frustrating parts of the sluggish recovery has been paltry wage gains for most workers. The stock market may be booming, corporate profits increasing, and home values rising, but middle and lower-class workers often don't truly feel the benefit of such improvements unless wages rise.</div>
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But wage stagnation isn't just a problem borne of the financial crisis. When you look at the relationship between worker wages and worker productivity, there's a significant and, many believe, problematic, gap that has arisen in the past several decades. Though <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'0',r'385931'" href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.nr0.htm" style="color: #458cd5; text-decoration: none;">productivity</a> (defined as the output of goods and services per hours worked) grew by about 74 percent between 1973 and 2013, compensation for workers grew at a <em>much</em> slower rate of only 9 percent during the same time period, according to data from the <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'1',r'385931'" href="http://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/" style="color: #458cd5; text-decoration: none;">Economic Policy Institute</a>.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Lyon Text", Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 18px;">I spoke with Jan W. Rivkin, an economist and senior-associate dean for research at Harvard Business School who studies labor markets and U.S. competitiveness, in order to learn more about the history of the gap, and what it means for workers and the broader economy. The interview that follows has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Gillian White:</span> So how long has the gap between wages and worker productivity persisted, and what does it mean for workers, other than the fact that they aren't seeing significant wage gains?</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Jan Rivkin: </span>From the end of WWII until the 1970s productivity in the U.S. and median wages grew in lockstep. But from the late 1970s until today we've seen a divergence, with productivity growing faster than wages. The divergence indicates that companies and the people who own and run them are doing much better than the people who work at the companies.</div>
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If the U.S. economy was healthy and competitive, we'd see firms able to do two things: win in the global marketplace and lift the living standards of the average American. Large businesses and the people who run them, and invest in them, are thriving but working and middle-class Americans are struggling—as are many small businesses.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">White: </span>Some say that the decrease of collective bargaining has played a role in creating the gap, how true do you think that is?</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Rivkin: </span>There are a number of causes, one is the underlying shift in technology and globalization. Another is systematic underinvestment in the commons, which is a set of shared resources that every business needs in order to be productive: an educated populace, pools of skilled labor, a vibrant network of suppliers, strong infrastructure, basic R&D and so on. A third is shifts in institutions and politics and bargaining power, which is embodied in the decline in collective bargaining and the weakening of labor unions. There's no question that that is part of the story. How large a part? I don't think anyone has a well-informed perspective.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">White: </span>Ok, so let’s talk more about some of the principal reasons this gap developed and then started to widen.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Rivkin: </span>Starting in the 1980s changes in geopolitics and technology opened the world for business. It became possible to do business from anywhere and to automate an increasing array of activities. Globalization and technological change brought great benefits to the U.S. economy, but it had a few other consequences.</div>
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<section id="article-section-3" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: block; font-family: "Lyon Text", Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 630px; orphans: 2; padding-right: 330px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; width: 630px; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">White: </strong>For instance?<br />
<strong style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Rivkin: </strong>It weakened the connections between companies and their communities. Those connections had led companies to invest in the commons, so corporate investment in the commons starts to decline around that period. Second, it put intense pressure on the middle class, which found itself competing for jobs with hundreds of millions of skilled, ambitious workers around the world—so this is the point at which we see the divergence between productivity growth and median-wage growth.<br />
A third consequence occurred at the other end of the skills spectrum. For those who had unique skills, this became a golden age because now those individuals were able to sell their talents around the world, amplified by technology. So this is when we see inequality begin to soar.<br />
<strong style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">White: </strong>This gap, like lots of other forms of inequality seems to bear down on the middle class—why do you think that is?<br />
<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Rivkin: </span>We could have doubled down on making the middle class so capable that it could compete with anyone, but I think instead, what we did collectively is we made a series of unsustainable promises to maintain the illusion of prosperity. Promises like let's extend credit to the middle class so that people can consume—especially houses; promises like the government will increasingly cover your healthcare costs in retirement; promises like the government will directly employ you. You then take those promises, couple them with a nasty recession and two wars and you wind up with a government that is physically hobbled and politically divided. So from government and from business you've got a systematic underinvestment in those shared resources that we need for the middle class to thrive.<br />
<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">White: </span>You’ve said before, this isn’t just a middle-class issue, it impacts everyone and has ramifications for the economy as a whole. So how does this issue stretch beyond middle-class workers?<br />
<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Rivkin: </span>The divergence that I described is not just a problem for the middle class, it's a problem for all of society. Without a strong middle class we see weak consumption. With unhappy workers we have a less productive set of people for business to hire. If we're only tapping the creativity and potential of a small fraction of our population that can't be good for society. If working, middle-class Americans are not thriving, eventually they become anti-business voters. So this should be a concern for the 1 percent not only ethically, but economically.<br />
<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">White: </span>Is there a way to rectify the situation, to close the gap or at least create better outcomes for workers?<br />
<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Rivkin: </span>There are some forces at work that are unstoppable and we probably wouldn’t want to stop them even if we could. Forces of globalization, technological change—those genies are out of the bottle. But there are other parts of they dynamic that are purely choice. The damage done by underinvestment is a <a class="autocardanywhere-link autocardanywhere-emphasised" data-dictionary="mtgen" data-hasqtip="0" data-name="Self-Inflicted Wound" href="http://store.tcgplayer.com/magic/product/show?ProductName=Self-Inflicted%20Wound&partner=AUTOANY&affiliate_id=autocard&utm_campaign=affiliate&utm_source=autocard&utm_medium=card" style="color: rgb(159, 0, 75) !important; display: inline !important; font-style: italic !important; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Self-Inflicted Wound</a>.<br />
We need a movement toward cross-sector collaboration for rebuilding the commons and for sharing prosperity. We're seeing multiple examples of businesses that have realized that it’s in their interest to make sure that their workers are well educated, are skilled, that their supply networks are healthy, that the infrastructure in the cities where they operate is strong.<br />
Investing in the commons should not be a substitute for raising wages, but wages are determined in a competitive market. It's impossible, for a company to justify paying an employee more if that employee hasn't been appropriately productive for the company. I think that business leaders just need to recognize that companies can't thrive for long if their communities are struggling.<br />
<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">White: </span>Do you think that actual changes in business and policies that could help the situation are feasible in this environment?<br />
<span style="font-family: "Lyon Display", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: 700;">Rivkin: </span>It is a tricky moment. I really see us at a crossroads with two pathways. The current path is one where federal policy makers squabble for partisan gains, delay tough choices, and make America a less attractive place to compete. Business leaders pursue their narrow short-term interest and free ride off each other's investments—the business environment deteriorates, businesses leave America, the government enacts anti-business policies, companies reduce their U.S. activities further, and distrust deepens.<br />
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There is however another, far-better path possible. Federal policy makers put their long-term fiscal house in order, invest in infrastructure, enact policies that make America a great place to do business. Business leaders recognizing their long-run interest is in a vibrant commons take steps to build a skilled workforce, to upgrade local suppliers, to foster innovation, to reinforce education. The productivity gains enable firms in the U.S. to win in the global market place while also creating jobs that lift living standards. And then with robust growth, government and business gather the resources to reinvest in making the business environment better and better over time.<br />
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The first steps down that attractive path are fairly clear, the key question is: Can Americans muster the will, the foresight, and the unity to take the steps to head down that path?<br />
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<br />PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-41630205470595961792017-01-12T12:47:00.002-08:002017-01-12T12:47:29.829-08:00New Upcoming Construction at 1604 & BulverdeFrom the San Antonio Business Journal-<br />
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http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2017/01/11/san-antonio-developer-closes-on-11-acres.html<br />
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Local multifamily developer closes on 11 acres, across from future H-E-B</h1>
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<span class="detail__meta-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #777777; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0px;"><span class="detail__meta__datetime" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><time style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jan 11, 2017, 11:57am CST</time> </span></span></div>
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<span class="detail__meta-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #777777; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0px;"><span class="detail__meta__datetime" style="box-sizing: border-box;">By </span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/bio/27231/Katie+Burke" target="_blank">Katie Burke</a></span></div>
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The construction pipeline in Northeast San Antonio is getting a new 330-unit multifamily development now that a local developer has snapped up portion of a 104-acre mixed-use development.</div>
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The <a class="js-newsleads" data-ct="APT:bbm_profile_link" data-id="320658" href="http://companies.bizjournals.com/profile/nrp/173188/?mkt=sanantonio" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-left-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-right-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-top-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); box-sizing: border-box; color: #254f9c; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-out, border-color 0.1s ease-out;">NRP Group</a> is adding another set of apartment plans on its plate after closing on 11.3 acres at <a class="js-newsleads" data-ct="APT:bbm_profile_link" data-id="102485" href="http://companies.bizjournals.com/profile/fulcrum/1831784/?mkt=sanantonio" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-left-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-right-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-top-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); box-sizing: border-box; color: #254f9c; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-out, border-color 0.1s ease-out;">Fulcrum Development's</a> Bulverde Marketplace, a project at the Bulverde Road and Loop 1604 intersection. Fulcrum operated under the BMP 1604 Developers Ltd. name in the sale, the deed for which was filed at the end of last year.</div>
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San Antonio-based Fulcrum now adds NRP to a list of high-profile retailers it has brought to the bustling intersection, including H-E-B.</div>
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Fulcrum Development Associate <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/search/results?q=Benjamin%20Dreszer" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-left-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-right-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-top-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); box-sizing: border-box; color: #254f9c; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-out, border-color 0.1s ease-out;">Benjamin Dreszer</a> said the grocer will anchor the mixed-use development, which will ultimately span more than 350,000 square feet of gross leasable area. NRP's plans to deliver 330 of what Dreszer called "urban-style apartment units" will be adjacent to a future group of retail buildings. Dreszer added that all of the buildings at Bulverde Marketplace will be pedestrian-linked to give apartment residents the chance to "shop and eat without having to use a car." He declined to comment on the grocer's plans to also develop its second San Antonio-area convenience store, which I reported on <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2017/01/09/heb-adding-another-san-antonio-convenience-store.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-left-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-right-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); border-top-color: rgba(37, 79, 156, 0.247059); box-sizing: border-box; color: #254f9c; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-out, border-color 0.1s ease-out;" target="_blank">earlier this week</a>.</div>
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H-E-B will break ground on the new $12.68 million location soon. Fulcrum is installing the utilities and infrastructure to serve the grocer and future retail development around the corridor, which has been serviced by the public-private partnership between the local developer and the city of San Antonio to build a major thoroughfare extension for Bulverde Road.</div>
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NRP did not immediately respond to requests for further details on the Bulverde complex, but an associate confirmed the developer's involvement in the mixed entertainment, grocery, restaurant and office project. The deal is another addition to NRP's projects around the city, which include plans at the Lone Star Brewery redevelopment, the downtown Hemisfair Park, a handful throughout South and East San Antonio, as well as one along Wurzbach Parkway.</div>
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The sale price of the deal between NRP and Fulcrum was not disclosed.</div>
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<br />PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-42317548033352374932017-01-09T06:39:00.000-08:002017-01-09T06:39:10.101-08:00When teens lie (because they all do!) | Parenting<a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/when-teens-lie-because-they-all-do/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=topstory">When teens lie (because they all do!) | Parenting</a>: <br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br />
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From <a href="http://www.greatschools.org/">www.greatschools.org</a> in the Parenting section.<br />
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When teens lie (because they all do!)</h1>
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Teenage lying is nearly universal — and developmentally appropriate. So how can you build a trusting relationship with your adolescent child?</div>
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by: <a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/author/hankpellissier/" rel="author" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none;" title="Posts by Hank Pellissier">Hank Pellissier</a> <span class=" gray-dark" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999;">| <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">December 16, 2016</em></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">“Nelly, where are you going?” asks her mother one Saturday night, as her 16-year-old daughter scampers out the front door in a low-cut shirt and miniskirt.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "opensans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">“Shannon and I are going to a movie, I forget the name. Then we’re gonna eat at the new whatchamacallit cafe and I’ll be back by 11 or 12. Don’t wait up!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "opensans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">“Okay… but… but… but…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "opensans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">Nelly’s mom frowns suspiciously as her daughter disappears into the night. She wonders: Was my daughter’s last-minute outfit change related to the furious spasm of texts she just got? Did she really break up with Dragomir, the too-old and too-rude wrestler? Is my daughter being honest with me?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "opensans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">Interrogating her, she realizes, is useless. Every time she tries, Nelly avoids her questions. Or gets angry and yells, “Mom! It makes me so mad you don’t trust me!”</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "opensans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "opensans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">It’s the paradox of parenting teenagers: their job is to develop the decision-making skills they’ll need to become responsible, autonomous adults. Our job is to give them enough freedom to practice those skills — but not so much freedom that they get themselves into serious trouble. We need to be able to trust them. But how reasonable is it to expect teens to be completely honest with their parents?</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: robotoslab-regular, serif; font-size: 20.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Trustworthy teens<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Teens are old enough to have a well-established sense of
right and wrong. And they value honesty — at least in the abstract. In the
Josephson Institute of Ethics 2012 survey of more than 23,000 high school
students around the country, more than 95 percent of teens said they believe
“lying is morally wrong.” And 86 percent agreed with the statement, “It’s not
worth it to lie or cheat because it hurts your character.” <a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/little-white-lies/"><span style="color: #2ba3dc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Like most
adults, teens find lying to be more acceptable when the motive is to be polite
or do good</span></a>, less acceptable when the lies cause harm or self-gain.
So that’s the good news. But if you’ve ever grilled your teenager for coming
home after curfew, you’ve probably wondered if they’re telling you the whole
truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Dr. Nancy Darling, professor and chair of the psychology
department at Oberlin College, has researched teens and honesty for 20 years,
conducting studies in the U.S., Chile, the Philippines, Italy, and Uganda. Her
conclusion is that 98 percent of teenagers worldwide lie to their parents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">“Is that all?” My 16-year-old friend, Jesse, scoffs when
I tell him this stat. “I think 2 percent are lying.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Teens lie, Darling says, about how they spend their
money, where they go with their friends, what they’re doing, who they’re
dating, and their alcohol and drug use.<br />
If the topics teens lie about are fairly predictable, the reasons they do it
are also pretty easy to understand. According to Darling, the three reasons
teens lie are, “they think they will get in trouble, they think their parents
will be disappointed in them, and they think their parents will stop them from
doing something they want to do in the future.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">My insightful friend Jesse offers a fourth reason teens
may be reluctant to tell their parents everything: “We lie because we have this
craving for autonomy and independence. By bending the truth, even in small,
unimportant ways, we get to keep a morsel of information for ourselves. Every
lie we tell is something our parents don’t find out about our lives. We crave
that.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">My daughter Tallulah, also 16, agrees. “Kids lie,” she
admits, “because they don’t want their parents to know what they’re doing or
even thinking. Plus, parents always ask questions that kids don’t want to
answer.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">There’s an argument to be made that this is a normal,
healthy teen attitude. Dr. John Duffy, clinical psychologist and author of the
best-selling <i>The Available Parent: Radical Optimism for Raising Teens
and Tweens</i>, writes in an email, “Among the primary challenges of
adolescence is making your own decisions and establishing an identity separate
and apart from one’s parents…. More often than not, some degree of lying, or
fibbing at the least, typically takes place here. This is a part of the
‘rebellion’ that helps establish a personal point of view.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Perhaps more worrisome than a teen who gently rebels,
Duffy suggests, is one who doesn’t. “I find that the teens that always ‘toe the
line’ are a bit quashed developmentally and somewhat overly dependent on their
parents, sometimes well into adulthood. As a clinician, I find myself relieved
when teens push the envelope a bit, knowing that the present difficulty will
likely result in a future strength.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: robotoslab-regular, serif; font-size: 20.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Nosy parents, private teens<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Darling’s knowledge of teenagers includes at-home
experience: she’s the mother of two boys, including an 18-year-old. She has
advice for respecting teens’ natural desire for privacy and autonomy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">“You don’t want to be intrusive,” she explains. “If you
try to get into their personal business, they’ll push back, they won’t want to
tell you… they might lie. They’ll throw up barriers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">I feel guilty. I am a nosy dad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">“How do I know,” I ask, “what is intrusive, and what’s
not?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">“I need to know if my son’s homework is done, but I don’t
need to read it and make sure it’s all correct. I don’t need to over-control
it,” she explains. “I need to know he went to school and was in class, but I
don’t need to know every person he talked to at lunch. I need to know he was at
his friend’s house, but I shouldn’t be asking about the content of his
conversations.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">If you want more details, Darling suggests, try asking
teens casual questions when they are doing a chore like the dishes. “They might
be happy to talk and talk because they are bored and it is more relaxing then.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: robotoslab-regular, serif; font-size: 20.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Tough love when teens lie<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Darling and Duffy agree that while it’s normal for teens
to want to keep some details private, that doesn’t mean you should expect your
child to lie to you, nor should you ignore it if they do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">“If you think they are lying, you should raise your
eyebrows and say, ‘it’s undermining my trust in you, it’s undermining our
relationship.’ When they do tell you the truth, you should thank them. Don’t
punish them, otherwise next time they won’t tell you. Tell them, ‘I’m really
disappointed that you lied, but now I really appreciate that you told me the
truth’ and then move on,” Darling says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">They also agree that an honest, trusting relationship
with your teen is an attainable goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Teens are the most frank with their parents, Darling
says, when parents utilize two semi-opposing strategies. The first is to parent
with warmth and acceptance, so your teen doesn’t feel they will be harshly and
unjustly punished if they tell you something you aren’t going to like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">The second is to set clear rules — and enforce them
consistently. “Let them know that you regard it as your job as a parent to set
rules that are good for them in the legitimate domain of parental authority —
safety and school-related concerns,” says Darling. And trust them with the
decisions that are appropriate for their age and maturity level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">So, make it clear you expect total honesty from your teen
when it comes to activities that put their health, safety, and future at risk —
including drugs, alcohol, sex, driving, ignoring homework, ditching classes,
and other thrill-seeking adventures. And respect their personal business — we
don’t need to know everything they’re thinking and doing or control their
self-expression and social life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">But what about the big, big gray zone, the area where
clashes happen and lies are told? Do behaviors like wearing clothing you
consider inappropriate — getting a tattoo, spending allowance money on items
you think are foolish, going to <a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/parent-rules-teen-alcohol-drug-use/"><span style="color: #2ba3dc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">parties where
there will be drinking</span></a> (to name just a few) — fall under
parental jurisdiction for health and safety reasons or under teens’ personal
business?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Only you and your teen can answer those questions for
your family. Ideally, you’d decide together. Calmly explain your position.
Relate to your child why you believe that getting an eyebrow piercing or
extending their curfew until 2 am is a bad idea. Explain why you view it as
your business to intervene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Darling’s research shows that rulemaking plus warmth
equals teenagers who are more likely to ask for your permission and more likely
to confess if they have broken a rule. “They need to respect you and believe
you will be warm, accepting, and non-punitive,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">The recipe for honesty turns out to be cultivating warm,
strong relationships with teens so they respect your rules and value your
advice. And the best way to do that, says Duffy, is to “establish a strong
positive balance in the emotional bank account. This means spending a lot of
quality time together, just enjoying each other’s company, listening to your
kid’s music, laughing with them, asking them to show you how an app works. This
lays the foundation for a trusting relationship.” Research suggests that teens
lie less when they have this kind of relationship with their parents, in part
because they don’t feel like they need to, and in part because they don’t want
to risk losing their parents’ trust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Wonder what happened to Nelly, the wild and evasive
teenager? I checked in with her on Facebook. She’s now a 21-year-old business
major at Northeastern University. She wants to be a hedge fund manager, like
her father.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">“Nelly,” I ask. “Give me some advice. How can parents
have an honest relationship with their teens?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">“Be honest with them,” she replies. “Get as interested
and involved with their life as you can. That way, you’ll know what your kids
are doing, even if you don’t agree with it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">This is part of a new series on how the
science of character development can help parents promote honesty, diligence,
gratitude, generosity, forgiveness, and curiosity in their children.</span></i><span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: opensans, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
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About the author</h3>
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<a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/author/hankpellissier/" rel="author" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" title="Posts by Hank Pellissier">Hank Pellissier</a></div>
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Hank Pellissier is a freelance writer on education and brain development, and the author of <a href="http://brighterbrains.org/articles/entry/brighter-brains-225-ways-to-elevate-or-injure-iq" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; text-decoration: none;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Brighter Brains: 225 Ways to Elevate or Injure Intelligence</em></a>. He is also the director of the <a href="http://brighterbrains.org/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; text-decoration: none;">Brighter Brains Institute</a>.</div>
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PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-51092671325048140432016-12-06T10:23:00.001-08:002016-12-06T10:23:16.893-08:00Kentucky State University announces free e-textbooks for students | Kentucky State University<a href="http://kysu.edu/2016/08/04/kentucky-state-university-announces-free-e-textbooks-for-students/">Kentucky State University announces free e-textbooks for students | Kentucky State University</a>: <br><br><a style="font-size:13px" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk">'via Blog this'</a><br />
<br />
OK, this does not suck.<br />
<br />
FRANKFORT, KY—Kentucky State University (KSU) is making college more affordable for students. KSU announced today that it has partnered with Pearson, a global learning company, to offer e-textbooks to all KSU students for a flat fee. And to make things even better, KSU is providing a book scholarship to every student, which means the books are free.<br />
“Some traditional textbooks can cost anywhere from $100 to $300 apiece. And the fact is, some students simply cannot afford to buy all the textbooks required for their course load,” said Aaron Thompson, PhD, interim president, Kentucky State University. “We want our students to be successful, and numerous studies have shown that if students do not have their books during the first few days of school, their success rate is seriously diminished.”<br />
While many institutions have leveraged digital course materials delivery models at the individual course level, Kentucky State is one of only two institutions in the country and is the only institution in Kentucky currently working with Pearson to deliver course materials digitally college-wide, to undergraduate to graduate-level students.<br />
“We want to ensure that all our students have equitable access to required course materials the very first day they walk into the classroom,” said Candice Love Jackson, PhD., acting vice president for Academic Affairs, Kentucky State University. “If a student does not own a computer, not to worry. Students can choose to rent a computer, or the University offers free computer at convenient locations all over campus which includes, dorms, computer labs, and the library.”<br />
Kentucky State University also recognizes that providing comprehensive support both inside and outside the classroom is a key to student success. To provide students with crucial academic and technical support, KSU has created a technical help desk and Smarthinking online tutoring services part of its partnership with Pearson.<br />
“There are some outstanding things happening at Kentucky State University and this is one of them,” said Thompson. “We are thrilled to be able to offer the free electronic textbooks to our students.”<br />
<br />
To read more:<br />
<a href="https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/08/11/kentucky-state-u-offers-free-etextbooks-for-all-students.aspx">Kentucky State U offers free eTextbooks for all studen</a>ts<br />
<a href="https://hbcudigest.com/five-national-headlines-built-for-hbcu-influence-b2837d3fd227#.v0m6r1eis">Technology in Higher Education</a><br />
<a href="http://www.state-journal.com/2016/08/07/e-xcellent-news-ksu-to-offer-students-free-e-textbooks/">E-Xcellent News: KSU to offer students free e-textbooks</a><br />
<a href="https://www.jbhe.com/2016/08/kentucky-state-university-to-provide-free-e-textbooks-to-all-students/">Kentucky State to Provide Free E-Textbooks to All Students</a>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-51236991651860418242016-10-14T10:16:00.001-07:002016-10-14T10:16:57.431-07:00Mafia Game HistoryWizards of the Coast has totally obliterated all of the old discussion boards and it appears, even it's archives.<br />
<br />
Saved my old game list, posting it here for posterity.<br />
<br />
Mafia Games 2010-2012<br />
Submitted by PeregrineV 4 years ago<br />
Ongoing games & signups: community.wizards.com/paranoia/go/forum/...<br />
Completed games: community.wizards.com/paranoia/go/forum/...<br />
[Basic#5]-Bandit Mafia, Town Doc, NK night2, Town Lost<br />
Dreven City:A Wild West Mafia [Int+]: Town Vanilla*, lynched day4(2062), Town Won (Design File)<br />
Tales of Symphonia Mafia[Int+]: Town Gigilo*, lynched day2(888), Town Won<br />
YMtC:Summit of Null Moon II[Int+]: Town Planeswalker, died day7, Town Lost<br />
Anime Mafia[MINI]: Town Charasmatic, NK night2, Town Won (Design File)<br />
Economic Crisis on Pandora[MINI]: Town Fountain Watch, Town Won (Flawless!)<br />
Touhou Mafia IV: Border Collapse[PC]: Town HistoryChanger,died day6, Town Lost<br />
You Will Hate Being Town Mafia[MINI]: Mafia Mother Brain, Mafia Won<br />
Resistance v2.0: Resistance, Town Won<br />
eBay Mafia: Town, dayvig day1, Town Lost<br />
InFamous Mafia[Beginner]: Town Voteblocker*, lynched day3 (585), Town Lost<br />
Kingmaker: Town, Town Won<br />
Newbie 1077: Town, Town Lost<br />
Full Metal Alchemist[Int]: Mafia, vigged night2, Mafia Lost<br />
Sunflowers for Ragnarokio[PC]: Town Naive Cop, lynched day6, Town Won<br />
True Blood Mafia[MINI]: Town Mason Lovers, NK Day3, Town Lost<br />
Cold War Mafia: Town*, died day7, Town Lost<br />
Elite Scumhunting Unit[MINI]: Town, lynched day3, Town Won<br />
Time Traveler Mafia: Town, NK cycle 4, Town Won<br />
Touhou Mafia: Subterranean Animism[MINI]: Town Doctor, NK night2, Town Lost<br />
My Mafia Diary[Int+]: Town Mason, died day6, Town Lost<br />
Chuck Mafia: Season 1: Town, lynched day3, Town Won<br />
Paper Mario Mafia[MINI]: Mafia Pariah, lynched day2, Mafia Won<br />
American Dad Mafia: Town Miller, lynched day3, Town Won<br />
Mini 1157: Witch-Hunt Nightless: Mafia*, Mafia Lost<br />
Stuff on My Desk Mafia [MINI]: Town Insomniac, NK night0, Town Lost<br />
Razorborne Mafia [Basic]: Back-up Mod, Mafia Won<br />
Small Town Mafia [Int]: Pigsticker Mafia Doc*, died day4, Pigsticker Mafia Lost<br />
Wizards at the Sorcerors Den: Mafia Artificer, killed night3, Mafia Lost<br />
Camp Crystal Lake [Int]: Town, lynched day2, Town Lost<br />
Order of the Chaos Rose Mafia [MINI]: Town Martyr, died day4, Town Lost<br />
Battelstar Galactica Mafia: Mafia Rolecop*, Mafia Won<br />
[MINI 1168] Philosophy Mafia: Town*, dayvig day3, Town Lost<br />
You Pick Your Role Mafia: Town Bulletproof, died day3, Town Lost<br />
Planet of Hats Mafia [LARGE NY 1133]: Town Doc, NK night6, Town Lost<br />
Into Africa Mafia: Town, dayvig day1, Town Won<br />
Return to Gambits Mafia: Town Insane Cop*, NK night2, Town Lost<br />
Lemming Mafia: Town, lynched day1, Town Lost<br />
A Certain Magical Mafia[INT]: Town Networker, bombed day3, Town Won<br />
[MINI 1199] Plissken's Pit: Mafia Goon, Mafia Won (Flawless!)<br />
Mafia of Ancient Egypt [Mini]: Town, lynched day1, Town Won<br />
Marketplace Mafia: Town, lynched day2, Town Lost<br />
Mass Effect Mafia: Mafia Gifter, Draw leaning to Mafia Won<br />
TV Show Mafia: Town, lynched day9, Town Lost<br />
Simpsons Mafia [PC]: Town Voteblocker, NK night2, Town Lost<br />
The Siege of Balginor [Real Adventures]: Town Champion, Day JOAT, Town Won<br />
Toy Story Mafia: Town, NK day7, Town Lost<br />
Dr. Who Mafia [MINI]: Mafia Godfather*, Mafia Won<br />
<br />
Repo! the Genetic Mafia: Town, lynched day1, Town Lost<br />
Worse Idea Mafia 4:SKs On the Loose: Town Child, Town Won<br />
Death at a Funeral Mafia: Town, Town 1-shot Strongman Vig, Cancelled<br />
PictoMafia III [MINI 1212]: Town*, died day4, Town Lost<br />
Box Office Mafia: Town Neighborizer, died day7, Town Lost<br />
Serenity (aka Firefly) Mafia: Town 1-shot Doc, nk n3, Town Lost<br />
Lord of the Rings Mafia: Mafia Godfather, Mafia Won (Flawless!)<br />
Imperishable Night Mafia: Town Enhancer, lynched day1, Town Lost<br />
Zombie Com Mafia: Town Neighborizing Shieldee, Cancelled leaning toward Town Won<br />
Brightest Day Mafia: Town Enhancer*, vigged n2, Town Won<br />
Mafia Dating Game Show 2: Town, lynched day2, Town Lost<br />
NY140: Powerrox's Large Normal: Town, NK n4, Town Lost<br />
8p Swift Mafia: Town, NK n1, Town Lost<br />
Bastardmind of Sin: Town Cop, vigged day 8, Town Won<br />
Children of Hurin Mafia: Town, lynched day1, Town Won<br />
Back to the Future Mafia: Town Doctor, Town Won (Flawless!)<br />
Internet Stars Mafia[MINI]: Mafia Bulletproof, Mafia Won (Flawless!)<br />
Disney Mafia [Basic #7]: Town, lynched day2, Town Lost<br />
Imperial Intrigue Mafia: Mafia Traitor, NK night5, Mafia Lost<br />
Mini 1245: Trouble in Paradise: Moderator, Town Won<br />
Mini 1249: Community Paintball Mafia: Town, died day5, Town Lost<br />
Mini 1247: Auction Mafia: Town, Cancelled<br />
Camn's Tempermental Mafia: Mafia Ninja, Mafia Won<br />
Mini 1249: RPG Mafia: Town Barbarian Mystic, lynched day4, Town Lost<br />
Open 335: Gurgi EC8: Town*, Town Won<br />
TV UPick Mafia: Town FBI Agent, endgamed, Town Lost<br />
Dram's Bastard Mafia: Mafia Redirector, lynched day2, Mafia Won<br />
Secret Society Mafia: Town tracker, nk night8, Town Lost<br />
[Basic#8] Revolutionary War Mafia: Moderator, Mafia Won<br />
Magic the Gathering: Innistrad Edition Mafia: Town Test Subject, NK night4, Town Won<br />
Mythos Mafia: Town Miller, endgamed, Town Lost<br />
Star Wars Mafia- Invitational: Town Motivator, lynched day3, ongoing<br />
: Town, endgamed, town lost but guessed right<br />
<br />
Mini 1272: Mafia Along the Boardwalk: Mafia Goon, lynched day4, Mafia Won<br />
<br />
Arrested Development Mafia: Town, endgamed, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Mini 1270 - Stargate SG-1 Mafia: Town Mason, lynched day1, Town Lost<br />
<br />
NY 143: Mafia on the Gulf Coast: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
Cyclic Experimentation Set x02: Town, lynched day3, Town Lost<br />
<br />
War in Heaven III Mafia: Town Cherub, Cancelled, (but I think town won!)<br />
<br />
100 Boxes Mafia: Mafia**, Cancelled<br />
<br />
100 Boxes Mafia (Reboot): Town**, self-exploded n1, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Mini 1282: Mafia*, lynched day5, Mafia Lost<br />
<br />
Mini 1293: New Age Mafia: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
Playground Mafia: Mafia Won, Moderator<br />
<br />
DC Universe Mafia: Town (Flash), NK n1, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Touhou 12:Undefined Mafia[Mini]: Town, lynched day2<br />
: Town, Town Lost++<br />
<br />
RPG Mafia II: Battle for Malura: Mafia Angel, Cancelled<br />
<br />
Touhou 13: Yoshi's Revenge[Mini]: Town Hypnotist, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Playground Mafia Mini (no relation): Mafia, Cancelled<br />
<br />
Week Long Mafia: Moderator, Cancelled<br />
<br />
Mafia With the Kittens: Town, lynched day3, Town Lost<br />
Newbie 1214: Town Won, Moderator<br />
Star Wars Mafia: Town (Count Dooku), lynched day1, Town Won<br />
<br />
Blood Bowl Mafia: Mafia, lynched day3, Mafia Won<br />
<br />
Polite Mafia: Mafia, lynched day 4, Mafia Won<br />
<br />
Mini 1320: Redwall Mafia: Town Badger. killed night2, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Mini 1324: Mostly Mute Martyr Mafia Haiku Redux: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
Paranoia Mafia: Town Oracle, lynched day1, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Good vs Evil, Law vs Chaos Mafia: Town (LG) Paladin, killed night4, Town Won<br />
<br />
Dwarf Fortress Mafia[MINI]: Town Jailkeeper, bombed day2, Town Lost<br />
<br />
League Mafia: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
Newbie 1221: Town Jailkeeper*, killed night3, Town Won<br />
<br />
Team Mafia (Closed Normal): Town 1-shot neighborizer, lynched day3, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Game of the Year: Town, lynched day6, Town Won<br />
<br />
Heroes of Comedy: Town, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Experimental Role Mafia: Town*, killed night1, Town Won<br />
<br />
Mini 1332: Town Neighbor, lynched day2, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Politics Mafia: Town Odd-Night Cop, killed n6, Town Lost++<br />
<br />
Newbie 1223: Frogs & Toads Mafia: Town Won, Moderator<br />
<br />
Newbie 1214: Town Won, Moderator<br />
<br />
#Pony Mafia: Mafia Insomniac, lynched day3, Mafia Lost<br />
<br />
Mafia Behind the Maiden: Town***, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Open 410: Trouble in Paradise: Mafia, Mafia lost<br />
<br />
Mini 1344: Murder on the HMS Regalia: Town****, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Mini 1350: Spartacus Blood & Sand Mafia: Barca, Beat of Carthage, Cancelled<br />
<br />
Mini 1348: Dragon Ball Z Mafia: Town, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Words with Scum Mafia: Town, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Lovers Mafia: Town Lover*, committed suicide day5, Town Won<br />
<br />
My Little Pony Mafia: Town 1-shot bulletproofer, killed n1, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Newbie 1254: Mars is for Martians: Moderator, Mafia Won<br />
<br />
Otherworld Mafia (Aia & Vasta): Town, lynched day3, Town Won<br />
<br />
I Love the 90s Cartoons Mafia: Mafia Inventor, lynched day 11, Mafia Won<br />
<br />
New Orchard Mafia: Town, lynched day2, Cancelled, Personal Win<br />
<br />
Judge, Jury & Executioner: ongoing***, -replaced out-, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Literal Music Video Mafia: Town Dead-voter, lynched day4, Town Won<br />
<br />
Mafia in La-La Land: Town, killed n5, Town Lost<br />
<br />
WWE Attitude Era 2.0 Mafia: Town Tracker, killed n2, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Project Turbine Mafia (Eden Sol & Point Sol): Back-up Moderator, Mafia Won<br />
<br />
Mini 1374 - Steam Library Madness Mafia: Town Neighborizer, endgamed, Town Lost<br />
Mini 1382 - The Mystery at Lake Village: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
NY159: RUST Mafia: Town, vigged n3, Town Won<br />
<br />
Discworld Mafia: Town Enabling Neighbor, lynched day 4, Town Won<br />
Bleach Mafia: Town, lynched d1, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Marketplace Mafia II: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Legacy: Town, Harry Potter VT, killed day4, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Vampire Mafia: The Gehenna: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
Return to Ravnica (Limited) Promo: Mafia Bulletproof, lynched day5, Mafia Lost<br />
<br />
MTG Mafia 2.5: Town doc, lynched d1, Draw<br />
<br />
Author Mafia*****: Town 1-shot neighborizor, Town Won<br />
<br />
Inbetweeners Mafia: Town, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Mini 1389: The Agency Mafia: CIA Mafia Won, Moderator<br />
<br />
Mini 1397: War is Hell: Town, lynched d1, Town Lost<br />
<br />
You Could Be Anyone Mafia: Town Lie Detector, lynched day 7, Town Lost<br />
<br />
Mini 1399: Buckshot Mafia: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
Px2 2012 Invitational: Town, Town Won<br />
<br />
Mini 1407: Town****, Town Lost<br />
<br />
* replaced in<br />
** as hydra Birds of Pro<br />
*** as hydra Teleporting Speed Hippos<br />
****force replaced out<br />
*****As an alt<br />
++ Mod error<br />
- See more at: http://community.wizards.com/content/blog/779201#sthash.eae5aNcy.dpufPeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-3495807629702803192016-08-24T09:18:00.001-07:002016-08-24T09:18:22.793-07:00Outlining your Novel | thelatinoauthor.comI saw <a href="http://www.petervbrett.com/2016/01/05/progress-update-the-core/" target="_blank">Peter Brett mention a stepsheet</a> and I've never heard the phrase before.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Turns out it's a sort of outline.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<a href="http://thelatinoauthor.com/articles/outlining/">Outlining your Novel | thelatinoauthor.com</a>: <br /><br />
<br /><br />
<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-45541617382844063772016-06-23T10:00:00.001-07:002016-06-23T10:00:35.940-07:00Why British Singers Lose Their Accents When Singing<a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/08/why-british-singers-lose-their-accent-when-singing/">Why British Singers Lose Their Accents When Singing</a>: <br /><br />
<br /><br />
<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
I always wondered. This kind of explains it.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
From: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/08/why-british-singers-lose-their-accent-when-singing/<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mick Jagger, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Ed Sheeran, Phil Collins and George Michael all grew up in or near London and have very recognizably British accents. Once on stage, they sing like someone who grew up in New England rather than old. Yet another example is Adele, who has a lovely speaking voice, a very heavy cockney accent, yet her singing pipes do not indicate her dialect. One might argue that Adele’s speaking and singing voices were two different people if listening without visuals. Going beyond the British, we see the same thing with other non-American musicians, such as the Swedish band ABBA, and many others singing in English, yet from various places around the world. It seems like no matter where you’re from, if you’re singing in English, you’re probably singing with an American accent, unless you’re actively trying to retain your native accent, which some groups do.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There are several reasons we notice accents ‘disappearing’ in song, and why those singing accents seem to default to “American”. In a nutshell, it has a lot to do with phonetics, the pace at which they sing and speak, and the air pressure from one’s vocal chords. As far as why “American” and not some other accent, it’s simply because the generic “American” accent is fairly neutral. Even American singers, if they have, for instance, a strong “New Yorker” or perhaps a “Hillbilly” accent, will also tend to lose their specific accent, gravitating more towards neutral English, unless they are actively trying not to, as many Country singers might.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For the specific details, we’ll turn to linguist and author, David Crystal, from Northern Ireland. According to Crystal, a song’s melody cancels out the intonations of speech, followed by the beat of the music cancelling out the rhythm of speech. Once this takes place, singers are forced to stress syllables as they are accented in the music, which forces singers to elongate their vowels. Singers who speak with an accent, but sing it without, aren’t trying to throw their voice to be deceptive or to appeal to a different market; they are simply singing in a way that naturally comes easiest, which happens to be a more neutral way of speaking, which also just so happens to be the core of what many people consider an “American” accent.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To put it in another way, it’s the pace of the music that affects the pace of the singer’s delivery. A person’s accent is easily detectable when they are speaking at normal speed. When singing, the pace is often slower. Words are drawn out and more powerfully pronounced and the accent becomes more neutral.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Another factor is that the air pressure we use to make sounds is much greater when we sing. Those who sing have to learn to breathe correctly to sustain notes for the right amount of time, and singing requires the air passages to expand and become larger. This changes the quality of the sound. As a result, regional accents can disappear because syllables are stretched out and stresses fall differently than in normal speech. So, once again, this all adds up to singing accents becoming more neutral.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So at this point, you might be wondering if the musicians actually know they are losing their accents when they sing. Working in radio, I’ve contemplated how accents seem to disappear over my 20-year career. Keith Urban isn’t British, though fans of the Aussie singer swoon over his speaking voice (many women could listen to him read the dictionary) and have noticed that he sounds more American when he sings. I have spoken to Keith a few times and decided the good-natured Keith wouldn’t mind me posing the question: <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How is it</em><i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> you sing differently than you talk</i>? (Certainly not wanting to offend Keith, I began with a few genuine compliments admiring his genius guitar skills.) He took it all in stride, laughed, then responded, <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘I don’t know.’ (</i>More like<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> kneh-owww) ‘Good question,’ </i>he said<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. Though I don’t think I have an accent. I think you do!</i>’ It’s quite reasonable to believe that a Hoosier like me sounds a bit hillbilly to a guy from down under. Keith could not really explain the mystery behind it, and instead went on to explain why he was wearing black toenail polish the last time I chatted him up in person. (His wife, Nicole, has since been his inspiration to stop, he says.) So it would seem, that at least with this sample size of one, the artist in question is not aware of any accent change when he sings. So what about others?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Andy Gibson, a New Zealand researcher at AUT’s University Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication also believes the change in accent between speaking and singing is not a deliberate one, nor are artists even aware of the change. A 2010 study he conducted of singers with speaking accents showed indeed that they were not aware that they sounded any different; they felt they were singing naturally. Crystal says it is unusual for a singer to hold a regional accent through an entire song, resulting in what he calls ‘mixed accents’ for most.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And then there’s Kate Nash, the anti-norm. The English-singing sensation was an unknown until Lily Allen mentioned her on a MySpace page and now she boasts more than 100,000 followers on <a href="https://twitter.com/katenash" style="border: 0px; color: #e84747; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">twitter</a>. She didn’t know she had talent until she picked up her first guitar two years ago, and the rest is history. Nash has garnered success on the music charts, accent and all, and flat out refuses to even attempt to sing with an American accent. She makes no apologies for her background and even themes her lyrics toward an English audience. She is as English as tea in the afternoon and proud of bucking the trend that so many British artists seem to follow, whether intentionally, or more likely in most cases, not.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="bonusfacts" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bonus</span> Facts:</div><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Droid Sans", Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16.0016px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25.6026px; list-style: square inside; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 2em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Eeyore’s name is based off the British Cockney dialect version of the phrase “hee-haw”.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The guy who did the voice for Optimus Prime also did the voice for Eeyore and was the first person to voice Nintendo’s Mario character.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Similar to how their are numerous accents within the generic “American” accent, it’s not quite accurate to simply say “British accent”. There are quite a few British accents- an amazing amount actually, particularly considering the entire UK could fit into Texas, and England itself is only about the size of Alabama. A few of the most common “British accents” out there include: Cockney (which was butchered by Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins), Estuary English (Southeast British), West Country (Southwest British), Midlands English, Northern England English, Geordie, and Welsh English, among many others.</li>
</ul>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-33568712210614185952016-02-10T08:34:00.001-08:002016-02-10T08:35:36.436-08:00Namesake<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=6V9RVg0EIXU&start=9&end=14&cid=7681179"></param>
<embed src="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=6V9RVg0EIXU&start=9&end=14&cid=7681179" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
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<a href="http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7681179">TubeChop - (00:05)</a>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-875679985669892452016-02-05T14:25:00.002-08:002016-02-05T14:25:49.053-08:00Angie Tribeca - Season 1Found a great show on TBS. They put out all of season 1 at one time, so I was able to binge watch it, but it definitely left me wanting more.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/PeregrineV">@PeregrineV</a> We vote more. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TribecaBinge?src=hash">#TribecaBinge</a> <a href="https://t.co/DMVnOqwfl6">pic.twitter.com/DMVnOqwfl6</a></div>
— Angie Tribeca (@AngieTribecaTBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/AngieTribecaTBS/status/688978626474160128">January 18, 2016</a></blockquote>
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PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-47573396936049131312015-08-24T07:31:00.001-07:002015-08-24T07:31:42.700-07:00Early clue to why some children may have reading woes - DailyHerald.com<a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150728/entlife/150729493/">Early clue to why some children may have reading woes - DailyHerald.com</a>: <br /><br />
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<h1 id="head" style="background-color: white; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 41px; line-height: 41.8199996948242px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Early clue to why some children may have reading woes</h1><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/storyimage/DA/20150728/entlife/150729493/AR/0/AR-150729493.jpg&updated=201507241221&MaxW=800&maxH=800&updated=201507241221&noborder" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="This photo provided by the Auditory Neuroscience Lab, Northwestern University, shows scalp electrodes to pick up how children's brains react to sounds such as speech in a noisy background. New research suggests it may be possible to predict which preschoolers will struggle to read, and it has to do with how they decipher speech when it's noisy." border="0" src="http://www.dailyherald.com/storyimage/DA/20150728/entlife/150729493/AR/0/AR-150729493.jpg&updated=201507241221&MaxW=800&maxH=800&updated=201507241221&noborder" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">This photo provided by the Auditory Neuroscience Lab, Northwestern University, shows scalp electrodes to pick up how children's brains react to sounds such as speech in a noisy background. New research suggests it may be possible to predict which preschoolers will struggle to read, and it has to do with how they decipher speech when it's noisy.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;" /><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;">Photo courtesy of Auditory Neuroscience Lab, Northwestern University</span></div><div><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/cceimg?Site=DA&Module=4&Class=13&Type=Non_Staff&Date=20150722&ID=4568970&element=3&maxH=100" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Associated Press" border="0" src="http://www.dailyherald.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/cceimg?Site=DA&Module=4&Class=13&Type=Non_Staff&Date=20150722&ID=4568970&element=3&maxH=100" style="background-color: transparent;" /></a></span><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;">By Lauran Neergaard</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;">AP Medical Writer</span></span><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">WASHINGTON -- New research suggests it may be possible to predict which preschoolers will struggle to read -- and it has to do with how the brain deciphers speech when it's noisy.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">Scientists are looking for ways to tell, as young as possible, when children are at risk for later learning difficulties so they can get early interventions.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">There are some simple pre-reading assessments for preschoolers. But Northwestern University researchers went further and analyzed brain waves of children as young as 3.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">How well youngsters' brains recognize specific sounds -- consonants -- amid background noise can help identify who is more likely to have trouble with reading development, the team reported recently in the journal PLOS Biology.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">If the approach pans out, it may provide "a biological looking glass," said study senior author Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">"If you know you have a 3-year-old at risk, you can as soon as possible begin to enrich their life in sound so that you don't lose those crucial early developmental years."</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">Connecting sound to meaning is a key foundation for reading. For example, preschoolers who can match sounds to letters earlier go on to read more easily.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">Auditory processing is part of that pre-reading development: If your brain is slower to distinguish a "D" from a "B" sound, for example, then recognizing words and piecing together sentences could be affected, too.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">What does noise have to do with it?</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">It stresses the system, as the brain has to tune out competing sounds to selectively focus, in just fractions of milliseconds. And consonants are more vulnerable to noise than vowels, which tend to be louder and longer, Kraus explained.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">"Hearing in noise is arguably one of the most computationally difficult things we ask our brain to do," she said.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">The new study used an EEG to directly measure the brain's response to sound, attaching electrodes to children's scalps and recording the patterns of electric activity as nerve cells fired.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">The youngsters sat still to watch a video of their choice, listening to the soundtrack in one ear while an earpiece in the other periodically piped in the sound "dah" superimposed over a babble of talking.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">Measuring how the brain's circuitry responded, the team developed a model to predict children's performance on early literacy tests. Then they did a series of experiments with 112 kids between the ages of 3 and 14.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">The 30-minute test predicted how well 3-year-olds performed a language-development skill and how those same youngsters fared a year later on several standard pre-reading assessments, the team reported. Time will tell how well those children eventually read.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">But Kraus' team also tested older children -- and the EEG scores correlated with their current reading competence in school, and even flagged a small number who'd been diagnosed with learning disabilities.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">Oral language exposure is one of the drivers of reading development, and the study is part of a broader push to find ways to spot problem signs early, said Brett Miller, who oversees reading disabilities research at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which helped fund the work.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">But don't expect EEGs for preschoolers any time soon. While the machines are common among brain specialists, this particular use is complicated and expensive, and further research is necessary, Kraus cautioned.</div><div class="p402_premiumInside" style="font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: 23px;">Her ultimate goal is to test how a child's brain processes sound even younger, maybe one day as a part of the routine newborn hearing screening.</div></span><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="credit" style="background-color: white; font-family: Optima, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Candara, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-85805079597344126292015-08-05T08:35:00.001-07:002015-08-05T08:37:21.502-07:00How Stress & Learning Affect the Brain<a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neuroscience-behind-stress-and-learning-judy-willis">The Neuroscience Behind Stress and Learning | Edutopia</a>: <br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br />
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from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neuroscience-behind-stress-and-learning-judy-willis<br />
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By <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/users/judy-willis-md" target="_blank">Judy Willis, MD</a><br />
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The realities of standardized tests and increasingly structured, if not synchronized, curriculum continue to build classroom stress levels. Neuroimaging research reveals the disturbances in the brain's learning circuits and neurotransmitters that accompany stressful learning environments. The neuroscientific research about learning has revealed the negative impact of stress and anxiety and the qualitative improvement of the brain circuitry involved in memory and executive function that accompanies positive motivation and engagement.</div>
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The Proven Effects of Positive Motivation</h3>
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Thankfully, this information has led to the development of brain-compatible strategies to help students through the bleak terrain created by some of the current trends imposed by the Common Core State Standards and similar mandates. With brain-based teaching strategies that reduce classroom anxiety and increase student connection to their lessons, educators can help students learn more effectively.</div>
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In the past two decades, neuroimaging and brain-mapping research have provided objective support to the student-centered educational model. This brain research demonstrates that superior learning takes place when classroom experiences are relevant to students' lives, interests, and experiences. Lessons can be stimulating and challenging without being intimidating, and the increasing curriculum requirements can be achieved without stress, anxiety, boredom, and alienation as the pervasive emotions of the school day.</div>
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During my 15 years of practicing adult and child neurology with neuroimaging and brain mapping as part of my diagnostic tool kit, I worked with children and adults with brain function disorders, including learning differences. When I then returned to university to obtain my credential and Masters of Education degree, these familiar neuroimaging tools had become available to education researchers. Their widespread use in schools and classrooms globally has yet to occur.</div>
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This brain research demonstrates that superior learning takes place when classroom experiences are motivating and engaging. Positive motivation impacts brain metabolism, conduction of nerve impulses through the memory areas, and the release of neurotransmitters that increase executive function and attention. Relevant lessons help students feel that they are partners in their education, and they are engaged and motivated.</div>
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We live in a stressful world and troubled times, and that is not supposed to be the way for children to grow up. Schools can be the safe haven where academic practices and classroom strategies provide children with emotional comfort and pleasure as well as knowledge. When teachers use strategies to reduce stress and build a positive emotional environment, students gain emotional resilience and learn more efficiently and at higher levels of cognition.</div>
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Neuroimaging and EEG Studies</h3>
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Studies of electrical activity (EEG or brain waves) and metabolic activity (from specialized brain scans measuring glucose or oxygen use and blood flow) show the synchronization of brain activity as information passes from the sensory input processing areas of the somatosensory cortex to the reticular activating and limbic systems. For example, bursts of brain activity from the somatosensory cortex are followed milliseconds later by bursts of electrical activity in the hippocampus, amygdala, and then the other parts of the limbic system. This data from one of the most exciting areas of brain-based learning research gives us a way to see which techniques and strategies stimulate or impede communication between the parts of the brain when information is processed and stored. In other words, properly applied, we can identify and remove barriers to student understanding!</div>
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The <strong>amygdala</strong> is part of limbic system in the temporal lobe. It was first believed to function as a brain center for responding primarily to anxiety and fear. Indeed, when the amygdala senses threat, it becomes over-activated. In students, these neuroimaging findings in the amygdala are seen with feelings of helplessness and anxiety. When the amygdala is in this state of stress-induced over-activation, new sensory information cannot pass through it to access the memory and association circuits.</div>
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This is the actual neuroimaging visualization of what has been called the<strong>affective filter</strong> by <a class="external-link" href="https://suite.io/kristin-krogh/5c27243" style="color: #1e64b4; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Stephen Krashen</a> and others. This term describes an emotional state of stress in students during which they are not responsive to learning and storing new information. What is now evident on brain scans during times of stress is objective physical evidence of this affective filter. With such evidence-based research, the affective filter theories cannot be disparaged as "feel-good education" or an "excuse to coddle students" -- if students are stressed out, the information cannot get in. This is a matter of science.</div>
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This affective state occurs when students feel alienated from their academic experience and anxious about their lack of understanding. Consider the example of the decodable "books" used in phonics-heavy reading instruction. These are not engaging and motivating. They are usually not relevant to the students' lives because their goal is to include words that can be decoded based on the lesson. Decodability is often at the expense of authentic meaning to the child. Reading becomes tedious and, for some children, confusing and anxiety-provoking. In this state, there is reduced passage of information through the neural pathways from the amygdala to higher cognitive centers of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, where information is processed, associated, and stored for later retrieval and executive functioning.</div>
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Additional neuroimaging studies of the amygdala, hippocampus, and the rest of the limbic system, along with measurement of dopamine and other brain chemical transmitters during the learning process, reveal that students' comfort level has critical impact on information transmission and storage in the brain. The factors that have been found to affect this comfort level such as self-confidence, trust and positive feelings for teachers, and supportive classroom and school communities are directly related to the state of mind compatible with the most successful learning, remembering, and higher-order thinking.</div>
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The Power of Joyful Learning</h3>
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The highest-level executive thinking, making connections, and "aha" moments of insight and creative innovation are more likely to occur in an atmosphere of what Alfie Kohn calls <a class="external-link" href="http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/feelbad.htm" style="color: #1e64b4; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">exuberant discovery</a>, where students of all ages retain that kindergarten enthusiasm of embracing each day with the joy of learning. With current research and data in the field of neuroscience, we see growing opportunities to coordinate the design of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in ways that will reflect these incredible discoveries.</div>
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Joy and enthusiasm are absolutely essential for learning to happen -- literally, scientifically, as a matter of fact and research. Shouldn't it be our challenge and opportunity to design learning that embraces these ingredients?</div>
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</footer>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-22692567786973293472015-07-02T08:05:00.001-07:002015-07-02T08:06:27.818-07:00Teachers tap into brain science to boost learning<a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/teachers-tap-brain-science-boost-learning/#.VZVS3JgPZTw.blogger">Teachers tap into brain science to boost learning</a><br /><br />
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<a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/topic/education/">PBS NewHour- Education</a><br /><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JUDY WOODRUFF:</strong> Next: neuroscience and education.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">Thousands of teachers around the country are learning about an alternative teaching program that aims to use scientific discoveries about the brain to improve the way children learn in the classroom.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters reports from Philadelphia.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO,</strong> Teacher, Francis Scott Key Elementary: When I say class, you…</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">CLASS:</strong> You stop what you’re doing. Look at the teacher.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO:</strong> Today is Wacky Wednesday in Jasselle Cirino’s third grade classroom, which explains the blue wig.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO: </strong>So I want you to teach your neighbor.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO:</strong> But the rest of what you’re about to see is what her classroom looks like every day.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO:</strong> I want giant gestures.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO: </strong>She uses a set of techniques some call whole brain teaching.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO: </strong>A lot of times in traditional teaching, you’re just lecturing, and you’re talking and talking. And what we like to say, whole brainers, we like to say that the more you talk, the more students you lose. And so we use different methods to engage multiple parts of the brain. And that way, you get 100 percent engagement.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO: </strong>These days, scientists can look further into the brain than ever, pinpointing the neurons and circuits that control how we think and act. All that’s sparking a movement that’s changing the way some teachers teach.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">Are there parts of the brain that you’re aiming at?</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO: </strong>Yes, the hippocampus, the motor cortex, the prefrontal cortex, which is the brain’s boss, so something like class, it turns on the prefrontal cortex, which makes the brain’s decisions.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">So it says, hey, pay attention. I’m about to tell you something. So, once I have their attention, I teach the material usually through mirrors.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">This deals with the mirror neurons in your brain. And so what I say, they repeat. To learn anything, you have to repeat something. You have to repeat something that’s modeled to you. That’s where it starts.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO:</strong> A lot of times in your class, I saw you gesture, and then you asked your students to gesture.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO: </strong>Right. That’s for engaging their motor cortex. When you act things out while you’re reading, you comprehend more. And we use brainees. These are gestures that are tied to writing skills.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO:</strong> Can you give me some examples?</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO:</strong> Sure. For example is an example. But or however. If, then, so more of like a cause and effect. Adjective. A noun is a person, place or thing, compare, contrast, simile, metaphor, I mean, the list goes on and on.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO:</strong> I saw you a bunch of times where you would stop, and then you would say to the group, teach.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO:</strong> Teach.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO:</strong> What’s going on there?</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO:</strong> So I have taught them the lesson, but now they need to teach that main point to each other. They’re getting another repetition of the material, but, this time, a lot of times it’s in their own words. And they’re learning how to put things in their own words.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">You’re writing while you’re doing it. You’re gesturing, so you’re remembering it in different parts of the brain. You’re not just listening. You’re also speaking. You need to be doing all of these things at once in order to engage the whole brain.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO: </strong>We wanted to know if science actually backed up any of this. So we brought a video of Jasselle’s class to Daphna Shohamy, a neuroscientist at Columbia University.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">DAPHNA SHOHAMY, </strong>Columbia University: I buy it. It makes great sense to me.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">I mean, the brain is really in many ways wired for actions. Right? It’s — it’s really not wired to sit passively and <a class="mtggoldfish-autocard" data-content="<IFRAME src='http://www.mtggoldfish.com/widgets/autocard/absorb?utm_source=mtggoldfish_ext&utm_medium=chrome&utm_campaign=popup'></IFRAME>" data-original-title="" data-toggle="popover" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #b87333; font-style: italic; outline: 0px;" title="">absorb</a> any information. But I think where — you know, where I wouldn’t fully agree is the idea that more activity is always good. More brain activity in more places doesn’t equal more learning or a better memory.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO:</strong> OK. How can children learn better?</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">DAPHNA SHOHAMY:</strong> Right, right. Yes, it’s the million-dollar question. I think we have some answers.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">The brain learns when things are surprising and interesting.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO:</strong> What is going on here?</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">DAPHNA SHOHAMY: </strong>So if I give you a $20 bill, now, all of a sudden, you will sort of have a burst of activity in your dopamine neurons. They fire.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">But if I do that regularly, like every five minutes, I give you $20, your dopamine neurons will stop firing. So what these neurons are doing is they’re signaling how unexpected an event was in the world. They’re not signaling how good or bad it was. They’re signaling how unexpectedly good or unexpectedly bad it was.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">So keeping things a little bit noisy and a little bit different is actually really beneficial for learning in many different ways.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO:</strong> Hold your horses.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO: </strong>Neuroscience says there’s something else important going on here.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO:</strong> When you’re learning things, just even in life, you connect it with a type of feeling. And so the main emotion we want you to feel in a whole brain classroom is fun.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">Seriously?</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">DAPHNA SHOHAMY:</strong> Our brain was evolved to survive. We need to remember things that were of emotional and social significance. That’s probably much more important than remembering any bit of information that was communicated to us within a lecture.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JASSELLE CIRINO: </strong>We’re done being blah. It’s time to get fuzzy.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">CLASS: </strong>Fuzzy!</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN TULENKO: </strong>Here are a few other things neuroscientists think the rest of us ought to know about the brain, that stress damages neurons and impairs learning. Brain training games claim to be effective, but, in fact, the jury’s still out.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">What does help is regular physical exercise. Staying active keeps the brain developing and <a class="mtggoldfish-autocard" data-content="<IFRAME src='http://www.mtggoldfish.com/widgets/autocard/delay?utm_source=mtggoldfish_ext&utm_medium=chrome&utm_campaign=popup'></IFRAME>" data-original-title="" data-toggle="popover" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #b87333; font-style: italic; outline: 0px;" title="">delay</a>s cognitive decline as we get older.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;">In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I’m John Tulenko reporting for the NewsHour.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: 28.1599998474121px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">JUDY WOODRUFF:</strong> As for results, a study on the effect of whole brain teaching in one California elementary school found test scores in math and language arts rose by an average of 11 percent.</div>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-10836163481251617842015-06-22T10:01:00.001-07:002015-06-22T10:01:46.210-07:00The “dreams” of Google’s AI are equal parts amazing and disturbing - Quartz<a href="http://qz.com/432678/the-dreams-of-googles-ai-are-equal-parts-amazing-and-disturbing/">The “dreams” of Google’s AI are equal parts amazing and disturbing - Quartz</a>: <br /><br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br /><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google4.jpg?w=884" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google4.jpg?w=884" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h5 style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #a1a1a1; font-family: AdelleBold, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">WRITTEN BY</h5><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a class="author-name" data-index="0" href="http://qz.com/author/aepsteinqz/" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: Adelle, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Adam Epstein</a><a class="author-name" data-index="0" href="http://qz.com/author/aepsteinqz/" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: Adelle, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #a1a1a1;">June 19, 2015</span></a><a class="author-name" data-index="0" href="http://qz.com/author/aepsteinqz/" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: Adelle, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #a1a1a1;"><br /></span></a><span style="color: #a1a1a1;"><br /></span></div><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 4px 0px 16px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">American sci-fi novelist Philip K. Dick once famously asked, <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</em> While he was on the right track, the answer appears to be, no, they don’t. They dream of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynocephaly" style="border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">dog-headed</a> knights atop horses, of camel-birds and pig-snails, and of Dali-esque mutated landscapes.</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Google’s image recognition software, which can detect, analyze, and even <a href="http://qz.com/298471/watch-googles-new-auto-caption-program-nail-all-kinds-of-images/" style="border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">auto-caption images</a>, uses artificial neural networks to simulate the human brain. In a process <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/inceptionism-going-deeper-into-neural.html" style="border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">they’re calling “inceptionism,”</a> Google engineers sought out to see what these artificial networks “dream” of—what, if anything, do they see in a nondescript image of clouds, for instance? What does a fake brain that’s trained to detect images of dogs see when it’s shown a picture of a knight?</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Google trains the software by feeding it millions of images, eventually teaching it to recognize specific objects within a picture. When it’s fed an image, it is asked to emphasize the object in the image that it recognizes. The network is made up of layers—the higher the layer, the more precise the interpretation. Eventually, in the final output layer, the network makes a “decision” as to what’s in the image.</div><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">But the networks aren’t restricted to only identifying images. Their training allows them to <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">generate</em> images as well. Here’s what it outputs when it was asked to create images of the following objects:</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<figure class="inline-image aligncenter zoomable size-medium" id="image-432707" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; max-width: 640px; padding: 23px 0px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" data-retina="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google-images.png?w=737" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google-images.png?w=640" style="border: 0px; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 640px;" title="" /><figcaption class="inline-image-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #a1a1a1; font-family: Adelle, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; font-stretch: normal; left: -300px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 240px;"><span class="icon-camera" style="border: 0px; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px 5px 0px -4px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="inline-image-credit" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Google)</span></figcaption></figure><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Cool, right? And it gets a lot more interesting. Google engineers decided that instead of asking the software to generate a specific image, they would simply feed it an arbitrary image and then ask it what it saw. Here’s how Google describes the experiment:</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; position: relative; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 0px; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">We then pick a layer and ask the network to enhance whatever it detected. Each layer of the network deals with features at a different level of abstraction, so the complexity of features we generate depends on which layer we choose to enhance. For example, lower layers tend to produce strokes or simple ornament-like patterns, because those layers are sensitive to basic features such as edges and their orientations.</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 620px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></blockquote><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">When feeding an image into the first layer, this is what the network created, something akin to a familiar photo filter:</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<figure class="inline-image aligncenter zoomable size-medium" id="image-432709" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; max-width: 640px; padding: 23px 0px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" data-retina="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google-first-layer.png?w=1024" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google-first-layer.png?w=640" style="border: 0px; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 640px;" title="" /><figcaption class="inline-image-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #a1a1a1; font-family: Adelle, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; font-stretch: normal; left: -300px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 240px;"><span class="icon-camera" style="border: 0px; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px 5px 0px -4px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="inline-image-credit" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Google)</span></figcaption></figure><figure class="inline-image aligncenter zoomable size-medium" id="image-432712" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; max-width: 640px; padding: 23px 0px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" data-retina="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/seurat-layout.png?w=1024" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/seurat-layout.png?w=640" style="border: 0px; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 640px;" title="" /><figcaption class="inline-image-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #a1a1a1; font-family: Adelle, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; font-stretch: normal; left: -300px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 240px;"><span class="icon-camera" style="border: 0px; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px 5px 0px -4px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="inline-image-credit" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Google)</span></figcaption></figure><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Then things got really weird. Google started feeding images into the highest layer—the one that can detect whole objects within an image—and asked the network, “Whatever you see there, I want more of it!”</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; position: relative; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 0px; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">This creates a feedback loop: if a cloud looks a little bit like a bird, the network will make it look more like a bird. This in turn will make the network recognize the bird even more strongly on the next pass and so forth, until a highly detailed bird appears, seemingly out of nowhere.</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 620px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></blockquote><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">The result is somewhat akin to looking into the subconscious of an AI. When an image of clouds was fed to a network trained on identify animals, this is what happened:</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<figure class="inline-image aligncenter zoomable size-medium" id="image-432716" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; max-width: 640px; padding: 23px 0px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" data-retina="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/clouds-animals.png?w=1024" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/clouds-animals.png?w=640" style="border: 0px; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 640px;" title="" /><figcaption class="inline-image-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #a1a1a1; font-family: Adelle, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; font-stretch: normal; left: -300px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 240px;"><span class="icon-camera" style="border: 0px; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px 5px 0px -4px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="inline-image-credit" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Google)</span></figcaption></figure><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Here are some closeups of details from the second image:</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<figure class="inline-image aligncenter zoomable size-medium" id="image-432717" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; max-width: 640px; padding: 23px 0px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" data-retina="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/animals.png?w=1024" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/animals.png?w=640" style="border: 0px; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 640px;" title="" /><figcaption class="inline-image-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #a1a1a1; font-family: Adelle, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; font-stretch: normal; left: -300px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 240px;"><span class="icon-camera" style="border: 0px; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px 5px 0px -4px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="inline-image-credit" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Google)</span></figcaption></figure><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Show an artificial neural network a normal, cloudy sky, and it’ll tell you there are dog-fish and pig-snails floating around out there. It’s what one imagines an AI might see on the computing equivalent of an acid trip.</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><br /><br />
<div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Not only does “inceptionism” teach Google a lot more about artificial neural networks and how they operate, but it also reveals some interesting new applications for the technology. As the Google engineers put it, the process “makes us wonder whether neural networks could become a tool for artists—a new way to remix visual concepts—or perhaps even shed a little light on the roots of the creative process in general.”</div><div class="anno-right" style="border: 0px; bottom: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 640px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; position: absolute; top: 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"><button class="anno-button " style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://app.qz.com/svg/anno-button-plus.svg); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; border: none; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: AdelleBold, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 25px; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px; width: 26px;"></button></div><br /><br />
<div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Below are some more images the networks created in their feedback loops (in addition to the one at the top of this story). You can see the<a href="https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPX0SCl7OzWilt9LnuQliattX4OUCj_8EP65_cTVnBmS1jnYgsGQAieQUc1VQWdgQ?key=aVBxWjhwSzg2RjJWLWRuVFBBZEN1d205bUdEMnhB" style="border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">entire gallery here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google5.jpg?w=640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google5.jpg?w=640" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google1.jpg?w=640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google1.jpg?w=640" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google3.jpg?w=640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/google3.jpg?w=640" width="320" /></a></div><div class="annotatable" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 30px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative; transition: background 0.5s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a class="author-name" data-index="0" href="http://qz.com/author/aepsteinqz/" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: Adelle, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><a class="author-name" data-index="0" href="http://qz.com/author/aepsteinqz/" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 0px; color: #168dd9; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: Adelle, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></a></div><br /><br />
<div><br /></div>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-1085028522143233092015-05-18T11:47:00.001-07:002015-05-18T11:47:51.027-07:0040K: Safe, Sane and Consensual, or The Arrogance of Unacknowledged Playstyles - Bell of Lost SoulsI don't play Warhammer 40K, but the message can be applied across most games.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<a href="http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/04/40k-safe-sane-and-consensual-or-the-arrogance-of-unacknowledged-playstyles.html">40K: Safe, Sane and Consensual, or The Arrogance of Unacknowledged Playstyles - Bell of Lost Souls</a>: "See, everyone learns a different way, and everyone assumes their way of learning is the best. There are three styles of learning, and each can be combined with the other to greater or lesser degrees.<br />
<br />
The first is visual. Visual learners learn by seeing and reading. They like books and words, pictures and illustrations. As a result, pure visual learners tend to be good readers or artists. The second is auditory. Auditory learners learn through hearing; they like teachers to tell them how to do stuff. Pure auditory learners tend to be great at music too – for obvious reasons. They also memorise things better when they make them into a song (where a visual learner will do much better by simply writing their ideas down). The final style is kinaesthetic. These people learn by doing things with their hands, or by moving. Pure kinaesthetics tend to be great at things like sport or carpentry, sculpting or dance."<br /><br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-3943005319273538082015-05-15T10:46:00.003-07:002015-05-15T10:46:14.173-07:00Marvel Universe Upcoming movies (2015-2019)<strong style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><em style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></em></strong>
From: <a href="http://screenrant.com/avengers-age-of-ultron-ending-explained/">http://screenrant.com/avengers-age-of-ultron-ending-explained/</a><strong style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><em style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></em></strong>
<strong style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><em style="font-weight: normal;">The Avengers: Age of Ultron</em></strong><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> is now in theaters, followed by </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Ant-Man</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on July 17 2015, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Captain America: Civil War</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on May 6 2016, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Doctor Strange</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on November 4 2016, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Guardians of the Galaxy 2</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on May 5 2017, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Spider-Man</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on July 28, 2017, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Thor: Ragnarok</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on November 3 2017, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on May 4 2018, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Black Panther</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on July 6 2018, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Captain Marvel</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on November 2 2018, </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on May 3 2019 and </span><br />
<em style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Inhumans</em><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> on July 12, 2019.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #333333; color: #e8e8e8; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><br /></span>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-74201783547074972015-02-20T09:48:00.000-08:002015-02-20T09:48:52.801-08:00Learned Something New TodayI was reading a Facebook post and saw the term SJW GHH. Of course, I had no cluse what that meant. So, some diligent goolge searching found that SJW = Social Justice Warrior.<br />
OK.<br />
GHH?<br />
Well, that took a little more digging, but this story seems to sum it up the best.<br />
It's from http://www.arghink.com/2007/04/09/the-glittery-hooha-an-analysis/<br />
<br />
The fact it's an 8 year old post and I'm just now shearing about it probably says something, but we'll save that examination for a later date....<br />
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<h2 style="background-color: #ddd8cf; color: #993333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 6px;">
Modern Literary Terms: The Glittery HooHa</h2>
<div>
April 9, 2007</div>
<div class="body" style="background-color: #ddd8cf; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 490px;">
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I’ve been working on the Fun Book on Sundays, and I ran into a snag because my hero, who is supernaturally irresistible (stick with me, it works) sleeps with at least twelve women before he goes to bed with the heroine. That’s believable given his character, but here’s the kicker: my heroine won’t sleep with him because he’s promiscuous–she’s no dummy–and he actually gives up other women to have her and keep her. I mean, what are the chances?</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
So I talked this out with a pal of mine, somebody who’s very savvy about literary convention and respectability, <a href="http://www.lanidianerich.com/" style="color: #993333; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Lani Diane Rich</a>.</div>
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“Sam nails everything that moves and then gives it all up for Char,” I told her. “Who’s going to believe that? I’m in so much trouble here.”</div>
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“Oh, no, you’re fine,” Lani said. “Char has a Glittery HooHa.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“Excuse me?”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“You’ve never heard of the Glittery HooHa?” Lani patted my arm. “Oh, honey.”</div>
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I’m going to quote directly now, because nobody explains the origin of the Glittery HooHa like Lani:</div>
<blockquote style="background-image: url(http://www.arghink.com/wp-content/themes/jennycrusie/images/overlay-light.png); padding: 10px;">
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
Once upon a time, in a land called <em>Television Without Pity</em>, the peasants gathered to discuss a particular type of character on soap operas. She was always blond, always beautiful, and always good-natured and kind, and always stupid beyond the telling of it. Did someone get approached by a masked man wearing dark gloves who needed help getting a puppy out of a wolf trap, only to happily agree to assist and disappear? It was her. Did someone get drunk on her honeymoon, pass out in a strange bed, and wake up only to assume on very little evidence that she’d slept with another man? Then lie about it? Then get caught lying? Then find out it was all a set-up by her <a class="autocardanywhere-link autocardanywhere-emphasised" data-dictionary="mtgen" data-hasqtip="0" data-name="Evil Twin" href="http://store.tcgplayer.com/magic/product/show?productname=evil%20twin&partner=AUTOANY" style="color: rgb(159, 0, 75) !important; display: inline !important; font-style: italic !important; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Evil Twin</a>, who had always been evil and had, in fact, done this before? It was her. Did someone get trapped in their own microwave oven?</div>
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Guess who?</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
And yet… there is a man. We’ll call him… Hero. Hero is handsome, he is strong, and… well, yes, okay, he’s kinda dumb, too, but still he manages to rescue her every single time she’s in trouble… which is approximately twice a show. He stays by her side and loves her through thick and thin. He disentangles her hair from the curling iron. He drops his Very Important Job to rush off and rescue her from the cardboard box on the pier where the Villain left her, warning her NOT TO SAY A WORD lest he do BAD BAD THINGS to her favorite hamster, so she kept quiet, even though the Villain was long gone, and many a passerby had passed her by. The Hero is loyal and loving<br />and doesn’t seem to mind the fact that she is so FREAKIN’ stupid. How can this be??</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
Well, my friends, it comes down to the power of the Glittery HooHa, or the GHH for short. A woman with an HH as G as this girl merely needs to walk around as glitter falls from her netherparts, leaving a trail for Hero to follow. And once he finds her, it only takes one dip in the GHH to snare him forever, for yea, no matter how many HooHas he might see, never will there be one as Glittery as hers…</div>
</blockquote>
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I love Lani Diane Rich.</div>
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So, the Glittering HooHa or the GHH. Does my girl Char have one?</div>
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Char’s a redhead, not a blonde, and she’s a forty-two-year-old professor of Ancient Near Eastern History, so she’s not dumb although she has had her nose buried in her work for over twenty years which probably isn’t the brightest way to plan your life, and she owns a dog not a hamster, and she doesn’t end up in cardboard box on a pier although she does end up in an ancient temple with a pissed-off goddess . . .</div>
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“I don’t see it,” I told Lani.</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
But as she explained further, the GHH is more universal than the dumb blonde, it is, in fact, applicable to the romance heroine in general. “Char definitely has a GHH,” she told me. “Sam’s toast. One dip and he’s done.”</div>
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When I thought about it, I realized she was right about the romance heroine. Take J. T. Wilder, the hero of <em>Don’t Look Down</em>. He sleeps with a hot actress his first day in the story, even though he’s already met our heroine, Lucy, but the next day, he feels that something was missing. He can’t put his finger on it (stop snickering) but of course we know now it’s the GHH. Shortly thereafter, he and Lucy get horizontal and by damn, that’s it for J. T. My writing partner, we’ll call him <a class="autocardanywhere-link autocardanywhere-emphasised" data-dictionary="mtgen" data-hasqtip="1" data-name="Dark Confidant" data-override="1" href="http://store.tcgplayer.com/magic/product/show?productname=dark%20confidant&partner=AUTOANY" style="color: rgb(159, 0, 75) !important; display: inline !important; font-style: italic !important; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Bob</a>, took awhile to get used to this, probably because I didn’t know about the GHH and couldn’t explain it to him that way. In fact in his first draft of the day-after-Althea scene, J. T. was thinking he’d had a <em>very</em> good time.</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“Nope,” I said.</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“You’re kidding me,” <a class="autocardanywhere-link autocardanywhere-emphasised" data-dictionary="mtgen" data-hasqtip="2" data-name="Dark Confidant" data-override="1" href="http://store.tcgplayer.com/magic/product/show?productname=dark%20confidant&partner=AUTOANY" style="color: rgb(159, 0, 75) !important; display: inline !important; font-style: italic !important; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Bob</a> said. “He had great sex with a hot actress.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“Yes, but it wasn’t that great,” I said.</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“Yes, it was,” he said.</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“No,” I said. “It wasn’t.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“No, it really was.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“<a class="autocardanywhere-link autocardanywhere-emphasised" data-dictionary="mtgen" data-hasqtip="3" data-name="Dark Confidant" data-override="1" href="http://store.tcgplayer.com/magic/product/show?productname=dark%20confidant&partner=AUTOANY" style="color: rgb(159, 0, 75) !important; display: inline !important; font-style: italic !important; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Bob</a>.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“She’s an <em>actress</em>.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“<a class="autocardanywhere-link autocardanywhere-emphasised" data-dictionary="mtgen" data-hasqtip="4" data-name="Dark Confidant" data-override="1" href="http://store.tcgplayer.com/magic/product/show?productname=dark%20confidant&partner=AUTOANY" style="color: rgb(159, 0, 75) !important; display: inline !important; font-style: italic !important; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Bob</a>.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“Oh, <em>come on</em>.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
“No.”</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
So he sighed and wrote in the part about how something had been missing–“Yeah, right,” he said–and saved us from some angry mail although we still got a lot because J. T. dared to sleep with anybody but Lucy in the book. I guess J. T. wasn’t looking at the ground and missed the glitter on that first day.</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
So now I’m looking at Sam, who is irresistible to women and who in turn sees no point in resisting them, and at Char in her mud brown sweater and sensible shoes, and I’m thinking her GHH better have Super Glitter (which, come to think of it, it does), and that I’m going to have to write the hell out of this because even with a supernatural GHH in front of him, Sam is not going to find fidelity easy.</div>
<div style="padding: 0px 0px 18px;">
But at least I have literary convention on my side.</div>
</div>
<br />PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-572026823050871651.post-10580641167150902782015-01-30T13:22:00.001-08:002015-01-30T13:22:32.660-08:00How credit scores are calculated<a href="http://www.bankrate.com/finance/debt/how-credit-scores-are-calculated-2.aspx">How credit scores are calculated</a>: <br /><br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br /><br />
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Excerpt from article (http://www.bankrate.com/finance/debt/how-credit-scores-are-calculated-2.aspx)<br /><br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fair Isaac says there are five factors that influence your FICO score.</div><h2 style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 18px 0px 3px; position: relative;">5 factors that influence your FICO score:</h2><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="fB fcDarkBlue" style="color: #2e3a50; font-weight: bold;">Payment history: 35 percent.</span> The bad news: While regular, on-time payments will keep your score high in this category, just one slip up can undo a lot of your hard work. "Being 30 days or later on one account can cause your score to dip as much as 100 points," says Cunningham.</span><br /><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="fB fcDarkBlue" style="color: #2e3a50; font-weight: bold;">Amounts owed: 30 percent.</span> Surprisingly, the amount of your income does not impact the typical FICO score (though some creditors will ask for the information for their own models). Instead, the formula looks at how much you owe and compares that against your credit limits, says Watts. Want a better score? Keep that number at or below 25 percent, says Janet Garkey, special materials editor with the Credit Union National Association's Center for Personal Finance. Ever hear the rumor that lenders will be upset if you have a lot of credit that you can tap? It's not entirely false, says Watts. While your FICO won't be affected if you have large amounts of credit available, "some lenders may raise their eyebrows," he says.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="fB fcDarkBlue" style="color: #2e3a50; font-weight: bold;">Length of credit history: 15 percent.</span> This is the one category over which you really have no control. Lenders want to know how long you've been playing the credit game -- and as far as they're concerned, the longer the better. For creditors, time equals stability. So if you have a good long-term history with a credit card, even if you're not using it, this could be a good reason to keep it open and active.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="fB fcDarkBlue" style="color: #2e3a50; font-weight: bold;">Interest in obtaining new credit: 10 percent.</span> So how do they know that you're looking for credit? They keep a record of every time someone looks at your credit report. These requests to see your history are known as "inquiries." But there are two kinds, and it pays to know the difference. A hard inquiry is when you actually apply for credit and the potential lender pulls your report. That will actually lower your score. While there seems to be no hard and fast rules for just how much it could hurt you, it's best to avoid hard inquiries if you're about to go shopping for a home or auto loan. (Fun fact: If you're shopping for a mortgage, all the mortgage-related hard inquiries within a two week period will be treated as one -- allowing you to shop around for the best deal.) The same is true if you're hunting for a car loan or home equity loan. If you're not actually asking someone to consider you for a loan, that's called a "soft inquiry." Some examples: a current creditor wants to look at your report; you ask to see your own credit history or a potential creditor wants to scope you out without your permission. Soft inquiries don't affect your score because they do not indicate you're out shopping for more debt. To keep your score high, apply for credit only when you need it. If you're getting ready to make a big purchase, like a home or car, hold off on applying for other types of credit. "You don't want to have lots of activity before you make a major life purchase," says Steven Katz, spokesman for TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="fB fcDarkBlue" style="color: #2e3a50; font-weight: bold;">Mix of credit/miscellaneous: 10 percent.</span> This is kind of a catch-all category, says Watts. But the main factor to analyze is whether your financial history shows a mix of different kids of loans, like mortgages, revolving loans and installment loans. If it does, you demonstrate that you can "responsibly manage more than one type of credit," says Watts.</div><h2 style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 18px 0px 3px; position: relative;">Your best score</h2><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing many consumers may not know: Your scores also can vary depending on which bureau the lender contacts. That's because not every credit issuer will necessarily report to every bureau, so the information used to calculate a score could be different.</span><br /><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"A pretty savvy consumer will know all three scores" and will apply for a card that uses the best score, says Arnold.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As careful as creditors and credit bureaus are, mistakes happen. So if you're thinking about making a big buy where a few percent in interest can mean thousands in (or out) of your pocket, pull your credit history and buy your score well in advance.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allow at least three to six months before you start shopping, says Katz. That way, if you find an error, you've got plenty of time to get it cleared up before a potential lender sees your report.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Says Katz, "Don't wait until immediately before the purchase."</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/finance/debt/how-credit-scores-are-calculated-1.aspx#ixzz3QLGnM0cW" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">http://www.bankrate.com/finance/debt/how-credit-scores-are-calculated-1.aspx#ixzz3QLGnM0cW</a><br />Follow us: <a href="http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=aDV7hM4FKr36Epadbi-bpO&u=Bankrate" style="color: #959595; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@Bankrate on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=aDV7hM4FKr36Epadbi-bpO&u=Bankrate" style="color: #959595; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bankrate on Facebook</a></span>PeregrineVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609265889123590920noreply@blogger.com0