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My Primitive Little Quilt

Well, long about now I’m really getting embarrassed. I keep blogging on these ‘almost finished’ projects and it’s dawning on me I need a 12-step program for this because there are so many more projects to go! Why do I put these projects away at such a late stage? Why not just finish them because it only takes such a little amount of time to do that? I’m exasperated with myself!!! They are all so cute and I love ’em! Grrrrr…

To make this project I used this very cool tool called the Primitive Penwheel Tool. Without it these off-set penwheels are very difficult to make. It creates a look that reminds me of the artist M.C. Escher where the same image repeats itself within the same image. If you’re not familiar with him you have to check out his official website here.

I began with a little quilt like this. They are 3-1/2″ squares with a 2-1/2″ border.

The inside lines on the template are arranged along the seam lines in the little quilt. Technically, the instructions direct you to just cut the square out with a rotary cutter using the template at this point, but I like to trace around the template with a permanent, acid free Pigma pen on the whole quilt top and then cut the squares out. The crosshairs of the template rest on each joint in the quilt including the border joints.

One row at a time is cut out and sewn together before the next row is cut. In order for the process to be successful, it is imperative the squares are sewn back together in the exact order they are cut out.

Here is a good example of the process. Note how each square is related to the next and the sewn square below it.

Then each square is pinned together in the exact order it is cut so they don’t get mixed up before they are sewn.

For great design purposes I must share with you my very BIG mistake. Note in this picture all the greens and reds clumped together. Each pinwheel is not distinctively set apart from one another. A painful lesson for me, you must be careful what fabrics are chosen and where they are placed. While it looked well mixed up when it was first sewn, it did not turn out that way when sewn back together as pinwheels. Charm squares are a wonderful option for making this little quilt, however, often charm square packs do not offer enough variety of color, texture, or tonal diversity for a really sucessful result. If you use a charm pack feel free to supplement with your stash to increase the success rate.

Remember, when the squares are sewn together again all sides are bias. That is, you are working in the most stretchy form the fabric can take. Because of this, the quilt most likely will need to be squared up on all sides. (And, besides the fact that it sat in my closet for a year, not good!)

The quilt is so small, it is easy to use your domestic machine to quilt it. I just stitched-in-the-ditch! Yep, I did every pinwheel, but it was worth it!

Once quilted the binding is attached and ready for the handwork which I love, love, love! Yay! Almost done!

Gotta love it! Oooooo, love miniture quilts SO much, and especially in these colors. Even though I disappointed myself with color placement, I still love it! Wahoo!

Hummmmm….. what’s coming next week…..?

  1. Janet - March 11, 2014

    I know the feeling…you have done well & I’m on the road to finishing up “projects” too…mine aren’t little ones…thanks for sharing…

  2. Lou Ann - March 11, 2014

    I just love these and even have the directions and the tool. It still just boggles my mind to try and figure out how to make it. I guess I need to get the tool and some fabrics out and give it a try! What’s one more UFO at my house? I really love it Mari!!!

  3. Mari - March 11, 2014

    Thank you SO much! You will enjoy making it Lou Ann. It’s a bit addictive 🙂

  4. Linda Froggie - March 11, 2014

    I love it, Mari! Since you mentioned it, I would try to separate the colors, too. I am having a hard time trying to match the original pic to the twisted one! I better get started on my UFO’s, you are making me look bad.
    ~Joyful Hopppy Quilting~

  5. Lynette - March 12, 2014

    I feel your pain/angst/whatever you want to call it! I too have so so many projects in the latter stage of almost done and then move on to a new one with resolve to FInISH this one!!!!! Slowly and with steely purpose I am digging in and getting after these UFO’s! When you find an identity for this affliction please inform me as I hope to join a support group! Oh wait I suppose that’s called a quilt guild!!! LOL
    Love your little pinwheel! It’s on my “Some day I want to make/try” list! 😉


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London Day vs. Night

London based photographer Matel has come up with a creative way to show the passage of time in London.  Instead of a typical time-lapse with day to night transitions, he took two sets of videos shot in the same location, hours apart.  Then using hours of post processing and maliciousness alignment, he produced the above video.  I like it.

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Bob Mould: Detroit 10-1-2005

Here’s my first attempt at a homegrown MySQL photo album: 10 photos from the Bob concert last weekend.

[Edit: After moving my site to a new host, I uploaded the three best photos to Flickr instead of standing up a new photo database.]

Fantastic show. Bob started out with three songs from his early-90’s band Sugar, which I’m fairly sure gave Aaron and me simultaneous geekgasms. The entire gamut of Bob’s solo career, Sugar, and Husker Du were all represented in the setlist, which almost made up for my missing Sugar in concert by a few years.

Aaron’s better at concert reviews than I am, so maybe he’ll post something more in-depth in the comments. Until then, suffice to say that this was the best concert I’ve been to in a very long time. I hadn’t seen Bob for fucking years, and this show was extraordinary. Awesome.


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Monthly Archive: November 2013

Nov 02

#Heroes Wanted

This week I will be shipping off the Flint, Michigan where I will be honored to be one of the presenters at an extraordinary event: The Hero Round Table.  This Saturday and Sunday (Nov 9-10) speakers from many different industries and disciplines will come together and talk about Heroes.  This event is arguably, as the …

Continue reading »


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Displaying posts published in

February 2009

El Dorado Maroma – Part 1 – The Birds

We had another great getaway last month to the Playa del Carmon area in Mexico. I have been so buried that I haven’t had a chance to post anything about the trip and have not finished processing the pictures. Here are a couple taken with a new camera lens. Lots of fun. Pelicans seem king […]


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Implementing Mouse Lock, part II

_This post is part of a series I’m writing about my work to implement the Mouse Lock API in Mozilla.  I'm doing the work with students in my Mozilla Open Source course at Seneca College, and so theses posts are intentionally didactic and self reflective.  The aim of the series is to show how a new feature gets implemented in Firefox.  Please note that all code discussed is unreviewed and not part of a shipping Firefox at this point.

I wrote previously about my intention to implement the Mouse Lock API, and to do it with my students.  Since then I've been traveling and speaking at conferences, but during that time both my students and myself have been busy.  It's a good thing because everywhere I went I got asked the same question, "When will mouse lock be done???? Can I try it yet???"  So let's dive in and write some code.

As we began our work, I was fortunate enough to have Mike Shaver, who formerly lead Mozilla's engineering and is now helping to do the same with Facebook's, come and speak with the students.  I asked him how he would approach a technical problem like this, what strategies to employ, what pitfalls to avoid.  He had some invaluable advice, including:

  • Start by building Firefox, make a change (do a printf), blog it.  Don't start with the Mouse Lock API.
  • Write prose about what you know.  "Produce an understanding"
  • Ambient learning: not everything about what you're looking at, just enough to get things done."
  • "Finding is making progress"
  • Don't solve big problems--lots of small problems
  • Work together with people, don't do it alone.
  • You will find bugs in the code, spec, and docs.  Sometimes when things don't make sense it's because they don't make sense--it's not just you.
  • Don't write too much code without tests
    First, build Firefox, make a small code change, write about it, produce an understanding.  Firefox has become easier to build over the years, but it's still complicated, especially for the first time developer who hasn't worked on code this large before.  I let the students try it on their own before taking a lecture to explain how Mozilla's build system worksThey wrote about their experiences, created an FAQ of common issues they hit, and even found a bug in our build system ("You will find's not just you.").  Next they tried changing something in the existing source, adding a printf, and figured out how to get it to show up when they ran the build.

After they'd learned how to build and make simple code changes, I asked them to see if they could figure out where the mouse event attributes (clientX, screenX, etc.) were being set.  "See if you can break things."  I showed them how to find their way around the source using MXR and DXR, (e.g., finding mouseevent) but gave them no understanding of the code.  I wanted them to grope in the dark and learn to make guesses, try things, see what happens, repeat.  I also wanted them to learn just enough in order to have something happen, without worrying about trying to understand everything.  This too went well, which is a relief, since none of the students have worked on Firefox before (protip for other profs: your students can do work like this if you let them and encourage them).

Now we could build, make changes to the code, and had started to find relevant code.  The next task was to implement some of the spec.  I decided to work down from JavaScript, since the students had already been doing a lot of JavaScript/HTML5 work with me.  The Mouse Lock API calls for the introduction of a new property on navigator called pointer, which returns a MouseLockable object.  A MouseLockable has methods to lock(), unlock(), and check the lock state--islocked()--of the mouse pointer.

Following Mike's advice that we not solve big problems, and instead work on small, actionable tasks, the logical thing to do is to implement a shell without worrying about doing the actual mouse locking.  That is, add navigator.pointer with the islocked() and unlock() methods, leaving the guts of lock() until later.  To do so we have to understand how Mozilla's interfaces and implementations work--something I've written about here.

The Mouse Lock spec defines the Web IDL for us, which we can modify slightly in order to add nsIDOMMouseLockable.idl, and to change nsIDOMNavigator.idl in order to add the pointer attribute.  Having created/updated these interfaces, we now need to work on the implementation.  nsIDOMMouseLockable.idl needs nsDOMMouseLockable.h and nsDOMMouseLockable.cpp (notice the I is missing in the name, and how isLocked/unlock become IsLocked/Unlock in C++.  Notice too how nsIDOMMouseLockable.h is included, but appears nowhere in the source--it will get generated at build-time by the xpidl compiler from nsIDOMMouseLockable.idl).  We also need to update the implementation for nsIDOMNavigator.idl, which lives in Navigator.h and Navigator.cpp so that we hand out an instance of a MouseLockable when pointer is accessed (notice how pointer becomes GetPointer in C++).

This code also requires a bunch of build system changes, in order for our new files to get picked-up and built by the xpidl or C++ compilers.  We also need to let the DOM know about our new type.  When doing work like this, a large code base is our friend, because it provides ready examples of how to do most of the things you want to do.  However, I still struggled to get it right, and had to ask for help ("Work together with people, don't do it alone").

Having added this code, we can now write JavaScript like this:

var pointer = navigator.pointer;
console.log("pointer.islocked() == " + pointer.islocked());

On the one hand, not very useful. On the other, and as one of my students said today, "WOW!" We've successfully added the beginnings of our DOM implementation. It's a good time to consider one of the final things Mike said when he visited, namely, "Don't write too much code without tests."  We actually have enough code now to write a useful set of tests using Mozilla's Mochitest suite.  Our first tests will simply check that navigator.pointer exists, that it returns the right type of object, and that it has the appropriate methods.  We'll even write a test for lock() and mark it as todo so we won't forget to turn it on later.

This is a good time to pause.  Part of "work on many small problems" is also allowing yourself to enjoy achieving things along the way to your larger goal.  We're still many miles from a complete Mouse Lock implementation, but we're not at zero anymore.  We're probably going to have to change things we've written, rename files, move things around, etc. but it doesn't matter at this stage, and shouldn't stop our progress as we experiment and learn.  Right now we're framing the house, and fine details like that will come later, especially during review.

I've asked the students to add movementX and movementY to the MouseEvent object for next class, and then we can start dipping down into the platform bits, where we'll actually do the locking.  If you're playing along at home, feel free to try it yourself and leave a comment about your success or troubles.  If you have ideas, comments, or corrections, throw those in the comments, too.


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Best Luxury Hotels in Ooty

As you chug along the ridgeline on the "toy train" amidst pine dotted Nilgiri Hills; clumps of fog wreathe the ridgeline, and the mountainsides are washed in muted greens and grays. Welcome to Ooty, the most loved hill station in South India. Nilgiri Mountain Railways is definitely the most fascinating way to arrive in Ooty but not the only one.

One of the most popular hill stations in India, Ooty is an all season travel destinations but ideal to escape from the scorching summer season of India. No wonder it also happens to be one of the top places to visit in India from the month of April till June.

This popularity has also the bane of Ooty as the center of town is congested and chaotic. However, walk away from the heart outside, and you might mistakenly think that you are walking the English country lane. The English Men put special efforts in dotting this place with their signature charm and architecture. That is one reason why tourist from around the globe head to this charming hill station in India.

It is in this charming periphery that some of the best and most luxurious hotels in Ooty are located amidst sprawling green. If it's Ooty you are traveling to this holiday season and if you are that descerning traveler who settles down for nothing but the best, we bring to you the list of top luxury hotels in Ooty. Read through to take your pick.

Fernhills Palace

Fernhills Palace - Best Luxury Heritage Hotels in Ooty
Fernhill Palace - Heritage Hotel in Ooty, India
Fernhills Royal Palace, the residence of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, looks like a Swiss Chalet. A huge red bungalow, outlined with white pillars and bargeboards, and sparklingly green lawns. Fernhills Palace offers all the royal facilities that would make you believe that you are nothing less than a king. Let alone the exteriors, the grandeur inside the palace is hundred times more intensified.

This hotel is an all-suite hotel; with lounge, bar and restaurant, fitness center, conference room, banquet hall, in-house shops and in-house salon. This is where, not just doctors or laundry service, but even your personal stylist/beautician is a phone call away.

 [ Check out some more popular Heritage Hotels in India ]

Taj Savoy Hotel

Front View of Taj Savoy Heritage Hotel in Ooty
Front View of Taj Savoy Hotel, Ooty
Taj group of hotels are known to leave a spotless mark on their guests, and Taj Savoy too does that effortlessly. Taj Savoy Hotel is spread over six acres of land, embellished with beautiful flowers. The cottages date back to 1835 and sprinkle British charm.

You have a great choice of variety under standard rooms, superior garden facing rooms and suites.  The hotel has a dining room, bar, lounge, conference hall, ayurvedic centre, fitness centre and numerous other things.

It also organizes exclusive activities like Bhangra Dance, Bharatnayam/Mohiniyattam, painting class for ladies, DJ, ghazal, party games, magician, live band, yoga session, jungle safari, trekking, golfing and fishing. Also, you can opt for copier/fax, secretariat services, safe deposit locker (free), car, doctor on call, laundry etc.

Fortune Hotel Sullivan Court

Fortune Hotel Sullivan Court, Ooty

Fortune hotel Sullivan Court is designed in such a way that it reflects warmth and soothe. Surrounded with lush green and peaceful ambience, this hotel is a retreat for you, if the blaring horns of the highway have choked your minds. Sit back and behold the enormous Nilgiri hills and feel its magic healing.

This hotel is equipped with all the modern day facilities. The hotel has a bar, gymnasium, restaurant and three conference halls. There are 67 rooms with a choice in standard (49), fortune club rooms (14) and suites (4). All the rooms are tastefully designed and offer breathtaking view of the valley.

Mount N Mist Hotel

Mount N Mist  Luxury Hotels in Ooty
Mount 'n' Mist Hotel, Ooty
And as you sip in the morning tea, you realize that the sunset view is hail worthy. Mount and Mist hotel is affluent in terms of greenery, heart-warming services and up-to-date facilities. There are five kinds of rooms in the hotel, namely; deluxe room, deluxe executive suite, twin deluxe suites, queen suite and king suite.

There are some special facilities provided like Trekking, Jungle Safari, Bonfire, Barbecue, friendly pets for entertainment (and you can take along your own pet as well). The restaurant inside the hotel is named Forest Feast Restaurant and offers a wide choice in Continental/ Chinese and Indian Cuisine. The décor is elegant and soothing.

Highland Hotel (Accord Hotels and Resort)

Highland Luxury Hotel & Resort  in Ooty
Highland Hotel & Resort in Ooty, India
Long stretch of lazy hills of Doddabetta Range, green and undisturbed, makes your stay in Highland Hotel worth your while. Off course, what add on to the relaxing experience are the services, facilities and décor of this hotel.

Some exclusive facilities of this hotel are; airport transfer, barbecue grills, babysitting, banquet facilities, currency exchange, golf camps, boating, gift shop, news stand, health spa, safe deposit box, campfire area, internet, wake up calls, mini bar in every room and a lot others.

The hotel is designed keeping in view the modern day elegance and simplicity. The three Banquet halls of the hotel give you a chance to celebrate your special day with your loved ones. These halls can accommodate 200 people with ease.

Gem Park Hotel

Gem Park Luxury Hotels in Ooty
Gem Park Hotel in Ooty
It’s about time to spend your precious vacations in the lap of sheer perfection. Gem Park has inscribed its name in the list of “Best Luxury Hotels in Ooty”, with its unrivaled services and tasteful décor.  There are three kinds of accommodation, deluxe, luxury and presidential suite. All the rooms have business centre, TV, valet services, turndown service, work desk with lamp, direct dial phone, pc, internet connection, hairdryer, coffee bar, mini bar, crib; and with higher price you get better and wider range of facilities.

The restaurant has two restaurants, two bars, conference halls, banquet hall, spa, parlor, gymnasium, Kashmiri boutique, pastry shop, sports court, news stand etc.

Hill Country Lovedale

Hill Country Lovedale - Luxury Hotels in Ooty
Hill Country Lovedale in Ooty
An epitome of grace and flawlessness, Hill Country Lovedale overlooks the beautiful Ketti Village. Accommodation comes with a choice in premium suite, deluxe suite and deluxe cottage; all the rooms are designed to provide comfort and pleasure. You can pamper yourself in the Ayurvedic Wellness centre and enjoy recreational activities in the Game Centre.

This hotels highlight apart from comforting services and amazing décor is Sowkhya. Sokhya is the Ayurvedic centre and you get a good number of choice in the treatments; Therapeutic Rejuvenation Massage, Punarnavam (Herbal Facial), Therapeutic Skin Renewal Massage, Therapeutic Herbal Power Massage, Therapeutic Special Back Pain Massage and Sowkhya Mind n body energizing Therapy.

Making your experience better, is the in house restaurant that offers authentic local cuisine and a lot more.

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Thursday, July 26, 2007

A few of our buds qualified for the AKC Agility Invitationals!

The 2007 AKC Agility Invitationls will be held in conjunction with the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship and the National Obedience Invitational in Long Beach, California, at the Long Beach Convention Center, December 1-2, 2007.

The AKC Agility Invitational invites the top dogs ranked in agility events during the qualifying period (July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007) and is based on the Top MACH Dog formula (Double Q's x 10 + MACH points earned during the qualifying period). The top five ranked agility dogs in each of the AKC recognized breeds will be invited to attend this prestigious event.

We are proud to say that a few of our buds have been invited this year. Buster Brown, Chili and Cait. We are so proud of them.

Maybe if we get to go see them compete we could head on down to San Diego. It's so beautiful there. We'd use the San Diego yellow pages to help us find fun stuff to do!

Congrats to Buster, Chili and Cait!

  1. Johann!
    you are in the lead - we just voted - you are THREE ahead!!!!!!!!

  2. Hope you get to go to San Diego, It's a great town. Try to get to some of the beaches, they're are loads of fun!

Thanks for barking in!

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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

As a pioneer of the skate industry FTC has seen many changes over its nearly 30 year existence, from eclectic choice of dress to the progression into an increasingly technical sport. What has remained a constant however, dating back to the days of the original Z-Boys, is the younger generation’s raw, untainted passion for the action sport and ability to compete with their post-puberty comrades. To show some much deserve respect to the young guns of the sport, FTC recently put together a team of adolescent riders dubbing them the Young Bucks. Filmed and edited by Sam Chao, the San Francisco-based brand presents its second session video with the Young Bucks crew featuring skaters (in order of appearance): Kallen Matlock, Nico Hiraga, Tafari Whitter, Jonathan Wells, Max Otake, Darnell Coleman, Ian Elsasser, Josh Fajardo, Matt Dodge, Angel, Keita Wilson, Sam Chao, Desmond Billie, Danny Cusulos, Dean Cusulos, Eric Alford and Joel Misner.

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Friday, January 09, 2009

Eating Penis

By Diana Hsieh

Journalist Adam Yamaguchi visits a "penis restaurant" in China and eats a "penis sampler." Seriously.

I love the reaction of his translator. (Via the Volokh Conspiracy.)

Comment Rules

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Rule #2: These comments are not a forum for discussion of any and all topics. Please stay loosely on-topic, and post random questions and comments in the designated "open threads."

Rule #3: You are welcome to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of products. Spam comments will be deleted.

You can use some HTML tags in your comments -- such as <b>, <i>, and <a>.

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But, due to how Amazon handles security with ECR, giving K8S the proper authentication to pull your containers is a bit tricky. First off we're going to use the AWS CLI. Running the command:

aws ecr get-login

Gives us the result:

docker login -u AWS -p CiBwm0YaISJ... -e none https://[accountnum]

Which is the command we can use to generate a ~/.docker/config.json that we can then use to push and pull images to/from ECR.

But how do we get this file to our K8S controllers that will be ultimately pull this images? By using ImagePullSecrets.

When we are deploying K8S, locally or on CI, we first run:

$ aws ecr get-login | sh -
$ cat > /tmp/image-pull-secret.yaml << EOF
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
  name: myregistrykey
  .dockerconfigjson: $(cat ~/.docker/config.json | base64 -w 0)
$ kubectl [create/replace] -f /tmp/image-pull-secret.yaml

And then make sure our pod definition includes:

  name: my-pod
    name: my-pod
  imagePullSecrets: # <-- Important bit here
    - name: myregistrykey
      - image: [accountnum]
        name: my-container

Now our K8S nodes will have the permissions to pull the images when deploying our new containers.

Note: The ~/.docker/config.json that is generated from aws ecr get-login only lasts 12 hours. So make sure you run these scripts on every deploy to make sure you still have permission to pull images.

Eric Koslow, cofounder of Lattice, has been writing a series of blog posts (check them out!) on setting up Kubernetes on AWS. At Lattice, Eric creates software to help companies set and manage their goals. -Mackenzie

Update: Alex Kern of Pavlov put together a gist to automate this process using a Makefile. Check it out!


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Number of Americans Obtaining Health Insurance Through an Employer Declines Steadily Since 2000

    • April 11, 2013

Princeton, N.J.— The percentage of Americans who receive health insurance through employers has fallen significantly over the last decade—from 69.7 percent nationwide in 2000 to just 59.5 percent in 2011, according to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

In all, 47 states and the District of Columbia saw a statistically significant decline in nonelderly adults with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), with 22 states experiencing decreases of 10 percentage points or more.

The report finds that in total, 11.5 million fewer Americans receive their health coverage through their job, or a family member’s job, than did at the start of the century. In 2000, approximately 170.5 million Americans were enrolled in ESI compared with 159 million in 2011.

“Employers continue to shoulder about the same percentage of costs for employees’ health insurance as they did 10 years ago, but everyone’s costs have increased dramatically,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Higher costs naturally translate into fewer employers offering insurance coverage, and fewer employees accepting it, even when it is offered. That is why it is so important that people have options for purchasing affordable health insurance that meets their needs.”

The report was prepared by researchers at the University of Minnesota’s State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC). Researchers say many factors contributed to the general decline in ESI nationwide and at the state level, including decreases in overall employment and rising premium costs.

The report shows:

  • Fewer employers offer ESI, and fewer employees accept it. Nationally, the percentage of private sector employers offering coverage fell more than six percentage points—from 58.9 percent in 2000 to 52.4 percent in 2011. Employee take-up of ESI fell significantly, too. In 2000, 81.8 percent of employees who were offered such coverage enrolled. One decade later, just 76.3 percent did.
  • Costs of insurance premiums have risen dramatically. Nationally, the average annual ESI premium for employee-only coverage doubled from 2000 to 2011—increasing from $2,490 to $5,081. Family premiums increased 125 percent, from $6,415 to $14,447 in the same time period.
  • The share of the premium that employees are asked to pay rose slightly, but the dollar amount of employee contributions more than doubled. The average share that employees pay for both types of coverage remained relatively constant—increasing from just 17.5 percent for individual coverage in 2000 to 20.8 percent in 2011. Employee contributions for family coverage increased from 23.8 percent in 2000 to 26.6 percent in 2011. The average dollar amount of employee premium contributions, however, jumped from $435 to $1,056 for single coverage, and from $1,526 to $3,842 for family coverage.
  • More adults ages 19-25 are covered through employer-sponsored insurance. For young adults ages 19-25, dependent ESI coverage increased by nearly six percentage points—from 30.7 percent in 2000 to 36.5 percent in 2011. The researchers attribute this to the Affordable Care Act provision allowing children under age 26 to remain on their parents’ health insurance policies, which went into effect in 2010.
  • ESI rates vary significantly across states. The five states that saw the largest percentage point drops in ESI from 2000–2011 include Michigan (-15.2 points), South Carolina (-14.9 points), Indiana (-14.8 points), Ohio (-13.7 points) and North Carolina (-13.3 points). ESI enrollment remained statistically stable in just three states during the time of the study—Alaska, Massachusetts and North Dakota. No states saw increases in ESI coverage.
  • People with lower incomes are most affected. In households with income at or above about $89,400 annually for a family of four in 2011 (400 percent of federal poverty level), ESI dropped just 2.8 percentage points. In contrast, it fell by 10.1 percentage points for those with household incomes below $44,700 for a family of four (200 percent FPL).

 “Most Americans under age 65 who have health insurance are still covered through an employer, and that’s not likely to change significantly after the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented next year,” said Lynn Blewett, PhD, director of SHADAC. “Nevertheless, employer-sponsored health insurance has been in steady decline for some time. The state health insurance exchanges, subsidies, and expanded Medicaid program should help many people obtain coverage.”

The SHADAC report uses state-level data from two government surveys: the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey (CPS), sponsored by the U. S. Census Bureau; and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Because of small sample sizes in some states, researchers used two-year averages of each for greater precision of the estimates (data cited here as 2000 is an average of 1999 and 2000 data; data cited as 2011 is an average of 2010 and 2011 data).

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse groups of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For 40 years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit Follow the Foundation on Twitter or Facebook

About the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC)

The State Health Access Data Assistance Center, or SHADAC, is an independent health policy research center located at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. SHADAC is a resource for helping states collect and use data for health policy, with a particular focus on monitoring rates of health insurance coverage and understanding factors associated with uninsurance. SHADAC is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For more information, visit

Media Contacts

Melissa Blair

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (609) 627-5937

Additional Media Contact: Kristin Brown

Insurance Obtained through Work Declining Amid Rising Costs

This report shows that health insurance coverage from an employer declined significantly from 2000 to 2011, likely due to costs.

Read the report


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Best Tools of 2016

We are at the end of the year so it’s time to make a review of 2016 and think about the best and the worst in order to learn for the next year.

Here I will review the best tools that I used this year in my company. I hope it will discover you new tools to use in your company.

I divided the tools into:
– Productivity
– Communication
– Social Media
– Design
– Web Development
– Storage
– Leisure
– Paperwork
– Devices
– Bonus

So you can read the category that you prefer the most.

Best tools of 2016.

– Trello: Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. You can use it with your team or alone. I use it alone as I’m a freelancer and I use it to organize each project. I divide each project into small sections and these small sections into tasks. I set a deadline for each section and with I know the stage of each project. It works on PC and also it has a great APP.

– Google Calendar: I think that everyone knows this famous calendar. I used a lot of them but finally I decided to use Google Calendar because it’s simple, easy to use, I can use it on the PC and also on my mobile phone. I use it to organize my weeks and days. Also, I use it as a reminder of deadlines.

– Paper Agenda: I also use a paper agenda. I’m aware that is not as comfortable as Google Calendar but I love to write on paper because I use colors, highlighters and so on.

– Toggl: This is a tool that helps you to keep a track of your day. You can set when you start working, on what and for how long. I use it to know where my time is going and to know how many hours each project takes.

– Google Keep: When I started to be a freelancer I started using to-do lists, but as time went by I realized that to-do lists are not very useful (at least for me) because I have a lot of tasks each day and I wasn’t able to tic all of them. So now I use the calendar and I set an hour and an amount of time for each task. However I continue to use to-do list for general tasks (for example, the shopping, tasks that I have to accomplish this week, and so on). For this, I use Google Keep because it’s simple and easy to use.

Social Media:

The following social media channels are those that are most helpful for my business.

– Linkedin: Most of my potential clients are there as I help small companies to grow their brands.

– Twitter: Is where I have more interaction and engagement.

My main communication with my clients is the email. It’s professional, comfortable and almost everyone has one.

– Nylas N1: I started using Nylas because is simple and beautiful. However, at the beginning, I had some problems with delayed emails and so on.

– Mozilla Thunderbird: I started using Thunderbird when I had problems with Nylas. It’s ok but the UX/UI is worst than Nylas.

– Skype: I use Skype to have meetings with clients that don’t live in my city.

– Mymail: I use this APP to have the email on my mobile phone because I prefer to have my professional mail separated from the personal one.

– InDesign: This year I use InDesign a lot, not only for Editorial Projects but also to design my portfolio in pdf and also to design the project presentations.

– Photoshop: I use very little this program but still I use it for some projects.

– Illustrator: this program, with InDesign, are the two programs that I used the most this year. Most of my projects require vectorial graphics.

Web Development:

– Sublime Text 2: I use this program when I develop websites with HTML5 and CSS3.

– WordPress: I use this tool for my blog and also to develop websites for my clients.

– Bootstrap: I use this tool when I develop websites with HTML5 and CSS3.

– OVH: Is my hosting and it works perfectly fine.

– Mega: I use Mega to have a virtual copy of the projects and the very important files.

– Google Drive: I use Google Drive to share documents with my clients and also to write some documents, for example sometimes, I write the weekly post with this tool.

– Spotify: Music is a must for me when I’m working and I love this program. I have all the music groups that I love, I can make playlists…

– FM Radio: During the mornings I prefer to be informed about what’s going on in the world and in my city so I prefer listening to the radio.

As a freelancer, I have a lot of paperwork to do like budgets, invoices, writing contracts and so on.

– Libre Office: Especially Libre Office Calc for invoices and budgets and Libre Office Writer for general texts.

– Microsoft and Android Calculator: I use them to make budgets and invoices.

– Lenovo G50: I use this laptop daily.

– PC: I also have a PC more powerful than the laptop.

– Wacom: for design, a graphic tablet is a must. I use it every day.

– MotoG: I currently have this mobile phone. I use it for work and also for leisure.

– Android Camera: Sometimes I have to take photos to some drafts to send to clients. For this, I use this camera.

What tools do you use in your company? Let me know in the comments!
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How to make an effective infographic?

Infographics are a trend nowadays. Everyone is using them, from companies to marketers. So it’s very important to know how to stand out from the crowd and make your infographic effective.

What’s an infographic?

In a nutshell, an infographic is a series of graphics that represent heavy information in order to make it understandable in a short period of time. Depending on the kind of information, the infographic will be only the summary of your report / post, or in other cases, it will be the whole report / post. This depends on how complex and how long is your information.

When do you should use infographics?

Infographics are great, they create a lot of engagement, and sometimes they go viral. But this doesn’t mean that they are advisable for every kind of information or company.

When you have to write numbers and percentages, infographics are great. Because it’s more attractive to show them on a graphic than simply write the numbers. People will pay more attention to it, and more important, they will remember it.

But, there is another kind of information that could be good on an infographic like, for example, a list of elements or to point out important facts.

The most important fact is that infographics tell a story, they are more related to comic and storyboard than you think. So, first of all, you need a story to tell.

How to share it?

Social media is very important on sharing infographics. Especially Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.

But of course, this depends on your target, if your target is not on Pinterest, there is no point in sharing it on this social media channel. You have to know where your target is and then you have to choose the best channels among them.

Another good advice is to add social plugins to your infographic so people could share it on social media if they want to.

How to make an effective infographic?

  • Target: The first step to make an effective infographic is to define the target of it. In most cases this target will be the target of your blog or your potential client. But, still, it’s important to remember it and to have it present.

  • Goal: Second, you need a goal. What do you want to achieve with your infographic? Visibility? Inform people? Entertain them?Your goal has to be specific and quantifiable.

  • CTA: Your goal will lead you to a call to action. What kind of action will you want the reader to make? Share it? Reflect on something?You should write your CTA at the bottom of the infographic in order to invite people to do something.

  • Topic:Most people make the mistake of choosing a topic that most people are interested in. And this is a huge mistake. If you are a company or a self-employed you have to think about the topics that are interesting to your target because your main goal is to gain sales or potential clients. If you design an infographic with a viral topic you probably will get a lot of engagement, followers, and subscribers, but these people won’t ever buy you anything because they are not interested in your product or service.Think about your target necessities and then choose a topic that solves a problem for them, or give them important information.Focusing only on one topic is another good advice. It’s important because if you give a lot of different information, people won’t understand the core message of your infographic.

  • Core message: Define your core message. This is the message that you want to convey, the main one. The rest of the information will add value to this main message.

  • Information: As I said before, you need a story or a piece of information to tell. If you have a lot of information you will need to filter it because an infographic should have little text. To filter it, think which are the most important and original facts / data that you have on your text and put it on the infographic. And the rest write it on a series of paragraphs that go with the infographic.

    A key is that you should only use data that is relevant to your goal. So ask yourself, will this information help me to achieve my goal?If you have only a few facts or data is very easy, you have to put all of them on the infographic.Use reputable and reliable sources. It’s a shame to design an infographic full of lies or with misleading information. You will loose clients and reliability. So make sure that your data is correct.

    Besides, you should write an effective headline: a good headline is one that describes the information that is on your infographic, is concise, grabs user’s attention and is shorter enough to understand it at a glance. Example: “10 kinds of killer headlines.”

    Finally, cite your sources. This is important especially when you are pointing out facts, example: “50% of people like infographics”, this kind of statements have to be linked to a reliable source.

  • Structure: Before designing anything, focus on structure. Which is the most important information? Which are the details? Where will you put the headlines?  It’s very good to make some wireframes. This is very useful when designing websites, it’s the basic layout. Black and white and with only one font face. But, they are useful in another kind of designs too, like infographics, books, newspapers and so on. It gives you clearness and it helps you to know how to distribute the information in a coherent way.

  • Design: On an infographic design is a must. If you have a very interesting infographic but with poor design, you won’t get any result. Make sure that you follow your brand guidelines, as I explained on this post. If you don’t have any brand guidelines, a good advice is to limit your colour palette. Choose only 2 or 3 colours for the whole infographic.The same happens with typography, choose 2 different fonts at maximum. Use the exact font size that makes the infographic be read easily, without making any effort.Besides, use graphics that helps you to explain the data. There are a lot of kind of graphics that you can use, pie, bar, line and so on. To choose the correct one you have to think of the best kind of graphic that helps you to explain the information. It’s not important if you are a fan of pie chart, if this kind of graphic doesn’t fit with the information, don’t use it.

    Another important element is the size. The limit is 735px wide and 5000 pixels tall. If you use a bigger size than this you will make your infographic uncomfortable to read because people will have to zoom in it. They will have to make an effort, and most people won’t do it. Besides, make the file as small as possible without loosing quality. If your file is very heavy it will make it uncomfortable for people to share it or keep it.

    Use hierarchy. Most infographic has at first glance, a main image or graphic that grabs attention and have the core message, and then small details that add information to that core message.

    Keep it simple: in design, this is a main rule. Don’t over design your infographic. Simpler graphics always win.

    Have a balance between graphics and written information. Generally, an infographic will have more graphics and little text.

    Add white space: this is another main rule in design. Don’t over charge your infographic. White space is good and very useful. Not only on an infographic, the same happens on websites, newspapers, posters, and so on.

    Finally, don’t use white background: your infographic will be sharing it in multiple sources, social media, blogs… So if you use white background your infographic won’t stand out.

Where to find inspiration?

Inspiration is very useful when you have to create something. You don’t have to copy anything but it’s advisable to know what are your competitors doing and what other people did. So you could do something different and stand out from them.

Pinterest is a good place to find inspiration. You can look for an infographic of your same topic.

Google Images another good source. It will give you infographics and also blog post that talks about it.

This is a great website to find some inspiration too.

Another great website with lots of infographics for inspiration. They also have a lovely book.

Have you got any problems designing infographics? Let me know in the comments!

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Starbelly Chef Works With Local Schoolchildren To Raise Money For Their Garden

Community members will be treated to a feast tonight, thanks to the work of local elementary school students.

Chef Adam Timney from Starbelly, a restaurant in the Castro District, will be making a ravioli dinner for a fundraiser to benefit Sanchez Elementary School.

Read more in SFAppeal.

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The cost of everything, and the value of nothing

The standard viewpoint of the middle office has been as a cost center. As a result, middle offices have often been overlooked and investment in technology has been woefully lacking. But as the industry evolves, asset managers are recognizing that a middle office that is technology enabled can add real value.

Citisoft looks at this concept in its Times of Change: A Look Back and a Look Ahead at the Biggest Trends in Asset Management Tech and Ops.

“It’s no secret that legacy, sub-optimal technology stacks, especially in the middle and back office, can hamstring firms in their ability to stay nimble and respond quickly to front office demands,” it says.

“There are still countless asset management firms running mission-critical functions on enterprise software packages and applications that are, at best, struggling to keep up with today’s operational challenges and, at worst, borderline obsolete,” the piece says.

This opinion is far from an isolated one. During his keynote address at this year's Buy-Side Technology European Summit in London, Stuart Warner, head of technology at Fidelity International, said attitudes are beginning to change.

“Buy-side organizations are waking up to the fact that technology isn't a cost to control. It's not an overhead; it's a competitive advantage,” he said.

Middle office functions have the potential to contribute to the bottom line because of their direct link to the front office. The fact of the matter is that incomplete or missing data, errors in reporting, or tardy data analytics can reduce the ability of the front office to generate alpha, thus negatively impacting the bottom line.

Actionable insights

Asset management firms of all sizes are increasingly looking to leverage predictive analytics to turn data into actionable insights. Risk analytics and performance measurement are additional areas that can clearly benefit from predictive analytics. In this way, middle office efficacy can contribute in very real ways to a firm’s success or failure in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

But for that to happen the right technology capable of delivering timely, accurate and high-quality data is critical.

However, the reality for many has been a focus on firefighting to make sure that outdated legacy technology remains functional. This ‘papering over the cracks’ attitude is dangerously narrow minded. As a result, many functions are now actually obsolete from an IT perspective, and so spending time and money on trying to maintain them is pretty pointless.

Smart tech is just a smarter solution

Innovative technology, on the other hand, frees up valuable resource to focus on creating value rather than keeping the lights on.

An Ovum report, Financial Markets Technology Spending Through 2020: Location Segmentation, says that: “The strongest technology spend growth will be seen in the front and middle offices. In the front office, technology spend growth will be driven by a focus on client servicing and increased trading effectiveness. Risk and compliance will drive spending in the middle office.”

Using the middle office’s data management capability in the most optimized way possible provides competitive advantage to the front office.

But that is not all. Smart data management also helps when it comes to managing and monitoring counterparties and providing regular and accurate reports to regulators and clients. Having the right data management tools can also help to identify patterns in investor behavior. Put simply, a decent data management framework means that the middle office can quickly access the right information and present it in the right way to other stakeholders who will then use it for strategic decision-making.

In fact, in a technology dependent world, success will depend on the extent to which asset managers can derive insight and business value from their data. That is not going to happen without investing in state-of-the-art data analytics tools and services where the technology is managed elsewhere, leaving the middle office free to harness that technology’s capabilities to:

  • Serve the front office
  • Manage risk and performance analysis
  • Satisfy investors and regulators
  • Boost operational efficiencies
  • Create a competitive edge

KPMG’s paper, Revolutionary change demands speed and agility in the asset management industry, says: “We see a remarkable amount of inefficiency today among asset management (AM) businesses that continue to rely on paper documents, manual labor and dated processes. The opportunity for digital technology to entirely reshape business operations – improving efficiency and lowering costs to improve competitiveness and profitability – is absolutely unprecedented.”

Performing maintenance and upgrade tasks on legacy software and hardware environments doesn’t provide competitive advantage for an Asset Manager. These tasks are only necessary in outdated IT models. If old legacy systems and data silos can be replaced with tech smart platforms that are managed externally, then time is created to free up the middle office and IT departments to add value. And it’s that value that could give you the competitive edge you need.

Key takeaways:

  • Asset managers are recognizing that a middle office that is technology enabled can add real value.
  • The reality for many has been a focus on firefighting to make sure that outdated legacy systems remain functional.
  • Managing and maintaining local legacy systems doesn’t make you a better Asset Manager. Switching the focus to the data and analysis can.
  • Smart data can also deliver a competitive edge by empowering asset managers to respond quickly to new investment opportunities.

Learn more about how IT can transform the middle office in our complimentary eGuide, What is the future of IT within asset management?

Download now

Neil Smyth

Neil Smyth

Marketing & Technology Director, StatPro Group


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Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire vs Kobo Vox Comparison Review

Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire vs Kobo Vox

The three largest ebook companies all have shiny new color ereaders that double as tablets ready just in time for the holiday season, with all of them trying to duplicate the success of the Nook Color from last year. Comparing the specs of the Nook Tablet versus the Kindle Fire and Kobo Vox reveals all three are very similar devices.

They all run Android and have the same size screen and share the same general characteristics for reading ebooks, watching videos, listening to music, browsing the web, email, and plenty more.

It’s a tough comparison for the Kobo Vox because the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet both have faster processors, but neither are available outside the US so the Kobo wins in that department. The Vox also has the advantage in that it is running an open Android 2.3 whereas the other two are restricted to their respective appstores.

The Kindle Fire’s main advantage is the tie-in with all of Amazon’s digital content for Android apps, music, videos, and ebooks, with free cloud storage for all Amazon content. Amazon Prime members also get free ebooks and video streaming. The main disadvantage of the Kindle Fire is the meager memory and lack of a memory card slot. Amazon is going all in with cloud storage.

The Nook Tablet has the advantage with twice as much RAM and storage space. It can house up to 48GB with a microSD card. That’s just insane compared to the Kindle Fire. The Nook has an active hacking community as well, with custom ROMs that can turn it into a full-fledged tablet. The Nook’s main disadvantage it that the Nook appstore is more limited and some apps cost more than at other stores.

Keep in mind this Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire vs Kobo Vox comparison review is a preliminary comparison. I’ll post much more detailed hands-on comparisons and video reviews once I have the devices in hand. Subscribe to keep updated.

There’s also this earlier post comparing the Kindle Fire vs Nook Color.

Note: You can sub out the Nook Color for the Nook Tablet in this comparison as well (there wasn’t enough room in the table). These are the only differences with the Nook Color: It has an 800MHz processor; it runs Android 2.2; it has 8GB internal memory and 512MB RAM; 7-8 hour battery life; and weighs 1.7 ounces more than the Nook Tablet. B&N insinuate the screen is better on the Nook Tablet in some way but the specs are identical so it’ll have to wait for in-person testing.

Kindle Fire vs Nook Tablet vs Kobo Vox

Kindle Fire Nook Tablet Kobo Vox
Screen 7″ IPS Vibrant Color, 16 million colors

7″ IPS LG VividView, 16 million colors

7″ FFS+ optimized for indoor and outdoor reading

Resolution 1024 x 600 1024 x 600 1024 x 600
Processor 1GHz dual-core TI OMAP4 processor 1GHz dual-core TI OMAP4 processor 800MHz ARM Cortex A8
Operating System Android 2.3 Android 2.3 Open Android 2.3
Storage 8GB, cloud storage, no memory card slot 16GB, microSD memory cards up to 32GB 8GB, microSD memory card slot for cards up to 32GB
Memory 512 MB RAM 1GB RAM 512MB RAM
Apps Amazon’s Appstore 19k apps Nook Apps 1k apps GetJar Apps 15k apps
Camera No No No
Input/Output USB 2.0 (micro-B connector), 3.5mm headphone jack, stereo speakers Mini USB, 3.5mm headphone jack, 1 speaker, mic Mini USB, 3.5mm headphone jack, 1 speaker
Audio Support Yes Yes Yes
Wireless Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Wi-Fi
Battery 7-8 hours 9-11.5 hours 7 hours
Weight 14.6 oz 14.1 oz 14.2 oz
Size 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ 8.1" x 5" x 0.48" 7.6" x 5" x 0.53"
Price $199 at Amazon $249 at B&N $199 at Kobo

18 Responses to “Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire vs Kobo Vox Comparison Review”

  1. Nathan,

    Is there any chance of you posting a screen comparison of the aforementioned devices before Black Friday? I’m not referring to a full review, merely a look at the screens’ respective viewing angles, glare, ppi, text sharpness and so on?

    • Yeah I’ll post a screen comparison review. I’m eager to see which one has the best screen too since that’s a big factor. According to what B&N said at the press event, the Nook Tablet should be the best. We’ll see…

  2. This is just to fill the void when waiting for a TRUE color eReader.

    eInk announced their Triton color screen more than 1 year ago now and nobody is able to embed one for a (U.S. distributed) eReader?

    As for the alternative, a second gen Mirasol display. The Adam Notion Ink 2nd gen is about to be released I think, from India.

    U.S.A. is not anymore what it used to be in high tech innovation.

  3. Great comparison table! Thanks for putting it together.

    I do have a couple of questions.

    1) Each device seems to have a USB port. Can these be used to connect an external storage device such as a USB drive? If so, can the e-reader access files on the external USB drive? (I think this requires “USB hosting” ability, but I am not sure about that.)

    2) Will the Kindle Fire read epubs?

    • So far it doesn’t look like any have USB hosting capabilities unfortunately. The Kindle won’t support EPUB directly but it will through Android apps. Amazon have Aldiko in their store and Kobo too. I highly doubt that Amazon would remove those apps for the Kindle Fire. We’ll know for sure next week.

  4. On paper all three devices seem to have what they need for their intended use. I look forward to your hands-on reviews to see how well they actually perform.

    I’m wondering how the big three (Kindle, Nook, Kobo) will compare to the $199 Lenovo IdeaPad A1 with its 2 cameras, 16GB, and GPS.

    And then there’s a step up in features to the 10-inch Adam and Thrive with their user-replaceable batteries and HDMI slots. Decisions, decisions 🙂

  5. I too would like to see a screen comparison please. I am inclined to buy the Kindle Fire for my kid but I will wait for some more info on this blog. Great blog.

  6. The mic should be listed as a separate entry in the table so that it stands out. A rooted nook tablet should be able to make phone calls using sykes.

  7. Was wondering if the color e-readers can be adjusted so that the screen is easier on the eyes when doing a lot of reading in one sitting?

  8. The writer missed one point about the Nook Tablet. He was right in saying that it has an active hacking community. He failed to mention that B&N includes instructions (albeit not very good ones) on how to root the nook so as to turn it into a full fledged tablet. Once you do that, the nook is no longer limited by the B&N app store. Instead it has full access to the entire Google Market, which happens to also include the Nook app, as well as the Kindle and Kobo apps. Combine that with the better hardware specs and there is no real reason to buy the Kindle or the Kobo.

    • I don’t know where you are getting your information. B&N does not provide instructions on how to root any of their Nook devices, never has never will. But you can find all that information here on this website.

  9. Hello Nathan, Thanx for your comparison chart. I currently have a Kindle (2nd Gen) but it is old and is losing its clarity. I love the idea of getting one of these tablets, but I need the Text to Speech function to read books (I have a long commute). Do any of these (kindle fire, Nook Tablet, Kobo) have the Text to Speech function for reading books? Everything I read seems to contradict and I would really like to know. Thanks!

    • No, they don’t have text-to-speech directly. Certain apps have TTS, it just depends. Press Reader has really good voices for reading newspapers. The ebook apps I know of don’t support DRM’d ebooks, though. You’re probably better off with a Kindle because of the long battery life. If you have a long commute you’d probably have to re-charge a tablet everyday. You may consider just upgrading your Kindle. The Kindle Keyboard and Kindle Touch both have TTS and start at $99.

  10. Thanks Nathan. I am looking for a tablet that is in color, can play movies, and has the text to speech function to read e books. Does such a device exist?

    • That depends on where you want to get your books. The ebook apps I know of that support text-to-speech don’t support DRM so only public domain and non-DRM books will work, leaving most books out unless you strip the DRM. One exception is the Asus Transformer, which is my favorite 10″ tablet. ASUS put a custom app on it that has text-to-speech and supports Adobe DRM. There may be other exceptions I don’t know about. The Augen eReader did TTS too but it wasn’t very good. You might consider audiobooks. The reading is a lot more enjoyable because the voice actors are generally really good.

  11. Hi Nathan
    I took your advice & purchased the Asus tf 101. It seems pretty amazing but i feel so lost. I have searchedthe Asus website for a tutorial and can’t find one there or online. Is there a resource i can use somewhere to learn how to use it? I.E. I cant get netflix to work (it says i’m supposed to enter a device # i cant find) if u can point me in the right direction i would appreciate it.
    Thx! GARY

    • I know what you mean; there’s a lot to learn. If you run a search for Honeycomb tutorial you should turn up something good. The OS is mostly the same as other Honeycomb tablets. There’s also the Asus Campus blog that has a few tutorials, like setting it up to use your Windows computer and how to use the SuperNote app.

      Netflix works fine on mine; I’ve never had to enter anything but my login info. Perhaps uninstalling and then reinstalling will get it up and running.


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How To Make Your Beauty Products Last Longer

Squeezing_last_dropHere at, we know beauty products can be pricey so we want to share some tips on how to get the most out of your favorite makeup and skincare products.  After all, everyone loves to save a little money!

Tip #1 – Use moisturizer & primer on your face before applying makeup. Using either of these products underneath foundation will ensure long lasting coverage.  Added Benefit: it won’t dry out or crack your makeup.  You can also use an eyeshadow primer to keep eye makeup in place all day or night long.

Tip #2 – Moisturize Again! Similarly, moisturizer helps maintain a glowing tan longer whether it is from the sun or from a bottle.  The added moisture on the skin locks the bronze in place for a few extra days.

Tip #3 – Add olive oil to conditioners. When it comes to haircare, adding some olive oil to your daily conditioner, or deep conditioning hair masque can stretch the product out for a few more uses.

Tip #4 – Spray perfume in pulse spots.  Make that yummy spritz of perfume go the extra mile by spraying it in the correct spots.  The back of the knees, behind the ears, wrists and décolletage emanate heat from your skin and sends the scent into the air around you.

Tip #5 – Use top coat.  Splurging for a manicure during the holiday season can become more of a drag than a pleasure when it chips in a couple days. Applying a layer of clear top coat to nails every other day ensures a longer lasting manicure.

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Lights & Sirens

Go behind the yellow tape with The News Tribune

NOTICE: Lights & Sirens has moved.

With the launch of our new website, we've moved Lights & Sirens.
Visit the new section.

Tag: South Hill

Deputies arrest South Hill stabbing suspect

A man was arrested for allegedly  stabbing another man in  South Hill early this morning, KIRO-TV reports.

Deputies told KIRO the stabbing happened about 2 a.m. near Meridian Avenue and 118th Street.

The victim ran to a nearby house for help and was later taken to the hospital for multiple stab wounds that were not thought to be life-threatening, KIRO reports.

The suspect was arrested at his home soon after.

See KIRO’s full report on the suspect arrested for the South Hill stabbing.

Man injured by firework exploding in face

A 23-year-old man in the South Hill area was hurt when a firework exploded in his face Tuesday, KIRO-TV reported.

It happened about 11 p.m. in the 13600 block of 94th Avenue East.

Randy Stephens with Central Pierce Fire & Rescue told KIRO-TV that the man lost vision in one eye and was most likely using illegal fireworks.

The man was treated at Harborview Medical Center for chest and facial injuries.

Ceremony scheduled for two men killed in South Hill home

Local clergy will gather Tuesday for a brief, spiritual ceremony at the South Hill home where two men were gunned down last month.

The Moment of Blessing for Travis Dennis, 32, and Jeffrey Poling, 36, will begin at 10 a.m. at Dennis’ home in the 9400 block of 175th Street Court East.

The men were shot in the head inside the home. Their bodies were discovered May 28. Investigators have said they believe the men were targeted but haven’t made any arrests.

The Associated Ministries sponsors the Moment of Blessing ceremonies at all locations in Pierce County where homicides have

Read more »

Reward offered in double homicide at South Hill home

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for information in a double homicide earlier this week in South Hill.

Travis Dennis, 32, and Jeffrey Poling, 36, were shot in the head in Dennis’ home in the 9400 block of 175th Street Court East.

Dennis’ father went to the home about 8:45 a.m. Monday because he hadn’t heard from his son. He spotted one of the bodies inside and called the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators have said they believe the victims were targeted. There were no signs of forced entry and no evidence of a struggle.

Detectives also have

Read more »

UPDATED: Names of South Hill homicide victims released

UPDATED at 1:56 p.m.

Two men found dead in a South Hill home Monday morning had been shot in the head, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office reported today.

The office has ruled both men – Jeffrey Poling, a 36-year-old Spanaway resident, and Travis Dennis, a 32-year-old Puyallup resident – were homicide victims.

Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said investigators believe the two were targeted but don’t know why. They have found no signs of forced entry to the home.

“We have some leads we are following up on,” he said.

Detectives have discovered several guns – including an

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UPDATE: Two men found dead in South Hill home

Two men who were found dead in a South Hill home on Monday morning were victims of homicide, the spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said.

Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the bodies were discovered by the father of one of the men who lived in the home. Neither of the bodies had been identified Monday afternoon. Preliminary indications were that both men likely were killed by gunshot wounds, Troyer said.

The father of one of the men who lived in the house called 911 a.m., Troyer said. The men had approached the back patio door and saw a

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UPDATED: Man wanted in South Hill burglary now in custody

UPDATED at 2:05 p.m.

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies have arrested a 27-year-old man wanted in connection with last week’s deadly shooting during a burglary inside a South Hill home.

Joshua Baker was booked into Pierce County Jail on Monday night. Prosecutors had previously charged him with first-degree burglary, attempted second-degree robbery and second-degree assault. A warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Baker pleaded not guilty to the charges this afternoon. He was ordered held in jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Investigators say Baker and Kevin Fernandes, 21, broke into the home of a retired Puyallup police officer last

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Deputies hope to ID man who stole $5,000 diamond ring from South Hill store

Pierce County sheriff’s detectives are trying to identify a man suspected of stealing a 1-karat diamond ring from a South Hill department store last weekend.

Tacoma-Piece County Crime Stoppers released a surveillance image of the man today in hopes someone recognizes him.

The man was seen hanging around the jewelry counter at Kohl’s, 16918 Meridian Ave. E., several times between 12:45 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

About 5:30 p.m., the man asked the sales clerk to show him a princess cut, white gold diamond ring wedding set. When she did, he grabbed the ring and ran out, deputies

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Final Guthrie/Bell Shows at Valentine’s After 20 Year Run

GuthrieBellProductionsOver the past weeks, it seems that bands and promoters have been scrambling to play or book just one more show at Valentine’s Music Hall & Beer Joint as it stands now before it meets the wrecking ball. Very few bands or promoters have lasted as long as the venue at 17 New Scotland Avenue. The following is based on a news item we received from one that has outlived many.

In 1993, Valentine’s was under a different owner. The upstairs room resembled a cafeteria. The stage was at the far end, there was a white tile drop ceiling, florescent lights and no sound system or stage lights.

It just so happened that a fairly new promoter was trying to make something happen in the Albany jam band scene. His name was Greg Bell, and with the backing of his partner he booked the room on 6/13/1993. The show featured The Weasels and Sound Asylym – both classic Albany bands.

From there Guthrie/Bell helped build a healthy and thriving jam band scene in the Capital District. Of course it needed many factors to make it work: bands to play, fans to come out, rooms to work with, and a promoter to hire and promote the bands. For the last twenty years, Guthrie/Bell has brought the bands and Valentine’s has been its bread and butter room.

Guthrie/Bell has brought over the years to Valentine’s include moe., Disco Biscuits, Soulive, Ominous Seapods, Moon Boot Lover, Conehead Buddha, Schleigho, Free Beer and Chicken, YoLK, Eastbound Jesus, Dr. Jah, Formula 5, Timbre Coup and hundred’s more. There have been over 1,000 shows put together at Valentine’s by Guthrie/Bell; over 200,000 people have come to see them.

Well, as it turns out we all must say goodbye to the classic dive Valentine’s as we know it on 12/31/13. Howe (Glassman, proprietor and chief muckety muck) has great new plans for the former Cagney’s on Central Ave., and new beginnings always bring good things.

Guthrie/Bell will present its final weekend of (18 y/o +) shows this Friday and Saturday, featuring some of the great bands from the history of the relationship between Valentine’s and Guthrie/Bell, as follows:

Friday December 20:
Free Beer and Chicken (folk generated rock) and
Wreckloose (high energy original jam band)
Doors 8:00p, Show 9:30p

Saturday December 21:
(Peter Prince and) Moon Boot Lover (R&B flavored rock) and
Dr. Jah and the Love Prophets (world party reggae) and
Subduing Mara (americana)
Doors 8:00p, Show 9:00p

Andrew Gregory

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World Elephant Day: Tiny Love Notes to Mighty Mammals

How many words could possibly contain all the love and marvel and reverence that the elephant gently hammer into our hearts, as it were, inadvertently? And what else can we do but still make attempts to sing of their might and beauty sincerely? This is one such effort, if you may, on World Elephant Day. […]
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Elephants: A Visual Tribute

They’re the world’s largest land-mammals.  Their presence is imposing but also poetic. They’re gentle, gigantic and endangered. They’re elephants.  And this is a visual tribute to them.   From the vast marshy expanses of Amboseli to the tropical rainforests of India, not only do they
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Kenya May 2014 Tour Report: Amboseli

Fourteen people fell in love with the same thing at the same time. Toehold’s Sachin Rai facilitated this romance with Kenya through a Tour that packed it all. As always the group checked in to a Nairobi hotel and stayed overnight, relaxing their tired bodies from the six-hour flight that had got them across the
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Serve summertime drinks in style with Mason drinking jars

Serve summertime drinks in style with Mason drinking jars

Summer is here and we all want to spend as much time as possible in the great outdoors. Now is the time for long summer walks, trips to the beach, picnics in the countryside and simple barbecues in the garden. If you are planning any kind of outdoor event or party, our stylish range of drinking jars could be just the thing to add a dash of trendy sophistication to the drinks you offer.

The trend for Mason drinking jars

Mason drinking jars have become seriously fashionable since they were first used to serve cool cocktails in trendy hipster bars in Hoxton, East London. They proved such a hit that the trend spread across the country and these cool drinking jars are now available to buy for use at home.

Our range of drinking jars is fun and colourful. From simple clear glass versions to coloured glass jars and jars with coloured lids, there is a style to suit everyone. One of our particular favourites is the Owl Drinking Jar, which features a cute owl design on the surface of the jar. Drinking jars with handles are often also called Mason drinking mugs and we have a whole range of these.

For the perfect combination, Mason drinking mugs can be teamed with a glass drinks dispenser. We have five-litre drinks dispensers from Kilner and dispensers featuring an integral infuser for additional drinks creativity.

If you are looking for the perfect present for someone who loves entertaining outdoors, Kilner has produced two drinking jar sets that are perfect to give as a gift. Both the Kilner Lemonade Set and the Kilner Mug & Straw Set contain drinking mugs, straws and a recipe booklet.

What to serve in Mason drinking jars

With all these gorgeous drinking jars available, we should really offer you some inspiration for what to serve in them. Drinking jars are perfect for summer cocktails and mocktails, iced teas, homemade cordials and old-fashioned lemonade. Try something exotic such as cucumber mojitos for a summery alcoholic drink; alternatively, if you prefer a non-alcoholic choice, try passion fruit and orange spiced with mint and ginger.

As with many products in our store, most of our drinking jars are available singly or to buy in bulk packs, with pack sizes ranging from six to 48. These bulk packs make the perfect choice for larger events, such as weddings.

Whatever your tipple, whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic, some stylish drinking jars will definitely add to the cool summer vibe.

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Monday, May 7, 2012

Your Connection to Alternate Realities: The Vibrational Levels of the Universe

The sciences of quantum mechanics and string theory are now supporting the theory that we live in a multi-dimensional universe whereby many realities are occurring all at the same time. Working with clients over the last fourteen years, I've come to believe that each of our souls are experiencing many lifetimes simultaneous to the current one we're in.  Our brain acts as a filter so we can stay conscious of only one lifetime.  Even though we're only aware of one lifetime, the other realities or dimension our soul resides in are also effecting how we feel and how we behave.

Understanding the nature of reality is something none of us will ever fully grasp because our brains don't have the capacity to fully understand it but we can be shown stories that fit the essence of how things work.  I have come to understand that we have 11 vibratory states in the universe (12 if you count Source/God) that we all are a part of.   Our soul may also be experiencing more than one vibratory state at once.  To make it even more complicated, we may be experiencing many probabilities or soul choices to a situation simultaneously even though we may be only aware of one probability of resolution.

This blog will attempt to give some understanding about the 11 vibratory states of the universe through a meditation experience I had a number of years back (12 including Source).

During an expansive meditation experience, a group of friends and colleagues from the Higher Realms greeted me. I call them friends and colleagues because I knew that we had, or still are, journeying together in some other time and place that my current consciousness is not fully aware of. They told me they’d give me an understanding of how things worked in a way that my brain could comprehend. It was understood that how the Universe is set up is beyond the comprehension of the brain but that this simplified version would help me navigate my earthly reality. I was appreciative.

Source (12th dimension). I was shown a sphere of light that is a loving intelligence. This is what we think of as God, Allah, Yahweh, and Source. This sphere of light (I’ll now call Source) is all souls, all energies in the universe. We are all one here. I was then shown a sundial with eleven symbols on it. Each symbol represented a different vibratory state in the universe where we could go to have new, enriching experiences. We/Source decided to create a holographic likeness of ourselves and send this likeness into the various places or realities that the symbols represented. This means we are still One or Source while also duplicating ourselves so we can have various experiences in a variety of places or realities. We decided it would be most interesting and rewarding to create different levels of intelligence with various capabilities.

Founders, Magical Manifesters and Evolved Ones (11th dimension). The level closest to Source consists of three forms of intelligence. They are called: the Founders, Magical Manifesters and Evolved Ones. They form a triangle under Source. Triangles equal truth.

The Founders were assigned the role of figuring out the structure of the various places or realities. Structure equals the perimeters of physical matter such as planets, stars, animals, plants, people/Beings, etc.

The Magical Manifesters were given the role of blowing the life force into the Founder's structure so that all things were animated and could create interesting, magical experiences.

The Evolved Ones were given the role of protecting and keeping safe the various realms. They could be equated to what people think of as the Angelic Realm.

The Galactic Federation, Elders, Arcturians, Plaideans, and Syrians (8 - 10th dimensions). The next level is made up of many types of Beings that help keep things running.

Universal rules are made and kept by the “Galactic Federation.” The Galactic Federation consists of Beings from many universes. The Federation is like a United Nations where dignitaries from civilized countries make decision on world politics and issues. Galactic Beings are a team of managers that make sure the Realms, at their level and below, are following certain rules.

The Beings in charge of the Federation are known as “the Elders (10th).” They make sure that the nuts and bolts of the universe are running smoothly which includes overseeing groups of Beings that “scout” for places that can sustain life so that souls can incarnate in various environments.

There are also the Arcturians (9th) who are the engineers of their realm and below. They make sure that the energetic structuring of things are going smoothly and "fix" things that are not. This group scouts for places that can sustain life.

If a location/planet is approved to have life on it by the Galactic Federation, sometimes 8 - 9th dimensional Beings will stay to observe how things are going to make sure the project is going as smoothly as possible. The Plaideans and Syrians can be assigned this role. They’re instructed to “not interfere” unless something is obviously off track with the rules of the Federation.

The Plaideans are blue with black hair. They were the “blue gods” of ancient times. The energy they carry was called, in the Vedic texts, “blue pearl.” This energy helps with mind/body/soul alignment so that the physical vehicle can be in alignment with the soul’s mission. They originally lived on planet earth helping to guide the new race.

The Syrians are also in this middle realm. They help with the awakening of consciousness and are closely connected to all life. They may come in as humans, dolphins, or other life forms that help see that we are all one.

Advanced Humans (6th to 7th dimension) -  There are other realities close to the human realm where they have less polarity so are able to use their gifts more effectively using a more loving approach with each other.

5th Dimension - This dimension was not clear to me.  I was told that it was a no time, no space zone.

Humans (3rd to 4th).  Humans are currently one of the lower realms. The type of brains humans have and the density of the physical body makes it difficult for people to maintain a high enough vibration to keep their consciousness at a level where all people are considered when decisions are made. This means there is a shadow of negativity that goes with the goodness of human nature. The imbalance of polarity has created a shadow that causes violence, greed, corruption, and wars.

The three negative realms (1st - 3rd). There are three lowest realms that were created due to the shadow of planet earth and similar planets with similar life.

The first “negative” realm appears robotic in nature. This realm is rigid, dogmatic, and has a sheep mentality to it that won’t bend.

The second negative realm is vampire like in nature but looks more like the traditional “devil.” This realm feeds off the negativity of others and can hook into a person’s problem and amplify it.

The third negative realm is the most toxic and could be labeled, “demonic,” This realm has extreme hopelessness and despair and feels like a heaviness that makes one feel they don’t want to exist.

I was told that all of these negative realms are temporary states that our souls experience.  These realms affect all of us on earth and are in the process of transforming as we move into higher consciousness.

Again, this is a story to help give some understanding of our multi-dimensional universe and how it operates. The story itself isn't as important as knowing that we exist in many states of vibration that range from love to hate.  Despite the various vibrations that all of us have and will experience, we are really all still one at our home base "Source." We are having all of these experiences for greater learning and understanding of the various states of consciousness.

Let's all join hands to shift our consciousness to one of compassion for how these lower vibratory states have effected the way we behave with one another and at the same time know that we are Divine Beings and have the capacity to shift into a state of greater love, freedom and oneness right here on planet earth.

Unknown said...

Thanks Maureen! This was so helpful. It's like getting a good organizational chart for planet Earth.

I had an experience with a "blue being" a couple of weeks ago during my sleep state. It felt supportive and very positive. I assumed it was a Guide of mine. Fascinating to read about the Plaideans being blue.

I really appreciate your sharing your experiences. I find all of your posts are adding a clarity to my experiences and understanding.

Many thanks! Maryanne

Maureen Higgins said...

Your welcome Maryanne. I'm glad that it confirms your experiences and has added further clarity!


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15 November 2011

Berimbolo Extravaganza Video by Rafael Mendes

This jiu jitsu video features the Berimbolo performed again, again, and again...by Rafael Mendes.
If you have not mastered this sweep, and do not know how to escape it, you better start working on it! Check out this Berimbolo highlight video for some inspiration.

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Tag: turtles

How Turtles Use Earth's Magnetic Field To Navigate Ocean Voyages

By Andrew Moseman | February 25, 2011 10:00 am

From Ed Yong:

In 1996, a loggerhead turtle called Adelita swam across 9,000 miles from Mexico to Japan, crossing the entire Pacific on her way. Wallace J. Nichols tracked this epic journey with a satellite tag. But Adelita herself had no such technology at her disposal. How did she steer a route across two oceans to find her destination?

Nathan Putman has the answer. By testing hatchling turtles in a special tank, he has found that they can use the Earth’s magnetic field as their own Global Positioning System (GPS). By sensing the field, they can work out both their latitude and longitude and head in the right direction.

By testing turtle hatchlings in a tank surrounded by magnets he could control, Putman showed turtles could sense it if he reversed the magnetic field around them and would begin heading in the opposite direction.

For more about the experiment—and how turtles can travel so far at such high stakes with just magnetism to guide them—check out the rest of Ed’s post at Not Exactly Rocket Science.

Related Content:
Not Exactly Rocket Science: Foxes use the Earth’s magnetic field as a targeting system
Not Exactly Rocket Science: Robins can literally see magnetic fields, but only if their vision is sharp
80beats: Did Earth’s Magnetic Field Have a Fast Flip-Flop?

Image: Wikimedia Commons

CATEGORIZED UNDER: Environment, Living World

Trackers Map Out the Incredible Migrations of the Leatherback Turtle

By Andrew Moseman | January 5, 2011 11:30 am

Leatherback turtles are the wandering type, undertaking far-flung ocean migrations of thousands of miles. What scientists who follow these long-lived creatures didn’t know, though, was just how many different routes they travel, and how far they journey before returning home. These are critical pieces of information for protecting the turtles, whose numbers are dropping. So Matthew Witt says he and his international team affixed trackers to the turtles and revealed the routes of their great sea voyages:

“What we’ve shown is that there are three clear migration routes as they head back to feeding grounds after breeding in Gabon, although the numbers adopting each strategy varied each year. We don’t know what influences that choice yet, but we do know these are truly remarkable journeys.” [The Guardian]

Gabon, in West Africa, is the home base for this largest breeding group of leatherbacks—it’s where they nest and lay their eggs. Witt’s team tracked 25 female turtles, all of whom followed one of those three general routes: out to the middle of the Atlantic and then back, down the African coast to the temperate South, or even all the way across the ocean to South America.

One female was tracked making a 7,563 kilometer (4,699 mile) journey traveling in a straight line across the South Atlantic from Africa to South America, said [Witt]. At a pace of 50 kilometers a day, that trip took about 150 days of consistent swimming, he said. [AP]

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Ancient Rubbish Suggests Humans Hunted a Giant Turtle to Extinction

By Eliza Strickland | August 17, 2010 6:04 pm

mega-turtleDuring the Pleistocene epoch animals thought big: It was the age of the megafauna, when creatures like the mammoth, an 8-foot-long beaver, and a hippopotamus-sized wombat walked the Earth. But these giants vanished one by one, and scientists have long wondered why.

Debate over what caused the megafauna to die out has raged for 150 years, since Darwin first spotted the remains of giant ground sloths in Chile. Possible causes have ranged from human influence to climate change in the past, even to a cataclysmic meteor strike. [BBC]

Now, a discovery on the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu seems to have answered the question for at least one species. Researchers have turned up the bones of a giant land turtle in a dump used by the people who settled on the islands 3,000 years ago, and lead researcher Trevor Worthy says the evidence strongly suggests that the turtles were hunted into extinction.

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CATEGORIZED UNDER: Human Origins, Living World

Photos From the Gulf's Great Sea Turtle Relocation

By Eliza Strickland | July 16, 2010 5:23 pm

turtle-hatchlingIn early July we brought you news of the Great Sea Turtle Relocation–an ambitious plan dreamed up by conservationists to scoop up some 70,000 sea turtle eggs from Gulf Coast beaches, to prevent the hatchlings from crawling straight into oil-fouled waters. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noted that the plan carried considerable risks to the unborn turtles, but said it was the best chance of preventing the die-off an entire generation.

Now the update: Over the past week, the plan has gone into action, and baby turtles are now swimming free in the Atlantic Ocean. But some experts question whether the launched turtles have a chance.

On Alabama and Florida beaches workers are carefully digging up nests, marking the eggs with “this end up” symbols, and packing them in styrofoam coolers for the truck ride to a Kennedy Space Center warehouse. The eggs belong mostly to threatened loggerheads, along with some endangered green, leatherback, and Kemp’s ridley turtles.

Check out a photo gallery of the turtle rearing and release operations after the jump.

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Gulf Coast Turtle News: No More Fiery Death; Relocating 70,000 Eggs

By Eliza Strickland | July 2, 2010 2:47 pm

oiled-turtleThings may be looking up, ever so slightly, for the Gulf of Mexico’s endangered sea turtles. A few days ago, environmental groups announced that they were suing BP and the Coast Guard over the “controlled burns” that were intended to burn off oil slicks in the water; the environmentalists said that sea turtles were getting caught in the infernos and burned alive. This morning a judge was prepared to hear arguments on a proposed injunction, but at the last minute the parties declared that they’ve reached a settlement.

The agreement comes in advance of an emergency court hearing set today in New Orleans federal court, where environmentalists sought to force BP to either stop controlled burns or place rescuers on the boats to scoop federally protected sea turtles out of floating sludge patches before the corralled oil is ignited [Bloomberg].

According to Sea Turtles Restoration Project, one of the plaintiffs in the case, BP and the Coast Guard have agreed to station a qualified biologist on every vessel involved in the burns, and to remove turtles from the burn area before setting the blaze. This is good news for the leatherbacks, loggerheads, and Kemps Ridley turtles that make their home in the Gulf. Of course, it would be better news if their home wasn’t saturated with oil and periodically set on fire, but we’ll take what we can get.

Elsewhere in turtle news, conservationists are preparing to collect 70,000 turtle eggs from Alabama and Florida beaches. The ambitious scheme, coordinated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is seen as the best chance of preventing a massive die-off of the threatened creatures.
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CATEGORIZED UNDER: Environment, Living World

Study: Fishing Boats Kill Millions—Not Thousands—of Sea Turtles

By Andrew Moseman | April 7, 2010 12:03 pm

sea-turtleWe already knew that great numbers of sea turtles are killed when they’re caught up in the nets used by fishing operations around the world. But according to a study in Conservation Letters, the actual number of turtles accidentally killed over the last two decades has been vastly underestimated: Rather than counting in tens of thousands, study author Bryan Wallace argues, commercial fishing has probably killed sea turtles in the millions.

The official records show about 85,000 turtles killed by fishing operations from 1990 to 2008. But Wallace, the science adviser for Conservation International’s sea turtle program, says that’s deceptively small accounting. “Because the reports we reviewed typically covered less than 1% of all fleets, with little or no information from small-scale fisheries around the world, we conservatively estimate that the true total is probably not in tens of thousands, but in the millions of turtles taken as bycatch in the past two decades,” said Dr Wallace [BBC News]. Six of the seven sea turtle species are presently listed as in danger. They include loggerheads, leatherbacks, hawksbills, Olive Ridleys, Kemp’s Ridleys and green sea turtles; the flatback, an endemic to Australia, is currently categorized as Data Deficient [CNN].

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Turtle Shell Develops Through Embryonic Origami

By Eliza Strickland | July 10, 2009 10:43 am

turtle shouldersOf all vertebrate animals, turtles have one of the stranger body plans. Unlike all other four-limbed critters, which have their shoulder blades riding on the outside of their ribs, the turtle’s ribs are outside of its shoulder blades. This allows turtles to make their shell out of fused bones–the only animal to do so [ScienceNOW Daily News]. Now, scientists have determined that embryonic turtles develop this set-up through a neat bit of origami.

Researchers compared the developing embryos of turtles, chickens, and mice to watch for the point at which turtle development diverged. At first a turtle embryo grows much like a chicken or mouse. But then the developing body wall makes a critical fold, and the usual body plan starts to become an unusual turtle…. The developing muscle tissue that would lie along adult ribs in a standard amniote began to fold underneath itself in the turtle. This tissue tucked inward, bending up to lie below the developing ribs. On this kinked-under section, the shoulder blades, or scapulas, formed [Science News].

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MORE ABOUT: evolution, reptiles, turtles

Turtles Escaped Global Warming Via a Freshwater Highway in the Ocean

By Eliza Strickland | February 2, 2009 2:39 pm

turtle fossilThe surprising find of a freshwater, tropical turtle fossil in Arctic Canada suggests that the first turtles to migrate from Asia to North America may have taken the most direct route, swimming and island hopping straight through the Arctic Ocean. This was possible, researchers say, because the Arctic was warmer and ice-free 90 million years ago, when carbon dioxide levels were extraordinarily high. “The fossil record is giving us more and more information about how ancient animals responded to a warming world,” [says] geophysicist John Tarduno. “They moved toward the poles” [Wired News].

The freshwater turtle was able to survive in the ocean, Tarduno says, because of a floating freshwater highway that led from Russia to Canada. Numerous rivers from the adjacent continents would have poured fresh water into the ancient Arctic sea…. Fresh water, which is lighter than marine water, may have rested on top of the salty ocean water allowing animals such as the turtle to migrate with relative ease [Telegraph].

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CATEGORIZED UNDER: Environment, Living World

Cacophony in the Oceans May Confuse Whales and Drown Out Their Songs

By Eliza Strickland | December 4, 2008 12:22 pm

whale flukeThe oceans are getting noisier, and that’s bad news for whales, dolphins, and sea turtles who use sound to communicate and navigate, researchers declared at a United Nations wildlife conference. Rumbling ship engines, seismic surveys by oil and gas companies, and intrusive military sonars are triggering an “acoustic fog and cacophony of sounds” underwater, scaring marine animals and affecting their behavior. “There is now evidence linking loud underwater noises with some major strandings of marine mammals, especially deep diving beaked whales” [Reuters], says Mark Simmonds of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

Researchers have long worried that high-powered sonar pulses confuse whales and dolphins and may cause the animals to beach themselves. Marine mammals are turning up on the world’s beaches with tissue damage similar to that found in divers suffering from decompression sickness. The condition, known as the bends, causes gas bubbles to form in the bloodstream upon surfacing too quickly. Scientists say the use of military sonar or seismic testing may have scared the animals into diving and surfacing beyond their physical limits, Simmonds said [AP]. He points to two recent strandings as possible results of the noisy waters (although a link has not been proved): the 100 melon-headed whales that were found on a Madagascar beach, and the two dozen dolphins that got stranded in southern England.

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Migrating Marine Animals May Follow Magnetic Fields to Find Their Homes

By Eliza Strickland | December 3, 2008 8:39 am

salmon spawningIt’s a question that has fascinated scientists for decades: When sea turtles and salmon decides to give up the freedom of the open ocean and head back to their birthplaces to breed, how do they find their way back? Some species of sea turtle migrate thousands of miles across entire oceans back to their birthplaces after leaving more than 10 years earlier. And after hatching in rivers, salmon travel hundreds of miles out to sea before returning home to spawn years later [Press Association]. Now one researcher thinks he has the answer. Marine biologist Kenneth Lohmann believes that these marine animals can detect the distinctive magnetic fields of different spots and use them to navigate.

“What we’re proposing is the sea turtles and salmon, when they begin life, basically learn or imprint on the magnetic field that marks their home area,” he said. “They retain this information. And years later, when it is time for them to return, they are able to exploit this information in navigating back to their home area” [National Geographic News]. Lohman says this doesn’t contradict the existing theory that when salmon reach coastal waters, chemical scents guide them upriver to the particular stream where they were born; those olfactory cues probably have a limited range, he says, and couldn’t extend thousands of miles into the ocean to guide the salmon all the way home.

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