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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Sticky notes and markers and folders, oh my!

It's almost August! Where is the year going?

One good notes - it's time to be buying school supplies. I can't wait!! :)

Little Miss will be attending an all day, advanced preschool this Fall and I'm waiting to get her list of supplies. I used to love going to Wal-Mart or somewhere with my mom during my elementary school days and pick out new Trapper Keepers, pencils, pencil sharpeners, highlighters, pens, pencil boxes, gluesticks...it was all awesome.

Oh and don't forget those tye-dyed, animal folders by Lisa Frank (wasn't that her name? I was so raised in the late 80's/early 90's!) lol  LOVE that stuff! Never gets old!

Do you have supplies to buy this year? Or as writers/authors, do you keep yourself loaded up with the good stuff year round? :)

I will say, its super hard to be thinking of "back to school" when it's still 100 degrees outside. Thankfully Little Miss has a few more weeks before her school starts but most public schools in this area are starting soon. What happened to summer?

Oh my GOSH it's almost time to be thinking of Christmas lists.....yikes.....

Monday, July 30, 2012

National Geographic

I feel like I've stumbled into my own personal, living magazine edition of National Geographic. I know living in the country means bugs, but OH MY GOSH. Wasps and dirt dobbers and other flying things at my door and on my porch. Horse flies in the covered carport area. Ants out the wazoo. Moths and dragon flies (usually mating, ew) buzzing every which way. Flies. Bees. Hornets. Yellow jackets. I'm not kidding. ALL of those, all the time.

We have Permatox come spray every two months, inside and outside the house, and thank goodness because lately the bugs I've been finding have at least been dead.

And side note - why can I not ever find a bug when my husband is actually HOME? Murphy's law at its finest! I'm the girl who usually will kill it and leave the shoe on top of it for him to clean up when he gets home. Yeah, I'm so THAT girl. But he knew before he married me, soooo - his fault. ;)

Today, for example, I pulled out the bottom drawer under the oven where I keep my cookie sheets and pizza pans, etc. to put away a pan. When I shut it, I saw Spider-zilla. Lurking. Dusty, half under that drawer space. Just far enough out where I could see him, but too far underneath still for me to wield a trusty boot.

I actually finished putting away the dishes first, keeping one eye on him and the other attempting not to stroke out from my pounding heart. Yes, I'm a sissy girlie girl but that was a BIG spider. And it was furry. FURRY!!!!

I decided I needed to scoot it out with something then smash it. So I grabbed....a Swiffer. Used the stick end. And scooted him, ready to slam him with my husband's shoe (totally not using my own shoes!)

But I scooted a little too hard in my panic and shot him across the length of the kitchen floor. Thankfully, this was when I realized he was dead, as he didn't start running.

I smashed him a few times with the boot anyway...then took a pic.

I put it on FB and it was identified as a Wolf Spider. Not poisonious, but ummmm, anything with hair and named a wolf should not be allowed to be a bug!! Am I right??

I'm seriously convinced some creatures were invented AFTER the fall of man. Like, as further punishment. Shudder.

How's your summer? Are you wielding flyswatters and wasp spray? Or are you just laughing at me and my swiffer and boot? :)

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Chick Fila Controversy

I LOVE Chick Fila, but I'm almost tired of hearing all this drama on Facebook and beyond about it, Mike Huckabee, the gay community, and Chicago.

Let me get this straight. I LOVE Chick Fila. They have the most rockin' chicken sandwiches in the world. I LOVE how they are a Christian company, are closed on Sundays, and play praise and worship music in their restaurants. It's awesome, and I'm all about it. So is my Little Miss - she's a sucker for everything on their menu. (and their soup!! mmmmm)

But sometimes we have to be cautious as Christians how we come across. And when people start boycotting, and people start picketing, and people start expressing opinions on controversial topics such as homosexuality - OY. It gets exhausting, because it inevitably turns into a huge debate where everyone is trying to change everyone else's mind, and its just not going to happen.

Here's my stand. I believe the Bible. I believe homosexuality is wrong. Just like I believe adultery is wrong, cheating, lying and stealing is wrong, getting drunk is wrong, cursing is wrong, murder is wrong, sleeping with someone before marriage is wrong, and etc. It's a sin. All of it. The Bible makes that clear. I'm not saying homosexuality is a worse sin than others, only God can make that call. The Bible hints that it might be, as He calls it an abomination, but I honestly don't know, and it really doesn't matter. I don't hate homosexuals, I'm not afraid of them, I don't shun them - I feel about them as I do anyone else who sins or is lost and needs Jesus. I have compassion for them. I sin. I need Jesus. There's no judging here. I won't, however, stand by and pretend like the Bible says that lifestyle is okay when it clearly says otherwise. (even in the New Testament)

I accidentally stumbled into a debate on all this on Facebook recently, and good grief, it got out of hand! So before you jump on the bandwagon, just be careful. Because on hot topics like this, it's SO EASY for your words to be misunderstood or taken the wrong way. And that's a strike against Christianity, not a plus for it.

What are your thoughts?  No judging here! If you respond, keep it nice, regardless of your stand.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Where's your power?

Come read my twice-monthly post over at Girls, God and the Good Life! We're talking about the Holy Spirit and I'd love your thoughts :)

Monday, July 23, 2012

Favorite summer treat?

So it's official.

I have a Snow-Cone problem.

I might have even passed the "addiction stage" but I'm not sure what's past that.

Please tell me I'm not alone ;)  It started as a reward for Little Miss, and of course Mama had to get one too. I spend .75 on her Peewee sized grape snowcone, and under $2 on my small, strawberry cheesecake with two shots of cream snowcone.

It's summer in a cup!

What has been your favorite summer treat? (and don't worry I'm headed to the gym now so I can get my snowcone later...)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

A fresh page...

Who else loves a blank page?

The fresh start of "Chapter One"? I love the beginning. It's so intimidating and challenging and enocuraging because - anything goes. I can write anything I want. The opportunities are endless. It's also a little overwhelming, because, well, the opportunities are endless! lol

Regardless - I started a new book proposal today and got most of it done, including the 4 page synopsis. I'm really excited about this story and hope my editor agrees ;)

For all you writers out there, do you love or dread that blinking cursor against a sea of white? For readers out there, do you ever give a lot of thought into opening lines or first pages? What is a favorite first line of yours? :)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Ode to summer

My summer so far has been a blur of birthdays (both hubby's and Little Miss's), church events, swim classes (8 total over a two week period) and summer school (two days a week) for Little Miss, book deadlines and Forum newspaper deadlines for me, and endless errands. How many times can a person actually go to the bank, post office, dry cleaners, and Wal-Mart in one month? I'm thinking I'm going to find out the world's max quota...

Not to mention yesterday we spent over 600 on tires for my car and hubby's motorcycle. WHEW.

Things are finally wrapping up. Deadlines are met. Birthdays are over. Swim classes are halfway through as is summer school. The errands have been made for now. And the snowcones have been consumed ;)

What have you been doing this summer? Are you running the roads or are you relaxing in the AC? Are you meeting deadlines/goals or are you struggling to keep up? I'm just grateful this is mid July and its only 90's here so far. We had several weeks in a row of good rain, and it's helped hold off the typical north Louisiana 100+ degrees a bit. Thanks God!

What are you thankful for today?

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Who beat their deadline?!!?

I turned in my completed manuscript of my Spring 2013 release to my editor 4 days before my deadline.

This hurt a little still because I'm usually weeks ahead of deadline, not down to the wire like that. But considering what all I've had going on the past two months, I'm just grateful I ended up with those glorious 4 days of cushion :)

Now, for the important part....

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Beach test

So I recently got back from my cruise, which included two private beach excursions on Progreso, Yucatan and Cozumel, and I'm already missing the ocean! :)

I thought maybe taking this little quiz could curb it for a few minutes. http://www.blogthings.com/thedesertedbeachtest/

Here's my results:

You are bold, adventurous, and even brazen. You feel like the world is your oyster.

You value your time, and you treat it like it's precious. No one is allowed to waste it.
You function well with heavy work loads. You like being and staying productive.

You are direct and to the point. You rather not waste time with small talk

Hmmm. Well, some of that is true. I'm not bold on some things, only on specific things, and I'm certainly not brazen or adventurous. The time and heavy load stuff is accurate and the productive thing is 115% acurate. lol Small talk...hmmm. So so.

What'd you get? :)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Of deadlines and cu-cu clocks

I can't spell cu cu clock. Cuckoo? Cucoo? Cu-Cu? Help. lol

My Little Miss saw a cuckoo clock (?) on a cartoon awhile back and called her Pappaw (who collects clocks at his house) to get her one for her birthday. It was really sweet. I figured they might find her a toy one or a cheap one somewhere or that she'd forget about it or whatever.

Oh no. After her party Saturday, she got a phone call to come to their house. I took her over and there on the wall was a cuckoo clock. A real, wooden, pretty, carved cuckoo clock with a little white bird that pops out and the works. Hangs on the wall with the pendelum and dangly things (can you tell I know a lot about clocks? LOL) and the whole shebang. She was ecstatic.

My husband was not. LOL. Despite that it doesn't go off at night, his face was PRICELESS. She insist it go in her room, and we're all too happy to oblige. He's planning his revenge now, muttering something about the game "hungry hungry hippos" for their house. hahaha.

Me? I just see another countdown to my rapidly apporaching deadline ;)  One that cuc-koos at me.

(okay seriously how do you spell cuckoo??)

Sunday, July 08, 2012

And the winner is...

And the winner of my website contest for a free autographed copy of ADDISON BLAKELY, CONFESSIONS OF A PK is..... (Little Miss drew the name)

Thanks for entering! Carissa, please email me your mailing address and I'll send you your novel! :)

Check back for another summer contest soon! :)

Spiritual muscles

I'd like to share a little encourarging nugget of truth here today. One I needed myself recently and hope to pass on! :)

In Sunday School yesterday, we were talking about the work of the Holy Spirit and how it convicts us. And how the more often we squelch that still small voice of guidance and direction and conviction, the harder it is to hear it.

It's like with working out. The more we say "I'm too tired" to go to the gym or "I don't feel like exercising today" the harder it will be to start it up again. I'm living proof of this - when I was out of my regular gym for almost two weeks (several days because Little Miss was sick, then for another 6 days while we were on vacation and then several days after vacation from recovering sunburns and catching up on life again) it was SO hard to go back and start the routine. I felt yucky and "fat" and not in the mood at all. Even though Hubby and I went to the gym two of the days we were on the cruise, it wasn't the same and it wasn't MY gym and MY routine. It was just different. And my motivation lacked from having given myself a free pass for so long.

The same with our spiritual lives. When we miss our quiet times with the Lord and miss reading our Bible for days and weeks at a time, we feel yucky. Different. Irritable. Not in the mood. It's like when you're bored, the less you do, the less you feel like doing. I'm a firm believer that accomplishment breeds more accomplishment.

So next time you feel too tired to read your Bible that day or not in the mood to pray or the next time you feel inclined to blow off church - reconsider. Because the daily choices we make eventually make up our lives. If we skip this Sunday, we might skip the next. And then the next and then we're out of church for 6 months.

I don't know about you, but I love the feeling of getting back into the gym and using my muscles and getting my blood flowing and feeling good about myself again physically. And I love the feeling of getting back into a spiritual routine that is uplighting and will carry me.

What about you? Have you been on the bench too long?

Friday, July 06, 2012

So if my blog attendance is a little sketchy the next week, it's because I'm under deadline for a book due to my editor in less than two weeks, my Little Miss's fourth birthday party is tomorrow, her real birthday the next Saturday, my husband has a sponsored trip to go box in a fundraiser (firemen vs cops) at some point in between, I've got several Forum newspaper deadlines to meet and Little Miss will be starting swim classes and summer school.

So uh Happy Friday! lol And see ya soon! :)

What's on your summer plate?

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Being Brave

We took Little Miss to see the Disney movie Brave the other day, and she LOVED it. It was really cute though I have to admit -  not as good as Tangled. The animation was fabulous though especially with Merida's long red curly hair. I totally want to visit Scotland and Ireland now, and Little Miss has been running around with her $10 wooden bow I got her a craft fair last year, muttering about magic spells and practicing to be as good as Merida. haha. Hopefully she doesn't turn me into a bear....

Have you seen Brave? What did you think?

PS - don't forget my website contest is coming to a close soon! To win a free copy of ADDISON BLAKELY, CONFESSIONS OF A PK just go to my website (http://www.betsystamant.com/) and leave a message in the guestbook to enter. Easy peasy ;)

Monday, July 02, 2012

Cruisin' through summer....

Cruise pics!! Just visit my FB link (I'm on deadline and no time to re-load all these puppies! lol)

(there's a few pics at the beginning of the album of my Little Miss at a rock star birthday party she went to that are pretty cute if I say so myself. hehe)
PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY to my sweet Husband!!! (and ummmm no growing old jokes because he's a year younger than me. hehehe)


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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Watching the Combine!

I can't believe it has been 4 months since my last post! A lot has happened in that time, and as I have opportunity, I may share some of it. For now, I was amazed when I went to the barn last week to see Lady at the back fence of her paddock, standing there quietly watching a big green combine working the adjoining soybean field! For one thing, it was going back and forth parallel to her fence rather than toward her, and it was working far enough away to let her feel safe as she watched. But to see her standing there close to the fence instead of running to the other end was a first! I actually got a photo of it! I know now that something is working to help her get over some of her fears of big machinery!

1 comment:

PaintedPromise said...

when you get a chance, go here:

you are "This One" #15 :)

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Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Troupe this Friday

The Troupe boys are going inn, after their first sell out night at xoyo a few weeks back. Their putting on a smasher to kick off the Jubilee weekend with the likes of T.Williams, Hackman, Eliphino and BNTL extended family members Anushka. The video below tells you whats what.

Max Wheeler from Anushka has done a mini exclusive mix to warm you up for the BIG weekend ahead.

Were also running a comp for a pair of tickets. Just answer this question.
What female vocalist featured on T.Williams's single Heartbeat ?
Send answers to the winner will be notified by Friday at 1pm.
For the peeps that read the site and want to come just put your names on the £8 list before 12, HERE. More on the door.

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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Mad About Christina

I love Christina Aguilera. I think that she has one of the most beautiful voices around right now, and her style (for the most part) is very Old-Hollywood-Glamor. I really wish she would stick to that personality and stop trying to be so edgy and out-there. (Please leave the theatrics to Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Rhianna; You're much better than that).

So here is the first look of many inspired by some of Christina's more elegant, glamorous, refined looks. I want this look. My goal for Black Friday was to find a similar outfit to this one. I'll let you know how that turned out. (I'm pre-blogging. I have to schedule these suckers ahead of time before I head out of town).

  1. Betty!!! I LOVE IT!!! My husband took me to see Burlesque yesterday and the best part was Christina! I love the makeup era and the way you just incorporated it into our everyday staples. I will try a set, too, but I think you nailed it!!! Great Job!

  2. Thanks Sherry! And to add an update, I picked up both a black cowl neck sweater and red belt on Black Friday to try to recreate a similar look. I MAY post the look separately later.

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Showing posts from March, 2013

Yesterday is a YA sci-fi novel by C. K. Kelly Martin.

In 2063, sixteen year old Freya is terrified that she has lost her brother forever. The U. N. A. (United North America) has already moved everyone off the coastlines because of climate change, there’s a constant, real threat of ecoterrorism, and the increase in a robot working class has forced a massive amount of people into unemployment and complete dependence on the government. Now, there’s a new disaster coming…

In 1985, sixteen year old Freya has just moved to Canada after losing her father in a unexpected, tragic accident. Her mother, sister, and Freya are trying to get through the sorrow and adapt to their new life.

But for Freya it’s difficult because everything seems… wrong. Especially when she looks at her life before moving - her old friends, her first boyfriend – it all feels flat. Unreal. Distant.

Perhaps it’s just the grief. But it doesn’t feel like it.

Then one day she sees a boy. A gorgeous boy. That’s not what catch…

Foretold: 14 Stories of Prophecy and Prediction

Foretold: 14 Stories of Prophecy and Prediction is a YA anthology edited by Carrie Ryan and featuring authors like Meg Cabot, Laini Taylor, Diana Peterfreund, and Margaret Stohl – among others!

Assembled here are fourteen short stories that feature a prediction or prophecy of some sort. It’s a cool premise because it can be interpreted so many ways, that though there is a common thread to each story each one is so unique from the other.

Starting off we get a tale from Laini Taylor that is evocative, interesting and intriguing. It felt enjoyable – and complete! That’s one of the main pet peeves I have with short stories – I don’t want to feel like it’s the start of the story instead of a satisfying, completed one. With Foretold I didn’t have that problem.

Next, Diana Peterfreund’s story had a chilling and excellent vibe. Truly great!

In fact, each story in Foretold has something creepy, funny, or thought-provoking to offer. There’s a Hitchcock flavor to one, dark disturbing aspects to …

Strings Attached

Strings Attached is a YA historical drama by Judy Blundell.

Seventeen-year-old Kit Corrigan went to New York City in 1950 to pursue her dream of being a dancer.

And to flee her messy family situation back home in Providence, Rhode Island. Not to mention her broken relationship with Billy – who enlisted in the army after their break-up.

It’s not easy in New York. Money isn’t flowing, even after she gets a part as a chorus girl in a Broadway show.

But then Nate Benedict, Billy’s father, comes around and offers help.

With strings.

He wants to offer her a nice apartment and a possibility at a better job – as long as Kit uses it to keep him informed on Billy, and does him favors when he asks.

Kit knows better than to trust Nate – he’s a lawyer involved with the mob – but a place of her own is so tempting. And seeing Billy again makes her heart hurt with yearning. But if she does it, will the favors ever end?

What would be like to be indebted to a man like Nate Benedict?

Strings Attached sur…

Fuse is a YA post-apocalyptic novel, and the second in the Pure Trilogy, by Julianna Baggott.

Seriously, if you haven’t read Pure yet, reading this review will not be a good idea! Pure is an excellent book and I strongly recommend checking out my review of it here, instead of spoiling yourself by perusing this review of its sequel.

Okay, now for those of you who have read Pure, here’s a light synopsis of Fuse:

Outside of the Dome, the world is a nightmare. Partridge and Lyda, both Pure – untouched by the disasters that have wrecked the world by living in the Dome – are seeing now that the Wretches are not all terrible people – but they have endured horrifying conditions.

Now, Partridge and Lyda, along with the non-Pure revolutionary Bradwell, tough Pressia, who has ties to Partridge they’ve only recently learned about, and El Capitan the changing leader fused to his brother Helmud are learning just how much Partridge’s father had to do with what devastated the people outside …

Shadowfell is a YA fantasy, and the first in a trilogy, by Juliet Marillier.

For years now, Neryn has been living a Nomadic existence – always trying to stay one step ahead of the Cull. In Alban, now that Keldec is king and has been for years, having even a suspicion of magical power is a death sentence – perhaps on your whole village.

Neryn has seen the devastation with her own two eyes. The haunting images are burned into her mind.

Having the ability to see and speak with the fey beings called Good Folk is means of instant enslavement. And because of the fear of everyone living in Alban, Neryn can trust no one – and she cannot blame them. If whispers reached the Cull that anyone had harbored, helped, or not reported anyone suspected with magical power they can be handed a discipline just as harsh.

Now alone, destitute, and so very weary, Neryn clings to the one hope – Shadowfell. A place where those who disagree with Keldec’s ways, and want to go about reclaiming their kingdom, live…

Unspoken is a YA fantasy/paranormal novel, and the first in The Lynburn Legacy, by Sarah Rees Brennan.

Since Kami Glass was born she has spoken, in her head, to a boy she’s never met. Over the years she’s known to keep it quieter, though she doesn’t hide it. Because of this, Kami has become a bit of an outsider in her small English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale.

But the thing is… he loves him. And the worry as to whether it’s all an “imaginary friend” doesn’t bother her all that much.

In the meantime, she has a best friend, runs a school newspaper, and is flexing her investigational skills in looking into the mysterious Lynburn family that townspeople seem to both revere and revile.

When the Lynburn family return to Sorry-in-the-Vale after having left it before Kami was born, Kami sees an opportunity to break the best story ever. Disturbing things start happening, though. Screeches in the woods. Her own mother dodging her questions. Blood.

And when Kami meets the two teenage Lynburn cous…

Undead is a YA zombie novel by Kirsty McKay.

Bobby is back in Great Britain after living in America for the last many years. Her accent and slang is an odd mixture that is causing her to have serious difficulty fitting in now at her English school.

So the school trip to Scotland is miserable.

But it’s about to get worse.

While the bus is at a stop at a roadside restaurant, almost everybody gets off – except Bobby and rebel Smitty. And they end up waiting a long time…

Until some kids come stumbling back with not so good news.

They’re teacher? Yeah, he’s trying to eat them. Not to mention most of the students, restaurant staff, etc.

Apparently nearly everybody has turned into zombies – and Bobby, Smitty, and a couple other survivors that seem like they’re hiding something are going to need to go through Survival 101.

Or become someone’s meal.

I’m not much of a zombie person. I don’t like The Walking Dead. But every once in a while there’s a twist that I can appreciate – the lyrical ha…

Predator's Gold

Predator’s Gold is the second novel in the YA sci-fi/dystopia Predator Cities quartet by Philip Reeve.

If you haven’t read Mortal Engines yet, I strongly recommend you do before you read this review and get some inevitable spoilers. You can read my review of that first book here.

Now, if you have read Mortal Engines feel free to continue…

Since the Traction City of London was demolished, Tom and Hester have spent the last two years flying the Jenny Haniver, trading and seeing the world. Their relationship has deepened, and the two have found a kernel of contentment after all the pain.

Yet an acclaimed author/adventurer named Pennyroyal asks for passage on their aircraft and when ordinarily they’d say no, they say yes. And suddenly they’re being pursued by rocket-firing gunships!

Their modicum of peace seems to be over.

Finding refuge in the ice city of Anchorage, Tom finds himself remembering how much he liked living on a Traction City. He starts to dread taking to the sky again. Hes…

In a Fix

In a Fix is a contemporary fantasy novel by Linda Grimes, and the first in a new series.

Ciel Halligan is an aura adapter – and a good one at that. Like a human chameleon, she’s able to take on others’ auras and flawlessly slip into their lives.

That is, in fact, her job.

Whereas a lot of the other aura adapters use their talents for, say, the CIA – Ciel has never been good with blood. So, she started her own business as a facilitator – she takes on clients and deals with problems the people don’t want to face themselves.

Ciel’s latest job was going really well. Snag a marriage proposal from an extremely attractive man while enjoying the relaxation of an all-expenses-paid sunny vacation? Sure, she’ll get paid for that.

But then things go really wrong.

Said attractive man gets kidnapped, and the beachside bungalow becomes a ball of fire.

Maybe completing this particular assignment is going to be a little tougher than she thought…

Oh. My. Gosh! In a Fix was a BLAST!!!

Linda Grimes has c…

Moonlight Masquerade

Moonlight Masquerade is a regency romance by Ruth Axtell.

Rees has worked hard to lift himself out of his middle-class upbringing, working to provide for his sister and mother and make them proud. So when he was offered an important job with the Foreign Office he took it.

However, it involves him masquerading as a temporary butler stand-in in a high-class household.

Essentially, he is to investigate, or spy on, Lady Celine Wexham – French by birth, but seemingly a model British subject. Widowed and beautiful in 1813, she remains unmarried and is inconceivably kind to her servants.

But she could also be passing along information to those in favor of Napoleon staying in power.

Commissioned to find out where Lady Wexham’s loyalties lie, Rees does his very best to fit in the fashionable London townhouse – and not be too enchanted by her.

What haunts him, though, as he watches her thoughtful eyes and graceful poise as she goes about her day, is what will he do if he does find evidence sh…

Hanging by a Thread

Hanging by a Thread is a YA paranormal mystery by Sophie Littlefield.

Clare Knight has recently moved back to her childhood town of Winston, along with her Mom, just in time for summer.

Only problem is that July 4th is a dreaded holiday in Winston – everyone is hoping and praying it won’t be like the last two where someone has gone missing or ended up dead…

Trying not to worry too much about it, Clare’s enjoying her new business she’s running with her best friend where they sell her redesigned vintage clothing.

But Clare has an ability she doesn’t share with others – when she touches certain pieces of clothing she can sometimes see glimpses into their pasts.

So when she stumbles across a beaten up denim jacket and gets a vivid, startling vision of violence and fear, Clare is suddenly much more involved in the disappearance of Amanda Stavros, the girl who went missing the previous Fourth of July…

I spent a lot of my younger reading years gorging on Joan Lowery Nixon and her excellent …

Caught in a Moment

Caught in a Moment is a YA fantasy by Martin Dukes.

Teenage Alex Trueman slips into daydreams – lucid, awesome daydreams that are way more interesting than the lesson at school or the supermarket as he shops alongside his hard-working Mom.

But it’s during his daydreams that something strange starts to happen.

Alex begins to notice a stutter in time. For a moment, everyone is stationary – and then with a shake of his dazed head everything is normal.

When the stutter starts to go longer, though, Alex takes advantage. A little showing off, a little harmless fun against the bullies that insist on tormenting him… nothing too terrible. And it impresses his friend.

But Alex’s enjoyment of the oddity with time comes to a screeching halt when it causes him to enter the bizarre world of Intersticia – where time has stopped moving altogether.

Trapped, there’s a panicky feel to walking amongst people frozen in time – the quiet is terribly loud.

When Alex meets fellow teenager Will and pretty K…

The Holders

The Holders is a YA paranormal novel by Julianna Scott.

Becca, seventeen, has been her brother’s protector since she can remember. He’s always been different. The voices in his head have caused many to try and put him in a mental institution – or worse. Yet Becca has always known, deep down, that the voices are real.

And no one is going to take her brother Ryland from her if she can help it.

So when two representatives from a “school” in Ireland called St. Brigid’s talk about how all they want to do is help Ryland – that he’ll fit in for once and be happy – she’s not naïve.

Yet as she listens, she realizes these people seem different. So, she agrees for them to take him – but only if she’s right by his side.

Thus starts her journey to Ireland.

Once there, she begins to learn more about her own family history and a legend about people with special abilities called Holders.

It doesn’t take long for Becca to realize that there might be an alternative reason that St. Brigid’s wanted her …

The Tutor's Daughter

The Tutor’s Daughter is a historical fiction novel by Julie Klassen.

Well aware that her father’s boarding school is ailing financially in 1812 Devonshire, Emma Smallwood reaches out to a baronet that previously educated his sons with them. Two sons that Emma shares childhood memories of – one fondly, one not so fondly. Knowing that he has two younger sons perfect in age for her father’s services, she writes to him in the guise of her father – determined to salvage their life’s work.

In response, they receive an invitation to move to the baronet’s cliff-top manor for a year to school the young men at home. Since her father had also been frighteningly out of sorts since her mother’s illness and death, they accept – hoping for a fresh start.

When they arrive they find themselves in the midst of a enigmatic display of shock at their presence.

The strangeness doesn’t stop there.

Late in the night Emma hears someone playing the pianoforte, yet when she mentions it no one else acknowledge…

You Are Not Here

You Are Not Here is a YA contemporary novel written in poetry by Samantha Schutz.

Annaleah shared something special with Brian. She loved being with him. When they were together, nothing else really mattered. Even if no one else really knew about their relationship, it felt perfect.

But then he died.

Sudden. A heart issue of some kind. Something no one could have predicted.

And now Annaleah is grieving – deeply, painfully, and constantly.

Yet she has no one to share the grief with – she never met his family, his friends.

She’s on the outside, alone, and wondering if she can survive the mourning she doesn’t even feel allowed to have.

You Are Not Here is a heartbreaking novel. The fact that it’s written in verse give it a rhythmical, poetical elegance that makes the words flow right off the page and stab you in the chest. It hurts to read.

There is an authenticity, an intimacy, and a subtly that resonates after you close the pages.

Reading it took almost no time at all. I read it in le…


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Showing posts from December, 2014

Stand-Out Books of 2014!

Time to find out what I personally recommend to you, my lovely bibliophiles!!!

After what I hope was a bookish Christmas full of gift cards and novels wrapped in pretty, festive paper, I am bringing to you the fifth annual Stand-Out Books of the Year post!

Being that I am working full-time and sadly have less time to read than I used to, a lot of my numbers have dropped when it comes to statistics.

However, what has not changed is the fact that there are a whole lot of books that stood out to me in 2014!

As always, the books don’t have to have been released in 2014 – I’ll just have read and/or reviewed them in 2014.

How many books did I read?

That's 45 less than in 2013.

How many pages did I read?

That's 15,123 less than in 2013.

How many pages, on average, did I read per day?

That's 41 less than in 2013.

Like I said – far busier as I get older – but a bibliophile I shall always be!!!

This year there are a whopping 44 books on the Stand-Out Books of 201…

Love Me

Love Me is the second book in the YA 1930s Hollywood Starstruck series by Rachel Shukert.

As this is a highly serialized series, I strongly suggest that you read Starstruck – reviewed in October - before Love Me. Ya hear?

If you have yet to read Starstruck, avert your eyes from this synopsis…

After becoming an overnight sensation and sparkling movie star, Margaret Frobisher is now truly Margo Sterling. She’s also involved with heartthrob Dane Forrest – someone whose picture was over her bed back in Pasadena not that long ago. Now the issue is not losing it all…

Amanda Farraday is nursing a broken heart after her seedy past as Ginger was revealed to Harry Gordon, hotshot screenwriter. She’s sure if she could only talk to him she could convince him that the love they have overcomes her scandalous former life…

Popping pills and downing alcohol is getting easier and easier for childhood vaudeville star Gabby. She’s still waiting for her big break after Harry Gordon decided to go in a diff…

Princess of Thorns

Princess of Thorns is a YA fantasy Sleeping Beauty retelling by Stacey Jay.

Sleeping Beauty’s story did not end with Happily Ever After.

Instead, she sacrificed her life in the arms of her seven year old daughter Aurora in order to give Aurora her fairy magic – and a chance to survive the coup of the murderous ogres.

Now, ten years later, Aurora has learned that magic always has an unexpected, bitter result – and though it has given her excellent fighting skills and a merciful heart, it also has barred her from ever having true romantic love.

When her younger brother, Jor, is captured by the Ogre Queen, she sets off to raise an army to rescue him while dressed as a boy and hunted by the Ogre Queen’s followers.

Meanwhile, Prince Niklaas is searching for Aurora – his life depends on it. A curse laid down by his own father leaves him with only days before his fateful eighteenth birthday – a birthday that will claim his humanity, as it did his ten older brothers.

His only hope, as he was…

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is a middle grade fantasy for all ages by Catherynnne M. Valente.

Twelve-year-old September has gotten rather tired of the sameness of each day – washing the same dishes, sleeping on the same pillow, etc.

That is why she leaps at the chance to go to Fairyland when the Green Wind and his flying leopard extend an invitation.

Adventure at last!

Yet Fairyland is in turmoil – things are not as they once were now that the evil Marquess is ruling after the suspicious disappearance of the beloved Queen Mallow.

With the help of a dragon-like creature who has memorized A-through-L of the encyclopedia and a blue boy who is almost, but not quite, human – September will try to restore Fairyland back to its former glory.

Days after finishing The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making I am still thinking about it!

The prose and plot is astonishingly rich in its cleverness, inventiveness and beauty. I had to …

Percy Jackson and the Olympians # 1: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief is the first book in the middlegrade contemporary twist on Greek mythology series Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan.

Considered a troublemaker, twelve-year-old Percy has been thrown out of more schools than he can count – with his dyslexia and penchant for a temper he finds it difficult to fit in. Even at a school for misfits.

Before being kicked out of his latest school, though, he notices some rather odd occurrences. He knows weird things have happened around him before – but having a teacher turn evil, attempt to kill him, dissolve into tiny bits when defeated and then no one remember her being a teacher at his school in the first place is only the latest.

And, admittedly, the strangest.

Before long, Percy realizes that the mythological monsters and gods of Mount Olympus are not just something to be studied in his textbook – but are real and walking around.

Or trying to kill him.

Pulled into this stunning revelation, Percy is brought to a place whe…

What Happened to Goodbye

What Happened to Goodbye is a YA contemporary novel by Sarah Dessen.

When Mclean made the decision to live with her dad after her parents painful, shocking divorce a couple of years ago she knew she was taking on a life of moving.

As someone who is assigned struggling restaurants to get back in tiptop shape or close up, her dad is sent to various different towns – and so is she.

From the first move, Mclean decided it was an opportunity to reinvent herself. Each move, each short stint at a new high school, Mclean introduces herself with a different nickname and quickly picks a persona – cheerleader, drama crowd, etc.

She makes easy, quick exits when a new assignment come up – never saying goodbye or feeling particularly attached to anyone or anything.

With their most recent move, though, it doesn’t go as smoothly. She finds herself struggling to pick a new identity and her real name begins being used before she manages to correct them with a new nickname.

Mclean soon recognizes that it…

The Fire Wish

The Fire Wish is a YA fantasy novel – the first of the Jinni Wars – by Amber Lough.

Princess Zayele of Zab does not wish to leave her little brother or her home but has been selected to be the bride of the prince of Baghdad. As she travels to the palace in a locked caravan, she longs for nothing more than to return home.

And she won’t pass up an opportunity.

Jinni Najwa has just been admitted to a band of spies as her unusual ability to access an area of the human word no other Jinni can is revealed.

When Najwa uses her magic to glimpse the human world for a mere moment, Zayele sees her, captures her and makes a wish.

The wish does not go according to plan.

Zayele and Najwa – already remarkably similar in looks – have traded places. Najwa is now the princess on her way to marry and Zayele is suddenly expected to help with the war against humans by using a talent she does not have.

Now they are both in terrible danger amongst their enemies…

The Fire Wish is covered in flattering quo…

Love, Lucy

Love, Lucy is a YA contemporary novel by April Lindner that will be released in January 2015.

In exchange for giving up her dreams of being an actress to become a business major in college, Lucy’s father has funded a backpacking through Europe trip.

Desperate to soak in as much culture and beauty from a trip that traded away her aspirations, Lucy finds herself absolutely besotted with Florence, Italy.

…Not to mention a certain handsome traveling street musician named Jesse Palladino.

Before long, Lucy is swept into a whirlwind summer romance that feels like more – though Lucy steels her heart as much as she can.

After all, she has to return home. She has to go to college and take business courses.

She has to be practical.

But are their feelings more than a vacation fling?

Yet again, I am impressed with Lindner’s ability to create just the right atmosphere.

In Jane and Catherine she had that gothic vibe mixed with a contemporary setting – here we have a fantastic sense of Italy and tr…

Parched is a sci-fi dystopian YA novel by Georgia Clark.

Born and raised a privileged Edenite, sixteen-year-old Tessa Rockwood left everything behind after the sudden, violent death of her scientist mother to escape to the Badlands.

The Badlands are outside the lush borders of Eden – where water is a precious, rare commodity, as is privacy, prosperity or nearly anything that comes easy in Eden. After years of the Trust – those that govern Eden – leading Edenites to believe the Badlands are simply an exotic, humbler place, Tessa now knows the ugly, brutal truth.

So, when she is approached to return to Eden and secretly fight the inequality by joining a rebel group called Kudzu, Tessa does. She attempts to swallow down her gnawing guilt at the secrets only she knows about her mother’s death and tries to slip back into her old life by showing up at her uncle’s home.

It’s tougher than she expected to return, though.

And as it’s revealed that the Trust may be tinkering with artificial in…


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• Ugandan musicians are NOT creative — Geosteady

    / April 21, 2017

    By Our Reporter

    Ugandan artistes are not creative, at least according to musician Geosteady.

    The “Owooma” singer has revealed that the local music industry is still lagging behind on the African continent because musicians are reluctant to explore new music styles.

    He made the remarks while speaking about his recent music tour in South Africa. “Our music is not played in South African nightclubs,” he said. “I hang out in different nightclubs but not even one Ugandan song was played.”

    Geosteady further went on to add that Ugandan music sounds the same to foreigners.

    “Ugandan music all sounds the same,” he explained. “Artistes are not creative. Most singers usually ask producers to make a beat he has heard somewhere and  do not allow producers to exercise their creativity.”

    He concluded noting that musicians need to be more creative to be able compete more favorably on the continent.

    The statements, comments, or opinions expressed through the use of BigEyeUg are those of their respective authors, who are solely responsible for them, and do not necessarily represent the views held by the staff and management of BigEyeUg.


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Friday, August 26, 2005

Detroit Market Stagnant

Those of us on the west coast may be fearful that the housing market might return to normalcy, but back in Detroit, they've really got real issues. A new report finds that the metro area is one of 15 of the riskiest areas for falling home prices. Check out this story by R.J. King of The Detroit News:
Metro Detroit's housing market has just one thing in common with white-hot real estate in other U.S. cities -- the bottom could fall out in the near future.

Unlike San Francisco or Tampa, Fla., however, where rapidly escalating prices have created fear of a housing bubble that might burst, Metro Detroit home prices are in danger of going from stagnant to rapidly declining.
Find the full story at this link.

— The Boy in the Big Housing Bubble


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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Celia in the kitchen!

My daughter Celia, is one who claims to want to learn to cook and bake. She has really only made chocolate chip banana bread and that is truly it. Well she decided to make herself a cake. She used a cake mix, but had a blast mixing food coloring and came up with this!!
Celia with her cake!! She made a homemade lemon glaze and grabbed some raspberries from the raspberry patch to decorate it!!

Here is a cross section of the cake. This so expresses Celia. She loves to be creative!! She actually works at Walmart and starting the week of September 7th she will be moving to the bakery section, she had been a cashier and she will be an official cake decorator, or what she prefers to be identified as a Cake Artist. She is soo happy!!

This is Eliah driving his "own" pick-up truck!! He had been looking for a truck for 8 months. He ended up with a 2007 Dodge Ram Pick up Big Horn Edition. I drove it to work yesterday due to car troubles, and  boy does it have a nice ride! Good choice son!!

Ahhh, finally a picture of me!! We rode with Eliah one evening when we were going to a John Harmon Chicken Dinner a few weeks back. As you can see the windows are open and our hairs are flying all over the place. Mama and Celia in the back!! I just love this picture!! LOL! I didn't know she was posing until I saw the pic. It really makes me happy looking at this.
Happy Day!!!

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Biomedical Imaging Group
Imaging Web Demonstrations
BIG > Demos

Home Page

Tutorials and Reviews

Download Algorithms

Student Projects

Mathematica CDF Player

Requires the CDF Player of Wolfram Mathematica.

Exploration of the B-Spline

Robin Lang and Daniel Schmitter, 2017

This demo is very soon available.

Apple iOS Apps

These Apple apps are available on the Apple store and run on iPhone.

iMondrian Sparse Stochastic Processes

Ricard Delgado, 2011

This app generates artistic representations of Mondrian processes. These processes are named after Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), a great figure in the neoplasticism style known for his grid-based paintings.

Filter Creator

Michael Rusterholz, 2012

Filter Creator helps you to better understand the mathematics of discrete and continuous audio filters and is particularly aimed at students of signal processing classes.

Image Processing Online Demo

These demonstrations run on any moderm browser supporting HTML5.

Image Processing Java Applet

These Java applets are running on browsers supporting a recent Java Virtual Machine.

Research Demos

SURE-LET Wavelet Denoising (in color or in grayscale)

Florian Luisier

A new approach to color or grayscale image denoising.
Variational Levelset Spline

Olivier Bernard

New formulation of level-set modeling the implicit as a continuous parametric function expressed on a B-spline basis.
Steerable Feature Detection

Mathews Jacob and François Aguet

General approach for the design of 2-D feature detectors.
Extended Depth of Field using the Wavelet Transform
Download a program to perform an extended depth of focus of z-stack images to obtain in focus image.

Dimitri Van de Ville

A novel spline family for hexagonal lattices.
Fractional Splines Wavelets

Thierry Blu

Wavelet bases with a continuously-varying order parameter and continuously-varying order and shift parameters.
Computerized Tomography

Michael Liebling

Simulates the computerized tomography (Radon transform) and performs the reconstruction (filtered backprojection).
Comparison of interpolators

Philippe Thévenaz

Compares the standard interpolation functions with the ones developped by the BIG.
Fractional Quincunx Wavelets

Manuela Feilner

Shows the quincunx transform using filters of fractional order.

Arrate Muñoz Barrutia

The optimal algorithm to resize images.
Spline Warping of our staff members

Daniel Sage

Bidirectional landmark warping of our staff.

Teaching Demos

Edge Detection
Basis functions of the FFT
Basis functions of the DCT
Basis functions of the Haar Wavelet Transform
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Student Demos

Drop Shape Analysis
Aurélien Stalder
Denoising of Fractal-like images using Polyharmonic B-splines
Alex Prudencio
Filtering in Fourier Domain
Joy Anushini Ariarajah
Edge detection with a sub-pixel precision
Nicolas Pavillon
Complex Fractional Splines Wavelet
Florian Luisier
Virtual Microscope
Christophe Magnard
Diffusion Enhancing Methods
Alwyn Fernandes
Continuous Wavelet Transform using Splines
Raphaël Ertle
Watershed by flooding
Daniel Stadelmann
Non Linear Diffusion Filtering
Laurent Vieira De Mello
Interpolation on Affine Transformation
Raphaël Marthe


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Monday, June 2, 2014

The Bike-sharing World - First Week of June 2014

       Washington, DC

It's not too late to register to take part in the conversations on how Public Policy and government regulations will affect bike-sharing for 2014. Help craft the direction of Public Policy for bike-sharing next week in the Capital City of the USA. See you in DC!

Bemidji, Minnesota:
Nice Ride Minnesota bike-sharing is going into the bike rental business in an upstate Minnesota summer resort town. Bemidji Nice Ride will begin renting bicycles out of four manned locations in the middle of June. There will not be self-service kiosks available as with the Nice Ride program in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Bycyklen gobike Station - More Photos
After being one of the first cities to introduce 2nd generation bike-sharing in 1995, with Bycyklen, those odd looking, grocery trolley tethered bicycles, Copenhagen in now offering something close to 4th generation bike-sharing with an odd looking, computer tablet controlled, electric assist - pedelec- called the new Bycyklen for 2014.
Although already on the streets during testing for a few months, the new program was only opened to public use this April. There has not been the fanfare of an official launch as of yet. Currently though, there are 250 gobikes in 10 stations. From the original plan, the program is scheduled to grow to around 1,250 gobikes in 65 stations.
The price for casual use is 25kr (US$4.50) per hour. With the monthly subscription of 70kr (US$12.75), plus an hourly usage of only 6kr (US$1.00). There are incentives and penalties for picking up or returning the gobikes away from the designated stations. The bikes are a bit heavy, but a cool ride.

Hangzhou, China -So many bikes outside the bike station
Reports out of China indicate the Hangzhou now has 78,000 bicycles in its bike-share fleet. According to, there has been a jump of 10% in daily usage of the program. Nearly 2,000 bicycles need maintenance daily. There are many cities throughout the world that would love to have a fleet of that size! Over 3,000 bikes each month need to be completely overhauled. New maintenance procedures has brought the fleet up to a level of 97% of bicycles with a rating of road worthiness.

From the Haksong Evening News, is a report that the Xin Feida bike-share program in Wuhan has not been keeping up with its fleet and stations. The news agency reports that there are many stations void of bicycles and that the 300 million yuan (US$48,000,000) investment for the program hasn't fulfilled all of its promises. Hangzhou, China has a truer count on its bike share fleet and now is considered the largest program in the world.

Recent internet stories from a policy institute on the state of world bike-sharing in a "2014 Bicycle Share Fact Sheet"  have been lacking in accuracy.
Since January there are over 700 cities in the world with active automated bike-share programs. Italy is overtaking Spain as the country with the most bike-share cities and China, now in third place, has overtaken Germany.
For a better survey of the bike-sharing world, The Bike-sharing World Map keeps in its legend a running total of the number of cities with automated bike-sharing.

images: The Bike-sharing Blog

Russell Meddin

Keep in touch with The Bike-sharing World with The Bike-sharing World Map. It is the premiere resource for information on cities with bike-sharing programs and the complement to The Bike-sharing Blog. The easy web address for viewing the map is

Follow the Map on Twitter@BikesharingMap


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Is a Cure for HIV and AIDS Around the Corner?

World AIDS Day falls on December 1 and with numerous reports of advances towards a cure surfacing in a variety of online media, Health-e sorts the fact from the hearsay…

Here are the facts
There’s no discounting that HIV continues to be a major global public health issue that has claimed more than 35 million lives worldwide, in fact just last year, 1.1 million people died from HIV-related causes globally. There were approximately 36.7 million people living with HIV at the end of 2015 with 2.1 million people becoming newly infected with HIV in 2015. Here in Indonesia alone there is an estimated 690,000 people living with HIV with some 35,000 who have died from AIDS.

Sub-Saharan Africa is considered the most affected region with 25.6 million people living with HIV in 2015 and accounts for two-thirds of the global total of new HIV infections.For these many millions of people there is no cure for HIV infection however, effective antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can control the virus and help prevent transmission so that people with HIV, and those at substantial risk, can enjoy healthy and productive lives.

Further hopeful news: between 2000 and 2015, new HIV infections fell by 35% and AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 28% with some 7.8 million lives saved as a result of international efforts that led the global achievement of the HIV targets of the Millennium Development Goals.

Expanding antiretroviral therapy (ART) to all people living with HIV and using all the prevention choices available can help avert 21 million AIDS-related deaths and 28 million new infections by 2030.

Sifting through the media reports

Medical research and the media often make for an uncomfortable mix. Research on one hand can be slow going with a vagary of reports popping up along the way while media is fast paced and hungry for positive sound bites and certainty that a cure is around the corner.

A recent article of the success in extracting the HIV gene from infected cells has had substantial media interest however some of the media coverage exaggerated the study. Other reports use of attention grabbing headlines with the word “breakthrough” and that the “cure is near” is irresponsible. Health communications experts say the true breakthrough to look for will be reported in respected medical journals and not sub-standard online media outlets.

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (AVI) website is one such reliable source for updates. In Sept. AVI published amongst other press reports: “New vaccination strategies successfully coach immune system to make powerful HIV-neutralizing antibodies.”

The report looks at how medical researchers are learning to spur the human body to produce HIV-blocking antibodies, which has been successful in mice mimicking the human immune system, according to five studies published in the research journals Cell, Immunity and Science.

“It’s early work, but we’re trying to rewrite some rules of vaccine development to overcome the extraordinary challenges of HIV,” says William Schief, TSRI Professor and Director of Vaccine Design for IAVI’s Neutralizing Antibody Center (NAC) at TSRI. “In a collaborative effort we have reached critical milestones, including the first proof ever that immunization with designer proteins can produce broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV. The new results strongly support further developing these approaches toward testing in clinical studies.”

Since its founding in 1996, AVI has evolved from an advocacy organization primarily focused on making AIDS vaccine development a priority on the global public health agenda to become a full-scale research, advocacy and policy organization, capable of contributing to every phase of AIDS vaccine development

Health-e reporting with sources: UN; WHO;; International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

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Posted by frank on August 27, 2000 at 15:28:26:

In Reply to: Need Help on 325 es posted by Tom McMenamin on August 27, 2000 at 13:56:07:

I have a 1986 BMW 325es and have owned since NEW. Car currently has 280,000 miles but looks and runs well! Burns i quart of oil prior to change at 3000 miles The following problem has occurred and would like some input.

Recently the car began giving me start up problems, the engine turns over nicely but immediately stalls. It will die out when first started regularly. Yesterday I attempted to start the car and the hard starting again occurred but this time car was smoking and would barely run. (After getting to operating temperature and without Air Cond. Engaged the car runs fine. A 325es has little guts anyway so performance is not an issue.

This AM I removed the Spark Plugs cleaned and regapped them and evaluated to see if oil fouling was present (289,000 would seem to indicated worn rings, valves, pistons). Compression was checked about 6 months ago and had little deviation from new settings. No Oil Fouling was present but the plugs with coated with blow away carbon. I cleaned and regapped and little improvement. I then jiggled the Motronic Connection and the car started and ran fine!

What are the things in the Motronic that simply fooling with the connection could cause?

Is there something I am overlooking and what is the cost of replacing the Motronic. Are the Motronic, 1.0 and 1.1 compatible, interchangeable?

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Generating Video

There have been a lot of Arduino video generation projects covered by the Make blog recently, I did my own a couple of weeks ago:

Arduino Video - NTSC from binarymillenium and Vimeo.

Since then I've experimented with upping the resolution by a lot, though memory becomes an issue quickly. Ideally I could have a whole set of different visuals to generate with an arduino and few knobs and buttons to control them with for a cheap VJ device.

Color is out of the question with an Arduino without hardware components to generate much higher frequencies than can be made in software with the standard 20MHz clock.

So next I'm thinking of trying color video generation with an FPGA. B&W generation on an FPGA seems trivial compared to doing it in software, and many grades of gray could be generated with PWM rather than having to add more resistors and use more digital outputs.

But can a 3.58MHz color signal be put on top of that successfully?

I have a Digilent Spartan 3 dev-kit that's a few years old, it has a 50 MHz oscillator. I could generate 50/14 = 3.571 Mhz clock from that, each period would be 14 cycles long. So that means only 13 different phase shifts from that would be possible, and I'm not sure if a full 360 of phase shifts is allowed- it might only be 1/2 or 1/4 of that. And then there's the problem of PWMing those to produce different amplitudes- for one half period there are 7 cycles. A normal one would have PWM like 1010101, then a 1100110 (or maybe 1100011), and then 1101101 or 1110111 or something else but it's not clear any filtering I would do or the tv input does would actually create a readable 3.571 MHz signal out of that. It's worth a shot anyhow.

There are a few color video FPGA projects out there, one on opencores, I'll look into those if my efforts aren't that successful.

Once I can generate a test pattern, I'll want to synthesize a cpu and program it with a game or VJ stuff to generate interesting moving visuals. I don't think I can make a microblaze with the free Xilinx Webpack tools, but maybe something like OpenFire or PicoBlaze?
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Ethical, legal and social issues in maintence of Biobanks

Ethical issues are commonly present in many aspects of Biobanking. The fact that Biobanks deal with human samples, invading an individual autonomy or limiting self-control, provokes a number of ethical issues. Who is actually competent to give informed consent and donate a sample? When individuals donate part of their body to a biobank, how is that human sample processed? Who is the owner of the sample? Who should decide how it should be used? Who has the right to know individual results of research? These and many more ethical dilemmas exist in the ethical framework of biobanks. With the recent rapid developments in biobanking, all of these issues are magnified with plenty of further new questions continuously arising. Ethical framework has been the most controversial issue in the domain of biobanking. Thus, it is not surprising that there is a substantial literature focusing on ethical dilemmas in biobanking, such as informed consent, privacy, protection, and returning of results to participants. For many years, researchers at CRB have provided constructive advice on how to deal with ethical aspects of research using human tissue material and personal data. For more than 80 years tissue has been derived from human bodies, stored, distributed and used for therapeutic, educational, forensic and research purposes as part of healthcare routine in most western countries.

American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Houston, USA, Association of Bioethics World Congress Edinburgh, UK, Oxford Global Health and Bioethics International Conference Oxford shire, UK, CFP: Global Forum on Bioethics in Research Foundation Merieux, France, Hands On Biobanks 2016 conference Vienna, Austria, Global Biobanking London, UK, The Biomarker Conference Orlando, Florida – USA, ART World Congress Symposium on Safe and Efficient IVF New York City, United States, VIII International Postharvest Symposium: Enhancing Supply Chain and Consumer Benefits - Ethical and Technological Issues Cartagena, Murcia, Spain.

According to estimates from the World Bank, global healthcare spending increased at a CAGR of 6.97% from 2003 to 2013, from USD 3,786 Billion in 2003 to USD 7,427 Billion in 2013. In this period, public healthcare spending increased at a CAGR of 7.28%, from USD 2,198 Billion in 2003 to USD 4,440 Billion in 2013. This high growth rate, along with the substantial size of healthcare spending, will act as an important driver for biobanks, hospitals and gene banks, which are the major end-user segments of the biopreservation media & equipment market.

  • Ownership, Property Rights and Commercialization in Relation to Biobanking
  • Ethical considerations surrounding biobanking and biorepository operation.
  • Legal and Ethical Framework For Collaborative Biobanking Across Europe
  • Factors Influencing Biobanks Prices
  • Ethical issues & future use of samples

Related Conference of Ethical, legal and social issues in maintence of Biobanks

July 03-05, 2017

7th World Summit on Plant Genomics

Bangkok, Thailand
July 20-22, 2017

15th Asia-Pacific Biotechnology Congress

Melbourne Australia
August 23-24 , 2017

6th International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

San Francisco, California ,USA
August 23-24, 2017

3rd International Conference & Exhibition on Tissue Preservation and Biobanking

(10 Plenary Forums - 1 Event)
San Francisco, California, USA
September 14-15, 2017

2nd World Congress on HUMAN GENETICS

Edinburgh, Scotland
September 21-22, 2017

International Conference on Clinical and Medical Genetics

Toronto, Canada
September 25-27, 2017

17th Euro Biotechnology Congress

Berlin, Germany
September 27-28, 2017

Annual Summit on Cell Therapy and Molecular Medicine

(10 Plenary Forums - 1Event)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
September 27-28, 2017

Annual Summit on Cell Signaling and Cancer Therapy

(10 Plenary Forums - 1Event)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
October 16-17, 2017

3rd Annual Congress on Bioscience

October 19-20, 2017, Hilton New York JFK Airport Hotel

18th Biotechnology Congress

New York, USA
October 20-21, 2017

3rd World Congress on Human Genetics & Genetic Disorders

Toronto, Canada
October 23-24, 2017

10th World Congress on Stem Cell and Biobanking

Osaka, Japan
November 13-14, 2017

19th World Congress on Biotechnology

Osaka, Japan
December 04-05, 2017

2nd World Biotechnology Congress

(10 Plenary Forums - 1Event)
Sao Paulo, Brazil
December 11-12, 2017

3rd World Bio Summit & Expo

Dubai, UAE
May 14-15, 2018

11th World Congress on Cell & Tissue Science

Tokyo, Japan
May 21-23, 2018

6th International Conference on Integrative Biology

Barcelona, Spain
July 2-3, 2018

4th International Conference on Bioscience

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Ethical, legal and social issues in maintence of Biobanks Conference Speakers

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#Biodiversity150 number 53 of 150 Ephemeroptera

53/150: If you think adulting is hard as a human, try it as a mayfly where you only have a single day to reproduce!

Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Ephemeroptera: Siphlonuridae: Siphlonurus: Siphlonurus alternatus (Say, 1824)

The great Carl Sagan once said that “Compared to a star, we are like mayflies, fleeting ephemeral creatures who live out their lives in the course of a single day”. While this is indeed true for adult mayflies, whose order classification “Ephemeroptera” is coined from the term ephemeral, it is not entirely accurate. The primary objective of adult mayflies is to reproduce; they don’t even eat! Some males may only live a few hours while females can live a few days. However, mayfly larvae spend up to two years foraging at the bottom of streams and rivers before becoming adults. Along with other aquatic insect larvae, specifically caddisflies and stoneflies, they are one of the most commonly used indices of aquatic ecosystem health. These insects are found in a wide variety of habitats and are very sensitive to pollution, therefore their presence in the water is a strong indicator of a healthy ecosystem. On the other hand, their synchronized emergence as adults can sometimes be an inconvenience to those living near rivers where massive mayfly swarms can be common, not necessarily occurring in May. There are currently 19,475 specimens with barcodes on BOLD. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150 #aquaticinsects #indicatorspecies #healthyecosystem

Adult Mayfly – Specimen 09NBMAY-0052 – St. John River, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada – 07-Jul-2008. Photo Credit: CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics
The mayfly nymph has external gills projecting from its abdomen making it highly sensitive to its environment. Photo Credit: Ian Alexander goo.gl/YVrjct
Hundreds of mayflies at a night sheet. Photo Credit: Kate Perez, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics

Here’s the barcode sequence information for this species:

Process ID:  EPHNB052-09

nucleotide sequence

amino acid sequence

Visual representation of DNA barcode sequence for Ephemeroptera

Learn more about it’s BIN (Barcode Index Number): BOLD:AAA4673

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SWEENEY, John E., (1955 - )

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

SWEENEY, John E., a Representative from New York; born in Troy, Rensselaer County, N.Y., August 9, 1955; B.A., Russell Sage College, Troy, N.Y., 1981; J.D., Western New England Law School, Springfield, Mass., 1990; New York state commissioner of Labor; elected as a Republican to the One Hundred Sixth and to the three succeeding Congress (January 3, 1999-January 3, 2007); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Tenth Congress in 2006.


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Image http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/lq/streamteam/wsalamander12001.jpg

Eurycea sp.

Rafinesque, 1822

nominal concept

common name: brook salamander
family: Plethodontidae
Identified 2017-04-03 by William B. Sutton

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Richland Creek Greenway, Davidson County, Tennessee, US
36.135° latitude,-86.849722° longitude
Coordinate uncertainty: about 10 m

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Two-10 minute cards

Howdy Bloggers! long time no post, huh??? I know! Life has been taking it's toll on me! the beginning of Sept. I had a minor back surgery to do a trial for the spinal stimulator. My car accident last year really messed my back, leg and nerves up! Luckily the trial went well and I will be going in on Oct. 9th for major surgery to have it implanted. I'm not really excited for surgery, but I'm excited to get the small amount of help in pain reduction and the feeling in my leg back! Aside from that just having intermittent issues with my Bi-Polar, but just taking it one day at a time!

anyhow, here are 2 quick, simple and easy cards. I actually made these both in about 10 minutes. I just needed 2 quick cards to put my .45 cent envie swap items in for my 2 partners. You would be amazed at how much can fit in one envie for one single stamp! as long as it isn't "clunky" it will go!

These cards are on cream colored cardstock base and I did some ink distressing around all 4 edges with gray ink.

The birds in this card is stamped in SU! Baroque Burgundy for the body and Tempting Turquoise for the wings, and then I used Going Gray for the beak.

 The bird in the below card is the same as the one above except for the wings are stamped in taken with teal.
The flowers are stamped with my FAVORITE SU! ink color, Rich Razzleberry. This purple is just gorgeous! I stamped the "for you" sentiment in the bottom corner with Pink Passion.
The flourish in the bottom left corner was done by coloring my stamp with my zig brushable markers, rather than using an ink pad. it gives the stamped image a different textural look than the other images on the card, but it allows for a mixture of colors in tight spaces, so I really don't mind the different textural look.

Well, those are my 2 cards. I really hope that my partners like them. We weren't required to make a card, but I figured it wouldn't take me too long and I wanted the stuff I was sending to be protected between cardstock anyways, so why not?!?!

Oh, in case you're wondering what I'm sending, I'm sending some flower and flourish prints on acetate by K&Co., a small assortment of some stamped images and some stamped/punched images, about 12 inches of ribbon, a couple tags from assorted K&Co. tag books, and a tag from K&Co. that has it's own sleeve. I did the same items for each partner, but different designs of stuff. I really hope they like what they get, I know if I got that envie, I would!! :)

Thanks for looking, see below for a complete list of supplies used on my cards.
Keep on Craftin' and please, be kind to one another!
~Melisa Marie

Supplies used:
Cardstock/Paper: Unknown brand of pre-folded blank cream colored card and envie. Stamps: Stampin' Up! Elmentary Elegance.  Ink Pads: ALL Stampin' Up! ink pads used: Baroque Burgundy, Going Gray, Pink Passion, Rich Razzleberry, Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise.  Coloring/Writing Supplies: Zig Brushable Markers.   Tools:
Inkadinkado Acrylic Blocks

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Saturday, March 15, 2008

A Rail from the rails

On Friday 14th March, I spent most of the day travelling behind vintage steam locos at the West Somerset Railway Gala. Many common birds and a couple of Fallow (?) Deer were seen. As one particular train approached Minehead, I noticed a bird on a grass verge near a level crossing, with a reedy ditch nearby.
As we steamed past, I was surprised to see that it was a Water Rail, only a few feet from cars waiting at the crossing. It seemed happy enough, but wasn't there when I next went past with my camera ready.
So you'll have to make do with these instead:

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Friday, July 30, 2010

Haute Gypsy

The was also a rich bohemian look gracing the runways. Looks like some inspiration was taken from the ladies caravanning with the Stones in the late 60's early 70's. More of an uptown, eclectic, ethnic, vintage, gypsy look. Rich colors, patterns and textures with velvet fabrications and print/fabric mixing key.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Mad (Wo)Men

Quite a few designers took inspiration from the lat 50's early 60's a la the ladies of "Mad Men." We can't wait for the new season to start up! Check out the perfect ponytails on the Louis Vuitton ladies.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

For the next week or so I will be posting mood boards I put together for Fall/Winter 2011. This 1st one is called "Thirtysomething." Designers for F/W and Resort are showing 30's floral frocks. Prada's Resort line was quite representative of this decade. I always loved the bias cuts, ruffles and printed cottons of this era. Below is a 30's/40's dress from our collection. To see more, check out the "preview" section on our website.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Cut Paper Sweetness

These are the last of the pictures from our Scandinavian trip. I believe these are some kind of antique Swedish marriage announcement or license. I could be making that up, but from my recollection I think it has something to do with marriage. Anyhow, they are amazingly sweet.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Here are some patterns from the interiors section of the Nordiska Museet. Not sure if these are wall coverings or something of the like.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Swedish Antique Garments and Texiles

Here are some Antique Folk textiles and garments from the Nordiska Museet.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Textile Room Nordiska Museet

The Nordiska Museet also had an amazing textile study room. Here are a few pictures.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Swedish Lace

Here are some traditional antique Swedish Laces from the Nordiska Museet.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Red and White

Here is some red and white traditional Swedish embroidery from the Nordiska Museet.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Nordiska Museet

We happened upon the Nordiska Museet while checking out the island of Djurgarden in Stockholm. It is filled to the brim with Swedish folk art and national treasures. Here are some traditional embroideries.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Functional Objects

Here are some decorative patterned ceramic and glass pieces from the National Museum.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Modern Bird Tapestry

This a Mid Century Swedish bird tapestry we saw at the National Museum. I really liked some of the patterns within the birds so I snapped some detail shots.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Hand Painted Textile Art

Here are some examples of Mid Century hand painted textile art from the National Museum.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

National Museum

We headed to the National Museum while in Stockholm. We heard they had a great collection of Mid Century Design. Here is hand screened Mid Century texile.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Gerhard Richter

These are the last of the photos from Moderna Museet. These are detail shots from Gerhard Richter paintings.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

We saw about a trillion pieces of art on our trip and I know there was no way I was going to remember most of the artists names of the photos we took. I just resigned myself to that fact and did not even bother to try. This painting though stopped me in my tracks. It is by Dorothea Tanning. It is one of those paintings that is magical in person, just made you kinda feel dreamy, or maybe it was the jet lag. Anyway, it was quite striking. Not sure who is responsible for the below painting, liked it's dreamy feel as well.


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Sunday, November 13, 2016

The Famine

It was actually a pretty good church. Good worship. Good preaching. Seemed alright. But I did notice a strange thing. The offerings for things beyond church -- small groups, etc. -- were all book studies. I mean, they were studying books besides the Bible. There was a study for the ladies about the life of Esther and a study for young marrieds from a book on a biblical view of finances ... that kind of thing. So I asked the pastor. "I have enjoyed your preaching from the Word," I said, "so I'm curious. Is there anywhere the people in this church can go to learn to dig into God's Word?" "Sure," he told me, "there's the class on the life of Esther and a study on the biblical view of finances and ..." "No," I said, "I'm talking about studying the Word of God." "I don't know what you're talking about," he answered.

We seem to have a dearth of Scripture in the church these days. We surely give it lip service. We're in favor of it, we say. But what we normally get is a topical sermon with smatterings of verses. I went to a church with "expository preaching" -- preaching through the Word -- where the pastor preached Ephesians 2 as an advisory on marriage. Really? Have you read Ephesians 2? There is, in fact, a downright Bible famine these days. It sounds like something I read.
"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.
(Amos 8:11)
We have become some of the most illiterate Christians in history even while we are the most educated. We don't really want to read God's Word. We don't really want to put it together, see the "whole counsel of God", pursue the truth of it, apply it to life. "Doctrine divides," they tell me by which they mean, "Just tickle my itching ears."

It is, of course, a generalization. I'm pretty sure an accurate one, but a generalization. So if you are in a church that expounds the Word, thank the Lord. If you are in a small group that digs into Scripture, thank the Lord. If your church pushes the Bible every chance they get, thank the Lord. If not, maybe you have some work to do.

Bob said...

It seems that we have forgotten the fundamental reason for reading God's word.
It is so that we may hear what God has to say. for some reason we became bored with the Word and now replace it with
commentary on the Word. how different it would be if we had an attitude of anxious anticipation, knowing that God is going to
talk to me tonight, thru his word. how wonderful a blessing it is, to know that He wants to talk to me.

David said...

I think it also comes from the idea that it is too philosophical for us to individually understand it, so we need someone else to explain it for is.

Stan said...

Yes, Bob, somewhere along the way we seem to have forgotten that "the word" is a means of communication and "God's Word" is God's primary means of communication with us. How could that be boring?

Stan said...

David, I do believe you're right. Many of these "Bible studies" (for they call them that even when they're studying a book) are predicated on a non-teacher who calls himself or herself "a facilitator" because they don't wish to be arrogant or to try to personally understand and explain Scripture to us. "Why should we when we have so many good teachers around?"

I think in a similar way there is the problem of the American dual-edged sword of individualism and equality. On one hand it's, "I'm an individual and no one has the right to tell me what to think." On the other it's, "We're all equal, so you I'm not better than you and can't teach you anything." These are part of the American mindset even if they don't actually fit in a biblical mindset.


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Thursday, 16 October 2014

Friday freebie - get a free cotton bag in the Library tomorrow

Come into the Library tomorrow (Friday 17th) and you may be able to pick up a Friday Freebie.

We will be giving away 10 of our Library-branded cotton bags, plus a couple more useful freebies inside each one. Great for carying books home in.

It's first come, first served from 10am (one bag per person) so come along and get yours tomorrow while stocks last!

1 comment:

  1. The free bags have all gone now but, if you missed out, you can buy one for £1.50 in the Library.

Please leave a comment or question about the library. These are moderated.


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Monday, 25 February 2013

Favorini Wafer Rolls

Oh my favourite Favorini,
Never eaten by Mussolini,
Shaped like a cigar,
But containing no tar,
Helter skelter in white.

Slim and twisty,
Twirly, with a misty
Hazy hint of hazelnut,
Perfect for my gut.

Spiralled like a barber’s pole,
Can’t stop eating these, we’ve lost control.
Rather sweet and sugary,
The crème is a touch too powdery.

Never mind the rhyme
We’ve very little time.
Pass me another of these
Says Brian, please.
They’re simply so sublime.

Biscuit: Favorini Wafer Rolls with Hazelnut Crème
Taste test: 9.2 out of 10
Cost: Under £2 from Lidl in Totton

1 comment:

Please tell us what you think about our poems and the biscuits


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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

David Fincher is the guy who directed Fight Club, The Game, Se7en, and Zodiac.  So the fact the source material for his most recent endeavor comes from a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who’s born old and grow young a little confusing.  Especially when you consider the PG-13 rating.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one long-ass movie.  Let’s break it down into three parts, each one hour long. The first act is where the movie shines (and it’s probably the only part the Academy voters will remember when awarding those little statues in February).  Brad Pitt plays Benjamin, the new-born old man.  He’s left on the steps of a retirement home, where he’s adopted under the guise of her nephew by a worker there named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson).  Despite the fact he’s growing young, he fits right in among the oldies.  The special effects are remarkable in this first act, this is where the film actually merits attention from Oscar.  Well done on this count.  Benjamin meets a kindred spirit in Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the granddaughter of one of Ben’s roommates.  They start this on again off again thing that drags out over the following two hours, but really only manages to keep your attention for less than half that time.

Daisy gets seduced by New York life, and becomes one of those self-congratulatory Manhattanites, a very successful ballet dancer, and, well, kind of a ho.  In the meantime, Ben is off experiencing the world by means of a tug boat, visiting ports all over the world.  This travelogue teaches Benjamin a lot of important things.  He has his first love affair (with a watered down Tilda Swenson), his ship and crew are commissioned into the Navy where he’s confronted with a lot of death, and finally, he returns home a man.

It’s here, when Benjamin and Daisy are coming close to the same physical age, that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button just gets dull.  It’s not Blanchett’s fault, who shines bright.  It’s not Swinton, or Henson who did what they could with Eric Roth’s script.  It’s not the cinematographer’s fault, who made most scenes look like beautiful paintings.  The problem is simply that the story just goes way to long, much longer than even Fincher can sustain, and way longer than Pitt can.  Pitt seems to loose all gusto once the make-up and special effects go away.  I don’t know (and I don’t really care) if it was big studio demands that made Fincher water this story down to a tame PG-13, but it definitely seemed to restrain some of his artistic capacity.  What’s most frustrating is this film is leading the Oscar-buzz race for Best Picture.  And it’s just not worthy.  Benjamin Button is too long, rambles too much, and leaves you let down after months of promising hype.  Even so, it has some shining moments and probably merits a viewing before Oscar night.

Rottentomatoes: 76%Cream of the Crop: 79%

5 Responses to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  1. ben says:

    I’m sad reading this post. Benjamin Button was supposed to be a rockin’ hit. WTF Brad?

  2. Mad Hatter says:

    Glad to see I wasn’t the only one disappointed by this flick. I really think the whole project needed someone with a clearer vision to say “We really need to better focus this project.”

    Oh, what could have been…

  3. coffee says:

    Benjamin Button was very Fincher-esque… almost as good as his other stuff if not for some nagging plot holes

  4. Care says:

    and what about this being not recognized but quite close to the story line of Max Tivoli? (I haven’t read that but it’s on many great book lists…)

  5. Tim says:

    David Denby makes a funny point about Button in this week’s New Yorker. Befuddled by what possessed the Academy to give it 13 nods, he figures it resonates deeply with Hollywood’s obsession with cosmetic surgery and other stabs at age removal…

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Monday, April 18, 2016

The Singularity and Exponential Change - April 20-21, 2016 Where is More to Learn

In "The Singularity Is Near" futurist and now Google's Chief Engineer Ray Kurzweil predicts a not so distant time in the future when computers have more computing power than humans, and will actually bring it on the road.

The metaphor "The Singularity" is taken from physics where it is used to describe the unpredictable chaos that is following the development of a "black hole".

What seems to most of us as a purely Sci-Fi dreamlike utopia or even dystopia can be felt already some forms that things are changing around us so fast that we as individuals and especially organizations often haven't learnt extensively how to cope with it.

Whole industries and their key players are threatened by digital competitors like the film industry with Kodak once being the "poster child". Despite the fact that an engineer at Kodak developed the first digital camera, which of course back in the day showed the concept, and the starting point of an exponential process that started at such a low level that the company denied any substantial progress on its development only to see itself filing bankruptcy for Chapter 11 in early 2012 (in 2013 Kodak rose again, though with a much smaller workforce, as a technology company).

What does it tell us?

Exponential technologies enable new-comers in the traditional business and industry fields to take advantage of digital technologies outpacing the business models of the traditional players, as Instagram, Pinterest and others did with Kodak.

Should your industry, and organization fear the same fate? Why, if you are open to see what is happening now already and where the exponential trajectory may lead impacting your own business models.

What till now was possible to learn at on a super-fast learning trip to Silicon Valley's unique think and do tank Singularity University either on a 10-week summer course or various shorter workshop offers at executive level now is coming to Germany with #SUGermanySummit (hashtag) in Berlin from April 20-21, 2016.

Most often we are stuck in our disciplinary boundaries. As a cartographer might not reach into #Industrie40 space and yet layout digitization might be a huge improvement factor in future production scenarios. So why not cross-learn what exiting technologies are around that might have positive impacts on our industry and work field. Engineered serendipity as described in article stemming from the Aspen Ideas Festivals 2014 might be exactly what participants (especially newcomers to the Singularity University community, as it is their first official appearance in Germany organized by SU Ambassador for Germany Stephan Balzer) will get.

Be open. Get overwhelmed. Take the relevant knowledge out of the conversation.

Even if you can't be in Berlin in person connecting via digital technology, namely in the communication such as Twitter, Facebook or else and check out the speaker line-up, and program on the SingularityUniversityGermanySummit website.


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