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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

De-lightful portrayal of a neta’s life

This appered in The Sunday Tribune
Reviewed by Aruti Nayar

shobhaa Deshobhaa De’s novel, after a hiatus of 10 years, claims to do for politics, what Starry Nights did to Bollywood. For everyone fed up of the scams and scandals, the credibility quotient of the political class is at an all-time low and the dedication right at the beginning of the book, "To our beloved politicians. May their tribe decrease," is bound to strike a chord with the middle class.

The same is true of the saying "The arrow shot by the archer may or may not kill a single person. But strategems devised by wise men can kill even babies in the womb, by Kautilya. De shows us the varied shades of a politician’s life. As she traces the career graph of Sethji, a prototype of an average neta, who has a set of skills that he hones assiduously to come up trumps, it is vintage Shobhaa De. Visual descriptions and a dexterous moving back and forth with an elan marks the manner in which De manages to flesh out the central character Sethji, his daughter-in-law Amrita and sons Srichand (Amrita’s laid-back husband) and the profligate Suraj.

Portayal of wheels-within-wheels and machinations make the narrative racy. To avoid monotony, there are sub-plots that intersect the main thread and are interwoven with it.

The businessman-politician nexus is defined with the relationship between Arun Mehta, Jaipraksh and MK who has a strange relationship with Amrita. Sethji, of course, remains the protagonist and just as the reader thinks, he has been "decoded," one discovers a new trait about the wily man who is not quite the main character, even though the novel is named after him.

The main character who is also the one through whose voice the narrative unfolds is Amrita, the beautiful daughter-in-law (and mistress) of Sethji — the fulcrum of the book as well as of the lives of the characters. It is in the delineation of the character of Amrita that Shobhaa De excels herself. Be it her latent sexuality, her razor-sharp intelligence and the "mind of a man," that makes her organise, plot and use and throw people with ease. In the portrayal of Amrita, Shobhaa De breaks all stereotypes and one can sense she is close to the author’s heart. As Sethji says, "Unlike most women, your brain functions like a man’s, it is capable of hard, unemotional decisions. It is ruthless when required." Here is not an archetypal woman but an atypical one who uses her thinking function much more than the feeling one. A stunner, she knows how to use her body to her advantage and is almost an alter ego of the manipulative Sethji. No wonder, they together generate tremendous synergy. Running the household with a clinical clockwork precision or plotting a murder or lying with elan even in the full glare of the TV cameras about her delinquent brother-in-law, Amrita can pull it off convincingly. One wonders why the author did not call the book Amritaji! De’s use of a language that is a mixture of colloquial and street language, peppered by Hindi cuss words makes the narrative raw and gives it an energy. Overuse of abuses and expletives do jar and interrupt the flow at times.

The two parts, Delhi and Mumbai, seeks to highlight the way politics works differently at both the places. One can see the inspiration for the man who controls Mumbai, Bhau, has shades of the late Shiv Sena supremo. Also the premium on giving contracts, the world of contract killers and the politicians- film directors-financers nexus is etched.

De’s Sethji is sanitised, not fleshed out with a reality check when it comes to capturing the essence of a politician’s life along with the rough and tumble, sights and sounds. In fact, the neta’s portrayal appears photoshopped and airbrushed and also ". It’s obvious, despite Sethji being in De’s head for more than a decade, she has never experienced politics first-hand. Starry Nights was home ground but politics is a different ballgame altogether. At times one gets the feeling that one is watching a potboiler and style overwhelms substance and makes the book almost surreal. A "confession" in the acknowledgments towards the end leaves the reader startled. De admits being fascinated by the late Sitaram Kesri and wants to thank him for motivating her to create Sethji. One wonders how. That, of course, is another story

sanyasi said...

first to be here

sanyasi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
punit unisense said...

this book seems to be very nice..thanks

gate motors

mathew said...

This is the first time , I am reading De, it was the the title that prompted me to pick it. I enjoyed her style , especially her openness challenging the so called conventional portrayal of Bharath women. But I think it is my duty to educate her that not all Keralites are taxiwalas
who take passengers to armswalas and nurses who promote blood donor rackets.

Himadri ASri said...

just got the book! happy!

Ravi Kumar said...

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Aditya said...

Great Book
Get Tech Updates at TechTantrik
Enjoy Funer Side of Life at TheRoyalPoke

Siva Cool said...

A truly motivational and life changing book
This book is really a good book which shows us right path. but i read
one more book named "ONE BOOK FOR LIFE SUCCESS" which is truly
motivational and life changing . .The writer has described in PlainEnglish with lot of examples which is easy to understand...For More
Please watch the video
YouTube video


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Alternator - Remanufactured - 63 Amps
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Alternator - Remanufactured - 63 Amps Alternator - Remanufactured - 63 Amps
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CARQUEST Alternator - Remanufactured - 63 Amps

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Write & Win Contest

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Help us to improve Shoponline.support and have a chance to earn our monthly prize of $50,-!

Rate and Review Your Online Shopping Experiences with the stores on our website so we can complete the information we publish to help you and your Fellow Shoppers.

Still House

Still House Design Store

Welcome to Still House. We are a New York City–based store that carries thoughtfully designed jewelry and home goods.

Still House is a curated contemporary design shop showcasing a unique selection of gifts, home goods, and personal accessories. Founder Urte Tylaite has hand-selected a roster of talented emerging and mid-career artists and designers from New York City, Japan, Scandinavia and Europe. A blend between shop and gallery, Still House has become a place to find new art and design talent.

In May 2011 Still House opened its doors to its shop located in the East Village. Brooklyn based design firm Silva/Bradshaw worked in collaboration with Tylaite to create the interior of the shop. Wooden shelving and custom shadow box tables contribute to the shop's overall theme. November 2012 marks the launch of Still House's global reach through their website. With the launch of the website are several pieces made exclusively for Still House.

What we think about this website

The online store is easy to use. Select a category – Interior or Jewelry, or browse by Designer – Bower, Fort Standard, Hasami Porcelain, Melissa Joy Manning, Sugahara.... -. Sort by color, material, price, best selling, alphabetical or date. The items show just one picture, and limited information.

All orders arrive gift-wrapped. All international orders are sent via USPS priority mail. You may be charged a customs duty depending on the country you are in. Still House is not responsible for this fee.

If you’re not happy with your purchase, you have to e-mail  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request an authorization for the return. They are not responsible for return shipping costs. Items marked “Final Sale” , special orders and items made to order are not eligible for return or exchange. Read their page about Returns for more information.

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MBAACC Ver. 1.07 C-Ryougi Shiki Combos

By on January 6, 2012 at 4:10 am

doesn’t just scan Nico Nico Douga for Blazblue videos. Sometimes he manages to pick up some Melty Blood action as well. This video by Ashdiamond shows off what C-Ryougi Shiki can do. Most of the combos average 4-5k damage with very low meter usage.

Angelo M. D’Argenio A.K.A. MyLifeIsAnRPG got his start in the fighting game community as a young boy playing Street Fighter II in arcades down at the Jersey Shore. As president of Disorganization XIII, he travels the convention circuit presenting a variety of panels from discussions on gamer culture, to stick modding workshops, to fighting game comedy acts. He has a passion for looking at the fighting game community from an academic standpoint and has completed several studies on effective fighting game learning and the impact fighting games have on social circles. A six year veteran of the gaming industry, he also writes for Cheat Code Central and is a lead game designer for Ember Games. On Tuesdays, you can find him getting bodied by Chris G and getting mistaken for Seth Rogen at The Break.


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Branding Your Mailchimp Form

Friends! I feel like I am one of those annoying girls who can’t stop talking about how amazing her new boyfriend is. The other day I talked about our wonderful friends over at The Palm Shop, and today I must brag on the talented Erica Clayton from Refinery Original. She is a gifted designer with a great sense of style who just GETS her clients’ vibes! Erica is able to translate all of that into a personal and unique website. Don’t believe me? Check out the Showit sites she made for Ike & Tash and Kacey Luvi to get a glimpse of what this woman is capable of! Words to live by: “Do it strongly. Do it boldly. Do it well.” But Erica isn’t here to simply inspire us today. She is here to help!

We all know a newsletter list is crucial to a growing business. It seems like all people are talking about is getting e-mails and building your e-mail list! So if you’ve been wanting to add a newsletter subscription to your website, but hate the aesthetics of the generic MailChimp form, this is for you.

“Do it strongly. Do it boldly. Do it well.” – Erica Clayton

This downloadable guide walks you step by step to customizing and branding your MailChimp form and comes with a prebuilt site canvas for Showit 5.

mailchimp form for newsletters for your Showit website

Thank you Erica for wanting to improve all the members of our community! By providing helpful and beautiful resources like this, we are all grateful for your skills.

Now go forth and make your professional websites fun and functional.

About the Author

jihae watson

Hi! I'm Jihae Watson! I was born in Seoul, grew up in Toronto, Ontario and now live in Gilbert, Arizona. I love all three cities so very much as I have plenty of family, and favorite restaurants in all three locations.

I am married to a stud named Chris, and we have three fantastic kids. Together we love being a foster family, and we presently have the sweetest little foster babe.

Italic, bold, and word links…oh my! Friends, the wait is over. The Showit text editor update is here and it’s fabulous! Not only can you drag and drop that text box wherever the web winds take you, but now you have even more control of what happens within that text box. With the new update, […]

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Your Website Just Got Easier to Read

It’s a new month, folks! Which mean it’s time for a brand new edition of Webspiration Wednesday! What?!! You have never heard of Webspiration Wednesday? Oh friend, where have you been living? The shame you must be feeling…just kidding. It’s the first edition. But who’s counting! Let’s kick this off with some cute puppies! All hail […]

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Webspiration Wednesday – Inaugural Edition

The sites we see coming out daily are as different as all of you. The color combinations. The images. And the tiny little gold nuggets that allow potential clients to see that you are the perfect fit for them. If you haven’t found the right online home to match your sophisticated and meticulous personality, look no […]

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Valras, A Soft Floral Design By the Palm Shop

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Friday, 10 April 2009

Whixall Moss - Mipits galore

Good Friday morning in Shropshire didn't turn up any major surprises. Warblers are now drifting in and two male Blackcaps were in the hedge near the car park at Venus Pool.

Whixall Moss was alive with Willow Warblers, none of which were posing but with Meadow Pipits busy performing display flights, a golden opportunity to capture them parachuting down or in mid-hover......

More Blackcaps at Colemere and then a drive to Nedge Hill was interrupted by news of something rather special at VP.......!!!

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Thursday, August 30, 2012

hip hop and ippity. case you have not heard, unity came out with some new ippity stamps yesterday.  see here:
be sure to check the unity blog today for some uh-mazing sales. :)

 last but not least, today is my oldest child's birthday!  she is 15!! happy birthday to my little peanut, megan erickson!! :)

omg.  i could cry. time really does fly.
Next Blog

Julie Odil said...

I loved your project, but geared up at all the pics you put together of your daughter. Your love for her shines through. Wish her happy birthday from me.

Angie Blom said...

OMGosh.. she is a cutie.. I see she invented the duck face long before the craze.. loving your pages and the photo's.. I see a naked bum.. hehe Happy Birthday to your daughter xx.


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text: tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70518912015-09-17T02:37:53.290-04:00Silent Softwaresoftware development, .Net, speech recognition, and stuffIanRaenoreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-29961150147293165582008-06-12T13:38:00.003-04:002008-06-12T13:49:47.556-04:00Converting a Class Library Project to a Test ProjectHere's a VisualStudio 2008 tip. Have you ever created a C# project of type "Class Library", and then later you want to change it to a Test Project? Here's how:1. Edit the .csproj file in Notepad and insert the following line:{3AC096D0-A1C2-E12C-1390-A8335801FDAB};{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}Just before the first tag in the file2. Right-click the solution in Solution Explorer and Add IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-11305008619229063922007-12-03T17:39:00.000-05:002007-12-03T17:40:37.846-05:00Learning JavaMost developers live in one camp or the other. Few people who work inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Win32, .Net, ASP.Net) spend much time in Java, and vice versa. That's what makes religious wars about languages IDEs so lame; most programmers have never seriously worked with both.That's why it's refreshing to see Erik Sink trying out Java. I spent last winter going from C# to Eclipse and can echo IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-42106366424157046182007-08-09T20:50:00.000-04:002007-08-09T21:04:48.152-04:00Chief Programmer TeamsI found an ancient programming book: Top-Down Structured Programming Techniques by Clement L. McGowan and John R. Kelly (1975). It describe Harlan Mill's project at IBM where he pioneered CPT. Guess what. It worked. These reasons for success are easier to see from an agile perspective. Early 70s software development was primitive. The existing paradigm structured programming seemed IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-13463869459640029122007-06-18T08:37:00.000-04:002007-06-18T08:47:48.809-04:00On Code-Generation ToolsThe 90th Percentile had an article bashing code generation as a programming technique. He is suspicous that visual programming is no better (and in many ways worse) than textual programming. The generated code is often unreadable, and in the case of proprietary tools, you'll be forever dependent on the tool vendor for bug fixes and updates.The IVR industry is especially wed to visual tools, IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-20813330074267622962007-06-12T12:20:00.000-04:002007-06-12T12:31:23.653-04:00Mondrian at GooglePython's inventor Guido van Rossum is at Google. His first project was a tool for code reviews called Mondrian. Described here and in a video.This is a revealing glimpse of a 21st-century software development organization.Heavy use of tools to automate the organization's own development process.Social not silos. Developers can view other developer's Mondrian dashboard. The tool is an enabler,IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-52479505914245579112007-06-06T07:48:00.000-04:002007-06-06T08:15:37.307-04:00Replacing the OSMarc Andreesen once said that "the combination of Java and a Netscape browser would relegate the operating system to its original role as an unimportant collection of slightly buggy device drivers." Pretty funny, considering Microsoft has fifty billion in cash and Java is nowhere to be seen on the desktop.Yet the idea remains tantalizing. Change the phrase to "JavaScript and a web browser" and IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-7528378236190433822007-06-05T11:27:00.000-04:002007-06-05T11:41:24.852-04:00Speech to Text coming to cell phonesThis video introduces Morpheus's upcoming speech to text technology. The reason this is important is audio bandwidth. The phone network is based on 64 kbps audio of 4 KHz bandwidth, which is fine for humans to understand but is missing a lot of the higher frequencies that speech recognition engines need to improve their accuracy. That's why phone-based speech rec uses discrete grammars, which IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-2020868823808926942007-05-22T11:02:00.000-04:002007-12-05T19:14:24.339-05:00Pat Helland is backPat Helland, the guy who really understands the concept of time in computing, is back. I saw him talk at a Microsoft event in Ottawa. Distributed transactions are bad. He believes that a reserve & cancel approach to business transactions was preferable.He's also the guy who calls XML the "cardboard" of computing, as in you wrap up something in cardboard, stick a label on it, and send it IanRaenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-75788241423883708242007-05-10T13:44:00.000-04:002007-05-10T13:45:10.898-04:00New Release of SpeakRight frameworkHere.IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-46344497222398423812007-04-20T17:33:00.000-04:002007-04-20T17:49:48.753-04:00YouTube videoI was in Southern Ontario last week, and saw some amazing wind energy windmills near Lake Erie near Long Point. These things are massive and dominate the skyline in a war-of-the-worlds sort of way. Thanks to Ian Bigham for the tour -- I took a short movie:videoPS. Farmers are limited to one windmill per 50 acres so although $5000 per year is nice, it's hard to host lots of windmills.IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-6187112074687278902007-04-13T15:30:00.000-04:002007-04-23T16:52:49.652-04:00Is Microsoft Dead, or just Sleeping?Paul Graham's article is intriguing. Of course Microsoft isn't dead; as Joel Spolsky likes to remind us, they have enough money (40 billion or so) in the bank to continue for years, decades even. They can buy any talent or startup they want. They can throw a hundred programmers at a problem faster than you can say absorb-and-extend. But are they dead as a threat? He makes a good IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-85809810325141577522007-04-12T15:08:00.000-04:002007-04-12T15:17:15.554-04:00DRM and the Viacom - Google SuitScott Rosenberg blogged on the Viacom - Google lawsuit. He pulls apart some fallacies in a NYT article, and calls Viacom's suit more of the same strategy -- sue the customer.A commenter made the standard comment that people don't mind paying for legal stuff if it's convenient. >Cheap is always good, but most people actually prefer legal and reasonable over illegal and free.I just had to reply (IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-53470683947458855962007-04-11T12:22:00.000-04:002007-04-11T12:24:46.169-04:00Adding Simplicity - A Great Architecture BlogArtima referred (via Martin Fowler) to Dan Pritchett's excellent blog Adding Simplicity. Dan is an eBay architect and covers the scalability and reliability issues of distributed web-based systems. The title of the blog comes from the notion that a great design is "not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away". Adding simplicity is counter-intuitive; the IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-79269399231797067512007-04-10T17:22:00.000-04:002007-04-10T17:34:16.907-04:00Dreaming In Code -- The Myth of the Magic ClosetScott Rosenberg's new book Dreaming In Code is a great read for anyone involved in software design over the last decade or two. I'm only on Chapter 4, but it's shaping up well. The book is about a failed project, Chandler, to build a "cross-platform, open-source, PIM in the spirit of Lotus Agenda". The words "in the spirit of" are the big red flag, because it revealed a massive hole in the IanRaenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-21516581966074595702007-03-06T11:20:00.000-05:002007-03-06T11:59:01.362-05:00Happy Trails -- The Joy Of LoggingLogging is one of the most important infrastructure activates that a piece of software does. Good logging saves hours of support and troubleshooting time. For instance, every error that is log should indicate a single place in the source code where the error occured. You can do this with unique error code numbers. I often just vary the error text slightly, so errorFileNotFound says "can't IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-67774001420220285182007-03-06T11:16:00.000-05:002007-03-06T11:17:29.417-05:00SpeakRight 0.0.2 is outHere It's definitely starting to take shape. Simple directed dialog apps can now be done.Next up: mixed initiative and more SROs.IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-68711980056375078002007-02-26T17:37:00.000-05:002007-02-27T00:21:23.401-05:00Announcing the SpeakRight FrameworkThere's been a big change in direction for me in the last month. I'm going open-source. Spent the last month learning Java and Eclipse...and creating an open-source VoiceXML framework called the SpeakRight Framework. It's a code-based approach to writing speech recognition apps that, I believe, results in much higher code re-use and therefore faster development time. Also, modern Java IDEs areIanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-6663501592613765372007-02-13T15:02:00.000-05:002007-02-14T08:07:14.041-05:00Grokking StringTemplateThe StringTemplate template engine is a powerful tool for generating markup text or code. It does, though, take a little getting used to. The templates may like a type of programming language, but there are some key differences. And since it's not compiled, bad syntax may just fail silently. Luckily it's quick to try things.Update: I have corrected errors in the original post. Namely $if(IanRaenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-23071603998447280012007-02-09T23:20:00.000-05:002007-02-09T23:15:41.715-05:00Learning JavaAfter years in the Microsoft I am finally learning Java and Eclipse. For anyone familiar with C#, Java is extremely close but feels its age. No properties, delegates, or events? I can live without them. Eclipse however is another story. What AN AMAZING PIECE OF SOFTWARE! Miles ahead of Visual Studio in many areas. Mainly it just works; which is a huge kudo to any piece of complicated IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-11381030629358999272007-02-03T11:05:00.000-05:002007-02-03T11:15:49.274-05:00Daily backup of a laptopThanks to Gerald Gibson Jr.'s great article I now have a free way to do daily backups of my laptop. Windows natively supports the zip format (as "compressed folders"). The article is a C# program that generates ZIP files using the Shell API.(Be sure to get the latest version from Gerald's web site)My app zips several important directories into zip files in c:\zip. Then, using a free account atIanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-59829588157249036102007-01-18T09:55:00.000-05:002007-01-18T10:48:51.550-05:00MySpace is Show BizGreat article by David F. Carr on the behind the scenes mayhem at MySpace, whose exponential growth from a few hundred thousand users to 30 million users overloaded the system. "MySpace started small, with two Web servers talking to a single database server. Originally, they were 2-processor Dell servers loaded with 4 gigabytes of memory" Again and again MySpace was re-written to add: replicatedIanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-27172885975841738112007-01-12T14:56:00.000-05:002007-01-12T15:14:55.935-05:00Why to use code generation techniquesMark Baker comments on the problems with (xml) document validation. Any DTD that is too detailed is a time-limited contract. ProductType may be "1", "2", or "3" today. But a year from now types "4" and "5" may be allowed.True, but validating, or what used to be called "laundering your input", still has to be done. Whether it's in the gatekeeper or the business object, the code has to be thereIanRaenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-21806264478366266732007-01-12T11:58:00.000-05:002007-01-12T12:04:38.891-05:00The Beauty of UnrealFurther to my recent post on example-centric programming, Tony responded withI entirely agree with the audience targeting critique you make. I was thinking about the historical roots of programming, the social aspects, and how they must be considered, not just for fuzzy artsy reasons but for because they are part of the sociology of skills and attitudes that mold the field (we are the medium of IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-72078318967785323132007-01-10T14:49:00.000-05:002007-01-10T15:01:34.057-05:00Example-centric programmingThis Jonathan Edwards guy is brillant. His demo of Subtext is the most creative thing in programming in years. But he's basically trying to replace 50 years of programming culture: programs as text. Doomed to fail, like Charles Simonyi's Intentional programming, but may throw up interesting mashups.End-user progamming is a dubious thing. It comes and goes as the Next Big Thing. The problem isIanRaenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7051891.post-12382987268547120432006-10-31T14:34:00.000-05:002006-10-31T14:48:22.528-05:00When more is lessIn retooling our QA lab we've dropped the number of machines by half...and become more productive! Our work involves constantly re-installing windows service packes, hardware drivers, and assorted telephony software. Turns out that looking after of lots of machines was wasting time. We didn't used to have an organized way of managing the machines; we didn't know what was already on them, IanRaenoreply@blogger.com0


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Huawei acquires Israeli database security startup Hexatier for $42M

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has acquired Israeli database security and compliance solutions startup HexaTier Ltd. for a reported $42 million.

Founded in 2009 and previously known as GreenSQL, HexaTier offers database security and compliance through database reverse proxy technology to secure cloud-hosted databases and DBaaS platforms. HexaTier is installed as a front-end to a database and works as a reverse proxy. It hides and secures database content, with the software reviewing and inspecting both database queries and database responses allowing enterprise users to secure, accelerate, audit and mask sensitive information stored on their databases

News of acquisition talks was first reported Dec. 20 by Reuters, which claimed Huawei wanted to use HexaTier as a base to setup up a research and development center in Israel for databases in the cloud. Israeli news site Calcalist confirmed the deal had taken place Dec. 27.

Huawei’s acquisition of HexaTier follows its purchase in early December of another Israeli company, switch and router manufacturer Toga Networks Ltd. in a deal believed to be valued as high as $150 million. In addition to making switchers and routers, Toga also offers cloud storage systems and applications for data centers.

That deal was said to be part of Huawei’s push to expand its telecom equipment vendor business in a market where it is already the world’s largest supplier. But it’s not clear where HexaTier will fall into that strategy unless Huawei is now pushing into cloud services as well.

Coming into the acquisition, HexaTier had raised $14.4 million over three rounds from investors including Jerusalem Venture Partners, Texas Atlantic Capital, Magma Venture Partners and Rhodium. HexaTier employs 40 people that are split between offices in Tel Aviv, Boston and California.

Image credit: opengridscheduler/Flickr/CC by 2.0


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Highland Parish Homes

Welcome to SimonHouses.com, your premier source for real estate and homes for sale in Highland Parish in South Central 2 Virginia Beach. Search for homes in Highland Parish and the larger city of Virginia Beach or contact one of our real estate agents.

We specialize in new construction and military relocation in South Central 2 Virginia Beach. We also have an aggressive marketing campaign that can get your home sold quickly. Contact us today about homes in Highland Parish.

Virginia Beach Real Estate

Although well known as a popular tourist location, Virginia Beach is a wonderful place to live. The city is largely urban and suburban, with a considerable amount of waterfront property. Housing options range from townhomes, condos, and single-family homes to farms, multi-family homes and waterfront estates.

Search Homes in South Central 2 Virginia Beach:

3 Neighborhood results

Virginia Beach, VA 23456

$467,750 MLS# 1641948

Virginia Beach, VA 23456

$344,000 MLS# 1652837

Virginia Beach, VA 23456

$391,400 MLS# 10110524

Community Profile

Close to Military Facility(ies), Moderate Residential Turnover, Coastal Area

Median Commute Time: 21.17 mins Median Years in Residence: 2.98 yrs
Annual Residential Turnover: 21.47% Median Home Sales Price: $224,779
Total Crime Risk: 74.00/100 Air Pollution Index: 91.00/100

Population Demographics

Total Population: 60,531 Households: 22,972
Male Population: 29,404 Family Households: 15,677
Female Population: 31,127 Households with Children: 8,619
Population Density: 2,431/sq mi Median Age: 33.27 yrs

Climate & Weather

Average annual rainfall and snowfall: 45 inches.

Employment & Finance

Median Household Income: $62,306
Average Household Income: $88,150

Last Data Update: 3/26/2017 2:01:00 PM

Neighborhood ID: 614

©Copyright 2013 REIN, Inc. Information Deemed Reliable But Not Guaranteed. The listings data displayed on this medium comes in part from the Real Estate Information Network, Inc. (REIN) and has been authorized by participating listing Broker Members of REIN for display. REIN's listings are based upon data submitted by its Broker Members, and REIN therefore makes no representation or warranty regarding the accuracy of the data. All users of REIN's listings database should confirm the accuracy of the listing information directly with the listing agent. REIN's listings data and information is protected under federal copyright laws. Federal law prohibits, among other acts, the unauthorized copying or alteration of, or preparation of derivative works from, all or any part of copyrighted materials, including certain compilations of data and information. COPYRIGHT VIOLATORS MAY BE SUBJECT TO SEVERE FINES AND PENALTIES UNDER FEDERAL LAW. REIN updates its listings on a daily basis. Data last updated: 3/26/2017 2:01:00 PM. This application does not include information on all of the properties available for sale at this time. Some of these listings contain enhanced listing information including maps by Google.


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Our Solutions Network

SIR’s “Solutions Network” boasts 13 facilities stocked with the largest backline inventory of its kind, ranging from the latest and most popular items to sought-after vintage instruments. Many of our offices also provide quality production stages and rehearsal studios.

Our network is tied together by hundreds of committed professionals with years of experience working toward a common goal – to satisfy our customers. It is our strength to offer customization, flexibility and service on every job, making SIR the only source you’ll need.

Our Mission Statement

Satisfy every customer with a professional, reliable, and responsive SIR experience - every time.

Each SIR professional is part of our Solutions Network and team with a commitment and responsibility to exceed customer expectations.

Provide production solutions by offering the largest selection of musical and audio equipment, world-class rehearsal studios, and experienced personnel to the music, entertainment, and special events industries, nationwide.


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Monthly Visitors 13K
Global Rank 750966
Estimated Price $2,376

Domain age of Nbs-test.com is 7 years. Traffic is around 11K visitors during previous month, which corresponds to 750966 place in the global site ranking. During this month, traffic to site has increased by 19% compared to previous month, and equals to 13K visitors. Estimated potential revenue of this site may be up to $66 per month. We did not find any sites that have the same ID at Analytics and/or Adsence. According to our information, it is safe to visit Nbs-test.com.

Monthly Visitors

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Mar'17 (est) 13K
Feb'17 (est) 11K
Jan'17 (est) 16K
Dec'16 0
Nov'16 (est) 11K
Oct'16 (est) 21K
Sep'16 (est) 42K
Aug'16 (est) 18K
Jul'16 (est) 26K
Jun'16 (est) 13K
May'16 (est) 15K
Apr'16 (est) 16K
Mar'16 (est) 13K
Feb'16 (est) 28K
Jan'16 (est) 26K
Dec'15 (est) 49K

SiteGur Score

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Mar'17 3170
Feb'17 -2207
Jan'17 5768
Dec'16 0
Nov'16 -8894
Oct'16 -6968
Sep'16 5035
Aug'16 -7676
Jul'16 8540
Jun'16 -418
May'16 -4010
Apr'16 3012
Mar'16 -5730
Feb'16 1438
Jan'16 -1680
Dec'15 -5470

Traffic Source

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Estimated Cost and Revenue

Nbs-test.com value: $2,376

Daily Ads revenue: $2

Monthly Ads revenue: $66

Yearily Ads revenue: $792

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Other information

Domain.com creation: 23 November 2009 expired: 23 November 2015
Archive.org information first time archived: 11 July 2013 last time archived: 11 July 2013 how many times: 1

Whois report

Domain Name: nbs-test.com
Registry Domain ID: 1576803908_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.gandi.net
Registrar URL: http://www.gandi.net
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Back Catalogue

We produced several shows in the past which have finished their run.

linuxoutlaws400Linux Outlaws was a show about anything that runs on Linux and about open source software on other platforms. But we also talked about many other things. Listening to the show was very much like listening to two friends sitting in a pub, having fun and talking about things they find interesting. We also aimed to give a fair overview over the Linux and open source news of the week, but never claimed to be comprehensive or even up to date. The podcast also occasionally covered politics and random things like hockey, ice cream delivery vans in Liverpool and random bands you probably never heard of.

Hosts: Fabian A. Scherschel, Dan Lynch

Run: 2007 – 2014 / Episode List

angelsofdeath400Angels of Death was a podcast about the hobby of wargaming, more specifically about Warhammer 40,000. The show chronicled the hosts’ journey back into the hobby after having put the game aside several years ago. It was always more about modelling and painting miniatures then the game itself. We never considered ourselves experts anyway. People who listened probably tuned in for the humour and love the hobby, not for advice on how to play. As usual with our shows, there was also a lot of banter that didn’t have anything to do with 40K at all.

Hosts: Fabian A. Scherschel, David M. Nicholas

Run: 2012 – 2015 / Episode List

Steel RainSteel Rain was a short-lived spin off from Linux Outlaws designed to provide a dedicated platform for the gaming talk we would invariably get into as part of that show. Since LO was primarily concerned with open source technology, gaming topics often didn’t fit in well and annoyed some die-hard open source fans. Episodes were released with no fixed schedule, but rather whenever we felt like it

Hosts: Fabian A. Scherschel, Dan Lynch, David M. Nicholas

Run: 2013 – 2015 / Episode List

Linux Outlaws Episodes

Angels of Death Episodes

Steel Rain Episodes


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Fort Hill Cemetery Tours

Fort Hill Cemetery ToursFort Hill Cemetery Tours
October 12, 2008
19 Fort Street
Auburn, NY 13021

Sunday, October 12th at 2PM. Tickets are $5 per person and can be purchased on site or in advance at the Willard Memorial Chapel Office at 17 Nelson Street, Auburn, NY.


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Social networking. A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks.

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Presentation on theme: "Social networking. A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks."— Presentation transcript:

1 Social networking

3 A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-centered service whereas online community services are group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks ……….online servicesocial networkssocial relationsweb-basedInternete-mailinstant messagingOnline community online community

4 The potential for computer networking to facilitate newly improved forms of computer- mediated social interaction was suggested early on. Efforts to support social networks via computer-mediated communication were made in many early online services, including Usenet, ARPANET, LISTSERV, and bulletin board services (BBS). Many prototypical features of social networking sites were also present in online services such as America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe, and The WELLcomputer networkingUsenetARPANETLISTSERVBBSAmerica OnlineProdigyCompuServeThe WELL

6 Web-based social networking services make it possible to connect people who share interests and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders. Through e-mail and instant messaging, online communities are created where a gift economy and reciprocal altruism are encouraged through cooperation. Information is particularly suited to gift economy, as information is a nonrival good and can be gifted at practically no costonline communitiesgift economyreciprocal altruismcooperationgift economynonrival good

8 Typical features The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life", social networking sites (SNSs) share a variety of technical features that allows individuals to: construct a public/semi-public profile, articulate list of other users that they share a connection with, and view their list of connections within the system. The most basic of these are visible profiles with a list of "friends" who are also users of the site. In an article entitled "Social Network Sites:

10 Additional features Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create groups that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums. Geo social networking co-opts Internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes.groupsGeo social networking There is a trend towards more interoperability between social networks led by technologies such as Open ID and Open Social. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Some companies provide wireless services that allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it; one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Face book Mobile.interoperability between social networksOpen IDOpen Social

12 Companies have begun to merge business technologies and solutions, such as cloud computing, with social networking concepts. Instead of connecting individuals based on social interest, companies are developing interactive communities that connect individuals based on shared business needs or experiences. Many provide specialized networking tools and applications that can be accessed via their websites, such as LinkedIn. Others companies, such as, have been steadily developing a more "socialized" feel to their career center sites to harness some of the power of social networking sites. These more business related sites have their own nomenclature for the most part but the most common naming conventions are "Vocational Networking Sites" or "Vocational Media Networks", with the former more closely tied to individual networking relationships based on social networking computing

14 One other use that is being discussed is the use of social networks in the science communities. Julia Porter Liebes kind et al. have published a study on how new biotechnology firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge. They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to "increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization." Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become "isolated and irrelevant".

16 Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat- room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication.

18 Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009National Equality March to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods. The August 2011 England riots were similarly considered to have escalated and been fuelled by this type of grassroots organization.National Equality March2011 England riots

20 A final rise in social network use is being driven by college students using the services to network with professionals for internship and job opportunities. Many studies have been done on the effectiveness of networking online in a college setting, and one notable one is by Phipps Arabie and Yoram Wind published in Advances in Social Network Analysis. Many schools have implemented online alumni directories which serve as makeshift social networks that current and former students can turn to for career advice. However, these alumni directories tend to suffer from an oversupply of advice-seekers and an undersupply of advice providers.

22 A social network hosting service is a web hosting service that specifically hosts the user creation of web-based social networking services, alongside related applications. Such services are also known as vertical social networks due to the creation of SNSes that cater to specific user interests and niches; like larger, interest-agnostic SNSes, such niche networking services may also possess the ability to create increasingly niche groups of network hosting service

24 Social networking sites play a vital role in this area as well. Being able to meet someone as a "friend" and see what common interests you share and how you have built up your friend base and "likes" you can truly see a fuller picture of the person you are talking with. Most sites are free instead of being pay based which allows younger people with stricter budgets to enjoy some of the same features as those of adults who are more likely to be able to afford pay based sites.

26 Next door is a new private social networking site aimed at neighborhoods to help strength and enhance social ties. This SNS will help to bring together communities since neighbors drifted away because of the digital era.

28 Privacy concerns with social networking services Privacy concerns with social networking services have been raised growing concerns amongst users on the dangers of giving out too much personal information and the threat of sexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of data theft or viruses. However, large services, such as MySpace and Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidentssexual predatorsdata theftvirusesMySpaceNetlog

30 Facebook has been especially important to marketing strategists. Face book's controversial and new Social Ads program gives companies access to the millions of profiles in order to tailor their ads to a Facebook users own interests and hobbies. However, rather than sell actual user information, Facebook sells tracked social actions. That is, they track the websites a user uses outside of Facebook through a program called Facebook Beacon.Facebook Beacon

32 There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only 'positive' notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and My space will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a person's friends list. Likewise, Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another user's friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list.

34 Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information. Parents who want to access their child's MySpace or Facebook account have become a big problem for teenagers who do not want their profile seen by their parents. By making their profile private, teens can select who may see their page, allowing only people added as "friends" to view their profile and preventing unwanted viewing of the profile by parents. Most teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parents. [ [

36 Citizens and governments have been concerned with misuse by child and teenagers of social networking services, in particular in relation to online sexual predators. A certain number of actions have been engaged by governments to better understand the problem and find some solutions. A 2008 panel concluded that technological fixes such as age verification and scans are relatively ineffective means of apprehending online predatorstechnological fixes

38 Online bullying, also called cyber-bullying, is a relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users admit to being cyber- bullied. Danah Boyd, a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress. [cyber-bullyingDanah Boyd [

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Definition of Learning: In defining learning we could refer simply to overt behavior. For ex., if I see you riding a bicycle I can assume that you’ve learned.

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Presentation on theme: "Definition of Learning: In defining learning we could refer simply to overt behavior. For ex., if I see you riding a bicycle I can assume that you’ve learned."— Presentation transcript:

1 Definition of Learning: In defining learning we could refer simply to overt behavior. For ex., if I see you riding a bicycle I can assume that you’ve learned that skill. PSYCHOLOGY 2250 LEARNING

2 A good definition of learning should have both components: Overt behavior and internal state of knowledge Definition of Learning: In defining learning we could also refer to an internal state of knowledge. For ex., you all know the 10 provinces (but I can’t tell that just by looking at you). So, behavior, or performance, is important.

3 Learning as knowledge acquisition Animals learn about stimuli in their environment Such stimuli serve as signals for some important outcome for ex., a particular odor could indicate that there is food or a predator nearby. Animals also learn about their own behavior A certain action will produce a particular outcome for ex., running to escape from a predator Usually both types of knowledge occur together. For ex., an animal detects a certain odor that tells it a predator is nearby and this odor evokes an escape response, namely running, to avoid being attacked by the predator.

4 Learning: is an inferred change in the organisms’ mental state which results from experience and which influences in a relatively permanent fashion the organisms’ potential for subsequent adaptive behavior. Why is learning defined this way?

5 1.Learning is inferred from performance. If there is no behavior to observe then we can’t say for sure whether or not learning has occurred. 2. Learning involves a change in the mental state of an organism We can’t see the neurological structures that underlie this mental state but, in theory, they must exist. Acquired knowledge must somehow be coded or represented in the brain. 3. Learning stems from experience This distinguishes learning from instinct, which refers to behaviors present at birth (i.e., imprinting in certain species of birds) Key components to definition of Learning

6 4. Learning is relatively permanent Learning persists through time. This part of the definition guards against mistaking a temporary change in behavior, due to fatigue for example, for real learning. 5. Learning is a change in the potential to behave. An animal could acquire knowledge and yet not perform in such a way as to demonstrate that knowledge. The organism could have the potential to behave even though the behavior is not occurring.

7 Other points: Learning is assessed as a change in behavior — this could mean an increase or decrease in behavior For ex., In presence of light — barpress for food In presence of tone — barpress for shock What other things could influence behavior or performance (other than learning)? Fatigue — temporary change so not learning Motivation — maze example; learning occurs but rat not motivated to perform Maturation — could also affect performance but wouldn’t call it learning (i.e., kid reaching cookie jar on top of counter)

8 Domjan’s definition of Learning: Learning is an enduring change in the mechanisms of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that results from prior experience with those or similar stimuli and responses (p. 14) Emphasize distinction between learning and performance fatigue maturation motivation

9 Much of behavior occurs in response to stimuli, that is, it is elicited, as opposed to spontaneously produced. The simplest form of elicited behavior is reflexive behavior. -knee-jerk reflex -a loud noise causes a startle response -puff of air at the cornea makes the eye blink These are all reflexes. Habituation and Sensitization

10 A reflex involves 2 closely related events: -eliciting stimulus -corresponding response The response and stimulus are linked -presentation of the stimulus leads to the response and the response rarely occurs in the absence of the stimulus (i.e., you don’t go around kicking your leg out unless someone taps you on the knee).

11 The specificity of the relation between stimulus and response is a consequence of the organization of the nervous system. Simple reflexes involve three neurons: (1). Sensory— afferent— to spinal cord (2). Motor— efferent— to muscles (3). Interneuron — sensory and motor neurons often don’t communicate directly. This is known as the reflex arc (see Fig. 2.1)

13 Other forms of elicited behavior Two of the simplest and most common forms of behavioral change are: (1). Habituation—defined as a progressive decrease in the vigor of an elicited response that may occur with repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus. (2). Sensitization— defined as an increase in the vigor of elicited behavior that may result from repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus.

14 Habituation and Sensitization occur in a wide variety of response systems and are therefore fundamental properties of behavior. Because elicited behavior involves a very close relationship between the eliciting stimulus and the resulting response, people often think that the behavior is invariant, or fixed. The common assumption is that elicited behavior will occur the same way every time the stimulus is presented--not true! Behavior is plastic — it changes— it does not occur the same way every time.

15 Procedures used to study Habituation and Sensitization (examples of repeated stimulation): 1. Visual attention in human infants In babies, visual cues elicit a looking response which can be measured by how long an infant keeps her eye on one object before shifting her gaze. A study by Bashinski, Werner & Rudy (1985)-described on p. 37 of Domjan. 2. Startle response in rats A study by Davis (1974)-described on p.38 of Domjan The startle response is a defensive response in many species (i.e., present loud noise, you jump).

16 In rats, we can measure startle in a stabilimeter chamber Rat jumps, chamber bounces and sensors detect the amount of movement

17 Davis investigated startle in rats by presenting a loud tone. 2 groups of rats -each received 100 tones at 30 sec intervals (110-dB) -noise generator that provided background noise Group 1Group 2 soft background noise loud background noise (60-dB)(80-dB; not as intense as the tone)

18 Repeated presentations of the tone did not always elicit the same response With soft background noise, repetitions of the tone resulted in weaker startle response (i.e., habituation) In contrast, when the background noise was louder, repetitions of the tone resulted in a bigger startle response (i.e., sensitization) With the same tone, see 2 different patterns depending on other circumstances. Results:

20 These 2 studies show that increases or decreases in responding can occur with repeated presentations of stimuli Decreases in responsiveness by repeated stimulation = Habituation Increases in responsiveness by repeated stimulation = Sensitization Lots of everyday example: grandfather clocks, trains

21 Must distinguish habituation from: response fatigue sensory adaptation muscles become incapacitatedsense organs become by fatiguetemporarily insensitive (i.e.,won’t respond to visual cues if you’re temporarily blinded by a bright light) Habituation is a decline in the response that was initially elicited by a stimulus However, habituation is not the only effect that can produce a decrease in response

22 Habituation is stimulus-specific -if you present a different stimulus, the animal will make the response -shows that they are not fatigued if they can still make the response -rules out response fatigue Habituation is response-specific -an animal may stop responding to a stimulus in one aspect of its behavior but continue to respond in other ways -e.g., orienting response to mother’s voice may habituate but still listen to what she is saying -rules out sensory adaptation

24 Habituation and Sensitization effects are changes in behavior or performance But what factors are responsible for such changes? The Dual-Process Theory (Groves & Thompson, 1970) was an attempt to get at this issue The DPT assumes that different types of underlying neural processes are responsible for increases and decreases in response to stimuli. Dual-Process Theory

25 The habituation process produces decreases in responding The sensitization process produces increases in responding These 2 processes are not mutually exclusive— they may be activated at the same time. The behavioral outcome depends on which process is stronger.

27 Net effect = summation of habituation and sensitization processes (not to be confused with habituation and sensitization effects) process = underlying neural process/mechanism effect = behavior (what you actually observe) if you observe habituation, might still have sensitization process activated, but its not very strong

28 Groves & Thompson suggested that habituation and sensitization processes occur in different parts of the nervous system. Habituation processes are assumed to occur in the S-R system -the shortest neural path connecting the stimulus and the response (sense organs and muscles) -similar to the reflex arc Each presentation of the stimulus activates the S-R system and causes some build up of habituation

29 Sensitization processes are assumed to occur in the state system -this system consists of other parts of the nervous system that determine the organism’s general level of responsiveness or readiness to respond -only arousing events activate state system; not necessarily activated with every stimulus presentation.

30 The state system determines the animal’s readiness to respond, whereas the S-R system enables the animal to make the specific response that is elicited by the particular stimulus Changes in behavior that occur with repeated presentations of a stimulus reflect the combined actions of the S-R and state systems

32 Back to Startle Response in rats: When the rats were tested with the quiet background noise, there was little to arouse them – the state system was probably not activated - repeated presentations of the tone activated only the S-R system and the result was habituation of the startle response When the rats were tested with the loud background noise, the state system was activated and the result was an increase in the startle response to the same tone.

33 The State and S-R systems are activated differently by repeated presentations of a stimulus The S-R system is activated every time a stimulus elicits a response -it is the neural circuit that conducts impulses from sensory input to response output The state system only becomes involved in special circumstances -e.g., when stimulus is intense

34 Characteristics of Habituation and Sensitization Time course Sensitization is usually temporary -sensitization can last for up to a week but not generally a long- term effect. -with a stronger stimulus, the effects last longer. Habituation can be short-term or long-term, depending on presentation and interval between stimuli.

35 Short-term habituation: -rapid presentations of a stimulus with a short interval between presentations -results in habituation quickly but see spontaneous recovery -the degree of spontaneous recovery depends on length of rest interval. Long-term habituation: -one stimulus presentation a day -see more long-term effects -see less spontaneous recovery

36 Tones Blocks of 30 TonesTones Tones Once a Day Tones Every 3 seconds on 1 day Tones Once a Day Leaton, 1976; see page 46 of Domjan

37 Stimulus specificity Habituation is stimulus-specific -if you change the stimulus, see recovery of the response Sensitization is not highly stimulus-specific -if an animal is aroused, it is usually aroused to a variety of cues

38 Effects of strong extraneous stimuli If you change the nature of the eliciting stimulus you see recovery of the habituated response. Can also see recovery of the response if the animal is given a rest period = spontaneous recovery. The response can also be restored by presenting a strong stimulus— this is called dishabituation. Dishabituation refers to recovery of the response to the habituated stimulus following presentation of a different, novel stimulus.

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Tuesday, February 28

Seriously I need to bring more food to work. I ate breakfast, then some leftover biscuits at 9am, then lunch after my ride followed by fruit snacks and finally a few Hershey kisses. I've been drinking water all day too and I'm starving. I don't know what I'm having for dinner but I hope there is a lot of it.

Trying to get my mind off food, Marni and I are going riding after work. Just an easy road bike but it will be fun to ride together. She's been riding on the trainer a lot this winter so it should help her fitness. I've been riding 90% solo this winter and having a coworker to ride with at lunch this week and Marni tonight is a nice change. At least it makes it easier to keep racking up the miles for one more month before races start. There is a circuit race on April 2nd, Koppenburg, and I'm thinking of trying to talk some friends into it. We'll see if I get any takers. Still no Cherry Creek time trial entry list so it better be up tomorrow. I'm going to be disappointed if I didn't get in. At least if I get in I'll be motivated to get some tires on it and fix the broken stem bolt.

Sunday, February 26

More base?

Why do more base training? Beats me. It's getting warm out and I'm starting to itch to go fast. Today was the conclusion of my rest week for this cycle and I've got 3 pretty big weeks to complete before another rest. I'm going to do this as one more base miles cycle. I think this will be good for a few reasons:

*More endurance to prepare my body for the hard efforts and recoveries to come
*More road miles that are easier on my body than on the mountain bike
*Too soon to start speedwork since my biggest goal race isn't until August
*Not quite light enough yet to ride mountain bikes after work until the time change

I will be slow at the start of Cherry Creek time trials (assuming I hear good news this week) but I can build my speed throughout the series and be ready for Winter Park in June. I suppose I might give up a better overall placing as a result but I'd rather have a good result at Winter Park and move up to expert for next season.

The bikes are clean and the Fuel is tucked back into the basement. I'll attend to my unhappy front hub in the next couple nights while I ride the road bike instead. Assuming I hear good news on Wednesday I'll also put together the time trial bike and start riding that twice a week to get use to the position again.

Three more weeks of base miles are going to mean I'm tired and hungry every night and I'll take it if it means I'm hungry to race in June. Let's just cross our fingers that these 60 degree temperatures stick around!

Friday, February 24

Clearly the insanity must continue

I've only been on a bike twice now since the journey around White Rim and not even a week has past since embarking on that adventure. However due to the wonderful way in which the human mind works I'm already plotting more crazy rides. That's right! I've almost completely forgot about the pain and suffering of the ride and can only remember the fun and beauty. This, my wife says, is why women can have a second child.

But what's that you say? Crazy person? You have Leadville, a race that kicked your butt so hard last year you almost cried, in August?

True. Leadville is coming. But this year I'm out for revenge. I'm out to finish and then some. By the time I get to Leadville I want to know I can finish. My friends worry about me burning out and perhaps with very good reason. This season will be a bit extended due to my early start. But I've already take one month "off" at very reduced volume and I am going to keep my summer months relatively free of long races except for the Firecracker 50. To me these long rides and races are just base miles. Long miles in the saddle to prepare my butt and mind for the racing they were not prepared to do at Leadville last year.

Seeing as I've convinced myself of the writing above I'm moving forward with my planning. March will remain a time for big road bike and singlespeed miles. Come April I will return to White Rim on the 22nd and follow that up with my first solo at the 18 Hours of Fruita May 6th and the Buena Vista century May 20th. I'm hoping between these events I can figure out a nutrition strategy that doesn't leave me bonked as hell by hour 9 of a ride. That's going to be important if I'm going to survive a 24 hour solo in October and the Kokopelli trail race in 2007.

Looks like I better find a small handlebar bag, wireless bike computer, Moots Tailgator and a way to get a real bike light in the next 2 months. And figure out why my only front disk wheel sounds like there is gravel in the hub. Pictures of my goodies below. Donations of any form accepted!

Moots Tailgator

Handlebar Bag

NightRider Moab

Thursday, February 23

Journey Around White Rim

The internet is more of a collective and unifying force to me than one of anonymity and solitude. Much of the time I spend on my computer is interacting with others of similar hobbies and cycling is no exception. I have known of the White Rim trail for as long as I have been going to Moab as a freshman in college, but riding it had eluded me to this point. Then about a month ago I stumbled upon a thread in a forum I don’t often read and began my journey down this path. In good shape and with many base miles under my wheels I agreed to join several other forum members in the desert in the middle of February. We shared the mutual goal of completing the one hundred odd miles of Moab’s White Rim trail in one day and certainly many personal goals as well. For me I would be celebrating my 24th birthday by riding further than I ever had, in a place that I had never seen. Yet wonderful pictures of the ride and encouragement from those who had gone before us were all I needed to push me over the edge and pack my bags. This is the story of the only mountain bikers to tackle the White Rim trail on February 18th, 2006.
Chris (author) - Marni (Chris’s wife)
Andy (Chris’s friend) – Shaina (Andy’s girlfriend)
Tom, Trevor, Scott, Chad, and Ed (Salt Lake City contingent)

Driving into Moab in the dark is a bit surreal for return visitors and uneventful for first timers. The former knows what's out there just off the highway, calling for bikes to tackle and cameras to film, while the later has only their imagination to entertain them. Friday night our Civic labored up and down the hills of Colorado and eastern Utah along I-70 with two bikes on top and a trunk full of supplies. It carried us more happily at slower speeds down highway 191 towards the land of red dust and warmer temperatures. Warmer being a relative term of course, we were glad to leave the 7 degree temperature of Denver for the low 40s of the desert. It's off season in Moab being mid-February and our grimy headlights illuminated the cones and barrels of the road construction as we coasted into town. We turned into our hotel and checked in quickly. Three trips later and our trunkful of supplies found their way into our 2nd floor room. Marni called Shaina and Andy to check on their progress from Boulder while I filled bottles, laid out clothes and packed my camelback. By 10pm we collapsed restlessly in bed, waiting for our friends to arrive and our short sleep to begin. I heard the wheels of a car roll up around 11 o'clock and pulled the curtains back to see our friends arriving. They began to unpack while Andy and I had a quick conversation about preparations for the morning. We agreed to leave by 5am for the Island in the Sky visitor's center and tucked into our own rooms for the night.

I slept restlessly through the night as is the norm for me before big events, waking at midnight, two am and again right before my alarm went off at 4. I kissed Marni and rolled out of bed, envious of knowing she could stay right there under the covers for many more hours. I ate a quick bite of chocolate chip mini muffins, a regular pre event tradition and waited for the wake up call. I didn't want to wake my wife more than necessary while I was in the shower since I awoke before the wakeup call. A quick warm shower had me awake and getting excited to leave. I debated quickly between clothing options but with temperatures in the low 20s climbing to a high of mid 40s my choice was relatively easy. The outfit I'd been wearing almost everyday for my morning commute and training was my best choice so I donned my shorts, base layer, windproof tights and jersey. Over that I layered my fleece long sleeve jersey and windbreaker with my cycling cap, ear warmer and helmet covering my head. I decided to forgo the shoe covers as my mountain biking shoes were relatively warm and hole free and the weather wasn't cold enough to require more than my normal full finger gloves. Digging through the Rubbermaid tub to see what else was in there I found some of Marni's little mermaid stickers for her kindergarteners. Well aware from Leadville last year how a small thing like a sticker could cheer me up and motivate me late in the day, I affixed a small Flounder sticker to my stem. By the time I was dressed and ready, Andy was up and preparing as well. The heater in their room had been broken all night and their room was much colder than ours next door. I didn't give it a second thought as everything seemed to be fine however perhaps it was the first mistake of the day. Nevertheless he was ready to go and we threw the bikes on the roof rack and climbed into the Civic, coffee and breakfast in hand.

Running slightly ahead of schedule we pulled out of the hotel and up the road in the dark to the Canyonlands turn off. Still unable to see the landscape around us, we wound our way into the backcountry and arrived at the visitor's center at 5:30am. There we found our fellow 5 riders sleeping on the sidewalk, unknowingly giving them a somewhat brutal wakeup. Getting out of the warm car into the early morning air was quite chilly and I'm positive the same could be said of our companions emerging from their sleeping bags. Scheduled to leave at 6am, Andy and I unracked our bikes, installed our wheels and finished loading up our packs. We chatted with our fellow riders as they ate, loaded up their cars and prepared for the ride. The moon was still more than half full and even though the sun had not yet risen, the landscape gradually became apparent. Trees, desert brush, rocks, cliffs and finally the La Sal mountains began to appear in the growing light. Still expecting to ride off in the dark predawn I was pleased with the amount of light that we did have as we did not bring any lights with us. As everyone prepared, six in the morning quickly became 6:30 and then quarter to seven. I was cold standing around and most of us were ready to go. We all remarked how cold our hands and feet where as we spun around the parking lot watching the sun rise quickly. We were waiting for two more riders to arrive but apparently they had decided to bail on the journey. It wasn't until just after seven that we found out and finally got underway following a nice prayer by our 5 Mormon friends.

The White Rim trail is somewhere just over 100 miles long with various places to start and 2 differing directions to travel. Our group had decided to travel counterclockwise, beginning from the visitor's center with a nine mile section on paved road followed by a 13 mile section on a two wheel drive dirt road. Although the sun was now rising on our group, all of us were still fairly cold, especially our hands and feet. Luckily the rolling hills got the blood flowing well and everyone began to warm up gradually, or so I assumed. We leapfrogged each other in small groups along the road as we stopped to adjust our packs, make minor clothing changes or get more food out of our packs. Andy and I stopped with another rider to give him some warmer gloves, hoping to get his hands warming up like the rest of us. I felt strong and we were keeping a very comfortable pace as we hit Mineral Bottom Road.

The road was similar to the paved section in that it had small rolling hills up and down, perfect for keeping descending speeds down and temperatures rising climbing up each hill. Andy and I rode 4 abreast with Ed and Chad for a while, with 3 of us chatting away and the other 3 riders just 15 or 20 seconds behind us in their own small group. I kept talking to Andy but wasn't getting much of a response and he continued to comment that he was cold. An hour in we ate some energy bars while riding and Ed and Chad pulled ahead up the road. I remember commenting on the difference in pedal bob between Ed's Epic and Chad's Santa Cruz. Just after this point, the day took a disturbing turn for the first time. Andy kept getting colder and colder and was starting to shiver. He didn't think he could continue on and we stopped in the middle of the road. The 3 riders following us, Trevor, Tom and Scott quickly came upon us and stopped as well. At this point Andy was sitting in the road, starting to shiver pretty hard and looking pale. We knew we needed to get him warmed up but there weren't many options already being in the middle of nowhere. More clothing, food and exercise were not helping and he was just getting worse. Our only options left were to build a fire or send someone back for help. I was about ready to head off for the car, easily 2 hours round trip, but Trevor asked me to give him 10 minutes. He started building a fire in the sand off the side of the road and the 3 of us gathered fuel. Within minutes we had a pretty large fire going and we parked Andy in front of it. For the next hour and 15 minutes we kept the fire going and gave Andy more food and water. Ed and Chad backtracked along the road and met back up with us. Andy finally began to feel better and signaled that he was ready to ride again. I gave him my fleece to layer under his jacket and another rider gave up their lobster gloves. Once we were certain the fire was out we gathered our stuff from the middle of the road and continued on.

I was worried that Andy wasn't fully recovered and the next few miles to the top of the Mineral Bottom Switchbacks we all watched him carefully. At the top of the switchbacks we all were in awe of the amazing view and pulled out our cameras. Luckily Andy was still feeling good. Once we began our drop down to the river level we were going to be pretty committed to this ride with no way to call for help. Cell phones were about as useless as scissors to a dog out here. Piloting our bikes on the descent to the Green River the mood was light. A lot of ground had already been covered and a major disaster had been averted. Another near disaster came in the form of a strange buzzing sound coming from my front wheel. I stopped on one of the switchbacks to find my quick release skewer completely loose, wheel flopping in the dropouts. Remarking that I was glad it didn't free itself from my bike, I tightened it quite tight.

From the bottom of the climb the snacks made another appearance. Nuts, fruit snacks and of course Clif bars were passed around with everyone well aware that they needed to keep eating. The sun was higher in the sky and there were hardly any clouds. Temperatures were extremely comfortable even though I had dropped 2 upper layers. We began to tick off miles along the river at a pretty good clip and passed Taylor canyon. We were all still talking, taking pictures and riding easily. Knowing we were near Hardscrabble made me feel good and the climb summit came easily. Here the pace of the group started to vary. We rolled down through Potato Bottom, still together and regrouped all 7 of us for what would be the last time. Andy and I rode up front with Trevor, still at a talking pace but with much less stopping for pictures. Ground passed under our wheels and the wind picked up slightly, Trevor eventually falling off our pace. Figuring the pace wasn't too quick, Andy and I decided to just continue on and then stop for lunch and wait up for the group. The rubber band of the group began to stretch here, unbeknownst to us. We rode in and out along the canyons climbing steadily. We came to a summit thinking we were at Murphy's, very badly mistaken, and decided we should have our lunch. It was 12:30 and my half Subway sandwich from last night tasted great. I followed it up with a little Debbie brownie that I'd been saving all week. Sitting there talking and eating we kept looking for the group but 30 minutes and still nothing. I began to wonder if they stopped for lunch at a similar time and had a long wait ahead of us. The wind was still blowing and I was getting cold sitting on the rocks despite the sunshine.

Just after 1pm we decided we had better continue on and keep looking behind for the group as we wound our way in and out of the valley. After riding for a little while we passed the Wilhite signs but I didn't bother pulling out the map, falsely assuming we were already passed Murphy's and well on our way to finishing. Cranking out mile after mile I began to wonder where we were. One of the things I had neglected to bring was a bike computer. I'd never used one on my mountain bike and never had a need until now. I began to suspect that we hadn't ridden as far as I thought. My fears were confirmed when we past Candlestick campground and I checked the map. 10 miles to the hogback! Our pace started to increase although we were walking up the steep loose hill sections and few areas of deep sand. Frankly I wasn't complaining about the walking and we both remarked how much longer this trail would take with more sandy sections. Only a few required walking while most just required smooth and straight pedaling to avoid upsetting the bike. Riding under the huge overhang just before the real summit of Murphy's Hogback we contemplated just what would happen if it fell. Stranded bikeless, assuming we could run out from under it, we would have a long trek back to civilization. Not a good thought but it highlighted the negativity and doubt that can begin to creep in on these long days in the saddle.

The sunshine was beginning to wane since it was 2:30pm. I ate some food as I missed my last scheduled bar. Reviewing the map we figured there were around 45 miles to go, including the brutal climb up Shafer at the end. That gave us less than 4 hours until dark. We looked anxiously back for our friends but didn't see them even though they may have been just behind us. Deciding that it didn't do any good for all of us to be out here if something had happened we picked up the pace. We blazed to White Crack in less than 30 minutes. I began to eat gels at a lot faster pace. Every 30 -40 minutes I would start to bonk and the chocolate and caffeine in the PowerGels were the only thing that would turn me right around. The next identifiable marker became our repeated target. Gooseberry clicked by in just another 30 minutes.

Still feeling low on energy I ate bars and gels at every stop. We hammered out the trail, Andy in his big ring, me in the middle ring. Our styles were different, no doubt in part to our bike choice. I descended fast and with less effort on my Fuel and was able to stay seated and pedaling through the bumpy slickrock. Andy felt stronger on his hardtail Klein however and set the pace with me yo-yoing on and off his wheel. It was here I first started to look at this sticker on my stem, smiling back at Flounder's inspirational smile. I hung onto his wheel and quick pace for miles. Winding in and out of the huge shadows we both knew we were unprepared for significant darkness and cold. Stops were short, only long enough for me to keep eating and throw Andy a bottle since his water was now gone. The La Sal's in the distance and the huge canyon walls, rockslides and even some bighorn sheep were our companions.

By the time we got to Airport feelings were mixed. I was happy that only 11 miles stood between us and Shafer, a climb I knew we could make it up in the dark if necessary. However Andy's lower back was really starting to take a beating and we were both worried about the other 5 riders. What did we do if we couldn't see them from Shafer? Who did we call? We talked it over along our last preclimb stretch. My map, now faded and wrinkled made Musselman Arch and the Gooseneck overlook seem not too far away. Over every hill we expected to see them but they didn't show. Finally the signs appeared. First Musselman and then Gooseneck. We knew Shafer was close. Physical energy waned but mental energy improved as we turned a corner on the end of this ride. The trail led us to a descent that ran right into a canyon wall. This had to be it. I knew before we even saw the signs that we had 5 miles up the switchbacks and a short road ride back to the car.

The climb up Shafer is pretty intimidating, especially over 90 miles into a ride. The canyon walls are sheer and seem to stretch up forever. It wasn't quite dark when we started up but the light was fading fast. First we rode, spinning away in our granny gears. Next we walked for a bit, the loose turns taking too much energy to stay on the bike. As the switchbacks reached a false peak, we looked out over the valley. No riders, no movement and no lights. This was our last chance to see the other riders and we couldn't. Prepared or not we felt we had to let someone know they were out there when we finished. At this point darkness settled over the valley and the climb. The snow and ice on the road glistened enough to make out that it was there but mostly we climbed in the dark. For those who haven't ridden Shafer, after the switchback the trail traverses a long way around the cliff walls before coming up to the road. This section seemed like an eternity but I climbed strong and out of the saddle trying to keep contact with Andy. Well past bonked now I was fueled by the thought of being almost finished. In the total darkness we maintained voice contact with some Marco Polo and stayed near the center of the trail. Riding off the edge of a two thousand foot cliff was not how I wanted to end my ride. More eternity past along with more sand and more gentle but finally I rolled up on Andy’s back wheel and he proclaimed that we were there.

For a second I doubted him but as my tires rolled onto the blacktop for the final short stretch I was relieved. I rolled down the hill singing away to no one, a song that could only be described as utter nonsense. All I remember is it had to do with riding towards the 2 faint lights of the empty visitor’s center as if I were an insect. We rolled up to the visitor’s center and got off our bikes for the final time that day. Gingerly and happily we moved now to undo our wheels and remount our bikes on the car. It was only a few minutes after 7pm but it had been twelve hours since we left cold and excited. A lot had happened in those 12 hours. Certainly more than I have captured here or can even remember now. At that moment the fatigue and beauty of the ride was still fresh in my mind as I devoured all the junk food in the car. That moment remains uncapturable in my memory and is what drives me back to these events. Only days later I cannot completely remember how I felt on that night and I know I will have to return in order to relive it.
Upon finishing the trail Andy and I were happy but our journey remained unfinished. Still out of cell service range and with no sign of our five new friends we hopped in the car and drove down towards Moab. By the time we rejoined highway 191 the cell phone reception returned. I quickly called my wife and Andy’s girlfriend and they were very happy to hear from us. An hour before, about the time we finished, they had called the Moab police to tell them we had not returned and ask them what to do next. The police responded quickly, both sending a car out to the highway to look for our returning vehicle and putting them in contact with the ranger. Marni had logged into my email and gave the ranger our information, plans and bike descriptions. After letting the girls know we were okay and almost home, we hung up to let the ranger call us back. The phone quickly rang and I recounted the day’s events to the ranger. He headed out to the visitor’s center. While we unpacked, showered and grabbed a quick but tired bite to eat, we waited for the call. Finally the ranger called to let us know that everyone was safe and okay. After returning to Denver I learned that the other riders finished up with the ranger’s headlights illuminating their way at around 9:20pm. Apparently two members of the group really struggled after we got separated and the 3 strongest riders stayed with them and guided them through the rest of the ride. Many things learned and 5 new friends made, this adventure, experience and lesson was now finished.

Thursday, February 16

It's clear I suck...

...at updating this blog regularly. The tale of the tape rundown since my last update.

2 - Number of the days until I'm in Utah riding the 100 mile White Rim trail
7 - Number of riders making the trip including me
2 - Number of times I've ridden the bike I'm taking on the trip in the last 3 weeks
15 - Number of times I've ridden my new single speed instead of above bike
2210 - Total miles I've ridden since my DNF at Leadville last August
695 - Total miles I've ridden so far in 2006
3 - Number of friends attempting Leadville with me in 2006

Songs that don't suck:
No regrets - Aesop Rock
The Anthem - Good Charlotte
Break Stuff - Limp Bizkit
I Woke Up in a Car - Something Corporate
History Repeating - Properllerheads
Sunday Jen - Slackstring
The Thing About It - Sweatshop Union
Stone Love - Pepper
Torches - Rise Against

Cool pictures


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Meet Me Monday: Cyberhawk Designs

Today I’m introducing Greg from Cyberhawk Designs.

Greg is an expert it WordPress design so if you need any website work you should definitely go check out his site! I have been following him on Facebook for awhile now. He also puts out helpful updates for different WordPress themes that are great for bloggers like me trying to go it on my own! ;) Take a look at this post from Greg:

WordPress Thesis: Create Widget Area Before Content (Posts)

Have you ever wanted to place a slider, ad, photo, etc. above your first post in it’s own static widget area? If you said “yes” and have WordPress Thesis, check out the simple tutorial below.

(I’m going to send you over to his page for the actual code) Enjoy! :)

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Friday, October 12, 2012

Horrors tonight in Scituate with Paul Tremblay and myself

As a way to help get people ready for Halloween, Paul Tremblay and I will be at Front Street Book Shop in Scituate tonight at 7pm reading & signing our latest horror and fantasy novels. I hope folks show up!

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