Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Zhejiang Provincial Museum
We have been in Hangzhou all of this time but have never made it to the Zhejiang provincial museum which borders West Lake on the Bai Di. The museum is three floors which chronicle over 7000 years of history in this region! We saw everything from replicas of the first wood houses made with primitive tools to the military costumes from the Warring States period and a Texaco Oil Co. sign from the turn of the century. Quite a diverse collection! After a quick visit to the museum, we hopped a boat to the West Lake islands on this balmy day - gorgeous in every direction!Hydrangeas greeted us upon landing on the island, "Three Pools Mirroring the Moon". We let the boys stay up until midnight last night playing a computer game with our friend Danny, and they were grumpy today. Even though they were tired, they made me a scrumptious French Toast breakfast this morning for Father's Day. However they really wanted to stay home but we dragged them out anyway, so here I am headlocking the two grumps. Jack perked up after awhile and played with his sister on the boat. A flower shot for Sue to paint when she gets home in 2 weeks! One of the boys spied this snake swimming rapidly through the water. Yikes! Our four kids... Peter, Sophie, Jack and our newly adopted son Danny, also another teacher at Jiliang. He comes over and plays network PC games with the boys and they LOVE it! Looking across one of the pools at "Three Pools Mirroring the Moon" island. A family picture, looking back across West Lake. All of the kids, including Danny, got up in the tree for this shot... Jack was the first to find the tree and climb it - he loved it up there! This is the same scene as is on the 1 RMB bill, so it's well known all over China! The lily pads were all blooming in the three pools. Jack loves hopping around across these doorways. He's all arms and legs these days! And finally Sophie, who's favorite activity is to be outdoors running at top speed. The island is good for that as there are no cars and it wasn't too crowded today!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Lisa's 2nd ear activation.
Lisa went in yesterday to have her new imlant activated. The activation went well. The second ear actually started more advanced than the first ear had started out. (And if you remember, the first ear really started out better than our expectations. )Now there is a still a lot of work to do for the new device to catch up to the same level the first one is at now... She has really come a long way to the good for her hearing.
Anyway, this bit of video you see here is her first number test with the new ear. Lisa does really well, only misses one number. But this will give you a glimpse of what it is like when they work to calibrate the hearing implant device.Thanks for praying so faithfully.Tom & Lisa
Anyway, this bit of video you see here is her first number test with the new ear. Lisa does really well, only misses one number. But this will give you a glimpse of what it is like when they work to calibrate the hearing implant device.Thanks for praying so faithfully.Tom & Lisa
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
PTR patch 3.1.2 build 9889: Juggernaut, Auriya's cats nerfed
Filed under: Warrior, Patches, News itemsA small new build was pushed to the patch 3.1.2 PTR today. The majority of the changes were relatively minor, but one is headline-worthy: the Arms Warrior talent Juggernaut now gives your next Slam or Mortal Strike an additional 25% chance to critically hit if used within 10 sec, down from 100% chance. Forum posters have been asking for a Juggernaut nerf quite vocally recently; they ought to be pleased with this one. Warriors also got a second small nerf: the Glyph of Rapid Charge is being changed from a 20% cooldown reduction (3 seconds) to a 7% reduction (1 second).
Other changes included some small tweaks to the Ulduar encounters Iron Council and General Vezax. Auriya's cats took a good hit from the nerf bat, with the damage from their Savage Pounce ability being cut in half. Finally, Priests' Divine Hymn, which was completely reworked in patch 3.1, had its bonus healing to affected targets nerfed from 15% to 10%; I never use the spell, so I don't much care. PTR patch 3.1.2 build 9889: Juggernaut, Auriya's cats nerfed originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 11 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
Other changes included some small tweaks to the Ulduar encounters Iron Council and General Vezax. Auriya's cats took a good hit from the nerf bat, with the damage from their Savage Pounce ability being cut in half. Finally, Priests' Divine Hymn, which was completely reworked in patch 3.1, had its bonus healing to affected targets nerfed from 15% to 10%; I never use the spell, so I don't much care. PTR patch 3.1.2 build 9889: Juggernaut, Auriya's cats nerfed originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 11 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
Monday, July 13, 2009
Fantasy-World Organizing
Are you comparing your home or office to those you see in magazines or catalogs? Thanks to Cool Mom Picks, I just read the following wise words about "org porn" on Buttoned Up. The people quoted, Alicia and Sarah, are the site's founders, who are also the authors of Everything (Almost) in Its Place.“Org porn is that glossy, airbrushed fantasy world where everything is pristine, serene and perfectly in order, sort of Playboy, but with chore charts and name-plated cubbyholes,” said Sarah Welch. “It’s everywhere you look these days: in magazines, coffee table books, advertisements, and TV shows. ...“Don’t get us wrong, gazing at beautiful images of meticulously organized rooms, perfectly displayed collections, color-coordinated closets, flawless family schedules, pristine kitchens, tidy mud rooms, and picture-perfect work spaces can be titillating – even meditative. There’s a reason we call it ‘org porn,’” said Alicia Rockmore. “But when they become the primary yardstick by which you measure your own general state of organization is when it becomes unhealthy. An airbrushed land of perfect organization cannot be sustained in this messy, unpredictable world called real life.” And there's the same kind of issue in the time management realm, as Abagael MacAskill writes. She's a homeschooling mom, but similar unrealistic expectations plague many parents - and non-parents, too. I head off to the first of a day full of seminars directed at every conceivable aspect of homeschooling. At the first seminar a woman who is the mother of seven, speaks on organizing your house and your day, while simultaneously educating your children. As I walk away at the end I marvel at how she makes her own bread, volunteers at three or four charities weekly, crosses the country 6 months out of the year giving lectures on this topic, AND still manages to educate her seven children to genius status. I have two children at home and sometimes none of us make it out of our PJs by three in the afternoon and my sink is always full of dishes. ...Homeschoolers are under scrutiny by everybody - the media, the government, the school district, extended family and even sometimes the neighbors. Because of this constant judging I think as homeschoolers we tend to overcompensate and present an unreasonable picture of perfection to the world of what homeschooling is like. Then we begin to believe it ourselves. Since it is not really perfection and never will be on this side of heaven we have set ourselves up for disappointment, failure and burnout. So many of us see examples of people who seem to cope perfectly - they have time for everything, their homes are perfectly organized all the time. I don't know anyone like that in real life.Related Post: Organizing on TV: Illusion vs. Reality[Picture from The Container Store]
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Big influenza gamble: A look at 1918, 1976 and today’s flu scare
Bill Dalton
May 07, 2009
On Sept. 27, 1918, the Andover Board of Health closed all schools, the library, and the movie theater. Church services were voluntarily discontinued. These actions were taken because of the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19. The Board of Heath reported 1,503 cases of influenza in 1918 and 25 people died. The Andover Townsman reported 341 new cases in one week. In 1919, there were 274 more cases, but the Board of Health was too busy dealing with the epidemic to file a report and no deaths were stated. (The towns population was 8,000.) In Lawrence, open air hospitals were set up in tent villages. In Massachusetts, 45,000 people died.
The Great Influenza was one of the worst events in human history. Twenty million Americans were infected, 20 percent of the population. It killed 675,000 of those people, 10 times more Americans than died in World War I. Half the American troops who died in the war died of the influenza. Worldwide, between 20 million and 100 million died, with 50 million being a widely quoted number. More people died from the Great Influenza in one year than died from the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) during the Middle Ages.
The mortality rate for the annual flu is 0.1 percent. Last year, the flu killed about 34,000 worldwide. That was a normal year. The mortality rate during the Great Influenza was 2.5 to 5 percent. Not only was that influenza much more contagious than ever, it killed a high percent of the people infected. The 1918-19 Influenza came in three waves. The first wave was relatively benign; the second wave was deadly; and the third wave was benign.
Virus mutation rate calculations are for scientists, but rapid mutation is what makes viruses so dangerous. Simply stated, viruses go through countless generations and mutations during the time it takes humans to go through a single generation.
(H1N1) Influenza A, formerly called the Swine Flu is now causing concern. The 1918-19 was an H1N1 virus, but within the designation H1N1 are large numbers of variations. Some variations are harmless, some will make you sick, and some will kill you.
We had a Swine Flu scare in 1976, and it affected a presidential election. That year, a small number of soldiers at Fort Dix were diagnosed with Swine Flu. One died. Acting with the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and with Congressional approval, President Gerald Ford implemented a Swine Flu program that included the vaccination of 40 million Americans. Three elderly people died shortly after being vaccinated and the media assumed a connection. Public outcry stopped the vaccination program. Today we know that there was no scientific connection between those deaths and the vaccinations. However, after the vaccinations were stopped, as many as 500 people developed Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a serious neurological disorder. Up to 25 of these people died. GBS is rare and can be caused as a response to a vaccination.
Before large scale vaccination programs are begun, experts predict the number of health issues that will be caused by the vaccine. It is a risk/reward analysis: how many people will be hurt as compared to how many will be helped by the vaccine. With flu vaccinations, it is predicted that one person in a million will get GBS. The 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine had an abnormally high 500. (That may have been a statistical anomaly, or something unique in the vaccine, or a heightened awareness of the side effects caused by media attention, or a combination of all of these.)
President Ford was criticized for overreacting to the Swine Flu. This overreaction may have played a role in his defeat by Jimmy Carter. In 1979, I was at the Kennedy School, and we studied the 1976 Swine Flu Crises. The important part of the discussion was not about whether Ford had overreacted but whether the perception that hed overreacted might cause future Presidents to underreact in similar situations.
The predictable cries that the government, the media, and we are overreacting began several days ago. Part of my full-time job involves risk management. Besides insurance (which is really shifting risk rather than managing it), risk management means that you do things that cost time and money to prevent people from getting hurt and assets from being destroyed. The trouble with risk management is that you cant always quantify whether you had the desired results. In other words, you dont know what problems you prevented.
This is a high stakes game, folks. If I were betting money, Id bet that this will all blow over, and maybe laugh about it. However, Im in favor of overreaction as opposed to underreaction when the stakes are so high.
Postscript. As the paper goes to press, it appears more than likely that the latest flu is no more dangerous than an ordinary flu. However, the government will have to make a decision as to whether it manufactures a vaccine for this new strain of influenza or whether it keeps on with its plans to manufacture a vaccine for the routine annual flu. There may not be enough capability to manufacture both, but that could change. Remembering that this H1N1 may be able to remake itself into a deadly second wave in time for the colder weather and flu season, like the H1N1 of 1918-19 remade itself, the stakes remain very high.
AndoverTownsman.com
May 07, 2009
On Sept. 27, 1918, the Andover Board of Health closed all schools, the library, and the movie theater. Church services were voluntarily discontinued. These actions were taken because of the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19. The Board of Heath reported 1,503 cases of influenza in 1918 and 25 people died. The Andover Townsman reported 341 new cases in one week. In 1919, there were 274 more cases, but the Board of Health was too busy dealing with the epidemic to file a report and no deaths were stated. (The towns population was 8,000.) In Lawrence, open air hospitals were set up in tent villages. In Massachusetts, 45,000 people died.
The Great Influenza was one of the worst events in human history. Twenty million Americans were infected, 20 percent of the population. It killed 675,000 of those people, 10 times more Americans than died in World War I. Half the American troops who died in the war died of the influenza. Worldwide, between 20 million and 100 million died, with 50 million being a widely quoted number. More people died from the Great Influenza in one year than died from the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) during the Middle Ages.
The mortality rate for the annual flu is 0.1 percent. Last year, the flu killed about 34,000 worldwide. That was a normal year. The mortality rate during the Great Influenza was 2.5 to 5 percent. Not only was that influenza much more contagious than ever, it killed a high percent of the people infected. The 1918-19 Influenza came in three waves. The first wave was relatively benign; the second wave was deadly; and the third wave was benign.
Virus mutation rate calculations are for scientists, but rapid mutation is what makes viruses so dangerous. Simply stated, viruses go through countless generations and mutations during the time it takes humans to go through a single generation.
(H1N1) Influenza A, formerly called the Swine Flu is now causing concern. The 1918-19 was an H1N1 virus, but within the designation H1N1 are large numbers of variations. Some variations are harmless, some will make you sick, and some will kill you.
We had a Swine Flu scare in 1976, and it affected a presidential election. That year, a small number of soldiers at Fort Dix were diagnosed with Swine Flu. One died. Acting with the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and with Congressional approval, President Gerald Ford implemented a Swine Flu program that included the vaccination of 40 million Americans. Three elderly people died shortly after being vaccinated and the media assumed a connection. Public outcry stopped the vaccination program. Today we know that there was no scientific connection between those deaths and the vaccinations. However, after the vaccinations were stopped, as many as 500 people developed Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a serious neurological disorder. Up to 25 of these people died. GBS is rare and can be caused as a response to a vaccination.
Before large scale vaccination programs are begun, experts predict the number of health issues that will be caused by the vaccine. It is a risk/reward analysis: how many people will be hurt as compared to how many will be helped by the vaccine. With flu vaccinations, it is predicted that one person in a million will get GBS. The 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine had an abnormally high 500. (That may have been a statistical anomaly, or something unique in the vaccine, or a heightened awareness of the side effects caused by media attention, or a combination of all of these.)
President Ford was criticized for overreacting to the Swine Flu. This overreaction may have played a role in his defeat by Jimmy Carter. In 1979, I was at the Kennedy School, and we studied the 1976 Swine Flu Crises. The important part of the discussion was not about whether Ford had overreacted but whether the perception that hed overreacted might cause future Presidents to underreact in similar situations.
The predictable cries that the government, the media, and we are overreacting began several days ago. Part of my full-time job involves risk management. Besides insurance (which is really shifting risk rather than managing it), risk management means that you do things that cost time and money to prevent people from getting hurt and assets from being destroyed. The trouble with risk management is that you cant always quantify whether you had the desired results. In other words, you dont know what problems you prevented.
This is a high stakes game, folks. If I were betting money, Id bet that this will all blow over, and maybe laugh about it. However, Im in favor of overreaction as opposed to underreaction when the stakes are so high.
Postscript. As the paper goes to press, it appears more than likely that the latest flu is no more dangerous than an ordinary flu. However, the government will have to make a decision as to whether it manufactures a vaccine for this new strain of influenza or whether it keeps on with its plans to manufacture a vaccine for the routine annual flu. There may not be enough capability to manufacture both, but that could change. Remembering that this H1N1 may be able to remake itself into a deadly second wave in time for the colder weather and flu season, like the H1N1 of 1918-19 remade itself, the stakes remain very high.
AndoverTownsman.com
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Caitlin Sarubbi rings The Opening Bell
Via NYSE.com
Brooklyn, NY’s Caitlin Sarubbi is a rising star in the adaptive ski-racing world with a goal of medaling in the 2010 Paralympics Winter Games in Vancouver. Caitie is 19 years old, and was born with Ablepharon Macrostomia that left her without eyelids and visually-impaired. Caitlin, for the past three years, has maintained excellent grades while training and competing at the national level to qualify for the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team (USAST). Caitie achieved both her scholastic and skiing goals. She is currently attending Harvard University as a pre med undergraduate, in addition to being named to the United States Adaptive Team. (Source www.CaitlinSarubbi.com)
About the Adaptive Sports Foundation (ASF)
The Adaptive Sports Foundation is a non profit organization located at Windham Mountain in Windham, New York. The ASF provides over 2800 lessons annually to individuals with cognitive or physical challenges. The ASF has 205 volunteer instructors and six full time staff members, eight of whom serve as Adaptive and Alpine educational staff members for the Professional Ski Instructors of America. The Adaptive Sports Foundation is a member ski school of the Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors, an official Red Cross Provider, a chapter of Disabled Sports USA and is recognized as the largest adaptive sport program on the east coast. The ASF is among the leading adaptive sport programs in the country. (Source: Adaptive Sports Foundation)
To learn more about the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, please visit www.usparalympics.org
Post from: GerritsenBeach.net
Brooklyn, NY’s Caitlin Sarubbi is a rising star in the adaptive ski-racing world with a goal of medaling in the 2010 Paralympics Winter Games in Vancouver. Caitie is 19 years old, and was born with Ablepharon Macrostomia that left her without eyelids and visually-impaired. Caitlin, for the past three years, has maintained excellent grades while training and competing at the national level to qualify for the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team (USAST). Caitie achieved both her scholastic and skiing goals. She is currently attending Harvard University as a pre med undergraduate, in addition to being named to the United States Adaptive Team. (Source www.CaitlinSarubbi.com)
About the Adaptive Sports Foundation (ASF)
The Adaptive Sports Foundation is a non profit organization located at Windham Mountain in Windham, New York. The ASF provides over 2800 lessons annually to individuals with cognitive or physical challenges. The ASF has 205 volunteer instructors and six full time staff members, eight of whom serve as Adaptive and Alpine educational staff members for the Professional Ski Instructors of America. The Adaptive Sports Foundation is a member ski school of the Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors, an official Red Cross Provider, a chapter of Disabled Sports USA and is recognized as the largest adaptive sport program on the east coast. The ASF is among the leading adaptive sport programs in the country. (Source: Adaptive Sports Foundation)
To learn more about the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, please visit www.usparalympics.org
Post from: GerritsenBeach.net
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