Satay chicken

For dinner we had satay chicken with rice noodles and veg <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEqqsEZeajlYaJP8TTIxOj_rOPk9O-yItCTUfbVB5Og8BkqFm9YV-nqbnDQADQHGvAU5wdW7XEwEsvRH0G4BEgVzrc1siHX7TN-KE3eyzzOI0PPwbrmL4nOh9KmXaVP0CnLEh5NwYnIGU/s640/blogger-image-71776332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEqqsEZeajlYaJP8TTIxOj_rOPk9O-yItCTUfbVB5Og8BkqFm9YV-nqbnDQADQHGvAU5wdW7XEwEsvRH0G4BEgVzrc1siHX7TN-KE3eyzzOI0PPwbrmL4nOh9KmXaVP0CnLEh5NwYnIGU/s640/blogger-image-71776332.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNp-yoSra3DebPdjBvXL45Hxdq_zmugBZUWjG1aezJ44-pXV7COnE5QHlCZ-CGqGCpyCwHS6pj8FlxoVz_INzmadvaTRl4EG9ZekhK8-8cor7fkep_IfB7rFDAeLIvepgYDcKOJ3ee8ge/s640/blogger-image-368029914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNp-yoSra3DebPdjBvXL45Hxdq_zmugBZUWjG1aezJ44-pXV7COnE5QHlCZ-CGqGCpyCwHS6pj8FlxoVz_INzmadvaTRl4EG9ZekhK8-8cor7fkep_IfB7rFDAeLIvepgYDcKOJ3ee8ge/s640/blogger-image-368029914.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7kl3Un19cOUGanxs6F05XtKwvJakZ9eKz8k-UhvT5xpQX5tZZl2_BotGPghhV9NKaA18oso49toW9EvIOJ-nsu91myEPdYa0lV_3PBf7tAR1u3epLutHEgTWP1Mrm8LjQf4vPqbyZvsg/s640/blogger-image-2003319001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7kl3Un19cOUGanxs6F05XtKwvJakZ9eKz8k-UhvT5xpQX5tZZl2_BotGPghhV9NKaA18oso49toW9EvIOJ-nsu91myEPdYa0lV_3PBf7tAR1u3epLutHEgTWP1Mrm8LjQf4vPqbyZvsg/s640/blogger-image-2003319001.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ95DKqFCJxhSqouC2MOyaMUtjMwoQReeocmP98YzVZMVZnRxTJvUOLcyVYujbGA4zxZ0wz5ARVLHQZh_vsinb6ORJircxmaBJc_-hpuugrl7Tkx3d7q8DQpxNM44T8QGjOMWb7W6m7xpF/s640/blogger-image--987544788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ95DKqFCJxhSqouC2MOyaMUtjMwoQReeocmP98YzVZMVZnRxTJvUOLcyVYujbGA4zxZ0wz5ARVLHQZh_vsinb6ORJircxmaBJc_-hpuugrl7Tkx3d7q8DQpxNM44T8QGjOMWb7W6m7xpF/s640/blogger-image--987544788.jpg" /></a></div>

Satay chicken

For dinner we had satay chicken with rice noodles and veg

Read more »

Canelo vs Trout results: Alvarez unifies titles with decision win

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img height="425" src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/11877181/002_alvarez_img_0108.0_standard_730.0.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #292929; font-family: 'Mercury SSm A', 'Mercury SSm B', Georgia, Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: italic; line-height: 32px;">Canelo Alvarez defeated Austin Trout tonight to unify the WBC and WBA titles, and while there was some talk of controversy, it was a fight that delivered on its potential.</span><br /><br /><div class="dropcap pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #292929; font-family: 'Mercury SSm A', 'Mercury SSm B', Georgia, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"></div><div class="dropcap pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph0" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Tonight's main event at the raucous Alamadome in San Antonio lived up to the hype in terms of quality, and had what is likely going to be the best atmosphere of any fight in the world this year, as 39,472 fans (official attendance) made it a truly special night on Showtime boxing.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph1" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Canelo Alvarez came out the decision winner over Austin Trout, unifying the WBC and WBA titles by scores of 115-112, 116-111, and 118-109. The WBC's awful open scoring was in effect, so viewers on TV were able to find out that after eight rounds, Trout (26-1, 14 KO) was mathematically out of the fight.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph2" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">This also allowed Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO) to cruise down the stretch, avoiding risks that he may otherwise have taken had he suspected there was a possibility he could have lost the fight.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph3" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">It needs to be said that both guys fought well tonight. Canelo did more damage, including putting Trout on the canvas in the seventh round with a beautiful right hand that shook Trout's legs, staggering him to the canvas. It was the first time Trout had been down in his career, and he responded pretty well, with some observers even feeling he did enough in the round to earn a 9-10 score instead of 8-10.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph4" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Much of the fight was closely contested, and intense, though rarely exciting in the traditional sense. What stood out in a big way was the defensive work of Canelo Alvarez, whose head movement was much better than ever before, and allowed him to slip a lot of shots. Trout was really unable to connect on anything big, but he also was able to dictate the pace in many rounds, and used his jab to keep the fight at his pace and distance enough that it wouldn't have been hard to score the fight in his favor.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph5" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Also notable on that front is that Alvarez, who had the showier moments, did still fight in spurts too often. At times, he looked like the boss, a hard-hitting slugger who could physically push Trout around. At other times, he was stuck in a standstill mode, with Trout maybe not dominating him, but simply doing more work.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph6" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">It is a hard fight to recap, in that I don't have enormously strong feelings about the outcome. I could see Trout winning, and I could see Canelo winning. It was a good, close fight, a matchup that delivered in the ring as it should have, equaling its on-paper potential.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph7" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">The only thing I do have a strong opinion on is that open scoring does nobody any favors. The nonsense that it would help eradicate poor judging is clearly just a press release line; it's not like anything has ever been done about bad scores in fights with open scoring. The only difference, really, is that we knew after eight rounds that Trout had lost the fight, unless he managed a miracle knockout. That, to me, both takes the drama out of the fight for a viewer who knows the score, and also allows a fighter to totally change his approach in a fight that looks closer than the scores at ringside are in reality, or at least "reality."</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph8" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">But if there is any great question about the legitimacy of Canelo's win, you only have to ask Trout, who was candid and gracious in defeat.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph9" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">"He was the better man," Trout told Showtime's Jim Gray. "He was quicker, he was stronger, he was the better man."</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph10" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Trout said he'd make no excuses. Then, in the upset of the year, he actually made zero excuses. On a night where you could complain about some of what happened on the officiating side (though it should be said that referee Laurence Cole was invisible and did a good job), it was nice to end the evening on a good note. Canelo talked no trash, nor did Trout. They were admirable in victory and defeat.</div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph11" style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Alvarez marches forward as a rising superstar. Trout says he'll be back, and given his track record of going further than he's supposed to, I have to believe him.</div><br /></div>

Canelo vs Trout results Canelo vs Trout results: Alvarez unifies titles with decision win

Canelo Alvarez defeated Austin Trout tonight to unify the WBC and WBA titles, and while there was some talk of controversy, it was a fight t...

Read more »

Colorado’s first legal ‘420’ rally marred by gunfire

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/MQgkXsg.NRhZyB5JvFQtBA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/CivicCenter3.jpg" /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20.383333206176758px;">Thousands of men and women celebrate the legalization of marijuana during a "420" event at Denver's Civic Center …</span><br /><br /><div id="yui_3_8_1_20_1366571435991_234" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">UPDATE 7:07 pm CT: In the minutes after the shooting, three individuals were shot by an unknown assailant. None of the injuries were described as life-threatening. Approximately seven gunshots were heard shortly before 5pm, less than an hour after the rally's keynote address completed. It was initially reported that <a href="http://photos.denverpost.com/2013/04/20/photos-2-shot-at-denver-420-rally/" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">two people had been shot</a>, along with one of the individual's pet dog. However, the Denver Police Department tweeted that <a href="https://twitter.com/DenverPolice/status/325790112191496192" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">a third individual, a juvenile, was grazed by a bullet</a> and escorted themselves to nearby hospital.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">*****</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">DENVER, CO. - Ten years ago, Ken Gorman, the founder of Denver’s annual “420 Rally,” stood inside the city’s Civic Center Park with about a dozen supporters as they pushed for marijuana legalization.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Today, an estimated 80,000 individuals gathered in the same location as they celebrated <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/massachusetts-votes-favor-medical-marijuana-bill-041305835--election.html" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">Colorado voters’ decision to legalize the recreational use of cannabis last November</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“This is what freedom smells like,” attorney <a href="http://www.robcorry.com/" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">Rob Corry</a> told the crowd, as he counted down the moments until 4:20pm CT, at which point literally thousands of people simultaneously exhaled marijuana smoke into the air, creating a haze that was visible for blocks away.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“You’re going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records,” rally organizer Miguel Lopez told the crowd, eliciting a roar of cheers and laughter. “More people will have smoked pot at ‘420’ in this location than anytime, anywhere in the history of the world.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">The day's events formally kicked off at just past 10:00am on Saturday morning. And while it was readily apparent that many, if not most, attendees showed up simply for the novelty of smoking marijuana in a large public gathering, there were hundreds of people there to make money off the attendees.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Dozens of vendors quickly set up shop, offering items ranging from marijuana smoking pipes to various food offerings like "giant turkey legs." And one didn't have to walk far without being offered several varieties of marijuana for sale, which is still illegal under Colorado law.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">In November 2012, more than a million Colorado voters (55.32 percent) supported the passage of Measure 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the state. However, the consumption of the drug remains illegal under federal law.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">A similar bill passed by a broad margin in Washington State.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;"><span class="yom-figure yom-fig-right" style="clear: both; display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 11px; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 6px; width: 630px;"><a class=" yltnofollow" href="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/ski82kwE5xsdB_lFijEZHQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/Panorama2.jpg" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="editorial aligncenter size-full wp-image-43793" height="136" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/AutmBP1BU.IxXKv0VHnm0g--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/Panorama2.jpg" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block;" title="An estimated 80,000 people gatehred for the &#34;420 rally&#34; in Denver's Civic Center Park (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo News)" width="630" /></a></span></div><div id="yui_3_8_1_20_1366571435991_234" style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;"><a class=" yltnofollow" href="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/ski82kwE5xsdB_lFijEZHQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/Panorama2.jpg" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">UPDATE 7:07 pm CT: In the minutes after the shooting, three individuals were shot by an unknown assailant. None of the injuries were described as life-threatening. Approximately seven gunshots were heard shortly before 5pm, less than an hour after the rally's keynote address completed. It was initially reported that </a><a href="http://photos.denverpost.com/2013/04/20/photos-2-shot-at-denver-420-rally/" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">two people had been shot</a>, along with one of the individual's pet dog. However, the Denver Police Department tweeted that <a href="https://twitter.com/DenverPolice/status/325790112191496192" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">a third individual, a juvenile, was grazed by a bullet</a> and escorted themselves to nearby hospital.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">*****</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">DENVER, CO. - Ten years ago, Ken Gorman, the founder of Denver’s annual “420 Rally,” stood inside the city’s Civic Center Park with about a dozen supporters as they pushed for marijuana legalization.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Today, an estimated 80,000 individuals gathered in the same location as they celebrated <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/massachusetts-votes-favor-medical-marijuana-bill-041305835--election.html" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">Colorado voters’ decision to legalize the recreational use of cannabis last November</a>.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“This is what freedom smells like,” attorney <a href="http://www.robcorry.com/" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">Rob Corry</a> told the crowd, as he counted down the moments until 4:20pm CT, at which point literally thousands of people simultaneously exhaled marijuana smoke into the air, creating a haze that was visible for blocks away.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“You’re going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records,” rally organizer Miguel Lopez told the crowd, eliciting a roar of cheers and laughter. “More people will have smoked pot at ‘420’ in this location than anytime, anywhere in the history of the world.”</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">The day's events formally kicked off at just past 10:00am on Saturday morning. And while it was readily apparent that many, if not most, attendees showed up simply for the novelty of smoking marijuana in a large public gathering, there were hundreds of people there to make money off the attendees.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Dozens of vendors quickly set up shop, offering items ranging from marijuana smoking pipes to various food offerings like "giant turkey legs." And one didn't have to walk far without being offered several varieties of marijuana for sale, which is still illegal under Colorado law.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">In November 2012, more than a million Colorado voters (55.32 percent) supported the passage of Measure 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the state. However, the consumption of the drug remains illegal under federal law.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">A similar bill passed by a broad margin in Washington State.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;"><span class="yom-figure yom-fig-right" style="clear: both; display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 11px; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 6px; width: 630px;"><a class=" yltnofollow" href="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/ski82kwE5xsdB_lFijEZHQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/Panorama2.jpg" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="editorial aligncenter size-full wp-image-43793" height="136" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/AutmBP1BU.IxXKv0VHnm0g--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/Panorama2.jpg" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block;" title="An estimated 80,000 people gatehred for the &#34;420 rally&#34; in Denver's Civic Center Park (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo News)" width="630" /></a><span class="legend" style="color: #414141; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">An estimated 80,000 people gatehred for the "420 rally" in Denver's Civic Center Park (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo New …</span></span></div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">And while the thousands of pot smokers using the substance in public is technically a crime, Colorado law enforcement said they were more concerned with ensuring public safety in light of the recent terror attack in Boston.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“We're aware of the events in Boston," Denver police spokesman Aaron Kafer, told the <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_COLORADO_POT_HOLIDAY?SITE=AP&#38;SECTION=HOME&#38;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&#38;CTIME=2013-04-20-04-06-45" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">Associated Press</a>. "Our message to the public is that, if you see something, say something."</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Lopez and a number of other leaders of the legalization movement said they remain unsatisfied with what they consider the limited scope of Measure 64, which along with forbidding consumption of marijuana in public spaces, contains other restrictions, such as driving while under the influence of cannabis. In addition, Lopez said those individuals imprisoned for past crimes involving the sale, use and distribution of marijuana should be released from jail.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">On Monday, several of the event’s organizers will hold another rally outside the Colorado state capital in which they will speak out against the “Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis Bill,” which aims to set a legal limit for the amount of THC a person can have active in their bloodstream while driving.<a href="http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/994029-house-committee-passes-bill-curb-driving-under-influence-marijuana" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">The bill passed the state House in March</a> and is scheduled to be taken up for consideration by the state Senate.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Despite the jubilant mood amongst the rally’s participants, the event was not without its critics.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://smartcolorado.org/" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">Smart Colorado</a>, a group that opposed the legalization bill in 2012, released a statement saying the open use of cannabis set a bad image to individuals looking at Colorado.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“We encourage Coloradans to pay attention to the 4/20 rallies by marijuana advocates. These events, which will be covered by national media, will send a clear message to the rest of the nation and the world about what Colorado looks like in the wake of the passage of Amendment 64 last fall,” Henny Lasley, head of Smart Colorado, said in the statement.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“Does the behavior of the participants in these events reflect well on our state? And do they respect the limitations outlined by Amendment 64, which does not allow public and open consumption of marijuana or the use by anyone under 21 years old?”</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">In addition, there were a number of dubious claims made about the alleged benefits of medical marijuana. While the substance has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of several illnesses, one organizer described the substance as a “cure” for several serious medical conditions, including Crohn’s Disease, arthritis and even cancer.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">A second day of similar events is scheduled to take place on Sunday in Civic Center Park but is expected to draw a much smaller number of participants.</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">"We have the law, the science, we have the people," Lopez told the crowd. “But the war is not over.”</div><div style="color: black; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;"><span class="yom-figure yom-fig-right" style="clear: both; display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 11px; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 6px; width: 630px;"><a class=" yltnofollow" href="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/umRha7ou4V1QCBJLIEEUuQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/FlagRally.jpg" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43795" height="474" src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/RguLKHY6DUp5lHO8mRd8yQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/FlagRally.jpg" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block;" title="A large American flag is waved during Denver's &#34;420 rally&#34; (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo News)" width="630" /></a><span class="legend" style="color: #414141; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">A large American flag is waved during Denver's "420 rally" (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo News)</span></span></div><span class="legend" style="color: #414141; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">An estimated 80,000 people gatehred for the "420 rally" in Denver's Civic Center Park (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo New …</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">And while the thousands of pot smokers using the substance in public is technically a crime, Colorado law enforcement said they were more concerned with ensuring public safety in light of the recent terror attack in Boston.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“We're aware of the events in Boston," Denver police spokesman Aaron Kafer, told the <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_COLORADO_POT_HOLIDAY?SITE=AP&#38;SECTION=HOME&#38;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&#38;CTIME=2013-04-20-04-06-45" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">Associated Press</a>. "Our message to the public is that, if you see something, say something."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Lopez and a number of other leaders of the legalization movement said they remain unsatisfied with what they consider the limited scope of Measure 64, which along with forbidding consumption of marijuana in public spaces, contains other restrictions, such as driving while under the influence of cannabis. In addition, Lopez said those individuals imprisoned for past crimes involving the sale, use and distribution of marijuana should be released from jail.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">On Monday, several of the event’s organizers will hold another rally outside the Colorado state capital in which they will speak out against the “Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis Bill,” which aims to set a legal limit for the amount of THC a person can have active in their bloodstream while driving.<a href="http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/994029-house-committee-passes-bill-curb-driving-under-influence-marijuana" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">The bill passed the state House in March</a> and is scheduled to be taken up for consideration by the state Senate.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Despite the jubilant mood amongst the rally’s participants, the event was not without its critics.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://smartcolorado.org/" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;">Smart Colorado</a>, a group that opposed the legalization bill in 2012, released a statement saying the open use of cannabis set a bad image to individuals looking at Colorado.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“We encourage Coloradans to pay attention to the 4/20 rallies by marijuana advocates. These events, which will be covered by national media, will send a clear message to the rest of the nation and the world about what Colorado looks like in the wake of the passage of Amendment 64 last fall,” Henny Lasley, head of Smart Colorado, said in the statement.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">“Does the behavior of the participants in these events reflect well on our state? And do they respect the limitations outlined by Amendment 64, which does not allow public and open consumption of marijuana or the use by anyone under 21 years old?”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">In addition, there were a number of dubious claims made about the alleged benefits of medical marijuana. While the substance has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of several illnesses, one organizer described the substance as a “cure” for several serious medical conditions, including Crohn’s Disease, arthritis and even cancer.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">A second day of similar events is scheduled to take place on Sunday in Civic Center Park but is expected to draw a much smaller number of participants.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">"We have the law, the science, we have the people," Lopez told the crowd. “But the war is not over.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.450000762939453px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;"><span class="yom-figure yom-fig-right" style="clear: both; display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 11px; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 6px; width: 630px;"><a class=" yltnofollow" href="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/umRha7ou4V1QCBJLIEEUuQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/FlagRally.jpg" style="color: #5d4370; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43795" height="474" src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/RguLKHY6DUp5lHO8mRd8yQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/FlagRally.jpg" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block;" title="A large American flag is waved during Denver's &#34;420 rally&#34; (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo News)" width="630" /></a><span class="legend" style="color: #414141; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">A large American flag is waved during Denver's "420 rally" (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo News)</span></span></div></div>

420 Colorado’s first legal ‘420’ rally marred by gunfire

Thousands of men and women celebrate the legalization of marijuana during a "420" event at Denver's Civic Center … UPDATE 7:07...

Read more »

NBA playoffs: Carmelo Anthony, Knicks down Celtics

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">NEW YORK — <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/carmelo-anthony/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Carmelo Anthony</a> scored 36 points, and the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/new-york-knicks/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">New York Knicks</a> beat the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/boston-celtics/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Boston Celtics</a> 85-78 on Saturday in their playoff opener.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">After knocking the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/boston-celtics/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Celtics</a> from the top of the Atlantic Division, the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/new-york-knicks/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Knicks</a> took the first step to knocking them out of the playoffs by holding Boston to three baskets and eight points in the final period.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/carmelo-anthony/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Anthony</a>, the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/nba/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">NBA</a>’s scoring leader, shot only 13 for 29 from the field but scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including consecutive baskets late in the period that finally gave the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/new-york-knicks/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Knicks</a> breathing room in a tight game.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Game 2 is Tuesday night before the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/boston-celtics/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Celtics</a> host Game 3 on Friday in what will be their first home game since <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/boston-marathon/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">the Boston Marathon</a> bombings.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/jeff-green/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Jeff Green</a> scored 26 points and <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/paul-pierce/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Paul Pierce</a> added 21 for the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/boston-celtics/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Celtics</a>, who badly missed injured point guard <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/rajon-rondo/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Rajon Rondo</a>, committing 21 turnovers that led to 20 points. The <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/new-york-knicks/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Knicks</a> got their hands on the ball at will in the fourth quarter, when Boston shot 3 of 11.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/kevin-garnett/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Kevin Garnett</a> had eight points and nine rebounds but shot only 4 of 12 from the field. <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/jason-terry/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Jason Terry</a>, another veteran on a </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) and guard Jason Kidd, right, react in the final moments of the fourth quarter of Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden in New York, Saturday, April 20, 2013. The Knicks won 85-78. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)" src="http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2013/04/21/celtics-knicks-basket_lanc_s160x169.jpg?7e15846e1fc8e67ccfbc73ab387a445995b4eb81" /></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">young <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/boston-celtics/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Celtics</a> team, missed all five shots off the bench.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">CLIPPERS 112, GRIZZLIES 91</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">LOS ANGELES (AP) — <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/chris-paul/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Chris Paul</a> led seven players in double figures with 23 points, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/eric-bledsoe/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Eric Bledsoe</a> had 15 and the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/los-angeles-clippers/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Clippers</a> beat the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/memphis-grizzlies/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Grizzlies</a> while getting just one dunk in their playoff opener.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/chauncey-billups/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Chauncey Billups</a> scored 14 points, and <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/caron-butler/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Caron Butler</a> and <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/jamal-crawford/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Jamal Crawford</a> had 13 apiece on a night when <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/blake-griffin/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Blake Griffin</a> was held to 10 points and five rebounds before fouling out with 3:32 left as Lob City was grounded.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Reserve Jerryd Bayless led the Grizzlies with 19 points, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/marc-gasol/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Marc Gasol</a> had 16 and <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/zach-randolph/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Zach Randolph</a> had 13 points and four rebounds while playing with five fouls in the rematch of last year’s first-round series, won by the Clippers in seven games. Bayless was one of four Grizzlies with four fouls.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Game 2 is Monday night at <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/staples-center/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Staples Center</a>.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Memphis closed within a point early in the fourth on a 3-pointer by former Clipper Keyon Dooling. Los Angeles answered with a 15-3 run to go up 92-79, equaling the 13-point lead it had in the first half. <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/eric-bledsoe/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Eric Bledsoe</a>, who had seven points, opened and closed the spurt with layups as the reserves played an important role in the key stretch.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">NUGGETS 97, WARRIORS 95</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">DENVER (AP) — <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/andre-miller/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Andre Miller</a> scored a playoff career-high 28 points and sank a nifty layup with 1.3 seconds left that lifted the Nuggets to the win in Game 1 against the Warriors.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/andre-miller/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Miller</a> drove left past rookie Draymond Green, did an up-and-under between two defenders under the basket and banked the ball off the glass with his right hand.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Golden State inbounded the ball and Stephen Curry’s desperation 3-pointer wasn’t anywhere close as the horn sounded and Denver celebrated its 24th straight win at the Pepsi Center.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/andre-miller/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">Miller</a> scored 18 in the frenetic fourth quarter.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Game 2 is Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center, where the Nuggets posted an <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/nba/" style="color: #164a6e; padding: 2px 2px 2px 0px; text-decoration: none;">NBA</a>-best 38-3 home record during the season.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">NETS 106, BULLS 89</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">NEW YORK (AP) — Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and the Nets turned the Brooklyn blackout into a blowout.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Williams scored 22 points, Lopez had 21 and the Nets ripped apart the Bulls’ vaunted defense with a spectacular second quarter, when they made 16 of 20 shots.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Joe Johnson finished with 16 for the Nets, who made their successful first season in Brooklyn even better with a victory in their first playoff appearance since 2007. They will host Game 2 on Monday night.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">The Nets wore their road black uniforms and fans were encouraged to wear black as well to make it a “blackout” for the first major postseason game in Brooklyn since Oct. 10, 1956, when the Yankees beat the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series at Ebbets Field.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;">Carlos Boozer had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who had Joakim Noah in the starting lineup despite foot pain. But he was clearly limited, and there was no reason to play him more than the 14 minutes he got with the game never in doubt after halftime.</div><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /><br /></span></div>

NBA NBA playoffs: Carmelo Anthony, Knicks down Celtics

NEW YORK —  Carmelo Anthony  scored 36 points, and the  New York Knicks  beat the  Boston Celtics  85-78 on Saturday in their playoff opener...

Read more »

HTC Desire L to be released in Taiwan

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimOS2vfG6zUu92cwwwC_yCWLphcYAwz4yTV0e_2TqVA-wlOJ7Ari8ghuUJBqoox7zFZiSeGZYKPDKm_nJyhJ8pTr6V3px46fyxwGZNAcxWRoNmPmBd9I7LxD_xldFJbDiF0pAMf6eJBaE/s1600/3655462886420067759%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" dua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimOS2vfG6zUu92cwwwC_yCWLphcYAwz4yTV0e_2TqVA-wlOJ7Ari8ghuUJBqoox7zFZiSeGZYKPDKm_nJyhJ8pTr6V3px46fyxwGZNAcxWRoNmPmBd9I7LxD_xldFJbDiF0pAMf6eJBaE/s1600/3655462886420067759%5B1%5D.jpg" /></a></div>HTC doesn’t seem like one of those manufacturers who likes to stay out of the news for too long, seeing as it has now launched the Desire L in Taiwan. However, there isn’t much to discover regarding this Asia-specific handset if people have heard of the company’s China-specific One SU.<br /><br />The HTC Desire L houses the same 4.3-inch Super LCD 2 touch screen displaying the Sense user interface in a WVGA resolution. Measuring 128mm x 66.9mm x 8.9mm in dimensions, it tips the scales at 118 grams.<br /><br />Here are the device’s core specifications at a glance:<br />- 4.3-inch Super LCD2 touch screen<br />- 1GHz dual core processor<br />- HTC Sense UI<br />- 5MP primary camera with auto focus, LED flash and BSI sensor<br />- 4GB internal storage space, expandable via microSD card<br />- 1GB of RAM<br />- 1,800mAh battery<br />- 128mm x 66.9mm x 8.9mm in dimensions<br />- 118-gram weight<br />- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS with GLONASS</div> Published by <br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/112865615030946176397" rel="author">Priyanka</a>

HTC-Phone news HTC Desire L to be released in Taiwan

HTC doesn’t seem like one of those manufacturers who likes to stay out of the news for too long, seeing as it has now launched the Desire L ...

Read more »

Art Deco Dublin

As we walked to the Starbucks on Mespil Road this morning I saw this great Art Deco building. It's an apartment block called Cherry House. I popped in to the entrance for a gander - look at the great post boxes!! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-pCEGvU-B9YEmDgOKyAWz_7XRmgtCKdgqUumZR6fA2E3twpT5DfVGNXHlpKxyf99Gud4XwILZUqeDFh2vh3te7NKd-mm-HhrSMSU1452hGP90oYkuahXv9Q9yBwV2wkG-o0yQA5oMbVt/s640/blogger-image--1317562061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-pCEGvU-B9YEmDgOKyAWz_7XRmgtCKdgqUumZR6fA2E3twpT5DfVGNXHlpKxyf99Gud4XwILZUqeDFh2vh3te7NKd-mm-HhrSMSU1452hGP90oYkuahXv9Q9yBwV2wkG-o0yQA5oMbVt/s640/blogger-image--1317562061.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhryyiREhb_Nfj-TqNvAy27_drLny3g6DZMnjNWGeeyeItz9OZqSXQlO9R-Y323OCrL_QelJl38Wqtq5s7eoCUQ4P9ZWEghdl7_vY_RvJEq_WX74269aLUUcao4xfQd7mm4zEbefPL_PbbK/s640/blogger-image-720382887.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhryyiREhb_Nfj-TqNvAy27_drLny3g6DZMnjNWGeeyeItz9OZqSXQlO9R-Y323OCrL_QelJl38Wqtq5s7eoCUQ4P9ZWEghdl7_vY_RvJEq_WX74269aLUUcao4xfQd7mm4zEbefPL_PbbK/s640/blogger-image-720382887.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobY44Cn9Mc2zxbCNsrhBCHEXOhNyK62Ies43VmaDd2anAcX2UyhHm3c591SAfkO6BSE0jGZFb-xeumNZcxxufxXoEYUFqB9wUM_ldsQKp4Hpha37ZO1QY2_fhIDZXPmlfuMXMvB4STCpA/s640/blogger-image-441412764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobY44Cn9Mc2zxbCNsrhBCHEXOhNyK62Ies43VmaDd2anAcX2UyhHm3c591SAfkO6BSE0jGZFb-xeumNZcxxufxXoEYUFqB9wUM_ldsQKp4Hpha37ZO1QY2_fhIDZXPmlfuMXMvB4STCpA/s640/blogger-image-441412764.jpg" /></a></div>

Art Deco Dublin

As we walked to the Starbucks on Mespil Road this morning I saw this great Art Deco building. It's an apartment block called Cherry Hou...

Read more »

Social media comes to health care - CNNMoney

<base href="data:"><base href="data:" class=""><div style="color: black; text-align: left; " class=""><h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; line-height: 28px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" size="3" class="Apple-style-span">What makes a social network valuable? <span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; " class="">Facebook</span>, with more than 1 billion active monthly users posting photos, sending messages, and updating their status, has an impressive market capitalization of $65 billion, or about $65 per user. But Wall Street has assigned a valuation of almost $18.5 billion, or $92.50 per user, to <span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; " class="">LinkedIn</span>, the professional networking site that offers its 200 million members arguably more crucial services, such as help finding jobs. Now a cadre of social platforms aims to disrupt the way consumers share information about personal health, physicians, and treatments. Despite a proliferation of apps that let people monitor every movement and morsel they eat, information technology has yet to revolutionize health care the way it has upended, say, shopping. What the upstarts lack in scale (for now), they more than make up for in utility. Imagine joining an online global community of people with the same rare disorder, or finding a doctor on the basis of detailed patient reviews. <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/11/technology/facebook-zuckerberg-home.pr.fortune/index.html?iid=EL" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; " class="">Facebook may provide its fans</a> with tools they love, but this new wave of social networks offers tools that its users can't live without -- in some cases literally.</font></h2><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; " class=""><strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">The patient-to-patient network</font></strong></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">When brothers Ben and Jamie Heywood, both engineers at MIT, learned that their other brother, Stephen, had ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), they were frustrated by the lack of reliable information and support online. In 2004 they launched <a href="http://www.patientslikeme.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; " class="">PatientsLikeMe </a>as a destination for visitors to share personal stories, medical histories, and responses to online questionnaires. Today the site has 200,000 users covering about 1,800 diseases.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">Patients aren't the only ones finding value in the content on PatientsLikeMe. The company makes money selling its users' data to drugmakers, such as <span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; " class="">Merck</span> and <span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; " class="">Novartis</span>, and other research institutions, like universities. Even with all the privacy laws that regulate patient data, PatientsLikeMe, based in Cambridge, Mass., is able to bundle and release its network's information because, as Ben Heywood says, "we're radically open about it. We tell our members exactly what we do with their data, where it's going, and for what purpose." And the purpose, they argue, is for the greater good: The data can be used to make better, more targeted drugs and more efficient devices. Paul Wicks, a neuropsychologist and research director at PatientsLikeMe, says the company is expanding its patient-driven, standardized questionnaires, and envisions a day when patients can transfer data from health monitors and other devices, such as <span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; " class="">Google's</span> augmented-reality Glass product, to create a "learning health care system."</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; " class=""><strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">The doctor-to-patient network</font></strong></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.practicefusion.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; " class="">Practice Fusion</a> does not at first seem like a social network. The company provides a cloud-based electronic medical records system for doctors, then sells ads for this platform that subsidize the free service. CEO Ryan Howard knew that doctors would never switch to such a system -- even a free one -- unless it offered them more convenience. To win over physicians, Practice Fusion threw in a bunch of tools. Most crucially, it allowed MDs to easily transfer medical records to one another. Nearly 150,000 medical professionals are on Practice Fusion, and the service touches nearly 60 million patients. The reason doctors have been quick to adopt the service, which was founded in 2005 and has about $64 million in venture capital funding, is the intra-network information sharing. "That's the sell," says Howard.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">Practice Fusion has just launched a new service, Patient Fusion, that allows patients to post doctor reviews and check their schedules for an opening before booking an appointment; it's like TripAdvisor meets OpenTable for health care. New York-based <a href="http://www.zocdoc.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; " class="">ZocDoc</a> already offers those services free to patients, but doctors must pay the company $300 a month, an amount CEO Cyrus Massoumi says they're happy to shell out because the service "cuts out paperwork, adds convenience, and can open up their practice to new people."</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; " class=""><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/15/technology/patientslikeme-heywood.pr.fortune/index.html?iid=EL" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; " class=""><span style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; " class="inStoryHeading"><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">MORE: Rethinking health care with PatientsLikeMe</font></span></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">Indeed, the way we find doctors -- and our access to them -- has always revolved around networks; these new, online platforms simply upend all tradition. As Jamie Heywood puts it, "Social networks have existed in health care for 100 years -- as guilds, mailing lists, and simply who you knew."</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">One of the newest networks is <a href="https://www.healthtap.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; " class="">HealthTap</a>, an online hub of 1.2 million doctors worldwide who field questions from anyone, anywhere. (The homepage provocatively keeps a real-time ticker of "Answers served," now approaching 670 million.) What works as information delivery to patients is reputation building for doctors, and -- just as at PatientsLikeMe and Practice Fusion -- the ecosystem offers a trove of data to mine or use to build applications.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 26px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; " class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">The risk with any of the new networks, of course, is that a big social network could decide to leverage its massive scale to enter the health care business. Jamie Heywood estimates that of the 400,000 Americans with multiple sclerosis, 300,000 of them are probably on Facebook, while 30,000 are on PatientsLikeMe. Facebook theoretically could track its users' behavior to identify those with MS and exploit its position as the largest registry of MS patients in the world. But managing privacy issues and monitoring the quality of the customer experience for hundreds of diseases is incredibly complex. It's a barrier to entry that health care disrupters are counting on -- and what they hope will make their social networks especially valuable.</font></div></div><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/11/technology/social-media-health-care.pr.fortune/index.html?iid=EL" class=""><font face="'Helvetica Neue'" class="Apple-style-span">http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/11/technology/social-media-health-care.pr.fortune/index.html?iid=EL</font></a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; " class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Social media comes to health care - CNNMoney

What makes a social network valuable?  Facebook , with more than 1 billion active monthly users posting photos, sending messages, and updati...

Read more »

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/21/2013

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://faithtrustchalkdust.blogspot.com/2013/04/spring-is-in-air.html#comment-form">Faith, Trust and Chalk Dust: Spring is in the air</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">I love how this teacher used both sides of the brain to engage her students in test review. They painted, wrote and reviewed. Here here!</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/testing">testing</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/elemchat">elemchat</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2013/04/19/big-data-news-roundup-correlation-vs-causation/">Big Data News Roundup: Correlation vs. Causation - Forbes</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">The discussions about "big data" are receiving pushback who believe the conclusions are erroneous. Note that this is tied up in learning analytics as well. "Cuzzillo is joined by a growing chorus of critics that challenge some of the breathless pronouncements of big data enthusiasts. Specifically, it looks like the backlash theme-of-the-month is correlation vs. causation, possibly in reaction to the success of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier’s recent big data book in which they argued for dispensing “with a reliance on causation in favor of correlation”"</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/big">big</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/data">data</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/analytics">analytics</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/learning">learning</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/04/20/google-glass-has-one-year-to-change-your-behavior-or-fail/">Google Glass Has One Year To Change Your Behavior or Fail - Forbes</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">One year? I'm not sure how we're going to change in one year when no one can get the Google glasses yet. How will these be used in the classroom?</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/google">google</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2013/04/18/how-pearson-cheats-on-state-tests/">How Pearson Cheats on State Tests | Diane Ravitch's blog</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Diane Ravitch calls it. Read her blog post on this major ethical issue. I think we need an independent testing company. Isn't there a conflict of interest here when a company creates textbooks and the test? "I am an 8th grade teacher in Xxxx, NY. On Day 1 of the NYS ELA 8 Exam, I discovered what I believe to be a huge ethical flaw in the State test. The state test included a passage on why leaves change color that is included in the Pearson-generated NYS ELA 8 text. I taught it in my class just last week. In a test with 6 passages and questions to complete in 90 minutes, it was a huge advantage to students fortunate enough to use a Pearson text and not that of a rival publisher. It may very well have an impact on student test scores. This has not yet received any attention in the press. Could you help me bring this to the attention of the public?"</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/pearson">pearson</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_news">edu_news</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/18/school-principals-and-the-rhetoric-of-instructional-leadership/">School principals and the rhetoric of ‘instructional leadership’</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Great article by Larry Cuban on the Washington Post that you should forward to principals. "Yet studies of principal behavior in schools makes clear that spending time in classrooms to observe, monitor, and evaluate classroom lessons do not necessarily lead to better teaching or higher student achievement on standardized tests. Where there is a correlation between principals’ influence on teachers and student performance, it occurs when principals create and sustain an academic ethos in the school, organize instruction across the school, and align school lessons to district standards and standardized test items. There is hardly any positive association between principals walking in and out of classrooms a half-dozen times a day and conferring briefly with teaches about those five-minute visits.The reality of daily principal actions conflicts with the theory."</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/principal">principal</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/leadership">leadership</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_news">edu_news</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/20/new-standardized-tests-feature-plugs-for-commercial-products/?tid=pm_local_pop">New standardized tests feature plugs for commercial products</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Disgusting. Via the Washington Post So many things going wrong. "Talk about corporate-based school reform. New high-stakes standardized tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards are featuring plugs for commercial products. And the companies didn’t have to pay a penny. Yes, New York state students who this past week took Pearson-designed exams were just treated to plugs for LEGO, Mug Root Beer and more products from at least half a dozen companies, according to  the New York Post."</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/testing">testing</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323309604578433173025473466.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5">Gifted Exam Scoring Flaws Are Uncovered - WSJ.com</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Tests are important. They should be accurate. Not only should they be audited, but I think that districts should have a pre-look at tests and strike questions that aren't taught to kids. It isn't fair to the kids to be tested on material they aren't taught. "Thousands of students were incorrectly told they weren't eligible for the city's gifted-and-talented public-school program due to errors by the testing company, city officials said Friday. The errors affected 4,735 children, or 13.2% of test takers, who are now eligible for gifted programs, including 2,037 students who are newly eligible for elite schools that accept students from across the city who scored in the 97th percentile or above. Test maker Pearson PSON.LN +0.09% PLC discovered the errors after two parents last week took their concerns about the scoring to Department of Education officials. The British-based company found it made an error on the students' ages and two errors in calculating their scores."</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/21/2013

Faith, Trust and Chalk Dust: Spring is in the air I love how this teacher used both sides of the bra...

Read more »

Google mapthon case may be taken by CBI from Delhi

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The CBI is probably going to require over Associate in Nursing investigation by the city police, that is inquisitory whether or not Google profaned rules in holding a contest that asked users to feature data concerning their native areas for its on-line mapping services.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-indent: -0.37px;">The agency will take over as the investigation will have national ramifications, says this report </span><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/cbi-may-take-up-google-mapathon-case/article4637680.ece" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; color: rgb(3, 101, 198) !important; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.375px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">in <em style="border: 0px currentColor; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hindu</em></a><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-indent: -0.37px;">.</span></blockquote>Google, that ran the “Mapathon” in Republic of India in February and March, aforesaid its aim was to form a lot of native data accessible to any or all which it didn't break any laws.<br /><br />The investigation against Google is predicated on a criticism filed by Survey of Republic of India, the country’s national survey and mapping agency, that aforesaid the competition was outlawed and should threaten national security.<br /><br />Google invited users to assist “create higher maps for India” by adding data of their neighbourhoods and secure the highest one,000 mappers prizes of tablets, smartphones and gift vouchers.<br /><br /></div>Published by <br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/109327345317740893213" rel="author">Manish</a></div>

google news Google mapthon case may be taken by CBI from Delhi

The CBI is probably going to require over Associate in Nursing investigation by the city police, that is inquisitory whether or not Google p...

Read more »

IWS Babe the Week...God Save the Birthday!!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">In order to add some class and royal regalia to this week's installment of the IWS Babe of the Week, we celebrate and honor the 86th Birthday of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II...<br /><br />When she took the royal throne in 1952, she not only became Queen Elizabeth II, she also took on the title of, Her Royal Hotness...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41qfWAO9VxL7wf1kabP0pmudvGQwpkCv9bZvnaECV4tIcz4GXlFl0p9QqxdkWedxAy6WOYuBAdQ823rdP7QpEPKe77X8BJl2yrACfvHqMv8d-d5NY9bwQ04DrvyrEhAxqeoAUHCAIEdA/s1600/Queen+Elizabeth+Sexy+Young.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41qfWAO9VxL7wf1kabP0pmudvGQwpkCv9bZvnaECV4tIcz4GXlFl0p9QqxdkWedxAy6WOYuBAdQ823rdP7QpEPKe77X8BJl2yrACfvHqMv8d-d5NY9bwQ04DrvyrEhAxqeoAUHCAIEdA/s400/Queen+Elizabeth+Sexy+Young.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />     Oh sure Queen Elizabeth II can really rock out the royal trappings and haute couture of the office...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR31HSqf5r-EqrS9pZtyAANbfQje8cBtlPP2EoMTt62so5oQGA7YqGYroMGefNx9cFdrPgZkTI5IuK540OFRhAgwlq9XqCVapdce1kUpHEKqhffyg5_sEkIlAwftfdVHm7JY36UTrfuFM/s1600/Queen+Elizabeth+II+Birthday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR31HSqf5r-EqrS9pZtyAANbfQje8cBtlPP2EoMTt62so5oQGA7YqGYroMGefNx9cFdrPgZkTI5IuK540OFRhAgwlq9XqCVapdce1kUpHEKqhffyg5_sEkIlAwftfdVHm7JY36UTrfuFM/s400/Queen+Elizabeth+II+Birthday.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But she is even sexier when she gets down and dirty with the commoners...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xraXTPWz0-L_8VMbdu8UiUyPdshdkfY3Y2GJmeuljp4b7xDb_wcllftsAUZbqO1gHH_C7pQV-h6EK4GO2teuNyssZsSCvw8gD3A_jFSV3p_aPdDpCohGfCfl2oxT06mzlZ9nwvXji9g/s1600/Queen+Elizabeth+Common+Woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xraXTPWz0-L_8VMbdu8UiUyPdshdkfY3Y2GJmeuljp4b7xDb_wcllftsAUZbqO1gHH_C7pQV-h6EK4GO2teuNyssZsSCvw8gD3A_jFSV3p_aPdDpCohGfCfl2oxT06mzlZ9nwvXji9g/s400/Queen+Elizabeth+Common+Woman.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So, here's to you, QE 2...Have a very Happy Birthday, drink up, and smoke em' if ya got em'...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigq7J8qY3lOUurbojJSxnukWpM65ww6_5FrDFmUhQ4h6uzN3Md2Zrcyvy9SUEtRXN_KPNMaticAy-TC_og-DeR1iLTXA9t_LClRolVKZF2iXmQOUDxQ0DJctPhx9ivM-0s5gRHDeoWM0U/s1600/Queen+Elizabeth+Sexy+Party+Drinker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigq7J8qY3lOUurbojJSxnukWpM65ww6_5FrDFmUhQ4h6uzN3Md2Zrcyvy9SUEtRXN_KPNMaticAy-TC_og-DeR1iLTXA9t_LClRolVKZF2iXmQOUDxQ0DJctPhx9ivM-0s5gRHDeoWM0U/s400/Queen+Elizabeth+Sexy+Party+Drinker.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And don't forget folks!!  Jay, Matt, and the IWS Radio gang will be airing <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/04/21/whats-on-tap" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><i>LIVE TODAY</i></span></a> from Noon-2 PM ET.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They'll be drafting their favorite comedians, monarchs, beers, and many more things and people.  It's going to be non-stop hilarity especially when you listen live and call-in at 661.244.9852.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So listen LIVE Today to the IWS Radio "What's on Tap" Show.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can join the fun by clicking <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/04/21/whats-on-tap" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><i>HERE!!</i></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>

IWS Babe the Week...God Save the Birthday!!

In order to add some class and royal regalia to this week's installment of the IWS Babe of the Week, we celebrate and honor the 86th Bir...

Read more »

Saturday lunch

Amy and I went to Dillingers again. We love it!! I think we may become regulars..... <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_IO-tvHVwXLXfR8x9_DxKINUxX7Jq1i32YqBeAar6b1v_JuQ6OglJ1y2b_VK9-qQM6hlb5RQAAi5cR7V_l8bzrG3W-T2QK4ej0yPnvPCvch2A9vCygIKzFhNX_4vNVRAK9cK8ZKTGrqJi/s640/blogger-image-277302163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_IO-tvHVwXLXfR8x9_DxKINUxX7Jq1i32YqBeAar6b1v_JuQ6OglJ1y2b_VK9-qQM6hlb5RQAAi5cR7V_l8bzrG3W-T2QK4ej0yPnvPCvch2A9vCygIKzFhNX_4vNVRAK9cK8ZKTGrqJi/s640/blogger-image-277302163.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjN_gcGay8QVowx3ajVJ5cTJy9Mbj9U4PNi6e58JS2Ja2vxb-XWNP7Psaw5_JxvzYEXUBPx9TKaWY94xOAt2mQvQ6q43n-kdGSHWgMeiYf0n1boEmQeNEn8JTxHOkkQWKyRSA8tsbpubqN/s640/blogger-image-991950317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjN_gcGay8QVowx3ajVJ5cTJy9Mbj9U4PNi6e58JS2Ja2vxb-XWNP7Psaw5_JxvzYEXUBPx9TKaWY94xOAt2mQvQ6q43n-kdGSHWgMeiYf0n1boEmQeNEn8JTxHOkkQWKyRSA8tsbpubqN/s640/blogger-image-991950317.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QjOuuBV5dx_aYlO_A_0NkzuZDYNm7VW2VaUCvPF_TIvYL3yUXaz-kzdjSxcsdWOaRl6-Gh8oUgjU65T0uBHNUf4_bpfDZWzQrjgfsf7WGYuKhHw4YocUbOdRD-UwwI3WyuNrmL_1U1dp/s640/blogger-image--1133688219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QjOuuBV5dx_aYlO_A_0NkzuZDYNm7VW2VaUCvPF_TIvYL3yUXaz-kzdjSxcsdWOaRl6-Gh8oUgjU65T0uBHNUf4_bpfDZWzQrjgfsf7WGYuKhHw4YocUbOdRD-UwwI3WyuNrmL_1U1dp/s640/blogger-image--1133688219.jpg" /></a></div>

Saturday lunch

Amy and I went to Dillingers again. We love it!! I think we may become regulars.....

Read more »

Ideal Homes Show

The Ideal Homes Show was on this weekend. I met my sister in Ballsbridge and after going for a Frappuccino in Starbucks we went to the show. <br /><br />It was very busy, there were a lot of people at it and it was quite difficult to see a lot of the stands. There was the usual amount of hawking and demonstrations but we managed to avoid most of this.<br /><br />Amy chatted to a representative from a hot tub company based in Lisburn in Northern Ireland. While I was interested in a product that scares urban foxes away. <br /><br />We also spotted Karen Koster from Ireland AM on TV3 - she looked really well, I loved her hair colour. She was with her fiancée John McGuire, owner of Dax Bar/Restaurant and former presenter of "I'm an adult, get me out of here". Karen was working at the show.<br /><br />The only thing I bought was a bunch of eCloths (microfiber) for cleaning. <br /><br />We walked back to Ranelagh (about 30 mins) and made it to Dillinger's just before 4 for their late brunch menu. They close at 4pm and reopen at 5pm for dinner. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uGltOiI4aFHzATQDPQLvauv9E_T6Z_dAeDPTuXA4LYorvTu1Rjo37Fhqd3C67D-pla7ZbBpZpaD2HSUBYdhB_MDczVPNEAzfn2rl3HGzkbVFiv4de7mSqfPYmriebZCzVArzt8hFHHuF/s640/blogger-image-96947630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uGltOiI4aFHzATQDPQLvauv9E_T6Z_dAeDPTuXA4LYorvTu1Rjo37Fhqd3C67D-pla7ZbBpZpaD2HSUBYdhB_MDczVPNEAzfn2rl3HGzkbVFiv4de7mSqfPYmriebZCzVArzt8hFHHuF/s640/blogger-image-96947630.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDIMRTPgUzscDJN4ITOYe2x-qZ8h6gmDY-sGhKicjYQ97PuvbvWfJh9gUlz9PAM0P_AQOWeD95RF34QIO8Hv8VvwoiBgswMrTIGxrjp_jTEaa1N6Y45bNxAl7wfV7pNc34hY1J7EBFNFw/s640/blogger-image-603853416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDIMRTPgUzscDJN4ITOYe2x-qZ8h6gmDY-sGhKicjYQ97PuvbvWfJh9gUlz9PAM0P_AQOWeD95RF34QIO8Hv8VvwoiBgswMrTIGxrjp_jTEaa1N6Y45bNxAl7wfV7pNc34hY1J7EBFNFw/s640/blogger-image-603853416.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTEzh6zb6YsOdHYMfFo5YHPH8mopI6w1y9XYCL1H7oGLoO6AVfP_Ii58eAse1skhPgCJ8TW1F6H_In-F5Pdc99OphztXAnuO0I1sGSa-hIUMSX3dns8bvCd_qDvJZ8e26rFlCIFWCfrdE/s640/blogger-image-616812410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTEzh6zb6YsOdHYMfFo5YHPH8mopI6w1y9XYCL1H7oGLoO6AVfP_Ii58eAse1skhPgCJ8TW1F6H_In-F5Pdc99OphztXAnuO0I1sGSa-hIUMSX3dns8bvCd_qDvJZ8e26rFlCIFWCfrdE/s640/blogger-image-616812410.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-ojQu0sy1g1X2wcLGSkQ8GiifnpEvy_yftMyUk7GaIibNRHjiLeEGs6vLtIUdBR63caIhe-D65PpTCmJF3sgW887mKUAcn0UxpxC5eHxEDY4y5e9SU94hIIa4nhIgHDDdVoayCcdm58t/s640/blogger-image--1626628938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-ojQu0sy1g1X2wcLGSkQ8GiifnpEvy_yftMyUk7GaIibNRHjiLeEGs6vLtIUdBR63caIhe-D65PpTCmJF3sgW887mKUAcn0UxpxC5eHxEDY4y5e9SU94hIIa4nhIgHDDdVoayCcdm58t/s640/blogger-image--1626628938.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_WxTWQ6tRfdf59Wq6LAyV1AEt92RyflE-2Q0YBSlXnS1FBILSUoJdOaSxsc1XwuViVFng7OPip3bzjCKddu8IgqU23B81bF4-FiyJprktfCTqi1ugragrrWHUG_6bWkMp0aYNsPBa2PA/s640/blogger-image-1448056739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_WxTWQ6tRfdf59Wq6LAyV1AEt92RyflE-2Q0YBSlXnS1FBILSUoJdOaSxsc1XwuViVFng7OPip3bzjCKddu8IgqU23B81bF4-FiyJprktfCTqi1ugragrrWHUG_6bWkMp0aYNsPBa2PA/s640/blogger-image-1448056739.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GDKasgidncghvq17YUQCDp4gmX6iEriF2vrPHv-_FPEXqebxZwGOYao12lRSIRMCS1ZFz0h0aIbl3untaKr0Ire4QSgE-y8UTWZ1aWLHfZpBbR_CiwNf0n_TN7OqRhUZzCDLTz6CfSKu/s640/blogger-image--543808445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GDKasgidncghvq17YUQCDp4gmX6iEriF2vrPHv-_FPEXqebxZwGOYao12lRSIRMCS1ZFz0h0aIbl3untaKr0Ire4QSgE-y8UTWZ1aWLHfZpBbR_CiwNf0n_TN7OqRhUZzCDLTz6CfSKu/s640/blogger-image--543808445.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5wfl_JIfkVcZ-hrvewcdcSlPhJNfdu774WNsBtyAmPfeDzj9cQHc11JgHjRza_cAkjHoCitdwZ9Zsn5i0fbHEJGr-g4JFXutUetHcTseIWfb4hXE15kc-5IUtAZd58u5i-h0SDkwOA_L/s640/blogger-image--62868724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5wfl_JIfkVcZ-hrvewcdcSlPhJNfdu774WNsBtyAmPfeDzj9cQHc11JgHjRza_cAkjHoCitdwZ9Zsn5i0fbHEJGr-g4JFXutUetHcTseIWfb4hXE15kc-5IUtAZd58u5i-h0SDkwOA_L/s640/blogger-image--62868724.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKo-x15xg66n5fbdMJra1f60fyqmaZVAVSVfaM9xBXKgrTxl-w-qzOMrNOJDqK0NUdsO2TsyWAsi2mtsHeAsVI62i3iNxwWwZ0oLdSIzeWOxnOw5J0FzUyuPBCyjGXkWSU5uNivPRF9bUM/s640/blogger-image-807767333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKo-x15xg66n5fbdMJra1f60fyqmaZVAVSVfaM9xBXKgrTxl-w-qzOMrNOJDqK0NUdsO2TsyWAsi2mtsHeAsVI62i3iNxwWwZ0oLdSIzeWOxnOw5J0FzUyuPBCyjGXkWSU5uNivPRF9bUM/s640/blogger-image-807767333.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKdBXie4RA_FysUtZ6Sa55xtvIATm3lexNrMerUkLlmx_S6_Apv77LcZjh1xQRXSRKOjiQsd8vUp5GFjGmQX1vReyo9wpABitYnvRBnyJjf4yVG_sbFOd49ytRRUwZdE_ITFhwST8vo8K/s640/blogger-image-145048782.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKdBXie4RA_FysUtZ6Sa55xtvIATm3lexNrMerUkLlmx_S6_Apv77LcZjh1xQRXSRKOjiQsd8vUp5GFjGmQX1vReyo9wpABitYnvRBnyJjf4yVG_sbFOd49ytRRUwZdE_ITFhwST8vo8K/s640/blogger-image-145048782.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgREOB-33CJMyTDcod-024jTkfNXXjq581pMPoDf9kXEBYnWI74HgwHttHG4MrPLieunA13wpFpN0AuFf96WGy7KWt1F9Fxm1IlpQ-FBNEhXKAm4plQ20P9v1B0QawX1lvyOKPHTYSMmXL/s640/blogger-image--346450407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgREOB-33CJMyTDcod-024jTkfNXXjq581pMPoDf9kXEBYnWI74HgwHttHG4MrPLieunA13wpFpN0AuFf96WGy7KWt1F9Fxm1IlpQ-FBNEhXKAm4plQ20P9v1B0QawX1lvyOKPHTYSMmXL/s640/blogger-image--346450407.jpg" /></a></div>

Ideal Homes Show

The Ideal Homes Show was on this weekend. I met my sister in Ballsbridge and after going for a Frappuccino in Starbucks we went to the show...

Read more »

MSNBC comes perilously close to Brian Ross-level blunder

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="412" id="flashObj" width="486"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=2312488170001&playerID=1409164951001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAETmrZQ~,EVFEM4AKJdRjek0MS21pRzf_GTDAM-xj&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=2312488170001&playerID=1409164951001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAETmrZQ~,EVFEM4AKJdRjek0MS21pRzf_GTDAM-xj&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>Chuck Todd may have saved MSNBC from an enormous blunder this morning when he stopped one of the network's analysts from speculating on "the electronic trails" of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Todd's decision to interrupt an analyst on-air shows just how cautious some media organizations have become in a week that has been defined by conflicting reports and misinformation. But the crisis Todd averted bore greater similarity to the one ABC's Brian Ross was responsible for last July, when, based off a single website, he reported that the Aurora shooting suspect may have had connections to the tea party. On today's edition of MSNBC's Daily Rundown, which Todd hosts, NBC News analyst Evan Kohlmann started describing what he believed was one of the suspect's Amazon "wish lists" -- that is, a list of products the suspect wanted to buy on Amazon.com, the online retail site. (PHOTOS: Boston Marathon bombing suspects) "Let me stop you there," Todd said. "We don't know for sure this is one of his Amazon wish lists?" "I want to stress, we don't know for sure, but it is certainly his name...." Kohlmann said, before being interrupted by Todd. "I've got to stop you there," Todd said. "Our folks -- we don't necessarily want to put this on air yet until we verify it." (Also on POLITICO: Boston bombing media dos & don'ts) Kohlmann said he understood, then started speculating on possible links between the suspects and Al Qaeda or other organized terror networks on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which, he said, have been known to use Chechens or individuals who look like Chechens. "One of those groups is known as the Islamic Jihad Union," Kohlmann said. In the studio, off camera, a voice could be heard saying, "Oh my God." (Also on POLITICO: Pete Williams hailed as media hero) Todd finally cut in again: "I didn't mean to cut you off, but we don't want to draw so many conclusions," he said. "But your point is that this is the type of string that the intelligence community is going to start pulling at -- is that right." Kohlmann confirmed that, then stipulated that though this was relevant background information, he did not know which groups were involved. UPDATE (11:05 a.m.): Kohlmann emails: At no time did I ever suggest any specific terrorist organization was directly responsible for this week's tragic events in Boston. To the contrary, I have repeatedly and emphatically cautioned that these events are likely within the capabilities of individual actors -- and in fact, I have cited public denials from groups like the Pakistani Taliban and the Chechen mujahideen. However, I believe it is indeed worthwhile to at least explore the possibility that there was an organization involved -- and which groups are credible potential culprits.</div>

MSNBC MSNBC comes perilously close to Brian Ross-level blunder

Chuck Todd may have saved MSNBC from an enormous blunder this morning when he stopped one of the network's analysts from speculating on ...

Read more »