Friday, April 14, 2006

Part III - Open Source Java Frameworks for Web Development

This is the last part of the article on Frameworks. In the previous articles I have given an introduction on the concepts of frameworks and how foundations on modern java frameworks were laid. In this article, I will compare several production quality web frameworks, such as Struts, Spring, and Hibernate and go over basic similarities and underlying concepts.

Basic Concepts

Almost all modern Web-development frameworks follow the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design. Business logic and presentation are separated and a controller of logic flow coordinates requests from clients and actions taken on the server. This approach has become the de facto of Web development. The underlying mechanics of each framework are of course different, but the APIs that developers use to design and implement their Web applications are very similar. The difference also lies in the extensions that each framework provides, such as tag libraries, Java Server Faces, or Java Bean wrappers.

All frameworks use different techniques to coordinate the navigation within the Web application, such as the XML configuration file, java property files, or custom properties. All frameworks also differ in the way the controller module is implemented. For instance, EJBs may instantiate classes needed in each request, or Java reflection can be used to dynamically invoke an appropriate action classes. Also, frameworks may differ conceptually. For example, one framework may define the user request and response (and error) scenario, and another may only define a complete flow from one request to multiple responses and subsequent requests.

Java frameworks are similar in the way they structure data flow. After request, some action takes place on the application server, and some data populated objects are always sent to the JSP layer with the response. Data is then extracted from those objects, which could be simple classes with setter and getter methods, java beans, value objects, or some collection objects. Modern Java frameworks also simplify a developer's tasks by providing automatic Session tracking with easy APIs, database connection pools, and even database call wrappers. Some frameworks either provide hooks into other J2EE technologies, such as JMS (Java Messaging Service) or JMX, or have these technologies integrated. Server data persistence and logging also could be part of a framework.

Popular Web Frameworks

Apache Struts Framework

Spring Framework

JDBC abstraction layer with a meaningful exception hierarchy.

Integration with Hibernate, DAO implementation support, and transaction strategies.

Hibernate Framework

WebWork -
Tapestry -,

Enterprise Development Environments

Some of these frameworks became very popular within the Web developer Community and enterprise development space. As these frameworks matured into stable releases, commercial IDE (integrated development environment) toolmakers started to build support for them into their products. Some even went as far as to develop whole products based on the concepts of the framework. For example, BEA WebLogic Workshop is build around the Struts framework.Borland JBuilder has built-in support for Struts and features JSF and JSTL support as well.

The Eclipse platform became a very popular development tool, partly because of its plug-in base and partly because of its Web framework support. Numerous plug-ins to Eclipse or even entire distributions of Eclipse-based IDEs appeared. Many of the plug-ins were designed for Struts framework development, such as MyEclipse ( or M7 (

As the Web development arena continues to evolve its tools and programming methodologies, so will the Java application frameworks continue to grow. The future seems very bright for the Java Web-development frameworks.

End of Part III

Part II - Java Frameworks (The evolution of Java development)

This is the second part of the article on Frameworks which illustrates the evolution of java development. Major part of it have been gleaned from the article “Java Frameworks Take Hold “ By Rene Bonvanie

Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) is an incredibly powerful technology. It is designed to be flexible enough to adapt to many different types of applications without requiring developers to invent new approaches.

Start that first project, and the questions come fast and furious. What combination of JavaServer Pages (JSP), Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), and servlet components should you use to build each part of the system? How will performance be ensured? Is one approach more scalable than another? And finally, how can the choices, once selected, be enforced consistently across a development team?

These questions are at the core of one of the most important discussions in the Java community today. And the mass adoption of Java in internet development projects has resulted in a flood of solutions in the shape of best practices, frameworks, and development tools.

In The Beginning: Design Patterns

The Java community recognized early on that guidelines were necessary to help developers deal with the myriad J2EE-related choices. Gradually, a set of best practices emerged, usually called the J2EE Design Patterns.

J2EE Design Patterns generalize proven, high-quality approaches for frequently encountered design issues with the J2EE application model in a format that all developers can use. Typically, a design pattern is a written description of the problem domain followed by some sample code implementing a solution.

Take, for example, the Web tier in a typical J2EE application. JSP and servlets do a great job at increasing developer productivity when building individual dynamic Web pages but provide little support for managing page-to-page flow. Furthermore, on their own, JSP and servlets do not enforce separation of the Web presentation and business logic.

Here is where design patterns fit in. The basic problem just described is resolved by a pattern called the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern. This pattern specifies a way to build an application so there is a consistent way to control page flow and to separate presentation and business logic layers. The MVC approach naturally builds on JSP and servlets, using the strength of these core specifications.

Next Generation: Frameworks

Developers have gravitated to the J2EE Design Patterns en masse because they represent some of the best-known practices for J2EE application development. Incorpora-ting design patterns into applications promises high-quality, high-performance implementations.

Yet the problem most developers face when working with design patterns is that they are exactly as their name implies: a set of patterns that tend to be academically rigorous but are not easily enforceable or automated on their own. Design patterns are merely coding templates and recommendations that developers are expected to follow, with no guarantees of consistency, understanding, or enforceability. Vendors and developers are now moving to the next generation: developing frameworks based on the J2EE Design Patterns.

At the lowest level, J2EE frameworks automate the easily repeatable coding aspects of the patterns with techniques such as automatic code generation or a metadata-driven approach. At the highest level, J2EE frameworks turn into visual design and declarative programming environments.

An example framework is Apache Struts, implementing the MVC design pattern. It is a popular open source Web-tier framework that originated in an effort to provide a standard implementation of the MVC design pattern. Struts took the major concepts of MVC and created a consistent, reusable metadata layer into which J2EE developers plug the specifics of their applications.

With Struts, J2EE developers no longer have to worry about building the MVC design pattern "plumbing" in every project; rather, they can focus on applying their creative thinking to the presentation layer of the business application itself. Struts—and frameworks in general—bring other benefits too: reduced training costs, faster project delivery, and consistency across application implementations.

One can work across a standard J2EE architecture and find representative frameworks implementing design patterns in each tier. For example, Web-tier frameworks such as Apache Struts are easily combined with business-tier frameworks such as Business Components for Java (BC4J), to write entire applications.

There are many options in the data tier. For instance, BC4J provides a highly scalable implementation of the data access object pattern for persistence. Such business-tier frameworks are also frequently paired with persistence layers such as Oracle9iAS TopLink that help developers map general-purpose business-domain models to data stores such as relational databases.

Frameworks such as Apache Struts and BC4J represent a growing trend in the framework world: implement a set of J2EE Design Patterns and ensure the framework is open and flexible enough to easily plug into other popular frameworks. The goal is to give J2EE developers choice and productivity at the same time.

Making Choices

In the open source and commercial space, dozens of frameworks are emerging. Logical questions follow. What makes a successful framework? How does a developer choose the right framework? Which ones will survive?

One answer is that the surviving, widely adopted frameworks will likely be those that cleanly and elegantly solve architectural problems and significantly increase productivity over straight programming. Leading J2EE frameworks will be judged on quality of implementation, maturity, usability, cost, performance, and reliability.

As the core J2EE specifications evolve to incorporate framework features, the J2EE containers will provide developers with best practices and design consistency already built in. When this happens, developers will focus their selection criteria on the second major area frameworks tend to feature: productivity and ease of use for developers.

Open source Java Frameworks

Below is the list of some popular frameworks in the open source space.

Open Source J2EE Application Frameworks

Open Source Web Frameworks in Java

Spring MVC – MVC framework provided by Spring is amost similar to Struts but is more powerful and easy to use.

Open Source Persistence Frameworks in Java

End of Part II

Part I - Introduction to Frameworks

For all of my friends who are already familiar with development of web based applications with Java (J2EE) using JSP and servlets, and would like to start using Java Frameworks, here is a three part article that introduce the basics of modern java frameworks.

The concept of framework has been kicking around in software development for a long time in one form or another. In its simplest form, a framework is simply a body of tried and tested code that is reused in multiple software development projects. A framework in general, provides an implementation for the core and unvarying functions and includes mechanisms to allow developer to plug-in various functions or to extend the funtions.

Frameworks can be classified into 3 based on their scope, as follows:

1. System infrastructure frameworks - These frameworks simplify the development of portable and efficient system infrastructure such as operating system and communication frameworks, and frameworks for user interfaces and language processing tools. System infrastructure frameworks are primarily used internally within a software organization and are not sold to customers directly.

2. Middleware integration frameworks - These frameworks are commonly used to integrate distributed applications and components. Middleware integration frameworks are designed to enhance the ability of software developers to modularize, reuse, and extend their software infrastructure to work seamlessly in a distributed environment. There is a thriving market for Middleware integration frameworks, which are rapidly becoming commodities. Common examples include ORB frameworks, message-oriented middleware, and transactional databases.

3. Enterprise application frameworks - These frameworks address broad application domains (such as telecommunications, avionics, manufacturing, and financial engineering) and are the cornerstone of enterprise business activities. Relative to System infrastructure and Middleware integration frameworks, Enterprise frameworks are expensive to develop and/or purchase. However, Enterprise frameworks can provide a substantial return on investment since they support the development of end-user applications and products directly.

Object-Oriented (OO) Application Frameworks

Object-oriented (OO) application frameworks are a promising technology for reifying proven software designs and implementations in order to reduce the cost and improve the quality of software. An OO application framework is a reusable, ``semi-complete'' application that can be specialized to produce custom applications. In contrast to earlier OO reuse techniques based on class libraries, frameworks are targeted for particular business units (such as data processing or cellular communications) and application domains (such as user interfaces or persistance).

Modularity - Frameworks enhance modularity by encapsulating volatile implementation details behind stable interfaces. Framework modularity helps improve software quality by localizing the impact of design and implementation changes. This localization reduces the effort required to understand and maintain existing software.

Reusability - The stable interfaces provided by frameworks enhance reusability by defining generic components that can be reapplied to create new applications. Framework reusability leverages the domain knowledge and prior effort of experienced developers in order to avoid re-creating and re-validating common solutions to recurring application requirements and software design challenges. Reuse of framework components can yield substantial improvements in programmer productivity, as well as enhance the quality, performance, reliability and interoperability of software.

Extensibility - A framework enhances extensibility by providing explicit hook methods that allow applications to extend its stable interfaces. Hook methods systematically decouple the stable interfaces and behaviors of an application domain from the variations required by instantiations of an application in a particular context. Framework extensibility is essential to ensure timely customization of new application services and features.

Inversion of control - The run-time architecture of a framework is characterized by an ``inversion of control.'' This architecture enables canonical application processing steps to be customized by event handler objects that are invoked via the framework's reactive dispatching mechanism. When events occur, the framework's dispatcher reacts by invoking hook methods on pre-registered handler objects, which perform application-specific processing on the events. Inversion of control allows the framework (rather than each application) to determine which set of application-specific methods to invoke in response to external events (such as window messages arriving from end-users or packets arriving on communication ports).

The next generation of OO application frameworks targeted at complex business and application domains. At the heart of this effort were the Object Request Broker (ORB) frameworks, which facilitate communication between local and remote objects. ORB frameworks eliminate many tedious, error-prone, and non-portable aspects of creating and managing distributed applications and reusable service components. This enables programmers to develop and deploy complex applications rapidly and robustly, rather than wrestling endlessly with low-level infrastructure concerns. Widely used ORB frameworks include CORBA, DCOM, and Java RMI.

In server-side development, a number of core tasks crop up over and over again. Such tasks can be pulled into a core framework, built and tested once, and reused across multiple projects. Utilizing this opportunity, many frameworks emerged that simplified the development of web based projects. As development of Web-based application servers and their applications expanded, so did the frameworks that supported these technologies. Currently, there are many software frameworks in the enterprise development space especially for the Java J2EE platform.

A good framework enhances the maintainability of software through API consistency, comprehensive documentation, and thorough testing. Some companies invest formally in frameworks and developers build up a library of components that they use often. Such actions reduce development time while improving delivered software quality - which means that developers can spend more time concentrating on the business-specific problem at hand rather than on the plumbing code behind it. There are also many mature frameworks available in the open source arena. Adopting such stable frameworks are more effective than going on to develop a framework from scratch.

End of Part I

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Object Oriented Database Management Systems

In today's world, Client-Server applications that rely on a database on the server as a data store while servicing requests from multiple clients are quite commonplace. Most of these applications use a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) as their data store while using an object oriented programming language for development. This causes a certain inefficency as objects must be mapped to tuples in the database and vice versa instead of the data being stored in a way that is consistent with the programming model. The "impedance mismatch" caused by having to map objects to tables and vice versa has long been accepted as a necessary performance penalty. The following article is aimed at seeking out an alternative that avoids this penalty.This information was gleaned from the article “An Exploration Of Object Oriented Database Management Systems“ by Dare Obasanjo.

Overview of OODBMS

An OODBMS is the result of combining object oriented programming principles with database management principles. Object oriented programming concepts such as encapsulation, polymorphism and inheritance are enforced as well as database management concepts such as the ACID properties (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability) which lead to system integrity, support for an ad hoc query language and secondary storage management systems which allow for managing very large amounts of data.

The Object Oriented Database Manifesto specifically lists the following features as mandatory for a system to support before it can be called an OODBMS; Complex objects, Object identity, Encapsulation, Types and Classes, Class or Type Hierarchies, Overriding, overloading and late binding, Computational completeness, Extensibility, Persistence, Secondary storage management, Concurrency, Recovery and an Ad Hoc Query Facility. An OODBMS is thus a full scale object oriented development environment as well as a database management system. Features that are common in the RDBMS world such as transactions, the ability to handle large amounts of data, indexes, deadlock detection, backup and restoration features and data recovery mechanisms also exist in the OODBMS world.

A primary feature of an OODBMS is that accessing objects in the database is done in a transparent manner such that interaction with persistent objects is no different from interacting with in-memory objects. This is very different from using an RDBMSs in that there is no need to interact via a query sub-language like SQL nor is there a reason to use a Call Level Interface such as ODBC, ADO or JDBC. Database operations typically involve obtaining a database root from the the OODBMS which is usually a data structure like a graph, vector, hash table, or set and traversing it to obtain objects to create, update or delete from the database.

Comparisons of OODBMSs to RDBMSs

There are concepts in the relational database model that are similar to those in the object database model. A relation or table in a relational database can be considered to be analogous to a class in an object database. A tuple is similar to an instance of a class but is different in that it has attributes but no behaviors. A column in a tuple is similar to a class attribute except that a column can hold only primitive data types while a class attribute can hold data of any type. Finally classes have methods which are computationally complete (meaning that general purpose control and computational structures are provided) while relational databases typically do not have computationally complete programming capabilities although some stored procedure languages come close.

Below is a list of advantages and disadvantages of using an OODBMS over an RDBMS with an object oriented programming language.

Composite Objects and Relationships: Objects in an OODBMS can store an arbitrary number of atomic types as well as other objects. It is thus possible to have a large class which holds many medium sized classes which themselves hold many smaller classes, ad infinitum. In a relational database this has to be done either by having one huge table with lots of null fields or via a number of smaller, normalized tables which are linked via foreign keys. Having lots of smaller tables is still a problem since a join has to be performed every time one wants to query data based on the "Has-a" relationship between the entities. Also an object is a better model of the real world entity than the relational tuples with regards to complex objects. The fact that an OODBMS is better suited to handling complex,interrelated data than an RDBMS means that an OODBMS can outperform an RDBMS by ten to a thousand times depending on the complexity of the data being handled.

Class Hierarchy: Data in the real world is usually has hierarchical characteristics. The ever popular Employee example used in most RDBMS texts is easier to describe in an OODBMS than in an RDBMS. An Employee can be a Manager or not, this is usually done in an RDBMS by having a type identifier field or creating another table which uses foreign keys to indicate the relationship between Managers and Employees. In an OODBMS, the Employee class is simply a parent class of the Manager class.

Circumventing the Need for a Query Language: A query language is not necessary for accessing data from an OODBMS unlike an RDBMS since interaction with the database is done by transparently accessing objects. It is still possible to use queries in an OODBMS however.

No Impedence Mismatch: In a typical application that uses an object oriented programming language and an RDBMS, a signifcant amount of time is usually spent mapping tables to objects and back. There are also various problems that can occur when the atomic types in the database do not map cleanly to the atomic types in the programming language and vice versa. This "impedance mismatch" is completely avoided when using an OODBMS.

No Primary Keys: The user of an RDBMS has to worry about uniquely identifying tuples by their values and making sure that no two tuples have the same primary key values to avoid error conditions. In an OODBMS, the unique identification of objects is done behind the scenes via OIDs and is completely invisible to the user. Thus there is no limitation on the values that can be stored in an object.

One Data Model: A data model typically should model entities and their relationships, constraints and operations that change the states of the data in the system. With an RDBMS it is not possible to model the dynamic operations or rules that change the state of the data in the system because this is beyond the scope of the database. Thus applications that use RDBMS systems usually have an Entity Relationship diagram to model the static parts of the system and a seperate model for the operations and behaviors of entities in the application. With an OODBMS there is no disconnect between the database model and the application model because the entities are just other objects in the system. An entire application can thus be comprehensively modelled in one UML diagram.

Schema Changes: In an RDBMS modifying the database schema either by creating, updating or deleting tables is typically independent of the actual application. In an OODBMS based application modifying the schema by creating, updating or modifying a persistent class typically means that changes have to be made to the other classes in the application that interact with instances of that class. This typically means that all schema changes in an OODBMS will involve a system wide recompile. Also updating all the instance objects within the database can take an extended period of time depending on the size of the database.

Language Dependence: An OODBMS is typically tied to a specific language via a specific API. This means that data in an OODBMS is typically only accessible from a specific language using a specific API, which is typically not the case with an RDBMS.

Lack of Ad-Hoc Queries: In an RDBMS, the relational nature of the data allows one to construct ad-hoc queries where new tables are created from joining existing tables then querying them. Since it is currently not possible to duplicate the semantics of joining two tables by "joining" two classes then there is a loss of flexibility with an OODBMS. Thus the queries that can be performed on the data in an OODBMS is highly dependent on the design of the system.

List of Object Oriented Database Management Systems

Object Store
DB/Explorer ODBMS

Open Source

The gains from using an OODBMS while developing an application using an OO programming language are many. The savings in development time by not having to worry about seperate data models as well as the fact that there is less code to write due to the lack of impedance mismatch is very attractive. There is little reason to pick an RDBMS over an OODBMS system for new application development unless there are legacy issues that have to be dealt with.

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Il Famiglia Scorpio

Giuseppe Scorpio was born in Virano Patenora June 2, 1939 into the house of a long line of master stone masons. He gladly followed in his father’s footsteps creating beautiful works of art set to withstand the test of time. Maria Milano was born in Piedimonte Matesse January 20, 1939 to the parents of goods merchants. In 1963 the two married and soon after started a family. By the time they were blessed with their third child Giuseppe, had decided to make a courageous move across the ocean for a chance at a better life for his family. In 1970 the Scorpios would find a new start in Rhode Island.

While Maria worked from home, cooked, and chased after seven children, Giuseppe taught himself English and founded his own company, Masonry of Italy Construction. They had realized their “American Dream”!

In 1986 shortly after the wedding for their only daughter Elisabetta and their eldest son Mario enlisted in the Army,  Giuseppe would make his second life changing move, this time to Florida. Of the six boys in the family five had followed in their father’s footsteps and became prosperous in construction, one however stayed close to his mother in the kitchen challenging himself to duplicate the meals in the same traditions he was raised.

Years later this son Vincenzo together with Giuseppe and Maria would have the vision to lift the Scorpio family recipes to a higher level than Maria had ever dreamed. In December 2002,Scorpio’s Italian Eatery was founded. Now, mother and son work side by side to bring the authentic taste of Italy to the table in our family restaurant.

Giuseppe still enjoys the tradition of making wine every fall, and keeps busy inspecting his other boy’s jobsites making certain they dedicate the same pride and passion that he had given his trade. In the evening he can be found greeting guests in the dining room and making sure that Brookes and the other servers have a helping hand when they need one.


THE DICE MAN is a novel that in most all possible universes would never have been finished and never published. But Chance, ever busy, created a series of accidents in 1969-70 in Deia, Mallorca, that allowed a 222 page manuscript written over four years by an un-ambitious, unpublished 37-year-old college professor to be discovered and finished.

*No beverages were harmed in the making of this interview.


Fighting for the 10th

The Tenth Amendment restricts the US government from EVERYTHING other than a few delegated powers. The Federal government has greatly overstepped its authority. After the 17th Amendment, the states did not have an important check on the federal government. Since then, the federal government started expanding rapidly beyond its enumerated powers. These proposed US Constitutional Amendments are specifically to give the states powers and tools to restrain federal control.

The following are not in perfect legal language and much debate needs to take place on these issues. I am putting this out in the arena of ideas to start the conversation. These are to give you the general idea, and the perfect language will develop over time. An Article Five convention of the states is likely the best option. I am in favor of an informal convention that will work out language of amendments and have at least 30 states pass formal calls for a convention with one exact language amendment.

Randy Barnett is great on these issues and I would rely on his advice and counsel. He is a leader on the Right/Liberty side regarding the constitution. While I have different ideas and plans than Professor Barnett, I fully endorse his Bill of Federalism, although I add some additional ideas on how to give states tools to fight federal overreach.

1st: At any time, if 50% of the seated governors ask for a federal law or executive order to be repealed, then that federal law or order shall be repealed.

Note: this could also be state legislators, with or without being signed by the Governor. There are many option that allow the states to push back on federal control.

2nd: Supreme Court Justices will serve one nine-year term. The terms will stagger. The first year of a presidential term, all the members of all the state’s Supreme Court justices will appoint one U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The President will appoint one justice in his second year of his term. The Governors will appoint one justice the third year of the presidential term. The state legislators will appoint one justice in the fourth year of the presidential term. All groups will appoint through a multiple-round voting system.

Note: A similar system for lower federal courts would apply as well. All appointments are still subject to Senate confirmation.

3rd: The federal government’s domestic taxing authority would be limited to taxing the states a percentage of their GDP. The Congress defines GDP. Congress retains their taxing authority to conduct foreign policy against declared enemies.

Note: This will put the taxing power back into the states, allowing for many different taxing approaches. Next note: Declared enemies is an effort to state that tariffs are always bad economics and only justified as a weapon against an enemy.

4th: Congress’s power to regulate commerce is limited to laws restricting the states from enforcing state laws that dissuade commerce across state lines. This restriction is overruled by 70% of the states passing with super majorities within their states requesting a federal law.

Note: This would repeal all federal laws and regulations that are outside of this very narrow definition. States will have to step up their laws to fill in the gaps. The 70% threshold ensures that only when completely necessary will the federal government need to step in.

5th: Congress will be limited to collecting 6% percent of GDP. The federal government is banned from holding debt. All current (at the time of this amendment’s passage) debt will be divided among the states respective to their portion of GDP as defined by congress. 70% of the states must agree to any federal spending above the 6%, which would be paid for by the states.

Note: This will allow the states to curb federal power overreach, however will in a time of a major war give a way to achieve needed funds.

6th: The right of parents to direct their children’s education shall not be infringed. Any government program on education shall exclude those not in the system from the education tax.
Note: This has language that makes it necessary to have an easily exemptible segregated education tax. Note: The Public School System is already unconstitutional. Next note: Not part of the 10th, however this is my amendment page.

I, Bill Haley fully endorse the parental rights Amendments.

7th: Federal funds may not be distributed to the states, only evenly (by percentage of GDP) collected from them. This excludes issues of military or foreign policy.

Note: This will stop the federal government from collecting money only to fund the states with their requirements (strings) attached.

8th: Treaties need to be approved by the states in similar manner as Constitutional Amendments.

Note: This is an additional step. Next note: extra language is needed in this amendment to ‘curb’ or put checks and balances to Legislation that is ‘treaty-lite’ or executive action that ‘acts like’ a treaty.

9th: If the majority of all the state’s highest court justices declare a subject matter to not arise under the U.S. Constitution nor otherwise a federal question, the U.S. Supreme Court and all federal inferior court’s ruling on that matter will be moot and void. The same majority has the power to enforce the Tenth Amendment by declaring a federal government law, program, spending, and executive action among other actions to be beyond the powers authorized by the Constitution.

Note on the 9th: Every branch of government needs checks and balances. Every state will have nine state justices (every state is a little different but all states will get nine as defined by state legislation). There will not need to be a case arising; governors or state legislators could summit proposals to their justices. Once twenty percent of state justices have proposals of the exact wording, all the justices will have six months to make their declaration. Example: Marriage law is outside the powers authorized in the U.S. Constitution. Example 2: Retirement planning is outside the powers authorized in the Constitution.

10th: Any government subject to this constitution shall not infringe private currency. Note: multiple private currency’s would work best within the structure listed here, however difficult to put in to amendment form. Once Competitive Regulatory Agencies (CRA’s) are established, a simple set of words in the amendment, requiring private regulation could be possible. Next note: not part of the 10th, however this is my amendment page.

I am open to working with state legislators around this country to come to an agreement on how to fight back government control. The federal government is exerting control in many ways and there will need to be many avenues to combat federal control.


What does this mean-‘free’? I’ve had a shirt with this statement emblazoned across it for several years now. When I first began wearing it the meaning of ‘free’ was very different than it is now. Then it stood for the breaking free from the binds of a debilitating, soul-sucking marriage. I wore it proudly, like a peacock in full regalia, displaying my new found self discovery and unshackling.

Life lessons tumbled from this frenzied narcotic state of blissful new freedom and eventually the roller coaster began to level off. ‘Free’ was more identifiable in the meandering paths between amusement rides. To be free at this time meant I was able to buy a house; in my name alone. Eat meals when I chose. Go out of a Friday night with girlfriends if the mood struck me. To pile books on the ‘other’ side of the newly purchased comforter. Use both bathroom sinks interchangeably and wake up at 3am to drink coffee in bed with my journal-undisturbed.
Three years out, a little worn and faded, but still strongly proclaiming ‘BE.free’, this tshirt still gets regularly worn with pride. But now, a gentle honesty replaces that frenzied unshackling of its first days. The amusement ride of this phase of freedom is everlasting. It is not the roller coaster but the water ride. It twists and turns through pools and into hidden coves you are unaware of at the onset. Yet, you know you’re safe in the controllers care for he holds the necessary knowledge and skill for this task. With excitement building you come through to the end of the ride to indulge in the joy of a trip well taken.
This ‘free’ is of trusting. This free is of believing, releasing grip, surrendering and having faith. This ‘free’ is where it’s at and the ride I’m on for the duration. I’ve repunched my ticket and I get to stay seated for a good long time. in love. trish.


Mike ThornWhat would it mean to you to receive a diagnosis with NOS at the end?

One of the biggest issues I encounter as a child and adolescent therapist is that many families are often very misinformed about mental health, available treatments, and the NOS category.

NOS is considered by some people to be the “throw away pile” or “umbrella category” that clinicians use when they either do not have enough proof to diagnose an individual or if an individual is exhibiting symptoms that do not fit neatly into the categories of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Sadly, part of this is true.

This article will briefly discuss the NOS category.

NOS stands for None Otherwise Specified and is often tagged onto the end of a diagnosis such as PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-NOS), Bipolar Disorder-NOS, and Mood Disorder-NOS. It allows clinicians to communicate with each other and to document symptoms of a particular disorder that do not (at the time) fit the criteria needed to make the full diagnosis. For example, if your son exhibits idiosyncratic behaviors, stemming (i.e., humming, rocking back and forth, etc), is very rigid, is very literal and concrete, struggles with social relationships, and could talk about a favorite subject for hours without considering the toll it is taking on you, you may think he would qualify for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. However, if your son does not fit into the other criteria of the disorder, a clinician may assign the label “PDD-NOS.”

It has been my experience that parents are confused about the NOS category and do not understand that NOS could actually be a good thing. If a child, adolescent, or adult is diagnosed with something that ends with NOS, the probability of that person “outgrowing” symptoms, exhibiting different symptoms, or not having the disorder at all is quite likely. For example, a moody adolescent who is diagnosed with mood disorder-NOS, may actually show signs of diminishing reactivity over time. In fact, symptoms of BPD (borderline personality disorder) in some individuals may diminish over time with age, experience, and treatment. The same is often true for the PDD-NOS diagnosis or for kids diagnosed with ADHD.

It is important that we keep in mind that diagnoses are labels and they don’t always explain symptoms. Labels also do not always explain why some individuals seem to “overcome” their symptoms while others do not. Misdiagnosis is also a very likely event in the world of diagnoses.

As a result, it is important for parents to know that our diagnostic system is flawed and spun by cultural and societal influence. In many cases, a clinical diagnosis can be opinionated or based on what a clinician believes could be the problem or presenting concern at the time. This could change.

You can visit a smorgasbord of psychiatrists, therapists, and other health professionals to only find out that each assessment is a tad different. Even more, many mental health professionals at various levels of experience, culture, political beliefs, and clinical knowledge disagree.

Keith Syvinsk

It is often up to parents, families, and caregivers to become advocates for their family members by educating themselves while humbly receiving the input of the clinician. One of the most important weapons I encourage families to adopt is a learning spirit and open mind.

I wish you all the best

Photo credit 1: Mike Thorn
Photo credit 2: Keith Syvinsk


Publication Date

Winter 12-14-2015

Degree Name

MA in Conflict Transformation

First Advisor

Tatsushi Arai

This capstone explores the ramifications of unmitigated mental health illness in conflict populations, paying special attention to refugees and migrants. The intersection between conflict and mental health is explored and analyzed in order to highlight the implications of the findings and to make recommendations to both metal health and conflict transformation practitioners. This capstone depends predominately on secondary resources and personal interviews and is informed by my own practicum experience at a refugee health center. The need to improve mental health outcomes in order to pursue conflict transformation and peace building is a key focus and is supported by the research pursued by this capstone. This capstone closes with a call to action, elucidating the importance of practicing in a multidisciplinary fashion, marrying conflict transformation practice and mental health practice, to cater to the refugee crisis in Syria.

Community Health | Inequality and Stratification | Medicine and Health | Mental Disorders | Other Psychiatry and Psychology | Psychiatric and Mental Health | Psychological Phenomena and Processes


Que Es La Importancia De La Biodiversidad Winnipeg (Sargent Park / Daniel McIntyre / Inkster SE) Alberta 2017

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Automatically Saving to MIF

It is not unusual to have “mixed” FrameMaker workflows where members of a team are using different versions of FrameMaker. Documents saved in a lower version can be opened with higher versions, but you can’t open documents saved with a higher version with a lower version of FrameMaker. There are two solutions: First, you can use the higher version to “save down” to the lower version. However, you can only save down to the next lowest version, for example, from FrameMaker 12 to FrameMaker 11. Second, you can save the document to MIF (Maker Interchange Format) in which case you can open it with any lower version of FrameMaker.

The main sticking point with saving to MIF is that you have to remember to do it. But with ExtendScript, you can automate this. You can create a script that will automatically save the document to MIF whenever you choose File > Save or press Control+S. When you are ready to pass the MIF file onto another team member that may be using a lower FrameMaker version, you know that it will always reflect the latest saved changes.

Here is how to set up the script below:

  1. Copy the code below and paste it into an empty text file.
  2. Save the text file to a convenient location with the name “SaveAsMif_Event.jsx”.
  3. Quit FrameMaker if it is running.
  4. Copy the file to C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\FrameMaker\<Version>\startup, where <UserName> is your Windows login name and <Version> is the FrameMaker version that you are using. If the startup folder does not exist, create it.
  5. Start FrameMaker and test the script. Open a document, make some changes to it, and save it. You should see a corresponding MIF file in the same folder as the document.

If you have any questions, problems, or comments, please post them in the comments section. Here is a link to a video that walks through the creation of the script.

FrameMaker ExtendScript Training

Adobe is hosting a pair of ExtendScript webinars, taught by Rick Quatro (me). Here is the press release and a link to the registration page. I hope to see you there!

Write your own FrameMaker ExtendScript, Part 1

Wed Jan 14 at 10 AM

Registration link:

In this two part series, FrameMaker maven Rick Quatro of Carmen Publishing will be walking you through the process of writing your own Extendscripts, and will include files you can download during the session. Rick’s previous session gave an excellent overview of Regular Expressions in FrameMaker. Join this two-part deep dive and discover how you can automate many functions w/in FrameMaker via your own, custom scripts.

Removing Conditions From Text and Table Rows – Part 4

Before continuing our discussion of removing conditions from text, let’s take a look at table rows. Working with conditional table rows is easier that working with conditionalized text, so we can get this code out of the way. To set the stage, add a table to a document and apply two conditions, Condition1 and Condition2 to one of the rows. Select the conditionalized row and run this code:

Condition Formats applied to the row

This is similar to what we did when working with a text range in Part 1, but more direct. Since we have a function for removing conditions from text, we can use this as a starting point for a table rows function.

Let’s rework it together line-by-line: on line 1, change the name to removeConditionsFromRow and change the first argument from textRange to row.

We won’t need a prop variable so remove it from line 3:

Lines 5-10 can be shortened to this:

Lines 12-19 from the original function can be used as is, except for a minor change to the first comment:

Finally, lines 21-25 of the original function can be changed to work with a row:

Now we can test the finished function. Add the following code before the removeConditionsFromRow function and add the augmentObjects function to the end of the script. Select the table row that has Condition1 and Condition2 applied to it and run the complete script. You should see the Condition2 format removed from the selected row.

In an upcoming post, we will return to working removing conditions from text.

Removing Conditions From Text and Table Rows – Part 3

Part 1 and Part 2 of this series show the beginning of the typical script development process that I use. I like to isolate scripting tasks to the smallest units possible. For this task, we worked on a single selection of conditionalized text in the active document. When we switched to tables, we selected a single row with conditions applied. This approach allows us to get the basic functionality working without worrying about the overhead that the larger script requires. Once the basic functionality is working, we can expand it to work on an entire document or book.

Let’s start by figuring out how to specify which Condition Formats to remove from the text and table rows in a document. To keep things simple, we can use an array of Condition Format names:

Even if we add an interface to the script later (like a dialog box), we can still use an array to store the condition names. We need to figure out a way to compare the contents of the array with the conditions that are applied to a given range of text. To set this up, make sure you have a document open with two Condition Formats, Condition1 and Condition2, applied to a paragraph. Select some of the text in the paragraph. We can add our array to some of the code we previously developed:

The script will display each condition format that is applied to the selected text. We need a way to test each name and see if it is in the removeConditions array. Any conditions that are in the removeConditions array need to be removed from the condFmts list. In some implementations, a JavaScript array has an indexOf method so you can test and see if the array contains a particular member. If the member exists, indexOf returns the array index; otherwise, it returns -1. We could do this:

The indexOf method is being used in the if statement on line 12. There is one problem with this code: The current Adobe ExtendScript implementation does not have an indexOf method on arrays. We are going to call (line 4 in the following code) a function (lines 27-45) that will augment the built-in Array object and add an indexOf method to it. Object augmentation is beyond the scope of this lesson, but google it if you are interested in how it works. Here is the entire code:

OK, we have the basic functionality working, so let’s encapsulate it into a function that we easily drop into a bigger script. We want the function to take a text range, a list of conditions to remove, and a document object. Here is one way we can do this:

Some important points:

  • The new function is on lines 14-34.
  • We followed best practices and declare all variables at the top of the function (line 16).
  • Because the function uses the indexOf method, we have to include the augmentObjects function in any script that uses our new function. In addition, we have to remember to call augmentObjects at the top of our script (like we do on line 4).
  • IMPORTANT: The script gets the condition format properties at the beginning of the text range. It removes the appropriate conditions from that list and then applies those properties to the entire text range. For this reason, we want to pass in text ranges that only have distinct condition formats applied to them. If you are not sure why, post a comment below.

Before moving on, there is one issue we should address. One line 32, we apply the updated list of conditions back to the propVal object; then line 33 applies the property list to the text range. But what if this list was empty to start with, or hasn’t been changed by the loop on lines 23-29? There is no sense in going further, so let’s add a couple of tests to the function. We can add this below line 20:

If there are no conditions applied to the text, then there are none that can be removed; so we simply exit the function. If there are conditions applied, they may be conditions that aren’t in our removeConditions array. So we can test to make sure that conditions were actually removed before updating the text (this code would replace lines 31-33):

Here is the finished function:

In a future post, we will show how to loop through the text in a paragraph and isolate ranges of text that have distinct sets of conditions applied to them. These will get passed to our new removeConditionsFromText function to remove the specified conditions from paragraphs in a document. We will also develop a function that will remove conditions from table rows.

Removing Conditions From Text and Table Rows – Part 2

Removing Conditions From Text and Table Rows

It is easy to delete Condition Formats from a FrameMaker document in the interface. If you try to delete a Condition Format that is use, you will be prompted on what to do to the conditionalized text:

With ExtendScript, things aren’t so easy. If you delete a Condition Format programmatically, the conditionalized content is always deleted along with the format. There is no “option” on the Delete function to make the text unconditional. If you want to keep the text, you will have to remove the Condition Format from any text (and table rows) where it is applied.

A couple of preliminary things: First of all, you should show all of the conditions at the beginning of your code. You can store the current ShowAll setting so you can restore it later. Second, if you do want to delete the text and rows with the Condition Format, just delete the Condition Format (CondFmt):

To see how to remove Condition Formats from text, make a sample document and add two Condition Formats to it, Condition1 and Condition2. Apply both conditions to a single paragraph. Select part of the paragraph and run this code:

This will show us a PropVal object that has information about the Condition Formats (if any) that are applied to the text. Run the following code to see the properties of the PropVal object.

The propIndent value is the kind of property it is (FP_InCond), while the propVal properties has specific information about the Condition Formats that are applied. Let’s poke further down and look at the propVal properties with this code:

As you can see, the propVal property has a lot of child properties. For Condition Formats, we are interested in the osval property. Make sure your conditional text is still selected and run this code:

You should see a dialog box like this:

The osval property is an array-like list of the CondFmt objects that are applied to the text. If there is no CondFmts applied, this osval list will be empty. Because this list is similar to an array, we can loop through it to look at the individual CondFmt objects.

When you run this code, you should see the name of each CondFmt displayed in a dialog box. You can probably see what we need to do here. Assuming that we want to remove Condition2 from the text, we need to figure out how to remove the Condition2 CondFmt object from the osval list. Once we do that, we can take the modified PropVal and apply it back to the text, which will remove the unwanted Condition Format. We will explore that in Part 2.

Run a Script in Response to a Command

Here is a question from the Adobe FrameMaker ExtendScript forum: “I wonder if there is there a way to make [a] script event-driven, so that it will be triggered after importing formats from another file?” This post describes how to do this with an ExtendScript script.

First, some terminology: When something happens in FrameMaker, it is called an event. You want your script to listen for one or more events to occur. In ExtendScript, you want to tell FrameMaker to notify to you when one or more events has occurred.

You can set this up in your script with a couple of functions. You first have to tell the script which events you want it to listen for.

Here, we are telling FrameMaker to notify us after a book is updated. This is sometimes referred to as registering the event. You can register as many events as you want in this function.

NOTE: There are no specific notifications when importing formats, but we will show you how to handle this shortly.

You will call this function at the beginning of your script.

Now you need a function that will listen for the notifications (or events) that you specified. FrameMaker ExtendScript has a built-in function for this:

The Notify function will receive four arguments:

  • note: This is the event that was triggered. We usually use a JavaScript switch statement to test for the event, because we may want to test for more than one event.
  • object: This is the relevant object that was in play when the event occurred. In the above example, this will be the Book object of the book that was updated.
  • sparam: This will be a relevant string value or null, depending on the event.
  • iparam: This will be a relevant integer value or null, depending on the event.

Once you receive the correct notification in the Notify function, you can call the appropriate code in your script.

Let’s go back to the forum question. FrameMaker ExtendScript has a bunch of built-in notifications, many of them in a “Pre” and “Post” format. For example, FA_Note_PreGenerate is triggered just before a book is updated and FA_Note_PostGenerate happens just after a book is updated. However, there are no specific notifications that occur before or after importing formats. To handle this, we can use the generic FA_Note_PostFunction notification, which gets triggered after nearly every FrameMaker event. When this notification calls the Notify function, the iparam value will be the unique number of the function. To find the number for a particular command, run the following code, then run the desired command in FrameMaker.

After running the script and importing formats, you should see the number 790 displayed in the alert dialog box. You probably saw a lot of other numbers if you performed other FrameMaker operations before importing formats! Now that you have the number you need, uninstall the script above or quit and restart FrameMaker.

Now we can go back and edit the Notify function that we added to our script. We will test for the Import Formats command by using the command number.

There are a couple of things to note about this particular example. If you cancel the Import Formats dialog box, the event is still triggered and the Notify event is called. If you go ahead with the Import Formats command, the Notify event is actually called twice. At this point, I am not sure how to work around this. In any case, always test Notify event carefully to ensure that your code gets called exactly when it is needed.

Naming Variables and Functions in Scripts

A friend recently asked me about how I name variables in my FrameScript scripts. I used to use a “v” prefix on all of my variables names. For example, for a paragraph I would use:

The “v” prefix would simply indicate that I was setting a variable. This is the convention I used in my 2003 FrameScript book FrameScript: A Crash Course. Later, I decided to make the prefixes reflect the data type that the variable represents. I replaced the “v” with another letter indicating the data type. For example,

The “o” prefix means “object” since both lines set variables for FrameMaker objects. I use “s” for strings, “i” for integers, “r” for real numbers, “m” for metric values, etc. These prefixes help me see at a glance what kind of data type the variable represents. This is important when I am looking at a script that I may not have worked on in awhile. Prefixes like this are also helpful when you are reusing functions. For example, here is a function that applies a named paragraph format to a paragraph.

Even if I don’t know exactly how this function works, I can see at a glance that it takes three parameters: a paragraph object (oPgf), a string indicating the paragraph format name (sName), and a document object (oDoc). The prefixes help me to quickly see the data types of each parameter.

As far as the variable name itself, I try to use the object name that the variable represents. In the ApplyPgfFmt function, I use the Get Object command to get a PgfFmt object. So, I use oPgfFmt as the variable name. Using this convention lets me quickly see that oPgfFmt represents a PgfFmt object. The sName parameter gets matched up with Name in the Get Object command and so on. I find that this method helped me memorize the FrameMaker object model because I have closely associated my variable names with the built-in FrameMaker object names.

When naming functions, the common sense approach is to use some kind of a verb form that describes what the function does. When you look at the function name and its parameters, it should be evident what the function does without looking at the actual function code.

With ExtendScript, I do things a little bit different. I don’t use the prefixes, I simply use the object name but with a lowercase first letter. Here is the example I showed earlier:

ExtendScript (JavaScript) is a case sensitive language, so pgf is different from Pgf. For function names (and longer variable names) I use the “camel case” convention. I don’t use the datatype prefixes, mainly because this is not a normal convention for JavaScript programmers. I suppose it is a bit vain, but I don’t want my ExtendScript code to look too out-of-the-ordinary. Here is the ExtendScript version of the ApplyPgfFmt function:

Beginning Scripting Webinar – Functions – January 22, 2013

Thank you very much to all who attended the webinar. Download or view the webinar slides. FrameScript users download this PDF.

You can download the ExtendScript sample scripts here.

For more information on the Unstructured FrameMaker 11 book, go to

For the webinar replay in wmv format, click here.

Beginning FrameMaker Scripting Webinar – January 15, 2013

Download the webinar code in both ExtendScript and FrameScript versions. Download the sample FrameMaker document that we used during the webinar.

Download the FrameMaker 10 Object Reference chm file. The zip archive includes a screenshot that shows you how to disable the security warning.

For more information on the Unstructured FrameMaker 11 book, go to

For the webinar replay in wmv format, click here.


Luke Combs - Beer Can

Beer Can by Luke Combs is a new country song from the album This One's for You and was released in the summer of 2017.

The official music video for Beer Can premiered on YouTube at the beginning of June 2017. Listen to Luke Combs' song above.

Beer Can Lyrics

Luke Combs' Beer Can lyrics were written by Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher and James McNair.

Luke Combs Beer CanCountry Songs 2017
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Ribelin Sales, LLC part of Azelis Americas

Ribelin is the leading specialty chemical distributor in the South, Southwest and Southeast US, and has a history of 80+ years in servicing the specialty chemical industry. Ribelin continues to serve CASE customers and principals with unsurpassed technical support and customer service into the paint/coatings, adhesives and sealants, cast polymers, composites, construction/building products, lubricants, plastics, printing inks, textile printing industries and other specialty areas.


Explanatory and predictive power regarding confrontation
Course:- Other Subject
Reference No.:- EM13795771

Assignment Help >> Other Subject

From the second e-Activity, select the theory that you believe has the explanatory and predictive power regarding the confrontation between the United States and Iran. Justify your rationale.

Give your opinion of two (2) currently used policy prescriptions, using international relations paradigms, which you believe will impact the U.S. domestic policy over the next two years. Justify your response.

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Thailand | The Land of Smile | Venice of East- Bangkok | Thai Food and Culture

Thailand is a marvelous Southeast Asian country, formerly known as Siam. Bangkok , the Capital,  is a home to the illustrious attractions, great culture, most splendid beaches, revered Buddhist temples , most natural beauty and Scrumptious cuisines. It is a destination for shopaholics loaded with intriguing market place, local shopping centers, from traditional market to high end malls.

Thailand often called the “land of smile” features everything that gives tourists a lovely and intriguing, mystic and magical awesome experience with the very first visit. Once you visit this marvelous destination, you will always feel like to coming again. The people of Thailand welcome tourists wholeheartedly and happy to share what their country has to offer.

People and Culture

Thai culture is deeply influenced by the religion and incorporates great deal of influence from India, China, Cambodia and rest of the Southeast Asia. Throughout the country, the most important values that Thai people hold are the respect, self control and non-confrontational attitude. The Thai food is influenced by the Chinese and Indian culture. It has a reputation for being a spicy and a balance between different flavors including sweet, sour, spicy, salty and bitter. Most dishes are spicy and ingredients include hot chilies, basil. ginger, lemongrass and coconut milk.

Cloths and Fashion in Thailand

Thais dressed smartly and fashionably. They are tolerant people, any clothing style is acceptable to them, wearing shorts and jeans are okay but cloths with hole, shorts and exposed shoulders or short skirts may be unacceptable in many temples. Mulberry trees are highly cultivated by the farmer and the produced silk is used to make silk clothing in Thailand and other parts like USA and France etc. The Bangkok is called “Venice of East” famous for its floating market, they serve as the tourist attractions, this is one of the reason is to allow domestic and international tourists to get the experience of riverside shopping culture.

Thailand is surrounded to the west by Myanmar and the Indian Ocean, to the south and East by Malaysia and Gulf of Thailand, to the east by Cambodia and the north and east by Laos and the central Thailand is dominated by the Chao Phraya River. The hilly forested region connects Thailand with Malaysia.

Weather and Climate

Between March and May, the weather of Thailand is generally very hot. The monsoon season run from June to October, but the client is still hot and humid with torrential rain. The best time of travelling to Thailand is November to February.

Government and Economy

Thailand is only the country in Southeast Asia which was never ruled by any European power. After a revolution in 1932 a constitutional monarchy was established. Here King, who is the leader of the country, appoints the Prime Minister of the country.

Thailand is the place where tourist always wanted to return even if they already visited because of their culture, food of variety and flavor, people are always happy, smiling and extremely polite and helpful. Tourist love to sit on sand, beaches and hike through jungles as Thailand has most beautiful jungles and hills. Thailand is very economical in terms of  visiting and staying there.

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Why Should I Dehead Flowers?

First, and foremost, deadheading will promote new flower growth. All things in nature have a built in desire to reproduce offspring. Flower plants are no exception. Inside of the flower is where the seeds are produced to create the next generation of plants. Once they have been produced, the plant has satisfied its need to reproduce. At that time, flower production stops. Sometimes the life cycle is complete, and the plant dies.

By deadheading the blooms, you trick the plant into believing that its reproductive task is not yet accomplished. Often, the plant will then produce another series of flowers.Dead flowers lose their color, dry up, and in general, begin to look ugly. So, reason number two to deadhead flowers is pretty obvious. It will make your plant look better and overall spruce up the appearance of your flower bed. Many gardeners will take this as an opportunity to trim and reshape the plant into an attractive shape.When Should I Deadhead my Flowers?

It is usually best to remove spent bloom as soon as the flower has begins to fade or dies. Some flowers, like Lilacs and other flowering perennials need to be removed immediately after blooming, or you risk trimming off next year’s blooms.

How Do I Deadhead my Flowers?

Most flowers and flowering plants can be deadheaded by simply pinching off the dead flower with your fingertips. For perennial flowers, you should remove the dead flower (even though another may not produce within the same season) by hand. Once the foliage has wilted/browned, the stems can be removed. While deadheading may be time consuming and tedious, the professionals of Twin Oaks can take care of it for you.


You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘current events’ category.

I wrote this editorial piece on a bus from New York City to Washington, DC, during Concordia’s first communications travel course. Visiting Boston and New York on the trip brought to mind handfuls of historical events – most involving the church, the state, or some sort of conflict between the two of them. As a member of the church and the state, I wondered on paper how I should view the relationship between the two – and more specifically, how I should vote, since voting is the most direct way I can be involved in the governing of our society.

To begin, I believe most of us would agree that the separation of church and state is a good idea, given that we live in a nation that promotes the ideological freedom of its citizens. However, separation of church and state raises many questions—including “how should Christians vote?”

The question, relevant on our campus, is very important to me – a voting Christian in a democratic society. Voting involves personal opinions rooted in individual worldviews. If your individual worldview is based on and shaped around a religion, then shouldn’t your vote come straight out of your worldview?

If this is true for everyone—for Methodists, Mennonites, Muslims, and Mormons—than the views of society’s majority religious (or anti-religious) group would win if everyone within a democratic society voted. Those who are part of these religions or denominations would essentially attempt to vote their religion-based beliefs into law by way of voting. This, I think, is where the great problem of religious voting occurs. Is it right for someone to enforce their religious views on others in a society who don’t practice the same religion? Is it right for Muslim citizens, for example, to abide by a law based on Christian thought or majority? Is it right for Christian citizens to abide by a law based on Muslim thought or majority?

There is a separation here, of course, between what most would call natural rights and wrongs and rights and wrongs that are more subject to opinion. Most societies and religions would agree that lying, cheating, stealing, and killing are natural wrongs—and that “do unto others as you would have done to yourself” is a natural right. Natural rights and wrongs are essential to keeping a society functional, and preserve the well-being of citizens. Different, though, are rights and wrongs that are based on lifestyle choices. These might involve the role of women in society, economic policies, or a universal definition of marriage. Disagreements influenced by religious views are quite common here. It’s often difficult for governments without an official state religion to legislate things like the role of women or the definition of marriage since such views vary from religion to religion, lifestyle to lifestyle. The only legitimate grounds the government of a free country would have to put things like these into law would be if the well-being and/or the freedom of its citizens was being damaged or prohibited. Increasing women’s rights, for example, could be considered legitimate. Preventing women from marrying other women, however, is not so legitimate in this context.

So, to return to our original question: how should a Christian vote, with the rest of society in mind? Should their interest be to make their Christian lifestyle law, or to promote the well-being and freedom of all citizens within their society? The Bible says Christians are called to spread the Gospel—the news of Jesus—to the world, thus spreading Christianity and therefore salvation. At no time does the Bible say anything about inflicting Christian ideas on non-Christians by the force of law. It seems that voting based on Christian ideals and not collective well-being not only promotes ideological bigotry by deeming one lifestyle superior over another, but creates an unhealthy rift between Christians and non-Christians in society. A negative perception of Christians, a distraction from non-political evangelism, and a divided society result are all consequences of religious—or in this case, Christian—voting. Religious ideals backed by government legislation go against the very idea of a free nation.

I am by no means demonizing a Christian’s desire to evangelize—for the Bible calls Christians to spread the news of Christ to the world. However, I must criticize Christians who believe spreading the Gospel through stances on political matters is useful to bringing non-Christians into the faith. Voting to exclude non-Christian ideas from our society is simply not a productive means of evangelism. Voting with consideration of how a lifestyle issue will help or hurt the freedom, well-being, and harmony of a society as a whole is not only more productive for the society as a collective body, but avoids ideological bigotry altogether…thus taking religion and evangelism out of politics and placing it where it can bear more fruit: in the churches and communities of America.

Perhaps this explains why it is possible for a Christian to be against homosexual marriage and abortion based on their religious beliefs and worldview, but pro-gay marriage and pro-choice with the freedom, well-being, and harmony of their society in mind. The separation of church and state—in this case, a separation of religious ideas and voting—is healthy for society, for evangelism, and for the religions themselves.

Standing atop a parking garage in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee today, I had the privilege of joining a discussion with locals about the proposed re-vitalization of Chattanooga’s central business district.

The group was brainstorming ideas of how to draw more people to downtown Chattanooga. The potential remedies? Unique local shopping, a corporate magnet like Target or Whole Foods, a theater district, a museum. Beneath these solutions, however, lies a make-or-break practicality: parking. In a society that on the whole depends on the automobile as its sole means of transportation, could the convenience or inconvenience of parking influence one’s decision to travel downtown?

I’d say yes, it does– and I say this primarily because of my extensive suburban exposure. I’ve never lived in a location I could consider to be “downtown,” and live in a city (Austin, Texas) that does not have, in my opinion, a convenient or adequate mass transit system. Traveling downtown for me is complicated. Parking spots are usually hard to come by, unless I choose to park in a garage, which can cost over $10. Nearly every street is lined with parking meters, and I (like most people my age) rarely carry enough change to afford over half an hour at a meter. While I’m willing to make this work and pay the price to be downtown, I’m fairly confident a portion of the suburban dwellers being lured to downtown by whatever means may not believe these inconveniences are worth the effort.

That’s why I believe parking– affordable, convenient parking– is a priority in urban redevelopment. It’s important to ensure visitors from all walks of life will be comfortable with a convenient parking solution that won’t “scare them away” from downtown.

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UX design and UI design; like lookalike siblings these two are so frequently confused you could be forgiven for mistaking one for the other. The internet doesn’t help either, with confused definitions, and blurred lines between the two roles. Some courses even host UX/UI design courses, leaving students unsure which areas they’ll cover under one banner or another.

From the outside UX and UI design certainly look alike, but don’t be fooled; these two disciplines are by no means interchangeable. Similarly to web developersand UX designers, UX and UI designers also work together within the tech team of a product, but each is responsible for his own very specific set of tasks.

Suffice to say, disagreement on this topic is rife - and natural - but to help you distinguish between the two, let’s take a deeper look at this design couple and see what really tells them apart.

What Is UX design?

UX design (or User Experience Design) is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product.

  • Was it easy to navigate?
  • Did you ever feel lost or confused?
  • How did you know where to click to get to where you needed to go?

This is all part of the user experience, and it’s the job of the UX designer to make this as good as it can be.

What Is UI Design?

UI design (or User Interface design) is focused on the design of the actual interface elements that the user interacts with to accomplish a goal within an application.

Think again to the last application you used.

  • Was there a logical hierarchy to the interface and typography?
  • Was the color scheme consistent?
  • Were there User Interface design patterns that you recognized from other interfaces?

These UI elements are all essential parts of the graphical user interface.

What Do They Have In Common?

Both UX & UI:

  • Have a primary objective of improving customer satisfaction
  • Can be applied to any product

Still unsure of the difference between UX and UI Design? Check out our course pages for even more info!

CareerFoundry UX Design Course

CareerFoundry UI Design Course


Tesla Model S 70D

Electric vehicle drivers in the U.K. may never have to worry about running out of power in the future, if Highways England has anything to do about it.

Nextcar Bug artThe government agency this week announced plans to test the technology needed to power electric and hybrid vehicles as they drive on England's major roads. The trails, set to take place later this year, are the "first of their kind and will test how the technology would work safely and effectively on the country's motorways," the agency said.

Highways England has already completed a feasibility study investigating the potential to install a "dynamic charging system under the surface of the road." The idea is to allow drivers to travel long distances without needing to stop and charge their car's battery.

"The potential to recharge low emission vehicles on the move offers exciting possibilities," U.K. Transport Minister Andrew Jones said in a statement. "The government is already committing £500 million [more than $781 million] over the next five years to keep Britain at the forefront of this technology, which will help boost jobs and growth in the sector. As this study shows, we continue to explore options on how to improve journeys and make low-emission vehicles accessible to families and businesses."

The agency is now soliciting bids from companies willing to host off-road trials, which are expected to begin later this year and last approximately 18 months. "The trials will involve fitting vehicles with wireless technology and testing the equipment, installed underneath the road, to replicate motorway conditions," Highways England said.

If all goes well, the agency plans to test the idea on actual roads in the future.

"The off-road trials of wireless power technology will help to create a more sustainable road network for England and open up new opportunities for businesses that transport goods across the country," Highways England Chief Highways Engineer Mike Wilson said in a statement.


Epitaph - 2002 - 36 minutes

After two patchy albums (1998’s ‘No Substance’ and 2000’s ‘The New America’) and the exit of their long time drummer, the omens for California hardcore legends Bad Religion were bleak. What a difference a year makes: here they are revitalised, back on their old label Epitaph and creating arguably the album of their career with ‘Process...’.

Much of the turnaround can be linked to the return of Brett Gurewitz, the guitarist and Epitaph owner who left the band in the early 90s to concentrate on his business interests. Gurewitz may now count celebrated artists like Tom Waits and Tricky among his roster, but his own band are as important in the history of US underground music as Fugazi and his songwriting reunion with Bad Religion vocalist Greg Graffin has been the answer to many prayers.

They may play at 220 beats per minute but their music and its sentiments can be traced all the way back to the protest singers of the 60s and ‘Process…’ finds Bad Religion railing against pollution (‘Kyoto Now’), wasted youth (‘Evangeline’) and creating an unlikely post September 11 tribute with ‘Sorrow’, a song which showcases their use of vocal harmonies and almost rootsy guitars to perfection.

Given that they got together in high school in 1982, Bad Religion are now twice the age of many of the trendsetters in the US, but ‘Process’ finds them growing old gracefully and highlights how much a new generation needs their open-your-eyes anthems. One only hopes that the Blink 182 and Sum 41 fans will sit up straight and listen.

Harry Guerin

Tracklisting: Supersonic - Prove It - Can’t Stop It - Broken - Destined for Nothing - Materialist - Kyoto Now - Sorrow - Epiphany - Evangeline - The Defense - The Lie - You Don’t Belong - Bored and Extremely Dangerous


Text Illustrations
Christians’ Point of No Return

If you were inside the cockpit of a departing airplane, just as it took off from the runway you would hear the copilot or captain call out, "V1." This phrase represents the "point of no return."

As the airplane accelerates toward the end of the runway, the pilot must decide if the plane is moving fast enough for a safe takeoff. This speed must be determined preflight based on several factors, including the air pressure, temperature, speed of the wind, and weight of the aircraft.

The pilot maintains a hold on the throttle as the plane approaches the V1 speed, so that he or she can abort the takeoff if something goes wrong. However, after V1, the plane must take off.

As Christians, we should have a V1 commitment to our walk with Christ. Once we have placed our faith in Christ alone, we have reached the point of no return. We need to adjust our "attitude," apply full throttle, and take off.


Find tickets from Modica to Agrigento

Modica to Agrigento trains might be a good value for money solution; travelling in Italy by train is often rather cheap and faster than taking a bus indeed. You can count on 1 daily rides to get from Modica to Agrigento. Trains leave from Modica and arrive at Agrigento Bassa every about 12 hours on average. If travelling with Trenitalia, you need to know the Modica to Agrigento train schedule: the first train leaves at 03:55, while the last ride is at 03:55. A Modica to Agrigento train cost about 15.3 €. But how long is the train ride from Modica to Agrigento? Your journey takes about 10 hours on average.

Trains time table

03:55 Modica
13:44 Agrigento Bassa
09:49 3 Changes

€ 15.3

per adult


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In the After

In the After - Demitria Lunetta Science fiction is probably one of the many genres with a huge market. In such a crowded market, it’s always riveting to find newer concepts or unique themes that authors could offer but only a few of them manages to pull it off. Demitria Lunetta’s debut novel is not far from that fact.

Set in another fear-provoking world, Lunetta devised a surprisingly remarkable science fiction thriller that involves one of the disturbing science fiction themes—aliens. It has been a while since I’ve encountered the grotesque beings on a novel. Based on my experiences as a reader, few have succeeded to capture the shuddering vision of an outside invasion through a book, but Lunetta’s version is unbelievably convincing and different. In The After offers more than a shudder and more than the frightening thought of aliens. There is a far greater danger and fear that Lunetta definitely had managed to produce—a single, huge, openmouthed twist that will totally ruin any of your initial allegations, beliefs, and theories.

Aside from the chilling thought of the world being ravaged by aliens, it is the almost true-to-life journey of Amy and Baby to survive in the terrifying After that really sent me a gamut of emotions. Within the first ten chapters, I instantly developed a connection with Amy and Baby—a connection impossible to cut. It’s a struggle to me to see Amy and Baby, despite their early loss of innocence, courageously fight for their lives and what is left of the world. With Amy’s eloquent and vivid descriptions, I could really feel the dominating darkness, fear, hopelessness, hunger, isolation, and silence that surrounded them (not to mention the aliens). In spite of all their struggles and sorrows, they share something inspiring that will never ever vanish from the world: their heartfelt sisterly love. If I could just practically leap into the pages of the novel to get Amy and Baby out from the vicious imagination of Demitria Lunetta, I would have done so even before the beginning. I admit, I want to hate Lunetta for creating such harsh world for two endearing characters but at the same time I want to praise her for creating two heartrending, realistic, and gutsy characters that deeply touched my emotions and stayed with me long after I turned the last pages.

Another aspect that I can’t help to bring out is the romance. Despite the fact that falling in love is the least important thing to do in an alien-infested world, readers can expect a dash of romance here and there. At some cases, the small amount of romance thrown felt forced and rush to me; like it needed a certain spark to be noticed; like it needed slow-moving moments for a more satisfying romance. Nevertheless, it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the story and I know what Lunetta wants to pertain. Admittedly, it won’t matter to me if Amy falls in love or not as my anticipation for the next books mostly centers on her and Baby especially with the stunning heart-ripping ending.

Spectacularly entangled with confounding mysteries, surprising twists, breakneck actions, and a stirring tale of survival and friendship, In The After is a poignantly written unforgettable journey of an endearing duo as they confront a world roamed by terrible creatures with a shocking origin. It’s part post-apocalyptic, part dystopian, and part science fiction—possibly a first in the science fiction genre. This debut novel by Demitria Lunetta will surely keep readers constantly holding on to their breaths and their flashlights as they discover the human capacity to survive the bleakest of times. I for one am a witness to that.
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The Issue
"The most important thing in the world to parents is their child's well-being, and now we have emerging research that links children's mental, physical and spiritual health directly to their association with nature. We can look at it this way: time in nature is not a luxury; it is essential to our children's health."
— Richard Louv

Times have changed, and the way children play has changed, but the need for kids to connect with nature has not. As a child, did you have a special nature place where you built forts, dug holes, climbed trees, explored, played in the water, watched the clouds roll by?

Children today don't often have these experiences. Why not? A "perfect storm" of factors - lack of access to natural places, fear of strangers and lawsuits, less free time and lots of "screen time" - all contribute to the disconnection of children from nature.
The consequences of this lack of outdoor play, along with other environmental and social factors are that more kids today are experiencing physical and mental health issues. The good news is outside - nature is good for you! Outdoor time is important for mental health, physical health, academic achievement, social skills and stewardship. There is a large body of research documenting the benefits of nature for children and everyone.

For a great, easy-to-read brief summary of the issue and wonderful suggestions for easy ways to start getting kids outdoors, go to this booklet.


Language changes.  Words change.  Word meanings change.  As human consciousness expands and evolves, our language must change in order to facilitate expression.  But sometimes the changes aren’t for such lofty reasons.  For the sake of efficiency, words that once had multiple meanings in popular usage can become attached to only one meaning.  The word “afterlife” is a great example.  These days, it is used almost exclusively to mean “life after death”, but that doesn’t appear to be the meaning that was attached to it by the authors of the Urantia Book.

The Urantia Book has a lot to say about our existence after death, yet if we do a search of the UB text for “afterlife”, we only get three hits:

(1922.2) A human being’s entire afterlife is enormously influenced by what happens during the first few years of existence.

Surely we would expect far more hits if “afterlife” was really intended to refer to our post-mortal life, but it is never unambiguously used in that context in the Urantia Book.

Here are the dictionary definitions of “afterlife” from Merriam-Webster:

1: an existence after death

2: a later period in one’s life

I have also consulted a 1934 dictionary, and confirmed that definition #2 existed at that time.

urantia_summer_studyThe first time I read these sentences, I initially assumed definition #1, but then I thought a bit more deeply about what they could mean. How could the first eight years of our mortal life have eternal consequences? That one’s eternal future would be less happy and dependable simply because of a poor home life doesn’t seem fair, and it also contradicts other parts of the book that explain how mortal handicaps are compensated for during our training on the mansion worlds. Consider the following paragraph:

Specifically, consider the “such tribulations are transient afflictions” part. If someone suffers a poor environment in their first 8 years of life, that affliction is not “transient” if it affects their happiness for eternity. Can you imagine one finaliter being less happy than the others because of the circumstances of their tender mortal years, billions of years ago?

Although the deficits of our mortal lives (including the first 8 years) are carried through in some way to the mansion worlds, and the inverse situation of a positive upbringing having a positive effect is undoubtedly true, the deficits are eventually overcome as we make our way through the mansion worlds.

Also, looking at the quotes again, we can see that the words “whole” or “entire” always precede the use of the word “afterlife”. So if our “whole” or “entire” life after mortal death (applying definition #1) is affected by our first eight mortal years, that would mean that our mortal deficits are never, ever overcome – contradicting the mansion world papers.

In my mind, the only way to harmonize the “afterlife” quotes with the overall cosmology of the Urantia Book is to use definition #2 from the dictionary.

We are fortunate to be able to read the book at a time when the English language hasn’t changed much since the date of publication, but at some point in the future there may be confusion that creates an appearance of contradiction.  It may soon be necessary to start a more extensive record of language changes so that meanings are preserved for future generations.


Originally uploaded by RGP
Honestly, playing with the lines, shapes and shading of a tree is so relaxing and so zen that I just can't stop myself. It's so entirely different from paying attention to the detail in someone's face for example. With these tree drawings I've been up to lately, I can just go. Even the act of erasing some of the lines feels like it's part of the sketch.

I guess you could say I'm a bit of a tree hugger these days. But I've never really noticed until now, after taking zillions of photographs in Prospect Park and after doodling them so much lately, that trees are just as diverse and beautiful as snowflakes.

/end cheese.