En estos días llegó a mis manos uno de los libros más interesantes que haya leído sobre poker en mucho tiempo.  Se trata básicamente de un libro que explica claramente muchos conceptos básicos, intermedios y avanzados sobre el poker, aplicados a Torneos Sit & Go de una mesa principalmente. Tiene ejercicios explicativos en todos los capítulos y la verdad que resulta muy bueno. El único inconveniente es que esta en inglés. Lo pueden bajar desde acá.

La semana que viene voy a realizar mi primer depósito en pokerstars (USD 20,00), utilizando el bono 500k para poder jugar freerolls interesantísimos de $2500,00 USD en premios y entradas para torneos de $25000,00 USD, así que desde la próxima semana voy a actualizar mucho más seguido el blog y mi progreso en pokerstars.

Saludos.

Are you a fan of web development? Do you like developing dynamic websites? Have you been coping well with C203 Web Development module and are prepared to learn something more?  If you have answered “yes” to all the above questions, this book is just for you. “Ruby on Rails” is considered one of the most powerful tools in the area of web development, therefore, even though it is not taught in RP, it is worth learning. “Ruby on Rails” is the combination of a programming language, Ruby, and a framework, Rail. As Rail framework makes use of Model-Viewer-Controller approach, the files are therefore well structured and requires less codes. Moreover, the codes written are neat compared to PHP which is taught in RP.

With this book, students will get to learn Ruby programming language. Learning Ruby is useful not only for “Ruby on Rails” but also  for other areas of IT. The book will give specific instructions on how to install “Ruby on Rails”. After mastering all the basic concepts of Ruby, students will be able to have hands on practice with the simple Rails application. In the end, students will learn the concepts of each component Model, Viewer and Controller.

From my point of view, the development experience with “Ruby on Rails” was much better than PHP in terms of structuring the files and using the language. Ruby language is more human-friendly than PHP since the vocabulary is much easier to remember. As for the structure of the files, each component is in charge of one particular area; Models are in charge of database management, Views are in charge of rendering the HTML for display to the users, whereas Controllers carry out the logic of the web application.

“Ruby on Rails” might not be used in the Final Year Project but the concept of MVC architecture is very important, therefore it is really advisable to grasp the basics of MVC. There are other tools that work with architecture that uses PHP (CakePHP, CodeIgniter) but it is harder for me to understand. After learning “Ruby on Rails”, you can consider progressing to other frameworks like CakePHP or CodeIgniter to sharpen the knowledge of web application.

Where to find the book?

Call Number: QA 76.64 HOL 2007

Location: East

Writer: Ngo Minh Nam

Southland’s polytechnic has missed out on a slice of an $8m funding boost just announced for “high-performing” polytechs in a move that won’t help its post-recession growth.

However, it looks likely to get a share of about $1.6 million coming to Otago-Southland tertiary providers through the government’s Youth Guarantee Scheme.

Tertiary Education Minister Anne Tolley this morning announced 12 polytechnics and institutes of technology will get $8m between them to provide up to 700 new student places.

The funding’s part of the Government’s Youth Opportunities package and is supposed to help the polytechs cope with forecast enrolment growth into the new school year.

She says the cash Tertiary Education Commission allocated the cash based on the polytech’s performance in delivering education and training to students under 25, and to students at higher levels of training.

 “This represents an important step in delivering this Government’s election commitment to introduce a performance-linked funding system,” Mrs Tolley says in a statement sent to Southern Squall.

“At a time of limited opportunities, this will enable more young people to access meaningful education and training.”

Well, perhaps it will if the students don’t want to study in Southland.

Readers will remember the Southern Institute of Technology is looking to make savings and generate new business to offset a $3.5m funding shortfall.

The shortfall was imposed by the TEC as a funding cap in the leadup to the 2008 election campaign.

The cuts were linked primarily to SIT’s distance learning programmes and its Christchurch campus. The rationale was some out-of-Southland courses duplicated what was already available, and that SIT had grown its rolls more than it should have.

However, SIT has since argued these courses have helped offset the cost of providing courses in Invercargill. 

SIT’s known for some time that it’ll start the new year with a cap on new enrolments. But it’ll no doubt be galling to see the polytech is one of only a handful or regional providers to miss out on new funding as, post-recession, regions try and train and retain a skilled workforce.

Who got what:

The Youth Guarantees Scheme  allocation for 2010 reserves 164 places for students in Otago and Southland. The ODT reported today that Otago Polytechnic has 84 places, which leaves 80 (about $800,000 worth) to be divided up among SIT, Telford Rural Polytechnic and the Community Colleges of NZ.  

KUALA LUMPUR: A former army man was sentenced by the Magistrates Court here to 10 years’ jail after finding him guilty of two counts of molesting his two young daughters this year, just a day after a corporal was sentenced to 140 years and 40 strokes of the rotan for repeatedly raping and molesting his two under-aged daughters.

In Tuesday’s case, the 37-year-old will only serve five years from the date of his arrest on Nov 10 as his sentence is set to run concurrently.

In passing sentence, magistrate Nor Azah Kasran ordered him to be imprisoned for 60 months for each offence due to the nature of his crime, where the victims were his own daughters and because they were only 11 and nine years old.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of using criminal force with the intent of outraging the modesty of his older daughter in June, and his younger daughter in July, at their home in Wangsa Maju.

According to the statement of facts, in both the cases, he had entered the bathroom while they were bathing.

In his older daughter’s case, he had asked her to perform oral sex on him and then sit on his lap, while in the younger daughter’s case, he made her perform oral sex on him, after which he bathed and molested her.

Thousands of year seven pupils across Northern Ireland will sit down on later for new grammar school entrance tests…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: health. The blog is also related to: academic.

For the past two weeks I haven’t been standing up for the pledge of allegiance every morning. I made the decision for several reasons:

1. There is certainly not ‘liberty and justice for all’ in this country. Just look at gay rights. I can’t believe we even still have to protest equal rights in the 21st century. It’s absolutely beyond me.

2. The whole ‘Under God’ thing…I don’t like them forcing that on me at all. That sort of stuff shouldn’t be in the classroom of a public school. It’s on the edge of prayer.

3. Kids don’t actually stand for the pledge because they believe in it. They do it because it’s what they’ve been told to do since age 5. It reminds me of Nazi Germany, the way children had to pledge to Hitler every morning. Everyone’s just robots…and I do not want to be a robot to America, to any country, or to anything, for that matter.

Of course, people take unkindly to what they see as unpatriotic, especially when it’s a kid whose supposedly breaking the rules. I’m sure there’s several adults who look at me and think I’m just some stupid kid trying to get attention by acting out…but it’s so far from the truth. The truth is I have strong beliefs and I want to do what I feel is right, whether it is accepted by society or not. Just because everyone does something doesn’t make it right, and vice versa.

My teacher didn’t even notice for three days. On the third day he came up to me and asked “What was that…A protest against America?” and I said yes. He was a bit shocked and taken aback and said “Oh..tell me more later.” This morning before class ended he came up to me again and asked me why I’m not standing. I gave my reasons and he agreed with me on them and told me it’s the “boldest act of defiance” he’s ever seen.

But then he went on to ask “Is this legal?” and proceeded to tell me he’s worried about what’s going to happen to HIM if he doesn’t order me to stand. He doesn’t want to make me do anything, but he also wants to save his ass and not get in trouble by higher authority if another teacher happens to see what’s going on. This angered me that he’s so scared. I lost a lot of respect for him after he said that. And no, I won’t stand up to save him from getting in trouble. I’m not going to compromise my beliefs for anyone, even if he is my favorite teacher.

Most of the people in my class don’t even notice that I don’t stand…shows you just how robotic they really are. It really upsets me. I want to just yell at them all to WAKE UP and start thinking for yourselves for once!

It gets me really upset knowing how scared people are of their reputations, and how quick they are to submit to the ‘norm’, regardless if they even agree with it or not. People are so willing to just keep their heads down and keep quiet about everything…and this is why nothing ever changes.

If people demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.

You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors
It’s the morning of your very first day
You say hi to your friends you ain’t seen in a while
Try and stay out of everybody’s way
It’s your freshman year and you’re gonna be here
For the next four years in this town
Hoping one of those senior boys will wink at you and say
You know I haven’t seen you around, before

(Chorus)
‘Cause when you’re fifteen and
Somebody tells you they love you
You’re gonna believe them
And when you’re fifteen feeling like
There’s nothing to figure out
But count to ten, take it in
This is life before you know
Who you’re gonna be
Fifteen

You sit in a class next to a redheaded Abigail
And soon enough you’re best friends
Laughing at the other girls
Who think they’re so cool
We’ll be out of here as soon as we can
And then you’re on you’re very first date
And he’s got a car and you’re feeling like flying
And you’re mamma’s waiting up and you’re thinking he’s the one
And you’re dancing ’round your room when the night ends
When the night ends

(Chorus)
‘Cause when you’re fifteen and
Somebody tells you they love you
You’re gonna believe them
When you’re fifteen and your first kiss
Makes you head spin ’round but
In your life you’ll do things greater
Than dating the boy on the football team
But I didn’t know it at fifteen

When all you wanted
Was to be wanted
Wish you could go back
And tell yourself what you know now

Back then I swore I was gonna
Marry him someday
But I realized some bigger dreams of mine
And Abigail gave everything she had to a boy
Who changed his mind
And we both cried

(Chorus)
‘Cause when you’re fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You’re gonna believe them
And when you’re fifteen, don’t forget to look before you fall
I’ve found time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you’re supposed to be
I didn’t know who I was supposed to be
At fifteen

la la la la la…la la la la la…la la la la la

Your very first day
Take a deep breath girl
Take a deep breath as you walk through the doors

Are you interested in learning about GUI, events handling and SWING API?  If you are interested in JAVA or you are taking the module on Data Structures and Algorithms, this book will come in handy for you.  

This book is not just all about building GUI and events handling. All the basic concepts are explained clearly before dealing with the advanced topics. In addition, this book covers the area of algorithms like recursion and binary search. You can even revise the topics like polymorphism and inheritance if you are taking the module on Object-Oriented Programming.

Personally, I feel that this book is quite useful because of the detailed explanation given and there are a lot of exercises at the end of each chapter. You can also take a look at the solution files to check your answers on the exercises. It also comes with a book attachment.

I hope you will enjoy learning Java with this useful resource! Please share with us if you know other interesting or useful books on the same topic.

 Where to find the book?
Call No: QA 76.73.J38 MAL 2010
Location:East Area (Near the IP Helpdesk)

Written by Shwe Yee Phyo

People who like to sit in the front row

Graph by: megabat via Graph Jam Builder

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

I call with my heart everyday,
this practice my centre,
for her i cry out to heaven–
i wait in divine echos,
i wait while grace descends,
i wait in order to wait.

My sadhana is my foundation,
upon which i sit in tranquility,
though madness goes around,
though madness comes within,
and i pass through nightmare and excitement–
all the while sitting in love.

Everyday i return to middle,
i repeat to not repeat,
i respond to not react,
and i offer every mad craving to feed hungry ghosts–
this my way to love,
how to love for the sake of love.

In our previous 2 posts Dr. Dan Vitale shared the importance of having a good posture and a few tips on how to improve your posture.

In this post Dr. Dan will share even tips on how to improve your posture.

• To provide yourself with the best support possible make sure that you sit with your back and buttocks as far back as possible in your chair keeping your back against the backrest.
• When standing for any length of time keep one foot elevated on a box or step.
• Maintain abdominal hollow and pelvic tilt to support the low back – your Chiropractor can show you what this looks like.
• Wear the best supportive footwear possible. Ask for a gait analysis to see if orthotics would be a benefit to you.
• Make sure that the pillow you sleep on is made for your head and not for your bed. Any of our staff can measure you for the correct pillow and explain why it is important to keep your neck well supported while you sleep.
• Do NOT sleep on your stomach.
• When lying on your side a pillow between the knees takes the strain off your low back and hips by minimizing pelvic rotation.

A recent discussion on iWorship, a listserve for Reform congregational ritual committee members and other interested parties, has thankfully inspired me to go back for the post to this blog’s real purpose and strong suit: ritual and liturgy.

The discussion surrounds the issue of whether to sit or stand for the Shma and was started in reaction to a moment in Shabbat worship at the recent URJ Biennial when the service leader asked the Jews in the pews to remain seated for the Shma.

For someone who has spent most of their prayer life in a typical Reform settings, such a request is quite jarring. Indeed, I found it jarring the first time a service leader in NFTY suggested that remaining seated was a legitimate possibility, during the Shma. Remember that the Shma is not the two-line credo that Reform Jews often think of when they use the term “Shma.” It begins with that statement of faith and continues on with several lengthy paragraphs about the nature of divine reward and punishment, acceptance of commandments, and a brief review of several important mitzvot.

It is long, and until relatively, was not seen as central to the service. The center of the service was The Amidah. For me, the Amidah still is the most central litrugical “rubric,” as Larry Hoffman often puts it. So that perceived centrality will certainly color my opinion on this and how this post unfolds. Standing for The Amidah is thus a no-brainer. Standing for an additional, lengthy section is unnecessary.

The Reform movement did a few things to change this. By asserting in early Reform thought the centrality of what they called “ethical monotheism,” the Shma would, of course, come to the forefront of the liturgy. All the more so because, at the same, all but the opening line and the first and final paragraphs of what had been the Shma were excised from most Reform liturgies. This makes the Shma even more focused on what looks like ethical monotheism. For instance, a lenghty section on wearing tzitzit got tossed out along with divine reward and punishment, leaving a much more “ethical” sounding bulk about teaching mitzvot to your childern and about being mindful “in your home and on your way, when you lie down and when you wake up.”

At the same time, The Amidah was robbed of its integrity and much of it began to be recited sitting down. So the Shma replaced it as central and we began to rise for the Shma, but only the first line of it, which was seen as a sort of analog to Christians rising to recite The Nicene Creed.

So here we are. Reform Jews have abridged the Shma and placed a new emphasis on it, which makes it perfect for standing. And that’s by and large what we do. We’ve been at this for a while, and there is little sign of change. This instance at the URJ Biennial and many instances in NFTY and at our camps are grand exceptions, which may well become the rule rather than the exception during my lifetime.

Here’s why I sit during the Shma:

- It’s long. I say the longest version of the Shma, rather than the abridged Gates of Prayer or the less abridged Shabbat morning Mishkan T’filah verion. So given the choice between standing for a long time and sitting for a long time, I’ll go with sitting.

- I don’t look to it as central. Certainly, as someone who has made tzitzit a sort of personal ritual crusade, it’s important to me on the level that it has a lengthy bit about tzitzit, but it’s not the most important thing in the world.

- To me, The Amidah is paramount and of utmost centrality. If there’s going to be one long bout of standing in the service to place emphasis, I’d much rather have it be The Amidah (which after all means “The Standing”).

- When I was first introduced to the idea of sitting, it was explained that you should try not to change your position during a single prayer. Rather, spaces between prayers are the appropriate time to stand or sit, unless there’s some good reason to do otherwise. So if the Shma and V’ahavta, treated often by Reform Jews as two separate things, are really the same prayer, it would be undesirable to stand for the first line (Shma) and then sit back down for the V’ahavta (the other two paragraphs of the Shma that Reform liturgy retains). This made a lot of sense to me and influences my decisions to sit stand and bow at all times.

What do you think? What happens in your community? Do you go along with that or do you defy it, sitting in a place where most stand, or standing in a place where most sit?

The upcoming weekend slate is a just a couple days away, so it’s time set your line ups.  Below are my recommendations for this week.  Why should you listen to me?  Well, first of all, always listen to yourself first.  If there’s a guy you really like, than go with your gut.  Otherwise, I’m the defending Champ of my 12 team Yahoo! League after losing in the title game the year before (my first year in the league), and after expanding to 14 team, I’m rocking first place again.  I’ve been in eight fantasy football leagues since 2006 and never finished lower than third.  I’m certainly not right all the time, but definitely more often than not.  For these recommendations I’m not really going to talk about guys like Adrian Peterson or Tom Brady, because they’re no brainers.  I’m trying to predict who will rise up from the middle or bottom of the ranks to have big weeks.  I’ll give you at least one guy at each main position (QB, WR, and RB).  No kickers here.

Last week was kind of a mixed bag.  I was dead on with David Gerrard, Mike Sims-Walker, and Pierre Thomas, and Anquan Boldin.  Not so much for Kurt Warner…my bad!  If you had Calvin Johnson, feel better that he killed my team too.  The Thursday night game already happened, so if you had Jay Cutler, your hating life this week.

STARTS.  Obviously if you have a superstar at the same position, they should play, but if you’re in doubt, start these guys:

• QB Tony Romo – Did you see Green Bay’s pass defense last week?  They let rookie Josh Freeman threw 3 TD’s in his first ever start.  Romo is playing the best ball of his career right now.  The Pack should be giving up 3 more to him.
• QB Joe Flacco, Bal – He hasn’t been playing that well recently, but the Browns are a good cure for anyone who’s struggling.  Plus he lit ‘em up earlier this year.
• QB Josh Freeman, TB – Now, this is only if you are really desperate or in a deeper league.  I’m not exactly jumping on the bandwagon of the rookie QB, but Miami is starting two rookie CBs, so it evens out.  May not be great, but a couple TDs are within reach.
• WR Roy Williams, Dal – Well, he hasn’t been awful the last couple weeks.  Either he and Romo are getting more in sync, or the Cowboys are just really making a point to get their highest paid receiver involved in the offense.  If Romo’s throwing TDs, then I think he should get at least one along with around 100 yards.
• RB Laurence Maroney, NE – Maybe not a huge day, but got a feeling he’ll find his way into the end zone.  Should be good for double digit points.
• RB Reggie Bush, NO – He’s actually been fairly consistent this year for 8 pts or so each week.  The Rams are a mess and should botch some coverage or tackling to let him spring a big play.  He’ll probably get a few more carries than normal too.
• RB Ladell Betts, Was – Portis is out, so always reliable Betts gets the start.  70+ yards and a TD should be well within his ability.
• TE Visanthe Shiancoe – Favre loves his TE in the red zone.  Minnesota will be in the red zone a lot this week in Detroit.
• TE Ben Watson, NE – The Colts will being keying on the star WR as they should.  People tend to forget about him and he’ll pop off a good game every few weeks.  Maybe he’ll do it the big matchup this Sunday.
• D/ST Dallas Cowboys – Green Bay gives up more sacks than anyone, and the ‘Boys pass rush is in good form.  Hit him enough and he’ll fumble.  Maybe they can return it too.

SITS.  Bench ‘em if you can.  It’s not gonna be their week:

• QB Kyle Orton, Den – The ride is over for Orton.  He’s back to his usual self and I don’t think he’ll be able to do much, even against the ‘Skins.
• QB Davis Gerrard, Jax – Probably not starting for most anyway, but since I was high on him last week I thought it was worth noting.  As I said before, he and the Jags are hot and cold.  Hot last week, cold this week.
• WR Chris Chambers – @ TDs in his Chiefs debut last week has a lot of people on the band wagon.  Well, there’s a reason his last two teams were so willing to let him go.  Oakland actually has a decent secondary too.
• WR Brandon Marshall, Den – I just feel like the Broncos are going to play down to their opponent this week.  I think it’s highly likely that Orton won’t get 200 yards or more than 1 TD.  If that’s the case, then Marshall’s prospects can’t be good.
• RB Brian Westbrook, Phi – He should be over the effects of the concussion he got a couple weeks ago, so he should play, but I don’t expect him to do much.  San Diego’s run defense has been getting better and Westbrook hasn’t looked that good all year.
• TE
• TEAM Detroit Lions – Sit them all.  Stafford looks in way over his head.  A shoulder injury has hampered Kevin Smith all year, and don’t even get me started on Calvin.  I’ve totally lost faith in him.  Between his bum knee and Stafford’s erratic arm it’s just not going to happen for Megatron owners.

That’s how I see it this week.  Good luck to everyone!*

*Except The Mean Machine and Phatte Mike.  I hope you both lay down for me.

Hi all!  So sorry it’s taken so freakin’ long for us to make any sort of posts at all.  It’s been a little busy.  BUT I realized that instead of spending hours trying to write something catchy and witty and full of awesome links, I’d do a video blog!!  Here you go:

Here are some of the links I promised (in chronological order of how they happened):

Foliage
Pumpkin Festival
Boston
John and Jessi’s Wedding
Mike Birbiglia Official Site

Also, I forgot to mention- when we went to Boston, we went to an *awesome* veggie restaurant called Veggie Planet in Harvard Square.  Delicious!  Also, while in Harvard Square, we saw that there was some filming going on right outside the T Station, complete with a crane, big shiney lights, and those signs that say you will be photographed.  We wondered around it for a bit but didn’t see anyone famous.  Little did we know that it was actually Ben Afflek’s latest film!  Very exciting.

Side note, I started an interesting blog where my boyfriend and I will be posting our favorite picture of the day every day for a year. Check it out! www.dillonandashley.wordpress.com

Pay and conditions are in the gun as the Southern Institute of Technology tries to claw-back a $3.5m funding cut that was a hot political issue during the last election.

A union source says staff will have a stop work meeting next week to discuss a 1% pay increase some blame on savage cuts which electrified the general election last year. They had asked for 4%.

The move to in-house talks comes in the wake of 950 staff at six North Island polytechnics striking over an offer of 2% over 2 years. Reports say they’ve been in unresolved talks since the start of the year.

Sign of the times: SIT to cut budgets (Squall Files)

Tertiary Education Union leaders say recessionary talk and public sector belt-tightening have stopped unionised workers asking for pay increases that’d unduly affect their employers.

That said, they also say that inflation stops for no one.

SIT boss Penny Simmonds warned last month that her team had to find spending efficiencies as they prepared for the coming year.

Those efficiencies, and new business, would help meet the shortfall caused by the $3.5m funding cut imposed by the Tertiary Education Commission.

The cut was announced before the last election. We wrote earlier how it prompted Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt to urge voters to kick-out the Labour government in favour of a much more sympathetic National one.

The political debate has fallen silent even as there’s now plenty of evidence that the recession is abating, that salaries are rising, and that more is expected of polytechnics.

The government – rightly – wants more young people in training, and has asked polytechs to fix the numeracy and literacy mess caused by NCEA.

Average earnings are on the rise: in the year to September, they went up 4.9 percent (but we should point out there were fewer people in work).

Even the heads of cash-strapped public sector organisations had a better pay packet: the ODT tells us Ms Simmonds’ pay went up between $10,000 and $19,000 to between $230,000 and $239,000. Given her responsibilities, we’ll not dispute her worth.

So where are we going with this? Well, we’re just saying that the polytech has now embarked on the very real business of trying to fix a problem that all and sundry wanted to talk about last election, but which few can get turned-on by now.

Real people – management, teachers, cleaners (even students, bless) – will be affected by whatever happens. It’s no longer just a game of political football.

And will this get better, or worse? Treasury has advised the government that its investment in education might have to drop from 6.4% of GDP to less than 4% by 2050. That’ll mean shifting the cost to families and to using limited funding to get greater efficiencies.

We’re all for efficiencies. But we’re also all for education. We know it’s a crucial part of the money-go-round that keeps our economy ticking.

We’ve heard Southland Chamber of Commerce ceo Richard Hay say our traditionally tight employment market means bosses aren’t always getting the best suited (or best educated) staff for the job.

So right now, should we really be undermining the one sector that may give our country the productivity advantages it so desperately needs to help pay its bills?