"What an excellent way to make use of old PCs," said Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack, referring to Robert Litt's free computer lab project. "Of course, the next thing he needs to do is start teaching the kids how to install and maintain these things. As a geek who spent his early teen years piecing together old computers just to have something to work on, I know how good a learning experience it would be."

Well it was a dark, dark week in the Linux blogosphere last week, as further evidence of the economy's sickly state spread across the land.

Tale after tale of personal tragedy has popped up on Google+ and beyond, in fact, making it more clear than ever that the magnitude of this economic crisis has reached nothing short of epic proportions.

Perhaps most notable among all the heart-wrenching stories, however, was the saddening news of the Linux community's very own Ken Starks.

For those who don't know him, Starks is a Linux advocate who has worked tirelessly for years equipping underprivileged kids with refurbished and Linux-powered PCs through the HeliOS Project, which has figured on LinuxInsider's virtual pages on several occasions in the past.

Today, however, Starks is fighting for his life in a brave battle against cancer.

"Ken's cancer has just recently begun to spread to his right lymph node, but his Oncologist has assured us that this is 80 percent curative if he gets the needed surgery in time," wrote Starks' life partner, Diane, in a blog post on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, his 1100 dollar a month SSI disability disqualifies him for Medicaid care and the local county low-income insurance he was receiving," Diane added. "This leaves us with about 2 weeks to either raise enough money for at least the OR for the surgery (we are hopeful of finding a surgeon to do the work pro bono) or raise enough money for the entire procedure."

It's heart-breaking enough to hear a tale like this even when the person in question is a stranger. When it's our own Starks -- a true hero who has done so much good for the world -- it's simply unbearable.

An Indiegogo campaign is now under way to raise funds for Starks' surgery.

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Linux and Kids: A Tale of Success as a Hero Battles for Life

Here is something a lot of people struggle with: given a vague idea or project, how do you move towards shaping something concrete out of it? For Vivek Haldar, a software developer at Google, the solution comes in four parts.

All projects start with a big blob of vagueness. Folks who create the most concreteness out of that are the ones who have the biggest impact. I'm learning how to approach this, but I still feel like a non-swimmer in the shallow end with lifesavers. I've learned a little, by personal experience, and by observation.

This is not design yet. These are high-level ideas that put constraints on the design space. For example, GMail chose the principle that search should be the primary email navigation mechanism. Think long and hard about these, because these principles will be baked into your code and your system in a way that can't be "refactored" away later. This is where wizards (i.e. very senior battle-hardened engineers) can help. Often, choosing these is a matter of taste and design and conceptual integrity. It might sound wishy-washy but it's hard. Document these well. This is your manifesto.

Once you've got a spine, you've got to add a few more bones.

This usually takes the form of a prototype, or a walking skeleton. It might have huge swaths of functionality missing. It might have serious shortcomings. It might be ugly. It might be slow. But that's OK. Think of this as the spec of sand around which a pearl is formed. What is important is that it be concrete, and growable.

It needs to be concrete and tangible. Something you can show and demo and people can play with and talk about and criticize get excited about. People rarely get excited about design documents. They frequently get excited about working prototypes, even when they come with massive this-will-break-on-you disclaimers.

Your prototype should not be a dead end. You should be able to put work into it and make it incrementally better. Adding something new or changing it should not require you to build a new one from scratch. In other words, it should support iteration. There may come a point when you have to throw one (or more away), but ideally that happens only when the prototype has brought you to a major insight that invalidates some of your basic assumptions. Even then, it would have served its purpose. And even then, you need something that will get you to that point quickly.

In other words, focus on learning and fixing, continuously and quickly. Don't sweat too much about getting it right. Chances are, your idea of right won't be the right one. Chances are that most other peoples' idea of right won't be either. Only by having something real to criticize and learn from will everyone figure out what right is.

Build, fail, fixand repeat.

On Vagueness | Vivek Haldar

Read more from the original source:
How I Turn Vague Ideas Into Tangible Goals [Success]

A SUNBURY boy is now able to learn just like his classmates at Killara Primary School - and it's all thanks to modern technology.

Last year Ben Clewer, 7, was the first child in Australia to receive a cochlear implant with the new CI422 electrode.

His parents, Lyall and Susan, admit they were nervous about Ben being a medical trailblazer. But their fears were unfounded as the cochlear implant has been a great success.

Ben's parents first realised there was a problem when he did not start putting more than two words together at the age of two.

They had him tested and found out that Ben had significant hearing loss.

After being fitted with hearing aids for four years, they were referred to the Eye and Ear Hospital's Cochlear Implant Clinic, who told them about cochlear implants.

As Ben still has some residual hearing, the CI422 electrode was recommended.

Ben attended a mainstream kindergarten in Sunbury with the assistance of Taralye, an oral language centre for deaf children in Victoria.

His parents also wanted him to attend a mainstream primary school, but finding the right school close to home was difficult.

Ben's father, Lyall, successfully applied for $10,000 funding from the Sidney Myer Foundation for two "sound-fields" in the classrooms at Killara Primary School. This included the installation of speakers which transmit into Ben's personal FM system.

Continued here:
Implant a huge success for Sunbury boy

Hanks High School graduate Vanessa Thomas helped NMSU's inaugural women's soccer team to a surprising 9-9-1 finish. (Courtesy photo)

Vanessa Thomas' first season at New Mexico State was full of surprises.

The former Hanks High School standout was one of the first players to commit to the Aggies' first-year soccer program in 2009. Thomas, who was one of El Paso's top strikers during her four years with the Knights, expected to be attacking on the front row at NMSU.

"I was recruited as a forward, but I was put in on defense my first game and I've been there ever since and I love it," Thomas said. "It was a shock. I was a little kid freshman and I didn't know what to expect. I'm glad it played out the way it did."

Heading into her senior season, Thomas has played in 55 matches and started in all but eight. She has served as one of the cornerstones of the NMSU program.

"Vanessa is part of what we call our foundation class," Aggies head coach Blair Quinn said. "I think any senior class would be motivated, but I think what is special about them is that very few classes get a chance to start a program and see it through during their four years."

The Aggies compiled a surprising 9-9-1 record in their inaugural season as Thomas saw action in each match and started in 14. NMSU reached the WAC tournament and lost 1-0 in the first round to fourth-seeded Nevada.

"It was a little surprising since we were in our first year," Thomas said. "But we had good players."

With Thomas a fixture in the back row, New Mexico State went 7-8-3 in 2010 and failed to make the WAC tournament.

"I can always do better and that's what this year is for," Thomas said. "I can't wait to make this year better than last year."

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Hanks High School grad finds success in new position at NMSU

COLUMBIA, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Employers counting on wellness programs to bend the benefits cost curve must include strong communication plans in their strategy if they hope to achieve their goals. Those who shortchange this crucial step risk wasting their investment of precious resources in a tight economy.

Thats one of the key findings in a new white paper released today by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. Well on the Way: Engaging Employees in Workplace Wellness uses proprietary and industry research and case studies to show how wellness initiatives can help employers control ever-higher health care and benefits costs, and the vital role of benefits communication in driving the effectiveness of these programs.

A growing number of employers are implementing programs that successfully reduce employee health risk factors and better manage chronic illness the primary drivers of health care costs. And employees value these programs: Nearly 90 percent of employees say the range of a companys health and wellness benefits is either very important or somewhat important in their choice of an employer.1 Yet these employees still might not participate in wellness programs because of lack of information.

You can build it but they may not come

Most employers cite weak employee engagement as the biggest obstacle to changing their employees health risk behavior, the white paper reports.2 But more than half of workers say they dont know enough about their companys wellness programs to participate in them. A new Colonial Life survey found 52 percent of workers whose employers offer wellness programs say theyre only somewhat or not at all knowledgeable about them.3 Lack of knowledge is higher among younger workers, less educated workers and lower-paid workers.

Just offering a wellness program and expecting a majority of employees to participate the if you build it, they will come scenario is prone to failure, said Steve Bygott, assistant vice president of marketing analysis and programs at Colonial Life. Communication that clearly delineates the benefits of participation to employees is the first step to long-term engagement in wellness programs.

Recent research shows wellness programs are often poorly understood and theres a surprising gap between what employers and employees think: 57 percent of employers believe their employees have a good understanding of the health and wellness programs offered and how to participate, but only 41 percent of employees agree they have a strong grasp of the programs offered.1

Personalized communication is effective

One-to-one employee communication, delivered in partnership with a benefits provider, offers a cost-effective means to build understanding and enhance engagement in these programs. Surveys with more than 20,000 employees who met individually with a benefits communication counselor show nearly all (96 percent) say it improved their understanding of benefits, and 98 percent say the interaction was important.4

See original here:
Colonial Life white paper shows communication is key to wellness program success

From the Archive: As Republicans and the Tea Party seek todismantle the New Deals social contract, one of their heroes, Dick Cheney, concedes that his personal success traces back to the federal governments intervention against the depredations inflicted on Americans by free-market capitalism, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry (Originally publishedSept. 16, 2011)

Former Vice President Dick Cheney would agree that he is about as right-wing as an American politician can be, openly hostile to the federal governments intervention in society. But one surprise from his memoir, In My Time, is that Cheney recognizes that his personal success was made possible by FranklinRoosevelts New Deal and the fact that Cheneys father managed to landa steady job with the federal government.

Ive often reflected on how different was the utterly stable environment he provided for his family and wondered if because of that I have been able to take risks, to change directions, and to leave one career path for another with hardly a second thought, Cheney writes.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney

In that sense, Cheneys self-assuredness may be as much a product of the New Deal as the many bridges, dams and other public works that Roosevelt commissioned in the 1930s to get Americans back to work. By contrast, the insecurity that afflicted Cheneys father was a byproduct of the vicissitudes from laissez-faire capitalism.

So, it is ironic that as an adult, Cheney has contributed as much as almost anyone todismantlingthe New Deal, the social compact that pulled his family into the American middle class and opened extraordinary opportunities for him.

In sketching his familys history, Cheney depicts the hard-scrabble life of farmers and small businessmen scratching out a living in the American Midwest and suffering financial reversals whenever the titans of Wall Street stumbled into a financial crisis and the bankers cut off credit.

After his ancestors would make some modest headway from their hard work, they would find themselves back at square one, again and again, because of some market crisis or a negative weather pattern. Whenever there was a financial panic or a drought, everything was lost.

In 1883, as the country struggled through a long economic depression, the sash and door factory that [Civil War veteran Samuel Fletcher Cheney] co-owned [in Defiance, Ohio] had to be sold to pay its debts, Cheney writes. At the age of fifty-four, Samuel Cheney had to start over, moving to Nebraska.

Read the original here:
Dick Cheney: Son of the New Deal

When I work with clients on creating a strategic plan, the first meeting is focused on developing their goals. Frequently, almost always, the initial answer is "make more money," usually delivered with a "duh" smile.

When pushed to move past "more money," the next set of goals will usually be increase revenue, increase the bottom line, expand, get more business from current clients or, perhaps, increase market share. These are obviously all variations on the "more money" theme. As a matter of fact, without exception (and I've been doing these plans for close to 20 years), the answer is always tied to increasing the bottom line.

Of course, increasing the bottom line is critical, but it's not a particularly strong goal for a strategic plan. Push yourself to think beyond the obvious and generic. What about increasing employee retention by 15 percent from last year a sure sign that people like working for you? What about increasing customer satisfaction, which means your customers are happy and will also probably increase business? How about a goal tied to community service or donations to nonprofits?

Tie goals to success and spend some time defining success for you, your division and your company. Maybe you don't need more money or a larger bottom line. Maybe you need less stress, more time off, increased challenges, new markets to explore, new products or services to sell. Before you commit your goals to paper, take some time to define success. This is different for each company, and can be a combination of personal and private.

Once you have defined success, you are ready to define goals. Understand that the goals still have to be quantifiable and have a timetable, but that if you achieve your goals, you should also achieve your success. Having these two areas of your professional life goals and success working in the same direction should be fulfilling, rewarding and dramatically increase the odds of being successful.

So, take some time, reflect on your life, your job and your business. Come back when you have a tangible definition of success that you can articulate to those around you and use as a platform for developing your business goals.

Scott Harris is the owner of Mustang Marketing, a full-service marketing agency serving Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley for more than 25 years. You can reach Scott at Scott@MustangMktg.com or visit Mustang's website at http://www.MustangMktg.com.

Link:
To create a strategic plan, first define success

Time for another lesson in the ABCs of Success. Think about these definitions in terms of your goals for your career and personal life.

Audience rating A measure of the proportion of people tunedin to a specific program at a specific time. People listen to winners, not whiners. How many coworkers really listen to you?

Benchmarking Comparing performance against that of others, typically competitors in the same industry. Be aware of the skills of your coworkers, so you can identify and fill holes in your skill set.

Change management An aspect of management that ensures the firm responds to changes in its operational and competitive environments. The skills of 2012 wont be the only ones youll need to thrive in 2017.

Differentiation The development of distinct and unique benefits in a product. If you are Brand YOU, what value does work product bring that your coworkers brands dont?

ERP An acronym for Enterprise Resource Planning. Numerous studies have shown that people with written career plans are far more successful. Its never too late to start writing.

Fortuity Chance occurrence. Let-it-happen people believe theyre unlucky. Make-it-happen people make their own luck.

Group think Everyone thinks alike. Dont be afraid to express a different opinion. Diverse opinions spur creativity and innovation.

Hub-and-spoke arrangement A process for distributing products. Ones network uses the same techniques to acquire and share knowledge.

Idle time The time a machine is not operational. Everyone needs time to relax; just not too much time.

See the original post here:
ABC's of Success

LONDON, Aug. 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From the first day of the track and field competition--when athletes posted 12 national bests and 52 personal bests--the state-of-the-art Mondotrack track surface at London's Olympic Stadium helped the world's greatest track and field athletes perform their best. When the Games were over, three world records*, four Olympic records, 64 national records, and a slew of personal and season bests had been set on the track.

"These amazing results and the comments we heard throughout the Games about Mondotrack being 'super fast' and a 'magic carpet' are extremely gratifying," Federico Stroppiana, CEO, Mondo Group. "Our efforts to develop tracks that are both soft and fast result in surfaces that provide the optimum blend of comfort and speed, making the tracks ideal for both training and high-speed competition and resulting in record-breaking athletic performances."

Topping the list of London 2012 track and field highlights on Mondotrack was Usain Bolt becoming the first man in Olympic history to win the 100- and 200-meter races and the men's 4x100-meter relay in two consecutive Games. The Jamaican's gold medal performances at the 2008 Beijing Olympics also were on Mondotrack.

The Games also produced the fastest 100-meter race of all time, with seven of the eight participants in the final crossing the line in less than 10 seconds. (The eighth, Jamaica's Asafa Powell, was slowed because of an injury.) That race also saw four of the seven competitors establish or equal personal or season bests.

The three world records established during the Games on Mondotrack were:

The four new Olympic records set during the Games on Mondotrack were:

Track and field Olympians also posted numerous national records, personal bests and season bests on Mondotrack, including:

Mondotrack is the newest track surface by Mondo, the global leader in the sport flooring market. Mondotrack builds on the success of the company's world-renowned Super X Performance track, which was the world's top track for more than 30 years and was an official track of eight Olympic Games through 2004. Designed for superior athletic performance, Mondotrack provides optimal traction and a greater contact area than other tracks. It converts the maximum amount of force generated by athletes' foot strikes to energy for maximum energy return, which helps athletes achieve faster times compared to running on other surfaces

More than 230 world records have been set on tracks made by Mondo, including five at the 2008 Olympics and three at these London Games.

About Mondo

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World records, national records, personal bests and season bests abound on Mondotrack surface at London Olympic Games

Written by TSN The Sports Network

(Sports Network) - Veteran right-hander Jason Marquis can keep a personal run of success alive against a former team tonight, when the San Diego Padres head back to Turner Field to close out a four-game series with the Atlanta Braves.

Marquis, who turns 34 next week, was a supplemental draft choice of the Braves in 1996 and was with them for his first four seasons in the big leagues - going 14-15 from 2000 through 2003.

He's since pitched with seven more teams and won as many as 15 games with St. Louis in 2004 and Colorado in 2009.

The Manhasset, N.Y. native began 2012 with Minnesota and won twice in seven appearances, but was granted free agency in May and signed the following day with the Padres, for whom he's made 13 starts and has won five of his last six.

The most recent outing on Aug. 11 yielded his best performance of the season, a complete-game gem at Pittsburgh in which he allowed two hits, walked one and struck out four in a 5-0 downing of the Pirates.

Marquis is 3-4 lifetime against the Braves with a 7.27 earned run average in 43 1/3 innings.

He'll be opposed by reliever-turned-starter Kris Medlen, who'll begin his fourth straight game after entering from the bullpen 38 times.

The 26-year-old from California was 1-1 with a save and a 2.48 ERA before his initial start of the season on July 31, which ended in a 7-1 defeat of Miami in which Medlen allowed four hits and a run in five innings.

He allowed a single run in 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision against Houston in start No. 2, then picked up another win on Aug. 11 at New York when he limited the Mets to a run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 9-3 defeat of the Mets.

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Padres wrap up set at Turner Field