BlackBerry's rich history of tactile keyboards continues in its Q10, a tiny device with a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED screen and ... well, a full keyboard. We've already gone hands-on with the device, and you'll get to do the same come April, but we couldn't help wondering: how does it stack up against its spiritual forebear, the BlackBerry Bold? We snapped a handful of comparison shots to answer just that question, which you can see for yourself in the gallery below.
Mission: The AIDS Institute's Florida Consortium for HIV/AIDS Research (FCHAR) was created to bring more HIV research resources to Florida and advance the body of knowledge about all aspects of HIV prevention, care and treatment.? The focus is on promoting and arranging inter-institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration on HIV research, including behavioral/epidemiologic studies, clinical trials and studies of basic science, virology and vaccine development.? FCHAR researchers represent 7 universities, the Florida Department of Health and 11 other research entities across the state, including those from the private sector.? Members account for more than 400 recent and ongoing HIV/AIDS research studies, as compiled in the group's Florida HIV/AIDS Research Inventory.
Objectives:???
Cooperation: Find common HIV research interest areas and network to bring new resources/studies to Florida.
Share and inventory HIV clinical trials, prevention studies, and basic science research to develop a central source for research study compilation within Florida.
Educate clinicians, HIV support teams, and consumers to promote appropriate referral and entry of patients into clinical trials.
Collaborate: Partner on proposed and future unique studies that address primary and secondary HIV prevention, improve patient outcomes, and advance an understanding of microbicides, a cure, and a vaccine.
Resolve challenges and discuss solutions to recruitment of participants for prevention studies, behavioral studies, and clinical trials; address challenges in collecting biologic specimens for virologic and other basic science studies.
Identify active or future protocols accessible to our patients for the prevention and treatment of HIV infection. ?
?We have successfully coalesced around common interests, challenges, and solutions to expand inter-institutional collaboration and attract new research resources to the state for the benefit of at-risk populations and our patients.?
Jeffrey Beal, M.D. Medical Director of the FDOH, Bureau of HIV/AIDS
The AIDS Institute 17 Davis Blvd. Suite 403, Tampa, FL 33606 / PH 813 258 5929 / FX 813 258 5939 2000 S Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009 / PH 202 835 8373 / FX 202 835 8368 www.theaidsinstitute.org www.FCHAR.org
Shortly after the latest rumor that Vertu's prepping its first-ever Android-based device, eagle-eyed Blog of Mobile delivered further evidence to support the claim, and it even managed to dig out what claims to be product shots of said phone. First of all, the name "Ti" and model number "RM-828V" are spotted across Bluetooth SIG, GLBenchmark and telecom regulator databases in Singapore and Macau. Having scanned through these pages we now know that the Ti will come with Android 4.0.4, an 800 x 480 display, a 1.5GHz processor, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. Blog of Mobile added that it's a Snapdragon MSM8260A SoC with WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 radio, accompanied by a rather lame 1,250mAh battery. Bluetooth SIG's page provided the following design description of the device:
"VERTU Ti possesses the classic Vertu design DNA and characteristics - strong, unique & distinctive. The design and craftsmanship positions VERTU Ti alongside other iconic products in the luxury market."
If the above images are authentic then the Ti does indeed maintain the classic Vertu look. The only real changes we can see so far are the three new physical keys -- presumably "Back," "Home" and "Recent apps" for Android. If all goes well, we should see this wallet-busting gadget at MWC next month, so start saving up now.
Update: Russian retailer spblux.ru lists four variants of the Ti or, as the site calls it, the Constellation Ti: "Titanium Black PVD black leather," "Titanium Black Alligator," "Red Gold Mixed Metal" and "Titanium Black Leather." Interestingly, the red gold version has a search button instead of "Recent apps," but we guess that was an earlier design. Regardless, we got all four designs after the break for your viewing pleasure. [Thanks, Roman K.]
Even though Kim Kardashian's baby might be wearing specially made leather pants designed by dad Kanye West, she says the child is not going to join the family business right away.
"The baby is not going to be on our show," Kim said Tuesday night during her and sister Kourtney Kardashian's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. "When he or she decides that's what they want to do, then that will be a decision.
"I love seeing Mason and Penelope on TV," she added, referring to Kourtney's little ones. "Mason is the highlight of our show, I think."
Kris Jenner reveals talk show plans--and Kim's pregnancy cravings
"It's a tough decision," Kim admitted after Jimmy joked about whether the baby might "feel bad" being the only family member not on TV. "From the start, as of now, that's just a personal choice that Kanye and I have made... We're going to try to keep it as private as possible."
But if the baby wants to release his or her own fragrance?
"If that's what they want to do, I will support it," Kim said, smiling.
Kim talks infertility struggles, Kanye and Kris Humphries
As for Kourtney, she admits it's a "struggle," trying to decide if letting her kids be on TV is the right choice, "but a lot of the times I feel like, them being with their mom is the best thing."
Kim, who previously opened up about the private struggle she was having with infertility, called getting pregnant a "nice surprise" and revealed that she's got about a week or two to go until she finds out the sex.
Asked whether Kourtney's hand-me-downs will pass muster with the kid's father, Kim admitted that she thinks Kanye is going to want things "specially made," including some "really fun stuff."
Kim touches down at LAX in fur and leather
"Leather pants!" cracked Kourtney.
"Imagine, crapping in something that expensive," mused Jimmy.
And while Kourtney guessed that she will eventually be throwing her sister a baby shower along with Khloe Kardashian Odom and their mom, Kris Jenner, Jimmy took the opportunity to throw Kim a "mini" shower, complete with virgin mimosas and a "big book of baby names that start with K."
If Kim and Kanye go with Katmandu, we'll know where the inspiration came from.
Are you surprised the reality star plans to keep her baby off TV? Tell us on our Facebook page.
NTU research embraces laser and sparks cool affairPublic release date: 30-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lester Kok lesterkok@ntu.edu.sg Nanyang Technological University
Latest discovery published in cover feature of top science journal Nature
Bulky and noisy air-conditioning compressors and refrigerators may soon be a thing of the past.
With the latest discovery by scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), current cooling systems which uses refrigerant harmful to the ozone layer could be replaced by a revolutionary cooling system using lasers.
This discovery, published and featured on the cover of the 24 January 2013 issue of Nature, the world's top scientific journal, could also potentially lead to a host of other innovations. This includes making huge Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, unwieldy night vision goggles and satellite cameras - all of which require extreme cooling systems - even more compact and energy saving.
This breakthrough in laser cooling technology can even lead to the development of almost sci-fi like computer chips that cool on their own, minimising heat and thus prolonging battery life for portable devices like tablets and smart phones.
Assistant Professor Xiong Qihua from the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering had cooled down a semiconductor from 20 degrees Celsius down to minus 20 degrees Celsius. Before this, the cooling of semiconductors by laser has never been proven.
The material, Cadmium Sulfide, is a type of group II-VI semiconductor commonly used in solar cells, sensors and electronics.
"If we are able to harness the power of laser cooling, it would mean that medical devices which require extreme cooling, such as MRI which uses liquid helium, could do away with their bulky refrigerant systems with just with an optical refrigeration device in its place," Prof Xiong said.
"Not only that, but it would also remove the need for compressors and coolants in air-conditioning and refrigerators used in our homes and automobiles, saving space, energy and green house gases which are harmful to our ozone layer.
The potential for a compact, cost-effective, vibration-free and cryogen-less cooling system is enormous, as the global market for energy-efficient buildings is estimated to be worth over $100 billion dollars by 2017, according to reports by Global Industry Analysts (GIA).
"This also translates into the ability to build miniaturised coolers to cool infrared sensors used in satellites for imaging and build self-cooling computer chips suitable for use in portable devices like tablets and smart phones."
Prof Xiong, who leads a research team of 25 people including three undergraduates, is now looking to bring laser cooling down to liquid helium temperature at minus 269 degree Celsius. This is because in principle and theory, semiconductors can support laser cooling down to such a low temperatures.
"Our initial results published in Nature, have shown that it is possible to laser-cool a semiconductor to liquid nitrogen temperature, so we are aiming to reach an even lower temperature, such as that of liquid helium," said Prof Xiong, who had directed the research efforts of his researchers Dr. Zhang Jun and Ph.D. student Li Dehui towards this new area.
This experiment which took three years to complete was funded by NTU, Prof Xiong's National Research Foundation Fellowship grant and the Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund.
NTU's ground-breaking research into fundamental physics and sciences is one of the key components in Sustainability, one of the university's Five Peaks of Excellence, areas of research which NTU hopes to make a global mark in under its five-year strategic plan.
Such a development of a laser cooling system will also benefit other key research areas, such as Future Healthcare which is also a Peak of Excellence. Other peaks include New Media, Innovation Asia and the Best of East and West.
A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has 33,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the colleges of Engineering, Business, Science, and Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences. This year NTU will enrol the first batch of students at its new medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, which is set up jointly with Imperial College London.
NTU is also home to four world-class autonomous institutes the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) and Institute on Asian Consumer Insight (ACI).
A fast-growing university with an international outlook, NTU is putting its global stamp on Five Peaks of Excellence: Sustainable Earth, Future Healthcare, New Media, New Silk Road, and Innovation Asia.
Besides the main Yunnan Garden campus, NTU also has a satellite campus in Singapore's science and tech hub, one-north and is setting up a third campus in Novena, Singapore's medical district.
For more information, visit www.ntu.edu.sg.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NTU research embraces laser and sparks cool affairPublic release date: 30-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lester Kok lesterkok@ntu.edu.sg Nanyang Technological University
Latest discovery published in cover feature of top science journal Nature
Bulky and noisy air-conditioning compressors and refrigerators may soon be a thing of the past.
With the latest discovery by scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), current cooling systems which uses refrigerant harmful to the ozone layer could be replaced by a revolutionary cooling system using lasers.
This discovery, published and featured on the cover of the 24 January 2013 issue of Nature, the world's top scientific journal, could also potentially lead to a host of other innovations. This includes making huge Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, unwieldy night vision goggles and satellite cameras - all of which require extreme cooling systems - even more compact and energy saving.
This breakthrough in laser cooling technology can even lead to the development of almost sci-fi like computer chips that cool on their own, minimising heat and thus prolonging battery life for portable devices like tablets and smart phones.
Assistant Professor Xiong Qihua from the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering had cooled down a semiconductor from 20 degrees Celsius down to minus 20 degrees Celsius. Before this, the cooling of semiconductors by laser has never been proven.
The material, Cadmium Sulfide, is a type of group II-VI semiconductor commonly used in solar cells, sensors and electronics.
"If we are able to harness the power of laser cooling, it would mean that medical devices which require extreme cooling, such as MRI which uses liquid helium, could do away with their bulky refrigerant systems with just with an optical refrigeration device in its place," Prof Xiong said.
"Not only that, but it would also remove the need for compressors and coolants in air-conditioning and refrigerators used in our homes and automobiles, saving space, energy and green house gases which are harmful to our ozone layer.
The potential for a compact, cost-effective, vibration-free and cryogen-less cooling system is enormous, as the global market for energy-efficient buildings is estimated to be worth over $100 billion dollars by 2017, according to reports by Global Industry Analysts (GIA).
"This also translates into the ability to build miniaturised coolers to cool infrared sensors used in satellites for imaging and build self-cooling computer chips suitable for use in portable devices like tablets and smart phones."
Prof Xiong, who leads a research team of 25 people including three undergraduates, is now looking to bring laser cooling down to liquid helium temperature at minus 269 degree Celsius. This is because in principle and theory, semiconductors can support laser cooling down to such a low temperatures.
"Our initial results published in Nature, have shown that it is possible to laser-cool a semiconductor to liquid nitrogen temperature, so we are aiming to reach an even lower temperature, such as that of liquid helium," said Prof Xiong, who had directed the research efforts of his researchers Dr. Zhang Jun and Ph.D. student Li Dehui towards this new area.
This experiment which took three years to complete was funded by NTU, Prof Xiong's National Research Foundation Fellowship grant and the Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund.
NTU's ground-breaking research into fundamental physics and sciences is one of the key components in Sustainability, one of the university's Five Peaks of Excellence, areas of research which NTU hopes to make a global mark in under its five-year strategic plan.
Such a development of a laser cooling system will also benefit other key research areas, such as Future Healthcare which is also a Peak of Excellence. Other peaks include New Media, Innovation Asia and the Best of East and West.
A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has 33,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the colleges of Engineering, Business, Science, and Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences. This year NTU will enrol the first batch of students at its new medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, which is set up jointly with Imperial College London.
NTU is also home to four world-class autonomous institutes the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) and Institute on Asian Consumer Insight (ACI).
A fast-growing university with an international outlook, NTU is putting its global stamp on Five Peaks of Excellence: Sustainable Earth, Future Healthcare, New Media, New Silk Road, and Innovation Asia.
Besides the main Yunnan Garden campus, NTU also has a satellite campus in Singapore's science and tech hub, one-north and is setting up a third campus in Novena, Singapore's medical district.
For more information, visit www.ntu.edu.sg.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Welcome, Lifehackers, to our next Hacker Challenge! Each week, we issue a new challenge. You get until Sunday to prepare your submission and send it to us. That gives you a few days to think about it and a whole weekend to work it up. Our editors pick the best submissions and our favorite will win an autographed copy of the Lifehacker book!
Let's get started!
This Week's Hacker Challenge: Share Your Best Space-Saving Office Hack
No matter the size of our office, most of us have a tendency toward clutter if we don't take the time to organize our space and keep it that way. We've shown you how to make the most of a small workspace. We've shown you how to get your cables under control and how to make the contents of drawers organized. We've even talked about ways you can upgrade your home office.
Now, it's your turn. We want to see your best space-saving hack for your office. Whether it's a clever storage solution, a way to get stuff off your desk, or some way of making things easier to find, show us what you've come up with.
How to Submit Your Entry
Make sure to follow these instructions when you submit your entry:
Post your entry below or send it to challenge@lifehacker.com with the subject Hacker Challenge: Space Saving Office Hack. If you post your entry below and need to include more than one image, just reply to your own comment or host your extra pics on a free, quick image-hosting site like imgur and link out to your gallery.
We will accept entries up through Sunday night, February 3 at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time
We will showcase the best submissions and announce our favorite Monday, February 4.
Break out your tools and get to work! And don't forget to check back for new challenges every week.
Standard Gawker contest rules apply, so be sure to check them out before submitting your entry.
Images by Tina Mailhot-Roberge and Brian A Jackson (Shutterstock).
The coffins were laid out in rows following the fire that killed hundreds at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria after the band's pyrotechnic display set fire to the sound-proofed ceiling. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.
By Erin McClam and Isolde Raftery, NBC News
Updated at 8 p.m. ET:?The day after the Brazil nightclub fire, Mattheus Bortolotto described what he experienced to a local television station: "The emergency exits did not work, and then I lost my friend in the confusion. Then a girl died in my arms. I felt her heart stop beating."
Revelers were celebrating the end of summer late Saturday at the club in Santa Maria when a band?s pyrotechnic display set fire to the soundproofed ceiling and started a fire that claimed 233 lives. Dozens choked to death, and dozens more were trampled in the panic that followed.
The fire appears to have taken a devastating toll on a nearby university: Almost half the victims had ties to the school, many of them there for a party organized by students at Federal University of Santa Maria.
The Federal University of Santa Maria said Monday that 114 people who died at the Kiss nightclub on Saturday night were students, graduates or dropouts. Most of the students killed had just started at the school.
The school said that its Center for Rural Sciences had lost the most students, 64. Among them were 26 agronomy students and 15 studying to be veterinarians. A notice on the school?s website Monday said that classes would be suspended at least through Feb. 1. About 27,000 students are enrolled there.
Also among those killed were five members of the Brazilian Air Force, according to a statement reproduced by Diario. Santa Maria is home to an air base. ?They will be buried in the region.
Read profiles of the nightclub fire victims at Diario de Santa Maria
More than 100 people remain hospitalized for smoke inhalation, the AP reported.?
?It?s impossible to predict what will happen, because they are all in a very delicate state, but there?s hope for all of them,? Dr. Paulo Afonso Beltrame told the AP. He said hospitals in neighboring cities have taken in about 40 patients.
?One of the problems we?re having here is that all these people need to be on respirators and we don?t have enough respirators in the city,? Dr. Beltrame said.?
The city?s mortuary was also backed up, the BBC reported, so bodies were lined up at a local gym. Family members were guided through the gym to identify relatives.
At the gym were Leandro Buss, a computer technician, and his 16-year-old son.?
?I?m burying my wife today,? Buss, 35, told The New York Times. His wife, Marilene Castro, 33, died at the club. ?We?ll see who was responsible for this.?
The cemetery, too, has become overwhelmed by the plots that must be dug immediately. The cemetery has hired eight workers in addition to its usual eight and rented two backhoes, according to the Diario de Santa Maria, the newspaper based in Santa Maria, a city of 263,000 in Brazil?s southernmost state. One apparatus failed, forcing workers to dig out the plots with shovels.
Thousands gathered Monday afternoon at a square in the city center for a short service. They hugged tearfully and when the nondenominational service came to an end, they applauded for a long time, according to the Diario de Santa Maria. ?
President Dilma Rousseff cut short a visit to Chile, the BBC reported, to visit survivors at a Santa Maria hospital.
"It is a tragedy for all of us," Rousseff told the BBC.
RELATED:
Shoes, blood, lime slices scattered across nightclub floor
Painful memories for survivors of 2003 club fire in Rhode Island
There's a new Apple TV on the way. Per these FCC documents, the new model is physically slightly smaller and rocks an A5X SoC. With the faster core, the new model should provide a better user experience with a smoother UI and improved app performance. Plus, with the Apple TV recent update that added a bunch of features, it seems the Apple is about to make another assault on the living room.
Illinois' Tracy Abrams (13) drives around Michigan's Caris LeVert (23) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/John Dixon)
Illinois' Tracy Abrams (13) drives around Michigan's Caris LeVert (23) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/John Dixon)
Illinois' Sam McLaurin (0) shoots over Michigan's Mitch McGary (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/John Dixon)
Illinois' Tyler Griffey (42) grabs a loose ball and goes back to the basket as Michigan's Mitch McGary (4) tries to recover during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/John Dixon)
Michigan head coach John Beilein talks to Trey Burke (3) during the second half of their NCAA college basketball game against Illinois, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in Champaign, Ill. Michigan won 74-60. (AP Photo/John Dixon)
Illinois' Sam McLaurin (0) shoots over Michigan's Mitch McGary (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/John Dixon)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) ? Possible No. 1 ranking? Yeah, that's nice, Michigan's Trey Burke said Sunday outside the locker room at Illinois' Assembly Hall.
But after the win that should give the No. 2 Wolverines their first top ranking since the 1992-93 season, the sophomore guard wanted to talk defense and what a team does when one of its big, defensive rocks goes down.
If you're Michigan (19-1, 6-1 Big Ten), you plug in a couple of other big guys. And you win ? in this case 74-60 over the Illini, most of it without 6-foot-8, 250-pound Jordan Morgan. The starting forward limped to the locker room less than two minutes into the game with a sprained right ankle and didn't come back.
"Coach (John Beilein) calls him the minister of defense," Burke said, crediting the Mitch McGary, John Horford and Max Bielfeldt, the three big men who picked up the slack.
"I say this every game," Burke added, "but it just starts with defense. I think that started in the first half."
And that No. 1 ranking, which will likely be Michigan's after Duke's lopsided loss to Miami earlier in the week opened the door when the AP poll comes out Monday, doesn't mean much yet, Beilein was quick to remind.
"You compete for a Big Ten championship, then you go on you compete for a national championship," he said. "That's the number one you want down the line."
Illinois (15-6, 2-5) and first-year coach John Groce, whose team has been doomed by cold shooting since mid-December and shot 37.1 percent Sunday, could do little but marvel at the Wolverines.
"I give Michigan a lot of credit," Groce said. "You make one mistake and they exploit it like that."
Burke scored 19 to lead Michigan. Nick Stauskas scored 14 points and Glenn Robinson III and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 12 each.
Brandon Paul led Illinois with 15 points but had five of the Illini's 15 costly turnovers.
Beilein said he didn't yet know the severity of Morgan's sprained right ankle but said he couldn't have returned to the game even if baldy needed.
The Wolverines hardly missed him ? they seemed to have an answer for everything Illinois offered.
The Illini fought back to within seven points with just over nine minutes to play when a Richardson steal set up Joseph Bertrand for a soft jump shot that floated into the bucket.
The wave of noise that rose from the crowd trying to will the Illini back into the game didn't last long.
First, with 8:40 to play, Mitch McGary pulled down the rebound off a miss by Burke and dropped the ball into the bucket.
Then Burke scooped the ball up off a Paul turnover at the other end and, with a dunk, put the Wolverines back up by 11 at 59-48. With 8:21 to play and shooting just 37.1 percent on the night, Illinois couldn't find a way back.
Morgan appeared to roll his right ankle as he came down under the Wolverine basket, but Michigan lost little if anything inside without the 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward.
McGary, Bielfeldt ? a redshirt freshman with strong ties to Illinois ? and Horford picked up most of Morgan's minutes, and his slack.
McGary, a 6-10, 250-pound forward, hasn't started a game this season but averages 16 minutes a night anyway. Bielfeldt, though, plays less than six minutes a night, and was all nerves in his first minutes on the court. The 6-7, 245-pound forward badly missed his first free throw, at least a foot right of the basket, and the crowd, well aware that the athletic administration building on the Illinois campus bears his big-donor family's name, let him have it.
So did his teammates, Beilein said.
"It was not a great initial debut with the air ball. That's one of the first things we made fun of," the coach said. "All his teammates were on him in the locker room."
But with another chance at the line minutes later, Bielfeldt sank both shots, finishing with four points in six minutes.
Horford had seven points and five boards in 17 minutes while McGary had six points and eight rebounds.
"It gave three guys the opportunity to play that (don't) get as much as they like, Beilein said of Morgan's injury. "I'm really impressed with the big guys and how they stepped up there."
Illinois' big-man combination of Nanna Egwu, Sam McLaurin and Tyler Griffey wasn't much of a match for them. The Wolverines scored 42 points in the paint.
Groce said his big men weren't bad, just not as good they'd like to be, especially McLaurin, the 6-8 grad-student transfer he called his team's defensive Kevin Garnett
"I really have a high regard for Sam's intelligence and ability to execute our defense, and I think we'll look at the film and he wasn't on his Ps and Qs like normal," said Groce, who last faced Michigan as the coach at Ohio, leading the Bobcats to a second-round NCAA Tournament upset last spring.
Michigan took the lead for good with 15:21 to play in the first half when Burke hit a jump shot to go up 8-7. With a 9-0 run that ended only with a 3-pointer by Paul with 10:52 left in the half, the Wolverines were up 15-10.
___
Follow David Mercer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidmercerap
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.
We swear we didn't plan it this way, but it looks like we've got a little trifecta this week, with write-ups pertaining to Apple, Google and, last but not least, Microsoft. On the pessimistic end of the spectrum, Dana would rather have the third-generation iPod shuffle than the model she's using. Terrence is hooked on Google Now and Jon likes the HTC 8X -- just not as much as the Lumia 920.
HTC 8X
What's this? Another Windows Phone 8 test? Yes, while I was trying the Lumia 920 and before I reviewed the ATIV S, I felt it was only fair to give the third flagship of the platform, HTC's Windows Phone 8X, a proper shakedown. I spent a few weeks with one to gauge the differences and came back with the impression that HTC has a worthy flagship -- but not necessarily the one I'd choose for myself.
If you talk solely about ergonomics, the 8X is undoubtedly my first pick. It's much lighter and grippier than the Lumia 920, and the smaller screen makes it easier to reach every corner with one hand than the ATIV S. About the only reservations I have are that hard-to-press power button and the relatively sharp edges. The stand-out appearance can't help but sway me, too. If you get the phone in one of the bolder colors (read: not black), it's simply iconic. No one will mistake an 8X for another phone, while both the ATIV S and Lumia 920 have familiar-looking peers.
Yet there are a few ingredients missing that make it hard to call HTC's creation my perfect Windows Phone 8 device. Simply speaking, the camera just isn't as good as it needs to be in early 2013. While the 8X is sometimes a better pick for up-close photography than the Lumia 920, it falls apart in low-light situations where the Lumia is a champ. Apps matter, as well. Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps aren't vital, but I missed their navigation when I switched devices. And I'll have to admit that being Canadian skews my preferences towards the Nokia phone's glove-friendly screen: it's great to avoid the binary choice of making a phone call versus preserving my fingers. While I'd be inclined to choose the 8X over the ATIV S as long as storage wasn't a priority, I would still give Nokia the ultimate nod as the most relevant to real-world use.
-- Jon Fingas
Google Now
Pretty much from the moment I first launched Google Now it changed the way I interacted with my phone. I've used Siri and toyed with S Voice, but Now is the only virtual assistant that seems like more than an occasionally useful gimmick. Truth is, at this point I unlock directly into it almost as often as I go to the home screen. Sure, in the early days its functionality was fairly limited (and still is), but there was enough information presented by default to keep me coming back. When Gmail was added to its repository of information, the app became a true game-changer for me. While other "assistant" apps are little more than voice commands with personality, Now actually helps track information for you and presents it at valuable times. I don't have to ask what the weather is like or how long it'll take me to get to my next appointment -- it just tells me without prompting.
Of course, things aren't perfect. Now still has a lot of rough edges to work out. For one, the mobile boarding pass feature has yet to work as advertised for me, though, its flight tracking feature turns out to be quicker and more accurate than United's own app. It also stumbles a bit on tracking packages. I like that it recognizes tracking numbers and presents them to me with a quick link, but Now doesn't actually do any tracking itself. Instead it simply shows the card to you for a predetermined amount of time. That's fine if you're enjoying free two-day shipping thanks to Amazon Prime, but if your delivery takes more than a couple of days the card disappears before the box hits your doorstep. It also has an unfortunate habit of presenting me directions to a "new place" almost any time I perform a web search. Oh, and some higher-res icons for the sports score cards would be greatly appreciated.
None of that is enough to ruin the experience, however. If I need to know when my bus is coming, what the temperature is, if my flight is on time or even how many steps I took this month I simply swipe up on my Nexus lock screen and let Google do the work for me. What's more, things can only get better as the company improves its algorithms, opens up new sources of data and, hopefully, develops an API to let other apps tap into the power of Now.
-- Terrence O'Brien
iPod shuffle (fourth generation)
We runners are a superstitious bunch. In my training group, "Nothing new on race day" is our mantra, and it's one to which I've adhered earnestly. It goes without saying that new shoes, running shorts and Snozberry-flavored energy gels are out of the question, but I even get antsy about wearing my Spibelt around my waist instead of my hips. Yeah, I'm neurotic, but running 26.2 miles is scary, yo.
So I was none too pleased when I had a gadget emergency the week before the 2011 New York City Marathon. I'd been training with the Sansa Clip Zip for two months when it abruptly began having mood swings. It started repeating songs, even when I had set my library to shuffle. Sometimes, if it encountered a song it didn't like, it just froze. On a good day, I could side-step the issue by selecting a different artist or song. At its worst, the only way to revive it was to perform a hard reset.
Obviously, that wasn't going to cut it for my epic run, so I did what any desperate person would do: I went to Best Buy and spent $50 on an iPod shuffle. Truly, I would have preferred something like the nano, which would have let me choose specific songs, but I wasn't about to drop $149 on what was essentially an impulse buy. Fifty bucks was about as much as I was willing to spend without having had the opportunity to hem and haw over my purchase.
So I used it. And it was okay. The clip doesn't feel as strong as on the third-generation model. Also, it came with regular headphones (i.e., ones without inline controls), which meant I had to press the player on the device to pause the music and skip tracks. To this day, I find the keys a bit too small, and I often hit the wrong one, mistaking pause for fast-forward, etc. Fortunately, I've since subbed in a pair with an inline remote, which means I barely have to touch the device anymore (except, perhaps, to reposition it in a place where the clip will stay put). Battery life was initially awesome -- I got through that nearly six-hour marathon (oof) with plenty of juice to spare. It's since seen better days, though, to the point where I now have to recharge it several times a week. Faint praise, if ever you've heard it, but at least it doesn't force me to listen to the same Madonna song over and over. That would just be cruel.
ROME (AP) ? Italy's top criminal court has ruled there is "abundantly" clear evidence that a stray missile caused an Italian passenger jet to crash into the Mediterranean Sea in 1980, killing all 81 people aboard.
Quoting from the Rome ruling on Monday, the Italian news agency LaPresse said the court upheld a Palermo appeals ruling that Italian radar systems didn't adequately protect the skies and Italy must compensate the victims' families.
What caused the Itavia DC-9 to crash during a flight from Bologna to Palermo has been one of Italy's enduring mysteries.
Some theorized a bomb exploded. Others contended the jet was caught in the crossfire of a military aerial dogfight, with a Libyan plane possibly the target. French, U.S. and NATO officials have denied military activity in the skies that night.
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarians are expected to vote in favor of building a new nuclear power plant in their first referendum in the post-communist era on Sunday, challenging the government's decision to abandon the multi-billion-dollar project.
The plebiscite will be seen as a test of public support for the policies of rightist Prime Minister Boiko Borisov ahead of July elections, even though voting rules mean the result of the nuclear referendum is unlikely to be binding.
Borisov, already struggling to revive a lackluster economy, cancelled the construction of the 2,000-megawatt plant at Belene in March saying the Balkan country could not afford to foot the bill, estimated at more than 10 billion euros ($13.5 billion).
Bulgaria's allies in Brussels and Washington also opposed the project, fearing it would deepen the country's economic and political dependence on Russia - Moscow had offered to finance the plant which would have been built by its Atomstroyexport.
But opinion polls suggest two thirds of people who say they are going to vote will choose to press on with the plant, many of them hoping it will rein in electricity prices, create jobs and help make the country an energy hub for southeast Europe.
"Bulgaria needs a new nuclear power plant. I do not want my kids to pay high electricity bills and that's what will happen if we give up the construction of the Belene plant," engineer Georgi Avramov, 49, told Reuters ahead of the vote.
FRUSTRATED VOTERS
Polling stations opened at 6 a.m. (11:00 p.m. EST Saturday) and will close at 7 p.m. (12:00 p.m. EST Sunday), with the first exit poll results expected soon afterwards.
While the economy has emerged from a deep recession, it is growing only slowly and many voters are frustrated Bulgaria still trails other ex-communist members of the European Union, with wealth per capita less than half the bloc's average.
Analysts said a strong vote in favor of Belene would be an embarrassment for Borisov, a former bodyguard who has made little progress in his promises to root out corruption since he came to power in 2009.
Unpopular austerity measures imposed by Borisov's ruling centre-right GERB party have already narrowed its lead over opposition Socialists - who called for the referendum - ahead of parliamentary elections in July.
"If we get a strong 'pro-Belene' vote as expected, even though the results are likely to be invalid, we would already have a serious political issue on which Borisov will have to act very carefully," said Gallup International political analyst Kantcho Stoichev.
The result of the referendum, which will ask if a new nuclear power plant should be built and not about the use of nuclear power in general, will only be valid if 4.35 million out of the 6.9 million eligible voters take part - a figure analysts say will be almost impossible to reach.
If 20 percent of voters participate and half of them vote in favor of Belene, the issue will go to parliament for a final decision.
Bulgaria has an operational 2,000 megawatt nuclear power plant at Kozloduy and has hired U.S. firm Westinghouse to draw up plans to add another 1,000 MW unit at the site.
The new plant at Belene, on the River Danube, was also opposed by environmentalists, who said it would be built near an earthquake-prone area, and by rights groups who said the high-cost project would encourage corruption in the European Union's poorest country.
($1 = 0.7421 euros)
(Additional reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
This photo provided by the Louisiana State Police shows Wilbert Thibodeaux. Police on Saturday arrested Thibodeaux suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/Louisiana State Police)
This photo provided by the Louisiana State Police shows Wilbert Thibodeaux. Police on Saturday arrested Thibodeaux suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/Louisiana State Police)
A sheriff's deputy rides in a police vehicles as he leaves the scene of a shooting, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)
Louisiana State Trooper Stephen Hammons gives information about the shootings Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)
A fire set by a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies is extinguished, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)
An Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office command post is driven to the scene of a shooting Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after allegedly setting fire to a mobile home in south Louisiana, where an elderly man's body was found.
A Chitimacha tribal officer was pronounced dead at the scene of the shootings in Charenton, while two St. Mary Parish sheriff's deputies were critically wounded and taken to local hospitals, said Louisiana State Police Trooper Stephen Hammons.
Hammons said the officers were responding to a report of an armed man walking down a road near the Cypress Bayou Casino when Wilbert Thibodeaux, 48, of Charenton allegedly shot them.
"Thibodeaux fired at the Chitimacha Officer, fatally wounding him," state police said in a news release. "As two St. Mary Deputies, who were in the same car, arrived at the scene Thibodeaux fired multiple shots hitting the deputies. During the encounter, Thibodeaux was shot."
Investigators found the burned remains of a man after extinguishing a fire at a mobile home that Thibodeaux is suspected of setting before the officers confronted him, Hammons said.
Police identified the deceased man in the mobile home as Eddie Lyons, 78, of Charenton. "Detectives suspect Lyons was shot by Thibodeaux before the fire," state police said in a news release.
Thibodeaux was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound that wasn't considered life-threatening and released, according to Hammons, who said investigators were questioning him Saturday evening. Charges against him are pending.
The state Fire Marshal's office is investigating the fire.
"Today is a difficult day for our partners in St. Mary Parish," Col. Mike Edmonson, the State Police superintendent, said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers are with the deputies and the officer's families tonight. I know the coming days and weeks will be difficult ones for the men and women of the Chitimacha Police Department and the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office. We will assist their agencies in any way we can during these trying times."
The casino is run by the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana and is less than a quarter-mile from the scene of the shootings. Hammons said the shootings occurred near but not on tribal land.
"Everybody is just in shock. It's small-town America," said Jacqueline Junca, the tribe's secretary and treasurer.
Police didn't immediately release the names of the officers. Authorities said they will do so at a Monday news conference.
Tribe councilman Toby Darden said the slain officer was married and had two grown children, but he declined to give his name.
"He's a real great guy. Extremely dedicated to his job. Very brave," Darden said.
He was one of seven full-time officers who patrol a 260-acre reservation that has roughly 150 homes, a grocery store, a small school and government offices.
"Everybody knows the officers personally," Darden said. "It's devastating."
Junca said the tribe has around 1,200 members, roughly half of whom live on the reservation.
Access to and from the casino was restricted for roughly 90 minutes as a precautionary measure while police responded to the shooting, said casino spokeswoman Nancy Herrington. Charenton is located about 45 miles southeast of Lafayette.
"We are very much in business and have been," Herrington said later Saturday. "We have events tonight. All of those are taking place."
A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office and a tribal police dispatcher referred questions about the shootings to the State Police.
"We've got a lot of unanswered questions," State Police Capt. Doug Cain said.
One of the injured deputies was taken to a hospital in New Orleans and the other was taken to a Lafayette hospital. Both were listed in critical but stable condition Saturday evening, Hammons said.
You are not alone. Nowadays, it is rare to meet an American parent who hasn?t at least heard of home schooling. Those looking at homeschooling from the outside routinely express two chief concerns ? 1) ?How can homeschooling parents tolerate being with their kids 24 hours a day?? and 2) ?What about socialization??
Allow me to move these two mental boulders out of the way, then you?ll be better able to see more of the treasures which lie ahead down the homeschool path.
?
AT HOME WITH MY KIDS ALL DAY ?!!
?I struggle just to get my kids to do their chores and they constantly snipe at each other ? I wouldn?t have the patience to be with them all day!?? Sound familiar? Many prospective homeschoolers, who have had their children in daycare or institutional school, start with similar concerns. Let me tell you some good news. Much of the surliness kids exhibit toward parents and siblings is an outcome of spending large chunks of time everyday on the receiving end of the verbal and emotional abuse of other children while in an institutional setting. It is an outcome of being forever compared and measured against other children. Who?s smarter? prettier? skinnier? more popular? more athletic? As these children become homeschoolers they typically go through a 3-6 month period of detoxification where their harshness and defensiveness gradually melts away. This is one of the best kept secrets of homeschooling ? when your kids realize they have innate value and uniqueness and that you are committed to seeing them successfully outfitted for their personal special place in the world ? their hearts get bonded to yours! This process can take longer depending on the length of time kids have been in institutional schooling, but it will come when you replace criticism, comparing, and competing (mainstays of institutional schooling) with encouragement, customized learning, and the goal of mastering what?s important. You will also find many ways to be away from home by yourselves or with other families enjoying cultural opportunities, nature, exercise, field trips, etc.
?
SOCIALIZATION
So what?s the real question behind ?What about socialization?? Are we laboring under the notion that kids need lots of time with their age mates to develop important social skills? What do well-socialized kids look like anyway? Are they the teens you see hanging around the mall? The kids who are taking weapons to school and using them? The kids who discuss last night?s sitcoms each day with friends as though those actors and situations are real? Those subdued with drugs to make them manageable? Those that pressure each other to look, act, speak, and believe just like the rest of the adolescent herd? When we?re willing to face the facts, it?s fairly obvious that a well-socialized person is one who respects and learns from those older and wiser than himself, and who cares tenderly for those younger, weaker and needier. He is someone who understands his own strengths and contributes in his unique way along the human continuum.
I?ve often been told by homeschool skeptics that children need to be with a room full of age mates all day to learn to ?face reality? and toughen up. My observation is that a room of age-same students immediately contrive to define themselves by their differences. (?I have nicer clothes than she?, ?He has more friends than I do?, ?I?ll never be as good at math as she is?, etc.) This isn?t a criticism of kids ? it?s just something I?ve observed over and over. Homeschoolers operate within an age-blended environment which more accurately reflects the ?real world? where people of all ages and skills are mixed together. The beauty here is that the differences are real ? different ages, different skill levels, different strengths, different likes, different privileges. Everyone?s place is defined, respected, and non-competitive. I believe ?reality? is an age-blended environment where people are free to learn and better themselves at their own pace in an atmosphere of mutual respect. (a.k.a. ?homeschooling?)
?
SO WHAT IS HOMESCHOOLING REALLY?
In a nutshell, homeschooling is the process whereby responsible parents, through a motivation of love, train, equip, and launch their own children as responsible, literate, and skillful on-going adult learners. It differs from traditional public/private schooling in that parents act as the direct overseers of the child?s learning process. It results in family glue rather than family fracture. It fosters maturity anchored in real life experiences from a much younger age, and it can be fully customized to the learning style and specific destiny of each child. It fosters genuine social graces through interaction with people of all ages. It is bursting with real-life problem solving opportunities, which are their own best tutorial.
You?ll no doubt start homeschooling thinking about ?academics? and ?subjects?, but as you progress in it, you?ll discover that the essence of successful homeschooling is less in the ?schooling? aspect and far more in the concept of ?home?. You come to experience the reality that families are the building blocks of human life. And healthy families are the seed beds where balanced, loving, capable humans are grown. You tend those little seeds, supply ample water, fertilizer and sunlight, control the weeds and get a healthy root system in place which will enable those little sprouts to one day become mighty, healthy, fruit-bearing trees. You see that each child is constituted differently right from the beginning and their style of ?leaf?, nurture and feeding needs, and long-term purpose are unique.
?
IT?S NOT JUST FOR THE KIDS
As you recognize and work with your own special ?plants? you wind up filling your own ?educational holes? (for many of us, those are the legacy of our own institutional education). Many homeschooling parents report that they are finally ?learning? (appreciating, absorbing, retaining) all the academic content which they missed during their own school years as they go through the material with their own kids. Some have termed homeschooling ?The education of two generations?. With the high caliber of materials available to home educators, a parent whose own education was weak need not fear.
As homeschooling parents, we are also realizing that our children know and like each other and us as their parents much more than we did our siblings/parents growing up. This is largely because our kids are together, sharing many more joint memories and learning from one another rather than growing up with groups of peers in separate classes in what our kids call ?away school.?
?
CRITICISM YOU MAY FACE
Be prepared for the unleashing of adult peer pressure if you decide to pursue homeschooling. This is a hot issue and one that causes people to react defensively about their own school choices, no matter how gracious you may be. Try not to be shocked when you?re hit with unsolicited judgment. It?s wise not to announce a decision to homeschool until you?ve readied yourself, done the research you need to get your feet planted in the idea and been a quiet observer for awhile. Certainly not everything that flies under the banner of homeschooling with pertain to your family or interest you, so you will be, to varying degrees, charting your own course. What other people think homeschooling is may be quite unlike your experience. Many a homeschool critic (particularly skeptical grandparents) have been silenced within 2-3 years when they see the joyful, communicative, lively learners you are producing ? hang in there!
?
MORE GOOD NEWS
If you?ve had children in school and are bringing them home, there will be a need to redistribute the household workload. Give yourself a grace period of 6 months to a year to get through ?detox?, begin bonding with each other, and take shared ownership of the needs around the house. Another unsung secret of homeschooling is this: When your kids have you all day everyday and sense that your heart is turned toward them they will need you less! Don?t envision yourself chained to your kitchen table teaching math facts ?til you?re blue in the face. Once you?ve established new family routines and dynamics, why not look into a home-based business, take a college class, or pick up with your latent creative talent? Demonstrating that such learning is a normative on-going practice for a healthy adult is one of the best gifts you can give your kids.
?
BEGINNING STEPS
So you want to go for it. Where do you really start? Observe, research, and read, then read some more. Or if reading is not your strength, select some tapes on homeschooling and listen to those. Ask those you know who homeschool for their favorite books/tapes on the subject. See those in the resource list below. Although you?ll be tempted to want books on ?How-to? homeschool, you?ll be much better off if you initially focus on ?Why to homeschool?. Lay a broad philosophical foundation and lengthen your homeschool vision ? both of these will greatly influence your long-term success.
Consider attending a homeschool conference in your area. While these can be overwhelming, they also unveil the vast and rich network of ideas and resources available to you as a homeschooler. You?ll be impressed by the caliber of families and children you meet. Visit the vendor hall and collect homeschooling catalogs. Attend a support group meeting or park day. Inquire about your state?s homeschooling requirements (see resources below).
It is common, at this point, to feel vulnerable and tempted to over buy because ?it all looks so good!? We suggest, if you can, hang around with homeschooling families who have a home life you respect and have produced children who are well-rounded in the ways you?d like yours to be. Homeschooling is not a simple linear process. (Take A, add B and you?re guaranteed to get C). Rather, there are multiple dynamics at work in healthy homes and wisdom in these matters often soaks into us with time and exposure.
Study your child. This is so important if you want to have a satisfying and successful homeschool adventure. Look at this child?s strengths, special interests, free-time activities of choice, and apparent weaknesses. We highly recommend working through Discovering Your Child?s Learning Style by Willis and Kindle Hodson. Homeschooling affords you the liberty of customizing your child?s learning experience. Knowing how your child takes information in and what motivates him/her will save you much wasted time, energy and money.
?
HOMESCHOOLING APPROACHES FROM WHICH TO CHOOSE
You?ll encounter a few major approaches to homeschooling in the literature and marketplace. Research more on the ones that resonate with your vision for your family?s learning environment. It is not uncommon for new homeschoolers to buy a prepackaged curriculum from a major supplier in order to feel that they are covering all the bases. With time, experience, and greater confidence you may want to harvest what works for your unique family from all these approaches ? this is referred to as the ?Eclectic Approach?. Here is a list of popular homeschool approaches and philosophies. A resource list follows this article.
Delayed Academics ? based largely on the publications of lifelong educators Drs. Raymond and Dorothy Moore, this approach encourages cultivating a heart to worship, work, and serve others before moving into formal academics. The Moores advocate waiting until a child?s physical, mental and emotional readiness to learn are evident (often not until ages 9-12). Moore cites research that 9-year-olds can assimilate, in just 100 hours of instruction, all the material other children have had to spend 4 years of their lives learning through drone seat work. They emphasize learning through a broad spectrum of life experiences. This approach often explains a lot to parents whose son or daughter just can?t sit still at a desk in the early elementary grades.
Charlotte Mason Method ? Emphasizing ?Living Books? (rich, first-person literature of all genres) and real-life experiences. This approach encourages abundant opportunity to observe and interact with original sources in art, music, literature, and the natural world. Typically children learn to document their discoveries through journaling and drawing. Parents usually read-aloud from great books with the overarching goal that their children will love to learn.
Classical or Trivium Approach. This view emphasizes excellent thinking and communication skills honed by the intake of fundamental factual knowledge (referred to as the ?grammar of a subject); the understanding of the reasoning and relationships behind knowledge (known as the ?logic? of that subject); and the ability to organize and assimilate this understanding so as to generate new discoveries and convey this knowledge persuasively to others (called the ?rhetoric?).
Principle Approach ? Using the four ?R?s? of research, reason, relate, and record this approach is popular among certain Christian homeschoolers who believe America was founded as a Christian nation with a Christian form of government. In order to return America to these first moorings, Principle approach adherents seek to raise young people who are well-grounded in Biblical principles and can thus govern themselves and participate in representative government wisely.
Unit-study Approach ? This method takes one topic at a time and uses it as a launch pad to integrate the related knowledge from all disciplines. Rather than studying fragmented ?subjects? (math, grammar, history, etc.) unit studiers discover inter-related knowledge in a growing web around one central hub. (For example ? using baseball as the topic they would study the history of the sport, it?s key figures, the math of baseball stats, the physics of pitching, etc. ? all as part of an integrated whole) Workbooks/Textbooks/School in a Box ? Innumerable publishers furnish complete curricula using textbooks, workbooks, interactive CDs or on-line learning. Many of these look and feel more like ?school? as most of us remember it. When children first leave an institutional school setting these programs often are a good first transitional step because they mimic school to your children and comfort new homeschooling parents that ?learning? is taking place.
Unschooling ? Probably one of the least understood terms within homeschooling, unschooling differentiates ?teaching? from ?learning? and believes that children are born curious and eager to learn. The role of parents is to deeply nurture their children, provide a wonderfully learning-rich environment and let the child?s innate desire to understand and manipulate their world lead them to discover and skillfully use all they need to have productive happy lives. Critics imagine these families just let their kids run amok. More thoughtful observers recognize that unschoolers are trying to tend the internal spark and love of learning which many of us had snuffed out by years of compulsory schooling in things which held no meaning or value to us.
?
A WORD ABOUT MOTIVATION
Reasons to homeschool range the full gamut ? from things to get away from (excessive peer pressure, violence, weak academics) to things to be gained (family unity, freedom, the meeting of special learning needs). We?ve found it helpful to sort through our motives, define them, and watch them evolve as our homeschool does.
We began homeschooling primarily because we were so impressed by the kids in homeschooling families we knew and felt it was a parent?s job to educate their children, not the government?s. When people ask us now why we homeschool (after being on this course for 12 years) we can honestly say we love being with our kids and wouldn?t want to miss a day of their joyful lives. We say that we could never ask even the best classroom teacher to invest in our children the way we can because our kids are precious to us and we would lay our lives down to see them succeed. We tell people that having our kids with us has helped us to grow up, learn to communicate better, and become better people. Obviously, we didn?t know at the outset that our motivations would undergo such a transformation.
?
TAKE THE PLUNGE
Once you?ve researched, read, and decided that homeschooling is right for your family, take the plunge.
Begin with a minimum of purchases or buy a pre-packaged curriculum. Try to include some materials for a particular interest of your child?s, not strictly ?school? books.
Plan to ease your family into new routines. The decision to homeschool won?t magically transform your family overnight but it will in time soften and reshape your family in healthy ways.
Allow for a season of detox. It may rock your child?s world to find out that school is no longer about getting grades and passing classes, but rather about mastering important skills and learning to love the process.
Find and hook up with a support group you enjoy. These vary from moms networking nights, to field trip generators, to park days for fun, to couples meetings ? find one that satisfies your needs.
Figure out what refuels your own engines and schedule it! Stephen Covey says the key is not to prioritize your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. Taking good care of yourself in your newly-expanded role as a homeschooling parent is, without question, a top priority. You may need a regular Moms night out, time at home alone, a creative outlet, a daily afternoon nap ? whatever keeps you on an even keel ? make it a priority and do it!
Steadily improve the learning value in your home ? Great read-aloud books, reference resources, educational toys, art supplies, science supplies, healthy food, regular exercise, minimized clutter, a place for everything and everything in its place ? you get the idea. When you are home 24 hours a day, home needs to be as calm, pleasant, usefully organized, and resource-filled as possible.
Relax ? No matter where you start or how faltering your first steps may feel, your kids will not be ruined by your loving investment in homeschooling them. You will find yourself changing, perhaps even more than your children, as you learn to truly know each of them, respect their uniqueness, and be committed to their long-term success. As humans, we find it easy to follow those whom we perceive love us deeply. Let love be the foundation, the power, and the aroma in the air of your homeschooling adventure.
Greg and Moira homeschooled all seven of their now-grown children and are thriving in Virginia.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
Share ] 
Welcome, Lifehackers, to our next Hacker Challenge! Each week, we issue a new challenge. You get until Sunday to prepare your submission and send it to us. That gives you a few days to think about it and a whole weekend to work it up. Our editors pick the best submissions and our favorite will win an autographed copy of the Lifehacker book! 
There's a new Apple TV on the way. Per 
What's this? Another 
Pretty much from the moment I first launched 
We runners are a superstitious bunch. In my training group, "Nothing new on race day" is our mantra, and it's one to which I've adhered earnestly. It goes without saying that new shoes, running shorts and Snozberry-flavored energy gels are out of the question, but I even get antsy about wearing my Spibelt around my waist instead of my hips. Yeah, I'm neurotic, but running 26.2 miles is scary, yo.