text:
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together 'in the 'hood.' Half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face... (imdb)
Directed By: John Singleton
Written By: John Singleton
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Nia Long, Regina King, Morris Chestnut, Lexie Bigham, Tammy Hanson, Desi Arnez Hines II, Kenneth A. Brown, Darneicea Corley
Genres: Drama, Crime
Boyz n the Hood belongs to 59 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 232 stars)
2. boobs (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 51 stars)
3. Psychotronic Film and Video Guides (collaborative: moderated by Gregzilla - 40 stars)
4. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 31 stars)
5. National Film Registry (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
6. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
7. Netflix Instant (collaborative: moderated by somnivore - 29 stars)
8. AAA: Empire's five star movies (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 24 stars)
9. IMDb Top 250 Complete (collaborative: moderated by Jorg - 23 stars)
10. Academy Award - Oscar - ALL Best Picture, Directing, Acting & Screenplay Nominees (collaborative - 22 stars)
11. Coming Of Age (collaborative - 16 stars)
12. Directorial debut (collaborative: moderated by djross - 16 stars)
13. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
14. Cinema Discusso Yearly Consensus (2008) (public: PeaceAnarchy - 10 stars)
15. Slate's 50 Other Best Films of the 1990s (public: TychoCelchuu - 9 stars)
16. Los Angeles (collaborative: moderated by Zarkon - 8 stars)
17. Teen Angst (collaborative - 7 stars)
18. Black Cinema (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 7 stars)
19. List: Taschen (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 6 stars)
20. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
21. Filmsite.org - Sex in the Movies, An Illustrated History (collaborative: moderated by afx237vi - 5 stars)
22. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)
23. Gang (collaborative: moderated by djross - 4 stars)
24. BFI Screen Guides' 100 American Independent Films (collaborative: moderated by Coheed - 4 stars)
25. Hood film (collaborative: moderated by mattburgess - 3 stars)
26. Movies with acting musicians (collaborative: moderated by comepelicula - 3 stars)
27. Roger Ebert's 4-Star Movies (collaborative: moderated by KirkJiggler - 3 stars)
28. Movies with Black leads (collaborative: moderated by PerryStroika - 3 stars)
29. African-American protagonist (collaborative: moderated by Moribunny - 3 stars)
30. Savage street gangs, bikers & punks (collaborative: moderated by mattburgess - 2 stars)
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33. mwgerb's Netflix Instant Queue (public: mwgerb - 2 stars)
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39. Los Angeles Movies (public: stalebread - 1 star)
40. Roger Ebert's Top 10 Films of 1991 (collaborative)
41. Movies Set in Los Angeles (collaborative: moderated by cdub12)
42. Hood Films (collaborative: moderated by jmejay)
43. Slate: The Black Film Canon (collaborative: moderated by trippingly)
44. The Canon podcast (all films) (collaborative: moderated by psim)
46. The Canon podcast (only the Canon) (collaborative: moderated by psim)
47. NAACP Image Award Nominees and Winners (collaborative: moderated by Roman_Herbom)
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53. Black Men Can't Jump in Hollywood Podcast (public: TychoCelchuu)
54. Films Dunstan Owns (public: Dunstan-xxx)
55. To See (public: Contreras)
56. Peter (public: davidysteph)
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59. Movies to See (public: Jessjess125)
A great cast as long as they're nowhere near moving vehicles. I'm looking at you Cuba Gooding Jr. in Boat Trip, you Nia Long in Are We There Yet along with Ice Cube who was also awful on a boat in Anaconda and a bike in Torque. For Angela Basset it was spaceships in both Supernova and Critters 4. A train ride caught Morris Chestnut unless you're a big Under Siege 2 fan. Only Lawrence Fishburne went unscathed who whether by sea in Apocalypse Now or space in Event Horizon isn't tainted by travel.
What begins as an urban Stand by Me becomes one hell of a preachy movie. I was about to turn it off in the first few minutes, we go from a shot of a STOP sign after an opening text about black crime rates, then we get gunfire cutting to a picture of Ronald Reagan. I am shocked that the director was only 24 years old and made something like this though. Would watch a spinoff movie about the self-hating black cop and his uncomfortable white partner.
4 thecedex
I dont belong anywhere near the hood, but we are all people. Boyz n the Hood's take of redemption, triumph, loss, and despair in the most violent shows us that, in the end, it's the person alone who has the strength to create his/her future.
4 Skenkere
Great movie with great performances. Not as subtle as say, Do the Right Thing, and definitely a bit more obvious and preachy, but that doesn't seem to hurt it. Even though you can see the tragedy coming from miles away, it doesn't lessen the impact of it. The characters that are focused on are really well done. I actually probably felt the most sympathy for doughboy, even though, of the main characters, he was supposed to be the "bad" one. Also Furious Styles is an awesome name.
4 KasperL
Not exactly 'The Wire' but it seems a reasonably realistic portrayal. Well-written and -directed, especially for a debut. Sure, it sort of hammers its anti-violence message home but if I have to be preached to, I want Furious Styles to do the preaching (Fishburne, rock solid here, was such a promising actor). The second-best character and performance to go with it is Doughboy as played by Ice Cube. Additional plus points for the 'Stand by Me'-ish prologue.
4 Gnalkhere
At the time of reviewing this, i'm currently sitting at John Singleton's age when he got nominated for Best Director. I need to get my shit together.
4 juntakinte99
I disagree with Eazy-E calling this an After School Special with cursing. A better example would be coming-of-age films like Stand By Me. Singleton was more of a classical filmmaker--especially in image design and editing--which creates appropriate comparisons to a young Orson Welles. The social drama is slightly dated, although most pictures of the era were. Still, it rightfully spawned numerous imitations that merged the narrative sense of hip hop and the auteur aesthetic of indie film.
4 Jasongirl67
I remember this film really impacted me I had never seen anything like it before and the whole Ricky getting shot and dying scene had me in tears I just watched this recently and I think it's held up pretty well over time
3 Vandelay1
good movie
2 ozymandius10
Excellent movie. Ice Cube in easily his best role (I think he just tries to play outside of what he can actually do well too much). Cuba Gooding is great, and the story is gripping. Sad stuff.
2 twincinema
Since I have watched this nearly 30 years later, it's hard to comprehend how different this would have felt at the time -- a coming of age drama about black teens. Also, love the name Furious Styles.
2 sidehacker
Singleton's father figure is faultless and delivers his ideas (which are actually the ideas of the film itself) a bit too neatly. There's literally a scene where the inhabitants of another neighborhood gather around him to hear him talk about gentrification. Maybe an "after-school special" in how blunt and unsubtle it is, but last time I checked, those films weren't about how racism and capitalism are linked. Points for an Over the Edge reference.
2 ImThatDingo
Really well done. Makes ya thankful ya don't live these guys' lives.
2 myfavchords
This is a great and powerful film. John Singleton has made some other good films but no other film he has done has lived up to this one. Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding Jr. give great performances here.
2 mattorama12
The marquee film for the inner-city LA of the late 80s and early 90s. Despite the fact that it is predictable and a bit on the nose with its themes, it is still incredibly effective because of the rich characterization and overall atmosphere.
1 MartinTeller
Terribly preachy, especially in the character of "Furious Styles" (what a moniker!). I think Menace II Society does a better job with a very similar story.
1 SlrSoapbox
The kind of defining work you see once in a generation. Let's hope it saved some lives.
1 lifeandall
Gripping story about family and social values. Superb cast of actors and perhaps Singleton's best directed movie.
1 Kavu
Singleton directs in the streets like Spike Lee: the mood is incredible. Good acting performances to a well written script.
1 BattleToad
Impressive performances by most of the cast make this film meaningful and bold. Really good!
1 Jherman89
A powerful film with excellent supporting performances.
1 Pickpocket
9 93rd
Preachy as hell but it's so interesting and well made you probably won't care. If you would've told me the guy who made this would one day direct 2 Fast 2 Furious then I would've never stopped vomiting.
1 hojo
It's a shame Cuba Gooding Jr. went from this to BOAT TRIP.
1 tinythedogg
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The realism of the characters and the situations present gives a person something to think about. Really well acted and well written, as these are characters you really care about and hope to see them do well. When I seen Ricky get shot that was a shocker to me as he was the last person I would have expected this to happen to. This is a movie I can never get sick of watching.
1 rdwn29905
cuba when he was young and promising... that means before Snow Dogs
1 Alex Watkins
A bit preachy, to be sure, but I find it very heartfelt and touching. I especially appreciated that the movie was able to get across its themes with a certain amount of subtlety; there is no black-and-white line between the criminals and the innocents. And it's very well-directed and shot, with soft, warm cinematography that helps to create a loving aura around the characters.
1 Bojangles
Preachy is not usually a valid criticism for me, and it certainly isn't here. I hate how people try to cut down any movie that tries to explicitly say something important. Why don't we just chop the balls off of the entire movie industry? Subtle =/= better. Anyway, the movie is pretty good and highly influential.
1 Dustyd
Strong movie.
1 nandorizzi
His greatest quality is to present the different reasons for the crime.
1 gtown1479
This is a heck of a powerful film. Man it was one of my favorites when I was going through this phase. I can't believe the same Cuba Gooding Jr does those stupid Hanes Commercials now.
1 muzak66
Ice Cube was awesome.
1 Obdurate
The acting, cinematography, script, direction, sound effects/mixing -- everything about this movie is great except one thing: the music. It makes it seem like an after school special, which it kind of is in terms of its message... but you don't need to make us suffer that mostly awful soundtrack. Still manages to be a deeply emotional film, but how awkward the tone could get at time felt at odds with what it's doing. Change the music and you got yourself a 90.
1 XakkMaster
This movie is like a course in overcoming the troubles of inner-city life and Furious Styles (Fishburne) is our seasoned professor. His words on race relations may have been more directly relevant in the early 90s, but still hold many truths today. The greatest take away is his advice on how to be a man and how to rise above reckless influences. While recent works provide deeper, more intense looks at the 'hood,' this was a bold and influential release that still speaks to a young male audience.
1 eric-jan
ALWAYS LOOK A PERSON IN THE EYES. NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR SOMETHING. DONT RESPECT ANYONE THAT DOESNT RESPECT YOU BACK.
1 tripper54
I found this movie incredibly powerful when i first saw it at the cinema. Rewatching it a few years later, it left me luke warm. Is it me, or has it dated badly?
1 AtGiza
psi of 61? gtfo guys. this was great.
1 SirStuckey
You won't be searching very hard for the themes of this coming of age movie set in inner-city Los Angeles movie as they are front and center and right on the nose. Great performances help make the lack of subtlety work, especially by Fishburne and Gooding Jr.
1 Judo Koala
Remains distressingly relevant.
1 mwgerb
Laurence Fishburne is the soul of this intense, powerful look at the inner city and gang violence. It may lack some subtlety, but it's surprisingly well crafted for a 24-year old's directorial debut. The musical score is entirely forgiven by the background sound that constantly captures the distress and dangers of the hood.
1 pieterpronk
A classic hood movie, which makes us care about the characters and thus about the violence of the world he lives in.
1 hellboy76
Fairly solid look at inner city Los Angeles, important for the fact hat it was one of the first. Some wooden acting drags it down in parts but overall it was effective.
Wow, this was really disappointing. Maybe I'm used to the ultra-hard gritty realism of David Simon shows, but this felt like a preachy, Hollywood production, not the street-level reality I'd heard about. It had potential, but the proselytizing and the god-awful score (the hip-hop playing on the corners was great, but wow, that early 90s MIDI orchestra and shitty synths, ugh) made me cringe for the most part. Too bad.
1 Lord Moe
"Boyz n the Hood" is engrossing and powerful. It has an agenda and wants everyone to know about it, and that is not a negative point. Ice Cube's famous quote at the end of the movie sums up a dichotomy that still lasts to this day. People like to say it's preachy. Sure, that's fair. But some things need to be preached. Sometimes it's not enough to demand subtlety. The white majority demanded subtlety of Malcolm X too, but black people needed a loud voice. This film is both stylized and real.
1 hsncrspywl
I enjoy it but it's condescending and not actually good in any way, we were all 16 once, I regret nothing
1 Groovy_Souls
This really isn't the type of movie I would normally watch, but holy crap was this powerful. The story is so character-driven and the acting is actually really good for the most part. Fishburne and Gooding stand out above all, and Ice Cube stands a bit below everyone... Yet that doesn't ruin the movie. This was really enjoyable yet really rewarding.
1 dogeatmoon
Fantastic movie.
Average Percentile 63.44% from 2983 Ratings


Melbourne and Sydney are Australia's two biggest retail hot spots with thousands of stores lining popular high street and shopping centre areas, attracting hundreds and thousands of shoppers and tourists on a daily basis. Retailers based in these two cities need to do all they can to boost the wow factor of their shop layout to lure in the customers and stay ahead of the game. With so much competition in all retail industries, from large homeware stores to independent record stores, displaying your goods in a visually unappealing way can cost you sales.
Fortunately, there are many shop fittings and shelving solutions at affordable prices that make it that bit easier for retailers in the city to stand out.
Retail is a key industry in both Sydney and Melbourne, with both cities attracting not just local shoppers but also tourists from surrounding areas and overseas who fill the stores every day. In Melbourne, the retail industry brings the city over $3 billion a year in sales and provides over 20,000 jobs. Chain stores and independent retailers line the high streets, shopping centres, market squares and cobbled streets. Sydney has a similarly powerful retail sector, also worth around $3 billion a year. There are over 65,000 jobs in retail, and the city is seen as one of the major global fashion capitals.
Whether it's a newsagents or a designer boutique, a hardware store or a book shop, what customers ultimately look for when shopping in a busy city is a store that is well organised, makes good use of space, makes it easy to browse and find things, and has an eye-catching layout. It's important to put a bit of thought into which retail shop fittings will best display your products and have shoppers choosing you over your competitors.
Gondola display units are a great option for all types of store. As well as allowing you to maximise space by creating aisle displays with double-sided free-standing units, you can keep products well organised and the shelving is flexible. You can fit units with adjustable shelves or with an array of accessories to create hangsell displays. You can also use individual display stands, acrylic or wire bins and baskets, or brochure holders, depending on what you are selling.
Because gondola displays are mobile and free-standing, you can place them anywhere in your store to maximise visual appeal and showcase shop supplies. They are easy to move, maintain and assemble and come in either slat wall, pegboard or grid mesh. Perfect for creating an outstanding layout whatever type of store – pharmacy, gift shop, sports store, electronics store, book shop, supermarket and more.
If you want to get classy with your store display, you might want to think about adding display tables into your retail display. These are one of the most ideal types of shop fittings for Melbourne and Sydney stores such as jewellers, cosmetics and beauty stores, patisseries or designer clothing stores among others. The tiered display tables allow retailers to get creative and artistic with their product displays – great if you have exclusive or designer items that you want to space out and showcase rather than have displayed as part of a range.
Display tables draw the shopper's attention to the product and they also showcase goods in a browser-friendly way and at a good height, with plenty of room for pricing and product descriptions. Units are also mobile so you can rearrange shop displays regularly to keep things fresh.
Glass display cabinets give retailers the option of having expensive items (e.g. gold jewellery, limited edition goods) on full display, meaning that they don't have to compromise shop displays by either risking having goods stolen or not having them properly on show in the shop. Glass counters are kept locked so that customers can look but not touch. If they want a closer look, this is done under the supervision of shop staff. Glass units come in different styles including as point-of-sale shop counters for Sydney and Melbourne businesses, allowing for extra browsing time while queueing to make a purchase. These units increase efficiency as you don't need to worry about customers disturbing displays, and with glass display cabinet prices starting at around $169, they are within the budget of most retailers.
If you're a business based in Sydney or Melbourne and would like to find out more about shop fitting or shelving options, call and have a chat with one of our shop fitting experts on (02) 9608 5122 or send us an email at sales@shopfittingsdirect.com.au. We will respond as quickly as we can. We provide an extensive range of shop fittings to Sydney and Melbourne retailers as well as to other cities across Australia. You can visit our store in Sydney or you can order shop fittings online.


As of 4:00 a.m., 30 July 01, ABC news is reporting a virus known as "Red Worm" is expected to surface again at 8:00 p.m. 31 July 01 with problems in commercial application and E mail systems on a world wide basis.
Mitch, I've heard about this, and it sounds like it's basically an attack on the white house, which has serious ramifications in itself. I guess the worm does no actual damage to one's personal computer, but uses it to replicate itself to anyone on line with two or three different Microsoft operating systems. It does this for 20 days per month, then all the infested computers start trying to overload the whitehouse's computers with email.
Anyway, that's my understanding from listening to the news yesterday. Is that about right, folks?
Also, the news says, it is possible that this method could have been, or could in the future be, used to destroy data in the home computers, as well.
Are we Mac users immune this time?


text:
DOUBLE TAKE FOR DEER
Written on the 28 May 2013
RANDALL Deer (pictured), the Gold Coast's 2012 Young Entrepreneur of the Year, says his job is fun.
He explains the exciting developments of the last 12 months with genuine passion and he gives the impression he can't wait to get back to work at Ignite Travel Group.
"It is not a matter of pinching myself for how far the business has come already, because we are always focusing on how far we could go with what we have," says Deer.
"My biggest concern is not capitalising on the opportunity we see in front of us."
It is the kind of attitude which has delivered back-to-back Gold Coast Business News Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards for Deer and Ignite Travel Group.
The 37-year-old came out of nowhere to win last year, wowing the judges with spectacular revenue and growth figures. Deer didn't have the element of surprise this year, but his exploits were just as impressive.
The rebranded business has sustained a 63 per cent growth in revenue to almost $62 million since last year ($38 million). It has increased staff to 125 and moved
into new office space at Broadbeach with enough space for 90 more employees.
Deer started the company in 2005 as RewardsCorp, creating marketing deals for retail companies based on travel.
The business expanded into retail travel with the My Holiday Centre Brands, including My Fiji and My Bali. Another brand, Group Buying Escape, sources deals for many of the world's leading group-buying websites.
The retail brands are delivering Ignite Travel Group its strongest growth by catering to an increasing range of demographics.
Surprisingly, Deer reveals his company doesn't conduct market research. It judges its products on performance in the market.
"The reason we have grown so much is that we are currently challenging the types of offers that are out there and presenting new ones," says Deer.
"When the types of offers we create hit a nerve, we go very strong on that line of offers and that grows us very quickly.
"We try new things all the time, then home in on the new things that are working, so that helps us continually find the next growth-style travel product we can offer."
Developing new products is a big part of the fun of doing business for Deer.
"If we think something will work, we will take the risk, put our money behind it and put it on the market," says Deer, who says it costs up to $20,000 to put a deal to market.
While the hits have been many for Ignite Travel Group, there's also been a miss or two. My USA was one of them.
"We didn't get it right in the US and that model has cost us money so far,'' he says.
"But what we did do is learn. We'll go back and reload and work out what will work in the US because we know what didn't work in the last round."
Deer expects 200 per cent growth this year as he expands the business to New Zealand and then into the United States.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I love the high quality products offered by TL which is the reason why this is the third item I've bought in less than a year! The San Marino bag is beautiful and is well worth the money.
Fantastic, roomy satchel which has been universally admired. And it's not just for men!
Great satchel, lots of people commenting on how nice it looks. Very please.
If it has been 4-5 centimeters wider in order to fit my "Mac Book Pro" it would have been excellent.
This design and color are very nice. I am very much pleased with this bag. But it is somewhat small for men. I hope a size which can put in the several files of A4 size. For example, it is W36×H30×D13 cm.If it can order, I want the bag of large size.


ARUSHA, Tanzania (AA) – Tanzania on Saturday announced a new educational overhaul plan, one that will extend basic education to Form 4, instead of the current Standard VII.
"It's our hope that when students complete this basic education, which is compulsory up to Form 4, they will be at an age ready to contribute to the country's development," Sifuni Mchome, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, said.
He added during a televised national ceremony that the new system would abolish national examinations for primary school leavers.
Mchome noted that students would have their final exams after 11 years in primary and secondary schools.
He said the new system would make primary and secondary education free of charge at state-run schools.
Most important in the new system is that it will ditch English as a language of instruction at Tanzania's schools, making Kiswahili – the mother tongue of the people of Tanzania – the instruction language in these schools.
English dominated teaching in Tanzania's schools from secondary to tertiary levels for a long time.
"Language studies will then be available to enable students to communicate in English," Atetaulwa Ngatara, the assistant director for policy at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, said.
"Communicating in English is something to do with language studies," he added.
Mchome, meanwhile, noted that the new system would also incorporate vocational education in basic education syllabus to allow students who do not make it to Form 5 to have skills to contribute to the development of their country.
"We need a critical mass of skilled labor for the country's development," Mchome said.
"This cannot be achieved within the current policy, which focuses on filtering and rejecting students without skills through final exams," he added.
Nevertheless, the new system might take decades to take root, some of the officials speaking on Saturday said, because extensive preparations would need to be made for English to be ditched.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said the new system was part of his country's Vision 2025.
He said the system took the global economy, and social and technological changes into account.
"In the next seven years, we will have built the capacity whereby every child who starts Standard I will reach Form 4," the President said.
He added that the system would take Tanzania to the next level, where the nation would have skilled people with both practical and theoretical knowledge.
© 2015, Peter Saramba Ongiri. All rights reserved. – The views expressed here are purely those of the author and not necessarily those of the publishers. – Newstime Africa content cannot be reproduced in any form – electronic or print – without prior consent of the Publishers. Copyright infringement will be pursued and perpetrators prosecuted.
The dying art of conversation – has technology killed our ability to talk face-to-face?
Genevieve Nnaji: Africa's Most Famous Movie Star?


text:
Software That Reads Harry Potter Might Perform Some Wizardry
Maluuba is training deep-learning algorithms to answer questions about small amounts of text. The technology might eventually read user manuals so you don't have to.
Will Knightarchive page
Teaching a computer to play Go at a superhuman level is cool, but not especially useful for you or me. But what if a computer could read a few dozen pages of text, like the manual for a new microwave, and then answer questions about how it works? Sign me up.
Reading and comprehending text is incredibly difficult for computers, but a Canadian company called Maluuba has made progress with an algorithm that can read text and answer questions about it with impressive accuracy. Most importantly, unlike other approaches, it works with just small amounts of text. It might eventually help computers "comprehend" documents.
Researchers from Maluuba posted a paper describing their latest progress last week. It describes an algorithm capable of reading several hundred children's stories combined with questions and answers about each text. After training, the algorithm could correctly answer multiple-choice questions about an unfamiliar text with more than 70 percent accuracy. The researchers also tested the algorithm on the text of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and found that it could answer questions about that text with similar accuracy.
Beyond academic advances, Maluuba hopes to eventually create a system that can take care of mundane reading on your behalf. "We're interested in use cases like user manuals, patient records, or customer service documents," says Mohamed Musbah, vice president of product for the company, which is based in Waterloo, Canada. "In those areas, you really don't have a glut of data."
Maluuba's team used a popular neural-network learning approach known as deep learning to train its system. But the researchers designed their network to consider text at different levels of abstraction—from words to phrases to sentences—and they also prepared the network to be good at learning in this way before training. Usually deep-learning networks are configured randomly before training. This allowed the network to learn very quickly, and resulted in question-answering 15 percent better than had been achieved before using a deep-learning approach. It was also 2 percent better than the best hand-coded solution.
"On the face of the numbers, it's a big jump," says Yoshua Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal and scientific advisor to Maluuba. But Bengio, who is one of a handful of deep-learning gurus now working with companies on commercial AI efforts, cautions that it will take a while for experts to parse the significance of the approach.
The idea of teaching machines to read and communicate effectively using language is certainly tantalizing. It could open up powerful new ways to interact with computers and mine information. But comprehending text is one of the biggest challenges in artificial intelligence; computers are usually tripped up by the fact that language requires a deep understanding of the way the real world works.
Despite the challenges, some of the biggest tech companies are trying to develop AIs that can comprehend text. Facebook is gathering conversational data through an assistant service called M in an effort to train its algorithms to converse naturally (see "Teaching Machines to Understand Us"). Google DeepMind, a subsidiary of Alphabet that is focused on AI research, is doing similar work, training deep-learning systems to read summaries of news articles (see "Google DeepMind Teaches Artificial Intelligence Machines to Read").
As yet, however, there have been no grand breakthroughs, and it's unclear how hard it may be to equip machines with sophisticated reading comprehension skills. Researchers are making progress largely by tweaking and improving key machine-learning techniques and feeding computers large quantities of annotated text.
The kind of machine-learning approach employed by the Maluuba researchers normally requires huge swaths of text in order to learn. Indeed, the amount of text required to make deep learning work has often been held up as one of its key limiting factors (see "Can This Man Make AI More Human?"). A fundamental challenge with language is that the words used to represent different concepts are arbitrary, so it is more difficult to draw connections between them than it is for images.
Maluuba, started by several graduates of the University of Waterloo in 2010, previously developed an intelligent personal assistant for smartphones, and it has focused its research on natural-language processing or machine comprehension.
"I think it's certainly a step forward," says Richard Socher, cofounder of an AI company called MetaMind, which is also working on language processing. "It's a very well-engineered system that combines well-understood and established traditional natural-language processing features with ideas from neural networks."
Chris Dyer, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who specializes in natural-language processing, agrees that Maluuba's results are impressive, but believes that machines will need to gain a genuine understanding of the world in order to converse properly—as opposed to an ability to draw statistical conclusions from text. This will likely mean going beyond learning purely from annotated text.
"Computers are too limited in terms of their perception and understanding of the world," Dyer says.
by Will Knight


text:
Health Economics Unit
Welcome Dr Yan Meng
We are delighted to have Dr Yan Meng join the Health Economics Unit at the Centre for Health Policy as a Research Fellow. Dr Yan Meng is currently working with Dr Ilias Goranitis on a variety of applied and methodological projects involving Australian Genomics. These include economic evaluations alongside clinical studies in areas such as mitochondrial disorders, developmental disabilities, lung diseases, neonatal intensive care and cancer, contingent valuation and discrete choice modelling methods.
Yan holds a PhD degree in Econometrics and Business Statistics from Monash University, after completing a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of International Economics and Finance at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her research is in the broad area of health economics and applied econometrics. In particular, Yan's interests are in healthcare performance evaluation, Bayesian panel data analysis and discrete choice modelling. Yan's previous research contributes to understanding the disparities in length of stay in Australian public and private hospitals, causal relationships between hospital length of stay and unplanned readmission for mental health patients, income elasticity on healthcare expenditure as well as building models that deal with complex large scale datasets.


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Reginald Patrick Linstead CBE, FRS (Londres,  — Londres, ) foi um químico inglês.

Ligações externas
Sir Patrick Linstead — video and podcast archive

Comendadores da Ordem do Império Britânico
Membros da Royal Society
Professores da Universidade de Sheffield
Professores da Universidade Harvard
Químicos da Inglaterra
Alunos do Imperial College London
Knights Bachelor

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Trying to recoup some cost on a recent home repair today, I am selling a M96 Swede that has from what I can see all matching parts. Barrel is in really good shape (cleaned up well with some carbon foul cleaner). The rear stock tang has a previous repair as evident in pictures, the glossy look is the bees wax block I rubbed on it. Sold to island surfer.
Last edited by Cheesy411; 01-21-2019 at 12:15 PM.
Per our PM I will take it.


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A Preface to T S Eliot
DOI link for A Preface to T S Eliot
A Preface to T S Eliot book
ByRon Tamplin
eBook Published 8 October 2018
SubjectsLanguage & Literature
Tamplin, R. (2001). A Preface to T S Eliot. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315837581
T. S. Eliot is arguably the most influential poet of the 20th century, and The Waste Land one of its most significant poems. This introduction to the life and works of T.S. Eliot sets his writing clearly in the context of his times. Outlining his life and cultural background and their effect on his work, Ronald Tamplin examines his poetry and focuses in detail on three major works: The Waste Land, Four Quartets and the play, Murder in the Cathedral.
PART ONE: THE WRITER AND HIS SETTING
Chronological table
Briefly, the essentials
The religious quest
Eliot and the traditions o f poetry
Eliot and the traditions o f criticism
PART TWO: CRITICAL SURVEY
A critical examination o f some poetry


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About the NLM
NLM By Organization
Organizational Directory Office of the Director (OD)
Patricia Flatley Brennan, RN, PhD, Director, National Library of Medicine
Director, National Library of Medicine
Bldg. 38, Room 2E-17
Electronic mail:
patti.brennan@nih.gov
Patricia Flatley Brennan, RN, PhD, is the Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NLM is the world's largest biomedical library and the producer of digital information services used by scientists, health professionals and members of the public worldwide.
Since assuming the directorship in August 2016, Dr. Brennan has positioned the Library to be the hub of data science at NIH and a national and international leader in the field. She spearheaded the development of a new strategic plan that envisions NLM a platform for biomedical discovery and data-powered health. Leveraging NLM's heavily used data and information resources, intramural research, and extramural research and training programs, Brennan aims for NLM to accelerate data driven discovery and health, engage with new users in new ways, and develop the workforce for a data-driven future.
Her professional accomplishments reflect her background, which unites engineering, information technology, and clinical care to improve the public health and ensure the best possible experience in patient care.
Dr. Brennan came to NIH from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was the Lillian L. Moehlman Bascom Professor at the School of Nursing and College of Engineering. She also led the Living Environments Laboratory at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, which develops new ways for effective visualization of high dimensional data.
She received a master of science in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in industrial engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Following seven years of clinical practice in critical care nursing and psychiatric nursing, Dr. Brennan held several academic positions at Marquette University, Milwaukee; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A past president of the American Medical Informatics Association, Dr. Brennan was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (now the National Academy of Medicine) in 2001. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American College of Medical Informatics, and the New York Academy of Medicine.
A selected bibliography is available.
Blog: NLM Musings from the Mezzanine (https://nlmdirector.nlm.nih.gov)
Twitter: @NLMdirector


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Celtic Shamanism: Fad, Fact or Fantasy?
Posted on September 17, 2009 by Karl Schotterbeck
By Karl Schlotterbeck, MA, CAS, LP, 2009
The possible presence of "Celtic Shamanism" in the old Celtic world has, at times, been questioned. Although there are clear references to Bards, Ovates and Druids, nowhere is there reference to a class of individuals easily identifiable as shamans. This is in contrast to the popular activities found in workshops, books and Henge activities, and the modern work of such individuals as Tom Cowan, Frank MacEowen, John Matthews and others. Indeed, anything Celtic has become popular. Of course, what we do today in the name of "Celtic" does not mean it was actually done by Celtic people long ago. For example, one book on supposedly Celtic spirituality and shamanism included a section on the Germanic runes and nary a word about the ogham. Another fairly well-known author has re-defined fairies after the fashion of the English garden variety and does not admit into her conceptualization their much longer history and fairy lore from genuinely Celtic peoples. Thus, it is indeed fair to say that things Celtic and Shamanic can be considered faddish.
To look seriously at this question, we need to examine some definitions of shamanism and "Celtic." We would also do well to recognize how some of these definitions came into being. First let's address a definition of shamanism.
We, unfortunately have a reductionist, stereotyped view of shamanism, shaped in part by Eliade's massive work (noted below). In his effort to make sense out of many varieties of practices, it is understandable that a western observer might need to look for a few common practices and claim those as the essential features of the field. Such re-defining, however, does not do justice to the breadth and variety of shamanistic expression that is evident to the practitioner who actually shares the shamanic world view. In fact, Eliade asserted that to admit too many variables into the definition is to make it too vague to be useful. But that is, in fact, the reality with which we are dealing. Shamanism, as experienced in its own cultures, as well as by the outside observer, is a messy, shape-shifting world view with multiple expressions and practices.
As I read the various writers about Shamanism, a lot more attention goes to the observable practices more so than the world view on which Shamanism is based. (This is a common problem in our action-oriented, observation-based, measure-obsessed approach, as opposed to the experiential, perceptual one.) In other words, I believe it is more the world view that is the primary common element in Shamanism. This world view takes the position that there is a spirit world (often multi-layered), with which we (humanity) have a relationship; that that world and our world have mutual influence and interdependence; that that world is populated by classes of spirits, many of whom are willing to communicate with us; that everything is alive, has intelligence and may communicate; and that the Shaman has a particular place with specific spirit-defined roles in the intercourse between these two worlds. The faddish nature of modern shamanism makes this specialness an attractive status to many people today, but shamanism is anything but status-based. The Shaman is given the responsibility, by both social and spirit worlds, to use his or her relationship with the spirits to effect healing (in people, animals and other living systems, including the Faery World) and to gain information for individuals and groups (what we know as divination). From the rich soil of this world view, and the Shaman's individual relationships with his or her helping spirits in the context of the land on which he or she lives, arises the diverse set of practices identified as Shamanic. The one that seems to have most captured the interest of writers (from the time of Eliade and before) is the purposeful trance journey. Note that I'm certainly not reducing the importance of the trance journey, but to enlarge our perspective to include the context that makes it significant. Indeed, one does not become a shaman by sitting on this side of the boundary between the worlds, but travels between the worlds in a controlled way for defined purposes.
Having expressed the danger of doing such a thing, let us take another look at some of the common features of Shamanic practice. To do so, we'll need to examine the world view, tools (including clothing), practices, and position in his or her social group.
In order to foster healing and promote good relationships with the spirit world and gain information, the Shaman may do a wide variety of interventions such as the trance journey, dance, ritual, recitation of song, poetry and story (power of the word), divination of many kinds (with rocks, pieces of metal, sticks, runes, Ogham, clouds, planets, consultation with spirits, etc.), employing wands, bones, skins, costumes, smoke, liquids, water, oils, massage, psychotropic substances, and drumming, to name a few.
Would we then say that a Catholic priest is a shaman because he executes rituals for healing, for maintaining relationship between his people and his Divinity; or would we call the drummer in a rock band because of his or her entrancing, inspiring rhythms; or would we call a trance medium a shaman because of his or her divinatory activities; or would we call a charismatic minister a shaman because she speaks in tongues, performs hands-on healing? The answer to these questions from my view is 'no' primarily because of their world view and, secondarily, because of the failure to themselves cross the boundary between the worlds and to acknowledge their interdependence on the spirits (the latter a product of the world view again). It could be said, however, that the function of the priest is a somewhat degenerate form of shamanism, having lost touch with the origins of the practices and generally lacking the personal-spirit relationship.
Mircea Eliade's work, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, is usually invoked as the "classic" study of shamanism. As most people know by now, the word "shaman" comes from Siberia and had been generalized to apply to a body of practices of indigenous peoples – both past and present. He and others have defined the core element of shamanism as "soul flight" or journey into the Otherworld. Eliade, however, is not considered the final authority on the subject. In fact, he has been called to task for significant omissions and errors in interpretation in his voluminous observations and research. His reduction of shamanism to a few elements suggests a unity that does not exist in reality. As noted above, shamanism has immense diversity, with many cultural variations. In addition, his was an outsider's perspective, trying to make sense of a set of data foreign to his culture.
Part of the problem is that knowledge of shamans has been brought to us by outsiders: missionaries, government agents and anthropologists – who, we might note, would be in the same position as a Western historian reading the Latin text written by a Roman emperor (Caesar) about a people he wants to conquer (like the Celts and their Druids). Unfortunately, it may require someone steeped in a shamanic viewpoint and practice to identify shamanic elements that would otherwise be easily overlooked, but that have survived modernization, religious conversion, rationalization and outright suppression. Established authorities (secular and religious) are often threatened by shamanic practice as Caesar was by the Druids, as priesthoods are by prophets, and as spiritual teachers are by shamans.
From this description, we see that the shamanic functions in our time have been diluted and taken over by various elements in modern culture such as clergy, politicians, poets, economists, healers of the mind and body, and various psychics and commentators. And yet the calling for direct experience and relationship never dies for there are those who hear the calling from the other world and respond in a direct way. These are the shamans, spiritists, witches, prophets and mystics of history. Each resurgence of the direct shamanic function is, of course, generally suppressed by those in political and religious power. One can see this in the early history of Judaism when the initial balance between priests and prophets (clergy and shamans) was maintained until the Temple was built which resulted in their religion becoming centralized and monolithic. Therefore, the troublesome warnings, predictions, channelings, and calling to tasks by the prophets (like Bards) threatened to detract from the power of the priesthoods. In this way, they attempt to hold to one world view, to keep things stable and to maintain the authority of those in power. This gave meaning, purpose and generally took care of the people's shamanic needs while disempowering and marginalizing the prophet/shamans. This tension may be one of the factors that will always make it difficult for anyone in a priestly role to be hospitable to the shamans, prophets and mystics whose authority lies not in knowledge and social structure, but in direct knowing (revelation) and Otherworldly contact.
Writers and scholars with an intimate knowledge of shamanism and the Celtic world are much less dismissive of the concept of Celtic Shamanism. Stuart Harris-Logan (in Singing with Blackbirds) notes that there are a number of words in the Irish language and practices in their history that appear very much shamanic in nature. In addition, Tom Cowan has read the legends and history and, himself being a shaman, has also recognized practices typical of Shamanic activity that would not be noticed as such by the non-Shaman. As Harris-Logan noted, the Greek and Roman writers on which we rely for much of our Celtic history, were not particularly familiar with Shamanic cultures and lacked the language to understand and describe such practices – not to mention their political and religious biases. A people without a word or experience of something not only are inadequate in describing something, but will, in fact, have difficulty even perceiving it accurately as it will be filtered through their limited experience. We might refer parenthetically here to rumors about the early Christians in Roman times during which Christians were thought to be cannibals because of a misunderstanding the symbolism of the Eucharist (fueled by fear and political purposes, of course) and because of external observation. To the participant, however, the Eucharist ritual is a communion with their god.
All that being said, let's turn our attention to what we think we know about the old Celtic world, with a recognition that it may be folly to reduce this wide-ranging, multi-tribal collection of individualistic peoples to some monolithic description (as nearly everyone does).
The Celtic world view seems to parallel many shamanic concepts, including the interpenetration of the physical world and the Otherworld, their mutual dependence, the possibility of both ordinary people stumbling into the Otherworld accidentally or by trickery as well as special people traveling into the otherworld on purpose, the human relationship with spirits (beings of the Otherworld), the legends of shape-shifting, the use of story-telling and music to heal, enchant and entrance, and special classes of people whose roles in their society were the management of the relationship between the people and Divinity, engaging spirits (heroes, gods and local spirits) in healing, in many forms of divination and certainly the accoutrements of bells, feathered costumes, cloaks. It is this worldview that I assert is quite characteristic of shamanic perspectives and practices.
We must acknowledge here, too, that all Druids were not the same nor were they created equal. With a wide variety of roles that Druids might play in Celtic society, it seems unreasonable to expect that one Druid would play all of them. Naturally, those with natural or developed aptitudes would shine in certain areas of specialization.
In addition, the reductionist definition of shamanism (being primarily soul flight), although reducing complex enterprises to a few simple ideas results in cognitive comfort by taking a large subject and allowing us to ignore much of it, it is, nevertheless delusional: it betrays the worldview of the shaman and the wide variety of expressions of shamanic activity. It is this singular error of thought (and lack of imagination) that leads to a failure of recognition in shamanic activity that occurs in the everyday lives of many people and the various divisions of shamans into their specialties – just the way Druids were not of one cloth but could serve in various specialties in the Celtic world. I doubt that all Druids were shamans or shaman-like: one whose focus was primarily the law had less need of altered states and soul flight. On the other hand, various healers, diviners, poets, story tellers, musicians, ritualists, mediators, etc had to be able to shift consciousness in themselves and in others to heal, to make contact with spirits of the Otherworld or to divine information – all common practices of shamans.
The very idea that spirits or the Divine speak to us through naturalistic phenomena is a characteristically shamanic view of things and becomes evident in throwing the bones, scapulamancy, scrying, divining through the behavior of animals and winds, mirror gazing, throwing coins, using cards (or Ogham staves),etc. Again, this does not mean that all who do these things are shamans because that is, again, only one piece of the larger context, which is a particular mindset, perception of the world, and the individual's place in both worlds with his or her allies.
My conclusion is that we can see in the old Celtic world a shamanism without designated shamans or, more accurately, shamanism with its functions spread across a variety of practitioners – as often happens in developed and complex societies – and, indeed, appears to be the case in the very societies that gave us the term "shaman."
For shamanic elements in Gaelic culture and language: Singing with Blackbirds, by Stuart Harris-Logan, Grey House in the Woods, 2006;
For evidence of survival of the Celts' intense interaction with the natural world into the 19th century: Carmina Gadelica, by Alexander Carmichael, Lindisfarne Press, 1992;
For current expositions of the "Celtic/Irish" worldview: see the works of John O'Donohue (including various audio recordings and) Anam Cara, Cliff Street Books, 1997;
For evidence of survival of indigenous practices in Ireland, see "Interview with an Irish Shaman," in Shamanism, Vol. 9, No. 2, The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, 2006;
For a credible work on Celtic Shamanism: Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit, by Tom Cowan, HarperSanFrancisco, 1993;
For a more complete look at the variety of shamanic identities: Shamans, by Ronald Hutton, Hambledon and London, 2001.
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According to online retailer Uncommon Goods, the shooter glasses come with their own flavorful finish.
"Crafted from Himalayan salt, the festive glasses give your shot of tequila or mezcal a delicious, salty finish," the description reads. This. is. genius. The glassware, which is hand-carved in Pakistan and varies in colour from white to rosy pink, is available in sets of four for $28.


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Nike is killing its mythical Dunk sneaker just as fast as it revived it
For a silhouette that's supposed to be all about inclusivity, not exclusivity, the brand is over-saturating the market with pairs that are incredibly limited.
Maya Ernest
We've all experienced the pain of an indie favorite going mainstream. Whether it's a band, a local restaurant, or a shoe, you were there "before it was cool." And while you won't admit it, for fear of being labeled a pretentious hipster, you selfishly wish your indie fave was still underground, despite its mainstream success. After all, hype revolves around exclusivity. Unique, limited pieces have kept brands like Supreme and Nike in business for years.
There's a satisfaction in copping something so desirable, and exclusivity rockets a product's value way higher than retail price. But in a world where trends come and go within months, or even weeks, it's hard to keep a product so limited — and brands are happy to trade in exclusivity for profit, as demonstrated by Nike's reselling scandal.
Although not quite as defamatory as the latter, upping a sneaker silhouette's production is pretty standard for a company like Nike; it's actually part of the brand's marketing strategy. As seen with the Air Jordan 1 High, the sneaker will be seeded off to top names — Virgil Abloh, Travis Scott, and other artists — carefully and "naturally" putting the silhouette on the radar. After initial hype begins, exclusive collaborations make the model even more desirable, selling for hundreds (or thousands) on resale sites. By then, those outside the sneaker space have caught wind of the trending silhouette and Nike ramps up production to keep up with the demand it planned.
That's the sneaker cycle in a nutshell.
Drunk on Dunks
Hype for Nike's Dunk silhouette began building in 2019, and is arguably at its peak now, two years later. To keep up with demand, the brand has lined up hundreds of Dunk drops on its loathed SNKRS app, and even subjected the model to a limited lottery-based draw. Still, consumers are hungry for more, and Nike is willing to serve up Dunks until the market is satiated — or perhaps, overfed.
Since June of 2020, the brand has dropped 35 pairs of Dunks on SNKRS, 18 of which dropped in 2021. Already, Nike has slated more of the silhouette for spring and summer, with new designs seemingly launching on a weekly basis.
The Dunk was once a sneaker for the people.
On one hand, it's nice to see Nike giving consumers what they want — but one could also see it as a billion-dollar corporation simply keeping up with supply and demand. And by cashing in on the Dunk silhouette, the Swoosh is actively killing the silhouette's exclusivity and the hype that comes with it. Which do you think Nike cares more about, though — hype, or profits? Both?
It should also be noted that the Dunk was once a sneaker for the people, and really, still should be. In the early 2000s, arguably when some of the top Dunk models were released, the sneaker could be found at local footwear stores sitting on shelves untouched, unwanted. The silhouette always tended to be accessible to those eyeing it at the time, generally skaters or genuine fans of the Dunk, not hypebeasts who only know about it because of Travis Scott.
Robert Kamau/GC Images/Getty Images
Now, even with Nike's constant releases, it's nearly impossible to buy a pair, unless you're willing to cough up hundreds — or, again, thousands — for a shoe that typically runs around $100 to $120.
Regular Nike Dunks, like the simple black and white pair that dropped only a few weeks ago, can run for up to $500 on resale apps like GOAT and StockX. Nike SB Dunks, though, have always been notorious for their cool collaborations and colorful designs — making them all that more coveted. Last year's SB Dunk Low "Grateful Dead Bears" sneaker is priced up to $13,000 on StockX, while Travis Scott's collaborative SB Dunk, originally $150, is selling for up to $4,000 — $5,000 if you want the limited edition box, too. That's a whopping 3,233 percent markup.
Hype culture, in general, has marked up plenty of previously accessible pieces.
Your best bet at scoring a Dunk is through Nike, but with draws and small stock, even trying to cop straight from the source can be a challenging feat. The brand started off the year by making the model more "available" to consumers, bringing it to its Nike By You customization platform. But even that turned out to be limited — and a total mess. After selling out in minutes, users flooded social media with complaints, citing error messages, disappearing pre-saved designs, and loading screens. Despite rumors suggesting 130,000 pairs of Dunks were set aside for the By You drop, it appeared as if only a select few actually got a sneaker, and some who did listed their designs for resale in a bid to cash in on the demand.
Nike isn't necessarily concerned with doing good by its customers. With constant drops, the brand gives off the impression that it is catering to people who love its product — but the reality is that each sneaker drop, be it a Dunk or a Jordan, looks to be more limited than the one that came before. And with the perception that Nike puts out less and less product, the more money and hype it's seemingly rewarded with.
Flunking the Dunk
People loved the Dunk because it was accessible, and they could buy whichever design they liked. But with Nike limiting the silhouette so much, buyers are now desperately trying to get their hands on any Dunk, appreciating surrounding hype more than the actual sneaker. And when the Swoosh eventually moves on to slaughter another silhouette for profit, clout-chasers might just trade in their Dunks for the newest, hottest sneaker, rather than admire the shoes for what they are.
Circling back to being the pretentious hipster, sneakers are really meant to be appreciated. No one's going to hate on you for not wearing your kicks out in the rain, or trying to iron out creases — but if you're buying shoes just for the hype, instead of an actual desire for the sneaker, you're part of the problem. Nike and resellers alike limit the silhouette through small stock and insane costs because they know someone is willing to pay the price and make them a profit.
This goes deeper than the Dunk. Hype culture, in general, has marked up plenty of previously accessible pieces — Oreos, Crocs, and even Gap hoodies have fallen victim. And while it's fun to partake in the constant cycle of drops, collabs, pop-ups, and shows, the problem with hype culture is that the more people tune in, the faster it deteriorates products, deeming once cool items "worthless" after running up the price.
So, what's the solution? Is there even a solution? The market isn't just oversaturated with products, but with people trying to buy the products. Demand won't cease overnight, but we can try our best to make our voices heard: Consumers matter over money, and brands need to realize that before they start losing both in the process. That said, of course there will always be a hypebeast waiting next in line.


You know, sometimes a post can come out of the most unexpected things; like when Mr. M. was playing with the dogs, knocked my vanity chair over, and the darn thing took a chunk out of the baseboard. Honestly, sometimes it's like the kids never left home.
Anyway, I saved the chunk so that I could try and fix it.
I used carpenter's glue and an Estée Lauder eyeshadow brush for applying it.
Save your old eyeshadow brushes girls, you never know when they'll be useful!
I applied carpenter's glue to the broken piece.
And to the baseboard itself.
I put a fair amount on because the MDF really absorbs the glue.
masking tape to hold the piece on, but it stayed put without it.
I gently wiped the excess glue off with the corner of a damp rag.
Then left it to dry for a couple of hours before sanding it with an emery board.
I keep one in the junk drawer and one in my tool box.
They really come in handy for small hard-to-get-at areas.
Like fitting into the decorative grooves in a baseboard!
artist's paint to touch up the edges.
It's not miraculous, but it looks much better, don't you think?
me fix my chipped laminate here.
Great repair job! I bet no one will ever notice that it had been broken.
Thank you Elizabeth, and you're right. My hubby couldn't even spot it after!
Such an easy fix. I love your idea of using an emery board for small areas. Thank you for sharing, Val!
Thanks Brandi! I was so happy that it worked!
Hey, would you want to participate in this tour?
Thanks for stopping in! I will look into the writing-process-blog-tour.
I've seen a lot of homes having the same problem with chipped baseboards and I think they're wasting tons on having the whole thing replaced. You've just shared with us the easiest and cheapest way to fix that problem and it's definitely unnoticeable. Thank you so much for sharing!