Satellite images of Nigeria’s coastline show the new Shell oil spill covering a 356-square-mile patch of ocean. By Deepwater Horizon mega-disaster benchmarks, it’s not so big — but it might be in the Exxon Valdez ballpark, and underscores the risks of a new deepwater oil-gathering technique that’s coming soon to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Knight Foundation, a non-profit entity that is one of the biggest funders of media-related projects in the United States — including the new MIT Center for Civic Media, which we wrote about earlier — announced the winners of its annual .7-million News Challenge on Wednesday. There’s s a theme running through most of the winners: namely, data as journalism. Just as tech companies of all kinds are focusing on what we at GigaOM call “Big Data” as a tool for new services, the media industry is (hopefully) starting to understand that data can be useful for its purposes as well.
The Knight Foundation noted in a blog post announcing the 16 winners that data and the use of it for journalism was a big theme among this year’s contestants. When the Knight competition first started five years ago, the idea of a “hacker/journalist” who developed applications and journalistic tools around data was unfamiliar one, but the foundation noted that this is now an established position at some media outlets.
Among the newspapers and media entities that have been at the forefront of this data-journalism wave is the New York Times, where Aron Pilhofer and a team of developers and programmers have created a number of groundbreaking news features. Not surprisingly, perhaps, Pilhofer is also involved in one of the winning entries in the Knight News Challenge: DocumentCloud, which allows media outlets and journalists to upload and share — and annotate or collaborate on — a variety of documents, won 0,000 and will use the funds to add the ability for anyone to edit or contribute to documents.
The other data-related projects that got Knight funding include:
In the end, data and the tools to manipulate it are the modern equivalent of the microfiche libraries and envelopes full of newspaper clippings that used to make up the research arm of most media outlets. They are just tools, but as some of the winners of the Knight News Challenge have already shown, these new tools can produce information that might never have been found before through traditional means. We hope some mainstream media players are paying attention, and/or getting ideas of their own.
Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr user David Reece
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I’m always surprised when someone asks me how to pointe shoes. I rarely see darned pointe shoes these days. There was a time when not darning your shoes was unthinkable – you wouldn’t have been allowed in class. Nowadays, it’s much rarer. I’m always glad to hear that someone still wants to learn. There are many reasons why darning is a good thing. First, it extends the life of the platform. Second, it gives more grip on the floor. Finally, you can’t deny that a darned shoe looks smarter than one with a dirty, frayed platform.
I can’t deny that darning pointe shoes is tedious. The underside of the box is tough to get a needle through. If you’re not used to sewing, you’ll probably need several attempts. Don’t fret too much about making it neat. At first, uneven stitching will be obvious. But the toe of your shoes will get dirty soon enough, and then the individual stitches won’t be discernible.
You can use any darning stitch you like. Most people use blanket stitch or chain stitch. Big stitches will produce a more open weave,which will wear out a little faster. However, if you’re in a hurry, they’re much faster to do. when considering which stitch to choose, think about how long your shoes last – there’s not much point spending hours on neat, dense stitches if your shoes usually “die” quickly elsewhere
Here are some articles with more information on how to darn pointe shoes
Don’t be afraid to give darning your pointes a try. Think about it – even if your darning is a disaster, what’s the harm? If it all goes haywire, you can simply cut the satin off the platform – which is recommended anyway, if it’s not darned. An uncovered satin toe can become slippery, so it can be dangerous. Also, a neat, even cut looks much smarter than leaving the satin to fray by itself.
Are you looking for an answer for a question why my computer freezes randomly. With a slow computer that freezes randomly even the smallest and simplest things can be nearly impossible to accomplish. Just opening different documents or watching YouTube.com take much more time then it should be.
If your computer freezes one more time here are things you should do. If you have a problem with your computer then buying a new hardware may not be the greatest solution for it. Right now you should know few steps to know make your computer faster and not freezing any more.
First Step.
First of all. If your computer freezes randomly you have to know at first what is a main cause why your computer freezes for no reason. If a crucial part of your operating system called registry is broken or contains errors then your computer may freeze for no reason or slow down significantly. I understand that you may not even understand what is a registry and how important it is for your computer and in conclusion computer freezes randomly Yes it may sound wired but usually broken registry is a cause why your computer freezes randomly.
What exactly is windows registry (or PC registry)?
The registry is a special part of operating system that is a database that contains all important data from your computer. In other words your registry is a special database your computer needs to function properly. It holds all the information about software hardware and operating system (like Windows or Mac) or even your personal settings. You can say that this is some kind of a DNA of your computer.
As same in DNA any errors are pretty much a disaster (for health) in registry every error can cause problems with your computer. You may be wondering why your computer keeps freezing and asking yourself this question but you have to be aware that there is a one crucial thing that can really slow down your computer.
This is exactly what you should do when your computer freezes randomly
Finding a solution as soon as it is possible is very important if you want to make your computer fast and efficient again.
You have to be aware the one very important thing – a registry is very sensitive file. I strongly advise you to not edit it manually at any circumstances because you can do more bad then good. If you want to know why computer is running slow rad more.
If you are not an expert in programing you would not be able to fix anything in your registry and you can be sure of that Believe me it is very complicated and in most cases for usual user impossible to find out cause of the problem. In that case you have to use a special registry scanner for safely do all the work for you.