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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Netgear Centria (WNDR4720)

The Centria WNDR4720 is Netgear's offering in the crop of network devices that serve as both routers and Network Attached Storage (NAS). The WNDR4720 is a dual-band router and a NAS with 2TB of storage (Netgear also offers the WNDR4700; you need to supply your own drive). While the Centria is not a powerful performer as a router?and even weaker in performance as a NAS?the combined functionality makes it an attractive device for creating a robust home network. With this single device you have the means to deploy a wireless network, shared storage, multimedia streaming, and even backup.

The Centria is a competitor to Apple's Time Capsule, which is a NAS/router combo. Like the 2TB version of Time Capsule, the Centria is priced at around $300. Another competitor in the space is Synology's DS213air which also combines routing functionality with a NAS.

If you need a more powerful router than what the DS213air offers, the Centria is the better option of the two.? If you are mostly focused on NAS capabilities, then look to the DS213air.? One other caveat with the Centria: there are some issues with the Desktop Genie app you can install to manage it.

Specs
The Centria's design is the same boxy shape introduced with Netgear's R6300 router. This large device operates upright on a built-in stand. Design is one of the big drawbacks of the R6300, in my view. The bulky case makes placement options within an entertainment center, for example, limited.

The model I tested, the WNDR4720, is an N900 dual-band router with integrated 2TB of storage on a 3.5" SATA HDD. There are two USB 3.0 ports and an SD card slot. The Centria also has four Gigabit LAN ports and a Gigabit WAN port.

On the side of the case are three buttons: WPS, WiFi on/off, and a one-touch backup button. LEDs on the front correspond to each button and are lit when the buttons are activated. On the opposite side of the case is a door that opens to where the HDD sits. It's a bit of an effort of get your fingers around the HDD to pull it out. The drive's backplane sits so far deep into the Centria that it's somewhat difficult to ensure that the drive is seated properly. You'll know if it isn't if you don't see the HDD's LED light up green when the Centria is powered on.

There are also five more LEDs on the bottom front panel, one each, representing status of power, WAN connection, WiFi, HDD status, and USB device connection.

Centria Setup
The WNDR4720 ships with wireless networking pre-configured. In fact, the SSID and password are printed on a sticker affixed to the unit. As soon as I powered the Centria up, I saw two Netgear SSIDs?one for the 2.4 GHz radio and one for 5GHz, in Windows' listing of wireless networks.

You still want to go through the setup process to establish your WAN connection and make sure settings are the way you want. To do this, open a browser from a computer connected to the Centria, to the address routerlogin.net.? This kicks off the Netgear Genie setup wizard.

The setup process has been updated in Netgear's newer device line, as I first noticed when reviewing the R6300. I was impressed that the setup wizard elegantly avoided any possible IP address conflicts with my ISP assigned address by changing the router's IP addressing appropriately.

The setup wizard then checked my internet connection. I received confirmation that I was connected to the Internet and the interface displayed the router's settings including the wireless settings, the HDD state. The wizard then scanned for any connected USB devices.

Setup gives you the option of installing Netgear's newer management apps: the Desktop Genie, for monitoring and repairing your home network, and ReadyShare Vault?a backup app. While I'll dig deeper into each app in separate reviews, I did install the Desktop Genie, since it's relevant to managing the router functionality in the Centria. After installing the desktop version of genie, I encountered a few issues.

Genie Conflicts
When you install the Desktop Genie, you can use the shortcut to it on a desktop to get to the router's settings and monitoring tools. Typically, you would just open a browser to the IP address of the router, and use the device's management software for configuration, which is also called the Netgear Genie. The fact that both are named Genie is confusing.

Desktop Genie is a newer interface for Netgear products introduced in 2011. Instead of having to open a browser and go to the IP address of the device's interface, you can double-click the Genie shortcut on the desktop. The Desktop Genie has more features than the default Genie interface you get by typing in the IP address of the router in a browser.

I found Desktop Genie was problematic to use. When I first opened it, I was greeted with a Login Failed error message, despite the fact I could go into the browser-based interface using the same admin login and password. There was a little help icon to give me more information about the error. The additional information was that I was getting a login failure because "your Netgear router does not yet support all desktop genie features," and that is was something Netgear was working on.

There were areas within Desktop Genie I could access at times, and that I would then would get a login failure message in later tries. For instance, I was able to click a monitoring icon and see a nice real-time graph of my router traffic, but then when I clicked to go into wireless settings, I would get the failure notice.

?Desktop Genie became so prohibitive to continuing my review of the Centria that I closed it and did the rest of the review by just going to the Web interface of the router?the regular Genie, as I refer to it.

As mentioned, I'll dive deeper into the Desktop Genie in a separate review. The app has a lot of promising capability but functions like beta software when used with the Centria. This is despite the fact that the Desktop Genie webpage lists the Centria as a supported router.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/9mpbPEwY8Qc/0,2817,2415849,00.asp

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Fidel Castro appears at parliament, leadership speculation continues

Fidel Castro's surprise appearance added to expectations, fueled by his brother, that the usually routine session might shed light on future leadership of the communist-run nation.

By Marc Frank,?Reuters / February 25, 2013

Cuba's leader Fidel Castro and his brother Cuba's President Raul Castro attend the opening session of the National Assemby in Havana, Cuba, Feb. 24. Cuba's parliament reconvened Sunday with new membership and was expected to name Raul Castro to a new five-year-term as president. Raul Castro fueled speculation on Friday when he talked of his possible retirement and suggested he has plans to resign at some point.

Ismael Francisco/AP

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Retired Cuban leader?Fidel?Castro?made a rare public appearance Sunday by joining the opening session of the National Assembly, state media reported amid speculation the gathering could give clues on planning for a future leadership succession.

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Since falling ill in 2006 and ceding the presidency to his brother,?Fidel?Castro?has given up all official positions except as a deputy in the National Assembly. At Sunday's session, he took his seat beside brother President?Raul?Castro, only the second time he has graced the assembly chambers since his illness and the first since 2010.

Fidel?Castro's surprise appearance added to expectations, fueled by his brother, that the usually routine session might shed light on future leadership of the communist-run nation.

In a back and forth with reporters on Friday,?Raul?Castro?joked about his eventual retirement and urged them to pay attention to Sunday's conclave, which is closed to foreign journalists.

"I'm going to turn 82; I have a right to retire already," he said. "You don't believe me? Why are you so incredulous?" he said.

The 612 deputies, who were elected in an uncontested vote Feb. 3, are expected to name a new 31-member?Council of State?with?Raul?Castro?as president, despite his quip.

The National Assembly meets for just a few weeks each year and delegates its legislative powers between sessions to the?Council of State, which also functions as the nation's executive through theCouncil of Ministers?it appoints.

Governments,?Cuba?watchers and Cubans will be watching to see if there are any new, and younger, faces among the Council of State members, in particular its first vice president and five vice presidents, with an average age over 70.

The new government is almost certain to be the last headed up by the?Castro?brothers and the generation that has ruled?Cuba?since they swept down from the mountains in the 1959 revolution that led to a long-running feud with Washington.

Raul?Castro, 81, would begin his second term on Sunday, theoretically leaving him free to retire in 2018, aged 86.

Eighty percent of the parliament's 612 members, with an average age under 50, were born after the Revolution.

EFFORT TO PROMOTE YOUNGER GENERATION

Raul?Castro, who officially replaced his ailing brother as president in 2008, has repeatedly called for senior leaders to hold office for no more than two, five-year terms.

"Although we kept on trying to promote young people to senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the best choice,"?Castro?said at a Party?Congress?in 2011.

"Today, we are faced with the consequences of not having a reserve of well-trained replacements....It's really embarrassing that we have not solved this problem in more than half a century," he said.

The 2011 party summit adopted a more than 300-point plan to "update"?Cuba's Soviet-style economic system, designed to transform it from one based on collective production and consumption to one where individual effort and reward play a far more important role.

Across-the-board subsidies are being replaced by the country's first comprehensive tax code and targeted welfare.

Fidel?Castro, these days referred to as the "historic leader of the revolution," is no longer seen as wielding real power, but he has maintained a public presence through his writings, meetings with important visitors and rare appearances.

Esteban Lazo, member of the political bureau of the Community Party and vice president of the?Council of State, 68, was named parliament president Sunday to replace a retiring Ricardo Alarcon, who served for 20 years.

(Reporting By Marc Frank; Editing by David Adams and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/-Y7R18uKYzc/Fidel-Castro-appears-at-parliament-leadership-speculation-continues

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

The mouth that roared (Offthekuff)

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F-35 fleet grounded after engine crack discovery

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Pentagon on Friday grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane.

The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18.

All versions ? a total of 51 planes ? were grounded Friday pending a more in-depth evaluation of the problem discovered at Edwards. None of the planes have been fielded for combat operations; all are undergoing testing.

In a brief written statement, the Pentagon said it is too early to know the full impact of the newly discovered problem.

A watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight, said the grounding is not likely to mean a significant delay in the effort to field the stealthy aircraft.

"The F-35 is a huge problem because of its growing, already unaffordable, cost and its gigantically disappointing performance," the group's Winslow Wheeler said. "That performance would be unacceptable even if the aircraft met its far-too-modest requirements, but it is not."

The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program at a total estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. The Pentagon envisions buying more than 2,400 F-35s, but some members of Congress are balking at the price tag.

Friday's suspension of flight operations will remain in effect until an investigation of the problem's root cause is determined.

The Pentagon said the engine in which the problem was discovered is being shipped to a Pratt & Whitney facility in Connecticut for more thorough evaluation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/f-35-fleet-grounded-engine-crack-found-212548478--politics.html

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Governors: Looming cuts threaten economic gains

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, center, seen with National Governors Association Chairman Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware, left, and Vice Chairman Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, speaks during the opening news conference of the NGA Winter Meeting in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. The nation's governors say their states are threatened if the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts, known as the sequester, take effect March 1. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, left, leads fellow Democratic Governors Associations members along the driveway of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. From left are, Shumlin, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Vermont Gov. Maggie Hassan, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, center, accompanied by fellow members of the Democratic Governors Associations, speaks outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. From left are, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, Virgin Islands Gov. John De Jongh, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Hassan, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, center, accompanied by fellow members of the Democratic Governors Associations, looks up to the overcast sky, outside the White House in Washington, Feb. 22, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. From left are, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, Virgin Island Gov. John de Jongh, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Hickenlooper, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, accompanied by other members of the Democratic Governors Associations, speaks outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Washington's protracted budget stalemate could seriously undermine the economy and stall gains made since the recession, exasperated governors said Saturday as they try to gauge the fallout from impending federal spending cuts.

At the annual National Governors Association meeting, both Democrat and Republican chief executives expressed pessimism that both sides could find a way to avoid the massive, automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1, pointing to the impasse as another crisis between the White House and Congress that spooks local businesses from hiring and hampers their ability to construct state spending plans.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a former congressman, noted that the cuts ? known in Washington-speak as "the sequester" ? could lead to 19,000 workers laid off at Pearl Harbor, site of the surprise attack in 1941 that launched the United States into World War II.

"That will undermine our capacity for readiness at Pearl Harbor. If that doesn't symbolize for the nation ... what happens when we fail to meet our responsibilities congressionally, I don't know what does," he said.

The budget fight came as many states say they are on the cusp of an economic comeback from the financial upheaval in 2008 and 2009. States expect their general fund revenues this year to surpass the amounts collected before the Great Recession kicked in. An estimated $693 billion in revenues is expected for the 2013 budget year, nearly a 4 percent over the previous year.

At their weekend meetings, governors were focusing on ways to boost job development and grow their state economies, measures to restrict gun violence and implement the new health care law approved during Obama's first term.

Some Republican governors have blocked the use of Medicaid to expand health insurance coverage for millions of uninsured while others have joined Democrats in a wholesale expansion as the law allows. The Medicaid expansion aims to cover about half of the 30 million uninsured people expected to eventually gain coverage under the health care overhaul.

Yet for many governors, the budget-cut fight remains front-and-center and fuels a pervasive sense of frustration with Washington.

"My feeling is I can't help what's going on in Washington," Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Iowa, said in an interview Saturday. "I can't help the fact that there's no leadership here, and it's all politics as usual and gridlock. But I can do something about the way we do things in the state of Iowa."

Indeed, right now no issue carries the same level of urgency as the budget impasse.

Congressional leaders have indicated a willingness to let the cuts take effect and stay in place for weeks, if not much longer.

The cuts would trim $85 billion in domestic and defense spending, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of workers at the Transportation Department, Defense Department and elsewhere.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the cuts would harm the readiness of U.S. fighting forces.

The looming cuts were never supposed to happen. They were intended to be a draconian fallback intended to ensure a special deficit reduction committee would come up with $1 trillion or more in savings from benefit programs. It didn't.

"We should go back and remember that sequestration was originally designed by both the administration and Congress as something so odious, so repellent, that it would force both sides to a compromise. There can't be any question, this is something that nobody wants," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.

Obama has stepped up efforts to tell the public about the cuts' negative impact and pressure Republicans who oppose his approach of reducing deficits through a combination of targeted savings and tax increases. House Republicans have said reduced spending needs to be the focus and have rejected the president's fresh demand to include higher taxes as part of a compromise.

Governors said they are asking the Obama administration for more flexibility to deal with some of the potential cuts.

"We know that the cuts are coming, but we also don't want to suffer disproportionately," said Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Association.

"We're just saying that as you identify federal cuts and savings, allow the states to be able to realize those savings, too," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican and the association's vice chairwoman. "Give us the flexibility to be able to make the cuts where we think it will be the less harm to our citizens."

___

Follow Steve Peoples at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples and Ken Thomas at: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

___

Online:

National Governors Association: http://www.nga.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-23-Budget%20Battle-Governors/id-f7740b83797745bd886ed10816cb8992

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Toxic mice air drop: Dead poisoned mice to target Guam tree snakes

Toxic mice air drop: The US government is about target invasive brown tree snakes in Guam by bombing the island with dead mice laced with?acetaminophen, which is toxic to the reptiles.

By Eric Talmadge,?Associated Press / February 22, 2013

A Brown Tree Snake is held by a US Department of Agriculture wildlife specialist at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. The US government is planning to drop toxic mice from helicopters to battle the snakes, an invasive species that has decimated Guam's native bird population.

Eric Talmadge/AP

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Andersen Air Force Base, Guam

Dead mice laced with painkillers are about to rain down on?Guam's?jungle canopy. They are scientists' prescription for a headache that has caused the tiny U.S. territory misery for more than 60 years: the brown tree snake.

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Most of?Guam's?native bird species are extinct because of the snake, which reached the island's thick jungles by hitching rides from the South Pacific on U.S. military ships shortly after World War II. There may be 2 million of the reptiles on?Guam?now, decimating wildlife, biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines.

More than 3,000 miles away, environmental officials in Hawaii have long feared a similar invasion ? which in their case likely would be a "snakes on a plane" scenario. That would cost the state many vulnerable species and billions of dollars, but the risk will fall if?Guam's?air-drop strategy succeeds.

"We are taking this to a new phase," said Daniel Vice, assistant state director of U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services in Hawaii,?Guam, and the Pacific Islands. "There really is no other place in the world with a snake problem like?Guam."

Brown tree snakes are generally a few feet (1 meter) long but can grow to be more than 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Most of?Guam's?native birds were defenseless against the nocturnal, tree-based predators, and within a few decades of the reptile's arrival, nearly all of them were wiped out.

The snakes can also climb power poles and wires, causing blackouts, or slither into homes and bite people, including babies; they use venom on their prey but it is not lethal to humans.

The infestation and the toll it has taken on native wildlife have tarnished?Guam'simage as a tourism haven, though the snakes are rarely seen outside their jungle habitat.

The solution to this headache, fittingly enough, is acetaminophen, the active ingredient in painkillers including Tylenol.

The strategy takes advantage of the snake's two big weaknesses. Unlike most snakes, brown tree snakes are happy to eat prey they didn't kill themselves, and they are highly vulnerable to acetaminophen, which is harmless to humans.

The upcoming mice drop is targeted to hit snakes near?Guam's?sprawling Andersen Air Force Base, which is surrounded by heavy foliage and if compromised would offer the snakes a potential ticket off the island. Using helicopters, the dead neonatal mice will be dropped by hand, one by one.

U.S. government scientists have been perfecting the mice-drop strategy for more than a decade with support from the Department of Defense and the Department of the Interior.

To keep the mice bait from dropping all the way to the ground, where it could be eaten by other animals or attract insects as they rot, researchers have developed a flotation device with streamers designed to catch in the branches of the forest foliage, where the snakes live and feed.

Experts say the impact on other species will be minimal, particularly since the snakes have themselves wiped out the birds that might have been most at risk.

"One concern was that crows may eat mice with the toxicant," said William Pitt, of the U.S. National Wildlife Research Center's Hawaii Field Station. "However, there are no longer wild crows on?Guam. We will continue to refine methods to increase efficiency and limit any potential non-target hazards."

The mouse drop is set to start in April or May.

Vice said the goal is not to eradicate the snakes, but to control and contain them. Just as the snakes found their way to?Guam, they could stow away on a ship, or more likely the cargo hold of an airplane, and begin breeding on other islands around the Pacific or even the U.S. West Coast.

That "snakes on a plane" scenario has officials in Hawaii on edge. The islands of Hawaii, like?Guam, lack the predators that could keep a brown tree snake population in check.

Native Hawaiian birds "literally don't know what to do when they see a snake coming," said Christy Martin, a spokeswoman for the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, a partnership of Hawaii government agencies and private organizations.

A 2010 study conducted by the National Wildlife Research Center found brown tree snakes would cause between $593 million and $2.14 billion in economic damage each year if they became established in Hawaii like they are on?Guam. Power outages would cause the most damage, followed by a projected decline in tourism. The cost of treating snake bites would account for a small share.

"Once we get snakes here, we're never going to be able to fix the situation," Martin said.

Though the snakes are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea,?Guam?is much closer to Hawaii and its snake population is much more dense, meaning it is the primary threat for snake stowaways.

So far,?Guam's?containment seems to be working. Only a few brown tree snakes have ever been found in Hawaii, and none over the past 17 years.

"If we continue doing what we are doing, the chance of success is very high," Vice said. "If what we are doing stops, I think the possibility of the snakes getting to Hawaii is inevitable."

___

AP writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report from Honolulu.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/5QKzfHBtQI8/Toxic-mice-air-drop-Dead-poisoned-mice-to-target-Guam-tree-snakes

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Tani Brown: On the Examination of Love

The ancient Greeks had four words for love. They are storge (familial love), philia (friendship love), agape (selfless love), and eros (intimate love). By contrast, the Buddhist tradition teaches the four Brahmaviharas or the four immeasurables: metta (loving kindness), karuna, (compassion), mudita (sympathetic joy), and upekkha (equanimity). The former are types of affection. By contrast, the latter are attitudes towards affection.

I'm not going to dwell on the anxieties of modern dating like texting, facebooking, and catfishing because it's hard enough just to be myself these days. I'd like to examine the spark that happens in those precious moments when I've met another person that for whatever reason grabbed my unwavering and unconditional affection. The sticky parts, the moments that take real courage to confront this overwhelming feeling I had never felt before.

Love.

This stickiness is beautifully articulated in Gus Van Sant's 1997 film, Good Will Hunting. In the film, Matt Damon plays Will Hunting -- a brilliant but haunted janitor at MIT. It is discovered early on in the film that Will is a mathematical genius when he casually but anonymously solves a complex math problem while cleaning a classroom one night. After a run-in with the law, Will is given the opportunity to avoid jail time by joining MIT's math department and seeing a therapist, the recently widowed Sean (Robin Williams).

As their relationship develops, it is revealed that Will is afraid to explore the complexities and risks of his personal relationships. Will goes through what we all go through -- breaking down the walls built up by childhood trauma and life-changing events which forever shape our conception of love.

The film reaches its pinnacle in a scene in which Sean chides Will over his immaturity and inability to love:

And if I asked you about love, you'll probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone could level you with her eyes... You don't know about real loss, because that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much.

Sean posits an important question. Can I love something or someone more than I love myself? Should I love someone more than I love myself?

I've observed my understanding of love evolve over the years. When I was in college, I was madly in love with love. I saw a glimpse of both my best and my worst self, driven by the thrilling vulnerability of meeting someone that could love both the good and bad parts of me. While it was heavy, restless, and all consuming -- as Frank Ocean states, "it was, [while] some things never are." I left college with a tremendous sense of loss, thinking that my best years were behind me and privately enshrined in dorm room walls and empty playing fields.

Upon entering my twenties, that narrow interpretation of love was upstaged by the love for friends and family. I left school and met new people, the kind that look you in the eye and tell you the truth because they no longer have to worry about college formals and sorority gossip.

I learned things I thought I could only understand by being in a romantic relationship -- that loyalty and honesty could also be examined and perfected without intimacy. And I returned home, spent time with my family and remembered the value of unconditional love. It doesn't ask questions or make judgments. It welcomes you home.

Maybe the Greco-Romans were right and there are different types of love. Or perhaps the Buddhists were onto something and it is the mindful way we strive to love that is important. I think both schools speak to the notion of patience. Sitting on it. Letting those feelings wash over you. Knowing it. For me -- it is a mix of all these things. Allowing the love I have for my family and friends seep into the way I treat my partner and my faith and vice versa. Realizing they are all interconnected and requires my fullest attention and affection.

American philosopher Robert Nozick offers a possible answer to the Good Will Hunting dilemma, that is:

People encompass what they love -- it becomes part of them as its well-being becomes partly theirs. The size of a soul, the magnitude of a person, is measured in part by the extent of what that person can appreciate and love.

Maybe I will never love someone or something more than I love myself. But I certainly hope to become a part of that which I love. I wonder if 66 years ago when my grandfather Sat first laid eyes on my grandmother Akiko in Manzanar Internment Camp during World War II he asked this many questions. It seems life was simpler then. My grandmother says he was shy, but a great dancer. He eventually asked her to be his date to a camp dance and they fell in love, got married, and moved to Southern California to begin a life together.

Judging by how fast information moves these days, I wonder if I'll be as lucky as my grandfather. But maybe if time slows down just enough or I have the patience to slow it down myself, I'll continue to find a person, or people, or things that create the enduring spark called love.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tani-brown/on-the-examination-of-lov_b_2745157.html

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