Another new occurance for me this week - EOG's - known as the End of Grade tests for all NC students.  This would be new to me 'cuz I'm just NOT FROM HERE......  Well, okay, we did some testing in Washington State, but not to this degree. 

Let me start from the beginning, because I know how much you all love a good story.  An email went out to parents of the middle school my daughter attends, begging for volunteers to proctor the NC State EOG's.  Being the overachieving, completely dedicated mother that I am, I decide that, yes, I can commit 3 mornings to policing a bunch of kids who, in theory, should be focused on their tests.  I respond to the email, mind you - the request came from the school registrar, who, from prior experience, has proven to be fake as all hell and about a complete waste of time, but I rise above my judgements and offer my assistance.

Well, I was assigned to a classroom of 7th graders for all 3 days, the entirety of their tests.  This is a good thing for the students, in my opinion, because it shows consistency and is less distracting than some new random individual wandering their classroom each day.  I was not overly impressed with the teacher, though, and I constantly wondered what her educational background consisted of.  She seemed to get along okay with the students, but to be struggling with a control issue.  I could tell that she did not appreciate another adult in the classroom, by her lack of communication with me.  She wore tight, highwater pants, no socks and tennis shoes along with a tight shirt all three days.  She's not a big lady, but she is sporting a healthy belly and some great feathered hair.  She also frequents the Maybelline counter quite a bit because I'm fairy certain her morning routine includes a thick spatula and some spackle prior to leaving the house.  I couldn't determine whether she was married or not because 2 of the 3 days, she did not wear a ring on the commitment finger, but Tuesday, she was representing and blinging it up.  I do believe I saw a smile or two on Wednesday though, so I will keep a mixed opinion of the lady.

The tests themselves were long, tedious, and boring.  The students did extremely well following directions and not creating any distractions that would cause the entire class to repeat the test, thank goodness.  It was great fun escorting a myriad of students to the bathrooms - since this is an additional responsibility of proctors - to ensure no testing materials make it to the restroom, James Bond style.  Overall, it was uneventful, but I had fun picking on the teacher, and contemplating which of the kids would be working at McDonald's for the rest of their lives.  There's just so much HOPE for our future.

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Bank stocks lost their position as the biggest industry group in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to technology companies after tumbling 31 percent since 2006.

Computer and software makers led by Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. accounted for 16.26 percent of the benchmark for large U.S. companies based on yesterday's closing prices. Financials, led by Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., fell to 16.19 percent.

Banks slid the most among 10 industries in the S&P 500 last year and are the worst-performing group so far in 2008, as lower U.S. real-estate prices led to losses on mortgage debt and derivatives approaching $380 billion globally.

``The earnings power of the financial sector has been impaired because of the credit crunch,'' said Thomas J. Lee, chief U.S. equity strategist at JPMorgan in New York. ``Technology is benefiting from a global economy that's been expanding, particularly in emerging markets.''

As the S&P 500 has retreated 3.7 percent this year, its financial components have decreased almost 13 percent. Bear Stearns Cos. lost the most, dropping 89 percent as a run on the brokerage firm prompted the Federal Reserve to arrange a March 16 takeover by JPMorgan. The index declined 1.6 percent today.

Financial shares in the index declined almost 21 percent in 2007, their worst year since a 24 percent drop in 1990. They have plunged 31 percent since the end of 2006.

Worst-Performing

Technology shares are the fourth worst-performing industry group in 2008, sliding 5.9 percent. Last year, when only financial and consumer discretionary shares slipped among the 10 industries, technology had the fourth-biggest gain, 16 percent.

The 92 banks, brokerages and mutual fund managers in the S&P 500 reported an 81 percent decline in earnings in the first quarter, the third straight drop from year-earlier levels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profits for the 62 of 71 technology companies that had reported as of May 19 increased 19 percent. Technology earnings haven't declined from a year-earlier quarter since 2002.

The S&P 500 is the benchmark for large U.S. companies with a median market value of $12.2 billion. It was created in 1957 when existing indexes were combined. Managers of a combined $1.2 trillion measure their performance against it, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor's.

Energy, the best-performing sector this year with a gain of 11 percent, passed health care in December to become the third- largest group for the first time since December 1990. Energy accounted for 14.89 percent of the index as of yesterday's close.

Energy's Advance

The gains for energy have been led by oil and natural gas exploration and production companies including EOG Resources Inc. and Apache Corp., which both closed at records yesterday. The price of crude oil has doubled in the past year and settled at a record $129.07 a barrel yesterday. Natural gas has almost doubled in two years.

Energy companies made up almost half the income growth reported by S&P 500 companies in the first quarter. The 36 companies reported an average 28 percent gain in first-quarter profit, the biggest of the index's 10 industry groups, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

``Energy's benefiting from growing scarcity of production vs. demand,'' Lee said. ``Over time, its market weight will equal its earnings weight.'' JPMorgan estimates energy will account for 18 percent of the earnings of companies in the index this year.

Financials have been the biggest industry group in the S&P 500 every month since February 2002, according to Standard & Poor's. During that time, technology has been second largest, except for July 2002 through April 2003, when health care was bigger in eight of the 10 months.

Financials first became the top group in December 1995, when they unseated consumer discretionary companies. Financials were surpassed by technology in December 1998, and technology was dominant every month through February 2001. From March 2001 through January 2002 the two groups alternated as biggest.

EOG Resources (EOG) broke out of a small consolidation period today on decent volume, as well as broke out of a short-term resistance level around 141. With oil at $129/barrel, energy stocks are obviously where the money is and a solid move up tomorrow should be in the cards for EOG. EOG has an IBD composite rating of 98, obviously extremely high.

LDK Solar (LDK) is another play perfect for increasing oil prices. It broke above its 200DMA today on high volume, a day after a failed breakout on high volume, much of which was accumulation. It also broke out of an important resistance level around 40, setting up strong support for cutting losses. It closed near its high and seems ready for an up day tomorrow. BOP is green and rising, confirming accumulation. With an IBD composite rating of 95 and a cut-loss point just $1 under its current price, LDK is a very low-risk/high-potential trade for tomorrow, even with options like I do.

Sandridge Energy (SD) is the third energy play for tomorrow, and seems coiled to breakout. It had a huge move up today on very strong volume, bouncing off its 21DMA. Resistance at around 51 is in plain sight and the accumulation-filled consolidation period of the last several days seems to carry enough momentum for the stock to break through and make new highs. SD has moderately high green BOP, as well as an IBD composite rating of 98, making this a very attractive trade.

Precision Castparts (PCP) is the most speculative play of tonight, and should only be traded by people with high risk tolerances. PCP seems to be in a possible high tight flag, and today's intraday bullish reversal, with a bounce off its 21DMA on strong accumulation, could provide the momentum it needs to break out of this chart pattern. Breaking out above the 200DMA would be very bullish and would come to test important resistance around 135. PCP has an IBD composite rating of 87, and a perfect fundamental sub-rating of 99.

This is the first update in almost a week, so I'm also going to leave you with the returns my stock picks have provided, from the day of my recommendation to their relative tops:

DGLY 21.4% (May 12-May 15)
NUAN -1.08% (May 12-May 15)
GU 27.49% (May 12-May 19)
SOL 54.18% (May 12-May 19)
OCNF 6.94% (May 12-May 18)
PWRD 3.97% (May 12-May 15)
XIDE 20.06% (May 13-May 20 AH)
WW 0.96% (May 13-May 14)
TACT 6.76% (May 13-May 19)
NCIT 12.31% (May 13-May 14)
ANSS 2.22% (May 13-May 15)
VNDA 11.36% (May 14)
MPWR 3.00% (May 14)
UMBF -0.01% (May 14-May 19)
WBD 10.67% (May 14-May 16)
BCO 0.61% (May 15-May 16)
SBAC 5.69% (May 15-May 19)

That's an average 10.97% return on my picks, over an average period of 2.72 days. This is a much higher estimate of my stock pick success than is probably accurate, because I'm using the stock's relative high, which is impossible for anyone to call, but it gives you an idea of the strength of my picks so far. XIDE is a potential breakout candidate for tomorrow, so be watching that.

I'd like to again extend offers for my customized stock reports. I've received several requests already and I will have testimonials posted soon.

Ratings Report: I will assign numerical values, 0-100, for the stock's fundamentals, technicals, and overall attractiveness. This report will also inclue a 2-3 sentence summary of my take on the stock.

Cost: $5

Comprehensive Report: This report will be a 1-3 page analysis on the stock, looking at its fundamentals, technicals, and offering a customized, personal take on the equity and its options, including charts and graphs. I will detail possible buying, selling, and pivot points, as well as what I would do with the stock personally.

Cost: $20

I offer PayPal, check, and money order for these reports. Reports will be e-mailed at earliest convenience once payment is received.

If you are interested in receiving a Naufal Customized Stock Report, or have any questions at all, please e-mail me at naufal@umich.edu.

remeber not to freak, dont stress

alrighty???

now over some more test takin stategies

go to bed early which is not anythin past 10:00pm

got it

there isa big breakfast thing goin on in the cafe

so if you want some breakfast there your place

and thats about it....

good luck

:-)

EOg

as MRs. NICkEls LIkes to Call it

E-Og

DONt FRAk OUt PPLs

YOU Worked All YEAr

For THIS DAy

THE EOg at OUr skool

are

THUrsDAy 5/15/08

FRiDAy 5/16/08

MonDAi 5/19/08

Eog Satreegies

youe TeachERS HAve Been TellIN You All YOu About THem

Well.....

IM GONNA REMIND YA

After TKAin THe TEST

GO BAC adn MAke Shure YOur ANSweeres MAke SInce and THAt the ANSwere in YOur Book and YOUr BUble Sheet MAke since

Alright

El dispositivo (Wearable Eye Tracker) registra el movimiento de los ojos mediante electrodos en los bordes de las gafas, durante un periodo que puede llegar a las ocho horas. La parte de inteligencia ambiental radica en la posibilidad de que el aparato pueda llegar a saber en qué lugar se encuentra la persona o qué actividad está llevando a cabo mediante el análisis de los datos recogidos.

Fuente: Science Daily, y ethz

The time is drawing near.  The Reading Comprehension EOG will be on Tuesday, May 20.  You are already prepared, but we'll still be reviewing and practicing skills until the 20th. 

What are you going to do to be prepared? 

How can you work your best? 

What reading strategies could you share with others?

Contents:

• Short description
• History
• Idea and usage explanation
• Download
• Feedback and bug reporting
• Contribution

Short description.
This program is made for quick editing of multiple images. It can resize, rotate, flip and convert them automatically just by dropping your files on the program icon.

A little bit of history.
The Idea of creating such a program appeared, when I wanted to send some pictures attached to an Email. These pictures were too large and I needed to make them smaller, and rotate some of them - an everyday task for many of you out there. I work in Ubuntu, so I have Eye of Gnome for viewing images, F-Spot Photo Manager - for managing photos, and GIMP for editing per default. Eye of Gnome can very simple rotate an image, but, honestly, I haven't found the function to resize it. F-Spot Photo Manager appears to use Eye of Gnome to view and edit images, so it has the functionality of the latter. The thing I was left with was GIMP. It does its job perfectly, but it's too heavy for such tasks. Especially, when you have to edit more than one image, you will end up with editing every one separately.

Idea and short usage explanation.
I thougt, that it would be useful to have a program, which can edit (resize, rotate, flip) multiple images at once. I had an Idea of creating an application without GUI. You should just select the images you want to edit, drag them and drop them onto the program. Some time pass (for calculations), and you receive edited images. How to edit the images should depend from the name of the program. So you can create a set of editors for your needs by yourself.
For example, if you want to shrink your images, so that the longer side will be 800px, you will have to have a copy of qubime called resize.800.py. If you want to rotate the images clockwise for 90°, then you have to use a copy, which is called rotate.clockwise.90.py or in simplified variation - rotate.90.py

After all, you decide, which kind of tools you want to have. The only thing you care about is, that the tools are placed to some visible positions on your desktop (e.g. some links to them on your panel) to have them handy for quick usage.

Download.
for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX you can download the program here:
http://home.in.tum.de/~kerestey/qubime/qubime.0.1.1.tar.bz2
It is a python executable. I have written it in Ubuntu and I only tested it under Ubuntu 8.04 and 7.10. Hope that it will work for Windows and Mac also.

[UPDATE]
You can also download a standalone version of the program here (for Windows only):
http://madyogi.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/qubime-windows-executable/

Feedback and bug reporting.
Please read the README file - most of the things are explained there. Nevertheless, I will very appreciate your comments, critiques and bright ideas about how to improve it. If you still think, that you have some unresolved issues or I am not answering for a long time, feel free to write me at
qubimemadyogi.info.

Contribution.
Ah. Nearly forgot it. I do not have any Icons you could use with qubime. If somebody likes to contribute some self-made icons, you are more then welcome. Just write me an e-mail to
qubimemadyogi.info and attach your icons package. I will publish them here along with the program.
I will be very welcoming every type of contribution, you make - build standalone executables, improve code, fix bugs etc. I will be very glad to publish them along with the program.
All the contributions will be published with the credits to the author of the work.

Enjoy!

Below are some website that students can use to help prepare for the science EOG:

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/accountability/testing/eog/science/20071204gr8sci.pdf

CRM +642%
VISN +545%
EOG +513%
BRKR +512%
HSP +510%
STNR +433%
HURC +389%
GTLS +330%
FLS +297%
ALDN +281%
MIDD +271%
GEF +262%
GTLS +258%
DBRN +245%
FLR +227%
CTB +227%
TCN +209%
GFA +207%
NFLX +201%
CTRP +191%
ERES +179%
ULBI +165%
CRZO +157%
SONO +156%
ACAP +147%
VTIV +145%
HOS +129%
DRC +123%
LIFC +114%
PDE +113%
DWSN +111%
GIFI +109%
DDUP +89%
DVN +89%
BARE +88%
HLF +83%
APA +84%

Is your student struggling with Mid-Term Exams and assignments? Falling behind on homework? Have you stopped fighting to win and are spending all your energy just trying to get through the next testing round?

With the cold of winter creeping in and new material being presented every day, it can be more and more difficult to stay positive about school and to “keep up”. Whether students are in Elementary School, Middle School, High School, or just starting out in College, that’s where hiring a private tutor from Tri-ed Tutoring can help; we put student spirit back so they can rise to the challenge of everyday learning.  

Our tutors can offer your students a fresh mid-year perspective on academics. By offering new study hints, tips, techniques, and tricks, we can help your student gain comprehension of new material while continuing to reinforce mastery of the old. In an age where applying to college is is more competitive, it is increasingly difficult to be accepted at major universities, and for scholarships class rank truly matters, it doesn’t pay to “wait and see.”

TRI-ED TUTORS MAKE LEARNING FUN.

This time of year we have a lot of calls from parents whose students are frustrated and feeling insecure about their progress in their classes at school. Rather than waiting for that failing grade or that failing school year, they are doing the right thing by reaching out and asking for help. They realize that the earlier in life a student receives assistance with their educational foundation, the better off that child will be in the long life and educational run.

If your student is having a hard time keeping up in school overall or in any particular subject in areas like Math [Basic Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry, Statistics, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus], Science [Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, Life Sciences, Anatomy & Physoology], English [Grammar, Informal Writing, ESL, Literature, Shakespeare, Poetry, Vocabulary, Reading, Research Writing, Formal Academic Essay Composition, Technical Writing], Social Studies [World History, US History, Civics, American Government, Political Science, Philosophy, World Religion, Humanities] , or Basic Study Skills [Study Habits, Organization], consider hiring a tutor now.

Tri-ed Tutoring is so confident that all students benefit from additional homework and study skills help, if we are not the best agency choice to work with your student then we’ll recommend someone else. Whether you hire us or one of the Washington DC areas other competitive learning centers, we are happy to talk with you as educational consultants. We know how to diagnose your students trouble areas and can advise you on how to proceed.

With final exams, the SAT,  and end of grade testing [SOLs] looming just around next semesters corner, don’t wait. It’s better to struggle to reach the top than to fight your way up from the bottom. Our teachers turn student frowns upside down.

TRI-ED TUTORING. You haven’t tried tutoring until you’ve tried Tri-ED.

expand. exceed. excel.