Policy on the #NNK

HuffPost 's Laura Paddison ( @laurapaddison on Twitter) digs deep into the cost of quick shipping (aka immediate gratification) in Why You Should Think Twice Before Opting for Free 2-Day Shipping . Paddison starts with the University of California/Vox video The environmental cost of free two-day shipping (above) and presents findings from her additional research: E-commerce has made people's lives easier. Nearly 80 percent of Americans shop online, and they can do so any time, anywhere. One in five people even do it while using the bathroom. It can also be greener than going to physical stores, since people don't need to jump in their cars to get to there. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that a traditional store-visiting shopper had a carbon footprint almost two times that of an online shopper. However, there's an important caveat. This environmental advantage of online shopping disappears if the shopper selects speedy delivery. Read and de...

Here's your weekly dose of TA. Enjoy. Tools and Resources 70 Web Accessibility Resources for Designing with Inclusivity is a godsend. It helps all manner of organizations ensure their online sites are accessible. Why is accessibility important? DYNO Mapper explains : There are millions of people with disabilities who deserve to have equal access to website and web content. Sadly, most websites and website software currently incorporate accessibility barriers. These make it increasingly difficult, often impossible, for users with disabilities to enjoy the full benefits of the online world that most of us take for granted. Take a look at the following blog post, "How Website Accessibility Affect Persons with Disabilities" , to see the challenges faced by users with different disabilities. Need free images? There's a useful collection of free image sites in the Hacker News post Ask HN: Where can I find high-end stock images for a website? This New Study Shows That P...

Lancaster County Lancaster County EMS is hiring full- and part-time EMTs (PDF). Applications are due December 29. Lancaster County Public Schools has several job openings . Irvington citizens reject PUD proposal ( Rappahannock Record ) NNEC explains rate increase; reassessor selected ( Rappahannock Record ) Northumberland County Northumberland Public Library offers a number of tutorials so residents can learn at their own pace. Subjects include social media and finding your way around the library's offerings. Northumberland County trash sites at Horsehead, Lottsburg, and Ditchly will be closed Christmas Day . The Northumberland County Planning Commission 's next meeting will be held Thursday, January 18 . The Northumberland County School Board is holding a special meeting Tuesday, November 28 from 2:00-4:00 pm . "The Board will convene into a closed session to discuss student matters regarding discipline and placement, and personnel appointments" accor...

Lancaster County Belle Isle State Park is closing Monday, December 11 (dusk) through Wednesday, December 13 (8:00 am) for managed hunts. The Lancaster Community Library has launched the Lancaster Community Library Academy . The Academy is online and the tutorials are free. Tutorials include using various social media platforms, researching genealogy, financial fitness, and reading magazines online. VDOT lifted the weight ban on the Norris Bridge November 17. Read the update, Temporary Weight Limit Lifted at Robert O. Norris Bridge . The Lancaster Community Library is holding a food drive for the Northern Neck Food Bank through Thanksgiving. Drop non-perishable items at the library (16 Town Centre Dr, Kilmarnock). A reader pointed out this school is not on the #NNK. Thanks for the information and I apologize for the mis-information. (11/20/17, 10:39a) Weems Elementary School was awarded the Closing the Achievement Gap award by Governor McAuliffe in October. According to the ...

A white student asks author @tanehisicoates if it's cool to rap along to songs with the n-word in it, and Coates responds brilliantly. pic.twitter.com/2NGf81oK8o — Matt (@mattwhitlockPM) November 10, 2017

Here's your weekly dose of TA. Enjoy. Tools and Resources Resource Cards (screen shot above) is a "list of free resources aimed to help creatives with their next project." But it also helps non-creatives (like me) get work done. Click on the card and see a list of resources. In Icons, for example, you'll find Icons8 ("Single icon pack with 23,500 free icons. Each icon is in 5 flat styles. Download as PNG, SVG, or as a font.") and iconmonstr ("3413+ free simple icons for your next project."). At work How To Give Feedback People Actually Respond To from Fast Company: Discusses striking the balance between using use cases, strategic plans, directives, and the like drive change and using an understanding of behavior to offer useful feedback. Everyone in your organization should read and bookmark Death by PowerPoint . It is a soup to nuts list of do's and don'ts along with prepping and day-of tips. 8 Tips To Get Your Boss To Trust You ...

Lancaster County The agenda for the Tuesday, November 14 Lancaster County School Board meeting includes an updated on the mentoring and tutoring program; update from the superintendent including school improvements and teacher shortage ( Preliminary Report from the Advisory Committee on Teacher Shortages (PDF) and Teacher Shortages in Virginia (PDF)); reports from principals (reports online); reports from committees; regular financial and administrative reviews (documents online); and personnel matters in a closed session. The Lancaster County Board of Supervisors is meeting Thursday, November 16 at 7:00 pm in the Lancaster County Administration Building (8311 Mary Ball Rd, Lancaster). The agenda includes a public input session, presentations by Northern Neck Electric Cooperative on the proposed rate increase and VDOT, public hearings, administrative and financial reviews, and a closed meeting if necessary. Lancaster County is using Nextdoor to connect with residents and bu...

The Department of Environmental Quality is holding their third and final Rappahannock River and tributaries TMDL bacteria assessment meeting Tuesday, November 14 at 1:00 pm at the Port Royal Fire Department (King St, Port Royal). The public is invited to participate in person or following the meeting by submitting comments. To get an idea of the status of the work so far, read Rappahannock River and Tributaries Bacteria TMDL, Technical Advisory Committee Meeting Handout, August 31, 2017 . Materials up for discussion November 14 will be posted here when they become available. Questions and comments about the assessment should be directed to Anna Reh-Gingerich, Piedmont Regional TMDL Coordinator: anna.reh-gingerich@deq.virginia.gov .

There's a lot to digest in Michelle Kwan on Perfectionism, Tiger Parents, and Never Winning Gold . There's Kwan's statement, "Through every failure, there's something to be learned." Then there's this: "Maybe I didn’t get new skates, but I got used skates. I made it to the national championships in used skates that were custom-made for another girl." Finally, there's one of the #LoveOverBias videos. Photo: Around the Rings .

Apologies for no TA post last week. Lots going on. Here's an extra special weekly dose of TA. Tools and Resources Who knew that graphics like those shown above have been tested by psychologists? Obviously, the creator and supporters of Icon Array do. Icon Array is a free online tool to generate personalized images of data. According to the site : Icon arrays use a matrix of icons (usually 100 or 1000 icons) to represent an at-risk population, simultaneously displaying both the number of expected events and the number of expected non-events. As a result, icon arrays have several advantages over simple numerical displays and other types of visual displays. Icon arrays can be read simply by counting icons. This enables icon arrays to be more precisely read than bar or pie charts. Recent research suggests that counting icons is particularly common among more numerate readers. Icon arrays show the part-whole relationship clearly in both relative count and relative area, thus embodyin...

Lancaster County The Lancaster County School Board is meeting Tuesday, November 14 from 6:30-7:30 pm in the School Board meeting annex. The Irvington Town Council is meeting Thursday, November 9 from 6:30-7:30 pm at the Town Office (235 Steamboat Rd, Irvington). The Irvington Planning Commission is holding a workshop to review the town's proposed Planned Unit Development ordinance Tuesday, November 28 at 4:30 pm . The meeting will be held at the Town Office (235 Steamboat Rd, Irvington). The public may attend but may not participate in discussions. The Irvington Village Improvement Association will meet Tuesday, November 14 at 5:00 pm at the Tides Inn (480 King Carter Dr, Irvington). More information is available by calling (804) 577-7501 or (804) 438-6230 (Town Office) or emailing dermotmcnulty@verizon.net . Northumberland County The Northumberland County School Board is meeting Monday, November 13 from 6:00-9:00 pm at the Northumberland High School auditorium. Th...

Reading is all it's cracked up to be but remembering may not be according to It's Okay to "Forget" What You Read . Author Charles Chu writes, What we get from books is not just a collection of names, dates and events stored in our minds like files in a computer. Books also change, via our mental models, the very reality that we perceive. So read! And read some more.