• Terrapin Adventures -- Guest Relations Specialist -- ID# 9249057
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• DCP Group -- Web Developer -- ID# 9249547

Photo from: http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/ap_mitt_romney_cpac_jt_120210_main.jpg

We recently reported of future President Willard “Mitt” Romney’s  recent troubles with dog lovers.

But how is Mitt holding up with the rest of Republicans? We mean . . . how is he really? It’s hard to tell sometimes because, you know, he might be a robot.

Turns out, “Oven” Mitt Romney is doing pretty okay, thanks for asking.

After winning the votes of Mainers (or are they Mainiacs?) and the confidence of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC – or are they maniacs?) over the weekend, he’s prepared to move onwards and upwards with confidence and even a little modesty.

“I hope to become our nominee, but I am not clairvoyant,” he told National Review Online.

Well, we knew that; this from the man who reckoned the Tea Party would find in him an “ideal candidate.” Smart move getting rid of that crystal ball . . .

We can also expect his campaign to place more emphasis on his own family and personal background in the coming months, he said, which will surely keep the carnival from leaving town for some time.

In his speech at CPAC Romney tried to allay concerns that he is a “Massachusetts moderate,” as Newt Gingrich is fond of calling him, by stressing his own personal development as a conservative on a path that “came from my family, my faith, and my life’s work.”

At least two of those things have, so far stood as impediments to Romney’s appeal. It should be interesting to see how he assimilates them into a narrative that will melt the hearts of his most frigid skeptics on the right.

The most memorable part of his address to CPAC was, of course, a gaffe: Romney described himself as having been a “severely conservative” governor of Massachusetts – language that raised a few eyebrows among the afflicted and gave Paul Krugman plenty of jollies in Monday’s New York Times.

So: Noodle “Mitt” Ramen wants to be our boy. He knows he’s still the man to beat, but he’s also been talking like someone who has a reasonable estimate of the weight of that crown.

We’re still presuming that Romney will be the Republican nominee ( then again, we presumed President Obama would close Guantanamo as he promised).  We wonder how wise is it for him to build up his image as an ultraconservative when that might distance moderate voters in the general election…a delicate balancing act for a robot.

Google is holding a contest to encourage students in the US and Canada to use Google Map Maker to improve the maps of their campus areas. You can add  2.5D and 3D models of building and interior floor plans. Registration started on Monday February 13 and the contest runs through March 9.

"Be a part of a university mapping contest open for US and Canadian students who currently study at a university in these two countries! From February 13, 2012 to March 9, 2012, improving the maps of your campus can give you a chance to be a local hero and the highest scoring entries will win prizes like Samsung Galaxy tablets, Samsung Android phones, Google Map Maker messenger bags, and more!

Submit your entry for a chance to win and help your university at the same time! Join together with up to three other student mappers to add high quality edits like university buildings, walking paths, public spaces, or restaurant hangouts near your campus using Google Map Maker, and your efforts could win a grand prize package worth more than $5,000 USD for your team."

Google maps and Google Earth now support Web GL, "a software library that extends the capability of the JavaScript programming language to allow it to generate interactive 3D graphics within any compatible web browser." The new interface requires Chrome 14 or Firefox 8 (beta), Windows Vista/7 or Mac OS 10.6+ or Linux and a graphics card that supports WebGL.

See the contest site for the full details.

Do you have a firm understanding of social media?

Are you interested in learning more about the entrepreneurial community?

Do you have time to intern this semester (10 to 15 hours per week) with the potential of additional semesters?

If you answered yes, please be sure to apply to the position below by this Thursday.  The position would report to the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship at UMBC and pays up to $15 per hour.

INTERESTED?  Send your resume and cover letter to Christine Routzahn, Director of Internships at The Shriver Center,  by this Thursday for consideration- routzahn@umbc.edu

Intern Duties Include:

Identify, monitor, and follow interesting innovation/entrepreneurship blogs, groups, postings, (e.g. GBTC, college developers; education hackathon, etc), and link these activities/events/groups to relevant on-campus audiences.

Attend multiple meet-ups/events throughout the year to connect the UMBC student community to the innovation community; potentially host one or more activities on campus to excite collaboration.

Write/post/blog about the opportunities/challenges of connecting students to innovation community in Baltimore.

Map and understand the student entrepreneurship community

Romans 8:14-16 (NIV)

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

1 John 3:1 (NIV)

¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Reflection

A young mother can hear her son’s cry amongst the cries of all other babies.  A father can immediately pick out his daughter’s face in a school class picture.  Parents know their children – their voices and faces.  That is the same with our Heavenly Father who knows us, His children.  When we opened our hearts to Christ, the Holy Spirit came upon us and brought about our adoption as God’s children.  How good it is to be chosen and adopted.  Because the Spirit has entered into our lives, the Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are now God’s children.  No longer enslaved to sin or fear but we are now called sons and daughters of God.  As His dearly loved children, we also know the Father.  We can recognize the Spirit, hear the Father’s voice, and call out to Him.

Response

In response to the great love the Father has lavished on us, let’s pray and listen to the Father’s voice and pay attention to the Spirit’s leading.  As we pray, let’s surrender to the Spirit’s leading and stop listening to the distracting voices of fear or doubt.  May the Spirit testify over and over that we truly are the children of God.