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His story has been told on TV news and in the Boston and New York newspapers.
Mike Welsch just wants his story to be told to give hope to other amputees. There's still life to be lived following the loss of a limb.
His story has been told on TV news and in the Boston and New York newspapers.
Mike Welsch just wants his story to be told to give hope to other amputees. There's still life to be lived following the loss of a limb.
He brought his dedication and determination most recently to Boxford and the Rick Cashin Call to Honor Triathlon, held on Sept. 8 at Keith Koster Park at Stiles Pond.
"It was a really good race. I'd love to come back next year," said the Burlington resident. "I'd love to put it on the list. It's the perfect time of the season, the water's still warm, you don't need a wetsuit."
Welsch has been an amputee for more than 30 years, having lost his leg in 1980 while a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune. He hopes his story will help young people avoid the mistake that he made – climbing onto his motorcycle after having too much to drink.
"It was an alcohol-related motorcycle accident – alcohol and motorcycles do not mix, and it can be fatal. I was lucky," Welsch said.
Since then, however, he has been determined to not let the loss of his leg keep him inactive. He was able to procure a Re-Flex VSP prosthesis for his missing right leg, the first prosthesis to include a shock absorber allowing for athletic activities.
Then, no test was too big for Welsch – he ran in 10 Boston Marathons, completing nine. This past April, he was stopped at the 18-mile marker due to the bombings at the finish line.
"I hope to do one more Boston so I can have 10 completed," said Welsch. "I'm not sure I'm going to have anything left after that."
He has also taken part in the Cape Cod Triathlon, the Connecticut Lakes in New Hampshire, the eight-mile Boston Lights Swim and he has also swam around New York City on the Hudson, East and Harlem Rivers (Manhattan Marathon Swim).
"To me, it's like the most natural thing," he said. "I've been working at it for 25 years."
He credits Dr. John Harrisonburg at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in Jamaica Plain for saving his life. His good (left) leg was in a cast for six years.
"I had multiple surgeries on that and it was saved," said Welsch.
He heard about the Call to Honor Triathlon from his friend Jon Langton, a former English Channel and Manhattan Marathon Swim competitor. Langton is also a veteran who earned the Purple Heart after the Humvee he was in was destroyed in Iraq and he suffered injuries in that incident.
"I was very familiar with Stiles Pond – I swam it once this year and swam it three or four times last year. I swim from the public beach to the Boy Scout camp end," said Welsch. "I think this triathlon is awesome. It's small, it's local.
"I had a good swim, and then a great bike – it's nice countryside to ride in, just a beautiful course," he said. "I like to run on dirt rather than asphalt, but it was good. You just had to watch out for potholes. I just didn't want to finish last. I get in there and do my own race. I just want to finish and be healthy."


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T O P I C R E V I E Wmartin00srI am looking for advice on visiting Kennedy Space Center with a very large group of people — a friend om mine is going to Florida with a group of about 100 other people and she asked me what to do. I suggested she mail the people at the Visitor Complex, I thought they might be helpful, but perhaps someone here has ideas?SpaceKSCBlogCheck out this page for Group Sales. They should be able to help arrange the visit for your group.
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University News
WIU, Macomb Join Together for Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service
April 8, 2013
MACOMB, IL – The first ever Mayor's Day of Recognition for National Service will be held Tuesday, April 9 across the country to highlight the impact of AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs.
In cooperation with Western Illinois University, the Macomb community has been the recipient of work by national service members for many years through the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs' (IIRA) Peace Corps Fellows and MAPPING the Future of Your Community/AmericCorps VISTA programs.
Currently, Jean Davenport, of Macomb, serves with the Macomb Food Cooperative, and Alice Daugherty, of Macomb, serves with the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry program.
"Volunteerism is a vital part of any community development effort and Macomb is just one of the communities where we actively engage national service members and volunteers in efforts to address important community needs," said IIRA Director Chris Merret.
Volunteers from the national service programs have also been used by the city of Macomb in a variety of capacities.
"Obviously the city of Macomb and greater community have been well served by our partnership with volunteers and fellows from the AmeriCorps program," said Macomb Mayor Michael Inman. "We have a history of utilizing those folks in community development and the city attorney's office. We are grateful for the relationship."
Inman signed a proclamation Friday, April 5, marking April 9 as National Service Recognition Day in Macomb.
Nationally, more than four million AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and other volunteers have served in over 70,000 locations across the United States.
For more information about the event celebration, visit nationalservice.gov/mayorsforservice.
Posted By: WIU News (firstname.lastname@example.com)
Office of University Relations


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BUYERS turned out in force over the weekend delivering a strong pass mark to the first test of the pre-Easter season.
Agents and buyer advocates cited low interest rates and pent-up demand as some of the elements drawing buyers back into the market after two years of lacklustre results and falling prices.
Melbourne's clearance rate of 73 per cent was achieved against a bumper crop of 903 auctions. The Real Estate Institute of Victoria said 541 properties were sold on the day, while 116 were sold before auction.
Of the 246 properties that failed to sell, 145 were passed in on a vendor's bid. The results of a further 35 auctions are yet to be reported.
There were signs of strong confidence at the top end of the market when four bidders, including pollster Gary Morgan, competed for a 14-room Victorian villa at 120 Powlett Street in East Melbourne.
Mr Morgan entered the bidding late in the auction, conducted by Nelson Alexander agent Arch Staver, and secured Claverings for $5,155,000, well above its $4,375,000 reserve.
Despite its size and deep 752-square-metre parcel of land, the double-fronted villa has a modest street frontage. Obstetrician Peter Renou had owned Claverings since 1972, and ran consulting rooms from a suite of offices on the ground floor.
Mr Staver said not much had changed in the Australian economy since late last year but confidence had picked up regardless.
The property had previously been owned by the Nunn family, co-founders of the now defunct Bourke Street department store Buckley & Nunn.
Wakelin Property Advisory director Richard Wakelin said a growing trend of demolishing older houses and building anew demonstrated the rising confidence in the market.
Agent Nick Johnstone auctioned the former Brighton police station at 100 Asling Street, just behind Gardenvale railway station. It fetched a staggering $1.66 million and will be the site of a new home.
The property is on 711 square metres of Crown land, which means its purchase incurs no stamp duty.
Mr Johnstone said three bidders for the property quickly took the bidding past the $1.05 million reserve and kept on going.
Mr Johnstone said Saturday's results augured well for the season. "We had really big numbers, not just at the auctions but at the open for inspections too. There's a more positive vibe and the bidding was pretty fierce."
The cop shop's price of $2341 per square metre was beaten an hour later by the auction of 98 Asling Street, an old weatherboard house on 555 square metres.
Marketing it as a pure land sale, Biggin & Scott agent Marcus Peters never opened the house for inspection. It was sold under the hammer for $1,365,000 or $2459 a square metre.
Mr Peters, who declined to confirm the price, which his vendor wished undisclosed, said people were attracted to the eclectic, neighbourly feel of "old Gardenvale", its village shops, convenient public transport and good state and private schools.
Signs of rebound in property
BUYERS turned out in force over the weekend delivering a strong pass mark to the first test of the pre-Easter season.
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there is no other way. he is the reason for this.
Rex has to go with Tanny and Sanchez right behind him
start now, rex you're fired.
Yay let's restart every 4 years! That's the ticket!
No he's not, but he does need to go. His philosophy is outdated. It's not even his fault, the rules changed these last 2 years. Read Rex's book, his defense is predicated on hitting the QB and punishing the WR's. Two things you just can't do anymore. He has not adapted and therefore must go. But when you truly dig to the bottom of the festering wound that is the NY Jets and figure out what's wrong, it comes down to the players. the players are horrible. That lies directly at the feet of Mike Tannenbaum.
Tanny and rex will be gone immediately after the season. And if we cant get rid of sanchez, he will be stapled to the bench until we can cut him loose. Tonight was another step in the right direction for our franchise.
After the Jets win 4 of the last 5 games against putrid competition Rex and Tanny will boast how they figured everything out. Sanchez will get another contract extension for his "outstanding play" and we will be back to square one with another disaster season to come.
I'm kinda sick of all this Rex hate. We need to get another coach in here so we can want him fired after four years.....The "rex must go" is kind of old now....cant wait to see who we want fired next.....hopefully its someone well known....Its very entertaining playing musical coaches every 4 years....
Tanny should have far more blame coming than Rex. The Jets roster is atrocious, and Tanny has a lot more to do with it then Rex does. You can only polish a turd so much.
Rex gets a lot of heat because he's a windbag and doesn't say the things fans want to hear, but to say he's the sole reason for the Jets woes is way off, in my opinion. Is he the greatest coach in the NFL? Far from it, he's proven he's plenty capable with a good roster though, and right now, we are far, far from a good roster.
consistency. the teams that win in this league most frequently do so through consistency.
but yeah, let's blow it up.
Where did all of that consistency with Cowher get the Steelers? Nowhere...until Roethlisberger entered the picture.
Where did all of that consistency with Andy Reid get the Eagles? Nowhere. He's getting sh*t canned at the end of the season. After 15 years without a championship.
Here comes another 1-15 season if there is a new coach next year.
Stephen Hill gets open, that is the bright spot, the dim spot is his hands. But perhaps he can get better and we can get a real NFL caliber QB to get him the ball. I saw some patterns where the kid was abusing the DBs.


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The National Health Action Party
OK, I'm back. The reason? It's because I want to give a plug to the National Health Action Party. If you've never heard of them, quite honestly I'm not surprised. They are new. They have been set up by a small clique of people concerned about the way things are going with our NHS. "Clique" sounds a bit pejorative. It's not meant to be. The people at the top are very committed and their concern is for our NHS.
Despite their youth and not really being ready for an election, the National Health Action Party were the first to announce their candidate for the Eastleigh by-election. Unsurprisingly, this failed to get a mention on the BBC. Even the redoubtable Jon Snow didn't seem to know. Which shows that modern journalists don't find things out any more, they wait to be told.
So I'm now telling you all direct: The National Health Action Party is up and running and has an excellent candidate for the Eastleigh by-election. His name is Dr Iain Maclennan. It's remarkable that such a brilliant local candidate has been found so quickly. Dr Maclennan lives in the borough in Bursledon. He was a GP for some years and more recently a consultant in public health with the local Hampshire Primary Care Trust. For ten years he was a medical officer in the Royal Navy.
In brief the National Health Action Party could not have found a better candidate. If you live in Eastleigh he deserves your support. If you don't live in Eastleigh the National Health Action Party deserves your support. If you are a journalist, we need your support. Please at least give Dr Maclennan a mention - even though I've been a bit rude about journalists!


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A World of Saints and Gangsters
Kill All Your Darlings: Pieces 1990–2005
In his essay on Walker Evans, one of twenty-five essays and reviews included in his new collection Kill All Your Darlings, Luc Sante quotes the photographer's third-person self-description—"Evans was, and is, interested in what any present time will look like as the past"—and goes on to note: "Wherever he went, Evans thought of himself, consciously or not, as documenting Pompeii just before the volcano blew."
Pompeii, as it happens, has already made an appearance in Luc Sante's book, in an extraordinary piece ("The Ruins of New York") originally written to accompany reproductions of the frescoes that Francesco Clemente painted on the walls of the subsequently demolished New York club the Palladium. Imagining a volcano erupting in Upper New York Bay in late 1985, Sante proceeds to a description of the life preserved in its hardened lava as it appears to the eyes of a twenty-fifth-century archaeologist:
We see thieves holding guns to the heads of grocery-store proprietors, prostitutes leaving grimy hotel rooms bearing the wallets of drunken clients, policemen in uniform clutching envelopes filled with cash in the hallways of ghetto drug dens. We see sex slaves in leather harnesses cowering in expensively appointed dungeons, clergymen of high rank sharing drugs with naked schoolchildren in the crypts of great churches, fresh corpses rolled up in carpets in the trunks of limousines arrested in flight on the peripheral roadways. Everywhere we dig, it seems, we find exchanges of money, sex, drugs, and death.
This bit of miniaturized social epic—lurid but hardly exaggerated, the material for a thousand-page novel by Hugo or Dreiser folded neatly but completely into less than a paragraph—exemplifies the density of Sante's own excavation of ruins both past and future.
In "The Ruins of New York" he enlists the resources of a brilliant comic imagination in order to realize the impossible gesture of stopping time and walking around in a frozen moment. The lava-encrusted city becomes a museum in which everything can be contemplated just as it is, and for as long as the scientist from the future may desire. The frozen moment itself contains other, earlier moments—the interior of "an enormous billiard parlor favored by old men who carried knives in their socks," the ruins of a classic German restaurant "fallen out of favor when Gemütlichkeit passed into obloquy"—until the proliferation of alternate realities, gone worlds nested in other gone worlds, encourages a mood of exhilarating freedom, a mood suggested in the first place by the freedom of the form in which Sante has cast the piece.
The Palladium as Pompeii: the game is appealing precisely because it's been conceived in such an idiosyncratic spirit, the author amusing himself even in the absence of any reader. Yet it's executed with such cartographic exactness that if you were anywhere near that place or time you could measure your distance from his position. The reader's phantom city is superimposed on Sante's until there is an impression of sleepwalkers exiled from history passing each other in parallel corridors,…
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I kind of have mixed feelings. Couldn't we say that of anything - china, towels, duvet, flatwear - that people should just save up and buy their own instead of registering so other people can buy it? Not that I particularly like the car registry idea but there are plenty of people who never get to register for household items because they don't get married - I'd not convinced that makes the people who do register rude.
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Posts Tagged 'Muneshine'
Brand New Music Video By PBE Music Artist Lyrical Militant
Wussup fam,
We"ve got some great music business posts lined up to come out soon, but I just wanted to quickly share the brand new Lyrical Militant music video for the single "Never Give Up" – this track is a summertime banger! You can download it for FREE at LyricalMilitantMusic.com
Let us know what you think! The video was produced by Ol Roy Records, Juicebox Media and directed by Corban Bartlett.


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Show table of contents
All Cheats & Hints
Petz: My Baby Panda Cheats :
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eBay : Where "Opt-out" Means "Keep Trying" 300
<Quoted letter follows>
Dear cadrys,
Several times a month, eBay sends out valuable email communications with news, offers and special events that help you buy and sell. Unfortunately, we have noticed that an error occurred during your registration process that prevented you from receiving these communications. Many of your Notification Preference defaults were set to "no" rather than to "yes", which means that unlike other eBay members, you're not receiving these types of communications.
We'd like to resolve this problem quickly and efficiently. Therefore, on 1/8/01, we returned all your Notification Preferences to the standard default of "yes" to put you in line with the rest of the eBay community. However, we want you to choose your Notification Preferences rather than rely on our standard defaults and will therefore not include you in any communications until 1/23/01. This will provide you with some time to evaluate these choices and modify your Notification Preferences. You will, however, continue to receive certain administrative emails that are part of executing your eBay transactions.
<Quote ends>"


text: I'm trying to get the 8 images located in the div class "homeposts" id "shuffle" to shuffle randomly on page load but I can't seem to target them correctly. I've put the code into http://cssdeck.com/labs/jv2ll3jm. At the bottom of the html was a script I found from another fellow user to shuffle the divs. Any help would be much appreciated!


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Critics have suggested that Arsene Wenger's love of saving money is the main reason his Arsenal side lack quality and a big enough squad.
As we all know, Wenger has a very specific transfer policy, he brings in youth, with a look to develop and nurture his players into fine talents. And this has worked on many occasions. The likes of Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and dare we mention Ashley Cole and Robin van Persie have all been taken under the Frenchman's wing.
The quality of these players show that Wenger knows what makes a good player. We are led to believe that the Frenchman doesn't like spending money.
However, evidence suggests that Wenger has, occasionally, spent heavily on players. Santi Cazorla, Jose Antonio-Reyes, Sylvain Wiltord and many more have cost in excess of £10 million.
Although, these signings are infrequent and Arsenal fans want to see money spent on a regular basis, where investment in youth is balanced with signing top quality stars.
So, why does Wenger not spend more often? Well, when you have built a team that is rightly labelled 'The Invincibles' spending large amounts of money and bringing in proven talent shows a clear backing from the club's hierarchy.
The club will now only spend £12 to 15 million on a single player. As a professional manager who's now been trophy-less for nearly eight years it cant be a simple matter of not wanting to spend money.
If the club have decided that they are no longer going to back the manager with millions of pounds then they should come out and say it.
If you fully believe in your manager then you do what you can to make sure that there is no extra pressure on him other than football matters, not economics.
I believe that if he was to replace either Sir Alex Ferguson, Roberto Mancini or Rafael Benitez he would win silverware with the financial power that would be at his disposal.
Just imagine Manchester City with Wenger in charge, dominating football, hard working midfielders, defending and attacking in an instant and with the array of talent going forward Wenger would thrive working with these players.
If Wenger is backed heavily next season, then perhaps The Gunners can mount a serious title challenge again.
DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeFootball Writing Academy and does not represent the views of GiveMeFootball.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article. GiveMeFootball.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.
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Pelosi Floor Speech in Opposition to Latest GOP Shutdown Proposal
Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor today in opposition to the latest House Republican proposal offering to fund specific parts of government while doing nothing to end the Tea Party-led shutdown of the federal government. Below are the Leader's remarks:
"I thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding, for his leadership as well that of the distinguished Chairman of the Committee, for his leadership in supporting our natural resources in our country. Mr. Chairman, the Senate did pass the House continuing resolution on more than one occasion. And sent it back here. Except what they had on it, had accepted your number – take 'yes' for an answer. A number that ever Mr. Rogers, Chairman Rogers, our distinguished Chairman has said does not adequately support government and its purposes, helping the American people. But nonetheless, in the spirit of going to conference, they accepted your number. As do I – I've said over and over again to the Speaker on the floor of the House more than once, including this morning, that we make an explicit proposal to you. That we accept your CR number and look forward to going to conference on that number.
"So, it has been accepted. You haven't taken 'yes' for an answer. Because why? Because you wanted to undo, you wanted to undo the Affordable Care Act and that was the part of your proposal that was unacceptable. And that is exactly what we're doing right now. This isn't about the parks, they're using the parks as a pawn. This is about defunding the Affordable Care Act. On a day when millions of people are logging in to find out how they can enroll, it's really a remarkable, historic day where people can receive the values, the promise of our founders of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A healthier life. The liberty to pursue their happiness without following, and following their passion, whether it's to be in Congress, or to be a photographer, an artist, to start their own business, to be self-employed, to change jobs, the entrepreneurial spirit will be unleashed on our country. It's a great day.
"And so, here we are back on the floor the House trying to come in the back window to once again go down a path to defund the Affordable Care Act. It's not going to happen. So while we can all sing the praises of our leadership, our Chairman and our Ranking Member, on their support of parks, while cutting them off from other services of the Interior Department, that's curious. But it's not about parks. It's about the Affordable Care Act. So, I urge our colleagues to see this for what it is: it's pathetic. It's not responsible. It's beneath the dignity – I keep saying that, but we keep getting further beneath the dignity of what our responsibilities are in this House. So, let us reject this because there – this is, you know, they took hostages by shutting down the government and now they're releasing one hostage at a time. Now it's the parks, later its veterans – our veterans fought for our country, for our children, for our families, for our society. We already passed an Appropriations bill that covers our veterans in that respect, but our veterans need more than what is in the veterans bill. They depend on other services of the United States government.
"So, if we're honoring our veterans, let us do so, let us do so in a way that honors what they fought for and honors what they need beyond veterans benefits. And then they talk about the District of Columbia – I know why you probably don't want to take a vote on the District of Columbia, because I don't know how many people over there will vote to support the District of Columbia. Certainly, certainly it should be treated like any other entity. We would all be in an uproar if our states were treated the way this Congress treats the District of Columbia. But don't use them as a pawn either. This is all subterfuge. This is a waste of time. It's not going any place. Thank heavens. But what it is, is not about what they're talking about – parks, veterans, or District of Columbia – it's about the Affordable Care Act. One at a time we'll do our cherry picking, so at the end of the day we can isolate the Affordable Care Act. We're not going to let that happen. And let's just deal with our colleagues with some level of integrity as to what this is about. And that's why, as tempting, as tempting, as alluring as their comrade of opening up government may be, they're throwing us crumbs while they take the pie someplace else.
"So, I urge a 'no' vote on all three of these, what are they suspensions, suspensions. I yield back."


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The lights are on
Earlier today, we dove into the Game Informer archives and fished out the first information we ever received on StarCraft Ghost. To this day, many gamers quietly pine for Nova's adventure. While the title isn't officially canceled (just on indefinite hold), the most we're likely to see of Nova is the upcoming MOBA Heroes of the Storm.
That got us thinking about other canceled games that had a lot of potential. Which forgotten title do you lament the most? Perhaps you wistfully gaze at the Star Wars 1313 trailer. It could be one of the many canceled Fallout games. Maybe you're a devout Mega Man fan and were crushed when Capcom canceled the mashup title Mega Man Universe.
Let us know which title your heart aches for the most. Who knows, you might find kindred spirits in the comment section.
The Last Guardian. [/thread]
Don't even remind me of Star Wars 1313 ;_;
The Last Guardian.
Star Wars 1313 easily. Had the potential to be the best Star Wars game since KOTOR
Mega Man Legends 3. Never forget.
Mercenaries 3


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6 types of people who can mess up meetings (and what to do about them)
We've all been in business meetings where people really mess up the proceedings. In almost all cases, the intent behind their actions is not malicious, but the effect can be damaging or uncomfortable for everyone.
Let's look at six types of people who often misalign intent and effect to mess up a meeting.
The multi-tasker
These are people who engage in side conversations, occasionally look up and offer ideas, or use their cell phones. Assuming the positive, their intent may be to get work done, save time, or relieve stress and pressure. Instead they come across as thinking their work is more important, causing other participants to feel put down.
SEE ALSO: The importance of relationships: How chickens killed a $28,000 deal
The silent killer
These people say almost nothing. They don't readily share their ideas, and if they do, it is usually offline. Their intent may be to keep themselves safe, avoid embarrassment, or stay out of politics. The effect is that the group never gets the value they can offer.
They are quick to point out errors, and they jump to conclusions. Their intent is to get it right and to help people improve. Their effect is that they make others feel as though no mistakes are allowed. It shuts down the sharing of ideas and discourages fresh thinking.
These folks offer lots of ideas and suggestions, often completing other's sentences and leaving little room for others to contribute. Behind their intent is a creative mind at work. They relieve their own tension of ideas exploding in their heads. But they come across as thinking that their ideas come first, causing others to give up. If it's a one-person meeting, why bother?
These people share concern after concern, most often in how things relate to them. Their driving intent is to keep themselves safe. The make comments such as, "I'm already struggling and can't do any more." The effect is the group tunes them out, or the group starts thinking about their own personal concerns.
The indecisive ones
These people are quick to delay decisions, constantly seeking more data, or deferring decisions to a higher authority. Their intent may be to get it right, include everyone, and stay safe in a politicized environment. The effect is that little if any action occurs, leaving the group to wonder why they bother.
How to address these people
In all of these instances the misalignment of the intent of the people and the effect they are having on the group can derail a meeting. Misaligned intent and effect requires an intervention to interrupt it. Without the interruption the negative effects just continue. When any of the symptoms occur, take a moment to infer the positive intent behind what you hear or what someone does. Then do one of the following:
- Paraphrase the positive intent you infer. Ask them, "What I hear you saying is …is that right?"
- Ask what's behind someone's concern. Ask them,"Tell me more about what you are thinking."
Ken Cook is the co-founder of How to Who, a program on how to build strong relationships and how to build business through those relationships. Learn more at www.howtowho.com.


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Get a load of this sissies screed!
Moonbat and a half
You turn the AM on and there's Rush, or Savage, or another of the army of right-wing radio talk show hosts. You may not be listening hard, just working, driving, doing busywork or the laundry. Yet if you listen day after day, year after year, your brain will begin to change.
Words, even those heard casually and listened to incidentally, activate frames - structures of ideas that are physically realized in the brain. The more the words are heard, the more the frames are activated in the brain, and stronger their synapses get - until the frames are there permanently.
All this is normal. It is how words work. And the right-wing message machine has found a way to take advantage of it - activating, as it were, a conservative system of thought.
The problem is, those thoughts on the radio are hate city. Savage rails against what he calls "the weakening of the military" by "affirmative action," "illegal immigrants," and "Marxist politicians." What proves it? The submarine accident in the Gulf of Hormuz.
Tune in to Rush. On the one hand he's pitching "rugged individualism," "liberty," and the absolute free market against Obama's call to unity and a sense of national responsibility.
Then he's hammering the AIG bailout and its bonuses, not mentioning that it was the conservative destruction of reasonable regulation that lay behind our economic disaster.
One diatribe after another, the crucial facts left out or lied about, day after day, city after city. It has an effect.
Where are the progressives? Largely absent. Or talking issue by issue, not about general themes. We have some icons: Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert. But they only talk to us. They are not omnipresent.Hahahahahahaha!!!!!
Can President Obama overcome all this? He is by far the best communicator in politics today. But what we get of him are sound bites, an occasional major address, and a five-minute talk Saturdays on You Tube. Meanwhile, the reporting in the media is about positions on issues, not about general principles that get repeated.


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Brewer blue and Badger red, part of the lifeblood of Wisconsin sports, and part of what may be the state's greatest sports weekend....In the afternoon:
[T]he Brewers opened the National League Division Series with a thrilling 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks... with terrific pitching from Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo and a two-run homer by Prince Fielder.In the evening:
... Wisconsin gave a Big Ten football welcome to Nebraska in a blowout win, 48-17....The greatest weekend continues:
Wisconsin fans wore red. Nebraska fans wore black....
Once the game started, Wisconsin's students and fans transformed Camp Randall into a rough sea of red. There were plenty of black shirts among the 81,384 in the stands, but Nebraska fans were outnumbered and overwhelmed to the same degree that their beloved Cornhuskers were outplayed.
On Sunday, there's another doubleheader, the Green Bay Packers against the Denver Broncos at Lambeau Field at 3:15 p.m. and the Brewers against the Diamondbacks at Miller Park at 4:07 p.m.


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FREEPORT (WIFR) -- The Northwest Illinois College Fair and "Pathways to Careers Fair" will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Monday, October 29, on the second floor of Highland Community College's Student/Conference Center.
High school students and their parents will have the opportunity to explore career options as well as visit with admissions representatives from over 60 colleges. A presentation on financial aid will also take place at 7:30 p.m. downstairs in the HCC cafeteria.
According to Highland's Enrollment Outreach Specialist Karl Richards, the inclusion of a career fair with an already successful college fair allows parents and students to make more informed decisions regarding their education.
"Young people and their parents will get the most up-to-date information about job possibilities now and in the future from professionals engaged in their field," said Richards. "They can then go explore the institutions that provide training in the very same evening."
As part of the interactive event, Highland faculty from the following departments will be available to answer questions:
• Criminal Justice
• Communications & Broadcasting
• English
• Allied Health
• Life Sciences
• Physical Sciences
• Wind Technology
• Cosmetology
• Music
• Undecided
• Business/Accounting/Computer Science
For more information on the "Pathways to Careers Fair," contact Elizabeth Frautschy at 815.599.3612. For more information on the annual Northwest Illinois College Fair, call 815.369.3129.


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TOWSON, Md. — Police in Baltimore County are asking for the public's help in identifying a man found dead in the Black River in 2011.
Police say the man's body was found Sept. 8 in the Black River under the Interstate 695 Bridge. There were no signs of foul play, and police say the body had been in the water for a significant amount of time.
Police say detectives have been unable to identify the victim through DNA or fingerprints. They say the victim is likely between the age of 40 and 60 and believed to be from the Dundalk area.
The cause of death is undetermined.


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Qmark QFG Electric Fan Wall Space Heater - QFG1512IFM
- 275 Watts-750 Watts-1125 Watts-1500 Watts - 120 Volt - No Back Box
Product ID • QFG1512IFM00
Qmark QFG1512IFM 120 Volts electric space heater is suitable for use in almost any room. Qmark QFG Electric Wall Heaters are efficient and do not take up any floor space as they are installed in the wall and use a wishper quiet fan to move air around the room. Use single wall heaters in smaller rooms such as bedrooms and bathrooms.
Use multiple QFG1512IFM Qmark Electric Heaters (controlled by a single thermostat or multiple thermostats) in larger rooms such as living rooms and family rooms. Wattage should be determined through heat loss calculations.
Patented Clip-N-Fit feature (US Patented No. 6,172,343) allows the installer to change the wattage of the heater to a lower output without moving jumper wire. Each QFG electric wall heater is factory wired for its maximum wattage. To change wattage, clip out either jumper 1 or 2 as shown in the installation manual for desired wattage. This patented Clip-N-Fit feature also prevents the operator to change wattage after installation to a higher wattage.
Manuals & Docs
Technical Specs
Qmark QFG Electric Fan Wall Space Heater QFG1512IFM Techs and Specs
- Voltage
- 120 Volts
- 1st Wattage Setting
- 275 Watts 2.1 Amps
- 2nd Wattage Setting
- 750 Watts 6.3 Amps
- 3rd Wattage Setting
- 1125 Watts 9.14 Amps
- 4th Wattage Setting
- 1500 Watts 12.5 Amps
- Width
- 14-3/8 inches
- Height
- 6-5/8 inches
- Depth
- 4 3/8 inches
- Grill
- width 16-7/8 inches
- Height
- 7-3/4 inches
- Depth
- 3/4 inches
Qmark QFG Electric Fan Wall Space Heater QFG1512IFM Features
- Dual Protection Thermal cutout with indicator light and one time thermal fuse
- Tangential blower for whisper quiet operation
- Open coil element assures quick heat and low maintenance
- White baked enamel finish
- Hard wired
- Open coil element assures quick heat and low maintenance
- Three piece construction for ease of installation
- Permanently lubricated, dust protected bearings
- Built-In Thermostat
Info & Links


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Mendocino College Staff Open their Hearts and Wallets
During a Retirement Celebration at Mendocino College, staff opened their hearts and wallets to a student in need.
In the early evening hours of May 8, the Management/ Supervisory/Confidential employee group was busy honoring five retirees for their dedicated service to Mendocino College. One of the retirees, Financial Aid Director Jacque Bradley, was recounting her journey at Mendocino College and put out a plea to those in attendance to help a student in need.
The day before, Bradley received a call from MC student DeeAnn Howard, a single mother of two young children enrolled in the college's nursing program. Howard explained to Bradley that she had been accepted into Sonoma State University's Collaborative Nursing Education Continuum Model (CNECM) course for the summer session. The cost was $1400.00, and she had called Bradley to ask if there was any type of financial aid to pay for the course.
Bradley put out a plea to her fellow retirees and guests about helping this hardworking, high achieving and deserving student. Within 5 minutes of making the request, over $800 was donated by the college staff! The College Foundation offered to match all staff donations to ensure that Howard would receive the much needed $1400.
Currently, DeeAnn Howard is completing her first year in the Nursing Program at Mendocino College with highest honors and an overall 3.7 grade point average. The CNECM course at Sonoma State is an "early start" to the streamlined Post-Licensure BSN Program Track that eliminates overlaps and clearly identifies degree requirements at SSU and partner Community Colleges. This course allows students to enroll in BSN courses at Sonoma State University while they are enrolled in their nursing program at their community college. Howard is off to SSU this summer and will be back at Mendocino College in the fall to complete her final year of the Nursing Program. She continues moving forward to reach her ultimate goal of becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner. Everyone at Mendocino College is cheering her on toward continued success.
# # #


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1 vehicle matchedNow showing page 1 of 1. 15 results per page.
With Monterey and Laguna Sema as the backdrop, the second Nitro Revival provides a heavenly experience for vintage drag racers and their fans
Pick of the Day is a 'future classic' that could be transformed into a drifting machine
The story below was submitted as part of the Collecting Cars, Collecting Memories contest
Buyers can take home more than just cars at Icons & Legends of Hollywood sale
2017 Ford GT, two Corvette collections help spark 24 percent sales boost
Custom-bodied post-war versions of the iconic French car will be celebrated during the famed Monterey showcase
The Pick of the Day is the four-seater version of the Isetta microcar, still with the full-width door up front
In other museum news, Hailwood bikes at Ducati and Brickyard cars exercised at the Simeone
Italian sports and racing car company boasts of its participation on historic racing circuit


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Which of the following is the greatest All-Rounder if captaincy were to be considered.
WW Armstrong
R. Benaud
A. Border
T. Goddard
WG Grace
T. Greig
W. Hammond
R. Illingworth
Imran Khan
G. Sobers
S. Waugh
Other - please specify
Which of the following is the greatest All-Rounder if captaincy were to be considered.
Khan..........Imran Khan
Be VERY AFRIDI!!
Almost has to be Imran doesn't it?
"I am very happy and it will allow me to have lot more rice."
Eoin Morgan on being given a rice cooker for being Man of the Match in a Dhaka Premier Division game.
In ODIs does anyone get near MS Dhoni in that aspect?
Member of the Sanga fan club. (Ugh! it took me so long to become a real fan of his)
Bats well, bowls well captains well. Has to be Imran I guess. Armstrong is a very underrated candidate IMO.
"I will go down as Darren Sammy, the one who always smiles" - Darren Sammy
lol at the results. 10 for Imran, none for anyone else.
Think captaining Pakistan so successfully derserves infinite kudos, tbh.
Cricket Web's current Premier League Tipping Champion
- As featured in The Independent.
"Like queuing at the post office, or a cardboard cup of weak milky tea there is a quality of slightly clichéd but still beautifully reassuring Englishness about watching Cook bat"
- Barney Ronay
Seeing the current state of Pakistani cricket makes you appreciate that even more.
-My beliefs summarized in words much more eloquent than I could come up with
How the Universe came from nothing
Sad to see Both omitted from the poll, had to vote for Richie on the grounds that Imran plainly doesn't deserve a 12-nil lead, fine player for my county though he may have been (on those occasions when he deigned to turn up)
Armstrong. Aussie cricket then was as dysfunctional as Pakistani cricket in Imran's time. Armstrong averaged near forty with the bat pre-WW1, and was a very effective leg spinner as well. Plus he had an 80% winning record as captain and drew the other 20%. He never lost a test as skipper and should have captained a lot more but was constantly fighting with the fairly incompetent board of control who hated him. Led one of only two Ashes whitewashes as well.
GOOD OLD COLLINGWOOD - PREMIERS IN 2010Originally Posted by Irfan
Is Cam White, Is Good.
Though I suppose only captaincy counts, not coaching, selecting, driving the team bus, cooking dinner, parenting Southee and Williamson, dragging Ryder to hospital for stomach pumping, making the team lunch, splitting the firewood, fixing the car, building the shed, cleaning the gutters, making the drinks, rolling the pitch, being the psychologist, being the nutritionist, helping the players with their homework, running NZC, running a top secret spy network, lollin' at Aamer, buying Greatbatch pies and tolerating the rest of the country.
And after he does all that Shakib still gives him liquid soap in the showers.
Keith Miller played in the VFL as well. Bloody freaks.
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The independent nation of Paraguay was inaugurated in 1811, under the steady, subtly powerful, earthy sign of Taurus. There are many innate contradictions in this quietly forceful national horoscope which reflect inner tensions and conflicts between a fundamental earthiness and conservative love of the land and tradition, and a progressive, forward-looking spirit which strives toward social and intellectual freedom.
Over the next few years, Uranus, moving through Aquarius, passes over the nation's Sun, activating Paraguay's revolutionary spirit and challenging many entrenched attitudes from the past. Meanwhile, Pluto, moving through Sagittarius, passes over three important planets in this natal horoscope which are related to the style of government and the nation's image in the outer world, suggesting that major changes are on the way which may result in a more open, democratic style and some radical shifts in political and economic policy.
This time is likely to prove exciting, sometimes unstable, and ultimately highly positive for Paraguay as she moves slowly but surely toward an integration of the disparate elements in the national chart, promising a future which honours the earthy base on which the country is built but also encompasses a greater transparency and equality on all levels of society. Whether or not you are personally in accord with these changes, they describe a major shift which aligns Paraguay more closely with the global Aquarian ideals of the future.
Liz Greene, 1999
(Data used: 15 May 1811, 00.00 am LMT, Asuncion)


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If she was going to replace the bag for you the logical action would have been to scan the one in her hand, let you finish your transaction while she went off and got the replacement. That way the cashier could go on to the next customer while you just waited for your veggies you already paid for.
To me it sounds like she probably thought you didn't want the bag of veggies at all. Did you specify you wanted a replacement? If not, I doubt she would have realized you wanted her to come back with one. So I think you handled it best in moving on rather than holding up the line.
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Reservation Casinos Post High Gains in 2011
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A report says Indian casinos posted higher revenue in 2011 despite a weak economy. The study, "Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report," released Wednesday, says that revenue rose 3 percent, to $27.4 billion. Indian casinos account for about 43 percent of total casino gambling revenue, just slightly less than 45 percent for commercial casinos.
Race track casinos account for the rest. Indian gambling was slowing before the start of the recession in late 2007 due to legislation, regulations and court decisions. Alan Meister, the industry report's author, says restrictions include the types of games offered by Indian casinos, the states where gambling is permitted and other limits.
The report says the outlook for Indian gambling looks healthy because the economy is expected to continue improving, restoring consumer spending. In addition, many tribes are upgrading, expanding and replacing casinos.


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Latest Features
Szczechura, Segal Recalled to Tampa
The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled right wing Brandon Segal and prospect center Paul Szczechura from the Norfolk Admirals, it was announced today by Lightning Executive Vice President and General Manager Brian Lawton. This is Segal's first career NHL call-up.
Segal, 6-foot-2, 214-pounds, has appeared in 52 games with the Admirals this season. His 21 goals and 41 points both rank second on the club. Those marks are also AHL career highs for the sixth-year professional. This season, Segal also has a +1 rating, 70 penalty minutes, four power play goals, one shorthanded goal and two game-winning goals with the Admirals this season.
A native of North Delta, British Columbia, Segal is a veteran of 387 American Hockey League games between Norfolk, Portland and Milwaukee. He has 89 goals and 77 assists with 448 penalty minutes in those games. Segal has played in 41 career Calder Cup Playoff games with five goals and eight points. He helped the Milwaukee Admirals win the 2004 Calder Cup and also helped them to reach the 2006 Calder Cup Finals.
Segal, 25, was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the fourth-round, 102nd overall, of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He was acquired by the Tampa Bay Lightning from the Anaheim Ducks on February 26, 2008. He played 242 career games in the Western Hockey League with the Calgary Hitmen, scoring 108 goals and 198 points with 358 penalty minutes.
Szczechura, 5-foot-11, 190-pounds, has appeared in 33 games for Norfolk this season, scoring 13 goals and adding 16 assists for 29 points. His +8 plus/minus rating leads the team. Szczechura appeared in his 100th career American Hockey League contest on Sunday at Albany.
This will be Szczechura's second stint in the NHL this season. Szczechura made his NHL debut on December 2 with the Lightning in Philadelphia. He has played 18 games with Tampa Bay this season, scoring two goals and two assists with six penalty minutes. Szczechura, 23, signed a two-year deal with the Lightning on April 24.
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Hello WD,
This is a Chinese domain Registrar, we are pretty new on WebDeveloper.
To show our sincerity to join your community, here we wanna share a bit information about China.
Have a beautiful weekend!
"On July 17th, 2013, China Internet Network Information Center(CNNIC) released the 32nd Statistical Report on China Internet Development ("the Report"). The Report shows that by the end of June 2013, Chinese netizens reached 591 million, with the Internet penetration being 44.1%. During the first half of this year, mobile phones as the Internet terminals made an eye-catching play, because it not only became an important source of new netizens but also performed well in such network applications as instant messaging and e-business. Chinese Netizen Growth Entered into a Steady State, Mobile Phones Became No. 1 Source of New Netizens.
The Report shows that by the end of June 2013, the number of netizens in China has reached 591 million, increasing by 26.56 million compared with the end of 2012. The Internet penetration was 44.1%, increasing by 2% compared to that at the end of 2012. Of the new Chinese netizens, up to 70.0% of them used mobile phones to surf the Internet, outnumbering those Chinese netizens who use other equipment to surf the Internet. It is worth mentioning that the Internet penetration was quite fast in the rural areas of China. Of the new netizens in the semiannual period, Chinese rural netizens accounted for 54.4%.
Meantime, the number of mobile phone netizens in China has reached 464 million by the end of June 2013, increasing by 43.79 million compared with the end of 2012. Netizens of using mobile phones rose to 78.5%. Popularity of the 3G, development of wireless networks, and innovation of mobile phone application greatly facilitated the rapid growth of Chinese mobile phone netizens.
In comparison to the end of 2012, the Chinese user scale had increased by 14.0%, 18.9%, 15.7% and 12.0% respectively in the Chinese mobile phone network music, mobile phone network video, mobile phone network game and mobile phone network literature, maintaining a high growth rate.
As an Internet application with rapid rise in recent years, the e-business application developed rapidly at the mobile phone terminal. Specifically, the Chinese netizen scale in the mobile phone online payment grew by a large margin. The Report shows that the Chinese online payment user has reached 244 million, increasing by 23.73 million in a half year, with a growth rate of 10.8%. Specifically, the number of mobile phones online payment user rose by 43.0% over the year 2012. In addition, large-scale growth was seen in the mobile phone shopping, mobile phone group purchase and mobile phone online banking."


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Lakers Beat Timberwolves 106-101
The Timberwolves rallied from down 18 points to take a 4th quarter lead but lose 106-101 Sunday night at Target Center. Kevin Love led the Wolves with 33 points and 9 rebounds and Michael Beasley added 18 points for Minnesota. Martell Webster chipped in 10 points and Brad Miller made his Timberwolves debut and had 3 points in 8 minutes for the Wolves.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 35 points and 14 rebounds. The Wolves shot just 38 percent while the Lakers shot 50 percent. Minnesota is 9-11 and will play at Houston tonight at 7:00, pregame on WJON at 6:30.


text:
- Number of children:
- 2
- Age of children:
- 3 and infant
- Relationship status:
- Married
- Parenting advice I follow:
- Always is a strong word ...
- Parenting advice I ignore:
- Just let them cry it out!
- Favorite activity with my kids:
- Snuggling
Susan Wenner Jackson
From Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Joined 19th April 2007
My Day Snapshot
Susan Wenner Jackson hasn't written a snapshot yet.
My Life To-Do List
Currently on my Life Wish List:
Go to Hawaii
Be a guest on Good Morning America
Hire a housekeeper, landscaper and personal chef!
Goals I am working on:
Running my own successful freelance writing/social media business
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Saw this linked on another site, It is a blog that covers sports, mostly Cleveland sports and they had a piece on their least favorite sports announcers/anchors.
Not even sure I could narrow it down to the top 8, but I'll try:Who are our least favorite people on sports TV today abd why do we feel the way we do. Time for the list technique.
1. Stuart Scott - The guy puts the "B" in Buffoon. Is there anything less fresh than his awful catch phrases like "hater in the house" and "cooler than the other side of the pillow?" The suits are bad, the glasses are worse. Watching Stu-ya with Emmitt Smith and Steve Young live at the Monday Night location is train wreck TV at its finest. How he has stayed on ESPN this long is a complete mystery. Sports Centers with him are unwatchable.
2. Joe Morgan - Wins the Cal Ripken award as the single most overrated sports color man in history. Count how many times he repeats himself during a game. Here is a vintage Morgan take: See, that pitch was a sliiiiiiider, because his out-pitch is a sliiiiider, so he decided now was the time to throw a sliiiiiiiider, which is his best pitch." John Miller has been carrying him for years.
3. Stephen A. Smith - Someone, anyone, please explain to me why ESPN thinks this guy is a talent. Because he talks fast? Because he says "the bottom line" a lot? Because he was once the link to Allen Iverson in Philly? The one-time Larry Brown mouth-piece has lost all credibility since his quick rise and even quicker fall at the worldwide leader. The worst show in ESPN history (next to Bonds on Bonds) has to be Quite Frankly. What a joke! Screamin A. must go.
4. Chris Berman - You have to give credit to him as being the original and longest lasting guy at ESPN. That said, talk about someone who's schtick is as tired as his Green Jacket he wears during baseball season. The schwam? Old bit. Nicknames for players? great in the late 80's and early 90's, except its 2007. Things you can count on: Death, taxes, and Chris Berman quoting Maggie Mae at the end of September and The Boys of Summer at the end of August. But mad props to the infamous "your with me, Leather" story. Stuff of legend.
5. Fred McLeod - Nationally, he isn't known, but he is the Cleveland Cavaliers TV play by play man. This is a guy who left Detroit with a reputation of being a homer. It was well deserved. You would think Lebron James is fouled on every play and never walks. He is ridiculously excitable and equally as cheesy. In the second quarter of Sunday night's Cavs/Suns game, Freddy boy watched Steve Nash travel and screamed "he shuffled the shoes!" Look up cheese-dick in the dictionary and there's a picture of him.
6. Chip Carey - The man dubbed by my brother "Cheesy Cheerleader Chip" has gladly taken advantage of a career essentially built on being the grandson of Harry and the son of Skip. His work in the AL division series was panned brilliantly by the New York Times' Richard Sandomir for his lack of knowledge and stretching of the truth. You would have though he was the Yankees announcer that series. Long before that, he was a homer for the Braves, a homer for the Cubs, and now back to being a homer for the Braves.
7. William C. Rhoden - Ok, he's not really a TV personality, but he has spent years on ESPN's the Sports Reporters. Plain and simple, the guy is a reverse racist who takes the African-American side of every story. Nobody loves bringing the race card up more than Bill. Only he could make Mike Lupica seem like a pleasure to be around.
8. Skip Bayless - ESPN did its best to phase him out, you only see him now on ESPN's first take (which has less viewers as Quite Frankly did) and First and Ten. There is nobody more outlandish and ridiculous. He is a classic local sports talk radio kind of guy. he says things just to be outrageous to see if anyone cares. Unfortunately for the Skipper, nobody does.
1. Stuart Scott. Pretty much agree, word for word with what was said about him above.
2. Johnny Miller. Man I hate this guy. He is so smug. What is most annoying is how the entire NBC golf team cowers to him.
Miller: "headed to the right isn't it Rog?"
Rog: "started out right John but it actually is going to end up four fairways over, to the left."
3. Chip Caray. Really upsets me that I wasn't able to put him first but Scott and Miller are that bad. His horrid performance has been well documented. If he were a player he would have been shipped to the minors a long time ago. He is the Pete Rose Jr. of baseball announcing. But nobody in charge has figured it out. Nepotism gets blamed. But nobody is handing the Junior Rose an A-Rod contract. How does such a bad announcer get a top gig?
4. Mike Tirico. He wants to be involved in every issue known to man but pretty much refuses to give an opinion on any of them, even though he now has a radio show. He goes out of his way to be neutral and I feel like he thinks his target audience are sports fans who just returned from 20 year journeys to Mars.
5. Gus Johnson. He screams, for the entire game. A QB doesn't drop back to pass. He DROPS BACK TO PASS, GOING DEEP, INCOMPLETE. I-an, not Ian, I-an Eagle is just about as bad. If I was forced to work with either I would just drive myself straight to jail, because I would choke both of them before the game was over.
6. Chris Berman. Agree with the comments above. I loved the nicknames and the schwam. Then I turned 14. Lost all respect for Berman when he was dropping his silly nicknames while working the US Open Golf Tournament a couple of years ago. He will be watching the Masters with Gary McCord if he goes anywhere near Augusta with that crap.
7. Tim McCarver. Not a real big fan of Joe Buck but without him it is scary to think where McCarver might go some of the time. The guy knows his baseball. He just sees a lot of things that don't actually happen. Not sure why he isn't a NBA ref.
8. Dick Vitale. Like Berman I once thought Dukie V. was the coolest thing on earth. I had all his books, videos, cityrock basketball and everything else with his name on it. Then got my license and started dating girls. Vitale would have his lights knocked out by a co worker in any other profession. He wouldn't last as a fry cook at McDonalds with his enthusiasm. Guy needs to relax. Sad thing is he isn't just passionate about hoops, it is everything. Baseball, tennis, Notre Dame football, everything.
Anyone missing?


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Yeah, but to be fair, a netbook can't really compare. An Atom's cool for low-power uses, but it's such a slow, dated design you can barely run a functioning computer off it. Even the integrated 6100 GPU on this build is better than Intel's crappy offering on there.
You have to compromise somewhere considering you get a screen, wireless, keyboard and trackpad/mouse (none of which are otherwise covered in this buildup) for that price.
Why do you need it to be fast? Most people only use a computer for browsing. If a computer was fast enough in 1990, it should theoretically be fast enough today assuming that you don't load it down with bulky and badly written OS and applications. Now if only we had programmers left who cared about efficiency...
Browsing isn't what it used to be. For many people, browsing means playing Farmville on Facebook, which will eat up a lot of CPU and memory. And no, Zinga programmers don't really care about efficiency on your computer, only on their servers.
This is honestly true - an optimized set of applications, and even a real low power chip(like the ARM ones in smartphones) is plenty for browsing and such. However, then we run into things like Flash, which sucks the life out of almost anything.
Honestly, once we get hardware-accelerated decoding of VP8 available on Linux, and a proper plugin for FF/chrome which allows it to be used with HTML5 video... then that will be less of a problem as *most* youtube videos have webm versions..
But until then... *sigh*.
If a computer was fast enough in 1990, it should theoretically be fast enough today
For home users, I see little overlap between what computers were used for in 1990 vs now. Most people who own a home computer now did not even own one then - adoption was about 15% [nsf.gov] at the time.
Even since 2000, although Internet was catching on, the main application of the Internet - video [video-commerce.org] - had barely started catching on.
Just a few days ago, there was an HP desktop on woot.com for $299. 3Ghz AMD II 64-bit, 4gb ram, 1tb HDD, Windows 7, and Optical drive. There is really no reason to make big sacrifices to save a few dollars.
...And for $700 you can build a top-of-the-line, amd-based gaming machine off Newegg that will run just about everything you throw at it. But that, like your couple of builds, are *still* way above what was managed with the $200 machine.
$299 according to their web site.
Or you can get a bottom-end eMachines dual core 15.4" laptop for $230. It ain't fancy but, unlike the article's $200 desktop, it includes monitor, optical drive, input devices, and even a UPS. And it comes with an operating system that will have support for or be supported by whatever peripherals or software the user wants to add without having to call their weird nephew for help.
but omitting an optical drive in a full-size desktop computer build seems something like cheating.
It's 2011, dammit, why do people still use optical drives?
What is this "Audio CD" you speak of? Is it like an Audi TT?
It's what recordings that aren't available in the iTunes store come on.
So it's where the Pirate Bay stores its torrents?
My optical drive broke down about 3 years ago. I've never had to replace it. So I agree, for some, it might not be needed at all.
I've used a 3.5" floppy drive more recently than I've used an optical drive.
Slow Down Cowboy!
Slashdot requires you to wait between each successful posting of a comment to allow everyone a fair chance at posting a comment.
It's been 6 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
Dear Slashdot Janitors,
Is there a reason why you make it so unpleasant and troublesome to contribute to your site?
You must be rather young. You obviously don't remember the good old days, back when this site first started and was overrun with spam and trolls.
My optical drive broke down about 3 years ago. I've never had to replace it. So I agree, for some, it might not be needed at all.
Then you're not a gamer. Not every game is available on Steam.
Because the people that put out content for the computer ship on them. A cheap 4G mem stick is ~$4, to press 4.7G DVD costs them pennies. Until there is a useful way to allow customers to DL onto their own memory sticks, optical will stick around.
People also have boxes of CDs and DVDs. You don't need a burner but you definitely need a reader.
Local backup is useful, especially for data you don't care to publish or have anyone overwrite. Fiscal data and GPG keys, for example, can be usefully stored on permanent media.
but omitting an optical drive in a full-size desktop computer build seems something like cheating.
It's 2011, dammit, why do people still use optical drives?
Because they want to.
I can unequivocally say no. We sell a lot of little desktop computers without an optical drive. They come with Ubuntu usually and maybe 1/3 of our customer base gets one. They are extra. The minimal configured systems are without keyboard, mouse, monitor or optical drive and run $249. People are not renting DVDs any longer and most have never watched a DVD on the computer in the first place. Some areas have a higher than usual younger user base (Portland) and there is more demand for an optical drive (or at
I would not mind having more external optical readers. But I've found that most of them are junk. Expensive, loud, and hot compared to internal drives. But if you do have a nice external drive then you don't need on one your new computer.
The drive is not there for movies or music, but for archived backup disks you created in the past, old applications, old games, etc.
Even MS supports creating a boot-able USB drive with Windows 7 on it!
Somehow, I had missed that little bit of "trivia". I have to say, "About time!" I remember my early days with Windows, trying to work around a bad CD-rom in some cases, or a scratched up CD in others. And, trying to get someone's driver installed by way of the floppy drive which was often full of lint and dust. Yes, it's about time that MS actually SUPPORTS a boot-able USB. Take all my headaches, multiplied by all the people worldwide who had to work around that limitation, and you most certainly have
MS may support it, but I burned myself a DVD anyways. Sometimes you really do need something to be on a WORM disc, I'd hate to think what would happen if I forgot what was on the disc and reformatted it.
That being said, we've hit the point where it's sufficient to have on external optical driver per household.
Not including the optical drive seems like future proofing to me
"Optical drive"? Is that the slidey thing you put those sort of shaving mirror thingies into? I remember we used to use something like that in the olden days.
"Optical drive"? Is that the slidey thing you put those sort of shaving mirror thingies into? I remember we used to use something like that in the olden days.
It's the slide out thingie that you set your coffee mug on.
It's 2011, dammit, why do people still use optical drives?
Possibly because, just because it's 2011 doesn't mean all past cds/dvds are magically converted into usbs.
Dammit archaeologists, it's 2011! Why are you still reading clay tablets!
Because I have close to 100 CDs and 30 DVDs. Yeah, I'm old school. Ripping them onto my hard drive would take up too much space.
Only 30 DVDs? That's not going to take much space at all. Certainly not much at all by modern HDD standards.
Even the drives that come in cheap low profile machines (nettops) are probably large enough to accomodate all of that.
30BD's would be another matter though.
But the point isn't the space, but that you have the disks for archive. They're cheaper and more reliable for archive purposes than a hard drive.
With all of the features, each DVD would be 3-4 gigabytes, so 30 would be 90-120 gigabytes. That would be quite a bit of my Linux partition.
I don't have an optical drive in my desktop. When I want to burn a CD to playon my Sega Saturn I have to boot up an old P3 box. That's about all I use it for.
I've got 1 USB DVD burner that I swap between computers as needed. I don't use it a whole lot, but sometimes it's nice to have a CDROM or DVD for moving files around or short term back ups.
But, most of the time I use it to rip my CDs and DVDs to disk.
> It's 2011, dammit, why do people still use optical drives?
Because the lightning fast internet connection that (I'm assuming) you have isn't available in every household on the planet.
It's hard to feel 2011 when you have a 1997 internet connection at home.
"omitting an optical drive in a full-size desktop computer build seems something like cheating"
Optical disks? How quaint!
While I can't imagine installing an optical drive in a computer an external one is handy for software that still ships on optical media as well as ripping the occasional cd or dvd. I use my external drive less and less but I know if I didn't have it I'd have to borrow someone else's sooner or later.
Optical disks? How quaint!
You do realize people still buy software, and that it still comes on optical disks.
Not everyone has a broadband yet.
Optical discs aren't even close to dead yet.
Maybe you don't need one, that's just fine, good for you.
"You do realize people still buy software, and that it still comes on optical disks."
This is a Linux system they built, though. Shrinkwrapped software is very rare, verging on nonexistent, for that OS.
There's still other types of software: CD, DVD & BD.
Although for a "cheap" system, removing the optical drive is at least an understandable trade off versus more expensive products.
This is a Linux system they built, though. Shrinkwrapped software is very rare, verging on nonexistent, for that OS.
Good point. Frankly the whole article is a bit sketchy though... I mean... they assume you have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor already... doesn't that imply you already had a computer previously?
Doesn't that imply you had software for it? Software you might want to use on the new one? In which case going with linux was a bad move...
On the other hand... if your dismantling your old desktop to b
Doesn't that imply you had software for it? Software you might want to use on the new one? In which case going with linux was a bad move...
You are assuming the former computer was running windows, some people have been using linux exclusively for well over a decade.
Translation: "I don't have decent broadband in the backwater where I live, so I have to select the special 'ship me a CD' option and pay extra when I buy software.... [whine, whine, whine]"
I don't have any stats handy, but the percentage of software that is distributed on optical media has been plummeting in recent years. The software that isn't available for direct download is dwindling fast. Yes, I buy software, and I buy most of it online, and download it on the spot. My broadband is kinda sucky too,
I can't wait until these sorts of things are possible with commodity ARM (or other architecture) chips as well, especially for overall power consumption.
I've used my optical drive probably twice this calendar year, once to install an old game and once to install MFC printer s/w that's not available for download. For the most part I can do without one.
Probably more important than an optical drive
you're right, that IS cheating not to have those. A new usb keyboard and mouse from several place on eBay can be had for $11. But the monitor is a killer, for young eyes could squeak by with a 15 inch that sometimes is under $100, but at my age that's going to cost unless buying used or refurbished. I'm on a 23" widescreen samsung now that was $250 refurbished with warranty. but there goes a cheap computer budget.
I've bought 4 USB thumb drives over the past 5 years and so far, 2 have failed. These little bastards weren't cheap either. I've also got CDs I burned about 7 years ago that still work fine. Not ONE failure. Therefore, everything gets backed up to DVDs.
The car stereo also doesn't play MP3s (2007 model, factory stereo) so I can either A: spend about $200 on an aftermarket mp3 adapter or B: burn CDs.
Realy? I've fond hard drives to be cheap and effective.
1TB of storage is a monsterous stack of DVD's or a small hard drive. 2TB is even worse.
As far as hard drive reliability, make 2 or 3 copies. 3 2TB hard drives is pretty easy to handle, DVD's pretty darn difficult.
I don't have a blu ray drive, but I dont' see it being momumentally better.
Optical is dead, and flash drives aren't reliable.
Good point. I have already started using an HD for backups but I still back up to optical too, just in case the HD dies. It certainly is a chore to make several DVDs to back up several GB of files but at least if one or two go bad, I have more backups. If a HD goes bad, I'm screwed.
However, even more to your point, the price per GB falls every year and capacity increases. Behold HD size in rough terms:
1985: top-of-the-line HD had MAYBE 10MB. It also cost about $5000.
1995: about 8-10 GB. Cost: I honestly don
But what the hell does someone do with 100 PB? As is the case with CPU speeds, we will eventually hit a ceiling. Except in this case, the ceiling will be what is practical vs. what is possible. I can't imagine someone ever using that much HD space except for perhaps a company that never destroys old customer data.
You lack imagination then. I can easily think of someone using that much without even breaking a sweat, like e.g. many people like to keep a pristine collection of their music files as FLAC files, and those tend to take a lot of space. Similarly, many people like to keep 1:1 copies of their movies and animation and TV series, and even at 1080p those tend to eat space like crazy. And just think about it: in 2020 1080p will be really low resolution and movies will likely weigh in at about 200Gb even with reas
But what the hell does someone do with 100 PB?...
...I can't imagine someone ever using that much HD space except for perhaps a company that never destroys old customer data.
It seems to me I remember sometime along in the early 90's arguing with my wife about whether to put a 40MB HD in our new comp, or an 85MB HD. The wife couldn't imagine ever filling up 40MB, much less 85 MB.
Pretty much same argument happened a few years back, arguing over whether to put a 250GB HD in a new comp. That time, *I* was th
I built a better system (WITH A VIDEO CARD AND OPTICAL DRIVE, PCMAG) for $189 on Pricewatch.
But you forget about monitor pricing.
I had to leave newegg for a cpu to do it but here is what I did in ten minutes:
CPU ADO3800IAA5CU AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3800 2.0GHz AM2 OEM $21 + unknown shipping from a vendor called StarMicro I picked up from pricewatch.
Foxconn KS188-ISO450 Black / Silver SGCC MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply 39.99+9.99 shipping, newegg
Foxconn A76ML-K AM3 Ready / AM2+ / AM2 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $49.99 newegg, free shipping. Cheapest I could find with onboard video supported
- keyboard
- mouse
- network cable
- monitor?
- USB key to install from
- Friend to copy OS onto your USB key
- taxes (for those lucky to have them)
I think the real cheat is any budget that involves a mail-in rebate.
The article starts out about financial difficulties and then provides a price that doesn't reflect the walk home price. 3-6 weeks you might make that money back IF you are lucky that the rebate was honored.
I'm currently on a bit of a "get legit" roll when it comes to my media. All my software is acquired legally via the net so that's OK, it's just stuff like movies and music that I still require an optical drive for. Why?
1. I like my music in FLAC format. There are very few digital music stores which sell in this format. My favourite by far is http://bandcamp.com/ [bandcamp.com] but they don't have much mainstream/big-artist stuff.
2. Even if I didn't have a preference for FLAC, there aren't any legal digital music stores around which service my needs with at least a high-bitrate MP3. I don't want to use iTunes because I don't want to deal with AAC (I can convert them but I don't want a dependency on iTunes anyway). Amazon still hasn't, for whatever reason, opened an MP3 store here in Australia yet despite promising to open up to the world many years ago.
3. You can forget about any legit digital movie stores selling non-DRMed stuff either.
So what do I do? I buy music CDs and rip them to FLAC. I buy DVDs and use HandBrake to convert them, or just play them directly with VLC. Both of these cases require an optical drive, and until such a time occurs that physical sales of media are completely abolished, I will continue to do this. UNLESS... a suitable online store apears in my area which sells non-DRMed music AND video of what I want, in my preferred format. At this rate that's going to take a very long time (if ever), so I do what I can to stave off piracy.
you could of gotten a amd board with a newer ATI chipset with DVI for about $15 more and for like $30 more a AM3+ board.
It fails because you need to load an OS from somewhere, from something, so you need to include the cost of the USB stick and time/cost of downloading Linux. I didn't see the cost of HD cable either. CPU Heatsink? Minor stuff but it all adds up. 2 GB of ram? pfft. Why have a HD at all? boot from USB and use Network storage.
I've done it that way for fun but usb boot/system disk and internet storage are too dang slow.
but you don't need to worry about install media, just borrow from your local bsd or linux evangelist. I loan out cd or usb stick, and have done installs for friends and coworkers on their personal machines. wish I had some stickers of dead microsoft colored butterfly men that I could put on case of my laptop every time I kill a windows install. hmmm, that could work as a web page too....
Don't like the idea of useing a cheap PSU with a case for under $30 much less a under $30 psu.
From www.tigerdirect.com I bought one of their "kit" computers with an AMD Quad Core CPU, 2gb of Ram, a 500gb HD, a DVD r/w, and Ubuntu. I added a kb with a touchpad that I already had around the office and "viola!" a sub-200 desktop *with* optical drive. I haven't done a thing to it since... and I'm posting from it now.
Beagleboards [beagleboard.org] are 149.00USD and Pandaboards [pandaboard.org] are 179.00USD you then just need an SD card 4G or better. I run a pandaboard myself for some D-Star ham radio stuff.
I've done quite a few system builds using this AMD bundle deal that Micro Center has had going on for some time now. Every single system works flawlessly, even the ones with the Powerspec case/power supply (more business if the PSU does fail, and I haven't seen one take a motherboard out yet.)
Phenom II X2 560 Black edition: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0347369 [microcenter.com] $87.99
Biostar A780L3G AM3 760G mATX Motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351634 [microcenter.com] $FREE
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500gb SATA 6.0gbps: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0352164 [microcenter.com] $49.99
Micro Center branded 2x2gb of DDR3 1333: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0353218 [microcenter.com] $19.99
PowerSpec TX-381 Micro ATX Computer Case: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0330536 [microcenter.com] $24.99
Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500w PSU: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0295037 [microcenter.com] $37.99
Samsung 22x SATA DVD-RW drive: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0293049 [microcenter.com] $21.99
Grand Total of $255.10 after tax.
You have an overclockable dual core CPU (I wouldn't push too far with the stock heatsink and with that motherboard, but a little bump to 3.6 GHz shouldn't be an issue.), better graphics than the system in the article, twice as much system memory (4gb vs. 2gb), an optical drive, an actual decent power supply, a case with a handle on it, and I could probably go on, but i'd hope you all get the point. A whole $45 more before tax, not including the lame $8 mail in rebate for the power supply. Definitely worth every penny, and this is all something you could pick up and have together in a couple hours assuming you have a store close to you. Most would likely pay $40+ for the convenience alone. I also didn't shop around too much. Better might be possible.
You are in a maze of little twisting passages, all different.


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Camping Holidays in Holland
Parcs in Region
Holland may be flat but it's never boring! It's quirky, fun and packed with art, history, architecture, canals, shops, bars and restaurants.
Koningshof CampsiteRijnsburg , Holland
Are you after your slice of the real Holland? Look no further than this small but perfectly formed parc near Amsterdam.Read more about this parc ›
Duinrell CampsiteWassenaar , Holland
Like a giant octopus rising out of an incredible array of pools, this parc's 1km of covered waterslides will put a smile on the face of any kids.Read more about this parc ›
Beekse Bergen CampsiteHilvarenbeek , Holland
How does a holiday at a theme park sound? And close by to a great beach?Read more about this parc ›
Roompot Beach ResortKamperland , Holland
Located right on the beach Roompot Beach Resort is a bright, modern and extremely well equipped parc nestled along the Dutch coast.Read more about this parc ›


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Probably a handful of other Celeb Reds fans that don't get the run of Charlie Sheen and Nic LeShay (sp?) and their Reds interest.
I don't know any of these for sure, but might as well start with Charlie's brother & father. With Martin growing up in Dayton, if he's a baseball fan at all, you have to figure he grew up rooting for Big Klu or Wally Post.
How 'bout the girl that does the voice of Bart Simpson? or another former kettering resident Rob Loe?
And then I know I've seen a bunch of guys in rap videos sporting Cincy Reds hats. Can't tell you who they all were, but you've got to figure of few of them are fans of the team
Just digging this thread back up. Apparently Darius Rucker (country music singer, former front man for Hootie & the Blowfish) is a huge Reds fan. He's supposed to be singing the National Anthem tomorrow night.
Maybe it's a duet.
Perhaps one is doing "God Bless America"?
Darius just straightened it out:
Darius Rucker @dariusrucker
Sorry y'all. I'm actually trying to sing at game 4 for the reds. If not needed it will be the next series.
I'd much rather have Foxy Shazam sing the anthem.
"I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful
FYI: Kirk Herbstreit of college football fame is going to be at the game tomorrow night and he said he'll be at Wednesday's too if it becomes necessary. He's been tweeting a LOT about the Reds since they clinched and I think his college football fans are starting to get annoyed with him. He answers their football questions but keeps tweeting great stuff about the Reds anyway, LOL
"I tried to play golf, but I found out I wasn't very good." -Joey Votto on his offseason hobby search
An MLB.com reporter asked what one thing Votto couldnt do. I cant skate or play hockey, Votto said. Well, I can skate ... but I cant stop.
Get MLBtraderumors Reds updates on Facebook.
I can't be the only one that would prefer the UC Marching Band or something to a parade of D-list singers.
Granted I'm not going to spend much time complaining about the singer of the national anthem at a REDS HOME PLAYOFF GAME.
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text:
Addressing Gender-Based Violence Through PEPFAR Programs
December 9, 2011
Daniela Ligiero of the State Department, Sasha Mital of the CDC, and Diana Prieto of USAID, who are co-chairs of the PEPFAR Gender Technical Working Group, write about the "intersection between gender-based violence (GBV) and its impact on HIV risk and access to HIV prevention and treatment for most-at-risk populations (MARPs)" in this post on the State Department's "DipNote" blog. They conclude, "While more programs, policies and science are still needed to address GBV in MARPs, momentum is building to fill existing gaps. By capitalizing on PEPFAR's existing platforms, proven interventions for HIV prevention among MARPs, and the range of partners supporting this work, we can continue to make progress that will bring us closer to the goal of an AIDS-free generation" (12/8).
Back to other news for December 2011
This information was reprinted from kff.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up for email delivery. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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A screen grab from Sysomos.
A comparison of the major monitoring & engagement services: Radian6, Lithium, Attensity360 & 17 more
Target audience: Brands, corporations, mid-size to large businesses. See Socialbrite's series on social media monitoring:
• Guide to monitoring social media conversations
• 20 free, awesome social media monitoring tools
• 10 paid social media monitoring services for nonprofits
By J.D. Lasica and Kim Bale
The online landscape is saturated with more than 200 tools and platforms claiming to be able to help you track and assess mentions of your business or brand in social media channels. While there remains a lot of churn in the field, a number of listening platforms have evolved to help you go beyond basic monitoring into an integrated approach that helps inform multiple parts of your business: product development, customer support, public outreach, lead generation, market research and campaign measurement.
Born as a way to respond to crises and manage brand reputation, social media monitoring, or brand monitoring — which ties into social media measurement and analysis — is finally maturing into a business process that helps the bottom line.
A comparison of pricing, features & clients you rarely see on the open Web.Today we'll turn the tables on these companies and offer some business intelligence that you rarely see available on the open Web: a comparison of social media monitoring vendors, with descriptions of their strengths, clients and pricing. Many offer end-to-end solutions, providing not just tracking capabilities but a rich set of analytics and response tools to help you grow your business and engage with individuals who influence broad swaths of the market.
Social media monitoring vendors come in all shapes and flavors. Some cater to small business with modest budgets that want to handle monitoring analysis internally. Others service global corporations that want access to expert analysts as well as a robust suite of social tools that plug into business processes. So this roundup is admittedly mixing apples and oranges. (See our discussion of social CRM below.)
To draw some distinctions, we've broken this package into two groupings:
• 20+ social media monitoring & engagement vendors for business (below)
• 10 lower-priced monitoring services for nonprofits & organizations (on our sister site, Sociabrite.org)
Monitoring should plug into your business processes
Companies that will succeed in the 21st century will be social businesses, committed to forging deep and meaningful relationships with their customers. So use the new year as a fresh impetus to create a Social Media Plan (Socialmedia.biz can help with that), begin monitoring and consider evaluating an outside vendor by signing up for a free trial.
Keep in mind: Listening to conversations and gathering data is only one phase of a multi-step process that also involves engagement, metrics and acting on what you learn. As Jeff Nolan writes, "In its most pure form, social media monitoring is both listening and responding to social channels."
Here is our guide to the Top 20 Social Media Monitoring Vendors for Business. Have your own favorites? Please add them in the comments below! And if you have any corrections or updates to the information here, please share that as well.
Radian6/Salesforce Cloud: A proven solution for big brands
1Radian 6, purchased by Salesforce in 2011, works with brands to help them listen more intelligently to your consumers, competitors and influencers with the goal of growing your business via detailed, real-time insights. Beyond their monitoring dashboard, which tracks mentions on more than 100 million social media sites, they offer an engagement console that allows you to coordinate your internal responses to external activity by immediately updating your blog and Twitter and Facebook accounts all in one spot. Fully automated. Cost: The dashboard starts at $600/month, though registered nonprofits can apply for two free uses per year under the company's Giving Back program. They also offer free trials to students and educators for research and project purposes. Radian6 uses a monthly subscription based pricing model, with the monthly fee varying depending on the number of topics monitored each month. Clients: Red Cross, Adobe, AAA, Cirque du Soleil, H&R Block, March of Dimes, Microsoft, Pepsi, Southwest Airlines — a wide range of clients. Owner: Independent. Also: See our interview with the CEO of Radian6.
Collective Intellect: Social media intelligence gathering
2Boulder, Colo.-based Collective Intellect, which started out by providing monitoring to financial firms, has evolved into a top-tier player in the marketplace of social media intelligence gathering. Using a combination of self-serve client dashboards and human analysis, Collective Intellect offers a robust monitoring and measurement tool suited to mid-size to large companies with its Social CRM Insights platform. It applies spam management techniques and text analysis to clean data sets, delivering customers rich intelligence.Cost: Pricing starts at $300/month and scales based on specific client needs, according to published reports. Clients: General Mills, NBC Universal, Pepsi, Walmart, Unilever, Advertising Age, CBS, Dole, MTV Networks, MillerCoors, Paramount, Verizon Wireless, Viacom, Hasbro, Siemens. Owner: Independent.
Lithium: Adjust your campaign on the fly
3Lithium monitors your search-specific mentions and sentiment in social media outlets and outputs them into easy-to-read graphs and numbers resembling the stock market. Lithium will aggregate information from a variety of platforms including blog posts and comments, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and many others, and it'll assess emotions surrounding your brand pre-, mid- and post campaign so you can adjust your strategies accordingly. We miss ScoutLabs, which is now part of Lithium. Cost: Base plan of $249/month for five users and five searches. Free 14-day trial. Clients: Best Buy, BT, Barnes & Noble, FICO, Disney Online, Stubhub, Motorola, Coca Cola, Focus Features, Netflix. Owner: Independent. Lithium bought ScoutLabs in May 2010.
Sysomos: Manage conversations in real time
4Sysomos's Heartbeat is a real-time monitoring and measurement tool that provides constantly updated snapshots of social media conversations delivered using a variety of user-friendly graphics. Heartbeat organizes conversations, manages workflow, facilitates collaboration and provides ways to engage with key influencers. For more, see ReadWrite review. Sysomos also offers a Media Analysis Platform. Cost: Entry-level price of $500/month. Clients: IBM, HSBC, Roche, Ketchum, Sony Ericsson, Philips, ConAgra, Edelman, Shell Oil, Nokia, Sapient, Citi, Interbrand. Owner: Marketwire. Continue reading


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SANA Gafixx Matsuge Gatch-ly Mascara – and I won't be saying that again – is SANA's newest mascara release.
Whenever SANA releases a mascara you better hide yo' kids, because their mascaras are so damn funky!
I love SANA Big Lash mascara – it holds curl – but my god, it's impossible to remove without the aid of scissors.
So how will SANA Gafixx compare?
At the moment the whole 'ruffle' lash thing is in with Japanese mascaras; long, fluttery, soft. SANA Gafixx also has that 'flared silhouette' thing going on.
In true SANA fashion the packaging is nothing special…
A black tube with lumo green writing. I like it though, it's kinda not too up itself. Some mascara tubes are so fancy I feel immense guilt throwing them away.
The brush is insteresting, with short, dense bristles and one end straight, the other is slightly fanned. If you look from the top, it has a slightly squaring shape. Technically you can apply with one side (the flat) and brush out with the fanned out side.
The mascara is slightly dry in texture and very fibery.
My lashes bare. It had been a long night my eyes do not look appealing here, sorry.
The brush is ok. It's not too big although I prefer comb mascara at the moment. The fibers probably require this kind of dense brush though.
One coat:
Yep, as you can see it really lengthens the lashes. It also completely holds curl.
This mascara is great, it does 2 amazing things here in terms of adding length and holding curl but it is certainly not perfect for a few reasons.
1) The fibers get in your eye. Throughout the day I found myself picking at my eye because I could feel something in it. Only when I wear this mascara!
2) It's 'bitty'. As you can see from the pictures it's a dry feeling and dry looking mascara, and therefore looks quite crumbly close up.
3) It's not a nice mascara to layer – with one coat we are ok, with 2 we get this lumpy mess:
Not nice! On the other hand as with most Japanese mascaras, it is sweat proof, water proof and lasts all day. It's a nice true black and it's actually quite easy to remove with standard make up remover.
Everytime I use this I am impressed by the dramatic effect but the formula could be improved because it is so 'bitty'. I used this with a wetter mascara on top and it sealed it in (no fibers in my eye!) and added a smoothness to it.
So I can't decide. It's better than a lot of mascaras I try but it's not perfect. But then who is perfect? Gah!
I bought this from adambeauty.com I think it was about $17.


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Angel, a five-month old Black Angus calf with a diminutive frame, isn't often seen frolicking with other calves in the lush green pastures of her farm. Instead, she prefers to hang out with her "human parents."
She is immediately distinguishable from other calves by the stylish pink bell that hangs around her neck.
While some people might think she's a miniature because she's about the size of a newborn calf, her state is a result of the rough start she had in life. Her little legs weren't strong enough for her to stand after her birth, and her mother, a Red Angus, didn't have an interest in taking care of her either.
That's when Brenda Smith stepped in and began the daily routine of caring for the sickly calf.
"I was raised around cattle," she said, of her Illinois beginnings, but didn't have a lot to do with cattle at that time in her life. Mostly, she's taken care of dogs and other animals.
"It was hard getting her to drink from a bottle," she said.
She had to coax Angel to drink and rub her neck to get her to swallow the formula. Eventually, Angel learned how to drink from the bottle and began eating grass about a month ago.
Brenda and her husband, Davy, worried that Angel might not make it through the heat and drought the area experienced earlier this season, but she came through it and is now gaining some muscle and bulk.
Brenda credits her father-in-law, Joe Smith, with helping her with Angel.
These days Angel acts more like a dog than a calf. She waits at the fence for her adopted mom and comes to Brenda when "mooed" to.
Needless to say, Angel will always be a family pet. There is only one problem Brenda has with this adoptive relationship – "Now it's hard for me to eat beef," she says with a smile.