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BACKGROUND IMAGE: iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
- FeatureSnap Hints at Next-Gen NAS
- FeaturePST Files Spell Trouble for Storage Administrators
- FeatureStorage SLAs--get ready
- FeatureModernize mainframe storage
- FeatureSCSI Drives Bow Out of Capacity Race
- TipNext-generation NAS
- FeatureCaches with the Write Stuff
- ArticleOff-site copies on the cheap
- FeatureVeritas Dumps Bare Metal Restore for TSM
- FeatureMidrange Arrays Inherit High-End Smarts
- ArticleOptimize database storage
- ArticleInside the new Symmetrix
- FeatureTypes of Block Data Replication
- FeatureDefinitions
- FeatureVirtualization in the switch? Not so fast
- FeatureCan Brocade's SilkWorm 12000 take the pain out of expanding your SAN?
- FeatureSnapshot: Where do you store end-user files?
- FeatureThe iSCSI rollout--it's about time.
- FeatureMeasuring data storage utlization
- FeatureHot Spots: Storage services groups
- FeatureWhat's new with you?
iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
Modernize mainframe storage
The mainframe is a mature technology, but storage for it continues to evolve. Find out how to bring your valuable legacy assets into your contemporary storage network environment.
|The best of both worlds
We're always looking for faster ways to back up data," says Diane Iñiguez, director of enterprise storage management within Marriott's Information Resources division, in Frederick, MD. Next year, the constant quest to improve backup and disk performance will result in Marriott's modernizing its mainframe storage environment, rather than following fashion and switching to open systems.
"The structure and management processes are very sophisticated in the mainframe environment, whereas open systems are still in their infancy and trying to catch up," Iñiguez says (for more on Marriott's project, see "Marriott stays with mainframe storage").
John Herbert is another IT manager who never got the message that the mainframe is dead. As storage management supervisor with New Jersey's Office of Information Technology, Trenton, NJ, Herbert directs the strategy for the more than 11TB of storage used by the IBM mainframes supporting most of the state's government departments. Mainframes aren't only alive and well under Herbert's watch--their use is growing as many applications are moved from open systems, back onto more reliable multiple virtual storage (MVS).
That goes against the conventional wisdom mainframes are simply a legacy platform and mainframe-only storage should be folded into omnipresent, multiplatform storage area networks (SANs). Call him an old fuddy duddy, but Herbert's three-person team maintains a separate 7TB compressed mainframe and 4TB open systems SANs, and so far he remains unconvinced that consolidation is a step in the right direction.
"You manage [mainframe and open systems storage] differently and maintain them differently," he says. "I can see the advantages of consolidation, but I don't see us taking advantage of it. Some of the basic stuff is a problem, like dynamic sparing and the nightmare of root security [on Unix]. The mainframe is still a long way from the server as far as disaster recovery capabilities."
Rather than pushing storage onto what are effectively open systems storage arrays with mainframe interconnects, Herbert is using the mainframe as the state's primary data management tool. Open systems servers may stick Web interfaces on top of key Customer Information Control System (CICS) databases, but the data remains safely stored on a Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) 9960 storage array that was recently installed to consolidate several slower, smaller direct-access storage device (DASD) systems.
Everywhere mainframes are used, storage administrators are finding out that despite years of grandstanding by open systems vendors, the advancing pace of technology has not left the mainframe behind. Their market penetration may be dropping--from 13% in 2001 to 8% in 2006, according to IDC--but the downward trend may be more reflective of a growing market than of mainframes' lack of popularity.
Indeed, mainframe-attached storage still accounts for a major proportion of the sales of EMC, HDS, and IBM, which together account for the bulk of mainframe-attached storage systems. Mainframe users are clearly making the most of their investments, and are continuing to add to their storage pools as their mission-critical applications grow.
Aiming to bring those mainframes up to scratch with their fast-moving open systems cousins, mainframe storage vendors have breathed new life into mainframe storage by bridging the gaps between flexible open system SANs and legendarily robust and mature mainframes.
The new ESCON
Foremost among these improvements is FICON, a mainframe interconnect introduced by IBM in 1998, but still in the planning stages at most companies. FICON bundles the equivalent of eight ESCON channels--each of which can support up to 4,000 I/O operations per second--into a standard fiber connection. The result is full-duplex data transfers of up to 100MB/s, compared with just 17MB/s half-duplex data transmission in ESCON environments and 4.5MB/s using old parallel technology.
Architecturally, FICON is similar to Fibre Channel (FC), which has become the standard method for interconnecting storage and servers within open system SANs. Four out of five layers in FICON and FC are identical--the only differences are in their top layer signaling. This allows compatibility with existing FC equipment, which is a significant benefit because FICON allows mainframes to be easily linked with a broad range of FC-capable servers, storage arrays, tape drives and other SAN-related equipment.
FICON also offers better error correction than ESCON, and supports up to 16,384 unit addresses per channel compared with ESCON's 1,024 unit addresses per channel.
Seamless connectivity is an underlying requirement for the integration of mainframes into evolving SANs, yet it's not the only reason FICON is winning supporters. For many companies, FICON's most appealing trait is its ability to maintain data integrity over much longer distances than was possible with ESCON (over 20 km without repeaters and 100 km with repeaters, as opposed to ESCON's maximum of three km without repeaters and 43 km with repeaters). Boosted by EMC's Multi-Hop technology, FICON has been extended thousands of miles across the Atlantic.
The extra distance provides much-needed flexibility in the design of disaster recovery strategies, allowing companies to set up continual data replication policies between primary and secondary data centers. Using remote replication features of the mainframe-attached storage, data consistency and integrity become far easier to guarantee.
FICON has been a boon for Albertsons Inc., of Dublin, CA, a multistate grocer with 2,300 stores in 31 states and sales of nearly $40 billion. With approximately 30TB of mainframe transaction storage and a 35TB Teradata data warehouse for data analysis, Albertsons recently combined its open systems and mainframe administrative groups and has been working to bring its IBM Shark and EMC Symmetrix storage under a single management banner.
The opportunity came last year, when Albertsons built a new data center and upgraded its mainframe connections to FICON. In the new data center, the use of FICON has reduced the volume of cabling by a factor of four and--via an Inrange Fibre Channel Director--provided a common connectivity platform for both mainframe and open systems storage. It's also allowed both types of servers to share Albertsons' StorageTek 3494 automated tape library and 3590 tape drives, and has sped the mirroring of data between primary and backup data centers 12 km apart.
Once 2Gb/s FC technology is available, Bob Lembo, the manager of enterprise storage with Albertsons is confident FICON's similarities will allow it to smoothly follow FC to speed data's movement around the systems. And while it had previously used proprietary IBM and EMC software, Albertsons recently implemented Computer Associates' BrightStor to manage both environments from a single interface.
"Since most of our core applications remained on the mainframe, we had to install the mainframes in the new data center," Lembo says. "Open systems still have a way to go, so we try to deploy technologies where we can leverage one technology for both platforms. We will take advantage of new technology when we need it."
|Marriott stays with
mainframe storage
Marriott International, of Washington, DC, has been using mainframes for years. With a considerable investment already put into the systems, the worldwide hospitality giant--which manages over 2,400 properties in 64 countries--is continuing to extend its life with a series of upgrades that reinforce the mainframe's role as the center of Marriott's business. Next year, Marriott will move from its current ESCON to a FICON interconnect that will speed data flow between the mainframe, tape drive and tape silo.
The company's 2TB of mainframe data--supporting a pair of IBM 9672 mainframes--are stored on an IBM Shark disk system that replaced an IBM RAMAC virtual array several years ago. The Shark system also provides around 6TB of data for Marriott's Windows NT environment.
Backup is naturally a major concern for the company, and the need to improve backup speed recently led to an upgrade from a StorageTek 4490 tape silo to a StorageTek 9840 tape drive. The new system's higher-density tapes have reduced the number of backup tapes by a ratio of 23:1, freeing up a large number of slots that will soon be used to back up the company's open systems storage.
In Marriott's configuration, the open systems servers will be piggybacking on the mainframe environment. Data coming from the Veritas NetBackup system, which backs up the company's open systems, will be routed to the mainframe for management and transfer to the tape silo. This process will be restricted to a standalone backup SAN so that other environments are not affected.
Ultimately, Iñiguez sees the mainframe and open systems worlds "converging slowly into an asset that can be used cross platform." But, she adds, "I don't think it's something that's going to happen quickly."
Divide or conquer?
The different experiences of Albertsons and New Jersey's Office of Information Technology reflect the conflict that's facing administrators of mainframe storage. On the one hand, compelling cost equations and the need to upgrade aging equipment is pressuring them to combine mainframe and open systems storage on the same storage array. But on the other hand, doing so exposes mainframes to the still-evolving management of open systems SANs. For this reason, many storage experts are finding it's easier to let the mainframe people do what they know best, and let open systems storage managers watch and learn.
Over the next year, vendors will continue closing the longstanding gaps between mainframe and open systems storage. But their real challenge lies in easing the management of multiplatform storage: FICON provides the connectivity, and the upcoming will see vendors filling in the rest of the equation.
"We've seen a real change in attitude to storage from a mainframe perspective over the last year, but the roadblock is still the management of the storage environment," says Ted Newman, a practice leader in the Systems and Storage Practice of consulting firm Greenwich Technology Partners, White Plains, NY.
Newman believes improving management and technological integration will drive the creation of a centrally managed storage utility model. "Whereas companies previously had only a small number of people knowing how to administer storage, now they can focus on functionality, policies and procedures associated with how you delegate storage to hosts," he says.
Although applications such as Veritas' SANPoint Control and CA's BrightStor are feeling their way towards cross-platform storage management, standardization of management protocols such as Common Information Management (CIM), Bluefin, and EMC's WideSky universal translator will drag mainframe and open system storage onto common ground. That ensures storage administrators can continue to benefit from mainframe reliability while supporting the proliferation of open systems common in most enterprises.
Not all mainframes will make the transition with equal ease, however. Older VSAM-based data structures--which have little resemblance to FC's fixed-block architecture--will have trouble moving into more modern environments. So, too, will less-mainstream mainframe platforms from vendors such as Unisys, Blue Bell, PA. Ninety percent of the storage Unisys ships is directly connected to its MCP- and OS2200-based mainframes. Although those systems can be hooked into SANs, they require a dedicated path through the SAN switches and "don't like to lose their dedicated ports," says Fred Hanhauser, Unisys' director of marketing for storage products, who concedes that continuing support for the two systems is a ponderous effort.
"Any time we add in a device to mainframes--even a new tape device--it takes us a long time to update the drivers," he says. "Generally speaking, it's a year's worth of work. We go to a lot of [effort] to prove the value of applications currently running on our mainframes and I think we'll see these products continue well into the future. But for new applications, customers are buying open systems," such as Unisys' Intel and Windows 2000-based ES7000 servers.
Customers moving away from mainframe environments inevitably face the question of whether it's better to maintain separate, monolithic mainframe storage or move everything to a mixed mainframe and open systems storage array. This approach is more than simply one of convenience: stringent caching requirements of the mainframe tend to favor dedicated storage tuned for mainframe environments, and you can take a performance hit by configuring the box to support open systems as well.
The key to making this decision is to weigh the management benefits of having a single platform against the performance benefits that may be gained by retaining separate mainframe storage. Assessing both options in terms of cost--both directly (acquisition and staffing costs) and indirectly (the potential impact on business performance if transactional systems are slowed)--is one way to compare them.
As open systems servers continue their unstoppable push towards high-end legitimacy, even mainframes are beginning to take a few tips from their less-expensive cousins. It's only recently, for example, that they've gained support for RAID-10, a longtime standby of open systems environments that allows data striping across aggregated volumes.
Some mainframe storage managers are warming to another open systems technique: using inexpensive arrays of disks to provide nearline storage as an alternative to tape. Storage management independent software vendor (ISV) Fujitsu Softek, for one, plans to launch a product letting mainframe storage managers virtualize pools of mainframe and open systems storage across JBOD arrays.
Properly managed, the JBODs can slash storage TCO and boost performance up to eight times compared with using FICON to prop up aging disk arrays, according to Scott Kennedy, Softek's vice president of strategic business development. Such arrays can then be used in place of tape to increase mainframe storage efficiency by speeding access to data stored in hierarchical storage management (HSM) systems.
The Linux factor
Even those changes pale by comparison with the architectural revolution that IBM has wrought by combining the open systems Linux OS with its traditionally closed zSeries mainframes. The significant traction gained by this combination during 2002 confirms that the OS--and not just standalone management platforms--will play an increasing role in the future of mainframe storage.
The Linux zSeries combination saves storage managers from the limitations of conventional mainframe storage. For example, traditional ESCON-attached storage volumes are limited to 27GB capacity, while a SCSI-based FC-attached device can address up to 2TB per volume. This is important for the Linux mainframe's advertised role in running thousands of virtual machines simultaneously.
Server consolidation isn't the only benefit of Linux on the mainframe. IBM's zOS and OS/390 mainframe operating systems were designed for ESCON-only attachment, limiting their relevance in the fiber-based architectures of the future. Linux-based zSeries servers include native Linux drivers that convert between SCSI and ESCON signaling.
Simply using Linux and FICON can improve performance by eliminating signaling overheads, according to Tony Pearson, senior software architect in the Storage Systems Group of IBM, Armonk, NY. In such a configuration, the Linux systems remain oblivious that they're reading from and writing to mainframe storage. The gradual blurring of the lines between mainframe and open systems will eventually facilitate a more open approach to mainframe storage management.
"Storage is taking on a bigger role as the center of the universe for a data center," says IBM's Pearson. "The mainframe is now becoming just one of the many servers that attach to the SAN. People will choose the mainframe as being the best place to run their apps for the mainframe's capabilities. They'll choose Unix or Windows for their advantages, and they'll be able to move applications from one platform from another without having to change their storage approach."


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Establishing a viable and secure mobile device program is about the details: creating the infrastructure and the policies necessary to issue and deploy handhelds and apps — and realizing that mobile security is a different game than traditional network security.
A key place to start is with setting policies, said Jon Oltsik, senior principal analyst of the Enterprise Security Group (ESG), said at an online session with industry experts June 14. Security is an important part of this process because organizations need to think about users, groups, rules and responsibilities.
IT managers need to ask what they want their mobile programs to do, when and where personnel can access applications, and whether the network and tools be accessed via a virtual private network, local-area network or wide-area network, he said.
Related stories:
NASA: Moving to mobile is win-win
IBM development package can boost mobile app security
Managers and administrators have to think about the background enterprise architecture because users don't. "What's your business objective and how are you going to measure it?" Oltsik said, adding that the same considerations must be made for mobile security.
Another area that organizations need to consider is the product/software life cycle by setting their mobile policies to support business, IT and security cycles. Many organizations mistakenly think that traditional IT infrastructures can support mobile security, but they need to build the infrastructure and policies from the ground up to support mobile security, Oltsik said.
Measurement techniques are key to determining whether these policies are successful. "Unfortunately, that isn't easy," he said.
An ESG survey found that mobile devices made network security more complex and difficult for more than half of the organizations surveyed, Oltsik said. Another issue is that existing IT security control and practices may not be a good fit with mobile devices. "You may have to make some adjustments," he added.
Device proliferation and complexity can make network access more difficult, said Alex Gray, senior vice president of Juniper Networks. Outdated security policies are another challenge because security based on ports is not applicable to mobile devices. What is needed are policies based on user roles, users and devices, he said.
Security must also be extended to every node (in this case, every device) on the network to cover all users while managing it from a centralized location, Gray said. This approach also requires high levels of automation and consistency. "If it's not consistent and easy to use, it's going to be rejected," he said.
ESG's survey found that organizations' top challenge is enforcing security policy for mobile devices. One of the more fine-grained considerations for IT administrators is data security for mobile devices. Does data get stored on a user's device, and what are the vectors to get that information? These are among the questions organizations must ask, Olsik said. Mobile device malware is an overlooked but growing problem that organizations need to address, he added.
Juniper began a mobile threat survey in 2010, Gray said. Since then, the survey has indicated that the amount of mobile malware has tripled. "This is a real and present threat, and it's got to be dealt with," he said.
To implement a successful mobile security program, organizations need to think in terms of a comprehensive architecture, with policies enforced and managed centrally, Oltsik said.
Among the things that need to be addressed: Organizations need to have control over a device when it enters their networks, device capabilities and applications should be aligned with individual business groups, and network security controls must be aligned with IP subnets and LANs.
Finally, IT administrators need to know what is going on in their networks to manage activity and mitigate risk, he said.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Hanoi to Vaasa Flights (HAN-VAA)
Hanoi to Vaasa
Vaasa, located in Western Finland, is a real water lover's paradise. There are seven great beaches in close proximity of the city centre, and the region is reputed to be the sunniest in Finland. But if sand and sun are not quite what you had in mind, you'll find that there are loads of other great attractions vying for your attention too. Make the most of your time and discover the best local experiences with this Finnair travel guide to Vaasa.
Sights in Vaasa
The heart and soul of the city can be found at the lively Market Place. This is also where you'll find the Statue of Freedom, erected in 1938 to commemorate Finland gaining its independence. Interesting buildings around Vaasa include the Campus of Vaasa University, the Rewell Center, the modernist Huutoniemi Church and the Neo-Gothic Trinity Church and Court of Appeals. Pleasant parkland lines the waterfront, ideal for a stroll or a spot of relaxing on a bench as you watch the world go by. Naturally, the sandy beaches draw large crowds in the warm summer months. You can also relax and unwind at luxurious spas or dream the day away in cosy little cafes. The historic Old Vaasa lies some six kilometres (3.7 miles) from the main town centre. You can see the ruins of the original town, which was largely destroyed by fire in the mid-1800s, as well as the Church of Korsholm and the remains of Korsholm Castle. If you're feeling active, tackle the climbing wall inside the Water Tower. There are several interesting museums in Vaasa, including the culture- and nature-focused Ostrobothnian Museum and Terranova Kvarken Nature Centre, Brage Open-Air Museum and Vaasa Maritime Museum. For art lovers, Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art and Tikanoja Art Museum are ideal local attractions. The surrounding natural areas offer a host of activities, including hiking, biking, horse riding, fishing, swimming and boating. There's a good selection of bars and clubs to make nighttimes fun too, and each year Vaasa hosts an event called Wasa by Night—essentially, a large pub crawl that takes in some of the city's most popular restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
Things to See and Do Near Vaasa
- Kvarken Archipelago – This UNESCO-listed World Nature Heritage Site lies just off the coast of the mainland. With more than 6500 islands and islets, there are plenty of opportunities for hiking, camping, wildlife watching, canoeing and kayaking.
- Vaskiluoto Island – A prime place for family fun, this island is home to the water park of Tropiclandia.
- Stundars – The ideal place to discover how the area would have looked in the past, this large open-air museum contains a number of old buildings that are filled with cultural exhibits and art. It's located in nearby Korsholm.
Shopping in Vaasa
Vaasa has several shopping centres as well as smaller stores and markets. There are also some rather unique shopping experiences in the town.
- Market Hall – Here you'll find a large selection of local produce, including cheese and meats, as well as many types of confectionary, art, gifts and souvenirs.
- Rewell Center – Located next to Market Square, this is the city's largest shopping centre. There are more than 60 shops providing a great blend of goods, including clothes, electronics, books, toys, household goods and gifts.
- HS Centre – Another centrally-located shopping centre, you'll find a mixture of Finnish brands and popular international names here.
- Vaasa Prison – One of the most unique places to buy souvenirs, this local prison has a shop that sells crafts made by the inmates.
Food and Drink
- Fish and seafood – Vaasa's coastal location plays a huge role in the local culinary scene, with fresh fish and seafood found on many menus. Salmon, whitefish, herring and tuna are just a few examples.
- Lihapullat – These Finnish meatballs are popular all around the country. Not as spicy as those found in neighbouring Sweden, Finnish meatballs are made from ground meat, egg, breadcrumbs and a few select spices.
- Klimppisoppa – This is a soup that contains wheat flour dumplings. The soup is made by boiling beef bones and meat.
Transport in Vaasa
Vaasa is relatively small and finding your way around is easy.
- By foot – Many places of interest are close to each other and walking can be a good way to explore Vaasa.
- Buses – Most local buses in Vaasa depart from next to the Rewell Center mall or from Market Square. The vast majority of services run every 30 minutes or hour.
- Taxis – Taxis can be booked by telephone, or you can go to one of the two taxi ranks in the town to arrange your ride.
- Water taxis – Serving the archipelago, the private boats can carry up to six passengers around the islands.
- Canoes – Having your own water-based transport, such as a canoe or kayak, is the only way to reach some of the nearby islands.
Weather in Vaasa
Popular Routes and Flight Deals
The Prices displayed are the lowest available in the previous 48 hours on Finnair.com and valid for travel dates as shown above.
Prices are subject to availability at the time of booking online with Finnair.com. Finnair reserves the right to change prices at any time.
Prices include return flights in Economy Class for one person as well as applicable taxes and fuel surcharges. The break down will be shown during your booking process.
Please check the individual fare rules for detailed terms and conditions during your booking process.
Advance purchase up to 60 days may apply and impact the available fares.


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This poster gives an impressive amount of prime space to the man-made web shooter. I understand that this is one of the differences between this reboot and the not-so-old movies, but, ahmmm, I think there are, like, three people in the whole world who care.
Outside of this little detail, I'm really not sure what the point of this particular poster is. What is the big visual thing we are supposed to take from it? What about it is supposed to excite us? What does it add to the rest of the poster campaign? Are we supposed to be in awe of the spider symbol that is formed by the street lights? Because, although I like that idea in theory, I actually failed to notice it the first few times I was looking at this poster. And I was looking closely.
And here is another one.
The whole poster campaign so far has a dark and brooding feel that kind of reminds me of the last few Batman movies. Just two problems with that.
First, the execution doesn't come close to being as good as what we saw for Batman. This is how you make your hero's symbol appear in the city. Nobody is missing that one. The imagery in the Spider-Man campaign has been surprisingly dull. The city in particular is just looks incredibly uninteresting and generic.
Second, Spider-Man is not Batman! Yes, many people love Batman. Yes, many people love Spider-Man. Yes, many people love both of them! But for different reasons. Each character has it's own strong points, and I'm getting the feeling that this marketing campaign just doesn't know what the ones for Spider-Man are. I really hope the actual movie is much better in this aspect.


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I had a heck of a time with my super fly, zing-it, dutch hook and dutch flyz this weekend.
I made a CRL, under the tarp (suppose it didn't matter), one end has a spliced dutch hook, the other end has a dutch flyz. I just ran the CRL through the eyes on the tarp...well that didn't play too well.
How do you guys fasten the ridgeline to the tarp?


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Savini Forged Wheels Monoblock – SV40-M Rims
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Buy Savini Wheels and Savini Rims at cheap prices. All Savini Wheels are sold to the public at prices that are marked at or below wholesale in many wheels and tires packages. Find great deals and discounts on Savini Rims for your vehicle. Any hardware accessories needed are included on your Savini Wheels purchase for free. All our Savini Wheels and Savini Rims that are purchased with tires packages are shipped mounted and road force balanced, ready to be installed!


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Bermudez will take the water at the Yale Women's Intersectional this weekend (photo courtesy Athletic Communications).
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Halfway through competition this fall, the Harvard sailing team will face the busiest weekend of the autumn schedule with six regattas. The No. 6 Crimson Coeds will compete at the Captain Hurst Bowl and the Navy Fall Invite while the women race at the Yale Women's Intersectional. Harvard will also sail at three one-day events: the Norm Reid Trophy, the Lane Trophy and MIT's Firefly and FJ Invite.
Fans can follow results from each of the regattas, here.
Follow Harvard Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay connected with all the breaking news from around Cambridge and to get inside access to your favorite Crimson programs.
Last Time on the Water
The then No. 5 Harvard sailing coed team raced to second place at the Moody Trophy, hosted by Rhode Island, Oct. 12-13.
The Crimson sailed to 132 points in 10 races in FJs on Point Judith Pond. Just 16 points ahead of Harvard, No. 3 Boston College claimed the 17-team field Moody Trophy with 116 points.
Related Link: Sailing Coeds Claim Second at Moody Trophy
About the Captain Hurst Bowl
The Captain Hurst Bowl is a two-division, intersectional regatta hosted by Dartmouth on Mascoma Lake. Eighteen teams will clash on the water in Hanover, N.H. with the A division beginning in 420s while the B group will take the water in FJs. After nine races, the divisions will switch vessels. In 2012, the Crimson raced to a sixth-place finish paced by Gram Slattery and Alma Lafler in the A division boat that sailed to four single-digit finishes in six faces.
About the Yale Women's Intersectional
This season's Yale Women's Intersectional marks the first time that the annual event will be sailed in two fleets. Two divisions of seventeen teams will rotate between 420s and FJs after nine races at the McNay Family Sailing Center in New Haven, Conn. A year ago, the Crimson battled unpredictable winds to take 10th out of 22 teams.
Related Link: Sailing Finishes in Top 10 at Two Weekend Regattas
About the Navy Fall Invitational
The Navy Fall Invitational, in Annapolis, Md., features a field of 20 teams. The four-division, intersectional event will be raced in FJs. Harvard last competed at the Midshipmen's fall invite in 2009 where the Crimson claimed eighth.
Related Link: Harvard Women Seventh at Yale; Coeds Eight at Navy
One Day Regattas
Half of Harvard's regattas this weekend are one day races. The Crimson will compete at the Norm Reid Trophy hosted by Boston College Saturday before racing at MIT's Firefly and FJ Invite and the Lane Trophy at Tufts on the second day of the weekend.
Rank and File
After five weeks of competition this fall, the Crimson coed sailing team has been ranked sixth in the third SailingWorld.com national poll presented by Sperry-Top Sider. Harvard is one-of-four Ivy League schools to make the list, trailing No. 1 Yale and No. 5 Dartmouth while Brown rounds out the Ancient Eight ranked squads at No. 8.
Related Link: Sailing World's College Rankings
Massachusetts waters will see southwest winds of 5 to 10 knots Saturday before shifting to western winds of 10 to 15 knots Sunday. Current forecasts for competition at the Yale Women's Intersectional on the Long Island Sound bode well, with a moderate sea-breeze from the southeast predicted for both days of racing. The Captain Hurst Bowl conditions are similar to the Bay State's while waters in Maryland will mirror the environment in Connecticut.
For up-to-date forecasts, click here.
Coming Up
The Crimson will continue its fall schedule next weekend when it sends sailors to four regattas.


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Hey, remember all the troglodytes over the course of your life who implied, concern trolled, or flat-out decreed that you would never find love if you're fat? Fatshionista's Lesley has put together the ultimate comeback: The Museum of Fat Love, "an incomplete collection of evidence proving the existence of those not-so-rare creatures: fat people in love."
Like fat athletes and fat models, fat people in love are not the rare thing we've all been led to believe (more evidence: fat brides). I really like that the MoFL includes the stories of the people in the photos: it's amazing what happens when you give people space to use their voices. And, you know, their heads.
Lesley is still accepting submissions from "anyone, in any variety of romantic relationship, who'd like to be included," as well as individuals who'd like to "share themselves and their stories of self-love."


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No more checkering by hand! This fixture is used to checker front straps using a vertical mill for consistent spacing and helps the job go faster. Available for the 1911, Browning Hi-Power, Steel framed Kahr, Colt Mustang, Walther PPK, Para-Ordinance, and Caspian Hi-Capacity frames. Please note that on the double stack frames the fixture will only cut the center of the front strap. Comes with 3/8" and 3/4" Threadmill cutters and their extensions plus videos and instructions. Shipping is included with the price.
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Silver Line Rectangle Cufflinks
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Product code: 505466151155
Every pair of T.M.Lewin cufflinks is designed to co-ordinate perfectly with our range of formal shirts. Hand finished and mounted on a swivel fitting.
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Wow, it's been a while since we updated y'all with our recent shenanigans (perhaps, in part, because we've been so busy), so it's high time for a post!
Earlier this month (November 3rd, to be exact), Neely and I trucked a bunch of stuff from my house all the way over to the other side of town to take part in Seattle's Short Run Small Press Fest. It's always fun going to events, but I have to admit, it's really fun going to events in your hometown. While mostly comic artists were present at Short Run, there were also some more text focused zines, and Neely and I had a really awesome time looking through everyone's items, which ranged from Small Press books, to small handmade books of drawings, to beautifully drawn and printed comics, to old school copy and staple zines.
It was really great to connect with some new local artists and writers, and to see friends from all around the Pacific Northwest, plus, I scooped up the Invincible Summer 2013 calendar, which is pretty rad, along with some other sweet zines and comics.
And for the past few weeks we've mostly been focusing on filling orders, getting stock out to distros and bookstores (Which brings me to a side note: Bluestockings in NYC will have all the Mend My Dress Press zine anthologies in stock soon, so keep an eye out if you're in the store for our titles), and getting stock ready for our own distro, which is launching in just a few days.
That's right, ya heard me. We were going to wait to the new years to open up the full distro store, but figured we had a decent amount of stock so we should open up early. So, in the cheery spirit of the winter holidays, we are officially opening up the online shop on Small Business Saturday (aka Nov. 24th) and running a 10% off sale store-wide through Monday, Nov 26th. To stock up now, just use the code SMALLSAT2012 at checkout to get your discount.
oh yeah, you can also access our shop right from our facebook page. nifty, eh?


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Main Menu
Sub Menu
- Article Ref
- Written By
- Josh Olson
- Date Created
- Wed, 16th Jul 2008
- Updated By
- Josh Olson
- Date Modified
- Fri, 12th Sep 2008
Set up AirSync with iPhone 2.0
CommuniGate Pro uses what is called AirSync (https://www.communigate.com/CommuniGatePro/AirSync.html). To set this up on iPhone you must first make sure that you have port 443 configured as a HTTPU (Settings | Services | HTTPU | Listener) port listener and that init SSL/TLS is enabled. You of course also have to make sure, since you'll be using SSL/TLS, that a valid security certificate (http://www.communigate.com/cgatepro/PKI.html) is installed for the domain to which you will be connecting. Once that is all set up correctly, you can start to configure iPhone.
You will go to Settings | Mail, Contacts, Calendars | Add Account and then select the Microsoft Exchange option. There you will be prompted for the following:
Email: 'firstname.lastname@example.com'
Username: 'user' (Note: You don't need a domain here)
Password: 'password'
Description: 'anything you like here'
Click Next and you should see a message stating that your Exchange account information is being verified. (You may get a certificate warning, which you can choose to accept)
You will then be prompted to enter the name of your server
Server: 'mail.domain.com'
Click Next
You will then be prompted to choose which data you would like to keep in sync. Please not that if you select both contacts and calendars in addition to mail, you will receive a warning that locally (on the iPhone) stored contacts and calendars will be deleted (and they will), so proceed carefully here.
That should be it.
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Economists: Now is wrong time for Congress to cut spending
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers trying to reach a deal on spending cuts in order to raise the nation's debt ceiling risk causing serious economic harm if they cut government programs too much in the near term, economists warn.
The U.S. economy grew at an anemic 1.3 percent rate from April to June, the Commerce Department reported Friday. It also revised downward the growth rate over the first three months of 2011 to just 0.4 percent.
Despite the weak growth, politicians aren't arguing about stimulating the economy; rather they're debating how quickly and how much to cut spending, thus shaving economic growth in the process.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called on lawmakers Friday to be mindful of the weak economy.
"The recovery is clearly on a lower trajectory, and it will likely be some time before the economy rebounds to the point it will create much in terms of job growth," Martin Regalia, the group's chief economist, said in a statement.
That means, he said, that "the stakes on the debt limit debate ... are that much higher. With growth rates this low, even a small negative impact resulting from failure to increase the debt ceiling and defaulting on our obligations could turn the economy back into a recession."
While Republicans in the House of Representatives capture headlines by demanding steep spending cuts, the version proposed by Senate Democrats actually would thwart economic growth potentially more, according to two economic research groups.
Macroeconomic Advisers, a leading forecaster, said Thursday that a rewritten plan offered by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, would shave more than a tenth of a percentage point off of growth next year, while the plan being pushed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would cause an even larger hit on growth in fiscal 2013 — shaving almost half a percentage point.
That view was shared by Thomas Lam, Singapore-based chief economist at OSK-DMG, a joint venture of Malaysian securities firm OSK Holdings Bhd. and Germany's Deutsche Bank AG.
"Our calculations ... suggest that the Senate and House proposals, respectively, could lower economic growth on average by less than 0.5 percentage points, all else equal, over the next five years (from 2012 to 2016)," Lam said in a research note that suggested the Senate Democrat plan would hit the economy harder.
The chief economist for forecaster IHS Global Insight, Nariman Behravesh, warned Friday that "a weak economy will only make the tough decisions on the budget even more difficult and the case for fiscal austerity in the near-term even weaker."
Some House Republicans backed by tea party groups demand even deeper front-end cuts, perhaps as much as $100 billion, arguing that politicians can't be trusted to keep their promises further out.
That'd be dangerous, warned Mark Zandi, chief economist for forecaster Moody's Analytics.
"I think the idea is a very serious policy error," he said. "This would be the fodder for another recession. The economy may be able to digest $25-30 billion more (in federal spending cuts) ... but $100 billion, I don't think it could digest that."
Zandi, who's frequently cited by Republicans and Democrats alike, favors spending cuts "when the economy is off and running," but he cautions that "to add more fiscal restraint in the latter part of 2011 and 2012 would be a mistake."
Paul Ryan's 2012 re-election not a given in tense climate
Donald Trump recommends default to prevent Obama's re-election
Economists say U.S. debt may not be as high as you think
McClatchy's probe into roots of financial crisis, a Pulitzer finalist
To ask a question about this story or any economic question, go to McClatchy's economy Q&A
For more McClatchy politics coverage visit Planet Washington


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Website Worth and Statistics for Domain: mmogaming.ru
Last update: Oct 31, 2015
Find the best content from mmogaming.ru right here. Direct fast access to mmogaming.ru. Our network of dedicated servers connects via a fast connection to any website. We do not host any files on our server. Visit mmogaming.ru. This website contains information about mmogaming.ru and www.mmogaming.ru. The data come from various sources. mmogaming.ru is not affiliated with us in any way. We offer statistics, hosting information, server information, google pagerank information. Google pagerank of this site can be found below.
Mmogaming.ru is ranked #852,406 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings. Search engines refer about 22% of visits to the site, and roughly 53% of visits to the site consist of only one pageview (i.e., are bounces). Visitors to this site view 2.6 unique pages each day on average. Mmogaming.ru has been online for at least four years.
|Google Page Speed Rank
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Daily Time on Siten/a
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|$ 12
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|$ 360
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|$ 4,380
|Site value
|$ 6,659
Copy/Paste this code to your forum
Copy/Paste this code to your website


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Orca researchers need all the poop they can get. These dogs help them find it
You can learn a lot of things from poop.
What an animal is eating. If it's under stress. The toxins it's ingested.
Locating animal scat on the ground is challenging. But finding it on the sea is a whole other level.
That's where Sam Wasser's dogs come in.
Wasser is director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington. His team trains dogs to sniff the waters of Puget Sound for orca excrement.
Think of them as furry detectives. With boats.
Wasser will give a talk on his work using the dogs on Wednesday at the UW Tacoma YMCA.
"Our Toxic Orcas" will cover the canines and how they are used to study Puget Sound orcas, which have been called the most polluted marine mammals in the world.
"We're facing a crisis now that's been brewing for a long time, and we've kind of missed the boat," Wasser said during a phone interview last week.
The Center for Conservation Biology spends part of its focus on forensic research.
They can, for instance, use DNA analysis to determine where in Africa and Asia poached ivory comes from.
The other part of the Center's work concerns the effects humans have on the environment.
Almost all of that involves poop.
Toxins and hormones are some of the most important components in the scat the researchers collect.
Together, they show how polluted an animal's environment and how well it is eating.
With marine mammals, as in humans, toxins are stored in higher concentrations in fat. When an animal loses fat because of poor diet, disease or other factors, toxins are released as well.
"When they are under nutritional stress they burn fat and dump toxins into circulation," Wasser said. Those toxins can be damaging.
The hard part is finding the scat.
Picture an open sea, gentle waves and little piles of floating poop.
What's worse, not all excrement is equal.
"A right whale has bright orange poop that smells horrible," Wasser said. "Orca poop is colored similar to seawater and smells like salmon."
Plus, it's a moving target in strong currents. "If you take too long to find it, the sample has sunk," Wasser added.
On land a detection dog can use its legs to search what it's looking for, with a little direction from its handler.
On sea the canine needs to partner with a good handler who can read its signals and direct the boat driver to the sample.
Dogs sniff the wind and can indicate the direction of the scat by something as subtle as a single twitching left nostril.
"They all have their own way of showing this behavior," Wasser said.
A dog's sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times as acute as a human's, according to scientists at the Sensory Research Institute at Florida State University.
And as any dog owner knows, they really like smelly things.
The dogs can smell excrement over a nautical mile away, Wasser said.
But it's just not orca poop the Center's dogs are trained to find.
Since its creation in 1997, more than 50 dogs have been trained to find the scat of moose, tigers, wolves, spotted owls, salamanders and even crickets.
If it poops they can find it.
"We pioneered that technology for endangered species," Wasser said.
The dogs can also find man-made chemicals.
Seattle Public Utilities is using the Center's dogs to help them locate sources of PCB.
The dogs, which can detect parts per trillion, are more sensitive than the utility's instruments, he said.
"A pilot study kind of blew their minds at how good our dogs were (at finding PCB)," Wasser said.
All of the Center's dogs are pound rescues. Their one qualifier: They must have an extreme ball drive.
"These are dogs that will do anything for their ball," Wasser said.
Only one percent of the dog population meets the criteria, he said.
"These are dogs that are very, very difficult to have as pets because they are so obsessed with their ball they drive their owners crazy," he said.
The ball is used as a reward during training and when they are on the job.
"They train incredibly fast (and are) unbelievably dedicated and effective workers as a result," he said.
Wasser and his team have been collecting and studying resident orca excrement since 2007.
They can use it to determine whether an orca has undergone a spontaneous abortion or the calf died at birth.
Their data shows that orcas are losing 66 percent of their pregnancies, Wasser said.
"They are running out of food," Wasser said. "If they don't get enough food they have a hard time holding on to those pregnancies."
Once home to some of the richest Chinook salmon runs in the world the Fraser and Columbia Rivers have been depleted. That's affecting the Southern resident orca population, which currently numbers 78.
"Those salmon are critical to replenish the killer whale after the long winter," Wasser said.
Transient orcas also visit Puget Sound. Unlike the resident population, the transients eat abundant marine mammals, including porpoise, seals and sea lions.
"(Marine mammals) are one step higher on the food chain so they have far more toxins in their fat," Wasser said.
Wasser said the toxins have little impact on the transients' reproduction because their diet makes them far less susceptible to the periodic food shortages the salmon-eating resident population suffers from.
Wasser is so alarmed by pollutants in Puget Sound that he rarely eats fish from Washington waters.
"And I never eat Puget Sound fish," he said.
Craig Sailor:
Our Toxic Orcas
When: June 28
Reception: 6-7 p.m. (Light food and drinks provided).
Program: 7-8 p.m.
Where: UW-Tacoma's YMCA, 1710 Market Street, Tacoma
Tickets: $5 brownpapertickets.com/event/ 2957573


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Nine in 10 Australians agree the world has become more dangerous
The vast majority of Australians say the world is becoming more hazardous and their confidence that America will play a constructive role in global affairs has plummeted since Donald Trump became president.
New polling shows 89 per cent of Australians agree the world has become more dangerous during the past year, 8 per cent more than last year. The survey also revealed just 37 per cent of Australians now believe the United States has an "overall positive" influence on world affairs, a huge 23 percentage points lower than in 2016.
Ipsos Australia research director, Laura Demasi, attributed this slump to the behaviour of Mr Trump since he became the US president in January.
"On a global scale, people are clearly nervous about Trump's unpredictably and are worried about what his 'America first' agenda really means for the rest of the world," she said.
The Ipsos Global @dvisor survey questioned more than 18,000 respondents from 25 countries, including Australia, and found more than eight in 10 respondents agreed the world had become more dangerous over the past year. The poll followed a spate of terrorist attacks although it was conducted before the Manchester concert bombing and this month's assault on London Bridge and Borough Market.
The share of Australians agreeing the world had become more dangerous during the past year was 3 percentage points above the international average and higher than in some nations that had recently experienced major terrorism incidents, including Britain and France.
In Britain 86 per cent agreed the world had become dangerous over the past year, 3 percentage points lower than in Australia.
In France the share of people believing the world had become more dangerous was 81 per cent, 6 percentage points lower than last year. That's despite a spate of deadly terrorist attacks in France including the atrocity in Nice in July 2016 when a truck was driven into a large crowd and killed 86 people and injured more than 400 others.
Ms Demasi said the results showed Australians did not feel insulated from terrorism.
"I don't think borders matter when it comes to terrorism; it's became a distinctly global fear," she said.
"So when Australians see things happening overseas, there's a sense of when it will happen here, not if."
The survey points to a dramatic slump in the reputation of the United States.
Internationally, only 40 per cent thought the US had a positive influence in world affairs, down 24 percentage points compared with last year.
Canada topped the list of countries that had a positive influence on world affairs (81 per cent), followed by Australia (79 per cent) and Germany (67 per cent).
"Canada, Australia and Germany are seen as the 'neutral' countries that still have some positive influence on the world, in a time characterised by the rise of nationalistic populism where so many other countries are turning inward," Ms Demasi said.
France and Russia experienced a decline in their reputations, down 12 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
The share of respondents who considered the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to play a positive role in world affairs also dropped.
Brazil had the highest share of citizens who believed the world had become more dangerous over the past year (95 per cent) while China had the lowest share among the 25 nations surveyed (70 per cent).


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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Following a week off from action, the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team will return to the hardwood Saturday evening when it makes the trip to the Show Me Center for a road contest against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Tennessee Tech (7-10, 1-4)
SIU Edwardsville (10-10, 2-4)
Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 / 7 p.m. CST
Show Me Center – Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The Broadcasts
Television - none
Radio: Fox Sports Radio, 106.1 The Eagle (Roger Ealey)
Webcast: Live on the OVC Digital Network
Setting the Stage
With 43 games spanning over 20 years, the Golden Eagles and Redhawks will meet for the 44th time Saturday night in another Ohio Valley Conference match-up for the two squads. Every single meeting of this long-standing series has occurred with both teams as members of the OVC.
Tennessee Tech has experienced loads of success over its OVC opponent from Missouri, taking 31 of the 43 meetings. In the previous 10 outings, TTU owns an 8-2 advantage over SEMO, winning three straight in Cape Girardeau. Tech will go for its fourth straight in the Show Me Center in this season's only scheduled meeting against the Redhawks.
|@ Cape Girardeau, Mo.
|Cookeville, Tenn.
|Cookeville, Tenn.
|@ Cape Girardeau, Mo.
|@ Cape Girardeau, Mo.
|Cookeville, Tenn.
|Cookeville, Tenn.
|@ Cape Girardeau, Mo.
|Cookeville, Tenn.
|Nashville, Tenn.
There have been plenty of blowouts and close games to go around in the series, with the most regular season meeting going to the Golden Eagles by a 15-point margin. Tech has won three straight over the Redhawks, but have a ways to go to near the series record of 10 consecutive victories set by the Golden Eagles from 2003-2007.
With a match-up against OVC regular season champ and nationally
ranked Murray State in the conference championshipo game on the
line, these two times fought to the buzzer is the series'
most recent installment.
The Golden Eagles prevailed, defeating the Redhawks 77-73 behind a 24-point effort from former Tech star Kevin Murphy.
Jud Dillard joined in on the action, scoring 18 points and recording nine rebounds in the contest. Former Golden Eagle Zach Swansey notched 12 assists in the contest while chipping in nine points.
With both squads entering Saturday's showcase coming off
of a conference loss, fans can expect to see a hard fought battle.
Tech stands at 1-4 in conference play, splitting a two-game road
trip last weekend in Illinois. After starting its conference
schedule 2-0, SEMO has dropped four straight decisions, including
its last two at home.
Southeast Missouri is coming off a 16-point defeat at home against Morehead State that saw the Redhawks sturggle imensely on the glass. SEMO was out-rebounded in the contest 45-23, a mark that allowed the Eagles to escape with a big win despite shooting a lower percentage from the field and comitting more turnovers.
Three Redhawks still managed to put up double digits in the
scoring column, including Nino Johnson (13), Lucas Nutt (12), and
Tyler Stone (11). Despite the effort, SEMO still fell 75-59.
Even with the struggles on offense against Morehead, Southeast Missouri is still averaging over 70 points per game on the year. As a defense, the team has struggled to stop its opponents, allowing over 70 points per contest this season, including 70 or more its its last five games.
Leading the offensive effort has been Tyler Stone, scoring 16.5 points per game while also pulling down 8.0 rebounds per contest. Corey Wilford ranks second for SEMO, pouring in 13.5 points each time out. Nino Johnson averages almost a double-double per game, scoring 11.8 points and grabbing 9.4 boards.
In its last contest Tech, suffered a tough road loss, falling at SIUE 58-54. The loss came after the Golden Eagles notched their first OVC win of the season over EIU.
Senior guard Jud Dillard, who ranks second in the OVC in scoring with 19.8 points per game, had a huge weekend for the Golden Eagles, tying a career-high 34 points at Eastern Illinois before adding 29 more at Edwardsville. He recorded his sixth double-double of the season against the Cougars, pulling down 12 boards to go with his 29 points.


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BRUSSELS (AP) — Serbia and Kosovo reached a potentially historic agreement Friday to normalize relations between the Balkan neighbors, end years of acrimony and put them both on a solid path to European Union membership.
The tentative deal culminated months of tense negotiations and showed determination of both Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, EU negotiator Catherine Ashton said.
"What we are seeing is a step away from the past and for both of them a step closer to Europe," Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, said.
In what would be an extraordinary change, the deal appeared to recognize the authority of the Kosovo government over the north of the country, which is inhabited predominantly by ethnic Serbs.
But Dacic appeared to indicate there was a chance the deal could still come unstuck, saying Serbia's top leadership would decide whether to accept or reject the tentative agreement "in the next few days."
Details of the agreement were scant, but Dacic said it was "better than any other we were offered in the past."
Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, declared independence in 2008. Over the years, Belgrade has said it would never recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo, which is considered by Serbia's nationalists to be the cradle of the country's medieval statehood and religion.
Kosovo has been recognized by more than 90 countries including the U.S. and 22 of the EU's 27 members. Because of a blockade by Serbian allies Russia and China in the Security Council, Kosovo is not a U.N. member.
But U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed "the landmark agreement between Belgrade and Pristina," according to a statement from his office.
"He strongly encourages the parties to conclude this historic process and take concrete measures for a faithful implementation of the agreement," the statement added. "The United Nations stands ready to assist the parties in this endeavor."
Serbia relinquished control of most of Kosovo in 1999 when NATO chased its troops out of the region after a three-month bombing campaign. Ending the partition of Kosovo between the Albanian majority and the Serb-controlled north — about a fifth of the country — is a key condition of Serbia's further progress toward EU membership.
The status of northern Kosovo, which is inhabited primarily by ethnic Serbs who do not recognize Kosovo's predominantly ethnic Albanian government, has been among the thorniest issues of the talks.
Northern Kosovo Serb hardline leaders rejected the tentative deal, saying they will refuse to implement it. They also announced the formation of their own "assembly" — a move tantamount to proclaiming independence from the rest of Kosovo.
"We stand by our agreement not to allow the implementation of the agreement," Kosovo Serb leader Krstimir Pantic said.
Thaci said reaching an agreement had been difficult, and there were people in both countries who wouldn't be happy with it. But he said it represented a new era.
"This agreement will help us heal the wounds of the past if we have the wisdom and the knowledge to implement it in practice," he said.
In Kosovo, some ethnic Albanians cast doubt on the deal.
"This animosity has existed for a very long time. We fooled ourselves that it wasn't there even in (Yugoslav leader) Tito's times as if we loved one another," Emin Rexhepi, a 38-year-old resident of Pristina, said.
"I wish there was some result and that we could all at least live with one another as one should."
But Kosovo's minister for European integration, Vlora Citaku, was hopeful the announcement could be the beginning of a new era for the Balkan countries.
Citaku, an influential figure in Thaci's party, tweeted: "And the white smoke is out! Habemus pactum! Happy."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle hailed what he called a "historic step on the way to good neighborliness and a European future."
"Both sides have shown courage and farsightedness," Westerwelle said in a statement, in which he went out of his way to praise Ashton for her mediation and said she "achieved a great success for EU diplomacy."
Thaci said the deal would pave the way for both Kosovo and Serbia to ultimately joint the European Union, and for Kosovo to pursuit its aspiration to join NATO. A precondition for joining the EU is that countries "normalize" relations with their neighbors.
It appeared that the deal meant that the Kosovo Serbs were being told by the Serbian government in Belgrade to live in Kosovo, under the authority of the ethnic Albanian government in Pristina — and not in Serbia, of which they claim to be a part.
Dacic said Serbia would not block Kosovo's accession to the European Union, but had reserved the right to block its membership in other international organizations.
Having Serbia give up parallel institutions in northern Kosovo — including in policing and the judiciary — was the key condition for Serbia to get a date for the start of its EU accession negotiations.
Still, Dacic said the association of Serb municipalities in Kosovo would retain "a high level of authority" in choosing a regional police commander.
In addition, it appeared possible that NATO would play a role as part of the settlement. The alliance's secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, issued a statement late Friday congratulating the parties for their constructive approach.
"I am very happy for NATO to contribute to the conclusion of an historic agreement," Fogh Rasmussen said.
Associated Press writers Jovana Gec and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, Nebi Qena in Pristina, Kosovo, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Raf Casert in Brussels, contributed to this report.
Don Melvin can be reached at https://twitter.com/Don_Melvin


text:
Orleans Saints Ladies T New Shirts
Welcome to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization
Welcome to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization
All eligible international travelers who wish to travel to the United States under the must apply for authorization.
Pay for multiple applications with one transaction.
If you have already submitted an application for one or more individuals, you can perform one of the following tasks:
To strengthen the security of travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, requirements to travel visa-free have been enhanced. Nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries will still be eligible to travel without a visa but will have to obtain an approved travel authorization prior to their travel to the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security and the United States Customs and Border Protection have provided a secure public Web site with an automated form for you, or a third party, to complete in order to apply for a travel authorization. Once you enter the required biographic, travel, and payment information on the secure Web site, your application is processed by the system to determine if you are eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program without a visa. The system will provide you with an automated response, and prior to boarding, a carrier will electronically verify with the United States Customs and Border Protection that you have an approved travel authorization on file.
The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is an automated system used to determine the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and whether such travel poses any law enforcement or security risk.
ESTA approval authorizes a traveler to board a carrier for travel to the United States under the VWP. Private carriers must be a signatory visa waiver program carrier. See list of Signatory Carriers. CBP recommends that you apply for ESTA at the time you book your travel, but no less than 72 hours prior to boarding.
ESTA is not a visa. It does not meet the legal requirements to serve in lieu of a U.S. visa when a visa is required. Travelers that possess a valid U.S. visa may travel to the United States on that visa for the purpose it was issued. Travelers traveling on valid visas are not required to apply for an ESTA. In the same way that a valid visa does not guarantee admission to the United States, an approved ESTA is not a guarantee of admission to the United States.
ESTA became mandatory January 12, 2009. VWP applicants are required to complete a blue Customs declaration upon arrival in the U.S. whether or not they have an ESTA authorization. VWP travelers are no longer required to complete the green I-94W card.
Approved ESTA applications are valid for a period of two years, or until the passport expires, whichever comes first, and multiple trips to the United States without the traveler having to re-apply for another ESTA. When traveling to the U.S. with the approved ESTA, you may only stay for up to 90 days at a time - and there should be a reasonable amount of time between visits so that the CBP Officer does not think you are trying to live here. There is no set requirement for how long you must wait between visits.
Orleans Saints Ladies T New Travelers whose ESTA applications are approved, but whose passports will expire in less than two years, will receive an ESTA valid until the passport's expiration date.
A new ESTA authorization is required if:
DHS recommends that you apply for ESTA authorization as soon as you know you will be traveling to the United States under the VWP. If your ESTA expires while in the U.S., it will not affect your departure.
Beginning September 8, 2010, there is a fee required by the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (Section 9 of the United States Capitol Police Administrative Technical Corrections Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-145). The fee is comprised of two parts:
CBP is not responsible for any third party fees for the transaction.
Note: It is important to PRINT a copy of the document for your records. The printout is not required upon arrival into the United States, as the officers have the information electronically.
An approved travel authorization is not a visa. It does not meet the legal or regulatory requirements to serve in lieu of a United States visa when a visa is required under United States law. Individuals who possess a valid visa will still be able to travel to the United States on that visa for the purpose for which it was issued. Individuals traveling on valid visas are not required to apply for a travel authorization.
The "Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007" (9/11 Act) amended Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), requiring that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implement an electronic travel authorization system and other measures to enhance the security of the Visa Waiver Program. ESTA adds another layer of security that allows DHS to determine, in advance of travel, whether an individual is eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program and whether such travel poses a law enforcement or security risk.
The estimated average time to complete this application is 23 minutes.
Yes. This Web site is operated by the United States Government and employs technology to prevent unauthorized access to the information you enter and view. Additionally, this Web site operates under the rules and regulations as specified by the United States Privacy Act and this Privacy Statement to insure the privacy of your information.
ESTA application data remains active for the period of time that the approved ESTA is valid, which is generally two years, or until the traveler's passport expires, whichever comes first. DHS will then maintain this information for an additional year after which it will be archived for twelve years to allow retrieval of the information for law enforcement, national security, or investigatory purposes. Once the information is archived, the number of officials with access to it will be further limited. This retention is consistent both with CBP's border search authority and with the border security mission mandated for CBP by Congress. Data linked to active law enforcement lookout records, CBP matches to enforcement activities, and/or investigations or cases, including applications for ESTA that are denied, will remain accessible for the life of the law enforcement activities to which they are related.
DHS has transitioned to a paperless I-94W, therefore the ESTA application data will replace the data that is collected through the paper I-94W. In those instances where ESTA application data is used in lieu of the information collected through the paper I-94W, the ESTA application data will be maintained in accordance with the retention schedule for the I-94W, 75 years.


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Dolphins may call each other by name
SARASOTA, Fla., March 8 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists studying the clicks, whistles and whines of dolphins talking to each other say the creatures may be calling each other by name.
One dolphin can call to another specific dolphin by mimicking the unique sounds of that other dolphin, they said.
"These whistles actually turned out to be names," researcher Randall Wells told CNN. "They're abstract names, which is unheard of in the animal kingdom beyond people."
Wells, of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program in Florida, worked with U.S. colleagues and scientists from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in a study of what they call "vocal copying" in dolphins.
"Each dolphin produces its own unique signature whistle that describes its individual identity," the researchers said in a University of St. Andrews release. "The new study suggests that in fact dolphins are mimicking those they are close to and want to see again."
Dolphins that were familiar with each other for a significant amount of time would mimic the whistle of another in that group when they were separated, the researchers said.
"The fact that animals are producing whistle copies when they are separated from a close associate supports the idea that dolphins copy another animal's signature whistle when they want to reunite with that specific individual," St. Andrews researcher Stephanie King said in the release.
That ability puts dolphins' communication abilities closer to humans' than any other species, the researchers said.
Space station to watch for Earth disasters
MOSCOW, March 8 (UPI) -- A new crew for the International Space Station will install equipment to monitor Earth's atmosphere and forecast natural disasters, a Russian cosmonaut says.
The crew will lift off from the Baikonur space center March 28 abroad a Soyuz-TMA-08M carrier rocket, ISS-36 Crew Commander Pavel Vinogradov told RIA Novosti Thursday.
The new equipment -- a complex system of sensors and antennas designed to study the plasma/wave processes in the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere -- will be installed on the outer surface of the station's Russian segment during one of the four spacewalks, he said.
It is intended to "eventually benefit mankind by forecasting earthquakes and other natural disasters," Vinogradov said.
A new Russian laboratory module will be docked with the ISS to expand the Russian segment this year, he said, and a research/power module will be added next year.
Budget cuts could hamper nuclear cleanup
HANFORD, Wash., March 8 (UPI) -- Federal spending cuts will slow down the cleanup of radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said.
The nation's largest environmental cleanup project is being carried out at the site of the largest U.S. plutonium production plant, which produced plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal from World War II until most of its reactors were shut down between 1964 and 1971.
Inslee visited the site in south-central Washington, where six newly leaking tanks of radioactive waste were recently confirmed.
The visit came as federal officials warned of layoffs from budget cuts affecting the Department of Energy.
"I'm very disturbed that at the very month that we have six new leaking tanks of radioactive material, the sequestration hits, which could result in the furlough of several thousand people," Inslee told The New York Times.
As many as 4,800 workers out of Hanford's 9,000-member cleanup work force, mostly employed by private contractors, could face layoffs beginning April 1, Department of Energy officials said.
Of about 56 million gallons' worth of radioactive waste created during Hanford's working lifetime, around 1 million gallons is believed to have leaked over time from storage tanks at the 586-square-mile site, necessitating the giant cleanup effort.
Inslee said the reduction in federal spending will "slow down this process, which we have been waiting decades to get done," and will make the cleanup more expensive for taxpayers in the long run.
Weekend could provide comet viewing
PASADENA, Calif., March 8 (UPI) -- A comet may become visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere starting late Friday and may be brighter in the following days, astronomers say.
The comet dubbed C/2011 L4 Pan-STARRS was discovered in June 2011 by the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii when it was hundreds of millions of miles from Earth.
As the comet brightens with the passage of day, next Tuesday and Wednesday could be the best viewing opportunity, astronomers said, and sky watchers should look in a western direction after sunset as the comet will share the sky with a thin crescent moon.
"There is a catch to viewing Comet Pan-STARRS," Amy Mainzer, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement Thursday. "This one is not that bright and is going to be low on the western horizon, so you'll need a relatively unobstructed view to the southwest at twilight and, of course, some good comet-watching weather."
Scientists said they believe the comet is non-periodic, meaning this could be the first time it has passed through the inner solar system.
The head of the comet is estimated to be 12-18 miles in diameter but the gas and dust streaming from the comet as it gets close to the sun could stretch for more 600,000 miles.


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Every rock star knows enough to acknowledge the little people who made it happen. Mary Lee is no different, all 3,000 teeth of her.
A year ago almost to the date, the great white shark arrived just past the Isle of Palms breakers, with a newly attached tracking device. A Web alert among surfers morphed into a social media pop trend of thousands tracking her every move, and made her a household name.
Now she is back for a star turn, just about where it all started. A little before 10 p.m. Tuesday, her satellite tag pinged off Pine Island in St. Helena Sound. She has spent the last week or two out there, apparently feasting on red drum.
And she just might have a titillating tidbit for her fans — "We're guessing she's gestating," said Chris Fischer.
Yep, Mary Lee could soon be Mama Lee, her migrating pattern suggests. If she is, some 10-14 pups will emerge next spring, each a 4-foot-long, fully self-sufficient great white shark.
Fischer is the founder of Ocearch, a research nonprofit that has tagged her among a few dozen other sharks to learn more about the little-known habits and haunts of the creatures.
It's … um … problematic to say just how big Mary Lee is anymore. She was 16 feet long and 3,456 pounds when she was tagged in Cape Cod in September 2012. Since then she has foraged the East Coast and deep ocean as far as Bermuda.
It's a lot easier to say how she achieved her rock star status: We did it.
"In the Southeast, when you say Mary Lee, they know who you are talking about. You don't even have to add 'shark,'" Fischer said.
Ocearch was focused on science and conservation when Mary Lee turned into a social media darling. It caught the researchers flatfooted, Fischer says frankly. "We didn't expect the public engagement."
But it very likely saved the research program, attracting corporate funders like Caterpillar, Costa and Landry's, he said. Ocearch now has expanded to include educational materials for young students.
And weirdly, Mary Lee's fame has gone a long way to accomplishing one of the chief research goals. The public embrace of a shark with maybe the most sinister reputation among shark species "is a real breakthrough for the great white in terms of perception," he said.
Great whites are the notorious "villain" of Great Coral Reef shark attacks in Australia, as well as surfer and paddler attacks off the West Coast.
They aren't strangers to the Lowcountry, found occasionally off the Charleston jetties among other places. But unlike the West Coast, where surfers and paddlers resemble that area's sea lions, "We're not something that sharks consider a prey item," said Mel Bell, S.C. Department of Natural Resources fisheries director when asked earlier about Mary Lee.
Here the great white is one more mysterious, mammoth sea creature that leaves onlookers in awe. The new awareness and interest will even find its way to the state Legislature in January. Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, is pre-filing legislation to make it illegal under state law to catch and take a great white, the way it is under federal law.
"Mary Lee is obviously a Carolina Girl. I think they are a magnificent fish," Limehouse said.
"This is the first time we have been able to watch and track a great white like this to see what enfolds, and you're tracking with us," Fischer said. "Carolinians have really shown the rest of the world how to participate in a project like this."
As for Mary Lee, "she clearly loves the Carolinas," Fischer said. She has set off the bulk of her pings around here since her tagging. This time of year, she apparently joins any number of other shark species at the mouth of inlets to feed on drum making their way offshore.
"We expected the Atlantic sharks to go south (after Cape Cod tagging). But we expected to find them in the deep ocean. We didn't expect how coastal they would be," Fischer said. "One thing that really surprised us all, your area of the country is a critical part of the shark's life."
Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744, @bopete on twitter or Bo Petersen Reporting on Facebook.


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62 months agoI recently downloaded this game from the Mac App store. So did my sister. This evening, in fact.
Neither of us can figure out how to play a Skirmish against each other. Is there a FAQ somewhere with a tutorial?
Tyler_Durton8d0 wrote:This still seems to be a problem een with my WIN10 PRO nno firewall at all just the new zeta clear CONNECTION TO isp


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Good news: HughesNet high speed satellite internet is now available in Oskaloosa IA.
With download speeds up to15 MB/s and maintaining speeds on average that's 5x times faster than an average DSL connection, you can surf the web faster than ever. Stream movies, upload photos, and keep up with family and friends on Facebook faster than ever with HughesNet's high speed broadband service!
Listen, having high speed internet access should cost a lot of money, especially if you live in an area that lacks cable or fiber internet providers. HughesNet is a spectacular high speed broadband option and it is available anywhere, even when cable and DSL aren't. Matter of fact, HughesNet is the lowest priced high speed satellite internet provider in the US, with pricing starting at 39.99 a month. On top of that, there are no activation fees and free standard installation. We will set up everything with a highly-trained technician so that you can be up and surfing the internet as fast as your new connection will allow. You won't get that with other internet providers!
HughesNet has been in the business of satellite internet for 40 years and is a proven leader in the broadband internet industry. They are also the leader in the satellite internet market with well over 2.5 Million active systems.
You don't have to be stuck with slow and unreliable internet connections in Oskaloosa, IA. Upgrade to HughesNet by calling 1-877-467-1621 to receive faster internet today. If you act now, you can save $10 a month on the Connect or Power plans. If you're looking for TV services as well, bundle HughesNet satellite internet and DIRECTV together and receive an additional $50 back!


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You really can get your family into your fitness routine and even excited about the idea of exercise and health. How? Imitation plays a huge part in how kids understand the world around them a one-year-old can start walking after watching her father stroll around the house; a toddler can learn to talk by listening to his mother on the phone.
As the primary role models in their child's life, parents have an enormous impact on how kids view exercise, fitness and nutrition, and the example they set is often for life. Unfortunately, adults who had negative experiences with exercise, health and fitness during their own childhoods (such as being picked last for their school sports team) frequently pass that unhealthy example onto their own kids, creating a cycle of fitness apathy that's hard to break. If this precedent of lack of exercise and fitness has been set, it can be overcome with a few changes to your family's health mindset and routine.
Here are a few easy ways to help make an increase in kids exercise, family health and fitness happen.
What's stopping your family's fitness and exercise?
Aside from a fundamental unwillingness to start exercising or a fitness, being short on time and not having the motivation are the two major barriers to families and kids adopting a healthier lifestyle.
No free time for fitness and exercise
Let's face it. Life in these modern times is busy, and fitting fitness, a healthy diet and an exercise routine into a packed schedule of work, friends and family commitments can be something of a juggling act for adults - before they try to set a healthy example for their kids. If you're pushed for time, learn ways of multitasking to work in regular exercise and fitness.
No motivation for fitness and exercise
One of the biggest contributors to fitness and exercise apathy is a cultural shift towards sedentary behaviour as technology progresses. A recent Australian government study showed that a large portion of families are living largely sedentary lifestyles, watching TV or playing video games on weekends instead of getting exercise through outdoor sports. So how can we motivate kids (and each other) to swap the PlayStation for a pair of runners and a bit of fitness?
Tips to get off the couch and exercise
If you aim to start a gradual introduction of fitness and exercise to get your kids moving - family members may not even realise the healthy changes you're making. Introduce kids to exercise by taking 'long cuts', such as leaving the car in the garage and sneaking in fitness through walking to school, the shops or the train station. Allow for time to walk to destinations, as it's great for bonding as well as health' you and your kids can chat and listen without interruption. Increase your activity levels, disguising the effort factor by making it fun. Play healthy games and organise fitness-based outings, such as a family bike ride, rather than sitting on the couch and watching a movie.
Use family exercise and fitness as a reward
Provide gifts that encourage activity and fitness in kids, like a skateboard, bike or hula hoop. Treat your kids to a trip to the local park instead of to an unhealthy fast-food restaurant. Remember that participating in sports without the competition factor is more enjoyable for younger kids and gets them exercising. Be aware of how you communicate about body image, fitness and exercise so that your message is a positive one.
Make exercise fun for the whole family
Kids are going to struggle with fitness if they aren't enjoying the exercise they're doing. Why not check out fun sports teams and lessons near you?
Here are some other age-appropriate exercises that will encourage the whole family to get moving.
Ages 1-5: Buy active play equipment, such as tricycles and balls. Arrange daily outings to a playground that has climbing equipment for exercise. Enrol in weekly swimming lessons and let your children walk to build up fitness rather than always sitting in a pram.
Ages 6-11: Encourage kid activities such as swimming, bike and scooter riding, Frisbee, bowling, bat and ball, kite flying and trampolining for easy fitness. Organise family fun excursions to the beach, park, rock climbing centre or ice-skating rink for some fun exercise.
Ages 12-18: Support active interests in fitness, such as bike riding, skateboarding and surfing. Encourage your children into extra exercise, like walking to the bus stop and local shops or playing competitive sports on the weekends, such as netball, soccer or rugby.
Ages 19-55: Join a gym, go to Pump or Pilates classes, train for a fun run or get friends together for a weekly game of football or tennis for exercise. Book active holidays rather than trips where you end up lying under a beach umbrella. Try social outings that have a fitness base, like a 'walk and talk' for mums (instead of coffee and cake) or touch footy for dads (instead of beer at the pub).
Ages 55+: Continue doing incidental exercise, such as housework, gardening and walking, but keep exercise fun and social by joining gym classes or Tai Chi, line dancing, aqua fitness, or playing golf and bowls with friends.


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Ourense ō-o͞orān´sā [key], formerly Orense ōrān´sā [key], city (1990 pop. 109,283), capital of Ourense prov., NW Spain, in Galicia, on the Miño River. It is the center of an agricultural region with extensive vineyards. There are some light industries. A Roman settlement, it reached its greatest importance as the capital of the kings of the Suebi (5th–6th cent.). It has a fine 12th-century bridge and a Gothic cathedral, frequently restored. There are hot sulfur springs, known since Roman times.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Spanish and Portuguese Political Geography


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HP Q4 in Line With Pre-announcement; Repeats Guidance
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) this afternoon reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Oct. 31 that were just as advertised in their pre-announcement last week.
As forecast, the company posted revenue of $33.6 billion in the quarter, with profits of $1.03 a share. The company said revenue ex-EDS grew five percent, or two percent adjusted for currency. Not exactly a huge growth story, and some sectors shrank. Notebook revenue grew 21 percent, but desktop revenue declined two percent. Revenue for the printer group fell one percent, as commercial hardware revenue fell 10 percent and consumer hardware revenue fell 21 percent. Printer units were down eight percent. But operating margins for the group increased to 15.5 percent, from 14.5 percent, which translated into an operating profit increase to $1.2 billion, from $1.1 billion.
Read the rest of this post


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Monthly Archives: May 2012
The Nooner #25: Phillies Phun
So we're heading to Busch Stadium tonight for the Cardinals' tilt against the Philadelphia Phillies. The last time I saw the Phillies play in St. Louis, it was Game 4 of the 2011 Division Series. As you may remember, that's when this happened:
It was an epic night in St. Louis Cardinals lore. That was actually the second time the squirrel had run across the field; the first was the night before in Game 3 but his route wasn't nearly as disruptive to the flow of that game. At the time, knowing the Cards had to go back to Philly and win Game 5 just to advance, we wondered if this early appearance of what would soon be coined the "Rally Squirrel" was the most exciting thing we'd see during the 2011 postseason. Of course, we were proven naïve in the following weeks.
Fast-forward to last night, the first meeting at Busch between the clubs since. By now you probably know that this happened:
Again, it's the Phillies. Again, it was the first night of the series at Busch. And again, I will be there for the second night. I fully expect to see a naked person charge toward the plate while Skip Schumaker stands in the batter's box. It's destiny. Especially since I have all these "You still need four balls to get a walk" jokes ready for tomorrow.


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Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week - No. 4
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Karlee Coffey of Eastern Oregon has been named the NAIA National Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week, the national office announced Wednesday. Coffey was selected based on her performance from Sept. 24 - 30 and was chosen out of a pool of conference/independent runner of the week selections.
Coffey, a senior from La Grande, Ore., finished with Eastern Oregon's fastest 5,000-meter time in history. Her clocking of 17:17 at the Charles Bowles XC Willamette Invitational (Ore.) earned her a second-place finish. She also broke her personal record by 16 seconds and ended up just four seconds behind the individual medalist. She was the top collegian since the No. 1 finisher was an "unattached" runner.
For complete results of the Charles Bowles XC Willamette Invitational, click here.
For the complete NAIA Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week calendar, click here.
Nominees: Jessica Davis, Texas Wesleyan; Lauren Jaqua, Baker (Kan.); Beth Heldmeyer, Siena Heights (Mich.); Hannah Helker, Oklahoma Baptist; Darcy Mascotti, Cumberlands (Ky.); Katie Lahmann, Indiana East; Courtney Rouse, Illinois Tech; Brielle Lund, Tabor (Kan.); Aspen Frey, McPherson (Kan.); Ally Manley, Northwest Christian (Ore.); Hillary Holt, College of Idaho; Julia Montgomery, Columbia (Mo.); Kelsey Klettke, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho); Sydnee Nelson, Southwestern (Kan.); Tayler Godar, Georgetown (Ky.); Kelsee VanderBaan, Davenport (Mich.); Chelsea Fullerton, Ottawa (Kan.); Jessie Rozario, Southern Oregon; Cherie Gaines, Indiana Tech; Makenzie Patten, Milligan (Tenn.); Liz Mosbach, Mount Mercy (Iowa); Melissa Carder, South Carolina Beaufort; Bianca Kubicki, Madonna (Mich.); Brittany Aikens, Brenau (Ga.); Sara Howard, Oregon Tech; Elaine Schmeltz, Taylor (Ind.); No Nomination, Embry-Riddle (Fla.); Abby Baker, William Woods (Mo.); Kelsea Hendrix, Blue Mountain (Miss.); Kristen Garwood, Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.); Lauren Nygren, Webber International (Fla.); Moriah Blanford, Warner (Fla.); Lindsey McDonald, Park (Mo.); Angel Gaesser, Indiana Wesleyan; Amanda Buhr, Missouri Valley; Hilary Halford, St. Francis (Ill.); Robbiccaa Williams, Tennessee Wesleyan; Brittany Young, Dickinson State (N.D.); Brittni Kent, Science & Arts (Okla.); Kim Miller, Asbury (Ky.); Linsie Michels, Concordia (Ore.); Victoria Yates, Bryan (Tenn.); Ashley Shares, Saint Xavier (Ill.); Jena Schwalenberg, Concordia (Neb.); Sharon Ronoh, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.); Brianna Blunt, Tougaloo (Miss.); Kaylee Fly, Mount Marty (S.D.); Whitney Dooley, Midland (Neb.).
2012 NAIA Women's Cross Country Runners of the Week
Week 1 (Sept. 12): Hannah Helker, Oklahoma Baptist
Week 2 (Sept. 19): Sarah Kortze, Concordia (Neb.)
Week 3 (Sept. 25): Hillary Holt, College of Idaho
Week 4 (Oct. 3): Karlee Coffey, Eastern Oregon


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The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is weighing whether it should take on a role in helping Americans manage the $19.4 trillion they have put into retirement savings, a move that would be the agency's first foray into consumer investments.
"That's one of the things we've been exploring and are interested in in terms of whether and what authority we have," bureau director Richard Cordray said in an interview. He didn't provide additional details.
The bureau's core concern is that many Americans, notably those from the retiring Baby Boom generation, may fall prey to financial scams, according to three people briefed on the CFPB's deliberations who asked not to be named because the matter is still under discussion.
The retirement savings business in the U.S. is dominated by a group of companies that handle record-keeping and management of investments in tax-advantaged vehicles like 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts. The group includes Fidelity Investments, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (TROW) Americans held $19.4 trillion in retirement assets as of Sept. 30, 2012, according to the Investment Company Institute, an industry association; about $3.5 trillion of that was in 401(k) plans.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Labor are the main regulators of U.S. retirement savings vehicles and funds. However, the consumer bureau -- established by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act -- sees itself as a potential catalyst for promoting a coherent policy across the government, the people said.
Rollover 'Moment'
With large numbers of Americans heading toward retirement in the coming decade, the CFPB has referred internally to this concept as "the rollover moment," the people said.
Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, a research group that promotes free markets, said that while Dodd-Frank didn't specifically give the consumer bureau jurisdiction over investments, it could step in if the other agencies don't.
"I could imagine the CFPB growing into a role on investment savings if it seems like the SEC is asleep at the wheel," Calabria said in an interview.
The bureau could claim jurisdiction through its Office for Older Americans, which was established by Dodd-Frank with a mandate to improve financial literacy. It is run by Hubert H. Humphrey III, the former attorney general of Minnesota.
The retirement savings industry generally has little to do with the CFPB because the SEC is the main investment regulator, said Ianthe Zabel, an ICI spokeswoman. She declined further comment on the CFPB plans.
Credit Products
The agency officially began work in July 2011 and has focused much of its attention so far on consumer credit products, including credit cards and mortgages. In coming months, the agency is expected to turn their focus to short-term credit products including prepaid debit cards, bank overdraft fees and payday lending.
Longer-term, in addition to focusing on retirement savings, the bureau is studying mobile payments and the plight of Americans whose credit was damaged during the financial crisis, a group officials refer to as "the new subprime."
"It may be because of things they did and it may just be because they suffered," Cordray said in the interview. "You know if you lose your home because the rest of your block is foreclosed on, your credit history is affected."
(Bloomberg News)