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The city of Minneapolis has launched a mobile app for reporting non-emergency service issues that uses Open311 standards to automate tasks now handled in labor-intensive call centers.
The Open311 project provides a standard protocol for linking location-based information to existing municipal 311. Read more.
The free app from SeeClickFix lets users of iPhones, Android phones and BlackBerry devices report problems that otherwise would have to be called in to the city's 311 call center or reported through a Web site.
The application not only can gather more information than other reporting methods, such as photos and location coordinates, but by working through a cloud service hosted by KANA Software, the information can be routed automatically to the department and crews responsible for responding.
311 is a short dialing code reserved for non-emergency municipal services, although not all cities offer the service. It is analogous to 911, which is used nationally for emergency services such as police, fire and ambulance.
The goal of the program, launched in July, was to provide more options for citizens without adding to the city's workload in processing reports, said Minneapolis 311 Director Don Stickney. "The use of smart devices seems to be almost doubling on an annual basis" based on the number of mobile hits from smart devices on the city's 311 website, Stickney said. "As we see our customers shifting channels, we wanted to open up for more mobility."
But he did not want to simply add to the 2,400 311 calls the city already received each day. He wanted to handle the reports differently and bypass the call center. "We wanted the mobile app to do the 'me thing' the customer service rep does," he said.
This is done by using richer data in a standardized format so that it can be integrated directly into the existing 311 service back end, bypassing the people at the front end. By using a cloud-based Open311 service from the vendor that already is providing the city's 311 technology, Minneapolis was able to do that without large capital expenditures for hardware or software.
Overall, 311 is not an expensive service for Minneapolis, and might even be a money-saver. Startup costs for the initial system in 2004 was $6.3 million, which came from a combination of city and federal funds. Operation is intended to be "budget neutral," with each city department funding its share of the costs through its existing budget. Because the system can help identify problems and address them early, some cities have reported that they have seen cost savings through 311.
"Minneapolis is a very sophisticated customer," said David Moody, KANA's vice president of product marketing.
It opted to work with SeeClickFix to develop a city-specific Open311 application, although non-specific apps also are available that will direct reports to the appropriate city office based on location of the problem being reported. The advantage of Open311 is that cities, citizens and vendors are not tied to proprietary tools to access these services. "It's not about one mobile app for one city," Moody said. "It supports multiple apps for multiple platforms."
Although 311 calls do not have the urgency of 911 calls, they present their own challenges. "For anybody offering 311, they are taking responsibility for handling calls for every department in the city," he said. There can be dozens of departments handling complaints about potholes, graffiti, parking violations and water leaks, and each complaint has to be assessed and routed to the right people in the right department.
This requires knowledge management that has been difficult to automate using regular customer relationship management tools, Moody said. "The devil is in the details."
Not only are there more types of problems to resolve than in the typical CRM system, there are more departments handling them than in most corporate environments. And with 311 services, "it's all about location," Moody said. People, the main focus for CRM applications, are secondary in 311 service.
One of the players in the 311 niche market was Lagan Technologies, which was acquired by KANA in 2010. Lagan had been providing 311 services facilities for Minneapolis since 2006. The Lagan application resides on hardware in two data centers — a primary and a backup — run by Unisys Corp. Human beings have to answer the phones, ask questions and evaluate information submitted through the website to route requests.
For 18 months, KANA has been offering Open311 as an option for its customers, providing a cloud service with an application programming interface that third-party apps can use to access capabilities. The app accepts photos taken by the device as well as GPS coordinates if available and prompts the user for basic information about the problem being reported. The data is sent to the cloud, where the Open311 software queries the user for additional information needed to route the report. The cloud software is integrated with the city's 311 back end so that the report can be sent to the proper department and crews with the proper priority without going through the call center.
Users also get a tracking number so they can follow the resolution of the problem, and lists of problems reported through Open311 can be accessed online so that citizens can follow the reports and their city's responses.
Minneapolis wanted to take advantage of this capability when bringing mobile devices into its 311 system, 311 Director Stickney said. "We wanted to make sure whatever we did was compatible with Open311."
Rather than use a generic app that could be adopted by any city, Minneapolis went to SeeClickFix in January to develop an app that could evolve to meet the city's specific needs. "It took some effort to find it and make it work the way we wanted it too," Stickney said. "It was a learning experience for everybody, but it worked out well." The app was delivered on time and on budget for launching in July.
The current app is not a finished product and is expected to evolve. It currently addresses 10 types of common problems, and additional categories are expected to be added by winter to address seasonal problems such as snow and ice on roads and sidewalks. Future developments will depend on demand, Stickney said. "We are open to how the customers say they want to use this."
Minneapolis is not the first city to use Open311. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., were among the earliest adopters, releasing APIs to developers in 2010. Washington announced the release of a SeeClickFix app in 2011, and a handful of tools are available for San Francisco, including several different apps for Androids, BlackBerrys, iPhones, Facebook and the HeyGov! Web portal.
About the Author
William Jackson is a Maryland-based freelance writer.
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Ask the Captain: Advice for prospective pilots (part 2)
Question: Some high-ranking officials in European airlines have recently said that the pilot shortage is false and that the market is overwhelmed with pilots. In Asia, the pilot market is dominated by pay-to-fly pilots who are trying to get the required hours in order to get a job at an airline in their country. What is your prediction on the pilot demand/pilot shortage? Would you recommend this profession to an 18-24 year old?
— submitted by reader Marius, Florida (in pilot training)
Answer: Respectfully, I disagree with anyone saying there is not a pilot shortage looming or already underway. My experience is that operators around the world are undergoing increasing challenges finding qualified and experienced flight-crew members.
ASK THE CAPTAIN:So you want to be an airline pilot?
ASK THE CAPTAIN:Is this a good time to become an airline pilot?
Your example in Asia is interesting, and I believe it does occur; however the majority of entry-level pilots are finding positions to build experience. Underlying your statement is the intense desire of some airlines to utilize pilots from their own country. This is proving difficult in some parts of the world.
My prediction is that pilots will be in increasing demand in the next few years. The aviation industry continues to grow, there are a significant number of retiring pilots and there are new operators flying. Each of these points to the need for more pilots; combined, they're very likely to generate opportunity for new hires.
ASK THE CAPTAIN:What do pilots do during down time?
ASK THE CAPTAIN:Are regional airlines safe as mainline carriers?
My advice to pilots entering the profession:
• Study hard. You will need all the knowledge you can get.
• Work hard. It is not an easy career path, but it is one of the most rewarding.
• Learn from the experienced veterans. They have great knowledge, and built the current level of safety.
• Blend the need to use the airplane's computer with airmanship. Remember it is an airplane with computers, not a computer with wings.
• Be patient. Good pilot jobs may take time.
Would I recommend the piloting profession to 18-24 year olds? Yes! If your dream is to be a pilot, then go for it. If you are only interested in the days off, the travel and the illusion that it is an easy job, then it may not be right for you. Being a professional pilot is a very demanding profession. The rewards are great, but the price is high. For some, the dream makes piloting the only career option and they will understand the benefits and challenges. Others, viewing it as only a salaried position with good days off, will be disappointed.
John Cox is a retired airline captain with U.S. Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems.

subset: commoncrawl


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How to Work with Siri on Your iPhone 5
Siri allows you to control your iPhone 5 with just your voice — no memorizing strict commands or talking artificially. The more you use Siri, the more she'll impress you.
How to set up Siri
Siri is smart, but she's not psychic. Providing some information about yourself will help her carry out commands, like Call my office.
To use Siri, your iPhone must have a 3G/4G or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet.
Follow these steps:
Open Settings.
From the Home screen, tap the Settings icon.
Tap General.
Tap Siri.
Settings displays the Siri screen.
Tap Language.
Tap the language you'll speak to Siri.
Tap Voice Feedback.
Tap Siri's feedback style.
You always get onscreen text confirmation, no matter what setting you choose here. Choose Always to allow Siri to respond through your iPhone's speaker as well.
By default, Siri responds to you with spoken confirmation only if you're using a Bluetooth headset or Apple earphones, or if you hold your iPhone to your ear.
Type your home and work contact information.
Specify your relationships.
Siri asks for this data the first time it appears in a command. For example, if you ask Siri to Call my father, she will ask you to identify your father in your Contacts list before placing the call. Adding your information now helps Siri know who's who.
Tap Raise to Speak.
Here's where you say whether Siri should respond when you raise your iPhone to your ear. Setting this option to On means Siri is ready to accept commands when you raise your phone to your ear.
You can always invoke Siri by pressing and holding your iPhone's Home button.
Tap the Home button to exit Settings.
Bring the genie out of the iPhone
You can wake Siri a couple of ways, depending on your setup.
Press and hold the Home button.
If you turned on Raise to Speak, bring the iPhone to your ear. (The Raise to Speak feature works only if your iPhone's screen isn't blank. If the screen is blank, press the Home button first and then raise the phone to your ear.)
On your Apple earphones and remote, press and hold the center button to summon Siri. On a Bluetooth headset, press and hold the Call button.
Siri responds with two short beeps. "What can I help you with?" appears on your screen. This is your cue to begin speaking.
Ask her for what you want.
As you speak, the Microphone button onscreen shows the relative volume of your voice, which is often a problem in an extremely noisy environment.
When you're done, stop talking or tap the Microphone button.
Tapping the button is faster because Siri doesn't have to wait for a pause.
Your commands appear onscreen, and Siri may ask for additional information if necessary.
Tap the Microphone button to respond to any questions Siri asks.
If your command involves the display of information or running of an app, you'll see the result onscreen. It typically shows up as a request for confirmation.
Tap the information or the app to make it full-screen.
Need to cancel a command? Say Cancel or tap either the Microphone or the Home button.
How to give Siri commands
You deliver commands to Siri in a conversational style, and at the normal volume you use when talking to someone during a phone call.
If Siri misunderstands what you've said (often because of background noise), tap the Microphone icon and say No, I want . . . or No, I meant. . . .
After you've invoked Siri, what should you request? You can always display a list of example commands — just ask Siri What can you do? Commands are essentially free-form, here are some common commands:
Call name places a phone call. Don't say name, though. Say the name of someone who's in your contacts. If the contact has multiple phone numbers, mention the number you want to use, as in Call Jesse mobile.
FaceTime name places a FaceTime call.
Reply followed by the text of a reply, when listening to Siri speak the contents of a Mail message.
Send a message to name. The Messages app prepares a text message. Siri asks you for the message you want to send.
How do I get home from here? You can get directions to your home from your current location.
Is there a Chinese (Indian, vegan) restaurant close by? You can get a specific restaurant near your current location.
What does the weather look like tomorrow? The Weather app shows tomorrow's temperatures.
What are the showtimes for Casablanca (The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars)? Get showtimes for that movie at theaters close to your current location.
What's the score for the Cardinals (Bears, Red Wings)? You can hear the current score for a game.
Set up a meeting at time and date. Set up a Calendar event at the day and time you say. Commands can have multiple criteria as well, like Set up a meeting with Mark at his office at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
Play smooth jazz (Lyle Lovett, "Beethoven's Fifth"). Music fills the air.
Tell me a joke. Yep, this is a favorite of mine! Some of the selections, however, are pretty corny.


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Stay away from the Material Girl's home.
That's the message a New York City judge told Madonna fan Robert Linhart in court yesterday, The Associated Press reported. The judge said that Linhart must stay at least 10 blocks away from the singer's home as he set $20,000 bail for the retired firefighter, who was arrested last month.
Authorities said Linhart wrote messages that said "Crazy for You" and "Material Girl" outside of Madonna's apartment building near Central Park. They also said he had a knife and ice pick on him.
Linhart, 59, pleaded not guilty yesterday for resisting arrest and possessing weapons. His lawyer said that the messages were just signs of being a fan.
Selected Reading: The Associated Press


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In a lacrosse, a top-notch faceoff specialist a prized possession
A big SWC boys lacrosse game, with fast breaks and cannon-fire shots, began earlier this month with two players crouched and still, huddled over the ball at the center of the field.
Nick Capriglione of New Milford and Liam Murphy of Barlow waited, their sticks parallel to the center line with the heads opposite the ball. According to statistics online, they're two of the best high school faceoff men in the state.
The referee blew his whistle to set them in action. He blew it again just as quickly. "Black," he yelled; he saw an infraction against New Milford and gave the ball to Barlow.
Capriglione jogged off the field. He was done for the moment, but his day had just begun.
In a sport that prizes possession, lacrosse players and coaches see the faceoff as a major factor. When Fairfield Prep stunned Greenwich earlier this year, the Cardinals' Michael Sullivan was credited with keeping them in it with a run of faceoff wins that led to goals.
"The `Moneyball' guys don't prove any of it," said Yale assistant coach Graham Niemi, who coaches the Bulldogs' faceoff crew. "The `Moneyball' guys say the faceoff position has very, very little impact on a team's success or failure. Maybe it's more of a mental thing for us, but we feel it has a huge impact on your success."
Three men on each side battle for the ball after goals and to start most quarters while the other two-thirds of their teammates are pinned to one end of the field.
One player a side battles at the `X' at the sound of the whistle while wings charge in from both sides.
Once one team has possession, some of those players will stick around, like Murphy at midfield for the Falcons. Some, like Capriglione, are pure specialists.
"It's become such a specialized thing," longtime Fairfield Prep coach Chris Smalkais said.
"I think back: We used to joke, FOGO: `face off, get off.' Now FOGO is a much-revered position."
Andy Towers, a standout at New Canaan before a pro career that led him to coach at Dartmouth, sees that at the college level, too. He said a program can be in trouble if it doesn't have someone to take faceoffs in, say, three of every four classes.
"All you've got to do is look at last year's (NCAA) national championship and see the job Brendan Fowler did against Syracuse," Towers said. "Clearly more and more coaches understand that factor and are putting a lot more focus into that aspect of the game."
Fowler was the Most Outstanding Player of that game for Duke, beating six different Orangemen 20 times out of 28. The Blue Devils won 16-10.
Chess and chemistry
"There's no shot clock, so possession's very, very important," Smalkais said. "If you're efficient offensively you can have two-, three-minute possessions."
In 12-minute quarters in high school, that's a big chunk of time. Plus, as Niemi said, that possession time takes pressure off a team's defense.
In that New Milford-Barlow game, the Falcons got the ball off the first two faceoffs when Capriglione was called for moving before the whistle. He said Murphy jumped on the third, but the referee didn't catch it. Murphy won the fourth as well, though New Milford got off to a lead.
On the fifth draw, after a standoff at the `X', Capriglione managed to push the loose ball to a teammate. He was on the board.
Faceoffs are part chess match at the `X' -- Towers has compared it to rock-paper-scissors, condensed to basic moves that counter one another -- and part chemistry test for the three teammates engaged in the draw.
"I'm looking for the wing, to see if he's open," Capriglione said. "I've got to go out confidently, thinking I'm going to win. I'm looking to see what (the opponent) does."
Capriglione said assistant coach Bob Herr recruited him after watching him lifting weights and seeing the right skill set. They've done a lot of repetition of technique, and he wants to keep working through the summer.
"We kind of stumbled onto him," Green Wave coach Greg LaCava said. "The coaching staff has worked the last couple of years, and he's excited. He loves his role. He really gets into it."
Though players like Capriglione come to the position late, players like Fairfield Prep's J.P. Masaryk have been at it a while. The senior has been facing off for seven or eight years, working with Chris Eck of the Boston Cannons, a former Fairfield High star before the school split.
Fellow senior Teddy Long was an attackman who moved to midfield and has also faced off for the Jesuits, taking over in one recent game when an opponent ("He was just trying to get people injured," Masaryk said) was outmuscling Masaryk at the `X'. Long took over and settled things down.
They work together before every game, stay after practice to keep working. And they work on their equipment: All that scrumming wreaks havoc on their sticks.
Masaryk said he'll go through 10-15 heads a year. He'll steam them to soften them up while keeping the flex, then shape them the way he wants. Then he'll string them.
"If I paid somebody to string them," he said, "it'd probably be 60 bucks a week."
The head he started with, "it looked like a Ferrari," he joked. "Now, it's an `87 Honda."
Said Long, "It's kind of do-it-yourself when you're out here. Like MacGyver."
Hands the key
Just as the `80s TV hero could save the day with a jury-rigged paper clip and duct tape, it seems a faceoff guy with the right skills and the right training can be constructed from almost anywhere.
"If you were to create a prototype, it'd be a 280-pound wrestler with superfast hands," Niemi said. "But guys have been successful with a long pole. Guys have been successful who are shorter, squatter guys. It's what makes the position unique: You can use so many different people to do it."
The hands are the biggest thing, Towers said. He can run through all kinds of technique, about grips that sacrifice power for hand speed or vice-versa.
"Chris Eck is probably the best faceoff guy in the world," Towers said. "It's his hand speed. He's a great athlete, conditioned, but he wins because of his hand speed."
Smalkais said he has seen a big shift over the past 10 years or so, a shift to a different kind of player, "a linebacker/fullback type." He's not thrilled about it.
"It's an important part of today's game, possessions," Smalkais said. "But it's how we arrive at getting those possessions. You have guys in high school, college, who don't participate in drills. All they do is face off. Are they really lacrosse players?"
Niemi remembers the same thing when he played at Maryland in the mid-1990s, though, and the specialization continues.
"Long Island, Baltimore, there's a faceoff culture," Niemi said. "Guys get together and train. Up here, we don't have that yet. On Long Island, you'll get 100 guys two times a week and all they'll do is face off."
Capriglione's work paid off in the Barlow game. Though the Falcons didn't get the ball often off draws, they scored all four times they did in the final three quarters. But Capriglione won 11 of the last 13 that weren't blown down for a violation.
That helped the Green Wave stymie the defending SWC champions' momentum and rebuild their own leads in a 10-8 win.
"It's kind of like a kicker in football. It's very important," Capriglione said. "It's been kind of underappreciated. But it's very rewarding when you can help lead your team."
email@example.com; http://twitter.com/fornabaioctp; http://blog.connpost.com/fornabaio


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Deployed dads stay connected on Father's Day
SHREVEPORT, La. -- The scene in the Libro living room in Spring Lake, La., could be anywhere in the nation, with mom Diane and 2-year-old daughter Catherine spending time with daddy, Joey Libro, miles away on a business trip.
But in their case daddy's office is a secure site on a remote Philippines island where Libro, a major in the U.S. Air Force at Barksdale Air Force Base, helps coordinate movements of forces advising that nation's military. And he's spending time with his family via Skype and the Internet, as likely thousands of deployed parents airmen working around the world, are doing on Father's Day.
"Catherine is only 2 1/2, so she might not remember this in the future, but in the immediacy of today" will feel the separation, says Libro, an instructor radar-navigator assigned to the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron here, on a seven-month deployment. "Diane tells Catherine, 'Daddy will be home when football starts.' So when football season starts will be a big marker for Catherine, as that's when daddy will be home. We're teaching her good, to look forward to football season."
For the past two Father's Days, Joey Libro was away on shorter trips away to Minot Air Force, N.D.
"This is the first time he's been deployed since we've had Catherine," Diane said. "He loves to read her stories so she doesn't have that. If we run out of milk, I can't run out after she goes to bed. It's that stuff that makes it hard."
A decade ago, soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines didn't have the avenues the Libros use today, tablets with fast Internet and Skype and Facebook. The Airman and Family Readiness Center at Barksdale would have been filled on any given day with people using computers to email or stay in touch with loved ones. Now there's still walk-in use but the access to Internet-capable smart phones and tablets and the incursion of wireless communications and computers into homes has changed that picture entirely.
"We don't get as much foot traffic as we did years ago before the new technology, before Facebook and Skype," said Tech. Sgt. Kimberly Fleming, who works with families at the center.
But the center does see activity on, and interest in, its Facebook page, as well as the services it provides or coordinates for families in deployments, from police patrols and volunteer handy-fixups to outings for children and programs that provide child care to give the at-home parent a break.
"In 2004, we didn't have Facebook and all that stuff," said Maj. Cameron "Lance" Magee, who returned from two weeks of training at Camp Shelby, Miss., just in time for Father's Day. In 2004, he was in Iraq almost two years. "Back then, it was just emails and phone calls. ... Now there's Skype and Facebook and Twitter."
Magee, the father of four children, felt it most the first time around.
"I actually missed my first Father's Day because my son was born in 2004 while I was training at Fort Hood, and the next Father's Day I was in Iraq."
Around that same time, former soldier Jason Marable was with the 2nd Armored Cavalry in Iraq and single, so not being able to call home regularly was not a huge deal.
But the second time he deployed, with the Shreveport National Guard unit, he had a wife, Deanna, and a new son, Connor. His separation from them was followed by almost four years of hospitalizations and away-from-home treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, so there were a lot of missed Father's Days.
"The way I coped with it was knowing I'd be back, knowing they were there and that they loved me," he said. "The last deployment I pretty much called every day and was on Facebook looking at their pictures."
Deanna Marable says Facebook and Skype and Majik-Jack made the separations bearable and the holiday contact special.
"Communication is such a big thing," she said, noting that some spouses can't cope well. "They get angry and upset.
"You know you're not going to hear from them very often, so when you do, be thankful. Don't take it for granted."
Magee cautions that there are risks at home and abroad when posts or photos offer locations, activities or statuses and can be viewed not just by family and friends, but the world.
"There's so much digital information out there, both on the military and civilian side," he said. "We can give away our movements and on civilian side they can also flag themselves as a target with the soldier of the home being gone."
But the ability modern communications offer to stay in daily touch is worth it all, Libro said.
"I can see Catherine grow and all the cute outfits Diane picks for her as she's growing, as we change seasons from winter to spring to summer and fall."


text:
Friday, April 20, 2012
Did You Think I Dropped of The face of The Planet?
Well ....
I didn't.
It's just been busy.
I've been sick.
Work is very stressful right now.
But I do have 2 lovely winners for the Scones and Tea Give Away.
Put your hands together
Donna from Conghaile Cottage
Cathy from A Surcee Life
Ladies, email me and let me know what your addresses are.
I'm going to be having more giveaways... stay tuned!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Posted by Unknown at 6:15 PM
9 comments:
- Ceekay- Thinkin of Home said...
Sorry you have been sick. I will see you soon! Get better!
- April 20, 2012 at 9:38 PM
- jeanetteann said...
You too, sorry you haven't been well. Have a Happy stressfree week. x
- April 20, 2012 at 10:59 PM
- Sherri B. said...
So sorry that you have been sick...glad to see you are back.
Congratulations to the winners, enjoy!
Have a lovely weekend. xo
- April 21, 2012 at 6:28 AM
- busanalayali said...
WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..
toko baju muslim
- April 21, 2012 at 6:38 AM
- April said...
Hope you're all better now; you WERE missed!
Happy weekend to you!
- April 21, 2012 at 7:42 AM
- Lisa said...
Sorry to hear you've been sick! Bummer! Probably from all that stress at the J.O.B. LOL! Get better and let it all go! Whatever happens at the job needs to stay at the job.:)
- April 21, 2012 at 9:26 AM
- Melissa said...
I'm glad you are feeling better....
- April 21, 2012 at 10:37 AM
- Grandma Barb's This and That said...
Congrats to the winners! I hope you're feeling better.
- April 21, 2012 at 11:12 AM
- Ricki Jill Treleaven said...
Congrats to the winners! I "know" Donna! :D
I am glad you are feeling better!
- April 21, 2012 at 5:16 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Conference Location
From Annual2009
Due to the size of the ALA Annual Conference, the event takes place in a convention center and several hotels. For the 2009 Annual Conference, the exhibits, keynote speakers, and several meetings and programs will be held at the new McCormick Place West, located at 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60616. Directions (driving and public transit) are available at www.mccormickplace.com. Three hotels are designated "Headquarter" hotels, and will host many meetings, programs and special events. Several more hotels will host some events, and additional hotels will be part of the ALA hotel block to include sleeping rooms.


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A Love Worth Waiting For
Stu Shapiro '75 and Debbie Fersh Shapiro '73 celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in May. But what makes their love story truly extraordinary is how long it took them to get together in the first place. Though Stu knew who Debbie was when they were students at IC, they didn't go on their first date until many years after they'd graduated. All it took was time, some courage, and a cocktail napkin.
I've Got a Crush on You
Stu saw Debbie for the first time at a fraternity mixer at his dorm in Terrace 10. She was in the sister sorority to his fraternity, and after some snooping he discovered that she was dating his pledgemaster. Stu started noticing Debbie around campus, and he became more and more attracted to her.
"She was always surrounded by laughing people. She was popular and funny, but I never had the courage to ask her out," Stu said.
Although it was love at first sight for Stu, Debbie hadn't noticed him.
"If he had asked me out then I probably would have said no, because he was two years younger, and at the time that would have been weird," she said.
A Number on a Napkin
After graduating, Debbie moved to California to work in television production, and Stu went to graduate school for journalism at Boston University. Their stars wouldn't start to align for another decade, but they both kept in touch with college friends and were involved in alumni events.
In 1983, Stu met Beth Fedirko Greenberg '73 when they volunteered at an Ithaca College phonathon in New York City, a major stroke of luck.
"I asked her out, and during the date it came out that she had been Debbie's college roommate and very close friend," said Stu. "I couldn't disguise that I had always had a big crush on her."
"I was very excited, I kept thinking, 'I'm going to call her. I'm going to call her.'"
Beth wrote Debbie's phone number on a napkin and told Stu she was single and living in California. He carried the napkin in his wallet for the next five years, telling himself that he would contact her and confess his feelings.
"I was very excited," he said. "And I kept thinking, 'I'm going to call her. I'm going to call her.' But I never had the nerve."
Meanwhile, as any good friend would do, Beth told Debbie that she had given her number to someone. Debbie looked Stu up in her yearbook but couldn't place him.
"I noticed he was cute, but I never really thought about it after that," she said.
Reunion Weekend
It wasn't until 1988 that Stu and Debbie were together in Ithaca again. He was in town for an alumni board meeting, and she was visiting for Alumni Weekend. Debbie was hesitant to go at first, because she felt strange being the only single woman among her married friends, but she decided to go at the last minute—a decision that would change her life.
"This is your last shot. She's walking off into the sunset, and you'll never see her again."
On Friday, Stu was walking back from dinner with a friend when he heard music coming from the Campus Center. He decided to peek in, and he spotted someone he had been longing to see for the past 15 years.
"I opened the door, and I immediately saw her. I turned to my friend and said, 'I have to do this, I have to go in there,'" he remembered.
It was Stu's big moment, the chance he had been dreaming about. He introduced himself to Debbie, walked away ... and didn't talk to her for the rest of the weekend. It wasn't until Sunday morning, when Beth saw Stu and told him Debbie was packing her things to go back to California, that he realized it was really his last chance to ask her out.
"Her roommate walked up to me and said, 'This is your last shot. She's walking off into the sunset, and you'll never see her again.'"
Stu did the only thing left to do: he sprinted across the quad to the Garden Apartment Debbie was staying in and breathlessly told her he was going to be in California on business. It was the first lie he could think of. Debbie gave him her card, and they made tentative plans to meet up.
California Dreaming
A month later, Stu left Debbie a phone message. She didn't call him back right away, but luckily Stu had left an 800 number for her.
At that time, phone calls were really expensive, so I thought, 'Well, as long as it's a toll-free number, I guess I'll call him back,'" she said.
"I hung up and thought, 'What did I just do?'"
What could have been an awkward phone call turned out to be a two-hour long conversation where they shared their common experiences and talked about how much they loved Ithaca. Debbie suggested they meet in San Francisco and spend a few days in Napa, and Stu planned to fly out in three weeks. But Debbie still wasn't convinced that there was a love connection.
"I hung up and thought, 'What did I just do?'" she said.
Still, Debbie trusted Stu because of the Ithaca connection they shared, and they talked on the phone nearly every day until their trip. Stu slowly began to win Debbie over with romantic gestures. Debbie mentioned she liked to dance, so Stu took dancing lessons from a friend to make sure he could keep up with her on their trip. During one phone call, Debbie admitted it was her birthday; later that day she found a big bouquet of lilies and a book about the California wine country on her doorstep.
The night before his flight to California, Stu had Chinese food for dinner. He got a fortune he had never seen before or since: "Travel and romance go together now." The couple still has the fortune in their scrapbook.
A Dream Date
Finally, after years of waiting, Stu arrived in San Francisco and got to go on a date with the woman of his dreams. Their trip went off without a hitch, and Debbie realized what she had been missing.
"He was just so funny, and we had a lot in common," she said. "And when he sat down at a piano one night and played, by ear, a Johnny Mathis song that had always reminded him of me, that did it. I melted."
"We connected immediately," Stu said. "By the end of the weekend we just didn't want to leave each other."
But Stu had to fly back to Florida. The new couple stayed in touch with daily phone calls and romantic greeting cards. They managed to meet again a couple of times, and even though they'd only spent a total of 10 days together in person, they knew something magical was happening.
Stu asked Debbie to come to Florida for Christmas that year. When Debbie arrived, he invited her to take a bath and settle in. He gave her a monogrammed bathrobe as a holiday present. Stu waited patiently until, finally, Debbie noticed something unusual on the robe.
"The monogram was DSF, with a big S in the middle," she says. "And I thought, 'That's not the right letters.' And then it dawned on me that this would be my married monogram."
Stu proposed. Debbie said yes, and they got married five months later in May. Of course, they had an Ithaca College-themed cake topper and invited all their college friends to the wedding.
Silver Anniversary
In the 25 years they've been married, Stu and Debbie have traveled the world together, but something keeps pulling them back to Ithaca: they plan to spend summers in their college town after they retire. Their connection to Ithaca College is what helped their love blossom, what made Stu take a chance on his college crush, and what made Debbie say yes to a sweaty guy who had just run across the quad for her.
"It's almost like when people grow up together. It's something you can never take away," said Stu. "So even though we don't have shared experiences with each other at Ithaca College, we had the shared experience of four years there and both understanding what it means to us."
Debbie Shapiro '73 won a 2014 Alumni Award for her volunteer service. See who else won.
2 Comments
Love it! Stu and Debbie, God bless you both!! Jock
Great story. Had me laughing like crazy. Happy 25th, and thank you both for all of the Greekstock events.


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Free virus and malware removal tools from Kaspersky
Many Americans might not be aware of the feisty Russian-based computer security company Kaspersky, but it is the fourth largest security vendor in the world, the third largest vendor of consumer security software, and the fifth largest vendor of enterprise endpoint protection, according to Wikipedia. Headquartered in Moscow since its inception in 1987, Kaspersky currently has 29 regional offices around the globe, including U.S. offices in Boston and Miami. Kaspersky services more than 300 million individual clients, and over 200,000 corporate clients, and provides its Kaspersky Anti-Virus engine and related software security services under license to more than 120 other security vendors. Kaspersky publishes a complete stable of security software for home, commercial, and mobile markets, and is typically among the highest rated security products in published reviews.
In addition to commercial products, Kaspersky also offers a comprehensive collection of free utilities to detect and remove viruses and other malware, including ransomware and rogue software, from infected computers. These free utilities are only intended to clean infected computers and not intended as full time protective software; Kaspersky (and others) happily sell security software for that purpose.
A summary of Kaspersky's free detection and cleaning services is online at support.kaspersky.com/viruses, and includes information and links for its many detection and removal utilities. Kaspersky offers a broad selection of these utilities, including a large (130 mb) and comprehensive virus detection utility Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2011 (support.kaspersky.com/viruses/avptool2011). According to the Web site, "Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool is a utility designed to remove all types of infections from your computer." The "2011" date may be misleading, as this product is continuously updated and ready to run when downloaded. Kaspersky explains this as, "Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2011 provides no update function. The up-to-date version of the application with the latest version of anti-virus databases is always available on the Web site." While Virus Removal Tool 2011 is complete and up to date when downloaded, additional functionality is available during the scan process if there is current Internet access, allowing for " ... non-signature search of malware based on 'cloud' technologies." The detection and removal process is automated, and little or no user intervention is required while the scanner is running. This utility is one that I download fresh to a flash drive (along with several other utilities) if I know that I am going to clean an infected computer.
Some computers have been so severely infected that they cannot be booted, or have viruses and other malware that prevents traditional detection and removal utilities from executing. Kaspersky offers a free solution to this predicament with its Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 (support.kaspersky.com/viruses/rescuedisk). The Web site explains why it is necessary to use the bootable Rescue Disk 10 when system based utilities are unable to clean the infected computer: "Kaspersky Rescue Disk is designed to scan, disinfect and restore infected operating systems. It should be used when it is impossible to boot the operating system. In this case, disinfection is more efficient because malware programs do not gain control when the operating system is being loaded. In the emergency repair mode, you can only start objects, scan tasks, update databases roll back updates and view statistics." The RescueDisk 10 file is a 236 mb ISO file that must be burned to a CD using any one of the many available ISO burners, which will make the CD bootable; simply copying or burning the downloaded ISO file to a CD will not create a bootable CD. Instructions on how to create a bootable CD using the ISO file are available on the Web site, and are also included with almost all ISO burning utilities. Most major CD burning utilities support the creation of bootable CDs using an ISO file; just be sure to check the ISO selection from the CD utility software menu. Once booted with the created Rescue Disk, the computer can be scanned using the included Kaspersky scanning engine, which will effectively detect and kill most malware in circulation. After the computer is cleaned with Rescue Disk 10, the CD is removed, and the newly disinfected computer rebooted as normal. As is common after most contemporary infections, it may be necessary to reinstall any security software that was on the computer prior to the infection (maybe not a good idea, because it had already been proven to be vulnerable), or install a new security suite.
In a recent column, I wrote about the nasty form of malware referred to as "ransomware," where an infected computer is locked by the malware and supposedly not released until ransom is paid via a third-party payment service to a cyber crook. This ransomware is often accompanied by a screen falsely announcing that child pornography or pirated software was found on the computer, threatening jail time and hefty fines if the ransom or fine is not promptly paid. The screen of the locked computer gives explicit instructions on how to pay the fine (ransom) to unlock the computer. Even if the fine/ransom is promptly paid, the computer will likely not be unlocked by the scammer. In addition to the ransom requested, the cyber crook also often loads other malware to the infected computer, including varieties of spyware and key loggers to steal valuable personal information, banking, shopping and credit card information in order to perpetrate identity theft and other financial crimes.
Kaspersky offers an interactive free utility to explicitly unlock the purloined computer, and allow the removal of the ransomware. Kaspersky WindowsUnlocker is a large (236 mb) ISO file that can be burned to a CD or installed to a bootable USB flash drive. The bootable media also includes an updated copy of Kaspersky's Rescue Disk utility, which will be used in conjunction with the WindowsUnlocker. Once the bootable media is created, the computer is booted with it, following the instructions provided by Kaspersky mentioned previously. The WindowsUnlocker utility will scan the registry and remove any traces of the ransomware from the registry (these hidden registry entries are often referred to as a form of "rootkit"), and then run the malware detection and removal software to complete the cleaning process. This process will likely remove the ransomware as well as any additional malware that it may have installed or any malware that had previously infected the computer. The bootable media is removed from the computer and then the computer is rebooted normally; if successful, the ransomware should be gone. It will then be necessary to install (or reinstall) a comprehensive security suite, and any previously installed security software might have been compromised by the ransomware (malware).
In addition to the broad-spectrum scanners already mentioned, Kaspersky offers an extensive collection of small, free scanners for specific scanning tasks and removal of difficult infections. Several of these specific removal utilities are intended to detect and neutralize individual ransomware, illicit file encryption malware, rootkits and other threats. The comprehensive list of free security scanners available for download is located at kaspersky.com/downloads/free-antivirus-tools.
Hopefully, you will never need to utilize these excellent, free malware detection and removal utilities from Kaspersky, but a familiarity with them may provide some degree of "peace of mind" in this dangerous and threatening cyber world. It is nice to know that they are available if (when) you ever need them.


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My trip to Canada is fast approaching. First stop is British Columbia to revisit old memories and to learn about the other side of the family, my mother's, which I feature in the blog:
The Boardman's and Browns of Winnipeg: A Canadian Story
If you live in the Pacific Northwest a good place to go and do some Canadian research is the Cloverdale Library in Surrey, British Columbia. It is just a few hours from Seattle. It is known for its Canadian genealogical collection. This is where I found my family the Browns and the Boardmans in the census, in Winnipeg several years ago. Yes, this was before it was all put online. I was scrolling through the census and there they were, both families living very close to each other. I actually found the Browns first. It was a very good day! Little did I know that it would open a door for me and I would go from knowing little about this side of the family to what I do know today.
The Cloverdale Library Home page: http://www.surreylibraries.ca/location-hours/4684.aspx
The Cloverdale Family History page: http://www.surreylibraries.ca/location-hours/4684.aspx
The library has a booklet about researching in Canadian that they have on sale at their website. They will be republishing this year. I have a copy and highly recommend it. My version is 2007. It is called: Canadian Genealogical Resources. A Guide to the Materials held at the Cloverdale Library.
They also have printouts on various subjects and specific information printouts for the provinces on genealogical research tips.
At the Cloverdale Library in Surrey, BC, I talked to the librarian about the Upper and Lower Canadian Land Petitions at the LAC website. We decided that the dates cut off before Archibald McDonell and that I was going to have to call them on their toll-free number and dig deeper. I turned to pulling books off the shelf and reviewed them. They had the Lochiel Parish book and St. Regis in three volumes. These are of course, regarding my McDonell line and I describe what I was doing in the Boardman and Brown blog. So go and check it out at: http://boardmanbrown.wordpress.com/


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- More information
- Tasting notes
- Ingredients list
The travel spray refill of the Rosa Nobile eau de parfum by Acqua di Parma can be used together with our leather Purse Spray and thus becomes the perfect on-the-go perfume solution. Discover the convenient 20ml format refill which is designed for easy, fuss-free use.
Top Notes: Tangerine, Calabrian Bergamot, Pepper Heart Notes: Centifolia Rose Absolute, Peony Accord, Violet, Lily-of-the-valley Base Notes: Musk, Virginian Cedarwood, Ambergris
INGREDIENTS: alcohol denat. ,parfum (fragrance) ,aqua (water) ,ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate ,hexyl cinnamal ,limonene ,hydroxycitronellal ,citronellol ,linalool ,butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane ,ethylhexyl salicylate ,alpha-isomethyl ionone ,eugenol ,alcohol ,bht ,geraniol ,citral ,cinnamal ,benzyl alcohol ,methyl 2-octynoate ,farnesol ,cinnamyl alcohol ,tocopherol ,ci 14700 (red 4) ,ci 19140 (yellow 5) ,ci 60730 (ext.violet 2) Disclaimer: Acqua di Parma product ingredient listings are updated periodically. Before using an Acqua di Parma product, please read the ingredient list on the packaging of your product to be sure that the ingredients are appropriate for your personal use.
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El Camino Real International Heritage Center
35 miles south of Socorro, New Mexico
On I-25, exit 115
The New Mexico Genealogical Society Visits
The El Camino Real International Heritage Center
35 miles south of Socorro on I-25, exit 115
Featured Speaker
Robert J. C. Baca
President, New Mexico Genealogical Society
"Maria Guadalupe Torres:
One Woman's Life in 19th Century Socorro, New Mexico"
From resettlement, to the Civil War, up until the brink of statehood: learn about early Socorro history through the life of one New Mexican woman.
Come with us to visit this unique museum. For more information, visit the heritage center's website at http://www.nmmonuments.org/. For carpool arrangements, contact Robert Baca at (505) 299-7883.
There is a $5.00 Admission Fee.
For more information about our programs, please visit the New Mexico Genealogical Society website at http://www.nmgs.org/workshop.htm


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A Rustic Southern Wedding at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina
Morgan Neal (24 and a marketing manager) and Dustin Mynatt (31 and a teacher and football coach) threw a relaxed, rustic wedding at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina. The duo's overarching goals were to keep their small destination wedding elegant, while also accentuating the rustic antiquity of the Southern plantation estate. "I wanted it to feel beautiful and romantic, keeping in mind the gardens of the plantation, but also feel relaxed for our guests," Morgan says.
Light lavender linen accents paired with unfinished wooden flower boxes on farm tables created a cozy yet refined reception experience. Corn hole, the couple's favorite outdoor lawn game, was set out for guests to enjoy during the reception. "I can honestly say that the entire day embodied who we are as a couple: Southern, relaxed, and a whole lot of fun," Morgan says. The ceremony took place near the water under two large oak trees dripping in Spanish moss, near the carriage house where their reception was held. Morgan's grandfather, a retired minister, led the first part of the ceremony, which Dustin's pastor from his childhood church concluded. "It was very important for us that the person who did the ceremony was someone we respected and admired for their marriages and their faith." Morgan spent time rewriting the vows that she and Dustin recited to each other to keep the ceremony sentimental and the best reflection of who they are together. —Juliette Cheatham


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GOP, Dems divided alike on foreign policy issues
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's limited attempt to end more than two years of bloodshed in Syria and his insistence on U.S. assistance to a strife-riven Egypt have exposed deep divisions in Congress, with pockets of grudging support countered by fierce opposition toward greater American military and financial involvement among Democrats and Republicans alike.
The uneven reaction is partly a reflection of the Obama administration's own uncertain foreign policy path as it sorts out America's role in an increasing sectarian conflict in Syria that threatens the entire Middle East. The ouster of Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, also created a web of considerations related to advocating democracy or U.S. national security goals. Lawmakers too are grappling with these questions.
Options for the U.S. military in Syria, from arming groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad to establishing a no-fly zone, carry risks and billion-dollar price tags, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a sober assessment this week that gave some lawmakers pause.
And such guidance has created an unusual crisscrossing of positions among liberals and conservatives in Congress and fiscal hawks and military hawks. The tea party's libertarian leanings have split the once firmly internationalist Republicans; some Democrats formerly averse to intervention are more amenable to forceful action under Obama.
Congressional efforts to cut off funds for Syria and Egypt were expected to be put to a vote on Wednesday as the House debates a $598.3 billion defense spending bill for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. On Tuesday, a Senate panel approved aid for Egypt, with conditions.
Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said he still believes the United States should arm Syria's rebels but expressed reservations about a no-fly zone or any other military action.
"I don't want to get into a situation where escalation is very easy," Corker told reporters on Tuesday. "When you start a no-fly zone, you're flying overhead and you're seeing tanks on the ground killing people, what then do you start doing? For me, moving to that point easily takes us to a place where escalation can occur."
Corker was scathing in his criticism of the administration for refusing to outline publicly its plans for arming Syrian opposition fighters. He said he requested a private briefing from the White House earlier this week, only to be denied.
"It's an embarrassment for this administration to want to do the things they want to do covertly so that they don't talk with the American public," he said.
Another Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, said he is opposed to any American intervention, including providing weapons to vetted Syrian rebels, irrespective of the costs.
"It's a very messy civil war with some bad people on both sides and maybe some good people on both sides," Paul said. "I'm not in favor of sending arms or weapons or boys or girls to fight some war for stalemate."
That position is completely opposed by others in his party, such as Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The Democrats are split as well between interventionists such as Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan to opponents including Sens. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and many liberal House members.
The conflict in Syria has killed an estimated 93,000 and displaced millions, taxing the resources of neighboring Jordan and Turkey and prompting Israel to strike several times at what it claims were weapons convoys to the militant group Hezbollah. Syria's fighting has spilled over to Lebanon, a country with a long history of sectarian warfare.
Obama opposed providing any lethal assistance to Syria's rebels until last month. His administration is now moving ahead with sending weapons to vetted rebels after securing the approval of the House and Senate Intelligence committees, which had initially balked at the plan to use covert funds.
"Their effort to help the right set of rebels in Syria is in our nation's best interest," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Tuesday at a Capitol Hill news conference.
The White House acknowledged Tuesday that momentum in the conflict has shifted as Hezbollah and Iran have helped Assad's forces.
"Because of the support he's gotten from other bad actors in the region, that assault has intensified," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
But Carney refused to spell out any details of the administration's plan. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki demurred as well.
Obama and his national security team still have yet to say publicly what weapons they'll provide the opposition and when they'll deliver them. No official has even acknowledged publicly that lethal assistance to the rebels is now coming after millions of dollars in humanitarian aid and political support.
Pressed by Congress, however, Dempsey outlined the range of options the Obama administration is considering. He said a no-fly zone to protect Syrian rebels would require hundreds of U.S. aircraft at a cost as much as $1 billion per month. Creating a buffer zone for the rebels would probably require U.S. ground troops and cost a similar amount, he said.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, wasn't put off by the projected costs of tougher action.
"If you come to the conclusion it's in the interests of national security, there is always going to be a price," said Menendez. At some point, he added, the question becomes whether doing nothing costs even more.
Graham said a no-fly zone "would be the best billion dollars we ever spent to change the tide of war." And McCain on Tuesday delivered a withering critique of Dempsey's assessment, calling it "most disappointing."
"Why is it the Israelis can do it without hundreds and hundreds of aircraft and submarines? What Gen. Dempsey is doing is portraying a scenario that obviously no one would contemplate," McCain said.
Still, McCain told reporters he was dropping his threat to block Dempsey's nomination for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff because Obama has a right to choose his advisers.
Congress has been similarly divided on Egypt since the military's July 3 overthrow of the government, suspension of the constitution and arrest of Morsi -- though not along the same fault lines.
While the Obama administration has expressed concern with Egypt's trajectory, it has insisted on continuing to provide $1.3 billion in mainly military assistance to the country. Some lawmakers believe the aid violates a U.S. law forbidding assistance after military-backed coups, while some even question whether the payments remain in America's national interests.
A House panel last week proposed eliminating all U.S. funds to Egypt unless Secretary of State John Kerry certifies that the country is upholding its peace treaty with Israel, stamping out smuggling to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and moving toward free elections and democracy. Unlike existing law, it eliminates the administration's ability to waive the conditions on national security grounds.
That doesn't go far enough for some Republicans, who will ask the House on Wednesday to consider an amendment prohibiting any U.S. funds for military or paramilitary operations in Egypt.
Citing the coup law, Paul has introduced a separate bill in the Senate to halt U.S. aid to Egypt. The legislation is unlikely to pass, even if members such as McCain and Levin have expressed similar sentiments.
A compromise included in the Senate's fiscal 2014 foreign operations bill may carry the day. It allows the administration to waive conditions on most of the money allocated to Egypt, but withholds 25 percent until democracy returns and the rights of women and minorities are protected. A Senate Appropriations panel passed the measure unanimously by voice vote Tuesday.
"We can't ignore what's happening on the ground," Graham said. "But surely you don't want a failed state in Egypt or a radical Islamic nation. And I think we can avoid both by staying engaged with the military and the people of Egypt -- but on our terms, not theirs."
Associated Press writers Richard Lardner and Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.


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4 charged in NH for target shooting in woods near heavily traveled Interstate 93
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) � New Hampshire police say four men are facing charges for target shooting near a heavily traveled interstate highway.
Police responded to a report of gunshots being fired in a wooded area in Manchester near Interstate 93 at about 4 p.m. Saturday and found four men shooting weapons while facing the interstate, less than 100 yards away.
Twenty-seven-year-old Adam Kelly of Tacoma, Wash., 31-year-old Sherif Hashem of Boston, 33-year-old Bryan Sola of Southington, Conn., and 20-year-old Sean Kelly of Windham, N.H., were charged with felony reckless conduct because of the proximity to I-93 and the danger to passing motorists.
Officials seized an assault rifle, two shotguns, three handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
The men were released on bail and are scheduled to appear in court in June.


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White bumps on testicles look like pimples wont pop
August 31st, 2018
Okay so I noticed the first one a couple years ago and thought nothing of it then over the past year and a half i developed like 4 more. they are painless, look like pimples, and they itch. ill attatch photos. i try popping them and i cant at all. i really tried hard with one of them and now it seems bigger and is kind of painful (probably just irritated and enflamed but still). please help. i also was just tested this month for all stds/sti's and came back completely normal for everything.
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text: Amongst our most unsurpassable models, the Pur bucket bag and the Element clutch are crafted from split calfskin leather with a Saffiano grain finish. This treatment ensures the leather is all the more durable, with greater rigidity and a more structured shape. In this line, some models also come in brilliant metallic colours, making them perfect for sunny days and such special occasions as weddings and evenings out!


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In Search of the Dark Watchers
Landscapes and Lore of Big Sur
When visitors come to the Big Sur wilderness on California's central coast, they're often struck by how mystical and remote it feels. Some people even return with tales of encounters with a "presence" —a fleeting glimpse in the sun-dappled shadows, an eerie feeling in the stillness of the trees. Could such accounts be the result of a sensitive imagination or are they a validation that the Dark Watchers live on? Stories of these elusive beings persist and get passed down from generation to generation.
On a fateful, foggy evening not long ago, Thomas Steinbeck told California landscape painter Benjamin Brode about the legendary "watchers" who roam the wilds of Big Sur. The particulars of the account had been told to Steinbeck as a child and authenticated by such credible sources as his grandmother, Olive Hamilton, and Billy Post, descendant of El Sur Grande ranchers and, at that time, the resident sage of the Post Ranch Inn.
Steinbeck's compelling tale took root in Brode's imagination. He wondered if it might be possible to go to Big Sur and capture some of the Dark Watchers' mystery on canvas. Not long after, he packed up his old VW van and headed north to New Camaldoli Hermitage near Lucia. Once there, Brode set aside time to quiet his heart, walk the trails, and sit in the woods… feeling and sketching everything. To insure his success, he brought along a basket of food and offerings designed to appeal to Dark Watchers' sensibilities.
When he returned home, Brode had the impressions he needed to start painting. And paint he did. The extraordinary series in this book was completed in record time. Did the Dark Watchers guide the artist's brush? We'll never know.
Steinbeck's vivid childhood recollections and Brode's Big Sur series became In Search of the Dark
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Natural gas pipeline expansion to Danbury proposed
Connecticut's energy policy under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy makes it clear that the state needs to use more natural gas -- a fuel that is much cleaner and, at the moment, much cheaper than other petroleum-based fuels.
The owner of the Algonquin natural gas pipeline wants to provide it.
Spectra Energy Corp., a Houston-based company, owns the 1,100-mile line which runs through Putnam County in New York, Danbury, Brookfield, Newtown and Southbury on its way from New Jersey to Boston. The company is proposing to increase capacity on the line.
"It's to bring added supply to meet demand," Marylee Henley, a spokeswoman for Spectra, said last week.
Spectra's proposal, which must be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, would mean replacing about 8 miles of pipeline between Southeast, N.Y., to the Interstate 84/ Route 7 interchange in Danbury. The pipeline now is 26 inches in diameter; the new pipeline would be 42 inches.
It would also do the same with nearly 16 miles of line that runs through Westchester and Putnam counties in New York. The expanded line would also mean Spectra would lay a one-mile line under the Hudson River.
Spectra's plans are not popular in New York.
On the federal commission's website, there are several letters questioning the need for expanded natural gas service. They also question whether the application is giving people enough time to study the project.
Two letters to the commission are from Connecticut legislators -- state Rep. Lonnie Reed, D-Branford, and state Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. Reed is the House chairman of the General Assembly's Joint Committee on Energy and Technology; Duff is the Senate chairman of the committee.
Both urge the federal regulators to approve the project.
"Beyond its potential for long-term savings, a robust natural gas transmission and distribution system will improve energy independence for Connecticut and support our objectives to develop low-carbon natural gas use," Duff wrote.
Allie McConnell, of Danbury, attended a recent public meeting on the line. She was discouraged by the low turnout of state residents.
"Half the people there were from New York," she said.
To spread information about the pipeline proposal and to educate herself as well, McConnell has started a website about it at http://CTPipeline.tumblr.com.
"My gut feeling is that it's a bad thing," she said, pointing out that an expansion would make the state more dependent on a fossil fuel that the world will eventually use up.
"It's an endgame," she said. If she had a preference, she'd rather see the state emphasize alternative energy projects.
However, in the short term, she said she wants any project to be supervised properly to ensure its safety.
The demand for natural gas in the eastern United States is being fed, in part, by a greatly expanded supply from the Marcellus Shale, a geologic formation under parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York. To get that gas, companies use hydraulic fracturing -- "fracking" -- a method that has both determined proponents and fierce detractors.
However, Spectra spokeswoman Henley said the expanded line would also allow Spectra to supply the state from established gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore wells in Nova Scotia and the Rocky Mountains.
Karl Baker, a public utilities supervisor for the state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, said the authority would work with the state Siting Council and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on any permits Spectra would need to expand the line in Connecticut.
Plans are to expand portions of the pipeline, not the entire length.
If it's expanded, Baker said, state staff will be at the construction sites to make sure Spectra is following federal and state guidelines for safety.
The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is also set to rule on Malloy's energy policy concerning the expanded use of natural gas in Connecticut, Baker said.
That ruling should come in November.
If that happens, he said, the state's three natural gas companies -- Yankee Gas, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Natural Gas -- can then begin negotiating with Spectra for purchasing the expanded supply.
firstname.lastname@example.com; 203-731-3345


text: SF State's Department of Biology offers a dynamic learning environment, exciting research opportunities, and mentorship by world-class scientists. Our undergraduate and graduate programs in cell and molecular biology, conservation biology, ecology and systematics, marine biology, microbiology, physiology, botany and zoology, and biology education are all designed to train and educate students to meet the challenges of leadership roles in the biological sciences. We invite you to explore our exceptional educational and research opportunities.


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Regarding the March For Life this Saturday I would like to provide both a libertarian and personal commentary as well as a small amount of pastoral instruction as we approach the 40th Anniversary of the Supreme Courts decision in Roe vs. Wade which legalized a woman's equal access to terminate their unborn child. .
Even the Early Church Fathers and St Augustine and Jerome (both contemporaries and Doctors of the Church) considered Aristotle's theories of a gradual intellect being formed up to 40 Days after Conception as the child being non human or not having been ensouled yet; the Greek Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Hebrew text, a pre-Christian translation that the early Christians used, introduced a distinction between a formed and an unformed fetus and treated destruction of the former as murder. (wiki: Ensoulment) Certain readings of Sacred Text would limit the definition of "Life Being Present" to the sixth month mark (John The Baptist in his Mother's womb danced), or when the baby takes its first breathe and "Breathes in the Spirit", or the reverse from Jeremiah's perspective is held true as well: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. ~Jeremiah 1:5 (NABRE, USCCB.ORG)" etc., which asserts preconception knowledge not just post conception awareness. All are equally valid arguments based on particular interpretations of the same over all Sacred Volume of Texts.
Unfortunately for those holding to which ever position they so choose, and citing which ever passage they prefer, the Courts cannot legislate morality from Scripture or Philosophy only justice from law and Supreme Laws. Those same limitations which allow one to hold any of those if not more positions, are countermanded by the the same protections which prevent the Courts from viewing this mandate from an authentically questionable alternative source and restore permission back to the individual to terminate a pregnancy without any other scrutiny then a legal or scientific viewpointe.
Scientifically speaking the modern very basic definition of life at least exists from the ninth month all the way back to the first week after Conception. I, as most rational thinkers also, have a problem with people taking the assumption then that the basic definition of life is still defined scientifically within the first week, as no evidence still exist nor can it be measured. So for lack of a better phrase, it would be scientifically heresy to make that leap of seven days prior in defining life as sacred, from the very moment of conception; and therefore a logical fallacy to do so within legal definitions as well, even taking it back to two weeks prior to conception for certain birth control legislation, as profoundly ridiculous, let alone unconstitutional to the hilt.
Being prolife or prochoice?
And that is where the rubber fell to the floorboards. The scientific definition while a little more stable than the religious interpretation and philosophical exercise that this debate has turned into is also not definitive when it comes to a Court of Laws. The Law has four main documents that it can look at: The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation (Under the United States Code as part of the "Organic Laws") and of course primarily the Constitution of the United States as well as any International Treaty which also has the ability with Constitutional force to override any law at the state or federal level. The Courts are bound by what we wrote down so many years ago whom we considered a life and alive.
The question the Court must ask, pertaining to the Constitution
is not, "Whom is a Life"; it is, "Whom is a 'Person'?"
"Persons" are one of the two main classes which are the subject of rights, powers, and duties, the other being "citizens". Persons may be "natural" or "corporate". "Citizens" are a subclass of "natural persons". Only persons have standing as parties under due process. Each government has the power to define what is and is not a "person" within its jurisdiction, subject to certain restrictions of Common Law and the Constitution, the 15th Amendment to which requires that it not exclude anyone based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Under Common Law existing at the time of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, "natural personhood" was considered to begin at natural birth and end with the cessation of the heartbeat. But technology has created a new situation, opening the way for statute or court decision to extend this definition and set the conditions under which personhood begins and ends. (http://constitution.org/powright.htm)I think both arguments limit the discussion to the pointe of fierce contention rather than conversation. While I do have my concerns over multiple theological, scientific, and legal, definitions of life, and I also know that while life is sacred, the question of when life begins and whom has rights over that life need to be examined without shouting and propagating misinformation and vilifying another fully formed mature conscious equal human beings right to have any opinion or Society to evolve in its consensus regarding the issue.
If you want to claim Pro Life ... Be Pro Life!
I also hold that we have a twisted moral and legal compass when it comes to assuring life within this Country. For instance, were you aware that, right now in the State of Indiana, a Father has no legal rights over a child, unless a DNA test is performed and validated by the Courts. I believe that Fathers deserve at least a 25% stake in the legal remedies for their offspring. This would prevent so many children from being left in a quasi abusive or neglectful maternal living situation overnight, and give fathers one leg to stand on with surrogacy and adoption issues too. Please note with all emphasis that, just because your name is on the kids birth certification doesn't mean jack squat when dealing with Police, DCS, or the Courts until a DNA test has been certified!!
Like I said many times before that if we truly treasure life we would compensate mothers and or fathers with a moderate stipend around ($14-20,000), housing allowance, and reduced cost technical training, for the first two years so that they can focus on raising their child without having to worry about when their next meal comes in, or where they lay their head at night, and what they are going to do for the next twenty years to support and raise their children, because it is in our best interest as a Civil Society. As a Society bound together by our Sacred Honour to "Secure the Blessings of Liberty for ourselves and our posterity" to say with one voice we want you to not just pursuit happiness but achieve it and succeed to make this Nation better for all of us .... Plus if we help in the beginning we wont have as big of a mess to clean up afterwards when they become teenagers or grown up into adults.
There is a big difference between being an Activist and being an Active Participant In Society!
Both are necessary but the later will make this one of the most beautiful Cities and Counties in America bar none!! That is the true libertarian message we look out for each other and don't just rely on government to do everything and anything for everyone and take care of one another rather than sticking them in a program that doesn't even begin to meet their needs without making them jump threw twenty hoops to get a loaf of bread, a two dollar pound of bologna, and maybe a couple squirts of mayo on the side if they are lucky in some cases. Fortunately though Allen County has several great food bank network that serves at least a 25,000 households per week; but like any network or agency, they can always use some tweaking and oversight.
So instead of marching, I am going to assist a single father I've known for fifteen years in securing him and his three sons housing by writing a letter of recommendation and sponsoring his application process so that they can actually begin to excel in life around our three rivers not just exist. I will also donate my limited resources to Charis House, and many other charities that help fledgling and struggling families get threw another week a little less stressed than they were before.
If you do choose to parade around the Courthouse and threw the streets this time though look down the alley and invite the person raiding the trash can behind the restaurant or grocery store to feed his family of five something other than mac n cheese or an item from a fast food chains value menu over for a wonderful homemade dinner and show them what Hoosier Hospitality is all about. You could also volunteer to take someone to Miss Virginia's or any of the other food banks throughout the week so they and their children will be able to eat better frequently.
No matter the circumstances, Cherish and Nourish Life! and please don't forget about Liberty either!
~ MRev. Kenneth White, Jnr., Editor of F6;
Apostolic Chair, Our Lady Rejoice Ministries;
Vice Chair, Libertarian Party of Allen County;
Vice President, Heartland Communities, Inc
Please check out these websites for more information to form your own opinion:


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Brothers charged with swindling NY man out of $5M lottery ticket
SYRACUSE, N.Y. A maintenance worker says he and his wife were forced to file for bankruptcy after he was conned out of a $5 million lottery ticket that two brothers have been charged with trying to falsely claim.
Robert Miles was identified in court papers as the rightful owner of the scratch-off ticket. Two Syracuse brothers face charges of attempted grand larceny and possession of stolen property after they claimed they bought the winning ticket at their parents' store.
The Lottery Division, which planted a fake story with the media to lure the real winner to come forward, has suspended the parents' license to sell tickets at least until after the criminal case is completed.
Miles told The Syracuse Post-Standard that he bought the winning ticket in 2006 at the corner store near the apartment complex where he works as a maintenance man. Prosecutors say the store owners' son Andy Ashkar told Miles the ticket was worth only $5,000. Ashkar and his brother, Nayel, were arrested Tuesday for trying to claim the jackpot.
Miles told the newspaper that he had a lunchtime ritual of buying as much as $200 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets and knew he'd won big with the $20 ticket in 2006. When he brought the ticket to the market, he knew it was worth $5 million, but Andy Ashkar scanned it and said it was worth only $5,000, Miles said.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has said Miles didn't realize the true value of the ticket at the time he cashed it in and that Ashkar took advantage of his confusion.
Miles said Ashkar ran out the door of the store and drove off in a car with the ticket after giving him $4,000 and saying there was a $1,000 cashing fee. He said he ran after the car, yelling for it to stop, but then dropped the fight because he'd gotten high on crack cocaine the night before and wasn't feeling well.
Friends told him to pursue the matter but he never did because, he told the paper, it would have been his word against the Ashkars'. After the bogus story was floated in October, Miles' friends again urged him to come forward. He didn't. A police officer who had heard about it finally tracked him down and persuaded him to go to authorities.
A woman who answered the phone at a number listed in Miles' name said it was not his number and a second phone number listed in Miles' name was disconnected Thursday. Fitzpatrick and lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday.
Miles told the newspaper that he no longer uses drugs, has held a steady job for years and is a good father to his two children and three stepdaughters.
"On the day that they did that to me, God spoke to me and said, `You know, I'm going to double that,"' Miles told the newspaper. "So I knew one day it was going to come out and people were going to believe what I was saying."
The Ashkar brothers, both employed as managers at area auto dealerships, were being held on $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond after their arraignment Wednesday. Their lawyer, Bob Durr, said the brothers are adamant that they legitimately own the ticket.


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Star Chindy: SciFi Roguelike
1. Recommended for players who are familiar with Sci-Fi, RTS, turn-based strategy and roguelike games.
2. Star Chindy may be difficult for casual players.
3. Devices with 1.5GB RAM or more are recommended (Galaxy S4 LTE or better).
4. Cloud save will be supported in the future.
5. Game content is continuously added (as of Oct. 23rd).
The year is 2315. Mankind encounters a mechanical alien species called the Mechrons. This highly advanced species decimates the humans. However, on the brink of total annihilation, they mysteriously vanish from the system. To investigate and eliminate the threat, an organization called the Star League is formed. You are the decorated war hero, Chindy Ashford. Your mission is to search and destroy the Mechrons at all cost.
- Sci-Fi Roguelike
Thrilling space combat. A single mistake can prove fatal and end your game!
- A story with 5 chapters
Star Chindy is a roguelike with a rich story. Defeat powerful enemies in each chapter for the future of humanity.
- More than 200 random events
You will face various situations as you navigate space. You can encounter dangerous asteroid fields, space faring merchants, daring pirates, and mysterious aliens. Blast your way out or strike up a bargain!
- Space tactical squad combat and ship-to-ship battles
Experience real-time ship-to-ship battles and turn-based squad combat. Show the might of the human race against the Mechrons!
- 30+ units and ships
Star Chindy offers more than 30 types of units and spaceships. You can hire mercenaries at space stations or capture ships in your travels. Form a powerful fleet!
- 90+ items for units and ships
Loot awesome items from fallen enemies! Loot or buy items to fully equip your ships and crew. Customize their performance and tactics as you see fit!
- 110+ research projects
Your units and ships can be upgraded through research. Choose the best research and training while managing your resources!
6. Recommand
- People who want to battle with spaceship and sci-fi soldier.
- People who want to play with missile, cannon and laser.
- People who want to play turn-based battle or RTS(Real time strategy) game.
- People who want to find PC quality game in mobile platform.
- People who want to find a game with keyword like sci-fi, spaceship, squad, roguelike, fleet, turn-based, rts, space, singleplay, scenario, paid-game.
What's in this version :
- – Minor bug Fixed
- – Difficulty Rebalanced
- – Translation Fixed
- – New weapons Added in Squad combat
Requires :Android 4.0 and up
Single OBB
Single OBB
- Install Apk
- Copy 'com.MASTGames.StarChindy01' Folder to sdcard/Android/obb
- Launch the Game


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AmiWest 2017 will be held in Sacramento, California, USA October 19-22, 2017. Here is the overall schedule for this year's show:
6th AmigaOS DevCon starts on Thursday Oct 19, 2017 through Friday, October 20, 2017
Classic Clinic starts at 5 PM on Friday Oct 20, 2017
Show doors open at 10 AM on Saturday Oct 21, 2017
Banquet starts at 7 PM on Saturday Oct 21, 2017
Sunday starts at 10 AM on Sunday Oct 22, 2017
Doors close at 4 PM Sunday Oct 22, 2017
Please see http://amiwest.net for more info. The official AmiWest blog is located at http://amiwest.net/amiwest2017blog. We hope to see all of you there to help celebrate our 20th consecutive show.
for the AmiWest 2017 committee


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I agreed to do the Citadel: Inspirational Stories mission for a salarian who wants to make a documentary. However, I can't find any more locations that trigger for it. I've run around the entire docking area now, to no avail.
To note, I was able to do the following:
- One area in the Memorial Wall that didn't count
- A grieving couple in the Memorial wall that did count
- A Turian standing around that didn't
After that, nothing else has popped up throughout the entire docks. Is the quest bugged? Did I miss my chance to finish it by clicking on incorrect things? It's not greyed out, so I'm assuming I'm still able to finish it somehow, but I can't find any more waypoints.
What can I do?
Updating with an image to show my view of the poker table. There's no other reticule other than speaking to James.


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Kelly tabbed as fifth starter for Cardinals
JUPITER, Fla. -- When spring performance did not produce an obvious choice in the two-pitcher battle for a rotation spot, the Cardinals turned to what they saw in 2013 in order to finalize their decision.
That led the organization to name Joe Kelly its fifth starter and slide hard-throwing Carlos Martinez into the bullpen, where he will handle the eighth-inning setup duties as he did during the postseason.
JUPITER, Fla. -- When spring performance did not produce an obvious choice in the two-pitcher battle for a rotation spot, the Cardinals turned to what they saw in 2013 in order to finalize their decision.
That led the organization to name Joe Kelly its fifth starter and slide hard-throwing Carlos Martinez into the bullpen, where he will handle the eighth-inning setup duties as he did during the postseason.
While the Cardinals believe that Martinez will eventually have a sustained opportunity to start, his value in the back end of a bullpen -- which will be without Jason Motte to start the season -- was enough to tip the Cardinals to assign roles in this way.
"Our team is better because we have a known quantity as an eighth-inning guy and we have a known with how well Joe has pitched and how well he is throwing the ball right now," manager Mike Matheny said after Kelly took a no-hitter into the sixth inning on Sunday against the Astros. "It makes him an easy choice to be a starter. You could say the same thing for Carlos, that the way he pitched would make it an easy choice for him to be a starter. But with the position that we're in, I believe we're better with Carlos being in the back end."
Kelly will join a starting staff that includes Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha. The Cardinals have not yet announced the order of that rotation, aside from naming Wainwright the team's Opening Day starter.
The 22-year-old Martinez will now be the bridge to the 23-year-old Trevor Rosenthal, who has already been named the closer.
It's a position Martinez is familiar with. After a late-season shuffle of bullpen roles last year, Martinez found himself as the primary setup man to Rosenthal in October. He went on to record five postseason holds, the most by a rookie pitcher since the statistic began to be regularly kept, and was scored upon in just three of his 12 appearances.
As for Kelly, he returns to a rotation that he helped stabilize in a big way during the second half of last season. After losing the fifth-starter competition last spring to Miller, Kelly was called upon to join the rotation in July. As a starter, he went 9-3 with a 2.28 ERA.
"You can't deny what Joe did toward the end of last year," Matheny said. "You can't deny how good he has been this spring. But just watching Carlos and what he does and how he does it, I think everybody is impressed and a bit anxious to watch him every fifth day. But we do know that Joe has done a great job and is getting better.
"Watching how he used his changeup today, looking at the bite on his curveball today, then being able to tune it up and really let it eat at times with his fastball. I think there are better things ahead for Joe Kelly, too."
Kelly allowed two runs on two hits and four walks in five-plus innings on Sunday and finished Grapefruit League play with a 6.28 ERA. The results in his last two starts were much improved over his first two.
Both he and Martinez had left the Cardinals' complex by the time Matheny announced the role assignments, but asked about his role preference an hour earlier, Kelly responded: "Oh yeah, I love starting."
And of his spring: "I feel like I was getting better every start. I don't really look at that [competition] at all. I just worry about doing what I can do to pitch well. Whatever happens, happens."
Martinez actually posted the better spring numbers -- a 1.76 ERA in four starts and, at one point, a string of 14 straight scoreless innings -- but the Cardinals were never going to base this decision on Grapefruit League results. It was more the process -- and in this case, the past -- that would be weighed most heavily.
"I don't need to tell anybody in this room or anybody who has watched us at all that it has zero to do with anything that Carlos Martinez did not do," Matheny said. "He threw the ball exceptionally well. We're just in a spot where we have to figure out what will be best for our club and that's having him in the bullpen for now. Not saying that's going to be the end of where he'll always be. I believe he's eventually going to be a starter, and I believe he's going to be a very good one. But right now we need him to help our club out of the bullpen."
Also factoring into the decision is the innings limit that the Cardinals will have on Martinez. As was the case with Wacha a year ago, the Cardinals have to decide how best to disperse Martinez's workload so that he does not have to be shut down late in the season after reaching a certain innings threshold.
Matheny delivered the news to Martinez in Spanish and then through an interpreter to ensure that the organization's satisfaction with Martinez's spring was not lost in translation.
"I'm always concerned about how these guys take that kind of news after Carlos competed and did everything he can possibly do," Matheny said. "I know it's not easy, but I also know that Carlos is the kind of player who realizes what our club needs right now and realizes that he's going to have a great opportunity to help us win. Also, I made it very clear, we see him as a starter someday. We don't want him to believe that this is taking away from that opportunity for him to do that in the future."
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, By Gosh, It's Langosch, and follow her on Twitter @LangoschMLB.


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Officials in Germany are still pursuing Justin Bieber in an effort to settle a hefty bill relating to the pet monkey he abandoned earlier this year.
The Baby hitmaker's capuchin, named Mally, was confiscated by customs guards in March after he attempted to enter the country with the animal without the proper paperwork.
Bieber was given until May to reclaim the primate, but he failed to do so by the given deadline and Mally subsequently became the property of German zoo officials.
The singer was sent a bill, reportedly amounting to almost $11,000, to cover the cost and penalties of housing the monkey during its detention period, but authorities have yet to receive anything from the pop superstar, despite sending him another copy of the invoice on Wednesday.
Ellen Frederichs, attorney for Germany's Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, tells Celebuzz.com, "As Mr. Bieber should be informed about his payment obligations by now, we hope that he takes his responsibility and settles the costs he has caused to the public, just like anybody else would have to do."
If Bieber, who reportedly bought a new pet monkey to replace Mally upon his return to the States, continues to ignore the bill, authorities could take him to task the next time he lands in the country.
The singer has been busy stirring up trouble across the globe – he has also fallen foul of police in Brazil, where he has been hit with a vandalism charge, after spraying graffiti on an abandoned hotel in Rio de Janiero earlier this month.
Officials in Germany are still pursuing Justin Bieber in an effort to settle a hefty bill relating to the pet monkey he abandoned earlier this year.