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Ashley Crockett is a web and social media producer for WREG-TV and wreg.com in Memphis, Tenn. She joined News Channel 3 in the summer of 2013.
Ashley was born in Memphis and has lived here most of her life. She graduated with honors from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where she was a Walter Williams Scholar.
After graduating, she worked as the Interactive Managing Editor for KRCG 13, the CBS affiliate in Missouri's capital. She oversaw the station's website and social media accounts, encouraging user engagement and an interactive-first mindset in the newsroom. Her work at KRCG 13 earned the station the Missouri Broadcasters' Association 2013 award for best local website.
While with KRCG 13, Ashley helped sister-station FOX21 News in Colorado Springs, Colo., cover the historic Waldo Canyon Fire in June and July 2012. In 2013, FOX21 News won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuing Coverage of the Waldo Canyon Fire.


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RevJJJacob needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 71 designs submitted by 30 freelance designers.
Looking for a unique youthful logo. Something that would look great on a billboard, businness card, website, or banner.
Desired Style:
Youthful and professional. Avoid only using cool fonts. Creativity is the key. Need help? Ask me.
Accepted File Formats:
high resolution dpi and vector
Our youth ministry is called "reVolt". We always seperate the "re" and the "Volt" by colors and/or spaces. At this point we have just used different fonts with "re" being red and "Volt" in black.
The only rule is that there has to be a distinction between the "re" and the "Volt". The colors Red and Black are just preferences. Please feel free to experiment with any colors and ideas.
The name of our ministry is meant to reflect our mission to always provide an atmosphere of God's presence that can re-VOLT you (a.k.a. bring you joy, excitment, etc).
Please be creative and youthful
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.

subset: commoncrawl


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Florida Atlantic handed out its season awards and said good-bye to 19 seniors Saturday at the year-end football banquet.
Senior quarterback Jeff Van Camp was named the team's MVP. Van Camp, in his only full season as a starter, threw for 2,459 yards and 17 touchdowns. He did this with an inexperienced offensive line, especially at center, where the team used three different starters.
Continue reading "Jeff Van Camp, Lester Jean, Malik Eugene honored at FAU banquet"


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Noel Culberston
1. I loved the color combos of the paper pack
2. Great selection of phrases and keywords on the chipboard accents & paper clips
3. The packet was all inclusive with everything you'd need to make a page.
1. I didn't prefer the realistic (photo style) patterned papers... just not my thing.
2. The included alphabet was yellow, yet a lot of the patterned papers were yellow. Makes it hard to use the alphabet when they're the same color as the paper.
3. Some of the glitter distribution on the transparency pieces was oddly placed and took away from the overall appeal of a few of the pieces.
*I used all of their products except... ticket: Creative Imaginations, and QuicKutz die for letters.
Paula Gilarde
It's not my usual style of papers but they were fun to work with. I
liked the alpha stickers. The butterfly stickers tore when I tried to
use them so I didn't! I liked the weight of the paper and the fact that
they were double-sided.
Ashley Harris
1. I really like the chipboard sentiments!
2. I love the tight patterns and colors.
3. I really liked all the pre-cut borders that are available in this kit.
1. I like the glitter, but sometimes it seemed to overwhelm the item.
2. The yellow alpha stickers were not to my taste. Just a bit too much for me.
Bethany Kartchner
1. Hello?! Glitter, flocking and raised embossing? What isn't there to like? Amazing texture.
2. The color combination is really fresh and exciting.
3. I love the strips of pattern paper. The scallops and the shapes are very cool.
1. A few of the images on the paper and on the chipboard are not as crisp as I like.
2. I wish the big butterfly on one of the pattern papers was whole instead of cut off. I wanted to cut it out and use it on my page, but I couldn't.
3. I think that the crocheted flowers should come with coordinating brads.
This line has a 12x12 pad, 8x8 pad, a mat pad, borders, paper clips, border, epoxy stickers, buttons, bling stickers, butterfly stickers, chipboard, overlays, metal tags, and crocheted embellies!
What do you think? Is this something you are excited about? Is it your style or not so much? Leave us a comment by noon EST on Tuesday and you will be entered to win one of TWO prizes!
One winner will receive a 12x12 pad of Artsy Urban paper and the other winner will receive all 15 embellishments and 1 mini album!


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Product Information:
ultraAmp 96-Well Semi-Skirted PCR Plates, Sorenson BioScience - Model 37380 - Case of 25 : Skirt allows robotic handling and sample labeling. Raised rim around perimeter for aligning purification plates. For use with Applied Biosystems thermal cyclers and DNA analyzers. Precision-designed molds and tightly controlled processes create high-quality plates that exhibit minimal warp before and after thermal cycling. Bold alphanumeric grid. Black and white plates are designed for Real-Time PCR and other fluorescence based assays. Black plates eliminate background signal and well-to-well crosstalk. White plates deliver maximum signal amplification. Certified nonpyrogenic and free of RNase, DNase, human DNA, and PCR inhibitors.
This item will be shipped from the manufacturer and is not one we carry in stock. Please contact us for availability, as we cannot always guarantee order fulfillment.
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Director Alex Cox ('Repo Man') Says 'Pirate My Stuff'
from the studio-shocked-to-find-zero-sum-game-on-either-end deptAlthough we are constantly reminded (or "educated" as they like to put it) that the major studios and labels are only looking out for the interests of the artists, we are equally constantly reminded (by these artists) that this just simply isn't the case. The latest artist to remind us exactly what's wrong with the standing system? Director Alex Cox, best known for Repo Man and Sid & Nancy, both cult classic films and punk touchstones.
In an interview with The Quietus to discuss the Blu-ray release of Repo Man, Cox discusses, among other things, the many ways Universal Studios has given him its patented shaft, starting with the supposed sequel to Repo Man:
We took Repo Man sequels to Universal and proposed they do it, but they weren't interested. What they did instead is they brought out a movie titled Repo Men and pretended that was the sequel.So, there's strike one. Studio takes a meeting, feigns disinterest, does it on its own terms while simultaneously abusing any goodwill built up between the director and his fans and between the studio and fans of the original. Then there's the wholly incomprehensible "reason" why the UK is getting Repo Man on Blu-ray but the United States isn't:
Universal Studios has an antipathy towards Repo Man and towards Walker. I don't think they will ever bring out a good version in the US. I can't understand why Universal won't do a sequel given how much money they made off the original Repo Man. It's an institutional animus. The kinds of people that get jobs in studios tend to be fearful of their superiors and that's how they keep their jobs. The guys at Universal, even though they were 13 when Repo Man came out, they've been told by their superiors: 'We don't like that film'. And that's the official attitude from generation to generation in the studio. They have an institutional animus which almost makes you think that corporations really could be people.And... strike two. For reasons only truly known to the studio, Repo Man is not going to see a US release on Blu-ray. Cox has worked with Universal so it's hard to imagine he's just making this up. He's completely right about the institutional fear built into the major studios, which explains everything from the reliance on sequels and remakes to the legislative flailing about in response to piracy. Large entities seldom move quickly and their response time is usually infected with serious amounts of institutional lag. You'd think it would be as simple as throwing on some Region 1 encoding and firing up the burners, but it looks as if Universal Studios would rather American audiences pick this up through alternate methods. If you're worried about "lost sales," it would seem that you'd at least attempt to make your product available for sale.
But Cox isn't through yet. The interviewer mentions "and then there's the crisis of getting the rights from the studios." At that point, Cox tees off:
It's so corrupt. Now they want to have longer copyright periods because they say the young artists are relying on this money. The young artists never see any money because they sign away that money to big media corporations, like Universal and Viacom. We, the artists, lose all of our rights to these massive corporations, who then come down heavy on these kids for downloading films and music that we never see a penny from. It's complete bullshit. I want to encourage your audience to go and pirate a bunch of my stuff right away.Strike three.
This is what happens when you fight a stranger in the Alps, Universal. Instead of having a happy artist celebrating the worldwide Blu-ray release of a seminal film, you've got a disgruntled former employee telling people to shoplift the hell out of the store. The studios seem to think they're playing a super-smart "long game" by pushing for extended copyright while simultaneously refusing to relinquish any control over the creations of others. As long as the major studios (and labels) continue operating in this antagonistic fashion, they'll find that their "long game" has left them with nothing to play for. Piracy is a message and it's being repeated by the very artists they thought they had under control.
Filed Under: alex cox, business models, copyright, infringement, repo man, studios


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MobilePro 800 (MC-R700A)
From LinuxMIPSJump to navigationJump to search
I am not quite sure where to post a question, but here goes: I have a NEC MobilePro 800 that I'd like to have some flavor of linux on, so that I could use a wireless card, and web browse. I have no idea where to start, or what to do. As for linux, I have used Ubuntu, but am a complete noob.
If this is not the place, please direct me to where I should go for help.
Thanks in advance! Don acerbale [at] yahoo.com


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Questions? Call Mod Experts at 714-582-3330 Mon-Fri: 8am - 6pm / Sat: 8am - 5pm
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Shifteck GoPro mount for your BMW is easy to install and provides a stable
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Please see FITMENT GUIDE below
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Smith Limousine provides professionally chauffeured executive transportation in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, with unmatched personal service for individual business travelers, as well as serving group corporate travel needs.
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I have another Pokemon for you all, and I think you will like this one. As I mentioned before, a majority of my requests are asking me to draw Pokemon characters. Now, I don't mind filling those requests, but they will take time to fill. Today I will be doing a lesson on ""how to draw Meganium", step by step. Now, this Pokemon type is grass, and it is an evolution from "Bayleef" once you reach level 32. I like this species because it is wicked pretty, and because it has some new characteristics that it's previous evolution's do not. Like, how Meganium has two antenna like strands coming from the top of it's nose, and how this grass species has yellow colored eyes instead of red, and three toes instead of one. The big leaves that used to be around the neck, turned into a pink bloomed flower of some sort, which looks really pretty. The unique green colored body compliments the pink bloom nicely. Now, I have written out quite a few Pokemon species, and almost all of them had no real gender differences until now. The way to tell if you have a female Meganium, is to look at the length of the stamen, or antenna. Females have shorter ones, and the males have longer stems. Now, like all Pokemon, every one comes to a full evolved species at some point. Meganium is one of these said characters. Because of this, it has the capability to use hyper beam, giga impact, and frenzy plant. As like Meganium's appearance suggests, these creatures are as docile as can be. It was really fun drawing out this Pokemon, and now it's your turn to learn what I have to teach, "how to draw Meganuim", step by step. I will be back tomorrow with more lessons, and don't forget to join me with Live Stream today for more drawing fun.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Mexico Hotels
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Complement your bedroom or lounge with a Belmont cushion to add a colour, texture and character
Elegant frill design for a touch of class
30cm x 60cm Perfect compliment to any Lounge or bedroom
Contemporary colour palette to suit any household
Machine Instructions
Spot On Clean
- Orders received are normally processed next business day, except where stock not avaliable or needs to be recieved from store. Please allow 1-2 days in busy periods. If something is urgent please call and find out exact details.
- Australia post & Fastway approximately quote the following time frames, (1-4) days for VIC & NSW, (4-6) days for TAS, SA & QLD, (6-9) days for WA & NT
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- Go to our store locator to find your nearest store or call our head office and we will happily assist.
- Please note Quilts, Pillows and underlays are excluded due to health and safety regulations as set down by the Australian government. This does not apply to faulty items. Faulty item postage returns are refundable.
- Please choose carefully as change of mind returns via post are at customer's expense
- Please note, once order is placed, the order cannot be changed until dispatch.


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Free shipping – worldwide
Free shipping on all orders worldwide.
When purchasing jewelry for use as competition prizes use code "PRIZES" to get 10% discount on order.
Timeless, exclusive and playful jewelry in 925 Sterling Silver.
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Inspired by "golf balls".
Inspired by "pegs and golf balls".
Inspired by "birdie".


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Buttons on the tool bar are used for controlling of data in a running task. The tool bar has a different appereance in 1D and 2D programs. The tool bar contains the following buttons:
Tool bar "Edit" - 1D programs
Tool bar "Edit" - 2D programs
Several buttons are divided into two parts and the button can control more functions (right part with the arrow).
Using the button for more functions
Individual buttons functions are the following:
Copy data to clipboard
Undo (more steps)
Redo (more steps)


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by Jennifer Katz
Every fall, when schools are back in session for the year, Vanessa Yingling, a local mother of two, would notice the lawn signs popping up all over Chestnut Hill. The signs, some brightly colored, some austere, usually invite passersby to an open house for the private or parochial school of the homeowner's choice.
So this year, Yingling finally persuaded her cohorts on the J.S. Jenks Home and School Association board to create a lawn sign campaign.
"Vanessa has been pushing this for years," said Stephanie Mayes, treasurer of the Jenks HSA Assoc.
Yingling and Hayes teamed up with two other parents, Haviva Goldman and Julia Reed from the board, to design and purchase 25 lawn signs hailing the local public school. "Local, Smart, Public" is the campaign.
"We wanted people to think of it as an option," said Yingling, who has a daughter in the second grade and a son who will start kindergarten in the fall. "We are not asking for the neighborhood to go to Jenks, but we want it to be an option."
The families, who paid for the signs, each kept one to display and donated the remaining signs to the school to be sold as a fundraiser for the HSA. By late November there was just one sign left for sale.
"They (the signs) have started some interesting conversations," said Hayes. "With all the other schools around, Jenks has always been quietly in the middle. People don't know how many people have gone there or send their kids there."
Like many families, the Jenks parents said they struggled with where to send their kids when they first moved into the neighborhood, but unlike the vast majority of parents, particularly in Chestnut Hill, they were quickly and decidedly won over by Jenks.
"There is this assumption when you move here that your kids will go to private school or you will move to the burbs," Goldman said. Goldman.
When Goldman started looking around for her son, who is now in first grade, she came across the C.W. Henry School parents group, which she checked out to learn more about what other families were doing, which led to attending one of the Jenks kindergarten teas.
"I realized that here was this small school – each grade has just two classes," she said. "I looked at the suburban schools, and I was terrified by the number of classes, 10 per grade. At Jenks I felt welcomed and needed. Everyone knows my kid and not for any bad reason. It's a good thing."
Since the signs have gone up, people have opened up to many of the Jenks families about their own struggle with public schools in the city.
"There is a fear of the Philadelphia school district as a whole and the lack of diversity," said Hayes, whose 7-year-old twins are in first grade.
"There is more diversity than appears," Goldman said. "Our kids are exposed to diversity beyond color.
"I think for some people who have never been the minority, it's hard to cross that barrier but the kids don't see it that way."
The lawn sign campaign is the latest effort by the HSA parents to increase awareness and access to the families that have chosen the school. The have their own web- site and a list serve for perspective families. The idea is to let people know where to come to learn more.
"There are people to talk to, ask questions of," Hayes said.
And that is exactly what these parents are hoping more families will do.
Visit the Jenks HSA website at jsjenks.org.


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The FTC announced on Thursday that it has caught ADT paying bloggers for endorsements (on blogs as well as national TV/radio) and not disclosing it. Folks, the rules and the law on social media ethics are clear, as I've been sharing for years. More here. In addition to ending the program, ADT will now be […]
Tag Archives: ADT punished
FTC busts ADT for using bloggers to lie to you. The punishment is excellent.
March 14, 2014
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A blueprint for high-volume, high-quality lung cancer screening that is detecting cancer earlier—and helping to save lives
The federal government wants to make it easier for PPOs to participate in Medicare+Choice, but health insurers must hurry if they'd like to take part in demonstration projects slated to get under way next Jan. 1.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a notice calling for PPO participation in M+C in the Federal Register on April 15 that includes offers of $100,000 in seed money as well as waivers from the program's payment guidelines. The agency wants to use a competitive application process to serve beneficiaries better.
"Our objective is to introduce more variety into the Medicare+Choice program so that Medicare beneficiaries have broader choice and more options available," the notice says. Currently, of the 179 M+C contracts, only two are PPOs.
Applications must be filed by May 30.
"We haven't gotten any feedback from our members to suggest that the time frames will present a barrier," says Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for the American Association of Health Plans. "However, it is a more realistic opportunity for a company that already has a PPO network in place."
"It is rushing things," admits Alissa Fox, director of policy at the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association, "but they have a great objective. Their objective is to have it up and running Jan. 1. We're happy about that. It's quick, but we've done a lot of thinking about this."
CMS aims to have the options available to beneficiaries by autumn's open-enrollment period. The PPO push is slated to take place in 12 geographic areas (yet to be chosen) and is intended to last three years. CMS has not placed a limit on how many plans may participate.
"For each selected demonstration, we will assign a project officer who will serve as the point of contact with the demonstration project staff and who will provide technical consultation regarding waiver requirements, implementation, and monitoring activities, and also provide feedback to us on demonstration status," the notice says.
Despite looking minuscule relative to the kind of money usually discussed in managed care, the $100,000 being offered to help launch the PPOs came as a nice surprise, says Fox.
"A lot of these demonstration projects don't pay for start-up costs," she says. "We're real pleased that they've put that in there. It's probably not enough, but it's great that they put some amount of money in there."
Participating PPOs will not all have the same level of flexibility, but some of the things that health insurers can get are:
CMS makes it clear that it will try hard to reward participation. For example, the agency states that while "we cannot waive quality assurance requirements, our payment-related waiver authority could potentially have the effect of permitting an entity to operate a PPO product under this demonstration without being subject to quality assurance requirements that would otherwise apply."
CMS has held numerous meetings with industry representatives to find out what needs to be done to encourage PPO participation.
"We've identified a number of things that could be changed in order to have PPOs work in Medicare," says Fox. A Blue Cross/Blue Shield white paper on the subject was one of the documents on which CMS based its Federal Register notice.
Despite such industry input, however, health insurers still seem somewhat reluctant to make a commitment.
"We're studying the proposal and everything that CMS is offering or proposing for introducing a PPO product," says Mary Sellers, a Humana spokeswoman. "We're pretty much supportive of providing benefits with the types of options to our Medicare+Choice members as would be available to those who are under 65, but beyond that, I think we're really still evaluating — and it would be premature for us to say more than that."
That seems to be the stance taken by many health plans.
"I don't really have a way to gauge the level of interest right now," says the AAHP's Pisano. "What I can tell you is that this community has always been highly supportive of there being available to beneficiaries the kinds of choices that are available to people with employer-sponsored coverage."
Of course, one of those choices CMS would like to see offered is prescription drug coverage, but that — like other benefits beyond what's presented in fee-for-service Medicare — will cost more.
"Choice always comes at a price," notes Thomas Morrow, MD, the medical director at One Health Plan of Georgia. "Most of the PPOs come with a 20-percent copayment. With the HMOs, the full freight's paid. The entire bill is paid by the HMO except for, typically, a small copayment."
Still, there seems to be support for the PPO option, because it mirrors what's taking place in managed care overall, says Morrow.
"We're seeing that the PPOs are growing faster than the HMOs," he notes. "PPOs are where the commercial population is growing, because of the choices they offer."
It remains to be seen how much Medicare beneficiaries will value such choices.
For more information: Health plan executives seeking more data about PPO demonstration projects may contact Ron Deacon, a CMS project officer, at (410) 786-6622 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
A blueprint for high-volume, high-quality lung cancer screening that is detecting cancer earlier—and helping to save lives
ZULRESSO™ (brexanolone) injection CIV
Multiple Sclerosis: New Perspectives on the Patient Journey–2019 Update
Summary of an Actuarial Analysis and Report


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- Tech Trader Daily
Amazon's Bezos Buys Washington Post Newspaper for $250M
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The Washington Post Co. (WPO) this afternoon announced that Amazon.com (AMZN) founder and CEO Jeff Bezos will purchase the The Washington Post newspaper, along with a slew of other titles, for $250 million. The purchase "belongs to Mr. Bezos in his individual capacity and is notAmazon.com, Inc." said Wash Post.
Bezos remarked in the release "I understand the critical role the Post plays in Washington, DC, and our nation, and the Post's values will not change."
Washington Post shares are up $10.50, or 1.9%, at $579.20, in late trading while Amazon shares are down 39 cents at $300.60.
Wash Po CEO Donald Graham remarked,
I, along with [Washington Post CEO and Publisher] Katharine Weymouth and our board of directors, decided to sell only after years of familiar newspaper-industry challenges made us wonder if there might be another owner who would be better for the Post (after a transaction that would be in the best interest of our shareholders). Jeff Bezos' proven technology and business genius, his long-term approach and his personal decency make him a uniquely good new owner for the Post.
Bezos has asked Weymouth to stay in her role, along with general manager Stephen Hills, executive editor Martin Baron, and editorial page editor Fred Hiatt.
Along with the Post, Bezos acquires The Express newspaper, The Gazette Newspapers, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Fairfax County Times, El Tiemp Latino, and Greatre Washington Publication. But the deal does not include Slate.com, TheRoot.com, nor Foreign Policy magazine.


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Photo: en.wikipedia.org
Tbilisi, GeorgiaWith so much economic doom and gloom out there, it's easy to forget that there are actually some bright spots in the world. I've spent the last few days in one of them– Georgia.
Perhaps most famous for being continually stomped on by Russia, this place has suffered severe hardship practically since independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
In 2005, Georgia was shut out of the Russian market, it's largest trading partner. It happened again in 2006.
Then, of course, you may remember the Russian military invading Georgia (do you see the theme here?) in August 2008 in support of the breakaway republic of Abkhazia in northwest Georgia.
Russian forces rolled across the border, occupied several key areas in the country, and bombed the hell out of Tbilisi just for good measure. The damage is still visible to this day.
Yet despite so many challenges, Georgia has finally turned the corner and become one seriously exciting economy with some seriously compelling opportunities.
One of the biggest reasons for this is that there is hardly any natural wealth in the country. Like Hong Kong or Singapore, Georgia has figured out that it can't get rich by becoming a resource powerhouse.
Consequently, the last several years has seen what they call the 'de-Sovietization and Singaporization' of Georgia.
Georgia has shot up in the ranks of international business… from slumming with the likes of Pakistan just a few years ago, to besting places like Estonia and Switzerland.
They're doing it by tearing down worthless, extractive economic institutions and making things easy for business and investors.
At a 15% flat rate, for example, corporate taxes are essentially as low as Singapore or Hong Kong. Capital gains, in many cases, is zero.
Regulation has been reduced dramatically– registering a property or starting a business, for example, are easier in Georgia than just about anywhere in the world.
And with both a US and UK comprehensive tax treaty (sorry Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), Georgia could make an excellent place to establish a tax efficient international business structure.
Ultimately, its ease of doing business is going to be one of the major growth catalysts for this economy– just like Panama, Dubai, or Estonia before.
Georgia is surrounded by places that are marred in obscene regulatory minefields, Byzantine tax codes, and corrupt officials. In the future, this will make Georgia the natural choice to do business in the region.
One of the clearest (and easiest) opportunities here is in the banking sector.
I've spent the last several days re-examining the local banking sector and diving into the numbers, and my analysis has led me to the conclusion that it's one of the best capitalised banking systems in the world.
To give you an example, it's common for banks here to hold in excess of 30% of their deposits in CASH. They don't loan it out, they don't invest in stupid government bonds or CDOs… they actually hang on to their customers' funds.
By comparison, a bank like SunTrust in the US, or RBC in Canada, hold less than 3% / 5% of their customers' deposits in cash, respectively.
Bankers here are also incredibly conservative; loan standards require borrowers to pay exorbitant interest rates and put up massive down payments… which also means they pay depositors relatively higher rates.
Just this morning, in fact, I negotiated a 1-year fixed deposit rate with a local banker on behalf of SMC subscribers for 10%… in US
dollars. Local currency rates are even higher.
For dollar holders who don't want to take any currency risk, the carry trade potential is significant– borrow for 1% to 4% in the United States, Hong Kong, or Singapore… and invest in a 1-year CD in Georgia yielding 10%.
One of the most interesting things about this place, though, is that it is an easy 'escape'.
If your back's against the wall and you really need a place to go, Georgia gives visa-free entry for up to 360-days to dozens of
nationalities– including the US, Canada, Japan, all of Europe, St. Kitts… and even places like Cuba and Iraq.
That's right. Without so much as a single piece of paper, you can show up to Georgia and spend nearly 1-year here. Afterwards, you need only exit the country for a day in order to start a new 360-day block. Not a bad deal.
Living here is dirt cheap… and a lot of fun. The people are incredibly warm, and I've found that the younger generations which are on board with the 'Singaporization of Georgia' are incredibly sharp.
I have much more to say on the country– specifically the massive agricultural, hydropower, and real estate opportunities… More to
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Brianmoran01 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 153 designs submitted by 29 freelance designers.
Clix Auto
We're a new company that provides automotive (car) service to all within the United State. Most of our business is done online, where customers register their cars and submit repair requests. That is why we are called "Clix" Auto. The "Clix" is the mouse click from the computer.
Our logo will be placed everywhere so it will be seen by large companies and consumers also.
We want a very simple logo. Something very memorable. Sleek and easy. We need the logo to convey that we are an automotive repair company that lets you, the customer, go online and schedule your own repair. That is the "clix" part.
We like simple logos like Target, Nike, Under Amour, Apple/Macintosh, etc.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Student Life at the University of Mary
The University of Mary offers a strong, vibrant community grounded in Christian, Catholic, and Benedictine values. Student Life at Mary focuses on the development of the whole person, for the whole of life, so that students are able to discover and develop their gifts so that they may give of their gifts to others.
Life at Mary offers over 30 student organizations, 16 NCAA Division II athletic teams, a variety of music ensembles, intramural sports, volunteer experiences, campus-based ministry and worship, and much more.
Explore student life at Mary. Visit our campus, talk to our students and faculty, and experience what it means to gain an education for the whole of life.
Freshman, there's no better place to start than WELCOME WEEK!
University of Mary has a culture of fellowship that creates an intense sense of community and service. I don't think I would have been able to get to know so many people to the extent that I have if I had gone to a different school."
University of Mary
Marauders Athletics
The University of Mary is a member of NCAA Division II and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and offers eight varsity sports for women and eight for men.


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Little did I know that today James would prove himself to be my knight in cargo pants and Skechers. Because we were out of milk and a couple other items, we decided to go to McDonald's for lunch. I order the grilled chicken club combo.
After getting to my seat, I realized I'd forgotten to ask for some honey mustard sauce. So I went up the counter and asked the guy (who looks like he's a team leader or something) if I could have a honey mustard. He asked me what I'd ordered and I told him.
Dumb McD's guy: "Oh, it doesn't come with it, so I'm going to have to charge you for the sauce."
Me: "What? I come here all the time and have never been charged for the sauce!"
Dumb McD's guy:"Well, ma'am, it's for the chicken nuggets, and the sauce doesn't go with what you ordered."
Me: "But I get this all the time and have never been charged for the sauce before."
Me: "Forget it!" I huffed and walked away in amazed anger.
The guy became very defensive and repeated that my sandwich already has its own sauce on it, and so if I want more he'll have to charge me for it.
(Let me just add that I often go to this very same McD's, get the McChicken and honey mustard and have NEVER been charged for it. In fact, I'm sometimes given more than one.)
Naturally, this upset me to no end. Now, I've never had an irrational or outwardly emotional outbreak since I've gotten pregnant. On the contrary, my pregnancy has been pretty smooth sailing hormone-wise. But as I sat down at the booth today and told James what had happened, I found myself getting teary-eyed! I was on the verge of an emotional breakdown over a tub of honey mustard?
I picked up the bun of my sandwich and saw the big glob of mayo right in the center and my anger flared up again. I took my sandwich to the counter and said in a very controlled voice,
"Please, may I have a honey mustard?"
The guy put it on the counter and said,
"It doesn't go with what you ordered."
I grabbed the tub and snapped back,
"Exactly! That's why I wanted one!"
As I walked away with my prize, the guy yelled,
"But I'm going to have to charge you for it!"
I got back to our booth and found it empty. I thought James had gone to the bathroom in embarrassment or something. At this point, people in the restaurant were giving me funny looks, but I didn't care. I was so damned focused on getting my honey mustard fix that everything else seemed unimportant!
I looked up at the front counter and noticed James talking briefly to the guy and as he moseyed back he looked a bit satisfied. He saw me opening my treasured sauce and said,
"Oh, you got one." So I told him what happened. He grinned and nodded, as if to say, "Yeah, that's my wife!"
I asked him about his conversation with the guy and he smiled and recounted his little chat. It boiled down to this: James asked him about the honey mustard, and the guy gave him a lecture about how the sauces are specifically for the chicken nuggets so if he wanted one he'd have to charge for it. So then James replied,
"You know, can't you just let her have one? I mean, it's Mother's Day, and she's pregnant." There was a girl cleaning the trays behind the counter next to him, and when James said that, her face puckered up in an "ooooooh, snap!" expression and the guy behind the counter shut up really quick.
James then said,
"That's all I have to say, so enjoy your miserable little life now," as he smiled, waved him off, and came back to our table.
This Mustardgate was way more interesting with a much more satisfying outcome, don't you think?


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Request for Good Younger Teen Reads
I received the following e-mail the other day:
I read with interest your posting about Addie Swartz, as I was lamenting to my girlfriends that when I went to Barnes and Noble to buy books for my 13 year old girl, there was nothing that appealed to me or that I thought would appeal to her, an athlete with little interest in clothes, makeup and to a lesser degree, boys. When I asked the B and N staff for specific recommendations, they came up with nothing. I have never heard of the Beacon Street Girls (but will soon buy these books for my 8 year old daughter)—what books other than these can you recommend for my daughter, and for parents who do not yet want their children to read about girls having sex and other more adult topics? I just pre-read the fourth book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, and 3 of the 4 heroines had sex by the end of the story.
Okay, my well-read friends. Please put your thinking caps on and help out your fellow Pop reader.
I recommended the following:
- Olive's Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
- Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbit
- Airborn & Skybreaker, by Kenneth Oppel
The young lady in question has already read (and enjoyed, I hope) the first two, and her mom said she'd check out Airborn & Skybreaker. What else can we recommend? Please leave suggestions in the comments!
A few other titles that leap to mind:
- Sea of Trolls, by Nancy Farmer
- Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko
- Hoot and Flush, by Carl Hiaasen
- Gregor the Overlander, etc., by Suzanne Collins
- Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman, by Eleanor Updale
Anyone out there read Ida B.? It looks like a winner, but I haven't read it.
I'd also like to take a moment to praise this mother's pre-reading of the new Sisterhood title -- good for you! And is it wrong for me to enjoy a moment of schadenfreude that the staff at B&N were not terribly helpful? Let's just call it an illustration of the difference between libraries & bookstores, and leave it at that, shall we?
Once again: suggestions in the comments!
Labels: clean reads, reader's advisory, YA lit, young teen reads


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The report "Passenger Information System Market [Display, Announcement, Emergency Communication, Infotainment, Mobile Applications, Devices and Components, Services (Professional, Integration, Cloud)] - Worldwide Market Forecasts and Analysis (2014 - 2019)" defines and segments the Passenger Information Systems market into various segments and provides an in-depth analysis and forecasting of revenues. This research report helps to identify the factors driving this market, various restraints, challenges and opportunities impacting it along with the future roadmaps.
Browse more than 96 market data tables with 62 figures spread through 180 pages and in-depth TOC on "Passenger Information System Market [Display, Announcement, Emergency Communication, Infotainment, Mobile Applications, Devices and Components, Services (Professional, Integration, Cloud)] - Worldwide Market Forecasts and Analysis (2014 - 2019)"
Early buyers will receive 10% customization on reports.
MarketsandMarkets broadly segments the Passenger Information Systems market by systems: information display systems, information announcement systems, emergency communication systems, mobile applications; by components: routers, multimedia displays, announcement, networking and communication devices, sensors; by services: professional, integration, cloud; and by modes of transportation: railways, roadways, and airways; and by regions: North America (NA), Europe (EU), Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America (LA).
Rapid adoption of smart phones, evolution of new telecommunication technologies and high growth in urbanization are the primary factors driving the growth for this market. Passenger information systems address the passengers demand for real-time information and in-transit connectivity. As the transport service providers find opportunity to retain the customers (in this case, the passengers), the demand for passenger information systems is increasing. Since there are several vendors in this market space, the transport service providers are looking forward to avail better prices. The players in this market space are providing a wide range of feature-rich offerings to attain better market positioning.
As per the study, the changing behavior of passengers is propelling the growth of passenger information system market. Number of passengers availing public transport services is increasing which is being backed by the high growth in urbanization. These passengers have several options to travel as a number of transport service providers are available there. In such case only those transport service providers will retain market share which will be able to retain more passengers. Passenger information systems offer real-time information and in-transit connectivity to the passengers which gives transport service providers a competitive edge over other service providers. Apart from the above stated features, today passenger information system solutions also offer features such as news broadcast, weather forecast display, on-demand information, emergency communication, and entertainment. Such features lure more passengers which directly attracts more revenues. With the rise of 3G, 4G LTE, and other communication technologies, now passengers want all the information related to arrival, departure, and cause of delay on their mobile. It has opened new possibilities for mobile application developers. Some of the passenger information systems do provide information vie mobile applications and notifications but in future this segment will be a key segment in this market in terms of revenue generation.
MarketsandMarkets expects the Passenger Information Systems market to grow from $6.27 billion in 2014 to $20.34 billion by 2019. This represents a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26.5% from 2014 to 2019. MarketsandMarkets expects North America to hold the largest market for Passenger Information Systems market, in terms of geographical regions and over the next five years, it is expected to continue this pace but Asia Pacific and Latin America would be the regions with highest growth rate.
About MarketsandMarkets
MarketsandMarkets is a global market research and consulting company based in the U.S. We publish strategically analyzed market research reports and serve as a business intelligence partner to Fortune 500 companies across the world.
MarketsandMarkets also provides multi-client reports, company profiles, databases, and custom research services. M&M covers thirteen industry verticals, including advanced materials, automotives and transportation, banking and financial services, biotechnology, chemicals, consumer goods, energy and power, food and beverages, industrial automation, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor and electronics, and telecommunications and IT.
We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository.
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True enough
True enough
BOOK: sound/bodies // paul.autonomic »» deeptime.net
Possibly the greatest, and certainly the most affecting piece of experimental/ambient IMHO.
Was this the most popular drone(ish) record of the last 5 years?
I enjoyed both of those, thanks
Actually on checking, it seems like I was mixed up and it was his newer material - Nocturnes http://inverted-audio.com/tv/william...john-sessions/
Please tell me there's a 'Drone Committee' whose members send anonymous threats to 'dronists' who don't just hold down a key for 2 hours.
I guess this bloke isn't a REAL dronist, but this one's pretty ace:
From the most underrated United Dairies release:
also famously youthful was conrad schnitzler, when i wrote to him the reply was immediate and thorough, you could not imagine a more vital person at seventy-something. age does not always dull the creative process (in some cases quite the contrary).
If there isn't a drone committee it should be invented. I definitely have one in my head anyway. Like the troika of musical economy - always demanding more austerity.
Lovely Basinski


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Petlog meltdown as chipping law goes live
Training scheme for judges being developed by KC
Welfare group calls for judicial review over councils decision to licence breeder
Top PRT Wizz killed in road accident
In recent months the DOG WORLD website has become an increasingly important vehicle for debate on canine topics. The comment function makes the website both immediate and vibrant. DOG WORLD considers debate healthy but we expect contributors to adhere to acceptable levels of respect for those whose views differ from their own.
All users of the website are subject to our published terms and conditions but we have been asked a lot of questions recently about how we moderate comments and so here we hope to make this process clearer in a Q&A format.
What is the aim of the site?
The aim of the site is to encourage a dynamic forum for debate in an open but civilised way. We try to delete as little as possible though some content has to be removed, usually for legal reasons, sometimes for taste reasons and always with the aim of keeping the community running smoothly and minimising conflict.
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Moderation is the removal or editing of messages or content which is unsuitable or offensive. Moderators are people who work to guidelines set by the website owners.
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Registered users are encouraged to publish comments directly. Although we regularly monitor the site, we don't guarantee to read all the comments posted and rely on users to complain about anything that is offensive or inappropriate.
What do you remove?
The main types of content that we remove are:
a) Personal abuse. Criticising an argument is fine, attacking the person making it is not. In other words, you can say a person's argument is idiotic but don't call them an idiot. Repeatedly posting personal or offensive comments about individual may be considered harassment.
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I've seen an instance of the above and you didn't remove it. Why not?
We may not have seen it. We rely on our readers to report inappropriate material. If you see something that you don't think should be on the site, please send us a complaint via the "Report as inappropriate' link. We will ask you to give your reasons as to why you feel the material is inappropriate.
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We encourage users to help us keep the site a civilised place to visit by making complaints. We give each complaint serious consideration but that doesn't mean we always agree. Many factors are involved in our decision. The words you use and the context in which the comment is made can affect our decision as much as the content itself. However, moderation is a subjective business and some comments will be viewed differently depending on who moderates them.
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We don't enter into discussions about why a certain comment was or was not deleted. We don't have time to do this and, in any case, we find that it is seldom constructive.
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text:
The N.C. Division of Water Resources has created nine interactive maps that locate facilities or activities with water-quality permits.
The maps give the locations and descriptions of sites such as hog farms, municipal and industrial wastewater treatment systems, and stormwater facilities.
The maps can be searched by location, permit type, facility name, permit number and status, county or administrative region and river basin.
The maps complement the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Permit Application Tracker, which lets viewers follow pending environmental permit applications.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Interactive water-quality maps posted
The N.C. Division of Water Resources has created nine interactive maps that locate facilities or activities with water-quality permits.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Summer interns power Carolinas energy sector
Energy firms in the Carolinas put about 600 interns to work this summer, creating a pathway for new entries into an aging workforce, says the two-state trade association E4 Carolinas.
Friday, August 23, 2013
McCrory signs 'job-promoting' enviro bill
Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill Friday to cut "burdensome regulation" that dissolves the state's water-quality division, relaxes groundwater standards and places a moratorium on local environmental rules.
McCrory had hinted he might veto the Regulatory Reform Act. Instead he signed it nearly a month after the bill landed on his desk and two days before a veto deadline.
Environmental pieces of the bill:
-- Require state agencies to review rules every 10 years to judge whether they're still in the public interest. Rules that are not reviewed will expire.
-- Let billboard operators take down trees outside defined cut zones on freeway ramps in order to make their signs more visible.
-- Ban until October 2014 new, local environmental ordinances on issues that state or federal laws also address -- unless the ordinances are adopted unanimously.
-- Extend the "compliance boundary" for groundwater contamination violations, previously 500 feet from the source, to the owner's property line. Existing compliance boundaries won't change. Duke Energy, which has been sued by the state over coal-ash pollution, and its critics disagree on whether the change will benefit the company.
-- Combines the N.C. Division of Water Quality, which policed water pollution, with the N.C. Division of Water Resources. Their combined staffs are expected to be about 15 percent smaller as the streamlined division adopts a customer-friendly approach to regulation.
Monday, August 12, 2013
DENR to see jump in "exempt" jobs
North Carolina's environment secretary, John Skvarla, scrambled late Friday to explain to his staff a big jump in the number whose jobs will be defined as "exempt," meaning they can be fired without cause or appeal.
House Bill 834, now on Gov. Pat McCrory's desk, increases from 1,000 to 1,500 the number of exempt positions in state government. "Exempt" includes managers deemed to be vital to the enterprise, but the term also embraces policy-makers who are supposed to carry out the governor's agenda.
Raleigh's WRAL reported that exempt positions at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources would rise from 24 under former Gov. Bev Perdue's term to 167 under McCrory -- the biggest jump among the eight departments affected by the bill.
Environmental advocates say the move will force top DENR officials to toe the Republican-dominated legislature's view of regulations as job-killers. The legislature has cut budgeting and moved whole divisions out of DENR.
Skvarla, in an after-hours email Friday to DENR staff members whose jobs will become exempt, called it a "badge of distinction of which you should be proud."
"It was always silly to pretend that only 30 or so people in a department of nearly 4,000 were making managerial decisions," he wrote. "DENR has more than 600 managers, and the majority of those carry the responsibility necessary to operate our agency."
Skvarla says management changes will be based on "competency, efficiency, performance and changing requirements, not based on politics."
The exempt-jobs news came after legislators last month dissolved the Division of Water Quality, which polices water pollution, and rolled it into the Division of Water Resources. The change is expected to trim the combined staff by about 15 percent as top managers adopt a "customer-friendly" regulatory approach.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
UNC to Duke Energy: Include us in renewables rate
The 17-campus University of North Carolina system wants in on the renewable-energy rate Duke Energy has proposed for large energy users such as data farms.
In a letter to new Duke CEO Lynn Good this week, UNC president Tom Ross notes that system's goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. But 3 percent annual growth in the system's footprint makes that target a challenge, Ross writes.
Duke said in April it would seek a new rate structure for large customers to boost development of renewable energy. The news came as Google announced a $600 million expansion of its Lenoir data center.


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The companies that are part of the tourism sector in Seville constitute the key pillar upholding a good future for the tourism in this city.
A specific space for the professional public will be published at a later stage of the website. Provisionally we are giving information that can be of special interest for the sector.


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They say that you should always leave the audience wanting more and that is certainly the case with this production.
These dates for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time are the last of a very long UK tour and from the sounds of it, it might not be back any time soon.
And I am sure the demand to see the show return to the touring circuit will be high as this brilliantly inventive production by the National Theatre is packed full of emotion, humour and drama in equal measures.
It is the kind of the show which anybody looking to go into the world of theatre should see, for it gives you an idea on what can be achieved with a few props, some physical theatre and a sound track. The set, while it might look minimal on first glance is intricate and clever and I commend all the actors for remembering which bits of it to go to at various stages.
But for all the cleverness of the production and really brilliantly bold story, the whole thing would fall apart if it wasn't for the actors adding conviction of performance and heart. Emma Beattie as Christopher's mum puts on a perfectly judged performance as a parent damaged by the past yet trying to make things better and David Michaels is brilliant as the father trying to prevent everything from falling apart.
The stand out performance though is Scott Reid as Christopher. I interviewed him prior to the show and he has quite a broad Scottish accent, but not even for a split second did this come through as troubled Christopher. Many of the actors who have played this part have gone on to bigger things and suspect Scott will join the list. He's determined, vulnerable and utterly convincing.
I hope this won't be the last we see of this production, but if it is, it's been a fine and brilliant ending to a fantastic run of performances. Just do yourself a favour and go and watch this show before it ends.
The show can be seen until Saturday September 16. For tickets call the box office on 0844 871 7652 or visit www.atgtickets.co.uk/miltonkeynes.


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Beef Dip is one of those recipes that I always order at a diner. I love it. It's a treat when made well, but I've never thought to make it myself. Rewind to two weeks ago, I was browsing at one of my favorite recipe sites, food.com, and found this recipe. It had very high ratings (4 1/2 stars out of 5) and a lot of positive reviews. The ingredients were simple and staples in our home. It looked super easy (and it was) and honestly, I couldn't believe how delicious this really was. My husband has not stopped talking about it ever since. He has asked a number of our friends if they have slow cookers and told them to get this recipe off of me. That's high praise :) The original posting is found here: http://www.food.com/recipe/french-dip-roast-beef-for-the-crock-pot-103403.
- 3 1/2-4 lbs boneless chuck roast
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 -4 peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary , crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 12 French rolls , split - (even better when toasted and then spread with a little mayo before adding the meat)


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The first sentence of the Calder study of competitive impact of the Florida tax credit voucher program on public schools says:
Good Quotes >
Notice the "Print Page" link at the very bottom. That will always print the current page.
"Defending New Hampshire Public Education" provides resources for citizens concerned about New Hampshire education.
The most interesting articles in each section are shown in the menu but there are normally many more articles under the main heading (except that all the New Hampshire legislation is shown). You can page down through those or just do a search to find what you are interested in.
The Search, in the upper right, is very powerful and worth using.
Good Quotes >
Vouchers = Tax Creditsposted Jan 25, 2012, 6:46 AM by Bill Duncan [ updated Jan 25, 2012, 7:33 AM ]
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Washington State's two keys: improved defense and QB Jeff Tuel
LOS ANGELES — Washington State coach Paul Wulff is one of three Pac-12 coaches on the hot seat — along with Arizona State's Dennis Erickson and UCLA's Rick Neuheisel — and his survival depends on how his wretched defense improves and whether quarterback Jeff Tuel jumps from dependable to remarkable.
The Cougars finished 118th nationally in total defense (467.00 yards per game), 115th in rush defense (220.25 ypg), 110th in pass efficiency defense (152.43) and 110th in scoring defense (35.53 points per game). All were last in the Pac-10.
He has eight defensive starters returning, not necessarily a good thing for WSU.
"It has been an issue, obviously," Wulff said. "Our defense has more physical strength than we've had, more team speed than we've had, more game experience than we've had. There's a good chance we'll start only one or two seniors on the whole defense. That combination with added size, strength and confidence is going to make a big difference for us. I think we'll stop the run.
"This spring we showed signs we have not shown in our time here on defense."
Tuel should be one of the best quarterbacks in a league with strong quarterbacks. He was All-Pac 10 honorable mention after finishing fourth with 231.7 passing yards and sixth in pass efficiency at 133.3.
"He must put the team on his back and carry it," Wulff said. "When games are tight he has to make the plays to win the game. Those are the steps he needs to take and will take."


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National Travel And Tourism Week Proclaimed By Governor Mead
Governor Matt Mead will sign a proclamation Thursday, May 3rd designating May 5-13, 2012 as National Travel & Tourism Week in Wyoming. The signing, along with a travel rally will take place at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Capitol in Cheyenne. Governor Matt Mead is authorizing and requesting that communities across Wyoming observe this week through events and activities that promote Wyoming's tourism industry.
Shannon Stanfill, Visitor Services Manager at Wyoming Office of Tourism conveys,
"National Tourism Week allows us to bring all facets of the tourism industry to the forefront of people's mind. This year, in conjunction with communities across America and the US Travel Association, we will host a travel rally during the proclamation signing. We invite everyone who works in lodging, transportation, restaurants and activities to join us so that we can acknowledge and demonstrate how many people are involved in Cheyenne's hospitality industry."
According to Diane Shober, Director of Wyoming Travel and Tourism,
"Tourism impacts every person in Wyoming and contributes $2.8 billion in travel expenditures and 118 million annually in state and local tax revenues while employing nearly 30,000 people which generates an annual payroll of 729 million."
In fact, tourism is Wyoming's second largest industry surpassed only by oil, gas and minerals.
Tourism Week Events include;
Wednesday, May 3
2:30 p.m. Rally day and proclamation signing, Cheyenne
7:30 a.m. Jackson Hole REACH awards
Monday, May 7
5:45 p.m. Town of Jackson proclamation signing
6:00 p.m. Town of Lusk celebration, award ceremony and proclamation signing
7:00 p.m. City of Gillette proclamation signing
Tuesday, May 8
5:00 p.m. City of Rawlins open house and awards
Wednesday, May 9
11:30 a.m. City of Evanston proclamation reading
11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. statewide REACH award luncheon, hosted by the City of Evanston and the Evanston Chamber of Commerce
Tuesday, May 10
Noon. JacksonHole Business Including Lunch -Tourism Speaker Panel
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Welcome center open houses at both Cheyenne and Northeast Wyoming Welcome Center.
Readers may go to wyomingofficeoftourism.gov and view the industry calendar for more information about each event.


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Will McMain
Will McMain is the AAVSO's new webmaster and software developer. He works to maintain and expand the AAVSO and Citizensky Websites, as well as improve the technologies used internally by the AAVSO headquarters.
Will was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where clear skies and little light pollution gave him an amazing view of the stars from his backyard. While he spent time as a child looking at the stars through a 4" Newtonian scope, his interests quickly turned to computers, and the telescope was put in storage.
After graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in Computer Science, Will moved to Boston in search of some new scenery and a job in the tech field. He spent a year working for a startup in Cambridge, but found himself dissatisfied with the work he was doing and left. After a tiring job search, he was delighted to be given the opportunity to work with the AAVSO and reconnect with his interest in Astronomy.
In his spare time, Will is an avid video gamer, runs Dungeons and Dragons games, and plays poker.


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Dynamic butler trajectories
During his internship at Willow Garage Tobias Kunz, a PhD student from Georgia Tech, worked on a project to enable the PR2 to quickly transport objects on a tray without them falling off. This effort in conjunction with the sushi challenge aim to give robots the ability to perfrom tasks like efficient transport of every day objects and dynamic place setting.
Dynamic trajectories are important for robots to execute delivery or butler tasks at home in a timely manner. The problem also appears in industrial robotics when objects are transported on tray-like end-effectors at high speeds. An identical problem is that of carrying an open container of liquid. Just keeping the tray horizontal is not enough to keep the object from sliding off when moving fast.
Instead, the tray needs to be tilted in a way that minimizes lateral force on the object.
Tobias implemented two different methods. The first method explicitly calculates the time-optimal trajectory for a free-floating tray along a straight line in workspace given constraints on the linear and angular accelerations of the tray. The second method considers arbitrary paths and the kinematic limitations of the robot arm. STOMP, a local trajectory optimization method, is used to iteratively minimize the lateral force acting on the object while also avoiding obstacles. The video shows the PR2 executing trajectories generated by this this method using different types of objects with different start and end locations for the tray.
Tobias' work demonstrates the use of motion planning to enable robots to execute tasks with complex dynamic constraints. His goal is to get robots to do even more complex tasks in the future, just like humans can.
You can download and playback these dynamic butler trajectories on your own PR2 robot. The necessary instructions are available here.


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Implementing Inclusive Education
Implementing Inclusive Education: A Commomwealth Guide to Implementing Article 24 of the CRPD, second edition.
IDA Factsheet on the List of Issues
IDA Facsheet on the List of Issues (Document produced by IDA on how to contribute to the list of issues of the UN...
IDA Factsheet on the Optional Protocol to the CRPD
Document produced by IDA on how to lodge a communication to the Committee under the Optional Protocol.
IDA Report on First Follow up Mission to Peru: Monitoring Implementation of the CRPD Committee's Recommendations
From 5-8 October 2015, the International Disability Alliance (IDA) carried out a mission to Peru to follow up on the progress made on...
Accessible Information Communication Technology and Assistive Technologies and Persons with Disabilities
The second annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals will be held at the United Nations Headquarters...


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Published at Wednesday, April 17th, 2019 - 15:41:47 PM. Wedding Venue. By Adelisa Pohl.
Selecting Wedding Venue Location. Bride and groom must ensure the best and healthy venue location that is full of green vegetation and located near the city. Wedding reception place should be near to the city in order to conveniently transport the necessary wedding accessories, guests, bride and groom and other wedding related things to the wedding destination. It is also important to choose a place near the vibrant city so that maximum number of guest can attend and enjoy the ceremony.
Is there any transport options? Be sure public transport is available, venue is easily accessible, and there is enough parking space for the guests. If there is no transport, you might want to arrange your own for your guests.
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Make a Donation
The Zoo needs your support to maintain and advance our efforts as a great recreation, education and conservation resource for the community. There are several opportunities for you to make contributions, based on your interests and goals.
Annual Fund Campaign
The Annual Fund Campaign provides funds for our ongoing operating expenses for the Zoo.
Capital Campaign
Capital Campaign funds are designated for capital improvements at the Zoo such as new exhibits and other extensions to the Zoo's current assets.
Memorial Gifts
Honor a loved one with a memorial gift to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
Planned Giving
Wills, trusts and estate plans are all excellent ways to plan for a future gift that can often have very attractive immediate financial consequences.
Donations By Phone
To make a donation by phone, please contact the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens at (904) 757-4463, ext. 116.
A Special Reminder
You may also send gifts of stock, mutual funds or other securities. These types of gifts not only help further the Jacksonville Zoo and Garden's mission, but also they provide contributors with significant tax benefits. Please contact Nikki Smith at (904) 757-3937 or by e-mail for details.
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) organization. Contributions are deductible for federal and state income tax purposes as provided by law.
Request a Donation from the Zoo


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Europe ACCESS Global Surface Wind +120 hour Chart
- location
- Africa
- Asia
- Europe
- New Zealand
- North America
- South America
About ACCESS Global
Australian Community Climate and Earth-System Simulator (ACCESS). Based upon the UK Met Office Unified Model system. ACCESS G is the global numerical forecast model operated by the BoM. It is run twice daily (00Z and 12Z) and provides forecast data out to 240 hours with a horizontal resolution of 80km and 50 vertical levels.
Weather News
Heatwave forecast to span Australia according to Bureau of Meteorology
Brace yourselves Australia: there is yet another heatwave on the way.
Drought-stricken WA pastoralists given much needed reprieve with donated hay
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Blake may have brought some much needed relief to northern parts of Western Australia, but for pastoralists of the southern rangelands it was barely enough to settle the dust.
Queensland rain cuts roads and prompts warnings of flash flooding
Days of monsoonal rain have cut off Queensland towns, turned one property into an inland oasis, and brought a welcome boost to rivers and dams in central and western Queensland.


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By STEVEN K. PAULSON
Associated Press
DENVER (AP) -- The U.S. Forest Service is considering explosives to move a bunch of frozen cows that died after getting stuck inside a cabin at 11,000 feet in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.
Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said Tuesday that rangers are worried about the high fire danger and discussed other solutions when they met Tuesday, including using helicopters or trucks.
Segin said using helicopters is too expensive and rangers are worried about using trucks in a wilderness area, where the government bars permanent improvements and tries to preserve the natural habitat.
Other options include burning the cabin and dragging the dead cows out with pack animals, he said.
Forest Service spokesman Brian Porter said rangers saw about six cows inside the cabin, and several dead cows lying around the building.
"There is a lot of snow, and it's hard to determine how many cows are there," Porter said.
Rangers met Tuesday and went over their options, but it could take several days to make a decision, he said. They are also trying to locate the rancher who lost the cows.
Segin said officials are concerned about water contamination in the nearby hot springs if the cows start decomposing during the thaw.
"Obviously, time is of the essence because we don't want them defrosting," Segin said.
The carcasses were discovered by two Air Force Academy cadets when they snow-shoed up to the cabin in late March. Rangers hiked up and verified the problem, then began discussing how to remove the dead animals. They believe the animals sought shelter during a snowstorm and got stuck.
The cabin is located near the Conundrum Hot Springs, a nine-mile hike from the Aspen area in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness area. Time magazine rated it one of the 50 top authentic American experiences in 2008.
Segin said the Forest Service occasionally uses explosives to destroy carcasses of animals that can't be retrieved.
"We've used them as a means of disposal to remove dead horses, elk and other animals in areas where it's impossible to get them out," he said.
Information from: Aspen Daily News, http://www.aspendailynews.com
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.


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2011 Peter Michael Les Pavots Proprietary Blend
Proprietary Red
750 ml
Peter Michael Winery, if you agree with Robert Parker, produces three Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir labels – Clos du Ciel, Ma Danseuse, and La Caprice - that can go toe-to-toe with Burgundy's DRC…and sometimes win, especially if you consider the lower price point of the Peter Michael. Regularly scoring at least 98 points, these fabulous wines made by winemaker Nicolas Morlet come from their higher elevation Sonoma Coast "Seaview" vineyard. Equally fabulous, scoring high and reflecting an impeccable elegance, are their Chardonnay and Bordeaux blends, which come from both estate vineyards in Knights Valley, Oakville and Sonoma Coast, and from sourced sites in Alexander Valley, Santa Lucia Highlands, and Russian River. Sir Peter Michael is a successful worldwide entrepreneur and engineer with a portfolio of businesses from high tech to hospitality to commercial radio. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1989 in recognition for the prosperity spawned by his work, Sir Peter Michael clearly has a knack for growing successful ventures...and his California wine business is no different.


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Press-Data Collection Reveals Surprise: "We Were too Lean"
For more than 35 years the company has been designing and building dies, and manufacturing stamped parts for the automotive, appliance, aerospace and medical industries. In addition to contract manufacturing, Waukesha manufactures the Sta-Collar annular flange for automotive stabilizer-bar applications.
Networked Controllers Track Press Productivity
Press controllers at Waukesha Tool & Stamping, Sussex, WI, provide timing signals to presses and ancillary equipment as well as monitor tonnage and die-protection and in-die-measurement sensors. The controllers, networked via Ethernet, provide data to collection software to monitor pressroom productivity.
Waukesha implements lean practices throughout the organization. In order to get the timely, accurate and unbiased data required to track ongoing productivity enhancements and identify areas and processes that needed the most improvement, the company decided to implement an automatic shop-floor data-collection system.
"Our expectation was to capture data from the presses, measure utilization, and assess our lean initiative," says Jeff Clark, Waukesha Tool & Stamping president.
Software Compiles Controller Information in Database
The heart of the data-collection system is Honeywell LETS (Line Efficiency Track Software), which collects critical production information directly from the SmartPAC machine controllers and sends it over the existing inhouse Ethernet to the LETS database. The information then is available in report form, or can be accessed using Factory Viewer, a built-in browser-based real-time interface.
In addition to communicating
|Software collects critical production information directly from the press controllers and sends it to a database that can provide reports such as this one, which summarizes downtime reasons for a stamping job.
The LETS software monitors the machines and accounts for 100 percent of time during the scheduled production day. It places this time into one of five categories: "Running" when the machine is operating and making parts; "Idle" when the machine is stopped for an unknown reason; "Changeover" while the machine is being set up for a new job; "Planned Down" when the machine is stopped for a scheduled break; and "Unplanned Down" when the machine is stopped for a known reason. Unplanned downtime is further categorized by reason.
The data-collection software collects running and idle time automatically as it polls the controllers, and also automatically collects any unplanned downtime events initiated by the SmartPAC controllers. These events include tonnage and sensor faults. Other events such as changeover, planned downtime and many unplanned downtime reasons cannot be collected automatically and must be selected manually by the operator at the controller. These selections are made on a special Dialog menu.
Specifics Needed for Downtime Reasons
Experience has shown that simply providing a downtime-reason menu is not enough to ensure a complete and accurate account of downtime reasons. For example, if an operator were to restart a machine without selecting a downtime reason, the time would be logged as idle time. Since idle time provides no indication of why the machine was actually down, that selection needs to be minimized.
"There's no such thing as idle time," says Clark. "Machines stop for a reason."
The controller also requires the operator to respond to simple sensor, tonnage and other faults in a timely manner. If the operator does not clear an error within a preset amount of time, he must indicate the real reason for the stoppage. Whyis this necessary? Suppose a controller stops a machine due to a simple part-ejection error. The controller displays a "Part Ejection Sensor 1" error and reports it to the software. If the operator quickly fixes the error and restarts the machine, the short period of downtime will be attributed to a part-ejection fault and recorded by the software. However, if the operator is busy at another machine and takes 30 min. to respond to the part-ejection fault, logging all of that downtime to a simple sensor fault would be inaccurate. Instead, the control requires the operator to indicate via the Dialog menu the real cause for downtime, which in this case is "No Operator Available."
|Armed with downtime data, Waukesha has taken steps to increase press utilization, including the placement of measurement gauges at presses to reduce first-piece-approval time.
That these were the leading causes for downtime did not surprise Clark and his team. What was surprising: Approximately one-third of the downtime occurring throughout the plant traced back to these two reasons. Like many manufacturers, Waukesha Tool and Stamping tries to do more with fewer people. In addition to running multiple presses, operators perform quality checks and assist in setup and troubleshooting, with quality-control personnel also stretched thin. Machines sat idle due to a lack of personnel available to perform simple tasks needed to keep them running.
Downtime Issues Addressed
Waukesha has taken several steps to reduce downtime. By better understanding the needs of each machine, company management quickly modified each operator's responsibilities to better balance the workload. And the addition of roving operators to certain shifts helped minimize instances where presses sat for extended periods of time with easily correctable problems. The roving operators clear sensor faults, perform coil changes and correct other short-term issues, allowing others to focus on setting up new jobs and troubleshooting more complex problems.
Other downtime-reduction measures have little to do with personnel. For example, LETS showed that one high-volume machine stops an average of seven times per hour so that the operator can change the parts bin. These stoppages create 12 hr. of downtime per month, greatly lowering the machine's efficiency and keeping the operator from addressing problems at other machines. Based on the cost of this downtime, Waukesha justified an automatic indexing system for the high-volume press, a system that automatically rotates an empty container into place based on a signal from the SmartPAC 2 controller. The operator can replace full containers with empties whenever he has the time, without stopping the press.
"The indexing system is a capital investment," says Steger, "but we can justify the investment based on the reduction in machine downtime."
First-piece-approval times have been shortened by deploying additional attribute and functional gauges at the presses. This allows operators to quickly perform quality checks, and reduces the burden on the quality-control department.
Tool Shop, Maintenance Benefit from Data
The LETS software helps in other s. The LETS Factory Viewer includes a detailed event log that provides a time- and date-stamped account of every event at every machine. Gary Rutkowski, Waukesha's inhouse sensor expert, uses the event log to monitor recently sensored dies for nuisance faults and other startup problems that might otherwise go undetected. Rutkowski now can ensure that the sensors are employed on all shifts, and have not been bypassed or disabled due to excessive errors or nuisance stops.
Also, the software knows where and when every tool runs, and how many parts the tools make. Therefore, it can keep an accurate total-hits count for each die—even as the die runs in multiple presses—eliminating tedious and sometimes inaccurate manual recordkeeping. Tooling personnel at Waukesha use the dies' total-hits counts for maintenance purposes, comparing tooling-related downtime from job to job, and optimizing the maintenance intervals for each die.
The unplanned-downtime information not only identifies problem equipment, but also objectively quantifies the severity of problems to allow efficient prioritizing of corrective actions, essential for the small maintenance staff at Waukesha.
With objective information on machine utilization, the company has been able to justify delaying or cancelling some planned equipment purchases, while fast-tracking others. Sums up Clark: "Data is king—collecting it, analyzing it and putting it in a form that can be used by our team allows us to make informed sound decisions about our business."
Steger echoes those thoughts.
"We've been able to use what we've learned," he says, "to increase our uptime and utilization, decrease downtime and improve our sensor program." MF
See also: Wintriss Controls Group LLC
Related Enterprise Zones: Automation, Other Processes, Sensing/Electronics, Software
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Quickflix upgraded its online payment system in three months to prevent hacking threats and solidify its position as a leading digital video subscription service in Australia and New Zealand, the company's chief innovation officer, Tim Parsons, said today at the CeBIT Future of Payments conference in Sydney.
Quickflix is a subscription service that ships DVDs and Blu-ray movies, and streams digital video in Australia. It also recently launched a streaming service in New Zealand. In 2011, Quickflix began adding streaming video support for smart TVs, Sony PlayStation 3, the iPad and other consumer electronics devices, and it has plans to soon support the Microsoft Xbox 360.
"We're trying to move as fast as we can because we're scared of these other big competitors and we're scared of people like [the US company] Netflix … who might be coming to Australia," Parsons said. "We want to make sure that when they turn up they realise we're in all the key devices in the premium positions—contractually agreed with those device manufacturers—and have all the different pieces in place like PCI compliance … so they say, 'That's not really worth it.'"
Quickflix hopes to follow the example of Trade Me in New Zealand, which successfully warded off a challenge from eBay, Parsons said. He said everyone thought eBay would "crush them", but "eBay took one look at the local Trade Me business and [said], 'Too hard, we're out of here".
In upgrading its payment system, Quickflix hoped to ward off threats to its business, including technical, operations and hacking threats, he said. "We recognised that we weren't really super comfortable" about preventing an event like the one Sony faced when it lost tens of millions of credit cards. "That's a brand that's pretty bulletproof, but if Quickflix lost two credit cards we'd probably be gone."
Quickflix partnered with IP Payments to develop payment gateways for various devices and the Web, Parsons said.
Maintaining a consistent look and feel to payment gateways across the Quickflix website and device apps was critical to making customer comfortable, he said. For device apps, the challenge is doing that on "someone else's infrastructure," he said.
Also, the migration process had to be "completely invisible" to the customer, Parsons said. The company has 100,000 paying customers, "and we just didn't want any of those folks" to receive a "weird message" telling them that they had to upgrade their account, he said.
Complicating matters further, the company had to migrate multiple credit cards per user and support multiple currencies.
"We pulled it off" in three months," Parsons said. Quickflix started talking about the upgrade in November 2011, decided to do it in March 2012 and rolled it out by June. The company has run 600,000 transactions since turning on the new system and migrated 180,000 cards "without any downtime," he said.
The company's upcoming move to Xbox 360 presents new payment challenges, Parsons said. "Xbox 360 won't have on-device payment, but it has all sorts of opportunities like that in it, and of course customers who sign up through the Web for an Xbox 360 account need to be able to transact using that PIN system for [transactional video on demand] and other products." That will run on off-site IP payments and credit card storage infrastructure, he said.
Quickflix has convinced 30 per cent of its DVD-through-post subscribers in Australia to switch or additionally subscribe to streaming services, Parsons said. "What will push people over is catalogue depth." Quickflix has 55,000 titles in its DVD catalogue but only a subset are available through streaming. "There's a lot of legal relationships" to cut through in Hollywood and studios are "good business people," he said. "You've got to be careful, because they'll take your money. So you need to make sure your business model will scale, so if you're paying more money for the content—as in millions of dollars—you need to make sure you'll get it back at the other end."
Another problem is each major studio has "lots of little ones underneath it that are actually doing the delivery of the files," Parsons said. "In some cases we get tapes. In one instance we were told, 'Rip the Blu-Ray.'" It's an industry that's "still in transition," he said. "They're being very careful to protect their existing revenue base … and at the same time they realise they have to come up with something very credible."
Follow Adam Bender on Twitter: @WatchAdam
Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU, or take part in the Computerworld conversation on LinkedIn: Computerworld Australia


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Merry music for the holidays
es, there will be plenty of "O Holy Night" and "Jingle Bells" and "Sleigh Ride" around Houston during the Christmas season. But the soundtrack also includes folk favorites, pop spectacles and a touch of burlesque.
Noise for Toys
Toys for Tots fundraiser featuring Lisa Morales, Kimberly M'Carver, Jack Saunders, Texas Blues, Wood & Wire, Mike Stinson and Alexandra Adkins. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 24225 Norfolk. Admission is an unwrapped toy; 713-528-5999 or mcgonigels.com.
Mayor's Holiday Celebration and Tree Lighting
"The Voice" winner Danielle Bradbery, who hails from Cypress, headlines the downtown extravaganza. The lineup also includes the Temptations Review with Dennis Edwards; the "Htown rendition" of "Little Drummer Boy" featuring Colton Berry and Lil J. Xavier; University of Houston Choral Ensemble; fireworks, live ice sculpting and more. 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at Hermann Square, City Hall, 901 Bagby. Free; 832-393-0868.
Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!
The wildly popular and wonderfully weird kid show returns to town with "A Very Awesome Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! Holiday Show," a Christmas-themed dancing, singing, jumping spectacular. 2 and 5:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at Bayou Music Center, 520 Texas. $25-$45; 713-230-1600 or livenation.com.
Bruce & Kelly Holiday Shindig
The husband-wife, singer-songwriter duo of Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis started the tradition in 1999, taking a year off for the birth of their twins. This show features a full band. 7 and 9:30 p.m. Dec. 12 and 13 at McGonigel's Mucky Duck; $35 advance, $80 at the door.
Trish and Darin Christmas Show
Austin singer-songwriter Trish Murphy and brother Darin will deck the halls and actually do the cooking for patrons. Trish has a food blog and teaches a cooking class at Austin's Whole Foods. 7 p.m. Dec. 18 at McGonigel's Mucky Duck; $58.
Mix 96.5 Twas the Week Before Xmas
The Backstreet Boys, James Blunt and Plain White T's spread holiday cheer via top 40 radio hits. 8 p.m. Dec. 18 at Bayou Music Center, 520 Texas. $30-$40; 713-230-1600 or livenation.com.
Martin Burniston's Christmas Singalong
Annual event, featuring holiday favorites and dinner. 7 p.m. Dec. 19 and 20, 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Mucky Duck; $10-$45.
Burlesque Revue
The popular local troupe returns to Numbers for its second annual holiday show and a bit of a New York theme. The lineup includes director Lady Jae, Roo La La and pop singer Lauren Miller. 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 at Numbers, 300 Westheimer. $15-$150 (VIP table for four); 713-521-1121 or numbersnightclub.com.
Bad Grandma Xmas Party
DJ Melle Mel on the turntables. Pose for an awkward family photo. Ugly sweaters and muumuus are encouraged. 8 p.m. Dec. 20 at the Usual, 5519 Allen. Free; 281-501-1478 or theusual pub.com
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
It's not Christmas without this prog-rock staple. 3 and 8 p.m. Dec. 27 at Toyota Center, 1510 Polk. $33-$73; 866-446-8849 or houstontoyotacenter.com.