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Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A powerful storm that crept across the country dropped snow, freezing rain and sleet on the Mid-Atlantic region and headed northeast Sunday, turning NFL playing fields in Pennsylvania into winter wonderlands, dumping a foot of snow in Delaware and threatening a messy Monday commute in the northeast corridor.
The storm forced the cancellation of thousands of flights across the U.S. and slowed traffic on roads, leading to a number of accidents, including a fatal crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Morgantown that led to a series of fender-benders involving 50 cars that stranded some motorists for up to seven hours. More than two dozen vehicles were involved in another series of crashes on nearby Interstate 78.
What was forecast in the Philadelphia area to be a tame storm system with about an inch of snow gradually changing over to rain mushroomed into a full-blown snowstorm that snarled mid-afternoon traffic along Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania from the Delaware to New Jersey state lines.
Paul Jones, 24, a youth hockey coach from Warminster in the Philadelphia suburbs, was on his way to a game in Lancaster when he got stuck _ along with his fiancee, another coach and three players _ in a major backup on the turnpike.
The roadway was "snow-covered, slick," Jones said in an interview from the car, where he was a passenger and had been at a standstill for more than an hour.
"People are in and out" of their vehicles, he said. "Kids are having a snowball fight on the side of the road, making snow angels, people are walking their dogs."
The National Weather Service said the low pressure system from North Carolina north to New England was being fed by disturbances from the southwest and moist air off the Atlantic.
A foot of snow was reported in Newark, Del. Philadelphia International Airport received 8.6 inches Sunday, more than it had all of last year. Other areas received far less: a little over an inch was reported in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, which usually is hit harder than downtown Philadelphia.
The forecast for early Monday remained up in the air for the northeast, depending on how quickly the system moves and temperatures rise, according to the National Weather Service.
The expectation was for another weather system moving out of Virginia to follow the same path as Sunday's storm overnight. It was expected to dump icy drizzle and eventually freezing rain from Philadelphia northward through the New York City area and into Boston, National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Heavener said.
"The commute for people in the Philadelphia area and north, to northern New Jersey and New York will likely be disrupted by freezing rain," Heavener said.
The snow fell so heavily in Philadelphia on Sunday that yard markers at Lincoln Financial Field _ where the Eagles beat the Detroit Lions _ were completely obscured. It was almost as bad in Pittsburgh, where the snow intensified after the opening kickoff.
Philadelphia fan Dave Hamilton, of Ivyland, layered up for the game, wearing an Eagles shirt topped with an Eagles sweatshirt and Eagles winter coat.
"Twenty-seven years I've been a season-ticket holder, I've never seen snow at the game like this," he said. "It just kept coming down. But we are all having fun out there."
The tracking website Flightaware.com estimates more than 2,500 flights were cancelled nationwide as of Sunday evening and more than 6,000 flights were delayed. That follows two days of similarly difficult travel conditions.
Philadelphia International Airport had a temporary ground stop Sunday afternoon with snow totals around 4 to 6 inches. Spokeswoman Stacey Jackson said a number of passengers were expected to remain in the airport overnight since area hotels had been full for several days. She said staff would hand out pillows and blankets to travelers to make them "feel at home even though they are not."
Air passengers in the Washington-area experienced increasing delays as the season's first real snowstorm set in. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said many flights had been delayed at Dulles International and Ronald Reagan Washington National airports.
Virginia, parts of West Virginia and the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area braced for blackouts under steady freezing rain, wet snow and sleet. Parts of northwest and southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia were getting snow, while sleet and freezing rain prevailed west and north of Richmond.
In Maryland, a chain-reaction accident on Interstate 81 in Washington County involving more than 20 vehicles delayed snow removal efforts for hours. The highway was closed for more than three hours after a tractor-trailer ran into the median to avoid cars that had spun out. It was hit by another tractor-trailer that overturned and spilled its load. Several other tractor-trailers ran off the road and jackknifed as their drivers tried to avoid the crash.
North Texas started to thaw out slightly Sunday after two days of a near standstill with icy roads and low temperatures. About 400 departures from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were canceled Sunday. It will likely be a couple of days before the ice that's coated the region melts completely.
The snowstorm raised fears about a potentially dangerous Monday morning commute, with snow-laden cars and perilous, icy roads. New Jersey's new U.S. senator, Cory Booker, tweeted a promise to a Mount Holly resident to help him shovel out his car if he still needed the help in the morning.
But the heavy snow wasn't limited to the East Coast. A snowstorm that hit along the Utah-Arizona border left hundreds of travelers stranded on Interstate 15 overnight into Sunday. The Arizona Highway Patrol said passengers in about 300 vehicles became stranded after up to 10 inches of snow and slick road conditions prompted the closure of part of the highway. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries.
Rubinkam reported from Pennsylvania. Associated Press writers Steve Szkotak in Richmond, Va., Ben Nuckols in Washington, D.C., Jamie Stengle in Dallas, and Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J., contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Washington at Work--for the Wealthy
Uncle Sam is concentrating America's wealth, not sharing it.
By Sam Pizzigati
October 13, 2010 "Other Words" - -
Scroll through the right-wing blogosphere, or listen in at a tea party rally, and you'll find angry people ranting about an out-of-control federal government that's redistributing the nation's wealth to the undeserving poor.
Those rants do have one point right: The federal government is shoveling hundreds of billions of dollars into programs that redistribute wealth. But these "wealth-building" programs aren't redistributing wealth from the top to the bottom. They're actually shifting more wealth to the top.
"We cannot avoid the sad irony," as one new report has just concluded, "that government policy aimed at building wealth is largely helping the rich get richer."
This new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Corporation for Enterprise Development--Upside Down: The $400 Billion Federal Asset-Building Budget--dives deep into the programs that aim to help Americans "buy homes, start businesses, put their children through college, and retire comfortably."
Upside Down's authors added up all the money the U.S. government devoted to these programs last year, and then tracked who exactly reaped the benefits. In nearly every instance, the answer came back the same. Federal dollars, as Upside Down details, routinely "subsidize wealth building for the wealthiest among us, rewarding them for (the) size of their homes and investment portfolios."
How could this be? Most federal asset-building programs, the study explains, deliver their benefits through the tax code, an approach that almost guarantees that the wealthy will score, by far, the biggest benefits.
Here's one example: The federal government encourages home-ownership--a central pillar of family wealth building--with tax deductions for mortgage interest and local property taxes as well as discount capital gains tax rates on the sale of property.
These sorts of tax subsidies work spectacularly well--if you have lots of income you can apply these tax breaks against. But if you don't have much money to report on your tax return, these tax breaks do you precious little good.
Low-income households that "don't make enough money to itemize deductions or even to accrue much tax liability," notes Upside Down, "receive next to nothing from these strategies."
And middle-income families don't see much benefit either. The typical household making $50,000 a year, the study relates, received in 2009 only $500 in benefits from the federal government's mortgage and property tax deductions and investment tax breaks. Taxpayers making over $1 million a year, on the other hand, averaged $95,820 last year from these same subsidies.
Over half the benefits from these programs went to the most affluent 5 percent of Americans: families making over $160,000. Just 4 percent went to the nation's bottom 60 percent: families that earned under $50,000 in 2009.
In other words, the near $400 billion the federal government is laying out, largely via tax subsidies, to help families "save, invest, and build assets" is doing remarkably little to help the families that really need the money.
Of course, alternatives do exist. We could, notes Upside Down, easily alter how we "deliver" asset-building assistance. We could, for instance, replace tax deductions with "refundable tax credits," a move that would funnel actual checks to Americans who don't have tax bills big enough to benefit from tax deductions.
And to end the windfalls for the wealthy our current system encourages, we could place "caps on the value of homes and other assets that can be deducted." That would mean no more tax breaks for mansions and palatial beach retreats.
We need to pursue all these alternatives, especially now, with so many millions of Americans facing foreclosure and finding jobs so few and far between. We don't need to start redistributing our nation's wealth. We're already redistributing. We just need to reverse the flow.
Sam Pizzigati edits Too Much, an online weekly on excess and inequality published by the Institute for Policy Studies. www.ips-dc.org

subset: commoncrawl


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The federal Liberal Party has moved a fundraising event featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that was originally booked on a Canadian Forces base — and might have violated military rules.
The fundraiser is scheduled for Dec. 19, with tickets costing up to $400. Initially slated to occur in the Vimy Officers Mess at CFB Kingston, it has since been moved across town to St. Lawrence College.
Party spokesman Braeden Caley blamed capacity, accessibility and other logistical issues for the decision to change venues, saying in an email that "there's been a very strong response to the upcoming event."
READ MORE: Trudeau criticized for tweet to Trevor Noah pledging $50M charity gift
The largest space in the officers' mess holds 240 people, according to CFB Kingston. St. Lawrence College has a conference centre that can hold 350.
While the officers' mess is regularly rented out for private functions such as weddings, CFB Kingston spokesman Capt. Jeremy Mathews said the staff members who booked the Liberal event "were not aware of its fundraising nature."
"While CFB Kingston staff were checking into the issue, the booking party moved the event to another location, thus resolving the issue," Mathews said in an email, adding: "CFB Kingston is apolitical, and does not allow political meetings on the base."
Even if the mess is available for private functions, lawyer and retired colonel Michel Drapeau said protecting the military from real or perceived political bias is essential — which is why such fundraising events are banned.
READ MORE: Trudeau wants new relationship with Indigenous people to be his legacy as PM
"The military has to be seen and to be perceived as apolitical and it would be wrong to use a defence establishment, a government property established under military control, for any political purposes," Drapeau said. "The optics of that would go against the apolitical status of the military in a democracy."
The Liberals began to give advance notice of political fundraising events last year after the prime minister was roasted for months for attending exclusive events at private homes, where donors paid up to $1,550 to rub shoulders with him.
The Canadian Press


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Streambed curvatures form different types of fish holding places. The outside bends or greater curvatures receive the current's scouring actions. High flows cause a deepening of the riverbed channel. During low water conditions, holes and deep runs are present along with undercut stream banks. These quickly become favored fish holding places.
The inside or lesser curvature induces deposition of items carried by the currents. Here away from the main flow, food items settle. In addition, drifting insects are concentrated here.
Current seams are found as junctures between swift and slow flows. These seams can become favored lies that continually hold fish. Seams occur at both the great and the lesser stream curvatures. Seams are created by the shearing between fast currents and slower currents.
Islands generate additional current seams. Fish prefer the island's seams because of a bonus of terrestrial insects coming from the island's vegetation. An island's placement provides a sort of wing foil with different current speeds on each side. The current seams occur on upstream sides, alongside, and downstream. The island's vegetation enhances its bank-side cover. Stream braiding further enhances both the number of current seams and the bank-side
cover. The placement of an upstream riffle generates an open refrigerator door with insect emergence settling down back to the island. My favorite streams have lots of islands and channels because these structures enhance the number of fish producing lies.
A single island produces at least four different current seams. Two of them are further enhanced by bank side cover and undercut banks.
Even small islands with limited cover enhance the stream's habitat. Here, mini-current shears, channels, and undercutting provide pocket water lies.
Don't overlook small side channels in a large river system. But remember a prerequisite for productive habitat is a prior history of stable flows. It takes some time for fish to relocate if the minor channel has been recently dewatered.
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Fly Tying • Freshwater Fishing • Fly Fishing


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I have written several posts criticizing the massive public financing of the new Yankee Stadium, which has received more government subsidies than any other stadium project in American history (see here for the most recent, with links to earlier ones). Yesterday, the New York Times had an interesting article on the evolution of sports stadium financing in New York:
In dimensions and decor, the new [Yankee] stadium, handsome and comfortable, is meant to evoke the old one. But the resemblance is only concrete deep. This is not history, but a costume party, a rigging of familiar geometry. It disguises a radical departure from New York's baseball history: the embrace of public subsidy — around a billion dollars when all the costs are added — for private wealth.
The first incarnation of Yankee Stadium opened in 1923. The owner, Jacob Ruppert, bought private land, raised private funds for the construction, and maintained the place with money he made in ticket sales. Ruppert and his successors paid taxes on the property: the land alone was assessed at $1.75 million in 1923. By 1970, the stadium and land were valued at $5 million.
If you were to page through the annual city tax rolls, you would find the valuation of Yankee Stadium — as well as the Polo Grounds in Manhattan and Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the homes of the Giants and Dodgers — listed right alongside the other big properties in the city, like Rockefeller Center, the Metropolitan Life building and Loews Paradise theater.
What do those old tax rolls tell us?
They say that for much of the 20th century, baseball in New York was recognized by the government as another commercial venture, with all the opportunities and responsibilities of owning property.
Not at the new "cathedral of baseball." In fact, the stadium is being treated by the government as if it were a house of worship, not a place to sell $10 cups of beer. The partnership that owns the team has a 40-year lease on what had been city parkland. The partners will pay neither property tax nor the "payments in lieu of taxes" that are made when a private business venture occupies public space.
The fact that sports stadiums were routinely built and financed with private funds up until the 1960s and 70s - at a time when the business of pro sports was far less lucrative than today - undercuts owners' claims that they need government subsidies to survive. Indeed, in that earlier era, sports team owners not only paid for their stadiums themselves but also paid property taxes on them at the same rates as other landowners.
Ironically, as the NYT article points out, the Yankees opposed public financing and tax exemptions for the construction of the rival New York Mets' Shea Stadium in the early 1960s. Then-Yankees General Manager George Weiss warned that publicly funded sports stadiums would become "white elephants" for city governments. Weiss' prediction has turned out to be accurate. Today, public funding for sports stadiums routinely fails to provide economic benefits that even begin to approach their costs. Perhaps it is time for New York and other cities to take Weiss' warning to heart.
UPDATE: The original version of this post wrongly referred to to George Weiss as "Al Weiss." The mistake has now been corrected.
Related Posts (on one page):
- Exorbitant Ticket Prices at the New Yankee Stadium:
- The New York Times on Public Funding for the New Yankee Stadium:


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Ludwig Breakbeats Questlove 4-piece Shell Pack - Silver Sparkle
Breakbeats Series
"I wanted to build a device that was apartment-friendly and compact for the street musician; but also something that was quality-sounding. A gritty, raw, 'break-able' kit for gigging in clubs that you can fit in a cab. Breakbeats by Questlove does it all."
- Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (The Roots)
Make It Fit
Breakbeats was designed with the city in mind. Positioned on a riser for optimum reach, its compact 14x16" bass drum, 7x10" tom, and 13x13" floor tom creates a set-up for sculpting grooves in tight spaces. It features Remo Pinstripe heads for pro-level tones, and comes with a multi-purpose bags for easy transport, and drum muting. The Breakbeats kit is available in White Sparkle, Black Sparkle, and Red Sparkle.
Break It Down
The tonal center of Breakbeats is a 5x14" matching wood snare drum. Create beats on the fly and make your voice heard at gigs, on the street, or in rehearsal.
Dial It In
Fitted with Remo heads, Breakbeats' 7-ply hardwood shells play like a full-sized kit; fusing low-end kick punch with focused tom and snare midrange.
Pack It Up
Packable, stackable, and portable, Breakbeats' compact size and included velvet storage bags make it ideal for the drummer on the move. Play it wide open or instantly change volume and tone by draping each bag over each drum.
7-ply hardwood. Preferred by professionals for its tonal versatility.
Bearing Edge
Each drum's bearing edge is cut to a 45-degree angle within 1/16" from the outside edge. This sharp edge is hand-sanded to the craftsman's touch to assure a smooth, even, flat surface for easy head seating; the final touch to complete the unmistakable Ludwig Sound.
- Bass Drum: 14" x 16"
- Tom with Auxiliary Clamp: 7" x 10"
- Floor Tom: 13" x 13"
- Matching Snare Drum: 5" x 14"
- Cymbals and hardware are not included


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RPi HTML5
Contents |
Back to the Hub.
Community Pages:
Tutorials - a list of tutorials. Learn by doing.
Guides - a list of informative guides. Make something useful.
Projects - a list of community projects. Help others out.
Tasks - for advanced users to collaborate on software tasks.
Datasheets - a frambozenier.org documentation project.
Education - a place to share your group's project and find useful learning sites.
Community - links to the community elsewhere on the web.
Games - all kinds of computer games.
HTML5 game description
HTML5 games
- http://www.peepo.com/ - The ancient oriental game of Go, with comments and hints as you play.


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:leaning forward: We win.
After arguing that the media is controlled by Jewish interests, [Louis Farrakhan] applauded Hagel's nomination. "Senator Hagel is in trouble," Farrakhan said. "But America needs a man in Congress like that, who's not a rubber stamp for others. You need a man like Senator Hagel as your secretary of defense because a man with a mind like that will keep you out of fighting somebody else's wars. You need a man in government that has another opinion that is not controlled, and if the Senate does not confirm him as defense secretary because of his opinion on Israel, that only proves that the Senate in the U.S. Congress is controlled by the Israeli lobby. And it also sentences America to war with Iran for the state of Israel."
In a very bizarre sort of way, admittedly. Whether or not the nomination goes through tomorrow – unlike Allahpundit*, I am not quite ready to assume that it will – the original purpose of said nomination is now officially dead, dead, dead. There is now no way that you can say with a straight face that Chuck Hagel is acceptable to the Republican party. The Republican party does not stand with Louis Farrakhan. We derive considerable pleasure from not standing with that anti-Semitic nutjob. If you are liked by Louis Farrakhan, there is something wrong with you.
So, if and when Obama decides to gut the military (which, if he does, he will regret doing; although not as much as his party will, not to mention the American people) he cannot count on Hagel t0 provide him with "bipartisan" cover. It's just going to be partisan. And danged desultory, at that.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
PS: Yeah, I know, I know: a Republican President would have picked an infinitely better candidate. Don't look at me: I went to the polls and voted a straight party ticket, after spending four years constantly slugging it out. So my conscience is not just clear; it sparkles.
PPS: If you're a Republican staffer: if your boss votes for cloture on Hagel tomorrow, he or she will end up wishing that he or she had not. Now is a good time to offer last minute advice along those lines.
*Mind you, he's got good reasons. We still have a few Senators (coughcoughmccaincoughcough) who seem to be laboring under the noble, yet mistaken belief that the Democratic party is run by people who are not permanently infuriated that anyone out there would dare attempt to thwart the Democrats' collective will.


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Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel's dad died in the last war. It's a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.
Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?
Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan's collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both them legions of faithful fans.
When Tessa's own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa's sneaky ways end in catastrophe?
I am willing to send these books internationally, so that means anyone can enter!


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Games Central - A fine, fitting end to the Nathan Drake nexus
Elsewhere Inks and Smash The Office deliver pinball precision and workplace mayhem to smartphone and tablet
Title: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Platform: PS4
Genre: Action
Price: £41.99
A fine, fitting end to the Nathan Drake nexus
The Uncharted series' incredible rise from low-key entry to the action genre to must-have summer blockbuster on Sony's PS4 is testament to its single-mindedness in delivering an experience that beautifully blurs the lines between movie-style spectacle and immersive gaming. The fourth and final instalment is a fitting tribute to all of the above, as A Thief's End hauls lead character Nate out of retirement to embark on a hunt for pirate treasure with his long lost brother, Sam. The brilliant voice-acting interplay between these two provides a rock-solid narrative hook, aided and abetted by delicate refinements to a game engine that has thrived on its core mechanics of environmental challenges and frenzied enemy combat for nearly 10 years. A loosening of level linearity will be welcomed by gamers hungry for Nate to embrace a more open-world approach, but it's tight enough to ensure that when one of the franchise's many stunning set-pieces comes calling, you're more than happy to be pushed down the required path. It's difficult to find fault with A Thief's End, as it's everything any action gamer could possibly want - jaw-dropping visuals, intense gunfights, and the constant feeling of childhood Indiana Jones-style adventure. We can just be annoyed that Nate won't be making a fabulous fifth outing...
Title: Doom
Platform: Xbox One
Genre: Shooter
Price: £39.99
One great big FPS Boom! It's Doom...
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIt was one of the titles credited with bringing the First Person Shooter into popular gaming culture, and lord knows there have been enough of them since. However, well over a decade later, we can certainly make room for the Daddy of them all to lock and load for another outing, and there'll be no taking cover or stopping to regenerate health as you beat back Hell's raging demon hordes. You'll need to combine your arsenal of futuristic and iconic guns, upgrades, movement and an advanced melee system to knock down, slash, stomp, crush, and blow apart demons in creative ways. In multiplayer, Doom's signature, fast-paced arena-style combat really shines, as you use your personal blend of skill, powerful weapons, vertical movement, and unique power-ups to annihilate the opposition. An intuitive level editor opens up almost limitless gameplay experiences, with your own creations instantly playable within the online FPS-fan community. A big, bad, trigger-happy old friend has just knocked on your living room door and, on this occasion, we're more than happy to let it back in.
Title: Professional Farmer 2017
Platform: PC
Genre: Farming
Price: £14.99
A lovely virtual life on the farm, without the smell...
It's time to get your wellies on, as Professional Farmer 2017 throws you headlong into the life of a farmer with all its incredible tasks and challenges, the likes of which are rarely replicated in any other job. Where else can you drive incredible tractors, control original machines, cultivate your fields and market your produce for profit? Of course, aside from animals and machinery, there's a strong commercial angle to this simulation. The better your fields are tilled, the more animals you breed, and the more products you produce, the better your profit and income. But living the rural dream will not be easy - requiring hours of virtual hard work, farming skills, a strong sense of business and plenty of fresh air. There's a juicy, organic carrot at the end of the stick, though, as improvements in your skills will unlock additional machines, fields and tractors for you to buy. Everything is presented through crisp, bright graphics, and the excellent tutorial mode will do a good job of getting you started, demystifying many of the impressively detailed options available to you. Wannabe farmers and aspiring agriculturalists will no doubt enjoy the feature-packed career mode, but if you just want to take a John Deere tractor for a spin, you'll love that too!
Title: Inks
Platform: iPhone/iPad
Genre: Pinball
Price: £1.49
Painting + pinball = perfect gaming partners
Inks is a fantastic fusion of art, pinball and puzzle gaming, which gives players the opportunity to create their own uniquely colourful interactive canvases while tackling a host of ingenious table set-ups. The puzzle element comes to the fore as you must ping your pinball to explode cunningly placed coloured targets, and the force with which you strike them will determine the shape and size of the gloriously messy paint explosion that ensues. As your ball rolls through these ponds of colour, you'll start to draw a coloured trail around the game board, which is both beautiful to behold and useful to track the best angles to hit those hard to reach corners from. More obstacles are unveiled on later levels, and the toughest boards require some serious thinking time to uncover the right way to approach them if you're going to earn top marks by completing all colour explosions in the minimum required amount of moves. It's Jackson Pollock-esque to look at, bizarrely therapeutic to play and packed with dozens of different levels to let your creative spirit loose on. Lovely stuff.
Title: Smash The Office
Platform: iPhone/iPad
Genre: Action
Price: Free (with in-app purchases)
A whirlwind of destruction in the workplace
Big-name titles such as Grand Theft Auto have become used to courting controversy with its mature themes and violent gameplay, still winning out amongst age-appropriate gamers thanks to the series' incredible production values, storytelling and all-round open-world awesomeness. Smash The Office is likely to draw some similar headlines, as you assume control of a thoroughly fed up white-collar office worker whose sole goal is to do as much damage as he can to his work environment in 60 seconds. There's little more depth to it than that, but a well-constructed combo and power-up system allow you to unleash even greater destruction on your surroundings, delivered through some solid 3D smartphone graphics and tight virtual controls on the touchscreen. If you've seen the Michael Douglas film Falling Down, you'll know where Smash The Office is coming from and, for pockets of frenetic and fairly mindless mature gaming fun, it ticks plenty of gaming boxes. Just don't expect your strategic brain to be stretched in any way...
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Hide AdWest Ham Utd have become the first football club in the UK to sign a professional eSports FIFA player. Sean "Dragonn" Allen is recognised as one of the top players globally on the game, and recently lost out on away goals in the dramatic final of the 2016 FIFA interactive World Cup where he held a 5-3 lead going into injury time of the second leg. He has been given his own squad number by West Ham - 50 - and will now compete for the club in a host of FIFA eSports ranking events.
Meanwhile, in the charts this week, Battleborn shot straight into the number one position after its first week of release. Call of Duty held firm at two, while Ratchet & Clank fell two places from one to three. GTA V climbed four places from eight to four, while Far Cry Primal also made a positive move, up from nine to six.
1. Battleborn
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
3. Ratchet & Clank
4. Grand Theft Auto V
5. Tom Clancy's The Division
6. Far Cry Primal
7. LEGO Marvel Avengers
8. Dark Souls III
9. EA Sports UFC 2
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (c) 2016 UKIE Ltd


text: The European Smalltalk Users Group (ESUG) is proud to announce its 5th Innovation Technology Awards. The top 3 teams with the most innovative software will receive, respectively, 500 Euros, 300 Euros and 200 Euros during an awards ceremony at the 2008 International Smalltalk Conference. Developers of any Smalltalk-based software are welcome to compete.


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He's posing for charity:
More than 18,000 service men and women have been injured in the war, and more than 2,600 have given their lives for our freedom. Many of the wounded are young and face an entire lifetime of "healing" and coping with disabilities. Regardless of partisan or political views, our country recognizes the need to aid our service men and women who endure great sacrifice to protect our freedom.
You may have heard about it or seen it in the media, now you can order the 2007 America's Heroes Reconnaissance Marines Calendar for yourself and/or all your friends. 100% of the proceeds go to our wounded heroes and their families as directed by those who have been awarded the Purple Heart.
(Found via Racy Thoughts and A Distant Soil)


text: Uncut MagazineUncut is the home of great, timeless rock music, from Bob Dylan to Arcade Fire. It aspires to be the monthly magazine of choice for discerning, knowledgeable music fans that typically grew up with the classic rock of the sixties and seventies who continue to be excited by new music that connects them to the records they have always loved. Uncut has a specific emphasis on delivering the most comprehensive and definitive reviews section in the monthly music sector. . ·


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Previously I have discussed the history of a long lived British culiary technique which involved the serving cooked meat with sauce thickened with egg and a flavoured with a souring agent. Typically, in early recipes the souring agent was verjuice:
A Book of Cookrye by A. W. (1591)
To make balles of Mutton.
Take your Mutton and mince it very fine with Suet. Then season it with Sugar, sinamon, Ginger, Cloves & Mace, Salt, and raw Egges. Make it in round balles. Let your broth seeth ere you put them in. Make your broth with Corance, dates quartered, whole Mace and salt. Thick it with yolkes of Egges, and Vergious [verjuice], and serve it upon Sops.
* Out of interest it is worth comparing this 16th century English dish with a modern Greek dish of Youvarlakia me Avgolemono.
Verjuice is the juice of sour (or unripe) grapes, but in the English tradition it could also made from the juice of other sour fruit, such as crab-apples. Directions for producing simulated verjuice are quite common in Medieval and Early Modern cookery texts for the simple reason that verjuice was a hugely popular cookery ingredient. Verjuice is present in almost every European Medieval recipe collection and it is also commonly found in Medieval Arabic texts. In both cases this was largely due to the fact that during this period both Christian Europeans and Muslims followed the same theory of dietetics, that of "Hurorism". This theory was based on the belief that body was composed of four "humours", when these were in balance, good health insured, when out of balance illness and disease was the outcome. Diet was thought to be a useful method of balancing humours and ensuring health. If you were of a Sanguine temperament (hot and moist), then you needed to counteract this tendency to ensure health. Verjuice was considered by nature to be extremely cold and dry, so perfect in this context. However, it is only in European texts do we fine the combination of egg thickened broth, soured with verjuice. This egg-verjuice sauce was either made from the broth of stewed meat or used to thicken the liquids in pies.
While I have previously discussed the English use of these egg-verjuice sauces, essentially the same type of recipe is found in Medieval and Early Modern English, French, Catalan, Spanish, Dutch and Italian recipe collections. While this was a widespread European tradition that lasted for hundreds of years in Europe, the vast majority of the recipes stopped being made long ago. However in the Pie class of dishes there are at least two notable survivals. Interestingly, in both cases the dishes are considered to be traditional and regional dishes and neither is located in Europe.
The first dish is the South African "Hoender Pastei" (Chicken Pie), a Cape Dutch speciality. This dish is very similar to the ancestoral 17th century Dutch recipes for Chicken "Pastey", as detailed in historic recipe collections such as "The Sensible Cook", the only significant change is that verjuice has been replaced with lemon juice in the modern recipe. Interestingly, this Dutch recipe has inspired another version of the dish in the Cape Malay community. In "South African Cape Malay Cooking" by Sonia Allison and Myrna Roberts, "Hoender Pastei" is described as being "considered de rigeur by Cape Malays for weddings and other celebratory occasions". The main difference between that Cape Dutch and Malay dishes being the inclusion of sago in the latter version.
The other survival of this ancient style of Chicken Pie is the Moroccan "pastilla", ( "bisteeya", bistayla "bastila" or "basteela"). In this instance a tradional Moroccan Pastilla would contain young pigeon or chicken. As in the case of the Cape Dutch "Hoender Pastei", the older style combination of verjuice and egg has been replaced by lemon juice and egg.
Are there any other survivals of this ancient culinary technique of serving meat with a egg and verjuice sauce? In general cuisines are dynamic, while there are well recognised regional cuisines and individual dishes it is well worth considering that most dishes are of relatively recent origin. Ingredients change, culinary techniques change, individual dishes, indeed, whole classes of dishes come in and out of use. Unless we are dealing with an unusual degree of cultural inertia/conservatism, Survival or Relict dishes are rare, and usually survive because they develop a cultural importance outwith the context of deliciousness. Food can be symbollic as well as delicious and where a particular symbollic significance is retained, so might a particular dish. Verjuice was a popular cooking ingredient in Europe because it was thought to be extremely healthy when consumed in the correct manner. Once its significance as a healthy ingredient was diminished then so did its popularity as an ingredient and the dishes that it was used in. Deliciousness doesn't last, most of the worlds delicious foods are now found in libraries, not on the table.
But there are examples of this ancient class of dishes that still exist. Of these "Survival" dishes we have the culinary techniques of thickening a sauce by the use of a liaison. From the Medieval period in the English tradition sauces thickened with egg yolk were know as either a "Caudle" or "Lear". With the rising influence of French cusine during the 17th century the French term "liaison" began to be used in English cookery texts, especially for liquids that were thickened with items other then eggs. From the 17/18th century:
"To make a Caudle for a sweet Veal Pie. Take about a jill of white wine and verjuice mixed, make it very hot, beat the yolk of an egg very well, and then mix them together as you would do mull'd ale ; you must sweeten it very well, because there is no sugar in the pie."
"...Lear, made thus: Take the Yolks of Eggs, a little white Wine or Verjuice, a Piece of sweet Butter, and a little grated Nutmeg; toss these well together, just as you are going to serve them away, till they are thick; garnish your Dish, and serve them up hot"
"For I should have said, that when you put in the Herbs, you squeese in also the juyce of half a Limon (pared from the yellow rinde, which else would make it bitter) and throw the pared and squeesed half (the substance) into it afterwards. The last things (of Butter, bread, flower) cause the liaison and thickening of the liquor. If this should not be enough, you may also put a little gravy of Mutton into it; stirring it well when it is in, least it curdle in stewing, or you may put the yolk of an Egg or two to your liaison of Butter, Flower, and ladleful of broth."
Both the English "Lear" and the French "Liaison" , mean "to thicken" and derive from the same etymological roots. In the modern dishes a liaison still often uses egg, but other thickening agents are also used. The modern white Fricassée is most similar to the 17th century original.
In many of the other Survival dishes, ancient verjuice has almost entirely been replaced by lemon juice. The most striking example of this is seen in the Sephardic Jewish community. In the Eastern Mediterranean Sephardic community there are a range of dishes using a sauce thickened with egg yolks and soured with lemon juice. These sauces are popular are they give a creamy texture to a sauce in a cultural background were there is a proabition on eating dairy produce with meat. These dishes are commonly known as "agristada", indicating their origin as being derived from an older Spanish recipe containing verjuice, not lemon juice, as "Agraz" is Spanish for verjuice. Agristada dishes are found in the Sephadic communities of Greece, Turkey, Syria, Bulgaria and in cities with large Jewish communities such as London. Often the original Judeo-Spanish "Agristada" is replaced by terms from the non-Jewish community, such as the "Tarbiya" in Egypt, "Terbiye" in Turkey, but most often as a local variation of "Egg and lemon" sauce, such as Arabic "Beda b'lemume" or Greek "Avgolemono". In many cases this Sephardic culinary technique has been adopted by the non-Jewish communities, most famously in the case of the Greek "Avgolemono". As the combination of egg and veruice thickened sauces is unknown in Medieval Arabic cookery texts and rare in modern Arabic cuisines, it would seem that where these dishes are found they are derived from the Jewish community.
In modern Spain "Agristada" has survived as a drink of verjuice sweetened with sugar, in Italy the same drink was known as "Agrestata" ("Agresto" is Italian for verjuice), however in Bartolomeo Scappi's "Opera" (1570), Agrestata was a verjuice sauce, that was either thickened with breadcrumbs or egg yolks. Compareing Scappi's recipes with the modern Survival dishes we can see a shift from the use of verjuice to the modern lemon juice; Scappi gives a recipe for Brodetto (broth thickened with egg yolks and flavoured with verjuice), which has survived as a "Brodetto Pasquale" in Florence, except in this case the verjuice has again been replaced with lemon juice. In Rome "Agnello Brodettato" or "Brodetto Pasquale", are again Easter dishes this time stewed lamb is thickened with an egg and lemon sauce. Greek food authority Aglaia Kremezi has told me that a similar Easter Soup/stew is made in Greece and is known as "Magiritsa".*
So while the dishes that have survived that are representative of this ancient class of egg-verjuice thickened sauces may be delicious in their own right, they seemed to have survived in part due to cultural conservatism. Either they are associated with a particular religious festival or because they are associated with a particular religions probation on eating certain combinations of food stuffs. In some cases this class of food has moved outwith this original context, Avgolemono is now consumed by a non-Jewish community without any religious connotations in most cases. But Avgolemono and related dishes in the Eastern Med. would not have developed without the Survival dish Agristada being transported from Spain as part of a cultural package of the Shephardic Jews. Cultural conservatism becomes the catalyst for dynamic cuisine change, a new class of dish becomes a regional classic. How many more of these seemingly dynamic cuisine developments are dependent on the influence of much more conservative cultural elements? How many regional "Classics" are the products of external, rather than internal developments? What are the drivers of these changes? Is it the momentum generated by a huge mass of cultural conservatism or down to more stochastic forces? Connecting the dots between various regional dishes and demonstrating a shared history is interesting, but ultimately not very informative. The important questions to be addressed is how these food networks develop, and what are the processes that drive this development? Cultural conservatism seems to be one process that drives the formation of regional foods, what are the implications of this?
* It was also Aglaia that first told me about the connection between Avgolemono and Agristada.


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It's hard to be an expert at everything, but this collection of wood joinery techniques will make your next project look like you've just finished your degree in mechanical engineering. They're targeted for use in projects where thin sheets of plywood are CNC cut to make enclosures and parts. [Sean Ragan] mentions that these are not new, but we haven't come across such a large collection of examples as this.
The joints shown above address a series of different needs. You're probably already familiar with the joint on the bottom right which makes nice corners for a box, providing a lot of surface area for gluing. But just above that is a simple variation on the idea which includes slots for square nuts. This type of mechanical fastener brings strength while keeping the option to take the joint apart again
To the top left you can see a design that includes a snap lock. As the two pieces are slotted together, the barbs flex until they find their mating openings and hold the pieces firmly together. Below that are some bulbed finger joints which don't need glue to hold themselves together.
[Sean's] post goes on and on with these designs. He even covers the laser-cut bendable hinges which we are quite fond of.


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Maybe it's because I'm a new parent, or because many of my friends are becoming parents, but one of the biggest trends I see is all things baby. Baby names, specifically. You can't shake a stick at the Internet without finding some sort of website touting the year's hottest and cutest baby names. (Or my personal favorite–sites making fun of the year's hottest and cutest baby names.)
Naming your child is a big deal–it's something that will stick with them the rest of their life. You don't want to mess it up. You might even want God on your side. Then I came across this site this week that promised "trendy, cute, fun Christian/Catholic Saint names for girls. They're cool, old fashioned and bring history, virtues & meaning."
After rolling my eyes at the preciousness of it all, I read on, only to be pleasantly surprised at some of the saintly suggestions for naming your little XX. Then I rolled my eyes a little more. For instance: "Adele (cute!): Like a cross between Addison and Isabelle!"; or "Juliana: Almost Julia, but with a little more life." Tell that to Julia.
But I see where they're going. We Catholics love naming our kids after biblical characters and saints, but some names have perhaps been, how shall we say…overused. (How many Marys are in your family? I count seven.) I can understand the desire for today's generation of parents to pick fresh, new names from the Bible or the Book of Saints (ironic, when you think about it). Just look at the U.S. Social Security list of popular baby names: Jacob (# 1) is in. Peter (#191) petered out.
I named my own son Benedetto after his beloved great-grandpa (who was rumored to have been named after Mussolini). And while I didn't intend on naming Benny after the pope or the saint, he's got a good solid Catholic name regardless. That makes me happy. That makes my family happy. And that makes God happy. Maybe I'll name my next child Dorcus.


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Guy Tries To Give Up Cable, Wimps Out In Under A Month
A Cnet editor and his wife tried to "cut the cord" and ditch his pricey FiOs cable bundle, and either get their content free or through online downloads. Less than a month later, he's back on the sauce. What a milksop!
He was paying $179 a month for FiOS with internet, phone, and TV with HBO/Showtime, DVR and a second HD box.
So he installed a 14-foot Winegard 7698P HDTV antenna on his roof to snag free over the air (OTA) HD. Including the 100 feet of coax, grounding block, and grounding rod, all the gear cost $620. Plus he nearly killed himself installing it on his steep roof. (He now recommends getting this professionally installed).
The results weren't great, though. Big Medium fans, it stunk that CBS service was spotty. There were also audio and video breakups when it got windy, and DVR programming errors. When he tried to watch a Knicks game using a Slingbox through a friend, the video was so bad he couldn't tell the players apart or the score.
Their other source of content was PlayOn on PS3,which streams a bunch of content to your PS3 like Hulu, Amazon Video on Demand, TV.com, CBS, and others. It's a $40 on-time fee, but the incessant and unskippable Hulu ads, and waiting around for content to show up proved to be a chore. (They also chose not to use anything like BitTorrent).
After all the gear and subscription fees, they weren't getting all the channels and content they wanted, and definitely not at the quality they wanted, and weren't saving that much money, so after less than a month they gave up.
After coming back into the fold, Verizon offered them a new 2-year agreement for $110/month that drops the premium channels and only one DVR.
Cutting the cord can be worth it, but there's no way to do it without some combination of hassle and sweat and sacrificing both content and quality. And not everyone is willing to make that sacrifice.
Recap: Diary of a cable TV cord cutter [Cnet] (Thanks to Random Hookup!)
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.


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An international team of molecular scientists have discovered that star ascidians, also known as sea squirts, have pacemaker cells similar to that of the human heart. The research, published in the JEZ A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology, may offer a new insight into the early evolution of the heart as star ascidians are one of the closest related invertebrates to mammals.
The research team, led by Annette Hellbach from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, expected to find clusters of HCN cells, the markers for pacemakers, at either end of the Botryllus schlosseri ascidian heart.
"The Botryllus schlosseri heart beats from one end to the other, stops for a short while and then starts to beat in the other direction," said Hellbach. "It would make sense to have two pacemakers on both ends from which the heartbeat is initiated, however, we found several HCN positive cells spread along the cardiac tube."
The team interpreted this finding as an evolutionary precursor to the elaborate cardiac conduction system found in mammals which are made up of clusters of pacemaker cells located in defined spots.
The team found that in comparison the cells in the B. schlosseri heart appeared to be randomly distributed along the heart; however, as with mammals the HCN cells played a vital role in generating the heartbeat.
The team also found that the cells responded to the blocking chemicals Cilobradine and Zatebradine by decreasing the heartbeat as is found to be the case for mice. This increases the likelihood that the cells operate through a similar molecular function.
"Our study reveals that the presence of HCN channels and their role in generating the heartbeat is shared between B. schlosseri and mammals," said Hellbach. "This makes colonial ascidians such as B. schlosseri insightful models for studies on the origins and evolution of vertebrate innovations, such as the pacemaker."
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Eyeshadow & eyeliner brush with soft, synthetic bristles
Eyeshadow & eyeliner brush with soft, synthetic bristles
My Eye Smudger Brush is great for applying colour to add definition in the eye socket area, or for a more smoky eye. It works well with the Enhance and Smoke shades of my Luxury Palette of Colour-Coded Eye Shadows, to add colour to more targeted areas such as along the socket line or even along the lashline. I couldn't live without this clever little brush!
My range of artist-inspired makeup brushes have been expertly crafted by hand to be so easy to use they practically apply the make-up themselves. I wanted to create a functional but beautiful, luxurious range, in my signature rose gold and night crimson colours. The maximum hair-count brush heads are hand-pulled into the perfect shape by a master brush maker in Europe.
All my artistry is in the brush. I believe women need just a few key brushes to achieve a perfect finish, so my range is edited down to eight essential brushes, which work perfectly with my formulas. It is make-up made easy!
Find out how your makeup brushes work for you in the Makeup Brush Buying Guide.
Hair: Synthetic Fibre
Ferrule: Aluminum
Handle: Wood
100% animal cruelty free 3-tone fiber
1.Run eyeshadow along the eye sockets or across the lash lines to add definition to any eye look and create a more intense colour.


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Rejoystick is a program that maps keypresses on your
gamepad/joypad/joystick to keypresses on a keyboard when you
are running X. Since it uses SDL to communicate with the gamepad
device, it can work on every platform that provides SDL and an
X environment. (Though it is yet to be tested on Cygwin e.g.)
Maintained by: Steven Pledger
Keywords: rejoystick,joystick,joypad,gamepad
ChangeLog: rejoystick
Download SlackBuild:
rejoystick.tar.gz.asc (FAQ)
(the SlackBuild does not include the source)
Individual Files: |
rejoystick.SlackBuild |
rejoystick.info |
rejoystick.patch |
slack-desc |
© 2006-2024 SlackBuilds.org Project. All rights reserved.
Slackware® is a registered trademark of
Patrick Volkerding
Linux® is a registered trademark of
Linus Torvalds


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If World War 2 had been conducted the way Western Governments are now conducting the Jihad war being fought against them we might have had the following kind of behaviour:
- Nobody should jump to conclusions about who might be responsible for this particular bombing, especially as we have no conclusive evidence yet that any of the previous 253 bombing raids were in any way related.
- In fact, our intelligence on previous raids reveals they were carried out by men from different cities with nothing whatsoever in common other than the fact that the cities all happened to be in Germany. What we must not do is infer from this that the German people mean us any harm whatsoever especially as their Government adheres to the Nazi philosophy which we know seeks worlds peace.
- At present we have no idea what the motive was for any of these attacks but we must treat each one as a separate crime with separate motives. We do not yet know the names and nationalities of the men who carried out tonight's bombing raid. They are just as likely - indeed more likely - to be British men with a grudge against the Government's new income tax system as men of any other nationality. There is certainly no reason to be believe this is in any way connected with Germany.
- And just because we have been bombed now for 254 consecutive nights there is no reason to believe that this will happen again. Obviously citizens should be extremely vigilant as they go about their nightly activities tomorrow - be especially on the look out for British men complaining about income tax who are known to have access to bomber planes.
- However, what we will not tolerate are those racists among us who assert that if we spot German bomber planes entering UK airspace tomorrow that we should assume anything other than purely peaceful intent. Attempting to stop such planes flying over London would be considered by us to be unacceptable racial profiling.
- In the extremely unlikely event that bombs are dropped again we will treat each individual bombing as a separate criminal act and will spare no expense in attempting to track down the individual pilot responsible in each case. In the unlikely event that such a pilot is found to be from a foreign country (which is just as likely to be Honduras, New Zealand, or Zaire as it is to be Germany) we will expect the government of that country to help us track down the criminal. Indeed we now have reason to believe that a man named Fritz Schmidt of Hamburg was a pilot involved in a previous bombing and as a result I have asked Herr Hitler the German Chancellor to consider bringing this man into custody.
- Moreover, because several men from German towns have been previously implicated My Majesty's government is hereby donating 15 billion pounds to Herr Hitler's Germany to ensure that they have the resources to find and punish the guilty men.


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Please select from the tags below to filter your results.
RCP academic vice president, Professor Cheng-Hock Toh, responds to Wellcome's report on research post-Brexit.
RCP president Professor Andrew Goddard responds to the results of the 2019 general election.
The government must put patient safety at the heart of the continued Brexit negotiations and invest in the health and care workforce, public health and prevention, a capital programme and social care provision.
In the run up to Brexit, we've written to the Prime Minister, along with 16 other health organisations, calling for healthcare to be at the heart of EU exit negotiations.
Uncertainty has been the theme of the past few months, as it became clear that the EU exit deal Theresa May's government negotiated would not make it over the necessary parliamentary hurdles.
The RCP has responded to the 2018/19 Welsh government evaluation of health and care winter resilience 2018/19.
The RCP is taking the unusual step of writing to all MPs asking them to vote against the UK leaving the EU without an agreement, to protect patients.
RCP president Professor Andrew Goddard has stated that patient safety is critical in any no-deal Brexit scenario, and urged transparency about national stockpiles.


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Crews are responding to a train derailment involving southwest New Hazelton.
The incident involving 27 cars pulled by a westbound coal train happened at about 8 a.m. today. Only several of the 27 derailed. A CN spokesperson said in an email that there are no reports of injuries and no dangerous goods involved.
She added that emergency response crews and environmental teams are responding to assess the situation and begin a clean-up.
The derailment was near the Highway 16 overpass, but no crossings were blocked.
Photos provided by the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition show coal spilled into the Mission Creek.
The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
A CN train derailed on Dec. 8 near the Bulkley Canyon east of New Hazelton. CN then said the 50 coal cars were empty in that incident.


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Twitter stream
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Lac La Biche Business News
- Catching The Bug For Pest Control
Like many small business owners, Norman Campbell didn't initially set out to do what he finds himself doing. While attending college to become an addictions counsellor, an infestation of bedbugs piqued his interest in becoming a pesticide applicator, and his career journey started on a different path. More than 25 years later, Norman is the owner of BUG-E Exterminator and has become the local expert on pest and weed control for residential, business, and industrial applications. Centred in Lac La Biche, his services are often requested throughout northern Alberta. While this type of work may not be of interest to everyone, Campbell's passion for his business has led him to become an expert in pest and weed control in multiple specialties, including aquatic vegetation control, tree and landscape maintenance, industrial site weed control, and structural damage due to infestation. Each area of specialization requires training, licensing, and regular certification every five years. Campbell is non-judgmental to those who have pest infestation problems. "It can happen to anyone," he says. "If you have a problem or even think you might have a problem, visit the website at bug-eexterminator.ca or call 780-404-6436." Norman is always happy to discuss your situation and provide a quote.
READ MORE - Precious Paw Portraits
Local teacher and artist Ruth Fyten began painting dogs, horses, and cats for pleasure and soon found her work being requested for local charity auctions. With assistance from her daughter Molly, Ruth's hobby and side gig has blossomed into a viable business servicing the Lac La Biche region and beyond. Ruth (right) and her daughter, Molly Her watercolour pet portraits start from photos sent to her by clients. She prefers several images to work from to capture the animal's true essence and "personality." Ruth typically has a couple of portraits on the go all the time, charging a flat rate per animal based on the finished size of the painting. For example, an 11' x 14" portrait of a single animal would cost about $120.00. To find out more about Ruth's work, visit Precious Paw Portraits onFacebook, call Ruth at 780-404-7740 or email her at firstname.lastname@example.com.
READ MORE - The Mill Bakery – On The Road To Success
Tanisha Happner, the owner of The Mill Bakery, has business in her blood, with her parents being the long-time owners of Lac La Biche's The Stitchin' Man. And while she was immersed in a business culture very early in life, she also spent a good deal of time with her grandmother, learning and honing her baking skills. Tanisha's passion for baking and her grandmother's influence led her to Calgary to study Baking and Pastry Arts at SAIT. This 2-year program offers students the opportunity to learn from a variety of world-class chefs. After completing the program, she worked in Plamondon at Café Caché for six months before going back to school to study event management at NAIT. With all this training, Tanisha's father asked if she had any plans for starting a business and suggested that she start a food truck. And with that, in nine short months, The Mill Bakery food truck was on the road by the spring of 2018, with a home base next door to the Stitchin' Man. It didn't take long for The Mill Bakery to be a success. As a long-time resident of Lac La Biche, she quickly developed a loyal client base, offering different types of sourdough, artisan bread, hand-rolled pretzels, and a fresh cup of coffee. The Mill Bakery also provides catering services for weddings and special occasions, providing guests with a unique comfort-food experience throughout the day. Happner frequently moves The Mill Bakery to Edmonton in the winter, offering gourmet goodies to the Edmonton Christmas Market and Fort Edmonton Park. While the truck is usually located at its home base on Main Street, watch for it at various locations throughout the LLB region, including Home Hardware, the Bold Centre, or local events. For more information about The Mill Bakery or if you would like The Mill Bakery to be at your event, contact Tanisha at 780-404-7940 or visit www.themillbakery.ca


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Hi Scrappy friends! Have you had a chance to participate in the Blue Fern Studios monthly sketch challenge? We've got a great grab bag of chipboard for one randomly chosen participant (see above). Here's the August sketch:
Here is Kelly Foster's take on the sketch this month:
I just love the colors she's using here, what a fantastic page from a very talented lady!
If you'd like to give it a try, go to [this link] for all the info and even more inspiration from our DT.
I hope you have fun creating with this sketch!
Michele ;-)


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Tokyo, Japan – Feb. 26, 2014 –SATO, a leader in barcode printing, labeling, and RFID solutions, and Altrax Group, a leader in traceability solutions for the healthcare environment, Bristol, UK, co-announced today that Stryker Europe has adopted its PJM RFID solutions in six countries in Europe.
Prior to Europe, Stryker, a world leader in orthopaedic implant manufacturing, has adopted PJM RFID solutions in Australasia. Now, Stryker Europe is rolling out the same PJM RFID solutions to its main distribution centres in UK, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Italy.
SATO has been providing a wide range of RFID solutions to the global market for over a decade and acquired the healthcare business of Magellan Technology Pty Ltd in Dec 2013, establishing SATO Vicinity Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia as a new entity to continue with R&D and manufacturing of its unique PJM RFID technology.
"Six out of the world's top seven orthopaedic implant manufacturers including Stryker are already users of PJM RFID Technology in Australia. The decision by Stryker Europe to adopt our PJM RFID Technology in Europe is a good indication of their trust in the reliability of PJM Technology and the capability of SATO's local service in Europe," said Kaz Matsuyama, President & CEO of SATO Holdings, "Stryker Europe will be enjoying better localized support from our valued partner Altrax Group and SATO group member companies in all six countries."
Altrax Group, well-known for its specialities in traceability solutions for the hospital sterilization field, had been the solution partner of Magellan Technology in the UK prior to the acquisition by SATO. It is also the solution partner of SATO, providing its traceability systems incorporating SATO's world-leading barcode printers. "We are extremely happy about the marriage of SATO and PJM RFID Technology – it all came together in a way customers such as Stryker receive all the benefits," said Andrew Southcott, Director of Altrax Group, "There is really no other way of doing this and there is no doubt that what was achieved in Australia with PJM RFID for the orthopaedic implant field will simply repeat itself in the UK and other countries across Europe."
About Altrax Group
The Altrax Group is world leader in the supply of traceability, accountability and management systems for Sterile Services. Its wide portfolio of specialist solutions is specifically designed to help healthcare providers meet and exceed regulatory requirements whilst incorporating the most up to date technology available. The Altrax Group is also at the forefront of single instrument marking for healthcare systems. Instrumark®'s unique laser marking technology – designed by some of the world's leading laser engineers – uses technology developed by NASA to provide the most accurate instrument marking system in the world.
About SATO
SATO is a pioneer and leading global provider of integrated Automatic Identification and Data Collection solutions that leverage barcode and RFID technologies. SATO manufactures innovative, reliable auto-identification systems and offers complete solutions to businesses by integrating hardware, software, consumables and maintenance services. SATO's solutions enable businesses to realize precision, labor and resource savings that help preserve the environment and deliver peace of mind to consumers. All of which contribute to the development of a sustainable world.
Founded in 1940, SATO is publicly listed on the first section of Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan. It has sales and support offices in over 20 countries and is represented globally through a world-class network of partners. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, it reported revenues of JPY 87,256 million (US$ 1.0524 billion). More information about SATO can be found at www.satoworldwide.com
*Conversion is based on an average exchange rate of 1 US Dollar = 82.91 Japanese Yen.


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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Workers at the California agency investigating discrimination claims say the speed and quality of their work has slowed because of flaws in a new state computer system that was designed to boost efficiency.
The Sacramento Bee reports Tuesday that investigators at the Department of Fair Employment and Housing say the new software doesn't fit the jobs they do and that computer glitches have led to delays in processing complaints.
The 15-month-old system, HoudiniEsq, was intended to automate the process for filing complaints for those who say they've been denied housing or jobs due to racial, gender, age or other types of discrimination.
Director Phyllis Cheng acknowledged that adapting her department to Houdini has been challenging, but she tells the newspaper her agency has turned its business around.


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The shipping industry is usually considered the domain of Greek billionaires, not of a co-operative of ordinary people with no experience.
But when the ferry between Cork and Swansea was taken out of service - resulting in a massive increase in carbon emissions as people took to the skies or drove hundreds of kilometres to alternative ports - it was local businesses and individuals who clubbed together to raise the finance to buy their own ship.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it wasn't the environmental cost that was people's main concern. The withdrawal of the ferry in 2006, which had been taking about 100,000 people a year from Wales to Ireland had proved 'catastrophic' to some in the tourism industry, said Cork county councillor Dermot Sheehan in a report to the council. Research had indicated that each time the ferry had docked in Cork, it resulted in an injection of some €100,000 into the economy. A year after the Swansea to Cork ferry ceased sailing, tourism in Cork was down 30 per cent with an estimated loss of €35 million.
Those affected didn't just sit back and despair. Within two years they had moved from an internet campaign to reinstate the service to actually owning a 22,000 ton passenger ship. The story could be made into a film.
Ferry beginnings
In 2008, two men, Adrian Brentnall, a stained glass artist in southwest Cork and Tom Hosford, owner of a garden centre near Cork city, launched the 'Bring back the Swansea Cork Ferry' campaign with a website, where an e-petition soon gathered 4,000 signatures. As Brentnall explains on the new website, www.peoplesferry.com, detailing the 'long and heartwarming' story of the campaign, this snowballed into local media coverage, discussions with the port authorities of Swansea and Cork and, thanks to Hosford's connections, ultimately, talks with the Welsh Assembly and Irish Taoiseach (prime minister). The success of the campaign was down to good cyber-communication and excellent networking says Brentnall. E-newsletters, Google alerts and downloadable bumper stickers all featured.
'Our original plan had been simply to get the ferry service reinstated - by lobbying and PR,' says Brentnall. 'The idea of actually buying a ship and running it had never occurred to us - and probably just as well - to have talked about buying a ship in the current recession would have marked us as complete lunatics!' he says.
'But it began to become clear that, if this thing was going to happen at all, then it would have to be driven by the people who were most affected, namely the tourism and business interests of West Cork, Kerry and South Wales.'
There was one small obstacle - a little matter of €3m cash that was required as a 'deposit' on a suitable ship. Within a week, from the hub of operations at the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen, €2million was raised from individuals and the tourism industry.
The MV Julia, a 154 metre, 1300-passenger vessel better known as 'the People's Ferry'. Photo: Paul Miles |
'We sold people a glimpse of an idea and they responded to it,' says O'Brien, manager of the West Cork tourism co-op that was formed as the group's official structure. As we chat, we are on board the new ferry, sitting in the self-service restaurant during one of the ten-hour crossings from Swansea to Cork, surrounded by camping and caravan club members and others, off to the Emerald Isle.
'There's no guaranteed return on the money,' explains O'Brien. 'It's not like a capitalist system where people are invited to invest for the return they get, but rather for the benefit of the continued trading of the ferry.'
Some of the three hundred €10,000 shares are owned by families with homes in both countries; another by a group of B&B owners and one by a woman in her 70s who lives on the Welsh coast and wanted to invest as she liked the idea of seeing 'her' ferry sailing past at night.
It's no wonder that the nickname, 'the people's ferry' has stuck.
Smooth sailing
On the crossing, in between spotting porpoises and seabirds, I meet Tom Brosnan, 63, who, with his wife, Nancy, has a supermarket and guesthouse on the West Cork coast and relatives in England. They bought a fifth of a share. 'It'll bring us more business and is much better than going via Roslare and Fishguard.'
Before the 'people's ferry' started its crossings, cargo lorries and holidaymakers travelling between England and Cork would have to drive an extra 600km round-trip. 'The annual savings in carbon emissions have been calculated at 6,000 tons,' says O'Brien.
As well as the miles of driving saved, the ferry is a greener way to travel. According to statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the People's Ferry' emits around 36 kilos of CO2 per passenger - the equivalent journey by plane would produce nearly 64 kilos of CO2 equivalent per person. 'This is partly because air travel has the additional complication of emitting carbon at high altitude, which is much more damaging than releasing such emissions at ground level,' explains Elizabeth Baines, spokesperson for aviation pressure group, Plane Stupid.
'Yet although air transport is by far the most polluting means of transport we have, this fact shouldn't lure us into assuming that the alternatives are without their own environmental impact,' she continues.
'We need a range of alternatives to air travel which are assessed according to their particular merits or failings, irrespective of their comparative impact with relation to other forms of transport. Although the return of the people's ferry is to be welcomed as a more eco-friendly alternative to air travel, it should perhaps come with a health warning: that being greener than the plane is not synonymous with carbon neutrality!'
All aboard
The 154-metre ship, 1300-passenger ship is officially called MV Julia. It is a former Baltic ferry with nine decks, several dining options, including an a la carte restaurant and comfortable en-suite cabins. It cost €7.8 million to buy ('A bargain,' says O'Brien). Bought in the depths of the recession, the ferry is already valued at around €12 million. With their deposit raised, the co-op secured further loan finance as well as marketing assistance and set up a company, Fastnetline, to take bookings and run the service. (The name comes from the Fastnet lighthouse, the westernmost tip of Ireland, off the coast of West Cork.)
And so it was that on 10th March, to the accompaniment of a Welsh male voice choir and a welcome by tug boats spraying fountains, the MV Julia made its inaugural overnight sailing of some 200 miles between Swansea and Cork.
Business since then has been above target. On the first occurrence of the volcanic ash cloud, 2,500 extra passengers embarked MV Julia. 'Even without that, we would have exceeded our expectations for the first three months,' says O'Brien. 'There's a great sense of pride and satisfaction,' he says. But there's no time to be complacent.
There have been some technical teething problems: docking at Swansea is complicated by the tides and, as I can vouch, reaching Swansea dock on foot from the town is, frankly, impossible. 'We're still ironing things out,' reassures O'Brien. It's not only present problems that the co-operative and Fastnetline is having to manage. 'We're already looking at what the next ship's going to cost [when MV Julia needs replacing] and how we'll fund it,' says O'Brien as we sail into the sunset.
Another community-owned ferry service
Brittany Ferries was also started by the communities it aimed to serve. In the 1970s, farming co-ops in Brittany, together with the North Finistere Chamber of Commerce, started a ferry service primarily to take vegetables from Brittany farmers to markets in Britain. Tourists would use the ferry to travel south to Brittany. The farming co-ops are still the major shareholders in a company which has expanded to include crossings to Northern Spain. |
Paul Miles is a freelance journalist
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As part of last month's Architecture and the City Festival GOOD magazine took it upon themselves to match San Francisco civic leaders with well-respected designers to attack city problems head-on. In a packed lecture hall at the SPUR building, Alyssa Walker moderated a breakdown of design stalemates and enlivenings. It was all about remixing the streets: "What GOOD Design can do for San Francisco."
Design team Mike and Maaike proposed a series of city-sponsored glowing "Signs of Good Fortune" to combat the neon bombardment on Broadway. The signs would be perched on expanded sidewalks along a more inviting pedestrian pathway, complete with its own "steps of Rome" up Kearny street. Other design solutions included: neighborhood trash collection sites instead of curbside bins (courtesy of Volume), the encouragement of bike corrals and free Beater Bikes (a suggestion by Stamen), and a series of huts for the Ferry Building Plaza Farmers' Market. The last is part of a redesign that would include floating gardens and a performance space (the brainchild of Surface Design).
Some of the designs really struck a chord (bike! parking!), others seemed a little garish (do we really need huge safety logos emblazoned along the Embarcadero sidewalk?), but each of the designers approached their problem with the idea of creating a real and respectful solution. Nothing was too pie-in-the-sky, all of it seemed digestable (even the idea of getting rid of curbside pickup).
Design firm Kuth Ranieri really stood out with their proposal for the San Francisco Unified School District. Their idea is to address the problem of student enrollment and inequity by designing a magnet school — Willie Brown Junior Academy — and creating "a safe environment for learning." The school currently exists as a series of less than glamorous buildings in the Bayview area. It is one of very few local schools in a community where most kids have a long bus ride to take every morning: 90% of Bayview High School students go to school outside of their community. "We've dismantled that community . . . nobody goes to school there, they're not raised with each other," bemoaned Carlos Garcia of SFUSD.
The conclusion is clear: designers give really good powerpoint presentations. The civic leaders who had submitted the problems– everyone from developers to representatives of the Mayor's office and MUNI– had positive things to say about the solutions. The response almost universally was "Great job, thanks for your work, I hope we can implement this." Good design is nothing if not a catalyst for inspiring discussion.
+ GOOD Magazine
+ GOOD design SF


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Thursday, September 30, 2010
Panasonic LX5 and Canon S95 Reviewed
Posted by Lee Yuan Sheng in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 08:30 AM
Digital Camera Resource Page has just reviewed the two latest premium compacts on the market currently; the Panasonic LX5 and the Canon S95. The two cameras feature large aperture lenses at the wide end, cleaner high ISO claims, and manual controls with dedicated customisable controls; the S95 features the same lens ring control as the S90, while the LX5 now features a rear command dial and three buttons that can be user-defined. While the S95 is a small update, adding 720p video, both remain very capable cameras if you don't mind small sensor cameras. To find out how they faired, hit the review links and find out!


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In case you missed this week on "NewsOne Now," here's a roundup of the show's hottest segments from the week of February 16, 2014.
Get a Sneak Peek at the 2014 Image Awards – Feb 18, 2014
Earlier this month, Roland Martin emceed the 45th NAACP Image Awards Nominees Luncheon. He stopped to talk with a few of the nominees and the folks behind the awards for "NewsOne Now." It's Reginald Hudlin's second year producing the show. He explained to Martin why the social is so essential to black entertainment. Read more.
'NewsOne Now' Legal Panel Breaks Down Dunn Verdict – Feb 18, 2014
Saturday, a Florida jury found Michael Dunn guilty of three counts of attempted murder and another count stemming from his shooting into a car full of teenagers, an incident which led to the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis. Jurors didn't, however, convict Dunn of murder for killing Davis.Attorney Eboni Williams and Judge Kevin Ross joined Roland Martin on the "NewsOne Now" panel Tuesday to discuss the many factors involved in the Michael Dunn trial and verdict. Read more.
'Precious' Star Addresses Her Haters – Feb 19, 2014
Actress Gabourey Sidibe is no stranger to cyber bullies. As recently as the Golden Globe awards, she had to deal with an onslaught on criticism on social media regarding her fashion choices that night. Roland Martin caught up with Sidibe in Los Angeles ahead of the 45th NAACP Image Awards to find out how she deals with her haters. Read more.
[VIDEO] Laz Alonso: Let's Save Our HBCUs – Feb 19, 2014
Actor and Howard University alumnus Laz Alonso joined Roland Martin on "NewsOne Now" to discuss how we can save fledgling historically black colleges and universities. Alonso and Martin were in Los Angeles in preparation for the 45th NAACP Image Awards. They took time, however, to discuss the recent challenges announced at Alonso's alma mater, Howard University, and how HBCU grads can give back to start rebuilding their institutions. Read more.
Mo'nique on the Difference Between an Oscar and an Image Award – Feb 20, 2014
Comedienne and actress Mo'nique joined Roland Martin on "NewsOne Now" Thursday, from Los Angeles, and shared why black entertainers must appreciate black institutions like the NAACP Image Awards more. Read more.
Dr. Steve Perry Says CNN Asked Him To Shave His Hair – Feb 20, 2014
Educator Steve Perry joined Roland Martin briefly on "NewsOne Now" Thursday. The two talked about images of black beauty and connected over both being asked by CNN to cut their hair when they were contributors to the network, presumably to make it more presentable to white viewers. Read more.
[VIDEO] Black PR Experts Share Secrets of the Biz – Feb 21, 2014
Friday, some of the entertainment industry's top black public relations experts joined Roland Martin to break down the business of getting exposure for black clients in Hollywood. Lynn Jeter, Tosha Whitten Griggs and Linda Jones sat in on the "NewsOne Now" panel. The three spoke in depth about how to deal with press-shy clients and others that shun black media. Read more.
Be sure to listen to "NewsOne Now" with Roland Martin, weekdays at 7 a.m. EST and watch at 9 a.m. EST on TV One.
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In Case You Missed It: 'NewsOne Now' Weekly Roundup was originally published on newsone.com


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Welcome to the homepage of Dr. Wolfram Bergande
Wolfram Bergande (Dr. phil., M.A.) is a senior lecturer at the Department of Art and Design of University of Arts Bremen , at the Institute for Classical Philology and Philosophy of Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg. and at the International Summer University of Free University Berlin.
From 2011 until 2018 he served as assistant professor for Aesthetics at the Faculty of Art and Design of Bauhaus-University Weimar and from 2019 until 2020 as senior lecturer at the College of Architecture, Media and Design of University of the Arts Berlin.
From 2012 until 2016 he served as Speaker of the PhD program in Art & Design, Free Art and Media Art. From 2015 until 2016 he served as Deputy Director of Bauhaus Research School.
From 2012 until 2015, he served as Dean of Studies of the Faculty of Art and Design.
From 2007 until 2012 he taught Philosophy and Cultural Theory at the Institute for Cultural Science and at the International Department of Humboldt-University Berlin.
From 2005 until 2011 he taught Aesthetics, Cultural Theory and Design Theory at the College of Architecture, Media and Design of the University of the Arts Berlin.
His research fields are Aesthetics, Philosophy of Culture, Psychoanalysis, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of History and Economic Anthropology.
Wolfram Bergande studied Philosophy, Romance Studies and Economics at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen, Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main, Columbia University NYC/USA, at Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and at Humboldt-University Berlin. In 2000 he received a stipend for participation in the School of Theory and Criticism at Cornell University, USA.
He received his PhD in philosophy in 2006 with the predicate "summa cum laude" from the Institute of Philosophy of the University of Wuppertal.
From 2011 until 2012 Wolfram Bergande worked as an associate in the research project Global Economic Ethics of stiftung neue verantwortung in Berlin.