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A dozen Princeton students traveled to the Florida Everglades over spring break to learn more about efforts to save the area's endangered ecosystem. The students' hands-on research is a key part of the freshman seminar "The Everglades Today and Tomorrow: Global Change and the Impact of Human Activities on the Biosphere." Above, Christina Campodonico collects water samples from a stormwater treatment area, where water coming from agricultural and urban areas is cleaned before being released into the Everglades ecosystem. (Photo: Nick McAfee)
Freshmen embark on academic adventures in seminars
Princeton students take some of the first major steps in their academic journey during the freshman seminar program.
This spring, students are uncovering new meanings in traditional fairy tales, tackling the challenges of urban education reform and exploring the ecological restoration of the Florida Everglades, among many other topics. They also are building relationships with faculty members and their fellow students in intimate settings, an experience that students often consider one of the highlights of their time at Princeton.
Freshman seminars place an emphasis on inquiry that will set the course for the students' years at the University. There are 365 students enrolled in 35 seminars this spring; another 462 students participated in 37 seminars last fall.
Each seminar is hosted by a residential college. Class discussions often continue in informal settings both on and off campus, through meals, guest lectures, field trips and other activities.
This story is part of a series of highlighting spring freshman seminars. Other stories:
Web Stories
Taking a close look at the Everglades restoration
Posted April 1, 2010; 09:00 a.m.
Freshman Mark Pavlyukovskyy said that "seeing the 'swarms' of alligators and birds that are characteristic of the Everglades proved that what I was studying was truly relevant and important." (Photo: Nick McAfee)
Freshman Sarah Bluher spent part of her spring break in the Florida Everglades collecting field samples from an airboat in a water conservation area.
"From the boat, you could see a panoramic view of the 'river of grass,' and when they stopped the engine you could feel the silence of the landscape," she said.
Bluher and 11 of her classmates conducted hands-on research activities during the weeklong trip in March to learn about efforts to save the endangered ecosystem. The work was a key component of their freshman seminar "The Everglades Today and Tomorrow: Global Change and the Impact of Human Activities on the Biosphere," in which students are exploring aspects of pollution and climate change in the Everglades.
Through class discussions, fieldwork and laboratory exercises, the seminar provides students with the scientific tools to analyze the environmental damage to the Everglades and to assess the progress of efforts to restore the area's ecosystem.
The course also provides background on the historical and political elements of the multibillion-dollar Everglades restoration project, which has been described as the biggest and most complex endeavor of its kind in the world. More than 60 years ago, U.S. government efforts to reroute the flow of water in southern Florida paved the way for development and industry to flourish, but devastated the Everglades' plant and animal life. For the past decade, the federal and state governments have funded a $7.8 billion plan to revitalize the area's ecosystem, including restoring natural flows of water, improving water quality and providing flood protection.
Freshman Rae Drach (left) and postdoctoral researcher Frank Black collect mosquitofish from the Loxahatchee Refuge as part of a project that analyzes mercury levels in the Everglades food chain. (Photo: Nick McAfee)
"We use the Everglades as an example of what happens when humans use their technological power to maximize the use of an originally 'hostile' ecosystem," said Anne Morel-Kraepiel, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, who leads the seminar along with Satish Myneni, an associate professor of geosciences. "The Everglades are also a place where science, environmental conservation, policy and politics are closely intertwined. They are a remarkable system through which we can engage students who want to major in the humanities as well as those who want to become scientists."
In the first half of the semester, class discussions focused on relevant scientific concepts such as global warming, ocean acidification and wetlands biogeochemistry. Students became familiar with the instruments they would need in the Everglades to collect water, sediment and plant samples, as well as the laboratory equipment they would use to analyze the data from their fieldwork. They also read "The Swamp," an ecological history of South Florida by journalist Michael Grunwald.
Instructor Anne Morel-Kraepiel (right) discusses the student-designed group projects with freshman Hanfu (Kevin) Chai on campus in preparation for the trip. Kraepiel and her faculty colleagues have designed the seminar to give students "an introduction into what a research project would be." (Photo: Brian Wilson)
In preparation for the spring break trip, the students broke into three groups to design their own research projects: exploring links between metal concentration in tree rings and changes in sea level or temperature; analyzing mercury levels in the food chain; and studying the concentration of nutrients in sediment and plants.
"We wanted these projects to be something that they design themselves," Kraepiel said. "We have to guide them because they don't have a whole lot of experience, but ideally this is an introduction into what a research project would be."
On the research trip, the students collected field samples, toured wetland and refuge areas, explored the area on canoeing and biking trips, and met with Carol Mitchell, deputy director of the South Florida Natural Resources Center, to learn more about the restoration project.
"This was the place I had read and studied about for the last six weeks, so finally seeing the 'swarms' of alligators and birds that are characteristic of the Everglades proved that what I was studying was truly relevant and important," freshman Mark Pavlyukovskyy said after returning to campus. "By the end of the Everglades trip I felt like I had a good understanding of the interactions between the political and scientific aspects of the Everglades restoration project, and could even make my own recommendations for future progress."
Bluher said collecting samples from the airboat was a highlight of the trip. "I had an especially good time collecting sediment samples, because you really had to get dirty and dig through the muck," she said.
Back in Princeton, the students are in the lab analyzing data collected in the Everglades and preparing final oral and written presentations for their group projects. In addition to Kraepiel and Myneni, the students are working on their projects with Frank Black, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Geosciences, with contributions from geosciences professors Bess Ward and François Morel. The class, which was offered for the first time last year, is the Richard L. Smith '70 Freshman Seminar.
"The trip has brought a new energy to the group, and now that we all know each other better, I think we can become a better team as we analyze the data," Bluher said.
Students visit a water conservation area to collect field samples to bring back to Princeton for analysis. The students have designed group projects focused on examining levels of pollution and climate change in the Everglades. (Photo: Nick McAfee)


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DENVER (MarketWatch) — Surveys show many Americans expect to fall from the fiscal cliff and really don't find the prospect any more frightening than the economic mess we're in already.
— Only 9% said the cliff was the most pressing issue in the recently released 15th Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll. (You're in good hands with Allstate.)
— 48% polled by KPMG said they didn't expect an agreement by year-end. Another 19% said they weren't sure. (The survey didn't ask if anyone really cared.)
For fiscal cliff deal, so close yet so far
The quest to avert the fiscal cliff is as uncertain as ever after rival plans were rejected. WSJ reporters break down how the negotiations will play out from this point on.
— 74.1% surveyed by the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago said the budget deficit is a very important problem, but 91.8% also called unemployment a very important problem. "Quite simply, the public has other economic concerns besides the deficit," said professor Mark Hansen. (Yeah, like Powerball.)
— 63% of business owners polled by Newtek Business Services (NEWT) said fiscal-cliff concerns haven't affected their business. "Our independent business owners...are sensing that the fiscal cliff is an overhyped media term," said the company's chief executive, Barry Sloane. (Actually, it's an overhyped Ben Bernanke term.)
— 53% responding to the 2012 Fall CFO Survey from Grant Thornton LLC said the fiscal cliff wouldn't affect the first half 2013 for their companies. And 60% said they don't consider an unresolved fiscal cliff an obstacle. (So let's just hold hands and jump.)
— 58% of CEOs expect their sales to increase in the next six months, 24% expect them to decrease and 17% expect them to stay the same in a survey by the Business Roundtable. (CEOs tend to be the most confident when confronting cliffs, though. They wear parachutes.)
Code Pink protester disrupts NRA news conference
A Code Pink protestor interrupts a news conference held by the National Rifle Association in response to the shooting at a school in Newtown, Conn.
— Only one-third of Americans have cut their spending over the past 30 days because of the fiscal cliff, according to Bankrate.com. And the most-likely people to cut spending were from households making less than $30,000 a year and those with no more than a high school education. (Also known in this economy as sitting ducks.)
— Only 30% said the cliff has made them buy less for the holidays, according to Mountain View, Calif.-based cloud and mobile testing firm SOASTA(A) Inc. Another 3% said it has made them buy more. (It's always a good time to buy!)
— Only 16% polled by LowFares.com said fiscal cliff worries caused them not to travel in 2012. Of those surveyed, 66% plan to travel during the 2012 holiday season, up from 47% in 2011. (The survey didn't ask if they were headed for the hills.)
— 30% polled by Bloomington, Ill.-based Country Financial said 2013 will be a better year for them, financially, and another 33% expect it to be about the same. (Oh, and it's Country Financial. Not the notorious mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial.)
— 88% said they'd be willing to do their part to reduce the national debt if other people would just do their part. This comes from a survey by the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation, founded by the former U.S. Secretary of Commerce. (Tax millionaires first. Ask the thousandaires later.)
— 79% of homebuyers said mortgage interest and property tax deductions were "extremely important," according to a survey by the California Association of Realtors. "If the deduction is taken away, it would cost the average California taxpayer $3,940 annually," the group's president, Don Faught, said. "Further, more than 694,000 California households would no longer be able to afford to buy a median-priced home." (Oh, no. Not my mortgage deduction.)
— 75% disapprove of making seniors pay higher fees for their Medicare services to reduce federal spending in a survey by lobbying group Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare. "Co-pays are not the answer our country's needs," said the group's chairman, Billy Tauzin. (As a wise man once said, "Get your government hands off my Medicare.")
— When asked about their own worst financial habits, in a survey by Allianz Life, nearly 30% said "not saving any money" and 18% said "spending more than I make." "Americans want Uncle Sam to address the economic issues...yet it's troubling that they're guilty of many of the same poor spending and savings habits," said Katie Libbe of Allianz Life. (Somehow the ornament doesn't fall far from the tree. Merry Cliffsmas!)

subset: commoncrawl


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Title: Portrait of Young Man
Description: Portrait of an unidentified man wearing a suit and tie.
Date: circa 1930s
Photographer: Unknown
Item Type: Glass negative, b/w, 4 x 5 in.
Collection: Zeldin Collection of Journal-Post Glass Negatives (P29)
Location: P29, Box 19, Folder 35, #3 (print)
Subject: Portraits; Portrait photographs;
Digital Format: Print made from negative; scanned as 600 dpi JPEG and imported as JPEG2000 in CONTENTdm software.
Barcode: 10016276
Repository: Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri
Rights: Reproduction (printing, downloading, or copying) of images from Kansas City Public Library requires permission and payment for the following uses, whether digital or print: publication; reproduction of multiple copies; personal, non-educational purposes; and advertising or commercial purposes. Please order prints or digital files and pay use fees through this website. All images must be properly credited to: "Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri." Images and texts may be reproduced without prior permission only for purposes of temporary, private study, scholarship, or research. Those using these images and texts assume all responsibility for questions of copyright and privacy that may arise.


text: Damned weekend.. Everythings gone's wrong... Tip: Never set up friend's meetings or make plans to your weekend unless you really assure that NOTHING will happens and change plans in the day... I know, i know, Magic 8 ball doesn't work well and need their project to be improved. I'm running again to regenerate kde update packages due to a misleading internal version naming.. Duhh for me.. At least one thing was good. I'm closed my critical bugs at snapshot.conectiva ( http://snapshot.conectiva.com.br ). Changing topic, KDE developers are evaluating changes in bug track system. I'll give my vote to Bugzilla, since we're using at Conectiva for a long time and new version is easily and smart to handle. Just ( still ) need rewrite bug report form to be almos perfect.


text: Come take a stroll through 35 fun-filled blocks in dazzling downtown Fort Worth. Enjoy live music and theater, movies, art galleries, and nightspots, or take in a fabulous show at Bass Performance Hall. Hungry? You can choose from dozens of great restaurants in all price ranges. Ready to go shopping? Sundance Square offers some of the finest stores and boutiques in Fort Worth.


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I had to know more about this impending biological disaster.
Here in the West, we've gotten used to having effective medications for common ailments available at our fingertips. The bad news is that many of these medicines will soon cease to work. This is because the pathogens responsible for some of the world's more horrifying diseases – many of which appear to have been largely eradicated – have continued to mutate and develop resistances since the development of their supposed cures.
Because I'm an obsessive hypochondriac, I had to know more about this impending biological disaster so that I can spend the interim wallowing in the comfort of a constant state of panic. To help me get there, I spoke with Rachel Nugent, who chaired the Drug Resistance Working Group and Initiative while at the Center for Global Development, about her research into horrific diseases and the treatments that will, someday soon, be completely ineffective.
VICE: Why are medications we spent so much time and money developing now failing?
Rachel Nugent: There are a number of ways a pathogen can develop a resistance to drugs. One is when people who are taking drugs, the right drugs, don't finish the full course. Maybe after a few days they start feeling better, so they see no reason to continue taking the medicine. You have to put pressure on the bug to kill it, but it doesn't work if it's incomplete. It's like you're having a fight in a boxing ring, you have the bug on the ropes, and then you walk away thinking you've won. Well, that bug can come back, and often it comes back stronger. This is called "acquired resistance", which means the pathogen adapts within the person's body to be less susceptible to the meds. The second way resistant strains propagate is when an already-resistant form of pathogen spreads from one person to another, or from animal to human. The more this resistant strain is spread around, the more common it becomes.
Are resistant forms of pathogens considered new strains? Are they the same thing?
Yes, usually, but resistance is not always the result of mutations. It can result from other ways the microbe adapts to its environment. Also, mutations happen all the time and don't always lead to resistance. Generally speaking, infectious disease is the area where we most need to worry about resistance, although it can also apply to cancer drugs, for instance. But because the whole process is so much slower when treating diseases like cancer, we don't see resistance building at the same pace as we do for infectious diseases.
So the rapid mutation of infectious-disease pathogens also accelerates their level of drug resistance?
Yes. They can change at a rate of hundreds or even thousands of mutations an hour. They can also adapt in other ways that allow them to survive in the presence of drugs. Malaria, for instance, is very difficult for us to control. We've developed a number of new drugs for malaria, but the parasite that causes it adapts very quickly and efficiently. We can't keep up with it. We have a lot of antibiotics available, but many are similar to one another, so each pathogen that mutates or adapts in response to one type of antibiotic will more easily acquire resistance against a number of others.
Over the course of my finger-gnawing research for this interview, I discovered that tuberculosis is one of the main case studies in the fight against drug-resistant bacterial diseases. What makes TB such a worry? I thought we had it under control.
TB is a great example of a way that resistance to drugs develops, because a person needs to be on TB medication for a long time to cure it. With a normal case of TB, an individual might be taking medication for around nine months. Over the course of treatment, there's plenty of opportunity to slip up and forget or neglect to take the meds. And TB drugs are nasty; people don't want to be on them. But in the case of TB, the medical system has responded pretty well. We usually observe TB patients, using a method we call Directly Observed Therapy Short-Course, to ensure that they take their meds at the prescribed intervals. Nine months may seem like a long time, but if someone is unfortunate enough to get stuck with a resistant strain of TB, he or she will have to take meds for at least a couple of years.
How prevalent is this super-resistant form of TB?
It's out there, and it's widespread. Treatment for it is one of the worst drug regimens available, and it's much more expensive than normal TB drugs. There are some forms of TB around now that we really can't treat at all. The drugs we have don't seem to cure it. We call it totally resistant TB, although that is not an official term yet. The term used for other forms of resistant TB is either multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) or extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB).Totally resistant TB is not widespread, but people don't like to talk about it.
Do cheap and counterfeit meds manufactured in the East contribute to the drug-resistance dilemma?
Yes, and this is where India, China and other sources of poor-quality drugs become important. It's not just a matter of a poor health system, which many of these countries have, but there's also the issue of substandard drugs. These are drugs that work, feel, or even act like good antibiotics or good antimalarials, but often they are produced in factories that skimp on the active ingredients, or they are produced in a high-quality way but are degraded somewhere along the supply chain. Both counterfeit and substandard drugs are a threat and can lead to resistance, but of course a drug that is completely counterfeit isn't going to include the active ingredient in it at all, so it won't contribute to resistance. It's having too little of that active ingredient in the drug that allows the bug to survive the pressure.
Mind you, not all drugs manufactured in India or China are substandard or counterfeit. But the amount of bad drugs flooding into poor countries, and even some richer countries, is staggering. And just as new medications flow around the world, drug-resistant bugs are very good travellers.
A close-up of Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria scattered among white blood cells. If you have these little guys inside you, you probably have gonorrhea, and if they're the drug-resistant kind, you're fucked.
I recently read about a form of super-gonorrhea that is, as of now, untreatable. I believe it was first reported among sex workers in Japan.
Gonorrheais something that we haven't really worried about for decades; it was quickly and easily cured with antibiotics. But we are now seeing these new strains of gonorrheaand some of the other sexually transmitted infections. These can be pretty damaging diseases if left uncured.
What about HIV/AIDS medications? Are they also slowly becoming obsolete?
This is actually one case where we can say resistance is ahead of us; it's off in the future. It's happening slowly, being documented at pretty low rates – less than 5 percent of cases seem to be resistant forms. That's still pretty low, but if we're spending money to put a patient on antiretrovirals (ARVs), and we aren't paying attention to the management of the drugs and how people are adhering to regimens, then it will become a big problem too. Think about all the research-and-development money put into creating ARVs, which were developed to combat HIV. We need as many as we can get. We are clearly losing many of the antibiotics we have, and have lost many, if not all, of the antimalarials we have.
What happens when antimalarials no longer work? Are we all going to die from mosquito bites?
We are now seeing resistance to all malaria treatments, even artemisinin-combination therapies, which are formulations of multiple drugs combined into one pill. Artemisinin has been the only truly effective agent against malaria until recently, and it has been useful to combine it with other antimalarials because drugs work differently, or have different mechanisms of action. Making the pathogen fight against several mechanisms is more effective than pitting it against just one. You might have heard of drug cocktails used to fight AIDS. It's the same principle.
Why don't the old antimalarials work?
Until recently, all we had to treat malaria was old drugs like sulfadoxine/pyrimethamineand chloroquine, which date back to the 50s. The longer most drugs are used, the greater the likelihood that some resistance will develop over time. That's why the increased use of ARVs around the world is expected to result in even more resistance.
So is there any hope for people who have been infected with these drug-resistant strains?
With TB, there is nothing to be done but to treat them with second- or third-line drugs. Second- and third-line drugs are your backups. They're more expensive, typically have worse side effects, and require more advanced health facilities to administer. For some diseases, we don't even have backups. But people can also just die, and they do.
Illustrations by Sam Taylor. Follow him on Twitter @sptsam or visit his website at samtaylorillustrator.com.
Photo by CDC/Joe Millar
Bring a box of tissues and read more from our Hopelessness Issue:


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Below is a timeline of the Property Exchange - Dallas District Various Locations project. Substantial Completion will occur at 18 Months (545 calendar days).
Sept. 29, 2011
Authorization by the Texas Transportation Commission to issue request for proposals and qualifications.
Nov. 29, 2011
TxDOT issues request for proposal and qualifications.
Jan. 5, 2012
Pre-Proposal Meeting
Feb. 21, 2012
Deadline to submit proposals and qualifications.
Feb. 29, 2012 - March 2, 2012
Interviews TxDOT evaluation and short list of top ranked private entities
March 5, 2012 - March 23, 2012
Selection of best-value proposal and negotiations of Development and Exchange Agreement (DEA) with conditional award, contingent upon commission approval.
April 26, 2012
Authorization by the Texas Transportation Commission to award DEA.
May 14, 2012
Executive DEA, contingent upon receipt of bond and insurance.
June 1, 2012
Issue Notice to Proceed. Construction begins.


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From left are Asst. Police Chief Dan Pena, Chief Dave Hernandez,
Sgt. Paul English, Patrol Capt. Dan Kiley and Capt. Doug Sonego.
UTSA Spotlight: Business Affairs Celebrating Excellence Award goes to Paul English
(April 28, 2006)--The UTSA Office of Business Affairs has honored Sgt. Paul English, UTSA Police Department, as the second-quarter recipient of the Celebrating Excellence Award.
Taking the position of patrol sergeant to a new level, English expects excellence from all who work for him as well as himself. He has been described by his peers as a "sergeant who makes you want to be a better sergeant."
Today's headlines
- La Prensa Foundation is newest member of UTSA Lone Star Society
- UTSA alumna Jordan Kaufmann wins $50K for new stent-graft start-up
- UTSA begins new way-finding sign installation this summer at Main Campus
- USA Today: UTSA long jumper Tyler Williamson rescues three-year-old boy
Article tools
English is successful in building team unity and pride, involving all the personnel on his shift in training scenarios. Giving updates on training practices, laws, officer safety and law enforcement news are all priorities.
His main concern on the job is keeping his troops safe on the street and performing with accuracy and confidence. Each day, he recognizes fallen police officers as a reality check to keep his officers from getting in the "it's-not-going-to-happen-to-me" mind-set.
He has implemented several motivational programs. This semester, he launched the "Best Shined Boots" and "Speed Handcuffing" contests with prizes awarded to officers that use the least amount of sick time each semester.
As a police officer, English serves as a role model and sets an example in his personal virtues and standards. His pride in his "Mighty Second Shift" keeps the morale at an all-time high. It has been said that when you are on his shift, not only is it a pleasure to come to work, but you look forward to it.
UTSA Police Chief Dave Hernandez said, "Sgt. English has a passion and a heart for people which makes him a really great leader. He is 100 percent committed to helping the community."


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Larry J Miller
Larry J. Miller, 61, of Muscoda died Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at his home. He was born March 9, 1951 in Muscoda the son of Robert L. and Martha (Sobek) Miller. LJ graduated from Riverdale High School in 1969. He enlisted in the US Marine Corp serving 1969-1973. LJ returned to the family farm in Muscoda and started bartending at the Junction Bar and the Red Rooster. He owned and operated the Muscoda Drive Inn, LJs, and LJs River Inn. On September 10, 1983 LJ married Cheryl Pieper in Fox Point. LJ served as the Muscoda Village President and on Muscoda Village Board for many years. He started the Muscoda Dart Tournament as a fund raisers for the JCs. LJ was a member for the Muscoda American Legion Post 85.
LJ is survived by his wife Cheryl of Muscoda, two sons, Bobby (fiancé Christa Serkowski) Miller of Muskego, JJ Miller of Muscoda, sister, Catherine Eberle of Milwaukee, brother, Jim Miller of Muscoda, brother and sister-in-laws, Sue (Rich) Heimerl of Evergreen, CO, Robert (Ellen) Pieper of Glen Ellyn, IL, Diane (John) Hurley of Downers Grove, IL, many nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.
LJ was preceded in death by his parents, brother Robert, sister-in-law Dawn, brother-in-law Jack Eberle, and Charles and Lois Pieper.
Funeral services will be held on Sunday, March 3, 2013 at the Godager Pratt Funeral Home in Muscoda, with Father Peter Auer officiating. Burial will follow in the Dawson Cemetery, where Military Graveside Rites will be conducted by the Muscoda American Post 85. Friend may call at the Godager Pratt Funeral Home on Saturday, March 2, 2013 from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM and again on Sunday from 12:00 AM until the time of the service at 2:00 PM. The Godager Pratt Funeral Home of Muscoda is assisting the family with their arrangements. Online condolences can be made at prattfuneralservice.com.


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- Alte Donau (Old Danube) at the Romaplatz (Roma place), Austria Vienna, 360° by SAMUEL DAVID SINCLAIR
Alte Donau (Old Danube), largest left-hand branch of the Danube still in existence after its regulation in 1868-1881 within the Vienna city limits (21st and 22nd districts), now approximately 1.6 km2, elongated lake linked to the Neue Donau (New Danube) via ground water, popular leisure area for Viennese, approximately...
The Donauinsel (Danube Island) is a long, narrow island, in central Vienna, Austria, between the Danube river and the parallel excavated channel Neue Donau ("New Danube"). The island is 21.1 km (13.1 mi) in length, but is only 70–210 metres (230–690 ft) broad. The New Danube waterway is practically an elongated (sw...


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Cheap Iphones For At&t
A pre-owned cell phone is often a better purchase than a refurbished cell phone, because refurbished cell phones often have to be taken apart and put back together. With a used phone, especially those in excellent or good condition on our site, it's often in very similar condition as when it left the manufacturer. You have access to all the Cheap Iphones For At&t that you could want. Our stock of 291 used phones is sure to satisfy the most picky online shopper. Best of all, all of our phones are sold without a contract. Once you get your phone, there is no need to go to your carrier's cell phone store. For unlocked GSM phones, just swap out your sim card and your new phone is ready to use instantly. For CDMA phones (those with servie for Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular) just contact your carrier with the pre-owned phone's ESN number and you are ready to go. It's that easy. Cellular Country is the only place on the web where you should get your next replacement cell phone or between contract upgrade. Just browse our enormous selection and pick your next phone. Your next phone will be in your hands before you know it!


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I never said this was the best system but what it is...is a change away from one that is bad.
I never said this was the best system but what it is...is a change away from one that is bad.
For decades, Americans have seen healthcare costs rise by leaps and bounds. But most people don't pay their healthcare bills directly as you point out. They and or their employers pay health insurance companies to be the middle man. So what folks have seen is their insurance costs skyrocket and have blamed the insurance industry, figuring that those are the ones who are getting rich...
"For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48
Raven - Moneybird's Black Magic Marker***
(Esprit's Power Play x Trumarc's Lean Cuisine)
Mick - Moneybird's Jumpin' Jack Flash***
(Clubmead's Road Warrior x Oakdale Whitewater Devil Dog)
Peerless - Moneybird's Sole Survivor
(Two River's Lucky Willie x Moneybird's Black Magic Marker)
I have lost sight as to the point of this thread. What is the point again? If I have insurance I should still expect to pay out of pocket, even though I'm paying the premium based on the agreed amount after all the factors for profit have been worked out? BUT if I have no insurance I will pay out of pocket for the treatment, but the cost will go down? What is the point, again? It seems like a circle of nonsense.
When I buy insurance of any kind health, life, auto, or pet there are questions that are asked of me. I answer the questions and provide proof to back up the statements I have made. Then the insurance company puts together a plan. The plan includes what it will cost monthly/yearly for them to make a profit and for me to have coverage. I can add deposits, co-pays, deductibles to bring down the cost. I can also have a lot of coverage or a little coverage. This is all part of the plan put together by the insurance company. I can shop around and find a plan that works for me. I think the problem for me is when I sign on to a coverage and find out that I'm paying for a lot of coverage, but all the treatments/service I need are not part of the coverage. It is like buying an extended care package from the car dealership or at Best Buy - big rip offs. I'm not trying to rip off the insurance company or prevent it from making a profit, but there have been times that I have been ticked off at doctors and the insurance company for rejecting my treatment and expecting me to know what medication is covered and which ones are not covered. I did not go to medical or pharmacy school, so all I need is help to make sure I get a treatment I can afford the co-pay without breaking my bank account. Leave out the remark that all covered medication is listed in the insurance manual. Just because I can read does not mean I understand or know what all those drugs treat. I hate to leave the pharmacy holding a filled bottle of medication, but I have done it, because I'm not going to pay more for a treatment than was agreed upon when I signed the contract. So if I'm going to pay out of pocket for my treatment I will redo the contract the following year allowing me to have the money to pay for my uncovered treatment, but still cover major expenses. It works for me so I will no longer be the unhappy person, but I'm not sure how happy the insurance guy is going to be when the percentage he gets from my premium goes down because I switch to only a major medical plan so I can afford to pay out of pocket for all the minor stuff I was paying a higher monthly/yearly premium.
It has puzzled me in the past that someone who does not have insurance can pay less than I am paying after my insurance plan pays. How can that be possible. the same procedure, same medical provider, I pay the co-pay plus still pay more out of pocket than someone that has no insurance at all.
I don't think you have to worry too much about the healthcare companies turning a profit;
They SHOULD MAKE A PROFIT....please don't think I'm of the opinion that they shouldn't. I'm just not going to lose any sleep over it, and neither should you.-Paul
there's no good reason to fatten up a retriever.
The health insurance plan practiced by my grand-parents....RIP
Last edited by JDogger; 11-30-2012 at 06:02 PM.
One cannot reason someone out of something they were not reasoned into. - Jonathan Swift


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You are here:
Home>About Us>History of the Institution>Bequests & Gifts
In 1900, Henry Vaughan bequeathed to the Gallery his collection of 31 watercolours by JMW Turner. To protect this vulnerable medium from the fading effects of harsh sunlight he placed a condition on the bequest that the works could only be displayed each year in January when light levels are low. The NGI now has a modern exhibition space designed to protect works on paper for any environmental threats, but the watercolours are still exhibited in January as this has become a much anticipated annual event.
Sir Hugh Lane, a Board member of the NGI as well as its Director for a brief time, was also a significant benefactor. While on the Board he gifted a number of works to the Gallery. After his untimely death in the sinking of the Luisitania, which was torpedoed by German submarines in 1916, during a voyage from America to Ireland, it was discovered he had also remembered the Gallery in his will. He left part of his residual estate to be used for the purchase of pictures and this was invested and continues to contribute to the Gallery today.
A third bequest that would change the financial situation of the Gallery fundamentally came in 1950 with the death of George Bernard Shaw. He bequeathed one third of his royalties to the National Gallery of Ireland, which, he documented as being of significant influence throughout his childhood. The rising star of Pygmalian, followed by the cinema production of 'My Fair Lady', translated into substantial sums of money that would place the Gallery in an entirely new league in terms of its purchasing power for works of art. The Gallery will continue to benefit from these royalties until 2020.
More generosity followed from the Shaw bequest. In 1978 the Irish government transferred paintings given to the nation by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty to the National Gallery. In 1987 the Máire MacNeill Sweeney bequest brought a further fourteen works of art to the collection including paintings by Picasso and Jack B. Yeats. In the same year the Gallery was once again the fortunate recipient of some of the contents of Russborough House when Sir Alfred Beit, a long standing patron of the Gallery donated seventeen masterpieces, including paintings by Velázquez, Murillo, Steen, Vermeer and Raeburn.
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Not a big deal to most members here, but seeing a dusting of snow on the foothills of the Southern Sierra mountains from yesterday's winter storm is good news for our thirsty state! It (thankfully) means much more in the higher elevations.
This is looking east from my house looking into the Kern River Canyon.


text: Room #5 has one queen bed and one twin alcove bed. The alcove bed is a full size twin bed set into the wall low to the ground, and is lots of fun and very popular with children and young people. This room features hand stenciled walls and a separate sitting room outside the private bathroom which features an antique clawfoot tub with handheld shower unit and beautiful etched glass panels depicting pacific north west scenes dividing it from the sitting room.


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I've got no problems with simple mirrors and reflecting water etc but how do you go about creating an environment with lots of reflections (I'm working in XNA)?
I'm thinking of games like Mass Effect 2/3 where nearly every other surface reflects its environment. It seems clear that not ever reflection can be calculated each frame so I'm assuming some kind of pre-calculated approach like environment mapping with cubemaps. Hope someone can fill me in.
Edited by gchewood, 15 October 2012 - 09:44 AM.


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142 Bottle 24" Built-In Dual Zone Touch-Screen Wine Cooler
Description & Highlights
Vinotemp 142 Bottle Dual Zone Touch-Screen Wine Cooler - Black
The Vinotemp 142 Bottle Dual Zone Touch-Screen Wine Cooler (VT-140TS, VT-140TSL) covers all the bases when it comes to securely storing your valuable wine collection. Inside you'll find 13 full-size pull-out metal shelves that are each capable of holding up to 10 bottles, and two half-size shelves that can each hold up to six (6), making the entire cooler's maximum storage capacity an amazing total of 142 750 mL wine bottles - enough room for your entire collection. The shelves are split amongst two separate cooling zones that allow you to store 70 bottles in the upper zone (7 full-size shelves), and 72 bottles (6 full size and 2 half-size shelves) in the lower zone. As a dual zone cooler, the separate upper and lower zones are each capable of different temperature ranges. The upper zone is ideal for chilling white and sparkling wines with a temperature range of 40°-55°F, while the lower zone is perfect for reds, able to reach temperatures between 55°-72°F. Each zone is controlled by a designated digital thermostat with an easy-to-use touch-screen interface and contemporary blue LED readouts capable of displaying temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius.
This extra large wine cooler utilizes a powerful compressor for effective cooling and is built with an exhaust vent in the front, allowing you to perform a flush installation without a need for extra space around the unit. However, you can also use it as a free-standing unit since the entire cabinet is wrapped in ultra-sleek black metal that complements and blends in with any setting. To properly showcase your prized wines, the cooler has cool blue LED lighting throughout letting you view and admire the wine through the beautiful insulated dual-paned glass door. In fact, the door on this model can be installed from the factory as a right-hinging or left-hinging configuration to increase your placement options even further. If you're using them for a restaurant or an extra large collection, purchasing one of each version is great for functionality and aesthetics. As an added level of security, the integrated lock helps prevent unwanted intruders from accessing your collection. Adjustable shelving options, automatic defrosting, and leveling legs are just some of the additional convenience features that the Vinotemp 142 Bottle Dual Zone Touch-Screen Wine Cooler includes, making it a great choice for anyone, whether you're just starting your collection or need more room for your ever-expanding collection.
Dual Zone Cooling:With two (2) separate digital thermostat-controlled cooling zones, you can simultaneously accommodate the needs of both red and white wines
Digital Touch-Screen Controls:The easy-to-use temperature controller has a blue LED readout that lets you monitor and adjust the interior temperatures of both zones
Extra Large Storage Capacity:13 full-size pull-out shelves and two (2) half-size shelves allow you to store a total of 142 bottles, and perhaps your entire wine collection
Please Note: This item is delivered using White Glove Service.
- Model: VT-140TS, VT-140TSLVinotemp 142 Bottle Dual Zone Touch-Screen Wine Cooler
- Brand: VinotempBlack cabinet with dual-paned insulated glass door
- 142 bottle total capacityDigital controller with blue LED readout
- Upper Zone: 70 bottle capacityEasy-to-use touch-screen controls
- Lower Zone: 72 bottle capacityRecessed door handle
- 13 full-size pull-out metal shelves; 10 bottle capacity eachBlue LED interior lighting
- Two (2) half-size metal shelves; 6 bottle capacity eachRemovable racking system
- Lower zone's top shelf can be used as a display shelfSecurity lock and key included
- Built-in or free-standing installationVolume: 428 L
- Dual zone, compressor-based coolingInput Voltage: 120 V/60 Hz
- Upper Zone Temperature Range: 40°-55°FPower: 160 W
- Lower Zone Temperature Range: 55°-72°FWeight: 249 lbs
- Warranty: 1 year limitedDimensions: 69" H x 23.5" W x 26.75" D
- Height: 69"
- Width: 23.5"
- Depth: 26.75"


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ARSC HPC Users' Newsletter 367, August 10, 2007
ARSC Transitioning HPCMP User Support to CCAC
ARSC is transitioning basic customer support for our High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) users to the Consolidated Customer Support Center (CCAC). The transition began on 12 July, 2007 and is scheduled to be completed by 24 August, 2007.
After August 24th, the CCAC will become the first point of contact for support for users that get their accounts through the HPCMP. The CCAC will be able to answer many basic issues such as kerberos kit installation and usage and problems with compilers, libraries and some software packages. ARSC, in turn, will continue to have on-site support staff available to answer questions that are specific to our systems and environment. We will also have local CCAC liaisons with access to both ARSC's and CCAC's ticketing systems to ensure that your problems and questions continue to be answered as quickly as possible.
We anticipate that the transition will go smoothly and encourage you to visit the CCAC web site to review the services and documentation that they will provide. You are welcome to continue to contact us directly during the transition with any questions or concerns that you might have.
Contact information for the CCAC is:
Toll-free Phone:
Help Desk email:
Accounts email:
Web site:
Please note that the CCAC will be handling support for HPCMP users only. If you are an Academic ARSC user, we ask that that you continue to contact the ARSC Help Desk directly for support.
The Future of NetCDF
[by: Kate Hedstrom]
I was recently in Boulder, Colorado and was lucky enough to attend a NetCDF workshop there. For those interested, the talks are all at:http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/workshops/2007/
I was already rather familiar with the NetCDF3 material. One thing that was new to me is the effort to standardize the structure of the files, an effort that still continues:http://www.cfconventions.org/
The guys said they used to not endorse any one convention, but they now stand behind the CF conventions. I look forward to some of the changes on the horizon for support of more general model grids.
NetCDF is a standard file format we have been using for many years now. It still serves us well, as is, but there is a list of features we'd like to see added. It turns out there's an effort underway to obtain all those fancy features from the HDF5 file format:http://hdfgroup.com/HDF5/
HDF5 is the complete update of the HDF standard, and incompatible with HDF4.
NetCDF4 is the version which will be based on HDF5 and it is out in beta test now. If you don't change anything in your code, you will still get a NetCDF3 file, readable from all your old NetCDF3 tools. If you recompile and relink your code against the NetCDF4 library, the only change is that you will now have to add -lhdf5_hl -lhdf5 after -lnetcdf.
The way that NetCDF can maintain some backward compatibility is to decide at file creation time whether it is a "classic" NetCDF file or a newer HDF file. The NetCDF team has minimized the changes to the API (applications programmer interface) for files that don't contain any of the new features. They have done this by building an interface layer that calls the NetCDF3 library or the HDF5 library for you.
Why not keep using the NetCDF3 files forever, you ask? One of the bottlenecks to scalability for the code I use is in the I/O. Parallel I/O through MPI-I/O seems like something we have to start doing and NetCDF4 is the path we have chosen to get there. It requires the creation of HDF5 files, not the classic files. The new files also allow the creation of user-defined types in the file, though such things may take longer for full support to be available in all our standard pre- and postprocessing NetCDF tools. It's probably safer to stick with the classic data structures until they no longer match our needs. The new files and old data structures do allow for the use of compression and chunking as done in HDF5.
Resolving Linker Errors - Part III
[by: Don Bahls]
Many scientific codes use more than one programming language. Typically most of the code is written in Fortran with a small part of the code handled in C or C++. While this design methodology allows developers to take advantage of the strengths of each language, it occasionally can lead to linking problems when one the C routines don't match the name mangling convention of the Fortran compiler.
Name Mangling
When Fortran subroutines and functions are compiled into object format, the routine name is typically altered in some way. Perhaps the most common way of doing name mangling for Fortran routines is to make the routine all lower case and to add a single underscore at the end of the routine name. This makes it less likely that the linker will accidentally try to use a C routine when attempting to link to a Fortran routine.
Below is a simple code which we will use to look at how a few different compilers do name mangling:
midnight % cat name_mangling.f subroutine MySub end subroutine subroutine My_Sub end subroutine subroutine My_Sub_ end subroutine
Here's the resulting symbol names for these three routines from six different Fortran compilers:
Description MySub My_Sub My_Sub_ ======================= ======== ========= ========== GNU F77 (g77) mysub_ my_sub__ my_sub___ PathScale (pathf90) mysub_ my_sub__ my_sub___ GNU F90 (gfortran) mysub_ my_sub_ my_sub__ Portland Group (pgf90) mysub_ my_sub_ my_sub__ Sun Studio (sunf90) mysub_ my_sub_ my_sub__ XL Fortran (xlf90) .mysub .my_sub .my_sub_
You'll notice that there are three different name mangling styles used by the six compilers listed above. Because of this discrepancy, there is always a chance that you could run into a new linking error when you move to a new compiler even if everything compiles fine. These linking errors will probably be limited to either Fortran code which calls C subroutines or vice versa.
PathScale Name Mangling
The default compiler on the midnight, the new Linux cluster at ARSC, is the PathScale compiler. Because the PathScale compiler uses a different name mangling style than some other common Fortran compilers, some codes have linking problems that aren't present with other compilers.
Perhaps the most obvious way of dealing with the difference is to simply switch the name mangling style. The "-fno-second-underscore" compiler option tells the compiler to only add one underscore to the symbol name.
midnight% pathf90 -fno-second-underscore name.o -c midnight% nm name.o 0000000000000010 T my_sub_ 0000000000000020 T my_sub__ 0000000000000000 T mysub_
Using this option, we find that the name mangling now matches what we get from the PGI and other compilers. If your code doesn't have many library dependencies and it is a serial or OpenMP code, this may be a reasonable solution. However for MPI codes, this solution might not work without some help. The MPI libraries and other Fortran libraries installed on midnight use the standard PathScale Fortran name mangling style, so changing the name mangling convention might make the linking process fail to find a different set of symbols.
If you use a code which makes use of Fortran 90 modules (e.g. USE MPI), the compiler will know the proper name mangling style. However if your code uses Fortran 77 style includes, you might find that the "-fno-second-underscore" option breaks things:e.g.
# Using "include mpif.h" midnight% mpif90 -fno-second-underscore hello_fortran.f -o hello_fortran hello_fortran.o(.text+0x3f): In function `MAIN__': : undefined reference to `mpi_init_' hello_fortran.o(.text+0x55): In function `MAIN__': : undefined reference to `mpi_comm_rank_' hello_fortran.o(.text+0x6b): In function `MAIN__': : undefined reference to `mpi_comm_size_' hello_fortran.o(.text+0x165): In function `MAIN__': : undefined reference to `mpi_finalize_' collect2: ld returned 1 exit status # produces a linking errore.g.
# Using "use mpi" in hello_fortran.f90 midnight% mpif90 -fno-second-underscore hello_fortran.f90 -o hello_fortran # compiles and links successfully.
Fortunately the PathScale compiler has an option which lets you avoid having to change your code to resolve these linking errors, but it does involve a little work on your part. The "-fdecorate" option lets you specify how a symbol should be decorated (i.e. what name mangling scheme should be used).
Here's a decorate file for the linking error above:
midnight% cat mpi_decorate mpi_init 2 mpi_comm_rank 2 mpi_comm_size 2 mpi_finalize 2
This file tells the compiler that each of the symbols in the file should get two underscores at the end of the name. Each line contains a routine name followed the corresponding symbol name. The "2" is a short hand way of saying the symbol has two underscores at the end. The mangling for a routine can also be explicitly specified:e.g.
mpi_init mpi_init__
Using the decorate file, we see that the first example above now compiles.e.g.
midnight% mpif90 -fdecorate mpi_decorate -fno-second-underscore \ hello_fortran.f -o hello_fortran
Normally I avoid using "-fno-second-underscore" and simply use "-fdecorate" alone. The advantage of this is that you just have to deal with the C routines which get called from Fortran rather than trying to figure out all of the external library routines used by a code.
Here's one technique that can be used to build a decorate file for C routines called from Fortran:
Attempt to compile the code with no changes to the compile system. Hopefully this will build everything including the C routines.
midnight% make
If there are name mangling issues, the compile will fail during the linking step. At this point, we can try to find all of the object file created from C source files. Here's one way of doing this with bash:
midnight% find . -name \*.c while read f; do o=${f%.c}.o; if [ -f $o ]; then echo $o; fi; doneThe PathScale compiler suite comes with a command called "fsymlist" which dumps symbols that look like Fortran symbols from an object file. Using the previous command as a basis, we'll find all of the symbols in the C files which look like they are meant to be linked from Fortran. Here "echo" is simply replaces "fsymlist" and the resulting output is sent to a file called "fortran_symbols".
midnight % find . -name \*.c while read f; do o=${f%.c}.o; if [ -f $o ]; then fsymlist $o; fi; done > fortran_symbols
Next we use the "fortran_symbols" file to build a decorate file.
midnight% cat fortran_symbols while read sym; do echo "$sym 1"; done > decorateHere we build a file with the symbol name followed by "1", where the "1" designates that the symbol has a single underscore. This tells the compiler that the C routines called from Fortran will have a single underscore at the end of the symbol name. NOTE: you can combine steps 2 and 3 if you want to, but it gets to be a fairly long command line statement.
Next update the Fortran flags in the build system. e.g.
FFLAGS += -fdecorate ./decorate
Depending on how your code is compiled, you may need to include the full path to the decorate file.
If you don't want to change your build system at all, you can use the environment variable PSC_FFLAGS to add a flag for the Fortran compiler on the command line.e.g.
midnight% export PSC_FFLAGS="-fdecorate $PWD/decorate"
Last do a clean build of the code and then rebuild.
midnight% make clean midnight% make
This method works fairly well when you're looking for Fortran Code that calls C, however if your code has C routines which call Fortran, you also need to account for those routines. Because the C code may be looking for a routine with a single underscore while the Fortran compiler could be adding two underscores to the symbol name.
One other alternative that can be used in this situation is to add C macros to alter the name mangling for particular symbols. The WRF model uses the "F2CSTYLE" macro in portions of the C code to do this.e.g.
#ifdef F2CSTYLE #define my_subroutine_ my_subroutine__ #endif void my_subroutine_ ... ...
When the C source code is compiled with -DF2CSTYLE, the C preprocessor will rename the specified routines, to ensure the correct name mangling is used.
Quick-Tip Q & A
A:[[ Regarding commenting in C/C++ code: I've seen code that uses /* [[ to start comments in some places and /** to start them in other [[ places. Why use /** ? [[ # # Sean Ziegeler # It has no effect on the compiler. That code is using a documentation generator. Doxygen, as one example, scans the code and tags any special comments that start with /** or /// (instead of //) as information about the following variable, function, class, etc. It scans all specified code files, then generates a document (usually HTML, but can be PDF, PS, man page, ...). The most common use is to generate interlinked web pages where you can click on names of classes, functions, variables, etc. and get information about it. It can also do things like graphical class hierarchies. Many open source projects use it for online developers' guides. It's quite handy for large projects with multiple developers. See www.doxygen.org or for other alternatives see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentation_generator # # Chris Young # /** is used to start document comments for certain documentation generation tools. OnlineDoc, KDOC and likely many others use the syntax for C++ documentation generation. They often attribute the syntax to javadoc, but I don't know the actual origins. Depending upon the capabilities of the documenter tool you'll often see other special flags within the document comment. # # Anton Kulchitsky # C/C++ code comments start with /** (the ending can be "*/" ) when a developer prepares the code for a documentation generator. Wikipedia defines a documentation generator as a programming tool that generates documentation intended for programmers (API documentation) or end users (End-user Guide), or both, from a set of specially commented source code files, and in some cases, binary files. In such comments, programmer puts some tags that describe the code followed by this comment block. For example, function purpose, inputs and outputs, developer name etc. Documentation generator then generates documentation from the source files in different formats like html, pdf, LaTeX, RTF, man pages and in many others. Sophisticated usage of doc generators can really produce an extensive and nice documentation without writing documentation separately from the code which allows you to save time and follow commenting standards in team work. There are some very illustrative examples below showing what kind of documentations can be produced: http://kdevelop.org/HEAD/doc/api/html/ (KDevelop documentation by Doxygen) http://www.naturaldocs.org/documentation/html/files/NaturalDocs-.html (NaturalDocs) The examples of free generators are Doxygen http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/ (supports at least C++, C, Java, Objective-C, Python), Sun JavaDoc http://java.sun.com/j2se/javadoc/ (Java), Epydoc http://epydoc.sourceforge.net/ (Python), NaturalDoc http://www.naturaldocs.org/ (supports 19 languages!) and many others. If you are interested in documentation generators, you might also be interested in Literate Programming (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literate_programming ), "a philosophy of computer programming based on the premise that a computer program should be written similar to literature, with human readability as a primary goal" (Wikipedia). The first practical literate programming tool named WEB was created by Donald Knuth in 1981. The idea of literate programming is going much further than just making documenting easier for a developer and clearer to read. The literate programming code often looks like a scientific article illustrated with some code rather than code with comments. This type of document can be directly processed as a documentation or as a program. Some program compilers directly support this approach. For example GHC, the Glasgow Haskell Compiler by University of Glasgow . This famous compiler is itself written in literate programming style and can process the literate programming code when asked without additional preprocessing. Donald Knuth says about literate programming: "Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs: Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do." Please, see below a couple of links to the Literate Programming web resources: http://www.literateprogramming.com/ http://en.literateprograms.org/LiteratePrograms:Welcome Q: I can't seem to remember what optimization flags I used to compile my program. Is there any way for me to tell by just looking at the executable? [[ Answers, Questions, and Tips Graciously Accepted ]]
Current Editors:
E-mail Subscriptions:
Ed Kornkven ARSC HPC Specialist ph: 907-450-8669 Kate Hedstrom ARSC Oceanographic Specialist ph: 907-450-8678 Arctic Region Supercomputing Center University of Alaska Fairbanks PO Box 756020 Fairbanks AK 99775-6020
Subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) the e-mail edition of the
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Back issues of the ASCII e-mail edition of the ARSC T3D/T3E/HPC Users' Newsletter are available by request. Please contact the editors.


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News Releases, Media
For Immediate Release: Contact: Kelly Huff March 6, 1998 Ron Harris Sharon Snyder Ian Stirton
WASHINGTON Texas will be holding primary elections on March 10, 1998, to select candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act require committees supporting candidates involved in the primary to file reports of their financial activity 12 days before the election.
As of 5 p.m., March 5, 1998, a disclosure report from the following committee had not been filed:
The reports were to include financial activity occurring from January 1 through February 18. If sent by registered mail, the reports should have been postmarked by February 23. Otherwise, the due date was closeofbusiness February 26.
Some individuals and their committees have no obligation to file reports under federal election law, even though their names may appear on state ballots. If an individual raises or spends less than $5,000, he or she is not considered a "candidate" subject to reporting under the FECA.
The FEC notified committees involved in the primary of their potential filing requirements on February 2. Those committees which did not file on the due date were notified on February 27 that reports had not been received and that their names would be published if they did not respond within four business days.
Other political committees supporting Senate and House candidates in elections (those which are not authorized units of a candidate's campaign) also are required to file preprimary reports, unless they report monthly. Those committee names are not published by the FEC.
Further Commission action against nonfilers and late filers is decided on a casebycase basis. Federal law gives the FEC broad authority to initiate enforcement actions, including the imposition of civil penalties ($5,000 for "any violation" and $10,000 for any "knowing and willful" violation).
The next regularly scheduled disclosure reports for candidate committees will be the quarterly report due April 15. It will cover activity from February 19 through March 30..
# # #


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By Press Release
Forrest County Community Work Center inmates James Robert Martin and David Bass left from the Hattiesburg facility at about 5 p.m. today. Both men have connections to Northeast Mississippi.
Both inmates were last seen wearing MDOC state-issued green and white striped pants and white MDOC shirts with "MDOC Convict" printed on the back.
Authorities are searching for Martin, a 22-year-old white male with blue eyes, blonde hair and weighing about 150 pounds. Martin is serving a five-year sentence for a conviction of grand larceny from Monroe County.
Bass is a 26-year-old white male with blue eyes, blonde hair and weighing 180 pounds. Bass is serving a seven-year sentence for five convictions of burglary from Lee County.
Anyone with any information or sightings of Martin or Bass should contact local law enforcement or Mississippi Department of Corrections at 662-745-6611.


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11 Guilty Dogs Caught in the Act
We have some beef with dogs. How is it that they can get into loads of trouble, and we still can't get mad at them due ridiculous amounts of cuteness? It's sort of annoying, especially because most times pups know they're getting into shenanigans, but they do mischievous stuff anyway. Even then we still can't bear to punish the little buggers.


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Yan-Bin Jia
doctoral dissertation, tech. report CMU-RI-TR-97-50, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, December, 1997
|I investigate geometric and mechanical sensing strategies for objects of known shapes. Examples include industrial parts and everyday desktop items. Based on nonlinear control theory, I show that local observability from contact holds in typical manipulation tasks, and I present an approach for estimating the pose and motion of a manipulated object from a small amount of tactile data.
The first part of the thesis describes two geometric strategies, namely inscription and point sampling, for computing the pose of a polygonal part; both can generalize to other shapes in two and three dimensions. These strategies use simple geometric constraints to either immobilize the object or to distinguish its real pose from a finite number of apparent poses. Computational complexity issues are examined. Simulation results support their use in real applications.
The second and main part of the thesis introduces a sensing strategy called pose and motion from contact. I look at two representative tasks: (1) a finger pushing an object in the plane; and (2) a three-dimensional smooth object rolling on a translating horizontal plane. I demonstrate that essential task information is often hidden in mechanical interactions, and show how this information can be properly revealed.
The thesis proves that the nonlinear dynamical system that governs pushing in the first task is locally observable. Hence a sensing strategy can be realized as an observer of the system. I have developed two nonlinear observers. The rst one determines its "gain" from the solution of a Lyapunov-like equation. The second one solves for the initial (motionless) pose of the object from as few as three intermediate contact points. Both observers have been simulated and a contact sensor has been implemented using strain gauges.
Through cotangent space decomposition in the second task, I derive a sufficient condition on local observability for the pose and motion of the rolling object from its path in the plane. This condition depends only on the dierential geometry of contact and on the object's angular inertia matrix. It is satisfied by all but some degenerate shapes such as a sphere.
Sponsor: NSF
Grant ID: IRI-9213993 and IRI-9503648
|Text Reference
|Yan-Bin Jia, "Geometric and Dynamic Sensing: Observation of Pose and Motion through Contact," doctoral dissertation, tech. report CMU-RI-TR-97-50, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, December, 1997
|BibTeX Reference
author = "Yan-Bin Jia",
title = "Geometric and Dynamic Sensing: Observation of Pose and Motion through Contact",
booktitle = "",
school = "Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University",
month = "December",
year = "1997",
number= "CMU-RI-TR-97-50",
address= "Pittsburgh, PA",
|The Robotics Institute is part of the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
Contact Us | Update Instructions


text:
Book Giveaway!
17 comments:
- Kara said...
I absolutely love Diana Palmer and would love to have a chance at this book...sounds really good.
ktulanko AT aol DOT com
- April 25, 2010 at 10:24 AM
- Chris said...
Not entering, but I'll mention it Thursday!
- April 25, 2010 at 10:48 AM
- Allie said...
I've read almost every one of Diana Palmer's books and have been waiting for this book to come out.
- April 25, 2010 at 2:02 PM
- Martha Lawson said...
Throw my name in the hat please!!
I follow.
mlawson17 at hotmail dot com
- April 25, 2010 at 7:03 PM
- mariska said...
Count me in please ! i love to start reading Diana's books with this one. Since she's a new for me author :)
uniquas at ymail dot com
- April 25, 2010 at 8:30 PM
- Sandy Jay said...
I'd love to win this book. Please count me in.
forwhlz at gmail dot com
- April 25, 2010 at 11:08 PM
- orannia said...
Please don't enter me (I live way too far away :) but I just wanted to say that the book sounds interesting so I will have to look out for it.
- April 26, 2010 at 1:47 AM
- Stephanie said...
Please enter me. I love Diana Palmer's books.
- April 26, 2010 at 8:25 AM
- Tracy said...
Wonderful - good luck everyone!
Chris - thank so much, it's appreciated. :)
Orannia - I'll be happy to mail it to you if you win!
- April 26, 2010 at 9:03 AM
- Dr J said...
Don't recall reading a Diane Palmer book but it looks very good. I really NEED another book, don't I? Yet I love good stories and one can never have too many really good stories at hand. I am an inveterate re-reader of good stories so this may be another addition to the "Keep Around" stack.
- April 26, 2010 at 12:58 PM
- LSUReader said...
I've enjoyed several Palmer books. This one sounds good, too. Thanks for the contest.
- April 30, 2010 at 11:05 AM
- Lea said...
Thanks for hosting Tracy.
I've heard so much about Ms. Palmer's books and would love to give one a try.
- May 2, 2010 at 4:39 PM
- Morning Glow from Novel Addiction said...
Enter me please, Diana Palmer writes some excellent books!
Morning Glow
ohmorningglow AT aol DOT com
- May 2, 2010 at 8:48 PM
- MsM said...
Oh please count me in!
I haven't read Diana Palmer in ages and it's time to change that!
- May 3, 2010 at 4:21 AM
- Erotic Horizon said...
Me please - I love when she gives us something new...
Thanks for the contest..
- May 5, 2010 at 11:53 AM
- Leni said...
I love reading Diana Palmer's books. They stay with you long after you've finished the story. I'd love to read this one too.
- May 6, 2010 at 12:05 PM
- I ♥ Book Gossip said...
Please count me in.
I'm drooling all over this cover.
cindyc725 at gmail dot com
- May 8, 2010 at 6:40 PM


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This univerisity is one dedicated to developing sustainable agriculture. The campus is enormous and includes organic farms, banana plantation (which supplies whole foods), a nature (jungle) reserve, and housing areas for students and professors. They also have a store where they sell recylced products that they have made like notebooks from paper made out of pinapple or banana plants. Check out the web site at www.earth-usa.org/Page5365.aspx
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text:
This is so sad. My condolences!
This is so sad. My condolences!
Howard Niemi
You really gotta be careful about how high a pedestal you put your method, your accomplishments, your dog on. There's usually someone who's done more, somewhere. And they may have used a different method than you did! Chris Atkinson 2013
get your dog out and TRAIN! caryalsobrook 2013
Bart I am so sorry for your loss.
Gentle in what you do. Firm in how you do it.
WESTWIND WHISPERING COVE (LARRY son of Murray) WDQ MH, QAA2
LPK DELAWARE RIVER WHISPERING COVE, WDQ, QAA(SAVAGE SAM son of FC Chester MH)
WESTWIND WHISPERING COVE JAY ** ( Larry's son and Murray's grandson)
So sorry for your loss
Last edited by Jamee Strange; 09-30-2013 at 02:18 AM. Reason: not supposed to be a question
God bless!- Jamee
"If your dog doesn't like someone you probably shouldn't either"[/U]- Author unknown
My team:
HR Dr. J's RxRated High Caliber JH, QA2 "Kali"
Jamstar's Hot Tubb "Cuzzi" (NAFC Tubb x HR Kali JH QA2)
Watermark Shadow's Sweet Addiction "Jones" (FC AFC Shadow X Watermark's One Way)
#1 cheerleader: SJ's Gotta-Lot-A Go Lil "Jake"
Gone but never forgotten:
HR Stevie-Joe's Super "Star"- my heart dog, I love you baby
October 24, 2001-January 6, 2013
To loose one so young, and so full of potential.... it rips your heart out enough to loose one... My sincere condolences.
FC Tribute to Justice, JH "Honor"
FC AFC Contempt of Court "Ruckus"
Medal Of Honor, QAA "Valor"
HRCH Kirby's High Sierra, SH, QAA "Kirby" Feb. 19, 2002 - Aug. 14, 2014
HRCH Niki Snowbird, SH, QAA "Niki" July 22, 2001 - May 11, 2015
Southland Order In the Court, QAA "Gavel" July 17, 2002- March 24, 2013
Southland Rusty Nail - derby points, qual placements "Rusty"
Disoderly Conduct "Chaos" -qual placements
Thank you for letting us know, Katie. I'm so, so sorry.
So very sorry for Arrow and his family. Far too young.
Kim Pfister, Rainmaker Labs
So very , very sorry. Spent time this summer at Tug Hill and so enjoyed the company of Bart and Arrow. What a pair. No words can ease the sting of the lose, hang in there buddy.
Sorry Bart...
John Lash
"If you run Field Trials, you learn to swallow your disappointment quickly."
"Field trials are not a game for good dogs. They're for great dogs with great training." E. Graham
Very young. Sorry for your loss! Take care!
HRCH Scaupgetters Tarnation QAA
HR Blackie 2 CGN, WCI
Hashtag Mickey
"Dont cry because its over. Smile because it happened."
Dr. Seuss


text:
Submit News
CES 2013: How to Avoid Getting Sued by Apple? Have Good Lawyers, Source Says
Jason Mick
January 11, 2013 7:08 PM
Recipient E-mail
Sender E-mail
Having a smaller market share may help a tiny bit too
Having a discussion with a source close to Japanese Android smartphone maker Sony Corp. (
) I noted how remarkable it was that Sony had
escaped any sort of litigation or publicly discussed licensing
with Microsoft Corp. (
) or Apple, Inc. (
). While Apple hasn't sued everyone, it has sued most of the top Android phonemakers. But Sony has escaped scott free.
How is it doing it?
Our source close to Sony confirms that he indeed knows the face of patent belligerence all to well, saying he's been called on as an expert to testify in several cases. He remarks, "A lot of those [lawsuits] have been pretty frivolous."
When asked specifically about Microsoft and Apple and how Sony has escaped lawsuits (or licensing demands) he said, "We've had a number of discussions... We've been pretty successful at fending off these onslaughts... [laughs] I guess we should give credit to our lawyers."
So there you have it; the electronics industry has devolved into how good a lawyer team is.
Sony has reportedly used some lawyer "kung-fu" to avoid lawsuits.
[Image Source: Sony Pictures]
It's no wonder why some of the U.S.'s oldest and most respected federal judges are saying
the patent system is broken in the U.S.
That same sentiment is also being echoed by top investors
like Mark Cuban
who bemoan the power of litigation to kill startups.
Sony for its part must have some pretty good lawyers. After all, its latest and greatest Xperia phones have slide to unlock graphics (which other Android phonemakers have been sued over) and also have a "Cover Flow"-like transition animation (Apple owns a patent on Cover Flow's animations).
With its
new "superphones"
hitting the product stream, the phonemaker's remarkable ability to ward off Apple lawsuits may boost its profitability and sales, assuming that situation does not somehow shift.
"If you mod me down, I will become more insightful than you can possibly imagine." -- Slashdot
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text:
By Teresa Rivas
Synaptics (SYNA) was up 6.5% at the close, as investors cheered the company's acquisition of privately held Validity Sensors, a California-based developer of biometric fingerprint authentication systems.
According to the deal, Synapics will pay about $92.5 million in stock and cash for the firm, plus potential performance payments over a multi-year period that could bring the cost up to $255 million.
Needham & Co. analyst Rajvindra Gill was upbeat about the acquisition in a note out today, reiterating a Buy rating and $54 price target. "We believe this acquisition is crucial for several reasons: 1) it places SYNA at the forefront of a leading-edge technology in the handset market; i.e., fingerprint sensors; 2) it effectively doubles the addressable market as SYNA can sell an additional sensor per unit; 3) it further solidifies our thesis that SYNA has the leading and the broadest technology platform in the capacitive touch market; and 4) it expands SYNA's entry into mobile payments, cloud-based services and enterprise mobile device security."
Gill noted that Validity Systems' high-frequency RF imaging technology is similar to that used in Apple's (AAPL) new iPhone 5s, and that there is increasing interest from handset OEMs for this technology.
Pacific Crest's John Vinh was optimistic as well. He made a similar point as he reiterated his Outperform rating and $58 price target in a note out today: The deal "provides an opportunity for Synaptics to expand its content opportunity with key smartphone, tablet and PC OEMs. In particular, we believe Synaptics could benefit, as we anticipate Samsung will be a fast follower of Apple and adopts fingerprint sensing in its high-end smartphones next year. The expectation for earnings accretion in F2015 implies a doubling of Validity revenue to $30 million to $40 million."


text:
Featuring an 8 inch C-CAM® bass driver and higher spec C-CAM® tweeter, the C280 in-ceiling speaker provides a seamlessly accurate sonic signature across a wide frequency bandwidth in high quality music applications or in multiples for home theatre. As part of the 200 Series of architectural speakers, it is easy to install and offers the biggest bass driver size of any speaker in its class. It includes a boundary compensation control for better sound near walls and corners.
- 2-way design with pivoting C-CAM® tweeters (15 degrees of play).
- High overall efficiency.
- High frequency level adjustment (3dB).
- Audio match with RS-CP and Silver RS hi-fi speakers.
- Our innovative Tri-Grip fixing system is easier to install than conventional clamping schemes but provides three times the surface area and a better surface seal, maximising bass response and mid-range clarity.
- Aluminium alloy grille for rust-free performance and longevity. It is non magnetic and lighter in weight.
- Paint-able surface to blend with the living environment. A paint mask and additional scrim material are provided for trouble free painting.
- Splash and humidity proof for installation in shower room or pool areas.
- Features dust protection cover that is designed to prevent the ingress of dirt or dust into the driver and crossover.
Frequency Response
50 Hz - 30 KHz
Sensitivity (1W@1M)
90 dB
Impedance (Nominal)
6 ohms
Maximum SPL (Single unit in free space)
111.6 dBA
Power Handling (RMS)
Recommended Amp Requirements
1x 8" C-CAM® cone base driver
1 x 1" C-CAM® Pivoting gold dome tweeter
Overall Diameter
286 mm
(11 1/4 inch)
Overall Depth
124 mm
(4 7/8 inch)
Cut-Out Diameter
247 mm
(9 3/4 inch)
Mounting Depth
121 mm
(4 3/4 inch)
+3db / 0dB / -3dB High frequency level switch.
Boundary compensation.
Fixing Type
3 position Tri-Grip dog fixings
Cable Connection
Gold plated 'push' type terminals
Construction Material
Mineral filled ABS plastic
(RoHS compliant)
2.8 Kg (6.2 lb)
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Take a read of this article by Residential Systems, as they look at our new SB-4 Soundbar bit.ly/2pw4mEc pic.twitter.com/fzpLq5WCOL


text:
The businesswoman converting her 10 KFC outlets originally wanted to sell them, but decided to convert them instead because her staff wouldn't be guaranteed jobs with new owners.
Renée Marquis revealed to the Carbonear Compass earlier this month she would not be renewing her franchise agreements with Yum Brands, Inc., which owns the fast-food brands KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, and that she would instead convert them to a family restaurant chain of her own called "Oppy's Diner," the first of which is planned to open next month in Carbonear.
"In the beginning, I did have my business for sale, and it didn't sit properly with me because I have a lot of long-term employees that have basically worked their whole career with me and there's no possible way that I could protect their positions, so I decided not to sell," she said.
In June, Yum announced it was looking to expand KFC in Atlantic Canada and was opening up new franchise opportunities in Newfoundland for the first time in 20 years. The impending closure of the restaurants it does have - in Carbonear, Bay Roberts, Clarenville, Marystown, Gander, Grand-Falls Windsor, Lewisporte, Deer Lake, Corner Brook and Stephenville, opened by Marquis's father Leo - was not mentioned. Yum Canada president Sabir Sami did not return messages left by The Telegram requesting comment.
Marquis acknowledged Yum representatives were "taken aback" when she informed them of her decision.
"They asked me to repeat myself," she said, laughing. "They couldn't believe it. They'd wanted me to look at the St. John's operation as well, and they had offered me, actually, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia a year or so before, and I declined, because it's difficult to run an arm's-length operation, especially off Newfoundland."
It's Marquis' father who provided the inspiration for the name of her new venture. "My son couldn't say 'Poppy' when he was little, so my father became 'Oppy,' and these are his locations, so I will name them for him," she said. Marquis said she'll be expanding on her family restaurants in the new operation, and is looking forward to having a little more freedom - while being careful not to criticize the company with which her family has had a longstanding relationship. She said she wants to provide a wider range of healthy menu options.
"KFC's been good to my family. It's fast-food, but it's the most un-fast fast food there is in terms of its preparation. It's down in-store, fresh Country Ribbon chicken," she said. "(But) I think I'm delighted to not be cooking deep-fried chicken right now. I'm delighted to be cooking other things." She added that her menu will include some fried options as well.
Marquis said she might open an Oppy's Diner in St. John's at some point - and as recently as last fall had a space staked out in St. John's for a new restaurant - but it's not happening yet. "I'm never going to say never. There's a possibility. There's a strong possibility, but I'm not going to bite off more than I can chew, as it were," she said. "I would rather start in my areas, the areas I know, with staff that I know, than come into St. John's at the moment. But clearly I'll be looking at St. John's."
Looking to fill the KFC void outside of St. John's is a New Brunswick-based company, Franchise Management Inc., which bought the locations Marquis turned down. Co-owner Dwight Fraser told The Telegram the company has locations settled on, but as franchise details have yet to be completely finalized, it's premature to discuss the company's plans for Newfoundland, even though the company has run ads looks for cooks and cashiers for KFC operations in Newfoundland.
"We're still in the due-diligence stage," he said. "We haven't finalized our deal with the franchiser yet."
As excited as she is to start her own operation, Marquis knows she's leaving behind a well-known brand, but she's confident diners will come.
"Anybody who's wanting a fresh alternative is going to be curious and want to sample my food. If I have great food, why wouldn't they come back?" she said. "To me it's a cyclical thing. You need your fix of crunchy, yummy chicken. Sometimes you just do. Other times you're looking for something a little different."
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