text:
the problem is that server hardware pricing has it's prices lowered by the commodity consumer x86 market. if that evaporates, that new core i12 will cost $10000. I dread this day when cpu time/ram/storage are all 'services' one has to rent like utilities, with a complete lack of privacy and control.
Hell, Data Caps by the major ISP's will prevent this from happening anytime soon...and that's with wired connections.
The wireless carriers still believe they have a right to shove a stick up your ass while they rifle through your wallet taking all the cash and credit cards.
Yeah, but ARM-based servers will become REALLY cheap.
Apart from a throwaway line at the end of the article, this has absolutely nothing to do with cloud computing, or distributed computing - at least not any more than current-gen consoles are "Cloud Computing". It's not even eliminating the commodity PC - it's wondering if it can eventually be miniaturized enough to fit it in your pocket instead of on your desk.
Personally, I think iOS and Android are going to eat the DS' lunch. All they're missing is the interface, and things like this [sonyericsson.com] show they're working on
People are still harping on about this, due to the media hype, but it's bullshit. Mobile phones are great for exactly one thing: mobility. For everything else, they suck. Email? Suck. Web browsing? Suck. Word processing? You're joking. Even for things they do better than the desktop computer, like book reading, the mobile phone sucks for (compared to, say, a Kindle or an actual book). Phones aren't replacing desktop or laptop computers, they're additions.
Gaming especially sucks, as even the best gaming phon
I would have KILLED to get my Amiga or C64 to look as good and my Nexus S.
Or it's just a dynamic cluster of mobile devices.
IT's not cyclic, it's a pendulum slowing towards a middle ground. And the cloud has very little to do with mainframes. What we have now is decentralized storage, that can also be centralized(your PC) and it's mostly run locally.
What we have now isn't one or the other, it's some of both.
Easy access to all are data wirelessly pretty much means we won't have an app for that because it isn't needed. We will have case whey data on the cloud will need to be downloa
No, it's not, and what you're saying makes no more sense than asking, "Who needs <your OS of choice> when we all have a text editor?" You're comparing a simplistic product that runs on a platform to a platform, rather than comparing a platform to a platform. A more apt joke would have been, "Who needs game consoles now that Facebook has games?"
Really, all they're saying here is that the hardware platforms that iterate more frequently will eventually outpace the ones that hold still for the better par
The problem is everyone and their dog and their dog's fleas have bought into the Jobsean school of mobile design which means slim = sexy and iSliver batteries for everyone.
No matter how much you shrink things there are certain fundamental rules one simply can't avoid, and one of those is "you push a bunch of textures and physics and advanced 3D models around in real time you ARE gonna suck power"
Now while I'll give old Steve credit, in that he has trained his users pretty damned well to expect to carry a
Now while I'll give old Steve credit, in that he has trained his users pretty damned well to expect to carry a charger with them
That's pretty absurd since Apple is the only mobile handset maker that has focused, almost to the exclusion of all else, better battery life. It's why they came out with multitasking after everyone else and even then in a more limited form.
iPhone users are some of the few smartphone users who can easily go a few days without a recharge.
Now it is true gaming sucks down a lot of powe
That's pretty absurd since Apple is the only mobile handset maker that has focused, almost to the exclusion of all else, better battery life. It's why they came out with multitasking after everyone else and even then in a more limited form.
That is some wacky stuff. iPhones need to be charged every night under normal use. More often than that, if you play games/watch movies/etc which is really the selling point. Whereas many cell phones will last more than a week between charges.
I do agree that you can't keep pushing pixels without draining batteries, but I also think that the recent iDevices have done a good job at allowing developers to push a load of pixels without draining the batteries quickly. Your analysis seems to more be based on the older models, which definitely suffered from the issues you described and did indeed seem to train their users to carry chargers and packs around. I know they certainly trained me to do so!
When I was playing Infinity Blade, which is the applic
I'm just going by watching my uncle and cousin having to carry a charger with their iPhones because they can't stop pisslefarting around with the things. I swear with those two it is "app" this and "game' that and I don't think those phones are ever not in their hands for a good chunk of their days.
Now am I saying old Steve makes bad kit? No I'm not, I'm just stating the obvious, that if you slam the crap out of a CPU and GPU pisslefarting with the thing constantly it WILL run the batteries out. Jobs may be
This is just common sense folks and if they expect these things to replace portable gaming consoles then they need to be able to get a good 10-12 hours on a charge while going whole hog like the Nintendo ones can, and I just don't see how that is possible while keeping it thin and sleek.
To be fair, and backing up your point, the 3DS only gets about a half dozen hours of usable time on a charge.
Yeah but I predict the 3DS is this gen's virtual boy. I have several people that picked one up and they have all said after the 3D novelty wears off they turned off the 3D as keeping their heads in the right position gave them neck strain. When I heard that all I could think of was virtual boy and how it had a timer so you'd be warned to walk away!
So I don't think we should compare to the 3DS but the original DS and DSi, which IIRC was 10-12 hours on a battery. And finally lets not forget we are talking abo
The problem is everyone and their dog and their dog's fleas have bought into the Jobsean school of mobile design which means slim = sexy and iSliver batteries for everyone.
No matter how much you shrink things there are certain fundamental rules one simply can't avoid, and one of those is "you push a bunch of textures and physics and advanced 3D models around in real time you ARE gonna suck power"
Now while I'll give old Steve credit, in that he has trained his users pretty damned well to expect to carry a charger with them I really can't see the iExtension cord becoming the big item on everyone's Xmas list, can you? Sure you might eventually squeeze the vector processing and FP math engines down to that size, hell you can probably stick a chip on my pinkie nail that is faster than my 1998 gamer rig. But in the end it don't change the fact that at the end of the day these are supposed to be MOBILE devices, and not in the Alienware "Where's the outlet again?" definition of the word. I can't see folks putting up with 15 minute battery life just so they can have Halo III on their cell phone.
This is exactly what will hold it back. Until someone invents a better battery mobile gaming will always suffer a huge handicap.
Those using their mobile device as a gaming platform will not have a problem charging every day, if need be.
Those using their mobile device as a gaming platform will not have a problem charging every day, if need be.
People have to do that already. If there is to be any vast improvement in mobile games people are going to have to recharge more than once a day.
PC's are fastly more powerful today then any console out there AND they iterate like crazy! Hasn't helped the number of games for that platform has it?
As for looking stunning, take a GOOD hard look at the game you mentioned, visit the home page, scroll down to four screenshots on a row click on the screenshot on the right of a single guy standing in front of a grey wall. Look at the textures of the wall. My god, that is BLURRED! If that same game had appeared on a PC or even a console it would have been sl
Actually, in some ways, the PSP IS more powerful than the PS2. It's CPU is faster and it can do some things in hardware that the PS2 has to do in software less efficiently. But the PS2 CAN do such things in software because of the programmable VU's, which the PSP does not have.
PC's are fastly more powerful today then any console out there AND they iterate like crazy! Hasn't helped the number of games for that platform has it?
Erm. Yes. Gamespot lists around 15,000 titles available for PC, compared to about 1,750 for PS3 and about 4,000 for XBox/360. And that's just releases from major studios -- most independent producers only target PC, and aren't listed on gamespot.
Gamespot lists around 15,000 titles available for PC
How many of them actually work on a modern PC, vs. games that run only in DOS, Windows 3, or Windows 98? And how many of the newer games won't run on a brand-new PC with an Intel GMA? The "PC" platform doesn't guarantee compatibility, unlike where a "DS" game will work on any DS system.
Likewise. I seem to remember reading that only about half of the games for the Xbox work on the Xbox 360's Xbox emulator.
PC's are fastly more powerful today then any console out there
My Wii handles four players at once, all on one system. (Game: Super Smash Bros. Brawl). There's something about the PC, on the other hand, that discourages developers from optimizing their code for four players.
AND they iterate like crazy!
This also has two downsides: PC game developers don't want to lose sales when the majority of the audience owns a PC too old to meet the game's system requirements, and it costs a lot of money for a small indie developer to buy several years' worth of hardware for compatibility and performance testi
A more apt joke would have been, "Who needs game consoles now that Facebook has games?"
That's what I was implying. I just picked the worst example (in my opinion) of Facebook games I could find.
Really, all they're saying here is that the hardware platforms that iterate more frequently will eventually outpace the ones that hold still for the better part of a decade, which is no surprise, given advances in miniaturization and power efficiency. And that effect does matter, because contrary to your analogy, not all mobile games are simplistic and mindless click-fests. A small but increasing number of them are decent titles put out by capable teams who can produce games with solid gameplay that stand up well against their console counterparts.
I got also this gist too. But as you noted (by your reference to Gen8 console), that shouldn't be a reason to throw mud at Nintendo because still wants no part of it [it = smartphone gaming].
Games are spread amongst an incredibly diverse range of tastes (unless you're a PC gamer, then your taste is just shoot-em-ups...
Games are spread amongst an incredibly diverse range of tastes (unless you're a PC gamer, then your taste is just shoot-em-ups...
A rendering in more serious words of what I was saying (or intended to say).
Games are spread amongst an incredibly diverse range of tastes (unless you're a PC gamer, then your taste is just shoot-em-ups...
Just finished the Endgame; singularity [emhsoft.com]... but... I did notice your wink.
So, he is predicting in 5 years a phone will have the performance of a (by then) 10 year old console. When, big surprise, my current phone is about equal to a console from 10 years ago.
Did John just finally discover Moore's Law?
One is that he thinks current gen hardware is "good enough" that there really isn't the need to push much farther. Well if you do believe that, then when phones meet that, they'll be at the level they need to be. I mean we can disagree about what the level is, but I think we can all agree that there is a level hardware will reach that past which there isn't any real gains, for games at least. Perhaps he believes that level is what we have now.
Another is that he's kinda become a mobile fanboy, and a little o
The problem with Rage (ipad version) was that it was absolutely stunning until you realized that it was a damn rails shooter. It was still fun for a short time after the realization, but quickly became tedious.
When I can play Red Faction or even San Andreas on a tablet, then I might agree with John.
The iPhone version of Rage is different from the others. They only share the setting and some of the art assets. The engines are completely different.
You are talking about a single sentence in an entire article of things Carmack said. The submitted decided it was the most interesting thing, and the Slashdot editor decided it was also interesting, and as a result... here we are.
I can't imagine anyone seriously thinking Carmack saying "computers are going to get faster" is particularly insightful. However, we live in an age of soundbites; this one appears to only be on Slashdot because it's just an utterance of someone that is held - for excellent reasons,
Who wants to look at some little 4" (or even 7-10") screen
Everyone who's ever played a GameBoy or Nintendo DS?
use wierdo controls
What wierdo controls? [sonyericsson.com]
Plus you have plenty of mobile choices, from DS to PSP to those cheap emulator players (I really need to pick one of those up) and ALL have better controls than a cell phone. Lets face it everything in mobile now is tripping over themselves to rip the Jobsean design school where sleek is sexy and that doesn't leave room for decent buttons or a D-Pad.
So if you really want a way to play games on the road I'd just pick up one of those $50 emulator jobs or a PSP. The emulator one I was looking at was thinner
from DS to PSP to those cheap emulator players (I really need to pick one of those up)
WHAT cheap emulator players? What do they emulate? What's cheap? Tellmetellmetellmetellme.
Oh you haven't seen them? Sorry bud let old hairyfeet help a brother out. What I'm talking about is something like this [chinagrabber.com] that plays everything from NES and GBA to SNES and Genesis for $75, but as you can see here [chinagrabber.com] they have all different kinds with lots of different feature sets, going from a low of $40 to a high of $200 so there is something for every taste.
So if you don't want to give your CC out to some Chinamart (I haven't bought from them yet, so I can't say one way or another how good they are) I'd sugg
What I'm talking about is something like [Benss BX-98 DV 8GB Mp6 Player - 4.3" Camera Mp6 Player - Beats PSP - 8gb-PMP-BX98]
MP6 player? I thought the rest of the world was still on MPEG-4 players like the iPod touch and Android-powered phones. Let me guess: they skipped the model number of a well-known submachine gun.
So I check out the specs:
As game console, support NES, GBA, SMD, BIN formats multiple game simulator, 8-32/64 bit games
This covers NES, Game Boy Advance (GBA), and Sega Genesis (SMD/BIN) games, and by extension also Game Boy, Game Gear, and ColecoVision games through FluBBa's emulators that run on GBA. But what
No I hadn't seen them. I owe you some mod points.
Hm. Research suggests that the gold standard for these knockoff emulators is the Dingoo A320 with Dingux (Linux) add-on. Without it, it seems it has trouble, like most others, with SNES and Genesis/Megadrive (16-bit games).
Also, oddly, it seems to use MiniSD.
What the hell. I haven't gadgeted it up in a while so I'll check one out. They're pretty cheap on DealExtreme (HK seller that takes forever to ship but has been pretty good in the past).
Weirdo controls? There are only a few types of games for which the standard console controller is really suitable (action/FPS games, mostly). For many other types of game, touch is incredibly convenient and intuitive. Even more so than a mouse. My 2 year old son can play games on a tablet that he wouldn't be able to play otherwise.
Different games have different requirements for controls. Some are better served by consoles, others by tablets. (But of course the best games are only playable with mouse+keyboar
Different games have different requirements for controls. Some are better served by consoles, others by tablets.
If a genre is served by consoles, isn't it equally served by a PC with USB gamepads plugged in?
I understand that some games work better on a couch with a big TV and some friends. PC tends to be more a solo thing. Or at least one PC each.
I suppose if you really want to, it could be possible to play some games on a tablet with a gamepad.
If a genre is served by consoles, isn't it equally served by a PC with USB gamepads plugged in?
I understand that some games work better on a couch with a big TV and some friends
TVs made in the past five years have VGA and HDMI in. PCs made in the past twenty years have VGA and/or DVI/HDMI out. So how would a PC not work "on a couch with a big TV and some friends"?
Where do you leave the mouse and the keyboard?
Where do you leave the mouse and the keyboard [when using gamepads with a home theater PC]?
Probably not far from where one would leave the Nunchuk accessory when you play Wii games that don't use the Nunchuk.
Well, apparently million and millions disagree with you.
And stop saying 'real' systems and 'real' game, you pretentious fuck.
It's a game, people enjoy it or they don't, that is all.
Who wants to look at some little 4" (or even 7-10") screen and use wierdo controls.
Probably you will be able to connect your mobile gaming device to a 47" screen and use a wireless 14 button controller. So, you will care
....while there's still a market for desktop PC/consoles as gaming devices.
Mobile devices are limited by what they are. As long as efficiency of size (mobility) is a defining feature of mobile gaming, they'll probably always be cut down versions of these bigger stationary devices.
I got another preduction for Carmack: More people have played MS solitaire then ALL of your games combines. So pack it in dude, you are in a dying industry!
Oh wait, several industries can exist beside each other without really impacting each other? You mean the entry of flash games did NOT kill of other forms of gaming? How odd, I was assured that X will kill Y also know as the iKiller was a sure thing!
One of the things that always suprises me about the handhelds made by Nintendo and Sony is how the games
I don't get the point of high-end portables. They're a waste of processing power. Portables are great to kill time when you have to stay in a boring place, but they simply do not make sense as full-fledged consoles.
I mean, for example... the PS Vita, to be generous, is the portable with the largest screen. And what do you get when you cram a hundred million polygons, high-res textures, advanced lighting and shaders, and the kitchen sink, onto its 5-inch screen? Not much, because it's still a goddamn 5-inch
I once read a piece on "Never underestimate your competition" it can come from anywhere. I forgot the exact link, but the crux of the story was alarm clocks.
The article was India specific.
Till around 1999, mobile phones were a rarity, and tariffs were very expensive, and mobiles were expensive too.
People used to buy cheap alarm clocks(working of AA batteries lasting a month or 2).
These used to cost 300-400 INR (8$) and had brisk sales.
Then mobile tariffs well, and so did cost of mobile phones. Everyone had
So is history repeating itself. 5 years down the line your mobile phone costing same as a handheld console, will perform equally, if not better. Only the loyalists will still buy a console.
You could say the same thing about stand-alone mp3 players now. Back in the day, my friends and I would drool over those, with increasingly bigger capacities, etc. A 1 GB player was luxurious. My current phone's memory card can store 8 GB. Coupled with a good set of earphones, they've all but obviated my need for a dedicated mp3 player. I haven't seen anyone else in a long time want one either.
Before we are carrying around mobile devices that are as powerful as the PS3, it's more likely that we're carrying around mobile devices that are slightly more powerful than the ones we currently have at a greatly reduced cost. There's no reason to have a phone as powerful as the PS3. Couple that with the costs and technical challenges of cramming the technology into a phone without becoming hotter than the sun, it really just isn't worth it. It's not that I don't believe it can be done, I just don't see a
Even when mobile devices are more powerful than the PS3, they will still have absolutely horrible controls. And because of that, they will never be good for anything more than lightweight casual games.
How come there are all these stories this week about how powerful mobile devices are? Anyone with half a brain knows that power is only part of the equation.
screen to small and controls suck for just about any FPS game. Now poor controls are ok to get by for TBS games but can be better.
Forget about having a good driving game with phone controls.
Not really comparable. They are different games, for the most part.
It's like saying Facebook games are played ore the consoles. true, but it doesn't really mean anything.
An elephant is a mouse with an operating system.


text:
The turnkey control system will include the RailComm heater controllers communicating to a central office via a dedicated data radio network. RailComm's Domain Operations Controller System will reside in the central office and provide the operator with a user interface to control switch heaters. The system is said to dramatically reduce energy costs, while also increasing safety and reliability.
The DOC software-based control system is an advanced command, control, communications and information (C3i) server-based platform that supports a wide variety of integrated solutions for indication, control, access and distribution of critical operational data across the corporate enterprise.

subset: commoncrawl


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ARMSTRONG - The North Union High School Vocal Department will present the musical Grease for two nights - 7 p.m. tonight with a dinner theater performance Friday, with dinner at 6:15 p.m. followed by the show at 7.
Tickets for the show only are $7 for adults and $5 for students both nights while dinner/theater tickets are $13 for adults and $10 for students.
Tickets are available at the North Union High School office or by calling (712) 868-3542. Bleachers are available for general admission.
Article Photos
The North Union High School cast of "Grease" are front from left, Jacob Braddock, Paige Taylor, Marshall Klingenberg, Leslie Brandt, Ashley Olson, Emily Hagebock; Row 2: Julie Jacobsen, Alyssa Fothergill, Allie Buum, Emma Engelby, Amber Brandt, Becky Cronk, Carrie Michalec, J.C. Culbertson, Katherine Harrison, Alexis King, McKenzie Hellman; Row 3: Carter Engelby, Brittney Holl, Brittany, Tiller, Mason Harbaugh, Joey Stauffer, Cory Tigges, Garrett Johnson, Hunter Guinn.
Photo submitted
Becky Cronk plays Sandy, the girl next door who loses her love, Danny, only to get his back.
"She just wants to be like everyone," said Cronk. When Danny is a jerk to her, though, her heart is broken - but eventually they fall in love.
Andie Fothergill plays Patty Simcox, a matchless cheerleader also in love with Danny. "She's just a kind of a nuisance to everyone," Fothergill said, adding that one of the hardest things to do was to stay in character. "She's kind of quirky like I am but she takes it a little higher."
Garrett Johnson plays Vince Fontaine, the dance emcee who seems to have a lot of lines backstage.
Joey Stauffer plays Danny Zuko, leader of the T-Birds whom Stauffer describes as, "A group of greasers that ride a little high."
Staffer said Danny also has a soft side, even though he tries to maintain his reputation while being with Sandy.
"I like our beauty school dropout scene," said Brittney Holl, playing one of the beauty school dropouts. "I like all our dance scenes. It's coming along."
Mrs. Kim Godtland, vocal music director, noted changes from the film to the musical. "It's more adapted to the stage," she said.
Cast and crew includes Rebecca Boyer, stage manager; Jaycie Eaton, beauty school dropout; Leslie Brandt, Frenchy; Paige Taylor, Marty; Andie Fothergill, Patty Simcox; Becky Cronk, Sandy; Hunter Guinn, beauty school dropout; Amber Brandt, Jan and Carrie Michalec, Rizzo. Back row, left to right: Marshall Klingenberg, director/Kenickie; Carter Engelby, the Teen Angel; J.C. Culbertson, Doody; Jacob Braddock, Sonny; Garrett Johnson, Vince Fontaine; Joey Stauffer, Danny Zuke; Cory Tigges, Eugine and Katherine Harrison, ChaCha.


text:
INTRODUCTION With this brief extract, you can take a first look at your personal "Color Horoscope" by Johannes Schneider. Small samples from the individual sections will give you an overall impression of the complete horoscope. The "Color Horoscope" combines the delineation of the birth chart with color psychology. It provides you with an insight into the character structures by describing your distinctive traits and your needs as well as the various roles you play. The internal psychological defense mechanisms are also described, and the possibilities for alleviating these conflicts are pointed out. At times, the text is somewhat confrontational and demands an active analysis of your own personality. You can order the complete "Color Horoscope" by Johannes Schneider, consisting of 10 to 12 pages, as an E-Horoscope in the Astroshop.
YOUR BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS Objectives and Motivations
Based on the ranking of the planets receiving a high score, your objectives and the motivations for your behavior can be described as follows:
You prefer to make contact with cultivated, intelligent and open-minded people who are able not only to relate something of interest but also to listen attentively. You mainly socialize with acquaintances and friends with whom you can relax and enjoy time together or undertake some activity that brings you joy and draws you out of your daily routine. This provides you with positive impulses and helps you to take life more lightly.
What you need in order to feel good are stimulating contacts and light-hearted get-togethers with nice people. You hope to find understanding, sympathy and a brightening of your spirits. It is important to you to live in harmony with your fellow human beings. This helps you to take life more lightly and not to lose your courage despite the difficulties of life.
You attempt to win people's sympathy and affection with your amiability, and thanks to your charming ways, you usually achieve this without much effort. Whenever possible [...]
Distress and Problems
The tendencies and modes of behavior which can cause you distress and problems can be described on the basis of the ranking of planets with a low score. However, it cannot be deduced to which degree you have become aware of and overcome your personal weaknesses, and consequently have gained a deeper understanding of the problems of others. The following statements indicate what you can do to improve your ability to move through life with fewer problems.
Time and again you are called upon to bear situations in which your energies and your patience are overtaxed. This can appear in the form of professional demands, difficult obstacles or personal problems that act as emotional energy vampires to rob you of your vitality in the long run. Nevertheless you are absolutely determined to stand firm, and you allow nothing to move you to alter your methods in carrying out your plans, and certainly not to deter you from them entirely.
When people or circumstances anger or frustrate you, you believe yourself to be a victim of undeserved adversities. As a result, you suffer and you are [...]
By combining your objectives and the motivations behind your behavior with your fears and the indications of your underlying issues, it is possible to conclude that your psychological needs are as follows:
the fulfillment of your dreams. To satisfy your needs and to manifest promising visions and ideals, you apply a great deal of astuteness, time and energy. The fulfillment [...]
Your Color Horoscope indicates a variety of roles that you play on the stage of life. The following section describes the role plays you engage in, as well as the motivations, objectives and modes of behavior associated with it.
Creative Your active mind is always full of thoughts and good ideas, and you never suffer from a lack of plans or projects the realization of which [...]
Searching for Understanding You need and seek soothing interaction with sensitive people who treat you with understanding and who show sympathy for [...]
Resourceful Due to your intelligence, intuition and creativity, you manage to get through life fairly easily. At times, though, even you can be confronted [...]
Active You most enjoy devoting yourself to an activity which completely fascinates you or which simply gives you joy. You are motivated and inspired [...]
In conclusion, here is a description of those facets of your personality which can stand in the way of your development into a free and happy person as long as you are not aware of them. You hardly notice in you the presence of these intellectual and emotional patterns, nor do you perceive their mode of action. Nevertheless, the effects they have on your life are usually not to your advantage. Use the following interpretations as a working hypothesis for self-exploration. The recommendations given for each postulate indicate alternative attitudes which could possibly allow you to leave the old field of negative emotions behind.
Concealed Fear When you feel pessimism, depressiveness or fear rising up in you, you immediately take your mind off the subject by performing activities [...]
About this Horoscope This interpretation of the positions of the planets at the time of your birth is based on the Astro-Color-System® developed by Johannes Schneider; in addition to the ten typical planets, this system also includes the two minor planets Chiron and Vesta. In this system Chiron is considered to rule the sign of Virgo and the sixth house of the horoscope; Vesta rules the sign of Taurus and the second house. The twelve celestial bodies are awarded points based on their position in the signs and the houses of the horoscope and on the aspects between them. These scores are used to establish a ranking of the 12 celestial bodies, called the planet profile, and four subgroups, called the basic structures. Since a typical color has been assigned to each of the celestial bodies, this ranking can also be represented as a series of these twelve colors. As you can see from the personal planet profile calculated for you, each planet has its assigned color above it; the height of the colored column indicates the number of points awarded to the planet. Together with 13 additional colors, these same colors form the basis of the psychological color test Color-O-Scope®, which can be found here under the name "Color Oracle".The colors you select in the test indicate your current behaviors and problems, while the astrological analysis of your birth constellation describes your personality. The combination of these two interpretations makes it possible for you to compare your present situation with your intrinsic nature and to see which facets of your personality you are currently living out and which you are not. This comprehensive insight is entirely new within astrology and is impossible to achieve with any conventional method.
Astrological Data used for Color Horoscope Free Try-Out Edition
Planetary positions
Major aspects


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Bike News
Launched: TVS Phoenix 125cc
Out of the flames of rehashes, TVS finally rises with a brand new bike with a brand new engine...
With a name like Phoenix, there's no mistaking which Flames this motorcycle has risen from. What's so special about a 'bah, humbug' kind of motorcycle, you ask? Well, it's TVS's first offering in a really, really long time. No, we don't consider paint jobs to be all-new bikes.
What makes this all-new is a new motor. The Phoenix's 125cc motor develops 10.85bhp, a healthy figure for this segment - and in case you were wondering, no, this motor comes with only one spark plug.
What we can't understand, though, is why the Phoenix comes with only a four-speed gearbox. After all, the first line of TVS's press release calls it a "premium executive deluxe 125cc motorcycle". A fifth gear would've better justified all those adjectives.
Nonetheless, the Phoenix does get easily adjustable rear suspension and all sorts of features including a digital speedometer, service reminder, digital fuel gauge, trip meter LED pilot lamps, petal discs. Now we know why there wasn't any money left over for that fifth gear.
TVS claims 67kpl for this bike and with an ex-showroom price of Rs 53,000, it shouldn't have trouble finding buyers.


text:
Somewhere in the no-man's land between Yorkville and Morris, rain began to fall from a gray sky.
Chuck Lewis rested his cart under a tree and put on his plastic poncho.
Then he kept walking down Illinois 47, toward Morris.
To get here — 1,600 miles from his home in Ronan, Mont. — he has walked since Easter. Through cornfields and small towns. Through all sorts of weather. Through the worn out soles of his running shoes.
A retired Marine who served in Vietnam, Lewis is walking to Washington, D.C., to raise money and awareness for veterans and what he calls the "cost of freedom," a price paid only be a small sliver of our society.
He hasn't been home in 118 days. He won't see his wife again for another two months. He doesn't know where he'll sleep each night — he prefers churches, but often has to settle for camping in a park or a farm field.
There are times he wonders what he's doing out here. Sometimes he wishes he was spending his summer with his family. Sometimes he wishes he was at home.
But he walks on — town after town, state after state. He took an oath of duty to his country more than 40 years ago, an "oath that never expires."
"If I was a better speaker, maybe I could talk at universities or schools," Lewis said. "The reality is, I'm not. I've always led by example.
"It's just my way of leading wears out sneakers."
The road that led Chuck Lewis halfway across the country began in Montana, where a year ago he was spurred into action when people in his community began returning home from service with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Last year, a Marine from Montana committed suicide less than a month after returning home from combat.
Lewis credits that death with making him aware of the "suicide issue" plaguing members of the armed forces, referring to the fact that more service members died by suicide in 2012 than in combat in Afghanistan.
And that was just among active members — what, Lewis wondered, about people who had come back from the war?
"How many more of these men and women have taken their lives?" he asked.
He'd already been active in veterans' causes — the previous Christmas, he put on his uniform and stood on a street corner in his town as a tribute to those who'd be spending their holiday season abroad.
But the Marine's suicide seemed to push him further. He began giving presentations at schools, standing at other events, raising money.
"I just felt like, 'Maybe this is what I'm supposed to do.'"
Soon, he had his biggest idea yet: to walk across the country to the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C.
"I made my decision in a matter of hours," Lewis said. "I talked it over with my wife, and we decided to do it and started planning."
Chuck Lewis began in Everett, Wash.
He crossed Washington state into Idaho. Then it was Montana, then North Dakota, then Minnesota, then Wisconsin.
In Iowa, his wife met him and the two camped with friends in Dubuque.
That was the last time that he's seen his wife.
"It's hard [being away from family]," Lewis said. "But they recognize the passion I have for this country. They understand."
Now, he's walking through Illinois.
He spent Thursday night in Yorkville, and on Friday came to Morris.
On Friday afternoon, while Lewis was still on his way into town, Ken Buck — superintendent of the Grundy County Veterans' Assistance Commission — applauded Lewis' efforts and said he planned on meeting with Lewis.
"I applaud it," Buck said. "Any veteran who picks a cause he believes in and follows it, I think that's great."
There are others Lewis meets along the way who also applaud his effort. But sometimes, he's met with indifference.
"Sometimes I wonder, 'How many even see me out here?'" Lewis said. "And when they do notice me, what do they see? A veteran or a homeless person?"
In Wisconsin, a police officer stopped him, saying a resident had complained of a homeless man pushing a shopping cart down the highway.
But it was Lewis, pushing his 150-pound pack of luggage that includes a tent, nonperishable food, and other basic necessities.
"Some people do think I'm homeless," Lewis said. "They don't look to see what I'm trying to do."
Chuck Lewis says there is a disconnect between civilians and the military.
When he came back from Vietnam, he said, "We weren't America's poster children."
Now, though, he believes the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction — now, he said, society treats all soldiers as "heroes."
"Not all of us agree," Lewis said. "There are heroes, but they are few and far between."
"I'm proud of those who serve," Lewis explained. "I admire them."
But he feels that society is bestowing the term "hero" on all who serve to resolve its guilt at its treatment of past generations of veterans, something he feels goes hand in hand with the philosophy that "every child is a winner."
Whether you agree with his assertion or not, or his belief that America is a "Christian nation" getting further from its roots, there does seem to be a dichotomy between those who serve and those who don't.
"People either embrace it or they're indifferent," Lewis said. "That's true of a lot of things today. Our lives are so fast-paced, we sometimes don't take the time to notice things."
He describes a reality in which service members — most trained on high-tech machines for extraordinarily difficult jobs — return home to underemployment; who can only trust the people they served with and know their experience; and a country "bent on division."
And he walks, hoping to have small part in doing what he thinks is best for society.
"I guess I'm just an odd bird in a way," Lewis said. "Not everybody would walk across the country for this."
Ten miles north of Morris, and almost 800 from the end of his trip, Lewis pressed on.
He walked into a rain that grew harder, a wind that blew stronger, down the gravelly shoulder of the road over which speeding trucks cast thin veils of mist.
A car with Wisconsin license plates honked, turned on its signal and pulled to a stop behind Lewis.
The driver handed Lewis a McDonald's bag and a coffee, they talked for a few minutes and parted ways.
A field of human-height corn stalks shivered in the wind. Rain continued to spill from the sky, which was blushed blue far into the distance. One foot in front of the other, he walked toward it.


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my project is about 10 files in applet and no package. here is a image of my folder tree.
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|Binghamton, N.Y.
|High School:
|Electrical Engineering
2014: (Outdoor): finished tenth in the 1500m run at the NEWMAC Championships (4/26) crossing the line in 4:08.81 … recorded a season best time of 4:06.58 to earn a ninth place finish in the 1500m at the Sean Collier Invitational (4/19) … crossed third in the 1500m at Bates (4/12) in a time of 4:09.84 … (Indoor): concluded the indoor season racing the mile at the New England Division III Championships (2/22) crossing the line 23rd in a time of 4:37.49 … set a season best time of 4:18.56 in the mile at the David Hemery Invitational (2/8) to finish 113th … finished third in the 3000m run at the Tufts Stampede Invite (2/1) crossing the line in 8:49.20 … recorded a season best time in the 3000m at the Bowdoin Quad (1/18) finishing fifth in a time of 8:48.09.
2013: (Outdoor): finished in second place in the 5000m with a time of 15:22.51 at the Engineer's Cup (4/06) … came in seventh in the 1500m at the NEWMAC Championships (4/27) in 4:09.66.
Off the Track: Majoring in mechanical engineering … also part of the MIT men's cross country team … conducted UROPs in Sikes Lab and Doyle Lab … vice president of dormitory … also does ceramics … Associate Advisor of Peer Ears.
High School: A 2012 graduate of Binghamton High School … indoor track All-Section … outdoor track All-Metro … All-Conference … eight-time varsity letterwinner … indoor school record in 1600m, 1000m and 3200m … 3200m STAC champion … captain … also played soccer … National Honor Society … Math Honor Society.


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by Andrew Blair, Sean Bonner, Chris Eaton and Royale Ziegler
The goal of this panel is to uncover new and exciting ways to use social media as a means for social change. This session will go beyond the basics—sending targeted action alerts and creating online petitions—and discover fresh and innovative virtual campaigning techniques for real results.
When NASA public affairs specialist Stephanie Schierholz was speaking on a customer service panel at TWTRCON, PETA asked monkey-loving supporters to hijack the #TWTRCON hashtag with messages of about NASA's plan to fund cruel experiments in which dozens of squirrel monkeys would be blasted with harmful space radiation. Tweets about NASA's radiation experiments began appearing on the conference's large projectors meant to display tweets about the event.
In another example of a non-profit getting the upper-hand online, Greenpeace created a parody YouTube video, calling into question Nestlé's methods for acquiring palm oil, which spread rapidly through online community channels and eventually caused Nestlé to meet their demands within just a few weeks of the campaign's start. Mainstream media covered the video and Nestles failure to manage dissent on their Facebook page.
Using inventive tactics to leverage social media for good means creating the possibility for millions of passionate people to band together and create tangible change, wherever, whenever, whoever they are.
LEVEL: Intermediate
United States United States, Austin
11th–15th March 2011


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Claude Makelele is the perfect example of a player that rarely made the headlines, despite the Frenchman's performances meriting a place in the spotlight.
Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick falls under the same category, with his consistency at Old Trafford often going unnoticed as his role demands the less glamorous side of the game.
The 32-year-old orchestrates the midfield, with his positional sense and calmness on the ball often providing the foundations for an attack.
His ability to sweep up in front of the United defence is frequently overlooked, with the strikers at the club attracting the plaudits and stealing the attention.
Carrick, who moved to the club from Tottenham Hotspur, rarely gets his name on the scoresheet and contributes little in terms of assists.
However, the importance of his holding role is paramount to the United cause in relation to both the attacking and defensive sides of the game.
Arsenal visit the Manchester club on Sunday for an eagerly-anticipated clash that could leave David Moyes' team 11 points off the pace and potentially rule them out of the title race for good.
The Gunners are in fine form after recent victories over Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund, with their midfield showing creativity in and around the box and providing their opponents with a problem they struggled to solve.
With that in mind, Carrick's absence due to injury is a major blow to United's chances of taming the Gunners' attack, with the England international known for his ability to break up play and win the ball for his side.
The current Premier League champions will need a big performance from whoever is chosen to play the 'Makelele role' as they look to stay in touch with the leading pack.
However, without their number 16, a crack may appear in the Manchester United team as Carrick's importance in the side becomes ever so clear.
Write for GiveMeSport! Sign-up to the GMS Writing Academy here: https://gms.to/1a2u3KU
DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article. GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.
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CARLTON: Worthy perspective
This being the week before Easter, there will be lots of stories in the news about various events all over the place. Passover is also coming, and will bring its accompanying events. This is a special week, indeed.
Hopefully there will be peace in both the United States and Israel for all these events.
There are many people hard at work trying to stir up trouble over all manner of issues. These folks have made a career out of preventing peace. Beware of people whose faces are constantly before you in the media, spewing forth discord and hate.
Radical Islamists are not the only troublemakers in the world.
Did you ever wonder what would happen to the careers of people like Bill Maher, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson, if suddenly there was actually peace? What would they do? They would be devastated.
What causes this kind of agitation on such a wide scale? Sure, it pays well, in money and media exposure. But, good grief, how do people sleep at night after they cause so much unrest, misery and violence, day after day?
The Trayvon Martin story from Florida has been used as fresh fuel for the fires of racial hatred.
An article on http://www.dividedstates.com shows the picture of a Seattle teen beaten by a Muslim in what has been classified as a Hate Crime. The story also on this page is of a case in Palmdale, California where seven Blacks have been arrested after attacking and severely injuring a 15-year-old White-Hispanic boy who was simply walking home from school. The seven attackers had been encouraged to commit a hate crime by cries from New Black Panther leader Mikhail Muhammad, Spike Lee, Barack Obama, and Rev. Al Sharpton, many people feel, according to the story. During the attack, the black teens made racially derogatory statements toward the boy which were captured on video.
Our own President injected racial tension into this already stressful time by stating that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon. How is that relevant? Yes, he sympathizes with the victim's parents, but isn't a President supposed to be on the lookout for the welfare of people on the other side of the story, too, like the innocent elderly couple who have been displaced from their home after Spike Lee "tweeted" an erroneous address for the alleged shooter, which turned out to be the wrong home? Back off, Obama. Let the Special Prosecutor do her job.
You know, one of the oldest mechanisms for creating trouble in the world is to keep the concept of an "enemy" front and center in people's minds.
Instead of just going about our lives in peace, doing good, taking care of our families and our business, we are constantly presented with "enemies" to think about. Someone to worry about. Someone to get back at.
What if we just dismissed the notion of so many "enemies?"
I get wonderful "Worthy Briefs" sent from a site called www.worthynetwork.com
and great news coverage from www.worthynews.com, from a very reliable source who happens to be a great friend of mine and my husband's.
Let me share a story that came to my inbox a couple of days ago, and illustrates a powerful message:
Two shopkeepers were bitter rivals. Their stores were directly across the street from each other and they would spend each day keeping track of each other's business. If one of them got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival.
One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, "I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. Do you want to be rich? You can, but he will be twice as much. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire?
The man thought for a moment, and then said, "Please...blind me in one eye."
Wow. How strongly does this story demonstrate the complete misplacement of priorities in people's lives?
As we near the celebration this weekend of some of our dearest and most important holidays, let us try to have our priorities straight.
Let us expend more effort working for peace, and less trying (foolishly!) to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down.
Passover starts on Friday, April 6, this year, and Easter is Sunday, April 8. Happy Passover and Happy Easter. May peace be a big part of your celebrations.
Nancy Carlton is a Saline County resident. Her column appears each Wednesday in The Saline Courier.


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It's a number no school board president wants to hear.
With Lansing Superintendent Yvonne Caamal Canul presenting a potential $9.8 million budget shortfall at a work session, last week, School Board President Guillermo Lopez says the district needs to start now if it's going to balance the budget for the next school year.
"We look at things like from busing to certain programs, theme programs that we have," said Lopez.
Programs like physical education, art and music have been brought to the table as potentially cuttable if the need arises.
"At this point, we're just looking at things that just make sense and are possibilities, but nothing is resolved," said Lopez.
Board Secretary Peter Spadafore says there are a number of reasons behind the deficit.
"Costs go up. Energy costs go up, we've got a lot of buildings, transportation costs go up," said Spadafore. "Retirement rates that we pay for our employee pensions continue to escalate. We also have a declining enrollment population."
Board Member Nino Rodriguez says the deficit has less to do with losing students and more to do with government funding.
"If we are losing 400 students, it would only cost $3 million. We are short $10 million. Someone's not giving out the money."
As of right now, Lopez and Spadafore say no proposals have been made to slash any programs, but funding from the state will play a big role in determining cuts.
"A lot of our challenge stems from the fact that we don't know what we're going to get from the state of Michigan," said Spadafore.
"We have to be ready to act as we need to once we know what our cash flow will be," said Lopez.
The district is also discussing employee contracts, which will help to determine where they will go with their budget. As of now, Lopez says any talk of cuts is just talk and anyone with concerns is welcome to come to board meetings and offer their suggestions.


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Great courses produce great champions and four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy is one of the best. A talented pro, no doubt, so where did the County Down man learn his incredible skills?
When Rory McIlroy raised the US PGA's Wanamaker Trophy high in the air in Louisville, Kentucky in 2014, he laid claim to a staggering four major titles by the age of 25. But just where did this exceptionally talented young player find the skills to take on the world's best and beat them all at their own game? We explore the courses that have made McIlroy a four-time major winner.
McIlroy was a winner from an early age. He was raised on challenging links and parkland courses along the Causeway Coastal Route in Northern Ireland and won several prestigious titles as a teenager. No doubt these stood to him when he held off Tiger Woods at the Honda Classic in 2011 to become the World Number One for the first time.
Long hours of practice at his home club of Holywood in County Down gave the rising star the confidence he needed to produce the goods: proven in full when he captured the 2005 Irish Amateur Close title at Westport. The victory, at age 16, made him the youngest ever winner of the title, which had been captured in the past by stars such as Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell.
It was also in 2005 that McIlroy set a new competitive course record with a score of 61 on the Dunluce links of Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim. The course dates back to 1888 and is the only club on the island of Ireland to have hosted The Open Championship – and will once more in 2019.
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In 2007, McIlroy earned a coveted spot on the Great Britain and Ireland team at the Walker Cup, held at the Royal County Down Golf Club. Although his team didn't take home the cup, he did win his single matches against Billy Horschel. 2007 was also the year that Rory turned pro, though success took a while as he didn't win his first tournament until 2009.
Fast forward six years and McIlroy was back at Golf Digest's World No. 1 course, Royal County Down, for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in 2015 as the tournament host. Using his Rory Foundation to promote the event, the pride of County Down raised huge sums for local charities. He continues to host the Irish Open with the 2016 edition held in The K Club in County Kildare, the venue for Europe's memorable 2006 Ryder Cup win over the USA.
Ballyliffin Links
After McIlroy became Irish Close champion for the second time, he prepared for his title defence by humbling a giant, his mentor Nick Faldo, on the windswept Old Links at Ballyliffin, which is perched on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland's most northerly county.
"Ballyliffin is a great golf course," says McIlroy, who shot a course record 67 to beat six-time major winner Faldo by a stroke in a 2006 exhibition match.
The Old Links, which is a little shorter and a little tighter with small greens. Nick Faldo redesigned it and it is very tricky and a very good test. The Glashedy, meanwhile, is a big golf course measuring more than 7,400 yards.
McIlroy continues,"They have two brilliant golf courses on a spectacular piece of land so if you have a chance to go to the northwest of Ireland, Ballyliffin should definitely be on everyone's list." And now, Ballyliffin can add "Host of the 2018 Irish Open" to this ringing endorsement – definitely one not to miss!
After beating Faldo in Ballyliffin, McIlroy retained the Irish Close title at The European Club and declared that it was the best links course he had ever played.
That's high praise from a player who grew up just a few minutes' drive from the great links of Royal County Down and regularly teed it up at Royal Portrush when he was just a young boy.
"I love courses where you really have to think your way around. It gets me focused much more. That's pretty much why I'm so impressed with it."
The European Club, County Wicklow
Back to the 2006 Irish Amateur Close Championship at The European Club, McIlroy went to the turn in three under and was on his way to beating the course record of four under par 67, set by Tiger Woods in July 2002. He had to settle for a 70 in the end, and ended up taking 80 in the second round as the wind blew and the rough took its toll.
He still qualified for the matchplay stages with ease, though, and eventually cruised to the title having learned some valuable lessons about course management and wind play. This, you could say, has stood to him in his professional career since then.
Born in Northern Ireland, McIlroy is a golfer defined by the courses of his youth. Courses that create winners in the #homeofchampions.
By Brian Keogh
More information about events and approved courses is available from the Golfing Union of Ireland
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Go Banking Rates Finds that Watching TV Can Actually Make Consumers Smarter with Their Money
November 13, 2012 -- !-- AddToAny BEGIN -->
El Segundo, CA (PRWEB) November 13, 2012
Watching TV is often regarded as a mindless activity, but Go Banking Rates has identified five television shows that can actually improve the way consumers understand and manage their finances. Hosted by popular finance gurus and personalities, Go Banking Rates selects the following programs as the best for those who wish to improve their financial literacy.
1. The Suze Orman Show - MSNBC
Suze Orman's "tell-it-like-it-is" attitude and practical tips help watchers achieve their life goals. During her "Can You Afford It" segment, Orman closely examines each caller's financial situation to determine whether they can afford a particular purchase -- vacation, new home, home remodel, etc. Plus, she addresses a number of viewer questions and concerns via webcam.
2. Money 911 - NBC Today Show
David Bach, one of the financial experts on Money 911, provides on-air answers to questions received by Today Show viewers. Bach tackles questions on topics, such as credit card debt, home appraisals, mortgages, investments and savings. He educates viewers on the difference between good debt and bad debt, and preaches the importance of financial freedom through debt elimination.
3. Clark Howard Show - HLN
Clark Howard believes that saving money and penny-pinching is the way to survive tough financial times. Always on the watch for the next best deal, Howard offers advice for scoring discounts on practically everything -- vacations, mobile phone service, groceries and entertainment.
4. Mad Money - CNBC
One glimpse of Jim Cramer's energetic, high-strung antics, and viewers may reach for the remote control. But if they can get passed the sound effects, rants and yelling, Cramer offers practical advice for playing the stock market. He encourages diversification, discusses how to identify danger zones, as well as when to sell and buy. Cramer also offers his pick of potentially profitable stocks.
5. Til Debt Do Us Part - MSNBC
Financial expert Gail Vaz-Oxlade takes couples therapy to another level. Each week she meets with a different couple and helps them through their toughest financial problem -- consumer debt. There's no sugarcoating as Vaz-Oxlade forces couples to come face-to-face with their balances and realize the long-term consequences of excessive spending. Through a series of challenges, couples learn how to live on less and develop a financial recovery strategy.
Click here to read the full article.
About Go Banking Rates
Go Banking Rates (GoBankingRates.com) a national website dedicated to connecting readers with the best interest rates on financial services nationwide, as well as informative personal finance content, news and tools. Go Banking Rates collects interest rate information from more than 4,000 U.S. banks and credit unions, making it the only online rates aggregator with the ability to provide the most comprehensive and authentic local interest rate information. Go Banking Rates also regularly publishes expert advice from personal finance professionals.
GoBankingRates.com belongs to a network of more than 1500 finance websites, including GoInsuranceRates.com and GoFreeCredit.com. These sites receive more than 2 million visits each month.
For questions or comments, please contact:
Jaime Catmull, Director of Public Relations
310.297.9233 x261
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/suze-orman/jim-cramer/prweb10123752.htm.


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Underground Astronomy [1]
Most of the time, astronomy is practiced from on high: atop mountains, from balloons, or better still, from outer space. The high altitudes overcome the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere, and provide a look at types of energy that the atmosphere blocks.
For some things, though, astronomy is best practiced down low: under water, under ice, or underground. These "deep" observatories use the barriers of water, ice, and rock to screen out unwanted radiation, allowing scientists to look for particles that are abundant but shy.
One of the first underground laboratories was built almost a mile below ground in the Homestake gold mine in South Dakota. Starting in the 1960s, researchers used a tank filled with dry-cleaning fluid to hunt for neutrinos. These particles are produced in the hearts of stars and rush into space at almost the speed of light. But they seldom interact with normal matter. The underground location helped isolate the rare occasions when they did collide with other particles.
Today, both the gold mine and the neutrino experiment have shut down. But scientists are operating or preparing new experiments for Homestake -- experiments to study both neutrinos and the even more elusive particles of dark matter. In fact, Homestake could even become the first underground national laboratory, giving scientists many new opportunities to study the universe from down low.
More about underground astronomy tomorrow.
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2011
Grade Level:
Subject Areas:
- Science [6]


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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Miss District of Columbia Allyn Rose has fallen short in her bid to become Miss America, despite successfully conveying a message about breast cancer prevention.
The 24-year-old Rose did not make the cut Saturday evening when judges winnowed the field of contestants from 53 to 16.
She made headlines by announcing plans to undergo a preventive double mastectomy after the competition to reduce her risk of breast cancer, the disease that killed her mother, grandmother and great aunt.
One cancer expert said preventive surgery was a "very reasonable" choice for someone with Rose's family history and genetic predisposition.
The University of Maryland, College Park, politics major said Wednesday that her mother "would have given up every part of her body to be here for me, to watch me in the pageant." But she added, "If there's something that I can do to be proactive, it might hurt my body, it might hurt my physical beauty, but I'm going to be alive."
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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Rhakios wrote:If LXF is printed like a parish magazine, it should certainly bring down the cover price.
Depends how good the Parish Mag is!
Help, discussion, magazine feedback and more
Moderators: ChriThor, LXF moderators
GregS wrote:nelz wrote:AIUI the shop copies are sent by surface transport while subscription copies are air-mailed, so the real benefit to you is to get the magazine around or before the time it appears in the UK shops, rather than several weeks later.
Actually, deliveries down here are often so erratic that the shop copies arrive first...
Shelmed has a point - we colonial subscribers don't get a whole lot of advantage out of subscribing. Now, I know there are economic pressures that make it so...but the only reason I subscribe is that i can't be bothered chasing up shop copies - and my nearest shop (if they stocked it) is over 12km away; and the nearest town with stores that LXF is regularly stocked is over 80 km away.
Out in the nearly-bush we don't have corner stores!
<Edit coupla days later...This months issue appeared just two or three days after hitting the webpage...an exception that proves the rule, perhaps? Last issue was about three weeks later.>
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The program, begun in 2011, is upgrading the nearly 30-year old Blue Line from the aging trackway and updating to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards to improved safety and security design elements.
TriMet's Executive Director of Safety, Security and Environmental Services Harry Saporta outlined to the TriMet Board of Directors the initial phase of pedestrian safety improvements.
"These safety improvements were planned to better channel and guide pedestrians and bicyclists into controlled and predictable crossing paths," said Saporta. "They also improve ADA accessibility and increased pedestrian awareness at crossing locations.
Additionally, these changes were designed to help operators better identify a pedestrian's intent at a crossing. By fencing off large open areas where trespassers had easy access onto MAX tracks, both safety and security were enhanced."
Gateway Transit Center (TC), TriMet's busiest transit station with 2.5 million boardings in fiscal year 2013, was the first location along the Blue Line to see pedestrian safety improvement projects completed in this Renew the Blue phase.
Pipe barriers were installed at the Gateway TC MAX platform crossings to force bicyclists and pedestrians to slow and face toward oncoming trains before entering tracks. New signs and pavement markings were also installed and positioned to highlight the crossings.
In addition to pipe barriers, fencing and defined crosswalk striping to direct people and encourage safe passage, the south pedestrian crossing was widened and signs were added to promote looking both ways and to warn people of the presence of three sets of tracks. Pavement markings were restored and additional markings added and the tactile pavers, or textured ground panels, were replaced.


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As you can tell, the man is a motivational master.
Note: I was going to start a "Luke Fickell" tag for posts about him here at the MZone. But then I realized, what's the point?
Rants, comments, thoughts and funny - mostly funny - on all things Michigan and college football.
If you have ideas, tips, links or pictures for the blog, e-mail us at: MichiganZone at gmail dot com.
Thanks for checking out the M Zone. And if you enjoy the site, please pass the link on to a friend or two. We'd sure appreciate it.
Yost, where are the posts about Rich Rod to Zona? I need something witty to make it through the short week!
Yost has his priorities right. He has all offseason to comment on if RichRod can be a real Arizona Man. If he finally found a good home since he is in a conference that doesn't really play defense, etc.
An Yost, given the way our LBs tackled against Penn State last week, they needed this explanation.
we only talk about coaches that coach for Michigan
What Andy is saying, VfMSU is...
Not our problem anymore. Thankfully, not our problem.
Kid just walked in here and advises that Urban Meyer is going to be the next Buckstache head coach.. Not sure what to think. Other than that was longer than most sentences I get out of my teenager.


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Finance Director - 3 days per week
- Recruiter
- Imperial College Healthcare Charity
- Location
London (West)Isle of Wight
- Salary
- £60,000 to £70,000 (pro rata)
- Posted
- 22 Oct 2012
- Closes
- 21 Nov 2012
- Job Role
- Accountant, Financial Controller, Financial Director, Risk
- Sector
- Public sector / NGO
- Contract Type
- Permanent
Committed to helping us improve healthcare?
Imperial College Healthcare Charity is looking for an exceptional Finance Director with an interest beyond "just" the numbers.
Not only will our new Finance Director manage the safe stewardship of our funds, they will also control the grants process ensuring our £3-4 million of annual grants are effectively implemented and responsibly managed.
You will need to be a qualified chartered accountant with commercial acumen, and ideally be very familiar with charity accounting.
You will assume a wide remit including the development and implementation of finance, investment, IT, risk management and performance measurement strategies, policies, procedures and controls. You will act as the Chief Executive's number two, assisting with business planning, and providing advice on the Charity's longer term business strategy.
Knowledge and sound judgement in regulatory and governance matters are required, alongside a track record in working proactively with Chief Executives and Boards to improve efficiency and outputs.
The charity has assets of around £80 million. An understanding of investment and other means of income generation are essential, and a clear view on how the finance team can best support its fundraising colleagues will be important.
This is a senior, strategic position, supporting the Chief Executive and Trustees in building an ambitious plan to fund healthcare improvement projects in central and west London.
Please find an information pack containing job description, person specification, background information and how to apply on the attachments.
Closing date for applications is 5pm on 23 November 2012.
Interviews will be held 10 December 2012.
A charity registered in England and Wales No 1128929


text:
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Leader in headset solutions, VXi
Corporation continues to expand its global reach and impact on the
telecommunications industry by entering into a partnership with Interactive
Intelligence, a worldwide provider of unified IP business
communications software and services.
Interactive Intelligence (News - Alert) offers contact center automation, unified
communications, and business process automation solutions, which can be
deployed on-premises or via a cloud-based communications-as-a-service
model. After testing the UC ProSet™, Interactive Intelligence named VXi
its newest Technology Partner for providing corded headsets to its
"When it comes to corded
headsets, VXi's UC ProSet™ is in a class of its own," said Mike
Ferguson VXi president and CEO. "Its sleek design and ease-of-use are
only surpassed by its performance. We're thrilled that our partnership
with Interactive Intelligence will open up the highest quality combined
business communications software and corded headset solutions to a new
group of contact centers and enterprises."
New in 2012, the UC
ProSet™ exemplifies VXi's commitment to providing quality products
to unified
communications users. This headset has been perfected for use in
contact centers and busy offices, including at-home offices and other
business settings. Among a list of industry-leading features, the UC
ProSet™ boasts:
To qualify for Technology Partner status, Interactive Intelligence put
the UC ProSet™ through interoperability testing, including use with
Polycom (News - Alert) phones and Interactive Intelligence SIP stations for inbound and
outbound calls.
"VXi's UC ProSet™ easily passed our tests demonstrating excellence in
call quality, clarity and overall appearance," said Interactive
Intelligence vice president of development, Jeff Gerardot. "Its
performance ensures our global customers will get a complete solution
that now includes the highest quality corded headset."
In addition to the UC ProSet™, VXi's extensive CC&O product offering
includes trusted headsets such as the VXi Tria and Passport, as well as
the VXi's wireless
headset option, the V100. Regardless of the application, the CC&O
product line delivers the kind of performance and value you can only get
from VXi.
For additional information about the UC ProSet™ and VXi's full product
offering, visit www.VXiCorp.com.
About VXi Corporation
Since 1989, VXi Corporation has been at the forefront of providing
best-in-class telecommunication and speech recognition solutions for
contact centers, offices and mobile professionals. From the company's
first noise-canceling microphone to its newest line of Unified
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backed by the industry's best warranties. You can visit their website at www.VXiCorp.com,
connect with them on Facebook
and follow them on Twitter.
[ Back To Microsoft News 's Homepage ]


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DOVER, DEL – The York College volleyball squad concluded their 2011 Capital Athletic Conference schedule with a 3-0 win at Wesley College on Friday evening in Dover, Delaware. The Spartans, winners of three straight, improve to 13-13 overall and 4-4 in the CAC. The Wolverines fall 5-21 overall and 0-6 in the league.
The game scores were 25-21, 25-16, and 26-24.
The Spartans were paced by junior Dani Mastroieni as she tallied a season-high 11 kills as she hit .233 for the match. She also had five digs and a block assist for York. Freshman Katie Huston and sophomore Jessica Moyer each added five kills to the Spartan offense. Senior setter Cortni Rentzel handed out 28 assists while she also had nine digs for York. Junior libero Ashley Rineman again led the Spartans' defensive charge with 15 digs in just two sets for York.
The Spartans have a short turn around as they will travel to Eastern University to face the Eagles and Randolph-Macon College. The Spartans face RMC at noon followed by a 2:00 pm match against the nationally ranked Eagles.


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The photos started popping up on my Facebook page last week: My dear friend Christine posted some of the first photos she has of her with her husband, Paul, also a dear friend of mine. She posted them because last week marked 20 years of their being together. A few days after those appeared, she posted one of me, from 20 years ago, noting that we'd been friends for even longer (because I became friends with her a couple of weeks before she met Paul -- so, ha ha ha, Paul, I was FIRST).
Such sweetness made me feel special and loved, of course, and it also prompted me to think more deeply about anniversaries. I tend to corellate them to being married, which I am decidedly not, and I am notoriously bad at remembering my married friends' and families anniversaries. I try, really, I do, but I'm just befuddled by the importance of these dates. Luckily, they forgive me and accept with good cheer whatever I manage to come up with, whether a card or just a text that says something along the lines of "Oh, yeah, happy that thing!" For my unmarried, partnered friends, I do even worse. I either don't know or can't recall their anniversary dates (for their first date, or whatever they celebrate). I'm just not hardwired to remember that kind of thing.
But other anniversaries, now, those I remember. Deaths, birthdays (which are anniversaries, after all), the date I moved somewhere, the day I said good-bye to someone who was not good for me. I remember those. We all do, I think. I don't remember the date of when I moved to New York, but I know my friend Vic does and I look forward to seeing her share that memory with us on facebook every year. Some of my friends celebrate the anniversary of their sobriety, which always seems to me to be deeply important. Others celebrate the day they came out. Others, the day they filed for divorce. We remember because these days are engraved in us: we know whether the wind blew that day, or if the world was still; whether it was cool, or hot, or frigid. We remember what we wore or where we went. We remember noting that we should remember, because on this day, our lives changed.
Thinking about these milestones makes me want to take some of the glory of anniversaries for myself. I want to start celebrating the anniversaries of my friendships, those relationships that have shaped and sustained me. I once read a quote, I believe from Meryl Streep, in which she said something about friendships are the recess in the school of life. Yes, they are, and for me, they are also the backbone of my life, the down comforter of my life, the runaway truck ramp of life. They are all those mixed-up metaphors, and more. They are my joy. I want to celebrate them and remember when they were new, and marvel at how they've grown comfortable and familiar.
So, happy anniversary, Teenie, and happy anniversary, Roo. You guys are my two of my beloved blessings. I am so glad to have shared the last 20 years of my life with you. "What would I do, if I had not met you? Who would I blame my life on?" xo.


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RIVERVIEW — Tucked in beside bustling suburbs and hidden behind cattle ranches and citrus groves, thousands of acres of preserved lands, paid for by Hillsborough County taxpayers, are filled with wildflowers swaying in the breeze, bobcats cutting trails through the grasses and marsh hawks hunting dinner from their piney perches.
Photographers from throughout the county competed this year for a spot in the county's 2014 Jan K. Platt Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program calendar, now available free at the regional libraries.
They captured bits and pieces of the scenic vistas and less-traveled trails through pine flatwoods and pitcher-plant bogs. They shot ducks in flight and pelicans in ponds, all located on property bought and preserved through the county program.
Three photographers - George Veazey, Beth Smedley and William Carlisle - filled the calendar with orchids, hawks and landscapes, while numerous other photographers are featured at the beginning of the calendar.
This is the third year the program has solicited photographs for a calendar as a way to showcase the many acres of land the county is preserving and restoring.
"This year, it went absolutely fantastically," said Ross Dickerson, general manager for ELAPP. "The quality of the pictures was 10 times better than last year."
A few preserves are featured this year for the first time, including Brooker Creek Preserve near the headwaters to Brooker Creek. Among other environmental attractions, the preserve is home to a pitcher plant bog and various types of wild orchids.
There are 61 sites bought through the program in Hillsborough County, and almost every one has public access, mostly in the form of passive recreation like hiking and picnicking.
George Veazey is becoming an old hand at this. He had numerous photos in last year's calendar and will again in 2014.
He took the opportunity to shoot a Cooper's hawk at the Balm Scrub Preserve when a rescue group he works with, Save All Birds, released the bird, which had been injured when it became entangled in a baseball field net in Clair Mel weeks earlier.
Veazey also shot photos of a white pelican launching into flight in Cockroach Bay, and a fiddler crab racing across the sand at Apollo Beach.
"The only challenge is the patience and the time it takes to do what I do," Veazey said. "I have a passion for what I do.''
Dickerson said the county printed up 10,000 calendars. As happened last year, he expects every one to be scooped up within a month.
(813) 259-7127


text:
Premier Barry O'Farrell has questioned the Catholic Church's rules exempting priests from having to report admissions of sexual abuse made in Confession, as the country's most senior Catholic, George Pell, defended the church's handling of paedophilia in its ranks.
Yesterday a defiant Cardinal Pell welcomed the announcement of a national royal commission into abuse and said he believed it would help decipher real claims from ''significant exaggeration''.
''We'll answer for what we've done,'' Cardinal Pell said, adding that he expected to be called to give evidence.
''We're not trying to defend the indefensible.''
But he hit out at what he described as a ''campaign'' by the media and ''general smears'' against the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Pell highlighted reporting procedures, particularly the 1997 Towards Healing protocols, but defended the continuing sanctity of the confessional.
''The seal of Confession is inviolable,'' he said repeatedly. If a priest knew beforehand of the nature of the confession, though, he should not hear the Confession, he said.
Mr O'Farrell seized on those comments in Parliament saying that as a Catholic he understood that the bonds of the confessional were an important sacrament of the church.
''But I struggle to understand ... that if a priest confesses to another priest that he's been involved in paedophile activities, that that information should not be brought to police,'' he said.
The sanctity of the confessional has been hotly debated in the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into sex abuse, which is examining whether mandatory reporting rules should be imposed on Confession.
Under the NSW Crimes Act, a person must disclose knowledge of a sexual assault or risk being charged with concealing a serious indictable offence, but priests are one of a small class of occupations that cannot be prosecuted unless the attorney-general consents.
Yesterday police charged Brother Martin Harmata, 59, with molesting two 13-year-old boys at a Catholic college in Sydney's west in the 1980s.
Brother Harmata chose not to appear in court and remained in the holding cells at Wyong Local Court.
He allegedly masturbated in front of one boy and had the boy masturbate him. He allegedly rubbed the other boy on his upper thigh and made him touch his penis. He did not seek bail.
Another former teacher at the school, 58, has been charged with sexual offences against one of the boys and an eight-year-old girl. He is on bail and due to appear at Blacktown Local Court on December 13.
A senior detective, who is alleged to be a past victim of Brother Harmata, made formal complaints to the school and police last year.
Asked his reaction to the news, Cardinal Pell said: ''Very sad. I apologise to ... the victims.''
Cardinal Pell also said he hoped to front the royal commission as it would be an opportunity to vindicate the church.
''It's an opportunity to clear the air, to separate fact from fiction,'' he said.
''We are not interested in denying the extent of misdoing in the Catholic Church, we object to it being exaggerated,'' he said.
''We object to being described as the only cab on the rank, we acknowledge, with shame, the extent of the problem and I want to assure you that we have been serious in attempting to eradicate it and deal with it. ..
''This commission will enable those claims to be validated or found to be a significant exaggeration.''


text: Julio Bosch has contributed to several periodicals of the publishing house Bruguera, such as Susy and Pepe Gotera y Otilio. He did a comic adaptation of Jules Verne's 'Around the World in 80 Days', which was printed in several European countries. For the German market, he drew the SF series 'Dragstor' in the 1980s. From 1983, he cooperated with fellow artist Bellalta on a new series of 'El Coyote' stories at the publishing house Forum.


text:
Medication errors are cut by seven-fold when doctors use an electronic system to write prescriptions, compared with scrawling prescriptions by hand, reports a new study by physician-scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC), published online recently in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
"We found nearly two in five handwritten prescriptions in these community practices had errors," says Dr. Rainu Kaushal, the study's lead author… "Examples of the types of errors we found included incomplete directions and prescribing a medication but omitting the quantity. A small number of errors were more serious, such as prescribing incorrect dosages…"
"Although most of the errors we found would not cause serious harm to patients, they could result in callbacks from pharmacies and loss of time for doctors, patients and pharmacists," says senior author Dr. Erika Abramson, assistant professor of pediatrics at WCMC. "On the plus side, we found that by writing prescriptions electronically, doctors can dramatically reduce these errors and therefore these inefficiencies…"
The study noted that, without extensive technical support, it is difficult for physician practices to achieve high rates of use of electronic prescribing and subsequent improvements in medication safety.
In total, the authors reviewed 3,684 paper-based prescriptions at the start of the study and 3,848 paper-based and electronic prescriptions written one year later. After one year, the percentage of errors dropped to 7 percent from 43 percent for the providers using the electronic system; for those writing prescriptions by hand, the percentage of errors increased slightly to 38 percent from 37 percent. Illegibility problems were completely eliminated by e-prescribing.
Timing couldn't be better for me. This is doctor-day for me and my first stop is with a friend and physician who has resisted putting a computer in his office for 25 years.
When his office manager called yesterday to remind me of the appointment – she couldn't wait to tell me that Paul has finally computerized his practice.
After we finish our usual discussion of worldly affairs – like Ferrari vs. McLaren – I will try to nudge him along in his entry into the digital age.


text:
If the drones are cheap enough, then it probably doesn't matter. Send several and let them try and catch them all. If any product makes it, you win. And your own neck is never at risk since the drone isn't going to squeal on you.
Well, it probably is, though. It would be hard to cover all your tracks digitally. Hmm...
Still interesting though.
TFA article has a picture of the drone incoming, whilst officers wait in a field. The smugglers clearly made 2 mistakes.
1) Flying during the day. This is an autonomous drone, flying via GPS, it doesn't need to see. Fly it at night and it's far less likely to be spotted, and far harder to catch.
2) They repeated the same route. Select a random route out of several possibilities each time you fly, and even if the authorities are aware of the drone, they won't have the man-power to send officers to intercept ev
There's almost no cig tax in Russia, they're on the order of $2 a pack.
It can't be worth the hassle to save the... what, 25 cents of tax?
I guess if they were counterfeit or stolen it could be worthwhile, though.
Bringing them into Canada makes sense, with some of the highest sin taxes in the world, though. They're $14 a pack in this province.
May just be Putin beginning to set the stage for another invasion.
Well, the Itar-TASS article repeats this phrase twice:
He did not rule out the drone could have been used for other purposes, including unlawful actions in Russia's territory.
The Kaliningrad border service department is checking whether the drone could have been used for purposes other than cigarette smuggling, including unlawful actions in Russian territory.
Obviously the notion of "unlawful actions in Russian territory" is an important one, but the Russian Foreign ministry isn't quite sure how to spin this one. We'll know more later, perhaps in the days leading up to the elections in Ukraine.
Bringing them into Canada makes sense, with some of the highest sin taxes in the world, though. They're $14 a pack in this province.
So, if you accidentally try to bring more than your personal quota into the country, is it a sin tax error?
It's $14.50 in NY.
I think the article is confused about the direction of the contraband. In Russia, a pack is around $1, in Lithuania - around $4. Source: I'm a lithuanian.
There's almost no cig tax in Russia, they're on the order of $2 a pack.
It can't be worth the hassle to save the... what, 25 cents of tax?
I guess if they were counterfeit or stolen it could be worthwhile, though.
Bringing them into Canada makes sense, with some of the highest stupidity taxes in the world, though. They're $14 a pack in this province.
So, teach your money-grubbing government a lesson: Quit smoking.
Cigarettes are much cheaper in Russia, so "drone" smuggled stuff in opposite direction.(I know for sure, i`m local.)
Here are some fancy pics on local news site:http://www.newkaliningrad.ru/news/incidents/3689593-zaderzhany-litsa-upravlyavshie-bespilotnikom-v-kaliningradskoy-oblasti-video.html#pic3296056
Umm, I'm pretty sure it has to be the other way around. Why would they smuggle cigarettes INTO Russia.... They are much cheaper there compared to Lithuania.....
Unless of course this is another attempt at tarnishing the reputation of a country that is unfortunate enough to border Russia. They already claimed many of the key Maidan activists were prepared in special training camps in Lithuania, which seems unlikely.
. Why would they smuggle cigarettes INTO Russia....
In Putinist Russia, cigarette smokes YOU!
Actually . . . the first thing I thought about was when that German teenager took a joyride with a private plane, and landed it on Red Square.
Have the former Soviet air defense systems fallen into disrepair . . . ? Or do the cigarette drones fly too low . . . ?
People were using drones to smuggle diamonds back in the 1970s. Except they weren't called "drones" back then, just remote-control aeroplanes, so I guess that's totally different.
Much different. You need skill to operate an RC airplane. These drones pretty much fly themselves, so are much easier for criminals (and the rest of us) to use.
Just like fly-by-wire technology has made planes pretty much fly themselves! No skill necessary to operate them anymore either.
RC airplanes can only be operated whilst in sight of the operator. That means line of sight, a relatively short distance, and during daytime.
With a drone, the operator can program it in advance. Throw the thing into the air, at night, and then leave the launch site. And the drone can deliver miles away. Ad that makes a huge reduction in the chances of being caught.
Only it looks like these smugglers were too stupid to do it at night.
These are the cases we know about. I bet the detection ratio (captures / total attempts) is actually pretty small.
begun, the drone wars have
It would be a money maker if a tiny drone could carry six ounces of heroin or cocaine across the border.
Six ounces is nothing. You could literally drone-ize one of those styrofoam flyers you get at the mall around the holidays and transport that on a calm day
By keeping payloads lighter you could get more range. You could have it fly via GPS and land a fair distance from the border.
A kilo of heroin is worth $50-80,000. If they could get 3 miles inside the border on GPS guidance, I would imagine the cartels might even consider a fleet of $10k drones to be a single-use disposable item if they could get each one to move a kilo of heroin totally undetected.
Indeed. This cigarette drone was carrying 22 pounds of cargo. Now that's could be a serious amount of heroin or cocaine. Far more than you could stuff into even a real mule's box.
It is curious that as soon as a general feeling is developed towards a culture, country, etc. we seem to attribute all its citizens the same perceived failing and vices we generally bestow on all our 'enemies'. Suddenly, everything Russians say is a lie, provocation, whatever. They are simultaneously devious enough to set this up to `tarnish Lithuania's reputation' and too stupid to build an undetectable drone. We cheer over their misfortunes just because one of their officials made a stupid remark over tr
The US-Mexico border is nearly 2000 miles, and the estimate for complying with the "Secure Fence Act of 2006" which builds 700 miles of fence, at $4.1Billion, greater than the budget for the Border Patrol ($3.6Billion). Attempts to extend this to a complete fence have failed multiple times in Congress.
At that rate a complete fence would cost at least $12Billion, and it would be completely useless against drug-smuggling drones that could probably be built for less than a thousand dollars, that could fly lower than radar coverage as for the "Virtual Fence," and would not be easily traceable to the origin or destination of the flights.
Drones that could carry humans would probably cost just a little more. Right now, about 500 migrants per year die crossing the US-Mexico border - drones could most probably be safer than that, but it's hard to speculate what safety features human smugglers would employ in illegal drones.
That was already tried.Seriously.
Radar coverage I'm sure goes all the way down to the surface on the US-MX border. The US puts up balloons at about 15,000 feet on tethers with radars looking down (the balloon sites are all charted).
However, a small enough drone with only a small amount of metal might still be very hard to detect. The drone could also drop its payload and then continue flying so when the authorities go to collect the drone (hoping to catch the people recovering the goods) they just get an empty drone, while the goods may ha
I remember, during the Cold War (and the start of the Drug War), when "cruise missles" first came out.
There were two designs - a short-range one, with an engine that destroyed its bearings during the run, and a long-range one, with better bearings so the engine could be stopped and restarted. They both used terrain-following, as well as inertial navigation, with onboard radar and a computer that could figure out the drone's location and path from the topography. VERY advanced computing for the time. They
I've got a bad feeling about this.