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European Commission
Brussels, 28 August 2012
FAQ: Linking the Australian and European Union emissions trading systems
A link between emissions trading systems enables participants in one system to use units from another system for compliance purposes. Linking emissions trading systems provides a number of benefits including reducing the cost of cutting carbon pollution, increasing market liquidity and supporting global cooperation on climate change.
The Australian Government and the European Commission intend to link Australia's emissions trading scheme (Australian scheme) and the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) through a partial link initially, followed by a full two-way link.
The arrangement includes the European Commission seeking a mandate to negotiate a treaty on behalf of the European Union by mid-2015 for the full linking of the emission trading systems from July 2018 (the Australian Government has an existing mandate to negotiate a treaty). As an interim arrangement, a partial link will be established to allow Australian businesses to buy and use European Union Emissions Allowances (European allowances) for compliance under the Australian scheme from July 2015, until the full link comes into effect no later than July 2018.
To facilitate these arrangements and simplify the path towards full linking arrangements, the Australian Government will not proceed with the implementation of its price floor and will limit the use of Kyoto Protocol eligible international units1 under the Australian scheme. In addition, Australia will set its price ceiling with reference to the expected 2015-16 price of European allowances.
Linking the Australian and EU systems benefits both parties and provides an example of how, through international cooperation and the use of markets, countries can work together to reduce carbon pollution.
The arrangement represents the first step towards linking the established carbon market in Europe with developing carbon markets in the Asia Pacific. Together, the linked Australian and European emissions trading systems will be the world's largest carbon market and a major driver of the global transition to a low carbon economy.
Linking will provide business with access to more and lower cost emissions abatement units through a well developed, highly liquid carbon market. As Australia is expected to be a net importer of international units, linking with the EU ETS will provide Australian businesses with enhanced access to international units for use from July 2015. Linking will also provide European market participants with enhanced business opportunities.
By connecting markets that would otherwise be isolated, linking will create a more liquid carbon market that reduces carbon pollution at a lower cost. A more liquid carbon market will offer a more stable carbon price signal. It also provides businesses with more opportunities to trade, as businesses with excess units will have access to more buyers and businesses that need more units can purchase them from a wider range of sellers.
A partial link between the Australian and European systems is an interim step towards a full link no later than July 2018. Under a partial link, Australian businesses will be able to use European allowances to meet up to 50 per cent of their liabilities under the Australian scheme from the commencement of the flexible price period in July 2015. This will ensure that Australian businesses have access to a broader range of credible, low-cost abatement. The Australian emissions trading system will be in its initial stages and this will provide access to credits from a more established market to allow smoother introduction of emissions trading in Australia.
A full link will further integrate Australian and European carbon markets by allowing businesses to use carbon units from Australia or Europe for compliance under either system. The European Commission and Australia have identified a number of policy matters to be considered before full linking is established including:
The Australian Government and the European Commission are progressing work on a full link as a key priority. It is envisaged that a full link will be agreed by mid-2015 and begin operation no later than July 2018.
Work on a full link between the two systems will continue in parallel with the implementation of the partial link. However, recognising the complexities of moving to a full link in such a short period of time, the EU and Australia will proceed with a partial link as a first step while negotiations on full linking progress.
European installations will be able to use Australian units for compliance as soon as full linking comes into operation, from July 2018 at the latest.
Australian liable entities (businesses covered by the Australian scheme) will be able to use European allowances to assist them in meeting their obligations from 1 July 2015 when the flexible price period begins. In parallel to initiating negotiations on a full link, the Australian Government and the European Commission are working to finalise technical details of the interim link to be agreed by mid-2013 to allow European allowances to be held in the Australian registry. Until then, Australian liable entities can open registry accounts in the EU and purchase European allowances for future compliance under the Australian scheme.
Linking will provide Australian businesses with secure access to a broader pool of international emissions units. European allowances will be added as an eligible international unit that can be used in the Australian scheme and Australian businesses will be able to use eligible international units for up to 50 per cent of their total liability until 2020.
To facilitate the negotiation of a full link, the Australian Government is removing the price floor, as well as introducing an additional sub-limit on the use of Kyoto Protocol eligible international units such that firms will be able to use these units to meet up to 12.5 per cent of their annual liabilities within the 50 per cent overall limit on the use of eligible international units. This limit will ensure that the link operates effectively and provides long term price certainty for businesses investing in low emissions technologies.
Removing the price floor will simplify the pathway towards full linking, and was an element of the linking package agreed between Australia and the European Commission. By connecting Australian and European carbon markets, linking will ensure a single price for Australian and European carbon units. This provides investors with long term certainty on the price of carbon pollution, which largely removes the need for a price floor in the flexible price period.
See also IP/12/916
The Kyoto units are: Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from the Clean Development Mechanism; Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) from the Joint Implementation Mechanism; and Removal Units (RMUs) from land use, land-use change and forestry activities undertaken in developed (Annex I) countries.
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The Confederate States of America was formed between December 1860 and May 1861, when 11 Southern states seceded from the United States. The division came about as a result of decades of sectional tension between the North and the South. After the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in November 1860 and the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, the nation seemed inevitably headed for war. Most Northerners and Southerners believed the coming conflict would consist of one climactic, winner-take-all battle. Federal troops were enlisted for only 90 days, more than enough time, Northern leaders believed, to rout the Southern army and end the "callow" rebellion.
The Union's first goal was Richmond, Virginia, the newly designated capital of the Confederacy and only 100 miles from Washington, D.C. To reach Richmond, the army first had to capture Manassas Junction, an important railway junction 30 miles southwest of Washington. Troops set out for Manassas on July 16, 1861. So naive was the nation about the coming horrors that 200 or so private citizens from Washington, D.C., accompanied federal troops on the march. They hoped to witness and be entertained by this once-in-a-lifetime event.
The two armies met in battle on the morning of July 21, 1861, along the banks of a small stream known as Bull Run. In a ten-hour contest, the green, inexperienced troops of both sides bravely fought and held their ground. By late afternoon, however, the federal troops, driven from the battlefield along with many of the sightseers, were in retreat. Hope of a quick and easy victory was a casualty of the day, along with almost 5,000 members from both armies and bystanders. Daylight faded from the once peaceful fields, bringing to an end not only the first major confrontation of the Civil War, but also the romantic way in which the majority of Americans had viewed the coming conflict.

subset: commoncrawl


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According to a report in a Palo Alto newspaper, a break in took place at Microsoft's office in Mountain View and the only things that were taken from the property were iPads. The Break in supposedly happened over the Christmas period at one of Microsoft's research offices and the thief got away with two iPad 2 models, two iPad third generation models and one of the latest iPad 4th generation models. Apparently no Microsoft products were stolen in the burglary.
Police Sgt Sean Thompson said there are no suspects and no sign of forced entry. The iPads were taken from three offices in Microsoft Building 5 on the campus at 1075 La Avenida Street, according to Thompson, the theft was reported on Wednesday.
Thompson said, all employees have access to the building through their electronic key cards. The company told police it was closed for two days on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Thompson said he assumes Microsoft has some sort of video surveillance and will be reviewing who entered and exited the building during the time frame of the theft. So far police do not have any suspect information.
Now before you to start to laugh, there could be a really simple explanation for all this. Maybe the offices didn't have any Microsoft Surface's or Laptops lying around. Maybe the only things available in those particular offices were Apple's products. Ok, it's a long shot I agree, go on, laugh if you want!
Source: macgasm


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Shaving Brush Stand, Chrome
- We will take back any unused merchandise within 90 days of order
- Products that have been used cannot be returned due to hygiene
- Damaged products or manufacturer's defects will be handled on a per-product basis. Let us know here
- Depending on the case, we will email you a return shipping label to use with your original packaging.
- If you prefer to use your own courier, please make sure to include your order number or contact information in the package
- Please do not send any packages COD - we will reject COD packages
- Orders over $25 and shipping to the contiguous United States will receive Free Shipping
- Once your order is approved, we will e-mail your tracking number within 2-5 business days (Please allow couriers up to 24 hours to update tracking information. There may be delays in tracking updates due to adverse weather conditions)
- All Standard and Free Shipping options will be shipped either via USPS or Fedex Ground.
- Our warehouse is located in Orange County, CA and most packages reach their destination in 2-6 business days
- We will try our best to meet courier preferences and will contact you prior to shipping if we are unable to meet your needs.
- Most orders will not require signature for delivery and leaving the package unattended will be at the discretion of your mail carrier
- We offer two expedited shipping methods - Priority Mail and 2nd Day
- Expedited shipping is only available for products that are in stock.
- Priority Mail and 2nd Day are not available for PO Boxes, APO/FPO addresses, Alaska, Hawaii, or international addresses
- All expedited orders will ship within 24 hours of payment verification


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If I see something interesting or tasty looking in the supermarket I will buy it even if I have no planned use for it. This means I have beautifully stocked but permanently overfull cupboards. When I say "overfull" I mean full to the point that I can't always face looking at what's up the back of the cupboard. I'm trying to get Mr CC to appreciate how exciting a well stocked cupboard is but I think I'm failing – he sees my 'treasures' as obstacles hindering him access to the cereal.
Every time I tidy my baking store cupboard I take out the jar of morello cherries, check the date is still ok, and then put them back. Too ashamed to go through this ritual again I decided it was time to use the cherries....and here's the cake!
Usually I find a recipe to bake and then make sure I buy everything I need to make it. It's a nice change to start with a jar of cherries and seek a recipe to use them. This cake is adapted from a German recipe; I always seem drawn to German recipes – I like no-nonsense, no frills flavoursome cakes and Germany seems to share my fondness!
Morello cherries are unique; they have the sweet fruitiness of other cherries but also that tart/sour note...I want to say they have an almost nutty taste but don't want to mislead anyone! I'm not really sure how to describe their complex flavour but I love them contrasted against sweet, soft, buttery sponge cake.
The shiny glaze on the top comes from brushing molten apricot jam over the hot cake; it elevates a simple cake to something more patisserie-style. The glaze sets shiny and unsticky so it's not a pain to eat!
Of course, while I'm pleased I have finally used the morello cherries, I can't help thinking that there's room on the shelf for another jar now......!
For the cake:
350g jar morello cherries
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 drops lemon juice – I always have a jif lemon on standby in the fridge for such things!
3 eggs
200g self raising flour
2 tablespoons milk
For the glaze:
2 tablespoons apricot jam
1 tablespoon water
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ fan oven 160°C/350°F/ Gas mark 4.
Line a 20cm springform round tin with baking paper.
Drain the cherries and leave them to air dry while you make the cake.
Beat together the butter and sugar until it is light, pale and whippy. Don't skimp on this stage.
Beat in the vanilla and lemon.
Beat in the eggs one at a time; if the mix looks like it might start to curdle add some of the flower.
Briefly beat in the flour and milk. Don't overbeat it – just go until the batter looks smooth and the ingredients are well combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.
Gently place the cherries on top of the batter. Don't press them down as you don't want to encourage them to sink!
Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out cleanly.
While the cake is baking, pass the jam through a sieve and stir in the water.
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, heat the jam and water to boiling point then brush over the hot cake.
Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack. Leave it in its tin until you can safely remove it.
The cake will store in an airtight container for several days.
Serve in generous slices with thick cream.
Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.


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In our first article, I talked about the identification portion of Cal South Pro+ and how our Olympic Development Program is now part of a much bigger program. This week, I want to focus on what should be a key aspect of a player's growth.
Development is a word that should be the main focus for all youth coaches and players. However, while we all know this word is used a tremendous amount in the soccer community at large, that focus is generally on team development.
In an average calendar year, I spend a lot of time watching coaches and players trying to win games, which they do by developing their teams. This is not a bad thing, but it is of the utmost importance that we don't lose focus on developing individual players for the sake of wins and losses.
One of the most important pieces of our new Pro+ program is identifying the needs of our individual players, and then finding a way to enhance their abilities within the relatively small frame of time in which these players get to train with the Cal South Pro+ staff coaches. One of the biggest advancements to our program is that we have adopted a training-to-game ratio to our schedule, in which we will strive to have three to four sessions held to each game played.
In the past, Cal South teams have gone to events and played far more games than training sessions. What's wrong with that? Training and teaching the players becomes secondary to playing games, which internally drops the quality of those games. The players often end up going through the motions on the field, and there is no doubt that the value of the game is diminished.
We took the principles of our new training-to-game ratio to our Pro+ Summer ID camp held in July at Concordia University. We created a schedule of eight micro-sessions for the squads, which had them playing two games within a five-day cycle. This allowed us to put the main focus of the camp back onto the individual and small group training sessions.
We wanted to motivate the players to train at the highest level possible, so we invited U.S. Soccer National Staff coaches to not only observe sessions, but to conduct some as well. To give players another level of aspiration towards which to work, we also invited some top Division I college coaches to conduct sessions. Working with different types of coaches in a new environment gives players the maximum opportunity to develop.
I think we can all agree that in life, you develop not just on the job, but also when you are off the job. So, this summer we invited some special guests in to talk to the players. Cal South alumni such as U.S. National Team captain Carlos Bocanegra and other pro players such as Ashley Nick, the team captain for FC Twente in the Dutch league. The guests related how much hard work players must put in to reach their full potential in the game, and that everyone will have ups and
downs, but you must learn from these experiences to develop as a person and a player.
Sports science is a becoming a large part of player development, so we invited sports performance speaker Joshua Michael Medcalf, CEO and founder of Train to Be Clutch. Joshua helped inspired and challenge the minds of our young players by giving them tools they can use whether playing or preparing for competition.
The high level of quality of the players in Pro+ truly makes these training sessions into a very competitive environment. Players are totally taken out of their comfort zone, which alone accelerates the learning and development of elite players.
The one sure thing you can do as a coach is to make your training sessions as demanding as the games you play on the weekends. In other countries, the average youth players compete in 30-40 games maximum a year. Currently, many elite players in our country are playing 70-80 games a year, which gives them hardly any time to develop their skills to prepare for the next game.
Our goal within Pro+ is find new, cutting edge ways to assist our elite players in helping them to develop and become the best technical and tactical soccer players they can be. I must emphasize that "assist" is the word Pro+ staffers prefer to use, always recognizing that the main source of development for these players should be at the club level. As a state association, we must do everything possible to help coaches gain more knowledge in all areas of the game.
Cal South is working closely with U.S. Soccer, and in 2011, the Pro+ ID camp purposefully did not invite National Pool players to take part, as one of our goals is in developing players that have not already been identified by U.S. Soccer. There is a lot of work to be done, but the end result will eventually be better players to help our country become the world power in soccer it should be.
1029 S Placentia Ave Fullerton, CA 92831 | Phone: 714-778-2972 | email@example.com
Cal South Mudline Number: 714-765-7646
© 2017-18 Cal South Soccer, All Rights Reserved


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Ashley Figueroa will never forget the day in 1995 when she and her siblings were taken away from their mother and placed in foster care.
"They told us we were going to McDonald's," she says. "We were all crying. What kid doesn't want a Happy Meal? But we didn't get a Happy Meal."
Their mother struggled with substance abuse and lived with an abusive boyfriend. Their father was absent.
The children lived in a series of foster and family-based kinship homes both in their hometown of Lowell, Mass., and as far away as Ohio and New York.
Then three years ago, seven of the 10 kids came to Camp to Belong in Hinsdale, Mass. "We lost contact for six or seven years," says the bubbly Ashley, now 20. "Camp to Belong brought us together."
"We had never been to a place like that before," says her brother, Jonathan, 13. "We had never been so happy."
Now in its 17th year, Camp to Belong (CTB) has a mission to reunite siblings ages 8 to 20 separated in foster homes and other out-of-home care situations. The camp experience changes lives.
Lynn Price, founder of the camp, was herself once disconnected from a sibling due to foster care. "I didn't know I had a sister until I was 8 years old," she says. But as she began working with the homeless and children in foster care, she started to see how brothers and sisters were losing track of each other. "I realized they were going to miss out on childhood memories."
CTB has grown to nine camps in eight states – Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, California, Washington, and, new this year, New York – plus Australia. Ms. Price's hope is to one day offer camps in each of the 50 states.
Some 550,000 children live in foster care in the United States. But even if they live in the same town or go to the same school, 75 percent of these kids live separately from a sibling. CTB gives them a chance to connect and feel empowered by that sibling connection, to read a book or eat breakfast or roughhouse together – the kinds of daily interactions most families take for granted. Thus far, the organization has forged bonds among more than 3,700 brothers and sisters.
"For the first time, we were surrounded by kids who understood," Ashley says, recalling her first summer at the week-long Massachusetts camp. "We were finally all in the same place." The Figueroa kids found themselves among peers for whom foster care was not a source of shame.
"I've seen the change. They get closer and closer," says Kelley Lane, program director at CTB Massachusetts and at Sibling Connections, which helps siblings share experiences like tubing, skating, and rock climbing year-round.
CTB stresses that while foster care is a relatively short phase in a child's life, sibling relationships are enduring. That's why what happens at camp can be so crucial, and why a lack of contact among separated siblings can breed stress.
"They worry about each other. Their health and well-being is affected," says Judy Cockerton, Massachusetts camp director and organizer of the Re-Envisioning Foster Care Conference in Holyoke, Mass., earlier this month. With Ms. Lane, she also helps run Sibling Connections, whose regular weekend programs improve the success of the once-a-year CTB. "We make sure [siblings] are connected before they come to camp."
Lane recalls that for the Figueroa kids, coming to camp was their first vacation together as a family. They ate together, worked out conflicts together – not during a mandated visit to a child-welfare office, but on a hike, in a cabin, around a campfire.
For children whose joint memories are often enmeshed with police sirens, custody battles, and court dates, Camp to Belong generates fresh, affirming, shared experiences.
"They are not remembering the time when the police showed up and arrested Mom and Dad," says Karyn Schimmels, CTB board chairman and program director for CTB-Northwest in Oregon. "They can say, 'Hey, remember the time we were horseback riding at the camp and you fell off the horse and we laughed so hard?' "
By empowering foster kids, CTB has also influenced child-welfare policy in several states, says Ms. Schimmels, who is a training manager for the Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Division. "The kids who do get bonded get more connected. They do find their voice, in terms of themselves, of what they advocate for themselves."
As campers mature, they also tend to succeed in life because they maintain a connection to family.
Take Beth Bunch, whom Schimmels calls "one of the most resilient young ladies I've ever been involved with." Now living in Corvallis, Ore., Ms. Bunch, who is now 20, spent most of her life in foster care, separated from her four siblings. Bunch first attended CTB in 2001 with two siblings. One more sibling joined them the next year. Then Bunch and three of her four siblings were placed in the same home. Two years after that, all five attended camp, and returned every year until 2007. In 2008, Bunch started her CTB training to become an adult counselor. This summer will mark her 10th year in the CTB family.
While Bunch is committed to promoting sibling contact in the public child-welfare system, she also recognizes that teens will be teens, and recalls her own initial feelings of ambivalence and fear about seeing her siblings at camp.
"I didn't know them. I hadn't seen them for so long. I went to camp and I was like, 'I don't want to be here,' " Bunch says. Then "after three or four days, you realize how much you missed them." As a counselor, Bunch hands out "cool cards" to her campers. These represent the icy reserve teens carry in their back pockets. She makes them rip up the cards, telling them, "We're not here to be cool. This is an amazing week. You're here to spend time with your family."
"We were beyond skeptical," says one camper, who preferred to remain anonymous. "Why are you dragging us here? I'm 18. We're going to sing 'Kumbaya'?"
Jonathan Figueroa recalls wanting to go home.
These kids start out mistrustful, but supervised by volunteer counselors, they begin to break down walls of doubt and cynicism. The Figueroas went horseback riding, canoed, and swam. They supported and encouraged each other at the climbing wall. They made scrapbooks for each other (using photos they took with disposable cameras), which became lifelines later on during long stretches between seeing each other.
Since siblings usually miss each others' birthdays, a camp-wide birthday party lets siblings exchange gifts. Jonathan gave his twin brother Joshua some Red Sox trading cards (even though he's a Yankees fan). Jonathan is back living with his mother, who is now sober. The siblings finally all live in Lowell and see each other frequently.
"I feel like I'm stronger from it," says Ashley. "I feel a lot of people can learn from our story." Ashley is at Salem State University and wants to be a social worker. She's also applying to be a CTB counselor this summer.
Ten-year veteran volunteer Schimmels says CTB "gets you under the skin." She tells the story of how the Oregon camp reunited a 20-year-old with his 10-year-old brother. He'd last seen him as an infant. The younger brother wanted to know who he looked like. The older brother was able to answer, "You have Mom's lips, Grandpa's ears, my feet," Schimmels recounts. "To have someone to say, 'This is who you are,' " she says – it's a connection every kid deserves.


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As the Midwest goes, so go corn prices. That's no surprise to anyone who is remotely familiar with U.S. agriculture.
Whenever there's a major drought in the country's midsection, there's a corresponding spike in corn prices, and it makes little difference what's going on here in the Southeast.
In fact, more than a few growers in the Southeast will make or already have made record-high or near-record-high corn yields this year — especially those fortunate enough to have irrigation — but it's irrelevant from a national standpoint.
It's all due, of course, to economies of scale — Midwestern corn production matters most because that's where most of the corn is grown. But why is this so? Maybe it's time we more closely examined the regional concentration of crop production in the U.S. and its long-term consequences.
Two Alabama scientists — Richard McNider and John Christy — make a compelling case that major shifts in U.S. agricultural production during the last century could be a bigger risk in drought years than climate change.
McNider, Distinguished Professor of Science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), and Christy, Alabama's state climatologist and director of the UAH Earth Sciences System Center, say that while some have connected recent droughts to climate change and warned about the impacts of climate change on agricultural production, the real take-away from this summer's drought may be recognizing the agricultural changes that make us vulnerable to climate.
According to the scientists, beginning in the middle of the last century, there was a major shift in U.S. agriculture from a distributed agricultural system, where corn and vegetables were grown in most every state, to one in which nearly 90 percent of the nation's corn production was concentrated in the upper Midwest.
A similar shift, they say, occurred in vegetable and potato production, concentrating production in the desert climates of the West.
"The deep, water-holding soils of the Midwest on average produced higher yields than the poorer water-holding soils in most states. Irrigated vegetables grown in the deserts of California and potatoes in Idaho could be counted upon to be perfect regardless of weather. It was economics 101 — the most efficient producer of a better product prevailed," say McNider and Christy.
But, they warn, the resulting concentration of production and neglect of the externalities of environmental costs ultimately may be the Achilles heel of this increased efficiency.
With the concentration of grain crops in such a relatively small area of the country, the U.S. is more vulnerable to intense regional droughts, such as the one in the Midwest this past summer.
"With nearly 90 percent of our corn produced in one small area, the nation's total corn production is truly jeopardized. The price of corn has increased by nearly 75 percent this summer because so much of the production is being affected and so many products, even Tennessee Whiskey, rely on Midwest corn.
"Had this same drought occurred during the 1940s, with less concentration of production, the impact on the national supply of corn probably would have been less."
The concentration of corn production in the upper Mississippi Valley, they say, has been linked to "dead zones' in the Gulf of Mexico because of agricultural run-off.
"When plants have enough water, they can take up the amount of fertilizer that is applied. However, in droughts, fertilizer is left in the ground. When rains come, this run-off coupled with below-average river flows will likely lead to even greater concentration of nutrients carried to the Gulf."
At the present time, say McNider and Christy, much of the country's vegetable production relies on flows from the Colorado River and local flows from the Sierra Nevada. The nation's potatoes, which were once grown in Maine, New York and Pennsylvania, now rely on the flow of the Snake River.
"However, the historical climate has shown that the last 100 years was likely the wettest century in the last 500 years. If we return to the drier climate of the last 500 years, the flows of these rivers will be threatened and vegetable production substantially reduced.
While regional climate projections are uncertain, there appears to be some consensus in models that the Southwest will become drier.
Similarly, neglect of the environmental costs of desert irrigation on water resources (and their subsidized nature) may make the efficiency less clear than pure market economics would dictate."
Perhaps, they suggest, it's time we determine whether the highly efficient, but concentrated agricultural system that evolved in the last century is sustainable and stable enough for the future.
And what if it isn't sustainable? One option suggested by the scientists would be to build the irrigation infrastructure in the Eastern U.S. that will allow us to once again decentralize our agricultural production and reduce our vulnerability to the vagaries of climate.
For Southeastern farmers, that could be a profitable option.


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Ports of Call
- Baltimore
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Cape Canaveral Port of Call
This small beach community, on the north point of Florida's coast, is a lively aerospace industry hub, a tourist-oriented town, and home to miles of protected marine sanctuary.
The Cape is synonymous with Kennedy Space Center, where NASA's space flights depart. It's also a popular beach to watch sea turtles lay their eggs and witness the hatchilings. Millions of passengers a year flow through the six cruise terminals at one of the busiest ports in the world. Most cruise vessels will berth at either terminals 2, 3, or 4 which have been specifically built to accommodate cruise ships. Others sometimes dock at terminals 8, 9, and 10. All terminals are near to one another and provide all conceivable amenities for dining, shopping, entertainment, and further transportation.
This port is often the start or end of the cruise, and if this is the case the cruise operator will usually provide transportation from the airport in Orlando. Taxis can be easily hailed from any of the cruise terminals which, besides renting a car, is the best method for visiting the main attractions, none of which are within easy walking distance.
The Kennedy Space Center is the best and most popular attraction in Cape Canaveral, including museums, space flight simulators and interviews with astronauts. Some may even see a space flight launch. Technically part of NASA, the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge has the most endangered species of any animal refuge in the US, including manatees and nesting sea turtles. The beaches are also hugely popular surf spots.
Kelsey's Pizza - Pizzas and Italian dishes in an unpretentious setting
Rusty's Seafood and Oyster Bar - Casual seafood joint in Cocoa.
Grills - Lively seaside location with music and grilled food.
Best Dish
Barbecue Steaks
Surfers and the curious can visit the famous Ron Jon Surf Shop for a huge selection of beach products. There are a few shopping facilities at the port and many more at Merritt Square Mall. The space centre also has a great gift shop.
Best Buy
Best Buy: NASA memorabilia
Experience the magic of Disney World
Shoot guns at the American Police Hall of Fame and Museum
Visit the historic Cocoa Village
Go surfing on the northern coast
Go Beach bumming in Sebastion Inlet State Park
Become our United States Of America Travel Expert
We are looking for contributors for our United States Of America travel guide. If you are a local, a regular traveller to United States Of America or a travel professional with time to contribute and answer occasional forum questions, please contact us.


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(CNN) — Need a little pick-me-up to get you through the day? You're in luck – November 8 is National Cappuccino Day!
If you've ever praised a higher being for a cappuccino, you probably didn't realize you were referring to the drink's history. In Italian, cappuccino means "little cap." Food historians say that the cappuccino got its name from the Capuchin monks who wore brown robes the color of espresso. When they wore the hood of the robes over their heads, the brown ring of cloth surrounding their white faces looked like a perfectly poured cappuccino.
For full disclosure, there are some who suggest that the espresso-based drink is actually of Viennese origin. The drink was called a "kapuziner" because "kapuziner" translates to Capuchin, and the color of the drink matched the Capuchin monks' robes.
The way a cappuccino is made has evolved over the years, largely due to technology. Initially, the drink was made by combining espresso and heated milk. Then, the milk changed from being heated to frothed. Finally, with the advent of the espresso machine, the milk was steamed.
And in case you were worried you'd be bouncing off the walls if you tried a cappuccino today, don't – it has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, it's just more concentrated.
™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.


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The current method for fast camera access in iOS 5 might soon be changing into a faster camera access in iOS 5.1, according to Blog do iPhone. The existing method involves double-clicking the Home button and tapping the Camera icon to quickly switch to the Camera app. That's 3 actions and a weight for a separate app to launch or come to the foreground. The new method is a gesture -- a slide up to reveal an embedded camera. That's 1 action and no wait for a separate app. You just side and shoot.
They're only showing pictures of the supposedly new user interface, so it's hard to tell how it feels in implementation. If accurate, Apple would have to give it enough traction and timeout so you can't accidentally reveal the camera in your purse or pocket, and leave it on to drain the battery.
Likewise, since fast camera access bypasses the passcode lock, hopefully Apple will add a Settings toggle to disable it when and if you want to, like for when your prankster friend is visiting and tries to photo bomb you.
iOS 5.1 has been in developer beta for a long while now, with current guestimates pegging its release sometime in March to coincide with the iPad 3 release.
Source: Blog Do iPhone
More: iPhone photography starters guide, iPhone photography projects, iPhone photography forums


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This set of three videos illustrates how math is used in satellite data analysis. NASA climate scientist Claire Parkinson explains how the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice covers are measured from satellite data and how math is used to determine trends... (View More) in the data. In the first video, she leads viewers from satellite data collection through obtaining a time series of monthly Arctic and Antarctic average sea ice extents for November 1978-December 2016. In the second video, she begins with the time series from the first video, removes the seasonal cycle by calculating yearly averages, and proceeds to calculate the slopes of the lines to get trends in the data, revealing decreasing sea ice coverage in the Arctic and increasing sea ice coverage in the Antarctic. In the third video, she uses a more advanced technique to remove the seasonal cycle and shows that the trends are close to the same, whichever method is used. She emphasizes the power of math and that the techniques shown for satellite sea ice data can also be applied to a wide range of data sets. Note: See Related & Supplemental Resources for the maps and data files (1978-2016) that will allow you to do the calculations shown in the video. These also include data for different regions of the Arctic and Antarctic, enabling learners to do additional calculations beyond those shown in the videos. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
This resource is designed to enable presenters (scientists, engineers, etc.) to easily present to an elementary and/or middle school audience and feel confident that the information they are presenting is developmentally appropriate and supports the... (View More) Next Generation Science Standards. A PowerPoint Presentation includes talking points and suggestions, a "Best Practices" document to offer helpful suggestion before, during, and after the presentation, and a list of additional resources that may be accessed by the speaker and/or the educator. This presentation is designed to take 30 to 45 minutes. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free


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The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of AgWeb or Farm Journal Media. The opinions expressed below are the author's own.
Have your agronomic questions answered by a Farm Journal agronomist. E-mail us directly at email@example.com, and we'll respond on this blog to provide an interactive dialogue.
Question: How does tillage help keep water moving so it's useful to plants?
Night crawlers(macropores) and earthworms(micropores) have been doing my tillage for twenty years on my continuos notill, for free!!!!!
That's the best awsner of all time! JMHO
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Enhale necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 307 diseños de 114 diseñadores freelance.
We are forming a new company that consists of 4 partners merging there existing clients, business, reputations and vision. This is a collaboration of over 50 years of IT/Consulting industry experience to create a new and exciting company. We are looking to form partnerships with our prospective clients and also further cement our current relationships as we move forward in this new and exciting merger. The 4 partners are strategically located across the country and our offices and clients will also be located across the country. The idea is to brand a name that will have longevity and staying power for decades to come. We want to be industry leaders not only in the services that we provide but in our corporate philosophy and business practices. It's exciting to be able to come together with 4 friends who carry the same vision, work ethic and goals on running a company.
We are targeting National or international companies that have numerous offices. We are looking for fortune 500 companies. We are looking for companies that we can form partnerships and provide value add to there existing business.
We are looking for a logo that represents the 4 partners and our 4 lines of business as our marketing ideas are all based around the number 4. We need to be environmentally conscious so we are looking for the color scheme to be gray and green. We want a designer who is going to create a sexy, sleek and innovative look. We are very open to ideas so please be as creative as possible and we will provide as much feedback as possible.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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After a disappointing 10th place at last week's festivities, Adam Petraska finally put on the show that the Southern Vermont crowd has come to expect at the USSA Nationals, March 25, 2000, taking home the huge $1700 first prize. That's right, $1700. The small prize purse was about the most unique thing about the contest, which was barely more impressive than the 1/2 and 1/2 contests Okemo used to hold three years ago. Kim Stacey also walked away with first, further proving that flat east coast mountains with world renowned halfpipes are a good place to live if you want to win pipe contests.
Before I go off on a tangent, I should probably talk a little bit about what happened. The East Coast has been experiencing some of the best weather on record for the last few days. It's been 50 degrees and sunny every single day for the last week, so it's no surprise that the weather was less that perfect for the contest. It didn't rain all day, in fact, it cleared up and the sun came out just in time for the contest to be over, but boy was the weather nice for my podium shots.
The women's division was somewhat disappointing after the showing at the US Open last week. Most of the girls weren't making it above the lip, and those who were sometimes grabbed tindy. Luckily, Kim Stacey, Tricia Byrnes and Natazsa Zurek were there to restore my faith in my gender.
Kim was going huge as always, and Tricia, whose run hasn't really changed in a few years, was still riding far better than most of the competitors. Natazsa was doing her Mctwist to Crippler combo, still scoring high up in the ranks despite her less than perfect landings.
The women final results for the women were actually decided during the first run, the format being best of two. The standings did not change at all with the girls' second run, and Kim Stacey got to take a victory lap. Although Tricia came in second, she was still stoked to have done a victory air in her run. Gretchen Bleiller came in third, her run starting off with a backside 540, or a "high-risk maneuver" as Mark Sullivan put it.
As always, the guys were a little more exciting to watch. Petraska finally won a contest this year, his second time through the pipe executing his run perfectly and blowing away all the other scores.
In second was another Okemo local, Teeter. Elijah Teeter that is. Abe's little brother (okay, they're about the same size) smoked the elder Teeter and the rest of the field with his second run. He rode with the same lanky style that his brother has made so famous, and put his feet down easily on all his spins and flips.
In third place was Mark Reilly. Reilly had no trouble going huge even though the pipe was not that conducive to it, but that's what learning to ride in New Jersey will do for you.
Seth Wescott was riding quite well, placing fourth overall. I would have a really good picture of him if he were grabbing his board. He claims that it's hard to grab your board when you're doing a switch nine, but I'm not buying.
Luke Wynen was proud to have possibly the worst run of his career, but still manage to come in sixth with his first run, which happened to include a double handed stiffy. His sixth place finish breaks the eight place run he's been in for the last five or so contests.
For some reason I don't think everyone was taking the contest that seriously. After his first run, Scotty Arnold was stoked to be in dead last. Smith Team Manager Jeff Jewett offered him $100 to try on his next run and hold on to last. He'd also get the money if he won. Unfortunately, Scotty blew it by landing all of his tricks, but not putting together a first place caliber run.
I was most amused by the drug testers at the event. As soon as someone won, they were whisked away to pee in a cup, making sure they hadn't consumed any energy beverages or marijuana. For this reason, Ross Powers didn't participate in the event. He had torn some muscles in his back at the Open and was taking muuscle relaxants as treatment. Although he said he felt up to doing the contest, a drug test probably would have caused him to be banned from the series for life.
Somehow, Zach Horwitz got a hold of one of the fluorescent green vests that signified a drug tester, and wore it with pride. "Chicks dig drug testers," he explained. It turns out chicks also dig guys who win halfpipe contests, as Petraska found out later that night, but I don't think I should get into that.
1. Adam Petraska, Chester, VT, 37.20
2. Elijah Teter, Belmont, VT, 34.40
3. Mark Reilly, Rutland, VT, 34.20
4. Seth Wescott, Farmington, ME, 33.60
5. Rob Kingwill, Jackson, WY, 33.40
6. Luke Wynen, Reading, PA, 33.20
7. T.J. McKay, USA, 33.10
8. Danny Kass, Hamburg, NJ, 33.10
9. Fabian Duchesne, Canada, 32.50
10. Ricky Bower, Park City, UT, 32.40
1. Kim Stacey, Stratton Mt., VT, 35.80
2. Tricia Byrnes, New Canaan, CT, 33.10
3. Gretchen Bleiler, Snowmass Village, CO, 32.80
4. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 31.50
5. Nevin Schwarz, Chester, VT, 29.60
6. Natasza Zurek, Canada, 29.50
7. Amy Johnson, Bondville, VT, 28.40
8. Sarah Thompson, Cavendish, VT, 27.90
9. Dominique Valee, Canada, 26.80
10. Maryl Winterscheid, S. Londonderry, VT, 25.70


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Palestinian television is fount of anti-Israel hate, but the Israeli army was forced to raid two "West Bank" TV stations on Wednesday for a different reason - they were disrupting communications at the nearby Ben Gurion International Airport.
In a pre-dawn, raid, Israeli soldiers and officials with Israel's Communications Ministry confiscated transmitters from the al-Watan and Jerusalem Educational TV stations in the de facto Palestinian capital of Ramallah.
The same two stations were raided in 2002 for the same reason.
Was it simply that they failed to learn their lesson from the first raid and switch frequencies? Or were the stations purposefully endangering incoming and departing flights at Ben Gurion Airport?
Either way, it made little difference to the Palestinian Authority leadership, which saw PR gold in the raid.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas squealed that the raid was a "flagrant assault on freedom of expression and media."
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad similarly ignored the reasons behind the operation, and quickly labeled it an "act of piracy."
In fact, current signed agreements between the two sides support Israel's position and actions in this case.
Article 36 of the Interim Agreement stipulates:
"Both sides shall refrain from any action that interferes with the communication and broadcasting systems and infrastructures of the other side. Specifically, the Palestinian side shall ensure that only those frequencies and channels specified...shall be used and that it shall not disturb or interfere with Israeli radio communication activity, and Israel shall ensure that there shall be no disturbance of or interference with the said frequencies and channels."
Al-Watan and Jerusalem Educational TV do not appear on the list of approved stations and frequencies.
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Message Board
Jessica Adams Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Adams has written!
Author Adams's Book Reviews
I'm a Believer
Dunne, Feb 2004, 24.95, 307 pp. ISBN: 0312321074 Though he has seen loved ones die before, London junior high school science teacher Mark Buckle struggles with the tragic death of his girlfriend Catherine in a car accident. He has no one to share his loss with except to a degree his gay seemingly always dunk fellow teacher Felix. Mark worries that he is losing his mind because everywhere he goes he senses Catherine is there. Rationally he know...


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Taylor Swift Offers Character Insight in Behind-the-Scenes of 'Ours' Video Series – Webisode Three
"The story of this video is the ups and downs of this girl's day in the life," Taylor Swift begins in the video below, which is behind-the-scenes clip No. 3 of 13 from her ongoing 'Ours' web series. "This girl hates her job. It's boring, and every single day she doesn't even know what she's really doing at this job."
Any young adult who's stuck in an office job that has nothing to do with their hopes and dreams can likely relate to the scenario that Swift creates in her new 'Ours' video. The singer's character arrives at her office building, takes the elevator with others who likely hate their jobs as much as she hates her own, and settles into her cubicle for another humdrum work day.
"It's not like it's awful, but it's just … boredom," she further explains in the making-of-the-video vignette. "It's just every day monotony."
Luckily, though, Swift's character has something to look forward to at the end of this particular day: being reunited with the man that she loves.
"I wanted it to be real life," she says as the camera pans on her sitting at her desk, wearing comfortable sneakers. Her purse and umbrella rest on the floor by her feet, providing just enough detail to make the office set realistic. Always a romantic, she gushes, "I just love the contrast of when you see somebody light up when you're with the person that they love, whereas they can be living in tones of grey when they're not."
Check out the behind-the-scenes story behind Swift's 'Ours' video character here, and make your way back to Taste of Country throughout the week as more clips from the series are unveiled.
Watch the Taylor Swift Behind-the-Scenes 'Ours' Clip – Webisode Three


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|Proper Poodle Tasting Chapeau*
*Thanks to Samantha for the Photo
"We all live slapstick lives, under an inexplicable sentence of death..."--Martin Gardner
|Proper Poodle Tasting Chapeau*
On seeing that title, I thought STEVE! had finally achieved success with that one yoga position.
you forgot to add "I'll be here all week, don't forget to tip your servers".
the Monk comment nearly made me shoot my morning bellini out my nose.
thank you for that
Ron My Love,
I had been hoping for a Ron Washam tasting note...always been curious but at least I did get a good belly laugh, nothing shot out my nose but I may have tooted a little. I love you!
STEVE! drinks from a horse trough.
Ron that was so brilliant to see you catch on fire and burn so brightly wow! I always knew you had the best taster...according to you! Cheers, Tman
speaking of that one yoga posture, legend has it that the Italian writer Gabriele d'Annunzio is said to have had a rib bone removed to facilitate a "more flexible position".
It certainly should have won a Poodle for Creepiest Blog Post Title.
Yeah, I just decided to write one of those really stupid posts, just one silly thing after another. Sort of like how most blogs read. Sorry to ruin your morning bellini.
My Gorgeous Samantha,
Maybe I should write a post about "How Other Bloggers Taste." Wanna go first?
Only when he tastes Marelot.
I've rarely been accused of having taste, and not by me.
You know, there's a gag there somewhere. Literally.
Just so I am not influenced by anything, I carry a ten-foot length of syphon tubing with me on my trips to Spain.
When time to taste the wines comes, I turn my back to the winery principal, throw the hose over my shoulder and ask the winemaker to insert the other end of the tube into the glass or tank (I am allergic to new oak, so I don't taste from barrel). I draw a measure of wine through the hose and into my mouth (to Hell with smelling the stuff; they all smell like rubber, anyway). This way I don't have to look at the winery guy and possibly be influenced by his facial expressions.
I have had only a couple of bad experience, but I don't often encounter wine types who stick other end the tube in a toilet and crap like that (which may be where Anthony Hanson got his immortal line, "Great Burgundy tastes of shit.")
The rubber syphon tube has other advantages. For instance, from the very first pull on the tube, you can taste what the wine will be like if shows up in a bag in the box. And it actually adds character to those wines bottled under screwcap or plastic stoppers.
All in all, it is a system that may need improving upon, but it has served me very well on many occasions, like the time I ran out of gas in the middle of La Mancha.
"It's like women—the more intense ones are the ones that will lower their yield."
As always, freakin' genius & true. ;)
I guess that makes you the TubeMaster of Wine. Bravo!
Ahh, shucks, thanks for the sweet words.
C'mon Ron, this is only half finished (like many wines).
Nobody stops until they spit no matter how well their shoes match the winemaker's.
Oh, you drink. Then, until you've fallen and can't get up.
I laughed and spit out wine on my new I-5. What a shame it only gets alien signals in the central valley.
Tasting wine out of tin foil may be fine for you, but a whole bunch of people taste out of paper bags. And like you, they don't just sip their wine, they drink it.
But there is a another flaw on your system. If you can handle the bottles, then you can tell which ones are heaviest, and like final exams, the heaviest ones get the highest grades.
I used to spit, but now I find dribbling is more fun. Could be age-related because I'm seeing my urologist for the same reason.
Ah, but I don't handle the bottles! I have trained monkeys that pour the tastes for me. Just like Wine Spectator.
Good stuff. I laughed so hard I almost swallowed my Grüner.
A guy used to call me on the news desk at the Trib to tell me aliens were invading, Luckily, he had a solution. He rigged his microwave so, with the door open, it shot nuclear waves out his window (hopefully not in STEVE!'s neighborhood). It kept the aliens at bay for normally as long as he had meds.
I never got his name. Are you related?
Yikes! Sorry. But don't worry, if you accidentally swallow Gruner, just induce vomiting. Not your own--whomever you're tasting with.
Sure, sneer at my cousin. But when's the last time you saw aliens? His method seems to work.
"Initially, I check for off-aromas. Unless it's German wine, and then I check for Pfalz." - my favorite! There were many other fabulous zingers after this. I could hear the drum riffs after every line.
Daniel was right: The "I'll be here all week..." line sums it all up.
Erste, aber das Schweigen ist ohrenbetäubend.
I've got to quit drinking Gruner Veltliner!
Dave (yeah, that one)
Oops, I guess I just Hosed myself, no comments were showing when my auf Deutsch kicked in. Did think it most strange, glad all's well in Hoseland.
@ Kathy
Hell, if it weren't for the aliens we wouldn't have any signals here in the central valley. Probably doesn't matter, everybody runs them anyway, unless they're green that is.
I love the finish..
Nunquam spuemus.
Take off the tin foil hat, my friend, that should help.
I'm always trying to change pace within the confines of what I do here on my stupid blog. I wanted the vague rhythm of STEVE!'s blog mixed with a sort of Marx Brothers insanity. Not sure it came out that way, but no matter, it's another notch in the blogpost.
Itting-spay ucks-say.
It's true that you should wear a loud shirt when tasting Garnacha, though, isn't it?
good post, added you to my RSS reader.
Señor Hose... with this explosion of pure comedic genius, you have eclipsed my previous favorite bit of buffoonery, the Cursing Mommy. This is really New Yorker quality stuff. I encourage you to submit it.
Yes, absolutely, preferably something with ruffles for Garnacha. For Australian Grenache, I prefer a bush jacket and no pants.
Those are very kind words. Anyone who has ever written humor has wanted to be published in the New Yorker, the home of Thurber and Benchley and Perelman and Woody and Keillor. I am proud to say that I was frequently rejected by them back in the '70's, and wisely so. Not sure I'm any better now than I was then.
Ron you wrote "How I Taste"...
You taste wonderful, exuding earthy aromas with some underbrush and garrigue...but you need to shave more.
yeah, I know what you mean about the ruffles man but it's just not possible here in Spain. If they found out I was wearing a shirt with ruffles, even at a Garnacha tasting, I'd be drummed out with dishonour from the beginner's Introduction to Machismo Iberico course that I'm doing!
I think it should be OK if I just dont iron my loud shirt?
First: I'm not sure if there is anyone better at cutting through the confidence trick that is often intrinsic to the business of wine.
Second: in a world where offending people appears to border on the illegal, the Hosemaster piles in. No one is safe."
--Joss Fowler "Vinolent.com"


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MWF necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 36 diseños de 3 diseñadores freelance.
National Mounted Warfare Foundation
To Honor the Legacy of Mounted Warfare in a Way That:
Provides unique educational experiences for Soldiers and their Families and for the Civilian Community across the Nation
Preserves, interprets, and tells the story of Soldiers who have served in Mounted Units
Depicts the history and value of Killeen/Central Texas and its unique relationship with Fort Hood
The Museum of Mounted Warfare and Soldier Center will provide a unique educational experience, preserving and interpreting the story of mounted units and Soldiers who have served at Fort Hood and worldwide, and the rich history, values, and heritage of Killeen/Central Texas.
Final logo must show representation of all Mounted Warriors, both past and present. Needs to be able to be used for use on brochures, business cards, tie pins, etc. Potential for additional artwork to be used with marketing materials.
The Mounted Warfare Foundation is the parent organization that will, when adequate funds are raised, build a large (100,000 sq ft) Army/Military museum honoring mounted combat throughout the history of the United States Army. Our key themes will include horse-mounted cavalry, tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Air Cavalry, Fire Support and our close relationship to Texas, Central Texas, and Killeen, Texas. Definition of the Mounted Warrior: "The mounted warrior is the decisive figure in United States Military History. Using mobility and firepower, America's mounted warriors have claimed victory for the nation from the Western Frontier to the deserts of Iraq. Beginning on horses, U.S. mounted soldiers quickly established the most advanced and flexible cavalry doctrine in the world at the time. As technology changed, so did the mounted arm, incorporating armored cars, tanks, self propelled artillery, and helicopters and using them in innovative ways to create the most feared fighting force in the world. Skilled in the integration of all arms in a maneuver force, built to constantly outpace our enemies, capable of fighting outnumbered and winning, this is the mantra of the mounted forces of the United States. This is their story."
Our primary audiences are military, historical, re-inactors, academics, scholarly. Our Mission Statement is tailored to reach Soldiers and their family members, veterans, our community and scholars across the country. We do not have a slogan, but are open to ideas for one. Our website: http://www.mountedwarfarefoundation.org
The attached pictures are an idea of the Mounted Warrior through time, they are only to give someone a starting point for understanding what could be used. We are open to any suggestions and available to answer questions that may be helpful in preparing a logo for our foundation.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Update! With the help of Mike McRoberts, we found the problem. We have 2 identical HC-06's which are hard coded master or slave from the factory. What we need are the HC-05's, which are field settable for master or slave.
Code available!
Learn to monitor and control your home & environment with self contained, inter-communicating microprocessors. Arduino / Raspberry Pi DAQ and IOT Applications include ham radio, robotics, weather stations, model railroading, toys and more. - KK4HFJ


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Tensions reportedly boiled over in the Lakers' locker room after a New Year's Day loss to the Sixers, when Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard got in a "heated exchange" and had to be separated, according to Stefan Bondy of the NY Daily News.
A league source told the Daily News that the Lakers stars got into a heated exchange following a New Year's Day loss to the 76ers, and Bryant went for a low blow - referencing and agreeing with Shaquille O'Neal's criticisms of Howard being soft.
Howard was restrained from going at his teammate, according to the source, and there have been rumblings from the center's camp that he's been unhappy with Bryant since earlier in the season.
This was three days before Howard made some cryptic comments about the team not getting along off the court:
"We have to play like we like each other. Even if we don't want to be friends off the court, whatever that may be, when we step in between the lines or we step in the locker room or the gym, we have to respect each other and what we bring to the table."
The Lakers are still struggling mightily. They're 11th in the Western Conference with a 15-18 record, and they've lost three-straight since January 1st.
The more serious issue for the team is whether a strained relationship with Kobe would affect Dwight's willingness to sign a long-term deal with the team this summer. The Lakers traded for Howard under the assumption that he'd sign there after the season. But technically he could test the waters and go elsewhere if he wanted to.


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In any case, it's amusing to imagine him hiding under Skully's horse all the way to Elfhelm.
Maybe Femto was expecting Skully to show up and asked Rakshas to be their for that very reason?
Heh. Perhaps before Hanafabuku can work his magic, Rakshas will lop his head off...
The way i currently see it is that when a human (such as ganishka) becomes an apostle their form becomes more closely tied to the spiritual world, i'm guessing more closely than Guts or Casca (where the brand puts a person)...so beyond the interstice? Apostles are certainly closer to the abyss.
I doubt his descent into the abyss because i'm guessing that anyone who would travel to such an area would meet the Idea and that he would have remarked on it in some manner. But this is not necessarily so.
In any case, i doubt people back in Midland will have trouble seeing Puck now.
do you think we will see some "good" spirits making appearances now that the worlds are becoming merged?
What the hell will SK do now? Will his fighting spirit be broken after this turn of events?
======Quotes aside, I'm wondering if this is really the end of the Falconia Chapter. It feels to me like there could be oooone more episode in it to wrap the whole thing up before the inevitable changeover to Guts as the new chapter begins. I'm REAAALLY looking forward to the next few episodes! I haven't been this on-the-edge-of-my-seat in a while.
I think at this point Miura might just switch back over to the boat. That way when they get back to the mainland, we will see the changes from Guts and co's perspective.
Its interesting to me that while Miura show's us a clear change in the outward appearance of the humans (in which they all look like they've entered astral projections of themselves ala magic) we don't see any apostles? Are they going to change?
I thought of that too because it would be easy to lose him in the similarly ragged draping around Skull Knight's horse, would be really cool, and mostly because we still don't know what the hell he was doing up there, other than observing. That said, Rakshas being able to pull that off without SK knowing seems as far-fetched to me as Skully hitting Femto completely unawares: unlikely to succeed.
Anyway, I'm curious to see what Rakshas role in this is; was he shown just to establish that he was in fact there, serving as a bodyguard, or has he yet to complete his duty, whether that involve Skully, Daiba, or whatever?
It seems to me that the necessary components for this reaction to occur are as follows: a twice transformed human (ganishka), a deep connection to the spiritual realm (provided by the beherit sword), and probably the merging of the realms
the reincarnation of Griffith
I guess my question is: why did this happen?
The way i currently see it is that when a human (such as ganishka) becomes an apostle their form becomes more closely tied to the spiritual world, i'm guessing more closely than Guts or Casca (where the brand puts a person)...so beyond the interstice? Apostles are certainly closer to the abyss.
When Ganishka put himself inside the apostle's womb he, obviously, changed again. I'd say that his connection to the abyss was far stronger and that level of connection to this realm is clearly represented in not only the difference in his form from other apostles, but also in his overall consciousness and awareness of the world around him.
Ganishka's initial remarks about reaching the abyss and drawing up its power are somewhat questionable in my mind. That is to say, i'm not entirely sure he entered the abyss, where the Idea resides but entered an area beyond the scope of the Eclipse ceremonies for certain (the vortex of souls?).
I doubt his descent into the abyss because i'm guessing that anyone who would travel to such an area would meet the Idea and that he would have remarked on it in some manner. But this is not necessarily so.
To me, it seems like his intact apostle body, combined with his strong will, allowed him to keep some semblance of form and ego upon coming in contact with the vortex of souls to the point where he even houses it within himself. His desire for the light could be contrasted with the evil spirits desire for bodily warmth?
(beherits seem to be tied to the abyss given their point of creation: The Idea)
a general overlap of the realms/ weakening of the Physical realm (Griffith's ability to perform miracles and make people believe in the impossible seems to be contributing to this in addition to his presence)
I base such speculation on the similarities to the abyss (see: lost episode) and pg 10-11 of 304 ( where ganishka is being replaced by a gigantic hole)
if that's the case...then it seems almost as if one world is being bypassed to bring the abyss closer to the physical realm. Given the way we've seen the beherit sword work in the past, as in Qliphoth, it seems likely that the physical realm is being pulled into the astral realm, thus helping to explain the astral like forms all the people are seen to take. Alternatively, it could be the other realms pouring into the physical realm (almost as if spiritual concentrations had properties akin to pressures of science).
What happens to Beast!?
What the hell will SK do now? Will his fighting spirit be broken after this turn of events?
What does the preview text on page 21 say?
Just finished reading it.Skullknight done fucked up now!
Guts is going to have to go through some super powerup if he even wants to get to Skull Knight's level of not succeding.
The past few chapters have been blowing me away. Anyhow just had a comment since it seems pretty clear Femto was expecting SK and may or may not have needed SK's intervention to usher in the new world I am curious as to say maybe SK also knew that his attack would cause this changeover. Perhaps Femto/Griffith will somehow be "attackable" in the new world/vunerable and SK needed this to happen as much as Femto did. A "just as planned moment" for both parties perhaps?
I'm curious if this forces others with power like Flora out of hiding since I THINK it might be easier for them to be reached/attacked because of the recent events.
I am curious as to say maybe SK also knew that his attack would cause this changeover.
Perhaps Femto/Griffith will somehow be "attackable" in the new world/vunerable and SK needed this to happen as much as Femto did.
So I wonder what the new world is going to be like? If its any worst than some of troubled towns of Berserk, times are going hard. I wonder if a big white castle is going to show up, and Griffith instantly becomes a king now that nothing is standing in his way. I mean he goats everything he needs, a princess, soldiers that are human and monster, he gots commoners, and even some of the religious folk. All he needs now a place with a throne, and after this big battle I bet everyone there is willing to fall to their needs for him. Thinking he beat such a creature and that good stuff.
I wonder how they'll be affected, but the thing is, I'm not sure there are many like her left.
I don't think he did. He aimed his attack at Femto, not at Ganishka. And it's Femto it would have hit if he hadn't distorted space.
I don't think SK really meant things to happen like that.
As for a white castle showing up, who knows. Falconia (the new capital) could also be rebuilt by Wyndham's citizens and Griffith's army (humans and apostles together). Or maybe when the light fades, a perfect city will be standing where Wyndham was before.
What's still interesting to ponder is if it was an isolated incident targeting her individually for her unique status, as it appears, or if it was one example of something greater being systematically carried out, perhaps still; a magic user final solution of sorts.
The way Femto was literally manipulating it between his fingers makes you wonder if the blow was even a direct deflection of Skully's original strike, or if Femto captured it for his own, spun it around, and could have played jump rope with it, before slapping it down between Ganishka's eyes. Or, if there's even a difference, but semantics and interpretation aside, whether or not Femto was being more passive or active about it, I doubt it was an accident on Femto's part.
I don't know if someone else has said this but!!!!!! Ganishka has died so Daiba doesnt have no one to follow. He's going to be the next person to join Guts crew!
I think that Daiba will attack Femto or maybe SK one last time, but Rakshas will be all like "I will be the one to kill him" and deflect his blow.
Also, was Raskhas waiting on top of Ganishka the whole time or was he waiting for Femto? If Femto knew that SK would be there wouldn't he know about him?
But was Femto that turned the Ganishka hell into light just touching him? (the bearer of light)?Or the SK strike provoked that reaction?


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Soccer Is Serious In Iran: Spectator Throws Hand Grenade On The Field & Player Throws It At The Sideline Just In Time!
"During a local club match in Isfahan,Iran some spectators threw a hand grenade on field,a player found it and thought it was some other object and threw it on sidelines just in time,if he had done this a few seconds later his hand would have been blasted.The game was called off and police have started investigating this case." - Salacuse.com
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text: WUD sponsors bill to address whey value December 1, 2012 02:37 AM Tweet TAGS: Marketing, Overseas December 18, 2014 By News Release Email Source: Western United Dairymen Western United Dairymen is sponsoring a bill that will be introduced early next week in the California Legislature that would more closely align the whey value in the California 4b formula with the regulated minimum price for whey found in surrounding states. The legislation follows up on the WUD board's action in October directing staff to develop language addressing the whey value issue and securing bipartisan support to successfully advance the bill in the California legislature. "Too many of our dairy families have fallen victim to a milk pricing formula that has failed to capture the true value of the milk and its components for pro-ducers in the face of extraordinary feed costs," WUD President Tom Barcellos said. "We have repeatedly petitioned the CDFA for relief to little avail. California dairy families are very concerned about their future and have been voicing those concerns. We're all agreed on the need for action as soon as possible. Without dairy producers in business, California has little need for dairy processors." "Initial reception to the proposed bill in the legislature has been very positive," notes Michael Marsh, CEO. "Hopefully, our groundwork and the highly regarded reputation Western United has built over the years in the Capitol will help us expedite passage and quickly attain a positive remedy to our 4b pricing dilemma." Back to news


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Core utilities
zh-CN:Core Utilities Template:Article summary start Template:Article summary text Template:Article summary heading Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary end
This article deals with so-called "core" utilities on a GNU/Linux system, such as less, ls, and grep. The scope of this article includes -- but is not limited to -- those utilities included with the GNU coreutils package. What follows are various tips and tricks and other helpful information related to these utilities. If sections grow too detailed, please split into separate articles.
grep is a command line text search utility originally written for Unix. The
grep command searches files or standard input globally for lines matching a given regular expression, and prints them to the program's standard output.
Beyond aesthetics,
grep's color output is immensely useful for learning
regexp and
grep's functionality.
To use the default colors for grep, write the following entry to
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
Alternatively, you can set the
GREP_OPTIONS environment variable [1] bearing in mind this may break some scripts that use
grep [2]:
export GREP_OPTIONS='--color=auto'
To include file line numbers in the output, add "-n":
alias grep='grep -n --color=auto'
The environment variable
GREP_COLORS may be used to specify different colors than the defaults.
less is a terminal pager program used to view the contents of a text file one screen at a time. Whilst similar to other pages such as
more and
less offers a more advanced interface and complete feature-set.[3]
Colored output through environment variables
Add the following lines to your shell configuration file, e.g.
~/.bashrc if using Bash:
export LESS=-R export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$(printf '\e[0m') export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$(printf '\e[0m') export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$(printf '\e[0m') export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$(printf '\e[1;32m') export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$(printf '\e[1;34m') export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$(printf '\e[1;32m') export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$(printf '\e[1;44;1m')
Change values as you like. References: Wikipedia:ANSI_escape_code#Colors.
Colored output through wrappers
You can enable code syntax coloring in
less. First, install source-highlight, then add these lines to your
export LESSOPEN="| /usr/bin/source-highlight-esc.sh %s" export LESS='-R '
Frequent users of the command line interface might want to install lesspipe.
Users may now list the compressed files inside of an archive using their pager:
$ less compressed_file.tar.gz
==> use tar_file:contained_file to view a file in the archive -rw------- username/group 695 2008-01-04 19:24 compressed_file/content1 -rw------- username/group 43 2007-11-07 11:17 compressed_file/content2 compressed_file.tar.gz (END)
lesspipe also grants
less the ability of interfacing with files other than archives, serving as an alternative for the specific command associated for that file-type (such as viewing HTML via html2text).
Re-login after installing
lesspipe in order to activate it, or source
Vim as alternative pager
Vim has a script to view the content of text files, compressed files, binaries, directories. Add the following line to your shell configuration file, e.g.
~/.bashrc for Bash:
alias less='/usr/share/vim/vim73/macros/less.sh'
ls is a command to list files in Unix and Unix-like operating systems.
Colored output can be enabled with a simple alias. File
~/.bashrc should already have the following entry copied from
alias ls='ls --color=auto'
The next step will further enhance the colored
ls output; for example, broken (orphan) symlinks will start showing in a red hue. Add the following to
~/.bashrc and relogin, or source the file:
eval $(dircolors -b)
rm is a command to delete files and directories. It could be very dangerous so it is prudent to limit its scope:
alias rm=' timeout 3 rm -Iv'
This alias suspends
rm after three seconds, asks confirmation to delete three or more files, lists the operations in progress and does not store itself in the shell history file if the shell is configured to ignore space starting commands.
Additional resources
- A sampling of coreutils , part 2 , part 3 an overview of commands in coreutils


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"Millpond Britain", an economist friend calls it – the stagnant stillness created by low expectations. Businesses and households alike stuck on pause, too nervous to spend or invest. So nothing happens. Nothing changes.
And while they venture as far as a low single-digit forecast here and there, the media commentators are equally pessimistic. Spends may rise by 2 or 3 per cent at best, but no-one is betting the farm on much beyond that.
So the logic should direct us towards pessimism: 12 long months of grinding, torturous scrimping and saving. Agencies will get even more vicious in fighting for share, brokers will leverage this to their advantage and procurement-led pitches will be at the mercy of the dumbest competitor. As always, the strongest agencies will hold their ground, the weakest will slide. As Warren Buffet said: "It's only when the tide is out that you can see who's been swimming without any shorts on."
And that same logic directs agency managers to plan for the worst and hope for the best. We write plans that are broadly flat, with as much flexibility built in as possible – as equally ready to cut or thrust depending on the economic smoke signals.
But the assumption that a flat-lining economy and a flatlining media market means a flatlining ad industry is suspect.
Long broken has been the link between media spend and agency income. There was some causal correlation 20 years ago in the heady days of commission, but it is hard to see the link as anything but casual now. If the move to payment by hours created the cracks in the connection, the growing importance of earned media smashed it. As Peter Field's fabulous work with the IPA showed, social media means the commercial impact of highly creative campaigns is greater than ever. The hypothesis is simple: campaigns that are worthy of creative awards are much more likely to be shared and are even more likely to be commercially successful. When so much of the impact of our industry's ideas is becoming a function of earned rather than bought media, the real metric for our own health should be how successfully we manage and monetise our contribution to that effect.
2013 could and should be the year when ad agencies get a real grip on charging their clients for earned media: for identifying the right targets, for the management of those audiences, for the creation of specific content for those audiences and for the measurement of its impact. The media impact might be "free", but our contribution to it shouldn't be.
That means bringing the competency in-house. Only then we will be able to do it properly and retain the benefits. Social agencies have made a very fine business monetising the sticky ideas created inside ad agencies while dodging the heavy costs of creative origination. Ad agencies should and will lose patience with these free riders and that will drive a new wave of consolidation between competencies, supercharged by clients' pecuniary interest in reducing agency rosters.
And the earned media competency is becoming increasingly technical. In 2013, more than ever, it won't be media that sits between brands and consumers but algorithms. Brands and their ad agencies need to become much better at planning for the algorithms that control much of our digitally connected media. To get found on Google, a brand has to fully understand and build around the monster that is the Penguin formula; to get shared on Facebook, work has to beat EdgeRank, which recently limited reach to 16 per cent of a fan base. If a bunch of algorithms can cause the Dow to drop 10 per cent in 20 minutes and it takes months to work out how and why (and there are 2,000 physicists on Wall Street), the risks to little old brands of not playing the equations properly are terrifying.
So we have to invite the data scientists in. The people who can understand, write to and negotiate with these mathematical formulas that decide which bits of data are relevant are going to become as valuable and as essential as the creative teams who come up with the ideas.
And perhaps this will be the year that the formulas start affecting the ideas themselves. Epagogix is a British company that runs algorithms on Hollywood film scripts to determine if they will be successful based on a multitude of variables from location to cast. The company claims that, in one case, it saved a major studio hundreds of millions of pounds on a film that was projected to make £180 million, but, after its analysis, it turned out to be only £30 million. Film-writers of the future beware. It's not the audience you have to write for, it's the script-testing algorithm. Will 2013 be the year that an advertising research company suggests a similar service?
That millpond's not looking so still.
Ian Pearman is the chief executive at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO


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New Employees
Full-time Employees
All new full-time employees should contact the Office of Human Resources regarding new employment information. Human Resources can be reached at 508.531.1324.
Part-time Employees
The following link contains paperwork for all new part-time employees. Once the packet is complete, please come into the office of Human Resources to provide the appropriate form(s) of identification needed for the I-9 form (acceptable IDs are listed on page 9 of the packet).
Additional information:


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The return of Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga broke her hip this year and had to cancel her tour. She wisely took the opportunity to recede from the spotlight, having been a relentless force in entertainment for the better part of 4 years. It had gotten to the point where all the meat and eggs were just met with a shrug.
After almost half a year then, Gaga has returned. She'll release a new album in the fall called ARTPOP. The first single is due out later this summer. She's also working on some kind of installation with some renowned artists. So… Gaga is going Franco on us. Or Gaga was already Franco? I don't know. I buy posters from Ikea.
Anyway, Gaga was out in New York yesterday. She went to a gallery for an exhibit in a silver dress, a blonde wig, and "natural" makeup. Earlier she stepped out in a brown wig and a black bra, at one point driving around with her feet out the window. My first thought when I saw those shots was – oh other people do that too?
You know, elevate your legs?
I have thick, muscular legs. In the morning, after they've been overnight in bed and I've farted out all the air in my body, and the blood isn't all down there, it's way more comfortable. They're not swollen. After a few hours of sitting at a desk though, hanging below a chair, they expand. Whenever I can then, I lift them, at least to waist level. Sometimes I put them up against the wall, well above my head, lying down. I like to imagine the blood coming back up, even though that's probably unlikely. Thing about Gaga is though, she could have easily sat in the back and had her legs across the seats. So maybe she wasn't elevating her legs for bloat comfort. Maybe she was just, you know, being Gaga.
FameFlynet, Luca Chelsea/ Splash


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Residents of Massachusetts' SouthCoast are right to bemoan a lack of state investment. There are good reasons, however, to question whether a commuter rail line to Boston is the right strategy to revitalize the Fall River region's economy.
Residents of Massachusetts' SouthCoast are right to bemoan a lack of state investment. There are good reasons, however, to question whether a commuter rail line to Boston is the right strategy to revitalize the Fall River region's economy.
Fortunately, there are more effective ways to bring vitality back to Spindle City. The state estimates South Coast Rail will cost $2.1 billion to construct and $40 million for annual operations, while providing a modest 9,000 trips (many of them from Stoughton north). South Coast Rail's low anticipated ridership will translate into infrequent trains, compromising the line's very purpose. Worse, the MBTA's precarious financial condition will mean low service quality. Why? Given its excessive borrowing the past two decades, the T's annual debt service payments will soon top $500 million, until recently rivaling the T's total fare collection revenue.
With little money left for maintenance, the MBTA has accumulated a staggering $3 billion deferred maintenance backlog. Service quality has deteriorated, and that reduces ridership and revenue.
Nor should we expect federal funding for this project anytime soon. A 2011 Federal Transit Administration report found that fares covered 45 percent of MBTA commuter rail operating costs. With low ridership, South Coast Rail's percentage will be even lower. Factoring in capital costs, state and local taxpayers could end up subsidizing 75 percent of the cost of each ride.
As FTA administrator, Peter Rogoff bluntly asked during a 2010 speech in Boston, "If you can't operate the system you have, why does it make sense for us to partner in your expansion?" Providence should serve as a cautionary tale. Since the 1980s, Rhode Island has constructed a new rail station, and expanded rail service to Boston in an attempt to tie the city's economic fortunes to Boston and its housing market. Unfortunately, during the same period, Providence's unemployment rate went from six, even eight, percentage points below to, today, parity with Fall River's.
The fact is that cities are not bedroom communities — to be successful, they must be destinations and economic clusters. If the "bedroom community to Boston" strategy failed in Providence, with its ample stable of college graduates who might consider living in the city, it will fail in Fall River.
South Coast Rail is, for the reasons stated above, a decades-long distraction. It is also stifling discussion of a new and different vision for the region.
Fall River needs action — and investment — now.
There is a better approach — and money to implement it. Each year, about a dozen state agencies provide $60 to $75 million to medium-sized cities (like Fall River) in the form of hundreds of miniscule grants. The state could, instead, bundle the money and provide multi-million dollar block grants to cities seeking to improve "anchor neighborhoods" — those in which a large investment can leverage significant improvement for the city.
These would be sizable investments in the cities themselves based on a plan that once again places cities like Fall River at the center of their regional economies. The commonwealth should set two conditions on the money: First, Fall River must develop a vision, with community (and especially business) involvement that will revitalize the city's economic engine and foster private sector job growth.
Second, these investments must be part of a partnership with the state to address longstanding issues that have led to the cities' decline. Investments should serve as incentives that prod the cities to provide high-quality services — better schools, safer streets — and new businesses that will draw in families and a more diverse population.
Mayors competing for these grants will need to lay out (and be held accountable for) plans to drive up student achievement and drive down crime, improve fiscal management, and streamline business permitting. This incentive-based model would put a strong wind at the back of mayors who can lay out a vision that modernizes public service delivery.
Fall River is more than a bedroom community, or the last stop on a train to Boston. Let's not wait another two decades to do right by the SouthCoast's cities.
There is a shorter and more direct route to reviving Spindle City: It runs through the heart of the city — through its people and their aspirations for their children. Jim Stergios is executive director of Pioneer Institute.