text:
Which Backstreet Boys Member Calls Himself The Group's 'Fag Hag'?
Pride Source's Chris Azzopardi spoke with Backstreet Boy AJ McLean about the group's gay fan base and their support for equality.
Pride Source: The video for the album's first single, "In a World Like This," celebrates marriage equality. Why was it important to take that stance with that music video?
AJ McLean: It stemmed from me personally. I have a lot of gay friends and two of my best friends have been together for almost 10 years. And living in California, it's been so friggin' frustrating to me that they could not get it right; they couldn't pass the bill. Then, literally, right after we dropped the video, they actually passed the bill (allowing LGBT people to get married) in California, and I was just ecstatic. I just love the fact that people love each other, no matter if they're the same sex or not. I think everybody's equal, period.
I had just seen the Macklemore video for "Same Love" and that really inspired me. Knowing what the subject was about for "In a World Like This" - about love conquering all - we had talked with the director about basically having different moments in history that really were very impactful. We had done the first two, and then we were like, "What's the last one gonna be?" I was like, "Why don't we do something about same-sex marriage? We have a huge gay following and it's a huge deal." The guys were all on board and we made it happen. I was so happy about it.
Thinking back on it, I've been in this business since I was 3 and I grew up in musical theater, so I was raised and surrounded by gay men and gay women. I was hardly around anyone straight.
It's amazing you're straight, actually.
It kind of is. Everyone always says, "When you look at a boy band, one of them has to be gay." No, they don't. Instead of me being gay, I'm the fag hag.
It's clear from the full interview (and potentially from this excerpt) that McLean is a supporter of the gays.
How do you feel about him appropriating the term "fag hag" for himself, Instincters?
Image Source
While I am aware that people have issues surrounding this particular moniker (and I have plenty of my own regarding our community's practice of co-opting epithets to "disempower" them) I have always found the term "fag-hag" to be rather cute, especially when compared to some others in the same vein- "fruit fly" is the first that comes to mind.
That said, I have long been a serious fan of the Boys; I have seen them mention many times in interviews that they are very aware, and enormously appreciative, of their gay fan base. I am almost embarrassed to admit how I felt when I saw that they would be celebrity marshals in the SF Gay Pride Parade a few years ago, & right in front of MY contingent, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, too. I had the pleasure of saying hello & shaking hands with the four who were there (Kevin was not among them at the time), & my biggest regret was that I had nothing to use to collect autographs.
Obviously, therefore, I may be a little biased - but I can think of many, MANY worse things that AJ could call himself, or others could call him, for that matter. The fact that he even KNOWS the term speaks volumes to me about his connection to our community, and the Boys' commitment to us.


text:
Composability: More Than The Sum of the Parts
Because the pillars address independent issues, they also compose well, so that a given technique or pattern can apply elements from more than one category.
For example, an application can move an expensive tree traversal from the main GUI thread to run in the background to keep the GUI free to pump new messages (responsiveness, Pillar 1), while the tree traversal task itself can internally exploit the parallelism in the tree to traverse it in parallel and compute the result faster (throughput, Pillar 2). The two techniques are independent of each other and target different goals using different patterns and techniques, but can be used effectively together: The user has an application that is responsive no matter how long the computation takes on a less-powerful machine; he also has a scalable application that runs faster on more powerful hardware.
Conversely, you can use this framework as a tool to decompose concurrency tools, requirements, and techniques into their fundamental parts. By better understanding the parts and how they relate, we can get a more accurate understanding of exactly what the whole is trying to achieve and evaluate whether it makes sense, whether it's a good approach, or how it can be improved by changing one of the fundamental pieces while leaving the others intact.
Have a consistent mental model for reasoning about concurrency including requirements, tradeoffs, patterns, techniques, and technologies both current and future. Distinguish among the goals of responsiveness (by doing work asynchronously), throughput (by minimizing time to solution), and consistency (by avoiding corruption due to races and deadlocks).
In future columns, I'll dig into various specific aspects of these three pillars. Next month, we'll answer the question, "how much concurrency does your application have or need?" and distinguish between
O(K), and
O(N) concurrency. Stay tuned.
[1] The elephant analogy and the pillar segmentation were created by David Callahan (www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/de/Callahan/ default.mspx) in an unpublished work.
[2] H. Sutter. "The Free Lunch Is Over: A Fundamental Turn Toward Concurrency in Software" (www.ddj.com/dept/architect/184405990).
[3] H. Sutter. "The Trouble With Locks" (www.ddj.com/dept/cpp/184401930)
[4] H. Sutter and J. Larus. "Software and the Concurrency Revolution" (ACM Queue, September 2005). (gotw.ca/publications/concurrency-acm.htm).
[5] J. Duffy, http://www.bluebytesoftware.com/ blog/PermaLink,guid,81ca9c00-b43e-4860-b96b-4fd2bd735c9f.aspx.
Herb is a software architect at Microsoft and chair of the ISO C++ Standards committee. He can be contacted at www.gotw.ca.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Our good green friends at Terry, a sustainability project in Vancouver have finally announced the winners of their Bake For A Change sustainable gingerbread house contest! The competition was meant to promote thinking on sustainability (rather than pit the best architects and designers in gingerbread land against each other), so the submissions were judged primarily on the clever incorporation of sustainable design elements with a sprinkling of visionary confection. It took over five weeks for Terry's esteemed panel of judges to decide upon the winners of their inaugural Bake For A Change contest. Which leads us to ask, were they judging their gingerbread and eating it, too? See the winning entries >>>
The entries were a delectable assortment of possibilities for savvy eco-home design not to mention culinary innovation. According to Terry's website, the competition judging was rather exhaustive (lots of flavorful entries and sustainable humor!) with a determining factor being the personal preference of four judges currently immersed in the field of sustainability:
John Robinson – Professor in the UBC Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Charlene Easton – Director of the UBC Sustainability Office
Alison Aloisio – Sustainable buildings adviser, UBC Sustainability Office
Ray Cole – Professor & Director of UBC's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Without further adieu, the Bake For A Change winners are:
First Prize:
Maria Hawton-Mead and Gavin Harper
Second Prize (a four-way tie, in no particular order):
Amy Cook and Jen Adams
Angie Weddell
Cristina Perdomo
Sara Mulhauser and Karen Mulhauser
All five winners will be receiving thoroughly fashionable Bake For A Change T-shirts!
Given the immense support for the contest, Terry has decided to make Bake For A Change an annual event. Check their website next November for details on how you, too, can participate and up the ante for next year's competition.
+ Terry, UBC's Sustainability Project
+ Bake For A Change
+ Bake For A Change, flickr pool
+ Inhabitat's previous coverage of Bake For A Change


text:
Knox's Farus signs with High Point
KNOX — As a nationally-ranked recruit, Caity Farus had no shortage of offers to play college volleyball.
But rather than go with one of the bigger Division I programs courting her, the 6'3" Knox middle hitter decided to play for High Point University.
"I chose High Point because I went on tours at a lot of colleges, and there was something about each college that I didn't like," said Farus. "I went to High Point and I fell in love with everything; I knew it was the perfect fit for me. I love the coaches, I love the campus, I love the team, I love just the college in general so that made my decision very easy."
"Caity has worked extremely hard for this outstanding opportunity," said Knox head volleyball coach Jake Skelly. "We all are very proud of her. On behalf of the entire Knox volleyball program and the Skelly Family, we would like to thank Caity for all that she has done for the volleyball program here at Knox, and wish her the best of luck at High Point University."
The opportunity to make a quick impact for the Panthers — who finished the 2009 season at 17-17, losing to eventual conference champion Coastal Carolina in the Big South Tournament — was also part of Farus' decision-making process.


text:
Commuters and visitors to Manchester will be able to hire a British hand-made folding Brompton bike from a Brompton Dock located just outside Piccadilly station.
With no restrictions on public transport and train operators allowing them on their network during peak hours, the Brompton bike could be set to become a mainstay on the streets in and around Manchester.
The cycle hire scheme at Manchester Piccadilly is in partnership with Virgin Trains.
The fully-automated docking station especially designed for folding bikes enables the storage of up to 40 Brompton bikes in a single car parking space.
A similar scheme was launched at Guildford Station in 2011 with South West Trains.
When members return the bike to the solar powered Brompton Dock, usage is calculated by the system and automatically charged to the member's credit card at the end of each hire.
Members can also reserve a bike or a bay in the dock in advance to ensure they can always pick up and return their bike.
Brompton Dock membership
To become a member, users simply register by visiting www.bromptondock.co.uk from 10am Tuesday, 3 April 2012, and choose a suitable tariff.
Once registered, members will then be sent a personal four-digit pin number.
To take out a Brompton bike, all members need to do is send a text to 07800 008 078, including the dock number and their personal pin, following which they will receive a text with a bay number and an access code to take their bike out.
Members can then keep the bike for as long as they want, whether it's for one hour, one week or even a year.
Norman Baker, Local Transport Minister, said: "I use a folding bike to get around London, especially when I need to get across to the House of Parliament quickly, so I know first-hand the benefits they bring.
"This innovation really showcases what can be achieved when transport providers come together to establish onward journey solutions for travellers."
The Docks have been 100% manufactured in the UK by CHH CoNeX.


text:
Transform your photos into one-of-a-kind, hand painted masterpieces!
Let The Fluff Fly by Fraida Gutovich - 10.000" x 6.750"
Glossy Finish Canvas
Gallery Wrap Stretched Canvas Print - 1.5" Stretcher Bars - Mirrored Image Sides
Assembly Charge
Canvas Print
Let The Fluff Fly canvas print by Fraida Gutovich. Bring your artwork to life with the texture and depth of a stretched canvas print. Your image gets printed onto one of our premium canvases and then stretched on a wooden frame of 1.5" x 1.5" stretcher bars (gallery wrap) or 5/8" x 5/8" stretcher bars (museum wrap). Your canvas print will be delivered to you "ready to hang" with pre-attached hanging wire, mounting hooks, and nails.
Ships Within
2 - 3 business days
Thank you so much Sharon...appreciate you stopping by!! :)
What a cutie he is....
This is fantastic!!
Fraida Gutovich replied:
Thanks very much Bill!! :)
LOL. Great, just like me waking up in the morning. v/f
Fraida Gutovich replied:
Teresa...you mustn't give all your beauty secrets away! ;)
Corner Detail: Stretched canvas print with 1.5" stretcher bars and mirrored image sides. Also available with black sides, whites sides, and 5/8" stretcher bars.
Bring your artwork to life with the texture and depth of a stretched canvas print. Your image gets printed on one of our premium canvases and then stretched on a wooden frame of 1.5" x 1.5" stretcher bars (gallery wrap) or 5/8" x 5/8" stretcher bars (museum wrap). All stretched canvases ship within 3 - 4 business days and arrive "ready to hang" with pre-attached hanging wire, mounting hooks, and nails.
Stretched canvas prints look beautiful with or without frames.
Fine Art America is one of the largest, most-respected giclee printing companies in the world with over 40 years of experience producing museum-quality prints. All of our prints are produced on state-of-the-art, professional-grade Epson printers. We use acid-free papers and canvases with archival inks to guarantee that your prints last a lifetime without fading or loss of color.
Average Rating (5 Stars):
Jennifer Boyd
February 18th, 2019
Leslie Houston
February 16th, 2019
Denise Hatchett
February 15th, 2019
Clover K Lockard
February 14th, 2019
I am a huge fan of Fine Art America! When looking for art for my home Fine Art America is my first "go to" place. I'm never disappointed with the seemingly endless selection and spend wonderful hours looking at the incredible variety of art available. I truly enjoy knowing who the artists are and often the presentation of their work highlights other work they have done. I have seven paintings in my home from Fine Art America and have never been disappointed in either the framed prints or the canvas. All are of high quality and arrive on time in perfect condition. I give Fine Art America the highest recommendation possible.
Our return policy is very simple:
If you're not happy with a purchase that you made on FineArtAmerica.com, for any reason, you can return it to us within 30 days of the order date. As soon as it arrives, we'll issue a full refund for the entire purchase price. Please note - Fine Art America does not reimburse the outgoing or return shipping charges unless the return is due to a defect in quality.
Fine Art America sells thousands of pieces of artwork each month - all with a 100% money-back guarantee. We take great pride in the fact that hundreds of thousands of artists have chosen Fine Art America to fulfill their orders, and we look forward to helping you select your next piece!
All canvas prints ship from our production facility within 2 - 3 business days of your order.


text:
Growlanser: Heritage of War
PlayStation 2
What do you need help on?Cancel X
Growlanser: Heritage of War features a sweeping story arc spanning 5 chapters, with additional chapters to unlock. On an island continent shrouded in darkness and bounded on every shore by an impassable veil, war rages among desperate inhabitants fighting for survival. There is no safe haven; land that war has left untouched is still threatened by the Screapers, fierce and powerful monsters steadily encroaching on the cities of men - who will rise to save this dying land?
If you're stuck in Growlanser: Heritage of War, ask your fellow GameFAQs members for help.
Game News
Game List Statistics
Now Playing
13 Users
Wish List
90 Users
Hot List
5 Users


text:
Normie needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 75 designs submitted by 18 freelance designers.
Excavation company needs a robust logo for print, web and other media.
Kavleski Excavating
Looking for a logo incorporating business name "Kavleski Excavating" or Primary name "Kavleski" relating to the construction field. Would like a professional yet "manly" logo, fitting for multiple background colors and media. if possible, the incorporation of equipment/items relating to excavation equipment (bulldozer, excavators, blades or buckets) would be welcome.
the company does the following in the excavation and construction business.
Site work/Earth moving
Concrete sidewalks, driveways
Building foundations
Underground utility installations
septic design and installation
retaining walls
- Logo to stand out on black and white backgrounds
- be professional for proposals, vehicles, brochures, web
- be distinctive and recognizable
- scalable for multiple media, including billboards, etc
- be in vector format
- Item 1...
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Stage one of the 2012 Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race started just as the Weather Channel predicted it would – with rain.
Some might have called it a deluge. Still, we left our rain jackets behind and signed our fates away to Todd Branham and the insanity he calls a "stage race".
And with that, we lined up and headed out into the rain.
The White Squirrel Loop is the reason that Pisgah trails are sometimes referred to as "half-track" (as opposed to single-track). The trail is narrow, there are roots and rocks everywhere, and there tends to be a cliff's edge to one side or the other.
Sadly, even though we were up to the challenge of riding in the rain for 6 hours, our cameras didn't quite excel. Suffice it to say, it was very wet all day and more than a little muddy. How muddy was it? Without exception, everyone we talked to had the same issue at the end of the day:
. . . worn out brake pads! Those pads were only weeks old and looked like they were brand new at the beginning of the day. No matter the brand and no matter the rider, we all are spending our evenings cleaning muddy bikes and replacing worn out pads.
Tomorrow we tackle the fabled Farlow Gap. We're in second place so far in the team standings, so wish us luck and check back for more updates soon!


text:
5 CE credits available!
» Learn more
» Calculate how many home study hours are allowed per renewal period
Want to buy the CE credits only?
If you already purchased this title, you can purchase the CE credits separately.
NOTE: CE credits are available for US customers only.
People over the age of 100, or centenarians, make up the fastest-growing segment of the US population. Many live active lives, free from major illness or cognitive difficulty. As Dr. Mario Martinez learned through his study of dozens of centenarians, good genetics and healthy lifestyle are not necessary the formula for wellness and longevity. But if that's the case, what is the secret to thriving well into our 80s, 90s, and longer?
What You Will Receive:
- Four fascinating and life-enriching 75-minute video sessions with Dr. Mario Martinez
- Complete downloads of all course materials (yours to keep), including Dr. Martinez's informative PowerPoint presentation
- A radically new perspective on aging!
Dr. Martinez discovered that it is the cultural portals we embrace—or our beliefs about youth, middle age, retirement, and senior citizenship—that have the greatest influence on the state of health we will experience as we grow old.
100 Years Young invites you to four self-paced video sessions with this pioneering neuropsychologist as he unveils research from the fields of biocognition, cultural epidemiology, and neuroscience that shatters conventional wisdom regarding longevity. Dr. Martinez discusses how these breakthrough findings can be applied to our lives today and as we age.
Learn more about:
- How to identify fear-based misconceptions about aging and replace them with "centenarian consciousness"
- Shifting consciousness vs. modifying behavior
- Why cultural beliefs outweigh genetics in the aging process
- Cultural rituals that enhance the immune system
- The "tunnels of helplessness" perpetuated by reductionist medicine
- The limitations of organic products
- Aging vs. growing older
- Family illnesses as propensities rather than genetic inevitability
- Creating subcultures that support centenarian consciousness
- Learning from the super-centenarians (those over 108 years young)
- The "exalted emotions" and their role in growing older
- Chronic illness in the workplace
- The dangers of conventional retirement
- Forgiveness as liberation
- A navigational compass for longevity
Login to add review
Only people who have purchased this product can leave a review.
|5 star :
|( 5 )
|4 star :
|( 1 )
Customer Reviews
6 Review(s)
Review for 100 Years Young Review by Susan L
Very informative and exciting information to transform our understanding of the aging process. It is changing my experience already.
Susie, age 72 (Posted on October 25, 2014)
Review for 100 Years Young Review by Barbara M
Thank-you. Some very very interesting observations. Changed in many of my self view points. (Posted on January 24, 2014)
Review for 100 Years Young Review by Pat K
Excellent webinar on creating a youthful disposition as we age. (Posted on December 25, 2013)
Review for 100 Years Young Review by Margaret S
This is a fabulous piece of work in content and delivery. Dr. Martinez' s on the cutting edge and I found his passion for his subject contagious, inspiring and enlivening. The knowledge he imparts has rocked my world - it is life changing and paradigm shifting. Re the review by Catherine M - I think what Dr. Martinez meant by "no vegan centenarians" is that among the group he has studied, none of them were vegans. I also did not experience the material as being repetitive between sessions - For me, the course moves at a good, brisk pace and his delivery is laser sharp and efficient. I highly recommend this program - it will change the way you think about aging. (Posted on November 11, 2013)
Review for 100 Years Young Review by Catherine M
I did like the program a lot, found it useful, and will probably get The Mind-Body Codeas well. The only reasons for giving this program 4 stars rather than 5, are that there was a lot of repetition between sessions, and that Dr. Martinez alleges that "there are no vegan centenarians." A quick Google search disputes this, and at any rate, it's a statement that can't possibly be proven. I got the overall point -- that it isn't a specific diet that matters -- but Dr. Martinez lost some credibility by claiming that his conclusions are based on science, yet making an unprovable assertion.
Overall, though, I find the program quite valuable. (Posted on May 8, 2013)
Review for 100 Years Young Review by Heather S
Dr. Martinez is one of those rare teachers who has ability to communicate radically new levels of thought in language that is both accessible and stirring. Here is a course of study that seamlessly joins the key forces that fashion human thought, reaction and health. I'm looking forward to participating in this online course and grateful that Dr. Martinez is tech-savvy enough to make it so easily accessible.
I revisit my copy of The Mind-Body Code regularly and look forward to integrating this new course material into what I've learned from it.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with Dr. Martinez's work, I highly recommend it. It is impactful, inspiring and engaging. (Posted on April 11, 2013)
Self-Guided Video Course
|Video downloads
|Date Published
|April 03, 2013
|Product Code
CE Credits
|5 CE credits
|Date Published
|April 03, 2013
|Product Code


text:
Chris Martin belts out some songs alongside Michael Stipe at the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief held at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday (December 12) in New York City.
The 35-year-old Coldplay front man took the stage with R.E.M.'s Michael, where the two dueted "Losing My Religion."
Chris also sang "Viva La Vida" and "Us Against the World."
Also joining Chris at the concert were legends Paul McCartney, who played with Nirvana, and Billy Joel.
20+ pictures inside of Chris Martin taking the stage at the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief… More Here! »


text:
By Jonnelle Marte
Groupon's accounting woes are doing for its stock what the company normally does for massage prices. And investing pros say the daily deal site's lowered revenues may also discount enthusiasm for the latest wave of Internet IPOs.
Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that the Securities and Exchange Commission is examining Groupon's (GRPN) revision of its financial results for its first quarter as a public company after discovering executives did not properly account for customer refunds. Since then, its stock has fallen 20% to $15.30. The changes will reduce the company's revenue by $14.3 million for the fourth quarter and widen its loss by $22.6 million. Some experts say the news shows how difficult it is to monetize the value of new tech companies. "Too often investors get caught up in the frenzy of a well known company going public," says Tim Keating, chief executive officer of Keating Capital, Inc, a company that specializes in pre-IPO investments. "Just because a company is familiar, doesn't make them a great investment."
Recently public web companies like Groupon can be especially difficult to value because they are often still trying to figure out how to create steady revenue streams from their services, says Devin Pope, wealth adviser for Albion Financial Group. "They're not necessarily selling a product that is easy to evaluate," says Pope. Investors may not want to jump in right after an IPO because these companies may see their revenues and business models change as they mature, he says. Groupon, for example, at first excluded marketing costs from its accounting, which enabled the company to show a profit even though it was generating losses under standard accounting rules. The company also initially counted as revenue everything it took in from daily-deals, but later subtracted the amount it shares with merchants.
To be sure, Groupon hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing. And such early accounting blunders may get less attention in the future if Congress passes new rules under the JOBS Act that would allow companies to work out accounting disagreements with regulators before they go public. And many Internet companies can go on to reward investors and demonstrate value as they mature, says Keating, pointing to Facebook, which he says has demonstrated that it can generate steady revenue through advertisements and applications. Groupon did not respond to requests for comment.
Still some advisers recommend waiting until a company has reported earnings for several quarters and shown that it can generate steady profits before they invest in a newly public Internet company. Jeffrey Bogue, an adviser in North Berwick, Maine, recommends keeping such investments to less than 5% of your overall portfolio. And of course, investors should be patient, pros say. "Overall, people will look at Groupon as a lesson learned," says Paul Brigandi, senior portfolio manager of the $5 million Direxion Long/Short Global IPO fund, which invests in newly public companies. "There's great upside but a lot of that is not substantiated yet."


text:
Most people know that how you manage your personal finances directly impacts your credit, but many don't realize that proper management of your business financials is significant for protecting your company credit standing and ultimately a company's growth and success. Just as a poor credit score can make it difficult for you to get a home or auto loan, it can influence the decision on a business loan or even the opportunity to lease office space. Maintaining a good credit score can be difficult for startups and small businesses that rely on payment for products or services.
Fortunately, there are ways to protect your company's credit. At the core of it all, companies need to focus on receiving payments on time and keeping a reasonable amount of cash on hand to cover expenses. Enlisting staff support and making them aware of how to handle billing and payment inquiries and proper collection procedures can have a direct and positive impact on the company's credit scores.
Create and enforce business policies
If you don't have internal policies in place already, consider developing specific business practices that promote prompt and timely payments from your customers or vendors. Work with staff members and even key customers to eliminate issues in your organization that may adversely impact cash flow, including limiting the way your business takes payments.
When customers are consistently paying late or not paying altogether, consider automating the identification of delinquent accounts based on a formula of the customer's credit rating, payment histories and buying patterns. This will allow you to manage the company's accounts receivable investment more effectively.
In difficult situations, credit lines and payments can be worked out collaboratively with the customer, to achieve the objectives of both parties. This may require creativity on the part of the credit manager, and use of security, documentary and other credit management tools. Credit policy should be a tool used to expand company revenues as well as the customer relationship.
Provide proper training
Provide training across all departments that interact with clients or customers to ensure understanding of your company's policies and objectives. Ensure all members of your organization provide a consistent message to the outside world, and anyone working in a customer service role knows how to answer questions about payment, deduction, dispute, or credit related problem. This can help eliminate payment delays by a customer waiting on call backs and emails from the accounts receivable department.
When to start collecting
Use a credit and payment scoring model that triggers workflow actions. The scores should reflect credit risk, industry payment data, as well as your own experience with a customer to estimate a time for your company to begin collection action.
Be sure that collection performance goals are written down and that your staff are held accountable for their results. The goals should be in sync with those that drive senior levels of management, but focus on more targeted metrics to draw team concentration to what's important.
Partnering with outside agencies
Don't shy from using collection outsourcing companies or agencies. While they will charge for their services, the alternative may be lower collection rates, higher borrowing and bad debt write offs. This prioritization must be by employee as well, as some are better suited for volume collections as opposed to complex collections.
If your business is experiencing an unacceptably high level of bad debt, perhaps your credit processes are inadequate to the task. Another possibility is credit insurance, although a credit insurer will also require that you implement effective credit controls and policies. If you have tried improving your business with the steps suggested above you may find it more beneficial to try turnkey solutions to including credit and collection outsourcing, or even factoring.


text:
Advocate for Global Justice Speaks Monday• November 15, 2013 Share:
A man who helped change South Africa during his 40-years of sustained opposition to the infamous apartheid government of that country will speak on the Wabash campus Monday night.
Dr. Peter Storey, a native South African who served as president of the Methodist Church of South Africa and whose ministry was defined by opposition to the apartheid government's oppressive racist policies, will present "Making a World of Difference: Today's Call for Agents of Transformation" in Baxter Hall 101 at 7 p.m.
"Dr. Storey is the sort of person for whom writing a short description is particularly difficult," says Associate Professor of Religion Derek Nelson '99, Director of the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program, which is co-sponsoring Storey's visit along with the Wabash Religion Department. "He is a fascinating figure in the history of racial reconciliation and the pursuit of global justice, and we are honored to bring this international treasure to our little corner of the world."
Storey, a South African Methodist minister, is the former president of the South African Council of Churches and is Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke University Divinity School.
Storey's formal opposition to the South African government's policies began in Cape Town during the forced removals of people of color and and continued as he was chaplain to Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners on Robben Island. Later, as a Methodist and ecumenical leader he played a significant national role in the Church's anti-apartheid struggle. He and then-Bishop Desmond Tutu were witnesses-in-chief for the SACC when the apartheid regime put the organization on trial.
Returning to South Africa in 2006, Storey headed up the design, funding and building of the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary in the city of Pietermaritzburg, which was opened in September 2010. He chaired its Governing Council and most recently served as interim president of the Seminary.
His talk is free and open to the public.


text:
BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION, Some transfer news on a Friday:
• Iowa State picked up another transfer player, one who might be able to play this season.
Darion "Jake" Anderson, PRANDIN treatment, PRANDIN duration, a three-year starter who scored more than 1,000 points at Northern Illinois, herbal PRANDIN, PRANDIN images, has signed a financial aid agreement to attend ISU this season.
Anderson, real brand PRANDIN online, PRANDIN schedule, a Chicago native, just finished his junior season with the Huskies, about PRANDIN, Buy PRANDIN online cod, starting 28 games and averaging 10.6 points. Anderson, PRANDIN dose, PRANDIN for sale, who redshirted his first year at NIU, is scheduled to graduate this summer, order PRANDIN from United States pharmacy. Taking PRANDIN, Anderson would immediately be eligible next season for the Cyclones, pending graduation and a waiver from the NCAA, order PRANDIN no prescription.
"The chance to significantly improve our backcourt with the addition of Jake was something we could not pass up," new ISU head coach Fred Hoiberg said in a statement released by the university, BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION. Online buy PRANDIN without a prescription, "He has been in the trenches and knows what it takes to play Division I basketball. He has also proven to be a great scorer and we are looking forward to seeing Jake compete for playing time right away next year."
Anderson started 75 of 87 games for the Huskies the last three seasons, what is PRANDIN, Online PRANDIN without a prescription, scoring 1,152 points, PRANDIN from canadian pharmacy. Is PRANDIN safe, He averaged 13.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in his career at NIU.
"Words can't explain how I feel at this time, cheap PRANDIN no rx, Buy PRANDIN from canada, " Anderson said in the statement. BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION, "I am looking forward to getting together with the guys and try to win games next year. One thing I can help out with right away is assisting the freshmen with their transition from high school to college, PRANDIN street price. Australia, uk, us, usa, But the thing I am really looking forward to is playing in front of those crazy fans. I have heard so much about the atmosphere at Hilton Coliseum and I want to give the fans something to cheer about."
Anderson became the first Northern Illinois freshman in more than 10 years to lead the team in scoring as a rookie, PRANDIN pics, Purchase PRANDIN online, averaging 12.2 points per game in the 2007-08 season. He was named the Mid-American Conference's freshman of the year, is PRANDIN addictive.
Anderson averaged 16.9 points while earning second-team All-MAC honors as a sophomore in 2009, BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION. PRANDIN brand name, His total of 1,152 career points ranks 18th all-time in Northern Illinois history, PRANDIN photos. PRANDIN description, Anderson is the second transfer to join the Cyclones this week. He joins Penn State guard Chris Babb, order PRANDIN online c.o.d, Fast shipping PRANDIN, who will have to sit out next season.
• Jeff Jordan, the son of former NBA great Michael Jordan, is leaving Illinois. BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION, Jordan was with Illinois for three seasons. He appeared in 92 career games, totaling 110 points, 98 assists and 68 rebounds. Jordan played 13.8 minutes per game last season as a reserve point guard.
"Jeff was an important part of our team; a competitor who provided depth and steady play at the point guard position and was a defensive presence for us," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said in a statement from the university. "We thank him for all the hard work and effort he gave to our program. We will support him in the transfer process and wish Jeff the best as he continues with his education and career.".
Similar posts: BUY CIALIS SOFT PILLS OVER THE COUNTER. BUY PROPECIA OVER THE COUNTER. BUY PROPECIA NO PRESCRIPTION. BUY TAFIL-XANOR NO PRESCRIPTION. ZANTAC canada, mexico, india. Discount SEROQUEL. MOTRIN schedule. Rx free ACIPHEX.
Trackbacks from: BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION. BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION. BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION. BUY PRANDIN NO PRESCRIPTION. PRANDIN from canadian pharmacy. Buy cheap PRANDIN no rx. PRANDIN duration. PRANDIN description.


text:
Well... I can give the "short" explanation of my name. Don't even get me started on the "long" :P
But... the "Kabu" portion comes from Kabutops... my favourite type of Pokemon (yes, I'm a nerd, leave me be :P). The "Thunk" is a loud, dull sound. I've just always used "Thunk", or some derivative thereof in any video game or whatnot I ever play (ie: "Thud", if only four letters are allowed). Hence... virtually any name of mine involves the word "Thunk".
Oldson is a name that many of us were commonly referred to by an old English miner in the underground Potash mine where I work. He's been retired for years, the name has stuck.
the wanderers wrote:Greetings all! Our name came from the fact that any spare time my wife and I have we tend to spend traversing this wonderful country of ours, The wanderers seemed to fit like a glove.


text:
UNDP launches its regional project "Mosharaka" focusing for the first time on supporting Arab Women's Participation in the Public SphereApr 6, 2014
Amman – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched its new regional project, "Mosharaka" –Arabic for participation. The project galvanizes efforts of government institutions, civil society–especially women-based organizations, human rights councils, the private sector, the League of Arab States and several UN agencies, to foster inclusive participation of Arab women in public life, including the political, economic and social spheres.
The major transformations that a number of countries in the region have undergone over the past three years, and active recovery and rebuilding efforts in Arab countries emerging from conflict present an opportunity, and a duty, to ensure that the voices of women are heard and their perspectives considered in public affairs. In this context, the full engagement of women in transitional and post-conflict processes is not only a right, but as well a guarantee for the success of such processes.
"The participation of women is key to development—there can be no peace, no democracy, no prosperity and no progress without the full and equal participation of women," stressed Sima Bahous, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS).
"For us, the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women in the Arab region is a goal in its own right, as well as an important basis for all development efforts in the region."
The consultation brought together 160 women and men, including representatives of government, national women councils, human rights councils, jurists, the private sector, and women-rights and civil society activists from 14 Arab countries, alongside international gender experts and practitioners.
Discussions over the two-days event covered themes including legal and policy reforms required to accelerate women's rights; women's participation in political processes and decision making; gender equality institutions and machineries; women, peace and security; women's economic empowerment (policies, social constraints, employment and entrepreneurship); and women's rights in Islam.
"Achieving the necessary and ambitious goals of this project requires a multi-dimensional approach that targets various sectors and multiple regional and national stakeholders in a carefully coordinated manner," said Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary General of the League of Arab States.
"The League of Arab States welcomes the opportunity to join efforts with UNDP and all partners in this important endeavor, because, alone, no single stakeholder can bring about the required change."
The new regional project will collaborate with the League of Arab States on the implementation of the gender programmes that the League's Secretariat had adopted, including focusing on women and conflict, establishing a media platform to represent women's voices, and launching a civil society decade to support the post-2015 Global Development Agenda.
The project will also support the implementation of the recently agreed "Cairo Declaration for Arab Women: Opportunities and Challenges in the Post 2015 Development Agenda for Women."
With the overall goal of encouraging faster progress in reducing gender inequality and promoting women's empowerment, the project will incorporate relevant inputs from the consultation in its pursuit of four principal outputs:
• accelerating measures of gender equality and women's political, economic and social participation;
• reinforcing human security and equal access to justice through establishing frameworks and networks for Women, Peace and Security;
• strengthening women's participation in national institutions, professional associations, the media, civil society and the private sector; and
• ensuring that women benefit from efforts of early recovery and rapid return to sustainable development after conflicts.
The Arab private sector giant, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGO), announced its support to "Mosharaka" in enhancing economic opportunities for women. Their support will focus on training women to increase their use of information and communications technologies to enhance employability and entrepreneurial opportunity.
Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman of TAGO emphasized that women's economic participation in the Arab region is among the lowest in the world and that the private sector had an important role to play in reversing this sad reality through enhancing economic opportunities for women.
He said: "Engaging women in knowledge production can provide a sure route to wealth creation by herself, for herself. Digital innovation in knowledge production requires only personal determination and needs only mental capacities and communication access, both equally available for men and women. As such women can empower themselves and not wait to be empowered."
The regional project "Mosharaka" will be implemented over a period of four years, 2014-2017, and will constitute an Arab regional contribution to the implementation of UNDP's Gender Equality Strategy 2014-2017 entitled "The Future we want: Rights and Empowerment."
In Tunis: Noeman M M AlSayyad, Tel: +20 (10) 0181 1876, Email: email@example.com
In New York: Theodore Murphy, Tel: +1 (212) 906 5890, Email: email@example.com


text:
"Morrowind Sounds and Graphics Overhaul" contains mods that will alter and enhance the visual graphics and the sounds of the game. The aim of this project is to make more people around the world appreciate this huge game by giving them a simple installation file which includes everything they will need to play Morrowind with gorgeous graphics and sounds. I've tried to keep Morrowind's "feeling"; therefore, the mods/meshes/textures I chose are the ones that I chose are the ones that I think are most faithful to the original colours and environment. A benefit of this compilations is that players don't need to go through the "download every single mod out there and try it" phase of customizing Morrowind. The pack is intended for people who would prefer not to hand-pick mods out of the thousands of mods available. Modding Morrowind can be overwhelming for some people, and they might want to start out with a compilation before they feel comfortable picking and choosing mods on their own.
No articles were found matching the criteria specified. We suggest you try the article list with no filter applied, to browse all available. Post article and help us achieve our mission of showcasing the best content from all developers. Join now to share your own content, we welcome creators and consumers alike and look forward to your comments.


text:
- Inside Athletics
- Tickets
- Fan Zone
- Media Zone
- Social
- Shop
- Donate Now
Lady Bucs aim to string together a pair of wins for the second time this season
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 2, 2013) – After gaining its first home victory since downing Memphis on Nov. 30, ETSU looks to build upon the momentum gathered from defeating Jacksonville when it welcomes the Lipscomb Lady Bisons to the ETSU/MSHA Athletics Center on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 1:30 p.m.
ETSU (5-11, 3-6) finally got its offense on the right track and played solid defense as it led the entire game in the 74-57 decision over Jacksonville. The Lady Bucs enjoyed their best performance of the season in attacking the basket with 50 points in the paint and also got a very strong showing from their bench, adding 34 points. The catalyst behind the bench's effort was sophomore center Tiana Burley (Camilla, Ga.) who tallied season-highs of 22 points and four blocks, as well as 11 rebounds, in 20 minutes of play. This added offensive firepower off the pine will greatly aid the Lady Bucs as a complement to the routinely strong play from junior guard Destiny Mitchell (Bluffton, Ga.).
The matchup between the Lady Bucs and the Lady Bisons will be the 17th all-time meeting between the two schools, a series in which ETSU dominates with a 15-1 overall series advantage and have prevailed in 12 straight contests. ETSU and LU met earlier this season in Nashville where the Blue and Gold came away victorious, 80-74. The Lady Bisons have never won in Johnson City.
For more on Saturday's game, read the game notes below. For more on ETSU women's basketball throughout the 2012-13 season, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's hoops link.
The ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics would like to ask both the print and broadcast media to honor our request to be called "ETSU" throughout the 2012-13 season ... East Tennessee State in first reference is acceptable, but subsequent references should be ETSU ... On TV graphics, please use ETSU ... Our nickname is the Lady Buccaneers, but Lady Bucs is also acceptable.
ETSU (5-11, 3-6) looked to gain their first home victory in almost two months when they welcomed the Jacksonville Dolphins (7-13, 3-6) to the ETSU/MSHA Athletics Center. The Lady Bucs started out hot from the jump with a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the period and a 13-4 streak before the first media timeout. ETSU controlled the stanza with 30 points in the paint, 15 bench points and 11 second chance points, carrying a 43-25 advantage into the break. The Blue and Gold were able to increase and sustain the lead throughout the second half, largely behind the efforts of sophomore center Tiana Burley who scored 14 of her career-high 22 points and six of her 11 rebounds in the second half. ETSU fought off any showings by the Dolphins for the remainder of the period and secured a 74-57 victory.
Saturday's contest in the ETSU/MSHA Athletics Center will be the 17th all-time meeting between the two teams. The Lady Bucs and the Lady Bisons last met earlier this season on Jan. 5 when ETSU topped LU, 80-74. ETSU continued its dominance over Lipscomb by defeating them for the 12th straight time, this time in Allen Arena. The Lady Bucs came out with a lot of intensity in the first half and gained a lead shortly into the half. ETSU then hit a lull as Lipscomb took back the lead. The Lady Bucs did not hang their head though and came out aggressive in the second half. The second stanza featured more back and forth action with six ties and three lead changes. With only 1:46 remaining, Brianna McQueen (Jonesboro, Ga.) converted on an and-one and took back the lead, 76-74, one that the Lady Bucs would not relinquish the rest of the way. After topping the Lady Bisons for the 12th straight time, the Lady Bucs improved their overall series record against Lipscomb to 15-1.
The emergence of redshirt-sophomore Tiana Burley has provided a badly-needed inside presence for the Lady Bucs. In the transfer's first action as a Lady Buc due to NCAA regulations, the center came off the bench and posted a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds in a loss to Appalachian State. This performance awarded Burley A-Sun Newcomer of the Week honors on Dec. 26. Burley also came up huge off the bench in the win against Jacksonville when she posted season-highs of 22 points and four blocks as well as 11 rebounds in only 20 minutes of play. Burley is currently averaging 7.3 points and 4.5 rebounds, primarily off the bench, for ETSU.
The Lady Bucs have recently discovered the most offensive production through points in the paint. ETSU is currently averaging 30 points in the paint per game, including an average of 37 points in the past five. In the win against Jacksonville, the Blue and Gold recorded 50 points in the paint, the most since scoring 50 as well on Jan. 31, 2011 in a 100-62 victory against Mercer in Johnson City.
After being inserted into the starting lineup at the beginning of conference play, Shawn Randall (Orlando, Fla.) has answered the call and has been stellar in league play. In her first start of the season at USC Upstate, Randall tallied 16 points and was 4-of-6 from behind the arc. The junior guard followed this performance with strong showings at Lipscomb (13 points, 4 rebounds), at Northern Kentucky (9 points) and at Kennesaw State (18 points). Randall is currently averaging 8.2 points per game in Atlantic Sun action.
In addition to running the team as a true freshman point guard, Brianna McQueen has shown no fear at the free throw stripe with the game on the line. At Lipscomb and at Kennesaw State, McQueen stepped the line and buried clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the game in the Lady Bucs' favor. McQueen currently is seventh in the A-Sun in free throw shooting at 75 percent.
The Blue and Gold have outrebounded the opposition in 11 of the 16 games this season and enter Saturday's game with a plus-4.6 rebounding margin (42.2-37.6), ranking first in the A-Sun … in its game at Morehead State, ETSU outrebounded the Eagles by 20, 46-26 … the Lady Bucs' plus-4.6 rebound margin currently ranks in the top 70 nationally.
Currently the Lady Bucs are averaging 4.8 blocks per contest, good for tops in the Atlantic Sun. ETSU swatted season-highs of eight shots in wins against Memphis on Nov. 30, versus Jacksonville on Jan. 28 and in a loss to Stetson on Jan. 14 each inside the MSHA Athletics Center. The Blue and Gold are led by Tosha Austin's (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1.1 blocks per game which ranks in the top five individually in the league. Austin also currently ranks 19th all-time in blocked shots in Atlantic Sun history with 118 rejections.
Destiny Mitchell has scored in double figures in nine out of the fifteen games she has played in this season and is averaging 12.4 points per contest … Mitchell scored a season-high 26 points in the opener at High Point back on Nov. 10 and added 14 points and 16 rebounds in the 10-point win vs. Memphis to close out the month of November ... Mitchell is currently sixth in the A-Sun in scoring (12.4), second in rebounding (9.0), fourth in steals (2.3) and tied for third in field goal percentage (50.3).
Mitchell is well on her way to become the 21st Lady Buc to join the 1,000-point club ... She is on pace to break the 1,000-point mark near the end of February as she registered 347 points as a freshman and 367 points as a sophomore for 714 total points... through ETSU's first 16 games of the 2012-13 season she has scored 186 to move her career total to 900 .. if Mitchell scores in similar fashion in the next two years as she did as a rookie and a sophomore, she will put herself in the top-10 in Lady Buc history.
After a solid start to the season for the now eligible transfer, Serena Clark (Tucker, Ga.) has really turned it on when it comes to Atlantic Sun action. Through the first nine games of league play, Clark is averaging 9.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, including back-to-back double-doubles at Lipscomb and at Northern Kentucky with 10 points & 14 rebounds and 16 points, 10 rebounds & seven steals, respectively.
The Lady Bucs have been a tough team to beat when it comes to the second half of the season (games played from January-March) … since January of 2008, ETSU is 79-35 (.692) in the months of January through March, including a program-best 19-3 mark in 2009-10.
The Lady Bucs have enjoyed a lot of success since joining the A-Sun in 2005-06 … since joining the league, the Lady Buccaneers have averaged 15 conference wins a year, including a league-best and school record 18-2 mark in 2009-10, three Atlantic Sun Tournament titles (2008-2010), and two regular season championships (2008 and 2010) …in total, ETSU is 102-39 (.723) against conference foes since moving into the A-Sun … the Lady Bucs have also won 82 of their last 111 games against conference foes (includes the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 A-Sun Tournaments).
Through the early portion of the season, ETSU has gotten strong contributions from its bench. On the season ETSU averages 25 bench points per game, including a season-high 57 points off the bench against Morehead State. Key reserves Maria Bond (Macon, Ga.) (6.9 ppg) and Tiana Burley (6.8 ppg) have been vital for the Lady Bucs.
Destiny Mitchell recorded 11 double-doubles in her rookie season and she finished the 2011-12 season with four consecutive double-doubles before going down with her knee injury against UNF on Feb. 12 … in those 11 games, Mitchell averaged 17.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.7 steals in 33.5 minutes of work, while also shooting 53 percent from the field (81-152)... Mitchell had 10 more double-doubles in 2011-12... after earning her first double-double of this season on Nov. 30 against Memphis (14 pts., 16 rebs.) and after posting three consecutive double-doubles at Kennesaw State (18 pts., 10 rebs.), at Mercer (17 pts., 13 rebs.) and vs. North Florida (12 pts. 14 rebs.), Mitchell now has 25 so far in her career.
ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for "Buc Updates." Click here to sign up today!
For more information on Buccaneer athletics, visit ETSUBucs.com.


text:
Longmont students Alexis Mosqueda, Kenya Falcon and Natalia Menjivar squealed as their bottle rocket shot into the air Thursday from the basketball court at Longmont's Casa de la Esperanza housing complex.
For the past two weeks, the only girls team at the Rockets for Junior Astronauts camp has been winning most of the challenges, including building and launching rockets.
"We have a new record," Kenya, 12, shouted. "90 feet."
The girls are exactly the target audience that the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics was hoping to attract with the summer camp, said camp coordinator Tom Mason.
The camp, which teaches middle school students about science and engineering through hands-on projects, is aimed at reaching underserved students, including girls, Latino students and low-income families, Mason said.
"They're underserved and underrepresented as far as NASA programming goes," he said. "We want to bring the curriculum to these students from lower socioeconomic situations who don't often have the opportunity to participate in programs like this."
The camp is funded through a university grant and hosted 13 students from Longmont middle schools — mostly residents of the Casa de la Esperanza housing complex, which supports local agricultural workers and their families.
Thursday marked the end of the first phase of a five-year program. In two years, students will be invited to attend an intermediate level of the camp and then a third, advanced camp two years after that, Mason said.
"We want to keep them involved in a long term project that keeps them interested in STEM topics," Mason said. "Our goal for the current camp is to introduce them to basic engineering and physics by using rockets as tools to teach them about complex design."
Students learned about Newton's laws of motion, NASA rocket designs and teamwork, the girls said. But they also had fun.
Alexis, Kenya and Natalia giggled while they put the final touches on their record-setting rocket.
A black pointed top, construction paper fins and brightly-colored squares covered the girls' rocket, which they named Rosie for the red felt rose glued to the top.
"We get to be creative and make it look how we want," Kenya said. "We wanted it to be as girly as possible."
Four teams of students poured water into their bottles before attaching the rockets to a stand where they pumped air into the bottles creating pressure that launched them toward the sky.
"That was so cool," Alexis yelled as she watched her rocket hit the grass. "I'm definitely going to do more science projects this year."
Contact Times-Call community reporter Whitney Bryen at 303-684-5274 or email@example.com


text:
Mayor's Office
Mayor Chris Beutler today testified in favor of an ordinance to change the City employee retirement plan to a $1 to $1 match for new employees. But he said the ordinance, which had it public hearing before the City Council today, is only one step in the process of changing the match. The City currently contributes $2 for every $1 contributed by employees to the pension plan. The Mayor proposed the lower match, effective January 1, as part of his 2009-2010 budget proposal.
The Mayor said he continues to believe that the two-to-one match has created a divide between residents and City employees, especially in light of budget cuts. "It is difficult for Lincoln citizens to understand why we must cut the services they depend upon, but still maintain the two-to-one match," he said. "Residents are less likely to follow our leadership if they don't believe we have their best interests at heart."
But Beutler said the City faces limitations on making the change. Every expert consulted by the City has agreed that the retirement match for current employees cannot be legally changed. The City also must follow the rules established by the state Commission of Industrial Relations (CIR), which mandate that compensation be determined by comparison with similar cities. The City has hired expert counsel with CIR experience to provide advice on the process for changing the retirement match.
We can and should provide for our employees' reasonable retirement benefits. It's our obligation. It is our duty," Mayor Beutler said. "But our commitment has to be tempered by the day-to-day realities faced by the citizens of Lincoln who pay the bills. The change is a step in the right direction for the future of our City.
Beutler said City employees have "risen to every challenge we have issued," and the proposed change does not diminish the high value placed on their work.


text:
Town Sports International (TSI), New York, enjoyed increases in revenue and net income in the first quarter, according to financial results the company released today.
Revenue increased 5.3 percent to $122.9 million in first quarter 2012 compared to $116.7 million in the same period in 2011. Ancillary club revenue increased 12.3 percent to $25.9 million in first quarter 2012 compared to $23.1 million in first quarter 2011. Net income for first quarter 2012 was $3.9 million compared to net income of $1.5 million in first quarter 2011.
"We're off to a great start in 2012," TSI CEO Bob Giardina said today during an earnings call with analysts. "We are better positioned today than we have been for a very long time."
TSI, which operates New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs, Philadelphia Sports Clubs and Washington Sports Clubs, also had 10,000 new members in the first quarter, bringing its total to 533,000 at the end of the quarter.
Attrition was up slightly, jumping to 3.4 percent in first quarter 2012 compared to 3.2 percent in first quarter 2011. Giardina said that the unseasonably warm weather, especially in March, kept members out of TSI clubs and kept new members from joining. Conversely, some revenue figures saw an uptick in first quarter 2012 compared to first quarter 2011, which was plagued by snowstorms.
Giardina praised new chief operating officer Terry Kew, who had served as the COO at Fitness First Australia. Kew replaces Martin Annese, who is scheduled to leave the company next month.
TSI will add one club, either a new club or an acquired club, in the latter half of this year. The company potentiallly will add four to six new clubs in 2013 and 2014 with an emphasis on the Manhattan or Boston urban markets. The company currently has 160 clubs.
TSI expects its revenue in second quarter 2012 to be between $123 million and $124 million compared to $118.3 million in second quarter 2011. The company also expects net income to be between $4.25 million and $4.75 million.
TSI's stock price increased $0.40 to $12.88 during late afternoon trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
The company recently announced credit rating upgrades by financial services companies Standard & Poor's and Moody's.


text:
An antique picnic basket has already been put to great use with many more picnics in its future.
A snuggle on the beach. It may not have been the warmest day but there was sun so we headed to the sand and sea.
There has been gin. Lots of lovely gin. This particular cup is a bees knees and it is just that. More on that to come.
Morning muffins in the tent we set up in the yard just because. It's Summer, the time to do those sorts of things.
Again, lots of lovely gin. This time with tonic and lime.
Barbie – our charcoal burning, smoke infusing, and well-loved friend's inaugural run provided us with grilled vegetables and pork chops.
Since Summer hit there hasn't been a day that has gone by when my house is void of Peonies. I'm relishing this season that produces these flowers with their feathery petals and sweet grandma-like perfume. This bunch is paired with a handful of parsley that has gone to seed.
We are just a few days in to Summer and already it's been just as it should be – relaxed, free of any sort of routine, piles of laundry with clothes dotted with stains from chocolate ice cream, strawberries, and vivid green grass.
What does your Summer look like?
Happy Weekend.
Film Friday is part of a series in which I post a few film shots taken throughout the week. I've recently fallen back in love with film. These images were shot with a Canon A1 and a Canon EOS ELAN 7E. All images were shot using Kodak Portra 400.
Check out the other posts in the series.


text:
29 January 2007 02:00
The Trumptonshire Web - Camberwick Green
Pick a section...
1 (1 marks)
Founded in late 2003 and heartquartered in France, we are non-profit and independant.
We believe in the open web, think internet services should be sustainable, build for the long term.
While we are re-launching the service, we only accept new members through invitation.


text:
- Commentary
By Cody Willard
How do you rank among the Top 10 Traders of All-Time at Stock Market Events That Mattered (Or Did They?). Click here to learn more.
Here's the transcript to this week's Live Q&A chat from TradingWithCody.com with a few questions from Marketwatch The Cody Word readers. If you'd like me to answer your question in next week's Q&A, just send me an email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Q. Given your recent fear of a near-term P/E contraction, should I sell down some of my high P/E stocks even though I just bought them not long ago? Do I need to sell and buy again after the election? Sorry to ask dumb questions, but I'm still pretty new to all of this.
A. These are not dumb questions that you're asking. A dumb question would be: "After they make Styrofoam, what do they ship it in?" –Steven Wright. To answer your good question, is that it all depends on your own time frame, risk-tolerance, goals, etc. I have indeed sold down some of my own stocks and now a multiple contraction is indeed occurring, but that doesn't mean that you have to do the same if you would rather just hold on. I could definitely be wrong about a valuation contraction happening in the near-term, so there's that too. Anyway, my main advice here is about teaching you to fish by telling you this valuable lesson taught to me once in a one-on-one meeting about trading my hedge fund with Jim Cramer: "It doesn't matter where your stock was or where or when you bought. It matters only where you think it is headed now."
Q. Hi Cody, Would it be appropriate for a small portion of a portfolio to have some INTC, CSCO and MSFT in lieu of t-bills. Assume have enough current income to live. Approaching retirement say 5 years. Thanks.
A. I've mentioned that triumvirate before and I do believe that there's some sense in those folks looking for yield to put part of that money into those three names while you can get double the rate of Treasurys right now. But I wouldn't go all in on that. Here's something my friend Robert Marcin wrote this morning which, while I don't think it's a "top market in dividend stocks" I do think he makes a very important point about the risk of capital loss in equities, even those equities with high yields like Microsoft /quotes/zigman/20493 /quotes/nls/msft MSFT , Intel /quotes/zigman/20392 /quotes/nls/intc INTC and Cisco /quotes/zigman/20039 /quotes/nls/csco CSCO : "I saw a popular financial commentator recommend swapping bank cds for jnj share for income purposes. dangerous game. 5 years of yield can be lost in bad month for stocks. sign of the top for yield plays?" – Robert Marcin on Wall Street All-Stars.
Q. Good Afternoon Cody. I wanted to thank you for developing my stock skills by enlightening me throughout the year with your knowledge. I know you have touched upon Cy numerous times in the past and stated that you weren't a big fan of them due to lack of fundamentals. I have been watching Cy where I have observed some major steps that they are taken to develop and expand there company in a positive manor. Today Cy is down to $10 or so, today I believe they are going through the transition of of completion offer for shards of chipmaker Ramtron International Corp. Cy is also going through another transaction with Tokyo electron device whereby TED will become a distribution partner of Cypress. It seems to me that Cy is starting to get their ducks in a row to become a more stable and productive company. What are your thoughts on Cy now since the last time we talked about them, which was earlier in the year? At one point last year you stated that they could be the next apple?
A. Thanks for the kind words and I'm thrilled that you're learning to trade and invest more successfully through our service. I think it was a few years ago when I said that CY could be the next Apple, but I was wrong. We made some good money at first on that trade and took some profits and then ended up losing some of those profits by the time I sold it and moved on, which I believe was in the mid-teens. With the stock down 35% since then or so and near or below $10, I think Cypress Semiconductor /quotes/zigman/70818 /quotes/nls/cy CY could be a good trade. I don't think the management executes well enough for me to want to own it long-term/forever.
Have any of you guys here on Marketwatch blog tried the first ever Stock Market Trading game I designed? I've set several samples of the historical trading set ups from the game so you guys can them out for free (First iPhone Trading Setup, Air Jordan Launch Trading Setup or New Coke Rollout Investment Setup). The "Events That Mattered (Or Did They?)" stock market game is not a MarketWatch service.
Q. Tech getting killed- Avnet saying slowing demand as a result of global decline and potential iCloud proliferation. Is it Apple vs. the world and same for CRM and FIO like companies?
A. Interesting phraseology you used: "Is it apple vs. the world and same for Salesforce.com /quotes/zigman/338061 /quotes/nls/crm CRM and Fusion-io /quotes/zigman/5375401 /quotes/nls/fio FIO like companies?" Yes, in many ways it is. There is no doubt that Europe will be a drag on demand for the next quarter or two or much longer perhaps, but pure-growth companies will likely continue to outperform if the market can continue to stay in bull market mode overall and stock to earnings multiples expand.
Q. For a little while GOOG and AAPL were the same price. Now GOOG is 100 points higher than AAPL. Should I switch out of some GOOG and into AAPL? This seems like a gift here to be able to buy AAPL at 10 percent off its high.
A. I've sold down my Google /quotes/zigman/93888 /quotes/nls/goog GOOG calls for some nice profits recently, but the stock has kept running still. I like both GOOG and AAPL enough that I keep relatively large net long positions in them most of the time. Tough to make a Sophie's Choice on the pair.
Q. Cody – I read your note on apple. Do you think we'll get a rise over the next two weeks, looking forward to the iPad mini? If so, it seems like a good time to jump in on calls? Love the DDD trade. seems like we're in a consolidation similar to May/June this year. Are you buying calls in the near term, or longer out?
A. I'm not sure how Apple will trade the next two weeks, that's not the trade I'm making. I do think starting to scale into some calls dated out at least six or nine months in Apple is probably a good trade and I've been doing that, as you know. I'm worried about the potential for a stock price to earnings multiple contraction happening to most high growth stocks, including "3D Systems /quotes/zigman/5280737 /quotes/nls/ddd DDD , for the very near-term, as the path of least resistance seems lower for now and the market momentum has faded, so I'm not adding to it right now. Would look out as far as possible on the calls on DDD when I do start buying them though.
Q. Any thoughts on FIO into it's next earnings report?
A. Again, I'm worried about an overall market stock to earnings multiple/valuation contraction and especially for high-growth stocks like FIO. As for the quarter, I do expect that with both Apple and Facebook, two of FIO's biggest customers, spending like gangbusters on technology and infrastructure, that FIO's going to continue to deliver big topline growth. Whether the market likes that or hates that is the question I'm getting at.
Q. It is being said that AMZN is down today over fear of Walmart and its plan to offer same day deliveries. I don't see AMZN as a competitor of Walmart due to higher pricing with Amazon and a different target population. Please offer your take on this issue.
A. I do think Wal-Mart's /quotes/zigman/245476 /quotes/nls/wmt WMT delivery service is a threat to Amazon's /quotes/zigman/63011 /quotes/nls/amzn AMZN overall retail business if Wal-Mart can really pull it off. That said, I think Amazon's got so many other more important businesses including streaming video and tablets and someday smartphones, that I'd be a buyer of Amazon if it drops much lower.
And be sure to come play Stock Market Events That Mattered (Or Did They?) to improve your knowledge of history, your stock trading skills — and to see where you fit amongst the Top 10 Traders of All-Time. The "Events That Mattered (Or Did They?)" stock market game is not a MarketWatch service.
Cody Willard writes Revolution Investing for MarketWatch and posts the trades from his personal account at TradingWithCody.com. At time of publication, Cody was net long AAPL. Follow Cody on Twitter at twitter.com/codywillard.


text:
Confused about what Drupal and other Content Management Systems are? Want clarification on how to update content on a Drupal site? Curious about how you can install a Drupal instance on the Stanford servers? IT Services Tech Training has the solution!
A few months ago, we put together a series of videos answering these questions — each is about 5 minutes long. Enjoy!
What is a CMS? – http://bit.ly/whatisacms
What Is Drupal? (and why should my Stanford group use it?) – http://bit.ly/whatsdrupal
Drupal at Stanford: Editing and Creating Content – http://bit.ly/drupal-editingcreating
Drupal at Stanford – Installing – http://bit.ly/installingdrupalatstanford
Tags: cms, content management system, drupal


text:
Michelle's holding hands
Michelle Williams was photographed holding hands with Dustin Yellin leaving the MET Gala after-party the other night. Yellin is a successful artist based in New York. He works out of a warehouse in Brooklyn valued at almost $4 million. His pieces can command up to $100K and his clients include Lance Armstrong and Ben Stiller. He is represented by Demi Moore's ex-boyfriend Vito Schnabel, son of Julian. Click here to read his profile in the NYT.
I guess Jason Segel's chances of reconciling with her... are pretty sh-tty right now. As I've previously reported, in an unseen kind of way, ahem, she was pretty firm about their split. He has some issues to work out on his own anyway. It's good to see her back out there.
Also attached -- Michelle in Soho yesterday with a friend. Why couldn't she have styled her hair like that at the MET Gala instead of this? I am still disappointed.


text:
USA - Culture - The Dallas Suscon Suspension Convention
USA - Culture - The Dallas Suscon Suspension Convention
Eric "The Lizardman" Sprague and Courtney Crave at the 2010 Freaks & Fetish Party in Dallas, Texas. The Lizardman was the MC for the night and Courtney Crave was the event's coordinator. The Freaks & Fetish Party kicked off the second annual Dallas Suscon, or suspension convention, in Dallas, Texas. Body suspension has gained mainstream exposure in recent years and suspension experts at Dallas Suscon are promoting safety and awareness.
» View Lance Rosenfield
Page Link:


text:
Welcome to the Fátima Movement, the Catholic Order credited by the Illuminati with stopping the end of the world back in 2009. How was this accomplished? By correcting the Names in the Trinity and wiping out almost 2000 years of corruption to the Catholic Religion. Plugging the real Names of God into the pre-1569 form of the Rosary and saying it every day reversed a phenomenon called "The Abomination of Desolation." This website teaches how the abomination was stopped, why and how our approach worked, and instructs others how to stop the Illuminati's New World Order so this never happens again.
In 1917, God appeared to three children and gave instructions on how to stop World Wars I, II and III in what are known as the Secrets of Fatima. These instructions were given during a series of Divine Apparitions that lasted from 1917 to 1944 (above left). These were designed to save a world that believes in a ridiculous talking burning bush fire "Lord" who appeared to a Satanic Jew named Moses, who intends to set off the Apocalypse for the benefit of his chosen people... this massive deception has been helped along by the Jewish advantage of creating money out of thin air and diverting funds to prop up heretical media projects and religious institutions for over 2,000 years.
This website is designed to get straight to the point and save you years of reading thousands of pages of filler planted in books written by an army of Satanic Jews posing as holy religious figures, and reinforced by millions of Freemasons, Satanists who are obligated via their contract with the Devil to promote this lie in order to shephard you through the wide gates of Hell. The objective of this website is to help you come out of the Apocalyptic brainwashing deception that is occurring right before your eyes. The choice is clear. God the Mother (the Mother of God) or a talking burning fire. It's your decision. Chose wisely. And remember, if you dislike being a slave to the Jews in this life, you may not enjoy an eternity never-ending slavery under the dominion of the Jews, in the Kingdom of the Lord.
Many miracles are attributed to this website including stopping Freemasonry's Third World War, the destruction of the Washington Monument (the world's largest Illuminati monument) and the U.S. Capitol Dome in 2011, the destruction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 11, 2015, the halting of the planned economic collapse in 2009, the interruption of Superbowl XLVII's Illuminati halftime show, and of course, stopping of the end of the world. The saving of the Catholic religion from its eclipse by Jewish Freemasonry generated so much discussion in occultist circles that it generated one of the internet's longest running thread topics before being shut down in 2014.
The solution for stopping the Apocalypse is simple. Stop saying prayers to the Lord of the Bible. Why? The reason is because the Lord of the Bible whom the Muslims revere as "Allah" is actually Satan, the God of Hell. At the end of the world, humanity is deceived into accepting this talking fire as their God and pays the ultimate price, the loss of their souls to that same fire that they made into a god. This website explains how the Illuminati almost pulled off this Godless New World Order in 2012 with the required authentic documents, books and videos, in order to teach other Catholics and potential converts to real Catholicism, so that Freemasonry's Third World War and all the Hell that comes with it can be delayed permanently.
It doesn't really matter which version of the Bible you use to learn that the Lord is Satan. All Bible versions are Satanic in nature, originally penned by the Jews who murdered God on a cross. All Bible versions purposely deny the Divinity of the Catholic Trinity, which is required to enter the Doors to Heaven. All Bible versions lead their believers to the God of the Gates of Hell, a deceiving (3 Kings 22:22), jealous (Deuteronomy 4:24), perverse spirit (Isaiah 19:14), who speaks through a burning bush fire (Hebrews 12:29) from his house which is adorned with 666 talents of gold (1 Kings 10:12-14).
Today, two billion Protestants and Vatican II Catholics pray the "Our Father" to this entity and 1.5 billion Muslims pray to this Biblical Lord, calling him Allah (click for Koran source). At the end of the world, a Third and Final War called Armageddon is engineered by Freemasonry, setting these two monstrous Bible-based heretical Lord-based religions against each other. This end-times war was announced by the "Pope" of Luciferian Freemasonry, Albert Pike in 1871.
"The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the "agentur" of the "Illuminati" between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustionWe shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view. This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time." - 33* Jewish Freemason Albert Pike, 1871.
So to avoid getting caught up in this nonsense and to avoid going to Hell, at the very least, please stop attending religious services to Satan. Below are some quick passages to help you awaken to this Apocalyptic deception.
"Hell and destruction are before the Lord." - Proverbs 15:11
"Woe to you that desire the day of the LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness, and not light." - Amos, 5:18-19
"For our god is a consuming fire." - Hebrews 12:29 explaining the fire lord of the Jews' Bible
"...the Lord will deliver him in the evil day." - Psalm 40:2
"And he said: I will go forth, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive him, and shalt prevail: go forth, and do so." - 3 Kings 22:22
"And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive, and shalt prevail: go out, and do so." - 2 Paralipomenom 18:21
"The LORD has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst" - Isaiah 19:14
"And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, lyres also and harps for the singers... Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold..." - 1 Kings 10:12-14
Above Left: Mother Angelica lets the secret out and admits that Our Lady is God when explaining the importance of wearing the Brown Scapular. "The brown scapular is a sacramental. You have to be enrolled by a Priest, and Priests, Cardinals, everybody wears one, or they used to. It represents the garment of Our Lady, and it's like you're wearing a little bit of a piece of material that belongs to Her. It's a great protection, a great protection against many things. You say 'Ah that's superstition!' IF GOD SAYS SOMETHING AND YOU SHOULD WEAR IT, IT'S NOT SUPERSTITION. IT'S OBEDIENCE." - Mother Angelica, EWTN, 1996
Above Right: Jewish Freemason and Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan laments the fact that "the secret is out" a few years ago in an arena gathering of Masonic initiates. "Well now, you don't have to keep the secret anymore Masons and Shriners...because the secret is out!"
Above: Freemasonry's books now are on the internet - page 321 of the infamous Masonic Manual "Morals & Dogma" proves Lucifer is their god. Doubt it not.
Above: rare photograph of the initiation ceremony into Freemasonry (a Jewish cult) which runs all nations, central banks, etc. Dressed as Catholic heretics, Freemasons promote the "Lord is God" heresy to damn to Hell as many human beings as possible, using the Bible as evidence. The Fatima Movement explains how the Illuminati do this, why they do this, and how to save yourself from their Biblical 'god' (the talking fire god of Hell).
Released on April 21, 2010 for the people.
Translation into English (Original Document from 1944)
January 4, 1944:
Apocalypse 18:4: "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Goe out from her my people: that you not be partakers of her sinnes, and receive not of her plagues. 18:5: Because her sinnes are come even to heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."(1582 Douai-Rheims)
Above left: EXACTLY ONE YEAR to the day after the release of this Real Third Secret of Fatima, God Our Lady appears clothed in the sun in Africa, the only known recorded apparition in world history.
Above right: EXACTLY SEVENTY WEEKS to the day after the release of this Real Third Secret of Fatima, God Our Lady answers our prayers and shatters the Capitol of the New World Order.
God "is father, but even more, mother." - John Paul I, 1978
For those who require a Pope to declare that Our Lady is God in order to believe the truth, here is an interesting statement from John Paul I, apparently murdered by Freemasonry after only 33 days in office for saying too much. God the Mother ordered his successor John Paul II to transfer the authority of the Church away from Rome to Portugal in the Third Secret of Fatima. John Paul II quietly obeyed this order in March, 2004. (Source) (photo) (article)
"During the kingdom of John Paul II the cornerstone from Peter's tomb must be removed and transferred to Fátima.
Because the Dogma of faith is not preserved in Rome, her
authority will be removed and given to Portugal." (5) - segment from The Third Secret of Fatima
God "is father, but even more, mother." - John Paul I, Sept. 10, 1978 (source: Sarasota Tribune)
Above left: "Erased from history"... above right: John Paul is depicted in The Godfather Part III, murdered later in the film for causing too many problems.
"The evil is wide-spread and universal. No man, no woman, no household, is sacred or safe from this new Inquisition." - Morals & Dogma, p. 334
"And this gospel of the kingdom (of the Lord/Satan) shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." - Matthew 24:14
"For our god (Satan) is a consuming fire" - Hebrews 12:29 explaining the nature of the god of the Bible
"Because the Lord thy God (Satan) is a consuming fire, a jealous God." - Deuteronomy 4:24
The Illuminati and Freemasonry are not just some new internet conspiracy theory. They are the formal, organized and ancient enemy of the Catholic Church. Click on the images below to read what the 1907-1913 Catholic Encyclopedia had to say about these occultist groups....
"...his name was changed into Jehoshuah or Jesus by Moses...In this Josue was to be the chief actor." - 1883 Haydock Douay Rheims, II. THE HISTORICAL BOOKS: THE BOOK OF JOSUE, Scan #0058/1903.
THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT FATIMA VOLUME II: The Secret and The Church (page 464): THE ONLY PRINTED BOOK THAT CONTAINS ST. LUCIA'S ACCOUNT OF THE TRINITARIAN THEOPHANY IN 1929, REVEALING THAT OUR LADY IS FACT GOD THE MOTHER OF THE HOLY TRINITY.


text:
Booker T. Jones Wins 2010 Grammy Award
Anti- Records offers heartfelt congratulations to Booker T. Jones for his Grammy Award win in the category of "Best Pop Instrumental Album" for his spectacular album Potato Hole.
Booker T. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and previously won Grammys in 1997 for work with his band Booker T. and the MGs as well as a lifetime achievement award in 2007.
Potato Hole was Booker T's first new album in nearly two decades, and the lead single "Warped Sister" was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental (losing in that category to the legendary Jeff Beck.)
On the Friday prior to the Awards Ceremony, Booker T. appeared at the MusicCares benefit event honoring his old friend Neil Young (who contributed guitar on Potato Hole) As part of what Rolling Stone Magazine called "a true power trio" (along with Keith Urban and John Fogerty) Booker T. played keys on a rousing rendition of Young's anthem "Rockin' in the Free World."
"Potato Hole" and two other tracks from the album, "Hey Ya" and "Space City," were included in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll which tabulates votes from over 697 music critics' to distill the most important music of the prior year. Potato Hole was also recognized by No Depression in its Top Albums of 2009. Booker's signature Hammond B-3 sound was also featured on the latest album by celebrated punk band Rancid.
The song "Pound It Out," from Potato Hole will be featured in Ken Burns' forthcoming "Tenth Inning," an epilogue to the filmmaker's acclaimed nine-part "Baseball" documentary series. Following the Grammy ceremony, Booker T. departed California to embark on a whirlwind tour of Japan, before returning Stateside to work on his as-yet-untitled follow-up to Potato Hole.
For further information, please contact Hilary Okun at firstname.lastname@example.com or 213-355-5022.


text:
Do you want to make sure you are getting the lowest price on items on your wish list this year? I have companies contact me on a regular basis asking me to tell my readers about their shopping applications they can download for a fee. I never share these because I am a savvy shopper, and would never pay for anything available for free. There are several free applications available for the iPad, iPhone and Android that can help you comparison shop. I am sharing my favorite ones with you. They are all available free for iPhone and Android. Some of them are even available for the iPad.
• Shop Savvy: It's very easy to use, just scan the barcode of an item and the application will show you which retailer offers the lowest price on that item. It compares both online and local retailers. If the item isn't available in the store you can tap the buy button, pay directly from your phone and have the item delivered to your door. (Or choose ship to store to save on shipping costs).
• Decide.Com: I discovered this application when I wrote this article and love it. Don't have a mobile device? You can use the website version at www.decide.com To use the app, just enter the item you want in the search field and it will return the best price for you at local stores and online. But it goes a step further by letting you know if you should buy the item now, wait for the upcoming new release of the item, or wait for a lower price. The feature I love the most is the price guarantee. If you purchase an item on the site that is clearly marked "Good Time to Buy," you email your receipt to firstname.lastname@example.com and they will monitor the lowest prices for stores on their website for two weeks. If a lower price is found, they will email you and pay you the amount of the price drop. One testimonials really got my attention: "Just upgraded to the new version and I love the app. I bought a TV at Best Buy and used the app to watch prices online - a decide price alert let me know it dropped in price and I received $140 back. Awesome!"
• Google Shopper app: You scan barcodes to find the best prices at local retailers or online. This application connects with other free Google services such as Google maps and allows you to look up directions to the store.
• Red Laser: You search for items by taking a photo of a product or speaking the name of the product into the app. It allows you to compare prices at thousands of local and online retailers. If you find the item you want you can buy it directly from your phone from a partner retailer - and the item will be ready for you to pick up by the time you get there. It also allows you to scan food products and identify food allergens - you scan the label of a food product to find out whether it contains ingredients that you may be allergic to.
• Price Check by Amazon: This application works the same as Shop Savvy where you scan the items bar code and it returns the lowest prices at Amazon.com and its online merchants. You also have the option of sharing the in-store price of the item that you have scanned so that they can keep their prices competitive. This one is also a favorite because I earn hundreds of dollars of free Amazon gift cards each year by using the free site swagbucks.com .
This year Swagbucks has partnered with Amazon and you will receive three Swagbucks for every dollar spent on Amazon on qualifying purchases if you go through the Swagbucks website. (Qualifying purchases include jewelry, clothing, watches, handbags, purses and shoes. I am disappointed that it doesn't include electronics). A $5 Amazon card is just 450 points, so if you spend $150 you would accumulate enough points to cash in for a free gift card.


text:
As far as gun violence and terrorism go, this past year may have been one of the most harrowing and devastating in recent memory. Not that Hollywood cares. While fretting that Fifty Shades of Grey won't get enough play at the box office if it isn't R-rated (aka devoid of graphic sex), they're content to keep churning out flicks filled with violence or that are being promoted with violent imagery. Though, we don't have just Hollywood to blame. Consider the ridiculously moronic move on the part of a Missouri movie theater, the Goodrich Capital 8 Theater in Jefferson City, this past Friday.
In an attempt to promote Iron Man 3, they had an actor dressed in black, wearing body armor, and carrying a fake rifle walk into the theater. Yep. Not even one year after The Dark Knight shooting, the theater's management was somehow okay with that!
There were other actors around who were dressed as officers and another as Iron Man. But because it wasn't made clear to patrons that this was a promotional stunt, no wonder some moviegoers freaked out and called 911!
I mean, what would anyone who had watched the news in the past year think if they saw a guy in assault gear and carrying a rifle walk into a movie theater? How could they not be reminded of the tragedy in Colorado last July, which killed 12 and injured dozens others? James Holmes was said to have worn police-style body armor when he entered The Dark Knight theater. How were moviegoers in Missouri to know this wasn't some kind of copycat nightmare about to unfold?
They couldn't possibly have known, because the movie theater did not think at all about appropriately preparing moviegoers for this stunt. Not to mention that it was a completely insensitive, disrespectful idea in the first place! Sure, it's been almost a year since The Dark Knight shooting, and it may not be the most current horror story in the news right now, but the tragedy should still sting.
Thankfully, the movie theater has apologized. On their Facebook page, management posted:
We apologize and are sympathetic to those who felt they were in harm's way with our character promotion for Iron Man 3. We didn't clearly tell our customers and some people didn't realize it was for entertainment purposes only.
Let's hope this royal screw-up is a lesson learned -- for this Missouri theater and any other company that doesn't think about the possible repercussions of downright brainless promos.
How insane is this? Are you shocked that someone thought this would be a good idea?
Image via marvel.com


text:
- News
WXXI News
Special Coverage
Innovation Trail, Capitol Bureau
News Programs
Connections with Evan Dawson, Need to Know
Latest News
Interactive Grid, Printable Listings, Kids TV Schedule
Watch Online
WXXI-TV 21, World, Create,
Kids 24/7, City 12
Homework Hotline, Second Opinion, Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival,
Arts InFocus, Need to Know, All WXXI Productions, Other Programs A-Z
- Radio
- Little Theatre
Now Showing, Coming Soon, Series
Also at the Little
- Education
Information for
- Events
Upcoming Events
Other Events
- Support WXXI
Support WXXI
myWXXI, Membership, Corporate Sponsorship, Planned Giving, Volunteer, Vehicle Donation
Pledge Now!more...
- From the President
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas - City12
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas - City12
Wed, 12/25/2013 - 3:30pm - 4:30pm
The Cat, Nick, and Sally journey to Freezeyourknees Snowland to help a lost reindeer find his way home in time for Christmas. Along the way, they learn that a variety of animals – from African bush elephants to bottlenose dolphins to red crabs – have remarkable abilities that allow them to make amazing journeys together. With gorgeous animation and pull-out-all-the-stops musical numbers, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas!, airing Wednesday – December 25th at 3:30pm on City12, will have families singing and celebrating all holiday season long.