text:
Monday, December 31, 2007
Spider Solitaire
Spider Solitaire is the Devil's game.
I'm writing about the Windows version, though I've tried several other computer variants, and they're pretty much as bad. Computer solitaire games are in an entirely different universe from the hard copy versions, not least being that they can keep statistics.
The skill-to-luck ratios of solitaires are pretty obvious. "Regular" solitaire, Klondike, in other words, is pretty much a matter of luck, except when you miss a play. There are a few choices during the game, but most often, there is no way to determine whether or not which choice is best. In the Windows (and most other) implementations, the "undo" is severely limited.
Freecell is much more a matter of skill, and most games are winnable. But it's a full information game, which means that luck mostly doesn't come in to it, and there's a ceiling. You can only get so good at Freecell, and most people can get that good, or pretty nearly. You can also replay the same hand, over and over, and they're numbered in the Windows version, so you can tell your friends about specific deals. At least one of them is unwinnable, I forget the number, but it can be found if you do a web search for it.
Spider has a huge amount of "top," room to get better and better. It took me probably 20 or 30 games at the beginning before I won my first game at the highest difficulty level, where all four suits are used. Of course, that was before I began to really use the "undo" function. Without the undo, I eventually got a win statistic of slightly less than 10%.
The undo changes that entirely. The Windows version has an undo function that is limited only by each deal from the stock (which happens 5 times per game), or when a suit is formed and moved off the tableau to the foundation. Sometimes forming a full suit can cause you to lose by leaving you in an untenable position, one that you could have gotten out of if you still had the lost suit to play with.
With liberal use of "undo" I can win about 45% of Spider Solitaire hands. But a friend told me that you can Save a game at the beginning, then keep playing the same game over and over again without it counting as a loss by just going to the Open Last Saved Game ("Replay Game" counts as a loss). You can use similar Save tricks to never enter a loss in the statistics, but that's pointless. Replaying the same game until you either win, get tired of it, or convince yourself that it's unwinnable, though, that's a challenge.
I once played a game that had a bottleneck (no possible plays under ordinary conditions) on the third deal; I played it for an entire weekend and found a way to create a play on the third deal that won the game. Amy plays the two suit game and once hit a game that gave no plays on the final deal, which looks like an automatic loser. But it's possible to put cards underneath the deal that put a dealt card in play (the cards underneath have to be the same suit in sequence so they can be moved as a whole). So I noted the final deal, then played to that final layout and beat it. I've done similar things in the four suited game.
I did compile a statistical run of over 400 games with 21 losses; the win statistics were 94%. And there were at least a couple of games in that run that I lost because I'd forgotten to Save the game at first. More recently, easing off my OCD a little, I win about 90%, because sometimes I just get tired and go to bed.
So, we have a really difficult game that rewards pattern recognition and logical thinking by giving a statistical score that other players can find mind boggling.
The Devil's Game, I'm sure of it. I really should give it up.
42 comments:
So Save is far more valuable than I imagined. I've never thought about Save except when prompted for it at the end of a game. As I'm then at the point of abandoning a lost cause I've always thought the notion a bit strange. Now, I see, one should Save before losing the cause.
It took me a while to get past the "cheating" aspect of compulsive undoing -- kinda like the chess "J'adoube" touch-it move-it ethic. But I eventually reframed it as shifting from visualizing the solution to recognizing it.
I saw something a while back about a form of chess where the players can use chess programs to check the tactical wisdom of the various strategies they're comtemplating, a hybrid man-machine approach playing with the strengths of silicon and carbon-based problem solving skills. Raw over the board human chess strength is not the determining factor in these matches. Evolution? Devo?
BTW, WinXP Spider Solitaire doesn't count a deal until you make a play. So you don't have to play that layout that opens with 8 kings and 2 aces.
Oh, and winning 379 of 400 SS games is insane.
- December 31, 2007 at 4:23 PM
- James Killus said...
I think that "insane" pretty well covers it.
- January 1, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Did anyone notice the score system does not really work?
case in point: A game where 200 moves is the Least number of moves you can make and win, gives you the same score as a game that you could have one in 150 moves but still took 200 moves to win.
see what i mean?
- April 17, 2008 at 1:50 PM
- James Killus said...
I have to admit, I've never paid much attention to the scoring system. I count it as a win even when my score is zero.
- April 18, 2008 at 6:52 PM
You guys are my kind of OCD. But enough flattery. I am under the impression that through use of the save & undo functions it is possible to win an even higher % than 379/400. I've got one on the work computer now that I am really struggling with...but I like it.
I don't look at the stats, rather finishing all suits is a win.
- May 19, 2008 at 11:19 AM
the windows vista version of ss doesn't limit the undo at all (unless there's no moves to undo, of course :) )
it was quite a shocker to me at first when i switched over, but it raised my win percentage up a little. i'm not nearly as hardcore player as 379 out of 400 though...
of course, undoing instead of saving means you'll get a lower score, but if all your after is the win percentage, then that doesn't really matter.
bty this post is like top hit on google for "spider solitaire strategy"
- September 19, 2009 at 4:43 PM
whoops... i meant it's top hit on google for "spider solitaire statistics"
- September 19, 2009 at 4:46 PM
Best Solitaire hit I've made!! I have a scoring question but first, Spider Solitaire played, let's say, enthusiastically is simply a diversion. For me it takes my mind off scary issues in my life that I have no control over. This is better than dwelling on things without having to think too much. Which is better than, let's say, enthusiastic drinking, drugging, etc. Perhaps not as much fun but ultimately better so don't be so hard on your selves. I know; justify, justify.
Done to business. It is easy to get caught up in the game and ignore the scoring once you realize it means very little. The challenge is your percentage won in the statistic box. At the intermediate level the scoring allows only up to 1300 points as far as I can tell. You begin with 500 points and points are deducted for each move or undo you play. You are awarded 100 points for each suit stack" that is completed (8 are available) for a total of 800 added to your score at the bottom to reach your final score in a successfully played game. At any point your moves and your score will equal 500 points plus 100 point for any suit stack completed. A good score seems to be anything around 1250 meaning it took 50 moves to win the game. Once you have played over 500 moves things are not so straight forward. Beyond 500 moves you get into negative points that are, for some reason, reset to zero when you place your next undo move. You also are given your beginning score of 500 points back at some point in all this mess. I have never played past 1300 moves that I have made a note of but I am sure I have done so at some point. Somehow I have a high score of 1910 which I did not catch when I scored it and I don't see how this can be. I have played some very, very long games and have noticed at some point you get your beginning score-count of 500 back. Could that be it? Is it possible I was awarded extra points for an unusually "short move" game won? I would really like to understand this. Can anyone tell me why or a present a maybe why?
Using the unlimited undo function I have found I can win 98% of up to around 400 games. If you are willing to play any game for quite a while practically every game can be won if you don't have a life. I've averaged 100% of 100 games played just for grins with no re-deals. Took a picture of my statistics box with my phone and sent it to my friends who could not have cared less and pondered an intervention. Screw them. Right now I am 563 out of 610 for a 92% win ratio but I have not been trying very hard for the last 75 games or so. I do not select the hands I play. I play every deal. A good way to increase your average is to be selective about which deals you play. I love the information about using the "save" function. I will give it a go.
Another note: the cards do not seem to show the statistical spread expected. If you deal a hand with a lot of 3s and 7s you would not expect to see any more for a while but the opposite seems to be the case. Play a hand with a lot of any card in the beginning deal and you will see an unusual number of that same card in the first quarter of the game. I have not done the math but this does not make sense to me. Is there anyone else who has noticed this? If so, any insight?
- January 30, 2010 at 2:00 PM
In Vista spider solitaire you can save a difficult game, then go into the folder with saved games and delete it and it will not count as a loss on your statistics.
I'm trying to find a way to hack the statistics but have been unsuccessful so far.
- April 14, 2010 at 6:33 AM
- elisa_guiga said...
- May 22, 2010 at 4:23 PM
- loopus said...
using the undo feature and the save i win EVERY single possible game.
i.e 100% of the games....
most of the times i win it at the first try sometimes i can run into very difficult games and it takes me up to 5-6 tries....anyway until now i never ran unto a game that it was impossible to solve...i guess it could be possible to demonstrate mathematically that such game doesnt exist...
such a pity that spider windows doesnt have numbers like freecell!!!
- June 19, 2010 at 4:01 AM
- mens dress boots said...
Playing Spider solitaire suck! Never I enjoy playing this game.
- June 30, 2011 at 5:21 AM
- zettel said...
Sorry, Loopus, but you're wrong. Not every game of SS is possible to win, even using save. A simple example shows this: on one of the deals (it doesn't matter which) every card is a king. Game over. That's very unlikely, of course, but it is possible and proves that mathematically the game isn't 100% winnable.
Here's a question: you can't deal a new set of cards while there's still a space. But what happens if you get rid of so many cards early on that you have fewer than 10 left and so cannot possibly fill all the spaces?
Has this ever happened to anyone?
- August 3, 2011 at 4:58 AM
Seriously dude? U play over 400 games of solitaire and keep statistics on it? Wow...
- September 7, 2011 at 3:04 AM
- TerryFW said...
@Zettel If you have less than 10 cards you can't deal, full stop. We had been thinking about this so when it actually happened it was a small celebration rather than utter frustration.
- January 16, 2012 at 5:38 AM
i've played 4000 games of spider solitaire difficult version and my win rate is 40% my band's free music is at TheFezz.com
- January 21, 2012 at 5:48 PM
- Kent Madin said...
A different topic: Is there a downloadable version of Spider that numbers the games, so that two players can compete playing the exact same game?
- March 13, 2012 at 1:44 PM
- Kent Madin said...
A different topic: Is there a downloadable version of Spider that numbers the games, so that two players can compete playing the exact same game?
- March 13, 2012 at 1:44 PM
@ zettel: a deal of all kings does not necessarily make the game not winnable. If it is not the last deal, you could be dealt the cards on top of those kings to complete a suit, and hence get back "under" all those kings. However, if a deal of all kings is the final deal, there would be no moves.
Just a technicality. You're still right that there exist games that are impossible to win.
- June 23, 2012 at 9:49 AM
- vintagehotdog said...
ALL Spider games are winnable. That is what I believe and have found to be true.
Happy to prove it. If someone has a game that can not be won, just save it, send me the saved game file, and I will win it. I will send you back the saved game file with one move left to win. You can click on replay the game to see it is the same game.
Originally I noticed that you never are able to fly away all but one stack. I then decided that the program would be written this way and there would be no unwinnable games.
- October 19, 2013 at 9:35 AM
I have a 90% winning record in 4 suit level the Windows 7 version using undo. But I know I could easily stack the deck in such a way that the deck would be unwinnable. Take all of the Queens and 10s and put them in the top part of the deck so they are dealt face down in the initial deal. Then put the Kings and Jacks in the deck so that they are the only cards face up in the initial deal (like KKKKJJJJKK). Then no matter what happens with the cards you turn up later, you can never win because you can never move the initial 10 face-up cards because you will never expose a Queen or 10. Now it is entirely possible, that the game only deals winnable hands, but if the deck is completely random, there are many different combinations that are provably unwinnable.
- April 30, 2015 at 1:21 PM
Playing Windows 7 version... Winning percentage of 91.18% based on 2250 games over the past 7 years or so....
- October 5, 2015 at 2:37 PM
I have won 859 games in Hard Spider straight without a loss. I now have one I have intermittently worked for about 5 hours. I don't believe it can be won. The 3's are opened quickly - initially and in pulls, the 4's come later and cover them. (Five 4's open at the same time). I have restarted about 15 times. Very little activity until the last pull. I have been able to get only one suit down. I used to think all could be beat; I've changed my mind. Still working though.
- November 7, 2015 at 6:31 AM
I left the previous post. I finally beat this game. 860 wins without a loss.
- November 7, 2015 at 2:13 PM
I left the last two posts. I like to play Hard Spider and line all the suits up with alternating black and red kings with the alternate color for the remaining cards. Then take them all down at the end by placing the correct color on top of the Kings. The game must be fairly easy in order to do this and you must have two columns open towards the end. I have done this numerous times. It is fun!
- November 12, 2015 at 5:22 AM
- Dig Solitaire said...
Yes I love to play Spider Solitaire Online, it is my favourite game and really very entertaining.
- April 11, 2016 at 1:31 AM
- Felix Krull said...
I have won 859 games in Hard Spider straight without a loss
I find that pretty hard to believe. Sometimes, the last deal completely closes the game - I'm not qualified to do the probability, but I figure it's at least five percent of the time.
I get about 60% wins with four suits, and that's by pretty much using undo to go through every possible play, so I figure there's a lot of games that are simply impossible to win, apart from the ones where you're shut down with the last deal.
- April 17, 2016 at 10:38 PM
My husband and I have won 1,470 Hard Spider games without a loss. We back out and start over, put it down and pick it back up the next day and sometimes give to each other for help, but we always win. When it seems impossible, try pulling the first stack without moving cards even if they will play.
- May 16, 2016 at 5:34 PM
- Blogger said...
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- November 7, 2016 at 10:01 PM
- Brightchild said...
Skimmed these comments, since I have no friends playing 4-suit Spider Solitaire. I have played over 10,000 games in 6-7 years. I have a win percentage of 4% because I'm too impatient to save games or work them to death. I did win 5 games in a row once when all I wanted to do was go to bed. I ignore the point system. Some of these win percentages are unbelievable. I thought my 4% was pretty good. If I want to explain to my shrink or others why I play, I will quote you, Unintentional Irony, that it's "a really difficult game that rewards pattern recognition and logical thinking."
- February 23, 2017 at 2:09 AM
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- April 22, 2017 at 1:07 PM
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- May 25, 2017 at 3:06 AM
- Brightchild said...
Insane. Staying up for one more game. It's ridiculous. Yes.
- June 10, 2017 at 11:48 AM
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- August 9, 2017 at 4:43 AM
- Guillermo Vazquez said...
im stuck at 1207 points ,, cant figure out how to get more points ... played 1673 games 8 stacks completed 1379 82 % BET TIME 3:44 MINUTES ..... UNDER 4 MIN ABOUT 7 TIMES .
- August 13, 2017 at 9:21 PM
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- April 25, 2018 at 8:07 AM
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- October 3, 2018 at 7:23 AM
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- November 20, 2018 at 10:01 PM
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- November 26, 2018 at 9:48 PM
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- February 9, 2019 at 5:03 PM
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- May 6, 2019 at 1:50 AM


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Kermit Whitfield
Aluminum has had mixed success in infiltrating vehicle areas that have traditionally belonged to steel, but one component where it has become a clear winner is wheels. In 1980 steel was the material of choice for 90% of wheel production, but by 2003 aluminum had surged to 60% of production, leaving steel with less than half of the market it had once practically owned. What happened? The biggest factor was probably the rise in interest by consumers in upscale trim level packages that accompanied the economic bubble of the 1990s. Automakers found that adding styled aluminum wheels was an easy way to communicate that a vehicle was a cut above, so they speced them for entire trim levels, pushing volumes up. Also, the tight tolerances held by cast-and-machined aluminum wheels surpassed their stamped-and-welded steel counterparts, leading to greater uniformity and less vibration on the road. This became particularly important, given the rise in popularity of SUVs, since those tall, big-wheeled vehicles are more sensitive to transmitted road vibration. (Interestingly, the reason that aluminum is most often chosen for applications—it's light weight—was at best a tertiary consideration.) But the higher costs associated with aluminum, which were grudgingly borne during the high-margin bubble, have become onerous in the aftermath of its bursting, and lower-cost steel wheels are poised to regain a large chunk of their lost market share. More concretely, Tom Heck, director of product engineering at Hayes Lemmerz (Northville, MI), estimates that in the 2006 model year his company alone will be responsible for replacing 2 million low-end aluminum wheels with steel units on various new vehicle platforms—bringing steel back to parity in a single year.
Better Steel, Better Wheels. To be clear: we're not talking about those low-budget steel wheels that you only see unclad when someone is limping along on a space-saver spare, but new designs that offer large ventilation openings and mimic the thin-spoke appearance of aluminum. Manufacturers have long wanted to marry the production cost benefits of stamped and welded steel with sportier designs, but ran into material limitations. To get the fatigue strength of aluminum with conventional steel grades, like the high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels that currently dominate wheel production, they had to increase material thickness to the point where it is often both heavy and hard to form. Then they began experimenting with dual-phase steel and found that its properties are well-suited to their purposes: it allows for thinner walls and lower weight; it has a high elongation factor which gives better formability; and it offers a greater spread between yield strength and tensile strength, so that it will bend easily in deep draw dies without breaking. Another plus for dual-phase is that it is largely a known quantity. It has been the steel of choice for European wheel manufacturers since the late 1980s, and was used in trial production in the U.S. as far back as the '70s, though problems with "red scale" deforms due to its silicon-rich chemistry and lack of availability doomed its chances at adoption. Now, however, high-chromium formulations have reduced the red scale problems, and, according to Heck, greater availability is in the offing with one U.S. mill currently producing dual-phase (U.S. Steel), and three more slated to come on line within a year.
But even with the advantages of dual-phase, steel wheels probably wouldn't be ready to challenge aluminum without improvements in design and manufacturing. Zeferino Bacchineto, engineering manager, Wheels Division, ArvinMeritor (Troy, MI), says that simulation software has greatly improved over the last few years, allowing for far more precise designs. He adds that even in a standard operation like the gas arc welding procedure used to join the center disc with the rim, ArvinMeritor has been able to improve efficiency through a proprietary attachment method. Heck echoes those sentiments, saying that better CAD/CAM tooling data has allowed Hayes Lemmerz to improve wheel uniformity and dimensional precision. "We're 25 to 30% better at holding dimensions than 5 years ago," he offers.
Cladding and Cost. Still, it's almost impossible to get a stamped steel wheel to look as good as a machined aluminum one without a little superficial help. So a fundamental component of the new "high-vent" wheels is cladding, albeit a more sophisticated version than the plastic disks usually found on steel wheels. Using the spokes of the center disk as a backbone, wheel makers are experimenting with stainless steel and painted plastic attachments that can approximate the high-end look of machined or chromed aluminum. Of course, this adds cost to the overall wheel package, but Heck estimates that even with trim included, steel wheels cost about $15 less per wheel than aluminum. And given the high priority currently placed on cost-cutting, a $60 savings per car set is hard for OEM purchasing departments to pass up. But it should be noted that steel wheel manufacturers are limiting their ambitions to replacing high-volume, low-end aluminum units, not top-of-the-line models. Why? Two reasons: (1) expensive aluminum wheels will continue to hold a styling advantage that steel cannot match because of the versatility of the casting and machining process; and (2) at low, luxury nameplate volumes casting is actually cheaper than stamping. In fact, Heck says that in order to justify the $500,000 or so investment needed for a set of progressive stamping dies, steel wheels need to be produced at an annual rate of about 400,000 units to beat out aluminum. But that's not a problem since the volumes that steel wheels are expected to capture in the next few years are measured in millions.
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If you're not into basketball, don't worry — FontShop's got you covered. Our fontastic March Madness begins next week. Check out our March Madness 2013 Pinterest board to refresh your memory on last year's champion. Also, don't forget to follow the board so you can keep up with the madness starting next Friday, March 15th!
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I celebrated my birthday last week. I turned 28 and had a lovely day. Kyle and I went out for dinner at La Chaumiere, a french restaurant on 17th ave. I have trouble with high-class dining experiences. My trouble is that I am not very classy and consequently, quite awkward.
Awkward moment number one:
We enter the restaurant and are greeted by the Parisian maitre d'. Let's call him Jacques. Jacques consistently addresses me as "the lady".
Jacques reaches for my coat but I quickly wriggle out of it by my own power. Not missing a beat, Jacques extends his right hand to receive my coat and give me my coat check ticket. Not understanding what's going on, I reach for the coat hanger in Jacques' left hand. After an awkward tussle, I realize that a lady lets a gentleman hang her coat for her.
Awkward moment number two:
Jacques leads us into the dining room. He pulls out Kyle's chair for him. Seeing an opportunity to avoid having my chair managed for me, I quickly pull mine out and poise myself to sit down. Jacques panics (in a very calm, classy way). He abandons Kyle mid-sit and quickly turns to my chair, pushing it into my legs as I flop down. Our timing is poor and my chair is about 12 inches away from the table. Without standing up, I shuffle my chair toward my plate. A lady does not stand up to move her own chair.
Awkward moment number three:
Before we see our menus, Jacques asks if we would like an "aperitif".
I request a glass of wine. Does that even count as an aperitif? He asks me what kind of wine I would like. Flustered, I ask, "Do you have a house red?". I know they probably don't, but I can't remember the names of any wines. I'm buying time. Jacques asks, "What type of grapes do you like?". I'm tempted to say, "red ones" but hold myself back. A lady does not engage in smart-assery. I flash him a plebian smile and ask him to choose for me.
Awkward moment number four:
The meal consists of a beautiful blue cheese/strawberry salad and beef tenderloin. We finish with a gorgeous creme brulee. As we exit the restaurant, I find my coat ticket and hand it to Jacques. This round, I know what's coming. The lady is prepared. I have always hated having a man hold my coat open for me but Jacques and his fine manners have won me over. Jacques holds out my coat. I twist my head behind me so that I can find my coat sleeves without groping Jacques. After a few misses, I successfully guide my arms through the arm holes and exit the building, biding Jacques a good night.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Lady
I celebrated my birthday last week. I turned 28 and had a lovely day. Kyle and I went out for dinner at La Chaumiere, a french restaurant on 17th ave. I have trouble with high-class dining experiences. My trouble is that I am not very classy and consequently, quite awkward.
Posted by Jamie at 12:44 p.m. 9 comments


text:
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wordless Wednesday: Pipsqueak and a Friend
4 comments:
I love how Pipsqueak (I'm guessing that's the real cat!!) is all draped over the cottage! You've just reminded me of a similar photo I have of my cat, I'll have to post it next wednesday!ReplyDelete
I can't wait to see it! Yes, Pipsqueak is the real cat. Her "real" name is Sparkles, but she makes a little squeaky sound, hence the nickname.ReplyDelete
Pipsqueak looks happy and content! She reminds of a cat I had many moons ago, her name was Ace! Great photo Greta.ReplyDelete
Pipsqueak looks like my Christie....Christmas Kitten....guess when she came into our home...lol Christie will be 19 in October and she doesn't squeak....she now yowls!ReplyDelete
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View the complete PDF
"If I knew what the picture was going to be like I wouldn't make it. It almost would be like it was made already... The challenge is more about trying to make what you can't think of".
Cindy Sherman, I agree.
The corruptions and violence in Rai Escalé's dark paintings may be personal, but also come from the collective subconscious shared by each human being. His horrific art alternates between shocking and disturbing, but remains deeply insightful and may stimulate the journey of self-discovery of the viewer. The hidden meanings behind Escalé's images aren't necessarily learned, but may stem from the unconscious. Making statements on the freakishness of consumerism and beauty culture, Rai Escalé has managed to pursue the nature of phantasmagorical human alternations, and evoke some of the discomfort one has when facing others. You could say, his obtrusive work has undone and decoded the ferocity of Bacon.Stephanie Anderson


text:
Cabell County Schools utilizes a color code system for school closing announcements. The codes used can be found below:
The following employees REPORT to work. (Reporting times indicated in parentheses)
The following employees report ONLY following the SIXTH (6th) Code Red Day
Employees NOT on the list WILL NOT report on ANY Code Red Day. However, if we utilize all Six OSE Days, employees who have a contract in excess of 200 Days will have their ending date extended by one day for each Code Red Day utilized BEYOND the six allocated days. These days are required to complete the duration of your contract in excess of 200 days. Following each day we go beyond the six scheduled OSE days, you will receive an updated work schedule with your revised last day of work.
*These employees are entitled to an OSE Recoupment Day for each Code Red Day worked, up to a maximum of Six (6) OSE Days. OSE Recoupment Days (if any) must be utilized prior to the last day of June, and may not be utilized on a day that requires the hiring of a substitute to cover the absence.
**If circumstances dictate, the supervisor may call these employees to work during any of the first six CODE RED days. If these employees are asked to report and they work that day, they will be eligible for an OSE Recoupment Day for any day they are brought in to work.
SPECIAL NOTE: To be eligible for an OSE Recoupment Day, employee MUST be present on the CODE RED day. You CANNOT take a Personal Day, Sick Day, Emergency Day, or Vacation Day on that day, and later receive an OSE Recoupment Day.
Additionally, since the system is CLOSED on a Code Blue Day, and nobody works, you are NOT eligible for an OSE Recoupment Day for that day.
Accessibility | Discrimination Prohibited


text:
The Azure Code Samples are currently available in English
Building Data Pipelines with Microsoft R Server and Azure Data Factory
services: data-factory, r-server, hdinsight platforms: R
author: udayankumar
In this tutorial, we highlight how to build a scalable machine learning-based data processing pipeline using Microsoft R Server with Apache Spark utilizing Azure Data Factory (ADF). Here, we provide step-by-step instructions and a customizable Azure Resource Manager template that provides deployment of the entire solution.
A data pipeline with Microsoft R Server makes sense when one uses R for processing large datasets at regular intervals. For e.g., running a stock market analysis model at the end of each business day or re-training/updating the predictive models every hour based on the newly incoming labeled data. If there is a need for an ETL (Extraction, Transformation, and Load) step before the data reaches R, such an ETL step can also be added to the same pipeline as a dependency to the R analytics process. This removes the need for synchronization as R task will wait on the dependencies to finish.
As an example dataset for this tutorial, we use open source data, NYC Taxi Dataset, public NYC Taxi Trip and Fare data-set. This dataset contains details on each taxi trip including pick-up/drop-off location, fare, tip paid, etc. Using this data, we want to train a predictive model to predict the tip amount at the beginning of each ride. In the case of NY taxi, newer trip and fare data is generated every day and we want to regularly update our predictive model to incorporate the latest trends. We will build a pipeline that periodically reads the new data and runs it through R to create a new and updated predictive model. We also create a batch scoring pipeline that uses the model created during the training and predicts the outcome (tip amount) over previously unseen data.
This tutorial walk-through emphasizes on how we can build a pipeline using Azure Data factory with Microsoft R over Apache Spark to schedule data processing jobs. We want to give readers a usable example that can be modified for their datasets and use-cases. The main purpose of this blog is to highlight building a datapipeline, and for the sake of simplicity, we have skipped tuning and validation of our machine learning model.
By the end of this tutorial we want readers to be confident in:
- Utilizing Microsoft R and Spark cluster using Azure Data Factory (ADF) (with Azure Resource Templates)
- Setting up custom R jobs using the ADF
- Managing the data movements when using Microsoft R with Spark
There are three things that we should understand as we divulge into the details:
Microsoft R Server
Microsoft provides an enhanced implementation on top of Open-source R that allows benefits of distributed computing to flow into R. The Microsoft R Server implements several popular machine learning algorithms to make them more efficient and scalable over distributed computing frameworks. Apache Spark is one of the supported distributing computing platforms for Microsoft R. The use of Apache Spark allows us to do computations on datasets in R that do not fit onto the memory of a single machine. Microsoft R Server is available for both on-premise and cloud-based deployment. In this tutorial, we utilize cloud-based deployment.
The beauty of Microsoft R comes from the design that allows with a single line change (setting a suitable computing context) to switch the backend computing platform (from Hadoop to Apache Spark to local machine). Rest of the code is agnostic and independent to the backend. We mainly use the functionality provided by the RevoScaleR package. More details on how to use R with Spark are on this blog.
Azure Data Factory (ADF)
Data factory allows users to create data pipelines and orchestrates data movement. In simple words, allows users to specify dependencies between data and computational tasks and create a time-based data flow. The usefulness of using ADF comes from the fact that it provides several inbuilt tools for creating a pipeline (on demand clusters, ability to run custom jobs) and provides insights into each step of a running pipeline. The documentation here provides details on ADF . Similar to other services offered by Azure, ADF also allows one-click deployment through Azure Resource Manager Templates. ADF also has support to run Hadoop/Spark cluster as a PAAS and can also integrate with existing HDInsight clusters among other compute platforms. A typical ADF instance comprises of pipelines and each pipeline can contain multiple activities. Each activity takes at least one input dataset, a compute linked services to process the input and produce at least one output dataset. A compute linked service is a facility that allows connecting ADF to computer resources such Spark cluster or Azure Batch.
Notes: 1. Currently ADF only supports Map-reduce jobs on Linux HDI clusters and since MRS runs only on Linux HDInsight clusters, as a workaround, we will use a custom task-runner masquerading as a map-reduce job to run MRS script. 2. We also set the CLASSPATH, through the template, for properly running the R Server through ADF using
source /usr/lib64/microsoft-r/8.0/hadoop/RevoHadoopEnvVars.site;No user action is needed to run this command.
The 2013 NYC dataset in the available form has two
csv files for Trips and Fares. For the predictive use, we process and join them on the same lines as the instruction in this post. Instead of using Hive, we use a python script to use spark SQL for the join. To speed up the demo, we are only using subset of data from the first dataset for training (trip_data_1.csv.zip and trip_fare_1.csv.zip) . The scoring is done on the second dataset (trip_data_2.csv.zip and trip_fare_2.csv.zip). One can take similar steps to run this demo code on larger datasets.
In the following sections, we provide steps to create an ADF pipeline with Microsoft R to for generating a machine learning model on the NYC taxi dataset.
- Create an Azure account (Skip if already have an azure account)
Setup any one of several available template deployment methods. It's also possible to deploy templates through Azure portal, minimizing the setup time. We use Azure PowerShell based deployment through this blog.
Before starting the pipeline, we must make the dataset available to the R-server/Spark cluster. Every Spark Cluster on Azure is associated with at least one storage account. Below are the steps using Azure PowerShell on how to create a Storage Account and then make the dataset/scripts available on this storage account.
a. Download the template Storage-account-data-copy-setup.template.json. After deployment, this template will create a new storage account and copy data to this storage account using copy functionality of Azure Data Factory (ADF). Once downloaded, navigate to template's location using PowerShell to begin its deplyoment
b. Login to Azure using PowerShell
> Login-AzureRmAccount
c. List all available subscription
> Get-AzureRmSubscription
d. Select an Azure subscription to run this tutorial
> Select-AzureRmSubscription -SubscriptionId <Subscription ID>
e. Create a Resource Group. Resouce group name can be any string. Use this same Resource Group Name throughout the tutorial. Location too can be modifed dependent on the resource availability. We have selected
South Central US
> New-AzureRmResourceGroup -Name <ResourceGroupName> -Location "South Central US"
f. Deploy the Data copying ARM template that will create the storage account and copy dataset from public repo to this storage Account
> New-AzureRmResourceGroupDeployment -Name <deploymentName> -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> -TemplateFile .\Storage-account-data-copy-setup.template.json
g. After a successful deployment, storage account name -
parameterStorageAccountName, storage account keys -
parameterStorageAccountKeyand the container name -
parameterStorageContainerNamewill be printed as output. For the deployment of the training/scoring pipelines, we will use these values to connect the downloaded dataset with R/Spark cluster.
Download ADF-Rserver-apache-spark-pipeline.template.json and ADF-Rserver-apache-spark-pipeline.parameters.json . The first file is the Azure Resource Management template file that contains information on the resources and the constraints. The second file is a parameter file that contains all the configuration parameters including passwords and keys. Edit this parameter file and replace
parameterStorageAccountAccessKey, and
parameterStorageContainerNamewith the values from step 3g. We also strongly recommend changing the passwords (10 characters long with at least a digit, a special character, a lower-case alphabet, and an upper-case alphabet).
Starting the pipeline
Azure allows deploying resources and configurations through Azure Resource Management templates. We will show steps for template based deployment. The template will start the HDInsight's Spark Cluster, install Microsoft R server, and finally create Azure data factory. Once the resource deployment is complete, the pipeline will start running based on the temporal configurations (currently set to once a month). The advantage of template deployment is speed of deployment and repeatability. For our current scenario, we store the configuration parameters such as the ssh username/password, in a separate parameter file that is passed along with the template for deployment. Below are the steps for deploying the template using Windows PowerShell and what to expect after deployment.
Figure 1. Relationship among Azure Data Factory component
Login to Azure using PowerShell
> Login-AzureRmAccount
List all available subscription
> Get-AzureRmSubscription
Select an Azure subscription
> Select-AzureRmSubscription -SubscriptionId <Subscription ID>
Using the Resource Group name used for creating the Storage Account in the Setup section, deploy the arm template. The 'NameForTheDeployment' can be any string to identify the deployment
> New-AzureRmResourceGroupDeployment -Name <DeploymentName> -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> -TemplateFile .\ADF-Rserver-apache-spark-pipeline.template.json -TemplateParameterFile .\ADF-Rserver-apache-spark-pipeline.parameters.json
This deployment step will take approximately 40 minutes. In case of an error, you can debug the above command by running it again with '-Debug' switch
If everything goes well then go to the Azure Portal, find the resource group and check the status of ADF pipelines
Expectations and further steps
Check the pipeline run in the diagram view
a. Find the Data Factory pipeline and click on the
Diagramview. You should be able to see two pipelines (training and scoring) with input and output datasets.
b. Click on the output -
finalOutputDatasetTrainingand now you can check the status of the recent runs for the training pipeline (based on the configuration this pipeline should run only once)
c. Clicking on one of the runs, one can check the stdout and stderr messages from running the job.
d. If the status is
Succeeded, then the attached storage container has a file named 'model'. This file contains the model object that can be used for prediction tasks. Now we can start the scoring pipeline
Start the scoring pipeline
a. By default, the scoring pipeline is set to pause. This is because it needs the 'model' file, which is generated upon the first run of the training pipeline. And since the scoring pipeline's running frequency is independent of the training pipeline, we have not added any dependencies between them. Therefore, the scoring pipeline is paused and we manually start it when the 'model' file is available.
b. To start the scoring pipeline, we need to change a config parameter for that pipeline through portal. Find the Data Factory that we created earlier and click -
Author and Deploy, then expand
Pipelinesand click on
datafactoryscoringpipeline. Towards the bottom, there is a key -
isPaused, change the value for this key from
false. Now click on
Deploybutton to activate these changes.
c. Now go back to the
Diagramview and click the
finalOutputDatasetScoringdataset, check the runs, if they have still not started, you can manually start the run (generally it take a moment before the pipeline starts). Now once the run is complete, similar to the training pipeline, one can check the status of the pipeline run.
d. If the status is
Succeeded, then the attached storage container has a blob folder named 'scoringOutput'. This file contains the output (tip amount) prediction for the scoring dataset in csv format.
Sequence of steps in the R script for training
Following sequence of steps happens while running the training R script:
- Set the context for the Apache Spark: number of executors and amount of memory per executor. This configuration is dependent on both the task and the setup of the Spark cluster.
- Read the dataset and convert input dataset to XDF format
- Read the dataset in XDF format, create new features and drop duplicate or unimportant fields
- Run Linear-Regression algorithm
- Save the model
Customizing the pipeline
It's possible to customize the template used in this tutorial and apply it to other problems. There are three main parts that can be configured as per requirements: Cluster Configuration, R code that is used for the analysis, and the Data Factory setup. Below we will give a high level idea on customizing each of these.
Cluster Configuration: We are using only two worker nodes of the D3_V2 types. For the jobs that require more memory or processing power, one can create more worker nodes and/or use more powerful machines. Changes in the cluster configuration should also be reflected in the R script when setting the compute context to allow for efficient resource utilization. This tutorial talks about Spark tuning with Microsoft R.
{ "name": "workernode", "targetInstanceCount": "[parameters('clusterWorkerNodeCount')]", "hardwareProfile": { "vmSize": "Standard_D3_v2" }, "osProfile": { "linuxOperatingSystemProfile": { "username": "[parameters('sshUserName')]", "password": "[parameters('sshPassword')]" } }Figure 2. A code snippet from the ARM template showing configuration of the worker nodes. 'targetInstanceCount' value decides the number of worker nodes (currently set to 'clusterWorkerNodeCount' as set in the parameter file).The 'vmSize' decides the type of VM used for the worker nodes.
R script: One can replace/modify the R scripts too, for example the training pipeline runs the script in file
RScriptForNYCTaxi.R. This R script is kept in the script folder among the files that were copied from the public repository. This script's name is stored in the template variable -
rscript-name. Editing the value for this variable will allow running a different script. The modifications to the arguments must be made in the Data Pipeline section of ADF-Rserver-apache-spark-pipeline.template.json. Figure 2 shows the relevant section from the ARM template.
"activities": [
{ "type": "HDInsightMapReduce",
"typeProperties": {
"className": "com.adf.jobonhdi.JobOnHdiLauncher",
"jarFilePath": "[concat(parameters('parameterStorageContainerName'), '/scripts/com.adf.adfjobonhdi.jar')]",
"jarLinkedService": "[variables('storageLinkedServiceName')]",
"arguments": [
"[concat('wasb://',parameters('parameterStorageContainerName'),'@', variables('storageAccountName'),
'.blob.core.windows.net/scripts/com.adf.appsample.jar,',' wasb://',parameters('parameterStorageContainerName'),
"[concat('source /usr/lib64/microsoft-r/8.0/hadoop/RevoHadoopEnvVars.site; Revo64 CMD BATCH \"--args ',
'/data/nyc_taxi_joined_csv/ / \" ',variables('rscript-name'), ' /dev/stdout')]"
Figure 3. A code snippet from the ARM template showing activity that runs the R script. The name of the script is stored in the variable – 'rscript-name'. '/data/nyc_taxi_joined_csv/' and '/output/model/' are the arguments to the R script. The script is run using batch mode provided by R. Note that we use command 'Revo64' instead of 'R' as we are referring to the R server provided by Microsoft.
- Data Factory: Currently the data factory is scheduled to run once a month; one can change that as per the requirements. We are currently having static dataset, but it can be changed to something where new data made accessible to the pipeline. ADF has support for reading partitions defined by time periods. ADF can also utilize data from different sources (including blob storage, databases, etc.). One can add more activities (such as ETL in Apache Spark) to the pipeline or even create more pipelines. Documentation on ADF has more details
"policy": {
"timeout": "00:30:00",
"concurrency": 1,
"retry": 1
"scheduler": {
"frequency": "Month",
"interval": 1
"name": "HDInsight Job Launcher",
"description": "Submits a general HDInsight Job",
"linkedServiceName": "[variables('hdInsightOnDemandLinkedServiceName')]"
"start": "2016-04-01T00:00:00Z",
"end": "2016-04-02T00:00:00Z",
"isPaused": false
Figure 4. A snippet from the ARM template showing the 'scheduler' section that sets the schedule of the pipeline. The 'scheduler' section can be used to configure the pipeline schedule. The 'start' and 'end' dates decide the time-period in which the pipeline will operate
This tutorial highlights how Microsoft R Server with Spark can be used in production data pipelines for end-to-end data processing and machine-learning jobs. Integration of Microsoft R with Azure Data factory opens the rich world of open source R packages and brings in the scalability offered by Microsoft R to a controlled and monitored production data pipeline (ADF). Along with the steps we also provide an easily customizable Azure Resource Manager template that allows one-click deployment of the resources (Microsoft R server, Apache Spark, Azure Data Factory).


text:
!Waterbirth Website . . . Welcome!
Janet and waterbaby Sean, seconds after his arrival.
"How beautiful!
Everyone interested in supporting the optimal health of mothers and babies
needs to see this uplifting and transformational film."
The Waterbirth Website provides in-depth information on the use of water for labor, childbirth, and early childhood development. It includes fascinating information from the world's leading waterbirth pioneers, product information on ordering the award-winning WATER BABY video documentary and Waterbirth Providers List, dozens of personal waterbirth stories, a Waterbirth Photo Gallery, and lots more!
Learn all about this wonderful new innovation that enables safe, gentle, joyous,
empowering childbirth. This pioneering site is dedicated to the belief that every
mother has the right to have the birth experience she wants, and to educate
expectant parents and birthcare professionals about the extraordinary value of
water labor and waterbirth to everyone concerned. Read on and learn how you can
give yourself, your mate and your baby the wonderful gift of gentle, joyous waterbirth.
The birth of your baby is one of the most important events of your entire life. It will have far-reaching consequences that affect your most intimate family relationships for many years to come. Waterbirth is a gift that lasts a lifetime! It can optimize your birth experience and help you to fully realize your primordial female power, take control of your birth, and create your own personal miracle of love and empowerment. Safe, gentle, joyous waterbirth is available to you now. What could be more important?
Take this opportunity to make the very best of your delivery. The information available here, along with the materials you can order, the award winning video WATER BABY: Experiences of Water Birth and a custom-created Waterbirth Resource Providers List for your area (created from a database of 1,000+ waterbirth practitioners and facilities), are all you need.
"Great water birth website for our health practitioners who work with infants!" --- NRP Certification
| 2477 Folsom Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
phone: (415) 821-0435
fax: (415) 821-0434
Contact: karil [[at]] waterbirthinfo [[dot]] com
Entire site: copyright © Karil Daniels:
Content by Karil Daniels
|The use of this or any method of childbirth, especially without proper assistance, could result in problems. The creators of this site offer this information for educational purposes only. It is vital that anyone considering waterbirth enlist the help of qualified and experienced birthcare professionals who are familiar with waterbirth and more common birth methods and are able to recognize and deal with any problems that may occur.


text:
What a difference a congressional election cycle can make! Two years ago, before the congressional district boundaries had even been finalized, Democratic candidates were off and running in the 2012 elections for three of the four congressional seats Republicans held in Colorado. Only Doug Lamborn, from the reliably Republican 5th Congressional District that is dominated by Colorado Springs, didn't have an announced challenger.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Columbine Courier, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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text:
Télécharger Notepad++ 6.1.3
Release Date: 2012-05-28
Notepad++ Installer : Take this one if you have no idea which one you should take.
- Notepad++ zip package : Don't want to use installer? Check this one (zip format).
- Notepad++ 7z package : Don't want to use installer? 7z format.
- Notepad++ minimalist package : No theme, no plugin, no updater, quick download and play directly. 7z format.
- SHA-1 digests for binary packages : Check it if you're paranoid.
- Notepad++ source code : The source code of current version.
You can find sha1 digests for binaries package on Sourceforge as well.
Notepad++ v6.1.3 enhancement and fixed bugs:
- Enhance the performance issue for xml matching tags highlighting and for displaying clickable links.
- While the amount of file to open is larger than 200, a dialog will be shown to warn user.
- Fix Notepad++ close bug while move one cloned new empty document into another view, in the destination contained only this new empty document.
- Fix hanging problem while double-click on a project folder then (immediately) drag it.
- Fix a bug while command argument contain an empty string ("").
- Fix mouse cursor disappearing bug on right click while a project item is dragging.
Included plugins (Unicode)
- Spell Checker v1.3.3
- NppFTP 0.24.1
- NppExport v0.2.8
- Plugin Manager 1.0.8
- Converter 3.0


text:
How fast do you want to put away the groceries?
Before shopping: Let the kids do this if you can.
1. Clean out the fridge. Kids do this? That could be a bigger mess.
2. Clean off the kitchen counter.
3.Empty the dishwasher.
4. Load the dishwasher.
5 Clean out the sink.
When checking out:
Try to load the conveyor belt so certain items will be bagged together:
canned goods that go into the same cabinet
freezer items
staples: flour, sugar,
This helps somewhat.
How fast do you put away the groceries?
Cooking, herbs, gardening, sewing, flower arrangement, building, decorating, and more!
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Emergency Electrician Keon Park
Need an emergency electrician in Keon Park? Fluro Electrics have fully licensed electricians on call 24hrs – 7 days a week.
24hr Electrical Service Melbourne
Our 24 hour electrical service is available for both residential and commercial clients and can assist with issues such as:
- Power outage/power failure
- Safety switches tripping
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- Electrical fires
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- Warm or hot sockets or plugs
Our 24hr Electrical Service Level Agreement (SLA) includes:
- Free advice and troubleshooting over the phone
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We can also supply temporary power and lighting while we work to investigate and resolve your issue and we provide full follow up for anything that can't be fixed on the spot.
For 24 Hour Service in Keon Park call Fluro Electrics Emergency Electricians on 0408 446 758.


text:
Police: Syria airstrikes target Lebanon
BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese police official says that a Syrian warplane has carried out three airstrikes in the country, killing a farmer.
The police official said the airstrikes occurred early Friday, some four miles (seven kilometers) within Lebanese territory in the northeast near the town of Arsal. The police official said one impacted near a jeep, killing the farmer. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn't allowed to speak to the media.
Al-Manar, a television station affiliated with the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, said the strikes targeted gunmen.
Syrian warplanes occasionally strike in Lebanon, with supporters claiming they target gunmen. Syria's conflict, now in its fourth year, has seeped into Lebanon. There are over one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, while Islamic militants have bombed Shiite and Hezbollah areas.


text:
The American people have spoken, renewing President Obama's mandate for change for yet another four years. Following the announcement of Obama's reelection, Communist Party USA (CPUSA) chairman Sam Webb wrote an article in the CPUSA's official newspaper, People's World, expressing his contentment with the election results.
"After a long and bitterly contested battle, the forces of inclusive democracy came out on top yesterday," Webb said. "The better angels of the American people spread their wings, as they went to the polls."
Webb went on to reaffirm that the election results were in the CPUSA's favor:
The Communist Party said a year ago that the 2012 elections would be the main front of the class and democratic struggle, and subsequent events have confirmed that fact. Indeed, we argued ... that defeating right wing extremism was the key to moving the whole chain of democratic struggle forward in the coming period.
The key motivating factor behind the CPUSA's support of reelecting Obama and empowering the Democratic Party under his leadership was to prevent a "victory by right-wing extremism," according to Webb. "Had Romney won the Presidency and the Republicans the Congress, it would have accelerated to warp drive a capitalist class counterrevolution — a reversal of seventy years of social progress."
Between President Obama and Governor Romney, the Communist Party clearly had a preference and it won on election day. Webb's communist prescription, for what he ironically acknowledged as a "weak economy," is a repudiation of a centrist bipartisan solution that would include cuts to social welfare programs and entitlements while raising taxes. Instead, he proposes that the Left take Obama's reelection as a mandate for the continuation of an even more progressive approach. "On the table must be cutting military spending, ending corporate subsidies, and increasing corporate taxes," he said.
Unsurprisingly, Webb said nothing of the fact that in fiscal year 2011 the federal government spent approximately $1.03 trillion on 83 means-tested federal welfare programs, making social welfare the largest expenditure in the nation's budget; almost double that of the Pentagon.
Despite this convenient omission of economic reality, the Communist Party's primary target for spending cuts is the U.S. military, which may already be coming to fruition with Obama's cuts to the U.S. Navy fleet size to the lowest it has been since the First World War. Meanwhile, Russia has announced it will increase its military defense spending by 60 percent over the next three years. Optimistic of the future, Webb concluded by stating, "We are at the dawn of a new era."
Russia also expressed optimism in Obama's reelection. "For Russia, Obama's victory will be beneficial," Sergei Markov, a member of the Public Chamber and a former aide to Putin, told RIA Novosti, on November 7. Following the same vein of thought, Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated, "In general, the Kremlin is very positive to learn about Barack Obama's victory in the elections," according to Interfax.
Russia's "positive" response to Obama's reelection may have something to do with President Obama's open mic fiasco earlier this year, when during a regional nuclear security conference in South Korea, President Obama, unaware that his lapel mic was on air and cameras rolling, told then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on live television, "This is my last election. After my election, I'll have more flexibility." Medvedev replied, "I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir." Medvedev then leaned over patted Obama on the shoulder and told him, "I stand with you."
During an international conference in Moscow on Thursday, November 8, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told the press, "We hope that President Obama after his re-election will be more flexible on the issue of taking into the account the opinions of Russia and others regarding a future configuration of NATO's missile defense."
Obama's reelection, coupled with additional Democratic gains in the U.S. Senate, where they already possessed a majority, is likely to result in further U.S. "flexibility" with Moscow through normalizing U.S.-Russia trade relations. Page 24 of the 2012 Democratic National Platform states: "We support establishing permanent, normal trade relations with Russia because it would be good for the U.S. economy, for U.S. businesses, and for U.S. workers if we do."
This past summer, both the Democratic-led Senate Finance Committee and the Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation to repeal the Jackson-Vanik Act of 1974, which denied the Soviet Union permanent normal trade relations status. In the House, the Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 6156, also known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal Act of 2012.
The state-operated Rostech (Russian Technologies) has already announced it will purchase 35 Boeing 737 MAX airliners, which are still in development and scheduled for first delivery in 2017. Rostech signed a deal back in October to purchase the aircraft for $3.5 billion. With the Jackson-Vanik Act repealed, Russia will have greater access to advanced U.S. technology, which they would then be able to reverse engineer and/or retrofit for military use.
In addition to drastic cuts to U.S. defense spending, repealing the Jackson-Vanik Act has been a key objective of the Communist Party USA and Soviet sympathizers in the United States since the legislation was first enacted. Now with both the CPUSA and Russia pleased to have their preferred candidate in the White House for a lame-duck second term, both are likely to see an increase in favorable and flexible polices. With flexibility on the horizon, Sam Webb and the Communist Party's new "dawn" may just culminate into a Russian Red Dawn for America.


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AEI's Rick Hess worries that school choice advocates are moving into the public messaging arena with "brazenly manipulative" flicks that rely on shallow "sound bites." He cites the screening of five documentaries at an upcoming national conference in San Franscisco to argue his point.
I can't comment on them as a whole–I haven't seen them all–but I would like to point out that there will actually be at least eight screenings at next month's conference. Among them will be a brief sample of a proposed six-part documentary series called School, Inc. Taking Educational Excellence from Candle to Flame. This series, inspired by James Burke's Connections and Carl Sagan's Cosmos, would take viewers on a world-wide quest to answer one very important question: why is excellence routinely replicated and spread on a massive scale in every field except education?
The series hasn't been shot yet, and perhaps distributors today won't think viewers are still interested in the kind of challenging, thought-provoking documentary series that so captivated me (and millions of others) in my teen years. But the project's advisory board includes Jay Mathews, Paul Peterson, James Tooley, and Michael Horn, my co-producers and co-writers (Patrick Prentice and Tim Baney) have more than half-a-century of documentary filmmaking experience between them, and I've been studying school systems around the globe and across history for the better part of two decades. We're confident that this series will be both substantive and entertaining, and think that American (and foreign) audiences are very interested in the subject matter. As we start to pitch to distributors in the coming months, we'll find out if they agree.
Stay tuned….


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With the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill currently before select committee the Government is proposing changes that will gut our Emissions Trading Scheme in favour of big polluters.They have invited public submissions, but allowed only an extraordinarily short time in which to have your say. You have until next Monday 10 September to take action on this very important issue.The proposed changes heavily favour big polluters, undermine environmental protection and will damage the clean, green reputation that's so vital to NZ's economy.The bill is a deliberate attempt to destroy the price of carbon and sideline New Zealand's clean energy sector in favour of the Government's 19th century dirty energy agenda.At a time when urgent action is needed on climate, this sends a very bad signal to the world that New Zealand is not serious about being part of the solution to climate change.The record low Arctic sea ice recorded only days ago should be a reality check that urgent action on climate is required.We must phase out the dirty old fuels that pollute land, water and air, and phase in the new, clean and safe energy production that can create thousands of jobs and lasting economic prosperity for New Zealand.Greenpeace strongly opposes the bill - and ask our supporters to stand with us.Submissions must be made via the Govt website we have put together some bullet points to make it as easy for you as possible. It should only take a few minutes and it's very important that we don't let this pass.Click here to have your say now.
Nathan Argent is the Policy Advisor for Greenpeace New Zealand based in Wellington and is a long time Greenpeace campaigner with an interest in clean technology solutions.


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Home » Employee Volunteering » Blackbaud Outcomes Solution Overview
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Innovation & Social Change: A Conversation with Rachel Hutchisson of Blackbaud & Paul Klein of Impakt
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Users of the web giant's free Gmail email service have been attacked by hackers believed to be working for the Chinese government, although Beijing angrily denied involvement. Those targeted included democracy activists, the personal email accounts of American and South Korean officials and military personnel.
Now Google will warn such vulnerable users and encourage them to tighten their security settings.
"We are constantly on the lookout for malicious activity on our systems, in particular attempts by third parties to log into users' accounts unauthorised," said Eric Grosse, Google's vice president of security engineering.
"When we have specific intelligence - either directly from users or from our own monitoring efforts - we show clear warning signs and put in place extra roadblocks to thwart these bad actors."
A new red warning bar will appear at the top of threatened users' Google accounts.
Some users said they have already been issued with a warning, such as Marc Ambinder, an American journalist specialising in national security.
Google said it could not go into the details of how it knew some users could be the target of state spies because it could help the attackers. It said only that "detailed analysis" and "victim reports" strongly suggested "the involvement of states or groups that are state-sponsored".
"We believe it is our duty to be proactive in notifying users about attacks or potential attacks so that they can take action to protect their information," said Mr Grosse.
"And we will continue to update these notifications based on the latest information."
The development prompted speculation that Google was working more closely with intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency, America's eavesdropping agency, which has growing cyber security responsibilities.
Christopher Soghoian, a US security and privacy expert, tweeted: "If the NSA, as part of its relationship with Google, shared foreign state attacker info, would Google reveal NSA was the source? Doubtful."
Google has said that state-sponsored attacks on Gmail users were partly behind its 2010 decision to pull out of mainland China.
Hackers backed by Iran and Russia have also been accused of attempts to monitor Gmail accounts.


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Story highlights
- A second suspect is arrested
- The man is arrested in Tucson
- It was the result of tips from the public, officials say
- Immigration agency's "Operation Sunflower" identifies 123 child victims of pornography, abuse
A high-profile appeal for help from the public to solve three child pornography cases has led to the arrest of two suspects, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Friday.
ICE said it took Lance Robert Fries, 43, into custody Friday afternoon at his attorney's office in Tucson. He faces potential federal charges of production of child pornography and is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court Monday, ICE said.
Thursday night, Letha Mae Montemayor, 52, was arrested outside a Los Angeles apartment building after law enforcement officials received multiple tips and located her, authorities said Friday. She is charged with one count of production of child pornography and one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography.
The two arrests came after ICE asked for the public's help in identifying four suspects in three unsolved child pornography cases.
Montemayor, previously known as "Jane Doe," was allegedly involved in one of the cases along with an unidentified man.
Fries, called "John Doe" until he was identified, was allegedly involved in a second case, ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said. The suspect in the third case is still unidentified, she said.
According to ICE, Montemayor was identified as a suspect through the tattoos and her facial appearance and was arrested less than 10 hours after the appeal for tips.
Montemayor is expected to have an initial court appearance Monday. CNN was unable to learn whether she has a lawyer.
"This arrest would not have happened without the public's help, and it demonstrates how much individual citizens can do to help law enforcement attack crime," ICE Director John Morton said in a statement issued Friday.
Her case involves the alleged sexual molestation of an unidentified girl. Investigators believe the abuse took place about 11 years ago when the girl was around 13 years old, but the pornographic images were widely circulated. ICE posted pictures on its website of an unidentified woman and man suspected of abusing the girl.
The woman had very distinctive tattoos visible in the pictures. A criminal complaint alleged the woman is seen in about five images sexually abusing the girl.
So far, law enforcement officials have not learned the name or location of the man suspected in the Jane Doe abuse case, and they are still seeking the public's help in finding him.
The girl whom the pair allegedly abused also has not been identified. ICE officials said they believe she is now an adult.
Morton made the appeal for identifying the suspects at a news conference Thursday in Washington, when he announced the results of Operation Sunflower. It is an international operation aimed at child pornography and sexual abuse in which 245 suspects were arrested and 123 victims of child exploitation were identified.
Late Thursday night, special agents received a call to the ICE tip line regarding John Doe's possible identity.
That case involved the sexual exploitation of a prepubescent boy by an adult male. Investigators were able to identify the victim and confirm that the boy is now safe.
In order to protect the victim's privacy, ICE said it would release no details about his identity or relationship to the suspect.
The pornographic images involving the girl were first discovered by ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents in Chicago in 2007. The pictures were submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Child Victim Identification Program.
ICE determined the images were not related to any known case and the victim hadn't been identified. Through forensic analysis, agents determined the images were taken in the Los Angeles area. A 2001 wall calendar was visible in some pictures, helping officials determine the abuse happened 11 years ago.
In the John Doe case, HSI special agents first discovered the images in Portland, Oregon, in 2006.
The material was submitted to the Child Victim Identification Program, which determined the victim had not yet been identified and was not linked with other known child pornography images.
"This is truly a remarkable turn of events and it again demonstrates the collective power that can be brought to bear when law enforcement and the public team up to combat the sexual exploitation of children," Morton said. "Those who produce and trade child pornography over the Internet believe they're protected by the anonymity of cyberspace. Through our collective efforts, we're proving these predators wrong and gaining justice for their innocent victims."


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The real winners in any console war are the people who wait a while, enjoy their current systems, and then upgrade a year or so after each system comes out. You get lower prices, you can be more confident in your hardware, and of course you have your choice of all the patched-up games that now have plenty of content to pick up online. Microsoft will be releasing the next batch of Platinum Hits games for the 360 next month, with each game priced at $30. What games will be included in this line?
- Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (Electronic Arts)
- Burnout Revenge (Electronic Arts)
- Call of Duty 2 (Activision)
- Dead or Alive 4 (TECMO Inc.)
- Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts)
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft)
- Top Spin 2 (2K Sports)
- Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games)
I paid full price for many of these games, and I don't regret it. I'm glad Microsoft has such a strong lineup for the next batch of games on the 360, because if you sprinkle a few bad games in there, it hurts the perceived value of the Platinum Hits branding very quickly. And this is mostly a branding issue anyway; if you look around you can find these games for $30 or less already. The only difference will be the silvery package.
So does something like this affect your console-buying decision, knowing that there will be a good selection of more affordable games?


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RapidWeaver Classwroom is a Web-based service that offers a number of registration options.
RapidWeaver Classroom gives you access to an extensive library of constantly-updated video tutorials, enabling you to build professional websites with RapidWeaver. Let our 7 years of RapidWeaver experience pass to you, so you can quickly and easily take control of your website!
- 300+ video tutorials
- New tutorials every month
- RapidWeaver 5 detailed
- Theme selection


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Nou Camp star linked with Old Trafford move.
Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano. The former Liverpool man has failed to secure a regular spot in the Nou Camp starting eleven and was even used as a makeshift centre back in the Copa Del Rey Final and could be interested in a Premier League return.
Mascherano has barely featured in Pep Guardiola's first eleven as young Spanish international Sergio Busquets continues to impress at the heart of the Barcelona midfield, this has led to the battler feeling frustrated on the bench, a situation the San Lorenzo born star has not experienced in his career.
The tigerish midfielder has started just 14 games for Barcelona this season, six of those in the Copa Del Rey, and may well be tempted by the chance of a move to the Premier League table toppers, regardless of the fact they are the arch rivals of his former side.
Ferguson has been linked with moves to bring a new defensive force into the centre of his midfield, not least because Owen Hargreaves seems no nearer to ending his injury woes. A move for Mascherano may appear at first surprising given his previous stint at Anfield, but his proven record at Premier League level will greatly interest the Old Trafford boss.
Barcelona paid £22m to sign Mascherano last summer and Pep Guardiola may be willing to offload the 26 year old to help balance the books. The Catalan giants are reportedly experiencing some financial problems and if a suitable offer was made then perhaps the La Liga champions would consider selling the Argentine international.


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Its here again! MONDAY!!! N woke up and went to work!! Yay for N!! Even though the drive is a little bit of a commute, I know he enjoys working now. I on the other hand am continuing my job search as a I lay here in bed. I woke up when N did, and can't go back to sleep, which is odd since I had some wine last night and that usually always makes me pass out after 1 glass ( I know, I am a light weight).
So yesterday my boyfriend whom I keep in the back room, was calling my name so loud! "KARLI!! YOU BETTER GET IN HERE AND RUN!!" I kept that door shut. I tried to tell him, "Tred Mill, I have ran 3 miles from Tuesday to Saturday faithfully, but he wasn't satisfied. He wanted more than that and when I told him that Saturday I had actually ran outside, well then I could tell he was jealous. So today I HAVE to visit him, and I am sure he is going to take out all of his aggression on me every second of those 3 miles!
So how was your weekend beautifuls? Mine was pretty uneventful. We rented I love you, man and it had some funny parts, but I would rate it a 6 outta 10. It didn't have me rolling on the floor. On Saturday I went for a run in the country (much better than watching tv while your run)for about 35 minutes(it was SOOOO HOT!!), then I came back and washed my car since it was a mess, then layed out by the pool. It was most def a hot one and a made for working on your tan. Sunday was church and laying out again :) Man it's gonna be a harsh wake up call when I work (But the paycheck/security) will make up for it all :D
Have a GREAT Monday lovelies!


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10 Reasons to Ski Queenstown in 2015
Queenstown is an epic destination and an absolute must for any Australian skier or snowboarder.
Queenstown is an epic destination and an absolute must for any Australian skier or snowboarder. It's the destination with so much to do and see, that you will have to make sure you fit in plenty of skiing and boarding!
Here are the top 10 reasons to visit Queenstown for a ski holiday in 2015:
1. Proximity - only a few hours from Sydney or Melbourne, a direct flight into Queenstown plus a taxi or shuttle will have you in your hotel within 4 hours of taking off from Australia. That's quicker than driving from Sydney to Thredbo! Book early - the direct flights are popular!
2. Spoilt for Choice - Choose your mountain each morning - Coronet Peak and Remarkables are the two closest to Queenstown, or Cardrona and Treble Cone, which are a little further to travel but worth the extra effort. If you hear 'Powder Day' - get up early and go to Treble Cone.
3. Fergberger. Go there. You will then understand. Or check out this article at Wanderlusters
4. Lake Wakatipu - its big and its scenic. Queenstown is set on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, which is surrounded by snow covered mountain ranges. Definitely a lovely sight to wake up to from your Lakeview Hotel Room!
5. Bungeeeeee!!! Get some adrenalin into you with activities such as bungee jumping, canyon swing, jetboating, sky diving and more. Just wander down the main street in town to see what's on offer and get inspired.
6. It's closer than Japan or Canada, and you don't have to wait until December to get your next international snow holiday!
7. Queenstown Accommodation - there is something for everyone, from the $30/night backpackers to 5 star luxury with all the trimmings. Also, staying in a town means you do not pay the premium prices that one snow accommodation normally attracts, so the value for money is pretty good. Plus if you book early, there is plenty of awesome earlybird ski deals available!
8. Milford Sound - you can visit it for a day trip from Queenstown and tick it off your bucket list. Immerse yourself in the natural beauty of New Zealand. Oh yeah - if you like Hobbit's then you will right at home too!
9. Wine - the Otago region is well known for it's wine, and if you fancy a day off from tearing up the slopes, why not have a little tour of some wineries. You are sure to be able to sample some lovely local produce as well.
10. Did we mention the awesome skiing and snowboarding?
Book Your 2015 Queenstown ski holiday over at Ski Travel Company now!
Artigo de
Ski Travel Company
Ski Travel are New Zealand ski holiday specialist. Whether it be a Queenstown ski trip, Wanaka holiday or visiting Methven / Mt Hutt, we provide the best value package deals including flights, accommodation, transport, ski lift passes and more.


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Boston Bomb Victim Heals with IRONMAN
A Boston Marathon bombing victim is finding solace halfway across the world when she takes on her first IRONMAN race at Cairns.
By Daniel Hoy
Boston's Shi-Hua Chin, who had completed the famed Boston marathon three times, was just metres away from the bomb blast last year, working with an event sponsor at the finish line. It has taken her many months to to move on from the horrors of that day, much of that spent living with her sister in Australia. Chin has decided to take that one step further when she tackles the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns on 8 June.
"Of the countless times that I've visited Australia, I've never been to Cairns, so what better way to see the region than over the course of an IRONMAN," Chin said.
She has completed a number of IRONMAN 70.3 events, but this is her first time competing in a full-distance race.
"I'm pretty intimidated about the distance," she says. "I'm very much looking forward to it, but I'm a little scared of the swim. As long as I make it out before the cut off, I'll be pleased. I know I can handle the biking and running. And I can't wait to see my sister when I run across that finish line."
Chin was working for a company that was responsible for sponsor activation at the Boston Marathon, and was checking on the Gatorade stand at the finish line.
"The first bomb went off and I thought it was a cannon, but the second bomb went off 20 metres from where I was standing. The chaos was mind-numbing, the fear in people's eyes was unforgettable. I saw people getting wheeled off in stretchers, missing limbs and blood gushing. It was something that I will never forget."
Chin, just 22 at the time, tried to keep her composure and help those in need. However she kept thinking about her own safety.
"Am I going to die today, how many more bombs are there and will I see my friends and family again? Those were some of the thoughts going through my mind."
When it was over, Chin found her bike, hid in a nearby alleyway and sobbed uncontrollably.
Therapy has helped a slow healing process and she has spent time in Australia as part of that.
"My sister lives in Sydney and I was in Sydney for two months just to escape Boston after the marathon. I love Australia, the weather and the people."
At some point on race day Chin's mind will likely take her back to that dreadful day in Boston, and it will be the good she witnessed, not the bad, that will inspire her to finish.
"I witnessed both the worst and the best of humanity. It makes me angry about the whole thing, but Bostonians are a hard people. They are loyal to their city, their sports teams and they have so much pride," she says. "They refuse to be messed with, and that's what I love about living in Boston. The people are truly strong."


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Media Contact: TPWD News, firstname.lastname@example.com, 512-389-8030
Nov. 12, 2012
Nominations Sought for Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame
Deadline for submission of nominations is December 31
ATHENS, Texas — Individuals or organizations that have made a lasting contribution to freshwater fishing in Texas may be nominated through December 31 for induction into the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.
Nominations may be made in the categories of industry, angler or media. The nominee must be a Texan or Texas organization. Individuals may be either living or deceased. Selection will be made by an independent committee; induction will take place during the annual Hall of Fame banquet at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens.
Persons wishing to submit a nomination should note that the deadline for submission has been changed to December 31.
Prior inductees include Floyd Mabry, Jackie Hewlett, R.D. Hull, Bob Kemp, Nick Crème, Charlie Inman, Sugar Ferris, Leonard Ranne, Earl Golding, Kathy Magers, the Sabine River Authority, Skeeter Boats, Michael ("Shorty") Powers, Ray Murski, Albert S. ("Buddy") Bradley, Richard M. Hart, William B. ("Doc") Shelton, Charlie Pack, Paul Hinton, Edward Bond, Philip Durocher, David Campbell, Tommy Martin and Lonnie Stanley.
Members of the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame committee include Philip Durocher, former director of the Inland Fisheries Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD); Dave Terre, chief of management and research for the Inland Fisheries Division of TPWD; Alton Jones, professional angler; Dan Kessler, Assistant Director of Transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments and a member of the Texas State Bass Tournament committee; Dale Rabe, retired, former General Motors executive, current small business owner and member of the Texas State Bass Tournament committee.
Also, Amanda Murski, owner, Murski-Breeding Sales Company; Tim Cook, owner of Cook's Sharpening Service and conservation director for the Texas BASS Federation Nation; Bob Lusk, publisher of Pond Boss magazine and private waters management consultant; Buddy Bradley, retired, formerly customer relations manager for T.U. Electric and advisor to Shakespeare Tackle Company and Bomber Bait Company; Dr. Billy Higginbotham, professor and extension wildlife and fisheries specialist, Texas A & M University; and Richard Ray, anchor/reporter for Fox4 News in Dallas/Fort Worth.
Nomination forms and instructions are available on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department web site or by calling (903) 670-2255.
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At Pure 4Runner, you will find the largest selection of 4Runner parts and accessories on the web. We are dedicated to providing you with the best customer service around.
We do our best to ship all items the same day the order is placed, custom requests may take longer. We do our best to deliver most items within 5-6 business days, most will show up much sooner. Not all items come from our shop in Texas. If your order contains items from multiple suppliers/warehouses, you will potentially receive tracking numbers and items at different times.
Here at Pure 4Runner, a Pure Auto Parts Inc company, we understand the importance of maintaining our customers privacy online. We understand that in this time of spam e-mail, and credit card fraud our customers want to know and have the right to know how personal information is handled.
This is a true RED cover with a carbon fiber pattern. This color is a near exact match for Radiant Red Tacomas and FJ Cruisers . If you are looking for a true red this cover with its carbon fiber pattern looks sharp with almost anything you pair it with! Keep in mind, your screen might not be calibrated to show actual color.
This is the 15" (longer) Custom Jack Cover that provides the maximum level of protection for your jack.
Product 3/11
WARNING: This product may contain chemicals knownto the State of California to cause cancer, birth defectsand other reproductive harm.