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The Titanic, the ship, did not prove to be as unsinkable as initially expected. "Titanic," the film, has proven to be far more seaworthy.
Although Hollywood insiders expected the film, which was the first movie budgeted over $200 million, to be writer-director James Cameron's own iceberg - his first costly flop after a string of hits ("Terminator," "Aliens," "Terminator 2" and "True Lies") - "Titanic" more than surprised its early detractors by becoming not just a box office hit, but a full-fledged pop cultural phenomenon. It became the highest grossing movie of all time within months of its release – the first film to cross the billion-dollar global total – and it made international stars out of leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
Earlier this year, the film re-proved its box office buoyancy after a 3D-converted theatrical release brought in an additional worldwide gross of $342.1 million, raising its cumulative all-time box office total to a staggering $2.19 billion.
But it's the combination of intimate story and eye-popping spectacle that has kept "Titanic" at the forefront of the hearts of film lovers. On Sept. 11 the film is ready to stun again, this time on Blu-ray in both lavish 3D and 2D versions. Jon Landau, Cameron's producing partner on both "Titanic" and the even more successful 3D phenomenon "Avatar," offers an exclusive remembrance of the film's wild ride – along with a little tease about the "Avatar" sequels to come.
It must be a treat for you, 15 years later, to see the evergreen quality of "Titanic" as formats and different theatrical releases come out.
I think whenever you set out to make a movie you hope that it'll endure. You really never know if it will, but to see the response that we got from the [3D] theatrical release and the people who still hold the experience of seeing this movie near and dear to their hearts, there really can be nothing more rewarding. And now, thanks to the quality of Blu Ray, we're able to deliver that in their homes, which we weren't able to do when we first went to the home entertainment market 15 years ago. We were on VHS back then. That was really the big, huge: 99% of our sales were VHS sales. So the idea that we could finally bring a high quality presentation, both 2-D and 3D, into people's homes to let them relive "Titanic" is very exciting for us.
As part of the filmmaking team that pioneered the new popularity of 3D with "Avatar," what gets you excited about the 3D home video version of "Titanic"?
I think people have a misconception about why 3D is important to people, as filmmakers. For us, we believe that 3D engages the audience more in your narrative storytelling, and in fact it is the dramatic scenes that play at a heightened level because of the 3D. I think that's what people discovered when they saw "Titanic" in 3D: the sinking is the sinking and it's great and it looks spectacular, but in those intimate moments – when you go into Rose's room and see that her mother is tying the corset – the 3D puts you in the room with her, almost like a silent voyeur.
Can you talk about what Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were like then, during the making of the film, and what it's been like to see what this film really did them for them, personally and professionally?
Well, look, when we were casting "Titanic" it was very important for us to find the best actor and actress for those two roles, ones who could be chameleons and ones who you could believe it was a first love. That's what 'Titanic' is about: it's about a first love. We did an old fashioned screen test with a number of different actresses, Kate being one of them, and she blew us away. I mean, she blew us away with her performance, and to watch the two of them go through the filmmaking process, both only really having done small movies before, Kate in particular. It's her story, the movie. She wore the burden of this huge production on her shoulders at the ripe old age of 20, or whatever she was at the time – and Leo, at the same time, when he was very young. But what he was able to do was to turn it on and turn it off. When he wasn't needed on the set he was back there playing video games, playing basketball, having a great time. But when you got him on the set it turned and he was all professional, all in character and always delivered for us.
The release of "Titanic," I think, was very hard for both of them, because I don't think either one of them ever wanted to be stars. That was never their goal. Their goals were to be great actors, and suddenly Leo couldn't go out. He couldn't go to the supermarket down his block anymore. I think that suddenly he started wearing the baseball cap and covering his eyes and doing those things. So I think that was a very big adjustment for them, to suddenly become celebrities and stars out of this film.
Even with all of Jim Cameron's previous successes, this movie was a bit of an underdog when it was first released, then it turned into a full-fledged phenomenon. What was that experience like?
When we set out to make the movie, we thought that it was an important movie, an important story to tell, not just because of the romance, but because of the metaphors and the themes that people could walk away from the movie with. During the making of the film, our goal at the time was to make a movie that would be akin to something like "Dances With Wolves," where we knew it was going to be a three-hour-plus movie. We would hope that it would do okay at the box office, but none of us could have ever expected the phenomenal success that we were lucky enough to realize. As we began to experience that in the release, I was so proud of Jim and the fact that through the process of making this movie, which was such a difficult movie to make, he never lost sight of the story. He never lost sight of the characters, and that's why people go to movies. That's why they go over and over to movies, because of the characters, it's because of the relationship. He didn't get caught up in the spectacle. He didn't get caught up in the production hardships. He didn't get caught up in the visual FX. He always kept the focus on story and character.
You and Jim will be working on new "Avatar" movies – two in a row! What's been the process on that? Have you cracked the story yet?
I think that we've cracked the basic story for both films. Each film has to be a standalone movie on its own – and the way that I look at it, Jim Cameron has done two sequels in his career and I'd argue that both times those sequels have at least lived up to what the first movies delivered on. That's what we plan to do this time, and it all starts with the script. Jim is diligently working on that, with the stories having taken shape and we're already working with WETA Digital and our team of people down at Manhattan Beach Studios to make sure that this production brings technology and efficiency to new levels in the virtual production world.
Is there an innovation you're planning at this point that's going to raise the bar even farther than "Avatar" had?
You know what, I think that we are. I don't know that it's definable. I don't know that it'll be as obviously stated. I think it'll be a result of the final product, when you see the performances up on the screen. Again, movies are about the close-up and the more emotive and engaging we can make the close-up performances as we move forward the better our storytelling is going to be.


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If you've been following the drama surrounding David Einhorn and his firm, Greenlight Capital, then this is all familiar stuff. If not, we've got the quick recap for you. A big hedge fund that owns Appel stock wants Apple to stop being so stingy with its cash and give some back to shareholders.
Yes, Apple pays a dividend on common shares, but Einhorn from Greenlight Capital argues that it isn't enough. He's probably right since Apple has way more cash than it needs. The business currently holds $137 billion in cash and is generating way more than it pays out in dividends these days. The cash pile is more than 30% of Apple's market value, a higher ratio than Cisco, Microsoft, or Google (all cash-rich companies).
Einhorn feels that Apple shareholders aren't seeing the value of all this cash. That's because if a company holds tons of cash and isn't paying out the cash (or using the cash), it tends to get discounted by the market. As evidence, he shows the ex-cash price to earnings multiples for several tech stocks. Apple trades at a lower valuation than Microsoft! The insanity of this seems obvious to me. It represents hidden value. Einhorn wants Apple to unlock this value.
One way to do this is just increase the dividend. But Einhorn has another fairly clever way to handle it. At first I didn't really see the benefit, but I think I understand it better now and thought I'd share my simple explanation here.
Einhorn thinks Apple should consider issuing perpetual preferred stock to all shareholders. These perpetual prefs are something he has coined as being 'iPrefs', which is just a clever name.
Normally preferred shares have a maturity date. At some point in the future the company would have to buy them back from the shareholder. So a perpetual pref is just a preferred share with no maturity date. It's an equity instrument that pays a fixed dividend every quarter.
Why is this a neat idea? Because the way these perpetual prefs would be valued is similar to how a perpetuity is valued. It's a series of cash flows (dividends) with no growth. The value of a perpetuity is equal to the annual cash flow divided by the discount rate. In a very low interest rate environment (like we have today), and with a very low risk of default (because Apple is mega rich), the iPrefs would trade at quite a high price per share relative to the dividend.
Importantly, they also preserve Apple's cash balance. Because the prefs pay out dividends annually, they leave Apple with nearly all of its cash intact, while still being valued fully in the market. For example, if the iPrefs had a $2 annual dividend and traded at $50 per share (this implies a 4% discount rate), then shareholders would get the extra $50 up front but Apple keeps its cash too. It still pays out cash slowly.
If Apple issued one iPref to shareholders for each common share, it definitely could unlock a lot of value immediately. And by separating the dividend from the common shares, investors could choose for themselves whether to keep the iPrefs (and the income from them), or sell them in the open market and, for example, reinvest in more Apple stock.
Einhorn thinks Apple should start slowly, issuing one $50 iPref for each common share. His firm believes each iPref issued would unlock about $30 of value per share. Apple could eventually issue about 5 iPrefs per common share, unlocking $150 per share. This would be similar to doubling the current dividend, which his firm calculates would unlock only $65 per share (this assumes Apple stock would trade at a 4% yield, but I think it could easily trade at a lower dividend yield)
If Apple gave me this option I'd gladly sell the iPrefs and buy more AAPL common. No question. But I don't really have a need for the extra dividend income at this point in my life.
It's worth pointing out that if Apple traded at a lofty price to earnings multiple, people wouldn't say the value of the company's cash was being ignored. This idea is only a good idea because of the extremely low interest rate environment combined with the extremely low price to earnings multiple on Apple stock.
I say "only" ... but that doesn't take away from the fact that it is actually a good idea despite the "silly sideshow" lawsuit (Tim Cook's words) that Einhorn has initiated against Apple.
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European consumer group demands compensation from Apple over batterygate
A consumer association is demanding compensation from Apple over claims it slowed down user's iPhones.
iPhone 12's 'high-end' camera production 4-6 weeks behind schedule
Estimates suggest production is currently 4-6 weeks behind.
Analyst claims Apple has a 10-year lead in wearables, and that's being kind
Apple analyst Neil Cybart has a new, lengthy post up touting Apple's wearables market amongst other things.
Get 4K for your Mac with these great monitors
To get the most out of your Mac, you need a beautiful display. A 4K monitor is a huge step in the right direction. Here are the best 4K monitors for your Mac.

subset: commoncrawl


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If you made it through "Gnomeo & Juliet," you know this is a terrible idea.
Elton John will again team up with Rocket Pictures and writer-director Kelly Asbury to make "Will Gallows and the Snake Bellied Troll," reported Deadline.
The film will be a live-action/CGI-animated feature based on a series of books by Derek Keilty that follow a young cowpoke as he makes his way through an Old West blended with elements of fantasy. And of course, it will be loaded with music.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
John's first stab at film-making, which involved the same team of folks, was "Gnomeo & Juliet," a retelling of Shakespeare's classic love story, but wth the feuding families being gnomes from neighboring yards. with the voices of James McAvoy and Emily Blunt in the leads. It was stupid, boring and tired, and brimming with retoolings of John's hits from the '70s.


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Growing up in the Greater New Orleans Area, I thought knew everything there was to know about Louisiana Mardi Gras.
I was wrong.
I grew up with the big, spectacular floats and bejeweled kings and queens of New Orleans Carnival. About 150 miles away from the hustle and bustle of the Crescent City's biggest party of the year, there is another indigenous Mardi Gras celebration in Louisiana's Cajun country.
This was my first year experiencing the country cousin of my usual Mardi Pardi. My friend Jake and I weaved through country roads following my cousin Laura Gerdes Colligan and her Cajun husband Lucas Colligan — he grew up in Church Point, La., where we were headed to see the Courir de Mardi Gras. His family property hosts the last stop on the Church Point parade route, a coveted position.
When we arrived at the family estate, it was a different setting from where I usually catch parades in New Orleans. Instead of iron balconies and formidable crowds, space outnumbered people. The property was a few football fields in length. The houses were far apart and faced the road, sharing acres of land for a backyard.
When we got out the cars, we noticed license plates from across the country: Oregon, Iowa, Nevada and more were spotted, all present to observe this venerable Cajun celebration. Lucas explained that we were parked outside his aunt's house (the parade crossed on the road in front of her home), and the houses facing the perpendicular street off the shared field all belonged to kin, other aunts and uncles, his own childhood home and the site of his great-grandfather's dairy and house.
"And, across the street is all cousins," he said with a smile.
When we entered the house, it was a pretty typical Mardi Gras scene. A clock ticked on the wall that had fives in place of every number. And, though there were more than one hundred people, there was no way we could finish all the food. A huge pot of chicken and sausage gumbo simmered on the stove, which several people assured me was cooked by cousin Paul, the best cook in the state of Louisiana. I have to say that was some damn good gumbo. There was jambalaya, king cake, pralines and, of course, being in Cajun country, boudin — a spicy meat and rice stuffed sausage casing.
A Cajun band played (yes, there was a washboard) on the covered patio. People danced to songs that caught their attention or quietly listened in lawn chairs. A "Cajun microwave," or enclosed wooden pit, cooked a whole pig inside, a cochon de lait. Guests began to arrive in the traditional Cajun Carnival costumes, especially children.
These fringed fabric outfits stem from medieval satirical dress, similar in appearance to a court jester's garb. Since Carnival is historically a time to enjoy life before Lenten penitence, the costumes are a way to make fun of life's hierarchies. The hats, or capuchons, still worn today at Cajun Mardi Gras reflect these feudal origins: conical hats (capuchons in French) mock nobility, Bishop's miters represent the papal state and four corner hats symbolize academics. Similar to New Orleans, parade members wear masks to hide one's identity and let loose before Lent.
Carnival is a day to turn society on its head and revel in the roles you don't live on a daily basis. The costumes I saw still reflect these origins, but with a contemporary twist. Some of the fabrics were modern in print, with men in NFL Saints patterns and children's donning their favorite cartoon characters. One little girl wore a Dora the Explorer emblazoned piece.
The tradition of the Cajun Courir de Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday run, was brought with Cajuns from rural France to Acadie (modern Canada) to Louisiana where it evolved into a quest for Gumbo. Men on horseback would travel from house to house throughout a Cajun town, begging for ingredients for a communal gumbo — offerings could be anything from onions to a live chicken.
Today, the gumbo is made before and during the run, not after, and modern stops only collect one item: the chicken.
Every house on the route has a few live chickens or guinea hens ready in a cage to throw for the riders to race and catch — and the competition is fierce.
Lucas explained that men ages 15 and up ride in something called the chicken wagon, or large trailers, and go with the men on horseback from house to house competing to catch the most chickens. The winner gets a trophy at the end of the race. Some families passionately defend this title, their surname synonymous with chicken getting. Lucas said he rode on the wagon in his teens and early 20s.
"I did it every year. It's a right of passage," he said, adding that in his tenure he caught about three chickens. Lucas noted that one house varies from the modern chicken tradition, with a race to capture a greased pig.
After the men on horseback dance as an offering for the house and the chickens are caught, they perform a few more stunts and ride on with a parade following. At Lucas's family compound, the riders and chicken wagon linger here longer than other houses on the route as his is the last stop. And the action is everywhere. The field was inundated with dozens of horses as spectators mingled among them freely. Riders stood on their mounts before swiftly riding off the property as a daunting group.
The parade that soon followed was different from what you see in New Orleans, though it was just as much fun.
Parade members don't wear intricate gowns or uniform silk jumpsuits like krewes, parade groups, in the Big Easy. Instead they don themed t-shirts or homemade costumes. The parade was pulled by trucks instead large tractors and floats are adorned with handmade decorations. The overall schedule is pastoral and relaxed.
There are fewer restrictions than at New Orleans parades too, riders can leave their floats and visit with the crowd and coveted parade throws — in addition to beads — are jell-o shots.
After 100 truck floats passed, our necks heavy with beads, Laura, Jake and I sat on the patio with our chairs facing the open field, blue skies and 70-degree weather. There was no rush to get across town or leave the house.
I think I could get used to Cajun Mardi Gras.


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Yes, now you can visit Little Bighorn and Gettysburg without leaving the comfort and safety of your home or office. As much as I love this stuff, these webcams didn't hold my attention for too long. Now, if they'd had these cameras up during the fighting. . .
Tag Archives: battlefield webcams
Battlefield Webcams
Filed under Civil War, History on the Web


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Into the Dragon's Lair: A Fantasy Escape Room
WARNING: This event may have been cancelled. As of 7 days ago (3:30 pm Monday July 6th, 2020) it was not present in the official listings. Check with the official Gen Con site before planning to attend.
|Web site:
|info (at) cuadventures.com (Replace (at) with @ for real address.)
|Isle of Misfit Events
|Game system not specified
|Time slot:
|Thu Aug 1 9:45 am - 11:15 am (1 hour 30 minutes)
|Chris Lukeman, Corey Fuhrhop, Barry Abrams, Sarah Cooper, Andy Schopp, Anne Lukeman (CU Adventures in Time & Space)
|Everyone (6+)
|Experience required:
|None (You've never played before - rules will be taught)
|Materials provided?
|JW, room Grand Ballroom 7, table HQ
|This event may have been cancelled. 0 out of 8 were available.
|Event added:
|Mon May 6 3:45 pm
WARNING: This event may have been cancelled. As of 7 days ago (3:30 pm Monday July 6th, 2020) it was not present in the official listings. Check with the official Gen Con site before planning to attend.
A dragon is terrorizing the kingdom, & it's up to you to stop it in this 80-minute multi room escape adventure!
In this immersive live-action puzzle game, your team has 80 minutes to traverse an interdimensional rift, discover the secrets of a fantastical realm, and save the kingdom from a fearsome dragon! This brand-new adventure features a unique twist on the escape room experience. Your team will face not a single escape room, but a series of 4 different chambers, each with its own immersive set design and challenges. Our largest game ever, your quest takes you from game night to the depths of a dungeon full of traps and puzzles. After the adventure, there is an optional metapuzzle teams can complete, using clues found throughout the game. Each session features self-adjusting difficulty levels to challenge new players and escape room veterans alike! Duration includes a 10-minute scenario introduction, four 15-minute chambers, and a 10-minute post-game breakdown and metapuzzle.


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Three new Iowa wind projects completed
MidAmerican Energy announced Monday the completion of its three Iowa wind projects under construction in 2012.
Officials said the projects totaling 407 megawatts of power make the company the No. 1 rate-regulated utility in the U.S. in terms of ownership of wind-powered capacity.
"MidAmerican Energy had approval from the Iowa Utilities Board to add up to 1,001 megawatts of wind-powered generation prior to 2013, and I'm proud to say that we fulfilled that commitment," said Bill Fehrman, president and CEO of MidAmerican Energy. "Wind now comprises approximately 30 percent of MidAmerican Energy's generation portfolio."
MidAmerican Energy also announced this year that it had acquired the 106-megawatt Vienna wind project, located in Marshall and Tama counties; the 200-megawatt Eclipse wind project, located in Guthrie and Audubon counties; and the 101-megawatt Morning Light wind project, located in Adair County.
The three projects consist of 176 wind turbines.
In 2011, MidAmerican Energy added 594 megawatts of new wind-powered generation in Iowa.
"Over the past two years, we've added 434 wind turbines that will provide renewable energy for many years to come," said Fehrman.
MidAmerican Energy now owns 2,285 megawatts of wind generation. MidAmerican Energy began building wind energy projects in 2004 and said it has invested approximately $3.9 billion in wind-powered generation projects in Iowa.


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This book has potential for a decent cyberpunk future novel. Big sprawling multilevel cities, corporations rule the world, fast motorcycle couriers etc. The world building is pretty decent. Painting a mega city where the poor live on lower levels serving the levels above.Kris Ballard is a motorcycle courier. A nobody. Level 2 trash in a multi-level city that stretches from San Francisco to the Mexican border, where corporations make all the rules. A runaway since the age of 14, Kris struggled to set up her life, barely scraping by, working hard to make it without anyone's help. Witnessing the murder of one of her clients changes everything. Now she's stuck with a mysterious package that everyone seems to want.
Unfortunately the young girl who is he hero of the story is not the well written, tales of abuse as a kid, seems to luck herself out of scrapes instead of by any skill, falls for some guy after a couple of hours and changes personality regular. None of the other characters are that much better or memorable.
The plot starts out as her stumbling across a murder while doing a sketchy delivery late at night and has to flee, but jumps the shark about half way through when it introduces the explanation and conspiracy behind the delivery. It's bonkers and come out of complete left field.
It's a shame the characters and story don't match the setting.


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Cookie Policy
This site uses cookies. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy, Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Some thermometers and light bulbs contain very small amounts of mercury. If you break one, it's unlikely to cause any health problems. However, you should avoid contact with the mercury and take extra care when cleaning it up.
Mercury is a metal that's liquid at room temperature. It looks like silvery-white beads or balls (globules). Liquid mercury is sometimes called metallic or elemental mercury.
Liquid mercury can turn into a vapour (gas), so clean up a spill as safely and quickly as possible using the tips below.
The amount of mercury in a thermometer is very small, usually up to 3g.
Mercury thermometers are being phased out. You can use several other types of thermometer to take someone's temperature, such as digital thermometers, thermometer strips and ear thermometers.
For more information about other types of thermometer, including how to use them, see How do I take someone's temperature?
Traditional tungsten or filament light bulbs don't contain mercury. These bulbs are being phased out and replaced with energy-saving light bulbs.
Some energy-saving light bulbs contain a tiny amount of mercury, sealed inside the bulb. In one bulb, there's usually less than 4mg (about enough to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen).
Fluorescent light strips or tubes, such as those sometimes used in kitchens and garages, also contain small amounts of mercury.
If these bulbs are unbroken, they can usually be recycled at your local recycling centre.
If you break a mercury thermometer or light bulb, a small amount of liquid mercury may spill out. Liquid mercury can separate into small beads, which can roll some distance away. The mercury may also evaporate into vapour.
However, this small amount of mercury is extremely unlikely to cause problems for your health.
It's sensible to take extra care when you clean up the mercury. Below are some tips to help you do this:
Local councils provide facilities where you can dispose of the hazardous waste, such as local tips and recycling centres.
Mercury spills on absorbent surfaces, such as carpets and upholstery, can be difficult to clean up. In these cases, it is advisable to get in contact with your local authority's environmental health department. The affected areas may need to be removed and disposed of in a particular way.
When cleaning up a mercury spill:
Although mercury is poisonous (toxic), it usually only causes problems if you inhale large amounts of it.
Very little mercury is absorbed by your body if you swallow a small amount of liquid mercury or get it on your skin for a short time. This is considered almost non-toxic and you'll probably have no symptoms.
However, if you breathe in mercury vapour or globules, it can be absorbed into the bloodstream and cause symptoms such as:
Your eyes may be sore if mercury vapour gets into them. Your eyelids may also twitch and become red and swollen.
You should contact your GP for advice if you have any of the symptoms above.
Wash your skin or eyes (removing any contact lenses first) with lukewarm water for at least 10 to 15 minutes if they come into contact with mercury.
Change your clothes and put any soiled clothes in a sealed bag.
You can also call NHS 111 for advice if you're not sure whether you need to see your GP.


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This is a MojoBella Sketch week and here is a look of this week's sketch.
I stayed pretty close to this awesome sketch this week! =)
I inked up the lovely Gingerbread House on PTI's Stamper's Select White cardstock, colored the image with Copic markers then cut it out using a Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX die.
The patterned paper is from Amy Tangerine Rise & Shine 6x6 paper pad by American Crafts and the sentiment comes with the Gingerbread House.
That's all from me. Don't forget to find out what the other design team members and participants created for this week's sketch and see all the challenge details over at the Stamping Bella Blog! =)
Have a sweet day and thanks for stopping by!
Affiliate links are used in some cases! =)
cardstock: (white) Papertrey Ink
rubber stamps: (Gingerbread House) Stamping Bella
patterned paper: (Amy Tangerine Rise & Shine 6x6 paper pad) American Crafts
hybrid ink: (Chocolate Brown) My Favorite Things
accents: (Kaleidoscope, Bright Copper Kettle sequins) Lucy's Cards
stickers: (yellow polka dots Japanese washi tape) MARK'S, (red pattern Japanese washi tape) mt Kamoi
dies: (Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX, Wonky Stitched Circle STAX) My Favorite Things
tool: (die-cut machine) Provo Craft
other: (foam tape) 3M
Copic markers:
Gingerbread House: Y38, Y17, Y15, Y13, E37, E99, E35, E33, E31, C1, C00, 0, R17, R14, R22, YG17, YG25, YG03
icing: BG000, B0000
card size: 3 1/2" x 5 1/4"


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Tom Dixon's Beat Light Wide is a member of the sculptural lighting collection inspired by traditional Indian water vessels. Handcrafted of solid brass by local artisans in Northern India, the elegant pendants have a smooth exterior in black, white or brass and their interior is defined by golden sheen and a unique hammering pattern. Hang a single Beat light above your dining table or in the living room or create an eye-catching cluster of several various pendants.
- Material:
- Spun brass shade - powder coated exterior, hand-beaten interior
- Colour:
- White, brass
- Diameter:
- 36 cm
- Height:
- 16 cm
- Bulb base:
- Light source:
- 4-9W LED (not included)
- Cable length:
- 250 cm
- Cable colour:
- White
- Cable material:
- Plastic
- Weight:
- 1,98 kg
- Canopy:
- Included
- Notes:
- Indoor use only


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Winners read alongside award-winning novelists visiting SNC for MFA programBy Tanya Canino
As a 6-year-old child, Jenny Jung randomly scribbled words on walls, her skin and even on her sleeping father, but in high school, she arranged those words to win first place in the 2013 Sierra Nevada College High School Writing Competition and a chance to read alongside well-known, published authors.
Sierra Nevada College hosted three of the 12 high school competition winners in early January, recognizing them Jan. 10 during the final night of the Incline Village, Nev. college's low residency, MFA program in creative writing.
With Josh Weil, the author of the highly-acclaimed novella collection, "The New Valley," sitting in a full audience of writers, MFA students and published faculty, Jung, a junior from Andover, Mass., read "Reality on a Friday Night," which earned first-place in the creative nonfiction category.


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- Name: Pegassa
- Number: 28
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Review by JoshB
Alien Pegassa (or Pegasus) is an Ultra Kaiju from the 1968 Tokuatsu TV series Ultra Seven.
He is a typical Ultra Monster vinyl - 6 inches tall made out of soft vinyl, three points of articulation. Honestly, not a lot to say about this one. He's got an oceanic vibe about him - with gills on his neck and what appears to be barnacles all over his body.
These Ultra Monsters were typically sold with a card attached to a hook that would hang from a peg at toy stores.


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The Back-Up Plan (Starring Jennifer Lopez & More) "Will You Be My Baby Daddy" [Movie Trailer]
"A romantic comedy centered on a woman who conceives twins through artificial insemination, only to meet the man of her dreams on the very same day. " - Hollywood
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Publication Archive
This archive contains all documents published by cep over the last few years:
cepAdhoc: Incisive comment on current EU policy issues.
cepPolicyBrief: Concise 4-page reviews of EU proposals (Regulations, Directives, Green Papers, White Papers, Communications) – including a brief summary and economic and legal assessments.
cepInput: Impulse to current discussions of EU policies.
cepStudy: Comprehensive examination of EU policy proposals affecting the economy.
The share of renewable energy in overall EU energy consumption is to increase to 27% by 2030. This is set out in the EU Commission's Proposal for a Directive to promote energy from renewable sources ("renewables") post-2021. In cep's view, the Proposal allows Member States too much scope for developing inefficient and anti-competitive renewables support schemes.
The EU Commission wants to ensure that the energy efficiency of buildings is further increased. The proposed amendment to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is intended to remove "cumbersome" provisions and speed up the energy-related renovation of existing buildings. In cep's view, linking financial support for building renovation to the energy savings achieved, is an improvement on the status quo.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, cep makes an appeal to national and EU politicians as well as to EU citizens.
Based on the realisation that Europe can only succeed together, cep provides a reminder of what has been achieved in the last 60 years, refers to the crises that are currently sending shock waves through the continent and then looks to the future.
The United Kingdom's creditworthiness is declining. This is the result of the latest cepDefault-Index 2017. The main reason for the decline is the population's high propensity to consume: since 2012, the population of the United Kingdom has consumed more than the total available income. Moreover, the competitiveness of the British economy declined for years.
According to the Commission, there are considerable weaknesses in the existing apparatus for supervising the telecommunications sector which consists of the national regulatory authorities (NRAs), other national authorities, the Commission, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the BEREC Office. It therefore wants to restructure this apparatus.
The EU Commission wants to facilitate the use of protected content for public interest purposes by way of restrictions on copyright. At the same time it wants to ensure fair remuneration for rightholders and press publishers.
The turmoil threatening the very existence of the EU continues. Evidence for this is provided by the cepDefault-Index 2017. The cep authors point out that Greece in particular remains uncreditworthy and that there is no sign of any reversal in the trend. Apart from Greece; Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Slovenia and Cyprus indicate declining creditworthiness which has in addition become firmly established.
The Commission wants to extend the regulation of telecoms network operators independently of market power in order to speed up the deployment of very high capacity networks. Upper limits on termination charges will indirectly bring down the price of calls.
With the new Regulation, the EU Commission wants to facilitate cross-border access to television and radio programmes via digital channels. In cep's view, the Regulation distorts competition because it is framed in such a way that is neither supplier-neutral nor technology-neutral.


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NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders impressed State Board of Education members this week during his presentation involving a charter school application.
Sanders founded Prime Time Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, three years ago to reach and teach youth through sports and education. The group promotes positive self images and invests in the mental, spiritual, physical, financial, and overall well-being to build stronger kids by reinforcing education.
The board is considering 15 charter school applications.
"He assembled a first class management team and their presentation was flawless," SBOE member David Bradley, R-Beaumont, said. "I asked if he had first reached out to the local (independent school district) regarding concerns with local performance and he said once the picture-taking was over, his pleas were ignored."
Sanders is proposing a program to accommodate 1,200 students.
Bradley expects the board to approve Sanders' application in two weeks.
"Like Fort Worth ISD's, we also got a picture but listened and took action," Bradley said.


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The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that one billion tons of topsoil are lost to erosion every year. Not only does erosion take away precious topsoil, but also clogs waterways and damages adjacent properties. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II provides federal guidelines for preventing erosion. These guidelines are regulated by state and local agencies, making it imperative to research the guidelines for your area.
What can you do to prevent erosion on your projects? The solution can be quite easy or difficult, depending on the site. You might have to be creative. Use these tips to get started.
Water, along with wind, is a primary agent of erosion. Water will, obviously, always run downhill; however, it will run uphill when the volume of water flooding an area moves the water out of its banks and up into higher ground. Prior to the onset of construction, make a plan to slow the movement of water. If you have the luxury to do so prior to construction, observe the site in a rainstorm and see where the water runs.
Observe the property for potential slope problems, affected areas adjacent to the site and access to waterways. Plan accordingly.
Disturb as little area as possible. Try to disturb only one area at a time. It may seem more expensive to bring in equipment more than once, but the cost of remediation caused by excess sediment (and possibly being fined for causing the mess) may more than make up for the initial cost-savings.
Once disturbed, if an area will not be impacted by further construction, go ahead and seed the area with a temporary cover. Check with local experts to find a groundcover that can be easily converted, if necessary. Chances are, some construction process will overrun into the seeded area, but that is to be expected.
Hydroseeding can work on some slopes, but is not effective on slopes greater than 4:1.
Plastic sheeting to shield the soil from rain and irrigation can be effective in small, erodible areas only. Don't use it in large areas.
If you're removing trees from the site, consider chipping them on site and using the chips to form erosion-control swales or apply a 2- to 3-inch layer over the soil to slow water movement and catch sediment. The chips can be incorporated into the soil when complete or hauled away. If you leave them in place, be sure to apply an extra dose of nitrogen fertilizer to help break down the wood chips and prevent nitrogen deficiency on installed plantings.
Silt fencing is often a part of erosion control. This consists of wire support covered with filter fabric and staked into the ground using 36-inch T-posts or hardwood posts. In order to work properly, you should dig an 8-inch trench along the area where you will install the fence. You should drive the fence posts at least 16 inches into the soil. Once upright and tight, backfill the trench with the soil. You should inspect the fence after each rain event for breaks in the system and for sediment accumulation. Once sediment reaches half the height of the fence, you should remove the sediment. Silt fences can be installed across slopes to help slow water movement and catch sediment. You should not install them across waterways, ditches or other areas with concentrated water flow — these fences were not designed to handle this much pressure and will fail.
Straw wattles, which resemble long, straw logs, are another means to slow water and catch sediment, and seem to be more versatile than silt fencing. These must be installed in a trench, as well, and staked and backfilled on the upper side. You should not be able to see daylight under the wattle once installed, and you should turn down the ends slightly to prevent ponding on the back side of the wattle. These are made with either UV resistant netting, which holds for three to five years, or with biodegradable burlap, which lasts approximately one to two seasons.
You may need to also install erosion control mats or blankets along streamways and ditches to help catch sediment.
A relatively new product, the Silt-Saver, consists of a plastic frame with filter fabric covering that you can place over basins to catch sediment before it enters the drainage system. If you use this method, you'll need to monitor and remove sediment to insure that the system keeps working.
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© 2020 Penton Media Inc.


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The Central Connecticut volleyball team earned a 3-1 victory over Saint Francis (PA) on Friday afternoon. The Blue Devils were led by 18 kills from senior Emily Cochran. CCSU is now 15-10 on the season an 10-2 in NEC play.
The first two sets of the match went to extra points with the Blue Devils winning the first 26-24 and the Red Flash winning the second 26-24. CCSU won the final two sets by a score of 25-20.
Cochran led the way in the first set with eight kills. Senior Allyson Porter led the defense with eight digs in the opening game.
The Blue Devils fell in the second set, but senior Jamie Rademacher played well connecting on four-of-five attacks for a .800 hitting percentage.
CCSU won the third set behind a balanced attack, which had five hitters recording multiple kills in the set.
Cochran led the Blue Devils to a fourth set and match victory with seven kills in the final game.
Cochran finished the match with 18 kills and a .277 hitting percentage. She was joined in double-digits by sophomore Rachel Dunlap who had 10 kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Senior Blaike King (9) and Rademacher (8) also had strong hitting games.
Porter led the team in digs with 17 and sophomore Brittany Schumacher was close behind with 14. Cochran also chipped in with nine digs.
At the net, Dunlap led the team with four blocks and freshman Makenna Lommori added a pair.
Lommori also had a match-high 44 assists.
The Blue Devils will continue their road trip with a game tomorrow afternoon at Robert Morris.


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The Match: Getting into a Residency Program
What is The Match?
The Match process is a uniform system by which residency candidates and residency programs simultaneously "match" to fill first-year and second-year post-graduate training positions accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) instituted and maintains The Match system.
The Match provides a uniform process in that all the steps of the process are completed in the same fashion and at the same time by all applicants and participating institutions.
Almost all first-year positions in ACGME-accredited training programs participate in The Match. Candidates for residency positions in some subspecialty programs will participate in other matches. However, these candidates must also participate in the NRMP in order to secure a preliminary position for each of those specialties.
COVID-19 Impacts to 2020 - 2021 Match
We know the global COVID-19 pandemic presents unique challenges to the Match process, and we're here to support you.
- Family Medicine Response to 2020-21 Match Changes»(2 page PDF)
- What COVID-19 Means for Family Medicine Applicants»(4 page PDF)
How It Works: The Match Process At-A-Glance
Matching to a residency program is a very involved process that lasts nearly a year.
|MAY: Students finalize their specialty choice and begin to research residency programs.
Students create a personal profile in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS®) system.
Residency programs create a profile in ERAS.
|SEPTEMBER: Students submit an application to residency programs of interest to them.
Residency programs receive student applications and select candidates for interview.
Onsite interviews are conducted.
Students rank their preferred programs in ERAS.
Residency programs indicate how many residency positions they will fill for the next academic year.
Match Day (3rd Friday in March)
Students "match" to residency programs as they receive invitations from residency programs via ERAS.
Who should enroll in The Match?
All students seeking a residency position should enroll in The Match. Once enrolled, you are bound to abide by the terms of the NRMP process. However, if you are offered a position by an institution not participating in The Match (such as an osteopathic position or an unaccredited position) your dean of student affairs can withdraw the you before The Match deadline for changes.
Keep in mind that if at least one of the institution's residency programs participates in The Match, all programs in that institution must offer positions to U.S. allopathic medical school seniors only through the NRMP or another national matching program.
Where do I begin?
Now is the time to begin learning about the details of The Match, the tasks you'll need to complete, and how to make the most out of this milestone in your career. The AAFP has helpful information available for each step in the process, as well as a complete guidebook to the process, called Strolling Through the Match(99 page PDF).
Learn more about:
Find Your Residency
The new tool was designed specifically to simplify your residency search. Research programs, create a customized scorecard to evaluate what matters most to you, track your application process, and more.
Match Dos & Don'ts
- DO rank the programs that you really want -- whether or not you think you have a chance of matching to it. A program may not get its top 10 student choices, and you might be number 11 on it's list. Ranking desired programs higher will not negatively influence your chances of matching to less-competitive programs lower on your list. Programs will not know where you ranked them on your list.
- DO remember that the order in which you rank programs is crucial to the Match process. The Match computer is fair, but it is also indifferent to anything other than the rank order list you provide. If you rank one program above another, it will put you in the first program if it can according to the priority you indicated.
- DON'T make your list too short. Although you may think you will match at your top choice, you increase your chance of not matching if you list only one program. Additionally, on average, unmatched students' lists were shorter than matched students' lists. Students selecting highly competitive specialties are advised to make longer lists.
- DON'T list programs that you do not want. You may end up at a program that you really did not want because you placed it on your list. Decide whether it is better to be unmatched than to be matched to a program that you don't want.
What if I don't match to a residency program?
On Monday of Match week, you'll learn if you matched and to which program(s). If you didn't match immediately, there's still an opportunity to match to a program through the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®).
The SOAP is an NRMP-run program that takes place during Match week to match any unfilled residency positions with unmatched applicants.There are eight rounds of offers in the SOAP from Monday through Thursday of Match week. SOAP matches are announced along with applicants who matched in the Main Residency Match on Friday. Positions fill quickly in the SOAP, and accepted offers create a binding commitment. If you participate in the SOAP, be honest, thorough, and critical in your assessment of programs and their offers before accepting.
Not everyone will match to a position, and it is not true that only "bad" programs do not fill. A program may not fill if its rank list is at odds with the applicants who ranked it, or if it is too short. There will likely be several programs with unfilled positions that you would find desirable. In some cases, it may mean accepting a position in another specialty that you were considering as a second choice or were considering as preparation for the next year's Match. Your dean's office is prepared to counsel students who do not match.
Learn more about the SOAP process on the NRMP website.(www.nrmp.org)
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Google has attempted to influence the US' energy future through the promotion of renewable energy sources. So far, most of that effort has come in the form of investments by its Google.org charitable arm, which includes a group dedicated to promoting technologies it views as promising, and lowering the price of renewable power. The company itself has been attempting to operate on a carbon-neutral basis since 2007. In a major step towards both of these goals, the company has now announced that it has signed a 20 year contract to take on 114MW of power produced by a wind farm in Iowa.
Although Google has some on-site solar, it's often difficult to guarantee renewable power supplies in many areas that it has facilities. Google has chosen to compensate by buying carbon offsets, but many other companies rely on what are termed Renewable Energy Certificates; these also turn out to be the key to its use of wind power from Iowa, which it can't otherwise use to power any of its own facilities.
An REC is created when renewable power is generated, but sold onto the grid as regular electricity. Its renewableness has a tangible value to those who are interested in purchasing renewable power, and the REC lets a company capture that value by selling a certificate that someone else purchases in order to offset the use of power from nonrenewable sources.
For the wind farm output, Google will rely on the fact that it is now (in addition to many other things) an electric utility. Its subsidiary will take the wind farm power and sell it on the spot market, which would effectively generate RECs. Instead of selling those on to a third party, however, Google will simply retire them (although they are likely to count them towards its carbon neutrality efforts). The company terms the 114MW "enough to supply several data centers."
For Google, the long-term nature of the deal insulates it from spikes in energy prices. That's a major incentive for a company that earns its money primarily through power-hungry data centers. But the company also views the contract as sending important signals to the electricity market. The company that built the wind farm will have a guaranteed revenue stream that will enable it to continue investing in infrastructure, while taking over 100MW off the market may induce others to replace the lost capacity. Finally, it may cause other companies that are looking to enhance their renewable energy portfolios to consider crafting similar deals.


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Please welcome my friend Anna Lee Huber to Murder She Writes! You may have heard of Anna's new book, The Anatomist's Wife, which is getting rave reviews. The novel is a historical mystery about a newly widowed young woman who is visiting the Scottish Highlands when she becomes drawn into a murder investigation. Today Anna gives us a glimpse of some of the research that went into her story.
First of all, thank you Laura for hosting me here at Murder She Writes. I'm so happy to be here.
Two years ago when my husband and I visited Scotland, I had almost completed the manuscript that would become The Anatomist's Wife, but I still needed to fill in some of the details. I wanted to smell the air, and walk the earth, and watch the mist roll over the mountains. Because I had already written most of the story, none of my settings were based on specific places, but I certainly borrowed bits and pieces from the locations we toured.
One of my favorite spots was Carnassarie Castle, an old, crumbling tower house about a mile hike from the road north of Kilmartin. The castle is maintained, but not staffed, and so you mostly have it all to yourself as your wander the ruins. The view from the top of the tower house, which is still accessible, is absolutely stunning, and instantly reminded me of the countryside I had imagined around my novel's main setting – Gairloch Castle.
We headed further north, visiting the famous Eilean Donan Castle on the shores of Loch Duich. Though in no way an exact replica of my Gairloch Castle, there were parts of it that were quite similar, including some of the chambers, which I could not take photos of. This picture I snapped of the loch was especially perfect, considering what an important role it plays in a scene near the end of The Anatomist's Wife.
Unfortunately, we were plagued by rain and mist through much of our trip through the Highlands, so visibility was poor, and our pictures even worse. But I was at least able to soak up the atmosphere and experience how the weather affects the landscape. There is truly no place like the Highlands. It's absolutely unique. And it really does feel mystical somehow. I read somewhere that it either calls to you, or it doesn't. And if it does, that means it's in your blood, that someone in your ancestry was a Highlander. This is almost certainly superstition, but being there, I could believe it.
Back in the lowlands, we visited Edinburgh, where I was eager to see the Surgeons' Hall Museums at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. There they had fascinating displays on the history of surgery and anatomy. One of their most famous exhibits houses some of well-known anatomist and lecturer Dr. Robert Knox's personal items, as well as the famous would-be-bodysnatcher-turned-murderer Burke's death mask, skeleton, and several articles made from his tanned skin, including a book cover. The weather that day was also uncooperative, but I found this photo of a late nineteenth century engraving of the exterior of the Surgeons' Hall.
We also stopped outside St Giles' Cathedral on the Royal Mile to snap this picture of the spot near where Burke was hanged on January 28, 1829 after
being convicted of sixteen counts of murder. His partner, Hare, turned state's evidence, and escaped prosecution entirely. The discovery of Burke and Hare's misdeeds caused panic in Edinburgh and London, making citizens fear that similar enterprising criminals might be at work, murdering hapless citizens and selling their bodies to anatomists and medical schools.
I had so much fun searching through the photos from our trip again, choosing which ones to use for this blog. I would have included thirty of them if I could have. I can't wait to go back. There's always more to see, and more research to be done.
Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of The Anatomist's Wife! The winner will be announced next Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Anna Lee Huber was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. She is a graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, where she majored in Music and minored in Psychology. THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE, the first book in the Lady Darby historical mystery series, has been hailed as "…a riveting debut…" She currently lives in Indiana with her husband and troublemaking tabby cat. When not hard at work on her next novel, she enjoys reading, singing, travel, and spending time with her family. Visit her website at www.annaleehuber.com.


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For the meat sauce
1 onion
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
2 cloves of garlic
50g unsmoked streaky bacon or pancetta
50 g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
500g minced beef
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato puree
250ml red wine
2 bay leaves
200ml water, swilled in the tomato can
For the béchamel
85g butter
50g plain flour
Salt or stock granules to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 x 500g pack Rigatoni pasta
25g Parmesan, freshly grated (I also used cheddar)
Roughly chop the peeled onions, peeled carrots, the bacon or pancetta and the celery. Peel the garlic clove and put them along with the chopped veg and bacon into a food processor and finely chop. Or chop finely by hand. Heat the butter and oil in a large pan and fry your bacony vegetable mush gently for 10 minutes or until soft.
Add the minced beef and fork it through until it browns in the pan as much as possible. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, puree, red wine, bay and tomatoey water. Stir well and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat, partially cover and let cook gently for 2 hours.
To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan then add the flour and stir and cook together to make a roux. Take off the heat briefly, and whisk in the milk – just using a hand whisk – then put back on the heat and, stirring all the time, let the sauce come to boil and bubble away for a few minutes to get rid of the floury taste. Season with salt and pepper (or you could use some crumbled stock cube or bouillon concentrate). Turn down the heat slightly and cook until slightly thickened, though this needs to be liquid-y enough to coat the pasta easily. After turning off the heat stir some freshly grated nutmeg through the sauce.
Preheat the oven to 200˚C/fan oven 180˚C/gas 6 and put the water on for the pasta. When the water comes to the boil, add salt and cook the pasta until its al dente.
Drain the pasta and, while still a little wet, put it back into the saucepan and pour the white sauce over, mixing well. Add the meat sauce and mix again, until the pasta is covered in both. Tip the sauced pasta into a large buttered roasting or oven-proof dish, cover the top with grated parmesan and cook for 30- 40 minutes or until the top is crispy and golden.


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I'm in this picture, but even I don't recognize me. It's because we're all dressed up in bunny suits: light cloth or paper coveralls and booties and hoods and face masks you wear in a clean room where microchips or sensitive equipment is manufactured. If you don't wear a bunny suit every day, you feel (and look) silly.
Over the last 25 years or so, I've donned many a bunny suit during visits to numerous factories in Japan and South Korea and witnessed a sea of young, bunny-suited or uniformed factory workers toiling in stultifyingly sterile factories repetitively assembling cellphones, PCs, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, washing machines, microwave ovens, refrigerators, air conditioners, etc.
It's how our gadgets are made, like it or not. So the recent "exposés" about working conditions in Chinese factories making iPads, iPhones and iPods perhaps shock but don't surprise me, and they shouldn't surprise you.
Apple has been called to task recently about working conditions at factories it contracts with in China owned by Foxconn, first by two New York Times' "exposés," "In China, Human Costs Are Built Into An iPad," and, earlier this week in several stories and videos on CNN.
How do these factories compare to the ones I've visited in Japan and South Korea? Under communist totalitarian rule, Chinese factories are less open to public scrutiny than in Japan or South Korea. But from the reports I've seen, the actual factory work and the dorm-living workforce (mostly young women) performing it seems similar to the factories I toured.
I am alternately fascinated by the meticulous, orderly efficiency of these factories, and horrified by the thought "better them than me." And so, I'll admit I've always felt a twinge of guilt knowing the source of the toys I get to play with.
And now you know as well — although I suspect we all knew or at least suspected, but we're all cursed with a case of willful blindness.
Guilt Assuaging
Here are some facts to assuage our guilt.
First, Apple appears to understand both the human and PR problem. Since 2005, the company has conducted an annual "Apple Supplier Responsibility" audit. Essentially, Apple has a code of conduct it demands its suppliers live up to.
In addition, Apple is getting a semi-seal of approval from the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), which disputed some of the Times' reporting of its point-of-view and defended Apple's audit efforts. In addition, Apple has opened its supply chain to independent audit by the Fair Labor Association.
Whatever its motivation, moral or PR, I can only hope Apple — and all other companies that manufacture gear in China — will do its utmost to live up to its stated intentions and coerce its factories to do the same.
Second, we have to put these Chinese factory conditions into their proper cultural context — Asian cultural sublimation of individualism and the rice-paddy work ethic.
As an example of the former, reacquaint yourself with the frighteningly efficient opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As an example of the latter, check out Chapter 8, "Rice Paddies and Math Tests" in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success, especially the chapter's sub-heading, "No one who can rise before dawn three hundred and sixty days a year fails to make his family rich."
Finally, not all Chinese demonize Apple's presence there. The Times' collected reactions from Chinese readers, which included this fascinating response, answering the question of what the hundred of thousands of workers would be doing if not building our iPhones, iPads and iPhones:
"If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist."
Where Are Apple's U.S. Jobs?
Well, if Apple can't control work conditions in China, why doesn't the company use its astounding profits to bring jobs back to the U.S., some hand-wringers are asking.
Oh, if the world were only that simple.
First, how long would Apple's products would remain cheaper than its competitors — and therefore sell in the volumes that makes the company so ridiculously profitable — if it built and operated union factories in the U.S.?
Easy — not well. Flash back 20 years when Apple's products were more expensive than anyone else's and the company nearly went bankrupt.
Second, who would work at these U.S. Apple factories? Even if Apple could find several hundred thousand workers willing to put aside twittering about Demi Moore to work as fastidiously and meticulously as the Chinese, we lack the 30,000 trained engineers to staff these fanciful U.S. Apple factories, as Steve Jobs himself told President Obama at a dinner with Silicon Valley bigwigs a year ago.
This may come off as rationalisation and Apple apologetic, but if we buy gadgets, especially affordable gadgets, we have to accept this is how they are made, regardless of the company making — everyone makes their products in Asia.
Are Japanese or South Korean TV, cellphone, Blu-ray, PC factories demonstrably more humane? I don't know, but if they are, it can't be by much based on what I've seen. Factory work on the massive scale necessary to fulfill our gadget needs, no matter how human, is by definition stultifying and inhumane. And we all knew it well before these exposés.


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Traders Making Necessary Adjustments to Better Navigate Changing Market Environment
Public Company Information:
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At The International Traders Expo in New York today, Charles Schwab released new survey data revealing that active traders remain highly engaged in the market but are looking for ways to better manage risk during this period of record volatility.
The latest Charles Schwab Active Trader Sentiment survey polled more than 700 individual investors who trade frequently. Findings include:
- Nearly one in four respondents consider exchange traded funds (ETFs) the most appealing investment vehicle.
- 44 percent of respondents trade options regularly.
- 27 percent of those use options primarily for risk management.
- 90 percent intend to maintain or increase the number of trades they make in the next six months, up from 83 percent in the May 2008 survey.
"Traders are starting to face the new reality," noted Kelli Keough, vice president of Schwab's Active Trading Services. "In this market, everything revolves around taking back control and minimizing downside risk. "
The Schwab survey finds that 24 percent of active traders are now using ETFs as their primary investment vehicle. "ETFs, which trade like stocks, can be a good way to gain exposure to sector or industry trends," notes Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. "With so many ETFs available, there's something for most investment styles and strategies."
The findings of the Schwab survey also show that traders are embracing options as an effective way to help protect their investments. Twenty-seven percent of respondents who trade options are now using them primarily for risk management as opposed to pure speculation. This compares with just 18 percent from a Schwab sentiment survey released in May 2008.
Other key survey findings include:
- 43 percent of traders surveyed expect the S&P 500 to rise over the next six months.
- 17 percent expect the S&P 500 to fall over the next six months.
- 40 percent are looking for a flat market in the next six month.
"The survey results are further evidence that active traders are adjusting to the market," added Frederick. "Even in this difficult environment, traders can find opportunities if they know where to look."
Survey Methodology
Survey data were derived from responses of more than 700 active traders and investors collected in November of 2008 and January 2009. The data were analyzed by Directive Analytics and have a statistical accuracy of + or – 4.4 percent at 95 percent confidence level.
About Charles Schwab
The Charles Schwab Corporation (Nasdaq:SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with more than 300 offices and 7.4 million client brokerage accounts, 1.5 million corporate retirement plan participants, 468,000 banking accounts, and $1.1 trillion in client assets. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through its Advisor Services division. The Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC) provides banking and mortgage services and products. More information is available at www.schwab.com. (0209-7249)
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Investors should carefully consider information contained in the prospectus, including investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. You can request a prospectus by calling Schwab at 800-435-4000. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
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Charles Schwab
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Intermarket Communications
Clayton McGratty, 212-754-5425


text:
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 64
While looking for a particular reference photo for today's edition, I stumbled upon an entire folder of reference from Spectacular Spider-Man #14. Man, oh man... there are some pretty bad ones. This one's pretty tame, by comparison.
Posted by Paolo Rivera at 9:00:00 PM
Labels: Spider-Man
4 comments:
Your blog is very nice. The photographs are very beautiful. Wish you all the best. God is Great.ReplyDelete
Hahaha, that's a tame one? Why does something tell me there's a photo ref of somebody's foot sole?ReplyDelete
Ha ha ha, YES! One of my favs so far. How was the much deserved vaca?ReplyDelete
Drew, you are absolutely right. I figured I'd spare my roommate the embarrassment.ReplyDelete
Mike, the vacation was friggin' awesome! Now I'm fully charged and ready to get back to work.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Antitrust Case Filings
Antitrust Case Filings
To filter the list of cases, select desired options from the left navigation pane.
View the list of NAICS and SIC industry codes used by the Division. To view all industry codes, visit Census.gov.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1
|Case Open Date
|Incident Date
|Case Type
|Federal Court
|Industry Code
|U.S. v. Federated Department Stores, Inc., and Saks & Company
|April 28, 1976
|Civil Non-Merger
|California, Northern District
|Department Stores, Department Stores, None, Women's Accessory & Specialty Stores, Women's Accessory & Specialty Stores


text:
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(415) 947-6111
Download the Web 2.0 Expo New York Sponsor/Exhibitor Prospectus
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(415) 947-6306
View a complete list of Web 2.0 Expo contacts.


text:
This is a recipe that I actually made in August, and wrote the post at that time too, but with other recipes and ideas crowding this one out, it's been sitting in my draft posts, just waiting. The night I made this ice cream was one of those moments where the it's-time-to-make-more-ice-cream bug bit me. It found me on the couch, watching TV with Jamie, grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go.
But there was very little in the fridge that I thought could even become ice cream, and you know how I hate to go to the store for ingredients when I want to make something right away. Hoping Jamie would have an idea, I said, what kind of ice cream do you want?
His answer: Something with lots of chocolate. And caramel. And more chocolate and caramel.
Of course.
When I spied a jar of creamy peanut butter and a package of low-fat cream cheese, I thought I might be able to come up with something. How about peanut butter ice cream, swirled with chocolate and caramel? I asked.
Wow, that sounds intense.
And intense this ice cream is. It tastes intensely naughty, although it has far less cream then many other ice creams I've made, so the creaminess is from the peanut butter. And the best part is, this recipe doesn't require any custard cooking or ice cream maker churning.
It's very thick after being mixed, a combination of cream, light cream cheese, peanut butter and milk. A little powdered sugar for sweetness, although not too much, since the chocolate and caramel would add more sweetness. A touch of vanilla and salt, of course.
The swirls and ribbons of homemade chocolate espresso syrup and salted caramel were luscious and decadent, the peanut butter ice cream thick, smooth and creamy...
Intensely naughty indeed. Someone needs to come get this out of my freezer.
Caramel and Chocolate Swirl Peanut Butter Ice Cream
printable recipe
- 3/4 cup Salted Caramel Sauce (click for recipe) or use store-bought
- 1/2 cup Chocolate Syrup (click for recipe) or use store-bought
- 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
The caramel sauce and chocolate syrup will need to be cool, but pourable. If too thick from being refrigerated, warm gently in the microwave at 50% power, then let sit at room temperature.
For the ice cream, place the cream cheese and whipping cream in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low with the whisk attachment to combine, then whip on medium for 1-2 minutes until thick and smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a container and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.
Place the dish you are going to make the ice cream in (such as a ceramic casserole dish) in the freezer while the ice cream is chilling in the refrigerator. When the mix and the dish are chilled, spoon half the peanut butter mixture into the dish. Drizzle with half the chocolate sauce and half the caramel. Repeat with the rest of the ice cream, chocolate and caramel. Use a spoon to gently swirl it together, but don't overdo it. You want visible streaks of the separate elements, not a homogeneous mixture.
Wrap tightly in plastic and freeze until firm, about 4-6 hours.
Yields about 1 1/2 quarts.
Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen


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Notice: On April 23, 2014, Statalist moved from an email list to a forum, based at statalist.org.
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Re: st: Comparing coefficients across sub-samples
Lisa Marie Yarnell <email@example.com>
"firstname.lastname@example.com" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Re: st: Comparing coefficients across sub-samples
Wed, 1 Aug 2012 01:24:08 -0700 (PDT)
Here are the full references, of the two that I had mentioned, that name effect sizes for standardized regression coefficients (standardized betas):
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Keith, T.Z. (2006). Multiple regression and beyond. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
James, I don't know whether Stata can do the z-score calculation for comparing two unstandardized betas for you, but I've never had trouble doing simple calculations like this by hand.
Also, I am not sure whether all of the subscripts and superscripts came out alright for the z-score formula below, but in the denominator, the standard errors for b1 and b2 are squared. This should also be in the Keith (2006) book, both in the text and probably on the back cover as well, where he has a lot of equations that are useful in the context of regression.
(b1 – b2) b1 and b2 are the unstandardized regression weights that you want
z = -------------------- to test the difference between
√(seb12 + seb22) seb1 and seb2are the standard errors of these unstandardized
↑ regression weights, found next to the weights themselves
----- Original Message -----
From: Clive Nicholas <firstname.lastname@example.com>
To: email@example.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 9:43 PM
Subject: Re: st: Comparing coefficients across sub-samples
Lisa Marie Yarnell replied to James Fitzgerald:
> Here are rules that I have:
> Standardized regression coefficients:
> * Keith's (2006) rules for effects on school learning: .05 = too small to be considered meaningful, .above .05 = small but meaningful effect, .10 = moderate effect, .25 = large effect.
> * Cohen's (1988) rules of thumb: .10 = small, .30 = medium, > (or equal to) .50 = large
Full references please, as per Statalist FAQ. I'm certainly not about
to bust my unmentionables finding out what they are.
Clive Nicholas
[Please DO NOT mail me personally here, but at
<firstname.lastname@example.com>. Please respond to contributions I make in
a list thread here. Thanks!]
"My colleagues in the social sciences talk a great deal about
methodology. I prefer to call it style." -- Freeman J. Dyson
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
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text:
(CNN) -- Neil McCartney is 31 years old and has lived in Johannesburg nearly all his life. He is a photojournalist for Johannesburg newspaper The Citizen, and has a blog showing his images of the city.
Neil McCartney: "Not everything's fixed, but things are looking up."
CNN: What's it like working as a photojournalist in Jo' burg?
Neil: It's cool -- you've got really rich areas like Sandton very close to poor areas like Alexandra, so you get to cover first-world country-type events and you can also go to protests and other gritty stuff.
It's a cosmopolitan city with a lot of different areas that all have a different character.
CNN: How is Jo' burg shaping for the World Cup in 2010?
Neil: There's a nice vibe arriving about the World Cup and for the Confederations Cup, which is happening in June. A lot of people thought they would be a flop but now people are starting to believe it's actually going to happen.
The Soccer City stadium close to Soweto looks nearly done and it's looking good -- it just needs the infrastructure around it to be finished. The area near the Ellis Park stadium used to be very downtrodden but it has been upgraded.
CNN: Is there a lot of work being carried out in the city?
Neil: There's a lot of improvements being done as we speak, not just for the World Cup but for the long term.
They're fixing all the highways, so the traffic is horrendous at the moment. It's brutal right now, but the highways have always been bad, now they're fixing them with a view to improve them.
Also they're building a high-tech train system that will link Pretoria to Johannesburg and Sandton. It's a high-speed train that goes underground, which is new for Johannesburg -- we've never had anything like that before.
I was dubious when I first heard about it because of allegations of corruption, but I've been underground and seen the work and I've changed my mind. It's going to be a very good thing for the city.
What makes Johannesburg special to you? Let us know.
CNN: What do Jo' burgers like to do in their free time?
Neil: It's a very sporty place -- there's lots of road running and cycling. People spend a lot of time outdoors simply because the weather's pretty decent.
Like anywhere, younger people go clubbing and drinking. There's a lot of nightlife around Rivonia, which is part of Sandton. That area has whole boulevards dedicated to nightclubs and pubs and there are also clubs and pubs in Melrose Arch.
CNN: What don't you like about living in Jo' burg?
NM: There's a lot of corruption in various forms, not just at the top level but in all areas. Even going to get a driver's license you come up against it.
I know corruption is a given in some other African countries but I think this country is kind of going that way.
Being a photojournalist I might pay more attention to it, but it's everywhere. There's cops trying to solicit bribes, people trying to bribe municipalities, that kind of thing.
CNN: We hear a lot about crime in Johannesburg. How bad is it in reality?
NM: Crime is pretty bad but the police are doing a relatively good job; they're going in the right direction.
I think the crime situation is overplayed in our media and the international media. It does happen, it is intense, but I feel the police are winning the battle, slowly but surely.
CNN: What do you think the future has in store for Johannesburg?
NM: I think the future is bright, simply because of all the construction. Things are getting fixed up. The World Cup is coming and people are really looking forward to that. And beyond that, the infrastructure created for the World Cup will have long-term benefits for the city. Not everything's fixed but things are looking up
CNN: If Johannesburg were a person, what would he or she be like?
NM: It would be resilient and strong. It's not an old city, so it would be a middle-aged man. He's been around and there have been some problems in his life, but he's tough and things are coming right.


text:
Imagini the company that introduced or 'created' visual DNA with such compelling effect has announced its Series A funding round.
Imagini definitely falls in the 'intriguing' category and a year ago left many potential funders scratching their heads as to where the company would ultimately go.
By April 2m users had completed their visual profiles in a matter of months (now well over 4m) and Imagini was seen in a somewhat different light and wrapped up a very interesting group of investors fairly quickly.
Now Imagini has developed a super facebook application called Youniverse which promises further engagement with the concept of visual DNA.
Victor Keegan has written intelligently about the company in the Guardian. This is worth a read if you're still scratching your head.
Backers include Atomico, North Zone Ventures and TAG


text:
MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – The father of a Middleburg High School student suspended for using a laser pointer at a basketball game says the principal has reduced his son's suspension from 10 days to five.
After the story aired on Channel 4 on Tuesday night, the principal received a lot of calls Wednesday morning, said Jeff Jewett, the father of 17-year-old William Jewett.
The principal reviewed the incident and reduced the suspension. He also dropped the recommendation the teen be expelled.
William Jewett, a sophomore, and three of his friends were suspended in the incident and were waiting to hear from school administrators to see if they would be expelled.
Jewett's father said Tuesday he believed his son should be punished for his bad behavior, but expulsion from school was too extreme.
"I feel a young man should be punished, but I feel this is maybe a little over the edge," he said.
Because Jewett's father is a veteran, there is money available in the G.I. Bill for his son's education. However, the family said they would lose that money if the high school student were expelled.
"It's almost tantamount to educational suicide," Jeff Jewett said.
He said Tuesday he believed school administrators were overreacting to the incident because of recent events, like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that occurred in December.
"I don't think it was that big of a deal," Jeff Jewett said. "I understand all the sensitivity with all of the incidents, but I think it's just a little bit unreasonable."
Channel 4's Scott Johnson spoke to a Clay County School District spokeswoman Tuesday, who said the issue was not as innocent as Jewett explained. She said the students' "actions stopped the entire event" and the school "had to escort them out of the facility."
Jewett's father said he still believed the school was overreacting.
"I think everyone's hypersensitive right now," he said. "I think they're really over-blowing things."


text:
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text:
Occupy Your Own Front Lawn
War on Error has a great idea:
put a tent on your own front lawn and then we can start seeing hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands of our own front lawns….Occupied!!!
Thank you Daily Kos @dailykos it's excellent.
What would Mayors and Police Departments and City Councils and Bureaucrats do?
Will they start raiding my own front lawn? Throwing tear gas canisters into my pup tent? Whack my dog with a baton? Pull my grandmother out of her sleeping bag? Turn over my cookstove? Tear down my sign?
You don't even have to sleep in your tent (some people can't).
Holidays come, throw a string of lights on it & put on your Santa suit!
Hell, in some cities they probably would, but it's not like they can say there is a curfew. Or the property owner did not give you permission?
The more I think on this and write about it the more I like it and want to see it done.
"Imagine how this could garner news. We can get quite creative, actually.
We can each make an Occupy Statement on our front lawns if we have one. Imagine the kids in the neighborhoods asking:
"Mom, why does that lady (whoever) on the corner have a tent in her yard? And what does Occupy Wall Street mean?"


text:
- Title: Tigerland
- Author: Sean Kennedy
- Series: Tigers & Devils, Book 2
- Genre(s): Contemporary, GLBTQ (M/M)
- Publisher: Dreamspinner Press, October 2012
- Source: Amazon ($6.99 ebook)
- Length: 295 pages
- Trope(s): Established Relationship, Smartass Hero, Celebrity Athlete Hero, Beta Hero (x2!), Evil Ex
- Quick blurb: Just as their lives are moving beyond the celebrity-coming-out scrutiny, an attention-whore asshole ex resurfaces to prey on every insecurity.
- Quick review: I think everyone should read this book. But first read Tigers & Devils. And then read them both again because they're THAT GOOD.
- Grade: A
I reached forward and grabbed Dec's hand. It pulled him back a little, and he turned, surprised. Then he smiled, a smile so full of love and tenderness it seemed to be brighter than everything around us — the white sand, the sun reflecting off the surface of the waves — it could envelop me and swallow me whole. The mantra I often repeat to myself in one of these rare moments of PDA begins: This is for those times when I want to take his hand, or he wants to take mine, but we don't feel safe enough. This is for those times other couples get to take for granted, but we have to snatch in limited amounts when they become available to us. This is for those times when I can't do such a simple thing as hold the hand of Dec as the tiniest gesture of affection and to show him how much I love him.
Simon is the best wanky smartass EVER and Dec is a saint for putting up with him, and I want every couple who feels ashamed or afraid to have lovely intimate moments like these and big fat happily ever afters. Holy CRAP, I love these guys.