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March 23, 2017, 5:29 pm
The Knicks announced that Carmelo Anthony (sore knee), Derrick Rose (foot) and Lance Thomas (hip) are all unavailable for tonight's game.
The tank revs its engines. Recent talk had the Knicks limiting Carmelo's minutes for the rest of the season and this is certainly one way to do that. With Lance Thomas also out, expect Willy Hernangomez, Kyle O'Quinn and maybe even Mindaugas Kuzminskas to get some real run tonight. Willy is the preferred play though O'Quinn is usually good for a block or two plus a smattering of boards and assists. Rose's absence leaves the backcourt to Ron Baker and Chasson Randle who could both be decent punt plays if you live dangerously. While Kristaps Porzingis will be the focal point tonight and going forward, Rose and Anthony aren't far off from becoming cut candidates considering the Knicks' season is essentially over. There's little sense in trotting out these dinged up veterans so keep an eye on them going forward, as well as New York's rotations tonight. The Blazers should have a field day tonight.
Fantasy News
July 12, 2020, 1:43 amVictor OladipoSG, Indiana Pacers
Victor Oladipo played only 13 games in 2019-20 after 12-month absence.
Taking only the 13-game stint into consideration, Oladipo posted top 200/250 per-game value for 8/9 cat leagues which is a far cry from his top-10 performance in 2017-18 but is also completely unfair to judge on such a small sample after a long hiatus while recovering from injury. He flashed his tremendous upside in his last game of the season against the Celtics on March 10 with 27 points, five triples, seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block while shooting 56.3 percent from the floor. He has ruled himself out of coming back for the restart this season and will turn his focus on trying to return next year stronger than ever.
July 12, 2020, 1:25 amT.J. McConnellPG, Indiana Pacers
T.J. McConnell posted 210/222 per-game value for 8/9-cat formats in 2019-20.
McConnell's first year on the Pacers was similar to what he did the last few seasons for the Sixers from a stat perspective although this was the first time in his five-year career that he didn't average at least one steal per game with only 0.7 this year. Since he plays less than 20 minutes per game on most nights, he is a deep-league option at best for teams desperate for assists with occasional DFS value when the team had players out due to injury.
July 12, 2020, 1:00 amJustin HolidaySG, Indiana Pacers
Justin Holiday put up top 150/110 per-game value in 8/9-cat formats in 2019-20 while providing top 90/60 total value due to not missing any games.
Holiday is on his eighth different NBA roster in only his sixth season but has remained fantasy relevant in each of the last three seasons.
He played 31-plus minutes in each of the last two seasons with a sub-39.0 field goal percentage being his biggest deterrent. It seems he has fixed that this season with a career-best 44.0 field goal percentage and although playing only 24.9 minute per game, continues to be a cheap source for triples and steal s. With Jeremy Lamb out to start next year, perhaps Holiday can stick around for more than one season.
July 12, 2020, 12:36 amJeremy LambSG, Indiana Pacers
Jeremy Lamb was unable to build off his impressive 2018-19 campaign and posted top 110/95 per-game value in 8/9-cat formats in 2019-20.
Lamb was hot and cold all season where he would be lights out one night and invisible the next. Maybe he had trouble adjusting to his new team but he also had trouble staying healthy, having to miss 11 games due to various ailments even before tearing his ACL in March. He is expected to miss a good chunk of next season so even though the 28 year old has plenty of time to get his career back on track, he can be ignored in next year's redraft leagues come draft time.
July 12, 2020, 12:20 amMalcolm BrogdonPG, Indiana Pacers
Malcolm Brogdon put up top-75/85 per-game value in 8/9-cat formats in an injury riddled season.
Brogdon signed a big contract in the offseason and flashed some serious potential with his new team, posting career-highs of 16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game. His field goal percentage took a big dip however going from 50.6 percent the prior season to 43.9 percent this year. It may be because of the increased responsibility on offense or maybe it was because he could never really get into a rhythm with all the injuries. Brogdon played in 74 percent for the team's games so far this season and had to miss consecutive games on five separate occasions with various back, hip, groin and hamstring injuries. One hopes the injuries aren't all interconnected and he can get back to full health to continue his upward trajectory.
July 12, 2020, 12:00 amDomantas SabonisC, Indiana Pacers
Domantas Sabonis took his game to another level in 2019-20, registering an across the board improvement, allowing him to emerge as the Pacers' best player in fantasy as a top-50 player in 8/9-cat per game value and a top-30 player in total value in both formats.
Sabonis proved that his promising game was legit and took it up several notches. He was a double-double machine, recording averages of 18.5 PPG, 12.4 RPG and 5.0 APG on .541 shooting from the field. The second-year big man proved to be an amazing facilitator in the post with his five dimes per night. It is worth noting, however, that he made this jump while Victor Oladipo was injured for most of the season and Malcolm Brogdon dealt with a myriad of injuries.
July 11, 2020, 11:57 pmMyles TurnerC, Indiana Pacers
Myles Turner took a step backwards in the 2019-20 season fantasy-wise with top-70/60 per-game value in 8/9-cat formats.
Although Turner missed about two weeks early in the season with an ankle injury, he remained relatively healthy after that. His fantasy production did not meet expectations a season after he put up top-30 value and led the league in shot-blocking. With several new scorers on the team and the emergence of Domantas Sabonis, Turner's usage went down and so did his stats across the board. The only improvement was making 1.4 triples per game compared to 1.0 the prior season but this caused his field goal percentage to dip from 48.7 percent to 45.1. The construct of the team should stay intact for next season so Turner may no longer be a viable third round option.
July 11, 2020, 11:44 pmTJ WarrenSF, Indiana Pacers
T.J. Warren emerged as the Pacers' leading scorer with 18.7 points per game in 2019-20 and his efficient shooting from the field and the line allowed him to finish in the top-75 in both 8 and 9-cat scoring formats.
With Victor Oladipo off to a late and slow start to the season as he recovered from injury, Warren took the lead and along with Domantas Sabonis bore the brunt of the scoring load for the Pacers. Warren's 18.7 PPG came on .529 shooting from the field and .812 from the line. He also put up averages of 1.1 treys, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 32.5 minutes per game. Warren was also able to stay mostly healthy, allowing him to appear in 61 games.
July 11, 2020, 11:08 pmAaron HolidayPG, Indiana Pacers
Aaron Holiday was called on to step up when the Pacers dealt with injuries to Malcolm Brogdon, allowing him to deliver value ranked 207th in 8-cat and 210 in 9-cat per-game value.
The second-year guard made some solid strides in 2019-20, even stepping up and into the Pacers' starting lineup. In January, Holiday showed promise as he went on a nine-game streak where he scored in double digits, including a 25-point career-high explosion against the Pelicans. In 23.6 minutes per game, Holiday averaged 9.4 points, 1.4 threes, 2.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
July 11, 2020, 10:03 pmDoug McDermottSF, Indiana Pacers
Pacers sharpshooter Doug McDermott shot his way to top-250 value in 9-cat in 2019-20, recording averages 10.4 points, 1.9 threes and 2.5 rebounds on .491 shooting from the field and .827 shooting from the line in 20 minutes per game through 62 games.
McDermott, who has pretty much defined himself as a true one-trick pony across his four-year NBA career. Thanks to the solid play of Justin Holiday off the bench, McDermott was not able to produce a reliable splash, both in real-life and fantasy.


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NEW YORK (AP) — New York City has achieved the lowest number of civilian fire deaths in its history.
The city had 58 fire deaths in 2012. That's four fewer than the previous record low of 62 set in 2010.
It also has recorded its fastest average ambulance response time for life-threatening medical emergencies. It's exactly 6½ minutes — a second faster than in 2011.
The 2012 figures were announced Wednesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano.
Bloomberg calls 2012 "a historic year for public safety."

subset: commoncrawl


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the lady leaves
the perfume shop
Here I record my own efforts at haiku, senryu and other short form poetry. I also provide a resources page and other comment on haiku. You can find some of my published haiku on the Living Haiku Anthology (https://preview.tinyurl.com/y88hqva7) and the Haiku Foundation Haiku Registry (https://preview.tinyurl.com/y9p2ahnl) - Roger Watson
Saturday, 20 October 2018
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on silent hooves white horses gallop home from the turbulent sea
on a branch mating pigeons one moving sideways **** two pigeons mating a shower of leaves
coronavirus I quarantine my fears Accepted (2020) to Frogpond **** no problem finding a seat coronavirus **** isolated wish...


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Last week we packed up a picnic, all our bathing suits and some towels and boarded a boat for an hour long journey off the gulf coast to a place called Ship Island.
It is a small island with nothing but beaches and a little brush and the boat drops you off in the morning and comes back for you in the afternoon. Nobody lives here and there is only one or two attendants working a little shack that sells sunscreen and floaties and such, but the island is just big enough that despite arriving with 40 or 50 other people we felt like it was our own private island!
It was slightly overcast when we arrived for the day but the heat was amazing and the water is warm.
Wren collected hermit crabs, we examined starfish and even saw dolphins swimming just off shore throughout the day! If I had to imagine what paradise looked like I would guess this is it.
The waters on the south side of the island are really shallow and Wren and I loved walking knee deep and just seeing all the fish swim around our ankles.
We had such a fun, relaxing day stranded out there, it was one of those days you imagine you will never forget the feel of.


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an immeasurable impact on irrigation
The Evolution of the Rotator
Back in the 1980s Nelson saw it was a time for a change, and set out to completely redesign the impact sprinkler. The result was an entirely new drive mechanism with superior performance … the Rotator® sprinkler was born! This durable plastic creation simplifies the water propulsion method by limiting the moving parts to one.
Original Rotator Drawing
Credit Larry Meyer, Engineer – 1/18/80
How the Rotator® Works:
The water stream emitted from the nozzle is directed into an offset channel on the rotor plate, which creates a reactionary drive force. A viscous silicone fluid in the rotor motor controls the rotation speed. This precise and simple design solves many of the problems that the impact sprinkler faces. More uniform water distribution patterns can be achieved, reliability is enhanced, application rates are reduced, costs and maintenance are lowered, and riser vibration is eliminated.
Since the inception of Rotator® Technology, a whole line of sprinklers has been developed providing a flow range of 9 GPH to 8.5 GPM (34 to 1935 LPH) and a throw radius of 7' to 50' (2.1 to 15.2 m). This offering covers the gamut of solid-set, wheel-line, permanent set and portable applications.
Evolution of the Rotator –
This picture shows 20+ years of
Rotator development including
pivot sprinklers, field sprinklers
and the MP Rotator turf sprinkler
(since sold to Hunter Industries).


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Hood Tales: Man Who Spent 10 Years In Prison Explains How The Infamous Lil Kim Pic Took Ppl's Lives! (Stabbed & More)
via freakgeniustv
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Evelyn Thomas Butts, of Norfolk, rose to prominence in the 1960s when she successfully challenged Virginia's poll tax. She was born on May 22, 1924. Her mother died when she was young and she was raised by an aunt. After Butts's husband was disabled during World War II she took in boarders to support her three daughters. She was president of the Oakwood Civic League, which persuaded the city during the 1950s to construct a new middle school so that African American students would not have to ride the bus across town to a segregated school. An active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, she was a leader in the civil rights movement in Norfolk from the 1960s through the 1980s.
In November 1963 Butts filed the first suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the poll tax that Virginia imposed as a prerequisite to voter registration. Annie E. Harper and others from Fairfax County later filed a second suit, both of which reached the United States Supreme Court. Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall, formerly the chief counsel of the NAACP, argued in support of Butts's assertions that the poll tax placed an unfair and unconstitutional financial burden on voter registration. On March 24, 1966, the Supreme Court ruled in the combined cases called Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections that the poll tax was unconstitutional. Butts then organized voter registration drives and founded the Concerned Citizens for Political Education. Butts was active in the Democratic Party, served for twelve years on the board of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and in 1982 became a member of the State Board of Housing and Community Development. Evelyn Butts Thomas died on March 11, 1993. In 1995, the City of Norfolk renamed a street in her honor.
Suggested Reading:
Tarter, Brent. "Butts, Evelyn Thomas." In Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Edited by John T. Kneebone et al., 2:449–450. Richmond: Library of Virginia, 1998– .
Related Links:


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Egypt: Clashes in Cairo as Christian protest attacked
15 May 2011
At least seven people have been injured in clashes at a Christian protest site in central Cairo, officials say.
The demonstrators outside Egypt's state TV building were attacked overnight, with shots fired, petrol bombs thrown and cars set alight.
The Christians were protesting against attacks on two churches last weekend in which 12 people died.
There has been an increase in sectarian clashes since former President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February.
Salafist groups find footing in Egypt after revolution
6 April 2011
While Western governments have long worried about Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptians are more concerned about the rise of Salafist groups, which have been blamed for a series of violent incidents in rural areas.
The Salafists have a strict interpretation of the Koran and believe in creating an Islamic state governed by Sharia law as it was practised by the Prophet Muhammad and enforced by his companions in the 7th Century.
They argue that the Muslim Brotherhood has become too focused on politics at the expense of religion. They try to turn Egypt to an Islamic state because they think there is a vacuum"
Cairo clashes leave 24 dead after Coptic church protest
9 October 2011
At least 24 people have been killed and more than 200 wounded in the worst violence since Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February.
Clashes broke out after a protest in Cairo against an attack on a church in Aswan province last week which Coptic Christians blame on Muslim radicals.
Egyptian TV showed protesters clashing with security forces as army vehicles burned outside the state TV building.
A curfew is in force. The cabinet is to hold an emergency meeting on Monday.
Sectarian tensions have increased in recent months in Egypt.
Filed under: EGYPT, Egyptian Military Violence Against Christians, Egyptian Revolution, Egyptian Revolution - Ascent of the Islamic Fundamentalists | Tagged: Egypt Violence Against Christians, Egyptian Violence |


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Dr. Timothy Bhattacharyya reviews medical content for Healthwise, a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make better health decisions. His research interests include fractures, trauma, joint replacement, and general orthopaedics. He has given many lectures on orthopaedic topics since 2001. In 2003 he received the Leonard Marmor Surgical Arthritis Foundation Award. Dr. Bhattacharyya is in private practice in Bethesda, Maryland.
MD: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 1998
Internship in General Surgery: Boston University, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, 1989–1999
Residency in Orthopaedic Surgery, Boston University, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, 1999–2003
Fellowship in Orthopaedic Trauma, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 2003–2004
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Instructor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School, 2004–2008
Dr. Bhattacharyya reported no financial conflicts.
Last Revised:
February 10, 2010
Healthwise Staff
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


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Benefits of Tint
For the Ultimate in stylish comfort, nothing beats Window Tinting for your automobile. With both solar glare and heat being significantly reduced, you and your passengers can drive in far more comfort.
Sol Control Window Films come in about every shade, including the old standby "limo-black". Although originally favored by those who wanted total privacy in their vehicles, there are many more reasons than privacy to choose window tinting. And, Tinting is available in a range of shades, including gray and bronze.
Sol Control Window Films applied to windows provide benefits in the
following areas:-
Save Energy
Sol Control reduces heat by rejecting 75% of total solar energy incident on the glass and increases coolness while minimising your air conditioning costs. It is estimated that premises of 100 sq. ft. 0f glass area in all 8 directions duly fixed with reflective Sol Control Window Film reduce the heat load on air conditioning by approximately one tonne.
Reduces Ultra Violet Radiation
Sol Control Window Film protects your skin and saves precious upholsteries from fading as it blocks 99% of harmful Ultra – Violet Rays. There's also a health benefit: the Film prevents excessive exposure to UV rays, which can cause skin cancer, premature aging of the skin and eye damage. Harmful UV Rays and heat cause car upholstery to crack and fade. Sol Control Window Film works as a sunscreen for your car.
Eliminates Glare
Sol Control increases comfort in your room and in your vehicle by eliminating sun glare. Sol Control Window Films cut out as much as 80% of the glare so that you get the benefit of natural light without straining your eyes.
Boosts Aesthetics
Sol Control Films are available in a variety of shades which adds beauty and enhances the exterior of the building and your Vehicle.
Saves on Installation and Maintenance
Sol Control Window Film lasts longer and is maintenance free which lessens your air conditioning and heat bills. It is very economic with better efficiency compared to other expensive tinted glasses.
Affords Greater Safety
There's nothing more dangerous than flying shards of glass, which often cause the most damage during earthquakes, riots, collisions etc. Sol Control Window Films not only resist breakage, they also hold the pieces together whenever glass panes break, thereby minimising damage to life and property.
Scratch Resistant
Sol Control Film has Scratch Resistant Coating to avoid appearance of scratches during normal handling and cleaning of the glass
Provides Privacy
Sol Control Film shields interiors from prying eyes when you are in your car, home or in your office. (Depending on light intensity)
Important Note: Residential or Commercial Window Tinting: You can choose any kind of Sol Control Window film if your window glass is Single Pane or window is not directly towards the Sun. But if you are going to do a tint on Dual Pane Glass or your Window is directly towards the Sun, please keep in mind; always choose a film which has a solar absorbance ratio is less than 53%. Never choose a film which has Solar Absorbance ratio is more than 53%. Please check the Description of Sol Control Window Films to see the Solar Absorbance Ratio.


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Tagged: brendan ryan
2012/13 Offseason: Non-Tender Candidates – Hitters
By November 30th of this year, teams will have to determine whether or not to tender a contract offer to their arbitration-eligible players. If they do not offer a contract, the players become free agents.
Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com has compiled an excellent list of possible non-tender candidates. Of course, these are just his guesses, so there's nothing official about this list, but it's an interesting place to look for possible Astros pickups.
I've identified six guys from this list who might be reasonable targets for the Astros to fill immediate needs, should they be non-tendered, plus three others who address less-significant needs.
1. Daric Barton – In parts of six seasons, Barton has put together a slash line of 240/364/370. He's not a prototypical slugging first baseman – he's hit just 27 home runs in 1,901 plate appearances – but he doesn't strike out a lot (16.6% career, though he spiked at 23.5% in 2012), and he makes contact. Barton looked great in 2010 – he had 10 home runs, had a walk rate of 16.0%, a .131 ISO, .360 wOBA, 126 wRC+, and 5.0 fWAR – all career highs. Since then, his power numbers have plummeted as his strikeout rate has spiked (from 1.08 BB/K in 2010 to 0.69 in 2012. ) His slash line in 2010: 273/393/405. In 2012: 204/338/292. If he can regain any of his pre-2011 form at the plate, he'd make a nice addition to the lineup.
2. George Kottaras – Kottaras is sort of a mystery to me. This is a guy who's never really been able to receive a lot of playing time – edged out by Derek Norris in Oakland during their march to the postseason in 2012, for example. But he's also a guy with a .205 ISO last year, .207 in 2011. He also topped .330 wOBA in each of those years. The Astros, in their search for a backup to Jason Castro, might be well-served to kick the tires on Kottaras. He's never had negative fWAR, despite not exactly being a defensive stalwart. He's got a career slugging percentage of .412, and he gets on base at a .320 clip. Bill James' projections for 2013 – optimistic even by BIS standards – are 240/345/435 with 357 plate appearances (considering he's never topped 250 in a season, that's a bit puzzling, obviously.) But Kottaras is certainly a guy who could back up Castro, maybe even play some DH, and provide a left-handed bat with some pop off the bench. Well worth a look.
3. Casey McGehee – McGehee has worked his way through half of the NL Central – since 2008, he's played for the Cubs, Brewers, and Pirates, as well as 59 plate appearances for the Yankees in 2012. In his first full season in Milwaukee (2010), he had 23 home runs and 104 RBI in 670 plate appearances. He's a guy who's never walked much (7.7% over his career), but has a reasonable strikeout rate of 17.2% in that time. He plays both corner infield positions, and even has 180.2 innings at 2B in his major league career, though his defense isn't exactly his strength. He puts up good power numbers (career .414 SLG), and could be a candidate for a DH who can spell the starters at first or third.
4. Mark Reynolds – Everyone knows the score with Reynolds. He's a guy who puts up prodigious power numbers (.240 career ISO), and prodigious strikeout numbers – only 5 times in Major League history has a player struck out 200 or more times in a season. Reynolds has done it three of those 5 times (2008-10). Still, even in a year where he's considered a non-tender candidate, Reynolds put up an a decent .335 wOBA. In fact, he cut his strikeout rate to a career-low 29.6%. And though he clubbed "just" 23 home runs, do bear in mind that that's still more than any Astro was able to hit. You have to expect Reynolds to hit in the 230 range next year, with 30+ home runs. Certainly a solid choice for DH.
5. Gaby Sanchez – Sanchez had 19 home runs in both 2010 and 2011, with a career slash line of 269/346/440, but struggled to a 202/250/306 line in 196 plate appearances with Miami in 2012. The Marlins optioned him to the minors in early July and traded him to the Pirates on July 31. He fared much better in Pittsburgh, going 241/323/397 in 130 plate appearances. If Dierkes is correct and Sanchez is in fact non-tendered, I'd be both surprised and delighted, as I happen to think he's a no-brainer for the Astros. Prior to 2012, Sanchez hadn't posted a wOBA lower than .342 (though it's interesting to note that it has become progressively lower in every single season of his career). He plays a decent first base, but could just as easily slot in as a DH.
6. Andres Torres – Torres is a guy who's seen great heights and great depths. He bounced back and forth between the majors and minors in the Detroit and Texas systems before landing in San Francisco in 2009. In that season, he put together a .374 wOBA season, going 270/343/533 in 170 plate appearances. The following season, he flashed a great glove and swung an equally-great bat, compiling 6.9 fWAR. From there, it's been largely downhill. 2011 and 2012 were struggles for Torres, even as his strikeout rate has fallen and his walk rate has increased. His ISO fell to .107, his wOBA to .297. He still managed to put up 1.7 fWAR for the Mets in 2012, partially due to his plus defense and baserunning (13 SB), but he still failed to light the world on fire. If the Mets do end up non-tendering him (which I'm not so sure they will,) he'd be an interesting guy to take a look at – he plays all three outfield positions, shows power, steals bases, and hits from both sides of the plate.
And now, for something completely different…
7. Jesus Flores – Somewhere near the bottom of Jeff Luhnow's offseason shopping list is finding a backup for Jason Castro. There are a few ideas on how this could be done – signing a top-line free agent like Mike Napoli is one way in which it could be done. Signing someone like George Kotteras (above) is another. A third would be to take a look at a guy like Jesus Flores. Flores presents an interesting case because there's nothing spectacular about him. His career 241/289/375 line describes him pretty well – a guy who's competent at baseball, but who doesn't do anything beyond the ordinary. His fielding is reasonable, but not stellar. He's just 28 years old and he's served as more-or-less a backup in Washington for the last 6 seasons. In short, he won't put any pressure on Castro, but would serve as a competent backup. He might not aid much in the growing-up process, like a Rod Barajas type might, but he's also not completely lost at the plate, on the chance that Castro ends up missing part of the season due to injury.
8. Ben Francisco – If it doesn't seem that long ago since Ben Francisco was a Houston Astro, that's because it's not. After receiving Francisco as part of the ten-player A.J. Happ trade with the Blue Jays, he played just 31 games with Houston before they flipped him to the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named later (any minute now). Well, what if Francisco ended up back at Houston at the same time as the PTBNL in his own trade? How incredible and amazing and awful and insane would that be!? The answer, of course, is "very." Still, I like Francisco's profile. He plays both corner outfield spots, and every year until 2011, he posted a wOBA over .330. It's been falling ever since, but I still can't help wondering if he might make a valuable bench piece.
9. Brendan Ryan – I can hear you all right now. "But… Brendan Ryan is a shortstop! If the Astros don't need anything, it's a shortstop!" Hear me out on this. Jed Lowrie, easily the centerpiece of the Houston Astros offense, plays shortstop. He's actually better at third base, but for now he plays shortstop. With me so far? Okay, good. Now. Jed Lowrie has never put together more than 387 plate appearances in a single season. Why not, you ask? Well, because Jed Lowrie has a tendency to get injured, often in freakish and unfortunate ways. Now imagine, if you will, a scenario in which the very best offensive player on the team (Lowrie) was put in a position (designated hitter) where he would be less-susceptible to freakish and unfortunate injuries. The truth is, Lowrie is not a particularly good defender. He's got a 1.7 UZR/150 at shortstop; 6.4 at second base; 5.5 at third base. Brendan Ryan, on the other hand, has a 12.2 UZR/150 as a shortstop. He's not going to blow anyone away offensively. He has a career 244/306/327 line, and went just 194/277/278 in Seattle in 2012. In addition to that, he just had surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow, which is particularly unfortunate because that is the elbow with which he happens to throw a baseball. But seeing his name on the non-tender list got my head a-spinning… imagine putting our best offensive player at DH, eliminating his propensity toward freakish injuries, and taking his defensive liabilities off the field at the same time? You have to admit, it's not the worst idea I've ever had.


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Chain Reaction: Ted's Montana Grill
Reviews of burgers at chain restaurants.
Ted's Montana Grill
1874 Peachtree Road, Atlanta GA 30309 (Map); 404-355-3897; 44 locations in 16 states listed at tedsmontanagrill.com
The Schtick: Upscale burger joint with cowboy-cool vibe and eco-friendly bent
The Burger: Spectacular seven-ounce patties of bison or beef with gourmet topping combos
Want Fries With That? The fries are outstanding; the onion rings may be even better
Setting: Turn-of-the-century Old West steakhouse/saloon
Price: Delicious Duo, $9; Cheeseburger (beef), $11; Peppercorn Burger (beef), $13; Kitchen Sink Burger (bison), $18
Launching a restaurant chain whose menu focuses primarily on a wild animal that most people know only from a Kevin Costner movie or the backside of an old nickel could be seen as a risky proposition. But then again, Ted Turner has always been a bit of a maverick. When the famed environmentalist / philanthropist / champion yachtsman / cable TV tycoon / ex-MLB owner / all-around filthy rich guy bought up half the state of Montana, five digits' worth of roaming buffalo came with it. The majestic animal was nearing extinction, so Ted made it his mission to reinvigorate the bison ranching industry. He teamed up with George McKerrow (the brains behind LongHorn Steakhouse) and invented a turn-of-the-century-style upscale saloon that would celebrate the spirit of the Old West and honor the bison as the centerpiece of the menu.
Ten years after the first Ted's Montana Grill opened (in Columbus, Ohio, of all places), there are now 44 restaurants spread across 16 states. The propaganda at Ted's will tell you that bison meat is similar in taste to beef, but "with a richer, slightly sweeter flavor." With repeated visits over the past several years under my belt, I still can't pick out a dramatic difference in a blind taste test. But whether you buy into bison or stick with the more traditional beef, Ted's Montana Grill is one of the best (if also one of the priciest) chain-burger options out there.
Speaking of options, you've got loads of them at Ted's when it comes to burgers. The menu can differ slightly from location to location, but in Turner's hometown of Atlanta (where there are currently 13 restaurants), the menu features just under twenty burger varieties, each one available in either National Bison Association-certified bison or Certified Angus beef.
If you're curious about bison but skittish at the thought of pulling the trigger on a full seven-ouncer, Ted's does offer a sampler. The Delicious Duo is a pair of three-ounce patties—one beef and one bison—dressed with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, housemade dill pickle chips, and the kitchen's own mustard remoulade on tiny brioche rolls. All of the meat—both the beef and the bison—is ground fresh on-site throughout the day, hand-formed, and cooked to order.
The classic beef Cheese Burger is simply gorgeous. All of the burgers at Ted's are griddled to develop a spectacularly seared crust (no good photos of this; it was apparently awfully damn dark in the Old West) and a beautiful melt job on the cheese (your choice of American, Swiss, Cheddar, or Monterey Jack). You have four bun choices at Ted's: a cornmeal-dusted Kaiser, an onion roll, ciabatta, or an "oatie wheat" bun. This medium-cooked burger was crazy-juicy, expertly seasoned, and so good that my picky five-year-old took the entire thing down single-handedly.
My wife also stayed with beef, but strayed into Ted's gourmet burger combinations. The Peppercorn is one of three new burgers that the chain debuted in 2011—the first new burgers on the menu in eight years. The patty is seasoned and seared with peppercorns (duh), then crowned with melted Gruyère, herb Dijon mustard, and baby arugula. Usually served atop an onion roll, the missus opted for ciabatta instead. Another solid and super-tasty offering that didn't need no stinking to-go box, thank you very much.
High-end add-ons like those are the staple of Ted's burger menu. Sure, you'll find the usual suspects like a Bacon Cheeseburger and a Swiss & Mushroom, but when you're shelling out a minimum of 10 bucks for a burger, you might as well have some fun. Some burgers go the route of barbecue sauce (George's Cadillac) or fried onion straws (Red Rock), and if you like that sort of thing on yours, you'll no doubt enjoy Ted's takes on them. For me, some of the more unusual standouts on the menu include the Canyon Creek (which features fresh jalapeños and blackberry jam among its toppings), the New Mexico (roasted Anaheim peppers, guacamole, and spicy tomato jam)...and the Kitchen Sink.
Damn, I'm a sucker for a fried egg atop a burger. The Kitchen Sink is just one of three on the menu with it, but it also adds American cheese, grilled ham, smoky bacon, grilled onions, and mushrooms. Not to worry, though; I put it on the substantial oatie wheat bun, which basically cancels all of that bad stuff right out. And I had not one, but two kinds of lettuce served on the side (shredded and leaf). Add tomato and red onion (for those of you keeping score, that's now two kinds of onions as well), and the Kitchen Sink is practically health food—you know, now that eggs are apparently good for us again. I was, however, disappointed to see that the kitchen had carelessly planted the little Stars-and-Stripes toothpick right through my yolk; I had really wanted to be the one to kickstart that silky gold rush myself.
With my "over-easy" egg already punctured and the flood of precious yolk pooling around my burger, there was no reason not to slice in for a good cross-section shot. My bison was nicely cooked to medium-rare, noticeably pinker in real-life than this picture would suggest. Although not quite as rosy as I would hope for with beef and an upscale kitchen staff, I grasped that it was perhaps just a difference between the two proteins. Coloring aside, it was phenomenally juicy, a joy to eat from the first bite to the last. (But let's watch where we stick that flag next time, okay?)
All burgers come with fresh-cut fries, and they are sensational. Long, hot, skin-on, crisp-on-the-outside-but-fluffy-on-the-inside, they are a spot-on interpretation of the American classic. But I'd also highly recommend the Salt-N'-Pepper Onion Rings. Huge bracelets of onion with a peppery kick in the crunchy crumb coat and not the least bit greasy, they rival the best upper-crust steakhouse rings I've ever had. Try 'em both by asking for a 50/50 order alongside your burger.
The cowboy-cool vibe at Ted's is also worth a quick mention. I've never been to an Old West turn-of-the-century saloon, but this sure as hell feels like the real deal. Gorgeous mahogany walls, honeycomb tile floors, Tiffany-style lamps, frosted glass, tin ceiling panels, brass accents and hardware—it's like dining on a movie set. And in true Ted Turner style, eco-responsible touches are everywhere, from the recycled butcher-paper tablecloths to the natural Boraxo powder soap in the restrooms. Even the straw in your drink is a statement: it's a biodegradable paper straw, something that hadn't even been produced in the U.S. since 1970—until Turner and McKerrow contacted the company that had first made it and resurrected it for use in all of its restaurants. The goal of Ted's Montana Grill is to be 99 percent plastic-free (think about that for a moment). Just a small step toward creating a better planet for us—and the bison—to live on.
In Atlanta, at least, we sometimes take Ted Turner for granted. And we often forget about Ted's Montana Grill. But every time I've ever been, I've come away raving about the burgers, both beef and bison. Granted, it's pricey: a naked beef burger with no cheese is 10 dollars. My bison Kitchen Sink, their most expensive burger, is $18. But for an upscale burger experience, Ted's is an occasional splurge that never disappoints.
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text:
Since this is my first posting, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Haneen, and I am a first year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program. For my field placement, I work with adolescents in a school setting.
I have to admit to something… And that is for the first time ever, I was actually excited to be coming back to school! While I did enjoy getting a break from writing papers and readings, there is a certain comfort in being back in the MSPP community once again. It is a community that is so supportive and welcoming that it is hard not to look forward to coming back. I was especially looking forward to my clinical seminar class and fourth year supervision.
Clinical seminar is a required full year course for all students in their first, second, and fourth years in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program. For me, the class has been an excellent support and addition to my experience at my field placement. In first year clinical seminar we review theories and ideas pertinent to providing therapy, in addition to discussing cases that we are each working on. It is a great class because it is so small (my seminar only has six people), and we all get an equal time to discuss our clients. Also, there is food every week!
Fourth year supervision is optional, but extremely helpful. All fourth years in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program are required to take a class on supervision. They get their practical experience in supervision by providing optional supervision to the first year Clinical Psychology students. Even though it is optional, I think every first year should participate. Those first years who wish to participate get paired up with a fourth year student sometimes based on clinical interests, matching first year field placement sites, or matching schedules. So far, getting supervision from someone who has been in the same position of being a first year at MSPP has been invaluable. Moreover, the supervision that fourth year supervisors provide does not necessarily have to be about issues at your field placement, I have also gotten help and advice about MSPP and being a grad student.
Overall, my first week back from vacation reminded me of why I chose to come to MSPP (the supportive community). I am excited to be beginning my second semester at MSPP, and I am looking forward to a productive spring!


text:
Supreme Irony? Court Has Own Buffer Zone
The U.S. Supreme Court, which Thursday struck down a Massachusetts law that established a 35-foot buffer around abortion clinics, enjoys its own protest-free zone.
A federal law bars protests from the white marble plaza of the U.S. Supreme Court building, an irony that was not lost on supporters of abortion rights. In a press call, Martha Walz, chief executive officer at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the court's decision also raises questions about the buffer zone at the Supreme Court.


text:
Hey all,
I'm posting this in the OS forum, as it is the one I feel most at home in.
Some of you know I've been working on two papers:
And of course:
Both are going to be fairly large in size once finished, and not only that, but it's part of the reason I've been popping out tutorials at least once a week. My idea is that I can post the OS paper, and have links to a bunch of tutorials written by me so readers can not only read and learn about new OSs they may have never used before, but also have a step by step tutorial for each one.
So, here is your chance:
Any OSs you'd like to install but want a step by step tutorial for like most of my installation tutorials have been?
Windows and DOS haven't been covered by me yet, and are possible (Well, maybe not DOS installation, unless I put a bit about using it in there too, as it would be too short).
I'm thinking of taking over OS installation (OK so not really, but hey I can help a lot )
Tutorials I will NOT do :
Gentoo installation, because for one, there are so many performance options and things that Gentoo does during an install, that it would be a while to finish, and would NOT be short by any means. The second reason, is because I don't like many of the users as it is, which brings me to the next OS I won't make a tutorial for:
Debian Linux.
Same reasons as Gentoo. I don't like the user base.
If Gentoo made a version that was not so based on giving yourself a 3% performance increase by making the install last 3,000,000 % longer, than maybe I would, but for now, no.
I have news of a Gentoo distro that will use Anaconda for installation. When that becomes stable, sure, I'll write a tutorial. I'm just NOT going to make one right now.
So, what would you like to install today? (MicrosoftGore TM)
Next order of business:
I'm going to copy and paste what I have right now of my two papers, because this way I don't have two make threads, and also, this is the request thread, so you may make requests on my papers. Like what you'd like to see in them, what you'd like to see added in, and maybe other requests for them.
Slackware Linux VS. Free BSD:
A (somewhat) unbaised look at two OSs.
This is going to be done on my Slackware Linux 9.1 machine in Emacs and Vim, and will not include much outside of my experiances with both platforms. Remember that I am NOT a coder, so I will not put much of that into this.
The last week or so I have been pitting Linux up against Free BSD 4.10 and 5.0 to see which one is better at what.
By reading the websites for both OSs, they both make out like they are on top of the game for server and desktop use. But is it all true? Or just hype?
It may come as a shock, or it may not, that I haven't had a computer for very long. I got my first machine 4 years ago, and learned fast. I heard about Free BSD about a year later, and actually started with Free BSD after leaving Windows to try other OSs. I've been using Linux for a year now, and so far I have learned a lot about UNIX and OSs in general.
Anyone from Anti Online that reads this knows that I am usually the person to come to when you have an OS question, and that is because I learned a lot about how they work in general by learning from the OSs I have used.
From a security stand point:
Any OS can be good, and any OS can be secure. The main difference between who gets attacked, and who can defend depend on the person using the machine. An example:
User A runs Windows 98SE, has Mcafee Anti Virus, and Mcafee Firewall installed, updated, and all Windows patches installed, and the machine has only a few programs installed, and they are all updated.
User B on the other hand is running Free BSD, and has no idea how to update it. SSH was installed and running by default, and the user doesn't know how to use upgrade_pkg.
The above examples can easily be applied to a real world event, as I have heard of plenty of users installing Free BSD for the first time, and either not knowing how to shut the machine down (I guess "halt" or "Shutdown" aren't obvious enough) Or they don't know how to update the system. They awake the next day to a machine that has been rooted.
User A however, leaves the machine on all the time, and has never had a problem. User A opens NO attachments, doesn't use Peer-2-Peer software, and has the firewall protecting them from other forms of threats. And since Windows 98SE has almost no remote network capabilities out of the box, they don't have many services running that could be exploited anyway.
This is a good example of something that can happen. The difference between these two users besides a letter? Well, one has knowledge, and the other has bragging rights. Let that be a lesson to you: Uptime means nothing when your box has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese.
I would really much rather reboot my machines because I'm installing a Kernel patch than be rebooting them because someone broke in, exploiting a hole that had a patch would have fixed a couple of months ago.
Security in Free BSD:
Free BSD may be one of the most stable OSs in the world. On the Netcraft website that shows the top 50 uptimes of web servers on the internet, almost all of the machines listed are running Free BSD on any given week. A few machines here have uptimes of nearly 5 years.
This is great, but I know for a fact that a few Kernel patches have been released in the last 5 years, and this means these boxes have not been patched. The number of people who can look on Netcraft and check uptimes of these machines, is almost like hanging a sign on the window saying "I'm not patched, own me".
Any person who wants to break into a server can easily go to Netcraft, find out the OS and Web server software of a website, and then check the patches that have been released for the OS the server is running on, and then compare the uptime to how long ago a patch was released, and Boom! you now know exactly what exploit you need.
Note to all admins:
Quit giving the kids such an easy task. Get up, and actually patch the machines you are in charge of!
Free BSD has not always had a good security track record. Some used to compare it to Microsoft. That was of course a while back though. I believe that any OS can be secure, or not secure, depending on the person operating it. Any user can take Open BSD, and make horrible security choices, and open up holes in it, and anyyone can also take something like, say Windows ME, and secure it beyond anyone's wildest dreams.
Before I get to far into this, one good place to learn about Free BSD security, is http://freebsd.org/security/
They give a good yet biased show of Free BSD.
Another thing to add:
If you find a security hole in Free BSD, send an e-mail too:
Letting them know about any problems you may find is best, don't keep it to yourself, and don't become a "0-Day Exploit" guy. Free BSD is used on many servers, and problems should be fixed.
Another thing to mention while on subject would be to remind users of Free BSD, that you should NEVER use the -CURRENT branch of Free BSD unless you are a developer. The -CURRENT branch does not get advisories, as it is not meant for production, so don't use it unless you are testing.
Always stick with something in the -STABLE branch.
Another way to stay on top of the game with security, and just general chat about Free BSD, is to join one of the many mailing lists, which can be found here:
That will show you a list of mailing lists you can sign up for.
One of the things about Free BSD is the "ports" collection. For information about this, please see:
I will discuss port later on.
Advisories for security issues are sent to these mailing lists (Taken from the Free BSD security page) :
If you notice on the Free BSD security page, 44 advisories of varying severity were issued for the base system. This is a high number considering it was just the base system, but then again this was also 2 years ago.
A look at the number of security patches for Free BSD 4.3 shows almost 200 to date. For Free BSD 4.4 there is less than half of this. Free BSD 4.7 only has 4, which is really good, but it's not exactly old either. The Free BSD security FTP server, located at ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/CERT/advisories/ lists 298 files. 290 of these are updates, and 8 are folders leading to more.
If you were to compare Free BSD to Slackware based on the number of fixes, Slackware would probably become the winner there.
Free BSD and Slackware both have one thing against it already in security:
They both use sendmail.
Sendmail is one of the most insecure applications ever written. It's in very wide use because it is very configurable, but it still could use a complete rewrite. I recommend Postfix, it's written to be more secure, and unlike Sendmail, configuring it won't make you want to cry.
I don't recommend Sendmail at all, as there are much better alternatives. But, this is not about Sendmail, this is about Slackware and Free BSD.
Reliability and stability of (Mostly) Common Operating systems
Written by: GORE.
This is a text file that I hope will help others in the quest for knowledge of reliability and stability of some operating systems they may come across. This text is being written on a Linux box in XEmacs.
Throughout the text, I will refer you to websites or other documentation, to give you a place to look if you want or need more information. this will help to keep the length of this text down a little, and make it easier to read. This way, if you want more information, you can have it without me having to make this longer than others may want to read.
Operating Systems (Here after known as "OS") Are the software that stand between the hardware and the software of computers. Every computer now needs an OS of some sort, even though in the early days this was not even thought of.
Before OS, programmers and researchers had to write all of the programs they wanted to use, and then, had no way of saving them. If you can imagine trying to write a program, it crashing, and then reading a print out of what happened because their was no "Core Dump" in these days, then you can see why someone started to think of the concept of an OS.
An OS has a lot of responsibilities. It has to control your hardware, your programs, and of course, make it easier for coders to make new programs. My main goal with this text will be to try and teach you a few things about OS, and the stability and reliability of ones you probably come into contact with.
Now, before I get to far into detail, you may be asking (Or you may not be asking, I really don't care either way =) ) What exactly IS an OS?
Well, an OS is software. Software is nothing more than a series of instructions, in a syntax that can be understood by either the computer, or a compiler, or, for BASIC, an interpreter. The instructions basically tell the computer what to do, and how, and when.
Most users interact with a lot of different programs on a daily basis. Some common applications you may use are: An Internet web browser, an e-mail client, a word processor application like Word, Word star, and Emacs, Text editors, like Vi, Vim, Emacs (I count it as both), Note pad, Edit, and Joe, and a lot of other types of programs. These are all software too.
In a basic since, an OS is a set of programs containing instructions that coordinate all of the activities among computer hardware resources. The OS recognizes input from a keyboard or a mouse, tells the monitor how to display things and where, the printer how to, and where to, print, and is in charge of data in RAM, and saved data on the disk.
More jobs the OS must do include:
Starting the computer up into a usable state
Providing a user interface
Managing programs
Managing memory
Scheduling jobs
Configuring devices
Accessing the Internet, and or a network
Monitoring performance
And all around doing some house keeper type jobs on the computer to make it useful for more than a paper weight.
Most computers people come into contact with store the OS on the Disk, smaller computers may store the OS in ROM, or "Read Only Memory".
Not all platforms use the same OS. Mac computers for example come with MAC OS. You can get other OS to run on a Mac though, like Linux.
Mac OS will not run on PCs though. X86 based PCs however have hundreds of OS available. And for SUN hardware, Solaris and Sun OS are the main OS, but Linux can run on these types of things too.
A bit about uptime:
A lot of people say uptime is not important. I don't agree with this at all. A lot of hackers love having a huge uptime, because keeping a machine from rebooting for a long period of time, is like a badge of honor. Think of it like a Dr who has performed a lot of successful surgeries. It is a bragging right.
But it is more than that. From a company perspective, uptime is very important. If a machine is rebooted, or turned off for any reason, that costs money. If a file server, for example, goes down for some reason, people can't do work.
This also costs money. Uptime isn't there just so you can brag how long your machine has been up. If you work for a company in IT, let one of your machines with a good uptime get rebooted or shut down while people are trying to work, then you'll see uptime is in fact important.
Now, with Windows, everyone has probably seen a "blue screen of death". Something happens, and Windows crashes. This in itself is bad enough, but think what happens when that machine is a server.
A server machine crashing, or needing a reboot, does cost money. I am completely against running Windows as a server OS. For one thing, when a new security flaw is found in Windows, which is quite often, you have to download the update, and always have to reboot for the settings to take effect.
This is unacceptable. And when their is more than one update, you have to download each one separately. That means after rebooting, you have to take more time to download another patch, to fix what they broke with the last fix, when they tried fixing what they broke. This process can take over an hour easily.
I run Windows on one of my home machines, and you have to download a patch, install, reboot, download another, install, reboot, and it goes on and on.
In Linux and BSD, when you install a security patch, you never have to reboot unless it is a patch for the kernel itself. Which rarely happens. Also, Windows usually takes longer to come out with a patch that works.
Recently this has been less of a problem though. They have been very good on the patching.
Now in their defense, again, they have a lot more of a user base to make the patch for, but for some reason, the Linux community has one ready that works in a few hours, not months like Windows.
For example, a few months ago, a hole was found in Internet Explorer. It didn't matter if you even used it, the fact that it was on your system made you have to update it. Internet explorer comes bundled with Windows, and can't be taken off.
It took them a couple months to even get a patch ready for it. Linux and BSD also allow you to install multiple updates at the same time, and not even need a reboot after you're done. An example would be when you reformat a machine, or install an OS on it for the first time. You know the routine, you install the OS, then sit there for about 7 hours installing updates.
Windows won't let you download some updates with others, and some of them have to be downloaded by themselves. In Linux and BSD, you download every update, all at once, and then you're done.
Like I said, the only time Linux or BSD need a reboot, is when you update the kernel, or install hardware.
This is much better for a server environment, where downtime costs money, because you don't need to reboot as often. Microsoft will try getting you to believe that Windows is a better environment than anything UNIX based, but after you have had the 30th Worm/Virus outbreak of the year, you probably will start not liking Windows.
But again, in the defense of Microsoft, they can't be like UNIX, they try sometimes, but the customer base for Microsoft do not want to actually learn. They want to sit down, and have something work.
Linux and UNIX do this, but require a small amount more in knowledge, which is why Windows still dominates with the filth they put out. Microsoft products are nice, and may not actually be filth, but the company is.
Also, Microsoft are still the only company to have an OS that gets affected by Worms as often as they do. But again, to be fair about this, most people use Windows, so Virus writers target Windows so that the infection spreads as fast as possible.
Well, the malicious coders do anyway. Linux, although not the epitome of security, is still more secure than Windows. People will tell you that security is made by the admin, not the OS, and I agree with this, except for one thing:
Linux has had about 4 Worms that actually were big enough to realize they were there. All of them targeted Red Hat Linux, and for the most part, did nothing more than install a patch for the worm, and go to another machine....Users really didn't need to install the patch that allowed this to happen, as the person who coded the Worm obviously had a sense of humor about security.
The worst Linux virus you are likely to ever see is:
To: SomeDude
From: Another Dude
Subject: Linux Virii!
This virus works on the honor system:
If you're running any variant of UNIX or Linux, please forward this to everyone you know, and delete a bunch of your files at random.
Thanks for your cooperation.
As you can see, this is pretty bad. It can delete files from your HD...Well actually it would be you deleting them out of pity.
One Linux virus that actually exists though, is called "W32/Lindose".
Not something you're likely to see if you do as my Linux install tutorials say, and delete Windows. The only way this virus can do anything, is if you have your Linux partition mounted in Windows, so the virus can be run from it.
It infects Windows PE executables and Linux ELF executables. If you somehow manage to infect yourself with this, don't pop open your Linux partition.
Viruses can cause downtime just like any other pain in the neck security flaw. This is another reason I won't use Windows for a server.
If you need to use Windows for a Desktop, I would recommend adhering to the following:
When you turn the machine on, use Windows update to make sure you have all patches installed.
After you have finished updating, check Windows update again. Sometimes when you install an update, you will notice there are now more updates than when you didn't have a certain update installed. This goes back to my complaint about fixing what they broke with the last patch they released to fix what they broke before.
After you have this all competed, update your anti virus software to make sure you have all bug fixes, and the newest .DAT files to check for viruses.
After you have done this, update your firewall software to make sure you are protected against new attacks.
At this point you should have Windows completely updated, your anti virus updated, and your firewall updated. Now it's time to make sure you have Windows Media Player updated. Windows Media Player, although nice, is not exactly secure either.
What I am trying to say, is when you turn your machine on, check for updates for the software you have. After you have finished updates and reboots, do a scan with your anti virus products.
Another thing you should be doing after you have scanned everything, is to open up Ad Aware; Which any self respecting Windows computer user would have installed. After you have it open, update the reference file, and do a scan with that.
UNIX hardware may cost a bit more, but it's worth it. Also, Linux and BSD do NOT need expensive hardware. The Newest version of Linux, will still run on a 386. A 386 was what people who ran DOS used. The newest versions of Windows need a lot more than that.
Also, Linux and BSD can be ran on 8 MB of RAM. Windows XP needs at least 128. If you are about to toss out that 486 you don't use anymore, how about you instead install Linux or BSD on it? Learning UNIX is a joy, and that 386 will actually make a great router or firewall.
You can take a 386 and turn it into a router or firewall with Linux or BSD. They both come with the programs needed to make it act as a router with very good firewall capabilities.
Again, I don't want to come off as someone who does not like using Windows. I do use Windows, and I do like the following:
-Windows NT
-Windows 98
-Windows 2000
-Windows XP
-Windows Server 2003 (Personal Favorite)
So how stable is Linux and BSD?
Well, I for one had 53 days of uptime on my machine, before a power outage took it down. The top 50 up-times of web servers on the Internet as of yesterday, are all running BSD. These machines have up times of over 1,780 days. That is about 5 years in case you want to know.
Those machines have been running for 5 years without a reboot, as a server.
And now for an update to this:
I recently had 66 days of uptime on my SUSE Linux 8.2 Professional machine.
A Windows 2000 machine was ONCE on the list with 900 days uptime. I will give Windows 2000 it's do, as it is fairly stable, but that machine probably had NO patches installed on it at all, as patches need a reboot.
I would rather reboot because I am installing a security patch, than be rebooting because my machine got owned and I have to take it down.
All in all, you would most likely have better success keeping a UNIX based Operating system up for long periods of time. DOS is another stable OS, but it is still very limited in capabilities.
So, when it comes down to it, Linux and BSD are MUCH better at being a server OS than most anything else.
The Kernel:
The Kernel of an OS is the very core of the OS itself. the Kernel manages memory, devices, the computer's clock, starts applications, and assigns the computer's resources.
The Kernel is also memory resident. It remains in memory while the computer is on.
When using an OS, the two most common ways of communicating with it as to what you want to do, are through a GUI (Graphical User Interface), which Windows XP uses almost exclusively, and a CLI (Command Line Interface).
The GUI can be nice to get common things done fast, but the command line is the best way to perform advanced tasks.
Micro Kernels:
Micro Kernels are not exactly my idea of good. To me they seem like a pain. The Gnu/Hurd project runs ons the Mach Micro Kernel, and from listening to Richard Stallman talk about it, it sounded like nothing more than a waste of time to me.
A bunch of little "Servers" communicate back and forth with each other, and if you break even one, you may have to redo your whole system, because you have to figure out which one broke, and when you fix it, be careful that you don't break another one that it talks to too.
Picture a card house. That is a Micro Kernel. Now, to simulate how I feel, smash it with a brick. Now put it back together the EXACT way it was before the whack with a brick.
See what I mean?
For more information on Gnu/TURD :
Monolithic Kernels:
The brick that whacked the card house
Monolithic Kernels, unlike Micro Kernels, are one whole entity. Kernels are not exactly what I do for a living, but I've read about them and listened to Richard Stallman talk about them about 3 times. To me it seems Monolithic Kernels are a much better idea, as I don't like the idea of my machine using a bunch of "Servers" for the Kernel itself.
Running an FTP, Apache, or SSH server is fine, but when it comes to a Kernel, no. Of course this is an opinion, but still, how many people can actually say a Micro Kernel sounds good?
Different types of OS:
Not all OS are the same. Most you are likely to come across may be very similar in what they do, but that doesn't mean they are all a like. Some OS are for servers, some are meant to be clients, some are single tasking single user, and some are embedded.
For the most post, I will be discussing mainly server and client and desktop OS. Embedded OS are not something I use much.
The best known single user single tasking OS is without a doubt DOS. DOS stands for two things:
Disk Operating System
Dirty Operating System
In 1981, IBM was coming out with a Personal Computer. They needed an OS to run on this "PC", and thankfully IBM succeeded with the PC, as we all now have a computer in our homes.
They went to Microsoft for an OS, and Microsoft lied and said they had an OS for the PC. They found a clone of Digital Researche's CP/M OS written by Tim Patterson of Seattle Computer Products called QDOS (Quick Dirty Operating system).
Microsoft bought it cheaply, and changed the name to MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating system). In some original copies, you could actually find the real name of it, as Microsoft had left some in, which I would guess was just a mistake when they looked for everything to change in it.
DOS seemed like the answer to IBM needing an OS. It was small, didn't take up much space, and would work without a Hard Disk. The original PC had no Hard Disk anyway. They changed the name to PC-DOS for IBM, named after DOS/360, an OS of the mid 60's. Microsoft of course called it's own version MS-DOS.
This was around the same time that BSD was being created too.
DOS is a fairly stable OS. Most versions of course allow you to only do one thing at a time, but IBM has a version of DOS that came out around the year 2,000 that actually can multi task.
You can find out more information of "PC-DOS 2000" here:
As for security, DOS is great...To an extent. I haven't heard of many DOS users getting owned, as it can't handle another user to break in. This would in theory point to DOS actually being secure network wise.
It can't handle more than one user, and can't handle more than one application at a time, so that would limit what could be done to it remotely. Remote access is possible in DOS though. Remote access tools were built for it, and a lot of applications that run in DOS, run much faster and much better than their Windows counterparts.
As I said, the security of DOS in a network being great because of it only being able to handle one user, and one application at a time, is only a theory of mine. Maybe one day I will actually test it and see how good it can hold up.
Even though it has age showing, DOS is still very much in use. Any Hacker worth his salt knows DOS.
Anyone who uses Windows should also know DOS inside and out, as most advanced tasks would require opening a DOS command prompt.
For information on MS-DOS, and help in learning commands, please see:
Client/Desktop OS:
The most well know OS in this category is without a doubt Windows. For a desktop, Windows is fine, but as for stability and reliability, they have had a less than perfect track record.
Windows 3.X
Windows 3.X was decent. It was fairly fast, and was simple. It was a bit reliable, heh, much more than Windows 95. And it was faster than 95. This OS is not in in use much anymore today, as support was dropped for it long ago, and it wouldn't be able to handle the new features that people have come to expect out of a modern OS. If you have older hardware lying around and don't want to use Linux for some reason, this could still be a valid option.
The odd thing about this, is if you have a 486 running DOS, and have Windows 3.1 installed on it, it will boot up, and respond faster, than a 3.06 GHz processor with Windows XP will.
I have actually seen this, and I was shocked to see how fast it boost up. And when you realise the processor on a 486 is so much slower, it kind of makes you wonder. But again, being fair, Windows XP has A LOT more to it than Windows 3.1 does, and also, Windows XP has a lot more running.
For more information on Windows 3.X please refer to:
Windows for Work-groups:
Well, I am going to make this into another category. It was basically part of the 3.x line. Windows 3.x could be added to a network, but Windows for Work-groups made the task much easier to perform.
Windows for Work-groups 3.11:
This was a pretty good upgrade compared to Windows for Work-groups 3.1, which added 32 bit file access, fax capabilities, and higher performance. This was of course back when Microsoft released updates for windows to add new features, not because they had found some un-fixable security hole.
There were actually 4 releases of Windows 3.1x :
Windows 3.1 : The first release of Windows 3.1x.
Windows 3.1 for Work groups.
Windows 3.11.
Windows 3.11 for Work-groups.
For Windows 3.1 to use networking features, a DOS NIC driver, protocol, and client software had to be provided. And as networking software became feature rich, the size of the client software resident in the 640K portion of RAM grew to the point that many applications would not run do to insufficient free real mode RAM.
Windows for Work-groups solves this problem by adding protected mode network support. Rather than loading the drivers in the 640K segment, The Windows networking software loads as .386 files. (VxD files).
Of course this means as soon as you went back to DOS, you lost the network. ( Some of the text you just read about Windows for Work-groups was NOT stolen, but learned by me from http://www.toastytech.com/guis/win311.html I did not just copy and paste this, but this stuff came out LONG before I had a computer, and some of it when I was in diapers. I found this site very informative, so I'm going to give some credit for THIS Windows 3.x section to them, as I learned a lot of it there.)
On a side note, to see what the FIRST version of Microsoft Word looked like running on Windows 1.0 look here:
Images of Classic windows:
http://www.toastytech.com/guis/win203logo.gif Windows 2.x
Page 228? The manual had more words than the source code!
All that color!!!!!!!!!!!!
This shot makes me actually regret giving away the only copy I had of Windows 3.x to my best friend for an old copy of UNIX. I need to find another copy.
so they DID borrow from Mac and TWM!!
This shot probably shows every color the monitor could handle. Lovely Chess board.
Instead of Doom, they give you solitaire.
This probably drove a few users to suicide.
Wow...A screen saver... The technology!
Ohhhh! Haxxor like!
Because Windows is all about being open...
Windows 3.2!
And you thought he had no sense of humor!
Windows 3.2 was for the Chinese.
Windows Chicago.. *Cringing*
I wonder if that sodding paper clip was present.
I'm sure this was the top of the line in digital music...
Control panel was NOT always there.
This was a preliminary release from November 1993.
Can't have Windows without solitaire....Nice to know they changed the games so often...
An adventure in "Crap OS land".
The titan of graphics and sound!
64 MBs of RAM???? Wow! The fact that it used almost half of it is kind of funny though, lol.
And it was still just a shell on top of DOS.
This is what happened when you pressed CTRL ALT DELETE.... The Sodding paper clip strikes again in pop up window form...It appears that you are grossly disgusted with Windows, would you like me to reboot the system?????????? LOL. This version of clippy seemed a little coked up and excited.
Good bye cruel world!
This is a file called "SYSLOGO.RLE" Hmm, odd.
A link to more images of Chicago. This was the Beta.
If you look at Chicago Beta, which the link I provided will take you to, you can see it was just before windows 95.
OK, this is weird. It is also a joke. Windows 98 running Windows 1.01 and shells from other oldies.
13 Years after making note pad they still can't get it to hold more than 60K of data...This is a shot from Windows 98.
Windows ME! And if you read into this page, there is a link that might even work, to show you a hack allowing Windows ME to be rebooted into MS-DOS mode!
Ahhhh Windows 98 LITE.
Windows 98 LITE version 2.
I'm not sure what to say here. Go look.
Another lovely show off page lol.
Office XP doesn't like running without IE.
You can get Windows XP to run things from Windows 1.0!
Windows 95/98 in 1 bit color, heh.
More weird Windows.
Making Windows 3.1 look like XP.
Windows 1.0 looking as XP as it can lol.
Windows NT 3.51 running new applications like Mozilla...And somehow working a little.
Windows 95 -
Windows 95 is great for doing basic tasks like surfing the Internet, and sending email. That is about where it stops though too. It is very unreliable, and for stability in Windows 95, think WTC AFTER the planes. Both crashed bad.
I used Windows 95 For about 6 months when I got my first computer. Even though Windows ME was about to be released, my first computer came with 95. It was from my uncle, and I learned quite a bit from it.
Windows 95 is not in much use anymore, because it is not only no longer supported, but unstable to the point that people would probably rather use DOS. But, you can find a few places that still use it. If had a few extra boxes I myself would install it again. It's not a resource hog, but it still has use in my opinion, as most OS do.
Windows 98 -
Windows 98 was an update to Windows 95 where some bugs were fixed, and the Internet was "integrated" into the OS...Supposedly. Windows 98 was decent though. It was more stable than 95, and more stable than the next home user OS, Windows ME.
Windows 98 SE was probably the best for gaming until Windows XP home came out. And even then some games won't run on XP, so the ultimate gaming machine would have to have 98SE for the games to all run correctly.
I can't say much bad about Windows 98 SE, because quite honestly, I have hardly ever had problems with it. It rarely crashed on me, and all the problems people report with it, hardly ever happened to me. Windows 98 SE can be used easily, and if you know what you're doing, and don't install "Dodgy" software on it, you can very easily keep a good uptime on it.
Windows 98 for stability is not to bad. Don't expect it to stay crisp after about a day or two though. But it can be up for a month or more if you know what you're doing.
Windows ME -
Doesn't belong in a conversation, or discussion about stability.
But if you really want to read a bit about Windows ME, look here:
Windows NT -
Windows NT was something that came out just before 95. I have no idea why they released 95 when NT was already there. NT was much better, even though it needed more resources.
NT machines have been known to stay up over a year without a reboot, but according to a Microsoft manual that no longer exists, you are supposed to reboot once a month for the memory leaks it has spilling out.
Microsoft took this tip off the web site, but it is quite funny. As I am writing this on my Linux box, I have 58 days of uptime, and I'm not planning on rebooting yet. That's the problem with Linux, you don't need to reboot so you may have to buy a better power supply.
I can't say I don't like Windows NT though. It was the first OS to have NTFS (Shocking, I know), and it is decent for being an old OS. It is somewhat dated now, but I would rather run it than nothing at all.
Windows NT has been around long enough that most of the bugs that are in it have had time to be found and fixed. Now if Microsoft would actually support it, it would be great.
All in all Windows NT is fairly decent, but no longer supported. The people at Microsoft dropped support for it a while back....And extended support for Windows 98.
From a business perspective, this was a very smart move, because a lot of people still use it, but personally, I think NT is better, and would rather have the nice NT, still supported.
Windows 2000 -
Windows 2000 was the update to NT. It was based on NT, but had the new features NT was missing because of age. A lot happened between when NT came out and when 2000 came out, so 2000 is usually a little better if you want newer options.
Windows 2000 is fairly stable. The Net-craft site showing the top 50 up-times once had a Windows 2000 box with 900 days of uptime on it. Not bad at all. Windows 2000 is still in wide use today, and Hotmail.com seems to be running it too.
I have used Windows 2000 Professional enough to know I can run it with confidence. Windows 2000 is all around a good OS if you actually take the time to learn it correctly. But few do.
Most people who use a computer, and don't make a career or hobby out of it, generally don't want to take time learning an OS, but those who do, usually really like windows 2000.
I just recently installed Windows 2000 on a new machine to see how it would work out. The Video card, NIC, and Sound Card in this machine are all integrated, and I had no drivers for them, and Windows 2000 didn;t work well on it obviously.
The NIC couldn't be used, and the video card gave me a bad resolution, and it was in 8 bit mode. So if you have a new machine that you want to use with windows 2000, make sure you have drivers in hand. Intagrated hardware is a curse in my opinion, but it is used a lot, so if you aren't sure if you have drivers, try and download them before installing.
Windows XP -
Windows XP comes in two forms mainly, and a third and fourth known as Windows XP for Tablet PCs, and Windows XP Media Center edition. They are basically XP with some added features to run on the machines they were designed for.
The other two main versions are Windows XP Home edition, and Windows XP Pro.
Windows XP Home edition is pretty much the one made for home use, and XP Pro was the update to Windows 2000 Professional. Huge difference huh?
Windows XP home is what I use at home, and I use XP pro at school. I've messed with both a fair amount, and from what I can tell, XP Pro's main difference is an extra $100.00 Price tag, and about 3 networking tools you could download anyway.
Oh, and of course XP Pro has encryption built in...Another feature you can download.
XP seems to mainly be a mix of Windows ME and Windows NT/2000. It is very stable, and also has a very good way with multimedia. Kind of like the best from both worlds. A lot of people have said XP was very insecure.
I believe an OS is as secure as you make it to be. Pooh Sun Tzu proved this theory with a couple of tests he shared on Anti Online, proving XP more secure than anyone had ever given it credit for.
I think Pooh Sun Tzu should be given a fair amount of credit for actually taking the time to learn Windows XP more than others have, and for teaching everyone that it can in fact be secured.
For Windows XP, it is the only version of Windows I have right now running. I have it on a box that came with it, and I just never took it off as I need it for school, and use it for a few other things too.
For stability, XP is an amazing OS compared to other OS Microsoft released. It is very stable, and I have yet to have to reboot unless I was installing something that required it... Or because I was worried about it over heating.
I've had XP running for quite a while without any problems, although after about a week some games would start to lag until I rebooted. This is still better than other OS Microsoft has released though.
XP does have a bit of a resources fetish though. You should have at the very least 256 MB of RAM, and a decent processor to run it. I personally have the XP box I talked about a bit earlier, and it runs great. It has 512 MB RAM, a 2.13 GHz AMD Athlon XP 2600+ Processor, and a 120 GB HD. This is a great machine for XP, as it has room to use.
If you can give it a lot of resources to play in, you should have no real problems there.
Windows server 2003 -
This right here, in my opinion, is one of the fastest, and best OS they have ever released. I started playing with it on a box here at home, and right away noticed a speed increase.
It seems to load applications much faster than previous versions of Windows could. Windows Server 2003 is amazing. I think Microsoft should take out all of the server software, and release it as a client version. It's fast, good to use, stable, easy to work with, and the install is easy, very painless to set up, and all around very good.
If you did need Windows as a server OS, I would recommend this one. This, and XP, are what I use at home. Well, that and Windows 2000 Professional. My other boxes all run Linux or BSD.
It seems very stable. I haven't had a problem with it at all.
Not much else to really say about it, as it is based on Windows 2000, so is very similar, but in my opinion, much better. Much better to the extent that I would buy it.
The install also goes a lot more smoothly than other versions.
I actually like it. They really should make a desktop version of it. I'd use it.
Are other Operating systems more secure than Windows?
Well, this is a question a lot of people ask, but hardly any know the answer to. The answer really depends on what you know how to do. If you know Windows very well, then switching to Linux may be a bit odd, and securing it is different in a few ways, so this may not be the best option. But if you are willing to learn, UNIX systems can be secured beyond standards.
I will cut this discussion down to only Linux, and BSD, because their are not very many homes that have any other versions of UNIX in them. Linux and BSD are both free to download and use. Or you can borrow a CD with Linux or BSD on it from a friend and copy it. This is all legal.
It IS freely available, but may cost you an Internet connection to download it, or maybe you could go to a school and download it their. The fact is, you can get it easy.
A lot of people think of BSD and Linux, and think "this is free, it must suck". It's sad people believe that. Linux and BSD are two of the most stable, reliable Operating systems in the world.
Open BSD is considered the most secure Operating system in the world, it is also freely available.
Yahoo.com runs on Free BSD, and a bunch of companies use Linux. They are all very stable. I have so far only seen a core dump on my Linux boxes one time. A core dump would be like a Windows blue screen of death, but you don't usually have to reboot from it, which is another strong point.
Also, Linux and BSD are immune to viruses. You have to be stupid enough to load one as root to make it do anything.
So, with it being free to get, immune to viruses and worms that spread across Windows boxes, and being stable as a brick wall; Why would anyone use something else?
Well, that is easily answered. People are used to Windows. At school you are taught to use Windows, and no one ever wants to learn anything else. Mac users are in a class all their own. Weirdos.
But I for one use Linux and BSD at home. This document is being typed on a Linux box in Vi. Linux comes with over 4,000 tools for everything from coding, to professional office suites, and even image editing, and a lot more.
The Matrix, for example, was MADE on Free BSD machines.
Linux and Free BSD power a lot of movies.
The Linux and BSD kernels both come with built in security. In short, yes, Linux and BSD can be much more secure than Windows, but you have to actually get off your butt and try. The way I mean they can be more secure, is the way Worms and Viruses rarely affect them, they have built in firewall capabilities, and they are stable.
Theoretical example:
Someone is updating a Windows box, and getting ready to reboot, well, this would normally be fine, but, what if someone inside the company wanted to gain access to the server? Well, a simple DDOS attack would stop the machine, or at least make it seem like it stopped. It would be lagging down to a crawl, and not be able to finish the update in time to stop the real attack about to occur, because the patch hadn't been installed, because the machine hadn't yet been rebooted.
Well, on Linux, the patch is installed, and that's usually it unless you're upgrading Apache, and then you have to do the oh so hard job of typing "Apachectl start". this takes less time than rebooting, and in this example, could stop an attack, as the update was installed beforehand.
Now, being fair, with Windows, the update would be very simple, so that way an MCSE can can do it too. Clicking on Windows Update and downloading patches should be easy, and for some reason, a bunch of people just do not pull this off.
I've heard of many attacks, and almost all of them were because someone just doesn't know how to update.
BeOS -
BeOS is an OS that is unlike any other. I have a history with BeOS that I don't have with any other OS other than Windows 95 as it was my first. BeOS was hailed the Media OS, and after using it a few times, I cans ay it was very good at this.
Another good thing BeOS brought to the table was the fact that it was a new OS, and had no legacy backwards compatibility problems that made it "have" to adhere to something like Windows does with DOS. It was a great begining.
BeOS also offered a Bash shell, and scripting, but you could choose how you wanted to interact with the OS. The command line didn't reply on the GUI, and the GUI didn't need the command line. You could use either.
The people who founded BeOS were all ex-Apple employees. In early 1990, the President of Apple's products division, Jean-Louis, decided he was ready to leave Apple, and make his next move.
One of the things he thought about, was buying CompuServe. I, along with a few others I'm sure, am happy he did not. The BeBox he created instead, was so much better.
In 1991, BeOS design was started, and not long after, BeOS was going smooothly, and was almost ready to be shown off. The reason an Apple port happened so quickly, was because Apple told BeOS that they had no business being at the Mac expo, as BeOS not only was a competitor, but also had nothing to do with Mac OS.
In about 6 weeks, Be OS was riding Macs. I've read a lot about the people who worked on Be OS, and they seem like the nicest people. BeOS was also one of the few OS that didn't try starting any "fights". They didn't try bashing any other OS, and were happy with being nothing but a "Dual booted" OS.
Be OS is written about 95% in C. The rest is in Assembler for speed. One of the things that really made me want to try BeOS out for the first time, was the fact that it was very stable.
I have used it a while, and have yet to ever have a freeze, crash, or lag. Even getting multiple high graphic programs running doesn't slow it down. A lot of people say BeOS is not very good, but I personally like it a lot.
BeOS was very good with memory protection too, and if something froze or crashed, you refreshed that part, and kept going. Also, on a Pentium 2 or so machine, BeOS boots in 20 seconds. Windows ME can supposedly do this, but unlike Windows ME, 20 seconds later, BeOS is still running.
The GUI is really cool looking I think. The whole design of the OS over all is amazing, a work of art. You can kind of tell the people who amde it were almost completly made up of ex-Apple employees, but they don't copy anything.
If you can imagine the ease of use, stability, and media power of Windows, Mac, and Linux all in one OS, you can imagine what BeOS is like. BeOS does have a web server, but it's not a server OS. It's made for the desktop, or a workstation, not a server. But it is stable enough to use a lot.
Be OS on the desktop is great, and a number of applications are still on the internet for it.
BeOS uses BFS as the file system, which is a fast and stable File System in my experiance.
Stability in BeOS is very good. I've said it before, I've never seen BeOS crash, hang, or lag even.
The User Interface for BeOS, looks a lot like AntiOnline.com used to look. Almost exactly like it.
Screen Shot:
For more information on BeOS, please visit:
The Great Grand Father of all modern OS. I'm sort of lost for words as to what to say really. UNIX was started in the 1960's by Ken Thompson and Denis Ritchie, when they were working in Bell Labs, a subsidary of AT&T. They made it to work on not very powerful machines, and to be fast.
The file System was first called the "Fast File System" and is really known by many as "UFS" or "UNIX File System".
Don't tell me, I know, I need to work faster. I also know the SlackBSD paper has no Slackware section yet. The reason is I've had no free time to do it yet, and I'm trying not to be baised towards Slackware, but I am so it's hard.
Well, there you go. Opinions, requests, constructive criticism... Tell me what you think.


text:
"At GETO, we concentrate on industrial electronics. We have a deep understanding of our customers' needs; therefore, we really know how to add value to our customer's businesses.
Quality, delivery and price are the key success factors in our business. We can satisfy our customer with the right quality, on time delivery, and a competitive price. However we understand that successful relationships require also speed in communications, accurate responses, and understanding of the customer, and harmonized services."
GETO (founded in 2009) is an EMS company that offers PCB Assembly Services in low/medium/mass volumes to customers, local and international, from several industrial fields. Furthermore, the company's electronic design department can provide on demand cost effective hardware, software and system design solutions.
Our headquarters based in Thessaloniki, Greece supports the production plant in Bulgaria, allowing us to offer low cost PCB Assembly services. The production process is ISO9001 certified and IPC-A-600 & IPC-A-610 compliant.
Our company offers Contract Manufacturing Services (CMS) concerning PCB assembly in a fully automated production site. SMT process, THT placement, Wave Soldering process, Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI), In Circuit Test (ICT) and Functional Automatic Test (FATE) are being conducted using automated equipment and fully trained personnel keeping the quality standards in the highest level.
GETO as an EMS company is specializing in Electronic Manufacturing Services, having as objective to help you go on to the market successfully. We understand that every customer is unique and requires special attention.
|Copyright 2009 Geto Custom electronics applciations. All rights reserved.
|Contact us: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Gov. Neil Abercrombie responded to today's announcement by Tesoro Hawaii that the company will convert its 94,000-barrel per day crude oil refinery to a terminal, effectively ending the facility's refinery operations. Tesoro Hawaii distributes refined products statewide in the form of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ship fuel, asphalt and fuel oil for electrical generation.
Gov. Abercrombie stated:
"After a good faith effort to continue current refining operations, Tesoro Hawaii has determined that it is in its own best business interests to convert its Hawaii refinery into a terminal facility.
"We have offered to work with Tesoro Hawaii in exploring remaining options and achieving an orderly transition for its employees and the state's energy needs.
"The 21st Century has arrived when it comes to energy and the importation of oil. The changing petroleum landscape underscores the urgency for the State of Hawaii to move rapidly on meeting our Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative objectives. Essential to our economic recovery is taking control of our state's energy future. We currently send billions of dollars a year outside of our islands to meet our energy needs.
"This administration is seeking long-term infrastructure investments that ensure our electric grids are stable, reliable and modern enough to integrate all available alternative and renewable energy technologies."
Filed under: Abercrombie, Announcements, Environment, Hawaii, State Affairs, Sustainable Living, Technology, Transportation Tagged: | Environment of Hawaii, Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, Neil Abercrombie, Tesoro Hawaii Refinery Closes, Valero Energy Corporation


text:
Sunday School – 10:00 am
Worship Service – 11:00 am
Bible Study – 12:15 pm
Wednesday Bible Study - 6:30 pm
12859 Martin Road Spur
Northport, AL 35473
Moving on in our study of systematic theology, Pastor Todd turned our focus to the doctrine of the church. This is an introductory message for the most part dealing only with the meaning and usage of the Greek word ekklesia which is translated church in our English Bibles. We hope this lesson gives you some things to consider.


text:
Pattern - A traditional Jewel Box design. I am currently writing a pattern for it which will be available for free download soon.
Quilting - As usual my amazing Mum quilted it for me using the Honeysuckle pantograph by Patricia Ritter - it is a very pretty pattern
Category - Professionally Quilted. Throw Quilt. Bed Quilt (twin size)
Here's a close up of the quilting.
here to visit Amy's Creative Side.
Thanks to Amy for putting together this wonderful event and to all of the generous sponsors! I am off to look at all of the quilty goodness from around the world.


text:
A MAGI TEMPLE World Belly Dance School Offers Belly Dance Classes for Beginners thru Professional and World Dance! Orlando's Longest Established & Award Winning Belly Dance School & Premiere Company!
While We are Closed due to Covid19, Enjoy our ONLINE Classes - Virtual Group Classes & Private Sessions available! We will Reopen once its Safe & Clear to do so! Be Safe & Stay Healthy! We will get through This together and Joyfully Shimmy! A MAGI Melanie
Expect Miracles
Song: "Expect Miracles" (c) Melanie LaJoie
On "Music for Miracles" fundraiser CD
produced by Children's Miracle Network
Open the magical, mystical doors of an enchanting place and time. Let the dance of A MAGI take you on a magic carpet ride. Award-Winning A MAGI's spellbinding dance acts combine a variety of styles specializing in traditional ethnic Middle Eastern Dance with dances of the harem, gypsies, tribal and ritual dance, sword and fire balancing, veils and capes swirling, ecstatic twirling and whirling, and the eerie sounds of sagats (finger cymbals "Zills") ringing to the syncopated rhythms of far away lands -- all for your enjoyment and entertainment -- all found in the magic of A MAGI
A MAGI Temple offers classes in Belly Dance: Classical Orientale Raks Sharqi, Folkloric, Araby Funk, ATS Tribal, Tribal Fusion, Latin BellyDance Fusion, Gypsy Dance, Drums & World Dance!
Belly Dance Classes - for beginners through professional for fun, fitness & lasting friendships Performance opportunities are available!
BOOK A MAGI Entertainment: Belly Dancers, Snake Charmers, Psychics, Fire Eaters/Dancers, Henna Artists, Sword Swallowers, World Dance & Beat: African, Flamenco, Bollywood, Latin and MORE! firstname.lastname@example.com . See our other website: www.amagipsychics.com
A MAGI TEMPLE BELLY DANCE SCHOOL IS CLOSED as of now thru Summer 2020 DUE TO CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK. Once it is safe and cleared to do so, we will REOPEN.
Take ONLINE Classes by Melanie on ZOOM to email@example.com - use your class Card or $15/session (https://paypal.me/AMagiMel) Let's keep moving Boosting our Immune System and Staying Healthy!
Skype Classes Beginners/Level 1: Wednesdays 7-8pm and Saturdays 11am-Noon
Upper Levels: Mondays 7:30-8:30pm & Saturdays 12:30-1:30pm
fOR REOPEN & CLASS SCHEDULE UPDATES, CHECK OUR CALENDAR SECTION AND FACEBOOK PAGE: a MAGI TEMPLE BELLY DANCE SCHOOL. CONTACT email@example.com FOR INFORMATION. PLEASE BE SAFE, SMART AND BLESSINGS OF GOOD HEALTH!
A MAGI Director/Founder: Melanie LaJoie, "Matriarch of Belly Dance in Orlando!"
30 Years of Belly dance in Orlando - 47 Total!
Get your Egyptian Dance FIX by the master Himself - AHMED HUSSIEN 9/12/20 Returns to Orlando BY POPULAR DEMAND
Be a STAR at A MAGI!
Melanie LaJoie ZILLing it for UNESCO Council Of International Dance 51st World Dance Congress, Athens Greece July 2018 where she taught workshop & performed!:
DANCE HEALS! DANCE LIGHT, LOVE, PEACE & JOY! A MAGI Melanie's Spirit Healing Dance in tribute to 6/12/16 PULSE Nightclub Tragedy ("Hands" by Jewel)
A MAGI Belly Dance (Allegra, Asiana, Melanie LaJoie, Katriana & Students) at Asia Trends Dragon Chinese New Year Festival in Orlando:
See our YOUTUBE Channel!
A MAGI books their professional soloists and troupes at:
- Area Theme Parks & Dinner Attractions
- Conventions/Special Events
- Weddings/Birthdays/Anniversaries
- Restaurants
- Festivals/Faires
- Bachelorette & Princess Parties
- Charity Events & more
Melanie LaJoie, International Performer with over 35 years study & performance (Egypt, Morocco, Boston, NYC, Europe, Cruise ships) is "Orlando's Crown Jewel of Belly Dance Specialists" (WKMG-TV6) & now an official "Legend of Belly Dance in New England"
A MAGI won 1st Place at Arts Talentxtravaganza at Orlando Public Library performing a fusion of Traditional Egyptian Saidi Folk/Cane Dance & Tribal Belly Dance!
Remembering Bobby: A Dance Seminar Dedicated to the Legacy of IBRAHIM FARRAH
April 8, 9, & 10, 2011
Click HERE for more details.
Melanie LaJoie, A MAGI Director & Founder is the proud grant recipient attending the April 2011 Seminar "Remembering Bobby: A Dance Seminar Dedicated to the Legacy of Ibrahim Farrah" funded in part by a Professional Development Grant in the Performing Arts Category from United Arts of Central Florida to attend this seminar and additional training with her former NYC dance mentors and stellar artists.
Upon her return, Melanie will be scheduling workshops, training & additional solo & A MAGI performances dedicated to the legacy of the late, great Ibrahim Farrah and his extensive research in traditional Mid-East dance and culture.
Melanie would like to the thank the United Arts of Central Florida for this grant funding allowing her to continue her studies and training and to enhance the training and studies of dedicated world dance students throughout Central Florida!
Melanie LaJoie,
Director A MAGI 407-423-7269
"Orlando's Crown Jewel of Belly Dance Specialists" (WKMG-TV)
"Legend of Belly Dance New England" (New England Belly Dance Magazine)
"Grand Dame of Belly Dance In Florida"
A MAGI Troupe: Recipient of 2004 Troupe OASIS International Award
A MAGI Temple is conveniently located near downtown Orlando at 3589 S. Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL 32806 407-423-7269 to register!
Join our Orlando Bellydance Meetup Group to find information on exciting belly dance events in Orlando
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