text:
A group for non-theists who appreciate the art of tattooing and being tattooed. Those who want, have or just appreciate tattoos are welcome to join.
Members: 71
Latest Activity: Aug 10, 2014
Started by Rayray Oct 7, 2011. 0 Replies 0 Likes
SKIN DEEP: As a result of a 2007 lawsuit brought by the American Environmental Safety Institute, two leading tattoo ink-makers must now place warnings on their product containers, catalogs and Web…Continue
Started by Rayray. Last reply by Rayray Sep 18, 2011. 25 Replies 0 Likes
Lets get to know each other by telling what body art do you want or have? What meanings (if any) does it have?
Started by Rayray May 14, 2010. 0 Replies 0 Likes
When surveyed, most people say they get tattoos or unconventional piercings to express individuality. But could something more psychologically primal be afoot? Researchers at the University of…Continue
Very nice Beautiful. I've been looking for a subtle idea and that may just be it. Where is your humanist symbol?
my first Atheist tatt (see below)...I also have the humanist symbol tattoo :)
Here's my tattoo of Goya's 'The Sleep of Reason', one of my favourite works by freethinker-artist. The picture links to my blogpost about the tattoos, where you can find larger pictures and my other atheist/Humanist tatts:

© 2020 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: The Nexus Group. Powered by


text:
I was called to the Portland Community College's Cascade Campus last weekend to shoot portraits of a young man who shares his story of growing up hungry for knowledge to young people overcoming barriers in their lives. I photographed him speaking to a group of about 40 students in an auditorium for about an hour, then pulled him outside for some casual portraits for his website and marketing materials. His story was quite moving.
From an African village, to Food Stamps in America, to Harvard Graduate School, Tamam says "It's not where you start, it's where you finish that matters."
Words to live by

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Don't give your credibility up in the first place: If you apologize too much, tell jokes that deprecate yourself, or avoid the bold for the tentative, you'll give away your authority and credibility, fast--and that would be true of a man as well as a woman.
- Target the decision-maker: When you're presenting, make sure you know who's the decision-maker in your audience and gear your remarks in their direction. If you can establish yourself with that person, you're 99 percent of the way there. Too many work presentations fail to do this, whether by men or women. Make it clear you know the score.
- Find out what you do have in common with the guys: You may be the "other" when it comes to gender, but that doesn't mean you don't share experiences or expertise to which the group can relate. Use your commonalities to establish your cred.
- Jump right in: As Madeleine Albright counsels, women need to learn to interrupt. Her suggestion: Use a question to do so.
- Know your personality preference: If you've taken the Myers-Briggs assessment (or a similar one), you can find out whether you prefer a more analytic style of processing information--more typical of men than women--or an emotional approach to information, more typical of women. Factoring your personality preference and style into your presentation will only help you communicate more clearly.
Inspiration, ideas and information to help women build public speaking content, confidence and credibility. Denise Graveline is a Washington, DC-based speaker coach who has coached nearly 200 TEDMED and TEDx speakers--including one of 2016's most popular TED talks. She also has prepared speakers for presentations, testimony, and keynotes. She offers 1:1 coaching and group workshops in public speaking, presentation and media interview skills to both men and women.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
How do I establish credibility when I'm the only woman in the room?
Posted by eloquentwoman at Tuesday, December 13, 2011 0 comments
Labels: credibility
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
Dallas police are investigating a highway shooting that the victim believes was a road rage incident prompted by her driving with the car's high beams on.
The alleged road rage incident happened just after midnight Monday on Interstate 20 near South Prairie Creek Road, between Interstate 45 and state Highway 175. It was one of two separate shootings along the same stretch of Interstate 20 over a four-day period.
"If they would have had better aim they could have killed somebody out there that night," said Gerald Pinke, who was traveling home from a funeral in Tyler with his wife when the shooting happened.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
According to the police report, the passengers were headed westbound on I-20 in their Nissan Altima with their high beam lights on, when they pulled up behind an orange Pontiac Vibe.
Gerald Pinke said he was asleep and his wife, Gail, was driving when an orange Pontiac Vibe aggressively pulled in behind their car and began to tailgate them and flash its high beams.
Gail Pinke believes the only possible explanation for what could have angered the shooter was that she had been driving with her high beams on.
"I was on cruise control. I wasn't doing anything," she said. "There were not a lot of cars on the highway. [So] I tapped on the brake to let them know to get away and they got even closer. And I kind of stomped on the brake and woke my husband up."
After he woke up and his wife told him what was happening, Gerald Pinke said he told Gail to pull to the side of the highway so he could drive.
Once in the driver's seat, Gerald Pinke said he realized that the Pontiac Vibe had slowed down ahead in an apparent effort to allow them to catch back up.
Even in the darkness, Gerald Pinke said he could see someone gesturing toward him through the window of the sport utility vehicle.
"They were talking and I was telling them to pull over," Gerald Pinke said about what was happening when they heard the bang.
Pinke thought it was a gunshot; his wife was more confident of what had just happened.
"They shot at us," Gail Pinke said Tuesday, standing in front of the bullet scar that tore across the passenger side of her maroon Nissan Altima, a matter of inches away from where she was seated at the time.
The Pinkes then dialed 911 and followed the suspects at a safe distance, before losing them off the St. Augustine exit.
"I wanted to see them get caught. I still want to see them get caught," Gerald Pinke said.
The Pinkes' story is thought to be the latest of two separate shootings along the same stretch of Interstate 20 over a four-day period.
The first shooting was reported around 3:30 a.m. April 18, along the 40700 block of Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, just east of where I-20 meets state Highway 67, according to a Dallas police report.
In that incident, a 19-year-old passenger was shot in the leg by an unknown gunman, the police report states. The bullet came through the front passenger door.
NBC 5's Ben Russell contributed to this report.


text:
In a game that nobody expected to be as entertaining as it was, the Miami Heat pulled out a 141-129 double-overtime victory against the Sacramento Kings last night. The Kings should be proud of how well they hung with the Heat before getting demolished by an angry LeBron James, but they shouldn't be proud of this bit of failed trolling from Tyreke Evans.
With the game well in hand, Dwyane Wade attempted to dribble out the clock near half court. That's when Evans decided to swoop in for the steal, streak down to the other end of the court, and then completely blow an wide open layup. Evans then had an entire jar of salt poured into his wounds when Wade got the ball back, placed it under his right foot, and struck a conqueror's pose as the clock expired.


text:
They're pushing The Butler as an award contender possibility, opening strategically at the same time of year as The Help and hoping for a solid box office to carry it through fall and the long season. My colleague Traci Melchor was just at the junket last weekend. She loved it. She said it was Lenny Kravitz's performance, among all those BIG NAMES, that really stood out. And she asked him, given that he's a proper badass, how he settled into the role. He told her that Lee Daniels yelled cut after the first scene and pretty much yelled at him to stop walking like a rock star and walk like a butler instead. Big difference, obviously, in the psychology. That interview will air next week on etalk. Here's Lenny at the premiere last night in New York. PS. Traci said that, ahem, a certain cast member was 15 minutes late for the press conference. And it was Lenny who walked her up by hand to the riser when she finally arrived. Who do you think that might be?
Also in New York for the premiere – Minka Kelly who plays Jacqueline Kennedy in the film. Check her out leaving her hotel on the way to the carpet…and in the background there, purposefully staggering his exit, her boyfriend Chris Evans. I like them together. So much. Why am I alone in this?


text:
Dai-Dö No 6 —— $58.99
Gina & Kevin
Gina: "Dr Dick is right, Kevin and I are familiar with Big Teaze Toys. We've already reviewed I Rub My Duckie and I Rub My Wormie."
Kevin: "We still play with our Big Teaze Toys in the bath. They never grow old."
Gina: "Our previous reviews were of the playful side of Big Teaze Toys. Today we bring you their sophisticated side. Have you ever seen anything like this before? I hadn't. But I'm sure glad we lucked out and scored this review."
Kevin: "We've come to expect the unexpected from Big Teaze Toys. Like the bath toys that are fun, functional and yet real conversation pieces, Dai-Dö No 6 is all that and more. It has a distinctive teardrop shape that is stunningly elegant. We have the ruby red one. It's fashioned from a superior grade aluminum alloy and stainless steel for a lifetime of pleasure. This also means that Dai-Dö No 6 can be both chilled and warmed to suit your mood and add to the sensations."
Gina: "And pleasure you will have! You see it weighs in at nearly 12oz, which is the secret to its hands-free pleasuring capacity. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The bulb-shaped handle is ringed with black silicone that allows you to grip it easily, even with lubed fingers. We used water-based lube so as not to damage the silicone band."
Kevin: "Dai-Dö No 6 is all about G-spot and P-spot pleasuring! Once the teardrop end is inserted in either pussy or butt-hole the weighted handle does it's magic. Because of its unique shape you can even use Dai-Dö No 6 as either a butt plug or a pussy plug."
Gina: "And here's the kicker; this is the most perfect implement I've ever used for doing Kegel exercises. You simply can't beat it!"
Kevin: "Gina is right! I can flex and tone my ass muscles as well as do my Kegels." It's like weight training for my asshole…literally!"
Gina: "The same is true for my vaginal muscles; it's brilliant. Don't get us wrong; like I said a bit ago, this is a potent pleasure tool. I elevate my pelvis on some pillows, insert Dai-Dö No 6, manually position it to make love to my G-spot, then rapidly flex my vaginal muscles to make Dai-Dö No 6 bounce. My hands were free to roam my body from nipples to clit."
Kevin: "I did the same thing only through the backdoor. I can't get over how great the heft feels. Just contracting my sphincter make the Dai-Dö No 6 dance."
Gina: "It's the ideal toy for solo play, but it's just as functional in couple play."
Kevin: "And because Dai-Dö No 6 is made of a nonporous material, it's easily sterilized for sharing. Mild soap and water to clean; a 10% bleach solution, boiling or the dishwasher to disinfect. Obviously it's waterproof, but you've already figured that out, huh?"
Gina: "Dai-Dö No 6 comes in chic, but not excessive packaging. The Big Teaze Toys folks also include a sweet satin pouch for storage. I'm in love with Dai-Dö No 6. You will be too"
Kevin: "Take it from me, guys (or gals even). If you're into training your butt for all the pleasure it can deliver, there's no finer tool than the Dai-Dö No 6. Get one today!


text:
The Ninth Serbian Championship in solving optimizing puzzles will be held from 2nd December 8 PM. to 18th December 8 PM. (All times are Central European Time (CET=GMT+01.00)). There will be 4 problems in total. Non-Authors choose three puzzles which will be scored, Authors will solve three problems which they didn't prepared.
Authors of puzzles are: Marko Obradović, Milovan Kovačević, Čedomir Milanović and Zoran Tanasić.
Detailed rules of the contest, with the puzzles, will be posted on http://www.puzzleserbia.rs at 8 PM on 2nd December.
Serbian Optimizers
Information and discussion on Puzzle Competitions
Post Reply
1 post • Page 1 of 1
Post Reply
1 post • Page 1 of 1


text:
Google Smart Phones at Sprint 4163 E Court, Burton, MI
Stop in today to get a great deal on your next smartphone at your nearby Burton, MI Sprint store. Simply choose an in-stock phone and buy or reserve online for in-store pickup today. Need more help? Come in today to have our knowledgeable associates find you a great phone from a top brand like Apple or Samsung.
- Our Price: Starting at $19.96 / mo. 18 mo. lease with $0 down today
- Low Stock, Contact Us


text:
You know when you watch a beer commercial or an ad about fruit or anything relating food and think, man, that looks absolutely delicious? And then when you go to the shop to get that same exact food, it looks absolutely nothing like the commercial. It happens every time! How do ad men make the products look so good? With awesome slow motion, apparently.
The Marmalade, a German creative production house, shows how they bring out the absolute juiciest bits and pieces for the commercials and it's even more impressive than McDonald's photo wizardry. The clip shows 'the beauty of high speed' and shows how their high-speed robot, Spike, is able to capture everything at ridiculously high frame rates to bring out the details. Delicious [The Marmalade via Design Taxi]


text:
A puzzle by any other name would play as sweet.
When I first tried to pick up Lumines at the store, I asked the clerk, "Do you have loo-min-ess?" The girl looked at me funny, turned around, and said "Ron, do we have any copies of loo-meens?" They were out, but a new question was already raised: how do you pronounce the title? Lum-in-ees? Loo-mee-nays? The more I thought about it, the more possibilities there were. The French would probably just pronounce it loom. Silly French.
GR editor extraordinaire Ben Silverman (not French) apparently agreed with the girl in the store, when he called me to ask, "Where's your loo-meen review?" I had to get to the bottom of it.
While Ubisoft is indeed a French company, it turns out the game is pure Japanese. It was developed for Bandai by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the man behind the critically-acclaimed Rez and the very creative and visually cool (although overhyped) Space Channel 5. Off I went to the official Japanese site for the truth, where, unfortunately, the title was still in English.
But right there underneath in crisp katakana was the Japanese spelling: . This would roughly be pronounced ru-mi-neh-su (the Japanese have a huge problem with the letters L and R, which they consider to be identical sounds). So, replace the R with an L, and the u sound in su is actually muted, and voila, we have our answer: loo-mi-nes.
Whew. That really puts my mind at ease. It also proves that I really should have better stuff to do with my time, like getting back to stacking the stylish, glowing, multi-colored squares of Lumines on my PSP.
Lumines is the latest in gravity-fed Tetris derivatives, and easily one of the best since Tetris itself first pierced the iron curtain back in 1987. Like all puzzle games of its ilk, Lumines is simple and addictive – your little sister will be able to pick it up and figure out how to play almost immediately.
Unlike Tetris, all the blocks are square, but each is subdivided into four independently moving smaller squares which are painted one of two colors. The goal is to stack together at least four smaller squares of identical color together. Once you have a solid group, the constantly left-to-right moving "Time Line" will pop those squares like a wiper blade, allowing the ones on top to fall down. Just like Tetris, the goal is to avoid stacking your blocks all the way to the top.
Since you can rotate the squares, the math majors out there have already figured out that there are only six possible block combinations. Don't let that simplicity fool you, though; while it's possible to play and have fun right away, you'll eventually discover deeper strategies. With a wide playing field and the ability to see the next three upcoming blocks, you'll really need to start planning out some in-depth stacking strategies to do well. You don't just get faster at Lumines, you get better.
Occasionally you'll get a special square, which when popped takes with it all touching squares of the same color, regardless of whether they're in a group of four or more. This can be a lifesaver and a big scorer if planned correctly.
Aside from the addictive gameplay, what Lumines really has in spades is style. Dozens of different skins give the identical game a whole new look and feel. From Edo-style samurai paintings to flashing spaceships to distracting dancing silhouettes, Lumines keeps your eyes flying. One skin even goes so far as to mimic an old monochrome LCD screen. Nice.
Your ears are given the royal treatment, too. Cool techno remixes grace the perfect block-popping sound effects. The music features tracks by Mondo Grosso and Eri Nobuchika, who I am led to believe are well known in the Japanese club scene. Be sure to wear your headphones while playing or you're missing out on half the joy.
While the gameplay remains the same throughout, there are a number of different modes. The main one is clearly Challenge Mode, where you play as long as you can and rack up high scores to unlock new skins. The later levels get nearly impossible and mix you up by not only increasing the speed at which blocks fall, but also altering the speed of the "Time Line." The skins change occasionally in this mode, but always in the same order, so unfortunately you'll get overly familiar with the first few skins.
Single Skin mode lets you play forever with your favorite skin, while Time Attack lets you see how many blocks you can pop in a fixed amount of time. Puzzle Mode changes things up a bit because the goal isn't to pop blocks but to build a series of more intricate shapes.
There's also a two-player VS mode where you can battle the computer or a friend who also has Lumines via the PSP's wireless capabilities. It's local Ad Hoc only, though, so don't expect Internet play. The VS game features a cool anti-tug-o-war where the screen is split down the middle, with each of you stacking blocks on either side. If you do better than your opponent, you will slowly control more and more of the screen, giving him less room to work with unless he manages to push back.
An addictive, sensory delight, Lumines is an easy PSP recommendation. It's too much of a one-trick pony to be the next killer app, but if Tetris, Columns, or Puyo Puyo ever sucked you into their local gravity wells, you're going to love it. So go down to your local store and order it properly… by name, of course.


text:
All across Southern Queensland Country you'll find a delightful (and delicious) spread of events year-round. From quirky events celebrating melons and one of the state's toughest triathlons, to horse races, seasonal foodie events and a massive flower carnival you'll be quite surprised at how much is going on.
See below to find out exactly what's on in Toowoomba and surrounds.
The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is a celebration of everything this region has to offer. You'll find it's not only the blooms that come out to play at this 10-day festival to welcome spring, but locals and visitors from far and wide who are ready to shake off the shackles of winter with some good food, good wine, and good music.
All things food and wine is something Southern Queensland Country know and do extremely well. So naturally, they celebrate this through a variety of food and wine events throughout the year. As a taste, why not get well acquainted with the Granite Belt region's produce and booming wine industry at the Apple & Grape Harvest Festival! Or for a true homegrown Aussie experience, the Australian Camp Oven Festival is a must. From damper throwing to billy boiling, this is a weekend of great family fun.
But this is just the beginning, find more delicious events below.
While Southern Queensland Country music festivals aren't what you would typically expect, they certainly are memorable... and a little wacky! Bring your knitting needles or crochet hooks and settle in to enjoy a program of jazz events in the local cafes and parks with Warwick's very own Jumpers and Jazz – and so much more!


text:
Questions/comments/bug-reports should be emailed to email@example.com If you do not get a response, please subscribe to the Netpipe mailing list and re-post since We've been getting a lot of junk mail on that address.
NetPIPE was originally developed at the SCL by
Quinn Snell,
Armin Mikler,
John Gustafson,
and Guy Helmer.
Their IASTED conference paper in
or html format, along with the
in postscript format, provide a basic description of NetPIPE.
NetPIPE is currently being maintained by Troy Benjegerdes.
From October 2000 to July 2005, the code was developed and maintained by
Dave Turner, with contributions from several past students
(Xuehua Chen, Adam Oline, Bogdan Vasiliu, and Brian Smith).
Modules have been added for PVM, TCGMSG, and the 1-sided
message-passing standards of MPI-2 and SHMEM.
Low level modules have been developed to evaluate
GM for Myrinet cards,
the GPSHMEM implementation that brings the Cray SHMEM interface to other
machines, the low-level ARMCI library,
and the LAPI interface for IBM SP systems.
Internal testing can be done using a new memcpy module.
The latest stable version is
NetPIPE-3.7.2.tar.gz here,
or follow this link for a list of
old versions.
We have added an InfiniBand module for the Mellanox VAPI,
incorporated an integrity check option (-i), added the ability to
test with and without cache effects, allowed offsets of the source
and destination buffers, and fixed problems with the streaming mode.
Jimmy Hill contributed a uDAPL module for version 3.6.2 that you can download from the old versions directory. He is planning to contribute a uDAPL version for NetPIPE 4.x too, which will be integrated into the official distribution. A version of NetPIPE for Java is also available, based on the NetPIPE 2.4 C code.
NOTE: Version 3.6.2 fixes the bug causing segfaults in Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems (and most likely other distributions as well). Additionally, a number of portability issues with 64-bit architectures have been fixed.
NOTE: Version 3.6.1 fixes a bug in the InfiniBand module that arose from changes in the Mellanox VAPI code.
Note to developers: I am planning an incremental stable 3.6.3 release which will include at least a new OpenIB InfiniBand module, and possibly integrating the UDAPL contribution.
This web page has been saying NetPIPE 4.0 has been close to release for a long time. Unfortunately, I've not really had time to devote to getting it done. There are many new features that have been added, and I really need to get more feedback from people using NetPIPE about how to balance new features versus maintaining integrity of the benchmark.
Some of the features in the 4.x (aka, unstable) branch including a theoretical module,
the ability to measure the workload that the communication system
puts on the CPU, and the ability to do multiple simultaneous ping-pong
tests to measure the performance across a switch. There is a tarball
containing Dr Turner's working copy of NetPIPE 4.x in the
old versions directory. If you are developing
a new module for NetPIPE, please join the
mailing list and let us know what you are trying to do.
The message-passing modules have been used to compare the various
implementations of MPI (MPICH, LAM/MPI, MPI/Pro, MP_Lite) with each other
and with PVM and TCGMSG. They are also very useful in determining how
to fully tune the library and OS parameters for optimal performance.
The lower level modules are useful for determining how much efficiency
is lost in the message-passing layer, and to point out any idiosyncrasies
in the underlying network hardware.
A paper Protocol-Dependent Message-Passing Performance on Linux Clusters was presented at the Cluster 2002 conference in Chicago on September 25th of 2002. The paper and PowerPoint presentation provide some insight into how NetPIPE can be used to investigate the performance of a variety of systems.
A paper Integrating New Capabilities into NetPIPE was presented at the
Euro PVM/MPI conference in Venice Italy on September 30th of 2003.
The paper and
PowerPoint presentation
provides an overview of some of the new capabilities of NetPIPE including
the ability to test with or without the cache effects that have dramatic
effects in SMP and InfiniBand communications. Performance examples are given
for Channel-Bonded Gigabit Ethernet, InfiniBand, and memcpy to show how some of
the new modules are being used.
Below is an example of how NetPIPE has been used to measure the performance for a variety of high-speed interconnects. The latencies for each are given in microseconds. InfiniBand is using a 133 MHz PCI bus, delivering 6.5 Gbps out of a maximum of 8 Gbps possible. It tops out at 4.5 Gbps when a new buffer is used that has not been registered with the adapter. The experimental ATOLL hardware from the University of Mannheim provides the best results for messages below 10 kB, with SCI and Myrinet not far behind. The Intel 10 Gigabit Ethernet performance is poor, but several groups have newer 10 Gigabit Ethernet cards out that we have not tested yet. Gigabit Ethernet delivers around 900 Mbps with latencies of 25-62 microseconds from 64-bit 66 MHz PCI buses. Channel bonding 2 Gigabit Ethernet cards can double the thorughput, but this requires the MP_Lite message-passing library at this point (Linux kernel channel bonding currently doesn't work at Gigabit speeds).


text:
Yep, you heard us right – National Change Your Password Day, an impromptu initiative by the teams at Gizmodo and Lifehacker. In the last few days they've worked to drum up some anticipation for, let's face it, perhaps the most groan-worthy day of celebration possible.
But that aside, we support their quest to spread better password practices and to push the idea of a password manager as the only efficient way to do the password thing right.
We know it's difficult to inspire change for how we handle passwords. After all, who wants to spend the time and energy worrying about them? There are so many reasons not to try – we're busy, we're lazy, we don't think it will happen to us, and besides, we have our one or two strong passwords that we use everywhere, right?
But there's one good reason to put some thought into passwords today, and that's LastPass. LastPass centralizes your account data, makes it easy to generate strong, unique passwords, helps you easily login to your sites, and ensures you have your data where you need it, when you need it.
So in honor of National Change Your Password Day, could you do two things for us?
- Run the Security Check (via the LastPass Icon, under the Tools menu select 'Security Check') and commit to updating just 1 weak password today, and
- Tell someone about LastPass, and how it's changed your life.
Help us #bethepasswordchange today for a more secure tomorrow.
The LastPass Team
Graphic courtesy of Lifehacker.com


text:
|Boscov's In the Community
Boscov's Friends Helping Friends event is a special day filled with fun and fundraising to benefit area non-profit organizations.
Tickets to Friends Helping Friends are available from participating 501c and 170c1 non-profit organizations. Each participating organization will have the opportunity to sell a $5 discount shopping pass to the event that's good for 25% off* almost all purchases during Friends Helping Friends Day! 100% of the ticket donation goes directly to the selling organization, and donors will have the opportunity to win fabulous prizes, while enjoying refreshments and entertainment throughout the store.
(*Certain exclusions may apply. Complete details are printed on the shopping passes.)
Join the fine organizations who are already participating. If your non-profit organization would like to be a part of this exciting event, or for more information, please contact:
Boscov's Corporate Public Relations Office at 610-370-3704
or e-mail email@example.com
Champion the Cause
Year-round, Boscov's is actively and intimately involved with the non-profit organizations in each of our local communities. It's important to us that our fundraising efforts remain within our local communities, so we can directly help all of our neighbors.
Throughout the year Boscov's holds food & clothing drives, bake sales, paper pin-up sales and other fundraising & awareness events for local community organizations. For a complete listing of what's going on at your Boscov's store, visit our Boscov's event pages.


text:
It's the Tarzan movie with Alexander Skarsgard in the title role -- I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, click here for a refresher. It was taking Warner Bros a while to get going on it but it now seems they're close to signing a female lead: Jessica Chastain?
According to the NY Post, she's the studio's first choice to play Jane. Well now, suddenly, I'm more interested. Previously this sounded like an entire movie devoted to shots of a naked Viking swinging from the trees. Now we can focus on the naked Viking's love interest who goes from proper lady to badass jungle bitch. The CIA's Maya running things in the African wilderness.
Here's Chastain in Paris, where she's been front row at many shows, walking hand in hand with her boyfriend Gian Luca Passi who is not Jason Clarke and not Tom Hiddleston because the Daily Mail is stupid. Why I love how this went down:
Chastain wasn't quick to issue a panicky denial when that story came out two months ago. Instead, she took her time and, rather organically, proved otherwise.


text:
Most of the gamers I knew stuck with XP during the Vista's time because it drained precious CPU cycles, but that's not the case here: Steam's released their latest stats on Windows usage, Windows 7 has already blown past Vista.
The stats break down this away: 42.78 percent on XP, 28.53 percent on Windows 7, and 27.91 percent on Vista. Consider that Vista's been out 3 years, and Windows 7's been out for 3 months. Also worth pointing out is that Windows 7 installs are 64-bit by a 2-to-1 margin, which as Ars notes, is now the most popular flavor of Windows on Steam short of XP 32-bit.
The gaming population on Steam isn't necessarily representative of Moms and Dads buying computers, but the fact that the deeply suspicious PC gaming community has picked up Windows 7 in droves does say something. [Steam via Ars, Neowin]


text:
The Truth about Bachelor Parties
While drinking and binging are expected at any bachelor party, here are ten things you probably didn't know happened at bachelor parties.
Are you curious to know what really goes on at a Bachelor Party? You must have heard all kinds of things and don't know what has or hasn't been exaggerated. You would never expect to get the truth from your guy if he ever went to one, so want someone to give you the heads up? Is it really as bad as it's made out to be? Or are you getting all upset for nothing? We spill the beans for you here.
If you are beside yourself with worry on the night of your fiancé's bachelor party, relax. Party organizers reveal that more than the groom-to-be, it is his married friends who are likelier to cheat with the strippers or other women guests at a bachelor party. Married guys, who rarely get a chance to go to anything this wild and are usually kept on a tight leash by their wives, would be the ones looking forward to a bachelor party to engage in some pretty sleazy doings.
If you thought bachelor parties were only about guys, think again. Women guests are as likely as their male counterparts to have a swinging time at a wild bachelor or bachelorette party and then wake up in the morning next to a complete stranger after indulging in a one night stand or being part of an orgy.
Bachelor parties are not only about teasing the prospective groom with a display of delights that he stands to lose. They are also about making him appear ridiculous and the butt of jokes among friends and guests. So while your fiancé may later gloat on the "really wild time" he had at his bachelor party, you wouldn't catch him admitting to small real revelations.
Your fiancé may not tell you but one of his biggest irritants is likely to be a surprise visit from you or your maid of honor at his bachelor party. Remember a bachelor party is called so for a reason – to keep the bride and her pals out. Your uninvited presence may not only make him look like a wimp before his friends but signal a lack of trust on your part in his ability to take care of himself.
While you may have sent your fiancé to his bachelor party with strict instructions to skip the strip-club routine, his pals may have lined up some really wild items on the entertainment schedule and unfortunately there is not much your man can do about it. In all likelihood the poor guy wants just wants to get through the night without major damage to his reputation or person.
Yet another unknown fact about such events is that more people are holding joint bachelor/bachelorette parties, according to Brettan Bablove, editorial director of Wedding Solutions. Dave Navarro and Carmen Electra were among the earliest celebrity couples to have initiated the trend in 2003. And even though they are divorced now, an increasing number of couples seem to believe in the maxim that safety lies in numbers.
It would be asking too much of him to disclose all the incriminating details of his bachelor bash. And even though he may not actually lie, hardly anyone would blame him for leaving out certain portions in his account of what really went on at the party. After all it is part of the night's code of secrecy.
Not all bachelor parties need be about naked women and strip clubs. If your fiancé enjoys a particular activity like fishing or poker with his gang, his bachelor party may be planned around such a theme. Your guy's buddies could whisk him off to fishing or golfing retreat and spend the night indulging a common passion suitably accompanied by lots of booze but not necessarily sleaze.
A real bonding among guys is probably the last thing you would expect to happen at a bachelor party. And yet most of them are not merely about binge drinking or watching a stripper but about hanging out together, talking and having some unmitigated time to themselves.
All possible measures have been taken to ensure accuracy, reliability, timeliness and authenticity of the information; however Onlymyhealth.com does not take any liability for the same. Using any information provided by the website is solely at the viewers' discretion. In case of any medical exigencies/ persistent health issues, we advise you to seek a qualified medical practitioner before putting to use any advice/tips given by our team or any third party in form of answers/comments on the above mentioned website.


text:
Loyalty Program Terms and Conditions
The promoter and controller of Lapponia Jewelry webshop loyalty program is:
Kalevala Koru Oy
Hankasuontie 11 A
00390 Helsinki
Tel.: +358 (0) 207 611 230
Email: [email protected]
Lapponia Jewelry webshop loyalty program offers varying benefits to loyal webshop customers. These benefits are only available online in Lapponia Jewelry's webshop at www.lapponia.com
To be eligible to participate the loyalty program a customer shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age or older, or as required by applicable mandatory legislation. In order to participate in the loyalty program individuals must expressly accept and thereby be bound by these terms and conditions by signing up online at www.lapponia.com.
Lapponia Jewelry webshop loyalty program membership is personal and only members can make related purchases, unless otherwise separately communicated.
To secure the best possible service in the loyalty program, members must keep their contact details up to date on their personal loyalty program account page at www.lapponia.com or e-mail the contact detail changes to [email protected]
Lapponia Jewelry reserves the right, without a separate notice, to terminate the loyalty program and alter or amend the terms and conditions of the loyalty program. Notification of changes to the terms and conditions will be sent to the member personally or by posting an updated version of the terms and conditions on Lapponia Jewelry's website one month before the changes become effective.
Lapponia Jewelry has the right to terminate the membership at any time if a member has breached these terms and conditions. A member can resign from this loyalty program at any time without a notice period by e-mailing his/her resignation to [email protected]
Unless otherwise required by applicable mandatory laws, Lapponia Jewelry webshop loyalty program is construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of Finland.


text:
Home & Garden
About the House: The Hidden Chimney
A lot of us live in wonderful old homes built in the days before modern furnaces, metal flues and self-venting stoves. These are houses built before 1935 that contain—among their many other dated and cherished facets—brick flues which have nothing whatsoever to do with fireplaces. Brick flues that are sure to crumble or crash when that much lauded earthquake finally makes its, somewhat overdue, appearance here in the East Bay.
The age of the modern engineered flue pipe began with the patented ceramic-lined flues of the 1920s (though brick can be seen well into the '30s in some houses) and gave way to the double-walled metal flues still in use today (though some flues in use today are even plastic). Brick flues (or, if you prefer, chimneys) were used for furnaces, cooking stoves and water heaters. They were also used for coal-burning heaters that are often still present in the dining rooms of our Victorians, Classic Boxes and Craftsman bungalows.
These small chimneys are generally quite small in cross-section because, unlike the earlier fireplace chimneys, they had only a tiny interior space for the evacuation of hot waste gases from our appliances.
The earliest brick flues have no lining, as is true of our early fireplace chimneys too. This can lead to problems. When natural gas is burned in stoves, water heaters and furnaces, it creates an acidic, moist gas that eats away at the alkaline mortar between the bricks. Over time, this gas destroys the structure of the chimney (creosote in chimneys is also acidic and does the same thing, which is one reason you want to get them cleaned and keep a rain cap on top).
Many of these chimneys get so soft through this process that I often can remove bricks by hand or indent the side of one of these chimney with a little push (which I do very delicately). This is scary when you think that lots of these are just hanging there in space, waiting for a modest shaker (or a very big one) to take them down into your kitchen, dining room or the upstairs bedroom. And we're talking about a lot of weight.
As awareness of this type of mortar deterioration grew, masons began using terra cotta linings for brick flues. Most of the brick flues still around today are of this improved type. These flues are often found in the walls between the kitchen and the dining room in homes from the 1800s up to about 1930. In these houses, cooking was often done on one side and heating (with a coal burner or gas heater) done on the other, with both components plugged into a double-barreled brick chimney stack.
Although they experience less mortar deterioration, these lined flues are still extremely inefficient (as flues) and present a similar level of seismic risk. These flues tend (due to their mass) to cause the exhaust gases within, to reach dew-point and rain down along the inside, rather than escape above the roof. This means that the exhaust isn't escaping and some part may actually travel in vapor form into the dwelling.
This is especially true when these brick flues are used for water heaters or furnaces. As noted earlier, this often leads to the brickwork's becoming soft and unstable.
So what makes sense? What do we want to do with these forgotten serfs of smoke and heat? There's no appliance that requires a brick flue today. For any item that is still connected to one of these, a lighter, smaller and more efficient flue can be installed.
Since many of the brick flues I see in houses today are doing no work at all, I'm strongly inclined to recommend that these be called to work as herringbone-patterned patios in our backyards. Bricks really want to be lying down here in California anyway in keeping with our laid-back modus-and our earthquake awareness. If we leave them running up through these hidden spaces in our houses, they're destined to come down through the plaster and the light framing of our houses when the big one arrives. The taller the stack, the greater the pressure at the base and the more dramatic the effect when the earth moves.
I think it's a powerful act of seismic planning to remove one of these things, especially if your house is two or more stories high. Keep in mind that most fireplace chimneys run up the exterior of the house and are likely to end up lying in the side yard while the ones we're talking about are sure to end up inside the house, causing a lot more damage. Couple that with the lack of real usefulness and you've got a darned good argument for demolition. Even removal of an upper portion and blocking off of the points of entry is a good start.
Removal of a chimney should be done by a qualified professional in gradual steps. It usually involves removal of some interior wall material, but perhaps not much. Chimneys of this kind seldom provide any structural support for the building, so they rarely need to be supplanted with framing as they are removed. Your contractor should be able to take it out and give you some nice choices for the use of the remaining space. For example, removal of a brick chimney can also provide additional space in the interior for storage or a slightly larger kitchen. Think about doing this job prior to replacing a roof so that you end up with fewer leaks from the roof/chimney junction (a common place for leaks to occur).
Your newly liberated brick might take shape as that Arcadian patio I mentioned or could be transported to the local salvage yard. A pile was recently left out by a neighbor on our block and it nearly led to a fight by wheelbarrow wielding neighbors vying for possession, so it might not even be necessary to cart them away yourself.
Old brick is generally of some value and if you have Clinker brick, even more so. Clinker, usually seen only on the more visible portions of upscale residential chimneys or facades, is malformed, bubbly and oddly colored, suggest a forgetful baker … which is pretty much the case.
When I think of the effects that our inevitable earthquake are likely to evoke, the removal of needless brick (especially tall stacks of same) gets placed high on my to-do list. I hope it'll be on yours, too.


text:
I don't really feel quite worthy enough to be attempting to get this info down. However, I had a problem at work that demanded a solution.
Now that I found it (in two forms) I feel a bit obligated to share, despite my lack of a Microsoft Certification.
Any omissions or incorrect information shared is unintended and I welcome comments from any kind folks more up-to-date in this area.
I want to pick this up by building on my Windows CPU throttling techniques post made about a month ago.
To summarize, we have had a DOS 16-bit program that chewed up all the CPU cycles when running. In finding and testing a solution, I came to realize that the problems wasn't nearly as sever on our dual-core processor systems as it was on our single-core processor systems. We have been slowly upgrading and deploying dual-core configurations now for the past two years.
In that process, I discovered that a significant number of our deployed desktop systems that had a dual-core processor were, in fact, only running in a single core mode. Yikes!
Upon more investigation, I have also identified many of our dual-core laptops also running with only a single core enabled.
What gives?
That turned out to be pretty simple to determine.
How do we get the full dual-core mode turned on? Well, that got a bit more complex.
Turns out that the factory-provided images were flawed. Seriously. I just didn't pay attention to it staring me in the face for the past two or more years.
See when we started deploying these systems, we had a post-deployment configuration step that involved copying some files to C:\Windows\System32. It was known as the "Hyperthreading patch".
As all our technicians knew, the files already existed on the system, and were in fact newer than the ones with the same names we were copying, but we were just told to copy them anyway and reboot. The files were hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe.
Whatever…so we copied them and moved on down the setup guide. Well…most of the techs copied them. Turns out it is now clear that a few did not. I could tell which systems weren't updated correctly because no sooner did we walk away then our help-desk would get a call of the user's pc running slower than their previously assigned system. A quick copy of the files and reboot turned the system back to a speed-demon.
Not only that, but with the latest rounds of laptops, copying those files (which did no harm to the desktops would render the dual-core laptops unbootable.
Not good.
Finally, with my CPU utilization problems bringing to the forefront of my attention that we had some dual-core systems not running dual-core mode, I knew I had to start digging deeper for an accurate understanding of what exactly was going on.
To the Google!
It's the Processor…Stupid! (Well, maybe not.)
Having the systems in front of me and our technical specs, I had no trouble running a Google check on Intel's website to verify that the processors we had in each system were, in-fact, dual-core.
Were I not to have that information, I could have used CPU-Z, System Information for Windows (SIW), or even SIV - System Information Viewer to get enough hardware identification information about the processor to do my lookup.
I then opened up the Windows Hardware Device Manager on several of these single-core using, dual-core processors and was surprised to see that XP Profession had correctly identified and was reporting both processors present.
However, a quick launch of the Task Manager (example 1 or example 2) confirmed that the OS was only "seeing" one core as I had no options to show both cores in separate usage graphs.
Maybe it was a driver thing?
I found this post Windows XP Multi Core config - Does your OEM do it for you? - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion that suggested I needed to download and apply a Microsoft patch and make some tweaks. Only that didn't "enable" the dual core mode at all. Nor apparently did it help a lot of other folks who have been reading that thread.
I next turned to a comparison between two otherwise identical systems. One was showing dual-cores activated and the other was not. After much digging, I located what appeared to be a key registry key difference: The dual-core system had two entries in the following locations:
Whereas the single-core one did not.
So, stupid grasshopper that I was just exported those extra registry key items and then imported them on the single-core system. It didn't hurt anything, but after a reboot, they were removed automagically and the system remained in a single-core state.
It was very clear that something else was going on. But what.
It's a HAL and NT OS Kernel Thang
I'll spare you the extra days of ed-u-fi-cation I put myself through but in the end, I think I got it all sorted out.
(Note: All the following discussion assumes that the BIOS/systemboard supports a dual/multi-core processor AND that it has been enabled as such in the BIOS.)
Turns out that when Windows setup is ran, it should (in most cases) auto-sense the processor and apply and configure the proper HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) file and the correct NT OS kernel depending on the hardware auto-detected.
In our case, either the imaging process or imaging application at the factory failed to take into account a shift from a single-core to a dual-core model, or maybe the pre-build setup of the XP Pro OS wasn't done correctly. In any case, every dual-core system that had been deployed from the factory didn't ship with the supported dual-core processor HAL and NT OS Kernel.
What I came to understand is that our "Hyperthreading fix" was actually patching that error and replacing the single-core files with the proper dual-core ones. That's why the file-names, sizes, and dates were different but the system speeded up afterwards…the dual-cores were now being used!
What I discovered is that you can see this difference in action if you have both a dual-core and a single-core enabled system to compare. Just browse to the installed HAL and Ntoskrnl files and take a look at the file properties, then look at the "Original File Name" field.
- How can I determine which hardware abstraction layer (HAL) is running on my computer? – Windows IT Pro
- How can I determine which version of Ntoskrnl.exe I'm using? – Windows IT Pro
The key thing to notice in those quick tips is that the (correctly activated) multi-processor files will have different original file names than those of the single-processor systems.
Here are some of the most commonly seen ones:
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC
- halacpi.dll (renamed to hal.dll)
- ntkrnlpa.exe
- ntoskrnl.exe
ACPI Uniprocessor PC
- halaacpi.dll (renamed to hal.dll)
- ntkrnlpa.exe
- ntoskrnl.exe
ACPI Multiprocessor PC
- halmacpi.dll (renamed to hal.dll)
- ntkrpamp.exe (renamed to ntkrnlpa.exe)
- ntkrnlmp.exe (renamed to ntoskrnl.exe)¨
Why are they different? Let me have a Windows IT Pro explain….
- Which files are different between the single and multiprocessor versions of Windows XP and later? – Windows IT Pro
A. The core OSs are the same for both uniprocessor and multiprocessor systems. The only real differences are in the underlying Windows kernel (which is implemented along with the Executive subsystem in Ntoskrnl.exe) and the hardware abstraction layer (HAL--hal.dll). Windows versions earlier than Windows Server 2003 and XP did have some additional files that differed (Windows 2000 also had separate versions of Win32k.sys, NTdll.dll, and Kernel32.dll). When Windows is installed, it detects the processor requirements and copies the relevant file from the media to the standard name (e.g., ntoskrnl.exe) on the installed OS. The Table shows the files that differ between the uniprocessor and multiprocessor versions of XP. Note that the Ntkrnlpa.exe is used only on systems that have invoked the Physical Address Extension (PAE) kernel, which allows access to as much as 64GB of memory. Essentially the uniprocessor version of the kernel doesn't have the mutliprocessor synchronization algorithms, which are more complex and time-consuming, so they're a waste of processing resources for systems with only one processor.
So when Windows Setup is run on a system, it should sort all this out automatically. But problems come up if that image is Sysprep'ed and then deployed on systems that are similar enough for it to work, but having a different processor core type.
Need more links? Here are a ton that I found helpful to get my understanding down.
- How to Troubleshoot Windows 2000 Hardware Abstraction Layer Issues – MS KB237556
- How to force a Hardware Abstraction Layer during an upgrade or an installation of Windows XP – MS KB299340
- HAL options after Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Setup – MS KB309283
- HOW TO: Add Support for Multiple Processors in Windows 2000 – MS KB234558
- A geeks guide to Windows XP HAL Replacement – Johan Arwidmark at myITforum.com
- SysPrep in Depth - Part 3 - SysPrep.inf and HAL's - David Remy's Blog
- SysPrep Guide: Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) - 3/8 – Vernalex.com
- Imaging machines using different HALs w/sysprep – David Carlin
- Cool Solutions: Loading the Appropriate HAL via a single Image – Novell Cool Solutions Tip
- XP Ghost - HAL Issues – SysOpt.Forums
Fixing the Single-core to Multi-core Problem
I now clearly (as bayou mud) understood what was going on. I also knew we had at least one fix method already down.
Seems from a review of multiple forums that I looked into, many home-users with the problem of their system being dual-core supported and the hardware to match, but only seeing a single-core often ended up getting told that the only way to fix this on their XP systems is to just start from scratch and re-run a full Windows setup. This isn't something that a Windows Repair was going to fix.
Only I didn't like the idea of re-running Windows Setup on all these dual-core able, single-core using systems. Too much time and work for our team.
Simply using our already issued "Hyperthreading Fix" patch which involved (what I know knew to be) copying the multi-core ACPI supported hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe files with a following reboot would do the trick.
Although this worked great on the desktop systems, it seems it tanked the laptops.
I needed some other solution options.
Method #1: Pugsly0014's Batch-file Wonder
I eventually discovered a solution (very similar to our "Hyperthreading Fix" patch in a notebook support forum as contributed by Pugsly0014. Actually Pugs offers two solutions, but I liked the first better in our environment.
Enable Dual Core Support in a Windows XP Single Core Install? - NotebookForums.com
…you are going to have to replace the hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe from the single core version to the multi core version.
Option #1 - Hal / NToskrnl replacement
a. Make a directory called DUO on C:\
b. Copy halmacpi.dll (search your C:\ drive for this) to C:\DUO then rename it to hal.dll
c. Copy ntkrnlmp.exe (search your C:\ drive for this) to C:\DUO then rename it to ntoskrnl.exe
d. Make a batch file called go2core.cmd and put this in the file.
REN hal.dll hal.old
copy C:\Duo\hal.dll C:\windows\system32
REN ntoskrnl.exe ntoskrnl.old
copy C:\Duo\ntoskrnl.exe c:\windows\system32
e. Run Go2Core.cmd from C:\duo directory.
f. Reboot and you should now see two processors in Task manager
Pugs' second solution involved editing your boot.ini file and pointing it to the multi-core supported files, if that option is selected at boot. It is another clever solution, but not one I wanted to offer my end-users in our environment.
Lab-testing soon found that the batch-file switch-er-oo worked great, and could be deployed as a server login-script if we so choose to do.
If you don't find the files halmacpi.dll and ntkrnlmp.exe, you might find them in a cab file or compressed but not "expanded".
However, when I tested it on Dell D620/630 dual-core notebooks, it tanked them. Seriously.
Back to the drawing board.
Method #2: An "Ageless" Solution
More searching and thinking ensued.
I then located this deviation on Pugs's second "boot.ini" solution.
Dual core not processing two units – Seti@Home Forums
Forums poster "Ageless" offered this elegant solution (which ties into Pugs' second method I skipped):
…follow the steps:
1. You will need Service Pack 2 for XP for this, so if you do not have it, install it from Windows Update.
2. Use search to find ntkrnlmp.exe and halmacpi.dll and copy them to your c:\windows\system32 directory.
3. Use search to find boot.ini and open it in your text editor then find the following line:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
(or something of this sort)
and replace that line with:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="XP Professional MP" /fastdetect /kernel=ntkrnlmp.exe /hal=halmacpi.dll
Make sure there are no line breaks in that line.
4. Reboot your computer. It may go through an installation of the new kernel, just continue to click Yes and Install (or which ever you get) until done and that's it.
Note, depending on your flavor of XP and other factors, your boot.ini line might look a tad-bit different.
The key here is to add the /kernel=ntkrnlmp.exe /hal=halmacpi.dll part.
So I tried it on the notebooks and it worked!
Caveat Emptor
Only I now wondered what impact this might have on the notebook when we went to apply XP SP3. Would the fact that they were pointing at a non-standard kernel and hal file muck things up?
I then attempted to install XP SP3.
And it failed…because it checked the boot.ini and found it wasn't using a "standard" kernel and hal file!
But wait!
When I went back in to look at the hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe files, turns out they now matched the same size, date, and original file-name property of the ones I was pointing to!
Turns out that during the XP re-configuration process (Step 4) where it sensed the new multi-processor changes, it also updated the original single-core hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe files to the multi-core supported ones!
What would happen if i went in and re-edited the boot.ini file back to the original?
I tried it and it worked! The system/OS still recognized the mulit-core processor state.
Now when I tried to install XP SP3 it went on with no issues or complaints!
Claus's "Ageless" Mod Fix
So here (from the top-down) is what I ended up doing to move the dual-core laptops that were only running a single-core enabled into a fully enabled multi-core processor mode when the simple file switchout trick didn't work, as founded on "Ageless's" technique.
1. Ensure system is running XP Service Pack 2 or greater, if not upgrade accordingly first.
2. Run a local file-search (F3) to find the ntkrnlmp.exe and halmacpi.dll files. Copy them to your c:\windows\system32 directory. Note, in some cases they might only find them in the format ntkrnlmp.ex_ and halmacpi.dl_. If this is the case you must "extract" the files in the command line using expand.exe <filename> <output filename> synatax (example: expand.exe ntoskrnl.ex_ ntoskrnl.exe)
3. Browse to the C:\windows\system32 folder and make copies of the existing hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe files…just in case you need them later. I just leave the copies in the c:\windows\system32 folder.
4. Use search to find boot.ini and open it in your text editor.
(Or browse to Start -> Control Panel -> System and launch that. Then go to the "Advanced" tab and click the "Settings" button on the bottom "Startup and Recovery" section. Click the "Edit" button under the "System Startup" section and it will launch your boot.ini file in Notepad.)
Save a copy as boot.ini.orig to the root of your system partition (usually C:) just in case.
Then find the following line (yours may look slightly different):
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
(or something of this sort)
and replace that line with:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn /kernel=ntkrnlmp.exe /hal=halmacpi.dll
All that is on a single line, by the way!
Save this version as boot.ini on the root, overwriting the original.
5. Reboot your computer.
It should go through an installation of the new kernel and supporting elements.
You shouldn't get any prompts but if you do, just continue to select Yes or Install.
When completed, you should be prompted to reboot your system to put changes into effect.
Reboot again.
6. When it comes up, you should now be able to verify you are running in dual-core mode by going to <CTRL> <ALT> <DELETE> and opening the Task Manager. Click the Performance tab and it should show both CPU cores in the "CPU Usage History" graph."
7. Go into the c:\windows\system32 folder and you should also now be able to compare the hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe files with the copies you made. You should note that the file sizes are now different, but do match the ntkrnlmp.exe and halmacpi.dll versions you copied in earlier. That's because they were changed to the multi-core support versions!
8. Go back to your boot.ini file (however you want to find and open it) and open it in Notepad.
Just to be sure, you might want to first save it as boot.ini.multi.
Re-edit it back to the original state you found it in:
Find the following line (yours may look slightly different):
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn /kernel=ntkrnlmp.exe /hal=halmacpi.dll
(or something of this sort)
and replace that line with:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
Save it again as boot.ini to the root of your system partition (usually c:).
9. Reboot your system again and all should be well!
So, pick whichever method you want and give it a shot. It ended up working well on our systems at work. Of course, every system is different in its own way and your mileage may vary.
I'm no Mark Russinovich so I'm not sure I can provide much advice outside of this narrow range of testing and hardware I've been working with. I know there is a lot more of the multi/single kernel and hal related technicals that I've only just scratched the surface of understanding with here.
I'd also recommend making backup copies of any original hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe files first. And, keep a Windows PE 2.0, a VistaPE, or even a BartPE liveCD boot disk handy, just in case you need to liveCD-boot your system to put back any original versions. It came in dead-useful as I was testing and working out these issues.
Bonus #1 – Controlling the Processor Affinity in a Multi-Core system
So now that you got multiple cores up and running what can you do with them?
By default, a properly configured Windows multi-core supporting system will automatically manage and load-balance CPU usage rates across them.
However, in some rare cases (or with gamers) you might want to shove all of a particular process onto a single processor and not spread it across multiple ones.
There are a number of ways and tools you can use to do this:
- Getting More Bang Out of Your Dual Processing Buck : Getting The Most Out Of Software By Properly Assigning Threads – Tom's Hardware. – Shows how their freeware tool "THG Task Assignment Manager" can be used to assign affinity on a per-case (non-permanent) basis.
- Or, as Tom's shows in that post you can also use the Windows Task Manager to set process affinity.
- Process Explorer from Microsoft Sysinternals can also provide that functionality, with a bit more beef in my opinion.
- RunFirst - (freeware) – Also allows you to choose on which processor an application starts. This one is clever as it supports command-line arguments so you could use it in combination with the program to make a special shortcut that will launch your program automatically on the desired multi-processor core.
- Processor Affinity Manager 1.0 - (freeware via Softpedia) – Original location at this pamanager - Google Code link. Has drag-n-drop support, Current-process details, process defaults, tool to create a shortucut (a-la RunFirst) to launch an app with a particualar processor affinity set.
- SMP Seesaw - (freeware) – Another nice utility for setting processor affinities. (As reviewed by Download Squad.)
Finally, if you really want to get down and dirty and modify the application to launch on a particular core without these tools, you can do it, but it is going to take some extra work, as I previously posted.
You can change an application to run exclusively under a single CPU on a dual/multi-core processor, but it takes a bit more work.
In my case it specifically addressed the ntdvm.exe file tweaking that I was looking at, but could apply to almost any process.
Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 - markwilson.it
Read the post but it comes down to using a Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource kit tool, imagecfg.exe with some detailed command-line arguments.
Related posts on this technique:
- Technical Support : Hyper Threading and Flight Simulator – Reality XP
- JSI Tip 3542. How can I permanently set the processor affinity for an application? – Windows IT Pro
- Set CPU Affinity prior to app launch? – Tom's Hardware forums
- Set CPU Priority for a Process - Petri.co.il forums by Daniel Petri
Bonus #2 – Miscellaneous Multi-Core posts
I also found these posts as well in all my research. Don't really apply to much but are semi-related and I found them interesting, nonetheless.
- No more HAL-hell, the implications of Windows Vista's hardware independent imaging technology – 4SysOps
- Re: .wim hal issue - TechNet Forums
- Confusion over Multi-Processor Guest OS Support with Hyper-V - Virtual PC Guy's WebLog
- The Mystery of Hyper-V's Limit Processor Functionality? (Part 1) – Loud Sigh blog
- The Mystery of Hyper-V's Limit Processor Functionality? (Part 2 - Final) – Loud Sigh blog
- The Mystery of Hyper-V's Limit Processor Functionality? (Part 3 - Officially) – Loud Sigh blog
I hope this documentation of all my personal trials and tribulations in the land of multi-core Windows systems ends up helping someone.
The answers are out there, just takes a lot of work to tease them all out.
If anyone has any more information or additional tips, wisdom, or l33t 5k1ll5 to share, please feel free to educate me and us all.


text:
Tagged: Forbes Field
9-18-11 PNC Park On Field BP
As a benefit to being a season ticket holder, I was invited to take batting practice on the field at PNC Park on Sunday. The Pirates were out of town, so the BP was with other fellow season ticket holders. We we able to choose from Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I chose Sunday during the Steeler game, because I was hoping that I would be in a really small group and get more time to hit in the batting cage. That wouldn't really be the case as other fans had the same mentality.
The bad part about going to PNC Park during a Steeler game is trying to find a place to park, and then walking to the stadium through the parking lots and dealing with drunk Steeler fans. Two fans directed comments towards me and my Pirates gear. The first fan said, "Dude, put the bats away, you're scaring everyone!" I think he may have been serious.
I brought my metal bats because I am most comfortable using my own bats, and secondly, the ball travels a bit further. I wanted to put one out today.
Anyhow, the other comment directed toward me was some guy who asked his buddies three times if Daniel McCutchen had just walked past.
Maybe there's some resemblance with the hair… I don't know. I hope not.
Anyway, after checking in at a table outside of PNC Park, we were led down onto the field. Amy had come along to take some photos of the action.
The only problem is that there was no action. My group was assigned to 'catch in left field' first. We were supposed to play catch with our guest or snag balls.
I think I shagged two baseballs during the entire first group which lasted a half hour.
So. Boring.
I started throwing myself popups I was so bored. It was worse than a Pirates BP.
Eventually, Ian Weir showed up with his cousin Josh – two fellow ballhawks that I knew and would be able to throw some with.
We threw in left field for awhile.
Mixed in some popups and grounders.
And after a half hour, moved over to right field, where we would shag fly balls.
We got two fly balls, shot out of a pitching machine high into the air before we would rotate to the back of the line.
I went six for six in snagging the fly balls, and then went over to loosen up before rotating into the cage.
It was better than the last group, where we basically stood around – at least there was somewhat of a challenge, albeit an easy one for someone that attends BP every day and catches flies all the time.
Anyhow, the pitching machine was pitching the balls, so I watched and tried to time when I should begin my stride after seeing the ball put into the machine.
After 10 minutes or so, we rotated into the cage.
Here I am on deck:
And here I am taking some cuts.
I only got 10 pitches, and was forced to change my bat after the first pitch. "You can't use a metal bat!!" shouted some teenage intern operating the pitching machine. I was pretty mad because fellow season ticket holder Nick Pelescak informed me that he had been allowed to use his metal bat in his session just two hours earlier. Lame. How about some consistency?
Anyhow, I quickly grabbed a Ronny Paulino 35 inch 32 ounce wooden bat so I didn't murder anyone with screamers off of my metal bat (by the way, no one was allowed in the infield anyhow – I still don't see what the big deal was about).
Out of the 10 pitches I pulled everything, hit a couple flies, swung and missed at a few, hit some grounders, and hit one bomb that landed in foul territory that would've probably had a chance to clear the fence had I not been out in front of it. It landed on the fly here:
I felt like Brandon Wood. If you've watched him in Pirates BP, you know what I mean.
Anyhow, we were allowed to get back in the cage after everyone got 10 pitches.
We got 4 more pitches.
Blah. I wanted more swings, but we were forced to leave at 2:30 to go eat lunch.
Before heading up to the concourse, I stopped in the dugout to mess around.
Then after eating a hamburger, we left and headed to the Pitt Campus in Oakland to go to Forbes Field's home plate.
What was important about Forbes Field, well, Amy took me there on our first official date one year ago today.
Some pics from what's left of Forbes Field:
At the 457 deepest part of the park:
Forbes Field Historical Marker:
Home Plate, which is in a lecture hall across the street from the outfield wall:
Two great close ups that Amy took of Olivia and I at the outfield wall of Forbes Field:
Walking down some steps, I think it was 144 steps or something like that. It was a lot.
I'm planning on going to Cleveland on Thursday after work…


text:
Almost Paradise: new and selected poems and translations
|Net price:
Sam Hamill is that rare figure whose life is continually in dialogue with the rich and diverse tradition of poetry, whether that dialogue takes the form of translating the work of a poet long dead, writing a poem in celebration of the work of a contemporary poet, or musing on what it means to be a poet himself. A true poet's poet—and also the founding editor of Copper Canyon Press, one of the most influential publishers of poetry today—Hamill has been part of America's poetry scene for decades and has won numerous prizes and awards for his work. This collection presents the best of Hamill's work from his thirteen books of original poetry and from his numerous critically acclaimed works of translation, as well as a number of new, previously unpublished poems.
"The goal of Hamill's poetry is a transparency of word and continuum, of subject and setting forth, an immediacy and clarity of line like that of fine calligraphy or of classical Zen brush painting. His poetry has only now begun to be accorded the attention it deserves."—W. S. Merwin
"No one—I mean no one ever—has done the momentous work of presenting poetry better than Sam Hamill. His editing and publishing, his criticism and translations, his own very strong and beautiful poems have been making a difference in American culture for many years. What a wealth of accomplishment! This book, this selection of his poems and translations is no less than essential."—Hayden Carruth
"Sam Hamill is one of the most disturbing poets of our time. In Almost Paradise he finds his voice both in his own strong work and his intensely powerful translations. I've followed Hamill's work closely now for a couple of decades and my admiration continues to increase."—Jim Harrison
"Exquisite renderings of the paradoxes that encircle us."—Terry Tempest Williams
"Sam Hamill's Almost Paradise is the accounting of a life of extraordinary breadth and passion. Hamill's work—clear and resonant, muscularly and musically felt—is the speaking of a poet of a specific and precise place, whose place is also the world. The poems emerging from his life in the Pacific Northwest bring the reader news from a world you can see, hear, eat, be rained on or warmed by. Poems conversing with other writers traverse as native ground the terrain of ancient Greece, Japan, China, and also the entire liberated and engaged line of American poetics. Hamill is a writer unabashedly taking his place within the community of literature and the community of all sentient beings—his fidelity is to the magnificent truth of existence, and to its commensurate singing."—Jane Hirshfield


text: Mephisto Women's Sandal: Sole unit is composed of 100% rubber with air injection, for added flexibility. The shock absorbent soles reduce foot, and leg strain. Cement construction for increased durability. Footbed is composed of a mixture of cork and latex, to provide maximum support, and shock absorbency. Unlined top quality leather or nubuck uppers.


text:
Coach Paul Wetmore picked up his 500th career win as Liberty defeated Norfolk State.
Liberty head coach Paul Wetmore went down in the history books, Wednesday afternoon, earning his 500th career win as the Lady Flames defeated Norfolk State, 7-1. Wetmore becomes the third coach in Big South history to accomplish the feat. Coastal Carolina's Jess Dannelly ended his career with 669 wins, and current Winthrop coach Mark Cooke sits at 610 victories. Wetmore is also the first coach in any sport in Liberty history to amass 500 wins in his career. The Lady Flames improve to 22-18 on the season, while Norfolk State drops to 10-23 overall. The Spartans struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Danielle Wright led off by reaching when she was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Alyssa DiMartino, and moved on to third on a passed ball. One out later, she scored when Melina Valles grounded out to third. Liberty tied it up in the bottom of the second with one swing, when Meredith Crisante hit a solo homer down the left field line for a 1-1 score. The Spartans recorded their first hit of the day in the top of the third, when Wright singled down the right field line with two outs. She never advanced though, as she was caught stealing with the next batter up. Liberty tacked another run on the board in the bottom of the third for a 2-1 advantage. Ashley Bensinger led off with a walk, and moved to second when Jenny Law singled to left. Law moved to second when Bensinger was caught stealing at third, and scored when Crisante singled through the left side, and left fielder Jeannette Sauceda bobbled the ball. The Lady Flames kept cruising in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Keely McMillon singled to center field, and Kelly Strickland drew a walk. Next up, Bensinger hammered a home run to left center to bring everyone home, extending Liberty's lead to 5-1. The Lady Flames moved the score to 7-1 in the bottom of the fifth, when Shivock singled and pinch hitter Grace Nordan hit her second homer of the season. The Spartans never recovered, and Liberty walked away with the 7-1 win and the sweep of the non-conference doubleheader. Crisante hit 2-for-4 for Liberty, driving in two runs, while Bensinger hit 1-for-2 with three RBIs. The Spartans were led by Wright, who went 2-for-2 at the plate. DiMartino picked up the win in the circle to improve to 3-3 on the year, giving up two hits and no runs in four complete innings. Jamie Schulle took the loss, giving up nine hits and seven earned runs in 4.2 innings of work. The Lady Flames are back in action this weekend, traveling to Farmville, Va., Saturday afternoon, for a doubleheader against Longwood at 1 p.m.


text:
(CNN) -- The music of Philadelphia International Records sounds effortless: the easygoing groove of the O'Jays' "Love Train," the triumphant horns of MFSB's "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)," even the cocky declamations of Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones."
Leon Huff, left, and Kenneth Gamble founded Philadelphia International Records.
But forming a new R&B label in the early '70s -- particularly one leaning away from the funky, angular sounds of James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone popular at the time -- wasn't easy at all, says Kenneth Gamble, who co-founded the label with Leon Huff in 1971 after several years of producing and songwriting success.
"It was very, very hard to get information for us. It had pretty much been the norm for African-Americans to [be cheated] out of a lot of their music and their royalties," he said. "I think the industry, by closing us out of so many doors ... in order for us to make it, we had to do it on our own."
But, Gamble is quick to add, "on our own" didn't mean alone. There were independent distributors and radio stations, much more plentiful back then. There were disc jockeys, who were still allowed to have a say in the music they played. There was a major corporate label, Clive Davis' CBS, which supported PIR's work.
And, of course, there were the musicians: the Delfonics and Stylistics, O'Jays and Spinners, Teddy Pendergrass and Billy Paul, and especially the house band, MFSB, which helped make PIR into the top R&B label of the 1970s.
"This was music -- sweet, gritty, elegaic, sensuous -- that celebrated love, fomented activism, pressed for change, celebrated 'blackness' in a moment in which black America, in an urgent sense of what that might mean, was just blinking awake," Lynell George writes in the liner notes to a new box set, "Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia" (Philadelphia International/Legacy). Audio slideshow: Listen to "the sound of Philadelphia" »
It was all about family, Gamble says, something expressed in the name MFSB: Mother, Father, Sister, Brother. (Don't believe the urban legend that says it stands for something else, Huff adds.)
"We used the same musicians on all the productions that we did," Huff observed. "That sort of created a chemistry of sound, though none of the artists sounded the same."
That chemistry is evident on the box set, which collects the label's greatest hits with Gamble and Huff's pre-PIR productions -- including the Soul Survivors' "Expressway to Your Heart" and Jerry Butler's "Only the Strong Survive" -- and material from artists contracted to other labels and produced by PIR's Thom Bell, such as the Spinners.
The label is also the subject of a PBS special, also called "Love Train," which is scheduled to air Thanksgiving weekend.
PIR's sound was something different. It was often lushly orchestrated, with instruments such as French horns and vibraphones taking prominent roles, and its nimble bass lines and trebly percussion later became the cornerstone of disco.
Bell, a longtime Gamble-Huff pal who oversaw many of the arrangements, had trained as a concert pianist, giving it up because, he said, "I was tired of articulating someone else's music. I was tired of hearing it go the way I was hearing it. I was hearing chords and tones and colors and feelings and emotions going one way, but ... when the master's notes are set in stone, they cannot be changed."
Arranging and producing gave Bell the opportunity to put his musical education to work in a different way, he says.
"We experimented with a lot of different instruments, because we were always infatuated with trombones and French horns and vibes; we used the whole orchestra," Huff said. "We incorporated a lot of those instruments in our productions, and that turned out to be a different kind of approach."
Arranger Bobby Martin and Sigma Sound studios engineer Joe Tarsia were also key players in constructing the PIR sound.
The model was Motown, with its smooth-running songmaking machinery, though PIR's songs were deliberately designed for the PIR artists, notes Gamble.
"Most of the songs that we wrote ... were tailor-made for these artists," he said. "When we would sit down to write ... we would say, 'Who are we going to write for?' And then we'd lock that person into our minds."
As an example, he mentions Lou Rawls' "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," which for Rawls was "like going into a tailor shop, and the tailor measured you up and put the coat on you, and it fit perfectly."
Rawls, who had been in a career trough, took the song to No. 2 in 1976.
Gamble, Huff and Bell, whose history together goes back to their 1950s teen years, are proud of the label's influence, and they still maintain ties to their hometown. Bell, who lives in northern Washington state, will be returning to the City of Brotherly Love to conduct its famed orchestra in 2009; Gamble has been active in building housing and schools there.
"Philly's a great city. It's the greatest city in America," Gamble said with pride. "It's the place where America begins." And the place where the "Love Train" chugged out to the world.
All About R&B • Motown Record Co. LP


text: Sure, you can get to Clonmacnoise by road. But for a real story to take home, the Early Christian site is best encountered by boat. Easing along the River Shannon from Athlone, the mighty channel gently brings you from modern Ireland into the lush fields of Westmeath, until you round a bend and land...right in the middle of the 6th century. A rich history Dating from 545AD, the extensive remains of a cathedral, round tower, high crosses and no fewer than seven churches belie their boggy remoteness. Truth be told, Clonmacnoise was once a leading centre of religion and learning in Europe. Established by St Ciarán Mac a tSaor ("son of the carpenter"), Clonmacnoise was situated at the intersection of the River Shannon and Ireland's major east-west road at the time, a strategic location that proved crucial to its growth. By the 9th century, it was Ireland's most famous monastery along with Clonard, and was visited by scholars from all over Europe. Between the 9th and 11th centuries, it even became a burial site for the High Kings of Tara. Enduring art Clonmacnoise's early wooden structures from the 9th century began to be replaced with more durable stone buildings. Today's imposing ruins, many of which have undergone comprehensive conservation work, reflect the hive of activity that once bustled about the place – an impressive 1,500 to 2,000 people lived and worked here during the 11th century. Walking around the lichen-spotted ruins today, it's easy to imagine the scurry of monks, the scrape and scribble of artists producing everything from manuscripts to works in stone and metal. One of the most impressive artworks is the ornate Bishop's Crozier now on display in the National Museum of Ireland… Such was Clonmacnoise's importance to the island's Christian heritage, it's said that St Ciarán returned here centuries after his death to smite a would-be raider with the golden staff. High crosses and high status Three stars of Clonmacnoise are its splendid high crosses, now protected from the vagaries of Irish weather in the site's excellent Interpretive Centre (convincing replicas stand in their original locations). The most famous is the four-metre Cross of the Scriptures, whose sandstone is skilfully carved with intricate figures on all four sides. It wasn't until the 12th century, over 500 years after its origins, that Clonmacnoise began to decline – due to an influx of competing religious orders from the continent and the growth of Athlone as a town to the north. But Pope John Paul II certainly thought enough of Clonmacnoise to include it in his famous visit to Ireland in 1979. And its historical significance and popularity with visitors endures almost 1,500 years later. If it's good enough for him... More to Explore The Historic HeartlandsExplore beyond Clonmacnoise in Ireland's Ancient East... Get cruisingLoving the Shannon? Take a cruise in Ireland DublinFancy a city break? Head over to Dublin


text:
You are here
Stand Out: 4 Stylish, Printed Workout Pants
So long, plain black tights. These poppy prints will add some wow to your workout.
Sophia Vourdoukis
Shooting Star
With reflectivity, behind-the-knee mesh panels and a stretchy back pocket, the Puma Complete Long tights are simply out of this world. ($60, shop.puma.com)
Sophia Vourdoukis
Just Doodle It
Wear your heart on your, er, knees in the sweat-wicking Nike Pro HyperWarm leggings with no-rub flat seams. ($55, nikewomen.com)
Sophia Vourdoukis
Graffiti Artist
The edgy Under Armour ColdGear Fleece Printed tights beat the morning chill thanks to a cozy brushed-knit interior. ($50, ua.com)
Sophia Vourdoukis
To Dye For
These seamless and stylish Nux Spectrum Focus leggings are a buttery-soft blend of nylon microfiber and spandex. ($59, nuxusa.com)
Originally published in FITNESS magazine, October 2011.


text:
Japanese publisher Capcom has taken a lot of flak this year for its policy of hiding "downloadable" content on a fighting game disc, then charging users to unlock it. Sure, they had their business reasons, but when people spend $50-60 on a game, they expect to own everything on that disc.
So it's awesome to hear Capcom's someties-partner, most-times rival in the fighting game scene, Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada (pictured, badass), speak out against such policies.
"Actually this is something my bosses have been asking me for quite a while now - what are our plans for DLC?", he told Eurogamer. "How much money can we make? They are a company, obviously, in it to make money. So it's something I'm continually asked even now. But I haven't changed my stance. If you're making a fighting game, all of the elements necessary to enjoy it should be on the disc, or should at least be available for free."
Later, he draws an even bolder line in the sand, saying "If I was given the choice to include paid DLC or quit Namco, I would maybe quit... Or maybe I would just say 'get someone else to deal with this'."
Well said, Mr. Harada. Well said.
Mr. Tekken: Behind the shades of the franchise chief [Eurogamer]


text:
Gluten-Free Tuesday: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Delicious, no-compromise recipes for those who need to live a gluten-free lifestyle, but don't want it to taste like it.
Get the Recipe
Occasionally I suffer from a bit of culinary stubbornness. Take these flourless peanut butter cookies, for example. For years people told me that I needed to try them. But the simple combination of peanut butter, sugar, an egg, and baking soda didn't sound good to me. It sounded like a potential hot mess. So my culinary stubbornness kicked in, reminding me that I already had a gluten-free peanut butter cookie recipe I liked—and it contained flour, like a good cookie should.
Recently, however, I went to make a batch of peanut butter cookies and realized I was out of sweet rice flour. On a whim, and almost begrudgingly, I decided to finally try the flour-free recipe. I stirred together one cup of peanut butter, one cup of brown sugar, one egg, and one teaspoon of baking soda. The batter looked weird, thick and shiny. "These won't taste like cookies. They'll probably taste like peanut butter blobs."
I was so wrong. The cookies baked up crisp and crunchy. And much to my surprise, let me tell you, they tasted very similar to my beloved peanut butter cookie recipe. I couldn't tell they didn't contain flour, and neither could anyone else.
Since the cookies were so good, I played around with a few batches. I added mini-chocolate chips to one, chopped roasted peanuts to another, and topped a few with jam. The only variation that didn't quite work were the ones topped with jam. They baked up with super soft centers under the jam and about an hour after baking, the jam began to leak through the cookies.
Even though it took a long time, I'm glad my stubbornness didn't win out. This easy cookie recipe can be whipped up in minutes.
Get the Recipe
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text:
Call for ArtJanuary 13, 2013
Open call for emerging and seasoned artists of all backgrounds and gender identities to submit their artwork for display during the South Bay Womyn's Conference, Weaving our Wisdom: from Roots to Wings on Saturday, March 9, 2013 on the top floor of the SJSU Student Union.
Artwork will be displayed from 8:30am to 6:00pm inside Barrett Ballroom, at this time we cannot accommodate any sculptures or glass pieces but do encourage collages, paintings, photography, mosaics, etc. for submission. All pieces that are inclusive and/or empowering are welcome regardless of the artists gender identity.
For more information or to submit your work please visit our art exhibit page or email the application below to email@example.com.
SBWC 2013 Art Exhibit Application (Doc.)


text:
An update to the LastPass Windows 8 app is now available on the Windows Store, with increased functionality and a number of great improvements.
Of note in the latest version:
- Form Fill profiles are now supported, so you can fill shipping and billing forms in a few easy clicks.
- Identities are now supported, so if you prefer to keep your work and personal data separate, or share the same account with someone, you'll be able to easily toggle between sets of data in the LastPass app.
- Account recovery is now supported using the locally-stored, encrypted OTP.
- The "forgot password" email can be sent directly from the app.
- Improvements to the user interface, with an even slicker look and feel.


text: I love real fruit juices. At home I usually make different fruit juices depending on the available fruit season. Be it Calamansi, Coconut, Guyabano, Mango, Dalandan, Melon, and even vegetable, it feels so refreshing when you drink a healthy fruit juice with natural real fruits. Just like the introducing Tipco 100% Juices by Del Monte. We know that Del Monte Philippines provides healthy Filipino recipes, food and beverages, and is one of the … [Read more...] about Tipco 100% Healthy Juices by Del Monte


text:
Miles Free
Director of Industry Research and Technology, PMPA
Director of Industry Research and Technology, PMPA
Related Suppliers
How does OSHA decide to inspect a workplace? OSHA prioritizes inspections based on the following criteria:
1. Imminent danger situations—Hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm receive top priority.
2. Fatalities and catastrophes—Incidents that involve a death or the hospitalization of three or more employees.
3. Complaints—Allegations of hazards or violations.
Referrals—from other federal, state or local agencies, individuals, organizations or the media receive consideration for inspection.
4. Follow-ups—Checks for abatement of violations cited during previous inspections are also conducted by the agency in certain circumstances.
5. Planned or programmed investigations—Inspections aimed at specific high-hazard industries or individual workplaces that have experienced high rates of injuries and illnesses also receive priority.
Featured Content
For more on these inspection priorities, consult the OSHA Fact Sheet: short.productionmachining.com/OSHAfacts.
You can intelligently manage your company's risk of OSHA enforcement and penalties by asking yourself these three questions and then doing something about them:
- Do you have a process for managing safety?
- Is it followed?
- Is it effective?
As employers, we have a general duty to maintain a safe workplace. Let's take our duty seriously. You know the folks from OSHA will.
Additional Resources:
OSHA Field Manual : short.productionmachining.com/OSHAfield
OSHA Employers Rights : short.productionmachining.com/OSHArights
OSHA Top Ten Most Frequently Cited Standards:


text:
His conclusion:
Is This Not the Carpenter? is an important example of what we need more of: serious scholarly examinations and debates on the historicity of Jesus and what methods to use in resolving it. It includes papers that for specialists are required reading on this topic, as well as others that are less required but nevertheless interesting and often useful, and only one of its chapters is too poor to have been included. It does not resolve the debate either way, and contains nothing definitive, but it shows the respectability of historical agnosticism and the possibility of alternative explanations of the evidence. But for it's unreasonably high list price, I would recommend it to those who have a deep interest in the subject. Everyone else might want to wait for a more approachable, thorough, and consistent summary of the Jesus myth theory.
See how he got there! Carrier also adds:
One Final Note: I am adamantly against the trend (which I see especially in Europe) to price books beyond the reach of almost anyone. I find this elitist, and an abrogation of the responsibility of scholars to communicate their findings to the public. If you can afford it, and want a complete collection on your bookshelf of the latest in historicity research, I still recommend acquiring this book, or at the very least formally asking your local university library to acquire a copy (and certainly click the link on Amazon for requesting a kindle copy from the publisher: European academic publishers also have a bug up their ass against digital distribution, and the more letters they get requesting they join the 21st century, the sooner they will).
Some comments on this. First, neither Thomas Thompson or I set the price; the publisher is behind any price in this. And unfortunately it costs money to pay the copy-editor, to pay for press costs, marketing and distribution. I don't like the high price either (and my percentage in any book sale is negligible–you don't publish academically to make money), but there is some brighter news.
Amazon is likely to chop down the price at some point; usually they chop off better than competitors, and right now the best price is the Book Depository–$82. So chances are good that Amazon will drop the price below that. Also, if sales are decent, Equinox will put out a paperback version of this book (which will also drop the price significantly). Of course, there is no certainty that this will happen, but if it does that will make the book readily available to more people.
Finally, anyone who has published with Equinox or one of their subsidiaries get a pretty substantial discount (35%). So if you happen to be one of those who have published with the company, the price for you is significantly different.
That said, I do hope that a paperback book becomes available at some point and hopefully Amazon will drop the price more.
Filed under: Is This Not the Carpenter?, Reviews | 1 Comment »


text:
They're back!
Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski are teaming up again, this time to cover next week's Kentucky Oaks (May 2) and Kentucky Derby (May 3) as fashion correspondents for NBC and NBCSN.
The two figure skating champions were breakout stars of NBC's Sochi Olympics coverage as much for their fashion choices and sartorial critiques as for their insider knowledge of the sport.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
"Johnny and Tara have an infectious energy that will bring a fun and fresh perspective to our Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks telecasts," said Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer for NBC Sports Group. "They will be in their element amid the big-event atmosphere and pageantry of Churchill Downs."
Weir and Lipinski have become sought-after fashion pundits following their on-air Olympic appearances and subsequent stint as Oscar red carpet commentators for "Access Hollywood."
During his time behind the mic at the Olympics, Weir's personal fashion choices were a hit with viewers and social media followers. Furs, handbags and often outré headgear were the norm for the Twitter and Instagram star.
Weir tweeted his excitement over the new appointment:
Super excited to join the @NBCSports team covering the @KentuckyDerby! Juleps, southern charm and a custom hat by @KERINROSEGOLD, "Nayyy."�� — Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) April 22, 2014
Horse culture. So excited for the @KentuckyDerby with @taralipinski! pic.twitter.com/ZQvLYmJiBw — Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) April 22, 2014
The sporting champs already have connections to the equestrian world with Lipinksi riding horses as a youngster and Weir competing in jumping events before turning his focus to figure skating. Weir told the Associated Press he attended the 2010 Kentucky Derby as a fan and bet on the winning horse. He chose a fur-covered sombrero as his headgear for the day.
"We've always loved loud fashion and sort of bonded over it," Lipinski said to the AP. "The whole Olympics experience was a bit of a surprise. We came in and were focused on doing a good job as rookies. But we're young and we like to have fun. The fashion was specifically for us every day and it was like, 'Oh, people are watching. This is fun.'"
NBC's 2013 Derby telecast was seen by 16.2 million viewers. Women comprised 51% of that audience ranking as the highest percentage of female viewership for any major sporting event in 2013. It was the second most-watched Derby in 25 years.
Tune in to watch Weir and Lipinsky at the Kentucky Oaks on Friday May 2 (3-6 p.m. ET on NBCSN) and the Kentucky Derby on Saturday May 3 (12-4 p.m. ET on NBCSN, 4-7 on NBC).