text:
|Study Saturnian system; descend to Titan
|15 Oct 1997
|Titan IVB-Centaur/Cape Canaveral, Florida
5600 kg (combined)
318 kg (Huygens probe)
Cassini: 4 years - extended to mid-2010
Huygens: COMPLETE
|+ Cassini-Huygens is one of the most ambitious exploration missions of all time while Huygens' touch-down on Titan is the farthest landing from Earth ever made +
The mission
The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn is noted as being one of the most ambitious planetary exploration missions ever mounted. A joint endeavour of ESA, NASA and ASI, the Italian space agency, Cassini-Huygens arrived at Saturn on 1 July 2004 and explored the ringed Saturnian system in detail over an initial four-year period.
ESA's Huygens probe was released from Cassini on 25 December 2004. Huygens continued on to Titan, Saturn's largest and most interesting moon, descending via parachute and touching-down at 11:30 UTC, 14 January 2005. The descent phase lasted around 2 hours, 27 minutes, with a further 1 hour and 10 minutes of operation on the surface.
The Huygens Probe Operations Centre (HPOC) was located at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany. The Cassini Space Flight Operations Facility is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), California.
The Flight Control Team
The Huygens Flight Control Team (FCT) comprised the Spacecraft Operations Manager (SOM), Claudio Sollazzo, and a 7-person team of engineers and spacecraft controllers working at ESOC and at NASA/JPL.
Sollazzo was associated with the mission in several capacities over a span of 14 years.
The FCT is supported by numerous ESOC specialists in the areas of flight dynamics, software support and ground stations, among others. The team also worked closely with NASA controllers.
Mission operations overview
The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched at 08:43 UTC, 15 October 1997, by a Titan IVB-Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. The 5.6-tonne spacecraft was too heavy to be injected into a direct trajectory to Saturn, so the interplanetary voyage of about 6.7 years included gravity-assist manoeuvres at Venus, Earth and Jupiter.
Cruise Phase
During the first two years, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft performed three gravity-assisted manoeuvres, flying by Venus twice and once by the Earth. During the entire cruise phase, spacecraft activities were mainly related to routine maintenance of the orbiter's engineering subsystems and scientific payload.
Huygens underwent regular checkouts to monitor the health and status of the probe and its components. Following the detection of the Cassini transponder anomaly during one of the regular probe relay tests, a redesign of the Huygens mission was performed. The required changes to the software of Huygens and its experiments were uploaded, tested and verified during later checkout campaigns together with other activities such as on-board software maintenance and payload-specific tests.
Telecommunications with the probe were routed via the Cassini Mission Support Area (MSA) at NASA/JPL and used NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas.
Saturn Orbit Insertion
Upon arrival at Saturn, 1 July 2004, the spacecraft executed the Saturn Orbit Insertion manoeuvre (SOI), which lasted 96 minutes and brought Cassini to within 20 000 km of the cloud tops of Saturn; the initial orbital period around Saturn was less than 4 months.
On 23 August 2004, the spacecraft executed a manoeuvre to raise its orbit periapsis and to target the combined orbiter-and-probe for the first of a series of three close Titan flybys. The first of these flybys will toke place on 26 October with closet approach of only 1200 km, the closest Titan flyby ever flown. Titan's gravity exerted a braking effect on the spacecraft, reducing its orbital period to 48 days and retargeting for the next flyby on 13 December.
The second Titan flyby, at an altitude of 2500 km, further reduced the orbital period to 32 days in preparation for the third Titan encounter on 14 January 2005, the planned Huygens descent date. During the first two Titan flybys, valuable information concerning the final planning of the probe mission was obtained.
Orbiter-Probe Separation
The Huygens probe was released on 25 December 2004; Cassini then performed a deflection manoeuvre to place itself onto a trajectory that passed a safe distance over Titan with a delay of several hours with respect to the probe's planned arrival. The orbiter trajectory was carefully designed so that the orbiter could collect data transmitted from Huygens during descent.
After the probe's release, it was no longer be possible to send commands to Huygens from the ground. All probe activities will from then on were controlled by on-board autonomous event- and timer-driven sequences. During the coast phase, the probe was dormant, with only a timer running. Shortly before the probe was predicted to enter the atmosphere of Titan (about 3 hours prior to surface touch-down), the timer initiated a sequence of events, including the initial turn-on of power to its subsystems and scientific instruments.
Probe Entry & Descent
On 14 January 2005 the Huygens probe successfully entered Titan's upper atmosphere and descended under parachute to the surface. The descent phase lasted around 2 hours, 27 minutes, with a further 1 hour, 10 minutes of operation on the surface. During the entry phase, the probe cannot transmit telemetry, so a limited set of engineering housekeeping data is stored on board for later transmission to the orbiter.
Later, during descent, data was collected from all instruments providing a detailed scientific picture of Titan's atmosphere and surface.
The probe's descent was controlled by parachutes. The aerodynamic conditions under which the main parachute deployed were critical; the correct instant was determined by accelerometers that monitored the deceleration. Pyrotechnic devices released the front shield and back cover, and a pilot parachute pulled out the main parachute.
Subsequent events were determined by a software timer, initiated at the moment of parachute release, T0. These events included:
- Establish a radio relay link for transmission of data back to the orbiter for recording and later playback to Earth
- Switching on instruments
- Deployment of a smaller drogue parachute to ensure that the probe reaches Titan's surface within the design duration of the mission (150 minutes maximum for the descent, and at least 3 minutes on ground)
That duration is constrained by the capacity of the probe batteries and by the changing geometry of the relay link as the orbiter continues on its orbit about Saturn.
During the descent phase, the probe transmitted S-band signals (2040 & 2090 megahertz on two redundant communication channels, or chains). Data relayed from the probe was collected and stored redundantly by the orbiter in two solid-state recorders. The recorded probe data was subsequently transmitted to Earth and sent to the Huygens Probe Operations Centre (HPOC) at ESA/ESOC.
After a spectacular descent, Huygens landed on Titan at 11:30 UTC, 14 January 2005. The probe continued to gather data from the surface for an additional 1 hour, 10 minutes. After this time, Cassini had orbited past the landing site and out of line-of-sight radio contact, so no more data could be received. Afterwards, the probe's battery power ran out, and the probe ceased operation, as it was designed to do.
The ground stations
For Cassini, telecommunications and data receipt is provided by NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). The network consists of three deep space communications complexes located approximately 120 degrees of longitude apart around the world: at Goldstone, California; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. This placement permits continuous communication with deep space spacecraft.
During the cruise phase, communications between mission controllers at ESOC and Huygens was provided via the Probe Support Equipment (PSE) mounted on board Cassini. During descent, data was transmitted from Huygens to Cassini via radio link. No telecommands were sent to Huygens once it separated from Cassini and all operations thereafter were automatically executed from preprogrammed instructions.
Ground segment & mission control system
There was no traditional mission control system established at ESOC; all commands to Huygens were relayed to Cassini via NASA/JPL. The Huygens operations team at ESOC worked extensively with the Huygens engineering model and simulation software and hardware for testing and validation during the cruise.
The platform and payloadThe platform
The probe comprised the Entry Assembly (ENA), which cocoons the Descent Module (DM). The ENA provides Orbiter attachment, umbilical separation and ejection, cruise and entry thermal protection, and entry deceleration control. It was jettisoned after entry, releasing the Descent Module.
The DM comprises an aluminium shell and inner structure containing all the experiments and probe support subsystems, including the parachute descent and spin control devices.
The PSE (Probe Support Equipment) on board Cassini consists of:
- Four electronic boxes - two Probe Support Avionics (PSA) units, a Receiver Front End (RFE) and a Receiver Ultra Stable Oscillator (RUSO)
- The Spin Eject Device (SED)
- The harness (including the umbilical connector) providing power, radio and data links between the PSA, the probe and the orbiter
The Payload
Huygens is a sophisticated robotic laboratory equipped with six scientific instruments, which in turn include a number of sensors and detectors.
|Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser
|Descent Imager and Spectral Radiometer
|Doppler Wind Experiment
|Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrometer
|Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument
|Surface Science Package


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[Qi Announce] VJing made so simple anyone can do itWolfgang Spraul wolfgang at sharism.cc
Wed Sep 28 11:37:57 EDT 2011
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The Qi Hardware project is proud to announce the Milkymist One video synthesizer. A total power consumption of 5 watts and latency of 60 milliseconds are the highlights of the new high-performance video synthesizer. Without additional computer, Milkymist One takes line-in audio to create real-time music visualizations. Ideal for musicians and DJs, restaurant and bar owners, people organizing parties or interested in visual art. The included camera feeds live video into the synthesis. Milkymist One is the second product launched by Qi Hardware after the Ben NanoNote in March 2010. While the NanoNote was built around a MIPS-architecture SoC, Milkymist One takes copyleft freedoms one step further by being the first free computing architecture built around the GPL licensed 32-bit Milkymist SoC. Visual artists benefit by being able to program their patches, including connectivity and control of DMX lights, lasers and MIDI instruments, all directly and in real-time from the Milkymist One synthesizer. Network connectivity allows the inclusion of live Twitter feeds. Free software programmers benefit by having the first fully programmable graphics accelerator at their disposal, opening the world of reusable and portable Verilog to free software developers. Milkymist SoC is a new generation of collaboratively developed IC designs, founded in 2007 by Sebastien Bourdeauducq. It aims to be an ARM competitor with new sharism business model, allowing for greater development speed and better customization and optimization in embedded products. Milkymist One is available from Sharism Ltd. now, and sells for 499 USD plus shipping from Taipei. [1] Milkymist One shop: https://sharism.cc/milkymist/ [2] Media Gallery: https://sharism.cc/media/
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Happy Monday!
I had a three day weekend with the fiance where we went to Philadelphia.
We did a bunch of site seeing, shopping and went Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary.
I have a bunch of pictures to share, hopefully later this week.
So more on my fun weekend another time.
For today, I have a haul from Target and TJMaxx.
I'm sure you have seen this vest everywhere in the blogging world. Ever since I first laid eyes on it, I needed to have it. I love the look of the tweed and the huge hood. Not to mention the hood is removable.
I purposely went to TJMaxx this past week because I was looking for my favorite Vanilla Extract. They always get it in around the holidays so I decided to stop in a take a peak. It's my absolute favorite to bake cookies in for Christmas... and since that is coming soon why not?
Picked up some beauty related items as well...
I've been using the Maybelline BB liquid foundation and I absolutely love it. I've been using a powder foundation for as long as I can remember, I don't even know HOW to apply liquid foundation. I heard a lot of good things about the beauty blender, this is similiar so I thought I'd give it a try. I need to know how to use it though, and how do you clean it?
I also picked up this yummy Pumpkin Spice Latte body lotion. Smells AH-MAZING! I almost wish they had a bigger bottle.
TJMaxx also had this Elizabeth Arden makeup sponge. I thought this could work around my nose and eyes??
Anyway, do you use liquid foundation and if you do, how do YOU apply it? Need some tips!
Have a great night.


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Lance Armstrong's return to competition sunk
(CNN) -- Even at the age of 41 Lance Armstrong's thirst for competition remains undimmed.
But the disgraced doper's quest to take part in a swimming event in Texas has been sunk before he's even hit the water.
Armstrong was banned from cycling for life by the United States Anti-Doping Agency after they accused him of running the "most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program" the sport had ever seen.
He refused to cooperate with USADA's investigation and was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, later admitting taking performance enhancing drugs in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Armstrong had hoped to compete at the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships in his home town of Austin this weekend, thinking it was not subject to USA or World Anti-Doping Agency codes.
But after news of his entry in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650-yard freestyle events, swimming's governing body FINA stepped in to object to his participation.
Now Armstrong's camp say he won't take to the pool.
Rob Butcher, executive director of U.S. Masters Swimming, who are staging the event, told CNN: "The word back is that he is not eligible to participate in our competition because FINA follows the WADA code -- the World Anti-Doping Authority code.
"And, as such, we are bound -- through a couple layers of separation down -- to our events as well.
"So the takeaway is: while he has entered and you'll see him on a heat sheet, he is not eligible to participate in that event. Or any other U.S.M.S competition."
Butcher said upon informing Armstrong's camp on Thursday morning, he will now withdraw from the event.
Butcher added: "After giving them this news, his people, not talking to him directly but his management team, said, 'You know what: we don't want to cause harm to your organization. We're not trying to create a sideshow circus for you guys. He's just going to withdraw or not show up for the event.'"
In a statement issued Thursday, U.S. Masters Swimming clarified its stance on the matter further.
"Lance Armstrong is not eligible to race in U.S. Masters Swimming competitions," it read.
"The former competitive cyclist has been a member of U.S. Masters Swimming for several years. The spirit and purpose of USMS is to encourage adults to swim.
"USMS is affiliated with FINA (Federation Internationale de Natacion) through United States Aquatic Sports.
"When we became aware that Mr. Armstrong entered the 2013 South Central Zone Championship in Austin, Texas, April 5-7, a local event sanctioned by USMS, we contacted United States Aquatic Sports and FINA to clarify our responsibilities in this case. The event in question is conducted in a 25-yard pool, a non-Olympic course not contested on the international stage.
"After discussion with United States Aquatic Sports and FINA, it was agreed that although Mr. Armstrong is eligible for membership in U.S. Masters Swimming, he is not currently eligible to compete in sanctioned swimming competitions, regardless of the type of course.
"The World Anti-Doping Agency has banned Mr. Armstrong from competition. FINA accepts the WADA Code and USMS, as a member of United States Aquatic Sports, recognizes and respects adjudications under the Code."
Armstrong had posted on his Twitter account last month that he was in swimming training but he will now have to wait to make his competitive debut in the pool.
A statement posted on FINA's website confirmed the competition was under the jurisdiction of U.S Masters Swimming and quoted FINA rule DC 15.1.
It reads: "The Testing, therapeutic use exemptions and hearing results or other final adjudications of any Signatory to the Code which are consistent with the Code and are within the Signatory's authority, shall be recognized and respected by FINA and its Member Federations."
As a result they added: "FINA wrote a letter to the U.S. Masters Swimming (with copy to US Aquatic Sports and USA Swimming) requesting not to accept the entry of Mr. Lance Armstrong in the above mentioned competition."


text:
Back to the list
Penile Implants / Prosthesis
Why Choose Dr. Eid?
About the Internal Penile Pump
Detailed Procedure Description
Frequently Asked Questions
Types of Penile Implants
Urinary Dysfunction
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The Urolift® Prostate Urethral Lift
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Non-Surgical ED Treatments
Penile Injection Therapy
Urethral Medications
Vacuum Devices
Cosmetic Penile Surgery
Cosmetic Circumcision
Peyronie's Disease Overview & Treatment
Ejaculation Dysfunction
Premature Ejaculation (PE)
Retrograde Ejaculation
Copyright © 2020 Advanced Urological Care, P.C. All rights reserved.
J. Francois Eid, MD | 435 East 63rd Street New York, NY 10065
Medical Website Design Aurora IT


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Before this update, parallel query plans are not supported for DML operations that reference memory-optimized tables or table variables, even if they are not the target of the DML operation. INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and MERGE statements would always have a serial plan if there is any reference to memory-optimized tables or table variables, even for cases in which parallel plans are supported with traditional disk-based tables and table variables.
This update adds support for parallel plans and parallel scan of memory-optimized tables and table variables in DML operations that reference memory-optimized tables or table variables, as long as they are not the target of the DML operation. INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and MERGE statements that involve modification of a memory-optimized table or table variable continue to be serial.
The following are the three requirements to enable parallel plans for DML statements that reference memory-optimized tables or table variables:
Make sure that the database uses compatibility level 130. This is a prerequisite for parallel plans with memory-optimized tables.
Install a service update that includes this fix. See the "More information" section.
Enable this update in one of two ways:
Turn on trace flag 9939 to enable only this update. This option is recommended for all customers who use memory-optimized tables or table variables and who are not already using option 3b, below.
Enable SQL Server query optimizer hotfixes. You can do this through trace flag 4199, a database-scoped configuration, or a query hint. For more information, see SQLServer query optimizer hotfix trace flag 4199 servicing model.
This issue is fixed in the following cumulative updates for SQL Server:
Cumulative Update 5 for SQL Server 2016
Appendix: Example of the fix
The following Transact-SQL script illustrates a parallel plan for a DML operation on a disk-based table that references a memory-optimized table. With this update applied, the script will return two query plans for the same operation. The first is without trace flag 9939 and will be serial. The second is with trace flag 9939 enabled and will be parallel.
-- make sure that you connect to a database that has a memory-optimized filegroup with at least one container-- the following script creates such a filegroup and container if it does not exist:-- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Microsoft/sql-server-samples/master/samples/features/in-memory/t-sql-scripts/enable-in-memory-oltp.sql -- make sure DB compat level 130 is usedALTER DATABASE CURRENT SET COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL=130GO DROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS dbo.[InsertSalesOrder_Native_Batch]DROP TABLE IF EXISTS dbo.SalesOrder_MemOptGOCREATE TABLE dbo.SalesOrder_MemOpt ( order_id INT IDENTITY NOT NULL, order_date DATETIME NOT NULL, order_status TINYINT NOT NULL, amount FLOAT NOT NULL, CONSTRAINT PK_SalesOrderID PRIMARY KEY NONCLUSTERED HASH (order_id) WITH (BUCKET_COUNT = 10000))WITH (MEMORY_OPTIMIZED = ON, DURABILITY = SCHEMA_ONLY);GO -- Natively compiled proc-- Create Natively compiled procedure to speed up inserts.CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[InsertSalesOrder_Native_Batch]@order_status TINYINT=1, @amount FLOAT=100, @OrderNum INT=100WITH NATIVE_COMPILATION, SCHEMABINDING, EXECUTE AS OWNERASBEGIN ATOMICWITH (TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL = SNAPSHOT, LANGUAGE = 'us_english') DECLARE @counter AS INT = 1; WHILE @counter <= @OrderNum BEGIN INSERT INTO dbo.SalesOrder_MemOpt VALUES (getdate(), @order_status, @amount); SET @counter = @counter + 1; ENDEND;GO-- Insert sample dataEXECUTE dbo.[InsertSalesOrder_Native_Batch] 1, 100, 500000;GO 10 SET SHOWPLAN_XML ONGO -- Insert into a temp table from memory-optimized table-- Without the trace flag, this is serial. Inspect the query plan to verify it is serial.SELECT * INTO #temp FROM SalesOrder_MemOptGOSET SHOWPLAN_XML OFFGO-- enable parallel plan for DML with references to memory-optimized tablesDBCC TRACEON (9939)GO SET SHOWPLAN_XML ONGO-- Verify the query plan is parallel.SELECT * INTO #temp FROM SalesOrder_MemOptGO SET SHOWPLAN_XML OFFGO DBCC TRACEOFF (9939)GO


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"Jane Austen Made Me Do It is the rare short-story compilation in which each and every one of the twenty-two stories manages to shine. Each contains a new take on Austen, a new concept of what Austen hoped to do with her life and work or even a new take on modern romance from Austen's viewpoint." –Romance Junkies
"If you love all things Austen, I think you will find this quite diverting and enjoy the fun that the authors had with the wealth of material that Ms.Austen supplied throughout her writing career. I truly enjoyed this little visit into different dimensions of the Jane Austen universe. I gave it 4 stars." –Ex Libris
"This anthology has a little something for every Jane Austen fan." –Rakehell
"The overall quality of the collection is high, and rare will be the reader who fails to find a few favorites to delight an Austen-loving heart." –Just Janga
"I was impressed with all the clever approaches in which Austen themes can be recreated, intriguing and entertaining me with new characters and their stories. This collection of stories is a must for all fans of Jane Austen, and it is a great tool for introducing the authors of the Austenesque genre as well." –Burton Book Review
"All the stories were enjoyable, but some had that little quirk that really made me think or laugh. Laurel Ann Nattress has created a volume that will have something (more than one something, of that I'm sure) for everyone." –Citivolus Sus
"I tip my hat to Laurel Ann for overseeing this ambitious and very worthwhile project, for this is her first book. I give Jane Austen Made Me Do It five out of five Regency tea cups!" –Jane Austen's World
"Jane Austen Made Me Do It was another Anthology that I loved. . . there is a little bit of everything for everyone." –A Buckeye Girl Reads
"Each story in this anthology is very unique. I had so many favorites among them that it was really hard to pick just two. If you're a Jane Austen fan, you have to read Jane Austen Made Me Do It!" –Popcorn Reads
"I am all praise for Laurel Ann Nattress who has collected a fine group of writers, and a fine volume of stories showcasing everything from historical to contemporary to young-adult fiction to paranormal." –The Little White Attic
"I enjoyed this collection of short stories more than I anticipated. It had everything, really – continuations; spin-offs; stories about Jane; stories inspired by Jane; even a couple stories where Jane's ghost was involved." –Readin' and Dreamin'
"For fans of "Austenesque" fiction, this collection will be a box of bonbons." –The Seattle Times


text:
New Year. Final Post.
6 years ago
Take a step back and we can begin to grasp the interconnectedness of reality and our place in it. We have an active role to fill in putting together this God-Sized Puzzle and we can't do it alone because we are each other's missing piece.
Copyright © A God-Sized Puzzle. All rights reserved.
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text:
Well Named
Not for nothing did the troops assigned to test Bowman decide that the name stood for Better Off With Map And Nokia...
The long-bedevilled Bowman digital comms infrastructure for the British army is continuing to enrage and frustrate its users - a British commander in Afghanistan has described Bowman as "broken" and "astonishingly bad". Bowman was finally forced through acceptance trials in 2004, after a nightmare 14-year gestation period. The …
Having worked as a software engineer in defence for 7 years, I have to say I sympathise hugely with the end users who have to deal with these frankly appalling systems. It is all down to our ridiculous procurement process. The people with the money are far too detached from the users, and likewise the system providers have far too little obligation to the bean counters than the end users.
If our country's procurement process was organised better we'd have a far better chance of obtaining systems that do useful stuff for a sensible budget. There are plenty of good software and systems engineers (and companies) in this country, but programmes are rarely designed to make good use of them!
I would love to see the government bite the bullet and acknowledge how crap some of these IT programmes are, rather than declaring everything a 'success' and then repeating the performance.
> "the British armed forces could use a few more officers with the guts to tell their superiors unpalatable truths".
Yes, indeed. I tried that on several occasions (honour, integrity and all that) but it didn't do me any good. Senior managers, whether uniformed or civilian, do not appreciate being told something that could make them look bad ... and they have a nasty habit of having a quiet chat with their peers on the subject of removing pesky trouble makers.
Needless to say, I am now in another line of work.
Not when i were a lad, and we were using Clansman. Anything sensiitive or potentially useful to an eavesdropper had to be manually encoded, a laborious and complex task using Batco sheets, before transmission. The only time clear was used was during a contact.
I really feel for the squaddies who are saddled with Bowman, they have a hard enough job to do wthout being lumbered with crap kit.
If it's encrypted radio they want I could put together a Cizitzens Band Radio with A-D conversion on the front end, stick in a linear feedback shift register inside an FPG to garble the data stream, put it in a steel box and hey presto, all for a fraction of the price and it'd work too with a decent battery life.
Sounds like they're making the classic mistake, of trying to be too ambitious, too much clever technology when all they really need is an encrypted radio.
Trying to cram too much functionality and cleverness into something that a) is supposed to be portable, b)battery powered, both of which are demanding design objectives.
I bet they've got Shark DSPs doing tons of signal processing, modulation, frequency hopping all running from a battery, because it sure ain't the FM transmitter that's taking the power.
Or perhaps it's the heater for the LCD to enable it to run in temperatures of -10 degrees C, ah..but this is Afghanistan? Hot country isn't it?
There was I thinking clansman was fairly dire kit and now appears it was lighter and had greater range.
It's a good job they didn't ask for all the features of modern Nokias, imagine the battery life with a sodding great video camera attached as well....
Bill because it would appear that Bowman is the Vista to clansmans XP
I find it hard to believe that a vehicle-mounted Bowman set is too heavy, and consumes too much power for, a military Land Rover.
I've driven ex-military FFR Land Rovers. I've seen the amount of gear they carried, and witnessed the ruddy glow of valve filaments. Too much weight and power?
It sounds as if the Austin Champ was the vehicular equivalent of Bowman. Is there anyone left who can sell us the radio equivalent of the Land Rover?
While the upper echelons of the civil service are both incompetent and morally bankrupt (like their political 'masters'), when they climb into bed with the upper echelons of the military, there is virtually no limit to the resources they can, together, squander. Time. Money. Lives...
Will things ever improve? Possibly. But by that time the forces will be armed with rocks...
Back in the day Bowman was going to be a Racal(Thales)/BAE/ITT program, and by all accounts was actually very good, after all the money spent on developing it.
Then when there were some delays in delivery the Yanks appeared and promised quick delivery and a much lower cost, so the original contract was pulled and re-awarded.
Needless to say the claims by the Yanks were bollocks, and you can see where we are today; late and with a crap product.
Simultaneously Thales seem to be selling huge numbers of lightweight crypto radios to the US in preference to local suppliers.
Something to bear in mind next time we see an article suggesting we should buy some (more!) military hardware from a US supplier....
As an ex member of the RAF and a Ham Radio user i find this just plain stupid.
I have a Radio that is just a bit bigger than a Fag Packet TX's @ 5watts, Battery lasts Hours and can reach Italy from the Midlands UK on an antenna 4" long.
To top it off it can also handle Digital Transitions and all for about £200.
I am glad I am a Civvy now cos we get better kit
Mine is the one with the Pocket Size Radio in it
The cellphone is a great example of civilian technology outstripping military technology. There is no defense contractor in history and no government budget large enough to develop a system that's as sophisticated and reliable as the technology used in cellphones.
So the sensible military would hoist the white flag and adapt commonly usable technology for their own use. This might annoy the whole defense food chain -- they will be told that its unacceptable for them to reinvent wheels, especially as they can't deliver round ones anything like on time and on budget -- but its essential to do this. It not only saves everyone a ton of money but it also faces the fact that the adversaries may not be so hidebound -- they'll use anything that works.
Being an ex-signaler and coming from a fairly poor 3rd world country, I have to admit that on the one hand it is fairly ... and I use this VERY gingerly ... hating to see that other militaries are struggling with the problem. Note that I have been deployed in hot environments before and that in all honesty I do believe that the people in front are, be they from what-ever nation, are doing a job that a mere few can claim to have done AND they are doing it really well...
Mil spec equipment, be it ITC or serious killing hardware (guns, tanks, aircraft carriers *wave at Lewis Page*) are notoriously hard to engineer, manufacture and produce. Asked why; most of the vendors that I had the pleasure of experiencing outside the work environment told me that frankly the military have enough money to throw at their problems. :-(
P.S. Before anybody states the obvious, YES I'm a suck up to the GRUNTS in front -- I have seen what they can do. YES I'm oblivious of the modern world, I have only spend the last 14 years working in IT and 8 of those in a Defence Force and lastly YES I'm a total buffoon with no understanding of the anything what-so-ever in any why shape or form.
P.P.S. "A woman for a general, and the soldiers will be women."
The freq used for close quarters was choosen to limit it it's range. It sits in a very high attenuation band so that only those in a section can pickup those signals. It has switchable bands so you can use the same radioset for differing roles
Yes it's happily in lots of land rovers.
Anyone who has used Clansman may remember the in case of failure please kick advice.
As for Market Garden, they choose crystals that used high attenuation bands so one of the leasons learnt was to have a radio system where you could switch between high attenuation and low attebuation bands, bit like Bowman really.
What ever happened to digitising the voice with an ADC and then running the corresponding data stream across a network with Encrypted VOIP using PTP Encryption? It's pretty easy. As for the mobile phone system, why can't we use a frequency hopping, encrypted deployable version of a obile base station. Again, there are systems out there that can do this already. Too easy, you could even use clustering technology and adaptive software and load balancing technologies to enhance redundancy and reliabilty of communications. If one base station is taken out, another takes over, like a cell phone moving from one base station to another. The Trunk communications can be done further along in the rear area using satcoms (Skynet 5/Inmarsat/Etc) or other bearer, again using encrypted frame relay systems. Instead, lets spend millions on a bespoke system that comes into service 5-10 years late, with massive requirement creep. At least some Brigadier will get an additional star out of the project before they move on to their next post 2-years later, leaving an absolute shambles in their wake.
The entire Bowman package is extremely typical of the MoD allowing civilians to 'run' the military. They scrimp and save and cut corners - that's what civilians do best. Cost cutting and scrimping on the dollar results in 'white elephants' such as the inferior, obsolete and world-wide ridiculed 'Bowman' communications system. No wonder teh British Army is but a shadow of its former self.
Speaking of its former self the radio system used by all British Centurion tank regiments back in the late 60s and early 70s beat the 'Bowman' system hands down. What price progress?
I've been out of the military for some while so I do not know the current state of affairs; but back in the day the ancient R-390 receiver was absolutely incredible in its sensitivity and selectivity. It had huge banks of ganged tuning coils and gears and cams; a nightmare to tune I'm sure BUT I used to have the receiver tied to the same antenna as a CB radio, and I could transmit CB and listen to a shortwave signal on the R-390 at the same time without an isolator or coupler so long as the receiver was at least 2 megacycles (yes, it was calibrated in good old MC) from the CB frequency. I have never seen a synthesized receiver or transceiver perform as well.
"I find it hard to believe that a vehicle-mounted Bowman set is too heavy, and consumes too much power for, a military Land Rover."
the Short Wheel base Fitted For Radio can't carry bowman at all and have been sold, the LWB ones have had to have the suspension beefed up and better anti roll bars fitted
imagine a small server rack with a radio bolted to it
while working on the ATE test rigs for..
not sure.. thought it might have been some sort of radio..
it was a royal ordinance project and they wouldn't tell us what it was..
army stuff hush hush pip pip big moustache..
anyway every time one of the loaded circuit boards failed the passive resistance test we were told to increase the failure tolerance, where most companies wouldn't allow more than 5% some of these were running at 50% and we were told not to test certain components as they failed so badly.
this was about 15 years ago.. and if any other military projects were tested with the same kind of rigour.. like the bowman
fill in the final thought yourselves
I'm really not surprised by this....
The British should be forced to purchase any military hardware more complicated than a tent from existing technology (such as that designed by the Israelis or Americans) as we have proven time and again to be absolutely useless at doing this sort of project.
I know... I know... Comms and national security requires an in house developed system!!!
But the truth is that Mossad probably have our entire Military/Govenrment chain infiltrated already and we give the Americans anything they want anyway!
Oh how nice for all to forget that since the advent of radio communication equipment since the "War to end all Wars" so last century ago(and the 100th anniversary of same is not long in coming too)has been heavy difficult to use subject to crap battery life and numerous other technical problems in the field which at times meant that the radio rooms on Battle Wagons of the 20,000 TONNE PLUS size like the SMS SEYDLITZ could barely fit the operators between the racks but boy she could still out turn the Beatty boys flash fire mob lot any day of the week in the setting sun even with an additional fifteen thousand tonnes of water !
But it truly does explain much why the Israeli reservist Cavalry Units in it's last experimental stroll to the five kilometer to the border warning sign in Southern Lebanon just near the heavily shelled partially wrecked UN Observation Post still flying the UN Flag(crap artillery observers or gunners to lazy to relay the guns after recoil that be for sure) preferred to use standard commercial grade mobile phones rather then the government supplied field communications kit and their reluctance to advance past the last border cell phone tower range limit as well !
Perhaps the army should find it far cheaper to equip all it's troops in the field with the standard rugged Hummer cased Iridium Satellite Telephone handsets so they would lose the bulk of the excess baggage of the existing crap with gains in battery and other life expectancy as well and can phone home to mother so she can call MOD HQ on a fixed copper land line to tell them where they are in the field too for all the kite flying US Air Force Major Schmidt's clones to know which target to bomb !
Oh well just a thought !
I used to work for them 15-20 years ago and I'm completely sure I don't recollect any "accounts" of how good Bowman was going to be. I do remember people saying "Bowman, for the love of god don't get put on Bowman as you'll be out the door when it gets cancelled".
So it transpired for many people - not for me though as I had the sense to jump ship to Vodafone while I still had the chance (also a Racal company at the time, old Sir Ernest knew what he was doing ;-) ).
Racal Seaton 1990 - 1998 & got out before the wave of redundancies started.
I had the pleasure of revisting the old Seaton site yesterday, the pleasure being that after being empty since "2000" & still present up until January of this year, its finally been demolished.
They were touting Bowman at my interview & still hadn't got anywhere by the time I left, all that came in was Six Sigma & Computing Devices of Canada as partners IIRC.
Just equip the army with X0-1 laptops from one laptop per child, they can create adhoc wireless networks, they run on batterys and can be carried by a small malnourished child.
Or they could take lots and lots and lots of twin core cable with them to war and spool it out behind them as they go then use old field telephones at either end you wind the handle and the phone at the other end rings (as a bonus you can clip the phone to an insurgent genitals and crank the handle to administer a mild tasering)
How could they get it so wrong, In the time they have been faffing with this system nokia has gone from an almost unknown company to the biggest provider of digital communications devices in the world and has created, sold and retired many models of phone and added all manner of bells and whistles in the process.
Imagine if the military tried to do satnav they would all turn up in iraq only to find out they only had maps of croydon.
This poor chap has made it public so they can no longer deny they know. Cue the spin machine and let's concentrate government efforts on the successful olympics team.
Comment about the ATE made me chuckle. A previous company had a manufacturing defect which went unnoticed until it was too late and the company died just as they made manufacturing 100%.
The new owners decided there was more profit to be made by using different components and they started failing the ATE.
The new Engineering director resolved the issues within 5 minutes. He ordered the threshold to be lowered! Everything was fine and production was back to 100% with better profits.
Anyone out there responsible for procurement, please sort out this shite procurement process where companies offer the earth at the lowest bid and fail to deliver a workable usable solution. All we want is kit that works for our military (UK). If we the taxpayer have to pay an additional £3 a year each in tax so that you can spend a little more on a better solution, then so be it.
The bottom line is that these systems operability in a lot of cases means a soldier living or dieing. Without being melodramatic, this is someones son or daughter. Wake up!
SINCGARS, actually an 'enhanced' version. All the radios are 'off-the-shelf' US ones from companies like ITT (VHF) and Harris (HF), the single (US) prime contractor who was supposed to get the whole shebang working together even failed in such basics as having common batteries for the HF and VHF radios (which Clanman had), no doubt because the radios were basically US off-the-shelf (civil servants following the expert advice from participants of forums such as this).
However the PRR (very short rnage personal radio which is classed as part of Bowman but entered service a few years earlier is not US (although the USMC purchased lots in a hurry) and was UK designed and produced.
The only good news is that the infantry section radio, which is the one causing most of the bother, is not too widespread (there aren't exactly thousands of infantry sections) so a replacement should be affordable, that's assuming there is something capable of doing the job.
Incidentally, it's only universal encryption that's new with Bowman, Brit soldiers started using encrypted VHF with Larkspur (BID 150 over 40 years ago, it used punched cards for key settings) and new devices became more widely used with Clansman.
Actually triangulation is no more of a problem for a mobile phone handset than any single radio, what you would be worrying about is the base station being triangulated and then hit by artillery strike.
But in any case, the problems with mobile based systems are actually more complex.
The biggest problem is that cellphone systems are not point to point like radio systems and so require infrastructure to operate whereas two radios can communicate without any backup required.
This requirement for infrastructure makes such systems vulnerable, the loss of a single cell tower could place large sections of a network out of contact rendering the users unable to communicate (even more the case if the towers are not connected by cable but use wireless links to intercommunicate). Cell towers are complicated to set up if you want to ensure complete coverage and no interference. They are also relatively easy to locate by triangulation, and you would expect them to be a priority target for the enemy, so losing them must be considered likely. This is not a good thing for an important communication system.
Biting the hand that feeds IT © 1998–2020


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Victory! Santa Monica Legalizes Beekeeping
Following in the footsteps of cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Seattle — and after receiving nearly 200 signatures each from Change.org members — the Santa Monica City Council voted unanimously to legalize beekeeping. The very night the legislation passed I received an email from Councilmember Kevin McKeown asking me to please call off the Change.org dogs, so you can bet we all had a hand in pushing this law forward!
The new ordinance allows up to two hives on residential property as long as keepers register with Animal Control and meet modest hive placement, screening, and management requirements. Hives must be kept five feet from a property line, be provided a water source, and have a six-foot screen, fence, or some kind of vegetation to make sure the bees fly up before they fly out. Otherwise, the hive can be kept eight feet up without a screen.
In addition, the city now has a policy of exterminating swarms only as a last resort. Previously, the city had an automatic extermination policy regarding feral bees. Under the new legislation, these renegade bees will be captured and relocated to an apiary in either Ventura or the San Fernando Valley. Only if this is impossible will swarms be exterminated.
The new ordinance spells out just how important bees are to society, noting that they provide pollination services vital to up to 30 percent of our food. They also recognize that bee populations have been in trouble for the last 50 years, and that their populations have declined by 50 percent. Because of Colony Collapse Disorder, some beekeepers have noticed their hives dwindling by 30 to 90 percent since 2006. Legalizing beekeeping in Santa Monica will not only boost local food security, it will help conserve beleaguered honeybees.
While Santa Monica joined a growing number of locales that let residents keep bees legally, several cities still ban the practice. Los Angeles is one of them. As the victory in Santa Monica showed, our pressure can make a difference on local lawmakers. Sign our petition asking the Los Angeles City Council to legalize beekeeping in all parts of the city.
Article: Kristen Ridley | Photo: David Goehring


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Inspiring Clip Of The Week: Lady Has A Super Chin Disease & Shares Her Story On How She Remains Positive!
Life with cherubism, a facial disfigurement, and how she handles people's reactions.
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Well, here's what I have for projected standings:
First a note on methodology. I used this spreadsheet to track all draft picks. I've just updated it to the latest MDP data. The projections are composite rankings from several sites, so while they wouldn't reflect any of our own insights or opinions, they are a fairly good, neutral baseline.
Problem with projecting standings is we all finished out our benches differently. So I removed from the draft sheet all players except the best starting lineup available. In terms of pitching, I gave everyone 5 starting pitchers, and 3 relievers. This still leaves the problem that some benches will be more productive than others. Beerdog for instance drafted 4 closers. But I probably did him a favor leaving Lidge out of the analysis. And he still finished 1st in saves, so he's still fine.
So here they are:
Which is a crock, no way my BA is that low. And my pitching numbers are a little low from having Webb and Lilly starting the season on the DL. I'll be ok.


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As unique marketing opportunities, webinars are effective lead generation tactics in online business.
Webinars simplify drip campaigns and conversions, especially when combined with effective database management.
In the online world, where time is the greatest commodity, webinars are one of the best values for serious results.
But you must be sure to choose the right webinar software.
In this post I am going to introduce you ClickWebinar, a platform you can use to run videoconferencing and webinars for up to 1,000 attendees.
How ClickWebinar Works
You can register at ClickWebinar without credit card and start your free 30 days trial right away.
After you sign up, be sure to confirm your email, to begin using your account.
First, you want to complete the profile settings.
You can create a personal page, adding your picture, website, address or bio.
I like the ClickWebinar dashboard : it's really intuitive!
You can organize your first webinar, in a matter of minutes.
Just click on "Host a Webinar" button, in the right side of your dashboard.
You may want to start your event right away or schedule for later.
Assuming I want to organize my "Make Money Blogging" webinar for Monday 05th January 2015, this is what the first step looks like:
Basically you want to add a "room name", which will be reflected in the room URL.
Set the event date and the time zone (very important).
Decide the duration of the webinar and eventually write a "waiting room message", which will be displayed for users coming before the planned start time. In this way, attendees will know to be in the right place.
Also, you can allow access type to free for all, or with password/token protection.
Just click on "Create Webinar" and this will be the next step page:
Here is a summary of your webinar, with all the details you added in the previous step.
There's the phone access detail, with the presenter and participant PINs.
Here you can invite participants or presenters, by clicking on the "invitations" link (you may want to use social media for invites, like your Facebook account).
Also, it's good to set a reminder for attendees (I've set mine 2 hours before the start of the webinar).
Finally, you want to embed the room in your website, by importing the script code, as shown in the image below.
Now, you are ready to prepare your presentation, by visiting your webinar link.
This is how ClickWebinar software will look like.
In a few words, the dashboard for your event (click to enlarge).
You can organize everything, by uploading the files you want to show during the event, by clicking on the icon of the presentation.
You also want to set audio and video functions (to avoid unpleasant surprises later during the webinar).
There's a nice whiteboard, you can use at your leisure:
The "desktop" feature is great for showing what you are doing on your computer.
While you can use the "YouTube" button, to simply display videos to your attendees.
The "polls" feature lets you create surveys, to gather opinions and feedbacks, or run tests, to assign scores to answers.
ClickWebinar has also a useful chat module (which is moderated).
Finally, you can edit your webinar settings, by visiting the top right menu. For example, you may want to change the layout of your room, by enabling single window for the attendee list, chat or camera and voice.
The above mentioned step by step guide to set your first webinar is summarized and explained in this video, created by ClickWebinar to help new users:
ClickWebinar Plans
Plans depend on the number of attendees you'll have.
Prices vary from 30/month for up to 25 attendees to 280/month for up to 1000 attendees:
ClickWebinar has really a simple to use dashboard, with great interactivity tools (like moderated chat and polling).
Also, the statistics you get after you finish a webinar are useful for tracking attendees and the resulting leads.
I'll surely consider ClickWebinar as the software to use when organizing my first videoconference or webinar.
And you?
Have you ever organized a webinar?
Which platform have you used?
Please share your experience in the comments below, thanks!


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BRUSSELS, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- European Union regulators say member states should consider restricting use of certain pesticides suspected of killing off bees.
The European Food Safety Authority issued a report this month on the use of neonicotinoids, saying there were "high acute risks" to bees that encountered residue from these sprays in pollen and nectar in crops.
Sprays containing neonicotinoid chemicals should only be used on crops that don't attract the honey-producing insects, the European Commission now says.
The proposed restrictions are based on the latest scientific advice, commission officials said.
"We have requested a proper scientific assessment of neonicotinoids from EFSA," commission spokesman Frederic Vincent told the BBC. "They came up with some concerns, some kind of worrying assessment.
"So now we are saying to members we have some scientific evidence that there are some concerns from those pesticides and the effects they might have on bees."
Environmentalists applauded the commission's proposal.
"The evidence linking neonicotinoid chemicals to declining bee populations is growing," Andrew Pendleton of Friends of the Earth said.
"This hugely significant EU proposal promises a first, important step on the road to turning around the decline on our bees."


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Introduction to Ultimate Destiny
A Message from a Cofounder on the Evolution of Ultimate Destiny
Has your life ever felt like a twisted (or perhaps even broken) Rubik's Cube? My life certainly has. Sometimes, even after years of study and work on myself, I would let myself fall into the pit of discouragement, and I'd feel depressed, or overwhelmed.
Then, somehow, I would again remember that I am a creative genius and the architect of my destiny. I would practice the principles of successful living and would once again enjoy alignment with Universal Laws. I would remember to believe in me and in the Creative Process.
As I shared the stories of my ups and downs with my coaches and Mastermind group, we discovered that all of us had experienced the same process in our lives. There had come a point in time when each of us wanted to grow personally, developing in many directions in order to realize more of our potential, find and fulfill our life's purpose, and learn how to manifest our ultimate destinies.
"Ultimate destiny?" we asked ourselves. "What does that really mean? What does it entail?"
We began the search for answers by getting out a flip chart and creating some quizzes. We put those quizzes on the Internet and asked people to answer the questions they presented. As we reviewed the input from the public, we again got out the flip chart and brainstormed the concept of Ultimate Destiny.
We listed the 12 areas or facets of ultimate success in life that had been identified in the answers from the quizzes. We also looked at examples of individuals who had been recognized for living their Ultimate Destiny and helping others to fulfill theirs.
These areas were:
Realizing Personal Growth and Actualizing Potential
Attaining Financial Freedom
Enjoying Loving Relationships
Enjoying Optimal Health
Raising Your Consciousness
Living in Peace, Joy, and Balance
Fulfilling Your Life Purpose
Achieving Ultimate Success in Business or Career
Attaining Spiritual Enlightenment
Fostering Global Sustainability
Harnessing Your Creative Power
Making a Difference, Leaving a Legacy
As we began exploring and experimenting with these facets of successful living, looking for ways that we and others could begin fulfilling our Ultimate Destiny, we began to see that it was like the picture on the cover of a puzzle box, and we created the Ultimate Destiny Success Puzzle.
We developed the concept and outline for a series of books on how to Discover and Manifest Your Ultimate Destiny. We created the Ultimate Destiny Hall of Fame Award to recognize individuals who are living their Ultimate Destiny while helping others manifest their own. Next, we started conducting research on the best tested and proven resources for achieving success in each area.
We started writing short articles and quizzes for each of the 12 areas that lead to fulfilling one's Ultimate Destiny. We also included self assessment quizzes, application exercises, implementation methods, strategies and systems designed to help anyone interested in realizing their ultimate success to be able to do so in the shortest amount of time and with the lowest investment of money.
After months of research and development, testing and refining, we are now ready to share what we've learned with others like you who want to Realize More of Your Potential; Attain Financial Freedom; Enjoy Loving Relationships; Enjoy Optimal Health; Raise Your Level of Consciousness; Live in Peace and Balance; Fulfill Your Life Purpose; Achieve Ultimate Success in Business or Career; Attain Spiritual Enlightenment; Foster Personal and Global Sustainability; Harness Your Creative Power; and Make a Difference and Leave A Legacy.
As a result of studying and applying the breakthrough technologies and exercises presented here, you will be empowered to embody Paul J. Meyer's formula:
"Whatever you can vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe,
and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass." — Paul J. Meyer
You will learn how to vividly imagine your Ultimate Destiny, and will enjoy accelerated success because of your ardently held desires. The self-discovery work you do will reinforce your sincere beliefs. And the goal-setting and strategic planning exercises you complete will help ensure that you always act enthusiastically positively, effectively, and efficiently as you design and manifest your Ultimate Destiny, which must inevitably come forth!
Please read on for more details about how our initial visioning and masterminding evolved into the Ultimate Destiny University for Successful Living and the Ultimate Destiny Success System and the network of Resource Centers for each of the 14 stand-alone titles.
Charles Betterton, Cofounder of Ultimate Destiny and Coauthor of the Ultimate Destiny Success System with a mock up of the Small Group Discussion Guidebooks.
Ultimate Destiny University and the Ultimate Destiny Success System
Ultimate Destiny University (UDU) is a non-profit organization created to help members and students realize more of your inherent potential, fulfill your life purpose and manifest your ultimate destiny. UDU publishes, produces and distributes programs, products and services to facilitate personal, organizational and community empowerment, enlightenment, consciousness, sustainability and transformation.
Ultimate Destiny University features some of the world's leading authorities as "faculty members" and resource providers in dozens of "colleges" and fields of studyas shown in the diagram. The programs and featured resources cover 12 major facets of fulfilling your ultimate destiny.
Many of the faculty members and featured resource providers have been given theUltimate Destiny Hall of Fame Award. The award recognizes individuals and in some cases programs) that help individuals realize more of their potential and fulfill your destiny. Included are the essential Successful Living Skills for the 21st Century.
The ultimate goal of Ultimate Destiny is to help Expand the Circle of Success for Solving Our Personal, Community and Global Success Puzzles by helping establish a network of non-profitCommunity Resource Centers that will provide Successful Living Skills for the 21st Century.
Ultimate Destiny is fostering the realization of human potential and "Expanding the Circle of Success" through the establishment of an international network of facilities and facilitators that provide resources for personal, organizational, and community empowerment. Our team has been conducting research for more than 40 years on the best programs, products and trainers to discover those that actually deliver results and help participants learn how to develop successful living skills.
We have developed dozens of new proprietary programs, products and systems that help people learn how to learn. We have also developed strategic alliances with the producers of best-selling programs and have developed adaptations of their programs designed to be more effective for the populations we serve, especially those who may have had limited experience with development training materials. .
We are helping these individuals learn how to put their own "success puzzles" together. And just like the story about the father and his son, as the individual pieces come together for each person, the puzzle for the whole world begins to come into focus.
Each of the 14 stand-alone titles in the Ultimate Destiny Success System are filled with fun interactive quizzes, self-discovery exercises, implementation tools and featured resources designed to help readers realize more of their potential, fulfill their life purpose and mission and discover how to create their ultimate destiny (whatever that means to each individual.) The main title is Solving Your Ultimate Destiny Success Puzzle.
In addition to product development activities, we have been designing, testing and refining various models for the local delivery of educational programs which has been documented in some of the hundreds of newspaper articles at www.CanDoResourceCenter.com.
This work has included: developing award-winning Community Resource Centers and Centers for Successful Living; and creating an award-winning Success Center Partnership for the Muncie, Indiana Public Housing Authority.
That project is an excellent example of the results we expect to generate through the Expanding the Circle of Success Program.
Les Brown, one of the top speakers and motivational trainers in the world, helped CENTER SPACE (the Center for Spiritual, Personal And Community Enlightenment) adapt the 100 page workbook from his $100 Choosing Your Own Future product into a 12 page workbook for children as young as 7 years old who lived in public housing. Click Here for a PDF newspaper excerpt on how Les reached the youth and why the project received state and national award recognition.
As a result of the award-winning success of the Muncie prototype, Charles Betterton (who designed the program and wrote the $250,000 HUD Drug Prevention grant that funded it) and Benita Smith, Executive Director of the Housing Authority, were invited to share a presentation at the National Association of Housing and redevelopment Officials Conference. Click Here for a PDF of that presentation on How To Create A Success Center Partnership for Your PHA or Community Development Corporation.
One of the current projects is creating Empowerment Marionettes of world-class trainers such as Les Brown, Deepak Chopra, and Mark Victor Hansen. Seed grants are presently being sought to produce a TV pilot and sample DVDs to demonstrate how the programs harness the power of edutainment to help youth discover and actualize more of their potential. Click Here for a one page overview).
We're also creating You Can CAN DO!, a turn-key system for helping organizations and communities learn how to pool their resources and co-produce large scale development training programs featuring some of the top success coaches in the world such as Brian Tracy, Les Brown, Jim Britt, and Mark Victor Hansen.
While these prototypes for locally initiated community resource centers provide the "brick and mortar" component of our marketing and distribution strategy, we also have incorporated "click and learn" technologies for distance learning on the Internet through the Ultimate Destiny University for Successful Living.
We envision an international network of thousands of local Community Economic Development Empowerment Resource Centers™ and Empowerment Training Mentoring Systems, staffed with certified Successful Living Coaches™, Empowerment Consultants™ and Empower Mentors™. These centers will provide new and expanded distribution channels for the world's best resources for personal, spiritual, organizational and community empowerment.
As a result, millions of people could be helped to develop a larger vision of themselves. They will learn how to set and achieve goals, increase their performance levels, manifest stewardship over increased financial resources, fulfill their highest possible destinies and live happier more productive lives.
There is the potential for thousands of new businesses and millions of new jobs to be created. Families, neighborhoods and communities will be empowered and strengthened. Successive generations will realize more of their potential and America will fulfill its ultimate destiny as an example of a fully actualized society enlightening the world
Our ultimate goal is to help millions of people world-wide A.R.K. — Awaken to their true identity as spiritual beings; Realize more of their potential; and Know how to create their ultimate destiny (whatever that means to each individual). We plan to serve as the catalyst for the establishment of thousands of locally initiated facilities all over the world and the certification of thousands of facilitators. This will be accomplished primarily through strategic alliances with some of the world's leading resources for success and empowerment, including world-class success coaches and trainers.
Invitation to Participate
Ultimate Destiny and our partners in this project seek to help people, organizations and communities realize their full human potential by providing them with expanded access to educational programs and services including personal, professional, organizational, community, and social development and empowerment.
One project is the publication of a book to present this proposal to establish a national network of community resource centers designed to foster self-help, empowerment and capacity building, the three foundational principles of community economic development.
We are preparing to publish a book to introduce this CED project for Solving Our Personal, Community and Global Success Puzzles: Expanding Our Global Capacity to Address Challenges and Opportunities by Helping Individuals, Non-profit Organizations and Communities Foster Self-Help, Empowerment and Transformation.
The book will feature insights, recommendations and featured resources from the Ultimate Destiny Hall of Fame Award™ Recipients such as: Paul J. Meyer, Les Brown, Brian Tracy,Ken Blanchard, Deepak Chopra, Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Wayne Dyer, Bob Proctor, Anthony Robbins, Mark Victor Hansen, and Jack Canfield, Dr. Ervin Laszlo, etc.
Each of them will be invited to share their recommendations and featured resources for helping individuals, NPO's, companies and communities realize more their potential to help address the challenges and the opportunities that lie before us.
By Michael Swack, Ph.D.,
Dr. Emmett Miller, MD,
Elliott Maynard, Ph.D. and
Charles Betterton, MS CED,


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Illustration and Skateboarding are the key ingredients for the super fresh illuskate table. Designed by Stuart Melrose and made in a similar way to skateboards today, the tables are all collaborations with his favourite artists and illustrators from around the world!
Made from layers of birch ply then topped with a piece of limited edition artwork protected by a high grade melamine laminate. The wood is waxed for protection with Stuart Melrose's logo die-cut from grip-tape and placed on the underneath. The tables are all limited editions of 300 and are numbered. Due to the manufacture of the tables and that the art is printed before being pressed into the table, the placement of the print may differ slightly from one table to the next.
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Item code: 208899
Apicoquality hardware and accessories are used by professional riders and those who insist on the best. Withyears of racing andmanufacturingexperience,they producesuperior racing parts for top performance.
These forged aluminium gear pedals are designed to be extremely strong and durable, they feature spring loaded, knurled tips,and forged arms. The satin finish will keep them looking good whatever condition you throw at them.
To fit Honda CRF250R 10-17.
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{ about this recipe }
This dish is one of those super easy to make comfort foods that is a real crowd pleaser. It was one of the first dishes I 'veganized' after I went vegan. You can choose to make it non-spicy by substituting plain diced for the canned tomatoes with chipotle peppers, as well as toning down on the powdered spices. The crumbles are optional – they are the 'meaty' part of the dish – making for a 'heartier' meal option, and also good for serving to a 'mixed' (vegan and meat-eaters) crowd of guests. Served along with a freshly tossed veg/fruit salad and your good to go!
I usually get the idea to make Spanish Rice when I have a lot of fresh garden tomatoes on hand (dear son-in-law just arrived with the most amazing pile of plum tomatoes!), and green peppers are in season (now!) when at the peak of their flavor and low price. However, that does not keep me from making this dish in the dead of winter (comfort food!) when it's a perfect for social get togethers. And, like most casserole-style meals, it is even yummier the next day, and the next …
{ stuff you'll need }
I'll leave the exact quantities up to you but if you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll be happy to reply.
. 4 cups cooked (2 dry) organic Basmati style rice – white, light brown or brown
. 3 med-large sweet onions, diced and sauteed until caramelized
. 2 jumbo or 4 med/small green peppers, diced and sauteed until caramelized
. 3-4 15 oz cans of Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Petite Diced Tomatoes with Chipotle Peppers, undrained
. 1 bag of frozen non-gmo crumbles, Boca or other, nearly thawed
. fresh tomatoes, diced
. smoked paprika
. cayenne pepper
. salt and pepper
{ how to make it }
while the rice is cooking saute in separate batches (a cast iron skillet is ideal) the onion and green pepper, gently folding them into the rice when they are done … then, saute the crumbles for 10-12 minutes and gently fold into the rice mixture … add the canned tomatoes and fresh diced tomatoes … season to taste … bake or microwave to warm and serve


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Every once in a while, you come across a picture that makes you wonder about the imagined fleets of Albanian guerrilla commanders.
On a very early morning in July 2007, I was fiddling with my camera gear in front of a boutique hotel in the Italian resort town of Rimini, waiting for a van to pick me up and drive me to Misano World Circuit, a nearby motorcycle racetrack. Waiting with me was a laconic Serbian cameraman, who told me about his days in Belgrade in the spring of 1999, as NATO planes were bombing the city during Operation Noble Anvil (you've got to love that name):
"I woke up during the middle of the night to realize I was flying across my apartment. A rocket had hit a nearby house and the shockwave had knocked me out of my bed. I hit the far wall and escaped without major injuries."
Sturdy Serbians! He decided to bet against lightning striking twice and didn't move out of his place—and was proved wrong: another rocket hit his block soon afterwards. He survived yet again.
The NATO planes were flying in support of Kosovo, a breakaway Albanian province of Yugoslavia where the Serb-dominated Yugoslav military had had a campaign of ethnic cleansing in operation. The Kosovar resistance was led by the Kosovo Liberation Army, a guerrilla group which later became a civilian emergency services organisation.
And just who is Ramush Haradinaj, you may ask. He was one of the commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. He went on to become prime minister after Kosovo's independence. He was later charged for war crimes by the United Nations tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and acquitted of them last spring. As you would expect from a man who had commanded soldiers in the Balkans and survived not only to tell the tale but to serve as a politican later on, he is a bad motherfucker. This is clearly evident in William Langewiesche's profile of Haradinaj in the December 2008 issue of Vanity Fair:
After a one-year stint in the Yugoslav Army, he joined the diaspora in Switzerland and France, where he worked as a manual laborer and nightclub bouncer. During that time he trained for war, competing in marathons, developing contacts, and learning martial arts. He claims to have swum once for 27 hours in the open sea just to prove that he could. Upon his return to the Balkans, around 1995, he began systematically to run guns across the mountains from Albania into Kosovo. After the war started in earnest, he earned the name Rambo for his stubbornness in battle against the Serbs. Picture a blood-drenched fighter holding his ground with a machine gun in each hand. He was wounded many times. He killed a lot of people.
I do not know whether Haradinaj maintains a residence or an automobile in London. But this black-on-black Audi A4 photographed in the UK capital would probably serve him well. It is fast, it is discreet and it's a world removed from thuggish A8's. Perfect for a soldier who's won his war.
Photo Credit: Máté Petrány, Ermal Meta/AFP/Getty Images, Armend Nimani/AFP/Getty Images


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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art
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Watanuma, from the suite Tjukurrpa Palurukutu, Kutjupawana Palyantjanya - same stories, a new way
Wintjiya Napaltjarri
circa 1932 -
Language group
In addition to showcasing the quality of Papunya Tula Artists as a whole, this suite of etchings emphasises the strength of each individual artist as they successfully translate their Tjukurrpa to the new medium of printmaking. Far from being a mere copy of their paintings in a different scale and medium each artists adapts their visual language to this new process with apparent ease, resulting in bold, confident works that are extraordinary in themselves, and when combined as a suite, are truly amazing.
The art centre documentation for this work states:
The design in this etching relates to the site of Watanuma, north-west of the Kintore community. A group of ancestral women gathered at this site to perform the dances and sing the songs associated with the area. The women also spun hair-string for making hair-string skirts which are worn during ceremonies. The nyimparra (hair-string skirts) are depicted in the etching by the straight line with adjacent shorter lines. Upon completion of these ceremonies the women continued their travels towards the east to the rockhole site of Malparingya and later further east to Pinari, also north-west of Kintore. As they travelled the women gathered large quantities of the edible fruit known as pura (also known in Pintupi as pintalypa) or bush tomato from the small shrub Solanum chippendalei. This fruit is the size of a small apricot, and after the seeds have been removed, can be stored for long periods by halving the fruit and skewering them onto a stick.
Place where the work was made
Media category
Materials used
etching on Hahnemühle rag paper
33.0 x 25.0 cm platemark; 55.0 x 45.0 cm sheet
Signature & date
Signed l.r. beneath platemark with artist's mark, pencil "X". Not dated.
Purchased with funds provided by the Aboriginal Collection Benefactors' Group 2011
Not on display
Accession number
© Wintjiya Napaltjarri. Licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd


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Smart phone Apps.
We are excited to announce the release of our new "TheQuran.com App" for Android devices, and coming soon for iPhone/iPad. This powerful and sophisticated new app provides the mobile device user with full access to our website, "TheQuran.com." In addition, we've integrated extra features into this app, allowing you a more advanced study guide with the capability to further navigate and research exclusive topics with an effortless approach.
Various features include the ability to read verses from the Quran while switching back and forth from Arabic to English. With minimal effort, you can detect which verses contain errors, verify all abrogated verses, discover repetitive verses throughout parts of the Quran, and validate hundreds of annulled verses.
The Quran Explained (E-Book).
There is a rapidly growing global interest in Islam and the teachings of the Qur'an, Islam's main source and foundation. The need to provide an objective tool to investigate the truth about Islam as a religion and way of life has become crucial. This scholarly work is a valuable beginner's guide. Designed to provide readers with background information and address important issues raised in the Qur'an, it enables readers to better understand Islam and its impact on Muslim communities. The Must Know Guide to the Qur'an for the Western World is a modified version of The Qur'an Dilemma (Volume One), and contains most of Parts I and III of this earlier publication (2011). The content in both The Must Know Guide to the Qur'an for the Western World and The Qur'an Dilemma represent the effort and production of many former Muslim writers, Islamic specialists, scholars, editors, researchers, and translators. To non-Muslims who want to unravel the mysteries of Islam, this book presents information that Islamic resources rarely disclose—to allow those seeking the truth to comprehend the full picture of Islam with all its outlines, colors, and dimensions. To Muslims who seek genuine choices far from the culture of "indoctrination," this book opens a world of understanding to them, so that they can decide their intellectual and spiritual paths for themselves. (Purchase this e-book)
Get your copy of The Qur'an Dilemma today!
This extensively researched commentary examines Islam's holiest book, challenging serious readers to ponder its true origins and purposes as they increase their knowledge of Islam and its teachings.
Special highlights: The Read section allows the visitor to the site to read the Quran in multiple languages and to view the commentaries, errors, abrogations, repetitions and readers comments.
The Topics section will allow visitors to view all the verses from the Quran relating to specific topics such as jihad, christians, jews, women, terrorism, and more. Visitors can view the list in different languages and translations.
All registered users have the ability to comment on every abrogation, comparative reading, critical analysis and article. Registration is free.


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Summer is a great time to explore nature and science with your family. The P. I. Nixon Medical Historical Library may be a place to begin your adventure.
The library owns a rare first edition of Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection, or the Preservation of
Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Published in 1859, the library's fragile volume is a treasure. The valuable first editions with iconic green spines are in high demand for book collectors and science lovers. A first edition was recently found in the lou of a home in Southern England. It was sold to an anonymous buyer through Christie's of London. The library's copy, one of only approximately 1,250 printed, is part of many antiquarian texts originally donated to the Health Science Center in the early 1970's by the Bexar County Medical Society.
Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. His mother, the daughter of the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood, passed away when he was eight and he was raised by his sisters. Darwin's school record wasn't outstanding yet he began his medical studies in 1825 at Edinburgh University. He found "anatomy and material medica dull and surgery unendurable." He entered Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1828 and took a course in botany where his beetle collection became famous. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1831, he took his botany instructor's advice and accepted the position of naturalist for the second voyage of the H. M. S. Beagle. In December 1831, the voyage took Darwin to the coast of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego off the coast of South America.
The breakthrough in his ideas came in the Galapagos Islands, 500 miles west of South America. In observing the birds and animals on the islands, Darwin noticed that each island supported its own form of finch, which were closely related but differed in important ways. On his return to England in 1836, Darwin proposed a theory of evolution occurring by the process of natural selection to solve the riddle of how different species evolve. He worked on his theory for 20 years and along with another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, announced the discovery in 1858.
Darwin had published several articles on his species studies but On the Origin of Species introduced Darwin's works to a much larger audience. According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, "The publication of Darwin's book secured worldwide attention and aroused impassioned controversy." Jon van Wyne, Bye-Fellow at Christ's College, Cambridge, England, explains how the work "demonstrated with converging evidence from geological distribution, comparative anatomy and embryology, and the fossil record that life evolves."
No matter your take on Darwin's science, consider your nature exploration in San Antonio. The Witte Museum is currently hosting the American Museum of Natural History's Darwin exhibit Darwin: How One Man's Theory Turned the World on its Head. It runs through September 3, 2012 and includes Darwin's handwritten journals of his observations while on the Galapagos Islands. For additional resources for children and families, visit the American Museum of National History's Resources for Darwin. Darwin's complete works can also be read online.
To view the Health Science Center's first edition of On the Origin of Species, or any of the other 5,000 treasured medical texts, contact Special Projects Librarian Susan Hunnicutt at (210) 567-2406 or firstname.lastname@example.com; or Mellisa DeThorne at 210-567-2470 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Additional and selected materials from the Nixon Library may also be viewed online in the UTHSC Digital Archives / Historical Collection.
– Melva Ramirez, MLS, Records and Information Management Intern, Special Collections
Information Courtesy of:
Christ's College, Cambridge
Gale Document Number: GALE|K1631001688
The Huffington Post
P. I. Nixon Medical Historical Library
San Antonio Express News
Photographs Courtesy of:


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Now and then, an enterprising hot-rod head suddenly thinks, "What if I put a freakin' Ferrari motor in this thing?" Many of Los Jalopniks have had this thought, but this visionary with a buttload of taste and a surprisingly-correct sense of perfect went the extra mile and acted on it, having the mill from a wrecked 360 Modena dropped into the back of a Rambler wagon. We think it looks perfect as it stands; as if an enterprising teenager with fab skills hit the junkyard, found a T-boned amalgam of Enzo's finest and applied it to his own ride. Word to the builder and owner: keep that vibe. [Thanks to Haller for the tip.]
A Ferrari Estate? [GTSpirit]
Did Somebody Say Small Block Citroen? Again? [Internal]


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Boston, Dallas, Memphis and the Lakers share one win amongst themselves and 10 losses. So understand me when I tell you that everything – absolutely everything – written here is a complete guess. So it goes when you're watching basketball as messy as this. Now if you're ready, let's talk about Michael Redd. When last we saw Redd, the U.S. economy had just entered a recession, everyone was still reeling from the newest Batman movie and Coldplay was something people listened to. Skip ahead three years and everything is … well, pretty much the same. The only difference now is that Redd has since played fewer games than Greg Oden and has zipped ahead from the end of his prime (29) to straight-up old (32). But now Redd's back under a 1-year contract with a Suns team that need another question mark on its roster like they need nipples for knees. Redd made it into 10 games last season (averaging 12/2/3, with a trey each game) on a similar mish-mash Bucks squad. So this really is a redemption for both sides. The Suns have looked a fright to start the season and so Phoenix figured, "why not?" Consider Redd a candidate for about 12-15 mpg, and 9/2/2, with a three each game. If you can use that, grab him. The only way he produces more is if Dudley, Brown, Hill and Childress all stay terrible. I can't imagine that would happen and can't imagine Redd is the best FA pickup you can find. Here's what else went down on Thursday in fantasy basketball.
Marshon Brooks – Only two Nets scored in double figures: Deron Williams (10) and Brooks (17). The Nets look terrible and have been blown out by 36 and 16 points in each of their last two games. What does this mean? It means that Brooks is their best player three games into the season and the Nets are atrocious. There are no coincidences.
Jameer Nelson – Played 17 quiet minutes before he left the game with neck spasms. He's questionable for tonight's game. Chris Duhon will get all his minutes, but before you rush to pick him up, remember that at some point in the near future you're going to want to look at yourself in the mirror and owning Duhon might make that harder to do. He went 9/1/4, with three 3ptm in 28 minutes yesterday.
DeJuan Blair – 22/12 on 8-for-17 from the floor. In his first three games, Blair is shooting .583 from the field, which becomes less impressive when you consider that his "field" is within six feet from the basket. Still, he's a steady source of boards and FG% widely available in a lot of leagues.
Tiago Splitter – Started the second half after Gregg Poppovich came just shy of slaughtering his entire starting five. Anyway, in 25 minutes, Splitter double-doubled for the second time in his NBA career (10/11/3). His success felt more like a punishment. I don't love owning guys on my fantasy team whose presence on the court is meant to inspire shame in better players.
Kevin Martin – Shook his funk, scored 25 and hit four 3pt. Also, Kyle Lowry ended with a 16/9/8 line. Watching parts of this game, it is clear to me that as Speed Racer goes, so goes Lowry.
Samuel Dalembert – 4/7, with 4 blk in 20 minutes. He won't block this much on a regular basis, but if you're rostering Kendrick Perkins, Kwame Brown or Biedrins, I'd prefer Sammy Davis Sr. over the lot.
Chase Budinger – 2/2 and nothin' else in 18 starter's minutes. This coming after going 3/3/2 in 20 minutes a couple days ago. He's toast. If you were considering him, stop. If you own him, drop.
Kevin Durant – I ranked this guy at the top of the NBA litter, so I know I don't have to tell you about how good he is. But then I realized that Durant has had 6 assists in two of his first four games this season after handing out that many only three times last year. KD with a passing game is like a dolphin developing opposable thumbs: we're all in deep, deep trouble.
Eric Maynor – No need to do anything about this now, but with all this babble about Russie Westbrook's attitude, it's worth noting in case something happens that Eric Maynor's per36 is 12/4/7, 1.8 stl and his URtg is a hefty 21.3. Three cheers for a statistics strawman!
Delonte West – Got the start because of his defense. This was the closest Dallas has come to winning all season, so I think Carlisle will put him back into the starting lineup again. Baby steps!
Lamar Odom – Odom looks confused. And sad. Like Vince Carter ate his last Payday without offering to replace it. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm certain this is exactly what happened.
J.J. Hickson – He's averaging seven points and four rebounds to start the season. Whose stock has plummeted since joining the Kings? J.J. Hickson's stock has plummeted since joining the Kings. Yes it did! Yes it did. Also, Adam's stock has plummeted since Hickson joined the Kings because he pimped him in the preseason. Ugh. If there's a big you've got your eye on, drop Hickson and go for him.
Joakim Noah – 8/3, with 2 blk in 22 minutes. What the what!?! If I wanted that type of production, I'd have drafted J.J. Hickson.
Carlos Boozer – 16/15. Hey, Boo'!
Ty Lawson – Sank 25 points and nabbed 8 steals. How'd you spend your Thursday?
Nicolas Batum – 1 3pt/6 pts/6 rbd/1 ast/1 stl/4 blk/4 tov. A quietly filled box score from a Quiet Man. "Now I want all of yous to cheer like Protestants."
If you're into it, follow me on Twitter. Last second roster advice before tip-off, funny ramblings about commercials, and the occasional accidental tweet that was supposed to be a private text to my therapist. It's all here!


text: Blossom pet of the day June 22 2008 passed away just now at 13 years old. She was the last of our original chicks back in 2005. Never showed here age and was the sweetest. She will always be in our Hearts. She is now with her other brothers and sisters who went before her. Who would have thought a $2.50 baby chick would bring so much joy to our lives. She will be greatly missed


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As the United States national team's blog points out, all 18 players on Saturday's game day roster are based in Europe. (Brek Shea and Heath Pearce, the only two representatives from Major League Soccer, will join the squad in Philadelphia after their club match over the weekend.)
But there's a more important observation rooted in this statistic: Almost every man called into the American camp is playing regularly for his club side across the pond.
Oguchi Onyewu and Jonathan Spector are the only players relegated to the sidelines, and both have at least a semblance of an excuse. Onyewu moved to one of the best squads in the world (AC Milan), while Spector (West Ham) is mired in the type of slump all footballers go through occasionally.
Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa) and Brad Guzan (Aston Villa) aren't regulars for their respective teams, but all three have seen time during the season and sit within striking distance of more.
The 20-year-old Altidore will get on the field when (if?) he finishes the chances he's been creating for over a year. The Lichaj plans to work his way into the defensive line for Gerald Houllier's lineup as the campaign progresses. Guzan only sits because he's buried behind one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Brad Friedel, but he should land a starting gig soon enough, whether for the Villans or another club.
The other 13 players on the US roster have their names penciled, if not penned, into the starting XI on their European clubs.
As we've seen in the past, getting to Europe is one thing. Scoring playing time is another issue entirely, but increasingly one that's vital to earn a call.
DaMarcus Beasley, Ricardo Clark, Jay DeMerit and José Francisco Torres were left off the American roster at least in part because they weren't playing on their club sides.
On the other hand, the shouts that Bob Bradley should extend a training camp invitation to Mikkel Diskerud stemmed directly from his strong form at Stӕbek. (Well, that and the desire to cap-tie him before he changes his mind.) The midfielder missed out, but he's a virtual lock to join the January camp.
This time around, it's 18 guys, 17 European clubs, and lots of minutes. That's a far cry from the 2006 World Cup roster when 11 of the 23 men hailed from Major League Soccer teams. (Due to the MLS playoff push, Bob Bradley left potential Nats with their club sides, but only Landon Donovan is a lock to make the full US team.)
The American presence in Europe continues to grow and that's a great sign for the future of the Stars and Stripes.


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Unblockable Debug
- Filename: UnblockableDebug.pkm (7 kB)
- Current version: 1.0 (11 months ago)
- Total downloads: 1,222
A Debug menu that can't be blocked by a mod.
Did you download the Debug Menu and discover it doesn't work with certain mods? Then try the Unblockable Debug!
This was tested and confirmed working with The North v6.
Initial version.


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This blog has reported that Indonesia is the new Brazil https://atans1.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/our-neighbour-the-new-brazil/. We should be nice to them but be careful of its bullying tendencies. Indonesia has form in bullying those it thinks are weak. It succeed in East Timor, West Papua, Acheh and Celebes. It failed against M'sia and S'pore.
It seems to be trying again. Sometime back, our very own superhero MightyMind (or MM Lee in real life) told us, "We are buying gas from our neighbours; they are thinking of upping the price in spite of the contract": confirming Indonesian reports that various Indonesian officials have renewed calls for the country to renegotiate a reduction in the volume of gas sold to Singapore, given Indonesia's growing domestic gas demand.
E.g. in June, Coordinating Economy Minister Hatta Radajasa was quoted as saying, "I have ordered the Energy Ministry and upstream regulator BPMigas to renegotiate the contracts, though we may not achieve what we want. I don't want to breach the contracts, but we have to try any possibility."
Energy and Mines Minister Darwin Zahedu Saleh was quoted in mid-June as saying Indonesia will adopt a government-to-government approach, rather than a business-to-business one, to renegotiate the gas supply deals with Singapore.
Indonesian Vice-President Boediono said in June the government will gradually increase its domestic gas price to try to increase investment in the industry and encourage foreign investors to sell their Indonesian gas domestically rather than export it.
But the government led by the son of MightMind has not gone AWOL. Singapore has already started building a $1.5 billion liquefied natural gas terminal that will starting importing LNG from early-2013, according to MM from Qatar.
The terminal will initially be able to import as much as 490 mscfd of gas, slightly more than the total the three gas pipelines (two from Indonesia and one from Malaya) brings here.
Background info from BT on Indon gas
At present, Sembcorp Gas imports 325 million standard cubic feet daily (mscfd) of natural gas per day from West Natuna in Indonesia under a 22-year deal. This gas goes to major power generators and petrochemical companies here, including Tuas Power, PowerSeraya, ExxonMobil and Ellba Eastern.
From 2011-12, Sembcorp will import an additional 86 million mscfd from Natuna under a second deal that has been struck.
GSPL, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, currently imports 350 mscfd of gas daily from Grissik via the Sumatra-Singapore pipeline under a 20-year contract that expires in 2023.
GSPL has recently been in discussions with the production sharing contract holders there, including ConocoPhillips, on a new sales agreement for additional supplies, including for GMR of India's upcoming Island Power station here.
Both Sembcorp's and GSPL's Indonesian piped gas contracts are based on formulas that take into account high sulphur fuel oil prices.
As it is, the Indonesian reports cited a BPMigas official saying the Singapore importers are paying double the amount paid by domestic buyers there.


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Ashton Kutcher "punk'd" his unsuspecting lovers long before making a career out of humbling entitled celebrities.
The wildly successful model, actor and Twitterhead tells Parade magazine that back in the day he used to be so poor he considered bedding girls for their beds.
"I never had to put myself in a compromising situation to keep going, but sometimes I think that would have been easier," Kutcher says innocently enough.
U.S. & World
Until this bombshell: "It was always a good thing when you hooked up with a girl and got to sleep someplace nice for the night. I wasn't there to stay, but if you did hit it off with a girl, her place was always nicer than yours."
The "Punk'd" creator who first catapulted to the stars with "That '70's Show" also says he's a true believer that visualizing success will make it happen in real life.
When his dad tried to make him feel like an "idiot" for leaving Iowa to pursue his dreams in New York, Kutcher would not admit defeat, even when broke.
On one Christmas trip home, he decided to just fake it.
"So I bought my whole family these fake watches and fake Versace pants and fake anything I could find, like fake Calvin Klein T-shirts, so I could take them home and show them how well I was doing even though I didn't even have a place to live," Kutcher told Parade. "I knew I wasn't going back to Cedar Rapids."
In the interview, Kutcher also dishes on what makes him compatible with wife Demi Moore.
He says the "real trick is putting yourself around people you admire" and then keeping channels of communication open.
You can't please everybody, though, he admits.
In fact, his dad may have been right about him.
"The truth is that I'm an idiot. I am," he says. "I don't do things by the rules sometimes. I say things that I probably shouldn't say. I push buttons. I deserve to be made fun of. And I feel like, as soon as you can make fun of something, it instantly removes the fear."