text:
Situated just outside this contoversial Jewish settlement in the West Bank, the hilltop stage was dominated Thursday by a Star of David, an olive tree, and musicians who mix blues licks, reggae rhythms, and messianic refrains from Jewish liturgy.
The annual "End of Days" festival – which bills itself as a "place of light and unity, inspiration and calm" – has become something of a mini-Woodstock in the settlements, with meditation groups, religious study sessions, and a crowd dressed in colorful flowing clothes.
Staged on a wooded slope amid the ruins of Mesuot Yitzhak, a Jewish settlement captured by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the festival is evidence of how the young hilltop generation, despite a reputation for militancy and ideological fervency, has embraced many of the counterculture symbols of the 1960s American Left.
"When whole world turns on the television, what do they see? Fighting and politics," says Yehuda Leuchter, the festival founder who hops as he plays keyboard with his head wrapped in prayer shawl. "We're trying to bring rock 'n' roll and good vibes for the Land of Israel and for the whole world. That's what this is all about."
In addition to roots and folk music, the young settlers have pushed heavily into organic agriculture and eco-awareness, and dabbled in Asian accessories and philosophies. While they are more worldly than parents who had no Internet access when they established the settlements, they are less pragmatic and potentially more rebellious against the state.
"We're the new hippies. We are connected to the land. We are spiritual," says Yishai Fleisher, a radio host at the settler radio station Arutz 7 who attended the festival two years ago.
Rejecting 'Western' culture
Expounding as if he had just digested the ideas of Henry David Thoreau's Walden, Mr. Fleisher says that the new generation of settlers rejects the consumerism and promiscuity of "Western" culture. But for all the talk spirituality and universalism, it has not made them more sympathetic to the aspirations of their Palestinian neighbors for sovereignty.
"You can't have peace and love without understanding first the essential ethos of the Middle East, and that is that people only respect you when you stand your ground. That is not only a message to the Arabs, but to the US and foreign powers who want to impose things on us," he says. "The kind of hippie that I'm talking about is Abbie Hoffman. We stand up to aggression."
Clashes predicted
The young settlers came of age on the front lines of the largely nonviolent resistance to Israel's 2005 evacuation of settlements from Gaza. Disillusioned by older leaders for urging them to avoid confrontation, many predict clashes that if Israel's government ever makes good on a promise to the US to clear out unauthorized settlement outposts.
Recently, settlers at more ideologically fervent settlements like Bat Ayin have adopted a policy of vigilante retaliation for hilltop evacuations or Palestinian attacks. Some of Bat Ayin's residents clash with nearby Palestinian villagers, and several years ago a cell was convicted in an Israeli court for plotting to blow up a Palestinian school. That said, Bat Ayin is also one of the centers combining Jewish learning with eco awareness.
"Everyone says that we're all about war, but people just want redemption," says Benny Landau, a solo guitarist from the settlement of Kiryat Arba who described his family of four as drifters. Before toasting to the hilltop outposts, he described his musical influences as "anything that opens up my horizons."
End of Days is also the name of keyboardist Mr. Leuchter's band, which fuses jam rock, reggae, and spiritual tunes from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. He and six other siblings run the festival as a memorial to their father, and say the purpose is to draw concert-goers from all over the country. The family said 1,600 attended the 10th annual festival last Thursday.
"The Jewish people are a very diverse and fractured society," says saxophonist Shaul Judelman. "Right now the crucial thing for both the Jewish and the Palestinian people is to make peace among themselves. It's a big enough challenge talking to our brothers before we go talking to our extended families."
A more earthy ethos
The embrace of a more spiritual, earthy ethic is part of a wider trend among tens of thousands of Israeli youth who spend months in India dabbling with Hinduism and drugs after finishing Israel's mandatory, three-year Army service.
"In the past 20 years we've been in a value crisis," says Assaf Meydani, a political science lecturer at the Academic College of Jaffa. The young generation looks at the pragmatism of their parents' generation, and sees it isn't going anywhere, and is puzzled. So they have to adopt another solution. In this case, the solution is spiritual solution."
Back at the festival, Rabbi Raz Hartman, with wild hair curls, led a study session in which he riffed on the meaning of faith: "[It's] like a farmer that plants in the ground and believes that afterward the bounty will come."
While waiting to go on stage, bassist Yaakov Lefcoe of the band Yood – a Jimi Hendrix-influenced trio whose name is the Hebrew initial for God – speculated on the lax security. "If anything happens at Bat Ayin, there's always a reprisal," he says.
Elsewhere, men hopped in rhythm to bass vamps that could have been culled from Sly and the Family Stone. But in an apparent respect for a traditional ban on mixed dancing, they were not joined by female concert-goers.
Arrayed around the main stage, salespeople in clothing stalls hawked organic diapers, "redemption clothes," parenting guides, and baggy skull caps knitted to look like the headgear associated with Rastafarians.
"It's funny when you walk into a settlement in [the West Bank] and you hear Bob Marley," says Judelman. "It's music that expresses a search for freedom, holiness, righteousness, and redemption. Isn't that what Israel is all about?"


text:
I can't imagine anything about Haley and Davey's wedding that could've been better than it was. It had all a bride and groom could ask for!
A gorgeous location at Omni Montelucia in the desert of Arizona…
… an incredibly talented wedding coordinator (Ashley Gain) who helped them pull off not only a smooth day, but also these gorgeous details!
They had family and friends there to support them, who were all having a ton of fun at the same time.
And of course, they had each other.
Although we hadn't been able to meet Haley and Davey before the wedding, when we first met them on the big day, we immediately knew that we liked them and were so happy to be a part of this special day for them!
Once we met Davey's daughter, who got to play a major role in this important day, we were even happier for this new family starting out together.
It was a beautiful day, both visually and emotionally. Congratulations Haley and Davey! I hope it was everything you hoped it would be and more!
Click to see the rest of the photos from Haley and Davey's "Desert Elegance" Wedding, here.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
sponsored by
Police: No inconsistencies in Pistorius account
Send a link to a friend
[February 20, 2013]
PRETORIA, South Africa
(AP) -- A police detective, testifying at Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing Wednesday, said that police have not found anything inconsistent with how the star athlete described his shooting of his girlfriend
-- a killing that Pistorius says was accidental but which prosecutors call murder.
The second day of the bail hearing in a case that has riveted South Africa and much of the world appeared at first to go against the double amputee, with prosecutor Gerrie Nel saying a witness can testify to hearing "non-stop talking, like shouting" between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. before the predawn shooting on Valentine's Day.
Pistorius said in an affidavit read in court Tuesday that he and girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and budding reality TV star, had gone to bed and that when he awoke during the night he detected what he thought was an intruder in the bathroom. He testified that he grabbed his 9 mm pistol and fired into the bathroom door, only to discover later to his horror that Steenkamp was there, mortally wounded.
Under cross-examination, police Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha acknowledged that the witness who allegedly overheard argument was 600 meters (yards) from Pistorius' house, where the shooting occurred.
Pistorius, the first Paralympian runner to compete at the Olympic Games, is charged with premeditated murder in the case.
The prosecution attempted to cement its argument that the couple had a shouting match, that Steenkamp fled and locked herself into the toilet and that Pistorius fired four shots through the door, hitting her with three bullets.
Botha added: "I believe that he knew that Reeva was in the bathroom and he shot four shots through the door."
But asked if the police found anything inconsistent with the version of events presented by Pistorius, Botha responded that they had not.
Botha, a 16-year police veteran, said the trajectory of the bullets showed the gun was fired pointed down and from a height. Pistorius' statement Tuesday said that he was on his stumps and feeling vulnerable when he opened fired. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has said the killing was premeditated because Pistorius took time to put on his prosthetic legs before the shooting.
Nel projected a plan of the bedroom and bathroom for the courtroom and argued Pistorius had to walk past his bed to get to the bathroom and could not have done so without realizing the Steenkamp was not in the bed.
"There's no other way of getting there," Nel said.
Hilton said the holster for the 9 mm pistol was found under the side of the bed on which Steenkamp slept
-- also implying it would have been impossible for Pistorius to get the gun without realizing that Steenkamp was not in the bed and could have been the person in the bathroom. Pistorius testified Tuesday that the bedroom was pitch dark.
[to top of second column]
Hilton said Steenkamp was shot in the head over her right ear and in her right elbow and hip, with both joints broken by the impacts.
Defense attorney Barry Roux asked Botha if Steenkamp's body showed "any pattern of defensive wounds," and the detective said it did not.
Hilton said the shots were fired from 1.5 meters (five feet), and that police found three spent cartridges in the bathroom and one in the hallway connecting the bathroom to the bedroom.
Police also found two iPhones in the bathroom and two BlackBerrys in the bedroom, Hilton said, adding that none had been used to phone for help. Pistorius had said that he called the manager of his guarded and gated housing complex and a private paramedic service.
Roux said Pistorius did make calls, including to the guards of the housing estate. In one case, he said, a guard could hear Pistorius crying. "Was it part of his premeditated plan, not to switch off the phone and cry?" Roux asked sarcastically.
Botha said Pistorius did not have a license for a .38-caliber weapon and consequently his possession of ammunition for such a weapon was illegal.
The detective said that all Pistorius would say after the shooting was "he thought it was a burglar."
In an additional revelation Wednesday, police said they found two boxes of testosterone and needles in the Pistorius' bedroom.
But Roux said the substance was a "herbal remedy," and not a steroid or a banned substance.
Press; By JON GAMBRELL and GERALD IMRAY]
Imray reported from
Johannesburg, from which Associated Press writer Michelle Faul
contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
< Top Stories index
Back to top
News |
Sports | Business |
Rural Review |
Teaching & Learning
Home and Family |
| Obituaries
Community |
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Letters to the Editor


text:
|Version 8 (modified by 15 years ago) (diff),
CookBook - Data Model
Multiple Levels and Multiple Components
There are times when you have data/content that has many-to-one relationships. This is very easy to accomodate, just as this example demonstrates. Here is code similar to that of the example:
from django.core import meta class Document(meta.Model): short_name = meta.CharField(maxlength=30) title = meta.CharField(maxlength=100) def __repr__(self): return self.title class META: admin = meta.Admin() class Paragraph(meta.Model): document = meta.ForeignKey( Document, edit_inline=True, num_in_admin=3, num_extra_on_change=1 ) content = meta.TextField() def __repr__(self): return self.headline
This is fantastic. It's convenient. But... what if we have more than just two "levels"? What if our document data is divided into two types of data, say "summary" and "details"? And what if each of these views then has potentially multiple paragraphs?
Stay tuned; more to come...


text:
Welcome to St. Ambrose University! Students move-in and get settled on campus the weekend before classes begin.
Join SAU alumni, coaches and friends for a great day of golf supporting our student-athletes!
The Alumni Engagement Office is hard at work planning several virtual activities for Homecoming weekend.
Join your colleagues and others working tirelessly to advance person-centered care by attending the 2020 IPCC Virtual Symposium Oct. 10-16.
St. Ambrose University hosts this year's management scholar conference.


text:
It looks like you are coming from United States, but the current site you have selected to visit is Australia. Do you want to change sites?
Yes, please.
No. Keep me on the current site.
Precise, Trusted Results.
Learn More
Better Data, Better Decisions.
Wastewater treatment facilities are faced with immense challenges.


text:
Inspired by cosmopolitan charm, the City Carryall diaper bag makes a statement worthy of the society pages and light work of your to-do list. Featuring clever pockets for organization, a built-in changing station and multiple carrying options, it is available in the playful prints of our easy-to-clean Glazed coated cotton canvas, in addition to other PPB textiles.
- Spacious interior with 5 pockets (2 specifically for bottles)
- 2 exterior bottle pockets
- Zip-out diaper changing station for baby with removable changing pad and pockets for diapers and wipes
- 2 organizational open pockets on back
- Zip-close top for security of contents
- PPB-monogrammed plastic wipes case
- Stamped logo plate and premium hardware
- 2 easy ways to carry: On shoulder with padded handles or as hands-free cross-body with long strap
- Exclusive PPB-designed print with embroidery accent detail on an easy-to-clean, glazed coated canvas exterior with water-resistant lining
- City Carryall: 13" W x 12" H x 5.5" D
- Shoulder strap drop: 10"
- Long strap drop: 12" - 23"
- Weight: 2 lbs
Additional Info
|Petunia Pickle Bottom


text:
It seems that information on the topic is a bit sparse in the wild. How do you go about back ordering a domain?
If you do find a service that will do it for you, does the current owner of the domain name know that it is back ordered?
How does it work if I back order with one domain registrar and then host the site with another? Does it work something like a normal domain transfer?


text:
The Genealogy Center houses a Research Center that makes photocopies and conducts research for a fee.
To request copies of articles from PERSI, please print the
PERSI Order Form.
If you have a specific citation you need copied, please print the
Quick Search Form.
To obtain Research Services, please print the Research Services Form.


text:
Collected by Ralph Grishman.
Send additional errata to email@example.com
Underlined items are corrections.
Page numbers are those at top of each page.
Page 11, line 8:
hexadecimal digits. For example, the addition of 87 and 53 to give 140 would
Page 49, line -4 (4 lines from bottom)
tual 16 bit result placed in IP is 03ECH, which results in a backward jump.
Page 62, line 5
MOV BL, BYTE PTR 700H ; get 1st number
and similarly all instances of WORD PTR 700H on that page
should read BYTE PTR 700H
Page 62, line -8
NXT: ADD BYTE PTR 106H, 1 ; bump to next data location
and similarly all references to 104H on page 63 should
to 106H instead (the instruction labeled LP indeed begins at 104H, but
the address within that instruction begins at 106H).
Page 69, line 12
4.3 Rewrite the square root program given in chapter two so that it computes the


text:
Before I had kids, I loved using kitschy childhood favorites to decorate my home-space – Muppets, Hello Kitty, Raggedy Ann. It was good fun at the time, but since my extended adolescence finally ended with a "Push!" and then a "Waah!" three-odd years ago, it's become a lot less appealing.
For one thing, SpongeBob appears on every available surface even if I don't want him to. Hey, I love the little absorbent, yellow, porous fella as much as anyone, but enough is enough – I do like having décor that isn't fuzzy, neon, or enhanced with googly eyes.
And yet: There's something cheering about a home inspired by play. Emphasis on "inspired," as in "I did more than just stick a Monopoly throw on the couch." Here are some neat ideas that remind us, with a wink, that work is for work – and home is for fun.
Scrabble throw pillows (4 for $98 at Etsy/Dirtsastudio) -- These letter tiles are instantly recognizable – and irresistible. Scrabble is one of the few board games that's both educational and endlessly addictive – regardless of age. So what if you got all the tiles in pillow form? You could have the most erudite pillow fight ever!
Scrabble coasters (4 for $20 at Etsy/AllisonKapner) -- I know. I know! Two Scrabble entries? What kind of a nerd am I? But here's what I like about these: You can buy them or DIY them, they use up extra tiles from lost boxes, and they are so, so smooth and pretty. Plus, I'm a sucker for a good Etsy shop.
Lego key rack ($73.49 at Amazon) -- Well, if you can't have the legendary Lego kitchen, there's still this. It's a genius idea: each key ring is attached to a different-colored brick, and all attach to the central panel – yes, it's like a key hook, but it's more fun. Of course, it's also no longer being made by Lego, but how hard could it be to make this yourself? (Especially since you can still get the key chains.)
Monopoly bathroom set ($29.99 at Amazon) -- Quick, which Monopoly piece did you always fight over? Everybody answer at once: THE DOG. Well, now he's a jar. And nobody else can take him because he's in your crapper. Plus a money-bag soap dispenser, a wheelbarrow soap dish, and the toothbrush holder is the boot! Let's face it, we don't all have $700 to play a park-sized Monopoly game. But this – this is within anyone's reach, like a house on Baltic Ave.
Mah Jongg refrigerator magnets ($20 for five at Etsy/Mosalchick) -- Some games are a thing of beauty in and of themselves. Vintage Bakelite tiles have been made into chunky bracelets and earrings, and now they can adorn your refrigerator, too. I have no idea what the symbols mean or why the rules are different for Jewish and Chinese grandmas – but I know I love 'em either way.
Parcheesi Rug ($50 at Hayneedle) -- Nuff said. Classic.
Have you seen game-inspired décor you love? Tell us in the comments!
From great ideas on organization, DIY, kid spaces, and just drooling over celebrity homes, our Pinterest page provides your daily design fix. Check it out and follow us!
Images via Etsy/Dirtsastudio, Etsy/AllisonKapner, Amazon, Etsy/Mosalchick, Hayneedle


text:
I was wondering if someone here could explain to me how I to hook up my new (used) blower motor?
Attached are some pictures of the control board and the wires coming from the blower:
And the control board:
It's a 220V motor.
Could you tell by the color which one is which?
Thanks for everybodys help in advance.


text:
Real Estate
Let visitors view your real estate listings on a beautiful, organized and easy-to-read page. Simple-Real-Estate is an all-in-one online management system for real estate agents and small agencies. Simply add assets to an easy-to-use database that update automatically to your website.
- Let clients view your inventory from anywhere - computer, tablet or smartphone
- Manage your asset inventory - no fees taken
- Website updates instantly when you update your database


text:
In another bold move to generate higher ratings (and, presumably, to avoid the fate of Passions), Days of Our Lives has re-signed Renee Jones to return to her role of Lexie Carver on June 14.
Friday, May 25, 2007
MORE Familiar Faces Return to Days!
In another bold move to generate higher ratings (and, presumably, to avoid the fate of Passions), Days of Our Lives has re-signed Renee Jones to return to her role of Lexie Carver on June 14.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
New All My Children Head Writers Announced
All My Children has filled the shoes of former head writer Megan McTavish with two well-known writers: Barbara J. Esensten and James Harmon Brown. The two previously have written for Dynasty, Guiding Light, Days of Ours Lives and One Life to Live, to name a few.
Farah Fath Coming to OLTL
Farah Fath (ex-Mimi, Days) will be arriving in Llanview in September. According to the actress's Web site: "I was considered for [Sarah Roberts, who will be played by newcomer Justis Bolding] but the execs have decided to write a role just for me, which is why I won't start taping for a few months. I am SO honored and excited."
Days Casting News
On Thursday, May 31, Steve Blackwood returns to the role of Bart, the DiMera's (and my fave) henchman. I love the comic relief he brings to his scenes, especially his interaction with Thaao Penghlis. The exasperated looks Tony gives poor Bart could melt the ice off and Eskimo's igloo!
Trevor Donovan will be coming to Salem on Friday, June 1 as Stephanie's bad-boy boyfriend, Jeremy Horton (son of Mike Horton and Robin Jacobs, cousin to Abby Horton).
Arriving with Jeremy will be Jett Carver, played by Marcus Patrick, who is the son of Abe's dead brother, Theo.
Need More Spoilers?!?! Look Below!
The Bold and the Beautiful
Tomorrow, Stephanie fiercely protects Ridge from Brooke and the two ladies do battle.
Days of Our Lives
Thaao Penghlis returns as Tony DiMera on Thursday, as EJ drugs Sami and brings her right to Tony! Also, on Friday, Belle asks comatose John for a sign of Claire's safety and he gives her one -- he wakes up! Next week, Shawn, Belle and Philip realize that Claire was taken. Sami challenges EJ to propose a truce between the DiMeras and the Bradys.
Next week, Whitney tells Chad that she hates him, as he begs her for forgiveness. Julian tells Theresa he knows that Ethan is Little Ethan's father. The Half-Man/Half-Woman pulls a gun on Father Lonigan.
SPOILERS! Week of May 21st
Sorry these are a bit late - I completely forgot! Have a good week and enjoy your stories :)
AMC: Zach keeps Hannah's special request a secret from Kendall.
ATWT: Gwen invites Cleo to live with her and Will, a decision she most likely will come to regret.
B&B: Ridge wrestles with his conscience. Will he turn himself in before Nick is sentenced?
Days: A comatose John shows signs of life during Belle's visit.
GH: Carly finds herself a new female rival in Kate, Sonny's new neighbor.
GL: Natalia's son Rafe, the latest juvi inmate, comes to Daisy's rescue.
OLTL: Marty seeks help from a fellow counselor after having a disturbing memory.
Passions: This is the week Whitney learns the truth about Chad!
Y&R: Gloria's dreams -- and nightmares -- come true when Will makes a move.


text:
Download her bio
Download her bio
Founded in Ho Chi Minh City in 2009, Craig Thomas Gallery represents numerous award winning contemporary Vietnamese artists working in painting, sculpture and mixed media. CTG gallery space hosts a regular series of curated exhibitions of emerging and mid-career Vietnamese artists.
Keep up to date with upcoming events and new artworks


text:
Welcome to this event celebrating the 50th anniversary of UNCTAD in which we will reflect on the topic of "Transformation for Prosperity? 50 years of continuity and change."
I would like to begin with some thoughts which I hope will help to set the stage for our panel discussion.
In 1964, when United Nations member States gathered in Geneva for UNCTAD I, they called for "a better and more effective system of international economic co-operation, whereby the division of that world into areas of poverty and plenty may be banished and prosperity achieved by all."
At that time, newly independent countries sought to take control of their own development pathways. Many of them believed that trade represented a promising means to that end. They wanted a forum where rich and poor countries could come together and engage in a dialogue on how to address the imbalances of the global economy, level the playing field and make sure that developing countries would not forever remain on the margins of the global economy, but also partake in the benefits of global trade.
In those days, trade and economic relations reflected a sharp distinction between North and South. Trade perpetuated a skewed and biased international division of labour. Newly independent countries relied on exports of raw materials to their former colonial masters, and in turn, imported high-value-added manufactured goods from them.
So with the establishment of UNCTAD, the universal membership of the United Nations explicitly embraced an inclusive and forward-thinking development perspective.
Since that time, working with its member states, UNCTAD has strived to create a world economy that serves the interests of all. It has pursued this goal through its analytical research and innovative policy proposals; through its inter-governmental negotiations and consensus-building; and through technical cooperation with developing countries to support their efforts to benefit from globalization. Or in the short-hand we sometimes like to use, our work is to: think, debate, deliver.
UNCTAD's independent thinking has in many ways challenged the way we perceive and practice development. It has made a significant contribution to informing and shaping the global development agenda, as well as building national capacities.
A few of the areas where our ideas have made a difference include:
The Generalized System of Preferences, which helped launch many of today's industrialized developing economies.
The creation of the Least Developed Country category, which recognized the special needs of small or vulnerable economies.
The establishment of targets for official development assistance, which was translated into a commitment within the Millennium Development Goals and supported the scaling up of aid flows.
In addition, UNCTAD supported Paris Club debt renegotiations and devised sustainable debt mechanisms. We issued early warnings on financial crises and global capital flow spillovers. Today we are identifying new policies for south-south trade, to take note of the very different global environment that exists today compared to 50 years ago.
The world has changed profoundly in these past fifty years. The divisions between North and South have blurred. A number of emerging countries have enjoyed unprecedented growth performance, helping to reduce dramatically the share of the global population living in extreme poverty.
Nonetheless, many of the broader concerns of developing countries that animated discussions in 1964 are still with us today, even if some of these are reflected in new challenges. Such concerns include:
Continued poverty, despite the reductions in extreme poverty. Many people are living just above the extreme poverty level and are vulnerable to shocks or crises.
Growing inequality within and across countries.
The danger of financial crises and volatility.
The fact that a number of least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small-island developing states have remained at the margins of the world economy.
Threats posed by climate change, food insecurity and conflict.
The greater interdependence that characterizes today's world implies that many of these problems and challenges affect all of us - including developed countries and strong performing developing countries. Demand for the UN system to deliver global public goods that can help overcome these challenges has never been more important.
This is why when we look at the development framework for after 2015 development agenda, we are talking about an agenda that is transformative. By this we mean an agenda that addresses the need for development that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. This agenda needs to create conditions that will allow more countries to achieve the kind of "virtuous circles" of productive investment, rising incomes, poverty reduction and expanding markets that bring about lasting economic and social transformation.
This means setting the goals and targets that are designed to deliver sustainable and inclusive development. It also means including in this post 2015 agenda the means for implementing these goals and targets.
UNCTAD can contribute to this process in a number of ways. In New York, we are closely supporting the activities of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. Together with the World Bank, UNCTAD is co-leading the group of agencies working on "means of implementation" for the SDGs. In Geneva, including through the informal Geneva Dialogues we are organizing, we are looking at how trade can act better as an enabler of economic development.
On the wider front, the kind of policies needed to support truly sustainable development are very much in line with the flexible and innovative approach that UNCTAD has pursued in the past 50 years. For example, more recently UNCTAD's work has evolved from North-South relations and problems to have a greater focus on inter-dependence, not only inter-dependence between all the countries of the globe, but also across the different sectors that make up the global economy.
When UNCTAD looks at the big forces that sustain growth and development - capital formation, economic diversification technological upgrading, etc. - the countries that have been most successful have designed strategic interventions that direct those forces towards creative and productive outcomes that help to lift all boats. These have not been one-size-fits-all, but rather tailored to specific national needs.
So as we mark our 50 years, UNCTAD must continue with our independent thinking, while at the same time listening and learning from the experiences of both developing and developed countries. In this spirit, I look forward to hearing innovative and stimulating ideas on the way forward - both for UNCTAD and the global post-2015 development agenda.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Connect with us
Signup for our Newsletter


text: One of the many key selling points of shopping for a modular home in Metairie is that generally speaking, they're inexpensive to build compared to a stick-built home. Experts estimate that the standard expense per square foot of a finished house to be built is $120. Still, several modular home builders demand more expensive rates than that because of their stylish finishes, going for as much as $200 per square foot spectrum. So to construct a 250-square-foot home, you may expect to pay between $11,376 and $94,803.


text: "Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives and remembering what one receives." – Alexandre Dumas, fils Photopolymer stamps* Are totally transparent for perfect image placement.* Have just enough give to create a perfectly stamped image every time. * Cling like crazy to our clear blocks so you don't have to worry about slipping.* Save space—you need only one set of blocks for all your photopolymer stamps (blocks sold separately). * Come packaged in cases with images on the spine for easy storage and quick reference.Quantity: 13 photopolymer stampsSuggested clear blocks (sold separately): b, c, e, h


text:
Those are happy campers harvesting Pinot Noir grapes under the Napa sun. Really. Forget the grapes of wrath. In today's wine world, enthusiasts pay for the privilege to learn from the roots up in programs that include sweaty vineyard chores amongst lectures on the science of wine making, and gourmet meals and substitute B&Bs for bunk houses.
Schramsberg Vineyards even dubs its twice-yearly pay-to-pick event for wine lovers (and professionals) Camp Schramsberg (www.schramsberg.com). The fall schedule is arranged so that campers can harvest one of the 80 plots on the 320-acre vineyard at the peak of ripeness. "Campers pick grapes, bring the fruit inside and learn how we process Pinot Noir to make white wines," says the president and winemaker Hugh Davies. "We show them how we make individual lots of wine from different grape varieties."
The spring session is oriented to blending wines. Campers become versed in méthode Champenoise. The vineyard's pros demonstrate riddling (dislodging sediment to the neck of the bottle), disgorging (removing sediment from the bottle) and corking. Individuals learn to add the proper dosage of sugar to their own bottles, a kind of "diploma" to add to their home cellars.
Faculty at the Culinary Institute of America's Greystone campus, in St. Helena, California, also give seminars that illustrate how bubbly (Schramsberg primarily makes sparkling wines) pairs with various foods. Needless to say, tired campers dine well.
Nine vineyards on Long Island's North Fork (along with area bed-and-breakfasts) have designed a "grape to bottle" wine camp, which is offered several times each year (www.winecamp.org).
The four-day curriculum involves campers in seasonal vineyard activities. They can learn about Long Island terroir at Paumanok Vineyards. Harvesting or vine pruning might be scheduled at the Old Field Vineyards in Southold. At Cutchogue's Peconic Bay Vineyards, winemaker Greg Gove schools campers in wine making's biochemistry.
"I demystify the subject," says Gove. He adds that campers do pay attention during his two-hour presentation. "And they'll quiz me about yeast and malolactic fermentation and about tannins." During an autumn camp, Eric Fry, of the Lenz Winery & Vineyard in Peconic, leads a class that explores the relationship of old vines to older vintages. In the spring blending season, teams of campers are challenged with creating a bottle of wine from differently aged Chardonnay wines and blending a Bordeaux-style red from Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes, an exercise that sometimes leads to argument. Fry notes dryly, "There's a reason why each vineyard has only one winemaker."
Also visit www.stsupery.com/visit/harvestadventure.html and www.fantesca.com/events/handsonharvest2006.


text:
Our open storage partner, Nexenta Systems Inc., hit a milestone this month by releasing NexentaStor 4.0.1 for general availability. This release is significant mainly because it is the first commercial release of NexentaStor based on the Open Source Illumos kernel and not Oracle's OpenSolaris (now closed source). With this move, NexentaStor's adhering to the company's promise of "open source technology" that enables hardware independence and targeted flexibility.
Some highlights in 4.0.1:
- Faster Install times
- Better HA Cluster failover times and "easier" cluster manageability
- Support for large memory host configurations – up to 512GB of DRAM per head/controller
- Improved handling of intermittently faulty devices (disks with irregular I/O responses under load)
- New (read: "not backward compatible") Auto-Sync replication (user configurable zfs+ssh still available for backward compatibility) with support for replication of HA to/from non-HA clusters
- Includes LZ4 compression (fast) option
- Better Control of "Force Flags" from NMV
- Better Control of Buffering and Connections
- L2ARC Compression now supported
- Potentially doubles the effective coverage of L2ARC (for compressible data sets)
- Supports LZ4 compression (fast)
- Automatically applied if dataset is likewise compressed
- Server Message Block v2.1 support for Windows (some caveats for IDMAP users)
- iSCSI support for Microsoft Server 2012 Cluster and Cluster Shared Volume (CSV)
- Guided storage pool configuration wizards – Performance, Balanced and Capacity modes
- Enhanced Support Data and Log Gathering
- High Availability Cluster plug-in (RSF-1) binaries are now part of the installation image
- VMware: Much better VMXNET3 support
- no more log spew
- MTU settings work from NMV
- VMware: Install to PVSCSI (boot disk) from ISO no longer requires tricks
- Upgrade from 3.x is currently "disruptive" – promised "non-disruptive" in next maintenance update
- Improved DTrace capabilities from NMC shell for
- COMSTAR/iSCSI/FC
- general IO
- Snappier, more stable NMV/GUI
- Service port changes from 2000 to 8457
- Multi-NMS default
- Fast refresh for ZFS containers
- RSF-1 defaults in "Server" settings
- Improved iSCSI
See Nexenta's 4.0.1 Release Notes for additional changes and details.
Note, the 18TB Community Edition EULA is still hampered by the "non-commercial" language, restricting it's use to home, education and academic (ie. training, testing, lab, etc.) targets. However, the "total amount of Storage Space" license for Community is a deviation from the Enterprise licensing (typical "raw" storage entitlement)
2.2 If You have acquired a Community Edition license, the total amount of Storage Space is limited as specified on the Site and is subject to change without notice. The Community Edition may ONLY be used for educational, academic and other non-commercial purposes expressly excluding any commercial usage. The Trial Edition licenses may ONLY be used for the sole purposes of evaluating the suitability of the Product for licensing of the Enterprise Edition for a fee. If You have obtained the Product under discounted educational pricing, You are only permitted to use the Product for educational and academic purposes only and such license expressly excludes any commercial purposes.
– NexentaStor EULA, Version 4.0; Last updated: March 18, 2014
For those who operate under the Community license, this means your total physical storage is UNLIMITED, provided your space "IN USE" falls short of 18TB (18,432 GB) at all times. Where this is important is in constructing useful arrays with "currently available" disks (SATA, SAS, etc.) Let's say you needed 16TB of AVAILABLE space using "modern" 3TB disks. The fact that your spinning disks are individually larger than 600GB indicates that array rebuild times might run afoul of failure PRIOR to the completion of the rebuild (encountering data loss) and mirror or raidz2/raidz3 would be your best bet for array configuration.
SOLORI Note: Richard Elling made this concept exceedingly clear back in 2010, and his "ZFS data protection comparison" of 2, 3 and 4-way mirrors to raidz, raidz2 and raidz3 is still a great reference on the topic.
Given 16TB in 3-way mirror or raidz2 (roughly equivalent MTTDL predictors), your 3TiB disk count would follow as:
3-way Mirror Disks := RoundUp( 16 * (1024 / 1000)^3 / 70% / ( 3 * (1000 / 1024)^3 ) ) * 3 = 27 disks, or
6-disk Raidz2 Disks := RoundUp( 16 * (1024 / 1000)^3 / 70% / ( 4 * 3 * (1000 / 1024)^3 ) ) * 6 = 18 disks
By "raw" licensing standards, the 3-way mirror would require a 76TB license while the raidz2 volume would require a 51TB license – a difference of 25TB in licensing (around $5,300 retail). However, under the Community License, the "cost" is exactly the same, allowing for a considerable amount of flexibility in array loadout and configuration.
Why do I need 54TiB in disk to make 16TB of "AVAILABLE" storage in Raidz2?
The RAID grouping we've chosen is 6-disk raidz2 – that's akin to 4 data and 2 parity disks in RAID6 (without the fixed stripe requirement or the "write hole penalty.") This means, on average, one third of the space consumed on-disk will be in the form of parity information. Therefore, right of the top, we're losing 33% of the disk capacity. Likewise, disk manufacturers make TiB not TB disks, so we lose 7% of "capacity" in the conversion from TiB to TB. Additionally, we like to have a healthy amount of space reserved for new block allocation and recommend 30% unused space as a target. All combined, a 6-disk raidz array is, at best, 43% efficient in terms of capacity (by contrast, 3-way mirror is only 22% space efficient). For an array based on 3TiB disks, we therefore get only 1.3TB of usable storage – per disk – with 6-disk raidz (by contrast, 10-disk raidz nets only 160GB additional "usable" space per disk.)
SOLORI's Take: If you're running 3.x in production, 4.0.1 is not suitable for in-place upgrades (yet) so testing and waiting for the "non-disruptive" maintenance release is your best option. For new installations – especially inside a VM or hypervisor environment as a Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA) – version 4.0.1 presents a better option over it's 3.x siblings. If you're familiar with 3.x, there's not much new on the NMV side outside better tunables and snappier response.


text:
October 2012 Rod Shop
Blanket Coverage
Thermo-Tec's new fire suppression blanket is a must-have for any racer, in a shop, or anywhere a small fire can start quickly. The 40x60-inch blanket is bright orange for easy visibility and can smother a fire instantly. Made in the United States from 100 percent silica yarns especially designed for high temperature conditions, it resists most acids and alkalis, and will not rot or mildew.
Abrasive resistant and unaffected by bleaches or solvents, it has a handy Velcro storage and carrying strap and can also be used as a welding blanket. For more information, contact Thermo-Tec at (800) 274-8437 or at www.thermotec.com.
Light On The Carbs
Holley's 600-cfm carburetors have been staples in the hot rod world thanks to their universal calibration and vacuum secondaries, but they've been revamped. They now have an aluminum main body, bowls, throttle body, and metering block, giving a 40 percent weight saving and a polished finish that stays shiny for longer.
These bolt-on-and-go savings performance carburetors are available with manual or electric choke (PNs 0-1850SA and 0-80457SA, respectively).Both feature a single push-on style fuel inlet, multiple vacuum ports for accessories, and Ford A/T kickdown. The 700-R4 linkage and 4L60/80E TPS kits are available separately. For more information, visit Holley at www.holley.com.
A/C Accents
Designed and stamped in-house at Holohan's Hot Rod Shop, these new sheetmetal panels were designed to fitVintage Air's billet inline bulkheads, allowing them to be recessed into the firewall. Stamped out of 18-gauge cold rolled sheet steel, they have a generous flange on all edges to allow for easy placement on your firewall.
Also available are similar sheetmetal recess panels for other Vintage Air bulkheads. The panels are sold separately and bulkheads are also available. For more information, contact Holohan's Hot Rods at (704) 450-0607 or at www.holohanshotrods.com.
NOS: New Old Shirts
The vintage designs displayed on these 100 percent cotton T-shirts from California Car Cover's Shop Rags have been off the map for decades, but Shop Rags brought them back and has given them a brand-new lease on life with three authentic reproductions of the original art.
Add to your wardrobe with one of each of these distressed-look T-shirts: Kansas City's Arrow Speed Shop, the Lion's Drag Strip logo, or Lion's Last Drag Race. All are available in sizes medium to XXL. For more information, visit California Car Cover at www.calcarcover.com.
Two Types Of New
Rare Parts' stash of NOS F-1 truck Pitman arms is dwindling, so they tooled up to reproduce them. The new versions are more precisely machined, with the surface around the splines being smooth, compared to the as-cast appearance of the original.
The NOS versions are still available, at a slightly higher price, owing to their originality. Rare Parts carries restoration and performance steering and suspension parts, and has the capability to manufacture one-off parts, if required. For more information, visit Rare Parts at www.rareparts.com.
Go With The Flow
Designed for '38-54 Chevrolet passenger cars and '38-55 Series 1 Chevy and GMC trucks, this radiator overflow tank was a rare accessory, but is now being reproduced by The Filling Station. Not only is this a great looking accessory item, it is also practical.
The tank accepts overflow and steam from the radiator, condenses it back to water, and then returns it to the radiator. Supplied with instructions, hose, and mounting hardware, it also comes with two different decals for early or late versions. For more information, contact The Filling Station at (800) 841-6622 or at www.fillingstation.com.
Accessorize With Ease
Street Rod Bracketry provides unique parts, such as air conditioning, alternator, power steering, and engine mount brackets, whether you need a narrow, tall setup or have a wide and low application. They also stock compressors, alternators, power steering and water pumps, steel and aluminum pulleys, even belts.
The bracketry shown is an A/C, alternator, and power steering bracket kit for a '54-56 324ci Oldsmobile, using an OEM three-groove water pump and crankshaft pulley and OEM exhaust manifolds. The kit is supplied with all brackets, belts, and hardware, a Sanden SD-series compressor, GM CS-130 alternator, and TC type II power steering pump with or without pump-mounted reservoir. Used pulleys and exhausts are available when in stock, and the brackets are available separately. For more information, contact Street Rod Bracketry at (817) 614-9659 or at www.streetrodbracketry.com.
Knock It Off
Rocket Racing Wheels now offers this vintage-style knockoff that fits any of the company's five- or six-lug wheels. The new design offers spindle-mount styling, but with a much safer bolt-on mounting application. The Rocket Vintage Style Knockoffs with threaded adapters are sold in pairs, one left- and one right-hand thread for safety, and can be ordered polished or chromed.
Two styles are available: a flat angle knockoff designed to fit high-offset modern muscle applications, as well as 6-inch-wide and narrower classic carapplications, or a deep angle version purpose-built for 7-inch-wide or widerzero offset wheel applications. For big and little wheel combos, order a pair of each. Choose from polished or chrome finishes according to your wheel finish.For more information, contact Rocket Racing Wheels at (888) 307-7525 or at www.rocketracingwheels.com.
These Boots Were Made For Protecting
Design Engineering Inc. (DEI) introduces Titanium Protect-A-Boots, a new product designed to handle extreme high heat to provide the ultimate in thermal protection—more than any other spark boot protector on the market today. Constructed from pulverized lava rock material that is extruded into fibers and set in an extremely tight weave, Titanium Protect-A-Boots with LR Technology have titanium-like strength yet are pliable enough to fit most straight or angled boots.
This unique material and construction provides added resistance to heat, chemicals, abrasions, and contaminants while providing maximum durability and toughness. While typical glass fiber material is only rated for withstanding 1,200 degrees F, DEI's Titanium Protect-A-Boots can handle direct heat up to 1,800 degrees F, and radiant heat to 2,800 degrees F. For more information, contact DEI at (800) 264-9472 or www.designengineering.com.
New Bassline
With all the characteristics of Kicker's reliable, powerful ZX-Series amplifiers, the new ZXS-Series amplifiers continue to provide trouble-free amplification and loud, clear sound, now from a significantly smaller heat sink than its ZX counterparts. Two models of ZXS monoblock amps are available, both under 14 inches long and easy to handle during installation. They can also be personalized with colorful vinyl skins.
The ZXS1500.1 and ZXS1000.1 mono-channel subwoofer amplifiers give the user a couple of manageable power choices for supplying bass needs, offering 1,500 and 1,000 watts, respectively. Both include the Kicker ZXRC remote bass control for that extra bit of bass boost at the driver's fingertips.
ZXS monoblock amps use a boost converter power supply for the highest sound quality and super efficiency. Optional endcaps are available for all ZXS and ZX amplifier models. For more information, contact Kicker at (800) 256-5425 or www.kicker.com.
Prevention And Cure
The Eastwood Company is probably well known to most readers as suppliers of restoration products and tools, and here are a couple more products to make your project easier. The Internal Exhaust Coating is an 1,800-degree thermal coating designed to coat the inside of an exhaust system and headers. It prevents rust and corrosion and is claimed to reduce underhood and undercar temperatures. A 2-foot, 360-degree extension nozzle ensures full coverage.
The Rust Converter is a much cleaner way of tackling residual rust than using Muriatic Acid, converting rust into a black paintable polymeric coating. It works as a primer and can be over-painted with most paints. For more information, visit The Eastwood Company at www.eastwood.com.
East Vs. West Showdown
East versus West. Hmm right off the bat the authors of this book, Joseph Alig and Stephen Kilmer, admit in the foreword that this is probably one of the most controversial subjects surrounding our hobby/industry/sport/call-it-what-you-will. So we'll add our two cents worth and say that this was definitely the case back in the day. But in this day and age of instant Internet gratification when it comes to shows, or forums such as the HAMB, we're not so sure there's a rift, or even much difference when it comes to build styles. Unless, that is, you're trying to recreate a traditional East or West Coaststyle car.
Even a cursory flick through this book reveals it's heavily biased toward feature cars from the East, but it's worth owning for the cars photographed alone, whether it's the survivors, recent builds, or race cars that light your fire. Many have never been seen in print before, and that's always a plus! So, East or West? Make your own mind up if you have to, or enjoy it for the photography. For more information, visit www.cartechbooks.com.


text:
I downloaded blogger on my phone so I thought I would share some recent pics!
First we have baby King being oh so cute.
Then there's our friends Nikki and Trevors little one Eliza.
Then Jon with three babes at the cabin.
Then a pic of me. I have brown hair! And it's gotten so long it's crazy.
Then daddy and baby and finally to top things off another sweet picture of my four month old love bug!
Friday, September 23, 2011
I downloaded blogger on my phone so I thought I would share some recent pics!
Posted by Meghan at 2:55 PM 1 comments
Pic of the babe!
Posted by Meghan at 2:48 PM 1 comments
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Check up with the Stoddards
What in the heck? Kingston is almost four months old. I haven't blogged in forever but I am one busy girl I barely have time to cuddle with my hubby. And when the choice to blog or cuddle arises I'd much rather cuddle. But I have somedown time so I'll recap the past couple months.
I started working. I love my class. Last year I started in the middle of the year so it didn't fully feel like my class. But this year has been going so great. I have tied more shoes than iever have before but that's okay. My favorite thing is listening totem talk to each other while they're coloring or doing independent work. They are hysterical. One kid saud the other day that if he wa Elvis every girl would love him. How can anyone not love six year olds? And I get to hang out with 25 of them everyday.
Since we are on year round school I worked for a month and had 3 weeks off so Jon and I decided to take a trip with baby King. We flew to San Fransiso for a few days to see our friends Brian and Jane. After that we flew to Michigan to see Grandma Mullin. Then we flew to Jersey to see my parents and Maddie. Kingston loved seeing his Nana and grandfather. :) Jon got to experience new York for the first time. His thoughts? Smelly.
We got back, moved and I started work again. And now we are up at our friends cabin watching the Utah/byu game...hence the reason I have time to blog. Football bores me.
Oh and Ally moved in with us!! Yay!
Until next time remember that you are blessed! Oh and sorry about no pics I'm on Jons iPad and I don't know how to post them on here.
Posted by Meghan at 10:22 PM 0 comments


text:
HISTORY abounds in what-ifs. If Lincoln had not been shot, the South, and the nation, might have accepted full racial equality a century earlier. If Wilson had not been felled by a stroke, the United States might have joined the League of Nations and prevented World War II. And if John F. Kennedy had not been killed in Dallas could the Vietnam War have been avoided?
In ''An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963'' (Little, Brown), the presidential historian Robert Dallek again raises the old question. He argues that Lyndon Johnson misread Kennedy's intentions regarding Vietnam, increasing the American commitment rather than seeking the gradual withdrawal that Kennedy may have intended.
People have powerful reasons for wanting to believe this argument. Not long after Kennedy's death the country went from one crisis to another, stumbling through years of race riots and civil disobedience, the counterculture revolt, the crumbling of authority and the erosion of traditional values.
Above all the war consumed the nation in anger, disillusion and self-doubt. Shock waves generated in the 1960's have never fully abated, and are seen today in the rhetoric of political correctness and neoconservatism.
Mr. Dallek, citing newly available documents and his reappraisal of the existing record, maintains that Kennedy was planning to wind down the Vietnam commitment during his second term, and instructed Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara to chart a possible withdrawal by 1965. Kennedy, he argues, was becoming skeptical of the hawkish advice he was getting from his military and political advisers. The ill-fated Bay of Pigs landing, which his advisers urged on him, gave good reason for that caution.
At the height of the Cuban missile crisis, it later become known, Kennedy overruled his advisers and accepted a secret deal with the Soviet Union that ended a confrontation that threatened nuclear war. Kennedy even mused in private conversations with journalists about the possibility of lifting the embargo on Cuba in return for Castro's neutrality in the cold war.
If this was Kennedy's intention, why did Johnson continue the impasse with Cuba and substantially expand the involvement in Vietnam? Because, Mr. Dallek maintains, the dead president's chief foreign policy aides, Mr. McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the national security adviser, McGeorge Bundy, told him that was what Kennedy wanted. Since Kennedy had never shared any doubts with his vice president, Johnson, a novice at foreign affairs and eager to prove that he was marching in Kennedy's footsteps, did what he was persuaded he must do.
That Kennedy was planning to pull out of Vietnam after his re-election is, Mr. Dallek admits, hotly contested by other historians, an old argument that ''can never fully be put to rest.''
Many will find it persuasive. But the argument will not stop here, or probably ever stop. This is because it rests not only on reading Kennedy's mind, but on taking into account the Kennedy image that has been created over the years and exerts a powerful hold on millions of Americans.
EVER since his assassination in 1963 there have been two John Kennedys. One is the attractive politician who came to the presidency in 1961 promising to ''get the country moving again'' and immediately became embroiled in one foreign crisis after another.
The other John Kennedy is the bigger-than-life, and certainly bigger-than-death, leader who would have made it come out all right, the man who so many Americans (though not most historians) consider to have been one of the greatest presidents.
Mr. Dallek makes a good case. But, like all what-ifs, some of it rests on conjecture. Kennedy had, after all, greatly increased the nation's nuclear arsenal and military budget. He ardently believed in counterinsurgency warfare and believed it vital to demonstrate that Communist-inspired ''wars of national liberation'' could not succeed. He willingly chose Vietnam as the testing ground.
Although in a television interview in September 1963 he said of the South Vietnamese that ''in the final analysis it is their war'' to win or lose, he also added: ''I don't agree with those who say we should withdraw. That would be a mistake.''
As for Cuba, even as Kennedy mused about a guarded reconciliation, plots to kill Castro, under the general direction of Robert Kennedy, continued until they were rescinded by Johnson.
In ''Kennedy's Wars'' (Oxford, 2000), the historian and strategist Lawrence Freedman maintains that despite anecdotal evidence of a desire for a withdrawal from Vietnam after the 1964 elections, it was ''less of a definite decision than a working assumption, based on a hope for stability rather than an expectation of chaos.''
Robert Kennedy seemed to confirm this. When asked in 1964 what his brother would have done if the South Vietnamese had been on the brink of defeat, he replied, ''We'd face that when we came to it.''
While critical of Johnson's expansion of the war, the historian Frederik Logevall in ''Choosing War'' (University of California Press, 1999) cites the Kennedy administration's ''complete rejection of exploring the possibilities for a political solution to the conflict'' when only such a path offered realistic hope for withdrawal. ''On the day of his death,'' Mr. Logevall writes, ''Kennedy had not decided what to do with his Vietnam problem.''
This baleful conclusion gains support from a trusted adviser of Kennedy, Theodore Sorensen, who is quoted in Thomas Brown's ''JFK: History of an Image'' (Indiana University Press, 1988) as saying that Kennedy ''was simply going to weather it out, a nasty, untidy mess to which there was no other acceptable conclusion.''
In the end, what Kennedy wanted to do or might have done is likely to remain a mystery, its secret locked in the recesses of bureaucracy, political ambition, expediency and cowardice, and ultimately in the darkness of the human heart. If Mr. Dallek argues well, so do those on the other side.
All who lived through Vietnam are part of the tragedy, whether we fought, or opposed, or quietly observed the war from a safe distance. Until the 1968 Tet offensive, which shattered predictions of an imminent victory, the vast majority of Americans supported the war.
It is not just Kennedy's or Johnson's but, to use the title of A. J. Langguth's recent study of the war, ''Our Vietnam.''


text:
Did you know that you can easily restore your carpet even after water damage? Several homes that are affected by leaking water or flood could probably be victims of the water damage in Milwaukee. Severe water leakages or floods could result in the carpet damages. The water damage carpet requires a prompt carpet restoration to avoid further damages.
Depending on the water that results in carpet damage, the floor covering is usually not affected by the water damage. Your floor can easily restore its original condition without posing any threats to the family's health and safety.
To bring your carpet into a normal condition after the water damage, it is critical to begin with identifying potential sources of leakages. Remember, sanitary water may easily leak from the pipes and also from rains.
Unsanitary water on the other hand may find its way from overflowing toilets and other contaminated places. To prevent you from contracting any conceivable infection, it is vital to completely discard any carpet that has direct contact with the dirty ground.
After you have identified any potential source of a leak, stop it completely. Stopping the leakage is important as it prevents your carpet from any further damage. If you find any difficulty trying to fix the leakage issue you can always seek assistance from a plumber or an engineer, who may help you to fix it.
- Disinfect the wet areas on the carpet by using chemicals and disinfectants. It is also important to ventilate your carpet while disinfecting in order to avoid foul odors. The odors from the disinfectants can be dangerous to children and family as a whole.
- Using a box cutter carefully cut out the portions having wet spots on the carpet. You can lift up the carpet so as to discard its base paddling. It is vital to have enough space in the room so that the flooring area is perfectly accessible. Elevate your carpet to drain any excess water that resulted from water damage.
- Using an industrial-size electric fan, straight blow the soiled areas to remove dirt. Operate your fans on a high limit for about 36hrs after the occurrence. Keep cables off from the wet areas of the carpet to avoid any electrical damage. You can prepare a dehumidifier to help in accelerating the drying procedure.
Keep the foot traffic on the carpet area to the minimum on a ventilated area. After around 12 hours, inspect the restoration progress of your carpet. Carpets should dry completely to avoid the mold infestations. Molds are even more dangerous as they emit harmful allergens.
For those folks living in a condo, it is imperative to talk to your insurance broker. Depending on the degree of leakage, you should never be liable for any amount of the expense restoration. Your insurance broker should be the one responsible to curb any restoration expense.
To ensure a perfect restoration procedure, it is crucial to keep your fans working with minimal disruptions. Turning them off might exceed the time required for them to try. It can also provide a conducive environment for the microbes breeding.
In conclusion, it is important to follow these simple water damage carpet restoration tips with much keenness and attention. If you may not be able to follow these procedures, contact an expert to work this for you. Their long term experience and knowledge will probably restore your carpet to its original condition. For additional help please visit the pros at milwaukee water damage.


text:
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., June 13 (UPI) -- A few cups of hot cocoa may protect against inflammation, which is linked to obesity and diabetes, U.S. researchers say.
Joshua Lambert, associate professor of food science at Pennsylvania State University in State College, said mice fed cocoa with a high-fat diet experienced less obesity-related inflammation than mice fed the same high-fat diet with no cocoa.
Lambert said the mice ate the human equivalent of 10 tablespoons of cocoa powder -- about four or five cups of hot cocoa -- during a 10-week period.
"What surprised me was the magnitude of the effect," Lambert said in a statement. "There wasn't as big of an effect on the body weight as we expected, but I was surprised at the dramatic reduction of inflammation and fatty liver disease."
Lambert and colleagues said several indicators of inflammation and diabetes in the mice fed the cocoa supplement were much lower than the mice that were fed the high-fat diet without the cocoa powder and almost identical to the ones fed a low-fat diet in the control group.
The cocoa powder supplement also reduced the levels of liver triglycerides in mice by a little more than 32 percent. Elevated triglyceride levels are a sign of fatty liver disease and related to inflammation and diabetes, the study said.
The findings were published online in the European Journal of Nutrition.


text:
Example A:
5 / \ 3 7 / \ / \ 2 4 6 8 / \ 1 9
Example B:
2 4 9 | | | 1----3----5----8 | | 6 7
Example C (Linked List):
1 - 2 - 3 - 4
All of these trees are very different. Example A is a binary search tree, which is a type of rooted tree. Example B, in contrast, is not a rooted tree, and it is not ordered. Example C is a doubly-linked list, a subset of tree. Notice how all of these are acyclic, simple graphs.
Rooted Trees
Rooted trees are most commonly studied in computer science, with applications in search trees like binary search trees, B-Trees. Certain data structures, like heaps, are also rooted trees. A rooted tree is defined such that there is a parent node with zero or more child nodes. A node that has no children is called a leaf. So by definition, a rooted tree is a directed graph.
- Binary Search Tree: A Binary Search Tree is based on the sorting algorithm Binary Search. It organizes data so there is an ideal log(n) lookup time for any element. Balanced binary search trees actually rotate themselves to enforce a worst case O(log(n)) lookup, insertion, and deletion time for elements. Just like with binary search, the median element is the first one examined, so that is the root Node. Let's take a look at how a binary search tree would be formed given the following elements: [5, 2, 3, 9, 7, 4.
5 / \ 2 9 \ / 3 7 \ 4
Since 5 is the first element, it is the root. The next element 2, is less than 5, so it goes to the left of the root. Since 3 is less than 5, it goes to the left of 5. It is also greater than 2, so it goes to 2's right. This process continues for the remaining elements until the above binary search tree remains.
Spanning Trees
Given a graph, and a tree on the graph, the tree is a spanning tree on the graph if and only if it encompasses all the vertices on the graph. As with much of graph theory and computer science, finding the optimal (or minimal) spanning tree is desirable.
A simple spanning tree can be constructed from a Graph with either a breadth or depth first traversal of the tree. A breadth first traversal examines each of the sibling nodes before examining the siblings' children. In contrast, a depth first traversal examines the next generation before examining the sibling nodes.
Consider the Graph:
Now let's use both algorithms to construct a spanning tree, starting at A.
Using a breadth-first traversal, A's children (B, C, D) are all visited. Next, B's children are evaluated, leaving E and F to be evaluated.
Now using a depth-first, traversal, A's first child B is evaluated. Next, B's children (E and F) are added to the tree. Since B has no more children, A's next child © is evaluated. C has only one child, D. Thus, the spanning tree looks like:
On weighted graphs, minimum spanning trees can be found. A minimum spanning tree on Graph g is a spanning tree with the smallest possible sum of weights. Minimum spanning trees are found using one of two algorithms: Prim's Algorithm or Kruskal's Algorithm. Both of these algorithms would require tutorials in and of themselves. I do have a tutorial on Kruskal's algorithm for those that are interested.
Tree Traversals
The final section of this tutorial will discuss the three primary types of depth-first traversals: pre-order, in-order, and post-order. A pre-order traversal visits the root node first, then the left subtree, followed by the right subtree. An in-order traversal visits the left subtree, the root, then the right subtree. Lastly, the post-order traversal visits the left subtree, the right subtree, and finally the root. Each of these algorithms are evaluated recursively.
Consider the following tree:
5 / \ 3 7 / \ / \ 2 4 6 8 / \ 1 9
When evaluated with a pre-order traversal, the Nodes are visited in the following order: 5, 3, 2, 1, 4, 7, 6, 8, 9. The 5 node is the root, so it is evaluated first. As these algorithms are evaluated recursively, the 3 subtree is evaluated next. So holding to form, 3 is evaluated, followed by the 2 subtree. So the ordering here has to be 3, 2, 1, then visiting 3's right child 4. The same process is then applied for 5's right child.
With an in-order traversal, the Nodes are evaluated in the following order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Because an in-order traversal evaluates the left subtree first, applied recursively, it recurses all the way down to the far left leaf: 1. Then it evaluates 1's parent, the root of the subtree: 2. From there, 3 is evaluated as 2's parent, then 3's right subtree (4) is evaluated next. This process is applied for the remainder of the tree.
With a post-order traversal, the Nodes are evaluated in the following order: 1, 2, 4, 3, 6, 9, 8, 7, 5. Here, 1 is evaluated first as the left leaf Node. Since it has no right sibling, its parent 2 is evaluated next. The 2 Node has a right sibling though, 4, which is evaluated before the parent 3. This process is applied throughout the rest of the tree.


text:
Chamber recognizes companies for going green
The National City Chamber of Commerce recognized more than 200 companies recently for taking steps to create more energy-efficient work environments.
The businesses received certificates of recognition and window decals for completing the Chamber of Commerce Green Business Program, which is a partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric to provide companies with free energy assessments and energy upgrades.
This is the first group to have completed the program. The chamber kicked it off last June and has already helped National City become San Diego Gas & Electric's model city for implementation, said Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jacqueline Reynoso.
The Green Business Program is mutually beneficial for the city and for business owners, she said, because it saves businesses money on their utility bills and helps the city meet its goals for sustainability in its broader National City Green Initiative.
"At the end of the day, it is going to save you money, and what we've learned from businesses, whether or not they are green-conscious, is that everybody wants to save a buck," she said. "It's going to save you money, and you are contributing to a greener, healthier, cleaner and more efficient environment. And you can use that to market your business better as well, because consumers are looking for that."
The initiative is possible through a number of partnerships among the city, the chamber of commerce, San Diego Gas & Electric, CleanTECH San Diego, the California Center for Sustainable Energy and others.
The gas and electric company has partnered with various private and public agencies throughout the county to provide education and outreach about energy efficiency practices, and helps pay for the energy assessments and upgrades for businesses like those taking the lead in National City. Businesses including Vancon Corp., Bradferd Metals, Big Ben Market and H2O Life have helped champion green business principles throughout National City.
Pasha Automotive has been on the cutting edge of retrofitting for sustainability, Reynoso said, by taking part not only in the chamber's Green Business Program, but also joining the Port of San Diego's Green Business Challenge.
Company leaders thought they were already environmentally conscious until they looked at a checklist of possible sustainability steps, said Pasha Automotive's green committee chairwoman, Carmen Vega de Alencar. She oversees a committee of 16 employees, each of whom contributed ideas for going green in the various departments and transforming the company culture. In 2011, the company reduced its energy consumption by 30 percent.
Changing everyday employee behavior was probably the most challenging step Pasha leaders took, she said, but it also had the biggest impact on energy use. Companywide changes included putting all printers in sleep mode when they weren't in use, installing foam soap dispensers, giving employees reusable water bottles, turning off lights in rooms when they were not occupied and recycling virtually everything.
"The biggest thing we did was just getting employee participation," Vega de Alencar said. "We got everybody involved in turning off the lights and recycling."
In one year, the company went from recycling about 10 percent of its discarded materials to 95 percent.
"We experienced firsthand how small changes can make a big difference. The little things add up," she explained. "Start small, because the small will lead to the bigger changes and the bigger payoff like energy savings, which equals money savings."
National City has about 2,000 registered businesses, and the chamber president said the window decals issued recently are designed to help entice other companies to participate. They do not have to be members of the chamber in order to join and take advantage of the free assessments and upgrades.
"It's about raising more awareness in the community, because a lot of people are already sensitive to shop somewhere that's more environmentally conscious," Reynoso said.


text:
be (one's) own worst enemy
be (one's) own worst enemy
To do things that complicate one's life and/or keep one from success; to be self-destructive or self-sabotaging. Of course Tommy started skipping school again—he's his own worst enemy. She always sabotages a relationship when it's going really well because she's her own worst enemy.
be your own worst enemyact contrary to your own interests; be self-destructive.
1993 Richard Lowe & William Shaw Travellers We convinced ourselves that everything was against us but the truth was we were probably our own worst enemies.


text:
Senator Michael J. Doherty
23rd Legislative District
Responses to 2017 Legislative Survey
Do you support A1476/S2170 or would you support similar legislation to provide education savings accounts to New Jersey parents throughout the state to spend on private and parochial schools, online learning, tutoring and similar education programs?
Do you support expansion of charter schools in New Jersey?
Do you support the Opportunity Scholarship Act (S340/A1314), which would provide scholarships to low-income students enrolled in failing schools to attend a public or non-public school of their choosing?
Do you believe that decisions regarding a child's education should primarily rest with his or her parent or guardian?
Do you believe that government funding for education should be allocated based upon school enrollment, i.e. that it should "follow the child"?
Would you support legislation allowing Rutgers University, Montclair State University and/or The College of New Jersey to become charter school authorizers in the state of New Jersey?
Do you support fixing the funding formula so that the Interdistrict School Choice program can expand to serve more students and school districts?


text:
Course announcements
- This course is the essential prerequisite for most follow-on training in financial accounting. This course provides the mandatory foundation knowledge required in order to understand and configure business processes for the SAP ERP application financials module in the areas of general ledger, accounts payable, and accounts receivable accounting.
- Become familiar with the basic concepts of General Ledger Accounting, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable.
- Acquire knowledge to set up business processes in the above areas.
- Application Consultant
- Business Analyst
- None
Course based on software release
- SAP ERP 6.0 with Enhancement Package 7
- Core Financial Accounting (FI) Configuration
- Managing Organizational Units in Financial Accounting (FI)
- Checking the Basic Settings in New General Ledger (G/L) Accounting
- Outlining the Variant Principle
- Managing Fiscal Year Variants
- Identifying the Basic Functionality of Currency Keys and Exchange Rate Types
- Master Data
- Maintaining General Ledger (G/L) Accounts
- Creating Profit Centers and Segments
- Managing Customer and Vendor Accounts
- Document Control
- Configuring the Header and Line Items of Financial Accounting (FI) Documents
- Managing Posting Periods
- Managing Posting Authorizations
- Creating Simple Documents in FI
- Posting Control
- Analyzing Document Splitting
- Maintaining Default Values
- Configuring Change Control
- Configuring Document Reversal
- Configuring Payment Terms and Cash Discounts
- Maintaining Taxes and Tax Codes
- Posting Cross-Company Code Transactions
- Configuring Real-Time Integration
- Financial Document Clearing
- Performing Open Item Clearing
- Managing Payment Differences
- Managing Exchange Rate Differences
- SAP Simple Finance Add-on for SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA®
- Outlining the Benefits of the SAP Simple Finance Add-On
- The course works with activated new General Ledger Accounting.


text:
A bit of time has passed since I had the amazing opportunity to attend the National Sex Ed Conference hosted by CFLE in NJ. It's never too late to share ideas and inspiration, so I'd like to start 2014 by revisiting five favorites from the National Sex Ed Conference.
Yes means yes!
Enthusiastic consent activists and sex positive educators populated this conference. Numerous sessions extolled the value of teaching how to say yes to sex. A sex positive perspective understands sexuality as a normal and natural part of life. Enthusiastic consent approaches seek to build skills at asking and giving consent. This was one of many topics which made great connections to sexual violence prevention.
Tech is important
Scarleteen founder Hearther Corrina presented a great keynote on How the Internet Can Save Sex Ed. Tech positive perspectives highlighted how the internet can increase our reach and connect us with new audiences and youth. An online presence is utilizing a space that is already integral to our lives, and the internet needs accurate information about sex. Yahoo answers anyone?
Movements need to discuss barriers to racial justice
A candid conversation on race was facilitated by Trina Scott during a conference keynote. This speaker facilitated a graceful dialogue about racism, structural barriers and lack of outreach in the Sex Ed movement. A brave conversation on many levels, this dialogue highlighted three big ideas for racial justice: cultural competence, inclusion, and structural racism. Not only was the conversation relevant to the growth of this movement and positive outcomes for the field, but I think this talk highlighted supporting communities of color and working toward greater equity.
Porn literacy is media literacy
Porn is controversial, complicated, and both literally and figuratively messy. In healthy sexuality work, I really tend to avoid the topic of porn because I think it needs to be examined in a comprehensive way. One session I attended really left me feeling equipped to approach the topic by focusingon porn literacy. Media literacy is the skill to think critically and evaluate and analyze media. Media messages are organized to gain power or profits, and porn is media. Porn isn't going away any time soon, so how can we support individuals to be competent, critical and literate consumers of media?
Broadening our work+
At a conference about sex and sexuality there can never be enough room to explore L-G-B-T-Q. Often when talking about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender topics and communities, we can use LGBTQ as a one-size-fits-all umbrella. Conversations at the sex ed conference really challenged this lumping, and encouraged folks to explore and give space to the many unique needs across this spectrum. A great session focused on barriers for LGBQT youth and the specific challenges of those who experience intimate partner violence. The terminology LGBQ/T+ was presented. This acronym uses a slash (/) to separate orientation and identify, and the plus symbol (+) represents other uncaptured identities.
There was a lot to love about this conference. From yoga in the morning to displays of dresses made from condoms, there was no shortage of creativity and inspiration. One of my favorite parts of this conference was experiencing the Sex Ed field approach healthy sexuality from so many viewpoints. This movement works to be inclusive and grow the network and skills of educators. Further collaboration between sex ed and anti-sexual violence movements stands to benefit both fields. We've got a lot to learn from each other, and I'm hoping to see more folks making the connection and participating in joint training and allied work. Healthy sexuality and sexual health promotion is sexual violence prevention. Let's resolve to continue spreading the word in 2014 (and beyond)!


text:
Too Much of a Good Thing
Heavy rain has been coming down in NW Arkansas and NE Oklahoma for most of the night. So much so that a FLASH FLOOD WARNING was extended until 4:30 Friday morning.
In Delaware, Benton, Carroll, Washington, and Madison counties the flooding is widespread. In Benton county, just southwest of Rogers in the Osage Mills community, there has been upward of 6 1/4 inches of rain in the last 24 hours.
Contrary to that most places in the River Valley saw less than an inch.
Scattered showers will be with us for most of the rest of the day. The good news is, the heaviest of the rain showers will be winding down in the next couple of hours and as a result, the rain that we may see later with not be as intense.
After last year's drought, many of us have been excited about all the rain we've seen so far this year. In fact, much of NW Arkansas is no longer considered to be in a drought like condition. However, now many communities have had too much and could use a significant amount of time to dry out.
Drier conditions will be moving in this weekend. Sunshine will be around for Sunday and the first of next week.
Laura Huckabee


text:
At Thrasher Termite & Pest Control, we provide the best pest control in Mountain View to make your home or business healthy by delivering the best pest control, pest extermination, and pest prevention. No gimmicks, no nonsense, and when we're done, no pests. And we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Call us today for pest inspection.
We offer pest control services in Mountain View for Crawling Pests: ants, carpenter ants, carpet beetles, bed bugs, cockroaches, ear wigs, fleas, pantry pests, scorpions, silverfish, sowbugs, springtails, spiders, termites and more
We offer pest control services for Rodents: mice and rats
We offer pest control services for Flying Pests: Carpenter Bees, Honey Bees, Mosquitoes, Moths, Yellow Jackets, Wasps and more
We also offer termite inspections, termite control, and termite damage repairs. Call us today.
View Larger Map


text:
Facebook's stock price is falling now that employees are able start selling restricted stock in the company.
A lock-up period that had prevented such sales expired on Monday. U.S. stock markets opened on Wednesday for the first time since Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast, so that's when employees could start selling.
Lock-ups are common after initial public stock offerings and are designed to prevent a stock from experiencing the kind of volatility that might occur if too many shareholders decide to sell at once.
Facebook Inc.'s stock is down 94 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $21 in morning trading.
— The Associated Press


text:
Are we still on?
2 posts • Page 1 of 1
Re : Are we still on?
Yep, we're still on as far as I am concerned. I have been out of town this weekend and just got back in late this afternoon. I am off tomorrow and Tuesday and I'll try to compose a post w/all the pertinent info in it.
- Registered User
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 05:48 pm
Are we still on?
Hi, ladies. Well, two weeks from today is our Columbia museum trip....we're on, right? I hope so and am really looking forward to it. Let's get specific about times, etc. Still eating at Cracker Barrel for "brunch"? Also, I guess we need to do mapquest or something and figure out directions. I am VERY directionally challenged, lol! [:I]
2 posts • Page 1 of 1
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


text:
A man's first time is very important. No, I'm not talking about THAT first time, I'm referring to his first experience buying intimates for the woman in his life. This is a rite of passage that means a lot to both the man and the woman and I feel compelled to address it in MARGO'S MUST HAVES to offer my take on how a guy can get it right out of the gate. In fact, this entire week's posts will be dedicated to looking at the lingerie-buying experience from a man's perspective. Ladies, you might want to pass this along to your men. Guys, listen up! Over the course of the decade I operated Pink Slip in Grand Central Station, I have to say some of my favorite, most memorable interactions were with male shoppers. As a woman, I can say that there are few things that can top shopping for women's underwear as a thoughtful, romantic gesture that reveals the level of intimacy a man has achieved with his significant other. In other words, it's a big deal, guys! Don't let this intimidate you, however. With a little forethought, you can get it right and she will love you for it, trust me. Preparation is the key to making the process easy on yourself. This is where a good sales associate comes in. We all know that guys are visual creatures but judging the correct sizes of your gal's undies by comparing her to other women isn't going to get the job done. I can't tell you how many times men came to my store eager to buy intimates, usually as quickly as possible, only to respond to my question about the woman's bra size by glancing at my chest and saying "she's a little bit smaller than you." This approach may be good for a nervous giggle, but it will only guarantee that you'll need to make another trip to the store. I always advised my male customers to find an opportune moment to take a sneak peek in their lady's underwear drawer to examine the tags and write down the sizes as a first step. I want to point out that I'm assuming you're married, living together or in a long-term committed relationship, otherwise I don't think it's appropriate for you to do this! That said, this information will help the sales associate guide you better in your shopping experience. I suggest you put together a "Lingerie Facts List" and be ready to answer five key questions that are the sure sign of a good sales associate who knows her stuff:
- What is her bra size?
- What is her dress size?
- Is the gift for a special occasion?
- What is her personal style? Casual, wholesome, sexy or glamorous?
Remember that the sales associate is there to make your experience as relaxed as possible. She may ask you to describe your significant other's hair color to select colors that are most likely to flatter her. It's fashion so it can be fun! The more information you share the better the service the associate can give you. I want to point out that shopping for women's intimates doesn't have to be just an annual event. If a woman can buy a man a six-pack of briefs why shouldn't he shop for her basics, too? If you reach that level of intimacy in your relationship it's a beautiful thing! With the holidays upon us, I've put together a few suggestions to get you started.
A Romantic Camisole:
The Giovanna collection features flattering cuts and feel-good fabrics Eberjey is known for. The cami features pretty lace and eye-catching scalloped edging. It makes a great gift item paired with the Giovanna pant.
Sexy Legwear:
From daily staples to special evenings and sultry nights, Levante's Stocking and Thigh High Collection contains items for every occasion. Levante thigh highs can be worn as hold ups or stockings, making them really versatile. The decorative three-inch lace top is lined with silicone to prevent slipping.
Lace Lingerie:
The LOU Paris Piccadilly lace demi bra features a semi-sheer genuine Leaver's lace cup, with soft sheer mesh lining. It offers a natural uplift, has adjustable straps and is super comfy in silky microfiber fabric. Looks great with a cute matching boy short.
A sweet bra & panty set:
The Tinkerbell set by Mimi Holliday is a delicate and sweet look made from the softest of apricot silks blended with a chic shade of taupe. The Tinkerbell Super Padded Super Plunge is true to it's name, creating incredible uplift and shape with cool taupe silk satin cups and complimenting peach lace overlay. Paired with the Classic Knicker, it's a great gift ensemble.
I hope you guys like my suggestions. Be sure to check back later this week when I take a closer look at what women really want when they get intimates as a gift.


text:
Even though the present site the bad guys were using for WannaCry Ransomware has been shut down; the Windows vulnerability they chose to exploit still exists until all users run the Microsoft Patch. If you don't, you, could be the next victim of a group trolling for users who decided to "sleep on it", thinking the threat is gone. To see a sampling of current threats click here. Though Wannacry (also known as wannacrypt) was designed to exploit weaknesses in Windows 7 and previous versions (XP etc), ransomware has been and continues to be, an ongoing threat. Why haven't the offender's been caught? There is now very sophisticated software that hides the bad guys. The good guys catch up and the bad guys find a way around it.
But after talking to security experts in private and government firms, they said the biggest flaw in security is.... us, the individual user. All the software, hardware and operating system improvements can't protect us, if we share our info (passwords etc) at the wrong time , in the wrong place.
You can download the patch for WannaCry here for Windows 10, 7 and XP or simply run all available Windows Updates. If you want to choose when these updates will run (when you are asleep or at work) click here for directions for Windows 10. For Windows 7 users go to Control Panel-Windows Updates and then settings.
Microsoft's support in creating patches for Windows XP and earlier operating systems not currently supported was unprecedented as those Windows Operating systems are usually ignored when new updates are issued. Though many users are still in love with Windows 7, WannaCry has demonstrated the cost of not upgrading to Windows 10.
The new Windows Creator Update, when and if you decide to get it, provides much improved built-in Windows Defender Security and a more secure and feature filled Microsoft Edge browser. In addition, instead of running updates that were cumulative and took a while to download and run; Microsoft will be sending more frequent and smaller updates that are easier for your PC to digest. One of the biggest features is called container based isolation,which literally isolates malware within a browser and prevents it from taking control of any other system on your computer. This fall, things will improve even more with the new "Redstone" update (the 2nd Creators Update) from Microsoft, which features the Windows Defender Application Guard. Let me be clear The Creators Update is not perfect yet, what update is? So before you update always back up your computer. Check out PC Mags review of the best back up software here.
Though the money to move to the new OS like Windows 7 or Windows 10 (a free upgrade for most) in The United States is not at issue, the money to own a legitimate copy of the software in poorer countries is, as a Ukrainian student at my work pointed out. Without the newer version or legitimate copies of the software, getting timely updates may not be possible. This may explain why WannaCry hit some countries harder than others. With the right software you can build a Windows operating system but upgrading and updating patches is another issue altogether.
WannaCry (i.e.ransomware) is a worm that spreads is by constantly scanning from infected computers till it finds one with a vulnerability or exploit (which they all had before this patch) and infecting it. It is the result of a release by Shadow Brokers of hacking tools from the NSA that exploited vulnerabilities that Microsoft was unaware of. Which is why Microsoft pulled out all stops to shut it down. They created the patch back in Mid- March 2017 but not everybody ran it. Would it have been nice if the NSA told Microsoft about these ? Hmmmm...Yes I think so. But then the backdoors might have been closed. If you become a victim of a Ransomware attack, DONT PAY; because chances are extremely slim, that you'll you get your files back. And if you pay you'll encourage these beasts to feed on others. And if the WannaCry attack is any indication, once these guys encrypt your computer defeating their encryption is next to impossible. DO NOT SEARCH THE INTERNET FOR LINKS THAT SAY THEY WILL HELP YOU RECOVER THESE FILES. If they say they can they are lying and will probably infect you with something else. I'm sorry this happened to you. Sympathies but please don't make it worse and infect others.
So why did big companies and hospitals get hacked? Because big organizations have scheduled updates so as to not to interfere with day-to-day operations, once a week sometimes less. Some don't even have a networked option. In addition, these updates usually come in scheduled releases not all in once, except for emergencies like the one we have now. Though everybody read about Britain's Nation Health Service being victimized few understood the personal toll the attack took. With lives on the line they paid the ransom with mixed results. Fortunately a young 22 year old UK genius whose handle is MalwareTech, shut the operation down which hit scores of National Health Service hospitals across Britain. He did this by simply registering the site the bad guys were using.
Many large concerns use Virtual Network Computing (VNC) to remotely access their files from anywhere. If you sign on to such a network that does not require a password, send up a flare to your IT guy. Paul McMillan had reported 30,000 such unsecured VNCs. Last week a concern called VNC Roulette published around 500 screen shots from computers logged on to VNCs that were not secured by passwords.This included bank statements, health records (with patient names, addresses and birthdates) and Facebook pages.
Finally if you get hit with a virus or malware, DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN! These intrusions often target memory, shutting down, reduces the options to locate and remove the malware. You can disconnect from the internet. If you get hacked run a tool like Malwarebytes, Bitdefender or Kaspersky. If you are short of funds run free Sophos Home great against ransomware. The only thing missing from their enterprise version is root cause analysis which tells you the who, what and when of the attack. Check out reviews for Malware protection and removal here.
Graphics provided by Microsoft unless otherwise indicated


text:
|System: X360, PS3, PC
|Review Rating Legend
|Dev: Visual Concepts
|1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
|4.0 - 4.4 = Great
|Pub: 2K Sports
|2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
|4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
|Release: March 2, 2010
|2.5 - 2.9 = Average
|5.0 = The Best
|Players: 1-2
|3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
|ESRB Rating: Everyone
|3.5 - 3.9 = Good
by Jonathan Marx
Baseball's a very strategic game, and Visual Concepts and 2K Sports have tried to bring that cerebral element to their latest baseball sim, Major League Baseball: 2K10. Without a doubt, the pitcher/batter duels in MLB: 2K10 are a lot of fun; the development crew worked hard to make these game mechanics compelling. Disappointingly, the duels aren't quite where they should be due to inconsistent batting. Also, other aspects, such as a lackluster presentation, inadequate fielding, dim-witted baserunning, and bad online multiplayer, serve to foil the appeal of the excellent pitching mechanics. All in all, MLB: 2K10 seems to be a big step in the right direction for the franchise, but it's still far from where it needs to be.
By far the most interesting aspect of MLB: 2K10 is the pitching. Rather than selecting a type of pitch and simply tapping through timed accuracy-power meters, players will have to input specific pitch commands. For example, executing a circle-change, a cutter, or a sinker are performed by holding the analog stick in a specific direction for power, and then rotating it in the indicated direction to perform the gesture appropriately. Picking a smart location, employing good timing, and starting and finishing the gestures smoothly and within the green zones will result in a near-unhittable pitch. At first, this can be a bit of a challenge - you'll likely be throwing wild pitches and meatballs - but within no time you'll be painting corners and working the strikezone like a 20-game winner. Because of the gesture-based pitching mechanics, this is the first baseball sim I've ever played where I had the most fun on the pitcher's mound.
Unfortunately, batting is not nearly as fun. The developers tried to incorporate the complexities of the pitch count into the mechanic, but didn't quite succeed in an engaging way. As in real baseball, depending on whether you're ahead or behind in the count will determine what kind of pitch you're likely to get and how you should swing. That means you'll frequently have to choose between hitting for contact, hauling back and swinging away, or protecting the strikezone by batting defensively. In order to replicate this, the devs included three different swing types. By tapping forward, you'll swing to make contact. By pulling back and swinging through, you'll try and go yard. Finally, by tapping either left or right, your batter will attempt to foul off pitches and lengthen the at-bat to force the pitcher into a mistake.
While the ideas behind the batting mechanics are sound, their implementation isn't. Perhaps the biggest blunder is that gamer skill, other than getting the timing down, has essentially been done away with. That's because players no longer have to worry about pitch location - if you get the timing and swing-type right, the batter will own the pitcher. Combine this with the fact that general pitch location and pitch type are revealed to you by onscreen prompts (more or less accurate depending on how good of a batter the actual big-leaguer is), and hitting soon becomes too easy. While these mechanics certainly make things more user-friendly for novice players, experienced baseball video-gamers will feel overly-coddled. Rather than using the left analog stick to determine where the ball will go after I make contact, I would have liked to have put the bat into the right zone in order to make contact. Swing timing, type, and location should determine the path of the ball off the bat, not the push or pull of the analog stick.
If you find batting to be too easy, you can always up the difficulty setting, but that doesn't really solve anything. Eventually, pitchers become dominant independent of swing selection and timing in the batter's box. That's right; while batting is too easy in most settings, at the top two difficulties it starts to feel cheap and unfair - hitting over 200 with even your sluggers becomes a real challenge, because you'll constantly foul balls off, getting yourself behind in the count, resulting in frequent Ks. If you do make solid contact, AI fielders have a knack for getting a jump on it and hauling it in. Overall, I found it challenging to find a difficulty setting that felt truly balanced.