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5 Questions With Ford Sales Analyst Erich Merkle on Car Trends
By Erik Evarts of Consumer Reports
Note: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertiser on MSN.
Sometimes certain types of cars become popular not because they're practical, efficient, perform well, or even make sense. Sometimes it's pure demographics. That's the conclusion of Erich Merkle, head U.S. sales analyst at Ford Motor Company. We caught up with Merkle on a recent visit to New York City to get his take on what's ahead for the auto industry.
What are the biggest factors driving purchasing trends in the car industry these days?
The boomers and the millennials... [are] kind of like the double humps on a camel [on a demographic graph]. These two segments... will continue to change the automotive landscape. There are about 80 million baby boomers; it's such a massive number of people that they have the ability to expand and collapse entire [vehicle] segments as they move through their various life stages.
Boomers have the ability to buy new vehicles, [so] they pay the bills in this industry. You've got a massive number of them now that are moving into retirement—about 10,000 a day. That will continue for the next 18 to 19 years. Those that aren't retired are starting to think about it.
The millenials, that's the investment piece of it. Because even though they only represent about 13 or 14 percent of new-car purchases today, the millenials have not yet fully exerted themselves into the marketplace. Some of it's just because of their station in life right now and the poor economy. But they will. They have a lot of time in front of them to purchase vehicles.
And toward the end of this decade, the boomers and the millenials... 80 million and 80 million, that's 160 million people. People don't realize how big that age demographic of our population just is.
What is your evidence for the impact of boomers on the car market?
If you track [boomers] when they were in their late 20s and early 30s, back in the 1970s, they wanted small, with great value: the Datsun B210, Honda Civic, Volkswagen Bug. Cost of ownership was very important to them. They didn't have a lot of money to spend. Fuel economy was important. They were young and single... space wasn't a real issue... because of their station in life at that time.
Now when they moved forward, things like minivans became very popular, because in the 1980s, they started to have children, and it provided them this lower cost of ownership. The fuel efficiency was still there, but it also provided them the utility that they needed.
Now as they got older yet, as you started going into the '90s, and into the 2000s, many of these 80 million people were passing through their peak income and spending years. Is cost of ownership important? Not really. The kids are getting bigger; they're teenagers, and they need space. Their kids have friends. And because cost of ownership wasn't important, it really gave rise to the SUV.
Now, the kids are starting to leave the house in big numbers; [baby boomers] are becoming empty nesters.
So they don't need quite the size anymore. But what they do need is that lower cost of ownership. They're starting to think, "How am I going to save for retirement?" [So] $120 for a fill-up is just not in the equation right now.
What types of cars or vehicle attributes will these two groups of people demand?
Cost of ownership, just like it was 40 years ago, has become important to these folks again. But they still like their utility. So many, many of them are looking at small utility vehicles.
Back in 2000, the small utility segment represented 800,000 vehicles a year. Today that number is over 1.7 million. It's more than doubled, and it's the only segment that has fully recovered to its pre-recessionary highs. I think small utilities will continue to grow.
The millenials aren't quite there, yet. The youngest of them are in their early 30s. We believe that as they move toward the end of this decade, they will have more need for utility for the same reasons their parents did back in the day. They'll have kids and car seats. For boomers, it will become important for ingress and egress.
We are very bullish about this is one of the things that we see—the convergence of needs.
What other types of demographic trends are driving the changing mix of vehicles on the road?
It's our strategy as we diversify our product portfolio, also to diversify our geographic reach. That is incredibly important to us. We need to go coastal.
California is by far the king of small cars. Over 30 percent of their sales are small cars. When we look at small cars, midsized [cars,] and small utilities, that's over 50 percent of the market.
Fiesta and Focus are global, and they have much more of a European design. That's one of the reasons though that they're resonating so well on the coasts.
We'll be looking at the coasts for midsized with the Fusion, particularly for California. It is our initiative to conquest from [Toyota] Camry and [Honda] Accord with Fusion on the coasts.
The C-Max also allows us to take advantage of a global product platform and still differentiate it, particularly in California, [by having] a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid.
With the Escape, we're looking to again push that on the coasts. The New York area is biggest utility market in the country; [it] marks about 11 percent of all utilities sold. Nothing else even comes close to that and that mix has really started to lean toward small utilities. That's probably because of the congestion. You've got such tight quarters here, and higher gas prices than other places. So it's critical that that new Escape performs here in the Northeast.
Will millenials and baby boomers also see eye-to-eye on alternative powertrains, such as electric cars?
Right now the green vehicles are pretty much a boomer phenomenon, because it's very expensive. I mean, they both want fuel economy. But if you look at electric vehicle, you've got to have some disposable income to make those things happen.
I think the millenials are very environmentally-conscious; I do think they will adopt some of these things. And over time one would expect as volume continues to increase, the costs will come down.
Will we see more diesel engines coming to the U.S. to boost fuel efficiency?
The diesel for us has a big place for us in [the] Super Duty [pickup]. We'll be doing more with Ecoboost [turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engines]. From a customer perspective, clean diesel isn't cheap. We think we can capture a lot of what people are looking for with a diesel, in terms of efficiency and torque, with Ecoboost, while leaving the things that aren't so great about diesel, like the price, in Europe.
Read more at Consumer Reports:
Ford is missing the boat on diesel, Let the customer have of a choice and offer it,
Ford Fiesta, diesel built in Germany gets 65 mpg in Europe.
The Chevy Cruze expected to get 50+ mpg and to sold in all 50 states.
Cadillac will be selling a diesel, too Small German cars, VW and Audi diesels are sold in the US.
Ford you are loosing customers. I want a small diesel car as my 2nd vehicle and you do not offer one. (For tooling around town, the escape hybrid is gone too, 34mpg city?)
Mr Merkle is simply toeing the company line. Ford has invested big in the whole EcoBoost (EB) concept and will not admit they are wrong until proven so. The 2013 Escape touting 3 engines that get just over 30 mpg (two of them being EB) should be a clue that EB can't run with clean diesel for efficiency. I mean 33 mpg Hwy from 1.6L, not good enough. That figure should be well over 40, perhaps it's more an indication that size EB cannot deliver the low/mid range torque necessary without working harder than say a higher torque diesel.
Look at the truck EB, costs significantly more than the 5.0L V8, it does offer roughly 10% more torque yet it only returns a rating of 1 mpg better hwy. A modestly sized and rated ( not the 800 lb/ft monsters in the SD line) clean diesel would return a significantly higher mileage in a 1/2 ton truck. It is apparent Ford does not believe mainstream America is ready to embrace clean diesel.
We'll be doing more with Ecoboost [turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engines]. From a customer perspective, clean diesel isn't cheap. We think we can capture a lot of what people are looking for with a diesel
You are WRONG, and the market will prove it."Ecoboost" does not have anywhere near the torque of the TDCi engine, and even if one somehow manages to reach the same level of efficiency, it will never pull at low RPM's like the diesel does, nor will it ever have that kind of torque.
The volume of the engine has to be up to 40% smaller in order to even begin to reach the same level of efficiency as the TDCi / Duratorq diesel engine, and even then, the diesel is still cleaner: take for example 86 HP 1.6 L "Ecoboost", emitting 133 g/km CO2, and a VW 140 HP 2.0L TDI diesel which emits 132 g/km CO2. Gasoline engines are a lost cause, unless Ford manages to develop a production ready HCCI engine.
From a customer perspective, clean diesel isn't cheap.
You lie. How is it that almost 40% of all Volkswagens sold in the United States are clean diesel, then? Why is Volkswagen AG so successful in selling them in the United States?We think we can capture a lot of what people are looking for with a diesel, in terms of efficiency and torque, with Ecoboost, while leaving the things that aren't so great about diesel, like the price, in Europe.
I will be laughing all the way to Ford competitor's dealer lot when they have a diesel for sale, and Ford does not."Leave diesel in Europe"? We will see how you do when people purchase from your competition instead of from you because you "left the diesel in Europe".
"We think we can capture a lot of what people are looking for with a diesel, in terms of efficiency and torque, with Ecoboost, while leaving the things that aren't so great about diesel, like the price, in Europe."
If that were the case then why use diesels in your Super Duty pickups? Why don't you just use a smaller displacement gasoline engine with "Egoboost"? Look at all the money people would save to get the same performance and economy. I mean, you would capture all of the market from your competitors' overpriced diesels.
Ford, I think you're missing a golden opportunity here!
Ford will add buttons, knobs to its much-maligned MyFord Touch system.
Cars are cool, and here at MSN Autos we love everything about them, but we also know they're more than simply speed and style: a car is an essential tool, a much-needed accessory to help you get through your day-to-day life. What you drive is also one of the most important investments you can make, so we'll help you navigate your way through the car buying and ownership experiences. We strive to be your daily destination for news, notes, tips and tricks from across the automotive world. So whether it's through original content from our world-class journalists or the latest buzz from the far corners of the Web, Exhaust Notes helps you make sense of your automotive world.
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Solemn Destinations
A look at some of the world's most heartwrenching sites of death that serve as poignant reminders never to forget.
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You may have noticed that there hasn't been an update on here in a while, and that's because work on StormOS stalled shortly after the announcement of illumian. Really the project has been dead ever since NCP4 (the precursor to illumian) decided that the illumos userland (think coreutils, not illumos-userland) should take precedence over the GNU userland, and that illumos packages should be generated from the IPS metadata.
First steps towards collaboration with Debian
A few months ago StormOS joined the Debian Derivatives Exchange. This means that StormOS is now on the Debian Census and the repository is being diffed against Debian proper to create a full set of patches which are useful for indentifying changes, upgrading packages, and hopefully in the future getting changes accepted upstream too.
hosting sorted
I mentioned in my last post that due to the APT repositories growing faster than I had expected that I was running out of space and would likely not be able to host the StormOS Pre-Alpha ISO myself. Since then RootBSD has kindly given me an extra 40GB which gives me plenty of room to breath. Many thanks to everyone that offered to help with hosting but for now everything is back on track.
Calm before the storm
I have been able to generate working StormOS Flash ISO that appears to be fully functional (if you don't mind getting your hands dirty - that is) so I think it's getting close. If all goes to plan StormOS Flash Pre-Alpha will be ready in ~2 weeks. I'm not sure I have enough space/bandwidth to host the ISO though so if somebody else could do that for me that would be very much appreciated. In the meantime I'll speak to RootBSD about increasing my storage.
For now I'll leave you with some screenshots taken from some of my development ISOs.
stormos introduces multiarch support
StormOS now has multiarch support!
Support for multiarch in StormOS has been achieved by porting dpkg and gcc-4.6 from Debian Wheezy and backporting multiarch support from binutils 2.21.X in Wheezy to binutils 2.20.X in Squeeze in order to work-around a regression in Solaris support that is in Debian's 2.21.X based packages. Packages will be online shortly.
Debian 7 'Wheezy' to introduce multiarch support
Debian has announced that they are going to introduce multiarch support for Wheezy (7.0) in 2013 which I think is great news. The original plan to solve the need for both 32/64bit on StormOS Flash (which is Wheezy based, already) was to implement support for FatELF but I will be now abandoning this because with proper multiarch support there is no need for fat binaries.
EDIT: Heres a link for anybody interested in the kind of problems this will solve.
Setting the bar low: StormOS Flash Pre-alpha checklist
I will be releasing a pre-alpha version of StormOS Flash in next few weeks. For those that don't follow the dev blog, StormOS Flash is a distribution based on NCP4 (NCP4 combines Debian Squeeze with Illumos kernel and userland). In order to meet this goal I'm going to set the bar pretty low and aim to have only the bare minimum of features/applications included but aim to have everything working.
And we have Xorg.... on NCP4
After a lot of hacking I finally got Xorg running on NCP4. Xfce hasn't been ported yet so I didn't have a lot to test but qtdemo seems to work flawlessly ;)
StormOS sticking with Nexenta, inheriting illumos kernel and slowly becoming 64bit
For the last few months I've been working for Nexenta Systems on the next release of their free OS Nexenta Core Platform 4 (NCP4). NCP4 is pretty much a port of the base Debian Squeeze (not quite Debian Sid but certainly a step up from Ubuntu hardy!) packages onto Illumos with a few tweaks here and there to keep some compatibility with Solaris and NCP3. A lot of work has been done on fixing issues that were in NCP3 so I know this is going to be a great release and a stable foundation for the next StormOS.
Comments and Forums offline
Due to the massive amount of spam being posted to this site I have no choice but to disable both the forums and comments. Sorry.


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For the design of the Red Pif Restaurant and Wine Shop, Czeck designers Aulík Fišer Architekti decided to keep the inspiration and execution as pure and natural as the wine served. The designer and owner worked together, using photographs of bars and wine shops in France as inspiration, but drawing from their honesty rather than their style.
The architect said about the design: "We put most of our effort to make our work invisible at first sight. Our interior should be a background allowing enjoy good wine and meal here and now."
The first step in the renovation was removing any superfluous building elements so that only the original 19th century structure remained. Bottle-shaped shutters were added that pivot open to reveal the stripped back interior that has been modestly furnished with design classics and simple, elegant fittings. Wine bottles are stacked high in a steel rod framework that creates simple geometric patterns on the walls. Dimly lit, bare light bulbs create an intimate atmosphere where the original intention of the space is allowed to quietly reveal itself.
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Published July 1, 2004.
Bad peaches, soggy biscuits, and syrupy filling were just three of the problems we had to solve in resurrecting this simple summer dessert.
The reason most cooks have not made peach cobbler recently is the usual one: The promise is better than the reality. For starters, peaches are unpredictable. Some turn mushy if cooked a bit too long, while others exude an ocean of overly sweet juices. The topping is also problematic, ranging from tough, dry biscuits to raw, cakey lumps of dough. In worst-case recipes, it is both hard and crusty on top and soggy on the bottom. So what's a home cook to do?
This classic marriage of cobbler topping and sweet, fresh fruit is worth advertising; so few modern cooks serve it, and yet it is easy enough to throw together at the last minute. What could be more appealing than warm cobbler dough atop rich, juicy peaches?
What proved to be the most perplexing problem was the wide variation in juiciness from peach to peach, which sometimes resulted in a baking dish overflowing with liquid. We tried a technique used to make another American dessert classic--strawberry shortcake--in which the fruit is macerated in sugar to draw out its juices. Sugar did indeed draw off some of the moisture from the peaches, but we had to replenish the cobbler with 1⁄4 cup of the drawn juice to guarantee a juicy cobbler that would have the same amount of liquid every time. We settled on a scant 1⁄4 cup of sugar, just enough to sweeten the peaches without making the filling syrupy. To thicken the peach juices, we found a mere teaspoon of cornstarch to be the perfect amount, giving the filling body without overwhelming the delicate texture of the peaches. For the topping, we created a biscuit recipe in which the butter is cut into the flour (as it is with rolled biscuits) but which also contains a little more dairy, making the dough more moist. For dairy we used whole milk yogurt, which gave the biscuits plenty of tangy flavor. We tried partially baking the peaches before adding the topping, hoping that the hot fruit would jump-start the baking of the biscuits. It did. The biscuits were much better, and the fruit was not overcooked.
list of recipes


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Toyota Corolla | 30 per km |
Other cars start from: | |
Tata Indica | 8.5 per km |
Toyota Qualis | 10 per km |
Ford - Fiesta | 10 per km |
Mahindra Xylo D4 | 13 per km |
A picturesque village in the western state of Maharashtra, Karjat is located on the Konkan coast in the foothills of Matheran. With the Bhor Ghat in the backdrop, Karjat is adorned with undulated green plains and the hilly terrains make this place a much sought destination for adventurous tourists for trekking. The river Ulhas that originates in Karjat offers many water sports activities making the place a perfect weekend vacation place for all those who are looking to get away from the city blues. Private car hires and taxi cabs are the ideal mode of transport in Karjat so that one can make the most of their trip without having to undergo the driving woes. Many car rental services are also available when travel within and around Karjat is being planned.
Famous places to visit: Peth Fort, Kondana Caves
Malshej Ghat, a mountain pass situated on the Western Ghats is a famous tourist destination in Maharashta is surrounded by lofty rugged hills. The surroundings are covered in layers of greenery on the hills and the fog often plays a hide and seek game there. Malshej Ghat is a popular getaway for short trips. . Private car hire and car rental companies are the best and most convenient option when it comes to travelling in and around Malshej Ghat. People usually hire cabs and private taxis for travel as Malshej Ghat offers many sight- seeing spots and they are best experienced when travelled by road and hence hiring a private cab becomes necessary for those who want to enjoy the maximum without having to be burdened by the stress of driving.
Famous places to visit: Shivneri Fort, Malshej Falls, Pimpalgaon Joga Dam, Harishchandragad
Toyota Corolla is a four-seater luxury sedan produced by Japanese automaker Toyota. Since Corolla is a luxury car, car rental services and cab hire companies recommend it for corporate meetings, high profile events and for services given to hotels. Toyota Corolla is very popular among the masses when it comes to renting a car for local travel in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.


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Results tagged ' sidebar '
MLBlogs Top 100- Number 20!
In the craziness that took up pretty much my entire weekend that was Observing Baseball Trivia, I didn't get to write an entry about an awesomely awesome thing: I made top-20 on 2012 on MLBlogs!
That was a whole nine-spot jump from 2011′s list. That may not seem like much, but: it was a third of my 2011 ranking that I jumped up by, there were a ton of great new blogs that started up in 2012 (there were some GREAT blogs that stopped writing in 2012, but they're still on the list up top.), and each spot gets harder to jump as one goes up closer to the top of the list. I'm also enjoying this one because I know it will be a lot harder next year since there are two blogs that produce great content–that I got a head start on in 2012–that will probably leap-frog me in 2013 by the names of Three Up, Three Down and Ballparks on a Budget. You know, because people like to read good content instead what I throw up here every few days.
Thank you for reading. It's been a pleasure writing. And I plan to try to make it an even better 2013. How you say? Well, I wrote about my goals for 2013, which is pretty much the same. So you can go check that out for details. And because of me being at this spot in the MLBlogs scene, you may notice the addition of the badge over in the sidebar. Speaking of the sidebar…
For the next few days I'll actually be taking care of some general maintenance-of-the-blog stuff. That includes, but is not limited to
- Completely re-doing the sidebar- I was in the middle of doing this when Observing Baseball Trivia came around, so you can see some of it already up as of when I publish this entry.
- Deleting and "privatizing" entries- A ton of the entries I've written–especially before my Twitter account–just don't make any sense out of context. That, and a ton of them are just bad. A lot of the times before Twitter I would post an entry simply to tell readers why I was behind on writing or other updates like that. So, I will be deleting the entries that make no sense out of context and saving the other ones as drafts that I just don't like in general. Don't worry, though. I won't get rid of any that are a part of entry series, but any that I just think are awful and were meant to stand on their own (there are a bunch of them) I will delete or save them as a draft if I want to keep them for information's sake. I will, however, keep them as a part of my "Words Written" stat, because I don't feel like recalculating that stat. I will also edit entries if they contain an update-y part of the entry so it's just the content of the entry itself is showing.
So again, thank you for reading and may your 2013 be an awesome one.
And finally, even though I know I wrote right above this that I would be pulling down/making private entries like this one once the context for these entries' time has passed, with Observing Baseball Trivia, yet another poll item has been crossed off the list, so it is time to include the updated poll as well as the already-done ideas:
Here are the entries I've done:
1. Ballhawk Interviews- 33 votes
2. Stadium Profiles- 26 votes
3. Ballhawk Profiles- 33 votes
4. Dissect (a) Baseball(s)- 26 votes
5. Tour Target Field when there's snow on the ground- 26 votes
6. Weird Observing Baseball Facts and Records- 28 votes
7. New Observing Baseball Icon- 17 votes
8. MLBlogs I Recommend- 33 votes
9. Observing Baseball Trivia- 32 votes
And I would do the remaining items in order of number of votes, but it appears the poll for some reason decided to make sense all of a sudden and put them in this order automatically when you look at the results now. Although, I will say this: many of the top items can't be done until I get back to Minnesota, so if you see me go out of order, that's why.
239,179 Words Written so far…
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Thursday June 20, 2013
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Council Members say Public Safety Sales Tax Essential to Balancing Budget
Sheriff Rob Nou discussed the potential consequences of reducing patrol staff with the County Council
Friday, Jul 13 2012 -
At the conclusion of the County Council's July 10 budget discussion, Member Rich Peterson summed up the situation by concluding, "If the public safety sales tax doesn't pass, nothing's safe. If it does pass, we've still got problems."
Proposition One on the August 7 primary ballot is a 3/10th of one percent County Public Safety Sales tax which would produce approximately $600,000 for the County and $400,000 for the Town of Friday Harbor. The County's current budget projections show that next year revenues will fall $800,000 short of the amount needed to simply maintain the current level of County services and staffing. The shortfall totals approximately $3.6 million for budgets in 2013 through the end of 2015.
"If the Public Safety Sales Tax is approved, we can protect the Sheriff's Department and the criminal section of the Prosecutor's office from cuts," County Administrator Pro Tem Robert Jean told the Council. "Otherwise, after going through five years of budget cutting, there aren't enough other places left where we can cut."
The County Administrator Pro Tem's early budget report, which offered "cuts only" budget balancing strategies, estimated that 14 county positions will have to be eliminated if the Public Safety Sales Tax should fail. Seven full-time equivalent positions will still have to be eliminated if it passes.
Sheriff Rob Nou, looking at the prospect of staff reductions, noted that his force is already stretched thin providing 24-hour a day coverage on multiple islands and, unlike mainland agencies, they have no backup. "There are no city police departments that we call for backup and no state troopers."
Nou expressed concern about reaching a tipping point in providing law enforcement protection. "These Islands are exceptionally safe places, there isn't any place on any of these islands where anyone can't safely walk at pretty much any hour of the day or night." If budget cutting and staff reductions continue, he warned, "At some point we will lose that sense of safety and security and once lost I don't think you can ever spend your way out of that."
Prosecuting Attorney Randall Gaylord endorsed Nou's statement and encouraged citizens to back the sales tax proposal. "It is a reasonable amount to pay for most people, 30 cents on every 100 dollars [groceries, prescription drugs and other items are exempt], and it's paid by visitors to the island and residents alike . . .which is fair because both contribute to the cost of public safety."
During the Council discussion, every member of the County Council endorsed the need to protect the budgets of the Sheriff's and Prosecutor's offices and essential Court Services, but Council Chair Patty Miller pointed out that previous rounds of cuts have left little room elsewhere for the scale of budget cuts that will be required.
Forty-three percent of the County's general fund budget is dedicated to Law and Justice programs, and nearly half of the revenue that funds all of the County's core programs cannot be used to fill the budget shortfall because the funds are either legally earmarked for a specific use, generated as fees for service, or are restricted grant or matching funds.
After several minutes of discussion in which Miller sought consensus on positions that could be eliminated to balance just the 2013 budget, she noted, "Okay, we have identified 1.65 positions, if the Public Safety Sales Tax fails, we need eight."
Council Member Lovel Pratt questioned Administrator Pro Tem Jean's proposal to cut deeply enough at one time to keep the service and staffing levels stable for the next three years, rather than dealing with only next year, hoping that additional revenue can be found or structural changes made which might reduce the amount of cuts required.
Member Richard Fralick endorsed Jean's longer term approach saying of short-term budget reductions, "That's death by a 1000 cuts. We need to look at restructuring how we do business."
The discussion concluded with Council requests for more detailed information and analysis of some different potential cost-saving strategies; and general agreement that voter approval of the Public Safety SalesTax will be necessary to avoid reductions that Council Members Peterson and Howie Rosenfeld both described as "Ugly."
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Special Three-day Candidate Filing Period May 22-24
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San Juan County Community Conversation Kicks off Feb 5
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Fees for Recording Documents Revised


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An all-seeing eye peers out from a fine-chain Gorjana bracelet. Lobster-claw clasp.
14k gold fill.
Made in the USA.
Additional jewelry sold separately.
Length: 7in / 18cm
14k gold fill.
Made in the USA.
Additional jewelry sold separately.
Length: 7in / 18cm
Helping her grandmother knit sweaters in Yugoslavia is one of Gorjana Reidel's earliest memories. After being discovered by Ford Models at the age of 15, it wasn't long before Gorjana's days were spent on runways and sets. In 2004 the designer launched her eponymous jewelry collection, which counts the likes of Cindy Crawford and Sienna Miller as fans. Known for simple exquisiteness with an artful twist, the line offers elegant earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, as well as classically chic accessories.
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Easy Returns: Because we understand that not every purchase is exactly right, we've made returns easy. And if you're in the USA, they're free. USA Details. International Details.
1 reviews
adore the size and simplicity of this bracelet. I bought it as an every day piece but i'm worried about it getting tarnished in the shower... Hm love it though!
Sizing: True to Size / As Expected
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The North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue received a helping hand last week courtesy of the federal Department of Homeland Security.
Officials from the NHRFR announced that they received a grant of $171,000 to purchase equipment to better prepare for a possible terrorist attack.
This announcement came on the heels of the Department of Homeland Security raising the terrorist alert level to High (code orange), when information from captured Al-Qaeda terrorists pointed to possible further attacks, both in the United States and abroad.
The NHRFR will use the federal grant money to purchase a vehicle and other state-of-the-art equipment from a pre-approved list.
NHRFR serves five municipalities in north Hudson, namely North Bergen, West New York, Union City, Weehawken, and Guttenberg.
According to NHRFR Co-Director Jeff Welz, the regional was one of the few organizations in New Jersey to receive the substantial grant. "We were one of a few agencies in the state to receive this aid," Welz said. "I am very pleased we were recognized as a first responder to terrorist activities. Not only will this greatly enhance our ability to respond to terrorist attempts, it will significantly improve our day-to-day operations."
Officials from the NHRFR were presented with a five-page list of equipment and materials that they could purchase with the grant money.
After reviewing the list, officials determined that the Regional would be best served by a fiber optic system to locate victims trapped in rubble, heavy lifting airbags to raise large objects to help rescue victims, hands-free radios for better communications, and multi-gas meters which detect the presence of chemical or biological elements in the air.
"This equipment goes a long way in handling any type of terrorist threat that may arrive in the future," said NHRFR Chief Brian McEldowney. "The new equipment allows us to perform extraordinary rescue needs such as building collapse, explosions, confined-space rescue, and water-related incidents."
NHRFR also requested a new dual-axle trailer to keep the specialized equipment in one location, without taxing current in-use vehicles by taking up space.
The full list of requested equipment will be submitted to the New Jersey Division of State Police, which is overseeing the grant process, for final approval.
"This is something we have been waiting for," said NHRFR Chairman Robert Aiello, a former fire chief in West New York. "Not only will this new equipment allow us to better protect our citizens, but it will also provide better safety for our firefighters."
Officials believe they will have the equipment in place and in use by the end of the year.


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I had originally written an article about the fervor of Steelers fans and their unabashed idolatry, but I decided against it. Nobody wants to read another article proclaiming that Steelers worship is a modern version of patriotism or religion or whatever. We got it. You love the Steelers. So do I. Like the sunrise or our imminent doom, we can take this fanatical fandom as fact.
I do want to take some time to consider modern day traditions and how we experience a communal event like the Super Bowl. Like many people in Pittsburgh, on Sunday I will gather with friends at a local watering hole and drink about a million beers and eat some kind of awesomely disgusting sandwiches (ahem, I'm lookin' at you, Primanti's!) On any other day, I would hate this whole scene. Picture a short, brunette version of Larry David scoffing at the boozed-up jagoffs at every house and pub in Pittsburgh. But, Sunday…Sunday is SUPER BOWL SUNDAY and the PITTSBURGH STEELERS are playing for their 7th ring! I couldn't possibly care any MORE about something that has absolutely ZERO lasting effect on my personal life. Sports are funny like that.
So, I want to know, what are your favorite football traditions? (Please, ALL football fans are welcome to answer…not just Steelers fans.) Do you go to Grandma's house and eat home cookin' for the game? Are you the type to DV-R the game and watch it later without the hours of commercial breaks? What's your go-to brew? What are the best sports bars in the city? I'd really love to hear your thoughts about your football traditions. The comments section below would be a great place to offer up your thoughts on what makes football America's real favorite pastime.
As for me, I'll be one of thousands in the masses in the Southside this Sunday. There's something invigorating about the energy of so many people hoping for the same thing (no matter how seemingly trivial that thing may be.) I'm looking forward to seeing friends that I haven't seen for a while, and being able to eat and drink and laugh together. At the risk of sounding sentimental, isn't that what your favorite memories are about?
It's going to be a great weekend, and with any luck, next week we'll all be able to watch our team soak up all that love in a victory parade downtown. Here's hoping! Here we go!


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Renaissance Man Danny Elfman Gets Medieval on Microsoft's Fable Videogames: The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Red Dead Revolver Hi
As the line between action movies and videogames continues to blur, so does the line between videogames and home theater. The games reviewed here really kick it up a notch when you play them on a movie system. Featuring cutting-edge graphics, thrilling surround sound, and movie-like play action, they show that more than just DVDs belong up on your big screen.
Until recently, no self-respecting home theater nut would even consider giving a permanent berth to a videogame console in his main system. But Microsoft's Xbox ($299) is suddenly finding itself cohabiting with A/V gear on component racks across the country.


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By Charlie Palmer – AKA Paw Paw
When I read this article today all I could think about was; what if that was my wife, my daughter, my granddaughter? Isn't this America where all people should be treated equal?
Here is the link to Larry Downing's article, I hope you will share it. http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/03/many-working-class-women-are-already-leaning-in/273948/
The [...]


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By Proscovia Nakibuuka and Jeremy Green
KYENJOJO, Uganda, 11 November, 2011 - Selegio Kamihanda used to worry a lot about his family getting sick from worms and diarrhoea, but all this is changing for the better, he says, as he waves to his grandchildren while standing in the morning light in his compound. Selegio, a father and grandfather, lives in the Kyangabukama village, a place set among densely planted banana trees and rolling hills in Kyenjojo District, western Uganda. The village is among 16 'model villages' in the district that have implemented a community-led sanitation approach for improved hygiene and sanitary behaviours with UNICEF's support.
UNICEF reports on communities in rural Uganda that are creating positive change by using natural resources to improve the sanitation and hygiene conditions in the area. Watch in RealPlayer |
Those living in the model villages have rigorously adopted simple but effective sanitation and hygiene practices, like using clean water jugs for hand washing, carefully storing drinking water, harvesting rainwater, and building wooden racks for drying food utensils.
And now they are seeing the benefits.
A marked improvement
"These interventions have improved our health and living conditions," said Selegio, nodding toward his jug, which pours clean rainwater out of a spout when he pushes down a piece of wood connected to a cord. "Diseases like worm infestation have reduced drastically, so we now have peace and we are able to do our domestic work."
Although the district government has not yet performed a detailed analysis of the effects of the model villages, health officials and village residents alike are relieved to see a clear reduction in everyday illnesses like diarrhoea, which is one of the top three killers of Ugandan children under five
Communities in-charge
In Uganda, UNICEF and local government are working together to educate and inform households on improving methods of hygiene and preventing disease. |
District Health Inspector Paul Kibikyabo has been an instrumental figure in proper sanitation and hygiene practices, traveling to households around the area to check up on implementation of these life-improving initiatives.
One of the benefits, he says, is that the inspiration to improve sanitation and hygiene conditions comes from within the communities themselves – and any materials, if needed, are locally sourced.
After the success of the programme in Kyenjojo, the model villages approach is now being duplicated in two other districts in Uganda.


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Space OdysseyWritten by JanetD on 09/22/2010Earlier this month, physicist Stephen Hawking made headlines when some of the theories from his new book, The Grand Design, were made public. Hawking has tackled one of the most basic questions in human history: How did we get here? He presents the argument that the universe began more or less spontaneously, without...
Banned Book Week :September 25th- October 2ndWritten by EricaG on 09/21/2010In honor of American Library Associations's Banned Book Week, I have put together a list of Young Adult titles that have either been banned or challenged in their lifetime. Take a look at some of the titles, many of them are life changing and fasicinating reads that should never be kept out of the hands of readers. The sad truth is, at some point someone somwhere took...
Fashion WeekWritten by Erin S on 09/19/2010 Carrie Bradshaw has nothing on us! Fashion Week came to a close on September 16th, but you can still strut your stuff on the catwalk with these ready-to-wear reads: (Flickr...
To Your Health!Written by hmartyn on 09/19/2010Health and wellness are some of the most important things in life. This list of books, featured in a book display this week, contains resources for maintaining healthy bodies, minds and lives, and for coping when illness strikes or life changes. In addition to our...
Mother May I?Written by Sally on 09/19/2010 According to Deborah Tannen, "they can be the best of conversations, they can be the worst of conversations." She is referring of course to mother-daughter relationships. Whether it is a new mother and baby, hip mom and teenager, or aging mother and...
Food for ThoughtWritten by hmartyn on 09/18/2010Featured as one of our recent book displays in the second floor non-fiction area, "Food for Thoght" provides both intellectual nourishment and, in this case, inspiration for a literal feast. Food is so much a...
What's New?Written by Barbara T. on 09/15/2010"What's new?" you ask? Plenty! It's a busy week for incoming books and movies, which means it will be a busy week with our members coming in to check things out. Welcome! The powerful new novel Room, by Emma Donoghue, was published this week. "Finally!" you might say. I know. I know. We've been talking about it and...
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Mad Men BooklistWritten by KieraP on 08/19/2010If you're a rabid Mad Men fan like myself, waiting each week for Sunday night can seem torturous. Between those weekly doses of Don Draper, indugle in a little Man Men-inspired reading. The...


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Not sure what this forum is about, but I think it could use this list: EDIT: the numbers next to the first represent "hours to complete". The range goes from main quest only, to main quest + some extras. The other numbers on the right are the number of votes on Gamefaqs, to give an idea of popularity (since less known games tend to be rated higher). It covers mostly stuff from the SNES and PSX, with some PS2. Things like FF 13 only used as reference. The only recent RPG that could belong to that list is Xenoblade, that's rated at 9.1. There are also some DS games as they are still close to classic JRPGs. The numbers are just used to give it an order and taken from Gamefaqs. They usually give a good idea of general reception. I'm always curious about what's the "longest" RPG ever, considering only time to complete once in a average playthrough. As far as I know the longest should be Dragon Quest 7 & 8, Persona 3:FES, Tales of the Abyss, Star Ocean 3 and Xenogears. All of these at 60+ hours. Anything that is not on the list and that it is worthy? (the list should also have Ar Tonelico 2, but the official translation is known to be crap, and the fan patch is not yet released)
I haven't played most of these, so I can't really judge. I'm not the best judge of gameplay, either, considering my favorite JRPG is Avalon Code, which has an amazing detail and plot, but the romance stops being interesting in the post-game and the Book of Prophecy is very unwieldy once you start having to juggle codes. Kind of surprised to see Tales of Symphonia isn't on that list, though, considering it's more or less the top selling game in the series. The battle system in Tales of Vesperia is nice, too, I think, but the plot is kind of polarizing... And Tales of Innocence doesn't have an official English translation and the story didn't expand on the characters Hermana and Ricardo during the main plot as much as it could have, so I guess that's why it's not on that list. Besides those games, yeah, really not the best judge over here, haha~
Out of those I've played 19. Some were amazing but others I absolutely hated. It's nice to see Tales of the Abyss there as it's one of my all time favorite video games ever. I wonder why Tales of Graces isn't on there too. I also really love Shining Force (my first srpg) and Baten Kaitos, but both those games probably aren't most people's kind of thing unfortunately. Also Devil Survivor 1 was much much much much much (need I go on?) better than Devil Survivor 2.
The GameFAQs data is constrained by the fact some landmark games were not popular in the West for various reasons. Just off the top of my head: For the SMT family, you mentioned Persona 3 & 4, but none of SMT 1 & 2, Persona 1 & 2 and Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 are on the list, and these 7 games are considered to have the best writing in the series. There's also the Devil Summoner branch, which is more focused on gameplay. The SMT games form a vast interconnected multiverse, which should be right up your alley. (Reference link: M. Petersen's MegaTen Primer) The list has Bahamut Lagoon, but not some other Square SNES games more popular in Japan, and not even one game from the more experimental and quirky SaGa family (the SNES Romancing SaGa series is especially beloved in Japan; the more recent Last Remnant is excellent, and is a SaGa game in all but name). Another venerated SNES series is the Terranigma trilogy. For other relatively cult games, I can think of the Lufia series, and the post-apocalyptic tank-driving Metal Max series. More recently, Falcom's Legend of Heroes/Trails series has risen to become another popular RPG property, though of the Trails series, only the first Trails in the Sky has been localized into English. (Personally I prefer Legend of Heroes 3-5 "the Gagharv Trilogy", which English versions are completely butchered by the machine-level translation.) Disclaimer: I've played very little JRPG, all these info are gathered from time spent reading video game forums and articles. EDIT: Why the hell is FFT and Devil Survivor on the list, when most other tactical RPGs are not? Proper inclusion of tactical RPGs would at least double the length of the list. EDIT 2: I forgot the Mother / Earthbound series.
I agree. I have a huge weakness for SRPGs and I'm miffed that some, like disgaea or Fire Emblem, aren't included. As for long JRPGs, I've played for over a 100 hours in some games. Nocturne, for example. As for plot, I immensely enjoyed Digital Devil Saga, Suikoden series, and others that I can't think of off the top of my head. I'm pretty much a JRPG fanatic, (though some may say that's wrong as I have NEVER played a Final Fantasy game.) As far as that list goes, I disagree with the placing of many of those games, that I would rant about, if given the time and space.
Good point. I remembered that when I was checking the just released translation of Tales of Phantasia (PSX) they seemed to hate Symphonia to the point that they didn't even want it mentioned. I checked again and it seems that the one hated is the sequel on the Wii sharing the title, and not the one on the Dreamcast. On Gamefaqs Symphonia has a 9. Mostly because I was listing the classics or classics-inspired. And Grace is on PS3 and too new. Too ancient to be really relevant. I should probably add Persona 1 & 2 but I was always confused about the version since they've been remade. About Digital Devil Saga I thought the others already better represented the series, maybe I'll add them. Bahamut Lagoon has a translation patch. I don't know about the others. I listed those with some classic connection. I didn't wan to add the list specialized series or Advance Wars. I should probably add Tactics Ogre though.
Mother trilogy are the best JRPGs, period. If you're including DS games, you should also have The World Ends With You.
Ah, right! I forgot about TWEWY for a second there. And it's a shame, since I have it amongst my few, favorite games. And, although not groundbreakingly good, Radiant Historia is a fun, endearing JRPG made by Atlus.
All I saw is that there's an Etrian Odyssey on that list so I am ready to give it my stamp of approval.
I'm honestly quite surprised that Strange Journey made the list. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but I found the plot...lacking. Though the battles and the side-quests were pretty fun.
Why did they put the Legend of Mana and the Secret of Mana on there but not the Sword of Mana? That was a great game (by the same people who made Mother 3). Persona 3 Portable is better than FES, imo. TWEWY was really really good. It got me back into playing JRPGs. There were a lot of great RPGs on the DS, in fact; Magical Starsign, Radiant Historia, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, TWEWY, Solatorobo... Why aren't the Golden Sun games up there?! Those were two of the greatest games on the GBA.
The fact that Terranigma is not on this dissapoints me. The fact that there are three Seiken-games however,makes me happy. Along with Breath of Fire-games and Suikoden.
The diehard SMT fans would vehemently disagree. Unless you've conflated the SNES Shin Megami Tensei 1 & 2 with the NES Megami Tensei 1 & 2, which are indeed too ancient to be relevant. :-) It's simple, Persona is one game, and Persona 2 is divided into 2 games. All 3 have been ported to PSP. But as the article I linked said, their gameplay feels particularly outdated today. My impression is that all major Square SNES RPGs have translation patches, and even if there're any incomplete ones, they'd be more than 90% complete. I might be wrong. EDIT: About SRPG, I suppose you can use whether the game has random battles as criteria, which would exclude most SRPGs with fixed number of battles.
I really liked Brave Story: New Traveler for the PSP myself. The voice acting wasn't the best and the story was clichéd, but its gameplay made for the most fun I've had in an RPG since games like Persona 3 and 4.
Y'know, I actually really, really liked FF XIII. It's probably my second favorite FF next to Tactics.
Why's that? Not familiar with SMT, but I'd definitely call MOTHER relevant, and it's up there with Dragon Quest as being emblematic of the Clunky NES RPG. Being kinda grindy and obtuse by modern standards doesn't mean that a game can't be worth playing!
As far as I know Nocturne is long but not overly so. It should be around 50 hours but not more. So I guess you're counting different playthrough (I know there's an optional dungeon)? Well, you could. The placing simply depends on Gamefaqs votes but the order is more or less the same that would make sense. I love reading about this stuff so you could definitely go in detail. I wanted to stick with classics and Japanese. I know both are Japanese but are done in a Western flavor. So I simply arbitrarily decided that they wouldn't fit. Those I listed are mostly fantasy settings. I never heard about Sword of Mana, but I look it up on Gamefaqs and it is given 7.3, so not really belonging here. I'm not trying to list ALL JRPGs, just major or relevant ones. It tries to be a comprehensive list, but not a complete one.
I'm not sure what the point of the arbitrary divide based on setting is? And TWEWY is as Japanese as you're going to get, so, uh...
List updated with some more inclusions. Shadow Hearts not added because I have a grudge that the Director's Cut isn't available even as a fan patch.
Well, SMT games really don't have much of a fantasy setting. I agree. TWEWY is a game that's saturated in japanism. Not all RPGs have fantasy setting, and Mother is arguably in a fantastic setting. RPGs can be incredibly diverse some times. I've played an RPG centered around Soccer! (and it works, the battle system is interesting) Hey, does anyone know why Devil Survivor 2 is better than one? I haven't played two, yet, but I've heard opinions that suggest the contrary.
You're joking right? I found Dragon Quarter the worst RPG I ever played, being forced to restart the game a lot of time to finish it was an horrible idea >__> Anyway, I'm happy that there is Grandia in the list. Especially the first one is an amazing game, and the combat sistem is one of the most interesting in my opinion. I also love the Megaten franchise but I had the chance to play only a some of them: Persona 2 Innocent Sin, Persona 3 Portable, Digital Devil Saga, the first Raidoh Kuzunoha, Devil Survivor and Strange Journey and I found the last one particularly interesting (the whole thing of the demons that mimic our consumistic society really makes you think) and I'm really eager to play Lucifer's Call. Also lately I'm "recovering" the Wild Arms series, and the first one was really good. The second one is boring as hell though.
Updated the list again. No new games but I added length in hours for each game, as a kind of average. As suspected the longest RPGs are Dragon Quest 7 & 8, Persona 3 & 4 and Xenogears.
Personally, I thought the combat and difficulty was a lot better paced in DeSu 2. It also felt like it was fair when it was difficult, whereas I tended to feel cheated in DeSu 1 (though that could've been because I was shitty at srpg's at the time). As far as story and such goes, DeSu 2 was a lot more optimistic, so maybe people preferred that.
Well like FH said, the combat system and pacing was a lot more fair (read:easy) and balanced. Experience is shared among all party members and not just the ones you fight with (thank gods) and there are a lot of small, neat things that make your life a lot less troublesome than the first, such as a shared skill crack you can get at some points. My problem with the story of the second game is that the game kinda clashes it's own tone sometimes... oh, and it's pretty much Neon Genesis Evangelion, except the ending isn't ridiculous... well, maybe it is, depending on who you ask. I get that the plot of the first game might not have been the most original thing ever, but it wasn't nearly as blatant about what it rips off takes inspiration from. Even if the game was brutally unfair at times, I still love the first DeSu. I liked practically all the characters, I really enjoyed the plot and how the multiple endings were handled.
What about Strange Journey? It's the other DS game and I think it was the first to come out. It seems to have a staggering length in comparison.
I'm pretty sure SJ came out after DeSu, although in the same year. SJ takes after the original SMT games, first person dungeon crawler. Fun fact: The map interface looks exactly like the ones in Etrian Odyssey. (Don't worry, SJ is nowhere near as cruel as EO, it comes close at some points though) The game is more heavily dependent on the alignment system that most SMT games are known for, so much that there are gameplay mechanics that are dependent on it. I do kinda like this aspect, since your alignment as more impact than just what ending you get. The dungeon crawling is a lot more smooth than in the original SMT games, but that's like saying a rock is a lot more smooth than sandpaper. It's can get slow at times, usually because it requires some forethought on your part and later you'll have a lot more to do than just "get to the end", but I don't think it's ever unbearable. The story is pretty standard SMT fare, except a lot more edged towards Sci-Fi. My problem with the multiple endings on this game is you are really geared towards Neutral in this. The Law and Chaos (especially the Law) factions of this game are so extreme in this that I doubt you'd even consider taking their side on a first playthrough. Oh, and depending on how you played the game up to a point, it's possible to get stuck on either end of the spectrum. I liked it though. Even if some bosses flat out cheat >_>
Yeah Strange Journey is awesome but can be an hard mistress sometimes, you really have to plan which demons you want in your party and streghten them through fusion, and use demons of the same alignment for the demon co-op. The first time I played Ouroboros was fucking hard to beat, I had to cheat and use a few demon passwords I found in a walkthrough... and Mem Aleph impossible >_> I reached almost the end of the neutral path but I seriously couldn't beat her, so I restarted the game and got only the chaos ending that has a much easier final boss.
I'm going to scream things now. Assume it's approval. SUIIIKODENS!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! YES. STAR OCEAN 3! For the record, I think I have 90+ hours on my main file. PERSONA 4! MY FAVORITE GAME! keth is onto something with Shadow Hearts! The New World one is disappoint, but Covenant I played and really enjoyed! Y'know, until the ending. Mana Khemia should be on there if you like Ar Tonelicos. Has no one but me played Mana Khemia? 'Cause it was really good. Lots of disappoint at some of those. That many Final Fantasys? Really? 7 is hype and 10-2 is... Lots of make me want to die. 4 and 6 are about the only ones that meet my approval, but I have lots of personal issues with FF. A little surprised Etryan Odyssey is that popular consiering how damn hard those games are. On the other hand, the ideas/mechanics are pretty sweet. Dragon Quest 8 is also wicked hard, I never beat it and I wasn't that impressed with the story as far as I got into it. I also agree the Mother games should have some presence somewhere.
The Final Fantasy are there mostly as reference since they are the most known. X-2 is at the very bottom of the list. And the list is not based on popularity, but simply votes. It has the side effect that obscure games tend to have less votes, and so higher numbers (because less exposed to a wide public).
Nope, you aren't the only one, I'm playing Mana Khemia as well. As for Strange journey, If you need chattering party members by your side, I suggest you look somewhere else. Strange Journey is much more about your journey and your choices.
Hey, I'm playing Strange Journey right now! First SMT game I've ever played. I've noticed how similar it was to the Etrian Odyssey games, which I always played when I was younger. I never realized that they were supposed to be super hard, I simply assumed that I just sucked at it. I suppose I just like hard dungeon crawling rpgs. Glad they are both on this list though, they're good games. Otherwise, I haven't played any other of these games, though I want to. I always wanted to play the Persona series, especially Persona 4. They look so fun, but I don't have the right systems for it. One day, Persona, one daaaay.
Persona four is indeed nice. My favorite is Two, however, the battle system might be too outdated. I wanted to LP it, however...it wouldn't get captured or screenshotted T-T
One reason I made this list is specifically for preservation purposes. All those games are there because they CAN be played, regardless of system. That's also why I left out stuff from modern systems like 3DS or XBOX360 (like no Vesperia). What I mean is that ALL those games can be played from the beginning to end, on PC, with the help of an emulator. Assuming one has a PC powerful enough (the problematic titles may be those for PS2, PSP and some on the DS). But looking at longer term the PC requirements aren't going to be a problem. I remember a number of years ago I tried to play the two Nintendo 64 Zelda games on an emulator and they ran like crap. The other day I tried again and they run at >300 FPS. So Persona 2 is not an issue, for example. And both parts are available since there was a fan patch. Everything from SNES, PSX, GBA, N64 is flawlessly emulated and even better on PC. PS2, Wii, Gamecube, DS and PSP are also mostly playable, but may require powerful hardware. Not emulated (and probably not going to happen): Vita, 3DS, PS3, XBOX360, WiiU.
Would the Atelier series be considered JRPGs? I know that Atelier Iris certainly would, what about the others?
In which case these are not the most awesome JRPGs that exist as the game implies, these are 'some really good JRPGs IMO that can be emulated on most systems.' Misleading!


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5. | three | ||
A number Symbolizing Power. Used many times in mythology and found many times in the bible as power. and he shall return on the 3rd day.
1. | three | ||
slightly higher than I can count. One... um... er... ah, er........ you know, why don't we just stop there?
2. | three | ||
a shot from beyond the arc in basketball worth three points, as opposed to shots inside the arc, which are only worth two points Pinnock hit two threes in a row against URI on Saturday.
3. | three | ||
NOUN- the result of ejaculation. One is to urinate, two is to deficate, and three is to ejaculate. Dont bother me for the next five minutes, I gotta drop a three.
4. | three | ||
A number. Count to ten, class. One, two, three...
6. | Three | ||
To be called a three means you are stupid. that you dont understand concepts of which someone would be talking about and your pretty much the biggest dumb fuck the person calling you a three has ever met. when asked what the word three means, dont tell the asker. theyre not supposed to know. the word could mean anything you would like it to mean, whether it be a sexy beast or flamming homosexual. but the person doesnt know it, so its descising your real thoughts. calling them a three will make them look like a dumbfuck in two ways: pretending they know what it means, or getting extremely confused. Dan: "Your such a fucking three."
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7. | Three | ||
A term for a homosexual derived from the saying "As queer as a three dollar bill." I wouldn't worry about that guy talking to your girl. With that lisp and those limp wrists, he's definitely a three.


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Floyd's farm income figure in 2011 was $2.6 million, down 38.6 percent from 2010, and an off-the-cliff-fall of 70.3 percent from 2009.
When you break out the numbers, row crop income represents 8.5 percent of the income for agribusiness interests in Floyd County, compared to the 91.5 percent share for livestock producers — largely beef cattle, chickens and pork producers.
Cash receipts from the sale of livestock, products and crops in Floyd County in 2011 totaled $57.8 million, an increase of 9 percent from 2010. However, production expenses exceeded $66.5 million, up 15.2 percent from the previous year.
Keith Mickler, the University of Georgia Extension Service County Agent for Floyd County, said that beyond the huge increase in production costs, the problem in 2011 was actual production.
"We had more adverse weather conditions in 2011 than we did in 2010, more drought conditions," Mickler said. "There was probably less yield on corn, less yield on soybeans, less yield on cotton, so when you have less yield, you have less gross income as well."
Mickler recalled that fertilizer and chemical costs were up significantly.
"You've got fuel costs. Fertilizer is one of your biggest issues. And then you may have had issues where producers had to put in a pivot (for irrigation), which costs some more money, so that's going to decrease their bottom line," Mickler said. "When production costs go up, net goes down, it's that simple."
The BEA report, issued Nov. 26, bears Mickler's wisdom. Feed costs were up 16.2 percent, fertilizer costs were up a whopping 22.1 percent, and petroleum products, primarily fuel and oil, were up 26.2 percent.
The total bottom line net income for all farm related activity was $2,831,000 in 2011, down 42.9 percent from 2010, down 71.6 percent from 2009 and down 81.6 percent from 2008.
Costs on the rise
Irwin Bagwell, chairman of the Floyd County Commission, operates a family farm in Vann's Valley between Rome and Cave Spring. He said that one of the seemingly contradictory issues related to the skyrocketing increase in production costs involves natural gas. Bagwell said gas supplies have been running near record lows but that nitrogen-based fertilizers, which use the gas, continue to see dramatic price increases.
"The nitrogen, specifically, that we put on corn, we used to buy it 10 years ago for $180 to $200 a ton, and it is in the $400 range now," Bagwell said. "Your potash and phosphorous is up just like nitrogen is."
Bagwell said a bag of seed now could run as high as $250. Ten years ago it was in the $90 to $100 range.
The price increase is something of a double-edged sword.
"It's strictly due to the genetics and all the research and engineering that goes into producing a bag of seed now. You used to put a weed killer on and then a grass killer," Bagwell said. "It's so much more advanced seed that we plant now with everything built into it. The yields have increased accordingly with it."
Another double-edged sword for many agribusiness men is new technology. The Bagwells have a combine that is equipped with a global positioning system.
"It drives itself. Once you get on a row it follows the row all the way to the end of the field," Bagwell said. "It does come with a price tag."
Then there's the weather that agribusiness interests have to deal with. 2011 was a bit drier. Yields were off as much as 50 percent last year, according to Bagwell.
Irwin and his brother Charles Bagwell plant approximately 1,500 acres — 1,000 in corn and the remainder in soybeans.
"We're in it for the long haul, you know. We don't anticipate getting out anytime soon. You just have to take the good and the bad," Irwin said.
Charles Bagwell said that 2012 was very similar financially to 2011.
"It might have been a little bit better, the commodity prices I think were a little bit higher," he said. "All signs point to prices remaining pretty steady to constant. If anything, our inputs (production costs) will remain flat or just a little bit less, hopefully."
Todd Hice, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency office in Rome, said expenses are clearly up, but that nationally he's seeing record commodity prices.
"Soybeans are as high as I've ever seen. There was a lot of people that booked beans at over $12 a bushel," Hice said. "The problem with corn is that we didn't make much because of the drought."
The problem, according to Hice, is when commodity prices go up, so do all the production costs.
"Everything from seed, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, barbed wire, I don't care what it is," Hice said. "Farmers are always wanting more. We want it to rain more, or rain less. We want the commodities higher or inputs lower, we want what we don't have."
Hice said he thinks the outlook for agriculture, compared to other sectors of the economy, is as bright as it has ever been.
"Of course, that could change on a dime," Hice said.


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20 Meetup Groups match "iPhone App Developers" near Brookline, MA
This group is for those interested in apps and app development for iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod, and Android).
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So you want to learn to write apps for the iPhone and iPad? Look no further! This group is for both existing and wannabe iPhone developers to share in the learning process of writing great apps for the platform of the next decade. Looking for iPhone/iPad talent in the Boston area ? The best way to find it is to join our Meetup and post your job description on our Job Board. Interested in being notified about new iPhone/iPad job opportunities? Join our Meetup, then track the Job Board.
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Market research suggests that cross-platform development tools for mobile devices are here to disrupt the status quo where IOS apps have to be developed in Objective C and Android apps in Java. Did you know that you can build and deploy an IOS app to an IPhone or IPad and an Android phone all from your local Windows machine? Cross-platform tools(CPTs) allow developers to create applications for multiple platforms - usually mobile, but increasingly tablets or TV screens - from almost the same cod …
This group is for developers - beginners to experts - in the Farmington Valley / Hartford, CT, area, interested in creating apps and games for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Developers for Mac (and Android) welcome, too!
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The App Demo and Drinks meetup group is a social event for all mobile app developers in the Boston and Cambridge community to engage and showcase apps currently in development. We are designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and general enthusiasts gathered together to learn how to create quality successful mobile apps. Our goal is to connect and engage with fellow app developers across ALL mobile platforms over drinks and appetizers. App developers can network, showcase, receive feedback, share ti …
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We discuss mobile app development issues and strategies. The group shares among ourselves and brings in outside experts to help educate and advance our knowledge. We offer the opportunity for developers to share their projects and get feedback from group members and have live demonstrations of new apps that our members are launching. Our conversations will include marketing and advertising so we can help get apps in the hands of our target audience and fund the work we are doing. Join us in shap …
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This workgroup is for people new to iOS development to create a culture of shared learning. All skill levels welcome. We will be learning from a book and a free online Stanford course. Learning and collaboration is done online and at your own pace. We will have online meetings, weekly updates on progress and online forums for discussion. If you're already developing apps for iOS, you're welcome to join. This would be a great opportunity for you to support other budding developers and consolidate …
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We were really founded in 1984! The MacTechGroup has its roots in the old BCS and we just kept going. It's designed for Macintosh and iOS programmers, iPhone and iPad technical discussions. If you are writing Mac or iPhone code, or want to find out how, this is your group.
Almost Awesome, Inc. hosts an NSCoder event based out of Workbar on the third Tuesdays of each month. Think of it as individual work in a group environment. Bring your pet rock iPhone, iPad or Mac development projects and spend 3 hours coding surrounded by other developers working on their projects. It doesn't matter if you're brand new to iOS development or a seasoned pro - you'll find help if you need it or some quiet time away from work or home distractions to make your ideas a reality. Just …
Southern NH Apple Core is an area user group established in 1979. We provide local user support for Apple products to help you get the most out of your Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iPod, AppleTV, and other applications. User meetings feature product demos, presenters, and discussions of technology as it relates to Apple computing. If you have a question about an Apple product, we can usually help find an answer. The group meets at 7 PM on the last Wednesday of every month at the Nashua Public Librar …
We are dedicated to the advancement of cross platform mobile development using Appcelerator Titanium to create native apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and other platforms. We accomplish this by hosting events that include presentations, training sessions, hackathons, and general networking.
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Bi-monthly gathering of Unity developers in the Boston area! Sign up for our Google group - https://groups.google.com/group/boston-unity-group Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bostonunitygroup Follow us on Twitter: @BosUnityGroup
Network and meet in person with local employers and recruiters to find the job you want. Learn about local job opportunities in a casual atmosphere. Share the latest tips and techniques on interviewing and getting hired. We are a group of IT professionals who have worked for a wide variety of organizations with expertise in Information Technology (IT) fields such as software design and development, hardware, networking, web services, internet, web design, security, enterprise IT, project managem …
@Windows8Boston #Windows8Boston Welcome! Why Join? Everything and everyone you need to know about Windows 8 style apps. Take advantage of the need for Windows 8 app developers, designers, user experience experts and solution architects. Take your existing skills and create Windows 8 apps. Find the Windows 8 app experts and mentors you need in the Boston area. Please DO join the group, even if you don't plan attending the meetings. Use the group as a resource to keep updated on what happening i …
The Boston Mobile C# Developers' Group focuses on the use of C# in the exciting area of mobile development. The group's main topics are Xamarin's MonoTouch and Mono for Android, as well as Windows Phone. We meet in Cambridge, MA at the Microsoft NERD Center. Membership is free. People interested in learning more about developing for mobile platforms with C# are encouraged to join.
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Originally focused on just the iPhone, the new Group hopes to embrace the iPad deeply, and considers the iPhone as just a larger installed base for universal apps that ideally use the iPad's large real-estate and 'hand-sized' muti-touch area in new and exciting ways. iPhone developers welcome, but just be aware that the new Group owner, a Xerox PARC Smalltalk old-time Dynabook dreamer, may try to convert you to the iPad. Please come and help start the new Group, even if you are in the Greater …
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This is a weekly, open invitation to all web dev/design types looking to work on their projects alongside other like-minded folks. We'll have snacks and drinks, and we wouldn't say no to a little BYOB. Got a technical problem that's a little too broad for StackOverflow? Come get some help! Have a new design you want feedback on before you put it up on Dribbble? Come on by! Just want to get out of the house, have some food and drinks, and shoot the shit with other developers and designers? T …
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Welcome to MoDevRI - a mobile developer community for Rhode Island and beyond. We provide a productive forum for technical and business expertise in order to successfully navigate the world of apps and the mobile web. Join this group if you are a developer at any level, regardless of platform Join if you are a company needing mobile expertise and support Interact with some of the brightest developers in the business Participate in our monthly "AppPremier" events to garner feedback from the comm …
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For developers and enthusiasts of Mono and Xamarin's MonoTouch and Mono for Android platforms. Let's get together and share tips and tricks for writing iPhone, iPad and Android apps with .NET.
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