text:
The Wolfram Solution for
Actuarial Sciences
Design predictive or data modeling tools for insurance claims, instantly analyze data from Wolfram|Alpha and your spreadsheets, and present fully interactive charts and reports—a complete workflow.
Underlying the Wolfram actuarial sciences solution is the integration of statistical and financial computations into a single system, along with syntax-free commands and web or local deployment.
Wolfram technologies include thousands of built-in functions and curated data on many topics that let you:
- Import life tables or other spreadsheets and easily do complex calculations
- Calculate present values of expected premiums or benefits to set pricing for insurance policies
- Create interactive tools for quick calculations or presentations and deploy them to others with Wolfram CDF Player or webMathematica
- Visualize your data in any way you choose, including creating interactive plots
- Compare possible premiums and payments of several policies
- Predict the number of events or survivors with built-in Nelson-Aalen and Kaplan-Meier estimators
- Rapidly design policies to meet regulatory demands
- Develop operational predictive modeling tools to improve handling of key aspects of some common property and automobile insurance claims
Does your current tool set have these advantages?
Gain accuracy and reliability for your premium and payout calculations by performing symbolic computations, not just numeric ones
Excel and statistical packages have built-in routines that only handle numeric calculations
Ensure accurate results in probability and financial calculations with fully automated precision control and arbitrary-precision arithmetic
All systems like Excel or statistics programs that rely on machine arithmetic can show critical errors due to numerical accuracy failure
Create highly customized, presentation-quality visualizations, including line graphs, bar charts, and scatter plots, to share results with others
SPSS requires explicit programming for customized charts
Work with 35 properties of 100 new distributions with specialized coverage for insurance and finance
The Wolfram Language has more built-in distributions than any other system
- Refer to interactive examples specific to actuarial science and insurance in the documentation
- Import, analyze, and deliver results in one interactive document instead of across several applications
The Wolfram Language includes thousands of built-in functions for computation, modeling, visualization, development, and deployment »
Actuarial sciences specific capabilities:
- Built-in statistical analysis tools, standard probability distributions, and dispersion measures for calculating risks and cumulative probabilities »
- Built-in distributions for mortality, claim frequency, and other actuarial science and insurance applications: Gompertz-Makeham, Weibull, Benktander-Gibrat, beta binomal, logarithmic series, and more »
- The most advanced symbolic and numeric calculus system, including numeric integration and other capabilities for calculating expected insurance losses and payments »
- Choose from a variety of built-in, standard statistical charts and graphs or create highly customizable, interactive plots »
- Access terabytes of Wolfram|Alpha's demographic, economic, and geographic data for your computations and combine it with data imported in all common data formats, including XML, XLS, CSV, and TSV
- Symbolic and numeric superfunctions automatically compute the probability of any event and the expectation of any expression for any univariate or multivariate distribution, allowing quick calculations for many problems
- Linear, nonlinear, logit, probit, and generalized linear regression models with properties and diagnostics for goodness of fit, parameter estimates, and more »
- Descriptive statistics for univariate and multivariate data »
- Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests for comparisons to examine survival models with interdependent parameters »
- Integrate with Microsoft Excel with Mathematica Link for Excel »
- Calculate with built-in traditional mathematical notation that can be extended with standard actuarial notation
- Built-in symbolic and numeric time-value-of-money computations and interest rate calculations for continuous or discrete time processes and term structures, plus Wolfram Finance Platform's additional finance-specific tools and real-time data access
Download a Free Trial of Mathematica
Get your free, fully functional, 15-day trial version of Mathematica via download.


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Is this a weird world, or what? Used to be a career in research was not considered particularly dangerous. Oh, an ag researcher might have a heat stroke while making crosses or checking plots in the summer sun, or be assailed by chiggers, mosquitoes, and assorted other biting pests, and medical researchers might occasionally be overcome by fumes from laboratory chemicals.
Now, research has become a war zone.
Labs have been burned, facilities ransacked and files destroyed, plots torn up, animals set loose, and researchers threatened with physical harm. The recent-years focus on biotechnology has only spurred the protesters to ramp up their terror campaign.
In one of the most recent instances, police in Italy managed to disable a very powerful bomb that had been planted at a biotech center where researchers were working on interspecies organ transplants, such as pig livers into humans. The fuse had been lit, police said, but luckily it went out before detonating the bomb.
The anti-biotech radicals are a lot like Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida loonies: They want to take the world back to the Stone Age. Regardless of the consequences to humanity as a whole, they want to dictate the pace of scientific progress according to their own messianic insight into what is right for the world.
An example of how convoluted things have become: The government of South Africa, which has six nations with some 13 million of its citizens on the brink of starvation, has decreed that it will refuse donations of corn that may contain some genetically modified kernels. The corn offered through the World Food Program, of which the U.S. is the largest donor participant, could not be guaranteed GMO-free, the WFP said.
The government says it fears the genetically modified corn will cross-pollinate varieties grown there and thus jeopardize sales of South African grain and livestock to its major European Union markets.
"We have decided, as a government, not to accept genetically modified maize," one government official said. "It would be too risky." Another official countered that EU citizens, and those of other wealthy nations, "can afford to debate genetically modified foods — they have the comfort of a food surplus. Hungry people only want something to eat."
Barring some sort of 9/11 equivalent catastrophe in the world of agriculture, biotech isn't going to go away. The genie's long out of the bottle; too many promising avenues need to be explored. Not only solutions to the hunger of millions hang in the balance; the potential for alleviating many of mankind's major health problems may lie in the work researchers are doing.
We have come so far in such a relatively short time, thanks to man's inquisitiveness and ability to expand on the achievements of those who've gone before.
It's unfortunate there are those who would stop progress in its tracks and impose their own selfish views on the rest of the world. To the extent they're able to do this, whether through protests, bombings, or political strong-arming, the progress of research may be slowed.

subset: commoncrawl


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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total:
- 1 hr 10 min
- Active:
- 58 min
- Yield:
- about 30 cookies
- Level:
- Easy
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together into a large bowl.
Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes (use the paddle attachment for a stand mixer). Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture and beat until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the dough and refrigerate at least 1 hour or preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges but still soft in the middle, about 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Photograph by Kana Okada
Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine


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Mitch Barrette Skater Profile
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It's a good day to be running an AMD APU, unless you like updating iGPU drivers
Subject: General Tech | March 14, 2019 - 12:08 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Intel, security, patch, igp
Today there are patches for no less than 19 vulnerabilities on Intel graphics drivers for Windows of various flavours. Sysadmins out there should also pay attention, as there are vulnerabilities specific to server chips as well, with patches for a variety of features up to and including the Trusted Execution Engine; if you are using a desktop chip with these features you should also pay attention. The only silver lining to this is that the vulnerabilities require an already compromised machine to be exploited ... or physical access of course.
You can read through the synopsis of these CVEs over at The Register if you want to ruin your Thursday.
"Chipzilla's March patch dump is highlighted by fixes for 19 CVE-listed vulnerabilities in its graphics drivers for Windows. If you use Windows and have those drivers (and if you're running an Intel CPU with integrated GPU, you almost certainly do) you will want to patch sooner than later."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- What today links Gmail, Google Drive, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram – apart from being run by monopolistic personal data harvesters? @ The Register
- Dropbox Now Limits Free Users To 3 Devices @ Slashdot
- It looks like Windows 10 Home can now defer updates for 35 days @ Ars Technica
- Two-Thirds of Android Antivirus Apps Are Total BS @ Slashdot
- Physicists Reverse Time Using Quantum Computer @ Slashdot
- noblechairs Hero Real Leather Gaming Chair @ TechPowerUp
Intel Sheds Its Remaining Stake In Imagination Technologies
Subject: General Tech | February 25, 2015 - 08:56 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: PowerVR, Intel, Imagination Technologies, igp, finance
Update: Currency exchange rates have been corrected. I'm sorry for any confusion!
Intel Foundation is selling off its remaining stake in UK-based Imagination Technologies (IMG.LN). According to JP Morgan, Intel is selling off 13.4 million shares (4.9% of Imagination Technologies) for 245 GBp each. Once all shares are sold, Intel will gross just north of $50.57 Million USD.
Imagination Technologies' PowerVR Rogue Series 6XT GPU is used in Apple's A8-series chips.
Intel first invested in Imagination Technologies back in October of 2006 in a deal to gain access to the company's PowerVR graphics IP portfolio. Since then, Intel has been slowly moving away from PowerVR graphics in favor of it's own internal HD graphics GPUs. (Further, Intel sold off 10% of its IMG.LN stake in June of last year.) Even Intel's low cost Atom line of SoCs has mostly moved to Intel GPUs with the exception of the mobile Merrifield and Moorefield" smartphone/tablet SoCs.
The expansion of Intel's own graphics IP combined with Imagination Technologies acquisition of MIPS are reportedly the "inevitable" reasons for the sale. According to The Guardian, industry analysts have speculated that, as it stands, Intel is a minor customer of Imagination Technologies at less than 5% for graphics (a licensing agreement signed this year doesn't rule out PowerVR graphics permanently despite the sale). Imagination Technologies still has a decent presence in the mobile (ARM-based) space with customers including Apple, MediaTek, Rockchip, Freescale, and Texas Instruments.
Currently, the company's stock price is sitting at 258.75 GBp (~$3.99 USD) which seems to indicate that the Intel sell off news was "inevitable" and was already priced in or simply does not have investors that concerned.
What do you think about the sale? Where does this leave Intel as far as graphics goes? Will we see Intel HD Graphics scale down to smartphones or will the company go with a PowerVR competitor? Would Intel really work with ARM's Mali, Qualcomm's Adreno, or Samsung's rumored custom GPU cores? On that note, an Intel powered smartphone with NVIDIA Tegra graphics would be amazing (hint, hint Intel!)
Battle of the IGPs
Our long journey with Frame Rating, a new capture-based analysis tool to measure graphics performance of PCs and GPUs, began almost two years ago as a way to properly evaluate the real-world experiences for gamers. What started as a project attempting to learn about multi-GPU complications has really become a new standard in graphics evaluation and I truly believe it will play a crucial role going forward in GPU and game testing.
Today we use these Frame Rating methods and tools, which are elaborately detailed in our Frame Rating Dissected article, and apply them to a completely new market: notebooks. Even though Frame Rating was meant for high performance discrete desktop GPUs, the theory and science behind the entire process is completely applicable to notebook graphics and even on the integrated graphics solutions on Haswell processors and Richland APUs. It also is able to measure performance of discrete/integrated graphics combos from NVIDIA and AMD in a unique way that has already found some interesting results.
Battle of the IGPs
Even though neither side wants us to call it this, we are testing integrated graphics today. With the release of Intel's Haswell processor (the Core i7/i5/i3 4000) the company has upgraded the graphics noticeably on several of their mobile and desktop products. In my first review of the Core i7-4770K, a desktop LGA1150 part, the integrated graphics now known as the HD 4600 were only slightly faster than the graphics of the previous generation Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge. Even though we had all the technical details of the HD 5000 and Iris / Iris Pro graphics options, no desktop parts actually utilize them so we had to wait for some more hardware to show up.
When Apple held a press conference and announced new MacBook Air machines that used Intel's Haswell architecture, I knew I could count on Ken to go and pick one up for himself. Of course, before I let him start using it for his own purposes, I made him sit through a few agonizing days of benchmarking and testing in both Windows and Mac OS X environments. Ken has already posted a review of the MacBook Air 11-in model 'from a Windows perspective' and in that we teased that we had done quite a bit more evaluation of the graphics performance to be shown later. Now is later.
So the first combatant in our integrated graphics showdown with Frame Rating is the 11-in MacBook Air. A small, but powerful Ultrabook that sports more than 11 hours of battery life (in OS X at least) but also includes the new HD 5000 integrated graphics options. Along with that battery life though is the GT3 variation of the new Intel processor graphics that doubles the number of compute units as compared to the GT2. The GT2 is the architecture behind the HD 4600 graphics that sits with nearly all of the desktop processors, and many of the notebook versions, so I am very curious how this comparison is going to stand.
Continue reading our story on Frame Rating with Haswell, Trinity and Richland!!
Introduction, Virtual V-Sync Testing
In my recent review of the Origin EON11-S portable gaming laptop I noted that the performance of the laptop was far behind that of a larger 15.6" or 17.3" model. The laptop won a gold award despite this, as all laptops of this size are bound to physics, but it was an issue worth nothing.
Origin surprised me by responding that they had something in the works that might buff up performance. This confused me. Were they going to cast a spell on it? Would they beam in a beefier GPU? What could they possibly do that would increase performance without changing the hardware?
Now I have the answer. It's called Lucid VirtuMVP and it uses your existing integrated GPU to improve performance. As with Lucid's other products, VirtuMVP makes it possible for two different GPUs – in this case, your integrated GPU and your discrete GPU – to work together. It's not magic – just ingenuity. Let's take a closer look.
Introduction, Driver Interface
There exist a particular group of gamers that are consumed by dreams of gigantic dual-SLI laptops that replace towering desktops. And who can blame them? Walking into a LAN party with a $5,000 laptop under your arm is the geek equivalent of entering a party wearing a $2,500 jacket or driving through your neighborhood in a $250,000 car. We can dream, right?
On the other hand, those super-powerful laptops are a bit...boring from a critic's standpoint. Why? Because they are almost always excellent machines (due to price) and because most readers gandering at a review (of an expensive gaming laptop) I pen about will never buy one – again, due to the price.
Most folks – even many geeks – lust over a beefy gaming rig, but end up buying a $600 to $1000 multimedia laptop. This is the laptop that the average person can actually afford, regardless of his or her enthusiasm about computer hardware.
In the past, this market segment was a gaming wasteland, but that began to change about five years ago. The change was due in part to the fact that many game developers started to veer away from (a focus on) jaw-dropping graphics in favor of expanding their potential markets by going after clients with average/medium-range hardware.
About two and a half years ago Intel (again) committed to raising the bar on integrated graphics with the release of Intel HD and has since consistently improved its IGP offering with each new generation. AMD has done the same with its Fusion products and NVIDIA (already in the game with its numerous x10/x20/x30M products) just recommitted to power efficient GPUs with its Kepler architecture.
These changes mean that "serious" gaming is now possible on an inexpensive laptop. But how possible? What sacrifices do you make and how do low-end IGPs and GPUs stack up against each other?
Continue reading our comparison of current generation notebook graphics options!!
This A-10 can't kill tanks but it does beat a Bulldozer
Subject: Processors | May 16, 2012 - 02:29 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: trinity, radeon, igp, gpu, APU, amd. A10-4600M
AMD's A10-4600M APU has finally arrived, showing off an enhanced Piledriver core and a new Northern Islands based graphics core. This is a big step up from Llano in terms of general processing power but not a huge improvement over Bulldozer chips, though the raised clock speed does help it in general tasks. Unfortunately the AMD still chip lags far behind the performance of Intel's mobile i5 processors and while the graphics are certainly more powerful on Trinity they still aren't up to an impressive level of performance. The Tech Report liked the high end A10-4600M but think that Trinity's low power chips are really going to shine in inexpensive ultraportable machines.
You can also check out Matt's review of Llano in a reference laptop from AMD for more information.
"AMD has pulled the curtains back on Trinity, its next-generation APU, which features new Piledriver CPU cores and Northern Islands-derived integrated graphics. Join us as we outline Trinity's architecture and run it through a whole host of benchmarks, from old staples to OpenCL-accelerated apps and "inside the second" gaming tests."
Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
- AMD Launches New Trinity APU @ TechwareLabs
- The AMD Trinity Review (A10-4600M): A New Hope @ AnandTech
- AMD A10 'Trinity' APU review @ Hardware.Info
- AMD Launches New 2012 A-Series APU (Trinity) @ Bjorn3d
- AMD Trinity Preview @ Neoseeker
- AMD Trinity A10-4600M APU Review: Jumping the Shark? @ VR-Zone
- AMD Trinity: Going Mobile with a New APU @ Hardware Canucks
Introduction, Overview
AMD's position is not enviable. Though they're the only large competitor to Intel in the market for x86 processors, the company is dwarfed by the Giant of Santa Clara. As a resident of Portland, I can't forget this fact. Intel offices are strewn across the landscape of the western suburbs, most of them at least four times larger than any office I've worked at.
Despite the long odds, AMD is set in this course for now and has no choice but to soldier on. And so we have today's reference platform, a laptop powered by AMD's latest mobile processor, codenamed Trinity. These processors, like the older Llano models, will be sold as the AMD A-Series. This might lead you to think that it's simply another minor update, but that's not the case.
Llano was released around the same time as Bulldozer, but it did not use Bulldozer cores. Instead it used yet another update of Stars, which is a mobile incarnation of Phenom II, which was of course an improvement upon the original Phenom. The "new" Llano APU in fact was equipped with some rather old processor cores. This showed in the performance of the mobile Llano products. They simply could not keep up with Sandy Bridge's more modern cores.
Bulldozer isn't coming to mobile with Trinity, either. Instead we're receiving Piledriver. AMD has effectively skipped the first iteration of its new Bulldozer architecture and moved straight on to the second. Piledriver includes the third generation of AMD's Turbo Core and promises "up to 29%" better processor performance than last year's Llano-based A-Series.
That's a significant improvement, should it turn out to be correct. Is it true, and will it be enough to catch up to Intel?
Jon Peddie sees IGPs dying in the next year
Subject: General Tech | October 19, 2011 - 12:23 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: jon peddie, igp, egp, hgp
Jon Peddie refers to the SandyBridge family as EGPs, embedded graphics processors, and AMD's Llano series as HPGs, heterogeneous graphics processors, but whatever the label they may sound the death knell for IGPs. He does not see any sign that this new industry practice of including a usable GPU in their CPU having much effect on the discrete graphics card market, apart from the bumps when they were first introduced. Compared to the IGPs of previous generations both Llano and Core i3 graphical capabilities are far beyond anything we have seen, but compared to the current generation of graphics cards they cannot stack up. While it seems obvious that the discrete market will stay, not only because of the current generations power but also because of the faster evolution of the GPU compared to the CPU, one segment of the graphics card market will likely be disappearing. NVIDIA and AMD have been fighting for the sub-$100 market, flooding that price point with a variety of cards that differ by as little as $5 between models. Now that your new CPU will have the equivalent graphical processing power, why would someone toss money away on a low cost GPU? Hopefully this does not mean a resurgence of GPUs that cost $1000+.
"In 2011, with the full scale production of scalar X86CPUs with powerful multi-core, SIMD graphics processing elements, a true inflection point has occurred in the PC and related industries. And, as a result, the ubiquitous and stalwart IGP- integrated graphics processor, is fading out of existence. For several reasons, many people believed (and some hoped) the CPU and the GPU would never be integrated:
- GPUs are characterized by a high level of complexity, with power and cooling demands, and dramatically different memory management needs.
- GPU design cycles are faster than those of the CPU.
- The GPU has grown in complexity compared to the CPU, exceeding the transistor count, and matching or exceeding the die size of the CPU.
- The x86 has steadily increased in complexity, power consumption, and become multi-core."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Google will redirect all its accounts to SSL search @ The Inquirer
- ARM, TSMC tape out first 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 multi-core processor @ DigiTimes
- Stuxnet-derived malware found infecting SCADA makers @ The Register
- AMD's FX-8150 further overclocked @ The Tech Report
- Intel mocks PC slowdown, laughs at skittish economy @ The Register
- NVIDIA GeForce LAN Day 2 & 3 Coverage @ Hardware Canucks
Buy a cheap graphics card and get a free attached CPU, Llano's mixed results
Subject: Processors | June 30, 2011 - 12:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: lynx, llano, igp, amd, a8-3850, 6550d, 3850
Long story short, the new AMD A8-3850 simply can't compete with Intel's SandyBridge processors as an x86 CPU but as an integrated GPU it is better than anything we or The Tech Report have seen before.
The actual story is far more complicated for the Llano true quad core processor. On the CPU side of the APU equation, it can handle the Core i3-2100 which is it's closest competition on the majority of multithreaded tasks, though it falls behind on single threaded applications. The price war is also on AMD's side as you would need to pair a discrete GPU with the i3-2100 in order to match the graphics performance. The other very important are where AMD falls is power consumption; sure at idle it uses very little power but when operating at full speed it consumes almost as much power as an i7-2600.
On the GPU side we see better gaming performance than anything else out there, assuming you stick to DX10 and DX11 games as DX9 games can have some issues with Llano. That holds especially true of Hybrid Crossfire, as when Ryan paired the A8-3850 with discrete Radeon cards he ran into difficulties in some games. You can read about that in his full review.
"AMD's "Llano" APU makes a compelling proposition as a laptop chip, but its position on the desktop is more precarious. Read on to find out why—and whether it can overcome that hurdle."
Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
- The AMD A8-3850 Review: Llano on the Desktop @ AnandTech
- AMD Llano A8-3850 APU @ TechwareLabs
- AMD A8-3850 Llano APU Review @ OCC
- AMD A8-A3850 APU and Lynx @ Bjorn3d
- AMD A8-3850 Llano APU & Gigabyte A75M-UD2H Review @ Neoseeker
- AMD A8-3850 APU Review: The Arrival of Llano @Hi Tech Legion
- AMD A8-3850 (Llano) APU and A55/A75 Chipset @ Tweaktown
- AMD A8-3850 APU @ Overclockers.com
- AMD Llano A8-3850 APU and Gigabyte A75-UD4H Launch Review @ HardwareHeaven
- AMD A8-3850 APU Review: Llano Hits the Desktop @ Hardware Canucks
- AMD A8-3850 Llano APU @ Techspot
- AMD Llano APU: The Future is Fusion @ InsideHW
- Intel Pentium G850, Pentium G840 and Pentium G620 @ X-bit Labs
AMD A-Series Desktop Processors Set the APU Bar
Subject: Processors | June 30, 2011 - 10:51 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: lynx, llano, igp, amd, a8-3850, 6550d, 3850
AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced availability for the AMD Fusion A-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) A8-3850 and A6-3650 desktop processors. The AMD A8-3850 and A6-3650 desktop processors will enable a high- performance experience for desktop users, including brilliant HD graphics, supercomputer-like performance, and incredibly fast application speeds.
Both the AMD A8-3850 and A6-3650 desktop processors combine four x86 CPU cores with powerful DirectX®11-capable discrete-level graphics, and up to 400 Radeon™ cores along with dedicated HD video processing on a single chip. Only AMD Fusion APUs offer true AMD Dual Graphics, with up to 120 percent visual performance boost*, when paired with select AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series graphics cards. Consumers can achieve supercomputer-like performance of more than 500 gigaflops compute capacity and enjoy rapid content transfers via USB 3.0.
All A-Series processors are powered by AMD VISION Engine Software, which is composed of AMD Catalyst™ graphics driver, AMD OpenCL driver and the AMD VISION Engine Control Center. With this suite of software, users get regular updates designed to improve system performance and stability, and can add new software enhancements.
With a suggested retail price of $135, the AMD A8-3850 desktop processor operates at 2.9GHz (CPU) and 600MHz (GPU) with 400 Radeon™ Cores, 4MB of L2 cache and a TDP of 100W.
The AMD A6-3650 desktop processor has clock speeds of 2.6GHz (CPU) and 443MHz (GPU) with 320 Radeon™ Cores, 4MB of L2 cache and a TDP of 100W. The suggested retail price of the AMD A6-3650 desktop processor is $115.
In an increasingly digital and visually oriented world, consumers demand more responsive multitasking, vivid graphics, lifelike games, lag-free videos, and ultimate multimedia performance. AMD A8-3850 and A6-3650 desktop processors enable these visually stunning end-user experiences.
FM1 motherboards for the A-Series APUs are available now from leading original design manufacturers (ODMs), including ASUS, ASRock, Biostar, ECS, Foxconn (Hong Hai Precision), Gigabyte, Jetway, MSI and Sapphire.
AMD A8-3850 and A6-3650 desktop processors are scheduled to be available for purchase through system builders and at major online retailers, including Amazon, CyberPower Inc., iBuyPower, Newegg and TigerDirect beginning July 3, 2011. Additional processors are scheduled to be available later this year.
AMD A8-3850 and A6-3650 desktop processors, and the corresponding FM1 motherboards, were created with desktop consumers and gamers in mind.
Read about the AMD A-Series features and performance here.
Learn about the software advantage with AMD A-Series desktop processors here.


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Posts Taggedstargazing
It would take a cold heart to write off the night sky as merely sparks of light in the blackness. Yes, gazing upwards on a clear evening provides a beautiful show, but it also offers a perspective of our location in the middle of everything. So, it seems bizarre that astronomy is often thought of as a niche hobby of knitwear-clothed nerds, but perhaps that perception can be attributed to the depth of mind-stored knowledge that has traditionally been required to fully appreciate the heavens.
It seems to me that this perception is due an update. Information about the stars has never been more accessible, thanks to technology and, in particular, apps. One of the first generation of standout iOS apps was GoSkyWatch, which utilized the iPad's accelerometers and compass to allow users to pan around a virtual sky filled with information. But sometimes, you just want to digest information in the light, warm surroundings of your sitting room.
Hence, there seems to be a place for OSX apps like RedShift Astronomy. Packed with information, and brimming with 3D visualizations, this $18.99 offering should be a hit with anyone interested in exploring the universe. But does it do the magnificence of space true justice?


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Wounded Soldier Reunites With Dog Found in Afghanistan [VIDEO]
While on tour of duty in Afghanistan, soldier Donny Eslinger adopted an adorable dog that he named Smoke-pup Barbarian. But after he was critically wounded during a mortar attack and shipped to Germany, Eslinger was forced to leave the pooch behind.
But thanks to the efforts of an organization called The Puppy Rescue Mission, Eslinger was recently reunited with the war pup. The two are now enjoying each other's company in Bethesda, MA, where Eslinger is recovering. Hopefully both Smoke-pup and Eslinger were given a hero's welcome.
[via Today]


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In 53 games for the Dodgers, Ramirez batted .396 with 17 HR and 53 RBI. No doubt, despite that short window of playing time, he'll get some MVP consideration.
That's fine, as long as the Mets don't give him any consideration in the off-season. The Mets, their problems hitting with RISP, were still second in the league in runs scored. They need to spent the money on pitching.


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Richard Marcel Smith
Richard Marcel Smith, 77, of Bridge Street, Johnsonburg, died suddenly at home Friday, May 24, 2013.He was born on Dec. 30, 1935 in Kane, the son of Dewey Marcel and Linda Wilhelmina (Anderson) Smith. A Johnsonburg resident, he graduated from Wilcox Area High School and Penn State University, with both a Bachelor of Science and a Master's Degree.On June 14, 1958, he married Gwendolyn Preston Smith, who passed away March 28, 2010. Rich was active in many organizations in the community. He was most known for his work with the Johnsonburg Public Library, where he has been Board President for many years. An avid genealogist, he was the founder and first president of the Elk County Genealogy Society and the American Swedish Historical Museum's Genealogy Club. He was also an officer of the Elk County Community Foundation and several Johnsonburg-based associations.Rich was a dedicated teacher and his proudest professional accomplishment was serving as Program Leader and Professor of Business Administration at the Penn State University, DuBois Campus.Rich is survived by his daughter, Adrienne Danielle Jonsson; his son-in-law, Lars Ruben Lennartsson Jonsson; and his two beloved grandchildren, Renee Christina Karolin Smith Jonsson and Ronan Alexander Daniel Smith Jonsson, all of Kennett Square; as well as his sister, Phyllis (Harold) Hagman of Kane; and several nieces and nephews.Besides his wife, he was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, James Nevin Smith; and a sister, Eileen Beverly Rhoads.Visitation will be held at the Ubel Funeral Home on Tuesday from 7-9 p.m., Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., and Thursday from 10-11 a.m. Funeral Services will be at the Ubel Funeral Home on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 11 a.m., with Pastor Stephen Fair officiating. Interment will be in Laurel Hill Cemetery.Rich asked that any donations be made to the Johnsonburg Public Library.Military honors will be accorded by the Johnsonburg/Wilcox Servicemen's Detail. Military members are asked to assemble 10:45 a.m., Thursday at the Funeral Home.


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1 Henderson Street
Post Office Box 452
Stearns, Kentucky 42647
Ph: 606-376-5730
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Located in the heart of Historic Stearns, the McCreary County Museum is housed in the old Stearns Coal and Lumber Company Corporate headquarters, built in 1907. The Museum was founded in 1988 and we invite everyone to visit and explore our unique history.
The Museum is filled with historic documents, objects, and photographs pertaining to Historic Stearns and McCreary County, including exhibits that demonstrate the culture and lifestyle of McCreary Countians over the years. Our Museum overlooks the town of Stearns which features the Big South Fork Scenic Railway and local craft and gift shops.
April: Thursday thru Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm
May thru October: Wednesday thru Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm, and Sunday 11 am to 4 pm
November: Thursday thru Saturday, 11 am to 4 pm – Closed Thanksgiving Day. Annual Christmas Open House: 2nd Saturday of December 12 pm to 4 pm
December thru March: By appointment only.
Admission Prices:
Adults: $5.00 Seniors: $4.00 Children (ages 5-12): $3.00 Children under 5: FREE Museum Members: FREE McCreary County Residents: Half Price Tuesday thru Saturday
We are located 1 ½ hours from Knoxville, Tennessee and 2 ½ hours from Lexington, Kentucky. We are approximately 45 minutes from the Cumberland Falls State Park and Rugby Tennessee and 30 min from Burnside Island State Park. Feel free to call for directions or more information at 606-376-5730.
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Foliage Plants
Single Foliage Plant in Decorative ContainerFrom Price:$49.95
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Indoor Plants: Green for the Office
Does your office need a little bit of green? Our lush foliage plants can create a warm, comforting environment. Studies show that living plants at the workplace can enhance productivity, lower stress, and improve air quality for employees. Office planters provided by Kremp Florist are great for creating a calm work environment. They can be placed on a desk, in an entryway, in a sunny office, or on top of filing cabinets. Managers can give indoor plant gifts to both reward employees and create a "green" work environment, fostering a warmer company culture. For low-light or even underground work environments, we also have artificial and silk options that can help create that friendlier environment as well. If you'd like to order office planters in bulk, feel free to call us at 1-800-34-KREMP for more details.
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A new small business such as a salon, restaurant, or shop could also benefit from the warmth of an indoor plant. Delivery is available across the U.S., and we can also ship to U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and Guam. Enhance an outdoor dining space with a tree or large bush, or brighten customers' day with indoor green plants. Find a plant that will match your business's style. Feel free to ask for help and advice by calling or using the online live help feature at the top of the page: There's no pressure to buy! Indoor plant delivery is easy and reliable. Our plants are grown in our greenhouses until they're ready to be delivered, so you know that they will be full, verdant, and fresh.
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Perhaps you're looking at indoor plants to give to a new homeowner. There are a lot of options for this kind of gift; consider getting a lovely wreath for their front door as well. Someone moving into a new home can choose from a wide array of foliage plants and find something great for a porch, a sunlight hallway, a kitchen, or a living room. With many different color and vase options, you can also match something to your particular sense of style. These long-lasting plants can, with the proper care, continue to bring warmth to a new home. Ferns, ivy, and palm are also great sympathy gifts as well, considering that they can continue to remind people of their loved ones after they've passed away. Brighten someone's home with an indoor plant! Gifts like this could be appreciated for months or even years with these easy-to-care for plants. Please feel free to call us with any questions about your gift!
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8BitBoy is out of a job, and quite frankly he's depressed about it. Then he suddenly remembers all the good times he had as a kid, playing his trusted 8-bit console. He finds it in the far and darkest corner of the basement along with a strange looking cartridge. He plugs in the cartridge right away, and get sucked into this vivid world of platforming. And this is where your adventure takes off.
COPYRIGHT (C) 2005 - 2015 , Gdosoft Associates . ALL RIGHT RESERVED


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Two World Championship matches, a mixed six-man tag contest featuring a celebrity from MTV's hit TV show Jersey Shore and a No Holds Barred meeting with The Streak on the line. It is a stacked WrestleMania lineup that is sure to draw a good buyrate. However, when scanning the card there is one encounter which no one thought they would ever see and it is certainly one that a lot of people are talking about.
The Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler contest is one that has got a lot of people intrigued heading into WrestleMania 27.
Will this match be the best encounter on the card? No, absolutely not. Nobody is expecting Cole, who has never wrestled a professional match before and the 61-year-old Lawler to have a five-star classic. But with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Jack Swagger and possibly Jim Ross and John Bradshaw Layfield's involvement included, this contest could very well be the hidden gem of of the "Showcase of the Immortals" in Atlanta.
Former WWE referee Jim Korderas is one looking forward to it. "Here's a guy who was the number one guy in his territory for so many years, came to the WWF at the time, more in a commentator role. He did some wrestling, but that wasn't his primary duty in the WWE," he said. "And now, he's in one of the most high-profile programs in WrestleMania this year. At 61-years-old, he still has the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. He knows how to get himself, and not only himself, he's getting the whole angle over."
This feud has been built better than anyone expected, even if it it is a similar match to the Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon contest last year. It is being said that this is the storyline that Vince McMahon himself is currently enjoying the most, and contributing to.
There is little doubt that Cole is getting heat, hotter than one of JR's two-dollar steaks. No one can argue that Cole hasn't been given a fair chance since taking over the reins on WWE's flagship show Monday Night Raw, which is what makes Cole's character, this feud, and its storyline that much more intriguing.
Fans are begging for Lawler to extract his revenge on that "rat bastard" Cole; they have an emotional attachment to this story as most fans are still adamant, like Lawler must be, that it should still be JR sitting at ringside next to The King instead of Cole.
"Cole is too good to have saddled to the announcing chair, especially when his character is all over the place, sometimes rooting for babyfaces and justices and then indiscriminately rooting for the opposite," wrote Wade Keller in a Pro Wrestling Torch column.
Since joining WWE, Cole played the role of understudy to then lead play-by-play announcer; he seemed a natural choice to take over from the Oklahoman Ross when the time was right.
That time came in 2009, when Ross was unceremoniously shoved out of the door after being unexpectedly drafted to Smackdown the year prior. McMahon had decided it was Cole's time and had him replace the WWE Hall of Famer, permanently on WWE's flagship show, whether the fans liked it or not.
Of course, the ticket buying public didn't like it. Fans clamored for good ol' JR and the harder Cole tried to be accepted by the WWE fans, the more he was despised. Fans just weren't ready to let go of Ross, which is a testament to how good Ross was rather than how bad Cole is.
In 2010, plans seemed in place to try and get Cole over as an obnoxious antagonist play-by-play announcer. It was with his constant praise of The Miz that Cole cultivated his heat. Cole's infatuation for The Miz eventually saw him cross paths with his own broadcast colleague, long-time WWE employee and Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler. Lawler is a pro wrestling legend and a well-traveled veteran who is well received by the WWE fan base much like his friend Ross.
Despite being in the company since 1993, Lawler had hardly been a top of the card wrestler. Yet on the November 29, 2010 episode of Raw, The King was granted a WWE Championship match in a Table, Ladders and Chairs contest against the The Miz. Lawler came within an eyelash of capturing the title before outside interference from Alex Riley and eventually Cole cost him the Championship.
Lawler won the right to face The Miz for the Championship again at Elimination Chamber after being victorious in a seven-man Royal Rumble match on Raw. The night after Lawler challenged Cole to a WrestleMania match on the February 21, 2011 edition of Monday Night Raw at the Save Mart arena in Fresno, California. Cole responded by chucking a glass of water in the Hall of Famer's face and running away.
While Cole never answered the challenge that night he did accept it on Raw the next week. His decision would mark the first time that Lawler (and, of course, Cole) would compete at a WrestleMania event. Cole also announced that Jack Swagger would be his trainer for the contest and that there would be a special guest referee.
Cole, hoped to announce John Bradshaw Layfield the guest referee on March 7th edition of Raw, however these plans were thwarted when Steve Austin instead signed the contract thus making him the special guest referee for the contest.
With these added elements in the mix the Lawler vs. Cole clash could have the potential to be a WrestleMania highlight. So while all the talk may be about the championships, celebrity involvement and The Streak, it's amazing to think that potentially this encounter could have more people talking about it than some of the main attraction bouts that are scheduled.
Former WCW announcer Mark Madden, in a column at WrestleZone, credits The King for the success of the angle, given his years of experience.
"Lawler is doing his opportunity justice. He comes across as a guy who used to be great trying to remember how to be great, and coming just close enough to make us believe. He's not convinced, but he's hopeful, and his hatred for Michael Cole's arrogance, disrespect and malfeasance fuels him. It�s like the final Rocky movie, only better," Madden wrote. "That's not how WWE booked it. Their creative team isn�t that bright. Lawler just knows what to do. Always has."
Darren Wood is a freelance journalist in the United Kingdom, working for various publications including SLAM! Wrestling, Fighting Spirit Magazine and The Wrestling Press.


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Getty Images
Dwight Freeney's first season with the Chargers is over after four games.
Freeney, the veteran outside linebacker who signed with the Chargers in May, is headed to injured reserve and out for the year, U-T San Diego reports.
Freeney suffered a torn quad in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Cowboys, and he will require at least a few months of recovery time.
Although he only had half a sack, the 33-year-old Freeney was off to a good start with the Chargers, getting consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks and starting all four games. He'll be tough for the Chargers to replace.
Freeney still has another season left on the two-year deal he signed with the Chargers, so he may be back in San Diego in 2014.


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Description: The perfect gift for the sports car lover that has everything - the Tonino Lamborghini Bed by Magniflex. In splashes of red, black and white, Magniflex's latest mattress dons the Tonino Lamborghini logo throughout the ticking, while the mattress itself features signature performance elements of Magniflex mattresses, including a temperature-regulating fabric and Memoform, the company's proprietary, open cell memory foam.
Price: $1,799.00 Visit the Website
HEAD REV 85 Skis
Description: HEAD's latest all mountain collection is bringing about a new REVolution to skiing. The REV 85 skis not only look great, with designs by American Artist Pete Thomas, but perform even better. Equipped with HEAD's ERA 3.0 technology, a feature that provides a wider bandwidth of performance in every kind of terrain, the REV 85 is simply Rocker made right. The result is superior steering, tremendous turning and a more stable, comfortable ride. Ensuring maximum performance, the ERA 3.0 technology features a highly targeted amount of rocker in each model making steering easier and enhancing soft snow versatility. Featuring HEAD's Progressive Radius, up to 50% less angulation is required for full edge contact, providing more edge grip. Intellirise Technology adds an additional element to these versatile skis in the form of intellifibers. Positioned in the tip of the ski, the intellifibers transform vibrations into electrical energy, allowing the ski to become more stable as speed increases. This new feature eliminates the nasty tip vibrations found in regular rockers. With unrivaled versatility and game changing performance, the REV 85 is sure to lead the charge of change in today's ski equipment. The REV 85 is availalbe in lengths of 163/170/177/184
Price: $699.00 Visit the Website
HEAD Oblivion Skis
Description: The #1 choice of Freeskier Simon Dumont, HEAD's Oblivion skis are a force to be reckoned with. When you take these wide-and-light skis for a spin you'll feel as if you can give Dumont a run for his money. Featuring some of HEAD's most eye catching visuals, the Oblivion graphics were designed by New York artist Justink, (a.k.a Justin Kaufman) who delivered an incomparable product that ski just as fine as they look. The technology behind these pipe and park skis allows the most discerning athlete to perform heads and shoulders above the rest of the predictable pack. Park and Pipe Rocker construction incorporates tip and tail rise with regular camber underfoot. Composed of a 30% Rocker – 70% Camber blend the PNP gives these skis a significant amount of pop and energy for boosting tricks. A Sandwich Twintip Construction blends a full vertical laminate wood core for durability and HEAD's bomber Independent Suspensions system for killing chatter. Tuffwalls, impact resistant ABS sidewalls, are designed to take a beating while maintaining responsiveness. A highly transparent UHM base equips this board for blistering speeds. Whether you're grinding the pipes, catching air at the park or coasting down the big mountains, you can let this construction rip. The Oblivion is available in lengths 171/176/181
Price: $575.00 Visit the Website
HEAD MYA No.8 Skis
Description: HEAD's cohesive women's MYA collection returns as a vastly improved series in its second year. Highlighted by the MYA No.8, these sleek skis feature the game changing, ERA 3.0 technology and attention grabbing graphics designed by BMW Group Designworks USA. HEAD's ERA 3.0 unites carving and freeriding by combining three important elements, Allride Rocker, Radius and Rebound which work together to make skiing more fun at every ability level. The high-end sandwich cap construction of the MYA No. 8 is a testament to HEAD's tradition of excellence and commitment to engineering durable skis to outlast any condition. The combination of the capped sidewall edge and the bomber construction make for one incredible allcountry ski. Providing the perfect combination of fashion and function, the MYA No. 8 features a highly transparent UHM C Base which allows gorgeous graphic details to shine through. Available in lengths 149/156/163/170 the MYA No. 8 defines beauty and performance.
Price: $549.00 Visit the Website
HEAD AdaptEdge 100 MYA Ski Boots
Description: Boots fit to the female anatomy, riding style and taste is what HEAD's women's boots are all about. With women's specific flex index and looks to match, HEAD's AdaptEdge 100 MYA boots are perfectly suited to a woman's style and riding ability. The AdaptEdge 100 MYA is equipped with HEAD's patented Adaptive Fit Technology featuring a forefoot last that is adjustable with the turn of a screw. In one short second, consumers can easily change the width of their boots from 104mm to 102mm and vice versa. This adaptive fit brings a level of comfort and performance never before seen in boots. Perfect precision and comfort come easy with the AdaptEdge 100 MYA boots with the addition of HeatFit Liners which include multi-component liners with moldable inserts. In just five minutes your feet will feel be as hot as the graphics on your skis. Complete with double power spine-tech buckles and an easy entry shell, the AdaptEdge 100 MYA are the perfect boots for women who want to be on top of their skiing all day, every day. Available in sizes 220-230-235-…-275.
Price: $525.00 Visit the Website
GolfBuddy Platinum
Description: Set to replace the technological pioneer of the original GolfBuddy Platinum, this new unit includes several exciting new features, but is still as easy to use as its predecessor. The Platinum uses modern day technology to help golfers take charge of their game by offering the most reliable and comprehensive information available to make smart decisions during their round. Enhanced features in the Platinum make it durable, easy to use and versatile. An enhanced TFT-LCD screen boasts brighter colors, crisper images and easier functionality. A pressure active sensitive touch screen makes usability easy and can be navigated while wearing a golf glove, or a golf tee. A long lasting, built-in, rechargeable battery will allow up three rounds of play. Finally, an overall refined design makes the GolfBuddy Platinum II the sleek looking, must have golf accessory of this season. The Platinum can store up to 40,000 courses in its memory, and comes preloaded with over 35,000 courses from all around the globe. As with all GolfBuddy products, there are no annual membership fees, and no hidden costs to download courses. The Platinum is ready to go out of the box.
Price: $399.99 Visit the Website
COBRA Golf ZL Encore Driver
Description: The club that's a perfect gift for course-goers of all abilities is available in red this fall, just in time for the holiday season. The ZL Encore Driver features E9 Face Technology with dual roll and a multi-material construction with a carbon fiber crown and sole for ultimate performance, maximum forgives and maximum distance. In addition to E9 Face Technology with dual roll, the ZL Encore Driver features an advanced multi-material construction, Adjustable Flight Technology, Golf Pride® New-Decade Multi-Compound grip and Tour-proven Fujikura® Motore F1 and F3 shafts.
Price: $399.99 Visit the Website
HEAD She's Good Flocka
Description: If you're a rookie girl looking to up your freestyle skills, HEAD's She's Good Flocka is the perfect option for you. Providing the ultimate fun and forgiving platform to experiment with, girls can now experience the unparalleled benefits of Flocka. Freestyling is fun and accessible with the Flocka Twin, a freestyle beast that combines the precision of true camber with the broken-in feel of rocker. Made from handpicked full-length popular stringers, the core of this board is lively and long lasting while an extruded base makes it fast, durable and easy to maintain. Like all other HEAD boards, a glass weave laminate is incorporated into a cruiser jacket that provides a smooth and effortless ride. The She's Good Flocka boasts a fun and poppy design with bursts of bright colors. The design and technology behind this board will make you a force to be reckoned with on the mountain. The She's Good Flocka is available in lengths 138/142/146/150/152.
Price: $299.00 Visit the Website
HEAD Team Boa Hybrid Snowboard Boots
Description: Bound to stand out on the mountain, this boot features HEAD's most daring design yet. Bold contrasting colors are complimented by an intricately detailed tattoo design, crafted by tattoo artist Farbrausch, who has inked more than a handful of our HEAD riders. Tattoo fanatics and snowboard enthusiasts alike can appreciate this masterpiece of durable artwork. The technology behind the Team BOA Hybrid is just as impressive as its colorful exterior. Our team demands a lot from their boots and with the Team BOA Hybrid, we delivered. The FPT (Foot Power Transmission) insole is put together using 3 different densities for maximum performance. First, there is a stiffer material that surrounds your heel for a locked-in grip feel. Next, a shock absorbing pad under heel soaks up heaving landings to keep your feet relaxed even on hard packed snow. Finally, a softer forefoot construction gives additional comfort, all while keeping your hard working toes warm all day long. Available in sizes 5.5 – 13.5
Price: $299.00 Visit the Website
HEAD YouTek IG Prestige S
Description: For 25 years, one racquet has redefined maximum control and feel on the court and has in the process become a legend itself: the HEAD Prestige. To celebrate a quarter of a century of Prestige racquet excellence, HEAD is launching the revitalized YouTek™ IG Prestige series for 2012 and adding the innovative S-model to the range. In line with HEAD's YouTek™ philosophy of combining superior technologies to provide each player with the right racquet for his or her individual needs, the new S-Model will enable more tennis players to experience the unique playing characteristics of the legendary Prestige. The special setup and reduced weight of the Prestige S allows for a broader range of players to use it. The racquet features a new 16/19 double grommet string pattern for a more comfortable game and better sound, while a unique new shaft construction yields improved ergonomic and enhanced torsional stiffness.
Price: $210.00 Visit the Website
HEAD YouTek IG Radical S
Description: In line with HEAD's YouTek™ philosophy of combining superior technologies to provide each player with the right racquet for his or her individual needs, the innovative Radical S is designed to enable more tennis players to experience the unique playing characteristics of HEAD's tour racquet models. The special setup of the S-model, featuring a bigger headsize and reduced weight, makes it easier for a broader range of players to play with it. All HEAD Radical racquets are marked by a continued dedication to the core values of creativity and a fresh, radical approach to tennis equipment providing versatility on the court. Made for creative players with a wide variety of shots, the Radical line now features further improved technology and includes the S-model next to the well-established Pro, MP and OS versions.
Price: $200.00 Visit the Website
GolfBuddy Voice
Description: Speaking accurate distances to the front, middle and back of the green on more than 35,000+ preloaded worldwide golf courses, GolfBuddy Voice represents an exciting new category of GPS rangefinders from the world's leading developer of golf distance measuring solutions, GolfBuddy. As small as a golf ball yet light enough to be clipped comfortably on the brim of a hat, visor, or belt, GolfBuddy Voice is incredibly easy to use. Yardages are provided simply by pressing the button on the face of the unit and the distance to the center of the green is shown numerically and provided verbally, alongside the hole number and par. As with all GolfBuddy GPS products, the Voice is 100% fee-free with no annual subscriptions or course download charges to pay after purchase.
Price: $199.00 Visit the Website
Swingbyte 3D Golf Swing Analyzer
Description: New to the market this year, Swingbyte is a 3D swing analyzer for golfers in search of a better golf swing. It's a teaching device that allows swing data to be instantly accessed via smartphone or tablet devices. Swingbyte was named one of the "12 coolest" products introduced at this year's PGA Merchandise Show by Golf Digest. Here's how it works: Weighing less than an ounce, the device attaches to any club just below the grip and transmits a digitized version of the swing - via Bluetooth - to Android and Apple smartphones and tablets upon contact with the ball. The swing image – along with measurements of club head speed, swing plane, face angle, loft and lie angles and tempo – can be viewed during practice sessions and archived in the cloud for future reference. With the information Swingbyte makes available, golfers can pinpoint swing flaws and work on their own or with an instructor to correct them. Available online and at at over 1,800 AT&T store locations nationwide, purchase includes one free year of access to an online account with rich analytics and instructional content. Also for a limited time, orders placed through Swingbyte.com receive a two-year subscription to LINKS magazine. A demo can be seen at the following link: https://vimeo.com/44048517.
Price: $149.00 Visit the Website
Mophie OUTRIDE
Description: Developed by mophie, the OUTRIDE transforms the iPhone 4/4S into a dedicated action sports camera, eliminating the need to buy a dedicated camera that can cost upwards of $300. By harnessing the existing features of the iPhone and the free OUTRIDE app available on iTunes, consumers have the power to record, edit and share content instantly to the OUTRIDE community page as well as various social media networks.
Price: $129.95 to $149.95 Visit the Website
Cobra Digital HD Action Sports Camera
Description: So many great features! This Action Sports Camera does it all! Take 5MP still images, HD video, or mount to your car windshield for continuous recording. The touch screen display allows you to easily switch modes and zoom in and out. It includes a waterproof case (up to 10ft), car charger, mounting brackets, and so much more! 2" touch screen display HD video 5 mega pixel camera waterproof casing Mounting brackets SD card (32GB max) Internal rechargeable battery USB 2.0 interface Colors: Blue or gold
Price: $124.95 to $134.95 Visit the Website
Office Depot Monster ISport Headphones
Description: While it's often difficult for shoppers to pick the perfect gift for their fitness-loving friends and family, Office Depot offers a wide variety of headphones to help amp up every workout, including the iSport Headphones. What better way to power through a workout than with your favorite playlist? iSport headphones—the athlete's headphone—are sweat-proof and washable, with a patented super-secure in-ear clip design. They are the perfect accessory for every athlete, delivering superior sound performance from the mountains to the basketball court. For more information on Office Depot or iSport Headphones, please visit www.officedepot.com.
Price: $99.99 Visit the Website
Kahuna Creations Longboard & Big Stick
Description: Kahuna Creations, designers of superior-quality longboard skateboards and surfboards, has changed the face of longboarding with their invention of the patent-pending Land Paddle, called the Kahuna Big Stick. Designed to enhance the longboard experience on pavement, the Kahuna Big Stick is much like a stand-up paddle (SUP) used by paddle boarders in the ocean. Providing control and braking capabilities while offering an unparalleled upper-body workout and the sweetest ride on land, Kahuna Creations has taken board riding to a whole new plateau by making it accessible to the masses. Almost anyone can learn how to Land Paddle. Since Land Paddling with the Kahuna Big Stick eliminates the need for riders to push with their feet and helps maintain balance while turning and carving, people of all ages and skill levels can now enjoy riding a longboard. Riders merely pull themselves forward with strokes of the paddle. The most advanced riders love the thrill of riding the beautifully-designed Kahuna boards, reaching top speeds and maneuvering tricks, while beginners are equally stoked to start riding a Kahuna board with ease. Newcomers can quickly enjoy cruising on the longboard while simultaneously engaging in a fun upper body and core workout.
Price: $99.00 to $300.00 Visit the Website
Golf-Themed Humidor
Description: Elegant Mahogany Humidor featuring a signature panoramic print of your choice by world-renowned golf landscape photographer Patrick Drickey. Licensed by the PGA of America, Drickey's images are among the most prestigious and sought after in the golfing industry, and are the central features of his golf-related gifts. The humidor is large enough to hold your favorite cigars at just the right temperature/humidity settings (dimensions are 12" x 7" x 3") and can be personalized with the image and message of your choice. Quality construction, furniture-grade Mahogany finish and cedar-lined interior. With more than 850,000 prints in circulation, Stonehouse's panoramic images of the world's most distinguished golf holes have become well known throughout the golf industry and its most famous players. Drickey's image for the 2010 British Open was selected for all contestants to autograph and now hangs at the clubhouse in St Andrews. His prints also grace the private collections of legendary golfers like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Nearly 300 of the world's most prestigious golf courses are captured in hundreds of images in the Stonehouse Golf Collection, which can be viewed on the company's website at www.stonehousegolf.com.
Price: $95.00 Visit the Website
Golf-Themed Desk/Dresser Caddie
Description: Elegant Desk/Dresser Caddie featuring a signature panoramic print of your choice by world-renowned golf landscape photographer Patrick Drickey. Licensed by the PGA of America, Drickey's images are among the most prestigious and sought after in the golfing industry, and are the central features of his golf-related gifts. The caddie is large enough to hold TV remotes, keepsakes or a couple sleeves of golf balls (dimensions are 12.5" x 7" x 3.25") and can be personalized with the image and message of your choice. Quality construction, furniture-grade Mahogany finish and velvet-lined interior. With more than 850,000 prints in circulation, Stonehouse's panoramic images of the world's most distinguished golf holes have become well known throughout the golf industry and its most famous players. Drickey's image for the 2010 British Open was selected for all contestants to autograph and now hangs at the clubhouse in St Andrews. His prints also grace the private collections of legendary golfers like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Nearly 300 of the world's most prestigious golf courses are captured in hundreds of images in the Stonehouse Golf Collection, which can be viewed on the company's website at www.stonehousegolf.com.
Price: $65.00 Visit the Website
Wenger Blackout EvoGrip 10
Description: Wenger, Maker of the Genuine Swiss Army Knife, has introduced a new family of highly durable and stylish knives, the Blackout Series. With as many as nine implements and 13 different functions, the Blackout Series incorporates the exceptional functionality and Swiss craftsmanship found in every Wenger Swiss Army Knife. The Blackout EvoGrip 10, equipped with rubber inlays for additional comfort and safety, features nine implements that provide up to 13 functions, including a 2.5" Blade, a patented locking flat screwdriver, corkscrew, wire stripper and nail file, among others. With an MSRP of $89.95, this new tool will become a key in the EvoGrip line of knives. The Blackout EvoGrip 63 is equally impressive, with six implements that provide up to eight functions, including a PVD coated blade, screwdriver with safety lock system, can opener and corkscrew, to name a few.
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Wenger Sports Glasses Collection
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Wednesday, July 3, 2013
The Danny Thomas Wonderful World of Burlesque with guests Milton Frome, Martha Raye and the Three Stooges (1965)
Posted by Kliph Nesteroff at 12:00 AM
Labels: 1965, Danny Thomas, Martha Raye, milton frome, Three Stooges
2 comments:
So the continuous question that has bedeviled all mankind since 1958 once again escapes final resolution: Was Joe DeRita, even for one second, ever funny? You can go through his three pre-Stooges 1946-47 Joe DeRita short subjects and the sundry '60s Stooge theatrical features searching in vain for a truly humorous moment that he personally provides. That having been said, I love the Stooges, all six of them as well as near-Stooge Emil Sitka. But not Ted Healy.
- July 3, 2013 at 2:41 PM
- Tony G. Pizza said...
He was funny enough. All he had to be was cute and sweet enough for children. He played a huge part in the Stooges' 60s revival.
- July 14, 2013 at 8:38 PM
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National Book Award winner Colum McCann's ninth book, "TransAtlantic," is a fictionalized exploration of three historic journeys between North America and Ireland. He talked about his new novel, which hits bookstores on June 4, by phone from his birthplace, Dublin.
How did this book come about?
One of the stories that obsessed me was the idea that Frederick Douglass had gone to Ireland at the age of 27 in 1845. He came to do a lecture tour — he was on the abolitionists' circuit — and at the same time, the Irish famine began in 1845. So I was basically corralled by the notion of a black slave — he was still a slave at the time — being in Dublin and what it might be like. But I also wanted to bring it up to the present day, right up to Obama's visit in 2011.
Actually, Obama had mentioned Frederick Douglass when he came to visit Ireland. So there were other things that I also wanted to write about, especially [former U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland] George Mitchell and the peace process, which was another image that corralled me — this great relationship between these two countries. I wanted to write an alternative Irish and American history — not necessarily an Irish-American history but an Irish and American history.
Of course, you also wrote about the first transatlantic flight as well. Why did you lace these three journeys together?
On one level, simply because they were transatlantic journeys. But they're also journeys by heroes, and in some respects, they were journeys that were somewhat forgotten. Also, most people tend to think that the first transatlantic flight was done by Lindbergh. That was the first solo transatlantic flight. So [British aviators John] Alcock and [Arthur] Brown, even though there's a statue to them in Galway, not everybody knows these things. Of course, people know George Mitchell, but I don't think he's ever been fully praised for the most incredible part he played in bringing about our peace. To me it was a chance to braid those stories together in a sort of latticework that acknowledges that history is made both over larger moments and smaller moments too.
Two of your stories are about people who are no longer alive, but, of course, George Mitchell is still alive. Did you discuss "Transatlantic" with him?
Yes. I wrote to him and his wife and I asked if they would allow me to imaginatively enter their landscape. His wife, Heather, is a literary agent. And she agreed. But I also said I didn't want to meet him, that I wanted to imaginatively enter his space. So I spent about six months trying to imagine what it was like to be him. And then I sent them the manuscript so they could tell me what I got wrong and what I got right, and thankfully and curiously, a lot of it was right.
Did you eventually interview him?
I did, after I'd written the first draft. That's when I spent four hours with him and asked questions about the peace process. I also interviewed Tony Blair, the former British prime minister. But the first way to enter it was to enter it imaginatively, because there was a sort of freedom there that you don't necessarily get. Even on the first page, I talk about Mitchell changing his son's diaper. History doesn't change people's diapers, but fiction can. It's interesting if you can talk about the large moments and also the small moments to understand the deepest complexities of a man by trying to imagine who they are.
That leads me to my next question, which is why do you write novels about real people? I know you were a journalist earlier in your career. Were you frustrated by nonfiction's limitations?
No, not at all. The book is half-fiction, half-nonfiction, but they both intersect with one another, so the fictional characters are interlaced with the nonfiction. And the ultimate question then is 'What is real?' So the imaginative project is to probe the borders of what we consider to be true, and how we tell our stories.
A recent story about you in the Irish press described your book as linking "home and America." You've been living in the U.S. for most of your adult life. What's actually home for you?
Home is New York. I live in New York. I have a 16-year-old, a 14-year-old and a 9-year-old. But when I come home, I say I'm coming home to Dublin. When I'm in Dublin, I say I'm going home to New York. I'm sort of a man of two countries.
Had you written about Ireland before?
Well, I have, in earlier books. But my last book, "Let the Great World Spin," was set in New York; the one before that ["Zoli"] was set in Eastern Europe and Slovakia; the one before that ["Dancer"] was in Russia and various countries. So I've sort of been promiscuous, if you will, in relation to geography. For me, this was a chance to return home, but to return home in an alternative skin. I was ready to come home, imaginatively.
I'd read that 70 copies of your last book were given to students in Newtown, Conn.
It was at my behest, but it was a teacher at the Newtown school, a man by the name of Lee Keylock, who was a high school teacher and he wanted the kids to read a book through which they could navigate their feelings post-Sandy Hook. And then I went up to the classroom and spent a day with the students. It was a great honor.
How do you think the book, about New York in the '70s, helped them?
It's about grace, it's about eventual healing, it's about looking into the dark corners and finding available light, which was what the kids were very much interested in. "Let the Great World Spin" at the end talks a lot about connections and light and possibility and the fact that the world doesn't end. Even in the darkest times, we have to go on.


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By Sheethal Shobowale, KF10, Bolivia
I met some Dutch Kiva lenders during a trip to Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca in Bolivia who don't like to loan to groups on Kiva because
- They miss out on the personal connection with one particular entrepreneur
- They feel like the loans amounts are too big so they feel they aren't making as much of a dent in the group loan amount as they would have if they had lent to one entrepreneur
- They don't get to see the entrepreneur at work if the photo is of a group of people at a meeting
Kiva has actually responded to points 1 and 2 by
- Improving the personal connection by enforcing a rule on its partner MFIs that group profiles must include a personal story about one of the members, preferably the president
- Creating limits on the maximum value of a group loan. Kiva imposes a $5000 limit on group loans for both Emprender and Arariwa, regardless of how many people are in the group.
Regarding the third point about photos, yes I would agree that the photo of a bunch of group members in one of Arariwa's or Emprender's white-walled classrooms isn't as sexy as a photo of a farmer in his fields, or a pot-maker in his workshop, but group loans are a way for the microfinance institution to be more sustainable, especially considering the high costs an MFI faces.
Bare with me as I explain…
Both the MFIs I have worked with as a Kiva Fellow, Asociación Arariwa and Emprender offer both group and individual credit products, however, the majority of Arariwa's clients and 40% of Emprender's clients work within a banco communal (village bank). A banco communal basically acts like a mini financial institution. The MFI gives each member credit based on the amount they have requested and their ability to pay. Each member saves part of their loan and in some cases, can relend this money within the group and collect interest on this internal loan.
Here are some reasons why group loans work well in microfinance -
- Allows MFIs to go deeper into poverty – Group borrowers are often poorer than individual borrowers. Since the only collateral required of them is a mutual guarantee, group loans allow clients without assets – like appliances, vehicles, or property titles – to access credit. Group loans give MFIs the ability to offer credit to what would otherwise be considered much riskier, collateral-less borrowers. Very poor clients need support in ways that group mechanisms provide, and live in areas where the cost of mitigating risks without group mechanisms would be nonviable. Group mechanisms include a lot of costs that in rural areas are not really considered (people don't value their time because the opportunity cost is low), but where monetary costs such as significantly higher interest rates or physical collateral (rather than social collateral) would prevent people form accessing credit.
- MFI Efficiency – With group loans, one loan officer can serve multiple people at the same time, which helps keep MFI costs down. Since loan values are small, the fixed costs of doing business are high compared to the interest earned from the loans. Group loans help MFIs like Asociación Arariwa or Emprender who work with the village banking methodology to be sustainability, especially when they have to travel far distances to visit clients.
- Kiva Efficiency – Publishing group loan profile on the Kiva website, the Kiva coordinator can meet and photograph 10-20 people at one time and upload one loan on the site instead of 20 individual loans. This brings down what we call the "cost of Kiva" for the MFI
- Mitigated Credit Risk – Asociación Arariwa, for example, insists that the borrowers guarantee each other's loans in triangles. For example, Carmen Ruth will guarantee Dominga. Dominga will guarantee Sonia Patricia. Sonia Patricia will guarantee Carmen Ruth . And in many cases, the group is responsible for the loan payment from the group savings if the guarantor fails to pay.
- Group Education – One loan officer can effectively teach a whole group on various topics such as Financial Literacy, Business Training, Family Well-Being, Health. Here's a link to a blog entry I wrote about Financial Literacy Training and Microfinance.
- Support and Solidarity – Group members are mostly neighbors who know each other or become close as they work together in a communal bank. Besides guaranteeing each other's loans, group members can support each other with business advice and help with personal issues. How about a group of women supporting each other? More than 70% of Arariwa's clients are women and 60% of the members of communal banks at Emprender must be female.
- Adverse selection before disbursement - In other words, how to select the right clients. Since people know their neighbors (though see criticisms below), reliable clients are able to select other reliable clients much more cheaply than MFIs are. If they might end up paying for somebody's irresponsibility, then they make sure they pick responsible people to borrow with. Groups are formed according to risk levels and the groups assume the risk rather than the MFI.
- Ex-ante moral hazard – in other words, the risk of people using the money for activities other than those reported to the MFI. Groups ideally monitor the businesses that are chosen so that they don't end up paying for somebody else's business failure.
- Ex-post moral hazard – in other words, the risk of people making profits and then claiming that they can't pay because they did not make the profits. Group members know if their neighbors are making money and make sure they cough up the money if the alternative is paying themselves.
Of course there all also some criticisms of Group Loans -
- Adverse selection before disbursement - Do people know each other too well so that they are not willing to enforce social sanctions? MFIs need to have rules to make sure that the right people are chosen.
- Adverse selection before disbursement - Often the MFI rather than the borrowers themselves who form the group and people don't know each other well. It may be rash to assume they know the ins and outs of each others´ businesses. Here MFIs need to have rules to make sure that the right people are chosen.
- More work for poor clients - The benefits mentioned above mean that the poor clients are expected to put in a lot more work. This is an implicit cost that is not associated with individual loans. In rural areas, the opportunity cost of putting time into getting a loan is low. In order to mitigate risks using individual loan mechanisms, interest rates and collateral requirements would have to be much higher. Poor people are not willing to front these monetary costs.
- Group Meetings - Group mechanisms have a lot of meetings, which is also a cost. The low opportunity cost for attending group meetings for rural borrowers seems reasonable, but Emprender, Pro Mujer and some Arariwa clients are urban, and there definitely is a cost associated with leaving your market stall for half the day.
- Assuming Other's Risk - Often it's not effective for risk adverse people who are reluctant to assume other people's risk. Educational programs help to reduce this problem. If people understand the system, they become less risk averse.
- Collusion - Groups can collude to cheat MFIs. MFI's have to be strict in their monitoring so that this does not happen.
Weighing the pros and cons, I believe the village banking methodology works best for rural, poor clients who don't qualify for individual loans, need group support and training and for MFIs to help alleviate costs of doing business with poorer clients where they have to travel far.
If you have thoughts about group loans, please feel free to leave a comment below and please consider supporting group loans on Kiva by loaning to Communal Banks!
Thanks to Cynthia McMurray, Kiva Field Support Specialist; Adam Kemmis Betty, Kiva Fellow, Bolivia; and David Bullon Patton and Martin Rotemberg from IPA for helping with me this entry. To learn more, please check out the book Economics of Microfinance as well as Kiva Fellow Julia Kastner's Kiva Fellows blog entry about the Village Banking methodology.
Sheethal Shobowale is currently in her Kiva Fellow placement with microfinance institution (MFI) Emprender in La Paz, Bolivia after working for the last several months with Kiva partner Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru.