text:
Maple Professional
Maple Academic
Maple Student Edition
Maple Personal Edition
Maple Player
Maple Player for iPad
MapleSim Professional
MapleSim Academic
Maple T.A. - Testing & Assessment
Maple T.A. MAA Placement Test Suite
Möbius - Online Courseware
Machine Design / Industrial Automation
Vehicle Engineering
Power Industries
System Simulation and Analysis
Model development for HIL
Plant Modeling for Control Design
Robotics/Motion Control/Mechatronics
Other Application Areas
Mathematics Education
Engineering Education
High Schools & Two-Year Colleges
Testing & Assessment
Financial Modeling
Operations Research
High Performance Computing
Live Webinars
Recorded Webinars
Upcoming Events
Maplesoft Blog
Maplesoft Membership
Maple Ambassador Program
Technical Whitepapers
E-Mail Newsletters
Maple Books
Math Matters
Application Center
MapleSim Model Gallery
User Case Studies
Exploring Engineering Fundamentals
Teaching Concepts with Maple
Maplesoft Welcome Center
Teacher Resource Center
Student Help Center
Home : Application Briefs : Bicycle Model Supports Design Work of a Health Research and Development Center


text:
Google has added a built-in ad blocker to the roughest version of Chrome, signaling that it will assume responsibility for barring some online ads in the polished product as early as October.
The ad blocker appeared in some users' copies of the "Canary" build of Chrome last week; Canary is the name Google gives to the preliminary version of the browser, one that is updated nightly and precedes the three-step release process of "Dev," "Beta" and finally "Stable" code.
Chrome's ad blocker was present only in Windows' Canary build; it was AWOL from the macOS edition.
Reports of Google's ad-blocking plans first surfaced in April, shortly after the Coalition for Better Ads announced a set of online ad types that users in the U.S. and Europe said were the most annoying and disruptive. Google was a founding member of the coalition. Two months ago, Google confirmed that it would introduce ad blocking to Chrome, saying then that the target timetable was next year.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Convert liter per minute (l/min) versus liters per hour (l/hr)
in swapped opposite direction
from liters per hour to liters per minute
Or use utilized converter page with the
flow multi-units converter
|conversion result for two
flow units:
|From unit
|Equals Result
|To unit
|1 liter per minute l/min
|= 60.00
|liters per hour l/hr
Prefix or symbol for liter per minute is: l/min
Prefix or symbol for liter per hour is: l/hr
Technical units conversion tool for flow measures. Exchange reading in liters per minute unit l/min into liters per hour unit l/hr as in an equivalent measurement result (two different units but the same identical physical total value, which is also equal to their proportional parts when divided or multiplied).
How many liters per hour are contained in one liter per minute? To link to this flow - liter per minute to liters per hour units converter, only cut and paste the following code into your html.
The link will appear on your page as: on the web units converter from liter per minute (l/min) to liters per hour (l/hr)
Online liters per minute to liters per hour conversion calculator | convert-to.com units converters © 2018 | Privacy Policy


text:
|Marantz Offers up a Pair of CD Players
|Home Theater News Audio Sources News
|Monday, 26 July 2010
The SA8004 is an SACD player that replaces the SA8003. It sports HDAM SA2 processing and a brand new super-precise drive mechanism. You'll get a trio of audio inputs in coax, optical and even a front panel USB input that can act as a digital to analog converter for files on your iPod or other digital audio device. You'll be able to pick up the 8004 in August for $999.
If you're just looking for a high quality CD player, the CD5004 might be what you're looking for. It's got an SACD grade D/A converter from Cirrus Logic and the same HDAM SA2 processing as the SA8004. It also plays back MP3 and WMA files and will be available in July for $349.


text:
My passat just started to idle high in nuetral while at red lights, 5 speed lots of recent work, but check engine light has been on forever but until this the car has been running great. Waiting to hear from mechanic, I don't know what part he is looking at but brand new costs 675. 00 any ideas.
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 AT 4:34 AM


text:
We have all gone through trials and hardships. And many of us have wondered if we committed some sin, or if God is angry at us for some reason. Some of us have even questioned if God had forsaken us or forgotten us. From an intellectual point of view, we know that God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and even when we sin, He still deals with us as children. But emotionally, it is a different story.
There are those who would insist that God is too good to allow the righteous to suffer without a cause. They believe that Christians only suffer if they commit some sin or somehow open the door to the devil. But the Bible is clear that God allows righteous people to suffer. Even Jesus suffered unjustly. Certainly He did not sin, and He is our example in suffering (1 Peter 2:20-23). If they persecuted Him they would do the same to His followers (Matthew 10:25). Although it is true that many people suffer as a result of personal wrongdoing, it cannot be denied that many believers undergo hardship through no fault of their own. The Bible clearly allows for such a possibility, and God definitely permits it. Job was a righteous man who suffered for no direct fault of his own – only because a sovereign God allowed it to be so. The important question is not "if" or "whether" the righteous suffer, but "why".
Why Do the Righteous Suffer?
1) God sees eternally whereas we see presently.
Although God is interested in our earthly welfare, He is much more concerned about our eternal well being. His greatest act of love was to offer salvation to men, not health, wealth and honor – although it sometimes includes the latter three. This would explain why He allowed the apostles and early Christians to be martyred and to suffer such loss. From an earthly perspective, it would seem that God forsook them, but from an eternal perspective, they are in heaven safe in the arms of their Lord – a much better standing than the best enjoy on earth (Philippians 1:21). God has a much different outlook on this life than we do. He is alpha and omega, we are here and now. So a lot of what we call suffering is not the same from God's eyes.
2) God uses suffering and hardship to produce in us godly character.
The Bible says that Job was perfect and upright, however he was not perfect in the sense of being sinless before God, but rather blameless before men. God, through Job's suffering, exposed to him a lot of pride and self-dependency that was hidden in his heart (Job 42:3-6). Although this was not the direct cause of Job's misery, God did use his hardship to make him a better person (Job 42:10,12). It is a New Testament fact that God uses fiery trials to purify us (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6,7).
3) Suffering keeps us dependent on God.
Judging from some of Job's statements, it would seem that human nature tends to forget rather quickly that all of man's good eventually comes from God (James 1:16,17). Man eventually sees himself as the source of these blessings and subconsciously begins to depend on his own ability and possessions. He is in need of constant reminder that it is God who gives him the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:17,18). What better way to remind him of that than for God to keep him in a state where he has no choice but to trust his Creator? Hardship is one way of accomplishing that.
4) Our personal sufferings are a source of encouragement to others.
God, being eternally minded, is concerned about every generation of human existence. Man is only concerned about his own. Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to run the race with patience, given that there is a great cloud of witnesses. Paul was referring to all the Old Testament saints that he mentioned in chapter 11 – the faith hall of fame. Essentially the faithfulness of the Old Testament saints during suffering was to be an example and encouragement to us. Through similar reasoning, Jude 3 exhorts us on the basis of the sufferings that the apostles and early Christians went through. We have also been greatly blessed by the stories of Christian martyrs throughout the centuries. It would seem that from God's perspective, much of our suffering is intended to be a source of edification to others as well as future generations who would name the name of Christ. And what a rebuke to the devil it was when he tried to get Job to renounce God, but instead, not only did Job prevail, but now Christians everyday are being encouraged and strengthened by Job's perseverance (James 5:11). Our sufferings could have similar effects on other believers.
Our Attitude
So as righteous people, our attitude to suffering should not be one of complaining, bitterness or resentment. If it were the result of personal sin, we should be repentant. Otherwise, our prayer should not just be, "Lord let this cup pass from me", but rather, "Thy will be done". God's answer would be, "My grace is sufficient for thee."Home PDF Comment Bookmark
Related Articles:
Does the bible endorse slavery?


text: David Welton writes: > Offhand, I really don't see a big difference from v1. I see a large difference. v1 lets me do anything but sell or rent the program or charge directly for its use. v2 forbids any and all revenue generating activity, direct or indirect. I can install v1 on my client's machines and use it to administer their systems and get paid for it. I can only use v2 for recreational or educational purposes. -- John Hasler email@example.com (John Hasler) Dancing Horse Hill Elmwood, WI


text:
Media Rooms for Orange County
You can transform any room in your home to a state of the art multi-use media room. By adding surround sound and a plasma TV or projector you can create your own movie palace and enjoy the authentic theater experience.
Projectors can be hidden in ceilings or in tables. Screens can roll down or up. This means you can have an elegant family room one moment and watch the sinking of the titanic the next.
We make it easy to find a media room solution that fits your home and lifestyle perfectly. and is easier and more affordable than you imagined.


text:
South Beach Smoke are another relatively new electronic cigarette company, as far as I can tell they have been around since the start of 2010, but in this short space of time they have managed to create a really good range of products. There has been a lot of talk surrounding their electronic cigarettes so I took the plunge and ordered up their "Deluxe Starter Kit" to see what everyone is talking about. I've been looking to try out another batch of E cigarettes to see how things have changed over the last 6 months to a year, this is another one of these purchases.
On Arrival
Packaging has become quite a important factor for many people these days, so companies now really need to put a good amount of effort into the design of their packing. South Beach don't fall short at this important first hurdle. The outside of the packaging looks great and on the inside everything is packed well and securely. In the Deluxe Starter Kit you get less than the name would suggest – 2 batteries, 5 cartridges and a wall charger – but the Deluxe name is given to separate the 2 piece South Beach E cigarette from their 3 piece "Premium" E cigarette. It doesn't signify a higher level of kit, though as any existing E cigarette user will know, a 2 piece E cigarette is superior to a 3 piece one. If you want a more comprehensive kit you need to go for the "Deluxe Plus Starter Kit".
The Deluxe kit will set you back $100, which does seem like a lot of money for what you get but there is the option of joining the "South Beach Smoke Home Delivery Program" which will get you your starter kit for only $50. What is the "South Beach Smoke Home Delivery Program" I hear you ask. Well basically it is a monthly subscription service where you get a specific number of refill cartridges delivered to your home every month for a reduced price. Not only do you get 50% off of the starter kit, but you get 30% off of the refills as well. The only problem with this is that you don't like the South Beach E Cigarette once you receive it, but I honestly doubt this will be an issue as it is a really good device, as you will find out in this write-up.
There are two different batteries that you can use, the standard 2.5 inch and the high capacity 3.25 battery. Both of these come in the regular starter kit. The smaller battery is really quite light and ideal for holding between your fingers. The larger battery is a little bit too heavy for holding between your index and middle finger, but it does offer almost twice as much smoking time as the smaller battery, so if you are going to be out the house all day then the larger battery is what you should be using so that you don't get caught without a charge. Since there is no portable charging case, or small USB charger with the Deluxe Starter Kit then this extra smoking time is really welcomed, and needed.
In my kit I opted for tobacco flavored refills, in hindsight I should really have bought the assorted mix to give all the flavors a try, but I didn't. We live and learn. Anyway, the tobacco flavor is actually very good, I have really been enjoying using it. It is actually quite a mild flavor but still full of taste, kind of similar to the Red refills that V2 Cigs offer. The other flavors that are on offer are very much the standard flavors that many other companies offer – menthol, vanilla, chocolate and cherry. I'll hopefully get some of these to try soon and update this review with how they perform.
While I've been using the South Beach E Cigarette I have been getting about 250 puffs out of a cartridge, which is higher than many of the other brands I've used, including V2 and Safe Cigs.
Vapor production is in fact very good with the South Beach Smoke, as with most electronic cigarettes that use an automatic battery you do need to take a small primer puff to get the atomizer working to its best, but I found that you only really need to do this with the first of your drags, then each drag after that you can just puff like you are using a regular cigarette, so you need to exert less effort to get the best from it. The levels of vapor that I exhaled were very good, their isn't as much vapor as I get from my V2 cig or Green Smoke but it is still very good, on par with the Safe Cig I would say.
Buying Refills
When it comes time to buy more refills for your South Beach Smoke you have got a few options available to you. As I mentioned at the start you can take advantage of their home delivery program, which will mean you have cartridges delivered to your front door each month, automatically, giving you peace of mind and also saving you 30% off of the price, meaning a single cartridge costs about $3.50 (equivalent to $2.30 for a single pack of cigarettes). But if you don't want to join the program and you just want to buy more when ever you need them then you will have to pay more for them, $5 per cartridge, unless you buy in bulk (60 carts at a time) which gets the price down to $3.75 per cartridge.
South Beach only sell their cartridges in packs of 15 cartridges, so the price for refills can actually look quite high if you only glance at them, but don't let that put you off, when you work it all out in terms of cost per cartridge, or the equivalent cost of buying tobacco cigarettes, they are very reasonable.
If you join the cartridge Home Delivery Program you can get the "Deluxe Starter Kit" for the very cheap price of $49.99, but if you would rather not join up you will have to pay $99.99 for your starter kit, for what you get this is really quite expensive, even more so when you consider the equivalent starter kits from V2 Cigs and Safe Cigs cost $89.95 and you get more in those starter kits. So the price needs to come down a little.
I also wouldn't mind seeing another tobacco flavor being offered. One variety of tobacco isn't going to suit everyone, while I quite like it, I know that a lot of other people will find that it isn't to their tastes. The throat hit when I took a drag wasn't all that noticeable so a little more throat hit would be great. And as with most electronic cigarettes more vapor would be great too, just to make the experience a little closer to smoking tobacco.
Other than those relatively minor improvements that I think are needed I think that the South Beach Smoke Deluxe Kit is actually a really good buy. Because there are so many E cigarettes to choose from these days it is really hard to pick which one to go for. I think the biggest selling point with the South Beach is its monthly cartridge delivery program. If you don't want to have to think about buying refill cartridges all the time then this program is ideal for you, and if you get to a stage where you no longer want to be part of the delivery program you can cancel the subscription, there is no minimum period that you have to stick to. So don't worry about that.
If you want to visit the South Beach Smoke website then please Click Here.


text:
Masco Corp. has reported net sales of $1.976 billion for its third fiscal quarter, which were flat compared with sales of $1.978 billion in the third quarter a year ago. North American sales increased 4% and international sales decreased 12%. In local currencies, international sales decreased 3% compared with the third quarter of 2011.
Net income reported for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, was $15 million, compared with $36 million during the corresponding quarter last year.
Installation and paint were strong performers in the quarter, posting 9% and 6% in revenue growth, respectively. Sales of plumbing products slipped 4%, and the cabinet division posted a 5% decline in sales.
"Our top line in the third quarter benefited from the increase in new home construction activity in North America, new product introductions, and from selling price increases," said Masco's CEO, Tim Wadhams. "These positives offset both the slow economic growth in North America and the continued weakening of Euro-Zone economies that we anticipated for the second half of 2012.
"We continue to make progress on our strategic initiatives, which include leveraging our brands, reducing our costs, improving our Installation and cabinet segments and strengthening our balance sheet," Wadhams continued. "We are encouraged by the continued strength in new home construction activity, driven by the stabilization and improvement of home prices in many areas of the U.S., increasing affordability and demographic trends. These factors should continue to drive demand for new homes over the next several years. Increased new home construction activity benefits virtually all of our businesses, particularly our installation segment which has improved significantly this year, almost breaking even in the third quarter and which we expect to be profitable in the fourth quarter.
"In our cabinet segment, we announced actions during the quarter, including the closure of a manufacturing location and a headcount reduction, which we expect will improve our efficiency and reduce costs by approximately $20 million on an annual basis. While we are committed to returning our cabinet segment to profitability, we anticipate that big ticket remodeling will remain weak, even though we continue to see modest improvement in overall repair and remodeling activity."


text:
During my chemotherapy, I had an anthracycline (Adriamycin), a taxane (Taxol) and 5-FU (5-fluorouracil). All three types of drugs can cause onycholysis – damage to the tissue that keeps your fingernail and toenails in place. The nurses assured me that my nail problems would resolve about six months after completing chemo, but it would take longer for toenails.

My favorite oncology nurse, herself a breast cancer survivor, suggested that I wear shoes that had plenty of toe room while I was in treatment. Wide-toed shoes allow for better circulation, which may speed healing. "Once you switch to wide-toed shoes, you'll never go back!" she said, noting the improved comfort.

Toenail Care Tips

Toenails grow half as fast as fingernails, or about half a centimeter every three months. Like fingernails, toenails can develop disorders, lines, ridges, discolorations, and even come loose during chemotherapy. To keep your toenails healthy during treatment and recovery, try these tips:

During a chemo infusion, try soaking your fingers and toenails in ice water. Like sucking on ice while having chemo, this can help prevent nail problems as well as mouth sores.

Clip toenails straight across, keeping them short. This helps prevent breakage and splitting, as well as ingrown toenail. Try soaking your toes in warm water for a short while before clipping the nails, as this will soften them, and may prevent splitting or cracking as you cut your nails.

Keep your toenails clean and moisturized. If you do a pedicure, sterilize your tools in bleach and water beforehand, to prevent infections. Cut away any loose cuticle, don't rip, as this may cause bleeding and leave you prone to infection.

Fragile nails may be strengthened with biotin, a water-soluble B-complex vitamin, at 5 mg per day. Tea tree oil can be used for fungal infections in toenails, if those occur. Clear polish may also help protect toenails during treatment.

Try to avoid injury to your toes, as bruises will heal very slowly.

Wear open-toed or comfortable wide-toed shoes, to improve circulation and provide protection for loose or fragile toenails.

If your nails become infected, inflamed, or quite painful, check with your doctor about how to treat them. Over-the-counter remedies may be fine for fungal infections, or you may need to have your doctor prescribe a medication to help combat the problem.

At ASCO 2017 a group of researchers from UK reported the results of a double-blind randomised study which investigated a natural plant based balm (PolyBalm®) in the setting of chemotherapy induce nails side effects. The product significantly improved the nail toxicity that occurred during chemotherapy.

Sources:
Chemotherapy-Induced Nail Changes: An Unsightly Nuisance. Joyce Marrs and Susan Newton. October 2004, Volume 8, Number 5. Clinical Journal Of Oncology Nursing. PDF document.

Taxane-induced nail changes: incidence, clinical presentation and outcome. Annals of Oncology 14:333-337, 2003. Authors: A. M. Minisini, et. al.


text:
PS1 Videos
The Saboteur - Just Getting Started UK Trailer Video
Pandemic Studios may be no more but their final project, The Saboteur, has still found its way to store shelves. From what we've played thus far, it's pretty cool (review coming soon) and if you want a peek, check out this new trailer. You'll do a lot of skulking about, being the undercover agent you are, but there will also be plenty of all-out action, too. Car chases, intense gun battles, melee combat; it's all here, and we're thinking this might be one of the sleeper hits of the year. It's too bad about Pandemic but they may have gone out with a bang...
12/9/2009 Ben Dutka
Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter


text:
Be the first to know
Receive emails from properties you follow when new suites are added to them.
The subject premises are located in once of the most recognized industrial complexes in Greater Victoria. The property provides an excellent distribution location for servicing Greater Victoria and Vancouver Island due to its proximity to both the Patricia Bay Highway (Hwy #17) and the TransCanada Highway (Hwy #1).


text:
How to: Install Microsoft Internet Information Services
Microsoft Internet information Services (IIS) is a software prerequisite for some Microsoft SQL Server 2005 components. For more information, see Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2005. For information on how to install IIS 7.0 on Windows Vista, see this Microsoft Web site.
Close all applications that are currently running on your computer.
In Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs.
In the left pane, click Add/Remove Windows Components. The Windows Components Wizard will launch.
Select Internet Information Services, and then click Next. If the check box is already selected, IIS is already installed on your computer.
Note: For some server operating systems, IIS may be a component of the Application Server selection. If this is the case for your operating system, select Application Server, and then click Next.
IIS will be installed and configured on your computer.
ConceptsHow to: View SQL Server 2005 Setup Log Files
Other ResourcesDatabase Engine Installation How-to Topics
Help and InformationGetting SQL Server 2005 Assistance


text:
|Mets had calls on Gee, but nothing materialized
Mets Rumors:
The Mets are still saying they will almost certainly remain quiet today and not make any trades, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Mets have been giving off the impression that they won't make any moves for several weeks.
Meanwhile, the Mets had a few calls on Dillon Gee earlier this month, but nothing materialized, according to David Lennon of Newsday (on Twitter). Now that the Mets need to limit Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler's innings, they'll hold off on parting with the 27-year-old.
Marlon Byrd has drawn the interest of multiple clubs, including the Orioles, but the Mets have maintained a high asking price with the intention of hanging on to the outfielder unless someone makes an offer too good to walk away from. The Mets have also received nibbles on closer Bobby Parnell, but haven't gotten anything good enough to seriously consider a deal.
Terry Collins was quoted saying, "If nothing happens ... I know it's in the best interest of the organization," "We've got some young players that are here that we're trying to play. If some of the more experienced people are here tomorrow, it's because they're trying to help us. You know, we owe our fans some competition, too."


text:
This post is written as part of the Unstuffed Blog Tour, for which I received a free copy of her book in in order to review her book along with many other inspiring bloggers. To learn more about the blog tour and join us, click HERE.
Before you stop reading this, because I have already posted about de-cluttering, and organizing, and Spring cleaning, and you can't bear to read another one of those posts….stay with me on this one! De-cluttering is so often put out there as an organization of your things, and streamlining your stuff, that I think the purpose…the actual reason of WHY you want to de-clutter sometimes gets lost.
I am reading 2 books on de-cluttering right now, and the one that I will share with you today is called Unstuffed, by Ruth Soukup. She is well known in the organizing world for getting rid of ALL of her kids toys one year, and also her 40-hanger rule. I have loved her de-cluttering tips before, but thought this book would be more of the same advice, that I know already and contantly revisit…but it isn't.
This book is different. Why?
Because it speaks to the "Why?" and the "What?" and also the "How?"
Why do you want your stuff? How do you want your home to look? What do you want others to feel when they enter your house? How do you want to feel when you're in it? She asks the root-questions of why we feel we need more stuff, and is it working for us. Is it working?
For me, the answers took a bit longer than I expected.
We bought our current house 2 months after I delivered my twins. My girls were almost 5 and 3, and my husband had just had open heart surgery 6 months prior. It was a crazy time in our lives, and joyful in so many ways. But packing up our beloved first home, and moving into a new (to us) bigger house, was lot of work that I wasn't up for. My focus was solely on the kids and especially my two babies…And keeping myself from insanity! Even thinking about house and home was very much on the back-burner.
Now, 6 years later (sigh) we haven't really done anything to our "new" house. Nothing. We painted a bit. But minimally. We are finally feeling like we have a little time back to do some of these home improvements. Now that the kids understand to stay away from wet-paint, it is time for some major house-love. Before all this love starts, we need to do the tough-love thing: Get rid the things that we don't love anymore and have been holding onto, because it might be useful someday, or it was given to us by someone, even though we didn't need it or want it sometimes.
Here is an excert from the first chapter: Living
"The very first step towards becoming unstuffed is being realistic about how we actually use our homes, as well as how we want to use our homes. After all, filling our home with things we don't need based on a fantasy that will never happen is nothing more than an exercise in frustration. Instead, when we are honest with ourselves and with our spouses about the purpose and function of our living space, it becomes easier to sift out the things that matter from the things that only add to the chaos."
The idea is to only keep the things that make us happy and that we LOVE.
One of the tips she has in her book (adapted from a statement from William Morris, I believe) is to get rid of anything that you don't think is beautiful or makes you happy… Well, I still need furniture, so that probably won't happen right away! I do need to sit somewhere! But what I can do, is make every room the best that it can be: so that it feels welcoming, clean, clutter-free, organized, useful, and pretty. I want people to want to be in my home. Not a small task, but taken in little bites, I can make it through the house, piece by piece and make it what we had made in our old house: a home that reflects who we are…well, this messy house kind of does…Errr. I want the house we live in today to feel good to us, and to make us want to be here!
Declutter your home, mind and soul once and for all in Ruth Soukup's life-changing new book, Unstuffed. Through personal stories and practical action plans, she will inspire you to finally clear the STUFF that is weighing you down—once and for all.
Clear the Clutter with a free 10-DAY #UNSTUFFED CHALLENGE from @ruthsoukup – Sign up at http://ctt.ec/C5631+


text:
Photopeeps Tonite February 8th 7pm-9pm in Rm 353 at the Rock Church
Photopeeps is meeting tonite to share photographs and talk about the joy of photography.
All are welcome!
Homework photo theme for this week was "13" How you interpret this weeks theme is up to you. If you did the homework or would like to join in on the fun....please bring three(3) photos to share. The best way is to bring your photos on a USB thumb drive, but you can bring a memory card or CD also. Please be prepared to share how and why you took the photos you took.
For those interested in learning more about the basics of photography, we are beginning our Intro to Photo classes February 15th. This is a 6 week survey class that is designed to introduce you to the basics that will become a foundation for you to learn from and build upon. If you would like more information about our Intro class, please email us and we will get more information for you.
If you are beyond the basics, you are more than welcome to come and have fun with us. Our classes are about sharing the fun and learning from one another.
For more information about Photography, click here »


text:
Labels: Culture, Religion
Labels: Humor, Politics
Labels: Culture, History, Politics
Labels: Movies
We now know that the shuttle was a mistake. It has not lowered the cost of access to space; it has not made access to space more routine; it has not proven safe. The shuttle had to meet too many requirements—it had to be everything for everyone, but on an insufficient budget to do all that was required. Because it had to carry a certain class of classified military payloads, it was very big. Because it originally had no space station to go to, it had to serve as a sort of mini-station itself with a multi-day orbital capability. Early plans to launch the shuttle with booster rockets that could fly back and land on a runway were scrapped in favor of solid rocket boosters that parachuted into the ocean; these had a much higher recurring cost, and one of them destroyed Challenger in 1986. Because of the payload requirement and the lack of funding, the shuttle uses an external fuel tank (the tall, rust-colored part of the shuttle) that is just discarded after each launch; this wastefulness dramatically increased costs, and the tank's foam insulation was responsible for the loss of Columbia in 2003.
Read the whole thing. There's lots, lots more. One recurring bone of contention is NASA's unwillingness to adopt an all-craft-must-be-reuseable policy.
Labels: Science
Labels: Politics, War on Terror
Labels: Politics
Labels: Humor
Labels: Politics, Religion
Labels: Culture, Religion, War on Terror
Imagine if in 1948 some Japanese investors planned to build a Japanese cultural center two blocks from Hickam Field. They give lip service to building bridges without giving any specifics, but the public has no record of the project leader's views on Japanese-American relations, and doesn't even know who's investing in the project. That the investment group is named the Manchukuo Initiative leads many to believe that the leader is quite nostalgic for Japanese imperialism, as Manchuckuo was the name Imperial Japan have to occupied Manchuria. The leader is either a dishonest swine*, or a supremely incompetent diplomat.(* Allusion to Islamic dietary laws purely accidental.)Construction of the Manchukuo Center can't be stopped legally, but after such a faux pas there's no way it could ever serve as a cultural bridge builder.Segue to 2010. A mysterious entity plans to build a mosque blocks from Ground Zero. We don't know anything about this outfit's philosophy or its source of funding. Imam Rauf plans on calling it the Cordoba Center. According to the New York Times, this name invokes "the city in Spain where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together centuries ago in the midst of religious foment." Rauf is either a snake-oil salesman or an utter fool; Westerners (aside from the lefty anti-Western-Civ crowd) feel the opposite of nostalgia for a city where Jews and Christians lived under the Islamic thumb.
What is obnoxious is not necessarily illegal. However, there is a separate legal issue, which I cited at ITA and also at Vodkapundit:
There appears to be a legal means of stopping the mosque's construction: Imam Rauf is a donor to the Free Gaza movement. Citizens may protest in foreign countries [without violating American laws, I should have added], but they're not allowed to pay people to directly obstruct foreign nations' law enforcement. That sort of thing is (rightly) what one government does to another. There's a case to be made that Rauf illegally engaged in conducting foreign policy. I would think that municipalities are authorized to hold up construction permits for persons under felony investigation.
Labels: Music, Politics
A group of high school students attending a conservative leadership conference in Washington, D.C. said they were ordered by a security guard to stop singing the national anthem during a June 25 visit to the Lincoln Memorial....U.S. Park Police confirmed that the students were in violation of federal law and their impromptu performance constituted a demonstration in an area that must remain "completely content neutral."
Someone should find a demonstration-accessible spot and serenade the Park Police with this:And then lobby for the stupid regulation to be changed.(Link via Spatula City, whose bloghost is benefiting from the medical properties of duct tape.)
Labels: Law, Politics
Labels: Curiosities
You're free to open whatever you like. If you won't consider the sensibilities of Muslims, you're not going to build dialog
You're the ones to talk, buckos:
The Cordoba House was supposed to be a monument to religious tolerance, an homage to the city in Spain where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together centuries ago in the midst of religious foment.
TOLERANCE?? They're naming the mosque after the Cordoba Caliphate, where Jews and Christians lived under the yoke of Islamic rule for a century. I guess Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf didn't plan on building any bridges with Spain or Portugal. Someone should build an International Museum of Bacon on the other side of the mosque.
Labels: Curiosities, Religion
The US Code does not change existing concepts. It contains a dictionary of terms; many of these the government uses in the same context as the general population does, some are coined to define specific concepts. "Discovery" in the legal sense is in no way confused with any other concepts we call by that name.
Labels: Culture, Law
Labels: History


text:
The humanist apostles' creed—that which 'a Devil's Chaplain might write'
First published: 4 October 2004 (GMT+10)
Re-featured on homepage: 15 December 2015 (GMT+10)
Well-known atheist, Richard Dawkins, now styles himself as A Devil's Chaplain, the title of a recent book. As 'Professor of the Public Understanding of Science' at England's Oxford University, Dawkins is infamous for his vitriolic attacks on those with religious—and particularly Christian—faith. He relates that Charles Darwin coined the phrase 'Devil's Chaplain' in a letter to a friend in 18561: 'What a book a Devil's Chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering low and horridly cruel works of nature'.
While in the Netherlands recently, involved in speaking ministry, I became aware that Richard Dawkins gave a talk at the prestigious Leiden University as part of the launch of the Dutch translation of his recent book. He also gave an interview with a Dutch radio station, the web audio transcript of which a Dutch friend kindly located for me.2 In characteristic style, this evangelist for atheistic scientism proceeded to attribute all the truly praiseworthy aspects of life (as he saw it) to Darwinism, whilst also pouring scorn on those who disagreed with him. As I listened, I wondered how many of those who heard him that day, and/or bought his book, could see his double standards and the misleading nature of his comments. I also thought of the many Christians that I've met over the years who have found his books and arguments compelling, seemingly oblivious to Dawkins' own heavily anti-Christian motives.
Near the start of the interview, he stated: "Nature is cruel; not only is nature cruel, but it follows from Darwin's theory of natural selection that nature is bound to be cruel, because even very beautiful things like a leopard, a lion, a cheetah or the antelopes that they hunt, they're beautiful and beautifully designed to run fast because countless millions of cheetahs and antelopes have killed and died over many generations to make them so." Of course, anyone who cares to examine the present-day natural world would have to agree that nature is cruel, but Dawkins is looking at a fallen, sin-cursed world. This is not the perfect creation that God originally made and pronounced 'very good' (Gen. 1:31)—a world in which the ugliness and cruelty of animal carnivory were unknown (Gen. 1:29,30). Dawkins—like Thomas Henry Huxley at the time of Darwin—is keenly aware of this conflict between the horrible things in nature and the paradise-on-earth description of Genesis chapters 1 and 2, which is precisely why he delights in highlighting it.
Yet, only minutes later, he described things quite differently, when he admitted: "Well, I suppose, Darwin's theory of natural selection is for me the most beautiful [thing in science]—but that's probably my bias because I am a biologist—but it is astoundingly elegant, when you think about it, that such an amazingly simple theory—it really is exceedingly simple—suffices to produce all the range of life, from bacteria to redwood trees to elephants to humans. And they are astoundingly complicated, stunningly beautiful, and yet it's all come about by the slow, grinding out of the laws of nature (emphasis added)." So when it suits him, he describes the 'clumsy, wasteful, blundering low and horridly cruel works of nature' as 'elegant' and 'beautiful'! When asked why it was so important for him to be convincing people about his evolutionary 'science' as 'the only truth', Dawkins replied, "Because it's so beautiful—it's such a magnificent thing to live in the universe and to understand the universe in which you live, to be a part of life and to understand the life of which you are a part, to understand why you were born before you have to die … And it's so sad that people go to their grave without understanding why they were born in the first place."
How many listeners discerned that this famous scientist was now preaching his own brand of unadulterated humanism and not arguing from science at all? For many like Dawkins, belief in evolution is foundational to their rejection of what God's Word has to say about why 'they were born in the first place.' Instead, they preach the audacious idea that believing that the cruelties and vagaries of Darwinian natural selection have created all life will help you somehow 'understand why you were born before you have to die'!
How could this anti-God religion of death possibly be reconciled, as some try to do, with the biblical teaching of God as the Author of life? Death—and the associated bloodshed, extinctions, mutations, diseases and suffering—is an unwelcome intruder into a creation that now 'groans' (Rom. 8:22) under the weight of the consequences of the sinful rebellion of humankind. This will continue until the time when the Curse is removed (Rev. 22:3) and death (which is called 'the last enemy' in 1 Cor. 15:26), mourning, crying and pain will cease in the new heaven and earth (Rev. 21:1,4).
At one stage, Dawkins' interviewer commented: "There's a central theme [in your writings]—You're fighting for truth and you're fighting against misconceptions." However, the 'truth' that Dawkins fights for is a materialistic, religious belief that rejects out of hand any notions of the supernatural—matter and energy is all there is. It also emphatically denies the Truth of God in Scripture, shoehorning its adherents into searching for some kind of meaning and purpose in the blind, wasteful, cruel forces of nature.
This logically leads to nihilism so it's a grievous thing indeed that so many young students read Dawkins' books as though they are the words of a twenty-first century sage. No surprise then, that suicide among people of this age-group is the leading cause of death in some western countries. If you're just rearranged pond scum and the going gets tough, ending your life perhaps seems a rational decision to take, as a young man called Gerard reasoned on Australian radio: ' … I think that some people may have an inability to cope, and maybe this might sound a bit extreme, but that might be Darwinian theory, the Darwin theory of survival of the fittest. Maybe some of us aren't meant to survive, maybe some of us are meant to kill ourselves … There's too many people in the world as it is. Maybe it is survival of the fittest, maybe some of us are meant to just give up, and maybe that would help the species.'3
For Dawkins, the alternative (acceptance of God and His revelation in the Bible) is anathema. He told the interviewer: "[Religion] is giving not only a false explanation, but a very boring explanation compared to the truth. The truth is so exciting, it's so riveting, it's so much grander than anything that any religion has ever contemplated that it is simply tragic that people are still misled in ways that their ancestors were in mediaeval times." As we constantly teach in Creation Ministries International, the worldview you choose not only affects your understanding of science, it has enormous consequences for how you view yourself and your fellow human beings.
Ultimately, to choose the worldview that Richard Dawkins espouses is a slippery slide into hopeless unbelief.4 Removing discussions of God and Christianity from science classrooms and university lecture theatres does not remove religion. Rather, the fruit of Dawkins' own pen and lips reveal that he is a veritable apostle of secular humanism, who desires to replace Christianity with his own creed, a religion that claims to answer questions of life's meaning and morality. I close with my own version of the Apostle's Creed5 that, I believe, fairly sums up this deeply religious man's convictions about Darwinian natural selection and his undisguised antipathy for the Christian church:
I believe in naturalism, Science Almighty,
the creator of heaven and earth,
and in Darwinism, its offspring, our Master:
Which was conceived of 'enlightened' men,
born of a rejection of Scripture,
flourished under Charles Darwin,
suffered, but was rescued by the 'new synthesis'.6
It ascended to acceptance in the church.
The next century, the church spiraled further into compromise.
She descended into humanism
and sits at the right hand of naturalism, Science Almighty,
from which she is powerless to judge the living or the dead.
I believe in 'enlightened' men, the evolutionary establishment,
the fellowship of evolutionists,
the nonexistence of sins,
the annihilation of the body,
and death everlasting.
My prayer is that many Christians who have compromised God's truth with the opinions of fallible, sinful human beings, will instead stand firm on the authority of the Word of God. The words of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 17:5,7) are particularly appropriate here: 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord … Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.'
Related Articles
Further Reading
References and notes
- Letter to the botanist and friend of Charles Darwin, Joseph D. Hooker, 13 July 1856. Return to text.
- Noorderlicht Radio, 18 May 2004, noorderlicht.vpro.nl. Return to text.
- Black Dog Days—The experience and treatment of depression, Life Matters with Norman Swan, ABC (Australia) radio, 4 May 2000. Return to text.
- This happened to evangelist-turned-apostate, Charles Templeton; see The slippery slide to unbelief, Creation 22(3):8–13, 2000; creation.com/slide. Return to text.
- The Apostles Creed consists of the basic beliefs of reformed churches and was composed a half century or so after the last writings of the New Testament. Return to text.
- The rediscovery of Mendelian genetics was problematic for Darwinism until several biologists salvaged it by hypothesizing that rare, beneficial mutations could be the raw material for natural selection to work with; their idea was called the synthetic theory. Return to text.
I wonder, is Professor Dawkins aware of your awesome ministry and do any of our experts have personal contact with him? Would he understand the "millstone syndrome" that awaits those who lead little ones (including all adult believers) astray? Could he be asked why he should waste his life denigrating One he says does not exist? We pray for him every day. He has the potential to become a modern day Apostle Paul but to the evolutionists.
The article states:
"When asked why it was so important for him to be convincing people about his evolutionary 'science' as 'the only truth', Dawkins replied, 'Because it's so beautiful—it's such a magnificent thing to live in the universe and to understand the universe in which you live, to be a part of life and to understand the life of which you are a part, to understand why you were born before you have to die … And it's so sad that people go to their grave without understanding why they were born in the first place.'"
Now, this is a very curious thing for the author of The Blind Watchmaker to say. According to Dawkins, living things evolved entirely by chance; without any purpose or design. Yet now he seems to be saying that there is a beautiful purpose served by our living and dying. I would like to ask, "What purpose would that be, Richard? And whose purpose was it? If there is a "why", then there must be someone who intended something. Yet you have fiercely denied that there could be a design or a designer in this wasteful, cruel, indifferent universe! Which is it, Richard? You can't have it both ways."
But Richard continually lapses into the use of biblical concepts. One example occurs in the very same quotation, where he commiserates with those pitiful creatures who die without a belief in evolution: "...it's so sad that people go to their grave without understanding why they were born in the first place."
Aside from the strange idea that one's life is somehow enriched by believing that we come from nothing, live for no purpose, and must die with nothing to show for it all; what is he doing caring about such things at all? What difference does it make to him or anyone else if people suffer? On his terms, nothing in life has any meaning or value.
Well what do you know, I just happened to come across an interesting book-chapter from Fernando Mires, he is a writer about sociological and cultural issues on my country, and in his chapter: La Revolución Paradigmática (Paradigmic Revolution), guess what he identifies as the dogmatic paradigm of our day? That's right, aside from postmodernism, he observes that there is a Secondary Secularization in our times, where science becomes the new secular religion, science is the new dogma of the day, questioning it, you are anathema. It is also interesting to note, according to the author, that there were specific tenets of Modernism that really are no different from what he would identify the Judeo-Christian religion has: determinism (our actions determine our destiny), naturalism [the author seems to contextualize it as affirming that things have a natural created order that must be followed (for the economist, communism is natural; for the biologist, homosexuality is against the natural sexual order), essentialism (finding the truth by division), rationalism (that which is not within the scope of rational or reasonable thought [emotions, sexuality]), dichotomy, transcendency, universal order and objective-subjective tenet. These 8 characteristics is what Mires identified in Modernism that he understands the JC worldview was no different in attribute, and our postmodern age is beginning to do away with those. The point is, that with all the dogmatism the atheists are spousing on science, they keep forgetting that key tenets science relies on are key tenets the JC worldview teaches, and hearing Richard Dawkins espouse his scientificist dogmatism really gets you thinking if he and et al are any different than the religious he shows vitrol over *their* 'dogmatism'. Hmmmmm.
I was sitting here thinking of all the obvious arguments I could use to rebut Richard Dawkins but it seems pointless in the modern age of science and genetics because of what has been discovered. One has to be willingly ignorant not to see a creator in the creation, (Romans 1:20-23). As I believe you, Philip, explained; it really is not about the observations or science but a prior commitment to the materialist point of view or religion.
Satan is doing a pretty good job of deceiving the world and I pray that we Christians remain strong in his word and truth.
All I can do is pray that God gives Richard Dawkins and his followers spiritual smelling salts.
"And it's so sad that people go to their grave without understanding why they were born in the first place."
The unintended irony of that Dawkins statement beggars belief. Furthermore can an accidental collection of atoms and molecules even ask that question?
As has been said elsewhere, the creed of Dawkins and his ilk can be summed up as crass idiocy dressed up as self-proclaimed intellectual superiority.
So true, I especially like your inspired evolutionist/humanist 'creed'
Rom 1:23. and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles.
Dawkins continues to bring his religion/belief to the data, misleading so many.
Humanism & the idea that humanity is basically good has to deny many facts regarding human behaviour.
Another irony is that Dawkins has to lean on Christian culture & declared it to be so, to get through the night of sin, his science cannot save him. Only Jesus has that power & beauty.
Many atheists just dont get the fall in Gen 3 or they choose to ignore it to skew an argument.We are mocked for following Jesus & data that supports a young earth yet Dawkins is in adoration of Darwin who got caught up in his grandfathers ideas anyway.
Mirror mirror on the wall, Dawkins ideas are poison for science & society.
Unfortunately Dawkins seems to have , not a love for the truth, but a love for the lie. The Bible tells us God will send a delusion on those who hate the truth and they will believe a lie.He really can not call anything either beautiful or otherwise as the only absolute by his standards is his rejection at this stage of God's Word- the only absolute of humanism and its attendant atheism and materialism is God. He is the One they do not tolerate.Many have been running from God ever since Adam's rebellion, but as the saying goes- you can run but you can't hide.Everyone will meet God face to face one day.
Isn't it better to meet Him as our loving Heavenly Father Who sent His Son Jesus to take our sins to the cross and forgive us? The alternative is to meet Jesus as the Judge. If we believe Jesus we will be welcomed into eternity with Him. Rather that than eternal separation.
We can only leave it to the Holy Spirit to get His Foot into the doors to the hearts of people like Dawkins while they still have time and grace.


text:
TOM's racing built a V6-powered Toyota GT86/ Scion FR-S for last year's Tokyo Auto Salon. The TOM's N086V has a 400-horsepower V6 fitted to the Toyota GT86/ Scion FR-S body.
The TOM's N086V uses the 3.5-liter V6 engine from the Lexus IS350 and Lexus GS350 swapped into the FR-S. The engine is then tuned up to 400-horsepower, double the stock FR-S' 200-hp, but the same as a bolt on turbo kit for the FR-S makes.
Like any concept car worth its salt, the TOM's N086V has a custom body kit with a new front bumper, carbon fiber wide body fenders, custom side skirts and a custom rear bumper with a diffuser.
What's really interesting about this concept is that it proved that the V6 engine could fit in a FR-S. That engine might be the one used in the FR-S based Supra that Toyota hinted at with the Gazoo Racing concept.
Source: Autoguide.


text:
About Us
Rates - T&C
Contact Us
CAA Certified Operator 1643
Rates - Terms and Conditions
Availability, Booking & Deposit
Due to the nature of the weather in the UK and nature of filming shoots we are very flexible when working with clients. Many of our jobs are booked very last minute. However we must have enough time to do pre-flight checks and ensure that the job can be undertaken safely, adhering to the rules & regulations of aerial filming and our operating licence. We would suggest that at least a full working day be left before filming to file the necessary paperwork for flying.
We are happy to pencil in potential jobs and dates for Clients. However, actual bookings will always take priority. Naturally, if someone has a date pencilled in we will go back to them with first refusal on their proposed date.
Due to the nature of the filming industry and working with a number of staff and freelancers, we do require our clients to commit when booking our services and time. Unless by special circumstances or if time doesn't permit, we require a 50% booking fee to be Paid in advance.
Each job is unique with many variable factors. Therefore, Project41 Ltd prefers to quote on an individual project basis, after having discussed or been fully briefed on the proposed project. However, we appreciate that sometimes, visitors to our site may just want a quick ballpark cost. Therefore as a quick guide, our "from" prices are as follows:
Aerial Photography from £900 + vat
Aerial Filming from £1,000 + vat
Aerial Filming & Stills Photography (edited) from £1400 + vat
Editing packages and film creation with graphic idents and licenced music from £400 + vat per day
Multiple day shooting and/or overseas work by discussion
Ground mapping/ photogrammetry work on discussion
There are a number of variables which may affect the quotation including the time of year, location of shoot, potential weather and other external shooting conditions, associated risk of taking the job on, or requirements for additional CAA approvals.
Travel expenses for UK jobs will be billed at 50p per mile. If accommodation is required, this will also be billable though this will be agreed with the client beforehand.
Payment Terms
30 Days (unless by prior agreement / discussion). There will be a 1.5% interest charge per month on late invoices.
We are happy to provide ANY quotes in writing once we have received a full brief from the Client and been able to discuss the requirements and expectations of the shoot.
Cancellations, Weather, Sickness & Postponement
Radio controlled aerial filming is determined by the flying conditions. If due to weather (i.e rain, strong winds, solar flares etc) and we are not able to shoot we shall not charge the client if we can make alternative arrangements for the shoot to happen at another time.
If a job is cancelled due to other issues and simply not re-scheduled due to the client no longer requiring our services the £350 and a 50% deposit will not be refunded unless by a pre-agreement and if additional costs have been incurred these will also have to be met by the client.
If we cannot film due to pilot illness (and we cannot provide an alternative pilot in time) a full refund will be provided.
Cancellation within one week of booking and more than four complete weeks to go until contract date - £350 cancellation fee and a 50% non- refundable booking fee.
Cancellation with less than 4 weeks to go until contract date - £350 cancellation fee and full price for the complete package booked
Copyright & Usage
Project41 Ltd retains the copyright of all filming content, unless a buyout of footage is specifically agreed and contracted. The client purchasing the service of Project41 Ltd will get full use of the material however will not be able to sell the footage or allow 3rd party companies to use it without the agreement of Project41 Ltd.
Naturally we are proud of the work we do and actively promote Project41 Ltd whenever possible. We do reserve the right to use any of our footage for internal promotion, whether this be inclusion on our showreel for PR purposes to promote Project41 Ltd or through the use of social media. Also we reserve the right to potentially supply the footage to stock libraries after the initial use of the footage has been published by the client.
If you have any questions or issues with the above we would ask you to kindly speak to us in advance of commencement of filming.
Project41 Ltd will store your details on a private encrypted internal database. These details will not be passed to companies or individuals outside ofProject41 Ltd. If you would like your details removed from our database, please contact us using any of the methods below.
All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence.
We will be happy to discuss any of the above with you in greater detail should you wish. We like to think you will find us fair reasonable and transparent.
We have the right to amend these terms at any time.


text:
7/09/2009 3:45pm, #1
Guy Who Pays the Bills and Gets the Death Threats
- Join Date
- Jun 1998
- Location
- Cow Town
- Posts
- 19,224
- Style
- MMA (Retired)
Video of the What: Ultimate Fighter Castaway?
link goes to video
The Skipper would approve of the above video, poking fun at Ultimate Fighter UK Coach Michael Bisping. I'm not sure if the Professor would share the same sentiments, though we figure he might have had a thing for cockney accents and strapping young lads based on the way he constantly snubbed Mary Ann.


text:
So your lady wants to start going to the gym—and she wants you to show her what to do. It's the moment you've been waiting for. This is your chance to spend time together—in your element (rather than at the mall). To help you get started, we've developed a checklist for leading her through the weight room from Day One.
1.) Forget your own training.
"If you're trying to show off by demonstrating how much you can lift, you're going to have problems," says Rachel Cosgrove, a strength and conditioning coach and co-owner of Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, Calif. "She wants you to pay attention to her." This means concentrating on moves that she can do and enjoy (unless you want a dumbbell dropped on your foot).
2.) Say the right things.
Feed her compliments—and try to ensure that she processes them as such. "Don't say, 'Wow, your arms are getting so big,' or, 'You're looking really buff!'" says Cosgrove. "If a woman hears that, she might never come back with you to the gym." Instead, reinforce her work by telling her that her arms are really "toned," or that her legs are "defined."
Sign up for a FREE 12-week regimen called the Better 2gether couples' workout, sponsored by Sensa.
3.) Know what she wants.
Her goals are to burn calories and fat, and get more "shapely." So take it easy on the isolation exercises, use lighter weights and higher reps, and keep her moving. "Women are multitaskers," says Cosgrove. "They want combination exercises, compound movements, and circuit sets." In terms of body parts, she's concerned with her legs, glutes, and—most of all—abs. "As much as guys love the bench press, that's how much women love ab work," says Joe Stankowski, a trainer of pageant contestants in Wilmington, Del. So grab a Swiss ball and crunch!
4.) Disguise the workout.
Women often fear weights, so hide weight training in moves like medicine-ball squats and med-ball overhead presses. You can also use those colored, plastic kettlebells for figure eights and swings. And here are always cable moves like wood chops. She will find these exercises more fun and less intimidating, and she won't feel like she's turning into the Incredible Hulkette.
5.) Think outside the gym.
Stankowski has his female clients drag weighted sleds and flip tractor tires. "They love it, because it's so different that it's interesting," he says. "And it gives them confidence because they feel like they're doing something no other woman is doing."
6.) Play the metabolism card.
"Girls tend to gravitate toward inner-thigh machines, leg extensions, and other machines and exercises that aren't so useful, " says Brian Grasso, a strength coach in Chicago. Rather, women should be doing squats and deadlifts because they involve a great deal of muscle recruitment, "which leads to a more aesthetically pleasing physique and increases their metabolic rate significantly," says Grasso. Tactfully point out these facts to leverage your girlfriend away from the inefficient machines and toward the free-weight movements. As much as she dislikes iron, she hates cellulite even more.
7.) Challenge her.
See who can do the most jump squats in a minute. Or who can lift the most proportionally, says Grasso, who regularly works out with his ex-figure-skater girlfriend. Start with Romanian deadlifts at 50% of your body weight and work your way up. The winner is the one who can lift the higher percentage. Grasso says battles like this push him, because he hates losing to a girl. "If you have a competitive girl and work body percentage into a friendly dare, you're both going to see massive gains."
To get you both in better shape for summer, we teamed up with our sister magazine, Shape, to design a FREE 12-week regimen called the Better 2gether couples' workout, sponsored by Sensa.
(Please consult your physician prior to beginning any exercise regimen)


text:
Gianni Russo is coming back to the Capital Region.
Who?, some of you may ask.
You may know him better as the contemptible Carlo Rizzi, the nasty husband to Don Corleone's daughter, Connie, who also set up Sonny Corleone to be whacked at that toll booth in "The Godfather."
Ah, THAT Gianni Russo.
Actually, he's more than a one-note fellow. The singer/actor/winemaker, who has appeared at Angelo's 677 Prime several times this year to promote his wine portfolio, will return to be the featured entertainer at "An Aficionado Experience," a benefit for the Center for Disability Services in Albany.
It will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 7, at the Pruyn House in Latham.
Also scheduled to appear is New York Yankees baseball great Lou Pinella, who will participate in Q&A and autograph sessions.
There also will be food stations, an open bar and microbrew stations, cigars, and live and silent auctions.
Tickets are $150 per person or $275 per couple in advance ($175 apiece at the door), available by calling (518) 944-2107.
Get upstate-wide restaurant news from the Upstate Restaurant Examiner.
And, get a mix of local food and drink news at Notes On Napkins.


text:
Rail transit of coal dropped by almost 11 percent in 2012, reflecting a decline in the use of coal for domestic electricity generation.
But the record increase in U.S. crude oil production prompted a dramatic rise in the use of rail to move oil and other petroleum products, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The report found crude oil and other petroleum products accounted for the biggest increase in railcar loadings among commodities in 2012, up 46.3 percent from the previous year, to 171,000 carloads.
Coal remained the dominant category, however, making up 41 percent of all commodity carloads shipped by rail.
Typically, about 90 percent of crude oil is transported by pipeline in the United States. But with a shortage of pipelines in booming U.S. shale production regions, many producers are using rail to transport crude oil to refineries and other destinations.
More than 70 percent of coal burned by power plants for electricity generation is delivered by rail, but deliveries fell in 2012 as power generators turned to natural gas.


text:
Not since the days when Carl Pickens (1989-91) and Alvin Harper (1987-90) terrorized opposing defenses had the Volunteers had a player at the receiver position that can change the tide of the game better than Meachem. The unheralded talent made the most of his first opportunity to be a full-time starter at Tennessee and emerged in 2006.
The Booker T. Washington product was a Parade and SuperPrep All-America selection as a senior. He was rated the second-best wide receiver prospect in nation by SuperPrep and earned Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year honors. Meachem was ranked as the best overall prospect in Oklahoma, the nation's third-best receiver and the eighth-ranked player in the Midlands region by Rivals.com. He was the eighth-ranked receiver by Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report and nominated for the Jim Thorpe Award.
As a high school senior, the all-state first-team choice racked up 543 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 531 yards and eight more scores, guiding the team to a 13-1 record and a runner-up finish in the state AAAAA championship. He also played point guard on school's two-time state basketball championship team.
Tennessee won a fierce recruiting battle for Meachem's services, much to the chagrin of the University of Oklahoma, which was hot on the trail of their local star. However, a knee injury in fall camp forced Meachem to spend his 2003 season with the Volunteers on the sideline as a medical hardship after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on Aug. 16 to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.
"Meachem was as far along as any freshman we've had since I've been here that I can remember," head coach Phil Fulmer said. The surgical procedure revealed the tear and the decision was made to repair it and accept the longer recovery period. "That's a good thing in the long run," said Fulmer, "but not in the short run because he will miss the season now. We'll always take the interest of the athlete first. It would be real easy to be selfish and just fix it short term, but Robert has a bright future and repair was the right thing to do as an athlete."
Meachem returned to action in 2004. Despite not starting any of the 13 games he appeared in, Meachem ranked third on the Vols with 25 receptions and led the team with 459 yards and an 18.4-yard average. He also added four touchdowns and was the only player on the team to produce a 100-yard receiving effort in 2004. Perhaps showing Tennessee fans of what a bright future that laid ahead for him, Meachem's first career reception was good for a 35-yard touchdown vs. Nevada-Las Vegas. He also added four tackles on special teams.
Meachem lined up at split end in 2005, starting vs. Alabama-Birmingham and Memphis. Despite only two starts, he led the team with 29 receptions for 383 yards (13.2 avg.) and two touchdowns while playing in 11 contests. He also returned two kickoffs for 41 yards (20.5 avg.).
The 2006 season was Meachem's breakout year. He moved to flanker and earned All-American and All-Southeastern Conference first-team honors. He ranked fourth in the nation with an average of 99.85 yards per game receiving and ranked 24th nationally with 5.46 receptions per game. He led the team with a career-high 71 catches for a school single-season record 1,298 yards (18.3 avg.), including 11 touchdowns. He recorded two solo tackles, gained 16 yards on a kickoff return and 12 yards on a punt return.
In 37 games at Tennessee, Meachem started 15 times. He caught 125 passes and became the sixth player in school history to gain more than 2,000 yards receiving, totaling 2,140 yards (17.1 avg.) with 17 touchdowns. He rushed seven times for three yards, recorded six solo tackles, gained 57 yards on three kickoff returns (19.0 avg.) and returned one punt 12 yards.
Rangy athlete with good arm and leg length and a frame that is built for speed … Has a tight abdomen and waist with good calf and thigh thickness … Has great size and initial explosion for this position, showing the flexibility to get in and out of his cuts instantly in attempts to separate … His speed and arm extension are his best qualities, but his leg strength is evident by the way he generates yards after the catch … Shows the change-of-direction agility to go along with his speed to be a breakaway threat with the ball in his hands … Has very good field awareness to settle in the zone's soft spot and can adjust to situations in attempts to make the play … Can out-distance himself from the crowd or press with his strength and quickness … Gets off the snap cleanly and uses his hands with force to prevent from being rerouted … Can threaten the deep secondary immediately, especially vs. off coverage, and has no problems getting a clean release vs. the jam … Has the breakaway speed and loose hips to separate and elude … Physical type with the ability to maintain his stride through his route progression … Hard to knock off his patterns and shows smooth body adjustments to catch the ball in stride … Because of his size, you would expect Meachem to look lanky in his routes, but he has the short pitter-patter steps and burst to look effortless through route progression … Has the balance and feet, along with explosive acceleration and excellent body control out of his cuts to gain valid yardage after the catch … Has the ability to leverage, plant and cut … Very good at staying in stride after the catch and is very effective at making the tough grabs outside the frame, whether the pass is high, low or behind … Gets very good lift and rise going for the jump balls and shows good ball-adjustment skills and balance to make the tough grabs and keep his feet in bounds when working along the sidelines.
Needs to improve his slide in the open zone as he will sometimes get too narrow when accelerating out of transition cuts … You hope he would get more deep-ball opportunities than he has, but he demonstrates excellent hand/eye coordination … Will misjudge the ball occasionally but has the skills to adjust to the ball when working underneath … Showed some inconsistency tracking the ball in flight during the 2006 Georgia game in the first half but rectified it to come up with five big plays in second-half action … Physical blocker when working in-line, but needs to get lower in his pads in attempts to sustain … Demonstrates good effort and a strong hand punch to jolt, but when he gets high in his pads, he can be pushed back into the pocket.
Compares To:
Anquan Boldin, Arizona Cardinals … Meachem is much faster getting into his routes than Boldin, but he is similar to the Cardinals receiver when it comes to gaining valid yardage after the catch and coming up with the key reception in crucial situations … He does a very good job of tracking the deep ball over his shoulder and, like Boldin, he knows how to use his frame to shield defenders from the ball … He is the Vols' best receiving prospect since the Carl Pickens era (1988-91).
2003: Sat out the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery (Aug. 1616) to repair a torn right knee meniscus … "Meachem was as far along as any freshman we've had since I've been here that I can remember," head coach Phil Fulmer said.
Campus: 4.48 in the 40-yard dash … 37½-inch vertical jump … 345-pound bench press.
Combine: 4.42 in the 40-yard dash … 1.53 10-yard dash … 2.54 20-yard dash … 4.31 20-yard shuttle … 11.3 60-yard shuttle … 6.97 three-cone drill … 37½-inch vertical jump … 10-foot-1 broad jump.
Attended Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) High School, playing football for head coach Antwain Jimmerson … Parade and SuperPrep All-America selection as a senior … Rated the second-best wide receiver prospect in nation by SuperPrep and earned Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year honors … Ranked as the best overall prospect in Oklahoma, the nation's third-best receiver and the eighth-ranked player in the Midlands region by Rivals.com … Was the eight-ranked receiver by Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report and nominated for the Jim Thorpe Award … As a senior, the all-state first-team choice racked up 543 receiving yards and ten touchdowns and rushed for 531 yards and eight more scores, guiding the team to a 13-1 record and a runner-up finish in the state AAAAA championship … Also played point guard on school's two-time state basketball championship team.
Communications major … Born Robert Emery Meachem on Sept. 28, 1984 … Resides in Tulsa, Okla.
Story Courtesy: cbs.sportsline.com


text:
In my life, throughout my travels and time periods lived in foreign countries and in the USA, I have found hidden gems as well as better-known and/or popular vegan restaurants, food carts, etc. I would like to share these establishments with fellow and prospective vegans, as well as anyone who might be interested in broadening their culinary/dietary/foodie horizons. One stand-out restaurant is mentioned per category.
Gracias Madre – San Francisco, CA
100% vegan, local and organic. Committed to their love for food, the earth and the divine feminine, as well as consciousness-raising on the planet. The brainchild of Cafe Gratitude.
Kriol & Garifuna
Gomier's Restaurant – Punta Gorda, Belize
Prepared with conscience, compassion and love, the dishes Gomier prepares are hidden gems amongst the questionably vegetarian rice and beans with chopped cucumber, tomato, and iceberg lettuce salad that define the diet of any vegan travelling in Belize. During my interview with Gomier I came to the understanding that he does eat fish, but his diet is otherwise free of animal protein (no dairy, no eggs, no poultry or cow or pig). He also makes a wickedly delicious vegan ice cream. Sometimes that's all he eats in a day, he once told me.
Van Hanh Vegetarian Restaurant – SE Portland, OR
Van Hanh Vegetarian Restaurant is operated by Buddhist monks (all female), and they're not what a normal American patron might consider polite. They are eager to take your order, and not amused by the banter between you and your dining partner(s). Also, don't try to banter with them. They mean business. And I love them all the more for it. The food is delicious.
Govinda's – Quito, Ecuador
Arriving at a capital city in South America can often result in a sigh of relief. If you're vegan and you're lucky, you can sometimes find an all-vegan establishment. Which is more than I can say about a few capital cities in the states. In Quito, Ecuador for example, you can eat a hearty vegan lunch for less than $2 US– with juice included (I'm pretty sure it was Tang, but nonetheless I was impressed). A potential downside for the vegan-paleo inclined is that Govinda's serves a non-negotiable, substitution-free lunch that does include a side of rice along with the protein. However, having eaten nothing but a head of cabbage picked up at the 10 minute stop during a 12-hour bus ride (in which we nearly fell off a cliff) I was so shaky and tense that I did not care. It tasted great, remedied my hypoglycaemic moment, and balanced out my experience in Quito (my friend and I were assaulted later that week on the street next to a fried chicken franchise).
Chinitas – Panajachel, Guatemala
While there are at least 3 restaurants now in Panajachel that intentionally http://artsandhealth.ie/xenical/ cater to vegans, Chinitas is the longest standing and my favorite by far. I know the owner personally, but that only happened because she recognized me when I dined there during my most recent visits to Pana– and inquired about a Kaqchikel (the local indigenous language) teacher in the area.
Classic American Diner
Cornbread Cafe – Eugene, OR
Cornbread Cafe serves a lot of things I don't prefer to eat, such as bread. Yet the restaurant pulls at my heartstrings in such a way that I could not cease to be impressed by it. I have been there three times and always ordered a salad, but watched my friend eat the "Eugene-wich" with carrot-bacon and was very impressed by the concept. Carrot bacon…hmm…I've always hated on the phrase "everything tastes better with bacon", but when it consists of carrots I think we should re-phrase it "everything tastes better fried". That's the reason why deep-fried Twinkies became popular at county fairs, am I right?
American-Latin-Asian-Raw-New Age fusion
Slice of Life – Sebastapol, CA
Slice of Life is the first vegan-friendly restaurant I ever experienced. My mom and some of her friends loved it, and suggested we go there a few weeks after I stopped eating meat. She ate fish at the time, and still does to my knowledge, but was always stoked to eat there. Mom, you are a closeted vegan. It's time to come out. Anyway, their sampler plates were always great when I was obsessed with tempeh and tofu, but what I really love and miss is the salad that's topped with steamed vegetables and seeds with lemon tahini dressing. Vegan, Paleo, and undeniably amazing.
Juice Bars & Cafes
Juicy Jones – Barcelona, Spain
Juicy Jones was a godsend when my friends from band/orchestra and I were drenched because of the rain and needed a place to chill. They had delicious smoothies and snacks, and even though my friends were not vegan– they were either raised by vegetarians or had several other vegan friends and were familiar with the concept (I transferred to an Arts High School my junior year so being vegan was no big deal). This place is the best vegan-friendly joint in Spain, hands down. Great atmosphere, great food, great people.
High End
Millenium Restaurant – San Francisco, CA
Millenium is absolutely fabulous. 100% vegan, with multiple courses of small plates that that remind patrons of the undeniable fact that beets are much prettier than duck breasts. Or steaks or foie gras. So beautiful. When I die I need for Millennium to cater my funeral.
Vanilla Jill's – Eugene, OR
Vanilla Jill's is an anomaly. Every other frozen yogurt / ice cream venue I've been to offers sorbet as their only vegan option. Now that I received a Nutri-Bullet from from my Nana for Christmas I no longer am on a quest for vegan soft-serve, yet I always appreciated Vanilla Jill's for the coffee-flavored xylitol-sweetened vegan yogurt and peanut butter soft serve.


text:
The man who gave millions the music of their generation
Page Tools
John Peel, who died this week, has left a legacy in the bands he championed, writes Peter Fray in London.
Broadcaster John Peel didn't look or sound like a rock'n'roll icon. He was bald, bearded, badly dressed and avuncular and had a very British, self-deprecating sense of humour. "I'd like to be able to sing," he once said. "Making a noise like a dolphin is a very poor substitute."
But Peel, who died suddenly this week of a heart attack aged 65, provided the soundtrack to countless millions of lives by unearthing and promoting scores of bands, many of whom went on to become household names and global artists.
The list of Peel "finds" stretches from the 1960s, when he first joined the BBC, to the present day. They include Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart, the Velvet Underground, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Rod Stewart and the Faces, Roxy Music, Bob Marley, U2, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Joy Division, Pulp, the Smiths, Radiohead, Blur, the White Stripes and the Strokes.
Ninety per cent of the records he played had never had airtime before.
Michael Eavis, the promoter of the Glastonbury festival, said Peel "was the lad that always knew which band was going to make the grade. He chose a band and he made it succeed."
Peel was the first to play on air the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He played the whole record without interruption. Over three decades on the BBC he expanded the horizons of mainstream audiences to reggae, hip-hop, punk, thrash and hardcore.
As his obituary in Britain's Daily Telegraph put it: "By resolutely championing music that few other DJs would touch, he engendered trust among his angst-ridden and suspicious teenage listeners, retaining their loyalty as they grew up."
Peel has been described as the godfather of punk. While others, such as Malcolm McLaren, the svengali behind the Sex Pistols, could claim the title, without Peel many punk and new wave bands would have stayed in the garage.
If Peel wasn't the godfather, he was certainly the midwife.
Feargal Sharkey, the former lead singer of the punk outfit the Undertones, called Peel the "single most important broadcaster we have ever known". The band's 1978 single, Teenage Kicks, was Peel's all-time favourite song.
Several bands, including Franz Ferdinand and the Finn brothers, played the song in tribute to Peel at gigs in Britain this week. He asked for the line from the song "our teenage dreams so hard to beat" to be engraved on his gravestone.
Peel was born John Robert Parker Ravenscroft near Liverpool in 1939. A solitary child, he did National Service in the late 1950s and then went to the US. Eventually he landed a job as a DJ in Dallas as the US first fell in love with the Beatles and everything British, especially Liverpool. He was set.
In 1967 he returned to London and after a stint on the pirate station Radio London, joined the BBC youth station, Radio One, at its outset.
His enthusiasm for music and innovation was hidden behind a slightly amused, deadpan delivery. He was the musical version of a trainspotter and a devoted family man.
Both on and off air, Peel was an ordinary guy. He lived in rural Suffolk with his wife, Sheila, known affectionately as Pig, and his recording studio.
He avoided the glitz of the music business and in latter years attracted a whole new audience with a Saturday morning radio program on the BBC called Home Truths. The show dealt with the "normal" happenings, both happy and sad, of family life. It was sentimental and effective. Much like the man himself.


text:
Avila Beach California Golf Courses
|Avila Beach Resort
Additional Golf Course Reviews:
|Rancho Casa Blanca Country Club -- nice short course
|Review by: Rob
|This is a nice little course that you can play with just a 9 iron, pw and putter. Great for working on your short game, keeps you from overswinging. If you do overswing, you'll bounce it off somebody's home or a tree (if you're lucky). Course is well maintained. Residents take good care.
|From California