text:
Tape Media
Tape Drives
Removable Disk Storage
Imation RDX
Imation RDX Bundles
Tandberg Data RDX QuikStor
Tandberg Data RDX QuikStation
Tandberg RDXLock WORM
Quantum RDX
HP RDX Removable Disk
HP RDX+ Bundles
Dell RD1000
Quantum SuperLoader 3
Quantum Scalar i40 Scalar i80
Quantum Scalar i3 LTO
Overland NEO Tape Libraries
Overland NEOs StorageLoader
Overland NEOs T24 Loader
Overland NEOs T48 Library
Overland NEOxl 40 Series
Overland NEOxl 80 Series
Overland NEO Agility LTFS
Tape Drive Autoloaders
HP StoreEver Tape Libraries
HP StoreEver MSL3040
Tandberg Data Storage Library
Qualstar Q8 Tape Autoloader
Qualstar Q24 Tape Autoloader
Qualstar Q48 Tape Autoloader
Qualstar Q40 Tape Library
Qualstar Q80 Tape Library
Qualstar Tape Libraries
Overland Storage NEO S
NAS Storage
SnapServer NAS
SnapServer XSD 40 NAS
SnapServer XSR NAS Series
SnapServer XSR 40 NAS
SnapServer XSR 120 NAS
SnapServer DX DynamicRAID
SnapServer DX1/DX2 Bundles
SnapScale X2 Clustered NAS
SnapScale X4 Scalable NAS
Snap Server Support
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G-Technology Storage
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Pegasus2 RAID Thunderbolt
SnapSAN S1000 Storage Array
Nexsan Storage
Software Backup Novastor
Adaptec SCSI HBA Cards
ATTO ExpressSAS RAID
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iSCSI/ FC HBA Cards
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Cables & Terminators
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HP Toner Cartridges
Imation Defender Flash Security
Repair Services
Reconditioned Tape Drives
NEO 200s 24-Slot LTO-5 HH SAS (IBM Drive) 2U Automated Tape Library/
Autoloader Part # OV-NEO224s5SA
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Datasheet - PDF
Storage NEO 200s Datasheet - CLICK HERE
Technical Specifications
Drives: LTO-4, LTO-5
Media Type: LTO-4 Ultrium, LTO-5
LTO-4 Compressed capacity :
19.2TB (12 cart.), 38.4TB
(24 cart.)
LTO-5 Compressed capacity:
36TB (12 cart), 72TB (24
Interface: Ultra 320 LVD
SCSI, 3Gbs SAS, 4Gb FC ,
6 Gbs SAS (LTO-5), 8 Gbs FC (LTO-5)
Warranty/Service 1 year
Number of cartridges: 12-24
Number of drives per module: 1-2
Dimensions (H x W x D): 3.4 x
18.9 x 31.7 in. (8.7 X 48 X 80.6 cm)
Shipping Weight: 32.9. lbs.(14.9 kg)
LTO-4 Compressed transfer* rate (GB/hr.): 1.2
TB/hr. (assuming 2 tape drives)
LTO-5 Compressed transfer* rate (GB/hr.): 2 TB/hr
(assuming 2 tape drives)
Part Numbers /


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Profile of VET organisation
Name of organization: Secondary Vocational School of Construction and Energy, Business Academy and High Medical School, Chomutov, state-funded institution
Country: Czech Republic
e-mail: [email protected]
Type of VET institute: Upper Secondary vocational education and training
Good practice title
"RaDoSt" School Counselling Centre
Baseline / problem
From the perspective of a school it is established good practice. The "RaDoSt" School Counselling Centre has been in existence for ten years. It deals mainly with educational counselling, methods of preventing negative social phenomena and career counselling. Employees of the counselling centre help both pupils and parents in solving educational and training problems, in dealing with "addictive substances" and the choice of further education or future employment. Nine teachers with a professional focus on educational counselling, career counselling and prevention are involved in work at the centre.
The establishment of the Centre was necessitated by the need for solution co-ordination of educational and training problems at the former technical school – Integrated high school of energy and building, where the technical fields in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, construction, woodworking and fire protection were taught. The basic principles of the work of the counselling centre were set there, including the delimitation of competences of involved staff and the system settings of administrative work in solving problems and solving educational and disciplinary measures.
In 2011, there was a combination of the technical school with the Business Academy and the High Medical School. Given the fact that these two schools have not yet been introduced to these principles, there has been a gradual implementation.
The consulting centre consists of three groups of workers, i.e. educational consultant, prevention specialist and career counsellor.
Educational consultant:
- cares for pupils with special educational needs on the basis of a report from the counselling facility (educational-psychological counselling, special education centre)
- cares for talented pupils and foreign pupils,
- provides information to pupils and their guardians in educational counselling,
- looks for students who require special attention and prepares proposals for further care,
- helps pupils in the 1st grade to adapt to a new environment,
- helps pupils with weak or insufficient grades, seeks for redress possibilities,
- together with the class teacher they monitor the absence of pupils, hidden truancy and conduct negotiations with legal representatives, methodically helps the school's teaching staff on issues of integration of pupils, processing individual education plans, etc.,
- maintains administration, collects specialised news and information about pupils in school counselling care (in accordance with regulations on the protection of personal data)
- informs educational consultants of primary schools, pupils and their parents about the possibilities of studying at our school,
- working in the Educational-Psychological Counselling Centre in Chomutov and other institutions throughout the region.
Prevention specialist:
- checks the creation and implementation of Minimum Preventive School Program
- coordinates and participates in school activities focused on risk behaviour manifestations (truancy, bullying, addiction and other social pathological phenomena)
- collaborates on activities that are aimed at the involvement of multi-culturalism in the educational process (integration of foreign pupils, acceptance of cultural and ethnic differences, preventing racism and xenophobia)
- acquaint students and parents with opportunities to participate in school and extra-curricular activities,
- forwards awareness materials,
- leads the activities of teachers methodically in the area of prevention,
- provides seminars, lectures, visits, excursions in accordance with the Minimum Preventive School Program
- collaborates with counselling facilities, continuously updates the database of school collaborators for the prevention,
- contacts the relevant specialist department if a problem occurs (in the case of minor pupils,
- co-operates with legal representatives,
- maintains administration and written records of the activities, proposed and implemented measures (in accordance with regulations on the protection of personal data)
- involves school in projects aimed at preventing risky behaviour and presents the results of preventive work.
Career counsellor
- sends pupils, parents and teachers the latest information in the field of career counselling (possibilities of post-secondary school for pupils, information on newly opened fields, conditions for admissions to universities and colleges, opportunities on the labour market in the region, etc.),
- provides methodological assistance in choosing post-secondary education or employment,
- provides career guidance services for pupils with special educational needs,
- helps with processing documents and materials (resumes, cover letters, filling in applications to study, preparation for a job interview to work, etc.),
- informs about other options for consulting services in the field of career counselling in the region, on the Internet, in journals, etc.
- provides discussions and lectures for students, or visit to some institutions (in collaboration with the Labour Office in Chomutov, Chomutov Town Council, etc.)
Before the introduction of good practice, in regard to solving the problems of education and training, career counselling and prevention have coped with the fragmentation of activities, lack of co-ordination and indispensability in functions. Teachers also lacked sufficient methodical support in solving problems. When introducing the measures, we were faced with the employees' reluctance to accept changes and use the same approaches and procedures in dealing with similar cases. But it was also necessary due to the introduction of the ISO quality system into school. We have managed to stabilise these processes and the Counselling Centre is now included between the advisory bodies of the school management.
Openly solved problems are still alive and require daily care.
We have solved the same procedure and the same methodology for solving complex issues.
We have introduced the evaluation of problems in the field of educational counselling.
Information about the Centre: www.esoz.cz/radost
Good practice: (Measures, instruments, criteria, indicators)
The process of implementing good practice have mainly involved school management and staff entrusted with the methodical management of educational counselling, methods of prevention and career counselling. We have set up a unified methodology and consistent approaches in solving educational problems, we provide services in the area of prevention and career counselling to other pedagogical staff, pupils, parents and other clients. At the same time we emphasise the individual needs of clients and the co-ordination of procedures between the Centre's staff.
When introducing good practice we used external expertise, some of the steps were consulted with experts in educational and psychological counselling. The Centre's work is continually evaluated at management meetings of schools and educational meetings, yearly we process self-evaluation annual report of the Centre.
For the Centre's work, we created the appropriate background where there are negotiations with clients and it shows that the environment in which the negotiations are taking place, have a significant influence on its course and outcome.
Since this good practice has proven to be good, our experience was used in the implementation in other high schools, for example at the High Engineering School and High Vocational School in Chomutov. The Centre's work was appreciated by the representatives of foreign schools with which we co-operate with in the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci program (e.g. school representatives from Slovakia and Germany).
More information about the counselling centre can be found on the website www.esoz.cz/radost.
Problems and constraints encountered and solutions found:
The Counselling Centre was established on the basis of the decision of the school management and staff, whose common goal was to co-ordinate the processes and procedures in the field of educational counselling and solving educational problems, methods of prevention and career counselling.
The problems we had to overcome in the introduction stemmed from a lack of methodological support from advisory bodies outside the school and from a not entirely clear position (legally not clear until today) of the function of career counsellor. At school we had to find a suitable model of educational = career counsellor, including the provision of financial resources to support this function.
Right at the start of the activity the centre was included in the ISO system. In the beginning some employees had small problems with the use of the systems and procedures in this area and also the use of the correct forms.
Follow-up problems arose with the connection of the original High Energy and Construction School with the High Medical School and Business Academy. These schools hadn't introduced the system of quality management and did not use a single procedure. Therefore, it was necessary to cancel the introduced, uncoordinated procedures at these schools and set up new procedures.
The general problem is when schooling and educational systems are characterised by considerable inertia, and any change requires a long time and good preparation. Even at our school it took a while before all the teachers became accustomed to the set procedures and competences of the school's counselling centre.

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
Beck is a fake revolutionary who has hijacked the freedom movement and is being used to lead conservatives and libertarians down the rabbit hole
Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones
Prison Planet.com
Monday, January 25, 2010
Glenn Beck is being characterized by the establishment as the leader of the freedom movement and yet a closer analysis of his ideology reveals that Beck is nothing more than a fake revolutionary who has supported and is pushing policies that are diametrically opposed to those embraced by true constitutionalists.
Beck and Fox News have hijacked the patriot movement and are leading conservatives and libertarians down a meaningless partisan rabbit hole in a clear attempt to neutralize genuine opposition to the big government agenda of the Obama administration.
It is important to stress that we are not picking a fight with Glenn Beck or Fox News in general as a crude effort to garner attention. Glenn Beck routinely attacks real libertarians, Ron Paul supporters, and those who would define themselves as constitutionalists. We are constantly forced to rebut his smears against people in the freedom movement while Beck claims to be one of us.
Indeed, Judge Andrew Napolitano, who also appears on Fox News, is an example of a real constitutionalist and we are in full agreement with his views.
As the video below illustrates, despite the fact that Beck claims to be "a Libertarian at heart," he has publicly supported programs and legislation that are universally abhorred by the vast majority of libertarians, such as the banker bailout and the USA Patriot Act.
Beck has also been aggressively pushing for new taxes in order to pay for the bailout that he supported. On December 4, he appeared on fellow neo-con Bill O'Reilly's show to promote a 2 percent VAT tax to be adopted that would go directly to pay down the national debt.
While lending support to the Tea Party movement out of one side of his mouth, out of the other Beck is promoting the exact thing they are protesting against – more taxes.
Beck is not a real libertarian, he is a performing circus act who is being positioned as a clown to discredit issues that the genuine freedom movement embraces, such as exposing the fact that man-made global warming is a fraud.
Certainly, on several issues Beck jives with populist sentiment, but on all the major fronts – war, the patriot act, warrantless spying, the bailout, and new taxes, he is nothing more than a shill for big government.
Beck's agenda is to put out a dual message – to discredit and polarize the conservative movement to the benefit of the two party monopoly. His bizarre and clownish antics of fake crying, which were proven to be staged when Beck replicated them on demand for a GQ photo shoot, are doing nothing but reinforcing the stereotype that the freedom movement is extreme and unbalanced.
Beck's entire 9/12 project has nothing to do with uniting America and everything to do with reinforcing neo-conservative rhetoric about how we should relinquish our rights and accept the police state because terrorists want to attack us and Saddam Hussein had WMD's and yellowcake.
During his Monday September 22 2008 TV broadcast, Beck expressed his vehement support for the bailout, stating, "The $700 billion dollars that you're hearing about now is not only I believe necessary, it is also not nearly enough." However, as soon as Bush left office and Obama picked up the baton and continued the same financial policy, he changed his tune and routinely attacked the bailout as an example of how socialism was taking over America.
The bailout was bad news for America under Bush just as it is under Obama, both were merely performing a transfer of wealth from America to offshore banks and giving the Federal Reserve total dictatorial control over the economy, but Beck only opposed it when Bush was out of office, proving that his opinions are not wedded to right or wrong, but to which puppet is in the White House.
A host of mainline conservative talking heads opposed the banker bailout, as did the majority of the American people, but Beck went on television and publicly supported it. This is irreconcilable with Beck being "a libertarian at heart" as he claims.
In addition, Beck aggressively attacked Ron Paul and his supporters during the election campaign when it looked like the Texan Congressman might have a real chance of winning the nomination. Beck implied that Ron Paul supporters were domestic terrorists and should be dealt with by the U.S. Army, but later tried to side with Ron Paul supporters when the infamous and discredited MIAC report echoed his own talking point that people who support Ron Paul were dangerous.
The smear came during a November 2007 show when Beck was on CNN. Alongside ex-Marxist David Horowitz, Beck demonized Ron Paul supporters, libertarians and the anti-war left as terrorist sympathizers and inferred that the U.S. military should be used to silence them, parroting a talking point that traces back to a September 2006 White House directive. When asked about the issue, Ron Paul dismissed Beck as "pretty discourteous" and a "demagogue".
Beck has also worked with government propagandists Popular Mechanics in an effort to "debunk" the existence of internment camps in America. Beck's hit piece consisted of setting up a straw man argument while ignoring the manifestly provable evidence that such facilities exist and that they are admittedly being prepared to house citizens during times of civil unrest.
Beck has ceaselessly attacked 9/11 truthers as dangerous extremists, echoing precisely talking points put out by Obama information czar Cass Sunstein. Just last week Beck said on his nationally syndicated radio show that there are 9/11 truth activists in the White House and they threaten the life of Obama. The fact that Beck is repeating White House talking points to demonize political adversaries of the administration proves that his image as an anti-establishment guru is a manufactured fraud.
Beck has been a vehement cheerleader for the wars of aggression launched since 9/11 and in addition called for Iran to be attacked, claiming that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preparing a "second holocaust." Once again, these political opinions stand completely contrary to libertarian principles, which follow the founding fathers' view that an expansionist aggressive foreign policy is bad for America.
Beck has attacked Obama for unraveling the Bush war machine, when in fact Obama has done everything in his power to expand Bush's wars, beefing the campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan while removing a token amount of troops from Iraq and replacing them with an even greater number of contractors.
By attacking Obama for being different to Bush, when in reality he offers no change whatsoever, Beck keeps people locked in the left-right paradigm and ensures that instead of coming to the realization that the whole system is rigged, they will merely vote in another puppet for the new world order in 2012.
Beck is the perfect example of controlled opposition, he is there to co-opt and ensure the Tea Parties are under control and that they never focus on taking on the real power behind the American economy – the Federal Reserve.
Glenn Beck is a fake revolutionary whose job it is to lead conservatives and libertarians away from uniting behind the real issues, while absorbing the successes of the patriot movement and in turn discrediting it by way of his clownish antics and easily derided mannerisms. He is part of a wider approach on behalf of Fox News to become a beacon for freedom movement and then act as a steam valve for its issues, deluding people into thinking their interests are being represented when in reality they are merely being sucked up and spewed out as something entirely misrepresentative.
It is vital that we alert the freedom movement to the fact that Beck is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and one must only scratch beneath the surface to discover that his true political standpoint is the complete opposite of that embraced by true constitutionalists. If we continue to let Beck and Fox News pose as our leaders the entire movement will crash and burn because we will be allowing the foxes to guard the henhouse.
This article was posted: Monday, January 25, 2010 at 8:02 am


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H.D. Vest Financial Services announced Thursday that after conducting a year of social media platform research, it has selected Socialware as its platform of choice for its independent network of 4,600 financial planners.
Socialware allows advisors to communicate with clients through social media in a secure and compliant manner. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Socialware currently works with 160 businesses and specializes in providing them with secure and compliant software and services that allow them to market themselves with customers and prospects on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Irving, Texas-based H.D. Vest will launch a pilot program on April 16 with 50 advisors. At its annual national conference in Miami on June 18 through 21, the firm will then offer all of its 4,600 advisors the chance to sign up for the social media program. Advisors who participate will use Socialware to identify business opportunities through their Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter networks.
H.D. Vest President and CEO Roger Ochs said his firm will rely on Socialware's experience in working with financial professionals who have to navigate complex regulatory responsibilities when using social media.
"We are very excited about our partnership with Socialware. As more and more Americans are utilizing social media in their daily lives, we believe this is an excellent opportunity for our advisors to stay in contact with clients and really understand what's important in their lives," Ochs said in a statement.
Founded in 1983, H.D. Vest Financial Services supports an independent network of tax and non-tax professionals who provide financial planning services that include securities, insurance, money management and banking solutions. The firm manages more than $30 billion in assets for 1.8 million individuals, families and small businesses in all 50 states.
H.D. Vest advisor Joe Bonfiglio of Holmdel, N.J., says he looks forward to using social media to connect with clients.
"I believe this medium has tremendous potential to keep me actively engaged with my clients," Bonfiglio said in a statement. "Research has shown that engaged clients are both more loyal and more likely to refer new clients to their financial advisor. I am looking forward to using social media to help further strengthen my client relationships and grow my business."
Read Advisors Flocking to Social Media, but Still Misunderstanding Clients at AdvisorOne.


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Stephen P. Morse has a website that contains lots of valuable information for people researching U.S. immigrants to Ellis Island and other ports. It contains helps on how to find your ancestor when names were so frequently changed upon arrival to the U.S. It has other valuable information as well. It is a great resource for genealogists. Go take a look!
***** ***** ***** *****
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post from Stephen P. Morse. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."


text:
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Contact us today to learn more about custom network deployment solutions.


text:
Inside the camera bag of Fujifilm X-Photographer – Kevin Mullins
Kevin Mullins
Kevin is a pure documentary wedding photographer. He started shooting weddings professionally in 2008 and since then has photographed weddings right across the UK and internationally. Shooting in a documentary style he strives to tell the story of the wedding through photojournalism, rather than "traditional" contrived wedding photography.
He has been shooting with Fujifilm equipment since 2011.
My name is Kevin Mullins and I'm a professional Wedding Photographer based in the United Kingdom.
I have been using the Fujifilm X Series of cameras since I fell in love with the original X100 back in 2010. At that point, I was using a very heavy DSLR system and I knew that the new wave of mirrorless cameras from Fuji was going to change the way I work.
Since then, I have used almost every Fuji camera for my wedding, commercial and street photography. I have used X100/s/t, X-T1, X-Pro1 & X-Pro2, X-E2 and X70.
My style of wedding photography is "Documentary". This means I don't stage anything. I take images of things happening around me without me affecting or organising those images.
I love to get in close to the action, and at busy weddings, or when shooting on the streets, the small, lightweight Fuji X Series has really enabled me to achieve this ambition of shooting from the inside out, rather than from the outside shooting inwards.
My Current Camera Bag & Gear for Weddings
I currently use a Filson David Alan Harvey inspired camera bag which I think is perfect for both my wedding work and when I shoot on the streets.
It's so important for me to be able to react quickly to my environment and to that end, I typically shoot presently with three camera bodies in my bag:
2 x Fuji X-Pro2's
1 x Fuji X70
When I'm shooting in close quarters to my clients, I really want to blend in as much as possible. It's true these days that I'm often using gear smaller than some guests at weddings.
This is an amazing advantage as I can essentially be "just another guest" at the wedding.
I adored the X-Pro1 for its aesthetic and the way that it was simply a little black box. I was so pleased when Fujifilm retained the same understated design for the X-Pro2. It really is such an inconspicuous camera that I can really mix in with the action, shoot very quickly and move on.
I will normally shoot with a 35mm and 85mm full frame equivalent combination. This means I use, almost all the time;
XF23mm F1.4
XF56mm F1.2
I will likely have the 18mm F2 and the 35mm F2 as my reserve lenses but almost all of my wedding photography work is shot with the 23mm and 56mm lenses these days.
The X-T1, with the latest firmware especially, was a very quick camera and I used it extensively. However, when the X-Pro2 came along, I realised very quickly that this is a camera with a sensor and processer to match that will allow me to shoot extremely quickly.
I like to be able to shoot very reactively, either using the OVF or EVF, but I also like to shoot using a zone focusing method and shoot from the hip. This, again, is so easy to do with the X-Pro2 and allows me to get shots I might not otherwise achieve.
The X-Pro2, for me, is the perfect camera for documentary type photography. The ability to quickly use the very responsive AF-C continuous focusing is great and I'm often using that mode for bridal recessional and for confetti runs.
Because the X-Pro2s are very lightweight, I can easily shoot with two at any one time. During the wedding ceremony, when my bag is likely in the car, I will have one camera in action, while the other hangs on my shoulder or in my Spider Holster on my hip.
I love using the very proficient metering (photometry) in the X-Pro2s and will often keep the body with the 56mm lens in Spot Metering mode. Because of the way I shoot, using available and natural light only, I have to try and utilise any powerful light in an artistic nature if possible. This is when having one body constantly set to spot meter can help me out, even in the most benign looking lighting environments.
Of course, one of the best features of the X-Pro2 is the electronic shutter and I will often use that during the quiet sections of ceremonies.
It's incredibly liberating to be able to shoot in 100% silence and, for me, its so important that the serenity of the delicate moments is not affected by the clack clack clack of a shutter mechanism. The standard mechanical shutter on the X-Pro2 is quiet, but of course the electronic shutter is 100% silent.
instax SHARE
I also take an SP-1 instax SHARe with me to most weddings. This allows me to very simply take some images from the camera and via my iPad (where I edit the images using Snapseed), I can print a series of images and had to the bride and groom.
Just like the cameras, the instax SHARE is so light that it is hardly any additional weight in the camera bag and is very easy to transport.
The X70 is a new addition to the camera bag and is really my third body at weddings. This camera has, however, revolutionised the way I shoot my Street Photography. It is so light and small – even smaller than my mobile phone – that I can shoot so close to subjects without them noticing a thing.
On the X70, I have started to use the WCL-X70 which I think allows me to get a unique perspective of people on the streets (or at weddings).
The X70 really allows me get so close, or, rather, allows subjects on the street to get so close to me and they literally have no idea that a shot is being taken.
Part of my objective when shooting anything, but especially Street Photography, is simply to document people being people. I'm a great believer in capturing people doing very normal things but at the same time documenting those moments.
All photos by Kevin Mullins


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The historic brick house sits at the end of East Third Avenue overlooking the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroads railyard. Built in 1898, it was once an assay house used to weigh and measure ore during the areas mining days. More than 100 years later, the house has been remodeled and refurbished, but its use has remained strikingly similar.
The building now houses Swan Wealth Advisors, an investment firm that manages $150 million for clients across the U.S.
Were the new assayers of wealth in Durango, said Rob Swan, the companys director of technology and trading.
If the companys growth plans continue, millions dollars more will (virtually) pass through the old brick houses walls.
After 15 years of handling money in more than 800 separately managed accounts, the firm is launching a mutual fund the first to be managed from Durango. If the companys growth projections are correct, it could be managing as much as $2 billion by the end of 2013.
Much of the companys growth can be attributed to its Defined Risk Strategy, a unique combination of long-term investments and short-term selling strategies that the company touts for its ability to minimize investor losses during stock market declines.
While the company may trail the stock market during up years, we do a lot better in loss prevention in bear markets, said Jim Pritchard, the companys director of sales and marketing.
The firm hangs its hat on its unique hedging strategy and a basket approach that, like compartments in a ship, minimizes the risk of any one event bringing down the entire portfolio.
While the company has grown steadily since it began, the company gained nationwide attention after the stock market plunged in 2008. Investors saw that Swans Defined Risk Strategy helped prevent big losses, Pritchard said.
The stock market fell by 37 percent that year while annual returns on accounts managed by Swan fell only 4.5 percent. In the stock markets four most recent down years (2000 through 2002 and 2008) the S&P 500 was down an average of 80 percent while Swans offerings were up an average of 18 percent, according to company data.
The company was rated five stars by Morningstar, an investment resource that provides data on investment offerings. The rating was based on past data provided by the company that hasnt been independently verified, a company official said.
In the years since the 2008 stock-market crash, the company has seen increasing interest from investors looking for a safer option that will protect their clients portfolios, Pritchard said.
People are afraid to invest in the stock market because 2008 was so bad, he said.
So while the stock markets rapid decline sent other businesses scrambling, Swan saw it spur the growth it needed to start a mutual fund.
With the mutual fund, the companys wealth-management strategies will be open to a much broader range of clients, Pritchard said.
Instead of a $250,000 minimum account size for separately managed accounts, the mutual fund requires only a $2,500 minimum account size and doesnt require nearly the same paperwork or logistics.
Steve Pease, an investment advisor with Oxford Wealth Management, said he intends to invest in Swans mutual fund. Pease has worked with the company for nine months and complimented the Defined Risk Strategy.
It fits well for us especially in volatile times, he said. Theres quite a number of firms that do long-short strategy like they do, but not quite the way they do it. It feels like theyre putting an awful lot more science into it rather than just basic long-short strategy.
If the company hits its goal of managing $2 billion by the end of next year, it expects to double its staff of seven,Pritchard said.
Local clients would have the advantage of visiting Swans offices to see what were doing with their money, Pritchard said. And while living in Durango means Pritchard has to travel more than if he were working on Wall Street, he said the views from his office window and the small-town life make traveling a small price to pay.


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23 Creative and Cool Puzzle Inspired Product Designs.
Puzzle Rug: Designed by Katrin Sonnleitner, the collection includes the classic Puzzle Persian rug with 9 Persian rug colors, the Puzzle Persian BW with black & white pieces. The Puzzle Green with four green tones is ideal for a botanical wall decoration.
Puzzle Serving Board: Easy to clean and handy; this board separates into 6 pieces which can be separately used to serve your party guests.
Solid Beech Table: This is made entirely from solid beech and consists of individual pieces that can be joined together to create a unique occasional table.
Puzzleboard: This board by OOOMS can be used in more than one way: "each board can be used on its own as a cutting board or serving plate, or put some boards together and you have super-sized your workspace."
Puzzle Lamp: Designed by Slide Italian Design, it's a luminous multifunctional lamp with a design inspired by puzzles that can take on a variety of forms to suit your needs and imagination.
Puzzle Bench: Designed by VivaTerra, it is made from sheesham wood, and can be used individually or linked with one or more to form a bench or a mini-table.
Puzzle Rack: Designed by G Dagan, this modular puzzle rack can be connected in almost endless configurations.
Puzzle Floor: It is made of solid northern hardwood, and is available in 13 colors. Each piece is pre-finished and can be mixed to form unique personal installations. More flooring options - link.
Mirror Puzzle: This cool puzzle inspired mirror can be put on the wall vertically or horizontally.
Puzzle Pillows: Pillows inspired by puzzle pieces, these can be puzzled for fun or simply just serve as pillows.
Puzzle Bed: Designed by Karen Babel, the bed comes in the shape of a mattress that stands straight in four pieces to form the bookcase. A perfect solution for very small spaces.
Puzzle Carpeting: "The modular carpet can be arranged just like a puzzle, though its slightly irregular pieces mean that there is more than one "right" way to do so."
Puzzle Sofa: Creation of designer Ligne Roset, you can create a range of different groupings using up to four sofas.
Puzzle Storage"These contemporary modular storage units gives one the chance to change the shape and look of their storage system at will."
Puzzle Clock: Once the four puzzle pieces are pushed out of the base then the sound of the clock turns off only after you've returned them to the base in the appropriate position.
Cookie Cutter:
2GB USB Drive:
Puzzle Sandwich Cutters: "The cutter is higher than a regular cookie cutter so it easily cuts through two pieces of bread without flattening the sandwich."
Puzzle Shaped MP3 Player: Cool MP3 player from Aigo inspired by puzzle pieces.
Puzzle Bookshelf: More bookshelves options - link.
Puzzle Fish Aquarium: Just put these acrylic fish aquariums on your wall for decoration and to save space.
Puzzle Table and Chair Set:
Puzzle Chair:
Other Posts:
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41 Cool and Creative Planters.
Creative Colorful Duct Tape Art.
Unusual and Creative Ways of Cooking.
30 Photorealistic Pencil Sketches and Portraits.
20 Cool And Creative Tear Off Advertisements.


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Newtown High School of the Performing Arts
My work is an exploration of my family history; it follows the journey my great-grandparents took from Italy to Australia 80 years ago. The concept of the slip-cast bottle as vessel represents the metaphor of the sea journey. In my use of glazes, oxides, screen-printed text and wax emulsion the surface treatment provides a bilingual narrative of the journey.
Propose the many possible and original, everyday functions of the objects used in these artworks by Vanessa Mendez and Yoon Kwang-cho. Investigate how each has been transformed by the artists to become a vessel for spirituality, binding the past with the present. Analyse how each artist has created a holder and transmitter for narratives of identity.


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10 reasons teachers do NOT use education technology - Daily Genius.
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Elizabeth Hutchinson's curator insight, July 18, 2016 2:21 AM
This article discusses how educators can learn from the new Pokemon Go game. A really interesting read.
Darlene Clapham K12's curator insight, July 18, 2016 9:53 AM
A must read for anyone designing elearning.


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Home > News & Events > Speeches & Testimony
Statement of Martin J. Gruenberg, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Wall Street Reform: Oversight of Financial Stability and Consumer and Investor Protections; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate; 538 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Crapo and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) efforts to implement the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).
The economic dislocations experienced in recent years, which far exceeded any since the 1930s, were the direct result of the financial crisis of 2007-08. The reforms enacted by Congress in the Dodd-Frank Act were aimed at addressing the causes of the crisis. The reforms included changes to the FDIC's deposit insurance program, a series of measures to curb excessive risk-taking at large, complex banks and non-bank financial companies and a mechanism for orderly resolution of large, nonbank financial companies.
The regulatory changes mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act require careful implementation to ensure they address the risks posed by the largest, most complex institutions while being sensitive to the impact on community banks that did not contribute significantly to the crisis. As implementation moves forward, the FDIC has been engaged as well in an extensive effort to better understand the forces driving long-term change among U.S. community banks and to solicit input from community bankers on these trends and on the regulatory process.
My testimony will address the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on the restoration of the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF), our efforts to carry out the requirement of the Act to develop the ability to resolve large, systemic financial institutions, and our progress on some of the key rulemakings. In addition, I will briefly discuss the results of our recent community banking initiative.
Condition of the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund(DIF)
Restoring the DIF
Expiration of the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) Program
Expiration of the Debt Guarantee Program
As with the Dodd-Frank TAG program, the DGP came to a close at the end of 2012. One hundred twenty-two banks and other financial companies participated in the DGP, and the volume of guaranteed debt peaked in early 2009 at $345.8 billion. The FDIC collected $10.4 billion in fees and surcharges under the program. Ultimately, over $9.3 billion in fees collected under the DGP have been transferred to assist in the restoration of the DIF to its statutorily mandated reserve ratio of 1.35 percent of insured deposits.
Implementation of Title I "Living Wills"
In 2011, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) jointly issued the basic rulemaking regarding resolution plans that systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) are required to prepare-- the so-called "living wills." The rule requires bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more, and certain nonbank financial companies that the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) designates as systemic, to develop, maintain and periodically submit to the FDIC and the FRB resolution plans that are credible and that would enable these entities to be resolved under the Bankruptcy Code. Complementing this joint rulemaking, the FDIC also issued a rule requiring any FDIC-insured depository institution with assets over $50 billion to develop, maintain and periodically submit plans outlining how the FDIC could resolve the institution using the traditional resolution powers under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
The two resolution plan rulemakings are designed to work in tandem by covering the full range of business lines, legal entities and capital-structure combinations within a large financial firm. The rulemakings establish a schedule for staggered annual filings. On July 1, 2012, the first group of living wills, generally involving bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations with $250 billion or more in non-bank assets, was received. Banking organizations with less than $250 billion, but $100 billion or more, in assets will file by July 1 of this year, and all other banking organizations with assets over $50 billion will file by December 31.
The Dodd-Frank Act requires that at the end of this process these plans be credible and facilitate an orderly resolution of these firms under the Bankruptcy Code. In 2013, the eleven firms that submitted initial plans in 2012 will be expected to refine and clarify their submissions. The agencies expect the refined plans to focus on key issues and obstacles to an orderly resolution in bankruptcy including global cooperation and the risk of ring-fencing or other precipitous actions. To assess this potential risk, the firms will need to provide detailed, jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction analyses of the actions each would need to take in a resolution, as well as the discretionary actions or forbearances required to be taken by host authorities. Other key issues include the continuity of critical operations, particularly maintaining access to shared services and payment and clearing systems, the potential systemic consequences of counterparty actions, and global liquidity and funding with an emphasis on providing a detailed understanding of the firm's funding operations and flows.
Implementation of Title II Orderly Liquidation Authority
Coordination with Foreign Resolution Authorities
The experience of the financial crisis highlighted the importance of coordinating resolution strategies across national jurisdictions. Section 210 of the Dodd-Frank Act expressly requires the FDIC to "coordinate, to the maximum extent possible" with appropriate foreign regulatory authorities in the event of the resolution of a covered financial company with cross-border operations. As we plan internally for such a resolution, the FDIC has continued to work on both multilateral and bilateral bases with our foreign counterparts in supervision and resolution. The aim is to promote cross-border cooperation and coordination associated with planning for an orderly resolution of a globally active, systemically important financial institution (G-SIFIs).
As part of our bilateral efforts, the FDIC and the Bank of England, in conjunction with the prudential regulators in our jurisdictions, have been working to develop contingency plans for the failure of G-SIFIs that have operations in both the U.S. and the U.K. Of the 28 G-SIFIs designated by the Financial Stability Board of the G-20 countries, 4 are headquartered in the U.K, and another 8 are headquartered in the U.S. Moreover, around two-thirds of the reported foreign activities of the 8 U.S. SIFIs emanates from the U.K.1 The magnitude of these financial relationships makes the U.S. – U.K. bilateral relationship by far the most important with regard to global financial stability. As a result, our two countries have a strong mutual interest in ensuring that, if such an institution should fail, it can be resolved at no cost to taxpayers and without placing the financial system at risk. An indication of the close working relationship between the FDIC and U.K authorities is the joint paper on resolution strategies that we released in December.2
In addition to the close working relationship with the U.K., the FDIC and the European Commission (E.C.) have agreed to establish a joint Working Group comprised of senior staff to discuss resolution and deposit guarantee issues common to our respective jurisdictions. The Working Group will convene twice a year, once in Washington, once in Brussels, with less formal communications continuing in between. The first of these meetings will take place later this month. We expect that these meetings will enhance close coordination on resolution related matters between the FDIC and the E.C., as well as European Union Member States.
While there is clearly much more work to be done in coordinating SIFI resolution strategies across major jurisdictions, these developments mark significant progress in fulfilling the mandate of section 210 of the Dodd-Frank Act and achieving the type of international coordination that would be needed to effectively resolve a G-SIFI in some future crisis situation.
Stress Testing Final Rule
The FDIC issued a proposed rule to implement the requirements of section 165(i) in January 2012, and a final rule in October 2012. The rule, which is substantially similar to rules issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the FRB, tailors the timelines and requirements of the stress testing process to the size of the institutions, as requested by commenters on the proposed rule.
The agencies are closely coordinating their efforts in the promulgation of scenarios and the review of stress testing results. The first round of stress tests, for certain insured institutions and Bank Holding Companies with assets of $50 billion or more, is underway. Institutions were asked to develop financial projections under defined stress scenarios provided by the agencies in November 2012, based on their September 30, 2012 financial data. Institutions with assets greater than $10 billion, but less than $50 billion, and larger institutions that have not had previous experience with stress testing, will conduct their first round of stress tests this fall.
Other Dodd-Frank Act Rulemakings
The Volcker Rule
The proposed rule also requires banking entities with significant covered trading activities to furnish periodic reports with quantitative measurements designed to help differentiate permitted market-making-related activities from prohibited proprietary trading. Under the proposed rule, these requirements contain important exclusions for banking organizations with trading assets and liabilities less than $1 billion, and reduced reporting requirements for organizations with trading assets and liabilities of less than $5 billion. These thresholds are designed to reduce the burden on smaller, less complex banking entities, which generally engage in limited market-making and other trading activities.
The agencies are evaluating a large body of comments on whether the proposed rule represents a balanced and effective approach or whether alternative approaches exist that would provide greater benefits or implement the statutory requirements with fewer costs. The FDIC is committed to developing a final rule that meets the objectives of the statute while preserving the ability of banking entities to perform important underwriting and market-making functions, including the ability to effectively carry out these functions in less-liquid markets. Most community banks do not engage in trading activities that would be subject to the proposed rule.
Appraisal-Related Provisions
The agencies also are developing notices of proposed rulemaking to address other appraisal-related provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. These provisions include registration and operating requirements for appraisal management companies and quality controls for automated valuation models. We look forward to considering the public comments we receive on these proposals.
Rulemaking on Risk Retention in Mortgage Securitization
The interagency staff group addressing the credit risk retention rule under section 941 of DFA has been working to address the numerous issues raised by the many comments received on the proposed rule. After initial discussions about QRM, in view of the fact that the statute provides that the definition of QRM can be no broader than the definition of QM, staff turned its attention to the non-QRM issues pending issuance by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) of its QM rule. With the recent issuance of the QM rule by the CFPB, the interagency group plans to turn its attention back to issues regarding QRM.
Community Banking Initiatives
In light of concerns raised about the future of community banking in the aftermath of the financial crisis, as well as the potential impact of the various rulemakings under the Dodd-Frank Act, the FDIC engaged in a series of initiatives during 2012 focusing on the challenges and opportunities facing community banks in the United States.
FDIC Community Banking Study
Our research confirms the crucial role that community banks play in the American financial system. As defined by the Study, community banks represented 95 percent of all U.S. banking organizations in 2011. These institutions account for just 14 percent of the U.S. banking assets in our nation, but hold 46 percent of all the small loans to businesses and farms made by FDIC-insured institutions. While their share of total deposits has declined over time, community banks still hold the majority of bank deposits in rural and micropolitan counties.5 The Study showed that in 629 U.S. counties (or almost one-fifth of all U.S. counties), the only banking offices operated by FDIC-insured institutions at year-end 2011 were those operated by community banks. Without community banks, many rural areas, small towns, and even certain urban neighborhoods, would have little or no physical access to mainstream banking services.
Our Study took an in-depth look at the long-term trend of banking industry consolidation that has reduced the number of federally-insured banks and thrifts from 17,901 in 1984 to 7,357 in 2011. All of this net consolidation can be accounted for by an even larger decline in the number of institutions with assets less than $100 million. But a closer look casts significant doubt on the notion that future consolidation will continue at this same pace, or that the community banking model is in any way obsolete.
More than 2,500 institutions have failed since 1984, with the vast majority failing in the crisis periods of the 1980s and early 1990s and the period since 2007. To the extent that future crises can be avoided or mitigated, bank failures should contribute much less to future consolidation. In addition, about one third of the consolidation that has taken place since 1984 is the result of charter consolidation within bank holding companies, while just under half is the result of voluntary mergers. But both of these trends were greatly facilitated by the gradual relaxation of restrictions on intrastate branching at the state level in the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as the interstate branching that came about following enactment of the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994. The pace of voluntary consolidation has indeed slowed over the past 15 years as the effects of these one-time changes were realized. Finally, the Study questions whether the rapid pre-crisis growth of some of the nation's largest banks, which came about largely due to mergers and acquisitions and a focus on retail lending, can continue at the same pace going forward. Some of the pre-crisis cost savings realized by large banks have proven to be unsustainable in the post-crisis period, and a return to pre-crisis rates of growth in consumer and mortgage lending appears, for now anyway, to be a questionable assumption.
The Study finds that community banks that grew slowly and maintained diversified portfolios or otherwise stuck to their core lending competencies during the study period exhibited relatively strong and stable performance over time. Other institutions that pursued higher-growth strategies – frequently through commercial real estate or construction and development lending – encountered severe problems during real estate downturns and generally underperformed over the long run. Moreover, the Study finds that economies of scale play a limited role in the viability of community banks. While average costs are found to be higher for very small community banks, economies of scale are largely realized by the time an institution reaches $100 million in size, and there is no indication of any significant cost savings beyond $500 million in size. These results comport well with the experience of banking industry consolidation since 1984, in which the number of bank and thrift charters with assets less than $25 million has declined by 96 percent, while the number of charters with assets between $100 million and $10 billion has grown by 19 percent.
In summary, the FDIC Study finds that despite the challenges of the current operating environment, the community banking sector remains a viable and vital component of the overall U.S. financial system. It identifies a number of issues for future research, including the role of commercial real estate lending at community banks, their use of new technologies, and how additional information might be obtained on regulatory compliance costs.
Examination and Rulemaking Review
Based on concerns raised, the FDIC has implemented a number of enhancements to our supervisory and rulemaking processes. First, the FDIC has revamped the pre-exam process to better scope examinations, define expectations and improve efficiency. Second, the FDIC is taking steps to improve communication by using web-based tools to provide critical information regarding new or changing rules and regulations as well as comment deadlines. Finally, the FDIC has instituted a number of outreach and technical assistance efforts, including increased direct communication between examinations, increased opportunities for attendance at training workshops and symposiums, and current and planned conference calls and training videos on complex subjects of interest. The FDIC considers its review of examination and rulemaking processes ongoing, and additional enhancements and modifications to our processes will likely continue.
Successful implementation of the various provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act will provide a foundation for a financial system that is more stable and less susceptible to crises, and a regulatory system that is better able to respond to future crises. Significant progress has been made in implementing these reforms. The FDIC has completed the core rulemakings for carrying out its lead responsibilities under the Act regarding deposit insurance and systemic resolution. As we move forward in completing this process, we will continue to rely on constructive input from the regulatory comment process and our other outreach initiatives.
1 Reported foreign activities encompass sum of assets, the notional value of off-balance-sheet derivatives, and other off-balance-sheet items of foreign subsidiaries and branches.
2 "Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions," http://www.fdic.gov/about/srac/2012/gsifi.pdf.
3 The other agencies are: the FRB, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the OCC.
4 The rule was proposed by the FRB, the OCC, the FDIC, the SEC, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
5 The 3,238 U.S. counties in 2010 included 694 micropolitan counties centered on an urban core with population between 10,000 and 50,000 people, and 1,376 rural counties with populations less than 10,000 people.
|Last Updated 2/14/2013


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Kyle, TX 78640
New from LGI Homes: This beautiful new one story home features 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The kitchen features beautiful wood cabinets, granite countertops, and energy efficient appliances. Additional features include raised panel doors, brushed nickel hardware, large master closet and utility room.
Mona Hill with LGI Homes
2020 29 West Realty. All rights reserved. © Collaborative Home Search by RealSavvy
Based on information from the Austin Board of REALTORS® for the period through [see date below]. All listing information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. The Austin Board of REALTORS®, ACTRIS and their affiliates provide the MLS and all content therein "AS IS" and without any warranty, express or implied. Listing information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing


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I'm sure we all know someone who is running a 5k, 10k, half-marathon or marathon this year, especially with the Virgin London Marathon almost a week away. I saw these necklaces by The Run Home and thought they were a fantastic way of congratulating a runner on their achievements.
Look at this gun-metal 26.2 necklace with cute running shoe charm.
For the person you know who loves to run, this sterling silver necklace might be perfect.
The nervous runner could be lifted by this Believe in the Marathon sterling silver necklace to wear for their race.
The New York City Marathon is on 4th November this year & this Big Apple necklace to celebrate it is fabulous. You can customise your necklace to celebrate your own race.
I'd need this No Excuses Runner Girl necklace to keep my training up I think, as I'm ever the procrastinator.
There are so many charms and pendants to choose from and you can mix, match and customise until you have one perfect for the runner, swimmer or triathlete in your life. Prices range from $3.50 for a pendant to $41 for a sterling silver necklace with four charms.
I'm not a natural runner, the most I can do comfortably is 10K and although I did once apply for the London Marathon I was secretly relieved when I didn't get a place, but it would be amazing to run one day. If you need some running inspiration take a visit to Bangs & a Bun or Nicole is Better.


text: Hello, My attempts to block the following "proxy" site with dansguardian have failed. So, far I have used keywords to edit (urlblock, weighted-phrase list, and banned-phrase site) Do you have any suggestions? This proxy seems to be a really tricky one. For example, if I use the banned-phrase <e>, it still does not block the web page even though there is readable text with the letter e. This oddly seems to be an issue with how the web page is coded. How can one block this web page with content filters like dansguardian. Test your might ... Code: [URL="http://hhh4.info/"]http://hhh4.info/[/URL] -Granville


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With the recent release of Pokémon Black and White, those mischievous pocket monsters are popping up all over the place, including some places they probably shouldn't, like all over British free daily newspaper Metro's coverage of the disaster in Japan.
The partial Nintendo takeover of an issue of the free daily Metro might have been a boon for the paper's advertising team, but this is one of those cases where advertising and content don't mix well. Kotaku commenter TopHatLayton sent us these scans, covered with joyfully parading Pokémon interspersed with tales of the devastation, fear, and trauma caused by the tragic Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
Stories such as "Trauma of children forced to flee home" and "Fears grow for missing Britons," the latter accompanied by a picture of an infant feared lost in the devastation, make the colorful cartoon characters hard to swallow.
Imagining the Pokémon invasion is a result of the disaster only helps a little bit.


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The Baltimore Ravens, the defending Super Bowl champions, will open the season on the road because the N.F.L. and Major League Baseball could not work out a scheduling conflict with the Baltimore Orioles.
Since 2004, the N.F.L. has staged its season opener – along with concerts and other festivities – at the home of the Super Bowl champion, usually on the Thursday night before the first full weekend of the regular season. But on that night this year, Sept. 5, the Baltimore Orioles open a four-game series at home against the Chicago White Sox. Because the Ravens and the Orioles share some parking lots, their games cannot overlap. And because Sept. 4 is the start of Rosh Hashana, the N.F.L. decided it would not play that night.
After weeks of trying to find a solution, which included more than one phone call between Commissioners Roger Goodell and Bud Selig, they gave up on Friday. The two sides discussed having the Orioles play earlier in the day and having the Ravens kick off later than normal, and potential financial compensation paid to the Orioles by the Ravens.
"After thorough discussions among the Orioles, the N.F.L. and the Ravens, it became clear that holding both an Orioles' game and the Ravens' regular-season opener on the same day would create logistical situations that would cause serious issues for the city of Baltimore, and fans for both teams," Ravens President Dick Cass said in a statement.
"The Ravens greatly appreciate the willingness of the Orioles to adjust the start of their game in an effort to make this sports spectacular happen. But, in the end, anticipated problems with parking, rush-hour traffic, plus crowd and car congestion around Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium, will keep the doubleheader from taking place."
The Ravens could not play at home on Sunday night in a nationally televised game because the Orioles and White Sox are scheduled to play a day game and need the ability to play at night in case they have to play a day-night doubleheader to make up for a rainout earlier in the series. The Orioles also declined to move the Thursday night game to a day-night doubleheader on Saturday. Such a move would have altered the teams' pitching rotations late in the season, a potential problem if the teams are in contention.
Ravens coaches had expressed a preference for playing on the road on Thursday rather than at home on Sunday or Monday night anyway because they wanted the competitive advantage of having extra days to rest and prepare for the second game of the season.
This is a rare case of the N.F.L., which dominates baseball in fan popularity, not getting what it wants. The N.F.L. has not announced whom the Ravens will play in the opener.
The N.F.L. said in a statement it is disappointed for the fans in Baltimore, but it is exploring staging fan activities in Baltimore, including a pregame concert, on Sept. 5.
"Given the limited options available to reschedule the game at that late date in the season, the parties jointly determined that even an earlier start time would still create such enormous logistical difficulties that it would greatly diminish the fan experience for both events, which all parties realized would not be in the interest of their fans or the city," the Orioles said.


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Brigid Quinn
George Eastman, who was born in Waterville, N.Y., received patent #306,594 on October 14, 1884 for photographic film. Eastman's invention revolutionized photography by using coated paper and rollers, rather than heavy glass dry plates, to reproduce images. Eastman began looking for ways to "make the camera as convenient as the pencil," after amassing the heavy, complicated, and expensive equipment he needed to keep a picture record of his vacation. This invention allowed him to mass produce a small hand-held box camera filled with rolls of film with 100 exposures. Millions of Americans recorded the first snap shots of their everyday lives using the Kodak camera, which was introduced in 1888. In 1977, George Eastman was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
In addition to an inventive spirit, Eastman also had a strong belief in the power of advertising. He first registered "KODAK®," a term he created, as a trademark in 1888. Today the word "Kodak," and the Eastman Kodak Company's distinctive yellow trade dress, are well-known around the world.
Eastman's patent and many of the Eastman Kodak trademarks, as well as the more than 6 million patents issued since the first in 1790 and the 2.3 million trademarks registered since 1870, can be seen on the Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office website at www.uspto.gov.
Last year USPTO issued 182,223 patents and registered 127,794 trademarks.
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Where Modern Meets Luxury
Live life in style. An exciting destination of choice, 15 Bank is bringing a fresh take on apartment living to White Plains, NY. We know your home should be as unique as you are, and our beautifully designed one and two bedroom apartment homes are perfectly modern and sophisticated — just like you. Living at 15 Bank gives you direct access to the area's best nightlife and entertainment around. A short, two-minute walk to the White Plains train station gets you to Midtown Manhattan in only 34 minutes on Metro North's Harlem Line, and just four blocks away is the heart of downtown. We invite you to sit back, relax, and come home to 15 Bank.


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According to a Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project national survey, "Americans and Their Cell Phones" (August 15, 2011), mobile telephones have become a near-ubiquitous tool for information seeking and communicating in the United States.
The survey shows that 83% of American adults own some kind of cell phone and that these devices have an impact on many aspects of their owners' daily lives.
Hat tip to DocuTicker.com.
Cross-posted at Law Library Blog.


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Clyde Rathbone scores against the Western Force in Darwin.THE ACT Brumbies have erased the "injury demons" and insist they are mentally tougher as they prepare to launch their Super Rugby season in 13 days.
The Brumbies secured a narrow win over the Western Force in Darwin on Friday night – their only pre-season trial against a Super Rugby opponent.
But after 20 off-season operations to the squad's most influential players, coach Jake White said his team can put its injury woes in the past and focus on the opening round of the season on February 16.
Christian Lealiifano, Matt Toomua, Nic White, Clyde Rathbone and Henry Speight are just a few of the players who made successful comebacks in the tight pre-season victory.
They all got through unscathed with Toomua and Rathbone – who has returned to Super Rugby after retiring in 2009 and battling depression – both scoring tries.
"We had 20 operations last year and all of those boys have come through their first hit-out good and fresh," White said.
"One can always be critical and I would have liked to finish more [scoring] opportunities we had against the Force. But psychologically that game is a massive boost for the guys coming back from injuries and they can just focus on moving forward and preparing for the game against the [Queensland] Reds in round one."
The Brumbies coaching staff flew to Toowoomba on Saturday to watch the Reds play a trial match against the Auckland Blues.
White used his full-strength squad against the Force for the first half, including new recruit David Pocock. Toomua and Lealiifano were back as the flyhalf-inside centre combination after both suffered season-ending injuries last year.
The Brumbies will play one more warm-up match against an ACT XV side on Friday at Viking Park.
Almost all of White's squad is available for selection with only Pat McCabe (neck) and Josh Mann-Rea (knee) out of contention for the opening few rounds.
Joseph Tomane has recovered from a hamstring injury and Colby Faingaa will be given another chance to impress after being eased back into action.
For Toomua and Lealiifano, the match against the Force gave them a chance to get rid of any pre-season nerves.
"I think this first game was a big one, there was such a long wait [to play again] that I was keen to get out there and just finally do something," Toomua said.
"I don't know if you call them demons, but just to get a few things out of your head and get going again, it's a confidence booster for next week and ultimately the Reds."
ACT BRUMBIES 20 (Matt Toomua, Clyde Rathbone tries; Christian Lealiifano 2 pens, 2 cons) bt WESTERN FORCE 18 (Hugh McMeniman, Junior Rasolea tries; Sias Ebersohn 2 pens, con).
The original release of this article first appeared on the website of Hangzhou Night Net.


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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kate Hopkins didn't know the man in the casket, never met him or his family. Yet, Hopkins stood watch over 48-year-old Francisco Carmona's funeral on a gray, cold day at a county-owned cemetery in south Louisville.
Hopkins joined a group of high school students, a few county employees and a deputy coroner on Feb. 6 to ensure that Carmona, who died in January in a Louisville hospital with no family or friends, had a service — the 91st service for the poor in Louisville since Nov. 1.
"We don't come into the world alone. We shouldn't leave it alone," Hopkins said of her practice of attending funerals for paupers since her son first volunteered six years ago.
Counties across Kentucky, like much of the country, are seeing more cases of unclaimed bodies and families who can't afford to bury or cremate a loved one. Every situation is unique, but coroners and local government officials tell a similar story: the economic downturn has left many people without the money to pay for funeral services that can cost thousands of dollars, and it's falling on cities and states to cover the bills.
"You see them more and more because of the economy and people in dire states with financial problems," said Kevin Kirby, a funeral home owner who doubles as the Warren County Coroner in Bowling Green.
No organization or state tracks the number of indigent burials. For this story, the Associated Press interviewed coroners, medical examiners and experts from professional associations in states and counties across the country.
How unclaimed remains are handled varies by state and, in many cases, in which county the person dies. Sixteen states now subsidize the burial or cremation of unclaimed bodies, including Illinois, Massachusetts, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Most of the state programs provide disposition services to people on Medicaid, a cost that has grown along with Medicaid rolls. Chicago has used mass graves, and in Los Angeles, bodies are routinely cremated. Kentucky gives counties an option of burying the deceased or obtaining a court order to have the remains cremated.
In Tennessee, medical examiner and coroners' offices donate unclaimed remains to the Forensic Anthropological Research Center, known as the "Body Farm," where students study decomposition at the University of Tennessee. The facility has had to stop accepting the donations at times in recent years because it received so many. In South Dakota, indigent burial costs rose to a point that the governor signed a bill in March allowing counties to have remains cremated, in part to help control costs that were busting the budgets of some counties.
All the costs "can be a problem for medical examiners around the country," Dr. Gregory A. Schmunk, the Polk County Medical Examiner in Des Moines, Iowa, and president of the National Association of Medical Examiners.
The U.S. economy fell into a deep recession in 2008 — a dip it has slowly been pulling out of. Nationally, the unemployment rate is 7.9 percent.
The cost of a regular adult funeral is about $6,500, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. This includes everything but cemetery, monument or marker costs and miscellaneous charges such as flowers or obituaries. Monuments or markers sell for anywhere from $300 for a small marker to several thousand dollars for a larger headstone, while flowers cost anywhere from $50 to $250.
Funeral homes are generally cooperative in setting up a burial if the body goes unclaimed, but balk at the expense, Kirby said.
"Some will not do them," Kirby said. "We feel like we should. They deserve a burial like everyone else."
In Kentucky, counties are required to pick up the bill for indigent funerals, something that causes occasional budget busting.
Buddy Dumeyera, a Louisville deputy coroner who runs the indigent burial program, has seen the annual number of pauper burials in Jefferson County jump from 65 in 2005 to 300 in 2012. The deaths cover everything from families who cannot afford a funeral to people with no one to claim their remains.
In Kentucky, many coroners will advertise in a local newspaper that they are looking for the next of kin for a deceased person whose remains have not been claimed. In Carmona's case, no one related to him or who knew him came forward, Dumeyer said.
"We didn't get a single call on him, not one," Dumeyer said.
Carmona's hospital records indicate he had no Social Security number and did not speak English, Dumeyer said. The records said Carmona had arrived at an emergency room on Jan. 8 complaining of abdominal pain, but did not indicate how he had traveled there. He was admitted, and, two weeks later, he was dead.
Municipalities have gone way over budget for indigent burials in recent years. Lexington budgeted $75,000 for the indigent burial program during fiscal year 2012 but ended up spending $116,000, said Susan Straub, a spokeswoman for the Lexington mayor's office.
Kentucky allows coroners to cremate remains with a court order. Barbara Kemmis, executive director of the Cremation Association of North America in Wheeling, Ill., said some states don't allow cremation as an option for indigents.
"Kentucky is quite forward looking," Kemmis said.
Kirby's funeral home won't consider cremation for indigents; a graveside service gives the family an option to reclaim the body and move it to a family cemetery in the future, should they choose.
"We always make sure there's something said and there's some type of service," Kirby said.
In Louisville, the St. Joseph of Arimathea Society at various high schools sends volunteer students to serve as pallbearers and handle any religious readings. For Carmona, a group of students from Trinity High School handled the duties. Their principal, Daniel Zoeller, told the students, "There's a story behind every one of those graves," even if the students would never know what those stories were.
"None of us knew him, but none of us wanted him to be alone on his final journey," Zoeller said.
Associated Press writer Janet Cappiello contributed to this report.
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Selling final expense in a growing market
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Auto sales driven by gas mileage
Last week Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Japan would participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, a prospect that worries American car makers since the trade agreement could remove any remaining tariffs from Japanese cars sold in the U.S., thus making them cheaper and even more attractive to American consumers. Apparently, carmakers in the U.S. don't think the agreement will sufficiently remove what they deem barriers to American car sales in Japan. The fact that these barriers, which include, in the words of Reuters, "discriminatory taxes, onerous and costly certification procedures for foreign cars and [an] unwillingness by Japanese auto dealers to sell foreign cars," have not prevented certain European automakers from doing well in Japan may, in fact, indicate that the problem is American products rather than Japanese protectionism. For instance, the U.S. claims that Japan's preferential tax treatment for kei (light) cars — smaller automobiles whose engine displacement is 660cc — is a trade barrier, but since America doesn't make kei cars it's difficult to understand what it's a barrier to. Kei cars account for about 30 percent of the Japanese car market, which means people like them, and the main reason they like them is their superior gas mileage.
It's also the main reason for the popularity of hybrids. On March 3, the land ministry announced its most recent findings for the best gas mileage among cars sold in Japan. Toyota's hybrid Aqua came out in first place with 35.4 km per liter (in JC08 mode). In second place was the first hybrid car sold in Japan, Toyota's Prius with 32.6km/l. In third place was Toyota's high-end hybrid Lexus at 30.4km/l, and fourth was Honda's hybrid Insight. The highest non-hybrid on the list was the Mitsubishi Mirage, which gets 27.2km/l.
Aqua is also the best-selling model in Japan right now. In February, 24,526 Aquas were sold nationwide, with Prius in second place with 23,473. After that, it was Nissan's Note with 16,497 followed by Honda's Fit. However, overall kei cars still outsell regular cars and hybrids in terms of units, probably because in addition to good gas mileage they cost less to purchase. Suzuki's Alto and Mazda's Carol tied for first among kei cars in terms of fuel efficiency with 30.2km/l. American carmakers will probably not be happy to learn that the government has required all cars sold in Japan to meet stricter efficiency standards by 2015 in accordance with the revised Energy Conservation Law. As it stands, however, a fair number of domestic models already meet these standards.
Of course, the gas mileage figures offered by the government and the automakers themselves should be used purely for comparative purposes. One would probably have to drive straight on an expressway on perfectly balanced tires going downhill with the wind at one's back to achieve 35km/l in an Aqua, but last week we decided to try one out for a day trip to Gunma. We picked up the car in Iwatsuki, Saitama Prefecture, at a branch of Toyota Rental & Leasing. The fee was ¥7,000 for the day, including the use of a car navigation system, plus ¥1,000 for insurance.
We drove about 250 km and ended up spending ¥1,372 for gasoline, which worked out to about 9 liters or a little less than 25km/l. That's much less than the advertised rate, but better than we expected considering that more than a third of the drive was spent on surface roads rather than expressways. But we didn't use the air conditioner, either. And when we checked several websites dedicated to jissai nenpi, or fuel efficiency under real driving conditions, the average gas mileage for the Aqua is around 21.5km/l.
For comparison's sake, in January we rented Nissan's compact (but not kei) March from Nikoniko rentals for ¥4,000 a day with insurance included but no car navigation system. We drove 140 km, none on expressways, and ended up using 8.37 liters, which means gas mileage was 17.9km/l (advertised: 24; real: 20). The advantage of the hybrid is obvious, and will likely become more so when Honda comes out with a new version of its hybrid Fit in August. The company is already boasting that gas mileage will exceed 36, thus topping Aqua. And it will be cheaper, too.