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There's something about a lead singer that drives the ladies wild, even if the man is hideous. Someone like Seal, or even Lyle Lovett, who looks like an ill-fitting skin glove pulled over a hat rack, has more access to poozle than any of us could dream of.
We don't begrudge them; we actually are die-hard supporters of people managing to pork out of their station. Yet, some artists seem to have convinced themselves that their popularity with the ladies is because they're love gods, and not because of their fame and piles of money.
Adam Levine (of Maroon 5)
In "Makes Me Wonder," the first single from It Won't Be Soon Before Long, Adam asserts that his sexual prowess is so palpable that even a simple airport security procedure results in a violation of his person (about two minutes in).
He wants the viewer to know it would require at least three agents to examine him because the sheer power of his attractiveness would cause all of the instrumentation to suddenly read "Warning: Libidinous Demigod Is About To Rock Your World." Unless standard weapons searches now include a "happy ending," this is an experience unique to Adam.
Why he's mistaken:
For all of his video swagger, Adam Levine is basically ripping off Robert Palmer. He pops his hips in sultry/arthritic manner and surrounds himself with strangely leathery fembots.
Levine seems utterly convinced of his appeal, as if someone once pulled him aside and told him, "You know what chicks are into? Falsettos and anemia." He also spends an inordinate amount of time staring coldly at the camera, as if he has Rohypnol Vision as a superpower. He's going for "intensity," but winds up with "Crazy Guy on the Bus Who Won't Stop Staring at You."
We do have to give Adam credit, though. He has carefully selected band members exponentially less hotter than he is, in an overt attempt to make himself look better by comparison.
It's easy to dislike Usher for being a pale imitator of an old-school Michael Jackson, but it seems these days that his impression is actually more compelling than the originator. However, we're pretty sure Michael never purported to be a sex symbol (at least not for anyone post-pubescence), which Usher happily cops to at every turn, as we see in the below video.
In "Yeah," he lets it be known that he can't find an idle moment to contemplate the horrors in Darfur because some random lingerie model is always trying to bed him. With all of these nymphomaniacal strumpets pawing at him, he barely has time to pout for the camera for tightly-cropped face shots or stroke his washboard abs. Won't they just leave the poor introvert alone?
Why he's mistaken:
Sure, Usher is a stunning specimen in many respects (just try to do an image search for Usher and count the images of his exposed torso). But, none of it matters, because his head is shaped like a butternut squash.
We don't want to come down too hard on the man, we realize his cranium isn't his fault (and may be the product of a traumatic birthing procedure).
All we're saying is that if instead of an R&B star Usher was, say, working at the tech support call center at Verizon, he would not be surrounded by booty 24/7. He would be shoved into a corner so that passers-by would not see him and start screaming at the sight of his terrifying alien squash head.
Jay-Z doesn't have to insist anything. The man is dating Beyonce Knowles. We would abandon all of our earthly possessions and live a karmically clean life on the outside chance that we'd be reincarnated as a wart on his penis and thereby get a brush with glory. That said, he is no stranger to outrageous claims in songs like "Big Pimpin'."
"Now every time, every place, everywhere we go
Hoes start pointin - they say, 'There he go!'"
While this may be true, we object to Jay-Z's assertion that all hoes use such deplorable grammar. We know a many good hoes whose command of the English language is beyond reproach. It continues ...
"You know I - thug 'em, fuck 'em, love 'em, leave 'em
Cause I don't fuckin need 'em
Take em out the hood, keep 'em lookin good
But I don't fuckin feed 'em"
Jay-Z is apparently quite the vivacious lover, as well as particularly brutal captor. From the sound of it, he could have any number of starving, well-dressed hoes locked up in his basement.
"It puts the lotion on its skin or tha Jigga slaps the hoes again."
Why he's mistaken:
Jay-Z has a big head. Not figuratively, either. His body weight is 85 percent cranium.
That would be fine to a degree if it was a particularly dashing head or if we were hydrocephalus fetishists, but it simply doesn't fly. We heard he had titanium shafts installed into his neck for the video shoot for his own safety and all hoes in proximity.
We were searching for a comparison for his looks, but no mortal being came to mind. That's when we discovered that he is basically just an amply blinged Mr. Potato Head.


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Partner: UNT Libraries
Department: School of Library and Information Sciences
Degree Discipline: Information Science
Collection: UNT Theses and Dissertations
Accessing Information on the World Wide Web: Predicting Usage Based on Involvement
Date: May 2003
Creator: Langford, James David
Description: Advice for Web designers often includes an admonition to use short, scannable, bullet-pointed text, reflecting the common belief that browsing the Web most often involves scanning rather than reading. Literature from several disciplines focuses on the myriad combinations of factors related to online reading but studies of the users' interests and motivations appear to offer a more promising avenue for understanding how users utilize information on Web pages. This study utilized the modified Personal Involvement Inventory (PII), a ten-item instrument used primarily in the marketing and advertising fields, to measure interest and motivation toward a topic presented on the Web. Two sites were constructed from Reader's Digest Association, Inc. online articles and a program written to track students' use of the site. Behavior was measured by the initial choice of short versus longer versions of the main page, the number of pages visited and the amount of time spent on the site. Data were gathered from students at a small, private university in the southwest part of the United States to answer six hypotheses which posited that subjects with higher involvement in a topic presented on the Web and a more positive attitude toward the Web would tend to select ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
The Adoption and Use of Electronic Information Resources by a Non-Traditional User Group: Automotive Service Technicians.
Date: May 2006
Creator: Almquist, Arne J.
Description: The growing complexity of machines has led to a concomitant increase in the amount and complexity of the information needed by those charged with servicing them. This, in turn, has led to a need for more robust methods for storing and distributing information and for a workforce more sophisticated in its use of information resources. As a result, the service trades have "professionalized," adopting more rigorous academic standards and developing ongoing certification programs. The current paper deals with the acceptance of advanced electronic information technology by skilled service personnel, specifically, automotive service technicians. The theoretical basis of the study is Davis' technology acceptance model. The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of three external factors on the operation of the model: age, work experience, and education/certification level. The research design is in two parts, beginning with an onsite observation and interviews to establish the environment. During the second part of the research process a survey was administered to a sample of automotive service technicians. Results indicated significant inverse relationships between age and acceptance and between experience and acceptance. A significant positive relationship was shown between education, particularly certification, and acceptance.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
An Analysis of the Ability of an Instrument to Measure Quality of Library Service and Library Success
Date: December 1999
Creator: Landrum, Hollis T.
Description: This study consisted of an examination of how service quality should be measured within libraries and how library service quality relates to library success. A modified version of the SERVQUAL instrument was evaluated to determine how effectively it measures library service quality. Instruments designed to measure information center success and information system success were evaluated to determine how effectively they measure library success and how they relate to SERVQUAL. A model of library success was developed to examine how library service quality relates to other variables associated with library success. Responses from 385 end users at two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers libraries were obtained through a mail survey. Results indicate that library service quality is best measured with a performance-based version of SERVQUAL, and that measuring importance may be as critical as measuring expectations for management purposes. Results also indicate that library service quality is an important factor in library success and that library success is best measured with a combination of SERVQUAL and library success instruments. The findings have implications for the development of new instruments to more effectively measure library service quality and library success as well as for the development of new models of library service ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Are Online Catalogs for Children Giving Them What They Need? Children's Cognitive Development and Information Seeking and Their Impact on Design
Date: August 2007
Creator: Creel, Stacy
Description: Research shows children in an online environment often search by browsing, which relies heavily on recognition and content knowledge, so catalog systems for children must use effective symbols or pictorial representations, which correspond with children's own cognitive schema and level of recognition knowledge. This study was designed to look at the success of young children (ages 5 to 8) in searching 3 online public library catalogs designed for them, and it focused specifically on the pictorial representations and text descriptors used in the systems' browsing hierarchy. The research sought answer whether young children (ages 5 to 8) are really poor searchers because of cognitive development and lack of technology skills or if system design is the major reason for poor search results; i.e., Do current children's online catalog designs function in a manner that is compatible with information seeking by children? Although these results can not be generalized, this study indicates that there was a disconnect between the cognitive abilities of young users and catalog design. The study looked at search success on the 3 catalogs in relation to the catalog characteristics and individual user characteristics and makes 3 significant contributions to the field of library and information science. The ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Assessment of a Library Learning Theory by Measuring Library Skills of Students Completing an Online Library Instruction Tutorial
Date: May 2007
Creator: Watson, Dana L.
Description: This study is designed to reveal whether students acquire the domains and levels of library skills discussed in a learning library skills theory after participating in an online library instruction tutorial. The acquisition of the library skills is demonstrated through a review of the scores on online tutorial quizzes, responses to a library skills questionnaire, and bibliographies of course research papers. Additional areas to be studied are the characteristics of the participants enrolled in traditional and online courses at a community college and the possible influence of these characteristics on the demonstrated learning of library skills. Multiple measurement methods, identified through assessment of library instruction literature, are used to verify the effectiveness of the library skills theory and to strengthen the validity and reliability of the study results.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Children's Color Association for Digital Image Retrieval.
Date: August 2003
Creator: Chang, Yun-Ke
Description: In the field of information sciences, attention has been focused on developing mature information retrieval systems that abstract information automatically from the contents of information resources, such as books, images and films. As a subset of information retrieval research, content-based image retrieval systems automatically abstract elementary information from images in terms of colors, shapes, and texture. Color is the most commonly used in similarity measurement for content-based image retrieval systems. Human-computer interface design and image retrieval methods benefit from studies based on the understanding of their potential users. Today's children are exposed to digital technology at a very young age, and they will be the major technology users in five to ten years. This study focuses on children's color perception and color association with a controlled set of digital images. The method of survey research was used to gather data for this exploratory study about children's color association from a children's population, third to sixth graders. An online questionnaire with fifteen images was used to collect quantitative data of children's color selections. Face-to-face interviews investigated the rationale and factors affecting the color choices and children's interpretation of the images. The findings in this study indicate that the color children associated ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
The Cluster Hypothesis: A Visual/Statistical Analysis
Date: May 2000
Creator: Sullivan, Terry
Description: By allowing judgments based on a small number of exemplar documents to be applied to a larger number of unexamined documents, clustered presentation of search results represents an intuitively attractive possibility for reducing the cognitive resource demands on human users of information retrieval systems. However, clustered presentation of search results is sensible only to the extent that naturally occurring similarity relationships among documents correspond to topically coherent clusters. The Cluster Hypothesis posits just such a systematic relationship between document similarity and topical relevance. To date, experimental validation of the Cluster Hypothesis has proved problematic, with collection-specific results both supporting and failing to support this fundamental theoretical postulate. The present study consists of two computational information visualization experiments, representing a two-tiered test of the Cluster Hypothesis under adverse conditions. Both experiments rely on multidimensionally scaled representations of interdocument similarity matrices. Experiment 1 is a term-reduction condition, in which descriptive titles are extracted from Associated Press news stories drawn from the TREC information retrieval test collection. The clustering behavior of these titles is compared to the behavior of the corresponding full text via statistical analysis of the visual characteristics of a two-dimensional similarity map. Experiment 2 is a dimensionality reduction condition, in ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Cognitive Playfulness, Innovativeness, and Belief of Essentialness: Characteristics of Educators who have the Ability to Make Enduring Changes in the Integration of Technology into the Classroom Environment.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Dunn, Lemoyne Luette Scott
Description: Research on the adoption of innovation is largely limited to factors affecting immediate change with few studies focusing on enduring or lasting change. The purpose of the study was to examine the personality characteristics of cognitive playfulness, innovativeness, and essentialness beliefs in educators who were able to make an enduring change in pedagogy based on the use of technology in the curriculum within their assigned classroom settings. The study utilized teachers from 33 school districts and one private school in Texas who were first-year participants in the Intel® Teach to the Future program. The research design focused on how cognitive playfulness, innovativeness, and essentialness beliefs relate to a sustained high level of information technology use in the classroom. The research questions were: 1) Are individuals who are highly playful more likely to continue to demonstrate an ability to integrate technology use in the classroom at a high level than those who are less playful? 2) Are individuals who are highly innovative more likely to continue to demonstrate an ability to integrate technology use in the classroom at a high level than those who are less innovative? 3) Are individuals who believe information technology use is critical and indispensable to their ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
A Common Representation Format for Multimedia Documents
Date: December 2002
Creator: Jeong, Ki Tai
Description: Multimedia documents are composed of multiple file format combinations, such as image and text, image and sound, or image, text and sound. The type of multimedia document determines the form of analysis for knowledge architecture design and retrieval methods. Over the last few decades, theories of text analysis have been proposed and applied effectively. In recent years, theories of image and sound analysis have been proposed to work with text retrieval systems and progressed quickly due in part to rapid progress in computer processing speed. Retrieval of multimedia documents formerly was divided into the categories of image and text, and image and sound. While standard retrieval process begins from text only, methods are developing that allow the retrieval process to be accomplished simultaneously using text and image. Although image processing for feature extraction and text processing for term extractions are well understood, there are no prior methods that can combine these two features into a single data structure. This dissertation will introduce a common representation format for multimedia documents (CRFMD) composed of both images and text. For image and text analysis, two techniques are used: the Lorenz Information Measurement and the Word Code. A new process named Jeong's Transform is ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
A Comparative Analysis of Style of User Interface Look and Feel in a Synchronous Computer Supported Cooperative Work Environment
Date: May 2005
Creator: Livingston, Alan
Description: The purpose of this study is to determine whether the style of a user interface (i.e., its look and feel) has an effect on the usability of a synchronous computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) environment for delivering Internet-based collaborative content. The problem motivating this study is that people who are located in different places need to be able to communicate with one another. One way to do this is by using complex computer tools that allow users to share information, documents, programs, etc. As an increasing number of business organizations require workers to use these types of complex communication tools, it is important to determine how users regard these types of tools and whether they are perceived to be useful. If a tool, or interface, is not perceived to be useful then it is often not used, or used ineffectively. As organizations strive to improve communication with and among users by providing more Internet-based collaborative environments, the users' experience in this form of delivery may be tied to a style of user interface look and feel that could negatively affect their overall acceptance and satisfaction of the collaborative environment. The significance of this study is that it applies the technology ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Versatile, sustainable, cozy, and elegant! Perfect for travel, work, dancers, yoga, mommas & more!
Wear it as a skirt, a dress, a tunic, a shawl, a vest, a kimono, or a top. There is no wrong way to wear the Lady Wrap!
The versatile Lady Wrap is 6" longer than our traditional length wrap resulting in below the knee dresses and ankle skirts for women 5'7" and taller. It creates full length skirts & long dresses for petites. One size fits most (skirts & dresses 0-12). It can be converted into shawls & vests for all sizes. Actual length varies & depends on styling and customer height. Wraps may always be shortened by folding or scrunching the sashes.
Care Instructions: Spot clean when possible. Hand wash or machine wash on delicate.
Made in the USA.
Watch the video: Click here.
- Item #: 3-ARX-2018


text:
For more than 30 years Tim Murley has called Warren County Public Schools home.
Now after three years as superintendent, Murley has announced his retirement. His success in that role hasn't come without hardships.
"I guess what I have seen is the changes going on with technology have been hard to do with the budget process. It has been a bad budget time and it really has and it still is," says Superintendent Murley.
Despite unstable economic times Warren County Public Schools were able to expand. Growing more than 2,000 students since Murley took office.
"You know we opened South Warren Middle and High school when I was superintendent. Opened Jody Richards Elementary, finished building Richardsville Elementary and Bristow Elementary. Those are difficult. You have to stay on top of those and those are major accomplishments and it's good to see those run well," says Murley.
As the calendar approaches his final day, February 28, Murley is looking ahead to much deserved family time.
"I've been on call since being a principal and I had many jobs through the system and I don't know what that's going to be like not being on call. My sons and my wife are going, I am going to be on call to them hopefully, and my mom," says Murley.
Although he may be leaving the school district, Murley says Warren County will still be the place he calls home.
The Warren County Board of Education says they will call a special meeting by the end of the month to name an interim Superintendent.


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USD faculty to school prez: We're not that into you.
Nearly one hundred University of San Diego faculty members have declared they have no confidence in university president Mary Lyons because she rescinded a fellowship invitation to British theologian Tina Beattie. (She last wrote for us in January: "A Modus Vivendi? Sex, Marriage, and the Church.") The theolgian's offense? She signed a letter supporting civil marriage rights for gay people. Joshua McElwee has the story:
"The president has shown herself to be ethically bankrupt, for which reason the motion is placed that this body declare a loss of confidence in her leadership," read the motion approved in a meeting Tuesday of the academic assembly of the university's College of Arts and Sciences .
As McElwee previously reported, it looks like Lyons buckled under pressure from a major donor and Catholic Action for Faith and Family,a self-appointed watchdog group advised by the new archbishop of San Francisco, Salvator Cordileone.Beattie has been writing about this on her own blog. Her initial response is here. And a follow-up post is here:
Church teachings on issues of social justice and sexual ethics belong within that aspect of Catholic theology which is contingent, contextual and open to interpretation and development in the light of new cultural, scientific and intellectual challenges. This is not relativism, and there will always be debates as to where the boundary between revealed doctrine and natural theology should be drawn. In an incarnational theology, the two cannot and should not be held apart, because what we believe of God inevitably shapes what we believe of humankind, and vice versa. Some argue that there is very little room for negotiation and change on any matter about which the official magisterium holds a position, others argue that there has always been considerable room for a plurality of interpretations and debate on matters of moral theology and social ethics which are not part of the deposit of faith or the infallible teachings of the Church.Both positions are capable of being defended, but today there is a dangerous trend towards creeping infallibity which corrodes the boundaries of intellectual freedom and the authority of individual conscience in the life of faith. This means that those who have a more extensive and inclusive understanding of the authority of the magisterium can and do exercise considerable power to silence and harass the latter with the full weight of Rome behind them. The current climate of magisterial hostility to independent thought makes it impossible to work with integrity as a thinking, reasoning theologian in fidelity to the demands of conscience, academic freedom and Catholic identity.
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"Criticism of papal pronouncements will be possible and necessary, to the extent that they lack support in scripture and the creed, that is, in the faith of the whole church. When neither the consensus of the whole church is had, nor clear evidence from the sources is available, an ultimately binding decision is not possible. Were one formally to take place, the conditions for such an act would be lacking, and hence the question would have to be raised concerning its legitimacy" (Joseph Ratzinger, Das neue Volk Gottes. Entwurfe zur Ekklesiologie. Dusseldorf: Patmos-Verlag, 1969, p. 144, as translated by Francis A. Sullivan, SJ in his CREATIVE FIDELITY: WEIGHING AND INTERPRETING DOCUMENTS OF THE MAGISTERIUM. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2003, p. 89; published by Paulist Press, 1969).***"No doctrine is understood as defined infallibly unless this is manifestly evident" (Canon 749.3 in the 1983 Code of Canon Law).***To Mary Lyons: Words to ponder.
CORRECTIONFirst sentence in Ratzinger quote should read in relevant part, "Criticism of papal pronouncements will be possible and *even* necessary..."
I'm just not that into the faculty at the University of San Diego, or indeed all those employed by Catholic institutions who use their positions to undermine, attack, belittle, or demean Church teaching.
And "I'm just not into" folks who equate "Church teaching" with every papal hiccup and curial fart out of Rome.WE ARE THE CHURCH, we we laity probably know more about life and relevant theology than our (quote)official teachers(endquote) who entered seminary straight out of the 8th grade and don't know jack about real life.Stupid "Church teaching" be damned.(and that's my two cents worth)
Beattie's statement is fine, with one problem. She speaks positively of "independent thought". It seems to me that independent thought by a Christian/Catholic/wise person of any sort is rarely valuable, indeed, independent thought is, strictly speaking impossible. Everyone is dependent on the wisdom and experience of others, and especially in matters of morality we must take into consideration the thinking and experience of others. Natural law theorists especially insist on considering universal experience (where they can find it). Considering *all* sides of a disputed question has historically been an integral part of the notion of academic freedom in the great Western universities from those of the medieval period to the great ones of today. But since the '60s too many academics in secular schools seem to have forgotten this and have become intolerant of "politically incorrect" views, while Rome seems to have forgotten it entirely centuries ago.Shouting matches go nowhere. They're like dogs barking in kennels.
Nowhere on the university website does the vote of no confidence appear, I think. But searching for Beattie's name leads to lots of empty pages, a few pages saying "this event has been cancelled by the president", as well as to a few pdf files containing announcements of talks that now will not take place. Most pointed reference:http://www.sandiego.edu/cctc/events/women_in_education.php"We regret to inform CCTCs supporters that Tina Beattie will no longer be presenting at this event as her visit has been cancelled by USD President Mary Lyons, a decision which did not involve anyone working with the CCTC."
Interesting that Ratzinger's theory of academic freedom in the Church is/was so liberal. While head of the CDF he was not so open. Does that mean that for him the CDF is not bound by those principles?
The people (particularly the priests) of my geographical but not worship home Diocese of Oakland get down on their knees each and every night and thank God for The Croc's transfer to San Francisco. Ad multos annos - anywhere but in Oakland!Sal and Ray = same feathered birds? Oh, yes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bexdIUyU-Ow
Jim McCrea are you saying your's et al prayers helped initiate the Archbishop Cordilone's transfer to my city? Maybe the HS knows that the West Bay people are capable of converting , turning , educating , pastorizing so to speak the newly arrived . Time will tell and West Bayers have all the time needed because none of us ever move away. Where else is there to go? .
Based upon this short excerpt, Beattie shows herself to have a poor understanding of conscience, freedom, moral theology, the Magisterium, and Catholic identity. This lack of merit alone is enough to decline to give her a soapbox in a classroom. Of course, she is always free to say whatever she wants outside the classroom like most everyone else.
It sure seems to me like marriage has 'support in scripture'. And it also has 'consensus of the whole church' since its founding except for a very few people who now want to see 'new cultural, scientific and intellectual challenges'
Bebder: If, as you say, Beattie is "always free to say whatever she wants outside the classroom like most everyone else" - then why on earth is she being penalised by USD for something that she did indeed say "outside the classroom"? What she was proposing to say inside the classroom, in her role as visiting professor, had nothing to do with the content of the controversial letter, but about her specific field of expertise as a renowned theologian - and which is not in any way controversial.As one of the co- signatories of the now infamous letter, I must also correct a common misunderstanding. This letter did NOT encourage anyone to support same - sex marriage - it merely pointed out that there are good reasons why it is permissible for Catholics in good conscience, to do so. This right at times to follow conscience rather than the guidance of bishops on non-infallible teachings is well - established - so the actions of USD in cancelling her visiting fellowship at extremely short notice is not only grossly discourteous and in conflict with sound principles of academic freedom - it is also in conflict with established Catholic teaching on conscience.
Nearly one hundred University of San Diego faculty members have declared they have no confidence in university president Mary Lyons because she rescinded a fellowship invitation to British theologian Tina Beattie.
Nearly a hundred, eh? What's that, twenty percent? Including adjuncts? What's wrong with those eighty percent who didn't sign? Shameful.
Actually it's about half the full-time faculty.
Actually its about half the full-time facultyGrant,If thats the case, why didnt you write about the other half. Or is just those who make the most noise, however much drivel it is, that warrant attention.
It's not drivel. It's news. You may not like it but that won't make it go away.
Bruce, human slavery enjoyed the "consensus" of the official teachers until a *majority* of the bishops at Vatican II condemned it --- albeit without much fanfare --- during the last week of the council in December 1965. (I stress "majority" because apparently a minority did not support the condemnation for whatever reason!)Never mind that Jesus accepted slavery and the official teachers based their acceptance --- nay, approval? --- on the scriptural canon.Here we witnessed doctrinal development in the Church of Rome. I suspect we are witnessing such development about the morality of same-sex civil marriage. Maybe --- just maybe --- it won't require nineteen hundred years to reach the official decision point as it did with slavery!
"It's not drivel. It's news."Its news, too, like putting two and two together, and making five,especially when drawing general observations from half the full-time faculty,no staff, no administrator, and no trustee.
human slavery enjoyed the consensusJoseph,There is absolutely nothing the same about slavery and homosexuality. Slavery is imposed on its subjects by outside forces while homosexuality is an internally driven desire. Its completely phony to equate the two, although I will admit it has been effective. Any male is able to marry any female; that is not unfairly discriminatory. Just because some prefer not to, does not make the framework discriminatory. Btw, every decision you make is a discrimination for what you choose and against what you do not choose; so discrimination is not inherently bad.Further, unlike slavery, marriage is about the creation of a family, something which is inherent in a male/female pair and impossible for any same-sex couple. All children have a right to know their true (biological) father and mother; something which gay marriage denies them. It inherently discriminates unfairly against children because it is imposed on the children by an outside force.
Grant,This is the real news:Beattie's signing of the August letter, said O'Malley, "is taking a public stance that is inconsistent with the mission of the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture when the purpose of the Center is to promote the intellectual tradition of the Catholic church and the teachings of the church.""Certainly, Dr. Beattie is entitled to express her views or her perspectives as she sees fit," said O'Malley. "It's just simply that the institution is not obligated to give her an honorary fellowship or a visiting professorship."
Ed: actually we were betting on His Crocness being sent to a place more to his opinions ... such as Lincoln, NE or Uzbekistan. But, as I am a member of a parish in SF, it just proves that one should be very careful of what one prays for.Bruce: if you equate breeding with creating family, I think you need to reconsider your thinking. Family is one heck of a lot more. Ask those couples who are beyond child-bearing age (or choose not to have children) whether they have a family or not. Couples with children who are physically mistreated, ignored, farmed out to nannies, etc. are far from having "family."
In other words, Bruce, the mission of USD's Center for Catholic Thought and Culture is high-falootin' catechesis? Just regurgitate official doctrine --- but within a university setting? Half the full-time faculty, however, would clearly disagree with your portrayal. Their input cannot at all be ignored --- if the Center is truly dedicated to higher learning!Theology is faith seeking understanding.It is not regurgitation.Theology is not catechesis.
"There is absolutely nothing the same about slavery and homosexuality. Slavery is imposed on its subjects by outside forces while homosexuality is an internally driven desire. Its completely phony to equate the two..."It's not "completely phony to equate the two".In fact, the Church has equated the two in its official moral teaching:+ Rome has taught that homosexuality is "intrinsically disordered", etc. Engaging in same-sex sexual relations is contrary to the natural (moral) law.+ Likewise, Rome has taught in times past that human slavery was moral: + "As recently as June 20, 1866, the Holy Office had upheld the slave trade as moral. The justification was based both on philosophy (natural law) and on revelation (divine law). Various quotations from Scripture were cited in support of this position...The Fathers of the Church and local church councils, laws, Popes, and theologians were cited in the attempt to show that the approval of slavery was part of an unbroken, universal tradition" (Thomas Bokenkotter. A CONCISE HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, pp. 487-488). + "The statement signed by Pope Pius IX declared that 'it is not contrary to the natural or divine law for a slave to be sold, bought, exchanged, or given, provided in the sale, purchase, exchange or gift, the due conditions are strictly observed which the approved authors describe and explain" (Bokenkotter, f.n. 22, p. 488). + The 1917 Code of Canon Law "maintained the positions set out in the old law that a free person contracting marriage with one believed to be free but in fact a slave contracted invalidly; and that slavery was an impediment to the reception of holy orders" (John T. Noonan, Jr. A CHURCH THAT CAN AND CANNOT CHANGE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CATHOLIC MORAL TEACHING, p. 117). + "Also close to the era of Vatican II, Karl Rahner...published the thirtieth edition of 'Denzinger'. This authoritative and convenient handbook, first produced in 1854...contained the teaching of popes and councils from Clement I in the first century to the date of the edition...Not a single word repudiating or condemning slavery occurred in the collection" (p. 117).Yes, we discriminate every day. I like vanilla ice cream, and I don't like pistacho ice cream. Such discrimination is neither moral nor immoral. It's not even amoral.The Church, on the other hand, finally condemned human slavery in 1965. It is immoral. I think we're moving --- however gradually --- to convincing the bishops that homosexuality is not disordered and that faithful, lifelong sexual relationships of gays and lesbians are not immoral either. It's called 'development of moral doctrine'. Our current crop of hierarchs is learning the hard way that adult learning is a two-way street; this is not the model/paradigm preferred by this pope and his lackey bishops. It's not a matter of a new day a-dawnin'. The new day is already here! Thus a critical question: Can the current crop of bishops actually learn from the rest of us? Time will tell.
For those interested in considering both sides:http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1748/the_upsidedown_world_of_cat...


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In many evangelical circles I hear people use the terms liberal, progressive and emergent quite a bit, especially recently.
Do these all refer to the same categorization of groups or of thought? Or do these have a more precise meaning?
In many evangelical circles I hear people use the terms liberal, progressive and emergent quite a bit, especially recently.
Do these all refer to the same categorization of groups or of thought? Or do these have a more precise meaning?
"Liberal" Christians generally follow some of the traditional practices and morals of Christianity, but generally reject the notion of the inerrancy of Scripture. As a result, their beliefs can be very diverse. Their emphasis on doctrine is sometimes light, but sometimes very academic.
"Emergent" Christians have adopted a "postmodern" mindset, seeking to synthesize what others regard as contradictory views. Generally, they believe that God is bringing all people and indeed the universe to himself, and that people need to join that effort however they can. The emergent/emerging church is in some ways a reaction against the lack of the supernatural in Liberal theology, and in some ways a reaction against the alleged reliance on human logic in conservative evangelicalism.
"Progressive" Christians may also be "liberal" or "emergent", and they seek to overcome what they think are bad or sub-optimal traditions or practices.
The liberal Christian's main concern is to live for God by participating in a moral church community, without an urgent need to understand the somewhat flawed but good Bible. The emergent Christian's main goal is to live for God by joining God's kingdom wherever they can find it, aside from the supposed futile task of exegeting the Bible.
There are many variations and differences within these, and many of those who would identify as part of one of these might reject my broad strokes above. Nevertheless, they are useful distinctions, and I think the most important difference is in how they regard the Bible.
If you have further questions about a specific area, practice, or belief, I could give my thoughts.
It's really just a way of separating their church and their beliefs from pre-existing churchs and beliefs. The same way political parties do it. In Australia, we have a political party called "The Liberal Party", but when you compare their policies to their name, they're not really Liberal at all, they're quite conservative.
To get an exact understanding of what people mean when they use these names, you really need to ask them what they believe it means. Just because they call themselves "progressive", that's their interpretation of progressive, and you might actually believe they're being conservative, or gone all the way to the other side where their beliefs might not satisfy your definition of a Christian.


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Golem Design Studio Stoneware Cube Bead - Light Orange
The light orange color and handcrafted texture of this stoneware cube combine to create a fantastic bead bursting with artistic beauty. The precision with which each bead is made is astonishing. These stoneware clay beads are made using a particularly high heat process with the temperature depending on the different colored glazes. With many vibrant colors and design combinations, we are sure our customers will fall in love with them just as we have.
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Thank you in advance for any help you can give. I have searched and searched and have not found an answer to my issue. I'm not sure if this should be in virtualisation or networking - since it's mostly a networking question, I'll ask here.
I have a rent-a-server with one NIC and two real-world IP addresses. The first IP, 69.xxx.xxx.xxx, is the actual IP address of the server. The second IP, 209.xxx.xxx.xxx, is an IP alias. The interface is defined as follows:
# loopback interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# ethernet interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 69.xxx.xxx.xxx
network 69.xxx.xxx.0
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 69.xxx.xxx.255
gateway 69.xxx.xxx.1
# virtual interfaces
auto eth0:0
iface eth0:0 inet static
name Ethernet alias LAN card
address 209.xxx.xxx.xxx
netmask 255.255.255.255
The 69.xxx.xxx.xxx address has a web server and a number of functioning services on it. The 209.xxx.xxx.xxx address is a recently purchased address. It "pings" as defined above. I've no previous experience with IP aliaes, but as I understand it, the address is NOT associated with a network at all. There is no broadcast or gateway associated with the address.
I am attempting to install a product that functions within a virtual machine hosted on the same server. I want the virtual machine to be addressed by the 209.xxx.xxx.xxx address. The pre-built VMWare based virtual machine obtains its IP through DHCP. Both the host and virtual machine are Ubuntu 10.04 server. I would prefer to change the VM to use the 209.xxx.xxx.xxx static IP, but have no idea how to set that up since there is no actual network/broadcast/gateway. When I attempt to set up the dhcp3-server on the host, it fails to start, issuing the error message: "No subnet declaration for eth0:0 (0.0.0.0). ** Ignoring requests on eth0:0." as if the eth0:0 interface is not up. The eth0:0 is, however, up.
Host: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS server version VM: VMWare Server 2.02, Guest Ubuntu 10.04 LTS server version
Anyone know how to set the above scenerio up? Is it even possible with an IP alias?


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Whether you are interested in the regal St. Petersburg with the rich architecture or the hustle and bustle of Moscow with The Kremlin and Red Square or somewhere more remote, visiting Russia really is an unforgettable experience. The largest country in the world is waiting to be explored today by tourists. It wasn't so long ago that we wouldn't have expected Russia to be so welcoming of outsiders but today much restoration has occurred recently to revitalize the vibrancy of this country and there are lakes, mountains, volcanoes, waterways, cities and villages beckoning people to come and discover this wondrous country.
Please provide this reference number to our customer service center representative on request, so we can help you better


text:
In a comment to one of my question, a user mentioned that there is a difference between a direct and a non-stop flight. So what is this difference?
Although in everyday usage they are interchangeable, they refer to two entirely different concepts:
In the past, a direct flight usually involved a single aircraft making multiple stops, in contrast to a connecting flight, in which you would leave one flight for another on a different aircraft. In the present, however, any such distinction is gone. United 951 ostensibly operates BRU-IAD-ORD, but you will not be on the same aircraft— there will be a "change of gauge" at IAD just as if it were an ordinary connecting flight.
Direct flights are tricky for frequent flyers. For one, most airlines compute your frequent flyer mileage based on distinct flight numbers, not on distinct flight segments. For flying BRU-IAD-ORD, you'd expect to be awarded 3893 miles for BRU-IAD and another 589 for IAD-ORD for a total of 4482; however, if you fly "direct" on UA951, you will receive only 4160, as if you had taken the nonstop. Another problem is in clearing upgrades. The BRU-IAD segment may have an upgrade available, whereas the IAD-ORD segment is sold out; however, you will not be given the upgrade because space must be available on the entire BRU-IAD-ORD itinerary. If you had flown the identical BRU-IAD-ORD itinerary but with two different flight numbers, you would have received the full mileage as well as the transatlantic upgrade.
Why do airlines continue to market direct flights? For the same reason they market codeshares: to make it seem as if they have service where they do not. Because such flights used to be on a single aircraft, the reservations systems weighted them as more preferable: request flights between two cities and they would return nonstops at the top, then direct, then connections. Since travel agents tended to pick flights that appear at the top of results, an airline offering a direct flight would likely get more sales than another which offered the identical itinerary as a connecting flight.
Here you go: Wikipedia to the rescue!
Another source, from Matrix: (click the ? for their Glossary)
A non-stop flight has no "other" stops, besides the point of destination.
A direct flight is sometimes known as a "continuing flight." That is, it will leave point A, stop at point B, and continue to point C. In a direct flight to point C, there is no danger of being left behind at point B (unless you get off the plane). Because if the plane arrives late at point B, it will also LEAVE late. But since you're on the plane, you'll get to point C.
This is in contrast to a "connecting flight," where you ride plane X from point A to point B, change to plane Y at point B, and fly from there to point C. Because if plane X arrives later at point B than plane Y departs, you will be "stranded" at point B.


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so youtube just gave me a popup asking me my real name to give to people rather than some stupid nick. i denied, and got a new popup that couldn't be closed, that forced me to make a choice why i didn't want it, with no option for "fuck off with your incessent attempts at compromising my internet anonymity and safety".
it didn't look like spyware.
so anyway, what do you people believe we should do about these evil, corrupt organisations incessently trying to ruin the internet for us?
(i'm really, really, really, really sick of it)


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Our office handles many of the tasks that begin shortly before students arrive at Michigan Law until long after their departures. We facilitate and process enrollment, registration, exams, grade posting, letter grade conversion to "pass" requests, transfer credits, degree audits, bar exam certifications, and degree verifications. In addition, we answer questions and resolve issues on myriad topics related to student records.
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Here's the latest effort from Girls' Generation (all English version):
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AIM Church - Sunday Services at 11amEnglish-speaking, international church in Busan, where people from all over the world have found a home away from home
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DJ Laura at DH Semipermanent CliincMore info


text:
Tseliso Thipanyane will discuss human rights in Africa. Each HRIP student is required to attend at least one region specific-lecture. HRIP students who know or think that they will be working in Africa this summer must attend. All students are welcome to attend. If you are in HRIP and have a class conflict, you must email Ernesto Hernandez and Kiran Singh in advance of the lecture.Hosted by Social Justice Initiatives
© Copyright 2016, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.
For questions or comments, please contact the web administrators.
435 West 116 Street, New York, NY 10027 — 212-854-2640


text:
Asia Polyurethane Manufacturing (APU), established in 1985, is the first fully equipped system house based in the ASEAN region to tailor Polyurethane systems to the needs of our customers. The Company has grown over the years, guided by the philosophy of providing excellent quality, service, fair and competitive pricing. In November 1995, APU became the first system house in Asia to be accredited with the ISO9001 certification. This standard has been maintained as a commitment of our company to provide quality products and services. To continue with this commitment, we moved on to achieve accreditation to the ISO9001:2000 versions and many more.
What is Polyurethane?
APU specialises in the blending and supply of customized designed polyurethane resins and manufacture of polyurethane blended components for a wide range of industries such as domestic appliances, automotive components, petrochemical insulation projects, furniture etc.
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Tel: +65 68616688
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Fax: +65 68612277
Email: email@example.com


text:
Frost Boss Beverage Chiller for $16.99 + shipping
coupon code: "Chilled" - Additional $5 Off
Use coupon code "Chilled" and knock the price down to $11.99 w/free shipping. $5 back for beer or soda, you know, to go with the Frost Boss you just bought.
8 Comments add a comment
Got one of these on woot.com about 6 months ago. Works pretty good. Anybody that has left a soda in the freezer too long that exploded will want one of these.
@moviela: You don't say? As a general rule, people sometimes use this little phrase, "You get what you pay for." Ever heard it? Because the Cooper Cooler is nearly 6x the price of this one, if you get a good deal. Also, do you work for them? Because I honestly cannot believe that you used Cooper or Cooper Cooler in every single sentence otherwise...
You can do the exact same thing with a bowl of ice. Crushed ice makes best contact, add a little water, put the can in and spin it by hand. In less than a minute it will be ice cold!
I have a Cooper Cooler and it works pretty darn well. I liked it so much that when the first one broke after 5 years, I bought another one.
@tcayer: but your hand ins't battery powered,, which means it's not as cool.
This same product was in the woot off 2 days ago for $9.99.
Add salt to the ice/water combo and it works even faster!
it's $13 shipping prime on amazon. don't see the deal here.


text:
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- A North Texas teenager sentenced to probation for a drunken-driving crash that left four people dead is expected back in court.
A Wednesday hearing is scheduled in the case of Ethan Couch, who was given 10 years' probation for the wreck last year that also severely injured two people.
The sentence has stirred fierce debate, as has a defense expert who said Couch's wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility. The expert termed the condition "affluenza."
Judge Jean Boyd issued the original sentence, but she has not ruled on a prosecution request to give Couch jail time on charges related to the two people who were injured.
She also hasn't decided whether to send Couch to a pricey California rehab facility, as his attorneys have requested.
(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
Good morning,
I have just started reading Riemann surfaces. I would like to ask a question, maybe it is naive.
Let $X$ be a Riemann surface and $\phi\in\mathcal{O}_{a,X}$ a holomorphic function germ at $a$ of $X.$ Let $u : [0,1]\to X$ be a curve, i.e a continuous mapping. Does it exist always an analytic continuation of $\phi$ along the curve $u$?


text:
Mashable Awards – Nominate #Summify for Up-and-Coming Social Media Service
The 2011 Mashable Awards, an annual community-focused competition rewarding the best of digital and social media, is now underway!
We'd like to take this moment to thank all of you Summifyers around the world for your support and help in building Summify's daily summary service. Every time you share Summify with your networks and send us your feedback we have the opportunity to improve your social news experience for the better. Thanks to the support of our great community we had the chance to pitch at Grow Conference earlier this year and we'd like to ask for your support once again as we gun for "Up-and-Coming Social Media Service" in this year's Mashable Awards:
Nominate Summify in two clicks:
1) Find and click a "nominate us" link to see your nomination on the Mashable site (requires Facebook or Twitter connect).
2) Click the green "Nominate" button to submit.
You can nominate us once per day and we've done our best to make it extra easy for you. You can temporarily bookmark this link during the awards or find it:
Inside your daily email digest
In the blog sidebar over on the right hand side –>
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Nominations run until Nov 18. From there, Mashable's editors will select seven finalists for each category from the most nominated submissions. The finalists will be announced on Nov. 21, at which time readers will vote for the winners. Final voting will close on Dec. 16. Winners will be announced on Dec. 19.
Our sincere thanks,
Team Summify!


text:
I'm seeking a solution for cataloging many thousands of images. Each photo will be tagged and categorized to become searchable by a small group of private people. I've considered any combination with Lightroom, a custom Wordpress theme, and a private Flickr gallery. Does any one have any additional suggestions?
Picasa Web Albums work best. It meets the following of your requirements:
I have experimented with SlideShowPro, Flickr and Facebook but found Picasa the best option for private sharing.
I've heard of, but haven't used, Gallery. It may require more work on your part than some of the solutions you listed, but may also provide some additional flexibility (like the shopping cart (depends on which version you install) and the ability to define your own user lists).
It depends if the small group of peoples work on a local network or it is a geographically dispersed team with necessity to Internet access.
For the first case I'd recommend you to check out our Daminion. I'll not post a link here, but you can google it.
This is a low-cost, server based photo management system for small teams. It provides better security than web-solutions - all your content remains inside your firewall.
Version control, user roles, sync tags with metadata (IPTC/XMP/MWG)... Daminion can even write metadata into Camera RAW formats, including CR2, NEF, DNG, ARW, MRW, PEF, without creating xmp sidecar files…
Piwigo matches your need. It is an open source application to create a photo gallery. Either you can download it for free and run it on your own web hosting, or you can open an account on Piwigo.com.
For privacy, you can mark albums as private and give access to groups and users.
There is a Lightroom plugin that let you publish your photos to Piwigo.
Since you mention Lightroom, I assume you either have it or are willing to purchase it. That would be my number one suggestion for local asset management, in terms of applying metadata to images and identifying which ones to publish.
Publishing, searching and viewing by a private group of people is a separate problem - I use flickr myself for public photos precisely because it makes them very easy to find but if I wanted to create specific albums and limit access I'd take a look at smugmug.com. It's not free, but seems very well regarded* in terms of photo sharing sites.
(where "well regarded" means "I know people who have used it and rate it highly")
I'm a Flickr fan. you can tag your photos PRIVATE so no-one see them of for FAMILY or FRIENDS - the down side it that you've got to get your family to join Flickr but it is FREE.
I would look at jAlbum. It is a free program (for non-commercial though commercial use is only $55) and it offers a great way to upload your photos for viewing. What I enjoy about the program is they offer many skins (some of which require you to purchase to remove credit links or for commercial use but many are free for any use) which allow you to have a lot of customization to your album.
Take a look at Slideshowpro Director.
The new SkyDrive from Microsoft is very nice for picture sharing.
The web albums are very nice. It also works perfectly on mobile devices (also windows 8).
You can select which person has access to a folder (which contains pictures). You can select if a person has read access only, read/write etc.
But the most interesting feature for me is that there's a very simple option to download ALL images in full quality from a folder. This feature is really appreciated by familly members.
SkyDrive also have a program that can be installed on your computer. It works just like Dropbox. You can simply copy paste files in this folder monitored by the SkyDrive program and the pictures will get uploaded on the web.
The management website of SkyDrive is really nice, html5 website. You can also use the website to upload your pictures. Simply drag&drop the pictures in your browser while in a folder in the site.


text:
The 6 Real and Terrifying Spider Superpowers
It's hard to be scared of spiders, because no matter how many legs they have, at the end of the day, look at how much bigger you are. The size of your feet will always trump the amount of poison they may have stored up in their tiny bodies. They're not superheroes or anything.
In reality, spiders are more like Spider-Man than we think. Though they have yet to master the make-out session, they have racked up some other pretty crazy abilities. Such as ...
#6. Illusions
Have you ever seen a prison break movie where the prisoner tosses a few pillows under his blanket and makes it look like he's still sleeping, when in fact he's tunneling out? It sounds crazy, but some spiders have apparently seen those movies. There's no other explanation.
Some spiders, incredibly, have been observed taking dead bugs and webs and constructing life-size models of themselves to distract predatory wasps.
Apparently they'll let just anybody fly one of these.
To defend themselves, orb spiders build body doubles out of bug corpses and silk. To us it looks like bundles of junk have cluttered up their webs, but to predators those lumps of moldering insect pieces look just like lunch. That's because orb spiders, like all spiders, have bodies that reflect ultraviolet rays. By wrapping up bundles of trash with UV webbing, orb spiders are creating decoys that are not only the same size, but also the same color. The dummy spiders are such a good distraction that wasps will attack the wrong target 60 percent of the time. They're basically guessing.
BBC Earth News
Totally not creepy and disturbing at all.
Possibly even more unusual, the common garden spider has been known to trick insects into thinking its web is a flower. It turns out that flowers give bees and other insects explicit instructions on where to find the good stuff. They use UV coloring to highlight their nectar snatch. Striations in their petals that botanists describe as a "bull's-eye pattern" guide pollinators exactly where they need to go. It's like landing lights for bugs.
"Be the flower, Frank. Be the flower.
The garden spider, who must have Googled "striations" and "bull's-eye pattern," just like we did, produces a special type of nonadhesive silk and weaves it into its web. The zigzag patterns act like a neon beacon for the innocent buglings, guiding them in to their deaths. How effective are the spiders' deadly decorations? Research shows that they catch 50 percent more insects with their evil artwork than without. It's like a lion's den built to look like a Denny's.
#5. Glue Lasso
In the movies, heroes and villains will often use exotic weapons like whips and chains, spinning them around with deft skill. But that's the movies -- nobody uses these things in real life. Unless it's a bolas spider, however; that thing will Indiana Jones you in the face.
"Anybody got a tissue?"
The bolas spider is a night hunter that uses webbing to catch its prey, like most spiders, but with a unique twist: It produces a cord of silk with a sticky glob of glue weighing down one end. This spider makes a lasso, or bolas, that it twirls around with one of its spindly legs to fling at passing moths. It's like fishing for pterodactyls with a bungee cord and a grappling hook.
To lure the moths in, the bolas spider can produce the pheromones that sexy female moths give off (so yes, only the males get eaten). And not just one type of moth, either. Researchers discovered that at different times the spider will produce different chemicals to call to the moth species that is currently active. When they get close enough ...
StormCoat, via Iowa State University
And to be even more deceptive, some bolas spiders have eye spots on their backs to mimic the face of the moths they hunt. Just like picking a woman up at a bar in Miami, it's a sexy smell and a pretty face, and then you're dead.
Joshua S. Rose, Texas Parks and Wildlife
"No, really, I'm just down from Orlando for the weekend ..."
#4. Toxic Web Shooter
Spiders can bring the battle to their enemies from a distance; in fact, spiders have evolved multiple types of missile attacks. The green lynx spider, for example, is known to spit venom like a freaking cobra. This half-inch-long spider can hurl venom about 5 inches, or roughly 10 times its body length. Though the poison isn't fatal to humans, there's at least one report of a soldier taking a squirt to the eye and being blinded for two days.
The spitting spider does things differently: It can actually fire sticky silk out of its fangs. Not just its backside (after all, most spiders shoot their webs out of their spider butts), but out of its very mouth. Yes, web shooters actually exist.
M Hedin
"Spider-Man is a hack."
At a range of less than half an inch, it doesn't have the reach of the green lynx spider, but then again, spewing a Kevlar net from your mouth is probably a tad more difficult. As if this weren't unusual enough, the webbing is venomous. In effect, this means that the spider doesn't have to bite you; all it needs to do is put you in contact with its bodily fluids and then it can watch you die slowly under a net of poison glue.
To make sure the prey is subdued, because everyone knows that spraying you in the face with poison is just child's play, spitting spiders have been observed swaying in a Z pattern while they fire, maximizing the spray. It's your standard Super Soaker rules.
Charles Lewallen, Oklahoma Biological Survey
And they look like walking skulls. Just in case you weren't sure if they were evil incarnate.


text: Florida On The Grid Financial Serves Florida On The Grid Financial, The Credit Union on the Grid, serves Florida! Employees who work regularly at entities in the electric utility industry; power generation, transmission, and distribution are eligible for membership. Make the switch to the financial institution that knows employees of the electric utility industry. We've been in business over 78 years, originally serving only Georgia Power Company employees. Joining On The Grid Financial is EASY. If you're employed in the electric utility industry in Florida, you can join. Based on the philosophy of, Once A Member, Always A Member, you can remain a member no matter where you work or live in the future. Even if you retire. Doesn't being part of a larger group of members who all work in the same industry sound like a great way to do business? Banking with On The Grid Financial is EASY Through the use of the latest technology, automated services, surcharge free ATMs, our website, mobile banking, remote deposit capture and the Shared Branching Network, we are able to serve our members in Florida without adding costly brick and mortar locations. We pass these savings to our members in the form of great dividend rates and low loan rates. We look forward to helping you reach your financial goals. We are here for you, we build relationships that last. With a variety of convenient products and services to choose from, we are the Credit Union serving employees of the electric utility industry, in the Southeast. We are proud to serve employees in the electric utility industry in Florida and we encourage you to JOIN US today, just complete our online application or contact us at 1-800-360-6362 to speak to one of our knowledgeable Financial Services Associates.


text:
I am using ubuntu 10.04 LTS - Locid Lynx. I have a requirement to set specific group and permissions for any usb stick file/directories on mount. I have tried overwriting the udev rules. Here is what I have done:
- Created 99-test.rules under /etc/udev/rules.d/ directory with content as SUBSYSTEMS=="usb",GROUP="tomcat6",MODE="0777",NAME="test"
- sudo service udev restart
Now when I mount the usb stick and run 'sudo blkid', it prints
/dev/test: UUID="002A-0AA5" TYPE="vfat"
But the ls -l /media/ gives back
drwx------ 4 admin admin 8192 1969-12-31 16:00 002A-0AA5
It seems that above rule from 99-test.rules is getting applied but getting overwritten afterwards, thus changing group and permissions back to some default value. What is it I am missing here? Do I have to change anything else?


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Mario Kart 8Written by: / / 11 Comments
- platform: WiiU
- genre: Racing
- developer: Nintendo EAD
- publisher: Nintendo
Mario Kart 8 almost needs no introduction. Is it great? Yes.
What You Need to Know
Nintendo has somehow given Mario Kart another boost, like it's running on permanent mushrooms. It feels faster, bigger and more grandiose than ever, and yet it has the charm and simplicity that shocked me when I first played the series on the GameCube.
Are you a master racer that revels in time attacks and tight controls? Mario Kart 8 is astoundingly tight and deep (although I feel like I'm still in the shallow waters there.) Are you a casual gamer who likes to have fun with friends? Mario Kart 8 will entertain you whether you're watching or joining in a four-player split-screen battle.
The core mechanics are the same as always: Choose a Mario-world character and race a set of four courses in three-lap races, collecting and using power-ups to hinder your opponents along the way. Press 'A' to go, steer with the analog stick or with motion controls, use the right trigger to hop and drift and the left trigger to use a power up. That's it. The fun is designed to emerge chaotically and differently each time.
What's New?
Sixteen new courses, plus sixteen old courses remixed slightly with the newer underwater racing mechanics and the brand new anti-gravity racing mechanic. Speaking of anti-gravity, it's a fantastic new idea because it allows for far crazier track layouts and reminds me of F-Zero GX.
While in anti-gravity mode (triggered at a certain point in some tracks) your kart hovers above the surface of the track, changing the grip and handling, and in that mode if you hit another player you get a boost of speed. I love this – anything to encourage players colliding in Mario Kart can't be a bad idea.
After a race you can watch a generated highlights package and even save the ones you want to as favourites, or upload them to Mario Kart TV for others to see. You can customise your highlights package in terms of length, what characters to focus on and what type of action you want to see, too.
It is, frankly, a fantastically innovative feature because it creates a cool-down period in between races where you and your fellow racers and see what happened to each other in the race and relive classic moments.
A new power-up appears in the form of the Super Horn, which can be used to stop a Spiny Shell, but it hardly ever shows up. Nevertheless the frequency that I have been hit by the blue shell seems to be lower in Mario Kart 8 than in previous games (although I have not tested this scientifically.)
What's the Same?
All your Mario Kart charm is there, if not enhanced in high definition, full speed (60 frames per second) glory. The energy strangely missing from Mario Kart Wii is back with a vengeance, so is exciting local four-player split-screen multiplayer and the brilliance of Mario Kart that allows players of varying skill levels to enjoy racing together.
Motion controls are still in play, so you can reuse your Wii Remotes or use the GamePad (or nunchuks or Pro Controllers). Bikes return from Mario Kart Wii, too. Basically, take all the good ideas from previous games, take out the poor ones, add some creatively and artistically top quality courses, a few double-dashes of excitement and you get Mario Kart 8.
You'll Enjoy Mario Kart 8 If You Liked…
… Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed. That was a great kart racing game that everyone should try, but if you liked it then Mario Kart 8 should be your next karting fix.
… Mario Kart 7. The quality of the 3DS game has been carried to this Wii U project, and then some.
What I Liked
– 5.) The music, performed by live bands, is full of dynamism and energy, perfect for a game so packed with punch.
– 4.) Four-player split-screen is still there! After so many games seemed to have dropped even two-player split-screen, I was glad to see Nintendo had not forgotten about local multi-player. I should have had more faith.
– 3.) Loads of choice between characters and between kart options.
– 2.) The controls feel so right, from driving to biking to flying to floating in anti-grav mode – everything is crisp and responsive.
– 1.) The courses, like Mount Wario which features no laps but one long course down a mountain, or Bowser's Castle, featuring a giant fire Bowser that hammers the course and causes shockwaves along it, or Shy Guy Falls in which you race up and down a waterfall in anti-gravity mode. Even the Retro courses are remixed and spruced up with anti-gravity, underwater bits and extra detail. In every course the attention to detail is incredible.
Favourite Moment
As I watched someone play Mount Wario on 50cc (the easiest setting – they were new to Mario Kart) I was drawn into the excitement of how the race unfolded, dropping from first to sixth, then back to first, then being hit by a red shell and falling into fourth place only to pick up a mushroom and boost to first place in the final home stretch.
Twelve racers full of character, a detailed expansive backdrop, a variety of surfaces and a sense of pace can create some epic experiences, even if you're just watching.
What I Didn't Like
– 2.) Battle Mode courses are just race courses, so it's almost impossible to find anyone unless you have all twelve people and then it just devolves into racing around playing chicken with oncoming players. I've never been a Battle Mode fan, I prefer racing, so this is no big deal for me, but for others it might be an issue.
– 1.) A few courses feel a little too wide which reduces the tension and contact with other players. This is mostly only true of older courses like Dry Dry Desert from the GameCube or Toad's Turnpike from the Nintendo 64. Fortunately, this only affects a tiny minority of courses – most are tight and exciting.
Least Favourite Moment
None that I can think of. I am only on around twelve hours of play but I have not had a moment of boredom, whether watching, playing with others or playing alone.
Mario Kart 8 Review – Launch Trailer
What's Extra?
Time Attack mode and Battle Mode are in. So is a Versus mode in which you can set up your own rules for local multiplayer. Obviously there is a big online component, and Nintendo have incorporated the ability to view other players' highlight reels and post your own on Mario Kart TV. I wasn't able to find a game during this period, but I expect the lobbies will be fill come release date.
The Bottom Line
It's taken eight iterations to realise the vision of Mario Kart. Feel it, it is here.
Tags: mariokart8, nintendo


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Applying to Foster
Applying to become a foster parent is often similar to or the same process as applying to adopt. While requirements to become a foster parent vary from State to State, the process usually starts with completing pre-service training and an application. At first, it might feel like a lot of paperwork and process to deal with, but don't let it discourage you. Just think of it as the first parenting task you need to do for the children who will come into your life.
During this step in the foster care process, you will need to be prepared to provide:
- Letters of reference from your employer and those who know you
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If you want to know your state's requirements for fostering, you can contact us or look them up using our interactive map of state adoption and foster care information.
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Ready to take the next step?
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Complete Pre-Service Training
Pre-service training programs are almost always required and usually happen right before or at the same time you're completing your application to become a foster parent. Children in foster care have had many losses in their young lives. These trainings are required so you can have a better understanding of what a child in foster care has been through and how to best integrate them into your family.
Mandatory training hours for foster parents vary by state. Locate contact information for your state using our interactive map of state adoption and foster care information.
During pre-service training, you will:
- Prepare yourself for fostering a child
- Create a basis for teamwork between yourself and your agency
- Make new friends with other parents and child welfare staff who will be able to help you throughout your foster care journey
- Find answers to any lingering questions you might have about if you're ready to become a foster parent and what type of child you can successfully provide care for
It's important to make a commitment to attending pre-service training sessions. If two adults will be co-parenting, both will be required to attend this training. You can hear from parents who have been through the process by watching the video on the right. It's a chapter from or film The Road to Adoption and Foster Care. You can also watch the entire film (Flash – 2:00 hr.).
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This is where the official paperwork begins and where you will meet the caseworker who will help you through the rest of the foster care approval process. In child welfare there are generally two types of caseworkers — family workers who work with families such as yours and child workers who work with the children in care. It's important to have a good relationship with your caseworker, so take time during the application process to get to know them as they will be your guide throughout your foster care journey.
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After you have completed your application and required training, you might need to complete a home study, which is sometimes referred to as a mutual assessment. Find out more about completing a foster home study.
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5 Outrageous Lies Companies Are Legally Allowed to Tell You
If you tell people that advertisers lie, they'll roll their eyes and say, "DUH! That's what advertising is, you naive buffoon!" But then those same people will walk out the door and buy a phone based on a "coverage map" they just saw in an ad.
That's because advertisers use our cool cynicism against us -- we think we're being savvy by assuming that all ads exaggerate, but we still assume that's as far as it can go -- exaggeration. It's not like these people can just go out and lie right to our faces, right?
They sure can! In fact ...
#5. Companies Have Gone to Court for the Right to Lie
Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images
The big assumption we all make is that while every ad contains some bullshit, the basic facts have to be true. Like, what the product looks like and the gist of what it does. After all, there is little room to lie when your essential statement is, say, "It's a phone. You can call with it and take photos." But multiple companies have made the argument -- in court -- that not only do their ads not have to be factual, but only an idiot would think they were.
For example, when Coca-Cola was marketing their line of Vitaminwater by promising the stuff would "boost your immune system" and "help fight free radicals," someone pointed out that the stuff was effectively sugar water. Coke responded that they were completely shocked that anyone thought their drink was healthy, or in their words: "No consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking that Vitaminwater is a healthy beverage."
Via Guardian.co.uk
In their defense, it never occurred to them that any of their customers could read.
But even if you can make that argument with a product that, to be fair, is basically Kool-Aid, how can you say the same when marketing a product specifically touting never-before-seen capabilities? Like, say, a fancy new phone where your entire campaign is based on all of the things it can do that your old phone can't? You know, like when Apple was advertising their iPhone 3G as, "Twice as fast. Half the price."
Via Yamiya.com
Welp, no misreading that.
That seems like a pretty straightforward statement to us, and the consumer has nothing else to go on. But again, when someone had the audacity to point out that literally each and every one of those words was a lie, Apple's legal defense was the same as Coke's: "No reasonable person in the plaintiff's position could have reasonably relied on or misunderstood Apple's statements as claims of fact." They flat out stated you were a dumbass for buying into their wacky claims, which were obviously fictional and therefore couldn't be lies.
Then in 2012, Nokia took a page out of video game developers' handbook and released a trailer (for their newest Lumia phone) that turned out to be way better than the product itself. The ad featured Lumia's much-touted "Optical Image Stabilization" feature, which they showcased by showing a cute woman flirting with you during a bike ride. If you didn't have OIS, she'd just be a blurry mess!
The ad is actually pretty incredible -- the difference between the two kinds of footage are like night and day. It's a level of image stabilization you'd normally need a big-ass camera crew to achieve, right there on your phone! And then the Internet found out that the reason the footage looks like it was filmed with a big clunky movie camera is because that's exactly what they did:
"Eh, they won't notice. The Internet never notices anything that small and seemingly insignificant."
The company's response was a half-hearted blog post apology that explained the video was obviously supposed to be a simulation of what was possible, not actual footage of the phone's OIS capability. You know, despite the fact that it fucking says "OIS ON" right there in the footage and showing the image quality is the only reason for the ad to exist. As of the writing of this article, all they've done to fix the ad is a YouTube popup that offhandedly mentions the "simulation" thing:
And since most people have annotations turned off, they'll never see it.
Still, at least they did something. That half-hearted effort is better than the standard "you're just an idiot for believing anything we say."
#4. Telecoms Use an Entirely Lie-based Ad Strategy
Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
Hey, know those coverage maps cellphone companies used to bombard us with a couple of years ago? The ones that make the country look like it had the worst case of small pox in history?
Via Richardbliss.typepad.com
Verizon looks like it could use an ointment for its Florida.
In reality, those coverage maps were just a load of unhelpful horseshit. The coverage maps are just ways to avoid giving you any actual numbers (and even when a cell phone ad features actual statistics, chances are they're pulled from a study that the company itself commissioned). But no matter how they paint the country, it doesn't count as lying. It doesn't count as anything.
And it works, because no matter how integral technology is to our lives, most of us have no idea how it works. Sure, most everyone knows that cellphones send signals to towers, Internet access works by connecting us to servers, and we get HBO by plugging our TV into a box powered by tiny elves with the face of a grimacing Ian McShane. But do you know how many cell towers you have in your area, or who they belong to? When your phone drops a call, do you ever know why? Or just assume that it was due to the landscape, or sun spots, or the other caller's phone?
Digital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images
Damn you, The sun!
Or, most likely of all, have you just accepted that cellphones get shitty reception and there's nothing you can do about it?
Because the truth is, no matter who you pick, the service is going to be patchy, due to a whole bunch of limitations with capacity and other bullshit that is impossible to predict (that link is to a guide from the FCC that says the only way to find out if you actually have coverage where you are is to fucking find a neighbor with the same service and ask them if it works). Because even if a carrier doesn't have enough towers where you are, they're still happy to color that part of the map red. Why not?
Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
"Our tower is barely shooting off any signal lightning today. Better save my calls for later."
#3. Food Serving Sizes Are Random and Meaningless
Jeffrey Hamilton/Lifesize/Getty Images
To be fair, lots of marketing tricks are entirely possible to avoid if you know your shit. When you're buying a car, it's good to ignore the salesperson and go right for the manual. When buying a new laptop, you should always pour beer and Cheetos dust all over it just to make sure it can survive your daily life. And when you're in the grocery store, you should go right to the ingredients and nutrition label to see what that Hot Pocket is really made of.
Except that the ingredient lists lie, too. No matter what the sugar, caffeine or sodium content of any given food appears to be, there's always one number that can completely change everything: the serving size. You'd assume that a serving size on, say, a small bottle of soda is that goddamn bottle. And you'd be right -- occasionally. For instance, one serving of Classic Coca-Cola looks like this:
Coca Cola Corporation
Meanwhile, this Diet Coke of the exact same size ...
Coca Cola Corporation
... is presented as 2.5 servings. Wait, what the hell?
Of course, tinkering with the serving size allows the company to sneakily divide the amounts of each and every ingredient in that bottle by 2.5. All the information is still right there in the ingredients list ... but to decrypt it, you'll need to both spot the serving size trick and be reasonably adept at Surprise Grocery Store Math. And you'll need to be on the lookout for every single product you buy, too. Because this isn't just a soda thing.
Here's a soup-in-a-cup that boasts only 90 calories per cup, which doesn't sound half bad ... until you notice that the package is actually called a container and contains two cups.
Healthy Choice
They'd change the name, but "Death Soup" didn't go over well with the fears-death demographic.
Even the simplest grocery items are not safe from marketing crapjugglery: Each and every package of, say, Top Ramen noodles actually contains two servings.
Top Ramen
Yes, even the goddamn shrimp flavor.
Nothing like finding out you've been eating quadruple meals all along, college students! But that just brings us to ...


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THALMAN, William Howard, 72, of Shadyside, OH, died Thursday, December 6, 2012.
He was born April 16, 1940, in Wheeling, WV, son of the late George and Sarah (Smith) Thalman.
He was a member of the St. Mary's Catholic Church, Shadyside, OH. He was retired from International Harvester/Navistar and an electrician.
He was an avid golfer and a member of the Moundsville Country Club. He was also a big fan of Shadyside Sports, where he enjoyed being a race official for the track team. He was also a fan of WVU football and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Joan Stokes and Sarah Thorne.
He is survived by his loving wife, Patricia (O'Connor) Thalman of Shadyside, OH, two children, Susan (Larry) Howell of Shadyside, OH, and William (Diane) Thalman of Murrysville, PA, and six grandchildren, Jody, Rachel, Brian, Eric, Heather and Mark. He is also survived by two sisters, Patricia Bellville of Wheeling, WV, and Mary Ellen (Bob) Regalsky of Martins Ferry, OH.
Family and friends will be received Sunday, December 9, 2012, at the Bauknecht-Altmeyer Funeral Home and Crematory in Shadyside, OH from 2-4 p.m. & 6-8 p.m. and Monday 10 a.m. until the time of Funeral Liturgy with Mass in St. Mary's Catholic Church, Shadyside, Ohio at 11:30 a.m. with Father Samuel Saprano as Celebrant.
Interment in Greenwood Cemetery, Wheeling, WV will follow the memorial service.
Memorial contributions may be made to: Rosenbaum Family House, WVU Ruby Memorial Hospital, 1 Medical Center Dr., Morgantown, WV 26506.
Condolences online at www.altmeyer.com.


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To the editor:
If you watched the vice presidential debate on Oct. 11, you may have been able to pick up on the Republican subversion, revealing how the plan to bankrupt the government and destroy all social safety-net programs is going to be done.
Mr. "Budget Specialist" Paul Ryan told you how starting another war in either Syria or Iran will bankrupt us, and thus become the battle cry for eliminating Social Security, Medicare, federal funds for education and more tax cuts for the top 2 percent with total deregulation of all corporate and financial rules. Starting another war or two doesn't concern him in the least. He'd simply add the cost to the national debt, and blame it on the middle class, the 47 percent, and those who don't pay income tax because they don't make enough money, i.e. the working poor.
He claims to be worried about the budget deficit, but keeps finding ways to increase it. His budget makes no sense, and according to the congressional budget office, would be a disaster to our economic well-being. Remember, it wasn't Barack Obama who used off-budget loans from China to start the war in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan and then cut taxes on the richest among us so Wall Street could profit from them. Also, keep in mind that Ryan voted against the minimum wage increase, middle class tax cuts and the ability of Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices for Medicare. He also thinks that a voucher to buy health insurance from your local health insurer is a great idea. It wouldn't even pay half the cost of coverages and there'd be no rule to keep your rate from going up 40 percent every year. If you had a pre-existing condition, you'd pay even more.
His budget is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. He says he can pay for tax cuts by closing tax loopholes. Which ones? Will you lose the tax deduction on the cost of health insurance or the deduction for education funding?
Will you lose the tax deduction for charitable contributions? He won't say which deductions you're going to lose, but says "trust, me, I'll reveal my plan after the election," when it will be too late to vote against him.
Finally, he perpetuates the myth that there's a war on coal from the president. Sorry, Paul, that's another lie we won't swallow.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services has reported that mining and drilling permits are up 46 percent since the president was elected. That resulted in 177,000 new mining jobs in the last four years. Does that sound like a war on energy? They're distorting the facts and twisting the truth - 43 straight months of new private sector jobs, 5.3 million jobs added. We need to keep this going forward, not return to the policies that almost put us into national bankruptcy.
Stay the course, vote for progress, not for chaos.
Stan Galownia
Mingo Junction