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Fantasy baseball Stat Focus: Kipnis' wRC+ shows off offensive value
Robinson Cano has been every bit the first-round pick the entire fantasy community expected him to be back in March. Through 432 plate appearances, he's hitting .299/.382/.519 with 21 homers, 69 RBI, 53 runs and six steals. He has been worth 3.8 WAR according to Fangraphs, and remains the main reason the Yankees are still a part of the playoff race. But while no one is going to knock him from his perch in a season when he's again posting All-World numbers, he hasn't been the best fantasy second baseman in 2013. That honor belongs to Jason Kipnis.
This week's fantasy prep: Weekend Primer | Weekly Planner | Waiver Wire | Pitching Report | Injury Report | Roundtable | Advanced Stat Focus | Trade Tips
Kipnis showed what he was capable of in his blistering first half of 2012, when he hit .277/.345/.419 with 11 homers, 49 RBI and 20 steals. He fell off a cliff in the second half, showing the fatigue that affects many 25-year-olds in their first full season. We're just a few weeks into the second half of this season, but it appears Kipnis has turned a corner in terms of being able to put together a full season. Through 395 plate appearances, he's hitting .299/.381/.521 with 15 homers, 62 RBI, 57 runs and 21 steals. Clearly, you're just splitting hairs trying to pick between these two, at least when it comes to traditional fantasy stats. There is one advanced metric in which Kipnis has a clear advantage, and that is weighted runs created plus (wRC+).
The stat, admittedly a mouthful even for a supporter of sabermetrics like myself, measures the totality of a hitter's contributions to his team's offense by placing a value on everything a hitter or base runner can do, and crunching it all into one number. Singles carry less weight than doubles, which carry less weight than triples, which carry less weight than homers, and so on. Walks add to the value, while strikeouts detract; ditto for stolen bases and caught stealing. The great thing about wRC+ is that it's league- and park-adjusted, and it also uses a baseline of 100. If a player's wRC+ is 120, he created 20 percent more runs than the average player. If it's 80, he created 20 percent fewer runs than average.
There's a version of the stat that isn't adjusted for league or park, and that's known simply as weighted runs created. It is based on wOBA, which we talked about with regard to Miguel Cabrera earlier this year. As we discussed then, wOBA uses the same principle that says a homer is more valuable than a triple, which is more valuable than a double, and gives us a number that fits into a batting average of OBP context. Given that it applies proper weights to each type of hit, unlike batting average, OBP or slugging percentage, it is a more accurate measure of hitter performance.
Back to our Kipnis-Cano debate. Cano's wRC+ is an excellent 140 thus far this season, good for 21st in the league. Kipnis, however, is tied with Carlos Gonzalez for 11th with a wRC+ of 150. That matches Cano's career high, set last year. In just his second full season in the majors, Kipnis has a great chance to notch a better wRC+ than Cano ever has. The latter may still hold the second baseman championship belt, but Kipnis has a chance to claim it for good in 2014.


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EZ Breezy Quilt As You Go Table Runner & Place Mat Pattern
An easy project to whip up!
Finished sizes:
- Table runner: 15" x 47"
- Place mats: 14" x 18 1/2" each
Nature's Pearl Fat Quarters
- Table Runner: 1 pkg.
(5 reviews)
How do you like this product?
Share your thoughts with the Annie's community.
January 15, 2017
Since there is no mention of machine embroidery for this pattern are the formats in pattern cutting mode, then pieced together by sewing each segment?
September 29, 2016
I'm new to quilting and thought I could make this. The instructions are difficult for me to understand. Wish there was a way to get guidance, maybe a video as to how this should be put together.
March 29, 2016
This is a great easy pattern. The directions though are a little hard to follow. So for new purchasers it first describes the directions for the table runner & then follows with the place mats. Once you have it cut out & put together it makes sense. I made a great gift for my cousin in England with this pattern. She loved it!
February 25, 2016
This is a very nice pattern but I found the directions are very difficult to understand. I'm having a very hard time with it. I'm still trying to figure them out. I'm not an expert at sewing but not a novice either. I've been sewing since the 1960's and since 2000 have been sewing at least 20 days out of every month.
July 24, 2015
Love this pattern, EZ Breezy. -Makes great gifts.

subset: commoncrawl


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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Hans Christian Andersen's Paper Cuts
Sprawled out on the grass, eye-level with the flowers, early morning tea or just before bedtime, I am lapping up this new translation of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. It's kind of taking the Danny Kaye out of the whole affair for me but reminding me of all the great stories I loved as a wee lass: The Ugly Duckling, The Princess on the Pea and The Emperor's New Clothes...lost to imagine other very far away lands, and what might happen next and how funny the princess could still feel the pea with all those mattresses! I'm all fueled up to tell some stories to Sophie and as it turns out Emily, who might too old to believe in fairytales but made me tell her the story of Thumbelina anyway...
But look at Hans' paper cuts. Imagine him with his sharp scissors in his pocket, turning the paper round and round while the children waited to see what happened! These little fantastic fantasies, little visual synopses of his stories, little stories themselves, unfolding as little bits of paper drifted to the floor! I am lost in his world right now, cutting little stories and floating them out into the world to see...
thanks Ada for recommending this book...
18 comments:
- erin said...
oh amazing! what a find!
- May 13, 2009 at 11:56 AM
- TERI REES WANG said...
Hans Christian Andersen was a wildly, amazing, artistic character who still surprises us after so many years.
- May 13, 2009 at 12:07 PM
- cindy* said...
i love this!
- May 13, 2009 at 1:13 PM
- willow said...
These are amazing! I had no idea he did this. Love Danny Kaye as HCA, by the way.
- May 13, 2009 at 2:54 PM
- The Royal Me said...
i love the papercuts, and while it isn't really related but the color schematics are similar might i suggest the illustrated book "Brooch" by Yoshie Watanabe & Yayako Uchida? It's a colored pencil fairytale.
I have a copy, i will show you sometime! - May 13, 2009 at 3:01 PM
- Mary Jo from TrustYourStyle said...
love these paper cuts, i will have to find this book now. thanks for this post!
- May 13, 2009 at 3:18 PM
- Laura said...
Thumbelina has always been Emily's favorite!
- May 13, 2009 at 5:52 PM
- Georgia B. said...
oh, i love it! i hope she's not too old to believe in fairy tales. i hope none of us are! :)
- May 13, 2009 at 10:11 PM
- Maggie May said...
i love the 2cd and 3rd, magic
- May 14, 2009 at 1:49 AM
- Krissy said...
Paper cuts always amaze me - I will never tire of them! I love the fact that these relate to stories :)
- May 14, 2009 at 9:31 AM
- Amy@Old Sweet Song said...
Lovely stuff Mama. Tell me some stories also? If I can't sleep or am scared I make my BF tell me stories. The most recent was about a bunny rabbit who broke into Jamba Juice and made carrot juice for himself.
In case you didn't figure it out, he is awesome. And by he I mean the bunny rabbit AND my BF! - May 14, 2009 at 12:24 PM
- nichole said...
My friend Rachel (fog and thistle) cuts paper, and I am amazed by how tough it is. It truly is an art.
These are lovely! - May 14, 2009 at 4:40 PM
- Elizabeth said...
What a talent.
Do you know the totally bizarre book
Strewel Peter?
It is German and from about the same period, contains some silhouettes.
Will show you some time. Really weird. - May 14, 2009 at 5:15 PM
- hmstrjam said...
i love these bon bon! ps the cherry blossoms are all out in full bloom here and remind me of you!
- May 14, 2009 at 6:11 PM
- Rachel Follett said...
Great find! These are quite lovely. Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog. I am loving yours!
- May 14, 2009 at 6:13 PM
- Silvana Rusan said...
Extremely beautiful!
- May 15, 2009 at 5:09 AM
- Tracey said...
what a beautiful reminder of the stories I loved as a wee one! officially now on the Willa Wish List . . . !
- May 15, 2009 at 10:40 AM
- Chessa! said...
I love this....thank you for sharing!
- May 15, 2009 at 4:03 PM


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- By LiberatedMind.com
- 04/21/2011
- 23 Comments
1. GIVE IT UP. Every Lent it never fails: my Facebook news feed is loaded with Christian acquaintances posting what superfluous toy or food they have decided to deprive themselves of for 40 days. I vaguely recall a passage in the gospels where Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for publicly displaying their fasting and how god will not "count" it on the list he is supposedly making and checking (twice). You poor martyrs! How terrible that you have to do without soda, candy, chocolate, video games, TV, etc for a WHOLE FORTY DAYS. Have you given any thought as to all those who live in abject poverty and NEVER have ANY of that stuff? How arrogant of you to think that your god will reward you for giving up such luxuries when so many starve to death every day because they have nothing to eat? Four years ago I gave up eating processed sugars, sodas, fast food and excess. I have never owned a video game and have not owned a TV for 3 years. I do this because it benefits my health and encourages exploration of the world. I fail to see how you giving up candy for Lent and flaunting it does anything to benefit you or those who go without every day of their lives. For Lent, try giving up God instead.
2. FISH. If you have ever cooked a meal for Christians on a Friday in Lent, you know about how they "deprive" themselves on Fridays in Lent (only 4-5 Fridays in the year) and make a big deal to make sure everyone knows they can't "eat meat". The last time I checked, fish was meat. This whole fish on Fridays tradition has an interesting metamorphoses through history. Fasting rules for Catholics in particular used to be very strict. It progressed from no meat allowed on EVERY Friday of the year to only Wednesday and Fridays during Lent and then lastly to "no meat" on only Fridays during Lent. Then, as people tend to do, the faithful found a loophole in their rules because they did not "count" fish as meat by saying that it came from water animals, not land animals. After decades of their flock bending the rules so they could have fish on Fridays, the Catholic Church under Pope Paul VI decided to allow Fish on Fridays in 1966. Now, I don't mind accommodating my vegan friends, people with allergies or intolerance to certain foods. What does bother me is the "poor me" message that "fasting" Christians bring to my dinner table and to the world. McDonald's even caters to their "fast" season, commercializing and capitalizing on the pointless tradition of one religion. I fail to see how eating expensive fish, now in short supply, is a sacrifice.
Another problem with Christians eating Fish on Fridays is overfishing and how much Christianity has helped to decimate global fish populations.1 Fish is an expensive, rare meat on our over-fished planet. Christians are happy to help themselves to the almost extinct Tuna and Salmon in the name of their religious "fasting". Eating a delicacy is a far cry from depriving one's self in the name of Jesus. I also fail to see how encouraging people to consume fish during Lent is an example of good stewardship of the earth.
3. OBESITY. The thin priest will talk about it, but the fat ones won't touch the subject. Gluttony, one of the 'seven deadly sins', plagues a large swath of the faithful across all Christian divides. They sit in their pews and hear about how they should give in charity and deny themselves pleasures. Yet they exit church each Sunday to find a doughnut at the community hall and fail to connect how eating 2 to 3 times the amount of calories needed to live each day equates to starving children dying in third world countries. Even here on American soil, families are finding it difficult to find enough food to survive and the pious obese flock to church every Sunday to be reassured by their pastor that they are checking off all the necessary dates to be admitted into heaven. This type of hypocrisy abounds during Lent when the biblical reading encourage homilies about abstinence, moderation, charity and self denial. Obesity is perhaps the most un-Christian behavior of all, exercising gluttony, sloth, greed, addiction, destruction of your "god-given" body and a complete lack of compassion for those who have no food to eat. I fail to see how being 200 pounds overweight exemplifies Christian behavior.
4. TRADITION. If you ask a Christian why they celebrate Lent, the common response is because Jesus went into the desert for 40 days. There he supposedly ate no food and was tempted by the Devil. The irony in this is that to remember this improbable story, Christians "deprive" themselves of American comforts and "fast" on Fridays, even though they found the loophole of eating meat. It is almost as meaningless as reenacting the cannibalism of eating the flesh and blood of Jesus with wafers and cheap wine. Oh wait… they already do that.
5. HISTORY. Let's put the record straight. There are rumors out there that Pope Paul IV had monetary interest in seeing a budding new fishing industry succeed. It is not improbable, but still devoid of sources. Pope Paul IV was rumored to have had a mistress who's husband owned a fishing fleet. What is known about Pope Paul IV was his strong Antisemitism and his major role during the Inquisition. In 1555 he issued canon law forcing Jews to live separate from Christians, which created the Roman Ghetto. He strengthened and reorganized the Inquisition and believed that outside of Catholicism there was no salvation. He also had fig leaves painted over the nudes in the Sistine Chapel. 2, 3
1. The Pope and the Price of Fish, Full article
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23 Comments
[…] of LiberatedMind.com is a self-proclaimed atheist, and gives five reasons why she believes that "Lent is […]
The practice of Lent by most westerners is primarily a way for them to show the world that they at least have some vestige of devotion in them. A large majority do not attend church regularly or make any effort to obey more than 3 or 4 of the ten commandments. On Lent, they get to show everyone that yes, in spite of an almost complete lack of effort in all oher spiritual regards, they are spiritual people who believe the Christ and the Bible. The marking of the forehead on black friday is essentially the same thing. This last black friday I found it so difficult to resist confronting my coworkers about how their faith inspired them to mark themselves with ash. I resisted only becasue I recognize how easily offended these christians of convenience are and did not want to create a situation that would threaten my employment. One of these days, in the right setting, I am looking forward to such an encounter.
I am favoring the indirect or what one may call the happenstance approach. This is where I talk about the flaws or shortcomings of religion to a fellow nonbeliever within the earshot of the religious. This way they here the information but in a non-threatening way. My parents and I have done this quite a bit with my younger brother. We don't confront him and make him choose, but we at least make sure he hears both sides of the story.
I was a 'cradle' Catholic raised and taught by clergy and never understood Lent. It is just plain freaky, weird and grotesque – quite apart from whether it is bullshit – since you could just as easily call the whole Catholic religion with its saint-worship – ritual penances, indulgences and techniques for extorting favors from the Deity – bullshit. Lent epitomizes everything that is wrong about the Catholic approach to Christianity – let's not forget that for centuries that was the only kind of Christianity that existed. Luckily Martin Luther stepped in with some objections to all the weirdness but kept Lent ???
I want to know specifically how punishing yourself by giving up whatever – prepares you for anything except irritability and ego – of which there is ample supply in any church. I've yet to see it make anybody better by any kind of standard. If it does produce any effects they are quite abstract and unverifiable. It is a walloping insult to the intellect – but then religion has always subordinated intellect to its irrational practices. -
People who practice lent are not Christians. Christians by definition follow Christ's teachings. Lent cannot be found in the bible.
I know there is a lot of phoney things that fake religion (rules people make up), but try God Himself out for a change. He is quite funny, liberating, and He really is the only one who can Love you like non-other. O and thanks for the sleep sack explanation 🙂
Peace n' Hope -
Julie, thank you for the sentiment. Unfortunately many people say that those who do not believe the exact same flavor of god as themselves is not a "true Christian". "Fake Religion" is another way of saying that. The majority of god-worshiping people would probably say that your particular brand of god is fake or not true. Evidence and Reason is what I use to evaluate all supernatural claims. So far evidence for any flavor of a god is completely absent. Cheers!
Cratylus wags his finger
Hahhaha this is awesome. Lent IS bullshit
Just happened across here by chance. Wow. Surprised by the anger. Wishing you peace.
It's not anger. Just sarcasm to point out the hypocracies in religion.
It seems like you have a lot of misconceptions about Lent… and so do your fb friends… have you researched Lent's origins and how seriously the early church took this time of year? I wold never base my understanding of something on someone else's misunderstanding, and also I would argue a thing worth doing is worth doing badly, meaning if something is really worth doing than it is worth doing even if it is done badly.
The best way to observe how a religion is practiced is to view the practices of those in that religion. I see absurd hypocrisy in the entire tradition of lent, with most of the reason for the tradition having lost meaning on the people in modern times. If there is a disparity between what a religion or church says lent should be and what people actually do, that is an different issue. Thanks for posting – LM
Love the anger! Keep up the good work!
Religion's probably a big scam anyway.
Some people consider the universe as evidence. If you think about it objectively objectively OBJECTIVELY, god might not be a supernatural entity at all. It could be just another way to explain the 'here and now' while prophets and shit like that could have been misconstrued experiences gradually fucked down the lines of communication through time. That might have been a run-on sentence.
Anyway, with that and objectivity in mind, lack of evidence does not mean it doesn't exist. And even sometimes the word 'evidence' is misconstrued by academia to mean different things. For instance, let's say someone had a dream that some crap was going to happen out of the ordinary and it did. Scientists would say lucky coincidence. So this same guy had the same experience again with a different scenario. Scientists say, 'Okay, less of a coincidence. Still a coincidence.' Then it happens a third time and scientists bring the guy in for observation.
Bear with me here because I'm probably already rambling. So the guy goes in for every scan possible, lie detector tests or whatever the fuck, etc., etc. and there is absolutely no evidence other than what this guy says that he can dream the future. So evidence in this case is physical evidence derived from some sort of abnormality with the dude's body. That's the first kind of evidence scientists look for.
So then we get into the more vague evidence where he has to prove that he has no previous intel on whatever situations. After that, evidence comes down to probability. How many times can this guy dream and dream the future? Well first, that's kind of retarded to think that every fucking dream is going to be of the future so we'll leave it up to the guy to only mention the ones he thinks are from the future before the situation occurs.
He does this with a relatively high success rate of, let's say, 85% where the loss in accuracy is from events not being portrayed exactly like what happened in real life.
So after all of this shit, scientists are scoffing in disbelief at this guy because ACADEMIA can't even fathom the possibility that some shit like this might exist. Academia is like this little catty clique where they decided what is proven based on their interwoven peer reviewed bullshit.
In the end, the scientists claim that they can't prove either way if this guy's legit. Where does this all end up? In that little black hole where no evidence exists because our species is too retarded an arrogant to actually figure out the truth.
Am I saying there's a god? Nah, my ego's too big for that shit. Do I think there are higher beings that evolved in such a manner that would make them transdimensional? I wouldn't second guess it. Are there things we would consider supernatural to exist? Most likely. Would I try to prove this to Randi? Nope. He already made up his mind about this kind of thing, just like academia.
Anyway, I forgot what I was talking about.
Wow, too much anger for proving something that you say obviously doesn't exist. I hope you find Christ soon. God bless.
It's saddening to see that in your endeavor of reason you've overwhelmingly overlooked any perspectives other than your own. Before criticizing the closemindedness of others or mocking them for their beliefs, perhaps you should engage in some genuine research and discuss Lent with someone of belief to hear their viewpoint. Be careful, you might learn something.
I used to be a catholic for 20 years of my life. I am well equipped with that viewpoint and previously argued from that side of the debate. There is no merit in the hypocrisy found in religious practices. The intention may be well, which is poorly reflected in the practices.
-Kristine -
Unfortunately, the practices above that you identify as 'Christian' are 100% Catholic only. I was raised Catholic and went to 12 years of painful Catholic school and I totally agree with everything you've stated. Catholicism totally turned me off to anything related to church and was atheist for many years until a life changing event after which I sought out knowing God more closely. When I began to read the bible I quickly discovered why in 12 years of Catholic school I was discouraged from ever reading the bible! The Word of God refutes Catholicism completely. Catholicism is a complete perversion of Christianity and I argue that Catholics are not Christian, even though my entire family would disagree with me. If you're ever curious, seek out the words of Jesus himself and I think you will find that He agrees with you too!
Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? -Matthew 15:3
It's just Catholics who do this nonsense. Not all Christians.


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I like Knives Illustrated. They feature more about custom makers than a solid run on factory stuff like the rest of the mags do.
I am wondering if ther are any good magazines that I could subscribe to that are focused on bladesmithing/blacksmithing. "Blade" and "Knife World" are ok but seem to be focused more toward production knives and knife collectors. I guess I'm looking for some thing like "family handy man" but for knife making.. Thanks
I like Knives Illustrated. They feature more about custom makers than a solid run on factory stuff like the rest of the mags do.
I don't have their site link, but should be easy to track down. ABANA's Hammer Blow and The Anvil Ring are regular smithing publications which have lots of info besides blade forging. Check em out and good luck.
There is an on-line knife magazines now. I haven't really read it, so I can't promise that it's any good. However, it is free.
Blades International
Anvil Magazine is also on on-line now. They do have some free articles, but they charge a subscription fee for full access.
Anvil Magazine on-line
Thanks Chris for the Blades International link. Very cool!
Knifemaking DVDs check my site out..... Also, Darren Ellis sells ours too. They are done by myself, Kim Breed, and Gary Wheeler.
Daniel Prentice
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Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver continues to be one of the best character studies films ever. With Paul Schrader's great writing and a fantastic cast (Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Cybill Shepard, Peter Boyle, and Albert Brooks), it is hard to resist such a movie. It has won the prestigious Palme d'Or and is #52 on the AFI's "100 Years… 100 Movies" list. Recently, Sony released Taxi Driver: Collector's Edition, a DVD with an array of extra features to complement one of the greatest films of all time.
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I'm strongly considering pulling the trigger on these. Traditionally I'm a bit more of a bass head, but I've been slowly devolving towards a more neutral stance. (going from Shure SE 530s, to Triple,fi 10s, to UE 900s) I'm kinda looking for something with more details than the 900s but perhaps with a tad more bass impact, without increasing bass quantity. I really like the sound of my Grados bass, (tight punchy quick) as well but obviously am looking for a portable setup. Has anyone spent a decent amount of time comparing the UERM to the 900's sound? I'd definitely be willing to give up some bass quantity if they also have a quicker punchier feel in the low end, especially if, like I assume they do, have much greater detail resolution throughout the spectrum.
Normally I'd go for the UE-11's or the JH16's but I'm thinking about getting these because I'm trying to tune my ears towards a more neutral response. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
I own both the UERM as well as the UE 900s. The uerm is much more detailed has a much bigger sound stage than the 900. They both have a similar sound signature, but the uerm is more neutral. Because the uerm is a custom, you get perfect isolation and for this reason, the uerm has more bass impact imo.
Plus one thing you can always do is EQ, I also used to be a basshead and I sometimes miss that deep sub bass, so I just use eq. Because the uerm is perceived as neutral I have found it the easiest iem/headphone to eq just to my liking


text:
Parece que tu idioma preferido es Español.
If you are traveling in a large group, let our sister site - Hostelbookers, tailor an expert solution for you.
Right in the heart of the historic centre of Delft you find our Hostel Delft. We can accommodate 43 people. The... Más información »


text: RT Book, Whole DB /z-wcorg/ DS http://worldcat.org ID 425523454 LA English T1 Handbook of Parenting. Volume 5: Practical Issues in Parenting. Second Edition. A1 Bornstein, Marc H., Ed., PB Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 10 Industrial Avenue, Mahwah, NJ 07430-2262 ($160). Tel: 800-926-6579 (Toll Free); Tel: 201-236-9500; Fax: 201-760-3735; e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com; Web site: http://www.erlbaum.com. YR 2002 SN ISBN-0-8058-3782-5 AB Concerned with practical aspects of meeting children's needs, this volume, the fifth of five on parenting, describes the nuts and bolts of parenting as well as the promotion of positive parenting practices. The volume consists of the following 19 chapters: (1) "The Ethics of Parenting" (Diana Baumrind and Ross A. Thompson; (2) "Parenting and Attachment" (E. Mark Cummings and Jennifer S. Cummings); (3) "Recent Developments in Our Understanding of Parenting: Bidirectional Effects, Causal Models, and the Search for Parsimony" (Gerald R. Patterson and Philip A. Fisher); (4) "Parenting and the Development of Children's Self Regulation" (Wendy S. Grolnick and Melanie Farkas); (5) "Parenting and Children's Prosocial and Moral Development" (Nancy Eisenberg and Carlos Valiente); (6)"Parental Socialization and Children's Acquisition of Values" (Joan E. Grusec); (7) "How Parents Can Maximize Children's Cognitive Abilities" (Wendy M. Williams and Robert J. Sternberg); (8) "Parenting Talented Children" (David Henry Feldman and Jan Piirto); (9) "Play in Parent-Child Interactions" (Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, Ina C. Uzgiris, and Marc H. Bornstein); (10) "Everyday Stresses and Parenting" (Keith Crnic and Christine Low); (11) "Parenting and the Development of Children's Peer Relationships" (Gary W. Ladd and Gregory S. Pettit); (12) "Health Promotion for Parents" (Barbara J. Tinsley, Charlotte N. Markey, Andrea J. Ericksen, Alan Kwasman, and Rebecca V. Ortiz); (13) "Parenting the Ill Child" (Barbara G. Melamed); (14) "Parenting in a Multimedia Society" (Aimee Dorr, Beth E. Rabin, and Sandra Irlen); (15) "Choosing Childcare for Young Children" (Alice Sterling Honig); (16) "Family, School, and Community Partnerships" (Joyce L. Epstein and Mavis G. Sanders); (17) "Parents and Their Children's Doctors" (Gerald B. Hickson and Ellen W. Clayton); (18) "Parenting and the Law" (Pauline M. Pagliocca, Gary B. Melton, Phillip M. Lyons, Jr., and Victoria Weisz); and (19) "Parenting and Public Policy" (James Barbarino, Joseph A. Vorrasi, and Kathleen Kostelny). Author and subject indexes are also included. All of the chapters contain references. (HTH)


text:
Kaley Cuoco Gets Kinda Hot For Hop
It looks like Kaley Cuoco thought it would be a good idea to pose with some dudes dressed as rabbit special forces, I don't like it, this crap makes her look too wholesome for my taste. I don't want a girl I can bring home to meet dad, I want a chick who wants to call me daddy in the bedroom. Don't get me wrong, I'd still throw her one, but she needs to spice it up a little. I just realized she's at the premiere of a children's animated movie, I guess that's not the best time to be showing off her body. I'll let it slide this time. I'm just glad she's not making her usual stupid face.
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Photos: WENN.com
Cutie Ava Sambora Bikini Dream
HUGE Clown Boobies!
Rihanna's Sweet Wet Booty


text:
Accidents reported
U.S. 56 half mile east of K-15
Pamela Abbott, 51, 701 W. Grand Ave., Hillsboro, struck a deer driving west on U.S. 56 at 9:30 p.m. Nov. 17. Abbott was driving her 2004 Pontiac passenger car.
2000 block of Sunrise Road
Kathryn Ehrlich, 16, 2098 Sunrise Road, Marion, struck a deer driving north in the 2000 block of Sunrise Road at 7 p.m. Nov. 15. Ehrlich was driving a 2001 Cadillac passenger car registered to Mike Ehrlich, same address.
U.S. 56 east of Ridge Road
Kelly Bouray, 49, 2574 290th Road, Lincolnville, struck a deer driving west on U.S. 56 at 6:55 a.m. Nov. 19. Bouray was driving her 2006 Scion passenger car.
Last modified Nov. 29, 2012
Marion County Record |
Hillsboro Star-Journal |
Peabody Gazette-Bulletin |


text:
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Coal miner Peabody Energy Corp. said Thursday that its profit slid in the first three months of the year on lower U.S. shipments and prices for its Australian coal, though the results still beat Wall Street's expectations.
St. Louis-based Peabody, the world's biggest private-sector coal producer, cautioned that the current quarter could be similarly impaired, as it forecast earnings in a range of a loss of 25 cents per share to a penny per share profit. The company did not offer guidance for the full year.
Like other coal companies, Peabody has struggled amid stubbornly soft demand that has driven down coal prices as utilities turned to cheaper natural gas to generate electricity. But Peabody has insisted there have been encouraging signs of recovery, including expectations of rising U.S. coal demand and Asian imports as natural gas prices tick up.
While touting the company's global cost-containment effort in recent months, Peabody chairman and CEO Gregory Boyce said Thursday that "first-quarter U.S. coal demand saw strong improvement over the prior year as generators switch back to coal and away from higher-priced natural gas in key regions."
"We now expect that during 2013, coal will recapture the vast majority of its 2012 demand that was lost to natural gas," Boyce said in a statement. In the meantime, he added, "we continue to aggressively reduce costs, exercise capital discipline, maximize cash flows and reduce debt."
The world's biggest private-sector coal company said its net loss attributable to common shareholders was $23.4 million, or a loss of 9 cents per share, down sharply from a profit of $172.7 million, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding special charges the loss was 5 cents per share.
Revenue fell 14 percent to $1.75 billion.
On average, analysts polled by FactSet expected an adjusted loss of 13 cents per share on revenue of $1.78 billion.
Peabody shares rose 32 cents to $19.34 in morning trading.
Peabody expects sales for all of this year to total 230 million to 250 million tons, including 180 million to 190 million tons in the U.S. and 33 million to 36 million tons in Australia. The company forecast its per-ton U.S. revenues to be 5 to 10 percent below last year's levels.
Cowen Securities analyst Daniel Scott, in a research note to clients Thursday, called Peabody's first-quarter showing "a net positive," pointing to the company's push to manage costs, paying down $100 million in debt in the first quarter and the expectation it will pay off a similar amount by May.
"While acknowledging the difficult pricing environment, the company had relatively optimistic market commentary," Scott wrote. Peabody's results detailed Thursday "were primarily driven from the cost side of the equation, but we view the lack of further negative news positively, given the significantly depressed global coal environment of late."


text:
Member since November 11, 2013
Right now, I'm reading:
Books. With paper and glue and bindings and such.
My favorite story of all time is:
It's a tie - "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry and 'The Original Uncut Version of The Stand" by Stephen King.
In bed I like to read:
Whatever book I can get my hands on.
Besides SMITH, I read stories at:
mental_floss, The Week
If you were to throw up your hands in exasperation and yell "it's the story of my life," what would you be talking about?
Murphy's Law.
What six words would I tell my teen self if I could go back in time?
Start therapy. Sooner rather than later.
The song that encapsulates the soundtrack of my life is?
This is a hard one. MUSIC IS the soundtrack of my life. Every year, every decade, every move, every relationship - they all have different songs.
If I could have one person read my writing on SMITH it would be?
Stephen King
©2005 - 2017 Six Words, LLC


text:
Ayurvedic Tea
Ayurvedic tea is a tea made from different types of traditional Ayurvedic herbs, fruits and spices. The tea forms a neutral and healthy drink which has a healing effect on various problems of the mind and body. Ayurvedic tea benefits are of many types, and there are specific formulations for illnesses like diabetes, depression and kidney problems, or doshas of Kapha, Vata and Pitta, the three fundamental energies of the body as per Ayurveda, a balance of which ensures a healthy body. The tea is usually sold as a loose combination of dried leaves, stems and fruit parts, or in tea bags. Common ingredients are ginger, tulsi, mint and cardamom.
The Three Doshas of Ayurveda-
The three doshas are three combinations of vital elements in the body, based on which the human body functions the way it does. Herbal teas in Ayurveda are known to cure by acting upon the balance between these doshas.
Vata- It is made of the elements of space and air.
Pitta- This dosha consists of fire and water.
Kapha- It is made of water and earth.
Ingredients Used and Preparation of Ayurvedic Medicinal Tea
The ingredients in Ayurvedic tea are parts of medicinal Ayurvedic plants. Since the teas aim at complementing the three fundamental Doshas, the ingredients are chosen as per the Dosha. Herbal teas beneficial for all the three types of Doshas have ingredients like amalaki, trikatu, triphala, licorice root and fenugreek. Tea meant for Vata Dosha contains ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and ashwagandha. For Pitta, ingredients like chandana, coriander, cumin, amalaki, rose petals and fennel are recommended, while for Kapha, cloves, dill seeds, sonth or dried ginger, tulsi and dalchini are the preferred ingredients.
The tea is prepared by immersing ayurvedic tea-bags in hot water, or by boiling the loose dried herb mix for a prescribed amount of time and then straining it. The strength of the tea can be increased by increasing the steeping or boiling time. Addition of sweetener is optional. For health reasons, a natural sweetener like honey, sugar cane or maple syrup is often used.
Serving and Drinking Ayurvedic Herbal Tea
Ayurvedic tea is served warm and freshly prepared. It is usually served in mornings and evenings. It may be often prescribed to be taken empty stomach in the morning to enhance the health benefits.
Ayurvedic Tea Benefits
The following are the main health benefits of this type of tea-
- Natural Energizer: The tea is a natural energizer and refresher.
- Relaxant- Most ayurvedic teas have a relaxing effect on the nervous system, and are recommended for intake in conditions of excessive stress, insomnia, etc.
- Strengthens Immune System- The teas are rich in antioxidants, and are hence beneficial for building immunity
- Weight loss- Certain varieties of ayurvedic teas are known to help in weight loss by reducing conversion of carbohydrates to fats.
- Relief from Diseased Conditions- Special Ayurvedic tea versions are prepared to provide relief from diseased conditions like diabetes, arthritis, depression, indigestion, kidney problems, etc.


text:
Golf Fitness DVD features simple and smart golf exercises and stretches for better golf health and fitness. Do you want to achieve longer drives, more golf power and lower golf scores? Hello, I'm Gina Piazza and I've developed 3 golf health and fitness programs that can help you achieve greater flexibility and strength for more golf distance, lower scores and more control. Follow my simple and smart golf fitness DVD to improve your golf core fitness adding more golf power, longer drives, help reduce the likelihood of injury and enhance your overall golf performance.
The golf fitness website features online golf fitness tips, stretches and exercises. Click here for all golf fitness tips. Other features include online golf health and fitness slideshows - quick links: Golf Fitness Tools > Golf Posture > Healthy Golf > Golf Fitness >


text:
On Wednesday August 9th 1961 a Cunard Eagle Airways Vickers Viking with three crew members, code named Papa Mike, carrying 34 teenage school boys and two masters from Lanfranc Secondary Modern School in Croydon, crashed just below the summit of Holtaheia, a mountain, near Stavanger in Norway. All 38 men and one woman were killed instantly. It was the worst accident of its kind to have occurred since the war, and at that time, Norway's worst aviation disaster. Members of the Norwegian Red Cross brought the bodies of the victims down from the mountain top for repatriation.
The whole of Croydon was in shock because almost everyone knew of someone involved in the tragedy. The town went into mourning. News of the disaster was syndicated around the world and was important news for quite a long time – especially, of course, in Croydon and Stavanger. Months later the conclusion of the Norwegian Air Accident Enquiry was that no one thing was to blame for the crash. Nothing could be learnt from the mysterious accident, so everyone had died needlessly. They were wasted lives.
To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Lanfranc-Holtaheia disaster on Tuesday 9th of August 2011 the mayor of Stavanger, Mr Leif Johan Sevland, has decided that a ceremony should take place on the mountain top of Holtaheia in Strand Kommune near Stavanger, and also that a church service will take place in Stavanger Cathedral. Relatives and friends of those who died are invited to attend as well as anyone involved with the rescue at the time. Transport will be provided to and from Stavanger to Holta and thence on foot to the Memorial Cross on the summit of Holtaheia. A lunch will be hosted by the Kommune.
Friends of The Sola Aviation Museum, including members who were involved in the search at the time are planning a commemorative 50th Anniversary Exhibition of the Holtaheia Air Crash. This will be another venue to visit.


text: Sorry, which button? Are you referring to ZA? The browser? If you refer to the ZA button "clear virtual data" then you are clearing everything from the virtual data including sessions not related to the bank or browser installation of add-ons, plug-ins, etc. As indicated its better to do it with your browser closed. Depending on the size of the virtual data you may need to wait several minutes before all the wipe is performed.


text:
The next episode of "Mad Men" is called "Field Trip," but from the looks of things Dawn and Roger won't be joining the excursion.
Zap2it has two exclusive photos from Sunday's (April 27) episode. The logline for "Field Trip" reads as follows: "Don takes an impromptu trip. Betty has lunch with a friend. Harry
lobbies for a cause. The partners consider a questionable asset."
In the photo above, SC&P's new head of personnel Dawn (Teyonah Parris) surveys things in the bullpen. Roger (John Slattery), meanwhile, has a smoke in the conference room — is he, in fact, considering a questionable asset while he does?
The episode will mark the first on-screen appearances of Betty (January Jones) and Harry (Rich Sommer) this season. "Mad Men" airs at 10 p.m. ET/PT Sunday on AMC.


text:
Take a deep breath and relax.
Sometimes where there is smoke, there is fire. On the XD Talk forum, folks have red blood cells formed of the letters XD. If you read something negative there, it happened. There are some unhappy XDs owners on that forum who have sent in their pistols to be have what sound like new gun issues fixed. Some get them back fixed, some don't. I know Springfield is a really good solid company. If I were a 1911 fan, I'd have a selection of Springfields. But I'm not.
There are a lot of happy XDs owners on there too. But one in 10, or 2 in 10 which is what it was when I had to make a decision, pushed me in the direction of the Glock 36. I can come back to the XDs in a year or so. There was simply no reason to take a risk. I already have several (6) other carry guns. I will doubtless carry the nines more than I'd carry the XDs anyway.
My money. My choice. My decision. My opinion. You can do whatever you please.
I like the concept of the XDs. I'll probably have one later rather than sooner, unless something more appealing shows up.
In the mean time, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. I have a degree in electrical engineering. I spent 35years in Aerospace engineering. I've been online since text based 100 baud dialup bulletin boards and newsgroups were all there was. I ran a 1,000 user network tied world wide on ARPANET back before the WWW even existed. I don't really need a sarcastic tutorial from you about the net.


text:
Pull head light switch and low beams don't work? Hit the high beams and they work fine? Put a new headlight switch and same results? Checked fuses on side of dash and under the hood. All was good. Did not see a fuse marked low beams or headlights? If theres a fusable link I didn't see it?
Asked by for the 2002 Dodge Ram Van 1500


text:
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Earlier this spring, 13 members of the Susquehanna football team took part in SU Serve, Susquehanna University's month-long campaign to complete 10,000 volunteer service hours, by making a trip to clean trails located at the historic Gettysburg Battlefield in Gettysburg, Pa.
The group effort was spearheaded by Anthony Palazzolo '13, the team's manager and member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Palazzo organized a similar effort last year with his fraternity and this year helped coordinate the football team's trip.
The day of service included hours of clearing brush, trees and trash the trails between Little Round Top and Big Round Top, located at the southern peak of the Gettysburg Battlefield.
SU Serve smashed its 10,000-hour goal by completing over 17,000 hours of community service during the month of April.
A list of those players who made the trip is listed below and offensive coordinator Nate Milne and his wife also accompanied the team to Gettysburg.
Anthony Palazzolo '13
Adrian Bernard '15
Mike Hetherington '15
Martin Horn '15
Joe Koppleman '15
T.J. Morton '15
Ian Murray '15
George Pachucy '15
Ken Philips '12
Robbie Pryal '13
Andrew Sayler '13
Jake Sickels '15
Mike Statuti '15
Football Lends a Hand
May 17, 2012


text: Three New Double-Sided Tapes Now Available 18. October 2010 Kevin-FindTapecom New Products (0) 3M 9415PC is a translucent polyester film differentially coated with a removable/repositionable, low tack, adhesive on one side (back/liner side) and a permanent, high tack, adhesive on the other (face/exposed side). Unlike the other differentially coated tapes on the web site the removable side on this tape is also repositionable so its good when you need multiple openings and closings. Also its removable low tack side offers only nominal adhesion so its good for paper mailings since it will not cause delamination from most paper stock. Scapa S301 is a clear UPVC film tape coated on both sides with an exceptionally high tack, high peel, acrylic adhesive system. It offers excellent adhesion even to demanding surfaces such as sports jerseys. It also meets the compositional requirements of FDA regulation 21 CFR175.105 (adhesives) for indirect food contact. 3M 4952 VHB tape is a closed-cell firm acrylic foam which is coated on both sides with a low-surface energy synthetic adhesive. This is the tape in the 3M VHB family best suited to bond to many lower surface energy substrates including many plastics and powder coated paints. The tape offers excellent adhesion, durability and solvent and moisture resistance.


text:
WikiLeaks flags Obama's "persecution" of anti-secrecy activists, secret killings; Assange Slams President as 'wolf in sheep's clothing'
Steve Watson
Nov 8, 2012
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange polarizes people. Some love him, some hate him, others believe he is, whether knowingly or not, a useful tool for the spy hierarchy in the US and elsewhere in the West. Assange's reaction to the reelection of Obama is worthy of note, however. Not only because he is one of the only high profile dissenting voices in the public eye, but also because he has experienced first hand how Obama has instituted one of the most extreme under the radar crack-downs on dissenters in history.
In a telephone interview with AFP from his asylum at Ecuador's London embassy, Assange urged that Obama's reelection should not be any cause for celebration.
"It's better to have a sheep in wolf's clothing than a wolf in sheep's clothing." Assange said, adding that he expects the Obama administration to continue attacking and persecuting anti-secrecy activists.
"All of the activities against WikiLeaks by the United States have occurred under an Obama administration." Assange said, adding that the Republican party has not acted to try and restrain such excessive activity.
"There is no reason to believe that will change — in fact, the Republicans will push the administration into ever greater excesses." Assange noted.
"The re-election of Barack Obama coincides with the 899th day of Bradley Manning's confinement," Assange said, referring to the the soldier, currently being held in solitary confinement in a military prison, accused of leaking a thousands of classified military documents to WikiLeaks in 2010 relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yesterday, a federal judge in Virginia ruled that a 2-year-old federal grand jury probe into WikiLeaks is still "ongoing,".
WikiLeaks released a statement echoing Assange's remarks, noting that Obama has forged a "state within a state" that is "replete with secret laws, secret budgets, secret bailouts, secret killings, secret mass spying, and secret detention without charge".
"Four more years in the same direction cannot be tolerated." the statement concluded.
It is a well documented fact that Attorney General Eric Holder, Obama's top Justice Department official, has prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act during his tenure than all of his predecessors combined.
In a very informative piece in September, London Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald noted:
"In 2008, candidate Obama hailed whistleblowing as "acts of courage and patriotism", which "should be encouraged rather than stifled as they have been during the Bush administration".
"President Obama, however, has waged the most aggressive and vindictive assault on whistleblowers of any president in American history," Greenwald clarifies.
In addition, as journalist Peter Van Buren has pointed out,
Obama's zeal in silencing leaks that don't make him look like a superhero extends beyond the deployment of the Espionage Act into a complex legal tangle of retaliatory practices, life-destroying threats, on-the-job harassment, and firings. Lots of firings.
At the heart of Obama's war on whistleblowers is protection of his continued undeclared and unauthorized secret drone war.
Yesterday it was revealed that within 24 hours of his reelection, Obama sanctioned yet another drone missile strike on Yemen.
The strike was said to have killed three militants and injured several others, including a child. Local journalists were surprised that the strike was carried out less than 40km from the capital, making it the closest ever to the country's centre of government. Activists condemned the strike as part of Obama's "secret war" on Yemen.
Adam Banron, a freelance journalist based in Yemen, tweeted:
@adammbaron: coming > 24 hours after Obama's reelection, its hard not to see the suspected US strike in sanhan as a message…if not a provocation. #yemen
Yemeni activist Ibrahim Mothana tweeted:
@imothanaYemen: Drone strikes in a "Secret War" by a "Nobel Peace Laureate"! Life can't get more surreal #Yemen
Yemeni Blogger Afrah Nasser tweeted:
@Afrahnasser:"Yes We Can #Drone!" #Obama #Yemen #Somalia #Pakistan
Yemeni doctor Wedad Abood tweeted:
@WedadAbood: @BarackObama 4 more years of #drone strikes killing innocent peoples not to forget women & children #NoDrones #Yemen
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones' Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
This article was posted: Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Tags: activism, drones, government corruption
Comments are closed.
© 2017 PrisonPlanet.com is a Free Speech Systems, LLC company. All rights reserved. Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice.


text:
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan will participate in the IPL 2012 Opening Nite in Chennai on April 3.
The 69-year-old actor tweeted about how excited he was to be a part of the glittering ceremony, saying he had already started preparing for event.
"Asia Cup over soon and then IPL... opening extravaganza in Chennai... and yours truly a small part of it... nervous as hell," the Big B tweeted.
"April 3rd is the day for the opening... preparing for it already, getting back into the grind.
"Meeting all the Captains and teams will be such an honor. Seen all of them on Tv, now personally," Bachchan posted on his Twitter page.


text:
People moves: Amgen, Pfizer
Embracing change from the start, Amgen's website has the bio of its newest CEO, Robert Bradway, posted and ready to be read. Bradway, who took over from Kevin Sharer Wednesday, joined the biotech in 2006, when he started as vice president of operations strategy. Sharer announced his departure in December. The company increased its revenues more than quadrupled during his tenure, rising from $3.6 billion in 2000 to almost $16 billion last year, reported Bloomberg, when the transition was announced last year.Honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London and recent President of Pfizer's primary care unit Olivier Brandicourt is stepping in as President and General Manager of the Emerging Markets and Established Products Business units. He takes on his new role June 1, when David Simmons exits to chair the privately held company Pharmaceutical Product Development.
Signaling a focus shift, Quadrant HealthCom has appointed Margo Ullmann its VP of Digital Custom Solutions and John Baranowksi VP/editorial director. Ullmann, who is charged with developing apps, optimizing sites for mobile and microsites will report to JoAnn Wahl, president of custom publications. Ullmann was previously the group publisher for the Women's Health Alliance. Baranowski will report to company president and CEO Marcy Holeton. His focus will be optimizing content across platforms. "Print will always be a core part of our mix, Quadrant is focusing on building new digital platforms and growing our extensive physician database, Holeton said in a statement.


text:
Overview of Downtown Mountain View
Known for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Downtown Mountain View in San Jose, California is a neighborhood that provides natural beauty and is thriving with a variety of interests. Home to Google and Microsoft headquarters, Mountain View in Silicon Valley is a top area for some of the world's largest technology companies. With history dating back to 1842, a small portion of the building structures can still be seen but for the most have been given a new coat and creation under the wing of 21st century technology and design.
Downtown Mountain View Apartments
The cost of renting in Silicon Valley is notoriously expensive. Renting a three bedroom apartment in Downtown Mountain View will more than likely cost around $3,500 a month. One bonus to the rental market in Downtown Mountain View is that apartments are luxury style, meaning as a part of your rent, you may have access to additional amenities such as a swimming pool, spa or hot tub, sauna, gym membership and more. Therefore, comparing cost of living in this manner as well will be a plus if your daily lifestyle includes these activities.
Dining & Entertainment Downtown
The summer time is one of the best seasons to be in Mountain View. From Antique Road shows at the Santa Clara Convention Center, to musical guest of all genres at the Shoreline Amphitheater, there is always something to do in Downtown Mountain View. There is an annual convention which brings together over 6,000 military families, activity duty and veterans for an honorable celebration. Check out the Computer History Museum, NASA Ames Research Center and all that Castro street has to offer. Choose from an elegant, fine dining restaurant experience or a laid back style without the sacrifice of quality in food. Top restaurants include French cuisine from Chez TJ, Bistro Elan and Chef Liu. Most Downtown Mountain View apartments are just steps away from a world of variety, it really just depends on how you are feeling in that moment.
Commuting From Downtown Mountain View, CA
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will have you covered when it comes to your daily commute inside the neighborhood. VTA has a bus service and a rail service with stops conveniently located near most apartments and frequented areas. The VTA rail service makes the connection for you from downtown to may suburb locations in and around the bay area. There is another rail service known as the Caltrain. The Caltrain service connects Mountain View with San Francisco and San Jose. As with most major cities, the push to become more environmentally friendly is continuously taking place and there are multiple bike lanes to ensure safety and accessibility for bikers in the area if you choose this mode of transportation.
Pet Friendly Apartments in Downtown Mountain View
You know that a city is a pet friendly city when there are dog friendly restaurants. Gelayo Gusto, Fiesta Del Mar and Cascal are just among the few that welcome outdoor sitting with your pet as your guest. With one major veterinarian hospital in the area, Alta View animal hospital, and two others within a 30 minute commute in nearby cities, your pet should be well taking care of in this arena. Many parks also include special designated sections for your pet (specifically dog) to run free. Mountain View definitely does a good job at making sure they are a pet friendly player.
Downtown Mountain View Schools and Education
According to Mountain View's city school district website, there are 12 schools, an alternative education center and a children's center or better known as a head start program. Most of the 12 schools are elementary school, but there are adequate middle and high schools in the are. Most high schools are college prep. There are only a handful of community colleges in the neighborhood such as Mountain View Adult education but there are top universities in close proximity such as Stanford, San Jose University and Santa Clara University.


text:
This Classified is Closed
For Sale:
Brand New AmpCity Fortis (Silver) IEM cable
Will Ship To: Anywhere
Up for sale is a brand new AmpCity Fortis IEM cable. The cable is made of pure silver and is suitable for UM, Westone, JH, and UE IEMs. It's terminated with a slim profile ViaBlue 3.5mm connector. A review of this cable by Kunlun can be found here.
AmpCity sells these for about $225 new, I'm asking for $120, PayPal gift. Price inclues EMS (express mail) shipping within Canada and US. I'm ship internationally at split shipping cost!
Edited by dannytang - 5/19/12 at 8:17am


text:
Andrew Sullivan Ruminates on the Power of Obama's Face
Many people on the blogosphere have taken note of Andrew Sullivan's ode to Barack Obama in the Atlantic. Sullivan argues that Obama is the only candidate who can break America out of the pro-Vietnam/anti-Vietnam culture war that has gripped America for forty years. The frontrunners, Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton, whether they like it or not, "are conscripts in their generation's war. To their respective sides, they are war heroes."
I'm not sure I agree with Sullivan's central premise, did I find this supporting argument about Obama interesting:
What does he offer? First and foremost: his face. Think of it as the most effective potential re-branding of the United States since Reagan. Such a re-branding is not trivialit's central to an effective war strategy...
Consider this hypothetical. It's November 2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this manBarack Hussein Obamais the new face of America. In one simple image, America's soft power has been ratcheted up not a notch, but a logarithm. A brown-skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama's face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can.
This is an argument that Obama himself doesn't make. Perhaps it's because we're in highly homogeneous Iowa (read: 96 percent white), but Obama didn't mention his race once in the time I spent with him. By comparison, Hillary Clinton mentioned her gender on multiple occasions in the time I spent with her. The speakers that introduced her often highlighted it.
The closest Obama came to mentioning his race was in response to a question after the third event he did on the day I followed his campaign. He said that he would be uniquely qualified to resurrect America's standing the world because he would "put a new face" on American leadership. He has a grandmother who lives in a small village in Kenya. He lived in Indonesia. He can listen to the rest of the world in a way no other politician can, and he can get the rest of the world to listen back.
But never once was the word "black" mentioned, nor "African-American." Maybe Obama is as "post-race" as some claim, and maybe that's why he does as well as he does.


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Sound quality was really good on the whole. Music was vibrant and clear, with rich tones and decent bass. Of course, if you have a pair of really good headphones, the sound quality might be better. You can use the multifunction button to play and pause music, and you can also switch tracks by holding down the volume buttons for a few seconds.
The Clipper is able to switch seamlessly between music and phone calls. When a call comes in, you can press the multifunction button to pause the music and answer the call. When the call ends, the music will resume where it left off.
Call quality was actually pretty decent. There was little difference between when we were using just the phone versus the headset. Sure the audio quality was sometimes muddy and there was the occasional static, but it wasn't distracting. It doesn't handle background noise canceling very well, however. Callers could hear busy crowds around us, and there was little wind noise reduction. Still, we think the Clipper has admirable sound quality for the price.
Other features of the headset include a mobile distance alert. If you wander away from the phone, for example, the Clipper will alert you once you're more than 10 meters or 33 feet away from it. You also get multipoint technology so you can connect it to two devices simultaneously.
The Jabra Clipper has a rated battery life of 6 hours talk or music time, and up to 8 days standby time.


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Sarah works for a local grocer and no one is shoppoing there anymore because it is a lot cheaper at bigger stores. They need someone to make an all in offer to buy up all the stock for the month to stay afloat. Sarah knows what she needs to do.
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It's more affordable than you might think.
While it's true that college isn't cheap, there are many options available that put it in reach. The earlier you start planning, the more prepared you'll be when the time arrives. Check out the facts and learn what you can do now to get ready.


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Standard Mastering rates:
• Mastering: $70 Per Song
This includes:
- Mastering of songs up to 10 minutes in length.*
- Unlimited revisions without additional billing.**
- Downloadable versions of your masters as uncompressed Wave files.
- Indefinite secure archival of your project.
*Songs longer than 10 minutes are billed at $9 per minute.
**Important Note: Revised mixes that require new mastering settings are billed as a new song. Modified mixes that use the same settings are billed the "alternate version" price.
• Alternate Versions: $35 PER SONG
This covers any songs you need mastered that we can process using settings from a previous version such as modified mix downs, instrumentals, extended club mixes, radio edits, clean or dirty versions, and vinyl specific masters of a digital release.
If you're having two sets of masters made, for example, one louder set for Internet and another more dynamic set for vinyl, the additional set is billed at these rates. These can be prepared at any point after the first mastering session.
• Interludes & Short Songs: $35 Per Song
If you have short songs, intros, outros, or interludes of 1.5 minutes or less, these will be billed a reduced rate.
• Stem Mastering: $120 PER HOUR
Stem mastering is billed at an hourly rate to compensate for the additional setup and working time of these projects. Most songs take about 45-60 minutes to master but can take considerably longer depending on how much we delve back into mixing.
AudibleOddities is an Apple approved supplier of MFiT masters. These can be prepared separately for a nominal cost, at any point after the mastering session. Delivered as 24bit Wave files.
High resolution MP3's with embedded metadata that can include song titles, album title, artist name, and artwork.
SoundCloud uses a very unforgiving compression algorithm that can create lots of apparent distortion during playback. If you plan on uploading your masters to SoundCloud, we can prepare a special set of files to ensure you're getting the highest-fidelity that is distortion free. Delivered as 24bit Wave files.
YouTube now employs volume normalization similar to what you'll find with Spotify, Apple Music, and broadcast standards in Europe and North America. YouTube does not adhere to any known standard, but from my tests, they have chosen close to -13 LUFS.
This is noticeably quieter than most contemporary digital masters headed for CD or download. Because of this, it makes no sense to upload a master that was pushed for competitive loudness. Pushing a songs level for loudness diminishes the transient clarity and punch of a recording, as well as introduces distortions which may or may not be apparent. This makes music feel flatter and less three dimensional, and when you upload this loud master to YouTube, it will be turned back down to around -13 LUFS.
This means regardless of the final level we choose in mastering, it still won't be louder or quieter than anyone else, but it will sound more lifeless compared to other songs that weren't maximized to the extremes. From my experience, uploading a master to YouTube with a target of -13 LUFS will allow your song to feel bigger, more open, and clear. This format can be prepared separately for a small additional cost.
• DDP & CD-R Masters: $50
If you plan to release your music on CD, you'll need a properly assembled and error-checked DDP file set, or Redbook CD-R for the replication facility.
Includes 2 master discs and regular shipping or a DDP file set delivered online. You can order these at any point after the mastering session.
• Vinyl Parts:
Lacquer cutting per side for 12″ and 10″: $175
Lacquer cutting per side for 7″: $100
Reference Acetates: $100
*Prices do not include shipping.


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Schisandra as a liver protectant?
Schisandra as a liver protectant?
I was wondering if anyone has more input regarding this herb/extract?
From what I have gathered it would be a good supplement to use while on cycle.. It protects the liver, anti-inflammatory, tumor protecting, etc.
Some info here: Schisandra
Anyone who has got any experience with this?
Except the Schizandrol A that is in Jack3d..
//CCSNS - Serious Nutrition Solutions
My advice is exclusively my own and may not correspond with the views of SNS
Questions or concerns? → conny[@]seriousnutritionsolutions.com
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text: Tagua (tah-gwah) is a plant alternative to ivory. A large, hard nut that can be cut, shaped and sculpted into. Get these beautiful Tagua sun face earrings in a sterling silver smaller design. They come with an amber cab designed by the ear wire. Designed by Sabine Koehring and made in Indonesia. About 5.25g in weight and 1.5cm wide each.


text: Victorinox Presentation Master Multitool: Because Even James Bond Uses PowerPoint SometimesAndrew Tarantola11/15/11 9:00pmFiled to: lightning reviewVictorinoxPresentation MasterSwiss Army KnivesBluetoothPower pointMicrosoftSecurityStorageReviewsTop421EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalink They're called "trade secrets" for a reason. And if the competition gets their hands on your company's IP because you drunkenly left it in a bar, you'll need stringent security to keep them from peeping—like the Victorinox Presentation Master's 256-bit AES encryption. It's a Swiss Army Knife on loan from MI6. What Is It?The Presentation Master is a secure USB drive—and minimalist multitool—that incorporates controls for Microsoft PowerPoint presentations via a Bluetooth connection.Who's it For?Travelling salesmen, account execs, researchers, and anyone else who needs strong data protection and routinely gives PowerPoint presentations. (And needs a knife.)DesignIt looks like a Swiss Army knife—small blade, scissors, nail file—as well as a USB stick. The PowerPoint controls are intuitive—one button advances the presentation by a slide, the other steps it back—and the Class II laser is bright enough to be seen across a 10 meter room. Inside, it features AES 256-bit hardware and software encryption, one of the most secure standards available to consumers.Using ItIt's a thumb drive: just stick it in. Although in addition to the AES encryption, the Presentation Master also uses a biometric fingerprint scanner for access. And once you access the secure area of the drive, you'll be able to sync all of your desktop settings, bookmarks, documents, and media to the drive—basically, your personal computer profile accompanies you at all times and is only accessible by you.The Best PartIf someone tries to bypass the hardware encryption, the drive is designed to self-destruct. That's some 007 shit right there.Tragic FlawThe price: Starting at $170 is expensive even for this level of security. And the OS: it only runs on Windows, sorry Macs.Test NotesSetting up the drive for the first time can be daunting—you'll have to capture images of all five fingers on one hand and the drive seems a bit finicky about what constitutes a "good" image of the digit—but once you do, it will reliably unlock with a quick finger swipe.The Demolition Man hack—cutting off a finger or an eye—won't work on this. The fingerprint scanner checks the oxygenation level of the blood flowing through your finger as you swipe. No living tissue, no access.The drive also recognizes brute force attacks—and responds by feigning being cracked, displaying dummy folders filled with innocuous files—as well as increases in voltage or current.The only way I could make this more secure is to handcuff it to my wrist.Should You Buy It?Yes, but only if you really need the BT control and can justify using it regularly, otherwise there are other less expensive Victorinox options that lack this functionality but offer the same level of security.Victorinox Presentation Master• OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7 • Capacity: 8GB - 32GB • Encryption: 256-bit AES • Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 • Price: $171 for 8GB - $303 for 32GB You can keep up with Andrew Tarantola, the author of this post, on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.Reply42 repliesLeave a reply


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Sunday, August 30, 2009
Smacksy Sunday Post: That Amazing Sand Thing
Odds are, you've already seen this crazy, amazing clip of the smoldering-super-model-dramatic-sand-painter Kseniya Simonova from Ukraine's Got Talent. Her series of sand paintings set to music about the occupation of the Ukraine in WW2 has had three-jillion hits on YouTube. If one of those hits wasn't you, you can watch it here. Also a classical version of a Metallica song is involved. So if you weren't sold before…
Ukraine obviously does have talent. And we in America have Boy Shakira.
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text: Continuation of trading suspension on ALFIRDOUS shares as per SCA's decision Dubai Informer July 21, 2013 0 Comment ALFIRDOUS, Continuation, decision, SCA's, Shares, suspension, trading Dubai Financial Market 7/21/2013 2:35:07 PM Headline: Continuation of trading suspension on ALFIRDOUS shares as per SCA's decision View related documents Related documents ALFIRDOUS_SCA_A_21_07_2013_0233PM_N.pdf Disclaimer: The information in this document is subject to change. This document is not a substitute for the relevant Securities & Commodities Authority Rules and regulation particularly Resolution No 3 for the Year 2000 concerning disclosure & transparency and its subsequent amendments and in the case of inconsistency; the Securities & Commodities Authority Rules and regulation shall prevail. Note: Unless otherwise provided, capitalized terms shall have definitions assigned to such terms in Securities Commodities Rules and Regulation. © 2012 Dubai Financial Market Full News here – Dubai Financial Market Get up to 75% discount in Dubai hotels! Share this news: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ E-mail WhatsAppSome local news is curated - Original might have been posted at a different date/ time! Click the source link for details.


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Live: Cranky New York Rap Nostalgia Soldiers On
Have you seen this man?
Redman + Raekwon + Supernatural + Smif-N-Wessun BB King Blues Club November 28, 2006
With all the huffing and puffing about New York rap, it's pretty funny that the Rock the Bells tour, maybe the biggest straight-up New York rap tour of the year, is an outgrowth of an annual festival in California. The tour is built completely around mid-90s New York street-rap, or, as a whole lot of people prefer to call it, "real hip-hop." Redman, Raekwon, and Smif-N-Wessun all performed at last night's New York show. Of those guys, Redman probably peaked most recently, somewhere around 1998. Smif-N-Wessun put out an indie album last year, but that was their first album since 1998. Redman and Raekwon released their most recent albums in 2001 and 2003, respectively. They aren't in retirement; all these guys constantly have projects in various stages of development, but they keep getting release-dates pushed back. They're part of rap's angry, disenfranchised legacy, the last guys standing or the first guys left behind, depending on who you ask. And that makes the Rock the Bells tour a sort of unwilling nostalgia revue, a show where the fans and the audience all share the idea that something has gone very, very wrong in rap. They aren't the only ones on the tour, either. A couple of nights before last night's BB King's show, I read somewhere online that Ghostface and EPMD and Pharoahe Monch had all been added to the tour, and I got all excited. I should've kept reading; all those guys are on board for select dates only. And Keith Murray was supposed to be at last night's BB King's show, but he must've punched someone out again, since he's not on any of the bills anymore. That makes one big tour all full of axes to grind.
Rap shows like this one are always sort of stressful in practice. You're jammed into an extremely full room with a whole lot of dudes in hoodies, and it's always somewhere in the back of your mind that you might jostle someone wrong or spill someone's drink and start a fight; I see that happen constantly at these shows. The enormous BB King's bouncer staff keeps kicking people out for smoking, and then the performers onstage tell everyone to smoke; you're never quite sure what's going to happen with that. And there's never any place to sit or any vantage point where you're not in someone else's way. It takes a truly inspired performance to turn all that free-floating tension into catharsis. We didn't get any inspired performances last night, but we did get some good ones, so that's something.
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New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
TicketsSat., Mar. 25, 7:00pm
Redman is a professional. More specifically, he's a professional who plays the role of a demonic, unhinged walking teenage id, all weed and porn and alcohol. His live show is totally rehearsed and professional, and it revolves around crowd-pleasing stunts like stage-dives and fast-rap workouts, stuff that looks spontaneous but totally isn't. I saw him dive off the stage for the first time nine years ago; it's an expected part of his live show by now. And this stuff makes for a totally satisfying show; Red has a catalog of hits fourteen years deep, and he's got a sharp and furious onstage energy. He has a hypeman onstage most of the time, but he doesn't really need one; he's always been a sort of hypeman for himself. When he came out onstage, he ripped through three tracks in quick succession, finishing up with his verse from LL Cool J's "4321," something I hadn't heard in a while. Late in his set, he did "Da Goodness" in its entirety, and I'm never going to get sick of hearing that song. Red also brought out the show's host, DJ Kool, to do "Let Me Clear My Throat," backing Kool on turntables himself. That bit probably kills everywhere else in the country, but it fell flat here, either in spite of or because of DC boy Kool's constant suckups to the New York crowd. Red's set was polished and contained; it didn't have any of the loose-limbed insanity that Red regularly projects. The only time he did something legitimately crazy was the part of the show where he introduced his crew of useless backup rappers and let them take over the stage for three songs; one guy compared an ass-whipping to The Passion of the Christ, and another, the one who sounded just like Rick Ross, said he was "similar to Rick Ross." Red announced from the stage that these jokers would be releasing an album next year. He also said that his long-awaited Red Gone Wild will be out in March, and that he'll also be releasing Muddy Waters 2 in September. And he said he's trying to get How High 2 made. I wonder how much of that stuff he honestly thinks is going to happen.
Voice review: Chris Ryan on Redman's Malpractice Voice review: Robert Christgau on Redman's Doc's Da Name 2000
Red's set might've been short on actual scattered unpredictability, but Raekwon's wasn't. Rae's rapping is hard and choppy and tangled and sort of ugly. He's a lot of people's favorite Wu-Tang guy, but I've never found much emotional resonance in his stuff the way I do in Ghostface or ODB; it's all bullying scattershot hardness, and I have to be in the right mood to enjoy that stuff. His live show is the same way. A ton of random dudes clutter up the side of the stage and make it hard for DJ Kool to carry all his record-crates off. Tracks begin and end abruptly with gunshot noises, sometimes in the middle of a verse. Rae himself looks drunk, although maybe that's just how he looks all the time. He does a whole bunch of old Wu-Tang group tracks, rapping everyone else's verses as well as his own. The crowd goes apeshit for everything. A couple of screens on the sides of the stage show old Wu-Tang videos on mute, which is distracting because old Wu-Tang videos are awesome. It's all a bit, um, choppy, but it's also oddly riveting, since it's impossible to guess what he's going to do next. At one point, his hypeman asked the crowd what it thought of Kingdom Come. Inevitably, the crowd booed. "I didn't know you was going to say that," Rae muttered. And then: "I don't give a fuck about Hova." Rae elaborated: he respects Jay, but "he ain't helping Rae eat." This all went toward Rae promising that his next album would be straight-up hardcore rap, that there would be no pop on it. The point was made.
The freestyle rapper Supernatural, randomly dropped into the middle of the bill, called himself "the David Blaine of hip-hop" like that was something to brag about. He didn't rap underwater or anything, but his live show was an engaging series of crowd-pleasing stunts, like the one where he tells the audience to give him three words and then works them into his lyrics (last night, the words were indespicable, metaphysical, and incredible, even though I'm pretty sure indespicable isn't actually a word). There's nothing particularly compelling about his rapping or his stage presence; he sounds sort of like Xzibit, which is a problem. And he was defensive, constantly talking about how he'd earned his spot on the show. But he does work almost absurdly hard to keep a crowd entertained. He mentioned that he set a world record at the last Rock the Bells festival by freestyling for nine hours straight; that doesn't make him a great rapper, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless. He also rapped about the shit that people had in their pockets and did note-perfect impersonations of Biggie and Busta Rhymes and Slick Rick. So he's a prop-comic and an impressionist, rap's Gallagher and Darrell Hammond rolled into one. The set predictably ground to a halt when he did his one actual song, but the rest of it was fun.
Voice review: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Supernatural's The Lost Freestyle Files
In a way, though, Smif-N-Wessun had the best set of the night. They're old New York guys with gold fronts and dreads and lines on their faces, and they're charismatic and energetic, capable of making their voices heard without resorting to shouting or hypemen. Their beats, both old and new, are eerie, burbling hardcore-rap formalism. Steele ran into the crowd for his verse "Bucktown" verse, rapping while the crowd surrounded him. Sean Price and Rock came out for a feel-good Heltah Skeltah reunion, and Tek rapped from on top of Price's shoulders. Their live show isn't spectacular or anything, but it is just incredibly solid, and I can't think of a single complaint. There's plenty of nostalgia at just about every New York rap show these days, but it's rare that someone makes an actual aesthetic case for mid-90s rap. During their time onstage, Smif-N-Wessum made a dark room sardine-packed with aggro dudes in Carhart feel like a pleasant place to be. That's an achievement.
Upcoming Events
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Elizabeth Woyke, Forbes Staff
From smartphones to tablets, Wi-Fi to 3G/4G: I cover telecom & mobile.
A world map mounted on a wall at computer maker Acer's Taipei headquarters provides a window into the company's strategy. The map is dotted with icons that show Acer's personal computer sales rank in different territories: number one in France and Germany; number three in the U.S. and Latin America. It's clear that the goal is to rank number one everywhere as quickly as possible.
Acer has already come a long way. Founded as a microprocessor design firm in 1976, this past summer Acer overtook
Now Acer is joining the stampede into mobile phones. In February it launched a line of smart phones using
The grass looks green over there. Worldwide sales of mobile phones–an estimated 1.1 billion units this year, including 150 million smart phones–far exceed the expected sales of 280 million personal computers. The fact that there's a stampede will of course change things, but until now smart phones have earned gross profit margins of 30% or more, compared with the 3% or 4% for the low-cost computers that compose much of Acer's business. "The [smart phone] margins will go down as soon as the market grows, but it's still much better than PCs," says Lanci, an Italian who splits his time between Milan and Taipei and took over as chief executive in 2008. Under his leadership Acer quickly latched on to the rise of netbooks, a trend that fueled its growth over the past year.
Lanci's goal is to make Acer one of the five largest sellers of smart phones by 2014. Acer's experience as a vendor of computers gives it advantages over traditional handsetmakers, he contends. "Consumers want a similar experience on smart phones as they do on PCs," he says. "We have a much better understanding of that than people coming from the phone industry."
Back to the stampede. HP has offered a line of business-focused phones called the IPAQ since 2004 and says it has sold millions of them. It plans to begin selling a new IPAQ phone through AT&T in early December. Dell and
Acer aims to win at this game by offering more phones and rolling them out rapidly. Its phones are already available in 18 countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and Acer says it has sold slightly under 300,000 units this year. It's talking with wireless carriers in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
Not all of Acer's phones clear this bar. They are sleek, and two phones–the Liquid and the neoTouch–are speedy with flashy graphics. The company says it wants to produce easy-to-use, ergonomic designs suited for multiple tasks. Lanci concedes that Acer must spend the next year strengthening ties to wireless carriers.
That's the domain of Aymar de Lencquesaing, Acer's head of mobile phone products. Lanci moved the 51-year-old into that job last year after acquiring computer maker Packard Bell, which De Lencquesaing had run for five years. This is his first direct experience with mobile phones. In September 2008 Acer spent $275 million to acquire Taiwanese handsetmaker E-Ten, providing De Lencquesaing with 100 smart phone engineers.
The group has since swelled to 200 people across Europe, Taipei and California. De Lencquesaing travels from his base in Switzerland to Taiwan every other month for meetings. Though the unit shares some suppliers with Acer, it operates like a startup within the company. "It's 100% focused," says De Lencquesaing. "Every morning we wake up and think about telco customers and smart phones and how to run as quickly as we can without tripping."
Before De Lencquesaing's engineers began mocking up prototypes, the company surveyed 38,000 consumers on multiple continents about their wants. The research identified six consumer segments, including tech-savvy early adopters and people who use their phones primarily for messaging. Acer sorted the profiles into two buckets differentiated by features and price: a high-performance group of devices that would sell for $399 or more (unsubsidized) and a more affordable group priced below $199. Says De Lencquesaing, "We're trying to keep Acer's model of low overhead and passing along value to consumers."
At a flamenco-themed party in Barcelona in February Acer debuted its first five touch-screen phones. Five more followed in October. De Lencquesaing says mobile Internet devices with larger screens up to 10 inches across are also on his radar. "Acer is good at finding opportunities in the market and beating on them until they're satisfied," says IDC analyst Richard Shim.
Spiffy hardware alone is no longer enough to sell a smart phone. Thanks to the iPhone, it's also important to have an ecosystem of applications and services. Acer doesn't plan to launch its own mobile applications shop, like Apple's App Store. Instead it will link to app markets set up by Google and Microsoft. "We want to tap into the army of developers already working on Android and Windows Mobile as opposed to erecting a wall," says De Lencquesaing. He also wants to tie Acer's phones to its computers via software that will allow for easy transfer of data and files. This "common user interface" will be ready next year.
But tying phones to its computers won't necessarily make Acer's phones into iPhone killers. Even in countries like Italy, where Acer is immensely popular, Gartner analyst Cozza says, it may take years for consumers to view Acer as a viable phone brand. De Lencquesaing's response: Next year Acer will ship 50 million units, including computers, monitors and phones. "Millions of customers will buy those products, giving [our phones] more mind-share," he says. In 2010 Acer will be an Olympic sponsor for the first time. Similar deals have boosted the profiles of electronics makers like Samsung.
"If we want to be leaders in the mobile data space, we cannot escape smart phones," says De Lencquesaing.
Acer's Ascension
FORBES ASIA tracked Acer's push to become the leader in computers with a profile of Gianfranco Lanci in 2006 and an earlier peek four years ago:
"Dell has bested many competitors with its PC price wars and made-to-order machines since Michael Dell started selling computers from his college dorm room 21 years ago. But now the Round Rock, Texas firm has a name from the past nipping at its heels: Acer, the Taiwanese computer maker that pulled out of the U.S. retail market in 1999."