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November 14th, 2012, 11:11 AM | #22 | |
Pokerob is my B*tch!
You believe or you don't. I believe God is in control of everything that happens and you don't but you continue to argue that my faith can't possibly make sense when it's the most purest form of sense that I can make which is giving all control over to God. Last edited by Chiefwoohaw; November 14th, 2012 at 11:22 AM. |
November 19th, 2012, 07:42 AM | #23 | |
My 4x4 is a Subaru.
November 19th, 2012, 07:46 AM | #24 |
Pokerob is my B*tch!
From Hus forms of punishment in the past which was already stated multiple times in this thread. Read much or just a troll?
November 19th, 2012, 08:25 AM | #25 |
Senior Member
November 19th, 2012, 08:47 AM | #26 |
Pokerob is my B*tch!
What's not humble? Enabling trolls? Welcome back I'm sure I'll be seeing you in all the God related threads. Welcome and maybe you'll see the awesomeness of Gods wonder which as a Christian is my hope for your soul!!
November 19th, 2012, 08:57 AM | #27 |
Senior Member
If I was God, I'd fire you as my PR person. It's just not working out.
November 19th, 2012, 09:19 PM | #28 | ||
Out for the Summer!
I'm not trying to be snarky, or pushy, I'm really curious what part you thought was bad? Was it the use of a very fresh 'wound' in our country to push what he truly believes could be God calling us back to a former standard? It may not be a very classy way about it, but, if it really was God trying to punish us, as a country (not as individuals, like he did to his own 'people'), shouldn't we at least consider what that message might be? Quote:
What really gets me is all the hard-asses on this site that say 'If that was my kid, I'd leave a permanent hand print on his ass' when a 'darwin award' thread is posted but when someone suggests that, to that person (the pastor here), that God is punishing a country because of the path we are going down, They all cry for protective services and call him a child abuser. Either you all completely missed the end part of the sermon or the conclusion just flew over your head. God punishes us because he loves us. I hate punishing my child. It makes me cry every time to see his reaction to what I've had to do. BUT, I know that if I don't punish him for doing bad things he won't know any better. So I punish him, I love him to much to see him stay in a state I know isn't correct for him. The same Goes for God and his children. Quote:
It's not the healthy people that go see the doctor, it's the sick people. |
November 20th, 2012, 08:07 AM | #29 |
German cars are hot
It seems trashy that you would use the tragedy of others to promote your agenda. I am not getting into a debate with you about it but I can guarantee that more people are offended then brought in by that type of message. I personally have employees and two facilities out east but it's easy to sit here in Michigan and make just disgusting comments when you aren't in the midst of it all huh?
November 20th, 2012, 08:39 AM | #31 | |
Pokerob is my B*tch!
November 20th, 2012, 09:00 AM | #32 |
My 4x4 is a Subaru.
November 20th, 2012, 04:11 PM | #34 | |
Out for the Summer!
I still think most of you missed the meaning behind the message because you were to put off from what you thought he was trying to say. If he would have used Katrina instead of Sandy you guys may have understood the true meaning of what he was saying because you wouldn't have the immediate emotional connection. To be completely honest, I forgot about that part of the message. I was more interested in the idea that alot of our founding fathers have quotes that blatantly sound more then a Deistic viewpoint. That they believed God had a part in the everyday workings of man. That's what I got out of the message. Myabe it's because I realized that there COULD be a connection between the hard times we face and how God uses those hard times to communicate with us. Oddly, and ironically from all your points of views, he did his sermon on the Golden rule tihs Sunday. http://youtu.be/jWAcWUvbHmg Last edited by L4CX; November 20th, 2012 at 04:20 PM. |
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1. Calvin Johnson, WR, DET2. Demaryius Thomas, WR, DEN3. Julio Jones, WR, ATL4. A.J. Green, WR, CIN5. Dez Bryant, WR, DAL6. Brandon Marshall, WR, CHI7. Randall Cobb, WR, GB8. Jordy Nelson, WR, GB9. Michael Crabtree, WR, SF10. Antonio Brown, WR, PIT11. Alshon Jeffrey, WR, CHI12. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARI13. Andre Johnson, WR, HOU14. Vincent Jackson, WR, TB15. Keenan Allen, WR, SD16. Pierre Garcon, WR, WAS17. Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, MIN18. Roddy White, WR, ATL19. Michael Floyd, WR, ARI20. Emmanuel Sanders, WR, DEN21. Victor Cruz, WR, NYG22. Torrey Smith, WR, BAL23. Wes Welker, WR, DEN24. Mike Wallace, WR, MIA25. Jeremy Maclin, WR, PHI26. Eric Decker, WR, NYJ27. DeSean Jackson, WR, WAS28. Terrance Williams, WR, DAL29. Julian Edelman, WR, NE30. Percy Harvin, WR, SEA31. Sammy Watkins, WR, BUF32. Golden Tate, WR, DET33. T.Y. Hilton, WR, IND34. Kendall Wright, WR, TEN35. Marques Colston, WR, NO36. Brandin Cooks, WR, NO37. Mike Evans, WR, TB38. Riley Cooper, WR, PHI39. Reggie Wayne, WR, IND40. Dwayne Bowe, WR, KC41. Rueben Randle, WR, NYG42. Marvin Jones, WR, CIN43. Hakeem Nicks, WR, IND44. Tavon Austin, WR, STL46. Anquan Boldin, WR, SF 47 Cecil Shorts, WR, JAX 48 Danny Amendola, WR, NE 49 DeAndre Hopkins, WR, HOU 50 Aaron Dobson, WR, NE51 Greg Jennings, WR, MIN 52 James Jones, WR, OAK53 Justin Hunter, WR, TEN 54 Markus Wheaton, WR, PIT 55. Robert Woods, WR, BUF56. Steve Smith, WR, BAL57. Kelvin Benjamin, WR, CAR58. Andrew Hawkins, WR, CLE59. Odell Beckham, WR, NYG60. Steve Johnson, WR, SF
Follow Metro Boston sports editor Matt Burke on Twitter: @BurkeMetroBOS

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Finding the right management team is one of the most challenging aspects of running a business. With current unemployment rates, hiring managers and business owners frequently receive hundreds of replies for a single job advertisement, and it's hard to identify which applicants will make the largest impact on the company long-term. Rather than hiring employees who have traditional experience, many find that by hiring an entrepreneur with start-up experience, they get the best results.
1) Entrepreneurs understand the importance of the bottom line.
From the very first day at a start-up, entrepreneurs are myopically focused on one thing: increasing the bottom line. They know that each expenditure must positively impact gross revenue while minimizing expenses. More than a traditional employee, entrepreneurs feel the pressure to maximize return on investment and to ensure that every day, their team is focused on creating results rather than looking busy or waiting for sales to walk in the door. This is the top reason to hire an entrepreneur. They are motivated to produce profitable results.


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Blame Walmart's slide on 'higher taxes'
Exclusive: Jerry Robinson looks at alarming economic bellwether
Talk about a rugged economy: Even Wal-Mart missed the expectations of analysts and cut its profit outlook for the rest of the year, notes economist, columnist, radio host and international speaker Jerry Robinson in his "Follow the Money Weekly" program this week.
He says the retail giant's executives are blaming higher taxes and the slow economy for the poor quarterly results.
Robinson also talks about the slide in the Dow Jones and the corresponding boost in precious metals.
Gold boasted a gain of 5 percent over the week while silver was up 14 percent – its "biggest weekly gain in nearly five years."
Also subject of this week's podcast is a discussion on how foreign investors have dumped more than $40 billion in long-term treasuries and how the summer of 2013 has been worse even than 2008's financial meltdown for capital outflows.
In the precious metals update, adviser Tom Cloud explains the recent surge in prices, and Jay Peroni offers the investing ideas of the week.
Then Robinson interviews John Rubino on the economy, the dollar and why the Federal Reserve is buying up bonds every month.
Podcast is 59:35.
Previous podcasts:
See who's rejected U.S. dollar now!
How to avoid that lousy 'retirement' job
What do Cabela's, Six Flags have in common?
Coming soon! 'Transatlantic Union'
Economy settling down? Think again
Is this the calm before the storm?
The decline of the global stock market
Signs in the sun, moon and stars
'This isn't your grandfather's economy'
Gold dropping? Why not to worry
What's to love about gold, silver prices
Let the printing presses roll!
New challenge rattles economy's foundation
Big Brother looking at your bank account
Currency war pushes stocks to new realms
Entitlement liabilities? Try $120 trillion
Paycheck to paycheck, and what to do about it
Germans want gold reserves returned
'The unbelievably bogus debt ceiling debate'
Is America on the eve of a civil war?
Again? Feds printing and spending more
Why you should care about petrodollar system
The real story about the fiscal cliff
Last hurrah from a state statesman
Housing starts up, prices grow, and that's bad?
Learn more about Jerry Robinson's "Follow the Money Quarterly" newsletter.
"Bankruptcy of Our Nation: 12 Key Strategies For Protecting Your Finances In These Uncertain Times."
Jerry Robinson is an economist, published author, columnist, radio talk show host, and international conference speaker. Robinson has been quoted as an economic authority by USA Today, FoxNews and many other news agencies. His columns have appeared regularly in numerous print and web publications, including WND. In addition, Robinson is also the editor-in-chief of the popular economic newsletter, "Follow the Money Quarterly."


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Forum:Hair Transplant: Start Your Own Topic
American Hair Loss Association Hair Transplant Community » Recent Threads Dr Klein promox patients! Read if you need help. 08-21-2014 08:44 AM by Jazz1 Last Post By coolhairgone Today 08:10 AM Curious of my hair. Yesterday 09:34 PM by DWoody Last Post By DWoody Today 08:07 AM 19 years old, concerned about receding hairline (pictures included) Yesterday 09:18 PM by Lawrence1 Last Post By BaldBearded Today 04:36 AM Looking for advice, first time considering a hair piece/system. 03-23-2017 12:52 PM by BaldBearded Last Post By BaldBearded Today 04:17 AM Dr Hakan Doganay - my experience documented 12-08-2016 09:09 AM by HTvirgin83 Last Post By HTvirgin83 Today 04:11 AM Sm04554 02-10-2014 06:36 AM by UK Boy Last Post By jay woo Today 12:15 AM


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It can be difficult to feel motivated to lose weight. Indeed, many people identify weight loss motivation as the biggest challenge in losing weight. You have to know that if you are overweight, it is probably due to a failure to stop overindulging in food. However, this can be a difficult pattern to break.
Overindulgence in food can result from a number of causes. In some cases, people gain a great amount of pleasure from eating, and they are in a sense eating to fill some kind of void in another area of their life. For example, someone who has gone through a painful breakup might eat to soothe the pain of being alone. In other cases, overeating can result from a lack of self-esteem or low self-confidence. When these problems become manifest the person experiences comfort in food, whether it be desserts, large meals, or excessive snacking.
As these eating habits persist, they become hardwired in the brain. Food becomes associated with a feeling of relief from emotional pain. It is at this point that eating disorders may develop; individuals who feel "guilty" as a result of their overindulgence may negatively compensate for their extra weight. Others might feel extreme pressure to remain thin. Eating disorders such as bulimia, a cycle of binge eating and purging, can develop when a person who overindulges feels excessive pressure to stay thin.
Others can simply develop an addiction to food that can actually interrupt their ability to function on a day-to-day basis. As the person's mind becomes consumed with thoughts of food, it is impossible to move past thinking about eating.
For those who would like to lose weight, achieving a healthy source of weight loss motivation is necessary. In particular, the desire to lose weight can't come from a superficial desire to look good. As appearances will always be transient, a person's self-image underneath his or her appearance is what really matters. When someone has low self-confidence they will never truly be happy with the way they look, and they'll continue to try to modify themselves, whether it be through losing weight or other means, in order to try to feel better – this is how extreme relationships with food begin.
The right reason to lose weight lies not in a desire to look good, but a true desire to be healthy. Every person will experience hang-ups surrounding the way they look – it's only natural to focus on flaws instead of the better aspects. But the person who can actually accept the way they look, in spite of whatever flaws she may have, will succeed in losing weight.
If you would like to find a sure-fire source of weight loss motivation, all you need to do is think about the health benefits. Losing weight can help you in the long term; it puts you at a reduced risk of heart attack, heart disease, and diabetes, to name a few related illnesses. And those who have a healthy body weight have actually been found to have increased longevity. If you look at it from a health perspective, your life is in your own hands. Losing weight can help you to feel better about yourself and experience a healthy, happy life.
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text: Newest Favre Allegations Get The Taiwanese Animation TreatmentBarry Petchesky1/05/11 6:00pmFiled to: Duan!Brett FavreNflFavre stergerChristina ScavoTaiwaneseanimationnmaVideo521EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalink Some great visuals in this one, including a literal slab of meat, the "Most Vilified Pervert" Award, and, yes, gunslinger orgasm.Advertisement•••••So that's that. Another year of no one ever visiting the BBWAA's delightfully lo-fi website. Except for hackers, sometimes.Reply521 repliesLeave a reply


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As a member of the SQA Engineering Team, the candidate will be involved with analyzing, testing, and modeling Palo Alto Networks top customers deployments to increase the reliability of products in complex deployment scenarios. The successful candidate will utilize her/his experience in customer deployments and network operations to model networks, and to develop, automate, and execute complex system test plans. The successful candidate will have exposure and interactions with customers, support teams, development teams, and product management teams.
Location: | Santa Clara, CA United States |
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Industry: | Software |
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Album Summary
Notes & Reviews:
This is the stuff from which magic is made: Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 - known as the "Emperor" Concerto, heroic and powerful - performed by one of our most distinctive pianists, Helene Grimaud. The excellent Staatskapelle Dresden is led by one of today's young stars on the podium, Vladimir Jurowski, a charismatic musical genius who was recently appointed London Philharmonic Orchestra's principal conductor.
There are currently no reviews, be the first one!Also Purchased
Works Details
Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich : Swan Lake- Conductor: Valery Gergiev
- Ensemble: Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, St. Petersburg
- Notes: Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg, Russia (05/28/2006-06/04/2006)
- Running Time: 47 min. 15 sec.
- Period Time: Romantic
- Form: Ballet
- Written: 1875-1876


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2782 members online
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French, settled in Saint-Bart's (French West Indies) , I am a artistic director in the audio visual sector. Great fan of animation movies , I have naturally turned to the imagery of synthesis for four years now. That has allowed me to widen my possibilities of incrustations on the magnetic tape. My main preocupation is to get closer to reality. I like the idea of people wondering if it is real or virtual.
Thank you for the attention which you will be able to pay on my work.


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South Korea's LG Electronics Inc launched a revamped version of its flagship G3 high-end smartphone at a discount to its predecessor model on Wednesday and said it would ship more than 10 million units to improve its ailing handset business.
LG hopes that the new G3 phone, which added metal film to the rear plastic cover to offer a polished metallic look, will pull its handset business out of the red and provide meaningful earnings momentum in the coming quarter.
The new device has a 5.5-inch screen with almost twice the resolution of its G2 predecessor with 538 pixels per inch (ppi). The resolution is also better than the 431 ppi screen on Samsung Electronics Co's Galaxy S5 431. The new LG phone also features a laser focus for the camera.
The G3's launch price of 899,800 Korean won ($880) is about 6 percent lower than the G2 in South Korea, highlighting the intensifying competition on both price and features among smartphone makers as market growth slows.
"Broadly speaking, business conditions should be better in the second quarter than the first quarter," Park Jong-seok, chief executive of LG's mobile business, told reporters during a briefing, citing the global launch of the G3 as a major factor.
Park declined to offer concrete earnings guidance and did not specify a time frame on the shipment target for the G3, which will be rolled out worldwide to more than 170 carriers.
While LG did not disclose shipment figures for the G2, industry officials estimate that more than 5 million units of the device have shipped since its launch in August 2013.
LG brought forward the launch of the G3 to May amid market speculation that Apple Inc could reveal its next iPhone in August.
LG's mobile division reported an operating loss of 9 billion won ($8.80 million) in the January-March quarter due to competition from Chinese rivals like Huawei Technologies and Lenovo Group.
For all the latest Tech News, download Indian Express App now


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AP: US prepares to recognize Syrian opposition
Updated 12:44 pm, Thursday, November 29, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials say the U.S. is preparing to recognize Syria's opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in the coming weeks.
The announcement would come with greater U.S. support for the group seeking to oust President Bashar Assad's regime.
Several U.S. allies have already recognized the council.
Washington plans to do the same to coincide with a conference of more than 70 nations in Marrakesh, Morocco on Dec. 12. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is planning to attend the so-called Friends of Syria gathering.
The new status would be accompanied by pledges of more humanitarian and nonlethal aid for the opposition. But that won't mean U.S. arms support.
Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter.


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Getting the Gospel Right
Chuck Collins, as usual, gets the Gospel right:
"But, in fact, WWJD is what Michael Horton calls "easy-listening legalism." It's about becoming a better you (didn't Joel Osteen write a book with this title?). It's a sly way of replacing Jesus as Savior with Jesus as example, and sin and redemption with moral improvement. THAT'S SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS!!
The gospel is not about you. It's about what Jesus Christ has done for you when you couldn't and didn't measure up. The Law shows your need for a savior, it states the demands for behavioral purity, but it can't accomplish what it demands. So what do Christians typically do? Buy a WWJD bracelet (they are cheap on Ebay), rededicate yourself to moral improvement, and join a church that preaches "try harder" and "keep your chin up" sermons.
But now that I think about it, WWJD might just be what the doctor ordered. If it leads me to the point of despairing of my utter inability to live up to Jesus' example, "wretched man that I am!" (Rom 7:24), and causes me to cry out as a drowning man to the one who can save me from my inability to keep the law, then it's a good thing. Maybe what we need is a fresh encounter with the law in fire-hydrant force – not only bracelets, but WWJD earrings, bellybutton studs, tattoos, and bumper-stickers…more"
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It's been just over 7 years since the release of The Phantom Menace...is it too soon to be feeling nostalgic for that period of time?
I know it's not too soon for Slicker, since he's still trying to track down that elusive Naboo Battlefield/Transforming MTT
But really, is anyone else feeling the nostalgia? I am.
Someone mentioned it in a Gentle Giant minibust thread regarding the Qui-Gon Jinn on the way and lately I've been feeling the same way for a few reasons.
I've been watching ROTS on and off many times these last few weeks on HBO and I'm STILL picking up little "rhymes" with TPM, stuff that most people have already picked up on but not my slow witted mind. For example, Anakin's Starfighter is yellow in ROTS and in TPM he piloted a yellow Naboo fighter. Little stuff like that.
The main thing that's got me feeling nostalgic for TPM is my recent inventory that I took of my entire collection. The toys are a small part of it, of course the toys take me back but it's more the promotional stuff that had me on a 1999 kick. I know TPM is associated with a glut of over merchandising and it sucks that it had an effect on what they did for AOTC but at the time I had TONS of fun with the TPM experience and I have VERY fond memories of it.
This all lead me to watch the movie again for the first time since JimJam and I hammered out the Sextology Marathon of all 6 films back in November 2005...and overall I still love the movie. Well, maybe I don't love the WHOLE movie as it does have some poor moments but in general I am fond of much of it. Some people are bothered by midichlorians but I'm bothered more by Ewan McGregor's puffy face and fake hair from the reshot scenes.
My point in starting this thread wasn't really to talk about the movie itself but rather the atmosphere and collectibles of that particular year...if this thread goes into the territory of whether or not the movie sucked (which I expect it will after stillakid returns from holiday ), well I'm going to stay out of the actual movie discussions. But I might have more to say on the nostalgia I'm feeling for the whole experience.
Anyone else feeling nostalgic or are you just glad to be away from that period of time?


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We're moving and expanding!
This blog is moving (and expanding) to a full IT security news and views site (http://ITsecurity.co.uk).
Latest news on ITsecurity
But that's all folks. If you want to keep up with the latest news and views, hop over to ITsecurity!
- Two iPhone hackers probably behind the Oleg Pliss attacks arrested in Russia
- CESG advice on securing Android in a BYOD environment
- Attacking smart TVs
- Comment spam – a growing problem
- Does the government run the spy agencies, or do the spy agencies run the government?
- The Reform Government Surveillance Nine should copy the ISPs' methodology if they want to change government policy
- The tech giants' letter to the Senate is just a load of fluff
- China's response to US accusations of cyber spying
- NQ Mobile – still in the balance following Muddy Waters negative report last October
- The danger we face from the NSA's collection of facial recognition images
- Europol, FBI, NCA and others disrupt the Gameover Zeus botnet — claim a 2 week window for users to get clean
- Mystery surrounds the fate of torrent site publichd.se
- Don't Spy On Us – a day of action
- There is no 'right to be forgotten'; and Google won't forget you anyway
The new site will continue its role in challenging and disrupting the traditional view of security – but over a wider area. In particular it now has a Panel of Experts who will be contributing (when they get time from their day jobs) on a selection of specialist areas. Alphabetically, they include:
- Dr Brian Bandey – Dr Bandey's Surgery: IP, Cloud, Big Data and e-Safety Laws Anatomised
- Alexander Hanff – CEO Think Privacy Inc: Globally respected Privacy expert
- David Harley – David Harley on malware
- Bev Robb @teksquisite –Internet security & social media consultant by stealth…
- Richard Smith – Financial skulduggery; especially of the tech variety
- Kevin Townsend – Opinions on current information security news and issues (that's me!)
- Robin Wood – Penetration testing issues and passwords
All, except perhaps for me, are recognised world- and thought-leaders. So head over and check us out – and spread the word.
What's with the TrueCrypt warning?
TrueCrypt, the free open source full disk encryption program favoured by many security-savvy people, including apparently Edward Snowden, is no more. Its website now redirects to its SourceForge page which starts with this message:
WARNING: Using TrueCrypt is not secure as it may contain unfixed security issues
This page exists only to help migrate existing data encrypted by TrueCrypt.
The development of TrueCrypt was ended in 5/2014 after Microsoft terminated support of Windows XP. Windows 8/7/Vista and later offer integrated support for encrypted disks and virtual disk images. Such integrated support is also available on other platforms (click here for more information). You should migrate any data encrypted by TrueCrypt to encrypted disks or virtual disk images supported on your platform.
This statement is so full of problems it is difficult to know where to start.
Is it a canary?
Canaries are warnings by a different method (if a canary died in a mine, the likelihood was that poison gas, otherwise yet undetected, was present). So one suggestion is that this message indicates government interference, and like Levison and Lavabit, it has been shut down to protect the users. (Levison said, "I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit.") Some have gone so far as to suggest a more explicit warning in TrueCrypt's first paragraph: "not secure as".
But for me the strongest suggestion that this might be a canary warning is the recommendation for Microsoft's BitLocker. The message says "You should migrate any data encrypted by TrueCrypt to encrypted disks or virtual disk images supported on your platform." It then proceeds to give a step-by-step how-to for migrating to BitLocker.
My problem is two-fold. Firstly, I find it difficult to believe that the developers of open-source cryptography would voluntarily recommend placing faith in a closed-source solution — and one from Microsoft to boot. Secondly, BitLocker gives up the ground won with such difficulty during the First Crypto Wars against Clinton's Clipper chip and key escrow demands — BitLocker escrows the keys either with the IT department or with Microsoft's cloud services. From both locations, using the PATRIOT Act, government agencies can retrieve those keys effectively on demand. This recommendation doesn't make sense from a purely 'security' viewpoint.
Against this, however, we should note that 'David' (apparently a or the TrueCrypt developer) has told @stevebarnhart that there has been no government contact except one time inquiring about a 'support contract'; that "BitLocker is 'good enough' and Windows was original 'goal of the project';" and that "There is no longer interest." But whether 'David' is who he says he is, or whether what he says is true is anyone's guess.
I find myself conflicted. This time my heart says, don't think conspiracy; but my head says, this isn't right.
What next?
For whatever reason, TrueCrypt can no longer be trusted. If we take David at face value, he has simply lost interest in the project and bowed out in a most unsatisfactory manner. That would imply that you can carry on using TrueCrypt; but that like XP, any future issues will not be resolved. So it's probably best not to wait for them.
But if you were savvy enough to install TrueCrypt you will be savvy enough to migrate to an alternative without being persuaded into using BitLocker. BitLocker works with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a motherboard chip that to my mind turns Windows 8 into an NSA trojan. (See Is Windows 8 an NSA trojan?) This latest development merely reinforces my opinion.
It would be tempting to say it is time to migrate away from Windows altogether — perhaps to Linux. The reality, however, is that nothing is secure. What can be made by software can be unmade by software; that which can be built by computer power can be demolished by computer power. The unmakers have a thousand times the resources of the makers.
The solution is political, not technological. We the people have to reassert our role over the politicians. They are our servants. We pay them to do our bidding. And we have to make it absolutely clear that government interference and surveillance is unacceptable and must stop.
ITsecurity.co.uk went live
I guess we just went live. Traffic figures for the last four days.
Check it out. News and views from world security experts. And me.
More on the Avast breach and the hash used
My understanding is that the hash formula used by Avast to store its forum users' passwords was
$hash = sha1(strtolower($username) . $password);
This is the formula built into the SMF open source forum software used by Avast. It is both good and bad. It confirms that the hash was salted (with the user's username); but the use of SHA1 will raise some eyebrows. Robin Wood, a professional pentester, suggests that something like Bcrypt would have been much stronger.
Nevertheless, Wood points out, the use of the salt would make cracking much harder. "I have tables for a lot of the common hashing algorithms with just plain words (password, computer etc), but there is no way I can generate them with the salts (kevinpassword, kevincomputer, robinpassword, robincomputer)."
At a pinch, he admitted, he could generate a few tables for the most common passwords, such as root or admin or 123456. So some of the passwords could be cracked relatively easily by a sophisticated hacker, and even more could be cracked if there were world enough and time. Which is actually pretty much what Avast implied in its blog.
Again, my understanding (and you can interpret that any way you like) is that Avast is embarrassed and wishes to do the right thing. It is holding back from making a more complete formal statement simply because it is still investigating the breach — and doesn't yet know whether it screwed up or was breached by an unknown 0-day in the SMF software.
One thing that does seem clear, however, is that the attackers were indeed sophisticated and not kiddies since the attack coincided with a multi-GBPS DOS attack. Users should therefore assume that if they used a simple password it is now known to the attackers. Those who used a strong password should assume that with time, it will also become known to the attackers. Since Avast immediately took down the forum the passwords will be of little value UNLESS the user reuses the same password elsewhere. It is for this reason that those passwords should be changed immediately; and users who do so should stop reusing passwords immediately.
So what next? In his original post, CEO Vince Steckler said that Avast will rebuild the forum and move it to a different software platform. It will be interesting to see whether the company publicise how it will store its users' passwords on the new platform.
Avast forum hack demonstrates we need password storage disclosure
A blog post early this morning by Avast Software CEO Vince Steckler announced
The AVAST forum is currently offline and will remain so for a brief period. It was hacked over this past weekend and user nicknames, user names, email addresses and hashed (one-way encrypted) passwords were compromised.
AVAST forum offline due to attack
Avast's reaction to this hack is in stark contrast to that of eBay's recent reaction. While eBay said very little, Avast has quickly taken down the breached forum and contacted the users with laudable speed. And it has explained the risks.
While eBay gave no details about how its passwords were stored, Avast has indicated that they were hashed but can still be cracked. Like eBay it also lost usernames and email addresses, and that information alone is valuable to phishers. Steckler has advised users to change their passwords everywhere they have been reused — good and essential advice; but users should also be on guard against phishing attempts.
But while the Avast response has been better than eBay's, it is still not enough — users need and deserve more. Steckler wrote,
Even though the passwords were hashed, it could be possible for a sophisticated thief to derive many of the passwords.
What does this mean; and what is a 'sophisticated thief'? The thief was sophisticated enough to breach Avast's defences, so we can assume he or they is sophisticated enough to use a password cracker. If he can 'derive many of the passwords', does that imply that a weak hashing algorithm was used, or simply that the hash was not salted? If a modern method of hashing was combined with secure salting, then it would be very difficult to derive the passwords.
Users deserve to know how their passwords are protected. This can only be done before the event, because once a breach has happened, the natural inclination of all companies is to minimize any blame on themselves. While the European Union is discussing mandatory breach disclosure as part of the General Data Protection Regulation, it simply does not go far enough. All companies that store user passwords should be obliged to publicly disclose how those passwords are stored and protected.
This will not help the thief. Once he has obtained the passwords, he will rapidly discover that information for himself. It will, however, help the user. The user can decide whether to trust the company before sign up; and will know how much to worry after a breach.
More to the point, however, is that security experts will publicly deride any company without good security — and that alone will force them to do better.
Hector 'Sabu' Monsegur to be sentenced while Hammond sits in prison
A common cry in Anonymous circles is 'Free Jeremy Hammond; Fuck Sabu'. Jeremy Hammond is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence for his involvement in the Stratfor hack. Sabu (real name Hector Xavier Monsegur) will be sentenced tomorrow for his role in Lulzsec and many other hacks. He is expected, on FBI request, to walk free. The judge, in both cases, was and is judge Loretta Preska. Comparing and contrasting the behaviour of Hammond and Monsegur explains the Anonymous cry.
Monsegur was the original founder of the original LulzSec hacking group, (in)famous for its '50 days of lulz' during the summer of 2011. Sabu was 'outed' and subsequently interviewed by the FBI. He rapidly (by the next day) agreed to cooperate; and has been cooperating ever since. There is some suggestion that the FBI pointed out that his two young nieces, for whom he is a foster parent, would have an uncertain future if he was incarcerated.
The extent of that cooperation is only just becoming clear, although it was always known to be extensive. Some of it borders on illegality, but is certainly immoral. The Stratfor hack was organized by Sabu at the behest of the FBI in order to entrap Jeremy Hammond – a member of Anonymous rather than Lulzsec but high, on the list of the FBI's most wanted. It worked. It also, incidentally, ensnared Barret Brown who was arrested effectively for publishing a link to stolen Stratfor information; although his charges have now largely been dropped.
Sabu's cooperation also led to the unmasking and arrest of the other members of LulzSec: 2 in the UK, 2 in Ireland and one in the US. It seems clear that he also tried to implicate and entrap many others; including, for example, Jacob Appelbaum.
He also cooperated with the government, using Hammond, to enable it to hack foreign websites. Hammond's attorneys wrote to judge Preska last month:
Hammond's own behaviour has been in direct contrast. After his arrest he decided to fight the charges. Eventually, however, he gave up and accepted a plea deal with the government. Almost exactly one year ago he announced,
Today I pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This was a very difficult decision. I hope this statement will explain my reasoning. I believe in the power of the truth. In keeping with that, I do not want to hide what I did or to shy away from my actions. This non-cooperating plea agreement frees me to tell the world what I did and why, without exposing any tactics or information to the government and without jeopardizing the lives and well-being of other activists on and offline.
Statement from Jeremy Hammond regarding his plea
His reasoning was not that he thought he would lose the case, but that the FBI would simply press similar charges elsewhere. "The process might have repeated indefinitely," he said.
I have already spent 15 months in prison. For several weeks of that time I have been held in solitary confinement. I have been denied visits and phone calls with my family and friends. This plea agreement spares me, my family, and my community a repeat of this grinding process.
The key sentence in this announcement is, "This non-cooperating plea agreement frees me to tell the world what I did and why, without exposing any tactics or information to the government and without jeopardizing the lives and well-being of other activists on and offline." So while Sabu cooperated with the FBI and will most likely walk free tomorrow, Hammond refused to cooperate and took a ten-year sentence. That, basically, is why the call is 'Free Jeremy Hammond; Fuck Sabu.'
Tomorrow, 27th May 2014 at 11 am, Judge Preska will pronounce sentence on Sabu. In theory he faces a sentence of between 259 and 317 months for the crimes he as admitted. But, says the FBI in its pre-sentencing submission to Judge Preska,
Probation recommends a sentence of time served. As set forth in more detail below, Monsegur was an extremely valuable and productive cooperator.
Government's notice of intent reference sentencing
He has, during the three years of his cooperation with the FBI, served seven months in prison. Judge Preska is expected to follow the FBI request and sentence him to seven months – allowing him to walk free.
We will update this post tomorrow with details of judge Preska's sentence.
The much delayed sentencing of former LulzSec hacker-turned-FBI informant Hector "Sabu" Monsegur finally took place on Tuesday, when he received time served plus one year of supervised release with computer logging.
Ars Technica
The eBay hack, the loss of 140 million records, and the PR fiasco
There are two functions to PR: the first is to shout the good news from the hilltops, while the second is to bury the bad. When bad news hits, PR says very little.
Bad news has hit eBay. It admitted Wednesday that it had been hacked – but it actually gives very little information. This is a mistake. It means that people will comb their words used looking for clues over what has actually happened. The result is conjecture; but what follows is the conjecture of some very clever security people.
Three things leap out from the eBay statement. The first is the repeated use of the word 'encrypted', with no mention of hashing for the passwords. The second is the duration of the breach – it occurred in February/March, but was only discovered a couple of weeks ago. And the third is the mention of the database – not part of, nor a geographical region, but the (whole?) database. So what can we surmise from all this?
Firstly, were the passwords encrypted or hashed? It makes a difference. The implication from the statement is that they were encrypted. Most security experts believe that this would be a mistake – passwords should be hashed and salted. In fact, Ian Pratt, co-founder of Bromium, goes so far as to suggest, "It would be rather unusual to encrypt passwords rather than hash them; it's probably just lack of precision in the statement."
But that's what we said about the Adobe breach – and it turned out that the passwords were indeed encrypted rather than hashed. The opinion among the experts I talked to is fairly evenly balanced – while eBay's semantics suggest they used encryption, many experts find it hard to believe. "This heavily implies that the passwords were not hashed," said Chris Oakley, principle security consultant at Nettitude. "eBay's report suggests that the passwords were encrypted rather than hashed," added Brendan Rizzo, Technical Director EMEA for Voltage Security. Sati Bains, COO of Sestus, said, "Yes… it appears from the comment that they did [encrypt rather than hash]."
"Encryption and hashing are often confused with each other," explains Jon French, a security analyst at AppRiver. "But from the sounds of the [eBay's] press release, it seems they were using some sort of encryption."
Andrey Dulkin, senior director of cyber innovation at CyberArk, is in no doubt. "Indeed, from the eBay statements we understand that the passwords were encrypted, rather than hashed. The fact that the statements repeatedly use the words 'encrypted' and 'decrypted' supports this interpretation."
It is, of course, possible that eBay is simply not differentiating between the two processes, since most of its customers will not understand the difference. "The public understand the word 'encrypted' more than hashed – so encrypt is frequently used in place of hashed. But it is believed they were hashed," suggests Guy Bunker, spokesperson for the Jericho Forum and a cyber security expert at Clearswift.
Ilia Kolochenko, founder and CEO of High-Tech Bridge (HTB), doesn't believe we can tell from eBay's comments. "The difference isn't easily understood by users. Even the spokesperson might not be aware. It's quite possible that the company simply didn't want to introduce the complexity of describing the technicalities of hashing and salting in a brief announcement."
What's the difference, and why does it matter?
The primary operational difference is that encryption can be decrypted; that is the original plaintext can be retrieved from the ciphertext through the use of the encryption key. Hashed outputs cannot be mathematically returned to the original plaintext.
In practice, an entire database of passwords would be encrypted via a single encryption key. But if hashing was used, each individual password would ideally have an unknown value added to it (a 'salt') and the results would be separately hashed. "This salt," explains Voltage's Rizzo, "is a way to make sure that the hash of a particular password cannot be compared to the known hash of that same password by the attacker through the use of rainbow tables."
This means that if an encrypted database is stolen, only one key needs to be found to unlock every password in the database.If the passwords are hashed, every single password needs to be cracked individually.
"The advantages to hashing," Nick Piagentini, senior solutions architect at CloudPassage, told me, "are one, there is no need to manage sensitive encryption keys; two, hashing processes have less overhead to run than encryption processes; and three, there is no need to reconstruct the password data from the hash. Encryption would only be used if there was a need to get the original password back."
Could the hackers have the encryption key?
This is the 64 million dollar question (and is only relevant if the passwords were encrypted). We don't know, and we may never know. But it is certainly possible. There are two possibilities: it could have been cracked or it could have been stolen.
Reuters spoke to eBay spokeswoman Amanda Miller:
She said the hackers gained access to 145 million records of which they copied "a large part". Those records contained passwords as well as email addresses, birth dates, mailing addresses and other personal information, but not financial data such as credit card numbers.
Hackers raid eBay in historic breach, access 145 million records
eBay says the database was compromised some time around late February or early March; but wasn't discovered until about two weeks ago. What we don't know is whether the compromise was still in active use by the hackers, what else they did during the two months they were undetected, or whether they left something unwelcome behind. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that having gained access without being discovered the hackers did not have a good look round.
(Incidentally, it is worth pointing out at this point another comment from HTB's Kolochenko. Basically, eBay's statement that financial details were safely stored on a separate server is pretty meaningless. "The two servers would have to communicate," he explained. "The hackers could have installed some malware to listen to the communication between the servers, and sniffed the plaintext traveling between them.")
So could they have found the encryption key? Opinion is divided. "This is a primary argument for using hashing over encryption for password storage," comments Nettitude's Oakley; "an attacker who is able to compromise the database may also be in a position to obtain the encryption key(s)." (Incidentally, if the passwords were hashed rather than encrypted, the hackers could just as likely have found the salt or salt mechanism, rendering the hashed passwords relatively easy to crack via rainbow tables.)
On the other hand, "I would hope they [eBay] didn't 'tape the key to the door of the safe'", comments Trey Ford, global security strategist at Rapid7. "eBay and PayPal have solid security teams, and go through regular third-party assessments. I refuse to believe they would handle encryption key materials that poorly."
And yet they left the users' email addresses and other personal information unencrypted. If they were using encryption seriously, they would have used a hardware security module (HSM) to house the keys, and would have encrypted everything. "They do not seem to be very confident about their encryption system," comments Sebastian Munoz, CEO of REALSEC, "when they are suggesting their customers to reset passwords. If efficiently encrypted, using specific certified hardware, there would be no need to reset the passwords, since protection is guaranteed. When you use a Hardware Security Module (HSM) and not a simple and insecure encryption-by-software process, there is no way that hackers can gain access to the encryption keys."
Munoz further suspects that software based encryption was used since only the passwords were encrypted. Since software encryption impacts on performance, then cost arguments come into play.
So, given the duration of the breach and the probable lack of an HSM, it is perfectly possible that the hackers also found the encryption key – and if this is the case, they now have access to all of the greater part of 145 million passwords, along with 'email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth'.
If they did not find the key, would they be able to crack the encryption key? Again, opinion is divided – it all depends upon what encryption algorithm was used. Older encryption algorithms might be susceptible to a 'known plaintext' attack (see Wikipedia for details). Getting the necessary plaintext would be no problem. The most popular passwords are remarkable consistent – so a simple analysis with something like DigiNinja's Pipal on an existing cracked database would provide a fair sampling of plaintext.
"However," notes Bromium's Ian Pratt, "assuming any kind of modern encryption (e.g. AES-128) was used then a known plaintext attack should not be feasible to recover the key and hence reveal other passwords."
"Another approach," suggested Clearswift's Bunker, "is to 'inject' known passwords (either the hash or the encrypted version) into the database. This would create the equivalent of denial of service for the individual but would allow the attacker free reign over the account."
The problem is we simply do not know what has happened. eBay's attempts to downplay the incident is simply leading to conjecture.
While writing this report, Rapid7's Trey Ford noticed adverts for the sale of eBay's stolen database beginning to appear on Pastebin. "There has now been a posting on pastebin claiming to offer '145 312 663 unique records' relating to the eBay breach," he told me by email. We don't know if they're genuine, "it's possible that a criminal has just spotted an opportunity to cash in on the attack with some other credentials dump they have."
An analysis of the sample provided is inconclusive – the records are possibly genuine but not certainly genuine. But Ford had a look at the sample:
The sample that has been shared indicates that cracking the passwords will take considerable time. This is nothing like what we saw when LinkedIn was breached and the stolen credentials were quickly cracked due to only SHA-1 hashing being used for storage. In contrast, this credentials set is using PBKDF2 (Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2) SHA-256 hashes, which means they employ a strong hash function and also intentionally make cracking them more difficult and slow by individually salting and using a high number of hash iterations. The method used can be regarded as the state-of-the-art way to store passwords on web applications. Again though, we don't know that these are credentials taken from the eBay breach, and no details have come from eBay on how they secure passwords.
This would fit in with eBay's apparent confidence that the passwords cannot be hacked. However, Reuters spoke to eBay about the sample, and
eBay's [spokesperson Amanda] Miller said the information was not authentic.
U.S. states probe eBay cyber attack as customers complain
AppRiver's Jon French also noticed the Pastebin offer. He told me by email,
I'll be wary of anything like this until I see people saying they see their own names (or if I end up seeing mine). Eventually if the Pastebin offer is legit, someone will post the file for free somewhere or some security company that buys it will verify authenticity.
His colleague, Troy Gill, a senior security analyst at AppRiver also suggested something that serious criminals will be well aware of: "There is always the remote possibility that this is a honey pot set by authorities to lure in would be buyers."
eBay is taking the standard route for crisis management: say nothing. This is hugely disrespectful to its customers, who need and have a right to know everything possible. But eBay is also making a mistake in trying to downplay the effect of the stolen data. It says it has "no evidence of the compromise resulting in unauthorized activity for eBay users, and no evidence of any unauthorized access to financial or credit card information." This is meant to make its customers feel better – the danger is that it might.
What eBay isn't saying is that the unencrypted personal data also stolen (email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth) is a phisher's wet dream. Armed with that information criminals will be able to concoct very compelling emails and cold call telephone calls. This is likely to happen on a vast scale and very soon. eBay might feel confidant about its own business, but the data it has lost puts millions of individuals and other companies in danger.
"When companies like eBay keep silent about the details," commented High-Tech Bridge's Kolochenko, "I would tend to expect the worst." It is perhaps worth remembering the Adobe incident, which started off with a breach of a couple of million and slowly escalated into one of the worst breaches in history.


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What does H2O mean? This page is about the various possible meanings of the acronym, abbreviation, shorthand or slang term: H2O.
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- water, H2O(noun)
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The Accidental Blonde
Melissa Stagnaro
Most of the people I know seem to be incredibly cavalier about their hair color. They think nothing of sudden transitions which transform them from brunette to redhead to blonde and back again. Whether it is a full dye job or just some chunky highlights (or low-lights), changing the color of their crowning glory is something they do with little regard. In fact, they seem to enjoy changing up their hair color more often then most people swap out their bed linens.
I've always been the exception. An unfortunately high school incident, which left me with burgundy-tinted tresses for much of my freshman year and scarred for life, cured me of any desire to mess with my natural mousy-brown locks. Much to the chagrin of my friend Liz, I might add, who is absolutely addicted to her (increasingly blonde) highlights.
Fearing what would happen if I ever attempted to alter my hair color again, I resigned myself to being a brunette to the end of my days. Until that is, I started noticing a few too many silver strands in my otherwise dark locks.
My hair stylist, Penny, no doubt tired of my lamentations, suggested that a few subtle highlights were just what I needed to take my mind off my prematurely graying mane.
After months of dithering and self doubt, I conceded. And just before Christmas, I let the saintly Penny work her magic. She added just a few caramel colored highlights, but it worked. Any and all unsightly gray was effectively camouflaged and I felt all pretty and new.
Liz, of course, was thrilled. And she was practically cackling with delight a few months later, when I let Penny have her wicked way with my wayward locks once more, adding even more caramel to my coiffure.
Initially, I was a little worried that I'd gone too far, but I got used to it. I failed to anticipate Mother Nature, however, and the amount my tinted tresses would respond to sunny summer rays.
I didn't realize just how much my hair had lightened up until last week, when I returned to Penny's chair once more for a much-needed touch up. I left the salon decidedly more blonde than I'd gone in.
I don't fault my lovely stylist because, in actuality, she left much of my hair as it was, just touching up the 'rootage,' so to speak. But to realize how light my hair had gotten was more than a bit startling to me. And I'm not the only one. My mother keeps staring at me. Liz, on the other hand, is no doubt doing some kind of happy dance.
Don't get me wrong, I'm far from a platinum rating or anything. But it's all a bit lighter than I was emotionally prepared. A few calming breaths, though, and I am more ready to go with the flow.
There's no time like the present, I figure, to find out if blondes really do have more fun.


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"Dear Kids,
Greetings from the South! Guess I depend upon Mom to write all the news but she's been getting all the mail so decided I'd better write, too!
This is like a spring day. The climate is changeable. We've all had colds but feel better now.
Susan loves to go to Kindergarten. I'm starting her in S.S. tomorrow. It meets right in the school building.
Smiths invited us to a bridge party tonight- 3 tables. We haven't been anywhere all week. Pretty good for us! We had Smiths over for a chicken dinner last Sat. night.
Jeannie, if you haven't sent the Kleenex will you stick in a Coty lipstick- dahlia shade. I'll send you a money order for all. I'm a nuisance!


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TT8001 - Statistical Pattern Recognition
Lessons are not given in the academic year 2016/2017
Examination arrangement
Examination arrangement: Oral examination
Grade: Passed/Failed
Evaluation form | Weighting | Duration | Examination aids | Grade deviation |
Oral examination | 100/100 |
Course content
The course is lectured biannually, next time spring 2016.
The course deals with statistical methods for classification and clustering.
Within classification focus is set on Bayesian theory, parametric and non-parametric techniques, different estimation methods, distortion measures, linear and nonlinear classifiers, different classifier structures, static and dynamic problems, generalization, etc.
Within clustering focus is set upon hierarchical methods, classical algorithms like K-means, newer techniques like fuzzy and competitive methods, latent semantic analysis, etc. Further, choice of distortion measures and optimization criteria matched to input room topology.
Further principles for anomaly detection will be presented.
Learning outcome
Learning objectives : The student shall learn the theory of statistical methods for classification and clustering. This applies to both basis theory and state-of-the-art methods.
Skills : The student shall learn how to apply the theory on different physical signals like images, speech, medical signals aso.
Learning methods and activities
A combination of lectures and self-study.
Recommended previous knowledge
Knowledge of basic statistics, estimation theory and vector algebra
Required previous knowledge
Knowledge minimum comparable to course TMA4245 Statistics.
Course materials
Lecture notes and journal articles/papers. The book "Pattern Recognition" by Theodoridis&Koutroumbas (AP 2006) is recommended as reference literature.
Examination arrangement: Oral examination
Term | Evaluation form | Weighting | Examination aids | Date | Time | Room * |
Autumn | Oral examination | 100/100 | ||||
Spring | Oral examination | 100/100 |
If more than one room is listed, you will find your room at Studentweb.


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Eye Protection for Work and SportsTopic OverviewMany types of protective eyewear are available. Lenses in the eyewear come in a variety of thicknesses. The thickness of lenses you need to wear depend on your activities and any eye conditions you have. The lenses in these glasses or goggles should be made from polycarbonate. These lenses can be prescription or nonprescription. Safety goggles may be worn over regular eyeglasses. Face shield and helmet combinations are available that can be used in contact sports. People with only one functional eye should wear sports eye protectors under their sport face mask (such as a football helmet) for added protection. Related Information
eMedicineHealth Medical Reference from Healthwise This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions. To learn more visit Healthwise.org © 1995-2014 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. |


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You can send a message to this company using the contact form below.
The Water & Wastes Digest staff invites industry professionals to nominate the water and wastewater projects they deem most remarkable and innovative for recognition in the Annual Reference Guide issue. All projects must have been in the design or construction phase over the last 18 months.


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Vote! L'Oreal Paris' Fifth Annual Women of Worth Awards
One of 10 inspiring women who have helped their local communities will win $25,000 towards her charitable organization.
-Faye Brennan
We've all heard L'Oreal Paris' tagline, "Because I'm Worth It." But, the phrase means much more than just treating yourself to wonderful beauty products. It also represents the company's Women of Worth Awards, which are celebrating their fifth anniversary this year.
In the Women of Worth Awards, L'Oreal Paris recognizes 10 extraordinary women who have made an everlasting impact in their local communities by setting up charitable programs to support a range of causes. All 10 honorees receive $5,000 towards their program, as well as $5,000 in their name that L'Oreal Paris gives to their primary philanthropic partner, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF).
A public online vote will determine the one lucky lady who will receive an additional $25,000 towards her charitable program. This National Honoree will be announced on December 9th at an awards ceremony hosted by L'Oreal Paris and Hearst Magazines at Hearst Tower in NYC.
"We are thrilled to honor this year's extraordinary group of women," says L'Oreal Paris President Karen Fondu. "This year's Women of Worth honorees truly exemplify our belief that every woman has the power to make a difference."
Public online voting is going on now through November 24th, and every vote counts. To read about all ten of the honorees and their charitable programs, and to cast your vote (one per email address), go to womenofworth.com.
Faye Brennan is assistant editor at BettyConfidential.


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NEW ALBANY – The owner of land on which an asphalt plant was begun before a circuit court ruling halted its construction will appeal the case to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Riverside Traffic Systems Inc., which owns a 29-acre property on Munsford Drive in New Albany, had contracted to sell the land to Memphis-based Lehman-Roberts Co. upon resolution of zoning questions. The city of New Albany issued a building permit to Lehman-Roberts to build an asphalt plant on the site. However, Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey ruled in March to end the construction after a civil lawsuit was brought against the city, Riverside and Lehman-Roberts by nearby landowners and other residents.
Lackey ruled that a 1997 zoning change of the property was "arbitrary and capricious" and thus invalid. The property was originally zoned agricultural, but was later reclassified industrial in a comprehensive land-use map. Lackey found, however, that the legally required procedure for such a change, including public notice, was never fulfilled.
"My opinion is that it will not be reversed," said attorney Bill Rutledge, who represented plaintiffs Robin Bostwick, Eric Frohn, Allen Maxwell, Herbert Rogers III and Ray Tate. The ruling required New Albany to withdraw the building permit that it had issued to Lehman-Roberts.
"They (defendants) have to show either that there was a mistake, which Judge Lackey found that there was not, or … that there has been a change in the neighborhood justifying rezoning and that it would be beneficial to the community," Rutledge said. "I personally don't believe any of those standards can be met."
Munsford Drive was built in the mid-1990s to divert traffic away from the often-crowded interchange of State Highway 30 and U.S. 78, which also serves the local hospital and the city's busiest commercial area. Most of its about two-mile length is open or wooded, with only a few businesses.
The property in question, referred to in court documents as the "Farr Property," adjoins another tract accessed by the Highway 78 frontage road whose occupant is an operating asphalt plant.
Rhett Wise, attorney for Riverside Traffic Systems, did not respond to the Daily Journal's request for comment.
Contact Errol Castens at (662) 281-1069 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Errol Castens/NEMS Daily Journal


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Elle's Revenge
Science-Fiction, Alien, Body modification, Female / Girl, Female Domination, Monster, Rape, School, Transgendered, Transsexual
Author's infos
Gender: male Age: N/A Location: N/A
Posted Wed 14th of September 2011
Elle has an accident that leaves her with a secret...
"Come on elephant get your fat ass moving you're holding us up!" The snide thin athletic girl yelled at Elle from the top of the hill.
Oh how she loathed that nickname, was it her fault her stupid parents named her Elle, knowing perfectly well that her family did not exactly have a history of being thin. Of course she had escaped that ridicule for most of her childhood having been home schooled, but unfortunately her new step-mom, who stuck out in the family photo like a sore thumb. Thin and athletic in a group of well, overweight individuals. Elle's family liked to eat and combined with the 'bad' genes the family definitely drew attention with their size when they got together. The nice thing about being from a family like that was Elle was at least accepted by them and for most of her life despite being what some considered grossly overweight, she was happy. That was until her mom died of heart failure little over a year before. About the same time her dad had a scare too and not wanting to leave her parentless, he made a decision to try to get control of his weight. It was that decision that directly led to the mess Elle was now in.
Her dad started seeing a trainer, and he began seeing remarkable results. Of course it was only later that Elle learned that the trainer's methods were a little more sexual than is usually used. One thing led to another and soon Elle had a new step-mom from hell, which Elle had little doubt had less to do with affection for her father and more to do with the extremely large sum of money her dad had inherited year before from a rich eccentric uncle.
The first thing that Crystal, her new step mom, did was to put Elle in public school, and insist that she too get herself in shape. She said it was for Elle's own good, but Elle knew better, Crystal felt that feeding Elle and paying for private tutors to spare her humiliation was cutting into her profit margins, so she 'cut the fat' as they say. So now as a part of that Elle was on a wilderness hike with a local girl's outdoors club, which of course had to be led by none other than Darci Malko, the cheerleading captain at Elle's school, and a bunch of her lackeys.
Elle glared at Darci and silently wishing she would fall off the rock on which she taunt Elle from, began huffing her way up the large hill sweat soaking her shirt shorts and underwear thoroughly. By the time she made it to the top gasping for air her clothes were drenched so much so that you could see right through the white shirt.
"Uggh!" Darci shouted looking at her, "Cover those things up Ellie-phant! There is no wet t-shirt contest on this trip, as if anyone would want to see you naked you fat cow!" Elle looked down and was horrified to note that, sure enough, her front was soaked through so that even her nipples we visible for the whole group to see. She turned scarlet as the group noticed all but a few erupted in laughter. Darci gave a wicked smile as the laughing died down and said, 'Its called a sports bra Elle-phant, and don't say your boobs are too big, yours are not much bigger than mine, only mine are more noticeable because, unlike you I don't have a big flabby belly under them!" and to emphasize her point Darci lifted her shirt to show her toned stomach and massive chest. "See Ellie-phant," she taunted, "This is what a real woman looks like!"
Elle's humiliation turned to anger and somewhere deep inside her something snapped and power surged through her. Forgetting her tiredness and her aches and pains Elle launched herself at the shocked cheerleader, but Darci was too quick and was able to step out of the way. Elle's momentum carried her well past the group of girls and before she could stop herself she had gone over the ledge behind Darci. Elle fell only a few feet but hit the ground and rolled all the way down the grassy slope barely missing trees as she rolled out of control. When she finally came to a halt she was in a small pit that until she had crashed through had been cover by plants and part of a fallen tree. She also could swear she had broken something open when she fell in the depression as she could feel what felt like glass stabbing her back, but after her tumble she had no strength to move to investigate. She suspected that from the pain she felt a few of her bones were broken and she was bleeding from several deep gashes. She hope wondered if [i]they would find her in time. She got on look at the sizable crater like whole before she felt a sharper pain in her back and she passed out.
What happened next was vague at best she remembered flashes of what happened but nothing definite, the only thing she knew of for sure was a voice telling her over and over she was going to be okay.
"It's a miracle that you weren't hurt or killed Elle!' her dad said once she had woken, concern etched on his face. "What were you thinking rushing Darci like that?"
Elle wanted to answer but she knew it would do little good, her dad was a sweet man, but Crystal had him completely pussy-whipped by now. Elle knew complaining to him would get her nowhere if anything it would make things worse. Elle gave no answer and her dad just shook his head and kissed her forehead before saying, "Okay, if you don't want to tell me fine, just promise daddy you'll never scare me like that again, I already lost your mom, I can't lose you too." Elle nodded and felt shame for what her momentary loss of control had nearly done.
"Sorry, daddy, I won't do it again I promise." She said remorsefully.
"Its okay, no harm done, well I'll let you get some sleep, goodnight pumpkin." He said and left.
Elle watched him go before reflecting on her lack of injury it seemed incredible, that given how crappy she had felt that she now not only felt okay, she felt stronger somehow. What's more she had been pounding double helpings of food at every meal with little effect, in fact the doctor said she had lost ten pounds in the few days she had been here. This was only precautionary as the doctor wanted to be sure that there were no internal injuries that and Elle had been running some kind of fever.
In fact the only thing she was still suffering from was a nasty stomach ache, but that was hardly to be unexpected given how she was eating, though oddly enough though it seemed to hurt worse when Crystal or one of the attractive nurses came by.
Despite this curious issue Elle was released after a week in the hospital since it was a Friday, she was glad of this as it saved her enduring Darci's taunts. However, she still had Crystal to deal with Who would not be happy Elle had managed to get off the trip. Sure enough on Saturday Crystal cornered her step daughter as Elle sat watching TV and shoveling down snacks.
"So you lazy piece of shit, you managed to get out of losing some weight again, and here you are back again eating crap on the sofa. Pathetic!" Elle did her best to ignore her step-mom, but when Crystal said, "Look at me when I'm speaking to you, you fat cunt!"
Elle glared at her step-mom and that when she felt it sharp stab in her abdomen and a wave of pain washed over her. then another and another. Somehow Elle maintain eye contact throughout Crystal's tirade of which Elle heard none as another sharp pain hit her but this time it was not her stomach, it was from her vagina. She then felt a rush of fluid in her pussy and moments later the front of her pants began to show a growing blood stain. As she was sure she felt something pushing further down her vagina finally stopping just short of her pussy.
Crystal spotted the stain and said, "Jesus Christ, didn't that cow of a mother teach you anything, go get a tampon or something you useless cow!"
Elle did not need telling twice. She rushed from the room and the minute she reached the bathroom she pulled down her sweats and panties and without hesitation plunged her fingers into her pussy she could feel the full sensation retreating as she did, but not before her fingers met what was unmistakably a hard object in her vagina canal and unless she was mistaken it had but deflowered her from the inside!
Elle was scared, but she also felt another sensation, horniness and pleasure. Her fingers still buried in her pussy her body reacted to the absence of the hard object with a desire to be filled. Elle grabbed one of Crystal's hairbrushes that was nearby and buried it as deep as it would go in her now wet pussy. At the same time her thumb worked her clit and while her other had reached for her nipples to find that they were rock hard. For the next few minutes Elle played with herself thrusting the brush handle in faster and faster, until she could stand it no longer and came hard nearly collapsing to the floor from the effort.
For the rest of the weekend Elle avoided contact with Crystal at all costs, not wishing to have that hard thing emerge again. Elle did notice that her cramps continued to get worse though, and what's more despite not slowing her appetite at all, Elle was still losing a remarkable amount of weight for such a short time. She her jeans wouldn't fit her anymore if this kept up. Elle knew something was definitely wrong but she couldn't argue with the results. For the first time in her three years three Elle actually got some compliments that Monday, apparently her weight loss had not gone unnoticed.
However, it did not prevent Darci from taking her shot at Elle the first chance they were alone. Elle was in the locker room taking a shower on mandate from her PE teacher when mid way through her scrubbing she heard it.
"Well, well it is true even the elephant gets bath once in a while. She turned to see Darci standing naked behind her and as she inadvertently checked out her attractive classmate Elle felt that stab of pain and throb she had felt when she had looked Crystal he other day. Elle tried to get the cheerleaders perfect form out of her mind but for some reason it wouldn't budge and suddenly the pain became worse the throbbing increased the thing was pushing down her vagina again this time with far more urgency, what's more Elle knew it was bigger and thicker this time.
"Darci…" Elle cried not looking at the girl, knowing if Darci didn't clear out soon there would be trouble.
"But not for you Elle," a familiar voice seemed to say in her head. Elle knew it from somewhere she couldn't place it.
"…get out now!!" Elle shouted as a warning, she did not know what the voice was but she did not like it. Darci only laughed.
"Why? Does the ugly elephant want privacy? Only people get privacy Ellie-phant! Now finish your bath so I can…"
That was all Elle remembered her saying, rage overwhelmed her and again she rushed the cheerleader, this time Darci could not get out of the way. Elle grabbed her and tackled her to the shower floor. Darci landed face up on the ground and was clearly dazed, Elle right on top of her. As Elle got another glimpse of the body there was another surge of pain, ecstasy, and what Elle swore was lust. Then to her horror and surprise Elle fell her pussy lips spread and looked down to watch what could only be a penis emerge from her. It kept emerging inch by inch until a cock of over ten inches stuck proudly out of her stretched pussy.
Elle examined the odd thing for a second taking in its bright blue color and that unlike a man's cock, or least pictures she had seen of one, it was ribbed. Tentatively she reached down and grabbed the blue rod and was surprised to feel a wave of pleasure wash over her as she did. Elle stroked it a few times then moaned with pleasure.
"God now I know why boys do this so much!" Elle thought.
'Yes," said the strange voice in her head agin it chuckled then added, "it is quite fun but so is sex, put it in Dacri, and find out."
Elle knew he voice now it was the one that had reassured her after her fall.
"What are you?" she thought,
"A friend you released me the other day and I'm going to help you as a result, but I do have a few conditions one of which is what you are currently experiencing my dear Elle. I will explain later, but first fuck Darci for me." Then after pause the voice said, "You know you want to."
"That's rape!" Elle thought.
"She deserves it Elle, she's made yours and countless other girls lives living hell while here, and don't deny it Elle, I've scanned you memories. Think of it this way she's spent three years making virtually every girl in this place her bitch, isn't it time someone took her down a peg and made her their bitch? Why not you Elle? All you have to do is shove that blue cock of yours into her and fuck her brains out, do that and she's yours!"
Lust and greed fought shame and pity, but ultimately anger won out. With a wicked smile Elle said to the still dazed Darci.
"Get ready for some Ellie-phant cock bitch!" She then buried her new shaft so deep she felt Darci's pussy lips touch her own.
Darci tried to scream but Elle silenced her
"No, no not today you spoiled cunt! Today you're going to be nice and quiet. Speaking of cunts though I must say very tight Darci, I guess Steve really is small." Steve was the quarterback and the guy everyone knew was fucking Darci. "I guess after me poor Steve won't do anything for you. He just doesn't measure up does he?" Elle said with vindictive pleasure.
For a while Darci resisted pleasure, but ultimately it was too much and she had a huge orgasm. At this Elle pulled out and roughly shoving the blue rod down he throat pumped quite a bit of what Elle assumed was cum down the cheerleaders throat.
Then she stood up and leering over the ravaged cheerleader Elle said, "Okay bitch here what's going to happen I let you off easy this time, but next time I'm not going to be so lenient. From now on your nice to me and the other girls here. If I heard you terrorized any girl at this school I'll be back and next time it won't be your throat I'm flooding if you catch my drift. The same goes for if you say anything about what just happened got it?" Darci nodded and Elle said, 'Good now get out of my shower bitch I need to finish!" Dacri quickly left the showers and Elle marveled at what she had just done.
"See Elle, what did I tell you docile as a pussy cat now." Elle heard the voice say as she felt the penis retract. Elle smiled as she finished washing thinking of others she'd love to use this on, her new mommy dearest for one.
(More? y/n)
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17 comments
Anonymous reader
2013-12-17 10:29:42
I'm in agreement that the story be continued. Please, PLEASE, pay attention to proper editing for spelling, sentencing, and that each sentence makes sense!! Have someone knowledgeable read and proof before submitting.
If Elle's new cock shoots something "like cum" then she should be able to impregnate Darci (her cheerleading friend) and Crystal (her new stepmother). And with the new power spurt of her new cock Elle should cause each pregnancy to be with at least twins or triplets!! What a revelation!!
anonymous reader
2013-10-26 12:40:06
Bd0dAB I really enjoy the blog.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.
anonymous reader
2012-04-05 04:33:00
Different but good how about part 2
anonymous reader
2012-01-20 15:13:15
yes, continue the story
anonymous reader
2011-11-09 23:27:12
Your a good writer. It isnt strait forward. There is inferring and humer, it is very good
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text:
Li & Fung Surges After UBS Upgrades Outsourcer: Hong Kong Mover
Billy ChanLi & Fung Ltd., the world's largest supplier of clothes and toys to retailers, climbed the most in 17 months in Hong Kong trading after UBS AG upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell.
Li & Fung advanced as much as 7.8 percent to HK$11.10, headed for the biggest gain since Nov. 28, 2011, before trading at HK$11.04 as of 10:18 a.m. in Hong Kong.
The stock has lost more than 50 percent of its value since January 2011, as a sluggish U.S. economy hurt orders from the outsourcer's biggest market. Li & Fung in March said it will miss its three-year target of $1.5 billion operating income by 2013, and Standard & Poor's in April lowered its credit rating.
"We upgrade Li & Fung to Neutral due to a lack of near-term catalysts and lower settlement on previous acquisitions," UBS analysts led by Spencer Leung wrote in a note to clients.
Morgan Stanley and Macquarie Securities in March upgraded Li & Fung, citing its balance sheet and dividends. The Morgan Stanley analysts said the stock's "negativity is mostly priced in."
"Our long-term de-rating thesis remains intact," the UBS analysts wrote. "The golden decade of China sourcing has passed as the wage advantage diminishes."
Li & Fung's "slowdown in acquisitions and the decline in dividends" will probably continue, said the Hong Kong-based analysts, who included Erica Poon Werkun and Siguo Chen.
Li & Fung's profit last year fell 9.4 percent to $617 million, missing the average of 17 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It was the first profit decline in four years for the company, which traces its beginnings to 1906 when parent Li & Fung Group was founded.
The supplier to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. had $680 million in cash at the end of last year, compared with $426 million in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.