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Land bank eyeing properties for acquisition
ARENAC COUNTY — The recently formed Arenac County Land Bank — established October 2008 — was created to promote the economic development of foreclosed properties in the county and on April 1, it will begin to evaluate properites that may be feasible for development and purchase.
According to Arenac County Treasurer/Land Bank Committee Chairman Dennis Stawowy, as of Thursday, Feb. 26, there were 84 total properties — four being commercial — in the foreclosure stage and eligible for auction, although, he says that number will almost definitely decrease before the April 1 redemption deadline.
"After Feb. 18, when the courts list the foreclosures, there's a redemption period until March 31," Stawowy said, explaining owners of the forcelosed properties can keep them by paying the back taxes on said properties during that time.
"We're expecting that 84 number to be down to 40, which is still substantially up from 25 last year," Stawowy added.
He says land banks are a useful entity to a county because of the options and leeway land banks are allowed, adding job-creating tax incentives are involved as well as economic advancement.
"When a property is purchased by the land bank, (it qualifies for) Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, which utilizes all kinds of tools for development," Stawowy said. "It creates a more traditional market.
"A land bank can purchase a property, put a modular on it and then either sell the property, or if we wanted, rent the property out. There's lots of leeway."
He also says Brownfield Redevelopment Authority helps to clean up a site and develop the property, making it more enticing to a developer.
"Some of the problems with foreclosure auctions are that you get people from out-of-county or even out-of-state who purchase the property in an auction in hopes of holding onto it for a short while and then flipping it, but end up not doing anything with it, not paying the taxes on it, and then it goes back into foreclosure; or when someone buys a property with an old building, hoping to fix it up or tear it down and rebuild, but finds the cost to take down a building is more than they thought," Stawowy said. "So with a land bank and Brownfield, we'll purchase some properties, clean 'em up and hopefully, be able to find developers to purchase the property at fair market value.
"This is kind of the legislative fix to the problem of the foreclosures."
He also says it's more feasible for a developer to pay market value for a property with the tools a land bank presents than is it to purchase a "dirty" site with no tools available at foreclosed value.
Currently, the Arenac County Land Bank doesn't own a property because of its short time of existence and it also doesn't have any funds at this point, Stawowy says.
"(I'm) going to turn in a proposal for 2-percent grants for some funding," the chairman said. "The board (of commissioners) has paid for training for some of the members and we're going to see if they'll pay for some more, too."
He added none of the serving land bank board members receive compensation at this point, but in the future, the land bank may have to hire a manager, as he says other land banks in Michigan have ventured in that direction, while some counties have several managers.
Stawowy says he hopes Arenac County can do a little residential renewal on some vacant properties this year as the land bank will likely look to purchase only a couple of properties in its first year of operation.
"When money becomes available, (we) can start to buy Housing Urban Development (HUD) foreclosed homes and bank foreclosures," he said. "With HUD homes, (we) can buy one at $1, fix it up, and sell the property for $30,000.
"All of the profit would then be put back in the land bank and used to purchase more properties. Land banks are like a revolving fund – none of the money can be used for county purposes or put into county funds."
He says land banks have only been a provision under the law for about seven years and Michigan was a big initiator in the legislation that has since been copied by many other states.
"Genesee was one of the first counties to have a land bank in Michigan," Stawowy said. "They have hundreds of projects going at the same time. They even bought up a whole block of foreclosed property in one project and developed the whole block at once. But they have a significantly larger foreclosure listing than Arenac.
"I know of one county that started their land bank by borrowing $1-2 million on the basis to pay back the loan over (many) years and have already paid it back and took out a bigger bond. That might be something down the road, if more opportunities present themselves, Arenac County could look into; but not at this point."
He says, eventually, Arenac County's land bank will pay for inspections prior to buying so it doesn't end up in a bind.
"I can already see some cases where a vacant lot would be more valuable than lots with old broken-down houses," he said, adding today's cleanup methods for an old home are much more expensive than when you used to be able to just burn them down.
Stawowy says the county won't be able to speculate on which properties it may look into because of the inability to predict which ones will still be foreclosed.
"We've had a few properties we thought for sure wouldn't get paid but have since been paid. So we'll just have to wait until April 1 to see," he said.
Keywordsarenac county land bank dennis stawowy foreclosed properties brownfield redevelopment economic development
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Car Review
2013 Nissan Sentra: New vs. Old
The redesigned 2013 Nissan Sentra has a difficult mission ahead. It must prove mainstream enough to woo increasing numbers of compact car buyers seeking a blend of fuel economy and functionality combined with value and technology while simultaneously adhering to Nissan brand principles, which have traditionally positioned the company's products as more dynamic and fun to drive than equivalent Hondas and Toyotas.
At the same time, the new 2013 Sentra needs to be more expressively styled than key Japanese competitors, banishing the model's status as an outlier within the small car class in the process. Finally, the new Nissan Sentra must prove itself a better value proposition than the pre-owned Sentras parked nearby on the dealer's lot.
Did Nissan go far enough with the redesigned 2013 Sentra? Let's take a closer look.
Fuel Economy
All car companies are striving to improve fuel economy, because customers want it and the federal government is demanding it. To ensure that the new 2013 Sentra is more fuel efficient than the old Sentra, Nissan improved the sedan's aerodynamics, reduced its curb weight by 150 pounds and installed a smaller and more efficient engine. In the process, Nissan eliminated the SE-R and SE-R Spec V performance models from the Sentra lineup.
The new 2013 Sentra is equipped with a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine generating 130 horsepower and 128 lb-ft of torque. In all models except for the base Sentra S, this engine is paired with a new version of Nissan's Xtronic continuously variable transmission (CVT), resulting in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy ratings of 30 mpg in the city, 39 mpg on the highway and 34 mpg in combined driving. Choose a Sentra S or Sentra SV with the FE+ Package (Fuel Economy Plus) and the Sentra is rated to get 40 mpg on the highway thanks to low rolling-resistance tires, aerodynamic underbody panels and a rear spoiler.
In comparison, the old Sentra, in base trim and equipped with a CVT, weighed 25 pounds shy of 3,000 pounds. It had a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine generating 140 hp and 147 lb-ft of torque. With the CVT, fuel economy ratings were 27 mpg in the city, 34 mpg on the highway and 30 mph in combined driving. The more powerful Sentra SE-R models, as might be expected, consumed more fuel, with the SE-R rated 26 mpg in combined driving and the SE-R Spec V rated 24 mpg.
In terms of fuel economy then, the clear advantage goes to the redesigned 2013 Nissan Sentra.
As this article is written, the new 2013 Sentra has not been crash tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), but, as you will see, it shouldn't be difficult to improve upon the previous-generation Sentra's scores.
The old Sentra debuted for the 2007 model year and, in 2012, came standard with six airbags, a traction and stability control system and anti-lock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution. Only the SE-R models offered rear-disc brakes.
By comparison, the new Sentra offers an identical package of safety equipment, enhanced with brake assist technology and the availability of rear-disc brakes on the SR and SL models. A reversing camera is also optional on the 2013 Sentra.
In crash tests, under the NHTSA's pre-2011 standards, the 2007-2010 Sentra models received an overall rating of 5 stars combined with impressive results in tests performed by the IIHS.
When the NHTSA strengthened standards for the 2011 model year, ratings from both organizations fell. In NHTSA tests, protection for the front seat passenger in a frontal impact rated three stars, while side impact protection for that same occupant rated only two stars. The IIHS, which did not modify its methodology that year, also found that the Sentra delivered decreased protection in a side impact, though the car still provided either "Good" or "Acceptable" protection in every IIHS assessment.
Because the previous-generation Sentra's IIHS crash test ratings actually dipped over the course of the car's life, and because the redesigned 2013 Sentra offers a few extra safety features compared to the previous-generation model, we give the new car the nod with the understanding that, until the redesigned Sentra is crash tested, no judgment can be final.
Despite an average reliability record, the previous-generation Sentra's engines and transmission are durable, according to Consumer Reports. Unfortunately, Nissan's certified pre-owned (CPO) program warranty, which is surprisingly generous in other respects, only covers the engine, transmission and drivetrain components for seven years or 100,000 miles. In other words, Nissan certifies the parts of a used Sentra that, by all indications, don't break and don't require certification.
The new 2013 Sentra is equipped with 3-year/36,000-mile warranty covering the entire vehicle, and a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. Unlike many competitors, Nissan does not offer 24-hour roadside assistance or free scheduled maintenance.
Compared to a new Sentra, a certified pre-owned model could be a gamble, because Nissan's CPO program does not provide warranty protection for the items that tend to cause repair bills. Advantage: 2013 Sentra.
As this article is written, Nissan dealers all around the country are offering CPO Sentras ranging in price and mileage from just under $10,000 for a 2008 Sentra 2.0 S with 58,000 miles to nearly $18,000 for a 2011 Sentra SE-R with 16,000 miles.
A new 2013 Sentra S with a manual gearbox and without any options starts at $16,780, including the $790 destination charge. Equip a 2013 Sentra SL with every factory option and it rolls off the showroom floor for $24,485.
Clearly, the discounts for CPO Sentras are enticing, especially for the newer models with fewer miles, as they appear to rapidly depreciate before prices level off. Nissan's CPO program is also appealing, outside of the deficiencies in its warranty coverage.
To be eligible for Nissan's CPO Program, a used Sentra must be less than five years from its original in-service date, with fewer than 60,000 miles on the odometer. Sentras that qualify are subjected to a 150-point inspection, and the dealer obtains a CARFAX vehicle history report to ensure that the title is clear. A 7-year/100,000-mile limited warranty covers the Sentra's engine, transmission and drivetrain against failure, and Nissan requires no more from the car's owner than a $50 deductible per dealer visit for a covered repair.
This is fairly standard-issue CPO coverage. Nissan's CPO program is most appealing because it offers free 24-hour emergency roadside assistance for seven years or 100,000 miles, a benefit not offered on the new Sentra. Roadside assistance can be used if the driver runs out of gas, gets a flat tire or needs help with a dead battery. Plus, Nissan's CPO program provides car rental reimbursement, trip interruption and towing benefits, as well as a free 3-month subscription to satellite radio.
Though Sentra buyers can save thousands of dollars and enjoy the benefits of 24-hour roadside assistance by choosing a certified pre-owned model, we have reservations about the car's dependability outside of its powertrain. If the CPO program offered a warranty covering more than just the engine, transmission and drivetrain, or if the Sentra's non-mechanical parts demonstrated the same level of reliability as the mechanical bits, selecting the CPO Sentra would be a slam-dunk.
Instead, and only because discounts on slightly used Sentras are significant, we're forced to call this one a draw.
The new 2013 Sentra offers simple but significant upgrades over the old Sentra in terms of technology. Look past the somewhat gimmicky LED running lights and taillights and you'll find useful features, such as a reversing camera, NissanConnect smartphone integration technology and an Easy Fill Tire Alert System. The latter, unfortunately, is only offered on the Sentra SL.
NissanConnect includes a hands-free text-messaging assistant, Bluetooth audio streaming, Pandora Internet radio, Google POI search and more. The Easy Fill Tire Alert System, which really ought to be standard on all Sentras, makes it super simple to properly inflate the car's tires by beeping when the owner has reached optimum inflation pressure. Given how important properly maintained tires are to overall vehicle control and safety, we think this feature ought to be standard. At a minimum, it should not be reserved for the most expensive trim level.
Compared to the old Sentra, the new Sentra doesn't offer a long list of technology upgrades, but those that are newly available carry significant weight. The new Sentra is the victor here.
AutoTrader's Recommendation
The redesigned 2013 Sentra provides clear advantages in terms of fuel economy and technology, and is likely to demonstrate improved crash test ratings when the car undergoes NHTSA and IIHS testing.
The reliability and value equations are harder to quantify. The old Sentra's overall dependability is unimpressive, and though several aspects of Nissan's CPO program are appealing, it fails to provide added confidence in the areas where the old Sentra has demonstrated weakness. That said, Nissan's new-car warranty package leaves much to be desired at the same time that low-mileage, well-equipped CPO Sentras are relatively inexpensive, offering 25 percent discounts or better.
If the old Sentra's overall reliability ratings were improved, or if Nissan's CPO program warranty covered more than just the parts already known to be dependable or the old Sentra's IIHS crash-test ratings hadn't gotten worse over time, we would recommend that consumers carefully consider a CPO Nissan Sentra. But since that's not the case, and unless you really want the sporty Sentra SE-R model, we recommend buying a new 2013 Sentra.

subset: commoncrawl


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...was Stephanie so HAPPY yesterday?!?
I know...two posts in the same day...what has come over me!?!
Well...actually...there is a "list" of reasons! :)
1. The homecoming banner (decision was made to do class "banners" this year instead of floats) is done...she has been responsible for coordinating this, getting materials, etc. and she was, let's just say, a little "stressed" about it on Tuesday.
Note: Can't "show" the finished banner yet...top secret until judging tonight! :)
2. Dress up day at school was "purple day"...one of her fav colors (she had dressed up as "Jamaica" the day before for "J day")!
3. She finished her book ("Till We Have Faces")...barely...for AP English and got it turned in on time...and was able to get a quick nap after school!
4. Her SAT scores were available online...she was afraid to look (she decided to retake the test last month and was worried she might score lower than the first time)...she actually scored 110 points higher!!! Way to go Steph! :)
5. The Powder Puff game was played at school...Seniors vs. Juniors...a new homecoming tradition for SCA! What a blast! Steph sang the National Anthem before the game and then made a "tackle" during the game (the announcer commented...she can sing the anthem AND play defense...lol)!
One of the highlights of the game was definitely the "cheerleaders"...not only did the guys practice all week, they even did halftime routines...very impressive...and hysterical! :)
Unforturnately the Junior girls beat the Seniors but I think everyone had so much fun they didn't care...and the Seniors had the "Dippin Dots" party after the game anyway!
6. She had tickets to the MIDNIGHT showing of High School Musical 3 and went with a big group of friends! Came home on cloud nine...LOVED it...and can't wait to go again! :)
SO thankful! :)


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Original Caption:
Packing Mamas Round Up Marauders.
Viers Mill Village — Pistol-packing mamas of Viers Mill Village, a Washington D.C., suburb, terrorized by night marauders for 3 weeks, rounded up four men in gun-fire studded chase early today. Wielding rifles, pistols, knives and baseball bats, the aroused housewives had the intruders begging for mercy when police reached the battlefield. Shown are Mrs. Mary Schultz, holding a .45; Mrs. Doris Young, carrying a butcher knife; Mrs. Martha Newell with a rifle, and Mrs. Warren Leigh, wielding a baseball bat. (1950)


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Tennis ace set to return earlier than expected.
Rafael Nadal, out of action since the middle of last season because of injury, will now make his return at next month's ATP claycourt event in Vina del Mar, Chile, a week earlier than expected, he revealed on Thursday.
Nadal's camp had announced on Tuesday that the Spaniard would make his long-awaited comeback at the Brazil Open in Sao Paulo, scheduled February 11-17.
But the seven-times French Open champion said Thursday he would in fact return to action in Chile on February 4.
"I am pleased to confirm my participation at the Vina del Mar tournament in Chile," Nadal posted on his Facebook page.
"I would like to thank the tournament organisers for the invitation and to say that I have many fans in (Chile), I can finally meet them in person and play my first tournament since my injury which has kept me out for so long," he added.
Spanish tennis federation doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said on Wednesday that Nadal was in the final stages of his recovery and that his comeback plans were proceeding according to plan.
The Vina del Mar tournament organisers confirmed Nadal's participation in the coastal city tournament.
"Now completely recovered, he is looking to playing on his favourite surface to add games, rhythm and confidence, on the South American part of the tour, which begins with the VTR Open ATP Chile," it read.
The Vina del Mar event, situated 120 kilometres west of the Chilean capital city Santiago, runs from February 4-10 and will also feature Juan Monaco, Carlos Berlocq, Pablo Andujar, Albert Ramos and Santiago Giraldo.
Nadal, currently ranked four in the world, has won 11 Grand Slam titles but injuries have dogged him and the 26-year-old Spaniard hasn't played since June, missing the Olympics, US Open and the Davis Cup final.
He also had to skip the ongoing Australian Open because of a stomach virus while a succession of knee injuries have plagued his career.
Get your Wimbledon 2013 tickets here in preparation for this summer's tournament.
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Learn and plan.
If you want to go someplace you've never been before, one of the best ways to do it is educate yourself about all your options and then map out the route that's best for you. Learn & Plan.
That's our aim in this section: to help you learn all you can about your options for reaching your financial goals and then plan how to get there. Financial security is both a destination and a journey and we want to help you every step of the way.
Do you want to learn or plan?
We've all got a lot to learn about the best way to protect our loved ones financially; how to plan for retirement and even, we hope, enjoy it when we get there. The more you learn, the better decisions you'll make for today and tomorrow. It's a long journey and we'll be there every step of the way.
The old cliché applies: "people don't plan to fail; they fail to plan." Planning's not always fun, and in today's world it's often hard to find the time. After 170 years, we can say with confidence those who do never regret it. And when it comes to planning your financial future, now is always the best time to start.


text: USC recruiter Deke Adams met with DE Andrew Williams of McDonough, GA today as he was attempting to nail down an official visit from Williams who has not yet nailed down dates or destinations for his visits. He has a top five of USC, Clemson, Auburn, Ole Miss and LSU and is trying to decide which ones will get visits. He plans to take only three or four of the allotted five official visits. Clemson recruiter Marion Hobby was in to see Williams earlier this week. Williams said he may have his visits lined up by next week and they won't take place until after the dead period ends in January.


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Software calculation program
ARCAD's Short Circuit Analysis calculates and considers electrical parameters for supply as well as distribution for electric power systems.
ARCAD Inc.'s Short Circuit Analytic (SCA V1.0) software program for short-circuit analysis performs available fault currents calculations in three-phase electric power systems. The program takes into consideration electrical parameters of the power supply as well as the power distribution system including utility, cables, bus ducts, transformers, generators, motors, and more. SCA automatically converts the entire system into a unique impedance unit from which the short-circuit current at every point is calculated.
ARCAD Inc.
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Thank you Match.com, because of you I met my soul mate, received a kidney transplant, and have an amazingly life!
Jeremy and I were both new to Match. I was skeptical about online dating so I ignored most of the messages I received at first. It was only after Jeremy sent me a second email did I take the time to look at his profile and realized he was interesting.
We exchanged phone numbers and before I knew it we were texting back and forth that same day. After a flurry of messages, we set a dinner date for that evening. We were both nervous for our first date with each other, let alone our first dates stemming from Match.com, but we hit it off right from the start. After our date, Jeremy and I decided that we wanted to see where this thing we had was heading. We continued seeing and getting to know each other. I found out about Jeremy's passion for helping others and off-roading and he found out about my aspirations for law school and that I was on dialysis because of kidney disease.
Our relationship blossomed quickly and we were soon in love. After much contemplation, Jeremy was determined to give me one of his kidneys. However, organ matching is a precise science and the chances of a non-family member being a blood and antigen match is very rare. Jeremy was tested to see if there was a possibility of being a match, and miraculously he was. Jeremy made an amazing sacrifice in order for me to have a better quality of life. I received his transplant in June and we spent the better part of six weeks hobbling around together until we were fully healed. In July we took a four-wheeling trip to Colorado, where Jeremy proposed to me on top of a beautiful mountain. We're planning our wedding for June 15, 2013. It's a symbolic day for us. Our surgery was exactly one year prior where we became one in flesh, now we look forward to becoming one in marriage. In the meantime, Jeremy and I are more in love than ever. My new kidney has allowed me to attend my first year of law school without the stress of dialysis and Jeremy is back to work as a fireman.
Read more of Nina and Jeremy's story on our Match.com success site!


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[November 14, 2012]
British Columbia Discovery Fund Provides Lead Order of $2 Million as D-Wave Systems, Inc. Completes $30 Million Equity Raise
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Nov 14, 2012 (Marketwire via COMTEX) -- British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc. is very pleased to announce that it has invested $2.0 million in D-Wave Systems, Inc. as the lead order that initiated a $30 million round of equity funding for D-Wave. Bezos Expeditions and In-Q-Tel (IQT) have also joined the investment round. Bezos Expeditions is the personal investment company of Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, Inc. IQT is the strategic investment firm that delivers innovative technology solutions in support of the missions of the U.S. intelligence community.
"We are pleased to have attracted such highly regarded investors to our company," stated Vern Brownell, CEO of D-Wave. "Jeff Bezos and In-Q-Tel are well-known visionaries. Both understand the implications of quantum computing as a world changing force, and these investments affirm their belief in D-Wave's unique approach to quantum computing. We want to thank BC Discovery Fund for providing the lead order and negotiating the terms under which we could complete this round. With these funds, we are accelerating our trajectory, putting this technology and its applications into the hands of users." BC Discovery Fund, Bezos Expeditions and IQT join current D-Wave investors, including Business Development Bank of Canada, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Goldman Sachs, Growthworks, Harris & Harris Group, International Investment and Underwriting, and Kensington Partners Limited.
D-Wave will use the new funding to augment its commercial operations and further increase its capabilities to provide solutions to its customers. This added capital allows D-Wave to pursue its growth strategy with the intention of making a difference to their customers' mission objectives. Those objectives are central to D-Wave technological innovation and quantum computing applications development. "Our Intelligence Community customers have many complex problems that tax classical computing architecture," stated Robert Ames, Vice President in charge of Information and Communication Technologies at IQT. "We believe our customers can benefit from the promise of quantum computing, and this investment in D-Wave is a first step in that direction." "Having achieved its first sale in 2011, D-Wave offers the first quantum computing system on the market," said Charles Cook, CFO of the Fund. "As a later stage investment of the Fund, we were attracted to D-Wave's strong pipeline of potential customers and investors, and we believe that D-Wave is on the brink of significant commercial success." About D-Wave Systems Inc.
Founded in 1999, D-Wave's mission is to integrate new discoveries in physics and computer science into breakthrough new approaches to computation. The company's flagship product, the D-Wave One(TM), is built around a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation. In 2010 Lockheed Martin purchased serial number 1, completing the historic world's first sale of a commercial quantum computer. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, its U.S. offices, as well as its superconducting chip foundry, are located in Silicon Valley. D-Wave has a blue-chip investor base including Business Development Bank of Canada, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Goldman Sachs, Growthworks, Harris & Harris Group, International Investment and Underwriting, Kensington Partners Limited. Gartner Group analysts named D-Wave 2012 Cool Vendor in High-Performance Computing and Extreme-Low-Energy Servers.
About British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc.
British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc. was established to make venture capital investments in a portfolio of small businesses in British Columbia that qualify under the Small Business Venture Capital Act, focusing on all of B.C.'s top internationally recognized technology clusters: information technology (software and hardware); mobile technology (wireless and networking solutions); clean technology (alternative energy and energy-saving technology solutions); new media; and health and life sciences.
Established in 2002 and managed by Discovery Capital Management Corp., the Fund is focussed on making diversified investments in British Columbia with the objectives of achieving long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders and contributing to the growth in value and employment of the technology industry in British Columbia. In addition to offering a means of participating in the potential of British Columbia's newest technology ventures, the Fund offers significant tax savings to eligible British Columbia individual and corporate investors. The Fund, which offers its shares on a continuous basis, has raised approximately $75 million to date and has active investments in twelve developing technology companies. To obtain further information about the Fund, please contact a registered advisor or visit www.sedar.com or www.bcdiscoveryfund.com.
John McEwen, CEO, B.C. Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc.
Harry Jaako, President, B.C. Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc.
This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy common shares. This press release may include statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. The issuer cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, many of which are beyond its control. Future events and results may vary substantially from what the issuer currently foresees.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc. Todd Riley Sales & Marketing Director (604) 683-3000 ext. 115 (604) 662-3457 (FAX) email@example.com www.bcdiscoveryfund.com SOURCE: British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc.
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Walt Disney, founder of the world's biggest and most famous entertainment enterprise, may not have created many comics himself, but as the creator of iconic characters like 'Mickey Mouse' and 'Donald Duck' his influence can't be overstated. Born Walter Elias Disney in Chicago into a family of Irish immigrants, he spent his childhood in Marceline, Missouri and later Kansas City, where he took Saturday courses from the Kansas City Art Institute. The family returned to Chicago in 1917 where Walt attended the Chicago Art Institute and was the school paper cartoonist.
During World War I, he was an ambulance driver with the Red Cross in France, while sending his cartoons to magazines like Life and Judge back home. Back in civil life in 1919, Walt decided to further pursue his artistic career in Kansas City. He found employment with the Pesman-Rubin Art Studio, where he did artwork for advertisements. Influenced by cartoonists like George McManus and Carey Orr, he even developed a comic strip called 'Mr George's Wife'. Disney eventually left Pesman-Rubin to begin his own short-lived studio with his former studio colleague Ub Iwerks. The duo's commercial art studio didn't work out, but their collaboration proved fruitful. They subsequently joined the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where they did their first animation work.
Mr. George's Wife, comic strip by Walt Disney, around 1920
Highly intrigued by this new art form, Disney opened his own Laugh-O-Gram Studio in 1921, where he produced short animated films that were screened in the local Kansas City cinemas owned by Frank L. Newman. Disney's first employee was Fred Harman, the future creator of 'Red Ryder', and the studio later also hired Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Friz Freleng and Iwerks. The studios went bankrupt after which Walt decided to try his luck in Hollywood, California. He joined forces with his brother Roy. They found the New York distributor Margaret Winkler prepared to distribute the so-called 'Alice Comedies', that Walt had started in Kansas.
The 'Alice's Wonderland' cartoons where the first production of the Disney Brothers' Studio in the Silver Lake district. The series was a combination between animation (the cat Julius) and a real life girl (Alice, orginally played by Virginia Davis) and also featured the first appearance, or at least a predecessor, of Mickey's nemesis Peg-Leg Pete. By 1927 the Disney Studio's were hired by Universal to produce an all-animated series, which resulted in the creation of 'Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'. Oswald was a hit and gave Walt and Roy to opportunity to expand their studio. An argument over fees left the brothers without a contract and without a characters, since Universal owned the rights, in 1928 (it took the Disney Company until 2006 to reacquire the rights to Oswald).
Mickey Mouse postcards, around 1931
Disney was forced to come up with a new protagonist. Instead of a rabbit, he picked a mouse, and Mickey was born! Graphically created by Ub Iwerks, Mickey Mouse's first appearance was in the 1928 silent shorts 'Plane Crazy' and 'The Gallopin' Gaucho', but he was first presented in the following year with 'Steamboat Willie', a cartoon with sound! The cartoons were largely produced by Ub Iwerks, while Walt provided Mickey's voice. Mickey was already joined by his girlfriend Minnie in the first cartoons, as well as Horace Horsecollar and Clarabella Cow, who were an actual horse and cow at first. The cast was soon enhanced by Goofy (who was originally called Dippy Dawg) and Pluto.
The adding of sound to cartoon films provided new opportunities, such as the 'Silly Symphonies' series, that started with 'The Skeleton Dance' in 1929. These were short, humorous animations in which the characters, mostly anthropomorphic animals, moved in time to music. Some of these characters became modern icons, such as Bucky Bug ('Bugs in Love', 1932), The Big Bad Wolf ('The Three Little Pigs', 1933), Little Hiawatha (1937) and, most notably, 'Donald Duck' ('The Wise Little Hen', 1934). The short-tempered duck, narrated by Clarence Nash, also appeared in the 'Mickey Mouse' shorts that same year, and eventually got his own line of cartoons in 1937, starting with 'Don Donald'.
The short films had provided the Disney Studio's enough opportunities to experiment with animation techniques, like the multiplane camera invented by Iwerks, that Walt's dream of a feature-length animation film could become reality. The first film was 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', and it was a revolution upon its release in 1937. It was followed by classic films like 'Pinocchio' (1940), 'Fantasia' (1940), 'Dumbo' (1941), 'Bambi' (1942), 'Saludos Amigos' (1942), 'The Three Caballeros' (1944), 'Cinderella' (1950), 'Peter Pan' (1953), 'The Lady and the Tramp' (1955) and many more, that have thrilled many generations until today. Walt Disney held creative control, while he surrounded himself with the greatest talents available, such as Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman and Frank Thomas (this group of animators was later refered to as "Disney's Nine Old Men").
Lost on a Desert Island, the first Mickey Mouse newspaper strip in 1930, was largely based on Plane Crazy.
Very early on, Disney used the popularity of newspaper comics to further promote his films and characters. The first official 'Mickey Mouse' comic strip appeared in US newspapers on 30 January 1930, and was written by Disney himself, and drawn by Iwerks. Iwerks was replaced by Win Smith after a couple of episodes, and Disney handed over the writing duties to Floyd Gottfredson in May. Gottfredson, in cooperation with writers like Ted Osborne, Merrill De Maris and Bill Walsh, would continue to further develop Mickey's comic character in many classic newspaper stories until his retirement in 1975.
Donald Duck finds pirate gold (1942), Carl Barks' first Donald Duck story
Earl Duvall and Al Taliaferro were assigned to make a weekly 'Silly Symphonies' Sunday comic strip. Besides adaptations of the films, they also made new continuities with Bucky Bug. By 1938, Taliaferro moved on to do a daily gag strip starring Donald Duck and his nephews, written by Homer Brightman and later Bob Karp. Donald's character was deepened in the many classic stories Carl Barks made for the comic book line that Dell Publishing/Western Comics had started in 1942. A great many new characters were added to the Duck universe, of which Donald's greedy Uncle Scrooge and the brilliant inventor Gyro Gearloose and the most notable.
Many of the other Disney characters also found their way to Dell's 'Four Color Comics', and the most popular eventually got their own title. New stories with the Big Bad Wolf, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Bucky Bug, B'rer Rabbit and Little Hiawatha were created by the Western's staff artists, including Paul Murry, Tony Strobl, Jack Bradbury, Gil Turner, Al Hubbard, Carl Buettner, Riley Thomson and many more. It didn't take long before these stories, as well as the newspaper comics, were distributed all around the world. Some countries even began their own production of stories, such as Denmark, France, Italy, Brazil and the Netherlands.
Although all the comics appeared under Disney's signature, Walt's focus was by then on the cartoons, the many TV shows the Disney Company produced (and Walt often hosted himself), and... an amusement park! Disney drew his first sketches for an amusement park in 1946, but it wasn't until 17 July 1955 that the grand opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, was presented live on television by Ronald Reagan, among other hosts.
Walt Disney presenting the map of Disneyland
By the early 1960s, Walt Disney Productions had established itself as the world's leading producer of family entertainment. Not only his animated films, but also live action films like 'Mary Poppins' (1964) have become classics. Plans for a new themepark in Orlando, Florida were made, as well as an Experimental Prototype City (or Community) of Tomorrow, called EPCOT. Walt Disney was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 1966, and passed away on 15 December of that year, a couple of days after his 65th birthday. Shortly afterwards, Roy Disney announced that the new themepark would be called Walt Disney World, in honor of his brother. The park opened in October 1971.
The Walt Disney Company is, to this day the world's largest entertainment multinational. After a period of decline in the seventies, Disney's film department rose like a phoenix with action-packed romantic animation films like 'The Little Mermaid' (1989), 'Beauty and the Beast' (1991), 'Aladdin' (1992) and 'The Lion King' (1994). The company pioneerd again with the 3D animation films made in cooperation with Pixar Studios, such as 'Toy Story' (1996), 'Monsters Inc.' (2000)' and 'Finding Nemo' (2003). New theme parks have been opened in Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong, and Disney comic magazines appear all over the world. In 2009 the Walt Disney Company bought Marvel Comics, home of classic superheroes like 'Spider-Man', 'The Hulk', 'Iron Man' and 'The X-Men'. Disney additionally bought LucasFilm in 2012 and thus obtained the rights to the 'Star Wars' films.
Disney has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for his contributions to film, the other for television. In 1978 Mickey Mouse became the first fictional character to receive his own star on the Walk of Fame. Other Disney characters to receive a star on the famous boulevard have been Snow White (1987, despite being a fairy tale character), Donald Duck (2004), Winnie the Pooh (2006, despite being a theatrical character originally created by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard), Tinkerbell (2010, despite being a literary character by J.M. Barrie) and Minnie Mouse (2018). Disneyland also has a star since 2005.
In 1995 an asteroid was named after Donald Duck.
Walt Disney at his drawing board, 1922
"All our dreams can come true -
if we have the courage to pursue them."
- Walt Disney


text:
Xcel Crews to Help Restore Power in Sandy Area
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Xcel Energy Inc. is sending crews from Minnesota and other parts of its service area to the East Coast to help restore power in the wake of superstorm Sandy.
Thirty Minnesota lineman and six managers, safety consultants and fleet mechanics volunteered to deploy with equipment and trucks from the Twin Cities early Wednesday.
The Minnesota crews, along with eight linemen from Northern States Power-Wisconsin, will travel to West Virginia, where they will help restore power to customers of American Electric Power Co.
Judy Poferl, president and CEO of NSP-Minnesota, says AEP specifically asked for Xcel Energy crews.
Xcel crews also are being deployed to help on the East Coast from the company's Denver-based Public Service Co. of Colorado and Southwestern Public Service Co, based in Amarillo, Texas.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.


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2 Must-Do Side Trips for Design Lovers in New York
A museum and a park worth leaving Manhattan for.
A museum and a park worth leaving Manhattan for.
A chef who makes the holidays easy - chef Welbert Choi of @forageVancouver https://t.co/cZ3I76u1m3 https://t.co/PLLdyeWyyK
Designer Denise Ashmore @p22d makes a cozy design for Kids Help Phone's holiday home tour. https://t.co/5w3JOH0AZC https://t.co/UqgScIVd87
6 stylish eco-products we love right now. #eco #green design https://t.co/YpSii0EW80 https://t.co/nr6fHeWZaf
Stylist Kat MacInnes focused gave her home a rosy blush to turn itÊfrom boxy to beautiful. https://t.co/wigge1kipt https://t.co/owHROXiR45
Mac n Cheese Bennys = genius, thanks to @FoodGays https://t.co/76sRGDtl4Q https://t.co/cQDReQbzZv


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The following I Live Alone Episode 191 Eng Sub has been released. Kshow123 will always be the first to have the episode so please Bookmark us for update.
Watch other episodes of I Live Alone Series at Kshow123.
Watch other episodes of I Live Alone Series at Kshow123.
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Emilia's Woodland Critter Room
Name: Emilia (2)
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Color Inspiration: For our little girl (who was 18 months old when we adopted her), I knew I wanted a fresh, clean space that was gender neutral and that she could grow into. I originally wanted to wallpaper the wall behind her crib, but when I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, I (at the encouragement of my husband) designed and hand painted the wall.
Color Inspiration continued: While we were waiting to meet our daughter, my amazing friends threw the most gorgeous woodland critter baby shower for me, using a very retro color palette which I LOVED, so I took various pieces from the shower to Home Depot and picked out the perfect colors for her room.
Tip for Using Color: Don't be afraid to use colors that go against gender roles. And don't be afraid to mix multiple colors together. Find what works for you and makes you happy and go with it.
Colors Used: I love Behr paints from Home Depot...I used "Fresh Day" in semi-gloss for all the walls except the focal wall. For the focal wall background I used "Vintage Linen" in flat. The darker green is "Retro Avocado", the yellow is "Solar Fusion", the lighter blue is "Spring Stream", the darker blue is "Dragon Fly", the lighter green is "California Dreaming", and the brown is Ralph Lauren's "Crosby".
Thanks for your colorful entry Traci and good luck!


text:
Many species undertake long-distance annual migrations between foraging and reproductive areas. Such migrants depend on the efficient packaging, storage and utilization of energy to succeed. A diverse assemblage of organisms accomplishes this through the use of lipid reserves; yet, it remains unclear whether the migrations of elasmobranchs, which include the largest gill breathers on Earth, depend on such a mechanism. We examine depth records from pop-up satellite archival tags to discern changes in buoyancy as a proxy for energy storage in Eastern Pacific white sharks, and assess whether lipid depletion fuels long-distance (approx. 4000 km) migrations. We develop new algorithms to assess body condition, buoyancy and drift rate during drift dives and validate the techniques using a captive white shark. In the wild, we document a consistent increase in drift rate over the course of all migrations, indicating a decrease in buoyancy caused by the depletion of lipid reserves. These results comprise, to our knowledge, the first assessment of energy storage and budgeting in migrating sharks. The methods provide a basis for further insights into using electronic tags to reveal the energetic strategies of a wide range of elasmobranchs.
1. Introduction
Migration optimizes resource availability by allowing migrants to take advantage of seasonal changes in distant environments [1]. Such behaviours often necessitate long sojourns through suboptimal habitat. Thus, migrants commonly cease to seek resources during their journey, supplanting localized foraging activity with directed movement and relying instead upon stored energy and nutrients to supply the cost of travel [2]. In avian long-distance migrants, for example, the accumulation of stored energy can cause pre-migration body mass to easily surpass twice the normal body weight [3]. Similarly, European eels (Anguilla anguilla) require a minimum threshold of body fat content before they embark on their prolonged spawning migrations to the Sargasso Sea [4]. Lipids are usually the preferred energy storage molecules in migrants because of their high-energy density and because they can be synthesized from any type of ingested food [5].
Recent studies indicate that white sharks, Carcharadon carcharias, are prodigious migrants. Satellite tagging has revealed extensive movement patterns [6,7] that involve large-scale trans-oceanic movements coupled with fidelity to coastal foraging sites [6–9]. In the California Current ecosystem, white sharks have been shown to migrate seasonally between highly productive inshore waters, where pinnipeds are a principal food item [7], and oligotrophic offshore waters, where prey is thought to be scarce. Although these movements have been well documented using the current generation of electronic tags as well as isotopic data [10], the physiology and energetics of these migrations remain challenging to resolve with current technologies.
As in other long-distance migrants, stored energy rather than locally obtained resources could be a major factor in white shark migration strategy. All elasmobranchs possess highly developed liver lipid stores that may help to fuel migration behaviours. As the single largest visceral organ, a white shark's liver, for example, can account for 28% of adult body weight [11] of which 90% by volume may constitute high-energy lipids [12]. High levels of ketone oxidation in the muscles of pelagic sharks indicate that hepatic lipids are an important fuel for locomotion [13]. Furthermore, the consumption of lipid stores equivalent to just one large meal of whale blubber may be sufficient by one estimate [14] to sustain a white shark's metabolism for one and a half months, enough to power an entire migratory transit.
We hypothesize that metabolism of liver lipid stores during prolonged migration may be detectable from changes in an animal's buoyancy. A 456 kg white shark liver [15] containing 400 l of oil and storing approximately 2 million kcal of energy [16] for example, may provide 50 kg of buoyant lift—nearly enough to neutralize the weight of the shark in water. The buoyancy of lipid stores was first demonstrated to exert a strong effect on dive characteristics in northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustrostris) [17–19]. The effects were most notable during drift dives—gliding periods where buoyancy replaces active propulsion as the primary locomotive force [20]. Furthermore, 'drift rate' (the vertical component of terminal velocity during drift dives) was a sensitive indicator of both relative buoyancy and lipid storage when compared with both direct measurements with isotopically labelled water [18] and to common foraging indices, such as track linearity [21]. This novel technique developed in marine mammals, which permits discerning on board fuel utilization using electronic tags, presents a promising non-invasive method for monitoring energy storage in vertebrates in the wild; yet, so far its applicability has been restricted mostly to birds and marine mammals. White sharks, which undertake distant seasonal migrations and whose buoyancy is dominated by liver lipids [22], are ideal candidates for this approach, given the recent application of satellite tags.
The objectives of this study were to use time-series data collected on electronic tags and video monitoring of captive animals: (i) to validate the use of drift rate (recorded by the pressure time series on an electronic tag) as a proxy for buoyancy and lipid storage in white sharks, (ii) to track changes in drift rate during long-distance migratory transits, and (iii) to determine whether white sharks rely on body energy stores rather than opportunistic foraging to fuel their migrations. We accomplished this by developing a novel adaptation of the technique proposed by Biuw et al. [18] in which we used drift rate to monitor lipid storage both in wild sharks tracked with electronic tags and in a controlled aquarium environment. Our results suggest that, when recorded at sufficient intervals, electronic tagging data from sharks can be used to monitor liver lipid utilization during migrations.
2. Material and methods
(a) Conceptual model
Our investigation was guided by the following conceptual framework: during the summer and autumn, we hypothesize that foraging success of white sharks in the California Current ecosystem is manifest as a build-up of liver lipids. These lipids are generated from feeding on a rich diet of pinnipeds and have a strong positive effect on buoyancy (figure 1). In the winter and spring, the sharks undertake long migrations spanning thousands of kilometres from productive neritic habitats to offshore oligotrophic waters in the subtropical gyre. We hypothesize that they draw down their lipid stores during these transits, decreasing buoyancy.
Drift dives (defined as passive descent through the water column achieved without tail beats) offer an opportunity to monitor buoyancy. Many pelagic migrants use drift diving as an energy saving strategy [23], including white sharks [24]. We hypothesize that the drift rate (rate of vertical depth change) during these periods should reflect the shark's buoyant weight in a way that is subject to the following numerical description of a body in free fall through a medium of known density: 2.1where vt is the drift speed determined by ρwater the density of the medium, ρbody the density of the body, V the volume of the body, g the acceleration of gravity, Cd the drag coefficient and A the wetted surface area of the body [18]. A global variance-based sensitivity analysis shows that ρwater has a negligible effect on vt for the range of pressure, temperature and salinities through which the sharks migrate (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S1). Therefore, by controlling for Cd and assuming a constant V and A, we can derive that drift rate is proportional to the square root of body density, or in other words, the square of drift rate is inversely proportional to buoyancy.
We strove to minimize behavioural factors that could modify this proportionality. The most significant factors are active swimming by the shark and changes in pitch (the orientation of the shark's body with respect to the horizontal plane, i.e. angle of attack). Changing pitch violates the assumption of constant Cd; however, Cd is robust to changes in pitch at shallow angles, and therefore, we strove to limit our analysis to dives with a small pitch (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S2). Active swimming violates the assumption of free fall; therefore, we sought to identify periods of passive locomotion (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S3). Deviation from true terminal velocity may be a problem at the beginning and end of a drift dive. However, a 1000 kg adult white shark is likely to reach a biologically realistic terminal velocity within a few seconds; therefore, this issue was circumvented by eliminating the first and last minute of each observed drift dive from consideration.
We made the implicit assumption in this analysis that the average density of liver lipids remains constant over time, and therefore that the buoyant weight of the shark is indicative of lipid volume. Sharks can however, modulate the composition of the oils in their liver to change their density [25]. We did not consider this to be important simply because we determined that this effect would be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of liver lipids involved. In the case of two white sharks chosen from a survey of just six individuals in the North Atlantic, for example [26], in the limiting case, the change in composition of liver lipids could account for only 12% of the difference in expected buoyant mass (see the electronic supplementary material, table S1).
(b) Captive validation study
Our conceptual model was evaluated using direct observations acquired from a captive juvenile white shark. The shark was displayed in the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Outer Bay exhibit between 31 August 2006 and 16 January 2007 and had an initial length and body weight of 1.7 m and 47 kg, respectively, growing to a size of 2.0 m and 78 kg at the time of release. We used a dataset consisting of fixed position, orthogonal video images spanning a time period of 47 days (figure 2) to track the movement of the shark in three dimensions within the exhibit at 0.2 s resolution using the software package ImageJ (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA). Water temperatures (20°C) and light/dark cycles were kept constant between days. Length and girth were measured after capture and immediately before release, and growth rate was measured as the difference in weight between the start and end of captivity. We visually identified periods of passive drifting (defined as the absence of discernible tail beat for at least 5 s) and restricted our analysis to cases with a pitch of less than 10° (72% of dives). We compared the drift rate during these dives with an independent measure of body condition also obtained from the video images—the length-to-girth ratio of the shark. These procedures were designed to control for potentially confounding behavioural cues affecting drift rate, such as light, depth and temperature. Based on the observations of frequent and regular feeding events by the shark, our a priori hypothesis was that liver lipid stores and therefore body condition would increase over time and result in decreasing drift rate.
(c) In situ application
Electronic tagging of free-swimming adult white sharks was carried out in the manner described in Weng et al. [7] and Jorgensen et al. [6]. Of 97 satellite pop-up archival tags (PATs) deployed on white sharks from central California (PAT v. 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and Mk-10-PAT; Wildlife Computers, Redmond, WA, USA), we recovered time-series records from nine tags that had full archives of depth (pressure), temperature and light at intervals of less than or equal to 60 s. Light and temperature were used to estimate daily position using previously described methods of geolocation [27] and filtering via a state-space model [28,29]. Migration periods were clearly discernible in the data as monotonic increases or decreases in longitude that persisted for tens of days and linked longitudes of less than 125 W (the California Current) with longitudes of greater than 155 W (the Hawaiian Islands) [7]. We used standard movement indices such as track linearity [30] and daily travel speed to test whether the behaviours exhibited by the white sharks during these migrations were distinct from those observed near shore.
We gained additional insights into passive gliding during white shark swimming bouts using acceleration data from a multi-channel data logger [31] deployed on one adult coastal shark for a short period using previously described methods [32]. The data logger recorded acceleration in three axes at 5 Hz, as well as pressure and temperature over a period of 10 days. Overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), which is a measure of the magnitude of locomotory movements produced by an animal at a given time, was calculated using the procedures in Shepard et al. [33] using Python software (v. 2.4, Python Software Foundation 2007). The tail beat signature of the shark was clearly visible in the ODBA signal [32]. We defined drift dives in this analysis as periods where the ODBA revealed no discernible acceleration in any axis of the shark's body: i.e. when the ODBA fell below the 95% confidence threshold of the acceleration recorded by the data logger while stationary on a bench top.
A dive was defined as any series of monotonically increasing pressure readings. We selected drift dives from the time-depth archival datasets of the recovered PATs based on five factors: 'centrality' (the duration in time from a given point in a dive to its start or end), dive amplitude (the difference between the starting and the ending depth in a given dive), variance, dive length and migration length. Increasing centrality has been associated with decreased locomotion in diving animals [20,34]. We found that points in a dive sequence greater than 60 s from either the start or end of the dive (all points with a centrality greater than 60 s) were exclusively associated with passive drift diving (as defined by the 95% confidence threshold described earlier) in the accelerometer-equipped white shark (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S3). Similarly, dive amplitude is known to affect pitch in a wide range of animals [24,35,36] and correlated directly with an indicator of pitch derived from the accelerometer-equipped shark (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S4). As Cd is relatively robust to changes in body orientation at shallow angles of pitch (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S2), we used dive amplitude to limit our analysis to periods with putatively shallow pitch. Drift dives are also strongly associated with a low variability in movement velocity, because the rate of drifting should be reflective of the terminal velocity of a falling body. Therefore, we only considered periods with a maximum variability in sinking velocity of 1 m min−1. To enhance the statistical rigor of our drift rate estimates, we only considered dives with more than six data points (6 min of drifting), and used the average drift rate during these dives. Finally, to examine drift dives only during long-distance migrations, we focused our analyses on migration periods of duration exceeding one month (five transits and four individuals), as well as five periods of prolonged coastal residence that were used for comparison.
Dives that passed the above selection criteria were binned into 10-day intervals to eliminate any oscillations that occur at frequencies too high to be attributable to changes in buoyancy. This 10-day interval is similar to the spline smoothing window chosen by Biuw et al. [18] in their analysis of elephant seals. Based on the inverse-square relationship of equation (2.1), we calculated the slope of a least-squares linear fit of the squared drift rate over time to obtain the average rate of change in putative buoyancy for each period of interest. These average rates of buoyancy change were compared between migratory and coastal periods to test the null hypothesis that the positive slopes detected during migrations were statistically indistinguishable from coastal periods. This procedure treated each migration or coastal period as a single replicate.
3. Results and discussion
(a) Drift rate is an indicator of body condition
The captive study on a juvenile white shark demonstrated that drift rate is a strong predictor of body condition. During the 47-day observation period of a captive white shark (initial length 1.7 m), there was a highly linear increase in body condition index (girth/length) (n = 7, r2 = 0.903, F = 46.0, p < 0.001) and a concomitant decrease in drift rate (n = 12, r2 = 0.701, F = 23.5, p < 0.001; figure 3). In captivity, the white shark was kept under optimal growth conditions at 20°C and fed to satiation with high-lipid food items (e.g. salmon). Ezcurra et al. [37] reported a mean growth rate (n = 4, including the individual described in this study) of 71.6 ± 8.2 kg yr−1 and 64.9 ± 8.5 cm yr−1 (mean ± s.e.) respectively, approximately twice the growth rate estimated from a Von Burtalanffy growth function for wild white sharks [37]. The steady decrease in drift rate correlates with an increase in body lipid content indicated by the rapidly improving body condition index assessed in captivity. There were no notable changes in pitch angle over time.
(b) Movement patterns indicate that foraging is reduced during migration
Placement of electronic tags on adult white sharks permitted examination of the migration route and its linearity with geolocation observations. By examining the movement behaviour of four individuals, we determined that white sharks move rapidly and with a straighter course during transit than during other, non-migratory movement periods (figure 4). Mean daily travel distances during transiting migrations were 97.6 (n = 5; s.d. = 2.54) km d−1, necessitating a minimum swimming speed of 1.13 m s−1 to cover the straight-line distance between geolocation positions. This swimming speed is indistinguishable from previously reported observations of steady directional swimming in adult white sharks during coastal resident periods, which range between 0.89 and 1.34 m s–1 [38–40]. This indicates that steady directional swimming rather than local search behaviour may dominate movement during migration transits. High sustained swimming speeds have been shown to correlate closely with low levels of foraging success in other migratory predators [21]. Similarly, the mean track linearity (calculated as the ratio of the straight-line distance to the curvilinear distance) was 0.96 (n = 5 migrations; s.d. = 0.026), demonstrating that the migration trajectories were highly directional towards a distant destination and were markedly different from area-restricted search (ARS) behaviour such as is characteristic of foraging [39]. Track linearity during coastal periods, by contrast, showed a strong ARS imprint (mean = 0.27; s.d. = 0.061). These lines of evidence indicate a prevalence of relatively uninterrupted transiting and decreased frequency of foraging during migration.
(c) Drift rate increases during migration
Drift rates measured during oscillatory dives in nine sharks (table 1) and displayed marked differences between migratory and non-migratory periods (figures 5 and 6). Migrants exhibited rapidly increasing drift rates with the slopes of the least-squares linear fit clustered tightly around a mean of 1.5 × 10−3 m s−1 d−1 (figure 6; n = 5 migrations) and were not significantly different between those transiting westward (California to Hawaii) and the single eastward migration (Hawaii to California). The increase in drift rates implies decreasing buoyancy, and therefore decreasing liver lipid reserves during migration. By contrast, sharks residing in coastal zones showed changes in drift rates over time clustering near or below zero (n = 5 tracks; mean = 5.0 × 10−6). A Student's t-test comparing all migrations against coastal tracks showed that the two sample groups were highly distinct (p = 1.5 × 10−3). This is consistent with sharks exclusively experiencing net lipid consumption during offshore migratory transits while the coastal periods appear to be characterized by a buoyancy steady state.
A decrease in buoyancy in transiting sharks could be attributable to either a decline in lipid volume owing to metabolism of onboard lipid stores, or an increase in denser lean tissue (muscle mass) through exercise-induced conditioning. However, because the density of lean tissue is highly similar to the overall body density of elasmobranchs (difference of 0 and 0.007 compared with 0.015 and 0.022 g ml−1 for muscle and liver of male and female Port Jackson sharks, respectively [41]), muscle build-up due to continuous exercise is unlikely to become a controlling factor in buoyancy change. Therefore, the data are most indicative of a cessation or decline in foraging activity leading to a drawdown of lipid stores to power long-distance migration. Furthermore, as obligate ram ventilators, white sharks must swim continually during both migratory and resident phases. Average swimming speeds appear to be equivalent for both phases, therefore, there are unlikely to be large differences in lean tissue bulk during a phase of continuous migration.
Behavioural factors in swimming animals such as the pitch of the body (which alters the drag coefficient) or the lift generated by the body and pectoral fins are known to affect drift rate independently of buoyancy. Although our accelerometer data loggers only permitted us to obtain relatively short time series of pitch and tail beat in coastal sharks, we believe variability in these factors is unlikely to account for the patterns we observed in the buoyancy of migrants. Apart from the measures we used during data selection to standardize for swimming behaviour, pitch and lift-to-drag ratio are highly constrained in diving animals [24,42]. This applies particularly to lamnid sharks, which have limited mobility in their pectoral fins. Moreover, there is strong selection to optimize the efficiency of movement during long migratory transits given the high aerobic costs of locomotion, and this has been found to restrict variability in swimming behaviour across a wide range of animals for which such measurements have been made [43]. The power requirements of travel increase exponentially with higher pitch in whale sharks for example, leading pitch to approach minimal values in all dives [24]. Furthermore, using equation (2.1) (see §2), we calculate that a systematic decrease in drag coefficient in the vertical direction of 76% would be necessary to account for the observed trends in drift rate in migrating sharks (see the electronic supplementary material, equation S1). Such a bias would need to be exclusive to migratory rather than coastal swimming and would need to intensify with proximity to the destination independent of the direction (eastward or westward) of transit. This is highly unlikely given there is no readily available environmental or behavioural mechanism to support the existence of such a systematic bias over time. For these reasons, we feel that the observation of monotonic increases in drift rate in migrating sharks is most parsimoniously explained by depletion of body lipid stores. Newer accelerometer data loggers that are capable of measuring tail beat and pitch over prolonged periods (more than one month) may allow direct evaluation of some of these parameters in migrating white sharks in the future.
(d) Conclusions and management implications
We present a new method for analysing satellite tag-derived depth time series to explore the diving behaviour, buoyancy and the role of lipids during shark migration. By validating this technique with direct observations, we have, to our knowledge, made the first attempt to study the energetics of white shark migration observed with satellite tags. Analysis of time-series data indicates that white sharks are initially buoyed up by ample lipid reserves early in migration but gradually lose this buoyancy as energy stores are consumed. We hypothesize that the capacity to store substantial energy in the liver is a key specialization for achieving ocean-basin scale migration. Future studies should focus on direct measurements of tail beat frequency during all phases of migration, and on acquisition of additional physiological measurements that will help discern in detail how onboard lipid stores are used during long-distance migration. Direct sampling and isotopic measurement of individual sharks pre- and post-migration may reveal which body lipids limit the ability of a shark to embark on these migrations.
While white sharks are the most widely protected elasmobranchs in the world [44], global populations are sparse and considered to be threatened or endangered [45,46]. Most targeted conservation measures have focused on limiting fishing-induced mortality, however, our results highlight migration as a potentially important seasonal energetic stress that may carry its own management implications. Increased energetic requirements both pre-migration (to build up adequate lipid stores) and post-migration (to recoup energetic losses) suggest a reliance on high prey availability during foraging seasons in the neritic coastal zones. Suboptimal prey availability during these periods through stock depletion or phenological mismatch could interact with ancillary stressors to compromise growth or reproductive success [47]. Our results could indicate that the intrinsic physiological demands of migration may be linked to the susceptibility of white sharks to potential disturbances or declines in prey availability. This underscores the importance of the period of intense foraging on pinnipeds that occurs seasonally along the coast of California. Furthermore, stable isotope data confirm that foraging does occur either offshore in the oceanic environment or near the Hawaiian Islands, but at a lower rate; approximately half of that during the coastal phase [10]. The principle prey species responsible for sustaining these white sharks in their offshore migration endpoints remains undetermined. Patterns of prey abundance in these regions warrant further research to determine whether they could be linked to the viability of white shark populations.
This project was conducted under research permits from CDFG, MBNMS, GFNMS, NMFS, NPS and under Stanford University animal care protocol 10765.
Data accessibility
Requests for data should be referred by email to the primary author. Every effort will be made to respond to requests in a timely manner.
Funding statement
G.D.R. was funded by a Departmental grant from the Stanford University Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Education at the time of research. Funding for the satellite tagging effort was from the Tagging of Pacific Predators Program and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation.
We are very grateful to R. Johnson, C. O'Neil and A. Gleiss for their invaluable assistance with data collection and processing. Additionally, numerous individuals were involved in tagging fieldwork and logistical procedures, including S. Anderson, T. Chapple, P. Kanive, A. Brown, J. Barlow, C. Perle, K. Weng, S. Van Sommeran, C. Fritz-Cope, A. Klimley, C. Logan, J. Cornelius, J. Barlow, B. Cornapple, C. Farwell, L. Rodriguez, T. Brandt, A. Carlisle, S. McAfee, S. Lucas, C. Harrold, J. O'Sullivan, J. Ganong, M. Castleton, S. Teo, D. Kohrs, G. Strout, C. Wisner and A. Swithenbank. We also thank Sealife Conservation along with and the entire crew of the R. S. V. Derek M. Baylis, as well as T. O'Leary for vessel support.
- Received April 3, 2013.
- Accepted June 19, 2013.
© 2013 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.


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MILTON, Mass. — As their team celebrated Senior Day, senior defensive tackle Sam Calley (Weymouth, Mass.) recorded a school-record six sacks, and senior running back Phil Bigelow (East Orange, N.J.) rushed for a season high 134 yards, leading Curry past visiting Nichols, 34-13, in New England Football Conference (NEFC) action Saturday afternoon in Milton. The Colonels improved to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in league play, while the Bison dropped to 1-7 overall and 0-6 in NEFC action.
Defense dominated the opening quarter until Curry began a 13-play, 83-yard drive with 7:55 on the clock. The Colonels notched the only points of the period as senior kicker Zachary Kumin (Needham, Mass.) booted a 25-yard field goal with 1:46 left on the clock.
Curry controlled the second frame with a pair of touchdowns scored by Bigelow to open up a 17-0 advantage. The Colonels began the quarter with an 11-play, 67-yard drive capped off with Bigelow scoring on a 3-yard run. Later in the second, senior quarterback Kevin Fruwirth (Agawam, Mass.) completed a 34-yard pass to classmate Tyran Harrigan (Haverhill, Mass.) to put Curry on the Bison 10-yard line. With 1:43 left in the first half, Fruwirth connected on a 10-yard pass to Bigelow to cap off a five-play, 58-yard drive.
After the Bison were forced to punt early in the second half, the Colonels added to their lead, going 63 yards capped off by another Kumin field goal (35 yards). Curry finished the quarter with a Fruwirth-to-Trae Weathers (Revere, Mass.) 63-yard scoring connection extending the Colonels lead to 27-0 entering the final quarter of regulation.
Nichols answered in the fourth with a five-play, 32-yard drive capped off by a seven-yard connection from sophomore quarterback Quillian Respass (Huntington, N.Y) to freshman Myron Hills (Waco, Texas). Curry responded on the following drive as junior Jordan Shairs (Gloucester, Mass.) scampered 30 yards to cap off a 49-yard drive and increase the lead to 34-6. Nichols closed out the scoring as Respass ran it in from 21 yards out at 3:37 to account for the 34-13 final.
The Colonels had 448 total yards, rushing for 217 yards and passing for 224. The Bison finished with 222 total yards and held a significant edge in time of possession. Nichols had the ball for 33:46 of the game's 60 minutes, helped in large measure by back-to-back successful on-side kicks in the fourth quarter.
Fruwirth was 15 of 29 for 231 yards with two touchdowns. Bigelow's 134 rushing yards came on 18 carries. Shairs had five receptions for 58 yards and five carries for 62 yards with one touchdown.
Respass was 18 for 35 for 145-yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions, while leading the Bison on the ground with 21 carries for 68 net yards. Senior wide receiver Dylan Rimsky (Denville, N.J.) had eight receptions for 82 yards, while Hills had four receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown.
Calley had nine total tackles (7 solo), including six sacks -21 yards. Eight of his nine tackles were for lost yards (-24). He also had a pair of forced fumbles. Freshman defensive back Jean Charles (Providence, R.I.) also had nine tackles (8 solo). Junior Jose Rodriguez (Taunton, Mass.) finished with seven total tackles (6 solo) and one interception.
Senior defensive back Mario Pires (New Bedford, Mass.) led Nichols with eight total tackles (6 solo), while junior Kris Williams (E. Hartford, Conn.) finished with seven solo tackles.
Curry will finish its season on the road at Maine Maritime at 12 p.m. on Saturday, November 16. Nichols returns home next Saturday to host Western New England with kickoff set for 12 p.m.


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A professional photographer is present at our ceremony. The photographer will be taking your picture as you walk across the stage and a separate picture of you holding your diploma. A proof of the picture is mailed to your home address approximately two weeks after Commencement (or possibly emailed to you UC email account). You have the option of ordering copies if you wish; however, there is no obligation to purchase. If you do not wish to place an order, you may keep the proof at no charge.
Should you need to contact GradImages directly, please call 800 628 4509 or the customer service line at 800 261 2576. Please feel free to also visit the GradImages website at www.gradimages.com.
Click here for pre-registration information and a $5 off coupon.


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1st, Western Conference
MLS Cup
Supporters' Shield
MLS Most Valuable Player: Carlos Ruiz
Team Leaders
Carlos Ruiz, 24 G
Cobi Jones, 13 A
Kevin Hartman, 1.09 GAA
Kevin Hartman, 83 SVS
Sigi Schmid
Rose Bowl
1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013
2002 Club by Club
Chicago Fire
Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew
D.C. United
Dallas Burn
Kansas City Wizards
Los Angeles Galaxy
New England Revolution
San Jose Earthquakes
The LA Galaxy captured its first MLS Cup Championship in 2002, defeating the New England Revolution, 1-0, on October 20 at Gillette Stadium. MLS Honda MVP Carlos Ruiz scored the game-winning goal in the 113th minute, with assists from Tyrone Marshall and Chris Albright. The club finished their seventh MLS season with a league leading 16-9-3 record and 51 points, claiming the Western Conference Championship and Supporters Shield. A slow start to the season (5-5-2) saw the Galaxy play six straight overtime games from March 23 to May 4 and suffer the club's worst loss in history (5-0) to the MetroStars on June 15. However, Head Coach Sigi Schmid changed the club's formation and refocused the defense, guiding the team to an 11-4-1 record for the balance of the season. The Galaxy also became the first team to win three consecutive games during the 2002 season and even went on to close out the season with four straight victories. At the Rose Bowl, Los Angeles finished the season with the second best home record 11-1-2 (.857) in MLS. On the road, the Galaxy finished tied for the fifth best record in MLS at 5-8-1 (.469). The Galaxy finished first in Western Conference play with an 8-5-3 record and in second place overall in conference play among all MLS teams. In non-conference play, Los Angeles finished second with a 8-4-0 record among Western Conference clubs, as well as second for the best non-conference record among all MLS teams. Los Angeles ranked second in the league in attendance for 2002, averaging 19,047 (up 10% from 2001) for a total of 289,663 fans at the Rose Bowl.
"EL PESCADITO" MAKES BIG SPLASH IN MLS POND: A 2002 Discovery Player, Carlos "El Pecadito" Ruiz joined the Galaxy from CSD Municipal in February and made huge waves in MLS by scoring 24 goals and one assist for 49 points. Ruiz's 24 goals on the season ranked fourth alltime in MLS behind Roy Lassiter (TB: 1996—27 goals), Stern John (CLB: 1998—26 goals) and Mamadou Diallo (TB: 2000—26 goals). The striker also set a new league record for game-winning goals with nine strikes on the season. In addition, Ruiz was a two-time MLS' Player of the Month for April (4- 0=8 pts.) and July (6-0=12 pts.) and a three-time MLS Player of the Week (3/18, 4/1 and 8/26). Ruiz also ranked second in points-per-game (PPG) with a 1.86 PPG average. He registered seven multi-goal performances in 2002, including his first MLS hat trick on August 31 vs. the MetroStars.
APRIL (1-1-2, 5 pts; Overall 2-1-2, 8 pts. - 3rd in West):
Unfortunately, the Galaxy's theme of overtime match would continue throughout the month. With four overtime matches, LA defeated Chicago 2-1 on 4/7, tied Dallas twice 1-1 on 4/13 and 4/20, and suffered its first loss of the season to Colorado, 1-0, on 4/27. The Guatemalan international extended his scoring streak to five games with four goals and remained the only Galaxy player to find the back of the net. The 5-9, 170-pound Ruiz was named MLS' Player of the Month for April (4-0=8 pts.) and Player of the Week (2-0=4 pts.) for 4/1-4/7
MAY (2-2-0, 6 pts.; Overall 4-3-2, 14 pts. - 3rd in West) :
At the start of a five-game road streak, the Galaxy went 2-2-0 during the month. In its sixth consecutive overtime match, the Galaxy defeated the Wizards (2-1) with goals from Brian Mullan ('12) and Gavin Glinton ('93) on 5/4 at Arrowhead. Mullan's strike marked the first by a Galaxy player other than Ruiz. However, "The Little Fish" would find the net again scoring against Chicago (5/11) in a 1-0 shutout win and then in a 2-1 loss to Kansas City (5/18). The club finished with another loss, its second in a row, to New England (3-2) on 5/25.
JUNE: (2-3-0, 6 pts.; Overall 6-6-2, 20 pts. - 4th in West):
Completing a club record five-game road trek, the Galaxy lost its third game in a row to Colorado, 3-2, at INVESCO Field on 6/1. On 6/8 vs. Chicago, defender Alexi Lalas scored his first goal of the season, powering a Simon Elliott cornerkick into the goal ('57). June 15, 2002 will always be a black day for the Galaxy as it marks the club's worst defeat in history (5-0) to the MetroStars and pulled the Galaxy's record back to .500 (5-5-2) on the season. The loss would serve as watershed point in the season and see major changes in the starters and the club's formation would change from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2. The team responded in the its next match at the Rose Bowl vs. Dallas (6/22) with a 3-0 win, including goals from Sasha Victorine ('58), Lalas ('69) and Mullan ('81). Finishing the month at D.C. United (6/29), LA lost in overtime, 1-0.
JULY (3-1-1, 10 pts.; Overall 9-7-3, 30 pts. - 3rd in West):
The Galaxy started to build its momentum in July, winning four games overall including a U.S. Open Cup victory. In front of 55,234 at the Rose Bowl, Ruiz scored two goals to lead the Galaxy past the Earthquakes on 7/4, but the club fell in San Jose three days later on a goal by Landon Donovan. At Colorado (7/13), Ezra Hendrickson's goal ('69) proved to be the game-winning in a 3-1 win over the Rapids. The only tie came against the Wizards on 7/20, with goals from Ruiz ('31) and Hendrickson ('56). Ruiz scored two goals in the 9th and 75th minutes to beat the Crew on 7/27 at the Rose Bowl. Ruiz earned his second MLS Player of the Month honor with six goals in July.
AUGUST (4-2-0, 12 pts.; Overall 13-9-3, 42 pts. - 2nd in West):
Picking up speed, the Galaxy kicked off the August by knocking the San Jose Earthquakes out the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals for the second year, 1-0, in overtime at San Jose. Returning to MLS action, Jones scored two goals against the Revolution (8/10) for a 2-1 victory. In the club's first Wednesday match of the year, LA lost at Columbus, 3-2, on 8/14. Returning to the Rose Bowl, the Galaxy crushed the Rapids, 4-0 with goals from Lalas ('20), Victorine ('82) and Cienfuegos ('59 and '87). The Galaxy grabbed its second consecutive win, defeating the Wizards, 2-1, on strikes from Ruiz ('31) and Lalas ('82). LA suffered its second loss of the month at Dallas (8/24), falling 1-0 in overtime. Looking for a little redemption against the MetroStars, the Galaxy's Ruiz scored his first career hat-trick in MLS hitting in the 4th, 23rd and 83rd minutes.
SEPTEMBER (3-0-0, 9 pts.; Overall 16-9-3, 51 pts. - 1st in West):
Its best month of the season, LA became the first team to win three in a row and the only team in 2002 to win four in a row. With its eighth straight U.S. Open Cup, the Galaxy defeated the Burn, 4-1 at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium on 9/7. The Galaxy finished the sweeping its final two games by shutting out the Earthquakes, 1-0 on 9/14 and 9/21. Ruiz tallied both game-winning goals to set a new league record for game-winners in a season. Ruiz earned his third MLS Player of the Week award (3-0=6 pts) for 8/26-9/1. Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman also earned MLS Player of The Week honors with his first selection of the season for 9/16-9/22 with nine saves, including a penalty stop.


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Gesneriaceae Research
Annotated Bibliography of Gesneriaceae
The Bibliography of the Gesneriaceae was developed in the Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, U.S.A., to facilitate taxonomic research on the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. The Bibliography had its origin in a collection of papers on Gesneriaceae started by Conrad V. Morton and continued by Laurence E. Skog. The Bibliography is maintained as a database, with new references being continuously added from the current literature, as well as references from the older literature when they are discovered. The searchable version presented here will be updated periodically.
Papers are primarily from the field of taxonomy with related fields of horticulture, genetics, anatomy, morphology, and chemistry also included. We have excluded what appear to be non-technical articles. Horticultural journals of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries have not been researched thoroughly, but in all cases when important papers were discovered they have been included. No attempt at completeness is implied and additional references are being sought and welcomed for keeping the Bibliography current. Corrections are also most welcome. Please send additions or corrections to the address below.
Each of the entries in the Bibliography follows a standard format, with the authors' names, publication titles, etc. standardized as much as possible. For titles of books and journals, "Taxonomic Literature", edition 2 by Stafleu and Cowan (1976-1988), "B-P-H, Botanico-Periodicum-Huntianum" by Lawrence et al. (1968), and "B-P-H/S, Botanico-Periodicum-Huntianum/Supplementum" (Bridson & Smith, 1991) were used as standards. Dates of publication were determined from title pages, TL/2, or from internal evidence. The date given here may differ from that given on the title page, but is believed to be the actual year of publication.
Keywords have been added to the citations by the compilers of the Bibliography to facilitate searching and provide some clues to the contents of the papers. Currently accepted names for out-of-date or illegitimate generic and locality names used in the references are given in square brackets in the keywords. The keywords are not exhaustive, and thus searching on words in the citation titles may turn up additional pertinent references.
This searchable online bibliography is a completely revised and updated version of a bibliography that was originally published as: Skog, L.E. & L. Brothers. 1990. Bibliography of the Gesneriaceae. 205 pp. Washington, DC: Dept. of Botany, Smithsonian Institution.
The 1990 Bibliography was placed, unchanged except for formatting, as a text file on the Smithsonian's Gopher server in February 1994. However, since 1990 the Bibliography has continued to grow as new articles were published and older ones discovered. Many of these articles deal with Old World Gesneriaceae, which were underrepresented in the original Bibliography. Also, many more references from the horticultural literature have been added.
A suggested citation for this online Bibliography is: Skog, L.E. & J.K. Boggan. 2007. Bibliography of the Gesneriaceae. Second edition. Washington, DC: Dept. of Botany, Smithsonian Institution. http://botany.si.edu/gesneriaceae/bibliography
Acknowledgments: We would like to thank Leslie Brothers for her assistance in compiling the original Bibliography of the Gesneriaceae, and many others who have provided input. We would also like to thank Sylvia Stone Orli for her helping in putting this version online.
Copyright: This compilation is copyrighted by the Smithsonian Institution, © 2005-2007, all rights reserved. It is presented for scholarly use only. Copying or redistributing the data in any manner for personal or corporate gain is not permitted. Privacy statement.
For additional information about this list please contact: John Boggan
Last updated 21 March 2007


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This article provides the information on "Latitude xx50 and touchpad two-finger double-tap".
A Dell Latitude E7250 user reported that their system was capable of a two-finger double-tap gesture to emulate a right mouse click while running Windows 7x64 factory installation.
The two-finger double-tap gesture worked with the native Windows touch pad driver installed. Once the Dell-ALPS package was installed the two-finger double-tap gesture is no longer available.
Affected Systems:
This issue occurs because the two-finger double-tap was not part of the driver specification for Windows 7 and installing the updated ALPS touchpad driver disables this function.
The two-finger tap/double-tap is only supported by Alps in Windows 8.1 or higher. Additionally, when running Windows 8.1, two-finger double-tap will behave the same as two-finger single tap. This is by design of the Alps driver.
If the two-finger tap/double-tap is a required function in Windows 7, then uninstall the Alps touchpad driver and use the Windows 7 native driver.
Article ID: SLN298163
Last Date Modified: 07/09/2018 01:11 PM
Thank you for your feedback.


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Greetings from Texas Tech University:
The Texas Tech University Department of Biological Sciences and the Llano River Field Station in conjunction with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have begun a survey to determine recreational angling effort (time spent fishing), gather information on angler attitudes and opinions, and evaluate the economic impact of angling in Hill Country rivers and streams. Anglers who have fished a Hill Country river or stream during the past 12 months are encouraged to participate in the survey. Anglers fishing smaller rivers, streams and creeks within the area of interest, are also encouraged to participate. Information from anglers who target Guadalupe bass, the state fish of Texas, is of special interest.
Anglers can participate in the survey through a link on the TPWD fishing web page http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/ or directly at https://www.research.net/s/HillCountryFishingSurvey
You can view the full TPWD News Release at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/re...2&nrsearch=
If you would like additional detail, please feel free to read the following articles:
http://www.austin360.com/news/lifestyle ... s-1/nRNsX/
http://www.chron.com/sports/outdoors/ar ... 868594.php
Zack Thomas
Hill Country Angler Survey Reminder-Only 2 weeks left!
Non-Trout pursuits
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Licensing for SSMS Tools Pack 2.5 has been quite a hit and I received some awesome feedback. The version 2.5.3 contains a few bug fixes and desired licensing improvements. Changes include more licensing options, prices in Euros because of book keeping reasons (don't you just love those :)) and generally easier purchase and licensing process for users. Licensing now offers four options: Per machine license. (€25) Perfect if you do all your work from a single machine. Plus one OS reinstall...
posted @ Friday, December 14, 2012 1:42 PM | Feedback (0) |
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School participating in food drive to help fight hunger.
McLoud Junior High School is participating in The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma 2013 Students Against Hunger Food Drive. Each homeroom is collecting food to help those families who are in need.
It will run from Monday, Sept. 23, through Friday, Oct. 11.
The food drive also helps bring awareness to the issue of poverty and hunger. The success of our food drive will help feed those in our community who are hungry--especially in these tough economic times and with the holidays coming up.
All items must be sealed and non-perishable, including things such as canned meats, soups, canned fruits and vegetables, and boxes of rice, cereal, and pasta.
For more information, you may contact Alayna Baker, the Leadership teacher at McLoud Junior High, at (405) 964-3312 ext. 5623.


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Johnson, Train highlight performance show
NEW YORK (AP) — Jack Johnson and Train are among the headliners in the second season of public television's newly renamed performance show "Front and Center."
The series, known last year as "Front Row Center," will have nine one-hour musical performances starting in September. The show announced Wednesday that songwriter Johnson will be the first performer. In the second show, Train performs their latest album in its entirety. "Front and Center" tapes its shows at intimate performance halls in New York City.
Other guests on the second season include Buddy Guy, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Rides, featuring Stephen Stills. Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde will perform with the Les Paul Trio.
The show airs at different times on PBS stations across the country.


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Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7900 10-speed Cassette
Item: 50-7266
Save $40.00 (18%) $179.99 MSRP $219.99
Size:The price of the product might be updated based on your selection
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- Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7900 10-speed road bike cassette's new aluminum carrier shaves 10g off the previous CS-7800 cassette for increased rigidity and improved power transfer
- Redesigned sprockets and teeth provide robust upshifts and downshifts
- Four largest sprockets are constructed with titanium to further enhance weight savings
Learn More:
Check out our Introduction to Shimano.
Check out our Basic Guide: Introduction to Shimano Road Groupsets.


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Creative Containers for Displaying Flowers
Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day, like writing a poem or saying a prayer. – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I always try to pick up fresh flowers on my farmer's market weekends. Luckily, I live in California where there is always something in bloom, and now that it's spring, there are loads of colorful options. But despite being crafty in other areas, flower arranging has never been my strong suit. Here are a few presentation ideas that make it look so easy and effortlessly pretty.
Enjoy, and maybe take a minute to arrange your own bowl of flowers this weekend.
1. Oh Joy
3. Lolalina
5. CSI Project
(Images: as linked above)


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NPPD Selects Final Transmission Line Route; Right-of-Entry Process Now Underway
April 26, 2011
Broken Bow, Neb. – With a 30-day public comment period complete, Nebraska Public Power District has determined the final route for its 115,000-volt Broken Bow Transmission Line Project. When completed, the new power line will support the delivery of electricity from the planned Broken Bow wind farm, to be constructed northeast of the community in 2012, to NPPD's existing substation south of Broken Bow.
The 115,000-volt transmission line will follow a north-south route from the wind farm collector substation in northeastern Custer County, cross Highway 70, then turn west across Highway 2 to the existing Broken Bow substation, located on the southern border of the city.
The right-of-entry process is now underway, allowing key activities to be conducted on private property including surveying, preliminary field engineering, and land appraisal. Easement acquisition is expected to start later this year followed by construction early next year, with the line going into operation in the fall of 2012.
NPPD Project Manager Jedd Fischer said that every effort has gone into reviewing all comments and concerns from landowners, in order to be able to come up with a final line route. "There may be some minor tweaking of the route as we move along as additional information is gathered from the right-of-entry process and surveying activities," he explained.
NPPD right-of-way agents have been contacting landowners affected by the line to acquire right-of-entry agreements where preliminary work is required. The agents are making appointments with the landowners to explain the right-of-entry process and subsequent activities. Once a right-of-entry agreement has been signed by the landowner, activities will begin.
Surveying activities include recovering section corners and setting concrete project control monuments. The section corners are found and documented, or re-established if they cannot be located. Surveying of the monuments and corners will be done using global positioning systems (GPS) which provide precise surveying.
NPPD has sub-contracted with JEO Consulting Group, Inc., which will be working with the Custer County surveyor's office during the surveying process.
Preliminary field engineering activities include identifying sites where structures may be located and conducting environmental studies. Information gathered from the land surveys and preliminary field engineering will be used to develop the final right-of-way easement. Preliminary field engineering will be managed by POWER Engineers.
The appraisal process will be conducted by American Real Estate and Associates, who will do a market analysis of the properties and consider power line impacts in order to determine payments to be utilized in the easement acquisition process.