text: Save up to $1,700 on your new Home Comfort System! Posted March 21, 2016 Lennox Promotions GET REBATES OF UP TO $1,700 ON A QUALIFYING LENNOX® HOME COMFORT SYSTEM The Dave Lennox Signature® Collection is the ultimate expression of Lennox® innovation, and that makes it the perfect choice for your home. Each product is a standout on its own, leading the market in efficiency, quiet operation and comfort. Working together in one system, they create an environment of perfectly heated and cooled air. START WITH UP TO $1,400 IN REBATES.* Save on a complete qualifying Lennox® home comfort system that includes gas furnace or air handler, air conditioner or heat pump and thermostat. GET UP TO A $100 REBATE ON a WI-FI THERMOSTAT.* With the Schedule IQ feature, you only need to program the thermostat once. Whenever there's a change in your routine, the iComfort S30 adapts heating and cooling to match. GET UP TO A $100 REBATE ON ZONING.* Purchase iHarmony® zoning, a major advance in precision climate control and Enjoy savings and custom comfort. GET UP TO A $100 REBATE ON pUREAIR.* Cleans the air in your home better than any other single system you can buy, doesn't produce ozone and that means cleaner air in every room. Your family's health, comfort and safety is our business. Our comfort advisors would be happy to answer any and all of your questions. Call us today so we can help you achieve total home comfort. *Some restrictions apply. System rebate offers range from $150–$1,700. Rebate offer is valid March 21, 2016 through June 10, 2016 with the purchase of qualifying Lennox products. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Additional add–on rebates for iComfort® S30 Thermostat, iHarmony® Zoning System and PureAir™ Air Purification system valid with a qualifying system purchase only. See your participating Lennox dealer for complete details. ***Financing offers a no payment - no interest feature (during the "promotional period") on your purchase at an APR of 0.0%. No finance charges will accrue on your account during the promotional period, as set forth in your Truth in Lending Disclosures, and you will not have to pay a monthly payment until the promotional period has ended. If you repay your purchase in full before the end of the promotional period you will not have to pay any finance charges. You may also prepay your account at any time without penalty. Financing is subject to credit requirements and satisfactory completion of finance documents. Any finance terms advertised are estimates only. Normal late charges apply once the promotional period has ended. See your Truth in Lending Disclosures for more information. ****Based on qualifying system cost of $8000 at 7.99% APR for ten years. Financing available to well qualified buyers on approved credit at an APR of 7.99% for 120 months, with an estimated monthly payment of 1.21% of your purchase amount. You may prepay your account at any time without penalty. Financing is subject to credit requirements and satisfactory completion of finance documents. Any finance terms advertised are estimates only. Normal late charges apply. See your Truth in Lending Disclosures for more information. Back To Promotions


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TUCSON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A new 120mm long-range, guided mortar munition is to be designed, tested and demonstrated for the U.S. Marine Corps by Raytheon.
The precision extended range munition will be used with the Marines' M327 rifled towed mortar, a key weapon for Marines expeditionary forces.
"Leveraging our extensive experience with precision munitions, Raytheon will provide the Marine Corps with precision, highly lethal indirect fire support for its combat operations while minimizing collateral damage," said Tom Bussing, vice president of Advanced Missile Systems for Raytheon Missile Systems.
"Our PERM solution is also expected to reduce logistical burdens since fewer rounds will be needed to accomplish the mission."
Raytheon said work under the 18-month contract will be performed in collaboration with Israeli Military Industries.
The new mortar round will feature extended range and all-weather capability.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CUBEBOT MICRO | PUZZLE ROBOTS | David Weeks | Areaware Julien | Micro
Dōmo arigatō, Mr. Roboto...
Like, comment or show your love and get 5% discount!
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DescriptionRobot toys are usually made of plastic or metal and require batteries - but not this one!
Inspired by the Japanese Shinto Kumi-ki puzzles, David Week's Cubebot is a non-traditional take on the toy robot by joining ancient Japanese traditions with contemporary toy culture.
Cubebots's powerful hardwood frame can hold many poses, and his elastic-band muscles and durable wood limbs make him impervious to breakage. When it's time for him to rest, he folds into a perfect cube. An enduring classic that will withstand generations of play.
Recommended for ages 3+
Material: Sustainably Harvested Beech Wood
Design: David Weeks
Dimensions: 4.25 inches tall with 5.5 inch arm span (at play); 1.5 x 1.5 inch cube (at rest)
Warning: Chocking Hazard - small parts. Not for children under three (3) years!
|David Weeks
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The Woodrow Wilson Center sent me an invitation which, sadly, I cannot accept as the event takes place in Washington, DC. Happily, they will be webcasting it,
Technology Assessment and Public Participation:
From TA to pTA
The "p" in "pTA" stands for "participatory." This emphasizes the idea that the people who fund technology development (through taxes and consumer purchases), and live with its positive and negative consequences, but are not otherwise formally engaged through advocacy, can and should play a role in technology assessment (TA). While some advocates for TA called for the inclusion of participatory practices from the beginnings of the field's evolution in the United States, action to implement this idea did not begin until the late 1980s, largely in Europe.
In society at large, however, participatory practices have expanded considerably over the past two decades in relation to science and technology in particular and social decision-making in general. During this event we will explore one approach to pTA, the World Wide Views exercise on Biodiversity, a global citizen consultation held in 25 countries on September 15, 2012 that provided input to the Eleventh Council of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
Join us on Dec. 6, 2012 in the Fifth Floor Conference Room at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to discuss this new approach and the public input it can provide. This event will be live webcast.
When: December 6, 2012
12 – 2 pm
Where: Woodrow Wilson Center – 5th Floor Conference Room
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
Washington, DC 20004
Richard Worthington, Professor of Politics and Chair of the Program in Public Policy Analysis, Pomona College
Darlene Cavalier, Founder, Science Cheerleader and SciStarter and Contributing editor, Discover Magazine
David Sittenfeld, Forum Program Manager, Museum of Science, Boston
Gretchen Gano, Doctoral Student, Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology Program, Arizona State University
Tim Persons, Chief Scientist, Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Mikko Rask, Head of Research, National Consumer Research Centre, Finland
David Rejeski, Director, Science & Technology Innovation Program, Woodrow Wilson Center
For those of us on the West Coast, this means a 9 am starting time for the webcast. For those who can attend the event, please RSVP here.
There will be another webcast next week, on Dec. 5, 2012, for a Digital Storytelling presentation by Tom McFadden, science rapper/etc. for the US State Department. It's one hour long and the start time is 11 am EST (8 am for those of us on the West Coast or 1600 UTC).
Thank you to Patricia Anderson and this Nov. 29, 2012 posting on her Emerging Technologies Librarian blog for the information. You have to keep scrolling down to find the bit about McFadden's Dec. 5, 2012 presentation as she covers a number of exciting science initiatives such as a Science Idol project being developed by Will.i.am (Black-eyed Peas), a New Zealand Science Idol project, and this about McFadden and the NZ Science Idol,
Not only is this a real Science Idol performance competition / education / science communication that has actually already happened, but it ran under the oversight of Tom McFadden, a true innovator and leader in this conceptual space.
More videos by and about Tom's work with rap and storytelling for science communication.
Youtube: Tom McFadden http://www.youtube.com/user/tomcfad
Articles about Tom's work in this area.
Regulatin' genes: Stanford biologists rap about what makes us human:
Rappin' for Science: http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/rappin-for-science/
BioPop Rap Battle: Tom McFadden vs Science Rapper. Who Gets Your Vote? http://bitesizebio.com/articles/biopop-rap-battle-tom-mcfadden-vs-science-rapper/
Tom is known as the Rhymebosome. Would you believe that this is such a hot emerging area that there is even a blog devoted entirely to science music?
I highly recommend checking out Anderson's blog. As for McFadden, here's what the US State Dept. CO.NX website has on the event page,
Are you a fan of hip-hop and/or expressing yourself through music via the Internet? Learn how to tell your story using online tools and digital platforms! Join us for a live, engaging discussion featuring Tom McFadden, a Fulbrighter and former Stanford University biology course instructor who became a Science Rapper. Tom emerged from the California BioPop scene with hit singles such as, "Regulatin' Genes" and "Oxidate it or Love it," which granted him recognition in The New York Times and The Guardian. He will discuss his Science Idol Fulbright project in New Zealand, which asked New Zealanders to send in their own "science songs" via digital videos. Join Tom online to learn how to share and communicate what you're passionate about through creativity and digital storytelling!
Format: This program will be an interactive video webcast in English. Please click on the URL above to participate. Follow the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #StateAlumni.
Next week looks to be very interesting.


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Any news on the documentation?
Announcement Announcement Module
No announcement yet.
Tutorial/material for how to customize the ROO + GWT project? Page Title Module
Move Remove Collapse
Conversation Detail Module
new posts
Throw a dog a bone, please with some documentation please on GWT addon
or a blog on how to customize stuff
Hey simonwhelan76, what areas of customisation do you want to know about and I will sure to include them.
Hi James
Top of the list wish is some blog / documentation on how to integrate Roo 1.1.1 / GWT 2.1.1 with Spring Security 3.
If this is not possible right now, could you explain why we cannot get hooks to check auth on each request using RequestFactory. Personally I don't really understand this whole thing and would really love to just know more.
Secondly, a blog / doc's or sample app on the proper use of
1. RequestFactoryEditorDriver,
2. DefaultRequestTransport,
3. ServiceLayer
4. ServiceLayerDecorator
5. SimpleRequestProcessor
6. InProcessRequestTransport
7. RequestFactoryMagic
8. Locator
9. Receiver
1. RequestTransport
2. RequestTransport.TransportReceiver
3. ServiceLocator
4. ValueProxy
5. ProxySerializer
6. ProxyStore
7. BaseProxy
8. EntityProxy
9. EntityProxyChange.Handler
proper use of Annotation Types
1. @Service(value = someDao.class, locator = SomeDaoServiceLocator.class)
2. ServiceName
Perhaps expand the expenses.roo sample to add some business logic
1. Employee / Manager relationship, and only manager can approve reports
2. People in certain departments cannot create reports
Thirdly how about giving a GWT version of this blog http://stsmedia.net/introducing-spri...email-support/ on email integration with GWT's RequestFactory.
Fourth, just some in depth and very technical article on how the whole GWT generation process works. The more technical the better.
I'm not asking for this because I'm lazy, I just don't get it. At my level of expertise I need more information to grasp these concepts and with no documentation on the GWT site covering any of this and no books / blogs etc available, its become a really challenge
Ok clap, clap to the GWT / Roo team,its your job and ye work on this everyday, ye have colleagues to ask questions and a lot more resources. But the average developer doesn't have these resources.
The name of this post is "Tutorial/material for how to customize the ROO + GWT project? " and its got 1,824 unique views. Almost 10 X times the average post, and it began back in 9th Oct 2010 (I'm just pointed at this one, there's lot's of other post looking for doc's / code sample etc) and still no official documentation has come from the Spring Roo / GWT addon team (I'm not taking about 2.1 doc's that are on the GWT site).
The expenses.roo sample hasn't changed / update for new functionality in ages (it doesn't even include the 1:m, m:n relationship stuff that was added). How about providing a example that show's off all the functionality that's available, or multiple samples...after all its a script (or please point me to the test script that your using)
Well anyway, I'm pretty burnt with trying to follow this project and I'm sure there's a couple of developers from the 1,824 that have taken the time to read this forum posting that feel the same.
James you do a great job of answering peoples post both here and on the issue tracker and for that were all very thankful, sorry if this comes across harsh, its just honest frustration. Doc's are coming, doc's are coming soon, ya right, like I pointed out above this post started back last October.
Please other added your 2 cents, and disagree with me if you think I'm completely wrong.
For other people reading this post here are some useful blog post
1. http://tbroyer.posterous.com/gwt-211-requestfactory
2. http://wanderingcanadian.posterous.com/tag/gwt
3. http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/do...easeNotes.html
harsh but factual and necessary
This is a free product and we all appreciate the effort but at the same time we need to express our frustration and experiments to point out the issues for the sake of the community.
Personally, I am not a newbie in any of the technologies. I have Spring, hibernate, AspectJ background and we are currently creating a massive GWT application at work (GWT 2.0) yet I haven't been able to put a decent application together that goes beyond learning purposes. I have been postponing my own project (done without Roo) since last June for the promising Roo+GWT to come. Roo users are pointing out the need for m:n entity relationship, sample authentication with spring security 3.0 and customizing the generated app for so long and yet we hear about improving auto completion of roo command!!! As a user I can type my own command please expand on the base example or enlighten me about how I can expand on the generated app, change it, customize it, add search capabilities and many other very needed features in any trivial real world app.
Hi Community,
I've already posted in the following the gwt group of google but didn't get any response. So maybe you can help me...
Im not new to GWT but didnt work with GWT 2.1.1 yet so this is the first time.
I've spent much time in analyzing the application spring roo generated for me. There're some entities, views, activities and a very (I think) complex structure which is not made for customizing. I've read through all the documentation of google and the samples of Thomas Broyer but didn't come any further with this generated app. The next step was to paint down the structure - urgh - didn't help a lot.
Then I tried to debug and wouh its getting lighter. Thats the way after application is started and you click on the create button for a proxy (right?) :
a) Button clicked in childclass of AbstractProxyListActivity which contains the delegate logic (View -> Delegate == Activity).
b) Create a new ProxyPlace(MyProxy.class) which implies the Operation.CREATE
c) Call the PlaceController to go to the new Place
d) Ask the ActivityManager which is the next activity
- There are two mappers defined in ScaffoldDesktopApp
e) ApplicationDetailsActivities_Roo_Gwt is called b/c its the mapper of the ActivityManager
f) The ApplicationEntityTypesProcessor chooses the correct Proxy to be handled
g) Create the mapper for the proxy with new MyProxyActivitiesMapper and get the final activity
h) Map the operation we have an Operation.CREATE so
i) Call the makeCreateActivity() within MyProxyActivitiesMapper which
j) Returns a wrapper for the new activity with its view MyProxyEditActivityWrapper
k) This activity wrapper is set as result of ApplicationEntityTypesProcessor
l) Which will be returned to the ActivityManager
Heres what Im confused about or dont understand:
1. Whats the full functionality of ApplicationDetailsActivities_Roo_Gwt and ApplicationEntityTypesProcessor seems that they choose the right proxy to handle and the correct operation to be used. But isnt there an easier, non-confusing way?
2. Why every view extends MyProxy_Roo_Gwt?
The documentation of roo says its for better seeing, that this part is roo managed gwt code. But.. whats there roo managed and why this makes it not easier to customize the app.
3. How to update a view? Lets say a simple button which clears all fields in an editor. Or couldnt this be done by Gwt 2.1.1 without calling a new activity (and with the help of the activity do we really have to pass the what to do in the view as parameters in the place?)
4. Lets say Id like to fire an event if a button is clicked and the menu has to handle this event. Which class has to implement the handler and how to update the view (maybe add a menu item) perhaps its like point 3.
Why I said this app is not made for customizing? This is easy: I simply like to add a button to an edit view which clears all fields of the editor. Theres no way to do it for one editor b/c all views use the same interface with the same delegate. So I have to create a new interface and a new delegate.
public interface ClearProxyEditView<P extends EntityProxy, V extends ClearProxyEditView<P, V>> extends IsWidget, HasEditorErrors<P> { interface ClearDelegate { void cancelClicked(); void saveClicked(); void clearClicked(); } }
public abstract class ClearProxyEditActivity<P extends EntityProxy> implements Activity, ClearProxyEditView.ClearDelegate { public void clearClicked() { //TODO: clear all fields // but how to update the view? } }
The questions are
- How to update the view and clear the fields?
- Is there an easier way to do this?
And I dont have any idea how to add views not based on a proxy. Is there anybody who already tried it?


text:
Car Review
2014 Nissan 370Z: New Car Review
Enthusiasts will consider the rear-wheel-drive 2014 Nissan 370Z a pure sports car, defined by a robust engine, laser-precise steering, track-caliber agility and a race-inspired 2-passenger cockpit. It's a formula shared by many world-class sports coupes, but the Z is available at a fraction of the price. For that reason, some call it a poor man's track toy. In other words, you can enjoy real sports car performance without going broke.
For those who prefer their high-speed escapades with a dose of vitamin D, there's the open-top 370Z Roadster. It brings virtually the same level of athleticism as the coupe but with the benefit of a retractable fabric roof that can be dropped in just 20 seconds.
If the standard 370Z isn't powerful or sticky enough, buyers have the choice of the even edgier 370Z Nismo. It offers greater firepower from under the hood, a much firmer suspension, upgraded brakes, aero body enhancements and larger wheels. If track days are your cup of tea, the Nismo Z is an excellent choice.
What's New for 2014?
Changes for 2014 are limited to the Nismo, which receives a number of exterior and interior styling enhancements.
What We Like
Powerful engine; responsive handling; strong brakes; well-crafted interior; excellent performance
What We Don't
Poor rear visibility; excessive tire and road noise; buzzy engine when approaching redline; very limited cargo space
How Much?
Fuel Economy
The 2014 Nissan 370Z is motivated by a 3.7-liter V6 producing 332 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque. This engine is managed by either a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 7-speed automatic transmission with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
The 370 Nismo uses a revised version of the same V6 engine, with output bumped to 350 hp and 276 lb-ft of torque. The Nismo comes only with the manual transmission and SynchroRev Match.
Fuel economy for the 370Z is 18 miles per gallon city/26 mpg hwy with the manual and 19 mpg city/26 mpg hwy with the automatic. The Roadster yields 18 mpg city/25 mpg hwy with the automatic and 17 mpg city/25 mpg hwy with the manual. The Nismo yields 18 mpg city/26 mpg hwy with either transmission.
Standard Features & Options
The 370Z coupe is available in base, Touring and Nismo models, while the Roadster is offered in base and Touring only.
The 370Z Coupe ($30,800) includes Intelligent Key with push-button start, heated power outside mirrors, power windows, power locks, rear window defroster, cruise control, tilt steering wheel, 18-inch wheels, steering wheel audio controls, HID headlamps and a 4-speaker AM/FM/CD stereo with auxiliary input jack.
The 370Z Roadster ($42,280) adds a power retractable soft-top with glass rear window and power top operation via the Intelligent Key remote fob.
The 370Z Touring ($36,080) adds leather and synthetic suede seats, a power driver's seat with adjustable lumbar support, 4-way power passenger seat, heated front seats, 240-watt 6-speaker Bose audio, Bluetooth, HomeLink, a rear cargo cover and aluminum trimmed pedals.
The 370Z Touring Roadster ($44,980) includes all the features of the Touring plus the power soft-top.
The 370Z Nismo ($43,830) adds a more powerful engine, 19-in RAYS wheels, a 6-speed manual transmission with rev matching technology, exterior and interior cosmetic upgrades and an extended front nose with integrated chin spoiler.
An automatic transmission adds $1,300 to the bottom line and is offered on all but the Nismo trim.
Options for the 370Z include an Aerodynamic Package, which adds a rear spoiler and front wind deflector, and the Sport Package, which features a limited-slip rear differential, upgraded brakes, rear spoiler and lightweight RAYS 19-in wheels. Standalone options include a rearview camera and Nissan navigation.
Safety features for the 370Z Coupe, Roadster and Nismo include ABS, stability control, active head restraints and six airbags -- front, side and head curtain. Since the Roadster has no roof, its curtain airbags are deployed from the top of the door frame.
Neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have crash tested the 370Z.
Behind the Wheel
Thanks to its strong engine and quick-shifting transmissions, the 2014 Nissan 370Z provides an abundance of power and acceleration. There's no shortage of straight-line performance here. The Z will impress you both off the line and on the open road. And with the SynchroRev Match feature, the performance experience is deftly elevated.
But the real magic happens when the Z's sport-tuned suspension is put to the paces at high speeds through tight corners. Whether on sharp canyon switchbacks or a super-curvy racetrack, this car exhibits gobs of grip and virtually no body lean. Its blend of agility and balance inspires tremendous confidence. Push the Z extra hard and the stability control will likely step in to spoil the fun, but this system can be shut off if drivers really want to test the limits. What they will learn is that those limits are not easily reached. The 370Z Roadster's driving experience is about the same as the coupe but with a lot more wind in the hair.
The Nismo takes the performance factor up a notch. This model is actually more appropriate for a track than for normal roads, as it's rigid for everyday driving. There's not much sense in buying one unless you have the time and inclination for weekend trips to the track.
Aside from its commendable sporting performance, the regular Z is still a fine car for the daily commute. Its ride is compliant enough to get you where you're going comfortably.
Other Cars to Consider
Chevrolet Camaro -- The Camaro is not as nimble or as track-capable as the 370Z, but it's the more muscular straight-line performer.
Audi TT -- The TT has a better balance of ride and handling and a more sophisticated overall package, but the 370Z has more cornering prowess and grip. Both offer extremely precise steering.
Hyundai Genesis Coupe -- The Genesis and the Z are both competent sports cars. However, the Genesis has more refinement for everyday driving. The 370Z is a sharper handler, and it's better equipped for twisty roads and track-style motoring.
AutoTrader's Advice
Both the coupe and the convertible deliver excellent performance at a reasonable price. We suggest you go with the 7-speed automatic, which still allows you to choose gears manually when the mood strikes. The Touring trim's more upscale presentation and wider array of amenities beat the base model's stripped-down interior. The Nismo is just too hardcore for everyday use, but the optional Sport Package brings the Z closer to Nismo caliber without the harsh ride.


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sE Microphone Model Guide
Many manufactures list the sound sources that they believe their microphones handle best, but in our experience every situation is different and very often the least likely choice of microphone produces the best sounding result. For that reason we've put together a few guidelines to help you decide which microphone is most likely to be right for each job, but where time allows, we urge you to experiment.
Small Diameter Cardioid Condenser Models
sE1a, sE4, RN17
Small diameter condenser microphones are generally associated with good transient handling and general tonal accuracy, making them suitable for use with a wide variety of sound sources - ranging from acoustic stringed instruments, such as guitars, to percussion and drum overhead mic'ing. Because of their largely uncoloured sound, they can produce high quality recordings from virtually any source, though you may choose to use an alternative type of microphone when a specific tonal character is required. For example, while a small diaphragm microphone can give you a very accurate recording of bowed strings, many engineers prefer to use a ribbon microphone as it helps disguise the hard edge produced by such instruments when heard at close range. Similarly, a small diaphragm microphone used in conjunction with a pop shield will often produce a first class vocal recording though some voices are better suited to a large diaphragm model with a tonal quality that flatters their voice.
Cardioid and hypercardioid versions are chosen when it is necessary to optimise the separation between instruments playing at the same time, or where the effect of the room acoustic must be minimised. However, the off-axis response of all cardioid pattern microphones tends to fall away at high frequencies more rapidly than at low frequencies, so sounds picked up from the sides or from behind, though attenuated, may sound dull compared to sound being picked up on the main axis of the microphone. Note that all cardioid and hypercardioid pattern mics exhibit a proximity bass boost effect when used very close to the sound source. For stereo use, cardioid pattern microphones may be used as a spaced pair or as a coincident pair with their capsules angled at between 70 and 110 degrees depending on the width of the sound source.
Small Diameter Omni Condenser Models
sE4, RN17 (both require optional Omni capsules)
The highly accurate off-axis response of a dedicated small diaphragm omni capacitor microphone capsule makes it extremely flexible and natural-sounding. The fact that an omni capsule picks up sound from all directions makes it less suitable for use in situations where spill or room acoustics need to be minimised, though they do have the benefit that any spill they do pick up from other instruments is likely to sound more natural and so may be less problematic when you come to mix. When close- mic'ing acoustic instruments with omni pattern microphones, an sE Reflexion Filter TM placed directly behind the mic will help exclude spill and room reflections. Because of its versatility, you can use a small diaphragm omni mic on virtually any electric or acoustic instrument (or voice) where an accurate interpretation of the sound source and the surrounding acoustic environment is required.
Note that omni mics do not exhibit a proximity bass boost when used close up and also have a naturally more extended low frequency response than cardioid microphones making them more suitable for the recording of bass instruments in situations where the microphone can't be placed very close to the source. For stereo use, omni microphones are normally used as a spaced pair.
Large Diameter Cardioid Condenser Microphones
sE X1, G3500, Gemini 5, Gemini II, Gemini III, sE2200a, sE2200a II C (Cardioid only), sE2200a II Multi Pattern, sE2200a T (Tube), sE4400a, sE T2, Z3300a, Z5600a II
sE large diaphragm condenser microphones for use in the studio are side-entry types, where the 'hot' or active side of the capsule is denoted by the sE logo. Most large diaphragm models are designed with a specific tonal character to enable them to flatter the sound source being recorded. All sE large capsule models have their own tonal colour and in the case of vocal recording, you should try to pick a model that enhances the good elements of the voice while suppressing those less attractive traits. For example, if you are working with a singer who has a hard or thin voice, then a microphone with a smooth high end and a slightly exaggerated low end may achieve a better result. Conversely, a singer with a softer voice may gain greater clarity through using a microphone with a subtle presence peak.
Though large diameter cardioid capacitor microphones are often perceived as being primarily vocal microphones, their tonal 'flavouring' can be used to advantage when recording acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, brass and bowed strings. They are also popularly used in pairs as drum overheads or drum room mics.
Large Diameter Multi-pattern Capacitor Microphones
Gemini III, sE2200a II Multi Pattern, sE4400a, Z3300a, Z5600a II, sE T2
By combining the outputs two back-to back cardioid capsules in different proportions, all the possible pickup patterns from omni, through wide and narrow shades of cardioid to figure-of-eight can be created. While the off-axis response of these patterns may not be quite so precise as those of dedicated single pattern capsules, the multi-pattern microphone is an incredibly versatile tool for use in the recording studio where most of the wanted sound is generally arranged to be on the axis of the microphone. The figure-of-eight pattern is particularly valuable in situations where spill is to be avoided, as this pattern is unique in being almost totally insensitive to sound arriving from 90 degrees off axis. This enables the engineer to aim the dead side of the mic towards the source of spill. Note that like the cardioid pattern, the figure-of-eight pattern exhibits a pronounced proximity effect where the bass response rises significantly when the microphone is used close to the sound source.
Addendum for Tube models
The use of tube circuitry adds a subtle musicality that tends to sweeten the highs and add density to lows, thanks in part to the natural non-linearities inherent in tube amplifiers. Technically this is a form of distortion that also modifies the dynamic range in a similar way to a very gentle compressor, but it is an effect that the human hearing system finds pleasant providing it isn't excessive. sE tube microphones are designed to exploit the natural characteristics of audio tubes, not to add artificial distortion. All our tube microphones come with their own power supplies and so require no phantom power but are not affected if phantom power is applied.
Ribbon Microphones
Ribbon microphones have a natural figure-of-eight polar response, so where a more controlled directivity is required, we recommend using an sE Reflexion Filter TM behind the microphone. Their unique character enhances the interesting mid-range resonances in an instrument while smoothing out the highs, making them ideal for sweetening bowed strings or as drum overheads where you need to prevent the cymbals from becoming too splashy. They are also used by many leading engineers for recording guitar amplifiers as they retain the bite and character of the sound, while filtering out some of the less desirable high-end harmonics. Passive ribbon models have a naturally low output and so should be used in conjunction with a good quality, low noise preamplifier.
Though other manufacturers may provide suggested lists of instruments for use with their ribbon models, we would recommend you try our ribbon models on as many sources you can (other than perhaps close-mic'ed drums), as they often reveal a surprising and musically valid alternative to the more obvious microphone choices. Use a pop shield if using them to record vocals and shield the rear of the mic using a Reflexion Filter or other suitable acoustic absorber.


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When I was a kid in youth group, our Sabbath School teacher showed us segments from the DreamWorks screen adaptation of C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." One girl, the pastor's daughter, as I recall, refused to watch the clips on the basis that Narnia's magic was evil. No, she hadn't seen it. No, she hadn't read Lewis's other writings, including "Mere Christianity." She knew all she needed to know. Witches and dwarves and fauns were satanic, plain and simple.
That episode is emblematic of Adventists' relationship with magic. It creeps many of us out. Like many other conservative Christian denominations, we stay the heck away from it. An Adventist even wrote the book, literally, on the evils of Harry Potter and why children and parents must avoid that series. (This was going to be a review of Deathly Hallows Part 1, which is in theaters now, but I decided the inevitable fight over witchcraft wasn't worth it.)
Some time ago, we ceded magic to the devil. Some quotation(s) from Ellen White, some Mission Spotlight story, some anecdote about a ouja board firmed in our minds the belief that we're entering the devil's playground when we enter the realm of magic (and undoubtedly readers will want to point to still more evidence to make the case against magic in the comment section below).
Our problem really is that we have never been taught how to read. I don't mean how to sound out the phonetic pronunciation of words on a page, I mean how to appreciate and value literature. We Adventists are not very good at understanding rhetorical and literary devices, regrettably. C.S. Lewis's imaginative corpus of fiction and prose has been around long enough that most of us have figured out his stories are largely allegorical, with fairly transparent moral systems. Even so, a troubling number of us still get queasy at Lewis's use of magic in his writings.
We should get over it. Jesus used untrue (and Adventists might even argue theologically incorrect) stories to make points about the kingdom of heaven. The story of the rich man and Lazarus, in which a character who is in hell speaks to the living to give warning, comes to mind.
Whether in Rowling's Potter series or Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, magic is part of the literary world the characters inhabit. When we enter their world, we are invited to suspend our this-worldly hang-ups over fantastical creatures and enchantments, and go deeper than the superficial fears that if we read about spells we'll inadvertently be drawn into real-life witchcraft or some such thing. The rich textures of imagined realms often help us better understand the complexities of our own world if we let them. Or as a pastor friend of mine once put it in a sermon referencing Lewis's Space Trilogy, C.S. Lewis's fiction is often more true than most people's "non-fiction."
So during this holiday season, see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader if you have the chance. This third cinematic release of the Narnia series will carry you into a world of spiritually-laden adventure and enchantment, whose spiritual overtones have been made even more obvious for the nervous among us. There's no mistaking the Christian themes in the film. Or if you're feeling very courageous, see Deathly Hallows Part 1, which is also playing. Its author is also avowedly Christian, and the themes (for those who make it beyond the witchcraft and wizardry) are distinctly, if more subtly, Christian as well.
Take the family to see the films. Let these works of creative storytelling spark conversation about imagination and literature and magic and Good and Evil. Because C.S. Lewis (and J.K. Rowling, for that matter) wove unmissable Great Controversy motifs into his (and her) works.
Better yet, read the books. Unless you're eight years old or younger you may have less appreciation for Fox Searchlight's version of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which came across at times as a clumsy, CG-heavy cacophony of visual noise, lacking fully-formed characters. (There, that's my review of the film). The book, on the other hand, is a warm, witty and layered foray back into Narnia, for those who have been there before.
However you enjoy these stories, let there be no apologies for venturing into the worlds of literary magic. Aslan (and other wonderful, magical characters) waits for you there!
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://spectrummagazine.org/node/2823


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Elvis Costello Q&A
Fender's new Elvis Costello Signature Jazzmaster guitar honors one of the most recognized and recognizable Jazzmaster players in music history. It's a spot-on replica of the original instrument that has continually accompanied Costello over an extraordinarily versatile and prolific career spanning four decades and still going strong.
Costello came snarling out of the U.K. in the mid-1970s with an edgy talent and image that immediately set him apart from the punk masses—impeccable pop songcraft, caustically literate lyrics, an angular stage presence, black horn-rimmed glasses—and an ever-present Fender Jazzmaster. The guitar model, introduced in 1958, had largely fallen from fashion until Costello's phenomenal success seemed to single-handedly rescue it from bargain-rack obscurity. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and right up to today, thanks in no small part to Costello, legions of new-wave, alt-rock and indie-rock players prized the resurgent Jazzmaster for its versatile tone and subversive cool.
Costello's original instrument has undergone many changes in the past 30 years, and Fender's new Elvis Costello Signature Jazzmaster replicates the guitar as it existed at the time he recorded his acclaimed 1977 debut album, My Aim Is True. Uniquely Costello-ish features include a post-'68 neck design, a walnut stain finish and a tremolo with easier and greater travel for that spine-tingling "Watching the Detectives" tone; what Costello calls that "spy movie" sound.
Costello remain as busy as ever today, touring in summer 2008 with the Police and debuting in December 2008 as the host of Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ..., a Sundance Channel television series in which Costello plays host to artists and other personalities for an hour of discussion and performance.
Fender News caught up with the always-eloquent Costello during a short break at a San Francisco rehearsal at which he just happened to have his new signature model in hand and his famous original Jazzmaster …
FN: You seemed to rescue the Jazzmaster in the mid-'70s when the model wasn't all that popular. What made you a Jazzmaster player?
EC: I began the recording of the first record with a CBS-era Telecaster®. A friend of mine who was the drummer in my previous band, when I was a semi-professional, actually worked for Fender, and he could get a company discount. And he got me a Telecaster—brand-new, straight up from the factory, out of the box—and the strings were so far from the neck; it was set up like a Dobro.
I knew so little about guitars; I thought that I was just unlucky and you couldn't change them. I basically played it like that for a couple of years, including when I finally got a break and started making a record. So on the first sessions for My Aim Is True, I was playing this Telecaster—maple neck, blonde finish Telecaster; really hard to play.
And then one day I was walking along a road in Hounslow, near where I lived in west London, near London airport, and I saw a guitar not unlike this one (his new signature Jazzmaster) hanging up in a shop window. I'd never seen a guitar like this—I thought it looked like a Strat® that somebody had cut a bit off. I didn't know the guitar even existed; you can see the funny cutaway shape here. And I went in and tried it out, and it certainly played a lot better than my guitar, so I traded it in. I traded a brand-new guitar in for a … I have no idea of the vintage of the one I have.
FN: A Jazzmaster for a Telecaster. They sound so different from each other …
EC: It just seemed like an opportunity. I'd seen one other guy playing this guitar in London; a fellow called Danny Adler in a great group called Roogalator, and he played all kinds of funky stuff on it that I could never dream of playing. He could play, like, "Clean-up Woman" and all that sort of thing (plays choppy rhythm part)—that kind of little chop stuff. I thought, "Well, that's a versatile guitar."
FN: Well, you're known more as a rhythmic player rather than a lead guitarist; did the Jazzmaster's inherent "funkiness" appeal to you?
EC: I was a rhythm player, so I didn't need any guitar that sustained much. I knew it did that, and it had a slightly less shrill sound than the Telecaster. But it also had this little gadget on it (grabs the tremolo arm), and, you know, I wrote some songs on it that used it. I wrote "Watching the Detectives" with it (plays guitar riff from "Watching the Detectives").
I liked that kind of "spy-movie" kind of guitar, and you could do that pretty good on this guitar. So I took it in and I used it on the rest of the sessions. And that is actually the guitar (his original Jazzmaster).
FN: How did your Jazzmaster get its unusual finish?
EC: When I went on my first and second trips to America, it had this attractive furniture-varnish finish, the original one, that somebody had put on it. But it was really just home furniture varnish like you would have on your arm piece or footstool. So I had it stripped off, and I had it taken to Valdez in Los Angeles, and he put this not-entirely attractive gray finish on it and my name up the neck, because I was into country and western-style guitar and gimmicks like that, and I figured nobody would nick it then because it would be useless to them. And I had a spare by then that has just my surname on it.
Of course, it's a little confusing if you ever have to play this guitar in an emergency, if you've never played it. I remember, I was in an after-hours situation jam with Jerry Garcia once, and he looked at it and didn't know what the hell to do with it. He ended up playing my guitar. And if Jerry didn't know his way around a fretboard, given that he played an Alembic with all those scrolls on it, then you can see how confusing that can be if you've never held it before. But this here one (his new signature model) is as close to feeling like mine as I can imagine.
FN: Did it consciously appeal to you back then that few to none were playing Jazzmasters anymore?
EC: The only other player at the time that played one … well, the two guys in Television—Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd played them. But I hadn't seen pictures of those guys. I'd heard their record. It wasn't 'til I came over and I saw them—they were playing the same guitar as me, at least some of the time. Of course, they did a lot more with it than I did, you know. That was a record that I listened to a lot—their Marquee Moon. So I was kind of happy that you could make that kind of noise with the guitar, although I never attempted to do anything like that with it; I just played changes behind my singing.
FN: Yes, but in doing so you helped elevate the Jazzmaster and became a huge influence on a new generation of players.
EC: Well, later on it seemed to kind of be in and out of fashion, you know. There were various different people in the early '90s—I think Kurt Cobain played one for a while; I know he played a Duo-Sonic or something like that, but I think he played one.
So when somebody gets on the television and they're a famous rock 'n' roll star then, a kid who's 14 just knows that person; they don't know that I ever played one any more than they know who Tom Verlaine is, or Danny Adler or anybody else in, you know, Garnett Mims' band, who may have played one in 1965.
FN: You made it a great rock 'n' roll guitar again …
EC: One thing you don't see, oddly enough for a guitar named the Jazzmaster, is many jazz people playing them. I don't know why they called it a Jazz, because (laughs) I've never seen a jazz player playing one. Although the mellower cut on the bass does actually sound pretty, and if you roll off the (adjusts the guitar controls), it can sound pretty, you know. But there you go.
I used to tape this little switch up (upper bout "lead/rhythm" slide switch) because it sounded kind of dull, and I would be halfway through something (strums upward, "accidentally" hitting the switch) and I would suddenly lose all my volume, so I used to tape that down so that I didn't accidentally go to that position. I think everybody does that (grins). It was designed, obviously, for the mellower sound of the guitar's name—that nobody wants (laughs).
Well, I think that some people did actually play them. There are some pictures of some jazz people playing Telecasters. Obviously, mainly because it was the first solid-body electric guitar, so of course the novelty of it alone would've encouraged people who were playing at high volume and didn't want much hollow-body feedback.
But this guitar (Jazzmaster)—I don't know, it's had a funny life. And I've just always stuck with it; I always come back to it. I mean, I've done all sorts of different music, but whenever it's involved electric guitar, I don't think there's one record I've made on which the Jazzmaster doesn't feature somewhere.
FN: Many people think of you when they see a Jazzmaster.
EC: Well, obviously, the first few pictures people see of you tend to imprint on people's minds. And you change over the years—not only change the guitar you play, but change the way you look; and you put down the guitar for a while and then play it; maybe play acoustic guitar or don't play any kind of guitar. But when I've played rock 'n' roll music, it's tended to be some part of it, and this part of it that feels right—the guitar doesn't go out of tune. This one doesn't go out of tune. It's been drowned; it's been in a flood; I've thrown it …
You know, I did the tribute to Joe Strummer on the Grammys a few years ago, and, you know, I wasn't making any kind of statement, but I thought, "How do we finish this? We've got to finish with some feedback." You know, you can't just walk off the stage after doing that. And I just hurled it down, without thinking, against the amp—slammed it up against the amp, which I've done many times without any thought of the age of the guitar. I'd obviously be upset if it got destroyed, but in the heat of the moment you don't think about that stuff; there are some sorts of sounds it just makes, which is great. And the tremolo on the guitar has a particularly attractive sound (plays for a moment). You can also bend—unlike the Strat tremolo—if you hit a chord, you can actually bend the whole chord down; you can't do that with a Strat—when it comes back up, it's out of tune, if you bend it that far. It's really only designed for short little bursts of tremolo.
I mean, I think of Hendrix, obviously—because he had such light strings and he was playing backwards, upside-down and everything—he did a special thing. The guitar was actually, technically speaking, out of tune a lot of the time, but he was bending it in and out of tune, and it was such a fantastic thing that he was doing. But for somebody like me who's sort of limited, this is a brutal-sounding guitar. It suits the way I play.
For more information on Elvis Costello and his Jazzmaster guitar, visit the Elvis Costello Jazzmaster product page


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West Ham captain and friend of Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan, has warned the Liverpool loanee that he must score more goals if he wants to stay at Upton Park.
The Englishman has scored only two goals so far this Premier League season, during which a string of injuries has forced him onto the sidelines.
Despite Nolan wanting him to stay at West Ham, the skipper has revealed he wants to prove Liverpool were wrong to send him out on loan.
"He loves Liverpool," Nolan told The Mirror. "He still wants to prove to everybody that he is good enough to play there. He has got that hunger - that is what people don't see.
|Andy Carroll is 7/1 with BetVictor to open the scoring at Swansea
"Andy was probably a bit harshly treated at Liverpool. I think most Liverpool fans were quite shocked at what happened to him in pre-season and him getting loaned out, but that's football.
"You just have to take it on the chin. He's big enough and ugly enough to do that and get on with it. I think he's done that."
Even though Carroll has kept his cards close to his chest regarding his future at West Ham, Nolan would love to welcome the striker to the club on a permanent deal.
"I think Andy's perfect for us and we're perfect for him," said Nolan. "Sam [Allardyce, West Ham manager] is definitely the right man to get the best out of him.
"He's in London, one of the best cities in the world. He's playing for a great club, he's playing with lads who know him, want to play with him. Only time will tell.
"You'll never know what's going to happen in the next window. We'll just have to wait and see. But he's got to score goals or we won't want to buy him, will we? He's only scored two for us.
"He's got to start pulling his finger out for us if he wants us to buy him!"


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EVERYWHERE, NEW YORK -- I have a 2004 e320. It has what appears to be a cracked left side fuel sender. Or so it seems!? This is a common problem on e class models as I'm more than sure you know. Campaign 2008-020001 covers this exact problem on 211 models 2003-2006, which my car is. However when my VIN was run at the dealer, it is supposedly not covered!? The service manager tells me it's ridiculous, that it's again, "more than obvious", it's the same problem or defect. Yet not covered.
He suggested I call Mercedes and after an "investigation" I was told nothing would be covered!? An investigation that included or predominately was decided over, the fact that I have stopped regularly servicing my car at the dealer! My car looks and runs like new other than this problem, in fact I researched it and found the recall because I wanted it perfect as to trade in or sell and replace it!
So Mercedes won't cover a problem that has 1000s of complaints pending with the NHTSA. I cannot fill my gas tank because if I do the backseat (driver's side) fills with fumes and my children complain. I pulled the backseat in the service area parking lot and we opened the hatch and saw the gas sitting in the sender (see attached pic). It was like we were looking at the pictures attached to the campaign!!! Yet not covered!?
I have owned 3 Mercedes Benz in my lifetime. I can honestly say that I firmly believe they are the best constructed, most reliable, and sharpest looking cars on the road. I have spent years telling everyone I know, anyone that would listen that once you own a Mercedes Benz you can't own any other car. And I routinely argue with my BMW loving best friend (a luxury car dealer) over which is the better vehicle. My car has reached 125k. It's time for a new Mercedes. If any part of you believes I will ever buy another Mercedes when the company will not in good faith fix my vehicle that is so obviously having a problem that is manufacturing defect, then you are out of your mind!
I'm no idiot, I realize if you have even bothered to read this far into the letter, the company could probably care less about one consumer, but you will have lost a truly faithful customer who would've never bought another brand. And whom will exhaust my fingers and wear out my iPad on every blog, website, complaint site, NHTSA hot-line, and anywhere else I can to be sure that I will deter as many people as I can from ever buying a Mercedes because a multi billion dollar company didn't stand by their product, and fix a maybe $1500 problem.
If you took the time to read this, and take the time to compare my symptoms and pics to that of the campaign (and I'm sure millions of complaints), then anyone with any power, and want to do the right thing, will help me and keep me on team Mercedes!
Here's my rant. I've actually had a few weeks to think about it before I hit the boards with what I think you guys should know. I'm extremely disappointed in Mercedes-Benz Customer "Care" or lack thereof. First a little history; I'm a Mercedes guy. I bought my first Mercedes 12 years ago at Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake City (one of the absolute worst dealerships you could ever impose upon a car buyer). It was a 300TE 4-Matic. My brother had a 300TD and I fell in love with the car. Since then, I've owned an ML320 (still own) an E320 4-Matic Wagon and the current car in question our E500 4-Matic Wagon. I've been a mouth piece for Mercedes with all of our wagons and my ML that won't stop running.
Here's my story; I bought the last wagon used. It had 48k on the clock when we decided to get a few last minute details buttoned up while still under warranty. I brought the car to Ken Garff Mercedes with complaints of the automated CD door not shutting. They looked at it and replaced the door under warranty. My wife got in the car and drove it away. Never checking the door… it was down, life was good. We rarely use the CD player anyway.
Fast forward about 1.5 months later. We're in Yellowstone on vacation with the car. We decide to load a CD. Push the button. Door goes up. Won't come down. Same problem. I think "no problem, they should still fix this even though the car is now 1k over the warranty period." Upon further inspection, they misdiagnosed "why" the door was not functioning. The problem was the CD player not the door. I still thought nothing of it. Wrong.
They now wanted me to pay for the CD player as the car was now out of warranty. This is where things started to get weird. Do you like the run-around? I got a plain and clear "run-around" Ken Garff stated unequivocally; "You need to talk to Mercedes-Benz Customer Care. They are the ones denying your claim." I spoke to Mercedes-Benz Customer Care and they stated unequivocally; "You need to talk to Ken Garff Mercedes. They are the ones denying your claim." Back to "Ken Garff Mercedes" who states it's ** from Mercedes-Benz USA.
Furthermore (ready for this car guys?); because I change my own oil and do my own routine maintenance on my vehicles (brakes etc.), I was told the claim would not be granted because "I do not have a good service history with the dealership". Keep that in mind… big brother is watching your VIN.
After 4 days of holding our car hostage they come back to us acting like the "Good Guys" and say. We'll pay for ½ of the CD player and your bill will be $440.00. More calls to Mercedes-Benz Customer Care. I couldn't believe my ears. To me this was cut and dry. The car was brought into a Mercedes-Benz dealership while under warranty complaining of the problem. I have the receipts. They know this to be true. It was not fixed properly and they "both" are unwilling to stand behind the problem and simply admit error and fix the problem.
Ready for more? I told them to fix the door and I declined to pay for the CD player. They then proceeded to erase all of my previous backordered items that were to be covered under warranty and told me this fine trick "It's all or nothing. You either take the CD at ½ off and we'll repair the door for free or it's full price for everything." (You know why right? Because they knew it was the CD player all along).
At that point I had the moron service writer print me an estimate to have the car repaired. The new total is now $1,200.00. I have taken all invoices and notes to my attorney. I even have a phone message from Mercedes declining the coverage.
Why litigation? I don't know… I've never sued anyone in my life but this is clear cut wrong. A claim was made under warranty and not fixed properly. I was told by both the dealership and Mercedes-Benz Customer Care that because I am not a regular customer at Ken Garff Mercedes my claim was being declined. Shame on Mercedes-Benz Customer Care. I would say shame on Ken Garff Mercedes but they are beyond moral reprehension. They are simply the worst automobile dealership I've "ever" had experience with.
NJ, NEW JERSEY -- My husband has a few years old black Mercedes C230 Kompressor Sports Sedan. Car was purchased brand new at Mercedes authorized dealer. There is no modification made to this car and all the servicing done at Mercedes authorized dealer. It had only 58000 miles. Last B servicing which checked any safety related issues and includes regular maintenance, was done at authorized dealer on 02/18/2012. No issue was informed on 02/18/2012 to us by Mercedes authorized dealer servicing department.
On 06/21/2012, when my husband was driving this car from work to home, he turned on A/C, A/C shutdown and he started smelling smoke. On left side of driver side, there is A/C vent and he saw fire inside the hood through that vent. He pulled over car right away and electricity went out within 1 min of his pulling over and within 4 min, whole car was burnt and now totaled. This issue poses very serious security risks to public and it needs thorough investigation.
My husband contacted Mercedes headquarter for investigation and Mercedes declined to investigate. GEICO stated in report that hood is stuck and cause of fire is unknown. GEICO Insurance Company authorized Mercedes engineers to investigate further upon my husband's request and Mercedes USA does not want to investigate further. We do not want others to go through same ordeal as we went through. Mercedes manufactory should be fully responsible for it since there are thousands of people out there driving the same car. It's very shocking that such a reputed company refuse to do anything about it.
Mercedes said it's because our car is too old so it's not their problem, which I found it ridiculous because it only had 58k miles. I understand that things will break when it gets old, but it should not turn into a hazard product which can kill someone. And the servicing department at the local dealer totally agreed that it should not catch in fire like that. What should I do from this point?
EUREKA, CALIFORNIA -- I bought a 2009 E350 last month in Walnut Creek CA. We drove the car home to Eureka California approximately 300 miles. Shortly after arriving home some eight hours after we picked up the car from the dealer, the rear axle had a catastrophic failure. We lost all power to the drive train. It was all we could do using our forward momentum to weave our way through traffic to the side of the road running over the remains of a shopping cart. Although the damage to the front bumper was slight nevertheless our brand-new car was now damaged.
We call the 24-hour road service and our tale of woe problems continued. We were told that 24-hour roadside assistance is only good if you are within 30 miles of the dealership. That we could not have anyone come and get our car until the next day. When we told them the car was in an unsafe position, we were told we are the car owners and it was our responsibility to have a tow the car to a safe location. We even asked to speak with a supervisor but to no avail.
So we towed our car to a safe location and awaited someone come and get our car who had a contract with her Mercedes Benz to come and get it. They did the next day at approximately 5 PM. It took 11 days to get our car back. There was an argument about whether Mercedes should pay for the bumper damage, in the end they did. There was an argument about whether or not they would be responsible for returning the car to us, in the end they did after finding out that it was California law.
We were assured by the dealership that someone from Mercedes would talk to us that they wanted to do the right thing by us. We were also assured that the Mercedes mfg representative would be calling us. Never happened. I did receive one phone call from someone who was a case manager in customer relations. Unfortunately, we're a car full of people on the way to a birthday party for my 75-year-old mother-in-law. I could not talk to her. But no surprise here, no phone call after that. For the record I have called and left messages eight times.
This whole experience has been very disappointing to us. We bought a Mercedes Benz automobile because we felt it was one of the finest engineered cars on the marketplace. We entered into agreement assured that if we had a problem that Mercedes Benz would be there to help us. Not only are they not there to help us, they won't even call us. My advice to you, is if you're traveling with your Mercedes-Benz, don't rely on the roadside assistance get AAA. We wished we would've bought a Lexus.
NY, NEW YORK -- I took my 2009 MB SL 550 with only 13,000 miles in for its scheduled "B" service. At the time of service I mentioned that the brake pedal was a bit low and that the IPOD cable had a crack in it. A few hours later the service advisor called me and said the B service was over $450 dollars and that my car needed a recommended "brake flush". He said the brake flush even-though a recommended service was not included in the B service and would cost $180 dollars. He also said that the IPOD cable was not covered under warranty and would cost $100. He also said my wiper blades were streaking and, you guessed it, not part of the B service and would cost $80.
When I got the car back I checked what was done for my $450 "B" service... basically an oil change and a 27 point safety inspection which they will do for free if you bring your car in. What a rip off. I will never buy another MB again. I have a 2010 BMW 750i. BMW covers all maintenance for 3 years... including cables and brake flushes. I repeat do not buy a Mercedes Benz. If you do then definitely do not bring it to MB Manhattan. They are a rip off.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- 2002 CL500 Coupe - 100k miles now - just ended my extended warranty. Car had some service work done at Sacramento dealership on Howe Ave. Routine service work was done at a certified Mercedes Repair shop. All recall work and ABC system problems that occurred before 50k miles were checked by the dealership. Numerous cluster problems on dash. ABC system had to be repaired twice under warranty. The front end of the car dropped down on the tires.
I was told by mechanics and other owners that this is a big problem with these cars. My car has never been in an accident but now I have cracks on both fenders in the same location. When you open the hood you can see where the cracks started. Appears to be a design defect. Mercedes tells me that's a body shop problem--too many miles and nothing can be done after 50k miles.
Why should I have to pay almost $5,000 to fix plastic fenders that I did not damage? This car cost 100k brand new. I bought it at 28k miles and in excellent condition from a private owner. If this is how the Mercedes Company treats their car owners--not offering any accommodation for my problem--they will never get my business again. Plus everyone I know will hear my story.
MONTVALE, NEW JERSEY -- I bought a new Mercedes SLK in 2005 (a 2006 model). About a year later, the navigation system began to malfunction intermittently. I have taken the car to my dealer (RAB Motors in San Rafael, CA) eleven times for this problem but it has not been fixed. The dealer's own records state that the problem has been observed and verified by their service technicians. They have replaced some parts of the navigation system but it still malfunctions.
Both Mercedes USA customer service and RAB refuse to do anything further. RAB blames Mercedes and Mercedes blames RAB. The car is under warranty both because the problem arose during the warranty period and because I purchased a seven year extended warranty from Mercedes.
I have never seen a company simply stonewall a customer when the problem is documented. It clearly is covered by warranty and they simply have no defense. This was my seventh Mercedes car but Mercedes does not seem to place any value on customer loyalty. I will sue them if necessary but I am really shocked at the lack of concern for a loyal customer and total disregard for their legal obligations under the warranty.
TENNESSEE -- I have a 2001 S 600 the car is very well taken care of, it still looks new. I am reporting a safety violation with this car and the dealership is making the customers pay for it. The hydraulics lines run above the transmission and it develops a leak and it runs down on the hot exhaust system. I want this fixed and not out of my pocket. I will sue Mercedes if they don't address this issue and fix my car.
Also I am now having accelerator problems. Sometimes I don't get a response when I am turning at an intersection and then it will suddenly lunge forward. This problem started after I started having problems with my hydraulics systems leaking.
LAGUNA NIGUEL, CALIFORNIA -- I brought my newly bought used car in for regular service in November. It is used by my daughter in No. Calif. I had it checked out before purchase by a reputable foreign car mechanic who said it was in good condition. I wanted to establish a relationship with a MBZ dealer for regular service so I brought it to the Laguna Niguel dealer. After it was checked out, the service representative called me and listed $3500 worth of repair that needed to be done.
After each item, I asked if it was a safety issue. He said yes, except for the wipers. I had the work done, as I was concerned about my daughter's safety and she had to return to No Calif the next day. When I showed my husband the invoice, he said I had been taken. They also repaired the wipers when the tech said they wouldn't. Three days after service, the battery died. I sent a letter to the service manager. He did not respond. I emailed the letter to him. He did not respond. I emailed it again and copied the manager.
The service manager said he'd take a look at it and get back to me. He never did. MBZ headquarters called me because I took a post-repair survey. I told them the story. They called the service manager to make sure he called me. He never did. I emailed the manager once again to complain about the lack of response. He never responded. Take your business elsewhere!
I would like to comment that the Mercedes Benz E270 is one of the worst cars I have ever driven. My company in Zimbabwe bought a brand new E270 in 2003, through a dealer and from day 1 that car has been more at the garage than being driven. In April 2008, it developed a gearbox problem which was "supposedly" sorted only to pack up again a month after coming from the garage.
I have written letters of complaint to the dealer and as recent as yesterday the 3rd of June 2009, the car is still being fixed for a gearbox problem. I think my experience with the vehicle has made me skeptical about the brand and I would really want to contact someone in Germany to address my problem. Can someone advise me how I can get direct contact with Mercedes Benz Germany as I can't seem to get any joy on the issue.


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$363.64 $327.27
Mercurial Vapor Superfly III FG Football Boots. Made By Nike. Mercurial Superfly III is tougher, faster and smarter than ever. A new adaptive traction plate features two pressure-activated studs for superior grip and instant acceleration no matter what the conditions. The revolutionary carbon fibre outsole, enhanced forefoot zonal spikes and direct injected studs means greater speed on the field and bigger nightmares for defenders. The game just got smarter. Upgraded Flywire II targets support and is combined with an anatomically corrected speed last mirrors the shape of the foot for a better fit. The ultra-thin Teijin synthetic outer layer is enhanced with specifically placed ball-control coating on the forefoot, to aid control at speed. A new 3D foam package around the heel collar enhances cushioning and comfort and reduces slippage for a confident, secure fit. A lower profile sockliner increases the cushioning and support whilst overall reducing stud pressure. Weighing in at 210g (US size 9), the Superfly II ensures you are not left behind as the pace of the modern game increases. Intensive input and feedback from players across the globe – including Ugo Monye, Chris Ashton and Vincent Clerc – create the ultimate elite level Football boot for players who know that a split second makes all the difference. Colour Trace Blue/Anthracite/Cyber Volt
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MELBOURNE, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Victoria Azarenka is back in the Australian Open women's singles final, this time against Li Na, with the No. 1 world ranking at stake.
Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova in the 2012 Australian Open women's final for her first Grand Slam title. It also moved her into the No. 1 world ranking for the first time.
She's held that position for most of the ensuing year but the surge by Serena Williams over the second half of 2012 -- including a win over Azarenka in the U.S. Open final -- leaves Azarenka needing a win Saturday over Li to retain the title and top ranking.
Saturday will mark the third major tournament final for Azarenka.
Li is also in her third Grand Slam final. She was lost 2011 Australian Open final to Kim Clijsters but beat Francesca Schiavone for the 2011 French Open championship. She's only been in one other major tournament semifinal.
Azarenka's run to the finals was surprisingly clean. She faced just one seeded player and that was No. 29 Sloane Stephens in the semifinals. Azarenka has lost one set in the tournament.
Li, on the other hand, drew four seeded players, including fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, who hadn't lost in 2013, and second-seeded Maria Sharapova, who'd dropped only nine games in her first five Australian Open matches. Li defeated both in straight sets.
Azarenka has won her last four matches against Li, running her career record to 5-4. Two of the three matches, however, went three sets.


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Having got the restructuring plan behind it, Theolia will now concentrate its efforts on developing and building projects, the company says. It has decided to revert to its former policy of retaining some operating plant rather than selling all operating assets to raise cash for new development.
This will provide a more predictable and regular income flow, the company says. In some cases, it might also sell a minority stake in a project to outside investors.
As of May 31, the group had 264MW installed capacity on its own account and 518MW under management.


text: Established in 2004, Bjorg is a jewelry label from designer Bjorg Nordli-Mathisen. The brand produces stunning items with cosmopolitan designs. Adored worldwide, Bjorg accessorizes the style-conscious, contemporary woman. The label's signature use of unpolished precious stones and rustic metals continues throughout the Bjorg rings collection. From dainty rings with letter designs to statement-making pieces with gorgeous stones, the range features items perfect for day or nightwear.


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June 24, 1951 - August 28, 2013
Walker Valley, NY
Marie E. Forstner, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother passed away at home surrounded by her family on Wednesday, August 28, 2013. She was 62.
The daughter of the late William Forstner and Augusta Schmidt Forstner, she was born on June 24, 1951 in Middletown, NY. Marie worked for years as a front end manager for the Thruway Market, and then for many years as a Greenhouse Grower for Stonehenge Farms.
Marie was an avid outdoors woman who loved birds, butterflies, and nature. She took great pride in the beautiful flower gardens that she and George planted every year around their home.
Survivors include her husband, George W. Hylick; daughter, Andrea Cascun and her husband, Don; grandchildren: Giavanna, Gabriella, and Greyson. She is also survived by her siblings: Tom Forstner and his wife, Carol, Ellen Smith and partner, Bob Krummel, Joan Forstner and husband, Brian Harnett, Susan McDonald and husband, Richard, Bill Forstner, Mike Forstner and wife, Becky, and Beth Kasloski and husband, John; many nieces, nephews, and friends and her supportive friend, Saul Lopez. She is predeceased by her beloved nephew, John Smith.
Cremation will be private. A celebration of life will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 31st, at the Walker Valley School House, Rte. 52 and Marl Road, Walker Valley NY 12588.
Arrangements entrusted to the William M. Gagan Funeral Home Inc. www.wmgaganfuneralhome.com


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Common Causes of Fish Stress in the Aquarium
- 121 reads
At Discus.com, you will find some of the rarest and most sought-after strains of vintage and original discus bloodlines available in the hobby. We specialize in the finest discus and discus-related products. For example, we are the sole breeders of Jack Wattley's original breeding stock lineage of discus aka the "king of the aquarium" in the world, carrying timeless classics such as the Wattley Turquoise and Schmidt-Focke Striated Red Discus. Our facilities collectively house over 30,000 gallons, 25,000 discus fish, and 30+ varieties at any given time. We pride ourselves for our superb customer service and high quality discus. If there are items you are looking for but can't find on our state-of-the-art website, please contact us and we will do our best to find what you need. In the meantime, visit our boutique and build your dream tank today.


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Inside Serena & Lily Co-Founder's Home
Lily Kanter is a former Microsoft executive who co-founded high end home décor company Serena & Lily. Nancy Keates takes Lunch Break inside how Kanter turned her "total disaster" of a home into a Serena & Lily catalog. Photo: Drew Kelly for The Wall Street Journal.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... I ... it ... was while the most sought after home decor expert in the country up to her own California sanctuary well just like her catalogs except ... well there's this kid see issued a look at that and then adhered to skip this Mansion reporter ... Nancy Keates love having E on said here you for your on site that in your life in the flats and even in Nantucket ... and for the uninitiated who is Lily camps are really counters and successful businesswoman who made a fortune and Micra soft and a couple years aam have intensive realize there are no good ... can Sprint's eating ... now in the Arab world ... so she didn't adult this company givebacks they sell that and and more and more exacting started with kids conceding it now it's going to turn a chair and mirrors the drawings and paintings and ... it said in its opener for certain accounts and so many people many celebrities turned to to what she designs ... for their own home inspiration so ... they know California CNR composite was about the threat of a home for two million dollars ... but it wasn't the end that state what what it means so what is typically do you ... like a classic medicine really old houses that looks really come from outside the confines of top hats and that's a ... thinker than a million dollars in the day to ... all of the basic systems ... and turned into this perfect online picture ... house a California style that thing ... that ... was where was the of the D tells that she would call out that were looking at this in tearing is this like her catalogs what were seen there ... exactly the opposite of the Merrimack N Economic Growth sermons with some of the West Coast feel to it ... very very clean and nice I like the color ... that see someone who describes itself as always been able to find the shortest distance between two points so she carries gets things done entrepreneurial apart ... but there was this you're talking to her husband and there was like this thing about the kids sheets what's happened there has been saying that there's that and an interesting married to somebody who owns the Cadillac company because you can change things around all the time but the one thing something I forget to change into conceding that had for years is a saint she she she she she just isn't changing the design of the things that I ... I guess he didn't get much say in the design of this at the end we have lots of rocks that they're out McCartney rabbit are smart and mature thing that I didn't think semester being with us


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Imager::Inline - using Imager with Inline::C.
use Inline with => 'Imager'; use Inline C => <<'EOS'; Imager some_func(Imager::Color c, Imager::Fill f) { Imager img = i_img_8_new(200, 200, 3); /* fill with color */ i_box_filled(img, 0, 0, 199, 199, c); /* inner area with fill */ i_box_cfill(img, 50, 50, 149, 149, f); return img; } EOS
Imager hooks into Inline's
with syntax to make it easier to write Inline::C code that works with Imager, you can call Imager functions without having to include headers or perform initialization.
Imager's Inline
with support does the following:
The filtering mechanism is global, it will replace the class names even inside string constants. If you need a string matching the name of one of Imager's classes, like
"Imager::Color" you will need to split it into 2 to use C's string pasting mechanism, for example:
"Imager:" ":Color".
Tony Cook <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Imager, Imager::ExtUtils, Imager::API, Imager::APIRef, samples/inline_replace_color.pl


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Attorneys will provide an overview of intellectual property, explain the differences between patents, trademarks and copyright, and be available to answer your questions.
|Mon, Nov 19
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Historic Main Library "Jewel of the Community" – showcases stunning Art Deco design paired with cutting-edge modern architecture. Features include "Vitrolite" glass mosaic murals and a soaring atrium in the Wintergarden. Customers appreciate the
underground parking and the on-site Library Café and Classics Gift Shop.
Main serves customers from downtown, all of Lucas County, and surrounding areas. Customers rely on services from specialized departments such as Local History and Genealogy, Audio Visual, and the Tech
Center which contains 80 public computers. Business Technology supports job seekers, entrepreneurs, businesses, and more. The "Metro" draws teens for gaming activities and college resources, and students benefit from Homework Help in Children's Library.


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The best things in my Seventeen magazine were pictures of Fabian and Troy Donahue -- my absolute, hands down greatest loved teen idols at about the time I was in the 6th through 8th grades! I even had a scrapbook filled with their pictures cut from movie magazines!
This video shows Fabian on some teen magazine covers while he sings Hold Me in Your Arms, a kind of slow, dorky song but the photos are priceless!
Now, when I think of Fabian I think of this song -- Turn Me Loose. I still like it to this day!
This was an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. He reminds me of Rick Nelson with those bedroom eyes! And the IFIC buttons everyone is wearing ..... Beechnut gum had an ad campaign at the time that said their gum was "Flavor-IFIC" so not only are they all wearing the buttons, they're all chomping down on the gum!
The 5th Dimension had a lot of great songs, but one of my favorites is the medley Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In which, of course, was written for the 1968 rock musical Hair, and was released as a single by The 5th Dimension.
♥♥♥ Linking over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter F


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Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell brought their opening act, Richard Thompson, back on stage with them Wednesday at Symphony Center for a well-deserved encore. Thompson melted in with the band for a while, then stepped out to trade guitar solos as Crowell's "I Ain't Living Long Like This" stretched out. With each turn on the instrument, Thompson found new harmonic avenues to explore and explode.
The show could've ended right then and there, but Crowell and Harris continued, two longtime friends celebrating some 40 years on the road as country diehards, neo-traditionalists singing in the church of the high and lonesome.
It's a vocabulary known well to Thompson, a '60s rocker in London steeped in Scottish murder ballads and English folk-music drone. He ambled on stage in a black beret where an orchestra normally sits, backed by only two musicians, bassist Taras Prodaniuk and drummer Michael Jerome. Yet he held what sounded like an entire orchestra at his fingertips.
When Thompson plays his guitar, he creates the illusion that at least four hands, maybe six, are working the strings. There is no better way to experience his playing than in the trio format, with Jerome and Prodaniuk carving up the rhythm and giving Thompson room to sail over the top, sometimes locking in with hard-rock riffs, sometimes compressing space with clusters of notes imported from the East, sometimes playing melody off against dissonance tag-team style up and down the fret board.
He wrapped notes like rusty barbed wire around "You Can't Win" and brought muscular funk (Thompson does funk? Who knew?) by way of Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Underfoot" on "Stuck on the Treadmill." He turned "Tear-Stained Letter" into a brief sing-along, then funneled a rockabilly solo through the abrasive jazz-blues of James "Blood" Ulmer.
His acoustic numbers were probably a better match for Crowell and Harris, particularly the finger-picked "1952 Vincent Black Lightening," which suggested a British take on bluegrass. After the Thompson onslaught, the Crowell-Harris combo came off a little quaint at first, exacerbated by some technical difficulties, but picked up momentum once they started diving into the songs from their recent album, "Old Yellow Moon."
Harris, the urban cowgirl in fringe, comes from the perspective of an East Coast folk singer who got a crash course in country from the late Gram Parsons that lasted a lifetime. Crowell, the black-hatted outsider from working-class Houston, was raised on Texas blues, bluegrass, rock 'n' roll and honky tonk. The two met and began performing together in the '70s, infusing country traditionalism with fresh influences, his sharply turned songs finding a broader audience thanks to Harris' astute taste and heart-breaking vocals.
They performed some of the originals that fired their early work, including the haunted "Tulsa Queen" and the bereft "'Til I Gain Control Again," shaded by a pedal-steel as mournful as a train whistle. They surveyed the country songs that broke the Nashville mold and inspired their careers: Harris took the lead on Townes Van Zandt's melodious "Pancho and Lefty," they paid homage to Parsons as they dueted on the Everly Brothers' "Love Hurts," and they brought some swing to Roger Miller's down-and-almost-out "Invitation to the Blues."
There was a lot of heartache in there, and Harris acknowledged that "Rodney and I love sad songs." But Crowell's "Stars on the Water" offered a respite, and Harris twirled around the stage as if her decades on the road were just getting started.


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U.S. Army War College >> Strategic Studies Institute >> Publications >> Details
Deterrence, Missile Defense, and Collateral Damage in the Iranian-Israeli Strategic Relationship
Authored by Dr. W. Andrew Terrill.
- Added February 05, 2008
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Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the February 2008 newsletter.
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The Prime Minister said that Mr Obama's victory showed the importance of the "centre ground" and that voters would reward politicians seen to be "delivering economic recovery".
Downing Street aides who had closely aligned themselves with the Obama White House were privately pleased that the President was re-elected – the first leader of a major economy to have secured another term in office during the economic meltdown.
This suggests that voters will not necessarily reject those in charge during volatile economic times, particularly if people are repeatedly reminded who was "responsible" for the crisis initially.
American voters rejected the Republican pledge to aggressively cut taxes and take more hard-line approach to foreign affairs, policies which some on the right of the Conservative Party are urging Mr Cameron to adopt. Mr Romney was seen as campaigning for a far more right-wing agenda than had initially been expected.
Speaking to reporters on the final day of a three-day trip to the middle east, Mr Cameron said: "I believe that elections are won in the common ground – the centre ground - that is where you need to be, arguing about the things that matter to most people.
"That is making sure they can find a good job, they can build a good life for themselves, that if people work hard and try to get on you are behind them and helping them.
"That is the message loud and clear from this election as it is from all elections: you win elections in the mainstream."
He added that pushing through economic reforms, even if they were initially painful, was also important for future electoral success.
The Prime Minister said: "I was very struck by the fact that Barack had been saying it's a hard road but we're on the right track. And a government that's worked hard to deliver economic recovery can be re-elected."
Mr Cameron also "noticed" that the American President appeared to have used one of his catch phrases in his "thank you" message to supporters on the Twitter micro-blogging website.
He said: "I even noticed in his [Obama's] Tweet he said 'We're all in this together' so there's some commonality."
Downing Street aides had previously privately conceded that the British-American relationship may initially have suffered if Mitt Romney had won this week's election.
Mr Cameron was accused of effectively joining Mr Obama on the campaign trail earlier this year during a trip to Ohio. The Prime Minister is also thought not to have enjoyed a close relationship with Mr Romney during his visit to London in July.
However, George Osborne, the Chancellor, is friendly with Paul Ryan, the Republican vice presidential candidate who is now tipped to be the presidential challenger in 2016.
Labour also believes that the Obama victory is good news for Ed Miliband as the President has taken a far more cautious approach to deficit reduction than the Conservatives. Mr Obama also used the phrase "one nation", which has been extensively used by the Labour leader in recent weeks, during his acceptance speech in Chicago yesterday morning.
The Democrats are Labour's "sister" party and strategists for Mr Miliband are expected to travel to America in the coming months to be briefed on the ruthless Obama campaign. In particular, the tactics for the so-called "ground war" which was successful at persuading key voters to actually cast their ballots.


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Germany backs UK over calls for 'fairness' in EU reforms
David Cameron's hopes of renegotiating the UK's place in the European Union have been boosted after Germany said any future changes must be fair to nations not using the single currency.
Its finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said countries outside the eurozone should not be put at a "systematic disadvantage" by future integration.
Writing in the Financial Times, he said legal protections must be put in place.
No 10 said it amounted to the German government publicly backing its case.
Mr Cameron has said that if the Conservatives win the 2015 election, he will seek to renegotiate the terms of the UK's membership of the European Union and put the outcome to an in-out referendum of the British people in 2017.
The prime minister says moves towards deeper economic and political integration within the eurozone are a trigger for the UK to secure a "better deal" in Europe and redraft the terms of its membership.
He has suggested that existing EU treaties will need to be rewritten - although France has signalled that it does not believe this is a priority at the moment.
The UK has long maintained that safeguarding national interests, such as fair access to the European single market and protecting the City of London, will be vital in any future process.
In the joint FT article, Chancellor George Osborne and his German counterpart said any changes to EU treaties must "guarantee fairness" to all member states.
"As the euro area continues to integrate, it is important that countries outside the euro area are not at a systematic disadvantage in the EU," the two said.
The pair added: "So future EU reform and treaty change must include reform of the governance framework to put euro area integration on a sound legal basis, and guarantee fairness for those EU countries inside the single market but outside the single currency."
It is the first time Germany has publicly indicated that countries such as the UK must not be put at a disadvantage by eurozone nations' moves to integrate more closely.
Downing Street said Mr Schauble's comments amounted to the German government stating publicly for the first time that safeguards for non-eurozone states should not simply be negotiated on a case-by-case basis as the single currency area takes further steps towards integration, but should be underpinned formally in the EU treaties.
A No 10 spokesman said it was vital that there was a "level-playing field" between countries inside and outside the euro.
"What we see is Germany, one of the leading players in the eurozone, accepting that there needs to be these proper safeguards put in place as further changes are made for the eurozone."
"This is a German finance minister coming out and saying there will be treaty change and it must include reform of the framework to ensure the right safeguards between euro-ins and euro-outs."
The BBC's Ben Wright said the prime minister and Conservative backbenchers would be delighted that the Germans were "clearly receptive" to their concerns.
The timing of the comments would also be welcome in No 10, he added, coming as the debates between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage have put the issue of what can be achieved in Europe top of the political agenda.
But this would not be enough on its own, he added, to satisfy Conservative MPs who have been promised a return of powers from Brussels to London.
Mr Cameron has been seeking to get Germany's backing for its reform agenda in Europe but on a visit to the UK earlier this month, Chancellor Angela Merkel bwarned it would not be "a piece of cake".
Reacting to Friday's development, Conservative MP Mark Reckless said the dialogue between Berlin and London was "excellent" but the UK had to decide what kind of relationship it wanted with the eurozone.
"Although the Germans are not going to remake the EU to suit the UK, and the prospect of treaty change does seem to be receding, Germany sells more to the UK than any other country in the world and it is clear they will be keen to maintain free trade and friendly relations were we to vote for a future outside the EU," he told Radio 4's World at One.
But Conservative MP Douglas Carswell struck a cautious tone about what was being promised.
"Hurray! British and German governments promising us EU reform and "subsidiarity" in the FT. Just like the 1990s all over again," he tweeted.


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The biggest football game of the season is two days away, and those not celebrating in the Superdome will likely celebrate elsewhere.
The biggest football game of the season is two days away, and those not celebrating in the Superdome will likely celebrate elsewhere.
According to Hallmark Cards, Super Bowl represents the No. 1 at-home party event of the year, beating all the chaos of New Year's Eve celebrations It is also the second greatest day for food consumption after Thanksgiving.
The week before the game, shoppers could carry the national economy, spending no less than $55 million on food and an estimated 10 million man-hours preparing for the party, experts say.
"Between Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, it's going to be a big holiday this year," said Vince Cannata, president of Cannata's Family Market in Houma. "With parades kicking off this weekend and the big game on Sunday, we are all geared up for a very busy weekend."
Cannata said the stores are already seeing big sales of the traditional game appetizers such as chicken wings, pizza, potato skins, chips and different dipping sauces, special seasoned meats, cheese ball trays and fried drum trays.
"It's sort of like tailgating that has become a national pastime. Everyone wants food that is simple. They are looking for more snack-as you-go foods that will last all day," Cannata said.
Apparently you can't have a Super Bowl party without chicken wings, according to the National Chicken Council.
Americans will eat 1.23 billion wings this weekend, according to the council's 2013 Wing Report.
Laura Mollere, general manager of Buffalo Wild Wings on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Houma, said she expects the restaurant to be packed Sunday.
On a normal business day, the restaurant serves 15 to 20 cases of wings, but Mollere said 40 cases are expected to be served Sunday.
"That's 1,600 pounds of wings, and if you ask me, that is a whole lot of chicken," she said.
Customers have begun to order trays for the game, and Mollere said she expects to see an increase in to-go orders the closer it gets to game day.
Domino's on Park Avenue in Thibodaux is usually 30 percent busier on Super Bowl day versus any other day, manager Marneshia Bryant said.
"Super Bowl is our busiest day of the year. Our drivers take about five extra deliveries apiece," Bryant said.
During a regular week, the pizza branch averages 75 deliveries and on weekends 150 deliveries, working 12 drivers.
"On Super Bowl day, our entire staff will be working, and we will have 17 drivers delivering," she said.
Bryant said her store started to receive early orders through the company's time order option. Customers can order up to two months in advance.
According to some people, no Super Bowl party is complete without dessert and alcohol.
Cannata said because Super Bowl overlaps with Mardi Gras, king cakes are flying off the shelves.
"It's one thing normally at Mardi Gras to send king cakes across the country, but it's quite another thing to send them for Super Bowl parties out of state," he said. "All those folks gathering can all taste it that normally wouldn't have, and the host can tell the tradition to them. It just brings a little bit of Louisiana's roots to other places."
Cannata said he has also noticed a large increase in beer sales.
"I guess they need something to wash down the king cake with. It'll also help them get over a loss or celebrate a win," he said, laughing.
What do locals responding on Facebook recommend for a good party?
"Beer, snacks, barbecue or crawfish and plenty of friends make a Super Bowl party. You have to have some good pre-party music. No country, rap or French music," Joe Chaisson said.
Myles Barr of Houma added: "A TV in the bathroom, and no, I am not kidding."
"Pizza, chicken wings, chips and dip, beer, soft drinks and maybe some... SHOTS," Joey Benoit of Houma said.
Staff Writer Sable LeFrere can be reached at 985-857-2204 or at email@example.com.