text:
TREC: Improving Information Access through Evaluation
by Ellen M. Voorhees
Ellen M. Voorhees can be reached
at National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
20899; email: ellen.voorhees
at nist.gov
If you can not measure it, you can not improve it. Lord Kelvin
is a fundamental component of the scientific method: researchers
form a hypothesis, construct an experiment that tests the hypothesis
and then assess the extent to which the experimental results support
the hypothesis. A very common type of experiment is a comparative
one in which the hypothesis asserts that Method 1 is a more
effective solution than Method 2, and the experiment compares
the performance of the two methods on a common set of problems. The
set of sample problems together with the evaluation measures used to
assess the quality of the methods output form a benchmark task.
Information retrieval researchers have used test collections,
a form of benchmark task, ever since Cyril Cleverdon and his
colleagues created the first test collection for the Cranfield tests
in the 1960s. Many experiments followed in the subsequent two
decades, and several other test collections were built. Yet by 1990
there was growing dissatisfaction with the methodology. While some
research groups did use the same test collections, there was no
concerted effort to work with the same data, to use the same
evaluation measures or to compare results across systems to
consolidate findings. The available test collections were so small
the largest of the generally available collections contained
about 12,000 documents and fewer than 100 queries that operators
of commercial retrieval systems were unconvinced that the techniques
developed using test collections would scale to their much larger
document sets. Even some experimenters were questioning whether test
collections had outlived their usefulness.
At this time, NIST was asked to build a large test collection
for use in evaluating text retrieval technology developed as part of
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencys TIPSTER project.
NIST proposed that instead of simply building a single large test
collection, it organize a workshop that would both build a
collection and investigate the larger issues surrounding test
collection use. This was the genesis of the Text REtrieval
Conference (TREC).
The first TREC workshop was held in November 1992, and there
has been a workshop held annually since then. The cumulative effort
represented by TREC is significant. Approximately 250 distinct
groups representing more than 20 different countries have
participated in at least one TREC, thousands of individual retrieval
experiments have been performed and hundreds of papers have been
published in the TREC proceedings. TRECs impact on information
retrieval research has been equally significant. A variety of large
test collections have been built for both traditional ad hoc
retrieval and new tasks such as cross-language retrieval, speech
retrieval and question answering. TREC has standardized the
evaluation methodology used to assess the quality of retrieval
results and, through the large repository of retrieval runs,
demonstrated both the validity and efficacy of the methodology. The
workshops themselves have provided a forum for researchers to meet,
facilitating technology transfer and discussions on best practices.
Most importantly, retrieval effectiveness has doubled since TREC
This article provides a brief introduction to TREC. After an
initial section that describes how TREC operates, the article
summarizes the impact TREC has had in the areas of retrieval system
effectiveness, retrieval system evaluation and support of new
retrieval tasks.
TREC Mechanics
TREC is sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) with some support from the U.S. Department of
Defense. Participants in TREC are retrieval research groups drawn
from the academic, commercial and government sectors. TREC assumes
the Cranfield paradigm of retrieval system evaluation, which is
based on the abstraction of a test collection: a set of documents, a
set of information needs that TREC calls topics and a set of
relevance judgments that say which documents should be retrieved for
which topics.
For each TREC, NIST supplies a common set of test documents
and a set of 50 topic statements. The format of the topic statements
has varied over the years, but generally consists of at least a
brief natural language statement of the information desired (e.g., What
are the economic benefits of recycling tires?). Participants
use their systems to run the topics against the document collection
and return to NIST a list of the top-ranked documents for each
Since TREC document sets contain an average of about 800,000
documents, they are too large for each document to be judged for
each topic. Instead, a technique called pooling
is used to produce a sample of the documents to be judged. For each
topic, the pool consists of the union of the top 100 documents
across all runs submitted to that TREC. Because different systems
tend to retrieve some of the same documents in the top 100
retrieved, this process tends to produce pools of approximately 1500
documents. The documents in a pool are then viewed by a human and
judged as to whether they are relevant to the topic.
Once all the relevance judgments for all of the topics in the
test set are complete, NIST evaluates the retrieval runs on the
basis of the relevance judgments and returns the evaluation results
to the participants. A TREC cycle ends with the workshop that is a
forum for participants to share their experiences.
The first two TRECs had two tasks, the ad hoc task and the
routing task. The ad hoc task is the prototypical retrieval task
such as a researcher doing a literature search in a library. In this
environment, the system knows the set of documents to be searched
(the librarys holdings), but cannot anticipate the particular
topic that will be investigated. In contrast, the routing task
assumes the topics are static but need to be matched to a stream of
new documents. The routing task is similar to the task performed by
a news-clipping service or a librarys profiling system.
Starting in TREC-3, additional tasks, called tracks, were
added to TREC. The tracks serve several purposes. First, tracks act
as incubators for new research areas. The first running of a track
often defines what the problem really
is, and a track creates the necessary infrastructure such as test
collections and evaluation methodology to support research on its
task. The tracks also demonstrate the robustness of core retrieval
technology in that the same techniques are frequently appropriate
for a variety of tasks. Finally, the tracks make TREC attractive to
a broader community by providing tasks that match the research
interests of more groups.
Evaluation Methodology
As mentioned, the original catalyst for TREC was the request
to create a large test collection, but that goal was broadened to
standardizing and validating evaluation methodology for retrieval
from realistically sized collections. A standard evaluation
methodology allows results to be compared across systems
important not so there can be winners of retrieval competitions, but
because it facilitates the consolidation of a wider variety of
results than any one research group can tackle. TREC has succeeded
in standardizing and validating the use of test collections as a
research tool for ad hoc retrieval and has extended the use of test
collections to other tasks. This section summarizes the support for
this claim by examining three areas: the test collections, the
trec_eval suite of evaluation measures and two experiments that
confirm the reliability of comparing retrieval effectiveness using
test collections.
Through the pooling process described above, TREC has created
a set of test collections for the English ad hoc task. In the
aggregate, the collections include five disks of documents, each
containing approximately one gigabyte of English text (largely news
articles but also including some government documents and some
abstracts of scientific papers) and nine sets of 50 topics. Each
topic has a set of manual relevance judgments for the corresponding
document set. The collections are publicly available (see http://trec.nist.gov/data.html)
and are now the collections of choice for most researchers working
in basic retrieval technologies.
The addition of tracks to TREC allowed the creation of test
collections for other tasks, as well. Collections have been made for
languages other than English, media other than text and tasks that
range from factoid question answering to text categorization. In
each case the test collections have been integral to progress on the
Scoring the quality of a retrieval result given the system
output from a test collection has been standardized by the trec_eval
program written by Chris Buckley (see http://trec.nist.gov/trec_eval).
Trec_eval provides a common implementation for over 100 different
evaluation measures that ensures issues such as interpolation are
handled consistently. A much smaller set of measures has emerged as
the de facto standard by which retrieval effectiveness is
characterized. These measures include the recall-precision graph,
mean average precision and precision at ten retrieved documents.
One objection to test collections that dates back to the
Cranfield tests is the use of relevance judgments as the basis for
evaluation. Relevance is known to be very idiosyncratic, and critics
question how an evaluation methodology can be based on such an
unstable foundation. An experiment using the TREC-4 and TREC-6
retrieval results investigated the effect of changing relevance
assessors on system comparisons. The experiment demonstrated that
the absolute scores for evaluation measures did change when
different relevance assessors were used, but the relative scores
between runs did not change. That is, if system A evaluated as
better than system B using one set of judgments, then system A
almost always evaluated as better than system B using a second
set of judgments (the exception was in the case where the two runs
evaluated as so similar to one another that they should be deemed
equivalent). The stable comparisons result held for different
evaluation measures and for different kinds of assessors and was
independent of whether a judgment was based on a single assessors
opinion or was the consensus opinion of a majority of assessors.
The use of pooling where only some documents are judged for a
topic and all unjudged documents are treated as not relevant was
another source of concern. Critics feared that runs that did not
contribute to the pool would be unfairly penalized in the evaluation
because those runs would contain highly ranked unjudged documents.
Examination of larger pools did confirm one aspect of the critics
fears there are unjudged documents remaining in the collections
that would have been judged relevant had they made it into the
pools. Further, the quality of final test collection does depend on
the diversity of the runs that contribute to the pools and the
number of documents selected from each run. As an extreme example,
pools created from only the top-ranking document from each of 30
runs do not form a good test collection. But tests showed that the
TREC collections are not biased against unjudged runs. In these
tests, the documents uniquely retrieved by a TREC run are treated as
not relevant when that run is evaluated. The difference in the
evaluation results for runs evaluated both with and without their
own uniquely retrieved relevant documents was smaller than the
difference produced by changing relevance assessors.
Scaling Retrieval Systems
When TREC began there was real doubt as to whether the
statistical systems that had been developed in the research labs (as
opposed to the operational systems that used Boolean searches on
manually indexed collections) could effectively retrieve documents
from large collections. TREC has shown not only that the
retrieval engines of the early 1990s did scale to large collections,
but that those engines have improved since then. This effectiveness
has been demonstrated both in the laboratory on TREC test
collections and by todays operational systems that incorporate
the techniques. Further, the techniques are routinely used on
collections far larger than what was considered large in 1992. Web
search engines are a prime example of the power of the statistical
techniques. The ability of search engines to point users to the
information they seek has been fundamental to the success of the
Improvement in retrieval effectiveness cannot be determined
simply by looking at TREC scores from year to year. It is invalid to
compare the results from one year of TREC to the results of another
year since any differences are likely to be caused by the different
test collections in use. However, developers of the SMART retrieval
system kept a frozen copy of the system they used to participate in
each of the eight TREC ad hoc tasks. After every TREC, they ran each
system on each test collection. For every test collection, the later
versions of the SMART system were much more effective than the
earlier versions of the SMART system, with the later scores
approximately twice that of the earlier scores (see Figure 1).
While these scores are evidence for only one
system, the SMART system results consistently tracked with the
other systems results in each TREC, and thus the SMART results
can be considered representative of the state-of-the-art. The
improvement was evident for all evaluation scores that were
examined, including mean average precision and precision and recall
at various cut-off levels.
1. Mean average precision for the SMART System by year and task
The TREC results suggest the increased effectiveness arises
from improvements in two general areas query expansion and
indexing of full-text documents. Getting a better query from the
user is one of the best ways to improve retrieval performance, but
is frequently not a realistic option. Query expansion is a method
that can improve the query without relying on the user to supply it.
The most common way of expanding the query is to use pseudo-relevance
feedback, which involves the following steps:
Retrieve a first set of
documents using the original query.
Assume the first X
documents are relevant.
Perform relevance feedback
with that set of documents to create a new query (usually including
both new terms and refined query weights).
Return the results of
searching with the new query to the user.
The TREC collections purposely contain full-text documents of
greatly varying lengths, in sharp contrast to the test collections
that predate TREC. Results from the first several TRECs show that
these full-text documents posed challenges for the retrieval systems
of that era, but researchers were soon able to overcome the
challenges. The following best practices for document indexing
emerged as a result:
Tokenization that
regularizes word forms is generally helpful. The most common form of
regularization is stemming, but normalizing proper nouns to a
standard format can also be helpful.
Simple phrasing techniques
are generally helpful. The most helpful part of phrasing is the
identification of common collocations that are then treated as a
single unit. More elaborate schemes have shown little benefit.
weighting of terms is critical. The best weighting schemes reflect
the discrimination power of a term in the corpus and control for
document length. There are several different weighting schemes that
achieve these goals and are equivalently effective. Language
modeling techniques are not only effective but also provide a
theoretical justification for the weights assigned.
The two gigabytes of text that was considered massive in 1992
is modest when compared to the amount of text some commercial
retrieval systems search today. While TREC has some collections that
are somewhat bigger than two gigabytes the Web track used an
18-gigabyte extract of the Web, for example there is once again
doubt whether research retrieval systems and the test collection
methodology can scale to collections another three orders of
magnitude larger. The terabyte track, a track introduced in TREC
2004, has been initiated to examine these questions.
Incubator for New Retrieval Tasks
The TREC track structure enables TREC to extend the test
collection paradigm to new tasks. Several of the TREC tracks have
been the first large-scale evaluations in that area. In these cases,
the track has established a research community and created the first
specialized test collections to support the research area. A few
times, the track has spun-off from TREC and established its own
evaluation conference. The Cross-Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF,
see http://clef.iei.pi.cnr.it)
and TRECVid workshops (http://www.itl.nist.gov/iaui/894.02/projects/trecvid/)
are examples of this. Other conferences such as NTCIR (http://research.nii.ac.jp/ntcir)
and INitiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval (INEX, http://inex.is.informatik.uni-duisburg.de:2004)
were not direct spin-offs from TREC, but were inspired by TREC and
extend the methodology to still other areas.
The set of tracks run in any particular TREC depends on the
interests of the participants and sponsors, as well as on the
suitability of the problem to the TREC environment. The decision of
which tracks to include is made by the TREC program committee, a
group of academic, industrial and government researchers who have
the responsibility for oversight of TREC. Tracks are discontinued
when the goals of the track are met, or when there are diminishing
returns on what can be learned about the area in TREC. Some tracks
run for many years but change focus in different years.
Figure 2 shows the set of tracks that were run in the
different years of TREC and groups the tracks by the aspects that
differentiate them from one another. The aspects listed on the left
of the figure show the breadth of the problems that TREC has
addressed, while the individual tracks listed on the right show the
progression of tasks within the given problem area.
2. TREK tracks by year
Space limitations prohibit going into the details of all of
these tracks, and the interested reader is referred to the track
overview papers in the TREC proceedings (available at http://trec.nist.gov/pubs.html).
Instead, a few tracks that established new research communities are
Cross-Language Retrieval. One of
the first tracks to be introduced into TREC was the Spanish track.
The task in the Spanish track was a basic ad hoc retrieval task,
except the topics and documents were written in Spanish rather than
English. The track was discontinued when the results demonstrated
that retrieval systems could retrieve Spanish documents as
effectively as English documents. Another single language track,
this time using Chinese as a language with a very different
structure than that of English, was introduced next. Again, systems
were able to effectively retrieve Chinese documents using Chinese
There are a variety of naturally occurring document
collections, such as the Web, that contain documents written in
different languages that a user would like to search using a single
query. A cross-language retrieval system uses topics written in one
language to retrieve documents written in one of a variety of
languages. The first cross-language track was introduced in TREC-6
to address this problem. The TREC-6 track used a document collection
consisting of the French and German documents from the Swiss news
agency Schweizerische Depeschen Agentur plus English documents from the
Associated Press of the same time period. Topics were generated in
English and then translated into French, German, Spanish and Dutch.
Participants searched for documents in one target language using
topics written in a different language. Later versions of the track
had participants search for documents using topics in one language
against the entire combined document collection. Still later
versions of the track used more disparate languages (English topics
against either Chinese or Arabic document sets).
The TREC cross-language tracks built the first large-scale
test collections to support cross-language retrieval research and
helped establish the cross-language retrieval research community.
The track demonstrated that cross-language retrieval can be more
effective than the corresponding monolingual results due to the
expansion that results from translating the query. TREC no longer
contains tasks involving languages other than English because there
are now other venues for this research. The NTCIR and CLEF
evaluations mentioned earlier offer a range of retrieval tasks with
a multilingual focus.
Spoken Document Retrieval. The
dual goals of the spoken document retrieval track were to foster
research on content-based access to recordings of speech and to
bring together the speech recognition and retrieval communities. The
track ran for four years, from TREC-6 through TREC-9, and explored
the feasibility of retrieving speech documents by using the output
of an automatic speech recognizer.
The documents used in the track were stories from audio news
broadcasts that were manually segmented into the component stories.
Several other forms of the content, including manual transcripts and
transcripts produced from a baseline recognizer, were also made
available to track participants. The different versions of the
broadcasts made it possible for participants to explore the effects
of varying amounts of errors in the text from (assumed to be) no
errors for the manual transcripts through varying degrees of
recognition errors associated with the baseline and participants
recognizer transcripts on retrieval performance.
Over the course of the track, researchers developed systems
that achieved retrieval effectiveness on automatically recognized
transcripts that was comparable to its effectiveness on the
human-produced reference transcripts and demonstrated that their
technology is robust across a wide-range of recognition accuracy.
The worst effect of automatic recognition was out of vocabulary (OOV)
words. Participants compensated for OOV words by using adaptive
language models to limit the number of OOV words encountered and by
expanding recognized text by related clean texts to include OOV
words in the documents. The track also contributed to the
development of techniques for near-real-time recognition of open
vocabulary speech under a variety of non-ideal conditions including
spontaneous speech, non-native speakers and background noise.
After the success of the spoken document retrieval track, TREC
introduced a video track to foster research on content-based access
to digital video recordings. A document in the track is defined as a
video shot. Tasks have included shot boundary detection, feature
detection (where features are high-level semantic constructs such as
people running or fire) and an ad hoc search task where
the topic is expressed as a textual information need possibly
including a still or video image as an example. The test set of
videos has been derived from a variety of sources including
broadcast news, training videos and recordings of scientific talks.
Because there is no obvious analog to words for video
retrieval, there has been little overlap in the techniques used to
retrieve text documents versus video documents. Yet interest in the
problem of video retrieval is high and increasing among researchers,
content providers and potential users of the technology. To allow
greater room for expansion than would be possible as a TREC track,
the video track was spun off from TREC as the separate TRECVid
workshop in 2003. TRECVid continues to date, with approximately 60
participating groups in TRECVid 2004.
While a list of on-topic documents is undoubtedly useful, even that
can be more information than a user wants to examine. The TREC
question answering track was introduced in 1999 to focus attention
on the problem of returning exactly the answer in response to a
question. The initial question answering tracks focused on factoid
questions such as Where
is the Taj Mahal? Later tracks have incorporated more
difficult question types, such as list questions (a question whose
answer is a distinct set of instances of the type requested, such as
What actors have played
Tevye in Fiddler on the
Roof?) and
definition/biographical questions (such as What
is a golden parachute? or Who
is Vlad the Impaler?).
The question answering track was the first large-scale
evaluation of open-domain question answering systems, and it has
brought the benefits of test collection evaluation observed in other
parts of TREC to bear on the question answering task. The track
established a common task for the retrieval and natural language
processing research communities, creating a renaissance in question
answering research. This wave of research has created significant
progress in automatic natural language understanding as researchers
have successfully incorporated sophisticated language processing
into their question answering systems.
Evaluating competing technologies on a common problem set is
a powerful way to improve the state of the art and hasten technology
transfer. TREC has been able to build on the text-retrieval
fields tradition of experimentation to significantly improve
retrieval effectiveness and extend the experimentation to new
sub-problems. By defining a common set of tasks, TREC focuses
retrieval research on problems that have a significant impact
throughout the community. The conference itself provides a forum in
which researchers can efficiently learn from one another and thus
facilitates technology transfer. TREC also provides a forum in which
methodological issues can be raised and discussed, resulting in
improved text retrieval research.
More information regarding TREC can be found on the TREC website http://trec.nist.gov and in the book TREC: Experiment and Evaluation in Information Retrieval recently published by MIT Press.
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Information Science and Technology


text:
An event every week that begins at 12:00pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, repeating until September 28, 2018
An event every week that begins at 10:00am on Saturday, repeating until September 29, 2018
An event every week that begins at 11:00am on Sunday, repeating until September 23, 2018
Categories: Visual Arts
Libby Reuter and collaborator, the photographer Joshua Rowan, temporarily place site-specific cairns in the landscape to mark watersheds around the area. The exhibition features seven cairns in the sculpture garden and photographs by Rowan on a video monitor alongside the installation.
Featured in the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Sculpture Garden
Copyright © 2018 Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. All Rights Reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Any wedding that ends in donuts is a great one in our book. But all delicious celebratory desserts aside, this Napa wedding crafted by LVL Weddings and Events is striking the perfect balance between elegant and whimsical. It boasts both an intimate alfresco reception with romantic florals by Natasha Kolenko and all the gorgeous wine country vacay vibes that a guest could possibly want. See the whole shebang through image after pretty, pretty image by Carlie Statsky.
From Ashley Brand from LVL weddings..When Nick and Annie first contacted me, they gave me the criteria of good food, beautiful and unique venue, and a laid back, whimsical, yet refined vibe. Annie is from California and Nick is from upstate New York. Both currently residing in New York City, we wanted to make sure them as well as their guests felt they were on amazing wine country weekend vacation that also happened to include a wedding! There fun, laid back personality was something we wanted to convey in to the overall feel of the wedding. So after touring a few wine country venues, Chalk Hill Estate was the clear winner. The privacy, breathtaking, hilltop vineyard views, and a delicious culinary experience, there was no turning back. Keeping with the wild, organic desire for the design, the ceremony arbor and aisle treatments were whimsical and natural to compliment the surrounding nature. A beautiful bounty of cheese and charcuterie awaited their guests for cocktail hour paired with the delicious Russian River valley wines that Chalk Hill offers. Moving to the dinner reception, the guests were seated amongst wooden dining cabanas with sprawling colorful floral and candles. The velvet textures of linen, rustic wood dining tables, and vintage glassware kept the design eclectic and fun. The energy from the band, a fun Donut dessert display, and a beautiful California summer night, surely did not disappoint.


text: - Where do you think the name "powder room" came from? (no joke). Styling ease, dry cleansing and tinting for chocolate, mahogany and chestnut brunette. Ideal for oily (or not so clean) hair, styling fine hair and root touch-ups. Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate: an absorbing ingredient. Magnesium Carbonate: an absorbing and bulking ingredient. Silica: a lightweight absorbing powder. Vp/Va Copolymer: an adhesive ingredient. Use on dry hair. Hair Powder requires a slightly oily surface to adhere to (we recommend a light application of Styling Wax as a base if hair is clean); section dry hair at the scalp; hold can 10-12 inches away from hair and spray thoroughly; let dry; shake out excess with fingers and style. How to absorb oil (dry cleanse): Hold can 10-12 inches from dry hair; spray thoroughly, concentrating on oily areas; let dry; brush out thoroughly and style. Note: Protect clothing, bath and bed linens during use (spots can be easily removed with soap and water).


text:
LEXINGTON, Va. -- Washington and Lee
Director of Athletics Jan Hathorn has announced that 170 students
earned Scholar-Athlete awards during the recently completed fall
term. The students are all members of W&L athletic teams
and achieved a grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.500.
Additionally, 21 of the students honored achieved grade-point averages of 4.0 or higher. Among the students achieving a 4.0 or higher GPA's were sophomore swimmer Megan Bock (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel), senior track & field captain Ashley Carr (Tallahassee, Fla./Maclay School), junior rider Camille Cobb (Huntersville, N.C./Harding University), sophomore women's soccer player Ainsley Daigle (Lafayette, La./Episcopal School of Acadiana), junior baseball player Mike Decembrino (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury), senior lacrosse player Justin Donati (Walkersville, Md./St. Paul's), first-year cross country and track & field athlete Katie Driest (Davidson, N.C./North Mecklenburg), senior cross country runner Luke Ellis (St. Albans, W.Va./St. Albans), sophomore track & field athlete Paige Gance (Wilton, Conn./Wilton), senior All-ODAC men's tennis captain Will Hall (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth), senior women's basketball captain Felice Herman (Fairfield, Pa./Delone Catholic), first-year men's tennis player Vincent Kim (Grand Blanc, Mich./Cranbrook Kingswood), sophomore All-ODAC men's lacrosse player Joe LaSala (Wilton, Conn./Wilton), sophomore rider Kerriann Laubach (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township), first-year All-ODAC cross country/track athlete Annelise Madison (Roca, Neb./Norris), sophomore rider Stephanie Malaska (Redmond, Wash./Eastside Catholic), junior track & field athlete Kyle McGinnis (McLean, Va./Landon), first-year track & field athlete Julia Murray (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan), sophomore All-ODAC swimmer Delaney Rolfe (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park), first-year swimmer Eric Shuman (Black Mountain, N.C./Asheville Christian Academy), sophomore track & field athlete Rachel Urban (Opelousas, La./Sacred Heart) and junior All-America swimmer Chris Washnock (Greer, S.C./Greenville).
Other notable athletes to receive Scholar-Athlete awards included first-year all-region cross country runner Rebecca Bryer (Chester, Pa./Unionville), senior all-region and Academic All-America football player Greg Kurkis (Roswell, Ga./Westminster), senior all-region women's lacrosse player Katharine Farrar (Lexington, Va./Episcopal), junior All-America soccer players Kat Lawson (White Post, Va./Clarke County) and Emily Leary (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings), senior all-region field hockey and women's lacrosse player Emmy Mathews (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr), sophomore all-region football player Jake Pelton (Charlottesville, Va./Monticello) and sophomore All-America men's tennis player Hayden White (Baltimore, Md./Towson).
For a complete listing of the Fall 2010 Washington and Lee Scholar-Athletes, simply download the PDF.
Twenty-one of W&L's 23 varsity athletic programs achieved a team GPA of at least 3.000, led by the women's soccer team with a 3.570. The highest men's team GPA was the cross country team with a 3.386 and no team recorded a GPA lower than 2.871. Together, the fall sports teams combined to post a 63-31-4 (.663) overall record, with women's cross country and football both winning ODAC titles.


text:
When my mother bought a Buick in the 1980s, she rationalized the purchase as a car that said, �I�ve made it.� The fact that my mom now drives a Honda Accord speaks to the problems Buick has had in recent...
When my mother bought a Buick in the 1980s, she rationalized the purchase as a car that said, �I�ve made it.�
The fact that my mom now drives a Honda Accord speaks to the problems Buick has had in recent decades re-establishing itself as the maker of luxury vehicles that are as reliable as they are beautiful � the sorts of cars hard-working, salt-of-the-earth Americans buy as rewards for jobs well done, the sorts of cars that serve as well-deserved sanctuaries as much as status symbols.
The LaCrosse was Buick�s first step on its long road of image restoration back in 2009, when the full-size sedan was introduced to showcase the company�s more elegant design aesthetic. Now Buick is back with an updated version of the LaCrosse that ratchets up the comforts and technology.
The $33,135-plus 2014 LaCrosse is based on the same platform as the newly overhauled Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac�s sport-luxury sedan, the XTS. It keeps the doors, roof and windows from the outgoing model but retools the front and back ends of the car with a slightly more aggressive stance that isn�t so radical as to be youthful.
It is, after all, a Buick.
The larger waterfall grille is underscored with windswept LED running lights and sporty ventilation holes on the hood, while the back end is outfitted with a barely there built-in spoiler and chrome tips on its trapezoidal exhaust, which make for a sleek, if not particularly original, profile.
The real joys of this exceptionally roomy car are only apparent once a driver flings open its solid doors and slides into a welcomingly plush seat awash with the sort of warm ambient lighting that will appeal to anyone who has yet to adopt compact fluorescents. From the broad, wood-trimmed dash to the micro suede roof liner, it is a thoroughly tactile and sensory experience.
A new optional Ultra Luxury Interior Package lives up to its name, trimmed, as it is, with an exotic Tamo ash wood decor only a botanist would know, and pliant leather tinted a purplish �sangria.� The only missing amenity from its more European-than-American interior is a box of Godiva truffles in the glove box.
There are two versions of the LaCrosse powered with two different engines: a satisfying direct-injected 3.6-liter V-6 that returned an underwhelming 20 mpg combined in my daylong test of the car at a Buick driving event in late June; and a mild hybrid electric-assist version that pairs a 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder engine with a small electric motor and lithium-ion batteries to yield a more impressive EPA-estimated 25 mpg city and 36 mpg highway. E-assist is available with front-wheel drive only; the 3.6-liter V-6 can be paired with front-drive or all-wheel-drive.
What most impressed me about the LaCrosse was its refinement. It�s one thing to make a car comfortable with interior appointments. It�s another thing entirely to let drivers truly enjoy those comforts by ensuring the interior remains quiet and unfettered by rough roads long overdue for repair.
Buick calls its system of reducing sounds at the source, then blocking and absorbing whatever noise is left, QuietTuning. I call it the spa. It was that restful and seemingly sequestered from the hullaballoo of the outside world.
My almost-top-of-the-line $46,370 test vehicle rolled on larger, optional 20-inch wheels � a LaCrosse first that made the handling feel even more plush and smooth. A HiPer Strut front suspension also helped to reduce pavement-inspired jumps and jostles while simultaneously reducing the torque steer that plagues many front-wheel drive cars.
I was in one of the most decked out trims of the LaCrosse, which included at least a half-dozen safety features to help me navigate the wild and woolly streets of southern California. In seeming acknowledgment of the ultra-cush LaCrosse�s ability to lull drivers into abject complacency, there are two available safety packages. I had the fully loaded version with a side blind zone alert (that blinked an orange light in the side mirrors when a car was driving through unseeable territory), a lane departure warning (that uses a camera to look at the lines on either side of the lane and alerted me when I was about to run them over), a lane change alert feature (that employs radar to sense other cars in a potential path of travel) and adaptive cruise control (that allowed me to set the car at a certain speed, as well as the distance at which I followed a car, and automatically adjusted my speed to maintain that gap).
Unlike Acura�s new RLX and other luxury cars with similar safety systems, the LaCrosse is not HAL from �2001: A Space Odyssey.� It will not wrest absolute control of the car from the driver. Buick presumes drivers want to remain drivers. Its systems are alerts to wake them from the very real likelihood of pleasure-induced catatonia, and they do so either audibly � with beeps � or through a safety alert seat that works something like a tap on the shoulder, only in this case, it�s a buzz of the butt.
Veer too much to the right, and the seat vibrates on the right. Veer to the left, and it vibrates on the left. While this so-called haptic system is part of the car�s most comprehensive safety package, drivers who have a tendency to meander in their lanes will appreciate the fact that they are the only ones being notified, rather than a broadcast to the entire car.
Before testing the 2014 LaCrosse, I was beginning to give up on Buick. I�ve tested three of the five models in its U.S. lineup and have felt largely underwhelmed. But with its LaCrosse, Buick offers a well-priced luxury car that might just win back my mother.
Powertrain: Direct-injected, 3.6-Liter, V-6, DOHC, variable valve timing, six-speed automatic transmission
Horsepower: 304 at 6,800 rpm
Torque: 264 pound-feet at 5,300 rpm
Wheelbase: 111.7 inches
Overall length: 197 inches
EPA-estimated fuel economy: 18 mpg city, 28 mpg highway
Road test mpg (based on 149 miles of driving): 20.2 mpg
Base price: $33,135
Price as tested: $46,370
All prices exclude destination charge.


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Based on the beloved fantasy novel series and motion picture, The Eye of the World is the first chapter in The Wheel of Time franchise.
Back in 2008, startup developer Red Eagle Games announced it was creating multiple games and an MMORPG based on Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. Today, the company reported it will have a little help on the ambitious project from the RPG veterans at Obsidian Entertainment. Spin the Wheel after the jump. Read More »
Red Eagle Games today announced they have signed a strategic distribution agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) for games based on Robert Jordan's beloved fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. Read More »
Also known as: The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World
Release Region: United States
Release Date: TBA
Publisher: Red Eagle Games
Also available on: PC, PlayStation 3
The Wheel of Time: The... at IGN
The Wheel of Time: The... at GameSpy
The Wheel of Time: The... at GameStats


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Kaley Cuoco Can't Think of Her Favorite Author in New 'Authors Anonymous' Clip (Exclusive)
Kaley Cuoco is a super ditzy writer in this funny new clip from her movie Authors Anonymous, provided exclusively to JustJared.com.
The movie follows a group of dysfunctional writers that take a very new writer (Cuoco) under their wings. Little did they know she'd soon turn into an overnight success, which is a tough pill to swallow for most of the envious, and under-achieving, group.
Also featured in the clip are Teri Polo and Dylan Walsh, who play a married couple that definitely knows a thing or two about being an author.
Authors Anonymous, which also stars Chris Klein, Dennis Farina (in one of his final roles), Jonathan Bennett, Tricia Helfer, and Jonathan Banks, hits theaters on April 18 and is currently available On Demand and VOD.
'Authors Anonymous' Exclusive Clip


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Howl's Moving Castle (UK - BD RB)
Marcus boards Howl's Moving Castle in HD and is blown away by the visuals...
Following from the international success of Spirited Away and the wonderfully charming The Cat Returns, 2004 brought us Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle. The story of Sophie (Emily Mortimer), the hat maker, who is turned into a 90 year old by the nasty Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall). Finding local Wizard Howl (Christian Bale) and his moving castle, Sophie is hired by fire demon Calcifer (Bill Crystal) to keep the castle clean but as Sophie discovers more about Howl and his secrets, the pair grow more fond of one another, even with the impending war raging between kingdoms outside of the moving castle's doors.
Howl's Moving Castle is pure Miyazaki. The ideas in this film are endless, magical and wondrous. The themes extremely adult in places, yet with children in mind throughout and in the end this is simply another classic from Studio Ghibli. I've only even seen Howl's Moving Castle twice and I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to return to the film, given that I've seen so many of the studio's other films so many times - so going in again here, was very much a fresh (re)look at the film.
Every frame of this animated film looks astonishing. The various techniques marry together perfectly and there are very few frames that don't absolutely blow me away with their beauty. The experimentation with the transformation of Howl or the ingenious depictions of the character within a flame for Calicifer are all filled with small animated touches that make these character so rich. The voice work (directed by Pixar's own John Lasseter and Peter Docter) is probably one of the finest English dubs around, with a real sense of subtlety in the small moments and an utter celebration of the dubbed sound of a Ghibli film. Bale plays it very warmly, despite his character's ups and downs (and throws in a bit of his Batman voice from time to time), Emily Mortimer was born for Studio Ghibli as her voice is adorable and Billy Crystal provides a much calmer Mike Wachowski but tugs at your heartstrings with the softness of his performance towards the end.
At every turn Howl's Moving Castle manages to impress. Characters aren't caught up in a single linear plot here, as with many other animated films. It is dealing with a multitude of themes, ideas and is just pure magic - unafraid of delving into the dark, only to bring you through to the light. It's soft and romantic, yet complicated. It's full of well crafted segments of beautiful animation, without losing hold of its heart and once again Hayao Miyazaki delivers a film that doesn't feel like anything else out there. For me Howl's Moving Castle fell between the cracks over the years, with titles like My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke being the titles that pop in my head as go to Ghibli movies, but like the majority of the Studio Ghibli films Howl's Moving Castle is simply astonishing both in story and in visuals and this revisit was a delight.
From the first frame to the last, Howl's Moving Castle looks practically perfect in HD. However, I say practically because if you look really close, there is a slight wobble to the frame, which holds the transfer back from being totally impressive.
Beyond that everything is astonishing. The detail in the moving parts of Howl's castle, the steam from the steam trains and well, anything and everything looks amazing here. Backgrouds are full of small gems of fantastic artwork and the character animations are fantastic in the foregrounds as well. Colours are absolutely perfect and some of the images with multiple layers interacting, overlapping or doing all sorts of magical things can be astounding.
The festival at the beginning of the movie, with its marching soldiers, happy crowds and ticker tape is absolutely dazzling, as is Howl's transformation and the sequence towards the end of the film when we find out the secrets of Howl's heart.
Generally all Ghibli films looks great, so it comes down to the films themselves to offer up the differences. Howl's Moving Castle is a movie crammed with wonderful visuals, so it could very well be the best Ghibli movie on Blu-ray to data. Taking the crown from Ponyo. There is so much going on in the film's settings, such as Howl's bedroom which is full of jewels and could be studied for hours. The castle itself is a wonderfully full of layers and detail and the big moments that use of magical light are enough to drop jaws through floors they are so well presented. This is a fantastic presentation (all but that ever so slight wobble).
The opening of the film brings a thumpy bass as the moving castle makes its way through the fog but for a long time after that it's the simple but strong central dialogue doing most of the work on the track. Bigger crowd scenes fill the front speaker well but it's not really until there's a knock at the castle door and it pops up in the rear speaker, that you notice the lack of real use in the rears. There's the odd touch that uses all of the speakers, like when the propaganda is flittering through the air but generally speaking this is all quite frontal, unless there's a specific atmosphere or audio effect the track wants to pull. That said the track is still nice and crips, has a nice bit of power to it and works perfectly for the film.
Once again, you can watch the entire film with picture in picture storyboards and once again they are all amazing.
'Miyazaki Visits Pixar' (16:27 SD) is a great look at the filmaker paying a surprise visit to the Disney/Pixar studio. It was filmed in 2005 and also works as an intro to the film in many ways.
'An interview with Diana Wynne Jones' (07:54 SD) the author or the book the film is based on and the 'Interview with Peter Docter (director of English Dub)' (07:48 SD) both add more insight to the film and its production.
The 'Explanation of CG' (19:37 SD) and 'The Sounds of Howl's Moving Castle' (27:49) work together as a very good little making of, featuring tons of artwork and behind the scenes details.
'Behind the Microphone' (9.00 SD) is the Disney meet and greet with the English speaking cast and the work those in charge of the English dub carry out.
Lastly there's the TV spot, original Japanese theatrical trailers, as well as a collection of other Studio Ghibli collection trailers.
Howl's Moving Castle has so much going for it in the visuals department it's almost ridiculous, so finally finding a home on Blu-ray seems a no brainer for those who adore the film. The presentation here is great and Howl's has never looked so good. The extras are a simple port over from previous releases but even so, they were a delight to revisit as was the movie.
* Note: The above images are taken from the Blu-ray release and resized for the page. Full-resolution captures are available by clicking individual images, but due to .jpg compression they are not necessarily representative of the quality of the transfer.
Review by Marcus Doidge
hogaburger Contributor Join Date: April 2007 Location: United States Posts: 1,153
Awesome. I might import this as I don't trust Disney to put it out on Blu-ray over here until they have another Ghibli theatrical release to justify it.
Marcus1138 Contributor Join Date: June 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 910
It's a pretty looking disc, well worth it.
Disciple Member Join Date: April 2006 Location: Sweden Posts: 775
Or...you could get the Japanese BD release. A lot more expensive ($80-$90), but with better artwork (Beautiful uniform packaging for all the films released) and with the storyboards in full screen and not just in a little box. Got my copy of their latest film (From Up on Poppy Hill) yesterday. One of their best films IMO. Absolutely loved every minute of it.
Marcus1138 Contributor Join Date: June 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 910
Awesome. looking forward to seeing that.
Disciple Member Join Date: April 2006 Location: Sweden Posts: 775
Marcus1138 wrote: Awesome. looking forward to seeing that.If you like other "love story" Ghibli films like Whisper of the Heart, Ocean Waves and Only Yesterday, chances are you'll love this. Goro has definitely improved his directing skills since Tales From Earthsea. I'm not saying I think Tales is a bad film, I'm just saying this is a lot better. In fact, I'd place this as no.3 on a ranked Ghibli films list behind Kiki's Delivery Service and Whisper of the Heart. I have a feeling some people won't like it as much though.
Suitable for all
Disc Details
Release Date: 25th June 2012
Discs: 2
Disc Type: Blu-ray Disc
RCE: No
Video: 1080p
Aspect: 1.78:1
Anamorphic: No
Colour: Yes
Audio: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English
Extras: Storyboard, Featurettes, Trailers
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Billy Crystal, Jean Simmons
Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy and Romance
Length: 119 minutes
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Car News
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Priced Under $30,000
- Starts at $29,945 including destination charge
- EPA fuel economy rating of 50 mpg city/45 mpg hwy
- Touring model equipped with navigation and adaptive cruise control
Honda has just announced pricing and fuel economy ratings for its latest hybrid sedan. The base price for the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid is $29,945 including a $790 destination charge. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the new Accord Hybrid at 50 miles per gallon city and 45 mpg highway, or a combined rating of 47 mpg.
These fuel economy ratings are impressive in comparison with the competition. Only two hybrid models from Toyota, the Prius and Prius c, offer higher combined fuel economy ratings, but both are more compact vehicles. Among midsize hybrid sedans, the Ford Fusion matches the Accord Hybrid's 47-mpg combined fuel economy rating, while others come up lower. The Toyota Camry Hybrid and Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, for example, are rated at 41 mpg and 37 mpg, respectively.
But in terms of price, the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid is less competitive. Base prices for the Fusion Hybrid, Camry Hybrid and Sonata Hybrid are all lower than those of the gasoline-electric Accord.
Of course, Accord Hybrid buyers will recover some of that premium by spending less on fuel. And the Accord Hybrid is nicely equipped, even in base trim. It has dual-zone automatic climate control, a 10-way power adjustable driver seat, a backup camera and Honda's LaneWatch system, which helps drivers see vehicles in their passenger-side blind spot.
Stepping up to the midrange Accord Hybrid EX-L brings more driver assistance systems such as forward collision warning and lane departure warning, plus luxury features such as leather, heated front seats and a moonroof. Priced at $32,695 including destination, the EX-L also includes HondaLink, the automaker's connected infotainment system.
Finally, the Touring model tops the Accord Hybrid lineup. It's priced at $35,695 and includes navigation with real-time traffic information, adaptive cruise control and LED headlights.
The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid may not be the most affordable hybrid sedan on the market, but its efficiency certainly deserves recognition. Plus, it's well-equipped, even in base form. The Ford Fusion Hybrid may match the Accord Hybrid in combined fuel economy, but the Accord offers better city fuel economy. Fusion buyers must also select an options package to get equipment (like a backup camera) that comes standard on the Accord Hybrid.
What it means to you: The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid offers the best fuel economy ratings of any hybrid 4-door sedan.


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Public Citizen's energy and climate program advocates for affordable, clean and sustainable energy. We safeguard families by promoting the strong regulation of energy markets, educate the public on the dangers of continued reliance on dirty energy sources, help solve climate change by promoting localized clean energy alternatives and hold large energy corporations accountable by exposing wrongdoing.
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DC Universe Presents kicks off its next storyline with new featured heroes Black Lightning and Blue Devil!
DC Universe Presents #13
(Mark Andreyko, Robson Rocha, Oclair Albert)
DC Universe Presents gives us stories featuring characters outside the main New 52 universe. This issue focuses on Black Lightning and Blue Devil, who make their New 52 debut. Set in Los Angeles, our heroes are on the trail of a drug lord corrupting the streets. However, they don't trust each other...at the moment. After a brief battle, they head back to their respective "corners" and consult their mentors. Black Lightning turns to his father, while Blue Devil seeks advice from his grandfather. We are also given a quick introduction as to how Blue Devil gets his powers through his suit, but this point is addressed very briefly.
This story, quite honestly, wasn't very good. It felt very generic and forced. Very little is revealed about the characters, and there were very low stakes and reasons to be invested in them. Yes, Blue Devil's grandfather is killed, but it's a death that we're told to care about as opposed to a death that authentically affects the reader (i.e. Superman's first "death" or Barbara Gordon's crippling in Killing Joke). The characters are cookie-cutter and rather stereotypical. Blue Devil is the brash, dive-head-first hero; Black Lightning is the straight-laced, by the book hero who trusts no one. "Will these two ever put aside their differences and fight their common enemy?" Yes. Inevitably yes. The reader can almost predict the ending of the story arc from this first issue.
The artwork is also fairly standard. The color scheme naturally is based on the starring characters, using shades of blues and blacks. The action scenes are very simple, the character designs are basic, and there isn't very much to say in the art's favor. Blue Devil has been redesigned, and sadly I'm not a big fan of the new look. It feels like the artist was trying to make him more "badass" or "edgy". I prefer the old black tee shirt and jeans look, but that's just me.
Honestly, I wish I had liked this book more. It's not to say that I set fairly high expectations before reading this issue, but the series has delivered some fairly good material so far, but given the nature of the series itself, each story is effectively a miniseries. I was curious about Blue Devil, since I've heard he's one of the more magical heroes of the DC Universe, and Black Lightning was virtually unknown to me. Sadly, this book was just plain. It didn't grab me at all. That said, I'm sure there are some people who would like this story and where it's going. And for all I know, the story will probably pick up nicely next issue. It just didn't do very much for me. I give DC Universe Presents #13 5.5 devil horns out of 10.


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Two important points to consider before pursuing an assessment for adult ADHD:
- Our assessment approach does NOT meet the current criteria as set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act for students seeking academic accommodations. The diagnosis of ADHD by itself is not sufficient. There must be evidence of specific learning disabilities (or other disabilities). The explicit criteria for documentation are outlined in the Student Disabilities Services' section of each educational institution's website.
- In some cases the results of our evaluation will NOT support a diagnosis of ADHD. Our assessment may reveal other explanations for the presenting problems and symptoms that led someone to seek an assessment. Hence, there will be cases in which the result of the evaluation is that there will be a referral provided for another program or type of care.
No single test can definitively prove whether someone has ADHD. We conduct a comprehensive assessment, including a thorough history of a person's functioning since childhood. Standardized ADHD behavior checklists and symptom rating scales help specify problematic behaviors in childhood and in adulthood. Ratings from others whom have observed the patient's behavior in different settings also are used.
We also look for other psychological and medical problems with symptoms similar to ADHD. These include, among others, sleep disorders, thyroid hormone imbalances and prior head injuries.
Our assessment for ADHD also includes neurocognitive screening that provides measures of cognitive skills, such as organizational abilities, time perception and management, emotional regulation, working memory, cognitive processing speed, and the ability to sustain attention. No test is adequate for identifying symptoms or life impairments associated with ADHD but can be useful in identifying areas of strength and weakness that may contribute to some life difficulties as well as, in some cases, potential indications that more extensive testing is necessary.
We also evaluate for the presence of co-morbid conditions that may accompany ADHD such as anxiety, depression, and substance use. In some cases, it may be determined that such conditions are the primary cause of a person's difficulties rather than ADHD.
The assessment process itself takes about four (4) hours from start to finish. This does not include time spent completing various forms and questionnaires prior to the assessment.
Approximately one week following the assessment, a 45 minute feedback session is held during which the test results are presented and explained in user-friendly terms and all questions are answered. Treatment options are described and discussed. Even when it is concluded that the presenting problems are not the result of ADHD, treatment options and appropriate referrals are offered in order to assist individuals in getting the help that they need. A written report summarizing the results and recommendations from the comprehensive evaluation will be mailed to you about 4 to 6 weeks following the feedback session.
For adults with ADHD who can benefit from our services, we view the assessment as the first step in the treatment process. For most, the assessment results will provide concrete explanations for past and present difficulties at school, work and home. Very often this leads to a renewed sense of self-esteem and self-confidence. In cases in which it is determined that an individual does not have ADHD, the assessment can be helpful to clarify the difficulties a person has been facing and to determine what sort of referrals to pursue.
Once diagnosed, ADHD is usually very treatable. As discussed elsewhere on this site, treatment may include medications, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and skills training programs that help individuals develop effective strategies to minimize the negative impact of their ADHD symptoms while learning ways to apply their core strengths to attain more comfortable and satisfying life experiences.
The diagnostic assessments are conducted by senior clinical staff of the Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program or by advanced clinicians-in-training who are closely supervised by senior clinical staff.
In some cases, individuals have had past evaluations and/or testing for ADHD. We will review past reports and other relevant information on a case-by-case basis to determine if a modified version of our full evaluation will be sufficient and will avoid unnecessary redundancy.
Click here for a brief assessment questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization (WHO)
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text: Play Video Close Video Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Loading... More Views Ahh Comfort Legging Style # 1403 Slip into this amazing style staple by Rhonda Shear! Add some flair to any outfit with these comfortable and flattering leggings that keep you smooth all day! Sizing Information $37.90 Qty: Add to Cart Add to Wishlist Add to Compare Submit Your Review Below Description Reviews Care -High Waist Ankle Legging -Light shaping -Stretch Seamless fabrication -Knit-in Jacquard Write Your Own Review You're reviewing: Ahh Comfort Legging How do you rate this product? * 1 star 2 stars 3 stars 4 stars 5 stars Quality Price Value *Nickname *Summary of Your Review *Review *Please type the letters below Submit Review Fabrication: 96% Nylon / 4% Spandex Care: Machine wash cold with like colors, tumble dry low, do not bleach, do not dry clean You may also like: Ahh Smooth Seamless Capri Legging $32.90 Ahh Rocker High Waist Seamless Stud Legging $37.90


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Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB PC2-9600 DDR2-1200MHz Review
In all the years I have been building computers and giving advice, the one item I have seen taken the lightest was the memory purchase. In contrary to what some might say, all RAM is not created equal. You see it in advertisements all the time, "Value Ram for cheap." Well if it was that great a set of RAM then they would not have to advertise it because it would always be sold out. Selecting the right sticks of memory is as crucial as picking out the right processor. You wouldn't skimp out on CPU performance so why take that chance with one of the components that interacts with it the most? If you are an overclocker like we here at OverclockersClub.com are, then you want RAM that will give you the most flexibility to push it to the limits. Patriot Memory is one manufacturer that gives the hungry crowd what it desires with the Extreme Performance line.
Closer Look:
The Extreme Performance PC2-9600 memory comes packaged in the standard blister type packaging and each module is sandwiched between two heatsinks made from Patriot's Aluminum Bladed Heat Shield Technology to decrease heat and increase stability. Enclosed in the package are the two matched one gigabyte PC2-9600 memory modules and an installation guide to help you install the Patriot Extreme Performance PC2-9600 if you have never done so before.
The Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB PC2-9600 are rated at speeds of DDR2-1200MHz and have advanced timings of 5-5-5-12. They are also EPP Enabled. EPP stands for Enhanced Performance Profile, which is a technology designed by nVidia to make overclocking easier. To take advantage of EPP you must have a motherboard that supports it, as well as EPP Enabled RAM.
As mentioned before, the Patriot Extreme Performance PC2-9600 uses Patriot's Blade Heat Sink Technology, which attaches the aluminum fins directly to the PC2-9600 chips and helps by dissipating the heat and allowing airflow over the PC board. The reason this caught my eye is that memory is often overlooked when it comes to cooling issues. RAM, at these speeds, produces a lot of heat and needs to have a good way to get rid of that buildup. Patriot 's heatspreaders have opened tops so that airflow can flow freely over the ram chips and the board to help keep them cool. With the addition of a RAM fan you could virtually eliminate any major heat buildup on this set.


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A City of Literature
Located on New Zealand's South Island, Dunedin is sure to be a pleasant chapter in your voyage. Known both as a City of Literature, and the Edinburgh of the South, it's no surprise that there's a statue of Robbie Burns in the heart of town. Though a Scottish influence can be felt throughout town, Dunedin is still distinctly Kiwi.
Take a guided coach tour around the city and view the Flemish architecture or explore the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays of the Otago Peninsula. Stroll along one of the many beautiful, white sandy beaches. View some of the wildlife unique to the area, like the Northern Royal Albatross, the Little Blue Penguin, and the Kiwi. Learn more about local culture at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, where you'll discover the story of the people who settled here.
If you're up for a challenge, take a page from the Guinness Book of World Records and climb to the top of Baldwin Street—the steepest street in the world. Or for a chance to live like another famous literary character, Willy Wonka, visit Cadbury World—a working chocolate factory located in the heart of Dunedin.
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Referred to as "the wildlife capital of New Zealand", the Otago Peninsula is home to some of the rarest wildelife in the world—including the yellow-eyed penguin and three different kinds of albatrosses—as well as New Zealand's only castle, Larnach Castle.
Visit Cadbury World—definitely the sweetest place in Dunedin—for a chocolate factory tasting tour (minus the Oompa Loompas, of course). And if hops are more to your palate, then a Speights Brewery tour is the perfect afternoon excursion for you.
One of only a handful of cities in the world to receive the UNESCO City of Literature distinction, Dunedin is a haven for writers, poets, illustrators, and other creative types. Visit the Writers' Walk to pay tribute to significant writers and to see the large statue of Robert Burns.
Featured Dunedin, New Zealand
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Dunedin, New Zealand At a glance
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- 0.59
- 44.54
- 2.26
- 13.19
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Peace.Joy.Love.Laughter.Inspiration.Growth.Faith.Patience.Perseverance.Acceptance: All can easily be rolled into one to be the person i am, or more aptly,the person i seek to be. i have been a dancer all my life ,and dance is really what i believe i do best, even though there still are "miles to go"!! to move, create, inspire, share, build and grow together , through the vehicle of Dance is what i perceive to be my "calling" in Life. and there i find not only the pursuit of my dreams and my happiness, but also God's blessing, in its purest form .. God, Parents, Family, & F.R.I.E.N.D.S (!) blend into my system of "jewels" of Life. apart from them, i've been lucky enough to have had some incredibly inspiring teachers as "influences" : Jacquie Bird, Soraya Franco, Robin Merchant, Ashley Lobo to name a few .. Luam is yet another choreographer that deserves special mention.. as she has been one of the Hugest Sources of Inspiration to me(online only though)!!! JAZZ funk/lyrical and contemporary are areas of interest to me and what i work in :) its interesting to note how one is capable of tapping into one's various shades as a dancer, like an artist that dips into his palate for different colors: Spunk that screams out loud in a Funk piece; Profundity that comes through in contemporary,Discipline and Finesse in a Ballet piece , while sex appeal in Salsa, for instance.... is what intrigues me the most about these various forms , yet a commonality amongst them : a Passion to Express ......... Peace.
As i take you through this little blog, i hope you vicariously enjoy my journey as a dance artist! it has been one of immense joy and hard work, inspiration and growth, and a sense of being committed to my purpose... Gifts that I today seek to impart to as many as possible through this God-given vehicle of Dance !!!
Cheer$ !!
P.S: there is a lot more "detailing" that needs to be done.. Please (pretty please!) bear with me as i try and put this blog together!!! okay.. enjoy :)
Also, pardon me for the complete lack of chronology (the series of events per year) , but then Thats what I call "OrganiZed ChaoS" !!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Sweet Dreams Beyonce ~ 1st May 2011 !!
Posted by Move to free the soul & fill the heart.... at 6:01 AM
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