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Which Is More Terrifying: Google or Facebook?
Mark Zuckerberg's $2 billion buyout of Oculus Rift is just the latest step in Big Tech's creepy march from software to sci-fi: Google and Facebook have dumped billions into companies that have nothing to do with their original projects in search or social. Relentlessly, the two companies are pushing toward a dystopian future in which privacy is null and we wear social networks on our faces.
But what do their individual acquisitions add up to? Who's winning? Here's a look at each company's expanded portfolio, to see which one's nightmare vision is more likely to prevail.
Facebook knows you to the extent that you're vain on the internet, which is to say, it knows you very well. Your photos, IMs, college, hometown, real identity, location history, and music-listening habits are all logged. Facebook knows who you're friends with, and knows who they're friends with, and so on—your social and professional logs are mapped and cataloged. And if you're reading a website with a "Like" button on it, Facebook knows where you're browsing, too.
Here's what it's added to that foundation:
Face.com, purchased for $100 million in June 2012
What: an Israeli facial recognition software firm.
Why Facebook PR would say this shouldn't scare you: Facial recognition saves you time after you upload photos by detecting your friends' mugs and helping you tag them.
Why it should scare you: Facebook's experimental DeepFace scanning technology is almost 98 percent accurate. That means the company can, with a near-human degree of accuracy, detect where you've been and who you were with—even in images you'll never be aware of. This information is stored invisibly, indefinitely, and for purposes that are entirely up to Facebook. The social network has never been a destination for anonymity, but facial scanning will make it easier to find you in the crowd than ever before in our history. It's all been enough to make governments around the world demand investigations and reform.
WhatsApp, purchased for $19 billion in February 2014
What: a globally popular mobile messaging app.
Why Facebook PR would say this shouldn't scare you: Facebook is about connecting people, and WhatsApp does a fantastic job of connecting hundreds of millions of people around the world!
Why it should scare you: Facebook is now in possession of a chat network that handles almost as many IMs as the entire global volume of text messaging. It says it has no plans to pore over this unfathomably large word canyon in an attempt to sell more ads. To those who object, it says only: Come on, trust us.
Oculus Rift, purchased for $2 billion in March 2014
What: a company that's developed a virtual reality headset aimed at video gamers.
Why Facebook PR would say this shouldn't scare you: "Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us." - Mark Zuckerberg
Why it should scare you: Facebook just spent a large sum of money in order to create a product that will completely replace reality with Facebook. There's not really much else to say.
You trust Google to hold, keep, and respect almost everything you do on the internet, every day of your life: your web searches, your email inbox, your contacts, your workplace IMs, your browsing history, and, if you use an Android phone, your location. Google offers a set of options to tailor (and potentially purge) how much personal information remains on its servers, but offers no guarantee that anyone will be aware of these controls, or how to use them.
Schaft, Industrial Perception, Redwood Robotics, Meka Robotics, Holomini, Bot & Dolly, Boston Dynamics, purchased for undisclosed prices in 2013
What: Within the span of only a couple months, Google—a software company that makes its money off of search-engine advertising—purchased eight different robot companies. Among the hardware providers is Boston Dynamics, which makes military-grade bots, including one that looks like a huge scary metal nightmare horse.
Why Google PR would say this shouldn't scare you: Google will use the technologies developed by these firms to, uh, well, you know, robots in the home, the internet of things, transportation, dogs.
Why it should scare you: Watch this video.
Self-Driving Cars
What: For a little under a decade, Google has been working to build cars that can (and do!) drive to your destination without requiring anyone at the wheel.
Why Google PR would say this shouldn't scare you: What if your email provider could also drive you to work?
Why it should scare you: What if your email provider drove you to work?
Google Glass
What: A face-mounted computer with built-in microphone and camera.
Why Google PR would say this shouldn't scare you: only a luddite has anything to fear.
Why it should scare you: Even if the idea of an always-on face computer doesn't unsettle you (it ought to), there have been enough bad actors in the tech's baby-short life to illustrate how wrong Glass can go. Will you really pay $1,500 to be a foot soldier of Google's advertising surveillance society?
DeepMind, acquired for $400 million in January 2014
What: Recode describes DeepMind as a " a secretive artificial intelligence company."
Why Google PR would say this shouldn't scare you: DeepMind's industry-leading experts in the field of machine learning will make your phones smarter and more helpful than ever before.
Why it should scare you: Has there ever been a work of speculative fiction in which a giant multinational corporation develops an artificial intelligence and it doesn't go haywire? Society cannot warn itself against this kind of thing any more comprehensively than it already has.
Nest, acquired for $4.2 billion in January 2014
What: A company that makes thermostats that connect to the internet.
Why Google PR would say this shouldn't scare you: You rely on Google for the best smartphone experience on Earth—now we can keep your house warm, intelligently, and also save on your energy bill.
Why it should scare you: The "internet of things" is a euphemism for "everything in my life is communicating wirelessly with an advertising entity." We should think very carefully about whether we want one company to not only control all of our online activity, but literally change the temperature of our bedrooms while we're asleep.
So, who is closer to realizing techno-fascist Hell on Earth?
For now, Facebook is too inept for psychotic global dominion. So far, the Facebook site and apps are so confusingly designed and redesigned, users aren't even really sure how to siphon away their existences anymore. Whenever the company tries to branch out beyond the basics it's mastered since it was a toy for college kids, it falls on its face.
But more importantly, Facebook's history with hardware is demonstrably bad: The one time it tried to build something (a phone), it was completely botched, despite every advantage and all the resources in the world to design a single good object. There's no reason to believe Facebook's attempt to build a virtual reality helmet will be any less prone to ruin. If anything, it's a hell of a lot harder to pull off than a cellphone.
Google, on the other hand, has a record of success with its skunkworks projects. The self-driving car is a prototype, but it does drive by itself. You can buy one of Nest's self-adjusting "smart" thermostats right now. The majority of smartphones sold today run Google software. Google has a history of collaborating with censors, spying on journalists, running afoul of regulators, and being run by nutcases. Add defense-industry robotics and face computers, and you have an all-seeing company with a market cap of $380 billion that's now in the killer robot business for no apparent reason, a company that sees this as an ideal consumer scenario:
You wake up from a Google alarm on your Google phone. The air is Google-cool from your Google thermostat. Your Google car drives you to work at a company that uses Google software. You smile at your sandwich (not made by Google) and take a picture of it, because you're wearing a camera on your face. You look at the sandwich face-photos of your peers, your viewing history logged by Google. An artificial intelligence in your phone queues up a sandwich collage for later. It knows you'll like it. You go home to your wife, which is a giant cargo-hauling military robot, because that's just the fucking way it is now, OKAY?
Facebook's desire to produce virtual reality doesn't seem so bad when Google wants to own reality itself.
Winner: Google.
Image by Jim Cooke


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The much-maligned TARP program will cost taxpayers only $25 billion according to the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. That's substantially less than the $66 billion CBO estimated back in August or the $113 billion that the Office of Management and Budget estimated in October.
The good news, budget-wise, is that the government is on track to make about $22 billion on its assistance to banks.
However, CBO estimates that TARP's other activities will cost $47 billion. This reflects aid to AIG ($14 billion), the auto industry ($19 billion), mortgage programs ($12), and a few smaller programs ($2 billion).

subset: commoncrawl


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Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) has made great strides in bringing the look of Android into a more consistent, cohesive form. Google's apps all look and behave very similarly, but now third-party app developers need to adapt. Luckily, Google is providing a map.
As of today, app developers can click on over to Android Design and pick up all of the tips and tricks for making their apps look and work great with Ice Cream Sandwich. It's the baby of Matias Duarte, the man who is reshaping Android's user experience and making things, well, way better to use. And this is no half-assed PDF; Matias views this as an integral part of Android's future. In an interview with Wired Magazine (which you should read), he said:
This is the second part of our Ice Cream Sandwich launch. As this site goes up, I can feel like it's finished. Like ICS is truly complete.
Them's no small potatoes. Indeed an OS is only as strong as its ecosystem. You can have a beautiful hill, but if all the trees on it are gnarled, the hill looks gnarled, too. This guide should provide everything needed for apps to blend in nicely with the landscape, while still maintaining their own personalities. As Android evolves, so will the guide. It can't be easy for developers to keep their apps playing nicely with an OS that averages two major updates a year (effectively twice as many as iOS). Hopefully, this will make things a bit easier on them, and on our eyes and fingers. [Android Design via Wired]


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Want Vs. Need
by Laura MacCorkle
So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him." 1 Samuel 1:20, NIV
Did you get what you wanted for Christmas? Or did you get what you needed?
What we want and what we need don't often go hand in hand. There are things that I have wanted for a long time now that apparently the Lord has not seen to be necessities in my life just yet. I know he knows what is best for me, but it is still hard to wait. And it is difficult not to look longingly at what others have received and wonder why I cannot be the recipient of such things as well.
This kind of struggle is not new to any of us. And Hannah, who we read about in the first chapter of 1 Samuel, is a great example of how to live when what you want is not yet something God says you need.
For years Hannah had wanted to become a mother. To bear a child. To give her husband, Elkanah, a son—just like his other wife, Peninnah. Being barren was considered a disgrace for a woman in those times, so Hannah most likely felt ashamed and alone and perhaps like a societal outcast. Instead of turning away, though, Hannah took her sorrow and her request for what she wanted to the Lord.
We don't know for sure how long she waited (perhaps years)—and we don't know the exact purposes of God's timing in her life—but we can still learn a great deal from Hannah's example.
- She was persistent and continually sought the Lord.She did not give up and stop asking the Lord for what she wanted. Like clockwork, Hannah kept bringing her request to God, year after year (v. 7). No doubt her want continued to drive her to the Father and most likely deepened her relationship with him.
- She was blessed with a lifeline.I am quick to forget that the beauty in the midst of Hannah's pain is that Elkanah loved her very dearly. I am sure this buoyed Hannah when she may have wondered if God would ever answer her prayer for a child. God was gracious in giving her a loving husband (v. 5, 8).
- She did not give in to ridicule or naysayers.Even when Peninnah (who was fruitful and had children) taunted her because she was barren, Hannah did not add insult to injury (v. 7). She did not retaliate when ridiculed for her condition or her faith.
- She shared her "want" and was encouraged by others.When the high priest Eli observed Hannah praying in the temple and inquired as to her condition, she shared with him what she was asking of the Lord. Eli encouraged her and asked God to answer her request (vv. 12-17).
- She gave back to God what he had given to her.When God blessed Hannah with a child, she did not cling tightly to him. She kept her promise, let her son go and dedicated him to the Lord (v. 11, vv.21-28). That is model faith!
Like Hannah, are you waiting on the Lord to give you something you want in your life today? A new job? Reconciliation in your marriage? Blessing in your finances? A cure from illness? To find your soul mate? Victory over an addiction? A baby?
Each of us has something we want in our lives. But is up to God to decide if this is something we really need. May we continue to come to him with joy and thankfulness, as we acknowledge that he knows what is best for our lives.
Intersecting Faith & Life: Do you know that God has already given you what you need for this very day? Ask him to help you accept his plans and timing for your life—even when you don't understand.
Further Reading:
James 1:17, NIV
Matthew 7:11, NIV


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Here at Peach we always try to ensure our pricing information is up to date however from time to time prices may be subject to change. All available to order and pre-order items are also subject to lead times. For up to date pricing and ETA's regarding your order please contact us.
We offer a range of finance packages such as 12.9% over max 60 months, or 0% over varying shorter terms through our partner Novuna.For more information on the finance process please click here
The Fender Stratocaster is such an iconic guitar, built for functionality, playability and reliability it has been a firm favourite for over 60 years. The Fender Player Stratocaster is a new line for 2018, building on the success of the Mexican Standard it offers an affordable way for everyone to experience what makes the Strat so special. We always try to cater for our left handed friends and this guitar is a great option.
The traditional Alder body is typically well balanced and comfortable, as all Strat's are, and with a crisp Polar White finish it looks real slick. Its super resonant and delivers a bell like high end, punchy mids and robust lows with flawless precision.
The Maple neck features a 9.5" radius for a superb modern playing action without any choking. With a C shape profile and 22 medium jumbo frets, it offers a really comfortable playing experience; its equally at home playing big chords or intricate lead work.
A trio of Player Series Alnico 5 single coils provide classic Strat spank. Offering a touch more bite than traditional Strat pickups, the Player Series are crisp and articulate. With a classic 2-point trem you can add some really sweet textures to your sound without compromising tuning stability.
Well-rounded and perfect for a broad range of styles, the Strat is the standard for gigging musicians, with amazing quality and playability they are ready to hit the stage or studio at any time.


text: Email Story Print Story Bacteria Implicated in Steroid-Resistance Among Asthmatics DECEMBER 05, 2008 DENVER — A series of experiments by researchers at National Jewish Health have implicated the remains of bacterial cell walls in the development of resistance to corticosteroids, the main controller medication for asthma. Steroid-resistance is a major management problem in asthma and accounts for a disproportionate amount of healthcare costs. The source of the bacterial remains, known as endotoxin, is unclear. However, recent research at National Jewish Health indicates that asthma patients can have bacterial infections, which could produce significant amounts of endotoxin. Dogs are another suspected source of the endotoxin. The researchers, led by National Jewish Health Professor of Pediatrics Donald Leung, MD, PhD, published their findings in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. "Steroid-resistance disables the most effective medication for the control of asthma," said Elena Goleva, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at National Jewish Health and lead author of the paper. "Our findings clearly point to endotoxin as a contributor to this difficult-to-manage condition. They have launched us to a promising new avenue of research we hope can improve patients' response to steroids, leading to better control of their disease." The research team reported three distinct findings supporting a role for endotoxin in the development of steroid-resistance. First, they evaluated gene expression in cells taken from the lungs of 10 steroid-resistant asthma patients and eight patients with steroid-sensitive asthma. These experiments indicated that a distinct set of genes, which are associated with the recognition of endotoxin, and with an immune response to bacterial products were expressed at higher levels in steroid-resistant asthma patients. Second, steroid-resistant asthma patients had on average over five times more endotoxin in their lung fluid than did steroid-sensitive patients. Third, the researchers tested how prolonged exposure to endotoxin altered the response of white-blood cells to steroids. Immune-system cells taken from six non-asthmatic people showed a significantly reduced response to steroids after they had been incubated for 24 hours with the steroid dexamethasone. "Taken together, these findings provide strong evidence for the role of endotoxin in steroid-resistance," said Dr. Leung. "Our challenge now is to determine the source of the endotoxin, confirm its role in steroid-resistance, and find ways to reduce endotoxin exposure or counter its negative effects." Co-author Richard Martin, MD, Chair of Medicine at National Jewish Health, has previously published findings indicating that many chronic asthma patients have low-level bacterial infections that may make their asthma worse. He is currently leading a $7.5 million study of the effects of the bacteria mycoplasma on asthma. Such bacteria could be the source of endotoxin. Other researchers also recently reported that presence of dogs, but not cats, increases the amount of endotoxin in the home. Following up on this, Dr. Leung and his colleagues found that 66 percent of 18 patients with steroid-resistant asthma lived with at least one dog, compared to 38 percent of patients with steroid-sensitive asthma. Media Resources We have many faculty members, from bench scientists to clinicians, who can speak on almost any aspect of respiratory, immune, cardiac and gastrointestinal disease as well as lung cancer and basic immunology. Accomplishments & Awards Annual Report Financials Media Contacts Our team is available to arrange interviews, discuss events and story ideas. Adam Dormuth 303.398.1002 office 970.222.5034 mobile firstname.lastname@example.com Jessica Berry 303.398.1082 office 303.807.9491 mobile firstname.lastname@example.com


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In keeping with yesterday's post about work on the site design, I made a few small changes today....
The What I Use page was finally updated (I had done this mostly a month ago but there was a screwy formatting problem). I also updated the Windows and Cloud Computing activity centers (from a content perspective).
I changed the What I Use, Contact Paul, Podcast, FAQ, and Windows XP SP3 FAQ pages over to the new design.
I'll keep working on it of course. Part of this work involves dramatically simplifying the HTML and keeping to a sleeker CSS design. In the future, I'd like to switch over to CSS-based layout as well, and this change will make that easier.
Hide comments


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Natural Walls
Natural walls in Rowan County, freshly exposed from subterranean sites by heavy rains in the summer of 1794, sparked widespread interest at home and abroad. They were discovered near Second Creek and South Yadkin River at several places ranging between three and nine miles east of the town of Salisbury. They appeared to be laid in a straight line. The top of the most fully exposed wall seemed to be made of stones carefully cut into blocks, fitted and held together by mortar of various colors. The wall measured about 22 inches wide at the top, slightly wider at the bottom, and 12 to 14 feet high. Locally, the material was called "black whin," and people who saw portions of the wall concluded that it had been laid by prehistoric people whom they called mound builders.
By 1881 the true nature of the wall was known, although at various times throughout the next century newspapers continued to repeat the old beliefs. The wall was formed naturally of traprock, which is found in a dozen North Carolina counties. It originated as magma of volcanic origin and consists of basalt, diabase, and gabbro, identified by Jasper L. Stuckey, state geologist, as including "dense, dark-colored, and fine-grained igneous rocks" that form distinctive joints on cooling.
Jethro Rumple, A History of Rowan County, North Carolina (1881).
Jasper L. Stuckey, North Carolina: Its Geology and Mineral Resources (1965).
Image Credit:
"Rowan County's Natural Walls". Image made available by North Carolina Miscellany, photo from North Carolina Collection's Photographic Archives (P1-80-N285w). Available from http://www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/ncm/index.php/2009/02/20/rowan-countys-natural-walls/ (accessed July 23, 2012).
1 January 2006 | Powell, William S.


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Roland Sands Design BMW Concept
At the 2013 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in Lake Coma, Italy, BMW unveiled something new that pay tribute to one of the Bavarian motorcycle manufacturers most iconic models, the 1973 R 90 S.
This year the R 90 S, which was the first production motorcycle to feature a front fairing, turns 40. And to help celebrate, BMW got together with ex-motorcycle racer Roland Sands and designed the Concept 90.
The RSD BMW Concept 90 features the famed boxer within a frame surrounded by aluminum bodywork painted in legendary Daytona Orange like the original R 90 S was offered in.
Of course, the bike features nothing but modern technology and styling, from the fuel-injected air-cooled flat-twin boxer to the LED lights to the milled valve covers, engine and exhaust system.
Speaking of the Concept 90, Roland Sands says "Everything just fits together perfectly: the BMW technology, the BMW heritage and our custom parts complement each other beautifully."
Attached above is a photo gallery, featuring images from BMW (pics 8-16) and Basem Wasef (pics 2-7). Each photo also makes for great wallpaper. To download as wallpaper, click the desired thumbnail to expand, then right click image to Set as Desktop Background.
For additional information about the BMW Concept 90, click here.


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The Flag Bearer Cap from 5.11 Tactical® offers a stylish and comfortable alternative to everyday headwear. All 5.11® headwear offering proudly feature premium 5.11 graphics and embroidery work, and each is built from high performance materials designed to repel wind, weather, and precipitation while remaining comfortable and breathable. Six rows of bill stitching and a buckram lined front panel ensure a stable and secure fit in any environment.
- Cool, lightweight comfort
- Premium anti-fade graphics and embroidery
- Buckram lined for structure
- Six rows of bill stitching
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WILBA 2018 - Junior Girls - Sky
Each year our youth basketball community comes together for a common goal: to raise funds for the Oncology department at the Montreal Children's Hospital in honour of Sian Bradwell, an infant cancer patient who died at the age of 17 months.
Since the inception of the Weekend in 2001, WILBA families and sponsors have raised over $228,000 towards the purchase of medical equipment which has contributed to treating children such as Sian.
Together we can keep on making a difference in the lives of children with cancer. Won't you consider supporting the team by making a donation today?


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So in order to meet the criteria of both these in one post I bring you my daughter's first Christmas back in 2003:
Apologies to my son but photos of his first Christmas don't appear to be on this computer! I'm sure I took lots though....
thanks! we still have the stocking but think my daughter needs a larger one these days ;-)ReplyDelete
aww gorgeous picture :)ReplyDelete
Brilliant Becky! A very good start and very organised of you to kill 2 birds with one stone! :D
Thanks for promoting and participating!
Beautiful picture!


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Planning Briefs
Market Timing Is An Inexact Science
Published Monday, March 28, 2016 at: 7:00 AM EDT
The history of leading stock market indicators, like the Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500), is littered with stories about prices shattering new records as well as precipitous plunges in value. For example, soon after a new high is reached, a major correction could occur, reflecting the inherent volatility and uncertainty of the market.
This can end up being both good news and bad news for market timers.
Market timing is the practice of selling stocks and mutual fund shares ahead of projected declines and buying back those investments when the investor expects the stock market to climb. It's a tempting proposition, and when it works, it can reduce losses and position a portfolio for future gains. However, it usually doesn't work, and getting the timing wrong can result in big losses, from selling shares that would have recovered or from being out of the market when prices rebound.
Market timing appeals to investors who think it can bring them the best of all possible worlds—letting them buy low and sell high. But it's not for inexperienced investors, and even those who know what they're doing and who have all of the resources to help them make intelligent, well-informed decisions are just as likely to fail as they are to succeed.
Not only is the stock market volatile, it is unpredictable. Events like Brexit can have an impact, either positive or negative, on a company, industry, or sector. Market timers think they know better than others what's coming next. Although they may guess right sometimes, they're bound to be wrong, too. To compound the problem, those who are successful once may start to think they are invincible. Of course, they're not.
But just because market timing is generally a loser's game doesn't mean you always have to sit idly by while markets fluctuate. Tactical adjustments may be in order depending on what's in your portfolio, what your goals are, and your investing timetable. However, by investing for the long term and periodically rebalancing your portfolio, you can focus on specific objectives in a consistent manner. This could be especially important following a period of extreme volatility such as the ones the markets experienced earlier this year. Working toward your long-term goals also takes emotions out of the investing equation.
When you engage in market timing, you effectively have to be right twice—getting out of the market at the right time, before a downturn, and then getting back in before the market rallies. That's much less likely to pay off than staying in the market over the long haul—which also happens to be a lot easier on the nerves.
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Open source cut its teeth on operating systems, earned its street cred on Linux and Apache, and never looked back, continuing ever since to extend the kingdom to databases, middleware, and newfangled platforms such as hypervisors for server virtualization. Our Bossies in platforms and middleware recognize a few old faces, and some fairly new ones.
[See Bossie winner slideshows: | | | | | ]
CentOS is RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), after all, just packaged under a different name, and without any references to Red Hat. That means you can install applications for RHEL on a CentOS server without any incompatibilities, and all RHEL updates are applicable to CentOS as well. Obviously, no support contracts are available for CentOS, but that's the draw for many Linux veterans – the familiar Red Hat distribution, including updates, without the onus of having to purchase a support contract that is never used.
For open source client OS, we like Ubuntu Desktop Edition, although we almost hate to say it. Sometimes it seems that Ubuntu is the iPod of Linux distributions. It's flashy, simple, and easy to work with. It also has legions of fanatical supporters, along with many detractors. It's unquestionably a great distribution for those just getting into Linux and those who like the eye candy. For others, it's too simple and too much like a Microsoft OS – but then those are generally the people that run Gentoo and are proud of it. The sheer amount of effort that's been put into bringing Ubuntu into the mainstream is impressive, and it gets better with every release… now if we can only get the fanboys to tone it down a little.
Between Ubuntu and CentOS, you have the best of both Linux worlds – a strong desktop with plenty of pizzazz and community support, and a strong, entirely free server OS based completely on the most prevalent commercial Linux distribution available. The "Why Linux?" question has been answered, and it just might prove to be tougher to answer the "Which Linux?" question. Either of these distros will fit the bill.
In Java application servers, the Bossie was hotly contested. This year has seen important updates to Apache Geronimo, Apache Tomcat, JBoss Seam, and GlassFish. Although all of these releases provided significant new value, none came close to delivering the amount of new functionality in JBoss Seam. Seam is a Java EE-based framework that reduces the chore of enterprise programming by combining EJB (Enterprise Java Beans) 3.0 and JSF (Java Server Faces), giving developers resources they would otherwise have to code for themselves. These new benefits include handling the thorny problem of stateful page flows, simple construction of CRUD applications, AJAX and Web 2.0 interfaces on server-based applications, reporting enhancements, and an extensive business-rules capability.
Although many pundits believe that simplification of enterprise Java via the heralded release of EJB 3.0 might lead the way to greater adoption, we think that lightweight, high-functionality frameworks such as JBoss Seam are an even more compelling driver. For this combination of functionality and elegant design, Seam gets our nod for the Bossie.
In the open source Web server space, one project reigns supreme: There's Apache, and everyone else. Apache is the golden child of open source, besting every open source and commercial Web server available in deployments, security, and speed. And just imagine what the Internet might be like if everyone had to pay for Web server software. Apache has been the catalyst for true information freedom, which is a terribly good thing, even if that information includes enormous volumes of painful dreck like your bus driver's blog.
The Bossie for databases was a tough call, but MySQL won the popular vote. A number of us swear by PostgreSQL, especially for serious database work that requires clustering, high performance, and some features you would otherwise need a commercial database to get. But MySQL takes our prize. It has panache, compatibility, speed, the features most of us need for most duties, and gosh darn it, people just like it. MySQL is almost the Apache of databases. There are many cases in which ubiquity isn't a sign of quality, but that's not the case with MySQL. It's everywhere for a reason.
Rising up against the dark commercial overlords of SOA, a number of open source vendors are reducing data services and event-driven messaging to a standards-based common denominator. MuleSource leads this pack in overall features, administration, and manageability, taking our Bossie for enterprise service bus.
Easy to install and deploy, the Mule ESB provides a broad range of connectivity options (JMS, MQ/AQ, JBI, SOAP, REST, AS400 Data Queues, and more), and it's strong on data transformation, routing, authentication, and authorization. The monitoring and management components (via the MuleHQ module) are also pretty good. Mule supports BPEL, .NET services, and the J2EE Spring framework. The company offers 24x7 support services and boasts a good portfolio of corporate and government users, which could help ensure MuleSource's long-term success.
A close runner up in the service bus category is FUSE ESB, offered by Iona (makers of Artix ESB) after its acquisition of LogicBlaze. FUSE ESB is still being merged with Celtix, a previous open source ESB endeavor that Iona undertook with ObjectWeb. When all is said and done, FUSE ESB will include Apache-based foundations for message brokering, service bus, SOA framework, and routing.
The Sun Open ESB 2 – still in beta – is also promising, thanks to enhancements in development and administration tools for its Java Business Integration (JBI) runtime and GlassFish app server. And don't count out JBoss ESB, WSO2 ESB, or OpenAdaptor. This is one field that will only become more fertile with time.
We end with our pick of the Bossie for server virtualization. Several open source products split the votes here, but Xen won out over the competition. After all, it's the virtualization project that sparked several commercial ventures aimed at unseating virtualization king VMware, and it's part of several mainstream Linux distributions. Xen is a solid baseline hypervisor for Linux, and it adds features seemingly every day. OpenVZ, a stellar example of OS-level virtualization, was the close runner-up. Like Xen, it supports only Linux guests; the difference is that OpenVZ requires all guests, or "virtual private servers," to share the same OS kernel.


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Access Denied on a VHD
After compacting the VHD for one of my virtual machines, I saw this error while trying to restart the machine:
An error occurred while attempting to start the selected virtual machine(s).
Account does not have permission to open attachment 'D:\Directory\Data.vhd'. Error: 'General access denied error'(0x80070005). (Virtual machine ID F4076715-AF1E-414C-BEB9-28D67B97E20F)
Of course I was taken aback, because I hadn't changed any permissions on the file, I just compacted it. Though in the act of compacting the system probably created a new file, then deleted the old one and renamed the new one. So I went searching on Google for some kind of answer.
This page was the one that set me on the right course. The simple answer was to give Full Control to the Users group on the file. After that the virtual machine started with no problems. My other VHDs don't have Full Control for the Users group, they only have Read and Execute. But they do have Read and Write permissions set for a special user, F4076715-AF1E-414C-BEB9-28D67B97E20F. Notice this is the same user that was mentioned in the error message. I couldn't find an easy way to add that user to the VHD in question, though, so I gave all users Full Control instead, and I'm trusting that there shouldn't be any consequences to that down the road.


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Treasures of the Rare Book Collection – Plants of Mediterranean Climate Areas
This digital exhibition shows off a small part of what can be found in the Arboretum Library's Rare Book Room. It's also a way of showing how library collections are connected to living collections in the Arboretum. If you have a smartphone, take The Rare Book Walk in the garden (using Google Maps) to view the plants in real time, as you look at images of the library's rare book collection.
By clicking on the image or imageslider you will be transferred to the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden Flickr-page where there is additional information about the image. Here, on the webpage, there are interesting stories about the plants shown in the exhibition. By clicking on the Google Maps-link, you will be shown where you can find that same plant as the illustrator drew in 19th century, here in the Arboretum, in the 21st century.
The plants featured in this exhibition are from Mediterranean Climate Areas, which is the type of climate in Southern California – dry summers with precipitation generally occurring during the winter.
Please note that plant names may have changed over time. The captions to each image usually reflect the plant's name according to the source. To search for current plant names, refer to The International Plant Names Index (IPNI).
An amaryllis is a true bulb, like an onion, consisting of multiple encircling leaf bases, which make up the bulb. The larger the bulb, the faster it will bloom and the larger the blooms. A bulb smaller than two inches will not bloom, but once of flowering size, an Amaryllis bulb can produce flowers up to 75 years.
Amaryllis belladonna. Image source: Botanical Register Vol. IX (9: plate 714. 1823).
Find out plant location in the garden using Google Maps
The word amaryllis comes from the Greek word amaryssein, which means to sparkle, referring to the bloom. It also references the tale of the Greek maiden named Amaryllis, who created a red bloom for her true love, from her own blood. Amaryllis was a shepherdess who loved Alteo, a shepherd with Hercules' strength and Apollo's beauty. However, Alteo only loved flowers. He'd often said that he would only love a girl, who bought him a new flower. So, Amaryllis dressed in maiden's white and appeared at Alteo's door for 30 nights, each time piercing her heart with a golden arrow. When Alteo finally opened his door, he found a crimson flower, sprung from the blood of Amaryllis's heart.
Read the whole story at the Bulbs and Tubers page
More images of Amaryllidaceae (Amaryllis) family
See all of the plants sorted by family
Sorted by color – Pink flowers
See all flowers sorted by color


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Being at the MySQL User Conference: how Postgres fits in
I spent last week in Santa Clara attending the MySQL User Conference. Friends had clued me in that the conference was going to be a riot—with developers from the many forks of MySQL in attendance, all vying for spotlight, and to differentiate themselves from the MySQL core code.
The Oracle announcement of acquiring Sun cast an uncertain and uncomfortable light over the talks about forks, community and the future of MySQL. Many people wondered aloud what development on the core of MySQL's code would be like now, and what would become of the remaining MySQL engineers.
Would the engineers defect to Monty's new company? Will Oracle end support of MySQL development? How would MySQL end users feel about the changes? Would there be a surge in interest in Postgres, my favorite open source database?
Of course, it's a bit early to tell. So, I've really got two posts about the trip, and this first one is about PostgreSQL, aka Postgres.
There's a huge opportunity right now for Postgres to tell its story. Not because of a specific failure on the part of MySQL, but because the Oracle acquisition has raised the consciousness of all of mainstream tech. Developers and IT managers are taking a serious look at Postgres for new development projects, and evaluating their database technology choices with an eye toward whatever Oracle decides to do.
In this window of uncertainty is an opportunity for Postgres advocates to explain what it is that draws us to the project.
As a developer and a sysadmin, my enthusiasm for Postgres comes directly from the people that work on the code. The love of their craft—developing beautiful, purpose-built code—is reflected in the product, the mailing lists and the individuals who make up our community.
When someone asks me why I choose Postgres, I have to first answer that it is because of the people I know who are involved in the project. I trust them, and believe that they make the best technology decisions when it comes to the core of the code.
I believe that there's room for improvement in extending Postgres' reach, and speaking to people who don't already believe the same things that we believe: that conforming to the SQL standard is fundamentally a useful and important goal, that vertical scaling is an important design objective, and that consistency is just as important to excellent user experience as are verbose command names and syntactic sugar extensions.
All of those issues are debated when discussing (typically by people outside of the Postgres community) how the Postgres development is prioritized and how this community works. It is inarguable that in the web space, Postgres lost the race. But the initial goal of the project, I'd argue, wasn't necessarily to be the most popular end-user database. Now, that may have changed… :)
Meantime, the Postgres community continues to mature. There are clear constraints we need to overcome on the people side. Two that I think about frequently are the need for more code reviewers for patch review and testing, and smoothing over our prickly mailing-list reputation by getting more volunteers responding to requests for information the lists.
During a particularly raucous panel session at the Percona Performance Conference, a friend in the Postgres community commented that he was so happy that our community didn't have the issues that the MySQL community has. And I said to him that it's just a matter of time before we experience those issues if Postgres grows as MySQL has.
We will have issues with forks, conflicts and deep-cutting (founded, or unfounded) criticism. So, my advice to all the people I know in the Postgres community is to pay attention to what is happening with MySQL right now, because we can only benefit from being prepared.
conference database open-source postgres


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We all know Cory Booker is America's "Super Mayor," a reputation cemented by his many acts of social-media influenced kindness: he's been lauded for helping a man propose to his girlfriend, letting Hurricane Sandy victims crash at his house and even rescuing a neighbor from a burning building.
But did you know that he also helped start a new social media site called #WayWire? Probably not.
(READ: TIME's Full SXSW Coverage)
Booker discussed all of these things and more in a wide-ranging chat with TIME.com Assistant Managing Editor Steven James Snyder during a SXSW panel called "Cory Booker: New Media Politician." The conversation touched on a number of themes, ranging from his worst tweet to his ambitions beyond Newark's mayorship (more on that soon).
- When Ashton Met Cory. After a friend prompted Booker to join the social network , he received a unlikely call from a little-known tech entrepreneur named Ashton Kutcher. "I thought I was getting punked."
- Corny Cory. Booker confessed that his corny sense of humor ("Remember, 'corny' has just one more letter than 'Cory'") has gotten him in trouble on more than one occasion. Case in point: his first major social media snafu. After an unnamed governor went public after lying about his whereabouts, Booker tweeted that he, too, was on the Appalachian Trail, with his favorite cup of coffee — a "hot Colombian blend." Needless to say, there was political fallout.
- Tweeting To a City — and a Country. Although Booker acknowledged that he has more Twitter followers (1.3 million and counting) than Newark has residents, he thinks it's an incredible platform to influence a bigger change. "My constituency is technically only 280,000 people, but it's also the United States. It's time to wake people up again, and we can do that."
- Disrupting Government Through Video. #Waywire, the social network he founded with Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, uses video to give users a voice. Booker thinks the medium provides an honest way to capture how people really feel. And better yet, it encourages people to disrupt the system. "Your ability to create video in the future is going to be powerful, and allows us to take on problems we haven't taken on before."
- Reclaiming the Soul of Our Politics. Booker likes to think big and he implored Americans to join him. He thinks entrepreneurship and technology provide the greatest hope for taking back America, even as "we're losing truth, we're losing authenticity, we're losing the soul of our politics."
- Waging War With Conan. He playfully referenced his recent fight with talk show host Conan O'Brien, also known as the "Conan kerfuffle," which ultimately required the (joking) intervention of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The experience allowed him to defend his city on a national stage and shine a light on Newark's recent progress. It was also an instructive exercise for the mayor, who realized he could match the power of a major broadcaster with the reach and scope of his social feed, redefining the conversation in the process.
- Twitter as a Forum for Hope. Above all, the idea of a more open, thoughtful and friendly society clearly makes Booker tick. He's seen it firsthand with his Twitter account, and that gives him hope for the future: "I really trust my country and the people in my feed to be great syndicators of content."
- Seeking National Office. Booker has hinted several times at his aspirations beyond Newark, but has refused to lay out any concrete plans: "Another thing I'm thinking about is running for Senate," he said Sunday, to a swell of applause from the crowd. When Snyder pushed for more, he simply demurred, instead directing people to corybooker.com.
(READ: @CoryBooker on the 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2011)
As the panel neared the end, the mayor and would-be senator made a passionate last lap through his themes, launching into a 10-minute monologue that some visitors described as "epic." Speaking eloquently about how we should be living for our country, achieving societal victories by boosting up those around us, and using technology and entrepreneurship to change the world, the Mayor focused on the power of kind gestures and our collective capacity to shape our government.
Booker grew increasingly exuberant as he summarized his call to action, weaving together African proverbs ("If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far go together"), historical lessons from the Battle of Bunker Hill and his parents' passion for equality, hard work and compassion. He circled back to Twitter, praising the social network for allowing him to bring his truth, hope and inspiration directly to the people every single day.
Here's a smattering of Twitter reactions to the Booker-Snyder conversation:
[tweet https://twitter.com/JoeTrippi/status/310818391646666752%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/TennilleSmBiz/status/310814401676582912%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/crgonzalez/status/310812312275668992%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/kate_childs/status/310835712230559744]


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Mamasaurus Autism Awareness Svg Files, Mamasaurus Autism Svg, Mamasaurus Svg, Dinosaur Autism Svg For Download
♥ Welcome to Beetano Svg Store ! ♥
SVG PNG EPS DXF – Cricut cut file, Silhouette cutting file
Premium quality SVG cut files for your design needs.
This is a digital download, nothing will be shipped.
** My files are perfect for t-shirts, wood signs, home decor, scrap booking, and many other items. Please ensure that your machine is able to load one of the three file types before purchasing.
** Please note your file will be the design only, no watermarks, backgrounds or Logos will be attached to the file.
**NO REFUNDS will be given if any file has been downloaded.
Image files are non-returnable therefore non-refundable.
Please contact me if you have any questions, I'd be more than glad to help you!
Thank you.


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Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system—a gaseous world as large as 1,300 Earths. Its equatorial diameter is 88,736 mi (142,800 km), while from pole to pole, Jupiter measures only 84,201 mi (133,500 km). For comparison, the diameter of Earth is 7,926.2 mi (12,756 km). The massive planet rotates at a dizzying speed—once every 9 hours and 55 minutes. It takes Jupiter almost 12 Earth years to complete a journey around the Sun.
The planet appears as a banded disk of turbulent clouds with all of its stripes running parallel to its bulging equator. Large dusky gray regions surround each pole. Darker gray or brown stripes called belts intermingle with lighter, yellow-white stripes called zones. The belts are regions of descending air masses and the zones are rising cloudy air masses. The strongest winds—up to 250 mph (400 km)—are found at boundaries between the belts and zones.
This uniquely colorful atmosphere is mainly 89% molecular hydrogen and 11% helium. It contains small amounts of methane, ammonia, ethane, and water.
Cloud-type lightning bolts similar to those on Earth have been found in the Jovian atmosphere. At the polar regions, auroras have been observed. A very thin ring of material less than 0.6 mi (1 km) in thickness and about 4,000 mi (6,000 km) in radial extent has been observed circling the planet about 35,000 mi (55,000 km) above the cloud tops.
The most prominent feature on Jupiter is its "Great Red Spot," an oval larger than the planet Earth. It is a tremendous atmospheric storm that rotates counter-clockwise with one revolution every six days at the outer edge, while at the center almost no motion can be seen. The spot is about 16,000 mi (25,000 km) on its long axis, and would cover three Earths. Along the outer rim the winds blow at speeds reaching 225 mph (360 km/h).
Jupiter is circled by faint rings. They are very tenuous and contain many microscopic-sized particles. The rings are formed by dust kicked up as interplanetary meteoroids smash into the planet's four small inner moons.
Jupiter emits 67% more heat than it absorbs from the Sun. This heat is thought to have been accumulated during the planet's formation several billion years ago.
Twenty-one fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 bombarded the cloud-covered surface of Jupiter, July 16–22, 1994. It was the most violent event in the recorded history of our solar system. The impact of the comet fragments caused towering plumes of debris and hot gas to rise from the planet's surface.
On Dec. 7, 1995, the Galileo spacecraft released a probe into Jupiter's atmosphere to study the planet's physical and chemical properties. The probe lasted 57 minutes and early results indicated a lower abundance of water than was expected. Galileo data has shown that Jupiter has both wet and dry regions, just as Earth has tropics and deserts. This could explain why the probe found less water than anticipated. These dry spots cover less than 1% of the Jovian atmosphere. The Galileo mission ended on Sept. 21, 2003, when the probe made a scheduled crash into the gas giant.
Here are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.


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In a multicolored world we are all Komonists. Digging deep into the past to bring you a brighter future: we offer you a great escape from daily routine, into a higher state of consciousness and style. We inject color into a grey world. Our world of retro-futuristic accessories will tickle your senses. No Brave New World, no Big Brother, no mass production dystopia. Komonism knows no constraints, no rules, no targets. Live and prosper in total freedom and happiness. We Are Komono. Are You?
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How-To Guide to Foam Rolling
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
As runners, most of us have heard about foam rolling. We know it's important, but we may not exactly know why, or how or when to do it. When done correctly, it's a highly effective tool for recovery and can boost your performance on the trails.
Foam rolling is a self-myofascial (i.e. soft-tissue therapy) technique that breaks up adhesions and scar tissue that accumulates in our muscles during exercise and daily life activities. It helps to smooth out the rough patches and promote better blood flow to the muscle, which reduces soreness. In a study published by Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers found that foam rolling the legs after a squat workout helped speed recovery. The subjects who foam rolled were less sore overall and they performed better in vertical leap, range of motion and muscle contraction tests.
Adding foam rolling to your daily routine can help you become more nimble on the trails—you'll be training with less soreness and able to more effectively navigate rocks, roots and other impediments.
Basic How-To
Foam rolling can be done pre- and post-workout. Spend 30 seconds to one minute on each movement. Breathe deeply and take it slow. When you hit a particularly tight area, stay there for an extra breath and allow the muscle to sink into the roller. This is the key part to self-myofascial release. Applying pressure to a tight spot or a knot sends a signal to the muscle, telling it to relax. Give your body and muscles time to make that connection.
On recovery days, spend more time (2-3 minutes) on each movement and add in multidirectional (e.g. side-to-side) movements while rolling.
1. Piriformis
Your piriformis is a narrow muscle that lies underneath your larger glutes in your butt. This muscle helps you run and rotate your hip. Start by sitting on top of the foam roller with the roll positioned on the back of the hip. Cross one foot to the opposite knee and lean into the hip of the crossed leg. Slowly roll on the posterior hip area to find the tender spot. Hold the spot for a few deep breaths.
Foam rolling the piriformis on the TriggerPoint GRID roller
2. IT Band
Your iliotibial (IT) band is the ligament that runs along the outside of your thigh. When it's inflamed, it often manifests itself as knee pain. To foam roll it, lie on your side with the roller perpendicular to your body and below your hip. Bring the top leg in front of you and use it as leverage. Place your hands on the other side of the foam roller. Slowly begin to roll the foam roller down your leg, stopping just above the kneecap. As the roller moves down your leg, stop every 1-2 inches and rock your hips forward and backwards over the foam roller to release tension. Be gentle and breathe.
3. Quadriceps
Start in a forearm plank position with the roller positioned at your hip, where the quads attach. Begin to slowly roll down your leg. Stop every 1-2 inches and move your leg left to right. Roll down another inch and repeat. Stop just below the kneecap (about one inch above). Rocking the body from left to right helps break up any knots that form while exercising. As a bonus, instead of moving side to side, bend your knee every 1-2 inches as you move down your quad (or when you hit a tight spot).
4. Hamstrings
Sit at one end of the roller with the other leg off the side supporting you. Start where your hamstrings attach to your gluteus maximus and slowly roll down your leg. Stop before you hit the back of your knee. When you get to a particular tight spot, stay an extra few breaths and try to sink into the foam roller a bit more.
5. Calves
These muscles (the soleus and the gastrocnemius) are the muscles that help you push off and move forward, which will make you faster, especially up hills. Start with the roller under your calf and close to your knee. Either cross the other leg over the bottom leg (this provides more pressure on the calf you are foam rolling) or keep it off to the side. Slowly roll down to your ankle. Stop at any sore or tight areas and turn your foot left and right, which ensures that you hit all sides of the gastrocnemius. Point and flex your foot on any tight areas.
Meghan Reynolds is a certified running coach, personal trainer, yoga instructor and co-founder of Hot Bird Running, a fitness-focused running company. Her love of adventure started when she was nine months old, climbing kitchen counters, and she hasn't slowed down since–running 11 marathons, participating in triathlons and traveling.


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Coffee Bean DirectEdit Company
Popular Teas from Coffee Bean DirectSee All 21 Teas
Recent Tasting Notes
This is one of the worst Earl Grey's I have ever drink. I was just getting into loose tea and noticed that it had 4.5+ stars on Amazon with over 20 reviews. Either I was duped or received a bad batch of tea. Not sure but the unsteeped tea smells great, but the bergamont is disgusting. It has the smell and taste of chemcal cleaners and the tea itself is a dark brown and not an amber or red like most black teas. There are also a lot of fines in this bag that will settle out into your teapot, unlike some higher end teas. I guess at $16 for 2 lbs of tea, you get what you pay for. I just didn't think it would be this bad.
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec


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Yesterday we had the first of many storms to hit the Bay Area. It was filled with heavy down pours and gusty winds. If you are familiar with the lay of the land in the bay area, you know that we have many counties relatively close together along with unique traffic patterns. Not too mention, quite a bit of traffic. I needed to be in multiple locations for various meetings for work. I actually traveled across different 5 counties during the day and covered quite a bit of distance. In the midst of my travels I contended with heavy down pours and strong winds along with highways that had built up water. It was quite a day indeed. The good news is that I made it home safely.
We are expected to have similar storms through Sunday this week. With that, it is a perfect time to make comfort food for our Friday Night Bites that we celebrate each Friday evening. Pizza and beer is a classic pairing and perfect for a casual evening at home. If you know me, I need to add the Authentic Suburban Gourmet spin. With my slight obsession this year with pumpkin, I created a pizza with roasted pumpkin and caramelized onion. I felt this combination was a marriage made in heaven. I tossed in some fresh sage leaves and really good white cheddar cheese. The result was a combination of savory fall flavors on top of rich crispy yet chewy pizza dough. Completely satisfying!
We have a tradition in our family that over the holidays, especially during Christmas, my brother brings the latest vintage of the AnchorSteam's Christmas Ale. Each year a new recipe is created and varies slightly from the prior year. As the label at the top states for the 2012 vintage – "This is the thirty eighth "Our Special Ale" from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid January. The Ale's recipe is different every year, as is the tree on the label, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew."
With the rich, dark spiced ale, I felt this was a perfect pairing for the fall pumpkin and caramelized pizza. I made each pizza more of an individual serving size since it was just hubby and I; however, you could cut into smaller pieces and serve to a small crowd. The recipe is a bit "loose" so you can increase or decrease the amount of each ingredient you put on top to customize to your preference. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Caramelized Onion Pizza
Pizza dough (handmade or store bought) (I used Trader Joe's)
1 Cup Roasted Fresh Pumpkin, cut into small cubes
1 Large Onion, peeled, cut in half and sliced thin
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 teaspoon sugar
Olive oil
Fresh sage leaves
Garlic powder
White cheddar cheese
Take one sugar pumpkin and cut into quarters and remove seeds and pulp. With a sharp knife, cut away the outside skin. Then cut into ½ cubes. Lay onto a sheet pan with sides and toss with olive oil and salt. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until tender. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Caramelized Onions:
Slice a large onion in half, peel the skin and slice each half into thin slices. Use a large skillet. Over medium heat, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter, then add the sliced onions, sugar and season with salt and pepper. Over medium heat, toss everything together to completely coat the onions. Stir frequently and cook until golden brown. Should be about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees
Shape the dough into mini pizzas or one large, your preference. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle desired amount of garlic powder over dough. Spread the desired amount of caramelized onions and then put the desired amount of the roasted pumpkin cubes over the onions. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the desired amount of grated white cheddar cheese on top. Add some of the fresh sage leaves over the cheese. Bake on a pizza stone for best results. Cook until the edges of the pizza are golden brown – about 15 minutes. Add a few fresh sage leaves prior to serving.


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This might me my favorite idea ever. These are finger puppets that are meant to bend with your finger. You can make animals come to life!
Comes with color chart instructions specific to the design.
This design fits in a 4x4 hoop and 2 in a 5x7 hoop.
This item is a digital file, not a physical item or patch. You NEED an embroidery machine to use this file.
The files come in 7 of the most popular formats: PES, VIP, DST, XXX, HUS, JEF, EXP.If you need a different format, please contact me and I'll see what I can do. Sorry, I can not convert to ART. The files will come zipped, so you'll need a computer to unzip and a way to transfer the designs to your embroidery machine.
These are digital files, so returns will not be accepted.In the case of duplicate purchases, please contact me and we'll work to exchange the design.
If you find any problems with the design please contact me.All designs are tested by myself and independent testers, but things can still get overlooked. My goal is to provide top quality designs, so any issues will be fixed immediately and links resent to all customers who ordered the design.
Design quality can only be guaranteed if the file is used as provided.Altering, resizing, or reformatting can change the design and greatly affect quality.
NO sharing or copying of my digitized designs are allowed.No selling of this design or any part of this design in it's digital format. You may create items to sell from this design.


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In person or online, you can obtain a copy of a traffic crash report completed by the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office or the Traverse City Police Department. Reports can be obtained in the Records Division at the Sgt. Dennis W. Finch Law Enforcement Center located at 851 Woodmere Avenue, Traverse City, MI 49686. Records Division hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (excluding holidays). There is a $5 charge (check, money order or credit card only) for traffic crash reports obtained in the Records Division.
NOTE: Crashes that occur on private property/in parking lots are only available for pickup at the Law Enforcement Center.
You will need driver's license number (DLN), date of birth and date of crash for this website. The DLN and date of birth must pertain to one of the drivers involved in the crash. https://mdotjboss.state.mi.us/TCPS/login/welcome.jsp
If the officer provided you with a report number (i.e., GTSO/128-12345-15 or TCPD/781-12345-15) you will search for report number without the prefix of 128 or 781 on this website. www.buycrash.com
County Phone & Email Directory


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By FD Publisher: APCNews Tokyo,Published on
Page last updated on
As most of you may have noticed, the acronym 'IGF' has started to make the headlines in a growing number of online publications. The Internet Governance Forum – the 7th to be exact – will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 6 to 9. What most people don't know, is that the IGF comes at the end of a series of continental IGFs. One of them, APrIGF, the third Asia Pacific Internet Governance Forum, was held in Tokyo, Japan, in July. Full outcomes from the APrIGF will be presented at the IGF next week. Here is an appetizer.
Outcomes, what outcomes?
You are wondering what the main outcomes were. It's time to dig out those conclusion papers from Tokyo. After Hong Kong in 2010 and Indonesia in 2011, the full documentation on the Tokyo regional forum was put online on an archive platform.
Most regional IGFs follow the same format and discuss the same issues. New top-level domain names, internet governance for development and the future of the internet are the bread and butter of intenret governance. The 3rd Asia IGF was no exception. But interestingly, the APrIGF insisted more strongly on cloud computing and its challenges, as well as the internet for disaster relief.
Cybersecurity and the protection of children from cybercrimes on the internet were two other themes that were discussed in workshops among online security specialists, most of them from Japan.
More directly related to APC's focus at the upcoming IGF, which is essentially promoting human rights online – including social and economic rights – an entire workshop at APrIGF, jointly organised by the Southeast Asia Center for e-Media (SEACeM), the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), and Freedom House was devoted to the internet as a space for free expression and information. The outcomes from this round of discussions was quite telling as to the trends in Asia. Here are five:
1) Policy drafted to protect cultural and personal sensitivities – including laws against libel, hate speech and defamation – have often been used to silence alternative views and have had the consequence of causing self-censorship among those who would use public speech to question authority.
2) More and more, Asian governments are censoring online content, preventing their people from accessing and sharing information. This censorship is sometimes designed to protect vulnerable groups, but is often carried out in the name of national security or protecting cultural sensitivities.
3) In many instances, governments have outsourced policing of content to the private companies and organisations that host and transmit information, including ISPs, search engines, hosting companies, and social media sites. This poses the question of the responsibility of so-called intermediaries'.
4) Several Asian countries are confined to a limited public sphere. The internet is being used to raise the voices of traditionally marginalized segments of the population, including women, LGBT persons, and religious minorities.
5) Certain Asian countries have historically had low levels of internet penetration – often due to poverty or lack of ICT infrastructure – but have the prospect of bringing millions of people online in the coming years.
The workshop was one a few essentially composed of delegates from the civil society sector. NGOs, such as the Asia Forum on Human Rights and Development (http://www.forum-asia.org/), but also more global groups such as Freedom House, have tried to illustrate the above-mentioned trends and to find answers in how to address the most problematic areas. These solutions will in turn be recycled in the upcoming IGF.
This APrIGF workshop revealed quite blunt terms the way in which existing laws are being extended to the internet sphere with the introduction of new laws. "There are many circumstances in Asia, where limitation on rights on the net need to be limited to promote and protect the rights to free expression and information online," the workshop summary states. The nuance made at the Tokyo forum has been heard in all other regional IGFs since then. It basically boils down to stating that defamation should not be criminalised. ""National security" or "public order" must be used to protect citizens and must not be used to criminalise their fundamental rights to free expression & information; laws must not be written ambiguously; and cyber laws should distinguish and define clearly online content and computer data," the summary reads." Interestingly, participants provided the examples of Thailand's Lese Majeste law and Computer Crimes Act, Malaysia's Computer Professionals Bill and Cambodia's draft Cyber-Law, as worst-case legislative scenarios.
The Asia delegations from regional governments, civil society groups and the private sector will remember the Tokyo talks when they land in Baku next week. APC will be working with its member groups in Asia, such as Bytes for all, Pakistan, the Digital Empowerment Foundation, India, and JCA-Net, Japan, to defend a human rights approach to the development and governance of the net.
Photo credit: DotAsia Organisation – http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotasia_registry/7750454836/sizes/z/in/set-... – Published with permission under Creative Commons licence BY-NC-SA 2.0


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Hybridyne Imaging Technologies, Inc. is issuing the following news release today. For more information, contact Terry Lall at Hybridyne, 416-218-5578, firstname.lastname@example.com, or Diane Greenberg at Brookhaven Lab, 631 344-2347, email@example.com.
Hybridyne Imaging Technologies – Brookhaven National Laboratory Team Vies for Top TItle at the 2010 WBTshowcase
Toronto/Ontario-based Medical Imaging Technology Among 90 Selected for Global Showcase
March 25, 2010
March, 2010 | Arlington, TX – A team from Hybridyne Imaging Technologies, Inc., and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory was among over 90 top technology innovators from across the nation and around the world competing in Arlington, Texas, March 16-17, for top honors at the WBT2010showcase presented by Lockheed Martin.
Hybridyne's technology, called ProxiScan™, is capable of high-resolution imaging of prostate cancer. The unique component of the technology is a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT)-based compact gamma camera developed in collaboration with Brookhaven Lab scientists. The technology was presented to a sold-out WBT2010 audience of over 600 participants, including venture capital investors, federal agencies and licensees.
"The word is out that for investors, federal agencies and licensees seeking emerging technology opportunities, WBT offers the best deal flow in the nation," said Paul Huleatt, WBT's CEO. "We look forward to watching the progress of our WBT2010 presenters."
According to Mr. Huleatt, approximately one-third of past WBT presenters have gone on to secure venture capital or a licensing/strategic partnership agreement. To date, past presenters have raised over $450 million in first (or next) round venture capital.
Terry Lall, Hybridyne's President and CEO said, "One in six men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime, and one in 35 will die from the disease. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men because there is no technology able to detect tumors at an early stage and localize them in fine detail, which can lead to early, life-saving treatment. ProxiScan™ can detect tumors almost 10 times smaller than conventional gamma cameras. It delivers high performance in a small package at a much lower cost than conventional nuclear medical instruments."
The common way to diagnose prostate cancer is through a blood test that measures the levels of a protein produced by the prostate gland called prostate-specific antigen, or PSA. Elevated PSA levels can indicate prostate cancer as well as some benign conditions, so often men must have an invasive biopsy to test for cancer.
Other methods for confirming a diagnosis of prostate cancer include either ultrasound imaging or conventional nuclear medical imaging techniques. These current imaging approaches have limitations, however. Benign and cancerous tumors cannot easily be distinguished by ultrasound, and fibrous tissues can be mistakenly identified as tumors if patients have had radiation treatment of the prostate previously. Traditional nuclear-imaging systems, such as positron emission spectroscopy and single photon emission computed tomography, produce lower-resolution images and are less efficient than Hybridyne's compact digital camera. Also, the detectors in these systems are too large to be used for endoscopic measurements.
In contrast, Hybridyne's new CZT-based gamma camera is small enough for trans-rectal prostate cancer diagnosis, after the patient is injected with a tracer radiopharmaceutical. The high-resolution CZT detector, coupled with its miniaturized readout electronics, is the cutting-edge technology that drives the novel imaging system. Using this new technology, the working distance between the gamma camera and the prostate gland is minimized, allowing urologists to obtain better images with a smaller amount of injected radioactive tracer, compared to conventional nuclear medical systems.
"ProxiScan's™ cost, portability and performance will make it a must-have tool at all medical facilities focused on prostate-cancer diagnosis and treatment," Lall said.
Hybridyne continues to collaborate with Brookhaven Lab to develop 3-D hand-held imaging devices to investigate other cancers (breast, colorectal, ovarian, and cervical) and heart disease, and to integrate its ProxiScan™ camera with other imaging modalities, such as ultrasound.
ABOUT Hybridyne Imaging Technologies, Inc.
The company's focus is on the development of compact gamma cameras for imaging radiopharmaceuticals distributed in the body. The approach uses solid-state detectors and miniaturized digital circuits for creating new diagnostic tools and treatment capabilities. Visit Hybridyne's web site.
2010-11104 | INT/EXT | Newsroom


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This is a free form ceramic pendant modeled after a Fossil.
The glaze is a lighter bone color with darker bone colored accents. It has a copper wire wrapped bail.
It is ready to be strung on your own necklace that will fit through the roughly 3mm bail.
Please note that the coloring might be somewhat different since this is a homemade item and glazes fire differently each time.
Also note that ceramic pieces that are not in a full bezel are usually glazed on the back of the piece as well. Due to the firing process, there may be tiny pin pricks on the back. These are as expected and are sanded smooth.


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So I told you a while back about Miss Tara Jean Popowich competing on So You Think You Can Dance Canada.Click here to see that post.
Well I am happy to say that she is just rocking the competition. The judges love her, what is not to love she can dance the feet off of anyone, but the public is also loving her.
Tonight she made it through to the top two females and is in the top 4 all around. So if she makes it through the next round she is the top female dancer. I have never watched this before so I don't know if they make the top guy and girl compete at the end for number one or if there is one of each. Either way Tara Jean is a champion. You go girl.


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The Senate
Great news — Warren, Baldwin, Brown, some really good new and returning ones. Gillibrand of course. Not every Democrat will be as good, but maintaining control of the Senate is also important, and today the GOP paid a massive price for its complete takeover by crackpots. Wolcott is definitive on the GOP blowing two Senate races in states that MSNBC called for Romney three seconds after the polls called:
Memo to Republicans: Try running fewer rape philosophers next time.
By the way, when was the last time Dick Lugar cast a meaningful non-wingnut vote? He was basically primaried for having an excessively moderate tone.
…and the white supremacist the GOP ran in Virginia was just declared a loser by CBS.
There's no doubt about it: Republican Todd Akin's remark that women's bodies have a way of preventing pregnancy after "legitimate rape" were being factored in by Missouri voters. A solid majority of voters said that, at the very least, they gave the comment some consideration in the voting booth. Women were slightly more likely to say that Akin's remark on rape and abortion in an August television interview was important to their decision.
Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill isn't just carrying the female vote but faring even better than she did with women in 2006. McCaskill's comfortable edge among women was propelled by women 18-44 who overwhelmingly lined up behind the first-term incumbent, as did a significant number of middle-aged women who made up most female voters.


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Square Enix has been making Final Fantasy Versus XIII for a long, long time. Gamers aren't playing the game yet; rather, they're playing the waiting for it game. The Versus designer, Tetsuya Nomura said the latest info about the title is ready to roll, but... But....
"We're almost done with preparing the latest info for the game," Nomura apparently told Japanese game magazine Famitsu in a yet unpublished interview.
"Because of a totally unrelated reason, there are circumstances in which that info cannot be released."
Oddly, he said that since he cannot talk about this, all he can keep doing is keep the discussions ongoing. It's not clear what exactly he means.
Previously, Nomura teased that new info about the overdue game would be released shortly.
Famitsu has not gone on sale yet in Japan. These quotes are the only bits of information that have leaked out so far regarding this Nomura interview, making these less quotes and more like Sphinx riddles.
Once Kotaku has the magazine, we'll hopefully be able to provide more context and clarity.
情報を出せない事情がある [ゲーム情報!ゲームのはなし]


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'Lawyer X' marks a sticky spot in criminal justice system
The suspect in the police interview room decides he is in desperate need of a lawyer but the trouble is he doesn't know who to call - that is until the kindly detective provides him with a number where he will get "good advice."
The suspect rings and explains his dilemma and the world-weary voice at the other end says, "Just tell the detectives the truth and it will all work out for the best."
Later the overworked legal aid solicitor at court can't believe that any lawyer would have told a client to confess rather than offer the traditional "no comment" response.
And he is right. The phone number the suspect was given was another extension in the police building and the advice he received was from a sergeant well-versed in matters of trickery.
In the criminal justice system everyone is supposed to have a defined role. Police are there to lawfully gather evidence, prosecutors to prosecute, judges to judge and defence lawyers to defend.
But the roles are not always what they seem.
Many years ago police learnt that a hitman had accepted a contract to kill, but they did not know the target, time or location. So a detective "loaded" him with a planted gun, which resulted in a jail term.
It was a corrupt act that may have saved a life.
Defence lawyers are supposed to provide their clients with the best advice and act in their interest within the law. They ask questions but rarely the most important: "Did you do it?". For if the answer is yes, the lawyer cannot knowingly construct a defence on lies.
So such "privileged" conversations are often a little like a dance with the devil, with defences based on the possible rather than the likely or the obvious.
The good lawyers know how to remain professional and impersonal. They deal with their clients in court, in a police station, in prison and in an office. But there a few who get sucked into the underworld and start treating clients as friends - and in more than one case - lovers.
A young lawyer was told by a senior partner the best way to stay out of trouble was to remain totally professional in matters involving trust accounts and attractive clients. "Don't knock off either of 'em," was the advice.
Once they become part of the gang, lawyers lose their professional protection and can be asked or pressured to provide more than just legal advice.
Which brings us to "Lawyer X" - a legal figure who ended up a registered informer for the Victoria Police.
The Herald Sun has published two page one reports on the lawyer and were stopped from publishing a third after police took out a Supreme Court injunction to ban any material that may identity that person.
The trouble with this sort of thing is that when the identity of someone such as Lawyer X is hidden, the inevitable guessing game begins - and two legal identities who are not the subject of the story now fear they could be wrongly suspected of being informers.
Certainly police say the safety of Lawyer X is now a major concern, while the media argue that exploring the story is of public interest. In the end the Supreme Court will make a decision on the argument, possibly as early as Thursday.
So what do we know, or more importantly, what can we say?
A Melbourne lawyer feels trapped, having made the mistake of treating clients as friends. The lawyer believes those friends are exerting pressure to join in criminal conspiracies.
Detectives persuade the lawyer to become a secret source of intelligence.
The lawyer continues to represent clients while talking to police, although as yet there is no suggestion the lawyer sabotaged defences or handed over privileged information.
Regardless, the lawyer is in an ethical minefield as the lines between friends, enemies, clients and police blur.
Sources say the information was general and more about criminal associations than "smoking gun" evidence.
The trouble began when high-ranking officers changed the ground rules and pressured the lawyer to move from an anonymous source to something more, which proved to be a disaster.
Now let's step back a moment. Some think defence lawyers and police are sworn enemies because they oppose each other in court, when in fact many are actually friends.
Police will give lawyers' business cards to suspects while lawyers will steer clients towards police with a reputation for fairness.
And some lawyers talk out of school. A client in a privileged meeting may mention that another crook had confessed to an unrelated crime in a previous jailhouse conversation.
More than once such information has been passed over as a general tip during after-court beers.
In one high-profile case an anonymous tip led police to recover a firearm used in the crime. Some detectives believe the call was made by someone within a well-known city legal firm.
So were police wrong to cultivate the lawyer? Certainly not.
If a priest turned up and said a serial paedophile admitted in the confessional he was about to abduct a child, should the police ignore the information? Of course not.
One policeman said using informers in criminal investigations is equivalent to using manure in the garden.
You can get good results, just make sure you wash your hands when it's all done.