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Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday reported its earnings for the first quarter of the company's 2011 fiscal year, which ended on January 31st. Revenue missed Wall Street's expectations slightly, coming in at $32.3 billion versus the Street's projected revenue of between $32.75 and $33.59 billion. Earnings per share was up an impressive 26% year-over-year to $1.17, but it still missed the Street's expectation of between $1.26 and $1.32 per share. Cash flow from operations was up 28% year-over-year, however, and profit was up 16% to $2.6 billion. "I'm pleased with our EPS and margin expansion during the quarter. Going forward, we have the opportunity to further capitalize on our customers' demands for higher value-added solutions," said HP's CEO Léo Apotheker in a statement. "HP has a powerful portfolio, including exciting, recently announced cloud and connectivity offerings. We are focused on leveraging these strengths to extend our leadership and accelerate growth." HP lowered its full-year revenue forecast from between $131.5 and $133.5 billion to between $130 and $131.5 billion. Hit the break for HP's full press release.
HP Reports First Quarter 2011 Results
- First quarter GAAP diluted earnings per share up 26% year over year with non-GAAP diluted earnings per share up 27% and cash flow from operations up 28%
- First quarter gross margins up 1.5 percentage points year over year to 24.4%
- Continued strength in commercial hardware, with Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking revenue up 22% year over year with growth in commercial PC Clients and Printers of 11% and 13%, respectively
- Raising full year GAAP diluted earnings per share outlook to $4.46 to $4.54 and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share outlook to $5.20 to $5.28
PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb 22, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) —
HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended January 31, 2011. Net revenue of $32.3 billion was up 4% from the prior-year period both as reported and in constant currency.
GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $1.17, up 26% from $0.93 in the prior-year period. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.36, up 27% from $1.07 in the prior-year period. Non-GAAP financial information excludes after-tax costs of approximately $0.19 per share and $0.14 per share in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 and 2010, respectively, related primarily to the amortization of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges. Information about HP's use of non-GAAP financial information is provided under "Use of non-GAAP financial information" below.
"I'm pleased with our EPS and margin expansion during the quarter. Going forward, we have the opportunity to further capitalize on our customers' demands for higher value-added solutions," said Léo Apotheker, HP president and chief executive officer. "HP has a powerful portfolio, including exciting, recently announced cloud and connectivity offerings. We are focused on leveraging these strengths to extend our leadership and accelerate growth."
Q1 FY11 Q1 FY10 Y/Y Net revenue ($B) $32.3 $31.2 4% GAAP operating margin 10.5% 9.6% 0.9 pts GAAP net earnings ($B) $2.6 $2.3 16% GAAP diluted EPS $1.17 $0.93 26% Non-GAAP operating margin 12.4% 11.2% 1.2 pts Non-GAAP net earnings ($B) $3.0 $2.6 17% Non-GAAP diluted EPS $1.36 $1.07 27%
"HP's financial strength and discipline helped generate $3.1 billion in cash flow from operations, up 28% year over year," said Cathie Lesjak, HP executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Trends and regional performance
HP saw balanced growth in the first quarter across all regions in local currency, with accelerated growth in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Results were largely driven by momentum in the commercial sector as businesses continued to spend on technology. HP experienced uneven consumer performance across its geographies and product categories during the quarter.
First quarter revenue was up 6% in the Americas to $14.4 billion. Revenue was flat in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and up 7% in Asia Pacific to $12.1 billion and $5.8 billion, respectively. When adjusted for the effects of currency, revenue was up 5% in the Americas, up 4% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and up 2% in Asia Pacific. Revenue from outside of the United States in the first quarter accounted for 65% of total HP revenue, with revenue in the BRIC countries increasing 11% while accounting for 11% of total HP revenue.
Business group highlights
- Personal Systems Group (PSG) revenue declined 1% year over year with a 6.4% operating margin. PSG delivered record operating profit in the quarter and remains the PC market leader in terms of units, revenue and profit share. The commercial refresh cycle continues, and HP saw 11% year-over-year revenue growth in Commercial Clients while revenue in Consumer Clients declined 12% in the quarter.
- Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) revenue grew 7% year over year with a 17.0% operating margin. IPG delivered strong performance across the business with share gains in all printing categories and 33% year-over-year growth in commercial printer hardware units. IPG continued to drive innovation and momentum with the new ePrint platform, graphic arts and other commercial print solutions.
- Services revenue declined 2% year over year with a 16.0% operating margin. Services operating margin expanded 30 basis points year over year due primarily to service delivery transformation efforts. Enterprise Services had solid long-term signings in the first quarter, the impact of which was partially offset by softer signings in shorter term, higher value-added services and add-on IT outsourcing projects.
- Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) revenue grew 22% year over year with a 14.7% operating margin. ESSN delivered a solid quarter, demonstrating increased value to customers as they transition to hybrid cloud environments through a converged infrastructure, including innovations in servers, storage and networking.
- HP Software revenue grew 5% year over year with a 17.6% operating margin. HP Software expanded its security footprint with the integration of Fortify and ArcSight during the quarter.
- Financial Services revenue grew 15% year over year with a 9.6% operating margin. Financial Services growth was driven by both double-digit growth in lease volume and a healthy improvement in portfolio assets.
Asset management
HP generated $3.1 billion in cash flow from operations in the first quarter. Inventory ended the quarter at $6.7 billion, with days of inventory flat year over year at 25 days. Accounts receivable of $16.6 billion was up 4 days year over year. Accounts payable ended the quarter at $13.5 billion, down 1 day from the prior-year period. HP's dividend payment of $0.08 per share in the first quarter resulted in cash usage of $175 million. HP also utilized $2.3 billion of cash during the quarter to repurchase approximately 54 million shares of common stock in the open market. HP exited the quarter with $10.0 billion in gross cash.
For the second quarter of fiscal 2011, HP estimates revenue of approximately $31.4 billion to $31.6 billion, GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $0.99 to $1.01, and non-GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $1.19 to $1.21.
Second quarter fiscal 2011 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.20 per share, related primarily to the amortization of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.
HP expects full year fiscal 2011 revenue in the range $130 billion to $131.5 billion, GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $4.46 to $4.54, and non-GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $5.20 to $5.28.
Full year fiscal 2011 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.74 per share, related primarily to the amortization of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.
As part of its annual financial review process, HP implemented several organizational realignments effective Q1 FY11. To provide improved visibility and comparability, HP has reflected these realignments in prior financial reporting periods on an as-if basis. These realignments resulted in, among other things, the transfer of revenue within and among various financial reporting segments and business units. The changes do not impact HP's previously reported consolidated net revenue, earnings from operations, net earnings, or earnings per share at the company level. To reflect these changes, HP released modified quarterly and annual consolidated condensed statements of earnings, segment financial results and statements of business unit revenue for fiscal 2009 and 2010, which are available on HP's Investor Relations website at www.hp.com/investor/home.
More information on HP's quarterly earnings, including additional financial analysis and an earnings overview presentation, is available on HP's Investor Relations website at www.hp.com/investor/home.
HP's Q1 FY11 earnings conference call is accessible via an audio webcast at www.hp.com/investor/2011q1webcast.


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Welcome to the specialty store with handmade products designed by Adam Čeladín and produced in our workshops in the EU.
Introduction » Throwing Knives » D2 Steel » Decorated (Gold etc.) » Stinger D2 Knight in GOLD 24K - Set of 3 + Leather case Holdem - White
|Product no. / Goods name:
ACEJET STINGER D2 Grizzly 24K Gold - Throwing knife - set of 3
|Designed by:
|Adam Celadin
|D2 Steel
|Thickness (in / mm):
|0,31 / 8
|Length (in / mm):
|10 / 254
|Width (in / mm):
|1,3 / 33
|Weight (oz / g):
|8,9 / 254
Throwing knife AceJet STINGER D2 Knight in GOLD24K
Throwing knife exclusively designed by the 5-time World Champion - Adam Celadin.
Professional hand made Throwing Knife - developed and daily used by Adam Celadin - 5-time world champion and top guru, mentor and influencer in various disciplines of the throwing knives sports industry
D2 steel is high resistance kind of tool steel and also very popular knife steel. In industry, it is used for punches, dies and various types of knives in machines.
D2 has a high corrosion resistance - much higher than other tool steels. It is also used in the armament of special army units.
Due to its durability, it is very difficult to grind and machine.
D2 contains a high value of carbon, chromium and a number of refining elements. The composition of D2 is as follows: Carbon: 1.4 - 1.6, Magnese: 0.6, Chromium: 11.0 - 13.0, Nickel: 0.3, Vanadium 1.1, Molybdenum: 0.7 - 1.2
The size of the knives is 9,45 inches (240 mm), the weight is 9 oz (255g), the thickness is 8mm.
Smart Arrow Shape for All Throwing Styles - Stinger is the most popular model from Acejet series as it is well usable for all throwing styles like no spin, combative rotation, recreational freestyle and many others
Do you like a classic arrow shape? Than you definitely have to try Stinger, with a great surface and strong durable tip it's the number one candidate for your next trip to a knife throwing tournament. With these you can be sure that you're gonna score well.
We produce everything Handmade in Bohemia. We didn't want our knives to get a factory look. That's why we decided to use hand-etched decoration for these knives.
The decoration of the knife "GOLD 24K" is made of pure 24 carat gold.
You receive 3 knives, 3 cards (Aces of Hearts, to be used as target points), Adam Čeladíns scarf, AceJet Sticker and the Certificate of autenthicity.
10inch Stinger made of D2 steel in
10inch Stinger out of D2 steel in
10inch Stinger out of D2 Steel in
10inch Stinger made of D2 steel in
10inch Stinger made of D2 steel in
10inch Stinger made of D2 steel in
Limited edition Stinger made of D2 steel with GOLD 24K - set of 3
Spring Steel STINGER - Best seller SET of 3

subset: commoncrawl


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Bell's Extra Special 8yo
Finest Old Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
Week 9 of this malt mission and we are going to have a southern Highlands themed week. A cold has been going around and I hope that getting back to my morning tasting routine will weaken the hold these symptoms gained over the weekend...
On the bottle, Bell's reads "Estd 1825". Although, this is not totally accurate, Bell's whisky still has a pretty respectable pedigree. In 1840, Arthur Bell started working for Thomas Sandeman, a wine and spirit merchant in Perth, Scotland (whose business was founded in 1825). He was an early enthusiast of the concept of blending malts even before the availability of grain whisky because of its wider appeal. When someone wrote him asking why his whisky was so good he replied, "I do not usually give the mixture of my whiskies, but may mention that the best is made in Banffshire's Glenlivet district and the other is Pitlochry and Stirlingshire whiskies." Blair Atholl in Pitlochry is currently the 'home' of Bell's whisky and still at the heart of the blend.
Bell didnt believe in using his name on the blend, and Scotch Fir was the first name given the brand in 1890s. Thirty years later the blend was called Arthur Bell and Sons Pure Malt Whisky and was the first time the name "Bell" name appeared on a bottle. Sales growth in the 1970's saw it surpass Haig and Johnnie Walker in the UK and today, is the highest selling whisky in the country.
From what I have gathered, it contains(or has contained) Blair Athol, Balblair, Caol Ila, Dufftown, Inchgower, and Linkwood.
Light and clean grain, nuttiness, soft butter and honey, heavier malts weigh in with rich raisiny smells and some smoke. Like a good blend, it smells like whisky. No doubts.
The taste comes on slow, but offers a full package: a tightly knit combination of bread, Dairy Milk, maybe some sweet turkish coffee, burnt sugar, and definitely some smoke.
Puzzling cuz it has good, all-round flavour from sweet to peat. The problem is that it is all wrapped up in an articifial sweetness that dulls the whole impact. I suppose this effect is what makes it quite a friendly whisky, satisfying enough, but never really DOING what it tastes like it wants to do.
* - it was a right pain in the arse to find a price for Bell's in the U.S... seemed no one carried it. Americans, does the price I quote seem accurate? Suggestions?
Malt Mission #40
Malt Mission #42
Malt Mission #43
Malt Mission #44
Malt Mission #45
Malt Mission HOME
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Malt Mission 2007 #41
Posted by Dr. Whisky at 11:42 PM
Labels: bell's, blended whisky, malt mission, tasting notes, whisky, whisky tasting
3 comments:
I've never seen it. I'm a novice but now I'll look for it in Cupertino, Ca. I can't believe anything that old could be below 20 US. Thanks for the education. What exactly is a dram? I'll email you.
Bell's is not available in the US market.
- Dr. Whisky said...
Traditionally, a 'dram' was 1/3 of a pint. Today, if you ask for "a dram of ______" it will USUALLY mean a double; at least that was my experience when I lived in edinburgh... but then I only went to the finest old man pubs, nip and a half type places. Hehe...
No Bells in Freedom Land. Thanks, paralaxe.
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Growin' Green
By Brent Gray
This time of year, unless we have had adequate rain, the big chore in the garden is keeping things watered. One of the easiest ways to conserve water in the garden is by mulching. Keep a two to four-inch layer of mulch around shrubs, flower, and vegetables. Pine straw, bark chips, and shredded hardwood bark are effective choices. As a general rule, one bale of pine straw will cover about 50 to 80 square feet of bare area, depending on how deep you apply it. For replenishing areas covered with straw, one bale will cover about 150 square feet. One cubic yard (27 cubic feet) of bark mini-nuggets will cover about 80 square feet.
Cool Colors
During these hot days, flowers and foliage in cool colors can make outdoor living areas seem cooler. Consider using pastel-colored impatiens, begonias, petunias, Madagascar periwinkle (vinca), and hibiscus along with silvery foliage of artemisias or dusty miller in pots, hanging baskets or flower beds to "cool down" your deck or terrace. Varying shades of greens, blues, purples and lavenders combined with whites can trick you into thinking you're cooler when its 90 in the shade!
Sooty Mold
A black, sooty coating on the leaves of azaleas, gardenias, and crape myrtles is a fungus that grows on the sticky secretions (called honeydew) of aphids. To control the sooty mold, you'll need to use an insecticide, such as malathion, to kill the aphids. Once the aphids are under control the sooty mess will disappear over time.
The average first frost date for most of Mississippi is about 100 days from now. This means there is plenty of time to grow warm season vegetables left. There have been many reports of disappointing tomato crops this spring. There is time to start seeds and plant another crop to fill the freezer or pantry. Be aware that insects have had a long time to build their numbers and more diligence will be needed to manage insect damage.
One of the major causes of poor tomato production this spring was widespread early blight problems. The spores of this fungus float in the air and are very active at temperatures in the low to mid eighties whenever there is liquid water on the tomato leaves. The air borne vector meant that moving the tomato plants to a different place in the garden will not change the chances the disease will happen again. One way to manage this disease is to plant tomatoes where the wind can dry the leaves as much as possible and to irrigate so the leaves stay dry. Keeping leaves dry is the main reason tomatoes are pruned or suckered.
Gardeners with adventurous mind sets may want to try growing amaranth greens during hot weather. There are several species of amaranth used for greens, be sure to use a vegetable one rather than a quinoa variety for grain. the tiny seed are directly sown in the garden and the plants grow one to three feet tall. the leaves are harvested and cooked like any other green. they are a good source of vitamin a and beta carotene.
Remember to cut out the brambles that fruited this year. Blackberries are biennial and grow the bramble one year that bears fruit the next year.
Letting the lawn go without water so you won't have to mow as often is risky. The stressed grass becomes more easily infected by disease organisms and you may spend more time fighting diseases than you would have mowing.


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Troubleshoot Troubled Skin
Natural strategies for zapping zits and healing skin.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Mother Nature has given us all the tools we need for clear skin. Some, like tea tree oil, are probably familiar to you. But there are other topical botanicals that are even more effective acne fighters.
NEEM: Studies show that the oil from this native Indian tree is an exceptionally strong antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic that combats acne. Try Organix-South Facial Complexion Neem Therapé Cleansing Bar.
TOTAROL: A naturally occurring plant extract from New Zealand with potent antibacterial and antioxidant properties. Totarol is reputed to be 1,000 times more potent than tea tree oil against bacteria.
WILLOW BARK: A natural source of salicylic acid that helps enhance cell turnover by exfoliating the skin. Willow bark gently dissolves dirt and impurities that may clog pores.
WITCH HAZEL: A refreshing astringent, with clarifying and toning properties. It helps to reduce oiliness and calm skin.
Oh, the anguish of acne! A breakout can instantly make you feel unattractive and isolated. You aren't alone. An estimated 80 percent of people between the ages of 11 and 30 suffer from acne, making it the most common type of skin disease on the planet. Many continue to suffer into middle age.
How Conventional Therapies Harm Skin
People who suffer from moderate to severe acne rarely get much relief from over-the-counter products. Yet exposure to the strong treatments dermatologists often use can leave your skin in even worse shape. While antibiotics can kill bacteria hiding in blocked follicles, they do nothing to reduce oil secretion and abnormal cell behavior. Chronic use of low-dose antibiotics can also cause bacteria to become resistant to treatment.
Supplement Solutions
Along with keeping your complexion scrupulously clean and eating a healthful diet, supplements can play an important role in controlling acne. A high-quality multivitamin/mineral is critical, because a number of nutrients are essential for healthy skin. For instance, vitamins A and E are necessary for skin healing. Zinc also aids in healing tissue and helps the body resist infection. Studies of zinc and niacinamide found that the combination reduces inflammation, bacteria, and sebum production.
MyChelle Clear Skin Clarifying Pads These are saturated with acne-fighting natural plant extracts, including Totarol and neem. Toss them in your gym bag and use after a workout to refresh your skin.
Vaxa International Clearin This Swedish product helps improve skin with the help of targeted nutrients for clear skin, L-cysteine, PABA, and retinol (a form of vitamin A).
derma e Very Clear Spot Blemish Treatment, featuring tea tree, willow bark, rosewood, and lavender, helps calm and soothe red, inflamed skin. Use as often as needed.
Natralia Acne Rescue Kit This set includes Acne Rescue Wash and Acne Rescue Cream. Both products contain a blend
of homeopathic remedies and herbs, including tea tree oil and witch hazel, which are known to nourish skin and reduce breakouts.


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After running the service in preview mode for over a year, Google is making its IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) Google Compute Engine (GCE) available as a full-fledged commercial service.
The company has established a service level agreement (SLA) where it guarantees GCE to be available 99.95 percent of the time. It has also cut prices and increased the number of options the service offers.
[ Which freaking PaaS should you use? InfoWorld helps you decide. | Stay on top of the state of the cloud with the "Cloud Computing Deep Dive" special report. | For a quick, smart take on the news you'll be talking about, check out InfoWorld TechBrief -- subscribe today. ]
GCE "is a long-term strategic bet for the company," said Brian Goldfarb, Google's head of cloud platform marketing, adding that "we have an incredibly high bar for what general availability means."
Although the company has offered the Google App Engine PaaS (platform-as-a-service) since 2008, Google has been fairly late to the IaaS space. Introduced as a preview in June 2012, GCE competes with Amazon's popular Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) service. A number of companies already use GCE, including Snapchat, Evite and Red Hat.
GCE offers a Linux virtual machine that could be used in one or more instances to execute workloads. Like other services offered on the Google Cloud Platform, GCE runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses for its own services.
By putting the service into commercial mode, Google is offering an implicit assurance that the service will not be arbitrarily shuttered at least anytime in the near future, thus avoiding the fates of other discontinued Google projects, such as Google Reader or Google Wave.
With general availability, Google has also expanded the number of features in GCE.
Users can now run any Linux distributions, not just those preselected by Google, including those that come with optional add-on modules and their customized kernels. For instance, users can install SELinux for security enhancements, or CoreOS for running large distributed workloads.
Users could deploy a special-use file system or other deep infrastructure applications, such as the Docker app container, the FOG creator, or the xfs and aufs file systems. In preview mode, Google ran its own customized Linux kernel.
GCE has expanded the number of distributions it runs natively. It offered only versions of Debian and CoreOS while in preview mode. Now it will also offer SUSE Linux and Red Hat Enterprise (RHEL), as well as the FreeBSD Unix distribution.
The commercial offering also has a number of features to facilitate production level reliability. First, Google is minimizing downtime by offering live migration of GCE jobs, meaning that when Google performs maintenance on its servers, customer workloads on those servers will be moved to other servers without an impact on performance.
The time it takes to restart an image has also been cut, according to the company.
The company has increased the number of cores that can be harnessed in one instance. Now, in limited preview, a user can run a 16-core instance with 104GB of working memory. These large images could be handy for running NoSQL databases for a Web application. Previously, users could only use 8 CPU cores in a single instance.
Prices have been cut as well. The price of a basic GCE service has been cut by 10 percent. The price of a standard one core instance, a n1-standard-1, has been reduced from $0.115 per hour to $0.104 per hour. Persistent disk storage has been reduced from $0.10 per month to $0.04 a month. In addition, all charges to I/O traffic to disk have been eliminated.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is email@example.com


text: Passing the second anniversary of the Great Recession's market low this week, the technology sector remains a pillar for corporate revenue and investor confidence, as industry bellwethers like IBM and Apple make impressive share gains.On March 9, 2009, the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit 1268.64, its lowest point in seven years. In afternoon trading Friday, the index was at 2718.80. The sort of share value increases that tech companies experienced since the market bottom of two years ago is hard to maintain, and growth of IT stocks, on average, has flattened out somewhat recently. But IT sector financial news this week shows that corporate demand for IT and consumer demand for mobile devices remains high.A jump in IBM shares, to a record level, was just one marker of confidence in corporate IT. Analysts met with IBM management Tuesday and issued a raft of upbeat reports about what they heard. At least four analysts upgraded their recommendations or price targets, and as a result IBM shares surged by $3.58 to close at a record US$165.86 Wednesday. IBM's high-end services business and its emphasis on high-margin software and hardware has impressed market watchers."We get the sense IBM has rejuvenated pride in its massive $6 billion annual research and development spend, in contrast to more standards\/commodity-reliant competitors, seeing continued opportunities toward ever-higher margin mix," said Robert Cirha, in a Caris & Co. research note.IBM, a major bellwether for the enterprise market, kicked off a strong tech earnings season in January, reporting that net income for the fourth quarter rose 9 percent year over year to $5.3 billion, while revenue increased by 7 percent to $29 billion. It was the strongest quarterly sales increase for IBM in almost 10 years, and in line with predictions that enterprise sales, particularly software, will be a key driver of growth for IT for the foreseeable future.Mobile devices including tablets will also fuel growth for tech, according to a slew of recent reports. For example, 10.1 million media tablets were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010, more than double the 4.5 million shipped in the third quarter, according to an IDC report Thursday. The report also said that the eReader market jumped up in the fourth quarter. Strong sales of Amazon's Kindle and gains from Pandigital, Barnes & Noble, Hanvon, and Sony also contributed to market growth, IDC said. The eReader market in the fourth quarter more than doubled in volume from the previous quarter, with more than 6 million units shipped, IDC said."Strong holiday sales of media tablets were in line with IDC projections and strong consumer interest in the category while device vendors scrambled to offer products competitive with Apple's iPad and now iPad 2," said Loren Loverde, an IDC vice president, in the report.Apple, which has more than 90 percent of the tablet market at this point, is releasing the iPad 2 Friday and is basking in the glow of its latest hit product. Apple shares were up by $4.89 to $351.52 in late afternoon trading. Increased uptake of tablets and high-end smartphones is also having a positive effect on corporate equipment sales, as companies scramble to update networks to handle an increase in traffic from the new devices. For example, global WLAN (wireless LAN) equipment sales jumped by 28 percent to $769 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, according to a report last week from Infonetics Research. On Wednesday, a report from Dell'Oro Group said that for all of 2010, WLAN equipment sales jumped 25 percent to surpass $5 billion."We believe this to be a another sign of the continued importance of wireless LAN to companies; networking infrastructures, and of a worldwide economy that is on the upswing," said Loren Shalinsky, senior analyst of Wireless LAN research at Dell'Oro, in the report.With attention on corporate software and mobile devices, the PC sector hasn't gotten much respect lately. But iSuppli this week pointed out that global PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010 totaled 93.1 million units, up 5.7 percent from 88.1 million in the third quarter of 2010, and a 4.7 percent increase from 88.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. PC shipments during the fourth quarter hit a new quarterly record, "blowing past" the prior record of 88.9 million units set in the fourth quarter of 2009, the report said."With its record performance during the last three months of 2010, the worldwide PC business took another step toward becoming a market generating 100 million units per quarter," said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst at iSuppli. "With the market coming back strong amid growth in the mid-teens, the PC industry will look back on 2010 as a year that exceeded expectations." Though much of the growth in the last two years took place in the quarters immediately following the 2009 low point, the tech sector is still looking up.By the third quarter last year, the Nasdaq and the other major U.S. exchanges were already back up to the level they were at before Wall Street imploded in September 2008. Tech had a lot to do with instilling confidence in the markets. Though tech stocks slumped for most of the third quarter last year as fears of a double-dip recession took hold, IT companies, reporting strong sales especially to businesses, started to lead markets after the U.S. Labor Day holiday at the beginning of September. Now, computer shares on the exchange are up an average of 1.56 percent since Jan. 1 and telecom stock are up 0.13 percent -- both better than any other major sector aside from industrials. The Nasdaq itself is up 1.82 percent since the beginning of the year and 14 percent for the last 12 months.


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Probably "just another stupid poser", ATT Although I realize 'good help is hard to find', that would be scraping the bottom of the barrel even for 'them' — or they're running out of half witsAmongTheThugs wrote:Does Yank work for the man or is he just another stupid poser?
Well, since IT's reverted to childish name calling again, I really think it's outlived its usefulness as a refresher tool now, Simon When allowed to go on too long the irrefutable points we make just get obscured by troll poo as it soils itself trying to dodge them all (typical shill/troll MO).
Looks like everyone has seen through (chain) yank's agenda anyway.
Most conspicuous in all its rambling non sequiturs, feigned 'apology' ploy and self contradictions is the absence of any serious attempt to provide an iota of evidence or even a plausible hypothesis for its mindless assertions.
Of course no one can take "real footage" of physics-defying events that cannot happen in reality, like cartoon cut-out plane shapes in steel buildings & top-down skyscraper collapses in pyroclastic flows.
And no one can take "real footage" of 'running people' who would have been evacuated & blocked from coming anywhere near the critical theater of operations.
This is one of my favorite bloopers from the 'Not There' Bros loony-toon:
@ http://www.septemberclues.org/simulated_sceneries.htm
Any pre-existing "real footage" of NY cityscapes or streets used as templates/backdrops for CGI layering of faked events still = 100% fakery! Just as motion-capture of actors' real movements used to render impossible actions &/or physiology with CGI for Hollywood movie FX = 100% fakery.
There are only two possibilities for such persistent avoidance of known, verifiable facts re behavioral psychology, photography, physics, reasoning and logic: 1.) a willfully ignorant, ego-driven dupe (who hasn't seen a Hollywood movie in 30+ years), or 2.) a deliberate shill's incredibly inept attempts to play mind games. Fail ²
Ironically, what tools like this always prove is that they obviously cannot refute the evidence exposed in Simon's & our analyses, so predictably resort to every worn-out logical fallacy and desperately try to bury it in piles of verbal excrement.
In its own self descriptive words:
"You are exposed.
Time to get a real job


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Firebase Hosting uses a powerful global CDN to make your site as fast as possible.
Any requested static content is automatically cached on the CDN. If you redeploy your site's content, Firebase Hosting automatically clears all your cached static content across the CDN until the next request.
However, because Cloud Functions and Cloud Run services generate content dynamically, the content for a given URL can vary based on such things as user input or the user's identity. To account for this, requests that are handled by backend code do not cache on the CDN by default, with the exception of requests that return 404 errors. To clear cached 404 results, redeploy Firebase Hosting; redeploying Cloud Functions and Cloud Run does not automatically invalidate the cache.
You can, though, configure caching behavior for dynamic content. For example, if a function generates new content only periodically, you can speed up your app by caching the generated content for at least a short period of time.
You can also potentially reduce function execution costs because the content is served from the CDN rather than via a triggered function. Read more about optimizing function execution and services in the Cloud Functions and Cloud Run documentation.
Learn more about caching behavior in Google's web developer documentation.
Set Cache-Control
The main tool that you use to manage cache for dynamic content is the
Cache-Control header. By configuring this header, you can communicate both to
the browser and the CDN how long your content can be cached. In your function,
you set
Cache-Control like so:
res.set('Cache-Control', 'public, max-age=300, s-maxage=600');
In this example header, the directives do three things:
public— Marks the cache as
public. This means that both the browser and the intermediate servers (meaning the CDN for Firebase Hosting) can cache the content.
max-age— Tells the browser and the CDN how many seconds that they can cache the content. When the set time expires, the browser and the CDN must revalidate the content with the origin server. In the example header, we're allowing the browser and the CDN to cache the content for five minutes (see
s-maxagebelow for specific controls for CDN caching).
s-maxage— Overrides the
max-agedirective for the CDN-caching only; tells the CDN how many seconds that it can cache the content. When the set time expires, the CDN must revalidate the content with the origin server. In the example header, we're overriding the setting for
max-agefor the CDN only and allowing the CDN to cache the content for ten minutes.
max-age and
s-maxage, set their values to the longest amount of time
that you're comfortable with users receiving stale content. If a page changes
every few seconds, use a small time value. However, other types of content can
be safely cached for hours, days, or even months.
You can learn more about the
Cache-Control header on the
Mozilla Developer Network
and in Google's
web developer documentation.
When is cached content served?
The browser and the CDN cache your content based on:
- The hostname
- The path
- The query string
- The content of the request headers specified in the
Vary headers
Vary header
determines which request headers should be used to provide an appropriate
response (whether the cached content is valid or if the content should be
revalidated with the origin server).
Firebase Hosting automatically sets an appropriate
Vary header on your
response for common situations. Most of the time, you don't need to worry
about the
Vary header. However, in some advanced use cases, you might have
other headers that you need to affect the cache. When that's the case,
you can set the
Vary header on your response. For example:
res.set('Vary', 'Accept-Encoding, X-My-Custom-Header');
In this case, the value of the
Vary header is:
vary: X-My-Custom-Header, x-fh-requested-host, accept-encoding, cookie, authorization
With these settings, two otherwise identical requests with different
X-My-Custom-Header headers are cached separately. Note that Hosting adds
Cookie and
Authorization to the
Vary header by default when a request is
made for dynamic content. This ensures that any session or cookie authorization
header you use is made part of the cache key, which prevents accidental leaks
of content.
Also note:
HEADrequests can be cached. HTTPS requests using other methods are never cached.
Be careful when adding settings to the
Varyheader. The more settings that you add, the less likely it is that the CDN can serve cached content. Also remember that
Varyis based on request headers, not response headers.
Using cookies
When using Firebase Hosting together with Cloud Functions or
Cloud Run, cookies are generally stripped from incoming requests. This
is necessary to allow for efficient CDN cache behavior.
Only the specially-named
__session cookie is permitted to pass through to the
execution of your app.
When present, the
__session cookie is automatically made a part of the cache
key, meaning that it's impossible for two users with different cookies to
receive the other's cached response. Only use the
__session cookie if your
app serves different content depending on user authorization.


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Blackmagic Design have announced that the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is now shipping and with a new low price of US$2,995. This new low price will be available for all customers, including existing pre-orders. Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for only US$2,995.
"The support from the creative community for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K has been amazing," said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. "As with all of our products, we work hard in production to reduce costs so we can pass along the savings, even to our first Blackmagic Production Camera 4K customers. The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is a perfect companion for ATEM Production 4K switchers and we hope the new low price will help more customers to expand their Ultra HD live production set ups with even more camera angles!"
About Blackmagic Production Camera 4K
Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is a super high resolution 4K digital production camera for Ultra HD television production. Featuring a large Super 35 sensor, professional global shutter as well as EF and ZE compatible lens mount, the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K captures high quality ProRes™ files, giving customers a complete solution to shoot amazing high resolution music videos, episodic television productions, television commercials, sport and documentaries.
The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K has everything customers need right out of the box including a built in SSD recorder, rechargeable battery and a large 5" LCD touchscreen. In addition to focusing and monitoring shots, the touchscreen also lets customers enter metadata and change camera settings all on a single easy to use interface. Customers also get a full copy of DaVinci Resolve for amazing quality color grading and finishing for Mac OS X and Windows computers.
Blackmagic Production Camera 4K Key Features
Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 resolution
ProRes 422 (HQ)™ recording
Super 35 sensor
Global shutter
EF and ZE compatible lens mount
Built-in SSD recorder
5" LCD touchscreen
Metadata entry
6G-SDI output for 10-bit HD and Ultra HD
Availability and Price
The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is available now for US$2,995 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.
Please see Blackmagic Design for more on their Blackmagic Production Camera 4K.


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This post was written by Ulla Engestrom and originally published on the ThingLink Blog.
Exciting news: in the past months we have been hard at work building a new editor for annotating video content with rich media. The new editor allows users to add notes and links to existing video content, and this way turn video into a digital discovery platform.
An early access to ThingLink for Video is announced at ISTE, one of the largest international conferences for educational technology. We at ThingLink believe that interactive images and video will become the 21st century textbook, and teachers are driving this change by being fast adopters of, not only new technology, but also a new way of thinking. As the use of video in education grows, ThingLink is empowering teachers and students to easily create interactive video content and facilitate in-video conversations.


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Cher Rick,
I know you're busy trying to take down Michigan's native son Mitt Romney in the primary—which can't be easy, given that this year's French-scented Oscars are stealing your limelight—but I hope you have a moment for me.
Of late, you've seemed a bit obsessed with France. Your recent campaign speeches and debate comments have taken aim at the French's ally skills, constitution, and revolution. Heck, you've even come down on the guillotine in your attacks on President Obama.
You have lambasted Obama—who, as you might have guessed, remains popular in France—for cozying up to "Prime Minister" Nicolas Sarkozy, who isn't. (The French would be happier if their president was merely prime minister.)
Impressively, you went deep into French history, culture, and philosophy in one of your longer French monologues. After noting that the American and French revolutions took place around the same time and that they have similar visions and constitutions, you pointed out a key difference.
The French Revolution, you noted, was based on three core principles: "Liberty—good. Equality—excellent. But the third was different. The third was fraternity, brotherhood. Not paternity, fatherhood," you told an approving crowd as you pointed toward the heavens. The French revolutionaries "did not claim that their rights were inalienable … from God. It was a secular revolution, of which we relied upon the goodness of each other." (At that point, you raised your eyebrows, perhaps to suggest, who really believes that we can rely on the good of others?)
And then you went to your ultimate point: "This is the left's view of where America should go. And of course, where did France go? To the guillotine, to tyranny. If there are no rights that government needs to respect, then what we see with Obamacare is just the beginning of what government will do to you."
I have been living in Paris for many years, so I thought I should clarify some things. Perhaps you see the City of Light as a godless and sex-soaked land of Sodom and Gomorrah, basically an alternate-universe New York City with stinkier cheeses and even more porous wedding vows.
But surrounded by Frenchness, I have to say that it never crossed my mind, this idea of an intellectual conspiracy between Obama and his French comrades, all in the name of beheading American liberty—and faith. Perhaps you have resolved the French enigma, Richard.
Some people will surely say that you are wrong. Or crazy. But somehow you delve behind the nation's diplomatic presentation of politesse, beneath the palace intrigues and the veneer of capitalism, and offer this unique vision of the French soul.
Critics might argue that you are stuck in 2003—especially when you suggested that the French have not been supportive of the U.S. "with anything" in the past 20 years. Perhaps, they might say, you remain jilted by France's extravagant diplomatic actions to prevent the U.S. from leading the invasion of Iraq. (How dare then-President Jacques Chirac and his flame-haired prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, argue with Dick Cheney's assessment that "liberated" Iraqis would welcome American soldiers with flowers, not bullets, and that the war would be over in a jiffy.)
As for your mockery of President Obama for allegedly saying that Sarkozy is "our best ally" precisely because, in your analysis, the French "fought what was in the best interest of our country," Francophiles would surely be up in arms. They could highlight France's supportive roles from the Balkans and Kosovo to, most recently, Libya, where President Sarkozy helped to force Muammar Gaddafi from power. They might also point to the close Franco-American antiterror cooperation and note that 82 French military personnel have given their lives as part of the decade-long U.S.-led NATO mission in Afghanistan.
But the French are legendarily crafty, as you would surely point out, Rick. Heck, they invented the word "sabotage." Such actions clearly aim to lull freedom-loving, God-fearing Americans into a false impression so that France can shoot us in the back or steal our women yet again.
And the French have allies on American shores. Hollywood is promoting the glorification of France's aesthetic beauty better than any tourism campaign ever could. Look at the Best Picture category at the Oscars, where two stylized films set in the nostalgic French past—Midnight in Paris and Hugo—face off against a black-and-white film, The Artist, that is French-made, albeit in Hollywood. How effective are they? Woody Allen's French movie is the biggest cash cow of his career, while The Artist has gobbled up American awards like a hungry gringo at a breakfast buffet in a Parisian hotel.
Yes, the problem for a sober-eyed culture warrior like you is that this French snow job seems to be winning over America. Sixty-five percent of Americans say that they "like France," according to an extensive survey published Feb. 22 in France. Sacrebleu! (Such people will be well represented among the hordes of Americans who touch down in Paris—the most visited city on earth—this spring.)
In fact, I have a confession to make, Rick. There are moments when trying to track down these French conspiracies wears on me. I suffer moments of doubt, apparently unlike you. Sometimes I think, yes, my friends face the tyranny of functional and affordable medical coverage that costs the French state far less than America's, but there are other instances when I begin to think that a break from the campaign trail might do your soul some good. Perhaps you would even consider a little vacation in France.
I know it sounds crazy, but there are aspects of this land of the Enlightenment that might seduce you, so to speak. After all, this is the nation where one of the world's most famous sin-soaked sex symbols, Brigitte Bardot, converted into a fully clothed woman who dedicated her life to protecting animals. (She would applaud your legislative efforts to regulate "puppy mills," and more broadly, you might agree on a wide array of other policies.)
And if you can see past Nicolas Sarkozy's two divorces and his current bohemian first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, you would understand that "Sarko l'Americain" has things in common with you. Like you, he is a fertile Catholic—he has four children to your seven—and he is tough on Iran, so a President Santorum might just want to call on him when ordering America's bombers into action. (Yes, Sarkozy has had those children with three different women, but isn't Catholicism also about forgiveness?)
Look, you wouldn't need to be embarrassed about coming to France, at least not in this election. Two of your remaining competitors, Newt and Mitt, may perpetuate outdated stereotypes of France any chance they get, but they both chose lengthy stints in France when they were young.
Maybe I, like many Americans who arrived in Paris in their youth, am naive. Perhaps you are all just cynically calculating political manipulators who attack France as a sort of political red meat in your primaries. (The French are one of the few groups that you can still rhetorically beat on without being accused of racism or discrimination. In rhetorical terms, perhaps you think that Gay Paree is the new gay.) But I prefer to believe in the fundamental goodness of man.
So given that you are unlikely to find the time for a visit to France, and given that this is Oscar season, I'll just suggest that you take in a film about this place. Something tells me that you aren't a big Woody fan, and you might be hesitant to see a motion picture by an Italian-American director who is famous for graphic Mafia films.
That is why The Artist might be the perfect fit. It looks beautiful, and it is set in a long-gone era when things were black and white. Most importantly, it allows you to enjoy what is best about France without ever having to listen to the French.


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For Samsung Galaxy Note SGH-I717 Front Facing Camera Replacement - Grade S+
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Special tooling is required for the repair or replacement work.The installation of any new parts should be done by a qualified person. ETS is not responsible for any damage caused during installation.
Customer also bought


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Now ready for some fabric play with some left-over triangles to make a fun quilt back!
Doll Quilt Swap - A Finished Windmill Quilt
Positively gorgeous! The recipient will be thrilled!ReplyDelete
amazing--simple yet striking.ReplyDelete
I don't suppose I am lucky enough to be your partner but I'd be pleased as punch if I were! I have my fabric now and block in mind but have to get sewing.ReplyDelete
Wow! That center one is a zinger. : )ReplyDelete
Wow! This stunning! It looks so nice and crisp too!ReplyDelete
I just love it - Beautiful pattern ;)ReplyDelete
Very nice~!ReplyDelete
Stunning! Your technique is amazing...with the white fabric you can see the seam allowance and its so perfect on the back..I love how it highlights the pin wheels which I absolutely love as well!ReplyDelete
Beautiful. I love how precise your piecing is.ReplyDelete
someone posted this here:
I love it!ReplyDelete
5 inch blocks???? Are you insane? They are fabulous, but 5 inches? Five inches would be okay if it were a one piece block but pinwheels have, what?, 16 pieces. I can't even figure the average size of one piece.....well, yes, I can....TOO SMALL!
Can you tell I'm impressed?
I am so envious of your swap partner!! It's adorable. What does chuffed mean?ReplyDelete
ADORABLE. Awww.. Makes me want to pull out my doll collection again.ReplyDelete
Lucky partner!ReplyDelete
love the blocks .. any chance you can share the block pattern?ReplyDelete
Whoa Rita....great minds think alike!!:) Flossie and I are both doing that same block for the swap but what's funny is all three of them will be a bit different! Did you see Flossie's drawing....her's has a border.
I can't even imagine being so lucky as to receive a mini from you...it would be like winning the lottery!;)
Yes, what does "chuffed" mean, please? Thinking it's good, but . . .ReplyDelete
For those of you who have asked the meaning of the word: "chuffed"
I guess it must be Aussie slang ~ meaning pleased, happy, delighted ...
What a beatiful blocks!
It´s amazing.
Swoon! I am in love with this! Whoever your partner is I am sure she will love it!ReplyDelete
How do you manage to make everything look so perfectly finished, as if it was created instantly looking so good, and not made by normal sweaty human hands?
And we say chuffed in Scotland too :-)
Love the pinwheels and your colorful combinations! These blocks would perfect for the little triangle trimmings left from making binding strips!ReplyDelete
This caught my eye on Flickr today. So fun!ReplyDelete
This is gorgeous! Sadly, I didn't make a mosaic, so I'm thinking this isnt' coming to live with me. :( However, your piecing is perfect! Can't wait to see this completed!ReplyDelete
Stunning Rita - fabulous mini quilt!ReplyDelete
Amazing, you accuracy is inspiring!ReplyDelete
Love,love the blocks,they are absolutely wonderful!!ReplyDelete
Wow - I love these blocks! I would never have been able to visualize a modern take on the block you linked based on the fabric choices shown... It just confirms that you can take basically any block and modernize it given the right fabric and color choices! Well done!ReplyDelete
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment! I really appreciate it.
Comments are published after review.
Feel free to ask questions and I will answer either here or by email, as is appropriate.


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We are a Pentecostal Church of God Church with a passion for God and for people.
It is our desire to reverence God in all we do, to reach our community with the love of God, to refresh one another through fellowship, to raise up true disciples of Christ and to release people into ministry.
Don't forget to check our service times and ministries. We have something for everyone, and that includes you! If you need any assistance please feel free to contact us.
God Bless You, Karen & Fred Rarey, Pastors


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Trend-setting Northern Virginia Companies Deliver Smart Water Savings through Sustainable DesignJanuary 25, 2010
Jane Siegel is an international trade specialist in the ITA Services division focusing on environmental water infrastructure. She has twenty years of experience in trade and environment policy.
The world is facing a growing water emergency. By 2035, the World Bank projects that "3 billion people will be living in conditions of severe water stress," especially including those in different countries sharing water supply. Seven hundred million people live in countries under water stress. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told the Council on Foreign Relations on November 23, 2009, that water resources would be the limiting factor on economic growth.
The United States has its water problems too. This year in its "Report Card for America's Infrastructure," the American Society of Civil Engineering estimates that total investment needs to repair, expand and upgrade water infrastructure at $255 billion. A New York Times front page article proclaimed: "Sewers at Capacity, Waste Poisons Waterways."
A new set of policies and customer demand for resource efficiency are reshaping the market for sustainable technologies. Concerns about climate change are supporting this trend. We are used to hearing about energy, rather than water efficiency. But energy and water efficiency are tied: designing and engineering was to conserve water is a twofer: conserve water and you save energy.
Solutions to the world's water problems require innovations in infrastructure design, engineering, management, operation, and finance. Companies already working on solutions have brought these technologies innovations to the marketplace in the water sector. Last year, I got to see some of those solutions developed and marketed by small companies located in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Worrell Water Technologies (WWT) sells a patented technology called The Living MachineTM. According to the company, The Living Machine TM is a "natural, ecologically-based water treatment system." Will Kirksey, Senior Vice President of WWT showed Bill Fanjoy, Director of the Northern Virginia Export Assistant Center and me an example of the technology, a natural, ecologically-based water treatment system," using "plants in porous gravel to create a large surface area for microorganisms" that can treat wastewater from municipal, agricultural and other sources. In simpler terms, The Living MachineTM is a man-made swamp.
Kirksey, a civil engineer by training, cites the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) numbers, and believes that a significant part of the solution resides in rethinking the entire design of U.S. water infrastructure along a more natural, decentralized and sustainable model. According to Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute, better water systems will be increasingly necessary as the world deals with climate change. It takes a lot of energy to treat and deliver water, and a lot of water to produce energy.
The Living MachineTM has been installed in urban and rural settings in the United States, and in Ghana, where it is being used to treat heavily polluted water from the Volta River. People were sickened from crops irrigated with river water. Now, farmers in the area can use the treated, cleaner water to irrigate their crops instead.
Another company Bill and I visited is called Rainwater Management Solutions (RMS). Benjamin Sojka, a Principal of RMS, says he comes from a long line of Virginia farmers. His company has developed a system that catches, holds and distributes rainwater, a "naturally clean, soft water," which can be employed for all non-potable uses, such as washing clothes, and flushing toilets. According to Sojka, rainwater harvesting can reduce or eliminate pollution from stormwater runoff; limit disruption and pollution of natural water flows; reduce potable water use for building sewage conveyance by 50 percent; and maximize water efficiency by reducing the burden on municipal water systems. Properly harvested rainwater can help expand water resources.
The last stop of the day was to the architectural firm of McDonough + Partner. William McDonough, an icon in the world of natural, sustainable architecture, had been the Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, and most recently in 2002 published a book entitled "Cradle to Cradle" with Michael Braungart, a German chemist, with whom he founded McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). According to Phillip Bernstein, a vice president at Auodesk, Inc., "Bill is the granddaddy" of the most forward-looking sustainability paradigm, which rejects the cradle to grave approach in which more waste than value is created. McDonough's clients include Google, GE and Wal-Mart to name a few.
McDonough's firm includes eco-effective water systems. In the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin University, includes a marsh system for the wastewater, and landscaping that avoids the use of pesticides.
These eco-designs are fully exportable. WWT is negotiating a deal with Mexican authorities. McDonough + Partner have done concept a master plan for the city of Liuzhou in southern China, where roof gardens include rice patties. Green roofs retard water-runoff with the pollution that entails, as the water feeds the plants.


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The agent for Andrew McDonald -- previously identified as Player A in Ted Wells' independent investigation of misconduct within the Dolphins -- and Miami offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie are not in accord with the report's classification of the team's locker-room culture as bullying.
"The things that were done were done in a humorous and maybe off-color way, but not in a way that at all made Andrew feel bullied or abused or anything of that nature," Brent Tessler said in a Monday interview on ESPN's "Outside the Lines."
Tessler also said his client "does not like the way he is portrayed in the report" and that McDonald's relationship with Dolphins offensive line coach Jim Turner has been mischaracterized, going as far to say that Turner "is one of the best people and coaches he's ever played for."
"Well, if you just take the report at its words, naturally it appears that coach Turner participated in some behavior that could be seen as insensitive or not becoming of a man of his position within the organization," Tessler said. "But according to Andrew, he absolutely loves coach Turner."
Per Wells' report, Dolphins offensive linemen Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey "engaged in a pattern of harassment" toward teammate Jonathan Martin; an assistant trainer and an unnamed Player A were also on the end of disparaging treatment.
Player A, who "frequently was subjected to homophobic name-calling and improper physical touching," was later revealed as McDonald, now a member of the Carolina Panthers. The report stated that Turner verbally taunted McDonald and purchased a male blow-up doll as a gag gift for the offensive tackle.
Team owner Stephen Ross later called the language and behavior in the report "deeply disturbing." However, according to Tessler, his client had no issue with his stint in Miami despite the documented actions and merely "cooperated with the investigation."
"As far as it relates to Andrew McDonald, he absolutely had no problem during his time there," the agent said. "He has no emotional, mental, physical scars from his time there. He's moved on.
" ... He didn't let the sticks and stones break his bones. Basically, as far as some of the words that were used toward him, he's very confident and secure in his sexuality, and so anything that anybody called him or said to him didn't really affect his need to go about his business and do the best he could to make the team."
McKinnie also refuted the report's findings, stopping short of using the word "bullying" to represent the team's beleaguered locker-room culture or attitude toward Martin.
"I don't feel like bullying was the term because I don't feel like nobody physically harmed (Martin) or made him do anything," McKinnie told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday. "He always had an option to say yes or no. It was never like he got bullied and he was fearing for his life."
In addition, McKinnie discussed the 1,000-plus text messages exchanged between Martin and Incognito from October 2012 to November 2013, while questioning Martin's decision to seek help outside of the Dolphins' auspices.
"It went from keeping it to yourself to just letting the whole world know how you feel. So now you kind of blindsided some of our coaches and everybody, because everybody wasn't aware," McKinnie said. "If you're sending messages back and stuff, and you're kind of joking and they think you're joking back with them, they don't see it either. I just think it was a lack of communication."
McKinnie opined that in an attempt to return to the NFL, Martin might even face some reluctant suitors.
"Some people might look at Jon as well, 'He might be too sensitive for this environment, and we don't know, emotionally, if he's emotionally stable enough to do this.' So I don't know," McKinnie said.


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Supervisors Affirm Medical Marijuana Strategy – July 26, 2011
Daniel Mintz
Eye Correspondent
HUMBOLDT – Following a series of bureaucratic struggles, the county's effort to regulate medical marijuana will retain an initial focus on residential grows and dispensaries, and will look to Mendocino County as a model for a second phase on outdoor grows.
Dealing with regulatory issues was challenging for the county's Planning Commission, which was stumped on many of them when it reviewed a draft medical marijuana ordinance last May. One commissioner recommended dropping the effort, saying that controlling medical use is beyond the Commission's authority.
But the draft ordinance's focus on residential grows and regulation of dispensaries was reaffirmed at the July 12 Board of Supervisors meeting. Supervisors asked the Commission to handle those aspects first, then review a separate set of rules for outdoor growing and dispensary supply sources.
A "work plan" for the second phase will be outlined to supervisors in early September and sometime before that, Mendocino County Supervisor John McCowen will give a presentation on his county's outdoor cultivation ordinance.
The Mendocino ordinance is controversial for its involvement of police who inspect and tag growers' plants through a fee-based program. But Board Chairman Mark Lovelace, who comprises the board's Medical Marijuana Subcommittee with Supervisor Jimmy Smith, said Mendocino's law might only be partially borrowed from.
Supervisors dealt with quandaries similar to the ones that bogged down the Planning Commission. There was debate about whether controls on outdoor growing should be delayed, as Supervisor Ryan Sundberg said more people are growing outdoors in residential areas to compensate for price declines by avoiding electric bills.
He described problems with the strong odor of marijuana in rural residential areas of his district, like Willow Creek. "I don't know how we can tell those people, "Well sorry, we're just doing indoor,'" said Sundberg. "They can't even go outside – it's not fair and there's got to be something we can do to tackle that part of the problem when it's that blatant."
"I think that's why the Planning Commission had such a difficult time with this issue, because it's so hard to find where those lines can be drawn," said Community Development Services Director Kirk Girard. He told supervisors it would take "a long time to do this correctly" but problems with indoor residential grows and dispensary permitting demand swift response.
During a public comment session, members of growers' advocacy groups recommended dealing with both indoor and outdoor residential grows during the first phase. The idea of establishing outdoor grow setbacks was mentioned by Sundberg but Supervisor Clif Clendenen warned that it could be too prohibitive for patients who own smaller lots.
As the discussion drifted deeper into bureaucratic intricacies, Supervisor Smith said the County needs to buckle down to basics and get an ordinance on the books.
"The fear remains for me that we've got some ordinances in place in Eureka and Arcata, for example, and we have nothing in the county," he said. The discrepancies between the sometimes bordering areas "really presents law enforcement with a lot of problems, Smith continued.
"And we now have a backlog of dispensaries looking for conditional use permits and we have no guidance," he said.
As it became clearer that most supervisors see regulation of indoor grows and dispensaries as a priority, Girard recommended that they "draw the line at that point" and deal with "the whole supply chain" of dispensaries and "a Mendocino-type ordinance" on outdoor growing in a second phase.
Supervisors unanimously agreed to pursue that strategy.


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Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad Review
- Beautifully designed
- Lovely to type on
- Turns your iPad into a laptop alternative
- Supremely slim
- Doesn't protect the back of your iPad
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £72.00
- Anodised aluminium shell
- Holds the iPad magnetically
- Clamshell or upright design
As we implied in our article 'Why Windows 8 will kill the laptop', convertible tablets are beginning to take over from laptops. However, while premium tabs like the Microsoft Surface and Asus Transformer offer optional first-party keyboard solution to turn them into decent productivity machines, Apple's iPad does not. Thanks to the iPad's popularity there are plenty of third-party keyboard cases though, and we're looking at Logitech's very promising Ultrathin Keyboard Cover.
Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover – Design
Quite simply, the Ultrathin is the best-looking keyboard cover we've seen. It's a single, solid slab whose entire back is anodised aluminium, and it mimics the back of an iPad with great effect. The front keyboard section is glossy black or white plastic to match your iPad colour choice, with matt used for the keyboard.
Build quality is superb. Thanks no doubt in part to its metal back, the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover is the best-built iPad keyboard solution we've yet come across. Despite this it's still very light at a mere 355g, and it lives up to its Ultrathin name by being under 10mm thin. It's obvious that a lot of care and attention went into the Keyboard Cover's design.
When in non-laptop mode, the Ultrathin Keyboard Cover attaches to the iPad with a magnetic hinge that lets you 'open' and 'close' the duo like a laptop. When closed, it looks much like two iPads sandwiched together, making for a very stylish amalgam.
When you want to type on it, simply pull the two sections apart and insert the iPad into the provided magnetic groove above the keyboard area, which holds it so securely that you can dangle the tablet upside-down from the Ultrathin if you so desire.
With the keyboard acting as a stand, the iPad is angled precisely to provide an easy viewing angle. Unlike on some rival products you can't adjust this angle, but as a testimony to Logitech's engineering we never felt the need to.
The single biggest disadvantage to Logitech's iPad keyboard solution will probably already have become apparent to you: it doesn't protect your iPad's back – which is more vulnerable than the tablet's toughened glass front to scratches and marks. As such, you may want to get an extra slipcase to protect the iPad plus Ultrathin combo.
On the Ultrathin's right side you'll find a discrete Bluetooth pairing button, on/off switch, and microUSB charging port. The Ultrathin will last weeks on a single charge, and Logitech provides a microUSB cable plus lint-free cleaning cloth with its cover.
Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover – Keyboard
When it must partner a 9.7-inch tablet which is not as wide as the average Android or Windows tablet, it's a pretty safe bet that the typing experience isn't going to match that of a laptop/netbook – and indeed, all the previous iPad cases we've tried confirmed this. However, the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover puts our assumptions on their head by providing a keyboard that many netbooks should be envious of.
Layout and key spacing is superb, with number keys doubling as iOS function keys, a full-size right-shift key, and the welcome rarity of a full-size UK Enter key. Everything is exactly where you would expect it to be, and the shallow ridge that runs around the outside disappears to leave your thumbs unhindered access to the space bar. The space bar and other keys on its row are also vertically elongated, making them much easier to hit.
Feedback is equally impressive, with lots of travel and nice firm action to each key. What really sets Logitech's Ultrathin Keyboard Cover apart from the majority of iPad keyboards though is that the keys are larger. Where the average keyboard case has keys that are 12-13mm across, those on the Ultrathin are 14mm, which makes all the difference in the world.
To put it simply, this is the best typing experience you'll get for an iPad, or indeed with any tablet save perhaps the Microsoft Surface – though Logitech's keyboard feels far more solid than the thinner Microsoft Type Cover. In fact, we wish Asus would provide its Transformer tablets with keyboards this good.
Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover – Price
Logitech's superb iPad keyboard solution is available for around £70. This may seem a lot when you can get alternatives for under £40, but in this case you definitely get what you pay for, both in terms of quality and usability. The stylish Ultrathin is worth every penny for anyone who wants to do some comfortable typing on their iPad.
There are many iPad keyboard covers on the market, but the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover is definitely the one to rule them all. It's a superbly designed accessory that's very stylish, holds your iPad securely at a comfortable angle for typing or watching movies, and quite simply offers the best typing experience on any 10-inch tablet. Our only niggle is that it doesn't protect your iPad's back, but this seems a small price to pay for what it brings to the table(t).
How we test tablets
We test every tablet we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the tablet as our main device over the review period. We'll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
Design 9
Value 9
Features 8


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Sunday, March 27, 2016
Bunny Love cookies
Ooops is it Easter already and I haven't shared any of the cookies and projects I made up.
Luckily I did take some photo's of these cookies even if I didn't do the process shots because they're pretty cute.
Sweet floral pastel bunnies. I mean really how could you go wrong.
The flowers are teensy little fondant ones with royal icing centers and they each have an edible soft gold ball (from Queen) and then I decorated them with a few royal icing leaves.
I served them with some water color cookies in matching pastel hues (CLICK HERE for last week's post).
Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the Children's cookbook Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! Published in the USA in 2011 the book is still available at Amazon and many online bookstores.
Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.
Original ideas, photography and recipes Linda Vandermeer please do not reuse without permission except for non commercial purposes where you may use 1 image, give credit and link back to original post.
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Like a household on a tight budget, our TCP100 survey shows many concrete producers are choosing not to invest heavily in new equipment. Two-thirds of the producers answering our survey said they would spend less on capital expenditures this year compared to 2010.
A decrease is not surprising. The U. S. construction industry spent $19.8 billion on capital expenditures in 2009, according to the most recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is a 52% drop from $40.8 billion in 2008.
Silvi Concrete of Fairless Hills, Pa., exemplifies the quandary. The Philadelphia-area producer plans to spend near $2 million in equipment this year. But much of this is for Silvi's other business. "The mining division is holding up better than the ready-mix division," says company co-president Larry Silvi.
Silvi Concrete bought a competitor, American Concrete in South Plainfield, N.J., in April. Silvi bought a new loader and truck scale for that operation. The remainder of the spending is for its mining and aggregate business. Rebuilding the New Jersey Turnpike is a large area project, but it benefits Silvi's mining business more than the concrete sector.
"We're doing a lot of maintenance to keep our plants in good shape, but we're not buying very much on the ready-mix side of things," Silvi says. "I have 30 ready-mix trucks sitting for sale if you know anyone who wants to buy them. You take a piece of equipment to auction and you get nothing for it. It's almost better to hang on to it for a couple of years and hope the auction prices come up."
But while a house still needs upkeep and occasional replacement of its roof, windows, and furnace, concrete plants can not run smoothly forever without new batch plants, trucks, conveyors, and other machinery. For example, Ferrara Bros. Building Materials, Flushing, N.Y., plans to purchase a new batch plant in 2011.
Adjusting spending plans
Some producers have already changed their spending plans. In its quarterly earnings statement released in early August, Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan Materials revised its capital spending plans for 2011, from $125 million at the start of the year to $100 million. But this would still be more than the $86 million the company invested in 2010. This amount is for all of Vulcan's businesses, including concrete, aggregates, and cement.
A year after exiting bankruptcy, U.S. Concrete "continues to focus on minimizing capital investment expenditures in order to maintain liquidity." The Houston-based producer will focus only on maintenance and repairs in 2011. Its $6.3 million in expenditures in 2010 was less than half of the $13.9 million the previous year.
When will companies start buying in greater numbers? Silvi says if a producer's piece of equipment was 15 or 20 years old when the recession began and it is still operating five years later, "either you are going to spend a lot of money maintaining it or you'll need to replace it. It depends what your bottom line looks like and how comfortable your bank feels with you."
So while producers wait for demand to increase again, the TCP100 survey shows some are willing, perhaps grudgingly, to buy what they need. Turn the page to see who is buying what in 2011.


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This week Stargate Universe tried to heal our wounded hearts from last weeks crazy episode — by trampling a key character.
Everyone was pissed this episode. Rush was mad because Angry Lucian murdered his new sweetheart, whom he'd only just let into his heart. Eli was pissed because his brand new girl is probably also dead, and Angry Lucian is pissed, because that's what he was put on this show to be.
The stand off between Rush and Angry Lucian was top-notch stuff. We especially enjoyed it when Rush Mufasa-ed Angry Lucian with the angry alien stampede. It was creative, clever, and gave us all new aliens to look at. By killing, Rush is taking back the power he lost over the Bridge. It should be interesting to see how this death and revenge will change his demeanor over the next few episodes. It might not change too much, as he had a pretty cool head, while disarming the bomb from "girl scientist's" back (which in itself was actually a pretty great scene). Perhaps Scott will have a lot more to say to Rush after their strange one-on-one on the desert planet. Watching Scott give Rush advice was very odd, seeing as I assumed Rush was Scott's spiritual adviser, from the strange fever dreams he had a few episodes back. Then again, they could be grooming him to take Young's spot by the end of the season.
Let's talk about Eli's anger. Now, I'm not saying that this character isn't entitled to feel angry and lash out in crazy ways, but the whole "give me a gun" thing was almost too out of character for Eli. Plus how long had Eli really known Ginn? No more than a week or two tops by my guess. That being said how long did we know Ginn? Does the possible death of this character really have that big of an emotional impact on the audience? The actual murder itself was incredibly shocking and good TV (man goes into a room, man comes out and the lady is dead. I didn't need to see it, my mind did all the work already, and it's 1,000 times more horrible when I imagine it than anything they could have shown). But I'm not so sure the death warranted a crazy Eli. We will, however, give him the anger he possessed on the Bridge — that seemed much more Eli than actually looking for a gun to murder someone with.
In the end none of us really know what happened to Ginn, and I suspect we won't find out for at least another episode or two. Is she trapped in Amanda's body, or did killing Ginn's body kill Ginn as well? Are they both dead? We don't know. I'm very curious to find out what will happen. I ask this because even though James reported she was dead, we all know the Stargate rule when it comes to pretty characters, plus Joseph Mallozzi hinted that whatever you think happened to Ginn, didn't. So me personally, I think she's coming back.
And finally, the other thing we got a little taste of this episode was more of Chloe's transformation. Why any of them let her into the control room, I'll never know, especially since EVERYONE seemed to have such a ridiculous problem with her being there in the first place. But you'd think the crew of SGU would have figured it out by now that everything on Destiny can be solved with math — especially if it's alien math. They should have just given her some chalk and said, "work it out on this wall, and then we'll copy it if it's legit."
While I didn't love this episode as much as last week's, you have to admit that SGU is finally finding a balance and tempo for this series. They're sticking to simple drama, and infusing each episode with just enough spice, and thus far it's been working. Fingers crossed they can keep this up.


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I was previously using Superhero on this blog. I really liked the design, and I had customized it quite a bit. Well, call me crazy, but I'm really starting to like large, readable text. I wear glasses, and I can see quite well, but I really enjoy reading when I can comfortably lean back in my chair and read what's on the screen without squinting or leaning forward. While I loved what I made under Superhero, I was never happy with the text size, and the design itself just looked odd with the text boosted to comfortable levels.
Ryu is a gorgeous, minimalistic, and simply huge theme. I really hope that you can lean back and comfortably read this, because I sure can. Besides simply being designed for large text, Ryu is a single-column theme, so you have no distractions off to the side. As a blogger, I love sidebars. As a reader, not so much, so I decided that it was finally time to let go of the sidebar. Instead, you can find my widgets tucked away in Ryu's super-handy top navigation panel. Plus, Ryu does this rather fascinating trick with the background colors of image posts, which are automatically selected to complement the image. Go ahead, check out my image posts, but please come back.
When I say Ryu, most of you are probably thinking of Ryu from Street Fighter. Well, this theme has nothing to do with that, so to celebrate the new theme, here's Guile's theme covered by Smooth McGroove, because Guile's theme goes with everything.


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Two boys were arguing when the teacher entered the room. The teacher says, "Why are you arguing?"
One boy answers, "We found a ten dollar bill and decided to give it to whoever tells the biggest lie."
"You should be ashamed of yourselves," said the teacher, "When I was your age I didn't even know what a lie was."
The boys gave the ten dollars to the teacher.


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Our diligent and well organised cleaning teams are made up of qualified cleaning technicians who will go about their work with professional pace, precision and efficiency. The cleaning process will be done in a structured, systematic fashion, with the least amount of disruption to customers' schedule.
Our end of lease cleaning in Bexley is a fully comprehensive cleaning treatment which covers the entire place from top to bottom. Naturally, customers can have us focus on specific rooms or areas which require more cleaning time and effort. Generally, Original Cleaners Bexley will invest extra time and effort into cleaning heavy duty rooms like the kitchen, the toilet and the bathroom, as well as high traffic zones like hallways, staircases and front door areas. All of these will be under lots of scrutiny during the final landlord inspection so we need to ensure immaculate hygiene where it matters most.
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– in our book that is genuine value for money. Our customers can expect moderate service costs and industry standard cleaning results.


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Monday, September 3, 2012
More Greg Bell Swipes
Consequently, when reader Ake Rosenius pointed out several more to me that I'd not seen before, I had to share them with others. My apologies if anyone has already seen these, but they are completely new to me.
I've never been a big comics reader, so I'd never have noticed these swipes if they hadn't been pointed to me. As more and more people delve into this, I've begun to wonder whether any of Bell's illustrations in OD&D and its supplements is wholly original and without an antecedent in prior art. Again, I say this not in condemnation of Bell, whose work, I think, is a big part of what makes OD&D the game it is. If I might wax philosophical for a moment, I might even go so far as to say that Bell's swipes are an artistic reflection of OD&D itself, which swiped of ideas from earlier books, movies, and comics in creating the fantasy goulash that would eventually colonize the world's imagination.
10 comments:
- John StephensSeptember 3, 2012 at 4:23 PM
It was a simpler, more innocent time. Can you imagine the fire-frothing hellstorm if someone tried this with Marvels' IP nowadays?ReplyDelete
- Jose RodriguezSeptember 3, 2012 at 4:25 PM
I ever think they were fan art from a friend or some loyal player, who was obviosly inspired by old comic books. However, I like this art because it shows the D&D poor (economically speaking) origins.ReplyDelete
- Peter V. Dell'OrtoSeptember 3, 2012 at 6:29 PM
I wonder if he didn't just trace them. Tracing paper, over the comic, draw in your own weapon (or trace it elsewhere), done. I don't have them to compare, but I remember a friend used to do character portraits that way - trace a guy from the books and then change stuff a bit.ReplyDelete
- reddeerrunSeptember 3, 2012 at 7:14 PM
Who says they needed to be absolutely original - he probably taught himself to draw using comic-books.ReplyDelete
- Zenopus ArchivesSeptember 3, 2012 at 7:15 PM
Thanks for the further info on Bell sources. Soon we'll be able to construct a Greg Bell Appendix N of comic books. To me personally I see his use of comic book art as similar to Gygax's use of Tolkien races in D&D.ReplyDelete
I was just wondering about the Greyhawk cover the other day. I think it may be my favorite Bell. The beholder looks more charming than menacing, and almost looks like it's conversing with the warrior.
Back during the d20 boom/glut, Avalanche Press put out a ton of products with racy covers, almost all of which were heavily based on photos from Playboy. Background was different, they had (some) clothes on in strategic spots, but you could easily recognize the models, much less the actual photos..ReplyDelete
Hell, i think most of the comics from the early and mid nineties ripped each other off on a monthly basis. How many of all the booming Image artists back then had their own super team with clones of established hero types of dc or marvel? I'd say all of emReplyDelete
I'm disgusted by the lack of condemnation for these examples of blatant plagiarism.ReplyDelete
- MalcadonSeptember 4, 2012 at 6:52 AM
As a kid, I learned how to draw from coping the style off of comic books. They were there, and it was a great way to learn the human form. Its not that bad, as he mostly copied the poses, and did good work to convey the general themes of the game. And yeah, I have always found his work to be charming.ReplyDelete
- Rudy aka PruneauSeptember 4, 2012 at 5:55 PM
It seems obvious to me that this is not just 'being inspired by', this fellow has just been copying drawings 1:1, tracing seems perfectly plausible. Every illustrator uses reference, but this is blatant copying, and the guy clearly can't draw, because the hair on the barbarian is very poorly done, and everything else is a copy of the comic persona. So the one thing he did have to draw is poorly done.ReplyDelete
And poor origins... I hear ya, I played RuneQuest and DragonQuest back in the 70, 80 and illustrations were poor as well. But this I find rather shocking.


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State Review Finds K12 Teacher Certification Problems
An inquiry by the Florida Department of Education's Inspector General found that online educator K12 Inc. employed three teachers in Florida who lacked proper certification to teach some subjects, according to a draft report.
Virginia-based K12 is the nation's largest operator of online schools. K12 operates in 43 Florida school districts, including in Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Orange and Duval counties.
The company teaches everything from art to algebra to students in kindergarten through high school.
Last year, StateImpact Florida and the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting reported that K12 used teachers in Seminole County who lacked the required subject certification and asked some teachers to help cover up the practice. K12 officials asked teachers with proper subject certification to sign class rosters including students they had not taught, according to company emails and other internal documents.
According to Florida law, teachers must pass three exams to earn state certification as well as be certified for the subject and grades they teach. The state investigation, sparked by a complaint from the Seminole County School District, found at least three middle-school K12 teachers in Seminole County who did not have proper subject certification. The investigation, however, did not find teachers without general certification, which was among the allegations in the original complaint from Seminole County.
In Florida, school districts must notify parents if a teacher is not subject-certified. Teachers then have three years to earn certification before the school district is penalized. Seminole County schools said they had no evidence that parents of K12 students were notified that the teachers did not have subject certification.
K12 has refunded the Seminole County school district the $12,800 cost for the 16 courses taught by teachers without subject certification.
The state investigation is not yet complete. Both K12 and Seminole County schools are challenging some of the draft report's conclusions.
In its response to the Florida Department of Education, K12 said the state investigation confirms the conclusions of an earlier internal review, which found only "minor mistakes" with subject and grade certifications.
"It is troubling that SCPS officials engaged the [Office of Inspector General] before raising these serious allegations directly with its vendor," K12 attorney Kenneth Sukhia wrote in the response.
Taking the matter up with K12 first, Sukhia wrote, "could have likely avoided or minimized this costly investigative process and the unjustifiable damage it has done to K12."
The Seminole County School District said in its response that state investigators did not follow up on evidence the company was using teachers who lacked Florida certification. The district cited one teacher who lost her state license but continued to teach until the end of the 2010-11 school year, according to K12 records. State investigators also limited their review to Seminole County, and only to a portion of one school year.
"If a statewide provider was utilizing a certain staffing practice, it is reasonable to expect that evidence of that practice may be found in other counties where that provider operates," Seminole County School District attorney Ned Julian wrote.
Seminole County school officials and a K12 spokesman declined to answer questions about the state investigation.
The state report recommended a handful of changes to improve K12's record keeping, including ensuring that only teachers with direct contact with students sign class rolls, distinguishing between homeroom teachers and subject instructors, and maintaining records for at least three years, as required by Florida law.
K12 said in its response that the company has already made these changes. The inspector general will consider the responses and could make changes to the report's conclusions or recommendations. The agency said there is no schedule for when the report will be finished.
Read the inspector general's draft report here.
The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit news organization supported by foundations and individual contributions. For more information, visit fcir.org. StateImpact Florida is an educating reporting project of NPR, WUSF in Tampa and WLRN in Miami. For more information, visit http://stateimpact.npr.org.


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FCC Public Inspection File
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