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I am a numbers and graphs kind of guy. I have spent too much time looking at research and scientific reports to shed this tendency. I literally get excited when I see a graph that simply and elegantly tells a story. One of my recent favorites appears below.
This graph is important in the human health discussions relating to the Cherry Point coal terminal. The story it tells is that when it comes to diesel particulates, that trains are better than tractor-trailer semis but only slightly better. And while project proponents will talk about EPA's Tier IV standards, wood stove smoke, the greater fuel efficiency of trains, and reductions in greenhouse gases, they cannot escape the fact that when trains do work they emit diesel particulates at a level similar to semis moving the same amount of cargo.
As the debate about this project has always been centered on issues of cargo and scale, it is important to translate figures like these and impacts so that they are accessible to folks who might not understand the implication of Tier IV standards or the relative health implications of wood smoke versus diesel particulates. For me this hit home when we used the above numbers and applied them to the current situation.
Just to help us understand the issue and scale a little bit better, we asked ourselves a question. The question was this: If we look solely at the diesel particulate emissions associated with the hauling of 48 million metric tons of coal through communities all along the 624 mile route in Washington State, how many diesel semis would it take to create that same level of DPM emissions. We felt it would be instructive to know whether we were talking about a small number or a large number. Would this number make us feel better about this proposition or cause us even more concern?
So we calculated stack emissions for full trains coming in and empty but still weighty trains exiting on their way back to the mines. From that exercise we derived two numbers: one that examined high capacity coal cars and one that used standard coal cars. Once we derived that number we went through the same exercise with semis—full and empty—and got an emissions number for those vehicles. Each analysis used the grams per ton-mile described in BNSF's slide above.
The result of these multi-step analyses astounded us. When put in terms of semis the level of diesel particulate emissions from these coal trains (we did not calculate for existing traffic or the 6 million metric tons of additional cargoes) came out to 2.6 million semis per year for heavier cars (1.3 million full and 1.3 million leaving empty) and 2.8 million semis per year for the lower capacity coal cars. So this translates the question before us now on Cherry Point into: Are communities in Washington willing to welcome a new freeway's worth air pollution—one semi's worth of diesel particulates every 11 or 12 seconds—into the heart of their communities?
Are You Ready for a Convoy?


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subset: commoncrawl


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Jeon Somi's "XOXO" Music Video Was Difficult To Film—But She Was A Complete Professional About It
Jeon Somi impressed with her music video for her latest comeback "XOXO." It didn't just have an engaging storyline and topnotch acting, it also had a high-budget set to complement it!
Recently, Pony, her makeup artist, reacted to the video and shared some behind the scenes stories that she personally witnessed on-site.
One such story was about how difficult it was to film. For one of the scenes that day, it was so hot that the back of their necks were getting burnt.
In the case of these midday scenes, I'm sure viewers may think it was taken during the day—and yes, but we filmed this under the scorching sun, to the point where the staff's necks were burnt!
— Pony
When they monitored Somi's performance in the sidelines, they had no choice but to squint and shield their eyes with their hands.
It was so bright that we couldn't open our eyes or see too well. Everyone was monitoring like this.
— Pony
In spite of the blinding sun, Somi herself managed to keep her eyes completely open. Pony expressed awe at Somi for it and praised her for her professionalism.
I don't know how she managed to keep her eyes fully opened and lip sync so well under the sun. Somi was such a professional.
— Pony
Considering Somi's years of experience in the K-Pop industry, it's no wonder she's so good at what she does! Read about how Somi's dad ended up being cast in the "XOXO" music video here:
Jeon Somi's Dad Wasn't Originally Supposed To Be In The "XOXO" Music Video—Here's What Happened


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Pro-NOUNCE-it is innovative software that uses a graphical approach to illustrate English pronounciation. It solves a crucial problem for children learning to read and for the 1 billion or so people who are currently struggling into English from other languages: that we all lean on spelling to guess (or remember) the pronunciation of words, yet correct spelling does not always reflect correct pronunciation. Even people who speak English regularly may mispronounce such common words as work, wander, wonder, worm, warm; while rarer words, including unfamiliar place-names and surnames, are a persistent trap even for the highly literate.
Not yet for sale, demonstration copies can be obtained for commercial and educational use. Pro-NOUNCE-it is protected by 'International PCT patent no. pct/au00/00286: Text Processing and Display Methods and Systems' in the name of Mark O'Connor. The software is being developed by Carl Hindle of Blue Wizard software http://www.bluewizard.com.au. See below for further information and details on obtaining a demonstration copy.
Text may be instantly pasted into Pro-NOUNCE-it from any source - web, email, or Word. Information about the pronunciation of each word - and in fact each letter - is automatically added. Some or all of that information is then displayed, at the user's choice. Correct spelling and punctuation are retained. The pronunciation of each letter is shown by slight yet clearly perceptible alterations to its shape and sometimes its color. Because the eye scans 3 to 4 times faster than the tongue speaks, such visual information is much more swiftly absorbed than that provided by an 'audio display' – though this too is available.
This method of showing pronunciation is quite different from the pronunciation-guide you might find in a dictionary, where the only way to show a word's pronunciation is to write it out a second time in a different alphabet. (No one is going to read continuous text in which each word appears twice; whereas texts in Pro-NOUNCE-it are quite easy to read. Indeed for those who are troubled by their inability to form an "audio-image" of those words they know only on the page, it should be easier than normal text.)
Most importantly, the amount of information offered is under the user's control. There are ten levels of display available. The first shows no visual changes to the text, and the last shows full phonemic information about the pronunciation. In all levels you can place the cursor on a given letter to bring up an explanation of exactly how it is pronounced in a particular word (in a particular dialect).
Here are some "texts" comprising words that are pronounced differently in different dialects:
1. For Australian versus British:
nephew, tryst, dance, chance, glance, example, sample, Ralph, exam, ensure, sure, assure, insure, poor, moor, boor, Moorish, mooring, ambiguous, assiduous, twelfth, garage, actual, actuary, annual, bureau, lingerie, lure, pure, women, vitamin
2. For British (or Australian) versus American:
herb odd zenith asthma Monday vase half calf after clerk erase example exam been
tomato syrup quinine dynasty schedule mauve garage chagrin medicine centenary
stationary, figure leisure path glass grass can't ask laugh pass basket era Sahara
corollary frontier laboratory bastard military nuclear new territory what tuna
hurry scurry cataract cooperate occur worrisome
occurrence actual sexual actuary bureau, cough, dew, encore, glance,
lingerie, lure, ordinary, past, poor, prayer, rarely, rendezvous, sure, there,
what, vitamin, tuna, perpetual, situation, student, duke, due, assume, engine
nude, tune, Tuesday, apricot, beta, charade, cordial, fillet, privacy, route,
schedule, semi, strychnine, banana, zebra
Those who have a copy of the Pro-NOUNCE-it software can simply place this list in the top panel on their screen, then click on Convert, then change the choice of Dialect, and see the resulting changes.
For further information about Pro-NOUNCE-it see:
For other enquiries or to obtain a demonstration copy for commercial or educational use contact Mark O'Connor for a demonstration-copy. [ firstname.lastname@example.com ]


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If it has to be whiskey, make it a handcrafted single malt. The 2015 adoption of our unique Solera system marries the best characteristics of each single-barrel to achieve a depth of flavor and complexity that is not possible with a single barrel system alone.
"Because we are a winery AND a distillery, naturally we have an abundance of wine barrels. We chose to go with a more fruit-forward recipe for our new Single Malt to really utilize the depth of flavors we have created within our wine barrels," states Production Manager, Kolin Brighton.
"BEST AMERICAN CRAFT WHISKEY" – 2016 New York World Wine & Spirits Competition


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No sooner had the disputes around the 3DMark2003 and Detonator FX drivers faded away than www.tech-report.com published some information about new cheats for this benchmark in the same Detonator FX, namely about the aggressive optimization of anisotropic filtering with the name of an active application being the criterion of its activation. The ShaderMark from ToMMTi-Systems also had its shader code slightly modified which noticeably affected the performance; it indicates that the Detonator FX plays tricks on it as well. Since this hunting is acquiring the mass character we decided to investigate this issue ourselves. But we realize that to reveal the driver's tricks with benchmarks we need to cooperate with developers of given applications in 99% of cases. Moreover, even the developers are not always able to find and eliminate such optimizations because drivers often use very sophisticated methods of detection of one or another application. That is why we decided to look at the problem differently and to analyze the driver inside to locate and lock all ways of detection of one or another Direct3D application. It will disarm the driver and bring to minimum the risk of getting wrong benchmark results.
So, the starting point in our investigation was that the driver reacts to renaming of an executable file of at least one benchmark. It means that its code must contain an algorithm that analyzes names of active Direct3D applications. The first our step was to look for it. The research showed that the Detonator FX really contains a base of applications detectable with a command line that covers about 70 elements. When creating a Direct3D context the driver calculates two 64bit checksums using the name of the executable file and a list of captions of all process windows to get a unique 128bit identifier of the Direct3D application and to make settings for this application if it's available in the base. Unfortunately, it's impossible to find out names of applications from 128bit identifiers from the base. The only thing we can do to decode names of applications is to write a utility able to calculate checksums for an arbitrarily entered line according to the algorithm used by the driver. It can help to check whether the base contains a given application. And now we can only guess what applications beside 3DMark2003 can be found there. Its size indicates that the most part of it is used to avoid certain problems and probably to optimize certain gaming applications because the overall number of existant synthetic and gaming Direct3D benchamrks is noticeably less than 70. Supposedly, the same base contains compatibility settings for forcing full-screen anti-aliasing by the super-sampling method in certain DirectX6 and DirectX7 applications (the base of compatibility settings for supersampling of quite a big size wasn't decoded in the earlier versions). But it mustn't be ruled out that some of applications are detected by the driver in order to realize tricks undesirable for users, in particular, to activate aggressive optimizations for one or another benchmark. Whether it's right or not will be found out a bit later, and now we are starting the procedure of calculating the checksum which is used by the driver to identify applications.
This procedure is used by the driver not only for identification of an active application by creating a 128bit checksum when the context is made, but also uses it to form additional checksums. We found the links to this procedure and very suspicious calculations of checksums in handlers of many D3DDP2OP_... tokens. Let me digress a little to explain to you what are D3DDP2OP_... tokens. If you have some knowledge of programming in the API Direct3D, you probably know that an application communicates with a Direct3D accelerator on the COM interface IDirect3DDevice..., but do you know when and how transferred from the application to the interface get to Direct3D driver? Requests for many methods of this interface are transformed by the API into special control words (tokens) that get into the internal command buffer, and its contents is the input data for the Direct3 driver. For example, when creating a pixel shader by the command CreatePixelShader the API puts into the command buffer the token D3DDP2OP_CREATEPIXELSHADER and a structure unique for this token which contains a shader code to be created. In other words, the internal command buffer contains D3DDP2OP_... tokens that identify one or another command a given Direct3D application fulfills and some data provided by the application. The Direct3D driver, or rather its D3dDrawPrimitives2 function processes the command buffer. This stage of the driver's processing of buffer tokens suits best of all for realization of detection of applications by analyzing the data supplied. At this moment the driver can identify vertex and pixel shaders created by a given application, analyze the format and contents of textures when it's loaded into the video memory and identify many other specific things. That is why we should focus on the command buffer processor realized in the body of the D3dDrawPrimitives2 function if we want to find code parts used by the driver for identification of certain applications.
So, we said that we noticed suspicious calculations of checksums in functions processing certain D3DDP2OP_... tokens. Unfortunately, there were also D3DDP2OP_CREATEPIXELSHADER and D3DDP2OP_CREATEVERTEXSHADER, and the checksum was calculated according to the tokenized input shader code. It means that this is the very attempt of the driver to identify one or another pixel or vertex shader or one or another Direct3D application. The scandal around the 3DMark2003 and DetonatorFX proved that the driver identifies and replaces some pixel and vertex shaders in this benchmark, but it's confusing that only the number of calculated checksums of vertex shaders is about 50, which is incomparable to the number of optimizations for the 3DMark2003 found and voiced by Futuremark. That is why we decided to lock the checkups found to estimate a pure performance of the Direct3D driver. The well structured Detonator code helped us: since the driver uses the same procedure of checksum calculation in all mechanisms of identification of Direct3D applications, we created a small patch-script NVAntiDetector that slightly modifies the calculation algorithm by changing the original value of its seed. The procedure thus calculates checksums different from the original ones and locks all drivers' detecton methods, the command line analysis etc. Surely, we can't guarantee that this patch-script disables all tricks, as well as locks admissible optimizations and algorithms of avoiding problems in certain applications. We admit that but it's not an obstacle because our aim is to estimate performance in benchmarks, and no detection algorithms for one or another popular synthetic test application used for performance estimation only should take place in the driver's body.
The results of the Detonator FX tested together with the NVAntiDetector exceeded all expectations. The GPU family with its flagship GeForceFX 5900Ultra got much slower in almost all synthetic and gaming Direct3D benchmarks. The performance drop in the 3DMark2003 is incomparable to the results of the patch 330 that locked all Detonator FX's cheats used in this benchmark detected by the Futurtemark. Only the beta version of our RightMark3D showed the same scores, but this benchmark is not very popular yet, and its shaders are unknown to the Direct3D driver. At the moment we are working on a full-scale review of production cards based on the GeForceFX 5900Ultra which will also cover operation of this card together with the NVAntiDetector. And now let's estimate the scores of the benchmark which is becoming a thing of the past. As you understand, we will speak about the predecessor of the 3DMark2003 - 3DMark2001 SE. You may say that this is an obsolete benchmark, and it makes no sense in the tests. But if you remember, Futuremark always tried to make benchmarks with an eye to the future, that is why its complexity corresponds to what we can see in today's games. Moreover, looking for tricks in this benchmark will help us prove or disprove NVIDIA's statements made right after the release of the Futuremark's patch 330 that eliminates Detonator FX's cheats for the 3DMark2003. If you remember, the company tried to justify the tricks saying that the 3DMark2003 tests didn't comply to what we could see in future games and the 3DMark2003 discredited their products. Let's have a look at the previous Futuremark's solution which didn't produce such a negative reaction and wasn't so biased from NVIDIA's standpoint.
So, to repeat results of our tests you will need:
For the scripts you will need to install and start the RivaTuner at least once to register this application as a processor of RTS files. Then you can start a script required from the OS explorer, and install the patched version having changed the distrtibutive of the Direct3D driver. It's enough to lock in the Direct3D driver all found mechanisms of detection of Direct3D applications. Well, let's see whether the results of the 3DMark2001 will change after installation of the NVAntiDetector.
It's clear that the situation with tricks in the synthetic benchmark is not new for NVIDIA, and the optimization for the 3DMark2003 is not an exception:
With the benchmark detection being impossible the total score of the 3DMark2001 goes down by almost 10%. The total score is based on the game test results and is calculated by the following formula:
3DMark score = (Game1LowDetail + Game2LowDetail + Game3LowDetail) * 10 + (Game1HighDetail + Game2HighDetail + Game3HighDetail + Game4) * 20
The formula indicates that the half of difference (i.e. almost 600 points, (20 * (74.6 - 42.8))) between the original and modified driver is dependent on the Game4 results. What does the driver do to be able to lift the scores so greatly when it detects a given scene?
Let's take a look at the test4 and try to find where the driver could save on calculations. Most probably, the rendering speed of the Nature scene must depend a lot on animated grass and leaves of trees which make a considerable part of the scene geometry. They are the main candidates for optimization, and the driver should save on them first. To clear that out we are going to compare the image quality on the screenshots made with the original and modified drivers (ALL FULL-SIZE SCREENSHOTS are in the BMP format, that is why EACH IS ABOUT 2.5MB, they are packed in RAR achives each measuring from 1.3 to 3 MB):
Like in case with NVIDIA, the scenes are identical at first glance. But again we used the careful examination of the screenshots. Again, we used Adobe Photoshop to calculate the per-pixel difference between them and then intensified it with the Auto Contrast function:
It reminds me the picture I saw above when analyzed optimizations of the NVIDIA's drivers. It's obvious that ATI also pulls up the results at the expense of the alternative rendering of leaves and grass, i.e. at the expense of the objects the scene is full of and which are a bottleneck of this test. But the character of the difference is unlike to NVIDIA's case. It seems that the optimizations take place during polygon texturing, not at the stage of transformation and lighting. Since the difference is most noticeable on the leaves' edges we can affirm that the driver detects the Nature scene and then replaces the texture format of the leaves and grass with a more advantageous one (in order to save on the bit capacity of the alpha channel) by forced compression of an uncompressed transparent texture or by repacking DXT3 textures into the DXT1 format. To see if our hypothesis is correct we tried to change settings of the texture format in the 3DMark2001 and analyze appearance of the leaves and grass in case of different formats. As expected, in case of 16bit textures the performance dropped much and the speed was lower even in comparison with the more resourse-hungry 32bit format. Finally, we looked through the code to find the place used for detection of the Nature in the 3DMark2001. The results proved that the Catalyst detected the scene by creation of three successive textures of a definite format and size by the Direct3D application.
Finishing the analysis of the Catalyst driver we decided to check the insides of ati3d2ag.dll - a Direct3D driver for the R200 processors because this chip gave us an idea on possible optimizations in the ATI's driver. Like in case of ati3duag.dll, the study of the code reveals multiple attempts to detect applications, and they are even more aggressive. Even without the patch-script we checked it the same way, i.e. altered the code of the shader tree.vsh. The result on the same system with the RADEON 8500LE video adapter is rather sad: almost 30% drop (from 42 to 31 FPS) in the same test 4. Again Nature? Deja vu? Again optimized vertex shaders?
So, let's sum it up. You may ask us why's bad if both companies are trying to boost performance in the 3DMark? There is no difference in quality like, for example, in case of the Game test 2 - Dragothic and Detonator FX. But even if it's noticeable like in the Game test 4 - Nature, the image doesn't get worse at all. So, why is it bad then?
The answer is simple: first of all, all optimizations we detected and locked work in only one benchmark, which indicates that it took a lot of time for the programmers to analyze its behavior and specific character, bottlenecks of certain tests and parts of the scene where it's possible to save the processor's resources even without the detriment to the image quality. But any optimizations which work when a benchmark is identified are based on the careful analyses of its specificity and rigidly tied to a certain scene, i.e. they make existance of benchmarks senseless as they do not reflect real performance in most other applications. Synthetic benchmarks are not aimed to reveal who faster renders a certain frame by culling out one or another hidden object or by using alternative rendering procedures. Benchmarks have a single aim which is to estimate the speed of execution of a strickly determined set of calculations by a given video adapter. It's nice if driver developers who know peculiarities of their chips much better than third software developers are able to notice an ineffective shader and can markedly lift up its speed even by altering the image quality. Althoutgh we don't welcome such approach, such optimizations can be used sometimes, but only in gaming applications. Nevertheless, such optimizations are not admissible for test applications which are meant exceptionally for speed estimation. Otherwise, it would make no sense to use benchmarks to compare performance of video adapters from different manufacturers because volumes of calculations would be different.
Unfortunately, the conclusion is rather distressing. First of all, I want to ask Futuremark where they were before and why they started fighting the cheating just a short time ago. Weren't they aware of aggressive optimizations made by vendors for their benchmark? I don't think so. Weren't there any reasons or facts before? They were. Just consider the case when the splash screen in the Detonator go off or the notorious drivers of the SiS Xabre. Weren't they qualified enough to locate and do away with the cheats? I don't believe it. It took us only one day to find and eliminate tricks in the drivers of two largest vendors though we didn't have the source code of the 3DMark2001. We don't want to believe that participation in a beta-program automatically gives the right for such optimizations, but this is the only idea we have. We hope we are wrong.
Secondly, it's a sorry sight to see how vendors stubbornly try to outrun one another using unfair means. Here is the history of optimizations of our ill-fated Nature: the announcement and release of the R200 - criticism of performance of the R200's shaders based on comparison with the NV20's scores - optimizations for the Nature in the ATI's drivers - the release of the R300 and the same pulling up of performance in the Nature - NVIDIA's response in the form of the Detonator 40.xx that lifted up the speed in the same notorious test allegedly at the expense of the higher shaders' performance... Unfortunately, the race has no end. I don't like hearing pathetic annoucements of both companies when one of them is caught red-handed. In the scandal around Quake/Quack NVIDIA stated that they never used optimizations for certain applications and that they advocated only general approaches for optimizations. In the disputes around the 3DMark2003 ATI took a position of a hurt child and was inconsistent in its actions: first it repented and promised to remove its optimizations saying that their programmers never used any rendering tricks to get higher scores in benchmarks, then they promised to optimize the drivers to catch up with the impious competitor. A sad thing. Do you still believe that there are honest players on this market? Unfortunately, none of the vendors is able to stop such an unfair race. The final scores of the popular benchmarks have little in common with the actual performance. Unfortunately, sales volumes of both ATI and NVIDIA are directly dependent on these scores. They will use any means to make them higher. Do we have any chance to see a fair situation in benchmarks? Probably, only in two cases: when only one player remains on the market or when one of the competitors is much weaker and it's useless to affect the real scores. At the moment we have two graphics processors with similar parameters from different manufacturers, and everyone is tempted to take the first place. That is why benchmarks are going to reflect a competition between the driver developers who optimize the code to get as high scores as possible even at the expense of an alternative rendering, rather than a real performance of video adapters.
What's next? Being well aware of how both companies react to such patch-scripts and taking into account the distructive methods they used against SoftQuadro and SoftR9x00 we are almost sure that in the next driver version they will try to prove that the scripts work incorrectly and disable a vital part of the code. NVIDIA will probably distribute all existant checkups along the Direct3D driver's body to make difficult their localization and disabling, and will use the checksum calculation procedure modified by the NVAntiDetector to calculate checksums by the fixed pattern included in the driver's body, and if it doesn't coincide with the original it will imitate certain problems.
Will the Direct3D application detection mechanisms disappear in the Detonator and Catalyst drivers? Unlikely. Judging by the test results of the drivers released after the scandal around 3DMark2003 none of the companies is going to step back. Thus, the new NVIDIA's Detonator FX 44.6x is able to detect all changes in the shader code made by Futuremark in the patch 330 and even increases performance as compared to what was before the patch. Obviously, NVIDIA decided to keep to the tactics of aggressive optimizations irrespective of the negative attitude of most users towards such things. Nevertheless, the NVAntiDetector script still makes the GeForceFX 5900Ultra work much slower in this benchmark. ATI also released a new build of the Catalyst drivers where they really removed two optimizations for the 3DMark2003 revealed by Futuremark. They proudly announced it in the following press-release, but the optimizations for the previous benchmark are still there. The company seems to follow the principle "innocent until proven guilty", and the fine guesture of locking undesirable optimizations will touch only those cheats which the company was thrusted under its nose. It's very convenient to be partially honest. Everyone is satisfied.
I do want to believe that this review will influence the attitude of the manufacturers of video adapters towards consumers. I think that the latest events clearly show that there are certain things which are much more important than the 3DMark scores, namely, reputation and trust of users which are hard to gain and easy to distroy. Actually we hope that we were wrong, and the real situation is not that sad, though it's very unlikely. That is why all comments from all parties this research concerns are welcome. Just note that when we were preparing this review for publication, ATI contacted us and assured that the parts of the code for application detection are used exceptionally for elimination of problems of applications themselves. Nevertheless, the problem with the 3DMark2001 remained without the answer...
Aleksei Nikolaichuk AKA Unwinder (email@example.com)
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By Fayez Nureldine – AFP – Saudi King Abdullah appointed 30 women to the previously all-male consultative Shura Council in decrees published on Friday, marking a historic first as he pushes reforms in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
The decrees gives women a 20 percent quota in the Shura Council, a body appointed by the king to advise him on policies and legislation.
One decree amended an article in the council's statute to allow women to be members while the other named the 150 members, among them 30 women.


text:
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Just noticed the availability of the community edition of the Azure Monitor management solution for RDS, Citrix and Windows VDI. Organizations that provide services through VDI have a need for monitoring the solution to various degrees beyond just server-side and infrastructure and performance monitoring, but also monitoring for user experience, session monitoring etc. These solutions enable you to deeply analyze sizing, performance, and user experience at each time frame in the past and for lowest expenses. You will also be able to leverage your existing event management, and alerting workflows in Azure monitor and investments in Azure. Check out the solutions here: https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/sepagogmbh.loganalyticsagent-rds?tab=Overviewhttps://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/sepagogmbh.loganalyticsagent-rds?tab=PlansAndPrice
OMS is now Azure Monitor
Microsoft has recently made some branding changes that have resulted in the unification of many of its erstwhile standalone infrastructure and application monitoring services under the Azure Monitor banner. Azure Monitor, which previously was the recommended core infrastructure monitoring tool in Azure for collecting, visualizing, analyzing and responded to events related to metrics and a subset of logs, has now evolved into a comprehensive solution for collecting, analyzing, and acting on telemetry from your on-premises and cloud (cloud agnostic) environments. I'd like to preface the rest of this article by clarifying what I mean when I say "OMS is now Azure Monitor", which while technically inaccurate, is arguably an apt assertion. The Microsoft Operations Management Suite (OMS) was a collection … Read More
Microsoft OMS Book – The excluded chapter
Writing technology books is a challenging enough proposition as it were. The challenge increases exponentially when one undertakes the writing of a book about a cloud platform, as was the case with my writing the Microsoft OMS book. The challenge with this stems from the fact that I intend for this book to be a technical reference for readers as they work with the OMS platform and underlying Azure services, and as such, the book must, by necessity, reference not just relevant concepts, but also current, and up-to-date content. Admittedly, the nature of the book – publisher's cookbook format – heightened said need for pertinence, and up-to-dateness of the material, because readers expect to be able to follow along with … Read More
Microsoft OMS Book Published!
Microsoft Operations Management Suite (OMS) Cookbook is now published. I am thrilled to announce that this is now readily available via the publisher's (Packt) various channels and platforms, including on Amazon in both print, and Kindle format. Amazon now shows the final page count (448). Amazon also shows the print version release date as May 9th, but you should be able to order there as well, and it gets fulfilled in a few days. The Kindle version is available immediately. In this book, I sought to provide a useful guide with current, up-to-date information on a platform that provides incredible value to organizations. As organizations navigate their respective digital transformation initiatives, OMS stands out as a platform that enables them … Read More
Coming soon – Microsoft OMS book
I'm thrilled to announce that I've finished work on a book on Microsoft OMS and related Azure services. The book is part of the Cookbook series from publisher, Packt, and is titled Microsoft Operations Management Suite Cookbook. The book hasn't been published yet, but is likely en-route to the presses and will be available in a few days. Those who know me know of my passion for building solutions to provide fundamental business value, and I'm happy to be able to share some ideas about how to accomplish aspects of this core proposition using the Microsoft Azure platform and Microsoft OMS. This project was especially interesting given the spate of releases to the OMS and underlying Azure services, and capabilities … Read More
OMS Agent for Linux – v1.4.4-210
Version 1.4.4-210 of the OMS agent for Linux is now generally available. This update includes a couple of bug fixes, and new features. New Features This agent version updates SCX from v1.6.3-474 in previous GA release to v1.6.3-527. This release also updates OMI to v1.4.2 Fixes DSC resource and module "class not found" error due to DSC OMI provider registration. Azure metadata auto injection. Honoring vmResourceID setting if specified by the user. OMI cron job generating email every minute due to keytab not being present on some distros where cron tab fails. SOURCE: Github Install OMS Agent for Linux-v1.4.4-210 For x86 Architecture (32-bit) systems: cd ~ wget https://github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux/releases/download/OMSAgent_GA_v1.4.4-210/omsagent-1.4.4-210.universal.x86.sh sha256sum ./omsagent-1.4.4-210.universal.x86.sh sudo bash omsagent-1.4.4-210.universal.x86.sh –upgrade -w <WORKSPACE_ID> -s <SECRET_KEY> For x64 … Read More
Meet GDPR Compliance requirements with OMS
In April 2016, a European privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was approved and is due to take effect in May 2018. GDPR is being touted as the most important change in data privacy regulation in over two decades, and it imposes new data privacy rules on companies, government agencies, and any organizations that do business in and with the European Union (EU). This is of particular significance because of the positive implications of such a regulation on data privacy, the benefits of the inevitable shift in the way organizations across the region and business partners around the world will now approach data privacy, and because non-compliant organizations could be subject to hefty fines, as is often the … Read More
OMS Agent for Linux Update – v1.4.3-174
Version 1.4.3-174 of the OMS agent for Linux is now generally available. This updates includes a couple of bug fixes, and new features. New Features A new version of the SCX (v1.6.3-474) is now available. This is the OMI CIM providers for OS perf. metrics. The OMI is also updated to v.1.4.1 in this release. Fixes • OMI memory leak related bug fixes• Disable Syslog data collection by default• Available memory performance counter fix for system kernel 3.14+• SCOM OMI port reset (fix requires two releases of agent to fully support all possible combinations of upgrade scenarios)• OMS linux agent diagnostic logging improvements• Documentation improvements SOURCE: Github Install OMS Agent for Linux-v1.4.3-174 For x86 Architecture (32-bit) systems: cd ~ wget … Read More
OMS Agent for Linux Patch – v1.4.2-125
Version 1.4.2-125 of the OMS agent for Linux is now generally available. This updates includes a couple of bug fixes, but introduces no new features. Bug Fixes DSC (omsconfig) package hangs causing Update management, Change tracking and other Linux data stop flowing to OMS. Heartbeat fix to unblock Fairfax customer SOURCE: Github Install OMS Agent for Linux-v1.4.1-123 For x86 Architecture (32-bit) systems: cd ~ wget https://github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux/releases/download/OMSAgent_GA_v1.4.2-125/omsagent-1.4.2-125.universal.x86.sh sha256sum ./omsagent-1.4.2-125.universal.x86.sh sudo bash omsagent-1.4.2-125.universal.x86.sh –upgrade -w <WORKSPACE_ID> -s <SECRET_KEY> For x64 Architecure (64-bit) systems: cd ~ wget https://github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux/releases/download/OMSAgent_GA_v1.4.2-125/omsagent-1.4.2-125.universal.x64.sh sha256sum ./omsagent-1.4.2-125.universal.x64.sh sudo bash omsagent-1.4.2-125.universal.x64.sh –upgrade -w <WORKSPACE_ID> -s <SECRET_KEY> Where WORKSPACE_ID Is the ID for your OMS workspace, and the SECRET_KEY is the relevant key for your OMS workspace. To determine your OMS … Read More
Multi-line Queries Now in OMS Log Search Editor
Fans of multi-line queries rejoice! The OMS/ Log Analytics Log Search editor now supports multi-line queries. Even before the new Log Analytics search language was introduced, the constraints of the Log Search editor field were quite apparent. This has been a sorely needed feature in Log Search, and I imagine that ardent users of the query language heaved a collective sigh of relief when the Analytics portal was introduced with multi-line query support. With the introduction of the Analytics portal, which supports multi-line queries and advanced analytics capabilities, the analytics possibilities seem endless. It's also worth noting that in addition to the multi-line query support, Log Search editor also features intellisense providing query suggestions as you type. The editor … Read More


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Credit Improvement Companies Guide – Factors to consider In the Legitimate Service
In situation your credit is poor and you are seeing no relief afterwards, you may want to consider searching to have it repaired. This really is really the process to get negative products removed your credit report. While you can look at to make it happen all yourself, the process might take a extended time – especially if there is multiple negative products, that may be from errors to unfair claims with the lenders. A good way to accelerate the process and acquire relief for a time as rapidly as you possibly can is to visit credit improvement companies.
Since its a company filled with scams, you need to be careful about recognise the company you decide on. Prior to you buying a company, start with the fundamentals: status and expenses. The price in the service will change in line with the organization, features, and the way much they are able to offer you. However, there's one component that any legit company will not do: charge a fee upfront. You have to only stay with businesses that offer free consultations. Permit them to take a look at your credit report first in order to evaluate your conditions. You can talk money.
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Crowds are expected to flock to the Defense Ministry today at 8:30 am for the trial of deposed first prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh on charges of illegally purchasing and transporting weapons.
The trial is to be held at the ministry because the Military Court is too small to contain the expected audience, Military Court Director Ney Thol said Tuesday. Observers, however, have questioned the choice of venue, noting that holding the trial in a government office does nothing to enhance the judiciary's already tarnished image of independence.
The prince's cabinet in Bangkok issued a statement on the eve of the trial, condemning the court as politically controlled and predicting a conviction for Prince Ranariddh.
"Hun Sen's court will condemn Prince Norodom Ranariddh, but the prince will be acquitted by history and the people of Cambodia," the statement said. "It is well known that the judicial system in Cambodia is totally controlled by Hun Sen."
The statement cited remarks by top UN rights envoy Thomas Hammarberg, King Norodom Sihanouk and an Amnesty International official in the defense of its argument.
Prosecutors have not disclosed which laws the prince will be prosecuted under, nor have they given details of the evidence likely to be used against the prince. One legal expert speculated Tuesday that the court likely would resort to article 50 of the Untac criminal code, which deals with illegal weapons purchases and possession, as well as a 1992 State of Cambodia law that covers similar legal territory.
The case against the prince likely will center on documents related to the May 26 seizure of weapons and ammunition in crates addressed to Prince Ranariddh.
Several such documents—including a cargo manifest for the ship that brought the goods to Sihanoukville Port and a letter requesting customs clearance for crates listed as containing spare parts—were seized by CPP officials after the discovery of the cache.


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This healthy cranberry ice cream is sure to soothe a sweet tooth craving! The berry's bittersweet taste mixed with sweet frozen bananas and topped with (vegan) butter rum chocolate sauce is a healthier way to enjoy a frozen treat!
It is blazing hot across the country and the only thing on my mind these days is ice cream! To refresh and cool try this healthier cranberry ice cream recipe made with only 3 plant-based ingredients!
Then top it with the most decadent (vegan) butter rum sauce full of zesty orange and melted chocolate flavors. This sauce is also amazing on pancakes, bread puddings and other savory sweets. I promise it doesn't disappoint! Although if your are watching sugar and alcohol, you can totally skip the sauce or just add a drizzle.
Here is a fun fact about me. I am a Jersey girl by birth uprooted to California thanks to college. New Jersey is the third largest producer of cranberries and growing up we would go on school and family trips to the Pine Barrens to see the cranberry farms. When I was about 10 I remember taking a bus down long sandy roads lined with pine trees around huge bodies of water. When we would get to the cranberry bogs we had the opportunity to put on water boots and trek into the water to pick our own cranberries. If you ever have the opportunity to spend a day doing this, I highly recommend it! That was about 26 years ago and I still remember it so vividly?.
Where do cranberries grow
Cranberries are grown in the Northeast in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Washington. They grow on large long vines in sandy bogs and marshes. When you pass these marshes, you will see thousands of red berries floating on the top of the water.
Fresh or Frozen
Cranberries are most commonly noticed filling grocery stores around Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but they can also be found in the frozen section year-round. Frozen cranberries are convenient for making fillings for pies, cranberry sauce, smoothies and ice cream. Good thing because ice cream is totally acceptable year round!
How to make dairy-free cranberry ice cream
First Gather The Ingredients:
- Frozen cranberries
- Frozen bananas (Cut into thin slices and freeze on a baking sheet. After they are frozen they can be stored in a zip bag in the freezer until ready to use.)
- Plant based milk such as cashew milk, coconut milk or almond milk.
Using a food processor add the frozen cranberries, bananas and milk together and blend until desired consistency is reached. For a chunkier ice cream, blend less time. This will also make the color lighter and pinker. For a smoother texture blend until no visible chunks are present. You can serve this cranberry ice cream right away for a "soft serve" version.
Or pour the ice cream mixture into a small pan or dish with a lid, cover and freeze for 2-6 hours. If you are serving it at a later time, let the ice cream set out for about 10 minutes to soften before scooping.
The above picture is the ice cream blended extra long for a smoother more vibrant color and frozen for 6 hours. In my opinion, both chunky and creamy or soft serve and hard are all delicious!
To make the butter rum sauce: In a medium or small saucepan add dark rum, maple syrup and butter. Let it start to boil for about 3-4 minutes. Turn the heat off and remove from the stove then add dairy-free chocolate morsels and orange zest. Mix until the chocolate is melted. The chocolate sauce can be stored in the refrigerator until ready to use then drizzle on top of the cranberry ice cream.
Cranberries are most popular turned into Craisins, cranberry sauce, cranberry chutney, and cranberry juice. Now you can enjoy these tart fruit berries as a healthy cranberry ice cream "nicecream" treat without using an ice cream maker?.
If you like this recipe you might also enjoy
- Cranberry Smoothie Bowl
- Double Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream
- Coconut Milk Ice Cream With Fresh Blueberries
- Vegan Banana Ice Cream
- Easy Homemade Cauliflower Ice Cream
- Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Made With Greek Yogurt


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TechCrunch covers a lot of bases in the tech startup world, but none is more important than supporting founders — especially early-stage founders. That's what our new event series, TechCrunch Early Stage, is all about.
These single-day events debuting next year will be highly interactive opportunities for founders to tap experts in the core startup disciplines, starting with early-stage investors (lots of investors), legal whizzes, growth gurus, product-market fit wallahs, tech stack experts, recruiting aces and much more, including workshops on pitch breakdowns.
TechCrunch's goal is to provide founders with insights and new relationships on par with what an accelerator experience provides, only in a single day, and with a much greater variety of experts and investors.
TC Early Stage is an outgrowth of Extra Crunch, TechCrunch's subscription-based editorial offering that focuses on deep analysis and advice around the big topics facing founders. In October this year at Disrupt SF, we brought Extra Crunch to life on its own stage and featured experts on dozens of topics, including:
- How to Raise My First Dollars (Russ Heddleston, DocSend, Charles Hudson, Precursor Ventures and Annie Kadavy, Redpoint Ventures)
- How to Hire at Breakneck Speed (Scott Cutler, StockX, Harjeet Taggar, TripleByte and Liz Wessel, WayUp)
- How to Evaluate Talent and Make Decisions (Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Capital)
- How to Get into Y Combinator (Michael Siebel, Y Combinator)
- How to Decide Between Bootstrapping and Raising Venture (Ben Chestnut, Mailchimp and Kathryn Petralia, Kabbage)
The sessions were mobbed. The TechCrunch team knows a winner when they see one, and the result is this new event series. The first of three TC Early Stage events next year will be in San Francisco on April 28, with one in Paris on October 28 and another in New York City (date TBA).
TC Early Stage is designed for founders who are in their early innings, anywhere from pre-seed through Series A, when entrepreneurs need all the guidance they can get. With that in mind, the event's heart is dozens of breakout sessions run by experts and curated by TechCrunch editors. The breakouts will be long on attendee questions and conversation, and the event is structured so that attendees can easily get to six to eight different breakouts over the course of the day. In addition, TechCrunch editors will hold a handful of interviews on a main stage with notable founders and investors in time slots that will not conflict with the breakouts.
Here is a sampling of the types of breakout sessions TechCrunch Early Stage will feature:
- Raising a first seed round
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The TechCrunch team is already busy building an all-star lineup for experts for the breakout sessions and memorable interviews for the main stage. The response from the expert community around TechCrunch has been resoundingly clear. Everyone sees the need — the deeper education of early-stage founders — and they love the TC Early Stage format — a single day, highly interactive event that brings together early-stage founders with an unprecedented collection of experts from across the startup ecosystem.
Tickets for the San Francisco event are available now, so jump in and grab yours to secure your seat while they last.
Not an early-stage founder? That's okay, too. Later-stage founders, investors or just general startup enthusiasts are welcome to attend. A limited number of "Innovator passes" are available for folks who are not early-stage founders.
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Gold bar
A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced by pouring the molten metal into molds are called ingots. Smaller bars may be manufactured by minting or stamping from appropriately rolled gold sheets. The standard gold bar held as gold reserves by central banks and traded among bullion dealers is the 400-troy-ounce (438.9-ounce; 27.4-pound; 12.4-kilogram) Good Delivery gold bar. The kilobar, which is 1,000 grams (32.15 troy ounces) in mass, and a 100 troy ounce gold bar are the bars that are more manageable and are used extensively for trading and investment.[1] The premium on these bars when traded is very low over the spot value of the gold, making it ideal for small transfers between banks and traders. Most kilobars are flat, although some investors, particularly in Europe, prefer the brick shape.[2]
Based upon how they are manufactured, gold bars are categorized as having been cast or minted, with both differing in their appearance and price.[1] Cast bars are created in a similar method to that of ingots, whereby molten gold is poured into a bar-shaped mold and left to solidify. This process often leads to malformed bars with uneven surfaces which, although imperfect, make each bar unique and easier to identify. Cast bars are also cheaper than minted bars, because they are quicker to produce and require less handling.
Minted bars are made from gold blanks that have been cut to a required dimension from a flat piece of gold. These are identified by having smooth and even surfaces.
Security features[edit]
To prevent bars from being counterfeited or stolen, manufacturers have developed ways to verify genuine bars, with the most common way being to brand bars with registered serial numbers or providing a certificate of authenticity. In a recent trend, many refineries would stamp serial numbers even on the smallest bars, and the number on the bar should match the number on its accompanying certificate.[3]
In contrast to cast bars (which are often handled directly), minted bars are generally sealed in protective packaging or tamper-evident technology to prevent tampering and keep them from becoming damaged. A hologram security feature known as a Kinegram can also be embossed directly on a gold bar. Bars that contain these are called Kinebars.[4]
1 oz diffractive kinebar
Bar in protective casing
Standard bar weight units[edit]
Gold is measured in troy ounces, often simply referred to as ounces when the reference to gold is evident. One troy ounce is equivalent to 31.1034768 grams. The troy ounce is heavier than the avoirdupois ounce, a commonly used unit for measuring weight in the United States customary system. One avoirdupois ounce equals 28.349523125 grams.[5]
The standard gold bar held and traded internationally by central banks and bullion dealers is the Good Delivery bar with a 400 ozt (12.4 kg; 27.4 lb) nominal weight. However, its precise gold content is permitted to vary between 350 ozt (10.9 kg; 24.0 lb) and 430 ozt (13.4 kg; 29.5 lb). The minimum purity required is 99.5% gold. These bars must be stored in recognized and secure gold bullion vaults to maintain their quality status of Good Delivery. The recorded provenance of this bar assures integrity and maximum resale value.[6]
- One tonne = 1,000 kilograms = 32,150.746 troy ounces.
- One kilogram = 1,000 grams = 32.15074656 troy ounces.
- One tola = 11.6638038 grams = 0.375 troy ounces.
- One tael = 50 grams.[notes 1]
|Bar sizes
|Baird & Co.[7]
|Emirates Gold[8]
|Perth Mint[13]
|Royal Canadian Mint[14][15]
|Royal Mint[16]
Largest gold bar[edit]
The world's largest gold bar stands at 250 kg (8,038 ozt), measuring at the base 455 mm × 225 mm (17.9 in × 8.9 in) and 170 mm (6.7 in) high with 5 degree draft angle (equal to 15,730 cm3 or 960 cu in). It was manufactured by the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi. It went on display at the Toi Gold Museum on 11 July 2005. Its gold content was valued in 2005 at 400 million yen (approximately US$3,684,000 at the time).[21][22][23] As of January 2023[update], it is worth approximately US$15.1 million.[24]
See also[edit]
Explanatory notes[edit]
- ^ This is the official rate of taels in mainland China since the country implemented the metric system. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, a tael is equivalent to 37.429 g.
- ^ "US and European Gold Trading".
- ^ "What is a gold bar?". Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". PAMP. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ "KINEBARS®" (PDF). Gold Bars Worldwide. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ Boyati, Lested (1 June 2014). "Top Recommended Gold Trading Brokers". FXdailyReport.Com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- ^ "Full List of Official Good Delivery Rules". lbma.org. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
- ^ "Baird & Co | Gold Bars". Baird & Co. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Investment Bars : Rectangular Gold Bar". Emirates Gold. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Gold bars". Heraeus. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Metalor Gold Bars". BullionByPost. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Cast Bars". PAMP. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Minted Ingots". PAMP. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Perth Mint Spot Prices". Perth Mint. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Gold Wafers | The Royal Canadian Mint". www.mint.ca. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- ^ "The Mint's Refinery Services | The Royal Canadian Mint". www.mint.ca. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- ^ "Gold Bars | Buy Gold Bars | Royal Mint Bullion". The Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Investment Bars Gold". Umicore. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Good Delivery Gold bar". Valcambi. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "1 g Minted Gold bar". Valcambi. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "UBS Gold Bars - Suisse Gold - Precious Metals Dealers".
- ^ "Historical Exchange Rates". OANDA Services. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ^ "Three Diamonds Cast Gold-Medal Gold Bar". The Japan Journal. November 2005. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
- ^ "Mitsubishi makes record-size gold bar". Japan Times. 17 June 2005. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
- ^ "Gold Spot Price". GoldHub. World Gold Council. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
External links[edit]
- Media related to Gold ingots at Wikimedia Commons


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Studio Ruwedata / Dstruct in collaboration with Wotnxt organized the Tegendraads festival. The festival offers a cross section of the festivals and concerts and exhibitions, both collectives generally independently organized at various locations. At this festival you a colorful mix of bands, electronic music, bizarre acts, art, t-shirt exhibition, etc
For this special edition designed in collaboration with Studio Ruwedata, Angeliek Vermonden, Pascal Walhof, Meindert Greek & Coen Kelder this Tegendraads 'pop store'. This' pop store' is within 2 hours to build.


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Our mission
With over 30 years of computerized bookkeeping, accounting and financial business systems experience with small and medium businesses, as well as personal, LK Bookkeeping & Consulting Services specializes in setting up new businesses with in-house financial systems, or off-site bookkeeping maintenance.Training and support can be provided for your business system and staff on financial systems software and other business software products.We offer a Free consultation session for new businesses! A full range of services can be provided by our staff including software sales and setup, data input, as well as accounting projects, notary services, data clean-up and troubleshooting.
Servicing Sonoma, Mendocino and Napa Counties
Cell: 949-466-7753
Office 707-894-6523
Fax: 707-894-6351
email: [email protected]
Credentials include:
- Certified ProAdvisor for Intuit Software, Inc. QuickBooks products
- Intuit Premier Reseller Partner
- Intuit Certified ProAdvisor – QuickBooks Online Certification
- Intuit Certified ProAdvisor – QuickBooks Desktop Certification
- Intuit Certified ProAdvisor – QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Certification
Services offered
- Full-charge bookkeeping services – including retail, service, wholesale, non-profit and distribution businesses
- Individual personal bookkeeping
- New company setup, Implementation, Upgrades, Training & Support
- Accounting Projects including Data Conversions, Clean-up and Troubleshooting
- Business software – Training and Support
- Business software and forms – Renewal and Purchases
Flexible Service and Support
- On-Site
- Off-Site Service
- Online
- Phone Support
- Quickbooks Online
- Quickbooks Point of Sale
- Quickbooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise
- Advanced Inventory Features and functionality
- Quicken Basics, Premier and Deluxe
Partial list of Client Profiles
- Wholesale and Manufacturers
- Distributors
- Health Services
- Franchises
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Software Manufacturer
- Peripheral Manufacturer
- Transportation Services
- Personal Accounts
- Restaurant
- Interior Design
- Internet Service firms
- Professional Service firms
- Engineering
- Construction and contracting
Hourly Pricing
- Software Installation and Setup – $110 per hour
- Individual/Staff training – $75-$100 per hour
- Bookkeeping Services – $75 per hour
- Troubleshooting/Projects – $75-$90 per hour
- Consultation and Support – $75-$110 per hour


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Finding My Adult Tutu
If you remember I did a blog post about getting Etta a load of tutus for her wardrobe and wondered where I could possibly find one for myself. Well, I have found a beautiful one on ASOS that I have treated myself to.
This is a bundle of Burgundy netting that just sits below the knee and sprays out in a beautiful circular way. Carrie Bradshaw eat you heart out! It's exactly what every woman needs to feel like she's a young girl again. Playing dress up never felt so good and in my eyes this skirt has given me a whole lot of outfit opportunities and will bring me a whole lot of fun!
Click through to ASOS where there are a few colours to choose from:
Post by Emily


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Russia carried out 'thinly veiled political attack' in Syria: Britain
AMSTERDAM - Reuters
Britain accused Russia on Nov. 9 of carrying out a "thinly veiled political attack" against the Turkish head of the world's chemical weapons watchdog, escalating a row over the body's investigation into toxic attacks in Syria
The comments, made during a session at the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),
were the latest sign of deep political division at the body over the Syrian conflict.
In an Oct. 26 report the U.N.-OPCW investigation team blamed the Syrian government for an April 4 attack using the banned
nerve agent sarin in the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing around 80 people. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons and Moscow rejected the findings.
The mechanism was established in 2015 by the U.N. Security Council to identify individuals, organisations or governments
responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.
Its mandate expires on Nov. 17, but its work is incomplete.
Moscow is poised to veto efforts by Britain, France, Germany and the United States to extend the mandate.
A draft Russian-Iranian proposal circulated at the OPCW and seen by Reuters called for a new investigation, to be based on
samples taken from the attack site.
The Syrian government itself has already presented samples from the scene to the investigation team, which tested positive for sarin.
"It is a thinly veiled political attack on the professional integrity of the director general," the British delegation said in a statement, referring to the OPCW's outgoing Turkish head, Ahmet Uzumcu. "It seeks to undermine the capability and
competence of the (OPCW)."
The Russian delegation at the OPCW could not be reached for comment.
Syria joined the OPCW after a sarin attack on Aug. 21, 2013, killed hundreds of people in Ghouta, a district on the outskirts
of Damascus. It has said it declared and destroyed all its chemical stockpile, but chemical attacks continue in the country's civil war.


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The perfect gift for any occasion
Massage makes a great gift all year round, and buying a Soma Room gift certificate couldn't be easier. Simply choose a treatment duration below and pay online by credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Once purchased, email us to say whether you would like your gift certificate emailed or posted, and who you would like it addressed to and from, and we'll do the rest! Gift certificates are valid for 12 months from date of purchase, are non-refundable and durations cannot be split.
You can also purchase our popular massage therapy packages as a gift, which will give the recipient three massages to use whenever they please, as these do not expire. Once again we can post or email these either directly to the recipient, or to you to pass on.
Individual Sessions


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Some of the important food crops grown in Salem district are paddy, cholam, cumbu, redgram, greengram, blackgram, horsegram, turmeric, sugarcane, mango, bannana, tapiaco, groundnut and gingelly.Some of the important industries are Salem Steel Plant, Salem Diary, L.S.P. Oil Mills, B.S.P. Refinaries, Jawahar Mills, Narasus Roller Flour Mills, Salem District Co-op Spinning Mill, Tamil Nadu Magnesites, Tata Refractoreis, Sambandam Spinning Mill etc.
|Important tourist centers of the Salem district are:
Sri Sugavaneshwara Temple
Sri Ramakrishna Mutt
Sri Kumaragiri Temple
Sri Kandhashram Temple
Sri Kailasanathar Temple
Sri Siddeshwara Temple
Sri Thandontrieswara Temple
Jamma Mazid
Infant Jesus Church
Yercaud (Jewel of the South)
Mettur Dam
Aragalur (Budda Statue)
Sankarai (Old Famous Fort)
Taramangalam Sri Kailashanather Temple
Poiman Karadu, Salem
Last Updated on : 08 February 2012


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Goen Dining: After 30 years, Roy Yamaguchi opens in Kailua
This casual pau hana spot feels totally different from Roy's restaurants
A lot happened while I was on vacation in Israel. Bruno Mars played at Aloha Stadium, Restaurant Week and Hawaii International Film Festival came and went — and Goen Dining + Bar opened in my Kailua hood. My roommates texted a picture of the menu with the caption: "Let's go here for our next GNO!"
If they didn't tell me that Goen was the latest restaurant by Roy Yamaguchi, I wouldn't have guessed it. Roy's restaurants have been around for as long as I've been alive, and they're all over Hawaii and the Mainland. I've always considered Roy's Hawaii and Yamaguchi's newer Eating House 1849 restaurants as upscale places for special occasions.
But Goen's energy and vibe are completely different. Think trendy but casual, contemporary and unpretentious. Goen is basically my new go-to neighborhood pau hana spot, perfect for a casual dinner, girls' night out or first date. Bonus: Prices are lower and there are more shareable plates so a small group can easily try the entire menu in two or three visits.
Huge tip: Make reservations. We called last Monday hoping for early dinner reservations on Wednesday, but the earliest time we could get was 7:30 p.m. A friend of a friend booked for Saturday and couldn't get in until 8:30. Indeed, when we got there, every seat at the bar was taken and the restaurant was packed.
Start things off with one of the craft cocktails. Each is made to order and they all have fun names. We get the Rip Tai'd ($13), which is similar to a Mai Tai, and Roy's Prosecco Superiore ($13), aka sparkling wine.
FYI: The dinner menu changes daily, depending on the availability of fresh produce and other local ingredients.
Get at least one fry basket, and if you're with more than three people, get two. The mushroom fries are thick and gloriously crispy, but before you feel guilty, remember — they're basically fried veggies. I like the creamy truffle aioli, but the bell pepper pesto is great if you like tomatoes. Of all the things we tried, these fries stayed on my brain and I was still raving about them on the way home.
I love bao, so I enjoyed these even though the bread-to-chicken ratio is 2:1 or greater. The chicken is tender and flavorful, and the kimchee adds a welcome kick.
Of the three entrees we ordered, the salmon was my favorite. You can't really go wrong with salmon, but the flavorful kalbi glaze took it to the next level. The crispy garlic and hijiki seaweed offered a nice, contrasting crunch.
Ikura in pasta? This was a Japanese pasta touch that only worked, but surprisingly well. I almost adopted my roommate's bowl. I loved the umami-richdashi cream, and the squishy ikura were fun pops while the crispy kale topping added crunch.
I'd pass on the Point Break poke bowl. It tasted fresh, but I'd only get it if I had a serious chirashi craving.
Be sure to save room for dessert. All four sounded fabulous, but at this point we were trying to exercise self-control so we chose two to share among three of us.
The Goen Halo should be your go-to if you prefer fresh and fruity desserts. There was a lot goen on (pun intended) in this one, and while ube isn't my favorite, I liked the different textures and flavors.
Once I heard "cream cheese cookie dough," I was sold on the chocolate cake. It was light and fluffy, and the intense chocolate flavor sent me into dessert euphoria. The only way this could be better would be if the scoop of luscious marshmallow ice cream were bigger.
I'm definitely coming back soon — for another dinner, to check out lunch, and for sure once Goen opens for brunch.
GOEN Dining + Bar (in Lau Hala Shops)
573 Kailua Rd.
Daily 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.
Reservations recommended


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Well, here's some good and bad superhero news for you. According to 2013, and now it's losing its second director. (Rupert Wyatt walked away last fall.) So where is Liman going while poor Channing's passion project slips back into purgatory? To another super-film, of course, but according to Variety, this time he's signing on the dotted line with Warner Bros. and DC to direct its Dark Universe adaptation, otherwise referred to as Justice League Dark (which pretty much sounds like the marketing pitch for Suicide Squad). The heroes of record for JLD will be Det. John Constantine (formerly realized on the big screen by Keanu Reeves), Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna, and Etrigan the Demon. They occupy a more magical quadrant of the DC space, much like Marvel is getting into with its Dr. Strange property.
It makes sense why Liman would skip out for DC, because who wouldn't want to go to the competitor with a clear mission and proven track record of success with putting out critically well-received populist fare that honors iconic source material while creating independently valuable entries into the pop-culture canon? Wait, sorry. We're not talking about Marvel. Never mind! Stay tuned for more drama.


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I like young adult books. Have you read them?
Young adult books are very trendy right now.
They make a lot of blockbuster movies from them too.
Do you like blockbuster movies?
Adults read young adult books.
Kids read young adult books.
Young adults read young adult books.
So, what makes a young adult book?
Okay, enough of that. But really, there is always a strong debate about what makes or doesn't make a young adult book. Without a doubt, I believe young adult books' main protagonist needs to be a young adult. I know, that's one of those "duh" comments. But, Harry Potter was ten, wasn't he, when he began at Hogwarts? And yet, those books are more young adult now than ever because the books take Harry through the young adult years.
I think young adult books can be read by children and adults alike, especially if the book deals with serious issues. This might be a reason that kids shouldn't read them, but an absolute reason for adults to read them. Which leaves me to wonder, when is the property line crossed when going from middle-grade to young adult? Young adult books aren't young adult only because of age, right?
My story, The Puzzle Master, deals with a couple of twelve year olds, but the subject matter is beyond their young little minds -- it's almost beyond some adults minds.
So, what do you think? Do you like reading young adult because of the "age" of the characters, or because of the content? Or both? Or, maybe it's neither of that?
I love young adult because it takes me back to when I was metamorphosing into an adult: times that were turbulent, strange, exciting and confusing.
And perhaps, the very reason this age group can bring forth such amazing -- blockbuster --stories.


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The Contours Celebrate 55 Years of Music
The Legendary Motown band, The Contours, are celebrating 55 years of creating and performing music this year.
Five members visited the Fox2 studios Saturday morning to perform one of their hit songs and to preview their performance at 8 p.m. tonight at the Dearborn Theatre. Tickets are still available and start at $25.
Click here for more information about the performance.


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Daily News, Tues, June 4
This guy has run every single day since July 23, 1968, and his streak is about to end.
Looks like the fine folks over at The Range of Motion successfully launched their latest venture, UltraSportsLive.TV, an ultra sports webcasting service. Very cool. If I were an RD, I'd want my race distributed to the masses just like this. Contact them for more info on how to do just that.
Check out this 64k loop on the trails in Hong Kong. Beautiful!
Wanna see what it's like to ride down Gran Canaria on a MTB?
Wyatt is taking unemployment in stride and using it to run massive vert.
Leor posts some new trail porn from a beautiful 45 mile loop through Yosemite.
This is how they do the high jump in Kenya, and it's freakin awesome.
Dopers thought they found a way around the bio passport, but it looks like science has a new test for EPO micro detection.
It's a tragic story, but when I die, I hope to be doing what I love.
NUC (No Ultra Content) whatsoever, but does anyone else play geoguessr? Google streetview gives you a totally random location somewhere in the world, and you have to guess where you are. Some are on random road/trails and it makes me want to run there.


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Colorado native and right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman, a draft-eligible sophomore, last went in the sixth round of the MLB Draft during the 2010 season, but he turned down the Los Angeles Dodgers to head to the LSU Tigers. That decision is likely to turn out well since he is on the cusp of being a top-five draft choice. In Baseball America's first mock draft, the Kansas City Royals nab Gausman at No. 5 overall:
Kansas City picked in this spot last year and missed out on the advanced pitcher it coveted when Cole, Hultzen, Bauer and Bundy went with the first four choices. The Royals will try again in 2012, and one of the three top-tier college arms should be available. If Appel, Gausman and Zimmer all disappear, Kansas City's best bet would be Zunino.
Gausman is 7-1 with a 3.16 ERA over 12 starts. He has struck out 101 batters and walked just 20 in 82.2 innings. He is a midseason finalist for the 2012 Golden Spikes Award and should be among the finalists selected at the end of May.
For more on the Colorado Rockies, check out the Rockies blog Purple Row. And to learn more about the latest MLB prospect news and ratings, drop by Minor League Ball with John Sickels.


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Aristo Craft Train Engineer Revolution
Interfacing the Auxiliary Output to a
PIC or PICAXE Microcontroller
revised 03-27-10
The Revolution's six auxiliary outputs are open collector. They can be interfaced to a PICAXE or PIC microcontroller using the circuit below.
The microcontroller and the Revolution receiver must share a common ground. This can be accomplished by connecting the black wire from the auxiliary connector to the ground on the microcontroller.
The input pin on the microcontroller must be pulled high with a 10K resistor. The 1K resistor protects the input pin on the microcontroller and is recommended but not absolutely necessary.
When the auxiliary output from the Revolution is off the input pin on the microcontroller will be high. When the output is on the pin will be low.
The example here uses a PICAXE 08M and input #3 (pin 4).


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Wednesday, September 07, 2011
What's new with ancient Jerusalem?
The conference takes place in Hebrew but many Anglos are expected to attend. In honor of the event, the excavation sites at the City of David will be open, and conference-goers will be given the rare opportunity to take a peek at the rigorous field work.
The most senior tour guides will give tours of the various sites including the Herodian Road, the hidden tunnel that leads from the City of David up to the Western Wall. A highlight of this year's conference is the display of the recently discovered golden bell from the Second Temple period.
Click here to read this article from the Jerusalem Post


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The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership (CTLL) supports the University of North Georgia's commitment to "academic excellence in a student-focused environment." Through our programs and outreach, CTLL seeks to foster our community of scholar teachers as they pursue research-based design and implementation of significant educational experiences.
The Center for Teaching, Learning and Leadership never evaluates teachers and never shares information about individual teachers with those who do evaluate. It vigorously protects the confidentiality of all consultations with faculty and staff members. The Center does not release the names of anyone who seeks personal consultation nor information about a consultation or even about the existence of a consultation. Information collected through consultation is only shared with the individual being consulted.
We are available for a one-on-one session to assist and help.


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0 570 0
Pretty girl, wrecking bar Ra ra ra ra yeah you are Growing up, I'm twice the man Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I am The angel's game, F Scott Fitzgerald The evening news and the morning herald I know they're not from very far Les femmes, les bars ; C'est pas une joie Where you been? You can't say? Hey hey hey hey yeah you may That might seem a bit below No no no it's funny though Let's go home, I think we oughtta I know you're your mother's daughter Well brought up and royal blue But I haven't got the time for you Finger pointing, pre-supposing Watch out man the doors are closing This is what you get when you turn your back A clear blue sky turning dirty black


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When Vivian Saliba was 17 years old her dad first took her to a card club in Sao Paulo.
Seven years later, she's snagged her first WSOP Main Event cash.
At 24 years old Saliba was the youngest female to enter this year's Main Event. She finished 421st out of 7,221 players at poker's world championship event in Las Vegas, earning $27,743.
She's been playing poker professionally for the last two years but this was her first time competing in the WSOP Main Event.
"Playing the Main Event is a dream," Saliba told PokerListings.com.
She's come a long way from the 17-year-old who first tried poker with her dad in a card club in Brazil. Saliba said her dad used to play every weekend and one day, when she was upset over breaking up with a boyfriend, he took her along.
"I fell in love with the social aspects of poker and I actually cashed in my first tournament," she said. "I didn't know what I was doing at all but I made so many friends and started going every weekend with my dad."
From Social Poker to Going Pro
Five years later, after playing a lot of poker and working in the industry, Saliba turned pro and began focusing on PLO cash games. She says because she's so used to Pot-Limit Omaha, adapting to No-Limit Hold'em in the Main Event was a challenge.
"I made so many mistakes on Day 1 but I was able to make up for it on the other days," said Saliba.
"I was really pissed after I bagged Day 1. Even though I was happy to make it through the day, I was so frustrated with my performance.
"I've been playing so much PLO and it's really different compared to No-Limit.
"Basically I wasn't expecting such a weak field. I thought the players would be better. So the things I was doing really didn't work well on these kinds of players. I was just burning chips."
Saliba came back from Day 1 and turned things around, making it all the way to Day 4 before being eliminated. She says the deep Main Event structure had a lot to do with it.
"I'm pretty proud of how I played starting Day 2," she said. "I didn't make the same mistakes I made on Day 1.
"I've been playing pretty solid and most of the decisions I've made have been right. I'm just happy I've been playing well and running well.
"The structure's so good that even when you make mistakes and lose chips, you have the chance to come back."
Poker in Brazil Exploding
Saliba says poker's popularity in Brazil is going through the roof, despite some challenges with playing live.
"In Brazil we don't have casinos but we do have poker clubs," she said.
"But it's a big problem because the clubs charge rake as if poker was a casino game. It's five per cent no cap for PLO, Hold'em. The rake is basically unbeatable.
"I was able to win a little bit but I felt like I was being robbed by the rake so I decided not to play those games anymore.
Saliba says playing cash games here in Las Vegas is far more profitable, simply because of the much lower rake.
Despite live cash games being tough in Brazil, poker is growing in a big way online and in live tournaments.
"Online poker is even bigger than the live games in Brazil," said Saliba. "And we also have some really good tournaments like the BSOP. The structure is good and the fields are big so that's kind of the live scene in Brazil."


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Ride the T. Boston is not a car city, though you'll see lots of cars rolling through it. As people kept reiterating to me my entire time there, it's a walking city, and it's not especially friendly to commuters. Parking fees are high. Tolls are common. And just finding a place to park can be an ordeal in itself.
How to get around it? When you book your hotel, find out how close it is to the T (the subway system). Learn where your stop is. The subway is much easier to negotiate than the bus lines, and it's going to get you around most of the area you're going to be touring.
Oh, and make things easier on yourself. Purchase a Charlie Card. These reusable plastic cards store value, and they're much less likely to get eaten in a machine. Trust me -- I have experience on this. Besides, there's a discount for those who use the card rather than the ticket. If you're going to be traveling away from where you're staying a good bit, charge your card up -- maybe, $20 or more. If you're staying close by, $10 should do it.
Just remember -- if you're starting out on a bus, you're going to need correct change. Don't be afraid to ask an MBTA worker for assistance if you need it. And be courteous to your fellow travelers.
It's dry up there. Here in the South, we like to gripe about the weather. It's always humid, except on the three or four days each year when we get a bit of an ice storm. ALWAYS humid.
Well, it's not humid everywhere.
New England has very dry air in the winter, and you're going to need to keep yourself protected. First off -- lip balm. Your lips will chap, dry out, and try to run away from you. Cover them religiously (you too, men).
Take care of your feet. If you are in a walking city, chances are -- oh, I don't know -- you'll walk more. A lot more. We're not talking a few blocks more -- we're talking a few miles more. Lots of miles.
So, what to do? Bring extra shoes and change them out. Keep your feet dry. If it's cold, wear more than one pair of socks. And moisturize your feet with a good lotion -- believe me, this makes a big difference.
Pace yourself. While you might look at "walking city" and think everything is close by, it's deceptively not. Your tour maps may show popular attractions as being mere inches away, but those inches can be miles or more. Plan accordingly. Do things in one area of the city at a time. This will save you money on the T and a lot of beating pavement. For instance, tour Paul Revere's House and visit Faneuil Hall and the Haymarket on one day, and South End's Arts community and shopping another. Beacon Hill is nowhere near the JFK Library. When you make out your itinerary, be sure to include travel time -- which means, give yourself 20 minutes for places you walk to and 30 minutes (at least) for a short T ride. Anything can happen -- the trains can go down, construction on your route, even crazy folks who want to buy you coffee. You never know.
But on the other hand, you're not going to have quite the availability of official tourist folks to help guide you through, unless you're on one of the tours or at one of the big historical sites.
Not to worry. Everywhere I went, there were people to speak with who were helpful and kind. Regular joes gave me suggestions on good places to visit and eat, and advice on where to go and not go.
If you do find yourself lost in Boston, there are lots of folks that can help you out. Keep the phone number to your hotel in your cell phone -- call the concierge for advice. For that matter, duck into any hotel while on foot to ask for concierge assistance -- this is what they are there for.
The best things in life are free. There are a lot of attractions I could have gone to see that would take a lot of money out of my pocket. But some of the best things were the ones I didn't have to pay for.
The Freedom Trail Walking Tour is one of those. While some of the stops may charge admission, you can pick up a map at one of several "newspaper" boxes along the route, or get one from your concierge. It's a great way to trace back history.
website for more information.
Manchester's airport is easy to access and has one of the easiest TSA runthroughs you'll find. The concourse is well thought out, and you're not going to find too much trouble there.