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National Symphony Orchestra Prelude
Members of the National Symphony Orchestra present an evening of Tchaikovsky, featuring String Sextet "Souvenir de Florence" Op. 70 and String Quartet Movement in B flat major. The program features violinists Alexandra Osborne and Joel Fuller, violists Mahoko Eguchi and Daniel Foster, and cellists Rachel Young and James Lee.
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NOPD identifies third suspect in Bourbon Street shooting
Warrant issued for arrest
NOPD identifies third suspect in Bourbon Street shooting
Warrant issued for arrest
Police have identified a third man wanted in connection with a shooting on Bourbon Street days before Fat Tuesday.
Detectives had previously released a Facebook photo of the man, who they knew only by a nickname. They now know he is 19-year-old Malcolm Hall.
A warrant for Hall's arrest was obtained late Thursday.
Detectives believe he is the third person involved in the shooting of four people in the French Quarter on the Saturday before Mardi Gras. Two other suspects are already in custody.
Brandon Brown, 22, surrendered to police on Tuesday; Deron Bridgewater, 23, is also in custody facing charges.
Anyone with information on Hall is asked to call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.

subset: commoncrawl


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Patent and Trademark Office, United States
Search for United States patents 1790 to present through the Patent and Trademark Office (United States). Patents issued since 1976 in full text. full-page imagesare available since 1790. NOTE: Patents from 1790 through 1975 are searchable only by Patent Number and Current US Classification!
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Philosopher's Index
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Have you driven a Fjord lately?
Think's zippy little Web-enabled, carbon-free electric driving machine could help reverse 100 years of automotive history, writes Business 2.0 magazine.
(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Three pinstriped London investors stand outside an electric car factory in the green fields of the Norwegian countryside, waiting their turns to test-drive a stylish two-seater called the Think City.
But first, Think CEO Jan-Olaf Willums takes the wheel. While the moneymen fiddle with their BlackBerrys, Willums, looking slightly rumpled like the academic he once was, turns the ignition, and the stub-nosed coupe silently rolls toward an open stretch of pavement. Suddenly he punches the pedal, and the car takes off like a shot, the AC motor instantaneously transferring power to the wheels. The only sound is the squealing of tires as Willums throws the little car into a tight turn and barrels back toward his startled guests.
"That looks fun," Frode Aschim of Range Capital Partners says with a grin. Minutes later, he slides into the driver's seat and speeds away.
Did someone kill the electric car? You wouldn't know it on this bright May morning in Scandinavia, where the idea of a mass-produced battery-powered vehicle is being resurrected and actual cars are scheduled to begin rolling off the production line by year's end.
The London VCs are just the latest visitors to make the trek to Think to meet Willums, a onetime oilman turned venture capitalist, sustainability guru, and solar entrepreneur.
Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard flew to Oslo to take a spin and sent back his people to hammer out a deal to supply Think with high-power lithium-ion batteries. An executive from PG&E (Charts, Fortune 500), the giant California utility, dropped by during his vacation to talk about giving Think a foothold in the Golden State. Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway scooter, paid a visit, became an investor, and is now working on what could be the next breakthrough in automotive technology (more on that later).
Shuttling between Oslo and California, Willums has raised $78 million from Silicon Valley and European investors captivated by the genial, soft-spoken Norwegian's vision of a carbon-neutral urban car. You might spot him at Buck's, the VC hangout in Woodside, or at a tech conference in Napa. Four months after Willums's investment group acquired Think last year, he was hammering out its strategy at a brainstorming session hosted by Google.
Willums's pitch is this: He's not just selling an electric car; he's upending a century-old automotive paradigm, aiming to change the way cars are made, sold, owned, and driven.
Taking a cue from Dell (Charts, Fortune 500), the company will sell cars online, built to order. It will forgo showrooms and seed the market through car-sharing services like Zipcar. Every car will be Internet-and Wi-Fi-enabled, becoming, according to Willums, a rolling computer that can communicate wirelessly with its driver, other Think owners, and the power grid.
In other words, it's Web 2.0 on wheels. "We want to sell mobility," Willums says. "We don't want to sell a thing called the Think."
That's a lot to ride on one tiny car. And it's a big gamble for consumers, particularly freeway-driving, SUV-loving Americans. But global warming, the boom in green energy, and the changing economics of electric car production -- doing for $100 million what Detroit does for $1 billion -- have unleashed forces that won't be as easy to crush as the EV1 electric car scrapped by General Motors (Charts, Fortune 500) in 2003.
"There is a fundamental shift happening that is going to require new business models," says Ed Kjaer, an electric vehicle veteran who runs the EV program for Southern California Edison. "The timing is right. We are on a path now toward electric cars, and there is no going back."
We've been down this road before, of course, most famously in the 1990s, when General Motors spent upwards of $1 billion to develop the EV1, a teardrop-shaped electric car designed to comply with a California zero-emissions regulation. Less well-known was Ford's foray into the electric car market -- the one that led directly to Willums.
Lagging its Detroit rival, Ford (Charts, Fortune 500) in 1999 had acquired Norwegian electric car startup Pivco, which it renamed Think Nordic. In the mid-'90s, Pivco had produced a small urban EV called the Citi, about 40 of which were sent to San Francisco as part of a pilot car-sharing program. "They were horrible little vehicles," recalls Tom Turrentine, a research scientist at the University of California at Davis's Institute of Transportation Studies.
But just before Ford bought the company, Pivco had rolled out a new version of the car. Renamed the City, it was a big step up. Among those leasing the car was a former Stanford graduate student named Sergey Brin. "We drove one a long time ago," Google co-founder Larry Page says. "Sort of a milk-carton-material car."
With its eye on the California market, Ford pumped $150 million into the company to design a next-generation City that met European and U.S. safety standards. But when it looked like the automakers were going to kill the California regulation, Ford promptly sold Think to a Swiss electronics company.
By 2006, Think was in bankruptcy. Willums, meanwhile, was about to leave his firm for private foundation work, having made a mint from his investment in REC, an $8 billion Norwegian solar energy company. But the little electric car manufacturer caught his eye.
"So I called the two other key investors in REC about buying Think," says Willums, 60. "We didn't know anything about the car business. But we knew how to build successful businesses."
Willums picked up Think, its factory, and Ford's nearly completed design for a new-model City for the fire-sale price of about $15 million. That freed him to think about how to create a 21st-century car company. Much had changed since Ford sold Think: Global warming was dominating the headlines, the Iraq war had Americans on edge about energy security, and governments were beginning to provide generous tax breaks for electric cars.
"We felt it would be more fun and more profitable to think radically different," Willums says.
One week after his offer for Think was accepted in March 2006, Willums happened to be in Berkeley, where he hooked up with Joel Makower, a well-connected Bay Area green business consultant. Through contacts at Google (Charts, Fortune 500), Makower arranged for Think to hold a brainstorming session at the Googleplex in Mountain View.
The question on the table, Makower says, was this: "If you could build a car company from the ground up, with all we know about the Web and mass customization and social responsibility and localization and sustainability and viral marketing, what would that look like?"
Think's factory in the rural town of Aurskog is more reminiscent of Ikea than of Henry Ford, with its louvered wood exterior, bright open spaces, and shiny surfaces. There's nary a drop of oil or smudge of grease on the factory floor. This is an assembly plant, and the company puts together the Think City much the way a child builds a model car.
"It's a rather low investment," says Think managing director Ole Fretheim. "We can put up new factories quite easily."
He points to the black steel chassis of a City standing on a nearby pallet; it's shipped preassembled from Thailand. At one station, workers attach the car's aluminum frame -- made in Denmark -- and drop in a French motor. At another station, prefabricated rust-and dent-resistant polymer-plastic body panels produced in Turkey are hung on the frame of a nearly completed car.
The modular design means that Think can change body styles -- a prototype of a sporty convertible is parked in one corner of the factory -- without major retooling. It also means that Think can set up shop near its primary markets so it doesn't have to export the finished cars.
I get behind the wheel of one of 10 prototype coupes. With baby-seal-eye headlights and a rakish rear, the black test car is about 2 feet shorter than a Mini Cooper but 6 inches taller, giving it a surprisingly spacious feeling -- an effect that is magnified by the glass hatch that stretches from roof to bumper and that makes parking just about idiotproof.
Start the car up, and the only sound is the annoying hum of its vacuum-pump-powered hydraulic brakes (to be replaced on the production version). Put the pedal to the metal and the City zooms off. It's no Tesla Roadster -- the current battery is speed-limited to 62 miles an hour. But it is nimble and quick and goes about 112 miles on a single charge. And it hits the red line on the fun quotient.
Which is the point, according to Willums. "The customers are the trendsetters, the early adopters, the people who had to have a Prius," he says in lilting, Norwegian-accented English. "We're definitely not the only car you own. The main thing we want to sell is not a car but a whole concept around the car: carefree, carbon-free mobility."
That means no showrooms or obnoxious salespeople. Want to test-drive the City? Send a text message to find the nearest Think About car-sharing franchise. If you like what you see, you customize and order your City online.
"The idea of the future is, Never build a car before it's paid for," Willums says. "Once you have the image that yours is a car to be discovered, people will be happy to wait for just the right car."
Because each vehicle is Internet-ready, you can text-message your vehicle to, say, check its battery charge. The City will e-mail you when it's time for it to be serviced. "If someone has a great idea for a software link to the Think, we say bring it," Willums says. "It's the users who come up with those features. We just give them the platform."
Think plans to sell the car but lease the battery as a way to overcome one of the biggest conundrums of electric cars. The battery is by far the most expensive component of the City, which will list for about $34,000 in Norway. Take the battery out of the equation, and Willums says he can sell the car for about $15,000 to $17,000 in the United States, with a "mobility fee" of $100 to $200 a month that might also include services like insurance and wireless Internet access.
Each car will come equipped with a Web-enabled "black box" to monitor the battery's performance. When the car loses some of its range as the battery degrades, Think will offer buyers the option of replacing it at the same cost or paying a lower monthly fee.
Capricorn Investment Group, a Palo Alto private equity firm that has invested in both Think and Tesla, intends to launch a battery-leasing company to jump-start that market. "You have a natural way to create a total maintenance package," says Capricorn co-founder and partner Ion Yadigaroglu. "You're not going to pay the gas station; you'll pay us a monthly fee to use a battery that our company owns, which can be replaced in later years."
Where's the market for the old batteries? One answer might reside in the basement of PG&E's corporate headquarters in downtown San Francisco. Against one wall, a nickel metal hydride battery salvaged from a wrecked Prius sits plugged into a standard utility meter. When a switch is thrown, the meter begins to spin backward as the battery feeds electricity into the grid.
PG&E plans to buy thousands of plug-in hybrid and electric car batteries that have outlived their usefulness for transportation but still retain capacity. The utility will install them in the basements of office towers and at electrical substations to store green energy produced by wind farms and solar arrays.
"It will make vehicle batteries cheaper," says Sven Thesen, PG&E's supervisor for clean-air transportation, who recently visited Willums in Norway to discuss collaborating with Think.
Mass production will also lower the cost of batteries. In May, Think cut a $43 million deal with Silicon Valley electric car startup Tesla to buy a version of the lithium-ion battery packs that the California company is using to power its forthcoming Roadster.
Like Tesla, Think is capitalizing on the billions spent to create such batteries for laptops and mobile phones. "I think those guys are very savvy businesspeople and are likely to pull it off," Tesla CEO Eberhard says of Willums et al. Tesla's batteries will not only bestow some Silicon Valley cachet on Think -- Brin and Page are Tesla investors -- but also give the City the oomph to do 85 to 95 mph on the highway, according to Willums.
But better batteries are only the beginning. If Dean Kamen has his way, the Think will change our relationship with the energy grid itself.
When I reach the top of a winding driveway leading to Westwind, Kamen's estate outside Manchester, N.H., I'm greeted by an employee rolling along on a Segway. Then Kamen, dressed in jeans and short sleeves, a smartphone holstered on his hip, comes whipping around a corner on a small black motorcycle that sounds like the starship Enterprise going to warp factor 8. It's an electric scooter equipped with a Stirling heat engine that is charging the vehicle's battery, providing virtually greenhouse-gas-free travel.
The iconoclastic inventor, who made his first fortune developing medical devices, has spent more than $40 million creating Stirling engines that can tap almost any fuel source, from restaurant grease to cow dung. He wants to equip the City with one, extending its range by hundreds of miles.
Kamen met Willums about a year ago and later visited Think in Norway. "He's a fun, gregarious, good guy," Kamen says. "Next thing I know, I'm getting sucked into this, and he's sending me a car, and -- son of a bitch -- I've got this car here and I'm putting a Stirling engine in!"
The navy-blue City is parked next to a 1913 Model T and an 1898 steam-driven car. Kamen opens a panel in the floor of the City's cargo area to reveal a silver cylindrical object -- a larger version of the Stirling engine that powers his scooter.
"You can plug the car into the wall to charge the batteries, or you can plug into this," Kamen says, noting that when it's connected to the City, his Stirling engine will meet indoor air-quality standards.
Kamen takes the City for a drive. "This little sucker will move," he says, talking a mile a minute as he accelerates past his wind turbine and down a hill. Right now this is just a hobby for the inventor, but Kamen thinks the car could be the killer app to move toward his vision of the future: mass-produced Stirling engines powering the world's off-the-grid villages.
If Kamen makes the Stirling work in an electric vehicle, Willums will get another power plant for his open-source car and a way to overcome drivers' fears that they'll run out of electrons in the middle of nowhere.
And that's just the start. Both men see the City as part of a network of mobile generators that can draw energy from the power grid and send electricity back during periods of peak demand. "If you have enough Thinks out there, you would literally change the architecture of the grid," Kamen says.
But for that to happen, you need a partner accustomed to managing vast amounts of data over global networks, a company like the one run by Kamen's pals Brin and Page. A couple of days after my visit to his New Hampshire home, Kamen flies to California to have dinner with the Google guys, carrying the schematics of his Think/Stirling hybrid.
"They're interested," Kamen tells me the next week. "Sergey loved his old Think. He's way enthusiastic about the new car."
Brin and Page took the first step toward Googling the grid on a sunny day in June when the search giant unveiled the vehicle-to-grid charging stations it had built with PG&E in a solar-panel-covered carport at the Googleplex.
While a gaggle of reporters looked on, Brin plugged a retractable power cord into a converted Toyota Prius. When he pressed a key on a laptop, a wireless signal instructed the car to send electricity stored in its battery back to PG&E. "People haven't been thinking of this on a large scale," Page says. "If you have a million of these cars, or tens of millions, it'll have a huge impact."
Google.org, the company's philanthropic arm, is creating a fleet of plug-in hybrids for an employee car-sharing program. Dan Reicher, Google.org's director of climate and energy initiatives, says he would consider including the Think City. "It's a very cool car," he says.
That's music to Willums's ears. He might describe the City as a computer on wheels, but in truth what he's selling is a rolling iPod -- a hip, desirable chunk of plastic and metal with Zenlike simplicity. Think plans to roll out its first cars in Norway in early 2008, then expand to other European countries. The Continent should be a rich market for Willums, given that electric car owners there often qualify for generous tax breaks and such perks as free parking.
The U.S. market, where he hopes to sell the City in selected cities in 2009, is more problematic. Turrentine, the UC Davis EV expert, wonders if the City can hold its own on U.S. highways. Even the company's supporters hesitate when asked about the prospects of selling an urban two-seater EV in the land of the SUV.
"I don't know. I don't know," says Tesla's Eberhard. "I'd like them to, obviously, because I want to sell truckloads of batteries to them. It could do well in San Francisco. It could do well in Manhattan."
One key hurdle: creating an infrastructure of charging stations. Hal LaFlash, PG&E's director of emerging clean-technology policy, thinks EV owners could well end up charging their cars at their office parking lots. Car-sharing services like Zipcar and Flexcar offer another opportunity. "The car-sharing market has certain pickup points, and we can work with them on charging infrastructure," LaFlash says.
Back in his Oslo office, Willums acknowledges those challenges. But he senses a shift in the wind -- one that Detroit and Tokyo have been slow to pick up on. The British and Norwegians, eager to prove their green cred, want to place fleet orders, he says. And one U.S. company, which he declines to identify, would like 400 cars. His goals are modest; he's talking about making 20,000 Citys a year. But even that would make Think the world's biggest electric car company.
Perhaps one indicator of people's willingness to think differently about cars is sitting outside in the parking lot. It's the dusty old-model Think in which Willums has been tooling around Oslo for the past four years.
"I drive two cars, a Volvo station wagon and the Think," says Willums, a car collector whose stable includes a '61 Austin Healey. "I use the Think every day. The others stay in the garage."
Todd Woody is the assistant managing editor at Business 2.0.click here.
From the August 1, 2007 issue


text:
Flexner on Finishing: Wipe, Don't Brush
Wiping is the efficient way to apply stain.
By Bob Flexner
Pages: 66-68
From the August 2009 issue #177
Buy this issue now
The purpose of this article is to emphasize what I've said in passing many times in this column: It's much more efficient to wipe stain onto wood with a rag than to brush it.
Wiping is fast, almost as fast as spraying (without the downside of having to clean the spray gun). Wiping is also every bit as effective in all situations except possibly into recesses such as inside corners, fluting, deep carvings and the like.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not against brushing stains. I just don't see why anyone would do it, especially on large surfaces, and even more especially, when using any stain other than a slow drying oil-based stain. All other stains, including water-based, lacquer and all the dye stains, dry too rapidly to allow time to both brush on and get wiped off of large surfaces before the stain begins drying.
From the August 2009 issue #177
Buy this issue now


text:
MORRISON – Dianah Young doesn't want to lose the park where she takes her two daughters once or twice a week.
She came to the city's open house Thursday evening to learn about the three options the city is considering for a new wastewater treatment plant in or around Waterworks Park.
Young, who lives on Hickory Hills Drive, is worried about losing the neighborhood park where she takes Leah, 3, and Faith, 1. A much-used dog park will be gone as well, when the new plant is built, she said.
She also worries about the new plant being a too-tall "eyesore" that will hurt the value of her home.
"We just moved there 6 months ago," she said. "This isn't very nice to hear."
About 70 people came to the open house at Odell Public Library where representatives from Baxter & Woodman of Crystal Lake, which is designing upgrades for the plant, were on hand to present information and answer questions.
Of the three proposed configurations, the option that would put the plant at the greatest distance from homes also would be the most expensive, council member Dave Rose said.
It would put the plant on grounds owned by the Whiteside County fair board and used for parking during fairs. The city would have to buy the land, which would be costly, he said.
Another problem with that option, known as the "south option" is that it is on a landfill, he said.
The other two configurations bring the plant closer to homes but would cost less, he said.
"We want to find a compromise between the least offensive and the most cost-effective site plans," he said.
Vern Tervelt, 70, who lives on Fairway Drive, also near the park, was one of several Morrison residents who complained that they have not had as much input on the issue as they would like.
"I think the people of Morrison have had no input until now," he said. "The decision's been made. It's going to be built in one of two locations, and neither one is going to make the neighborhood happy."
City Administrator Jim Wise said the public is welcome to comment at council meetings or to call him. The council has been discussing the issue in open meetings since January, he said.
Curt Bender, 54, lives in the 500 block of South Orange St. He said he is concerned most with the increase in cost estimates. At one point, the project was estimated to cost $12.8 million, and now the estimates have topped $16 million, he said.
Chris Buckley, Baxter's project engineer, said the estimates increased because the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency sent the city a letter ordering it to repair sewer overflow problems that have occurred during storms and led to sewers overflowing into Rock Creek.
Part of the solution for the problem, Buckley said, is to build a pond that, during heavy storms – which happen about six times a year – would fill up with rainwater mixed with sewage, he said. Some pipes also need to be replaced with bigger, non-leaking pipes, he said.
The city will apply for a grant from IEPA through its revolving loan program to help pay for the plant project, Wise said, but the design must be complete before the application is made.
"This is a dream," Wise said.
The project actually will cost about $18 million. Wise hopes to get a low-interest IEPA loan to completely fund the project, which the city would repay over 20 years, he said.
In 2009, when the city administration believed it would need only $5 million in sewer improvements, a sewer rates hike was implemented. A rate analysis will have to be conducted to figure out what the rates will need to be to pay off a 20-year loan, he said.
According to information on display Thursday, work will take from spring 2014 until the end of 2015, if the project is funded in the IEPA's fiscal year 2014. If not, construction will begin in October 2014 and end by October 2016.
Three plant options
Waterworks Park, on the southeast side of Morrison, will be the site of the wastewater treatment plant in Morrison. The park is bordered by Rock Creek, Hickory Hill Drive, Fairway Drive, and Winfield Street.
The city is considering three site plans for the plant:
The most cost-effective plan, according to Alderman Dave Rose, is one that would put the plant on the site of Little League baseball fields that the league now uses only for practice. It's the cheapest option because it would sit among infrastructure already in use for the current sewage plant, he said. The plan would require the baseball diamond to be removed and it would put the plant close to houses, Rose said.
A second option would be to build a pond to the west of the current plant. The pond would fill up about six times a year during heavy rainfalls with a mixture of sewage and rainwater. This option would affect fewer residents than the first option, but would still affect those in the southwest corner of town. This option would cost at least $16 million, said Chris Buckley, project manager with Baxter & Woodman.
The "south option" would put the plant on land that is not currently owned by the city but by the Whiteside County fair board. The land, southeast of Waterworks Park, is used for parking during the fairs. It is also the site of a landfill. The city would have to pay for the land, so this option would cost at least $16 million as well, Buckley said.


text:
Seibertron.com - The Ultimate Transformers Fansite
Moderator: RPG Support Staff
~Windcharger~ wrote:Sounds awesome. Should I reapply for Windcharger and Brawn? I believe I still have my original applications for both. And would it be too greedy to ask for Skywarp as well to round out the Seekers?
Whatever you want me to do, I'm cool with it.
Ember wrote:Just as a side note, when you apply for an Autobot there is a requirement to decribe an avatar for the character. Just put it after the abilities section of your application.
~Windcharger~ wrote:Not exactly sure what this means. Could you direct me to an example?
JaAm wrote:Quck question: I know the wreckers are off limits, but what is their lineup in this continuity?
JaAm wrote:Well, I was considering applying for a character like roadbuster or whirl to serve as a autobot counterpart to blitzwing, but if they're off limits, then I'll look elsewhere.
JaAm wrote:So, uh, where'd the news post come from? seems a little oddly timed to anounce the RPG when it already started.
Darth_Tarantulas wrote:Is Perceptor off limits due to size changing? If he's not would I still need to include a hollo driver with his application?
Darth_Tarantulas wrote:This one I'm sure I could apply for but I just want to double check is Hoist OK?
Return to RPG - Registration & Discussion
Registered users: Autobot N, Bing [Bot], Deadput, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], High Command, Lore Keeper, Majestic-12 [Bot], Optimus_Prime007, Phasewing, Rodimus Prime, Rogue-Primal, Sabrblade, Sentinel_Primal, Servant of Light, william-james88, Wingz, Xenos Prime


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http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2004/commentary040121RB.htm?ref=btpCan You Count on Your Pension?Much of your future retirement income is in other people's hands. The amount -- and very existence -- of your Social Security benefit will depend on how the government attempts to fix the program's looming shortfalls. And if you expect a monthly pension check in your golden years, you may be in for a surprise: Poor investment returns and corporate bankruptcy have jeopardized this one-time cornerstone of retirement. In the end, you can only depend on what you can control: your personal savings.By Robert Brokamp (TMF Bro)January 21, 2004We all look forward to the day when we can deposit our duffs on retirement's proverbial three-legged stool: Social Security, a pension plan, and personal savings.But be careful: The legs of that stool aren't too sturdy.We all know that the future of Social Security is up in the air, with baby boomers poised to put a strain on those coffers. The program just won't have enough money to cover future obligations.Unfortunately, the same is being said of more and more traditional pension plans, a.k.a. defined-benefit plans. Last month, Standard & Poor's announced that the pensions offered by the companies in the S&P 500 are underfunded by $259 billion, up from $212 billion a year ago. The bear market of 2000-2002 and historically low interest rates have taken their toll on pension assets, and the stellar stock market of 2003 wasn't enough to compensate for the increased payments pensions will have to pay this year -- a situation that will only get worse as the baby boomers retire.That shortfall is just for companies in the S&P 500. Nationwide, the government estimates that pensions are underfunded by $350 million.The pension: an endangered speciesOf course, an underfunded pension is better than no pension at all -- but that's the prospect facing an increasing number of workers. A recent survey by Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) found that unless Congress changes the accounting rules that govern pensions, 21% of companies say they will freeze pension benefits and 17% said they won't offer defined-benefit plans to new employees.The issue of companies getting "pension relief" is a whole other can of worms, but the fact is that fewer employers are offering defined-benefit plans. According to Hewitt, 83% of employers offered traditional pension plans in 1990. By last year, that percentage had dropped to 45%.Even if you have a pension, there's no guarantee it'll be around when you retire. Just ask the former employees of Consolidated Freightways, US Airways (Nasdaq: UAIR), or Polaroid. After these companies went bankrupt, they could no longer pay pension benefits. Their plans -- along with the plans of 149 other companies, including, of course, Frosty Morn Meats -- were taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federally chartered agency that essentially insures pensions.While that sounds reassuring, benefit payments from the PBGC are often lower than what a retiree would have received had the company remained solvent. A Washington Post article from last October told the story of Melvin Schmeizer, a Bethlehem Steel employee for more than 35 years whose monthly pension dropped from $2,850 to $1,700 after the PBGC assumed control of the plan.Furthermore, the PBGC itself isn't on solid ground. Its fund backing single-employer plans went from a $7.7 billion surplus in 2001 to a $11.2 billion deficit in 2003. The reason: The agency is taking over more plans. Last year, the PBGC assumed control of 152 pension plans (up 5.5% from 2002) covering 206,000 people (up 10.2%). That's the largest annual increase in the total number of people covered by the PBGC. The agency paid a record $2.5 billion in benefits, almost $1 billion more than in the previous year.In a statement released last week along with the PBGC's annual report, Executive Director Steven A. Kandarian said, "The continued erosion of PBGC's financial condition underscores the need for comprehensive reforms to put pension plans on a path to better funding. While the PBGC has sufficient assets to pay benefits to workers and retirees for a number of years, the growing gap between our assets and liabilities puts at risk the agency's ability to continue to protect pensions in the future."The one leg leftNow, we don't want to sound too alarmist. Social Security will survive in some form (though future retirees should expect reduced benefits). And most beneficiaries of a defined-benefit plan will get something. Actually, in the short term, it's the investors in companies with huge shortfalls -- such as General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) -- that have the most to worry about, as earnings get gobbled up by pension funding.But the solvency of Social Security and your pension are ultimately out of your control. The only aspect of your retirement that is truly in your hands is your personal savings. And isn't it smarter to plan for the worst -- or at least not the best?So if you want to control how and when you retire, you'll have to save early and often. Stuff your 401(k), 403(b), or whatever your employer offers, and max out your IRA. You still have until April 15 of this year to make a contribution for 2003, so don't miss out on that tax-advantaged growth. (Visit our IRA Center for all the details.)For more on pensions -- and how to see if yours still has a pulse -- read Pension in Trouble? http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2003/commentary030402bro.htm Furthermore, beginning this year, companies will have to reveal more information about their pensions, including asset allocation, contribution levels, future benefit payments, and investment strategies. So keep an eye on the health of your plan and your company. And if you're ever given the opportunity to get money out of the plan -- such as a lump-sum benefit payment -- give it serious consideration.For his five years of teaching sixth graders, Robert Brokamp will receive $108 a month 32 years from now. And, no, that won't be adjusted for inflation. Which is why he's still working, co-writing The Motley Fool Personal Finance Workbook and writing The Motley Fool's Guide to Paying for School. The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: One in a series of stories profiling the finalists for Worcester city manager.
WORCESTER — Peter Graczykowski enters the fray for city manager with a history of financial accomplishments but also some baggage from his last public job.
Mr. Graczykowski, 42, is one of three finalists to emerge from a field of 30 applicants in the hunt for a successor to City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr.
According to his resume, Mr. Graczykowski managed a $170 million annual budget as city manager in East Providence, Rhode Island, where he was part of a state-appointed commission that turned a $14 million deficit into an $8.8 million surplus in fiscal 2012.
The East Providence Budget Commission oversaw the city's finances from December 2011 to September 2013 at the direction of the Rhode Island Department of Revenue. Mr. Graczykowski and the city's mayor served along with three state designees.
A Polish immigrant who speaks four languages, Mr. Graczykowski holds a business management degree from Westfield State University, a law degree from Western New England School of Law and an M.B.A. from Western New England University.
Though most of his career has been in public service, Mr. Graczykowski is currently working as a financial consultant after being fired from his city manager post in East Providence, where he worked from 2011 to 2013.
A conflict between himself and the city's then-police chief spawned headlines for months before his firing, however the particulars behind his dismissal remain murky.
Mr. Graczykowski was fired "without cause" by a 4-1 vote of the East Providence City Council last November. Helder Cunha, the councilor who called for the vote, told the media he had "lost faith" that Mr. Graczykowski was the right person to lead the city, however no specific reason for his firing was given.
Subsequent media reports showed that Mr. Graczykowski had been heavily criticized by Rhode Island State Police several months earlier for allegedly interfering with a state police investigation.
"(I) feel strongly that you need to know about the unprofessional behavior of Mr. Graczykowski," State Police Col. Steven G. O'Donnell wrote in an Aug. 27, 2013, letter to the city's mayor.
Col. O'Donnell, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, informed elected city officials that Mr. Graczykowski sent him an email Aug. 22 criticizing state police for conducting an investigation into alleged misconduct of city employees without his knowledge.
"On its face, it appears that Mr. Graczykowski is attempting to interfere with a Rhode Island State Police investigation," Col. O'Donnell wrote, adding he found it "troubling" that the city manager appeared to not comprehend the "separation of power and authority between his position and that of Rhode Island State Police."
Col. O'Donnell, who serves as commissioner of the department of public safety, pointed out that Mr. Graczykowski himself had just been the subject of a state police investigation. That probe followed allegations that Mr. Graczykowski and two city councilors agreed on a deal involving then-East Providence Police Chief Joseph Tavares. The alleged agreement would have had Mr. Graczykowski fire Chief Tavares in exchange for a contract. At the time, Mr. Graczykowski was working as an at-will employee.
Mr. Graczykowski and the two city councilors were never charged for the alleged deal, though Col. O'Donnell said investigators found them uncooperative.
Col. O'Donnell's letter grabbed headlines, but Lt. Raymond J. Blinn of the East Providence Police Department said he believes it cast Mr. Graczykowski in an unfair light.
Lt. Blinn, a 24-year veteran, defended Mr. Graczykowski as an "excellent city manager" who got caught up in the "nastiest bit of politics" he's seen during his tenure in East Providence.
Lt. Blinn said that Mr. Graczykowski suspended Chief Tavares in early 2013 after receiving complaints from officers regarding hostile working conditions on the force.
Lt. Blinn said he believes Chief Tavares enjoyed political connections that insulated him from discipline. The chief was subsequently reinstated by a state-controlled Budget Commission, he said.
Lt. Blinn said he believes Mr. Graczykowski always acted in the best interests of the city and police, noting that police officers overwhelmingly took a "no confidence" vote against Chief Tavares last year. Chief Tavares resigned in May.
Ward 4 Councilor Chrissy Rossi — one of the two councilors investigated by state police — said Wednesday that the allegations of collusion were false. She praised Mr. Graczykowski as a shrewd financial manager who helped the city of 47,000 climb out of debt.
"He has a great mind, and it would be a mistake for Worcester to pass him by," Ms. Rossi said.
Mr. Cunha did not return requests for comment Wednesday about Mr. Graczykowski's ouster.
Mr. Graczykowski said Wednesday he felt changes in the membership on the council were the prime reason he was let go.
"Councils do change," he said. "Another council came in, and they decided to hire someone else."
Mr. Graczykowski, an Edgartown resident, declined to comment specifically on Col. O'Donnell's letter. He said he believes he acted professionally and in the best interests of the city's public safety departments.
In an email, Mr. Graczykowski emphasized his work turning around finances in East Providence and Springfield, where he served as administrative services director for the public works department.
"My hands-on experience and measurable results in the area of economic development (will help me) guide Worcester in the direction of sustainable growth," Mr. Graczykowski wrote.
The police chief controversy was not the only time Mr. Graczykowski faced criticism close to his firing. The month before, according to EastBayRI.com, he proposed five-figure compensation increases for himself and two other administrators in East Providence that were rejected by the City Council.
Mr. Graczykowski said Wednesday that he proposed those boosts after unions in the town received "significant" pay increases. As city manager, he had a salary of approximately $127,500.
The Worcester job is the third post for which Mr. Graczykowski has been named a finalist in the last 18 months.
He was a finalist for Lowell city manager in March. In February 2013 he was unsuccessful in becoming town administrator in Tisbury, a Martha's Vineyard town of 4,000.
Tisbury selectmen awarded the job to John W. Grande, who was the director of Framingham's planning department. The Lowell City Council awarded the job to state Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Lowell.
District 2 Councilor Philip P. Palmieri, who chaired the committee that selected finalists, said he could not discuss Mr. Graczykowski's history since interviews with candidates were conducted in executive session.
Daniel J Racicot, chief of staff for Mayor Joseph M. Petty, said the mayor also believes it would be a "disservice" to the process to comment on any of the candidates prior to their public interviews next week.
Mr. Graczykowski's interview is scheduled to take place from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. Sept. 11. The council is expected to select the city manager later that night.
Contact Brad Petrishen at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @BPetrishenTG.


text:
Latin name; Leonurus cardiaca
Uses; aids in keeping loved ones safe, also a sacred woman's herb
To add this product to your wish list you must Login or Register.
Latin name; Agrimony eupatoria
Uses; Protection, sleep aid, all purpose, healer, hex breaker, anti-inflammatory
- Agrimony is often used in spells, rituals and mojo bags to protect from and expel negative energies and influences.
Energy; Male
Planet; Juniper
Element; Air
Latin name; Angelica archangelica
Uses; Healing, protection, provides strength to woman, good luck.
- Angelica has long been known as a healing herb with the ability to cast out illness from the body and protect it from harm.
Energy; Male
Planet; Sun
Element; Fire
Latin name; llicium verum
Uses; Wards off evil, happiness, stimulates psychic ability, protection and meditation
Energy; Male
Planet; Juniper
Element; Air
Latin name; Arnica
Uses; Increases psychic powers, feminine energy
Do not ingest!
- Especially potent on the summer solstice; bunches are gathers n fields and burnt as offerings to ensure a good harvest.
Energy; Female
Planet; Saturn
Element; Earth
Latin name; Populus balsamifera
Uses; Love, manifestation, protection and healing. Aids in Spiritual work
Energy; Female
Planet; Venus
Element; Water
Latin name; Myrica cerifera
Uses; Money, helps sore throats, success, and abundance
- Bayberry bark is often carried about the person, burned or the tree planted next to a home or business.
Latin name; Ligusticum Porteri
Uses; Protection against evil spirits, good luck and ceremonial incense
Latin name; Monarda
Uses; Money, success, helps with anxiety and depression, aids digestive issues
- Bergamot is often used to bring clarity and good working order to a volatile situation.
Energy; Female
Element; Air


text:
The original Two Worlds has its fans, but it's largely known for being... well, awful. Two Worlds II is a huge improvement from the word "go," and while it's got quite a few flaws, it's actually not bad. It's an open-world fantasy game with a weird sense of humor, an adult sensibility, and a couple of dozen hours' worth of dungeon diving. Give it a try. You might like it more than you think you will.
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text:
Bring Home Your Beer Game
...you could win your very own low chair games and more
It's not important for us to know exactly how you arrived here, but it is important for both of us to acknowledge that you ARE here… Acceptance is always the first step.
Many souls have arrived here at the end of arduous and sometimes difficult journeys and we want you to know that you are welcomed and that we will always be here for you. Your complimentary blanket and bowl of soup will be along in a moment.
So, it is in a genuine spirit of mindful compassion that we will share this time. You are good, you are beautiful, and you are a sentient being on the planet Earth. You may or you may not have lint in your navel.
Therefore make peace with your God, whatever you conceive him to be; Cosmic Muffin or Hairy Thunderer, and take solace in the knowledge that your dog is finally getting enough bacon.
...you could win your very own low chair games and more


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14KT YellowGold
Medal Dimensions: 1" H x 3/4" W (Large - Appropriate for men; older boys or anybody that prefers to wear a larger medal.)
This item is available with or without a chain. If you would like a chain, please make a selection from the list below. Chained medals will come gift-boxed.
If you just want the medal, a jump-ring is included so you can attach it to your own chain.
Click here to see images for available chains: Chain options for large 14kt medals
Proudly made in the U.S.A.
Approximately medal weights:
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This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!


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DESTIN, Fla. (SunBeltSports.org) – The Sun Belt Conference, Cox Sports Television (CST) and Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) today announced a one year extension of the Sun Belt Network – a partnership of the league and the two regional sports networks that has been in place since 2008.
The agreement between the three parties will result in the continuation of broadcasts for football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, volleyball and softball contests for the 2013-14 sports season.
"Our relationship with CSS and CST is an important one and I am glad to see it continue as we are always looking to gain television exposure for our member institutions," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson. "This extension guarantees us the opportunity to showcase the Sun Belt on two prominent regional sports networks."
For the upcoming season the Sun Belt Network will air seven high-definition football broadcasts as part of a minimum of 39 broadcasts that the network will air. The Sun Belt Conference may seek distribution with providers outside of the footprint those two networks reach. Contests are often available on ESPN3.com and ESPN GamePlan outside of the CSS and CST markets.
"We are very excited to continue our Sun Belt Conference relationship," stated CST Head Rod Mickler. "The partnership of the Sun Belt Conference, CSS and CST continues to bring year round exposure to the great athletic programs and member institutions of the SBC."
"CSS is pleased to continue our partnership with the Sun Belt Conference for the 2013-2014 season," says Mark Fuhrman, Vice President and General Manager of CSS. "CSS has been offering Sun Belt games since 2002 and we look forward to continuing this partnership."
Since its inception in 2009 and including the upcoming season, the Sun Belt Network will have aired over 150 Sun Belt contests.


text:
Dining Services
Because you have to eat!
New and Improved Knight & Day Cafe is now open!
New and Improved Knight & Day Café is now open!
The makeover included modifications to the service line, including centralized cashier stations, new counter tops, new breathe guards, new lamination to cabinetry, grab-n-go section, self-serve salad station, gourmet coffee station, breakdown station and digital menu displays.
Located in the heart of the ATEC, The Knight & Day Café is Central Penn's restaurant. This fun, casual and laid back café serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Operated & managed by the staff of the Harrisburg Hilton, the café offers an enticing menu including burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, soups, salads and more!
For more information on the Knight & Day Cafe, please call (717) 728-2304.
Knight & Day Cafe Hours
Monday - Friday:
- Breakfast: 8 - 11 a.m.
- Lunch: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- Dinner: 3:30 - 6 p.m.
At Central Penn College, we believe in giving you choices! While all residential students are required to purchase a meal plan, we don't think your balance should expire as long as you are an active Central Penn student!
Each term, the amount that you purchase on your meal plan will be added to your Central Penn student ID card. Simply present your ID card to the Knight & Day Cafe cashier and the amount of your purchase will be deducted from your available balance.
Have extra money on your card at the end of the term? No problem! Your balance never expires as long as you are an active Central Penn student, so you won't lose any of your hard earned cash.
Meal Plan Options
- Option 1 - $484
- Option 2 - $587
- Option 3 - $690
- Option 4 - $1000
- Option 5 - $1,500
- Option 6 - $308 (Non-residential students only)
For information about purchasing or changing meal plans, please call (800) 759-2727.
Knight & Day Cafe has a rotating selection of menu options to choose from.


text:
- Title:
- CONSER Editing Guide
- Format:
- Web-based subscription service
- Description:
- Discontinued publication.
Available in Cataloger's Desktop. See http://www.loc.gov/cds/desktop/
- Included in Cataloger's Desktop
- Related links:
Introduction to Cataloging Resources, Manuals and Training Tools
More than 300 of the most important cataloging and metadata resources are available in Cataloger's Desktop (http://www.loc.gov/cds/desktop)-- our web-based subscription service used by Library of Congress staff and catalogers throughout the U.S. and all over the world.
> more about Cataloging Resources, Manuals and Training Tools


text:
Name: case-mate Enlighten
Price: $79
Rating: Weak Recommend*
My Kindle 2 and I are rather inseparable. A late adopter to the digital book scene, I continue to be surprised at just how much I continue to love my Kindle 2 and use it 6 months after its purchase. So when the opportunity came to review a new accessory for the Kindle 2, the prototype of the Enlighten by case-mate, I jumped at the chance. The Enlighten is a case made of genuine leather in an Old English book style and is the first case on the market equipped with a LED powered light for nighttime reading as well as an interior side pocket for storage.
The concept for the Enlighten, a case with a built in light that enables easy nighttime reading is great. It was nice to be able to carry around my own light source along with my Kindle 2. The light has three modes, high, low, and off, which allowed me to easily adjust for the necessary light depending on the environmental conditions. The case also has a very nice feel, although it did not make "reading Dan Brown will feel like reading Dante," it did make my Kindle 2 feel more book-like.
My first experience with the Enlighten was not terribly positive, as I tried to insert my Kindle 2 into the case, one of the clips broke off. Without using the clips there is no alternate way to secure the device to the case. I have been assured that when this case is on the shelves it will have much stronger clips. Thankfully a second prototype was included, so that I was able to see the case in action. It was difficult to insert and took a few attempts before I was able to secure the device in the case.
The LED light in the high setting is quite bright, unfortunately, as you can see in the pictures a ripple sort of effect became visible across the screen. Because this is a prototype I am hopeful that this will not be present in the case when it becomes available for sale. The ripple made reading, which is the whole point of the Kindle 2, quite challenging and is a pretty big flaw in this case. The panel that the lights shine through picks up every scratch and piece of dust, it's very important to keep this clean as this also significantly alters the visibility. It's for this reason that I thought twice about using the inside pocket, as I did not want to put anything in the case that could damage that sensitive panel.
Another feature that I hope is improved upon is the previous page button. This button is very difficult to engage, and for a reader like me who frequently uses this button, it really slows you down.
Although the case has a nice feel to it, it is a bit heavier than one would like (this is primarily due to the two batteries that are housed in the spine) and does feel a bit clunky. I do confess that I usually keep my Kindle 2 in a envelope-like sleeve that I made in order to maintain the slim profile while the device in being carried around with me.
All in all I love the concept and would seriously consider purchasing one should the bugs be worked out. As much as I strive to maintain the slim footprint of the Kindle 2, it would be nice to have an option that would make reading in low light easier.
The Enlighten will be available on case-mate.com in early December.
Pros: Innovative concept and case has a nice feel.
Cons: Hard to insert Kindle 2 into the case, difficult to read, previous page button hard to press, and feels a bit bulky.
*Our Ratings:
Strong Recommend
Weak Recommend
Don't Recommend
(images: Joelle Alcaidinho and case-mate)


text:
Bryan Cranston is going from playing a meth dealer on AMC's "Breaking Bad" to playing President Lyndon B. Johnson in a new stage production of a work by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan.
"All The Way" will open the new season at American Repertory Theater in Massachusetts, with performances scheduled to begin Sept. 13. The company said that the play dramatizes Johnson's first year in the Oval Office as he deals with the conflict in Vietnam and civil-rights unrest at home.
Schenkkan wrote the play as a commission for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where it was produced in 2012 with a different cast and directed by Bill Rauch, who is artistic director of the Oregon company. Rauch is returning as director of the new production.
PHOTOS: Hollywood stars on stage
The cast will include Michael McKean as J. Edgar Hoover, Dakin Matthews as the late Sen. Richard Russell, Brandon J. Dirden as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Betsy Aidem as Lady Bird Johnson.
Cranston doesn't have many major theater credits to his name, though he began his career on regional stages. (Jane Kaczmarek, his former "Malcolm in the Middle" co-star, is a regular presence on L.A. stages.)
In 2011, Cranston acted in a radio-play staging of "It's A Wonderful Life" at the Geffen Playhouse, with Annette Bening.
Schenkkan won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for "The Kentucky Cycle."
Metaphor for America: Robert Schenkkan's 'Kentucky Cycle'
Bryan Cranston joins Annette Bening in 'It's a Wonderful Life'
Bill and Hillary Clinton pay respects to Ann Richards on Broadway
PHOTOS: Hollywood stars on stage CHEAT SHEET: Spring arts preview 2014 PHOTOS: Arts and culture in pictures
PHOTOS: Hollywood stars on stage
CHEAT SHEET: Spring arts preview 2014
PHOTOS: Arts and culture in pictures


text:
Trade discounts (also called functional discounts): These are payments to distribution channel members for performing some function .
Retailers have a stock number of retail 'mechanics' that they regularly roll out or rotate for new marketing initiatives.
Many discounts are designed to give consumers the perception of saving money when buying products, but not all discounted prices are viewed as favorable to buyers. Therefore, before making a purchase, consumers may weigh their options as either a gain or a loss to avoid the risk of losing money on a purchase.
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A "gain" view on a purchase results in chance taking. Missoni Wool MidRise Pants Discount Inexpensive Footlocker Cheap Price i3tZ4JXB6r
For example, if there is a buy-one-get-one-half-off discount that seems profitable, a shopper will buy the product. On the other hand, a "loss" viewpoint results in consumer aversion to taking any chances. [6] For instance, consumers will pass on a buy-three-get-one-half-off discount if they believe they are not benefitting from the deal. Specifically, consumers will consider their options because "…the sensation of loss is 2.5 times greater than the sensation of gain for the same value". [6]
Impulse buying results from consumers' failure to weigh their options before buying a product. Impulse buying is "any purchase that a shopper makes that has not been planned… [and is] sudden and immediate".
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For example, if a consumer has no intention of buying a product before entering a store, but purchases an item without any forethought, that is impulse buying. Product manufactures want to promote and encourage this instant purchase impulse in consumers. Buyers can be very quick to make purchases without thinking about the consequences when a product is perceived to be a good deal. Buy Cheap Best Store To Get Sleeveless Ruffle Top Susana Monaco Collections 1q1Ct7HeP
Therefore, sales companies "increasingly implement promotional campaigns that will be effective in triggering consumer impulse buying behavior" to increase sales and profit. [2]
Many consumers read left-to-right, and therefore, compare prices in the same manner.
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For example, if the price of a product is $93 and the sales price is $79, people will initially compare the left digits first (9 and 7) and notice the two digit difference. [7] However, because of this habitual behavior, "consumers may perceive the ($14) difference between $93 and $79 as greater than the ($14) difference between $89 and $75". [7] As a result, consumers often mistakenly believe they are receiving a better deal with the first set of prices based on the left digits solely. [7] Because of that common misconception, companies capitalize on this sales pricing strategy more often than not to increase sales.
Whatever you set this to, ensure the permissions for the containing directory and the file itself are correct, and that the user that your web application runs as can write to the file.
Use an absolute path unless you are sure what the working directory of your application will be at startup. If you can't write out a log file, you can also use and output to standard error output. This would normally result in output appearing in your web server log.
Sets the level of detail of log messages, if you've set the
log file location
. This
will not affect the Python logging module log level. Possible values, in increasing order of detail, are
, and
To report agent issues to New Relic, the most useful setting is
. However,
generates a lot of information very quickly, so do not keep the agent at this level for longer than it takes to reproduce your problem.
High security mode enforces certain security settings and prevents them from being overridden, so that no sensitive data is sent to New Relic. Enabling high security mode means that request parameters are not collected, and you cannot send raw SQL to New Relic.
To activate high security mode, set it to
in the local
configuration file
activate it in the Account Settings in the New Relic user interface. For more information, see
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By default, the Python agent attempts to directly connect to the New Relic service. If there is a firewall between your host and the
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that requires you to use an HTTP proxy, set
to the required values for your HTTP proxy. If proxy authentication is implemented by the HTTP proxy, also set
setting dictates what protocol scheme is used to talk to the HTTP proxy. When set to
, the agent uses a SSL tunnel through the HTTP proxy for end-to-end encryption.
Instead of setting the
settings, you can also set the
setting to a valid URI for the proxy. Include the scheme, host, and port; for example,
. This also works if you set the details of the HTTP proxy with the
environment variable.
Python agent versions 2.0.0 or earlier do not provide the setting, and the protocol scheme defaults to or depending whether
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is disabled or enabled. If you are upgrading from an older agent version and your config file doesn't include , ensure you add the setting and set it appropriately. If you don't, the agent will continue to base the protocol scheme on the setting for backwards compatibility. As proxies are usually only configured to accept proxy requests via the protocol scheme, not setting may result in a failure.
Sets the name of the audit log file. If set, the agent logs details of messages passed back and forth between the monitored process and the New Relic collector . This allows you to evaluate the security of the Python agent.
© Copyright 2018 B Lab. All rights reserved


text:
Heart Center Named a Center of Excellence by OptumHealth
OptumHealth recently named the St. Louis Children's and Washington University Heart Center to its Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Centers of Excellence (COE) network. We are the only center in the region with this designation. Optum's COE network is developed through a detailed clinical evaluation process that recognizes only those medical centers and clinics that meet strict guidelines for clinically superior care, including:
- Procedure success and survival rates
- Quality of medical professionals
- Number of patients treated with a specific condition
- Quality of patient/family-oriented services
- Involvement in clinical research
- Patient satisfaction survey results
- Program depth and breadth
- Treatment planning and coordination
"We are very excited to be recognized as a Center of Excellence and be able to provide families with access to our Heart Center, " says Shelley Perulfi, Program Director of the Heart Center.
Only the most experienced and statistically successful health care providers are selected to be part of Optum's Centers of Excellence networks. More than 3,000 payer groups representing over 48 million people use Optum's health products and services.


text:
Other items listed by email@example.com
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No ads by this poster yet.
We are your Cars listing site in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Start listing your car for sell within minutes. Manage all your car ads from your dashboard page. Mekina.net does not own any of the cars listed in our site and does not take part in the actual transaction of vehicles. Payment of ETB 250 will be paid to post a car. Join Now!


text:
A Brookings study released this week found that the public's belief in global warming is on the rise. Scientists say it's clear: temperatures are increasing, weather is getting more erratic and sea levels are going up. The question is ... what should we do about it? WCAI's Heather Goldstone looked at the ramifications of environmental change for the Massachusetts coast in a four-part series.
> > Are you concerned about climate change? Comment on this story, let us know on Facebook or tweet @wgbhnews with the hashtag #climatide.
Part One: Warm Winter, Big Questions
Scientists predict that Massachusetts could have the climate of the Carolinas by late this century if global warming continues unabated. With temperatures several degrees above average, this winter has brought a taste of what may be to come. And some wonder if that's really such a bad thing. In the first installment of our four-part series, we explore the disparity between the scientific consensus and public opinion on climate change.
Web Extra: The psychological impacts of climate change
Part Two: Fisheries in Hot Water
Lobstermen in the Gulf of Maine have posted record harvests in recent years. But in the waters just south of Cape Cod, the situation is dramatically different. Lobster populations there crashed a decade ago and have not recovered, leaving lobstermen to face the potential closure of their fishery. We take a look at one of the most dramatic examples of how climate change is affecting New England's fisheries.
Web Extra: A warming world? See for yourself
In part three of this week's series on climate change, we look at the threat rising ocean levels pose to the state's coastline — and to the policymakers who will be forced to face tough questions. But does it have to be bad news?
Multimedia: A three-dimensional animation of sea level rise.
Web Extra: Cape Cod's disappearing dunes
Part Four: Mitigation and Adaptation — the Birds' Lessons for Us
In the final installment of our series, we take a look at state officials' attempts to find the right balance between stopping climate change and preparing for it, with guidance from the avian kingdom.
Web Extra: With global warming, new birds in our skies
Massachusetts' clean energy and climate plan for 2020 (pdf)
More News - Special reports
The State Integrity Project
|Sign-up for WGBH News updates, WGBH promotions, and previews of what's coming up on WGBH TV.


text:
posted by Thom Holwerda on Mon 7th Jan 2008 19:20 UTC, submitted by mariuz
Abdel Benamrouche announced that he has updated the original 0.01 Linux kernel to compile with GCC-4.x, allowing it to run on emulators such as QEMU and Bochs. After applying his series of small patches, Abdel explains that the 0.01 kernel can be built on a system running the 2.6 Linux kernel. He added that he's successfully ported bash-3.2, portions of coreutils-6.9, dietlibc-0.31 (instead of glibc), bin86-0.16.17, make-3.81, ncurses-2.0.7, and vim-7.1 all to run on his modified 0.01 kernel.


text:
Accessible Seating is not available through Goldstar for this event. These tickets have been provided to us by another ticket supplier and may include a name that's not yours and a price that differs from what is listed on our website. These are authentic, valid tickets. There may be heavy traffic, so plan accordingly. Please check venue website for venue policies.
Parking Near Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Click to View Interactive Map


text:
Database Results for Your Selections
Results 1 - 3 of 3
JAMAevidence provides tools for understanding and applying medical literature and making clinical diagnoses. It helps decision makers identify the best available evidence by providing guides to the systematic consideration of the validity, importance, and applicability of claims about the assessment of health problems and the outcomes of health care.Expand
Subjects: Medicine, Health
Joanna Briggs Institute EBP Database
The Joanna Briggs Institute EBP Database provides easy access to resources for finding and using evidence to inform clinical decision-making. This database consists of several JBI databases, including the JBI Library of Systematic reviews, Best Practice Information sheets, Evidence Summaries and Evidence Based Recommended Practices.Expand
Subjects: Medicine, Nursing, Health
JSTOR, the Journal Storage Project, provides access to digitized versions to complete runs of key scholarly journals in the arts, the humanities, literature, the sciences, the social sciences, and selected scholarly journals in related disciplines such as business, ecology, botany, music, and statistics.Expand
JSTOR represents the building blocks of a truly interdisciplinary scholarly journal archive.
Subjects: African American Studies, African Studies Sub-Saharan, Anthropology, Area Studies, Art and Architecture, Biological Sciences, Business, Chemistry, Classics, Comparative Literature, Dance, Economics, English and American Literature, Ethnic Studies, French Literature and Language, Health, History Early Modern 1450-1800, History Middle Ages 400-1450, History Modern 1800-, History US, History World, Law, LGBT Studies, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Religion, Science and Technology, Sociology, Spanish, Middle East Studies, Womens and Gender Studies


text:
Attached files
Exhibit 99.1
For Immediate Release
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., November 30, 2012 /BusinessWire/ Globecomm Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: GCOM), a leading communications solutions provider, announced today that the lawsuit captioned Wenz et al. v. Globecomm Systems, Inc., et al. commenced in the New York State Supreme Court in Suffolk County on October 11, 2012, has been dismissed. The lawsuit alleged omissions by Globecomm in connection with certain items in a proxy statement issued by Globecomm for its annual meeting of stockholders held on November 15, 2012.
Plaintiffs withdrew their lawsuit after the Court, on November 14, 2012, completely denied plaintiffs motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.
David E. Hershberg, Globecomms Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated: We are extremely pleased that this meritless lawsuit, which Globecomm vigorously opposed, has been disposed of in such a prompt fashion. Our shareholders would never have benefited financially from this case and, as the Court found, there was nothing improper with respect to Globecomms proxy statement. The Company will not knuckle under to attacks of this kind.
Globecomm was represented in this case by Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP of New York City and by Hamburger, Maxson, Yaffe, Knauer & McNally, LLP of Melville, New York.
About Globecomm Systems
Globecomm Systems Inc., (we, our, us or Globecomm), is a leading global communications solutions provider. Employing our expertise in emerging communication technologies, including satellite and other transport mediums, we are able to offer a comprehensive suite of system integration, system products, and network services enabling a complete end-to-end solution for our customers. We believe our integrated approach of in-house design and engineering expertise combined with a world-class global network and our 24 by 7 network operating centers provides us a unique competitive advantage. We focus this value proposition to selective vertical markets, including government, wireless, media, enterprise, and maritime. As a communications solutions provider we leverage our global network to provide customers managed access services to the United States Internet backbone, video content, the public switched telephone network or their corporate headquarters, or government offices. We currently have customers for which we are providing such services in the United States, Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Based in Hauppauge, New York, Globecomm Systems also maintains offices in Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Hong Kong, Germany, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan.
This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements are based on managements current expectations and observations. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements because the matters they describe are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Our forward-looking statements are based on the information currently available to us and speak only as of the date of this press release. Over time, our actual results, performance or achievements may differ from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements, and such difference might be significant and materially adverse to our security holders.
We have identified some of the important factors that could cause future events to differ from our current expectations and they are described in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, including without limitation under the captions Risk Factors and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and in other documents that we may file with the SEC, all of which you should review carefully. Please consider our forward-looking statements in light of those risks as you read this press release.
For Globecomm Investor Relations information, please contact:
Matthew Byron
Senior Vice President, Corporate Office
For Globecomm Public Relations information, please contact:
Company Information:
Globecomm Systems Inc.
45 Oser Avenue
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Phone: 631-231-9800; Fax: 631-231-1557
Web: http://www.globecommsystems.com


text:
Overseas Filipina Worker, No Longer Afraid of Failing Finances
In search for more earnings, Gia Arceta moved to Dubai for employment. Sadly, she didn't find what she was looking for -- until she found Freelancer.
In search for more earnings, Gia Arceta moved to Dubai for employment. Sadly, she didn't find what she was looking for -- until she found Freelancer.
After building a career of over 20 years in the banking industry, Sandra Oistaczer wanted to express her artistic side. To do so, she freelanced.
Sebastian A. has always had an affinity for music, however, he wasn't happy with the hectic schedules of his day job. He found the next best thing.
Wanting to be part of anything outer space-related, Louis Reusch joined NASA Tournament Lab's Freelancer.com video contest.
Ghulam Abbas struggled at the onset of his startup due to the lack of clientele, a problem solved once he signed up on Freelancer.com.
Despite being away from his family, Vietnam local Van Loi Le continues to support his loved ones back home. How? Through Freelancer!
Happy World Translation Day!
Janis Machacon found a gem in Freelancer. Through the platform, she is able to build a career and spend more family time compared to her previous job.
Tiago Lima and wife Adna have turned their dream of traveling the world together a reality. How did they do so? Find out here.
Here are 10 freelancer stories to commemorate Freelancer.com's 25 million users milestone.
Federico Gonzales and his girlfriend Ailin enjoy nature. Stressed by the city life, they started building a house away from the city lights.
Elizabeth March, an independent parent from the UK, has been locking horns with adversity for the past few years. Here's how she conquers it.
Paul Stefano always loved using his voice for art. Through Freelancer, he is able to build a career with his God-given talent.
Allen Evangelista was confident in his earnings as a freelancer. It pushed him to make a life-changing decision -- proposing marriage to his partner.
Donny Factor, a veteran seafarer, missed being ashore with his loved ones. After 12 years as a crew member, he left and chased his passion -- design.
Publish an article on Freelancer Community and get more exposure


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A Kansas City man supported a "nascent" plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, an FBI official said Tuesday at a Washington D.C. hearing.
Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce said federal investigators used secret surveillance warrants to identify Khalid Ouazzani, who is awaiting sentencing in Missouri on terrorism-related charges, as part of the scheme.
"Ouazzani had been providing information and support to this plot," Joyce told the House intelligence committee. "The FBI disrupted and arrested these individuals."
Though the Kansas City man has been linked to a New York man whom prosecutors said had done surveillance of the stock exchange, Ouazzani's lawyer said Tuesday that his client had no knowledge or role in the plot.
"Khalid Ouazzani had nothing to do with any plot to blow up the New York Stock Exchange," said Robin Fowler, who declined further comment.
Security officials cited Ouazzani's case at the hearing as an example of how U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts had prevented more than 50 terrorist attacks in more than 20 countries.
Ouazzani pleaded guilty in Kansas City in May 2010 to providing material support to a terrorist organization. He admitted sending more than $23,000 to al-Qaida and performing "other tasks" for the group.


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The Daily Word in truck-tossing tornadoes, hot dogs and troublemakers
Seventeen 37 years ago today, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque.
"Never enforceable" teen curfew law is taken off the books.
Still, it's good to avoid getting arrested: Bernalillo County MDC will be studying up on the Supreme Court's ruling on strip searches.
Tornadoes wreaked havoc yesterday, but no reported deaths at this point in Texas.
Sunland Park official shenanigans are never-ending...
An 80 year-old woman was able to safely land a plane after her husband died at the controls.
Pakistani extremist not impressed by U.S. bounty out on him.
Former Colorado sheriff pleads guilty in scandal; will serve sentence in a jail named after him.
Meanwhile, two Louisiana prisoners spent 40 years in solitary confinement.
The Church of Scientology has its own ways of punishing bad behavior, according to disgruntled former spokesman.
Don't words like "dinosaur" just make you feel bad?
An Arizona state lawmaker scares his coworkers.
Hot and cute puppy rescue.
The New York Times would like you to do something "hyperaddictive" and "stupid" on their website.


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CB Richard Ellis Group (NYSE: CBG) is the largest commercial real estate brokerage firm in the world based on their 2009 revenue of $4.17 billion. They have 300 offices worldwide and approximately 29,000 employees.[1]Their operating income in 2007 reached over $241 million in 2009, with net loss of -$27.6 million.
In December of 2006, CB Richard Ellis acquired Trammel Crow Company for $2.2 billion, boosting its 2006 revenues to more than $4 Billion and making it the first commercial real estate brokerage firm to qualify for the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations based on revenue.[2] CB Richard Ellis had its revenues more than triple between 2003 and 2007, in large part due to the acquisition of Trammel Crow and the real estate boom that lasted between 2005 and 2007.[3] However, CB Richard Ellis has faced financial challenges brought upon by the 2007 credit crunch and 2008 financial crisis. Other risks CB Richard Ellis faces include significant increases in interest rates, as well as its high level of debt; as of December 31, 2009 CB Richard Ellis had $2.1 Billion USD of long term debt.[4]
CB Richard Ellis is an international, commercial real estate brokerage firm whose services include tenant representation, property and agency leasing, property sales, development services, commercial mortgage origination and servicing, capital markets services, property, valuation and appraisal services, and a wide range of real estate management services.[5] In 2009 it provided services to 80 of the Fortune 100 companies.[6] It earns revenue from contractual management fees as well as charging on a per project, or per transaction basis. CB Richard Ellis' global infrastructure and brand name, as well as its full service capabilities give it advantages over smaller, more regional firms. However, the commercial real estate industry is highly cyclical, and also highly correlated to the macroeconomic state. In other words, CB Richard Ellis is susceptible to booms and recessions. Since its revenues are tied to real estate activity, economic slowdowns or recessions suppress purchases and sales of real estate, and also decrease the value of real estate and rent. This has a negative impact on CB Richard Ellis' revenues. The increased difficulty of investors to obtain credit due to the credit crunch of 2007 reduces the number of commercial real estate transactions, further hurting the revenues of CB Richard Ellis.
In 2009, CB Richard Ellis posted a net income of $33.3 million from its total revenues of $4.17 billion. CB Richard Ellis had significant growth between 2005 and 2007, explained by the acquisition of Trammel Crow as well as the real estate boom that began in 2005. However, with the onsetting 2007 Credit Crunch as well as the 2008 Financial Crisis, CB Richard Ellis has had its revenues decline between 2007 and 2009.[7]
|CB Richard Ellis
|Net Revenue (In Billions)
|Operating Income (In Billions)
|Net Income (In Billions)
CB Richard Ellis breaks its operating segments into five categories: 1) The Americas, 2) EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), 3) Asia Pacific, 4) Global Investment Management, and 5) Development Services.
CB Richard Ellis earns the bulk of their revenue from their Americas segment. In 2009, the Americas segment earned $2.59 billion in total revenues, posting an operating income of $181 million.[10] This was a $616 million decline compared to its 2008 revenue, with lower sales and leasing activity the main driver behind this decease.[11] Within the Americas segment, there are two major branches under CB Richard Ellis: Advisory Services and Outsourcing Services.
Real estate services, such as providing strategic advice and execution to owners, investors, and occupiers related to leasing, disposition, and acquisition of property fall under their advisory service category.Other services under the advisory category include market value appraisals, litigation support, and discounted cash flow analysis, among others.
Services under this category include property management and asset management. Outsourcing with regards to commercial real estate refers to having a management company help run your business, and does not refer to outsourcing jobs overseas. For instance, if you inherit an office building, but have little knowledge of how to run it, you can "outsource" management of it to companies that offer this service. Outsourcing offers improved efficiency, better execution, and lower costs by relying on third-party real estate experts, and has become a long term trend in commercial real estate. CB Richard Ellis offers a full range of services, from transaction management, project management, facilities management, property management, construction management as well as marketing, leasing, accounting, and financial services.
The EMEA segment operates in thirty three countries, most notably in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and Russia. The services offered in the EMEA segment are along the same lines as in the Americas. In 2009, this segment had revenues of $818 million, a 24.3% decline from its 2008 revenues of $1.08 billion.[11] This decline in revenues is attributed to lower sales, leasing, and appraisal volume throughout the region, as well as an $80 million negative impact due to foreign currency exchange movements.
The Asia Pacific segment operates in twelve countries, including China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan among others. Like the Americas and EMEA segments, the Asia Pacific segment had declining revenues in 2009 due to lower transactional volume. In 2009 this segment had total revenues of $524 million, a $33.9 million decline from its 2008 revenues.
CB Richard Ellis provides investment management services to clients, including pension plans, investment funds, and other organizations trying to generate returns or diversification through real estate investments. In 2009 this segment earned $141.4 million in revenues, which was still a $19.8 million decline from its 2008 revenues.[12] As of December 31, 2009 total assets under management were $34.7 billion, 10% lower than at the end of 2008.[12]
The development services segment is operated by Trammell Crow Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CB Richard Ellis. They offer services, concentrated mostly in the United States, from all stages of the development process, from site identification to project close-out. The development services segment generated revenues of $87.8 million in 2009, a $31.1 million decrease from 2008.[12] This was largely due to lower construction volume and development fees as a result of the continued weak economic and real estate market.
Similar to automobile industry, the commercial real estate industry is sensitive to the overall health of the economy. Since a major source of revenue for CB Richard Ellis comes from the sale and financing of commercial properties, and the success of these transactions depends heavily on the availability and cost of credit, any disruptions in the availability of credit will negatively impact its revenue.[14] The Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) by the U.S. government has helped ease the 2007 credit crunch, evidenced by the 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreasing to a record low 5.13% on January 10, 2009.[15] Lower interest rates mean buyers can borrow money for less, and should make purchasing commercial real estate more attractive. However, despite the low interest rates, the national vacancy rate increased in late 2008, and the average rent per square foot decreased from $34 to $31.[16] U.S. legislation introduced in the beginning of 2009 is trying to allocate some the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds to help commercial real estate businesses, but the results of the legislation remain to be seen[17]Therefore, while the conditions for improvement by CB Richard Ellis appear to be in place, it remains to be seen if the low interest rates and potential TARP funding actually increase real estate activity.
At the end of December, 2007 CB Richard Ellis had approximately $2.3 Billion USD in total debt, with approximately $1.8 billion USD of it taken on in order to acquire Trammel Crow Company.[18] A high level of debt imposes both operating and financial restrictions on a business, because interest has to be paid, and the loan amortized. In other words, cash generated by the company goes toward paying off debt rather than other potential business activities. With approximately $1.1 Billion USD scheduled to be due in 2011, and another $1.1 Billion USD due in 2013, CB Richard Ellis faces the challenging task of refinancing or paying off their debt obligations in the face of a cyclical downturn.[19] The resulting debt to asset ratio of 0.37 is nearly twenty times higher than its largest competitor, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), who has a debt to asset ratio of 0.019.[20]
In 2007, 9.8% of CB Richard Ellis revenues came from transactions that occurred in the state of California.[21] While this is less than the 13.5% in 2006, it still represents a significant concentration of revenue tied to a single geographical location.[21] In other words risks as well as benefits tied to the region are amplified. For instance, Los Angeles and San Francisco, two of the most adversely affected real estate markets by the economic downturn, are both in California. CB Richard Ellis has also been affected in New York City, the most affected city. Compared to December 2007 in Manhattan, its December 2008 vacancy rate increased from 4.9% to 7.6%, its leasing activity decreased from 2.26 Million square feet to less than 0.72 Million square feet, and its average asking rent decreased from $68.69 per square foot to $67.20 per square foot.[22]
Although CB Richard Ellis acquired Trammel Crow Company in 2006, two major competitors remain. Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and Grubb & Ellis Company represent its largest competitors.
|Revenue (In Thousands)
|Operating Income (In Thousands)
|Net Income (In Thousands)
|Number of offices
|CB Richard Ellis[25]
|Jones Lang LaSalle[26][27]
|Grubb & Ellis Co[24][28]