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Evaer Skype video recorder can record as long as you want. If you have enough hard disk space, the recording length is virtually unlimited.
Tags: recording length
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Records in this category
- How to launch the Evaer Skype video recorder?
- Hide to system tray at startup.
- How can I open the recording file stored folder?
- Bring Evaer to front when recording finished.
- How do I enable the automatic call recording feature in Evaer?
- How can I manually record my calls using the Evaer?
- Where are the call recording files located?
- What's the chat reply function?
- How to delete the recording files in Evaer?
- Can I add some memo for the recording files?
- How to play the recording file?
- Can I stop the recording or pause the recording during the call?
- Can this software record a 3 party Skype Premium video call (group video call)?
- How long a skype record can Evaer save?
- Can you explain what the different options are for video recording?
- Can I record skype voice call in stereo(two-channel)?
- Does it let the other person know if you are recording?
- This looks good to me. Does this allow me to record my out-going call incl my power point presentations; or is it limited to in-coming calls?I want to pre-record my power point presentation for use in later skype calls. Can this be done?
- Can I record Skype video calls into MP4 format?
- How do I record skype calls into one track(mono)?
- How do I open recorded video file?
- How do I play the recorded video with Windows Media Player?
- How to test video recording feature by myself?
- How can I record Skype video and voice calls?
- What's the "Enable DS video stream" option?
- Can I only record audio in a Skype video call(don't need to record the video)?
- Does it record the conversaton directly to the hardware or it takes the video data online and record it? Does it alter the safety and security of the skype video calls?
- Please explain what is the remote webcam, and the local webcam
- How to save a Skype video message using Evaer?
- How can I record Facebook video calls?
- How can I record Facebook video calls?
- What Is the Guarantee Of Privacy of recording calls with Evaer ??? No one can see or it will not save any other or over the internet ???
- My current Skype recorder will record my voice and the callers voice in separate audio channels, making editing files and balancing audio levels much easier. Does Evaer offer this functionality?
- can i access my recorded video from my email address that i have submitted while registration?
- How to adjust the video bitrate for reducing MP4 file size?
- How does the preview video feature look like?
- How to get stable video stream when recording Skype group calls?
- Can I control the specified video stream when I recording Skype video calls?
- Can I exchange the video position on picture in picture video recording mode?
activate license code add note Adobe Premiere allow access annual fee audio data error auto chat reply automatic skype call recording AVI bring to front Camtasia can not detect video stream control the specified video stream could not get audio data delete delete recording file desktop API edit video Enable DS video stream evaer video recorder requirement evaer.exe will stop working exchange the video position full version hide to tray How can i record skype video Install key know recording launch Evaer limitation Local webcam only lost key manage other programs' access to Skype manually record calls microphone sound mono MP4 not fluid one time fee only voice no video open folder open recorded video file out of sync pause recording picture in picture play recording file play the recorded video with Windows Media Player purchase again record audio only Record facebook video calls record skype call with mono record skype calls into one track record skype group video call record Skype video message record the conversaton directly to the hard disk recording file path recording length recording no audio register failed Remote webcam only retrieve key reuse same key save skype video message save skype voicemail Separate files side by side sideways Skype crashed Skype Desktop API stable video start stereo stop recording test video recording feature transfer license Unable to launch uninstall upgrade upside down use Vegas very chunky video channel flickering/position replacement video data error video recording issue warning message


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Few historians of the American Civil War focus on the international history of the conflict. Most Civil War studies are about political and military leaders, military campaigns, and battles. By comparison there has been just a trickle of studies over the last fifty years devoted to the subject of diplomatic affairs. And, yet, most historians agree that foreign intervention, by way of mediation or military action, would have greatly influenced the outcome of the war.
There are several modern surveys of Union and Confederate diplomacy. These studies include Howard Jones' recently published Blue and Gray Diplomacy: A History of Union and Confederate Foreign Relations (2010), Dean B. Mahin, One War at A Time: The International Dimensions of the American Civil War (1999), and the older David Paul Crook, The North, the South, and the Great Powers, 1861-1865 (1974) as well as his briefer version Diplomacy during the American Civil War (1976). Early Union diplomacy is examined in Norman B. Ferris, Desperate Diplomacy: William H. Seward's Foreign Policy, 1861 (1976) and The Trent Affair: A Diplomatic Crisis (1977). Confederate diplomacy is covered in Frank L. Owsley's classic King Cotton Diplomacy (1931) and the more recent Charles M. Hubbard, The Burden of Confederate Diplomacy (1998). Union relations with Britain are the focus of many studies, including Brian Jenkins' two-volume Britain and the War for the Union (1974-80), Howard Jones, Union in Peril: The Crisis over British Intervention in the Civil War (1991), and Philip E. Myers, Caution and Cooperation: The American Civil War in British-American Relations (2008). French foreign policy concerning the American Civil War is examined in Lynn Marshall Case and Warren F. Spencer, The United States and France: Civil War Diplomacy (1970) and Daniel B. Carroll, Henri Mercier and the American Civil War (1971). French policy in Mexico is considered in Alfred Jackson Hanna and Kathryn Abbey Hanna's Napoleon III and Mexico: American Triumph over Monarchy (1971) and Michele Cunningham's revisionist study Mexico and the Foreign Policy of Napoleon III (2001). Little has been written on Spain's involvement in the conflict other than James W. Cortada's study Spain and the American Civil War: Relations at Mid-Century, 1855-1868 (1980).
Dr. Wayne H. Bowen, Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Southeast Missouri State University, delivers us the most recent diplomatic history of the American Civil War. In Spain and the American Civil War Professor Bowen explores Spanish foreign policy and Spain's relations with the Union and Confederacy. He stresses that efforts by the Confederacy to attract support from Spain has received little attention by historians "despite the advantages to both states that mutual assistance could have brought" (p.5).
Bowen describes how Spain, under the leadership of Prime Minister Leopoldo O'Donnell (1856, 1858-63), a former general, was in the midst of a political, economic, and military revival in the late 1850s. O'Donnell was attempting to use the revived military and naval power of Spain to restore Spain's prestige as a Great Power. Spain had lost most of its American possessions in the Spanish American Wars of Independence (1808-33). It had also survived two civil wars, the First Carlist War (1833-39) and Second Carlist War (1846-49) which challenged Queen Isabel II's (1833-68) rule of Spain. All that was left of the once extensive Spanish Empire was Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. By the late 1850s, Spain's military revival resulted in an active duty army of 115,000 troops with a reserve of another 85,000 men (p.38). Madrid was also rebuilding its naval fleet, which had 170 new ships in the 1860s. Most of these vessels were steamships with sails that were built in Britain, France, and the United States. By 1860, Spain was the 4th largest naval power in the world in terms of firepower and displacement (p.47).
In the late 1850s and early 1860s, Spain was pursuing an aggressive foreign policy and flexing its muscles. Spain opted not to assist France and Britain in the Crimean War, but it sent six frigates and 1,000 troops from Manila to assist France in Cochin China in 1857. Then, in 1859-60, O'Donnell deployed 38,000 troops to northwest Africa to defeat Morocco. Next, in April 1861, the Spanish government sent 3,000 troops from Cuba to occupy Santo Domingo (the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola). Spain officially annexed the territory two months later, and increased the military strength in Santo Domingo to 20,000 troops by 1862. In 1861-62, during the first year of the American Civil War, Spain joined Britain and France in a punitive military expedition against Mexico, forcing the Benito Juárez government to make good on its international debts. The initial allied force consisted of 6,200 Spanish troops from Cuba, under the command of General Juan Prim y Prats, alongside 700 British and 2,000 French troops. Spanish and British forces withdrew from Mexico after a few months, although French troops stayed, and eventually took Mexico City and established the Mexican Empire.
Bowen believes that the Confederate States of America and Spain were "natural allies." He expounds that Spain was a more likely ally for the South than Britain or France. Spain had kept slavery in its Caribbean territories while Britain rejected slavery in 1833 and France in 1848. Spain and the United States had poor relations dating back to the American support for Spanish American Wars of Independence in the early nineteenth century. The Monroe Doctrine (1823) was aimed at preventing Spain from reclaiming lost Latin American states. Spain feared American expansionism, as well as US efforts to dominate Latin America and seize Spain's remaining colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico. The Spanish government was pleased to see the breakup and weakening of the United States in 1861. Some of the Spanish elite, including Queen Isabel II, Prime Minister O'Donnell, aristocrats, and military leaders, were sympathetic to the Southern cause. Spanish plantation owners in Cuba and business leaders identified with and supported the South. Spanish newspapers cheered Confederate battlefield victories. Spanish seaports in Cuba and Puerto Rico provided safe harbor for Confederate smugglers and blockade runners.
The Confederate States of America looked to Britain, France, and Spain to gain diplomatic recognition and possibly intervention during the American Civil War. Spain, like Britain and France, declared neutrality in the American struggle, but gave belligerent rights to the South in June 1861.
Why wouldn't Spain openly side with the South? First, Madrid refused to grant diplomatic recognition and establish an alliance with the Confederate States unless Britain and France took the first step (p.75). Spain, despite its growing economic and military strength, was too weak to take unilateral action against the North in support of the South. Madrid would need to reply on much superior British and French economic, military, and political power. As Bowen writes: "Defeating Morocco alone was one thing, taking on the United States, even as an ally of the Confederacy, was a task beyond the capacity of Spain in 1861" (p.60). Spain, depending on French and British leadership in foreign policy, would take a wait-and-see approach. Secondly, the author points out that there was mistrust between the Confederacy and Spain throughout the American Civil War. Spanish leaders realized that the primary arguments for United States acquisition of Cuba in the 1850s had come from Southern politicians, the same men that were in charge of the Confederate government in the 1860s. Southern politicians had frequently mentioned that "after the South broke from the Union, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America would naturally join or be joined to the new Confederacy as slave states . . ." (p.71). As such, Spain, not trusting the South, kept its newest naval ships and best army regiments stationed in Cuba (p.76). Third, Madrid had overstretched its military and naval resources, especially with the occupation of Santo Domingo. An insurgency against Spanish rule in Santo Domingo broke out in 1862-63, and Spain had to keep 25,000 troops there fighting a costly guerrilla war for the next three years (p.99). The conflict, the most important issue in Spanish foreign policy at the time, led to the downfall of the O'Donnell government. And, finally, Union naval power and military strength, especially after 1862-63, deterred Spain from openly siding with the Confederacy. The United States Navy could deploy a couple of ironclad warships and destroy Havana (p.118).
By late 1863, the Confederate States had lost realistic hope of European intervention in the American conflict. The South shifted its primary diplomatic efforts from Britain to Emperor Napoleon III of France. But, France, like Spain, was tied down in a conflict, the Franco-Mexican War (1861-67) and had other diplomatic concerns in the Polish Uprising (1863-64) and Schleswig-Holstein Crisis (1863-64). Moreover, United States naval and military strength, along with battlefield victories in 1863 and afterwards, allowed the North to make diplomatic threats against France and Spain that needed to be and were taken seriously.
In Spain and the American Civil War Professor Bowen provides a much needed examination of Spanish foreign policy during the American crisis. Most diplomatic studies of the American Civil War ignore Spain and its influence in the Caribbean Region. The author stresses the mid-century revival of Spanish power and how Madrid became strategically overextended while trying to regain influence as a Great Power. In doing so, he shows that Spain would have been of limited assistance to the South unless Britain and/or France diplomatically recognized and allied with the Confederate States. This is an interesting study and should be on the reading list of every student and scholar interested in the American Civil War and international diplomacy in the mid-nineteenth century. It is based on both primary and secondary sources.
Leopoldo O'Donnell | Civil War History
"And, as we Catholics know, Western Civilization is Roman Civilization, first classical Roman Civilization, then Roman Catholic Civilization, as the Christians preserved and carried classical Roman Civilization to the world in a Christianized form. That is, after all, why we are described as Roman Catholics."
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Zucchini Tots
I love zucchini. It's one of my favorite vegetables and it's so versatile. I've made Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins, Zucchini Squares, Parmesan Zucchini Rounds, Sausage-Stuffed Baked Zucchini and Baked Zucchini Fries. I've also used it in collaboration with other yummy vegetables in recipes like my White Vegetable Lasagna and Barley Beef Skillet. Zucchini goes with everything, but my favorite pairing has always been Parmesan cheese. Zucchini and Parmesan are the new peanut butter and jelly, trust me. The original recipe for this used sharp cheddar (which is one of my favorite cheeses), so I decided to make a double batch and try it both ways. Parmesan was so much better. You can use any cheese you want really, but I highly recommend you go with Parmesan.
This recipe comes together very quickly and makes a perfect side dish or hors d'oeuvre. The tots are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and they make a great healthy replacement for tater tots. If you have kids who usually turn up their noses at vegetables, these zucchini tots could be a great solution. At only 27 calories each, these are tots you can feel great about! To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Zucchini Tots
- 1 cup shredded zucchini, I shredded mine on the large holed side of a box grater
- ¼ medium onion, chopped
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup dry bread crumbs
- 1 oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (I use the smaller holed side of a box grater. Alternately, if you want to use canned grated Parmesan cheese you can use ¼ cup of that.)
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Preheat the oven to 400. Mist a 12 cup mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Wrap the shredded zucchini in a paper towel (or clean dish towel) and squeeze to extract any excess moisture from the zucchini.
- In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients until combined. Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared mini muffin tin and press down on the filling in each cup with the back of the spoon to compact them together.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are beginning to turn golden. Run a plastic knife around the outside of each top while still in the muffin tin and they will come right out.
1 per tot, 2 tots are still 1, 3 tots are 2 (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) slightly adapted from The Two Bite Club


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Finding the perfect vacation home has never been easier. Tripping.com searches the world's top vacation rental sites to find the best properties in 190 countries worldwide. One search lets you filter, compare and sort over 10 million available vacation rentals from trusted partners including HomeAway, VRBO, TripAdvisor, Booking.com and more. When you use Tripping.com to plan your trip and book your vacation rental, you never have to wonder if you're getting the best deal.
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These vacation rentals offer a range of amenities, so you'll feel right at home. For those looking to stay in a corporate rental, 117 of Blagberry's rentals offer high speed WiFi Internet so you can easily keep in touch with your company or team. Go for a swim at one of the 6 properties complete with pool or jacuzzi, or relax with a night of cable TV in any of our 93 vacation home rentals.Traveling with your dog or cat? Choose from 64 pet-friendly rentals in Blagberry that allow you to bring your extended family along.Tripping.com's home rentals offer far more room and comfort than a hotel, providing a safe and spacious place for you and your pets. Many properties allow you to book directly online, so once you find that perfect vacation rental, you'll be all set to go!Search properties from 4 vacation rental sites in Blagberry where the top providers in that area are Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and HomeAway. There are 47 Booking.com rentals, 36 TripAdvisor short term rentals and 35 HomeAway vacation rentals.


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It's Thursday, and time to read from your comments. Last week, during the inauguration here in Washington, D.C., we asked listeners for a snapshot of their lives right now.
Alvin(ph) wrote: Where are we right now? We imagine ourselves to be the greatest nation in the world, but, in fact, lag behind many other nations in terms of health care, civil rights, education, environmental responsibility, et cetera. It's time to stop congratulating ourselves and to start looking beyond our borders for examples of responsible government that works.
Katherine in Folsom, California, saw the day differently. She wrote: I look forward to each Inauguration with the sense of wonder and pride. It's a celebration of our collective belief in the goodness of our fellow citizens. We rest on the certainty that we can call a radio station, complain with vehemence about the choices our president has made that negatively affected our lives and never fear any type of retribution coming from that president. That's a powerful statement on the goodness of humans. This is a good place to live.
We also spoke with author and neuroscientist Dan Levitin about what happens to our sense of self once we start losing memories.
John from Tucson called to tell us he worried about not being able to recognize his grandchildren someday.
Elaine wrote in to respond: My son was five when my mother began to experience memory loss from Alzheimer's. My son formed a lovely and close relationship with his grandmother. He played silly games with her, told her the play-by-play of his soccer games over and over while she patiently listened, took her hand and guided her up to the buffet at a restaurant and retuned with plates full of bacon. And when I would sometimes break down and cry at the loss, I felt my son and my mother were often happily interacting together, focusing on the joy of the moment. Memory was not the only thing that made my mother a loving and joyful person to be with.
Last week, we also marked the 125th anniversary of National Geographic, and we asked which Nat Geo stories you never parted with.
Meg Butler said hers was the late '80s edition of the Steger expedition to the North Pole. My first cousin, Ann Bancroft, was on that expedition, and was the first woman to dogsled to the North Pole.
And Mark wrote to ask: How could you do a story about the National Geographic Society's 125th birthday without playing their movie theme? Many of us of a certain age have fond memories of grade school movie days and pounding our desks on that final thu-dum. Well, Mark, here you go.
CONAN: Now that are desks are properly bruised, if you have a correction, comment or question for us, the best way to reach us is by email. The address is firstname.lastname@example.com. Please, let us know where you're writing from and give us some help on how to pronounce your name. If you're on Twitter, you can follow us there @totn. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Professional Hurricane Impact Doors in Astoria, OR
The hurricane impact doors Astoria, OR can provide you with are worth looking into because of how extremely strong and durable they are. If you are worried about what will happen to your doors when a hurricane hits your area, it is very important that you take the time to see what exactly Astoria hurricane impact doors have to offer. These doors are an excellent way to protect your home from the kind of damage that occurs during a storm, as well as protect against intruders.
Because hurricane impact doors in Astoria, OR are so strong and can withstand a great amount of force against them, you can count on them to keep out would be intruders who want to steal your things or worse. These impact doors have become increasingly popular all across the country because of how secure they can keep any home. If you have been thinking about beefing up your home security, this is certainly a great way to do that. Although these doors may cost a bit more than what you are used to paying, they can last a lifetime and are able to withstand extremely high winds as well as break-in attempts from intruders.
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We've had nearly a monthlong lull in the Republican presidential debates, but brace yourself — they'll be back soon enough.
Although TV ratings have been relatively high, many likely voters say they've got debate fatigue, and even some of those most interested in the debates' outcome are probably enjoying the break.
Fox News' Chris Wallace has said the GOP debates are "stupid" and that "it is ridiculous how many debates there have been." Karl Rove bemoaned their shortcomings in a Wall Street Journal op-ed: "Debates have nearly crippled campaigns, chewing into the precious time each candidate has to organize, raise money, set themes, roll out policy and campaign." And Arizona Sen. John McCain said the debates were simply "deteriorating into mudslinging."
Frankly, sometimes your goal is just to survive — get out without harm, particularly with these multiparty debates like we've seen so many times in the GOP primaries.
The 20th debate this campaign cycle takes place Wednesday in Arizona, and there are at least two more next month. But turn away at your own risk. While critics might decry their proliferation and negative tone, it's precisely at this point in the campaign season when the debates might be most decisive.
By this time in 2008, McCain was clearly looking like the Republican nominee. This year, the field is anything but settled — and unsettled is fertile soil for debates, says Alan Schroeder, a journalism professor at Boston's Northeastern University and author of Presidential Debates: 40 Years of High-Risk TV.
"There are still enough question marks out there about who the nominee should be that the debates continue to be important," Schroeder says.
In what has already proven to be one of the wildest primary rides in decades, he says, the debates have helped end some candidacies while throwing others a lifeline.
"The first debate that Michele Bachmann took part in on June 13, she was really good in it. She had this really positive debate performance, so she was the headline. All eyes were on her," Schroeder says. "As we've gone through this, that focus has shifted greatly among the various candidates. Herman Cain was a favorite there for a while. Rick Perry, prior to his debate performance, but just as a new candidate, he was the one that all the focus was on."
Oops. A highly embarrassing debate moment for Perry changed all that, and the feeling that his candidacy was finished was almost palpable, says Mitchell McKinney, a political communications professor at University of Missouri-Columbia who has written several books on the presidential election process.
"Several of this cycle's 'oops' moments have been significant," McKinney says. Think of Mitt Romney's $10,000 bet with Perry.
By contrast, Newt Gingrich caught an updraft weeks later by forcefully redirecting a moderator's question in a debate ahead of the South Carolina primary. And Ron Paul was able to channel his supporters' anger over the perception that he was being ignored.
And now Rick Santorum, who started out on the fringes in the race, has slowly moved to center stage. The former Pennsylvania senator has had no real standout debate moments, but his performance has been credible.
Often, that's good enough, says Tom Ingram, who served as debate coach for Jon Huntsman before the former Utah governor and ambassador dropped out of the race last month.
"Frankly, sometimes your goal is just to survive — get out without harm, particularly with these multiparty debates like we've seen so many times in the GOP primaries," says Ingram, who also helped manage campaigns for Tennessee's then-Gov. Lamar Alexander and former Sen. Fred Thompson.
Santorum strategist John Brabender thinks his candidate's steady debate performance has been key in the recent surge. Aggressive advertising helped, of course, but the debates mattered, he told NPR last week.
"Even today in American politics, because of the Internet, because of the debates ... people do take the time, get to know the candidates, and it isn't going to just be the candidate who runs the most negative ads who wins," he said.
McKinney agrees that this year's Republican debates "have had a great effect on the primary race and influenced who is seen as the front-runner." But he points out that the debate tactics will have to change once the GOP nominee heads into the general election.
At their core, McKinney says, debates are more about likability than anything else, and the style that gave some candidates an edge in the primaries probably won't play well in the lead-up to November.
"In the primary, we have seen repeatedly that what carried the day," he says, "is playing to a partisan audience — quick retorts or a red-meat phrase that got that audience cheering and responding, that made the candidates seem like they won.
"You don't find that in the general election," McKinney says.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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News you can use
WATERTOWN, Mass. — The two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing killed an MIT police officer and hurled explosives at police in a car chase and gun battle overnight that left one of them dead and his brother on the run, authorities said Friday as thousands of officers swarmed the streets in a manhunt that paralyzed the Boston area.
The suspects were identified by law enforcement officials and family members as Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, ethnic Chechen brothers who had lived in Dagestan, which neighbors Chechnya in southern Russia. They had been in the U.S. for about a decade and lived near Boston, an uncle said.
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
A neighbor is escorted to safety as police surround a home while searching for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in Watertown, Mass., Friday .
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a 26-year-old who had been known to the FBI as Suspect No. 1 and was seen in surveillance footage in a black baseball cap, was killed overnight, officials said. His brother, a 19-year-old college student who was dubbed Suspect No. 2 and was seen wearing a white, backward baseball cap in the images from Monday's deadly bombing at the marathon finish line — escaped.
Their uncle in Maryland, Ruslan Tsarni, pleaded on live television: "Dzhokhar, if you are alive, turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness."
Authorities in Boston suspended all mass transit and warned close to 1 million people in the entire city and some of its suburbs to stay indoors as the hunt for Suspect No. 2 went on. Businesses were asked not to open. People waiting at bus and subway stops were told to go home.
From Watertown to Cambridge, police SWAT teams, sharpshooters and FBI agents surrounded various buildings as police helicopters buzzed overhead and armored vehicles rumbled through the streets. Authorities also searched trains.
"We believe this man to be a terrorist," said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. "We believe this to be a man who's come here to kill people."
The bombings on Monday killed three people and wounded more than 180 others, tearing off limbs in a spray of shrapnel and instantly raising the specter of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Chechnya is the home of an Islamic insurgency that has carried out deadly bombings in Russia and the region, but its militants have never been known to export violence to the West.
Investigators in the Boston case have shed no light on the motive for the bombing and have said it is unclear whether it was the work of domestic or international terrorists or someone else entirely with an unknown agenda.
As officers fanned out across the Boston area, Bryce Acosta, 24, came out of his Cambridge home with his hands up.
"I had like 30 FBI guys come storm my house with assault rifles," he said. They yelled, "Is anybody in there?" and began searching his house and an adjacent shed, leaving after about 10 minutes.
The endgame — at least for Suspect No. 1 — came just hours after the FBI released photos and video of the two young men at the finish line and appealed to the public for help in identifying and capturing them.
State Police spokesman Dave Procopio said police realized they were dealing with the bombing suspects based what the two men told a carjacking victim during their getaway attempt overnight.
Tsarni, the men's uncle, told The Associated Press that the brothers traveled here together from Russia. He called his nephews "losers" and said they had struggled to settle themselves in the U.S. and ended up "thereby just hating everyone."
Tamerlan Tsarnaev had studied accounting as a part-time student at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston for three semesters from 2006 to 2008, the school said.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was registered as a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the school said. The campus closed down along with colleges around the Boston area.
Their father, Anzor Tsarnaev, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from the Russian city of Makhachkala that his younger son, Dzhokhar, is "a true angel."
He said his son was studying medicine. "He is such an intelligent boy. We expected him to come on holidays here," the father said.
The city of Cambridge announced two years ago that it had awarded a $2,500 scholarship to Dzhokar Tsarnaev, who was listed as a senior at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, a highly regarded public school whose alumni include Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and NBA star Patrick Ewing.
The images released by the FBI depict the two young men walking one behind the other near the marathon's finish line. Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge in Boston, said Suspect No. 2 in the white hat was seen setting down a bag at the site of the second of two deadly explosions.
Authorities said surveillance tape recorded late Thursday showed Suspect No. 2 during a robbery of a convenience store in Cambridge, near the campus of MIT, where a university police officer — 26-year-old Sean Collier — was shot to death while responding to a report of a disturbance.
From there, authorities said, the two men carjacked a man in a Mercedes-Benz, keeping him with them in the car for half an hour before releasing him at a gas station in Cambridge. The man was not injured.
The search for the vehicle led to a chase that ended in Watertown, where authorities said the suspects threw explosive devices from the car and exchanged gunfire with police. A transit police officer was severely wounded, authorities said.
Doctors at a Boston hospital where Tamerlan Tsarnaev died said they treated a man with a possible blast injury and multiple gunshot wounds. Authorities gave no details on how his younger brother escaped.
Watertown resident Kayla Dipaolo, 25, was waiting for a bus that was to evacuate her and others from their neighborhood.
She said she was woken up overnight by gunfire and a large explosion that sounded "like it was right next to my head ... and shook the whole house." She was looking at the front door when a bullet came through the side paneling. SWAT team officers were running all over her yard, she said.
"It was very scary," she said. "There are two bullet holes in the side of my house and by the front door there is another."
Christine Yajko said she heard two loud explosions and gunfire. She said a police officer later knocked on her door and told her there was an undetonated improvised explosive device in the street and warned her to stay away from the windows.
"It was on the street, right near our kitchen window," she said.
The brothers also started out the night in a Honda CRV and used it to carjack the SUV. The CRV was later found abandoned in the morning in Boston.
In the past, insurgents from Chechnya and neighboring restive provinces in the Caucasus have been involved in terror attacks in Moscow and other places in Russia.
Those raids included one in Moscow in 2002 in which a group of Chechen militants took 800 people hostage and held them for two days before special forces stormed the building, killing all 41 captors. Also killed were 129 hostages, mostly from the effects of the gas Russian forces used to subdue the attackers.
Chechen insurgents also launched a 2004 hostage-taking raid in the southern Russian town of Beslan, where they took hundreds of hostages. The siege ended in a bloodbath two days later, with more than 330 people, about half of them children, killed.
Insurgents from Chechnya and other regions also have launched a long series of bombings in Moscow and other cities in Russia.


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Review: Aperion Aris Wireless Windows Speaker
The big box threw me for a second. Some weeks back I'd seen an early prototype of the Aperion Aris, the first Windows 8 Play To certified wireless speaker, and I recalled it being a pretty compact desktop unit. What gives?
Well, it turns out that the manufacturer is so confident in their new product that they sent it to us along with a leading wireless speaker we'd reviewed quite positively, the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air, along with an A/B switcher and a Sansa Clip full of tunes.
Gauntlet thrown! But we'll get to that in a minute.
Setup: Et tu, Play To?
Sonics aside, the Aris' reason for being is the demand for more and better wireless products that offer seamless connectivity, and in particular Microsoft's entry into that market in a big way with Play To. Blame Apple, or Sonos, or whoever else, but we're seeing more and more attempts at providing one-click wireless audio connectivity (with the introductions coming thick and fast in this iPhone 5- and Android-inspired post-dock era), some rivaling the market leaders, some leaving a bit to be desired. Leave it to Aperion, who've been exploring a variety of wireless options lately, to try out the next (possibly) big thing.
The big news is that Aris is the first wireless speaker that's Play To certified under the much anticipated Windows 8 OS. Play To is a DLNA variant that was rolled out with Windows 7 as part of Windows Media Player, where it's been working - without much fanfare - for the few who've noticed its existence. But with Windows 8, Microsoft is calling attention to the fact that Play To is Microsoft's answer to Apple's AirPlay - it promises that with minimal setup, you can send audio - lossless audio - to any compliant media player living on your wireless network, right from the WMP window.
Just the kind of functionality everybody's clamoring for these days, right?
Rather than throw in every conceivable connection protocol (as Samsung has with their new DA-E750), Aperion's provided the receiver as a separate device, a swappable network card (looks vaguely PCMCIA in format) that plugs into what appears to be a slot on the back of the Aris itself. The device ships with a Windows Play To/DLNA receiver, but the company promises an AirPlay card in Q1 or 2013, with various other interfaces possible down then line (prices aren't yet confirmed, but should range from $49-$99). So after putting the Aris through its paces against the Zeppelin, I plugged in the network card and got to work setting it up to play back from a Windows 7 laptop (sorry, all, we didn't manage to score a Win 8 machine in time for this review).
Configuring the Aris itself was quite simple, and took but a few seconds following the clear quick start card. Log into the speaker via its own Wi-Fi network from whatever device you have handy (I used a Samsung Galaxy SII smartphone), from there sign the device onto your own wireless network, and it's ready to go. Alternately, if you have a WPS router, you can simply press the WPS button on the card to set up. And if for some reason you don't want to go wireless, you can connect via Ethernet. Not being that much of a Luddite, I didn't try that last one.
Now, getting Windows to play nice took a bit more doing. As you might expect, Play To isn't quite as straightforward as AirPlay. (To their credit, Microsoft provides a step-by-step guide to Play To on the Windows site). While any AirPlay device, once set up (and certainly some AirPlay speakers we've tested have made us tear our hair out) is instantly visible to Macs and iDevices on the same network, for PlayTo to function you've got to make a conscious choice to enable streaming; clicking on the Stream menu within WMP, enabling streaming from there, and then setting your streaming preferences by drilling down into another submenu. Easy enough, but these seem to me like the kinds of steps which turn off the average consumer. Your mileage, of course, may vary. Windows 8 should simplify (and beautify) the Play To interface further, but final functionality remains to be seen.
Once I had the Aris on the network, I opened up a Windows 7 laptop (thanks, Bonnier IT folks!), logged into the same Wi-Fi network, loaded up some music files, and launched Windows Media Player. I chose a track, clicked on the Play To button - and found "no devices"! What gives?
I checked the machine's network settings, and sure enough, the Aris was visible. Hmmmmm.
I checked and rechecked my settings, convinced myself all was well, and then decided to make sure the Aris itself was working. I launched Qualcomm's Skifta DLNA server on my phone, chose some music, picked the Aris as my target player, and in a few seconds was playing back - frankly, this made for a far more seamless and slick process than I'd had with the suggested use case so far. This also goes to show that you really don't need a Windows machine to use this thing - any DLNA server will do ya, on smartphone, tablet, or Mac. Add to that the swappable receiver cards, and you don't suffer for choice with this device.
Functionality established, I started poking around various forums. Seems there had been scattered reports that Play To might be wonky (or plain disabled) with unactivated or illegitimate installs of Windows. Sure enough, the copy I had, being a fresh update, hadn't yet been activated. I went ahead and activated, restarted, and lo and behold, when I got WMP up and running again, the Aris was visible under the Play To menu, and playing music was indeed as simple as choosing it as the output device (interestingly, once set up, while you're browsing your hard drive you can right-click on any media file and choose "Play To" to launch the WMP Player window and begin playback to your Play To-compatible device. Kinda neat.
So by comparison with AirPlay, Play To takes a little more doing to get set up, but once the pieces are in place it seems to function as advertised, and takes a bit of the sting out of DLNA, which has developed a reputation (not necessarily deserved, as you can see from my easy-as-pie experience using Skifta as a source with the Aris) for thorny setup. While obviously we couldn't test it with this particular piece of gear, Play To - like AirPlay - also works with video and photos, and it supports a reasonably broad range of networked devices, including a bunch of TVs and networked AVRs.
So I'd suggest to those new to Windows 7 (and also to the piratically inclined among you) - take care that you get right with Microsoft if you want to run an Aris as part of your system. It might not work otherwise.


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Raising finance for businesses can be challenging to say the least. If you are thinking of expanding your business, or starting a new one, you will probably need to raise finance. This requires careful planning and good professional advice. It is generally wise to seek financing from a number of finance sources. This will give you greater prospects of funding and flexibility in the long term. Some of the more common sources are:
- Overdraft
- Loan
- Mortgage
- Selling an interest to a partner
- Share issue for your company
- Hire purchase
- Leasing
- Debt factoring
- Assistance from government-backed schemes
- Venture capital
- Business angels
It is important to do a comparative study of the costs of each possibility, and also consider any tax implications before making a final decision about who to approach. This is an area where we have considerable experience, networks and expertise.
Most lenders will require some form of security. No amount of security will make a bad plan good, but it does demonstrate commitment from your side and provide insurance for the lender. As one banker recently said 'If they're not prepared to take a risk, why should we?' Generally acceptable forms of security include:
- Charge over a specific asset or class of assets e.g. car / debtors
- Fixed or floating charge over your business assets
- Second mortgage on your home
- Personal guarantees
Again, you might consider using more than one form of security. If the lender requires personal guarantees you should proceed with great caution. Try to ensure that any such guarantees are limited in amount, if not in time. You will almost certainly be required to present a comprehensive and convincing business plan to show how you are going to service the loan. In essence, this must demonstrate that you will be able to meet the new commitment through sustained growth in your business.
In all three areas – choosing a finance source, securing the finance, and preparing a business plan – you will benefit greatly from our professional advice. Why not arrange to meet with us and take advantage of our in-house expertise and extensive network of contacts? We might even be able to help you refinance your existing commitments to your advantage.


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With Valentines day coming chocolate has been on my mind and in particular I was remembering the molten chocolate cake that I had made last year. I just had to make something as decadently chocolaty this year! After searching through my bookmarks I decided to go with chocolate pots de creme or chocolate cream pots. The chocolate cream pots are essentially a chocolate custard with the following simple ingredients; cream, sugar, chocolate and egg yolks. The recipe is a easy as heating the cream to melt the chocolate, mixing in the egg yolks and baking until set. The only question you really need to ask is; how sweet do you like your chocolate? I prefer dark chocolate and I did not want my chocolate pots to be too sweet so I only added a bit of sugar. If you prefer sweeter chocolate I would double the sugar in this recipe. My 'practice' run of making the chocolate pots de creme worked out wonderfully! They were nice and chocolaty and so smooth and creamy and good! So good in fact that one of them disappeared before I finished taking photos of them! 🙂 Feel free to garnish these with powdered sugar, whipped cream or even sliced strawberries.
Chocolate Pots de Creme
These easy to make, decadently smooth and creamy chocolate pots are the perfect way to satisfy your chocolate cravings on Valentines day!
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons sugar (optional)
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- Heat the cream, milk, vanilla and sugar in a small sauce pan.
- Place the chocolate in a large bowl, pour the hot cream over it and stir to melt the chocolate.
- Slowly whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate and cream.
- Strain and pour into 4 ramekins.
- Place the ramekins into a baking dish and pour hot water into the dish until it comes half way up the ramekins.
- Bake in a preheated 325F/170C oven until it sets, about 20-30 minutes.
- Chill in the fridge.
Molten Chocolate Cake
Maple Pots de Creme
Chocolate Cheesecake
Maple Creme Brulee
Orange Chocolate Cream Cheese Mousse
Guinness Chocolate Pudding
Dark Chocolate Souffle Cheesecake
Raspberry White Chocolate Lava Cakes
Dark Chocolate Lava Cakes
Chocolate Avocado Pudding
Dark Chocolate Cheesecake
Ultimate Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
Peppermint Chocolate Cheesecake
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheesecake


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Mr. Speaker, a small bit of good news has emerged from the tortured region of Chechnya, where the Russian military is killing, looting, and terrorizing the population under the guise of an "anti-terrorism operation."
Andrei Babitsky, the Radio Liberty correspondent who had disappeared in Chechnya in early February after Russian authorities had "exchanged" him to unknown persons in return for some Russian prisoners of war, has emerged in Dagestan and is now in Moscow recuperating from his ordeal. Mr. Babitsky's courageous reporting from the besieged city of Grozny had infuriated Russian military authorities, and he was arrested in mid-January and charged with "participating in an unlawful armed formation."
Prior to his release, Mr. Babitsky had spent time in the notorious Chernokozovo "filtration" camp where the Russian military has been detaining and torturing Chechens suspected of aiding the resistance. Following his arrival in Moscow, Mr. Babitsky provided a harrowing account of his incarceration at the Chernokozovo prison, and especially the savage treatment of his fellow prisoners. It is another graphic reminder that for all the fine words and denials coming out of Moscow, the Russian military has been conducting a brutal business that makes a mockery of the Geneva Conventions and the code of military conduct stipulated in the 1994 Budapest Document of the OSCE.
Mr. Speaker, last month President Clinton stated that Russia's Acting President Putin is a man the United States "can do business with." With this in mind, I would suggest for the Record excerpts from Mr. Babitsky's interview with an NTV reporter in Russia. If Mr. Putin is aware of the state of affairs at Chernokozovo and condoning it, I would submit that our business with Mr. Putin should be extremely limited. If he is not aware of the truth, then his authority over Russia is a chimera, and we might better deal with the real rulers of Russia.
Babitsky's statement follows:
[From Hero of the Day NTV Program, 7:40 p.m., Feb. 29, 2000]
Babitsky: On the 16th I tried to leave the city of Grozny through the settlement of Staraya Sunzha, a suburb of Grozny which at the time was divided into two parts. One part was controlled by federal troops and the other by the Chechen home guard.
I entered the territory controlled by the federals and it was there that I was recognized. I was identified as a journalist, I immediately presented my documents. All the subsequent claims that I was detained as a person who had to be identified are not quite clear to me. I had my passports with me, my accreditation card of a foreign correspondent.
Then I was taken to Khankala. Not what journalists who had covered the first war regarded as Khankala, but to an open field. There was an encampment there consisting of trucks used as their office by army intelligence officers. Two of my cassettes that I had filmed in Grozny were taken from me. They contained unique frames. I think those were the last video pictures ever taken by anyone before Grozny was stormed. Those, again, were pictures of thousands of peaceful civilians many of whom, as we now know, were killed by federal artillery shells.
I spent two nights in Khankala, in the so-called Avtozak, a truck converted into a prison cell. On the third day I was taken to what the Chechens call a filtration center, the preliminary detention center in Chernokozovo.
I believe I am the only journalist of those who covered the first and the second Chechen wars who has seen a filtration center from the inside. I must say that all these horrors that we have heard from Chechens who had been there have been confirmed. Everything that we read about concentration camps of the Stalin period, all that we know about the German camps, all this is present there.
The first three days that I spent there, that was the 18th, 19th and the 20th, beatings continued round the clock. I never thought that I would hear such a diversity of expressions of human pain. These were not just screams, these were screams of every possible tonality and depth, these were screams of most diverse pain. Different types of beatings cause a different reaction.
Q. Are you saying that you got this treatment?
A. No, that was the treatment meted out to others. I was fortunate, it was established at once that I am a journalist, true, nobody knew what type of journalist I was. Everybody there were surprised that a journalist happened to be there. In principle, the people there cannot be described as intellectuals. They decided that there was nothing special about this, that such things do happen in a war. As a journalist I was "registered", as they say, only once. They have this procedure there. When a new detainee is being taken from his cell to the investigator he is made to crawl all the way under a rain of blows with rubber sticks.
It hurts but one can survive it. This is a light treatment as compared with the tortures to which Chechens are subjected day and night, those who are suspected of collaborating with the illegal armed formations. There are also cases when some testimony is beaten out of detainees.
Q. What is the prison population there?
A. In my opinion ….. I was in cell No. 17 during the first three days. In that cell there were 13 inhabitants of the village Aberdykel (sp.–FNS). Most of them were young. Judging by their stories, I am not an investigator and I could not collect a sufficiently full database, but in such an atmosphere one very rarely doubts the veracity of what you are told. Mostly these were young men who had nothing to do with the war. They were really common folk. They were treating everything happening around them as a calamity but they were not taking any sides. They were simply waiting for this calamity to pass either in this direction or that direction.
Beatings as a method of getting testimony. This is something that, unfortunately, is very well known in Russian and not only Russian history and tradition. But I must say that apart from everything, in my opinion, in all this torture, as it seemed to me, a large part is due to sheer sadism. In other words, an absolutely unwarranted torturing of people.
For instance, I heard ….. You know, you really can't see this because all this happens outside of your cell. But the type of screams leaves no doubt about what is happening. You know this painful reaction. For two hours a woman was tortured on the 20th or the 19th. She was tortured; I have no other word to explain what was happening. That was not hysteria. I am not a medic but I believe that we all know what hysteria is. There were screams indicting that a person was experiencing unbearable pain, and for a long period of time.


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I'm packing again! This time I'm off to Florence and as much as I would love to say it's for play and shopping, it's not. I am afraid I won't be able to take in much of the sights of my beloved city this time. I've always had somewhat of a love affair with this city. Florence, a city I visited for the first time when I was a starry eyed 16 year old teenager accompanying my dad who had the ability to engage me with his captivating stories and tales. Together we spend several summer vacations touring Italy from coast to coast, but Florence was always in my heart.
I will have to tell you the story of my love affair with this city another day. Today I shall leave you with my favorite Italian pasta dish, while I pack my gear, recite my presentations and finalize the last few bits on our exercises.
This weekend, together with Ilva, Jeanne and Jamie, we'll be opening the doors to 12 new participants at the second Plate to Page. The backdrop this time is Tuscany in the fascinating city of Pistoia. Over the past several months we spent an amazing amount of time getting the workshop ready and it is hard for me to believe how fast time flew. I am excited, as we have put together an incredible program and I cannot wait to get connected with our 12 participants. We'll be spending an intensive weekend filled with a lot of hard work, where we hope to share our energy and convey our passion with and to the participants.
However, I do think there will a lot more than hard work this weekend. With experience from our Weimar workshop, I know there will be a lot of laughing, joking and bonding. We'll be cooking, drinking and sharing all our meals together and I cannot wait. Did I say that already?
Did I also say that I cannot wait to see my fabulous colleagues and dearest friends Ilva, Jamie and Jeanne again? Well that is a big added extra bonus with the Plate to Page Workshops. These ladies rock my world each day and their unconditional support is unparalleled and rare in this superficial world. So – yeah – I cannot wait for this weekend to get rolling already.
So, while I head to Italy I leave you licking your forks with this Italian pasta dish. It's not any pasta dish that I leave you with. It's Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. In my opinion probably the most spirited and flavorful pasta of all. Literally it means "whore's style spaghetti" and has all the heritage of good southern Italian cooking. The sugo is bold and gutsy providing a salty, piquant and fiery combination. The flavors of tangy tomatoes and capers, salty notes from anchovies and olives and the heat from the chilli will explode in your mouth.
Printable version of recipe here
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
- 800g large ripe Italian tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 8-10 anchovy filets, chopped
- 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
- 100g green olives
- 500g spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon capers
- Handful cherry tomatoes, halved
- Maldon's smoked sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
- Heat up the olive oil in a large pan, sauté the garlic and the chilli flakes for a quick minute. Add the chopped anchovies and cook for another few minutes until the anchovies begin to disintegrate.
- Turn up the heat and add the chopped tomatoes, bring to a boil, then turn heat down to medium and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- In the meantime cook pasta according to instructions on the packet.
- When the sauce is ready add the olives and capers. Taste to check the saltiness of the dish then season with a good pinch of the smoked sea salt and pepper.
- Finally add the cherry tomatoes and then toss the sauce with the drained pasta.
There is nothing elegant about this dish, but there is everything downright scrumptious to it. It's simply the best standby meal, ready in minutes with ingredients you are sure to have in your pantry. Do not be timid with the sugo. Add as much heat as you can take and any kind of pasta works with it. In my version I used a good sprinkling of smoked sea salt and add a handful of fresh ripe cherry tomatoes.
Open up a bottle of wine and enjoy!
If you could not make it to our second From Plate to Page Workshop in Tuscany, you can join us live on Twitter via the hashtag #plate2page or our Facebook page. For all workshop details as well as updates and news on all future workshops, please visit our Plate to Page website and sign up for e-mail alerts! Don't miss anything!
Also on the Plate to Page website blog we are currently featuring three guest posts in our on-going series of talented professional food stylists, photographers and writers. This month, Cape Town food writer and journalist Sam Woulidge, Chicago-based Prop Stylist Paula Walters and Seattle-based food stylist and photographer Kelly Cline each share their personal and professional journey as well as thoughts, insights and advice on each of their professions. Must reads!
I'd also like to wish all my fellow Indian readers a huge Happy Diwali! Hope you celebrate the day with a bang and enjoy a sweet filled day!
See you all next week!
You might like these pasta ideas from WFLH:
Fettuccine with Spicy Lamb Sausage Meatballs in a Piquant Tomato Sauce | Tagliatelle in Creamy Saffron Sauce and Serrano Ham | Buckwheat Linguine with Aubergine and Mango |
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2011 Meeta Khurana Wolff unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First


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Sun 3pm White City Football
Sunday, March 19, 2023Repeats Weekly on Sundays
ONLINE £6.00 /per person
Co-ed #shepherdsbush
This game is organised by Footy Addicts Staff. Footy Addicts is responsible for the pitch hire and game management. Any issues feel free to contact us via direct message on footyaddictsstaff.
- Meet 10 minutes before kick-off, at the reception
- If you turn up late you might lose your spot
- Report at the reception you are coming for the Footy Addicts game and they will direct you to the right pitch, provide football & bibs
Venue information
- 3G artificial grass top quality surface (we play regardless the weather)
- You can wear boots, No blades, metal or soft ground studs. Astros or 3G boots recommended
- Changing rooms & Showers available
- No parking available
- Closest tube station is Wood Ln (Hammersmith & City Ln.) and White City (Central Ln.) stations
Game play rules
- Goalkeepers: everybody is playing goalie. We rotate on goal every 6-7 minutes
- 1 hour booking
- You cannot score in the area
- Any kind of aggressive behaviour will NOT be tolerated
- Make sure you are in a mood to have fun
Footy Addicts' Code of Conduct must be respected at all times.
Everyone must play fair, respect their team-mates and opponents.
Pay via Credit/Debit card or PayPal account in order to secure your spot in the game.
You will automatically receive refund only if you honour the game's refund policy (provide 2 days in advance notice)
If for any reason you cannot make it to the game you need to modify your RSVP as soon as possible, in order to free your spot. In case you are in the attendance list and you do no turn up for the game, you will be marked as a No-Show.
Late comers will also be marked as No-Show
Please bring both a light and dark top with you to help splitting the teams at the pitch.


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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) have announced the joint appointment of David T. Killion as the Senate Staff Director for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission). A diplomat familiar with navigating multilateral international organizations, Killion is the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He previously served as a Senior Professional Staff Member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs where he was the foremost expert on international organizations. Killion first joined the House Foreign Affairs Committee staff as a key advisor to then Chairman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and he was a leader on human rights work. Ambassador Killion will replace Fred Turner, who recently became chief of staff to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
"The U.S. Helsinki Commission has a long-standing tradition of operating above partisan politics as it works to advance our country's international leadership on democracy, human rights and economic issues. Along with Senator Wicker, I am proud to welcome Ambassador David Killion as Staff Director, extending this bipartisan precedent with an individual steeped in experience who has represented the United States of America at the highest levels overseas but also understands the deep origins and appropriate uses our Nation's foreign policy tools," said Senator Cardin.
"Ambassador Killion's extensive professional experience in diplomacy and international affairs uniquely qualifies him to serve in this important role," Senator Wicker said. "He has proven his ability to promote America's best interests on the global stage, earning the respect of members from both political parties. I look forward to working with him on the Helsinki Commission, which continues to be a force for the advancement of democracy and security around the world."
Ambassador Killion will serve as an advisor to Senators Cardin and Wicker, Chairman and Senate Ranking Member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission respectively. He will manage a professional staff charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing comprehensive security through the promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental and military cooperation in the 57 countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The CSCE/U.S. Helsinki Commission is a bipartisan, bicameral, dual-branch organization that consists of nine members each from the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce.
Most recently, the OSCE has played an integral role in monitoring events in Ukraine as Russia disregards its commitments to Ukraine's territorial integrity under the Helsinki Final Act and specifically the Budapest Memorandum. The OSCE has provided many of the non-military tools at the disposal of the Administration and Europe and continues to address how to best assist Ukraine and deter further Russian aggression.
"At a time when conflict is flaring in the OSCE region, I am honored that Senators Cardin and Wicker have placed their faith in me to lead the professional staff of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. The Commission is a hidden gem in the Congress that still reflects the goal that partisanship stops at our Nation's shores," Ambassador Killion said. "The Commission has never been more relevant than it is today. I hope to assist Senators Wicker and Cardin and all the Commissioners to as we seek to hold Russia accountable to its commitments under the Helsinki Final Act and the Budapest memorandum and more broadly as we strengthen America's leadership in human rights and democratic development."
Killion served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to UNESCO from 2009-2013. In this role, he administered a multi-agency, multi-million dollar U.S. Mission, worked to better align UNESCO programs and activities with U.S. strategic interests, managed complex political and diplomatic challenges, and fostered public-private partnerships with key American corporations and foundations. As a Senior Professional Staff member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Killion managed the drafting of the State Department Authorization Act on behalf of Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.). He has also coordinated Committee initiatives to improve management at the United Nations and reforms to UN human rights mechanisms. Prior to serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Killion served in the Department of State's Bureau of Legislative Affairs (1996-2001) and as a legislative assistant to Congressman David Skaggs (D-Colo.) (1994-1996). Ambassador Killion holds a BA from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., and an MA from the University of California at Los Angeles.


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Just hours before one of the Boston Marathon suspects and his brother allegedly gunned down a campus police officer, authorities say he exchanged a series of text messages with a friend who'd become suspicious after seeing what looked like a familiar face being flashed on television.
Dias Kadyrbayev, a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, texted his college buddy Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, saying he looked like one of the bombing suspects.
"Tsarnaev's return texts contained 'lol' and other things Kadyrbayev interpreted as jokes such as 'you better not text me' and 'come to my room and take whatever you want,'" an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.
Those texts set off a series of events that on Wednesday led to Kadyrbayev and his roommate Azamat Tazhayakov, natives of Kazhakstan, being charged with conspiring to destroy emptied fireworks and other evidence linking their friend to the deadly April 15 blasts. Robel Phillipos, who graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School with Tsarnaev in 2011, was charged with lying to investigators about the April 18 visit to his friend's dorm room to retrieve the items.
Tazhayakov also told authorities that during a meal about a month before the terror attacks, Tsarnaev informed him and Kadyrbayev "that he knew how to make a bomb." That is significant because, before he was advised of his rights not to speak with authorities, the 19-year-old bombing suspect allegedly said that his older brother had only recently recruited him to be part of the attack.
Three people were killed and more than 260 wounded on April 15 when two bombs exploded near the marathon's finish line. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died after a gunfight with police days later. Younger brother Dzhokhar was captured and remains in a prison hospital.
According to the FBI account, just hours after surveillance camera photos of the two suspects were flashed around the world April 18, Tsnarnaev's friends suspected he was one of the bombers and removed the backpack along with a laptop from Tsarnaev's room at UMass Dartmouth.
One of them later threw the backpack in the garbage, and it wound up in a landfill, where it was discovered by law enforcement officers last week, authorities said. In the backpack were fireworks that had been emptied of their gunpowder.
Investigators have not said whether the pressure cooker bombs used in the attacks were made with gunpowder extracted from fireworks.
The lawyers for the Kazakh students said their clients had nothing to do with the bombing and were just as shocked by the crime as everyone else. Phillipos' attorney, Derege Demissie, said outside court: "The only allegation is he made a misrepresentation."
The Kazakh students did not request bail at a court hearing and will be held for another hearing May 14. Phillipos was held for a hearing on Monday. If convicted, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov could get up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Phillipos faces a maximum of eight years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.
The mother of the Tsarnaev brothers has said the allegations against her sons are lies.
Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov have been in jail for more than a week on allegations they were in violation of their student visas, one because he was skipping classes, the other because he was no longer enrolled.
Tazhayakov was allowed to return to the U.S. from Kazakhstan in January despite not having a valid student visa, a federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press. His student visa status had been terminated because he was academically dismissed from the university, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
All three men charged Wednesday began attending UMass with Tsarnaev in 2011, according to the FBI.
Kadyrbayev, an engineering major, said he and Tazhayakov hung out with Tsarnaev on and off campus. The three often spoke Russian among themselves.
He told authorities he became "better friends" with Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen, in spring 2012, and that he was a frequent visitor to the Tsarnaev home in Cambridge.
The FBI said that before Tsarnaev's roommate let the three friends into the room, Kadyrbayev received a text message from Tsarnaev that read: "I'm about to leave if you need something in my room take it," according to the FBI. When Tazhayakov learned of the message, "he believed he would never see Tsarnaev alive again," the FBI said in the affidavit.
It was unclear from the court papers whether authorities believe that was an instruction from Tsarnaev to destroy evidence.
Once inside Tsarnaev's room, the men watched a movie. At some point, they noticed a backpack containing more than a half-dozen fireworks, each about 8 inches long, according to the affidavit. The black powder had been scooped out.
The FBI said that Kadyrbayev knew when he saw the fireworks that Tsarnaev was involved in the bombings and decided to remove the backpack "to help his friend Tsarnaev avoid trouble."
Kadyrbayev also decided to remove Tsarnaev's laptop "because he did not want Tsarnaev's roommate to think he was stealing or behaving suspiciously by just taking the backpack," the FBI said.
After the three returned to Kadyrbayev's and Tazhayakov's apartment with the backpack and computer, they watched news reports featuring photographs of Tsarnaev. The FBI said Kadyrbayev told authorities the three men then "collectively decided to throw the backpack and fireworks into the trash because they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble."
Kadyrbayev said he placed the backpack and fireworks along with trash from the apartment into a large trash bag and threw it into a garbage bin near the men's apartment, according to court papers.
When the backpack was later found, inside it was a UMass-Dartmouth homework assignment sheet from a class Tsarnaev was taking, the FBI said.
The court papers do not say what happened to the laptop.
In a footnote, the FBI said: "Tazhayakov also informed the FBI agents that while eating a meal with Dzhokhar and Kadrybayev approximately one month prior to the marathon bombing, Dzhokhar had explained to Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov that he knew how to make a bomb."
Robert Stahl, an attorney for Kadyrbayev, said his client "absolutely denies the charges" and didn't know that the backpack and fireworks were part of the bombing case. Kadyrbayev is "just as shocked and horrified by the violence in Boston that took place as the rest of the community is," the lawyer said.
He also denied that Kadyrbayev instantly recognized Tsarnaev's photo and said Kadyrbayev didn't know Tsarnaev was involved in the bombing: "His first inkling came much later," he said.
Tazhayakov's lawyer, Harlan Protass, said Tazhayakov "feels horrible and was shocked to hear that someone he knew at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth was involved with the Boston Marathon bombing."
Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov lived at an off-campus apartment in New Bedford, about 60 miles south of Boston, and got around in a car registered to Kadyrbayev with a souvenir plate that read "Terrorista (hash)1." The car was pictured on Tsarnaev's Twitter feed in March.
The plate was a gag gift from some of Kadyrbayev's friends, meant to invoke his penchant for late-night partying rather than his political sentiments, Kadyrbayev's lawyer said last week.
Breed reported from Raleigh, N.C. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy and Rodrique Ngowi in Boston and Michelle R. Smith in Providence, R.I.
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 Capitol Hill Blue


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Safety-Kleen Charleston, South Carolina is looking for a Local Class B Route Driver to join their safety conscious team! As a Local Class B Route Driver you will be responsible for pickup of waste oil and anti-freeze at customer locations such as garages, automotive dealerships, quick change oil companies, fleet maintenance facilities, bus companies, airports and rental car companies.
Why work for Safety-Kleen?
Key Responsibilities:
What does it take to work for Safety-Kleen?
Wondering what to expect in starting your career as a driver with us? Click Here to view a Day in the Life Video!
Safety-Kleen, a Clean Harbors company, has a commitment to excellence deeply rooted in a strong sense of tradition. Our entire business model revolves around keeping North American businesses green. We generate more than $1.2 billion in annual revenue as a world-class environmental service organization and market leader in industrial hazardous waste management, parts-cleaning technology, and oil re-refining. We collect over 200 million gallons of used motor oil each year and we have the largest re-refinery capacity in North America allowing us to re-refine more than 150 million gallons each year.
Every day, we help our customers resolve their waste management needs and reduce their carbon footprint. PROTECTION. CHOICES. PEOPLE. MAKE GREEN WORK.
Clean Harbors is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate against applicants due to race, ancestry, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or on the basis of any other federal, state/provincial or local protected class.
Clean Harbors and its subsidiaries are a Military & Veteran friendly company.


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Construct Pro Banana Plug Receptacle Only (Non Binding Post)
Construct Pro
You are the artist, and the house is your canvas! However, even a great artist needs the right materials. Construct Pro is an elegant line of wall plates that will add style and personality to any room while fitting into your customer's home décor. Engineered using strong UL Listed ABS plastic and shaded with a cool, sexy tempo, these plates are absolutely perfect for modern day home design.
Color and Finish
Part of blending in requires matching all of the other wall plates within the home. Construct Pro expresses the same shading, color tone, and finish as other sophisticated plate manufacturers. You'll love how these plates disappear and blend seamlessly into your customer's home.
Construct Pro is dedicated to looks, style, and ease of installation. In order to simplify operations these plates and inserts are compatible with numerous manufacturers. Simply call us for compatibility details.
Whether you're twisting f-fittings onto Construct Pro's coaxial plates or snapping in category connectors, you'll find that we've equipped this line with the finest components to ensure a strong reliable signal every time.


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How To Care For Your Paparazzi Jewelry
To keep your jewelry looking new and shiny, let the jewelry be the last thing you put on when you leave the house and the first thing you take off when you return. There are 5 rules to follow, it's called avoiding the 5's.
The 5 S's are:
Sleep - Don't sleep with your jewelry on to avoid tangling and breaking.
Shower - Your jewelry doesn't like water, try to keep it away from water.
Sprays - Use perfume, hairspray and etc. before putting on your jewelry.
Sweat - Avoid massive sweating while wearing your jewelry. Example, avoid wearing your jewelry during workouts.
Swim - Don't wear the jewelry while swimming.
Here are a few more tips on giving your jewelry some tender, love and care.
Reshape your seed beads by using a hair dryer on a light warm setting until your beauty is reshaped.
- By adding chalk to your jewelry box, it will remove humidity and keep your jewelry shining.
- Wipe jewelry off with a soft cloth to keep it nice and shiny.
- If your necklaces get tangled you can sprinkle some baby powder to loosen it up and help untangle.
- Don't use jewelry cleaner, it will ruin your jewelry.


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Update! Congratulations to Mary Louise who said...By now, surely everybody has heard of Ree Drummond, self-proclaimed accidental country girl, award-winning blogger at www.thepioneerwoman.com, Food Network personality, and bestselling author of cookbooks, children's books and even her memoir, a romance novel of her courtship with Marlboro Man. I have all of Ree's cookbooks, but hands down, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays, available today on Amazon and store shelves everywhere, is my favorite one yet.
Love this site! Thanks for giving your readers an opportunity to win Ree's cookbook.
Mary Louise please contact me by email at firstname.lastname@example.com as soon as possible and provide your full name and mailing address so I can get Ree's new book out to you. I know that you will love it!
"There's food, glorious food in this cookbook,
and you won't run out of yummy things to make."
A large and hefty hardback cookbook, weighing in over 3 pounds and with nearly 400 pages, A Year of Holidays contains 140 of Ree's recipes presented in her signature, step-by-step style and using the same beautiful photography that you're accustomed to seeing on her blog.
Filled with simple, scrumptious food celebrations covering Ree's 12 favorite holidays from January 1 to December 31... but, don't think that it's only a cookbook intended for the holidays, because most of these recipes are easily translated to other times of the year, and many may be shared across the aisle of holidays.
Arranged in chapters by holidays beginning with New Year's Day, Ree takes us through The Big Game day, Valentine's Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and ending with New Year's Eve. Every holiday section is color-coded so that you can flip right along the page edges to find the right section easily anytime.
You may have seen this new cookbook debut on QVC a few weeks ago, where it promptly sold out in nano-seconds without us getting to really even see the table of recipes they had prepared. I always enjoy that part and especially seeing the host David do the happy dance when he tastes something he really enjoys - especially anything mac and cheese!
So this past Sunday, Ree was on In the Kitchen with David for a second time, and we got a better look at some of the dishes from the cookbook. Here's a little sneak peek at some of what's inside Holidays.
In New Year's Day you'll find Resolution Smoothies along with three different French toast casseroles, including a Bagel and Cream Cheese version, Hoppin' John, Black-eyed Pea Salsa, Collards and Loaded Cornbread, among others.
The Big Game chapter provides a full menu spread that includes Buffalo Chicken Bites, Grilled Corn Dip, four different Potato Skins, Whiskey BBQ Sliders and Dr Pepper Cupcakes plus there's a do ahead game plan, so you can get a jump start on the prep.
Valentine's Day brings recipes for Red Velvet Pancakes, Candy-Dipped S'mores, Layered Jiggly Hearts, Chocolate-Covered Strawberries, Homemade Chocolate Truffles and Valentine Cookies and a romantic dinner for two menu that also includes a do ahead plan.
In the Easter chapter, Ree shares her favorite treats, including Hot Cross Buns, Easter Cookies and Krispies Eggs, and gives us an Easter brunch menu centered around her Glazed Easter Ham and ending with Sigrid's Carrot Cake. There are even recipes for using up those Easter leftovers, including four different deviled egg ideas.
For Cinco de Mayo, you'll find a great party menu starting with Blackberry Margaritas, three different recipes for Pico de Gallo, Homemade Tortillas, Beef and Chicken Fajitas, Chimichurri Shrimp, Black Beans and Lime Rice along with some make ahead tips. Don't miss the Dulce de Leche Brownies or Cinnamon Ice Cream with Cinnamon Crisps.
A breakfast in bed menu for Mom is featured in the Mother's Day chapter, beginning with Coffee Granita and a variety of scones, including Perfect Cream Scones, Lemon-Rosemary or Maple-Bacon Scones, Yogurt and Berry Parfaits and Salmon Scrambled Eggs.
Father's Day features a Dinner for Dear Ol' Dad menu of Arnold Palmers, Three Meat Lasagna and Caesar Salad, finished with a Chocolate Strawberry Cake.
In the Fourth of July chapter, you'll find a great summertime cookout menu beginning with Homemade Lemonade and Watermelon Sangria, and featuring all the great summer sides - Grilled Corn, Baked Beans, Potato Salad, Pasta Salad and a Big Bad Burger Bar. This holiday finishes with Peach Cobbler, Strawberry Ice Cream and Key Lime Pie.
Halloween gives us a grouping of terrifying treats the kids will love - Petrifying Pumpkin Pancakes, Mummy Dogs, Homemade Caramel Apples, Candy Corn Popcorn Balls made with a homemade kettle corn, a Cheese Ball of Death and Eyeball Cake Balls.
Ree says it's her favorite holiday of them all and the Thanksgiving chapter doesn't disappoint, bringing 19 recipes, including how to brine and roast the turkey and tips on carving your bird. You'll find the most decadent mashed potatoes that can be made ahead, four different recipes for dressing, how to make a giblet gravy and recipes for all the classic sides. This chapter also includes a do-ahead game plan. Multiple pie recipes are included and there are even some recipes for using up all those leftovers.
The Christmas chapter is loaded with sweet treats and favorites including Brandy Snaps, Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies, Marshmallow Pops, Gingerbread House Cookies and Ree's favorite Christmas cookies. There's Christmas Rum Pudding Cake, Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls and Mulled Apple Cider.
Check out the Christmas Eve Dinner menu too where you'll find recipes for Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding, Rosemary Garlic Roasted Potatoes, Brussels, Burgundy Mushrooms and Boozy Bread Pudding. Ree even shares the Drummond family's traditional Christmas morning brunch menu, consisting of Fried Quail, Drop Biscuits and Quail Gravy.
New Year's Eve winds down the book with party menu ideas beginning with Champagne Cocktails, Skewers, Dips, Cocktail Wieners and sweet dessert shooters of Lemon Creme Pie, Cherry Cheesecake and Chocolate Mint.
Besides the helpful make ahead plans on many menus, several individual recipes, like the Homemade Tortillas,are marked with a butterfly icon indicating they have bonus content available with helpful videos from Harper Collins Unbound via your smartphone.
Ree also provides a multitude of cook's notes, helpful hits and variations for many of the recipes, and you'll find cross references in each holiday for recipes from other chapters that will also work for other holidays.
Of course, the family is there, the kids (hard to believe how much they've grown from the early blogging days) and Charlie, plenty of beautiful pictures from the ranch, including, as always the cowboys in action and the number one cowboy, Marlboro Man, and there are even some precious childhood shots included of Ree.
I love Ree's cookbooks because they contain real, uncomplicated recipes we love, with ingredients we all mostly have on hand. The books are always fun, playful, colorful and just downright uplifting and this newest one is no exception. If you enjoy collecting a wide range of cookbooks you'll enjoy having this one to add to your collection - if you're already a fan of The Pioneer Woman, you will absolutely love it.
It's the perfect resource for holiday cooking throughout the year or for anytime. Purchase your copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Holidays! right now on Amazon.com or at a local retailer or bookstore near you.
UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! Check back soon here on this post for the winner announcement.
Readers are responsible for checking back to see if they were selected and the winner will need to provide name and complete mailing address to me via email at firstname.lastname@example.com as soon as possible after the announcement, so that I can get your new cookbook out to you. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only please.
Thanks for reading and good luck!
Disclosure: I received one free review copy plus another copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Holidays! to host this giveaway.


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A team of five Princeton engineering graduate students is leading a yearlong field research project using new laser sensors to measure pollutants with unprecedented sensitivity.
The sensors use quantum cascade lasers to perform chemical fingerprinting of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and water vapor, as well as ammonia and carbon monoxide, which are related to air quality.
These trace gas sensors were developed in laboratories that are part of Princeton's Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE), a center funded by the National Science Foundation. The director of MIRTHE is Claire Gmachl, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering and a pioneer in the development of quantum cascade lasers.
The students are still analyzing the data collected during field research. But Mark Zondlo, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, said that the project "will allow for new insights into the nitrogen, carbon and water cycles in urban and agricultural settings."
Zondlo also said the lasers were robust in the field.
"The new laser sensors proved to work under harsh field conditions from snow and frost to summer heat," he said.
This video is narrated by David Miller, a graduate student in civil and environmental engineering, and shows the group's fieldwork performing atmospheric measurements in April 2012 at a test site run by the Maryland Department of the Environment and Howard University in Beltsville, Md. The site is in the middle of the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., corridor, which faces significant urban air quality issues.
Miller said the student-led independent project was a "unique opportunity" for graduate students to manage research. The students were in charge of formulating project goals, making connections with outside collaborators, taking care of logistics and budgeting.
The Princeton graduate students who serve as co-principal investigators on the project, in addition to Miller, are Dan Li, Clinton Smith, Kang Sun and Eve Wen Wang. The postdoctoral researchers and research scholars at Princeton associated with the project are Michal Nikodem, Anna Michel, Lei Tao and Amir Khan.
In addition to Gmachl and Zondlo, the faculty members associated with the project are Elie Bou-Zeid, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering; James Smith, a professor and the chair of the civil and environmental engineering department; and Gerard Wysocki, an assistant professor of electrical engineering.
A note about safety: The liquids shown in this video are water and a common fertilizer mixed with water and do not require the person handling them to wear gloves. All of the lasers shown in this video are "eye safe" and do not require the operators to wear safety goggles.


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10 Things You Didn't Know About 'Home Alone'
If you tried to describe the violent holiday classic 'Home Alone' to someone who had never seen it, they might wonder why it's considered a "must watch" at Christmas time. Watching the precocious, sadistic Kevin McAllister (played by Macaulay Culkin) find new and unique ways to commit assault and battery against two hapless burglars doesn't sound like something that would teach an impressionable child about why the holidays are important.
This slapstick classic may have become a big box office draw for its ability to turn Micro Machines and Christmas ornaments into dangerous weapons, but it certainly didn't impress many critics. However, any child of the 1990s knows that behind all the carnage and flying paint cans lies a sweet tale of family, togetherness and forgiveness. So here's a deep look back at this black and blue Christmas classic.
1. Macaulay Culkin scored the Kevin McAllister role thanks to his performance in 'Uncle Buck'
Culkin grew up in an acting family and his notorious father, Kit, actually worked as his abrasive and sometimes abusive manager. Macaulay started acting at age 6 and got his first big screen break in 1989 with John Hughes' 'Uncle Buck,' starring John Candy in the title role. His performance as Buck's wise-cracking, precocious nephew scored him the role that would make him a superstar.
John Hughes loved Macaulay's "angelic brattiness" and wanted to use him in another movie with a bigger part. That film became 'Home Alone.' Director Chris Columbus auditioned other kids for the main role out of fairness, but it ultimately went to Macaulay, who earned $100,000 for his performance. The movie quickly became one of the top grossing comedies of all time. So when Fox wanted a sequel, little Mac's paycheck was bumped up to $5 million and 5 percent of the movie's profits.
2. The McAllisters' home was filmed in a real house outside Chicago
The massive, two-story home that served as Kevin's funhouse of pain for the "Wet Bandits" wasn't remade on a sound stage -- it was all filmed in a real house in Winnetka, Illinois.
The home's original owners, John and Cynthia Abendshien, said Columbus chose their historic, 4,250 square foot home while scouting locations near his home town of River Forest, Illinois.
The studio put the family up in a studio apartment as they were shooting but the family chose to spend as much time as they could in the house since they knew the carnage it would contain. However, they actually have many happy memories of the film and the friendships they developed with Macaulay, his younger brother Kieran, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern and Catherine O'Hara, who played Kevin's frantic mother.
The only major problem the homeowners recalled was when they learned one of the fir trees in their backyard had been cut in half. They didn't realize it until after they attended the movie's premiere when they saw Kevin saw off the top of the tree to make a Christmas tree. The moment gave them a good laugh, John said. (The couple sold the home back in March of 2012 for $1.5 million.)
3. The "Old Man Marley" plot wasn't in the original version of the script
Hughes originally wrote 'Home Alone' as a straight, 'Three Stooges'-style action comedy but Columbus felt it needed something to make it softer and more emotional in between the comedic screams and slaps.
Columbus came up with the story about the creepy neighbor played by the late character actor Roberts Blossom after Hughes submitted the first script draft. He felt it needed a more sentimental side beyond just Kevin being separated from his family. So he brought in a character that terrified Kevin at first, but ended up saving him. The fact that Kevin also helped reunite his neighbor with his estranged family helped further drive home the movie's thesis about the importance of family and forgiveness. See, it's not all about grievous injuries.
4. Joe Pesci had trouble watching his language
One of the biggest surprises in the movie (other than the fact that the "Wet Bandits" are somehow still alive after being beaten senseless for 30 straight minutes) is that Joe Pesci accepted the role.
Columbus was flabbergasted that Pesci, a tough guy actor who regularly appeared in Martin Scorsese movies like 'Raging Bull' and 'Goodfellas,' signed on as the slightly smarter burglar after being sent a copy of the script. Unfortunately, Pesci wasn't used to acting in family movies. Columbus wanted his cast to improvise as much as they could, but Pesci often had a hard time controlling his language during some of his angrier scenes. Columbus suggested that Pesci use the word "fridge" in place of a certain other F-word to avoid having so many reshoots.
5. An earlier script draft included an elaborate dream sequence in which Kevin's house comes to life
A big element of the movie's plot deals with Kevin's fear of being alone, whether it's having a rumored snow-shovel murderer as a next door neighbor or a spooky basement furnace.
Columbus wanted to expand on the furnace bit by turning the whole house against Kevin. He storyboarded a long, scary dream sequence in which Kevin thinks the house is trying to attack him after he makes his family disappear. Some of the sights included the furnace and several toy nutcrackers chasing Kevin through the house and trying to eat him. Unfortunately, the budget didn't have room for such elaborate special effects so the idea was abandoned.
6. The actor who played the gangster in both 'Angels With Filthy Souls' movies played his final role in 'Home Alone 2'
Kevin gets to some much needed "R&R" in both 'Home Alone' and 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' by watching a very adult gangster movie from the fictional 'Angels with Filthy Souls' series.
Both of these movies within a movie are later used to trick Kevin's victims (a pizza guy and the Wet Bandits in the first movie and the staff of Plaza hotel in the second) into believing they are conversing with a trigger happy maniac. These movies-within-a-movie serve as the final roles for the actor Ralph Foody who played the vicious gangster Johnny.
The Chicago actor had a fairly prolific career in theater, TV and film and scored some memorable screen time in smaller roles such as the police dispatcher in 'The Blues Brothers' and a heckler in 'The Babe.' He retired soon after 'Home Alone 2' and passed away in 1999.
7. Daniel Stern didn't actually scream when the tarantula was on his face
One of the more memorable moments from Kevin's final showdown with the Wet Bandits came courtesy of his overbearing brother Buzz and his tarantula.
After Kevin raids Buzz's room to find some money for food and look through a few of his Playboys, he accidentally destroys the shelves and sets his pet tarantula loose. Later, just as Marv catches Kevin by his pants leg, Kevin spots the loose tarantula and places it on Marv's face, giving him a chance to escape. Marv lets out a ridiculous, girly, high-pitched scream to the delight of the audience. Of course, as they were shooting the actual scene, Stern didn't want to scream at all with a spider on his face. He was worried it would startle the spider into biting him. Instead, he mimed the moment and recorded the scream in post-production.
8. The basement flooded by the Wet Bandits had to be filmed in a swimming pool
The majority of the movie takes place in an Illinois neighborhood but one of the trickier scenes to film was a neighbor's basement that had been flooded by the Wet Bandits' watery calling card.
Towards the end of the film, Kevin successfully beats the living heck out of Marv and Harry and tries to flee for help by ducking through a neighbor's basement. The basement is filled with water after Marv leaves the water running in the kitchen sink, which eventually tells the police how many houses they hit after their arrests. The scene was also filmed in the same neighborhood but not in one of the houses. The crew actually built a fake basement in a local high school's massive swimming pool for Macaulay to run through for the film's climactic scene. The crew also built the basement for Kevin's home in the school's gymnasium.
9. Pesci actually bit Culkin in one of the movie's final scenes
When Harry and Marv manage to outwit that little sadist Kevin, they hang him from his sweater by a coat hook and begin to enact their revenge. Fortunately, "Old Man Marley" and his trusty snow shovel show up just in time to save him.
Just before Marv gets a face full of shovel, he starts to bite Kevin's fingers off "one at a time." Macaulay remarked years later that Pesci actually did bite one of his fingers. Of course, it was an accident but the nine-year-old was more than a little mad at Pesci. He claims he remarked, "I don't care how many Oscars you have or whatever, don't go biting a 9-year-old!" He also recently discovered that the bite left a permanent scar on his finger.
10. A French director claimed the original 'Home Alone' was based on his movie
Hollywood is full of claims and lawsuits over a stolen idea. Some of the biggest hits ('Coming to America,' 'Avatar') have been fingered as lifted or ripped-off ideas for blockbuster movies.
'Home Alone,' of course, is no exception. French filmmaker Rene Manzor claimed that Hughes ripped off the idea of his jarring thriller '3615 Code Pere Noel' (or 'Game Over' in America) about a kid who defends his home and feeble grandfather from a deranged lunatic dressed as Santa by turning his toys and home appliances into deadly weapons. Manzor tried to reach a settlement with Fox and threatened to sue over the two film's similarities. Now that we think about it, 'Game Over' sounds ripe for an American remake. Get on it, Fox.
Written by Danny Gallagher