text:
A 23-year-old Durango man died and another was injured when their backcountry skiing group was caught in an avalanche Saturday afternoon near Silverton. A third member of the group, another Durango man, escaped without serious injuries, the San Juan County Sheriffs Office reported.
The skier who died was Peter Carver, said Melody Skinner, administrative assistant with San Juan County Dispatch.
John Duncan Rothwell, 53, suffered a possible broken femur, Skinner said, and Nate Klema, 23, escaped without serious injuries.
The accident occurred about 1½ miles north of Gladstone on Bureau of Land Management land outside the boundaries of Silverton Mountain Ski Area, Skinner said.
Skinner said three others in the vicinity witnessed the avalanche, and one member of that party went to the ski area to report it and to seek assistance. The Sheriffs Office was notified at 2:53 p.m., she said.
Ski area staff and Sheriffs Deputy John Jacobs responded to the scene and removed the body, Skinner said.
A Flight for Life helicopter responded to the scene, but Rothwell declined the flight and was transported to Mercy Regional Medical Center by ambulance, she said.
Local avalanche forecasters Mark Gober and Susan Hale with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center were expected to go to the scene of the accident today to evaluate what happened and submit a report.


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Friday, November 09, 2012 - Kamil and Petr RAW - FULL CONTACT
Latest Sets at MaleFeet4U.com
Our previews from malefeet4u.com today are Rudy Bodlak and Slavek Kopr. I think they both look very good indeed. You can see their full shoots at www.malefeet4u.com.
If you haven't recently checked out the foot site, now is a good time to do so, Franky as completely redesigned it.
Also, thanks for the photo and video suggestions for foot fetish shoots. Please keep them coming by writing firstname.lastname@example.com
|Rudy Bodlak
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|Slavek Kopr
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The End of William Higgins Newsletter

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Dear Community: A great big thank you to all those, along with the Cortez Fire Protection, who also gathered food for the sacks we give at the Good Samaritan Center from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday at 25 1/2 S. Elm in the alley behind Slavens: 98.7 KRTZ, 740 KNFC, 97.9 KISS Country radio stations, Empire Electric, Steve Keetch Motors, New Country Auto Center, Town and Country Furnishings, State Farm Agent Dennis Morita, Fraley and Co., Cellular One, Citizens State Bank, and RE-1 Transportation driver Sherry Dietrick and her husband James, and son Sawyer, who helped unload the bus along with Roberta Gallegos, Cindy Stuckman, Patty Lesky, Tricia Kinne and Sonia Alvarez. Safeway allowed the bus to take up five parking spaces to make it easy to give donations. Safeway pre-made $10 sacks of food to Feed the Hungry (a real convenience). Safeway also donates bakery and dairy products weekly to the Center. Financial donations were from Steve and Jennifer Heath, Lorna Alexander, Monte Leonard and anonymous cash totalling $320. Everyone is so generous ... thank you never seems enough.
People have had their hours cut or missed a food stamp appointment for some reason, or are simply out of a job and in need of food. Many are terribly embarrassed to request food for the first time in their lives and hope to repay. In October we did receive $32 from clients trying to give back. Some clean up our lot, donate clothes or household items to repay. So many ask for prayers and leave crying in gratitude for the blessing of the food provided for them. Because of our generous community and churches, the Lords ministry has been happening for 31 years. Thank you to all of you who have come into the Center with surprise extra foodstuffs to add to our sacks the end of November and December. Our volunteers are grateful to be able to be so generous. They continue to donate food and toilet tissue and money, too. What a blessing!
In Jesus Name,
Cindy Irvin, Executive Director
Good Samaritan Center
P.O. Box 662, Cortez CO 81321
Telephone: 970-565-6424
P.S.: The Center will be closed Dec. 20, 2012 until our re-opening Jan. 7, 2013.


text:
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text:
While the accuracy of its most ambitious
simulations is still is a work in progress, Stanford University's Folding@home
has been a visionary project in showcasing the merits of distributed,
volunteer-based supercomputing.
I. LHC Powers up With New Volunteer Computing
CERN (Conseil
Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire --
European Council for Nuclear Research) is teaming up with United Nations
Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the University of Geneva to create
an organization dubbed "Citizen Cyberscience
Centre", which looks to test and deploy similar projects.
The Citizen Cyberscience Centre just yesterday released [press
release] its second generation LHC@home software, whose ambitious goal is to
assist scientists with locating the legendary Higgs boson and other exotic
The client is available to download here.
Its concept is that while scientists have advanced
physics theory that tells them how they expect systems to behave, they can't
actually give a prediction of how a particular system will behave until they
put that theory into a system. With LHC@home, members of the public can
install a client on their computers, which will apply their spare computing
power towards simulating high-energy collisions between protons. The
results will then be compared with experimental data from real-world LHC runs
to narrow the search for items of interest.
The LHC stands for "Large Hadron
Collider". The massive 17 mile (27 km) underground track on the
Swiss-French border is the world's most powerful particle accelerator.
The LHC has been conducting
full experimental runs during warm months since March 30, 2010, after two years
of initial
technical difficulties.
Professor Dave Britton of the University of Glasgow, a researcher who previously
worked on the CMS LHC sensor, and currently works on the ATLAS sensor project, is a developer of cloud-based particle physics computing schemes. While not directly affiliated with the LHC@home code, he voiced enthusiasm on the effort, which is similar to his own GridPP (www.gridpp.ac.uk) distributed particle physics effort.
He remarks, "Scientists like me are trying to
answer fundamental questions about the structure and origin of the Universe.
Through the Citizen Cyberscience Centre and its volunteers around the world,
the Grid computing tools and techniques that I use everyday are available to
scientists in developing countries, giving them access to the latest computing
technology and the ability to solve the problems that they are facing, such as
providing clean water. Whether you're interested in finding the Higgs boson,
playing a part in humanitarian aid or advancing knowledge in developing
countries, this is a great project to get involved with."
II. LHC@home Can Also be Used to Protect
Forests -- and Lives
The new project will also be applied to processing
satellite data from governments and private entities to protect the environment
and human lives. These applications will also draw computing resources
from the LHC@home 2.0 client.
One plan involves tracking of natural disasters
such as floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Such a project could help aid
workers locate injured people, saving lives. It could also help people
avoid imminent natural disasters.
Another potential humanitarian application is to
use the data processing capabilities to locate clean drinking water. Many
regions of the world still
lack reliable sources of safe-to-drink water.
Additionally, the processing power can be used to
track deforestation. This will allow international governments and
environmental action organizations to assess the extent of environmental damage
and loss of biodiversity. This will allow them to better formulate plans
of action to preserve our planet's natural treasures.
Describes Francesco Pisano, Manager of
UNOSAT, "From a development and humanitarian perspective, the potential of
citizen-powered research is enormous. Participating in the Citizen Cyberscience
Centre enables us to get new insights into the cutting edge of crowdsourcing
technologies. There is no doubt that volunteers are playing an increasingly
central role in dealing with crisis response, thanks to the Internet."
III. Project is True Team Effort
While it may sound like the public is doing all
the work on these projects, they also require a great deal of effort from CERN
and its partners. Not only do they have to develop all the software, but
they also have to process the data down to a form that's digestible by the
"volunteer cloud".
To that end the UK's Science & Technology
Facilities Council is providing one of the world's top ten Tier 1 data centers
to serving up information to LHC@home 2.0 clients.
The reward, though, of the marriage of academia,
government institutions, and the public is in producing a distributed
supercomputer that far exceeds the capacity of even today's most
powerful stand-alone installations.


text:
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text:
The HMS Vanguard of Britain's Royal Navy and Le Triomphant of France's Navy, both nuclear subs, collided earlier this month and sustained heavy damage. While both countries assure there's no danger of a nuclear threat, both subs are key parts of their respective country's nuclear arsenal and are presumed to have been carrying a full complement of nuclear warheads.
The crash occurred in the middle of the Atlantic at an undisclosed date earlier in the month. First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band said the collision was at low speed and while the damage was heavy, no injuries were reported. The British vessel had to be towed back to port and featured "very visible dents and scrapes" according to British officials.
The irony of the collision was that it perhaps proved that the countries' respective anti-sonar technologies were working as planned. Neither nuclear sub could see the other, despite the fact that both were equipped with sonar. And the seemingly rare chance crossing of the sub's paths occurred, and thus led to a collision. States BBC's Caroline Wyatt, "This is clearly a one-in-a-million chance when you think about how big the Atlantic is. It is actually unbelievable that something happened."
French officials describe their sub's damage from the incident stating, "The sonar dome, at the front, was damaged. This incident did not cause any injuries among the crew and did not threaten the nuclear security at any time. The submarine came back by its own means to L'Ile Longue, escorted by a frigate, as it is the usual practice when leaving or coming back."
While the collision seems like a highly improbable occurrence, it may actually be more likely than some suspect. According to British nuclear engineer John Large, both countries prefer deep waters a certain distance off their coasts to patrol in. Given the geography of Britain and France, these deep waters feature significant overlap.
States Mr. Large, "Both navies want quiet areas, deep areas, roughly the same distance from their home ports. So you find these station grounds have got quite a few submarines, not only French and Royal Navy but also from Russia and the United States."
In Britain, the Liberal Democrat spokesman Nick Harvey praised the Royal Navy and its response stating, "While the British nuclear fleet has a good safety record, if there were ever to be a bang it would be a mighty big one. Now that this incident is public knowledge, the people of Britain, France and the rest of the world need to be reassured this can never happen again and that lessons are being learned."
However, Scottish National Party officials blasted the error, stating, "The Ministry of Defence needs to explain how it is possible for a submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction to collide with another submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction in the middle of the world's second-largest ocean."
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament also jumped aboard the criticism boat, stating, "The collision of two submarines, both with nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons onboard, could have released vast amounts of radiation and scattered scores of nuclear warheads across the seabed."


text: "H. begins to emerge from his stagnancy when he discovers that writingabout his travels in Italy, at firstunlocks creative energies that painting cannot. With this realization comes the promise of real romance but also, in the desperate last days of the Salazar autocracy, certain responsibilities. All fiction is biography, Saramago reminds us, and it is indeed tempting to understand H.'s awakening as a depiction of Saramago's own. But this is Saramago, after all, so even a portrait of the artist as a young man hints at the profound and the universal."Booklist


text:
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Follett Higher Education Group, Inc. and/or its affiliated companies ("Follett"), are providing you with access to certain data and may provide you access to software, collectively, the "Services." Although Follett believes the data provided is accurate, and the Services are intended to support institutional compliance with current legislation, Follett provides the Services AS IS and, except as otherwise agreed to by Follett in writing, may (to prevent misuse or for other reasons as Follett deems appropriate) change or terminate the Services, and is not responsible for the Services' compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 or any other laws applicable to schools, students, or third parties. Follett shall have no liability for the Services, and is not liable for special, incidental, or consequential damages, or loss of profits. By using the Services you accept these terms.


text:
The Pirate Bay's enemies are circling it like a pack of
hungry sharks, waiting
for it to slip. First there is the Swedish
government assault, led by prosecutor Håkan Roswall, who seeks to press
charges against The Pirate Bay before January 31, 2008. The planned
charges will be against multiple pirate bay admins for allegedly supporting
copyright infringement on a massive scale.
On top of the Swedish government, The Pirate Bay has the rock funkster Prince
(formerly known as the Artist formerly known as Prince), showering Purple
Rain on The Pirate Bay's parade of piracy. The colorful icon
announced that he was going to "reclaim the internet" by attacking
The Pirate Bay, eBay, and YouTube, which he sees as a triad of sinister copyright
infringement. The royal rocker is not going it alone either; he has
enlisted the help of internet guns-for-hire Web Sheriff and Web Sheriff
president John Giacobbi in its bid to take down these three offenders.
Completing its array of enemies is the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry, who is rather nonplussed over The Pirate Bay's domain name
takeover of ifpi.com. They have filed
an official complaint with domain name arbitrator World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), in hopes of reclaiming their lost bounty, and are
mulling over additional legal action against the site. The Pirate Bay
faces a heady battle against the WIPO complaint, as the IFPI works closely with
the WIPO and both organizations cite close cooperation on their respective
webpages. The IFPI insist that this feel good friendship will not affect
the status of the complaint, as the WIPO will allegedly use impartial legal and
knowledgeable professional counsel to make its decision.
Not so says The Pirate Bay admin Peter Sunde, one of the two people currently
named in the pending Swedish charges. "I'm quite sure it will not be a
fair arbitration. IFPI and WIPO are in cooperation with each other (just look
at WIPO's homepage where they say they work close together with, for instance,
IFPI)," Sunde says.
Sunde and other admins at The Pirate Bay have been stalked recently by strange
cars, with passengers snapping pictures. Some think these not-so-subtle
followers are under the pay of Prince, while others speculate that the Swedish
government is using them to try to gather up some sort of evidence.
Curiously, Carl Lundström, who at one time provided bandwidth to The Pirate
Bay, is the other person who the Swedish government has currently announced its
intention to charge. Lundström only had a casual relationship with the
site, but some as he is a famed Swedish political extremist; some see the
charges as the Swedish government's way of striking back at him, for his past
Peter Sunde, in a recent
interview with Ars Technica, was confident that it would be Swedish
government who would be swimming with the fish in terms of a legal
outcome. He stated of Swedish prosecutor Håkan Roswall and the case, "I'm
quite confident we're gonna win and I was expecting this to happen.
Roswall is also a very biased man, so I'm glad to take it to court instead of
letting him dig around my personal life for no apparent reason. Actually, it's
kinda funny."
And that's just the spirit one would expect out of the officials of the
carefree, yet quixotically feisty site which early this year sought to buy its own
island nation to avoid the mounting legal issues. It's clear that
many parties are eager to bring the fight to The Pirate Bay, but it looks like
The Pirate Bay is equally eager to fight back.


text:
With eyes forward, Sveum leads Cubs into spring
Putting lid on 2012, skipper has improved rotation depth, upgraded 'pen to work with
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
MESA, Ariz. -- When Dale Sveum meets with the Cubs for the first time this spring, don't expect him to bring up last year's 101-loss season.
"I probably won't mention last year, to tell you the truth," Sveum said Sunday. "This is about this year and the organization moving on and this team, the 25 guys going north, is what this is all about this year. I don't want to be talking about last year at all."
There are plenty of new faces in Cubs camp who weren't around for last year's fifth-place finish. New pitchers Carlos Villanueva and Scott Baker arrived at Fitch Park on Sunday, when the team's pitchers and catchers officially reported, to join other newcomers Scott Feldman, Edwin Jackson and Kyuji Fujikawa, who have already been throwing. Sveum is looking ahead.
"We could've lost 90 [games] and we're still going to do the same thing [and go home]," Sveum said. "The only way to dictate a [good] season is to get to the playoffs. Everything is put on numbers -- how many wins, playing .500 -- and those are things you have to stay away from. When you start putting prices on numbers --'Oh well, .500 will be a good year this year' -- well, [if we played] .500, we're going to go home just like we did last year."
The goal, which Theo Epstein has stressed since taking over as Cubs president of baseball operations after the 2011 season, is to make the playoffs every year. It's tough to convince Cubs fans to be patient for Epstein and Co. to build a foundation of talented, impact players and a winning team because it's been so long since they've won a World Series. Anyone remember 1908?
"For one thing, I think we're being open and transparent with our fans about what we're trying to accomplish," Epstein said. "We're not going to take any shortcuts, we're going to try to build this the right way. It's a bit of a covenant. We ask for their patience and understanding and ask them to get behind the young players as they come up to the big leagues.
"In return, we promise to work our tails off, the entire organization, from top to bottom, so that we can build something truly special and reward the fans with October baseball year in and year out. Our fans have been great about it, and we appreciate that."
The Cubs head into this season with more depth in the rotation plus an improved bullpen. On Sunday, Sveum and the coaching staff discussed every pitcher, and Epstein said the difference is "night and day" in terms of quality and depth compared to what was on the roster at the end of last season.
Now, there are seven candidates for the rotation, including Jackson, Baker, Feldman, Villanueva, Jeff Samardzija, Travis Wood and Matt Garza. Fujikawa gives them an experienced late-inning pitcher.
There are still plenty of questions. Will third baseman Ian Stewart be productive after undergoing wrist surgery? Will Alfonso Soriano continue to tap into that fountain of youth and deliver offensively? Is Welington Castillo ready to be the everyday catcher?
One thing Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer don't have to worry about is Sveum. When hired prior to the 2012 season, Sveum was told about the organization's plans to build and that he would not be evaluated on his record in the first year.
"I don't think any manager in baseball was going to win the pennant with the club we put on the field last year," Epstein said, "but I hope Dale is the one who wins it with the team we put on the field moving forward."
Sveum's goal was to make everyone accountable for what they had to do on a daily basis, which meant being prepared.
"You learn that even though things don't go well, keeping those things intact were goals that I had and my coaching staff had in mind through some trying times," he said.
"I thought he did a fantastic job," Hoyer said of Sveum. "It's not easy, day in and day out, when a team is struggling, to keep your cool, to really maintain the same message. He had the same message all year. Our guys played hard, and we didn't have a single clubhouse incident the whole year.
"I saw a guy and a staff that even in late September was trying to teach guys, preparing for every game, and that's really commendable. Usually when you see a team lose 100 games, or even in the high 90s, there's controversy on the team, there's falling outs. We never had that. We didn't have enough talent, and that's why we lost 101 games. It wasn't for lack of trying or because we had bad clubhouse chemistry. I think that bodes well for the future."
The Cubs' next step begins Tuesday, when pitchers and catchers take the field.
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. She writes a blog, Muskat Ramblings, and you can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
The tech sector has gotten a somewhat clearer idea of what can be patented in a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Alice Corp. case.
The high court concluded an abstract idea cannot be patented, and that is the case – even if a computer is used, according to news reports.
"Merely requiring generic computer implementation fails to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention," according to the decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas.
The Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. vs. CLS Bank International case is seen as a victory for many tech companies, such as Microsoft or Google, but not all of them.
"The court's relatively narrow decision doesn't provide a much clearer test for determining which inventions can be patented. Nor does it render all software ineligible for patent protection — a goal of some tech giants like Twitter and Netflix," according to a report from Politico.
Overall, though, general counsel at tech companies should be pleased with the decision released on Thursday.
"Their decision will be great support for those who want to cancel questionable patents," James T. Carmichael, a principal and patent attorney with Miles & Stockbridge, and who is a former Administrative Patent Judge and Associate Solicitor at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), said on Thursday.
"This is the first time that the Supreme Court has basically said adding a computer to an invention does nothing for its eligibility for a patent," he explained in an interview with InsideCounsel.
The decision will particularly help general counsel who work at established companies and who may need to try to limit attempts by non-practicing entities (patent trolls) to get companies to pay licensing fees.
When it relates to non-practicing entities, Paul Schoenhard, who is counsel at Ropes & Gray, where he works on patent litigation, and who is an adjunct faculty member at American University's Washington College of Law, said the Alice decision "should help ease some of the burden on in-house counsel."
Matt Levy, patent counsel for the Computer and Communications Industry Association, was quoted that the Supreme Court decision will "certainly help" companies in legal fights against patent trolls.
"It gives us another tool to challenge some of the ridiculous patents that trolls use," he told Politico. "You still have to persuade a district court judge a patent is abstract, and that's still going to cost money and some time, but this is an important tool."
The decision also provides general counsel with some "level of stability in patent law," Schoenhard added. "Many in-house (attorneys) will be very pleased by the court's decision."
It also comes after the USPTO provides cancellation proceedings, which is another newer option that in-house attorneys can find to their advantage.
In reviewing the decision, Supreme Court observers also noted that many of the justices during oral arguments and in the decision itself merged two distinct concepts: whether technology is eligible for a patent, or, whether it is new and useful. Many patent attorneys contend they should be kept separate.
Further reading:
Go ask Alice: Supreme Court to hear arguments on software patents
Supreme Court to rule on software patents


text:
Sports Radio GaGa
The Sports Lodge, our Orange and Los Angeles County morning sports radio show (broadcast from KLAA out of Angels stadium, for full disclosure) turned the daily One on One segment over to the listeners today. This is a semiweekly occurrence, as host Roger Lodge sees fit, where a usually divisive question is posed and listeners ad invited to call the show and weigh in. Today's question was prompted by Arte Moreno's comments to the Los Angeles Times that if he increased the Angles offers for high end free agents to the levels other teams have paid, it would necessitate raising ticket prices and he is unwilling to do that. So, Lodge's question to the listeners: Would you rather raise ticket prices, land a big name free agent like an Adrian Beltre and have a real shot at being championship team? Or, keep ticket prices the same as they are right now and watch the same below .500 result you watched last year?
I wish I was able to hear the listeners responses but my car has the wimpiest antenna known to man and, per its usual, it refused to pick up am radio from the point in my commute when Lodge finished his funny Devil's advocate spiel until moments before I pulled into the parking lot at work. Gee, thanks car. Had I a chance to call in I would have teased Lodge about the question itself (which was probably part of why he phrased it that way, truth be told) which I think was based on three pieces of false logic:
1) The 2010 Angels were a bad, sub .500 team that cannot improve without a big name free agency signing. Last year was bad, really bad. But all that bad was the result of bad performances, not a bad team (an important nuance to my way of thinking) and more than a little bad luck on top of it. Bad performances from otherwise good players, even season long bad performances, can improve. With bad players, this would be far less likely. Can this season's bad performances improve without outside help? Yes! If the entire roster had just batted at their normal batting averages this season, for one thing, we would have won a lot of the games we lost this year. Will performances improve without outside help? God I hope so. There are no guarantees, but it doesn't seem too farfetched to expect most of the players to return to playing to their normal capability, which would be a big improvement. And we get Kendry back, which is another improvement in and of itself and mitigates the bad luck factor.
2) Small changes addressing specific problems will not do anything to improve that situation. I think we need a few more changes to address additional weak spots on the team, of course, but one of our bigger problems last year was the Arson Squad Bullpen part deux. Signing Downs and Takahashi will definitely improve that situation and, while I don't think this is the entire fix by a long shot, it's an important improvement all the same.
3) A single big name free agency signing can turn a bad sub .500 team into a championship team. I had the most issues with this question premise. I do not believe that one player can elevate a truly poor team into a great team. Does anyone really think that with the Jayson Werth signing the Nationals are going to take the NL East next year? No, but for a team like the Red Sox who were so close, but not close enough last year, signing Carl Crawford might make enough of a difference to justify the expense.
I see the Angles, playing at the level the current roster is capable of playing at, as being a lot closer to the Red Sox example than to the Nationals example and, in that sense, I think a big name free agency signing could definitely help us rise back to the level of championship team. But I take issue with the idea that without such a signing, nothing else matters and we're back to a below .500 performance in 2011.
So . What are your thoughts on the possibilities of a single big name free agent turning a bad team around? Or on my musings on bad team vs. bad performances as it relates to the Angels or just in general?
And on the Adrian Beltre front? Well, it's the Angels rumor mill hokey pokey – We put the right bid in, we pulled it right back out, wait we put a new bid in, no we threw the whole thing out. The rumor mill hokey pokey sure turns stuff all around. Darned if anyone knows who really knows what it's all about. 😉


text:
Best Electronic Stocking Stuffers for 2017
Filling a stocking with small gifts and treats is one of the highlights of the holiday season. Check out these stocking-friendly electronic gadgets and accessories that are sure to please.
Love this little scanner, it has made our scanning go so much faster and it is very easy to use. We have been able to get rid of our scan file, we scan documents, insurance cards etc. as patients arrive. It even scans a lovely x-ray on high quality setting!...
With superior card feeding, sharper imaging and a sleek design, the all new ImageScan Pro 490i with AmbirScan duplex professional grade ID card and document scanner simultaneously scans both sides of a document, driver's license, identity or insurance card in one pass. Featuring a 1mm paper path, the DS490 adeptly handles the most challenging scan jobs, even cards that are laminated or have raised characters.
|Ambir Technology, Inc
|Manufacturer Part Number
|Manufacturer Website Address
|Brand Name
|Product Line
|ImageScan Pro
|Product Model
|Product Name
|ImageScan Pro 490i Sheetfed Scanner
|Product Type
|Sheetfed Scanner
|Large Format
|Image Sensor
|Optical Resolution
|600 dpi
|Scan Color
|Color Depth
|Grayscale Depth
|Maximum Mono Scan Speed (sec)
|Media Type
|Insurance Card
|Media Size
|Legal 8.50" x 14", A4 8.27" x 11.69"
|Maximum Scan Size
|Legal - 8.50" x 14.02"
|Scanning Modes
|Software Included
|Power Source
|Form Factor
|Weight (Approximate)
|1.29 lb
|Package Contents
|Additional Information
This is a replacement product for P/N: DS487-AS
|Certifications & Standards
|Platform Supported
|Environmentally Friendly
|Environmental Certification
Love this little scanner, it has made our scanning go so much faster and it is very easy to use. We have been able to get rid of our scan file, we scan documents, insurance cards etc. as patients arrive. It even scans a lovely x-ray on high quality setting!Read More
this was another purchase made for the boss. she said buy a scanner so I did. great price tooRead More
Had to return original one because of poor resolution. The second one I received works very well.Read More
Filling a stocking with small gifts and treats is one of the highlights of the holiday season. Check out these stocking-friendly electronic gadgets and accessories that are sure to please.
From rugged and waterproof outdoor speakers to wireless speaker sets for quality indoor surround sound, Bluetooth speakers are a must-have for the music lovers, partygoers, and outdoor enthusiasts on your list. Check out these top trends to get started on your Christmas 2016 shopping.
In the hurry and flurry of Christmas Day, don't overlook the gifts found in Christmas stockings. Stocking stuffers are usually smaller and less expensive than what you put under the tree, but they're a thoughtful and ideal way to celebrate the personality or interests of those on your list. Peruse our options and you'll be ready to grant the holiday wishes of the special people in your life.
Forget the flowers and chocolate, and treat the man in your life to an extra special gift this Valentine's Day. Finding the perfect gift is sometimes difficult, but remember that you can't go wrong with a thoughtful, personal, and romantic present during this holiday devoted to all things love. If you're looking to give your significant other a truly memorable Valentine's Day gift, here are a few suggestions.
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Embedded MCUs get smarter as energy efficiency takes centre stage
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Energy efficiency is increasingly being recognized as a key performance attribute of many electronic systems and of embedded designs in particular. In products ranging from smart meters to wireless sensor nodes and from mobile health monitors to intruder alarms, designers need to take every step possible to limit energy consumption.
The detailed operational and design requirements of such applications may vary, but they share a common feature: they need to operate reliably over a period of years or even decades while using the limited energy resources available from batteries or an energy harvesting system. At the heart of designers efforts to achieve this are a new generation of microcontrollers (MCUs) specifically designed with energy efficiency in mind.
It is worth considering in more detail the scale of the design challenge involved. Many of these microcontrollers must deliver real-time (or close-to real-time) performance throughout a service life that is spent predominantly in a low-power sleep mode that inherently reduces their speed of response to external events. A device such as a smart meter will often be buried or otherwise difficult to access, requiring 10 to 20 years of operation on a single battery (Figure 1).
As a result, energy budgets in such applications are aggressively trimmed. Given the current state of battery technology, it is not unusual to see an energy requirement for the lifetime average current draw to be between 5µA and 20µA. If a system designer budgets 20% of the available battery capacity for data collection and housekeeping functions, 20% for receiving commands, and 30% for transmitting data, then the remaining 30% must support the systems idle mode. This may sound generous, but the meter will likely spend in excess of 99% of its life in some kind of sleep state, whose efficiency becomes absolutely crucial in reaching the design targets.
Figure 1. Smart meters need to operate for many years on a single battery.
This is why sleep modes are one of the most important features of a low-power MCU, and a feature that we will revisit later. But first, it is worth considering what factors makes a good energy saving MCU.
In the past there has been a somewhat casual assumption that because of their lower active power consumption, 8- or 16-bit solutions must be the best choice for low-energy applications. But the fact is that a modern 32-bit CPU core like the ARM Cortex-M3 delivers a processing power of 1.25 DMIPS/MHz; that is, it can perform a given task in around one quarter of the time required by older 16-bit CPU cores.
Since energy is power times time, using the 32-bit Cortex-M3 in preference to a less powerful alternative can prove more energy efficient: particularly if the designer opts for an MCU such as Energy Micros Tiny Gecko, that even in active mode consumes only 150µA/MHz. In short, low power does not necessarily mean low energy.
Figure 2. Designers demand compact and low-energy solutions.
As we have observed, however, an energy efficient processor stands and falls on its sleep modes and the designers ability to choose the right mode of operation for the job. In a power-constrained application, subsystems such as displays and RF and PHY-layer transceivers will be designed to spend only as much time as is absolutely necessary in their active state: MCU functions will therefore represent the only low-hanging fruit for power optimisation.
Most modern MCUs have more than one low-power mode (these will typically be something like: Sleep/Standby; Deep-Sleep; and Off). The specific CPU, memory, and I/O functionality available will vary from microcontroller to microcontroller, but the general principles involved remain the same.
Although it may appear that it would make sense to use the deepest possible sleep mode in every case, there is in fact a trade-off involved: the deeper the sleep, the longer the wake-up overhead. The overhead consists of hysteresis and propagation delays in the wake-up circuitry, start-up and stabilisation of the power supply and re-starting the CPU clock. The device then needs to restore its registers and other internal configurations, before doing the same for system memory. Only when these processes are completed can the MCU service the event that triggered the wake-up process.
This trade-off has two implications: first, if the MCU is in an overly deep sleep mode, it may not be able to wake up in time to deal with an external event; second, during the wake-up phase the device doesnt do any useful work. So waking too frequently from a deep sleep mode in order to perform a small amount of processing could conceivably burn more power than staying in a higher activity state with less time wasted on the wake-up process.
If there is a need to deal with unpredictable events it is much more difficult to reduce power consumption than for scheduled events such as real-time clock interrupts, or the time-slotted communications processes common in ZigBee and other mesh protocols, that require the processor to check for messages from other network nodes at a certain time.
Unfortunately, most applications involve events of the less predictable type, and require the MCU to respond in real time - or at least almost real time. Examples include threshold/alarm conditions, power interruptions, and wireless protocols that can transmit and receive at random intervals. In such situations, failure to wake within an appropriate timeframe may mean losing critical data or failing to respond to a user command. In the worst case, there may be a risk of system damage if an alarm condition is not dealt with in a timely fashion.
The task for the designer is therefore to find the lowest-power sleep mode that provides adequate response to anticipated (if unscheduled) events. Energy Micros EFM32 Gecko family of energy-optimized 32-bit MCUs provides a good example of the options available. Although the Gecko architecture is optimized to perform beyond the basic requirements of each mode, most MCUs used for these types of applications have similar operating states and characteristics (Figure 3).
Figure 3. The EFM32 familys energy mode transitions
(most alternative architectures combine EM2 and
EM3 in a single deep sleep mode).
At the lowest level, most MCUs have a mode designated as off or shut-down mode, that preserves the minimum functionality needed to trigger wake-up from an external stimulus: in our example of the Gecko series, this is designated EM4. In this mode, the entire device is powered down, other than the interrupt monitoring circuitry on the reset pin and GPIO pin wake up. The EFM32 draws around 20nA of current in this mode, although a typical 32-bit MCU would require nearer 1.5µA.
Restarting from such an off mode is essentially a device reset, a process that for the EFM32 takes around 160µs. Main memory contents will have been lost and must be re-loaded. Some processors include a small (512byte in the case of the EFM32) block of memory whose content is preserved for use on start-up.


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*Sidenote: I have no problem with Millsap either, but I see it as a much more difficult trade to predict. Bargs + AA may not be enough for Gasol, but it's believable that both could fit with what LA is doing. Utah is trading Millsap/Jefferson to free up playing time for the younger bigs. Bargs is therefore a non-starter there. And I doubt BC trades Demar for a PF who might not stay after this season is over. Millsap projects better in the long-run next to JV, but I also won't discount that Pau could become a 6th man type guy off the bench behind Jonas and Amir, and could take a hefty paycut, whereas Millsap will get a raise this summer.
I've been hot and cold on Gasol. Great player, but only really makes sense in the short term. However it is the short term that interests me the most. Typically expiring contracts mean crap, however the 2014 free agency could be a bonanza, and having a $19M trade chip could be seen as very pleasing to a team interested in grabbing a high profile free agent.
Coincidentally it is also the Wiggins draft. Get Gasol now then flip him for picks at the deadline next year to a team looking to shed salary and/or be free agency players.
Still need a few games to see the DeMar/Gay tandem but my do not touch pile right now includes Lowry, Gay, Ross, and JV.
I think Bargnani + Fields would get it done. Both D'Antoni type of players and would excel with Nash.
I'd prefer Millsap of course (better fit long term), however I can definitely get behind a Gasol trade so I voted Yes.
I don't know how much truth there is to this but I've read in some places that the Lakers aren't willing to take any salary beyond 2014 In the hopes of signing Lebron in the summer. Since Andrea's contract runs past that 2014 mark I doubt the Lakers do anything with him plus a small piece like Anderson, Kleiza, Fields.
As well regarding Amir, I think I may have been higher on him than most posters over the past few years. I think he has done enough this season to earn a spot for the remainder of the season as a starter
But the Gasol domino would surely have to be the last one to fall. Him and Gay alone are going to take up about $40 million in cap space(!) and would take us into the luxury tax. So you'd have to ask yourself, are we contenders with the addition of Gasol?
*Gasol will definitely not be a bench player here*
I've read from other articles that the Laker's aren't interested in any trades that add salary to their 2014-2015 season where they only have Nash on the books and a good free agent crop. I've also read they are reluctant to move Gasol until they have clarity on the Howard situation.
Any deal to get Gasol likely won't happen until the summer and that will only be if Howard resigns which would then marks Bargs a good fit. I also can't see this deal happening unless Ross is included or we have a draft pick to trade. That way, with Howard, Nash and Bargs on the books, they still have cap room for a max free agent. They won't however take on Field's or Amir's contract which would ruin that cap situation.
I'm guessing they will have to wait until the summer so they can regain their ability to include a draft pick (provided we don't get a top 3 pick) with Bargs and hopefully get involved in some kind of sign and trade with West, Jefferson or Milsap.
Also, I have no problem with the lack of cap space. I'm not the one paying the luxury tax, it would only be through next year, and it's still just 9 million more than Bargs, with one less year. I know 9 million sounds like a lot, but if you're going to spend to win, you should give yourself the best shot possible.
Last edited by white men can't jump; Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 at 01:56 PM.
It was something I read too, but the Lakers as it stands right now I don't think have the patience to wait one full season like Miami and NY did to clear up space in 2010.
Also, LA actually very rarely uses free agency to get what they want. They either draft or trade for a lot of their solid players. Shaq is the only franchise free agent they ever signed, and they were in limbo after the Magic years.
And Millsap is the only one he certainly couldn't return, unless Utah has the dumbest GM ever. Utah is trading Jefferson or Millsap primarily to free up roster space for Kanter and Favors to get more minutes. Why would they want Bargs? LA and ATL on the other hand both want to get/stay young and both could benefit from a stretch 4 (especially with Lou Williams out in ATL), as well as the fact that BArgs is a payroll decrease to each of those teams.
I think LA would take Bargs and probably Pietrus/AA/Kleiza for Gasol
A package of Bargs, AA, Budinger and a 1st rd pick(Minny has one to trade this year) would probably get it done.
Or Bargs, AA/Budinger and Derrick Williams.
But I can't imagine LA wanting Kleiza for any reason....oh and Pietrus cannot be traded because of when he was signed. He's either sticking it out in TO or getting waived.
How about Bargs for Javale McGee
Numbers work.. He is young, long , fast and athletic. Can be our 3rd big... Don't you think DC could turn him into Tyson Candler lite? If he focuses on patrolling the paint, and finishing lobs.. Could he not help?
No. But if it doesn't include any of our core guys Gay/Lowry/JV/Derozan/Ross/Johnson, than I'm not against it. Although, as much as MLSE is willing to spend, Gasol may not fit with our current style because this team wants to run, and the small ball really works well with Gay at the 4.
From a basketball perspective, no. From a financial perspective, no.
So. No.
I personally think getting a prospect big man - centre or power forward - and a veteran point guard is what we need. Quincy Acy at this moment can't be the full time back-up, and he WILL be getting minutes regardless if Bargnani is playing or not.
Last edited by ReubenJRD; Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 at 02:35 PM.
Twitter: @ReubenJRD NBA, Raptors writer for Daily Hive Vancouver, Toronto.
wolstat says bargnani went through practice today and there's a chance he could play against the heat tomorrow
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Source: BofA Merrill Lynch
Release: BofA Merrill Lynch
Due to a possibility of erroneous data, this series has been temporarily suspended.
This data represents the Option-Adjusted Spread (OAS) for the BofA Merrill Lynch Public Sector Emerging Markets Corporate Plus Index is the subset of the BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Corporate Plus Index, which includes all quasi-government securities as well as the debt of corporate issuers designated as government owned or controlled by BofA Merrill Lynch emerging markets credit research. The same inclusion rules apply for this series as those that apply for BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Corporate Plus Index (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BAMLEMCBPITRIV?cid=32413).
The BofA Merrill Lynch OASs are the calculated spreads between a computed OAS index of all bonds in a given rating category and a spot Treasury curve. An OAS index is constructed using each constituent bond's OAS, weighted by market capitalization. When the last calendar day of the month takes place on the weekend, weekend observations will occur as a result of month ending accrued interest adjustments.
Source BofA Merrill Lynch, used with permission. BOFA MERRILL LYNCH IS LICENSING THE BOFA MERRILL LYNCH INDICES "AS IS," MAKES NO WARRANTIES REGARDING THE SAME, DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE SUITABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, AND/ OR COMPLETENESS OF THE BOFA MERRILL LYNCH INDICIES OR ANY DATA INCLUDED IN, RELATED TO, OR DERIVED THEREFROM, ASSUMES NO LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR USE, AND DOES NOT SPONSOR, ENDORSE, OR RECOMMEND, [FRBSL], OR ANY OF ITS PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.
Copyright, 2016, Bank of America Corporation. Reprinted with permission.
Suggested Citation:
BofA Merrill Lynch, BofA Merrill Lynch Public Sector Issuers Emerging Markets Corporate Plus Sub-Index Option-Adjusted Spread [BAMLEMPBPUBSICRPIOAS], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BAMLEMPBPUBSICRPIOAS, January 24, 2018.


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Is it finally game over for Microsoft's Zune hardware
business? What we first came to know as the Argo
media player built by Toshiba -- and
available in turd brown -- has gone through several
revisions over the years. The current Zune
HD offers a sleek design, OLED screen, and up to 64GB
of storage capacity.
However, it looks as though Microsoft just can't keep up
with the likes of Apple with its iPod, or even SanDisk and Creative. Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft is on the
verge of killing off future versions of its Zune portable media players (PMPs).
While new Zune hardware will no longer be produced, the Zune software bits will
continue to creep into Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 devices.
This isn't the first time that trouble has followed
Microsoft's Zune, however. Back in 2008, GameStop stopped stocking Zune players
in its stores due to a lack of sales. "We have decided to exit the Zune
category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," said a
GameStop spokesman in May 2008. "It (also) did not fit with our product mix."
With Microsoft's share
of the smartphone market down just a few months after the launch of its
innovative Windows Phone 7 operating system, the boys from Redmond need to be
focusing their energies on this highly lucrative segment of the market instead
of its failed efforts in the dedicated PMP market.
Apple's range of iPod players command 77 percent of the
market according to NPD.


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This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.
Office of Revenue Sharing: Fifth Count File, 1970 (ICPSR 77)
Principal Investigator(s): DUALabs, Inc.
This study contains economic and demographic data tabulations on persons in households in the United States in 1970. These data record selected Fifth Count population and housing characteristics for all of the 38,529 governmental units eligible for the Revenue Sharing Program in Entitlement Period #1. In addition, the file also contains information on the funds returned to the local governments. Data are provided on aggregate income, distribution of the population by race, age, and sex, relationship, school enrollment, and employment. Data are also provided on housing units and distribution of households by family type, family income, poverty status, and gross rent. See the Census software package, CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING [UNITED STATES]: CENSUS SOFTWARE PACKAGE (CENSPAC) VERSION 3.2 WITH STF4 DATA DICTIONARIES (ICPSR 7789), and the data retrieval program, C80 COMPUTER PROGRAM: 1980 CENSUS DATA RETRIEVAL PACKAGE (ICPSR 9055), for use with this dataset.
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DUALabs, Inc. OFFICE OF REVENUE SHARING: FIFTH COUNT FILE, 1970. ICPSR00077-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 1998. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR00077.v1
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Subject Terms: census data, demographic characteristics, families, household composition, households, housing, local government, poverty, revenue sharing
Geographic Coverage: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, United States, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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There's little doubt that China is heavily polluted. This was showcased at the Beijing Olympics, which were held under constant fear of smog. The country is also the world's largest CO2 emitter.
China and the U.S. have long played the blame game over who is to blame for the other's pollution. NASA studies have shown that as much as 15 percent of the U.S. air pollution is simply smog blown over from China. The Chinese, however, say that it's Western demand that is fueling the production and pollution.
However, the worst pollution problems for China may not be high up in the sky, but much closer to Earth, with the soaring problem of e-waste. DailyTech was among the first in the tech community to chronicle the growing problem of tech trash.
The U.S. and other industrialized nations are fueling this problem by shipping countless tons of electronics trash overseas to the lowest bidder. This trade occurs despite laws trying to stop it and the efforts of many large American electronics firms to stop the practice.
CBS News' "60 Minutes" is the latest to take an in-depth look into the epidemic. Its report focuses on China, perhaps the nation with the worst tech-trash importing problem.
In China, the deluge of tech trash has led to gang-controlled electronics wastelands characterized by massive landfills, toxic water supplies and low laying clouds of choking gases.
Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist and authority on waste management at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and contributor to the report, describes the situation stating, "Lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, polyvinyl chlorides. All of these materials have known toxicological effects that range from brain damage to kidney disease to mutations, cancers. The problem with e-waste is that it is the fastest-growing component of the municipal waste stream worldwide."
Many of the chemicals which help make electronics less likely to burn, malfunction, or otherwise go awry, according to the medical community, can cause serious side effects on the human body, if improperly disposed. And with 130,000 computers thrown out every day in the U.S. and 100 million cell phones thrown away annually, it's easy to see where China gets its tech-trash.
Many citizens in America are eager to help and endure long lines to submit their old electronics for recycling. However, understanding of what happens to these components is hazy at best. Says one man, waiting in line to recycle a computer, "Well my assumption is they break it apart and take all the heavy metals out and then try to recycle some of the stuff that's bad."
It turns out many recycling companies are shipping the trash overseas to make a quick profit, at the expense of polluting the environment, and exposing people in countries like China to deadly health problems.
The "60 Minutes" special looked at Executive Recycling, of Englewood, Colorado, which claimed to recycle all its tech trash in the U.S. Its CEO Brandon Richter stated of shipping tech trash overseas, "Well, you know, they've got low-income labor over there. So obviously they don't have all of the right materials, the safety equipment to handle some of this material."
Well it turns out that Mr. Richter and the company -- despite its assertion that "Your e-waste is recycled properly, right here in the U.S. - not simply dumped on somebody else" -- were guilty of outright lies. "60 Minutes" tracked shipping containers leaving the companies facilities, which it inspected and found to be full of cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors, which can have large amounts of lead and other chemicals. The company was shipping the containers to Hong Kong, a common stopping point before smuggling the containers into China.
The show tracked the electronics to a town in southern China known as Guiyu, which CBS calls a "sort of Chernobyl of electronic waste". The town was overrun with corrupt officials, who tried to fool the reporters with a faked shop and then forced them out of town with a police escort. Risking life and limb and returning to the town, the reporters found people melting boiling lead off components, inhaling massive amounts of lead vapor. Others were using a gold-extracting acid recipe not used in the western world since the Middle Ages, due to its toxic effects.
Perhaps it is unsurprising, though very sad that Guiyu, which has the world's highest concentration of cancer-causing dioxins has six times the miscarriage rate as normal. And seven out of ten children in the town have higher than acceptable lead blood levels, something that has been causing severe mental problems and loss of fertility. Says a CBS reporter, "These people are not just working with these materials, they're living with them. They're all around their homes."
Mr. Hershkowitz explains, "The situation in Guiyu is actually pre-capitalist. It's mercantile. It reverts back to a time when people lived where they worked, lived at their shop. Open, uncontrolled burning of plastics. Chlorinated and brominated plastics is known worldwide to cause the emission of polychlorinated and polybrominated dioxins. These are among the most toxic compounds known on earth. We have a situation where we have 21st century toxics being managed in a 17th century environment."
After getting jumped by thugs, hired by the local mayor, CBS narrowly escaped with evidence of the dire situation in hand.
Back in the states, the reporters confronted Executive Recycling, stating, "This is a photograph from your yard, the Executive Recycling yard. We followed this container to Hong Kong."
Mr. Richter responded, "Ok."
CBS followed, "And I wonder why that would be?"
Mr. Richter responded, "Hmm. I have no clue."
Several emphatic denials later, Mr. Richter stated, "I know this is your job. But, unfortunately, you know, when you attack small business owners like this and you don't have all your facts straight, it's unfortunate, you know?"
The facts remain indisputable, though -- CBS had solid video evidence that Executive Recycling was illegally smuggling tech trash overseas for a quick profit. And in a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study, a sting set up with Chinese officials, confirmed this. It also found 42 other major tech recycling firms from all across America, more than willing to do the same thing.


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Q&A: "WASH" programs, past, present, & future
In today's Q&A, Randy Strash, World Vision's senior manager of water, sanitation, and hygiene programs (WASH), delves into the effectiveness of our work to bring clean water and improved sanitation and hygiene to the communities we serve.
1. WASH stands for WAter, Sanitation, and Hygiene – that's a lot of projects! Why does World Vision combine all of these areas? Doesn't providing access to clean water take care of them all?
No, it doesn't. On average, safe water reduces child deaths by only 5%, while water and sanitation provided together reduce child deaths by 55%. Adding the hygiene component gets you even more bang for your buck. Providing access to safe water as a stand-alone intervention doesn't have the expected impact because the water gets contaminated on the way home from the pump, or in storage at home, especially if there's no awareness of germs in the community.
2. World Vision WASH projects – like deep wells – are very effective and sustainable. What makes them work so well?
We can report best-in-class results with impact and sustainability because we always have someone on-site for the long haul – someone who prepares the community before the well drillers arrive, and stays long after they've left to make sure that the people are practicing good hygiene and sanitation and properly maintaining their pumps and facilities.
I don't know many agencies that remain for 15-20 years like World Vision does. Typically, other NGOs drill the hole and install the pump, and then hand it over to the community leaders in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Then they're gone. When the pump breaks down (within a year, if not properly maintained) the village doesn't know how to contact the agency to come back and repair the well, since they weren't properly trained how to do it themselves.
World Vision takes the extra time and effort to train community volunteers how to maintain the pump, and also to train local technicians how to repair the pump. World Vision also encourages the community water committees to collect $5-10 a month per household (depending on their ability to pay) so that there's money available to pay for parts and labor when it's needed.
3. Why is clean water so important?
Water is foundational to development. In fact, there's an African proverb to the effect that "Water is life." Unless you address the water needs of a community, all other efforts will eventually be neutralized. Research shows that 80% of the diseases that afflict young children are WASH related, as are half of hospitalizations and deaths. Half of the malnutrition has nothing to do with diet and everything to do with fighting off infections from contaminated water, food, and fingers. Also, half of school absenteeism is due to WASH-related diseases.
At World Vision, we say, "WASH is the first and best medicine." But WASH does more than improve health and nutrition. With WASH interventions, not only do children survive and thrive, but the entire economy of the village surges. Some researchers have estimated that communities with WASH enjoy 7 or 8 times the disposable household income of communities without. The benefits are enormous!
4. World Vision is all about child sponsorship. How does our work with WASH interventions help children and connect with sponsorship?
Child well-being is the reason we emphasize WASH. Sponsorship is what enables us to be in the community over the long haul, organizing and mobilizing the community and teaching children and their parents about hygiene and sanitation so they can experience all the benefits of their WASH facilities. And our commitment is to assure that every sponsored child has a safe water source within a 15-minute walk of their home. In many areas, the up-front costs of installing WASH facilities are just too steep for local government or even for WV's sponsorship programs to afford. That's why we appeal to our faithful donors for extra gifts to cover the installation costs.
5. World Vision is often on the cutting edge of development. Is there a newer, better, more innovative way to provide clean water than drilling wells? Is World Vision already working with these projects?
YES! We're trying several new things. First, we're finding cheaper ways to drill, while improving the pumps so they last longer. For instance, we have a partnership with Water4 in Oklahoma. They've developed a 2-person auger that drills shallow wells by hand at about 1/10th the cost of using the big motorized rigs.
Also, they've invented a hand pump for shallow wells that costs about 1/10th the standard hand pumps. It requires no maintenance at all! As a displacement pump, rather than a suction pump, it doesn't need tight fittings, so wear and tear is reduced to almost nil. These pumps have been tested at 4 million cycles without needing to be maintained, let alone replaced. This saves the community a lot of time and money. We have an agreement with them to drill 7000 wells in 7 countries, helping a million people obtain access to safe water.
There are other things we're testing, like a solar pump that can pump water from 600 feet down – 10 times deeper than standard solar pumps. We're also testing water filters – ceramic or nanotube – for use in villages where we can't reach underground water, forcing them to rely on contaminated ponds or streams.
One of the most exciting developments we're working on is a re-invented toilet. Three times as many people lack a toilet as lack safe water. Today, more people have cell phones than toilets! What we're hoping for is a toilet revolution, one that takes the world by storm and transforms health the way the cell phone has transformed communication. We're testing a prototype of a Tube Toilet that costs less than $100: odorless, pathogen-free, and doesn't need to be connected to a sewage system or septic tank. It never needs to be emptied, and it fertilizes the earth while ridding the environment of deadly parasites. If this tests out the way we hope, it could make a huge difference to the developing world.
Sponsoring a child helps provide clean water and other life-saving basics. Join us in fighting poverty holistically for just $35 a month. Change a child's life for good!


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Tuesday we had a chance to play with Toyota Motor Company's (TYO:7203) new "Entune"
infotainment system at the unveil of the 2012 Toyota Camry.
Thanks to the pioneering work of Ford Motor Company's (F) SYNC, which consolidated scattered in-car
info and entertainment system into a single cohesive platform, infotainment
systems are a hot topic in the auto market right now. Entune will join a
growing pack of systems, which includes Ford's SYNC and MyFord Touch, Kia
Motors Corp.'s (SEO:000270) UVO, and Fiat SpA's (BIT:F) Blue&Me. Like these
other systems, Toyota will use the same underlying Microsoft Auto operating
system from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).
Entune will cost $1,050 and come with the Tier III and Tier IV
audio/entertainment option on Toyota-brand vehicles. This is much more
expensive than the base Ford Sync, which costs
$295 USD, and more
even than MyFord Touch, which costs $1,000.
Our first impression of the system was okay, but not great.
The unit does cover all the basics found in the latest version of Sync --
sports scores, weather, cell-phone enabled directions, points of interest,
voice command of music, etc., albeit at a substantially higher price.
Toyota engineer Ken Glasser states, "We plan to differentiate
ourselves by offering superior voice command."
Indeed, while we could not fully test the system, Mr. Glasser's voice
directives were carried out without a hitch. That's more than we could
say in January about the MyFord Touch system, which was unresponsive
to a handful of our engineering contact's pre-planned commands.
Toyota is also working with Nuance Communications, Inc. (NUAN) for its voice input, but
it's also enlisted VoiceBox, another voice startup. Further, we found
that the MyFord Touch system seemed to be held back by the application
implementation, rather than the underlying voice command. It's possible
that Toyota's application -- done by Denso Corp. (TYO:6902) and Harmon
International Industries, Inc. (HAR) -- may give Toyota the
boost to one-up Ford in voice command responsiveness.
Toyota was a bit cagier about the hardware than Ford, refusing to tell us what
was in the system. It claimed that knowledge would offer a
"competitive advantage" to its rivals -- something we debated, given
that Ford has released its system specs.
That said, most customers who've experienced Ford's infotainment system may
find the features versus price of the Entune to be a bit underwhelming.
First, the touch screen included was relatively non-responsive requiring
you to forcibly press it ("fat-finger it") to get it to respond to
Second, the interface itself looked bland -- almost ugly. And the display
itself didn't seem to have a great viewing angle (again this could change in
the final unit).
Third, while the device does lock you out of navigating past a certain level in
the menus (for example, you can't go to a second page in the music lists), the
lockout seems somewhat arbitrary, as you can still use the touch system to a
degree. In that regard the system may receive much the same admonishment
for distractions -- fair or not -- as Ford did.
Lastly, somewhat troubling is the fact that Toyota is putting off subscription
pricing until the launch of the system in October. It would be nice to
give buyers more advance knowledge of what they were getting into.
Of course, these are only very rough impressions. We're hoping to get
some extended in-vehicle time with the system -- the only real means of drawing
final conclusions on an infotainment platform.
While much is still unknown about the platform, we did find out that customers
will receive three years of free subscription to the Entune applications and
that Toyota will not initially be opening the gates to third party
applications (though it is accepting customer recommendations for
requested apps).
Further, the platform will launch exclusively on the 2012 Prius V hybrid and
the 2012 Toyota Camry at the start of October.


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Year of Release 2016
Material Synthetic
|Email this product to a friend
|Customer feedback
click to Listen:"Hi, my name is Timothy Brown. I'm calling from Beckley West Virginia. I ordered from the Costume Cauldron. We had a great experience with your company, have never seen such a variety of toddler costumes. I have a little boy that is 2 years old and you had such a selection, we didn't know what to choose from but we found one of the cutest costumes we'd ever seen. Checked with your sizing chart, put it on him, fit like a glove. He looked adorable in it. It looks like we are going to have a really great Halloween. Communication was great; we got constant updates on when the item was going to be shipped. Everything was just spot on! Just wanted to say thank you guys and keep up the good work!"
Timothy Brown - Beckley, WV
See all our Customer Testimonials and how to record your own!


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The members of the Montelores Early Childhood Council are being recognized once again for their achievements for increasing early childhood development in the community.
In order to continue its growth and awareness, MECC was recently approved for a phase two Colorado Trust Grant for its efforts toward integrative health care.
This grant is awarded to eight early childhood councils from around the state that were initially a part of the Early Childhood Health Integration grant ending Dec. 31. Out of the 20 councils in the first phase of the grant only eight were awarded.
"It was highly competitive," said Vangi McCoy, MECC coordinator. "I think one of the reasons we were chosen is because we are ready to increase our capacity in the community. We have a firm foundation already but we want more people to work with us to be more sustainable."
The amount awarded, $983,639, was divided among the eight councils. MECC will receive $59,000 each year for two years, a total of $118,000, to put toward early health development. McCoy explained that councils could either receive more money in the second phase of the grant or stay the same. MECC will receive $27,000 more each year than the previous grant provided.
With the new funds, the council plans on increasing public awareness on the importance of children's oral health, introducing a health navigation guide for parents with children up to eight years of age, and working with providers and families on how to positively deal with challenging behaviors.
"We are also working on updating our database to track our work - because we are doing good work - but our system just isn't sophisticated enough," McCoy explained. "In tracking that we will be better able to tell the stories of children and families in our community."
MECC plans to put together a committee to work on a framework for the navigation guide. This health guide will act as a reference tool for parents on health care providers, resources for health insurance and a place for immunization files, among other things. More than 112,000 children in Colorado are uninsured, according to the Colorado Trust Grant website. In conjunction with that, many children do not have a primary physician.
MECC is looking at health department employees, child care workers and medical providers, who have knowledge and interest in early childhood health to help develop the navigation guide. Once formulated it will be provided on their website, handed out at preschools and given out at hospitals to parents with newborns.
"We are in the process of forming the baseline of the committee," McCoy explained. "Who we want at our table and evaluating who is at our table is important so we can sustain activities and programs because funding ends. We need to maintain and reach our goals to keep that going."
Also on the agenda is promoting healthy lifestyles within the community through the 5-2-1-0 message. The 5-2-1-0 formula promotes healthy living in children by encouraging kids to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, watch less than two hours of television a day, be physically active for at least one hour a day and aim to drink zero servings of soda, sugar or sports drinks.
The goal is to integrate the program into the community over the next two years.
MECC spends its time raising awareness by offering parent/children activity nights, parenting classes and health fairs to educate families. The Cavity Free at Three event and their annual health fair are two programs MECC participates in annually.
"We really want to push Cavity Free at Three," McCoy said. "Bad oral health contributes to so many other health problems. When a child has a wellness checkup doctors look beyond the teeth. We are working on getting health care providers looking at teeth and referring kids to dentists."
In November 2012, MECC hosted its third annual Cavity Free at Three event where trained providers associated with the statewide program took time to evaluate children's teeth and apply a fluoride varnish. Also written into the new grant, is an extension of that event where health care professionals go to homes and schools to provide the same type of service.
MECC meets the first Monday of the month from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Church of Christ Annex building. These luncheons are open to the public by sending an RSVP to Vangi McCoy at email@example.com or by calling 564-1195.


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Friday, December 07, 2012 - David and Zdenek - Screen Test RAW - FULL CONTACT
Introducing a BRAND NEW WEBSITE SWNude.com
We are proudly introducing a brand new Nude Submission Wrestling website SWNude.com
A membership website for fans of nude submission wrestling.
We will be posting a wrestling match each Friday there, anouncing it here in the WH Newsletter. So there will be always a new content available to the SWNude.com website members for weekends ;-). At present there is 30+ nude wrestling matches on the SWNude.com website and there will be always a new one each Friday while our production is at present shooting at least two completely new nude wrestling matches in a month.
The website is now acessible through both www.SWNude.com and www.SubmissionWrestlingNude.com domain links.
Please, feel free to take a FREE TOUR of our new website HERE.
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OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) Certification
The "Offensive Security 101" is unlike any other ethical hacking course that exist today. From the comfort of your own home, you'll be able to learn and gain knowledge of important skills and techniques that is required for today's security professional in protecting their networks by applying offensive security. From scanning to enumerating, to password cracking to creating your own exploit, this basic course covers it all. You will have the options to connect Offensive Security lab remotely and apply your newly developed skills. How awesome is that. You really get a feel of the real thing. I must say, before taking this course I was skeptical --will I understand the materials, if I get stuck on a topic, will I be able to get some help, will I have the time to attend the course from my busy schedule. Well this Offensive Security folks really put their time and effort in tailoring this course for people exactly like me. The courses are pre-recorded sessions so that you can view the material on your own pace. You can rewind, forward and pause the video to really get a grasp of what the instructor is teaching. If you don't understand or have a question on a particular subject, Offensive Security staff have setup an IRC channel where you can communicate with the instructors or other students that are taking the course. Moreover, Offensive Security has a forum where students can post their questions, comments or what ever is in your mind and feel confident that you will receive a speedy response from either the instructors or students. For an additional small fee you will be able to take the hacking challenge online where you will be tested on your newly developed skill as an ethical hacker. No multiple choice, no vague questions, only pure hands-on hacking to an unfamiliar network. Upon completion, you will earn the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) which demonstrates your competency in the penetration testing field. Which makes this certification distinctive from any other such as the CEH in where it actually proves practical ethical hacking skills.
After just 2 weeks of attending the course and going over the exercises, I was able to accomplish tasks that I thought was impossible for me. This course really pushes your limits and helps you develop the necessary skills and knowledge to defend today's network from notorious hackers. I highly recommended.
At the mean time, Offensive Security is offering introductory prices on their courses. For additional information, please refer to their site:


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Classical electrodynamics
Wiley, Oct 17, 1975 - Science - 848 pages
This edition refines and improves the first edition. It treats the present experimental limits on the mass of photon and the status of linear superposition, and introduces many other innovations.
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - barriboy - LibraryThing
A soul crushing technical manual written by a sadist that has served as the right of passage for physics PhDs since the dawn of time. Every single one of my professors studied this book, and every ... Read full review
Text is quite readable and appropriate for a first-year graduate text in physics. A "bible" I return to again and again.
Thinking back, I recall struggling over some sections for which I was not adequately prepared, including time-dependent EM fields. That aside, this was the text for my most favorite class in grad school.
If you are a fan of transformational solutions to differential equations then this is the text for you. Here is where I really learned about Fourier and other special function transformations as well as solving diffeq problems in special coordinate systems. I did very well in quantum mechanics thanks to this text.
I fear that students today may not have the same preparation that was common 30 years ago. Back then, expectations were different. In particular, this text is hardly aware of computational problem solving. It is focused on analytics.
Introduction and Survey
Introduction to Electrostatics
BoundaryValue Problems
18 other sections not shown


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Kinetic typo & style
There are 14 videos in this album. Albums make it easy to organize a collection of videos. They can be used to display videos together, or sent to friends as a playlist. You can even arrange the order of videos in each album.
You can add a video to one of your albums or create a new album from the "+Add to…" tab on video pages.
Albums can also be used to show videos on other web sites using Vimeo Widgets.


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Motorola has made quite the comeback in the last
couple of years after slipping significantly with handsets and smartphones that
consumers just didn't buy. The comeback made by Motorola is thanks in large
part to the Android operating system.
The latest launches from Motorola including the Xoom
Android tablet and Atrix Android smartphone have turned out to not be
as popular as Motorola hoped according to some reports. The revelation that the
two products just aren't
doing well on the market comes from analyst James Faucette from
Pacific Crest. Faucette cites a channel check he performed that shows the
sell-through for both the Atrix and the Xoom "have been
Faucette reports that the Atrix in
particular is being hurt by the low $49 price tag Apple has on the iPhone 3GS
and the same $49 price for the HTC Inspire. Those low prices are conspiring to
limit the demand for the Atrix. Because of the poor demand and sales of the
Motorola devices, Faucette is cutting the 2011 revenue forecast for Motorola to
$12.2 billion from its previous estimate of $13.7 billion.
Faucette also dropped his outlook for Motorola in
2012 as well cutting the projection to $13.6 billion from $15.3 billion before.
He also notes that further reductions could be made to his projections if
Motorola is unable to adjust and refresh its product portfolio. Undoubtedly,
the lower price of the iPad 2 is hurting sales of the Xoom tablet as many tablet
shoppers aren't willing to give Android a shot.
Faucette does note that Wall Street is confident
in Motorola management and that the company has good cash reserves. However, he
notes that if Motorola isn't able to launch products that stand out in a crowded
market shareholders may start calling for new management.


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Monthly Vitamin Organizer
Manage your medicine.
Manage your health.
Introducing our New "MedCenter Monthly Vitamin Organizer". Each of the included thirty-one, numerically marked, Pill Boxes measure 2" longer than our standard Pill Boxes. The "Vitamin Organizer" also features a much smaller footprint than our original "MedCenter System" and "MedCenter Organizer"
When used with our "MedCenter Talking Alarm Clock" (sold separately), the "Vitamin Organizer" becomes our most effecient organizer and reminder system to date!31
- EXTRA LARGE DAILY PILL BOXES organize your medications or vitamins by the month
- EASY OPEN LIDS on Pill Boxes allow for easy access to needed medications
- RED & GREEN COLOR CODING shows when daily dose is complete
Our new larger XL Pill Boxes (used in all products denoting the "XL" size pill boxes, also available as an accessory to the exisitng MedCenter System) have an individual dose compartment which measures roughly 1 3/8″ wide x 1″ long x 3/4″ deep on the inside. Each of the new XL Pill Boxes contain four of these dose compartments.
Because pills and vitamins differ greatly in overall size, in order to better answer the question of how many pills / vitamins will each pill box hold, we calculated the amount of Advil® and m&m® candies would fit in each compartment and Pill Box:


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The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to issue a "concept release," which will also likely include a request for information, in the first quarter regarding its rule to put brokers under a fiduciary mandate, Ken Bentsen, executive vice president of Public Policy and Advocacy for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said Wednesday.
Bentsen, speaking at SIFMA's state of the industry event in New York, said that SEC staff has been "working hard" and is "close to getting a concept release out the door, with support" from SEC Chairwoman Elisse Walter. Specifically, the SEC wants more feedback on its cost-benefit analysis on its fiduciary rule.
Bentsen will become acting president and CEO when Tim Ryan departs on Feb. 23.
The SEC and Department of Labor's fiduciary rules were big parts of the discussion, as was money-market fund reform and the Volcker rule—which SIFMA expects to be finalized by the end of the first quarter.
Chet Helck (right), SIFMA board chairman and the CEO of Raymond James Financial's Global Private Client Group, said during the briefing that SIFMA is "hopeful" the fiduciary rulemaking will be a priority this year. Helck said that SIFMA supports requiring "all providers of similar services to be held to the same high fiduciary standards," noting, however, that "It's a very difficult and very complex equation to solve."
This last SEC request for comment has been a year in the making, and former SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro told AdvisorOne last September that she was "ready to go" on releasing it so that the public could help inform a "more detailed" cost-benefit analysis on the agency's fiduciary rule.
David Tittsworth, executive director of the Investment Adviser Association (IAA) in Washington, told AdvisorOne in a separate interview that the request for information will likely also "discuss potential regulatory alternatives, so it may give us some idea of the rule the Commission may propose down the line."
The challenge, however, is that the request for information will require the support of at least three of the four sitting SEC commissioners.
The Department of Labor's reproposed rule to amend the definition of fiduciary under ERISA will likely come late in the first quarter or early in the second, Bentsen predicted, noting that SIFMA is still "very concerned" about the reproposal.
The DOL's previous fiduciary proposal was "contrary to where Congress wanted the SEC to go in Section 913 of Dodd-Frank," Bentsen said. Section 913 "makes it clear that you could have dual models under a uniform standard of care," however, "the way the DOL is moving would eliminate the ability to have a commission-based model for ERISA accounts."
As to money-market fund reform, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) said Wednesday that it has extended the comment period on its proposed reforms to Feb. 15, at the request of SEC Chairwoman Elisse Walter.
In its comment letter to FSOC, SIFMA suggested that the SEC explore structuring a proposed redemption gate, accompanied by a redemption fee or "liquidity fee." The gate, when triggered, SIFMA says, "would prohibit investors from redeeming and provide a period of time for a fund to restore its market-based NAV and liquidity."
As to a floating NAV, SIFMA said that issues related to tax, accounting, brokerage account suitability and other key issues relating to a floating NAV must be addressed "if regulators pursue that reform."


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1:00 - 5:00
Bernal Heights
Bernal Heights: Sala de Reuniones
500 Cortland AvenueJoin local watercolor artists for an afternoon of painting, trading techniques and tips. No instructor provided. Please bring your own materials and have some fun. Watercolor paints only. All levels of experience welcome. Due to space constraints this will be limited to 16 people on a first come first served basis.


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|Jeanne Bartholomew Realty
East Rd
Benson, VT, 05731
Rutland County
(802) 537-4938 - Phone
Jeanne Bartholomew Realty can help you buy, sell, or rent a home in the Benson area. Contact this real estate agent at the above phone number for more specifics about their business, including neighborhoods serviced, hours of operation, and compensation fees. Check with the appropriate Benson agency or Vermont state department to determine if Jeanne Bartholomew Realty has the required professional real estate license.
Jeanne Bartholomew Realty Reviews
Read customer/client reviews of Jeanne Bartholomew Realty below. All customer reviews are the opinion of the individual posting the review and not of Homes Inc. If you wish to submit a positive or negative review of Jeanne Bartholomew Realty, please add to the conversation below. Comments or corrections that you feel would be beneficial to others may be added as well.


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Prospect Morris has chance to showcase talent
Power-hitting first baseman rising on depth chart with injuries to Hart, Gamel
By Bernie Pleskoff / MLB.com
One player's injury is another player's opportunity.
That may be the case for Brewers left-handed-hitting first-base prospect Hunter Morris.
Initially, in the late offseason, incumbent first baseman Corey Hart was sidelined with a knee injury that required surgery. Even with an accelerated rehabilitation schedule, he may be out until some time in May.
Mat Gamel, Hart's apparent replacement, was returning this season from his own knee surgery. Gamel had appeared to be healthy and was working out at first base at Brewers spring camp in Maryvale, Ariz. Then the almost unthinkable happened. Just as Spring Training began, Gamel suffered the same injury he experienced last year, a torn anterior cruciate ligament to the same knee. Gamel will be lost for the year.
Speaking with Brewers manager Ron Roenicke and general manager Doug Melvin at the Phoenix area Spring Training Media Day, both indicated they would first look internally for a temporary replacement for Hart. Both men spoke enthusiastically about the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Morris as a very viable first-base possibility.
The 24-year-old Morris came to the Brewers after a very fine high school baseball career at Grissom High School (Ala.). He hit 46 home runs for his alma mater. Morris' high school performance earned him a second-round selection in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox.
Morris declined to sign with the Red Sox, opting to attend college at Auburn University, where he became an All-American and SEC Player of The Year.
Morris began his professional play at Class A Wisconsin in the Midwest League. In his 314 plate appearances in 2010, Morris hit .251 with nine home runs and 44 RBIs. He also had 19 doubles, three triples and seven stolen bases. Morris showed a nice combination of power and hustle as a 21-year-old first-year player. He only struck out 58 times, a statistic that sent signals of his ability to make contact.
The following season, Morris played the majority of the season at High A Brevard County in the Florida State League. He hit .271 and stroked 19 homers while driving in 67 runs. Morris again stole seven bases, this time in 541 plate appearances. He earned a promotion to Double-A Huntsville, where he played only four games.
Morris played 115 games at first base that season, making 19 errors. That's too many. He also played six games at third base, where he picked up an additional two errors.
Morris began 2012 where he finished the previous season, at Huntsville, playing in his hometown. The comfortable environment must have agreed with Morris, as he hit a robust .303 with 28 home runs and 113 RBIs. He served notice that his bat was alive and well. Morris' outstanding year at Huntsville earned Morris the Southern League's Most Valuable Player Award. He was also named the Brewers Player Of The Year, a recognition that is actually called the Robin Yount Performance Award.
When I saw Morris play this past fall for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League, he looked a little bit ragged and worn. I saw a slow bat. I saw a hitter who was beaten by fastballs, as well as the usually-more-difficult-to-hit breaking pitches.
When I spoke with Melvin, he indicated that Morris was tired when he arrived to play in Phoenix. He had just completed a vigorous season, working hard to maintain his outstanding hitting throughout the long campaign.
I understand that completely. I saw signs in Morris' offensive game that indicated hitting and power tools worthy of patience and continued development. His upside looked realistic.
Morris hit only .256 in 86 at-bats this past fall. He had one home run and drove in eight runs. Morris played in 21 games, playing first base in 19, and made three errors. He also served as the team's designated hitter twice.
At one point in his playing history, Morris began to realize that remaining in top physical condition would be paramount to his potential success. As a result, he lost a considerable amount of weight and dedicated himself to fitness.
Morris is solidly built, and he uses his well-distributed weight properly in the shift of his hips and as the trigger to his swing. He has a slight uppercut that will serve him well as his raw power continues to become refined and he becomes a consistent home run threat.
At times, I saw Morris get himself out swinging at bad pitches. An improvement in his pitch recognition, discipline and plate coverage will serve him well as refinements to his offense. He has the ability to make those adjustments.
Other than his outstanding offensive breakthrough last season, Morris worked hard on his defense at first base. He reduced his errors from 19 to only six in 1,259 chances. Morris will have to continue to make strides, remembering to work on his footwork and defense, and not just on improving his bat.
Not an overly fast runner, Morris knows how to steal a base and run the bases with an appropriately aggressive approach. He has what scouts refer to as "usable" speed.
In Miller Park, Morris may become a very legitimate threat to hit hard line drives for extra bases while producing a nice share of home runs. As his confidence grows, his performance will improve.
MLB.com ranks Morris as the fifth-best Brewers prospect.
The knee injuries of Hart and Gamel could provide the Brewers an opportunity to evaluate the progress and existing level of play offered by Morris. Regardless of the outcome of this look by the front office, Morris shows the type of tools that eventually will play well in the middle of the batting order.
Bernie Pleskoff has served as a professional scout for the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners. Follow @BerniePleskoff on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.