text:
are being studied and tested in commercial and military aviation widely. Biofuels
currently in development are designed as drop in replacements for existing jet
fuels with no modifications needed to engines or other systems.
The biofuels, however, do have to be mixed with regular aviation fuels.
Generally, the biofuel is mixed 50/50 with normal jet fuel. The USAF has been
testing jet aircraft with biofuels and certified its first jet, the Globemaster III to operate on up to 50%
The U.S.
Navy and Solazyme have announced that a successful test flight of a MH 60S
Seahawk helicopter running on a 50/50 blend of algae-based biofuel.
The fuel mixture used in the test is known as Solajet HRJ-5 Jet fuel. Solazyme
claims that this is the first military aircraft in history to fly on an
algal-based jet fuel. The company also notes that the flight preceded the ASTM
preliminary approval for military aircraft to operate on biofuels from algae
and other renewable sources.
"We applaud ASTM International and the ATA and CAAFI for their efforts to
advance the world's newest and most sustainable fuels for aviation. The
aviation industry has demonstrated a strong leadership position in fuel supply
diversification and sustainability, and today's announcement is a major step in
its efforts to commercialize advanced low-carbon biofuels," said Jonathan
Wolfson, CEO, Solazyme.
"Solazyme is honored to be working with the US Navy and DLA-Energy in driving
forward the testing and certification process for advanced biofuels. The
successful flight demonstration of the Seahawk helicopter on a 50/50 blend of
SolajetHRJ-5 and petroleum-derived jet fuel marks a significant milestone in
this process, and reinforces the Navy's commitment to securing our nation's
energy supply."
Solazyme is the only company currently providing the Navy with biofuel. The
company has previously conducted tests of its Soladiesel fuel in Navy Riverine
Command Boat demonstrations.
are part of the process the Pentagon wants to consider with regards to energy consumption with weapon systems.


text:
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The Pralus, Papouasie dark chocolate bar has very distinct notes of Rhubarb. We would even go as far to describe it as rhubarb crumble with cream, due to the toffee sweetness combined with a wonderfully creamy melt.
A truly wonderful dark chocolate from Pralus using only Trinitario cocoa from Papa New Guinea.
Pralus Chocolate
Pralus, situated in Roanne, France, are one of the few chocolate houses creating chocolate direct from the cocoa bean. Owner, François Pralus, produces chocolate of exceptional quality, achieving accolades from The Grand Prix d'Excellence International du Chocolat and the Grand Prix du Festival International du Chocolat.
Read more about Pralus >
May contain traces of nuts and milk
Posted Thu 3 Mar 2011 11.41am by Terry
"Rhubarb and Cream" does sounds odd but so spot on. A dark chocolate with a bit of everything and leaning towards acidic fruits than grassy, deeper flavours. Pralus I notice doesn't have the smoothest texture as say Valrhona but if you're going for taste and impact I recommend this (and pralus). As Pralus is a small artisan producer in france I guess the refinement is not as perfect as the larger French chocolate makes such as Michel Cluizel, Valrhona.
Posted Thu 24 May 2012 9.40pm by Liz
I read great reviews about this, but it didn't particularly stand out to me. It was fruity and light, not too sweet, but was probably too light for me. I do like my bold flavours.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Dell recently announced that it will expand support for
Linux further than servers and the Precision workstation line. The
popular PC maker's first step will be to offer
Linux pre-installed on both notebooks and desktops, Dell said in an online
Dell asked for
customer input in February on the company's IdeaStorm web site. More
than 100,000 responses were submitted to Dell, with more than 70 percent of
respondents wanting some sort of pre-installed Linux product from Dell.
It may also take Dell a long time to get potential support issues sorted out
before the Dell products enter the PC and workstation markets. Linux
users are now curious to see which version(s) of Linux will be installed on
future products. Users are more interested in kernel level and open
driver support instead of particular Linux distributions, according to Dell.
Dell already has working relationships with Novell and Red Hat, both of which
create popular Linux operating systems. But other popular Linux
alternatives include Ubuntu, Slackware, Debian and Lindows.
The company plans on asking for more user input regarding Linux and open source
technologies. Dell has had to rethink business plans due to increased
competition with competitors such as Hewlett-Packard.


text:
With Hard Cash, CUs Back Small Business Cash Mobs: Print Preview
The Rundown
- Supporting local businesses primary goal of cash mobs.
- Some hope participation will pay off through more business members.
- Effort helps mom and pop shops continue to compete against large chains.
When supermarket giant Whole Foods Market opened a store in a Sacramento neighborhood, a local food co-op immediately noticed a dip in customers.
While students at nearby University of California-Davis flocked to the natural and organic food grocery store, businesses like the Davis Food CO-OP experienced a slight drop in sales after the defection, said Chris Blackman, marketing manager at the $205 million Yolo Federal Credit Union in Woodland, Calif.
"They're located in a kind of a unique and weird corner and sometimes, people may forget that it's there," Blackman said.
It was part of the reason that Yolo FCU linked up with the Davis Chamber of Commerce and the Davis Downtown Business Association to host a cash mob last November in the G Street Shopping Center in Davis, Calif.
Patterned after flash mobs, which generally involve a group of people gathering together in a public space to dance or engage in other activities to unsuspecting onlookers, with cash mobs, participants storms the doors of a preselected mom-and-pop business to buy products and services in an effort to support local firms, according to CashMob.com.
Over the past year or so, credit union, league and CUSO employees and members have caught on to the growing trend by either hosting or participating in cash mobs. For many of them, the goal is to show support of small businesses while opening up opportunities to court and ideally, sign on new business members.
Blackman acknowledged how difficult it was to initially judge how successful last fall's cash mob was, but after talking with a few of the businesses days after the event, she got a better picture.
"I was on site, and I saw an influx of people. Days later, we heard from businesses who said they saw more new customers coming in the door," Blackman said. "It was valuable because it got their name out there."
The owners of Monticello Seasonal Cuisine, a local restaurant, are members of Yolo FCU, Blackman noted. While getting more businesses to sign on with the credit union would be a plus, it's not the motivation.
"We just think it's the right thing to do. Cash mobs are good for the communities because for some they're competing with larger corporate stores. These are small family businesses who rely on repeat customers."
The $53 million Ohio Health Care Federal Credit Union in Dublin, Ohio, hosted a cash mob last summer at Gallo's Pit BBQ as part of a year-long initiative from the Central Ohio Chapter of Credit Unions to boost sales at businesses throughout the region.
As a result, the restaurant was able to increase sales on Aug. 16 last year by 66% over the previous sales one week earlier on Aug. 9, said Nikki Gallo of Gallo's Pit BBQ.
"It's right in our backyard. We're not reaching out to a franchise. We're looking for those businesses that started from the ground up," said Jaime Crooks, marketing director for Ohio Health Care FCU.
While the credit union made a strategic decision not to offer business loans or services a few years ago, Crooks said the cash mob not only shows support for local firms, it may indirectly help the cooperative stand out among its bank competition.
"We have extreme competition with one specific bank because they reach out to the health care industry. That's our core," Crooks said. "Banks are taking a very aggressive stance by setting up at various sites at health care companies and by opening accounts on the spot."
Ohio Health Care FCU takes a softer approach by encouraging online services in an industry where employees tend to work a variety of nontraditional hours, Crooks said. By having a member tie-in either through a select employee group or a member that owns a business, the cash mob is another way to build presence.
"It's a great way to support businesses especially when the economy went through rocky times," Crooks said.
In late April, the $152 million Mountain Credit Union in Waynesville, N.C., hosted its first cash mob at Baabals Ice Cream and Coffee Shoppe. The cooperative started creating buzz for the event through its Featured Business of the Month highlight on its Facebook page, said Chris Angel, business development director.
Mountain CU wants to support businesses that currently have accounts with the credit union and going forward, take the cash mobs to the 10 counties that make up its field of membership.
"We don't have a huge amount of business accounts but we want to keep it going about every other month," Angel said.
Mountain CU has 133 business checking accounts totaling $1.1 million, according to Dana Thompson, marketing director. The credit union does not offer business loans, instead, choosing to see how legislation to raise the current 12.25% of assets member business lending cap to 27.5% will play out, said Angel, who has been involved in lobbying efforts in Washington.
Meanwhile, Mountain CU is gearing up for its next cash mob and has no problem with referring members seeking business loans to local banks, Angel pointed out.
"We refer folks to them for loans and they refer folks to us for things like car loans. We all feel like a community. There's a mutual understanding."
With more in the credit union industry participating in cash mobs, it may still be too early to quantify if the events will pay off in the long term with more business members joining and how much of their dollars they're likely to bring over.
Still, credit unions in Michigan offered a glimpse of just how powerful cash mobs can be. More than 56 of them signed on to support CU Lunch Local last October, said Jessica Richardson-Isenegger, a public relations specialist who helped coordinate.
The statewide effort also involved the Michigan Credit Union League and Michigan CU Capital, an entity that helps credit unions work together to share the costs and expertise of offering business loans.
"When we did the post event conservative estimate on dollars spent we reported that tens of thousands of dollars were spent across the state," Isenegger said.
For instance, the $567 million Dort Federal Credit Union in Flint, Mich., purchased lunch for their more than 160 employees on CU Lunch Local day. Staff at all nine branches of the $333 million Elga Credit Union in Burton, Mich., received the same treatment.
Employees at the $285 million Christian Financial Credit Union in Roseville, Mich., took it a step further by writing down their thoughts on what CU Lunch Local meant to them. Patty Campbell, president/CEO of the cooperative offered a $10 reimbursement to those staffers who participated in the cash mob, said Rebekah Monroe, marketing manager at Christian Financial.
"A lot of employees were surprised at how much they already supported local businesses," said Monroe, who pitched the idea of a cash mob during a meeting last spring with Isenegger and others on how to promote the idea of credit unions supporting small businesses.
In fact, a local Lebanese restaurant that has an account with Christian Financial is a favorite dining spot for some of the credit union's employees, Monroe said.
"Our goals are two-fold: we want to show small businesses that we are here and we can offer them loans and other services because we know we're probably not always top of mind," Monroe said. "On the other hand, we support businesses. It's not like we give you a loan and you never hear from us again."


text:
Y3k-Bug wrote:
OrangeCream wrote:
Y3k-Bug wrote:
Why would you want a PS3 for backwards compatibility if you already had a PS2?
For the hdmi port, blu ray support, and media streaming.
Oh, because earlier you said you didn't buy a PS3 specifically because it didn't have BC. That made me think you had no interest in its other features. Why didn't you buy the PS3 then if you wanted those features and you already owned a PS2?
It was $500. I kept my ps2, bought a Wii, a switch, and a couple games for both platforms, instead.


text:
There is a T-shirt that says, "Retired—and Spending My Kids' Inheritance." The market for that T-shirt is growing each day, as almost forty million Americans are age 65 or older. By 2050, the number of senior investors is expected to more than double to 89 million.
Securities examiners have extremely high expectations regarding the treatment of senior investors. On September 22, 2008, Mary Schapiro, the current chairperson of the SEC, spoke about the importance of protecting senior investors. At the time, Schapiro was Chief Executive Officer of FINRA and was speaking at the third annual Senior Summit. In her speech, Schapiro said, "While firms owe all their customers the same obligations and duties—age and life stage can be important factors, and firms must make sure that the procedures they have in place take these considerations into account."
The SEC, NASAA, and FINRA issued a joint report on September 22, 2008, entitled, Protecting Senior Investors: Compliance, Supervisory and Other Practices Used by Financial Services Firms in Serving Senior Investors: (http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/seniors/seniorspracticesreport092208.pdf). The report defined "senior investor" as retirees and people nearing retirement, rather than defining the term as a particular age group.
Policies and Procedures to Protect Senior Investors
The joint report suggested a number of policies and procedures that can be implemented to protect senior investors, especially in situations where the client is showing signs of diminished capacity. Implementing those policies and procedures can also benefit the advisory firm. Once these are in place, all persons associated with the firm will know what steps to take if they find themselves in a situation where a client appears to have diminished capacity.
Policies and procedures should be based upon particular risks facing an investment advisor as they relate to senior investors. RIAs should analyze the firm's operations and pay special attention to risks related to senior investors. One objective of this analysis is to strengthen the firm's infrastructure, so it can work with senior investors in an ethical, respectful, and informed manner. Policies and procedures can provide for heightened supervision and surveillance protecting senior investors. An RIA can also conduct compliance reviews focused on senior investors.
The report suggests escalation procedures where there are signs that a client has diminished capacity or is the victim of financial abuse. These escalation policies and procedures establish the next steps that a firm should take to address these issues. Below are a few of the policies and procedures an advisory firm might adopt when addressing risks related to senior investors.
- IARs are required to document cases where diminished capacity or financial abuse is suspected, and alert a designated member of the firm to assist with handling the situation
- Where diminished capacity or financial abuse is suspected, IARs are prohibited from making securities recommendations to the investor until it is clear that there is no cause for concern
- The firm's legal and compliance departments should be alerted regarding the situation and should become involved if necessary
- Depending upon state law and the nature of the situation, the firm should consider contacting a government protective services organization
- IARs should communicate with the investor's emergency contact and maintain frequent contact with the investor to see if the situation gets better or worse
In instances where a senior investor seems to have diminished mental or physical capacity, IARs may end up working with a person who has power of attorney over the client's account. Policies and procedures can be implemented to:
- identify changes in account activity where a power of attorney has been added or switched to another person;
- require that copies of all account statements be sent to the account holder and the person with power of attorney; and
- set up a process to verify the authenticity of signatures.
Policies and procedures should require the RIA to create and retain records regarding additional steps taken to address the situation.
Other Policies and Procedures to Prevent Harm to Senior Investors
As we saw in Advertising Advisor Services and Credentials, the SEC warned investors about misleading designations that might confuse seniors. In addition, when examiners conduct an examination, they will be paying special attention to older investors' accounts. The issue of whether investments are suitable is particularly important when senior investors are involved, and examiners will be looking at whether an RIA's policies and procedures are designed to prevent harm to senior investors. Compliance procedures should detect and correct violations that may have occurred.
We also saw in Advertising Advisor Services and Credentials that NASAA created a model rule protecting senior investors from misleading designations used by state-registered advisors. Many states have adopted the model rule in full or passed their own version of the regulation to protect senior investors.
The fiduciary duty owed by RIAs does not distinguish between young and old clients. Nevertheless, there are a number of best practices which might be used to protect senior investors including the following:
- Maintaining trade blotters that contain account information, such as age, investment objective, and net worth, next to the transactions to facilitate supervisory review
- Conducting a review of accounts to identify transactions or patterns that might indicate a potential problem
- Using exception reports to identify activities and accounts for additional review, such as listing "speculative" as an investment objective for someone over a specific age
- Requiring a heightened review of certain products, such as variable annuity purchases
- Placing age restrictions on certain investments and products
Firms can also require IARs and associated persons to attend training classes on aging issues, including how to identify signs of diminished capacity and elder financial abuse.
The Big Picture
Investment advisors have always paid special attention to senior investors. Older investors usually have more capital to invest, especially if they have finished raising their children and paying for college educations. In addition, older investors typically realize that they are closing in on retirement and must seriously plan for the next stage of their lives. If older investors are taken advantage of by an unscrupulous financial professional, they may not have time to recover their losses.
Securities examiners will deal harshly with RIAs that do not fulfill their fiduciary obligations toward senior investors. The SEC and state securities regulators view older investors as particularly vulnerable and in need of protection.
On February 2, 2011, the North American Securities Administrators Association published NASAA's Pro-Investor Legislative Agenda for the 112th Congress. The publication articulated state regulators' desire to protect baby boomers and seniors and stated:
"One of the highest priorities of NASAA's membership is to protect vulnerable investors from investment fraud. Notwithstanding the multi-front offensive launched by state and federal securities regulators, fraud is on the rise and senior citizens remain a target for unscrupulous scam artists. Given the number of baby boomers moving toward retirement who are watching their hard-earned investment portfolios decline in value, it is important that state securities regulators work together with Congress to protect those who will be the most vulnerable to investment fraud."
NASAA also expressed its support for the Senior Investor Protections Enhancement Act of 2011, which was introduced by a Florida Congressman. The bill seeks to impose higher penalties for violations of securities laws if seniors who are age 62 or older are targeted.
Whether there is new legislation or not, securities regulators will deal harshly with RIAs and IARs that take advantage of senior investors. Furthermore, a compliance deficiency putting senior investors at risk is likely to receive a higher level of attention from examiners and more severe sanctions than one that impacts younger clients.


text:
according to Doug Smith:
looks like Jose is still up on the chopping block!! Thank god...I'm sure Bryan has other irons in the fire (I was told at least one team has big interest in Jose) and I guarantee you he was working the phones and the room at the Vegas summer league for most of yesterday.
I can't give you a when, or even a where, but I do think Bryan's decision to trade Jose earlier this week means that he'll do everything he can to move him in the next couple of weeks.
I wonder who this team is who is very interested in him?


text:
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.
Census of Population and Housing, 2000 [United States]: 1998 Dress Rehearsal, P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data, Geographic Files for 11 Counties in South Carolina, Sacramento, California, and Menominee County, Wisconsin (ICPSR 2913)
Principal Investigator(s): United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census
The 1998 Dress Rehearsal was conducted as a prelude to the United States Census of Population and Housing, 2000, in the following locations: (1) Columbia, South Carolina, and surrounding areas, including the town of Irmo and the counties of Chester, Chesterfield, Darlington, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lee, Marlboro, Newberry, Richland, and Union, (2) Sacramento, California, and (3) Menominee County, Wisconsin, including the Menominee American Indian Reservation. This collection contains map files showing various levels of geography (in the form of Census Tract Outline Maps, Voting District/State Legislative District Outline Maps, and County Block Maps), TIGER/Line digital files, and Corner Point files for the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal sites. The Corner Point data files contain the bounding latitude and longitude coordinates for each individual map sheet of the 1998 Dress Rehearsal Public Law (P.L.) 94-171 map products. These files include a sheet identifier, minimum and maximum longitude, minimum and maximum latitude, and the map scale (integer value) for each map sheet. The latitude and longitude coordinates are in decimal degrees and expressed as integer values with six implied decimal places. There is a separate Corner Point File for each of the three map types: County Block Map, Census Tract Outline Map, and Voting District/State Legislative District Outline Map. Each of the three map file types is provided in two formats: Portable Document Format (PDF), for viewing, and Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language (HP-GL) format, for plotting. The County Block Maps show the greatest detail and the most complete set of geographic information of all the maps. These large-scale maps depict the smallest geographic entities for which the Census Bureau presents data -- the census blocks -- by displaying the features that delineate them and the numbers that identify them. These maps show the boundaries, names, and codes for American Indian/Alaska Native areas, county subdivisions, places, census tracts, and, for this series, the geographic entities that the states delineated in Phase 2, Voting District Project, of the Redistricting Data Program. The HP-GL version of the County Block Maps is broken down into index maps and map sheets. The map sheets cover a small area, and the index maps are composed of multiple map sheets, showing the entire area. The intent of the County Block Map series is to provide a map for each county on the smallest possible number of map sheets at the maximum practical scale, dependent on the area size of the county and the density of the block pattern. The latter affects the display of block numbers and feature identifiers. The Census Tract Outline Maps show the boundaries and numbers of census tracts, and name the features underlying the boundaries. These maps also show the boundaries and names of counties, county subdivisions, and places. They identify census tracts in relation to governmental unit boundaries. The mapping unit is the county. These large-format maps are produced to support the P.L. 94-171 program and all other 1998 Dress Rehearsal data tabulations. The Voting District/State Legislative District Outline Maps show the boundaries and codes for voting districts as delineated by the states in Phase 2, Voting District Project, of the Redistricting Data Program. The features underlying the voting district boundaries are shown, as well as the names of these features. Additionally, for states that submit the information, these maps show the boundaries and codes for state legislative districts and their underlying features. These maps also show the boundaries of and names of American Indian/Alaska Native areas, counties, county subdivisions, and places. The scale of the district maps is optimized to keep the number of map sheets for each area to a minimum, but the scale and number of map sheets will vary by the area size of the county and the voting districts and state legislative districts delineated by the states. The Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal TIGER/Line Files consist of line segments representing physical features and governmental and statistical boundaries. The files contain information distributed over a series of record types for the spatial objects of a county. These TIGER/Line Files are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the Census TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) database. While the geographic coverage for a single TIGER/Line File is usually a county or statistical equivalent entity, the 1998 Dress Rehearsal TIGER/Line Files include only those entities included in the Dress Rehearsal with the coverage area based on January 1, 1998, legal boundaries. The Census's TIGER database represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts. However, each 1998 Dress Rehearsal TIGER/Line File is designed to stand alone as an independent dataset. The TIGER/Line Files for each distinct geographic area can also be combined to show the entire area that was included in the Dress Rehearsal for that site. There are a total of 17 record types in the TIGER/Line Files, including the basic data record, the shape coordinate points, and geographic codes, that can be used with appropriate software to prepare maps. A complete list of codes for the record types can be found in Chapter 6 of the Technical Documentation for TIGER/Line Files (Part 603).
Series: Census of Population and Housing, 2000 [United States] Series
Access Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
WARNING: Because this study has many datasets, the download all files option has been suppressed, and you will need to download one dataset at a time.
WARNING: This study is over 150MB in size and may take several minutes to download on a typical internet connection.
Study Description
United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Census of Population and Housing, 2000 [United States]: 1998 Dress Rehearsal, P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data, Geographic Files for 11 Counties in South Carolina, Sacramento, California, and Menominee County, Wisconsin. ICPSR02913-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2001. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02913.v1
Persistent URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02913.v1
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Scope of Study
Subject Terms: census data, census methods, census tract level, computer aided mapping, congressional districts, counties, election districts, ethnicity, geographic information systems, household composition, housing, housing conditions, legislative districts, population, redistricting, states (USA)
Geographic Coverage: California, Columbia (South Carolina), Sacramento, South Carolina, United States, Wisconsin
- 1998
- 1998
Universe: Eleven counties in South Carolina, the city of Sacramento, California, and the county of Menominee, Wisconsin, including the Menominee Indian Reservation.
The maps for plotting are provided as Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language (HP-GL) files. The Census maps in HP-GL format are designed for output on the HP DesignJet 1050C. The Census Bureau does not endorse the use of a particular manufacturer's product for plotting maps. The recommended configuration and general hardware specifications for an output device capable of plotting the map products are as follows: media size: 36-inch wide roll, resolution: 600 dpi, color and black and white, memory: 80 megabytes RAM, 2-gigabyte hard disk, language: HP-GL/2. It is recommended that the HP-GL files are plotted directly from Unix, MS-DOS, or software applications distributed by the Census Bureau. Plotting the files from within other applications is not recommended.
There are no Voting District/State Legislative District Outline Maps for Menominee County, Wisconsin, in this data collection.
Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal data recorded with a variety of encoding techniques, such as automated map scanning, manual map digitizing, standard data keying, and computer file matching
Original ICPSR Release: 2001-11-16
- 2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 607 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.
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text:
Tina Duran always wanted to have a child. But she gave up on this idea long ago. She was set on the notion that her life would remain as it was from here on out. She was wrong.
Duran, and her boyfriend of two years Andrew Abeyta, welcomed their son Alex into the world on Jan. 27, 2011. At 41 years old, Duran is a first-time mother and firmly believes in miracles. But this miracle was no walk in the park.
Her pregnancy was difficult and problematic from the start, as she suffered from high blood pressure and chronic back pain. Baby Alex rested on a bundle of nerves near her spine that caused her right hand to go numb. As a massage therapist, this proved to be severely troublesome. By the end of her seventh month, her left hand also went numb. Duran had to step back from her career until she had her baby.
Three weeks before her due date, Duran developed pre-eclampsia, a condition that causes blood pressure to spike. She was ordered to have an emergency Caesarean section.
"He (Alex) was supposed to be a Valentine's baby," Duran says. "He's a miracle is what he is."
Duran was lucky to have finally become a mother. It was one thing that she had always dreamed of, but it was also the one thing that she was most afraid of.
A trip to the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) office, three months into her first pregnancy gave Duran some very helpful information.
Nurse Family Partnership is a voluntary program for low-income, first-time mothers, who are partnered with a Registered Nurse to help hone and utilize their maternal instincts. Women who sign up with the program visit with their nurse weekly for the first four weeks and then once every two weeks until the baby is born.
After the child is born, a nurse visits with the moms once again every week for six weeks and then every two weeks until the baby is 21 months of age. At that time they go to monthly meetings in order to wean the mother and the child from the program. When the child turns 2, the family graduates from the program.
Duran, with the encouragement of Abeyta, immediately signed up for the program. She met with her nurse, Bobbi Lock, the following week.
Lock and Allison Duran (no relation to Tina Duran) are the only RN's trained for the NFP program through the Montezuma County Health Department. It's a busy job. Together they serve 47 families in Montezuma and Dolores counties. Lock has been with the program since it was conceived in Cortez in 2000. Allison came along just a couple years later.
"This program is really about relationships," Allison says. "One between the nurse and the client, and we encourage mothers to develop relationships with their child."
Both nurses agree, that is why the first meetings occur once a week for a month. This is a good time for the nurses to get to know their new moms, and establish a bond. After all, two years is a long time to be together.
Allison has been with her client since she was five months pregnant. Qwencie Smith, 22, was referred by a friend, a former graduate of the NFP program. Her son Elijah is now a year old.
"I had read a few parenting books but I didn't really know what to expect," Smith says. "I was scared. I wanted more comfort and confidence."
Smith comes from a family of six. As the baby, being raised by a single mother, Smith looks to her childhood experiences for future reference. She is also happy that Allison has showed her a few other helpful parenting tips. Smith remembers the first meeting with her nurse, which took place over a year ago.
"I was really nervous," Smith recalls. "I am normally shy and she (Allison) is so bubbly. We went over the first stages of birth. From when a baby is the size of a grain of rice to when they reach full term."
Allison is ecstatic that her client remembers this piece of information. Her buoyant personality comes out. "I'm so proud of you!" Allison says.
First meetings are generally a get-to-know-you period. The nurses may talk about feelings the mothers have toward pregnancy, short term or long term life goals or the purpose and expectations of the program.
The NFP program has three goals. The first is to promote healthy prenatal practices. Secondly, to provide first time parents with educational tools in child health and development. And lastly, to engage parents in long-term family goals to sustain economic self-sufficiency.
Each mother may have different long-term goals. Some may want to graduate from high school, get their GED, buy a home, find a full-time job or enroll in college. It is the nurses' job to encourage, support and guide these women in the right direction.
Smith and her husband of three years, Quinn, just bought their first home. They currently live in a two-story apartment. Smith says the apartment was meant as a starter home. Her growing family needs more room, and Allison couldn't be more happy for her.
"I am so excited for her! Our next meeting will be in their new house," she says. "We are very proud of our moms."
Smith and Allison are currently in the stages of healthy eating for toddlers. Smith lists several informational tips on lead poisoning, independent play and object permanence. Each time she says something, Allison bursts with joy, proudly asserting the fact that Smith is retaining information well.
"Babies don't come with instructions," Allison says. "What works for one mom, may not work for another. We are here to help them figure out what does work for them."
Elijah's second birthday will be tinged with sadness for Smith. That's when her time with Allison will come to an end. She says it took a long time for Elijah to warm up to Allison. Mother and son have both grown.
"I've come to rely on her a lot," Smith says with warm sentiment. "If I have questions, I call my mom first because she's had so much experience but Allison is a close second."
Smith isn't worried about Allison's departure because the nurses leave each mother enormous parting gifts. Three very hefty three-ring binders, overflowing with educational information, passed on to them from each meeting. Each binder covers a different phase. Pregnancy, infancy and toddlerhood.
After Duran meets with Lock, she reads over the binder again to make sure she doesn't miss anything.
"It's a great reference tool," Tina Duran says. "When I don't see Bobbi (Lock) or I can't talk to her, I look at the book."
She also expresses how sad she will be when Lock leaves. She says Lock is a nice person with a welcoming attitude. The type of person to open her door, invite you to sit and bring you some coffee.
Lock has helped this little family tremendously. She has taught them to stay calm and have patience. The parents often discuss things such as discipline tactics and healthy eating habits, to find common ground.
Abeyta is present at every meeting. He is thankful for the lessons and help that the NFP program has provided.
"Some people would think it was an invasion of privacy," Abeyta says. "Like if they don't want someone else telling them how to raise their child. But I see it like this, she gives you the tools and it's up to you if you want to use them. If someone is giving you a more simple, beneficial way to do something, wouldn't you rather do it their way?" Alex is now in the first stages of walking. He grabs the edge of couches, tables and chairs. He crawls when he can't feel his way around an object. Duran is surprised a year has already gone by. She and Abeyta have a huge first birthday celebration planned for their little miracle. Duran is making a pinata. Both families are prepping for the big day. Duran's family is especially happy for her. She and Abeyta receive lots of love and support. They all know how important it was for her to have a child.


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Estimated Cost: $20
Cuisine Type : Californian, Pizza
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Soyapango El Salvador Businesses For Sale
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Submit News
Microsoft Claims Top UK Retailer is Piracy Kingpin, Gets Counterattacked
Jason Mick
January 4, 2012 12:44 PM
Recipient E-mail
Sender E-mail
(Source: Universal Studios)
Massive electronics retailer Comet devoted a factory to unauthorized Windows XP and Vista Recovery discs
Microsoft Corp. (
) on Wednesday struck a top UK electronics retailer with a stunning accusation. In a press release it accuses the consumer electronics chain, Comet Group PLC, of being a "Tony Montana" of the software piracy world -- devoting an entire factory to and profiting handsomely off of its sale of illicit goods.
I. Is the UK's Second Biggest Electronics Retailer a Pirate Mastermind?
David Finn, associate general counsel, Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft
, "As detailed in the complaint filed today, Comet produced and sold thousands of counterfeit Windows CDs to unsuspecting customers in the United Kingdom. Comet's actions were unfair to customers. We expect better from retailers of Microsoft products — and our customers deserve better, too."
The world's top operating system maker alleges that Comet actively sold personal computers bundled with unlicensed Windows XP and Windows Vista Recovery discs, which it printed at a factory in Hampshire, making them appear like the real deal. Reportedly over 94,000 pirated copies were sold to consumers.
In its press releases Microsoft concludes by encouraging customers to "snitch" on suspicious retailer activity:
With an emphasis on education, engineering and enforcement, Microsoft seeks to protect its customers from counterfeiting and piracy — and ensure people get what they pay for. If customers ever question the legitimacy of their software, be it a shrink-wrapped product or recovery media, they are advised to visit
to learn more and, if they have any doubt, report the suspicious software to Microsoft.
Microsoft is based out of Reading, Berkshire in the UK [Image Source: Ghacks]
Microsoft currently employs approximately 2,000 people at its
in Reading, London, Manchester, Endinburgh, and Cambridge. The Reading location is home to Microsoft's UK base of accusations.
II. Comet Accuses Microsoft of Abusing Customers
While Microsoft paints comet as an "evil pirate", Comet sees things quite differently.
It boldly accuses Microsoft of abusing its customers and possibly breaking consumer laws. In a short statement it writes:
Comet has sought and received legal advice from leading counsel to support its view that the production of recovery discs did not infringe Microsoft's intellectual property.
Comet firmly believes that it acted in the very best interests of its customers. It believes its customers had been adversely affected by the decision to stop supplying recovery discs with each new Microsoft Operating System based computer.
The firm says it will "vigorously defend" itself before the UK's High Court -- a court somewhat akin to the lower U.S. federal circuit courts.
Supporters of Comet complain that Microsoft used to provide recovery discs for most of its laptops and desktops, but today pressures retailers to install recovery partitions instead and ship without a recovery disc. In fact, Microsoft has cut off the supply of recovery discs for older operating systems.
Critics of this move point to the hard drive space wasted by the recovery partition and complain that the user could be forced to repurchase the operating system in the case of a full blown hard drive failure.
Comet is openly defying Microsoft claiming that it has the right to produce recovery discs that resemble those produced by Microsoft in the past, as Microsoft no longer supplies them to its customers. [Microsoft]
Microsoft, however, has argued that recovery discs are redundant and often lost. Its perspective basically appears to be that that it doesn't want to have the discs and that as no law currently forces it to have them in the UK, that retailers should not be allowed to distribute illicit pirated copies of the discs.
While Microsoft may be technically correct from a legal perspective -- Comet has no right to reproduce its product without permission and masqerade it as a Microsoft distributed product -- its stance against recovery discs and decision to liken the printing to piracy is somewhat questionable.
After all, any user can and should make recovery discs to prevent having to repurchase their OS in the event of a catastrophic system failure. But do so takes time, effort, and a bit of knowledge, so often users don't make recovery discs.
Microsoft isn't arguing that it's illegal for customers to make recovery discs. It actually promotes that. But it's fight against OEMs or brick and mortar retailers like comet going out and mass producing recovery discs as a consumer courtesy.
This is a curious move, given that the discs can't install Windows without an existing installation to repair and even if you could somehow trick the installer into running the process, you would still need a serial key, make the prospect of piracy unlikely.
It's more curious in that U.S. retailers have sold Windows XP/Vista recovery disks without reprimand, although its possible these large players ahd some sort of financial understanding with Microsoft.
III. Former Parent Says Comet Has "No Value" Anymore
Regardless of how badly Microsoft manages to mangle it in the UK federal court; the accusations are a stinging blow to Comet. The UK retailer has a proud history, founded in 1933 as a battery retailer.
The company went through a period of dynamic growth in the 1990s, reaching a peak in 2005. Since then, it has seen its profits slide.
Part of the problem is that the company -- which has 250 stores in the UK -- has struggled to differentiate itself from rival retailer Currys who has 368 stores in the UK. Comet attempted a rebranding in 2005, which cost it £20M (~$31M USD).
Things did not turn around and the situation is looking increasingly dire for Comet. Profits are down to a mere fifth of what they were in 2004 and the corporation -- which always looked out for its employees -- has accrued a crippling amount of pension obligations. Its pension plan is currently £39M (~$31M USD) -- or about four years of profits -- in the hole.
French electronics giant Kesa Electricals plc. (
) -- Comet's current parent company -- is rushing to try to dispose of the unit. Reportedly it accepted a bid of £2 ($3.12 USD) (you didn't misread that) by OpCapita LLP, a private equity firm.
Comet's struggles were highlight by its sale for £2. [Image Source: TJ Roadmarking]
Kesa agreed to retain responsibility of the pension fund and pay an additional £50M as an investment to settle the debt obligation and complete the sale. It's clear that Kesa isn't thrilled about this money pit -- company chairman David Newlands
The Guardian
, "The £50m is categorised as an investment. We had to pay £50m to get the business away. We will write it off as having no value."
OpCapita has agreed to spend £30M (~$47M USD) of its reserves and raise another £40M (~$62M USD) in financing to revitalize the laggard brand.
It is unclear who Microsoft expects to get money out of -- Kesa or OpCapita. But what is clear is that new litigation could threaten the fragile deal and the long term survival prospects of Comet as a retailer.
IV. Microsoft Cracks Down on Piracy as it Faces Threat of "Free" Rival OSs
Microsoft has long shown mixed sentiments about
software piracy
. Back at a 2007 Morgan Stanley Technology conference in San Francisco, Microsoft business group president Jeff Raikes infamously
, "If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else."
On the other hand Microsoft has also used a variety of tactics to try to combat piracy from
, to
digital rights management
, to
lawsuits against illegitimate resellers
Microsoft has tried to hack away at theft of its products at all parts of the piracy "food chain".
The operating system maker, who claims over a billion personal computers are using its software has been forced to soften its stance in
nations like Romania
and China where piracy is the government condoned status quo. The Chinese government has been particularly vocal in its criticism of Microsoft's international anti-piracy efforts, complaining
its software is "too expensive"
Microsoft takes a harder line stance in countries like the U.S. and UK, where intellectual property laws are firmer.
The OS maker, who also is a top player in the
console gaming industry
, the world's top browser maker, and the world's top productivity suite maker, is at somewhat of a crossroads in terms of the operating system market's general direction.
While PCs are still the primary computing device of choice for most people, Microsoft is seeing
PC usage time cannibalized by smartphone usage
-- a market where it has struggled. As smartphones and tablets replace mobile devices it faces rivals with new business models -- like Apple, Inc. (
) and Google Inc. (
) who offer operating system upgrades free of charge to consumers.
Windows Phone has struggled versus as Android, even as Android races to match Microsoft's OS deployment numbers, once thought to be untouchable. [Image Source: ZDNet]
If Microsoft cannot conquer this new market, it hopes to at least profit off the good fortune of its rivals, via
intellectual property threats
Microsoft reportedly is currently pulling in
more money courtesy of Android than it's making off of its own mobile offerings.
Microsoft has a long-standing licensing agreement with Apple, but their royalty structure has not been revealed. Microsoft's approach of
seems to be thus far working better than Apple's attempts to ban Android outright. Most Android manufacturers have bowed to Microsoft's licensing demands. [
V. Microsoft Looks to Repair UK Public Image After Sexual Harassment Scandal
One thing that may work against Microsoft should the case go before a jury is the company's languishing reputation in the UK.
The UK unit is working to
rebuild its public image
in the wake of a highly public lawsuit alleging abuse by a senior manager. The suit claims that at a 2009 Microsoft global party held in Atlanta, Georgia engaged the UK's number two Microsoft executive -- Simon Negus -- kissed an unwilling female employee and making sexual advances on other female partygoers.
Microsoft terminated Mr. Negus after a
£10M (~$16M USD) sexual harassment lawsuit
broke, and sued him, attempting to recollect his hiring bonus. With little to lose, Mr. Negus has taken to the courts painting a sordid tale of what he claims was sweeping impropriety at the party. He comments "drunkenness and outrageous misbehaviour were rife", and adds that Microsoft fueled the chaos with booze, stating, "The alcohol made freely available in unlimited quantities included neat vodka which could be drunk from an ice fountain, and a very strong German liquor called Jagermeister."
Mr. Negus has reportedly implicated high ranking Microsoft executives in the U.S. of sexual harassment and misconduct. While the identities of these executives are unknown due to the court proceedings being closed, sources hint that most of them are still working at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash. global headquarters.
While Mr. Negus's claims certain warrant a bit of skepticism given his disgraceful exit, numerous witness statements have corroborated his claims to some extent. Testimony in the case reveals another senior level manager -- Steve Dunn -- also was actively sexually harassing female employees, even entering the women's bathroom "ridiculously drunk" midway through the party. Mr. Dunn was a top Microsoft UK executive between 2006 and 2008.
At least some of the UK employees at the party, though, behaved chivalrously. Two employees reportedly confronted Mr. Dunn over his persistent harassment of Emma Cloney, 42, Microsoft's 'global alliance manager'. The pair -- Jonathan Barrett, the financial services business chief at Microsoft UK, and Mark Dodds, director of the UK headquarter's 'special team unit' -- testify that they protected Ms. Cloney as she left the party, making sure the Mr. Dunn didn't lay his hands on her.
Simon Negus (left), formerly second in command of Microsoft's UK operations is being sued by his former employer for sexual misconduct at a 2009 party against Zobia Chughtai (middle, left) and Martina Redmond (middle, right). Mr. Negus has implicated high ranking Microsoft managers in the scandal. Reported one manager --Steven Dunn sexually harassed Microsoft's head of global alliances, Emma Cloney (right).
[Image Source: BusinessWire, left; DailyMail, others]
The court that will be hearing the Comet case is the same civil High Court that's been hearing the sexual harassment proceedings, Microsoft's lawsuit against Mr. Negus, and Mr. Negus's countersuit against his former employer.
Guardian [sale of Comet]
DailyMail [sexual harassment lawsuit]
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text:
by Mr. Abdullah K Rabba (2011-04-21)
"exsorped" should read "exsorbed". It has been corrected in the full text version but it still there in the abstract.
"54 jakindine jakindine jakindineBJ" (2012-04-09)
... Read more
Mariella Line 2192 Silas Deane Highway, Open Hill, CT 06067 record-breaking
"24 unineasse unineasse unineasseJG" (2012-04-12)
... Read more

Problem z Ĺ'Ä…czem do Internetu
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"12 idiothsyday idiothsyday idiothsydayRM" (2012-04-15)
... Read more


text:
hahaha i cant believe youre still nagging over comments like this, Tim.
you know how well thought out comments like this are, hehehe
Printable View
hahaha i cant believe youre still nagging over comments like this, Tim.
you know how well thought out comments like this are, hehehe
b) He'd have to make a HUGE improvement on offense to make up for his horrible defense. Like, at least, 26 ppg while scoring more efficiently than he did last year. I don't see that happening.
It's not as if Bargnani has been close to having a positive effect on the floor and just needs a little tweak. He's had one of the more negative influences on his team in the entire league. This is why I don't understand people continuing to defend the guy.
It saddens me how much Dwaye Casey talks this guy up. It means he's sticking around at least for another while, and I have a sneaking suspicion that BC hired the guy because he thinks he can turn Bargs into the next Dirk and is willing to play him at his "natural position" *shudders*. I can only hope Casey holds true to his word and holds people accountable on defence, since that'll mean Bargs would get benched for his complete lack of it. If Messina is so in love with the guy, we need to trade Bargs to the Lakers for whatever. I dont care if it's Odom, Brown, and a 1st rd pick, I'd still do it if it meant getting rid of this dead weight.
First things first, mods feel free to move this over to the everything bargnani thread when you feel it's time to move.
I apologize for this post in advance, but it is a slow news cycle and this guy does actually use numbers to make his case so (theoretically) we can have an intelligent discussion about his numbers and whether they equate to bargs not being a terrible defender.
I came across this article in bleacher report and thought that it would make me laugh. turns out the guy does actually use statistics to make his case. Personally, I've always felt like Bargs was a passable man defender, but not "very good" man defender as this article suggests. The only problem I have with the article is the author doesn't do a good job of putting bargs numbers within the context of other players, so despite looking like good numbers I don't know how they hold up to the numbers that other players are putting up in the same situation(s).
View the article in its entirety HERE
Not sure I agree with this definition. Let's say player X does everything above average to good, except for 1 specific thing. Now this specific thing he does unbelievable bad and his deficiency is exploited 80% of the time buy the opposing teams. Would you call this guy a terrible defender? I probably would. Not saying that example applies to bargs, just that I'm not sure I agree with his definition. But that's mostly just splitting hairs.Quote:
However, is this Bargnani's fault, and is he truly a "terrible" defender. To be terrible, you shouldn't really be able to do anything good (in this case, on the defensive end). Does Bargnani fit into this category?
On to the good stuff... everything in bold and italics is highlighted by yours truly.
On Ball Defense
Despite the reputation, Bargnani is actually a very good on ball defender, both on the block and when put in isolation one-on-one situations.
How good are those numbers? How does Bargs compare to other players/starters/C and PFs in that situation?Quote:
In the 205 times he was posted up last season, Bargnani held his opponent to just 182 points (0.888 PPP) on just 46.8% shooting.
Top 17% sounds good, but I'd still like a more specific comparison to other players in a similar role.Quote:
Even better than his post defense is Bargnani's one-on-one defense in isolation situations. When faced with isolation situations, Bargnani is in the top 17% of the NBA in terms of Points Per Possession (PPP) allowed, giving up just 0.684 points per possession on 29.7% shooting.
He also has a video demonstrating how bad bargs is at help defense... +1 for using game tape! :)Quote:
Off Ball Defense/Rebounding
This isn't to say that Bargnani is a tremendous defender, there is a reason why he has a reputation as a bad defender, and that reason is his help defense and poor defensive rebounding. Bargnani is not good at all when it comes to recognizing when he should send help and when he should stick with his man.
Even at times, his own man gets open looks on him when working off of the basketball. In "Spot Up" situations, opponents are shooting 49.4% (eFG% 60.6%) and posting a PPP of 1.142, which is a number that places him in the bottom 15% of the NBA:
Bargnani's lack of understanding when it comes to help defense really hurts him in a number of ways. First, he doesn't really know how to help properly, so when he does help, he usually ends up turning his back to his own man, making it difficult to return to him and contest a shot. He also struggles understanding rotations. He never finishes off rotations correctly and always seems to run at a shooter when it is too late.
Also included in defense in my opinion is rebounding. To end a possession, you need to be able to secure the defensive rebound. This is something that Bargnani doesn't do, almost ever. Bargnani's Defensive Rebound Rate was the second worst in the NBA among centers who play at least 20 minutes per game in at least 20 games (behind Brook Lopez). He doesn't have the size, or the want to frankly, to get in there and grab rebounds. It should be at least mentioned that Bargnani's DRR of 13.9 last year, the worst of his career, happened with Reggie Evans (a rebounding machine) playing next to him (his DRR holds around 16.0 for his career, which is still below average but not as bad as 13.9).
So is Bargnani a terrible defender? I got to say that this one is "busted" in my opinion. Does he deserve a large part of the blame for last year's poor defense? Yes, but in my opinion, that doesn't mean that he is this terrible defender that you can't put out there. In my opinion he can be an average or even a good defender moving forward. It sounds crazy, but if you break things down and look at them, it isn't that far fetched. First of all, he can stop players when they go at him one-on-one, whether in the post or out the outside in isolation. Second, he is still 26, I know he has been in the pros for a while now, but he is still young and is still learning.
Although he does have some numbers to support the argument that bargs is a descent man defender, help defense and def rebounding are HUGE parts of the game, and I am not as optimistic about barg's ability to improve. Is bargs a "terrible" defender? Maybe not. He just might be a really bad defender.
Anyway, more fire for the bargs thread. Have fun with it!
I read this article a few weeks ago. It's an incredibly flawed argument and not even worth discussing, in my opinion.
Alright, look at his Defensive Rating (DRTG). It proves that he drags the team down with his poor decision-making and the fact that he is constantly out of position. He does not guard the rim, does not grab defensive boards, and doesn't help his teammates. He's a step behind the play mentally. When the ball is cycled around to his man, let's grant the point that he can play good one-on-one defense. So what? There are 9 guys out there and complex plays being run on both sides. And he can't follow it. As his playing time has increased, his DRTG and the overall team DRTG of the Raptors have both fallen.
Big men generally have a better DRTG than their team. With Bargnani, it's the opposite. Ed Davis and Amir Johnson both had a DRTG of 110 this season. The Raptors as a team were at 114. Bargnani was at 115. So, while Davis and Johnson were helping the team play better defense, Bargnani was dragging it down with his usual crap. His responsibilities need to decrease, not increase like they did this past season.
No stat can express or adequately represent Bargnani's defensive failings because the biggest impact it has is on his opponent's confidence. When you play the Raps, you know you can go down that lane, make that cut off the ball, go in for that offensive rebound, because it's there and Bargnani simply won't adjust/recognize/whatever the case may be. Those plays energize professional athletes, get them locked in. It also must demoralize the hell out of his teammates, since they can do a good job in their rotations only to have Bargs allow a layup because he had his head turned. There's no stat for that impact. You just have to watch the games to see it.
The author's definition of terrible is..lenient to say least. Teams will still aggressively run 1-5 (or 1-4, because the 7-1, 250+ pound Bargnani isn't a center) ball screens to rape our defense,
Bargs is a bad defender because because centers and power forwards have to be good helpers and he isn't. That's just the way it is. Maybe there is a defensive scheme that we could implement that would hide him or even allow his strengths to shine but the question then becomes whether or not he's a good enough player to base our whole defensive strategy around hiding him. It doesn't look like he'll be traded this off season (Casey's comments + the lockout) so I think that he's going to have another chance to improve and maybe Casey can help with that. If he learns how to help, if he can even figure out how to make the first rotation effectively, he'll be a good enough defender to keep around. If he doesn't, which is more likely IMO, he will drag this franchise down until we either move him to the bench and play him spot minutes or trade him.
add: I seem to remember Bargs also had a really good defensive rating guarding the pick and roll. Can anyone verify that?
Does anyone remember the article (I think it was from Raptors HQ) about the guys from Golden State telling their teammates to attack the basket because Andrea couldn't stop them? What about the OT game in Milwaukee where the Bucks didn't even remotely hide going at Andrea for every play in OT? A certain Luke Harangody lighting it up for a near 20-10?


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Kisongo Trek: The real deal
World Vision Experience provides interactive ways for communities across the United States to share a glimpse into what poverty looks like in the developing world and to understand first-hand the work that World Vision is doing to break the cycle of poverty.
Today, Rich Stearns, president of World Vision U.S., introduces the new World Vision Experience, Kisongo Trek, and describes his visit to Tanzania where that Experience project all began.
* * *
Last April in Nashville, Tennessee, my wife Reneé and I went through the Kisongo Trek -- an impressive, immersive new way that World Vision is able to bring Africa back to the United States.
The hands-on, multimedia experience is hosted by a young man named Babayetu, who guides you through a day in his life.
In May, Reneé and I went to Tanzania to study an innovative new agricultural project called Secure the Future. While there, I got the chance to meet all of the people in the Kisongo Trek -- Babayetu, his parents, his teacher, and his friends.
Babayetu's family welcomed us with open arms, Maasai jumping dances, and a heaping plate of goat meat -- a delicacy in Tanzania.
Reneé and I loved Babayetu and his family. But of all the people I met that day, the person who had the greatest impact on me was the village elder, Daudi.
Daudi was way cool. He's a Maasai chief and one of the wisest, most thoughtful men I've ever met on my travels with World Vision. Daudi has responsibility for about 130,000 people in the communities. It's a big responsibility, and he doesn't take it lightly.
Over lunch, he said, "Mr. Stearns, I see a lot of NGOs come and go in my community. I call them 'hit and run NGOs.' They come, they have some new ideas, they give us things. They are here for a year, and then they're gone. We see this parade of four-wheel-drive vehicles that come and go."
He paused and said, "But World Vision is different. You come and you stay. You get to know us. You set up shop in our midst. That's the difference with World Vision."
I am fond of saying that development is rocket science. Daudi agreed. "Sometimes my people will say to me, 'Daudi, World Vision doesn't give us things. They don't give us money. They don't give us goodies.'
"I tell them, you have it all wrong. When you send your children to school, you have to pay school fees. Because what happens to your children when they go to school? They teach them how to think differently. And you pay for that opportunity.
"World Vision is teaching us how to think differently. World Vision is reaching inside of our heads to think differently about our community and about strategies for development. Why should they give us things? We actually owe them!
"We should give them things! We should pay them for what they're doing for us, because they're teaching us to think in a different way."
I looked at Daudi and thought: You are a CEO. You understand that the relationship your community has with World Vision isn't based on giving and receiving but on shared, mutually agreed-upon goals and respect.
What we do and who we work with in the field never ceases to amaze me. Daudi amazed me. I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet him.
And thanks to World Vision's Kisongo Trek, now you can meet him, too.
"Travel" to Kisongo, Tanzania, through the immersive Kisongo Trek World Vision Experience. Hear the real-life story of how 13-year-old Babayetu's community moved from poverty to hope with help from World Vision and caring supporters. Find an event near you!


text:
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The Patriot Eagle SE comes with a limited lifetime warranty on workmanship and manufacture defects. The Finish and paint comes with a one year warranty.
The Patriot Eagle SE is very easy to install but does required some help from a family member or friend because of its size and weight. No drilling is required for the installation of the Patriot Eagle SE.


text:
Is anyone else bummed that Ross only played 6 minutes Wednesday? What do you all think we should realistically expect from him this season?
Is anyone else bummed that Ross only played 6 minutes Wednesday? What do you all think we should realistically expect from him this season?
Well I was expecting DeMar to get traded, giving Ross the starting spot eventually.
I mean, he was drafted higher and in a better draft class, wasn't he? Why wouldn't we be starting him from the get-go just like DeRozan? I personally see more talent in Ross.
looked scared. it was a big day for him. i think he will be the 6th man in a year or two or move dd to the 3. lets be happy he isn't elbowing bigv in the head
The way he was playing you couldn't give him more than 6 minutes in a winnable game against a conference power. His shot was not even close, he wasn't getting open, you can't risk giving up a chance at a win so early in the year just to give the rook some experience.
Should see some more minutes in this game... hopefully
bummed by this organization...
I think this is premature.
The transition to the NBA is crazy enough.
If this was the start of year 2 and he played 6 minutes, I'd be a little concerned but not after 1 NBA game.
Check the early years of Arron Afflalo or JJ Redick to see how much time they received and then consider how they developed.... Redick especially in year 2.
Last edited by mcHAPPY; Sat Nov 3rd, 2012 at 03:05 PM.
This really is a "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" world, jeez. Even being "bummed" about Landry Fields would be way too early. He's got TWO weeks, then I got straight to "pissed" about him. Don't piss me off Landry.
However, Im with you that its only one game .. but we gotta give this guy run. We are doomed with the lack of shooting ability between LF and DD - he is our only hope. (tangent - was watching LF shoot jumpers at practice on Raptors Today this morning .. his shot is flat out broken .. I could be worng, but I dont remember that dramatic a "hitch" in his shot in his rookie year)
As "unfair" as it might be cause hes played well, AA needs to be on the bench. This team is very much still in building mode .. we arent going anywhere with AA .. we hopefully are with Ross (who we passed on Drummond and others to take). As the 8th pick in a loaded draft .. weve got to figure out what we have (and btw - I think we will be pleasantly surprised!)
Three things to consider, first it was just one game, second, he did not look good in his limited minutes, 3 Jose played well and shot well while slotted in as the 2 guard.
Experience will come, he will get comfortable, and Jose will not always be a great fit off the ball.
on the bright side nash just fractured his fibula!!
That's an awful thing to say
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The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday on the case of a Marine Corps colonel, V. Stuart Couch, who refused to handle the prosecution of a Guantánamo detainee, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, after concluding that the evidence he was asked to use to press the case had been secured through the use of torture.
In the following weeks, Mr. Slahi said, he was placed in isolation, subjected to extreme temperatures, beaten and sexually humiliated. The detention-board transcript states that at this point, "the recording equipment began to malfunction." It summarizes Mr. Slahi's missing testimony as discussing "how he was tortured while here at GTMO by several individuals."
Funny how often this happens—DVDs disappear, videotapes can't be found, and recording equipment malfunctions—whenever torture is in play. But the core of Jess Bravin's well crafted story lies in how Couch came to realize he could no longer be silently complicit in the torture process.
In May 2004, attending a baptism at Virginia's Falls Church, Col. Couch joined the congregation in reciting the liturgy. The reading concluded, as is typical, with the priest asking if congregants will "respect the dignity of every human being."
"When I heard that, I knew I gotta get off the fence," Col. Couch says. "Here was somebody I felt was connected to 9/11, but in our zeal to get information, we had compromised our ability to prosecute him." He says, in retrospect, the tipping point came with the forged letter about Mr. Slahi's mother. "For me, that was just, enough is enough. I had seen enough, I had heard enough, I had read enough. I said: 'That's it.' "
Couch asked that his objections be brought to the attention of DOD General Counsel William J. Haynes II. Of course, Haynes was the author of a notorious memorandum to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld advocating the introduction of highly coercive interrogation techniques in Guantánamo in the first place.
Couch makes clear that his actions were not inspired by any sense that Slahi was innocent. To the contrary, Couch felt he had "blood on his hands." "I'm hoping there's some non-tainted evidence out there that can put the guy in the hole," he says.
More from Scott Horton:
Conversation — August 5, 2016, 12:08 pm
Sidney Blumenthal on the origins of the Republican Party, the fallout from Clinton's emails, and his new biography of Abraham Lincoln
Conversation — March 30, 2016, 3:44 pm
Joseph Hickman discusses his new book, The Burn Pits, which tells the story of thousands of U.S. soldiers who, after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, have developed rare cancers and respiratory diseases.
Context, No Comment — August 28, 2015, 12:16 pm
In five easy lessons
In 1899, the art critic Layton Crippen complained in the New York Times that private donors and committees had been permitted to run amok, erecting all across the city a large number of "painfully ugly monuments." The very worst statues had been dumped in Central Park. "The sculptures go as far toward spoiling the Park as it is possible to spoil it," he wrote. Even worse, he lamented, no organization had "power of removal" to correct the damage that was being done.
In February 1947, Harper's Magazine published Henry L. Stimson's "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb." As secretary of war, Stimson had served as the chief military adviser to President Truman, and recommended the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The terms of his unrepentant apologia, an excerpt of which appears on page 35, are now familiar to us: the risk of a dud made a demonstration too risky; the human cost of a land invasion would be too high; nothing short of the bomb's awesome lethality would compel Japan to surrender. The bomb was the only option. Seventy years later, we find his reasoning unconvincing. Entirely aside from the destruction of the blasts themselves, the decision thrust the world irrevocably into a high-stakes arms race — in which, as Stimson took care to warn, the technology would proliferate, evolve, and quite possibly lead to the end of modern civilization. The first half of that forecast has long since come to pass, and the second feels as plausible as ever. Increasingly, the atmosphere seems to reflect the anxious days of the Cold War, albeit with more juvenile insults and more colorful threats. Terms once consigned to the history books — "madman theory," "brinkmanship" — have returned to the news cycle with frightening regularity. In the pages that follow, seven writers and experts survey the current nuclear landscape. Our hope is to call attention to the bomb's ever-present menace and point our way toward a world in which it finally ceases to exist.
The Ambassador Bridge arcs over the Detroit River, connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, the southernmost city in Canada. Driving in from the Canadian side, where I grew up, is like viewing a panorama of the Motor City's rise and fall, visible on either side of the bridge's turquoise steel stanchions. On the right are the tubular glass towers of the Renaissance Center, headquarters of General Motors, and Michigan Central Station, the rail terminal that closed in 1988. On the left is a rusted industrial corridor — fuel tanks, docks, abandoned warehouses. I have taken this route all my life, but one morning this spring, I crossed for the first time in a truck.
But the exercise of labor is the worker's own life-activity, the manifestation of his own life. . . . He works in order to live. He does not even reckon labor as part of his life, it is rather a sacrifice of his life.
— Karl Marx
Factor by which the brightness of a recent supernova exceeded that of all the stars in the Milky Way:
Fetuses yawn.
Trump's former chief strategist, whom Trump said had "lost his mind," issued a statement saying that Trump's son did not commit treason; the US ambassador to the United Nations announced that "no one questions" Trump's mental stability; and the director of the CIA said that Trump, who requested "killer graphics" in his intelligence briefings, is able to read.
Subscribe to the Weekly Review newsletter. Don't worry, we won't sell your email address!
"Gun owners have long been the hypochondriacs of American politics. Over the past twenty years, the gun-rights movement has won just about every battle it has fought; states have passed at least a hundred laws loosening gun restrictions since President Obama took office. Yet the National Rifle Association has continued to insist that government confiscation of privately owned firearms is nigh. The NRA's alarmism helped maintain an active membership, but the strategy was risky: sooner or later, gun guys might have realized that they'd been had. Then came the shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, followed swiftly by the nightmare the NRA had been promising for decades: a dedicated push at every level of government for new gun laws. The gun-rights movement was now that most insufferable of species: a hypochondriac taken suddenly, seriously ill."


text:
Submit News
Major MyFord Touch Update Arrives, Promises "Big Improvement"
Jason Mick
March 5, 2012 1:00 PM
Recipient E-mail
Sender E-mail
(Source: HubPages)
Update will take 60 minutes to install; over 1,000 MyFord Touch screens overhauled
Is Ford Motor Comp. (
) an automaker? Or is it a technology company? If you ask Ford executives like Derrick Kuzak, Global VP for product development, it's a little of both.
I. After Rocky Launch, Ford Works Hard to Make Good on MFT Promise
"SYNC turned out to be a game-changer in the marketplace," Mr. Kuzak stated at a Monday morning announcement at the company's Research & Innovation Center, referring to Ford's mass-market infotainment and connectivity solution, which first launched in 2007.
SYNC's successor, MyFord Touch
, has been a game changer as well for Ford -- and not all in good ways. The option, initially priced at $395 USD had a lot of rough edges at launch and caused Ford to post the steepest decline of any automaker in
JD Power and Associates
(a division of The McGraw-Hill Comp. (
)) and
Consumer Reports quality rankings
Our tests
agreed with some -- but not all -- of the criticism
. While we felt it was unfair to knock an automaker's overall quality rating for a premium add-on, and felt that some of the distraction criticism was unfounded, we found the new system to struggle with certain voice commands.
"A significant group of customers reported that features in MyFord Touch were not working," Mr. Kuzak acknowledged.
But he added, "What has really kept [Ford] in the lead is our dedication to continuous improvement of the product."
Indeed, while it's easy to criticize the initial launch of MyFord Touch, Ford was quick to notice the complaints and push out an upgrade that greatly improved voice recognition and responsiveness. However, during our test in September 2011 we still
encountered the persistent rebooting issues
that had plagued the new software. The issues were reportedly linked, according to sources, to the Bluetooth pairing (e.g. unexpected information received from the connecting smartphone causing the system to crash).
II. A Massive Effort -- Free to Customers
Now Ford has finally come back with a
much larger second overhaul
, which reinvents MyFord Touch and -- if all goes according to plan -- will help restore Ford's reputation as the unquestioned leader in infotainment.
The update is available for the 2011 Ford Explorer and Edge and in the 2012 Ford Explorer, Edge, and Focus. It is completely free, as per Ford's MFT upgrade policy. The update will be installed on Ford's new MFT-equipped 2013 models, including the Escape, Taurus, and Edge. The Lincoln luxury brand will also receive an identical update, starting this week.
The new update is free for MyFord Touch-equipped vehicles, such as the 2011 and 2012 Ford Explorer [Image Source: Jason Mick/DailyTech]
2 GB USB sticks (manufacturer: SanDisk) will begin shipping later this week with the update. It takes approximately 60 minutes to install. Ford recommends drivers with shorter commutes start their vehicle running a half hour in advance or more, and then go to their vehicle to complete the rest of the update during their drive.
During the first part of the install, customers will be able to use their touchscreen, however during the last 20 minutes or so, it will lock them out. However, it will maintain whatever their last climate and radio settings were, so customers won't be left in the cold.
The process was originally slated to take a scant 45 min., but the install time was bumped significantly. Ford global director of electrical and electronic systems engineering, Graydon Reitz explains, "There's more content we're adding than was originally anticipated."
Alternatively, the update process can be completed at the dealership.
Global customers in Canada and other regions will receive the update, but Ford did not detail its specific plans for distribution at today's event or have immediate access to that information.
III. What's Inside
The new update provides over 1,000 refined screens. Components have been shuffled for easier access and less distraction. Button size and font size have been increased to reduce glance time. And fonts have also been made bold to make it even easier to quickly get information.
Vital features, such as temperature and seat heating have been moved to the front page for faster access.
Ford acknowledges that previously there was a "long delay" between pressing the voice command button and response. By overhauling the user interface, Ford was able to free up a great deal of processor resources to offer faster response times and better overall voice recognition.
The automaker says that overall response speed on the touchscreen interface has improved 2-fold.
Additionally, Mr. Reitz comments "we've eliminated the error states", alluding to bugs such as the Bluetooth bug that could cause the system to crash. In the case of error the system now responds in a less catastrophic manner.
Ford also announced a few new features:
Tablets -- including Apple, Inc.'s (
) iPad -- are now supported by the system, allowing you to pull MP3s off them for listening just like a smartphone.
MyFord Touch now supports tablets [Image Source: Telecom Australia]
Sirius XM Radio Inc. (
) has worked with Ford to deliver a new "Game Finder" voice command. Customers can now say commands like "tune to the Detroit Lions", and it will take them to the game broadcast.
Audible.com audio books are now supported.
Navteq (a Nokia Oyj. (
) subsidiary), Ford's navigation map-data partner, has delivered new maps, for customers with the extra ($795 USD) navigation option. These customers will receive an upgrade SD card, carrying the new data.
IV. Ford Learns from Mistakes, Growing Pains
The new release has also seen a change in the development approach. After relying on independent software company B-Squared for part of the original MyFord Touch application -- reportedly a major source of the poor results -- Ford having distanced itself somewhat from B-Squared and moving the development back to in-house. Ford says Microsoft Corp. (
) has been a crucial partner for assisting with Bluetooth syncing and other functionality.
While Ford stated that some B^2 developers are still assisting with the effort, the vendor's diminished involvement is almost surely attributable to the mixed results in terms of compatibility and product quality that our sources at Ford have shared with us. Ford is all about picking winners -- both externally and internally -- and the quiet message here appears to be that B^2 was not a winner.
Mr. Reitz says that Ford is following an approach of consumer feedback similar to Microsoft's highly successful betas. While most of the actual testing of the new overhaul was performend by "hundreds-of-thousands" of on-the-road miles by Ford employees and dealer partners, much of the feature improvements came from a series of 4 clinics that Ford held, seeking feedback from Focus and Explorer owners.
Ford says it also listened to criticism in the media, emails it had received, and feedback its dealers had received from customers.
The company would surely have preferred for everything to go perfect from the start, but the problems have allowed Ford to earn the distinction of becoming the world's first automaker to
perform a large-scale on-road software beta test
Mr. Reitz enthuses, "We think this initiative marks another milestone in becoming a technology company."
Overall this is a big release for Ford and should prove vital for the company in terms of restoring it to the path of acclaim, with regards to infotainment. We look forward to testing the product in the wild and bringing you our thoughts and analysis.
"Spreading the rumors, it's very easy because the people who write about Apple want that story, and you can claim its credible because you spoke to someone at Apple." -- Investment guru Jim Cramer
Related Articles
Ford is First Automaker to Conduct Large On-The-Road SW Beta Test
December 12, 2011, 3:55 PM
MyFord Touch Infotainment System to Get Major Facelift Next Year
November 7, 2011, 10:40 AM
MyFord Touch Shows Dramatic Improvement in Second Tour
September 4, 2011, 9:00 AM
MyFord Touch Drop Kicks Ford from 5th to 23rd in J.D. Power IQS Rankings
June 23, 2011, 2:50 PM
UPDATED: Test Drive: 2012 Ford Focus Looks, Drives Great, But Sync Gen 2 Disappoints
April 30, 2011, 1:20 PM
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Tuesday, February 07, 2012 - Zdenek and Daniel - FULL CONTACT
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Our preview from CFNMEurope.com today is the 4th part of CFNM - Lecherous Nurses. You can see the full shoots at www.CFNMEurope.com.
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