text:
Last week
we had the privilege of taking the 2012 Ford Focus "5-door" hatchback (four passenger doors and a back hatch/door) for a spin.
We came away generally impressed by the vehicle itself, but pretty
disappointed in the second generation SYNC system (but not necessarily for the
same reasons others have stated).
Read on to find out what it's like to drive Ford Motor Company's (F) newest compact.
I. Looks, Feel, and Price
The 2012 Focus has a starting MSRP of $16,720 for a 4-door sedan or $18,065 for
a 5-door hatchback sedan. There are seven different price grades -- four
four-door sedan trim levels, and three hatchback trim levels.
We received the 5-door Titanium trim model to test -- which happens to be the
priciest base model at $22,765 MSRP.
How you feel about the vehicle's looks depends largely on how you feel about
European design versus a more traditional American sedan styling. Like
the Ford Fiesta, the European styling is readily apparent with sweeping, aggressive
We liked the look of the exterior, especially the front grill region and subtle
side curves to the door panel. It also looks pretty good from the back.
Inside, the doors, sports-style seats, and front console all looked and felt
great. The molding on the front console was superb. The one weak
point, we felt was the center stack, whose molding looked and felt somewhat
like cheap plastic.
Our favorite part of the interior design was the steering wheel itself.
The turn signal and wiper blades stalks curve upwards and then down on
subtle slope in the shape somewhat akin to a bird in flight. Combined with the
design of the wheel itself the results are not only attractive, but offer easy
hand access to the controls.
The driver and passenger's front seats were both spacious with an acceptable,
but not overabundant amount of cargo room in the door compartments, center
compartment, and glove box. Additional front panel storage in the center
section would be a nice touch, but for this class the storage seemed
The rear was also relatively spacious for a compact, but the center console
(which as we said, we weren't much of a fan of in the first place) rears its
ugly head again, intruding in the rear passengers' legroom. The effect
seems subtle at first, but on long rides -- especially with adult passengers --
it's definitely noticeable.
Overall: A-
II. How Does it Drive?
I took the Ford Focus on several excursions including a highway trip where I
tested speeds, a groceries trip, and a road trip out into the countryside.
In all cases the car performed admirably.
On the highway I briefly tested the Select Shift. Basically Select Shift is
an automated manual technology (which many carmakers have) that electronically
shifts gears without user interaction from a clutch pedal. The electronic
clutching system is designed to give users a bit more of a "sporty"
feel than they would in a traditional automatic, by giving them control of the
electronic gear shifting.
Testing the system, it indeed seemed to give me more torque when revving the
engine after shifting down to "fourth". Throwing fuel
efficiency to the wind I found that the car was more than capable of strongly
accelerating if you play with it a bit via the select shifter.
The SelectShift is definitely a welcome feature. Aside from offering
improved acceleration it also could come in handy when climbing steep slopes
(shift down to a lower gear). The only disappointment here is that Ford
chose to implement it with flimsy seeming plastic buttons on the center stick,
rather than paddles like some of its other models.
When ignoring the semi-manual capabilities, acceleration is a bit on the weak
side, but the general power of 2.0 liter I-4 engine is sufficient given the
lighter vehicle weight.
Handling is one of the car's real strengths. It felt great rounding
corners. Ford uses a technology called "torque vectoring
control" that changes the wheel speeds individually to optimally handle
cornering. Again, this technology isn't exactly brand new, but Ford does
a solid job implementing it here in a mass-market vehicle.
The car also showed its colors in offering great dampening to noise, vibration,
and harshness (NVH). As opposed to the Fiesta, which I tested last year,
the NVH has been scaled down even more. The result is that the car feels
a little less sporty as you feel less of the road. But it's hard to
complain about a silky smooth ride. Ford deserves a lot of credit for
making a silent cabin and a strong suspension that can offer a relatively
smooth trek down even the most pothole-laden city streets and dirt country
Gas mileage is generally quite good. It hits its sweet spot at around
50-60 mph. Trying to stick largely to that speed band, we managed to
average 31.2 mpg over the week. This is nicely in line with the EPA
rating of ratings of 27 mpg city/37 mpg highway, so no major surprises positive
or negative here.
The strong mileage is owed in part to several high-tech features. The car
closes its grille on the highway to improve its aerodynamics. And the
engine itself is equipped with direct injection technology. Together,
these and several other technologies mean that you'll get surprisingly far on a
tank, considering your driving a vehicle with a pure gas engine.
In all the Ford Focus is a very comfortable drive. It toes the line of
being a bit sporty. The new technologies it brings to the table (torque
vectoring, SelectShift, etc.) offer the chance to have a bit more fun with the
vehicle when you're in an experimental mood. And when it comes to fuel
economy -- an important concern in today's market of $4 gas, the Focus is a
strong performer, hitting north of 30 mpg for the average driver.
Overall: A
III. Controls and Sync Gen 2.0
i. Voice Control? What Voice Control?
(See the update at the end of this piece for an important clarification.)
I'll try to be brief on what I feel is the Ford Focus's greatest
weakness/frustration, MyFord Touch (also known as Ford Sync Gen 2.0).
I think that a lot of what has been reported about the system by other news
agencies (Consumer Reports) is somewhat misleading. Many have
argued that the system is overly complex. From a touch perspective I
respectfully disagree -- the system is relatively intuitive, and everything is
a couple clicks away at most.
So what's wrong with Sync Gen 2.0, then? At the heart of the problem is a
noticeably deteriorated voice recognition system.
"Deteriorated?" you ask. Indeed, the voice recognition is
noticeably worse than in the first generation.
The system failed to recognize approximately 40-50 percent of the voice
commands that I gave it, in cases when I was giving it exactly the correct
command. I would estimate the failure rate for Sync Gen 1.0 to be closer
to 10-20 percent, hence how noticeable this was.
It had an especially hard time dealing with short words. For example
requesting 88.3 (a radio station) took about five or six tries.
Requesting that my synced Bluetooth handset "call mom" simply
did not work -- I tried about ten times. I was only able to get it to
call the number by manually punching it in the touch screen, at which point the
voice command system announced "calling mom". I called other
people using the "call ___" command so it was clearly the voice
recognition system that was flawed.
Along with the voice recognition came frustrating slowdown issues. A busy
signal became an all too familiar site when it was struggling to translate my
voice commands. Sometimes the system seemed to just crash, giving some
sort of error about a command failing and no voice cue (the standard cue is to
ask "Did you say, "____"?").
To me this slowdown was somewhat baffling. After all, the Sync Gen 2.0 is
equipped with a 600 MHz ARM processor that's 50 percent faster than the Gen
1.0's processor. And the system has a 2D/3D graphics accelerator to handle
the onscreen images, and is equipped with 512 MB of RAM. In other words,
the hardware seems sound.
ii. Our Ford Source Spills the Beans on What Went Wrong
Trying to get to the bottom of from whence the slowdown and voice control
issues came, I spoke with one of my sources on the Sync team. They said
that the issues with the system were well known in the group and to bear in
mind that the system I received was several updates since the original release
so was actually significantly improved.
They told me that at the root of the problem was that Ford decided to largely
scrap their own codebase and hire BSQUARE Corp (BSQR) to recode the next generation of Sync. The move seemingly made sense.
Ford already had a close partnership with Microsoft Corp. and BSQUARE was
a company founded by ex-Microsoft employees with close ties to their former
But the results Ford received were poor. Our source described BSQUARE's
coding process as "Guy A sitting in room 1 writing code and guy B sitting
in room 2 also writing code, with neither knowing what the other is
Our source said that at the end of the day the resulting app was bloated and
"Who would you say is to blame?" I asked. They replied,
"I'd say 70 percent BSQUARE, but 30 percent Ford for choosing
So that's the dirty little secret behind MyFord Touch and its issues.
Oh, and according to my source the recent rebooting problems (which I
fortunately did not experience) were not nearly as "rare" as Ford's
spokesperson described them as. They said that the recent update did
significantly decrease the rate of reboots, but that it still was occurring.
They also complained that because the updates could only be installed at the
dealership, many people were still driving on the road with older versions (and
would hence get more reboots). They argued that it would have been wise
to incorporate a 3G modem for over the air updates -- something Ford discussed,
but decided was too expensive at present.
They did point out that the reboot issue wasn't entirely new -- Ford Sync Gen
1.0 in earlier versions also sometimes rebooted. But rather than going
black, the screen would simply throw up a message about that it was "re-indexing"
iii. Final Thoughts on Sync Including a Bit of Good
So that's not my only gripes about Sync. Aside from the underlying
slowdown/voice recognition issues, I was also frustrated by certain commands
that were seemingly missing. For example you had to hard press the phone
button (on the steering wheel) to hang up calls -- there was no voice command
to do that (though there were commands to make a call, pause a call, join a
call, etc.). Also there was no way I could find to individually
separately tweak the passenger and driver cabin temperatures using voice
Other commands struck me as irritating such as "make it hotter" to
increase the temperature. Why the system could not just be designed to
respond to "increase temperature" or "temperature up" for
the life of me I don't know.
A final (negative) point to make is that while you could certainly use the
steering button controls or touch screen to access most of the
missing/problematic voice commands, doing so while driving is very unsafe.
In my experience the distraction of doing so eclipses that of making a
call on a handset. It's approximately as distracting as surfing the
internet on a smartphone or texting while driving.
Ford's voice recognition system was designed to cut down on taking the
driver's hands and eyes off the road. However, the voice recognition is so bad
that it fails at this mission.
There were a few aspects of Sync Gen 2.0 I liked. When stopped, I found
the new touch interface to be attractive, intuitive, and simple. Also
commands to play music actually seemed to be the one area where voice
recognition had remained constant in quality or perhaps improved slightly.
And while the climate controlled had some frustrations
(missing/frustratingly worded commands and voice recognition issues), I liked
the overall ability to control the cabin climate by voice.
I also liked that the Ford Focus included the "European" style physical audio and climate control panel as a backup to the touch screen. Once I
familiarized myself with it, I regularly circumvented Sync and safely adjusted
the radio and cabin climate (e.g. temperature and fan speed) by turning the traditional panel's knobs and pressing its buttons.
Compared to the frustrations/dangers of using the touch screen or voice
driven climate control while driving, I came to develop a health appreciation
of classic tactile controls.
Ford should definitely include a backup audio and climate controls set like it did with
Focus for any model that comes with Sync Gen 2.0. This was a terrific
decision and mitigates the damage from the sloppy Sync Gen 2.0.
To summarize, when Sync Gen 2.0 worked, I really liked it. But when it
failed it drove me crazy. Based on the perspective I gained from my
discussion with one of my Sync Team sources it seems Ford has some internal
issues that are derailing the quality of the project. It seems like Ford
sold the horse (voice control) to save the farm (add a pretty touch interface)
and at the end of the day the results aren't pretty.
That said, from what I've heard there's been significant progress from the
updates to the system. So there's still hope that Ford can
"fix" the broken core code that BSQUARE delivered to the Sync team
for integration.
Until then, I would expect the pickup rate to remain low. According to a dealership source, the current pickup rate was internally stated to be around 20
percent. That's much lower than Sync Gen 1.0. You can get Sync Gen
1.0 in the Focus, according to my source.
Refer to my comments on Sync Gen 1.0 to make your impressions on that.
But to offer you a brief summary, I love Gen 1.0 and thought it offers a
truly unprecedented experience.
Overall: C-
IV. Conclusions
For all my complaints about Sync Gen 2.0, it still is well ahead of the
competition in what it can do in a single package. It may be frustrating,
but you can adjust to it with time (I had started to by the end of the week) or
you can simply opt to go with Ford Sync Gen 1.0.
This single issue is not enough to seriously bring down what is a great car in
my professional opinion.
For its class, the vehicle drives great, gets terrific gas mileage, and has a smooth ride.
It also looks great, both inside and out.
It has plenty of nice features like physical climate controls and SelectShift
that allow you to do pretty much anything you might want/need to do while
Overall, I would heartily recommend the 2012 Ford Focus. As a sum of its
parts, it's a very likable car and would make the ideal grocery
getter-cum-commuting vehicle.
Overall: A-
Updated: Monday May 2, 2011 1:10 p.m.We just finished talking with Ford's spokesperson about our MyFord Touch difficulties. He tells us that the vehicle had a pre-production software, which may be the source of some of the voice issues. As all the branches of the MyFord Touch code tree are at a bit different stages of updates, it's hard to equate exactly how far "outdated" the in-vehicle code was, but it sounds like it's received substantial tweaks since, which may have improved performance.An upcoming update will unify all these development trees into a single homogeneous source, but until then it's easiest just to say the tested build was pre-production.


text: If a GM ever predicates his moves on fan reactions then he's stupid and should be fired. I don't get what your point is? BC hasn't changed his philosophy towards building a team since he got here. It's build, but keep flexability, get nowhere, rebuild, be an above average team, fall off a little, retool, rebuild ect. I can't think of a team in this league that is both in great financial standing, but also contending yearly. OKC is unique in that they've still got rookie contracts on two stars. We're going to be paying in the doublefigures for DeRozan, Lowry, Bargs and almost Fields in a few years assuming the team stays in tact for the most part. We'd also have Ross and Val to worry about, not to mention Davis if he develops as expected. We'll be cash strapped soon with a ceiling that stops just short of contending. Woop be excited about our potential. I've been a fan since 2000 and I'd say I've had plenty of reasons withing that time to lose patience. You're telling me it was smart to overpay on two contracts to compete on a limited level for a couple years? Really? Thank god it didn't work out. My point is this is as good as it gets with BC. Don't expect a better roster because this guy finds a way to not deliver every time. Sure he'll have the cash and assets but he'll get a J.O'neall or a Turkoglu cause he doesn't understand the concept of winning big.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
« Exit photo gallery
Fiscal cliff's key players
Congress and the White House face a combination of automatic spending cuts and expiring tax cuts, known as the "fiscal cliff," on Jan. 1 unless they reach a deal that will alter or prevent them. Here's a look at some likely key players in those talks.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)
House Budget Committee chairman(Photo: AP Photo)
Related Content
More: See all POLITICO photo galleries
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text:
iPay Says P2P Payments Popped to $1.2 Billion in Second Half of 2012
Jack Henry & Associates said its iPay Solutions person-to-person payments service processed more than 1.8 million payments totaling more than $1.2 billion in the last six months of 2012.
The Monett, Mo., company said more than 1,900 credit unions now are among the more than 2,700 financial institutions using the iPay Solutions bill pay platform in which the P2P functionality is integrated.
The company said that from October through December, it saw a more than 38% increase in P2P users and more than 37% increase in payments compared to the same quarter from the previous year. The average payment amount per transaction also increased to $719, iPay Solutions said.
"We have clearly seen exponential growth in the number of subscribers and transactions as well as transaction amounts for the last few years," said Greg Adelson, group president of iPay Solutions.
"We believe the ongoing evolution of mobile devices and their prevalence in daily financial management will surely support a significant rise in P2P adoption," he added.
Jack Henry bought iPay Technologies of Elizabethton, Ky., in mid-2010 and made it part of the company's ProfitStars division. It introduced the P2P service as a standalone option that September, branding it TheWayiPay.
Jack Henry also owns Symitar, a provider of core processing solutions to about 790 credit unions.


text:
I see.daverupa wrote:The thing is, the word isn't being used to describe nibbana, it's being used to qualify the holy life. You seem, still, to think of nibbana as a special thing, when the term is actually already a metaphor, one that refers to the absence of certain things - not the presence of certain things. It is not a metaphor for stability, as you say.
You say that the word ground it used to discribe the holly life, but it's clear that Nibbana as ground, ground of holy life.
"For, Radha, the holy life is lived with Nibbana as its ground"
And i repeat my question, is "holy life" a dhamma? Peoples never respond to my question so i will respond myself, YES, holy life is dhamma, like all fenomena. So if Nibbana is like a ground, fondation of holy life, why all others dhammas have no Nibbana as it's fondation?
And i repeat my other question, why dhamma is called "dhamma"? Because it's The Dhamma, and The Dhamma is Nibbana, so dhamma, etymologicaly, have Nibbana as its fondation.
Also you say that Nibbana it's absance of some things, it's true, this whats i say, and because it have no any substance, because it is no any fenomena, that why it's stable, permanent.
All fenomenas are impermanent, Nibbana is not any fenomena, it's permanent.
So actualy, by saing that it's permanent, i say that it's have nothnig, have no any impermanent fenomena. I say that Nibbana is nothing, not because i'am nihilist, for me Nibbana=Samsara, Nibbana is non-dual because it's not-created, and if its not-created it's have no beggining and no and, infinity, and if it's infinity it's ALL, there is no two infinity, it's impossible... but because what is called Nibbana is free from all fenomena, from all form/feeling/perception/volitional formations/consciosness, free from impermanence.
Is the canvas is free from drawn picture? Yes.
Is canvas drawn(created)? No
It's canvas is nature of picture? Yes.
Picture have canvas as its ground? Yes.
Can we draw canvas on canvas? No.
Is silence is free from noize? Yes.
Is silence spoken (created)? No.
Is silence is nature of noize? Yes.
Noize have silence as it's ground? Yes
Can silence be spoken? No.
It's the same with Nibbana and fenomenas.
Buddha said that Nibbana can not be penetrated by thougts, by sankharas. Buddha also said that only mind is able to see Nibbana, mind can be liberated, why only mind? Because Nibbana is nature of Mind, beyond the mind, pure from all fenomenas, pure from all sankharas.
Even logicaly it's simple to understand. Isn't it?


text:
Personal computing discussed
Moderators: Captain Ned, emkubed
Bensam123 wrote:Looking at it I could see some problems with holstering your items under your arms. Many people swing their arms when they walk or put them in their pockets, just having something under your arm will feel awkward and possibly uncomfortable, especially considering the dimensions of tablets and such that would fit in it. It looks a lot like a holster for a gun, which is probably where the idea came from. Guns, however, are smaller and much more compact. Their density largely resides in one area.
You can get some pretty minimalistic backpacks and brief cases are always classy. They make laptop bag briefcases now too, which is something to consider. Backpacks most definitely keep everything out of the way and the weight distribution is quite a bit better then something like this.
If you put a charger in this it will make it a lot bulkier unless you have something to manage the wires. Not everything is flat and pretty much one dimensional, that's also one of the pros of using a briefcase or backpack as they don't reside under your armpit. You also have to consider time to engage or how long it takes to actually use the device.
drfish wrote:I think you would notice if you tried one on that the space between your side and you arm is typically "available" - yes, it is not very comfortable to carry a tablet between your arm and your side if you are holding it in place with your arm and your side. With a TechSling it is being held there for you with no effort on your part so it "disappears" fairly effectively. The flat profile of a tablet (and the other side as well) doesn't need to fit any particular contour of your body because it generally hangs in the space without unpleasant contact to your arm or side.
Regarding your earlier comments, I haven't really discussed what the best way to put it on is but what you should do it put in on over your head like a t-shirt. Pick it up, sort out the left and right sides and with the arm holes hanging between your thumb and forefinger just slip it on over your head, its really fast and not awkward at all (take it off the same way). When it comes to harness comfort I'm fairly convinced any extra padding would really only add cost with no real payback. You guys who are testing them can correct me if I'm wrong but since the webbing is 1" wide (and very soft) when you add up the total contact area of it and the elastic you are talking probably 25-30 square inches of contact with your body which distributes the weight to something like a few onces per inch assuming 2lbs on each side - in other words something that really doesn't need additional padding at all. TheEmrys mentioned one of the pluses was not having it hold sweat to your body, that is another reason we wanted to avoid padding beyond what the harness naturally offered (and why the exact webbing we chose is so important to the overall comfort).
drfish wrote:Would you guys that have them already do me a favor and post a few pictures of them with your gear inside? You don't have to be in them like my first post of course but I am curious to seem more in use.


text:
[Sorry, was asked to take photo down by the Man, which means it probably was real]
Spotted over at TwiFans by KStew411
- Lorabell
P.s. SQUEEEEEEE!
they are amazing!!!
and it's a official pic!
Jane has the same outfit that she had in Italy!Marcus is scary! O_O
oo awesome! i love it. dakota fanning looks so matureReplyDelete
I'm pretty sure jane is blonde in the movie...ReplyDelete
I hope this is the real deal b/c this looks SO much better than I could have hoped. From Dakota to Jane is incredible!ReplyDelete
They all look awesome!ReplyDelete
oooooooooooooooh looks real!!ReplyDelete
Wow! Marcus is actually what I pictured Aro looking like. But they all look great. I'm wondering...was Caius supposed to look young? I always thought all the Volturi were old and decrepit. Maybe I should go back to the book, but I always thought it was weird that a young guy was cast as a Volturi.ReplyDelete
awesome! howeve, can anybody tell me, why the volturi all have red eyes? i remember from the books that hey have red eyes, but i dunno why. why didnt they turn golden after a while, like the cullens` eyes did change after a while? was it cuz of the vegetrarian diet of the cullens?ReplyDelete
Awesome pictures. Totally perfect.ReplyDelete
It looks absoltely amazing!!!!!ReplyDelete
Holy crap those pics look friggin sweet! They all look terrifying!ReplyDelete
THey have red eyes because the volturi eat people.
veggie vamps have yellow eyes b/c they eat animals.
Linsey stole my words!
I actually squeed when I saw this
Ensue the dodgy looks from the people around me.
Argh, It's going to be amazing
Cameron Bright's growing up...he's a veeery good-looking boy!ReplyDelete
*OMG* The Volturi's are alive!!!ReplyDelete
I am picturing now Aro saying "Wonderful!!" with that air that only he has....Wicked O_O !!!!ReplyDelete
omg.... they're not the volturi!
oh com'on.... they are from 'lord of the rings' and jane... oh gosh! she's not dakota!
Holy whoa. Those guys look AWESOME! I'm so excited!ReplyDelete
W O WReplyDelete
oh boy it looks good.. I can't wait to see them all in action. Cameron was the only one that looked pretty much like himself..ReplyDelete
perez hilton has it up on his sight and believes it is the real deal...ReplyDelete
I wonder if they are planning a Volturi symbol link on the NM website like they have for the Cullen's and Wolfpack?? Just a thought..pondering away ;)ReplyDelete
Sophie, in the pic that was posted they did, and it was really cool!
The Man is on you twicrack! (is it me or did this sound a bit naughty?
Loving the new pic by the way!! hahahaReplyDelete
That is awesome! I am so excited.ReplyDelete
YAY!!! They all look so cool!ReplyDelete
i love how the people behind the movie apparently think that "white hair" means "blonde hair" for caius. urgh.ReplyDelete
Gutted i missed the photo, im so desperate to see Aro!ReplyDelete
Michael Sheen as Aro! AAAmazinng, the guy is a great actor!
I gottA ADMIT, a didnt put too much faith in Jaime as caius, but now, hi looks damm fine to me!
You missed, You tube girl! clik most recent...
Anonymous its out there if you look.... hehehehehe.... Not that I did ;).
It was amazing, couldnt wait to see this. Love the way Caius looks he has to be my fav, thats what I pictured the Volturi to look like. And Jane is perf, would like to see the hair though to get the full effect! The Twicrack is just pouring in.... GEEEZE!
A friend nabbed this before it was pulled and posted it on her FB....
Caius looks like a young Lucius Malfoy! LOL!
They look incredible - but wondering what Felix and Demitri look like and why they weren't included??
they're not really how i imagined them but they're pretty damn good.
i can't wait to see what charlie and daniel look like. =)
Soo happy I managed to snag it before it was gone! The only one that kinda bothers me is Alec. I just think his haircut is a little to 'modern' I guess would be the word I'm looking for. Obviously it's just Cameron's haircut. Oh well!! A haircut is most definitely NOT going to ruin the movie for me.
And while I'm on a soapbox of sorts, I really wish people would stop saying how much the characters aren't as they pictured and the like. It is the way it is. Accept it!!!!
Still up on PerezHiltonReplyDelete
Jane looks like she was taken right outa the pages of New Moon!!! I imagined Aro to be a little creepier looking though, but all in all, I'm pleased.ReplyDelete
just curious, who's 'the man?'ReplyDelete
omg put it back up!! screw the man!! um anybody know where i can see them??ReplyDelete
@Anon 5.56: did you never see Empire Records? "The Man" is the boss - i.e. Summit!
- Lorabell
wow dakota looks great!! and so does "alec"! that caius looks damn young but im not picky... i dont know y i picture Aro bald i know he has long hair but for some reason when i read NM and BD he is just bald for some reason...weird but yea it all looks great!ReplyDelete
Aagghhh! I feel like the extra kid at the birthday party that doesn't get any cake or a goody bag. You deny me Volturi pictures??!! Damn, the Man.
Oh well, The Count is my 2nd favorite Vampire. Watch, he's gonna turn up in the Breaking Dawn movie somewhere. :)
this is perfect. this is exactly how i thought they would look. i'm so pumped and giddy over this. i must remind myself that i'm a 28 year old mom. i'm gonna head over to twitarded. they make me feel better about myself. LOL
my husband was napping when the pictures were posted so when he woke up i brought to the site and by then ya'll had put up the count's picture. he just busted laughing.
WHAT THE HELL DID I MISS? AGHHHHHHH! Karma hates me!ReplyDelete
WHO is "the man"???ReplyDelete
kerri there is a link up there at 5:38 to the pic. :DReplyDelete
Here is a working link!!!!
DAAAAMN I love Jane...and aro....XD
I'm a little dissapointed. I was really hoping Aro would have white hair (I wanted him to look like Gary Oldman in Dracula, minus the butthead haha) but hey, it's Michael Sheen, he'll be awesome regardless of what he looks like. And I'm still on the fence about Caius. I too thought he would be older. Marcus is PERFECT. No complaint at all! Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Who are we kidding, we would love them if they had rainbow hair and flowers coming out of their noses!ReplyDelete
I just recently saw it on perezhilton ... pretty sweet,
I really wished they gave Aro white hair. :S
does aro have white hair in the book? i don't rememberReplyDelete
Dude...how come I'm the only one who was asked to take the pic down? :-)
How did a nerdy bookworm like me get on summit's poop list?
I know right, TCA? But you could also take it as a compliment, I mean you are pretty big in the Twilight realm! :) Anyway, why didn't they include Felix and Demetri's pictures???
And I pictured Aro as looking much older and more sinister looking.
I am pretty sure that Aro had white white hair, and, and Caius and Marcus has black hair. They were described as having milky eyes, and transparent skinReplyDelete
I've seen it on Perez, Examiner (not Amanda though - cheek!) and allllllll over Twitter - WTF?!
- Lorabell
We must be special, Lorabell. :-)ReplyDelete
missed the original, but 'one bat, two bat, ah,ah,ah,ah' was also pretty good---ReplyDelete
SON OF A B*TCH! I missed the photo before you took it down...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No F*cking fair...... =o(
I found it on Perez Hilton!!!
Wonder if it's really what they'll look like.
BTW - Aro and Marcus have long black hair and Caius has the "shock of white hair".
I always imagined Aro with some facial hair..guess Im just used to Michael Sheen in Underworld... but they look amazing the movie is going to be awesome
I wonder when Summit will "officially" release the photos...


text:
have been many epic failures in the tech world over the years. One of
the most recent failures came from Microsoft in the form of the Kin
mobile phones. Consumers stayed away from the Kin in droves and
quickly pulled the plug."You've got to be bold, you've
got to look forward and you've got to stay focused," noted
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a recent interview. "Kin was
neither -- with 20-20 hindsight -- bold enough relative to where the
market's going, and it just defocused activity from Windows
Phone."Ballmer may have piloted Microsoft to its best
year ever, but the missteps by the company cost Ballmer. Ballmer
reportedly made his yearly bonus, but the bonus
was half what it could have been.Ballmer received a
bonus equal to his entire yearly salary amounting to $670,000. That
is certainly a massive bonus by most accounts. However, the proxy
filing by Microsoft cited the reasons for Ballmer not getting his
full bonus were "unsuccessful launch of the Kin phone, loss of
market share in the company's mobile phone business, and the need for
the company to pursue innovations to take advantage of new form
factors."Ballmer could have received no bonus at all, so
not all was lost. The total pay that Ballmer took home for fiscal
2010 totaled $1.34 million. Reuters reports
that Ballmer has 408 million shares of Microsoft for 4.7% of the
company estimated to be worth about $10 billion.
lists Ballmer as the 16th richest person in America.


text:
losetup-utils are three bash scripts that attempt to make the use of losetup a bit easier and faster. losetup can be fast, easy, and practical if you need to transport sensitive information over the Internet or in CD's, DVD's, or a pendrive. Also, if you want to store private data on your hard disk or in the cloud, an encrypted volume can be a convenient choice. The types of encryption can be any installed on the system.
A.M.I.C.U.S. (Automatic Multimedia Installation Configuration Utility System) helps users quickly and easily install and configure MythTV on generic PC hardware. It uses the Debian Netinst CD to install GNU/Linux and just the required packages to allow a functional MythTV on low end hardware.
Adam's Ripsuite is a collection of quick and dirty Perl and bash scripts to help rip CDs and manage a music collection. Rips music video DVDs and music CDs to files on your hard drive. Reads track information in from a file on disk. Transcodes music files from and to a variety of formats using mplayer/lame/libogg. Specify an artist name to have their back catalogue copied to a folder. Corrects the case of artist names/song titles for all music files/folders of music files. Adds artist information to files ripped with song title only. Does not support CDDB lookups for track information.
ALTSE is an alternative search engine technology. It can index up to a couple million Web pages. Altse does not aim to replace existing search engine technologies such as Google, Yahoo, and so on. Instead, it aims to provide an affordable alternative to index Web pages for small size businesses and organizations.
Ambit uses Bash brace expansion to expand and list hostnames or commands. Ambit is first and foremost meant to be a general purpose hostlist enumerator for use by other applications or scripts. Ambit can be used to manage HostGroups from the context of a user, a system, or a network. Ambit is also able to enumerate and execute commands that contain expandable elements. Commands passed to Ambit are expanded into separate statements and executed synchronously. This means Ambit can expand and execute just about anything on the command-line and often works in situations where Bash brace expansion would probably fail.
A flexible cellular automaton editor.
A modified version of Usermin just for IMAP Web mail.


text:
Before this happened a third player, Intel, had attacked the
market and quietly built up a dominant marketshare in low-end
graphics. Its integrated GPUs popped up on netbooks, low end laptops,
and even a number of low-end desktops. Now the graphics market
seems poised to flip yet again. NVIDIA is on the verge of
seizing much of Intel's low-end and mobile marketshare, thanks to its
platform and new mobile GPUs. And AMD (ATI) looks poised to
attack in the latest round of the discrete graphics wars with
priced DirectX 11 GPUs. That leaves Intel, which is
preparing to take on NVIDIA and AMD with a brand new discrete
graphics offering called Larrabee.
First revealed at
in August of 2008, Larrabee is now reality. Intel
has just shown
off working models of Larrabee GPUs at its Intel
Developers Forum in San Francisco.
Built on a multicore die-shrink of Intel's Pentium 54C architecture, the powerful new graphics chip was able to render a ray-traced scene
from the id Software game, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars,
with ease. Ray-tracing is an advanced technique that has long
been touted as an eventual replacement to rasterization in video
games. Currently it is used for the high quality 3D animation
found in many films.
The demo also gave a peak at Gulftown,
a 6 core, Core i9 processor. Built on the new upcoming Westmere
architecture (a Nehalem die shrink), Gulftown is the "extreme edition"
counterpart of Clarkdale (desktop) and Arrandale
Larrabee, however received the most
interest. The working chip was said to be on par with NVIDIA's
GTX 285. With AMD's latest offerings trouncing the GTX 285 in
benchmarks, the real question will be the power envelope, how many
Larrabees Intel can squeeze on a graphics board, what kind of
Crossfire/SLI-esque scheme it can devise, and most importantly the
A direct comparison between NVIDIA's GTX 285 and
Larrabee is somewhat misleading, though, because Larrabee
is unique in several ways. First Larrabee supports x86
instructions. Secondly, it uses tile-based rendering to
accomplish task like z-buffering, clipping, and blending that its
competitors do in hardware, with software instead (Microsoft's Xbox
360 works this way too). Third, all of its cores have cache
coherency. All of these features stack up to (in theory) make
Larrabee easier to program games for than NVIDIA and AMD's
discrete offerings.
The GPU also still has some time to grow
and be fine tuned. It's not expected until the first half of 2010.
Intel is just now lining up board partners for the new card, so it
should be interesting to see which companies jump on the
At IDF Intel also gave hints at the rest of its
upcoming graphics plans. It says that it's preparing to take a
"big jump ahead" in integrated graphics with an upcoming
product to be released next year, which will compete with the NVIDIA
Ion. Intel is also preparing a system-on-a-chip package with
Larrabee and an Intel x86 processor, which it is using to
target the mobile and handheld devices market.
It's unclear, though, how low Intel can
push the embedded Larrabee's power envelope or when the SoC
will arrive. It did make it clear, though, that it is targeting
the chip for "non-PC" applications.


text:
WiFi will soon again be taking to American skies. Boeing had
offered its Connexion WiFi service in the past, but customers just didn't warm
up to its pricing ($10 for one hour of access, $15 for two hours and $27
unlimited access). Boeing announced in August that it would discontinue the
service and began offering customers free WiFi access
from October 2 until Connexion was finally shut down on December 31.
It looks as though air travelers may once again have the
option to use WiFi aboard American airliners thanks to renewed
interest from airlines and communications providers. AirCell spent $31
billion USD in 2006 for a portion of the radio spectrum for cell phone and
Internet use.
AirCell also notes that the equipment necessary for
outfitting an existing airliner will only add 100 pounds and can be installed
overnight by airline crews. The downside, however, is that equipment costs are
likely to be around $100,000 USD per plane.
Luckily for air passengers who choose to use AirCell's
service, connection speeds and WiFi performance will be similar to existing
ground-based systems and discounts will be offered to customers of T-Mobile, iPass
and Boingo services. AirCell is also trying to avoid the pricing problems that
Boeing ran into with its Connexion service -- it will charge no more than $10
per day to passengers for unlimited service.
AirCell's WiFi service will include Internet, email, VPN, SMS and IM
access. The service will be available coast to coast and will offer
DSL-like speeds and AirCell will provide email receipts for business
expense usage.
While WiFi may be a viable option to air passengers in
the near future, don't bet on using cell phones in the air anytime soon.
Complaints from air passengers along
with FCC regulations have so far kept that idea at bay. And for those of
you thinking to use AirCell's WiFi connection to make VoIP calls while in the air,
guess again. The company says it will block VoIP services such as Skype through
WiFi connections.
Boeing recently nixed its idea to
provide wireless networking for its 787 Dreamliner. The wireless networking
equipment that it planned to use would have added 200 pounds to the weight of
the aircraft. The company instead decided to use wired networking which saves
roughly 150 pounds. The company was also worried about regulatory issues when
using wireless technology in certain countries.


text:
Since we drafted Ross, the first couple weeks, I'm not gonna lie. I was a little disappointed because we didn't draft Austin Rivers. He had one good game in the Summer League, the rest were fairly mediocre. From that point on, I sort of threw Ross under the radar, and sort of just said "yeah, yeah, he'll be okay."
Being a huge Derozan homer, with people comparing the 2, I found it silly (I still find it silly today with the complete differences in style of game-play), because Derozan also has the potential to be very good. I guess I was going under some tunnel vision at the time, and not truly recognizing that Ross was (and still) a project.
But, ever since he started getting some burn, man he hasn't disappointed. The guy can handle the ball, he can shoot from basically anywhere on the floor, arguably as good as athleticism as Demar (some say better), wonderful on-ball, system defender, and he knows the game of basketball. Not to mention the stage presence he possesses. Every time he touches the ball, it gives you a random feeling he's going to pull off something spectacular.
So, my point is, Terrence Ross has proven me - probably many as well - wrong. This guy is a really good talent, with really good potential. I'm just excited to have two really good wing players, who will be with this team for awhile, and both willing to grow and get better at each part of the game.
Time to get my head out of my Derozan homer head, because there's no doubt Ross has the capabilities to be a better player than Demar, not to mention he could be an elite wing in the league.
With all the Bargnani stuff going on, and the BC mistakes, I'm just happy to know we've got a really bright future (near, and far) with Ross, Derozan, Valanciunas, Lowry, and Davis.
Oh yeah, forgot Jonas Valanciunas is on this team... That's a good thing by the way.


text:
Submit News
Report: NSA is Reading Your Email, Chats without Warrant
Jason Mick
July 31, 2013 5:40 PM
Recipient E-mail
Sender E-mail
(Source: Nation of Change)
"Interesting" auto-flagged emails are stored in "Trafficthief" and other DBs for five years or more
"I, sitting at my desk, wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a personal email," declared former
U.S. National Security Agency
(NSA) and Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (
leaker Edward Snowden
I. Lies Politicians Told Me
Rep. Mike Rogers
(R-Mich.), who recently shot down an effort to trim back NSA spying, was one mouthpiece in the Obama administration's vocal denial of that statement.
Rep. Rogers took a rather personal angle in challenging Mr. Snowden's veracity,
, "He's lying. It's impossible for him to do what he was saying he could do. I hope that we don't decide that our national security interests are going to be determined by a high-school dropout who had a whole series of both academic troubles and employment troubles."
President Barack Hussein Obama (D) himself
commented in a
interview with Charlie Rose:
We're going to have to find ways where the public has an assurance that there are checks and balances in place ... that their phone calls aren't being listened into; their text messages aren't being monitored, their emails are not being read by some big brother somewhere.
He argued that
the data gathering
was "transparent" and "that's why we set up the FISA court", a rather interesting claim given that the FISA is the secret PATRIOT Act court whose
orders are sealed and whose actions are not allowed to be known by the public
The President's motivations for the spying, however, appear fairly straightforward. An
estimated 70 percent
($33.7B USD) of the request fiscal 2014 funding for intelligence/spying activities is scheduled to go to private contractors, the biggest of which are BAH, Northrop Grumman Corp. (
), Honeywell Int'l Inc. (
) (via is Science Applications Int'l Corp. subsidiary), Raytheon Comp. (
), and Lockheed Martin Corp. (
These companies were among the president's top campaign donors, pouring nearly twice as much money over him as they did to Mitt Romney (
Booz Allen Hamilton
gave $176,000 + $281,700 USD to supporting PACs;
Lockheed Martin
gave $285,600 + $854,300 USD to supporting PACs;
Honeywell Int'l
gave $93,600 USD + ~$100,000 USD to supporting PACs;
gave $155,800 + $522,300 USD to supporting PACs; and
Northrop Grumman
gave $251,500 + $323,300 USD to supporting PACs.
II. Sweeping Warrantless Email, Chat Surveillance Program Gets Outed
On Wednesday, though
The Guardian
's Glenn Greenwald
published a report
that reveals that the NSA
monitoring millions of people's emails and chats via a program called "XKeyscore". Internal training documents call the program the "widest-reaching" data collection effort in world history.
[Image Source: The Guardian]
Presentations on the tool describe a "Digital Network Intelligence (DNI)" which scrapes countless bytes of data from ISPs, telecommunications backbones, and more under the PATRIOT Act. One slide brags, "nearly everything a typical user does on the internet [is captured]."
[Image Source: The Guardian]
In other words compressed, searchable collections of everything you do online, every word you type and send are being compiled at secret NSA facilities, and you're paying the bill -- a "
modest encroachment
" of privacy in the President's mind.
Without any warrants an NSA analyst can mine databases at will and view communications, with only a small on-screen form to be filled in justifying the reason for the search. Agents can find and track your online actions via a number of search options including name, telephone number, IP address, keywords, the language in which the internet activity was conducted, or the type of browser used.
[Image Source: The Guardian]
Under the PATRIOT Act's FISA court federal agents need a warrant to get an "all you can eat" pass to your digital life -- officially. But the XKeyscore appears to offer agents the ability to view without warrant "real-time" database logs of emails/chats associated with specific accounts of U.S. citizens -- even if they're not
supposed to be doing that.
[Image Source: The Guardian]
In fact, the program allows NSA agents to in some cases not even have to
a justification, simply click-and-picking one from a drop-down menu of canned justifications.
[Image Source: The Guardian]
A December 2012 slide entitled "plug-ins" suggests the tools are especially good at monitoring your contacts, including:
"every email address seen in a session by both username and domain"
"every phone number seen in a session [eg address book entries or signature block]"
"the webmail and chat activity to include username, buddylist, machine specific cookies etc"
When searching, the NSA tool taps a series of databases that include data intercepted directly from email services, data from "contact us" email forms on webpages, and online documents. The search then returns a list of emails that an NSA agent can click to read.
III. Facebook, Google Chats are Mined
As with the previous monitoring, the NSA -- who is supposed to be monitoring
communications -- seems primarily interested in monitoring interactions of U.S. citizens. One slide states, "communications that transit the United States and communications that terminate in the United States" are the primary purpose of XKeyscore.
Facebook.com, Inc. (
) CEO Mark Zuckerberg insisted that his social network's users
weren't being monitored by the feds
, commenting:
Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. And if we did, we would fight it aggressively.
Whoops, that sounds like another lie, whether or not the Zucks realizes it. Slides show that an agent can enter a Facebook user name and date range and get a full transcript of your chat logs.
[Image Source: The Guardian]
Another slide indicates that the feds may have similar open access to Google Inc.'s (
) Gmail and Yahoo! Inc.'s (
) Mail. The only limitation is storage space. Documents indicate that full records (email, chat logs, etc.) are captured and stored 3 to 5 days, while the associated metadata (email headers, etc.) are stored 30 days. Comments one slide "At some sites, the amount of data we receive per day (20+ terabytes) can only be stored for as little as 24 hours."
Forum traffic was also targeted.
[Image Source: The Guardian]
These monitoring facilities aren't cheap. William Binney, a former NSA mathematician, estimated in 2012 that the NSA and affiliate agencies have captured and stored 20 trillion pieces of data (e.g. emails, call metadata records, etc.) of U.S. citizens communicating with fellow Americans. A 2010 article in
The Washington Post
describes, "Every day, collection systems at the [NSA] intercept and store 1.7bn emails, phone calls and other type of communications."
[Image Source: The Guardian]
But that doesn't mean your older records are safe. The NSA has developed tiered-storage solutions that use automated scripts to flag and cache potentially "interesting" information in databases for long term storage. These databases include "MARINA", "Pinwale", and "Trafficthief".
IV. Abuse in Similar Programs Have Been Shown to be Rampant
So how much are those "justifications" the agents fill out checked for legality and ethical use? According to Mr. Snowden, "It's very rare to be questioned on our searches and even when we are, it's usually along the lines of: 'let's bulk up the justification.'"
The Director of National Intelligence
, James Clapper, acknowledges in Congressional testimony that there have been "a number of compliance problems", but insisted these illegal actions weren't in "bad faith". Instead they were due to "human error" or "highly sophisticated technology issues", he says.
similar PATRIOT Act monitoring programs
by the
U.S. Department of Justice
Inspector General
(IG) it was found that "Documentation was missing or inadequate in 60 percent of the files the Inspector General looked at."
Similar programs have been plagued by rampant abuses. [Image Source: Nation of Change]
Furthermore, the full documents associated with approximately "70 percent" of the seizures that were logged in a database could not be found, meaning there was no way of telling whether they were valid or something entirely inappropriate (e.g. an administration official spying on political rivals, a man stalking his ex-girlfriend, etc.). The "voluntary self-reporting" used to log offenses produced only 26 hits out of 146,000 requests (0.0178%), but the audit found 17 out of 77 inspected letters (22.1%) were blatant violations while 46 of them (59.7%) had missing records that made them impossible to verify.
Former federal officials have claimed that U.S. spying agencies target U.S. citizens
based on their religion and political views
In other words if XKeyscore is anything like other audited programs, there's lots of abuse, little documentation, and a totally broken system of self-policing that sweeps all that mess under the rug.
V. The Old "But We Caught a Few Terrorists" Excuse
The payoff for this loss of freedom? The NSA slides brag that by 2008 300 terrorists were caught globally using XKeyscore.
The NSA writes in a statement to the
NSA's activities are focused and specifically deployed against – and only against – legitimate foreign intelligence targets in response to requirements that our leaders need for information necessary to protect our nation and its interests.
XKeyscore is used as a part of NSA's lawful foreign signals intelligence collection system.
Allegations of widespread, unchecked analyst access to NSA collection data are simply not true. Access to XKeyscore, as well as all of NSA's analytic tools, is limited to only those personnel who require access for their assigned tasks … In addition, there are multiple technical, manual and supervisory checks and balances within the system to prevent deliberate misuse from occurring.
Every search by an NSA analyst is fully auditable, to ensure that they are proper and within the law.
These types of programs allow us to collect the information that enables us to perform our missions successfully – to defend the nation and to protect US and allied troops abroad
Note the key word is "auditable", meaning audits of the request have not necessary occurred. The NSA also does not explain why if the programs purpose was to be "deployed against – and only against – legitimate foreign intelligence targets" why it would brag in its own words of the ability to track "communications that transit the United States and communications that terminate in the United States."
[Image Source: ACLU]
The sad thing is that the U.S. has long condemned nations like Russia and China for their internet surveillance,
particularly in annual
U.S. Department of State
(DoS) reports on attacks on freedom in China, Russia, and elsewhere. Perhaps a look in a mirror is now in order.
Clearly a "fool me once" principle applies to this one, as the NSA spins yet another layer in its tangled web of revisionist promises and denials.
Guardian UK
"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance." -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
Related Articles
ACLU Sues Government for Tracking Citizens; Boehner Calls NSA Leaker a "Traitor"
June 11, 2013, 8:46 PM
Amid Extradition and Prosecution Efforts, NSA Leaker Fears They'll Come for His Family
June 10, 2013, 12:38 PM
Obama Admin. Plans $200M USD "Big Data" Spending Spree
April 2, 2012, 1:00 PM
ISP Defies FBI's Gag Order, Agent's Warrantless Surveillance Demands
March 18, 2012, 1:33 PM
Obama Admin. Fights to Renew Warrantless Wiretaps, Block Transparency
July 31, 2011, 1:50 PM
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text:
"The first disc features Randy Brecker and Paquito D'Rivera (on clarinet) trading spotlights as Ron Carter's bass swings heavy beneath on 'No Greater Love.' Irving Berlin's 'If I Had You' receives sparkling candlelight treatment by pianist Kenny Barron and soulful songstress Nnenna Freelon, while Ahmad Jamal leads a lively quartet on a peppy run through his own 'Devil's in My Den.'
. 'Fanfare for Four Trumpets' features the splashy harmonic fire of Jimmy Owens, Jon Faddis, Brecker, and Eddie Allen as Dave Gibson keeps time
. 'Wee' is a brass fanatic's delight, with flugelhorn, alto, tenor, and tuba all vying for attention, then trying to find each other over a quick pulse groove; participants include Clark Terry and Phil Woods."All Music Guide


text:
You are logged in as:
Your tax invoice can be downloaded on flysaa.com under Manage & Fly 72 hours after the e-ticket has been issued.
If a Tax Invoice has been successfully generated from the South African Airways Tax Invoice System, the onus rests on the recipient to ensure that his/her mailbox has enough space to receive an e-mail - with a PDF attachment; and that his//her service provider or exchange server allows for delivery of such e-mails. South African Airways, can not take responsibility for undelivered e-mails due to any other reasons beyond our control including the above.
Prescribed details required from the South African Revenue Service on a tax invoices
Tax invoices must ordinarily reflect the following details as prescribed by the South African Revenue Service Act, 1997 (Act No. 34 of 1997):
South African Airways Cargo supports HIV/AIDS awareness initiative
JOHANNESBURG - 01 July 2009 : South African Airways Cargo (SAAC) is lending a helping hand in fighting the stigma around HIV/AIDS, having sponsored the transport of photography equipment and portraits free of charge from New York to Cape Town and back to New York.
SAAC was approached by POZ, a US based magazine for people living with or affected by HIV, to transport their cargo so that they can exhibit at the International AIDS Society Conference which is to be held in South Africa from 1 July 2009. The shipment consists of portraits of individuals affected by the disease and aims to raise awareness about the stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS.
The total shipment is 225 kgs. "We readily accepted the request as we felt it was important to support such an important initiative. We are also proud to be associated with this initiative which is a fight against the pandemic that has killed many people around the world," said Justice Luthuli, Acting Head of Cargo.
"In addition, our involvement in this project is based on the fact that we are a caring organisation as we have assisted various charities over the years which could not afford to transport their cargo destined for amongst the most vulnerable people in Africa from all over the world," said Luthuli. The shipments that SAAC has supported include human organs for urgent surgical operations, wild life destined for sanctuaries and general goods (i.e. soccer kits, medical equipment, computers, toys, clothing, human remains, medicine etc).
Issued by South African Airways Cargo


text:
AeonWave is a cross platform, hardware accelerated, multi-threaded, and versatile stereo and 4D audio mixing library. By combining hardware accelerated rendering and a low memory footprint the library can handle almost any situation, from virtual synthesizer apps for smart phones to immersive simulation. It has a small, easy to use, fault tolerant, and consistent API, low latency support by using hardware acceleration, simultaneous support for stereo and 4D audio, audio frames with sub-mixing capabilities, support for stereo and 3D audio effects and filters, and a Freeware supplemental OpenAL implementation.
beaTunes is an iTunes companion app capable of automatically analyzing your music collection to help you build better playlists. It analyzes BPM (beats per minute), silence at the beginning or end of a song, and the color (based on frequency spectrum) of a given song. Some of the data is stored through iTunes, and some is stored by beaTunes itself. beaTunes can suggest albums that would complement your music collection, display music charts, and help you find and fix errors in your song meta data, like typos and wrong genres. It also allows you to blog about selected songs or playlists.
Podget is a simple podcast aggregator optimized for running as a scheduled background job (i.e. cron). It features support for downloading podcasts from RSS and XML feeds, for sorting the podcasts into folders and categories, for importing podcast URLs from iTunes PCAST files and OPML lists, automatic M3U and ASX playlist creation, and automatic cleanup of old podcasts. It also features automatic UTF-16 conversion for podcasts hosted on Windows servers and includes the ability to handle authentication for premium podcasts.
gPodder is a Podcast receiver/catcher written in Python and pyGTK. It manages podcast feeds for you, and automatically downloads all podcasts from as many feeds as you like. If you are interested in Podcast feeds, simply put the feed URLs into gPodder and it will download all episodes for you automatically. If there is a new episode, it will get it for you. It supports download resume, if the server supports it.
cmus is a small, fast, and powerful console music player for Linux and *BSD. It supports almost all common file formats, SHOUTcast/Icecast streaming, and multiple output plugins. cmus features multiple media library views, a playqueue, a directory browser, powerful filters, and vi-style search and keybindings. It also features gapless playback, ReplayGain, Unicode support, and customizable color schemes.
getID3() is a PHP script that extracts useful information from MP3s and other multimedia file formats. It extracts information like the play time, bitrate, and resolution from the following file formats: MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, AVI, Matroska (MKV), MPEG-1 video, Windows Media (ASF, WMA, WMV), RealAudio & RealVideo, Monkey's Audio, FLAC & OggFLAC, VQF, Speex, Musepack (MPC), AAC, AU, VOC, AIFF, OptimFROG, WavPack, LiteWave, LPAC, RKAU, SZIP, Shorten, Quicktime, NSV, MIDI, ZIP, ISO9660, TTA, PhotoCD, BMP, PNG, GIF, and JPEG. It parses information from ID3v1, ID3v2, Ogg Vorbis, Lyrics3 v1 & v2, RIFF (AVI, WAV, CDA, CART, BWF), APE, ReplayGain, PNG, and GIF tags, and can write ID3v1, ID3v2, APE2, FLAC, and Ogg Vorbis tags.
A live CD for creating a secure, isolated working environment.
Lets you view several files at once in a window, with colors.


text:
Admin4 is a tool for server maintenance via several plugin modules, running on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and many more platforms. Currently, plugins for BIND DNS, LDAP, and PostgreSQL are included. It is designed as a framework, using Python for fast development of plugins and custom modifications. The DNS plugin should be able to query (axfr) any type of server, and performs updates via DDNS, which ensures that it won't interfere with other DDNS clients (DHCP, SAMBA4). For BIND 9.7 and up, statistics are supported as well and used to retrieve the server's zones automatically. The LDAP plugin features browsing and generic editing of all types of LDAP entries with schema support. In addition, high-level editing of objects like users, groups and samba domains is supported. Custom objectClasses and attributes can easily be added. The PostgreSQL module features a query tool with centrally stored snippets, a data tool with filter presets and a database object browser.
With a small codebase, the PowerDNS Recursor is an advanced resolver currently serving the DNS resolving needs of over 80 million Internet connections. Besides high performance (using kqueue or epoll, over 100 thousand qps on commodity hardware), it provides advanced anti-spoofing measures. In addition, the program caches server performance and timeouts, making it both network and user friendly. It also has built-in hooks for making graphs with rrdtool, providing insight into nameserver performance.
Collax Business Server is an all-in-one Linux server for small- and medium-sized businesses. It delivers all the important network services within a heterogeneous business environment for communication, infrastructure, compliance, groupware, and storage, all in a reliable and secure way which is easy to manage. It also provides essential security functions such as firewalling and virus and spam filtering, to protect against hacker attacks, viruses, and unsolicited email messages.
The Collax Security Gateway is a Unified Threat Management (UTM) Solution for small- and medium-sized businesses. It includes an easy to configure stateful inspection firewall, email security features including anti-spam and anti-virus, Internet access control, Internet SSL interception, Internet networking optimization tools, Internet network fault tolerance, clientless VPN technology, and remote administration.
The Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) implements an Internet name server for Unix operating systems. The BIND consists of a server (or `daemon') called `named' and a suite of associated tools and libraries. A name server is a network service that enables clients to name resources or objects and share this information with other objects in the network via the Domain Name System (DNS).
s6-dns is a small, efficient, complete, and IPv6-ready DNS client library, with synchronous as well as asynchronous APIs. It is designed to replace libresolv in projects that need to perform DNS resolution. It also comes with small command-line utilities to make common and not so common DNS queries.
A Web interface for administering VLANs on HP L3 managed Ethernet switches.
An SNMP MIB Browser.


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Mr. TCA was soon bored and wanted to phone a friend, so he went and sat on a stool by the bathrooms where you couldn't even see the stage. Well, guess who was also hanging out in the back by the bathroom? The 100 Monkeys! Seeing Jackson in the flesh made my night! While Mr. TCA chatted on the phone, oblivious to Jasper Hale and my hyperventilating, I stood near Jackson and the band for about ten minutes, but didn't have the guts to bother him (I told you I'm a really lame TwiStalker, and nobody was approaching him for photos -- TwiFans are very respectful, you know!), though I could've reached out and touched him.
After my failed set-stalking attempts, seeing just *one* Twilight cast member would have been enough to satisfy me, but then I glanced outside and realized that Peter Facinelli and my girlcrush Ashley Greene were standing there.
We went outside and lingered by Jackson, Ashley and Peter, but nobody wanted to be the first to ask for a photo (seriously, TwiFans are so sweet), though the crowd around them starting getting larger. Finally, somebody had the guts to ask Peter for a photo, and once he consented, the flashbulbs went wild!! It was like...seagulls descending on stray french fries in a McDonald's parking lot.
At this point, I could've gone home completely satisfied, but the night just got better. While waiting to get drinks, Ashley Greene approached the bar with some dude in a hat to get drinks. (Technically she and her buddy cut us in line, but that is ok -- she can cut me anyday! Shh! hehe)
While Danica, Michelle & I giggle like teenagers and Mr. TCA drinks on his stool, Ashley Greene walks into the bathroom...and having regressed to a teenybopper mentality, we go in too and I wash my hands next to Ashley while she scrapes gum off the bottom of her shoe. Danica, Michelle and I leave the bathroom while Ashley is still there, and finally have the guts to back and ask Ashley for a photo. Ashley is *so* nice!!
(As excited as I am about being *this close* to my second favorite Cullen,
So, the only major cast member who wasn't there was Robert Pattinson, but look who did show up at the 100 Monkeys Concert! Plastic Edward!
But before Plastic Edward had too much fun, he got attacked by a big Banana (a.k.a. the 100 Monkey's manager).
The End.


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BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//hacksw/handcal//NONSGML v1.0//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:eyd2raCnFwWCflTD9VI3qMFVNfDaBha1mkssC6vc DTSTAMP:20180119T213522Z DTSTART:20140623T040000Z DTEND:20140626T040000Z SUMMARY:The NIADA Independent Dealer Convention & Expo DESCRIPTION:
This year's Convention will offer you more industry and automotive training than ever before to show you how to stay compliant, improve your operations, sell more cars, make more money and keep the federal government out of your back-pocket.
You cannot afford to miss the largest gathering of independent auto dealers in the industry and that will give you access to a sold out Expo Hall & Trade Show full of allied industry partners and vendors who can help you gain a competitive edge with your business.
Join in the networking, association building and recognition of the industry's best dealers with our coveted National Quality Dealer Awards and other industry awards, underscoring decades of tradition.
Visit niada.com to learn more and get registered today at the early bird rate! Take the time this year to work ON your business. Make plans today to attend the 2014 NIADA Convention & Expo. You'll be glad you did!


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Since the 1980s, record companies have taken tracks from
musicians who had not signed with them and put them on a "pending
list". This left thousands of musicians receiving no royalties as the
major labels used, distributed, and even profited off their tracks.
In Canada alone, this situation reached the point where 300,000 tracks, some
dated back to the 1980s were listed as "pending". Some
musicians were actively working -- to no avail -- to stop the record companies
from pirating their tracks.
Now they have a bit of vindication. After a long class action lawsuit
dating back to 2008, filed on behalf of angry independent musicians, Warner
Music, Sony BMG Music, EMI Music, and Universal Music have in effect
acknowledged that they were engaging in copyright infringement. They have
agreed to settle to the tune of $45M USD.
The Canadian Recording Industry Association CRIA, the Canadian sister
organization of the RIAA, and the organization that represents the major labels
claim that the payout is not an admission of guilt. They write, "The settlement is a compromise of
disputed claims and is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by the
record labels."
Apparently they believe that they did not pirate tracks or commit copyright
infringement because they hoped to pay artists at some point -- although they
never did. In essence, their argument also boils down that it was too
hard to find and legally purchase the tracks.
Unfortunately, the victory for the small artists is mostly symbolic. In
Canada, the U.S., and abroad, major record labels plan to continue to sell
music they've essentially pirated from "unknown artists". The
lawsuit does nothing to change this situation.
Equally unfortunate is the hypocrisy of these record labels, which have
perpetually worked to block the public from experiencing the same joys of
piracy that's made record company executives rich and corpulent.
They've been hard at work funneling money to politicians to try to pass new
international laws and treaties like ACTA, which could send peer-to-peer
engine developers and those who share pirated music and movies to prison for the first time.
This irony is duly noted by the artists in the lawsuit, who write, "The
conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict and
unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright interests against
The wife of Edwyn Collins, a major 90s British alternative star with the band
Orange Juice, summed it up nicely, while describing how British record labels
had stolen her husband's work and blocked him from
posting it himself on online. She stated, "[We are] aware of who the
biggest bootleggers are. It's not the filesharers. [A Girl Like You is sold]
not by Edwyn, [but] by all sorts of respectable major labels whose licence to
sell it ran out years ago and who do not account to him."


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AT&T does not maintain in the ordinary course of business a nationwide list of all CMAs where its individual network is underutilized. With regard to the areas where AT&T's and T-Mobile USA's networks may be underutilized relative to each other, AT&T does not have this information on a CMA by CMA basis, nor does AT&T have engineering data that would provide this granular information for T-Mobile USA.
AT&T is providing Exhibits that contain information responsive to this request, consistent with its discussions with the Commission's staff. The .csv file in Exhibit 19-1 contains current (as of March 11, 2011) data usage for each UMTS site (by USID) measured in kilobytes, during the monthly busy hour, and separately for the uplink and the downlink. The .csv file in Exhibit 19-2 contains current (as of March 11, 2011) data usage for each GSM site, measured in Erlangs, combined for the uplink and downlink, for the monthly busy hour. At the Commission's request, AT&T also provides an estimate of GSM data usage in terms of Kilobytes, using a formula that converts Erlangs to Kilobytes. Both exhibits identify the CMA associated with each site.
AT&T will not be in a position to make any final determinations about possible changes in T-Mobile USA until it is able to obtain more detailed information about the operations of the company, which will occur later in the acquisition process. In addition, any preliminary plans are subject to the outcome of the regulatory process. AT&T has not yet begun detailed integration planning efforts.
AT&T has not yet begun detailed integration planning efforts relating to its marketing or advertising efforts or other operations.
AT&T has not yet begun detailed integration planning and its knowledge of T-Mobile USA's operations is necessarily limited at this early stage. The actual process of determining which specific T-Mobile USA sites to integrate and which to decommission will require substantially more data from T-Mobile USA regarding its network as well as a more thorough engineering analysis of each area's characteristics and capacity needs, which could change by the time the Transaction closes. Consequently, AT&T has not yet determined the exact number or location of T-Mobile USA towers or other locations used for transmission of signals that will be integrated into the combined company's network to increase network density.
AT&T does not maintain a central repository of plans, analyses and reports concerning local or regional advertisements. As explained by David Christopher, Chief Marketing Officer of AT&T's Mobility and Consumer Markets, in his Declaration and Reply Declaration filed with the FCC, AT&T has given its 27 vice-presidents/general managers ("VP/GM") authority to respond to local competition by varying and supplementing national advertising to respond to local market conditions, and VP/GMs may develop customized marketing plans for use in particular cities or areas within their respective territories. Such local advertising plans, therefore, may not always be reduced to writing, and even when such records are created, they may not have been maintained for the periods covered by this request.
Prior to the merger, AT&T's plan was to deploy LTE to 80 percent of the U.S. population by the end of2013. However, because of the scale, spectrum, and other resources resulting from the transaction, AT&T is now able to commit to expand LTE to 97 percent of the U.S. population.
Going from covering 80 to over 97 percent of the population will require AT&T to almost triple the land mass covered by its LTE network, from below 20 percent of the United States to approximately 55 percent. Additionally, it costs nearly twice as much per covered person in capital expenditures to provide mobile wireless services to sparsely populated areas than to densely populated areas. AT&T estimates that this expansion would cost approximately [Begin Confidential Information] [End Confidential Information] in additional capital expenditures...
In addition to the LTE goal, our proposed merger will:
· Increase cell density and effectively double the amount of network traffic that can be carried using existing spectrum in the areas served by those cell sites.
· Gain the equivalent of 8 years of new site build based on 2010 build rates
· Improve voice and data network performance in areas of various markets in as little as nine months.


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The Florida Bar News
February 1, 2013
Positions Available - Attorneys
Vernis & Bowling - Expanding "AV-RATED" law firm seeks aggressive attorneys with federal and/or state court experience in employment law, commercial litigation, personal injury, workers' compensation, and civil litigation defense for its Ft. Lauderdale, DeLand, Jacksonville, Ft. Myers, Clearwater, Pensacola, Florida Keys, N. Palm Beach, Miami, Atlanta, Mobile, and Birmingham, AL offices. Exceptional opportunity and benefits. Fax resume to: (305) 892-1260.
ASSISTANT LEE COUNTY ATTORNEY- LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: The Lee County Attorney's Office is accepting applications for an Assistant County Attorney in its Trial Section to assist in litigation in the areas of personal injury, eminent domain, and environmental law. Minimum requirements: Member of The Florida Bar in good standing and at least seven years experience in civil litigation preferred. Government experience a plus. Salary will be commensurate with experience based upon a range of $75,000 - $85,000 per year. Applications will be accepted until February 15, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. If interested, please visit the Lee County website at www.lee-county.com and complete an application on-line.
INSURANCE DEFENSE FIRM SEEKS ASSOCIATES: AV-rated downtown Pensacola insurance defense firm with statewide practice seeks associate attorneys with 2-4 years experience handling insurance defense matters. Broad range of practice with opportunity to expand your knowledge. Excellent salary and benefits. Reply in confidence to PO Box 1070, Pensacola, FL 32591-1070 or fax 850-432-1444 or email [email protected].
LUKS, SANTANIELLO, PETRILLO & JONES- Statewide Insurance Litigation firm seeks an Insurance Defense Attorney for our Boca Raton Office. Must have 5+ years exp. in Construction and Commercial Litigation. For more info visit LS-LAW.COM. Resumes to [email protected] or fax 954-761-9940.
TAMPA – Associate - Prestigious downtown "AV"-rated defense litigation firm seeks 3-5 year associate with health care and products liability experience. Must be a member of The Florida Bar. Strong research/writing skills and litigation experience required. Great firm, good benefits. Salary commensurate with skills and experience. Please forward resume and writing sample to News Box #636.
INSURANCE DEFENSE ASSOCIATE AND LEGAL ASSISTANT- Associate and legal assistant needed for insurance defense firm in East Pompano Beach. We work with the best and the brightest in the field. If you want to work in an environment where your work matters, and is rewarded, this is the firm for you. We prefer a candidate with 3-5 years experience in BI, PIP, PI, and/or Property defense. Please email your resume to [email protected].
Assistant School Board Attorney, Pinellas County School District. Minimum Qualifications: Licensed to practice law in Florida and admitted or eligible to become a member of our federal district and circuit courts; and at least three years practical experience. Preferred Qualifications: Experience in and knowledge of public school law; and at least three years experience as an attorney for a public school district or other public agency. Salary range: $75,000 - $95,000. Recommended for hire by and reports to School Board Attorney. Prior applicants will be reconsidered without need to reapply. Send resume and cover letter to [email protected] before February 16, 2013.
FDOT – Senior Attorney in Lake City Office, Position Number: 55010878, Recruitment Salary Range: $60,000 - $75,000, Advertisement Deadline: February 15, 2013. The FDOT is seeking applicants for the position of Senior Attorney in our Lake City office. This position is responsible for providing legal counsel and representation of the Department in all phases of the acquisition of right-of-way for transportation facilities, eminent domain proceedings, and in defense of the Department in claims of inverse condemnation. Preference will be given to applicants with 5 years of experience. Additional information regarding this position is available on the PeopleFirst website http://peoplefirst.myflorida.com/. A criminal background check will be conducted on the successful applicant. State of Florida on-line applications are preferred and should be submitted through the website above. If you need assistance, call 1-877-562-7287 (TTY applicants call 1-866-221-0268). Current State of Florida applications may be faxed to PeopleFirst @ 1-904-636-2627. The FDOT is an EEO/AA/DFWP Employer.
Litigation Attorney- Fort Myers insurance defense firm seeks an attorney with 0-2 years of liability experience. Competitive salary and benefits. Email resume: [email protected].
Litigation Attorney- Statewide insurance defense firm in Tallahassee seeks an attorney with 3-5 years of liability experience. Competitive salary and benefits. Email resume: [email protected].
Litigation Attorney- Statewide insurance defense firm in Tampa seeks an attorney with 7+ years of liability experience. Competitive salary and benefits. Email resume: [email protected].
Liability Attorney- Statewide insurance defense firm in Jacksonville seeks a liability attorney with minimum of 3-5 years insurance defense experience. Great opportunity. Email resume: [email protected].
Litigation Attorney: Southwest Florida, Prominent AV-rated Plaintiff Personal Injury Law Firm seeks Attorney with experience in litigation. Excellent opportunity. Send resume in confidence to Reply Box #634.
ATTORNEY: Growing Broward 11 attorney law firm seeks attorney with min. 2- 5 years exp. to do personal injury. Bilingual a plus. Fax resume to 954-963-1758 or email [email protected].
Civil Litigation Firm representing plaintiffs in construction defect litigation seeks attorney with at least four years of litigation experience for full or part time position. Please submit CV to [email protected].
Litigation Attorney: Statewide insurance defense litigation firm in St. Petersburg seeks an attorney with 3-5 years experience. First party insurance background preferred but not required. Competitive salary and benefits. Contact [email protected].
Construction Law Firm is seeking a litigation associate attorney with 1 - 3 years of experience for its Orlando office. Prior construction law experience preferred but not required. Please send resume to [email protected].
Foreclosure Litigation Attorney; 2-5 years experience Creditor Rights/Litigation, Full Time position available in our Tampa Office; Florida Bar license required; Competitive salary & comprehensive benefits package; Fax resume & salary requirements to (813) 880-8800 or email [email protected].
Walton Lantaff Schroeder & Carson, a Statewide AV-rated defense firm, seeks a casualty defense attorney with 5-7 years experience including first-party property coverage, for its Tampa Office. Excellent career opportunity. For consideration, please send cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to [email protected].
Entry Level associate attorney position for personal injury litigation firm. One-two years experience preferred. Salary and benefits commensurate with experience. Please send resume and cover letter to Attorney Steven A. Bagen and Associates, P.A., P.O. Box 5757, Gainesville, FL 32627 OR fax to (352)379-9007 OR email to [email protected].
Family Law Associate - Christian Family Law firm in Downtown Delray Beach is seeking an Associate practicing at least 4 years with 2+ years of strong litigation experience. Must be a self-starter and able to handle their own caseload. Please email a cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to [email protected].
Downtown Plaintiff Firm seeks associate attorney with experience in Workers' Compensation, Personal Injury, and Social Security claims. The ideal candidate will be bilingual and have knowledge of the litigation process from start to finish. To be considered for this position please email resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to [email protected].
Well Established, Tallahassee firm seeks licensed attorney with 0-3 years of litigation/trial experience to join its insurance defense litigation practice. Candidates must be motivated with strong academic credentials, and excellent writing and communication skills. Please email a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to [email protected]. All inquiries will be kept confidential.
EXPERIENCED LITIGATION ATTORNEY sought by AV-rated Mount Dora law firm. Applicant must be motivated and able to work independently. Existing portable clientele a plus. Associate or Partner level candidates may apply. Please send resume in confidence to either Potter Clement Lowry, 308 E. 5th Avenue, Mount Dora, FL 32757, or to [email protected].
Downtown Orlando Law Firm seeking 5+ years experienced BI Defense Attorney with Trial Experience. Candidate must be an excellent writer. Great benefits, competitive base salary based on experience/abilities and performance bonus structure. If you meet the criteria and are interested in joining a dynamic team, send your resume, cover letter and writing sample to [email protected].
Tort and Insurance Defense Litigation Attorney, Fort Myers: Henderson, Franklin is seeking attorneys with 5-10 years of experience in Tort and Insurance Defense Litigation. Associate or Partner level candidates may apply. Book of business not required. Florida Bar admission is essential. Compensation commensurate with experience level. Excellent benefit package. Response via resume to Human Resources Manager, [email protected].
Established AV-rated Firm with offices in West Palm and Port St. Lucie seeks a qualified attorney with 4-8 years experience in business/commercial litigation. Candidate must have a portable book of business and ability to develop additional work. Excellent opportunity to join a firm with professional management and highly qualified staff. Enjoy concentrating on law and practice development in a luxurious new office. Send resume and cover letter in confidence to [email protected].
To respond to a News Box- Mail required information to: The Florida Bar News, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300 Attn: News Box # ____
Positions Available - Other
Positions Wanted
Practice For Sale
Owner of Well-established Pensacola area firm with busy civil practice developed over the past 25 years is turning 65 and ready to transition into semi-retirement. Over 850 original wills, plus related estate planning documents, are securely retained on premises. Owner is willing to mentor and assist in the transition in a reduced practicing and management capacity. Clientele, together with firm's highly effective staff, may enable buyer to avoid the typical time and expense of developing a new practice. Buyer must be Florida Bar member or current membership candidate. For more information and confidential handling send contact data and FBA number to News Box #635.
Attorney Services
Expert Witness
Real Estate/Space Sharing
Miami Downtown Offices For Lease. 46 NE 6 Street. Free standing, two story building with fenced parking. Large offices, great windows, close to federal & circuit courts. Affordable first floor offices with conference room. Single office or up to ten offices. Great for small firms or solo practitioners. Call Tim 305-755-9295. [email protected].
LARGO - near IRB, lease or sell - 2520 sq ft. 1 story block office condo on busy Walsingham Rd, ample parking/signage, space could be divided into 2 separate offices, separate entrances, upgrades/extras, security system, networked. Kitchen. Large offices and conference room. Email [email protected] or call 727-596-3000 for information or floor plan. Price negotiable.
[Revised: 05-22-2017]


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Peewee Wrestling
The Cortez Wrestling Club Program will hold Peewee Wrestling sign-ups today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Montezuma-Cortez High School Commons Area. Sign-ups will also be Saturday, Feb. 9, from 10 to 2 at Cortez Middle School during the middle school wrestling tournament. It's for all children ages 4-Older. Parents must bring a copy of a child's birth certificate to sign-ups. The 2013 season will start Monday, Feb. 18, with practices on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at the M-CHS Auxiliary Gym. The first tourney is Saturday, March 2, in Monticello, Utah, and the season runs through Saturday, April 13, in Farmington, N.M. For any questions, please contact Misty Valdez at 739-4935 or Ruben Duran at 739-9682.
Trout Unlimited meeting
The Dolores River Anglers Trout Unlimited Chapter will be holding its general membership meeting on Monday at the Cortez Elks Lodge starting with a meet-and-greet at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will feature a round-robin fly tying demonstration by local fly tyers, such as Brad Waltman, Larry Russell, Marc Meyer, Chris Burkett and Mike Jensen. A special tyer may be present to show how to tie the flies used on the San Juan River and the Dolores River. These tyers will demonstrate how to tie the flies that work in local waters, as well as share their favorite fishing destinations. Monday is hamburger night at the Elks Lodge, but people may also order off of the menu. This meeting is open to the public and all who are interested, are encouraged to come. Bring a friend and learn about the Dolores River Anglers, and the art and science of fly tying.
Ute Mountain Rec. coed basketball
The Ute Mountain Recreation Center in Towaoc is taking registration for its men's 40-Older basketball league and tournament, and adult coed basketball league and tournament. Entry fee is $200 and it's a seven-game guarantee for an eight-player roster. League play starts Tuesday, Jan. 29. All games are played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Ute Mountain Rec. Center. For more information, please call Jonathan at 564-5360.
Southwest Softball meeting
Southwest Softball will be having a board meeting Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 6:30 p.m., at the office of Tullis Chiropractic. Several board positions are up for election. If anyone has questions, please call Scott Tullis at 570-5270 or email email@example.com.
Ute Mountain Rec. men's basketball tourney
The Ute Mountain Recreation Center in Towaoc is taking registration for its men's Hotshot, double-elimination basketball tournament. Entry fee is $150. It's a 16-team, nine-man roster tourney on the weekend of Feb. 16-17. For more information, please call Jonathan at 564-5360.
Nucla Resolution 5K Run/Walk
Montrose West Recreation is pleased to sponsor the third annual Nucla Resolution 5K Run/Walk. The event will, once again, benefit the West End's animal rescue shelter, Hoof & Paw. Totally volunteer driven, Hoof & Paw has been fostering lost and homeless animals while providing adoption, immunization, spay and neutering services at no or low cost. Race participants are encouraged to bring their leashed dogs along for this fun annual event. This year's race is Sunday, Feb. 17, beginning from the Nucla Fire House at noon. The 5K (3.1 miles) course will loop around Nucla streets with moderate elevation gain. The competitive race will offer first, second and third-place ribbons in the men's and women's running and walking categories. The $20 registration fee provides participants with a race bib, post-race refreshments and a commemorative T-shirt. Participants are encouraged to preregister, although registration is available on race day. With more than 85 participants at last year's race, MWR and race organizers are anticipating their biggest turnout since the race was created in 2011. Doggy snacks and prizes will also be offered. The race will be held rain, snow or shine. Please remember to dress accordingly. To register or volunteer, call Paul at 864-428-2276 or email email@example.com.
Tri-City Soccer registrations
Tri-City Soccer is currently accepting registrations for spring soccer. Spring soccer will run from April 8, through May 4, for most teams. There will be teams for children 3 through 13 (based on their age as of July 31, 2012). Placement is based on first come, first served space availability. If a child played soccer in the fall of 2012, then parents do not need to re-register their child. Registrations can be picked up at the Cortez Recreation Center. Parents can also register online at tricitysoccer.com. Call 749-5475 or email email@example.com with questions.


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JaVale McGee is another project. Might as well drafted Andre Drummond, for the money he will command.
Gray does not have to play for 5 games in a row. Then plug him into the line-up and you manage to get 15 solid minutes.
He is professional, plays with a high IQ, rebounds, takes up space and attempts to move his feet. I love Aaron Gray. He can pass too. The bad thing about him is he misses too many lay ups. For a back-up centre, he meets criteria.
I also agree with the posters who talked about the versatility of our line-ups; both starters and bench. You can even put James Johnson at the 4 to go really small. I'm liking how the team is shaking up, but I should hold that until after everything gets settled.


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People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society.
In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.
Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.
-- George Lucas's 1988 speech to the U.S. Congress
Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.--Yoda Stars Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith


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Tablet Adoption Skyrockets in Past Two Years: Pew Report
Credit unions that adopt tablet-specific apps for their members are catering to a growing market.
According to the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, ownership of tablets has increased from 4% of American adults to 25% in the past two years.
That figure increases to 47% of households that earn $75,000 or more per year, the Pew Research Center said.
Education level also was a predictive factor in tablet ownership, the center's survey found, but race and ethnicity was not.
The most recent Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, Civic Engagement Tracking Survey was conducted July 16 – Aug. 7 among 2,253 adults ages 18 and older. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish and on landline and cell phones (900 cell calls were completed) and the margin of error was +/- 2.3 percentage points, the Pew Research Center said.


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Altura Reports $5 Million Profit; CEO Says Strongest in 57 Years
In another sign of improving economic health in the hard-hit sand states, the $718 million Altura Credit Union Friday reported nearly $5 million in net income for the first quarter of 2013.
The black ink marks Altura's eighth consecutive quarter of net gains after cutting 35 positions and closing three retail branches in 2009.
The Riverside, Calif., credit union also reported 10.13% net worth, up significantly from 8.10% reported one year ago.
Altura said its financials reflect the improvements seen throughout the Inland Empire, an eastern suburb of the greater Los Angeles area with 4 million residents that was at one time the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country.
Delinquent loans declined to 1.23% as of April 30 compared to 2.04% for the first quarter of 2012. Net charge offs declined to just 0.81%, Altura's lowest numbers since the housing market crashed.
"Our current levels of financial strength are the highest we have experienced in our nearly 57 years of operation," said CEO Mark Hawkins. "However, although we are clearly seeing economic improvements nationally and regionally, our immediate marketplace continues to face challenges.
"Unemployment still hovers at 10%, which is hampering the area's full recovery. Fortunately, the housing market is showing substantial improvement with fewer foreclosures, stronger sales and rising prices."
Hawkins said although the economy is improving in the I.E., members still worry about job security, which hampers loan growth.
To promote lending, Altura said it recently launched a monthly series of free breakfast workshops to both members and the general public on a variety of topics, such as building a better budget, understanding credit and resume writing tips.
Altura has a community charter that includes Southern California's Riverside and San Diego counties.
Late last year, Altura also rolled out a Reliance Checking Account that gives members with a negative credit history a chance to re-establish a relationship with a financial institution and better manage their finances.