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A massive wildfire that torched 95 percent of the 15,200-acre Chaparral Wildlife Management Area spared much of the wildlife on the state's premier public hunting site, according to initial findings during aerial surveys by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists.
Biologists flew the area on Thursday, March 20, aboard TPWD's law enforcement helicopter counting deer and other animals and will compare those findings with recent annual aerial survey results, which should provide an estimate of wildlife loss from the fire.
"I am amazed how adaptive wildlife can be during a natural disaster; we found very few carcasses and have observed a lot of live animals — horned lizards, whitetail deer, javelina and quail," said David Synatzske, Chaparral WMA manager. "We have between 20 and 25 wildlife biologists and technicians on the site assessing damage and fixing fences and they are not finding dead animals. We discovered about 30 dead animals in one location, but have not found concentrations elsewhere. I drove the entire 30-mile perimeter fence line and found only two carcasses. Considering 95 percent of the area burned, that's incredible."
Synatzske said the fire, which started Friday, March 14, and was extinguished the following Monday, consumed about 50,000 acres in Dimmit and LaSalle counties, including portions of some of the state's most celebrated trophy whitetail hunting ranches. Yet, the blaze left some pockets untouched throughout the Chaparral WMA and he believes those areas likely provided refuge for wildlife.
As far as infrastructure, Synatzske said their research building and some trailers were destroyed and they will have to replace the game proof fencing around the perimeter. That's 30 miles of fence, which he said is going to be their biggest expense. The area also has 23 miles of PVC pipe feeding watering stations and irrigating pastures and have begun work repairing those water supply lines, too.
"While we hate seeing this type of devastation, we are thankful there were no injuries and that wildlife loss was not as bad as might be expected with a fire of this magnitude," said Mike Berger, TPWD wildlife director.
"Obviously, we are concerned about the short term impacts at the Chap from this wildfire, and we should be," noted Carter Smith, TPWD executive director. "But, the bigger story I think is whether these sorts of intense wildfires will be a growing pattern throughout South Texas."
Smith recalled that fire used to be a major part of the South Texas landscape, when it was more of a savannah like system. Now, because of the longtime build-up of brush and exotic grasses, such as buffel grass and guinea grass, as well as changes in land use practices, he believes there will be a heightened frequency and intensity of wildfires in the future.
"The tremendous amount of brush that we see now in South Texas was not historically present there, but has built up over time as a result of overgrazing, changing land use patterns, and suppression of fire," Smith explained. "The exotic grasses that are now a major part of the understory are very flammable, and candidly, not adversely impacted by fire."
Photos from the Chaparral WMA Fire
Research into how this ecosystem recovers from a large scale fire will begin immediately on the Chaparral WMA, according to Synatzske, who noted the area has now become a 15,000-acre research laboratory. "Our folks are identifying research sites and projects," he said. We're already seeing signs of green-up, so the process has begun."
"It should be interesting to see how the Chap responds, as well as what happens in the future on the wildfire front," Smith summed up. "That is going to impact the ecology and landscape of South Texas."

subset: commoncrawl


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Read the full story here Web Link posted Thursday, October 18, 2012, 8:03 AM
Town Square
Meteor zips over Bay Area, lands with sonic boom
Original post made on Oct 18, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Thursday, October 18, 2012, 8:03 AM
Comments (11)
a resident of Menlo Park
on Oct 18, 2012 at 11:15 am
We caught a glimpse of this while walking the dog last night, and then we heard the boom in the distance, weren't sure what the latter was at the time. Pretty cool, though!
a resident of Greenmeadow
on Oct 18, 2012 at 1:09 pm
I was just getting into my car on Middlefield Rd across from Fandango Pizza, south of Midtown, Palo Alto when I a heard strange sound, looked up and saw a burning object descending to the east. My field of view was toward the northeast. The view lasted for less than 2 seconds before the flame extinguished. The time and date was between 19:30 and 20:00 on Wednesday, 17 OCT 2012, around the same time as the above report.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 18, 2012 at 1:23 pm
At 7 48 I received a call. A friend I know well was seated on teh front steps in Professorville, facing west,
Down on his luck, a professional some of you know, his wife is ill and far away, he has no regular job, and is out of money.
A christian man, with alifetime of work, he asked God for a sign, some sign how to go on. Earlier in the day, we had talked about yet another person.
I opined, sometimes, I just talk and listen to the person, put a hand on their shoulder, like this, and ask. "Where do you see God in all of this? Where would you like to see God in all of this?"
My friend asked for a sign. Then -- some SOME reason perhaps outside our OWN reason - - the grat "flaming ball" came over head,"throwing sparks"
He was stunned. ANd called me. Happy.
One thing you might do, I said, is continue the dialogue.
SO, that is how I experienced this event, and how my friend did.
I am now going for a hike in the Martinez Hills with my infra red heat detector and magnetic compass!!!
a resident of Midtown
on Oct 18, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Aren't we yet to a level of technology that can tell us to seek shelter because a meteor is headed our way?
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 18, 2012 at 2:04 pm
I was lucky enough to see this from that San Jose area. This was one of the clearest fullest views I have ever had of a meteor.
It seemed to be up there for about 5 seconds and covered about 70 degrees of arc ... it was amazing, streaking across the sky bright as a sparkler, with bits falling off it it along the way. It was truly spectacular!
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 18, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Chicken Little: probably not unless it is humongous!
I'm just sorry I missed seeing an actual meteor go out in a blaze of glory!
a resident of Palo Verde
on Oct 18, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Sorry I missed it. I guess we are sure by now this wasn't a re-entering satellite or spent booster. They can be quite colorful, but probably don't come with such a sonic boom. Anybody have an explanation for the strange sound heard by breht of Greenmeadow causing him to look upward? (include probable distance and speed of sound in your calculation)
a resident of Midtown
on Oct 19, 2012 at 8:16 am
I saw a small meteor flying quite low over Palo Alto back on September 25th, at around 8:30 pm. It looked like it might have landed near 101 and the Baylands.
a resident of Fairmeadow
on Oct 19, 2012 at 6:08 pm
what were those two 5 airliner sized oblong thingies flying side by side at 900 mph then changed into 2 snakelike lines flying over midtown in silence on oct. 1. then a 2 foot wide triangle shaped crystal white thing hovered over your head at only 200 feet after that. welcome to the new dimension.
a resident of Los Altos
on Oct 22, 2012 at 9:51 am
The first meteorite chunk that was positively identified struck my boyfriend's family's neighbor's house on Wednesday! Web Link
a resident of another community
on Oct 22, 2012 at 7:41 pm
I was on the roof top of the marriott and saw it and then heard the boom! It looked as if it was only a few hundred feet above me. I thought it was a large firework until It made the huge boom. It was sooo cool.
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Add an extra splash of color to your garden. These steel poppies sway in the breeze and collect rainwater for butterflies or can be filled with a scattering of birdseed.
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Wonderfully made and bright beautiful colors.
By Florida flower girl
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These are just as adorable as they appear online. Well made and gorgeous colors. The BEST customer service experience I have ever had! Had a mixup in the boxes and was shipped two of the same color when I wanted different colors. Emailed the company and got an immediate response with an offer to ship me a new additional box of the color I ordered. No hassle, no doubting, no haggling. I will recommend this company to everyone I can think of just for this one act of true customer service.The flowers are adorable in my garden and all my newborns are jealous!
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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In this second installment of the MLHS 2011 NHL Draft preview series, we're going to take a closer look at Mark Scheifele, the Barrie Colts' two-way centre who has seen his stock climb drastically over the past couple of months. Scouts describe him as one of those well-rounded, hard-nosed players who just love to compete night in and night out. Once viewed as a second tier prospect, Scheifele has silenced critics with a standout OHL season and now finds himself poised to be a Day One selection at this year's draft.
The Basics: Reliable playmaking centreman from the Barrie Colts; 22 goals and 53 assists for 75 points in 66 games played.
Strengths: Scheifele is one of those players coaches love: he works hard every night, possesses a well-rounded game and manages to positively influence a game in a variety of ways. Offensively, he can effectively use his his large 6'3 frame and surprising agility to protect the puck and play a strong puck possession type of game. Mark loves playing with the puck on his stick and always seems to make calm, intelligent decisions in all three zones. He displays impressive playmaking instincts, vision and smooth stick-handling ability. His skills may be underrated after being asked to be a primary offensive option for a terrible Barrie team. Scheifele never takes a shift off and will do whatever it takes to win: whether that's chasing down a loose puck, back-checking to break up an odd man rush or absorbing some punishment to make a play in front of the net.
Weaknesses: Thanks to his complete skillset, it's hard to find any one area about Scheifele's game to criticize. The biggest question surrounding Scheifele is likely one regarding his ultimate NHL upside, which at this point, seems rather limited. Can he produce enough offense to be a top flight offensive player? Probably not, but that possibility does exist if he continues to get stronger. He can also get caught into too much of a pass-first mentality at times, passing up on excellent shooting chances in an effort to set up a teammate. He's certainly willing to use his body to make a play, but Mark could stand to be a little more physical and play with a bit more of a mean streak. Scheifele's skating is passable at the moment but that is another area upon which he could work on in order to really take his game to that next level.
Draft Day Outlook: There are a few out there who are already calling Scheifele the Ryan Johansen of this year's draft class: a well-rounded player whose character, work ethic and intelligent game could see him go significantly higher than expected. Mark really turned some heads at this year's World Junior U-18 Championship, delivering an inspiring effort centering Canada's top line in Germany and perhaps alleviating concerns regarding his ability to step up his offensive production. Originally projected to go somewhere in the mid-second round a few months ago, Scheifele is now a legitimate mid first round candidate. If he continues to trend upward, Mark could go as high as just outside the top ten come draft day.
Previous Draft Profiles:
Matt Puempel – April 22nd, 2011


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Lumifol metallic foil shiny 10 m
Item number: 116.282.44
20 my, very strong and tearproof metallic foil or also wrinkled foil suitable to wrapping gifts, costumes, building carts and much more, the back is always ... › More
- Dimensions: width 120 cm
- colour: orange shiny
- Price plus Shipping costs
- 1 roll €19.90 VAT excl. €23.68 VAT incl.
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Fish and Chips poker player t items Mug
per mug
About This Product
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Style: Combo Mug
Funny, unique, pretty or personal, it's your choice for the perfect coffee mug. The outside of the mug features a bright white base for your photo, logo, pattern or saying, while the rim & handle are vividly glazed in rich colour. Match or complement the colour of your existing dinnerware set, or give your friend a mug in his or her favourite colour.
- Available in 11-ounce (312 g) or 15-ounce (425 g)
- Dimensions:
- 11-ounce: 3.8" h x 3.2" diameter / 312 grams: 9.7 cm h x 8.1 cm diameter
- 15-ounce: 4.5" h x 3.4" diameter / 425 grams: 11.4 cm h x 8.7 cm diameter
- Microwave and dishwasher safe
- Strong, ceramic construction
- Meets or exceeds FDA requirements for food and beverage safety
- Printed on demand in California
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Fish and Chips poker player t items Mug
Fun items with this poker saying on them and modern design. I have all sorts of poker items, check out my store!
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A Providence team that hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2004 was expecting to get a big injection of talent this season with the addition of two McDonald's All-Americans, point guard Kris Dunn and wing Ricardo Ledo.
But Dunn, ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 16 player in the class of 2012, will be out until at least December and may miss the entire season after undergoing shoulder surgery over the summer.
And now Ledo, the No. 6 player in the class, is unsure if he'll enroll at Providence at all.
Ledo needs to find out how the NCAA Eligibility Center rules on his high school transcript, which shows he moved among four high schools in five years, the Providence Journal reports. He could be ruled a non-qualifier, meaning he would not be allowed to play, practice or receive athletic aid.
"I'm hoping for the best. I really haven't talked about what could happen if it doesn't work out for me," Ledo said.
Providence coach Ed Cooley also said he is hopeful things will work out. "I don't know if it's hoping against hope but I have zero feel for it. We'll see."
The 6-6 Ledo is considered one of the best scorers in this year's recruiting class, and landing him was a coup for Cooley, who is entering his second season as head coach. The Friars went 15-17 overall and 4-14 in the Big East last season.


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We don't typically try to, I suppose, "question" musical ventures here at Frumpzilla. The art form is so subjective, you know — so deeply personal in nature for so many. Who is Frump, after all, to callously pass judgment on one's passionate outpouring of acutely intimate creative expression?
That said, to be fair, I guess we may or may not have made some exceptions to this general rule in the past.
There was that "Miracles" song from Insane Clown Posse. Oh, and their follow-up single, "Juggalo Island." Then there was DJ Felli Fells' "I Wanna Get Drunk," which was interesting. And the Crop Circle Song. And those cute little kids — not to mention Trevor Sayers — reminding us of how important it is to respect and obey authority. So, yeah, I guess we're not saintly, okay?
Anyway, notwithstanding the above confessions, it's not necessarily our intent to disparage Benjamin Dukhan's "Burger Girl" alter-ego here. Think of it more as a plea. A plea to, I guess, "understand" just what the hell he's on about. Or even just on. Baby steps, you know…


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In an economic climate where a bachelors degree no longer guarantees a job after graduation, one Jumbo has taken it upon herself to go above and beyond in the hiring process – she created a blog, "How to Market to Me: Your Guide to the Millennial Market."
In her blog, Lindsey Kirchoff, A12, profiles select Boston companies, talks marketing, and breaks down what makes millennials tick with insights that could only come from from being part of the hard-to-reach generation herself. One of these insights came from an unlikely source: superhero movies:
It seems strange to think of movies as narratives for our time, but hey, I'm an English major. In response to the hardships of the Great Depression, escapist movies, such as The Wizard of Oz dominated the 1930s. Superhero movies provide an ideal narrative for a generation facing enormous challenges.
Think about it. Millennials were raised in the time of everyone-gets-a-trophy parenting. We were told that we were being special just for being our unique selves. Social networks, like Facebook, encourage us to promote our inherent individuality for the world to see. In short, we were told to believe we were special because we were ourselves.
Now, take superheroes. With the exception of self-made heroes like Batman and Iron Man, the majority of superheroes received their powers for chance, not merit. Whether it's a spider bite or a gamma ray accident, the origin of most powers are through no action of their own, but rather an event beyond their control. Superheroes are ordinary people randomly granted extraordinary abilities. The merit wasn't earned, but they use it for greatness.
Despite the Great Recession, high unemployment rate, polarizing political division and climate change, millennials remain a surprisingly optimistic generation. Whether it's naivete, ignorance or just the faith in ourselves, we plan to take on this great responsibility–even if we don't necessarily have great power."
You can check out Lindsey's blog here.


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Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Taylirious, Jan 27, 2013.
I guess the counter-argument would be Thor.
Totally, and Marvel did an awesome job with Thor, so it's certainly not impossible for Wonder Woman to work as well.
Honestly, it's mostly the invisible plane that I can't get past. Get rid of that, and I'd be way more okay with the character.
Hawkgirl would be easy, but derivative.
What about Starfire as an introductory to the Titans franchise?
What if wonder Woman started in World War II, but she didn't join the JLA till modern day?
I'd definitely love to see an Anne Hathaway Catwoman movie. I think Wonder Woman could work fine if you play up the mythology Thor-style. Zatanna could be a hit, and I hope Del Toro's JLD happens.
Give her Jack's badass longcoat and aviator goggles to go with the Staff?
Another vote for Anne Hathaway's Catwoman. Or even better, a Batgirl movie (or three) set in Nolan's universe.
I've always felt in Nolan's universe Catwoman is Batgirl.
Fan of the DCAU Batman/Batgirl pairing I take it?
Nolan's Catwoman is consistent with her comic book counterpart. She isn't an amalgam of several characters like John Blake is, so there's still room for Batgirl. I think Batgirl would be more like one of the pretenders we saw in The Dark Knight.
Well, that's easy. It's hardly an indispensable feature. The modern version of Wonder Woman can fly under her own power anyway, so she has no need of such a thing. In the animated Justice League, WW didn't use one, although she did acquire a cloaked aircraft by the time of JL Unlimited.
Would you be okay with it if it were done the JLU way, as an aircraft with a cloaking device, rather than a transparent aircraft where you can clearly see Wonder Woman sitting inside it?
I think a cloaked plane is better than one that is just invisible and we see her just sitting there. Since she can fly I don't see the point in a plane at all unless it is some sort of gag or the plane is big enough to transport a team of JLers that can't fly or to rescue a group of people...which would be the case in a stand alone WW movie.
If she can't fly fast enough under her own power, or can't go too high, a plane would be useful. My only issue is where would she keep it?
I guess how fast and how high is up to who is writing the story. ETA: Is there an established limit? She can keep it at my place. ETA: Seriously, I am sure any secret location could work. Does she have her own version of The Batcave or Fortress Of Solitude?
Aeon Flux reboot.
Ultraviolent Redux.
Precrisis (Before 1986) she could only glide with the wind.
Post Crisis (Because they erased everything and started again) she's a match for Superman on every level.
But postcrisis it took them a hundred issues plus (12 years?) to reintroduce the invisible plane (John Byrne did it) and when "they" did, it was this alien plastic mechanism that responded to her thoughts and could assume any shape or function she could imagine... And I don't think it stayed around for a long time.
In the late 90s, when her mother Hypolitia (Spookily comics Princess Diana died a week before the real Princess Diana died.) was in the ass end of a time travel hickup that had her become the Wonder Woman of (all of) World War II... And I'm pretty sure that Hypolita had a period specific invisible p-51 Mustang fighter interceptor.
Post New 52 I find Wonder Woman unreadble, and the back issues are piling up on my hard drive.
To me the plane just seems like a very odd "power" for her to have. It doesn't fit with the rest of what I know about her. She is a character based in myth and magic. Giving her an airplane would be like giving Thor a motorcycle or having Batman ride around on a magic carpet.
If Batman had a magic Carpet he would use it.
Thor wouldn't fit on a motor cycle?
I'm really enjoying the New 52 version of Supergirl and would love to see some of those elements up on the big screen. If the next Superman movie is a hit I think they should work Supergirl into the next one and then spin her off into her own movie.
The question then becomes...why not just do Jack Knight? In all honestly, there should have been a Starman TV series along time ago. Hell it would be perfect for the CW.
Well, not as originally conceived. The portrayal of the Amazons in pre-Crisis DC comics was as an Atlantis-type civilization more technologically advanced than the rest of the world, with more powerful weapons, faster aircraft, superior medical technology (the healing "Purple Ray"), etc.
I mean, remember, from the beginning, Wonder Woman's essential paraphernalia included bracelets whose primary purpose in combat was to deflect bullets. We saw other Amazons shooting guns at her to test her skill with the bracelets in the very first WW comic story back in 1940. So while she has always been connected to myth and magic, she's always been connected to technology as well, at least pre-Crisis.
Separate names with a comma.


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WHAT: Piano RAMA
WHEN: Saturday, October 19, 2013, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: PSU Lincoln Recital Hall, Room 75, 1620 SW Park Ave., Portland, OR 97201
In the days of Scott Joplin there was a piano tradition called the "cutting contest." If you were looking for an all-out, no-holds barred, bare-knucle exhibition of keyboard wizardry, this is where you wanted to be. From turn of the century ragtime down through boogie-woogie, to 1930's Harlem Stride, wherever the 88's reigned supreme, players would come gather to spur each other on to greater heights, and maybe crown a new heir to the throne. The mano a mano keyboard duels were part performance, part theater, part friendly competition. Over the years they became the stuff of legend. It is in this illustrious jazz tradition, PSU Professor of Jazz Studies Darrell Grant will introduce PIANO-RAMA, which Grant describes as "Two grands, eight hands, one hour of jazz keyboard fireworks." The debut PIANO-RAMA event "UJPT (Ultimate Jazz Piano Throwdown) will be a special Portland State University edition. Grant will be joined by fellow PSU jazz faculty Ez Weiss, award-winning pianist/composer Gordon Lee, and rising star Matt Tabor, both PSU alumni. With special features like "Double Barreled Bues Battle,"Iron Chef Medley," and "Solo Showcase", plus celebrity judges, audience voting, and more. This is jazz piano like you've never seen it.
COST: Free and open to the public
CONTACT: Darrell Grant, firstname.lastname@example.com, 503-725-8575


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Cop Arrests Disabled Woman for Sitting
A disabled Atlanta woman says she was sitting outside and waiting for the ice cream man when a cop showed up and ordered her to move. When she refused—because she wasn't in anyone's way, or doing anything wrong—the cop allegedly manhandled her and caused her to fall to the ground. Then he bought her a medium-sized cone.
Wait no, sorry: the officer—one Kenneth Thomas—did not buy his charge, 40-year-old Shequita Walker, any ice cream cones or other novelties, even though she suffers from "severe" joint pain and limited motion and could probably use a break. No, instead he arrested her for disorderly conduct. Apparently she was acting in a "disorderly" manner by being a disabled woman who was asserting her right to sit in a metal chair, in a vacant lot, with three other people while waiting for a frozen dessert. Her attitude, if gone unchecked, could have inspired other emboldened disabled ice cream lovers in Atlanta to stick it to The Man and, who knows, led to a riot or something. Thomas had to take swift action, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
Thomas...grabbed Walker's wrist and twisted her arm, causing her to fall to the concrete, unable to get up on her own, Walker said...An ambulance was called to transport Walker to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she received treatment for a shoulder injury sustained when she hit the ground, Grossman said.
After her release from the hospital, Walker got to spend the night in jail for no reason, because the charge against her was dropped. Oh, and because she didn't do anything illegal.
A letter from the Atlanta Citizen Review Board, which examined Walker's complaint, suggests that Thomas enjoys arresting people for disorderly conduct: 27 out of 38 arrests he made in a five-month period were for that very crime, in fact. This is "three times the amount made by two other officers that patrol the same area, during the same shift," the AJC reports.
The APD hasn't determined whether to discipline Thomas or pressure his colleagues to make more disorderly conduct arrests of disabled people with sweet teeth.


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This is a guest post written and contributed by Anand Agarwal, co-founder and CEO at Sensible Softwares Limited, a Rackspace Cloud Tools partner. Sensible Softwares provides BootStrapToday in order to bring intelligence, integration, and automation to software development process.
Project Management 2.0 has rendered traditional project management archaic. Under traditional project management, the onus of collecting and collating all of the information rested with the project managers. It was not automated and had the typical top-down planning approach, which resulted in centralization and limited access to information by the project team. This, coupled with nearly zero intelligence in the project management system, pulled the project managers into unnecessary tasks and led to lower developer productivity.
Project Management 2.0, which is more of a cultural change brought about by the social media zeitgeist post Web 2.0, has opened up possibilities for SaaS tools that can integrate automation and intelligence in project management. BootStrapToday meets these possibilities.
Cloud has enabled SMBs to leverage enterprise grade tools at affordable price. Rackspace Cloud Tools enable customers to choose some of the best tools for development and deployment of their applications. With BootStrapToday, Rackspace customers can now leverage integration and automation in their software development process. This will help them detect bugs earlier and improve software quality.
The BootStrapToday Benefit…
We at BootStrapToday have built a SaaS based project management platform which has intelligence and automation integrated through its features. One such intelligence is for early detection of bugs.
As per IDC's white paper Improving Software Quality to Drive Business Agility, 37% of developer time is spent debugging for large organizations that do internal software development. The cost of fixing bugs increases exponentially with the time taken to detect those bugs; and if the bug is detected by customers, it can also lead to heavy embarrassment.
A survey report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in US claims that software bugs cost the U.S. economy around $59.5 billion per year, which amounts to 0.6 percent of the US economy. The study also states that more than half the cost is born by software users and the rest is born by software vendors. That's a huge amount eating the profit margin of a software vendor!
I understand that it's impossible to have a bug free code, but (just as published in the report the National Institute of Standards and Technology in US), I believe that more than a third of the cost can be eliminated by early detection of bugs and by adopting better processes. And this savings could be in the order of $22 billion, which is huge. As per the report, currently more than half of all the bugs are not found until later stages of development.
In BootStrapToday, when you add a new ticket, the subject and description of this new ticket are analyzed, and based on previous tickets and their components, a component is automatically assigned to this new ticket. Once a component is assigned, the ticket is automatically assigned to a user. BootStrapToday also analyzes existing tickets and finds the similar ones. If there is any ticket very similar to the current one, BootStrapToday adds a 'comment' to the current ticket (with a ticket id and the subject of the similar ticket).
You will find the tickets considered similar to the current ticket under the tab SIMILAR. You can easily find the duplicates and close them. You can also check how tickets similar to the current ticket were fixed. You can check the COMMITS tab to see which files were modified to fix these tickets.
Got questions? Tweet them @bootstraptoday and we'll be happy to answer them.


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KEXP Reviews
|Browse by one of the following:
- (Bpitch Control)
This is the debut full-length release from this Berlin duo, Gernot Bronsert & Sebastian Szary, aka. Modeselektor. It's a wildly varied affair, going from minimal techno to "grime" to ambient to electro to IDM (but not all within the same tracks, fortunately). The album is spiced up with some nice guest appearances from French hip-hop group TTC, dub toaster Paul St. Hilaire, and Sasha Perera (who MC's in the style of MIA), all of whose vocals are chopped and diced up to the extreme at the daft hands of Modeselektor. One of the best electronic releases so far this year. *This review with help from Alex Ruder. 1/30/2006 - Don Yates
Other Modeselektor album reviews:
Monkeytown - 10/28/2011


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[This note covers the entire Batchelor Collection -- Unbound Documents.]
The correspondence, technical notes, and other unbound documents in the Batchelor Collection relate primarily to Batchelor's work with Edison during the period 1878-1898. Included among the correspondence from 1878 are a substantial number of letters about the phonograph, which are similar to those found in the "Edison, T.A. - Advice" folder in the Document File Series. Many of the documents from the 1880s pertain to Batchelor's activities as manager of the Edison electric light interests in France (1881-1884) and as manager of the Edison Machine Works (1884-1888). The correspondence from the 1890s is mainly concerned with Batchelor's stock holdings. Important correspondents include Edison, Francis R. Upton, Jay Gould, Henry Villard, and Cyrus W. Field.
There is also a substantial amount of technical material, much of it in Edison's hand. Included are notes and drawings relating to electroplating and thermoelectricity experiments (1879), designs for a portable photometer (1883), and ore milling experiments (1898). There are also some drawings of the Gamier engine; notes and charts on lamps, mostly from the lamp factory in Paris; generator tests; and an undated chart on dynamos, listing specifications of the various models.
Included also are agreements and other documents relating to the Edison Phonograph Works; a bond and mortgage for property owned by Batchelor in Newark, New Jersey; Batchelor's 1875 citizenship papers; a memoir by Batchelor, written about 1905, concerning Edison's early work on incandescent lighting during the fall of 1878; and agreements by Edison for rights to his electric pen, phonograph, and telephone, along with additional agreements concerning royalties owed to Batchelor for his assistance in developing these inventions. There are some financial documents, mostly relating to Batchelor's personal finances. These include statements of his accounts (1881-1889) and a promissory note (1884). Other financial material concerns the finances of the Edison Phonograph Works (1889 and 1897) and inventories from the lamp factory in Paris (1882-1884).
The following categories of documents have not been selected: routine lamp tests (1883-1885); Batchelor's stock certificates (1884-1900); personal and business correspondence after 1900 unrelated to Edison; correspondence among members of Batchelor's family and other family-related documents; correspondence and other documents relating to Batchelor's role as executor of the estate of John Kruesi; routine documents such as forms, circulars, formal invitations, and undated newspaper clippings. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.


text:
Cold Weather Horse Care Tips
- Dec 14, 2011
- Topics:
Horses need extra attention during the cold and wet winter months. By following these helpful tips you can help keep your horse healthy all winter.
Shelter: Horses need protection from the winter snow, wind, and rain. Provide shelter in the form of a barn or run-in shed. Shelter floors should be raised so that horses have a dry spot to stand. A wind or waterproof blanket is a good idea for horses that live outside full-time. Blankets need to be removed every few days and cleaned to limit fungus growth. Having more than one blanketing option is a good idea they can be rotated if one rug gets soaked through or dirty.
Water: Fresh water is a necessity. Horses can colic without continuous access to fresh water. If you use an unheated water source or an automatic waterer, check for and break any ice at least twice per day. Using a heated pasture water tank to provide warmer water could help ensure your horse gets enough liquids.
Feed: Horses need extra feed during the winter in order to help them maintain body temperature in the cold. In addition to a plentiful supply of hay, a supplemental feed can be provided. Consult your veterinarian about the best choice for your horse, especially if your horse is older; some geriatric horses lose weight during the winter months and should be monitored closely.
Hooves: Wet pastures can lead to problems for horses' hooves. Thrush is a common disease caused by bacteria and can affect horses that stand continuously on soggy ground. With long exposure to wet ground, hooves can even deteriorate, which can lead to lameness. Prevention is best; clean mud from your horse's hooves daily and consider applying a thrush medication once or twice per day. A few hours on "dry land" each day or a night in a dry stall can help prevent foot-and other-problems.
Skin: Keep your horse's skin healthy by vigorously currying its body daily. Keep your horses, the stalls, and all related equipment clean and dry to help avoid seasonal skin disorders, which can include rainrot, scratches, and ringworm.
Contact your veterinarian for additional winter horse care tips.
About the Author
Oregon Veterinary Medical Association
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text:
To help you improve laboratory analytical performance, choose from Internet and Desktop software options for participation in the Unity Interlaboratory Program, which helps compare, manage, and interpret QC results
Visit myeinserts.com to find out more about it or click the button to start the application.
What is My eInserts?
Don't spend another minute tracking down your data through printed inserts. My eInserts is an online tool to view Bio-Rad quality control product inserts, at any time, through your Internet browser.
Customize Your QC Inserts - See Data Your Way• Select your preferred language• Easily select the preferred units to be displayed on your data charts• Find instrument and methods quickly• Select preferred analytes
Save Your Selections - Keep it Organized• View, print or edit at any time• Simply duplicate to add a new lot of quality control product
Get Prompt Email Notifications - Stay Up-to-Date• Register to receive automatic email notifications of data updates• Only receive updates that apply to your selected instruments or methods
Work Smarter & Easier - Save Time• Fast, easy Internet access to the most current QC values• Available in over 25 languages• Larger font sizes for easier readability• Environmentally friendly for less paper waste
Find out more at myeinserts.com
Visit QCNet now at www.QCNet.com
QCNet is the industry leading online portal to QC information, providing laboratory personnel with an easy and rapid way to access their quality control data and other QC related information. UnityWeb™ enables Bio-Rad customers to access on-demand (InstantQC™) and monthly Unity Interlaboratory Reports and allows convenient online data entry and management. In addition, QCNet provides users with access to technical information, continuing education, product inserts, MSDSs, reference links to relevant QC related websites and lab tools.
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The Unity Interlaboratory Program provides reports on the reliability and precision of test systems and helps improve laboratory analytical performance — over 27,000 peers with data generated from more than 48,000 instruments in over 90 countries
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text:
Giants encouraged by Scutaro's rehab
By Ryan Hood / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- In his pregame meeting with reporters, manager Bruce Bochy preached that without hope, humans would have nothing at all. When it comes to Marco Scutaro, Bochy and the Giants are beginning to have a lot of hope.
Scutaro (lower back strain) played three innings and hit a double in his fifth game in the Arizona League on Wednesday night. He was slated to play five innings on Thursday, marking the first time he'll have played on back-to-back days. If there aren't any drawbacks in the next couple days, Bochy said, Scutaro will be promoted to Triple-A Fresno on Sunday.
"We'll see how he gets through it today; this will be a big test for him," Bochy said. "If all goes well the next couple days, we could see him in Fresno."
The chances he'll return to San Francisco shortly after that appear to be increasing. The Giants hope he'll be able to return to the Majors before the end of his 20-day rehab assignment.
"That'd be awesome news," Bochy said. "If it's not where he can go out there every day, I think two to three times a week works."
Bochy believes the return of Scutaro, who hasn't played in a Major League game this season, would boost the team's bench. The manager said Scutaro's short swing would be effective in a pinch-hitting role and morale, since he's well-liked and has a wealth of experience to help the younger players.
"He's a popular guy in this clubhouse, so I think the guys would like to have him around, too," Bochy said.
In other injury news, Bochy said first baseman Brandon Belt will be activated on Friday. He broke his left thumb May 9 and has been out since. Ehire Adrianza's rehab from a hamstring injury is also progressing, Bochy said.
Bochy shakes up order, drops Blanco to eighth spot
SAN FRANCISCO -- Looking for a spark offensively, manager Bruce Bochy altered the Giants lineup on Thursday. The biggest change came at the top, where Hunter Pence moved from the two-hole to the leadoff spot in place of Gregor Blanco, who was relegated to eighth in the order.
Much like the team as a whole, Blanco has struggled mightily to compensate for the absence of Angel Pagan.
Pagan has posted a .363 on-base percentage this season, and Blanco had hit .140 (6-for-43) in his last 12 games entering Thursday. The lower lineup spot appeared beneficial for Blanco, who went 2-for-4 with a double in the Giants' 7-2 loss on Thursday. Pence went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
After an 0-for-4 effort by Blanco on Wednesday night, Bochy said his replacement leadoff hitter had become passive in the batter's box and a change was necessary. Thursday marked the 23rd start in the last 24 games for Blanco, who started just 11 of the team's previous 62 games. He said fatigue from the drastic change in usage contributed to his struggles.
"Being a leadoff hitter demands you to be on base every time," Blanco said Thursday morning. "To me, there's got to be more of an energy level. Your energy level has to be 100 percent every time to be able to fight through and get on base. Angel does a great job doing it.
"It's tough to come from the bench and then play a bunch of games. That's not easy. I try to do the same thing he was doing, but it was a little tougher for me."
Subsequently, the offense has struggled. The Giants scored just 19 runs in their 10-game homestand that concluded on Thursday, and they were shut out three times.
"It's a really bad situation right now, because we need as a team to have better at-bats and to start playing like we were the first couple months," Blanco said. "That's why I'm a little mad sometimes -- I know slumps are going to happen, but I don't need a slump right now, I need to be better for the team right now.
"This [stinks], but it is what it is and I just got to continue to play hard, and I know I'm going to get out of it."
Blanco has grown frustrated, but his confidence hasn't waned, he said. And he anticipates big things from his replacement atop the lineup, so he's fine with the change.
"I'm all for the team to win. I know I'm kind of struggling right now, but it's going to be fun to watch a leadoff hitter like [Pence]," Blanco said. "He's a machine and he's going to be great."
Consistent Pence worthy of All-Star consideration
SAN FRANCISCO -- Online-only voting for the 2014 All-Star Game commenced last Thursday, which signaled the arrival of the final push for this year's balloting. The Giants have the National League's second-best record, but no players atop their positions in the voting.
Each of the team's three starting outfielders is in striking distance of the current would-be starters, with Michael Morse in eighth, Angel Pagan in ninth and Hunter Pence 11th.
Pence trails third-place Yasiel Puig by roughly 1.8 million votes, but the Giants' right fielder's consistency -- especially with the rest of the team mired in a slump -- has made him a worthy candidate for inclusion.
Although the Giants have maintained throughout the season that they don't care about All-Star appearances, Pence has a case to be honored a third time in his eight-year career. Entering Thursday, his .295 batting average is his highest since 2011, and he has 29 multihit games.
Fans can cast their votes for starters at MLB.com -- online or on a mobile device -- using the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by Experian until Thursday at 8:59 p.m. PT. The 2014 All-Star Game will be played at Target Field on Tuesday, July 15, on FOX.
Ryan Hood is an associate reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanhood19. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Soooo…. After the big announcement for Lucidity, there has been a lot of complaining that it wasn't Battlefront 3. I know it kind of stinks that they are keeping this secret, but what can we do? I mean in my opinion, they would be silly not to develop the game, there is too much demand for it. I feel that it will be released some day, most likely next year or the year after. It wouldn't be worth their while to put out such a big title right now with The Old Republic on it's way as well as Republic Heroes.
All i'm asking is to have faith my fellow Jedi's and Sith. As some people have pointed out, in the Gametrailers interview with LucasArts president Darrell Rodriguez, kept dodging the question of a next generation console Battlefront. Also in a Elite Squadron questionnaire from TheForce.net they managed to squeak in the following question:
"Last but not least, (and in the �Had to Try� category) the last 2 editions of Star Wars Battlefront have been exclusive to handheld platforms. Do you think handhelds will be the preferred future medium for the Battlefront franchise or can we hope to see a console version again sometime in the future?
The Battlefront team is very proud of the work we have done. It was no small feat getting so much game into both platforms! Both Elite Squadron developers Rebellion (PSP) and nSpace (DS) pulled out all the stops to make sure they delivered a game that would move the Battlefront experience forward. This would not have been possible without one fundamental thing that we share with the fans. We love Star Wars! Enjoy the games!"
Again they seem to dodge the question. Definitely interesting.
Be sure to check out the full questionnaire on Battlefront: Elite Squadron at the following link: Battlefront: Elite Squadron Questionnaire
In other Elite Squadron news, The Playstation Blog has posted a great video interview LucasArts Patrick Alvarado, who proceeds to walk them through Elite Squadron for the PSP. It's a great interview, so check it out below!


text: "The peace loving non-religious man has good cause to worry. It's been my experience that the humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the King's men. Pro-life hypocrites with a Bible in one hand and a gun in the other will kill you."


text:
On June 7, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police graduated its most recent recruiting class. Among the class of 25, there was not one African-American graduate.
With a police force that is becoming increasingly less diverse, due to the lack of African-Americans in recent recruiting classes, many worry today's officers are not equipped to effectively deal with the African-American community. In an effort to address this lack of diversity and the resulting diminished cultural understanding, the Pittsburgh Police recently hosted a discussion between some of the city's at-risk African-American youth and law enforcement officials.
"This is a setting where they will get to dialogue with Black youth. Training like this helps bridge that gap where we don't have diversified officers," said Police Chief Nate Harper. "We were very fortunate that we have a new class that just graduated and they can take this out into the community."
The meeting held at Duquesne University on June 8 was between the newest recruits and Black youth, was the first of it's kind in Pittsburgh. Eighty-five percent of the youth at the meeting have been involved in the juvenile justice system or prevention programs. The Disproportionate Minority Contact subcommittee of the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Committee, a state advisory group, prompted the initiative.
"This training is not only about safety for our officers, but safety for our youth as well," Harper said. "We look to serve all of our citizens and our youth are the next generation of leaders."
Despite an open invitation for the youth to air their grievances with the police, many of the youth did not take the opportunity to speak up. One young man did report witnessing his friend being "choked" by an officer after his friend spit on the ground in front of the officer. One young woman also reported being tased by a police officer.
"Police officers think they can do whatever they want because they think I don't know my rights," said the young woman who was from the Hill District and is now attending college. "If I just go with what the cops say, what is the point of having rights?"
The adults in the group were more willing to talk in an effort to repair the broken image the youth had of law enforcement. One officer said police officers do not back up fellow officers when they break the law, but when the youth were asked how many of them believed this, only one raised their hand.
The new recruits and the youth engaged in a series of role-playing exercises where they acted out a situation where police confront a group of youth hanging out on a street corner. The youth, who acted as police officers, and newly graduated recruits, who portrayed youth, acted aggressively confrontational toward each other.
"What gets our young people into worse situations is their attitude," said one police officer.
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the MacArthur Foundation, a non-profit organization which lists juvenile justice reform among its many focuses, developed the forum's curriculum. Paris Washington, chief inspector of the Philadelphia Sheriff's Department, led the Pittsburgh discussion and has led similar discussions in Philadelphia.
"Police, you folk do a hell of a job. We're not trying to tell you how to do your job. We're just trying to give you an additional tool," said Washington. "Today we're going to make history. We're going to take a ship that was moving in the wrong direction and right it."
The police department is planning to hold similar one-day trainings throughout the year for the rest of the city's police officers. The goal is to reduce the number of arrests of African-American youth.
"I think this is outstanding. It's a program that's meant to increase accountability with police officers," said Elliot Howsie, director of the Allegheny County Public Defender's Office. "It also gives juveniles the chance to learn the dos and don'ts. It ensures that police officers won't get hurt and juveniles won't get hurt."


text:
I was reading the weekly distrowatch letter, and one of the articles was http://batsov.com/articles/2012/09/09/from-linux-to-osx-1-year-later/. It talked about his experience coming from linux to os x (and then using os x for a year). I give the author credit because he didn't say linux was dead, he gave both pros and cons of mac os x, and he included the epilogue which basically says that he's not trying to force his opinion on you. Many of the points he made were interesting, and here are my thoughts on what he said (since I was actually using a mac a lot this weekend):
The Desktop - The Mac OS X desktop is extremely polished, although I have problems with the window buttons (maximize doesn't maximize, the x kind of closes it but not quite - to do it completely you need command+q). While I think linux is improving, OS X is much more user friendly and its default is much more polished. I think that the customization feature of linux desktops shouldn't be overlooked, though (if you tinker enough, you can have a very beautiful desktop under linux that easily beets os x).
OS X apps - It has office apps, which are probably fairly superior to libreoffice (although they aren't free), and apple media apps are very high quality, and there are probably other apps that are important that linux doesn't have (although they can be both proprietary and expensive).
Hardware Compatibility - I think that this isn't really a good example, because apple designs its own hardware (try running os x on a random pc and see how well it's supported). If you compare linux pre-installed computers to mac pre-installed computers, hardware compatibility is comparable.
Stability - I agree to an extent, but linux pcs are very stable if you don't change too much and your hardware's compatible.
Default apps - I think os x is still pretty good (besides maybe safari) when it comes to default apps. The one shorfall is it doesn't come with any real office apps by default.
Mac App Store - "The Linux distro package management is definitely infinitely better"
The special keys - I strongly agree with the author - the changing of the keys is just very annoying.
Other thoughts:
Upgrading Hardware - OS X forces you to upgrade your hardware every few years (whereas 12 year old computers can run linux fairly well). Even the Mid 2010 Macbook I was working on this weekend was kind of sluggish on Lion (when running multiple programs and launching programs).
Cost - Macintosh computers aren't cheap, and the base configurations are often very bad for the price. On top of this, iWork or Office for Mac are very expensive compared to LibreOffice.
User Friendliness - I honestly think that Linux (especially with a traditional DE) is easier to go to from Windows that OS X is. The basics are still the same - a taskbar, a menu (if you use MATE, Cinnamon, Xfce, or LXDE). If you install an LTS version, there aren't many more problems than OS X has.
I'd like to hear other people's thoughts, as this was (at least to me) thought provoking.
OS X vs Linux article
Chat about just about anything else
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OS X vs Linux article
Dell XPS 15 l502x - Debian Testing 64-bit NetInst Xfce, SolydX 64-bit Debian Testing, SolydK 64-bit SolydXK Testing
Old Gateway Pentium 4 Desktop - Arch Linux 64-bit Xfce and SolydX 32-bit Sid
Old Gateway Pentium 4 Desktop - Arch Linux 64-bit Xfce and SolydX 32-bit Sid
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text:
I along with a couple of friends are planning a ride to Napa to experience the Vista Dome Wine train from there. Our tentative program is as follows:
1/27/12 Friday leave LA for Napa via PCH and see Big Sur on the way. Spend the night in Napa.
1/28/12 Saturday take shuttle or taxi to the wine train at 10am, lunch, and train returns around 2:30pm. Rest at the hotel after wine tasting etc. No riding. See link for details of cost http://winetrain.com/lunch
1/29/12 Sunday leave for SFO, ride over the Golden Gate bridge to north of SFO heading to Nicks Cove for lunch via the PCH, spend the day there and night in hotel.
1/30/12 Monday morning leave for LA. We have done this ride once before and it was great fun and experience. We stopped at many places for meals, gas and photos, We saw a lot of nice scenery and it was really an adventure. If interested to join in please message me.
I am also a Road Captain and event organizer for Santa Monica Bay Riders group. More details here http://www.meetup.com/santamonicabay...ents/41973212/


text:
Emily Murgatroyd | August 29, 2007
By Emily Murgatroyd • Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - 22:45
Step up DeSmogBlog fans. We need your help in finding out who killed the Deep Space Observatory project.
The more donations we receive the more resources we can throw behind this project. We have an opportunity to shine the light on the politics behind global warming at their worst. Click here to donate, it all adds up, so whatever you can afford.
And here's the cheeky DSCOVR "advertisement" we are sending around the blog-o-sphere. Enjoy!
john replied on Permalink
I'm sold...and the Ukraine
I'm sold…and the Ukraine offered to launch it for free? What are the operating costs?
Kevin Grandia replied on Permalink
Generally affordable
A few mill to launch, but hey, only about $25,000 for us to research the heck out of this thing, pressure congress and others to pay for it themselves!
Paul S replied on Permalink
Can't they just crush the
Can't they just crush the satellite? I've heard prices for scrap metal are pretty good nowadays. ;)
Kevin Grandia replied on Permalink
It's kinda little
It's a really small satellite - only stand about 10 ft. high. Probably not worth much as scrap. Better to send it to space.
Paul S replied on Permalink
Visiting the NASA site, it
Visiting the NASA site, it says the satellite's status is TBD, to be determined. It probably will be launched sometime in the future.
Kevin Grandia replied on Permalink
Not at this rate
5 years in a box at $1 million a year in storage costs and no sign yet. I think the current administration would like this to slip quietly into the night.
Paul S replied on Permalink
It will probably be launched
It will probably be launched at some time Kevin.
After the loss of the shuttle Columbia, NASA also said they would never send another shuttle to the Hubble telescope either. Even though there was $250 million dollars worth of parts to repair and upgrade the telescope, it was decided to let the Hubble fade away.
Now, several years later, NASA has decided to send one more mission to the Hubble in September 2008. So I wouldn't give up hope on the DSCOVR craft yet; it's time will probably still come. Regards,
Anna Haynes replied on Permalink
URL for all Uncover DSCOVR posts?
Drupal allows Categories, right? Will there be a single URL I can use to view all "Operation Uncover DSCOVR" DeSmogBlog posts?
rob replied on Permalink
Pass the collection plate
So a slick Vancouver PR firm is soliciting charitable donations for itself.
And what is the worthy cause? To "pressure" congress to launch a satellite (spewing tons and tons of evil greenhouse gasses in the process). I wonder if it has ocurred to them how likely a foreign government will care about what a Vancouver PR company has to say.
Oh, sure. It all sounds pretty far-fetched, but never mind that. This is no time for doubt, people! That's just playiing right into the hands of the Deniaralist Conspiracy. Just send money. Operators are standing by.


text:
Ionized calcium is calcium that is freely flowing in your blood and not attached to proteins. It is also called free calcium.
All cells need calcium in order to work. Calcium helps build strong bones and teeth. It is important for heart function, and helps with muscle contraction, nerve signaling, and blood clotting.
This article discusses the test used to measure the amount of ionized calcium in blood.
See also: Serum calcium
Free calcium; Ionized calcium
A blood sample is needed. For information on how this is done, see: Venipuncture.
You should not eat or drink for at least 6 hours before the test. Your doctor may tell you to temporarily stop taking any drugs that can affect the test results. Calcium salts, hydralazine, lithium, thiazide diuretics, and thyroxine can increase your level of ionized calcium.
Never stop taking any medicine without first talking to your doctor.
Your doctor may order this test if you have signs of kidney or parathyroid disease. The test may also be done to monitor persons who have already been diagnosed with such diseases.
Usually, blood tests measure your total calcium level, which looks at both ionized calcium and calcium attached to proteins. You may need to have a separate ionized calcium test if you have factors that increase or decrease total calcium levels, such as abnormal blood levels of albumin or immunoglobulins.
Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.
The examples above show the common measurements for results for these tests. Some laboratories use different measurements or may test different specimens.
Higher-than-normal levels of ionized calcium may be due to:
Lower-than-normal levels may be due to:
Bringhurst FR, Demay MB, Kronenberg HM. Hormones and disorders of mineral metabolism. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 28.
Wysolmerski JJ, Insogna KL. The parathyroid glands, hypercalcemia, and hypocalcemia. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 266.
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text:
So Sorry: A Gallery Of Musicians Who Apologized For Their Music
- By Bossip Staff
6 of 9
Musicians Who Apologized For Their Music
Musicians are supposed to be rebels. They're supposed to say whatever they want and not care about what anyone thinks. But when endorsements get involved and money can be lost, people have to break out the apologies.
Rick Ross – He apologized for his lyrics that implied date rape with a Molly. Gotta protect that Reebok deal.
Drake – He apologized to Vanessa Bryant over his lyrics about shooting in the gym. But we know he meant it.
Continue Slideshow
Eminem – He called Diddy to preemptively apologize for lyrics he would make about Diddy's then-girlfriend J. Lo.


text:
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Jeep Liberty SkySlider Roof
After reading all the posts here, I was really worried about getting the Sky Slider fixed on my 2008 Jeep Liberty. I took it to the dealer May 3rd because the Sky Slider had come off track. They called the next day and said it was fixed. I paid for the repair, got home and it was not fixed. I took it right back, sat there over 2 hours and they said the whole top needed replaced. I had told them I was really worried after reading the cost that other people were being made to pay for a replacement. I was told they would replace the Sky Slider for $300. Then, because I had made a complaint at Jeep.com, I got an e-mail from them and was assigned a caseworker. She called me the next day. I told her everything that had happened (I forgot to mention here that I had taken the jeep in 3 other times because of the Sky Slider noise, the first time while it was still under warranty last year). Anyway, the caseworker called the dealer here and called me back. She said after they replaced the Sky Slider and I paid for it, to call her and send her the invoices from May 3rd and the replacement. She was authorized to pay a portion of my cost. I got the jeep back today, called the case worker and faxed her the invoices. I had paid $141.90 when they thought they had fixed it, and $300 today. I had a really good caseworker and the dealer here has worked with me with no problems, except when they thought they had fixed it. I plan on trading my jeep liberty for another jeep next march. I haven't decided if I'm going to get another Jeep Liberty (without the Sky Slider) or maybe a Wrangler 4-door. I just have to keep checking reviews before I decide.
dw_concerned Posts: 1I bought a 2009 Liberty Limited new & the warranty is valid until August '12. Yes, it does make an annoying wind noise on the passenger side but fortunately I have not experienced water leaking because I live in So Calif (it rarely rains) & I park inside a garage. I have probably only used the SkySlider 10-12 times in nearly 3 yrs. MY FEAR=if I take this to the dealer for the problem, will it get repaired or am I looking forward to horrors and disappointments like other folks posting? Is there a Chrysler-sanctioned 100% paid for repair, or recall, or, should I just accept the problem? This is the last vehicle I will ever own & cannot afford to continually pay for dealer patches nor do I wish to drive only when the weather is favorable. Your suggestions and comments are welcome and appreciated.
I can only go by my experience with my 2008 Jeep Liberty Sport. The first time they "fixed" it for the wind noise, was 1 week before the warranty expired. That lasted about 2-3 weeks and the noise was back. I took it back and they ordered the kit again and "fixed" it again. It doesn't last. That was last year. My advice is, take it in, have them "fix" it before the warranty runs out. If you have to take it again before the warranty expires, do it. It shows you tried to have it fixed. If anything else happens with it like it did mine, and the dealer tries to charge you full price, send a message through the Jeep website and if you are lucky like I was, you will get a good caseworker that can really help. The service guy I worked with, said if the caseworker hadn't been involved, he probably still wouldn't have the parts to replace my Sky Slider. My big problem with the Sky Slider started May 3rd and the problem is fixed completely now, AND, Jeep is going to reimburse me a portion of the cost. I forgot to mention, I probably opened my Sky Slider like you, 10-12 times in 4 years. I was told, with the new one, open it more, at least a couple of times a month. Good Luck.
I took my Liberty to a dealership in Birmingham to have the sky slider closed when it became stuck in the open position. I pulled up to the service department and the service writer said, "Oh, we don't see many of those. I don't know what's wrong with it." $110 diagnostic fee. $720 to have a module replaced, but the module didn't fix the problem, so the guy said one of the motors would have to be replaced, $940 total (including the $720 & $110). I asked for the parts in case this becomes an on-going problem and he doesn't want to give me the parts. How does he know the module was ever bad? Shouldn't the motor have indicated that it was "dying out"? The top never began to close slowly, it just wouldn't close at all one day. No loaner cars are available through this dealership either. Day 3 of walking to work, tomorrow will be day 4. The service guys don't even know how to fix these sky sliders - they just try a part, charge you for it, then try something else, repeat.
Skyslider, you need to go to the Jeep website and send them a message. Just explain everything you have gone through. Let them know about every time you have had to take it in for repair. You will get an e-mail from a caseworker. I hope you get one like I had. She was fantastic! The guy at my dealer said if she hadn't been involved, he probably still wouldn't have the parts. I paid to get mine fixed and I really didn't pay that much and Jeep is still going to reimburse me for a portion of what I paid.
montgomery1432 Posts: 1Hi, I have a 2008 Jeep Liberty with a sky roof. It leaks and the wind noise is terrible. I have had it in 4 times. In fact it is at the dealership now. They want me to pay over 900.00 for my part. I even have the extended warranty. I am tired of wasting my time on a bad design flaw on Chryslers part, can you please help me with the lemon law???
Thank you!
Thank you for your advice! I did contact Jeep & they are going to reimburse 50% of the $925 The vehicle was in the shop one week and could not be driven for another 3 days due to an overwhelming odor (might have been due to the dirty glove from the mechanic that I found under my seat), so the reimbursement definitely makes things better.
Oh, and the case worker suggested opening the sky slider at least once per week.
I'm really glad it worked out for you. I was only expecting a portion of what I paid to get mine fixed and when the check came last week, they had paid the whole amount! I immediately called my caseworker and thanked her. She said because I had taken it in so many times to get it fixed, she felt they needed to pay it all. I can't believe they left a glove in your car. You should have asked them to clean your jeep. LOL
bassetslave Posts: 22Hi
What do you mean by caseworker?
denisez1 Posts: 2I posted a message on 3/28/12 about the crimp in our 2008 Jeep Liberty sky slider roof. I want to thank all of you who said we should contact Chrysler about assistance with the repairs. We did contact Chrysler and were put in touch with a wonderful case manager. We've learned that it definitely pays to discuss the problem with the case managers in a respectful manner. State your case calmly and ask for assistance with the repairs. Let them know you're a loyal Jeep customer and want them to stand behind their product. Even though our car was one year out of warranty, since we are loyal customers (we have 2 Jeeps) Chrysler agreed pay for the $720.00 replacement part for the roof and we would be responsible for the $350.00 labor fee. The car is currently in the shop and will be ready tomorrow. Our case manager has been in touch with us and with our repairman throughout the entire process. She was never difficult to reach and always returned our telephone calls. It definitely pays to contact Chrysler to alert them about any issues you might have with the sky slider roof. I think Chrysler realizes these roofs have issues and I'm sure the parts probably don't cost them a penny! I'll let you all know how it turns out! Thanks again!
Hi Anne, if you call or e-mail Jeep or Chrysler, the person that responds to you will be your caseworker and assist you with the problem you are having. I had a great caseworker named Colleen.
chryslergroup Posts: 35Dear denisez1:
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with the Chrysler Customer Assistance Center. I am so happy to hear you had a positive experience and your Jeep Liberty is being repaired and that you took the time to share it.
We appreciate you being a loyal Jeep customer and hope to keep you as a satisfied customer for years to come.
Customer Care
Chrysler Group LLC
nata104 Posts: 1I have a 2010 Jeep Liberty with the SkySlider roof that I bought it off the showroom floor. At any speed over 50mph, the noise from the roof is so bad that I cannot hear the radio, have a conversation with other passengers or even attempt a cell phone call. There is this horrible howling noise coming from the roof. People who ride in my car are horrified that this is "normal" for this vehicle. And forget hearing sirens or anything- it seems like a safety risk in addition to an awful annoyance.
I have been to 4 dealerships who all look at the roof and report there is no problem and nothign to be fixed and that the noise is just a "design defect."
I have called corporate and they said there was nothing that can be done.
I am interested in suing Jeep/Chrysler over the issue and was wondering if anyone else had ever had success in litigating this issue, and if so, where did you sue and under what theory?
I didn't sue, but I had the same thing happen with the noise. The first time, they said there was an issue with the noise and they ordered a "kit" to fix it. That lasted about a month. I took it back and they did the same thing. The noise came back again. I just thought I was going to have to live with the noise. The third time I took it in, was because the slider came off the track. They "fixed" it for $141.90. I took it back within an hour after picking it up. It wasn't fixed. They said it needed a new top. I had read on here what people were paying ($1200-$3600)and I was worried. They told me they would put a new top on for $300. In the meantime, I sent an e-mail to jeep through their website saying there should be a recall on the skyslider. I heard from a caseworker, saying she would be calling me. I thought...yeah, right. Well, she did call and she called my dealer. Without her help, my jeep probably wouldn't be fixed now. It was fixed within a couple of weeks AND after I paid the $141.90 and the $300, I faxed her the invoices and I was sent a check for $441.90. My caseworker had said they would pay a portion of the amount and they paid it all. Because I had taken it in to be worked on before the warranty ran out, and still had the problem, they paid it. I'm still wondering if I will have the noise back, since it didn't start for a few months after I had originally bought the jeep (new)....time will tell. Right now, it is really quiet. I really love my jeep liberty, and I will buy another one, but I will never buy one with a skyslider again.
Try to do Lemon Law for your vehicle while you have time. Check the mileage and time limits for your state as each state is different. The roof will only get worse. At the end before Chrysler executed a buy back from me the roof wouldn't even open and it was leaking water and staining the head liner and carpet. Time is of the essence, so act now. They know it is a problem and there is a long established precedent. This is precisely why there exists Lemon Law for consumers. The Skyslider roof is indeed a "lemon" any way you slice it. Good luck to you. My deal worked out but I wish I hadn;t waited so long and given them so many chances to try to fix it (over 7). You get charged for tyhe miles you rack up which costs$$$. I now have a vehicle with a real glass panoramic roof and no leaks or noise whatsoever. The canvas was a poor design.
I had my Jeep for 5 months and the Sunroof flew backwards as I was driving. I called Visions where I purchased it they said they would look into it...no help there. Called Chrysler got a case worker and was told they could help me. Told me to take it to a couple repair shops to have it looked at both gave me a quote of $2000 just for the slider roof (spent $79.00 to have it "looked at"). After doing everything they requested I was denied. Contacted a lawyer (Keefes & Bartles) as they said they were starting a lawsuit against Chrysler and filled out paperwork , sent pictures etc. Have contacted them twice with no response since but if you go to their website they have filed the lawsuit but for the regular sunroof. I have done the lemon law and everything I could think of as the Jeep drives great but I'm really regretting getting the one with the slider. I finally turned it in to my insurance company and have to pay the deductible to get it fixed and I'm hoping to get it done this week. I really liked my Jeep but after all the problems don't know if I'd purchase another Chrysler if thats how they take care of their customers.
Do yourself a huge favor and read all of the postings on this site. The problem doesn't get better. Having it fixed outside of Chrysler would render your warranty null and void. Do not do that. After 3 attempts to unsuccessfully fix it you can file lemon law. Look at your lemon law book that came with your jeep or do an internet search for your state. The time frame is different in most staes. My state was 2 years from date of purchase. They know there is a problem and Chrysler will settle with you. Exercise your rights if you are still within the lemon law time period. Act quickly as you are charged all of the miles you are putting on vehicle now. I did lemon law and it is over. I got my vehicle paid back, and ended up with $3000 cash to put toward my next vehicle which has a real glass panoramic roof, no canvas. They know the canvas was a bad idea and they need to make it right. Good Luck.
sayray Posts: 4I had spent 2 months reading about the sky slider and all the issues perople have been having. My 2008 Jeep Liberty with the sky slider jumped the track (actually it is a cable issue) over a year ago at 31K miles, and I could not afford to pay to fix it. I emailed on June 19th and was set up with a case worker (Alyssa) and she was absolutly wonderful. The repair has not been done yet, but the parts are on order. The best part of it all is, the repair is at NO cost to me, at all! I am so estatic over it. Call and speak to Chrysler. I think they are trying to make up for the design of the top. That is a wonderful thing. So in under a month the issue with the top has been and will be resolved.
Chrysler has been amazing. I am even more loyal to Chrysler now than ever. However, the issue at this point stands with the service department. The service department aparently just doesn't get Jeeps with the Skyslider in and one employee told me he had neer seen one period. He asked me if I had to have it installed. Even after this admission, the man I spoke with in service was argumentative and wanted to charge me the diagnostic fee of over $100 to look at the Skyslider after they returned it to me and it began to malfunction again. Also, there was a smell so bad that the vehicle could not be driven after it was picked up from the dealership. The dealership did clean the vehicle & later that day I found a glove, covered with the smelly greasy stuff for the roof, under the driver's seat. As I stated previously, Chrysler is amazing! Chrysler doesn't always know what we encounter at the dealerships. I am curious to know if a non-comission pay set up would change things in the serice department any (maybe with bonuses based on customer satisfaction).
Thanks for trying to help but I did the lemon law and they sent me a letter back saying that the slider roof was not covered. I have spent months contacting Chrysler, lawyers etc with no help. I spent $ having it looked at for them to tell me it's $2000 just for the top. Chrysler denied me after they said they could help me saying my warranty was up. I was even willing to pay some of the charges even though I did nothing to damage the sunroof. I did call Chrysler again and the lady I spoke with stated my case was closed and I couldn't reopen or talk to anyone else.
This was my first newer vehicle and I loved it when I first saw it and didn't even realize it had the slider until I was test driving it. I didn't have any options left open to get it fixed but turn it in to my insurance company. Have water damage now and was tired of people staring at the tape and plastic I had to put around it to keep the water out. Very disappointed that my first newer vehicle was such a poor thought out plan.
booliberty Posts: 1Well I am glad your experience went well. I had the same issue owned a 2008 Jeep Liberty for 7 months no problems with the roof. One day last week while closing it the passenger side stopped moving and the roof wouldn't close. Called Chrsyler OOPS SORRRY NOTHING WE CAN DO!!!! Took it to a dealer today and I was told I need a 1600 dollar this and 1315 dollar that like a total of 4000 dollars. The guy was like we only "seen" 2 of these before and really arent sure what it will be. Nice! Why would Chrysler install such an expensive system on a vehicle? I only paid 18000 for the truck and now I need to pay over four thousand to fix the roof? Pitiful, absolutely pitiful.
I'm so sorry u are having the same problem. Chrysler knows there's a problem but it seems they pick and choose who they help. The restoration place I am having fix it is very good don't get me wrong but he has also never seen one before and I did take it to 2 actual Jeep dealers and one said they couldn't repair it there and the other one had to go online to find diagrams because they weren't sure either. The repair guy has been working with with my insurance and they went from giving me $229 to giving me $1950 more plus my deductible and they don't think they are done yet because just the canvas roof covering was $1300 and I need the whole thing replaced as the tracks are broken and there is no repair just replace. It's already been a week without it and he said hopefully by Sunday but no promises because its a big job. I also contacted the DOT about the safety issues but as I've stated before was just out of options and couldn't come up with the money to fix something that shouldn't have broke in the first place.
Seriously if enough of us get together maybe someone will take interest and help us out!!!
lashays Posts: 1I purchase a 2008 Jeep Liberty and I had my vehicle for 3 years and 4 months. I never had any problems with my vehicle until now. My slider roof came off track in the back and it flaps when i drive, I finally got it looked at when it started to leak inside. I took it to the Jeep dealership. They charged me $54 for looking at it then said that the whole frame is broken and the part will cost me $2800 - $3000 with tax. I am like are you serious!!I looked at it before I took it and I dont see where the frame is broken, I just see where it needs to placed back inside the frame. I need some advice??? What do you guys think??? :confuse:
Good luck with your slider. I finally got my slider fixed. It took a month and was $6500 when all was said and done. The only way I got my fixed was turning it in to the insurance company. Chrysler only helps a select few apparently and its hard to find any one to fix them, even the jeep dealers, because they say they haven't seen them. I know alot of times it doesn't look like its all broken but when one thing goes then the whole thing has to be replaced. Mine originally flew backwards while driving and even though its fixed now I still worry it may break again. It was a poor design concept and the repair shop that I had fix it was great but he said that because it has plastic pieces on it and they sit in the sun thats what happens. You could try to contact Chrysler some of the people on here got theirs fixed I just didnt have any luck with them. Hope it works out for you.
I'm sorry you are having these problems. I guess I was one of the lucky ones that got mine looked at and fixed at a great dealership, then was reimbursed by Jeep for the whole amount. BUT, last week, my husband read that they are thinking about discontinuing the Jeep Liberty, so, last Saturday, I signed the papers on a new car (not Jeep or Chrysler). They gave me $12,000 for my 2008 Jeep as trade in because it only had 37,000 miles on it and I told them it had a new top. Get on the Jeep website and send them an e-mail. Hopefully, you will get a great caseworker like I did (Colleen) and she will work with you. I didn't get angry with them, and I let them know I loved my jeep. When you talk to a caseworker, just be cool and try not to place blame on anyone, but let them know there should be a recall on the skyslider. One thing I didn't do with the skyslider, is, I rarely used it and I was told with the new one, to slide it back once or twice a month so the mechanism didn't get stiff. Good luck & I hope everything works out okay.
I am glad that Chrysler is monitoring this blog but doesn't everyone, including Chrysler see the giant elephant in the room here? I was a very loyal Chrysler owner. This was my 4th Jeep.
(The Skyslider is a faulty, defective design, and anyone who ever paid any money or continues to pay % to get any fault fixed with this roof deserves to be reimbursed and compensated for their time and trouble).
What about all of the customers who are ignorant to this forum, think theirs is an isolated incident, and simply get it fixed? Chrysler is benefitting from their own faulty roof design in way too many cases.
I am sorry for your troubles. You are absolutely right. Everyone needs to stop accepting this problem as ok. It is not OK. The Skyslider roof Jeeps require a total recall. To not be able to drive a vehicle in the rain, on the highway due to the noise, etc. I can't believe this is still going on. Good Luck, hang tough.
lynchbro Posts: 1Hi!
I just purchased a 2012 Jeep Liberty with the skyslider roof. I have been scouring the internet to see how to care for it with no luck!
Anyone know?
jimgreiner Posts: 6Burn it, trade in now (or refuse delivery) or rip it out & have a sheet metal roof made in it's place... You should have checked out this forum BEFORE you purchased the skyslider