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'Tough' times in drought-parched Texas for rice farms and their visiting ducks
Ronald Gertson usually plants about 3,000 acres of rice each year on his family farm in Wharton County, Texas. But because of emergency water regulations set in 2012 due to central Texas' painfully persistent drought, Gertson could plant about 40 percent of that land.
When fall arrived, Gertson saw flocks of ducks and geese fly in to winter on his fields, as they have since he was a child growing up on his parents' rice farm. But this time, the birds didn't stay.
"We've been hurting now long enough that maybe they're just heading to a different area," Gertson said. "Early in the season, they're here, but there's just not enough here to sustain them so they move on."
The five-year drought in central Texas, the worst since the 1950s, has wreaked havoc on the region's $374 million rice industry. Water restrictions have eliminated about 50,000 of the region's 145,000 acres of rice. Beyond the harm done to rice farms and the people who depend on them, Texas water bird fanciers and the state's $204 million waterfowl hunting industry are becoming increasingly alarmed.
North America's top-producing rice regions -- the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas, the Mississippi Alluvial Valley and California's Central Valley -- have come to stand in for vanishing wetlands, supporting about 45 percent of the continent's wintering duck population, according to a 2013 report by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Water birds are forced to concentrate wherever they can find water. Rogers Hoyt, a senior vice president for the conservation group Ducks Unlimited, had an exceptional hunting season on the 650 acres of groundwater-fed rice he owns in Jackson County, Texas, south of Gertson's ranch. Between himself, his family and his friends, last year's total bag was 592 birds.
"The only reason we had more birds is we had water and our neighboring counties didn't," Hoyt said.
2 years of water cutoffs
In the Texas mid-coast area, rice farms generate about one-third of the high-carbohydrate food needed by wintering waterfowl before they migrate north to Canada to breed, said Kirby Brown, conservation outreach biologist for Ducks Unlimited.
"As we look at this drought, and we look at the severity of it, it's a tough one," Brown said. "It's a tough one on everything out there as far as wildlife goes. But it's especially tough if we don't get water for rice."
Ten-thousand acres of rice can support about 120,000 water birds, and the Texas coast hosts about 2 million birds each year, Brown said. Among the 200 bird species that use this land are pintails, blue-winged teals, mallards, snow geese, sandhill cranes and yellow rails.
Rice farmers and Ducks Unlimited members are often one and the same -- many of the organization's leaders own or run rice operations, including its president, George Dunklin Jr. Also, farmers often lease out their acreage to duck hunting outfitters in the fall, obtaining a little extra income. Gertson said that he can make between $10 to $25 an acre per hunting season, depending on how much water is left on the land.
"What's good for rice farming is good for ducks, and generally what's good for ducks is also beneficial for the rice farmer," quipped Hoyt.
On Feb. 4 of this year, the USA Rice Federation and Ducks Unlimited entered into a formal partnership, although the two organizations have often worked together in the past on an ad hoc basis.
Nine days later, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved the Lower Colorado River Authority's emergency request to deny water to downstream rice farmers in two central Texas counties for the second year in a row.
'This is no ordinary drought'
The water cutoff is part of a long-standing agreement between the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), which manages the Lower Colorado River Basin's water supply, and rice farmers. Downstream rice farmers are classified as "interruptible" customers, meaning they pay a low rate of about $40 per acre-foot for water released from two artificial lakes, Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis, when Colorado River water supplies run low.
But when these lakes are depleted below a certain point, interruptible customers are cut off in favor of "firm" water customers -- cities, industries and electric power plants -- which pay about $150 per acre-foot. More than 1 million people depend on the LCRA for drinking water, including the city of Austin.
The current crisis originated in 2011, during the worst single-year drought in Texas history. That year, the water moving into the lakes was the lowest volume on record, flowing in at about 10 percent of the average. Despite this, the LCRA abided by its state-approved water management plan, providing rice farmers with water for both their first and second crops of rice. Agriculture accounted for 60 percent of the LCRA's 2011 water use.
In the spring of 2012, water levels in the lakes had not recovered, falling just below the trigger point. In order to guarantee water to its firm customers, the LCRA enacted emergency drought relief measures, and downstream rice farms were cut off. In 2012, agriculture accounted for 21 percent of the LCRA's water use.
When the LCRA had to enact the emergency drought plan for a second time this year, LCRA General Manager Becky Motal said in a statement, "This is no ordinary drought."
"We know going without water will be difficult for farmers, their families, and the local economies, but this is an extraordinary drought," Motal said. "We don't know when it will end, and we have to protect the city of Austin and other municipal customers."
Farmers and hunters vs. city of Austin
Low water levels in the lakes have fueled disagreements over whether rice farmers should receive any water at all.
In July, the Austin American-Statesman's editorial board published an op-ed stating that the dry reservoirs are "a result of the lake authority's mismanagement as much as it is of drought," calling the LCRA's decision to supply water to rice farmers in 2011 "odious" and "indefensible."
On July 31, Jo Kar Tedder, president of the nonprofit Central Texas Water Coalition, wrote a letter to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality alleging that LCRA was giving the rice farmers "huge amounts" of water "at exceeding low prices." That, Kidder asserted, left regular customers "to pay the bills and shoulder the risks during periods of extended drought." The coalition requested that water rates for the farmers be raised to a more "appropriate" price.
Earlier this year, the coalition had requested that the LCRA buy out downstream rice farmers for $100 million, arguing that this would be cheaper and more sustainable than the new, $206 million downstream reservoir that the LCRA hopes to complete by 2017, part of the authority's goal to add 100,000 acre-feet to the region's water supply.
Izzy Neusch, who works for the water coalition, said that her group considered the buyout idea an "out of the box" solution for both the rice farmers and upriver water users. In 2011, she noted, downstream farms used almost 433,000 acre-feet of water -- far more than the proposed reservoir will hold, at 90,000 acre-feet.
"We thought it was a win-win idea," said Neusch, who was formerly a member of Ducks Unlimited. "I'm not sure that flooding [rice farms] is natural and sustainable. Especially in Texas, I don't think that it's realistic. ... We need to look at more sustainable alternative practices to help conserve water."
"Duck hunting is huge down there," Neusch added. "If populations are decreasing so much, maybe not inviting people on your farm to go out on duck hunts could help the populations, as well."
Incoming ducks, departing food and water
Gertson, who now acts as a spokesman for the Texas rice industry, characterized the idea of ending rice farming in Texas as "a knee-jerk reaction," speaking of it as just one of the many troubles that have hit his industry since the drought began. The clay-based soil in central Texas is uniquely suitable for rice planting but not much else, so the majority of farmers cannot transition to other crops.
For the last two years, Gertson and other farmers have recovered their losses through crop insurance. But if the drought continues -- and, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority's projections for the region, this seems likely -- that money may not come through for another season.
"We have been told that three years in, a payment of that sort for crop insurance is highly unusual," Gertson said. "We may not be able to farm anything. There's just a lot of nervousness and unsettledness about the coming year as a result."
The nervousness in the farming community has naturally extended to Ducks Unlimited activists. According to Hoyt, this year's fall flight is predicted to be good, despite last year's drought. However, "we're going to have a big fall flight coming to very little food and very little water, and that makes it difficult for birds," he said.
Without 50,000 acres of rice available for a second year, food and habitat for wintering birds will be severely constricted, Brown said. When birds concentrate in smaller areas, they are also more susceptible to disease. Last year, Brown saw "a tremendous dispersal" of water birds, although Ducks Unlimited has not yet determined how the Texas drought will affect populations down the road.
"They're doing OK, they're holding on, but it's a concern when you lose this amount of water," Brown said.
Better water conservation management and the new LCRA reservoir planned for 2017 might serve to improve the situation in the future, Brown said. But the current drought has already resulted in major habitat loss. Over the past two decades, Ducks Unlimited has worked with private landowners to restore and manage about 60,000 acres of wetlands. During that time, the rice industry came to constitute "an ecosystem unto itself," Brown said.
"Imagine having a little over 50,000 acres of rice removed -- you've just basically eliminated the habitat management work we've done over the last 23 years," Brown said. "It's a dramatic thing. Dramatic."
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BMI Federal Credit Union Expands FOM Across Central Ohio
The $382 million, 27,500-member BMI Federal Credit Union in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, Ohio, is expanding its membership eligibility to everyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in the Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The eight-county area has about 1.8 million people and is the nation's 32nd largest MSA, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 76-year-old credit union was created to serve employees at Battelle Memorial Institute and now has more than 350 SEGs, including Bob Evans, White Castle, Schottensteins/DSW and Worthington Industries, BMI FCU said.
"This change will allow BMI FCU to play an even greater role in growth and vitality of central Ohio," BMI FCU said in its announcement. The NCUA Board approved the expansion in October.
"This new membership policy will allow BMI FCU to partner with local organizations and businesses without signing a formal agreement," the announcement said, adding that it will no longer accept new members from outside the Columbus MSA.

subset: commoncrawl


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My 1st wife at one time was the tanker dispatcher for a small local oil/gas distributor, back in the late 80's. She said the same thing back as mentioned above, that all the "brands" are really the same gas stock from the refineries and some of the major brands have an additive package the lesser known brands don't have.
Based on that going back to the 80s and what is said above, I'd certainly believe it. Although, I do try to buy well known brands of gas more often than the lesser known brands.
Here in Wisconsin and Iowa, the Kwik-Trip brand of convenience stores are huge and in almost any city big enough to have a store. For years their have advertised "top tier garauntee", they insure you'll never have a "fuel related engine problem" using Kwik-Trip gas. Interesting marketing ploy. For one, if you did have a problem, you'd have to prove it was their gas, and you'd have to prove their gas specifically caused the problem. Well, if they're getting the gas from the same stock as everyone else, how could you ever prove it was their specific fuel?
That said, in over 210,000 miles on both of my BMWs I have never had a fuel related engine problem (knock on wood, or noggin, same thing)


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He was born Feb. 19, 1935, in Norman, Okla., to the late Gilbert Sylvester and Clauzell Lee Hunt Pence. He was a member of the Danville Church of Christ. He was a retired vending company manager. He was preceded in death by his parents; and siblings, Gerald Pence, June Madden, Billie Joan Pence and Leslie Pence.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Martha Caroline Pence; three sons and daughters-in-law, Kenneth II and Pam Pence, of Arlington, Texas; Jim and Pam Pence of Ottawa, Kan., and Gary and Carole Pence of Hurst, Texas; brothers and sisters-in-law, Merrill and Dolores Pence of Danville, Travis and Pat Pence of Danville, Wyatt and Betty Pence of Danville and Phil Pence of Yukon, Okla.; 10 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was held Monday, Jan 14, 2013, at the Danville Church of Christ with Mr. Merrill Thomas Pence officiating.


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The STX B+ Tree package is a set of C++ template classes implementing a B+ tree key/data container in main memory. The classes are designed as drop-in replacements of the STL containers set, map, multiset, and multimap, and follow their interfaces very closely. By packing multiple value pairs into each node of the tree, the B+ tree reduces heap fragmentation and utilizes cache-line effects better than the standard red-black binary tree. The tree algorithms are based on the implementation in Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest's Introduction into Algorithms, Jan Jannink's paper, and other algorithm resources. The classes contain extensive assertion and verification mechanisms to ensure the implementation's correctness by testing the tree invariants.
nedtries is a portable in-place bitwise binary Fredkin trie algorithm that allows for near constant time insertions, deletions, finds, closest fit finds, and iteration. It is approximately 50-100% faster than red-black trees and up to 20% faster than O(1) hash tables. It provides implementations as C macros, C++ templates, and as a C++ STL compatible associative container.
Configurator is a configuration file parser. It allows you to use arbitrary nesting of sections. The user can define an option's default value, necessity, and semantic check. It supports single-line and multi-line comments (in C++ style). It provides common checks of options and sections, like duplication, incorrection, etc. It uses only Boost C++ libraries and ISO C++. It is header-only (does not require building) and very easy to use.
FontMapper is a font texture generator for game developers. It allows you to turn a font you have installed to a PNG texture of tightly packed glyphs, accompanied by a text file describing the glyphs' properties and texture coordinates. You can read these in a game to render fonts. FontMapper supports Unicode (although only the Basic Multilingual Plane, i.e. the 16-bit codepoints), and each glyph can have its own size, i.e. fonts are not necessarily monospaced. Currently, FontMapper is command-line only, although there might be a GUI frontend in the future.
The Mirror C++ reflection library provides both compile-time and run-time meta-data describing common C++ program constructs like namespaces, types, enumerations, classes, their base classes and member variables, constructors, etc. and provides generic interfaces for their introspection. It also provides several high-level utilities based on the reflected meta-data like a factory generator, which generates, at compile-time, implementations of object factories which can create instances of arbitrary 'reflectable' type.
A Java framework for building data integration and ETL applications.
An effective directory synchronization tool.


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Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
It doesn't matter if JR has high potential or not. He's never gonna get there with 0 work ethic and terrible mindset. Getting drunk and clubbing during playoffs? wtf...There's a reason why Lebron is the best player on the planet right now...yes he was blessed with a gift but people say that Lebron's work ethic is tremendous...it's no wonder he's so good (I'm not a Lebron worshipper btw)
Get rid of this idiot now
Favorite Team: Knicks
Favorite Player: D. Rose
Favorite Position: PG
And we dumped Lin to hep accomodate for JR, too!
This is exactly how you build contending NBA teams in the year 2013. We've been making all the right moves since The Melo Deal. And we have Melo, Scoring Champion. He even won a NCAA title and is really clutch and loves to take shots.
Every year he tells the media about how much he wants to win and all the awesome stuff he will do and improve to help make the team better. After two more off-seasons of giving the media cool sounding quotes, we might even be lucky enough to have our bigtime contract players -- Amare and Chandler -- still active NBA players!
Now JR can follow the same mold of his mentor. And JR can tell the media every time he is suspended about how he is going to fix his flaws and that he is a team player and wants to win a chip.
I can't lie, I ain't perfect. I have set backs in my life, but I work hard to overcome and become bigger each day. I wish the best for JR, I feel like he's too old to be messing with drugs like that. He's 2 years from being 30, been in the league for over a decade already.
He's wasting his time and the Knicks time.
The Knicks time, how much time do the Knicks have?
What's our window for a championship and how long can we last with this cast of players?
This is how I see it...
If Knicks don't play like a top 3 team in the NBA before the all star break, burn the team. Trade everyone from Melo to CJ Leslie. Get a lot of draft picks, expiring contracts and totally start over from scratch.
That's how serious this season is.
Every man makes mistakes, but real men also man up when it's time. I will still give JR this season to prove himself, but I ain't optimistic.
Also, you are too true in your title window outlook and what we must do if **** is whack by all-star break. This season is everything. JR + Melo must rise to the occasion. Woodson, too. And we need legit PG play from our 1 this year...
Our window for a Championship or trip to the FINALS went out the door the day we traded for ISO-Melo.
In JR.smith past 5 seasons I did not see any decent .500 team interested in signing or trading for JR.
The only reason JR.smith is wearing a Knicks jersey is Melo recruited JR.
Recall in 2005 NO Hornets HC Byron Scott barred 2nd season JR.smith from the Hornets lockerroom, JR was quickly traded to the Chicago Bulls in the offseason, inwhich the Bulls had no plans on giving JR a Bulls jersey by trading JR a month later to the Denver Nuggets.
In JR.smith 9 seasons in the NBA, Mike Woodson is the only HC that gave a 39% fg shooting JR the Green-Light, control of the offense, and more than 24 minutes per game.
The Knicks are far away from playing like a Top 3 team, especially in the 2013-14 season.This is how I see it... If Knicks don't play like a top 3 team in the NBA before the all star break, burn the team. Trade everyone from Melo to CJ Leslie. Get a lot of draft picks, expiring contracts and totally start over from scratch.
That's how serious this season is.
The Knicks winning 54 games in 2012-13, were all on the strength of HC/player Jason Kidd, and his coaching-staff of Old-Heads keeping discipline amongst teammates for 82 games of BALL-HOGGER ISO-Melo & JRsmith...


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Please can you identify this spider for me. I think it looks a bit like a four spot orb but I'm not sure. Thankyou
Are the colours in the photo a good representation? From the markings and the shape of the abdomen I'd guess at Araneus diadematus but I've never seen one that colour. Maybe it's colour had changed to match its surroundings. Where did you find it? Anyway, I can't totally rule out quadratus - if you could get a good photo of her epigyne (on the underside of the abdomen) that should settle it because they're a bit different.
I'm still inclined to think it's diadematus. The shoulder humps are more obvious on the last photo and although the epigyne isn't in focus I think it looks more like that of A.d. That of quadratus is broader - you can see this here. http://www.eurospiders.com/Araneus_quadratus.htm
That's great. Thank you very much.


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(Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
Gotye for president. Well, sort of.
The singer behind "Somebody That I Used To Know" has formed a political party with his band, The Basics. According to The Guardian, Gotye plans to run in Victoria's state election in Australia this November.
Related: Gotye's Obscure Sample Costs Him $1 Million
Gotye's party is named the Basics Rock'n'Roll Party. The Guardian reports that the three pillars of the party include innovation, education and — naturally — rock 'n' roll.
Objectives include first-aid training in schools and more access to music in rural areas.


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Caught this in my bathroom last night after pulling the silky threads off me.
Any advice please.
Hi Twids,
Yes, it's a male Steatoda nobilis.
I tend tend to relocate males outside (they wander around), females are much better house trained and mostly stick to one place.
Rgards, Mark.
Mark, Thank you for the identification.
Hope you don't mind some questions.
I'm in Paignton / Torquay notorious, now I find out, for these.
1/ At what temperature can they not survive.
2/ should I presume there are lots more inside? If so do I need to get someone in to professionally deal with them.
3/ is there a known substance they don't like. You know like citronella?
Hi Twids,
1/ A temperature probably somewhat colder than winter in Devon. Mature males don't feed and are thought to die off after a year or so...smaller males, I don't know. When it gets cold they just "shut down" & withdraw into shelter. Female spiders that have a hiding place on exteriors of buildings/sheds etc seem happy enough to stay there & sit the winter out.
2/ I wouldn't necessarily assume that there are lots more. There may be a few in the vicinity, but they tend to stay out of our way, making webs high off the ground. Males are typically much less common than females. They don't live in colonies and once females get to a reasonable size they like a bit of space.
3/ I'm not personally aware...I have heard that spiders in general don't like horse chestnuts...I don't know if there is any truth in this.
I would think that if you were regularly finding them (different individuals), then you may want to look into removal, but they may be difficult to remove without killing more useful spiders. Once removed, it's likely that others may eventually turn up as they are established in your area (as they are here, where they aren't really much of a nuisance).
Thank you very much for your extensive reply. I wish many professionals etc could be as thorough with their replies as you with yours.
From a very grateful,
Ps. Even now more interested in spiders and The Museum.


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5 Things You Missed On Instagram Last Night: Guess Who's Back On 'The Game'?
You can only scroll through Instagram with one eye open like CBS for so long. Eventually you've gotta stop thumbing. Here's what you missed while you were catching Zzzs last night
Brandy teasing season 7 of The Game. Guess who's bizack?
Photo Credit: Instagram/4everbrandy


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Last week, Springdale drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to steal a 7A/6A-Central Conference basketball win from the Cyclones. Tuesday night, the Greenwood Bulldogs ralled in the fourth period and escaped RHS with a 72-71 two-overtime league win.
"I kept telling the boys we were just one rebound away from stealing the win," Russellville head coach Codey Mann said after the game. "We keep missing shots and they keep getting the rebound, and then they're out there playing the foul game again. One rebound and we had a chance to put the game away."
Greenwood overcame a 46-37 deficit in the fourth period to tie the game 56-56 at the buzzer. The Cyclones showed their inexperience and youth in the waning moments of regulation with confusion under the goal.
"I looked out there on the court, and we had four sophomores out there with Dakota Young. With all the youth out there, tight games like this at the high school level isn't something they've experienced," Mann said. "Look at all our guards. All we have are sophomores and juniors. For every single one of them, it's their first time to experience things like this."
That's one thing Russellville is in dire need of, besides a conference win — experience.
"As rough as it got out there, it was great experience," the coach said. "We've got tough kids and they've responded well. They responded well to the loss against Springdale, and they'll respond well to this. We've just go to come out fighting and get ready for Catholic on Friday."
The Cyclones outscored the Bulldogs 13-8 in the first period and carried that lead into the third quarter. Both teams netted seven apiece in the second period, then they scored 16 and traded the lead six times in the third. Russellville's Kentrel Scott, Dakota Young and Co-Chese Temple-Laws netted back-to-back layups to give the Cyclones their 36-31 lead going into the fourth.
Controversy surrounded a free-throw in the first over-time. Confusion on whether an official had signaled a 1-for-1 free-throw permeated both the Russellville squad and the Bulldogs. Several Greenwood players jumped for the rebound after the first shot was made, but whistles blew and another foul shot was awarded to the Bulldogs.
"When he first made the call to our scorekeeper, I believe he told her it was a 1-for-1," Mann said. "I think he told the players that, too. Two Greenwood kids went for the rebound. They wouldn't have done that if he hadn't. When I asked the umpire about it he couldn't give me a good reason to change it to a two-pointer, but sometimes in the game of basketball this is kind of how things work and how things play out."
It would be easy to point a finger at that free-throw as the culprit of the Cyclones' 1-point loss. Mann said he prefers to give credit to who deserves it.
"You've got to give Greenwood credit," he said. "They stretched out the game as long as possible and eventually found a way to win."
Russellville had the lead with 18 seconds left in the second overtime, but Greenwood scored a jumper in front of a thunderous Cyclone Gymnasium crowd and time ran out out for Russellville.
Andy Campbell led the Cyclones in scoring with 15 points, followed by Young who pitched in 14. Tony Jones added 12 points and Jalen Curtis scored nine.
"I'm really proud of the boys," Mann said. "They played extremely hard for me. A break here and a break there and it could have been a different ballgame. You hate to learn from the game when you lose. You prefer to learn when you win. But we'll use this to our advantage and we'll get better from it."
Russellville will continue conference play at Little Rock Catholic on Friday.


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Interested in Language
As you're packing, make a list of what goes into each bag. That way, if you have to file a lost luggage claim, you'll know what you lost. Be sure to pack anything especially valuable, such as prescriptions, electronics, or jewelery, in your carry-on bag. And pack enough clothing and essentials in your carry-on to last 24 hours. That way, if your bags do disappear, you aren't stuck with just the clothing on your back.
Would you please be nice enough to clarify the bold written part to me?
Thank you.
It means the clothing you are wearing.
Thank you. Just one more thing.
The word "back" refers to the clothes now you are wearing or the clothes that are in the bag?
Two of us have said that 'the clothes on your back' refers to the clothes you are wearing.
Think of it as 'the clothes on your body at that moment'.
Pope of the Dictionary.com Forum


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Azure- Boutique community of 101 luxury condominiums located at Loggerhead Marina and conveniently located directly off the Intracoastal Waterway. Residences range in size from approximately 2,700 S/F to over 5,100 SF. Final building under construction with anticipated occupancy approx. late 2017. 24-7 gated entry, marina, luxury amenities, services and lifestyle. Parking spaces; 2 assigned per residence and A/C storage.
- List Price
- $1,850,000
- Property Type
- Condo / Townhouse
- Lifestyle
- Deepwater / Intracoastal
- Bedrooms
- 3
- Bathrooms
- 3 full / 1 half
- Total Square Feet
- 3,628
- AC Square Feet
- 3,261
- Garage Spaces
- 2
- Year Built
- 2017
- Taxes
- $23,500
- Tax Year
- 2017
- New Construction
- Yes
Here is the estimated breakdown for this property's mortgage and tax payments. Feel free to adjust any of the values.
Results received from this calculator are designed for comparative purposes only, and accuracy is not guaranteed.
Listing courtesy of Frankel Ball Realty Group, LLC
DISCLAIMER: The written and verbal information provided including but not limited to prices, measurements, square footages, lot sizes, calculations and statistics have been obtained and conveyed from third parties such as the applicable Multiple Listing Service Internet Data Exchange ("IDX"), public records as well as other sources. All information including that produced by the Sellers or Listing Company are subject to errors, omissions or changes without notice and should be independently verified by any prospect for the purchase of a Property. The Sellers and Listing Company expressly disclaim any warranty or representation regarding all information. Prospective purchasers' use of this or any written and verbal information is acknowledgement of this disclaimer and that Prospects shall perform their own due diligence. Prospective purchasers shall not rely on any written or verbal information provided when entering into a contract for sale and purchase. Some affiliations may not be applicable to certain geographic areas. This information is not verified for authenticity or accuracy and is not guaranteed. The information provided is for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties for purchasing. Some properties which appear for sale on this web site may subsequently have sold or may no longer be available. Please contact Premier Estate Properties directly for additional information pertaining to the status and availability of properties displayed on this website. All listings featuring the BMLS logo are provided by BeachesMLS Inc. This information is not verified for authenticity or accuracy and is not guaranteed. Copyright 2017 Beaches Multiple Listing Service, Inc.


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Roger Clemens is making sure he takes the time to teach the younger pitchers on the Yankees staff a thing or two about the art of pitching. Two pitchers he has taken under his wing are 21-year-olds Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.
"To me, there's a difference between coaching and teaching. I enjoy teaching," Clemens told Newsday. "The Yankees are planning on them being a big part of that stadium (under construction) across the way here."
While both Hughes and Chamberlain are trying to absorb everything Clemens tells them, Chamberlain said there is still time to poke fun at their older mentor.
"We give each other a hard time, that's what makes it fun," Chamberlain said with a laugh. "He's old. He's been playing this game longer than I've been alive. That's always the key, right there."
Chamberlain, who considers Clemens "a great person as well as a great pitcher," has his locker at Yankee Stadium next to Clemens'. It is a location he is taking advantage of.
"Fortunately," he said, "I get to talk to him every day about baseball, about how things are going; deliveries and little things about the game."
Giants see Davis in their future plans: The Giants have been thrilled with the production they've received from Rajai Davis, the outfielder acquired from the Pirates in the Matt Morris deal. His performance both offensively and defensively has been a surprise and Davis has thrust himself into the team's plans, possibly as a leadoff hitter, for 2008.
"He's really whetted our appetites," batting coach Joe Lefebvre told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Hopefully he can continue to improve and be that guy at the top of the order. He's a lot better than I was led to believe. You look at his bio with Pittsburgh and you're surprised he hasn't done more."
The Giants have been struggling to find a leadoff hitter to replace the injured Dave Roberts. Davis is batting .307 with a .398 on-base percentage in 88 at-bats as the team's leadoff hitter.
"He's on fire, man. He's a catalyst," pitcher Barry Zito said of Davis. "He gives us a spark in the lineup. When he gets on base, it sets a wave of energy through the dugout."
DiNardo shows consistency: Lenny DiNardo won his fifth consecutive decision as he held the Royals to just one run and five hits in eight innings in the A's 6-1 win on Sunday. The victory helped the A's avert a sweep and upped DiNardo's record to 8-6 and lowered his ERA to 3.13 for the season.
"I welcome any win, and I hope this starts a different kind of streak," DiNardo told the San Francisco Chronicle.
DiNardo retired 15 of his first 16 batters and needed just 85 pitches to complete eight innings.
"I was pretty economic," DiNardo said. "That's a good thing to see out there. It felt like I was keeping the ball down and letting the defense take care of it, and that keeps the pitch count down."
It's a stark contrast from his first three seasons in the Majors. Last season with the A's, DiNardo was limited by a neck injury and went 1-2 with an 8.75 ERA. His first two years with the Red Sox were spent shuttling back and forth between Triple-A and Boston.
"It's good to able to have a little bit of consistency in my outings and to be healthy," DiNardo said. "I always knew I had some capabilities to go out and throw the ball well, but it's been consistency for me the last three years or so.
"The season is not over. I've got bigger goals than going out and winning eight games."
Lee may return to Astros lineup: After suffering a hip flexor injury Saturday night and being held out of the starting lineup Sunday, Houston Astros left fielder Carlos Lee believes there is a chance for him to be in the starting lineup Monday night against Washington.
Lee, who suffered the injury while sliding into second base in an attempt to break up a double play, did not start for the first time this season on Sunday against San Diego. However, he did appear as a pinch-hitter.
"I'm going to give it a shot," Lee told the Houston Chronicle. "I'm going to get treatment and go out and run. I can swing. It doesn't bother me to swing at all. I don't want to be out there if I'm not close to 100 percent. You put the team in position where they're playing short. I'll do my best for (today) and hopefully I'll feel good."
Lee is tied for the team lead in home runs and leads the Astros in RBIs.
Owings has a fairy tale homecoming: Arizona pitcher Micah Owings had one heck of a homecoming Saturday night. Pitching for the first time in his home state of Georgia, Owings did it all for the Diamondbacks as he went 4-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and six RBIs and threw seven effective innings in a 12-6 win over the Atlanta Braves.
"To be back home and have the game that I did tonight, that's all I can say; I'm unbelievably blessed," Owings told the Arizona Republic.
The native of Gainesville had more than 100 friends and family members in the stands watching the game. Josh Owings, Micah's older brother, was amazed at what his brother did.
"I think this is the kind of night Micah has dreamed of his whole life," Josh said. "There's nothing that makes a family member happier than see a dream come true for somebody else in the family."
Owings' home runs, of which he now has three this season, shouldn't come as a surprise. While at Gainesville High School, he threatened the national high school career home run record.
"He's got as much power as anybody we've got on our team," manager Bob Melvin said.
LaRoche sees a future in hunting DVDs: Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Adam LaRoche is an avid hunter, and as a minority owner in the company that produces the "Duck Commander" DVD series. This May, along with friends Chipper Jones, Todd Helton and eight or nine other players, LaRoche will go on location to film the series.
"I hunt every day, anyway, so we might as well film it and do something with it," LaRoche told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "It will be fun. And it's cool because we'll all get together in the winter, see different places and hunt."
LaRoche and company will also be filmed golfing and doing other things, all the while telling hunting stories.
"It won't be a reality TV kind of thing. I'm not into that," said LaRoche. "Basically, it will be cameras on a few guys, all the time. I've got a camera guy who's basically going to be living with me for about a month, filming all my hunts."
LaRoche says that it's possible that he's found his calling for his post-baseball life.
"This is something I can see me doing when I retire," he said. "That's why it's neat. I'm not doing it to make a bunch of money. This is what I love to do."
Dye happy to re-sign with Chicago: Chicago White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye, who was eligible to be a free agent at season's end, has signed a new deal that will keep him with the White Sox for at least two more seasons with a mutual option for 2010. Dye is glad to have the deal done.
"They knew where I was, how much I wanted to be here, and they wanted me here," Dye told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I expressed that I had hoped we would get something done sooner than later, and it came together real quick. It was fair for me, fair for them, and I'm happy.
"[The third year was] just a little bit of protection for me. If I get traded, I still have the option of the other team picking me up, so I still have a chance to get that third year guaranteed no matter what."
Manager Ozzie Guillen is also pleased that Dye won't be going anywhere.
"Since he got here, he's been real productive," said Guillen. "He's played the game right. He shows up to play every day. I don't have any complaint about him ever, being late or don't run the bases, whatever it is. He was struggling like everyone else [this season], but when you have [Mark] Buehrle and J.D. back and you have [Paul] Konerko, you have those types of guys, it makes my job a lot easier, believe me."
Dye, meanwhile, believes in general manager Kenny Williams and Guillen -- and the future of the White Sox.
"What was said by Kenny and Ozzie and everything about where this team is headed in a couple of years, we're going to try and get back to that championship form," Dye said. "That played a big factor. It played a big factor in me coming here as a free agent the first time. As a player, you just want to win."
Rangers awed by Santana: Johan Santana struck out a team-record 17 batters Sunday against the Texas Rangers.
Needless to say, the Rangers saw enough of Santana to come away impressed.
"[Santana] was great," shortstop Michael Young, who struck out four times, told MLB.com. "That's as good as I've seen his changeup, and that's saying something. Johan always has a chance to be good. He's the best pitcher in the game for a reason. Once he gets going full steam, it's tough to break it up."
Sammy Sosa, who got the first Rangers hit in the fifth, said that Santana was as good as he's ever been.
"You just can't miss a [mistake] against this guy because you're not going to see it again," said Sosa. "You can't swing hard, you just have to make contact because anything can happen. He was great today. I've never seen him like that. He was awesome."
Texas manager Ron Washington was surely impressed with Santana. "The way he pitched today, he could have gotten 17 strikeouts against any club ... including the 1927 Yankees," he said.
Santana is now 13-9 on the year with an ERA of 2.88.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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McKenzie keeps the faith in Wallabies
Ewen McKenzie has named an unchanged line-up for the first time in his 17-Test coaching reign, convinced the Wallabies at last have the All Blacks' measure.
Renowned for tinkering; McKenzie on Tuesday resisted calls to reinstate Bernard Foley at five-eighth in favour of Kurtley Beale for the Bledisloe Cup return bout in Auckland on Saturday.
Confident that better cohesion and communication is the answer, not new personnel, McKenzie is pinning his faith in the entire 23-man squad from the series-opening 12-12 draw in Sydney as the Wallabies bid to break their 28-year winless run at Eden Park.
Beale had an influential game in the first Test, kicking all of Australia's points, and the coach is backing the mercurial five-eighth to continue sparking the Wallabies attack in more favourable conditions this weekend.
"We've got the right group of guys and I think they'll be better for the experience, so that's why we didn't change anything," McKenzie said.
"We were impressed with the pressure we were able to apply in the opening Test and, despite some errors, were pleased with the intent of the group to continue attacking despite the poor weather conditions.
"We still carried the ball and endeavoured to play, and the errors we made weren't necessarily handling errors.
"They were more like running into touch, getting knocked in touch, bumping into each other, things like that.
"So we can fix up that."
McKenzie, though, made it clear that loyalty is a two-way street.
"Clearly there's pressure," he said.
"We've got two games and now we've got to win two, so that's a pretty difficult equation.
"So we're backing the guys to do the business - but they understand that they have to deliver too.
"That's how it works."
After the Sydney stalemate thwarted New Zealand's quest for a record 18th consecutive Test win, the Wallabies' next challenge is to avoid a 15th loss in a row to the world champions at Eden Park.
While he's persisting with his on-field arsenal and tactics, McKenzie has decided mixing things up off the park may also be the answer to ending the hoodoo and New Zealand's 12-year domination of their trans-Tasman rivals.
Unlike previous years, the Wallabies won't arrive in Auckland until just two days before the game and have ditched the ARU's hotel of choice for the past 20 years.
"So I have changed it up," McKenzie said.
"When you're overseas, you don't have control over the training venues and who's there watching. So we've opted for a bit more privacy before we go.
"We'll have the captain's run there, and it's pretty familiar territory. The players have been there often. I've been there a zillion times.
"But we are in a different hotel, so that will be different."
Wallabies: Israel Folau, Pat McCabe, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Matt Toomua, Rob Horne, Kurtley Beale, Nic White, Wycliff Palu, Michael Hooper (capt), Scott Fardy, Rob Simmons, Sam Carter, Sekope Kepu, Nathan Charles, James Slipper. Reserves: James Hanson, Pek Cowan, Ben Alexander, Will Skelton, Scott Higginbotham, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Tevita Kuridrani.
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Atlantic Self Storage PUBLIC AUCTION on April 6, 2004 at approx.11:00 am, 1865 A1A & SR 312 , St. Augustine, FL 32080 HH: 220 - D. Jackson, 227-M. Summerlin, 231-N. Curl, 241-D. Trujillo, 611-T. Grossman, 644-T. Robinson; TOOLS: 247-M. Keane. The above are delinquent in rent and under FL Statutes 83.806 the content of their units will be sold at public sale with a 10% buyers premium. Terms of sales are CASH ONLY. L616-4 Mar 16, 23, 2004
Posted from 16-Mar-04 to 23-Mar-04
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The Durango school district lost a valuable member of its community Tuesday when former Needham Elementary counselor and current 9-R school board member Carla Mulkey died unexpectedly.
District staff were informed Wednesday that Mulkey died at her home Tuesday afternoon from causes that remain unknown. She was 61.
Mulkey was a counselor at Needham for 27 years before she retired last May. She was elected to the 9-R school board in November.
She will be greatly missed, said Bill Esterbrook, the districts interim superintendent. Retiring, then coming right back in to serve the district, she has demonstrated a passion for education in the district.
While working at Needham, Mulkey won numerous awards, and in 2009, she was named Colorado Elementary School Counselor of the Year. She also was president of the districts teachers union.
Needham Elementary staff remembered Mulkey as a person who always had a kind word and went above and beyond to help teachers and students.
She helped with fundraising, volunteered with the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters and organized friendship and study groups for students at Needham, the elementarys staff members said.
She was a pillar of Needham, said Principal Pete Harter, who worked with Mulkey for 22 years. The kids would always love to go see Carla.
When she was running for the 9-R board, Mulkey mentioned her desire to create the best schools for her two young grandchildren. She has two daughters and the youngest is a sophomore at the University of Colorado.
The news came as a shock to Mulkeys fellow board members, 9-R board President Jeff Schell said.
The board will formally announce it is looking for a new member at its next meeting Tuesday, Schell said.


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The main feature at the Los Altos showing will be Asiemut, which won the People's Choice Award and Special Jury Mention. In 2005, Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier went on their first cycling expedition — 8000 kilometres across Asia. In six months they peddled from Mongolia to Calcutta, India, traveling through Xinjiang, the Taklimakan Desert, the high Tibetan plateau, and the jungle of Nepal. Why? Not only to discover the world, but also to discover themselves.
Other films that night will include Anomaly that showcases the freakish and abnormal abilities of today's top ski and snowboard athletes as they push the boundary of what is humanly possible, Mountains without Barriers in which two blind men and a man with no legs tackle a 1000-foot rock tower in Italy, and Unchained: New World Disorder VI that showcases a group of young, daring riders who push the limits of freeride mountain biking beyond imagination. Visit www.snowlands.org for a full list of the films to be shown.
Thursday, March 15, 2007, Eagle Theater, Los Altos High School
Doors open at 6:30 PM, show begins at 7:00 PM, show ends at 10:00 PM.
Tickets are $13 in advance to REI members at San Jose, Mountain View and San Carlos REI stores or $16 for will-call (650-969-1938), non-members and at the door.
Everyone receives a raffle ticket for fabulous prizes.


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Zumiez Inc. to Broadcast Review of Third Quarter Fiscal 2012 Financial Results over the Internet
Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) a leading specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories, today announced that the Company's conference call to discuss third quarter fiscal 2012 financial results will be broadcast live over the Internet on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time and may be accessed at http://ir.zumiez.com. To listen to the webcast, please go to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the start time to register and download any necessary software.
About Zumiez Inc.
Zumiez is a leading multi-channel specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories, focusing on skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, motocross and BMX for young men and women. As of October 27, 2012 we operated 495 stores, 471 in the United States, 19 in Canada, and 5 in Europe. In the United States and Canada we operate under the name Zumiez and in Europe we operate under the name Blue Tomato. Additionally, we operate ecommerce web sites under www.zumiez.com and www.blue-tomato.com.
Company Contacts:
Zumiez Inc.
Brian Leith, Director of Finance & Investor Relations, 425-551-1500, ext. 1610
Investor Contact:
Brendon Frey, 203-682-8200


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MARYSVILLE — Rainy, gray Western Washington may seem an odd location for a solar energy business. But one of the top manufacturers of world-class solar photovoltaic (PV) modules is actually headquartered in a business park in Marysville.
Silicon Energy was the first solar module manufacturer in Washington state. The company stands out among the competition for offering customers an almost-unheard-of 30-year power warranty on its systems.
"We're one of the best in the world at doing this and we're very proud of that," said Silicon Energy President Gary Shaver.
That's not always the case in an industry that's booming due to the growing number of federal and state incentives for consumer installation and the ready availability of cheap solar panels from China. Solar companies have popped up all over the U.S. ready to become Silicon Energy's competition.
But that competition doesn't worry Shaver at all. He knows that the high quality of his company's products and the fact that their materials are almost all locally sourced swings the balance in his company's favor.
Local sourcing is important to Shaver.
"We're not anti-Chinese. We just want to take care of our village," he said. "We look very hard for local manufacturers. If we can't get a local manufacturer, we look for a distributor in Washington."
The metal on the units is fabricated in Seattle. It's powder coated in Arlington and the actual construction occurs in Marysville.
The difference between Silicon Energy's panels and other solar panels is clear even to the untrained eye, which is why the company welcomes visitors to its showroom. Customers are able to compare competing products side by side.
Solar cells are extremely fragile and require sturdy encasement to prevent damage. The Silicon Energy modules are solid and resist movement. The competition's panels show some give, suggesting that the solar cells inside maybe easily damaged under high wind or pressure.
Silicon Energy's panels feature a double-glass construction. "It gives us amazing durability," Shaver said. The glass panels are hermetically sealed against moisture. Moisture damage is the most common reason for solar panel failure.
In testing conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Silicon Energy's modules proved to be the most durable modules tested. The laboratory put them through a simulated 80-year performance test and noted no measurable performance loss. Some of the competition exhibited hot spotting and dead zones after a simulated 18 years.
"In almost four years now, we're less than one percent failure rate in the field," Shaver said.
Another feature unique to Silicon Energy is the frame design. Their Cascade model is essentially frameless. Water, snow or ice can easily slip off and there is no place for moss to gain a foothold between the frame and glass.
The sleek appearance of the modules, their ability to allow light to pass through along with the option to custom color the hardware means consumers have a lot more flexibility as to where they install their modules.
In addition to traditional roof installations, the modules can be ground mounted or used as patio covers, on carports or on boat docks. The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle incorporated them as a design feature in the roof of the carousel cover.
Wiring for the modules is routed inside the mounting hardware, not only for appearance but also for safety. Enclosed wiring prevents squirrel or rodent damage and reduces the hazard of electrical shock for those working around the system.
Safety is another focus for Silicon Energy. Nothing leaves the facility that hasn't been tested and the modules have earned a high fire safety rating.
"We have the highest safety rating in the industry," Shaver said.
Conscious of both safety and environmental impact, the company also ensures workers at the Marysville plant are exposed to no chemicals stronger than isopropyl alcohol, Shaver said. Water used to clean the modules has to be ultra cleaned itself prior to use in order to ensure a perfect hermetic seal. This means that water leaving the facility may actually be cleaner than it was when it came in.
Consumers in the Pacific Northwest are known for being environmentally conscious. In 2008, Seattle was named a Solar America City for its large number of solar installations. Despite the amount of rain received, the state actually receives more sunlight per year than Germany, the world's solar energy leader.
With these statistics in mind, it's not surprising that Washington should become home to a leading solar power manufacturer.
"And we're not done yet," Shaver said. "We're just going to continue to march onwards and upwards."
Learn more information about Silicon Energy at www.silicon-energy.com.


text: According to Eugen Leitl > > > From: Marc Noguera Julian <marc at klingon.uab.es> > Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 19:09:00 +0200 > To: chemistry at ccl.net > Subject: CCL:Experiences with 64 bits AMD processors > User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113 > > Hello, > we are interested in buying some more computational resources. In our > group we are interested in 64 bit AMD processors, but we do not know > about their compatibility. They are supposed, as AMD says, to be32 bit > compatible and therefore AMD 64 bit processor should be able to run any > 32 bit application. Is that true? Any experience about this will help us > a lot. We run, in particular, Gaussian-98 (32 bit binary version) on Opteron servers w/SuSE SLES8. > By the way, we are running mainly gaussian jobs, and have some other 32 > bit binaries like turbomole and jaguar. We have source code license for > gaussian 03. Has anyone tried to compile Gaussian 03 for a AMD 64 bit > machine? Do 32 bit pentium binaries run correctly on a 64 bit processor > which is the increase on the performance? Yes, G03 is compiled at least by Gaussian, Inc itself: there is G03 64-bit binary version for Opteron in the price list. We have significant speed-up on Opteron in comparison w/Athlons. We run also 32-bit binaries codes translated for Pentium on Opteron. > Do Turbomole and Jaguar > binaries run on 64 bit AMD processors? anyone tried? > Any information will be helpful. > Thanks a lot > Marc > > --------------------------- > Marc Noguera Julian > Thcnic Especialista de Suport a la Recerca > Qummica Fisica, Universitat Autrnoma de Barcelona. > Tlf: 00-34-935812173 > Fax: 00-34-935812920 > e-mail: marc at klingon.uab.es > --------------------------------------- > > Eugen* Leitl leitl > ______________________________________________________________ > ICBM: 48.07078, 11.61144 http://www.leitl.org > 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE > http://moleculardevices.org http://nanomachines.net > Yours Mikhail Kuzminsky Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry Moscow _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf


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Norma, those are very good photos of the layers. They look like the layers I had on my frozen HRI.
Norma, I did not notice, although I have to admit that I wasn't really looking as I've just recently learned what a gum line is! . When i get back to the states, I will have to pick up some more frozen HRI pizzas and see if I have a gum line.
I always like a small gum line.....is it not suppose to have one?
Norma,I am beginning to think that an HRI pizza is more prone to gum lines than other types of pizzas, and it may be more pronounced for the HRI pizzas made in its pizzerias than for the frozen HRI pizzas. I think part of the explanation has to do with the amount of "stuff" that is put on the HRI pizzas. For example, when I dissected one of the 12" HRI frozen pepperoni pizzas and weighed the pepperoni slices, the cheese and the sauce, the total weight was 14.64 ounces. Notably, the weight of the cheese alone was 10.33 ounces. Later, when I did the same thing with two 12" HRI sausage pizzas, which weigh about two ounces more than the pepperoni pizzas, the total weights of the cheese, sauce and sausage were 15.2 ounces and 15.52 ounces (see Reply 307 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6112.msg242492.html#msg242492). Remember, these weights were for pizzas that had already been partially baked and gave up some water content in the process. Also, it appears that some of the HRI frozen pizzas have more sauce than others. So, by my estimate, the above numbers may be a few percent on the low side. If we now assume that the dough ball weight for a 12" HRI pizza is 15 ounces, which I deem to be a plausible number from my analysis, it can easily be seen from the above numbers, especially when they are adjusted for water loss during the par-bake, are higher than the weight of the dough itself. Even though the HRI dough is a sturdy and fairly dense dough (with its high oil content, low hydration value, and an estimated thickness factor of a bit over 0.13) and capable of holding everything that is put on it, I think these weights impose a burden on the way that the end pizza is baked, in terms of the type of oven used, the oven positioning, the type of carrier used (e.g., disk, cutter pan or their equivalent), bake temperature, and bake time. The balance between these factors has to be just right to be able to bake the crust to the right final color and to melt the cheese to the desired degree, and especially so if there is an above average amount of cheese on the skin. If there are a lot of toppings, these factors become even more critical because more things have to be baked. Under the circumstances, I can see how it might be easy to end up with a gum line. I don't think that it happens very often where what is put on a skin or crust for a flat profile pizza weighs more than the skin or crust itself. Maybe when this happens, a gum line is more probable.As a cross check, I went to the Burke guide at Reply 4 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,14822.msg147190.html#msg147190 to check out typical amounts of cheese used on 12" pizzas. As can be seen there, a typical 12" pizza has a maximum Burke guide cheese quantity of 7.5 ounces. The HRI pepperoni pizza that I mentioned above had 10.33 ounces, and that weight was after some loss of water content. For sausage, the maximum Burke guide weight for a typical 12" pizza is 7.5 ounces for raw sausage and 5.75 ounces for cooked sausage. A typical, or generic, raw, fresh pork sausage contains about 56% water (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sausages-and-luncheon-meats/1375/2). On this basis, HRI appears to be above the Burke guide numbers, and in some cases perhaps considerably higher than the Burke guide numbers. In fact, HRI has said that it uses more sausage than what the USDA specifies as the minimum for pizza (see the article at Reply 9 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6009.msg51738.html#msg51738.As a further cross check, the other day while I was at my local supermarket, I examined the Nutrition Facts for several types and brands of frozen pizzas. I was looking for numbers other than pizza weights but it seemed to me that most 12" frozen cheese and pepperoni pizzas weighed less than the HRI frozen pizzas. I didn't do a rigorous analysis but that was my impression. Even a 12" Papa John's pizza, whose dough skin has a comparable thickness factor, weighs less than a typical frozen HRI cheese pizza. Peter
Sort of crazy isn't it Norma? I've had frozen HRI pizza that was bland as can be and then, like in my last one, had a pie that really put me in the mind of having one at their original 31st. location. What's going on here.
Peter,I would like to mix one up for a 2-3 day cold ferment. Would you like to suggest a formula...I'll make a 12incher.BobI can let one go 2 days and the other for 3 or more...
Norma,I think it is asking a lot for a frozen pizza to replicate a pizza that is made in a pizzeria. Unfortunately, there is no information like Nutrition Facts for the pizzas that HRI makes in its pizzerias. Also, when you try to translate a fresh pizzeria pizza to a frozen version, even when the formulations and ingredients and quantities are identical or nearly so, there are things that have to be changed to adapt the formulations to a high volume commercial setting, which is highly industrialized and computerized. Almost by definition, the pizzas can't be identical. Also, by the time that a frozen pizza made in one of the HRI plants reaches the consumer, who may hold the frozen pizzas in the freezer for some indefinite period of time, there is bound to be some degradation in quality by the time the pizza is baked in the consumer's oven.I personally feel that the better approach is to take the HRI dough formulation, as best we understand it, from the frozen pizza side and translate that to the pizzeria side. In effect, we would be doing the opposite of what HRI has done to create the frozen pizza version from the pizzeria version. I would use essentially the same dough formulation but use a two or three day cold fermentation, and also the preparation methods that are used in the HRI pizzerias (and have been discussed previously in the other HRI threads). The two or three day cold fermentation alone will give more crust flavor. And, if you'd like, you can add things to the sauce to boost the flavor profile. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the pizza sauce used in the HRI pizzerias is now a version that came out of the HRI frozen pizza operation. It would be impractical to make two different sauces for the two operations. And since the HRI frozen pizza operation has become the tail that is wagging the dog in terms of revenue generation, it would make sense to use the pizza sauce used in the HRI frozen pizza plants in its pizzerias, even if it was designed to work in the sauce dispensing equipment used in the HRI plants and may not be as good as one that is specifically designed for a pizzeria. Peter
Bob,I know it is kinda crazy. The first HRI pizza I baked had a better flavor than the one I baked last evening, even though the crust was flaky last night and their was less of a gum line. At least you have tasted a real HRI pizza.Norma
Ha! But it was so long ago that I really don't remember the taste real well Norma. All I do know is that it was like no other pizza I had ever had and it was real good. So good that I'm not yet ready to give up on trying to make something that I can't even remember what it tastes like! Is that CrAzY or what? !
Garvey will you freeze any of your dough? and then thaw and use it? Or is it fresh and planning ahead for you?


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ORLANDO, Fla. - Attorneys for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman charged with shooting and killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, filed new motions on Friday, just days before Zimmerman's hearing next week.
In the 8 new motions, Mark O'Mara asks the court to relax restrictions preventing Zimmerman from talking with witnesses, including his friends and former neighbors.
O'Mara also asks Zimmerman can be released from GPS monitoring and be allowed to travel throughout Florida. Currently, Zimmerman is under a court order to stay in Seminole County except when visiting his lawyer.
According to the motions, the defense wants interview even more witnesses who could identify whether that voice calling for help in the background of the 911 call was Zimmerman's or Martin's.
[READ: Notice of hearing | Motion for additional deposition | Additional discovery | Modify conditions of release | Specific discovery FBI, Department of Justice]
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty, claiming the shooting was in self-defense. He said Martin, who was not armed, was beating him up when he fired his gun.
Zimmerman's murder trial is scheduled to begin in June, although a so-called "stand your ground" hearing, based on Florida law that allows someone to shoot to kill if they feel their life is in danger, will be held earlier.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Samsung Omnia W PreviewSamsung Omnia W
Our is now published - click here to read it.
Windows Phone Mango update is a vast improvement over the first WP edition, and not only via the first things you see – the more functional Live Tiles and the social networking integration with Twitter and LinkedIn joining Facebook in WP.
There is multitasking, and the apps currently running can be called when you long-press the back key (long press the home key calls the voice command service), and you can flip horizontally between their snapshots.
Besides all recent Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn updates from a specific contact with the respective photos, in the People hub you now have the History tab. It puts together all your communication venues with a contact – calls, text conversations, emails, and so on.
The Calendar app also unifies your accounts in sub-calendars, which you can paint in different colors to tell them apart easily. And one of the greatest updates with Mango is better work with SkyDrive, the 25GB free cloud service by Microsoft – documents, photos and other media now sync seamlessly with SkyDrive. Speaking of documents, there are numerous improvements to Microsoft's Office Mobile on the phone. For example, you can now mark several cells in Excel by dragging your finger down, plus you can now use the famed Autosum function afterward.
Bing, but there you also have two new modes – a song recognition button, and QR code scanner, which also serves as OCR software to scan a page, and then translate it in different languages. The OCR is hit-or-miss, but they all are on mobile phones, you need a really good source of light and contrast on the page to recognize the text correctly.
The point is that all these little helpers are native for Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, and you don't have to hit the app markets right away to pimp up your WP phone. This, along with the social networking integration are very good differentiators for a mobile OS that aims to become the third player in the Android-iOS race, since it can't fight with the number of apps available, just with their native integration.
The simple-looking, but effective virtual keyboard on the 3.7" display is easy to use both in portrait and in landscape modes, making messaging a piece of cake. There is built-in spell checker, and nice little perks like a cursor popping up above the text box so you can easily drag it to where you want to make a correction. The minimalistic fashion of moving the cursor, marking and copying text make Android Gingerbread look downright crude in that respect.
The Messaging Hub now puts together in a conversation thread your texts, along with Facebook and Windows Live messages with a contact. The same thread view now goes on in the Email app, which also adds a common inbox for having all your accounts at one place.
Internet and Connectivity:
The connectivity options on the Samsung Omnia W are plenty – 14.4Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, and FM Radio with RDS. There is no DLNA option or HDMI port for displaying photos and videos directly on a bigger screen, however. A big annoyance is that the phone doesn't have mass storage mode and you have to install Zune software for communicating with the device..
The GPS software is Bing Maps, and the chip located us for 2-3 minutes on cold start. Bing Maps has been updated to cover much more countries with detailed maps, and we liked the way it automatically switches to satellite view when you zoom onto the streets. Microsoft promised that it will offer users ways to opt out of location tracking on Windows Phone, and it delivered – you can turn off tracking completely or selectively in different apps like Bing Maps.
11 Comments
2. fleanote (Posts: 50; Member since: 14 Jan 2011)
If anyone who works for MS reads this, just know I am a huge fan of WinMo, but I really don't like teh 10% loss in home screen space to put the ARROW movement in. Make a capacitive button, or a swiping gesture to get there, but dont give me a 3.5/4" screen and then rob me of 10% of the usable space when I look down at it. Its a major detractor in a new world of big bold screens from other makers.
3. Axial (unregistered)
You can swipe to get to apps already...
4. Shohid (unregistered)
Great phone for first dabble in wp7. Seems better specked than the htc radar
5. Hi (unregistered)
Am i the only person that dislike Windows Phone 'retro' style ?
6. gragonHDfones (unregistered)
RETRO STYLE??? wtf? i don't think so. samsung is the one that designed the phone
8. Eingild (Posts: 203; Member since: 19 Apr 2011)
You owned him. :))
7. Eingild (Posts: 203; Member since: 19 Apr 2011)
Retro? Maybe you mean "metro UI". Lol.
9. Zeroadhesion (unregistered)
Пич, от къде докопа телефона? :D Това Варна ли е?
10. rayjones09 (Posts: 149; Member since: 16 Dec 2010)
PhoneArena! I keep checking your website everyday for a HTC Titan review! Please review it soon, thanks!
11. Axial (unregistered)
I prefer the square-bodied, mostly aluminum with some polycarbonate construction on the Omnia 7. Very business-like. Honestly, I think sometimes they should save a little on R&D by just refreshing old phones. All they need to do is upgrade the SoC (for 1.4GHz and HSDPA 14.4+) and slap a front-facing camera on the Omnia 7 and I'd buy it again. Oh, and give me a 10% grey tile colour option.
In my unprofessional opinion, the Omnia 7 was in a league apart from the other first generation WP7 devices, and I've messed with them all before making my purchase. The closest phone to doing so was the HTC Trophy, because 3.8" to 4.0" is the perfect size for WP7, because it had a superbly sturdy build, because it wasn't overly huge (like the Surround), and because of the SRS sound enhancements. Camera was a let-down, however. You might call me an Omnia 7 fanboy, but I am for good reason. I want all of the WP7 devices to have the fit and finish of the Omnia 7. Nokia is looking like it will able to top it.
Oh, and the Omnia W is not tri-band like its predecessor. That means it is no-go for 3G in the USA on any network.
Samsung Omnia WOS: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
view full specs
|3.7 inches, 480 x 800 pixels (252 ppi) Super AMOLED
|5 megapixels
Single core, 1400 MHz
|4.57 x 2.31 x 0.43 inches
(116 x 58.8 x 10.9 mm)
4.07 oz (115 g)
|1500 mAh, 14 hours talk time


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11.0114 Applications – Allotment-fund proposals.Cite as [A.S.A.C. § 11.0114]
A proposal for using funds available from a territorial allotment which is subject to ASHPDA review under 11.0105(2) must be submitted to the ASHPDA by the territorial program agency (department of health). These proposed projects must be submitted to the ASHPDA at the same time the application for allotment funds is submitted to the ASHCC. The ASHPDA must be allowed a minimum of 60 days to review the proposed uses of allotment funds. The information requirements outlined in 11.0111, as contained in Appendix B, also apply to applications containing proposed uses of allotment funds.History: Rule 9-80. eff 18 Jun 80, ASHPDA Pro. and Crit. § 2(A) (4).


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JoS. A. Bank gray shirt from The Wolverine seen with Hiroyuki Sanada (Shingen)
As Seen on Shingen (Hiroyuki Sanada) in The Wolverine
Shingen Yashida: What does The Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) wear during his continued battle with immortality? Not a shirt for starters. Sometimes a tank top. Occasionally a suit and tie. The film, which follows a favorite X Men through a series of trials in Japan, features a generous dose of Japanese cool-girl styles and of course, the Silver Samurai.
Shingen Yashida (Hiroyuki Sanada) is Wolverine's enemy, a terrible father and a despised son. Though, not the most well-liked character, he does know how to wield a Samurai sword.
Scroll down to see more clothes, outfits and products identified from The Wolverine.
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Takara Tomy Arts - Frozen drink machine for home use "Tsumeta Oicino"
The perfect toy for surviving the brutally hot Japanese summer will be released by Takara Tomy Arts on May 22. It is the "Tsumeta Oicino" compact frozen drink machine.
"Tsumeta Oicino" is a created word making Tsumetai (cold) and Oishii (delicious) sound like Italian language words.
You can easily make an original frozen drink at home using coffee, milk, maccha, and strawberries.


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Nottinghamshire Police have been told to improve the way they tackle domestic abuse after criticisms from an independent watchdog.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies (HMIC) was commissioned by the Home Secretary Theresa May, in September 2013, to inspect the police response to domestic violence and abuse around the country.
It said the Nottinghamshire force's approach to tackling domestic abuse is effective in some areas, but there are important aspects of the service the force provides to victims requiring further improvement.
For every 100 domestic abuse crimes recorded in Nottinghamshire in the 12 months up to August 2013, there were 83 arrests - comparable to the rest of the country.
Nottinghamshire recorded 7,156 domestic abuse related crimes.
Of these just 29 per cent resulted in a charge, 23 per cent resulted in a caution and four per cent had an out of court disposal, such as a fixed penalty fine.
HM Inspector of Constabulary for the Eastern Region, Zoë Billingham, said: "Staff are committed to supporting victims and making them safe and they have benefited from recent training and briefings about domestic abuse.
"But more could be done to improve their understanding of how to use their professional judgement and discretion to help achieve better outcomes "
The report said victims assessed as high risk received a better standard of service than those of medium or standard risk which resulted in inconsistencies.
There were inconsistent approaches between the three multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARAC). However the force had developed strong links with partner agencies and were working together to share information to protect high risk victims.
Deputy Commissioner Chris Cutland, said: "It's important we recognise the hard work carried out by force staff and officers to support survivors of domestic abuse and ensure the perpetrators of these crimes receive punishment.
"However, there is room for improvement and this report is central to helping us understand where to focus our attention in order to implement changes that will positively impact on the effectiveness of our work."


text: I enjoyed Lifesigns. But the Doctor is one of my favorite characters. Shmulus will be back in the future! The B plots were well, part of the ongoing subplots in season 2. Jonas is playing spy with Seska and Paris is being a total screw up. Even as he's doing this he does go out of his way to help out the Doc though, which is almost contradictory to the rest of his behavior of late. They will come to a conclusion in the near future... won't say any more until you get there.


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For me, and there have been a few, the biggest standout is Sheed's defence, and the way it seems that his hiatus did nothing but do him wonders.
Other than that, Ronnie Brewer's output for $850K this season has to be close to the NBA's best overhead contract.
2 from me with more to come. How about you?


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Loria keeping eyes trained firmly on the future
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
JUPITER, Fla. -- Making dramatic changes has restocked the Marlins with a number of pieces that the team hopes will help form a brighter future.
"We now have the core of 16 or 17 players, and they're going to be here very quickly," team owner Jeffrey Loria said on Tuesday morning, addressing the media before the Marlins faced the Mets at Roger Dean Stadium. "Some of them will be here this year."
The organization's top two prospects, pitcher Jose Fernandez and outfielder Christian Yelich, are expected to open the season at Double-A Jacksonville, but both could move up to the big leagues as early as midseason. They will be part of a new wave of talent to filter up to the Majors.
"We're hoping that Yelich and Fernandez will start the ball rolling," Loria said.
After two straight last-place finishes, Loria is looking ahead.
"My father used to say to me, 'Jeffrey, you know why the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror? Because the future is brighter than the past,'" he said. "That's what we have. We have a very bright future, and I would like [the community] to rally around that."
Loria spoke on a wide range of topics for about 15 minutes, much of it similar to what he told some members of the print media on Monday night at Marlins Park.
The organization has been under heavy scrutiny since trading Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonifacio and John Buck to the Blue Jays on Nov. 19.
"The established talent didn't work," Loria said of the underperforming 2012 squad. "We had it last year. We had players we thought were top players, and they were paid [well] and didn't perform."
Loria understands the fans' reaction but added that the moves were necessary after the team finished 69-93 and showed little signs of improving.
"I really do understand the disappointment," he said. "I'm disappointed. I didn't enjoy last year. We kind of had a perfect storm. Everything collapsed in the beginning. The team didn't play well, other things happened, which you all know.
"It's a new year, and I'd like to look in front of us instead of behind us. We have the core and [the] makings of a championship-caliber team now. [Last year] didn't work. We stunk. We had to fix it, we had to change it, we had to do it quickly, and that's what I wanted to do."
Manager Mike Redmond has replaced Ozzie Guillen, who came under fire at the start of the 2012 season with controversial comments he made about Fidel Castro.
Redmond is looking to shape a young squad into winners. The team has also added veterans Placido Polanco and Juan Pierre for their experience and leadership.
Loria scoffed at the notion that the Marlins are considered by fans to be a "Triple-A team."
"It's not a Triple-A ballclub," he said. "It's a ballclub with some pretty impressive players. I wouldn't call Polanco a Triple-A player, I wouldn't call our shortstop, [Adeiny Hechavarria], a Triple-A player. I wouldn't call our second baseman, [Donovan Solano], a Triple-A player. I certainly wouldn't call Rob Brantly that.
"These are exciting players. Giancarlo Stanton is not that. Juan Pierre -- Mr. Energy, who sets the tone for how you play and the standard for excellence -- these are not Triple-A players. You can use those terms, I can't prevent it. I can't stop you from saying what you want to say."
One reason the Marlins made so many moves is because their Minor League system had become depleted after a string of first-round Draft picks fell short of expectations. It reached a point last year when a player was injured, there wasn't the depth needed to adequately call up a replacement.
"Over the past eight years, if you really want to focus on it, many of those prospects didn't work out," Loria said. "We didn't have the players. We drafted players and paid first-round players bonuses to perform. Jeremy Hermida, [Brett] Sinkbeil, [Jeff] Allison never even played in the Major Leagues. Taylor Tankersley. Guys didn't develop, and you've got to have these guys develop."
The Marlins have showed in the past that they can compete and have winning seasons with modest payrolls. They're trying to create that culture once again.
"We've had a lot of winning seasons through the decade," Loria said. "It's been not so great the past two years. Going into the new ballpark, we thought it would be terrific, so that's why I said, 'Let's produce this $100 million payroll.' If it doesn't work, you've got to fix it."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. He writes a blog, called The Fish Pond. Follow him on Twitter @JoeFrisaro. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Studio owner hopes to help people find the benefits of yoga
On any given day, the temperature inside a classroom at Authentic Yoga Life studio in downtown Denton is between 93 and 95 degrees. The temperature is just right to conduct Baron Baptiste's Power Vinyasa Yoga-inspired classes, which provide mental clarity, self-awareness and spiritual connection, according to proponents.
Studio owner Valerie Warren said yoga helps people learn more about themselves.
"It is more about strength than flexibility," she said.
Now, with the yoga studio she opened last month, Warren wants to help others try the practice she has come to love for the past four and a half years.
"I am looking forward to people getting fired up about being empowered themselves," she said.
Warren left her 26-year career as a flight attendant with American Airlines in June to follow her dream, said her mentor of two years, Michelle Andrie, a Dallas yoga therapist.
"She was referred to me by a yoga student of mine, and we began to meet one-on-one," Andrie said. "She revealed this dream she had, and we worked on bringing it to fruition."
Andrie, who has been practicing yoga for 30 years, said she was there to help Warren find the right space. Andrie said she has helped other students open three studios in the North Texas area.
Andrie suggested Warren start small, and what they found was a 1,200-square-foot spot at Austin and McKinney streets in downtown Denton.
"It feels like home and it feels more in touch with what is going on with the Square," Warren said.
The building once sported cream colors and a tiled floor. In about a month, it was completely transformed with bright green and purple colors and a wooden floor.
The reception area offers yoga clothing, yoga mats and other accessories. The front room also has a wall with the studio's logo along with the words "Powerful. Serve. Shine. Everyone. Liberated."
Andrie said the business is just how Warren envisioned it.
"She followed her heart, her desire, her dream," Andrie said. "It took a lot of courage and a lot of belief in herself. We worked together to overcome the challenges so she could create this. It is about being her authentic true self, which explains the name of the business."
Originally from Dallas, Warren said she wanted to come back to Denton. She earned her business degree from the University of North Texas in 1986 and, in researching locations for her yoga studio, something about Denton brought her back.
"When I went to school here, we had to drive to Dallas to do anything," Warren said. "There was not much happening at the Square then."
She also noted there were not many locations for yoga in town. Denton has a handful of yoga studios and instructors.
Warren's business is not an affiliated Baptiste Power Vinyasa studio.
Baptise, a best-selling author and instructor, developed his form of power yoga in the 1990s. According to Baptiste's website, there are about 40 affiliated studios in the U.S., Canada and Australia — with one each in Dallas and Fort Worth.
"It takes a lot to be an affiliated store, and I don't know if that is what I am going for here," Warren said.
But she is continuing on the road to earn her certification. Last month, she attended a seminar led by Baptiste called "The Art of Assisting."
She said learning from Baptiste is powerful.
Since Authentic Yoga Life began offering classes Jan. 14, students have caught on.
Kevin Landreth said he was not initially a "yoga person," but he started going two days after the opening.
He also trains in a gym, at Lifetime Fitness, but yoga, he said, is just different.
He goes to the beginner's power class each Wednesday. He said the room definitely gets hot while he's doing yoga, but he sticks to it because Warren believes in the practice.
"I have never seen anyone who is so passionate about what they are doing," Landreth said.
"There is something to being right there in that room, at that moment. And she forces me to get in there and get in that moment and on that mat. It is refreshing to me."
Warren will host a grand opening for her business Saturday, Feb. 23, with a free class at 10 a.m. benefiting the Denton Food Center. Donations of nonperishable food items such as peanut butter and cereal will be accepted.
Authentic Yoga Life's grand-opening celebration will continue from 1 to 4 p.m.
To celebrate the grand opening, Warren partnered with TrendZen, a mobile boutique that offers athletic and lifestyle apparel, as well as NV Cupcakes, which is located next door.
KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is email@example.com.
Address: 218 N. Austin St.
Phone: 214-395-6417
On the Web: http://authenticyogalife.com


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Editors Draft: $Date: 2009/08/19 22:01:30 $
This document is an unapproved in-progress draft and should not be referenced or quoted under any circumstances.
Please send comments to firstname.lastname@example.com (a publicly archived list).
The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.
—Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web
At its foundation, the Web is designed to be available to "all people, whatever their hardware, software, network infrastructure, native language, culture, geographical location, or physical or mental ability." Accessibility focuses on one aspect of this, and overlaps with others.
Accessibility is developing the Web to meet its potential to be usable by people with a diverse range of capabilities. Accessibility is about not disabling people from using your website or web software because they can't hear, move, see, or understand well. Accessibility is enabling your website to be used effectively by more people and in more situations.
Learn more below:
Well designed websites and web software can be used by people with disabilities. However, currently most are developed with accessibility barriers that make it difficult or impossible for some people to use them. Below are just a few examples.
Example 1: Alt text for image
Alt text is the classic example. Images should include equivalent alternative text in the markup/code, as shown at the top of Example 1. (Some visual browsers display this text in a little popup when you hover over the image.)
If alt text isn't provided for important images, the web page is inaccessible, for example, to people who cannot see and use a screen reader that reads aloud the information on a page, including the alt text for the visual image.
Alt text is also a good example of the things we do for accessibility overlapping with other best practices, and having additional benefits. For example, alt text benefits search engine optimization (SEO), data repurposing, [others?], mobile phone users who turn off images to lower bandwidth charges, users in rural areas with low bandwidth who turn off images to speed download, and more.
image of a
mouse Xed out
and maybe
a keyboard ]
Some people cannot use a mouse, including many older users with limited fine motor control. An accessible website does not rely on the mouse; it provides all functionality via a keyboard. Then people with disabilities can use assistive technologies that mimic the keyboard, such as speech input.
Just as images aren't available to people who can't see, audio files aren't available to people who can't hear. Proving a text transcript makes the audio information accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as to search engines and other technologies that can't hear.
Providing transcripts for podcasts and audio files is easy and relatively inexpensive. There are services where you can e-mail the audio file or point to it online, and they send you back a transcript in HTML for a nominal fee. Then do a quick read-through for quality assurance, put it in your website template, point to it from where the audio file is linked, and it's done.
Most of the basics of accessibility are even easier and less expensive than providing transcripts. However, they are currently not well integrated into education, examples, and practice. If you are new to accessibility, it takes some time and effort to learn the issues and solutions. A starting place is the Introduction to Web Accessibility.
Some of advanced accessibility issues are more complicated and take more development time and effort. W3C provides extensive resources to help make your website accessible, such as Understanding WCAG 2.0: A guide to understanding and implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.
Using authoring tools that support accessibility makes it easier for website developers. Browsers also play a role in accessibility. See Essential Components of Web Accessibility.
Accessibility is a must for developers who want to create high quality websites and not exclude people from using their websites and web software.
It is essential that the Web be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities. Indeed, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes Web accessibility as a basic human right.
There is also a strong business case for accessibility. Organizations with accessible websites benefit from search engine optimization (SEO), reduced legal risk, demonstration of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and improved usability for older users and mobile phone users. Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization describes social, technical, financial, and legal benefits of Web accessibility.
Because of the extreme importance of accessibility, W3C has a dedicated Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). WAI works with organizations around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.
WAI provides a wide range of resources on different aspects web accessibility standards, education, and policy, including:
30 April 2008
Learn more about the current status of specifications related to:
These W3C Groups are working on the related specifications: